Letter
From the
Editor Dear Readers, Welcome to The Talon’s third annual newsmagazine! My two and a half years here have been a whirlwind, but no time is more exciting than the month in which the magazine is created — it’s our chance to create something prettier and shinier than our average newsprint issues, both in visuals and writing. We think of the magazine as an opportunity to explore topics deeper than we typically would be able to, given the extra space and time. Despite the differences in format, the core elements of our journalism remain what they have always been — truth, accuracy and objectivity. Within these pages lie important stories: the district’s SBAC results, students who have faced life-threatening conditions, the experience of being split between cultures. Our largest piece, “A Portrait of Los Altos,” delves into the community around us, exploring the history of Los Altos, the changes it has gone through to become what it is today, and what it means to people now. Additionally, this magazine contains inside looks on sports coaches, exciting new downtown businesses and everything in between that is relevant to our community. While the hard work of our 53 staff members gets us pretty far, there are also many others outside of our staff who are essential to operations. After all, great journalism requires support. Thank you to all of our Honorary Pulitzers, Silver Supporters, subscribers, fundraisergoers and Talon parents. We wouldn’t be able to do it without you.
Now, without further ado, please enjoy.
-Emily Aoki, Editor-in-Chief signed,
The Talon Newsmagazine 201 Almond Ave., Los Altos, CA Volume XXXII Staff Emily Aoki Editor-in-Chief Hanna Khosravi
Print Managing Editor
Jessica King
Print Managing Editor
Spencer Dembner Andrew Young Alex wong Julia santos
Web Managing Editor Media Editor news editor Sports Editor
Akhil Jakatdar
opinions editor
Tinomuda Tugwete
Features Editor
Miranda Li
Focus editor
Avi Varghese
Culture Editor
Teddy Chmyz
Copy/Content Editor
Savita Govind
Copy/Content Editor
Dominick Lanni
Business Manager
Cameron Avery
Business Manager
Michael Moul
Advisor
Senior Writers Anisha Desai, Rachel Lu, Booker Martin
Staff Writers Cameron Avery, Ross Avery, Maddie Chu, Priya Dixit, Haley Ecker, Nathan Godderis, Brian Huebner, Sana Khader, Yalda Khodadad, Emma Kwan, Avery Luke, Alex Luna, Emily Meza-Perez, Adrienne Mitchel, Javin Pombra, Jaclyn Saik, Yolanda Spura, Emma Van Guens, DanNy Vesurai, Madison Woo, Justin Yu
Photographers Emily Aronovitz, Francesca Fallow, Katie Klein, Natalie Munguia, Kunal Pandit, Thara Salim, Kimia Shahidi, Michael Sieffert, Yolanda Spura
Graphic Artists Ashley Cai, Carissa Lee, Anne Schill
Videographers Arjin Unlu, Bobak Afshari, Britt deVisser, Danny Nguyen
front page credits photos by: Hanna Khosravi, Print managing editor graphics by: Miranda Li, Focus Editor
TAlon Supporters Honorary Pulitzers Kazuo Aoki, Aloma Avery, Perry Dembner, Vaishali and Sanjay Dixit, Kendall Goto, Fred and Flora Khosravi, Andi Lou, Chung and Janice Park, The Sullivan Family Silver Supporters Wendy Aoki, Jaclyn Brode, Zhuang Qi Dai, Derek Hua, Shawn Hui, Vicente Luna, The Martin Family, Jasmeen Pombra
1 // February 2017
27
21
3
The
9
Up
Round
15 33 3 / News
21 / Focus
Teachers and students march against President
Read up on student perspectives and stories on
Donald Trump’s inauguration and talk about their
academic rigor and cultural diversity in Los Altos, a
future plans in protest of the Trump administration.
city seemingly defined by those two characteristics.
9 / Opinions
27 / Culture
Two Talon writers share their personal
The Talon takes a look at the many working students
experiences with male body image.
of Los Altos, who manage to balance after-school
15 / Features
shifts with homework and extracurriculars.
When sophomore Richa Krishna was diagnosed with
33 / Sports
a life-threatening cardiovascular condition, she,
Coaches and athletes at Los Altos shed light on
despite all odds, found joy through her sacrifice.
what it takes to be the best coach possible.
The Talon // 2
A Note on our Front and Back Page covers: The past month has been a visceral, politically-charged month for American citizens, regardless of age, location, or level of political interest and involvement. We witnessed the inauguration of a highly-controversial, often morally ambiguous candidate, and saw a subsequent eruption of protest around our cities, states, countries, and around the world in its entirety. Many of us chose to participate in these peaceful protests advocating for the fundamental rights we believe in as citizens of the United States. And, what with the outcome so far, we do not predict that these protests will be dying down anytime soon. When President Donald Trump ordered a ban on immigrants from the majority-Muslim nations of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, active and committed citizens flooded airports with slogans of justice and freedom for immigrants trying to enter to United States. These chants of “No Ban, No Wall” proved that our nation is, in fact, a nation of unity above all else. The discrimination embraced by the current administration cannot endure if we continue to fight against it. One executive order cannot change the character of a country — a character that this country was founded on, a character that has been established for over two centuries. Seeing these protests, whether we watch them from our television sets or participate in them ourselves, gives us hope for the years to come. This is undoubtedly a scary time, and what is happening within the White House is unfair and counter to America’s founding ideology. As a generation of high school students, we’ve never seen anything like this before during our lifetimes. Many of our families will be affected by these immigration bans. Many of us, as students, will be affected by the Trump administration’s actions going forward. But it is our responsibility to try and preserve our national freedoms, and to ensure that the United States remains a home to all and a land of freedom and opportunity. America is not a nation of bans or walls that holdsprejudices based on culture, creed or religion. We need to tear walls down, and let love in.
- Hanna Khosravi and Jessica King, Print Managing Editors
The Talon // 43
NEWS
Recap: January 2017 Physics department changes course Following controversy over last year’s AP Physics 1 scores, the physics department and administrators are planning to remove AP Physics 2 and instate a college-prep physics course at Los Altos.
I am fortunate to still contribute to MVLA in areas that I’m passionate about... while at the same time carving out time for my family. - former Associate Superintendent Brigitte Sarraf After over 46 years with the MVLA School District, Brigitte Sarraf has transitioned to a part-time time role as the district’s Director of Assessment and Accountability.
Brigitte Sarraf
He was a fighter all his life, but his heart finally gave out. - Mike Angius, son of Dushan “Dude” Angius
“Dude” Angius, AIDS crusader and former Los Altos principal, teacher and coach, died on Thursday, January 19. In 2014, Los Altos dedicated the large gym in his name.
FLICKR USER JEFF SCHOFIELD
I missed the classroom, and I was looking for positions... supporting students that were struggling.
COURTESY KAREN XIA
- Survey Skills teacher Jesse Soza
Los Altos prepares for more students
Los Altos welcomed Jesse Soza as a new Survey Skills teacher to account for an increased demand for the freshman English support class.
The MVLA School Board decided to split the old weight room into two new portable classrooms and rent a new portable for Los Altos.
New & Upcoming
Dude Angius
jESSE sOzA NATALIE MUNGUIA
February 15-17: World Language Days
March 6-11: Communications Week
The language department will hold a series of inclass and lunch presentations on different cultures, ranging from discussions about Tai Chi to viewings of French movies.
The administration will host Communications Week with an elongated tutorial schedule where students will hear from student and adult speakers on topics ranging from rape culture to xenophobia.
GRAPHICS BY MIRANDA LI
Teddy chmyz
Copy/Content Editor
F
ar from being an occasion to unify the ideologically splintered nation under its new president, the inauguration of President Donald Trump came with many voices of opposition. In almost every major U.S. city, citizens expressed their displeasure with the new president through protests and marches. These protests ranged from small, locally planned marches, mostly occurring on Inauguration Day itself, to those on a much larger scale, such as the synchronized, nation-wide Women’s Marches, which occurred the day after the inauguration. Many Los Altos students and teachers attended these demonstrations. Some participated in local cities, such as San Francisco, San Jose and Redwood City, while others travelled to the Women’s March taking place 5 // February 2017
Priya dixit Staff Writer
in Washington D.C. For most of the Los Altos participants, the marches were their first forays into political activism. While they did not have any prior experiences with marches or protests, they felt inspired by the extreme political situation to get involved. “This is the first time ever in my life that I have felt compelled to get political, because of the such negative and disrespectful, ridiculous rhetoric that has surrounded this campaign,” Spanish teacher Tiffany Karow said. While President Trump’s executive orders and cabinet member picks continue to make headlines on national news and spark discourse across the globe, The Talon delves into Los Altos’ political voice and involvement during Inauguration Day and its subsequent protests.
Nathan Godderis Staff Writer
Margaret Bennett I need to do what I can do... It’s too important to me as a mom, to me as a person, to me as a woman, to me as a teacher, to my students who work hard, to their families.
Dafna Adler I just feel incredibly strong about the message of this group and preserving women’s rights… I feel like I had to do this, I had to [go to the march] and have a voice.
Katia Gibson [Protesting] is a way to vent... It’s just a way for people to connect to our feeling the same thing and to hopefully have hope going forward. TOP TO BOTTOM: COURTESY MARGARET BENNETT, DAFNA ADLER, KATIA GIBSON
Experiences at the Marches Many participants in the Women’s Marches felt a sense of community and optimism. Protesters marched peacefully, and they held signs while listening to a variety of speakers. “It was just amazing, and I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Counselor Dafna Adler, who attended the Women’s March in Washington D.C., said. “It was the first protest or march I’ve ever been to, and it was just massive. It was incredible to look around and see all these people so passionate about these causes, really vocal and outspoken.” However, not all protests occurred in complete harmony. Freshman Divya Jakatdar’s experiences at the Washington D.C. Women’s March reflect the more chaotic aspects of some protests. While marching, she witnessed repeated clashes between Trump supporters and those participating
in the march. “Some Trump supporters came there with their signs wearing shirts saying ‘Women should stay in the kitchen’ and ‘Attention all gays, if you don’t like how you were born then try being reborn,’” Divya said. “So people were going around them saying ‘Love trumps hate,’ and then those guys started threatening women… [The protestors] all started huddling around them and started saying ‘Love trumps hate.’ Eventually it worked, and the guys left.” While Latin teacher Krista Greksouk also witnessed anger, she spoke of a sense of unity. For her, the speeches and protests had an underlying theme of resilience and solidarity through adversity. “There was anger, but there was a mood of togetherness and support, like, ‘You don’t need to be afraid, we’re all together, we can work together, we can do more, we can do more tomorrow and the next day, don’t just let it end today, let’s all try to work for what we believe in moving forward,’” Greksouk said.
Looking to the Future
we have such a diverse campus, [we want] to be the support for those people who aren’t eligible to speak their voice, like our students [who are] under eighteen Along with the protests and can’t vote.” and marches on and around The club will be created and Inauguration planned by stuDay, many who There was anger, dents, who will participated bedecide its name but there was a lieve there is still and goals. The more to be done. mood of together- staff involved Several of those ness and support, wish to provide like, ‘You don’t who marched students with the for Inauguration need to be afraid, opportunity to Day plan to con- we’re all together... voice their opintinue their activlet’s try to work for ions on issues ism at Los Altos. they are passionInspired by what we believe in ate about. moving forward. the the Women’s “We have this March Organizaidea that we - Latin teacher Krista tion, teachers who don’t want it to Greksouk protested for Inbe [just] a ‘womauguration Day, including Grek- en’s club,’” Alvarado said. “It’s souk, Adler and history teacher not exclusive. We want it to Sarah Alvarado, will facilitate be as diverse as possible and the formation of a club partially tackle a lot of different issues, based on the goals of the Wom- like LGBTQ equality, women’s en’s March organization. rights and human rights in “There’s a huge group of general… We haven’t come up teachers that are really passion- with a name because we want ate about supporting inclusion,” it to be organic to the students Alvarado said. “Being teachers who are going to take the lead and working where we do, where on the club.” FLICKR USER GORDON
I worry about where our leadership is going as a country. I hope that people will get off their couches, get out of their homes and say, “This is not okay, and you are on notice. People are watching, and we believe in human values.” - English teacher Margaret Bennett
The Talon // 6
SBAC Examining last school year’s fall in Smart Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) scores
Yolanda Spura Staff Writer
L
Justin Yu Staff Writer
Ashley Cai Graphic Artist
ast year’s plunge in Smart Balance alone led us to believe that if we get Assessment Consortium (SBAC) these kids to take this test and take it test scores came as a district-wide seriously, our scores should have gone surprise. Although the MVLA School up, but they didn’t.” District remained well Sarraf and Hellman above state and national hypothesized potential We had anticipated factors that could have standards, the downward an improvement trend prompted concern decreased scores, which from administration. included technical diffiin virtually every Out of the district’s culties, the testing schedstudent group... 17 measures of student ule and students not takWe were totally academic success, the ing the test seriously. surprised by the SBAC was the only one On Monday, October 24, results. that showed a decline in the MVLA School Board performance. The pro- Director of Assessment and met for a study session portion of students who to compile the SBAC deAccountability Brigitte Sarraf met or passed state exmographic data and dispectations at Los Altos cuss initial feedback from dropped from 81 to 70 percent and 76 to teachers and students. At the meeting, 67 percent in English language arts and Sarraf concluded that even after looking math, respectively. through data, results were inconclusive. The results confounded Director of Assessment and Accountability Brigitte Sarraf and Instructional Support Team coordinator Joy Hellman, esTo better understand the pecially since they thought a higher participation rate would mean higher drop in scores, The Talon scores. Los Altos and Mountain View and administration worked tested 93 percent of students last year, together to create a survey up from 83 percent two years ago. Sarraf reasoned that with a greater profor senior students in the portion of AP students taking the test, district. From the population scores would increase. of 840 seniors, a total of 460 “A very large percentage of the sturesponded to the survey. dents who opted out [in 2015] were our AP students,” Sarraf said. “So that fact
Changes
sity math and English classes. “A big part of it is simply [to have] teachers talking more about the benefits and importance of [the test],” Rosenberg said. To motivate students to try their best, the After analyzing the survey results, the district decided it will administer the district is considering putting SBAC scores SBAC assessment the week after spring on students’ transcripts. Although some break in April. Juniors will have regular believe the change would increase student classes on Monday, and testing will take stress, Rosenberg believes this decision place Tuesday through Thursday on spe- would benefit students. “The only consensus among students cial block day schedules. Last year, students took the exam a week before finals was that ‘I would try harder if [the score] was on my transcript,’” Rosenberg said. “At on a regular schedule. “Two years ago we did better than we least for our college-bound students, they did last year, and we had a special test- are all going to get at least proficient, and ing schedule,” Assistant Principal Galen if it motivates them to work hard enough to turn proficient to adRosenberg said. “[We’re vanced, then that’s good making changes] based Our takeaway is that for them.” on the input that we got our students know However, students from taking the survey much more than what voiced concern about and from discussions we they showed on the the possible inclusion had with teachers here and at Mountain View SBAC. We’ve gotten rich of SBAC scores on transcripts. about what appears to feedback that we’re “I think putting [SBAC be the best decision.” going to use for how we scores] on transcripts is The district plans to learn from the last two practice and structure a double-edged sword this year’s test. in a sense that some stuyears of testing by addressing concerns over - Director of Assessment and Account- dents will try harder, but it also puts more prespreparation. Teachers ability Brigitte Sarraf sure on students who are will introduce SBAC Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs), which otherwise stressed because of AP tests,” are tests that take the same format and senior Angela Chen said. “Junior year is cover the same content as the SBAC. Stu- already a very stressful time in general, dents of all grade levels will take the test, and this could potentially stress out stuas Los Altos offers many classes with stu- dents more considering the timing [two weeks] before AP tests.” dents of mixed grade levels. Otherwise, many students believe the “We’re planning on taking the 16 IABs that exist and dividing them up into cours- schedule changes and additional praces and departments,” Rosenberg said. tice activities that will be implemented “Most teachers [believe] that time [spent] this year will be beneficial for students’ on those IABs is not just test preparation, test taking. “I think the changes are good,” senior but [that] it is actually a worthwhile content learning experience for students in Ethan Lowell said. “Making the test feel more important is probably the key to that class, which is really the goal.” The district also aims to send a clear motivating more students, and the pracmessage about the benefits of doing well tice problems will likely prepare stuon the exam, which include placement dents better so they can demonstrate into higher-level California State Univer- their knowledge.”
*
*Subject to change
The Talon // 8
New Year, New Businesses Julia Santos Sports Editor
Kiwi Crate
Ashley Cai Graphic Artist
Emma Kwan Emma Van Geuns Justin Yu Staff Writers
With the goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists, artists and makers, Kiwi Crate develops creative projects for children to start tinkering and innovating at an early age. Kiwi Crate’s unique business idea centers around project packages called “crates” that contain materials, instructions and inspiration for future designs. Every month, the store ships out a set of brand new crates to subscribed families to continue to engage children. Kiwi Crate also provides a space where kids can work on their projects. The workshop offers projects for all age groups, from building a customizable clock to designing models of constellations. The workshop is open from 12 to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Morsey’s Although it may be impossible to find live buffalo in Los Altos, local residents Kal and Yulia Morsey have come close. The couple plans to open Morsey’s, a cafe that will incorporate water buffalo milk into its menu, as many believe it contains more health benefits compared to cow’s milk. Incorporating the milk in gelatos, yogurt and American clotted cream, the cafe will be open later this year.
Byington Vineyard & Winery Originally a family business, Byington Vineyard & Winery has produced pinot noir wines in the Santa Cruz Mountains since the late 1980s. Next to their vineyards, Byington also owns a variety of wine clubs where members can go for tastings. In 2013, Byington was bought by Los Altos Vineyards. While Byington’s previous clubs include tasting rooms, their downtown Los Altos location will their first freestanding tasting location. 9 // February 2017
Hiroshi Hiroshi is a high-end sushi bar that only accepts reservations and seats a maximum of eight people. As enigmatic as it is exclusive, the only entrance to the restaurant is from a back parking lot. The restaurant was built to provide another addition to the existing upmarket eateries in downtown.
SATELLITE IMAGERY: GOOGLE
Column
A RECIPE FOR PERFECT HAPPINESS Michael Sieffert Senior Writer
“In theory there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it.” Franz Kafka’s words have stayed put in my mind since the first time I read them. Maybe it was because I secretly wanted to find that key to perfect happiness; maybe I simply wanted to know what exactly he meant. I tried to break it down, see if I could get to the literal root of his words. Kafka seems to be telling us that we can be happy if a) we recognize the fact that we all have the ability to take on and handle anything, and b) we accept the fact that trying to be perfect will cause us to suffer. While this is all a bit complex and above my head, I have managed to glean one piece of useful advice from it: It is important to accept limits. Acceptance isn’t desirable, it isn’t fun, and it can make you feel like you have lost. I’m here to tell you that if you can accept the limits of a situation and work within them, then really you have won. We all have the innate desire to fight for things when they don’t turn out in our favor, and that's a wonderful thing. Standing up for what you believe in creates strong people and strong wills. But in a way, so does acceptance. Accepting that you may not be able to affect a situation you’re placed in can be one of the most difficult, yet rewarding decisions to make. Recently I have found
that much of the pain and grief I suffer is not from an actual unfortunate event or thing, but my unrealistic desire for things to be different. No one can avoid being put in situations where they are powerless, and no one can avoid wanting the situation to turn out differently. But at some point it stops being viable to fight every problem one has. I’m certainly not saying we should be completely compliant, but rather that we should choose our battles and
accept that some things are simply out of our reach. While it’s not always ideal, accepting situations in my life where I have no power to change things has made a noticeable impact on my happiness. I’ve started to worry more about the things I can control. Kafka gave us one more insight in those words of his. We can all be indestructible, but that's not really what being a human is about.
CARISSA LEE
The Talon // 10
Opinions
Yolanda Spura, Staff Write
I
t’s New Year’s Eve, and there’s something to strive for, we also 2016 really so different than all the a spirit of hope in the air. So- have to accept that we’re teenag- years before it and all the years that cial media sites all around are ers. It’s natural to be going through will come after it? filled with posts bemoaning the turbulent times. We’re growing, Globally, many bad things year 2016 but insisting that next we’re finding our passions, falling happened. Brexit, Aleppo, hate year, next year, will be better for in and out of friend groups, learn- crimes, Zika, ISIS, the refugee crieveryone. Our friends ing to drive and discov- sis and, for some, the election of and classmates are ering what it means Donald Trump. But infant mortalimaking cheery New It seems that we’re to be ourselves. High ty decreased, we made advances in Year’s posts and we’ve in a hurry to leave school and college are life-saving technology like precialready thought of challenging times for sion treatments for cancer, animals the year before, New Year’s resolutions everyone, and it’s easy such as giant pandas are coming dwelling on our past (though they’re probto brush away the good off of the endangered species list mistakes and fixatably the exact same things that happen in and the world crime rate decreased ones that we had last ing on the struggles daily life and focus on as a whole. Additionally, Harriet year, and they proba- we had, then writing the bad — arguments Tubman is going to be on the 20 bly involve exercise of the whole thing off with friends, failed dollar bill, literacy rates around the some kind.) as a giant disaster tests, breakups, jobs world are increasing and humans Was 2016 really a and crossing our and internships we are becoming more aware of cliyear that was just coldidn’t get. It’s easy to mate change (countries like Portufingers that next lectively horrible for forget the gal, Iceland and Costa year will be the year everyone? Every year, s u c c e s s - High school and Rica are making huge we succeed. we’re optimistic that es we had strides towards running college are chalthe next one will be because it’s solely on renewable enbetter, and that’s a good thing — easy to take them for lenging times for ergy.) Ultimately, bad it’s important to enter a new year granted, and often times everyone, and things will happen evwith a healthy amount of hope and it’s easy to let sadness, it’s easy to brush ery year, but so do many optimism. But it seems that we’re disappointment and fear away the good good things that are ofin a hurry to leave the year before, override other emo- things that hap- ten underappreciated. dwelling on our past mistakes and tions. But just because pen in daily life Perhaps we stumbled a fixating on the struggles we had, we failed in some of the bit in 2016, but we’re and to focus on then writing the whole thing off as a things we pursued this making progress. And the bad. giant disaster and crossing our fin- year doesn’t mean that if we decide to fixate on gers that next year will be the year we didn’t also succeed — all the bad things that we succeed. what about the tests we did well on, occured instead of focusing on And while achieving success, the new friends we made, the new the good, what’s to stop 2017 whatever your personal definition places we explored and the things from looking exactly the way of the term may be, is definitely we found out about ourselves? Was 2016 did? 11 // February 2017
Opinions
er |Maddie Chu, Staff Writer
2
017 is finally here, and with it comes a barrage of “New year, new me!” social media posts, a surge in gym memberships and renewed resolutions. The start of a new year is
always something to look forward think they won’t be achieved, but to as it symbolizes a chance for there is a degree of realism that change and new beginnings, so must be instilled. Being ambiit’s easy to have high expectations tious is one thing, but hard work for the overall success of the year. and responsibility are the driving It’s human nature to be ambitious forces behind your successes. The and optimistic, but the application things that are stopping you from of such desires don’t always come achieving your goals are well to fruition. As a result, we tend within your control — willpower, to denounce a year as motivation, effort — “good” or “bad” based and by coming to unInstead of rememupon our accomplishderstand that, you can ments, or lack there- bering 2017 as the take power over them. of. Instead of remem- year that could have Obviously, certain bering 2017 as the been, we can take things will be out of year that could have matters into our your control, whethbeen, we can take own hands and let er it be on a personal matters into our it be a good year or societal scale, and own hands and you will be forced to through our own let it be a good deal with the ineviyear through accord and efforts. table turbulence of our own acthe year. Setbacks cord and efforts. will occur and your resolve will Fundamentally, New be weakened, but you hold the Year resolutions are a power in letting those deterrencmeans of putting your es influence the outcome of your ambition into concrete goals and wishes. It won’t come actions that must be easily, nor will you necessaritaken, but the invest- ly accomplish every resolution ment of high hopes you have. However, don’t let into a single year this year be another year where often leads to dis- you are unhappy with the lack appointment. It’s of personal growth or success good to be motivat- you had, and instead, make it ed, and you should one you look back on knowing never try to fal- you were able to push yourself sify your goals to new limits and expand your MIRANDA LI because you capacity for resilience. The Talon // 12
Column
Starting a conversation Javin Pombra Staff Writer
I
allow myself to eat a little more — whether that be an extra scoop of ice cream or another slice of pizza — before debate tournaments because I know I’ll lose a pound or two during the weekend. It might be because tournaments are busy and there isn’t much time to eat or because we have to walk across giant college campuses, but I can always rest assured that along with losing a few debate rounds I’ll also lose weight. This isn’t the only trick I use to make sure I’m right at the average (or even better, below) BMI for my age group. Sure I exercise and try to eat healthy, but more than this, it’s become evident to me that losing weight is more of a mental contest against my expectations rather than something rooted in reality. That is, I’ll find ways to convince myself I’m fit, such as weighing myself before and after I jog to feel good about the 0.7 pounds I lost. It’s about convincing others as well. Whenever I go out to dinner with friends, I always start by suggesting the local salad bar or typical Silicon Valley vegan-cafe. And when my friends groan in response, I feel a sense of satisfaction because I really never did want to go eat salad or some gluten-free, fat-free, everything-free sandwich. I just wanted to show my friends that I did. More than just suggesting places to eat, I often express my frustration about not running for a few weeks or eating too much not because they reflect my true feelings — rather, they let me implicitly say that I’m just as healthy as anyone else. Personally, however, this contest of perception swings both ways: I may try to convince myself that I’m not overweight, but often times the other side wins. I criticize myself for gaining even a fraction of a fraction of a pound. I re13 // February 2017
ligiously look at myself before I sleep not out of ego, but out of my brain’s constant desire to recognize where I may look unfit and find some way to hide or fix it. When my mom tells me, “You’ve lost too much weight,” I just tell myself she said that because she’s my mother and has to say that. And when my friends tell me, “You're not fat,” it’s because they’re my friends and they have to say that. These feelings may be rooted in being overweight throughout elementary and middle school, or because with increasing age comes increasing doubts and insecurities, but body image has become an increasingly perceptual competition. And so, when one of my friends at a debate tournament said he was going to go workout, he unknowingly challenged me. Not only him, but my own mind as well dared me; the only way to convince my friends and myself that I was healthy was to accept.
Column
n on male body image Alex Wong News Editor
y relationship with food is parM adoxical. At home, I urge my parents to buy less snacks — please, no
chocolate, no Cheez-Its, no muffins. When those hazards nonetheless arrive on the kitchen counter, well, they don’t last long. At restaurants with friends, I try to eat the least. Then I reverse the day’s effort toward cutting down my consumption when I get home. In every case, fighting my body’s urges for food feels like wasted effort. It’s funny how little of my obsession with body-image translates into actual knowledge about nutritional health. I watch my caloric intake without knowing the number of calories I need. I’m conscious about my weight without knowing my BMI. I eat “less” without knowing what a healthy portion looks like. The house I live in doesn’t have a scale — I just watch the arch of my stomach to check whether or not I’ve been eating well. If I sought to be healthy, I’d probably have resolved these issues by now. But seeking a healthy body and seeking a healthy-looking body are very different desires. The growth of my self-conscious body image seems inevitable. We face pressures from all facets of our environment — the media, friends, even family. Yet when the topic manifests in conversations with others, rhetoric he two of us ended up on treadT mills: one of us barefoot, one of us in jeans. Our other friend was
CARISSA LEE
lifting weights in a dress shirt. We had not thought to bring workout clothes to a debate tournament. Yet, here we were, running instead of prepping for tomorrow's debate rounds or getting more
often underplays and misrepresents how I feel. In conversation, I’ll hear phrases such as “I need to get fit” or “I need to work out.” But I never hear, and I never say, “I want to look fit” or “I want to look like I work out.” The dichotomy between “need” and “want” plays an important role for me in the honesty and vulnerability of discussion. When I say “need,” I’m giving away control over my desire to look healthy. My decisions no longer are mine, and they become reflections of the molds manufactured by society, or at least my best estimate of what that might be. I speak from the privilege of not actually being unhealthy or overweight. I speak from the privilege of facing society’s sculpting hand but never the physical threat of weight or diet-related disorders. Yet the stigma against honesty, especially for guys, is overwhelming. It’s the mixture of isolation and secrecy that restrains dialogue and maintains a warped body image’s potent destructive force. I don’t know whether the majority of guys face this issue, and I hadn’t broached the subject with any of my friends until recently. The first and only time I ever heard a friend address the issue — and no, it wasn’t me who had the courage to bring it up — its seemingly untouchable, taboo atmosphere still staved off any real discussion besides acknowledgement. Like we had wandered too close to the outer boundary of truth, saw it, then ran away. In fact, that reaction was quite literal. When my friend, at a debate tournament, said he was going to workout, I had to join.
than the few hours of sleep we get at tournaments. The absurdity of our situation only seemed to reflect the absurdity of our mindsets. No longer satisfied with actually being healthy, we continue to compete with ourselves and others in an effort to seem fit. Yet we still run, waiting for someone else to stop first. The Talon // 14
Features
15 // February 2017
Teddy Chmyz, Savita Govind, Copy/Content Editors; Ross Avery, Adrienne Mitchel, Danny Vesurai, Staff Writers; Anne Schill, Graphic Artist
PHOTO COURTESY MAX DRUMMOND
Max Drummond: Acting
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enior Max Drummond is a master showman — from singing in Main Street, to acting in Broken Box, to participating in musical theater, he thrives on the stage. While he has many talents, his one true passion is acting. “[Acting] is the one thing that for me really clicks,” Max said. “I really enjoy it. I know exactly how to act onstage.. It’s something I really enjoy, something I think I’m good at, and something… I think I can actually be really good at with professional training.” Max has been acting since elementary school, and currently is a member of the Broken Box The-
ater Company at Los Altos. Max believes that he is very comfortable on stage, and realizes how rare a talent that is. “The number one fear in America is public speaking, then death, then drowning or clowns, then Republicans or something,” Max said. “For me that’s just not true. I love getting up in front of an audience, be it improv, be it comedy, be it drama, whatever.” Max plans to take advantage of his skills and continue acting — he is currently applying and auditioning for theater colleges, and hopes to act professionally after college.
PHOTO COURTESY ANNA GERCHANOVSKY
Anna Gerchanovsky: Painting
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hen sophomore Anna Gerchanovsky was creating her piece to submit for an art competition sponsored by The Museums of Los Gatos, she embraced the chosen topic of “Choice” in a unique way: She drew a picture of the judges, then wrote the words “Put this in your art show” on top in large red letters. “The choice that the judges get to face is choosing which artworks get into the show, so that’s what I made my artwork about,” Anna said. Anna’s unique approach to art has helped shape her definition
of its meaning. “I think that art is anything a person makes that can inspire thoughts or feelings in another person,” Anna said. “Art has to bring out some sort of emotion.” Although Anna only started making art four years ago, it has quickly become an integral part of who she is. “The only thing that I do is art,” Anna said. “Life is art.” Anna hopes to see others find the same passion for art that she has. “I also want people to see art and say, ‘Hey, I want to draw like that,’ and then just start drawing.” Anna said.
PHOTO COURTESY JERILYN LEE
PHOTO COURTESY TALIA GLOSTER
Talia Gloster: Musical Theater
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orn, in New York, so close to Broadway, it’s no surprise that senior Talia Gloster found her spark on stage as the fiery young lead in the wellknown musical “Annie.” Talia’s love for musical theater came to life and continued to grow when she moved to California and joined the Peninsula Youth Theatre (PYT). “I just did as many [stage productions] as I could, and since then I haven’t stopped, nor wanted to, nor been able to stop,” Talia said. Because Talia can’t choose between her talents for singing and acting, she sees musical the-
ater as the perfect opportunity to combine her passions into one unique, sharable experience. “[Musical theater] integrates acting and music and dance all into one two-hour cheesy beautiful thing,” Talia said. “You can share [that experience] with other people.” Talia hopes her love of musical theater will lead to personal fulfillment later in life. “It’s so easy to define success as being on Broadway or just having your name known by everyone,” Talia said. “I just want to be getting feedback that I’m giving to my audiences and to the world.”
Jerilyn Lee: Drawing
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hough sophomore Jerilyn Lee seeks to inspire others with her art, the work she produces tends to be dark. “I just want to create art that makes me happy and makes other people happy, even though most of my art is very dark,” Jerilyn said. “I don’t know why most of my art is dark. I’m just a teenager. I’ve tried [to create happy art] before. I ended up painting a really dead bird with really bright colors, and that was my attempt.” When her aunt passed away, Jerilyn felt compelled to work more on art as a way to honor her aunt’s death. “When [my aunt] passed away
I thought, ‘I have to do art now because I am so dedicated to this person and I’m so dedicated to what I do now,’” Jerilyn said. For Jerilyn, art is a medium through which she can express her thoughts and emotions “If I’m feeling sad, the art piece is probably going to be blue, but if I’m feeling happy then I’ll draw bubbly stuff that’s all happy,” Jerilyn said. In the future, Jerilyn wants to sell art that makes others happy. “I think almost every artist's’ dream is to sell their art because people genuinely like their art,” Jerilyn said. “That's pretty cool.“ The Talon // 16
Features
Humans of Los Altos: Richa Krishna by Madison Woo, Staff Writer
“Anytime that I was at dance I could have died. Dance was one of the biggest parts about me and while I’m obviously disappointed I had to stop, I know I’m not fully defined by my condition.” -Richa Krishna
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PHOTOS COURTESY RICHA KRISHNA
n December 2015, sophomore Richa Krishna was diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a rare condition that affects 200,000 people in the US today. The condition causes the heart muscles to abnormally thicken, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. Through the process of healing, Richa has had to, in some ways, sacrifice one of her greatest passions; dance. “I found out that I have a heart condition that was caused because I was dancing too much and my heart couldn’t take the intensity,” Richa said. “Anytime that I was at dance I could have died. It was scary to know that. Dance was one of the biggest parts about me and while I’m obviously disappointed I had to stop, I know I’m not fully defined by my condition.” Richa has made incredible strides in the world of dance and has been dancing for eleven years non-stop, dancing on the pre-professional level and training every day. Since her diagnosis, Richa has maintained her love for dance, but has had to give up prestigious summer programs. Although she has not had to give up dancing entirely, she has had to severely reduce her hours, from three hours daily, seven days a week, to one and a half hour classes, two days a week. “It’s hard to see others being able to dance when I can’t and [it’s hard to see others] being able to do stuff and compete and be at the studio after I’m done with the first class,” Richa said. “I have to stop and go home while other kids can go do other 17 // February 2017
variations. I can only go two days and it is an hour and a half each but still that’s more than I’m supposed to be doing.” While her condition prevents her from continuing dance at the level of intensity that she used to, Richa’s personal drive is as strong as ever. She now focuses that time and energy on exploring different areas of interest and pursuing her other passions, like photography. She currently owns a small business on etsy called “Kaleii” that sells handmade crafts, and also participates in ballet photo shoots. “Instead of doing [dance] intensives over the summer, I’ve gotten to do entrepreneurship programs and I get to spend more time making things and working on my little business,” Richa said. “I’m interested in bio-genetics because my condition is a genetic condition and last year in biology, I found out about it right before the cardiovascular unit so that made it really interesting.” Richa has decided to make the most of her time by thinking of ways she can also help others who suffer from the same condition. “I have a lot of ideas for people with conditions like this, especially for dancers,” Richa said. “When I’m in class, the doctors want me to have a heart rate monitor with a giant bulky watch and wires all over my body. I don’t want to have that so I have more ideas I want to pursue like monitors and heart rate trackers, things that I would need.”
Features
Humans of Los Altos: Henry Wright by Avery Luke, Staff Writer
“If you’re a person who hasn’t had many lows you can’t have that many highs... I feel like because I was in such a low place, I have a happier outlook towards everything and I’m really grateful for little things. Everything’s a lot brighter.” -Henry Wright
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PHOTOS BY FRANCESCA FALLOW
ophomore Henry Wright has always surrounded himself with people. Even as a kid, he often performed plays in his bedroom for others. Through his involvement in performing arts programs on and off campus, Henry finds the most value in the connections he forms with others. “I still love to sing but mostly I really enjoy the company of other people who sing — for whatever reason, people in performing arts are some of the most down to earth, respectful, inclusive people which is really nice,” Henry said. In his eighth grade year, Henry continued to pursue musical theater and began work for Peninsula Youth Theatre’s Les Miserables the musical. But one day during rehearsal, Henry was met with a challenge he would have never anticipated — cancer. “I was Marius so there was a scene where I had to catch Eponine because she was dying and when that happened my knee broke out and there were crazy amounts of pain,” Henry said. “I thought I had just broken a bone.” Henry recounts the blurry period of being hauled from doctor to doctor, each of whom admitted him to further treatment, “just in case.” Brought from his pediatrician to an orthopedic surgeon to a radiologic technologist, he was given MRI which revealed a hidden section of underbone that looked abnormally white. According to his biopsy, Henry’s lower thigh bone was found to be malignant and he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. “It’s hard to explain but cancer is always this thing that you hear about all the time, but it’s always something that happens to other
people,” Henry said. “You get sad about it, but it’s never something you can even fathom happening to yourself. It was a thing that was happening to me, but it didn’t feel real.” In just two weeks, the tumor was removed entirely in a super-invasive surgery where a large portion of his leg was cut out and replaced with an endoprosthesis made of metal. The cancer itself brought only slight pain but undergoing three layers of chemo — Methotrexate, Doxorubicin and Cisplatin — caused arduous side effects such as nausea and weight loss. Despite these physical side effects, for Henry, the emotional endurance was the most challenging part of making the recovery. “I didn’t realize it happened until it was over. Your body just kind of goes into a mode of shutting off all emotions — dealing with this and only this. Your physical needs come first and your emotion goes away,” Henry said. “My body shut down for those nine months and I became a machine — go to the hospital, get treatments, do everything I could to get better, go home and deal with symptoms, go home and take more medication for those symptoms and repeat.” After finishing chemo last December, Henry has made an expeditious recovery from the disease. He is left with more gratitude and emphasizes his newfound ability to find more enjoyment in the seemingly insignificant parts of his life. “If you’re a person who hasn’t had that many lows you can’t have that many highs,” Henry said. “I feel like because I was in such a low place and I really experienced so much crazy stuff, I just have a happier outlook towards everything and I’m really grateful for little things. Everything’s a lot brighter.” The Talon // 18
When Amy Met Alice
Features
BOBAK AFSHARI ROSS AVERY Staff Writers
PHOTO BY RACHEL LU
A
ctors often speak of the “role of a lifetime,” a character that aligns so perfectly with their beliefs and experiences that it can’t be passed up. For senior Amy Meyerson, that role was Alice, a troubled teenager who struggles with drug addiction and mental illness inTHIS “Go IS Ask Alice,” the upBODY TEXT. coming Broken Box show. Amy was able to draw parallels between Alice and herself, particularly in their common struggles with mental health. “I saw a lot of myself and my vulnerability in the character and a lot of self-esteem issues and insecurities, which I think a lot of people can relate to,” Amy said. “Obviously I haven’t experienced the same things as Alice, but I’ve had times when I’m just so frustrated and anxious that I don’t know what to do.” Four years ago, Amy’s mother, who had been struggling with depression, 19 // February 2017
committed suicide through to the character. a drug overdose. In the “When I was practictime that has passed, Amy ing my monologue for the says she has seen herself audition, I took out these make great strides. three poster boards I had “I’ve been healing and from my mom’s funeral growing,” Amy said. and encircled myself with “The further I get from them,” Amy said. that experience, the less it Although Amy welaffects me.” comes the opportunity to Although Amy’s previ- play such a challenging ous roles were enjoyable, role, she acknowledges the she was looking for a great- emotional strain it places er challenge. on her. She The character tries to keep I need this, I want of Alice offered this part so badly. a separation just what she It just consumed between the was looking for. c h a r a c t e r ’s me. I’m a very “I would al- emotional person, traumatic exways be think- and I wanted to use periences and ing, ‘I need this, that for something. her personal - senior Amy Meyerson I want this part life. so badly,’” Amy “[Broken said. “It just consumed me. Box Director Nancy] MoI’m a very emotional per- ran said that you know son, and I wanted to use you’ve done a good job if that for something.” you feel emotionally exIn order to get into char- hausted, which is so true,” acter, Amy has had to push Amy said. “I just didn’t herself past anything she want to get so emotional has known before. She that I couldn’t put the part uses her past struggles to away in a little box anynot only empathize with more when I was done.” Alice, but to fully commit While Amy was reading
the script, she noticed the absence of some important details. She knew she had to take action. “This script is missing a lot of poignant scenes from the book,” Amy said. “I went and transcribed a few scenes from the movie that we’re going to be able to put in.” She also notices some key differences between herself and Alice. “Alice bounces back quickly and the recovery process in the story is very up and down,” Amy said. “She's kind of one-sided in some ways, but for me it's so much more than that. I just hope the way we portray it can go beyond that.” Amy, who says her own mental stability has improved considerably this year, views the role as a source of great pride. “I just try to tell myself, ‘This is me,’” Amy said. “I learned that I have more potential than I thought I did.” “Go Ask Alice” premieres on Thursday, March 2.
Focus
Los Altos, Past an
JAvin Pombra & Danny vesurai, Staff Writers Diversity & Policy in Los Altos very conservative people.” said. “There are no strings, s high schoolers, we’re This political and cultural mix, and it's useful money since you usually the only people or lack thereof, resulted in an op- can use it for a lot of different in the room below the age of 30 position to many development things. It's less conservative at local City Council meetings. projects and use of funding. A now, and more comfortable While we often go to find new notable example of this political since it's less conservative." topics for articles, much of our climate was the controversy over As the years went by, Los interest is rooted in the policies whether City Council should buy Altos became more diverse not and proposals that affect us and the Hillview Community Center only in thought but in culture our fellow residents. In an effort with federal money. and age due to an influx of new to understand the evolution of “There was a sizable number of families. The Lave’s have had a local policy, we reached out to people who did not want to take front-seat view of it all. current council members, who federal money because they were “There are many more culredirected us to the past: Roy and worried about so-called ‘strings’ tures here now than there used Penny Lave. Both forthat would force us to be,” Penny Lave said. “It’s mer council members [Los Altos] was to do things they changed so much, which is mostly white, and mayors, the two didn't want us to do,” great. I love walking down Main have observed chang- and a lot of the Roy said. “So when Street, since I can’t walk down people who es in policy rooted in we bought Hillview Main Street without hearing a generational and cul- settled here after School, there was a lot different language.” tural changes through [World War II] of outcry from [conserWith Silicon Valley’s tech were former the years. With the vative] people that said, boom, a younger generation military. Lave’s, we traveled ‘If you buy that with flocked to Los Altos with their back to Los Altos in - Penny Lave federal funds, you'll own beliefs and values. Families the 1960’s: a town have to build low- attracted to good jobs and schools that would seem nearcost housing there.’ It settled as residents, and the city’s ly unrecognizable to many of us. wasn't true. It was just a fear. [But], demographics diversified. “It was mostly white, and a lot for some number of years, we re“We had all this tech economy, of the people who settled here fused to claim the money from our and they were hiring the youngest after [World War II] were former development grant.” and brightest,” Penny said. “Those military,” Penny said. “They However, with more liberal people [had] families, and they came out and stayed in Califor- perspectives today, controver- wanted to live in a good school disnia, then went to work for the sies like this are not as prevalent. trict, [which] Los Altos had.” defense contractors. They were “Now, we take that money In response to these changand nobody complains,” Roy es, residents have initiated a 21 // February 2017
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number of policies to engage the younger generation in local government. Penny started the Leadership Education Advancement Program (LEAD) to help new citizens get involved. “I started the [LEAD] program about 20 years ago to introduce people to Los Altos, the volunteer opportunities and the different segments of the government,” Penny said. “It’s interesting — at first we got people who were new to town, but now we have a lot of people who have… retired and taken this course to get an idea of what might they do to be part of the volunteer force. Some of them have even run for the City Council.” With the cultural changes that have transformed Los Altos come the opportunity for us to engage with the community. From increased diversity to more liberal policies to generational change, Los Altos has seen a lot. At the end of the day, even though we are the only high schoolers in the room, Los Altos is a community that’s evolved over time, and the younger generation is a part of the community that will shape its future.
nd Present
Focus
Savita Govind, Copy Content Editor; Anisha Desai, Senior Writer; Ross Avery & Sana khader, Staff Writers Moving Forward, Moving On? hen Los Altos’ picturesque apricot orchards were replaced by the Silicon Valley’s millionaire mansions, more than just trees died; a once strong sense of community faded away with them. As the pace of life increased, the days of sleepy, smalltown Los Altos were left behind. Our present reality focuses on life beyond Los Altos, and it doesn’t seem like our generation has noticed what we’ve lost. The four of us went to the Los Altos History Museum without any real objective in mind. Nestled in the more historic North Los Altos, the museum is small but tidy, with neatly arranged glass cases displaying old farming tools and newspaper clippings. We talked to Kristen Fuller, a longtime resident of Los Altos who, like us, spent her teenage years here. She was eager to reminisce, regaling us with stories from her childhood in the sixties and seventies. “We’d go to each other’s houses to help [harvest fruit],” Fuller said. “We all sat around kibitzing and laughing, and there was a lot of camaraderie doing that. It’s a way of life that doesn’t really exist anymore, at all.” Through talking to various Los Altans who grew up here, we were surprised to learn about the strong sense of community that existed only a few decades ago. The Los Altos Library was the “social scene” of the day, a place
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where you would run into all of Fuller’s summers spent making your friends, and decorating bikes apricot preserves seem like stories for Pet Parade was a large event. It from another era. And they are. was practically unheard of to not We aren’t so connected to this know your neighbors. Greg and town anymore. Many of us have Kate Evard, both of whom grew cars now, and when we spend up in and now reside in Los Altos, time with friends, we drive to Palo fondly recall the times when this Alto or Santa Cruz or any of the was a town where children would multitude of cities around us. We bike around the neighborhood choose not to hang out in Los Algathering their friends for a game tos because we don’t have to anyof soccer. more. Because we spend less time “[Kids would] just play with in Los Altos compared to previous the other neighborgenerations, we haven’t hood kids, there wasn’t established the same People didn’t as much emphasis on level of connection used to have getting the kids orga- gates and fences. with this town. nized…” Greg Evard “I just think of how There wasn’t said. “It was [also] just much it’s changed, that sense of more feeling of commuand it’s sort of sad,” “this is my nity in a way that everyFuller said. “It’s sad house.” body could circulate and to me that the open - Kate Evard space and all the beauuse the land more. You could get on your bike tiful trees and all the and just ride through orchards.” orchards are gone. There’s not a Over the years, as Los Altos single apricot tree.” changed from “Blossom ValAfter visiting the museum, ley” to “Silicon Valley,” it has we walked downtown, past the also morphed into a far more upscale stores, products of the closed-off atmosphere, both lit- Valley rent increases that have erally and mentally. The reality transformed this town. Before our shifted from people really being eyes, things were changing, just a part of their community to just as the apricot trees were razed living in it. and the houses became bigger and “People didn’t used to have the idyllic vision of small-town gates and fences,” Kate Evard America vanished in the minds of said. “There wasn’t that sense of its older people. It didn’t matter. ‘this is my house.’ Kids could go None of us thought about coming between and around houses. Now, back in five or ten or twenty years. I can’t even walk to my father’s We’re headed to college, becomhouse the way I used to… That’s ing adults. We have cars, jobs and kind of sad, it just makes it more the internet. We don’t need Los exclusive feeling.” Altos anymore.
Los Altos was a quaint town of apricot orchards until it was swallowed by the Silicon Valley’s tech boom — in a flurry of commotion, its residents and property values were entirely transformed and its customs changed with them. In these pages, The Talon aims to characterize the past and present of diversity and youth culture in Los Altos. The Talon // 22
Column
Miranda Li Focus Editor
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I failed to understand that connection was a two-way street. I’d run into the other lane with no regard for oncoming traffic, without bothering to register his interests. It seemed, then, like we had nothing in common. The fight for a “regular” brother-sister relationship had been lost before it even started because of his diagnosis alone. Eventually I came to understand that, despite my attempts to connect, there was a barrier to our forming a relationship that could not be overcome by brute force. As I grew
don’t think I’ve ever spoken to my 14-year old-brother for longer than 20 minutes at a time. In fact, 20 might still be an overestimate. My brother isn’t really interested in conversation; he’s autistic. For 13 years, I struggled to grasp at the fraying strings of what I thought constituted a “normal” sibling relationship between us. It seemed that the more I grew out of board games and cartoons, the less I could relate to him. Homework became a vacuum into which my free time disappeared. We spent less time together, and I felt I knew him less each day. I lost patience for the silences that sat between the pieces of our fragmented conversations, and as I began to see more differences between him and my peers, I perceived more of a subconscious superiority in myself. All the while, I refused to let myself believe that I could succumb to the same MIRANDA LI discriminatory views as others. I assumed my brother’s very existence was a free pass to moral busier and older, my attempts to reach out to integrity, and refused to acknowledge the subtle him became less frequent. I looked more inbiases against the disabled that existed in me. trospectively on the true nature of our failure I cringed at the use of “retarded” as an insult, to communicate. and felt as if by refuting this blatant display of It took many pensive showers for the whisperableism I was somehow iming streams of hot water to form a mune to its far subtler discrimicohesive self-reflective thought, In understanding my and I’m not sure anything could natory attitudes. Instead, I channeled my frus- brother and navigat- have catalyzed the process of tration into futile attempts to ing our largely non- realization. My epiphany was reach across the widening rift not built by textbooks but by between us. Surely, whatever I verbal relationship, I melodramatic moments staring was interested in, he must be too began to understand out foggy car windows, peaceful — I took art classes, so I tried isolation in elevators, zoning out that connection to teach him to draw; I passed in checkout lines at Safeway. level five on the piano, so I tried cannot exist upon a Once I’d come to terms with to teach him “Mary Had a Little porous foundation of it, the unshakable realization that Lamb.” I’d made the patron- perceived superiority. I myself harbored biases against izing assumption that since he people like my brother was both wasn’t as invested in anything as I was, his list immensely saddening and heavily influential. A of hobbies was a blank slate upon which I could part of me I’d never acknowledged had finally pencil in my own. exposed its ugly head to the slow ebb of delibIn a tacit assumption of my superiority, erate change. Little things in my everyday life 23 // February 2017
necessitated newfound attention and reflection — staring for a second too long at a person in a wheelchair, frustration at my brother’s tantrums. These biases were a symptom of basic human psychology; we tend to categorize in stereotypes and look down on people who don’t fit into boxes. Overcoming them took realizing that they could, in fact, be overcome — even the subconscious can be overridden by a conscious reminder that a person in a wheelchair is just as valuable as anyone else and my brother’s tantrums are not uncalled for but a manifestation of the symptoms of his disorder. Over the course of many months, a few years now, I began to correct myself in the small condescensions I noticed. As I corrected myself, I became more sensitive to noticing them. This sort of self-reflection cultivated a newfound patience for the things I didn’t understand about my brother and less ableism toward other disabled people I’d previously labelled as “uncategorized” in my mind full of cardboard boxes. Thoughts are powerful. Acknowledgement of and exposure to people we don’t understand breeds eye-opening conversation and deconstruction, or at least reconsideration, of stereotype. Years have passed, and in all honesty, I’m far from entirely nondiscriminatory, but progress is more important than proficiency. In understanding my brother and navigating our largely nonverbal relationship, I began to understand that connection cannot exist upon a porous foundation of perceived superiority. I am still frequently impatient or insensitive towards my brother, but I am a better sister because I know that I am and because I am not pretending not to be. There is no rift wide enough to irrevocably separate two people, but sometimes the roots of the perceived separation are subconscious and veiled beneath layers upon layers of preconceived notions and fragile human pride. I still don’t fully understand my brother, not in the conventional sense, and while his disability might make him more difficult to relate to, it does not make him inaccessible. In a lesson in humility I didn’t ask for and didn’t immediately understand, my brother has taught me that he and I are both equally human. No valley lies between us unless we believe one to.
C u lt u r e
WON’T YOU CHARLESTON WITH ME?
THE PERFORMING ARTS DEPARTMENT PRESENTS “THE BOY FRIEND” / FEBRUARY 9-11, 7 P.M.
haley ecker brian huebner kimia Shahidi Staff Writers Photographer
Every two years, the performing arts instructors from the choir, theater, dance and music departments at Los Altos combine their programs to craft a musical. Organizing such a project is no easy feat, but the result of this hard work comes in the form of a playful, heartwarming experience for viewers and actors alike. This year’s musical, “The Boy Friend,” takes the audience on a trip back in time to 1920s France. The script follows Polly, a young, wealthy British socialite who, while attending a girls’ finishing school, falls in love with a poor messenger boy named Tony. Sophomore Skye Riordan, who plays Pierre, one of the protagonist's friends, said that the theme of the play has required the ensemble to capture the vibe of the 1920s throughout the play. “I listened to the soundtrack
and thought, ‘This music is awesome,’” Skye said. “I’m personally a history freak, so thinking about speakeasies and flappers and all that stuff from the twenties is really cool to me.” In order to ensure historical accuracy, the directors have had to research details from the time. Several of the dances incorporated into the play were fairly popular during the era in which “The Boy Friend” is set. “I’ve been doing research on dances they did in the 1920s and learning about them online and creating choreography that works with the songs in the show,” dance teacher April Oliver said. “There are moments of Charleston… I found another dance craze from the 1920s called the ‘Black Bottom Dance,’ and I used a lot of the steps from that, and it’s very funny and silly and just over the top.” In translating the twenties to the stage, however, “The Boy Friend” incorporates some of the antiquated sentiments of the period. Due to the sexist themes that are woven into the script, some students chose not to participate.
“The first time we were running it, everyone was looking at it like ‘Does it really say that?’” Riordan said. “But if you go back to the twenties, you need all of the twenties. As long as people come in knowing that this is from this era, the fact that you might feel slightly uncomfortable with it is good. Just appreciate it for the music and all the positive stuff that comes with it.” The performing arts departments rarely collaborate on projects of this scale. Because of how little time there is to put the musical together, the directors, including Oliver, acting department head Nancy Moran, choir department head Mark Shaull and music department head Ted Ferrucci must work together to teach students outside of their respective departments. “It’s nice because I don’t get to go into Mr. Shaull’s classroom as much and I don’t get to see Ms. Oliver teach,” Moran said. “Watching them work in their discipline is really fascinating, and it’s very inspiring for me to get new ideas of how to approach my classes.”
While Moran, the director of Broken Box, brings skills in theater choreography, the incorporation of song and dance requires her to collaborate with Shaull and Oliver. This type of interdisciplinary collaboration is key, as not all the members of the ensemble are well-rounded in the performing arts. With the directors crossing over to assist students of different artistic strengths, the musical also presents the unique opportunity for students, whether they like to sing, dance, act or just enjoy performing, to work together and learn from each other. Senior Max Drummond, who plays Lord Brockhurst, the proverbial “dirty old man,” said that this aspect of the musical makes the experience even more rewarding. “It’s really cool to see all these disciplines and arts come together and do one show together and it’s a really great opportunity to get exposed to other things — kind of step outside your comfort zone,” Max said. “This is an opportunity to try something new… There’s just something electrifying about it.” The Talon // 24
C u lt u r e
(clockwise from top right)
Jennifer Miranda ‘18 works as a barista at Starbucks. Matt Carpenter ‘18 is a self employed photographer, shooting both for companies and for individuals. Bryan Guerrero ‘17 is a cashier and usher manager at Century 16. Anya Gupta ‘19 works at The Girls, a boutique shop that caters to young girls in downtown Los Altos. Julián Carbajal Y Reta ‘17 works at Rocket Fizz, a candy and soda pop shop in downtown Mountain View. 25 // February 2017
C u lt u r e
Side Hustles Emily aronovitz Thara salim Photographers
A
s a high school student, a job can mean many things. For some students, an evening shift is necessary in order to help their families make ends meet, while for other students, it is a source of pocket money. For a lucky few, it’s a way to pursue a passion. In photographing these students who have different jobs and wWork for different reasons, we wanted to highlight the dedication necessary for all of them to balance their work with the challenges of high school.
The Talon // 26
C U LT U R E C L A S H Cameron Avery Michael Sieffert
Business Manager Senior Writer, Photographer
27 // February 2017
C u lt u r e It’s often said that people are products of their environment — that on each individual can be found traces of people they’ve known and places they’ve been. Two students, Junior Cassie Kennedy and Senior Christine Huang, typify a community where no one can be called typical. Though they lived on opposite ends of the globe — Cassie in rural Indiana and Christine in bustling Taiwan — their experiences are similar. Both have been able to preserve some traditional elements of their culture while absorbing the progressive ideals of the surrounding area. In the following interviews, The Talon aims not only to look into the lives of two individuals, but to glean a broader understanding of the diversity that makes up our community.
Cassie Kennedy, Junior The Talon: Describe the community you grew up in. Cassie:* It was a very different place. I grew up in the Midwest, in a small town in Indiana in the middle of nowhere. My mom worked at the school I went to. She was a high school teacher, and it was a very religious Christian school where we had eight periods, one of them being a Bible class that specifically taught Christian religion. Every Friday, we had a chapel or a sermon at school. It was just kind of... everywhere. You rarely ever met a person that wasn’t a Christian in the town. T: How diverse was it? C: It was almost entirely white. Until I came out here, I had never met an Asian person. I knew a few African-Americans, but it was either you’re black or you’re white — no Hispanics, no Asians, anything. It was very conservative — liberal views were definitely less tolerated than they are here. I have very strong opinions but I never really contradicted anybody back (in Indiana). T: Do you miss anything from living in the Midwest? C: One of the first differences you’ll see when you go into the Midwest is just how
open people are to getting to know you, or becoming a friend, or offering you anything that you need — they’re very, very hospitable. You move out here and you think that you’re going to make a friend in the first few days, but that’s not what happens. Everyone just minds their own business — I miss that you’re able to have a conversation with a stranger and it’s not weird. T: Was it difficult having these progressive opinions at home? C: I’ve had lots of deep discussions with my parents and my family about controversial topics, and I tend to fight for the unpopular opinion — being from the Midwest, a lot of people are pro-life or Trump supporters, and when I fight for the other side, they take it as me betraying them or whatever. I want them to see the other side of things, because it’s difficult for me when they come off as closed minded. T: It sounds like your parents are definitely less progressive than you. C: Part of it is just a generational thing. There are always going to be things that the younger generation accepts and that are harder to handle for the older generation, because things change so much
— I think they would say that they’re more progressive than their parents. T: Obviously faith is a big part of your life — would you say that it’s remained as strong as it was in Indiana? C: Yes — if not stronger. When nothing in your life changes, your faith kind of plateaus, and when you’re put through a challenge, you either stray away from it or you grow stronger. The sudden move to California was really rough for me, and I think I went through a lot. But if anything, the time spent thinking about my religion — I just enjoy it so much more than I did, because I’m able to appreciate it more. T: Any last thoughts? C: No matter where you come from or where you end up, you’re going to learn and you’re going to evolve, and you’re going to be introduced to new cultures, new ideas, new opinions. It’s difficult to differentiate changing yourself completely to fit the environment around you, versus adapting and still keeping the things that you learned, but also being open to learning more things. *Responses have been edited for clarity. The Talon // 28
C u lt u r e Christine Huang, Senior The Talon: Can you tell me a little bit about your background and your culture? Christine:* There’s a term everyone uses: ABC, or American Born Chinese. It makes it easy for people to classify you. I was born in Dallas, Texas. My parents had emigrated from Taiwan a few years before, and my dad got his degree there. Because he had to transfer for his job, we went to China for about a year. Then we moved to Taiwan, where I stayed the longest, and that’s where I really developed my identity. T: Would you consider yourself more influenced by American culture or by Taiwanese culture? What have the main influences been? C: When you’re in Taiwan, they think you’re American, and when you’re here, you’re Taiwanese. When I was in Taiwan, I felt more American. I went to an American school where we spoke English. People see you as a snob and say, “Oh, she goes to an international school or whatever,” even though we’re like other kids. When you come to the U.S., you feel like an outsider in a different way, because you have a lot more exposure to different cultures than most people here, or at least different types of cultures. T: Do you feel that your parents’ upbringing and culture has influenced you? C: Definitely. There are a lot 29 // February 2017
of traditions they have that I certainly don’t agree with. In Taiwanese society there's no idea of feminism. My mom’s upbringing was to always do whatever the elderly tell you to do and make sure the man is satisfied. That almost repelled me from [the culture], and seeing that in my own household, it all felt foreign. There are other things; for example, my mom tells me not to wear black all the time because of superstition. Most of the time I don’t listen to her. I’ll do something she’ll see as insensitive, but she doesn’t realize her upbringing is totally different from mine, so I wouldn’t see it as anything rude. T: What makes you “feel Taiwanese” when you’re here? C: When I first moved here, so many people were asking me how I could speak English. I was pretty shocked. I was like, is this what people think of Taiwan? I don’t expect people to know where Taiwan is at this point. They’re like, “Oh, it’s Thailand,” and I’m like, “Nope.” But it's funny to see. People don’t understand where you come from, and I don’t think that's their fault. It's not like I would know how they grew up. So there has to be this mutual understanding — people are willing to learn about your own background, but don’t expect them to already know. T: How do you feel your cultures come together to influence you? C: When I’m in Taiwan, I identify more with what they believe. I don’t know if there are certain things
that clash with each other. So many ideas here [in the U.S.] are considered radical to people in Asia, like feminism. They don’t seem to understand, and in some ways, that almost made me try to convince my mom that you don’t have to be subordinate. That changes her behavior, but not in drastic ways. T: What’s it been like to interact with people from other cultures? C: My friend Karla is Mexican. So much of what her mom tells her to do is similar to what my mom tells me to do. You see so many similarities in family dynamics. Language affects her too; she speaks Spanish to her mom and I speak Mandarin to my mom. Before, I felt like so many people were so different from me, but there are underlying similarities. T: Do you feel that living in Taiwan has made significant marks on you as a person? C: Yeah, definitely. You see things from a more open perspective. I don’t know if I can compare [my perspective] to someone else who was born and raised here, because I obviously
wouldn’t know how that feels. But you adapt to a different perspective on most things. You tend to appreciate things more, because you know they’re not permanent. *Responses have been edited for clarity.
Sports
In the world of competitive athletics, nothing is more unpredictable than the quality of coaches. A great coach can be the decisive factor between another season of mediocrity and a championship run. But the main question to consider is,
what makes an effective coach?
There are many factors to consider before making such an assessment. Coaches are tasked with bringing together a group of people with different personalities, skill sets and work ethics. This is never an easy job and outside factors, like injuries or tension among athletes, may hinder a team’s ability to work together and succeed. Coaching clearly has many layers to it, so how do coaches balance all of these factors to make a successful team out of their athletes?
The Talon // 30
Akhil Jakatdar, Opinions Editor | Nathan Godderis, Staff W
WE ASKED A FEW COACHES AND ATHLETES WHAT QUALITIES THEY BELIEVE MAKE THE BEST COACHES, AND HERE’S WHAT THEY SAID:
Christopher Grey The best is when everything that’s a struggle or a fight stays on the field and stays in the film room and doesn’t get to “You’re doing something wrong because of who you are.” What you’re playing is just a game, so when you say it’s just a game, there’s other things to life. - senior CJ Grey, SJ Earthquakes Soccer Academy
Gabe Stewart The reality is that a loss is a great learning opportunity, so a loss just tells you that you haven’t reached your goals and you can still get better. I never put it in the context of , “Oh well, it was a good loss because this was as good as we could do,” because I think that’s the wrong attitude, but I think a loss is only a failure if you don’t learn from it. - varsity baseball head coach Gabe Stewart
Deija Walker [My coach] gives a lot of helpful criticism. I learned from her this year to take criticism and not turn it down, but use it to work on making] myself a better athlete. She does it in the right way, not in such a condescending way but it’s a way to help us. In classes when people are reading my papers or something I see that I’m able to take criticism more [because of my coach] and that’s something I definitely noticed. - varsity cheerleader junior Deija Walker 31 // February 2017
Writer | Alex Luna, Staff Writer | Carissa Lee, Graphic Artist
Tyler Calderon
Coaches who are involved are a big help. It’s one thing to know how to do something, but it’s another to get physically involved with the wrestlers and show them how they take on a move, than just to send out one of their own wrestlers and show them how they do their own move. It shows their passion for the sport and that they’re willing to use their own experience to help us. -varsity wrestler junior Tyler Calderon
Tommy Florian When I make a mistake I want [my coach] to yell at me to push on because if he doesn’t acknowledge my mistake it feels like he doesn’t care about me. -varsity boys soccer player junior Tommy Florian
Vava Marquez First I have to teach myself how to deal with a loss. I focus more on the performance than the loss. If you focus on development I think you feel better when you lose a game. When you lose a game but you feel really well and [you] performed at your best it doesn’t bother you so much, so you’ve got to focus on development. - varsity boys soccer head coach Vava Marques
Tanya Matthew Personality wise, I think a good coach should be someone who has a lot of enthusiasm and passion because that inspires the same in players. I think it’s a lot easier to go through workouts and be willing to try new things and make improvements if you’re being coached by someone who is super into what they’re doing. - varsity field hockey player junior Tanya Matthews The Talon // 32
On opposite sides of the spectrum Jessica King
Print Managing Editor
I
n my experience, there are two types of coaches: manipulative and straightforward. Of course, they come with varying intensities of aggressiveness — but I’ve experienced what I believe to be the polar opposites. I’ve been rowing for three years now, and I’ve trained with six different coaches. The two most effective were on either end of the coaching spectrum.
Case Study 1
I’m still rowing for my first crew coach, Monica. She trained me from my initial wobbly novice strokes to my considerably-smoother varsity strokes today, and I certainly owe the majority of my success to her. Monica is a manipulative coach, and her style comes with both ups and downs. It wasn’t until I had been taught the rowing stroke that she took me out on the water for the first time. Her patience with my quad of beginner rowers was the most admirable aspect of her coaching abilities; rowing takes lots of trying and failing to get it right. In the following seasons, I uncovered more of Monica’s tendencies as a coach. I started to notice that she had favorites, and wasn’t particularly subtle about it. While she tends to favor the most accomplished of the team, not all are necessarily the fastest or strongest. Monica gives her attention to rowers she knows will flourish with it, and she purposely pulls back from certain rowers, knowing they will work even harder to be recognized. Monica plays a game of mental manipulation, but it’s an effective game nonetheless. Her boat placements sometimes seem to be created by spite; one of my best friends was convinced Monica blamed 33// February 2017
her for her accidental back injury. Since we don’t get to see the whole picture and can’t really get into her head, it comes across passive aggressive. Monica can seem intimidating, but it’s always clear she cares. At the beginning of each season, she makes sure to check in individually with rowers, usually under the pretense of a boot camp or an ergometer test, to update her covert evaluations of our strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, every athlete is a person behind the muscles, and Monica can read her rowers. Being able to understand the personality of an athlete and tailor the coaching style and advice to each individual has the greatest benefits.
Case Study 2
Over the summer, I attended a development camp in Seattle. We were up at 4 a.m. daily to face three full 2.5-hour workouts before traveling to Canada at the end of the camp for the British Columbia Championships regatta. Before I had left for camp, I was warned
about the head coach by those in more work. She hadn’t who had attended years before. done particularly well on the Head Coach, Conal, was the erg pieces and had clearly not epitome of aggressive. I only pushed herself to her limit worked with him for three during the actual workout if weeks, but that was all he she had enough energy to be needed to be effective. breaking a sweat on The best With a radical fothe bike. She didn’t coaches cus on efficiency, see Conal come up in Conal controlled the know how front of her and ask, camp with a militant to read their in a deadly low voice, style. He had no tolyou trying to do athletes and “Are erance for the “learnan extra workout?” ing curve.” Either adjust their The volume of his you caught on to the own coaching voice rose 50 decisystem immediate- style to fit. bels as he began to ly, or you would get explicitly berate her, left in the dust. If anybody working himself into such was caught wasting time, a fury that he crumpled his they were swiftly punished plastic cup with his hand and with sets of 100 jump squats. threw it forcefully against After one particularly diffi- the loudspeaker. The girl left cult ergometer workout, when the room in tears and left the the group was supposed to be camp only a few days later. cooling down on the standing Conal’s process may not bikes, one of the girls, who have been the kindest or most just happened to be ethical, but it forced us to push blind, was ourselves. Our fear of him t r y i n g scared us away from failure, t o convincing us that there was get no physical limit to our own success. His incessant insults made a compliment the greatest prize, which we chased after eagerly. My own greatest moment at camp was during the video review, when Conal made the rest of the group watch my own technique, then said: “You only have to fix two things, and then the rest of your team is f*cked.” His balance between treatment of the individual and the group was his crowning skill. By focusing on individual work and staying dedicated to giving personal attention, each rower learned how to feel the mistakes that were unique to their own bodies and habits. When it came to the whole group, he treated everyone with equality and respect, or at least his version of it. He expected every teen to behave like a mature adult, and so we did. He made a clear distinction between “fair” and “equal,” and “equally in pain” became the group mentality.
Mr. & Mrs. Water Polo Haley Ecker Staff Writer
O
n and off the pool deck, Katie Buzzetta and Seth Tasman have created a close-knit family with boys and girls of all grade levels at Los Altos. Their upcoming marriage this May serves not only as a celebration of their commitment to each other but also to the family they have built as the head coaches for Los Altos varsity water polo and swim. They have steadily become a second set of parents for over one hundred students at Los Altos. Their desire to see their players progress year after year continues to keep Buzzetta and Tasman involved in the Los Altos aquatics program. Not only do they want to shape players into better athletes, they also enjoy watching and helping their kids grow up as people over the years. “It’s not just walking on deck and dealing with the same kids,” Buzzetta said. “You really get to know their lives and you really start to care about them on a personal level. You build a connection, not o n l y through t h e sport but
through seeing them grow and ma- Everyone knows and understands ture as an individual and character.” what our collective goals are and Many of Buzzetta and Tasman’s what we’re going to do as a unit to players feel the coaches have helped achieve those goals.” them become better at their sport. Going past the typical coach-athPrior to their arrival at Los Altos, lete mentorship, athletes have nonew coaches were shuffled in and ticed and appreciated that Buzzetta out of the aquatics program every and Tasman put in effort to bond year. With time, these coaches have with them. It is this reliability to be rebuilt the program and established there whenever their athletes need relationships with the players, their it that makes their players feel like families and other staff at Los Altos. they are part of a family. “If you have trouWhether it’s to ble with a certain talk about water technique, they’re [Coaching] is not polo or just get just walking on something off their willing to put in a deck and deal- chest, their players lot more time to help you get better with ing with the same feel comfortable it and master it,” juknowing that their kids... You build nior Chris Yip said. coaches will always a connection, not be there for them. “I feel like they really care about how only through the “Katie [is] defiwell we do in water sport but through nitely one of my bigpolo. They really seeing them grow gest mentors in high do want to see you and mature as an school,” sophomore improve and that’s Kayley Gould said. individual and really nice.” “Especially with my character. Since they became shoulder [injury] coaches, the varsi- - varsity girls water polo last spring, I would ty girls water polo and swimming coach Katie find myself coming team have won the to her for advice beBuzzetta De Anza League fore anyone else, and championship and has consistently she is always very supportive and ranked as one of the best teams in willing to accommodate to each the league. Along with helping their person's needs. Not only can I go to kids succeed in athletics, they also her for advice on sports or injuries, try to make their athletes feel like but she also advises us on how to part of a family. They believe that manage our schedules, and she unit is crucial to uphold a family-like derstands how much stress we have atmosphere where coaches and ath- as high schoolers.” letes can work to the best of their “Seth has been my coach for three abilities knowing that their coun- years, and we have grown very terpart is fully committed to close,” senior Ryan Fisse said. “I their sport. The duo has built have eaten with him, traveled with an aquatics program that him and even ridden in a car with runs on trust and reliability. him for hours. In all that time, we “It’s very hard for the have connected in a way I've never athletes to have a dif- felt before with other coaches. Seth ferent coach every year knows when to be serious and when for their entire school to have fun, and perfectly combines career,” Tasman said. these to make my time playing wa“Before I took over the ter polo so much more satisfying.” girls program [at Los Buzzetta and Tasman emphasize Altos] there was liter- the importance of commitment and ally a different coach consistency for coaching — but the every year. By having most challenging aspect of coaching the same coach, the is often motivating players to truly kids know what to ex- commit to such a rigorous sport. pect day in, day out… “[Water polo] is not an easy
sport where you can show up every day and just stay at the same level,” Buzzetta said. “You’re either going to get better or get worse. It is a grueling sport [and] really challenging at times, both mentally and physically.” As former players themselves, Buzzetta and Tasman understand that athletes have commitments other than sports but still feel that a player’s full devotion to the sport makes the experience more rewarding for everyone involved. These coaches try to make communication with their athletes a priority and make sure everyone is making strides. Individual and team improvement is what motivates Buzzetta and Tasman and boosts team spirit and chemistry. “With how much time these kids are putting in the water, [team chemistry] kind of comes along with the territory,” Buzzetta said. “We’re having morning practice, afternoon practice, bus rides over to games. These [kids] are together for a long time so I feel like it’s natural that they’re going to be a little bit closer. When you put a hard swim set in front of them, it’s overcoming those challenges that really helps build those bonds.” When it comes to commitment and coaching, Buzzetta and Tasman present themselves as exemplary examples of what happens when coaches commit to creating a genuine relationship between coaches and athletes. “It’s something that we’re both very passionate about and to have someone that you can bounce ideas and plays off of who really pours their heart and soul into this sport is really inspiring so it keeps me very interested and engaged in it,” Buzzetta said. “Together we’re stronger than we are if we were just separately coaching.” The Talon // 34
Issue 5 8 February 2017 The Talon, Vol. xxxii