September Issue

FEATURE: WORLD

VIEWPOINT

Flames engulf the Amazon Rainforest

How bias in mass media influences readers 7

KIM ART

KIM ART

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

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KIM ART

The school’s and state’s requirements for physical 13 education

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 942 SAN JOSE, CA

ISSN: 2164-6996 6677 Camden Avenue San Jose, CA 95120

THE CHARGER ACCOUNT Leland High School

San Jose Unified School District

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Vol. R | No. 1

Office attempts to accomodate influx of schedule changes CAROLINE BREW PHOTO

Kelly Cui and Minji Kim Opinions and Investigative Report Editors

take Advanced Placement (AP), honors or accelerated classes must sign a CAROLINE BREW PHOTO contract of commitment in May, Students line up after the first day of acknowledging that they cannot drop school to file schedule change requests. such classes.

The schedule changes must align In the week following the first day with the master schedule, which the office of school, dozens of students flooded the creates in the spring of the previous school school office in a queue that snaked around year to determine the set of classes, their the office and extended to the cafeteria, teachers and what periods they are offered. waiting up to several hours for the chance When students want to add or drop a to amend issues in their schedules. course, the master schedule’s algorithm is Students requested changes because disrupted because the number of classes they received a class they did not sign up available depends on course selections for, did not get a class they wanted, had a entered in March. The Curriculum gap in their schedule, had two classes in Council, comprised of Principal Peter the same subject or did not get a schedule, Park, previous AP of Instruction Joseph which was the case for some new students. Heffernan and the school’s department As outlined by the schedule change request chairs, created the schedules, according to form, students may only solicit a schedule Mary Ann Dougherty, Assistant Principal change for gaps in their schedules, (AP) of Instruction. erroneous or missing class placements and Advanced classes, such as AP missing teacher’s assistant (TA) periods.

Research, generally have fewer students Students are barred from requesting a selecting them, restricting the availability schedule change because of an unwanted of the courses to one or two periods. teacher or a change of heart regarding The office also aims to separate periods advanced classes. Students intending to for classes that many students take

concurrently, such as AP Physics I and AP Calculus BC. They avoid arranging AP classes with only one section into the same period.

Although some students received their fixed schedules within a few days, others had to miss several days of a class they did not originally receive or take a class they never signed up for before they were given a new schedule.

“When I first received my schedule, I did not get three of my requested classes.

The office did not grant my schedule change request until the end of the second week of school, and it was really frustrating to miss crucial material. Luckily, AP of Discipline Aaron Lilly was very supportive in helping me get a new schedule, but people should be told when their new schedule will be ready,” Sophomore Paul Lin said.

Though Lin was succesful, others’ schedule issues remained unresolved. For a few students, the limited number of class sections for advanced courses made it difficult to coordinate schedules satisfying all student preferences.

“My schedule request was denied because of my ‘combination of courses,’ despite the office fixing schedules with more advanced classes than

. g. . d i n it l o a se wa plea

GRACE LI ART

mine. There were about seven TAs in my Office TA period, but they only wanted three per period. It does not make sense that they were filling so many schedules with Office TA,” Junior Sarah Brew said.

Continued on School News, Page 2

Local farmers market relocated to Princeton Plaza

QIHONG LI PHOTO

Ashley Lee and Sophia Lu Staff Writer and Feature School Editor

On Sunday mornings, the Almaden Farmers Market at the intersection of Via Valiente and Almaden Expy attracted residents from around the area looking to purchase fresh food and local products.

On Sept. 15, it moved to Princeton Plaza, off Blossom Hill Road and Kooser Road.

“I am really sad that it is moving. It was pretty much the only place within walking distance that you could go to get fresh produce, bread and products. It

is a real shame because I have so many memories of going there,” Sophomore Ariana Shahinfar said.

The reason for the move is that Biagini Properties, the plaza’s property management company, has only granted the farmers market a limited lease agreement. In other words, the rent is on a month to month basis, which creates instability for the vendors because they may have business one week and face

QIHONG LI PHOTO A fruit vendor makes a successful sale while visitors peruse his selection of local-grown peaches.

eviction the next. This situation forced owner Joseph Aliotti to contact other local plazas, intending to keep the market in Almaden. Princeton Plaza, home to tenants Michael’s and Walgreens Pharmacy, offered Aliotti a ten year lease that ensured him long-term rent security.

“The residents here have told us that they love everything we provide. It is

unfortunate that we are moving away, but the month-to-month lease creates a lot of pressure on everyone. Ultimately, I have to choose what is best for my farmers,” Aliotti said.

Continued on Community News, Page 3

NEWS OPINION FEATURE VIEWPOINT SPORTS LAST WORD 1

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Additionally, classes such as Speech and Debate and Drama are only taught in sixth and seventh period, so in order to maintain a continuous sequence of classes with as little gap periods as possible, some students were given late start schedules which can conflict with extracurriculars or their ability to get to school.

“I have work after school most days so I requested a zero through fourth period or first through fifth, but I got a second through sixth. It was frustrating to get dismissed, but I ended up really liking my schedule so it all worked out for the best,” Senior Sonya Robinson said.

Unfortunately, ensuring an ideal schedule for all students is not always possible due to overlaps between sections of requested classes, high demand for a certain class and the limited availability of classes with less sections. Most classes are filled up, according to Dougherty, so surplus requests for those classes may not be fulfilled.

To process a schedule change, the administrators manually add and

subtract courses on Infinite Campus. employs computer algorithms to match They must keep in mind any effect on students with as many of their desired class sizes because individual classes classes as possible. have a maximum of 35 students. Rosters With two binders full of schedule sometimes reflect an inaccurate number of change requests, office administrators students, as students do not always inform often work 12 to 13 hour days while school administrators when they transfer out of the school.

In some cases, schedule change requests remained unprocessed in 2 the office until an available slot in the desired class opened up from another request.

The administrators enter course preferences into Infinite CAROLINE BREW PHOTO Campus, which The line to request schedule changes extends to the cafeteria.

is in session. During school hours, they commit themselves to running the school.

After school hours are over, they begin to manually look through every single schedule change request to fix students’ schedules, which took approximately eight school days this year.

Despite rumors that there were over 900 requests this year, neither Dougherty nor Park could give a definite number.

Park said the number of schedule change requests this year may have exceeded last year’s, which amounted to about 800.

The school does not know exactly what caused the number of issues this year, but the school continues to streamline the process of generating and fixing schedules through trying new ideas.

“With the volume of schedule changes this year, it is important to reflect on what improvements could be made. For example, I am thinking of moving up the date of schedule releases. There are a few things that we are reflecting on to improve the system,” Park said.

New clubs bring hobbies and interests to school community Grace Li & Jonathan Yue School News Editor and Staff Writer

During the first days of September, Junior Aida Mushell’s lunchtime activities consisted of flitting in and out of room J-2 with documents to turn in and questions to ask. Inside the Leadership classroom, Meg Walsh, Activities Director, sat at her desk and greeted Mushell and other potential club cabinets eager to complete their applications. Mushell aspired to start the Bare Necessities Club, verifying that her application was completed properly with Walsh. The school’s clubs serve a plethora of functions, such as providing opportunities for volunteer hours, circles for exploring various student interests and academic resources. This year, 84 clubs were approved out of the 33 returning and 69 new clubs that applied.

Students start clubs for a variety of reasons. Some clubs, such as Big Data club, Bioinformatics club and Neuroscience club, cater to students with a passion for a certain subject, while others devote their efforts to helping the community.

“JAW stands for Journey Around the World. The club’s goal is to fundraise money to donate to different international charities. This year, our team is working towards raising money for Doris Dillon School in Cambodia, a nonprofit school for underprivileged girl students in Cambodia,” Sophomore Varsha Shankar said.

Other students seek to create a community for a specific group of students, such as the school’s clubs celebrating Indian and Muslim heritage.

“I started a Black Student Union (BSU) club where students discuss and educate each other about current events concerning African Americans. Because the school has a relatively small African American population, it can be hard to communicate with one another. BSU stands as a comfortable environment for Black students at the school to share their experience at the school,” Senior Bruke Wossenseged said.

After the initial vetting process, these new clubs unveiled themselves during Club Rush, a four-day fair in the quad where students sign up for clubs that capture their attention. This year’s Club Rush occurred on Sept. 17-20.

To start a new club, students must submit an online application to ASB for Walsh to review with help from this year’s

clubs chairs, Junior Wendy Lee and Senior w h e r e Ciera Gartin. Clubs must also enlist the t h e i r endorsement of a faculty club adviser, p a s s i o n s usually a teacher. lie, which

New clubs may run into complications would help during the application process. For them stay example, they may have their clubs merged active in the with a different yet similar club because school community. of the school’s limited number of club Specifically for advisers, facilities and potential members. freshmen, this could This year, nine clubs were combined with act as an opportunity others. Clubs must also contribute to for them to contribute to building a school community and host at their new school. least one event per semester.

“Some students decide Over 30 clubs were pre-approved to start clubs because they towards the end of the last school year believe that doing so will and did not need to re-apply this year. The impress colleges and help main advantage of pre-registered clubs is them in the admission process. that if there is another similar club, the However, that is definitely a new club is absorbed into the established misconception. Clubs are a way one. However, if an existing club does not to show the students’ passion pass the pre-application, it is on an equal for a certain subject or hobby playing field with any new clubs. Pre- and to demonstrate their registration also alleviates the pressure of willingness to contribute reviewing a large number of applications at to the community, and the beginning of each school year. those qualities are

“My mission at Leland as the director what impress colleges,” of clubs is to find some club for every Walsh said. student. When approving clubs, we are conscious of which group of students would gain from each club. For example, a few years ago, we had this rule that clubs whose purpose are to play games are not allowed. Since we removed that rule, some gaming clubs have popped up. Students interested in gaming could build a community, instead of potentially just eating lunch and playing games alone,” Walsh said.

Clubs can also be a source of leadership experience, as it gives students opportunities to manage fundraisers, events and budgets.

Walsh and the clubs chairs are considering holding a second Club Rush at the start of the second semester for clubs to gain more members. With the large amount of clubs available to join and become a part of, it can be overwhelming with just one week.

With a second Club Rush, more students would join clubs after a semester of learning about VY NGUYEN PHOTO

VY NGUYEN PHOTO

YU YI LU PHOTO

Top left clockwise: Juniors Claire McNab, Teresa He, Laurel Wu, Britni Stoicich, Karen Nakanishii, Veronica Son and Sophomore Julia Choi dance to promote the 4k club.

Junior Devon Shao uses a microphone to discuss the Codementary club. Seniors Ganeev Dhaliwal and Mira Karthik pass out balloons for the Bring Change to Mind club.

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THECHARGER CHARGER ACCOUNT THE ACCOUNT

UC Berkeley implements “Adulting” courses

Serena Atkinson and Nancy Zheng

Infographic: Should schools all offer a course on how to live in the real world and function as an adult?

Staff Writers

“Crossing the threshold from teenager filing taxes. Other classes include resume to adulthood is like taking a smack in the building and stress management. Classes head,” the Antelope Valley Press said. To similar to UC Berkeley’s also exist at other avoid this, college juniors Belle Lau and universities, including Arizona State Jenny Zhou designed a student-run class University, University of North Carolina entitled “Adulting” at UC Berkeley. The at Chapel Hill, University of Denver and class is run through DeCal, a program Drew University. comprised of student-run courses with Home economics and shop classes are faculty advisors. The DeCal website not taught in most schools today. Instead, describes the class as teaching “how to there is more of a focus on courses that develop good prepare students for college habits, manage or a career. However, stress, pay according to The New York taxes, budget Times, not knowing such spending and basic skills can negatively live a healthy impact young adults’ lives. lifestyle.”

Adults who get by Lau and without knowing Zhou created how to cook or pay the class to taxes are few and address doubts far between. about how they Many high were taught schoolers would life skills and also benefit from figured other these adulting students would classes.

An benefit from opportunity learning these for such skills as well. classes in “ M a n y high school college students would make are vastly it so that underprepared students do and mess up their taxes or under budget IVAN ZHU ART not have to teach life essentials. If the adulting class themselves important life skills by trial were available at all schools, I think it and error when they are adults. Especially would help tremendously with actually in high-pressure schools, adulting classes preparing students for everyday adult allow high school students to learn crucial life,” Sophomore Iris Zhou said. life skills, like dealing with stress and The class brings in guest speakers learning to manage time. to lecture on a specific skill. For In Ky., Bullitt Central High School example, Lau brought in her mother, has implemented an “adulting” seminar an accountant, to speak to the class on for seniors. Director Christy Hardin gives

Continued from Front Page

NEWS

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73% YES NO

Compiled by Edward Jung, Community News Editor

September Sept. 26 Band Concert Sept. 30 - Oct. 4: October Break Oct. 21-26 Homecoming week

CAROLYN NGUYEN ART

advice to help students transition from high school into college and beyond. This seminar has received lots of praise from students, parents and teachers.

“I think that adulting classes will be very beneficial for students and especially college students, because many go into the world not knowing how to take care of themselves. With these classes, students would be well prepared for the world after

school and would be able to contribute to the community in a positive way and do something that would improve society,” Junior Melissa Cichon said.

Meanwhile, the course at UC Berkeley has become increasingly popular. When it opened in the spring semester of 2019, 100 students signed up for 30 available seats.

Now, for the fall semester, the course is offering two sessions.

was due to Biagini’s lack of interest and support for their business.

The manager said that Biagini Properties did not allow for Mimosas’ name to be shown on the plaque on the street next to the Via Valiente Plaza. He said having a name plate would have greatly improved their business, as customers would be able to see that there was a restaurant in the plaza.

Several Almaden residents have expressed their apprecitaion for the farmers market becuase of its variety

of booths from local vendors, providing fresh produce, honey and homemade soap. The local farmers market now joins the list of establishments—including Elements, Round Table, PW and Almaden Yoga—that have vacated the Via Valiente Plaza.

“Every Sunday, I would walk with my mom to the farmers market. It was a way for us to connect and start our morning with some fresh air. Without the farmers market, the tradition would not be the same,” Junior Nikhil Chandra said.

Local farmers market relocated to Princeton Plaza

The farmers market was housed with a number of other tenants like CVS Pharmacy, Tea For You (T4), Lin Garden and Pomodoro Pizza. Previously, the Almaden-Via Valiente Plaza has accommodated many other stores like PW Market (PW), the anchor store that has been empty for years, and Legend’s Pizza, but it now has several vacancies.

Many tenants cite the high rent and low consumer demand as reasons for why they have left the plaza.

While Biagini Properties declined to comment on their decision to not offer a long-term lease, there has been speculation that the corporation plans to bulldoze the plaza to develop condos. Mark Biagini,

the owner of Biagini Properties, denied this rumor, claiming that the property has no plans to develop the land into a residential area.

“We have had a few tenants leave, but that is part of the normal leasing cycle of shopping centers and it is common that tenants come and then leave the plaza, so it is nothing unusual at this point,” Biagini said.

Brunch restaurant, Mimosas, another tenant of Biagini Properties in the Via Valiente Plaza, closed on Sept. 1 due to a lack of business and profit, despite only being open for a few months. The manager of Mimosas revealed that one of the reasons why their restaurant closed

Quotebox: What makes the farmer’s market’s location Almaden special? With everything moving out of the plaza, what do you think is going to happen to the plaza?

“We have had this farmers market in the CVS plaza since 2013 or 2014, and I think it is a shame that they have decided to move. It is interesting to think that this previously dead plaza was brought back to life by the Via Valiente farmers market. Now that it’s leaving, I am afraid that the plaza’s life is going to die down again.

—Freshman Alexander Lee “It is unfortunate that the farmers market is moving because now, Almaden has lost a source of cheap and organic fruits and vegetables. Also, the farmers market is not really affected. They moved because they probably were not seeing enough action at the plaza, so they want to make more money elsewhere.”

—Freshman Leon Huang “Relocating is probably better business for the farmers who drive six hours to come down here. It is not like Almaden residents do not have access to organic products anyway, and most people don’t go to the farmers market on a regular basis, so it is not really hurting us…The farmers market was not really saving the plaza anyway, if anything the ‘deadness’ of the plaza was probably hurting the farmers market.”

—Senior Amy Zhou Compiled by Nancy Zheng and Ashley Lee, Staff Writers

QIHONG LI PHOTO Left: Right:

Customer Almaden

purchases vegetables residents peruse

from

a the

local produce

vendor section.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

OPINIONS

OK, Google Really?

Javier GomezTagle, Claire Han and Aileen Xie

The Charger Account Leland High School 6677 Camden Ave. San Jose, CA 95120-2142 (408) 535-6290 lelandchargeraccount.com EDITORS IN CHIEF Caroline Brew, Felisha Fan, Matthew Ho, Jason Yang COPY AND MANAGING EDITORS Yana Kouretas, Eric Zhang ART AND PHOTO DIRECTORS Jonathan Ke, Ivan Zhu NEWS EDITORS Claire Han, Edward Jung, Grace Li OPINIONS EDITORS Kelly Cui, Kathy Xing FEATURE EDITORS Sophia Lu, Keerthana Ramaswamy VIEWPOINT EDITORS Yeji Jeong, Evelyn Liu ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Meghna Chandrasekar, Rishab Satakyaal LIFESTYLE EDITOR Isabel Zhou INVESTIGATIVE REPORT EDITOR Minji Kim SPORTS EDITORS Ethan Huang, Tiffany Mai Nguyen LAST WORD EDITOR Carolyn Nguyen AD MANAGER Sophia Lu

At the signal, thousands of people walked out of the Google office holding signs reading “OK, Google Really?” On Nov. 1, 2018, over 3,000 Google employees from Singapore to Berlin gathered in New York to protest the company’s handling of sexual assault.

However, it may be hard to see Google employees once again band together in open political solidarity.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to all employees on Aug. 22 explaining that “sharing information and ideas with colleagues helps build community [but] disrupting the workday to have a raging debate over politics or the latest news story does not,” effectively barring employees from discussing politics over internal forums and email lists. This news came as a surprise for many, considering Google’s reputation for its culture of debate with open mic meetings and open information sharing.

In order to enforce the guidelines, Google implemented a flagging tool where employees can report others’ comments as inappopriate. A team of Google managers can review those flagged comments, and disciplinary action may ensue if any are found to violate the new rules. A Google spokesperson told Vox that the company would attempt to first instruct the employees behind such comments about the new rules instead of immediately punishing them.

Why students must be well versed in home economics

ADVISOR Stacy Dawson COMMUNITY CIRCULATION Parent Club and Leland Bridge

Serena Atkinson Jacob Cho Ridge Coffey Ansh Dhakalia Javier GomezTagle Muskaan Grewal Andrea Kuo

Ashley Lee Hannah Moon Nam Nguyen Aileen Xie Jonathan Yue Nancy Zheng

PHOTOGRAPHERS Wendy Lee Rex Li Yu Yi Lu Diana Yousef Nejad Vy Nguyen Jeffrey Tan ARTISTS Alyssa Chen Nicole Kim Rachel Kim Tianshu (Kenneth) Yang The Charger Account September 25, 2019 Vol. R, No. 1

Staff Writers and School News Editor free speech. As a supposedly progressive company, restricting free speech in a once open atmosphere completely changes the dynamic of the institution. It can also be noted that these public figures pertain to those in government, particularly President Trump, limiting employees’ ability to criticize the nation’s leader.

Moderating what conversations workers can have goes against the just values the company claims to have.

“I find it odd that Google, which was once so open, now has such limiting restrictions on free speech. It is somewhat ironic that this is happening as a result of politics because the issue itself feels a bit political,” Senior Erica Fu said.

The new policy and its execution have infringed on Google workers’ right to freedom of speech by KENNETH YANG ART restricting them from discussing noteworthy political debates and controversies. As nations adapt and consequently create new laws, elect new representatives and make new decisions, various political standpoints will evolve. The employees’ resistance is symbolic of their own interest in politics, which should be respected.

Amid constantly shifting, world-changing political debate, Google employees would be silenced even as the rest of the world discusses around them.

The financial literacy epidemic

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Carolyn Nguyen

STAFF WRITERS

The new policy may have risen from the company’s past controversies. In a post-election 2016 open mic meeting where Google executives tried to reassure employees that Google was a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants, Sergey Brin, a Google cofounder, spoke out against the election’s result: “As an immigrant and a refugee, I certainly find this election deeply offensive and I know many of you do too.” Two years later, in September of 2018, the video was leaked and many Republicans accused Google of having bias against the Right.

In addition, Fox News aired an interview with a former Google employee who stated that he was fired for his conservative stance. Under the new rules, Google employees will not be able to “insult, demean or humiliate” employees, business, partners and public figures, such as President Trump.

While the circumstances of this issue are multifaceted–Google is a multi-billion dollar and multi-national company where political views will inevitably differ from worker to worker–the main issue with these new rules is their infringement on

The Charger Account Editorial Staff

Living in Silicon Valley, the pressure to pursue STEM careers has usurped the demand for home economics courses.

Because the school’s curriculum is geared towards preparing students for college, it seems appropriate to no longer provide traditional home economics classes like cooking and sewing. However, the recent implementation of the “Adulting” class at UC Berkeley emphasizes the need for proficiency in consumerism, budgeting and resource and household management. Nonetheless, starting to learn home economics during postsecondary education is simply too late— students should be familiarized with these skills in high school to be prepared for their soon to come independence after graduation.

The New York Times reports that only five states require financial literacy courses in high school. In college, many students are responsible for budgeting their cost of living, including housing, food, transportation and discretionary spending. Without parents to micromanage their money, the responsibility is on students to anticipate expenses and track allowances.

Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done.

A graduate student from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign tested around 3,000 young adults using the National Financial Capability Study—a survey that evaluates one’s financial knowledge—and found that only 22 percent of the subjects were considered “financially stable.” The majority of surveyees lacked savings in case of emergency and access to

“High schools may incorporate home economics into its curriculum, but it is ultimately up to the students to change their perceptions of education.”

established financial services, resorting to alternative services where fees tend to be higher instead. Money management is not something that should be learned through trial and error: financial mistakes can have grave long term effects, resulting in dwindling savings, credit card debt and low credit scores.

At the school, Advanced Placement (AP) Macroeconomics and AP Government is a combined course, with each being a semester-long class. Robert Miller, History Department, said that with the course-time halved, there is barely enough time to cover all the skills required in macroeconomics, let alone personal finance. As a result, personal

finance was only implemented in the regular Economics’ curriculum. When he taught the course, Miller dedicated two weeks to cover basic money management.

Through a college budget project, students were taught how to manage their tuition, residence fees, transportation costs and personal expenses. A personal finance project took management further, as students determined their salary given a hypothetical job and calculated their basic cost of living—buying a house, car, food and clothes. However, in order to cover the entire curriculum in one semester, this unit is not included in the AP Economics.

Even if the school implemented financial literacy courses, students may not take advantage of the opportunity to learn these crucial life skills. College Board does not offer “AP Financial Literacy,” so students would have to be willing to take a course that does not necessarily boost their college applications. However, the sole purpose of high school education is not just to prepare for college. Learning about budgeting, investments, risk management, loans, debt and account management equips students with essential life skills that extend beyond higher education.

High schools may incorporate home economics into its curriculum, but it is ultimately up to the students to change their perceptions of education. Rather than taking classes with the intention of bolstering college applications or purely focusing on STEM courses, selecting classes with practical applications is an indispensable choice.

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THE CHARGER ACCOUNT

OPINIONS

Consumer Support for Controversial Companies

Muskaan Grewal, Ansh Dhakalia and Hannah Moon Chick-Fil-A, a fast food chain known for its quality chicken products, frequently reflects the Chrisitian values of its owner, Samuel Truett Cathy. Of its practices, such as being closed on Sunday, the franchise is notorious for its anti-LGBT beliefs; ThinkProgress finds that this year, ChickFil-A donated more than $1.8 million to seven anti-LGBT groups including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

On June 16, 2012, Cathy received backlash after saying, “I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about,” on radio program Ken Coleman.

Despite these comments, which have incited people to boycott the restaurant, C h i c k-F i l -A has remained successful enough to open more than 2,300 locations in the U.S., according to Vox. The issues surrounding Chick-Fil-A have raised the question of whether or not supporting controversial companies is moral. Although a consumer may separate their perspective from the perspective of the company, their spending is ultimately what keeps the company capable of upholding its beliefs; it is better to go to a different place entirely. If a consumer is against a company’s ethics but is still unable to end support for it, then they do not believe against the cause enough to act against it.

Staff Writers “Because the customers do not care about inhumane standards. Workers complained the stances of businesses, the businesses about having only 18 minutes of break for a are free to continue doing as they please nearly 12-hour shift. Amazon has also been accused of exploiting interns to manfacture electronic products for free in order to avoid paying employees.

“While I do use Amazon, it does not mean that I support how Amazon treats its workers; I simply want to buy their products. However, I do suppose that I am indirectly enabling their treatment of workers,” Senior Sean Edlund said.

Aside from funding organizations, businesses can also use more direct methods to express their beliefs. In 2017, in response to the tightening immigration policies, Starbucks joined the U n i t e d Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees #WithRefugees campaign, while publicly pledging to hire 50 people polled 10,000 refugees Compiled by Staff Writer Ridge Coffey by 2022. Critics who disagreed with this venture took action, calling for a boycott on the company.

Although it is absurd to ask business owners to ALYSSA CHEN ART isolate themselves from their personal beliefs, it is necessary without risk or remission,” Sophomore Hrishi for them to be wary of how their actions are Koushik said. affecting their consumers and to nicrease Chick-fil-A is not the only business today transparency by making the organizations that has controversies, as there are several they support known to the public. other companies gaining notoriety for their Businesses will inevitably push a wide own issues. Workers at Amazon are speaking array of perspectives. Customers can choose up for their rights, claiming that they are being to purchase from a business regardless of the overworked. Employees suffer from both the business’s views if they are aware of how this physical and mental stress of being held to action could potentially impact others.

Infographic: Would you still eat at Chick-Fil-A regardless of their anti-LGBTQ beliefs?

50%

50%

The rise of “facts” An assault on the truth Keerthana Ramaswamy Feature World Editor

This week, amidst the devastation invoked by Hurricane Dorian, President Trump tweeted a series of inaccurate tweets about the hurricane’s supposed path into Alabama, which was repeatedly and directly refuted by the State of Alabama. In an attempt to save face, Trump presented a visual aid at a press briefing with a drawn-in sharpie line to enclose Alabama in the storm’s path. While inaccuracies have been espoused by the President before, the audacity of the obviously hand-drawn lies, now coined as “Sharpiegate,” and the excessiveness of a large-sized visual aid to justify said lie is a new low.

In light of the increasingly frequent dissemination of lies, especially ones that irresponsibly spread misinformation amidst global health crises and environmental devastation like a category five earthquake, it is evident that “alternative facts” have taken precedence over the truth in our society today. While people often justify this phenomenon as an inevitable product of our “post-truth” society, in lieu of the widespread consequences of misinformation and distrust bred amongst groups in society today as a

“we need to… raise the bar for the trustworthiness of information” result of this, we need to have a higher standard for the truth or raise the bar for the trustworthiness of information that we just accept at face value.

Perhaps the most prominent example of rapid and dangerous misinformation is the growing antivaccination movement. Anti-vaxxers often propel misinformation online via social media posts like Facebook posts about a now debunked correlation between autism and vaccines. Antivaccination is part of a much larger trend in the rise of pseudoscience— falsehoods that sound scientific or claim to be scientifically sound when in reality undermine real science. Under the banner of pseudoscience are also groups like climate change skeptics.

From dismissing current climate change as something that has occurred many times before to Senator Jim Inhoffe bringing an ice cube to the Senate floor in 2015 to prove that climate change was a hoax, climate change deniers espouse the growing movement away from objective reality.

Ultimately, while most of us likely do not partake in misinformation schemes for lobbying groups in our downtime, several of us often accept a lot of information at face value. Many often fail to verify the validity of the information we are inundated with day to day. While it may be impossible to completely curb our lying habits and the prevalence of mistruth, we should make an active effort to uphold the truth when we share or receive information through actively researching and factchecking the news we get and the information we choose to share.

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FEATURE: SCHOOL

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Hall of New Staff

Grace Chu

Aaron Lily

Assistant Principal of Guidance Prior to joining the administrative staff at the school, Chu completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Mills College, obtained her masters in Teaching at the University of Southern California, and is currently working towards her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University.

Assistant Principal of Discipline Growing up, Lily was undecided about which career to pursue. In college, he majored in business management, but eventually, he became a substitute teacher. He was inspired by his high school coaches to become a full-time educator.

Sarah Lofgren

Jennifer Paulsen

Science Department Lofgren has had a lot of experience in the field of education, both as a student teacher and as a counselor at the Youth Science Institute in Los Gatos. She also enjoys gardening in her free time and tries her best to socialize with a busy schedule.

Jeanette Carmody

English Department Carmody moved to Calif. two years ago to teach at Del Mar High School. As a teenager, she did not enjoy reading books, but over time, her passion for reading grew. It has inspired her to become a teacher and spread her love of reading to others.

Leila Park

Math Department Park is a newcomer to both the school and the state of Calif.

She grew up in Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she received her degree in Mathematics. Outside of teaching, Park enjoys watching The Office and the Harry Potter series.

WENDY LEE, REX LI, JEFFREY TAN, DIANA YOUSEF- NEJAD PHOTO

Science Department Before becoming a teacher, Paulsen was a swim coach at De Anza Cupertino Aquatics. Recently, she obtained a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Southern California after completing her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Science.

Priya Garcia

English Department Although she has a very busy schedule, Garcia plans to relearn Aikido, a strategy-based martial art.

She also loves acting and believes that teaching is like theatre with a collaborative and engaged audience.

Jeffrey Canter

Social Studies Department At Homestead High School, Canter coached baseball and softball for two years. At the school, he will assist in coaching the baseball teams this upcoming spring season. He also loves watching sports and considers himself a die-hard Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Giants Fan.

KELLY CUI, IVAN ZHU ART

Hannah Banks

Counseling Department After graduating from San Jose State University in May with a masters degree, Banks was determined to become a school counselor. One of her main goals is to improve mental health awareness and encourage students to maintain self-care.

Rob Wallace

Science Department Growing up in Scotland, Wallace was inspired to become a teacher because his parents were also educators. He was an engineer for five years before changing professions and taught in Scotland for 12 years.

Outside of school, Wallace enjoys playing soccer and skiing.

Andrea Dashe

Foreign Language Department Ever since she was a young girl, Dashe wanted to become a teacher because her mother inspired her to do so. This year, Dashe is teaching Spanish 1-2 and 3-4, but she has taught all levels of high school spanish.

Previously, Dashe was a Spanish teacher in Mich. for five years.

Arnold Mass

Special Education Department Mass has 29 years of experience as an educator in special education.

He realized his passion for helping students with disabilities during his junior year at Pioneer High School when he helped organize a Special Olympics track meet. Mass also coaches football in his free time.

Compiled by Andrea Kuo, Ashley Lee, Jonathan Yue and Nancy Zheng, Staff Writers

THE CHARGER ACCOUNT

7

FEATURE: WORLD

Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest set ablaze by deforestatation

Nam Nguyen and Ridge Coffey

Nearly four times the size of Alaska, the Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world—and it is burning up fast. The latest fires began in early August, and have increased in size at a faster rate due to the start of the dry season. No one knows for sure what exactly caused the fire, but it is almost certain that it was a result of human error or malice. By the end of August, over 76,000 fires had been counted across the Amazon rainforest basin, burning over 7,600 square miles of the forest and creating an international crisis left unchecked by an unconcerned government.

The people living in Brazil have been deeply impacted by the fires, with many locals having reported trouble with breathing while others have lost their homes. The smoke risk has caused several Brazilian states to declare a state of emergency. Additionally, the chemicals emitted by the fires have led to respiratory and cardiac issues for populations with prolonged exposure. These fire risks also pose a threat to indigenous groups. The forest fires have threatened indigenous populations that live across the Amazon who are crucial for the forest’s preservation. Brazilian archbishop Erwin Kräutler described the fires as a “true apocalypse.” Kräutler has been working for years to get the Catholic church and the world to pay more attention to what he describes as an environmental crisis, in the published book Laudato Si’, focusing on the rainforest fires over the years.

“Not only is the amount of money being raised to fight the fires not nearly enough, but it does not even account for the loss of land of the indigenoeous peoples of South America.” Junior Ellie Rodriguez said.

Preservation efforts began as people have taken to social media to spread awareness. Leonardo DiCaprio has posted onto Instagram about the Amazon and

Staff Writers

contributed $5 million to protect the forest Bolsonaro to send 44,000 Brazilian troops international crisis. The Amazon Basin is an through his nonprofit, Earth Alliance. to fight the fires as well as to accept $12 important ecosystem for the preservation Others have taken to Twitter to spread million in British aid. While it does seem of the global climate. The forest spans viral hashtags like “PrayforAmazonas” that the amount of money raised to fight almost three million miles, containing and set up crowdfunding sites. the fire is more than enough, it is not, 40 percent of the world’s rainforests and “I learned about due to various reasons. producing 20 percent of the world’s air. 70 the forest fires while Since the fires percent of the South American economy scrolling through are far from is connected to the rainforest, and so the Instagram each other protection of the forests for the long run is posts and it and often are crucial. Additionally, the forest is a major got me really source of carbon dioxide absorption, concerned. taking in approximately 2 billion tons per I think that year, and is a hotspot for the planet’s s o c i a l biodiversity. With greenhouse gas media has totals continuing to increase over impacted time, that function becomes more t h e and more necessary for the rainforest awareness to maintain. of the The future of the Amazon is at Amazon stake. As wildfires devastate vegetation fires because across the region, the fate of “the world’s people, who lungs” rests on Bolsonaro and his do not watch the government. Still, the administration has news or read the news, proven to support short-term economic are able to learn about growth over the health of the Amazonas current events, ” Junior despite widespread international Juliana Lee said. difficult condemnation. Unless efforts are However, the to get to, more taken soon, this cycle could be responsibility lies with funding will the end of the rainforest, and the Brazilian government. be needed to the repercussions of the After Brazilian President Jair access problem deforestation could Bolsonaro took office at the areas. Parts of the be permanent. start of this year, the Brazilian fires have reached National Institute for Space roads and towns, Research (INPE) reported a 245 and the sheer number IVAN ZHU ART percent increase in deforestation of fires throughout the from July 2018 to July 2019. During rainforest make them IVAN ZHU ART the G7 conference, world leaders difficult to contain. pledged $22 million in forest fire aid, Regardless of only to be denied because of an ongoing politics, the feud between Bolsonaro and French fires are an President and G7 member Emmanuel Macron. Bolsonaro claims that the fires were ignited by international groups intended to dismantle his administration, though his claim is unverified. However, growing international pressure has forced Control of Hong Kong is turned

1842

Hong Kong protests ignite tensions

Serena Atkinson and Hannah Moon

Since March, Hong Kong citizens have held sometimes violent demonstrations protesting a proposed extradition bill. The protests have grown into a platform for Hong Kong citizens’ dissent over what they believe to be China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy and its civilians’ freedom of speech, which they have enjoyed for two decades, under a “one country, two systems” agreement.

The protests were sparked by the criminal case of a man who strangled his pregnant girlfriend while they were on vacation in Taiwan, and could not be sent back to Taiwan for trial as Hong Kong does not have an extradition treaty with it—a mutual agreement between sovereign states, which upon request allows for the surrender of people accused of a crime according to the laws of the requesting state.

To resolve this, the government of Hong Kong proposed the idea of an extradition bill, which if passed would allow people to be extradited to countries that do not presently have extradition treaties with Hong Kong, including China.

Local citizens were not pleased with the idea as the bill allows China to detain anyone that they suspect of being political dissenters. Such detainments would strip

Staff Writers them of their freedom of speech and autonomy.

On Aug. 12 and 13, officials closed the Hong Kong International Airport due to a mass protest that was held there. Protesters said they chose the airport in order to send a message to international governments.

With more protests, police response to the protests continues to escalate. Police have thrown beanbags and used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets on protesters.

At one protest a woman’s eye was ruptured.

Protesters have become more violent as well, throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails at police. Still, China has not acknowledged the protests much at all, briefly covering

2014

over to the British Empire. Over decades, people flee to Hong Kong due to political unrest in China.

Pro-democracy demonstrators occupy the city centre for weeks in protest at the Chinese government's decision to limit voters' choices in Great Britain and China sign a Joint the 2017 Hong Kong Declaration allowing Hong Kong leadership election.

1984

to return back to China in 1997 them under the “one country, two on television systems” rule. Hong Kong and providing would join the communist false information Compiled by country but retain of the protests being in Nam Nguyen economic and partial support of the bill. One Staff Writer democratic freedom government for 50 years after o f f i c i a l the handover. commented on the protests, describing them as “evil and criminal,” according However, to National m u l t i p l e P u b l i c protesters have Radio (NPR). told BBC that these N e i g h b o r i n g actions are not enough and Asian countries, they would keep protesting like South to preserve their autonomy.

Korea, have “It is good that the bill is going built massive to be withdrawn because it shows support for the that the Hong Kong government is protesters as they somewhat willing to meet the demands have experienced of its citizens. Now there will be more a similar history. awareness of police brutality in Hong Kong In response because of what happened during the to the outcry over protests,” Junior Natasha Prabhoo said. the bill, Chief To the people of Hong Kong, the Executive of Hong protests are crucial as they may define their KIM ART Kong Carrie Lam freedom in the future. The ongoing protests announced on are traumatizing the civilians, but they are a Sept. 4 that she would withdraw it, as well historical movement that might determine as launch an inquiry into the behavior the liberties of the citizens of Hong Kong. of police officers towards protesters.

10

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

ENTERTAINMENT Flea Market empowers De Anza community

Jonathan Yue

Staff Writer

As soon my mom's car pulled into De Anza College's parking lot, thousands of shoppers weaving inbetween rows of tents and vendors captured my attention.

While my family and I wandered from booth to booth, we were pleasantly surprised by the variety of items being sold. From second-hand books and kitchenware to wind chimes and decorative rocks, there seemed to be something for every visitor. One stand sold old-fashioned wooden radios, something I have never seen before in my life. There was a crowd of children surrounding a tent—a Legos stand was selling themed boxes and individual pieces.

“'This sense of community is what separates us from other forms of shopping.'”

Strolling through the lot and seeing all these antique items was truly exciting. We returned from the flea market feeling content: my mother bought herself a few succulents, my sister some hair clips and me two second-hand books.

Two students started the De Anza Flea Market as a small fund-raiser for the De Anza College student body almost 40 years ago, according to Yali Zhu, Market Coordinator for the De Anza Flea Market. De Anza Associated Student Body, which oversees this flea market, gains over $300,000 annually to fund a variety of services and events at De Anza College.

“We have built a strong community around this market that has been around for decades. Vendors come from all across the state, filling up all 825 spots in the lot. This sense of community is what separates us from other forms of shopping,” Zhu said.

In the age of digital shopping, the flea market may seem antiquated.

In fact, the De Anza Flea Market has experienced a decrease in sales with the rising popularity of online shopping.

A shopper cannot always obtain a particular item at a flea market, while the same thing can be accomplished with just a few clicks online. However, the market’s affordable price benefits college students and the surrounding community as most items can be bought for less than $5. Moreover, many items are one-of-a-kind, something that online shopping cannot replicate The flea market provides a sense of community for nearby residents. As long as this community exists, the flea market will never become obsolete.

De Anza Flea Market

(5/5)

definitely worth the trip

+ great items at an affordable price – items are not always available

Spider-Man: far from Marvel

Ridge Coffey, Javier GomezTagle and Nam Nguyen On Aug. 20, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced that the studio will no longer handle production for upcoming Spider-Man films after Marvel and Sony Pictures' failed to come to a deal regarding profit margins. The news of the failed negotiations left many fans upset.

In the past, Sony had been the sole owner of the character, producing Spiderman movies starring Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. Spider-Man would, however, receive a massive reboot in 2015, when the two studios reached an agreement to introduce the character into the Marvel Cinematic Un ive r s e (MCU).

Tom Holland, who played the character, first appeared in the movie Avengers: Civil War and received high praise. Holland later starred in movies such as Avengers: End Game, Spiderman Homecoming and Spiderman: Far from Home.

Both studios initially agreed that Sony would fund the movies and Marvel would deal with the production. At the box office, Marvel would receive five percent of the first week’s earnings and merchandising rights—Sony would receive the rest of the

Staff Writers

earnings. According to IMDb, this deal was profitable as the two MCU solo Spider-

“It was never meant to last forever... [but] we told the story we wanted to tell, and I will always be thankful for that."

Man movies made over $880 million at the box office with Spiderman: Far from Home eclipsing one billion dollars, making Sony’s previously-made Spider-Man movies pale in comparison.

However, in August 2019, Disney, Marvel’s parent company, attempted to renegotiate by pushing their profit margins from five percent to fifty percent.

Sony declined the renegotiations, ending Spider-Man’s inclusion in the MCU. “​We got to make five films within the MCU

with Spider-Man. It was a dream that I never thought would happen,” Feige said in an interview with the Toronto Sun. “It was never meant to last forever… [but] we told the story we wanted to tell, and I will always be thankful for that.”

According to Fortune, while Marvel will have to deal with major plot holes and the loss of merchandising rights to the character, the studio will still have plenty of movies and characters planned for their superhero franchise. On the other hand, it will be complicated for Sony to continue the Spider-Man series as the character has been entangled with the MCU. Moreover, Holland is still signed for two more movies, so the new standalone films might face problems.

However, Sony also has an array of other characters— such as Venom, Kraven the Hunter and Morbius—to use for crossovers.

EVELYN LIU ART “The two companies should work to return Spider-Man to the MCU. Previously, Sony has created unsuccessful Spider-Man movies with multiple lackluster reboots, but the two companies have proven that they can make amazing movies together that please a lot of fans,” Sophomore Daniel Smith said.

Jeffrey Epstein's dubious death: suicide, or foul play?

Hannah Moon and Aileen Xie Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and a multi-millionaire, was found dead in his jail cell on Aug. 10. Epstein was being held at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center on account of numerous sexual abuse charges. The public was appalled when the cause of death was revealed: suicide.

Epstein's sex-related crimes date back to 2005 when he supposedly assaulted a 14-year old girl. He served 13 months in the Palm Beach County jail after pleading guilty to two prostitution-related charges, a plea that has faced criticism over its course of time. According to Epstein’s indictment, Epstein ha also contracted several of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused.

As to the reason for Epstein’s multiple sex crimes, several of his lawyers have stated that it was this idea of impregnating women to spread his DNA and ultimately “improve the human intelligence by controlled breeding” that spurred his acts.

It took nearly 15 years for Epstein to be arrested—he evaded charges through his power. In the past he had great financial success, founding a money-management firm, J. Epstein & Co., in 1988. He gained powerful associates by assisting wealthy

Staff Writers

men such as former US President George H.W. Bush, stringing up a hidden web of connections. His allies protected him through blackmail, further delaying his impending arrest.

“This case proves how skewed our justice system is towards the powerful and wealthy, as Epstein already got charged before but served only weeks in jail, ” Junior Benson Fang said.

KELLY CUI ART Epstein’s death fueled many questions about how the Manhattan jail officials allowed such a high-profile convict to die of suicide. As a result, the media has been circulating conspiracies regarding the true cause of Epstein’s death. President Trump has been actively supporting the theory that Epstein was somehow murdered by Bill Clinton; others believe that President Donald Trump is responsible for his death.

However, there is no evidence to confirm either conspiracy. People affiliated to both political parties have been using Epstein’s death to further push a political agenda, trying to persuade others that their political enemy should be shunned of an execution no one has been able to prove to be true.

Epstein’s elaborate evasion from justice brought up comparisons to OJ Simpson’s acquittal of the murder of his exwife and her friend. Even with incriminating DNA evidence, Simpson was able to avoid a conviction by assembling a superteam of lawyers affordable only to the extremely wealthy.

Ultimately, armed with the best legal council in the country, Simpson stayed a free man, revealing the extent to which our criminal justice system favors the powerful and affluent. Like Simpson, Epstein was able to prolong his freedom, avoiding the punishment his crimes have warranted for years.

"Wealthy people are already perceived as more credible and have access to the best defense attorneys. Individuals like Epstein should not be able to exploit the system like they have been doing for years.

It is important that biases in the criminal justice system are rooted out and fixed to prevent future injustices," Junior Nikhil Chandra said.

THE CHARGER ACCOUNT

DoorDash dishes out new tipping policy

11

ENTERTAINMENT TERA: The future of homes

Nancy Zheng and Edward Jung

Staff Writer and Community News Editor

DoorDash, a food delivery service, and inconsistent pay compared to a announced the removal of their regular job. controversial tipping policy this month, On July 24, DoorDash announced which has been receiving major backlash that they would be since February. moving away DoorDash’s old tipping from this policy, initiated in 2017, payment was greatly criticized when system— revealed to the public. the tips According to the New York that customers Times, “A tip paid through paid will be going directly the app…went mostly to to the employee. However, this offsetting DoorDash’s change sparked uneasiness contribution toward the among DoorDash employees— guarantee, rather they were concerned than increasing that DoorDash the Dasher’s would lower their pay.”

For wages.

Despite example, if a the criticism from worker was customers, many supposed to Dashers actually earn $10 from a preferred the old EVELYN LIU ART delivery, DoorDash policy, because would only pay them $10 if the customer regardless of whether or not they were did not tip. However, if the customer tipped, they were sure they would make a tipped $4, the employee gets paid the good amount from each delivery. same amount, regardless of whether the Nevertheless, under its new policy, customer tipped. DoorDash, on the other DoorDash has increased its minimum hand, would pocket the tip money. This base pay from $1 to $2, in order to take into policy did not sit well with customers account deliveries that are farther away. In when they found out that they were addition, DoorDash CEO Tony tipping the multi-million dollar business, Xu stated that the company not the hard-working server. will hire a third-party business “The old policy was very unfair, as to track the Dashers’ earnings the company was taking advantage of the in order to ensure that they are workers by keeping the money intended making more money. for them,” Sophomore Cindy Zhao said.

“The fact that companies The idea of tipping in food delivery are now shifting their tipping is borrowed from the restaurant industry. policies is a great example of In contrast to traditional restaurant how public opinion helped employees, there is no minimum wage in change a bad policy for the delivery jobs. Since delivery workers for better. The people spoke, and apps are legally considered “independent so the company listened. I contractors,” they are able to tailor their am glad that these companies work times or errands to their own listened to their customers, schedules or needs, as stated by the New because after all, what they York Times. This arrangement contribute were doing was wrong. The to idea of a gig economy, where workers new policy will put more have more flexibility, but fewer benefits value into tips, encouraging

more people to tip their deliverers,” Senior Michael Haswell said.

Andy Newman, a journalist for the New York Times, experienced being a delivery worker for a day. He described it as “a game of real-life speed chess played across the treacherous grid of the city, as riders juggle orders from competing apps and scramble for elusive bonuses.”

The intensity deliverers face on the job is another factor that plays into public disapproval of the tipping policy by the delivery companies.

DoorDash is not the only delivery app to alter its tipping policy due to public disapproval. In February 2019, the grocery delivery app Instacart also dropped their old tipping policy, which was similar to Door Dash’s, after angry workers accused the company of cheating them out of their wages. Across many different companies, delivery workers are not being sufficiently reimbursed for their efforts, and due to the public backlash, these companies have altered their policies to improve the workers’ circumstances.

“I am fairly optimistic that things will be better for employees in the future, once DoorDash’s new policy is solidified,” Junior Brian Kim said.

Infographic: Have you used a food delivery app?

Yes: 74%

TikTok clocks up fans worldwide

Edward Jung

Community News Editor

NASA’s 3D-Printed Extraterrestrial Habitats Challenge gives us a glimpse of what life on another planet would be like. In the challenge, AI SpaceFactory, a multi-planetary architectural and technology design agency, was awarded $500,000 for its egg-shaped habitat design. With multiple floors, rooms and windows, the future of extraterrestrial life seems much more comfortable than we had previously envisioned for living off the planet.

AI SpaceFactory’s award-winning structure, MARSHA, is constructed out of a polymer based on cane and corn.

It is proven by NASA to be 50 percent more durable than concrete and more environmentally friendly than traditional materials used to construct buildings, like concrete and wood.

The material can be melted down and redeposited at any time, something impossible for current building materials. The terrestrial version, TERA, is a development of MARSHA adapted for earth, and will apply the cutting edge design to improve life on the planet. These innovations are exciting;

”the future of extraterrestrial life seems much more comfortable than we had previously envisioned...”

No: 26% IVAN ZHU ART

Ridge Coffey and Muskaan Grewal

Staff Writers TikTok—the viral new social media ten years ago, have gained a second Ministry of Communication and app that most students at the school life on the app, as users have created Information Technology also placed a ban have seen, used or downloaded at least hundreds of videos playing the song. after it was “deemed to be a bad influence once in the past year—has reached “TikTok has been a really fun app on the youth.” Bangladesh banned the app approximately one billion users, and for me to use over the past year. I’ve in an attempt to purge the nation’s social one million viewers daily, according to enjoyed posting a lot of silly videos, and media of explicit content. For example, CNN, as of June 2019. The basis of the a lot of my friends also spend time on the song “Hello Kitty” by Avril Lavigne app revolves around making 15 second the app. I use it because I enjoy making has been accused of fetishizing Japanese videos set to music, including anything videos,” Sophomore Peyton Davis said. people and sexualizing a cartoon character. from lipsync videos to short comedic skits.

Recently, the controversy While widely regarded as an app surrounding the app has heightened exclusively for fast entertainment, TikTok in India. Songs that have been has demonstrated its ability to heavily encouraging Hindu citizens to move to impact pop culture. Through viral videos Kashmir, a Muslim-majority territory and challenges, the app has given a variety in India that was recently stripped of of artists a new platform to popularize its independence, are going viral their music. For instance, earlier on the app. Due to the animosity this year, Lil Nas X’s “Old between Hindu and Muslim Town Road” broke the people in India, songs record for the longest promoting nationalism run of being No. 1 could lead to violence single on Billboard’s and increased tensions.

ART YANG H T E Hot 100, staying on the “The political situation in Kashmir N N E K charts for 19 weeks. TikTok is tense, and while I personally have played a central role in the song’s D e s p i t e not actually seen any TikTok videos, popularity, as many users parodied positively contributing I can understand how nationalists the song in a viral trend called the “yee to music growth, TikTok could use TikTok to encourage haw,” a dance where users would dress has spurred controversy. Since its violence,” Junior Nicky Gian said. themselves in a western costume to the international release in September 2017, TikTok’s unconventional method song. Bands like Why Don’t We and Stray the app has been banned in many countries of spreading media has given users Kids use the app for promotions, allowing including India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. a new platform to influence pop many of their songs to gain traction. In The Verge said that politicians in culture. Whether that be through addition to launching artist’s careers, India temporarily banned the app for innocuous memes, humorous skits, TikTok also resurges popularity in already encouraging sexually explicit behavior viral challenges or politically-charged established artists. Songs like “Obsessed” and encouraging “cultural degradation.” songs, the app exhibits a prominent

by Mariah Carey, which was released According to Tech In Asia, Indonesia’s influence on the young generation.

there is an active attempt to address environmental problems prevalent on earth through the application of spacegrade technologies and materials. Our non-environmentally friendly methods of building structures and habitats are slowly ruining life on Earth—AI SpaceFactory strives to stop this.

TERA and MARSHA apply the cutting edge technology developed to support life on other planets to life on Earth. If it works in the harsh environment of Mars, it is certainly good enough to work on Earth. AI SpaceFactory mentions that its inspiration behind TERA, the earthbased model of the martian habitat MARSHA, was to expose “the building industry’s massive waste of materials” and create “a proof-of-concept for a new type of building–one that is durable and twice as strong as concrete, yet recyclable and compostable.”

Currently, there are billions of people around the world without proper shelter. Rampant urbanization of the planet sucks up our limited resources.

TERA could potentially change all of this—its building materials offer a way to give back to the Earth, rather than take from it. Their 3D-printing of buildings increases productivity, offering both a more efficient and environmentallyfriendly way of building structures.

“Earth’s bounty was used to grow our civilization and advance our technology. Now that we have the ability to venture out to the stars, it is time to return what we have borrowed.

This is our pact with our Planet,” David Malott, CEO and Chief Architect of AI SpaceFactory said. TERA demonstrates how we can apply innovative space technology to our planet.

4

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 APRIL 29, 2015

12 4

LIFESTYLE How The Kingdom will change you

Grace Li

Front Page Editor

As Elaine Ngo, English Department, delved into the pages of her recent read, she became engrossed in the fairy-tale sci-fi dystopian novel that boasted an innovative approach to young adult narratives. Taking place in 2096, the universe of The Kingdom, by Jess Rothenberg, centers on the titular theme park that serves as a fanciful escape for families of the financial elite; the park houses android princesses engineered to provide maximum happiness to parkgoers.

The protagonist, Ana, is one such robot princess, who is accused of murder. Her detainment and court trial is the focal point of the story, which is told partially in the format of court transcripts, audio recordings and sometimes “camera footage,” delivering a raw narrative while keeping the reader guessing until the end.

The story also provides subversive commentary on real-life injustices

“Rothenberg shows no hesitation portraying the pretentious underbelly of current society.” against women. It sheds light on topics such as beauty standards and sexual assault. More futuristic questions are raised through the Asimov-esque exploration of robot rights. Although the novel is set in the future, Rothenberg shows no hesitation portraying the contentious underbelly of current society.

“Although almost nothing in the novel explicitly points to sexual misconduct, the implications are enough to make any high-schooler feel unsettled, or even disgusted,” Ngo said.

The worldbuilding is captivating— this universe contains robot-princessmascots—but the plot itself is nothing unique. However, it is still thoughtprovoking and enjoyable. The strong female lead smashing archetypes is overdone: the trend has hit its peak when The Hunger Games dominated the bestsellers’ list. However, Ana is a subversion of the “strong female character” model because she is resilient without sacrificing her feminity.

“Ana is not a bow-and-swordwielding warrior, but she advocates for herself and her sisters, and she is curious about the world she inhabits.

She is willing to challenge the cycle of her own enslavement,” Ngo said.

The Kingdom

(4/5) worth the read

+ relevant social commentary

+ atmospheric multi-medium experience - predictable ending

Apple Card paves the way for the e-banking industry Serena Atkinson “We think Apple is uniquely positioned to make the most significant change in the credit-card experience in 50 years,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said upon the release of the Apple Card, according to CNBC. The card was introduced on March 25, along with three new subscription services: Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Arcade.

The Apple Card expands upon the existing Apple Pay software and is housed in the Apple Wallet app with new features.

Users can tap on their transactions to see the location of the store on a map. Transactions are put into color-coded categories in order to show users where they are spending most of their money.

Every time a transaction is made, cashh is returned in the form of Daily Cash. The Apple Card gives three percent cash back on Apple products and Uber or Uber Eats, two percent cash back on other purchases and one percent when paying with the optional titanium card.

Apple is also promoting the security of the Apple Card.

The company has designed the card so that payments are authorized through technologies such as Face and Touch ID, similar to how other Apple devices are locked. The card also does not have any numbers or signatures on ito prevent theft. The Apple Card also has three different card numbers for extra security: one for Apple Pay, one for physical transactions and one for transactions without Apple Pay.

Staff Writer According to Business Insider, Apple most likely created this card in order to entice customers to buy into the Apple brand. The company could possibly become ubiquitous, “much like the way the WeChat app is used for [financial trnsactions] in China.”

Despite all the fanfare, some people say that the Apple Card’s features are not as groundbreaking as they are marketed to be. For example, Apple claims that its Annual Percentage Rates (APR) on the cards, “are among the lowest in the industry, ramging from approximately 13 to 24 percemt.”

Yet CNBC states that according to “Ted Rossman, industry analyst, “... some credit unions offer rates as low as eight percent.” Rossman also said that traditional credit card options offer more lucrative cash back options than the Apple Card, including one that offers more for Apple Pay purchases than the Apple Card itself. While the card’s features may not be new, the card may increase the presence of mobile banking in KENNETH YANG ART finance. Richard Yao, the Senior monthly credit card payment.

Associate of Strategy at IPG Media “The Apple Card is a great first card Lab, writes that “the implementation of for college students because it will help Apple Card reveals a lot about the future them track their spending more easily. The of personal finance, which will become Apple Card has no fees, which is amazing increasingly digital and user-friendly.” because college students will not have The Medium also suggests that other tech to spend money to spend [extra] money companies may follow Apple’s lead and using credit,” Junior Jonathan Morris said. develop their own banks and credit cards.

Vice President of Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey said in an Apple press release that the Apple Card was created to help customers lead a better financial life, which begins with a throrough understanding of spending habits and that relationship with good financial decisions. The company’s website states that the Apple Card has “no fees” and a built-in interest calculator that shows the amount of interest required for any given of

13

THE CHARGER ACCOUNT

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: Physical Education

Physical education exemptions cause confusion

Yeji Jeong, Andrea Kuo and Nam Nguyen A rift has formed between the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen at the school. In 2017, the inclusion of a PE waiver form in the course selection packet sparked outcries from the student body, as many had already satisfied what they perceived to be the twoyear PE requirements.

According to the regulations set by the Calif. government, two years of PE are required in order to graduate; at the school, one sport is equal to five credits, or half a year of KIM ART PE. The waiver was approved for those who fall under one of three cases: being at least 16 years or older and enrolled in sophomore year for at least one year; being enrolled as a postgraduate student; or being enrolled in a juvenile home, camp or ranch that already includes recreation and exercise. On the 2010 state profile, the state assured that while these

take it, which can possibly cause students to receive unideal schedules due to the limit of seven classes. On the other hand, some students opt for a sport because it could or does align with one of their interests. However, many are unable to fit lengthy practice times and frequent games into their schedule; tryouts with competitive cutoffs can also discourage beginner players from joining.

“Not mandating a second year of PE permits students to take their preferred classes.

My friend did not join band until junior year because he had seven classes including PE both his freshman and sophomore year, even though he is a amazing bassoonist. Since students who take a second year of PE often receive schedules that start early, many of them do not take in order to get more sleep,” Senior Andrew Lihn said.

Nevertheless, PE is not just a class that students are forced to take—it has broader

are their standards, “school districts are not required to comply.”

Taking this supplement into account, San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) has modified who qualifies for PE exemptions. Assistant Principal Mary Ann Dougherty offered a handout outlining the standards for the district. According to SJUSD, juniors and seniors who are over 16 years old and have earned 20 credits in PE can request a permanent exemption. Students who have not satisfied this requirement will not be eligible to graduate.

“Waiving PE credits is a good idea for those who do not have the time to do a sport.

I did track and field my sophomore year, but it was very inconvenient because I had to completely rearrange my schedule to fit practice.

Also, I am not e s p e c i a l ly athletic, so being able to opt out of PE was a relief for me,” Senior Tiffany Jia said.

Those who have not fulfilled their 20 credits of PE often sacrifice a class to

“I started playing basketball because I enjoy it. Growing up, I played numerous sports, but I chose basketball because it allows me to be in a team that works towards a common goal, such as winning championships and games. Basketball allows me to gain teamwork and strive for achievements—that is why I began playing basketball and why I continue to play it. It also helps me deal with stress because it helps me focus on my work more in order for me to deal with everyday practices in addition to my academic workload. I also really enjoy playing alongside my teammates, playing against other opponents and rival schools. I continue to play basketball because I want to achieve more. I want to become a better basketball player everyday, win more games and tournaments and most importantly, I want to help the team win a CCS Championships, because we have not won since 2015,” Senior Vineet TO PHO Byakod said.

D JA

“ I joined cross-country because I was told that it could help me improve on my running. Last year, I ran on the varisty team and fulfilled my PE credits, but I never ran did it for the PE credits. I love the sport because anyone can improve over time.

We run two to five miles each practice and three-mile races. I set goals for each race in order to improve my time by one or two minutes by the next race. During practices, I time myself and week by week, I can track my progress. Sometimes I push myself by running with someone faster than me. That person will keep me in check, making sure I maintain a constant pace. The friendly competition between teammates when we run makes me love the sport even more.

Improving in cross-country is not hard— it just takes a lot of commitment.

Our team is like a family; we look after each other when we experience difficult obstacles, s0 we stay strong as a team,” Junior Ryan DIA NA YOU Niemi said.

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Infographic: Why do students play a sport?

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Viewpoint Page Editor and Staff Writers

implications and benefits. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, adolescents from ages six to 17 should try to engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. This recommendation is based on evidence that regular exercise can reduce serious conditions such as “heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and obesity.” PE can also lead to improved motor skills such as coordination and speed, leadership and KIM ART collaborative opportunities and increased self-discipline, according to Phit World. Ultimately, PE credits remain a graduation requirement for a reason and can help establish healthy lifestyle habits even after high school.

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Friends “I was “I quit never able ice hockey to form strong in freshman Health bonds with year, but I knew I teammmates in PE, wanted to continue PE Credits so I decided to join girls playing a sport. I had lacrosse three years ago already done track at Bret Interest to have more opportunities Harte, and field hockey was in bonding with friends and an easy switch from ice hockey, finding hobbies I like other than art. so I started playing these sports at I continue to play lacrosse because I school. Both sports provide supportive came to love how the game makes me feel. communities—my teammates always I love the thrill and the bonds I have made made me feel better about the daily grind over the past three years of playing the sport. school puts you through. I absolutely love the There is nothing like finally making that goal and intensity you can get from both sports, and having Compiled by Javier GomezTagle hearing your teammates on the sidelines cheering you practice everyday relieves my stress and helps me on. It gives me a sense of self-assurance, making me feel relax. My friends do track and field with me, and we run 150 students polled that all my hard work was worth it. The bonds we make from in the mornings before school during the off-season to stay lacrosse are different from the ones we make with friends or in shape. I continue running track because I love the adrenaline family. As teammates, we are able to push each other harder to rush that comes racing and knowing I have the mental strength to become better players and overall as a team. After playing lacrosse for push myself past exhaustion. Over the summer, I helped coach field three years, I learned a lot about self-worth and how to open up. I learned hockey, and it was really inspiring to help girls become the best athletes that it is okay to explore out of my comfort zone, and by putting myself out they could possibly be. I love field hockey because I like the fact that when there, I now experience so much more and enjoy life a lot more,” Senior Noelle you play, you are ultimately going one-on-one against an opponent, fueling my Ngo said. love for competition,” Junior Samantha Chock said.

19.3%

Left to right: Sophomore Rachel Qian runs outside the school campus during cross-country practice. Junior Aliya Daire gets ready to receive the ball at the tennis courts. Junior Maddy Phan begins serving the ball during tennis practice. Senior Michael Saunichev runs on the football field during cross-country practice.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

14

SPORTS

Boy’s Water Polo splashes into new season

Tiffany Nguyen and Rishab Satyakaal

Sports and Entertainment Editors

After cruising past the rest of the played well against two good teams. We league last year, making it to the semifinals have done the work to get the things we of the California Central Section (CCS) want and at this point it is about putting Championships, the Chargers’ boys water our shots away when we get open looks,” polo team began this season by facing Alex Chang ’20 said. a formidable opponent: the In their next match, the Acalanes Dons. While the Chargers did not allow Chargers fought hard, their early struggles often shifting the to affect their game’s pace and performance. In transitioning their first league fluidly from matchup defense to against the offense, they Willow Glen were unable Rams on to convert on Sept. 11, the their scoring Chargers opportunities, looked to and lost the implement game, 6-15. their newlyWith only developed one day before strategies and YU YI LU PHOTO their next match, address the the team worked weaknesses from together to identify their play in the their strengths and John Reid ‘20 searches for his teammates previous two games. weaknesses from their In the first quarter, nine-point loss to work on any early- the Chargers came out of the gates firing season rust for the next game. Against on all cylinders; they prevented Willow one of the top teams in the state, the Glen’s offense from scoring several times, a undefeated Monte Vista Mustangs, the significant improvement from the previous Chargers were quickly overpowered and blowouts. Led by goalkeeper Altay Uenal lost 2-12. ’20, the defense positioned themselves “We might have lost the first two strategically to block shots, disrupt passes, games of the season, but arguably we appearing poised to get their first win of

the season. On the other hand, the team’s and act upon opportunities when they offense looked rejuvenated: last year’s arise. We all wanted to beat Willow Glen; leading scorers Gabe Vado ’20 and John we channeled our energy into good Reid ’20, who have averaged 2.3 and 2.1 decisions and playmaking. We did not let goals per game respectively over their three the stress get to our heads. We just played years of experience, picked up right where water polo,” Chang said. they left off. With numerous assists and goals scored by Ryan Wahl ’20 and Andrew Gibson ’20, the team took advantage of and successfully executed on several of their scoring opportunities.

However, the game was not a runaway, and the Rams mirrored the Chargers’ proficiency.

They blocked several shot attempts from the Charger offense and took advantage of those opportunities, scoring several goals to come back within a single point of the Chargers. Facing their third JEFFREY TAN PHOTO straight loss for only the second time in the past three seasons, the team did not give in to the pressure.

They responded swiftly, and traded Altay Uenal ‘20 hurls the ball up the pool. goals with the Rams until the final buzzer For the Chargers, their next league rang and the game ended. Finishing the game is against Live Oak High School on game up 12-11, the Chargers celebrated Oct. 9. The team hopes to continue to build their first win of the season and hope to on the momentum from their previous carry on this momentum for future games. win, positing themselves for another “In tight games there is no time for successful CCS run. selfishness; there is only time to recognize

JEFFREY TAN PHOTO Ryan Wahl ‘20 launches the ball at the goalie.

Ashley Lee

QIHONG LI PHOTO Riya Shah ‘21 charges ahead to block the shot.

VY NGUYEN PHOTO Karin Liu ‘22 battles her opponent for the ball.

Girl’s Field Hockey strategizes to overcome weaknesses

On Sept. 12, the Chargers faced one of the top ranked teams in the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL)—Branham High School. Playing against a rigorous team, the girls were filled with mixed emotions of nervousness and excitement.

“I was extremely nervous for the game because I knew that Branham was a strong team, this also made me more motivated to play well and go for the ball,” Audrey Lui ‘21 said.

In order to prepare for their season, the girls have been practicing throughout the summer break. Starting in July, Sam Chock ‘21 served as an assistant coach and led early morning practice sessions with field hockey players interested in playing for the school. She helped the junior varsity players learn the basics of the sport. In addition to their frequent practices, Head Coach Lorraine Combs initiated many weekend challenges such as 3 mile runs throughout the summer. Despite their hard work prior to the start of the season, the girls were defeated in their game against Branham, 0-8.

In the first half of the game, there were many precise passes between the girls. In the start of the game, Maddie Tovar ‘22 passed the ball behind to Mizuki

Staff Writer

Shitomi ‘22. Shitomi immediately followed “This season, our goal is to work more up with a sweep to an open player. These cohesively as a team. We want to make this passes helped the girls play the ball up the season fun and develop more memories as field, cutting through the defense of the a team. Of course winning a few games opposing team. would be amazing, but all that really Tovar showed skill in her ability to matters, is that everyone enjoys the season drive the ball and wants to up the field, be a part of utilizing the team,” the side O l i v i a line to her Kukar advantage.

‘21 said.

Placing One of her body the main between the obstacles opposing during the defense and girls’ season the ball, she is replacing was able to the players swiftly make they had her way lost last towards the year. With VY NGUYEN PHOTO goal.

Due six players to the wellgraduating polished in the Audrey Lui ‘21 soars past her defenders. offense and previous aggressive defense to regain possession of school year, the girls had to quickly find the ball, the girls were able to make many players to take their place and practice shots at goal. Unfortunately, Branham’s in order to adjust to new and improved goalie was able to block these shots. offensive and defensive plays.

“The seniors graduating left me with a very young team. A lot of the girls are 9th graders, but when you are in 9th and 10th grade, you are physically not as strong, so it is hard on them to play a full game,” Combs said.

With additional practices, the girls were able to form a strong team chemistry regardless of the loss of the numerous seniors and overall youth and inexperience of the roster.

“At first it was a little chaotic trying to get the team to work as one, but now we are communicating and working together as a team. Coming from a losing season last year, two wins from this season so far is a huge improvement. This team’s dedication is definitely showing,” Kukar said.

Despite the outcome of the game against Branham, Combs is proud of her team for communicating well with one another during the game.

“Life is all about learning to work together with other people and enhancing your strengths while mitigating your weaknesses. Field hockey is exactly the same thing. I would like the girls to enhance themselves during the training season and find a way to work together,” Combs said.

THE CHARGER ACCOUNT

15

SPORTS

Athlete of the Month: Jasmine Shao Ethan Huang

Tanking in the NBA is reflective of the parity issue Sports Editor

Jogging is considered a relaxing pastime, allowing students to stay in shape while simultaneously taking their mind off of school. However, Jasmine Shao ‘20 takes the sport to the extreme, running long distances on sloping roads, enduring fatigue every time she practices.

With her myriad of achievements during her time in cross-country and track and field, many may find it surprising that Shao had never participated in a sport prior to high school.

“I did not play sports before high school. The first time I joined a sport was track and field my freshman year because my friends were on the team.

When I started, I was a sprinter, but I quickly realized that long-distance was better suited for me when I improved my mile by almost a minute after getting in shape. As a result, I joined cross country since I like to pace myself while running

and homework.

However, for Shao, it is especially difficult as she also runs a popular YouTube channel, studyquill, which focuses on studying tips, note-taking and bullet journaling.

As a result of her consistent uploads, Shao has amassed Vy Nguyen Photo more than 400,070 subscribers as well as 28 million views.

Jasmine Shao ‘20 smiles for the camera “I usually try to finish everything as fast as I can. Practices Shao primarily credits her track are almost every day, year-round, and field and cross country success to and because we have no pre-season, her teammates and the support they postseason and practices during breaks, provide her during practices and meets.

I try not to procrastinate, “The good thing about having and work as soon as I a team that is close-knit is that we get home,” Shao said. learn to ‘suffer’ together. Running, To Shao, running especially long-distance, can get means much more than painful, so the team helps each other just a sport. Running out by holding each other accountable has also helped her and coming to practice,” Shao said. with academics: the With college right around the corner, determination and Shao hopes to continue pursuing her grit needed to run passion for running. Although she is still long distances are considering whether or not she wants to shown in her rigorous compete in college, one thing is for sure: study habits, and her running is not going anywhere for Shao. ability to manage “I will continue running, whether e x t r a c u r r i c u l a r s , it be running on my own time or with a school and running. recreational club. Competing is still up for Courtesy of Sejun Park “A lot of my debate, but I can potentially be a walkteammates on the on athlete for some colleges,” Shao said.

Jasmine Shao ‘20 races toward the finish line cross country team are After years of running, overcoming academically driven, and obstacles and helping her teammates, rather than consuming all of my energy at I think there are parallels between being her valuable experience has accumulated once in a short period of time,” Shao said. determined enough to run three miles to a single piece of advice to readers: Student-athletes often find themselves on hills at your best effort and staying “If you have any injury, no swamped with work, drowning in sports determined when it comes to difficult tasks matter how small or large, ice it.” practices, extracurricular activities such as studying or a big test,” Shao said.

Quotebox: How did Chargers prepare for the season?

“I ran two miles every day and worked out at the gym to condition myself. I also took lessons with a private coach two times a week to hone my skills.”

—Brian Lee Kim ’21, Tennis “Before the residential internship that took up a majority of my summer, I practiced 8 hours a week and went to the gym frequently as well.”

—Dennis Wang ’20, Badminton

“The varsity team went to summer clinics offered by our coach at school and I also went to independent practices with two other members of the team.”

—Joanna Yang ’20, Volleyball “The dance team had rehearsals during the summer to prepare for upcoming performances. For instance, we continued our regular practice schedule of two practice sessions a week in preparation for the rally. In addition to all the practices, we had team bonding activities.”

—Purbasha Majee ’21, Dance “I started my run at 8 or 9 p.m. during the summer to avoid the heat, so I ate dinner relatively early. I ran around the neighborhood, along Camden Ave. and Via Valiente, for example.”

—Alex Chen ‘21, Track & Field “Our basketball team competed in a summer league that lasted for about a month. We also went to a tournament down in San Diego. Apart from these competitions, we continued practicing four times a week for two hours.”

—Ericka Sangco-Lidgey ‘20, Basketball “I had swimming practices for two hours every day, just like during the competition season.”

—Darrel Ho ‘21, Swimming

Compiled by Jonathan Yue, Staff Writer

Sophia Lu

Feature School Editor

An astounding 33 National Basketball Association (NBA) championships have been won by two teams—the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics—in the 73 years since the league’s inaugural 1947 season.

While the two have indisputably dominated the game of basketball for a good portion of the past century, many other NBA teams have spent season after season toiling to reach the playoffs, only to be immediately eliminated by these so called “superteams”. The lack of parity, or evenness, in the NBA has led teams to purposefully lose games in order to attain an early draft pick.

The Celtics and Lakers are no longer favorites for the championship, but their formidable dynasties have given rise to other superteams like the Golden State Warriors. While some have claimed that the Warriors are the “best thing that has happened to basketball,” many others disagree— citing the lack of parity as a major issue for the NBA. The Warriors have been annual candidates for the title, but their continual perch atop the rest of the competition has led to tanking, decreased player motivation and a variety of other issues.

The NBA draft is an exciting moment for many; it offers hope for teams who have spent the majority of the season at the bottom of the league standings, lack a superstar or are just one player away from contending for a championship. Generally, the worst teams benefit the most from this event: they receive the highest picks, which allows them to choose the best player available from a newly-eligible field of college superstars. When there is a team like the Warriors dominating competition, many other NBA squads reach a foregone conclusion that they cannot beat the incumbent champion.

Thus, they may trade away good players to get a head start on rebuilding for the next season.

More commonly, lower-ranked teams will bench their players and save them for the next season, eliminating their risk of injury. Not only does this prevent them from getting valuable ingame experience, but it is also unfair to their fan bases, who pay money to come to their games and watch these players. The NBA attempted to address this issue by banning teams from resting players during home games but did not establish any rules against resting players during away games.

Many recognize that tanking is a major issue, but little has been done to solve the problem. There have been attempts to reform the draft by diluting the probability that the worst-performing teams will receive the top picks. While this is an admirable step forward, it does not resolve the complication. Currently, there is no viable solution, but it is the responsibility of the teams to maintain the competitiveness of the league.

CRIMES AGAINST THE HUMANITIES SUBJECTS MATTER: GET SCHOOLED

A case for the Liberal Arts

Andrea Kuo and Keerthana Ramaswamy

— Gay Brasher, Visual & Performing Arts Department

s useful?

Quotebox: Are the humanitie

body can r world today, and every ou to t an ev rel ll sti st crucial “Humanities are minor. One of the mo or jor ma y nit ma hu just about benefit from a use it can be applied to ca be sh gli En is cts bje have to be humanities su le, and journalists alike op pe ess sin bu ts, tis y is also any field. Scien rk concisely. Philosoph wo d an hts ug tho ir the morality able to express ed to be able to discuss the ne we ; ole wh a as ty cie d politics.” necessary for so the death sentence, an g, itin ed ne ge as ch su of controversies Senior Grace Lo l than what bjects are more usefu su s art l era lib , on ini nk critically “In my op story teaches you to thi Hi . be to m the lds ho r. Similarly, everyone nds of human behavio tre on mm co see to rtant subject you learn and it is most impo sis aly an th wi lps e humanities English he to communicate. Th w ho us es ch tea ly important. ” because it ation and are extreme uc ed of re co the at subjects are Sophomore Cindy Zhao , en uy Ng yn rol Compiled by Ca Last Word Editor

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ALYSSA CHEN ART

Staff Writer and Feature World Editor

Major universities with tight budgets a biotech startup, improves access to typically axe humanities departments birth control through a digital application, first. According to The Guardian, the which allows users to simply request a State University of New York Stony Brook prescription online. Understanding what no longer offers majors in comparative drives human interest allows startups literature, cinema and cultural studies like Nurx to achieve an intersection and theater arts. Cuts are often made between technology and humanity. to improve job prospects for graduating Careers in math, science, nursing and students. However, the implication engineering benefit from a humanities that humanities are useless in society education through extensive critical and do not equip students for careers thinking skills developed alongside like business, medicine and technology completing the core curriculum. In recent is a fundamental misconception. years, medical schools have identified Humanities is the study of how “people a phenomenon known as “pre-med process and document syndrome” within the human experience their application through philosophy, pool—a surge in literature, religion, art, from “There is a deep divide applications music, history and acadmically oriented humanities pre-med students. language,” according between to the Stanford Though traditional and STEM currently.”

Humanities Center. pre-med applicants The exploration of the boast perfect Medical humanities dates back College Admission to ancient Greece and Test (MCAT) scores the Renaissance and promotes enriched and exemplary grades, they may not understanding of both expressions of understand human nature as deeply. art such as poetry and paintings as To counteract this trend, top medical well as business models and politics. schools like Mount Sinai accept more “There is a deep divide between the applicants majoring in the humanities. humanities and STEM currently. A lot of They offer college sophomores majoring times, people have a kind of tunnel vision in the humanities guaranteed admission for a specific field and only pursue courses into their medical school upon graduation. immediately applicable to that field.

Computer developers often hire However, there are a lot of options still yet beta testers to evaluate their apps’ user to be explored in combining both of these experience. A grasp of what resonates interests,” Senior Sarah Ransing said. with people through humanities can According to Robert Mittelstaedt, make the most complicated of computer dean emeritus of Arizona State codes accessible to the user base.

University’s W. P. Carey School of While scientists create great Business, “empathy, strong leadership and advancements almost daily, issues motivational skills are crucial to succeed in such as cybersecurity violations business.” Humanities curriculum endorse and digital inequity plague society. connecting with other human beings and It is imperative to consider invest in work with social meaning. Nurx, technology within human contexts.

Journalists utilize their language and composition skills to write news articles and relay important information regarding current events to the general public.

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required to create Technical writers are icles and assessments detailed manuals, art icate able to commun and must be ely. tiv ec eff d arly an complex ideas cle

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have degrees in the Many law students cal philosophy or politi humanities, such as d an ch as communication science, and skills su we as ll. on that are important synthesis of informati kinson, Compiled by Serena At Staff Writer