December 2017 The Hillsdale Scroll

Les Miserables Review Page 2

Improvalooza, Robotics Comp Page 3

December 8th, 2017

News In Brief Finals Schedule: 2nd period final: 1:00-3:00 on Tuesday, 12/ 19 3rd and 4th period finals on Wednesday 12/20 5th and 6th period finals on Thursday 12/21 1st and 7th period finals on Friday 12/22

Come to winter concert by the Hillsdale Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, String Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra! 7:00PM on December 8th!

The holidays are almost here! Good luck on your finals before winter break! Study hard!

Do you have comments, feedback, letters to the editors, or want to buy an ad?

Contact us at: thehillsdalescroll@gmail.com

MEntal Health, Gun Restrictions Pages 4-5

Disney’s Coco Review Page 8

Website: www.hillsdalescroll.org

A Lot of Fun In Model UN

everything and that we should be really aggressive… basically everything that Trump says.” Finally, Jackson, Taka, and

Over Veteran’s Day weekend, Eilleen were delegates in a joint crisis members of Hillsdale’s Model United committee during the Cold War involving the Nations club (MUN) went to Stanford MUN United States, Soviet Union, and opposing Conference (SMUNC) to debate issues both Chinese political parties Kuomintang and new and old, contemporary and historical.

Communist Party of China. In contrast to Out of the 20 members of MUN, eight typical UN committees, crisis committees members attended SMUNC: begin from a critical point in Jackson Gilbert (senior), history and allow delegates to Eilleen Zhang (junior), Aidan effectively rewrite history based Keener, Jonathan Goren, on their role’s position. During Taka Moore, Sydney Yuen, the committee sessions, many Anusha Yelanji, and Blake interesting things occurred: Williams (sophomores).

Mexico and the DRC played These students participated crucial roles in developing in a variety of different and passing their resolution; committees spanning both the Frederick the Great’s court was UN and iconic historical time attacked, and delegates had periods. In MUN, students to run around their building are assigned as delegates to escape the “attackers”; the of countries to speak on constitution was rewritten; different committees within United States networks were the UN. Before conferences, Hillsdale’s MUN, ready and excited to debate about protected from Chinese attacks; they go online to conduct research current issues. Photo Credit: Ms. Devon-Sand and defectors and hostages were taken on official government websites and and killed on all sides of the Cold War. develop their understanding of their from Frederick the Great’s court Sanssouci, Although it takes a lot of hard country’s position. At SMUNC, delegates starting at the beginning of the Seven Years’ work to get ready for conferences, MUN underwent a total of five committee War. Blake represented Jacob Broom from is also an extremely rewarding activity. sessions, which spanned twelve hours over Delaware in the United States Constitutional MUN is primarily an educational activity: three days. Using parliamentary procedures Convention in 1787, which followed Ms. Sison describes SMUNC as “something (also known as parli-pro), delegates debated the development of the Constitution. amazing… it’s just really exciting to ideas and solutions in moderated and Jonathan, who represented Mike Pompeo see students getting excited about both unmoderated caucus, eventually writing in the National Cybersecurity Convention, historical as well as contemporary issues... formal resolutions to these problems. said: “I have to argue that surveillance is

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Eilleen Zhang Editor-in-Chief

Anusha and Sydney participated in the World Health Organization committee, representing Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The committee discussed two very real and relevant topics to today’s times: genomics and superbugs.

In crisis committees, students took on more historical roles: Aidan represented Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein

Sophomores Hold Golding Trial Anya Lance-Chacko Senior Staff Writer

*Please note that all of this relates to the Florence trial on Wednesday, November 29th, and excludes the trial held on Thursday for even History classes, as well as the trials held by Marrakesh and Kyoto. Further reporting on those trials can be found online.

After weeks of preparation, sophomore students got the opportunity to present what they’d learned throughout their studies of nature vs. nurture by putting William Golding, the author of Lord of The Flies, on trial. The question being debated was: are people inherently evil?

Is it something people are born with, or is it a matter of how their taught, or the environment they’re exposed to? With a variety of witnesses from all points in history, from inside fiction and outside of it, many students enjoyed this fun opportunity. The many assorted witnesses included everyone from Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin, to Harry Potter and Daenerys Targaryen (from Game of Thrones). The verdict for the first trial held on Wednesday, November 29th was in favor of nurture, the plaintiff. Within all of this, students get to really understand the concept of nature and nurture, and

how nuanced the topic truly is, in addition to gaining better insight into Golding’s intentions and view on human nature.

An example of how this would go along is demonstrated with the witness Malala Yousafzai. This young girl had been surrounded by loving and caring parents who taught her the importance of education and helping other people find the opportunity to learn. She was surrounded by the influence of peace, and was nurtured into that way of thinking. In the face of violence, when a member of the Taliban entered her school bus, asked for her, and she was shot, Malala didn’t respond violently. After the fact and her recovery, she continued to promote education for young girls with the fame she had gained from the incident. The attorney’s argument was that this was a result of the

peaceful and nurturing environment she grew up in. Yet, the job of the crossing attorney was to twist her argument, and try and reveal how pieces of Malala’s argument or her life could support the opposing side, nature. For example, the nature attorney tried to get her to explain how she was surrounded by violence outside of her home, and how many people were threatening her life. As Malala was arguing for nurture, it would make sense for these dangerous environments to influence her as well, and therefore she would be expected to act violently. Since she didn’t, it could be argued that it was in her nature to be peaceful. Yet, the witness did a good job of protecting herself, explaining that...

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Tr i a l a t t o r n e y s f r o m F l o r e n c e ’s n u r t u r e s i d e pose with the judge. Photo Credit: Ms. Press

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December 8th, 2017

Club of the Month Club Name: FIDM Fashion Club Leadership: P re s i d e n t : M a d d i e P a r a d i n e Vice president: Erika Wahlberg Secretary: Marisa Schartenberg Club Advisor: Ms. Sison Purpose: Sponsored by The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising , this club promotes and helps students in the hillsdale community learn about majors the program offers like: fashion design, marketing, costume design, social media, interior design and product design.

It gives students an opportunity to indulge in activities that will help them gain real world experience of different creative industries Some activities that the club does during their weekly meetings include: researching and studying different creative careers and lifestyles, having industry professionals come in to talk about their experiences, doing outreach events to give back to the community like selling t-shirts they have designed to raise money for hurricane victims.

Where and When? : Rm. 252 during lunch on Wednesdays Contact Information: Contact Maddie Paradine at 19paradinem74@hillsdaleknights. org Instagram: @hillsdalefidmfashionclub Order this t-shirt to help support FIDM’s fundraiser for victims of the recent hurricanes!

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Model UN at Stanford continued from page 1

...and debate things that are currently going on in the world.” The students themselves also grow a lot, as public speakers, debaters, and team members. On the other hand, MUN conferences are enjoyable – Anusha and Sydney both agreed that meeting people from all over the country and different states was really fun. Ms. Devon-Sand, advisor for the club, says: “I loved how happy the kids were after the Stanford MUN. It was really fun to watch you guys so excited about what was happening in your committee, and to discuss it with other people… It’s fun to be the first Hillsdale MUN club, and there’s a lot we can do to continue to grow and improve.” Amid all the procedures and rules that delegates need to follow, there are still many things that can happen during a committee session. Blake says: “You get lots of freedom and it’s lots of fun. It’s not super tight and rigid as people

make it seem.” According to Jackson, MUN gives you the opportunity to “indulge your creative fantasies historically… It’s fun, it’s weird, it’s historical. Good times.”

What’s next for Hillsdale’s MUN club? Their next conference, Berkeley MUN Conference (BMUN for short), is happening in early March. The club hopes to start researching early and reflecting on past performances to continue improving and growing. For anyone interested in joining MUN for their next conference, come to their meetings on Thursdays at lunch in Ms. Devon-Sand’s room (219).

As Aidan says: “It might be a little boring prepping for the conference, but it all pays off once you go to it, just because you’ll meet a lot of new people, you’ll get good public speaking training, and if you’re interested in a future career in politics, it could definitely help you out.”

Golding Trial continued from page 1

...her personal home environment was and powerful on her outlook on life, nurturing her towards peacefulness.

This was the way in which many of the cases played out, and the procedure was much the same for the nature witnesses.

For example, one of the nature witnesses was Harry Potter. His aunt and uncle were very violent towards him, and his very own parents had been killed in front of his eyes. Yet, despite constantly facing Voldemort, and being exposed to his pure evil, Harry had it in his nature to act peacefully, protecting the world from Voldemort’s evil. Yet, the cross attorneys tried to twist this again. The nurture attorneys argued how Harry did in fact, act violently as he fought Voldemort, therefore the violence did influence him. In addition, it was argued that Voldemort himself wasn’t

inherently evil, and that he initially seemed to be a powerful wizard. But, it was the job of the witness and their attorneys to then bring it back to the side of nature, explaining that Voldemort always secluded himself, and always seemed to have the capability for evil. The attorneys explained that Harry’s actions were not intended to be evil as he was protecting the people in challenging the evil force of Voldemort.With all of this, their was the opportunity to understand deeply the perspectives of nature and nurture.

With first hand experience of this recent trial, it was very enjoyable and an important learning opportunity. Not only does it allow students to develop public speaking skills, but it also allows for the chance to really learn a topic and view so that they can be prepared for whatever questions that may come their way.

The talented cast and crew of Hillsdale’s Les Misérables together onstage.

Photo Credit: Ms. Gamlen

Les Mis Review Elise Raphael Staff Writer

On the second weekend of November, the long anticipated musical Les Misérables was performed from Thursday, November 9th, to Sunday, November 12th.

I attended the 2:00pm Sunday show and was amazed to say the least. The long hours of work and creativity that went into each set, costume, dance, and song were evident and, together, made an incredible show.

I would first like to touch on the songs and the smoothness of everyone’s voices, which made each song very easy to listen to and gave a strong professional feel to the production. There was excellent harmony that could not have gone unnoticed along with the skillful acting. I found myself easily being pulled into the scenes and enjoying the music, while also feeling the emotional ups and downs of each character’s story within the musical as a whole. It was amazing to hear the skillfulness of the actors’ voices and how they were able to transfer emotions of the characters to the audience. I would also like to mention the wonderful job the costume designers did on the costumes. Each costume was creatively put together, from a beautiful wedding dress for Cosette to incredibly intricate formal-wear for the Thénardiers. Lastly, as one who is not the most familiar with the storyline of Les Mis, I was surprised to have found it quite easy to follow the plot and understand the theme of each scene. I attended the musical with my sister who was not familiar with the story at all. Although not aware of the details of each scene, she was able to follow the plot well enough to give a sympathetic, “aww”, when the brave Gavroche went through the barricade to help his comrades. Junior Megan Evans’s favorite part about the show was “the Thénardiers, because they did absolutely incredible in all of the scenes they were in.

It was just so funny and that was perfect for the role.” Junior Matt McCoy, who played Marius Pontmercy, said that he hoped “if the people come out to see it, I hope they laugh, I hope they cry… I hope they feel all the emotions that we hope to convey.”

Les Mis was also a powerful experience for the members of the cast and crew: senior Autumn Angel, assistant stage manager, says: “I love the atmosphere and I love how everyone gets really close after we’ve been working with each other for the past couple months.” All in all, the musical was a well-executed performance that impacted both the audience and the students involved.

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Students in Golding Trial are always encouraged to dress up in costumes based on their witnesses.

Photo Credit: Ms. Press

Senior Ryan Mayhan plays Enjolras, leader of the rebelling students in Hillsdale’s Les Mis. Photo Credit: Ms. Gamlen

December 8th, 2017

Website: www.hillsdalescroll.org

Robotics Team Holds Intrateam Competition Henry Gu Web Editor

December 2nd was a long and intense day for those on the Hillsdale Robotics team. The club holds an annual tournament called the Hillsdale Competition as a tryout for prospective members to join the competition team and to foster interest in programming and engineering. The competition features a game board based off the International Botball competition upon which robots can move game pieces around in order to obtain points. This year’s theme was agriculture, meaning the robots were expected to perform basic farming tasks, such as maneuvering cows and hay bales, planting crops, and removing pesticides. The twenty-nine new members who signed up for the robotics club formed groups, building and programming robots over the course of two months to compete. Teams spent competition day putting the finishing touches on their bots, some making final revisions to their code while others making last-minute mechanical additions before competing.

The first round of the competition was the seeding round, where each team would run their robot three times on the course alone. The bots were autonomous, meaning they were programmed beforehand and would complete their routine by themselves, without any remote control from the team members. Once the starting lights flashed, the robots would have to navigate the gameboard all on their own, avoiding treacherous obstacles, collecting foam balls, and moving plastic

game objects. The team “Pizza Without Tomatoes” performed extremely well in this round, taking the first seed position by successfully placing the cow in the barn.

The second part of the competition, the double elimination round, proved to be the most grueling and intense part of the tournament. Teams played in a round-robin style series of matches, resulting in over twenty one-on-one robot faceoffs. Bright lights flashed and activated the robots’ light sensors, sparking them to life. The two bots would compete on the same board, fighting over the center game pieces and attempting to score more points than the other. The team “Big Bot Boom” did especially well during the double elimination round, ending up up with 5 wins and only one loss against the other teams. Their last minute programming and engineering improvements paid off, resulting in their robot scoring the highest point totals in the entire competition.

In the end, the Hillsdale Competition turned out to be a success.

The team “Pizza Without Tomatoes” took first place, with “Big Bot Boom” taking second. Team “I got it, okay” was award judge’s choice for their robot’s potential and entertaining performance, even at one point attempting to destroy the game board by lifting up the ramp. The talent and passion shown during the competition was both inspiring and reassuring, as these new members will surely make a wonderful addition to the already strong Hillsdale Robotics team. “I thought the Hillsdale Competition was a superb way for people to learn robotics and to see how amazing the field is,” said club president Tijmen Sep.

The team “Big Bot Boom” prepares for a seeding round. Photo Credit: Ben Liao

Emily Chang Staff Writer

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Improvapalooza Review!

Eilleen Zhang Editor-in-Chief

more intense as the teams played a tossup round of Category Die. After the four challenges of starting with one minute of

On the nights of December 1st silence, audience involvement, musical and 2nd, the Hillsdale Improvisational improvisation, and a different genre, Theatre Squad, also known as H.I.T. Squad, Hillsdale and Aragon were tied with two performed their annual fall Improvapalooza points each. The battle went to Hillsdale in collaboration with the Aragon Improv after they won the tiebreaker round of a Team (A.I.T). Both nights featured the fast one-minute scene on the Renaissance. senior members of each team, and even some

The second half of each show alumni from the team in previous years. featured A.I.T and H.I.T Squad working The members, also known as “players”, together to bring performed various 45 minutes of scenes based on scenes, based suggestions from on a single the audience and suggestion from themes declared the audience. The by the M.C.’s, with suggestion for improvised music the first night was and lighting as marshmallows, well. Due to the and the second spontaneous nature suggestion of improvisational was Kung-Fu. theatre, these Highlights from shows were unique these shows in that they were included: “the never seen before box”, a new viral and would never dance move be seen again. invented by

T h e The current HIT Squad poses for a picture! the best vocal structure of each Photo Credit: HIT Squad Facebook mime in town, show was the characterized by same for both nights. In the first half, junior Rachel Izenson chants of “up, up, side, side, squat, squat, described it as when “Hillsdale and Aragon around!”; junior Ryan Scibetta describes as had to battle it out for points” by taking turns “the recurring gag of ‘Kimberly, no! It’s too to perform a variety of different scenes. dangerous! Stay out of this! Okay!’”; the PBS After the M.C.’s announced each challenge, special of an epic Kung-Fu showdown, and the teams shouted, “We accept!” At the end then Kung-Fu food battles; and what really of each round, the teams came back onstage goes on in the marshmallow-making process.

The show was characterized to show their tableaus of the scenes they just by the endless stream of laughter from performed, bringing in another round of the audience as recurring jokes were laughter from the audience. The audience brought back again and again. Although the voted by cheering and applauding for their whole show was completely improvised, favorite team, and the winner for each the two teams still managed to show round was whichever team recieved the an amazing level of cooperation and most cheers. On the first night, Hillsdale coordination in their scenes.

The show performed first after winning the toss-up round, an intense game of Objection. The became more and more entertaining as the first challenge was a musical scene. H.I.T. scenes became more elaborate, the M.C.’s Squad performed a Mixtapes game, with adding extravagant articles of clothing to original songs including a very passionate “I their formal attire, and the team members Hate Life”. A.I.T. responded by performing beginning to switch shirts with their names an improvised Broadway musical on a on them. Perhaps the most unique part about these shows was the the amount of audience whimsical audience suggestion: loose pants. involvement and interaction with the Other challenges for the first night included players, which allowed the audience to even audience involvement, time period, and more fully immerse themselves in the show. another music. The final score at the end

For another opportunity to of the first half was victory for Hillsdale watch the H.I.T Squad perform with with three points, and only one point for A.I.T, attend the Improv Olympics in Aragon. On the second night, things got the spring on February 1st and 2nd!

Mall Renovation Anticipation

The Hillsdale Mall, at the bottom of the hill that Hillsdale High School sits on, has been under construction for quite a long time, beginning in August 25, 2016!

Anyone traveling in roads near the mall will see towering steel skeletons for the much-anticipated addition to the beloved Hillsdale Mall. In the wake of an onlineshopping revolution, the plan included little retail area, focusing on more entertainment facilities that would offer the muchneeded variation lacking in this area. At its reopening as soon as summer of 2018, there will be a cinema, a fitness center, as well as a myriad of new restaurants and a large courtyard for a welcome breath of fresh air for harried shoppers, local families, and a new rush of diners and moviegoers out to try a new cafe or catch the

Artist rendering of the planned mall construction. Photo Credit: Bohannon

latest flick. “It’s good...There’s more things to do,” commented freshman Charlotte Umstead.

The cinema was set to begin construction in November, and the bowling alley in January of next year. Featuring a sleek, modern look, sporting snazzy lights and glasspaneled buildins, the new hub is designed to be a bustling scene day and night. “I’m excited to go to the theater at Hillsdale mall! Won’t have to drive to San Mateo...Finally, it will be modern”, said Victoria Kondratieva, referring to the current situation where students drive to downtown San Mateo to hang out, eat with friends, and watch movies. The remodeled section of the mall will certainly cause a splash in both the Hillsdale and greater San Mateo communities!

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Op/Ed Op/Ed

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December 8th, 2017

Enough! Gun Restrictions Now Ben Liao Editor-In-Chief

When I watch the news, I feel like I am watching the same newscast every day.

And I don’t just mean all of Donald Trump’s insane tweets. I mean gun violence. I mean mass shootings. I mean debates over gun restrictions. But here we are, after the worst mass shooting in United States history, debating yet again over gun control. I don’t understand why this is even a debate; it’s possible and easy to pass gun control laws that protect both the American people’s safety and Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Let me make one point clear: we should not completely ban all types of firearms from the common American man.

The Second Amendment was included to give Americans protection from robbers or from bears attacking your house, and to hunt for food—very valid reasons for owning guns.

But, a person only needs one simple handgun or revolver to repel the robber or bear in their house; a person only needs one regular rifle to bring down hunting game. The legislation that Democrats are labeling as common sense reforms would ban weapons of war (machine guns, assault rifles, etc.), ban gun accessories that would turn conventional firearms into weapons of war (like bumpstocks), and limit the number of guns that an individual can own—preserving the ability for Americans to protect themselves and hunt, virtually eliminating the risk of mass shootings, and lessening the deadliness of the Las Vegas shooting (Stephen Paddock had an astounding forty-two high-powered rifles). Now, let’s put

Republican arguments to bed once and for all.

The first common argument is that having a stronger, bigger gun is like having a more powerful phone—you don’t need it, but it’s nice to have. True, but the difference between a gun and a phone is that a gun is built to kill people and a phone isn’t. If a gun is used to do what it was built to do, somebody will lose their life. A bigger gun’s only purpose is to be able to kill more people faster—a useless purpose if the goal is to kill one person or animal. On the other hand, a phone’s purpose is to enable easy long-distance communication between people. A better phone will allow people to communicate over long distances better, and perhaps on a more diverse variety of platforms and media types (images, text messages, videos, music… ), a very useful communication tool. It should be obvious, then, that the analogy between the two is inaccurate, thus discrediting the argument.

The second common argument is that giving people guns will allow them to defend themselves in the event of a mass shooting.

Let’s consider Las Vegas, where the shooter was perched twenty-three stories up and more than a thousand feet away. One reason why this attack was so deadly was that no one knew where the gunfire was coming from, so nobody knew where to run. Now imagine if everyone at that concert had a gun and was trying to fire back at where they thought the gunfire was coming from. If they thought that the gunfire was coming from another hotel, or from the concert stage, or from a different floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, they would have shot there, and now you

have gunfire going in all directions—killing even more people. That’s not the way to solve the problem—the proper solution is to deny these mass shooters access to the number and type of guns that are used in these tragedies.

The third common argument is that the right to bear arms is absolute. However, the rights granted to Americans in the Constitution are not absolute. Americans are entitled to free speech, but only speech which does not incite “clear and present danger” (from a 1919 Supreme Court ruling) nor contains libelous claims, fake advertisements, or the like. Likewise, Americans should be able to have guns, but only the Americans that are not mentally deranged, nor pose a threat to our country, and only a few weak guns because (as mentioned before) tens of powerful guns are not needed to accomplish the purposes of bearing arms.

Henry David Thoreau, one of the great essayists of the nineteenth century, wrote that “If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, … we need never read of another. One is enough.” He was right. It is sad many people in this country have accepted the reality that we can no longer go to nightclubs, to school, to concerts, without carrying the nagging thought in the back of the mind that this event may be the site of the next mass shooting. But Thoreau was also right that one is enough—or, at least, that one should be enough. After one of these horrific mass shootings, America should be moved to do everything in our power to prevent another such tragedy. There have unfortunately been many more than one—Las Vegas simply being the most recent and deadly one—and so we have more than enough reason to move forward with common sense gun legislation. Gun-rights activists and conservative lawmakers, I’ve disproven your arguments and shown that these gun controls still accomplish your purpose: can we please say that enough is enough this time?

Infographic for current gun restriction issues Photo Credit: theodysseyonline.com

Students Are Too Stressed

Henry Gu Web Editor

Stress, at its most basic level, is defined as your body’s response to a demand of the environment. These demands are called stressors, and can range from the fatal danger of a tiger chasing you to the small twinge of anxiety from too much homework.

Even though today the word “stress” has a strong negative connotation, our bodies developed the stress response response in order to optimise the human body in times of danger by releasing hormones to improve our physical capabilities. Lungs become more efficient, senses become sharper, and your brain becomes more alert during the stress response. Though this might seem like a favorable state to keep your body in all the time, prolonged exposure to stressors will cause the stress response to fire uncontrollably, resulting in mental and physical damage. This is the definition of chronic stress. Notable consequences include anxiety, depression, and weight gain.

For high school students, daily stressors from homework, extracurriculars and social life bring out stress responses so often that many students may be feeling the results of chronic stress extremely early into their lives.

In recent years, the stress level for teens has risen to astronomical heights. In a a survey by the American Psychological Association, teens and adults were interviewed about their stress levels. Teens reported 5.8,

topping adults who reported 5.1 on the 10-point scale (where 1 was little stress and 10 was extreme stress). These numbers are very concerning, as the healthy level is considered to be 3.9. Furthermore, 30% of teens report feeling sad or depressed as a result of stress, and even 23% report skipping a meal due to the condition.

The causes of stress are numerous and likely vary from student to student, but there exist several key factors that are common to many of those students suffering from stress. The most influential is likely the growing competitive mindset that many teens have towards education and college.

For many students and their families, getting into a “good” college is becoming more and more of a priority, spurring greatly increased participation in more Advanced Placement classes and standardized testing.

Furthermore, grades are often considered to not be enough, resulting in even more time being spent on sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars. Though participation in all these activities is certainly rewarding and worthwhile, pushing yourself to the limit everyday in order to stay afloat above the sea of educational pressures is definitely a source of a never-ending amount of stressors, which can result in the consequences of anxiety and depression as previously mentioned.

Another contributing force to stressors, though more indirect, is sleep.

Many students disregard the importance of getting an adequate amount of sleep each night

due to the extreme amount of work they put themselves through every night. According to the National Sleep Foundation, students need between 8-10 hours of sleep. However, over 90% of students are unable to reach this goal.

As a busy student myself, I can understand how that threshold is almost impossible to get every night. On average, teenagers report to get between 7 and 7.25 hours of sleep, leaving them often tired during the already stressful school day. Sleep plays an essential role in resting and repairing our body, and one of its most important functions is reducing our built-up stress during the day. However, when the amount and quality of sleep is reduced to such an extreme level as it is for high school students, the effects of stress can build up and become more pronounced, resulting in a vicious feedback cycle that builds up more and more stress as time goes on.

How can we combat this problem?

Certain activities, such as yoga, tai chi, and deep abdominal breathing, trigger a relaxation response that opposes the stress response, calming us down and keeping us healthy. Physical activity is also very beneficial in fighting against stress. The exercise can relieve muscle tension and induce calm, which is especially beneficial in the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of busy students. Finally, social support from friends and family can provide emotional buffers against stress-related problems and relieve them during times of crisis. No matter how much work one has, health remains a priority.

Quote of the Month “How did it get so late so soon?

It’s night before it’s afternoon.

December is here before its June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?”

— Dr. Seuss

Was the Texas Church Shooting A Mental Health Problem?

Andrew Chang Senior Staff Writer

Is The Internet Making Mental Health Worse?

Andrew Chang Senior Staff Writer

Recently, Bay Area community has been concerned about teenage suicides.

The recent Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” has caused some of this concern. “13 Reasons Why” is a Netflix television series documenting a collection of tapes that reveal the mystery behind a teenage girl’s suicide.

Many mental health professionals believe that the show is a gross misrepresentation of the nuances of suicide, and some even worry that it glorifies suicide (Benton, “13 Reasons Why ‘13 Reasons Why’ May Send a Dangerous Message”). Increasing rates of mental illness across the nation, beg the question of whether the Internet is at the root of teenage suicide and depression.The subsequent generalization that the Internet is the main cause of teenage suicide is unsubstantiated by the current body of empirical data.

A 2012 review in the American Journal of Public Health outlined various mechanisms by which the Internet and social media may impact suicidal b e h a v i o r.

The authors identified cyberbullying and the media contagion effect as the primary risk factors. The media contagion effect refers to the cascade of suicides following exposure to suicide-related content. In 2009, researchers examined the accessibility of nonsuicidal self-injury videos on Youtube through a search using the keywords “self-injury” and “self-harm.”

They selected the 50 most viewed videos with and without live individuals, labeling them character and noncharacter videos, respectively. Shockingly, these 100 videos were viewed over 2 million times, and 80% were accessible to the general public.

Moreover, a staggering 90% of noncharacter videos contained explicit photographs of nonsuicidal self injury, and 28% of the character videos had in-action nonsuicidal self-injury (Lewis et al. 2011). The availability of explicit videos on YouTube is quite frightening, given the potential for these videos to trigger impulsive responses. Deleting these YouTube videos, however, would likely prove to be an ineffectual strategy of combating teenage depression. Not only would it raise issues on censorship, but it wouldn’t change the fact that teenagers don’t stumble upon these explicit videos by accident. Hence, the Internet does not promote suicide-like behavior directly, but it offers unchecked sources suicide-related information.

The authors of the review also

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November 13th, 2017

detailed the manners in which the Internet may also serve to prevent suicide-related behavior. Specifically, a substantial number of social media sites are designated to suicide prevention. Youtube, for instance, contains numerous public service announcements promoting suicide prevention awareness programs. Facebook, on the other hand, has a panic-button to report cyberbullying and a suicide alert reporting system. Moreover, Google’s search algorithm consistently yields a link to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at the top of the search page when the keywords indicate suicidal ideation or intent (Luxton et al. 2012). The critical question, then, is what percentage of teens contemplating suicide are dissuaded, persuaded, or unaffected

by Internet resources. The Internet, therefore, may more accurately be described as an aggravator of an underlying mental issue.

Clearly, to claim that the Internet is the sole culprit of teenage suicide would be a gross oversimplification of the biopsychosocial factors of suicide. While social media surely plays a role in suicide and mental illness, the link between social media and depression is tenuous. A 2014 review of the effects of online social networking on mental health reported, “It seems that when social networks and the Internet in general are used to strengthen and maintain social ties, particularly within family members and close friends, the resulting social support has beneficial effects on mental health. On the other hand, extensive use of SNS outside these circles might weaken existing close family and friend interactions and increase feelings of loneliness and depression” (Pantic 2014).

Social media, it appears, does not directly cause mental illnesses from any specific mechanism, as it may improve emotional wellbeing if used in a healthy manner. Further research on the underlying physiological mechanisms behind suicide and depression, I conjecture, would yield the greatest reductions in teenage suicide, as supposed to additional research on psychology and sociology.

Psychology and sociology, I believe, are far too complex to be effectively examined in randomized control trials (RCT), as the number of confounding variables make drawing any conclusions quite difficult.

Instead, deepening our understanding of the various neurotransmitters, for example, or delving into the implications of the microbiome on emotion, would most benefit the mentally ill. From there, RCT findings may be tested in broader sociological experiments to determine the best practical applications of clinical research.

On November 5, Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on the First Baptist Church congregation in Sutherland Springs, Texas. In the largest mass shooting in Texas history, Kelley murdered at least 26 people, injuring approximately 20 others. A staunch advocate of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, President Trump dismissed the shooting as a “mental health problem,” given that Kelley was caught escaping from a New Mexico psychiatric hospital. To understand the basis of his argument, it’s important to first explore the literature revolving gun violence.

Metzl and MacLeish determined whether mental illness causes gun violence, whether psychiatric diagnoses serve as an accurate predictor of gun crime, and whether gun control will prevent future mass shootings. First, the authors noted that the infrequent nature of mass shootings makes developing any form of statistical modeling for mass shootings extremely challenging.

Nonetheless, looking at overall gun homicide databases, the mentally ill were responsible for fewer than 5% of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States between 2001 and 2010 (Metzl and MacLeish 241). While individuals with untreated mental illness may be at an increased risk for violence during psychotic episodes, many studies linking violence with mental illness have

been criticized. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of individuals with clinically diagnosed psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts, especially those with the more common diagnoses of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit disorder.

Surprisingly, it’s theorized that individuals with serious mental illnesses may have a lower risk of violence, since they often subject themselves to social isolation. In fact, surveys of police incident reports have demonstrated that schizophrenics have victimization rates 65% to 130% higher than those of the general public (Metzl and MacLeish 243). Other risk factors, such as substance abuse and gun available, more strongly correlate with gun violence than mental illness alone. Even more interesting is that regression analyses reveal that up to 85% of shootings occur within social networks, contrary to the prevailing myth of the lone gunman (Metzl and MacLeish 242). This begs the question as to Kelly’s motivation for the murdering complete strangers. Clearly, the Texas church shooting warrants a nuanced analysis of the underlying biopsychosocial factors driving Kelly’s actions.

Regarding the efficacy of psychiatric diagnoses in predicting gun crimes, Metzl and MacLeish remained skeptical of the clinical judgement of psychiatrists. Namely, “psychiatric diagnoses is in and of itself not predictive of violence, and even the overwhelming majority of psychiatric

patients who fit the profile of recent US mass shooters—gun-owning, angry, paranoid White men—do not commit crimes” (Metzl and MacLeish 243). Thus, reforming mental health criteria for gun rights may prove to be ineffectual at predicting future gun violence.

With the high rates of depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders, even the most timid individuals could be deemed a threat to society and denied their right to bear arms.

What feeds the prevailing misconceptions on gun violence? Eventually, it boils down to the framing of mental illness.

Schizophrenics, for example, were once considered to be nonthreatening members of society, until the DSM categorized paranoid schizophrenia as “frequently hostile and aggressive” in 1968 (Metzl and MacLeish 244). Further exacerbating the issue are the racial and social tensions, which often lead to the mislabeling of particular groups as inherently threatening to society. Metzl and MacLeish concluded, “Our review also suggests that the stigma linked to guns and mental illness is complex, multifaceted, and itself politicized, in as much as the decisions about which crimes US culture diagnoses as ‘crazy’ and which it deems ‘sane’ are driven as much by the politics and racial anxieties of particular cultural moments as by the workings of individual disturbed brains” (Metzl and MacLeish 246-247). Say Trump is right. Who, then, is actually sane?

Advice from

Sky Blue & T-Bone Dear Sky Blue and T-Bone,

As the weather gets colder and finals loom nearer, I find myself thinking of the sweet release of winter break immediately after these stressful times. What can I do to make the most of my precious two weeks freedom?

Stressfully yours,

I’m Not Ready for Finals

Crosses with the names of victims of the shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Photo Credit: usatoday.com

“20% of youth ages 13-18 live with a Mental Health Condition” (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

Dear I’m Not Ready for FInals,

I always like a good trip up to Tahoe, to enjoy the snow, build snowmen, enjoy the extraordinarily beautiful scenery (assuming there’s a lot of snow, which there might not be this year, unfortunately), go skiing, go snowboarding, or go tubing. But if you don’t have time for that (if you’re working on college applications, for example), I like going to Andersen Bakery with friends and getting warm clam chowder in a bread bowl—it’s the best. Or you can hike up Laurelwood and enjoy one of the last undeveloped tracts of land in the area, or go walking and biking on the levee in Foster City with friends. Oh, and one more suggestion: the Geminid meteor shower is peaking the night of December 13th (even though that’s not winter break)! It’s really interesting and beautiful—you should go check it out! Hope you find my suggestions helpful…

Sincerely,

Sky Blue

Dear I’m Not Ready for Finals,

Obviously, the best way to enjoy yourself is to do nothing and become a shut-in.

It’ll be like procrastinating, but better because there’s no homework! As a bonus challenge: mess up your sleep schedule so that by the time school starts again, you’ve become nocturnal.

Warmly,

T-Bone

6

December 8th, 2017

Interviews Interviews

Mrs. Taylor

Mr. Aguilar

Health Office Aide

Resource Specialist, Directed Studies Ben Liao Editor-in-Chief Q: To start off, please introduce yourself!

A: My name is Paul Aguilar, and I am a Resource Specialist, which means I teach a Directed Studies class, which is a class which helps students in their other classes, so I help them with chemistry, math, science, language arts, stuff like that. I also teach a Language Arts class, a special education Language Arts class. I have a 9/10 class, then I have an 11/12 class. I have students in all of the houses.

Q: How did you get to become a teacher?

A: Well I always wanted to be a teacher, when I entered college, t h a t ’s w h e n I realized I wanted to be a teacher. I graduated college, I was looking for a job, and Santa Clara County was hiring for substitutes, and my original intention was to teach high school Social Studies, because I got my degree in history, but, there were no jobs really available and Santa Clara County was hiring for special education.

So that’s how I got into special ed, and I rolled that after a year into a a teaching position. But I still subbed for a year—and I’d recommend to all new teachers to go and sub. Santa Clara County was huge. I got to see all the different strategies at schools that were used, so it was really good to get that experience to see what a whole bunch of different teachers used as strategies.

Q: What do you like or dislike about Hillsdale so far? Any best or worst moments?

A: Well, what I’m really happy about is the students are pretty self-motivated. Being a Resource Specialist, especially in middle school, kids aren’t motivated at all—it’s hard to get students to want to do their work.

But in high school, you have that inherent motivation of graduating; you have to pass your classes to get units to graduate. And I actually have more students passing classes now than I ever did in my career before,

and I think it’s because of that motivation to graduate. That’s really awesome. I don’t really have a bad experience—my room’s really cold, I guess. It’s like the worst experience I’ve had; I could use a heater!

That’s really it, I love it here, this is a great school, you guys have it great; this is a beautiful neighborhood; you have so many resources, so many clubs. A lot of schools don’t have a lot of what you guys have, and they don’t look like this and not in beautiful neighborhoods like this; you guys are really lucky to have a school like this. It’s set you up for the rest of your life.

Q: What are some of your favorite activities or hobbies outside of teaching?

A: Let’s see, video games, I play video games. I like to read about politics and geography and economics. I invest, so I’m an investor and I read a lot about the stock market and about stocks that I either am invested in or want to invest in. That’s a lot of my time, to be honest. And then I have a son, so really most of my extra time is just spent with my family.

Q: What’s your favorite food and restaurant?

A: Ceviche! Ceviche is my favorite food.

It’s basically a raw fish cold soup, I guess you could describe it as that. La Costanera which is just over the hill in Montara, Montara State Beach, is my favorite restaurant. Peruvian restaurant, we had our wedding reception there.

Q: What’s something your students wouldn’t know about you just by being in your class?

A: Well, I guess when I was in high school, my hair was all the down to my butt, basically. I had really long hair and was in a bunch of heavy metal bands, played shows all the time, just around Morgan Hill and an San Jose, where I grew up. I listened to really intense, loud, fast music my whole life, and I would play in bands, so I’d look the part—I was a heavy metal, headbanger, rocker guy.

thehillsdalescroll@gmail.com

Eilleen Zhang Editor-in-Chief Q: Please introduce yourself!

A: I’m Sheryl Taylor, and I work in the health office at Hillsdale High School.

Q: What do you usually do every day?

A: Here in the health office, it means that on a daily basis if there are students who don’t feel good, or get hurt either in class or just walking around and they come see me. Behind the scenes I actually do a lot with immunizations for all the students. I have to make sure that every student here at school has the correct immunizations to be here. I’m also in charge of all medications that are given out to students. I also help all the students who have any kind of a health condition, so I have to keep this massive list updated on a regular basis.

Q: How did you get into working in the health field?

A : Ye a r s a g o , I started coaching at a school near where I lived in Santa Rosa, and I really enjoyed working with high school kids. I loved it. I was coaching cross country, and it was really fun.. I coached at this high school and I thought, if I like coaching with high school students, I should just see if I can get a job at a high school. So I actually got a job at a different high school during the day, as the health technician at this school. I loved it, I really loved it.

Q: What do you like about Hillsdale?

A: I actually like the campus. I’ve been on a lot of different campuses, a whole bunch of campuses up in Northern California, and a few down here when I was interviewing around for jobs, and this one I really like.

I like the big quads that you guys have and the fact that you have a swimming pool. You’ve got a great sports facility, so the whole setup here is really great. I love just walking around campus. And then I really like the students I’m getting to know, and working with the staff is really awesome. Super supportive staff.

Q: Can you talk more about your experience coaching?

A: That’s my passion. If I could, I would make it my full time job but unfortunately coaching at the high school level does not pay a lot. But I love coaching. I ran competitively in high school and in college, and really really loved it. I found that it was probably one of the best experiences in my life, and really helped build who I am now.

Even after college I kept running, and then I discovered that coaching was going to be an avenue for me to continue running and also give back to high school students. I’m really excited to be coaching cross country here at Hillsdale. It’s been really fun to get to know the team, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot.

Q: If you could give all of us high school students one piece of advice, what would you say?

A: Be true to yourself. That was something I learned, it was a very long learning process for me and I think that it’s really hard for a lot of people, not everyone, as you are maturing and growing and going through your early life experiences, to really be true to yourself and not let other people mold you and influence you. If you end up letting other people change who you are at the core, I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think you lose a part of yourself, if not a lot of yourself. Do not give up a part of yourself, or your true core values for anybody, because no one is worth that. Nobody is. You will end up regretting that at some point in your life if you do.

Q: Do you have any other hobbies?

I like running outside of the team on my own. My husband and I are really big fans of hiking. We love trying out new trails so we’ve tried a few new trails down here. We’re big foodies, so we’re trying new restaurants all the time. Those are my big things: running and food.

Q: Do you have anything else you want to say?

A: I love being here at Hillsdale. It’s been really good. I’ve enjoyed it.

Ms. Lovelace Career Center Counselor

Julia Chen Senior Staff Writer Q: Could you explain your job and what students can come to you for?

A: I work in the College and Career Center to help students figure out their path for the future and what they want to do after high school. There are lots of opportunities out there. Ms. Burtness helps with college stuff and I help with more career stuff. I also help out with internships.

A lot of internship opportunities come to Hillsdale and I try to get that information out to students to let them know what internships are happening and how to apply.

Q: What do you like about Hillsdale?

A: I think that it’s a great community. I haven’t been here for very long, but everyone is super friendly and it sounds like the students are all very driven to make a better life for themselves. The teachers are also

super supportive and love their students too.

Q: Has there been a favorite moment on the job for you?

A: It’s been really fun going into classrooms and meeting students when they come in and ask me questions. I love getting to know students, so I really like it when students come and see me.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a career coordinator?

A: Sort of. I wanted to be a counselor so I’m kind of working on other things b u t i t ’s a l s o similar to what I wanted to do.

Q: What made you want to be a career coordinator?

A: It just seemed really interesting to me.

I think that at this time in students’ lives, there’s a lot going on and some students really know what they want to do in the future while others don’t. I think it’s a really fun time to figure out who you are, what interests you have and I would just love to help facilitate that and get that going in kids’ lives.

Q: What advice would you give to a student?

A : Wo r k h a r d , f o l l o w your dreams and make goals for yourself.

Q: What’s your favorite part about working with high schoolers?

A: I think that high schoolers are an open book. They’re so fun to talk to and have a lot of experiences under their belt but are also ready to learn a lot more.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I love to walk and run. I love to sing, dance, and basically do anything outside.

Q: What were you like in high school?

A: I was sort of outgoing but also sort of shy. I had a lot of friends because I went to a pretty small high school so everyone knew each other. I was a cheerleader and had a lot of fun in high school.

Q: How would people you know describe you in a few words?

A: Helpful, kind, friendly, and driven.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

A: I’m really happy to be here and I’m really loving my job so far!

7

Entertainment Entertainment

Website: www.hillsdalescroll.org

December 8th, 2017

Stranger Things Season 2 Review

Meddy Andaya Staff Writer

The thrilling Netflix original series, Stranger Things by The Duffer Brothers, is finally out. The first season was surprisingly loved by many viewers, and a lot of them expected more on season two. Season two was definitely a success because it exceeded the expectations of the viewers. Junior Kaiana Fong says that “I rate it 10/10 because there were many unexpected events that made me want to keep watching the next episode. I can’t wait for season three to come out.”Season two was a lot more exciting because instead of letting go and forgetting what happened in the first season, The Duffer Brothers expanded and recreated the tale of the Upside Down. There were also new characters in the show that contributed to the adventure that main characters were doing.

In season two, Noah Schnapp, who

portrays Will, gets a lot more screen time Dustin keeps a pet that Will revealed is from than any other character. He struggles in the Upside down. Dustin and Lucas are both school because interested in the e v e r y o n e new girl, Maxine thought that he (Sadie Sink). died and called Her step-brother him “Zombie Billy (Dacre Boy”. When Montgomery) he returned, he i s a l s o n e w. began to have He represent flashbacks to the a human Upside Down. antagonist, and Finn Wolfhard he replaced the as Mike did territory of Steve not have a lot (Joe Keery) as of focus in a b u l l y. the show, C h i e f Stranger Things Season 2 trailer. Photo Credit: Netflix but he still Hopper holds on (David that eleven isn’t truly gone. The show also Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) plays put more screen time to Dustin (Gaten a big part in this season. We are introduced Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin). to a kind and funny Bob (Sean Astin) as

Wonder Review

Anya Lance-Chacko Senior Staff Writer

This truly remarkable story, originally written as a novel by R.J. Palacio about a young boy named August (Auggie) Pullman who struggles with a facial condition called Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS), has recently been released in theaters.

This story navigates so much beyond what it was like for Auggie to go through the world with this condition. It delves into the perspective of the sister, and how she feels invisible as a result of all the time that the parents put into caring for Auggie.

It explores how the parents struggled to take care of themselves in the middle of everything, as well as how Auggie navigates friendships. Within all of this, the story has the ability to appeal to a variety of audiences.

Although the theater was filled with kids, I heard many parents commenting on how moving the story was. The movie struggled to maintain its smoothness and plot direction while ensuring that it brought light to all of the different perspectives that it tried to show. I read the novel years ago, and it was structured similarly with various characters taking up various sections, and I remember really enjoying that about the book. However, in movie form, it seemed

as though that wasn’t maintained as well.

They had transitions to signify we’d be focusing on a different character, but that only lasted for a couple of minutes and then jumped right into Auggie’s perspective again. This made it so the film seemed unstructured, with the constant changes in perspectives. From what I can recollect of the novel, there were many perspectives that weren’t shared in this film such as that of Auggie’s friend, Summer, as well as the perspective of his sister’s boyfriend, Justin.

In addition, the movie was often very inspiring with various quotes that had to do with how Auggie navigated life, often mentioned by his caring teacher, Mr. Browne. However, some could describe the way the movie used these as somewhat “preachy”. And even though I would somewhat agree, from my recollection I found the novel a lot more moving and real.

In addition, in regards to the authenticity, I found the portrayal of the adults to be a bit of a stretch. In the novel, the perspective is told entirely from the kids’ lives, yet in the movie, the parents and adults seemed to be picture-perfect, knowing exactly what to say to ease Auggie’s challenges. Although I loved how insightful and caring Mr. Browne was in the novel as well as in the book, I

Mitchell Yu Staff Writer

but the beauty of the film comes from the more intimate moments, moments from the dinner table with family, or waiting in the Department of Family Reunions, or walking the streets of the Land of the Dead. There is certainly more to the movie than that­—there is some great comedic wit and a memorable cameo from a famed Mexican painter--but the interactions of Miguel with people such as his Abuelita (Renée Victor) in his hometown of Santa Cecilia, his great-grandmother Imelda (Alanna Ubach) in the Land of the Dead, and the aforementioned Héctor are the spirit of the film, with the more subtle humour of their interactions weaved into the living, breathing fabric of the tale. They serve the story, not detract from it, and ultimately pull the audience into the journey all the more.

The adventure here is a winding road, even after setting up the rules of the realm of the dead. As Miguel travels through the glowing world of the dead, the people he encounters are given a depth of character that resonates and continues to build to the end. The celebration of life and the fear of being forgotten are themes explored neatly

In a word, Coco is vibrant.

This is not just a reference to the vivid colours and lights of the Land of the Dead, or the detail and comforting familiarity of the town of Santa Cecilia, or the joyously animated skeletons, collapsing on a whim and reconstructing on the fly.

While all of these are certainly visual delights worthy of the Pixar caliber, the draw of the film is greater than this. Rather, the vibrancy is in the smaller moments and the exploration of remembering the dead.

Coco focuses on Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez), a young, aspiring musician who looks up to the deceased singer Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) as his source of musical inspiration. The Rivera family has a ban on music, however, stretching back to when Miguel’s greatgrandfather left his family to pursue stardom.

When Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead, he works with trickster Héctor (Gael García Bernal) to find a way to return home.

The setting lends itself to a variety of stunning locales and a fine sense of scale,

Joyce’s boyfriend. The death of Barb from season one still haunts Nancy (Natalia Dyer). She seeks justice with the help of Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Millie Bobby Brown’s return as Eleven made the show a lot more interesting when the Duffer Brothers expands more of her character.

What is the main antagonist? It’s an enormous spider-like shadow monster from the Upside Down, The Mind Flayer.

It’s more powerful, scarier, and harder to defeat than the Demogorgon. It is always mentioned by Will as “The Storm”. The history of the creature is a mystery. We don’t know if this creature was present when portal at the Hawkins Lab opened.

Dr. Owen (Paul Reiser), the new head scientist of the Hawkins Lab, continues to experiment with the Upside Down portal. Dr. Owen believes that Will is experiencing a post traumatic stress disorder that causes the flashbacks or visions.

How will they defeat the Mind Flayer?

felt that the authenticity was a bit lost when the parents seemed to be perfect as well. Despite all of this, the story was incredibly poignant and very important for Movie poster for Wonder. Photo Credit: slashfilm.com a multitude of audiences to hear. And I really with major surgeries. And how she felt that enjoyed seeing this movie adaptation.

Jacob Tremblay was very mature and took

One thing that is up for debate is the creators neglecting to cast someone who the role very seriously (Wonder Official actually has Treacher Collins syndrome, Trailer | Our Thoughts: Ally D. Minimally). which Auggie deals with, “which reiterates So, in the end, although there would be some that kids with Treacher Collins don’t really debate as to whether or not the movie was have a place on film,” described Ally D, portrayed accurately, it seemed to deal with regarding her initial feelings as a mother of some major issues quite well and appealed a kid with Treacher Collins. Clearly, this is to a large variety of audiences. And although a message that isn’t true, and not what the the flow of the story was a little challenging directors would want to portray. She later to navigate, this incredibly inspirational went on to say how she knew kids with story is very important for many to hear, Treacher Collins who had actually originally and I would highly recommend it, but read the part in the movie, but had to deal would recommend the book even more.

Coco Review

Preceding Pixar ’s Coco was and fully against the backdrop of music, Disney’s Olaf ’s Frozen Adventure, a and the music is good. The main piece “Remember Me” fits every time the song twenty-one minute drag of middling is used, and the other works have standout songs as Olaf tries to find Anna and Elsa moments. The score also does a great job a Christmas tradition, apparently the most at supporting the action on screen without important aspect of Christmas in Arendelle. calling away attention, and matches up to Unmemorable songs, a dragging pace, and every emotional peak and rush of adrenaline. an uninteresting and absurd plot make the

Coco is a strong film, with featurette a mediocre offering that Coco visual splendor and a twisting and deep does not deserve to be associated with. As plot, but most importantly with a beating of December 8, Disney is no longer showing heart beneath it all. Pixar’s latest is Olaf’s Frozen Adventure before Pixar’s Coco. certainly worth watching. I’d A scene from Coco. Photo Credit: moviehole.net rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

8

Entertainment Entertainment thehillsdalescroll@gmail.com

December 8th, 2017

December Crossword ACROSS:

2: Led the 1812 French invasion of Russia 7: Apple’s assistant 11: Endless, in “This Land is Your Land” 13: The Walking Dead’s Saviors’ leader 14: Calc. brand 15: Computer Internet addr.

17: Hedwig, for example 18: Seasonal period of cold 24: First 3D Zelda abbr.

26: Joint drama show with Aragon 28: _ _ _ and outs 29: Imperial weight units 30: Find out 33: Aragon mascot 34: Scrooge 36: Exam to cont. studies 37: Greek letter of psychology 38: Joint jazz concert with Aragon 46: Rotation freq. units 48: Br. public service broadcaster 50: Solfëge lowered seventh 51: To such an extent 53: Arctic pole 55: Killed for beliefs 58: Long distance traversed 59: Park of Seniors’ hall decorating

November Crossword Answers Answers containing spaces don’t contain spaces in the crossword.

ACROSS: 1: Mills 2: Pop 7: RIP 10: Pi 11: Ren 12: Rally Schedule

13: Anvil 16: Like 18: Alumni 19: HIT 20: Tee 21: Adagio 25: Ado 26: Homecoming 30: Lei 31: Golf 33: High School

36: Aide 38: Est(.)

39: DEA 40: Tutorial 41: No 43: MUN 44: Anthem 45: Regulate DOWN: 1: Marrakech 2: LOL

3: Sky Blue 5: Ophelia 6: Pie 7: Route 8: Preschool 9: Knight Pride 14: Vat 15: Ilene 17: Kaa 22: Dingo 23: GA

24: Id 27: Migrant 28: Cosette 29: Golding 32: Fail 33: Hydra 34: CSU 35: HTTP 37: Donut 42: One 43: MA

DOWN:

1: West coast time zone as of Nov. 5 2: Original “I ” finisher 3: Root beer brand since 1919 4: In a pear tree 5: Before vey 6: Don’t cry for her, Argentina 7: Stitch 8: Arctic dome

9: Egyptian sun god 10: Photo sharing service 12: Fruit bid 13: The First _ _ _ _ 16: Leading Player’s musical 19: Not susceptible to infection 20: No place in bibliog.

21: Billions of years 22: Motorhomes abbr.

23: MIT state 25: Wonderful wizard 27: Surprised exclamation 29: Metroid Prime drifts 30: Start of Alice’s tea party rodent and end of Ewoks’ home 31: Holiday of Jesus’ birth 32: An omission from City of a Thousand Planets’ protagonist?

33: Trickery 35: Protruding lump 36: Spanish social-democratic polit. party 37: After an afterthought abbr.

39: With too much power abbr.

40: Darkest shadow 41: Stanford adolescents’ med. center 42: Michael Jackson captain 43: Confused cartographer marks _ _ _ _ _ the treasure 44: Austin college abbr.

45: Not difficult 49: Nickelodeon boy band abbr.

52: Gold in Madrid 54: Pertaining to 55: Women’s English honorific 56: Smallest U.S. state 57: Atomic symbol of 43rd element

December Polls

Polls open 11/28 - 12/5; 279 respondents.

Ask your advisor if you weren’t able to respond to the poll!

Comic of the Month!

Other responses to Question 4: “Anime” “Going on long walks in the frigid cold...”

“Video Games” “Hanging out with my friends and biking”

Editors-InChief: Ben Liao Eilleen zhang Web Designer: Henry Gu Advisor: Ms. Mylan Senior Staff Writers: Julia Chen

Andrew Chang Anya LanceChacko Esha Kher

Ryan Scibetta Taylor won

Staff Writers: Olivia Umstead Julia Richardson Elise Raphael Allison Rulli Chaninder Rishi Emily Chang Leah Scibetta Luke Hofstetter Mitchell Yu

Photographers: Ari inouye Dyana Huarez

Elizabeth Donovan

Contributions From: Creative Writing Club

The Hillsdale Scroll is published by Hillsdale High School’s journalism club.

All views, opinions, and editorials are r e p r e s e n t at i v e o f the Scroll staff and are not necessarily those of Hillsdale High School’s administration, staff, o r s t u d e n t b o d y.

Advertisements are not representative of the opinions of t h e S c r o l l s t a f f.

Thank you for reading.

Questions, Comments or Submissions?

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