BERKELEY HIGH
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no.16
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INVESTIGATIVE
Investigating U9: Flawed or a Success? BY CLARA BROWNSTEIN & JOSEPHINE MORASKY news editor & staff writer
In 2015, Tamara Friedman and Glenn Wolkenfeld, then-professional development coordinators at Berkeley High School (BHS), decided that BHS needed to change. An achievement gap persisted along racial lines, and students who could have been helped were falling through the cracks. Although Friedman had been focused on closing the achievement gap for years, it was when she and Wolkenfeld attended a Linda Darling-Hammond lecture at the University of California (UC), Berkeley that the idea began to solidify. Darling-Hammond’s research focuses on the importance of strong personal relationships with teachers, teaching that facilitates deep engagement, and coordination among teachers to im-
prove support for students. The talk helped inspire Friedberg and Wolkenfeld. Soon after, the Universal Ninth Grade (U9) was born. There are probably many accounts of how BHS conceived the U9 program, but this is the story as told by Hasmig Minassian, an Ethnic Studies teacher at BHS and now the lead teacher of the U9. Minassian recalls that Friedman and Wolkenfeld formed a working group, which then spent a year getting their plan approved by the school board, and another year organizing its implementation — culminating in its creation in the 2018-19 school year. The program is relatively simple at first glance; it puts all eight hundred ninth graders together at BHS their freshman year, instead of immediately placing them into Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Freshmen are now in “hives” made up of 120 students and four PAGE 8
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FEATURES
BHS Community Celebrates Ramadan BY FINOLA JACKSON staff writer
“When you see someone starving on the street, it’s like getting a glimpse of what they have to go through on a daily basis,” said Academic Choice (AC) junior Afnan Saleh on fasting during Ramadan. For
her, fasting leads to a better understanding of what people going hungry are experiencing. On May 2, Muslims celebrated Eid-al-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan, after a month that many Berkeley High School (BHS) students spent fasting. During Ramadan, on April 21, members of the Muslim Student Association
(MSA) gathered in a classroom to celebrate iftar, the daily meal where Muslims celebrating Ramadan break their daily fast. As per tradition, the club invited all janitorial staff, who work late hours at the school, to join them in eating a variety of foods catered by a local restaurant. Celebrations included discussing Islam
and playing games like an Islam-themed Kahoot. Ramadan celebrates the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, the prophet Muhammad received the initial revelations of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. Ramadan is typically celebrated by fasting from PAGE 11
EDITORIAL: The Danger of Oppression Olympics
Jacket Podcast: Behind the Scenes of a Jacket Issue
Invalidation of Asian American’s experience is unproductive and harmful for furthering racial equity. PAGE 6
The Jacket podcast talked to staff about the process of putting together this very issue! Scan the QR code to listen.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
NEWS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
news editors: Kira Rao-Poola & Kaiya Jordan
kiraraopoola@students.berkeley.net
BHS Stop Harrassing Presents to Middle Schoolers on Consent
BHS Stop Harrassing presented on consent in relationships of all kinds.
BY AVA RAMSDALE staff writer
On April 26, the Berkeley High School (BHS) Stop Harassing organization began their consent education presentations to Berkeley Unif ie d S cho ol Dist r ic t (BUSD) middle schools. This has been a goal of BHS Stop Harassing for a while, according to BHS junior Elise Nudel, the secretary for BHS Stop Harassing. Cu r re nt l y, B H S St op Harassing is visiting the eighth graders at Longfellow, Willard, and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle Schools.
Ac c ord i n g t o Nu d e l , the presentations include information about healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as what consent can look like in different scenarios. Members from the peereducation program, Green Dot, also spoke with BHS Stop Harassing about the program and their work throughout BUSD. “Our presentation focuses on consent in all kinds of relationships,” Nudel said. “We made sure to specify that the relationships we were talking about could be romantic or friendships or even family relationships.” She explained that this is
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different from how consent and sexual education are taught throughout school. Usually relationships are predominantly depicted as romantic or sexual, when the reality is that relationships come in many forms. Susannah Bell, an eighth grade teacher and learning specialist at Longfellow Middle School, was appreciative of the opportunity the eighth graders had to learn about their growing sexuality and healthy relationships. Bell described the importance of BHS Stop Harassing being completely student-led, as it shows students that “healthy and
respectful boundaries about “Our goal with these other members of BHS Stop sex are coming from their presentations is to set in Harassing, felt that BUSD peers.” This normalizes the place a streamlined consent schools weren’t providing expectation of consent among curriculum that all eighth s t u d e n t s w i t h c o n s e n t people of their own age, graders are receiving before education at a young enough according to Bell. they enter Berkeley High,” age, which led to the creation of Rosina Keren, a counselor Sampson said. peer-led consent presentations. at Longfellow, also described Sampson joined BHS Stop “I was an eighth grader the importance of consent Harassing as an eighth grader getting harassed daily at education from peers. at Martin Luther King Jr. King,” Sampson said. “I’ve “Hearing from high school Middle School. During her had my bullies, I’ve had my students who value respect time in middle school, she had fair share of toxic friendships. and consent will hopefully a strong admiration for the That is what has made me feel encourage our students in older students, and now hopes like I’m not up on a pedestal the middle school to respect she can have that same impact preaching about this, because their peers, and to understand on the current eighth graders. it’s happened to me.” the importance of consent,” It has been Sampson’s long Being back in her old Keren said. term goal to give consent classrooms at Martin Luther Keren added that it is critical education presentations to the K i ng Jr. m i d d l e s c h o o l to teach students consent as younger grades. reminded Sampson of her early as pre-kindergarten. “The concept of consent e x p e r i e nc e s t h rou g hout Early on, they will learn respect and healthy relationships and middle school, and made her for ot h e rs’ realize they were bodies, and similar to those of the “The concept of consent and healthy grow up to be students she spoke to. better students. relationships and respecting boundaries Sampson said that Keren said really should start being taught as soon as consent education she hopes the for middle school people learn that they have bodies.” presentations students would will continue hopefully make Emmy Sampson, next year, and harassment issues less b e extended prevalent when they BHS Stop Harrassing President to sixth and enter high school. s e v e n t h BHS Stop graders. She also said it respecting boundaries really H a r a s s i n g h a s b e g u n w ou l d b e b e n e f i c i a l t o should start being taught as coordinating next year’s keep communication open soon as people learn that they presentations. Administrators between the schools, and have bodies, that they have have expressed interest in build relationships between bodily autonomy,” she said. begining presentations earlier students. S a m p s o n , a l o n g w i t h in the future.
Staff Appreciation Week Exposes Dissatisfaction of Teachers though it doesn’t rectify the larger struggles faced by teachers, such as long hours and no overtime pay. From May 2 to May 6, “We work hard and we Berkeley High School (BHS) work in conditions that are celebrated Staff Appreciation tough,” Kaku said. “We don’t Week by holding a raffle for the get overtime. I know a lot of staff of approximately 320. By teachers that work at least 50 the end of the week, the school hours a week. … We go above was able to hand and beyond the out 223 prizes, contract.” “We work hard and we work in condiwith four of them Mary McKee, a b e i n g , “g r a n d BIHS Economics tions that are tough. We don’t get overprizes”. The funds a n d Wo r l d time … We go above and beyond the for the prizes were History teacher, contract.” raised by local elaborated on the businesses, as well need for teacher Karl Kaku, as the generous appreciation in donations of BHS wider society. “My BIHS teacher parents. sense of not feeling T h rou g h out appreciated the raffle, winners were expressed his excitement doesn’t necessarily have selected through the use at winning a grand prize, to do with what Berkeley of an online random name saying that he felt “lucky.” He High School does,” McKee generator. Some prizes, such explained that the raffle is a said. “I feel unappreciated as coffee, mugs, and hats, were “fun way to build community,” by the society at large, I feel BY PHILIPPA ZLATEV staff writer
delivered to the classroom by students. The others were picked up from stores by the winners. Staff also received hourly emails listing the winners, and the gifts they had won. Karl Kaku, a Berkeley International High School (BIHS) English teacher,
unappreciated by the system at play, and I feel unappreciated [with] how little money I make … so much of it is bigger and more systemic than Berkeley High School could ever deal with.” McKee explained how the long-term issues that define the way teachers are appreciated cannot be solved with a raffle or a “week’s worth of praise.” Kaku also examined the lack of appreciation for teachers in the country, which can be seen in low salaries and little to no overtime pay. “It’s nice to be recognized, but looking at the big picture, [a raffle] doesn’t change our society’s view of educators,” Kaku said. “You tell someone you value them by paying them.” Dan Plonsey, a BHS math teacher, was happy when he
won a Peet’s gift card in the raffle, but emphasized the need for teacher appreciation beyond BHS. In terms of the district’s treatment of teachers, he said that felt, “less appreciated than toilet paper.” “The further you get from the classroom, the less you
are appreciated,” Plonsey said. “In the administration and the district, they just see us as interchangeable, like I’ll leave, [and they’ll] plug in a new one, like a light bulb … The state of California doesn’t appreciate teachers. They are just interested in running things.”
Mary McKee remains frustrated with teacher treatment.
MALIN MORELL
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
NEWS
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Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang Discusses AAPI Representation
BHS Students attend Gene Luen Yang Shang-Chi Zoom conference in the library.
BY SASKIA FREEDBERG staff writer
“Back when I was a kid … I loved all of the Marvel superheroes except for one,” said award-winning cartoonist Gene Luen Yang. “I did not like Shang-Chi at all.” As a child, the character of Shang-Chi made Yang feel uncomfortable. But today, Yang is the writer of the monthly Marvel Comic series featuring Shang-Chi, shaping and advocating for improved Asian American representation in the American comic book industry. On May 6, Yang presented over Zoom to students and teachers in the Berkeley High School (BHS) library, as well as several classes that joined remotely. He discussed the representation of Asian
Americans in graphic novels, and his recent work on the reclamation of the character Shang-Chi in the Marvel Universe. “I had not yet worked out what it meant to be an Asian American,” said Yang, whose parents are Chinese and Taiwanese. “It just felt like if I picked up this comic book with an Asian superhero on it and brought it up to the cashier I would be highlighting everything about me that I wanted to keep hidden.” So, Yang stayed away from Shang-Chi comics, never reading a single one as a child. But he continued to be interested in other comics, self-publishing his first comic a year after graduating from college. He published many comics as a young adult and found widespread success with his
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graphic novel, American Born Chinese. Yang rediscovered ShangChi as an adult, already writing and publishing his own comics, and began to learn more about the American comic industry’s fraught relationship with Asian characters. “When you look at the way the American comic book industry has treated Asian Americans and Asians, it just hasn’t been all that great,” Yang said. He summarized the history of this relationship, beginning with racist political cartoons in the late 1800s, meant to dehumanize and alienate Chinese immigrants. By the end of the 1800s, the sentiments behind these c ar to ons c u l m i nate d i n the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, effectively ending legal immigration from
China to America. comic book character, was because we want to read stories Yang explained that these first developed in the 1970s that affirm the underlying racist images were found not as a heroic counterpart to the truth that everybody can reach only in political cartoons, but extremely popular character the human ideal regardless of also early American comics. Dr. Fu Manchu, a supervillain who we are. … I’m thrilled In 1937, in the first issue of the described by his creator as a to be a part of a comic book long running “detective comic” “Chinese devil.” industry that is moving in that series by DC, the villain was “If you read these early direction.” named Chin Lung. He was a Shang-Chi comics, the appeal At the end of his talk, Chinese “super demon” bent doesn’t come from the reader he took questions from the on taking over the western relating to Shang-Chi or the audience, including from some world. reader imagining themselves classes that joined over Zoom. “The publisher wanted to as Shang-Chi,” Yang said. “He’s A group of freshmen asked use a character that was really not meant to be related to, he’s Yang why he decided to reclaim marketable, that would draw a meant to be looked at. He’s a Shang-Chi when creating the lot of eyeballs,” Yang said. “He spectacle that you’re supposed comics instead of creating a is what we would now refer to watch.” new character. to as a yellow peril villain … Now that Yang works for Yang explained that even designed to monetize the fear Marvel writing a monthly though many DC and Marvel that a lot of Americans at the comic, he explained that stories may “come from not time felt toward the Chinese.” he wants to change this good places,” those universes T h e c o m i c i n d u s t r y stereotypical narrative by are living things, and he feels continued to confine Asian bringing the relatability of he has a choice to either step characters to stereotypical other superheroes to Shang- out of the story or attempt to roles, even when the characters Chi, incorporating “human move it in the right direction. were heroes. flaws” and “desires.” “As imperfect as those “In these early universes are, I still have American comics, a deep heart and passion usually if you saw Asian for those universes. I or Asian American “We want to read stories that affirm would rather fix them characters … they were the underlying truth that everybody and try to move the either a yellow peril can reach the human ideal regard- stories in the right villain or comic relief,” direction,” he said. less of who we are.” Yang said. Yang reflected on Yang c ont i nu e d , how this philosophy can Gene Luen Yang, describing how when be extended to larger, Award-winning Cartoonist Asian characters played more realistic stories the role of comic relief, and the ways in which j oke s of te n ve e re d they are received and into racist tropes and related to. stereotypes. “In a lot of ways, “I feel the same way about “You weren’t supposed to s u p e r h e r o e s a r e a b o u t America.” Yang said. “The laugh because it was inherently goodness, they’re about American stor y is much funny, you were supposed to human ideals,” Yang said. “I rougher than the DC and laugh because … [a character] think that’s why today there’s Marvel stories, but ultimately, was Chinese,” Yang said. this big push for diversity we can either step out of it, or Shang-Chi, another Asian in our superhero comics, we can change it and move the
‘Roe v. Wade’ Supreme Court Draft: BHS Students Respond that people should have autonomy over their bodies.” Ott decided to take action. “I heard about this protest from a friend that “It kind of felt like a slap wanted to do something. … in the face,” said Sam Mat[Overturning Roe v. Wade] sumoto, a film photography is a big deal, that’s really not teacher at Berkeley High okay,” Ott said. “Safe aborSchool (BHS) as she shared tion should be a basic huher opinion on the pending man right and that them overturning of Roe v. Wade. trying to overturn that is re“I’ve grown up my whole life ally messed up. … As a girl, I only knowing the post-Roe feel that this could affect me world, so it’s never really in the future.” been a question to me BHS students that [abortion] would share these sentibe accessible to pregments. On May 12, “We’re always running; run- during lunch, stunant people, that they ning for our lives, running for would be able to access dents held a protest safe and legal abor- an answer, [and] running out of against the pending tion, if that’s what they draft ruling, wearing time.” choose to do.” red clothing in soliThe federal right to darity. Julia Segre abortion is once again Just a few minBHS student being discussed in the utes after the lunch United States Supreme bell rang, about 60 Court, and a draft rulpeople had settled ing written by Justice Sam- being modified to better fit on the lawn to listen to their uel Alito and leaked by un- a growing, learning country. peers stand up and share identified sources indicates Matsumoto said, “[Alito’s speeches, chants, and pothe court wants to return argument is] laughable and ems about coming together abortion to the control of ridiculous. … Of course in protest. individual states. there are other things not Freshman Ruby Nichols Alito wrote, “We hold clearly specified in the Con- helped organize the event, that Roe and Casey must be stitution. … The meaning is which was put together by BY SOPHIE HORVATH & SAMUEL FELDMAN staff writers
overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.” Matsumoto and Sierra Ott, a sophomore in Berkeley International High School (BIHS), both agree that Alito’s statement lacks basis. During the over 200 year history of the United States, the Constitution has seen many amendments,
the Universal Ninth Grade (U9) student leadership, led by Ariana Yerovam. Yerovam explained that they went to a protest in Oakland with a friend a couple days earlier, and were inspired to help spread word about the protest over social media. “On the way back she said, ‘Maybe we should do one of those for Berkeley High,’ and I said, ‘Hell yeah,’ ” Nichols said. “We need to do this. We need to fight for something.”
Julia Segre, a freshman at BHS, was one student who stepped up to speak. Segre read a poem she wrote shortly after the news about the draft ruling aired, and her voice rang into the loudspeaker as she said, “We’re always running; running for our lives, running for an answer, running out of time,” explaining that her generation always has something to fear. “We are standing on a thousand bodies slain … on a thousand words of wis-
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dom and a thousand more of ignorance,” Segre said, expressing the burden placed on the shoulders of young people to handle their elders’ issues. After the lunchtime protest, students were invited to return to their classes carrying signs from the protest with messages in support. Ott wanted students to remember: “You can make change by going to protests and spreading information if you can, telling your friends, and by voting.”
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
NEWS
Unrealistic Media Ideals Lead to Negative Body Image for Men men who have an “ideal” body are “also unfortunately using anabolic steroids, [an artificial form of testosterone], to maintain that “Chris Hemsworth from physique. A lot of celebrities Thor: Ragnarok. That was do that in order to bulk up my ideal body type for in time for movies.” years. That was my goal,” However, many teensaid Gabriel Ross, a junior age boys don’t know this in Berkeley International and turn to diet or exercise High School (BIHS). “That’s routines to achieve their a ridiculous goal. It’s just not desired physique. Accordrealistic at all.” ing to Ross, achieving and While it is common maintaining a specific deknowledge that all forms sired body type is simply of the media contribute to impractical for most people unhealthy and impractibecause it is an expensive cal body standards, what is and time-consuming lifemore often swept under the style. rug is the way that social “You can’t really control media impacts men’s body it, unless it’s your career. image: peddling “ideal” Bodybuilders can control it, body types and conprofessional athletes tributing to a toxic can control it. But, gym culture, creatfor an average person, ing issues such as “Body image for men is a lot more like a student going based on what you do in your eating disorders and through school, it’s body dysmorphia. daily life versus what you’re born very difficult to con“What the metrol,” Ross said. “It just with.” dia says [is that] takes a lot of effort. It you have to be big can take away from Kaelan Thouati de Tazoult, and strong and suother aspects of life BHS junior per, super in shape. and really eat away at Like ridiculously in you.” shape,” Ross said. Fitness influThe expectations for how educator at the Berkeley encers often provide diets or men should look are “gen- High School (BHS) Health exercises in order to achieve erally more in their [own] Center. “Some people have the “perfect,” yet often unatcontrol than women’s,” said full-on teams. They have re- tainable physique on social Kaelan Thouati de Tazoult, a ally good lighting; they have media platforms, leading to junior in Academic Choice all this equipment that helps a toxic gym culture on so(AC). For women, beauty them appear a certain way, cial media. standards are more often poses as well.” “You should not be lookin direct conflict with each Yoon added that a lot of ing for tips for how to get BY ERIN BARTHOLOMEW & TOBI HAIMS staff writers
other, making the whole “ideal physique” relatively unattainable. “Body image for men is a lot more based on what you do in your daily life versus what you’re born with,” Thouati de Tazoult said. “I think that’s less toxic in some ways, because it benefits people who put in the work for what they want, as opposed to just luck of the draw.” Teenagers see the ideal male body type promoted in all types of media, whether it be social media posts, advertisements, or movies. “A lot of people don’t understand the work that’s behind some of these pictures,” said Karis Yoon, a health
lean or how to get super shredded on Instagram; it’s not the best place to look,” said Esteban Juarez, a senior in the Multilingual Program (MLP). “It’s like people who look for their news on TikTok.” Fitness influencers are often not credible sources for health or exercise advice. What works for one fitness influencer may not work for everyone, as everyone’s bodies are different. “For example, some people, no matter how much they work out, will never have a full on six-pack because that’s just how their abdominal muscles look,” Yoon said. According to Juarez, the problem is that “you just see the product. You [don’t] see the four years of work in order to get there.” Juarez said
that it takes “three years of continuous sacrifice. But what social media does is it takes those four years, takes the beginning, takes the end, and mushes them together.” Ross, who is on the BHS wrestling team, has been consistently working out since sixth grade. “I would kind of injure my arm sometimes doing exercises, and keep going, because I couldn’t skip a day,” Ross said. Yoon explained that over-exercising could result in stress fractures and muscle injuries, especially if the body is not ready or used to strenuous exercise. Disordered eating behaviors are also common in gym culture because the whole point is to achieve a certain body type. Trends
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like intermittent fasting and taking steroids are normalized on social media, where men will joke about how they haven’t eaten in 24 hours or brag about feeling sick after eating an extra two thousand calories. Yoon recommended reaching out to a health professional, like a doctor or licensed dietician, for advice on how to maintain a healthy relationship with food and exercise. In order to stay healthy, the most important thing you can do is to listen to your body. Ross described the importance of balance to one’s health. “There’s always a good balance for everyone,” Ross said. “Fitness is good, but it shouldn’t be what rules your life.”
Updated Block Schedule Marks Possible End to Late Mondays
BY SHYEL MEISELS staff writer
As Berkeley High School (BHS) approaches the end of the 2021-22 school year, the administration looks to the students for ways to improve BHS in the coming years. Last March, the BHS administration sent out a survey available to all students, staff, and families regarding what they like and don’t like about BHS, as well as some possible changes that could be implemented next year. These changes
could include a move away from Late Start Monday, as well as a shift to a block schedule from the traditional six class schedule in place currently. Led by BHS’s relatively new Bell Schedule Committee, the group of BHS teachers and staff heading up the process, the school hopes to take stock of what BHS students want and need going forward into future years. “We’re taking a wide view of how we use instructional time here at Berkeley High School, as well as investigating whether there
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are better ways that we can support students academically as well as socially and emotionally,” said Harrison Blatt, BHS vice principal. According to Blatt, the committee is currently in their “Listen and Learn” phase, the second of the five-stage process outlined by the committee. This step includes discussions with the community, visiting other high schools in the area, and more. “We’re trying to gather as much information as we can, look at different school data, and do a literature re-
view,” Blatt said. “We did site schedule is something that cause so many holidays fall visits to other high schools, is being actively looked into on Mondays, by moving and we are working toward by the BHS administration. professional development a possible proposal for our The idea, however, is conto another day of the week, redesigned bell schedule.” troversial among the BHS staff stand to gain an “extra BHS representatives community. In the survey 10 and a half hours” of deare currently in the pro- sent out by the commitvelopment time each school cess of writing a report on tee, students were split on year. Whether or not this is the campuses they visited. whether they wanted to take something that will change, They looked at Albany High all of their classes at once or however, is still unclear, as School and El Cerrito High to transfer to a block systhere has been vehement School to gather informa- tem. Staff members were support of Late Start Montion about what makes their decisively in support of a days from students and parschedules unique. move away from our curents alike. At El Cerrito High rent schedule, with almost “Late Start Monday really School, members of BHS’s 70 percent supporting a helps me stay motivated,” bell schedule committee ex- change. said Shima Dixon, a junior amined the school’s block Another staple of the in Academic Choice (AC). schedule, where students BHS schedule is also in dan“It’s hard to end a weekend, take three to four classes ger of being binned — Late so having a day to slowly each semester, with longer Start Monday is being put progress into the week class periods. into question. The reason makes [the transition] much “What we saw easier.” was that a lot of BHS doesn’t students liked havexpect to make any “[We are] investigating whether ing fewer classes concrete changes very there are better ways that we can soon, with their curat a time to focus on, while educa- support students academically as rent timeline aiming tors liked having well as socially and emotionally.” to have an updated longer class peribell schedule by the ods and consistent 2023-24 school year. Harrison Blatt, times to meet with The board will decide BIHS Vice President their students to go on whether or not deeper into things to put the proposed like project-based changes into praclearning,” Blatt said. “They for this possible change is tice by the end of fall 2022. also felt they had more time due to BHS’s weekly profesPreparations will be comto go into more robust class sional development, taking pleted throughout the 2022activities that just take more place Monday mornings be23 school year, before being time to do,” he said. fore the arrival of students. put in motion the following Implementing a block According to Blatt, befall.
OPINION BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
opinion editors: ELLA CREANE & ELLORA MOOKHERJEE-AMODT
Gender Neutral Restrooms Need Upkeep BY ELIOT HERTENSTEIN staff writer
Bathrooms at Berkeley High School (BHS) are a disaster. Anyone who’s ever used — or attempted to use — a bathroom at BHS knows about the lack of soap, the missing paper towels, the sticky floors, unflushed toilets, and broken stalls. Most of these issues are caused by students, and have gotten so bad that BHS placed parent volunteers outside restrooms last December. However, for some students, the bathroom situation is even worse; many of BHS’s gender neutral bath-
rooms are almost unusable, if not locked completely, meaning it’s extremely difficult for gender nonconforming students to use the restroom during school hours. It’s clear that the BHS administration must make gender neutral bathrooms more accessible to gender nonconforming students. Because there are only two gender neutral bathrooms in the school many gender neutral students find it difficult to use the restroom during the day. Ty Walthall, a sophomore in Berkeley International High School (BIHS) who uses they/them pronouns, said they avoid using school
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restrooms altogether. “There’s only one or two gender neutral bathrooms at BHS in total, which means it’s a long walk just to get to one of them, so I usually end up using the girls' bathroom,” they said. Forcing students to walk over five minutes to use the restroom is unacceptable, especially considering that many teachers have strict bathroom policies. Students may not be able to access the restrooms during passing periods, and therefore need to miss class, which takes away valuable learning time. The stigma of accessing gender neutral bathrooms is another common complaint among students, including Sol de Ugarte, a junior in Academic Choice (AC). “Right before the pandemic closed schools, I tried to talk to someone at the office to ask for a key for gender neutral bathrooms, but was basically told ‘No, ask a security officer,’ ” de Ugarte said. Because many students do not feel comfortable finding a security officer every time they need to use the restroom, or may not be “out” to many of the people at their school, policies like this only alienate trans and non-binary students, and
aren’t much better than alternatives, like personal-use keys for students. According to principal Juan Raygoza, gender-neutral bathrooms at BHS are only locked due to a custodial issue or if it is occupied by a student. “Our custodial staff works as hard as they can to keep them clean and we need our entire community to be respectful of our physical spaces,” said Raygoza. In general, most of these problems could be solved by adding more gender neutral restrooms and communicating with students on how to report an unusable restroom. By increasing the number of gender neutral restrooms on campus, any given restroom would be more likely to be clean and closer to all classrooms. Communication could also help students understand how to report an unusable restroom, leading to faster responses from the BHS custodial staff. Finally, students can also help bathrooms be more accessible. Even if they don’t use gender neutral restrooms, keeping the school’s restrooms clean means BHS custodial staff will be able to keep more restrooms open, ultimately helping everyone.
Importance of AAPI Name Pronunciation BY MIRIAM REICHENBERG staff writer
We’ve all experienced that awkward moment in class, especially at the beginning of the school year, when a teacher fumbles over a name during roll call. Perhaps the teacher tries to say the name, gets it wrong, then asks the student how it’s pronounced, only to forget and mispronounce it the next time. The teacher may even go as far as to give the student a nickname without consent. For students who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander (AAPI), and who sometimes have names written with vowels or consonants strung together in a way that those in the Western hemisphere aren’t used to seeing, this scenario hits close to home. When a student’s name is consistently mispronounced, even unintentionally, it is disrespectful to a person and a group of people, and can set a harmful precedent. Teachers must actively try to pronounce
names correctly to ensure that everyone, including AAPI students, feel valued and respected. Minimizing the significance of pronouncing a name correctly is insensitive, and can be considered a microaggression — a subtle, everyday act of discrimination. This issue certainly permeates the classrooms in our own community at Berkeley High School (BHS). Luh Putu Cahyani Aisling Dewi, a sophomore in Academic Choice (AC), identifies as AAPI. When she was younger, Dewi’s teachers and peers started calling her ‘Chai,’ and the name stuck. As a result, many stopped trying to pronounce her full name, and Dewi has stopped correcting those who attempt to sound it out. Names are a direct link to our heritage or identity and they are imbued with meaning. According to Dewi, her full name has Bengali, Sanskrit, and Irish roots. Dewi’s nickname ‘Chai,’ then, doesn’t accurately reflect her whole heritage. When teachers fail to create an en-
vironment in which every student’s name and, by extension, identity, is valued, students can feel othered. Of course students should feel comfortable correcting people who mispronounce their names, but teachers must take the lead and set an example for others. Teachers are, after all, role models to their students. If classmates hear a teacher putting in the effort to get a name right, they are more likely to do the same. Teachers don’t need to be perfect, but they should show an interest in trying. This means
making a consistent effort to learn more about how certain letters or sounds common in AAPI names are pronounced. After asking a student for the correct pronunciation of their name, teachers can also jot down the phonetic spelling. We all deserve to have our names pronounced correctly, regardless of race, identity, or background. While asking the correct pronunciation of a name for the fourth time can be embarrassing, doing so allows us to see someone as a whole person.
AAPI name pronounciation is often neglected by teachers.
AVA MUSSI
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
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ELLACREANE@students.berkeley.net
THE MORAL: REPRESENTATION LILIANE LOZAC'H
Media is inescapable no matter where one tries to hide. Even before the “digital age,” media was still prevalent in every way possible. Literature — storytelling — has been how the human race has communicated for centuries, even when television, online news, and social media were nonexistent. But now, the media reflects our society. However, the reflection that is promoted to us — on TV, on social media, in advertising — isn’t a complete picture. Media is projected to everyone, forced down our throats to a point that is almost laughable. And, since there has been so much censorship of what is allowed to be in the media, we aren’t fully exposed to the multitudes of the human race. Children, watching heterocentric shows, reading heterocentric novels, and observing their heteronormative society, have little to no way of knowing that there is more out there than the nuclear families that they see on TV. This is why representation is one of the most crucial things to the progression of the gay rights movement and our advancement as a society. There are so many people out there, not just queer people, who don’t get to see themselves depicted in their favorite books and films. Even in a day and age where media is ubiquitous, there are still so many underrepresented groups — and why? An influx of media that includes or centers around queer people would be invaluable to kids and adults who have never seen themselves in the media they consume, as well as allowing some people to recognize and accept themselves for who they are. It would be a huge deal to bring queer stories to the forefront of the media and accept all different kinds of relationships as the standard, instead of just heterosexual ones. The danger of a single story is not only that minorities are silenced, but that it causes a widespread case of myopia for the slice of the population who aren’t being exposed to people different than themselves. If we don’t support and fund this exposure, negative opinions about queer people will never change. It will always be a case of “them” versus “us.” We’ve been doing good, but we could be doing better. Queer shows are still getting canceled after season one, books are still getting banned from stores and schools, and media is constantly being censored. These stories are repeatedly failing to be portrayed, and it’s causing an obvious barrier in the rate at which LGBTQ+ people are being accepted and accepting themselves. All anyone wants from the media, in the end, is to see and relate to the stories that are being told. If we keep repeating this cis, straight, white narrative, we drown out voices that matter and deserve to be heard, as well as censor the large majority of humanity that doesn’t fit into those categories. Representation is an indispensable tool if we want to perpetuate an equal, empathetic, and integrated society.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
OPINION
EDITORIAL
Oppression Olympics Further Racial Disparity The artificial construction of race is a spectrum, parallel to the scale of oppression, where, in both the United States and Berkeley High School (BHS), Asian Americans have historically fallen into a marginalized gray area between privilege and maltreatment. In an age where the fight for social justice and equity among races has slowly pushed minorities to the forefront of social discussion, the last thing we need to focus on is who’s had it the worst. The conversation surrounding acknowledgement of racism in the BHS community needs to support students of all races. At BHS, the politically and socially active students are eager to participate in discussion concerning racial injustice that occurs both inside and outside the walls of campus. These conversations typically end with the same general consensus: every individual, despite concern of identity, is limited in perspective by their own biases drawn from personal experience. Therefore, in their eyes, they are incapable of analyzing and comprehending the experiences of those unlike themselves. In recent years, there’s been an observable shift in these
conversations, moving from sharing experiences to creating a social ranking system. An attempt to see who has suffered the most at the hands of bigotry. So why does this happen? Creating a social hierarchy allows us to better digest and comprehend human complexities. In this case, oppression has caused minorities to become dependent on a ranking in order to extort identity, something that’s been stripped away through years of vanquishing culture. This inherently dismisses and diminishes individual experience, creating further division and tension between minority groups. One of the biggest problems we face as a society today is fear of not being “woke” enough when it comes to the social issues surrounding ourselves and our communities. Nobody wants to appear ignorant. Nobody wants to get canceled. As a result of this oppression hierarchy, Asian American students have been forced to grapple with the fear and insecurity of somehow dampening the hardships of other minority groups simply by voicing our own. This mindset is false and incredibly harmful to the community at large. Students don’t need to understand all minority experiences in order to speak about their feelings on their own experiences. In fact, a thoughtful and wider range of input could only make our community more progressive, in terms of overcoming our limits in perspective. Students should be able to speak without fear of repercussions. The BHS community must understand that oppression, no matter the shape or form is unacceptable. Compassion and sincerity are what’s going to push the needle forward in combating racism. This can be accomplished through change in both classroom and social environments. As with all concepts that are new to us, we must first
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be open and honest with ourselves about our lack of understanding. We must remain humble in order to promote open-mindedness, otherwise we won’t be able to grow. In this case, students at BHS and people across the nation should be introduced to the idea of the Oppression Olympics and the harmful effects they have on everyone. We should have a fundamental understanding of what they are, where they came from, and why they exist in order to understand why they’re bad. We must also find comfort in never being able to fully align ourselves with the definition of “woke.” This is what’s blocked us from becoming truly progressive in America, and especially Berkeley. Being troubled by the idea that we’ll never be able to fully conceptualize each other's experiences will never accomplish anything productive. We must recognize that we are able to combat this obstacle through the inclusion of more perspectives. A wide range of perspectives is the only thing that will allow us to make decisions most justified and appropriate for each challenge we face regarding racism in America. Finally, in order to achieve social justice and equality for all, we can’t be so unforgiving and hostile towards those who think differently from us. Hatred will never be abolished through actions based in hatred. We need to work to be more productive in terms of how we tackle racism and prioritize what’s important to the people who are suffering because of it. As a community at BHS, and as a society as a whole, we need to invest our thoughts in abolishing injustices, rather than ranking them for sake of our own understanding. The suffering of people will never be lessened by getting caught in the systems designed to inflict suffering. If we want to defend civil liberties, we need to defend civil liberties for all.
Teachers Must Remain Considerate During End of Year
Many students are overwelmed by the end of the year.
BY HOLDEN ELIAS staff writer
The end of the school year is a time of immense stress for many students. Over the course of the preceding two semesters, large projects and tests most likely came up sporadically, as a class finished a particular unit or area of study. However, the end of the second semester is marked by a sudden shift away from this norm, with most, if not all classes suddenly being taken up by a final project or test. This is inherently bad for students, as it puts enormous amounts of pressure on them, inevitably leading to an increase in stress and a decline in the quality of their work. Having a final project or exam makes sense for many classes; they provide a way for teachers to evaluate students' understanding of the entire class curriculum. They also allow teachers to see how students perform on a longer-term assignment, instead of the day-to-
JEROME PAULOS
day work that they might typically get. However, these final projects come with the massive downside of causing enormous amounts of stress for students. “They are pretty draining, because they're group projects,” says Reka Kozek, a tenth grader in Berkeley International High School (BIHS). “So we have to work together and coordinate with a group. I definitely have more work outside of school.” Prolonged periods of stress don’t motivate people to work - they often only contribute to feelings of burnout and exhaustion. Nevertheless, students are expected to meet rigid deadlines, which means that they have to continue on, regardless of the toll that is being taken on their mental health. The impact of inundating students with work at the end of the school year, when many students are already feeling worn out, needs to be addressed. Teachers could help students by simply pro-
viding more time dedicated solely to final projects at the end of the year, which would reduce the amount of unnecessary work which would need to be done at once. Additionally, other, more comprehensive solutions could be considered, like moving to a system where students only have three or four classes per semester, and then switch to a different set of classes. The semester solution appeared on a survey sent out to students as part of a wider initiative: a school bell schedule redesign. The number of students supporting a shift to having three or four classes at a time fell just short of a majority, at around 48.7 percent. However, students who struggled with their mental health or had an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) were much more likely to support a shift to less simultaneous courses, suggesting that students who struggle with school want the school year to function differently. None of these solutions are perfect: asking teachers to dedicate more time to final projects could force them to compress the actual curriculum into a shorter time frame. Having fewer classes per semester isn’t a universally popular solution, and many classes — such as Advanced Placement science classes — wouldn’t adapt well to a framework like that. However, considering different solutions to this problem is worthwhile. Hopefully, teachers and students begin to talk more about the end of year grind, so that students can feel less stressed and overloaded.
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
OPINION
LOOKING DEEP WITHIN ELI KNISBACHER
RIOKA HAYAMA
The Fetishization of Asian Women: A Global Issue BY VIVIANA HILARIO staff writer
The fetishization of East Asian women can easily go unnoticed, especially in a city as liberal as Berkeley. However, everyday, East Asian women are stripped of their humanity. Whether it be through social media interactions or passing comments regarding harmful preferences, they are reduced only to sexual beings in the eyes of Western society. This issue affects millions of women around the globe, including here at Berkeley High School (BHS). Mina Moreland, a senior in Berkeley International High School (BIHS), shared her experiences as an East Asian girl in Berkeley. “Most [of the] outright fetishization I see and have experienced takes place online — I think because people are more comfortable saying things like that when it’s not to your face,” Moreland said. “People tend to make comments online such as, ‘I’ve always had a thing for Asians’ or other phrases which come across as casual mentions of a preference but signal a bias towards and fetishization of East Asian women.” It’s important to remember that people can’t draw this up to their environment, as Asian people make up the smallest demographic at BHS. People aren’t born with a certain type, or specific features that they find attractive, it’s all learned. This is why it’s imperative that those with an “unconscious Asian preference” examine where this supposed attraction emerges from. The line between preference and fetishization of East Asian women can also affect many East Asian women’s views on dating. BIHS senior Lindsey Chou explored
this, touching on comparison to white girls, how her race might play a part in attraction, and overall insecurities. It is evident that many East Asian women across the globe have grappled with these effects of being fetishized, which creates challenges in the dating world and their own self-perception. The fetishization of East Asian women is not only an issue in the world of dating and sexual preferences, but one of the many ways in which the impacts of anti-Asian racism are felt, especially in the Bay Area. Chou explained that the fetishization of East Asian women “really shapes the way I perceive myself in relation to others … and is pretty deeply ingrained in how I see the world.” It’s easy to believe that a community such as BHS may be more progressive than others, but even in a very liberal community, it can still exist. It’s common for East Asian girls to wonder if those who express interest in them beyond a platonic relationship genuinely like them, or if it’s solely due to their race. This frustrating question never goes away, as one’s race is something they will live with for the rest of their lives. The impacts of the objectification of Asian women extend beyond these direct encounters, connecting to the objectification of women, and of human beings in general. If we are to amend our society and its perception of East Asian women, it is imperative to listen to those most affected by this fetishization, to understand and process their thoughts and experiences completely unfiltered and uninterrupted.
My father seemed drained; work had probably stressed him out. I tried not to bother him, but as usual, I failed. I eventually ensnared myself in a fight with my sister. That annoyed my father. Something deep within his subconscious seemed to click. No longer were the day’s injustices — rude phone calls and misencounters with clients — undiagnosed and unpreventable. In his eyes, they now became my fault, and undermining me became the cure. So he yelled, my sister watched, and it hurt. My father ended his daily cathartic explosion, as usual, by self-justifying. He yelled, he said, because I didn’t respect him. I owed him respect because he is my father. He finally stopped. I finished my dinner in silence, laid my plate by the sink, and walked into my room. I closed the door, careful not to slam it, and lied on my bed. I cried. I contemplated various curses I wished to spit at my father. Blinded by grief and vengeance, I didn’t consider the significance of my father’s singular quiet sentence: the fallacy about respect. And quite the fallacy it was. Trite, antiquated, indoctrinated into him by his parents, no doubt. Yet even so, difficult to contradict. Had he not copulated with my mother, I wouldn’t exist. Without him, my body, mind, and soul would be but a forgotten dream, an unrealized idea, subject to burning in some multiversal hell. However, my father believes I owe him respect, not a life-debt. This belief of my father’s seems almost cinematic in its lack of realism. Often, thriller movies feature cold, aloof protagonists plagued by rocky peer relationships. Eventually, the protagonist will save a peer from being eaten by a zombie or hit by a train, and in doing so, earn their respect. Fathers, however, don’t save lives, they create them. Seeing as creating a life demands far less courage than saving a life, no father deserves respect by virtue of having procreated. Nonetheless, many fathers deserve respect. Fathers who protect their offspring, who teach their sons that it’s okay to cry, who handle their own emotions adequately, rather than projecting, blaming, and undermining — these fathers are worthy of respect. Often, people don’t realize their fathers fit into this category. Because our biases often blind us to our fathers’ true natures, and everyone else’s for that matter, we are unable to fairly assess how they deserve to be treated; or what, in my father’s words, we owe each other. Because only realized biases can be countered, we owe each other self understanding. Our biases are rooted in the subconscious. To eliminate, or at least grow aware of our biases, we must look deep within. I thus owe my father not necessarily respect, but introspection. Over the past year, I’ve looked within. I found sadness and anger and an unwarranted responsibility to take care of my father. In a healthy relationship, I would have felt happy and appreciated, my father should have taken care of me. Because I looked within, I’ve painfully realized that my relationship with my father is abusive. Because I looked within, I’ve realized that I don’t owe him respect, yet still, to some degree, I do respect him. Because I fulfilled my duty to my father — looked within — I decided to leave.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
INVESTIGATIVE
INVESTIGATIVE BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
Investigative editor: Erin Bartholomew
erinbartholomew@students.berkeley.net
Four Years In: Evaluating the U9’s Successes and Limitations adults,” said U9 math teacher Leah Alcala. “I dents out of this “empowering” space and put teachers instead of SLCs that range from 60 to think that I just learn other things about my kids them into a predominantly white space. 300 students per grade. They still go into the from the adults that I’m talking to.” While he has come around to the U9, AMPS SLCs for the rest of high school, through a Dana Moran, a U9 Ethnic Studies teacher, and history teacher John Tobias worried about the complex lottery system that allows them to perco-leader of the LEAP program, agreed with Alchallenges students who would have been in sonalize their high school experience to what cala. AMPS face in the U9. they desire — maybe choosing the three “small “Having the U9 I think is a huge step forward “Now [students] might have to defend their schools” for a tighter-knit, for BHS, and I feel very humanity to some European American kid who “The minute they step out of this confident in saying that no just hasn't learned enough,” Tobias said. “That’s environment, Berkeley International High School school, they’re going to encounter ninth grader falls through volatile. In AMPS that does not happen. It never (BIHS) for the Internaa world that is not going to be all the cracks at BHS any more,” happened under my watch. Because no Europetional Baccalaureate (IB) Black people, all brown people, or all Moran said. “It used to be an American kid would dare, and that was bediploma, or Academic really easy to just not go to cause of the demographic and the culture we’ve Choice (AC) for its pleth- white people. … That’s one of the class or get bad grades, and built here.” best things that the U9 has done.” ora of options. nobody noticed because evSpanish teacher, and co-lead teacher of the Now, as the class of 2022 erybody had too many kids World Language Department Susi Lopez had a graduates, the first class to and there was this big shufdifferent take. Susi Lopez go through the Universal fle and teachers didn't talk “Part of our job as educators is to give our stuSpanish Teacher 9th Grade program (U9), to each other. If you were in dents some training for the time they leave high the Jacket has decided to one of the bigger programs it school,” Lopez said. “The minute they step out of investigate just how fully the program delivwas sort of sink or swim and there was a lot more this school, they’re going to encounter a world ered on its initial goals. Through comprehensinking.” that is not going to be all Black people, all brown sive interviews with students, staff, parents, Universality, as the name suggests, was another people, or all white people. … I think that’s one and administrators, the Jacket has been able to important goal. of the best things that the U9 has done for kids, analyze the full success of the program. Friedman said that they wanted every student that we start the training for after high school A primary goal of the program was student who entered BHS to take most of the same relareally early on.” support. tively rigorous classes. A uniUltimately, Minassian Hasmig Minassian didn’t want anyone to feel versal curriculum was cre- “It used to be [that] if you were thinks it’s a tradeoff. lost when they entered BHS, and thought stuated, including a new “Ethnic in one of the bigger programs While she is “on the dents needed more support from teachers. This Studies/Social Living” class, fence” as an educator about the it was sort of sink or swim, and demographic differences becomes in the form of wraparound support in that was implemented with the hive structure and the Learn, Engage, Acthe U9. In this way, the U9 there was a lot more sinking.” tween SLCs and their effects, she celerate, and Persist (LEAP) program, an elecwas intended to level the said they “decided to sacrifice tive course in which groups of 10 to 15 students playing field for all students what was good about [AMPS] Dana Moran, receive support and develop their academic starting high school. for 60 kids to provide all the rest U9 Teacher skills. This of this for 800.” Minassian specifical- “[In U9, students] might have uniformity Students in the U9 are ly wanted to see students’ also applies to the makeup of also meant to be more informed about what to defend their humanity to grades, attendance, graduaeach hive and class. Whereas they’re getting into when choosing SLCs, a prosome European American kid tion rates, and eligibility to before, students would imthat now happens in the spring of their ... That’s volatile. In AMPS that mediately be sorted into SLCs cess apply for UC and Califorfreshman year, instead of during their eighth does not happen." nia State University (CSU) upon entering BHS. SLCs begrade year. For SLC choice, it’s hard to imagine schools improve as a result of ing programs which have difthat spending a year on campus doesn’t help stuthe U9's support. fering demographics, now have dents feel more informed when ranking SLCs, John Tobias, Unfortunately, these markone year in diverse classes that but stereotypes and rumors are still perpetuated AMPS Teacher ers are, for the most part, match the demographics of the nevertheless. not being measured by the entire student body. So, was the U9 a success? school. The Jacket has been in Students and teachers Based on the anecdotal and qualitative data discussion with the school since February in efdisagree about the benefits of this change. the Jacket has collected, for the most part, yes. forts to gain access to this data, but the school The Academy of Medicine and Public SerOf the students the Jacket spoke to, many feel has not been responsive to the requests. In advice (AMPS) for example, is made up of supported through LEAP and their hives, and dition, some of the data pertaining to this year’s predominantly Black and brown students. teachers definitely feel that they have more cagraduating class is not available yet. Some teachers that the Jacket spoke to, pacity to help students. Recently, the Jacket filed a Freedom of Inforsaid they see it as harmful to take stuThe diversity of the program seems to be a mation Act (FOIA) request for the data from trade-off, and greatly depends on what one valthe District, but has not heard back yet. Even if ues in a school. the Jacket did gain access to the data, it would Minassian though, is proud of the program as likely be skewed by the effects of the COVID-19 a whole. pandemic. “I would do it again, but not in this lifetime,” Teachers meet in their hives usually once a she said. week to coordinate lesson plans and pedaNote: This article has been shortened gogical strategies. for print. Find the full version at our “Before the U9 … I had that 180 website, berkeleyhighjacket.com. hours with my kids. Now I have those 180 hours plus the time spent talking about those kids with other CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
FEATURES
DRAGON LADY
9
AAPI MONTH STUDENT SUBMISSIONS YELLOW PERIL
RIOKA HAYAMA
DYLAN PRICE
RIOKA HAYAMA
Dahil Sa'yo
You, this mother-tongued rhythm quick to finish the sentence I’ve been asking for a while now, Wondering if I’m writing an elegy, like if this all starts and ends with You Because of you hundreds of thousands of people are proud to be pinoy A series of chills spread to every inch of my barely 5 foot body when I hear your chant That used to sound foreign to me
Juniper Dorado
That I stuttered repeating after those who spoke Tagalog since they were 3 You are the immediate response when someone asks me what’s Fil-Am history month? The celebration of resistance, celebration of claiming your place in this country And As I take notes to remember your importance to my identity as a Fil- Am I selfishly ask if this is even my history to claim. “The past is alive, a living thing. You own it, owe it… You have a sacred..legacy, a birthright.” Dahil sa’yo
KONANI CHINN
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
FEATURES BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
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Downtown Asian Eateries Offer a Blend of Cultural Cuisines BY SOFIA RODRIGUEZ staff writer
Every day, hungry students leave Berkeley High School (BHS) to crowd the surrounding restaurants. BHS is located right near the epicenter of Downtown Berkeley, allowing students
access to the many cusines of the area. Many of these restaurants rely heavily on students for their revenues. Although students may not think about the impact of buying a rice triangle or pad thai, those few purchases can make the difference between whether businesses stay afloat or not.
Oori is a Japanese and Korean-inspired restaurant located on Shattuck Avenue between Allston Way and Center Street. The main dishes served there are varieties of rice triangles, a seaweed-wrapped triangle of rice, with your choice of topping. Oori's Berkeley location is owned by Franciso Rodriguez. It’s also relatively new, having only been open for about 10 months. Even though the time since opening has been relatively short, Oori has been doing well. "The students are what makes Oori strong and bring in a lot of business and it’s going well so far,” Rodriguez said.
Popular lunch spot Oori is located on Shattuck.
According to Rodriguez, Oori’s most popular dish is their chicken teriyaki rice triangle. Isabel Stubbs Swing, a sophomore in Berkeley International High School (BIHS), enjoys going to the restaurant. “It's a pop-
CLARA ELM NETTESHEIM
ular lunch place that is very fast and really filling,” she said. Stubbs Swing and her friends' go-to orders are the teriyaki chicken and short rib rice triangles, as well as the student-discounted bowls.
BHS students are key to Toss Noodle Bar's success. CLARA ELM NETTESHEIM
Toss Noodle Bar is located on Shattuck Avenue, between Kittredge Street and Bancroft Way, and is a favorite of many students. According to Toss’s general manager Ake Tang, the restaurant’s cuisine is a blend of Asian cultures, based on Thai, Korean, and Japanese dishes. It first opened in 2013, and so far BHS students have been very fundamental to it's success. “We make sure students get food as fast as possible so that [they] have time to enjoy and go back to class. We
really want to make people happy,” Tang said. The eatery’s signature dish is stirfried noodles, but with the number of choices of ingredients to add, it's almost guaranteed that anyone will enjoy whatever they decide to order. Tillie Margulies, a junior in Academic Choice (AC), said, “Toss is the place to go for noodles.” Although it’s a toss-up deciding what to get, one can’t go wrong ordering the most popular dish: a bowl of Hokkien noodles, Japanese sauce, and tofu.
Tasty Express is a new downtown Chinese spot.
Tasty Express is a new Chinese restaurant located on Shattuck Avenue, close to Center Street. They sell traditional Chinese food such as broccoli beef, fried rice, hot and sour soup, and
CLARA ELM NETTESHEIM
fried dumplings. It opened about four months ago and although the business has been a little slow, according to the manager Yujia Lee. “There are a few high school students that have come
and it’s been nice having them support us during our opening.” According to Lee, their most popular dish is the Mongolian beef, a steak with onions and mixed veggies.
Bay Area Teenagers Defy Gender Norms at Local Skate Parks BY AELIA GYGER staff writer
“If I'm a girl, and I'm good at skating, the first thing that guys will resort to is just being really threatened by me,” said Naiya Leighton, a sophomore at Oakland Technical High School (Oakland Tech) who has been skating for three years. “A lot of the time [they] mansplain things to
me and [say things like], ‘Oh, you're not doing that right, you don't know how to do that trick." They won't let me just have fun on my skateboard,” Leighton said. Leighton is not the only skater who has observed how gender identity affects their experience at skate parks. Penelope Griffin, a sophomore at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, has been surrounded by skating culture her whole
Clyde Scott is a non-binary BHS skater.
ROWAN KENNEDY
life. Her dad owns a skate hardware company and they often go to the skate park together. “If I go to the skatepark with my dad,... people will talk to him and then kind of ignore me, which I think is weird because my dad's a 40 year old man and I'm like a teenager… [so why are] teenage kids talking to him instead of me?” said Griffin. Griffin recalled another similar experience, when a teenage skater boy started asking her dad questions about her skating. “He wasn't saying anything negative...but I just felt really weird because he could have asked me…he was acting like I wasn't there.” Sometimes, however, the gender disparities aren’t as explicit. With Naiya Leighton’s male skater friends, it's often more passive aggressive. "They bully me in a way that's not friendly compared to their friends that are guys if we're all skating in a group… but it's just really
passive aggressive, I guess, and nobody else notices but me.” Both Leighton and Griffin participated in a Bay Area program called Skate Like A Girl, that uplifts young women and nonbinary skaters. “[Skate Like A Girl] introduced me to a community of women and non binary skaters, which was a really good thing to have first starting out in skating, because it can be really intimidating,” said Leighton. For Iris Jackson, a freshman at Oakland Tech, gender representation in skate culture should go beyond the skate park. “There's a lot of shows I've seen about mainly men skating and it could be cool if there's a lot more other people.” Clyde Scott, a sophomore in Academic Choice (AC) started skating around four years ago. They said they would like to see more acceptance in skate culture. “I think there’s a lot of people
Juniper Dorado roller-skates at the Berkeley Stakepark.
who skate and it gives them an ego which makes the community less inviting. But skating should be open to anyone, regardless of skill, gender, etc.” Yet the skate park isn’t only home to skateboarders. Sasha Wizelman, a senior in Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS) added that roller skaters also use the skate park and experience similar dynamics. At the skatepark, barely any girls or non binary skat-
ROWAN KENNEDY
ers can be seen, making it harder for this demographic to feel welcomed.“I do have a couple of girls that I skate with, which is nice because going to the skate park alone, especially … [if there are just] guy skateboarders … it’s not as fun and harder to enjoy yourself,” said Dorado. Skating can be a community, one where people can hang out and skate together, but it isn’t perfect and more inclusion is needed.
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
FEATURES
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Bay Area Book Festival Features Diverse Collection of Authors BY JONAH LACHS & MARGOT JOHNSON staff writers
If you were walking around Downtown Berkeley on the weekend of May 7, you may have stumbled upon the largest annual book festival in the Bay Area. Every year, the Bay Area Book Festival draws authors and readers to Berkeley from all across the country. This year’s fair included stands from authors, writing associations, and book stores; it also hosted events, panels,
and food trucks. This year was the festival’s first year back since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the energy and atmosphere picked up right from where it left off. The fair is an excellent way to get writers, such as Minneapolis-based author Tracy Moore, and their books large public exposure. Moore came to the fair to promote her new book, The Fire She Fights, a novel based on the true stories of female firefighters in Metropolitan Minneapolis. According to Moore’s website,
she served as a firefighter for over twenty years. “Berkeley is awesome. California is awesome,” Moore said. “I know people really like to read here. I knew it would be a sunny, beautiful day. I just thought that this would be the perfect setting for my book, which promotes women in a city that is progressive.” Lea Angstman was another author who traveled from out of state to attend the Bay Area Book Festival. Angstman traveled from Colorado to debut her newest novel, Out Front the Fol-
Author Tracy Moore came to the Bay Area Book Festival to promote her new book, The Fire She Fights.
lowing Sea. She chose the abundant exposure for the the queer community,” Neu Bay Area Book Festival to work of first-time writers. said. exhibit her work because, Andy Shay has been workAs a child, Neu saw little “It’s a really great queer representaplace to get my tion in the writ“[The festival] is a good way to conbook into people’s ing industry and hands, and meet nect to other people who are passionate decided to create readers one-on that atmosphere about reading and who are willing to -one.” himself. “When read new things and find new books.” “[The festival] I grew up, there is a good way to weren’t a lot of Lea Angstman, connect to other queer books people who are around, and I Author passionate about never saw books reading and who by queer authors, are willing to read new ing on his fantasy book, and I needed more reprethings and find new books,” Generations of Shade, on sentation, so I started writAngstman said. and off for the past ten years ing,” Neu said. “We’re a diThe festival promises and was finally able to pub- verse world, and we have to lish his work in 2022. “I [represent] all of the voices found out about this book that can be heard.” fair online and thought it The book fair also offered could be cool,” Shay said. a wide variety of events and According to Shay, his panels. One of the highpublisher was unsuccessful lighted events was “Historiin widely distributing news cal Fiction: China and Caliof his book. Shay said that fornia”, which featured four aside from selling his book Chinese-American authors at the book fair, he hoped to who answered questions gain a larger social following about their Asian American both among readers and fel- protagonist-driven historilow authors. cal fiction novels. At the end In addition to authors, of the event, audience memthere were stands at the fair bers were able to go up and for writing courses, associa- talk to the authors about tions, and clubs. M.D. Neu, their books. an award winning fiction “I feel like I’m meeting author and founder of the people and having excellent Bay Area Queer Writers As- conversations with them,” sociation (BAQWA), came Moore said. “I’m meeting to the fair with the group to other authors and seeing represent an inclusive com- their great projects. So all munity of writers. “This is in all, the whole book fair one the larger book events, is amazing for the relationand we wanted to make sure ships and connections that we were here to represent I’m making here.” JULIAN CURRIER
BHS Students Celebrate Ramadan With “Spirituality and Joy” ing. But it was still very nice because [although I was] sunrise to sunset, which inbusy… I still got to see some cludes abstaining from all family members.” food, drink, gossip, and exSaleh had a similar expeplicit behaviors. Followers rience. of Islam may also attempt to “It’s super difficult,” said read the entire Quran over Saleh. “Not just because you the course of the month have to watch other people and gather in the evenings, in school eat in front of you. on top of completing daily It’s also because you get a lot prayers. of [school]work… It’s very “And we only have to do difficult to do your homeit for a month,” Saleh said. work after school, you just “You’re getting this perspecwant to go home and sleep tive and a humbling experibecause you don’t have enence. And it’s not just that ergy… On top of that you we fast, it’s also that we have have this religious obligato give to charity […] and tion that you have to follow.” do charity work and give a Chaurel said he somecertain percentage of our intimes fell asleep in classes come.” and was late to first period Sophomore Hisham because he was tired from Chaurel, a student in the fewer hours of sleep. That multilingual prosaid, overall, he gram, said that fastfound fasting for “We only have to do it for a month Ramadan to be fairing during Ramadan teaches not to ... You’re getting this perspective and ly manageable this waste food. year. a humbling experience.” Berkeley High In addition to School students fasting, prayer is an Afnan Saleh, fasting for Ramaimportant part of BHS Student dan during the celebrating Ramaschool day react in dan. There are five different ways. daily prayers that Senior Rumeysa Yamac, also have lab and a bunch are at the core of Islam, as president of the MSA, found of homework as soon as you well as a night prayer for that fasting during Rama- get out of school. Not being Ramadan. Some people dan made school easier for able to get my full sleep or complete all prayers while her. eat food; it was very drain- others are unable to because CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“We would eat breakfast, which is called Suhur, at 5:30 am,” said Yamac. “I was able to manage my time better, and work and study before school, which was very helpful for my classes. It also helped spiritually.” Yamac also celebrated Ramadan through prayer, potlucks, attending mosque, and breaking fast with her family and friends. Many students observed that Ramadan allowed them to connect with family and community, while also noting it was a challenge to fast while keeping a full schedule. “I have to focus on school and pull out 100% of my energy for each class,” said junior Iman Shaikh. “You
of school and other commitments. “You have to be content with the worship and your relationship with God,” said Chaurel. “Because without prayer, your fast will be meaningless.” The MSA offers a space in the M building for students to complete their daily Dhuhr prayer, which takes place around 1:00 pm. On Fridays, the MSA hosts a Jama’ah which is a longer prayer where a BHS student leads a discussion about Islam and elaborates on a few sayings of the prophet Muhammad. Then, a 5-10 minute Dhuhr prayer is led for and by a group of students. The end of Ramadan is
celebrated with a three day celebration called Eid alFitr. On Eid al-Fitr, those celebrating the holiday dress in formal attire, and complete a prayer for Eid al-Fitr early in the morning. The MSA hosted a celebration where they gave out candy, played games, discussed their festivities, and voted for next year’s MSA leadership team. “[Eid] is one of the biggest festivals in Islam,” Chaurel said. “It promotes us to give to charity and give food to the poor and needy. It really teaches us to be better human beings and it also marks the end of Ramadan.” While Muslims hold similar Islamic beliefs, the
RAPHAEL BARBOZA
experience of Ramadan is different for many. “Some kids are celebrating it not with family,” said Shaikh. “Some kids don’t have the privilege that their parents know that they are Muslim or some kids just don’t have the time. Some kids are at school playing sports... [so they’re] also drained...” Students who spoke to the Jacket discussed challenges, while also highlighting the community and connection felt with family and friends. For many Muslim students at BHS, spirituality and joy is deeply intertwined in the celebration of Ramadan.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
ENTERTAINMENT BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
Entertainment editors: Ruby Freedman & MARINA HOWARD
GAVIN’S FROG LOG GAVIN TROTMORE
I find myself at a bittersweet conclusion. What a year. I created the frog log for frog enthusiasts to have an interesting place to get reliable information and fun stories pertaining to these amphibians. While sad, something isn’t beautiful because it lasts. Love, loss, life, and death can all be learned from frogs, and observed in humans. With a heavy hand I mark these biweekly accounts, and I am forever grateful to have had residency in this publication. That being said, hello readers and fans alike! I hope all of you are enjoying the outdoors as we closely approach summer, and are eager to hear the alluring ambience of a pale summer night’s croaks. Before we get into our species of the column, let’s find out more about frogs’ sound effects in the summer. Male frogs croak in the summer in order to woo females. While it may sound like singing, what is actually happening is very complex. As air from their lungs vibrates their vocal chords in the larynx, the resulting sounds are amplified in expandable vocal sacs in the mouth and throat that function like loudspeakers. What’s also fascinating is that the male specimens spread themselves out evenly amongst the breeding grounds near water to croak in choir. Females are able to pick out the specific call of their species without fail. So suffice it to say, hearing the summertimes means some frogs are going to get croaky. With our closing issue, I would like to examine one of my favorite frogs of all time: The Vietnamese mossy frog. Easily mistaken for vegetation, these frogs blend in to look like 3.5 inch long clumps of moss. This texture looks as though it is consuming a frog underneath, a facade of the surrounding environment reflected on the creature. They find meals in crickets, cockroaches, and earthworms. Inhibiting various deep greens, these frogs definitely live up to their title. In honor of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month, we will also be learning about Zhao Ermi. He was from Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan Province in China, and graduated from Huaxi University in 1951. Ermi described and named 38 new series (or sub-series) of amphibians and reptiles and two new genera of amphibians. He was also one of the first amphibian and reptile scholars to enter Tibet for investigation purposes. As if he wasn’t enough of a trailblazer already, Ermi was also the first to add a new “sub-area of the south slope of the Himalayas” to the southwest area in animal geographic divisions, mainly according to the distribution of reptiles. Alas, we come to a conclusion. To make this sum supple, think about your future frog learning. Perhaps it doesn’t go further than glancing at a couple specimens in a zoo, perhaps you go into the wilderness and flip logs to find a Foothill yellow legged. Whatever the case may be, I implore you to keep frogs in your lives and hearts.
rubyfreedman@students.berkeley.net
‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Stuns BY SERENNA REDWOOD staff writer
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a movie directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and has been labeled as the most recent sci-fi/action blockbuster movie. In reality, although action is prevalent, the film crosses many genre lines and goes into difficult topics such as generational trauma and the existential quandary of what really matters in life. Everything Everywhere All at Once is an amazing film that makes the viewer think deeply about their lives and our universe. The plot follows a Chinese American laundromat owner named Evelyn Quan Wang. When the Wang family is audited by the IRS
and made to attend a meet- of traveling into other uni- made her pull away from ing with an agent, Evelyn verses, such as eating chap- her family. The audience very quickly and shockingly stick or breaking your own sees how Evelyn’s experifinds out that the multiverse arm, to the universes them- ence leaving her family and exists. More than that, she selves, this movie never fails home in China affected the has been selected as the one to be chaotically hilarious. way that Joy was raised and who must prevent an un- These other universes show the environment she grew known being from destroy- every potential version of up in. ing it. For context, This film also the multiverse is the starred an extremely theory that there are From ridiculous methods of trav- talented cast of well infinite universes, eling into other universes, such as known actors such as different and alike to eating chapstick or breaking your Michelle Yeoh and Jaours in every possible mie Lee Curtis, along own arm, to the universes them- with the prolific way. There is no other selves, this movie never fails to be James Hong, Stephachaotically hilarious. way to label Everynie Hsu, and Ke Huy thing Everywhere Quan. The film was All at Once as anyalso produced by thing other than executed Evelyn there is, and all the the Russo brothers who are chaos. Usually with movies hopes and dreams she has known for their work with about the multiverse, direc- had throughout her life. The Marvel, and their touch is tors take a serious tone, but movie artfully grapples with evident in the comedic acKwan and Scheinert went in serious topics with such a tion of Everything Everya much more satirical direc- comedic tone that you hard- where All at Once. tion. ly notice the grand impact Yeoh’s acting is what reFrom ridiculous methods of the movie until it is over. ally pulls everything togethThe second half of the er. This movie is balanced movie has a theme of gen- on the edge of becoming erational trauma and how too chaotic and far out, but to address and fix it. Evelyn, Yeoh’s effortless talent is one has certain ideas about the of the things that keeps the world and who her daugh- film afloat. ter should be, especially Everything Everywhere because of her own child- All at Once is wildly enhood in another country. tertaining and will have On Joy’s end, she struggles you laughing out loud in with feeling accepted by her the movie theater, but also mom. The film shows how delves into deep, existential the trauma Evelyn went topics that are important for through with her father was everyone to think about at then pushed onto Joy, which some point in their life. RIOKA HAYAMA
Rap Culture Impacted By Queer Celebs BY ZADA SANGER staff writer
Rising hip hop artist Isaiah Rashad broke his silence on the highly publicized controversy over his sexuality at his performance at the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In February, a sex tape was leaked, allegedly depicting Rashad with other men, intended to ‘tarnish’ his reputation. Rashad remained out of the public eye following the incident, and his Coachella performance marked his first comments on the subject. Before coming onstage, a montage of prominent voices in the hip hop community speaking in defense of Rashad was played. It was a powerful moment that begs the question of whether or not this development marks a cultural shift in hip hop, eventually leading to inclusivity of LGBTQ+ artists. Historically, masculinity and queerness have been wrongfully depicted in popular culture as mutually exclusive. This miscon-
ception is beginning to be debunked, now that we are more accepting of different identities. Displays of masculinity have long been a prevalent theme in the hip hop genre (as well as many others), which has created a culture that frequently rejects and disparages homosexuality. This change has been in the works for a long time. In a 2005 interview, Kanye West spoke on the issue of rampant homophobia in the hip hop industry, “Everybody in hip hop discriminates against gay people,” he said. “Matter of fact, the exact opposite word of ‘hip hop,’ I think, is ‘gay.’ You play a record and if it’s wack, you say ‘That’s gay, dog’.” In recent years, music artist Lil Nas X faced criticism over his lack of collaboration with other distinguished male hip hop artists, to which he replied, “They just don’t wanna work with me,” due to him being openly gay. Blatant homophobia has gone unchecked in the music realm. We are starting to see this culture change for the bet-
ter. This can also be seen in the overwhelming support of Rashad during this major breach of privacy that undoubtedly was very difficult for him, and is yet another testament to the advancement and the acceptance of LGBTQ+ artists in more mainstream music culture. Rashad’s Coachella montage featured several anonymous quotes regarding the situation, one of which stated, “The purpose of doing that was to try to embarrass him, however it backfired; when his video leaked his streams and everything went up.” Other featured quotes by anonymous re-
spected media figures expressed themes of overall dismay at the disrespect of such a talented and beloved artist. The quotes also displayed a refreshing indifference to the star’s sexuality. “I’ve been hearing a lot of ‘I’m never listening to him again!’ Why? Guy can rap,” said one such figure. At the end of the day, why should an artist’s sexuality be at all relevant to the reception of their music? Music has always been a tool of expression and has challenged many to think differently about the world, and we should listen and learn as it continues to do so.
MAHELA CABRINI
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
ENTERTAINMENT
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African Diaspora Comes Alive she expressed her love for the cross-genre connections that arose through the African Diaspora that stretch as Berkeley High School far as certain elements of hip (BHS)’s African Diaspora hop. dance program — previShorty explained the difously known as Afro Haificulties that were present tian — performed their last throughout the process of show of the year on May 5, creating these pieces, “Al6, 12, and 13. The ways the chalclasses put on live lenge is makperformances in ing sure that “We touch from West Africa, to Guinea, everything is the Little Theto Haiti, to Mexico, to Cuba, Guatemala. synchronized, ater, located at BHS. Their perandwhen you It touches so many different places and formances were have certain spaces.” expressive, filled things like with love and tal[ p r o p s ] i t ’s Ms. Shorty, ent. not the easiAfro-Diaspora program Artistic Director est thing to The show began with Dr. teach.” Dawn Williams Regard(known as Doc Dub by her Guinea, to Haiti, to Mexi- less of the challenges, evstudents), the executive di- co, to Cuba, Guatemala. It erything about the creation rector of the Afro-Diaspora touches so many different process has brought joy to classes. She poured liba- places and spaces” Shorty Shorty. For her, there are tions, in honor of commu- explained. This quality was countless rewarding elenity members who recently uplifted in the shows, which ments of the class. “Everypassed away. Afterwards, featured Samba, Capoeira, thing, the bond, the history, dancers filled the stage with Salsa, and other dance styles the coaching, the students, different pieces from the Af- alongside the Haitian and the joy, the difficulties, the rican Diaspora. African pieces. Additionally, creativity, and knowing that BY MARINA PELLERIN staff writer
The artistic director of the Afro-Diaspora classes Tanzia Mucker (better known as Ms. Shorty) shed light on the distinct nature of Afro-Diaspora Dance. “What makes it unique is that it comes from different genres of Africa. We touch from West Africa, to
they are dedicating themselves to make a vision come true.” BHS senior Miracle Vallot highlighted a very memorable part of the process of putting together the performance. She explained how the stories Shorty tells her students transforms their ideas about the dance. The history behind the dance gets them prepared to perform and to share their art with the audience. Vallot continued, “It just feels like a family, all the time in
here, even the people who aren’t in our class with us, we’re all in here together.” She added on how this type of performance has deep roots and connections, “To know where it came from, it just makes us feel more at home,” Vallot explained. She continued by talking about her experience feeling out of place at school, until joining Afro-Diaspora dance. “Now I found this class, and I have my core group of girls that I’ve been dancing with for, like, four years now. For
SASHA BALASUBRAMANIAN
this to be our last show all together — it feels like we’re getting sent out into the world in the best possible way.” Love for the Afro-Diaspora dance class is all around, and it’s clear that the program is more than a class, but a family. “More [people] need to take the class. It’s more than just the structure and the discipline, it’s being a coach and teaching your little sisters and brothers the drumming or the dances.”
Portrayals of Cops vs. Criminals BY AVHA MEISELS staff writer
— Raven Fonseca Jensen
Crime shows have always been a beloved genre of television because of the suspense, action, and excitement which has always drawn in many viewers. However, not all shows in this genre are the same. Though there are some series like The Wire that show many different perspectives within crime, usually shows and movies tend to follow one of two different perspectives. The first is that of the cop and the second is that of the criminal. Cop shows like Criminal Minds show how police act in their quest for justice, while shows like Ozark demonstrate a criminal encountering obstacles to achieve their end goal. Most cop shows feature either a young cop who’s eager to make the world a better place, or an experienced, tough cop who’s trying to capture the criminal at any cost. Either way, both of these characters typically fit the conventional idea of a hero, which is why so many people love to root for these characters. In reality, it’s a lot more likely to hear mixed opinions about the morality and even the necessity of cops. Yet if you ask someone how they feel about the main character of a cop show, their answer may be much more one-sided. What causes this extreme disconnect? One reason is that many cops in real life don’t fit this exemplary and righteous persona. It makes sense that people would be
disappointed by this misrepresentation of how police are, and how this supposed good samaritan behavior differs so much from reality. Shows that come from the perspective of a criminal are actually very similar to those from the perspective of a cop. Both go through obstacles and successes and both have the viewers cheering for them by the end. However, TV programs from the perspective of a criminal also have a great disconnect from reality. Oftentimes, people watching criminal shows find themselves rooting for the criminals, even when they commit extreme evils. Why do people support these characters on television and persecute them in reality? The answer is simple: it’s easy to support a character when you’re seeing everything from their perspective. One of the key differences between these criminal shows and reality is that viewers are able to see the criminals’ entire backstory; their tragic past, how they think, and what led up to them eventually doing what they did. In contrast, when we see on the news that someone is being arrested for a crime, we never get to
ROBERT GELLNER
see their backstory or anything about them. We don’t get to know their motives or family or the ins and outs of their everyday life. They are reduced down to one picture, one story. After all, it’s much easier to judge a person, rather than sitting with them and trying to empathize. All we know about these people is that they are apparently “criminals.” There are also shows that feature the “Robin Hood effect.” This is when the main character is technically doing “bad” things but is doing them for a moral purpose. An example of this is the popular show Money Heist. It’s easier to understand how the audience can support these characters because they don’t have bad intentions. Both of these characters are idealized versions of reality, the fantasy of Hollywood that poorly translates into the context of real life. Neither of them reflect how people really feel and act when faced with these kinds of situations. This brings up the question of whether it is better to have media reflect the real world, or if having a romanticized version of reality will help us aspire to a better future.
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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Bridgerton’ Season Two Commemorates South Asian Culture BY AVHA MEISELS staff writer
It isn’t every day that a film or series makes a big enough impact on modern day culture that it becomes a cross-generational sensation. Squid Game, Euphoria, and Tiger King are recent examples that got people talking immediately after their releases. One recent show to join this list is the hit period drama, Bridgerton, which follows elite families during the Regency Era in London. The first season created quite a buzz, and its second season, released this past March, is no exception. What sets Bridgerton apart from other period dramas is its racial inclusivity, generally not seen in the genre. Unlike the real Regency Era, known for the luxurious English lifestyles in the early 1800s, racism is a thing of the past in the world of Bridgerton. Interracial marriages are normalized and people of color hold positions of power, including the queen her-
self. Usually, other Regency Era period dramas don’t include people of color under the excuse that they want to stay true to the time period. Shonda Rhymes, the creator of Bridgerton, was the first to break this norm by choosing which historical elements were important to preserve. Rather than focusing on the whiteness of the cast in order to be accurate, Rhymes focused her energy on Bridgerton’s incredible costume and set design. Season two of Bridgerton focused on two new characters, Edwina and Kate Sharma, played by Charithra Chandran and Simone Ashley. The Sharma sisters are the first South Asian characters to appear in Bridgerton. Unlike Indian characters in many other shows, the sisters didn’t fall into many of the traditional racist stereotypes found throughout the media. The Sharma sisters didn’t have an over exaggerated, unrealistic accent, and they had the same character growth and depth as any of the other characters on the
show. It’s extremely hard to find Indian characters in media that aren’t made to be laughed at. Popular films and shows often portray Indian characters with offensive stereotypes, showing them as smart and nerdy. These characters are almost never shown as desirable, interesting people, as they should be. The Sharma sisters are fully developed and nuanced characters. In addition to countering stereotypes, Bridgerton season two did incorporate aspects of Indian culture that have never been represented in Hollywood productions. Kate and Edwina are shown performing the Haldi Ceremony, a traditional practice that is performed before a wedding. During the Haldi Ceremony, music from the famous Bollywood movie, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, is played in the background. Also, throughout the show Edwina is shown calling Kate “Didi”, which means older sister in Hindi. Kate and Edwina also call their father “Appa” which
THE CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1. Uncomplicated 6. Improved, as cheese or wine 10. Make a small cut 14. Place of competition 15. Communicate with a higher power 16. Possess 17. Steady childcare job 18. Tabula ___, Latin phrase meaning a blank slate 19. Similar (to) 20. Teams’ last lines of defense 21. Did computational work to receive bitcoin 22. Eagle (eyed) 23. To make bright with like 26. Stuffed bear 27. Counterpart of ands 28. British school subject 31. People that lead or direct you 34. Post-workout feeling 35. Touch a dog on the head 38. Baby born before 37 weeks 40. Industry that has no products 42. Another name for Lou Gehrig’s disease 43. Deep emotion 45. Tilted, like the Tower of Pisa 46. Cloth made from flax 47. Commonly confused contraction 48. Sour fruit 51. Native tribe for which two states are named 54. People you definitely should not text 55. Something between 0 and 360 degrees 57. ___ Mis 60. Lines up 61. ___ Madrid, the most successful soccer club ever 62. Higher than 64. Leave to avoid something bad 65. Deceptive pattern 66. Purchase again, as a membership 67. Very enthusiastic response 68. Sulk 69. Tough, as a test71. Sergiño ___, FC Barcelona and USMNT fullback
DOWN 1. Onomatopoeia for an explosion 2. Middle Eastern aniseed liquor 3. Detect 4. Lodging establishment 5. A low island, reef, or bank 6. Month with most Aries births 7. Family matriarch, often 8. Freedom from difficulty 9. Something consisting of two parts 10. Cold fast food drinks 11. Lacking in covering 12. Covered in vines 13. Small coin with Lincoln’s visage 21. Something you may choose to accept 24. A connection point for information in a computer system 25. A small creature responsible for unexplained mechanical problems 26. Relating to the previously stated item 29. Units that keep rooms cool 30. And ___ ___, similar things 31. Number showing your average performance in classes 32. Web address 33. Suffix with hood and good 35. Something you do with a tail and a donkey 36. High card 37. One who talks on the Internet 39. The day before 41. What an expanse is 44. Avengers movie 46. Defeats 48. Verdant, as a forest 49. Kick out, like Napoleon 50. Images shared online 52. Let happen 53. Unaccompanied 55. Curved paths 56. Tidy, as a room 58. Always 59. Stitched 62. Eng. soccer team —were Raven Jensen 63. If you to doFonseca this on the Warriors, they would be a -250 favorite
— Nicholas McGlashan
means father. At one point in the show, Kate is shown giving Edwina a head massage with oil, which is a common practice found in Indian families. All of these references to the Sharma sisters’ culture are found all throughout the show and are important to Kate and Edwina’s identities, showing that they are multidimensional characters. Rather than completely assimilating the Sharmas to the society of the “Ton” (what the elite British community is called), Bridgerton embraced and educated viewers on their practices. Not only did Bridgerton have amazing South Asian representation, but they went above and beyond with casting. Because of the extreme colorism that has existed in Bollywood for ages, South Asians with darker skin are unlikely to see anyone who looks like them on screen. Skin lightening is a common practice in India and darker skin women face a lot of discrimination on every front. The actresses who play Kate and
Edwina are two darker skin Indian women who have experienced colorism. Chandran, who played Edwina, described her experience growing up receiving colorist messaging as “traumatizing.” By having these actresses play the main roles, Bridgerton opened up a new level of representation, that offers multi-faceted opporutnity for actors and the audience.
Bridgerton’s second season has bettered popular media in many ways, most importantly by showing that period dramas can stay historically accurate while not discriminating against those of certain backgrounds. Hopefully, more mainstream shows follow this model and offer accurate representation to everyone watching at home.
OLIVER PARSONS
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
MALINA MEISSNER
For Berkeley High School (BHS) junior Konani Chinn, art has always been their fundamental form of self expression, regardless of the medium. “I don’t have a kind of art, I just create when life inspires me,” they remarked. Chinn noted that being put in situations where they were forced to use unconventional art materials has taught them to “focus on what I want to create, [rather than] making sure I’m properly using the material.” Chinn’s work is primarily drawn, and can range from self-portraits to collages and manga. Their art has become allowed them to take a creative deep dive into self-discovery. “With drawing selfportraits, I have been able to better understand my racial background and cultural identity.” Recently they made a collection of self-portraits that each have the same outline but with different hairstyles, expressing different stories from Chinn’s life. A prime aspect of Chinn’s art is the differing perspectives from their audience. “Everyone gets different meanings out of my art, which is why art is so unique,” they said. Often times in art, there is no right or wrong way to interpret something. This especially holds true for Chinn’s work. In many of their pieces there is no deliberate explanation, as they invite you to make sense of the art through your own individual lens.
— Skyler Rockmael
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
SPORTS
15
BHS Recruited Athletes Approach College Transition BY MADELYN PHILHOWER staff writer
For Berkeley High School (BHS) athletes, chasing the dream of collegiate sports takes hard work and perseverance. “It’s been really tough, but I’ve had people that are with me along the way [and have] helped me and pushed me through challenges,” said Chase McFarland, a senior in Academic Choice (AC), when describing his journey of being recruited to play water polo at Stanford University. On Monday, May 2, McFarland was one out of 11 BHS seniors in attendance at the ceremony where student athletes signed for the colleges they will represent next year. Dawit Fesseha, an AC senior who will run track and field at the University
of Dubuque, Iowa, said, “I’m in that very lucky group [of students] that gets to still play sports in college, which a lot of athletes in high school don’t get to enjoy, and … that’s something I’m really grateful for.” Hazel Waters, a soccer player in AC who is recruited to Macalester College, echoed this message by saying, “A huge part of soccer and sports at BHS [is] that last game of your youth career, so it’s been really wonderful knowing that that wasn’t my last soccer season, and that I get to play more competitive soccer, and represent my school, which was always really fun to do here.” The college recruitment process often refers to college coaches reaching out to offer prospective student athletes scholarships. However, getting recruited with a scholarship is “not the only way to play sports
in college,” said Annie Jay, a cross country and track and field runner in AC who signed for Carleton College. “There’s a lot of different ways to get there,” she added. Applying to college through sports shifts the admissions process, so many people reach out to coaches after being admitted to the college to be recruited to a team. “Going [to college] knowing I’m gonna have a community right from the start is really important, especially with all the anxieties that go with going away to college. … It is a little scary to be so far away [from the Bay Area], but knowing that I’m going to have that team is a really nice feeling,” said Jay. However, for McFarland, the knowledge that he has been recruited “affects every single day that [he’s] doing anything,” from his ability to
focus on classwork to practices and training. And he’s not alone. Maya Curry, a tennis player in Communication Art and Sciences (CAS), agreed with this statement. Curry is recruited to Holy Names University, and said, “[Playing tennis in high school] was pretty stressful, there was burnout at times.” “[B]ut I think it all paid [off] because I’m here,” Curry concluded. College recruitment can open new doors, like for Yael Kelley, a CAS rugby player recruited to Queens University of Charlotte. After recruitment, she was offered
the opportunity to play in the USA womens team for the Maccabiah Games this summer. She will be the youngest player, and though this is nerve-wracking, Kelly said, “I like to push myself and I think I’m ready for the challenge.” “This is the first time they’re allowing women’s rugby to be in the [Maccabiah] program, so I can say, ‘I’ve been there from the beginning.’ That’s something that I’m really proud of,” Kelly said. Overall, college recruitment, and college in general, is really different for everybody. “There is no right path
LUCY RICKART-WEBB
to follow, even if you aren’t following the paths that people tell you [to],” Waters said. “You’re gonna get to a great place in the end, and there’s so many amazing things about every college.” Kelly explained that she is excited to push herself and improve her skills as an incoming college freshman. She spoke on comparing herself to others as an athlete. She added that, “It’s important to remember … [that] it’s not where I am in comparison to [others], it’s about where I am in comparison to where I am when I started four years ago.”
Martial Arts In a Modern World BY FINN GARDNER staff writer
LEILAH DOOSTAN
Crew To New Jersey Nationals BY STEPHANIE JERSEY staff writer
On April 24, for the first time since the pandemic shut down athletics, the Berkeley High School (BHS) crew team was able to compete in the Scholastic Regionals against fellow Bay Area high schools. On the day of the regatta, the team launched off the dock with one goal in mind: qualify for Nationals. After an exciting day of races on Lake Merced, the team met its goal with five BHS boats heading to Scholastic Nationals in New Jersey on May 27. Selena Cortez, a senior in Academic Choice (AC) on the BHS womens varsity team, spoke to the opportunity that Scholastic Regionals presented, saying, “BHS has a reputation for being the underdogs, so Regionals really allowed us to prove ourselves.” With five strong entries in the Women’s Varsity categories, the Women’s Varsity 8+ and Women’s Lightweight 4x placed first
in their heats. The Women’s V8+ raced head-to-head with one other team, Saint Ignatius College Preperatory. These two boats repeatedly faced off through the season, and each felt determined to prove themselves in the final race. Cortez, who stroked the eight, spoke to the motivation and intensity of her boat, saying, “We put our all into it. We were head-to-head in the first thousand meters, and then after that we flew away from them. Our sprint was stronger than it had ever been.” In one of the most exciting moments of the day, the Men’s Varsity 8+ overtook Saint Ignatius in the last five hundred meters of the race to claim first. Jaden Jessup, a senior in AC, revealed the mindset their boat held, saying, “All of us went in with the intention of winning. We really wanted to get the most out of it.” Along with the successful finish for the Men’s 8+, the Mens Lightweight Varsity 8+ and Mens 2V8+ also qualified for Nationals. Re-
garding the optimism the team feels for the upcoming regatta, Jessup said, “We are all feeling excited to go to New Jersey and compete with teams from across the country.” The day’s races were all dedicated to a beloved member of the Varsity Men’s Crew team who tragically passed earlier that week. Kai Mitchell, a junior in Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS) and a varsity rower, spoke about the memorial that was held. “In order to honor him we felt it was only right to row with seven people and leave his seat in the boat open. It was difficult but it was the closure that many of us needed,” he said. To show support, rowers from all teams stood by the water as the boat rowed down. “That hit me pretty hard. I had already gone into that weekend knowing that I was going to cry. Personally I felt like I hadn’t grieved how I should have so [the memorial] was an important step for me,” said Cortez.
Shortly after World War II, something new was introduced to the American mainstream: martial arts. With high value placed on tradition and discipline within these ancient practices, maintaining heritage while moving to the US proved difficult. West Wind Schools focus on teaching a mixed martial arts style called Bok-fu, combining karate, kung-fu, and a blend of other practices. With locations in Piedmont, Alameda, and most recently, on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, they have been teaching in the Bay Area for more than 50 years. To keep the practice true to the cultural roots of martial arts, Gibran Leon, the Berkeley branch lead instructor, said, “We start everybody off with the etiquette before we teach any of the martial arts. … It’s all about showing respect to
the educators and showing respect to the traditions. We maintain strong discipline for our students, making sure they’re coming in clean with the correct uniform.” For Berkeley High School (BHS) freshman Ben Lazarus, being consistent with ancient teachings is key. The long-time West Wind student and now instructor says, “I think the dojo stays connected to the cultural roots by teaching the same things that were taught hundreds of years ago and making only a few changes to the material … traditions and disciplines that are part of the culture,” he said. Recently while teaching at West Wind, Lazarus has seen clashes between modern sensibilities and tradition. “I think one of the challenges of staying true to tradition in Western society is people always question things now,” Lazarus said, “whether it’s ... Why do we shake with both hands?’ or ‘Why should we bow with
The Solano location of West Wind Schools is open for instruction.
our eyes down?’ ” He continued, “I had a student today say that it’s so stupid to bow to every single instructor in the school, but for us, it’s a sign of respect that has been passed down as a tradition for a long time.” “Our teachings are important right now,” Leon said about how the practice is currently helping the Bay Area community, “especially with the situations that have been happening against a lot of Asian Americans here in the United States, [the] targeted attacks. Through the martial arts and self-defense that we teach, our students can become more capable of defending themselves against similar acts of violence.” Lazarus similarly said that “teaching and learning self-defense helps even more now that hate violence has become a more prominent issue in our community. … It’s especially important to maintain Asian cultural practices to help keep the community strong.”
MARINA PEDEMONTE
16
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
sports editors: Luisa Bertolli & Norah Lee
SPORTS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET
norahlee@students.berkeley.net
BHS Softball Suffers Defeat vs. O’Dowd BY SHANZA SYED staff writer
The dragon boaters’ spirit was apparent as they paddled across the Berkeley Marina waters on January 1.
NOLAN WHITEHILL
Dragon Boating: “First In Friendship” BY MATEO TSAI staff writer
Berkeley Unified School District Berkeley High Jacket 1980 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94704
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Since 2014, the dragon boats of the East Bay Rough Riders, a youth dragon boating team home to students from Berkeley High School (BHS) and El Cerrito High School (ECHS), have flitted across the iridescent water of the Berkeley Marina. What are they in it for? Friendship, sunsets, and seals. The team was officially founded by Coach Lawrence Pang, a math teacher at ECHS. The sport of dragon boating first originated over 2,500 years ago in China. Every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival, known as Duan wu Jie. The most common myth regarding the origins of this holiday involves a poet named Qu Yuan. After learning that his kingdom (from which he had been exiled) had been conquered by another kingdom, Qu Yuan committed
suicide by wading into a river. People raced to the location in boats upon hearing this, but they were too late. This tradition became the dragon boat races of today. Nowadays, dragon boating is popular not only in its original home of China, but worldwide. Members of the team are drawn to dragon boating for a number of reasons. Seals, “just hanging about,” are spotted routinely at practices, said team captain Paikea Melcher, who has been dragon boating since the age of ten. When a seal is spotted, almost everyone drops what they are doing to look. Everyone stops paddling and expressions of fascination echo up and down the boat. “[In] what other sports can you just hang out with seals, fish, and manta rays? We saw a shark once,” said Melcher. Pang was quick to point out that the boat wasn’t about to get bitten in two by a great white shark however. “A small one… No danger,” he emphasized,
while remembering the experience. In addition, the sunsets are absolutely stunning. While in May the sun sets too early to be seen sinking below the horizon, in the winter months, boatmates get to witness sunsets on the open water, framed by the Golden Gate Bridge. “You feel like you’re part of the sunset, you can see all the bridges, sunsets, it looks like there’s a glow stick poured out onto the water. It makes you feel good, at peace,” said Izzy Dalla, a senior at ECHS. The team usually races 500 meters or 1500 meters, though other race distances, both longer and shorter, do exist. The team practices two main strokes: aggressive and thrust. Aggressive strokes involve leaning forward while paddling. These strokes are less efficient, but faster overall. The team will typically paddle aggressively for the first dozen strokes or so during a race to accelerate. The team will then transition to thrust strokes, where the paddlers use their
full body to paddle in a back and forth motion. Dragon boating depends on the team’s ability to paddle in rhythm. Therefore, the sport puts an emphasis on teamwork instead of any individual’s performance. “If one person can paddle super hard and can go super fast, if no one else can keep up with them, it’s better for them to match the rest of the team. It’s really a whole lot about teamwork…We’ll always put our people and our paddlers before how well we score,” said Melcher. As such, the team’s culture reflects this. “We take each person as they are and push them further… We’re just all here to improve each other together,” said Vivian Huang, a senior at ECHS. Since the team was founded in 2014, its members have always put people and relationships above competition. Mia Skoble, a junior in AC, said, “We like to say we’re first in friendship, and I’d rather be first in friendship than come first in any race.”
Berkeley High School (BHS)’s girls varsity softball team took on Bishop O’Dowd High School on the evening of May 12. The match concluded with O’Dowd winning 3-0 against BHS, who put up a good defense, but didn’t counterattack offensively. The game started off slowly, both sides yet to score a run after three innings. Berkeley’s number 22, Avery Lyman, came close, but three outs cut her off before a chance to reach home. Despite the slow start, the next couple of innings completely turned the tables in favor of O’Dowd. On the first run that was made, BHS’ second baseman ran into the umpire, which O’Dowd used to score and gain the upper hand. For the rest of the game, the mix up weighed heavily on the BHS team. Paola Gunier, a junior in Academic Choice (AC) noted, “As a team, when something doesn’t go the way we planned I think that our energy goes down.” The next O’Dowd point
came as a result of confusion, “a line drive in foul territory that I thought was foul, but apparently it hit Avery’s glove,” as Elise Nudel, a junior in AC, recalled. This allowed O’Dowd to hit a triple, and complete the run with a single during the next at-bat. With this, BHS’ spirits sank further. The last run, an O’Dowd double, brought a runner from second home. The following innings were fraught with frustration for the BHS team, who knew that the stakes were high, but in the end could not manage a run. AC junior Rosie Green pinned the loss down to a “need [for] more communication… and lifting each other up.” As the match ended, O’Dowd rejoiced about winning against BHS after two straight losses, while BHS huddled together to reflect on their loss. “Our bats just never came to life,” said coach Jason Kaneko. “The last couple of times we played them, we were able to take advantage of their mistakes, and today they took advantage of ours,” reflected Kaneko about their defeat.
Jade Terry-Jones and Nataly Garcia practice hitting.
ATHLETE PROFILE When Sienna Prak-Perry first began playing lacrosse in sixth grade, she was one of few players of Asian and Black descent on her team. At that age, she believed that she was an outsider in the Berkeley Bear Lacrosse community. “I saw myself as different,” she said. Now, as a member of the BHS Girls Varsity Lacrosse team, her perspective has changed. “I consider [my identity] as something that helps me stand out in a good way.” In addition to this shift in mindset, Prak-Perry has grown as a student-athlete. “I‘m proud of myself because I’ve become more confident as a lacrosse player and as a student because I’ve learned how to communicate my ideas and voice my opinion more.” Prak-Perry partially attributes this development to her teammates. “Having my teammates build me up helps me a lot…throughout this season we all have grown together.” YASMEEN BAWANY
— Stephanie Jersey
LILY FROST