Octagon 2023-24 Issue 1

Sacramento County considers carbon neutrality target delay

BY GARRETT XU & REBECCA LIN

Amidst the modern climate crisis, Sacramento lawmakers are seeking effective solutions to alleviate its impacts and safeguard the planet’s future. However, Sacramento’s recent proposal seems to diverge from this global trend.

On July 11, 2023, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors met to discuss a rec-

ommendation to amend the timeline of the county’s 2020 Climate Emergency Declaration. The proposed change — delaying Sacramento’s carbon neutrality goal from 2030 to follow the statewide goal of 2045.

In a vote of 3-1, with Supervisor Sue Frost abstaining, the board decided to postpone any definitive action, neither endorsing nor rejecting the recommendation — for now.

Instead, the board requested revisions to

the Climate Emergency Declaration, which included proposing new requirements for monitoring progress towards carbon neutrality every five years. The board plans to revisit the 15 year pushback suggestion at a later date, leaving room for future reconsideration.

The proposal to delay Sacramento’s plans of carbon neutrality originated from a recommendation by the Sacramento County Staff with lawsuits at the forefront of the issue.

Fearing potential lawsuits as a result of the possibility of failing to attain the 2030 goal, their suggested solution involved extending the timeline by 15 years, shifting the target from 2030 to 2045 as a way to address these legal and compliance concerns.

However, Supriya Patel, who is Vice Chair of the Sacramento Climate Mobilization Task Force and founder of Fridays For Future CARBON NEUTRALITY page 3 >>

Supreme Court removes affirmative action in college applications

BY SAHEB GULATI & ZEMA NASIROV

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the challenge against the constitutionality of affirmative action, eliminating a practice ingrained in college admissions for over a half a century.

The 6-3 decision in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, INC. (SFFA) centered on the claim that affirmative action, a racebased admissions policy at private universities, violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

At the heart of the ruling were two cases, held simultaneously against Harvard Col-

lege and the University of North Carolina (UNC), initiated by SFFA.

The Court made several observations about the flaws within the admissions process of both Harvard and UNC concerning their use of race in applicant selection.

The admissions programs at both institutions proved to be a disadvantage for certain racial groups, which violated the Equal Protection Clause’s mandate not to use race as an adverse factor.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the majority that a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.”

To Jon Reider, former admissions officer

CAMPUSCORNER

HIGH SCHOOL TRIPS

From Oct. 3-6, high school students will be going on their annual class trips. The freshmen will be going to South Lake Tahoe, the sophomores to Greenhorn Ranch and the juniors to Ashland, Oregon. Seniors will have on-campus college workshops on Tuesday, Oct.4 and Wednesday, Oct. 5.

at Stanford University, the ruling came as no surprise.

“We had meetings with Stanford lawyers even back in the ‘90s, discussing what we would do when affirmative action was killed,” Reider said. “It took 25 years to kill it.”

According to Reider, the consensus is unanimous that the number of minority students enrolled in private higher education institutions will decrease.

But to him, one thing is clear:

“Colleges are prepared, and they’re adapting. They’re not giving up on diversity.”

History of Affirmative Action

In September 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the Executive Order of Fair Employment, which required federal contractors to ensure equality of employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sex or national origin. This was the first of many affirmative action policies to follow and its results proved to be positive.

Prior to the executive order, 4.9 percent of college students were Black. However in wake of the affirmative action measures, the percentage of Black college students

ACTION page 4 >>

INSIDE ISSUE the Is

PSAT AND SAT TESTING

On Oct. 11, all sophomores and juniors will take the PSAT. Seniors can choose to take the SAT. This year, the PSAT will be adminstered digitally by the College Board for the first time. Juniors may qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, and freshmen will have the day off.

FIRED UP

the midst of a global climate crisis, junior Saheb Gulati speaks out against the recommendation to postpone the Sacramento carbon neutrality goal by

from

The rally took place outside the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting chambers on July 11.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KENT LACIN

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Ava Eberhart

Lauren Lu

Garrett Xu

COPY EDITOR Saheb Gulati

HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY

Siri Atluri

NEWS EDITOR

Zema Nasirov

FEATURE EDITOR

Eesha Dhawan

SPORTS EDITOR

Andrew Burr

A&E/OPINION EDITOR

Ishaan Sekhon

PHOTO EDITOR

Rehan Afzal

PAGE EDITORS

Rehan Afzal

Siri Atluri

Andrew Burr

Eesha Dhawan

Ava Eberhart

Lauren Lu

Anisha Mondal

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

Ishaan Sekhon

Garrett Xu

BUSINESS STAFF

Saheb Gulati, manager

Aaryan Gandhi, assistant

Daniel Holz

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Ava Eberhart, editor

Lauren Lu, editor

Anika Nadgauda, assistant

Anisha Mondal

REPORTERS

Kate Barnes

Elisenda Bota

Jesse Dizon

Aaryan Gandhi

Saheb Gulati

Daniel Holz

Ava Levermore

Rebecca Lin

Luke Scripps

Lillian Wang

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Anika Nadgauda

Zema Nasirov

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Zema Nasirov, editor

Andrew Burr Luke Scripps

Andrew Burr

Jesse Dizon

Anika Nadgauda

Luke Scripps

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

Lauren Lu, editor

Claire Gemmell

ADVISER

Andrea Todd

The Octagon is the student-run newspaper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated daily. The Octagon is committed to unbiased and comprehensive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octagon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the editors-in-chief and adviser. We seek to highlight high-school-related events and spotlight the voices of those with a story to share. Further policies can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below.

High school provides three new courses

BY AARYAN GANDHI

Sacramento Country Day has opened its curriculum to offer three new classes for high school students this year: Mindfulness and Centering Practices, Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics and Digital Design.

Students can take the Mindfulness and Centering Practices elective or the Digital Design elective. Not all students can take AP Statistics since the prerequisite class is Algebra II.

Mindfulness and Centering Practices

English teacher Jason Hinojosa’s new elective engages students in activities that cultivate a healthy mindset, teaching them how to decompress from scholastic and day-to-day anxiety.

Hinojosa finally decided to start the course after talking to a colleague from his time teaching at the Hong Kong International School.

“My colleague instructs a course on mindfulness that he’s been perfecting for years,” Hinojosa said. “He has fed me a ton of information while I’ve been building the curriculum. Now I’m seeing what works and what doesn’t from my students.”

In Hinojosa’s mindfulness course, students develop mental health practices through non-religious meditation, journaling, yoga and selected readings and videos.

Sophomore Dylan Corcoran decided to take Hinojosa’s new course out of interest and because of her stressful freshman year at Christian Brothers High School.

By meditating and journaling outside of Hinojosa’s class, Corcoran noticed a significant change in her mental health.

“The course focuses a lot on reflection and living in the moment,” Corcoran said. “So, taking more time for myself has made this school year not that stressful.”

Hinojosa plans to shuffle different types of activities to maintain student engagement while adhering to an academic schedule. In one week, Hinojosa taught students three different activities to de-stress.

The first activity Hinojosa did with students was silently listening to the sounds of the school’s garden. In the next class, students created zentangles, which are patterns that are repeatedly drawn to help focus the mind. To conclude the week, students watched a TED talk on mindfulness.

As the course progresses, Hinojosa hopes students remain engaged with the material because of its long-term importance.

“This will probably be the easiest class anyone takes but might also be the most important,” Hinojosa said. “Not because we all need to be good at meditation, but because being good at meditation allows us to pursue more.”

AP Statistics

AP Statistics educates students about the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data in the real world.

To offer AP Statistics at Country Day, high school math teacher Jo French had to stop teaching the standard calculus course. The reason French wanted to introduce AP Statistics was to offer students a different branch of mathematics to explore.

“I had a lot of students last year who didn’t seem to be truly interested in the calculus track,” French said. “Statistics offered an opportunity for students who weren’t interested in calculus to continue growing in math.”

Senior Derek Taylor, for example, decided to take AP Statistics because of his interest in finance, but is also in French’s AP Calculus AB class.

“I chose to take statistics because it’s a math class that I think is useful in the field of business,” Taylor said. “We’re learning a lot about percentages and data that are definitely beneficial in the real world.”

For junior Cara Shin who enjoys math classes, AP Statistics was another addition to her schedule.

“I like that the math isn’t that difficult, and your understanding of the concepts

behind the math is more important,” she said.

Throughout the course and to prepare for the AP exam, French plans to use a similar approach to the one he uses for his AP Calculus AB students.

“In class, we’ll spend a lot of time playing with the ideas on the whiteboards in groups of three. After discussing them, we’ll come together to consolidate what we’ve learned,” French said.

A majority of homework assignments come from an online textbook, along with utilizing some of the College Board’s resources.

Although assignments are posted regularly, Shin said that the course load for the class is reasonable.

“There’s not that much homework, and if there is, it doesn’t take much more than 30 minutes,” Shin said. “Doing the homework is also a great way of studying for the tests.”

With nine units to cover before the AP exam, French plans to finish all of the material before April, saving the last two to three weeks for review.

Besides hoping that the students will score well on the AP exam, French expects that his students will use their knowledge of statistics wherever it’s applicable.

“I hope that the students will look at information with a more curious eye and question where the data comes from,” French said. “This is a class where you can immediately learn something and see its purpose in the world.”

Digital Design

For those interested in the real-world applications of the arts, yearbook advisor Melissa Strong has started the Digital Design elective.

While working on the yearbook for the first time during the 2022-23 school year, Strong realized that staffers could have learned certain skills if they weren’t pressed for time with the yearbook’s deadline.

“We spent so much time trying to complete the book that we couldn’t focus on the fundamentals of taking and editing photos correctly. We also didn’t get into using Adobe because it can be challenging,” Strong said.

Also counting for Visual and Performing Arts credit (VPA), Digital Design is now a preferred prerequisite class for joining The Medallion, Country Day’s yearbook publication.

However, Strong mentions that if students don’t take this course, they can still get instructor approval to join The Medallion or Country Day’s newspaper, The Octagon.

Digital Design allows students to experiment with digital photography and graphic design platforms such as Adobe Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator.

Senior Orlando Blas decided to take Digital Design not only to learn the skills the course offers but also to create advertisements for his family’s business, Wolve’s Concrete.

“As of now, I’ve been making advertisements for my dad’s business through a simple platform that allows me to crop the photos I take and put text over them.

So, I’m interested in learning how to use Photoshop and Lightroom to make more sophisticated ads,” Blas said.

So far, the course is well-structured and there’s minimal homework, Blas said.

“The assignments we’ve gotten have been teaching us the fundamentals of photography step-by-step really well,” Blas said. “Homework is pretty manageable. As of now, we’ve just downloaded a software to edit our photos and have labeled our photos in a Google Drive.”

By the end of the year, Strong hopes that her students will be interested in joining The Medallion or The Octagon.

“My hope is that if the students go onto The Octagon or the yearbook, they’ll have a better understanding of laying out pages and taking photos. If they choose not to, then I hope they enjoy continuing to use Adobe products,” Strong said.

PHOTO FINISH Sophomore Sanjay Brink takes a photo during his Digital Design class. PHOTO BY REHAN AFZAL

Carbon Neutrality: The long haul to net zero

(continued from page 1)

Sacramento, said the county staff got one important distinction wrong as legal concerns are not the realistic issue in this scenario.

It’s important to note the logistics of the law, especially with the key words non-binding and binding, Patel said.

A binding law is legislation that imposes legal obligations and consequences under penalty of law. In contrast, a non-binding law is a resolution or agreement to try to achieve an ambitious goal under recommendations and voluntary guidelines.

Sacramento County’s Climate Emergency Declaration passed in December 2020, outlining the ambitions of carbon neutrality in Sacramento by 2030 as a non-binding target.

“There’s a lot of confusion about this, but you cannot litigate on the basis of something that is non-binding. So the county is realistically in no real legal danger here,” Patel said. “2030 was more so an ambitious goal to push action forward. The county doesn’t necessarily have to follow its guidelines and recommendations. It’s more of a setting of priorities.”

Conversely, county staffs’ suggested recommendation to follow the carbon neutrality goal of 2045 in adherence to California state law is in fact binding.

On September 16, 2022, a series of climate bills were passed by the state of California, including Assembly Bill 1279 and Senate Bills 1020, 905, 1137 and 846. Together, they form a draft of the statewide 2045 carbon neutrality goal, along with a roadmap of the state’s climate plan.

The roadmap has set goals, aiming to achieve a 71% reduction in air pollution, lower gas emissions to at least 85% below its levels in 1990 and reduce gas consumption by 94%. This will be done while simultaneously creating 4 million new jobs in the clean energy sector and saving a total of $200 billion in healthcare costs attributed to pollution by the year 2045.

Assembly Bill 1279 instructs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to combine carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technologies with reduced emission to increase the usage of renewable and clean energy sources.

Through Senate Bill 905, the CARB was also directed to create a “Carbon Capture, Removal, Utilization, and Storage program,” or CCUS Program, to safely remove and store CO2 from the atmosphere. The life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant was also extended to balance the state’s increasing closures of coastal power plants.

However, the statewide goals don’t prevent local governments from setting more ambitious timelines.

For example, in 2020, the Sacramento Emergency Declaration aimed for complete carbon neutrality by 2030, 15 years before the state goal. In addition, the declaration

outlined the creation of the Sacramento Climate Mobilization Task Force, on which Patel and junior Saheb Gulati serve.

By eradicating the non-binding target of 2030 completely and opting for the binding state-wide 2045 goal, Siri Atluri, senior activist and intern at climate non-profit 350 Sacramento, said the county would be doing the bare minimum.

“People know 2030 is an ambitious goal. Like we all know that, but we want the county to at least set that goal so that they can optimistically make as much progress as possible, inch by inch, instead of just pushing it and pushing it and pushing it to a later date,” Atluri said.

In her public comment to the county supervisors at the July 11 hearing, she said delaying actions seems to be a trend, emphasizing the importance of sticking to the original 2030 target by putting its lasting effects into perspective.

“15 years is a whole new generation of people that are going to be growing up and living in an environment where the air is continually getting more toxic, which is especially harmful for certain low income and socially disadvantaged communities,” Atluri said in an interview.

It’s not even 15 years in the future; these issues are already being experienced today.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), disadvantaged communities are more vulnerable to climate change due to both climate and economic factors. Flooding, heat, air pollution, farming difficulties and a myriad of other issues are exacerbated. Water, insect, respiratory, and mental illnesses also increased due to larger amounts of allergens in the air, more breeding grounds for insects and the introduction of foreign organisms into water supplies from sea level rise and the reduction of infrastructure security and healthcare due to extreme weather.

This could indicate greater risks of disease, decreased amounts of safe food or the destruction of houses and other infrastructures.

Gulati, Chair of Outreach and Education Subcommittee of the Sacramento Climate Emergency Task Force, said those risks will gradually become more apparent in the case of insufficient action.

Data conducted by the US EPA in 2021 reveals that for every 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit of global warming, African Americans are 40% more likely to live in areas where temperature-related deaths are expected to increase the most. Hispanic and Latinx people are 43% more likely to live in areas where labor hours are expected to decrease due to extreme temperatures.

“Every single year that we don’t have net zero emissions and serious adaptations in these places, those real and proven risks are becoming more substantial, and they’re affecting the elderly, they’re affecting the lower income and they’re affecting the socioeconomically disadvantaged,” Gulati said.

Postponing carbon neutrality is further exacerbating that problem.

“Instead of being scared about what the consequences would be if they didn’t meet the goal, I wish we could focus more about what the consequences would be for the community as a whole if it’s pushed back. That consequence is far greater than what a lawsuit would ever be,” Atluri said.

This leads her and many young people to ponder a single question: “How much longer are we going to push this back?”

Right now, there isn’t an answer.

It could be another fifteen, thirty, fifty or an uncertain amount of years, Patel said.

“With the bureaucracy and slowness of local governments, a target of 2030 in practice really means 2045, and 2045 in governmental speak, basically means never, or at least very, very far in advance. That’s the situation that we are finding ourselves in,” she said.

Chris Brown, coordinator of the Sacramento Climate Coalition, which consists of 37 local groups from climate to environmental, said the unfortunate truth is that the weight of these tangible consequences and responsibilities ultimately fall not on the shoulders of older generations but rather on the shoulders of the youth in the near future.

However, with heightened awareness and active engagement of the youth, these looming consequences could be alleviated.

Oftentimes, youth underestimate the magnitude of their voice and the potential changes they can constitute, urging youth involvement, Gulati said.

“We all know what’s happening. This is gonna affect you, your children and the generations after that. It’s worthy of your concern, and I wouldn’t let age stop you from making a change as a youth,” Gulati said. “As youth, you do have valuable insights on global issues, not in spite of your age, but because of your age.”

Whether that means calling congressional representatives or attending a local legislative climate meeting to express opinions and experiences to the Board of Supervisors and the Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force, these actions hold the potential to create meaningful impacts locally and globally.

“It can seem really daunting, but trust me, people want to hear from you. There’s a huge shortage of members of the public who are youth and are actively involved with our political systems in letting public officials know what they think. I would not shy away from doing that,” Gulati said.

Other avenues to foster change include joining, volunteering and interning at various local non profit organizations including Fridays for Future Sacramento.

Patel founded the organization when she was 13 after an eye-opening visit to India, along with the aftermath of the catastrophic effects of the 2018 California Wildfires.

She said Fridays for Future Sacramento is a perfect opportunity for teenagers interested in climate change to make a substantive impact in communities and the communities of future generations that follow via direct actions such as protests and strikes, complemented with legislative endeavors.

Regarding legislative matters, Brown said those 18 and older have the means of exercising their right to vote to voice their opinions and make a difference via casting a ballot.

That includes voting on the upcoming Climate Solutions Act in 2024 which, unlike the Sacramento county pushback from 2030 to 2045, will be on the ballot.

The act features three pivotal provisions that aim to restore regulatory authority to state climate entities and revise the 2045 emissions reduction target from the current 85% to 95%. Lastly, with a focus on carbon capture and sequestration, the Climates Solutions Act will work towards eliminating ambiguities to empower state and local authorities.

“We as youth have seen so many effects of climate change just in our generation already,” Atluri said. “We don’t want to wait to see how those will get worse. We want to take action now, and we want to be at the forefront of that action,” Atluri said.

There is hope, she added. One step at a time. That step starts with the youth.

YOUTH SPEAKS TRUTH Senior Siri Atluri participates in a protest outside of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting chambers on July 11, 2023. PHOTO COURTESY OF KENT LACIN

Affirmative Action: Admissions process adapts

(continued from page 1)

began to have a steady climb in the following years, rising to 11.3 percent in 1990.

Although statistics showed improved diversity on college campuses, many applicants disagreed with the changes in policies and went to court to challenge affirmative action.

One notable case was the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case, where a white man named Allan Bakke filed a lawsuit after UC Davis rejected his application to the university’s medical school.

Bakke’s admissions scores were well above those of the average admittee, and there were open slots available when he applied. Bakke argued that the clear-cut racial quota system, which guaranteed 16 of 100 spots for students of color, was unconstitutional and a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Supreme Court ruled this type of racial quota system unconstitutional but affirmed that colleges could still consider race when admitting students.

Since then, several propositions have emerged to challenge affirmative action policies in California’s public colleges.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209, effectively banning affirmative action in public colleges and universities.

The ban first took effect with the class of 1998, and consequently, diversity rates within UC campuses plummeted in both application and enrollment. That year, the total enrollment of Black and Latinx students at UCLA and UC Berkeley experienced a 40% decline.

Sacramento Country Day’s college adviser, Alicia Perla, was in the process of applying to law school when the ban was enacted.

Perla was accepted to various law schools across the country, including UC Berkeley. However, she decided not to enroll, partly because she was uncertain about what the campus would look like the following year.

“As a person of color, I don’t know that I want to fly across the country and go to law school where diversity is not going to be valued and where I’m going to feel like I’m alone,” Perla said.

Consistent with Perla’s concern, UC Berkeley’s incoming freshman class diversity decreased significantly from 1997 to 1998.

In Berkeley’s report of the new freshmen enrolled by ethnicity in 1997, the subtotal of Native American, African American, Chicanx and Latinx students made up 23.1 percent of the student body. However, following the implementation of the affirmative action ban at UC Berkeley, this subtotal declined significantly to 10.4 percent.

Promoting Campus Diversity

After the 1996 ruling, UC institutions looked to policies they could implement to maintain diversity within student bodies. Some of those initiatives included a holistic approach, comprehensive review and guaranteed admission.

To start the shift from affirmative action, UC campuses began to rely on a holistic approach, where they considered factors such as personal essays, academic metrics and attributes of an applicant to determine if they were a fit for the school.

Another initiative was comprehensive review, which assessed students’ academic accomplishments in relation to the opportunities accessible to them. This included special circumstances a student may have faced, such as family responsibility and the location of their high school.

Admission was also guaranteed to, based on UC-calculated GPA, the top 9% of students graduating from the majority of California high schools.

Even before the ruling, many colleges outside of California had implemented initiatives to increase diversity.

In 2005, Yale created a student ambassador program, which has since inspired numerous other colleges to do the same.

According to Reider, the program selects alumni who have graduated from high

schools with significant minority populations. These alumni are then tasked with returning to their former schools to actively recruit new students, broadening their outreach to underrepresented communities.

The long-term implications of the ruling and these initiatives still remain unclear.

tively admitted applicants were narrowed down to form the final class. Applicants Harvard considered rejecting were placed on the “lop list,” which contained information about legacy status, recruited athlete status, financial aid eligibility and race — which could influence the final decision.

Due to the recent ruling, Harvard no longer explicitly factors race into admissions. Instead, they now require applicants to answer a series of questions about life experiences, extracurricular activities or family responsibilities.

One question reads: “Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?”

In 2022, these were optional, since race could still be directly considered. The rest of Harvard’s application remains largely unchanged.

Implications for the Future

balance. Updates included new training materials, steps to avoid applicant race information sharing during review and other adjustments to “support a diverse and inclusive community.”

This included new application questions, more admissions officers for outreach, and expanding the Yale Ambassador program’s reach.

While the policy was flawed, Reider expressed regret that affirmative action is now banned, claiming it was still more beneficial than not having it at all.

“Did affirmative action mean it was easier for minority students to get in? Yes. Were they admitting unqualified students? No. They were admitting students they believed would be successful,” he said.

Since his time at Stanford, Reider has maintained the same guidance for students. He avoids telling them to get excited or worried, stressing that their chances haven’t dramatically changed up or down.

However, colleges can look to the effects of the 1996 ban to evaluate what steps they can take moving forward, learning from history.

“We won’t know for a year how successful they were,” Reider said. Experimentation will be the norm as colleges confer with each other on the effectiveness of different practices.”

Harvard Admissions

In light of the 2023 ruling, some parts of universities’ admissions processes are being overhauled.

For example, prior to the ruling, Harvard’s admissions process operated as follows:

Each application underwent an intial screening by a first reader who assigned a numerical score to each of the given six categories, including academic, extracurricular, athletic, school support, personal attributes and an overall assessment.

The overall rating was a combined rating of the five other categories and consideration of the applicant’s race.

Regional admission subcommittees then reviewed applicant ratings and considered race when making recommendations.

Next, Harvard’s full 40-member admissions committee discussed the pool of applicants by race and looked at the rates of minority admissions from the prior year. Applicants who received the majority of votes were tentatively accepted.

In the final “lop” phase, the list of tenta-

The core challenge for colleges is finding ways to honor both the law and the spirit of diversity.

“It’s very ambiguous and the colleges are going to be very careful so they don’t get sued again,” Reider said.

He cited Yale, who changed their policies quickly in response to a pending lawsuit.

Yale University made quick changes in response to a pending SFFA lawsuit, attempting to comply and accomplish this

What’s needed is a focus on the bigger picture, he said.

As Perla emphasizes, regardless of student race, Country Day prepares students to succeed in college.

“I think we are lucky that this is a strong academic school. Regardless of the race of our students, they are prepared to go to college,” Perla said.

With continued focus, students will thrive in pursuing higher education, even in the face of admissions policy changes.

As a person of color, I don’t know that I want to fly accross the country and go to law school where diversity is not going to be valued and where I’m going to feel like I’m alone.”

ALICIA PERLA

Sophomore Jackson Burton’s crusade against can cer

Every spring at Sacramento Country Day, the leaves are not the only thing turning green. Sophomore Jackson Burton annually dyes his hair a bright emerald, often accompanied by an extravagant hairdo.

However, this hairstyle is no fashion statement. For years, Burton has devoted time and hair to researching cancer alongside the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Supported by friends, family and the Country Day community, he has successfully raised thousands of dollars for the cause.

It all began when Burton was just five years old, inspired by his father’s volunteer work in cancer research.

“I was confused when my dad came back home bald one day, so I asked and then just joined along,” Burton said.

Aside from following in his father’s footsteps, he also enjoys the aspect of giving back to those around him.

“It was something that made me feel good, and like I was doing something for the community,” Burton said.

When Burton was in fifth grade, he began pursuing cancer research more seriously. Students were assigned a philanthropy project, and he decided to focus on the topic due to his past experience.

After explaining the cause to parents and students and recruiting volunteers to spread the word, Burton raised approximately $10,000 through donations.

Burton works closely with the St.

Baldrick’s Foundation: a charity organization focused specifically on cancer research.

One year, he had the opportunity to have his head shaved on live T.V. through the organization. That year, Burton saw a sharp rise in donations, double the usual $3,000 to $4,000 raised annually.

Throughout his years of work, Burton has realized the importance of the spiritual aspect of his mission.

“As a person, you need to do something that gives you purpose, something that gives you meaning,” he said.

For Burton, his purpose is clear: aiding the resistance against cancer.

Sophomore Jaq Howes, a close friend of Burton’s, has known him for a decade — the approximate duration of Burton’s research and fundraising work.

When he isn’t working towards his cause, Burton is also known for being an easy-going person.

“He does care a lot about people, and I think he doesn’t do it for honor or glory. He does it so he can help,” Howes said.

However, Burton said he is not satisfied with his work quite yet, believing that there is still more to be done. His message to the Country Day community is clear: that even the smallest bit of effort can make a large impact when done collectively.

“A single dollar will help an entire organization,” he said.

Junior fencer Irene Jung takes on international stage

To Junior Irene Jung, fencing is more than a sport; it’s a thrilling pursuit where the unpredictability of each match mirrors the heart-pounding excitement of the fencing arena. In every strategic move and lightning-quick parry, the thrill of fencing comes alive, fusing a blend of mental sharpness and physical intensity.

To her, it’s just like chess.

“When you are playing chess, you can’t predict what they are going to do. In the beginning, there’s no strategy, you just depend on what they do and then you have to adjust to it. Like with chess, every person fences differently,” Jung said.

Her interest in fencing was sparked at 11 years old when she was introduced to it by a family friend who fences for Johns Hopkins University.

She tried fencing at Premier Fencing Academy, where she continues to fence, and she discovered that she not only enjoyed it, but also had skill in the sport.

Jung practices five days a week, about 16 hours total per week. She goes to tournaments once or twice a month.

Jung emphasizes that compared to most sports, fencing is a mix of physicality and mental exercises. The sport requires split-second decisions, strategic planning and physical agility.

“It’s not just a mind game. You need to train your mentality while training your body so that you can endure the many hours of fencing that you do at a tournament,” Jung said. “A tournament is usually seven hours long. You have to train your legs. If you don’t have leg strength, you get tired easily, which makes you perform poorly.”

Jung’s travel lineup for this year is packed. She is on the world team for the Cadet age group, which is 17 years and under and is very close to getting into the team for the Junior age group, which is 20 years old or under.

If Jung gets into the Junior international tournament, she will be gone for more than half the school year.

“I have already talked with the teachers, and they are really helpful. I appreciate their help. They have shifted their schedule, so I don’t miss many of the tests. Last year when I was adjusting to

that, it was a lot easier because there was not as much difficulty,” Jung said.

In October, Jung is going to Hungary for the Cadet World Cup and has six international competitions, as well as many North American cups scheduled.

When there are tournaments, Jung tends to be more focused on fencing than anything else. The day before a competition, she usually watches videos of people that she is fencing so she can analyze their strategies.

“Mentally there’s nothing you can do to prepare yourself because you can’t help getting scared at a tournament. It’s the environment,” she said.

Jung experienced a mental slump for the majority of her sophomore year. She had little confidence in her fencing but overcame her dread of competing in a tournament by learning to enjoy the fear and embrace the experience.

“I kept gaining confidence with more experience. Without experience, you can’t have the confidence to know what you are expecting. You have to prepare for the worst and prepare to win,” Jung said.

This summer, Jung placed first in her tournament for a table of 16 bouts, against 250 participants. During one of her bouts, she was losing 8 to 1.

“I had a minute and I was crying and dying because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the end.’ My coach told me to breathe and gave me advice. I was like, ‘Okay you got this.’ I ended up winning 15 to 14. It was crazy,” Jung said.

According to Jung, her opponents are instrumental in reaching her current skill level. Many fencers that Jung crossed blades with, during her summer tournament, were those she had lost to in previous tournaments.

Feeling confident and having the right mindset to beat them was a huge boost to Jung. She was able to fix the mistakes she had once made and come back from it stronger.

Jung emphasizes the importance of teammate support during competitions.

“Teammate support is a really important part of fencing. Without a teammate’s encouragement, you can’t do anything because you lose confidence in it and your drive to win,” Jung said.

the swordsman

Three hours a day, four days a week, Saturday mornings or weekdays after school, senior William Holz pokes, slashes and blocks.

William is a professional fencer, and every hour spent training in the gym is dedicated to improving his game for the international stage — a process that has yielded impressive results. Last year, William placed eighth overall in under-16 saber fencing divison nationally.

His fencing career began nearly a decade ago when his mother signed him and his younger brother sophomore Daniel Holz up for fencing classes.

“My mom was really sick and tired of us sword fighting with each other with plastic swords and lightsabers all the time. She was trying to find something to put those skills to use and she was like, “Ok, why don’t we try fencing?’” William said.

While primarily involved in soccer at the time, William quickly made the switch to fencing, which as key in boosting the trajectory of his career.

“For most people you have to start young. You want to build those reflexes and speed so that everything feels natural by the time you are my age, so that you don’t feel any discomfort,” William said. “It’s a strategy base because everything’s happening so fast that you’re basically playing human chess with your opponent, trying to anticipate their moves and react to them in the snap of a finger.”

William explains that modern fencing has three disciplines — épée, foil and saber — and each one comes with its strategic demands and set of rules.

For instance, épée and foil fencing emphasize poking more than slashing. Épée fencing allows hits anywhere on the body, while saber restricts hits to the waist-up and foil only grants points on hits to the torso. Additionally, épée and foil blades are thin, round and flexible in comparison to the wide and rigid blades used in saber fencing. Still, all three disciplines involve one-on-one combat within the confines of the piste, or boundary strip.

William specializes in saber fencing but believes that some skills do carry over between different disciplines.

“If I went to an épée tournament or foil tournament, I probably wouldn’t get destroyed because I can still parry and block attacks. But, as far as pace, I feel like I would rush myself because they are much more patient disciplines,” William said.

As a result, fencers at the highest level tend to pick a discipline and stick with it throughout the duration of their career, allowing them to develop a skill set that matches their style.

For William, this means an aggressive playstyle that puts an emphasis on offense.

“I feel I have really strong attacks. I’m able to time my hits off-tempo — basically the most unorthodox way possible — so there’s no way for them to anticipate when I’m hitting or where I’m hitting,” William said. As for his weaknesses, William said that defense is an area that could use some improvement, especially against patient and poised opponents that choose their moments to attack.

Regardless of playstyle, one thing that all fencers must focus on regardless of discipline is footwork.

“The way you can get speed is such an important aspect of fencing. Speed and interval work allows you to push your advantage and get your opponent on their heels,” William said. “A lot of times speed is the sole determinant of what we do.”

Fencers walk a fine line between speed and technique, William said. Quick and balanced footwork is not only beneficial in competition, but is also required by the rules. As fencers move across the strip, their legs must remain apart; crossing legs is considered a fault and a yellow card. In William’s experience, mastering footwork can be harder for people who started fencing later than he did.

“People who start later, I often see, have a really tough time with footwork because it’s so different

from how other running sports work,” William said. “If you start young it feels almost natural to be in that position. I don’t feel any discomfort.”

Though beginning at a young age certainly aided in his development, it has taken thousands of hours of practice for William to reach his current level of play.

Each week, he dedicates up to twelve hours to fencing, including three hours each Saturday morning. Practices typically begin with 15-20 minutes of warm ups before diving into footwork and bladework drills and eventually practice bouts, or scrimmages.

William is the oldest fencer at his practices, so he acts as a mentor for younger kids in the program. As a result, his focus has shifted more towards lifting up and training younger fencers during his practices, allowing him to both hone his skills and pass on the techniques that he was taught by older team mates when he first began fencing.

Maintaining an organized routine is also essen tial before competitions, said William. In order to physically prepare for a tournament, he must begin a day in advance.

“I hate eating the day of my tournaments, so I make sure that I eat a lot of food in the days before hand, and make sure I’m hydrated. I like to get eight and a half hours of sleep specifically because if I get more I feel drowsy. If I don’t get enough, my energy levels crash,” William said.

In terms of mental preparation, Wil liam tries to avoid worrying about the future. While he says that he thinks about fencing at least once a day, he prevents it from having an emotional impact on his everyday life. In the rare cases where he does get nervous before or during a tournament, he finds that socializing is often an efficient outlet for stress.

“I love talking to teammates, actual ly. Talking to teammates for some reason is a great stress reliever for me so I feel a lot more comfortable,” William said.

By the end of 2023, William will have eclipsed 140 tournaments attended and 700 matches played, but his favorite fencing memory is easily the 2022 Junior Olympics.

After a poor showing in the first round, William was just three spots away from failing to qualify. He advanced but was seeded against stronger oppo nents that would make a higher finish much more difficult.

However, it was here that William managed to put together one of the best performances of his career, he said.

He defeated his next opponent, won two consecu tive matches by a single point each and beat one of the strongest players in the tournament to advance to the final rounds. He ultimately placed eighth overall.

For William, the experience represented more than just a memory; it also served as a valuable les son on perseverance.

“I just felt great about sticking with it even though the odds were against me coming so low out of pools, and I was able to push all the way,” he said.

Recently, William moved up an age class from un der-16 fencing to under-19 fencing. In order to com

pete internationally, he needs to perform well in any upcoming national tournaments, he said.

While preparing for these tournaments, William is also looking past high school, as he is graduating from Sacramento Country Day in less than a year.

“I’m looking to get recruited by school staff and fence in the NCAA, of course, that’s my ultimate goal,” William said. Until then, he wants to end his final year of high school fencing on a high note.

In his personal life, as much as in his tournaments, William wants to focus on the present rather than worrying about what is ahead.

Still, for the time being, he believes that his saber — and future — will both point him in the right direction. It is up to him to wait for the opportunities to present themselves

WIlliam

STORIES BY LUKE SCRIPPS AND EESHA DHAWAN; GRAPHICS BY LAUREN LU AND ANISHA MONDAL; PHOTOS BY REHAN AFZAL

Sophomore Daniel Holz was introduced to fencing in first grade when he and his brother, senior William Holz, would constantly attempt to impale each other with toy swords. Their mom decided to put that towards a greater purpose and signed them up at Premier Fencing Academy.

“Fencing is a combat sport like boxing or taekwondo; you have to be smart and thoughtful. It is a lot more calculated. It’s one-on-one so you only have to worry about one person, but they are also playing

against you,” said Daniel. “It’s playing mind games.”

Fencing is a collection of three different weapons — foil, épée and saber — and each of them has different rules and regulations.

Daniel does saber, the most aggressive, fast category of weapon in fencing. He trains four days a week, for three hours each day excluding two hours on Saturday and attends private and group lessons.

“We have private lessons, which are one-on-one with the instructor, for 20 minutes. It is more a personalized lesson where they focus on specific

Daniel usually starts off his group lessons with jogging and stretching.

plains. The arm can only do so much. If you have controlled and precise footwork you are able to maintain proper balance and distance from your opponent — giving you accurate Footwork did not always come easily to Daniel. When he was younger he lacked coordination on his feet. Repetition helped

work techniques are much easier for me to get a hold of because of the

repetition I put in at the beginning,” he said.

Another important skill is blade work. Good blade work allows one to navigate around an opponent’s arm and find an open target

Daniel’s blade work includes a technique called changing the rhythm. All fencers eventually learn it.

“When you are attacking somebody, you have a certain rhythm that you start out at. If you change that unpredictably it can catch the opponent off guard. It is a good way to get a lot of attacks or an opening that you would otherwise not have,” he said.

National monthly tournaments, the North American Cups (NAC), are held in different cities across the country.

One of Daniel’s favorite parts of fencing is going to international tournaments. In January and last October, he traveled to France, Hungary and Romania. It was an eye-opening experience. He noticed the many different styles and techniques people had outside of the U.S.

“You get a wide perspective of how people fence and interact with each other outside the country. I found myself very pleased with the bad decisions my opponents made because of their different practices. It was also frustrating to read what an opponent was going to do if you had never seen it before,” Daniel said.

Daniel enjoys connecting with fencers from all around the world

“You feel a sense of camaraderie. You come from all different nations to this one place to fence. It’s a great way to make lots of friends,” he said.

In October, Daniel is traveling to Hungary for the Cadet World Cup fencing tournament.

“Twenty of the best people from the age divisions from all over the world come to compete in one place,” Daniel said.

Daniel is preparing for the World Cadet Circuit by doing local tournaments to get in the right mindset.

“A week before the tournaments I will go less intense on the training just to give my body a chance to rest before going to the actual tournament,” he said.

Daniel is hopeful for the best and prepared for the worst.

“I’ve been to international tourna-

ments before, so I’m not as nervous as I was last year. It’s really awesome going to a different country to participate in the sport you love to do,” Daniel said.

Fencing can be time-consuming and time management and academics can be difficult to manage. It takes up Daniel’s weekends as well. If he wants to go out with friends or family he usually has to look ahead at his schedule to see whether he will be available.

“Sometimes surprise tournaments come up or surprise plans come up. It can be a little bit in your face, but you have to get used to it,” Daniel said.

Coming back from the pandemic, Daniel faced a mental block. During the pandemic, there were no tournaments and he was unable to fence people outside his club. Daniel’s mindset was not adjusted properly and he lacked self-confidence going into tournaments.

“It took me a pretty long time to get out of that feeling of being nervous when going into a tournament. The important thing is to remain confident. You can’t let it get to you. You have to go out there looking like you know what you are doing even if you don’t,” Daniel said.

Daniel mentally prepares himself for tournaments by thinking of it as just a game of chess. He finds that taking things too seriously causes him to psych himself out.

Daniel recalls a memory from his national tournament that taught him a valuable lesson.

“I jammed my wrist and I had to fight very hard to make it through that event. The injury did not get better. I was doubting myself,”

Daniel had to steal his mind and fight through the pain, even though it was holding him back. He viewed it as another challenge.

“The lesson I learned from that is even when you feel like you can’t do it, you are always going to find some way to get through it. It’s just another challenge to push,” he said.

Daniel and his brother still often spar with each other.

“We all try our best to make ourselves better. It’s very helpful to have a consistent partner to practice with. You consistently have somebody to spar against,” he said.

swordsman siblings daniel HOLZ

EDITORIAL: Violence against journalists is censorship

Last month, Joan Meyer, owner of the Marion County Record newspaper, collapsed and died one day after law enforcement raided her office. The raid responded to allegations that the paper’s journalists violated a local restaurant owner’s privacy by discovering information about her driving record.

Reporters received a screenshot of her DUI conviction but refrained from printing it until verified by public record searches.

Violence and backlash against journalists is not uncommon; in fact, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) documented 400 journalist killings from 2016 to 2020.

Although this trend has been declining, with 55 journalists killed in 2021, other forms of violence against journalists persist, such as journalist imprisonment, online violence and harassment, physical attacks and a lack of impunity for these crimes.

Silencing journalists through violence is censorship, plain and simple. It does nothing but undermine the purpose of the industry.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), there are four components to the journalistic code of ethics: Seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable and transparent.

First, journalists shoulder the responsibility of gathering, recording and reporting accurate, unbiased information in a timely manner to inform the public.

These reports are then published and made accessible to the public, and become the most-accessible public record available. We are the scribes of history.

However, ethical journalism can only exist with cooperation from both our subjects and our sources.

As journalists, while we vow to balance an individual’s privacy with the public’s right to knowledge, we also expect those who provide information or interviews for our stories to uphold certain agreements.

Specifically, we request that sources do not ask for content to be removed, edited or taken down from news publications.

In alignment with most publications, The Octagon has historically followed a strict policy of transparency, in which reporters are tasked with informing interviewees about what being published in a newspaper truly entails. This policy can be found in The Octagon Handbook.

Additionally, interviews are only conducted after an interviewee has given full consent with the knowledge of the irreversible consequences of being published and on the record.

Many don’t realize posing for a photograph and sitting for an interview is considered giving permission to be published.

Takedown requests impede our goal to report the facts — they are a form of censorship and violate the journalism code of ethics and a publication’s right to independence.

Therefore, we ordinarily cannot carry out takedown requests.

Even if a piece that is attributed to a person contains an unflattering photo or a quote that they no longer agree with, publications are not entitled to take it down, for the interviewee was informed of the consequences already. A change of mind, heart or identity is not necessarily justification for a retraction.

The Octagon’s reporters tape interviews and work with editors to omit editorializing the news and ensure fairness.

Before accepting interview requests, the general public should think about whether it is comfortable with sharing this information with the public.

There are exceptions in which it is appropriate to alter a story that has been published or posted online.

The first situation is when a story has a factual error or when new information has surfaced. In these instances, the publication would post a correction or updated version, indicating that edits have been made to the original story.

Another instance that warrants a correction is when libel is present in a piece.

According to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), libel is defined as a false statement or information published about an individual or entity that is damaging to their reputation.

Libelous or untrue statements, especially those made in print, can have serious consequences for those they are written about.

While journalists work to report accurate information, these mistakes have been made. The statute of limitations, or the timeframe within which legal actions can be taken against a newspaper for libel or slander, is generally one year from the publication date as decreed in California Civil Code Section 3344.

In these situations, it is our responsibility to take accountability and to rectify the problematic parts of the story. We correct the inaccurate information in an attempt to minimize harm to those involved.

It is crucial to note that even if a publication removes content, there is no guarantee that the content is completely erased.

With the spread of information being invigorated by social media, there is a possibility that the deleted or original version exists elsewhere.

Once a story is published online, it remains there forever. The permanence of the Internet renders takedown requests practically useless, even if the situation warrants one.

Besides, physical print copies of the paper that contain the original version the story will always be floating around.

Although publications are responsible for fulfilling their duty of minimizing harm, it is unrealistic to expect that all traces of a faulty print will be deleted from history.

Published works are permanent, and as stories change over time and as details and evidence become available, we respond by posting clarifications and corrections.

Journalists report the facts — we do not make them.

“Censorship” by Claire Gemmell

BY KATE BARNES

Imagine you are a plastic bottle with a triangle symbol indicating you are recyclable, and somebody just threw you into a blue bin as a result. In the dark, cramped space, you think about what comes next. The bin will be emptied and you will be transported to the recycling plant, where you will probably be melted down and turned into a shiny new bottle…right?

Wrong. For years consumers have been told to recycle their plastic for the sake of the environment in the hopes that their used plastic can be turned into something else. But according to the Environmental Protection Agency, less than 10% of recycled plastic is actually repurposed into new material. A 2022 Greenpeace report on recycling plastic in the U.S. shows that 95% is dumped in a landfill or ends up in the ocean.

Recycling is not nearly as effective as most people think, partly because of big companies’ misleading advertising. In fact, big companies such as Coca-Cola and Amazon decided to form a front group called Keep America Beautiful in order to distribute advertisements encouraging people to recycle their products. This is problematic because these attempts to appear environmentally friendly are a ploy to get consumers to buy their plastic products.

Think about it. If people see or hear news stories about pollution and climate change, and they understand the significant contributions of buying and disposing of singleuse plastics to these issues, their natural instinct is to reduce their consumption of plastic products.

But buying less plastic can be hard, and this is where companies such as the ones with Keep America Beautiful swoop in to save the day and say: Simply keep on buying as much plastic products as you usually do, and then you can throw them away and feel good about yourself!

Except not all the products that are labeled as recyclable are actually recyclable. Let me explain. When the first climate and environmental activists voiced their concerns, plastic manufacturing companies looked into it and discovered that plastic was highly degradable (flimsy) and that the recycling process was very expensive. It was much cheaper to just make more plastic using fossil fuels.

But big plastic companies couldn’t let the public at large know that they were lying about their products being environmentally friendly, so to trick people into recycling plastic packaging, they printed it with a symbol that looks very similar to the actual recycling symbol.

This symbol was the same triangle formed out of three arrows, and it was designed to make the average buyer throw the product into the recycling bin, although in reality it will end up in a landfill.

In fact, out of the seven categories of plastic products that are recycled, including water bottles, grocery bags, plastic

film and straws, only the products in two of the categories are even likely to be reused. These two categories are made up of PET and HDPE plastics, which include milk jugs, soda bottles and shampoo bottles.

At this point, you might be wondering whether it’s worth recycling if it won’t change anything. That is not what I’m saying. Yes, consumers should continue to recycle products, mainly paper, but the point I’m trying to make is that in order to actually make a difference, people need to BUY. LESS. PLASTIC.

We need to stop relying so heavily on disposable plastic products when the companies selling them are focused only on making money, not on saving the planet for future

generations.

Some small actions a high school student can take to help are using reusable water bottles and paper grocery bags instead of the traditional plastic ones.

However, the best advice that can be given to consumers is to shop as if recycling doesn’t exist, as if every piece of plastic bought will end up in a landfill or the ocean. Because that is pretty close to the reality — unless we can figure out a way to eliminate plastic waste.

In the meantime, it’s important not to fall for the corporate schemes of big industries. Instead, research the truth to make the best decisions for yourself and for the planet. Also, buy less plastic.

ADVICE: Cheating struggles and love triangle worries

BY ANONYMOUS

This is an advice column that responds to questions shared by Country Day students anonymously. To submit, send a question to the Google form sent out on Sept. 5. Responses are not guaranteed, but all submissions are welcome.

Q: I’m a serial cheater — I can’t stop being unfaithful in relationships and cheating on tests. In almost every part of my life, I cheat. How do I stop?

From your desire to stop cheating, it is clear you are aware that these actions are harmful and toxic to both yourself and the people around you.

I applaud you for recognizing the problem as it seems like you are experiencing guilt, but like any other bad habit, that feeling alone is not enough to incite change. You must understand the reason behind your actions.

Ask yourself why you allow yourself to repeatedly cheat. Is it easy? Do you tend to act impulsively? Can you avoid accountability afterwards?

In school, the workload can get intense. Slack off for one day, and catching up feels like an impossible task. I understand how cheating can become an enticing way out in times like that, but indulging this bad habit is only detrimental to you in the long run.

You’re not learning anything, and by avoiding studying and taking the easy route out, you are forcing this unhealthy cycle to continue.

I suggest seeking help from a teacher or counselor to arrange a realistic study schedule so that you can avoid last-minute

cramming or resorting to cheating on assessments.

If you are overwhelmed with a class, schedule a conversation with your teacher and explain how stressed you are. Communication will allow you to reach a compromise or brainstorm accommodations.

Maybe you are struggling to balance too many extracurricular activities. As hard as it can be to hear after making a commitment to anything, perhaps the only way to lighten your load is by dropping a class or extracurricular, depending on your priorities.

You don’t want to lose yourself in the chaos of your work — balance is important, and cheating in academics only damages your integrity.

Cheating in relationships, however, is a much more personal and emotionally complicated offense. People get hurt from your actions.

Not only are you betraying the trust of someone who loves you, but you are destroying relationships that should matter to you.

Any relationship, romantic or otherwise, is a two-way street. It is an agreement between individuals to respect and care for each other. You are not the only person involved in this commitment, so when you are unfaithful, you are violating that established trust.

Recognizing that your behavior is problematic is the first step. The second is identifying the reasons why you cheat.

You may have an underlying fear of vulnerability that prevents you from staying loyal — hurt others before they hurt you. Or, you could have poor control over your impulses and have never experienced accountability.

Regardless of the cause, I suggest that you talk to a trusted individual or therapist about these tendencies. Also, avoid getting involved in serious relationships until you’ve figured out where your issues lie and begun healing.

Many believe that cheaters never change. I don’t condone your actions, but I want you to know that I have faith in your ability to grow and make better choices in the future.

Q: I’m starting to like this girl, but I was just told that one of my close friends likes her too. Should I stop liking her? Back off? What should I do?

Discovering that you and a close friend are interested in the same person is certainly an uncomfortable situation to be in.

While your friend may not be aware of your feelings, seeing them pursue your crush can feel like a slap in the face, and out of loyalty to your friend, you are conflicted about continuing to like her.

However, this cannot be resolved by simply switching off your emotions. You cannot stop or prevent feelings from developing just because you wish them to.

As much as I understand how you want to support your friend by not being in opposition with them, doing so would be unfair to you. Your feelings toward this girl are just as valid as your friend’s.

First, I would weigh which relationship you value more — the existing bond with your friend or the potential romance with your crush. Is sacrificing an established, close friendship worth exploring a new connection, even if you have no guarantee that your crush will reciprocate your feelings?

Now, choosing to continue pursuing your crush won’t necessarily spell out the end of your friendship. Let’s not catastrophize. Plenty of friends agree to keep their romantic pursuits and relationships separate from the friendship, and they successfully maintain a healthy friendship.

However, silently choosing to pursue your crush while ignoring your friend’s feelings is insensitive and can lead to unspoken tension, especially if you have not expressed your thoughts to your friend first.

So, you can start by communicating with your friend, especially if they do not know that you both like the same girl. If you care about maintaining and preserving your friendship, tell them how you feel.

Addressing this situation outright will remove any awkwardness or miscommunication that could occur down the line.

During your conversation, I suggest you explain that you like the same girl, but remind them that as a close friend, you want to be respectful of their feelings as well.

Ask your friend if they are comfortable with you pursuing the same girl. Honor whatever their decision is — if they say yes, you have nothing to worry about. You can act on your feelings.

Now, if they say no or if you already know or later learn that your crush reciprocates your friend’s feelings, I suggest moving on. Crushes come and go, and your friend will likely stick by you through most of them.

I understand that it’s easier said than done. While it can be painful to see your crush in a relationship with your friend, you should want the best for them as a good friend. It wouldn’t be right to sabotage or interfere with a relationship that is developing organically.

“Recycling is a Farce” by Lauren Lu

MY ANGLE: Recycling isn’t as effective as you may think

Yanling

For math teacher and tech support assistant Yanling Lei, teaching is not just a job — it’s a way for her to promote happiness.

Lei has joined Country Day as the new Geometry teacher with a passion for helping her students.

“Seeing how students were confused at first, and then with my explanation and classwork, they finally got the question, made me feel great,” Lei said.

Before Lei started teaching, she was a technical solutions engineer.

After a year, Lei decided to go to Los Angeles to stay with her family.

“In the meantime, I had a parttime job tutoring and I found out that helping others made me feel so accomplished, and it was fascinating,” she said.

Lei moved from Guangdong, China in 2013 and uses her experience from school to teach mathematics.

Although Lei dreamed of being a teacher as a child in China, in college she no longer thought about it.

However, after tutoring, she knew teaching was the career she wanted to pursue.

Lei has always liked math, since she was young.

To her, math is very straightforward — there is only one right answer.

Throughout school, she always had supportive math teachers.

“For writing essays, there’s so many different ways to write but in math you work on step one, step two and then go through until you find your answer,” Lei said.

When Lei visited Sacramento Country Day during a job interview she felt a welcoming feeling compared to the other schools she was

considering.

“People seemed very nice and supportive,” Lei said.

Although she found Americans generally supportive, one of her biggest challenges was the language barrier. Lei took English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and weekly English lessons while living in China, but she still found it difficult to fully grasp the language.

She said she doesn’t feel that this made her any less in the eyes of others.

“Even when I spell or say something wrong, everyone is understanding and they don’t say mean things,”

Lei said

Despite the struggles of her language barrier, Lei successfully got accepted to Dartmouth College.

Lei said that high school was easy for her while living in America.

Lei attended the Royal Learning Center for high school. She loved her teachers and felt that they helped her a lot with her career.

Lei believes focusing on one’s studies, doing the work and truly putting in all the effort sets one apart from classmates.

Freshman Mayen Wood, Lei’s geometry student, says she makes learning easy and fun with visuals and lectures.

“I like how she paces the students depending on the class,” she said.

Wood talked about how Lei’s teaching methods were easy to follow.

They feel comfortable asking questions both in front of the class and only in front of the teacher.

She values asking questions in class because she believes that math is a subject that builds on previous concepts so it’s important to Lei that

students can understand what she’s teaching.

“I would love students to ask questions once they have questions, so I can clear the confusion and they can follow along in class,” she said. “It will be harder to catch up after class if they are confused the whole time.”

Although Lei dedicates a lot of her time to teach, she doesn’t let that consume her life.

She has picked up some hobbies that help her connect with other people.

She enjoys taking photos of her friends and family.

As a self-taught photographer, Lei spends some time taking photos of her surroundings, especially in places she has never traveled to before.

When she isn’t spending her free time taking photos, Lei tends to play logical games because it helps her practice her step-by-step way of solving problems.

She also devotes a lot of her time to spending time with and helping out her family.

For example, her sister is taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and Lei enjoys helping her prepare whenever she can.

Head of High School Brooke Wells talked about how Lei’s helpful hand caught his attention.

Wells said that he believes her enthusiasm, kindness and knowledge for math really makes her stand out.

In addition, he feels that Lei’s technology skill, culture background and attitude will benefit Country Day’s community.

“I’m excited to see her enthusiasm and intelligence get translated into these kids with these amazing classes,” Wells said.

Sounds of passionate clicks and taps of a typewriter filled the childhood bedroom of Andrea Todd, The Octagon’s new adviser.

When Todd was 7 years old, she received her first typewriter for Christmas. With her typewriter, she would write short stories that she would then send to Ranger Rick Magazine.

“My typewriter was my prized possession. I felt like John-Boy in “The Waltons,” and I would type something every night,” Todd said. She was first interested in fiction writing and books — with no intention of becoming a journalist.

Later on, she read magazines like Mademoiselle and The New Yorker, which piqued her interest in the journalism field.

“I wanted to write fiction, so I was intrigued by the art behind the magazines and the length of the articles,” Todd said.

Todd was born and raised in Sacramento, California, and attended Loretto High School before heading to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue her dream of writing The Great American Novel.

She was the first in her family to go to college, and the idea of it was not supported in her household.

“I bit off more than I could financially chew. It was hard, but I managed,” Todd said.

Her father was a firefighter, and thought that college was a “waste of time,” and her mother thought that her and her siblings would just end up going to American River College, or California State University, for money reasons.

She ended up attending UC Berkeley and during her time at Berkeley, she was a part of a work study that led her to work with the admissions director.

“Because I worked for the administration, I couldn’t work for the Daily Cal, our newspaper, and because I worked for the administration, they kept my job safe because they didn’t want me to go into the Daily Cal offices with what I

knew,” Todd said.

New math and journalism teachers join high school Andrea

Her career in the journalism world was kickstarted by her career as a fact checker for the Mother Jones magazine from 1987 to 1988.

Todd was able to take a semester off from school and work in the summer, and then return for the fall semester to finish and graduate at Berkeley.

Todd’s job at Mother Jones led her to fall in love with journalism.

“It was just wow. ‘This is great. This is better than fiction, you know, this is fact,’” Todd said.

Todd appreciates the role that journalism plays in society.

“We are the voice of the public or the voice of people who don’t have a voice,” Todd said. “We help inform the public, and an informed electorate is a good electorate — they vote better. We tell people what they need to know and what can make their life better.”

Additionally, Todd believes that journalism is instrumental in keeping people informed and expanding their perspectives.

“I think that the best journalism is something that informs, entertains, and makes people think about something like, ‘Huh, wow. I never thought about that,’” Todd said.

This spark for journalism led to Todd picking up freelance jobs at various newspapers and magazines like The New York Times, New York Daily News, the Modesto Bee, Vogue and Women’s Health.

“Honestly, name the magazine, and I worked there,” Todd said.

Due to her various jobs and positions, Todd has experience writing many types of stories.

“I wore a lot of different hats,” Todd said. “I was beauty and fashion, I was editorial, I was health, I was sports, so wherever they needed somebody, it’s like, ‘Throw Andrea over there.’”

Todd was doing a story on Best High School Newspapers for a city magazine when she called and talked to Patricia Fels, The Octagon’s adviser at the time.

“She starts bragging about this newspaper like, ‘Our students write so well, this paper is the best newspaper, it wins the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, you know, almost every year.’”

Todd thought that Fels was bragging, and decided to check out The Octagon, and agreed that Fels was right. Once Todd saw the job offer she felt like being an adviser for The Octagon would be a dream job.

So far, being a member of the Country Day community has been wonderful and welcoming for Todd.

“People recognize me right away, and I didn’t think people would, and they all want to talk, and they want my kids to come back on campus so they can see how they have grown up,” Todd said.

Todd likes how the Octagon crew is serious, yet also creative and energetic. Being an adviser for the Octagon is different from anything she has experienced before in her career.

As a journalist, Todd had to do most of the writing work, as well as give and receive feedback and perform interviews. Now, she gets to watch it happen.

“It’s like it’s the first time I feel like an editor-in-chief,” Todd said. “I feel like for the first time, I am kind of doing what they did, which is having a great staff that does all the work while the editor-in-chief shapes the vision, and makes helpful suggestions.”

In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, watching movies and listening to music. She reads books while walking down the street, and she is known as the “reading lady” in Arden Park.

“I just like being interested in things. I’m interested in everything and everyone. I’m the kind of person that will talk to anybody in an elevator or on the subway you know. I’ll just be like, ‘Hey’ you know, on a plane I’m probably the nightmare passenger,” Todd said.

Andrea Todd is a new member of the Country Day community and staff of The Octagon. She is excited to work with The Octagon for the next years to come.

TODD

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GRAPHICS BY AVA EBERHART; PHOTO COURTESY OF FEASTABLES

Is MrBeast’s chocolate GOATed? Octagon’s MrFeast finds out

Ishaan Sekhon

In the past years since 2017, the internet community has been swept by an unstoppable tidal wave of comedy, kindness, drama and joy that only continues to expand: the MrBeast franchise.

The MrBeast brand, led and managed by online entertainer Jimmy Donaldson (more commonly known as MrBeast), is arguably one of the most popular and beloved entertainment and charity brands in the world.

One of the latest additions to the franchise are the Feastable chocolate bars, released in January 2022.

They are gluten-free and plantbased, allowing the bars to feed an audience with a wide variety of possible dietary restrictions, such as vegans and those with gluten intolerance.

Due to their internet connections, these bars have skyrocketed into popularity.

But are these bars truly worth the hype?

Or will they fade from the aisles of stores across the United States and from the memories of countless chocolate lovers across the country?

To answer this burning question for Feastable consumers everywhere, the Octagon has sent me, a senior reporter, to analyze the evidence.

As I entered my local Safeway, I encountered a plethora of Feastable bars with varying flavors.

A flurry of emotions — hope, delight, fear — rippled through my body as I approached the bars.

My stomach roared in anticipation, ready to face the gauntlet of familiar and also oddly named flavors.

Empowered by my duty to the Octagon and my pride as a journalist, I chose a combination of flavors that truly represented the entirety of the MrBeast brand.

For $2.99 each, I selected the Milk Chocolate Crunch Bar, the Deez Nutz Bar, the Original Chocolate Bar and the Milk Chocolate Bar.

Fear not dear reader: My mind was focused, my resolve hardened and my

guts ready, laying in wait.

Please read along carefully as I, Ishaan Sekhon, participate in one of mankind’s most elaborate and accurate investigative journalism pieces.

I promise that you, your family, your wallet and your taste buds won’t regret reading the most credible guide to one of the latest additions to the world of chocolate.

Milk Chocolate Crunch

Only two questions lingered in the back of my mind when I bit into this bar: Is this chocolate? Did I just get scammed?

The Milk Chocolate Crunch Bar is essentially a tougher, more irritating version of the Milk Chocolate Bar.

This bar contains six ingredients: cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic chocolate liquor, organic milk, puffed rice and organic vanilla powder.

In terms of appearance, the Crunch Bar is identical to the milk chocolate bar. The bars also share a similarly strong scent.

Unfortunately, the similarities end there.

Unlike its counterparts, the Crunch Bar lacks the excitement of the Original Chocolate Bar and the creamy sweetness of the Milk Chocolate Bar.

The unusually hard exteriors of the bar didn’t do it any favors, either.

My taste buds weren’t satiated but instead repulsed by the bar as flaky bits of chocolate flew aimlessly around in my mouth, like comets soaring through space.

But unlike comets, this bar wasn’t a smashing hit. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

Although this bar was still edible, it’s a sloppy excuse for chocolate.

Rating: 2/5

Deez Nutz

Oh, the things I eat for journalism. As the title suggests, this was by far the most unique bar.

This bar contained seven ingredients: cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic chocolate liquor, organic milk, peanuts, salt and organic vanilla powder.

Despite its texture and appearance synonymous with the other bars, this bar’s odor was similar but much less pungent.

Also unlike the other bars, the Deez Nutz Bar is filled with a salty layer of peanut butter.

Numerous iterations of high-demand peanut-butter-and-chocolate combinations have graced the market, with the Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Candy line being a standout example.

However, the Deez Nutz Bar will not be celebrated for its taste. Not even in the slightest bit.

After my teeth broke through the thick layer of chocolate surrounding the peanut butter, my taste buds were violently attacked by a salted nuclear bomb of peanut butter.

This explosive assault lingered in my mouth much longer than expected.

The salted, creamy peanut butter flooded every crevice of my mouth and stuck to my teeth like mud until it dissolved, agonizingly slowly.

As the peanut butter did so, I felt my dreams, hopes, money and taste buds dissolve with it.

Rating: 1/5

Original Chocolate

A thunderous snap bounced from my desk and echoed across the walls of my room.

The satisfying crunch was merely a prelude to a wave of bitter yet exciting chocolate. My taste buds sprung to life as the chocolate touched my tongue, giving me momentary bliss.

The Original Chocolate Bar is composed of only four ingredients: cane sugar, organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin.

The exquisite and ingenious combination of these ingredients resulted in simple yet blocky sweetness, encapsu-

lating a smooth and firm texture.

It featured a subtle wavy pattern. The words “share” and “devour” are printed on the side.

Ironically, my brother tried to steal the bar from me and devour it himself.

After splitting the bar with him, my fingers childishly stabbed the firm and sturdy chocolate.

I pulled it close to my nose and inhaled.

An enticing and powerful yet familiar smell throttled my mind into a roller coaster of memories.

I knew what this was.

Not a candy, but an art form.

Despite the branding and packaging, there was not a doubt in my mind that I had uncovered the truth.

This was chocolate, and it was delicious.

Rating: 4/5

Milk Chocolate

My teeth tore into the soft and brittle chocolate as the unusually sweet bar drifted and dissolved within my mouth.

Small squiggly lines dotted the soft and smooth texture of the bar.

My taste buds were satisfied with the satiating chocolate, which consisted of only five ingredients: cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic milk and organic vanilla powder.

The Milk Chocolate Bar is similar to the previous bar not only in ingredients but also in taste, though it’s significantly less bitter and feels bland in comparison to the previous bar.

A calming sensation resonated within my soul as I munched on the milky chocolate.

The gooey bar excited my taste buds as it dissolved within my mouth, slowly tasting better the more I ate.

This bar lacked an exciting taste that usually compels me to ravishingly devour chocolate.

But the ultimate sensation of eating the creamy, milky, gooey and scrumptious did encourage me to finish eating.

Rating: 3.5/5

STORIES BY EESHA DHAWAN, ISHAAN SEKHON AND REBECCA LIN; GRAPHICS BY ANDREW BURR; PHOTOS BY ZEMA NASIROV

Kids on the Block Maggie

Nuñez-Aguilera

Freshman Maggie Nuñez-Aguilera previously attended Language Academy of Sacramento. She enjoys playing tennis, listening to Tame Impala and playing video games in her free time.

Q: How do you like Country Day so far?

A: I like a lot of people here. They have been very welcoming and the teachers have been super friendly to me. The teachers at my old school were not as chummy as the teachers here.

Q: Do you play any sports?

A: Tennis has always been my favorite sport ever since I was 7 or 8. We always had tennis rackets around the house so it was just very accessible for me. I am looking forward to the tennis season to start, which is in spring. I am planning to join Country Day’s tennis team. I absolutely adore tennis, but also because I need it to fulfill my physical education requirements, as I did not sign up for PE. I hope when I do join I can meet other girls who also share my love for tennis.

Q: What do you want people to know about you?

A: I am very into saving our environment. I am a vegetarian, and I cut back on carbon emissions. I don’t buy a lot of things; I buy what I need and I use what I buy. I am not very wasteful. It’s really important because we are animals deep down inside. We started off as monkeys. We come from Mother Nature. It’s like hating your mom. I feel like it’s a no-brainer to me. We have to think about where we come from. I would say I am an animal lover too. When I grow up, I want to run a foster for dogs, cats or any animals that need it.

Luana Booth

Senior Luana Booth previously attended Bootham School in York, England.

Q: What was life in England like?

A: It’s very dark. Something I think Americans don’t know is that England is mostly small towns, so it’s very boring and we’re always trying to find ways to have fun. We walk a lot in England, but here you guys drive everywhere. We have Saturday school as well.

Q: British English and American English are slightly different. Has that impacted you at all?

A: I’m not adapting. I’m going to spell it how I spell it. You should do it as well. We literally invented the language, so surely we should know how to say it. A lot of my friends in England would tell me I have an American accent. Everyone calls me an American. When I told them I was moving here, no one was surprised.

Q: What other cultural differences stand out to you?

A: England is very unhinged. That’s another thing Americans don’t realize. They all think it’s very posh and proper. If you watch football, you’ll know this, like all of the chants. That’s what the average person would be like more than Harry Potter.

Junior Kevin Liu previously attended Singapore International School in Vietnam.

Q: Why did you come to the United States?

A: I moved to the States to better myself and get a better education, so I figured I’m just aiming to make something out of my life and have fun.

Q: What hobbies do you have?

A: I do photography, and I also like to play tennis. I also used to play piano but I dropped it during my exams because it was just too much work to balance both things. I can still play about three songs, and I can also learn something simple.

Q: Do you like dogs or cats?

A: Cats. 100% cats. I’m not a dog person.

I have two cats. One is really, really small with white fur, and he has super short legs, so he’s really cute. I also have a bigger one, which is a British Shorthair. My sister also has a cat at my house in America right now. She’s black and white, like a milk cow.