Winged Post Volume 19 Issue 5

WINGED POST TUESDAY MARCH 6, 2018 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 19, NO. 5

Florida students channel grief into activism in wake of deadly shooting

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Never Again MSD 8-9 Harker Development 12 CCS Playoffs 15

Community mourns 17 dead, pushes for national gun legislation

Spanish National Honor Society to host annual cultural night

LIFE ISSUES Sophomores Jeffrey Yang, Sejal Krishnan, Allie Lee, Anna Miner, and Rani Sheth point back as a part of their dance audition.

The Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS) will host its annual Noche Cultural on Friday, March 9, at 6 p.m.

“The event is another way to accomplish the SNHS mission which is to spread Spanish culture to the Harker campus,” SNHS president David Wen (12) said. “It’s a really fun place where you can hang out with your friends, eat some good, Spanish food, watch some performances and have a good time.”

The event is open to all students taking Spanish and is split up into three parts. First, students eat paella, a Spanish food made of rice and seafood.

They then watch cultural performances by fellow students and the occasional teacher; acts auditioned on Feb. 22 and Feb. 26 during long lunch to perform. The event wraps with a salsa contest.

New lunch station is open after Presidents’ Week Break zoe sanders reporter

The upper school’s newest lunch station, Coney Island, opened in the auxiliary gym on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

Located right beside Fresh Mex, the new lunch window serves mainly hot dogs and french fries.

“We needed to reduce the lines in the other stations and thought that grab and go would be perfect,” Chef Rachel Joslyn said.

The name “Coney Island” was created by the upper school’s Head Chef Steve Martin.

“It takes inspiration from Coney Island in New York, which is a theme park or carnival, so it’s carnival style food,” Joslyn said.

Harker hired chefs specifically for this new station, which opened the day that students and faculty returned from Presidents’ Week Break.

Daylight saving to start Sunday zoe sanders reporter

Daylight saving begins on the morning of March 11, when the clock will be pushed forward from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. and an hour is lost. Due to daylight saving, people experience work days that are filled with more sunlight in the spring and summer.

In a satirical essay in 1784, Benjamin Franklin conceived the idea for Parisians to wake up earlier in the summer to utilize the morning daylight.

By using sunlight in place of candles, Parisians would save 200 million dollars because of Franklin’s plan.

This year, daylight saving ends on Nov. 4, when the clock will be turned back an hour from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. and an hour is gained.

OPENING DAY Students embrace each other after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and teachers were killed.

sahana srinivasan, prameela kottapalli, kat zhang & vijay bharadwaj editor-in-chief, features editor, STEM editor & news editor

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) senior Emma González, 18, came to school on Feb. 14 thinking about a test she was going to take.

It was also Valentine’s Day, and as president of the Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club, she had organized what she called a “love table,” where students could write messages to one another on pink paper hearts. For her, it was just a sweet and goofy way to celebrate love.

Within the hour, a gunman opened fire on campus.

“Someone actually came up to me [on Feb. 26] and said, ‘Thank you for making that table because that was the last thing I gave to my friend before she died, and it was an opportunity to tell her that I loved her before she died,’” González said in an interview with the Winged Post.

González delivered a speech at a Fort Lauderdale gun safety rally two days after the shooting.

Her message, which garnered over 2 million views in one week, resonated with an entire generation: “I call BS.” She coordinated rallies, challenged policymakers and appeared on national television, and two words carried her through it all: “Never again.”

Continued on page 8.

School shooting in Parkland, Florida kills 17 anjay saklecha, sahana srinivasan & nerine uyanik copy editor, editor-in-chief & Humans of Harker asst. videographer

A gunman killed 17 people—14 students and three faculty—at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14.

The 19-year-old gunman, a former student who was expelled for disciplinary reasons, set off a fire alarm to draw students and teachers out of their classrooms just before the end of the school day. He opened fire in the freshman building of the school, killing 17 and injuring more than a dozen. He was armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.

Melissa Falkowski, 35, who teaches English 3 and Creative Writing and advises the newspaper, hid 19 students in the closet of her journalism room during the shooting.

“We were [all] standing in the closet–so you gotta try to keep it light, because it’s hot, and there’s a lot of kids in there,” Falkowski said.

The gunman confessed to the shooting and was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and denied bond.

Last year, the FBI was contacted about a YouTube comment posted by a user with the same name as the gunman that read “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

The FBI released a statement on Feb. 15 confirming that they investigated the comment but could not verify any action-

able information.

“No other information was included in the comment which would indicate a particular time, location, or the true identity of the person who posted the comment,” the statement read.

“We’re the ones that have been the most outspoken because we feel like it’s our responsiblity. There are other people that are not ready, and there are other people that have no voice and we’ve been their voice” MELISSA FALKOWSKI MSD JOURNALISM ADVISER

The shooting at MSD is the deadliest school shooting since 2012, when 20 first-graders and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and among the deadliest in modern U.S. history. And, less than 50 days into 2018, it’s already far from the first school shooting this year.

The shooting has reignited the gun control debate in full force, with many legislators pushing for a ban on bump stocks, gun addendums that increase their firing rates.

DELANEY TARR-EAGLE EYE

reporter

SRINATH SOMASUNDARAM

srinath somasundaram

MSD staff, faculty return to classrooms and begin recovery after tragedy vijay bharadwaj, prameela kottapalli, kat zhang, anjay saklecha & sahana srinivasan news editor, features editor, STEM editor, copy editor & editor-in-chief

MSD held an optional reunification event for faculty, students and parents on Feb. 25, intended for community members to provide comfort and be comforted as the school reopened.

“It was basically a three hour long open house, but like a lot more emotional, where everyone needs a hug,” said Melissa Falkowski, 35, who teaches English 3 and Creative Writing at MSD and advises their print newspaper. “So, it went well, but you could tell the kids, the parents - they’re still sort of hesitant.’”

Faculty then returned to campus on Feb. 26 to 27 to discuss how best to help their students and community.

“We’re sort of in this really unknown situation, like where do we go now?” Falkowski said. “I was supposed to give a quiz on February 15th––what

are we doing about that? One of the students sent me a text message yesterday asking me when our children’s book was due for our creative writing class. I’m like ‘Never?’ I don’t know. Everyone’s calling it a new normal, and we’re still figuring out what’s next.”

Half-day classes resumed on Feb. 28, and students were greeted by banners, teddy bears, flowers, candles and cards sent in solidarity from around the nation.

On the weekend of Feb. 24, the MSD varsity ice hockey team took home a title at the Florida Hockey State Championship. The players dedicated their win to the victims of the shooting.

“Before the game, we all knew what we were there for,” said the team’s assistant captain Tyler Avron, a senior at MSD. “We had the opportunity to not go in case some of us were feeling not well with the situation, but we chose to go and represent our school. That was motivation–that we were fighting for more than ourselves.”

Upper school supports MSD through banner, donations anjay saklecha, sahana srinivasan, kat zhang prameela kottapalli & vijay bharadwaj copy editor & editor-in-chief, STEM editor, features editor & news editor

The upper school community is organizing a fundraiser, assembly and banner in support of MSD and its students.

Esha Deokar (11) proposed hosting a series of school events in support of MSD as Student Council began discussing a walkout, which will be an optional assembly, and a gun debate town hall.

On March 14, the upper school will hold an optional assembly for 17 minutes, one minute for each victim, when students can walk out during a break in advisee review meetings in solidarity with the students at MSD and in parallel with schools nationwide.

“With the fundraiser, [Student Council, the administration and Esha] really wanted to

make an effort to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting and support the school through everything,” junior class treasurer Shania Wang said. “We have three main purposes [for the walkout]— gun control, solidarity and supporting the victims.”

Students can send laminated, non-political banners, preferably not mentioning victims’ names or the date of the shooting, teddy bears, candles and flowers to voice their support and honor victims.

Individuals can contribute to a GoFundMe or to the school as a whole via a MSD Strong website.

“I’m just really thankful for the people who have donated to the journalism goFundMe, the victims’ fund and the march. [It’s] been so supportive, sending messages and all,” Falkowski said. “It’s an amazing feeling to know that you’re not alone.”

Additional reporting by Winged Post staff.

2 WINGED POST

NEWS

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

KATHY FANG

Choral groups perform in RPAC’s inaugural show

COURTESY OF HARKER JCL

Latin students immerse themselves in Latin culture at Regional Certamen

CARPE DIEM Members of Harker’s JCL delegation cheer during the State Convention’s opening ceremonies. Students went to the California Regional Certamen Rounds on Saturday March 3.

sara yen

KATHY FANG

ANVI BANGA

reporter

TRUE COLORS (LEFT) Seniors Anika Banga, Sameep Mangat and Markus Wong and and sophomore Kenya Aridomi dance to “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” (TOP RIGHT) Sumati Wadhwa (12) announces the upcoming performances before performing in Cantilena. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Bel Canto performs “Cantante Domino” by Hans Leo Hassler as part of the opening. The concert was the first to take place in the Patil theater.

anvi banga copy editor

Upper school vocal groups performed at their first showcase in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center on Feb. 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The United Voices concert featured upper school vocal groups Bel Canto, Camerata, Cantilena and Downbeat, middle school groups Dynamics, Vivace and Harmonics and the lower school’s Bucknall Choir.

“We had a rehearsal [in Patil Theater] and we could each hear our individual voices as well as our voices in unison and it was a really cool experience,”

Cantilena performer Aarzu Gupta (10) said.

The show started out with the lower school Concert Choir followed by Dynamics, Harmonics, Vivace, Harmonics and Vivace together, Bel Canto, Camerata, Cantilena, Downbeat, middle school Concert Choir and the songs by all of the performers.

“I loved the acoustics,” Downbeat performer Rahul Bhethanabotla (12) said. “Everything sounds really nice and there isn’t this heavy echoing feeling when you sing.”

After the finale song, Stand Together by Jim Papoulis, the house lights were turned on for

a 4-part rendition of the Harker School song sung by performers and audience members. “[The other choral directors] said ‘We need somehow to incorporate the school song into our concert because we never sing it,’” vocal music teacher Susan Nace said. “They said we needed a really good arrangement of it, so I stepped up and said I’d do it.”

Because this show was the first in the new Rothschild Performing Arts Center, performers had limited time to prepare in the new space.

“We [needed] to see how the space adjust[ed] to our sound, as well as our place-

ment, and how we’re singing,” Nace said. “Every time you’re in a different space, it takes time to get used to it and hear how the room responds to you and how you respond to the room.

It becomes sort of like an undercurrent conversation.”

For the first time, the soldout show had reserved seating so audience members could choose their seats when buying their tickets. The ticket prices varied depending on the seat, ranging from 15 dollars in the back to 25 dollars in the front.

The next upper school vocal show is the annual spring concert on May 3.

The History club will be creating a digital finding aid, a document(in this case a google document) containing detailed information on a specific set of records, for items contained within four trunks. The trunks belonged to a pair of brothers who fought for the USA during World War 2.

The club will also be attempting to find the closest living relatives of the brothers, so as to return the burial flags and assorted medals in the trunks.

Through this project, club members will learn about the job of archivists, as well as the applications or archival studies.

“I think it’s interesting, because usually people don’t usually get to do this until they get to college.” said history club member Eva Chang (10). “For me personally, I really like looking at items that have a story behind them that you might not see when you first look at them.

And it’s especially relevant to me because we’re learning about World War 2 [in history class] and that is the time where the trunks are from, so I think [the project will] help us understand better and add on to what we learned in class.”

History club advisor Roxana Pianko, brought the trunks

to Harker. Pianko obtained the trunks from a friend in Romania, her home country, who, roughly a decade ago, bought the four trunks at an auction. “[My friend] knows that I like history. For the past two or three years, anytime that I saw her, we would just end up talking about this collection,” Pianko said. “Last year I mentioned the history club, and she said ‘oh, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could make some sense of these four trunks,’ and I said ‘Actually, that would be really awesome.’ I have a degree in archival studies, and I haven’t had the chance to do something like this for years, so it’s really exciting.”

“I have a degree in archival studies, and I haven’t had the chance to do something like this for years, so it’s really exciting.”

ROXANA PIANKO HISTORY CLUB ADVISOR

The history club will visit the Harker archives to learn about finding aids and to see an example. The students will then

Winning keys: anna vazhaeparambil reporter

Over 60 upper school students received recognition in the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, announced on Jan. 30, for their submissions of literary and visual art.

According to Scholastic, regional competitions judge students’ work for three criteria: originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Submissions can win a Gold Key, a Silver Key, an Honorable Mention or an American Visions & Voices Nomination. Gold Key works are then judged at a national level by a panel of experts in the industry and can win a National Medal.

Emily Chen (12), who received three Gold Keys, two Silver Keys and three Honorable

OLD IS GOLD (TOP) History club advisor Roxana Pianko helps history club co-president Aryana Far (11) archive supplies from the trunk of World War II era supplies. (RIGHT) Aryana considers different documents and photos in front of her and how to archive them. Pianko brought the trunks to Harker after obtaining them from a friend in Romania, who bough the four capsules at an auction.

break up into groups and each group will be responsible for a specific component of three of the trunks, while Pianko is leaving the fourth one as a surprise for when the club is done.

“It’s an opportunity than not many high school students get,” history club co-president Aryana Far (11) said. “There are purple hearts, burial flags and really amazing photographs in the trunks, and the fact that we have access to this incredible set

ICE agents arrest California immigrants vijay bharadwaj

JESSIE WANG

reporter

of old artifacts is mindblowing to me. We’re going to learn a lot about history that may not be in the textbooks. It’s going to be really fun, and I’m very humbled to be able to experience this.”

The project is expected to carry on into the 2018-19 school year, and, since no members of the club will be graduating this year, all members will be able to see this project through to completion.

Students garner medals in regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

Mentions for her writing, states that competitions like Scholastic are not only a great way for student creators to grow.

“It’s important for writers and artists to be recognized for the hard work and effort that they put into creating really unique and original pieces,” Emily said. “I think that, just like anybody else, I’m really grateful that people enjoyed my writing and it encourages me to keep writing in the future.”

Junior Raymond Banke won two Gold Keys, one Silver Key and four Honorable Mentions for his artwork. He describes the Scholastic competition as a good gauge on one’s overall art skills at a more competitive level.

“For me, it’s confirmation that you definitely have potential in these areas because it’s

nice to have a third party tell you how you’re doing compared to other people,” he said.

Winners at the national level will be announced on March 13 and recognized at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Want to see the full list of winners?

Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

news editor

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested over 150 individuals in Northern California.

Oakland mayor Libby Schaff issued a warning on Saturday that ICE agents would be making rounds in California. She received backlash from the ICE agency following these warnings.

California became a sanctuary state in the new year following a bill that was signed

by Jerry Brown. The bill barred police from asking people about their immigration status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities.

ICE also pointed criticism towards San Francisco and Oakland for shielding criminals as well.

Brass band Lucky Chops performs for upper school irina malyugina reporter

PROVIDED BY RAYMOND BANKE

jessie wang

JESSIE WANG

History club archives World War II era supplies

Upper school and middle school Latin students attended the California Regional Certamen Rounds (Carcer) on Saturday, March 3. Carcer is the qualifier competition for the teams that will compete in the semi-final and final rounds of competitive certamen at the State convention, a two-day event where members of the California Junior Classical League (CAJCL) convene to compete in academics, arts and sports.

Certamen, meaning “competition” in Latin, is a quizbowl-style game with toss-up questions centered on the language, culture and history of classical civilizations. The CAJCL is comprised of chapters, schools and other organizations with at least five eligible members and a sponsor. People who either have taken or are currently taking a classical language can become members.

This year, Carcer was held at Acalanes Adult Education Center in Walnut Creek. Harker sent level one and level two certamen teams from the middle school and an advanced level team from the upper school.

“Certamen is perennially popular and I think that on one level, students like using the buzzer. On another level though, certamen is really great and fun because it’s got a little something for everybody,” Latin teacher Scott Paterson said. “So it appeals to a wide variety of Latin students: those who are really into the language, those who are into the culture, something for everybody.”

The upcoming State convention will be at The Menlo School on April 13 to 14.

MOUNTAINS OF ART Raymond Banke (11) submitted his artwork, titled Himalayas, to the Scholastic regional Art and Writing contest. Raymond won two gold keys, one silver key, and one honorable mention.

Brass band Lucky Chops performed a series of covers and original songs for the upper school on Feb. 26.

Based in New York, Lucky Chops gained popularity after fans began posting videos of their performances online.

Lucky Chops was introduced by instrumental music teacher Chris Florio, who found the band through YouTube.

When the upper school orchestra went to New York’s Carnegie Hall last spring, Florio surprised the students with a performance

by Lucky Chops.

NEWS

WINGED POST 3

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

Changing the landscape Landscaping in front of Rotschild Performing Arts Center inspired by Santa Clara Valley orchard vivian jin

VIVIAN JIN

reporter

FAST FACTS • The area contains 45 varieties of Bing cherry, plum, apricot trees.

KATHY FANG

• Self-reproducing, yellow-flowered native Californian wild mustard grows between the trees.

• Drip irrigation technology conserves water.

ROSE GUAN

• Fruit is predicted to appear by beginning of 2018-19 school year.

GREEN THUMB (TOP) Flowers bloom on trees lining a gravel walkway in the new landscaping in front of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center.

(MIDDLE) A gardener weeds plants outside RPAC.The upper school’s full-time gardeners, Urdelin Justo and Jose Hernandez, are responsible for maintaining the new environment and pruning the trees every winter. (BOTTOM) A gardener takes a look at the soil after raking it.

ture. Here’s not what we’ve done in the past year, but here’s what we can do,’” Nathan Ohana (9), who watched the address for his speech and debate class, said. “A lot of President Trump’s State of the Union was priding himself on all the things he had done this year and there were less parts about what we’re going to do and more parts about what we have done.”

The speech was watched by 45.6 million people, the 6th highest State of the Union viewership in history since Nielsen began collecting data in 1993.

Trump remarked during a speech five days later in Cincinnati, Ohio that Democrats who did not applaud him could have committed treason.

“I think the most unusual thing was a remark he made after the State of the Union, where he tried to say that Democrats who weren’t applauding him were possibly guilty of treason,” Stanford political scientist and economist Jonathan Bendor said. “Once you say something like that, anything you said during the address fades in importance.”

Representative Joe Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, delivered the Democratic response to the State of the Union.

He referenced recipients of the

S ON MM CO DIA

FAST FACTS •45.6 million people watched the State of the Union • State of the union delivered on Jan. 30.

• 6th highest state of the union viewership since 1993, when data collection started • Bipartisan bill passed in congress setting spending limit • Bill suspends debt ceiling until March 1.

KAITLIN HSU

“A lot of Obama’s speeches

Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 on Feb. 9 following a short government shutdown. This legislation sets the spending limit for domestic and defense agencies for the next two fiscal years and includes a continuing resolution that funds the government until March 23.

The budget also includes $90 billion in aid for natural disaster relief and several tax provisions, while also suspending the debt ceiling until March 1, 2019.

“Until a few years ago, bills to raise the debt ceiling were almost automatic. Then, Republicans in Congress started to play ‘chicken’. The threat was to not raise the debt ceiling unless Obama made certain policy concessions elsewhere. And, of course, if the US government could not honor its debt, then that could have really big impact on its ability to borrow or more precisely what price it would have to pay lenders to be able to borrow,” Bendor said. “We are by no means through this. We are gonna return to this in about a year, and we are going to keep returning to this.”

President Trump also submitted his request for appropriations for the 2019 fiscal year recently, although most presidential budget proposals are seen more as political documents than realistic proposals.

“A president can send a policy proposal over to Congress but it could be dead on arrival,” Bendor said. “If they ignore the president’s budget — and I think the forecast of most political observers is that they’re mostly going to ignore it — then it doesn’t matter all that much. What matters are the preferences of the two parties on Capitol Hill.”

IME

SAHANA SRINIVASAN

Budget

Part sixaditya of a singhvi seven part series American wereon more ‘Let’s lookpolitics to the fuPresident Trump addressed the nation in the annual State of the Union speech on Jan. 30, outlining his goals and vision for the coming year.

The president’s speech touted his accomplishments, such as economic growth and historically low unemployment rates, along with tax cuts and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The US economy grew 2.3 percent last year while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent as of November 2017, the lowest figure since 2001 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It was interesting that President Trump would say something that both sides would agree with and immediately follow it with something partisan and so what happened was what those who disagreed with those partisan politics were either forced to be clapping and caught clapping because of what happened prior or weren’t clapping and were criticized,” AP Government teacher Carol Green said.

President Trump also outlined his legislative goals for 2018, which include increasing infrastructure spending, restricting immigration and revitalizing the military.

“We want the experience to be like it was a working orchard in the first half of the 20th century,” Bassoni said. “You get to watch how a working orchard develops, how the fruit develops, and the trees will be raised entirely organically. We’re not going to use any pesticides or harmful chemicals.”

The upper school’s full-time gardeners, Urdelin Justo and Jose Hernandez, are responsible for maintaining the new environment and pruning the trees every winter.

Many of the plants were chosen specifically for being resistant to drought. California has been declared out of the worst of the drought since April 7, 2017 but is still recovering. According

DACA program, even speaking in Spanish for a duration of the speech.

What You Missed

State of the Union

MIKE BASSONI FACILITY DIRECTOR

Trump delivers first state of the union address

Capitol Hill:

reporter

•Landscaping honors Santa Clara Valley agricultural history

“We want the experience to be like it was an orchard in the first half of the 20th century. You get to watch a working orchard develop.”

WIK

One year in

•Drought-resistant ornamental plants grow along gravel paths.

Fruit trees. Wild mustard.

Ornamental shrubs. Wandering paths. The vast landscaped area of the newly created region between the Rothschild Performing Arts Center and Main is now home to 45 varieties of Bing cherry, apricot and plum trees, complete with a drip irrigation system, gravel walkways and drought-resistant plants.

According to Facility Director Mike Bassoni, Harker hired the HMH Civil Engineering company to design the layout of the landscaping to recreate an orchard as it might have been during Santa Clara Valley’s period of cultivating fruit.

to the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC), none of the major reservoirs in California are 100% full, but around half of them have higher or equal water levels as their historical averages.

The wild mustard is historically significant and prevalent in the Santa Clara Valley, its yellow flowers lining the hills along the freeways. Additionally, the mustard propagates on its own.

To save water, the area’s drip irrigation system disperses water in a more measurable and controlled way than the traditional spray system that causes water to be lost through evaporation.

The trees and mustard are expected to bloom this March, limited numbers of fruit will appear at the beginning of the next school year and there will be plenty of fruit by spring 2020.

“Fruit trees get to about 20 feet high, which is usually the maximum,” Bassoni said. “We’re going to encourage students to simply walk off the path and pick some apricots, and enjoy them.”

Students have expressed curiosity and enthusiasm at the fruit orchard.

“I’ve never had any successful fruit trees,” Meha Goyal (9) said. “I think it’ll be really cool to see how these trees will grow [and] how everything will be. It’ll be really pretty because there will be flowers and fruit and it’ll feel just like spring.”

The orchard is intended to be an area of learning, history, and fun for students.

“I believe that Harker students get a spectacular education,” Bassoni said. “But in the Bay Area of your recollection, the focus has been on technology. [Before], this valley was one of the largest fruit producers in the world. Santa Clara Valley had a very prominent evolution in the growth of this country, and now you’ll get to experience that.”

GLOBAL

WINGED POST 4

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

Fasting traditions offer religious insight

FAST FACTS

Community members reveal stories behind fasting

• Sabudana khichdi is an Indian dish made from spicy tapioca. It is the dish of choice for many during a fast.

eric fang global editor

• Fasting is a time to for self-reflection and pentinence in many religions.

French President Emmanuel Macron approved a bill that would decrease the consideration period for an asylum seeker from a year to six months and allows illegal migrant detainment for up to 90 days.

Venezuela launches new cryptocurrency, “petro” Venezuela launched its cryptocurrency, the “petro,” backed by the country’s oil reserves, which Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro hopes will help his country fight economic sanctions.

Access to holy church barred to protest Israeli policies Christian leaders decided to close the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, in protest against Israeli authorities who have passed city taxes and proposed a bill to reduce church land.

Rare Rome snowfall closes schools and public transport In response to rare snowfall last Monday, the Italian civil protection agency called upon the army to help clear out rare snowfall in the streets.

GOTTA GO FAST A lunch prep for a vegetarian meal consists of stir fry carrots, bamboo shoots, tofu, cucumbers, and boiled edamame. Some Buddhists choose to eat only vegetarian foods on the first and 15th days of the Chinese lunar calendar.

gloria zhang asst. features editor

Religious fasting is the abstinence of certain foods or drinks during a specific time period. It deviates from the common fasts for health reasons. Major religions such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism all have unique traditions and purposes behind their fasting.

In Islam, Ramadan is a month of the Islamic calendar, where Muslims observe a monthlong sunrise to sundown fasting period to commemorate the time when the prophet Mohammed received the first revelations. In Christianity, a period of fasting for Catholics occurs during Lent, where some people refrain from meat consumption on Fridays. In Chinese Buddhism, some Buddhists choose to abstain from non-vegetarian foods for the first and the 15th day of each month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement in which Jews apologize for past mistakes by fasting. Jenna Sander’s (12) Yom Kippur traditions are to fast for around 24 hours, from sundown to sundown. Prior to fasting, she eats a large dinner and attends night temple services. Afterwards, she likes to eat bagels or kugels, a baked casserole com-

monly made from egg noodles or potato, to complete her fasts. In the 21st century however, some people approach fasting and cultural traditions differently.

GLORIA ZHANG

France approves immigration bill

In Hinduism, there are different fasts for each god occuring on different auspicious days based on the Hindu lunar calendar. Some fasts require not con-

“[Fasting] calms me down, and restricting my diet really feels like a cleanse not just for my body. but also my mind. I find it strengthens my discipline and willpower, which is something everybody needs.”

VINITA KHANNA HARKER PARENT “One example is that people to choose to drink water or not during the fast. I personally try not to drink water unless I feel like I’m fainting,” Jenna said.

“Nowadays there a lot of different types of Jews. Some just celebrate Hanukkah and identify as Jewish, but they do not go to temple or practices, and there’s people going to temple every saturday, keep kosher, and abide by every Jewish laws. Today it’s a lot different in different people practicing in different ways.”

“It is important to note that [religious fasting] is not a revolutionary thing that other people can’t think about. I think Yom Kippur is another point to reflect on what you did wrong,” she said.

suming food or water for an entire day until a night ceremony, while others involve abstinence of non-vegetarian foods for certain days of the week. Harker parent Vinita Khanna honors the god Shiva by fasting during Mondays in July and August. “[Fasting] calms me down, and restricting my diet really feels like a cleanse not just for my body, but also my mind,” she said. “I find it strengthens my discipline and willpower, which is something everybody needs.”

Khanna, unable to eat grains during her fast, prepares meals involving dairy products, fruits, nuts and a special flour made from fruits. Sabudana Khichdi, also known as Spicy Tapioca, is a dish that she eats.

• Those that are unable to eat grains during their fast substitute with dairy products, fruits, nuts and a special flour made

“My parents used to follow these traditions rather strictly, but life for me has gotten so busy that sometimes I only offer prayers and skip the fasting part.” she said. “People have started to stop believing in these traditions more and more, which is why it is uncommon now.”

Similar to Khanna, Prerana Acharyya (10) agrees that few Hindus are fasting now. Nevertheless, she believes that by following tradition, she can attain moksha or salvation, along with happiness and contentment.

“There are roughly 3.3 million Hindu gods, and a lot of people are unaware of this.

Fasting traditions are specifically tailored to what you are trying to achieve and hence, what god you are praying to,” she said. “[For us], nothing has changed over time because altering the traditions would weaken their potency.”

One similar factor arises between each religion. Fasting is a method of devotion.

“People think that following these traditions makes me orthodox and uneducated in a way.

I wish people actually understood the real meaning to some of these rituals and weren’t just following them blindly. There is a lot to unpack in each of them,” Khanna said.

Poland passes controversial bill criminalizing language that implies complicity in the Holocaust jin tuan

WIKIMEDIA CoMMONS

reporter

A BREATH OF RELIEF Apollo Hospitals, a large chain of private hospitals operating in India, belives the new healthcare system will be the largest change in decades. The Indian government recently annouced their plan to expand healthcare coverage to 500 million more Indians.

India announces plan to expand healthcare system eric fang global editor

India announced their plans to institute a new healthcare system that would give reportedly give 500 million Indians free healthcare early February. This major change comes before a crucial general election next year and would relieve millions of Indians of some financial burden.

Payment for the new system comes out of the country’s 2018-2019 budget and is a major change to the meager 1.3 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) spent on healthcare the previous year.

Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley explained the change is expected to improve the living conditions of the country’s rural and agricultural communities as the healthcare plan provides many previously uninsured families several thousand dollars per year to spend on medical related expenditures in a statement. He additionally confirmed that the government would levy a surtax

and would possibly tax capital gains as well to raise money for their plans to build $188 million worth of new “health and wellness” centers.

Dr. Prathap Reddy, the chairman and founder of Apollo hospitals, a large chain of private hospitals operating in India, believes the healthcare change will be a large and possibly difficult to manage transformation.

“This is the largest change in government run healthcare I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Reddy said. “The number of covered people will essentially double meaning the government will have to spend more money on healthcare than ever before.”

More details for the new healthcare system will be laid out in the Indian parliament sometime in the next few days.

Samuel Lepler, an upper school economics teacher, believes the quality of care is contingent on how much of the annual budget the government decides to apportion to funding it. Because of the large scale of

coverage expansion, costs will be extremely high and may be difficult for the government to pay while still maintaining the same standards of care.

“It all really depends on the amount of funding they are able to put in,” Lepler said. “If you cover 500 million more people with free healthcare, it is going to cost a lot, so the quality of care really depends on how much money the government is willing to spend on healthcare compared to last year.”

If implemented however, Lepler said that free healthcare could potentially make a large impact in Indian lives. “[Their lives] can be tremendously different,” Lepler said. “If you are uninsured in America for example, and you get a heart attack, you will probably get a medical bill of a hundred to two hundred thousand dollars for a week or two in the hospital. That would make you bankrupt and would essentially ruin your life. Having health insurance prevents that from happening.”

Poland passed a controversial bill early February criminalizing language that hints toward the nation’s complicity in the Holocaust.

Poland’s upper house approved the bill on Feb. 1, less than a week after the lower chamber approved of the bill on Jan. 26. President Andrzej Duda signed the bill into law on Feb. 6.

Polish land,” said Polish citizen Anna Kulesza. “But from the other side, it’s not the best idea because someone who is just starting to learn history might think that since the concentration camp is on Polish land, then it is a Polish concentration camp.”

The new law has garnered the attention of and protests from multiple governments, Holocaust survivors and scholars. Israel specifically protested multiple times on the grounds

“We are trying to protect our history, to not let anyone forget that it wasn’t Polish concentration camps; it was German concentration camps but on Polish land. ” ANNA KULESZA POLISH CITIZEN The right-leaning Law and Justice party (PiS) of Poland first proposed this bill. Seen by some as a move to defend Poland’s reputation from historical inaccuracies, the law allows anyone who claims that Poland as a country was complicit in the Holocaust or using phrases such as “Polish death camp” and “Polish concentration camp” to be punished with a fine or up to three years in prison. However, the text of the law also states that the claim is not punishable if stated through artistic or academic discourse.

“There are advantages and disadvantages. We are trying to protect our history, to not let anyone forget that it wasn’t Polish concentration camps, it was German concentration camps but on

that discussion of the Holocaust would be shut down, and crimes against Jews by Poles would be erased.

“Historians of Poland, from both inside and outside the country, have conducted widely respected research on all aspects of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland that is helping us better understand what made the Holocaust possible,” said United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield in a statement released in January. “In order for Poland to continue to be a leader in Holocaust scholarship the government should allow open-ended debate and research and the healthy discussions it generates.”

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VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

Iván Ceja, co-founder of social media activism group Undocumedia, helped popularize the hashtag advocating for protection of childhood arrivals under the DACA act.

OF THE PEOPLE Molly Williams, 22, sketches “thought bubbles” alongside her drawings of powerful female figures on her Instagram account, @feministthoughtbubbles. Her unique portraits, however, are not simply for admiring; they broadcast crucial messages to all her followers regarding feminist and social justice movements while urging many to voice their opinions.

While her work is a “cathartic way of releasing her frustrations,” her account, along with many other activist profiles, unite thousands of women with stories to be heard.

18--year-old Emma Gonzales, a survivor of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting, co-founded the “Never Again” movement for gun control.

In 2010, activist Tarana Burke created the “Me Too” campaign to support survivors of sexual violence, and the movement emerged as a hashtag in 2017.

In 2014, activist Alicia Garza co-founded the global Black Lives Matter movement to fight against systemic racism.

13-yearold Tokata Iron Eyes, a Lakota Sioux tribe youthleader, spread word about 2016’s Dakota Access Pipeline protests through the internet.

IMAGES FROM TWITTER

GRAPHIC BY ROSE GUAN AND PRAMEELA KOTTAPALLI

Activists spark change through social media movements mahika halepete & farah hosseini lifestyle editor & reporter

Social media activism, from the #BlackLivesMatter movement to the #MeToo movement, has become exponentially impactful due to recent events.

“A hashtag is not helping.

Hashtags are very pretty on Twitter. I love them. I will hashtag myself into next week,” activist and television producer Shonda Rhimes said during a speech at Dartmouth College in 2014. “But a hashtag is not a movement. A hashtag does not make you Dr. King. A hashtag does not change anything.”

But Monterey high school junior Simone Brown believes differently.

“The best thing I think I can do is educate people and empower people,” Brown said. “My goal is just to spread these ideas to as many people as I can.”

The internet often provides an opportunity for anonymous cyberbullies, and this can extend impactfully to social media activists. The best approach, according to Brown? “Live and let go.”

“When I first started my account,” she says, “I tried to respond to every hate comment I got,” Brown said. “What I found was that when someone comes to an account, and they really try and attack you, they’re not trying to have their minds changed.

They have their opinion, which is, for them, set in stone. I don’t want to spend my time working with bullies and trolls; I’d rath-

er spend my time educating and empowering people.”

16-year-old Emma Tang views social media as a tool that can be used to redefine feminism and share impactful posts with her nearly twenty thousand followers.

Those who run the accounts understand and have seen firsthand the impact social media activism can have. “I think [social media] has a huge potential to change the minds of the youth because that’s where a lot of teenagers and kids get their ideas and get their impressions,” Brown said.

Tang has seen this firsthand: “I’ve gotten messages from followers saying that I’ve changed how they see feminism or how they see the world. To me, that

really inspires me to continue.”

Tang was inspired by a desire to redefine feminism. “I used to follow a lot of accounts, and a lot of them weren’t what I thought feminism was,” Tang said. “I figured I would make my own account.”

But the online medium and the fast-paced nature of social media do have their shortcomings.

“When I post, sometimes a lot of people don’t read the captions and there are a lot of misunderstandings or I can’t make the captions short enough because a lot of people don’t want to read several paragraphs, so I have to get my point across in one or two sentences,” Tang says.

With the advent of fear surrounding “fake news”, activism

accounts are keeping tabs on their sources.

“Usually, when it comes to news, I put it through Google and check on my sources. I have posted things I’ve gotten outrage to. I have put out false information before, and usually I’ll get a DM that tells me that this is false, and I’ll take it down and put an apology on my [Instagram] story,” Tang said.

Running an account provides an opportunity both for followers and the manager of the account to grow as activists.

“The more people I get to connect with, the more my knowledge expands on these issues. I want to keep educating myself, because there’s always space to learn more.”

Physics teacher plays in tight-knit Ultimate Frisbee community

helen yang

aquila STEM editor

Aside from being a fulltime mom and physics teacher, Dr. Miriam Allersma is also an Ultimate Frisbee lover. Having participated in the sport for over fifteen years, she has had many exciting experiences as player, team captain and coach.

She first encountered Ultimate Frisbee in her senior year of college when the swimming season ended. She began searching for a new sport to participate in the spring, and after trying many different sports from lacrosse to rugby, she eventually found a passion for Ultimate Frisbee.

“When you play, you are in charge. When I started, it was very much run by the players for the players,” Dr. Allersma said.

“You make your own calls and decide what’s right and wrong, and you don’t have to appeal to some higher authority because

you’re kind of in charge. I think that’s sort of a better way to deal with things than saying, ‘Oh, the [referees] suck!’”

Unlike most other organized sports, Ultimate Frisbee allows players much more autonomy.

While the game has changed over the years, it originally included no referees, and instead, players abided by an honor code called the “spirit of the game.”

Another aspect of the Ultimate Frisbee that drew her in involved not just the game itself, but also the community of fellow Frisbee players.

“The people that are attracted to the game are generally super nerdy, people like me, who’re also super funny. It’s awesome,” she said.

Throughout her 15-year Ultimate Frisbee career, Dr. Allersma played with many different teams both competitively and recreationally.

At one point, she played as the only female member on the University of Michigan team, which consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the Midwest region. She later joined Clutch, a women’s team in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she played for ten years.

In 2000, she transferred her experience as a player and team captain to coaching, and formally became the coach for the Michigan Flywheels. Although she had played Ultimate for many years prior, coaching presented a new, fresh perspective to the game.

“When you’re a coach, you really don’t think about yourself.

All you’re thinking about is your team. How is the team working together?” Dr. Allersma said.

“When your team does well, you feel excited for the players, like ‘I knew they could do it, and I’m so proud of them.’”

After moving to California, she played for a few years with a co-ed team in local league before fully concentrating on becoming a teacher, although for several years Allersma and physics teacher Chris Spenner acted as advisors for a non-competitive informal Frisbee club at Harker.

“I learned a lot [playing] with Dr. Allersma, actually. I learned things that I was doing wrong, like my throwing technique,” Spenner said. “And it was fun, because we started teaching at Harker the same year, so we were already kind of part of the same cohort and were friends.

It was fun to co-host a club with her.”

Although she no longer actively plays, Ultimate Frisbee has left a lasting impact on her life. To this day, she still keeps in touch with many of her former teammates in Clutch.

PROVIDED BY MIRIAM ALLERSMA

YEARS OF PRACTICE Allersma demonstrates her frisbee skills. Allersma has played both competitively and recreationally.

HELEN YANG

In this installment of “Meet Your Teacher,” physics teacher Dr. Miriam Allersma discusses her love for the sport.

GAME ON Physics teacher Miriam Allersma poses for a picture after participating in the 2003 Ultimate Players Association Championships with the Ann Arbor club team. Allersma played frisbee for 15 years.

“Before I was a coach, I was a captain for a long time, so not a big difference. But when you’re just the coach, you don’t think about yourself. When your team does well, you feel excited for the players, like ‘I knew they could do it, I’m so proud of them.’ All you’re thinking about is your team–how is the team working together, what do we need to change? It’s a different exhaustion– you’re mentally tired as opposed to physically tired. But there’s also a different satisfaction.

DR. MIRIAM ALLERSMA

PHYSICS TEACHER AND FRISBEE AFICIONADO

6 WINGED POST

FEATURES

VOLUME 19• ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

STUDENT

SP TLIGHT

Students audition for 2018’s Hoscars show karina chen

KATHY FANG

HOSCARS HOPEFULS (TOP) Sophomores Kaidi Dai and Sara Lynn Sullivan exude energy at a rehearsal for the Korean pop, or K-pop, dance routine. The routine features female students from multiple grade levels. (ABOVE) Senior Gloria Guo practices the K-pop routine with the members of her dance group. (RIGHT) Junior Christopher (Chris) Gong demonstrates an illusionary magic trick involving cards. Chris also auditioned for the Hoscars talent show as part of a dance act. (BOTTOM) Junior Natasha Maniar practices a solo dance routine that she auditioned for HOSCARS. Natasha performed in the show her freshman year.

NICOLE CHEN

KARINA CHEN

KARINA CHEN

reporter

Humans of Harker

The curtains open, revealing a group of dancers posed in their beginning positions. The audience eagerly stares at the silhouettes of the dancers, while the bright lights being casted from above reflect against their excited expressions. An upbeat Kpop song starts playing in the background, and they begin dancing to the beat of the intense piano keys as they seamlessly flow through their movements.

The upper school will be hosting the annual talent show, Hoscars, on Mar. 23, featuring acts ranging from comedy to dancing. Unlike previous years, this year’s show will take place in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center’s Patil Theater. As a result, Hoscars will consist of two shows because of the limited capacity.

“It’s going to be underclassmen and upperclassmen so there will be a whole lot of logistical challenges,” student council secretary Katherine Zhang (11) said. “Each assemblies going to be an hour so that’s probably going to be the biggest change.

In preparation for the show, student council has invited students across all grades to audition through the week of Feb. 23. Out of the 50 students and faculty acts that auditioned, only 15 will be selected to perform in the show, and results will be announced on March 5.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the whole show coming together,” Katherine said. “I’m really excited for the underclassmen to see it, and the upperclassmen also are excited to come back again because they already know how much fun Hoscars can be.”

The goal of this cross-platform project is to profile all members of the senior class of 2018. To view all the senior features and the full versions of the ones below, visit Harker Aquila, the student news site of the upper school at harkeraquila.com.

reporter

Positioned near the tower of Davis Field with his camera, Matthew Sutton (12) stands out while filming at a football game. Decked out in neutral, yet multi-colored beaded necklaces, an army green flannel, and an Apple watch, he has the perfect combination of grunge and “street” style.

“I tend to wear this Apple watch, which either is never charged, or if it is charged, it doesn’t really work,” Matthew said, laughing. “It’s more of a statement of what I wear. You know, it fits with the whole look.”

The camera is not just an accessory: it’s an extension of him.

“I feel with filmmaking, it gives you the ability to create

your own world in a way and your own characters,” he said.

“Then you create a story for them to play out. I think that can provoke a lot of emotions for people, and just being able to tell that and influence emotions is interesting.”

Matthew perfects his movies with the desire to elicit certain reactions from the audience.

“I tend to go away from the whole controlled kind of route of like, okay, this is what we are doing and this is the time, stuff like that,” he said. “I like to tell more of a story while doing it, and that usually means creating a script that is kind of comedic or thought-provoking. Something that you watch and you afterwards, you get shivers down your spine.”

filmmaker * visionary * storyteller

FARAH HOSSEINI

MATTHEW SUTTON farah hosseini

reporter & Humans of Harker Managing Editor

“Star quality,” in the Cambridge English dictionary, is defined as a “special ability that makes someone seem very successful or better than other people.” It’s elusive, but it’s something that Liana Wang (12) unquestionably possesses. It’s apparent not just in her flawless pirouettes and perfectly executed high kicks, but in her energy onstage.

“For me, [being on stage] is like this whole other experience.

It’s kind of like you’re walking out into this new world and looking around. It’s really exciting,” Liana said. “It kind of takes

you on a journey into your imagination.”

But despite her ability to captivate others with her dance routines, Liana does not pander to her audiences.

“When a lot of people think of dance, they think a lot about the tricks, and all the fancy moves, and who can do the most turns and whatnot,” she said.

“And honestly, I don’t believe that’s what dance is. Dance for me is like a way of life — it’s a passion; it’s something that I cannot live without, and that’s why I’m always appalled when people dance because they want attention; they want to be center stage; they want acknowledgement. I think that dance is more self-fulfillment. It’s something that’s sacred for yourself.”

artist * individual * go-getter

MELISSA KWAN

LIANA WANG karina chen & melissa kwan

Gloria Guo (12) and Grace Koonmen (12), plan to do a Kpop dance routine hope with a group of friends. In preparation for their audition, they have been rehearsing every long lunch to ensure a spot in the show. Additionally, they hope to continue the tradition of dancing in Hoscars.

“Grace and I were in the hip hop act that was in the show two years ago for also Hoscars, so I think it’s exciting for the two us to coordinate our own one this time and to lead of bunch of people who want to do it and just to perform it onstage and have fun,” Gloria said. “We did it our sophomore year and we had so much fun, and last year we didn’t do it because of all the issues with the spacing. This year we really wanted to do it,” Grace said.

The group looks forward to being able to dance in the Patil Theater, and they believe that the new performing arts center will be one of the highlights of their experience.

“Honestly I think honestly the final performance is just gonna be really fun when we will be able to do the whole thing onstage together, especially since we’ll be in the new theater which will be so cool,” Gloria said.

Alex Chen (12), who is auditioning with a vocal cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You,” hopes utilize this opportunity to show his peers what he does outside of his schoolwork.

“I am planning on doing a vocal cover for Hoscars. I’m very, very excited for it,” Alex said. “I think that it’s just that it’s a really fun opportunity. You kind of get reveal aspects of yourself that maybe some people that haven’t been exposed to.”

“I really enjoy characters who are the bad guys, but the audience feels sympathy for them.

Like Loki–he’s the villain in Thor, but everybody loves him.

This villain in the movie isn’t necessarily bad because he’s been through things, and there are so many layers to [his] character.

MATTHEW SUTTON (12)

“I did a piece recently that was a combination of spoken-word poetry and dance, and it was primarily about stereotypes and grouping people into categories — and trying to break away from that. I don’t think you can say, ‘Oh, I am this, I am that,’ no, you don’t even really need to define yourself — you can just be as you are.”

LIANA WANG (12)

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VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

A POET? nina gee

ALL PHO TOS BY N

language being fungible, like double meaning, triple meaning, humor, pun,” Kearney said.

Kearney’s unique style of poetry consists of oral performance, visual complexity, and sociocultural commentary. He combines spitfire polyvocal narratives with tapestries of typography, all while tackling issues such as what it’s like to grow up as a young, black man in modern America.

“There was a divide between what people talked about as page versus stage,” Kearney said.

“What if you could turn the page into a stage? I think most poems do that; you’re telling your reader something about how the poem breathes and how it lives, but I wanted to make that more overt, more performative.’

Kearney’s full length poetry anthologies include Buck Studies, Fear, Some, The Black Automaton and Patter. As a graphic designer, he not only creates the content of his books but also designs the covers.

Oscar nominees hit highs and lows

Lady Bird

“Lady Bird” is a heartfelt coming-of-age story that perfectly captures the bittersweet transition from adolescence to dawning adulthood. Lady Bird McPherson, portrayed

by Saoirse Ronan, is a highschool senior who longs for adventure and opportunity.

The film follows the titular character as she progresses through her final year of high school through her first romance, her first participation in a school play, and her attempts at applying to college.

While the film is on the predictable side, as it’s a comingof-age tale, where teenagers make wrong decisions and make-up for it by the end of the movie, “Lady Bird” is still an interesting one, that takes a life of its own.

The Post

Legendary director Steven Spielberg depicts a historical dramatization detailing the governmental deception regarding the Vietnam war. Kay Graham, portrayed by Streep, a recent widow, who is thrusted into power as the first female owner of the Washington Post and her editor-in-chief, Ben Bradlee, played by Hanks, work brilliantly together capturing the zest for journalism as they race to expose the political cover up by four presidential administrations by publishing the classified Pentagon Papers. The film is a fast-paced drama that packs in a lot of information without allowing for boredom. It is a well-made film that validates the importance of protecting the Free Press right, by depicting how much we risk losing when journalistic freedom is threatened, a theme that is as relevant today as back then.

DOUGLAS KEARNEY POET AND EDUCATOR Now, as a published poet, as well as a husband and a father, Kearney teaches poetry at California Institute of the Arts, where he earned his MFA. In his teachings, Kearney emphasizes the need for young writers to enjoy the process of writing rather than the finished product.

“You’ve gotta love writing,” Kearney said. “You can’t just love finishing a poem or publishing a poem, you actually have to love writing, and if you love writing,

The 90th Academy Awards honored the best films, actors, actresses, directors and film songs of 2017 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 4.

MAHIKA HALEPETE

NINA GEE

NINA GEE

Winged Post’s Copy editor comments on Best Picture Nominees

“There was a divide between what people talked about as page versus stage. What if you could turn the page into a stage? I think most poems do that; you’re telling your reader something about how the poem breathes and how it lives, but I wanted to make that more overt, more performative.”

Shape of Water In “The Shape of Water,” director, Guillermo Del Toro, uniquely fuses a modern day fairytale with an adult sci-fi story. The tale of a mute woman who falls in love with a male sea creature is carefully depicted and brilliantly performed by a talented cast consisting of Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon and Doug Jones.

The story, set in Baltimore in 1962 during the Cold War-era, brings together a tale of a mute high-security government lab janitor, Elisa Esposito (Hawkins) and a secret amphibian creature, the “Asset” (Jones).

While a relationship between a woman and creature is bizarre and a bit disturbing at times, the imaginative fantasy portrays great performances by the cast and captivating cinematography and design.

Get Out

Mixing dark comedy and sharp social satire with mainstream horror elements, “Get Out” effectively merges into the strange and smartly written first feature by filmmaker Jordan Peele, who drives his critique of cultural appropriation into a clever, statement about racism. The movie follows Chris Washington, portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya, and his girlfriend Rose Armitage, played by Allison Williams, as they visit her parents for the weekend. For the first half of the movie, Peele piles up the clues that something is wrong, acting as a slow-burn. Your mind races as you start to piece together the puzzle of this mysterious, horror film. Then, the final act of “Get Out” is an unpredictable thrill ride. Peele finds a way to take the movie off the rails, keeping the audience on the edge.

that actually can be more sustainable. But if you only love finishing a poem, that kinda narrows it, and if you only love publishing a poem, that can kind of narrow it too.”

“What poetry allows us to do is to note the value of language,” Kearney said. “What we do with that knowledge of that value is going to be completely contingent on who we are, but I think that that’s what poetry offers us; it offers us a space to think that language is important.”

anjay saklecha copy editor

NINA GEE

ognize was that I was more interested in the sound than I was in the characters,” Kearney said.

“For a while that just made me think ‘Ah, well, I just need to get better at writing short stories,’ but then I learned that poetry could just be a consideration of sound in a space. If a person sits and watches you play with words or language for thirty lines, there’s a different feeling than if you wrote novella or novel.”

Much of the inspiration for his poetry comes from an unlikely but entirely viable source; the rhythms and wordplay he incorporates into his craft is a product of his connection to mid-90s hip hop and rap, and the visual creativity of his poems comes from the textual imagery of comic books.

“One of the things that’s really important I think in emcee culture is mastery of language, virtuosity with language, but I like how so much of that mastery is hinged upon an idea of

NINA GEE

He brings his hands up in a wild gesticulation, arms spread wide like the wings of an eagle, then sweeps them down, sending a silent wave of charisma crashing across the room. Despite the grandiosity, no one in the room seems intimidated by the gesture. It’s a comfortable atmosphere; 12 college students sitting round a table in front of one projector-illuminated Douglas Kearney: husband, father, creative writer, professor, occasional R&B singer, but most importantly, poet. That’s what he’s here teaching, after all, and what’s brought him the most acclaim.

Kearney began his journey with poetry early in life, reading the works of a poet that many recognize even today.

“I felt like if you could just have a book full of poems, it was probably Shel Silverstein,” Kearney said. “Later on you learn that parts of the Bible are actually poems, and you know, I was always interested in mythology as a kid, so I’d read parts of the Iliad or Metamorphosis and then I later realized that those two were epic poems, but as a kid…

I’d probably say Shel Silverstein [poetry].”

As a child, his interest in poetry came from many different places that, though seemingly unrelated at the time, had a significant impact on his pursuit of the craft.

“When I was a kid I think what I liked about poetry was the chime that comes with rhyming. Hearing that kind of play with language, with rhythmic and musicality and rhyme, was something that was really pleasurable to me––the way the patterns of those sounds kind of played themselves out.”

Kearney discovered his affinity for poetry in college, not only through the challenge and support of his writing community but also through taking a few wrong turns. Through a short story he wrote as a college student based off of Gwendolyn Brooks’ ‘We Real Cool,’ he discovered his affinity for sound over narrative.

“What I slowly came to rec-

INA GEE

reporter

Three Billboards An intense, sharply-written crime-related drama, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” delivers an effective controversy on a mother fighting to find her daughter’s killer. After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes, played by Frances McDormand paints three signs leading into her town in Missouri with a controversial message directed at the town’s chief of police, William Willough, played by Woody Harrelson. While this film is on the violent spectrum, it still depicts the energy anger brings to the screen with a mother frantically fighting for revenge against her daughter’s murderer. The film is grounded, feeling even inspirational at times causing you to laugh and cry in the very same scenes.

8 WINGED POST

RISE UP

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

#NEVE

Three weeks after the MSD High School shooting, Florida students and teachers take a stand on gun control, sparking debate and catalyzing renewed political activism

LOLA MULDREW

Y HL E

“Something about this incident has reverberated in a new way, and we are all feeling what happened there. It’s vital to reach out and connect, to comfort and to care.”

ELLEN AUSTIN

BYRON STEVENS G

HISTORY TEACHER

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MATH TEACHER

SPANISH TEACHER

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“Perhaps, for me, the best way Harker students can join in the conversation is to attend the student activism Shah Salon. There’s a lot of empathy and identification.”

O

“Let’s dig in, let’s learn something, so more conversations with a group hearing each other. Mr. Stoll talked about being kind, and I love that it’s happening more.”

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LIBRARIAN

JIA N

ENGLISH TEACHER

DIANA MOSS

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Fill out the following form) to offer support services to the MSD community: http:// browardschools.com/ wesupport

LAURI VAUGHN

FF AN Y

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OHAD PARAN

“I’m just super proud of the kids, because we have been bringing up this issue over and over and over again and our legislators haven’t done anything.”

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Make a donation to Broward Health Foundation’s fundraiser for individuals and families affected by the shooting: https://donate. browardhealthfoundation.org/give_now

“After the shooting a lot of students have become a lot more politically and socially active in a way, and feeling like they truly have a voice on what’s happening in Florida.”

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Purchase a t-shirt at https://lovemsd.com/ MSD_Strong/shop/ home. Proceeds will go to the victims’ families and the Stoneman Douglas High School Memorial Fund.

“The day that they arm teachers, is the day that I quit my job. I want to keep students safe, and I love my job, but there is no place, no place for a lethal weapon in a classroom.”

HS

1

Donate to MSD’s official GoFundMe Page: GoFundMe.com/ stonemandouglasvictimsfund

to spread their voice through social media and stay on people’s radars, facilitating a lasting discussion of and change in gun control. In the long term, they hope to stay active through the midterms, encourage more young people to vote and see a concrete change in gun legislation.

“We want the age at which one can buy a gun to be moved to 21, we want increased background checks and we want increased mental health care,” González said. “Mental illnesses are unrelated to gun deaths and shootings. It’s just that when they get together, they’re really bad, and that’s when they’re like ‘This white man was mentally ill.’ You know, some people are just born evil, and all they want to do is to create the max amount of havoc and have a name for themselves.

They’re kind of copping out on that by making [mental illness] their scapegoat when, in fact, it is mainly the guns to blame for how bad the incidents get. You would not be able to kill that many people with a knife.”

While the movement has sparked a surge of activism across the country, many have spoken out against the campaign’s stance on gun reform

Faculty responses echo concerns about school safety, student wellbeing

IN

WAYS TO SUPPORT MSD

for Our Lives” and protest for gun safety on March 24, out of which numerous sister marches in major cities nationwide have developed, akin to January’s Women’s March.

As two of the leaders of the Never Again movement, González and Hogg have taken on the role of full-time activists.

Three weeks ago, they were second semester seniors like any other.

“Normally, I would be at home watching a lot of Netflix, embroidering all of my clothes and trying to hang out with my friends as much as possible,” González said. “But now, I’m trying to scale down on TV appearances because I don’t like [them]. I have a lot of things that I need to write now for magazines, I have to field a lot of text messages that are saying ‘what are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?’ and ‘please meet with us because we deserve to have your voice on our show.’”

Media attention and a Wikipedia page were not what they had in mind when they started speaking out, and they’re not what MSD activists are seeking now.

In the short term, they want

TL

Florida legislature passed a bill that would arm teachers in schools. The legislation also raised the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 and established a minimum three-day waiting period for buying firearms.

G

March 1

A LAND DIVIDED: (TOP) Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School community attended a candlelight vigil in honor of those killed in the Feb. 14 shooting. (MIDDLE) A survivor of the MSD shooting as well as a survivor of the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 speak at Church By the Glades. (BOTTOM) In honor of the victims of the shooting, specifically cross-country coach and geography teacher Scott Biegel, hundreds congregated at Pine Trails Park for a three-quarter mile run.

KA I

Companies such as Delta, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart have cut ties with the NRA.

FA N

President Trump called for expanded background checks and other gun control measures.

it certainly wasn’t the end — in fact, it’s only the beginning of an era of political activism in which they have plan to take a central role.

“The politicians won’t [do anything now]; they don’t care.

[We have to get] these individuals out of office and hold our elected officials accountable for the rest of our lives,” Hogg said.

“That’s why we’re getting all these people riled up and pissed off because they have to be to take any action. I’m really happy that students are starting to stand up and take action, but what we need to realize is that we have to continue to take action. If you don’t get registered to vote, if you don’t constantly vote for the rest of your lives, none of this matters.”

The Never Again movement is organizing a national “March

IC

MSD classes resumed with short days for the rest of the week.

DAVID HOGG MSD STUDENT AND GUN REFORM ACTIVIST

ER

Feb. 28

G

Students returned to the MSD campus for an unstructured orientation period, for the first time since the shooting. Teachers had been allowed to return Feb. 23.

N

Feb. 25

O

Survivors and parents of victims of the shooting at MSD spoke to Florida senator Marco Rubio and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch in an emotional televised town hall broadcast on CNN.

W

Feb. 22

“This is not a Democrat or Republican issue.

This is an issue of lives. We need to work together on this if we want to save our future and our children’s lives.

Because if we don’t, how many more are going to have to die?”

Y

Florida survivors and their families congregate for televised town hall on how to move forward. Trump and FL Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned down their invites.

G

An aide to a Florida representative was fired after emailing a local reporter asserting that Emma González and David Hogg were crisis actors.

FF AN

Feb. 20

sibility because there are other people that are not ready, and there are other people that have no voice, and we’ve been their voice,” MSD English and creative writing teacher and newspaper adviser Melissa Falkowski, 35, said. “I’m really proud of [the students] and what they’re doing. They’re trying to turn it into something more positive [and] make us more than just a victim school.”

On Feb. 20, MSD students travelled to Tallahassee to meet state legislators and witness a vote on proceeding to debate a bill banning assault weapons.

The debate did not receive a majority vote and did not take place.

For the MSD students activists, the vote was a letdown, but

TI

Five survivors of the shooting at MSD — Jaclyn Corin, Emma González, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky and Alex Wind — announced plans for a national march and demonstration in Washington to press for legislation against gun violence.

FA N

Feb. 18

Y

Feb. 14, 2018: A former student shot and killed 17 people—14 students and three faculty—at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

KA TH

Feb. 14

Continued from front page.

“As I was writing it, I went along with whatever was going through my mind,” González said. “I thought ‘We Call BS’ sounds good, and if I can say it enough then I can maybe get people chanting. I was just like ‘I’m so angry, and I cannot––’ and I was kind of looking towards the politicians, thinking ‘If I could say this to their face, oh god, what would their emotion be, what would their face turn to?’

I was less thinking of someone as an inspiration and more using the politicians as a negative inspiration to help me form my words better. They’re too easily influenced by money, and they’re not listening to the people who voted them into office in the first place.”

Along with fellow seniors MSD David Hogg and Cameron Kasky and nearly 20 other MSD students, González co-founded Never Again MSD, a student-led organization dedicated to promoting gun safety and legislative reform.

The campaign first gained traction on Twitter and soon spread to other social media platforms, with users posting #NeverAgain to express their advocacy for gun control and their solidarity with the survivors of the MSD shooting.

According to González, Kasky created the organization’s name to echo the “Never Forget” slogan of the Holocaust, as he has Holocaust survivors in his family.

Hogg, a member of MSD’s broadcast program, started filming as he sheltered in place as the shooting unfolded.

“I realized that if I was about to die, I wanted to tell a d*** good story,” Hogg said.

“And one that people wouldn’t forget. Even if I died on that floor and my blood with 65 others was spilled out and splattered across our floor, we needed to have our voices echo on, even if our souls couldn’t carry on.”

González and Hogg and others have gotten hundreds of interview requests per day, talked to dozens of national media outlets, energized crowds at rallies, confronted the NRA and debated state and national legislators.

“I think that a lot of the students that weren’t––and the teachers that weren’t––in that building are the ones that have been the most outspoken, because we feel like it’s our respon-

JOURNALISM ADVISER

WINGED POST 9

RISE UP • VOLUME 19 ISSUE 5 • MARCH 6, 2018

ERAGAIN

LEADING A MOVEMENT

Emma González, 18, a leader of the Never Again MSD movement is the president of GSA at MSD, and watches Netflix and embroiders in her free time.

Winged Post: As to the more national movement, how do you feel about the schools planning to participate in the March 14 walkout and the cities that are planning their own March For Our Lives events?

Emma González: We are so incredibly supportive of all of the people who are joining us. I could not be happier that they’re going out there and doing what they’re doing. We cannot thank them enough for the support that they’re showing.

WP: What would you say is the major problem with those in political office right now who seem to be taking inaction on gun control?

“Learn to love each other. Be nice to each other.”

Emma González

EG: They’re too easily influenced by money, and they’re not listening to the people who voted them into office in the first place. They don’t seem to care about the young voters because they think that the old voters will hold them up, but they forget that the old voters are parents, and that their kids are incredibly influential, especially at this point in time, and I can’t believe that bill got voted down yesterday… How stupid can you get!? We’re going to remember their names. I am going to make a cheat sheet, so that people can remember who their names are when the midterm elections come around.

DELANEY TARR - EAGLE EYE

VOICE OF CHANGE

“Tell a d*** good story. It might be your last.”

David Hogg

Winged Post: I know the Never Again movement was co-founded by several students at your school. Do you have an idea of how many students are speaking up and getting involved in this movement?

David Hogg: Around 20.

Don’t ask me to name names, I don’t know all of them, but they’re mainly TV and drama kids that are honestly the misfits of the school that have been bullied, people that have always been called out for their uniqueness like Emma and things like that. And that’s part of what’s kept us strong. We don’t give a s***, we don’t care what people think about us. We know what

matters. And what matters is our future and our lives.

WP: You said you’re going to be taking a gap year to work on midterms. Do you know specifically what you want to get involved with?

DH: It’s a candidate-basis.

I don’t want to be any part of any political party. I just want to make sure the people that are getting elected are actually good people, as unreasonable as that sounds. Just good people that care about the lives of children, not about their re election, not about the money, about literally just our future because we need to save that.

COURAGE TO TEACH CHRISTY MA - EAGLE EYE

Melissa Falkowski, an English teacher and newspaper adviser at MSD, and is the mother of two small children.

Winged Post: Now that classes have resumed, how has the atmosphere changed, and what is like being back at the school?

Melissa Falkowski: My fifth period has a student in it who lost his sister. So there’s classes that have to deal with that, and there’s other classes where, there’s going to be an empty desk. I’m not really sure, how Wednesday is going to go, but I bought a lot of tissues, and there’ll be a lot of hugs, and that’s kinda all I know I guess, at this point.

RICHARD DOAN - EAGLE EYE

and criticized the efforts of MSD student activists.

“I ignore [the hate]. If you acknowledge it and try to explain it, you kind of end up feeding into it. At the end of the day, those people try to undermine who we are as students, they try to attack our personalities, our mannerisms or [that we] feel happy for 0.2 seconds after a tragedy like this,” González said.

“The reason why they do that is because they don’t want to believe that so many kids could be so much more well-spoken than they are, or that maybe we have an actual point.”

Hogg views the criticism–– which has accused him and other students of taking advantage of the tragedy or being “crisis actors”––as more advertising for the Never Again cause. He wants to focus his activist efforts on the upcoming march, passing legislation, the 2018 midterm elections and his own further education, as does González.

“This is not a Democrat or Republican issue,” Hogg said.

“This is an issue of lives. We need to work together on this if we want to save our future and our children’s lives. Because if we don’t, how many more are going to have to die?”

David Hogg, 17, a leader of the Never Again MSD movement also owns a Jack Russell-Westie mix named “Tater” and heads the Drone Club.

WP: A lot of people have

Visit the MSD student-run online news site at eagleeye.news.

47% 51%

Americans who support gun rights

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pew Research Center, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Mother Jones, Stanford study published in Science Note from the Editors: While creating this infographic, comprehensive statistics on gun violence were unavailable.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) successfully lobbied for the Dickey Amendment in 1996, a mandate against spending federal funding on gun research. The Winged Post chose information from historically reliable sources.

“It’s an amazing feeling to know that you’re not alone.”

Melissa Falkowski come to us asking what they can do. We’re trying to plan something right now. How can we send our support and solidarity, and where should money that people donate go?

MF: I’m just really thankful for the people who have donated to the journalism go fund me, and the victims’ fund and the march and just have been so supportive and sending messages and support. It’s an amazing feeling to know that you’re not alone. That other people want to be there for you. Everyone asked you like what can we do, for some of us need but it’s just nice to be asked.

2017 mass shooting incidents 58

Americans who support gun control

25x

26 how much higher the American gun-murder rate is compared to other high income nations

96 7 Americans killed by gun on an average day

children and teens killed by gun on an average day

5 5

3

3 3 3 3 3

by total people killed

Las Vegas Strip massacre Texas First Baptist Church massacre Rancho Tehama shooting spree Florida awning manufacturer shooting Walmart shooting in suburban Denver Edgewood businees park shooting San Francisco UPS shooting Pennsylvania supermarket shooting Rural Ohio nursing home shooting Fresno downtown shooting

Mass school shootings since 1982 17

4

13 5

4

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Columbine High School massacre Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting Thurston High School shooting Lindhurst High School shooting

by total people killed

Page design by Kaitlin Hsu and Maya Kumar.

10 WINGED POST Editors-in-Chief Kaitlin Hsu Sahana Srinivasan Managing Editor Maya Kumar

OPINION

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

Courage and activism of MSD survivors provide hope for change

News Editor Vijay Bharadwaj Features Editor Prameela Kottapalli Opinion Editor Derek Yen STEM Editor Katherine Zhang Global Editor Eric Fang Lifestyle Editor Mahika Halepete Copy Editor ROSE GUAN

Anjay Saklecha

Photo Editor Kathy Fang Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Aquila Editor-in-Chief Meena Gudapati Wingspan Editors-in-Chief Kaitlin Hsu Sahana Srinivasan Wingspan Managing Editor Maya Kumar Wingspan Designer Rose Guan Aquila Staff Neil Bai Anvi Banga Krishna Bheda Nicole Chen Adrian Chu

Jenna Sadhu Alex Wang Tiffany Wong Helen Yang Gloria Zhang

Humans of Harker Staff Ashley Jiang Nerine Uyanik

Reporters Karina Chen

Zoe Sanders

Michael Eng

Arushi Saxena

Nina Gee

Kushal Shah

Farah Hosseini

Saloni Shah

Vivian Jin

Jin Tuan

Irina Malyugina Anmol Velagapudi Anika Rajamani

Jessie Wang

Varsha Rammohan

Anya Weaver

Aditya Singhvi

Sara Yen

Anna Vazhaeparambil Srinath Somasundaram

Visit The Winged Post Online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on social media with the handle /harkeraquila

The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism: Newspaper Concentration and Advanced Journalism: Newspaper Concentration courses at The Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129.

The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, sports and STEM articles in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials represent the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters represent the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Winged Post.

All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School.

The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty or adviser.

Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost2017@ harker.org and must be signed, legible and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities and letters that call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to The Winged Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

The Winged Post is the official student newspaper of The Harker School and is distributed free of cost to students.

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EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST It happened again. Another mass shooting at yet another school––yet another senseless tragedy. Yet another evening news broadcast full of crying faces of children and parents mourning the 17 lives cut short by yet another young white male, this time on Valentine’s Day, this time in Florida.

Any mass shooting in America today is met with a dual response: a popular outpouring of empathy and support for the shooting victims—and a silent resignation that, despite any words and activism and frustration, “Nothing will change.”

It’s easy to fall into this mode of thinking—we’ve certainly had our hopes crushed before. Perhaps the 13 deaths at Columbine High School will be the last tragedy, galvanizing people (and Congress) to action. No, perhaps the 32 college students of Virginia Tech will be the last deaths.

Perhaps the 13 dead soldiers at Fort Hood will. Perhaps the 27 children and adults of Sandy Hook. Or the 49 people crowded into Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub. The 58 concert attendees in Las Vegas. 26 people at Sunday church services in Sutherland Springs— And here we are again: a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland, Florida.

In the aftermath of this new shooting, each of us must again face a personal cross-

road: will I hold out hope for change? Or will I resign myself to cynicism?

But perhaps––this time–– there is finally reason to believe change is coming.

Winged Post reporters spent several hours last week talking to MSD students Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg and MSD journalism teacher Melissa Falkowski.

The students have started the Never Again movement, with a March for Our Lives on March 24, and they plan to continue after high school and into college their work that has begun to enact stronger gun control in the U.S.

But perhaps, this time, there is finally reason to believe change is coming.

We spent many hours reading and writing about the earnestness, anger, bravery and intelligence that MSD students have mustered through an unimaginably difficult tragedy.

Their courage caused us to tear apart and redesign this Winged Post issue to spotlight their activism and to shine a light on America’s gun epidemic. We transcribed 12,000 words and wrote 5,000 more in 48 hours about MSD students and their efforts for gun control.

We talked to our own Harker teachers and students and staff, on the record as journalists and off as humans, about how they feel after another school shooting, about where our school’s concerns lie and about the changes we want to make.

Everyone we’ve spoken to in the last two weeks has

said “Change is happening.”

And if you want to be a part of change? Wonderful.

Let’s talk politics.

Inspired by everyone we’ve talked to, here’s a few suggestions for amplifying your political engagement.

No matter what, register to vote. Then, when you turn 18, vote. Then vote again.

And again. Vote in every election––school, city, state, national––for the rest of your life.

Call people out. Encourage them to join you in doing something.

See our centerspread for a how-to guide for activism.

Go to a march. Or create a new one for something you believe in.

Put your time or your money where your mouth is. Emulate the Gates and the Chan-Zuckerbergs of the world: amplify and bolster those whose ideologies and ideas you support.

Join a political campaign.

Spend this summer working for a 2018 congressional candidate you wholeheartedly believe in. If you’re not happy with our Congress, try to change its balance. If you’re fine with it, work to keep Congress where it is.

Raise funds for candidates you know will make a change. Send letter after letter after letter on issues of concern to your elected officials until they listen. Physically show up to the offices of lawmakers who right now could (but aren’t) supporting solutions instead of creating more problems.

Read as much as you can.

Scour candidates’ platforms and the intricacies of tax reform like you do Stranger Things or the NBA or machine

learning.

Take what you know and teach other young people.

Amplify each other’s voices. Debate. Change people’s minds. Show them new ideas.

Find some new ones yourself.

Fail, but try again. Keep waiting, but be patient.

It’s easy to forget Washington or Sacramento or San Jose leadership as areas for kids in the middle of Silicon Valley to pursue, when the familiarity of tech sounds a siren song so seductive.

But now maybe Washington—and its political leadership (or lack thereof)—needs you more than do the already-crowded halls of Google and Facebook and university labs and biotech startups.

Maybe some of you reading this will consider the lifelong route of a career in political service. Do it. Major in political science, go to law school and then run for office yourself. When you’re elected, make a d*** difference.

Define what kind of generation we’re going to be and what you want your role in our generation to be, starting right now.

What the MSD students’ activism in the face of tragedy has shown us most potently is that you don’t know what you’re capable of until you start.

What the MSD students’ activism has shown us most potently is that you don’t know what you’re capable of until you start.

And we’re all ready to start.

Institutionalized doping in sports obliges cultural reform saloni shah reporter

Watching the Russian athletes compete under the banner “OAR” (Olympic Athletes from Russia) in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics brings back a plethora of memories of the doping scandals which rocked the international sports world during the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Due to Russia’s systemic state-sponsored doping program in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics which benefited more than 1,000 Russian athletes across 30 sports, Russia was banned

by International Olympic Committee (IOC) from competing at the 2018 Olympics; though 169 “clean athletes” from Russia were allowed to participate as neutrals or individual athletes.

Doping is the administration of performance-enhancing drugs

to gain an unfair advantage in sporting events. The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits the use of about 300 types of performance-enhancing drugs.

Unfortunately, the Sochi cheating and coverup is but one of the many prevalent conspiracies in the sporting world scandals. In 2006, several bicyclists, including Lance Armstrong, were found guilty of using per-

formance enhancing drugs.

Star athletes hold a privileged place in society as a role model for young children and aspiring athletes. The unethical, unsportsmanlike and illegal code of conduct prevalent amongst the athletes tarnishes the image of the sport and the credibility of the athletes as role models. In a society where sports figures are seen as heroes, these scandals set

DOPE EFFECTS

Stimulants: Increase concentration, energy and alertness Diuretics: Rapidly shed water weight and dilute urine sample, aiding in evading drug tests Anabolic Steroids: Increase muscle mass and improve recovery after injury β2 Adrenergic Agonists: Improve airflow to the lungs Peptide Hormones: Improve red blood cell count Narcotics: Relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety Blood Doping: Direct transfusion of oxygenated blood

an awful precedent where young children begin to view cheating as an acceptable way to win.

Doping seems to be ingrained in the system and accepted as a part of sports. Many athletes caught in wrongdoing, such as tennis player Maria Sharapova and sprinter Justin Gatlin, seem to be acquitted with only minor punishments when they return to their sport with their old fame and glory.

It is time that we stop turning a blind eye to doping in the field of sports as cheating erodes the trust fans place in athletes.

One way to increase accountability in the field of sports is to make the punishment more severe. A lifetime ban for guilty athletes is worth considering as the first step in restoring integrity in sports. Honesty in sports would be a welcome and refreshing change.

OPINION

WINGED POST 11

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 5, 2018

Dialectic: AP Tests In our recurring Dialectics, two authors with contrasting viewpoints will discuss an issue of prominence in the local or broader community. We hope to use these multiple views to provoke deeper thought among the student body and help readers explore new perspectives.

Do the APs effectively meet their mission statement of providing college-level educational opportunities? nicole chen & karina chen

Aquila features editor & Reporter

Winged Post: Advanced Placement (AP) classes were con-

ceived to be college-level in difficulty and scope. Do they meet this goal?

I believe they are. Although some colleges don’t accept it, many colleges do, such as [the] UCs, and they could also be used to fulfill graduation requirements as well.

I agree with the fact that you can use it as college credit but on the flip side of that, a lot of students when they go to college do retake the same courses. So do APs matter if you’re going to end up taking the same level course again?

WP: It is true that many students will retake courses in

college such as Calculus, but also with broad, uncoverable courses like Chemistry or Biology. Is there still value to APs, then, even if they do not meet their stated goal?

I think that if you’re looking for a more challenging course than an honor or regular course, then APs are a good choice because they’re more advanced and can challenge you even more than just a regular course.

I get that. I think definitely if you are looking to take a more challenging course, the AP is what you should be looking into, but we should also be considering that it’s not as rigorous as a college course, and the AP seems questionable in that sense.

WP: AP courses are not intended to be necessarily harder

than honors courses at Harker (for instance, Honors US History and AP US History). Do you think AP courses are truly harder?

Yes, because like I said before, these AP courses can possibly be used for graduation requirements, so they are technically considered college-level.

Honors classes at Harker are very Harker-centric— for the APs there’s a certain College Board requirement and things teachers have to teach and students have to know, but with Honors classes, it’s just more based on whatever the teacher feels like teaching more or less, so ultimately I think it depends on the teacher as to whether they want to make the course easy or hard. So I think it’s hard to tell if Honors classes are harder than AP classes.

NICOLE CHEN

Every year, high school students across the nation take their Advanced Placement (AP) Exams in early May. The AP’s creator, the College Board, states that “AP gives students the chance to tackle college-level work while they’re still in high school and earn college credit and placement.”

ADVANCED PREDICAMENT Though the College Board devised the AP in the hopes of providing college-level curricula to high schoolers, many teachers and students are skeptical that they achieve this end.

How does the AP hold up under scrutiny?

2.06 million

AP exams were taken by seniors and

1.94 million

were taken by juniors in 2017.

SOURCE: College Board AP “Program Summary Report 2017”

WP: In that vein—sometimes the AP curriculum seems to

conflict with what teachers want to teach by emphasizing or de-emphasizing certain subjects. Are the restrictions of the AP curriculum an impediment to students’ learning?

I think so. I myself have been in many classes where teachers have wanted to teach certain subjects or topics but they just can’t due to time restraints. But I don’t know if that’s necessarily a bad thing either, because I think the College Board sets a pretty solid curriculum, so there’s a wide variety that gets covered. But then again, there are some topics that some teachers lean toward that maybe the College Board doesn’t require.

As a freshman I’m actually not really sure, because I haven’t taken any APs, but I do believe that, based on what other people have said, [APs] are legitimate and cover a wide variety of topics and are more advanced than the regular courses, including honors courses.

WP: Some colleges see APs as a way for students to demon-

0.673 million

AP exams were taken by sophomores and

0.188 million

were taken by freshmen in 2017.

SOURCE: College Board AP “Program Summary Report 2017”

55% of AP

students are female SOURCE: College Board AP “Program Summary Report 2017”

strate academic rigor—are they a useful way to show academic ability?

Since APs are meant to be harder, and it’s also consistent across all schools since there’s a set curriculum, I do believe [APs are] a good way to determine how good a student’s performance is.

I think the consistency point really—that’s something that makes the AP somewhat reliable, in my opinion, but also, if you think about it, there are so many old practice tests out there. I feel like, at some level, the people who are standing out aren’t necessarily the people who know the most material but the people who have done the most practice, and it’s routine almost when people [take] the test—it doesn’t actually show off the extent of their knowledge.

WP: In light of the preparation point—are the APs truly meritocratic signals for colleges, then?

Although the curriculum does give the students knowledge, the tests are maybe not the best way to determine how well a student has done because of all the practice tests. I do think it’s a bit unfair for the people who are able to practice more.

I agree with that completely. I think the curriculum and the class itself does give a student a better understanding of the subject, and through that is able to measure a student’s understanding of the topic, but I think the test itself measures a student’s testtaking abilities more than the actual subject.

P.E. Credits insufficiently credited for camaraderie Reporter

Depending on how it is viewed, the P.E. requirement can become something so much more than a box that is grudgingly checked off, just like the requirement of service hours.

Squeezing out 10 service hours full of boredom and indifference every year to have one less thing to do or one more thing on a resumé is definitely possible. But the experience can be far more rewarding if viewed as an opportunity to make a tangible impact and enjoy the process.

It’s easy to forget that requirements exist for a reason.

Everyone has their own calling, but many entirely overlook playing a school sport, as I did, labeling it as either a waste of time or something only for the archetypical sports jock. While I can now vehemently attest that neither of the above descriptions are true, the only way for anyone to find out is to think of it as an opportunity for an experience and just try it out.In the summer before ninth grade, I had made up my mind to skip playing a school sport in freshman year, if not all

of high school, and instead continue badminton training outside of school. A school sport seemed like too big of a commitment for little reward, as I thought the daily schedule would only waste time I could use for academics or other extracurriculars. However, my resolution slowly melted away as I started to receive more and more emails from coaches and encouragement from friends to join the team.

I finally decided to show up for a preseason workout in early August, while continuing badminton and distinctly remember a feeling of warmth and belonging that can best be described by saying that I knew I would eagerly be doing cross country for that season and in the coming years as well—a feeling that also propelled me to play soccer after cross country had ended.

Even with the limited experience I have had up to this point, little has paralleled my experiences in school sports thus far. The outcomes of my decision have been overwhelmingly positive, and it is a choice that I simply have never regretted, even in the tougher moments. Running up hills for 100 minutes in the Rancho San Antonio County

park or defending against rain, wind chill, and the other team out on Davis Field were experiences that formed connections and cherished memories for me.

We ran up the hill as a team, as we complained in unison, never stopping the endless flow of gossip and memes even as we strained for breath. We slid along the wet turf and dribbled against the gusts of wind until the very last whistle was blown, in a defeat that I know remember only as a heartwarming display of ef-

fort and unity.

At the end of the day, the workouts, practices, victories, and losses remain, but they are always dwarfed by the bonds and memories formed. Then, exasperation with the large amounts of practice and demands of games or meets transforms into an eager anticipation for a place to let go, to do something truly exhilarating, and to ultimately have fun.

TEAMWORK Receiver and special teams coach Daniel Eaton, running-back Aaron Smith (11), wide receiver Angel Cervantes (12) and quarterback Nate Kelly (12) prepare themselves before a game against Marina High School. The varsity football team ended their season 11-1 after a historic undefeated season.

Calculus AB (316 thousand exams)

Least popular AP:

Research (5.79 thousand exams)

SOURCE: College Board AP “Program Summary Report 2017”

7,437

pre-high schoolers and 5,664 non-high schoolers took AP exams in 2017.

SOURCE: College Board AP “Program Summary Report 2017”

There will be 38 AP courses offered in 2017.

SOURCE: College Board

CORRECTIONS TO ISSUE 4

ERIC FANG

arya maheshwari

Most popular AP in 2017:

• Page 14 “Soccer and Fundraising”: The caption incorrectly states the score. Varsity boys soccer tied 1-1 in that game.

• Page 14 “Kicks Against Cancer”: The article misstates the varsity girls soccer’s record.

As of Jan 30, the girls’ record was 7-6.

• Ibid.: Article text is incorrect.

Only the senior class council tailgates.

• Ibid.: Article text is incorrect.

Butts Up occurs at the halftime of both the varsity girls soccer and junior varsity boys soccer games.

• Page 15 “Spring Sports Update”: Varsity girls soccer record is 7-6. JV boys basketball league record is 5-3. The caption has a cut date, Jan 26.

• Page 15 “Girls Basketball” clarification: Dan Pringle has coached at Harker since 2000.

He joined the varsity girls basketball program in 2015; became head coach 2017.

STEM

WINGED POST 13

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

Deadliest flu season in a decade slows

Flu-related hospitalizations drop, season expected to last several more weeks

ERE KY EN YD ED B PRO VID G AN ZH ER IN E

can cause the lungs to swell.

What happens next is a cycle: the body keeps sending cells to the lungs to fight the infection, while inflammation and breathing difficulty continues. This can lead to pneumonia, an infection of the lungs that causes small sacs of the lungs to fill with fluid or pus, as well as sepsis, an infection of the bloodstream.

Most commonly, however, the immune system is so concentrated on fighting the lung infection that less oxygen flows through other parts of the body. Without normal levels of activity, the body tells its organs to slow or shut down in a process known as multiple organ dysfunction, which can lead to death.

Siemens Foundation announces competition end, channels funds into new opportunities derek yen

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Released on Feb. 9, the HomePod is Apple’s response to Google’s and Amazon’s home assistant solutions.

The HomePod utilizes Siri and features location-aware speakers.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The New Samsung Galaxy S9, available for preorder March 2, sports a stereo speaker setup, 2 extra GB of RAM, and Android 8.0 “Oreo.”

Sprint and Tmobile will be launching 5G cell coverage in 30 cities by the end of 2018, with the first four being New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas.

GLOBAL

SIEMENS SAVVY Manan Shah (‘17), a national finalist in the 2016 Siemens Competition, gives a talk at the 2017 Research Symposium. Shah was Harker’s only national finalist that year.

Siemens Foundation, the organization that funds the competition. The Siemens Foundation has yet to finalize plans on what the new funding will be allocated towards but is currently discussing support for “middle skill” STEM programs.

“Instead of being one person among the ones that will come before you and after you, there’s no one after.”

KATHERINE TIAN (11) SIEMENS NATIONAL FINALIST “We are looking at opportunities in the STEM middle skill (jobs that require a high school diploma, strong technical skills, and some post-secondary education but not a four year degree),” Siemens Foundation CEO David Etzwiler wrote in an email correspondence.

“We think that area is the place where our invest-

ments and expertise can best benefit society.”

As the Siemens Competition is one of the major science research competitions for high school students, this decision has disrupted some students’ summer plans.

“If not being able to do Siemens causes you to question whether you really want to do a project, then follow that instinct and don’t do a project,” research class and physics teacher Chris Spenner said.

“If you’re excited about doing the science, then do the science and, if you need something to replace Siemens, look at actual science conferences that are willing to share your work.”

Etzwiler recognized that many students who were planning to compete in the Siemens Competition will be unable to.

“We wish you the best.

We know we are not the only science competition out there,” Etzwiler wrote.

“We encourage you to continue your engagement in challenge-based research

NS

On Feb. 6, the largest fully reusable rocket, the Falcon Heavy, launched from Cape Canaveral. It can carry 63,800 kgs into low earth orbit.

Upper school students participated in the Mathematical Association of America’s American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10 and 12 math contests on Feb. 7. The AMC annual mathematics competitions test students on their problem-solving skills and general math knowledge.

KATHERINE ZHANG

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

opinion editor

The Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology has concluded after 19 years with its 2017 Competition, the Siemens Foundation stated in a news release on Feb 1.

As of the time of writing, there are currently no plans for the competition to be picked up by another sponsor, as occurred when Regeneron announced it would be sponsoring the Regeneron Science Talent Search (formerly known as the Intel Science Talent Search) after Intel ended its support of the competition in 2016.

Harker has had a long history with the Siemens Competition. The school has placed at least four semi finalists every year since 2009, and at least 10 semi finalists every year since 2013.

“I was really surprised, because Siemens has just been a thing you hear about every year,” 2017 Siemens Competition finalist Katherine “Kat” Tian (11) said.

“The experience at Nationals was pretty amazing, and to hear that no other student would experience that this year was pretty sad. Instead of being one person among the ones that will come before you and after you, there’s no one after—we’re the last group— which is a little poignant, in a way.”

The decision to end the Siemens Competition program was unanimously made by the board of the

Students take American Mathematics Competition

MO

irina malyugina reporter

The annual Synopsys Championship is quickly approaching, with the competition taking place on Mar. 15 at the San Jose Convention center. The Synopsys Championship will award student projects presented at the fair via a judging process.

OM

TECH TALK

Students participate in annual science fair

AI

of medicine at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Through a chain reaction triggered by the virus, our immune systems begin to act, which leads us on the road to recovery — however, the disease can begin to overwork the immune system as well.

When a viral particle engages with a cell, the immune system responds by creating cell-signaling proteins known as cytokines, often called a “cytokine storm” in the severest cases due to the fact that it causes an overproduction of immune cells. These immune cells concentrate in the lungs, where they work to fight infection, but the resulting lung inflammation and fluid buildup

The virus comes into contact with the lungs, causing inflammation.

KA TH

The flu virus begins to enter the bloodstream, leading to the first show of symptoms.

IA C

is likely because H3N2 mutates over time and is very difficult to grow in culture. Nevertheless, flu vaccines and good care can help alleviate many of the symptoms of the flu.

“One thing for the vaccine is that although it didn’t protect people from getting the flu, it looks like it protects people from dying from the flu,” said Dr. Scott Filler, a professor

The Harker upper school Science Bowl team won the regional competition for the 2018 National Science Bowl (NSB), qualifying for the NSB National Finals taking place at Washington D.C. from April 26 to April 30.

Largest airplane has successful runway tests

The world’s largest airplane, known as Stratolaunch, did a runway roll at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port. It can carry up to 550,000 pounds to an altitude of 35,000 feet. Entrepreneurs hope to use it to provide crew and light cargo services to low-Earth orbit.

BU S

for the sheer volume of flu that is occurring, with widespread activity across most of the country at the same time.”

Flu seasons customarily end in March, and with stagnating numbers of hospital visits, many are hopeful that this flu season is winding down.

“As more people come down with the flu they gain immunity to it,” upper school

Harker team wins National Science Bowl

IL B

IAN BRANAM CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL

SCHOOL

NE

CDC

“Flu is unpredictable and it keeps us on our toes.

This flu season is notable for the sheer volume of flu occurring.”

neil bai Aquila copy editor

ED

Despite lowering numbers of flu-related doctors’ visits in recent weeks, this year’s flu season, the deadliest in a decade, is expected to last several more weeks as influenza viruses circulate throughout the country.

With thousands of Americans dying weekly from the flu, this season is projected to surpass 2009’s H1N1 outbreak.

The flu has resulted in between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths annually since 2010.

The 2017-2018 flu season has already reached a hospitalization rate of 59.9 per 100,000 people in the 18 weeks since its beginning. In contrast, the 2014-2015 flu season, which the CDC says is comparable in terms of severity, took 25 weeks to reach this point.

“Every flu season has some different variation of which type of flu viruses are most common, the pattern and severity of illness, and of season timing – flu is unpredictable and it keeps us on our toes,” CDC spokesperson Ian Branam said. “This flu season is notable

The virus enters the respiratory tract, which leads to the lungs, through the mouth.

WI KIM

STEM editor & reporter

AIR

nurse Clare Elchert said. “The flu season generally lasts until March, but it is coming to generally towards the end of the flu season.”

Nevertheless, the CDC continues to report widespread flu activity throughout 49 of the 54 U.S. jurisdictions.

Unlike in previous seasons, this year both influenza A, which includes H1N1 and H3N2 and often causes epidemics, and influenza B, a milder but still harmful type of flu, were active at the same time. Though influenza B does not cause epidemics, it has most likely exacerbated the situation caused by the main culprit: a strain of influenza A known as H3N2.

H3N2, a subtype of influenza A, tends to hit humans harder than other strains of flu. This strain is associated with higher hospitalization and death rates. Typically, H3N2 does not dominate the flu season, but it has been the most prominent strain this year.

To exacerbate the problem, this year’s flu vaccine has not been as effective as previously— the CDC reports that it is only 25 percent effective against the worst strains. This

ROSE GUAN

katherine zhang & srinath somasundaram

International Space Station implements AI The International Space Station (ISS) is implementing a robot with an artificially intelligent system designed to roam around the ISS offering technical help to crew members. The robot is named Cimon, and will be floating and ball-shaped, contain an eight inch display, and use propeller-driven thrusters.

STEM

12 WINGED POST

13.5% 25

Part nineteen of an ongoing series

current percent capacity of reservoirs

Cape Town approaches an end to running water in homes as reservoirs are depleted Over three quarters of Cape Town, South Africa’s nearly 4 million residents will no longer be able to run water through their homes by July 9th. This day, dubbed Cape Town’s “Day Zero,” marks the time when reservoirs will be depleted below 13.5 percent capacity.

“They could have planned five to ten years earlier and anticipated that they would need to begin developing alternative water supply in order to ensure that there would be a long term adequate sustainable source of potable water,” Water Reuse Executive Director Pat Sinicrpoi said.”Technology for water recycling could certainly have aided them in their predicament had they have had the foresight to anticipate and plan properly for this eventuality.”

Under the “Critical Water Shortages Disaster Plan” system, residents will have to retrieve water from one of over 200 collection points scattered throughout the city. Each person will be apportioned 25 liters of water per day. This is half of Cape Town’s current water usage limit. The plan also imposes limitations on business and agricultural water usage. In response, private industries are providing water to citizens to circumvent this legislation.

“There has not been any significant decline in urban usage,” but that “[They] must all keep doing absolutely everything in our power to reach the target set by the national department

to reduce our urban usage by 45 per cent,” deputy mayor Ian Neilson said, in a statement by the mayor of Cape Town from The Independent UK. The city has had to stress careful rationing of resources in the past few months, especially following a series of heat waves which struck the region, draining reservoirs at an even quicker rate than before.

Without an organized system of tracking citizens’ water usage, it was squandered and slowly depleted the reservoirs

rine Biology and Food Science teacher Dr. Kate Schafer said.

Now, in order to prepare for the inevitable crisis, the city has set up emergency water stations outside the city. As dams run out of water, pumps are brought in to replenish the lakes; despite containing fresh water, the contamination of large bodies of water around the city make it nearly impossible for residents to purify and drink that water.

Cape Town’s dams are currently at 25.5 percent. Despite warnings, most residents initially neglected to reduce their water consumption, according to the Cape Town’s government website.

Though Capetonians are facing a crisis, deaths from the water shortage are unlikely. With the help of outside resources and disaster relief groups, water and other necessary supplies will be brought into the city.

The possibility of a “Day Zero” is not limited to Cape Town: in recent years, areas around the globe including Melbourne, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and California have all faced severe drought.

In 2014, California’s reservoirs were at a record 20 percent, lower than Cape Town’s levels when they began setting up emergency water sources.

The state had not been visited by a strong El Nino storm for years, and snow-pack was very weak on the mountains surrounding the region. Over 17 communities were within 100 days of running out of water, which led California Governor Jerry Brown to issue legislature that led to stricter

“[They] must all keep doing absolutely everything in our power to reach the target set by the national department to reduce our urban usage by 45 percent.”

IAN NEILSON DEPUTY MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN until they were dry. Also,the government did not rush to create new legislations to address the possibility of running out of water one day because they thought more rain would fall earlier in the year.

“There’s a lot of concern and worry what’s going to happen once they reach [Day Zero].

They’re working on solutions to the problem, but they’re not going to be in place by June,” Ma-

KATHERINE ZHANG

Harker Development’s programmers seek new projects to better student life

DEVELOPING PROGRAMMERS Joel Manning (11), David Melisso (11) and Neeraj Aggarwal (12) discuss their plans for Harker Dev’s future.

katherine zhang STEM editor

Currently, Harker Dev consists of senior Neeraj Aggarwal and juniors Ryan Adolf, Joel Manning, David Melisso and Rithvik Panchapakesan. Though they are more than familiar with inputting special schedules and updating the lunch menu, each member was once new to the process. In fact, this group of coders is the second generation of Harker Dev, following the team of Brian Chan (‘14), Manan Shah (‘17), Vedaad Shakib (‘17) and Andrew Tierno (‘17).

“It was 2014, and [the team was] working on a project because they realized, after coming to high school, that the bell schedule was too confusing,” Neeraj, who joined the team as a sophomore, said. “So they decided to build a bell schedule.

And they formed this organization, Harker Development, on Github.”

For Neeraj, the impetus to start coding came in seventh grade, when he began participating in Hackathons, events during

which programmers come together to collaborate on software projects. However, it wasn’t until he met the members of Harker Dev that he discovered his interest in implementing projects for the school and for his peers.

Conversely, the juniors on the team discovered Harker Dev through coding for the school — in 2016, academic dean Evan Barth challenged students to develop a replacement for the course planner in Naviance.

Hoping to create a friendlier and simpler user interface, David, Joel, Ryan and Rithvik teamed up with other members of their class to create the Harker Planner.

“When Mr. Barth announced a coding challenge for the course planner, [David, Rithvik, Joel and I] got together with some other people to make the Harker Planner. And then we realized that we wanted to do more and we thought of taking on other projects as well,” Ryan said.

For some members, fully implementing a project that would be used and advocated for by

200

26%

Day Zero reporter

liters of water that will be available to families after Day Zero

Harker’s faculty, staff and students was a dream come true.

“In middle school, Ryan, Rithvik and I made this very small organization, and we wanted to redo PCR, after the Harker Homework Management System (HHMS) had gone. We failed, but we really had this vision to code for Harker since middle school,” David said with a laugh.”

The group then looked into other avenues of creating similar projects for in-school use, soon connecting with Harker Dev through Andrew.

“We were all sort of connected with [Andrew], so it was easy to merge our group with his,” Joel said.

Since then, through countless hours of Github commits and lines upon lines of Javascript code, Harker Dev has churned out a flurry of projects: in addition to the bell schedule, the lunch menu and the course planner, Harker Dev has created a GPA calculator and Food Court, a site where teachers can order dinner.

“For each project, it’s different. Bell schedule is an ongoing project, while for course planner, it took a couple hundred hours in total, just for me. Food Court was also a similar commitment,” David said. “Every project that I work on takes a significant part of that month, so I will notice it taking time from other things, for sure.”

Harker Dev’s hard work has paid off — the group is recognized not only by teachers and students but also by administrators.

number of water collection points needed in event of a Day Zero

50

liters of water currently allowed per household

20000

ANG

RESET

percent of water left in Cape Town’s reservoirs that will prompt a Day Zero

E ZH KATHERIN

GLOBAL

arushi saxena

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

number of citizens per water collection point

CAPE TOWN

SOUTH AFRICA

policies for water consumption.

He later imposed taxes on households which bypassed their monthly water allowance.

“I think that what they’re doing in Cape Town is building desalination plants, and that’s what’s going to have to happen in lots of parts of the world, probably here as well.

Also, a lot of waste water can be reclaimed,” Dr. Schafer said.

“Something that we can be doing here in California a lot better and a lot of other cities is we’ve got this amazing source of water from Hetch Hetchy near Yosemite and we use that water to flush our toilets and it’s such a weird idea that we use this pure pristine mountain water to do all of these things that we could use just any old water for.”

Desalination of seawater, wastewater reuse and diversification of water sources all could alleviate crises caused by water shortage. Particularly in California, where over 80 percent of water is used for agriculture, cutting down on consumption of meat and dairy products can drastically reduce an individual’s contribution to water shortage.

“If you look at the water usage by different sectors, you will see that usage in your home is important and you should conserve when you can, but there are other factors that play a much larger role and they account for a much larger percentage of the water,” Co-President of Green Team Anika Banga said. “Meat, especially beef needs a lot more water for its production than plant based

ABOUT THE MEMBERS Neeraj Aggarwal (12) Github: n3a9

• Currently working on AI to detect fake news and offer more balanced articles • Self-learned many coding concepts and theories through Hackathons

Ryan Adolf (11) Github: rianadon

• Created Check PCR, a user-friendly calendar interface for PCR. • Has worked on the bell schedule

David Melisso (11) Github: DJMCoder

• Enjoys working on the back-end • Used PHP as his primary programming language for web development before switching to JavaScript

Joel Manning (11) Github: bokken12

• Enjoys finding lambda expressions that crash Eclipse.

• Helps to code a web game, Istrolid, in his spare time

Rithvik Panchapakesan (11) Github: RithvikP

• Enjoys coding games of various genres and other applications • Began programming in the Logo programming language

14 WINGED POST

SPORTS

VOLUME 19• ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

CAMERON ZELL

IN THE MOMENT

BASEBALL WIN The baserunner dives back to first base after a caught infeld pop fly by the Trinity Christian second Baseman. They won the game 7-2 on Feb. 23 at Blackford.

Spring sports teams begin seasons, play in first games rose guan

Wingspan designer

MEGAN CARDOSI

Softball

SPRING SPORTS Pramiti Sankar (9) slides into a base during a softball practice. Softball last played at Palo Alto on Feb. 28.

Last year, they finished the season with an 11-9 overall record and a 6-6 record in league. A member of the boys tennis team swings his racket. They won their last game on Feb. 27 over Sacred Heart Preparatory School with a 7-0 victory. Last year, they has an 11-2 record in league and a 17-3 record overall.

Swimming The varsity swim team’s practices began on Jan. 29. This year’s season began with a meet against Monterey High School on Feb. 22 in the Singh Aquatic Center.

Last year, two upper school swimmers, Vivian Wang (12) and Ethan Hu (10), placed in the CCS finals and qualified for the CIF State Championships.

The team hopes for a strong showing at its next meet, the Small School Invitational at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, starting on Saturday at 9 a.m.

“Practices are going pretty well. We’re doing some pretty difficult sets,” Andrew Lu (9) said.

The team’s West Bay Area League (WBAL) meets start with a meet at the Saratoga campus on March 21.

Boys volleyball The varsity boys volleyball team started practices on Jan. 29 this year. They played their first scrimmage, a home game against Bellarmine College Preparatory, on Feb. 21. Last year, they went 14-14 overall and 5-9 in league, losing in the first round of the CCS tournament to the Ann Sobrato Bulldogs.

“Practices have been a lot of fun,” Jeffrey Kwan (10) said.

“I’m very optimistic based on how practices have been going.

We’ve been more competitive than before. I think we’re going to be good.”

The varsity boys volleyball team plays next against Los Gatos High School at home in the athletic center on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. Their league games begin with an away game at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino on March 14 at 6:45 p.m.

Boys tennis

Track & Field

The varsity boys tennis team started practice on Jan. 29 this year, and their league games began with their game against Sacred Heart Preparatory School on Feb. 27.

The team had a 11-2 record in league and a 17-3 record overall before moving into CCS qualifiers last year. Two members of the team qualified for the CCS doubles championship last year.

“I think [the season] is going to go well,” Matthew Jiang (10) said. “We have a solid team; a lot of the players are very familiar with one another. [Practices] have been going well.”

The varsity boys tennis team plays next against the Woodside Priory Panthers at the team’s home court, Backesto Park, tomorrow at 4 p.m.

The track and field team practices kicked off on Jan. 29. The team competed in last year’s West Bay Area League (WBAL) championships in May 2017.

The team next competes at the King’s Academy Track Classic at the King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, starting on Saturday at 9 a.m.

“Our team is, this year, really good. We have a lot of really good ninth graders, and we changed our workouts this year so they’re a little bit harder,” Henry Wong (11) said. “We’re running more than we usually do, and our tempo runs are longer.”

Their West Bay Area League (WBAL) meets start with a meet at Bellarmine College Preparatory on March 14 at 3:30 p.m.

Girls lacrosse

Baseball

Boys golf

Girls lacrosse practices began on Jan. 29. Last year, the team had an overall record of 13-7 and a 4-1 record in league last year, with a nine-game win streak.

“I think that even though we lost a lot of our starters because they were seniors last year, and that was a really big important part of our team, I think I’m really optimistic and excited for the season because what we have is a group of people who work really hard, and it’s already shown up in the preseason,” co-captain Elise Mayer (11) said. “Especially the freshmen, they’ve just worked so hard, and I think that can really make up for our loss of all our seniors.”

The varsity girls lacrosse team plays next against Salinas High School at home on Davis Field tomorrow at 4 p.m.

Their league events begin with a home game against Woodside High School on March 13 at 5:30 p.m.

The baseball team began this year’s practices on Jan. 29 and hopes to improve on its 1311 overall and 7-8 league records last year.

The team started out this year’s season strong with wins in their first two games against the San Jose High School Bulldogs and Trinity Christian School Warriors, as of Feb. 28.

“We have a good leadership, a lot of older guys, and a lot of newcomers, a lot of freshmen, that are going to contribute right away, so I think the future looks good for us,” pitcher and catcher Dominic Cea (12) said. “The team’s already gelled really well. Everyone’s joking around. We’re already pretty tight, so I think that’ll just continue to grow over time.”

The boys baseball team plays next against Independence High School at the Blackford campus today at 4 p.m.

The boys golf team started practices for this year’s season on Jan. 29. They were league champions last year for the fourth consecutive year, and they took second in last year’s Central Coast Section finals and fifth in states.

“There are a lot of freshmen who joined, and there are a good amount of seniors this year, so it’s good to see that at least as we’ve gone through high school, the team has expanded quite a bit,” Neil Patel (12) said.

“When I joined, the year before us, I think there were only five or six people on the team. Now we have around 22 people on the golf team. Practices are a lot of fun with everybody coming.”

The boys golf team plays next against Crystal Springs Uplands School at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

Their league games began with their match against the Nueva School at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club on Thursday.

The varsity softball team started practice on Jan. 29, looking to improve on their 11-9 record overall and 6-6 record in league last year.

“I think it’ll be a really good season,” Lily Wancewicz (11), who plays center field, said. “It’s been really exciting because there’s a lot of new people out there, and they have a lot of talent, so I think that they’ll fill a lot of holes that we had last year and do a really good job replacing the seniors that graduated.”

The varsity softball team plays next against Notre Dame High School at home tomorrow at 4 p.m., their first league event.

WINGED POST 15

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

VARSHA RAMMOHAN

SPORTS

Upper school basketball and soccer teams play in CCS tournaments, finish seasons

Team USA wins 23 medals at Winter Olympics saloni shah & varsha rammohan

meena gudapati

Aquila Editor-in-chief

The annual college-basketball NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness, will take place throughout the month of March and early April. Many Harker students and teachers predict brackets for the tournament.

The AP US History classes will likely compete with bracket projections for the tournament as they have in previous years.

AP US History teacher Katy Rees follows college basketball and does her own bracket every year.

“I like college [basketball] more than pro because it’s way more unpredictable,” she said.

“You always have those ‘come from behind’ stories, or the ‘unbeatables’ that totally fall apart in the final round.”

Selin Sayiner (12) closely follows college basketball and is co-captain of the varsity girls’ basketball team. Selin has not yet made predictions, but is a fan of Michigan State this season.

“I’m really excited because this season there have been a lot of upsets and shifts in top ranking for the [AP Top 25] poll,” she said. “It will be interesting to see in the tournament what happens because there’s not a really clear cut dominance from any one team so it will be a tossup this year, and I’m excited for that.”

On March 11, Selection Sunday, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee will disclose the 68 teams that will qualify to compete in the tournament.

The upper school varsity boys basketball, girls basketball and boys soccer teams competed in their respective Central Coast Section (CCS) tournaments last month. The boys basketball team made the quarterfinals of CCS, while the girls basketball and boys soccer teams both lost in the first rounds.

Seeded number 12 in league, the varsity boys basketball team lost to number 4 seed Carmel on Feb. 23 during the CCS quarterfinals 69-54. They won four games, including an upset win over Pacific Grove, the number 5 seed, on Feb. 22, and ended their season 13-14 overall and 5-9 in league.

The varsity girls basketball team lost their first-round CCS game against Pacific Grove 5435, ending their season 9-12 overall and 5-7 in league.

“I’m really proud that we were able to continue momentum throughout the season and make CCS. Even though we lost, I think it was a great experience

NICOLE CHEN

STEM Editor

and I’m really proud of how far we came this year,” girls basketball team member Lily Wancewicz (11) said.

The varsity boys soccer team, ranked number 2 in seed, were upset in their first-round CCS game against Santa Cruz on Feb. 21 with a final score of 2-1. This has been a historic league championship season for the team, as they ended 14-2-3 overall.

“During the game, at half time the overall message was we’re playing well, just focus on the final third and finish our chances. But in the end, [the coaches] were just as disappointed as we were with the loss,” team captain Rohit Shah (12) said.

CCS encompasses sports teams in San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, San Benito County, Santa Cruz County and several private schools in San Francisco. It is part of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), an organization in charge of high school sports in California.

CCS SUPERSTARS Jack Connors (10) attempts a shot over the hands of a Priory defender.

During this league game, Harker beat Priory 73-62.

Co-Captain Akhila Ramgiri (11) defends Sara Lynn Sullivan (10) as she prepares to drive to the basket. Girls basketball ended the season with an overall record of 9-12 overall and 5-7 in league.

Sparsh Chauhan (12) dribbles the ball down the soccer field during a game against Menlo on Jan. 19. Boys soccer ended their season with a record of 14-2-3.

ERIC FANG

Students and teachers predict March Madness brackets

katherine zhang

Soul Streching: Yoga challenges physical body and spiritual mind

TIFFANY WONG

The 2018 Winter Olympics were held from Feb. 9 to Feb. 25 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Norway had the highest medal count with 14 gold, 14 silver, and 11 bronze medals through eight sports. Germany and Canada took second and third place, with 31 and 29 medals respectively. In a historic move, North Korea and South Korea competed under the same flag for the first time at winter Olympics this year. A total of 92 countries participated in the Olympics with Eucador, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Singapore participating for the first time.

Team USA followed in fourth place with 23 medals, the lowest medal count since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The U.S. won 13 medals in snowboarding and skiing.

Palo Alto native Vincent Zhou became the first Olympian to land a quad lutz.

In an interview with the Winged Post, the 17 year-old spoke about the advice he wants to pass on to those interested in pursuing figure skating.

“I would say that the most important tool you want to have with you when you get into skating is passion and love for the sport--desire to do better, desire to achieve,” he said.

“That is what has propelled me through all these years of difficulty.”

Beijing, China, who hosted a successful and memorable Summer Olympics in 2008, is the official host for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Specific Olympic events can be seen on NBCOlympics.com.

MELISSA KWAN

reporters

tiffany wong

Aquila news editor

Ribbons of the muted afternoon sun peek through the window blinds, casting gentle patches of light between the cool-colored mats spread around the room. With the dulcet twittering of birds at play and the pitter-patter of an easy rain transforming their studio into a paradise of nature, the yogis relax, move and breathe as one through the cycle of poses before returning to the ground for the final Savasana corpse position.

A physical and spiritual exercise challenging participants to develop not only flexibility of the body but also the mind, yoga guides its practitioners along a

journey towards achieving inner peace using various techniques such as meditation and breath control.

Around 70 students are involved in the upper school’s after school yoga program. English teacher Nicholas Manjoine began the yoga program in 20062007 school year.

“In class, I just try to give students an opportunity to find some quiet at the moment,” after school yoga instructor Denise Wendler said. “Yoga can help students be more resistant to illness and can also help students who may be really tired because they’re not getting enough sleep feel more awake.”

Although the various schools of yoga differ in their principles

RELAXING POSES (LEFT) Daniel Wang (9) practices the bridge pose in Denise Wendler’s yoga class. (RIGHT) Students in Wendler’s class raise their hands before entering child’s pose.

and teachings, one underlying component shared by many of these separate branches is asana, defined in the “Yoga Sūtras” as a posture that is “steady and pleasant.”

“The most beginner poses are the most advanced poses in yoga,” Manjoine said. “With every pose, it’s not necessarily about doing it to its completion, but instead about being aware of what you’re doing and how you’re doing it and making those adjustments to put your body in alignment with itself.”

For many who engage in yoga, including English teacher Jennifer Siraganian, the activity lends them an opportunity to escape a world of distractions and explore a setting of calmness.

“With every pose, it’s not necessarily about doing it to its completion, but instead about being aware of what you’re doing and how you’re doing it and making those adjustments to put your body in alignment with itself.”

NICHOLAS MANJOINE UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER “Yoga stops all that chatter in my head. Sometimes, I feel like in the world we live in, it’s hard to be present; we’re on our phones, we’re on our computers [and] we’re rushing here and there,” she said. “With yoga, it’s not about rushing; it’s about being 100 percent present on your mat. It provides a sense of stillness and peace, which I appreciate.”

16

BACK PAGE

VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 6, 2018

CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE 54 years after America criminalized sexual assault, it remains a prevalent workplace issue prameela kottapalli, vijay bharadwaj & rose guan features editor, Wingspan designer and news editor

A never-before seen campaign is waking up the world to the struggles of women in the workplace faced with the harmful actions of the powerful— from the moguls of Hollywood to the tech giants of Silicon Valley—and it all started with a single hashtag on Twitter: #MeToo. Previously silenced with threats of ostracism, rumors of individuals’ predatory natures are becoming empowered accusations. In October of 2017, reports detailing sexual assault allegations against entertainment mogul Harvey Weinstein kindled an activist spark that ignited the internet. The phenomenon, pushed to the forefront of American awareness by social media users and widespread news coverage, spread across platforms and enveloped the world.

In the following months, numerous other accusations arose. Some were directed at men like Weinstein, who held positions of power in the entertainment industry, while more allegations—some of great magnitude—surrounded politicians, comedians, media leaders and other prominent figures. Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to prison in January after more than 150 women and girls accused him of

sexual abuse in court.

The allegations against men of authority propelled an awareness of the prevalence of sexual violence into the limelight, spurring activism and empowering survivors of all genders.

Survivors who shared whisper networks (informal webs of warnings about male coworkers and bosses to be wary of) and voiced their stories of sexual assault were featured in Time Magazine as the collective “Person of the Year” last year: the Silence Breakers. #MeToo and its various incarnations, including the #TimesUp campaign, served as the focal point of the 2018 Golden Globe Awards and continue to trend on social media outlets.

Advocates and allies campaigned for inclusive policies aimed at reducing rates of sexual misconduct from the tech industry to the college campus.

This activism might seem separate from our reality. But sexual assault and discrimination also keenly affect the environments that many upper school students live in now or will in the next five years.

Over the past year, survivors bolstered by the extensive reach of #MeToo have come forward not just in the entertainment industry, but also on college cam-

77%

of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported to police

1 in 4

80%

of sexual assaults among students age 18 to 24 will go unreported to the police Sources: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Bureau of Justice Statistics

women experience rape or attempted rape during time at university

Q&A with startup CEO and activist combating workplace sexual violence Rachel Renock, 27, is the CEO and creative director of startup Wethos, a company that connects nonprofits with freelance professionals. Renock has been featured in The New York Times and on NBC for her activist efforts to combat sexual violence in the workplace. prameela kottapalli

women have reported experiencing sexual harrassment in the workplace

20-25%

puses across the nation “Schools need to report when they have sexual assault cases so that the problem can be highlighted and, from the administrative standpoint, they need to be transparent about the rates of sexual assault on campus,” National Women’s Law Center public policy fellow Miquel Davies said. “Education is step one to address the issue so that more people know about it.”

Organizations like End Rape on Campus (EROC) aim to address this important issue.

“When women say, ‘hey, this person has sexually harassed me’, or when women say, ‘I can’t get an education because the environment is so hostile that I can’t pay attention in class’, then we need to believe them and see what we can do as individuals.

Being an ally is as simple as recognizing a person’s experience and [affirming] it,” said EROC project manager Chardonnay Madkins.

Additional reporting by Jin Tuan and Anya Weaver.

features editor

Winged Post: Within the past year, sexual assault against women–from corporate tech to the entertainment industry–has been pushed into the limelight.

Why now?

Rachel Renock: I think it’s a couple of different things. First and foremost, women are finally getting into positions of power– we are vice presidents, we are executives. Although the struggle to get there was hard, we are getting there, and I think the women who have made it that far are now using their power to change the culture they had to live with for so long. I think the second part of it is a cultural

99.4%

perpetrators do not face jail or prison time

1 in 6

perspective; we’re seeing a huge shift from ‘believe him’ to ‘believe her.’ And I think the third is a generational shift.

There is a younger group of women emerging that believe that they deserve better. I am 27, and you know when I talk to many women in the older generation, they are kind of still in the camp of like ‘it is what it is, and this is how the world is.’ I think that a new generation is coming through and saying ‘it’s 2018.

We don’t deserve to be treated this way anymore.’”

WP: Why is sexual harassment such a prevalent issue in the tech industry?

RR: Tech is very male-dominated, especially in positions of power, and all the money is held by men, and other men are tasked in distributing that money. A really intense power dynamic is going on in tech, but that power dynamic goes across many different sectors. These companies go up so quickly and scale so quickly, so there’s not a lot of time to think about policies and company structure and diversity, and in terms of how we’re treating women in the industry in particular, that “frat boy”

female student survivors receiving aid from a victim services agency after sexual assault

culture– ‘we’re going to party, make a company, and get rich’– completely objectifies women and comes down to women receiving the brunt of all the backlash that comes with that.

“Beyond a change in policy and culture, there has to be consequences to these actions.”

RACHEL RENOCK CEO AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF WETHOS WP: What steps should be taken to reduce rates of sexual violence within the industry?

RR: The number one solution to all of these things, beyond a change in policy and culture, is that there has to be consequences to these actions– that’s the only way to get people to stop doing this. People should feel that if they associate with or become a sexual predator, then they know they are going to be outcasts in society. Unless we instil these consequences, unless we hold people accountable, there is nothing stopping anybody from continuing this kind of behavior.

Page design by Kaitlin Hsu.