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Opinion • April 23, 2019
OCTAGON STAFF
The Octagon
My Angle
“The Bare, Beige Truth” by Emma Boersma
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
BY JACKSON MARGOLIS
Jack Christian Mehdi Lacombe Chardonnay Needler Mohini Rye Allison Zhang
Extroverts — silence really is golden
NEWS EDITORS Jack Christian Allison Zhang
SPORTS EDITORS Jack Christian Allison Zhang
FEATURE EDITOR
Chardonnay Needler
A&E EDITOR
Mehdi Lacombe
OPINION EDITOR Mohini Rye
BUSINESS MANAGER Larkin Barnard-Bahn
PAGE EDITORS
Larkin Barnard-Bahn Emma Boersma Jack Christian Jackson Crawford Anna Frankel Mehdi Lacombe Chardonnay Needler Mohini Rye Sarina Rye Héloïse Schep Allison Zhang
REPORTERS
Sanjana Anand Arjin Claire Dylan Margolis Jackson Margolis Ethan Monasa Miles Morrow Arijit Trivedi Arikta Trivedi
GRAPHIC ARTISTS Emma Boersma Jacqueline Chao Mohini Rye
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Mehdi Lacombe
PHOTO EDITOR
Jacqueline Chao
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jacqueline Chao Elise Sommerhaug Shimin Zhang
MULTIMEDIA STAFF
Harrison Moon, editor David Situ, assistant Ming Zhu, staffer
ADVISER
Paul Bauman The Octagon is Sacramento Country Day School’s student-run high school newspaper. Its purpose is to provide reliable information on events concerning the high school and to inform and entertain the entire school community. The staff strives for accuracy and objectivity. The Octagon aims to always represent both sides of an issue. Errors in stories will be noted and corrected. The Octagon shall publish material that the staff deems is in the best interest of the school community. The staff recognizes the importance of providing accurate and reliable information to readers. The Octagon does not represent the views of the administration nor does it act as publicity for the school as a whole. The Octagon will publish timely and relevant news, subject to the following exceptions: obscenity; slanderous or libelous material; and material contrary to the best interests of the school community, as judged by guidelines between the newspaper staff, adviser and school administration. Editorials are approved by an editorial board. Columns/commentaries shall be labeled as such and represent only the author’s opinion. In the interest of representing all viewpoints, letters to the editor shall be published, unless otherwise requested. All letters must be signed and conform to above restrictions. The staff may change grammar and punctuation or abridge letters for space. Comments may be made online to address all stories run.
EDITORIAL: Think in present, not future, about murals
W
hen a mural by Lea Gorny, ’18, filled a wall on campus last year, it seemingly set a precedent for future public art. Gorny even said she was “petitioning for next year’s seniors to each get to paint their own mural” in a previous Octagon article. And that was accomplished — minus the “each.” Despite receiving four proposals this year from AP Art Studio students, head of school Lee Thomsen and the administration approved only one: senior Bella Mathisen’s. One is better than none. But since multiple other artists had ideas for injecting color and creativity into our beige-ridden campus, we’re left wondering: Why were the other proposals rejected? Thomsen didn’t give explanations for individual murals, although he did say he wanted to “take a pause.” “Let’s think forward in terms of having a system (for approving murals),” he said. Yet that same focus on the future is undermining the power of the present. The time for “thinking forward” has already passed — that was the time between Gorny’s mural and this year. Thinking now should be the focus of the administration. Now there is a class of established senior artists at Country Day; their talent can bring back the school’s personality, which was lost when Thomsen had the three original murals painted over three years ago. When visitors step onto our campus, they should know what we stand for. Country Day has
never been a Division I athletic school, although we do have skilled athletes. But we also have artists, musicians, actors, writers and countless other talents. Most students even belong to several of these groups — because Country Day helps students foster the creativity to be whoever they want. However, this can’t be achieved with Country Day’s barren campus. Its walls are blank, and while that provides a clean look, it also looks empty. Furthermore, research points to murals cultivating spirit and improving learning environments; a 2010 article in the American Journal of Public Health even correlated visual art with improving mental and physical health. Such feedback has prompted the revamping of cities across the U.S. — including Sacramento. In past years, public art has sprung up by the dozens on the sides of buildings in downtown Sac. Colleges have caught on to the phenomenon as well: The University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have murals throughout their campuses. If California’s universities realize the benefits of murals, we should too. Our campus is well-maintained, but with only two murals, it will never reach the vibrant, creative environment that Country Day otherwise boasts. So if the fear is that our walls will be filled too quickly by student art, let’s take a cue from Santa Barbara. Recently, UCSB’s Residence Halls Association started a tradition of using rotating mural panels outside.
On campus, there’s a wide wall with large murals mounted on it, side by side. Similarly, mural panels could be mounted on the sprawling blank walls at Country Day, such as the ones leading to the back field and garden. That idea was given to Thomsen, according to art teacher Andy Cunningham, and we hope it goes into effect in future years. Regardless, immediate change is best, and there is one way that can be achieved: collaboration. Although the administration should screen proposals, part of the decision should lie with the student body. Students are the majority milling around campus, so they deserve a say in what decorates it. Also, given that few students have seen the proposed mural ideas by this year’s seniors, it’s possible that a popular idea has been passed up simply because Thomsen has the final vote. Ultimately, we want our student body to be able to express itself, but the few explanations and conditions that have been given — saying that people still need time to think, or that murals should stay up only a few years — don’t fulfill that wish. If there is a large group of artists about to graduate, we need to take advantage. Country Day is unusual in that its graduating classes are small, and each brings unique talents to the table; traditionally, those talents are showcased in sports events, plays, concerts or other endeavors. For aspiring muralists, however, that tradition is falling short. And that’s the bare, beige truth.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR KEEPING US IN THE BLACK! Anand family, Bahn Management Company, Christian family, Frankel family, Impact Venture Capital, Intel Foundation, Lacombe family, Monasa family, Needler family, Rye family, Schep-Smit family, Situ family, Zhang family
Though I’m undoubtedly an extrovert, I recently discovered that while talking can get a person far in life, silence is underrated. This realization came to me several months ago while I was at a reception after the last performance of my ballet’s spring showcase. The dress code was formal, and the desserts were fancy, which produced a room full of well-dressed teens and parents eating chocolate strawberries and coconut pie. Though I attended all my freshman “skills” classes and went on countless nature trips, no group conversation or team challenge quite prepared me for the scene that happened at the party. Being a nonconformist, instead of wearing a nice suit with a belt, I chose the suspender look. A group of dancers, one of whom we’ll call Sharon, was in a circle discussing the performance. Sharon and I are pretty close. If I don’t know the combination during class, I’ll look over, and she’ll do it with her hands. If I have a joke to tell her, she’ll pretend to laugh to boost my ego. As we were talking, a shorter kid holding flowers tensely in his hands came up next to Sharon. I had never seen him, but judging by his body language, I could tell he was there for Sharon. And though Sharon had heels on, even without the extra inches, she had some height on him. My outgoing personality forced me to include this kid in the conversation. “What’s your name?” I said, leaning down slightly from my 6-foot stature. “Mike,” he spat out, barely making eye contact with me. Then it all clicked. Mike was obviously Sharon’s younger brother. He was holding the flowers like that because his mom had probably made him, he was a lot shorter than Sharon, and they sort of looked alike. “Are you guys siblings?” I prodded, confident in my hunch. “No,” Mike said with an air of confusion. “Oh, cousins?” I said. “No,” Mike repeated. This time, however, his confusion was more disturbing. “So, how do you guys know each other?” I said. The next two words Mike said hit me like a Cadillac bolting past the crosswalk on Latham Drive. “We’re dating,” Mike said. “Dating?” I said, realizing that I had not only done poor detective work but also that I had just accused a happy couple of being brother and sister. Desperately trying to cover my tracks, I pushed back with, “Well, I only said that because you guys look alike. It’s really no big deal.” But it was, shown by Mike’s uncomfortable facial expression. My brother, Dylan, turned to me and said, “You’re digging yourself into a deeper hole.” And he was right — if I had just stopped talking and listened, I could have prevented an awkward situation while saving people’s feelings. So here’s some advice from an extrovert: While talking is fun, waiting for someone else to take the lead is better.