Garfield Messenger: Volume 96, Issue 4

Volume 96, Issue 4

January 26, 2018

An Open Forum for Student Expression

Supporters of The Garfield Messenger Benefactors Anonymous Bridge Partners Karen Cooper Nancy Chapin Real Estate LLC Richard Albrecht Patrons Anonymous Al and Sue Raitt Britt Anderson David Bills Elana Jassy Ellen Chestnut Hazel Pearson Janet Gwilym and Bing Tso Jennifer Kerns Karen Santos Metro Dog Pet First Aid Nancy Sapiro The Samuelson Family Friends Anonymous Barbara Kelley Barbara Staley Carol Rava Ciaran and Jillian O’Kelley Diana Peterson Elli and Kiran Lingappa Heidi Flora Joanne Harvey Kari Kaill Kim Franklin Leah Klein Leslie Davidson Michael Seiwerath and Rachel Kessler Mou Ferry Patricia Taagen Phebe O’Neill Roman Weil The Argeres Family The Woods Family Tova Gaster Val Shank

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These contributions help make the production and publication of The Garfield Messenger possible. If you would like to support The Messenger, please contact us at garfieldmessenger@gmail.com

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Volume 96 Issue 4 January 26, 2018 Cover by Emma Riddick

NEWS

A&E

News Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Coco Exceeds Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

By Claire Boudour

By Ula Jones

Show Me the Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Yung Queer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

By John Volk

An Overview of Net Neutrality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

By Ula Jones

ASBeat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

By Sa’vell Small

By Susana Davidson

Gay Café. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

By Susana Davidson

New Years Resolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 ByTsion Belgu

Student Submissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

FEATURES Going Against the Grain...Maybe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

By Kevon Avery

Special Ed @ Garfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

By Carlin Bills and Abby Cooper-Drake

sports I’m So Glad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

By Peter Kubiniec

Dried Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Opinions

By John Volk

Commitment to the Game. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . 18

By Patrick Walsh

Oprah, Please Don’t Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

By Lily Laesch

Dominate No More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 BySav’ell Smalls

An Intersectional Insight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

By Hailey Gray

Mess Guess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . .19

By Josh Chestnut

Editorial and Letter Policy The purpose of The Garfield Messenger is to present student perspectives on issues and events related to the Garfield High School community. The Messenger’s editorial responsibility lies not in presenting a particular viewpoint or agenda, but in representing a variety of opinions. Views expressed in publications by The Messenger do not necessarily represent those of our staff, supporters, or the Garfield High School student body and faculty.

The Garfield Messenger welcomes responses to our publications as well as opinions concerning issues relevant to Garfield. Please send editorials, opinion columns, or letters to the editor to garfieldmessenger@gmail.com Contact The Garfield Messenger The Garfield Messenger Garfield High School 400 23rd Ave Seattle, WA 98122 Phone/Fax: (206) 252-2270 E-mail: garfieldmessenger@gmail.com

Executive Editors Flora Taagen • Julia Lin Photography Editor Ruby Seiwerath Art Editor Ana Matsubara NFO Editors Jessica Morales • Claire Boudour A&E Editors Susana Davidson • Sydney Santos Sports Editor Josh Chestnut Business Executive Paulette Argeres Advisor Corey Allan Martin

Writers Abby Cooper-Drake • Carlin Bills • Delphi Drake-Mudede • Hailey Gray • John Volk • Kevon Avery • Lily Laesch • Patrick Walsh • Sav’ell Smalls • Tsion Belgu • Ula Jones Photographers Toby Tran • Peter Kubiniec • Freya Wiedemann Illustrators Emma Riddick • Arlo Van Liew • Kathryn Porter • Ariel Cook Business Staff Izzy Woods • Jefferson Ashby

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News

News Briefs

By Claire Boudour

Washington State Legislature Con- Garfield Pilipinx Student Associasiders Conversion Therapy Ban tion Hosts Stop the Killings Rally

North Korean Athletes will Compete at the Winter Olympics

A new bill has been introduced in the Washington State House of Representatives that would prevent licensed healthcare providers from performing conversion therapy on any minors in Washington State. Conversion therapy is any program that intends to change a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation, ftentimes leading to adverse mental, physical, and emotional effects, especially for minors. A version of this same bill has already passed in the state Senate, and has reached committee in the House as of Tuesday, January 23rd.

“The legislature finds and declares that Washington has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, and in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harms caused by conversion therapy,” reads the bill, sponsored by Senators Liias, Walsh, Ranker, Pedersen, Rivers, Keiser, Fain, Frockt, Hunt, and Kuderer.

If this bill passes, Washington will become the 10th state to ban conversion therapy for minors.

It was announced last week that North Korea will be sending 22 athletes to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. According to the International Olympic Committee, the North Korean athletes will be competing in ice hockey, figure skating, short track speedskating, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing. A decision was reached between North and South Korea that the two countries’ Olympic teams will march together at the opening ceremony on February 9th, under the Korean unification flag.

“I’m sure that this will be a very emotional moment not only for all Koreans but also for the entire world,” said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in a recent interview with CNN. The North and South Korean women’s ice hockey teams will be combining and competing together as Korea, in a surprising show of diplomacy that many did not anticipate. The Olympics have, over time, become a reflection of changing tides in global politics and the 2018 games are shaping up to continue this trend.

This Tuesday during Advisory period, Garfield’s newly founded Pilipinx Student Association held a rally on the school’s front steps to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with the victims of extrajudicial killings at the hands of Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines.

A statement from the club was posted on their social media Monday night that urged students to take part in the rally. “As President Rodrigo Duterte was put into office on May 9th, 2016, a War on Drugs was initiated by the Philippine government within the country. Under the guise of eradicating widespread criminality, Duterte had promised to kill every drug user and dealer within the country as a means of ‘cleaning the streets’,” reads the statement, “The Drug War is, essentially, a war on the poor, disproportionately targeting the communities most affected by poverty.”

According to Human Rights Watch’s 2017 World Report, this campaign has led to over four thousand deaths, more than half of which were attributed not to the police, but to “unknown vigilantes”.

Show Me the Money

Parent-led project takes on inequity in SPS.

By John Volk Black bow ties and flowing gowns crowd together in a fancy hotel conference room downtown. Men and women hold martini glasses in one hand and a paddle in the other.

From the front of the room a man reads off the next item up for auction and the paddles shoot into the air, bids climbing higher and higher past the thousand dollar mark. Eventually a happy couple walks away with their prize: a crayon on canvas collage from Ms. Ruppert’s kindergarten class.

Such is the typical scene at Coe Elementary’s annual Parent Teacher Association (PTA) run auction. One of three elementary schools in Seattle’s affluent Queen Anne neighborhood, the event rakes in tens of thousands of dollars for the school’s PTA, funds the school uses to purchase new books, desks, and any other equipment needed to keep the school in pristine condition.

Maybe even more importantly, the funds are used to pay the salaries of a number of specialists on the staff. This means that Coe can afford to maintain reading specialists, a visual arts teacher, a performing arts teacher, Advanced Learning Opportunity (ALO) teachers, and a school counselor, all as year round positions. Having these people in the building can greatly enrich any student’s education.

For Coe Elementary and its students, this is fantastic.

However, for schools in Seattle’s southeast region who do not see these kinds of benefits, this type of event serves only to further accentuate the chasm that exists in fundraising between Seattle Public School’s north and south.

Intending to address these fundraising disparities, the PTSA Equity Project has emerged in Seattle. Growing from the Advocacy and Policy Cohort, a subsection of the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition, the PTSA Equity Project is a parent-led grassroots campaign that wants to get the discussion going about equity in Seattle Public Schools.

Hayden Bass, one of the project’s leaders and a member of the Kimball Elementary PTA, says this fundraising discrepancy is the root of a number of Seattle Public School’s equity issues.

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“Kids of color are having overall much worse outcomes than our white students are,” Bass said. “It’s a problem everywhere until we come to a place where all kids are performing and having opportunities to succeed at the same level.”

The project is already making strides towards tackling inequity in our district.

Art by Kathryn Porter

“We’ve been able to connect folks at a couple of PTAs who do have a lot of fundraising capabilities with schools that currently don’t have PTAs who simply need money to start PTAs,” Bass said. “I think that there’s a lot of potential for more grassroots efforts like that, and in the next year or two

we might be able to get something structural and city-wide going.”

As the project moves towards making these large changes, they are holding an organizers meeting on January 27th followed by a series of community meetings throughout the city in February and March. With these meetings, the project aims to bring together people from backgrounds to determine which direction to steer the project.

“We have an advisory board for the PTSA Equity Project that is [made up of] white, middle-class parents,” Bass said.

“We want to make sure that that work is creating equity in Seattle rather than creating inequality, so we want to take direction from leaders of color and from folks that are most affected as we do this work.”

Portland Public Schools has implemented a fund sharing system in which one-third of all funds a school raises after the first $10,000 is set aside in a fund at the district. From there, the funds are parceled out to the district’s underfunded schools. A system like this is something the PTSA Equity Project has considered but no formal plan is in place yet.

“I think there are a lot of things about the way Portland does it that are great,” Bass said. “It might be that that exact model, needs to shift a little bit here. The heart of what we’re trying to do with the series of community meetings is to gather feedback from lots of different stakeholders and get ideas about what might work and how we might set up some kind of resource sharing system here in Seattle.”

Moving forward, Bass sees a lot to look forward to in the project’s future.

“I’ve been just thrilled to see that there are a lot of folks out there who want the same thing,” Bass said. “ I’m optimistic that we can have some recommendations [for the school board] pulled together certainly by later this year and there are a lot of factors that play into how quickly some things might change, but I am really heartened to see how much will there is out there among PTAs.”

News

An Overview of Net Neutrality In the past few months, controversy has wracked the FCC’s policy making.

By Ula Jones On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed one of the year’s most publicized and controversial votes in its effort to overturn several lasting regulations imposed on Internet Service Providers, or ISPs. Now, there’s a chance cable companies will be able to exploit certain aspects of the Communications Act. While this new battle may seem damning, the fight for internet regulations has existed since the Obama Administration’s very proposition of these laws in 2010. Since then, the internet has changed drastically. Where years ago content was transferred directly from web services like Google to a physical data center and then routed to consumers through an Internet service provider like Comcast or AT&T, the first two steps have now been consolidated.

Most content bypasses the “Internet backbone,” and is exchanged directly between Google and ISPs to clear up traffic. Google has even built a number of machines inside ISPs. This, in a sense, is an “internet fast lane,” indicating a non-neutral internet.

However, these are not facilitated directly by ISPs. The issue arises upon the opening of broadband lanes, or data transmission, to alteration by the providers who profit directly from internet usage. When companies are allowed by law to interfere with the speed of specific “lanes” that content from certain creators and providers take, they gain leverage over said companies.

While the term “net neutrality” has existed since Columbia University’s Tim Wu coined it in a 2003 article, the concept as we know it today was in fact established partly in response to the actions of major ISPs in the past; for instance, those taken by Comcast in 2008. The company illegally attempted to block BitTorrent uploads for political reasons, prompting the FCC to crack down later that year. It conducted an investigation, and eventually ordered the company to stop discriminating.

However, the Nondiscrimination and Transparency principles came later, when in 2015, it established the Open Internet Order. This came as an addition to Title II, which then made up the

Graphic by Kathryn Porter

Communications Act along with Title I. These, in short, gave the FCC the right to regulate radio and wireless communication systems and established laws limiting ISPs from altering broadband speeds. It even classified broadband as a communications service, as opposed to a less essential information service.

However, since Donald Trump’s election to office, the members of the FCC have been largely switched out. Most significant was the designation of attorney and former Verizon chairman Ajit Pai as Chairman to the committee in January of 2017. His views differed greatly from past politicians, and he began pushing for a reversal of the Open Internet Order and a number of Title II regulations under the pretense of limiting government control of the internet.

According to Pai, investors in web services are scared off by Title II, and thereby choke competition between ISPs- as if net neutrality had never been federally enforced in the past.

“The internet was free and open from the dawn of the internet age during the Clinton administration until 2015,” the chairman is quoted as saying in a Vox Media based podcast. However, it has been argued that the internet of the Clinton Administration was vastly different from that of today. In the late nineties, service was transmitted directly over copper phone lines, a service which was regulated heavily under Title II. Reversing the same laws on broad-

band, the new method of communication, could have very negative effects.

After outlining his intentions back in April, Pai was met with outspoken protest from organizations all over the country.

A number of technical experts including Steve Wozniak and several high profile names from Mozilla addressed a letter to Congress calling on it to make the chairman see sense on the issue, stating that his rhetoric was nonsensical and could do significant damage in practice. Simultaneously, millions took to social media to mobilize and spread information in an attempt to have their voices heard; one week before the vote, thousands across the country rallied to Verizon storefront protests organized by nonprofits Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and the Free Press Action Fund. Pai, however, took no notice.

And, uniquely, not a single open public meeting was held on the issue.

At that point, a record-breaking 23 million comments had been filed online to the FCC. But upon further investigation, at least a million of these were proved fraudulent. And roughly half were determined to be bots of Russian origin. The Commission was implored to postpone the vote until after further investigation, but it went ahead with plans to repeal (despite numerous lawsuits against it). And, on December 14th, they succeeded with a 2-3 vote along party lines.

Today, a number of lawyers are looking into options to defend the neutral internet and put regulations back into place. Lawyer Harold Feld of the consumer rights organization Public Knowledge is among them. “The advantage of having seen a draft of the order first,” Feld said in an interview with The Verge, “is that, as someone planning a judicial challenge, I’m pretty confident we will be successful.” However, there is no guarantee they will be able to force the FCC to undo its actions; and regardless, this process could take up to a year, and likely will not be completed even then considering the possibility of a Supreme Court case.

Until then, the internet could face a tough situation. ISPs have a long history of taking dramatic action when allowed to do so, but what this will most likely entail will be the blocking and slowing of certain content. Social media could be affected through the same principle, but large scale companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are unlikely to be copiously limited.

Hopefully the United States’ internet will not be faced with dramatic change anytime in the near future; after all, there is still some hope of renewal.

But, until then, the country may want to count its blessings.

The Garfield Messenger 12/15/2017

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News

ASBeat

Stay in the loop with ASB news.

By Savell Smalls Movie Month Every week during one month a movie will be shown.

How much will a movie cost?

Movies during movie month will cost 2 or 3 dollars.

Where will the money go to?

The money will go towards the rest of the events for the class of 2018.

Is there a set month?

Still waiting for a date and will get it out as soon as possible.

What is the decision process on what movies will be shown?

Asb will come up with a large list of movies and then narrow it down based on what’s approved by the school. Then will ask around, and send out survey to advisories to what movies sound good. Will be many genres.

How will you get to students in need?

Reaching out to counselors, teen health center to try to get to students who go there for help, then open up to rest of the school, and have a general place where anybody who needs it can get it.

How can students help?

Students can contact any of the ASB officers to get involved.

Snowball Is snowball a thing?

Snowball is definitely happening, and a date will be released in the near future.

Is it a certain someone ask someone?

Will be everybody ask everybody. Also, we’re Still coming up with themes so if there are any ideas contact ASB.

Photo by Freya Wiedemann

Garfield Cares So what is Garfield Cares?

Garfield cares is a program partnered with ptsa, creating care packages compiled with many things like toiletries, school supplies, resources for jobs, college, housing, we’re trying to get everything.

ASG President Tianna Andresen is turning sticker love into dollars. Submit a GHS themed sticker design for a chance to win free merch and leave your legacy!

Immigrant month What is immigrant month?

Immigrant month is a month dedicated to awareness, organizing a day of action regarding immigrant rights and the violations going on to immigrant communities. Each week will have a different theme: Awareness, selling merch where the proceeds will go towards a charity that helps with legal

protections and paperwork and a week of mobilization.

ASB classes Are the class ASB officers doing anything for their class?

Class of 2020, working on fanny pack and sweatshirt merch. Class of 2021 holding a sticker competition, students encouraged to design a garfield related sticker for new merch, open to whole school, 5 design winners get free merch.

Bulldog brawl is not associated with Garfield’s ASB. Having inter-hi soon, have leaders from different schools come to garfield to have a workshop, contact asb if you want to help with that.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

ASB is working on list of ways new attendance policy affects students to show administration, submissions are encouraged.

Bulldog brawl is not associated with Garfield’s ASB. Having inter-hi soon, have leaders from different schools come to garfield to have a workshop, contact asb if you want to help with that.

with our messenger staff-created

Our goal is to spread positivity, love and appreciation with these cards. All proceeds will help the Garfield Messenger continue to be a voice of the students. Your support will help us pay for printing, publishing, and more!

Sets are available at https://garfieldhs.wixsite.com/messenger

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The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Features

Going against the grain...maybe

Do stereotypes about other high schools hold true?

By Kevon Avery

E

very high school has stereotypes that can either be good or bad, however they don’t always hold truth. Once stereotypes get enough of a social platform, they can spiral out of control and ultimately implant themselves into the high school culture. This is applicable to some other Seattle high schools such as: Rainier Beach HS, Franklin HS, Ballard HS and West Seattle HS. Rainier Beach is known as an athletic school with a strong rap and hip hop culture.

Rainier Beach is Garfield’s athletic rival in both Basketball and Football and many other athletic respects like their physical education department. Also, being located in urban South Seattle can explain the strong hip hop and rap culture that is associated with Rainier Beach. Franklin is known as a school with a great engineering and math department. Franklin has a great mathematic support/ tutoring program, as well as a robotics mentorship with Microsoft. West Seattle is

another athletic school, due to the success of their Basketball team this season. Ballard isn’t known to be too athletic, however they are known to be a school with an excellent Language Arts department. Ballard has an advanced Biotech course that encompasses science, math and language arts that can push the notion that they are generally good at academics (especially Language Arts).

However, these are all views are generated from an outside perspective and that might

Predicted

not be true coming from someone who has been immersed in that environment. Stereotypes have the power to paint prolonging negative pictures and images on a group of people, and this is as strong as it is dangerous. Although common high school stereotypes are playful and in good fun, it is extremely important to know that there are ones far more intense. Below are some of the more friendly stereotypes.

Predicted

*Best sport: Basketball *Best subject: Gym *Most popular school clique: “The Athletes” *Musical artist of the year: anything SOB x RBE *Lunch move: Safeway *Name brand shoe: Jordans

*Best sport: Lacrosse *Best subject: Language Arts *Most popular school clique: “Mean Girls” *School anthem: Something Macklemore *Lunch Move: El Camion *Name brand shoe: Converse

Actual

Actual

*Best sport: Soccer *Best subject: Math *Most popular school clique: not one *School anthem: Anything pop *Lunch Move: El Camion

*Best sport: Football *Best subject: History *Most popular school clique: *Musical artist of the year: Jacquees *Lunch move: McDonald’s *Name brand shoe: Nike

*Name brand shoe: Vans

Predicted

Predicted

*Best sport: Ultimate frisbee *Best subject: Engineering *Most popular school clique: “Hypebeasts” *Musical artist of the year: Nicki Minaj *Lunch move: Wendy’s *Name brand shoe: Nike

*Best sport: Track *Best subject: Math *Most popular school clique: The athletes *School anthem: *Lunch move: Nikko Teriyaki *Name brand shoe: Nike

Actual

Actual

*Best sport: Track *Best subject: Science *Most popular school clique: Dancers *School anthem: not one *Lunch move: Philly’s *Name brand shoe: Nike

*Best sport: Softball *Best subject: English *Most popular school clique: Cheerleaders *School anthem: not one *Lunch move: Safeway *Name brand shoe: Nike Art by Ariel Cook

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Opinion Oprah, Please Don’t Run Why President Oprah isn’t such a great idea.

By Lily Laesch

A

t the Golden Globes ceremony on January 7th, Oprah Winfrey did what she’s done for decades: deliver inspiring, thoughtful, and powerful words.

Her speech, which followed her acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement, touched on topics including sexual assault, gender inequality, racial injustice, and the free press. She was met with a resounding standing ovation from the star studded audience, many of whom were caught on camera subtly wiping their eyes.

Immediately, the hashtag #Oprah2020 began trending. The idea started to gain traction among Twitter users and celebrities as reports began to surface that the television mogul could actually be considering a presidential run. The notion, which had at first seemed to be yet another joke of a celebrityturned-president, was beginning to gain considerable weight. CNN stated that she was “actively thinking” of running and Stedman Graham, Winfrey’s longtime partner, told a LA Times reporter “She would absolutely do it.” Even political experts weighed in, such as former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer, who said that he thought “the Oprah thing isn’t crazy”.

The acclaimed speech held heightened influence after a year riddled with sexual assault allegations and tumultuous politics. To many, it symbolized much needed relief and hope from the media figure who has served as an inspiration to millions throughout her career.

Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a teenage mother. The television star had a rough upbringing in which she was sexually abused and lived in abject poverty. At 13, she ran away from home and became pregnant a year later; however her child died after being born prematurely.

After returning to high school, Winfrey received a full scholarship from Tennessee State University, which she attended while working part time at the local radio station.

She first found herself in the spotlight in 1976 when she hosted chat show People are

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Talking in Baltimore. Later, after spending some time as a morning show host in Chicago, she launched the renowned Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired for twenty five years.

Even in a severely male dominated field, Oprah quickly rose to the top. As TIME Magazine put it, “What she lacks in journalistic toughness, she makes up for in plain spoken curiosity, robust humor and, above all, empathy.” Oprah is an example of an inspiring, self made billionaire, much unlike our current President.

Art by Ana Matsubara

She has overcome significant adversity and could empathize with countless Americans.

In all honesty, Oprah could probably win a presidential race. She has incited more change than most celebrities, for instance, in the 90s she lobbied for the National Child Protection Act, helping to create a network of known abusers. Furthermore, Winfrey is profoundly charismatic and well spoken and has high favorability numbers across

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

the country. The problem is what she would do when she reached the highest office in the land. She would be an eloquent and unifying leader regarding social change but she would be unable to successfully negotiate with members of Congress or foreign dignitaries, as she completely lacks political experience.

The first year of the Trump presidency has undoubtedly proven the need for a dedicated, career politician at the helm of our nation. The country is becoming increasingly divided, and essentially nothing has been accomplished in terms of policy. We desperately need a commander in chief who has comprehensive working knowledge of social issues, domestic problems, and foreign affairs.

Additionally, the presidency is not to be considered a trophy for billionaire celebrities. Donald Trump’s first year in office has transformed the Oval Office—usually held in indisputably high regard—into a running punchline. While Oprah is an inspiring and dynamic figure, it is essential that celebrities and politicians remain in their separate spheres. The presidency should be defined by dedication and public service, not by glamour and showmanship.

Oprah is currently one of the most influential people in the world. She has touched millions of lives throughout her career and she continues to do so today. She doesn’t need the presidency to gain any more power or prestige. The desperate plea for Oprah to run for president is once instance in a larger societal pattern that begs women of color to do the dirty work. However, political parties rarely cater to them and instead tokenize them throughout campaigns. The need for diversity in public office is imperative. Instead of calling on a television personality to run, we must elect qualified women of color to public office.

Have thoughts on this issue? Email a response to garfieldmessenger @gmail.com

2020

Serious Democratic Contenders With around one year left until the unofficial start of the 2020 race, here are Democratic contenders who have stood out based on their stated interest in running or their more subtle behaviors, including their voting record on Capitol Hill or subtle trips to swing states.

Bernie Sanders

VT Senator Age 76

MA Senator Age 68

Elizabeth Warren

Joe Biden

Former VP Age 75

CA Senator Age 53

Kamala Harris

Cory Booker

NJ Senator Age 48

NY Senator Age 51

Kirsten Gillibrand

Opinion

An Intersectional Insight

The issues of inclusivity and intersectionality at the Women’s Marches.

By Hailey Gray

L

ast week, the United States celebrated the first birthday of the nationwide gathering of pink pussy hats, cogent and commanding cries, and powerful protests signs. On January 21st, 2017, between 3.3 and 5.2 million people gathered at the Women’s March in protest after Donald Trump’s inauguration. With protest themes ranging from racial equality, immigration rights, reproductive rights, equal pay and much more, this symbol of solidarity was one of the largest single day marches held in U.S. history.

Despite the millions who stood outside on the winter day, marching in crowded streets with fists and signs raised high, many white and cisgender protesters tainted and ignored the original message of the march. The 2017 march may have served as a movement in protest against the national divisions sparked by our current president, however, it still managed to be very exclusive of many marginalized groups.

“I feel like the women’s march comes from a good place...but it’s just fundamentally built on a lot of white feminism and T.E.R.F. culture [trans exclusionary radical feminism] and that’s just something I don’t want to be a part of.” said junior Elli Lingappa, the co-president of Garfield’s Intersectional Feminist Club.

One of the most visibly exclusive aspects of the 2017 march was the isolation of transgender and non-binary people. With a plethora of pink pussy hats, “Pussy Grabs Back”, “U.S. Out of My Uterus” and “Viva la Vagina” protest signs, it was apparent that some cisgender people were equating having vaginas with womanhood. This thought isolates and erases the “authenticity” of transgender identities, as it creates a message that gender is primarily defined by genitalia. While cisgender women are allowed to show pride over their vaginas, it is a necessity to stray away from promoting a trans exclusionary form of feminism.

Additionally, the 2017 march failed to be inclusive of people of color (especially women of color) and their experiences as marginalized groups. Simply due the fact that there were white women present, the appearance of white feminism was sparked and was noticeable to many people of color. “ Women failed to recognize that struggles for women’s rights are also struggles against homophobia, and transphobia, and racism, etc.” said Lingappa.

At the 2017 march, signs with “75 cents to a dollar” displayed how many protesters centered the problem around white women, failing to recognize the additional hurdles

and inequities that women of color (WOC) face, with not only equal pay, but also in society as a whole. WOC were being silenced in a place when their voices should have been heard and amplified.

“Not giving a voice to people of color, not giving a space for people who are disabled to speak, not giving a space for people who may not speak English fluently or at all, things like that...it’s really irritating when those voices aren’t heard because those are most of the voices of the world, and white feminism is really only a small percentage of everything.” states sophomore Keya Abegaz, a student of color passionate about social justice and creating safe intersectional spaces.

Due to their actions, it can be assumed that some cis white women felt that protests against racism should not have been at a march primarily focused on women’s rights, reproductive rights, and equal pay.

These actions tend to neglect the endeavors and discrimination of POC in general.

However, protests against all forms of oppression should be welcomed, as all forms of discrimination are intertwined and overlapping. WOC have had difficulties with intersectionality in feminism and this march helped to bring that repressed issue back to light. While white women can face forms of oppression, in comparison, WOC ultimately are at a greater disadvantage in society

PROS AND CONS OF WOMENS MARCH PROS

1. Strong show of solidarity against oppression and Trump 2. Able to bring MANY voices nationwide together

CONS

1. Was exclusive to trans folks, WOC, and non able-bodied folks 2. Somewhat dominated by cis white women 3. Lack of intersectionality in terms of demographics and issues protested

within the U.S. This exclusion ultimately did not promote an intersectional form of feminism. Considering that WOC make up about 36% of the female population in the U.S., one would think they deserve more representation.

“Intersectionality means acknowledging how different systems of oppression…overlap with each other, especially in terms of identity... I feel there are a lot of people who aren’t willing to learn [this] and have their feminism critiqued.” said Lingappa.

Intersectionality affects a large portion of the population so creating spaces and marches that are inclusive, in my opinion, will allow more positive and successful progress or change.

“Not having intersectional spaces makes it so that I have to scream to be heard. Or I have to tell a white person to speak for me.” said Abegaz.

These issues with inclusivity in the 2017 march, were reflected in the January 20th, 2018 Women’s March. In the 2018 march, the transphobia, racism, and ableism still lingered in the air, however, many people were more conscious about intersectionality this year. Despite this awareness, pink pussy hats still dominated the streets. And although this march was lesser than that in 2017, it still gathered about 1 to 2 million people in major cities within the U.S. “In general, creating such a mass protest, with a bunch of people who had really good intentions, and who care a lot, is really impressive!” said Lingappa.

Despite the aforementioned problems, steps can be taken to serve as an inclusive ally, when protesting or advocating for social justice or change.

“Being an ally, the best way in my opinion, would be to, like, if a Black person is trying to speak or trying to express something, either making everyone listen to them or...using you as a microphone, but not changing their words,” said Abegaz. “Giving them a space to speak...give people of color a voice to express themselves and to be able to tell their story the way that only they know how to.” said Abegaz.

In my opinion, in major marches or protests, privilege must be recognized by EVERY person/participant. When attending a protest from ANY position of power, such as being cisgender, white, male, straight, Christian, able bodied, etc., we need to understand that our life is not always the one thats in the most danger. Rather than always speaking our voice, at times, we need to listen to the cries of those in peril.

Art by Arlo Van Liew

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

9

“She loves bracelets. She has an obsession with bracelets - she’ll put them on her nose or balance them on her head.” Senior Josie Barker said of her younger sister, Therese. This year is the first time they’ve gone to the same school together, and Barker said they used to hang out a lot, often bringing her sister Starbucks or saying hi to her in class.

“But now when she sees me,” Josie said, laughing, “She tells me to go away because she’s with her friends.”

Therese was born with a condition that can make speech and movement challenging, which qualifies her to be in the Special Education program at Garfield. Although this is in no way what defines their relationship, Therese’s involvement in the Special Ed program has given the sisters a lot of insight into the misconceptions around the program and its students.

What is Special Ed? Overall, Special Education is a program that is designed to accommodate the needs of individual students who require guidance in their education.The special education program is required by the state to fit the specific needs of each individual student, provide access to general ed classes, and teaches material that meets State standards for that grade level. According to state reports, Seattle Public Schools serves 7,000 students in Special Ed programs, which accounts for roughly 13% of our student population.

One of the biggest unknowns about the Special Ed department is how it is divided, and what classes there are. Dylan Koutsky, department chair of the Special Ed program, said there are five programs in the Special Ed department. The largest program in the school, hosting about 100 students, is a resource

by Carlin Bills and Abby Cooper-Drake

program that serves Where does Special Ed simple fact that “not everyone has an easy time with education or students with learns the same as everyone else.” learning disabili- take place?

Students often assume that the There is no blanket statement ties like ADHD. Mr. Koutsky Special Education is separate or for what a schedule or school day said, “It’s really very different from what we consid- looks like for a student in the spejust for people er “General Ed” classes. However, cial education program. There are who learn a little most of the SPS Special Ed students students who spend their entire differently or need spend 80% of their day in general or day in Advanced classes and stumore processing time or advanced classrooms, according to dents who spend scheduled time support with organization.”. Seattle Public Schools reports. Mr. in separate classes focused on soMost of these students spend their Koutsky stressed that this is argu- cial or emotional skills. There are students who recieve Special Ed time in general ed or advanced place2017/2018 SPS Funding services excelling in every facet at ment classes throughout the day.

Garfield. “There are Another program, called “Access”, students with Speis smaller and provides more heavy cial Ed services that support with organizational skills, are starting varsity task completion, and study habits. athletes, on ASB, There are also more specialized proleaders n clubs and grams such as ones that focus more in every program on developing social and emotional at Garfield,” said skills, functional life needs, or even Koutsky. This is why just more intense academic support. the special educaEach student has their own case tion department is manager, which is basically like their $143,000,000 to Special Ed the largest program own personal counselor. “The case $857,000,000 total to SPS at our school. There managers work closely with stuare approximately dents,” said Mr. Koutsky, “and they ably the biggest misunderstanding 140 students in Garfield’s special figure out what type of accommodations and modifications would about the special education pro- education program alongside 9 help them succeed the most.” This gram. “When people hear special teachers and 16 instructional assystem of each student being able education they often think of [stu- sistants including one on one assisto communicate their needs to their dents] on the more high need end of tants and program assistants. own case manager makes the special the spectrum, but there’s a huge varied classrooms much more personal- ety of students within the program,” Koutsky said. ized and involved.

Koutsky gave an example of Who runs it and how is a student he knows who is in it funded? all AP classes, but just needs a It’s been quite a rocky road with few weekly reminders to turn funding in the past few years. In in homework and other orga- 2015, the state withheld $3 million nizational assistance from cse of Special Ed funding because of so manager. “It does not always many parental complaints about look like a self-contained, the Seattle Public Schools Special super high support environ- Ed program not being comprehenment,” he said. Special Ed is sive enough for their kids. Although often pictured as a service the district worked hard to swiftly for students with severe dis- resolve these complaints, the withabilities, but Koutsky said we held funding was seriously damagshould be defining it by the ing the Special Ed programs. Luck-

ily, the SPS board voted to gradually restore this money as long as Special Ed departments showed progress.

Since 2015, the budget granted to Seattle Public Schools from federal and state sources has increased by approximately $23 million dollars.

However, proportionally the budget for Special Education makes up approximately 16% of Seattle Public Schools funding which is the same as 2015 according to the 2017-2018 SPS budget report. For Garfield’s Special Ed program, the funding has been relatively satisfactory in recent years.

“For the most part it covers what we need. Students can always use more support and it would be great to have more people in the building that can support on all levels,” Koutsky said.

However, Mr. Koutsky has hopes to improve the Special Ed. program at Garfield and in order to pursue those hopes, an increase in funds has to coincide.

Looking to the future One of the goals of the special education department chair, Mr. Kout-

sky, is to increase the inclusion of special education students into general education or advanced classes through co-teaching. Co-teaching is

the idea of having two teachers facilitating a classroom environment, one with a special education teaching certification and one with a certification in the subject area. In order to teach a special education classroom,

SPS Students in Special Ed. teachers have to receive a special education certification. However, this certification is not content based but is instead focused on the delivery of content. “That certification is how you can teach something not what you’re teaching” Koutsky said.

Once a teacher receives their special education certification, they can teach any class as long as it is in the special education setting. “There’s a really high need for special education teachers, which is part of the reason why they did that,” Koutski said of the certification program, “but it allows for someone with not as much content knowledge to be teaching a high school content course which does not seem equitable to me” Koutsky said.

Co-teaching advocates for an equitable learning environment for all students through having rigorous content knowledge as well as stronger support systems to make sure the content is being delivered in an accessible way for everyone. The processing of implementing co-teaching has already begun at Garfield. “We have

Algebra One right now and are hoping next year to grow to Geometry and Language Arts too” said Koutsky.

Barker hopes for changes to be made within the student body here at Garfield as well as the general public. There was one particular disheartening moment Barker recalled that highlighted the need for change within our society. “One time, the front wheel of [Therese’s] walker fell off, so it flipped and she fell and split her chin. Our nanny was freaking out and asking someone nearby to call our mom, and they didn’t look. They didn’t look at her, they just kept walking.” said Barker.

This invalidation and blatant disregard for another human being while in a moment of distress in unacceptable. There are actions we can and should take as fellow students to increase inclusivity and Garfield and formulate a more welcoming environment for everyone at the school. These actions can start off with seamingly simple and everyday habits. “They’re still a person - they’ll laugh and say hi and acknowledge you . . . they hear you. So don’t be shy to say hi, because they’ll say hi back.”

Barker said.

Mr. Koutsky points out that inclusion should also take place in the classroom, reminding students to “be open and welcoming and friendly and recognize that there are people who have different opportunities for education than others have.” He advised that if you notice someone who may have trouble keeping up in class, support them as a peer. “It’s not specific to students who have special ed

services,” he said, “but to students or peers who are struggling, lend a hand and help out.”

Another really easy way to get involved in the process of making Garfield more integrated is through joining programs that promote the integration of special and general ed, such as Project Unify, a club that meets at lunch on Wednesday in room 327. Project Unify provides an opportunity for the integration of students with Special Ed services who have conditions that make speech or movement challenging into sports. Junior club president, Gracie Sullivan is thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the club. ““Being a part of Project Unify has really opened my eyes to different communities at Garfield. It feels really special to be able to be close to people in a community I wouldn’t have been in if I wasn’t a part of the club.” Barker also suggested participating in one of the various Seattle summer camps that support special needs students that she and her sister go to regularly.

Percent of Garfield students in Special Ed who spend most of their day in General Ed classrooms

**We want to acknowledge that the voices most important to this article, the voices of students in the special education program, are not present. We don’t intend this article to be speaking for students in the special education program, we solely want this article to be informative about the program.

A&E Coco Exceeds Expectations Pixar’s newest film has been a major success in Latino representation

By Ula Jones ixar’s 19th film, Coco, premiered in the U.S. on November 22nd against a backdrop of racially and culturally sensitive politics.

Told from the perspective of a young Mexican boy who wants nothing more than to be a guitarist despite his family’s abhorrence of music, Coco travels from a small, quintessential Mexican town into the heart of the Dia de los Muertos themed “Land of the Dead”. Its reception was fantastic; with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes rating, children and adults alike seem to have been captivated by the universal themes of family and love it is built upon.

It was a critical hit at the box office, too; released in Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, the film has broken records with a 57 million dollar gross. Internationally, it’s turned up roughly 592.7 million US Dollars, nearly as much as Disney’s Moana.

However, the process of creating the film itself was not without its challenges.

Director and writer Lee Unkrich of Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. had a tough task ahead of him when he took on the project itself—he would have to account for the nuances and values of a culture that was not his own.

“With me not being Latino myself, I knew that this project was going to come under heavy scrutiny,” Unkrich said in a recent New York Times article. Said scrutiny came after a controversial move by Disney, when it attempted to patent the very term “Dia de los Muertos” as a possible title in early production.

But through a years-long process

P

12

By Susana Davidson / Art by Ana Matsubara

of traveling and consultation with a team of Latino animators, main character Miguel’s hometown and the various other landscapes presented in Coco were sensitively conceptualized and created. The production process also broke away from established practice in order to foster accuracy.

“We did something that we’ve never done on any other film: we actually brought the core team of our cultural consultants, the three of them, we started inviting them to every one of our [internal] screenings,” Unkrich said in an interview with GameStop.

While Pixar’s other staff didn’t see any demographic changes for this movie, a significant achievement included an all Latino cast; with the exception of John Ratzenberger, every voice actor that worked on Coco was knowledgeable about the source culture and language.

Hector the skeleton’s use of the endearment “chamaco” was a direct suggestion from actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Another anecdote shared by the director was the consultation team’s replacement of Miguel’s Abuelita’s wooden spoon with an iconic flip flop, or chancla.

Representation in children’s animated movies has always been a difficult topic for major animation companies to tackle effectively in this country, making it all too often found few and far in between. However, Coco pulls it off smoothly and artistically.

The difficult themes it deals with, such as death and separation, are treated gently and eloquently. All around, it’s hats off to Pixar for one of the most well done animated movies of 2017.

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Art by Emma Riddick

scan this code on your Spotify app and dowload the playlist directly to your phone!

A&E

Gay Café

Spaces for LGBTQ youth in Seattle

By Susana Davidson

LIFELONG THRIFT

LGBT NATIONAL YOUTH HOTLINE

OUT OF THE CLOSET

THE TREVOR PROJECT CRISIS HOTLINE

1-800-246-PRIDE

312 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102

866-488-7386

1016 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

By Arlo Van Liew

S

eattle has recently been ranked as the seventh most LBGTQ+ friendly city in the United States, behind Philadelphia and Baltimore. On the surface it sure seems to be true, but the increase in homophobic and transphobic crimes as well as the influx of industry workers to the city have led to what many believe is a reduction of Seattle’s queer identity.

This many not be evident to everyone used to living in a city with certain neighborhoods full of rainbow flags hanging from windows, brightly painted crosswalks and Safe Place flyers posted in storefronts, but there is a surprising lack of spaces for LGBTQ people, LGBTQ youth and especially LGBTQ youth of color.

“There are not enough queer spaces [in Seattle],” says Gianni Valente, membership coordinator of TUF, a female, non-binary and trans collective focusing on the digital arts.

“Especially when you consider that heterosexual, cissexual, and white people already have an abundance of spaces dedicated to serving them and providing entertainment, learning, and professional opportunities.”

Even within the LGBTQ community, white, gay and usually male voices are amplified above the rest, and are provided with the most resources and spaces. This intersectionality of LGBTQ identity makes queer and trans people of color further disenfranchised within the community, and makes spaces specifically focused on and created by them all the more important.

“Spaces for LGBTQ people of color remove the pressure to accommodate white people’s sensitivities and ignorance and are especially important, especially since the vast majority of LG-

BTQ representation is white,” said Max Otero Royer, senior at NOVA high school.

These spaces are especially important for LGBTQ youth who that can’t participate in the bar and club culture that provides a welcoming and largely judgment

“Spaces for LGBTQ people of color remove the pressure to accommodate white people’s sensitivities and ignorance” free atmosphere for those over 21. The existence of Wildrose, Seattle’s Capitol Hill lesbian bar, R Place, a queer operated club, as well as the other predominantly LGBTQ adult businesses around the city is revolutionary in itself, but youth looking to develop their identity, make connections and forge relationships within the community are met with fewer options.

“Queer spaces can provide a safe environment for identity exploration, for connecting with peers, networking professionally, and building community personally,” said Valente. “I think that positive adult queer role-models and mentors can also be incredibly healing for queer youth. Representation matters.”

Even in Seattle, homophobia and transphobia are present within families, friendships, partnerships and on the streets.

Because of this, spaces created especially for LGBTQ youth to support one another and grow together is essential. “Being young and developing your identity and

sense of self in isolation can be terrifying and dangerous,” said Otero Royer. “Communities and encouraging spaces allow for development and exploration without judgment, or at least less judgement.”

Many argue that LGBTQ teens can do everything that straight teens can, and that there is no need for spaces catered only to them. However, this is not always true.

Straight people inherently benefit off of a gender identity that is not persecuted and thus opportunities may arise for them that may be unavailable, or even dangerous, for LGBTQ youth. Additionally, spaces exclusively for LGBTQ youth foster a community of people who feel safe to discuss their identity, as well as other things, freely.

“Queer-centered spaces allow members of the LGBTQ community to exist free from the pressure to perform stereotypes of queerness or conform to hetero-

“Queer spaces can provide a safe environment for identity exploration, for connecting with peers, networking professionally, and building community personally” normative expectations,” said Vallente.

Speaking to someone who relates to you in one way or another can be relaxing in

itself. “Queer only spaces take away pressure to accommodate the sensitivities or misunderstandings of straight cisgender people. They foster a sense of community and solidarity,” said Otero Royer.

Talking to someone because they play the same sport or have the same type of disability means that you can talk freely and personally with someone who might understand more than others. This is especially important when the similarity is one that is largely persecuted in this country and in the world.

An increase in LGBTQ spaces, not only for those who are underage, would be immensely beneficial. “There are never enough LGBTQ spaces, no matter how many there seem to be. LGBTQ people are vastly diverse, and one person might not be adequately served by one space that might perfectly satisfy another,” says Otero Royer.

For now, continue to support the existing all ages LGBTQ buisnesses in Seattle.

Businesses like Gay City, a resource center, library and HIV/STI testing center for LGBTQ+ people, thrift stores Lifelong and Out of the Closet who both work to fight HIV and AIDS and Camp Ten Trees, a summer camp for LGBTQ youth of LGBTQ families.

Advocate for the creation of more LGBTQ places and collectives like TUF, a collective created by a small group of friends who work to give a platform to female, non binary and trans djs in Seattle’s electronic music scene who now have over 100 members. “We think this work is important in disrupting the pattern of all-male lineups, of racism and sexism in the mainstream entertainment industry, and gives a necessary voice to many talented regional artists,” said Valente.

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TheGarfieldMessenger12/15/2017

A&E

New Year’s Resolutions

Bulldogs on their way to success in 2018.

By Tsion Belgu Adam Race

Brooke Benmar

Hermela Shiferaw

“I would like to keep my grades at at least a B+ throughout the year”

“To eat more almonds and parsley”

“Try not to be late to first period almost everyday”

Andrew Torgelson

“Run 15 miles a week and get massive”

Khabirah Weddington

“Everyday is a day to do better”

Hayden Wainwright

“Move past grudges and negativity from previous years and refocus on this year” Photos by Toby Tran & Peter Kubiniec

Photo of the Issue Students Diego Binuya and Jasmine Fernandez from the Pilipinx Student Association at their Stop the Killings Rally on January 23rd, 2018.

For more information, see page 4.

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The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

A&E

Student Voices Showcasing the talent of Garfield students.

Every Single Day

By Paulette Argeres, Elise Morris, Sa’vell Smalls, Pancho Bignold, Nicole Scoggins, Jonathon Lin, Egeljin Myagmarsuren Sexual assault is an intersectional issue and people of color are the most affected by it. This type of violence effects those who society dehumanizes. Sexual assault is a form of oppression, and this happens every single day.

Every single day oppression looks like...

“Speak English you’re in America.”

“Wow you’re so ratchet” Police shoot first in communities of color Teachers looking at students of color as problematic in the classroom Black men getting the “police talk” before the “sex talk” White men being innocent until proven guilty, but black men being guilty until proven innocent Sexual assault starts with the smallest comments people disregard.

Every single day in a locker room, someone says… “they’re a 5” “they need to lose some weight” “damn she was hella easy” people say… “look at what they sent me” “oh I hit that too” “damn shes such a hoe But that’s just locker room talk, right?

Every single day in a hallway, bodies are being… talked about picked up cussed at checked out grabbed at stared down But he just tripped, right?

Every single day, at school someone says… “that’s gay” “man up” “you’re a pussy” “you dress like a hoe” “is that a girl or a guy?” “what even are you?”

But it was just a joke, right?

Every single day on the street, someone says… “let me get your number” “you’re looking fiiiine” “hey, where ya goin” “what else

that mouth do?”

But it’s just a compliment, right?

Every single day on social media, people say…[1] “send me a pic” “you’re ugly anyways” “she doesn’t respect herself” someone posts…

“I heard they hooked up” “I heard he was small” “I heard she asked for it” But she just wants attention, right?

Every single day people refuse to acknowledge that sexual assault is also affected by racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, transphobia.

But all lives matter, right? in our reality….

There are no healing systems for women of color, who suffer the most, from sexual assault White voices dominate all spaces People of color are still fighting for equality right now, so it is hard to fight for both White actors are getting praised for movements started by black woman There are still no discussions of men of color being sexually assaulted People continue to talk about sexual assault while disregarding people of color The fact is that it’s not just locker room talk, because the words echo beyond the locker room.

They didn’t just trip because violating someone’s body is never an accident.

It’s not just a joke because this is real.

It’s not a compliment because nobody asked you for your judgment on our bodies.

Nobody asked for it. That’s it. end of story.

We all, together, can’t let this happen anymore.

Not in the locker room, not in the hallways, not on the street, not online, not in society, not anywhere.

And not for one more day.

If you have any artwork, photography, or writing you’re passionate about, email ghsmessengerae@gmail.com to submit your piece!

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The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Sports

I’m So Glad

A glance into the world of GHS marching band.

By Peter Kubiniec

A

beloved feature of Garfield sports games is the performance of the thundering marching band. Basketball and football games are punctuated throughout by blasts of traditional and modernized music played by more than 120 members of the historic, renowned marching band. Win or lose, as players leave the court and mobs of students crowd the exits, the band jumps proudly into I’m So Glad, a song that has ended sports games for decades.

Tony Sodano, the director of marching band is proud of what they’ve accomplished.

“We do what we do and the audience for the most part tends to like it” said Sodano.

Directing the marching band is a significant amount of work going beyond the two instructional periods that Sodano teaches each day.

“I’m still a professional musician, working for the Seahawks and also being a nighttime performer. I’ve had to scale way back on my personal playing because there is so much required” said Sodano. “For the size of this band and how much stuff we’re doing, the fact that it’s only me is crazy.”

A large part of Sodano’s work revolves around arranging popular music for the band to play.

“Generally, for the athletic games I write half the music,” said Sodano. This includes notating popular songs and transcribing them for each instrument.

As the school district funding is very limited, Sodano has seen the music program struggle.

“I get 200 dollars to operate from the school which is a laughably low amount considering that one piece of music is 80 dollars” said Sodano.

Instead of coming from the school, most of the funding for the band’s instruments, repairs, music arrangements and event bussing is paid for by parent donations and compensation for commercial events.

“We have other types of gigs like we played for McDonald’s a couple of years ago and we played for Amazon last year. Those raise decent amounts of money,” said Sodano, referring to the band’s paid performances at

16

McDonald’s and Amazon’s specialty events.

Overall, the band supports itself financially.

“We’re pretty self-sufficient whether it’s from performing or from the parents, it’s not really any outside source.”

However, Sodano admits that there are several ways that additional funding would help to improve the program because extra funding could result in hiring additional staff, which would take some of the pressure off of Sodano.

“If we had like a normal set up with an assistant director we could balance a lot of stuff ” said Sodano. “I’m a percussion specialist, that’s why we have the drumline that we have and there are times, like for brass and woodwind related work, where I’m not nearly as effective as a brass or woodwind specialist would be. That’s when we’d hire someone to bring them in. “ In the end, the marching band does well with the resources available.

“Most other schools have a director an assistant director and they have percussion staff, they have visual staff and marching staff,” said Sodano. “There is so much that we could be doing but you need a real budget to pay people. And we just don’t have that here. And that’s okay. We just make do with what we got.”

Junior trombonist Tesfa Kirk has been with the marching band through his entire time in high school.

“Right now this is my sixth year playing,” said Kirk who has been thinking about what to do after he

Photos by Peter Kubiniec

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

graduates. “I’m considering going professional, just seeking music as a career, [but] if that doesn’t work out I’m definitely open to other things as well” said Kirk.

More than just another fine arts credit, marching band offers a place where musicians can enhance their skills.

“You improve as a musician because it teaches you how to play loud which is not something I did before” said Kirk.

“It also allows you to do things like solo that you don’t get to do otherwise.”

When he arrived at Garfield, Kirk did not intend on doing marching band at all.

“At first you could only be in jazz if you were in another band class and the C orchestra didn’t have any brass” said Kirk. “I decided to take marching band but, as the years went on I started to really enjoy it.”

Years later, he’s still involved in the program.

“Now that I’m not in band class and I’m only in jazz, I still go to the games and play” said Kirk.

But to Kirk, marching band is about more than just performing.

“It’s definitely a very interesting experience because of how big the class is you get to meet a lot of people that you wouldn’t otherwise [meet]” said Kirk. “It was very fun being able to go to all the games because I definitely wouldn’t have if it weren’t for band.”

Photo courtesy of Anthony Sodano

Sports

Dried Up

Winter Box Scores

Photos by Peter Kubiniec

GHS @ Wilson (W) 72-43 GHS vs Cleveland (W) 75-53 GHS vs Bainbridge (W) 84-45 GHS @ Lakeside (W) 69-22 GHS @ Seattle Prep (L) 87-84 GHS vs Ballard (W) 66-59 GHS @ Ferndale (W) 65-50 GHS vs WF West (L) 70-66 GHS vs North Kitsap (W) 67-22 GHS @ Roosevelt (W) 69-28 GHS vs West Seattle (L) 58-48 GHS vs Chief Sealth (W) 67-3 GHS @ Rainier Beach (W) 67-51 GHS vs Gig Harbor (L) 64-56 GHS @ Nathan Hale (W) 69-35 GHS vs Ingraham (W) 60-6 *GHS @ Holy Names TBA 1/26 GHS @ Bishop Blanchet TBD 1/31 GHS vs Eastside Catholic TBD 2/2 GHS @ Franklin TBD

GHS v@ Bainbridge (L) 120-61 GHS @ Bishop Blanchet (L) 110-80 GHS vs O’Dea (W) 100-78 GHS @ Lakeside (L) 103-72 GHS vs Roosevelt (W) 97-88 1/26 GHS vs Eastside Catholic TBD

Wrestling

own softball team. Last season the Bulldog women were able to shake 24 years of playoff drought and make the state tournament for the first time since the tournament’s creation in 1993. Pitcher Kaia Simpson was on that history making 2017 squad.

“When we won the game [to make the tournament], the last play, everyone sprinted over to the left field sideline,” Simpson said. “I just have that image in my head of everyone jumping up and down. The seniors were all bawling, our coach was crying, everyone was just freaking out.”

The win was against Juanita High School, who only two years prior had won it all.

“Juanita was shocked,” Simpson said. “They thought ‘oh it’s Garfield, we’re just gonna get this game’ and we beat them out to go to state.

They weren’t expecting us to come out and

play h a r d and give them a run.”

The freshman year for the seniors of last year’s softball team was a winless campaign.

Couple that with the team’s playoff drought and the result was league wide shock as the Bulldogs cruised to 18 wins last season.

According to Simpson, it took a combination of many factors to reach these new heights, but above all else it took a clearly defined team mentality.

“Our team mantra was ‘expect to win’ which I think was a really great way to set us up for success in the season,” Simpson said.

“Our team had a really positive attitude. We were a family. We had an environment that was good for improving and taking ourselves to the next level and pushing ourselves, but being supportive at the same time.”

Especially in a sport like softball, or baseball for the Mariners, Simpson says it also requires a certain degree of personal grit to be able to shed the legacy of a playoff drought.

“If you [get a] hit 30% of the time that’s amazing,” Simpson said. “You have to be willing to fail and be excited to fail and then have your teammates be able to pick you up and be able to pick yourself up afterwards.”

As Garfield softball now sets its sights higher to bringing home a state championship, the Seattle Mariners can learn a thing or two from the Bulldogs. But while Mariners fans brace themselves for more disappointment in 2018, perhaps this is the year that Mariners fans’ claims finally come true and we see the year of the Mariners.

Boys Swim

W

ber of times catcher Mike Zunino has struck out in a season, nothing would make them feel better than a trip back to the playoffs.

Yet their drought doesn’t even scratch the surface of the worst in MLB history. Mariners fans may find solace, fear, or a mixture of both in the fact that longest MLB playoff drought in history lasted 30 years.

Held by the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals, the streak lasted from 1981 to 2012, enduring a relocation from Canada to the United States capital, a name change, and decades of fan heartbreak. Although that 2012 season ended with a loss in game five of the National League Divisional Series, it was a feeling of relief for Washington. They had broken the streak and looked primed to continue that success into the future with emerging star center fielder Bryce Harper.

For inspiration, the Mariners may need to look no further than Garfield H i g h School’s

GHS vs Cleveland (W) 81-65 GHS vs Bainbridge (W) 85-32 GHS @ Lakeside (W) 64-54 GHS @ Seattle Prep (W) 83-77 OT GHS vs Ballard (W) 65-16 GHS vs Valencia (W) 97-57 GHS vs Folsom (W) 61-53 GHS vs Bellevue (W) 77-55 GHS vs Capital Christian (W) 85-53 GHS @ Roosevelt (W) 86-60 GHS vs West Seattle (W) 64-58 GHS vs Chief Sealth (W) 81-36 GHS @ Rainier Beach (W) 100-72 GHS @ Jefferson (W) 63-57 GHS @ Nathan Hale (W) 89-51 GHS vs Ingraham (W) 86-61 GHS @ O’Dea (W) 74-61 1/26 GHS @ Bishop Blanchet TBD 1/30 GHS vs Eastside Catholic TBD 2/2 GHS @ Franklin TBD

Girls Basketball

By John Volk hen Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals heaved a 49 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd to win in the closing moments of a week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens, shockwaves were sent rippling through the world of American sports.

275 miles away from the stadium in Baltimore, the city of Buffalo rejoiced. With the loss, the Ravens were knocked out of playoff contention, allowing the Buffalo Bills to punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time since 1999. The 17 years the Bills had sat out of the playoffs had stood as the longest active playoff drought in North American professional sports. It was time for the crown of misery to be passed.

2,100 miles to the west, the title found a new home in Seattle. Having been absent from October baseball for 16 years, the Seattle Mariners have indirectly accomplished a feat that has given them national attention for all the wrong reasons.

Now officially the stewards of the longest active playoff drought, Mariners fans’ annual ironic optimism that “this will be our year” gets an added layer of hopelessness. As fans cope with humor like claiming utility man Willie Bloomquist is the greatest of all time or chanting the num-

Boys Basketball

Playoff droughts hit close to home.

Top Performers: Johnte Bailey (9-1) Rogan Zangari (6-3)

*Occured after publication

17

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Sports

Committed to the Game Athletes committed to colleges reveal their experiences.

By Patrick Walsh

West Point: Swimming How long have you been swimming?

Forever

How much do you swim every week?

28 hours

Why would you do that to yourself?

I always knew I wanted to go to Westpoint regardless of swimming but at Westpoint every student is a D-1 varsity athlete. So I was like okay, I’ve got to be an elite athlete.

Why Westpoint? I wanted to go to Westpoint for the service. Everyone there is an athlete, it’s fully paid for, and when you graduate you serve as an officer for five years. So you’re 22 and immediately you’re in charge of a platoon. I wanted to learn how to lead.

Anna Vinnedge

Will you go pro?

No. I plan on being a medical officer or some sort of surgeon for the troops for as long as I can. Swimming helped me get here because it taught me all my time management and discipline.

It got me fit enough, it gave me the sport I needed.

Whitman College: Soccer When did you begin playing?

Kindergarten

How much do you play every week?

Why would you do that to yourself?

Why Whitman?

10 hours It’s always been fun for me.

I love the campus. It’s a school where I get to play soccer, but it’s also a really good

education.

What are you most excited for? The fields are ridiculously nice. It’s off campus they have two maintenance guys taking care of it all year. It’s this cool enclosed park structure. It’s crazy nice.

How was recruitment? It’s kinda like someone stalking you all the time.

Photos by Toby Tran

Pancho Bignold

Do you want to go pro? I’m gonna be really competitive, but I really just want to get a great education.

Stanford University: Rowing When did you start rowing?

Eighth Grade

When did you decide to row in college? Not until Sophomore year How much do you row every week?

21 hours

Why would you do that to yourself? I just love the sport and really like racing.

Why Stanford?

The location is great. I really like the coaches and team there and I like the balance between athletics and academics.

What are you most excited for? “’m excited to compete at a higher level and compete with really talented people.

Are you planning on going pro? No, I just want to row in college.

Sophie Dixon

18

The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

Sports

Dominate No More!

Why the Seattle Seahawks won’t be the same.

By Sav’ell Smals

Ever since Pete Carroll took over as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 2010, the 12th man has been accustomed to winning. Five seasons with ten or more wins, Four divisional titles, two NFC championships, two super bowl appearances, and the only Lombardi trophy in franchise history.

It was a sweet reign of dominance, and that reign, is over. The 2017-2018 season was filled with every emotion you could think of.

It was a roller coaster of a season, and for the next few years this roller coaster won’t be going up.

In the 2013 Super Bowl winning season, the Seahawks defense was regarded as one of the best ever seen. They led the league in takeaways, and gave up the fewest yards and points. A team leading the league in all three categories hadn’t happened since 1985.

On the other side of the ball, they were fourth in the NFL in rushing yards and in 2014 they were first. But, in the pitiful 2017 regular season, the Hawks rushing attack ranked 23rd in the NFL. The defense has also suffered setbacks.

Since the 2013 season they’ve gone from first to eleventh in yards given up, first to thir-

MESS GUESS

teenth in points given up, and first to ninth in total takeaways. Going from arguably the best defense in NFL history, to a slightly above average defense is hard to recover from.

If you thought past season of mediocrity was bad, then prepare yourself, because it’s only downhill from here. However, there were good things to take away from the sea9th Grade: Macio Pa stores

10th Grade: Alicia Tran

son. Russell Wilson threw for a league leading thirty four touchdowns, and ran in three more. Paul Richardson had the best season of his career, racking in 703 receiving yards, and hauling in six touchdowns.

But, Many key players that we’ve come accustomed to seeing every Sunday could be on their way out due to old age, injuries, or both. In a radio interview, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll stated that star strong safety Kam Chancellor and defensive end Cliff Avril will have a hard time playing football again after both players suffered neck injuries that cut their season short. Michael Bennett, who racked up eight and a half sacks, the 0.second best on the team was quoted saying, “I probably won’t be back.” Richard Sherman, who leads the league in total interceptions since entering the league, is turning thirty soon and coming off tearing his achilles, an injury that slows almost everybody down. These four players have been critical to the success of not only the defense but the whole team.

On the offensive side, it’s just as bad. Jimmy Graham, who scored ten touchdowns this past season, was reported by the Seattle 11th Grad e : D’Im u ni qu e S haw

Times as “really unlikely” to return to the Seahawks. The offensive line was horrible all season and unless they strike gold in the draft, the same problems will persist next year. A new offensive coordinator is being brought in to run the offense and uncertainty is always bad. Although Doug Baldwin is great, he isn’t elite, so the Hawks will have no elite receivers or running backs, a horrible offensive line, new offensive and defensive coordinators, and an injury riddled defense that isn’t getting any younger.

Although there were bright spots here and there, the 2017 season overall was horrible per Hawk’s fans expectations, and 2018 will be much worse. As fans, we’ve been spoiled.

If you’ve been a fan since Russell Wilson was drafted, you’ve witnessed the greatest run of success in franchise history. You’re used to celebrating wins almost every Sunday. But with the Los Angeles Rams asserting their dominance in the league, and the San Francisco 49ers on their way up with newly found superstar quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 12th man will have to get used to the 7-9, 8-8., and 9-7 finishes that were so common before Pete Carroll took over.

12th Grade: Maya Bui

Staff: Ms. Perez

Week 4

Patriots

Eagles

Patriots

Eagles

Eagles

EPL: Manchester United vs Tottenham

Tottenham

Man U

Man U

Tottenham

Man U

WCBB: West Virginia vs Baylor

Baylor

Baylor

WV

Baylor

WV

MCBB: Duke vs Virginia

Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

NHL: Ducks vs Bruins

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

NFL: Patriots vs Eagles

After a very dramatic Mess Guess Week 3, the seniors and staff have taken a commanding lead over the younger Garfield students. With disappointing one-win weeks in their pasts, the freshman and sophomores are hoping for a much better Week 4.

Meanwhile, the juniors are hoping to escape from mediocrity, although this may be difficult given that everyone chose Duke and the Ducks to win, most likely because their names sounded the coolest.

Tally: 9th: 5-5 10th: 4-6 11th: 5-5 12th: 7-3 Staff: 7-3 The Garfield Messenger 01/26/2018

19

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Life advice with Delphi Dear Delphi.,

I am a freshman. Please help.

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Dear Freshman,

I am SO sorry that your demographic is so targeted. I could not imagine the situtation you’re in. I don’t even know how to awnser :(

Love, Delphi

Thanks for ONE BILLION followers!!

Dear Delphi,

I am continuously seeing my ex in the hallway and I don’t know how to handle it! Tell me what do do!!!!

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Dear Distressed Ex

Listen up good! Get your biggest friends and jump them in the hallway.

Steal all of their supreme.

Love, Delphi

E TO MY B

Dear Delphi,

I love eating goldfish in milk, like cereal. I want to convince my friends to try it but they wont! How do I get them to have a more open mind about this?

-Goldfish Lover

Hel

lo lo We lco yal m Wh Foll eth e to m tog e owe eth r you y life er, i m t rs!! h p in or you k you rovem nee know h av ent b e y dm No our log! y b you Vir s l og uck life gos , yo pl e . u ase .

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, Del

phi

Dear Goldfish, Stop that.

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