Winged Post Volume 28, Issue 2 by Harker Aquila

o 5

WINGED POST VOL. 28 NO. 2

THE HARKER SCHOOL

Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID San Jose, CA Permit No. 2296

500 SARATOGA AVE.

SAN JOSE, CA 95129

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2026

Harker Day celebrates

Managing Editor

arker Day marked a day of connections to the school’s past, joining generations of alumni, families and faculty. 50 years after graduating, members of Harker’s Class of 1976 reunited at the upper school campus on Oct. 3. Director of Alumni Relations Caren Furtado organized the reunion and welcomed five alumni back to a campus transformed since their time as students.

“

years of tradition

50 years later, we’re still close. I see them a lot, and we meet monthly. CINDY DE ANGELO (’76) GOLDEN DIPLOMA RECIPIENT

Head of Lower School Kristin Giammona led the alumni on a campus tour, where they reminisced about old gathering spaces. Much of the campus they remembered has changed. A swimming pool the ’76 class once dedicated has now been replaced with the Singh Aquatic Center. Manzanita and Main Hall are the two remaining buildings from their time as

students, when Harker still operated as a boarding and military school. “Living in the dorms was a big change,” alum Cindy De Angelo (’76) said. “You develop relationships with people, and as you can see, 50 years later, we’re still close. I see them a lot, and we meet monthly.” For Cindy’s classmate and alum Joy Alaison Younes (’76), those bonds endured across five decades and resurfaced naturally when reunited on Harker Day. “Whenever we had a gap before we all saw each other again, it was as if we saw each other a couple of weeks ago,” Younes said. “You can feel that warmth and love.”

Editorial: Let’s talk about sexual assault Opinions p. 13

We can’t condemn the perpetrators for a week and move on. Frank discussion about sexual violence isn’t someone else’s responsibility, some far away imperative. It’s here and now. It’s ours.

The reunion culminated on Davis Field before the Homecoming game. Head of School Brian Yager presented the returning alumni with Golden Diplomas commemorating 50 years since their graduation. That reunion extended beyond Class of 1976. Furtado organized the annual Alumni Barbecue, where former members of other graduating classes gathered over food and drinks. Members of the Class of 1995 and 1996 pored over old yearbooks together. “It’s fair to say that we always romanticize it a little bit,” alum Tom Garvey (‘95) said. “I’m sure that there were some hard times, but we seem to be focusing on

the positive, because that’s the lasting memory.”

“

It was as if we saw each other a couple of weeks ago. You can feel that warmth. JOY ALAISON YOUNES (’76) GOLDEN DIPLOMA RECIPIEN

Some alumni also encountered teachers who had been part of their childhood. Retired fifth-grade math

‘A community you can trust’ AI tests boundaries

Features p. 6

In-depth p. 10 -11

PHOTOS BY CHELSEA XIE, CHARLENE LI, BARTU MILCI

Risa Chokhawala

teacher Pat Walsh, who worked at Harker from 1976 to 2017, reunited with previous students. “I was just talking to a former student who graduated in ‘95, and the minute she saw me, she started crying,” Walsh said. “I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘It just brings up so many good memories.’”

WARM WELCOME (1) Retired Lower School Head Sarah Leonard and Director of Admissions Danielle Holquin (’95) laugh together. (2) Golden diploma recipients pose for a picture on Davis Field. (3) Alum Tommy Moala (’76) hugs a friend. (4) Head of School Brian Yager hands Moala a diploma. (5) Retired fifthgrade math teacher Pat Walsh shakes hands with a former student. (6) Alum Erica Cai (’22) laughs with her friends.

Let’s trash fast fashion

STEM p. 15

‘1% better every day’

Sports p. 19

@harkeraquila

DESIGN BY CHELSEA XIE AND CLAIRE TIAN

2 NEWS

Friday, October 9, 2026

Cornell rape allegations expose failures in justice Chelsea Xie, Aileen Jang

A former Cornell student filed a lawsuit in September in which she alleged that she was forced to consume drugs and repeatedly raped by seven men at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024. The plaintiff known as Jane Doe said she drank alcohol before going to the fraternity house to meet her friend Matthew Ingalls on Oct. 19, 2024. Over the next seven hours, she alleged that she was drugged with ketamine and repeatedly raped by seven Cornell students. Doe reported the alleged assault to the Cornell University Police on Nov. 8, and the university temporarily suspended the seven men Doe accused the same day. According to over 1,000 files obtained by the New York Times, two men were expelled, two suspended and put on probation, one banned from campus, and two issued no-contact orders, “educational modules” and “reflection papers.”

Case sparks widespread public reaction The allegations drew widespread public attention. Although the civil case remains in court and no criminal charges have been filed against the men, the district attorney’s office reopened its investigation in late September.

“

People are grieving the case because this could happen to them or their loved ones. DEMI ZHENG SENIOR

On social media, the lawsuit has prompted expressions of solidarity, where many women share their own experiences with sexual assault and efforts to seek justice. Senior Demi Zheng noticed that many see their own experiences or fears reflected in Jane Doe’s case. “These people are grieving the case because they see their own experiences directly reflected or see that this could happen to them or their loved ones,” Demi said. “That’s sparking the outrage.”

Ashley Mo, Tiffany Zhu ELIZABETH ZHANG, PHOTO PROVIDED BY SONIA YU, SOURCE: CORNELL DAILY SUN

Student files lawsuit against Cornell

OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar were the seven men who allegedly raped Jane Doe. Backlash ignited by the lawsuit and administrative response highlight the systemic injustices in education and the legal system.

Lawsuit raises legal questions on consent

he core legal issue surrounding Jane Doe’s lawsuit is the New York state law’s definition of sexual offense, which currently identifies sexual offense as unconsensual sexual contact or behavior, including situations where the victim is mentally incapacitated. However, this incapacitation must involve the involuntary consumption of an intoxicating substance. According to this law, even if a person was unconscious or unable to process their surroundings, as long as their consumption was voluntary, the law does not qualify them as mentally incapacitated and unable to give consent. Demi explained how this loophole exacerbates the struggle to prosecute sexual assault and pushes the blame onto the victim rather than the perpetrator. “Where denial is most harmful is when you are, as a victim, labeling something that

happened to you as rape and then somebody else deprives you of that word, saying that’s not what it was,” Demi said. “That is an obstruction of justice. It’s preventing healing A person is deemed incapable of consent when he or she is:

(a) less than 17 years old (b) mentally disabled (c) mentally incapacitated (d) physically helpless SOURCE: NEW YORK STATE SENATE

for the victim and prolonging their grief, mourning and healing process, which is why a fair trial is so important in these cases.” In the initial investigation of 2024, the Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten did not file criminal charges, asserting that Jane Doe’s intoxication was voluntary. He argued that Jane Doe’s sworn statement from

2024 does not align with the allegations made in the suit. Jane Doe’s attorney Thomas Giuffra pushed back against Van Houten’s statements and explained that the legal complaints came from multiple meetings with Jane Doe. He emphasized that trauma makes victims go through many stages of denial before fully coming to terms with sexual assault. Public outrage surged after details emerged showing how Cornell University handled the situation. While the seven men faced light consequences, Jane Doe herself had to withdraw from the university. “Cornell can face legal consequences,” attorney and mock trial adviser Christina Lai said. “Jane Doe is bringing a case against Cornell for negligence, breach of contract and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Cornell is facing a lot of reputational damage which can be more significant than the monetary damages.”

Reforms focus on education and accountability The international backlash ignited by Jane Doe’s lawsuit and the administrative response highlight the systemic injustices in education and the legal system. Lai urges students to learn the rights and protections available to them if they ever experience or witness sexual misconduct. “People should know that they have rights,” Lai said. “The law and law enforcement is there to protect them. Preserve evidence and seek medical care. When things happen on a campus, I think it’s important to know what the options are.” While administrative and legislative reforms are imperative, preventing assault also requires addressing gaps in understanding about consent and the law.

“It’s about educating people in general about what legally is or is not rape: ‘In X Y Z situations, what do I have to

“

We need to flip who’s accountable. Women are scared to report sexual assault because the systems in place fail them. SONIA YU (’25) CURRENT CORNELL SOPHOMORE

be wary of?’” Demi said. “It’s also about what consent means. Consent in sex-ed is like a topic that’s talked about, but of course depending on your

socioeconomic background in the United States, you might not even receive sex-ed.” As victims of sexual assault continue to struggle to find justice in a flawed system, true progress lies in fundamental changes to the way future generations are educated. Yu believes the burden of accountability should shift away from the survivors and onto the perpetrators and institutions that cause harm. “Why are we teaching women and young girls how to protect themselves when men are the problem?” Yu said. “We should be teaching men to respect women, respect consent. We need to flip who’s accountable in these situations. Women are scared to report sexual assault because the systems in place fail them.”

Students criticize admin’s response Cornell Daily Sun was the first publication to report on the allegations on Sept. 18 and has continued reporting on the case.

“

I don’t feel ashamed to be at Cornell, but I feel ashamed because our admin has not been transparent or efficient with creating change. SONIA YU (’25) CURRENT CORNELL SOPHOMORE

Harker alum and Cornell sophomore Sonia Yu (’25) expressed that she felt disgusted but unsurprised by the allegations. “[Students are] disgusted with the system, with how admin handled the situation two years ago,” Yu said. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with my friends about the case.” Amidst criticism of the university’s handling of the case, external organizations like Wells Fargo have cancelled career visits, and student organizations have suspended activities, according to Yu. Cornell students have received threats from online strangers, and Yu also noted that campus hotlines have been flooded with hate emails. “It discredits all the students, the faculty here who make this place such an amazing place to learn,” Yu said. “I feel ashamed because our admin has not been transparent or efficient with creating change.” DESIGN BY AILEEN JANG, CHELSEA XIE

NEWS 3

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Midterms heat up across California, U.S. Charlene Li, Sanyi Yao

Proposition 3

Proposition 3 would extend income tax rates on individuals who earn $360,000 to $721,000 to fund education and healthcare, with 89% going to public schools, 11% to community colleges and excess funds to healthcare programs. Supporters believe this is necessary for public schools, while critics assert it could drive high earners away from the state.

CHRISTINA RUAN, PHOTOS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ith California voters preparing to choose their next governor and congressional control at stake nationwide, the Nov. 3 midterm elections could shape both state and federal policy. In California, voters will elect local and statewide representatives like the treasurer and town council positions. The governor candidates are Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton. Their campaigns focus on key issues that affect state residents, like housing shortages and the high cost of living. Declaring the housing crisis a state of emergency, Becerra aims to introduce zoning reforms that expand building opportunities near jobs and transit. To address the problem, Hilton intends to implement a five-year freeze on new housing regulations to speed up project approvals. His policy seeks to increase the supply of homes for first-time homeowners. Economic concerns extend beyond housing. As artificial intelligence reshapes California’s job market, both candidates have proposed policies addressing its potential impact on workers. Becerra proposes tracking AI’s influence on workplace displacement

HEATED RIVALRY California voters are preparing to choose between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton for governer on Nov. 3, along with other local and national positions during the midterm election.

and enacting policies based on that data. Hilton suggests prohibiting employers from having automated systems determine an individual’s employment status. While California voters will decide statewide races and policies that directly affect residents, the election will also determine the balance of power in Congress. At the national level, the midterm elections offer parties an opportunity to gain a controlling majority in the House of Representatives and Senate. Democrats aim to flip

the House of Representatives, which currently has a 214-218 Democrat-Republican ratio. In the Senate, there are 45 Democrats, 53 Republicans and two independents who caucus with Democrats. Democrats must win at least four seats in swing states like Iowa and Ohio. According to most political forecasts, Democrats will likely flip the House, while Senate control is more uncertain. With Trump’s approval ratings falling in recent months, the midterm elections could affect Trump’s ability to pass legislation.

Proposition 38

Proposition 39

Proposition 38 borrows $8.4 billion for immunology research, with half of the funds funneling toward UC research labs and the other half to public universities and nonprofits. This proposition could support immunology research against diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer and mitigate the effects of Trump’s funding cuts. Opposition claims it would create bond debt.

Proposition 39 requires voter identification at in-person drop boxes and government ID digits for mailed ballots to verify U.S. citizenship status. Supporters argue this would improve voter trust in election processes, while the opposition believes Trump’s claims of election fraud drive it and would disadvantage lowerincome families who may not have the necessary documents.

Election timeline Ballots were mailed to all registered voters, as California is one of eight states that send ballots to voters in the mail prior to the election. Individuals could drop off ballots between Oct. 5 and Nov. 3 or mail them by Election Day.

October 19

This is the final day to register to vote for the election. Those who have not yet registered should do so by this date.

October 31

Early in-person voting begins, and voters can visit any eligible locations at times listed by the California County Elections Office.

November 3

Polls for in-person voting open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., while mailed ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day and received within a week. It is recommended to mail at least seven days prior.

“

With prices staying this high now, I have to calculate the exact mileage of every trip. LUKA DEGORICIJA SENIOR

of supply shock,” economics teacher Dean Lizardo said. “Part of the reason we have a massive supply shock is because of what’s been happening in the Middle East, where the oil we typically get is not as freeflowing. All the different things

that rely on oil, which is not just diesel but energy generally, are going to be pinched because you have less access to it.” While primarily fueled by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries further intensified this recent price surge. Aiming to deprive Russia of resources to finance its war spending, Ukrainian strikes restricted the Russian Government from exporting diesel and other fuels across the globe. Record-low domestic inventories further reduce the U.S.’s ability to produce fuel. Those disruptions remove additional fuel from an already tight global market, further pushing prices upward. While diesel bears the brunt of the crisis, the same global crude oil shock is causing regular gas prices to rise across the board, affecting everyday consumers and commuters. Senior Luka Degoricija noticed

SAM LI

U.S. diesel prices reached a historic high of $6.29 per gallon amid major disruptions to the global fuel supply, with the California average above $8 in September. The U.S. distillate oil inventory dropped to 107.9 million barrels, the lowest seasonal level since tracking started in the 1980s. The ongoing war in the Middle East between the U.S., Israel and Iran halted key transport channels in the Strait of Hormuz, causing the largest maritime supply disruption in global history. Now the main naval battleground for the involved countries, the strait previously carried 14 million barrels of oil and 125 to 140 ships daily — around 14% of the world’s seaborne crude oil. Today, the strait handles 10 million barrels of oil daily. Both sides enacted restrictions in response to

the conflict: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deployed naval mines in and around the strait, while U.S. President Donald Trump enforced an “all or nothing” blockade on Iranian ports. “This is a typical example

Co-pilot attacks captain on Israel-bound flight FlyDubai co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami stabbed the captain in an attempt to crash a flight carrying 182 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept. 30. Investigators believe the motive was Islamist extremism. The aircraft plunged thousands of feet a dentist restrained him while a plumber took the controls. The plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

SpaceX launches astronauts to space

October 5

U.S. diesel hits record high in oil shock Aileen Jang, Sam Li

Sanyi Yao, Mia Ji

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Oct. 1. NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov reached the station in eight hours, setting a U.S. speed record for a crewed trip to the ISS. Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit.

Bolivia Attorney General arrested The Bolivian government announced the police detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca and 13 other officials over corruption allegations around drug trafficking on Oct. 1. U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the necessity of fighting systemic political corruption in Bolivia.

Russian worker succumbs to plague Media reports claim Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute employee Darya Shipilova died of pneumonia from an unknown origin on Oct. 2, prompting concerns that she may have contracted pneumonic plague. Russian authorities quarantined the hospital where she died and placed nearly 200 contacts under medical observation. Officials said testing found no link between her death and pathogens handled at the institute.

GOUGED GAS Senior Luka Degoricija refuels his car amidst historic high prices.

North Korea tests ballistic missile

this shift in behavior among his peers and in his own spending. “When I got behind the wheel before, I would give someone a ride home or grab food after practice without a second thought,” Luka said. “With prices staying this high now, I have to calculate the exact mileage of every trip. It is harder to cruise around.”

North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile under Kim Jong Un’s supervision on Oct. 3. South Korea’s military reported the missile traveled more than 435 miles before landing in the sea. North Korea said the missile could alter its trajectory at low altitude to evade missiledefense systems, though South Korea has not verified this.

Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

DESIGN BY AILEEN JANG , CHARLENE LI

4 NEWS

Friday, October 9, 2026

’28

’29

’30

Final spirit points

and frosh third. Two representatives from each grade participated in three spirit relay games. Juniors secured first place, sophomores came in second, and seniors and frosh ended in third and fourth place. For the scream-off, seniors screamed the loudest at 124.4 decibels. Sophomores secured second at 123.0 decibels, and juniors and frosh came in at 122.4 decibels and 119.0 decibels.

CYNTHIA XIE

Classes clash in tug-of-war, dress up Charlene Li News and Photo Editor

CHARLENE LI

’27

CHARLENE LI

625

tudents leveled up their competition in the annual fall spirit rally to conclude the video-game-themed Fall Spirit Week in the Zhang Gymnasium on Oct. 1. Following tugof-war finals, seniors emerged on top with 1650 points, followed by juniors with 1200, sophomores with 1075 and frosh with 625. All four classes

performed lip sync routines based on their respective spirit themes: Minecraft for frosh, Subway Surfers for sophomores, Pokémon for juniors and Super Mario for seniors. “I had an absolute blast,” Student Activities Board member Eva Petrova (11) said. “It feels great to win with our lip sync, especially because everyone put in so much effort — from the choreographers to the props people, to scriptwriters, to the actors, to the dancers.” Juniors and seniors tied for first for the lip sync, while sophomores followed in second

CYNTHIA XIE

Aileen Jang, Nathan Yee

CATCH ’EM (1) Aarya Vaidya (11) displays a Poké Ball. Seniors and juniors tied for first for the lip sync. SPIRIT SCREAM (2) Cam Jones (12) yells toward the decibel meter. Seniors screamed the loudest at 124.4 decibels. PERFORMANCE POSE (3) Gauri Badgujar (10) makes a “29.” Sophomores used white pom-poms in their lip sync. CLASS CHEER (4) Ben Phan (9) cheers with his class. Frosh ended the rally with 425 points. LEG LEAP (5) HDC dancer Isabelle Niu (12) jumps into the air. The dance team opened spirit rally.

Students and staff participated in the annual Fall Spirit Week, battling in tugof-war, marching in the advisory parade and dressing up from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1. Led by 20232024 Spirit of Spirit Award winner Caren Furtado, the parade included one representative from every advisory and Jazz Band members.

Tug-of-war commenced after the parade, with juniors facing frosh first and overcoming them in 14 seconds. Seniors reached victory against the sophomores in 13 seconds. Throughout the day, students wore their respective class colors: seniors in yellow, juniors in black, sophomores in white and frosh in green. On the second day of Spirit Week, students and advisers dressed up as characters inspired by their video-game class themes: Super Mario, Pokémon, Subway Surfers and Minecraft. From matching shirt colors

to shared accessories, students and advisers donned twinning outfits on Sept. 30. HSLT members checked students and advisers in for spirit points during lunch.

“

Spirit is about the community you’re trying to build within your class. MASON CHANG (10)

CYNTHIA XIE

1075

Spirit rally promotes community

CYNTHIA XIE

1200

HEATHER WANG

CHARLENE LI

1650

CHARLENE LI

HEATHER WANG

Students battle for Spirit Week high score

’28 DOMINATE (1) Juniors Crichton Rockwell and Aden Liu battle in tug-of-war against frosh. Class of 2028 won the match in 14 seconds. GREEN GRIN (2) Frosh pose for a photo during the spirit parade. Students dressed in their respective class colors on Sept. 28. FIT CHECK (3) HSLT representatives check students in for spirit points during lunch. Seniors placed first for every dress up day. MARIO MUSTACHE (4) Sarah Wang (12) displays her Mario-themed props. Inspired by video games, students donned overalls, streetwear and more for the second day of Spirit Week. DESIGN BY CHARLENE LI

FEATURES 5

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Chasing color in every photo

No more downtime in detention

Ooc photographer Sophie Ormond captures life through a vibrant lens Bartu Milci, Sam Li

Dyuthi Vallamsetty, Diya Deshpande, Rohan Mahapatra

Administration has overhauled detention policy as of the 2026-27 school year, transforming what was once an hour of unsupervised free time into structured community service. The intention of this shift is to further disincentivize campus policy violations. The new system illustrates the importance of these communal values of care, integrity, and compassion. It responds to a common sentiment repeated by students, faculty and parents: detention isn’t taken seriously.

DYUTHI VALLAMSETTY

SAM LI

VIVID VISION Office of Communications photographer Sophie Ormond surrounds herself with her camera equipment and vibrant artwork in her Manzanita office, a reflection of her creative worldview. “I’ve been trying really hard to surround myself with really interesting, stimulating colorful adventures and activities,” Ormond said.

adventures and activities.” Her love for vibrant

“

It’s the most colorful events that are my favorite to photograph. That’s where I feel the most myself. SOPHIE ORMOND OOC PHOTOGRAPHER

expression also extends into music. Ormond grew up surrounded by instruments and dedicated herself to playing the clarinet. “I have a deep tie to the orchestra here at Harker because

it makes me very nostalgic for my time as a musician in high school,” Ormond said. “It made me perceive the world in a much more artistic way. I just loved that music made my world feel more colorful.” Today, Ormond brings the same celebratory warmth to Harker. She shared how her position at Harker provided her new coverage experiences that vastly improved her photography. “I no longer recognize the photos that I took two years ago, because I know that I have improved so much due to the work ethic that I just felt while being at Harker.” Ormond said. “I have really been able to hone and sharpen different skills, especially in this job that I

never would have encountered working as a solo photographer or self-employed.” Whether Ormond is capturing bubbles blown by kindergarteners or documenting milestones for graduating seniors, she treats every photography assignment as a chance to preserve the memories she wishes she had kept from her own childhood. “I look back at my own personal school days, and I do not have a lot of pictures,” Ormond said. “The fact that I can follow a TK class as they get older and photograph them doing all these big milestone things is amazing. I love working at a school, and the fact that I can be a photographer for a school and capture the magic.”

NEW RULES Students assigned to detention now face three structured community service options, based on the proctor.

DYUTHI VALLAMSETTY

rouched on the gym floor, Office of Communications photographer Sophie Ormond tracks a blur of dancers through her camera lens. As they hit their final pose, she snaps a frame, freezing the rally dance into a vibrant image. Ormond feels most at home when she’s diving into this kind of energetic and colorful scene Ormond’s love of photography began when she brought a point-and-shoot camera to a summer camp as a child. Eager to experiment more with her photography in high school, she took Advanced Placement Photography, where she painted her friends’ faces with bright, geometric paint before photographing them as part of her final project. “[The project] felt like the truest expression of myself, and that is where I established my deepest love for really colorful photography,” Ormond said. “The most colorful events are my favorite thing to photograph.” Ormond’s affinity for vivid visuals stems from the way she processes the world. She was born with graphene-color synesthesia — a neurological condition where she sees specific colors when viewing or hearing words or names. As a result, her senses constantly blend together. “When I either read or hear words, I see colors,” Ormond said. “That’s been the way my brain has worked my entire life. Because my imagination is at a hundred thousand percent at all times, It bleeds into every single thing that I do. I’ve been trying really hard to surround myself with really interesting, stimulating and colorful

TRASH DUTY Under the new detention policy, students can now spend time picking up litter around campus.

’s journey Seniors Nicole Dean and Stellan Lindh pace in anticipation behind their booth in the parking lot of a Los Gatos farmers’ market. As they face customers with their product, Fika Matcha, for the first time, they battle nervousness and drowsiness after months of planning and rejection. “We had stayed up until 3 a.m. preparing for pop-ups because we make everything fresh,” Nicole said. “As we started doing more pop-ups, talking to people and becoming familiar with being rejected, that really boosted our confidence as entrepreneurs.” Months later, the pair stood on a much larger stage, accepting the $20,000 check for winning the INCubatoredu 2026 National Student Pitch in Chicago on July 8. The prize marked a milestone from their first uncertain pop-up. They developed the idea for

Fika Matcha during their Honors Entrepreneurship 1 class in September 2025. The pair found an overlap in their interests with food products: Nicole aimed to remedy Harker’s productivity culture with a healthy energy drink alternative, and Stellan wanted a matcha supply for himself. After workshopping different product forms like

“

Our biggest learning is that rejection is redirection. Everything has just turned into a data point for us. STELLAN LINDH CO-FOUNDER OF FIKA MATCHA

gummies, Nicole and Stellan settled on matcha, focusing on how drinking and making matcha can be a ritual that

MATCHA MOMENT Fika Matcha’s newly developed matcha kit includes a bowl, whisk, sieve, scoop and tin.

promotes a healthier lifestyle. “You’re intentionally taking a moment to pause to make your drink,” Nicole said. “You’re not doing anything else. You’re focused on just whisking the matcha, creating something high quality, and that was what we wanted to emphasize in building our own product.” With health benefits in mind, they entered Fika Matcha around three ingredients: a matcha base, a superfood and a fruit. Their current flavor options are guava, peach and vanilla hojicha. “For flavor profiling, I can’t even tell you how many rounds of different flavor formulas until they landed on the three

PROVIDED BY FIKA MATCHA

Charlene Li, Jessixa Xu, Phoebe Chen

WINNING PITCH Seniors Nicole Dean and Stellan Lindh celebrate after winning $20,000 at the INCubatoredu 2026 National Student Pitch in Chicago on July 8.

they have currently,” Honors Entrepreneurship 1 teacher Michael Acheatel said. “It was all just based off of customer feedback.” Nicole and Stellan also faced frequent turn-downs from potential customers and suppliers. Before launching Fika Matcha, they spent hours

at cafes interviewing strangers about matcha preferences. “It’s so true that just because you don’t get this customer, just because you don’t get this opportunity, it doesn’t mean it’s over,” Stellan said. “That was really hard for us to understand at the beginning.” Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

DESIGN BY DYUTHI VALLAMSETTY

6 FEATURES

Friday, October 9, 2026

‘A community you can trust’ Claire Tian, Aileen Jang

r ainbow flag on a wall is not an uncommon sight at the upper school. “This is a kind of environment where gay people are not hidden,” Gender and Sexuality Alliance adviser Abel Olivas said. “LGBTQ kids come here from other schools, they’re like, ‘you have a rainbow flag on your bulletin board — are you allowed to do that?’” But when the upper school opened in 1998, few South Bay schools had comparable LBGTQ+ organizations and support. Faculty had little precedent to follow, according to upper school founding faculty member Donna Gilbert.

ACCEPTANCE GAP A schoology survey of 102 students asked how accepting the community is.

“It just took some educating to get acclimated to the schools,” Gilbert said. “We moved slowly to make sure that we addressed a community where this was very new.” Although change was incremental, she credited the LGBTQ+ faculty and allies for their support. Gilbert explained that these early efforts focused on education, speakers, panels and creating spaces where students could seek support when they were ready. “Creating a safe space helps students learn, because they have less anxiety about how they’ll be treated based on sexual orientation or gender,” Gilbert said. “It’s really important to have friends and to feel like you have a community of people you can trust as a teenager. There’s got to be more to the environment than just going to school, doing your work and going home.” The early queer movement at the upper school largely centered the gay and lesbian community — GSA used to stand for the Gay-Straight Alliance. Students pushed for more recent changes to school policies, especially regarding gender. The Transgender Affinity Group advocated for changes like gender-neutral bathrooms. “It’s great, the fact that trans kids have made so much headway in our community,” Olivas said. “They’ve advocated for themselves often even before they had trans adults to mentor them. They were the ones who were leading the way and saying, ‘here’s what we need.’” By one measure, these

CHELSEA XIE

Faculty supporters advocate for LGBTQ+ student community

VISIBLE SUPPORT GSA president Sean Wang (12) stands in focus holding LGBTQ+ pride flags as students move around them, reflecting the contrast between visibility and the ongoing push for stronger support of queer students on campus.

efforts by students and faculty to increase LGBTQ+ visibility succeeded. But GSA president Sean Wang (12) also described a

“

There’s a very large culture of acceptance, but not really support present on the campus. SEAN WANG (12) GSA PRESIDENT

more nuanced experience. “There’s a very large culture of acceptance, but not really support present on the campus,” Sean said. “Be explicit about how this is something that you’re willing to defend — if

you do end up being part of this community, I am willing to defend you. It’s very important to note the distinction.” In a survey of 102 students, 47.7% of LGBTQ+ respondents reported experiencing some form of prejudicial treatment based on their gender or sexual identity. 66.3% of students, regardless of orientation, reported witnessing prejudice. “I have more students than you would expect who are trans here but can’t be trans at home,” Transgender Affinity Group adviser Eric Johnson said. “For whatever reason, sometimes school is the safest place for people to be themselves.” One anonymous queer student discussed how perception of their selfexpression has led them to limit how they voice their sexual

orientation. “It puts you at risk a lot of times, and you just have to be OK with that risk, or if you’re not OK, just don’t really express it,” the student said. “It’s a delicate balancing act.” Sean points to the faculty as pillars of support to rely on — many initiated efforts to make the GSA and queer visibility possible. 81.8% of surveyed LGBTQ+ or questioning students rated the faculty as very or somewhat accepting. “I encourage students who do find themselves struggling with being closeted but also wanting affirmation to talk to these faculty.” Sean said. “Talking with these faculty can offer a lot of insights and their life experiences in regards to being queer. Having these out faculty and supportive faculty

Charlene Li, Bartu Milci Words that have historically been used to marginalize and derogate certain groups have appeared in common language increasingly often in recent years. For instance, the r-word was used in centuries past in the context of “mental retardation” for people with mental disabilities but developed negative connotations due to the often poor and abusive treatment of these individuals by society. Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Patricia Burrows explained that teenagers often view language as a mechanism by which they can seem edgy. “The medium students are consuming information, like the internet and social media, is littered with these words,” Burrows said. “This time in human development, people test boundaries and stand out. It’s not uncommon for young people to try and see what they can get away with.” Especially with the

prevalence of online communication platforms, she believes chatting from behind a screen gives individuals a sense of anonymity when they use inappropriate terms. In popular culture, thousands of

“

The medium students are consuming information, like the internet and social media, is littered with these words. PATRICIA BURROWS

DIRECTOR OF DEI

social media users have used the r-word, including public figures like Kanye West and Elon Musk. Many students are also impacted by the frequent use of slurs. Students who truly identify

with many of these terms can be harmed by constantly hearing these terms. “It’s hard for an individual who is harmed by the word to go, I don’t like that, it hurts my feelings,” Burrows said. “That takes a tremendous amount of bravery to do so. I think when you hear the slurs, it validates that this language is okay and the harm of this language on someone is also OK.” However, other students find no problem in the common usage of these words. An anonymous source claimed that they do not view the r-word as a slur, raising comparisons to other words that were once viewed similarly. “Nowadays, words like ‘moron’ and ‘idiot’ are perfectly socially acceptable,” they said. “Those words were also used to demean and harm mentally handicapped people in the past. They were all used as medical terms, then they were turned into slurs, and now they’re all acceptable.” The student expressed their

DYUTHI VALLAMSETTY

Teenagers turn slurs into slang

STICKS AND STONES Teenagers’ casual use of slurs can normalize harmful language, blurring the line between humor and the real impact words can have on others.

view that words that represent real medical conditions are more closely scrutinized when used for non-medical purposes. “It’s more harmful to call somebody autistic because that’s an actual medical term,” the anonymous source said. “It trivializes people who actually have autism, but nobody has the r-word because it’s not a term people use to describe anybody. I would never use the word to describe someone who actually is mentally handicapped, and I think it’s horrible if you do.”

At Harker, some class deans have raised this issue with students in an attempt to mitigate it. Yet Burrows shared that constant warnings from adults typically have minimal effect in changing actions. “Kids have to speak up and explain to each other why it’s harmful, and that’s a huge culture shift,” Burrows said. “If kids have more authentic conversations with each other, and they tell each other what’s not okay, it would make a difference.” Read more on harkeraquila.com.

DESIGN BY DYUTHI VALLAMSETTY

A&E/LIFESTYLE 7

Volume 28 • Issue 2

En pointe, under pressure

Out of touch

YAGP controversy ignites scrutiny of ballet standards

Lily Peng, Amber Wee

Chelsea Xie Editor-in-Chief

CHELSEA XIE, GRACE WU, SOURCE: CLOUD & VICTORY INSTAGRAM

AGP allegedly told a 13-year-old ballet dancer to “lose 10 pounds to go to finals.” This anonymous account was one of many sent to dancewear brand Cloud & Victory after brand owner Min posted a reel criticizing YAGP for asking dancers to disclose their weight on registration forms. Cloud & Victory then posted screenshots of these messages, which alleged weight pressure, racial discrimination, doctored rubrics and body-based favoritism at international ballet competition Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). These posts divided the ballet community. While some expressed outrage and shared their own experiences with body image and toxic culture, many prominent YAGP alumni defended the organization. Part-time Harker ballet teacher Maegan Reynolds’ first reaction to the post was frustration and disappointment. “While I strongly disagree with the allegations being made, I also can’t say that I was surprised,” Reynolds said. “Many of the issues being discussed, particularly around body image and the expectations placed on young dancers, are unfortunately not new to the ballet world.” YAGP is a prominent nonprofit dance organization that has awarded over $4 million in scholarships through its ballet competition since its founding in 1999. So farYAGP has not confirmed or denied the allegations, which have largely circulated through social media and online forums like r/ BALLET on Reddit.

ANONYMOUS ACCUSATIONS Cloud & Victory Dancewear posts allegations on Instagram regarding YAGP’s strict attitude towards the body’s physical appearance. According to these alleged experiences from anonymous dancers, the competition adjusts scores based on body fat and pressures dancers to lose weight.

“

The standard is to be skinnier than the usual healthy person. FAYE GU

BALLET DANCER

disorders.” One ballet dancer, who asked to remain anonymous, shared how those pressures

shaped the way they scrutinized their own and others’ bodies, and particularly their turnout, or the outward rotation of a dancer’s legs from the hips. “There was this period of time where I became very critical of my body proportions and many things that you can’t change about your own physicality,” the dancer said. “Whenever I saw [another dancer], I would judge their turnout before I judged anything else, to a scary degree.” The dancer attributes some of this pressure to their ballet studio’s intense emphasis on technique and body alignment, which they believe stems in part from how YAGP evaluates dancers on the rubric. “The competition has a very big focus on objectively technical elements like turns, long legs and high extensions,” they said. “It’s such a hegemon in the ballet competition world that it sets the standards for everyone. I don’t know how much intentional thought gets

poured into what we want to define as a winner or a good ballet dancer.” Sophomore dancer Faye Gu sees these unrealistic expectations extending into professional ballet. “The ballet world is harsh, and to be a professional there needs to be some standards,” Faye said. “The ballet industry has always been toxic because the standard is to be skinnier than the usual healthy person.” Reynolds emphasizes the importance of supporting the growth of young dancers rather than promoting an unhealthy view of physical appearance. “There is no one-size-fits-all dancer, so there cannot be a onesize-fits-all body or approach to nutrition,” Reynolds said. “This is especially important for children and teenagers who are still growing. Young dancers need to know that the adults making these decisions are evaluating them fairly and are looking out for their well-being.”

LILY PENG

Reynolds never competed at YAGP, yet she recalls experiencing similar pressures related to weight control and body image during ballet class. “When you’re a young dancer, comments from people you look up to can carry an enormous amount of weight,” Reynolds said. “I watched several dancers around me develop very unhealthy relationships with food, including eating

CENSORED KATSEYE’s moved towards a more mature concept with their song “Gnarly”. The sexualization of members’ bodies concerned many hardcore fans.

choreography. “Gnarly” marked a departure from their main-stream pop genre to a more aggressive sound which notably characterized a shift in both music and the image of KATSEYE.

“

They’re losing a coherent theme or any identifiable aspect of their group.

Energy drink marketing poses risks for youth

GRACE WU, SOURCE: CELSIUS.COM

An Instagram reel showing a Monster Energy drink can under neon lights officially announces Monster’s collaboration with the videogame Call of Duty. From on-theme sound effects to upbeat songs, the video markets a caffeinated beverage to an audience of primarily teens and young adults. Energy drink companies

CAFFEINE OVERLOAD Most popular energy drinks contain more milligrams of caffeine than recommended for teens.

draw adolescents’ attention to their products through video game partnerships and influencer collaborations. For instance, energy drink brand Alani Nu put out a limited time drink flavor, Berry Pop, as a collaboration with influencer Addison Rae in 2022. Senior Hannah Jiang raised moral concerns about promotional tactics that include collaborating with games and influencers with young followers. “They’re sacrificing their ethics to reach a target market that has a lot of potential to add to their revenue,” Hannah said. “The companies are trying to convince these teens who look up to these people to think, ‘They can drink energy drinks, so I can drink them too.’” In 2015, three U.S. senators released “Buzzkill,” a report that examined the promotions of energy drinks and the harm to teens. However, their efforts did not alter youth-targeted energy drink marketing due to a lack of conclusive evidence.

KAYLA CHEN (12) KATSEYE FAN

GRACE WU

Grace Wu, Mia Ji

SLEEPY SIPPING Many energy drink companies use marketing tactics to reach an audience that includes adolescents. Regular consumption of energy drinks can lead to risks like liver disease.

Economics and social science teacher Matthew McCorkle explained difficulties in proving that companies were intentionally marketing to minors rather than a general audience. “We can observe more consumption happening, but the question is, are they just blanketing exposure?” McCorkle said. “If I put a billboard up a lot of young people are going to see it. Proving that intent is something

Stage lights outline five figures. As the soundtrack kicks up, a jumbled mix of autotune and techno beats fills the stadium. The light shifts forward, illuminating the thin outfits of five women as they settle into position and prepare to launch into choreography. This is KATSEYE. KATSEYE, a six-member global girl group under HYBE Entertainment and Geffen Records, initially made waves for their cultural diversity and their music. Their first title tracks “Debut” and “Touch” gained recognition for their catchy lyrics and

that the senators were trying to do, but clearly they weren’t able to get enough restrictions.” Hannah emphasized that though companies should be teens have the obligation to take care of their own well-being. “You are ultimately accountable for your own body,” Hannah said. “You just have to think about how a lot of these [drink] cans say, ‘not recommended for people under 18.’ There’s definitely healthier options to boost your energy.”

“Gnarly” provided shock value: the absurd lyrics and exaggerated choreography was unique from the music scene at that time. Ever since, KATSEYE has capitalized on this popularity, with their recent releases like “PINKY UP” and “Hootti Frutti” utilizing similar elements For KATSEYE fan senior Kayla Chen, the main issue behind this shift stems from KATSEYE’s target audience of young tweens and teens, built from KATSEYE’s previously more playful and innocent song choices. “They’re losing a coherent theme or any identifiable aspect of their group,” Kayla said. “Before ‘Gnarly’, they had this international image where everyone worked together but all represented different ideals, backgrounds and talents. A key aspect of their marketing was girlhood and fantastical imagery that comes with that.” DESIGN BY GRACE WU

8 A&E/LIFESTYLE

Friday, October 9, 2026

bookstore owner? Amy Davis fosters friendship for all ages through Fremont’s Banter Bookshop

my Davis cuts a shiny red ribbon in half with a pair of over-sized scissors. She smiles at her team and the crowd of over a hundred people gathered outside Banter Bookshop to celebrate its opening. As the audience erupts in cheers, Davis feels a wave of complete awe wash over her. “It felt surreal that it actually all came together,” Davis said. “I felt very lucky that I had a great team of people that were working with me. There was just a sense of pride and joy. It was a little bit of a pinch me moment, like, ‘Is this really happening?’” Davis opened Banter in 2022 in Fremont’s emerging downtown area, curating and selling books of all genres for all

Blind boxes have grown into a global trend, with endless characters and designs to choose from. After spending hundreds of dollars on blind boxes, I can confidently rank my top five based on visual appeal and practicality. 5. Monchichi Monchichis have babylike faces with brown fur-covered bodies. Some feature extra designs, like bibs and bows, which add an extra touch of charm. Despite their off-putting baby faces, it’s still a cute companion.

“

4. Chiikawa Chiikawa blind boxes only have one series: the Hippers. As much as I love their exaggerated c a r t o o n features, the limited variety disappoints me. These hippers also have massive heads, making them fall off often. But the unique character design compensates for this, securing fourth place on my list.

Being able to bring all these people together has been so rewarding. AMY DAVIS

BOOKSTORE OWNER

ages. But in the years before the pandemic, Davis never seriously considered starting an independent bookstore, as she was working as a lawyer and later became a full-time mother of two. As her daughters grew older, she had more time on her hands. With the support of

3. Sonny Angels Sonny Angels are one of the most controversial blind boxes because of their cherub appearance. I find the simplicity of Sonny Angels appealing: unique hats are the only differentiating factor for the figures, all look the same. For me, Sonny Angels serve as the cutest study companions on my laptop.

Kristiyan Kurtev TALON Managing Editor

1. Mofusand These adorable cat figures captivate me with their big blue eyes. Mofusands are known to have unique whimsical hats, such as tempuras or fish. I swear they are loved by all, because who could ever hate chubby kittens?

PHOTOS BY AMBER WEE

2. Smiskis I love Smiskis because of the variety in poses, ranging from cheerleading to sleeping. Their diverse functionality makes me want to buy more. They are popular for a good reason, and they deserve second on my list for their assortment.

HAPPY TO HELP Davis smiles as she talks with a customer about book recommendations. Banter hosts various book clubs and events throughout the year, attracting both locals and tourists.

was a whirlwind of excitement and discovery. When the event officially began, I sprinted alongside hundreds of fans toward the Main Stage for the Opening Ceremony. The crowning moment of the Opening Ceremony was the reveal of World of Warcraft: Forever, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that, after twenty-one years, is adding new quests and stories directly into the original Vanilla version of the game from 2004. I am

KRISTIYAN KURTEV

Over two thrilling days, my dad and I had the chance to partake in a celebration of Blizzard Entertainment’s most iconic gaming universes at the Anaheim Convention Center on Sept. 12 and 13. From watching major franchise announcements to cheering on esports teams for my favorite game at the Overwatch World Cup to watching a LE SSERAFIM concert, BlizzCon

connections in the community and Paz & Associates, a company focused on helping start independent bookstores, Davis officially began working on her business before the pandemic started. “My husband was like, ‘I think you should just go for it,’” Davis said. “That was one of the little nudges I needed. I talked to a lot of people in my area, and I knew there was a need. The combination of my family, friends and the community was my motivation.” While building her bookshop from the ground up, Davis faced challenges from time management to keeping track of all her responsibilities. “There’s getting your business insurance, filing the right papers with the county and a lot more,” Davis said. “That’s where I used my skills and training from being a lawyer to stay on top of dates and make sure deadlines were hit.” Davis established a tag line for Banter: books and community for readers of all ages. To honor that statement, Banter hosts events like storytimes for youth that occur twice a week to five different book clubs with themes like romantasy and horror. “What’s really neat about our book clubs is that they’re multigenerational,” Davis said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘This is great, because my other book club is filled with people my same age.’ All these different opinions and age ranges are able to lend to a conversation, so being able to bring all these

MAGGIE HU

Grace Wu, Maggie Hu

Reporter

GET YOUR GAME FACE ON Overwatch World Cup teams Korea and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia compete in the Grand Finals. On Twitch, the event reached a peak audience of 401,068 viewers and recorded over 10.1 million hours watched.

people together has been really rewarding.” Davis appreciates how discussing novels with other people provides a platform to share deeply personal experiences. “Books can be a window as well as a mirror,” Davis said. “For some stories, it’s so comforting to see your life reflected in a book. It resonates with you. But stories can also be a window into the experience of somebody else.” By continuously expanding

Banter with new book clubs, programs and community events, Davis has transformed Banter from a dream in the back of her mind into a successful independent business. “It’s so rewarding to see the friendships and the conversations that go on at the store,” Davis said. “I just love those moments. There’s lots of places where people can buy books, and so providing a place where people feel a connection just builds such a strong community.”

looking forward to playing World of Warcraft: Forever as someone who never had the chance to experience the original and simpler version of the game. Once the opening ceremony wrapped up, I spent the afternoon exploring the bustling show floor and playtesting demos of the latest games and upcoming releases. One of the highlights was Overwatch, where I played as the new vampiric hero Doctrine. After nearly five hours exploring demo booths, I made my way back to the Main Stage for Community Night, an annual BlizzCon tradition since 2005 that brings fans together to celebrate cosplays, fan-made films and unique talents. Throughout the night, the stage came alive with everything from motorized costumes equipped with smoke machines to a stand-up slam poetry routine titled “An Apology to All the Healers I’ve Ever Had.” In many ways, Community Night captured the camaraderie and the humor that make the Blizzard community feel like family.

On day two, four Overwatch national teams from around the globe competed for a place in the Grand Finals. The Overwatch World Cup is only held during years when there’s a BlizzCon, and I couldn’t miss witnessing it in person. The final match between South Korea and Saudi Arabia was intense, but strategic gameplay by Korea earned them the win. Hearing LE SSERAFIM perform “Perfect Night” live was the perfect finale to a celebration of community, nostalgia and new beginnings.

GRACE WU

Amber Wee

DESIGN BY GRACE WU

Volume 28 • Issue 2

What is Prop 40? According to Calmatters, Proposition 40 would “require the estimated 200 Californians whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the start of this year to pay a one-time 5% tax.

AAHANA SHARMA AND SHREYAS KARNAM

Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the group sponsoring the measure, projects that it would raise roughly $100 billion over five years. That money would be earmarked primarily for healthcare, with some reserved for food assistance and education.”

OPINIONS 9

Perspectives: Billionaire wealth tax Funding isn’t a fix

Chelsea Xie Editor-in-Chief

he central healthcare problem that Prop 40 seeks to address is undoubtedly important. The real question is whether a onetime wealth tax is a feasible and sustainable mechanism for addressing it. The Prop 40 ballot description fails to outline any specific implementation for giving a boost to California healthcare. It says where the money will go — about 90% to healthcare — but does not touch on how that money would be used to improve access and quality of healthcare. The healthcare system’s complex web of competitive interests, corporate profits, and polarized political goals makes it much more complex than meets the eye. A one-time wealth tax, though appearing in theory to be a simple way to inject much-needed funds, may be too blunt an instrument to address the structural problems underlying the system.

YES OR NO While proponents of Prop 40 praise its proposed healthcare benefits, many naysayers chafe at the consequences of higher taxes, which could drive innovation from the state.

California’s official voter information guide projects that Prop 40 could generate “tens of billions of dollars” over five years. However, Prop 40 leaves major questions about how this money might translate into concrete transformations of the healthcare system. I want to know what programs the funding will go to,

“

Without knowing how the state will allocate money once it receives funding, I’m not comfortable supporting Prop 40.

how those programs will use the money and how the government intends to continue supporting the programs when Prop 40 funding runs out. Without knowing how the state will allocate money once it receives funding, I’m not comfortable supporting Prop 40. Even if the funding generated by Prop 40 is allocated effectively, we still need to consider how it may cost California elsewhere. I agree that California’s massive wealth gap is a problem. Everyone deserves to have access to healthcare when they need it most. Prop 40 has commendable intentions. But it just goes about achieving its healthcare goal in the wrong way. Before asking voters to approve a tax worth tens of billions of dollars, the state should provide a clearer plan for how those funds will create lasting improvements.

Tax the ultra-rich

Lily Peng Aquila Editor-in-Chief

hen looking at Prop 40, it’s important to examine the inherent problem of billionaires: the extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of such a small number of people. In a country where the wealth gap is steadily increasing, these people should not be able to accumulate that much wealth while others struggle to find a meal everyday. While billionaires do provide economic growth, their wealth is at an entirely different level from the average American citizen, bringing about the question of what they owe back to society for making that level of wealth possible. I won’t deny the valuable impact of these founders and technological companies in creating job opportunities and making California a leading center of economic growth and innovation. However, the benefit

“

5% from billionaires might mean little for them, but it’s so much more significant for average citizens.

they provide to California should not outweigh their basic duty as a citizen of this country to pay the appropriate taxes. This new proposition won’t drive a significant amount of billionaires away from California simply from a one-time 5% wealth tax. On the contrary, leaving Silicon Valley has its own risks. For many billionaires, the many resources and talents found within California are far

more essential than evading a wealth tax, investing in the development of their relocation and jeopardizing their own companies. Most importantly, Prop 40 fulfills something that our current tax system fails to address, which is wealth itself. Billionaires can have an enormous amount of wealth while paying a disproportionate amount of tax. Imposing this billionaire tax ensures they are making similar relative contributions to the average citizen. The healthcare issue will not fix itself. To solve it, policymakers need a huge sum of money. 5% from billionaires might mean little for them, but it’s so much more significant for average citizens. All that money would be far more valuable put into direct effort solving our healthcare problem rather than its current use. It’s hard to control where that money goes. Most people who argue against Proposition 40 state that it’s unclear whether this money will be distributed effectively. This is a valid concern, but it should not be an excuse for inaction. If we require perfect policy before supporting any law, we’re getting nowhere. Our country is built on collective action and every person having the power to vote. Proposition 40 is not perfect and will not create a perfect tax system, but that perfect tax system will never exist. What it will do is put the weight of the situation on those who have the capacity to contribute more to improving our growing healthcare problem. If we want effective change, we must vote yes on Prop 40.

Maggie Hu Reporter

As I flopped on my bed, doom scrolling Instagram yet again, a particular reel caught my eye. In all caps the creator wrote: “ANTHROPIC IS DESTROYING BOOKS.” Alarmed at what I thought was an exaggeration, I sat up and rushed to search up if what I was seeing was real or not. I gaped when I learned that Anthropic, the AI company that owns Claude, pirated hundreds of thousands of physical books from hundreds of authors, ripped them apart and fed the loose pages to an industrial scanner to train their large language models. Anthropic had an entire name for this covert operation that began in 2024: Project Panama. I dived into a deep rabbit hole about Project Panama, scouring Reddit threads and court documents. According to the Washington Post, over a six month period, the company pirated and sliced the spines off

a staggering 500,000 to 2 million physical books to train their LLM models. As an avid reader with an affinity for buying books and organizing my bookshelf in rainbow order, I am no stranger to the benefits of reading physical books. After all, nothing

“

In our digital age, ownership means retaining a sense of individuality.

compares to a good paperback. From the calm rhythm of tracing the prose to getting sucked into a different world, books offer human emotion AI cannot. I prefer physical books because they hold an irreversibility that online copies do not. Once you buy a physical book, it is yours. In our digital age where everything is rented or saved in a separate space,

ownership means retaining a sense of individuality. Efficiency and convenience means nothing if the culture and information people around the world have relied on for millennia is at risk of being replaced. Project Panama and Anthropic seeks to deprive ownership by destroying these books and knowledge. What struck me especially was how the leaders of Project Panama purposefully set out to find books published before 2022 because they were considered “cleaner” of AI slop and therefore better to train the models with. Books out of print especially What infuriated me was that a judge decided Anthropic’s destruction of books was legal under “fair use,” meaning they had the right to destroy the books despite The judge justified their actions as “transformative and innovative” for the AI industry that two-thirds of creatives worry will replace their job. While ripping books apart is not something new, there is nothing innovative and

SHREYAS KARNAM

Put an end to AI book shredding

PIERCED PAGES AI companies like Anthropic have shredded books to train their models, raising questions about copyright violations.

everything dystopian about Anthropic’s eradication of the books. Yes, some bookstores go through the process of pulping unwanted and unsold books, but pulping is a last-ditch effort for many of them. Independent bookstores especially prioritize recycling and reusing. On the other hand, Anthropic actions reflect the actions of big companies who only care about money and have little respect for the preservation of books, which are made to last centuries.

Additionally, the same judge decided Anthropic must pay $1.5 billion for knowingly pirating millions of books from digital libraries and databases. Authors and publishers already lose $300 million to e-book piracy, and Anthropic is destroying their livelihoods for profit. Anthropic is still more than willing to strip humanity’s knowledge to make money. When knowledge equals power, without the ability to read, to own and to think, we lose power. We lose individuality. DESIGN BY SHREYAS KARNAM

10 IN-DEPTH

Friday, October 9, 2026

AI growth tests boundaries: AI safety incidents fuel growing concerns Editor-in-Chief

recent wave of artificial intelligence red flags, from cybersecurity hacks to high-profile resignations, have elevated concerns about the safe development of AI to national levels. Amid mounting concerns, industry leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI Sam Altman publicly acknowledged the urgent need to slow the pace of AI development. In July, hundreds of AI agents developed by industry leader OpenAI hacked the platform Hugging Face in an internal cybersecurity exercise gone sideways. Nathan Hu is a machine learning and computer science PhD student at Stanford University. He commented on the Hugging Face cybersecurity incident. “You can imagine it’s like a genie from Aladdin or one of those movies,” Hu said. “The malicious genie takes the exact thing you ask for and twists around your request and technically satisfies your request, but maybe can commit all sorts of felonies and cause damage along the way.” Hu describes alignment, his own field of AI research, as figuring out how to make AI behave in accordance with human intentions, values and laws. “The hope is that you have this very benevolent genie that really understands our human values and the kind of implicit constraints around what is an acceptable and unacceptable,” Hu said. “It [should] be able to make judgment calls about when you would rather fail the task but follow our laws and our values and not cause harm.” The goal of “safety” has always been embedded in the process of engineering and

releasing large language models to the public. But concerns about safe deployment of AI have accelerated with the rise of increasingly intelligent models, as smarter models can deal more damage. According to junior Ameya Choudary, the rapid improvement of AI has been outpacing the general public’s perception of its intelligence. “The development of AI in the past year alone has just been incredible, and it’s just growing at an exponential rate, to be honest, the intelligence and capability of these models,” Ameya said. Each year, AI models achieve milestones previously considered impossible for AI to tackle. Take a milliondollar math challenge: OpenAI announced that its models had solved the Naviér-Stokes

“

AI should be able to make judgment calls about when you would rather fail the task but follow laws. NATHAN HU STANFORD AI/CS PH.D STUDENT

problem, one of the famously difficult math questions known as the “millenium problems.” “It’s rather shocking just how good the models get,” Hu said. “Solving a millennium problem was just something even the math researchers at OpenAI did not think was coming this year if you looked at the trend line.” According to Hu, a new source of complexity is agentic AI — or multiple models working together as ‘agents’

QUANTIFYING ANXIETIES 116 students responded to an Aquila survey on AI regulation. 31% felt neutral, while 37.9% felt somewhat or very afraid and 31.1% felt somewhat or very comfortable.

towards a common goal. OpenAI devoted hundreds of agents to the Navier-Stokes problem. And it was hundreds of agents that hacked Hugging Face. “One underlying theme between both of these results is that these are systems of many models acting together,” Hu said. “It’s increasing the complexity of these systems where that creates a new challenge to just understand what they’re doing and what’s going on.” Existential threats have also floated to the top of AI safety conversations. Former Anthropic engineer Jacob Coxon resigned from the company on Sept. 8. He came out with public statements asserting the negligence of leading AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic, accusing the powerhouses of “gambling with our lives.”

Open Huggi

INFOGRPAHICS BY CLAIRE TIAN

Claire Tian

EXPONENTIAL EXPANSION The amount of compute — or internal operations — consumed during the training of frontier AI models has increased by an order of magnitude since 2022. SOURCE: EPOCH AI

IN-DEPTH 11

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Will everything be

“

It’s not only the technology itself. It’s how the technology is being deployed in the world.

TOPICS TO TACKLE 116 student survey respondents selected aspects of AI development and application should be reuglated via government oversight.

ANIKA BASU AI CLUB OFFICER

Regulation reshapes the AI race

Chelsea Xie, Kanav Gupta

early three in four Americans are afraid AI will cause human extinction. Tail risks are the extremely rare, potentially catastrophic events that lie on the ends of probability distributions. In the context of AI, a tail risk many are concerned about is the possibility of AGI wiping out the human race. Economics teacher Matthew McCorkle has attended AI conferences and discussions about regulation. He explains regulating tail risks means ensuring alignment. “There are some risks that are fairly easy to foresee and regulate away.” McCorkle said. “The big risk of AI escaping its sandbox and then going off on goals that are not what its creators intend, that is what we would like to constrain.” McCorkle finds several connections between AI and nuclear weapon regulation, especially

July 2026 nAI agents hack ing Face

Sept. 2026 AI system tackles Navier–Stokes

ILLUSTRATION BY ELIZABETH ZHANG

Sept. 2026 AI leaders call for “pacing” of AI innovation

because the U.S., China and now Russia are competing to develop increasingly advanced AI models. He points to nuclear regulation as a historical precedent for how to manage AI without inciting global consequences.

“

[Safety] does require international cooperation and probably monitoring. MATTHEW MCCORKLE

ECONOMICS TEACHER

“The world has come together to solve these problems in the past, and it does require international cooperation and probably some form of monitoring that can be credibly signaled to other countries at the frontier,” McCorkle said. “People are converging on something like FINRA, which is the financial regulatory body, where there’s some sort of industry regulation that’s somewhat internal and selfregulatory.” Hu sees recent commitments from leading AI companies as early examples of this hybrid oversight system. “The most recent development that is really exciting is this idea of embedded third party evaluators,” Hu said. “Anthropic and OpenAI committed to allowing these third party organizations to have access to their internal models and conduct their own independent investigations

Oct. 2026 AI labs back mandatory breach reporting

and evaluations.” Regulation also hits companies unevenly depending on their size. The four largest AI corporations — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta — drive much of the innovation pushing the frontier forward, but small startups can still challenge them and introduce new approaches. Yet, the same compliance requirements that those major labs can absorb may easily be enough to sink a small startup. McCorkle acknowledges the antitrust concerns in AI industry regulation but notes that the industry remains an oligology, with room for startups to challenge dominant firms that continue competing for dominance. “If I’m a big company, then I have the resources to comply with all the regulatory checks,” McCorkle said. “It’s a lot easier for Google or Anthropic or OpenAI to comply with a series of regulators’ oversight requirements than it is for the small team of a dozen researchers. If we’ve got 4 competitors, I’m less concerned about the potential for new regulation to quash potential.” Ameya frequently uses Claude for complex tasks beyond its default “chatbot” role. He views AI as a powerful tool, whose capabilities many users still do not understand. By following industry patterns in the AI world and its leaders actions, Ameya has formed his own prediction on where alignment is headed. “There’s going to be some sort of shared safety floor – every company is going to have to pass the same independent safety requirements before they deploy a model,” Ameya said. “That way, OpenAI won’t be able to say, ‘We have to release this model today because Anthropic is going to beat us to it.’ No, they had to pass the same requirements as you had. So now you’re not really competing over the matter of safety. You’re competing over skill.” Getting there is the hard part. Right now, labs are locked in a race with each other, pushing to ship their newest models.

DESIGN BY ELIZABETH ZHANG, CLAIRE TIAN

Shreyas Karnam Opinions Editor, Columnist

History comes from the Greek word historia, meaning knowledge acquired through inquiry. This quest largely involves reading and interpreting written documents. But objects hold just as much power. Two weeks ago I visited “The Etruscans,” an exhibit at the Legion of Honor, an art museum in San Francisco. The Etruscans flourished in Italy centuries before Rome reached its imperial heights. I was struck by, to put it simply, the Etruscans’ sense of whimsy. Theirs was a culture preoccupied with death — our most prominent examples of Etruscan art come from tombs and sarcophagi. But even in this morbid environment, their art is animated and lively: we see people smiling and dining. Even their pottery is unusual and delightfully excessive, their vases coming with four spouts, for instance. Often overlooked by scholars, the Etruscans often don’t get the same recognition as the venerated Greek or Romans. They are

“

What a sense of awe it is to see something from three thousand years ago.

a victim of Roman cultural erasure. Scholars still don’t fully understand the Etruscan language, and the Romans destroyed any traces we have of Etruscan literature. But their civilization reminds us that objects, from vases to sarcophagi, can have tangible value in a way that written records cannot. Of course, there’s a lot to be said for brooding over documents, trying to figure out what someone said and why they said it. But objects capture the small, sometimes random decisions that make a civilization feel human. I love the ancient world, but it can feel arid, removed and impossibly distant. Seeing physical traces left behind makes antiquity feel closer to home. And what a sense of awe it is to see something from three thousand years ago. All those years made me feel small. But at the same time I felt an intimate connection with this past. That is the strange gift of making things. We leave behind pieces of ourselves for people we will never meet.

Social media provokes ‘gender war’ Irrational online conflicts aggravate existing stereotypes, misogyny Isabel Yang Reporter

“C

ircular vacuums were made by men.” “Patriarchy is when saying ‘I have a boyfriend’ stops men from hitting on you more than saying ‘no’ does.” “Aborting the baby because it’s a boy.” From Roombas to e-dating to a baby’s sex, social media is constantly throwing trivial notions of gender separation at audiences. Apps like TikTok are built to encourage engagement and emotion. Nothing is more engaging than anger. Recently, I’ve seen an increase in the amount of content that stereotypes gender behaviors. The substance of these pointlessly divisive videos are typically not overt — rather, they push a subtle demand onto viewers: that you can’t identify as one gender or another without behaving in a certain way. Advertisements from clothing and makeup brands tell audiences that being a pretty girl requires you to buy their products; toxic masculinity encourages boys to be nonchalant or even bully others to appear stronger and more attractive. Appropriately dubbed the “gender war,” this type of media is usually designed to prompt angry comments and extreme reactions, either positive or negative. Short-form reels and TikToks overwhelm users with intentionally provocative statements, allowing creators to gain traction without considering the consequences. Because most of these posts are online, many view the gender war as inconsequential and irrelevant to everyday life. Indeed, I believe that the emotional intensity of social media often does not directly cause harmful acts like bullying

CLAIRE TIAN

Find power, permanence in objects

Friday, October 9, 2026

ONLINE ANGER Although online content seeks to create ire and artificial division between genders to get views, discourse in-person should transcend the false boundaries created by this content.

or violence. However, years of consuming hateful content still leaves a negative impression on the user, perpetuating a cycle of hostility. By absorbing information blindly and accepting these dramatized depictions of

“

Women are largely the victims of this radical culture.

gender roles as popular opinion, teenagers fail to form their own opinions and turn toward radical ideals instead. We should not allow gender war content to categorize and stereotype the wide diversity of people in our communities, otherwise we risk conforming to unattainable standards. Other gender ideals are

already prominent throughout society in both subtle and overt ways. For example, “gymbro” content geared toward the male audience can often promote toxic body dysmorphia and the need for men to look traditionally masculine, such as not wearing pink clothing. On the other hand, women are also held to extreme standards, criticized for their body proportions, makeup, hair type and other factors that they can’t control. One of the most famous examples of social media’s effect on teenage ideology comes from “red-pill” content. Originating from the movie “The Matrix,” the term refers to how men are disillusioned from the system and shown the reality of the world. The incel community, named after a contraction of the term involuntary celibacy, claims that women’s equality movements have turned their romantic and sexual life against

them by taking away social and eeconomic opportunities. Due to the incel community’s widespread influence in seeding misogyny, terrorist acts have been ruining the lives of both men and women. Women are largely the direct victims of this radical culture, which in the worst cases can lead to violence. Additionally, young boys swept in through social media algorithms showing misogynistic content can eventually develop aggressive behaviors and low self-esteem. It is absolutely critical for our generation, who grew up in online communities, to reject the artificial standards pushed by social media and connect with others in person. In order to break free of the simple boxes that society enjoys in closing us in, we must understand each other through one simple step: humanizing the experiences of all people.

we will run faster, stretch our arms further … And one fine morning — So we beat on, boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

— I’ve discovered genuine insights about myself. It can be kind of surprising, and even a little humbling, when I suddenly realize something and think “how have I never seen that before?” Seeing yourself from the inside is harder than it may seem. It’s easy for other people to see us, but it’s also easy to lose yourself in others’ perceptions and opinions. After all, others look at us from their own perspective, and no one else can see you as fully as you see yourself. This is the true power in introspection. Journaling can seem a little silly or superficial, especially in a culture that tends to praise achievement over experience. But when you know yourself deeply, you get to decide how you define yourself. You determine the person you are and the person you want to be, and no one can hold that power over you.

This I Believe: Journaling shows importance of reflection

Leah Krupnik Aquila Managing Editor

After a long day, I’m exhausted and my thoughts are racing. I pull out my computer and navigate to a Google Doc titled “digital journal.” Its whopping 181 pages contain over two years of musings, introspection, petty rants and unsent letters. Whether I’m navigating a difficult situation with friends, stressed about school, a little too head-over-heeals over a crush or just recapping a fun event, writing out my thoughts always gets me in a better headspace. In a world where everything moves so fast, it can be tempting to try and go even faster, checking items off a to-do list which seems to exponentially increase in length. I’ve definitely fallen victim to this and neglected journaling for more “important” or urgent tasks. w However, what I came to realize is that when I wasn’t

“

It’s tempting to make ourselves busier to escape from our thoughts.

NATHAN YEE

SHREYAS KARNAM

12 OPINIONS

WRITING IS LIFE By allowing someone to reflect, journaling can promote agency and introspection.

taking the time to organize my thoughts, I became more scatterbrained, which ultimately only decreased my productivity. I often think back to the final lines of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”: “Tomorrow

Fitzgerald’s point rings timelessly true. It’s tempting to make ourselves busier to escape from our thoughts. I’ve definitely done it. We fill our silence with music, podcasts and AP review videos, but at a certain point we run the risk of making thinking itself an uncomfortable experience. But thinking and reflecting is the only path to getting to know oneself. Through journaling — interrogating my thoughts, actions and emotions

Read more on harkeraquila.com. DESIGN BY SHREYAS KARNAM

OPINIONS 13

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Editors-in-Chief Claire Tian Chelsea Xie

Editorial: Let’s talk about sexual assault

Managing Editors Elizabeth Zhang Risa Chokhawala News Editors Aileen Jang Charlene Li Opinions Editor Shreyas Karnam Features Editor Dyuthi Vallamsetty A&E/Lifestyle Editor Grace Wu STEM Editors Saria Lum Kanav Gupta Sports Editors Liana Barooah Aahana Sharma ELIZABETH ZHANG

Senior Copy Editor William Jiang Photo Editors Charlene Li Liana Barooah Columnist Shreyas Karnam Social Media Specialist Saria Lum Adviser Whitney Huang, CJE Aquila Editors-in-Chief Lily Peng Cynthia Xie Aquila Managing Editors Nathan Yee Leah Krupnik William Jiang Humans of Harker Editors-in-Chief Heather Wang Victoria Li Humans of Harker Managing Editor Sam Li Reporters Kristiyan Kurtev Ashley Zhou Isabel Yang Kendra Zhao Amber Wee Phoebe Chen Diya Deshpande Alyssa Choi Annie Wang Ayaan Grover Bartu Milci Han Wu Jessica Xu Lori Ji Maggie Hu Mia Ji Rohan Mahapatra Sanyi Yao Selena Ghane Sophia Xu Srikrishna Kataru The Winged Post is the official student newspaper of Harker’s upper school and is distributed free of cost to students every four to six weeks by the Journalism: News and Advanced Journalism: News courses at The Harker School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, California 95129. We aim to publish stories with professional standards while serving as a public forum for Harker students. All content decisions are made by student editors. Opinions and letters represent the viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Winged Post, Harker board, administration, faculty or journalism advisers. Editorials represent the official opinions of The Winged Post editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Harker board, administration, faculty or journalism advisers. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 615 or emailed to harkeraq@ gmail.com and must be signed and legible. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Winged Post style, and letters will be published at the discretion of editorial staff. Baseless accusations or libelous statements will not be considered for publication. Students hold the copyright to work published in Harker journalism publications. CSPA Gold Crowns: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2019, 2018, 2016 CSPA Silver Crowns: 2022, 2021, 2017 NSPA Pacemaker Winner: 2024-25, 2019-20, 2017-18 NSPA Pacemaker Finalist: 2023-24, 2021-2022, 2020-21, 2016-17

STAMP OUT RAPE CULTURE Students deserve more comprehensive sex education from school programming and curricula, but they also need to have more honest conversations about sexual assault in person if we are to real make progress on the issue.

Editorial Board

eadlines will forget about the Cornell Seven. We shouldn’t. Since last week, the case has sparked national outrage. At Harker, we pay attention to the case but hold no formal inperson discussions. As students responsible for our own sexual activity, we must educate ourselves and discuss sex, consent and sexual violence. Cornell should have revealed details of the alleged 2024 sexual assault of former Cornell student Jane Doe after it doled out punishments in 2025. On Sept. 16, Jane Doe filed a sweeping civil lawsuit, which prompted the local district attorney to reopen a criminal investigation, and on Sept. 21 the Cornell Sun published an investigative article. Following a two-year investigation, the student newspaper revealed critical details the university failed to release. Jane Doe alleged in her lawsuit that she was drugged with ketamine and raped by seven Chi Phi fraternity

“

The responsibility for rape belongs to rapists, and them alone.

members. Cornell expelled two students, suspended two others, banned one from campus, and assigned the remaining two “reflection papers,” according to an Oct. 3 New York Times story. None of the accused faced criminal charges. These punishments appear profoundly inadequate given the allegations and the conduct described in the investigation. Sexual assault isn’t new on school campuses. Students have been discussing the same issue for decades, and cases like Jane Doe’s continue to appear in the news again and again. At Harker, there’s a taboo around discussing sex. This

arises in punchlines of jokes or gossip, but there are few serious conversations about sex and sexual activity. Harker students receive sex education in the form of hour-long LIFE assemblies in frosh and senior year. Before this, students have a more comprehensive sex education in eighth grade health class. But, seeing as 25% of students are new to Harker frosh year, our current sex education is not enough. Moreover, many of these conversations skirt around the hard realities of sexual assault and rape. For instance, one LIFE speaker used the metaphor of taking someone’s french fries without their permission to refer to nonconsensual sex. Sidelining sexual discussions entirely in high school is counterproductive. Apart from the massive growth in maturity from eighth grade to senior year, this knowledge is more useful for students in high school, who are more likely to engage in sexual activity. Harker students deserve better sex education. All students have the right to feel comfortable and safe in a learning environment. Yet Harker students also need to know precisely what consent is and what it isn’t, to better discern situations complicated by drugs or even state law, especially because it is an uncomfortable topic for many. Consent isn’t black and white, or a simple yes or no. Real experiences, as seen through Jane Doe’s, rarely resemble simple metaphors or scripted scenarios. Our curricula cannot avoid talking about the hard, unfiltered truths of sex crimes. Use plain language. Say “rape.” That’s what it is But as students we can’t solely rely on school-facilitated lessons and discussions. We have to take our own sexual education seriously. Students should choose to learn, speak out and intervene regardless of who the perpetrator is, what punishment they might receive

or whether they are a friend. 57 students in the Cornell case were in the group chat where Jane Doe’s body was advertised for sex. None did anything.

“

Harker students deserve better sex education.

Our focus in these conversations should stay on the crime of the perpetrator and their effects on the victim. When many people hear about rape, a common response is to blame the survivor, or to focus on semantics and small details of the case. What was she wearing? Why did she go to a fraternity house in the first place? The actual truth is more blunt: the responsibility for rape belongs to rapists, and them alone. The Cornell case has especially ignited Harker students on social media. Dozens of students have posted and reposted stories condemning the perpetrators and calling for action. But stories like those that say “repost if you’re against rape” are insensitive to the situation. While users spreading awareness have good intentions, we need to move beyond online activism. Seeing Cornell rocked from its pedestal threatens images of a picture-perfect Ivy League experience. Prestige didn’t prevent rape. And Cornell isn’t the only school where these situations happen. There are Jane Doe’s everywhere who have been forced to remain silent. Ask yourself: are you equipped to recognize assault? Would you challenge a friend or peer or a group chat? Would you know what to do if someone told you they’d been assaulted? If the answer is no, we as a community have work to do. Frank discussion about sexual violence isn’t someone else’s responsibility, some far away imperative. It’s here and now. It’s ours.

What future changes do you hope to see?

“

It’s about educating people in general about what legally is or is not rape — in any situation, what do I have to be wary of?

DEMI ZHENG SENIOR

We should be teaching the men how to respect women, respect consent and teach them to do the bare minimum, honestly. We need to flip who’s accountable in these situations.

SONIA YU (’25) CORNELL STUDENT

Corrections TO ISSUE 1 OPINIONS 11: “American” should be capitalized in Audrey Hu’s quote SPORTS 14: Sentence beginning “During our teenage years” is incomplete SPORTS 15: “Indian basketball player” should be Indian baseball player CORRECTIONS POLICY: Our staff strives to represent our community fairly and conduct accurate, truthful storytelling. We list errors of an issue, along with the page number of that error, in the next issue’s corrections box. Provide feedback via the QR code to the right. DESIGN BY SHREYAS KARNAM

14 STEM

Friday, October 9, 2026

Alum uncovers new species

Computation meets care at QxBio conference

Prakrit Jain (’22) finds three new scorpions through desert fieldwork

Charlene Li News Editor

Students, parents and staff attended the “QuantumAI-Bio-Convergence”themed QxBio conference, viewing and listening to work from professional researchers and upper school students in Nichols Hall on Sept. 24 and 25. Researchers from across the country presented their findings, which included topics like the physics of cancer and precision oncology. Ethan Liang, Andrew Shin and Elizabeth Zhang (12), Medha Choudhry (11) and Reyansh Malla (10) exhibited their research posters in Nichols Atrium. “It would be really interesting to possibly inspire some of the older people here,” Ethan said. “Getting younger high school students interested in research is definitely something I want to share.”

CHARLENE LI

Organized by Param Hansa Philanthropies in partnership with the upper school, the event allowed students and parents to network and learn about new contributions to scientific research. Researchers spoke to audience members about their experiences and progress during eight sessions in Nichols Auditorium on Friday. UT Dell Medical Center professor Hongfang Liu discussed her journey through research, from Mayo Clinic to the National Cancer Institute. “I spent about five years processing how human beings understand language, how we understand concepts and semantics, how we write it,” Dr. Liu said. “If we truly want to translate science into something with real-world impact, this could be a very good topic for me to do.”

PRESENTING POSTERS Sophomore Reyansh Malla discusses his research with frosh Joey Lo. Reyansh’s research involved the modeling of methylmercury intake.

uring three nights of 15-degree weather in the Eastern Sierra, Prakrit Jain (’22) and two of his colleagues checked their traps every two hours to see if they had finally caught the elusive Mount Lyell shrew. “It was the last land mammal in California for which there were no photographs,” Jain said. “High-altitude mammals have been shown to be at especially high risk of extinction related to climate change.”

“

You could live a lifetime in California and never run out of things to look for. PRAKRIT JAIN

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PH.D. STUDENT

The team released the first pictures of a living Mount Lyell shrew in January 2025. These expeditions are a regular occurrence for Jain, a biology Ph.D. student at the University of New Mexico. He studies scorpion systematics, population genetics and biogeography. But his extensive research and ecological fieldwork began during his high school years. Jain conducted independent taxonomic research, examining and documenting scorpion species. Alongside two collaborators, he even discovered and published research on two new species: Paruroctonus soda and Paruroctonus conclusus. As a UC Berkeley undergraduate, he interned

at the California Academy of Sciences and described a third scorpion, Paruroctonus tulare, a species threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture. A user on iNaturalist had first discovered the species in 2020, but Jain’s work of formally documenting the scorpion took more than two years of conducting samplings across the San Joaquin Desert. Although Jain’s fieldwork takes him to a wide range of distant environments, he worries most about local biodiversity. “There is a real gap in terms of the understanding of the biodiversity at the very local scale, which is the scale that we have the most power to influence and the scale that has the most effect on us personally,” Jain said. “When people get a better understanding of biodiversity and the ways in which it affects different aspects of the natural world and different aspects of the human world, they would have a greater concern and a greater level of responsibility to ensure that the biodiversity is able to continue.” Jain also wrote to experts in his field during his self-directed research and recommended that other young students try the same.

“The more niche the field, I think the more receptive people are going to be, for example, to cold emails. Trying to reach out to as many people as possible and learn about the field, to whatever extent you can, will help people understand if it is something that is a practical career,” Jain said. Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

PROVIDED BY PRAKRIT JAIN

Claire Tian, Srikrishna Kataru

SCORPION SEARCH Prakrit Jain (’22) stands on top of a tree trunk in a forest. Now a biology Ph.D. student at the University of New Mexico, Jain is often in the outdoors searching for new species as a part of his research.

Tree equity reflects wider neighborhood disparities Shreyas Karnam, Kanav Gupta Walking down Hope Street, branches arch overhead and most of the sidewalk sits in shade. A few blocks over, the sidewalk is open to the sun, and the pavement radiates heat by midday. The difference is more than cosmetic, and it is measurable.

SHADY BUSINESS This map of San Jose shades each neighborhood by its Tree Equity Score, which runs from 32 to 100, with darker green meaning more equitable tree coverage. The palest patches near the city’s center show where trees are scarcest relative to need.

According to San Jose’s official tree canopy map, there are approximately 1.6 million trees in the city. But citywide canopy cover fell from 15.3% in 2012 to 13.5% in 2018, according to city records. Madison SaylerTait, community outreach coordinator at

Our City Forest, a San Jose nonprofit that has planted about 80,000 trees since 1994, explained the impact. “The areas in San Jose that are underforested are up to 6 degrees hotter than other areas,” Sayler-Tait said. “It’s because there’s no tree cover, so everything’s exposed.” Advocates measure tree cover disparities with the Tree Equity Score, a 0-to100 rating from the nonprofit American Forests that combines tree canopy coverage with income, employment, surface temperature, race, age and health. A score of 100 means a neighborhood has achieved tree equity. Senior Elaine Zou, who researches trees, explained the science. “Trees go through this process called INFOGRAPHIC BY KANAV GUPTA evapotranspiration, where they ILLUSTRATION BY CLAIRE TIAN SOURCE: TREEEQUITYSCORE.ORG essentially take up water from their roots and then release it through the stomata pores on their leaves,” Elaine said. “This

helps cool the air around them.” Junior and Mountain View resident Benjamin Li, described how trees add to his life.

“

Even a little bit of greenery has a great impact on mental wellbeing. BENJAMIN LI (9)

MOUNTAIN VIEW RESIDENT

“Even a little bit of greenery has a great impact of mental wellbeing,” Benjamin said. “They provide welcome shade on hot days, make the neighborhood much more aesthetically pleasing, and allow many squirrels and birds to reside in them. Overall, trees provide character to my neighborhood. Whenever I walk past, I admire their grandeur and feel a sense of calm.”

DESIGN BY KANAV GUPTA

STEM 15

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Saria Lum, Annie Wang, Sophia Xu

y 2030, textile waste will grow to 134 million tons, with a truckload of clothing discarded every 15 seconds. Responsible for up to 10% of carbon emissions worldwide, fast fashion is one of the most significant global climate issues. In San Francisco alone, residents discard 4,500 pounds of clothing and textiles into the landfill every hour. Sophomore Aila El-Charif commented on the attitude toward clothing waste among Harker students. “It’s a really hard issue to avoid,” Aila said. “A lot of people go for it because it’s an easy option, which is unfortunate considering its consequences.” Fast fashion is large-scale production of cheap clothing that chases fast, ever-changing trends. Companies like Zara or H&M have faced well-documented controversies involving illegal labor systems or unethically-obtained materials. Some garments are even designed to break, with common materials like polyester degrading rapidly after just a few washes. For students surrounded by social media trends and cheap online retailers, buying clothes has become both unprecedentedly effortless and consistently encouraged. Social media platforms bring users new trends through clothing hauls and influencer promotions, fostering a stigma around outfit repetition. One of the most common methods of clothing disposal is donation to Goodwill. Workers evaluate clothes by hand, picking out about 10-20% of initially-received garments. Then, the clothes spend around three to four weeks on retail racks. Unsold pieces move to Goodwill Outlet stores, where the remaining items are sold in bulk or by the pound.

Undergoing a process called “baling,” industrial hydraulic machines compress unwanted clothes into a dense rectangle and ship them off to secondhand clothing markets overseas. One of the largest destinations for used clothing is Ghana’s Kantamanto market, where 15 million used garments arrive every week. But roughly 40-60% of the imported clothing arrives in damaged or unwearable condition, causing the formation of giant “clothing cliffs” along the coastline.

“

We have to hold the industry accountable and encourage businesses to be greener. KATHY BONTE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR, FABMO

Thrift store chains like Goodwill are promoted as a solution to overconsumption, but in truth, most of the clothing donated to these stores is dumped in landfills. At Harker, Green Team offers one way for students to combat fast fashion. Each year, the club organizes a clothing swap in April or May by collecting used clothes in good condition and displaying them on racks for other students to take. Green Team Vice President Elaine Zou (12) explains how the initiative works with the Harker community. “It’s owing to the whole community as well because it wouldn’t be possible if there weren’t people actively contributing to it and swapping,” Elaine said.

Reducing fast fashion consumption also depends on student choices outside of school. Elaine comments on how Harker students are in a position to be especially mindful about their decisions. “It’s really important for Harker students because we have the capacity to make those decisions and we have the resources,” Elaine said. “We have the opportunity to go to the mall, purchase clothes pretty often, and because of that it makes it more important for us to consider our actions, since we’re maybe part of the issue.” Beyond campus, nonprofits like FabMo receive and distribute textile waste from leather to canvas through interior design projects in the Bay. Board of Directors Chair Kathy Bonte explained the organization’s ultimate goal. “Our mission is to keep as much as we can at the landfill and to educate How do you feel about and inspire about fast fashion? the issue of textile waste,” Bonte said. “We have to hold the industry accountable.”

“

We need to make sure we know that the smaller companies make a huge impact. LEA CHINKOV FROSH

“

We can reuse our clothes and also give them down to other younger siblings. SID JNAGAL

“

SOPHOMORE

The following of short lived trends can cause a lot of issues with the environment. MASON CHANG SOPHOMORE

TEXTILE TIDE Textile waste in the U.S. climbed from about 1.8 million tons in 1960 to 18 million tons in 2018, according to the EPA. Discarded garments that go unsold or unwanted often end up in landfills or overseas markets.

18 M Tons

SOURCE: EPA

DESIGN BY KANAV GUPTA, SARIA LUM

16 STEM

Friday, October 9, 2026

Chasing poreless perfection Teen skincare trends feature harmful products, ruin skin barriers Saria Lum

Lily Peng, Selena Ghane

Q: Can you walk us through the steps in your research process? A: “We acquired three observations of data from the 1950 LA asteroids through this online observatory network called the Las Cumbres Observatory. We used the one in Texas, the McDonald Observatory. Then, we conducted astrometry and photometry on the data. After those steps, we created a computational algorithm that was able to calculate the position and velocity vectors from the observations, and we were able to compute the six Keplerian orbital elements, which let us determine its orbit.”

Q: Were there any challenges you encountered along the way, and if so, how did you overcome them? A: “A really big struggle that my group encountered was that we had to do a lot of shifts in different spheres. For example, the ecliptic plane and the equatorial plane were one source of confusion because the data was not specified clearly. So, we would have to spend a lot of time debugging after getting massive errors.”

Q: What would you say is your biggest takeaway from this whole research process? A: “One of the biggest takeaways is probably that work is done in small steps, but also each step is very meaningful. A lot of the time, we were cramped up in one lab room, and then we would go through every line of code to figure out what was wrong, or we would have to realign measurements. Although that was very frustrating and cumbersome at first, it really made me appreciate how valuable these moments were and how effective they were in eventually producing the final product.” Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

“

Even if children may not necessarily need these products, we have taught them to believe that they do.

content genres. In fact, tags like K-beauty pull in roughly 250 million views alone each week, generating a 37% increase in revenue since last year. What makes this issue especially troubling is that these aren’t simply bottles of harmless nothing. Among the ingredients of the most viral products online are biologically

PRODUCT PANIC A minimal skincare routine with simpler ingredients compared side-by-side with a more complex one. Active ingredients blindly layered together make the perfect recipe for irritation.

active ingredients, like acids, retinoids or chemical exfoliants. When used appropriately, some of these ingredients can be valuable tools for treating specific skin conditions. vitamin C, for example, improves the appearance of fine lines and discoloration by stopping excess pigment from forming. But the trend has also trickled down heavily to the younger generation. Nicknamed “Sephora kids,” children have traded playgrounds for beauty isles, asking for retinol and serums before they’re even old enough to understand what either one actually does. Gen Alpha alone spent $4.7 billion on skincare and makeup in 2023, with expenses rising ever higher each year. After all, skincare has become too irresistible, too eyecatching to miss. Even if brands have historically claimed their products were for adults, popular brands like Drunk Elephant and Bubble have

purposefully put out tactile, toy-like skincare wrapped in brightly colored packaging. This was no accident. For adolescents, pretty packaging isn’t the only threat. The beauty industry has spent years

Q: What is sunscreen? Sunscreen is a topical skin protection product that reflects or absorbs UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays, which have a longer wavelength of ~320–400nm, penetrate deeper into the skin, causing oxidative stress and

inflammation that contributes to wrinkles and uneven skin tone. In some cases, they can even lead to skin cancer. UVB rays are shorter with a wavelength of ~290–320nm. They cause direct DNA damage to the outer layers of the skin that can lead to mutations and skin cancer.

BEHIND THE BOTTLE Sunscreen bottles feature a variety of symbols and coded stickers that tell consumers information about the product. SPF level, water resistance, and UVA/UVB filtering are among the most common.

Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

SKINCARE SACRILEGE Retinols, AHAs, BHAs and vitamin-C products are of the most irritating skincare ingredients found in teen routines online.

STEM Simplified: All about sunscreen Saria Lum, Aileen Jang

learning exactly how to turn insecurity into consumption. One out of every two girls aged 10-17 reported feeling insecure as they age.

PROVIDED BY MAISEY XIE

Isabelle Niu (12) determines asteroid orbit patterns

et ready with me! A generous glob of cleanser, rubbed vigorously between perfectly manicured hands transforms into a cloud of enveloping bubbles. Then comes a dash of toner. Serums upon serums follow, lined up like candy: I can practically spot the whole rainbow across the vanity. At first, you might assume you’re watching the morning routine of a twenty-something beauty influencer. But then you look closer and realize this isn’t a young woman getting ready for work. It’s a child. Preparing for the first day of school. And then I hear a string of jargon jabbered so fast I can’t process it completely: anti-aging, poreerasing, skin-brightening. This same type of video clutters my feed anytime I scroll, and you’ve probably seen them, too. Skincare has become a viral sensation among teenage influencers, becoming one of the platform’s top-performing

JESSICA XU

STEM Editor, Social Media Specialist

Q: What are the two types of sunscreen? Commercial sunscreen is divided into two types: physical and chemical. Choosing which type of sunscreen you want to use is based on personal preference and the way your skin might react to the ingredients. Physical sunscreen starts working right after application and uses active natural minerals like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Ingredients like titanium dioxide block mainly UVB radiation. Physical sunscreen sits on top of the skin and scatters the UV rays away like a shield. Rarely causing skin irritation, it’s generally considered safe for those who have sensitive skin like children and also coral reefs. However, it can sometimes leave a white, chalky film or require more effort to blend. Chemical sunscreen differs from physical sunscreen in that it absorbs the sun’s rays, like a sponge, preventing them from reaching the skin. It’s typically

transparent (which is why some may prefer it), but it’s also less efficient, as it must be fully absorbed into the skin for it to be fully effective. Chemical sunscreens also offer better water resistance, making them good options for outdooractivities and swimming. For those with sensitive skin, however, it might be a good idea to check the ingredients first. Since they contain chemicals like avobenzone, oxybenzone or

“

It is crucial to apply sunscreen every single day, even when the sun is not shining.

octinoxate, they pose a higher risk of causing allergic reactions and can cause burning when in the eyes.

Visit harkeraquila.com for more. DESIGN BY SARIA LUM

SPORTS 17

Volume 28 • Issue 2

Sole searching through sneaker culture Students and faculty collect athletic shoes for performance style Sai looks for the best balance between cost and performance. “The first thing that is going to catch my eyes is how the shoes look,” Sai said. “That’s not the deciding factor, the most important thing about golf shoes is the grip you get from the spikes. In my opinion, most people buy the cheapest shoe that offers the best grip.”

William Jiang, Alyssa Choi

idway during her sophomore season, varsity girls basketball player Selena Chen (12) felt her pinky toe burst through the side of her shoe. When she asked her coach for duct tape, her coach sent her to grab one of her backup pairs instead. By the end of the season, Selena had gone through four pairs of basketball shoes. For athletes like Selena who endure hours of practices and sprints, shoes are equally as important for equipment and clothing. “I’m going to play really bad if my shoes don’t feel right,” Selena said. “It’s about mentality too. If I do well in a pair of shoes, I’ll start correlating that pair of shoes with me doing well.”

Liana Barooah Sports and Photo Editor

“

If I do well in a certain pair of shoes, I’ll want to wear that pair more often. SELENA CHEN

LIANA BAROOAH

FOAM FOUNDATION The shoe features a four-level cushion. It combines an air cushion, bounce pads, soft foam and grip spikes.

Varsity girls golf player Sai Kaneshiro (11) has worn the same pair of FootJoy golf shoes for the past five years. Now, the shoes are beginning to fall apart, with the heel opening and holes forming in the soles. As she looks for a replacement,

Beyond appearance, the history behind certain sneakers can make individual models recognizable years after their release. Signature shoes connect designs to famous athletes or franchises, while collaborations can build their identities around artists, media or other pieces of culture. Economics teacher Dean Lizardo’s favorite pair, for example, features a theme of the video game “Street Fighter.” “What would call out to me is that if a shoe has a bigger story attached to it rather than just, ‘Oh, this is Jordan’s 50th release of his 4s,’” Lizardo said. “I want something significant behind the shoe. A lot of people attach significance to [Jordans] because they grew up with Jordan and they’re like, ‘Oh, I want the shoe that he was wearing when he won his championships.’” Selena finds the same appeal in shoes associated with athletes she admires, especially Sabrina Ionescu’s signature line. “Everyone I know wears

LIANA BAROOAH

GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER

LACED UP Varsity girls basketball guard Selena Chen (12) ties her shoes before a training session. Since WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu is one of her biggest inspirations, she bought the Nike Sabrina 2s.

Sabrinas,” Selena said. “They’re really nice and comfortable. Sabrina’s just such an inspiration. I went to watch her play last year, and she’s really tough.” Professional athletes and shoe companies build on these connections through signature deals, which can lead to expensive prices. Nike’s Sabrina 4 retails for $135, and Dwyane Wade’s Way of Wade 12 lists for $199. Limited releases can drive prices even higher once shoes reach the resale market.

The distinctiveness of particular models can make sneakers an easy conversation starter. Lizardo often talks about shoes with Assistant to Assistant Upper School Division Head Eric Lee. “There’s something cool when you’re wearing some really weird, esoteric shoes and then someone sees it and they’re like, ‘Wow, I really like those,’” Lizardo said. “There definitely is a camaraderie and community about that, but it’s not something I seek out.”

before,” Kayvion said. “They’re trying to make dance an actual sport. Normally, dancers have a hard time getting a career in dance. The creation of IDL is giving a new opportunity to dancers to actually make it a career.” Senior Pascal Qin learned about IDL through Brotherhood, a long-time favorite dance crew of his. Compared to freestyle battles he watched previously,

he found IDL’s emphasis on both entertainment and choreography refreshing. “IDL is really special in the way that it’s staged, presented and advertised,” Pascal said. “Choreographed dance has a different vibe to it than freestyle because it can be more complex. There’s a lot more storytelling.” Pascal recalled how his nondancer friends bought jerseys to support their favorite crews.

LIANA BAROOAH

PROVIDED BY

KAYVION CRUZ

Chelsea Xie, Mia Ji

SYNCED TOGETHER Demitri Ajlouny (’26) and junior Kayvion Cruz pose for a photo in front of the IDL stage. Their dance team placed third in the youth community division.

“

Women should feel confident in their bodies and embrace their femininity.

IDL brings hip-hop dance to global stage International Dance League (IDL)’s first season concluded Sept. 20 with a championship series in Los Angeles. An upset in the final ranking — LA-based team GRV took first place over Brotherhood, the crew that had won each of the previous six rounds — sparked online debate over the scoring and formatting in the league. The championship bookended a season of rapidly growing visibility for IDL. The league signed a media deal with ESPN in July to broadcast all six series, bringing professional dance crews to the sports network’s broader audience. Junior Kayvion Cruz competed in the LA series with his junior dance crew, Syndikidz. He sees the crowd packing the venue as evidence of IDL’s efforts to frame dance as a spectator sport, with professional teams, season-long rankings and fan culture. “I don’t think any other dance competition has done that

“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women’s sports looks like.” This phrase has been circulating across social media in response to Sweeney’s latest sports advertisement for Novig, a sports prediction company. In the advertisement, she appears in a series of sportsthemed scenes, posing with equipment from different sports while wearing minimal clothing. Rather than focusing on athleticism, the campaign sexualizes Sweeney’s appearance,. Athletes and viewers criticize that it reduces women sports to their appearance rather than highlighting their perseverance. As a female athlete, I don’t see an ad like this as an image of what women’s sports should look like. Women should feel confident in their bodies and embrace their femininity by expressing themselves freely.

He hopes growing publicity will continue bringing non-dancers into the community. “There’s been a discussion about whether dance is considered more of a sport or art,” Kayvion said. “Dance is a sport, but it’s also art, that’s someone’s choreography.”

For decades, women have fought for the opportunity to compete. In 1972, the United States passed Title IX, a U.S. federal civilrights law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding. Its provisions extended to athletics, requiring schools to provide equal athletic opportunities regardless of gender. At my elementary school, I played basketball with boys because there weren’t enough girls to form a team. Returning to school after COVID, basketball was one of the things that brought us together again. When we stepped onto the court to scrimmage, nobody cared that I was the only girl and they were boys. It didn’t matter how I looked. According to the National Women’s Law Center, about 300,000 girls competed in high school sports before Title IX passed, representing about 7% of high school athletes. By 2018, the number rose to 3.4 million and 43% of all athletes. However, beyond expanding women’ s access to sports, Title IX helped shift the culture about women in sports. If an ad can reduce women’s sports to such a superficial image, it can also remind us how much there is left to protect. DESIGN BY LIANA BAROOAH

18 SPORTS

Friday, October 9, 2026

Pursuit of precision Liana Barooah, Selena Ghane

ixty shots. Seventy-five minutes. Sophomore Alyssa Choi raises her air pistol, fixes her eyes on the circular target and steadies her arm. The range remains quiet except for the faint click of the trigger as she settles into the same practiced motion she has repeated thousands of times. Each shot requires patience and precision; the smallest move can change the outcome. “Air pistol has taught me how to process my thoughts because during matches, it’s just me and my mind,” Alyssa said. “It’s hard to focus for seventy-five minutes straight. During that time, I think a lot about school, friends and life. It gives me a lot of clarity and an opportunity to handle what’s going on around me.” Competitors have one hour and 15 minutes to complete 60 shots, each aimed at the center of a circular target. One to 10 points are awarded for each shot inversely to how far the bullet lands from the center. Only live shots count toward the score of each round. Competitors are also allowed unlimited dry firing: pulling the trigger of the air pistol without releasing a pellet, allowing competitors to reset without using one of their 60 shots. For Alyssa, dry firing is a way to regain her concentration when nerves and distractions begin to overtake her normal game. “I dry fire to take breaks and calm myself down,” Alyssa

said. “If I just start shooting again with less pressure, then I get back into the mindset, but it takes a while — like 10 shots.” Her early training throughout middle school was demanding; Alyssa practiced three hours a day, three to four days a week, repeating the same motions at the range. During school breaks, practices could stretch to six hours a day. Her coach would challenge the athletes to fire 500 shots in three hours, a goal Alyssa considered impossible.

sixth grade. However, after being accustomed to seeing her scores rise, in the spring of seventh grade she found herself stuck. The plateau in improvement became a wake-up call; she realized that improvement would not come from simply expecting herself to get better. “There’s this [mental] click when you shoot, and I just wasn’t feeling the switch go off,” Alyssa said. “I just couldn’t get any better,” she said. “I wasn’t able to get the feeling of satisfaction after my shots. I spent a lot of time doing the basics again and practicing my foundation to get out of the slump.” After this shift, Alyssa began earning placements in state and national competitions, including first place in the California U15 division, third in the California U18 division and third at nationals during the summer before frosh year. Her success was especially meaningful to her coach, who had spent years training her, given her a spare key to the range and celebrated her first national award with her. Alyssa watched other athletes in her club receive recognition for years before her, making the moment a culmination of many years of hard work. “[Air pistol] brought me a lot of confidence because you have to have the confidence to not overthink, and you have to be sure of your shot,” Alyssa said. “It requires a lot of patience and focus because it’s three hours of doing the same thing.”

“

Air pistol has taught me how to process my thoughts because it’s just me and my mind. ALYSSA CHOI

SOPHOMORE AIR PISTOL COMPETITOR

She began going to the range on her own time to train by herself. Her father, Jung Il Choi, noticed Alyssa’s discipline and passion for air pistol. “For six months, she was the only one who was there every day, so her coach gave her a duplicate key to the range so that she can come to the range anytime she wants,” Choi said. “The coach is somebody who does not give out those duplicate keys easily, so she earned her coach’s trust enough.” With repetition, Alyssa improved quickly throughout

Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

LIANA BAROOAH

Sophomore Alyssa Choi discovers purpose and future aspirations through air pistol

SHOOTING HER SHOT Alyssa Choi (10) drives her own training to achieve success in air pistol. She placed first in the California U15 division and constantly improves through dedication and practice.

New Boynton tennis courts create home

PHOTOS BY LIANA BAROOAH

Kendra Zhao, Lori Ji, Han Wu

CUTTING TO COURTS Athletic Department faculty pose with large scissors at the Boynton ribbon cutting ceremony. The courts opened in August, when the girls varsity team began practice. GRABBING A BITE Allison Ishisaka (10) and Sabrina Shun (10) dig into the food following the ceremony. Guests also enjoyed honey deuce cocktails, the signature drink of the US Open.

Tennis players gather under the shade of umbrellas, chatting before practice as the sun glints off the freshly-painted asphalt of the newly constructed tennis courts at the Boynton Campus, Harker’s Transitional Kindergarten. Previously, Harker rented tennis courts at Stratford Preparatory and Del Mar High School. The athletics department chose to build new tennis courts to serve morestudent-athletesand avoid court scheduling challenges with other schools. Upper School athletics director Dan Molin helped organize the layout of the courts and directed match scheduling. “Whenever you have a new facility that they can call their own home, it just always creates more excitement and a true home court advantage,” Molin said. “It just makes a big difference that it’s ours. We don’t have to worry about other groups to work with, and it’s easier to calendar everything.” Construction began last May and finished late August. The athletic department took

weather into consideration when planning the layout of the courts and installed umbrellas, lights for late home games and windscreens.

“

These courts belong to us and we don’t have to share them with anyone. ELAINE ZOU

SENIOR VARSITY GIRLS TENNIS PLAYER

The girls’ tennis team began practice at the Boynton Campus on Aug. 18. Senior Elaine Zou, who has been on the girls tennis team since sixth grade, shared how the new courts could benefit the tennis team. “These courts belong to us and we don’t really have to share them with anyone,” Elaine said. “There’s also a space we all gather before practice, and it’s a really nice place for team bonding and to share conversation before practice starts. We didn’t really have a

designated space like that in our previous courts.” The Boynton tennis courts marked the first step of a larger 5 year strategic plan. Construction on the new tennis courts was funded by $32 million out of their monetary goal of $75 million from their Make an Impact campaign. Upon reaching the threshold, the Advancements Office publicly released the initiative to raise funding for campus renovations to a wider parent community. The campaign aims to build and enhance learning environments by investing in transformations across campuses. A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Transitional Kindergarten on Sept. 18. Tennis players, parents and faculty gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the new tennis courts. After a short speech by Mr. Yager thanking both the adults and students present, the three families after whom three of the courts are named cut the ceremonial ribbon, marking the official opening of the renovated Boynton campus. Visit harkeraquila.com for more.

DESIGN BY AAHANA SHARMA

SPORTS 19

WILLIAM JIANG

Volume 28 • Issue 2

‘1% better every day’

Varsity boys football team plays with purpose football on Harker Day.” Embracing their head coach Dom Cole’s philosophy of getting one percent better every day, the players turn to game film after tough losses to learn from their mistakes before returning to practice.

“

The way that we work together ultimately dictates how well we perform on the field. STEPHEN SUMMERS (11) FOOTBALL PLAYER

Left guard and backup center Stephen Summers (11) emphasizes how the team’s commitment to both the game and each other keeps the program alive. “Most of us play for the love of the game, especially

the ones returning,” Stephen said. “We know that if one or two of us decide not to play, then our program could likely die. Especially in a sport like football, team building is like the most important thing; the way that we work together ultimately dictates how well we perform on the field.” The first two games of their season ended in losses: 0-25 against Anzar High School on Sept. 10 and 14-18 against Hillbrook High School on Harker Day. Still, the players hope to leave their mark on the program and prove that football deserves to be taken seriously. “We truly love football,” Matt said. “A lot of us have a personal passion for football, and part of it is the camaraderie. We come back for each other. We really have to make sure we have that chemistry and we’re coordinated to be collectively fighting for one moment.” The football team will continue their season against Pinewood on Oct. 16.

CYNTHIA XIE

ong before the first whistle, the boys varsity football team is already working together. At team dinners, preseason events and practices, they build the connections that carry onto a field. For a team that has experienced many setbacks, these moments bring the 12 individual players together into a team and keep them moving forward. Unable to play the homecoming game last year due to low participation, the players returned to the field this season to prove themselves to the Harker community. Each game became an opportunity to demonstrate that football can continue to grow at Harker. “Last year, we learned that the game is a privilege, not a right,” senior wide receiver Matt MacMillan said. “This year, we’re eager to prove ourselves and earn it for next year. Even though I’m a senior, if I am able to come back, I would love to see

WILLIAM JIANG

Liana Barooah, Aahana Sharma

LIANA BAROOAH

KANAV GUPTA

CYNTHIA XIE

MAN DOWN (TOP LEFT) Running back Pedro Castro III (12) charges past a defender. He leads the team in rushing yards. AFTER THE BREAK (TOP RIGHT) Kaleb Wubet (9) celebrates after the first half of the game. The Eagles lost 14-18 on Oct. 3. END ZONE (MIDDLE) Kaleb catches a touchdown pass during the Homecoming game. The catch added to the crowd’s energy. SIDELINE STRATEGY (MIDDLE RIGHT) Head Coach Dom Cole gathers the team during a timeout. He used the break to refocus the players during Harker Day. GAME READY (BOTTOM RIGHT) Linebacker Marloe Sanchez-Taporco (11) resets his mind before the first game of the season. Harker ceded a 0-25 loss to Anzar on Sept. 10. TAKING THE PLUNGE (BELOW) Wide receiver Matt MacMillan (12) dives for a down. The Eagles scored their first two touchdowns of the season on Oct. 3.

DESIGN BY LIANA BAROOAH, AAHANA SHARMA

20 BACK PAGE

Friday, October 9, 2026

Our shared sky reminds me that even when our experiences differ, we’re never experiencing life alone. For just a moment, anything that felt allconsuming becomes a little smaller and more manageable. So when life starts moving too fast for you to keep up, remember that the sky will always be above your head. There will always be another cloud formation, another brilliant sunset to enjoy and another reason to keep looking up. All you need to do is look up and breathe.

HAN WU

pirit week just ended. New stories make headlines every week, each seemlingly more shocking than the last. Balancing schoolwork, extracurriculars and worries about my future feels like a juggling act. When my chest tightens and my heart starts to race, I find solace in looking up at the sky. The world slows down when I crane my neck to admire cumulus clouds

dotting the sky on a sunny afternoon. I wake up smiling when the golden rays of a sunrise peek through my curtains. When a magenta sunset stretches over Davis Field, I pause to admire it with my friends. The purple-tinted clouds I see on a 7 p.m. walk aren’t the same clouds my friend sees from her bedroom window. We might be worrying about different tests, finishing different projects or ending different days. But when we look up, we’re looking at the same sky.

ROLLING MIST Thick gray clouds roll off the peak of Mount Creighton in New Zealand’s South Island.

SUMMER IN THE CITY New York City’s vibrant lights dot the skyscrapers, matching the colors of the sunset.

Han Wu

Charlene Li

Reporter

News and Photo Editor

As I stepped out of the car, a shiver surged down my arms and legs. The chill December morning air rushed past my face, stinging my nose and cheeks. The gray gravel path crunched under my shoes, small, jagged granules tumbling down the trail as I made my way forwards. As I bent over to stretch my tight hamstrings, my sigh of satisfaction dissipated into the air. Climbing up, I walked next to the railing overlooking Mount Creighton. Gloomy clouds blanketed the peak, blanketing the scene in a dim backdrop. The monotone colors, the calm, soft mountainside and the stillness of the river below all blended together. I was content, tranquil in this ephemeral moment of respite. The fleeting scene was so fragile yet so beautiful, etching itself into my mind before the roar of cars hurtling down the highway shattered it. I took my hand off the rail and turned back. The gray clouds hovered over the mountain, blending in with the overcast sky — a beautiful, still masterpiece in the noisy world of the mundane.

CUMULUS CALM (1) Fluffy clouds blanket the sky beneath a plane. (2) Cumulus clouds with a blue tint decorate the sky above Chicago. (3) Clouds obscure the setting sun in Big Island, Hawaii. (4) A sunset in Spain paints the sky with colorful strokes. (5) Seniors Chelsea Xie, Isabelle Niu and Lily Peng admire a sunset during Senior Retreat. (6) The sun lights up the Chicago skyline with vibrant orange.

LIANA BAROOAH

Editor-in-Chief

CHARLENE LI

Chelsea Xie

The warm June night before this photo was taken, a ring of bodies pulsed in the plaza below my window, the entire block breathing through midnight light. Breakdancers and traffic cones spun inside an amorphous crowd, a graffitied boombox coughing notes into dark. As I stared down from the Empire State Building, Times Square’s neon bulbs and frenzied alleyways silenced, then the horns and cars and every deadline, detour, daunting task. A canopy of terracotta and silk clouds draped itself over the sky, momentarily blanketing the tumult that flowed through my mind with its sublimity. Splitting the horizon’s pastel portraiture, inky tendrils of fog reflected the dusk settling below. I watched the city dissolve into millions of stars living through the twilight black. From this height, the entanglement of chaos and stillness became apparent. Every stress that once felt so overwhelming fell into its place: from this distance, I could finally comprehend the calm within the storm.

SENSATIONAL SUNSET A sunset above Sierra Open Space Preserve in San Jose paints the valley with vibrant colors.

Liana Barooah Sports and Photo Editor

The valley below looked scarily vast, stretching so far beneath us that the roads and houses became tiny specks scattered across the land. A few horses wandered through the sunlit hills nearby, occasionally lowering their heads to graze in the tall grass, their silhouettes tiny against the endless horizon. Above them, the sky was split in half. Soft pink washed across fluffy clouds while gold pooled along the horizon as the sun sunk below the hills. My dad and sister stood beside me, cameras raised, each of us trying to hold onto the last bits of color before they disappeared. Around us, strangers stood quietly, all facing the same horizon. Looking out into the endless valley, I felt a sudden sense of sonder. Every tiny house below held someone’s memories, inside jokes, worries and ordinary Sunday nights. Somehow, the farther I could see, the more I realized how little of the world I could know. DESIGN BY CHELSEA XIE

PHOTOS BY CHELSEA XIE, CYNTHIA XIE