Pre-college costs see Page 4
Special Feature See Page 7 and 8
Super Bowl LII Page 12
Fremont High School
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by Miranda Kushner-Pér Photo Editor
In an age where commodities seem to be everything, money is what determines someone’s place in their society. Although the message that hard work breeds success is ground into Americans throughout their lives, to some people, the reality is otherwise. This discrepancy was brought to the forefront of national attention in the 2016 presidential election, when Democratic Socialist candidate Bernie Sanders won nearly half of the popular vote in the Democratic Primaries. His energetic speeches and ideals led thousands of people across the country to wonder “what is socialism?”, making that term one of the most popular Google searches of the year. Any history student knows the basic definition of socialism, which is an economic system based on equality and wealth distribution. But something less widely understood is how these Marxist ideals come into play now. Although there are several socialist organizations in America now, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are the largest group, having seen their membership nearly quadruple over one year, reaching 25,000 due-paying members, the highest membership of an American socialist party since before World War II. What led to such a growth
Graphics courtesy of Wikipedia
PHOENIX
Vol. 6 Issue No. 4 Feb 2, 2018
Youth Revolution
in numbers? For many newly socialist students, their switch to socialist ideology is due to the presence of inequality in their lives. “[I] converted to socialism because society forgets working class people,” Mountain View High School junior, Ruth Herrera-Flores, explained, “People of the top 1 percent live luxuriously, while poor people break their backs preventing the economy from crashing.” For many teens, it is growing up with fewer opportunities than their more well-off friends that makes them aware of injustices. “Socialism appealed to me because it gives people who have talents and skills but no way to express or pursue them because of financial issues a way to do so,” Los Altos High junior Andie Chan said. “I found out that if you’re not born with a ton of money, it’s harder to get to the same place as people who are richer.” It is not just teens from working class families that are turning to socialism. Even for higher middle class people, capitalism has been a disappointment as well. “The fact that ‘nonprofits’ can profit off of creating academic gateways that less advantaged students cannot pass through [has let me down],” explains Fremont High junior Shobhana Shreedhar. “The numerous loopholes that rich people use to stay rich and get richer really frustrates me
too.”
What Shreedhar is referring to is The College Board, the so-called nonprofit that runs tests such as the SAT and the AP program. While more well off students can afford to take as many AP tests as their schedules allow, even supplementing with paid preparatory classes, less advantaged students are unable to take these expensive tests for college credit. On top of that, College Board charges students to send scores to colleges, creating another area where people with more money have more opportunities. Even in the area of educational opportunities, which should be straightforward and fair, the economically advantaged higher classes are more equipped to move ahead while everyone else remains in a selfperpetuating cycle of being unable to attend college to afford a better life for their children. Despite this disconnect between capitalism and achievement that many see, many others still have faith in the traditional system. “The free market drives innovation and in many cases, does this better than the state,” says junior Alex Marquez. “I think [socialist] concerns with our current system are valid, but a state run system is not the most efficient or sustainable.” Among the younger generation, that seems to be the main counteropinion to socialism. But for
many adults, the attitude is far more polarized, with prominent Democrats, such as House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, explicitly distancing the Democratic Party from any aspect of socialism, even more conservative teens are open to some aspects of socialism. “I don’t think that the state controlling all industries would be reasonable,” added Marquez, “but public necessities like healthcare, the military and education should be left to the state.” In general, that seems to be the prevailing attitude towards these issues, especially healthcare. In fact, it was the very issue of healthcare that became so prominent in the decisive 2016 presidential elections. The DSA has made the establishment of nationalized single-payer healthcare one of its main platforms for many years, making use of the slogan “healthcare is a human right.” The necessity of singlepayer —or at least universal— healthcare was made apparent through incidents such as when in late 2017, American Shane Boyle passed away because his GoFundMe for insulin fell $50 short. This is one such example of what Shreedhar described as a “lack of a safety net for those who are less advantaged,” just one of the things that has led young adults to be dismayed with the current capitalist system. Not only has capitalism
been disappointing to many, but there are successful examples of democratic socialist countries. Norway, for example, is well-known as a democratic socialist country. With its high taxation rate contributing to far more benefits than American citizens experience, such as paid parental leave, free college education and free childcare, the Norwegian standard of living is much higher than America’s. The same holds true for other Scandinavian countries that adhere to what is known as the Nordic system.
Socialism appealed to me because it gives people who have talent and skills but no way to express or pursue them because of financial issues a way to do so Andie chan
The fact that there are so many functional examples of democratic socialist countries, while the United States is hesitant to even implement free college education, is absurd to many people, especially students for whom the idea of spending their adult lives thousands of dollars
in debt from student loans will probably be a reality, with the average American $30,000 in debt. Interestingly enough, despite how the unpleasant parts of the current American system directly affect teenagers, for the most part, teenagers are not taken seriously in matters of politics. “[We] are also treated as if we don’t know anything when we have a different experience than the norm.” Shreedhar said when asked about teenagers being taken seriously in regards to this topic. In most political movements, it is the teens who are at the forefront of action and activism, something that the DSA recognizes in their jokes about “the dictatorship of the teen” and their YDSA (Young Democratic Socialists of America) groups. With such widespread acceptance of teenagers in their movement, this is a group that has potential to remain and keep evolving. No matter what political inclination one leans towards, history has shown that teenage involvement is very important for change. Although teenage enthusiasm is vital to driving the socialist movement forward, to put it in Shreedhar’s words, “the more teens are taken seriously, the closer we get to making progress in our society.”
News Congratulations to FHS Chinese teacher
feb. 2, 2018
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by Vivien Su
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Fremont’s very own Chinese teacher, Zoey Liu,was recently awarded the 2017 Yao Memorial Award for Outstanding New Teacher from the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS) because of her teaching ethic and inspirational character. The award was created in honor of Dr. Tao-Chung Yao and his celebratory success as a Chinese educator who specialized in the use of digital education. His contributions to the Chinese learner community such as his best-selling Integrated Chinese have merited great success across the board. The Phoenix has had the privilege of interviewing Ms. Liu about her recent winning where the process of earning her achievement was discussed in full detail and much more. The Phoenix: First off, congratulations! Ms. Liu: Thank you! The Phoenix: What does winning the award mean to you? Ms. Liu: Winning this award definitely is an affirmation of all the efforts I’ve put into teaching. After working with so many great teachers and colleagues from CLASS and getting inspired [by these people], it means a lot, especially because the memorial award is named after Dr. Yao who wrote the textbook that we are using every day. Dr. Yao is very influential in Chinese education, so I feel very honored to get this award. The Phoenix: How did you feel after receiving this award? Ms. Liu: Very happy. The Phoenix: How did you hear about this award? Ms. Liu: Ms. Jin, who is my friend and also my mentor when I started teaching, is the board member of CLASS. She heard about this award and suggested that I could be a candidate. I looked over the criteria and one of them was recording 15 minutes of my teaching and uploading the unedited video for the board to access my teaching skills. I put [the video] together and after a few weeks, I heard back from [the board] that I got the award. The Phoenix: What was the process of creating that video? Was it hard? Ms. Liu: It wasn’t hard. I chose Chinese 2 to record in. [The students there] were very quiet and [remained] always on task. My TA [in that class] used the iPad to record me doing activities with the students. Since the students were quiet during the activity, I was concerned how the teacher judging the video would view it, but I think it worked out because it let them see the whole package [of my teaching experience and atmosphere]. The Phoenix: Besides the video, was anything else submitted? Ms. Liu: Yes. It was required to write an essay in response to a prompt about my teaching philosophies and strategies. I also had to submit my résumé and three recommendation letters from my teaching colleagues. The Phoenix: Were preparations made? If so, were they a long process? Ms. Liu: For me, the preparations didn’t take very long. I had to notify my teacher friends for the recommendation letters but the essay was fairly easy and it was only one page long. The Phoenix: Do you think this reflects your experience teaching Chinese in the K-12 public schools? Ms. Liu: I think so. I believe what I wrote in the essay and [the content of] my recommendation letters [reflected] how I teach in the class and how I showcase my teaching philosophies.
Vivien Su | The Phoenix
The Phoenix: What would you say your teaching philosophy is? Ms. Liu: I think my teaching philosophy varies year by year because I’m also learning [along the way]. Right now, I would say that teaching Chinese language and culture to students [is best achieved] through authentic, meaningful tasks. This is aligned with the national standards of education which I try to incorporate in [my] daily lessons plans such as interpersonal communications, interpretive communication, and presentational communication. Those three modes applies for all the framework of the world languages and not just Chinese. I like to keep a goal or objective [in mind that carries on to] the end of the day or the unit and then I design the lesson plan [accordingly]. After knowing the goal, I think about what kinds of summative assessments, such as quizzes, tests, or projects, that I want the students to be able to perform. Then I break down the skills required for the bigger tests in to smaller, daily tasks or formative assessments, that are not graded and only used to check the students’ learning. I think that every year, I’m applying the things that I’ve been learning from workshops and professional developments, especially last year. Last year, it was a big transition for me to move from traditional assessments, like tests, grammar drills, transla-
tion practice and quizzes, to performance-based assessments, which I believe is a better way to showcase the students’ learning in interpersonal or presentational modes. This year, instead of having a 100 multiple choice final, all the Chinese classes have a final project of presenting their knowledge through a real life research project and personal essays. Through this transition, I was very happy to see this change. The Phoenix: Does this award act as a good motivation for you to continue improving and changing your teaching styles? Ms. Liu: Yeah, definitely. I actually present at national and local conferences every year with Ms. Jin and other colleagues, which is a great opportunity for me to learn and train with the latest teaching philosophies, strategies and technologies. I also get to collaborate with teachers around the teachers. I’m also working with professional developers at Stanford for the past few years, so it’s really exciting to see what is new and what has been working really well [with students]. The Phoenix: What do you love most about your job? What do you find most challenging? Ms. Liu: What’s challenging is that I’m the only Chinese teacher [at Fremont] who’s teaching this program and I have to prep for five different levels [of Chinese] and also teach at two different schools. The prep work and my schedule is very time consuming. Sometimes I feel like I have two jobs, one at home and one at school. All the lesson planning takes very long. Even though it’s my third year of high school teaching, it’s still very tough for me. But at the same time, all the hard work I put into teaching [amounts to] good results and I see that when working with the students in all of the classes. Seeing you guys communicating and writing more in Chinese is very rewarding. The Phoenix: What would you say for any aspiring, new teachers out there? Ms. Liu: This is basically what I would say to myself three years ago. One piece of advice [I would offer] would be to not kill yourself with so many goals. You might be very efficient and full of energy but you don’t want to burn yourself out. I think one step at a time is a better way to take on the checklist that you have. Secondly, don’t be too hard on yourself out. It takes time for students and new teachers to get to know each other. Sometimes when you first come out of Teachers’ College, you have this view of how things are suppose to turn out but when you’re actually in the classroom, things will turn out different and that’s okay. You might make mistakes along the way but I don’t think that’s gonna do anything [in the long run]. Just correct yourself and people will understand because they see and work with you every day.
Once again, big congratulations to Ms. Liu! Fremont is full of amazing staff members and she is no exception. Hopefully her example can communicate to all students and teachers alike that hard work does pay off in the future and as long as one is passionate about his/her goals, good results are bound to happen.
Current Events: What’s going on around you? by Michael Wang Managing Editor
World News -According to the Guardian, Spectre and Meltdown processor security flaws place computers that have processors manufactured by a variety of companies such as Intel, AMD, ARM, at the risk of being hacked for sensitive data including passwords and banking information. Google said it informed the affected companies about the Spectre flaw on 1 June 2017 and later reported the Meltdown flaw before 28 July 2017, but details were only released recently. Source: The Guardian -North and South Korea will carry one unified Korea flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics taking place between Feb. 9 and Feb. 25, marking a thaw in relations between the two countries. This was arranged after in a New Year’s speech, Kim Jong-Un said he was considering sending a team to the Winter Olympics and South Korea’s Olympics chief had said last year that the North’s athletes would be welcome. The announcement was made on Jan. 9. Source: BBC
US News -More women share their experiences of being sexually harassed by men such as James Franco, who engaged in inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior with five of his former acting students, Aziz Ansari, who engaged in sexual activity with a photographer without consent, and Dr. Lawrence Nassar, who had a history of sexual abusing Olympic gymnasts. Source: LA Times, The Atlantic, The New York Times -On Jan. 5, Michael Wolff’s bestselling book Fire and Fury was released. It gives insights into President Trump’s life inside the White House from the perspective of a journalist. Many of the claims in the book have been disputed by President Trump and White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Source: CBS News
News 3
feb. 2, 2018
The 2017 tax reform bill by Anoushka Salama Staff Writer
On Dec. 22, President Trump recently signed a $1.5 trillion tax bill into law, which many say will mostly benefit the wealthy. One controversial provision of the tax bill is the deduction limit of $10,000 for state and local income, as well as sales and property taxes, which used to be unlimited. This is a major loss since, the average SALT (state and local tax) deduction in 2015 for Californians was $18,400. This may affect FHS because by doing this, the federal tax burden on individuals will increase, and some advocates are concerned that states, counties and school boards will have trouble raising money for schools that previously got most of their resources from state and local tax revenues. A positive provision included in the tax bill is that most low-income individuals will be benefiting from a lower marginal tax rate, which will put a little extra into their paychecks. Wealthy individuals will be experiencing a bigger
windfall as the top rate has been reduced from 39.6 to 37%; however, in most cases the loss is significantly less since there are many other benefits in the tax bill targeted towards the wealthy. Another provision that does benefit wealthy is the doubling of tax credit per child for wealthy families. Doing so, the provision implies that the federal government wants people to produce more children, as the tax credit made available to parents for each child is being doubled. However, mostly only individuals earning over $200,000 and couples earning over $400,000 annually will benefit from this provision. Another component of the tax bill is the extension of a popular tax break for educational savings accounts from higher education to K–12 expenses. This will support religious
schools and those who are homeschooled. Despite many calls to address the federal debt, the tax cuts outlined in the bill are expensive, resulting in a cost of $1.5 trillion or more, with insufficient revenue to make up for it. To raise revenue, Republican tax bill writers used divorce to compensate for the costs. Under the new bill, alimony, which is money paid by one spouse to the other in the event of the divorce, paid by one spouse to the other will not be tax deductible and the spouse receiving the alimony no longer has to pay taxes on it, which is the opposite of how the alimony system works currently. The new rule implies that now the government will end up with more of a divorcing pair’s combined money. This will most likely
make 2018 a popular year for divorce, because one of the spouses does not have to pay taxes on the money. Additionally the law eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most people have health insurance or pay a penalty, as well as designates $4 billion for missile defense, among other provisions. Overall, this tax bill will affect the country in several ways. Some examples are that now, residents paying mortgage in states with high property tax will end up losing more money due to the deduction limit, more divorces will occur due to the change in the alimony system, and the amount of children per wealthy family is likely to increase as the tax credit per child is now doubled. To make up for the $1.5 trillion or more deficit, public services like Medicare and welfare, along with public education, will most likely face drastic cuts to their budgets. Graphics courtesy of Roskam for Congress
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PHOENIX Editor-in-Chief Emily Wright
Managing Editor
Nadia Anees | Michael Wang
News
Caroline He | Samhitha Tumkur
Arts & Entertainment
Manavi Chandra | Vivien Su
Sports
Suryan Bhatia
Opinion
Dana Nissan | Hannah Butay
Center Spread Lexi Kleinberg
Photo Editor
Miranda Kushner-Pérez
Online
Momina Nadeem
Staff Writers Sean Abellera Leann Bast Veeryan Bhatia Vincent Cabigao Kaleb Cordova Michelle Cortez Katherine Davis Eva Devanathan Mira Dhingra Cres Hohmann Magali Julien Sydney Keller Lisa Lopez
Genavieve Marquez Priscilla Martinez Luisito Marucot Sophia Pulido Patrick Ramos Guy Reuven Trixie Rodriguez Amira Salama Anoushka Samant Sydney Sharp Guppy Uppal Ambika Vaidya
Fremont High School 1279 Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (408)-522-2400 | fremonthighphoenix@gmail.com Advisor | Emer Martin Mission Statement: The Phoenix, protected under the California Education code, is a public forum for the students of Fremont High School. The Phoenix staff will publish features, editorials, news and sports in an unbiased and professional manner. The Phoenix is the official student newspaper and is distributed free of cost to the students. The Phoenix publishes eight issues throughout the school year.
Editorial Policy Editorials are the official opinion of The Phoenix. Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Phoenix. All content decisions are made by the student editors and do not reflect the official policy of Fremont High School, nor the opinions of the administration, faculty, or adviser. Advertise with The Phoenix Contact us for more details at fremonthighphoenix@gmail.com or call at (408)-522-2200. Want to be part of The Phoenix? Letters to the editor and questions for Ask Esteban may be submitted online through our website, room 87, Ms. Martin’s mailbox, or emailed to us. Identities of those who submit questions will remain anonymous. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to styles and policy.
Opinion 4
Cutting down excessive pre-college fees
by Sydney Keller Staff writer
“Have you committed to a college yet?” Many people ask me this question and I always dread responding. For the entirety of the first semester and half of January, I have thought nonstop about the colleges I might attend. College has taken over my focus but nevertheless, I will not be committing to a school for 3 more months. However, I have committed to something else, a less discussed aspect of college applications which all college-bound seniors will inevitably face: the precollege costs. These costs are essentially any money that goes toward the application process until you pay a deposit to your chosen school. It begins with the PSAT sophomore year ($25). Then comes the SAT ($60) and maybe some preparatory courses ($100+). Soon you may be retaking the SAT or ACT and traveling -to potential schools as the price tag on college continues to grow. In the process of applying we all get swept up
in a flood of costs to get ourselves prepared for college. From the start of this process, I was pressured to take both the SAT and ACT to figure out which I was “better at”. Then, when I didn’t get a “good enough” score the first time on the preferred test, I was encouraged to take it time and time again until my parents, counselors and potential colleges would be satisfied. Additionally, for those who feel pressured to take tests multiple times but do not have the funds to do so, the availability of fee waivers for college testing can result in many limitations and high costs. For the ACT, a student in need of a fee waiver will only be allowed two waived tests and the ability to send their scores to four schools free of charge for each test date. Additionally, the ACT website warns that there are limited funds for students in need of waivers and that once the funds are “exhausted” all subsequent waiver requests will be denied. With limited access to fee waivers, what happens when even those who are eligible for reduced costs want to apply to a wide range of schools? Well to put it simply, they can still end up with exorbitant fees and limitations. I interviewed other college bound seniors and learned that I was not the only one who underestimated pre-college costs. While
many people focus on the cost of their years attending a school, they also overlook the cost of getting to that final decision. When I interviewed sophomores and juniors, they estimated that their pre-college costs would average $524. In reality, the average amount spent on college applications thus far by the seniors I interviewed is a staggering $1980. There are obviously differences in how much money the application process will cost for each student as the students I interviewed spent anywhere from $665$3196. However, the most important thing to note is that all the interviewed seniors admitted they have spent far more than they originally expected to on college applications. This difference in expectation versus reality comes regardless of differing college plans. In order to help anyone aiming to attend a four year university, I have some application tips that acknowledge and help lessen the cost of application. While these might seem very small, they can actually save you a lot of money if you take advantage of them all. Whether you take the PSAT, SAT, ACT or all three, you are given the option to release your email to
potential colleges. I quickly realized after giving out my email that it could be a huge benefit despite the large number of college emails appearing in my inbox. It can cost anywhere from $50 - $90 to apply to most colleges which quickly adds up, as one interviewee spent $1345 on applications alone. Take advantage of the emails you receive and don’t delete them, as they often contain fee waivers you can use regardless of your finan-
cial status. I saved $280 by using them. Additionally, before you buy prep books for the SAT, ACT or subject tests try asking seniors if they have any that you can buy from them for far less. I was able to get prep books in great condition for as little as $5. If you are unable to find any books this way, visit a local library, they also often have prep books available. Lastly, make sure that you are applying to a reasonable number of schools. While “reasonable” is subjective and different students will apply to different numbers, you should make sure that all the
feb. 2, 2018
campuses you apply to are places you actually want to go to. Thoroughly researching schools can help cut down your list and save you a lot of money and time. My list started with 26 schools and I narrowed it down to 14, some of which were covered by fee waivers. While I know it’s not possible to completely eliminate pre college costs, I hope that in sharing small things I have learned through this process that other students can benefit. If you are a junior who wants advice I encourage you to talk to counselors and seniors. There are many who are as happy to help as you are to listen.
Dana Nissan | The Phoenix
The unpleasant return of the Guilded-Age
by Katherine Davis Staff writer
The Gilded Age was a period in the late 1800s full of new ideas and expansion as America entered rapid economic growth. During this time, a handful of people rose to power, spearheading this change with industrialization. Railroads connected America from sea to sea, making transportation cheaper and more effective. The steel industry grew to meet the demand for railroads, steamships and factories. Populations began to concentrate in cities as people saw the invention of the light bulb, elevators and refrigerated train cars. All the wealth, accumulating from the economic growth, was then concentrated in the hands of the top one percent. The wealth gap was massive, leaving many in abject poverty while a few lived like kings. These wealthy few
became known as Robber Barons. In this era, big businesses ruthlessly became monopolies, the government sat to the side corrupt and idle, and people were exploited. Fremont High School is located in Silicon Valley where a different type of Robber Baron exists. Similar to their late 19th century counterparts, they are also leading new economic growth such as personal computers, search engines and social media. Uber is changing transportation, replacing the usual yellow taxis. Digital music is replacing CDs, e-Books are replacing libraries, and online shopping is replacing stores. Take a step back out of Silicon Valley and there is the Big Six, a group of six separate parent companies, in control of the media companies. One of these companies was 21st Century Fox that had assets in other businesses such as Hulu and National Geographic. This year, another member of the Big Six, Disney, has bought 21st Century Fox. Altogether, according to Business Insider, the Big Six control 90 percent of American Media. Another oligopoly where an industry is dominated by a small number of
large sellers - exists as well with broadband in America. Railway Companies during the Gilded Age carved up the American landscape to avoid competition with other companies, leaving many towns with only one railroad. With no other options, companies could charge whatever they want. According to the FCC, 67% of houses have two or fewer choices of broadband, and 28% only have one choice. In a country that has dozens of breakfast cereal options, it is quite pathetic that some Americans do not have multiple choices for broadband. Some may approach this as a few examples of first world problems. Yet it is possible to move backward. During the Gilded Age, those who did not have a foothold in the middle class or above worked 10 to 12 hour days, six to seven days a week. They lived in abject poverty, spending everyday repeating the same menial task over and over, and while they suffered,
the top one percent hosted extravagant parties. It’s harder to deal with what has already happened, than to prevent it from happening in the first place. Media is an important tool to communicate, and people naturally absorb the media they are surrounded by. The agenda in the media may be subtle, but everyone has their views that they push on to others. Hence, the more concentrated the media
industry is in the hands of a select few, the easier it becomes for people in power to use it as a tool to control the masses. It is the same for Internet; in this day and age, technology is essential, and having access to the Internet is important for communication, work and learning. By letting a small amount of people have a hold on
access, it gives them the power to limit who has access and what they can access. Also, the current administration is not protecting the rights of American citizens as shown by the death of Net Neutrality and the passing of the GOP tax plan, so don’t expect the current government to stop this from happening. In the end, it comes to the people who live in America to demand change and protect themselves from the greed and hidden agendas of larger corporations.
Samhitha Tumkur | The Phoenix
opinion In the face of sexism, I will not stay silent 5
Feb. 2, 2018
by Lexi Kleinberg Centerspread Editor
This past summer I was walking into a Starbucks across from Washington Square Park in New York when I noticed a group of men standing in a semicircle. I was stuck at a stoplight, not paying attention, until I heard the man say, “Now let’s talk about women, shall we? Women like to think of themselves as predators, strong and independent. But women aren’t predators; they are prey. We are the predators.” All of the surrounding men started laughing and clapping. I froze for a couple of seconds and then I saw the “walk” sign and continued on. Our current president has not been secretive about his sexism. The list of offenses is almost too long to name but here are a few: Trump has called Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post “unattractive,” referred to supermodel Heidi Klum as “fat,” and made his opinion about Carly Fiorina clear by saying, “Look at that face, who would want
to vote for that?” And who can forget (try as we might) the infamous “tic-tac tape” where Trump boasted about grabbing women “by the p****.” When the man who holds the most respected position in the world makes these kind of crude and hateful remarks, one has to wonder: How does this affect me? Many months ago I was driving near downtown Palo Alto when I saw a young woman walking down the street. I was looking out the window when I noticed two men pointing at her and yelling. As she walked by, the men stepped in front of her. She stopped before them moved slightly to the right, and kept walking. Both men whipped around their heads around to check out her ass as she walked away, gazing at her as if she was the sexy sidekick in a male-centric Hollywood flick. In her seminal 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Laura Mulvey discusses the psychological effects going to the cinema can have on the individual. In film, Mulvey argues, “In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” We’ve all seen these movies. Megan Fox in Transformers,
Margot Robbie in Wolf of Wallstreet, Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider are but a few examples of successful actresses molded into hypersexualized characters to be consumed by the male gaze. What makes the male gaze dangerous is not just how women are portrayed, but also, the roles they are given. The trophy wife, the sidekick, the girl-next-door, the slut, are characters that put women in a box, trading in their individual integrity for cliches and cheap labels. As Budd Boetticher, a well known director in the 1950’s, observes, “What counts is what the heroine provokes or rather what she represents… In herself the woman has not the slightest importance” (Mulvey, 237). Thus, not only are we conditioned to view and value women solely for their physical appeal, but also the roles they play indirectly urge the audience to discard women as frivolous, unmeaningful, purely decorative. When we watch movies like this, when we stream them in late-night binges, one has to wonder: How does this affect us? My mother once told me about a time when her and her friends went into their local 7/11 to buy ice cream. A man appeared in a trench coat. He looked at my adolescent mother, opened his trench coat and revealed himself. My
mother stood there, petrified and slowly backed away. She was twelve. In an article published to the New York Times titled “The Good, Racist People,” author Ta-Nehisi Coates exposes an America that is in denial about its own racism. He begins with a story: Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker is browsing through an Upper East Side deli when he accused of shoplifting and frisked. The owner of the deli apologized by saying, “It was a ‘sincere mistake’ made by a ‘decent man’ who was ‘just doing his job’” (Coates, 1). Although Coates is upset about what happened to Whitaker, it’s the owners apology who highlights the main problem within our society. In the eyes of the deli owner, the employee is a “decent man,” but you can be a decent human being and also possess racist biases, the two are not mutually exclusive. Whether we want to admit it or not, racism is a trait that exists in all types of people. Coates delivers a powerful message about an unseen racism that is embedded in the very systems that make up the city in which he lives. He calls this type of racism “invisible violence”(Coates, 2). It is the invisibility of this violence that troubles Coates and should trouble his readers. How can we begin to fix something if we can’t see
it? How can we confront a problem if we are in denial that even exists? How can we openly discuss something that we are universally silent about? The story about me, and the story about the woman in Palo Alto, and my mother’s story share an unsettling theme: Silence. I froze after I heard the man refer to women as “prey.” I didn’t say anything, I kept walking. But I felt something inside me, some alarm in my brain telling me to turn around and confront him. When I saw two men yelling at the woman in Palo Alto that same alarm went off. I wanted to stop the car so I could stand up for her. I wish that my twelve-year old mother had stood up, or had permission to stand up. I wish she had called the police; instead, she went home, scarred by the memory of the man in the trench coat. When Trump insults and mocks women, he enforces this culture of silence. He performs the role of the male lead who treats women as dispensable windowdressing. He condones and encourages a kind of “invisible violence” similar to what Coates fears and bemoans about. It should be made clear that there is a difference between violence against women, and invisible violence against women. Violence is when the Presi-
dent of the United States of America uses his position of power and the privilege he was born with to publically and loudly discredit and humiliate successful women. Invisible violence is the repercussions of this. It is hearing men on the street using their positions of privilege to talk about women as if we are property, or wounded animals. Violence is being conditioned by the male gaze to view women as objects. The repercussions of this can be felt when walking down the street and being sexually harassed by two men because of your appearance. To me, silence is the most dangerous repercussion of them all. We have been told for generations that to be successful as women we have to shut up and stay in our place instead of being assertive and opinionated and valued for more than what we look like. We have been told that we cannot dress the way we want out of fear of being catcalled, groped, flashed, whistled at, molested and raped. Silence is what I fear most because I know the alarm in my head is there for a reason. I know that if I wasn’t silent I could have stood up for myself and for the woman walking in Palo Alto. I could have told my mother, with confidence, that, if this ever happens to me, I won’t stay silent.
Appreciate the journey of your parents
by Nadia Anees Managing Editor
Being the daughter of Pakistani and Indian immigrants, I am familiar with many of the racial slurs directed toward immigrants. Today I am very fortunate to be living in Sunnyvale, California, attending Fremont High School, and having exposure to so many beautiful aspects of this country. I often forget the hard work that is the reason I am here. My siblings and I were born in America, while my parents are Pakistani Indian. I was born here and have lived all my life here in California. Because my parents are Southeast Asian immigrants, who lived half of their lives in another country, there are several qualities that separate myself from them. For example, my English sounds much
more American than theirs does. Sometimes, they talk with improper grammar, mispronounce words, or do something in a much different way than I would. For example, my parents often make me embarrassed when they get impatient at restaurants and ask the waiter every five minutes about when our food will arrive, whereas I am more patient and polite. I admit it—I make fun of my parents often because of these things. I do so to tease them in a humorous way, not to actually hurt their feelings; they are used to it. Recently, I have been learning more about how they came to the United States and the struggles they faced. It was a lot of time, hard work and dedication to maintain a job and get an education in order to be able to sustain themselves. I often do not acknowledge or thank them for going through all the hardships that they did so that they could support my siblings and me. Of course, there are millions of other people who made sacrifices and overcame their difficulties to land here in the U.S. The
journey for every immigrant is different. For some, it is not much more than buying a house and flying to their new country. For others, it can mean sacrificing everything they have and putting their lives at risk. However, every immigrant definitely does experience a change in their lives when they move from a foreign country to America. Immigrants make up this country and they are the reason that we can experience many cultures through ethnic food, different music, clothes, jobs and more. For these reasons, it is extremely important that we thank our immigrant parents and family as well as acknowledge their journeys to America. Another realization I have come to is that when I make fun of them now, after they have been living for here for several years, I am acting like the judgemental people who might
have made fun of them when they were new here. I can understand that after a while, my teasing and joking about them can give them bad flashbacks. Instead of making fun of them and teasing them, I acknowledge them for everything they did to get my family here, living happily in Sunnyvale, California. For example, I try to thank them for the little things
that they do for me. Also, I politely try to correct my parents when they mispronounce a word and they actually appreciate it. This way, I am helping my parents out instead of making fun of them. I also try having simple conversations with my parents often because they truly care about me and if I show interest in their
lives, then that is also a pure and simple way of showing gratefulness for them. Especially as a teenager in high school, it is very easy to get caught up with life outside of home and not give our parents the love and attention they deserve.
Nadia Anees | The Phoenix
Special Feature
FEB 2, 2018
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by Sophia Pulido & Sydney Sharp Collaboration
Female directors & why we need more
The strong and confident woman: a rarity in Hollywood film culture. In most cases, the stereotypical female lead is depicted as sad and incomplete, until the boy of her dreams comes to save her from an impossible lifestyle, magically solving all of her life problems. The silver screen fails to capture her small victories in life, instead it introduces one major problem that only a boy can fix. The true, ugly and beautiful story of women includes much more than Hollywood has suggested. In a normal day, we face ups and downs, where bleeding through your clothes becomes the catalyst to the worst day of your week but then going to Trader Joe’s and buying your favorite Pad Thai makes your day a little better. How can a male director fully comprehend and illustrate what they could never feel? Most male directors are not qualified to rep-
Greta Gerwig
Hollyw Takes Th
resent women as they can never truly experience every aspect of a woman’s life. For example, does a male director truly understand what it feels like to be looked at as an object incapable of supporting or protecting itself? Can they understand the embarrassment associated with a boy looking up your skirt? How could they dare to suggest that a boy is the answer to our problems? The life of a woman encompasses so much more than just a romantic relationship. The occupation of “movie director” has rightfully become a very controversial occupation. With the top directors mainly being older white men, there is not adequate representation for the female characters they create. When women of all ethnicities have been objectified by men for profit and “art” for so long, where do we draw the line to let women tell their own stories? For too long, women have been denied the opportunity to express themselves through film with only a handful of
female directors receiving recognition for their work. The number drops even more when counting how many women of color have directed top-grossing films. With such a lack of female representation, it isn’t surprising to see so many inaccurate representations of women. When asking young women at our school how they wanted to be represented in film, we received traits such as “resilient”, “independent” and “proud”. These are standards that should be held when creating female characters; not the romanticized damsel in distress. Having more female directors who tell the many different and comprehensive stories is essential for women of all ages. As seen in films like Lady Bird, directed by Greta Gerwig, the main character is illustrated as girl in high school who loves herself. The storyline includes the main character, ‘Lady Bird’ as a citizen of Sacramento who is surrounded by a dysfunctional family and one of her big-
Sophia Coppola
gest companions, her best friend. It’s observed that if all the men were taken out of the movie, she’d be just as illustrated, which is in contrast to recently mentioned films. Directors such as Gerwig advocate for the lives of women in film. These roles of strong, confident women are extremely lacking in Hollywood film culture and the best way to improve female representation is to start supporting small women directors and support them as they battle the misogynistic tones that Hollywood has set. To do our part in supporting these women, we can watch their films, vote for them in events such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars and regard them with respect as they progress in their careers. They are our best hope for properly representing who women are truly and it is our responsibility as women to help.
Kathryn Bigelow
The power of by Genavieve Marquez & Eva Devanathan Collaboration
“I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon and when that new day finally dawns it will be because of a lot of magnificent women,” said Oprah Winfrey in a speech she made at the Golden Globes. In October of 2017, the New York Times and the New Yorker published shocking accounts of women accusing Hollywood film producer, Harvey Weinstein of sexually harassing women for decades. Given his position of power, he promised women that in return for sexual favors, he would help advance their careers. The scandal broke out when actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd spoke out against Weinstein. Ashley Judd stated in an interview for the New York Times that Weinstein invited her to his hotel room for what she thought was a private business meeting. Unfortunately, Judd quickly realized Weinstein only wanted sexual favors. According to the New York Times, several similar stories about Weinstein were revealed. Lauren O’Connor, a former employee of the Weinstein company, stated that, “There is a toxic environment for women at this company.” Following these events, women started using the hashtag #MeToo on social media to share their stories of sexual harassment and sexual violence. The hashtag went viral when Alyssa Milano used it in support her friend Rose McGowan’s allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein. After only 48 hours, the hashtag was shared nearly a million times. Throughout history, women have always been considered second class citizens to men. Women have been underpaid and underappreciated. Men have been able to get away with anything they want, including sexual harassment, while women had to comply. Rape laws were made to try to protect women, however, harassment still occurred. Survivors of sexual assault used to be left in the dark, but in light of the #MeToo movement, women are empowered to share their experiences in a public environment where other women can relate to each other and what they may be going through With the recent popularity of the #MeToo movement, people started to view it as a present day witch hunt. This is a complete misportrayal of the movement because it is not meant to antagonize every man who has ever given a hug in the workplace. The topic of sexual harassment has been overlooked and buried for so long. The brave women who chose to speak out
Watching the accusations arise: A person by Trixie Rodriguez Staff Writer
From an early age, we are taught to stay away from men in vans and to not take candy f keeping an eye on your drink and not to walk down dark alleys alone. What we are not taught w during this illuminating time, where powerful men are being brought down for their mistreat reality. This is how I have felt witnessing the revolution.
#MeToo
When the accusations against Harvey Weinstein were released, I was disgusted. But when astated. Before the allegations, I had no idea who Weinstein was. This made it easier for me to Louis C.K. were men whose work I admired. They were men who I thought were using art to ma out that they were dehumanizing, harassing and assaulting people while using their positions and scared. Was I still allowed to enjoy their work as artists? Are there more victims that are n is not who you thought they were. But the worst part about the growing list of harassers is the fear it invokes about future exp that. However, as more and more women and men come forward, the fear that it won’t be pro means it’s not alone in the problems it is facing. The problem is bigger than assault. Harassme is on the street or online. It’s uncomfortable and degrading, and no one should have to through ignore it. It’s something you’re forced to confront everyday because the harassers aren’t strange forced to put up with this, but no more. As these brave women have shared their stories, it has sparked movements such as Time harassment is and find ways to put an end to it. Seeing people in Hollywood coming together horizon. Pictures courtesy of Pngtree The Vintage Photobooth Company Good Free Photos
We Heart It Picsart Pintrest
Special Feature
FEB. 2, 2018
7
wood Men can be victims too he heat by Leann Bast
#MeToo against sexual harassment and abuse were the example for many other women still in silence. #MeToo is meant to show the world that workplace sexual abuse has been a terrifying experience for many women, including men. These things have to change. With more women sharing their stories everyday, they are encouraging other victims of sexual harassment to share their struggles. The hashtag inspired women to open up and speak out about their experiences and publicize that “you are not alone,” which is the leading statement of the campaign, #MeToo. #MeToo was founded by Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist, who wanted to raise awareness about sexual harassment and abuse. She believed that women should be treated equally and that sexual violence should end. Along with all other efforts, the #MeToo campaign is raising money for the organization of Girls for Gender Equity. This has become a global movement brought up by strong and empowered women with personal stories all around the world. 2018 was the beginning of a new movement called Time’s Up. Time’s Up was founded by many well known celebrities including Reese Witherspoon, America Ferrera and Eva Longoria, while other celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Emma Watson and Zoe Kravitz are shining light on the movement by posting on their social media accounts. The movement’s main goal is to do something about sexual harassment, assault and inequality in the workplace. Women in the entertainment industry, working in support of the Time’s Up movement, are calling for a change in how women are treated in the workplace. Time’s Up is also raising money for the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund that will support survivors that were affected by sexual harassment. The Harvey Weinstein scandal was not the start of the problem and will certainly not be the end of it. However, the scandal brought the topic of sexual harassment to everyone’s attention while the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements are teaching women that they are not alone and others are willing to fight alongside them to overcome the problems of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment and gender inequity may be hard topics for women to overcome in today’s era, but movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up are empowering women to fight for their rights and remember that they are not alone.
nal take
from strangers. As we get older, the lessons continue, such as always was how to handle a future employer making unwanted advances. But tment towards women, society is being forced to confront this harsh
n Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. were accused, I was shocked and devo accept his horrible behavior towards women, but Kevin Spacey and ake the world a better place through laughter, music and tears. To find s of power in Hollywood to keep their victims quiet left me confused not coming forward? It is hard to believe that someone you look up to
periences in the workplace. A professional environment should be just ofessional increases. Hollywood is just like any other industry which ent is something women have to deal with on a daily basis, whether it h it, especially not in a place of professionalism. At work you can’t just ers, their coworkers and employers. For a long time women have been
e’s Up and #MeToo, which aim to shed light on how common sexual and talking about this issue makes me hopeful that change is on the
Staff Writer
After the Harvey Weinstein accusations were blasted on every news station and newspaper headline, the reports of sexual harassment in the workplace began flooding in. Hearing about all the sexual harassment cases going on, made me wonder if it was just women who were being harassed. I researched and found an article on USA Today which researched society’s tendency to associate sexual harassment with men as the abusers and women as the victims, not the other way around. According to Abigail Saguy, a professor at UCLA, “One of the reasons it is men who harass women, and sometimes other men, is that this is about power and overwhelmingly (workplace) upper management is male, so the positions of power are disproportionately occupied by men and the bottom is disproportionately occupied by women.” This means that in the workplace, the upper portion of the company or group is run by a male. According to CNN, only 14.2 percent of the top five leadership positions in the Standard and Poor 500, an American stock market index, are held by women; the other 85.8 percent are held by men. Sexual harassment is usually associated with men because most of the cases
we know about involve men harassing women. However, what’s often overlooked is the male perspective of being the victim. One of the most famous cases was the renowned actor, Kevin Spacey. During the time when Anthony Rapp was in Broadway Precious Sons, Spacey made a sexual advance on him, at a party for the show. After Rapp decided to tell the world about the incident with Spacey, Rapp showed solidarity and support for the women also speaking up. After Rapp’s statement, Spacey responded by coming out of the closet. According to USA Today, a month ago, on December 15, Democratic candidate for the congress of Kansas, Andrea Ramsey dropped out from the election after The Kansas City Star found out that in 2005, she was accused of sexually harassing a male subordinate after he rejected her advances. Genie Harrison, who is a LA-based attorney who specializes in harassment cases, stated, “It is extremely rare — it does happen but it is extremely rare. Men can be victims and women can be abusers, and I’ve represented victims where a woman was the harasser, but I would say it’s at best a 99.9 percent-to-.01 percent ratio.” According to USA Today, since 1980, the U.S.
Merit System Protection Board has been conducting surveys about sexual harassment in the workplace. In its 1994 report, they found that 19 percent of men shared that they had received some form of unwanted sexual attention. It also found that 65 percent of those male accusers said they were harassed by women. An important question to ask is, why do men keep quiet about sexual harassment, instead of coming out to the public like many women have done with the #MeToo movement? According to Jennifer Berdahl, a professor at the University of British Columbia, it is because from the time we were little, we were taught that males were superior to females. “Being a man means being superior to a woman and dominating women sexually or otherwise; sexual harassment is taking that to an extreme,” Berdahl says. “It’s possible there’s a rare woman who might get off on dominating a person like that but men are socialized from the age of 3 to think of themselves as being ‘a real man,’ defined as dominating women.” From her research, she found out that usually, harassing a man means questioning his manhood. For most men, being scorned as ‘feminine’ or ‘weak’, is
shameful and humiliating, based on the ideals they have been taught since they were young. Todd Harrison, a partner with a California law firm that handles employment law cases, stated, “Sexual harassment is not just about sexual innuendo or jokes or pats on the butt, it’s about power and intimidation, so the cases I’ve handled (which involve female harassers), it’s normally a woman in a control position and using that power to intimidate men. Sometimes there are sexual overtures, inappropriate touching without consent, offers for quid pro quo or sex for promotion. A lot of times it’s a powerful woman in an organization who will talk down or treat a man different from his female counterparts.” Because of social norms, men can be hesitant to come forward since they might be teased for letting a woman overpower them. Sexual harassment is not just limited to women being victims to harassment, men can be victims too. Men can be and are being sexually harassed, but are suppressed by societal norms. They do not feel safe to share their stories because of the social norms and gender expectations we have created.
Women’s rights are human rights
opinion Tyrant Trump and his tower of Tweets
Feb 2, 2018
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by Veeryan Bhatia Staff Writer
As a new year marks the beginning of president Trump’s second year in office, he has yet again showed America that he does not deserve the presidency. Time after time Trump has proven just how chaotic the White House can be. Not only does his presidency make for great media coverage, but it also helps create excellent comedy. Trump’s twitter is a great place to see what he is really up to. Below I have compiled some of his best tweets in the past couple of weeks, just to show you how hilarious he can really be. On Jan. 6, 2018, President Trump tweeted the following: “Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence. Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played
these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius… and very stable genius at that!” Trump claims that Russian collusion during the election was a “total hoax.” Might as well place a “believe me” in front of that. But seriously, he is claiming that the special council, former FBI director, James Comey and 17 intelligence agencies are all wrong regarding Russian collusion during the election. There is absolutely no way he can believe Russian collusion during the election was a “total hoax” unless he is trying to hide something! He follows this by “Fake News Mainstream Media are screaming mental stability and intelligence.” Yes this is true because he has none. “Throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart.” After reading this, I could not stop cringing trying to picture a Trump that is
smart. Honestly, the words “Trump” and “smart” should never be used in the same sentence. Anyone mentally stable and “like really smart” would never go on bragging about how smart and mentally stable they are and Trump claims those have been his greatest assets throughout his life? That is a HUGE statement. After this he boasts on about how he went from “a VERY successful businessman” to “Top T.V. Star” to the “President of the United States (on my first try)”. I am sure everyone is aware that the only reason Donald Trump is a “successful businessman” is because of his extremely rich father and the “small loan of a million dollars” passed on to him. Top T.V. star? Then how come he never won the Emmy after over 10 years of running such a “successful” T.V. show. Winning presidency? First off, majority of the country did not vote for Trump. He lost by a margin of just shy of 3 million votes! Secondly, Trump wouldn’t be anywhere near the oval office if it weren’t for Russia. Even after all of that, Trump continues to boast
on about how he does not qualify as just “smart”, but instead qualifies as a “very stable genius.” For me this was the best part of the tweet because not only is it extremely contradictory, but it also makes no sense. When has anyone ever seen someone brag about the fact that they are a “very stable genius.” On Jan. 2, 2018 President Trump tweeted: “I will be announcing the THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARD OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subject will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!” Reading this tweet I could not stop laughing and I am not even sure where to begin. “5:00 o’clock”, what is this even supposed to mean? At first I believed I was insane, however it turns it out I am not. I had to Google translate this and click on the sound icon to realize it reads “5 o’clock o’clock.” I am not sure if he is the president of the United States or a six year old kid learning to read time. SAD! Alright moving on, Trump says he will be announcing “THE MOST
DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR.” To get this straight, he just made up an award show for the “fakest” media in the news. According to Axios, Trump has labeled the following news-outlets as “Fake News,” CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, NY times and Washington Post. This makes for the majority of media sources in the United States. Here is a simple analogy to understand Trump’s perspective on the mediaoutlets: if you are not Fox News, you are Fake News. Honestly, if I were to win this award, I would be honored. But wait, there’s more! The best part about this tweet was that those people who actually “stayed tuned” found the following on Monday, Jan. 5: “The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the loser on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated.” Trump claimed “the interest in, and importance of,
these awards if far greater than anyone could have anticipated,” yet he ends up delaying the award show by over a week! Also, he called mainstream media-outlets “Fake” and “losers”, yet one day ago, on Jan. 6, he bragged about how mental stability was one of his greatest assets. SAD! On Jan. 7, 2018 He tweeted: “I’ve had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!” He is amazing. First he starts by giving all his adversaries a nickname. For example, Lyin’ Ted, Crooked Hillary, Sloppy Steve, Little Rocket Man(Kim Jong Un), Pocahontas (Elizabeth Warren), Leakin’ James Comey, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and the list goes on and on. But now he has dropped the F bomb not once, but twice! So, everyone he dislikes gets a nickname, and everything he dislikes is “Fake.”
Tweet courtesy of @realDonaldTrump
Dear Esteban, my teacher calls me out for things I didn’t do all the time! How should I handle it? From Not-so Teacher’s Pet Dear Not-so Teacher’s Pet, First of all, remain calm. Don’t have an outburst in the middle of class. After class, politely tell the teacher that you weren’t the one that did what he or she called you out for doing. Keep your voice steady and don’t show any signs of anger or humiliation. Your teacher is much more likely to listen to you if you just tell her/him; don’t beat around the bush and don’t raise your voice. Maybe the teacher doesn’t notice that she is acting out and you should talk to him or her first and explain how you feel. However, if the problem doesn’t get better after you talked to the teacher, set up a meeting with admin and the teacher. Dear Esteban, Senioritis got me confused. I know I need to do my homework and study, but I can’t bring myself to do anything. Any advice for keeping up the motivation? From Drop Dead Done. Dear Drop Dead Done, As annoying as it may feel, you do have to keep up your grades. Just remind yourself that you have less than five months to go! For staying focused, try setting 30 minute timers to do work and then give yourself ten minute breaks in between. Dear Esteban, I’ve been with my boyfriend for six months now, but my mom doesn’t like him. We’re pretty serious and he’s important to me, but my mom’s attitude toward him is really depressing. What should I do? Signed, Love My Beau Dear Love My Beau, I think you need to have a serious talk with your mom and explain how her attitude makes you feel. I’m not sure what you meant about being serious with your boyfriend, but it sounds like you should also let him know about your mom’s opinion. Maybe figure out what your mom doesn’t like about him and make sure he knows.
Want to see a recap of 2017 memes, deaths and more? Check out the Phoenix’s online edition at fremonthighphoenix.wixsite.com/the-phoenix
Arts & Entertainment
Feb. 2, 2018
Promising movies to hit the big screen this year by Patrick Ramos Staff Writer
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Cinemas have always been places of refuge from the world—places where you forget about your own problems and then get transported to another world with even more. Last year was full of blockbusters such as The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast, Get Out and perhaps the biggest of them all, Star Wars The Last Jedi. Along with that came independent movies like The Florida Project, The Disaster Artist, Columbus and more outstanding indie films. We also received underrated movies like The Mummy, The Circle and The Emoji Movie. This year is hopeful to have many great blockbuster movies and indie films from their respective studios.
Paramount
Universal
Paramount is planning on helping release Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines and a Bumblebee Transformers spinoff movie starring John Cena with help from Universal Studios. Their animation studio is also helping to create a sequel to Gnomeo and Juliet called Sherlock Gnomes starring Johnny Depp.
Universal is set to release a number of films like Pacific Rim starring John Boyega. Universal is also making Jurassic World: A Fallen Kingdom starring Chris Pratt and Jeff Goldblum. Dreamworks and Illumination will be dormant until the release of the remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Benedict Cumberbatch.
Sony
A24
Last year, Sony’s only good movie according to Rotten Tomatoes and Imdb scores was Spiderman Homecoming, which was only funded by Sony and ran by the Disneyowned Marvel Studios. Because of the success of Spiderman movies, Sony is replicating it with Venom starring Tom Hardy and Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse, which has promising good animation as revealed by the trailer. Sony Animation also plans to release Hotel Transylvania 3. Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn into the Emoji Movie.
A24, the smaller and newer movie studio, has eight films this year. They have had recent successes like The Florida Project, Moonlight, The Disaster Artist and Lady Bird. Some of the new films include A Prayer Before Dawn based off the book Escape by David McMillan, Lean on Pete, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, Eighth Grade, and Slice starring Chance the Rapper. A24’s reputation has set a bar for indie films. Hopefully this year’s lineup can hold up with past hits and get the right amount of advertising they deserve.
Warner Bros
Walt Disney Studios
Warner Brothers Studios 2018 movie lineup is much smaller than their 2017 lineup, with a different live action remake of the Jungle Book starring Andy Serkis and Benedict Cumberbatch. They also have films like Ocean’s 8 with Rihanna and Sandra Bullock. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One includes many of his classical movies like the Iron Giant, Back to the Future. The studio will also add more content to the Harry Potter universe with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Warner Bros has only has one DC film planned, Aquaman, starring Jason Mamoa.
The house of mouse always had a busy studio room. Walt Disney’s animation studios are going to release Wreck It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet. The live action department has only three films this year, like A Wrinkle in Time starring Oprah Winfrey and Chris Pine. LucasFilm has only one film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. The film will follow Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich, his best friend Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian played by Donald Glover. Marvel Studios has three movies planned for this year, like Avengers: Infinity War. It will feature Marvel’s entire Cinematic Universe.
Fall Out Boy’s album MANIA lives up to its name by Momina Nadeem
Photos courtesy of Billboard, VIrginemi, Tumblr, Songs to Your Eyes, Cinemaic, Wikimedia, Mediander, Pinterest and Babytherron
Online Editor
On April 27, 2017, Fall Out Boy announced their latest upcoming album, M A N I A, which initially was set to release on Sept. 15, 2017. They also released their first promotional single for the album, Young and Menace, on the same day. Young and Menace left many fans who were anticipating new music since the 2015 release of American Beauty/American Psycho disappointed. Although the lyrics were strong and the music video, which addressed the weight of domestic abuse through the eyes of a child, was incredibly powerful, the song’s chorus, which took on a dubstep-esque sound, was jarring at best. On June 22, Champion, the second promotional single of M A N I A, was released. Although Champion was better than Young and Menace by a long shot sound-wise, it wasn’t their best work. Then, the album’s release date got postponed. “We are pushing the record release date back to January 19th,” lead singer Patrick Stump said in a statement on Twitter on August 3. “The album just isn’t ready, and it felt very rushed. I’m never going to put a record out I genuinely don’t believe is at least as strong or valid as the one that came before it and in order to do that we need a little bit more time to prop-
erly and carefully record solid performances.” According to bassist Pete Wentz, the songs lacked substance. “The songs were trying to serve everybody, but they weren’t going to be compelling to anybody,” Wentz said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “It felt like all bread and no meat. There was no spicy mustard or anything.” According to Rolling Stone, Fall Out Boy scrapped the rest of the album aside from Young and Menace and Champion and started over. “We were relaxed, and the rest of the record kind
of wrote itself in a week,” Stump said. Three more singles were released following the lead singer’s statement in the months leading up to the album’s release: The Last of the Real Ones in September, HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T in November and Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) one week before the album’s release, on January 12th. All three of these songs were, in my opinion, a major step up from the first two singles. One of the major critiques of the album upon its release is its incoherency as a whole, which seems
to turn some critics off. I personally don’t mind it as much; throughout the months leading up to the album’s release, the band constantly stressed the fact that not all of their songs will have the same sound. “I don’t know that there is a new sound,” Stump said in an interview with Buzzfeed a month after the release of Young and Menace, when asked what the sound of the new album is going to be like. “Every song is going to be a different thing.” As a result of their musical experimentation, every song takes on a dif-
ferent genre; while Church includes samples from a gospel choir and a pipe organ, HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T features a more Latin-infused sound and Sunshine Riptide features Nigerian reggae artist Burna Boy. This trend continues throughout all 10 songs on the album, and although the songs do not necessarily fit together, each one is strong as a stand-alone piece. My personal favorites are Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea, a fast-paced fight song described by Rock Sound as “dancefloor-destroying mayhem” and Bishops Knife Trick, a softer pop song
featuring confessional lyrics such as “I’m just a full tank away from freedom”. While most of Fall Out Boy’s other albums have common fan favorites, such is not the case for M A N I A because the band experiments with many sounds and everyone has their own personal inclinations when it comes to genre. M A N I A is unique in the sense that my favorites will likely be different from another fan’s. Although the album may feel uncoordinated, that is what makes it so compelling; M A N I A, has something for everyone to love.
Arts & Entertainment
Feb. 2, 2018
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Fremont High School's Art Exhibition
by Sean
Staff Writer From January 6 to February 1, an art exhibit was held in the Fremont District Office. During this time, artworks from students enrolled in the FHS Art Program were displayed. There were over 100 creations for all to see, each more unique than the other. Works pertaining to drawings and paintings were arranged across the hallways, while more three-dimensional objects, like ceramics, were held in large glass cases. The exhibit presented a variety of art mediums, although the styles of each student made the whole showcase even more diverse. In fact, I found a lot of the artwork to be appealing. Many were creative on their own, while others took inspiration from forms of entertainment, such as books, TV shows, and video games. For example, one 3D artwork was a tribute to the video game Cuphead, while most paper pop-up cards referenced almost anything I can think of. Despite this, the art exhibit was not all that perfect. I came across a few questionable drawings and paintings, rather inferior when comparing it to the rest. It felt like they were put there just to fill in space. However, the more the merrier; more artworks only give a better representation of the FHS Art Program. If there was a type of art to criticize, it would have to be the black and white self-portraits. While there was necessarily noth 0ing bad about them, I could not help but feel that most were not able to compete with the rest of the exhibit. It is possible this was because of how the other
types were presented: colorful and vibrant. Regardless, the self-portraits were well appreciated; if there was anything lacking in this art exhibit, it was the beauty of humanity and the use of graphite. Personally, my biggest concern was simply the location in general. Perhaps “exhibit” was not the best term to describe this event. The atmosphere was a bit too quiet; there was no music, not much people, and not enough extravagance. With the hallways being somewhat small, it would get awkward when one of the district staff had to pass by, which occurred quite often. To simply put it, the artworks seemed to serve as decoration for the district office. It was just there for someone to look at, especially those who had prior business to attend in the office. And that does not do justice for the amazing works made by the FHS students. On the other hand, given this place was the most likely candidate to be visited by the entire district, it was still a wise decision to locate it there. All in all, I am quite satisfied by this art exhibit and I am positive it is well worth the time to stop by whenever an event like this occurs again. After all, the district office is within walking distance of Fremont High School. Those interested in art should keep an eye out for the FUHSD Art Show of 2018, which should be coming soon.
Photos courtesy of Eric Laing, Billboard, Grammys and Sean Abellera | The Phoenix
Rappers by Guy Reuven Staff Writer
There are many rappers who have been around for a while that are coming up with new albums and songs. Rap had began in the late 1970s as a platform to vent anger and aggression. DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant, made rap popular by delivering simple raps at his parties. At that time, rap was new and something that most people did not hear often. One great new artist, YBN Nahmir,
has become one of the youngest famous rappers after releasing his hit single, Rubbin’ off the Paint, which is currently 46th on the Billboard Hot 100. He has gotten remixes off of other artists such as Tay-k, who is best known for his song, The Race. Another rapper called Lil’ Pump is now gaining fame, with his songs constantly being played at various venues. Lil’ Pump’s career first began freestyling for one of Smokepurpp’s tracks—Smokepurpp is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Over time, Lil’ Pump has been releasing plenty of new tracks, earning over 3 million streams each. His success rose 2017 when he released D Rose and Boss, which made about 70 million streams total. Later on, Lil’ Pump released the world famous Gucci Gang, which became his first song on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 3 in November of 2017. A month earlier, Lil’ Pump had released his
mixtape, which featured lots of hot artists including Smokepurpp, Gucci Mane, Lil’ Yachty, Chief Keef, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz. Some people think rap is just a medium of fast words, but it really depends on what you are listening to. While there are some rappers, like Childish Gambino—also known as Donald Glover—like to sing to quick beats, whereas other rappers like Chance, sing songs to slow beats. Additionally, some rappers do not view rap as their main priority. For example, Gambino also does stand up comedy and acts in movies and TV shows. Some of today’s most interesting artists are SOB x RBE, a “family” of rappers. SOB x RBE consists of Yhung TO, DaBoii, Slimmy B, Lul G, KiingRod and
Yhung Wayne. SOB x RBE, often called SOB, originates from Vallejo, CA, and has been mentored by rapper Sage the Gemini, whom SOB recently toured with. SOB x RBE is not filled with all the same beats and flows; there are different ways each song flows, since there are numerous rappers in the group. Unlike SOB x RBE, the group Migos, has every member rap to each of its songs together. There are lots of rappers who sing more upbeat kind of songs. For example, the rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, mainly sings higher pitched tunes like in Money Longer, Erase your Social, XO Tour Life and others. In the rapping industry, blacks and whites are
often viewed as the main contributors. However, Nav, who has been performing since 2015, is the first Indian rapper or, “brown boy to get it poppin’” as he mentions in his song, Some Way. Nav, or Navraj Singh Goraya, was inspired by successful Canadian artists Drake and The Weeknd. He started off in 2015, releasing his first song, Take Me Simple, to SoundCloud. As time passed, Nav helped write Drake’s diss of Meek Mill, Back to Back. Nav has quickly gained fame with the help of Drake and other celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, who had lip synced to his song, Myself in a video. Later, Nav started collaborating with Travis Scott. He was featured in Scott’s beibs in the trap, featured in
his most recent album, Birds in the Trap Sing Mcknight, which Nav produced and co-wrote. Scott is another famous rapper who has actually been around for a long time and is still getting bigger and bigger by the moment. Releasing new albums is helping him gain publicity; his most recent one, includes his famous song, Goosebumps, which was heard on the radio a lot during the summer of 2017. Rap is not a specific type of music. There are many different styles of raps, performed by rappers with their own, unique taste in music. There are so many rappers to choose from. It all comes down to one’s own opinion when one wants to choose their favorite rapper.
sports The voice of Bollywood dances at FHS
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feb. 2, 2018
by Ambika Vaidya Staff Writer
Dance has always held a unique and special place in the lives of juniors Ragini Bomma and Esha Saini. More specifically, Bollywood dance. Bollywood is India’s main movie industry; the name “Bollywood” comes from the mash of Hollywood and Bombay, one of India’s major cities. One difference between the two industries is that Bollywood movies feature numerous choreographed dance sequences, categorized as Bollywood dances. With the growth of the South Asian community in the United States, Bollywood movies are now ever-present in American movie theaters and in the hearts of many. Motivated by her love of dance and the popularity of Bollywood, Bomma had the idea to start a Bollywood dance club, right here at Fremont High School. A
major catalyst to start the club came from the fact that the four other high schools in the district already had their own Bollywood dance clubs. Bomma first came up with the idea when she went to see Homestead High School’s Indo-Pak dance team’s auditions. “I thought why doesn’t Fremont have [a Bollywood club],” she said. “We should have one as well…and we were the only school in the district that didn’t have one.” So Bomma asked Saini, her friend, if she wanted to partner up with her and form the club together, with Bomma leading as president and Saini as the dance captain. “I’ve been dancing since I was five,” Saini said. “I started taking dance more seriously when I was eight… And the past two years I’ve been a dance teacher at Mona Khan Company as well as training there.” The collaboration
between Bomma and Saini worked well: Saini would lead all the dance rehearsals and choreograph the steps, while Bomma would run the club as a whole. When naming their club, Bomma and Saini came up with the name “Awaaz”. Many South Asians at Fremont were baffled by the choice; awaaz is the Hindi and Urdu word for “sound” and “voice.” Yet, both Bomma and Saini had a perfectly good explanation for this peculiar dance-club name. “Essentially, the team at school is the voice for our [South Asian] culture,” Saini said. “We know that Fremont isn’t super South Asian, Indian dominant school, so we thought that this team would be a way to show our voice.” To promote Awaaz, Bomma and Saini placed posters all across campus and in classrooms, making sure the club’s upcoming dates were mentioned in the morning announcements.
They took to social media to advertise their club to FHS students. In terms of showing off Awaaz to the public, Saini said that they don’t plan to hold any public performances at main community events this school year, instead simply collaborating with the Bollywood clubs of other high schools in the district and performing at one of their events. Awaaz, being a newborn club, has plenty of
room to grow. With both of its founders graduating in June of 2019, the club will need a new leader. When asked where they would like Awaaz to be in the near future both Bomma and Saini had similar responses. “I just hope that Awaaz is the team that represents Fremont, in a way,” Bomma said. “There’s a lot of talent [within the club]. I hope it passes down over the years, even after I graduate.” Even though they will
leave Awaaz in a little over a year’s time, both Bomma and Saini will continue dancing in the future. Both think it is unlikely for them to be dancers as an occupation. For Bomma, it will always be a “stress-relieving” activity, for Saini, it is, and always will be, a pure passion. Either way, dance has always been a part of Bomma and Saini and both of them know for sure that it always will be.
Ambika Vaidya | The Phoenix
Quick NBA update Varsity girls soccer by Lisa Lopez Staff Writer
Basketball is a sport a lot of people enjoy watching on TV or playing on the court. According to ESPN, it’s also the fifth most watched sport in the United States of America. The USA’s most popular basketball association the National Basketball Association (NBA) is divided into two conferences—the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has 15 teams and each team is ranked by standings. Standings are ranks that are based off the amount of wins a team has. The top eight teams with the highest standing in each conference play face each other in the conference playoff. The winners of the conference playoffs then face each other in the NBA finals. This year, the finals will begin on May 31 and end on June 17. Currently the Golden State Warriors are first place in the Western Conference and the Boston Celtics are first place in the Eastern
conference. Fans, however, predict that the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will face each other in the NBA finals this year. Fans predict this to be the outcome since both teams have faced each other in the finals for three seasons. Some fans, on the other hand, believe the Boston Celtics will keep their lead and face the Golden State Warriors in the finals. Other notable teams include the San Antonio Spurs, who led the Golden State Warriors by 20 points in game one of the Western Conference playoffs before Golden State Warriors player Zaza Pachulia injured San Antonio Spurs superstar, Kawhi Leonard. The Houston Rockets, another notable team, have the best offence in the NBA. The Houston Rockets were able to defeat the Golden State Warriors once this season and plan on doing it again if they meet in the Western Conference playoffs. While the Eastern Conference is up for grabs, many fans have decided
GOLDEN State Warriors win NBA 2016-2017 Finals
the Golden State Warriors will be the victors of the Western Conference. There are many reasons for this decision, including their 37 win and 10 loss record this season, winning the championships in 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 seasons and star players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Many analysts and players have called Curry the greatest shooter in NBA history. Out of Stephen Curry’s NBA career, he has scored over 2,000 three pointers. In the 2014-2015 season, Curry won the Most Valuable Player award and led the Golden State Warriors to their first championship since 1975. Durant won the Most Valuable Player award in the 2013-2014 season and is regarded as the second best player, behind Cleveland Cavaliers player Lebron James. While the results of the championships are unknown, the season so far has been entertaining and fun to watch.
Photo courtesy of T Dog Media
by Guppy Uppal Staff Writer
The 2017-2018 season for Fremont High School girls soccer has been strong for both junior varsity and varsity as multiple wins preseason led to high moral for the season. The FHS girls varsity soccer Head Coach, Payam Hajjarian feels that the new varsity players, three freshman and six sophomores, have great potential to grow individually and help the team be successful this year and beyond. In December, FHS hosted the 2nd annual Firebird Classic, a soccer tournament featuring over 40 high school teams from all over the Bay Area. The event was a huge hit last year and has only grown larger this year. The team raised a lot of money with the help of volunteers: parents, players and FHS students. Proceeds from the tournament will enable the FHS Girls Soccer Program to purchase new equipment in preparation
for the next season. The FHS varsity team placed first in the Silver Division of the tournament due to excellent communication on the field and continuous team growth. They defeated Aragon High School in the championship game on kicks from the mark. Throughout the tournament, the team displayed terrific teamwork offensively, raking in goals against their competitors. Defensively, the team made sure nothing went past goalkeeper Katherine Davis, who had a fantastic save during the kicks from the mark. The tournament boosted morale for the whole team, displaying their passion for the game as they finished first in their bracket and brought home the championship. The team has now set their sights on League Champions, hoping to keep up their momentum. “If we want to be league champions we have to continue being aggressive and growing,” varsity player, Jackie Chavarria, said.
The bond the varsity team shares is constantly growing as they work diligently both on and off the field. Every player brings their individual personality and talent, together creating a strong group of girls. They know victory won’t come easily as it will take continued patience and confidence. “Our goal is to finish in first place in the El Camino Division and to automatically apply for CCS,” Chavarria said. The Central Coast Section, or CCS, is the playoffs for the best school in a sport to compete. For both boys and girls soccer, it is made up of the top 40 teams in the section. The FHS Varsity girls soccer team previously attended CCS during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school year, so the team wishes to make their third trip in four years. While the team knows the difficulty of achieving their goals, they know that hard work and dedication will lead to positive results. Best of luck to the FHS varsity girls soccer team. Go Firebirds!
Photo courtesy of the Varsity Girls Soccer Team
sports
Feb. 2, 2018
12
by Suryan Bhatia Sports Editor
The Super Bowl, the greatest American Football event. This year, Super Bowl LII takes place on Feb. 4, 2018, at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The halftime event will be headlined by popular singer and songwriter Justin Timberlake. Timberlake has previously performed at Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XXXVII. The big game will be the New England Patriots versus the Philadelphia Eagles. The National Football League (NFL) is
divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference. There are 16 teams in each conference. Each team plays four games in the preseason, 16 games during the regular season with a chance to play in the postseason, depending on the win-loss ratio. The postseason features three games: the Divisional Round, the conference Championship Game and the Super Bowl. The conference champions face each other in the Super Bowl. The preseason did not go well for the New England Patriots. Of the four games they played, they only won a single game, against the Detroit Lions. The New England Patriots lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans and New
York Giants. The Patriots quickly recovered from their loses, winning 13 out of their 16 games during the regular season, making it one of their best seasons yet. Quarterback Tom Brady passed 4577 yards, the most amount of yards passed during the 2017-2018 season. The New England Patriots won both of their
postseason games. Beating the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game. The New England Patriots have previously played in nine Super Bowl events, winning five of them. During the preseason, the Philadelphia Eagles
won two out of the four games they played. They won against the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins, losing to the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets. The Philadelphia Eagles had the same score as the New England Patriots, winning 13 out of their 16 games, making it one of their best seasons in recent years. This will be the third time the Philadelphia Eagles will be at the Super Bowl, the first time since 1981. The Philadelphia Eagles won both of their postseason
ship Game. Fans and analysts are divided on the outcome. While the New England Patriots have been to and have won the Super Bowl multiple times before, the Philadelphia Eagles have shown they can overcome any obstacle, no matter the circumstance. Super Bowl LII will be broadcasted on NBC on Feb. 4, 2018. The kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm ET.
games. Beating the Atlanta Falcons in Divisional Round and the Minnesota Vikings in NFC Champion-
Photo courtesy of NBC
Fremont High School Alumni Association PO Box 2709 Sunnyvale, CA 94087 fhsaa@aol.com For nearly 100 years our Fremont High School has stood tall. In all that time there have been many students like you that have walked the halls of Fremont High with pride and dreams just like you have. It is these many alumni that give back to our Fremont High in the form of scholarship funds that our Fremont High School Alumni Association in turn awards to the senior students each year as you dream for your future.
Please see Jazmine Garcia in the FHS Career Center for information on how you can apply for one of our many scholarships. We appreciate and acknowledge your spirit as you look to your future. Our FHSAA Historian writes many stories about alumni and where they are now as well as interviewing current FHS students to get a perspective of life on campus today and your dreams for the future. These stories are shared with alumni and Friends of Fremont. We hope you will see our page in the yearbook (every year) that tells you how you can keep in touch with Fremont High School for a lifetime.
We are here to keep the spirit alive!