Carlmont Highlander April 2016

HIGHLANDER How millenials view time differently- Page 11

Deafness is more than just a disability- Page 12

The modern family’s Mother’s Day- Page 24

THE

Real estate in the Bay AreaPage 10

Carlmont High School — Belmont, California

April 2016 Vol VII Issue VII

www.scotscoop.com Twitter: @scotscoopnews

Living to 100 doesn’t help humanity

Aria Frangos

whose taxes support the retirement funds, this money could end up not There’s a little old lady being enough to pay for in the park. And in the everyone. grocery store. And at the This isn’t just an issue library. Basically, there in the United States. In are little old ladies galore.

2010, the average EuroAnd they’re getting to pean on retirement penbe really, really expension was paid for by alsive. In fact, in the very most four workers, but in near future they’re going 2050 that number will be to be too expensive. cut to only two.

Average Humans have figured age of retirement is presout a lot of ways to solve ently 61, but JLT Pension problems facing our soCapital Strategies estiLeea ivanel cieties over the last cenmated that sustainability tury, and these solutions With the life expectancy of Americans consistently rising, the younger generations are having to pay for the of state pensions may rehave often resulted in social security for a growing elderly population. However, it is uncertain whether or not social security will quire an increase of retirhealthier and longer lives continue long enough for the younger generation to recieve the same benefits as the elderly do now. ing age as high as 75. for society. Increasingly Forbes economics sophisticated progress in when they can no longer work. Nearly half Social Security is not like a bank where contributor Mike Patton said in a 2015 arsciences and understanding of the human of healthcare expenses during a person’s life a worker's tax dollars are stored until they ticle that Social Security cannot go bankbody has been improving life expectancy occur after age 65, which can ramp up the need them in retirement. Rather, the currupt because of the way it's designed.

He from 47 years in 1900 to 76 years in 1991, price of living longer. rent retired population is funded by the also stated that politically, revoking Social according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

After reaching retirement age (62 in tax dollars of the current workforce. About Security funding would have a massively This reality is causing speculation over the U.S.), people can start receiving some 168 million people currently pay taxes negative impact that would shatter any parwhether or not Social Security will be able benefits. Full toward Social ty’s reputation. Patton does say that benefits to continue to be a guarantee for retirees. retirement age Security covermight be reduced in the future when the “When you do something to “We can’t just take away Social Security (usually 66) age, and almost Boomers get older as a way to combat the someone else, you have to think for today’s elderly people, even if it's expen- leads to greater 60 million issue of so many elderly people. sive,” said senior Sierra Segal. “When you benefits. people receive about how it would if feel if it Senior Alex Zuckut said, “I understand do something to someone else, you have to The increased monthly award happened to you, and I know that that a lot more people are going to be in rethink about how it would if feel if it hap- life span of averbenefits. tirement after the baby boomer generation I wouldn’t want my retirement pened to you, and I know that I wouldn't age Americans Between reaches elderly age, but I really don’t think want my retirement funding revoked.” funding revoked.” presents the is2010 and 2030, the government will let Social Security fail.

Social Security taxes are supposed to be sue that whereas the massive The system will work out.” for your benefit in the end, funding elderly people used Sierra Segal "baby boomer" If there are so many elderly people living citizens after their years of paying into the to live for ten Senior generation will for so long, and the current system hyposystem. But all the money taxed out of your years or so on a be entering thetically won't be broken, how is this genpaycheck may not be enough to help this Social Security their elderly eration going to retire with any assistance generation. pension, people can now live up to 20 or years, adding majorly to the projected agfrom Social Security?

“People want to be paid back for the 30 years longer after starting to receive ing of America in coming years. Accord“I think the situation of younger peomoney they had to give to the system. We're benefits at age 65. ing to the Census Bureau, as many as one ple should be prioritized over funding not going to if the money is all used up by “In theory, Social Security works as a in five Americans will be ages 65 and over the retired, because the youth still have a the time we’re older,” said senior Kendall system, but retiring at our retiring age is by the year 2030. lot ahead of them and don't deserve to be Kaufmann. “There are just going to be too too young now,” said Kaufmann. “The lifes“Between 2010 and 2030” is the impor- crippled with paying so much for the Social many people that our generation will have pan of humans has increased and in gen- tant part of that sentence -- that’s right now.

Security of a huge older generation that will to fund in the very near future.” Longevity eral the [retirement] age is too young. It If a high ratio of the population is old be living for so long on that funding,” said risk is the danger of individuals outliving would be better to spend more government enough to be retired and receiving Sosenior Claire Gonzalez. “The system for Sotheir savings, leaving them poor in old age money on retirement.” cial Security in proportion to the workers cial Security needs to change.”

Revisiting the dangers of texting and driving Nathan Godwin Reckless and distracted driving is the number 1 killer of teens in America. Teen drivers are at the highest risk of being in accident with a crash rate of four times that of an adult, experienced driver. The fatality rate for drivers ages 16 to 19, based on miles driven, is three times higher than for drivers ages 20 to 69. The combination of inexperience with reckless and distracted behavior results in over 3000 teens dying on our roads every year.

The overwhelming majority of these crashes are considered preventable, as they are caused by inexperience or distractions, not "thrill-seeking" or deliberate risk-taking with drugs and alcohol. Many of these crashes and 3,000 teen deaths could be saved with a change of behavior and mindset as to what is not acceptable to do when driving. This

could be eating or drinking, texting, talking on the phone or interacting with another teen or teens in the car. These simple everyday activities are deadly when done behind the wheel and combined with a teen driver’s inexperience.

“I’ve seen a lot of warnings about texting and driving but I still see people using their phones out on the road,” said junior Siobhan Ang. Many organizations have formed to try and combat this problem and save teens’ lives. In February, members of Impact Teen Drivers came to Carlmont to speak to parents and students about distracted driving and being safe on the road. Impact Teen Drivers is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness about the deadly dangers of teen distracted driving.

“When I'm driving I get notifications on my phone, but I know how dangerous it is to text and drive so I put my phone face down in the car,” said sophomore Kevin Mcgee.

Organizations such as Impact Teen Drivers are not alone in attempting to prevent teen driving accidents; California lawmakers are focused on this crisis as well. In 2006, California passed the Graduated Licensing law to

save lives. These driving laws are designed to introduce the high risk activities of having other teens in the car and driving late at night. New drivers under the age of 18 are not allowed to drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and the teen driver is not allowed to transport passengers under 20 years of age at any time for the first twelve months. If a driver wants to drive other people or driver late at night, they must be accompanied and supervised by a licensed parent, guardian or other licensed driver 25 years of age or older, or a licensed or certified driving instructor. Drivers under 18 are also not allowed to use a cellular phone or any mobile service device while driving, including the use of hands-free devices.

These Graduated Licensing laws are not meant to restrict a teenager’s freedom, but instead protect them until they gain more experience. Studies show that teen drivers injured or killed have decreased by 40% after the law began being enacted, but teens and their parents must enforce the laws to benefit.

Continued on page 18

Page 2 The Highlander

CAMPUS

April 2016

Standardized tests don’t define you Anya Meredith

You look down at the score at the top of the SAT test you’re holding.

It hurts to look at.

You think to yourself, how am I going to get into college with this score?

You text your mom to tell her the bad news and luckily, she responds saying, “Don’t worry. We’ll just sign you up for an SAT class.”

It seems like this is the case for many students today.

Get a bad score on your ACT or SAT? Don’t worry. As long as you can afford it, you can learn the tricks to pass the test.

“I decided to take an ACT prep class because I thought it would be a good place to start preparing since the class is with a test prep company. I don’t think I’m disciplined enough to do it myself. It’s nice to have someone to go to when you have specific

Ivy Nguyen

questions about the test. It’s also helpful to be with other students so you can hear different questions and how to answer them,” said sophomore Katie Wong.

But what about the students who can’t afford a class, or who don’t have three hours to invest each week?

“I chose not to take an ACT class because they’re so expensive. I thought that if I worked hard enough and pushed myself to study, I wouldn’t need one,” said senior Tara Shahrvini.

According to The New York Times, “Test preparation companies promote SAT coaching as a way to get applicants over the admissions hurdle (if not to leap over it).

If the content companies advertise is true, then low-scoring students who cannot afford such coaching are left behind.”

“I think this type of program should be more accessible to students because it’s an important test to take if you plan to go to

college. Maybe there’s a way to bring a test prep program to the after-school tutoring center,” said Wong.

There are currently programs in place for students who can’t afford to take a formal class.

“The College Board is teaming with Khan Academy, the free online tutoring service, to develop a no-cost preparation program, which will become available next spring in advance of the new SAT,” said New York Times writer Ann Carrns.

However, it seems like test prep classes don’t teach the skills needed to get a better score, but the discipline students lack to study by themselves.

“I think it’s a matter of self-discipline. If you can sit yourself down for a few hours and study and do practice problems, then I don’t think you should take the class. If you have trouble making yourself focus and you need the classroom environment,

then definitely take a class,” said Shahrvini.

For students that can afford it, an ACT or SAT prep class seems like a great option, but for those who cannot, the best option seems to be using SAT and ACT study books and working diligently to familiarize yourself with the tests.

“If students can afford to take a prep class I highly recommend that they do.

If not, I recommend that they get a study book and use that. They should also do as many the practice tests they can get their hands on. Where I grew up, there were no prep classes so that’s what I had to do, and it worked for me,” said ACT class instructor Rebecca Greene.

Just because someone can’t afford to take an ACT or SAT prep class doesn’t mean they can’t do well. Their best option is to get themselves comfortable with the test and do all the practice they can, and hopefully that will be enough.

Page 3

CAMPUS

The Highlander

April 2016

Exploring the extent of student-teacher bonds

Building trust beyond the classroom to support students Isabel Mitchell There once was a time when studentteacher interaction only existed during school hours.

Today, students and teachers have new ways of communication after school hours.

According to a study by Pew Research Center in 2012, 63 percent of all teens say they exchange text messages everyday. This surpasses the frequency with which they pick other forms of daily communication, including emailing (6 percent).

At Carlmont, students and parents have access to School Loop, a website where teachers can post grades and send emails to parents and students. Many other schools have a similar network or a staff directory.

In addition, some teachers use Remind, formerly Remind101, a messaging app built for educational purposes for teachers and students to communicate safely.

Sophomore Katie Wong said, “Remind texts are helpful when the teacher uses it frequently. Students will probably hear about the updates because we’re always on our phones.”

According to a Pew Research Center study on teenage use of mobile phones, the percentage of teens that used text messaging doubled from 27 percent to 54 percent between 2006 and 2010. In addition, the study found that 70 percent of teens use texting to do “things related to school work.”

Another way staff and students communicate is through Facebook messaging.

Various programs around campus encourage making Facebook accounts in order to stay up to date.

Students from the choral program text choir director Genevieve Tep to know what

Nicole del Cardayre

“As someone with anxiety, I find myself in situations when I can’t control my emotions and start freaking out... Having [Kelly] as an outlet on that level of accessibility increases his approachability and my trust in him as an admirable adviser,” said junior Ashley Wen. will happen during class or their discoveries relating to the music they are singing.

“I’m on executive choir council, which means I do a lot of work with [Tep] for the choir. [Texting] makes the logistics of choir a lot easier because we’re both too busy to talk about things during school hours. I also talk to her about personal stuff sometimes,” said senior Davis Schmitt.

Despite these positive forms of communication, the misuse of communication between a student and teacher may become inappropriate.

According to press releases from Township High School District 214 and police, former high school teacher Panagiotis

Georgitsis was arrested and charged in February 2016 with disorderly conduct after he allegedly sent inappropriate text messages to a 16-year-old student while he still worked at the school in Chicago, Illinois.

An inappropriate relationship may result in disciplinary actions for the student and the dismissal of the teacher involved.

In court, the defense may pursue legal charges that will forever affect the futures of the student and teacher.

According to former Chief of Staff at U.S. Department of Education Terry Abbot, his firm Drive West Communications tracked 781 reported cases of teachers and

other school employees accused or convicted of sexual relations with a student in 2014.

Despite these cases, a safe relationship brings benefits to the student, such as feeling comfortable at school and having an adult to look up to.

Junior Ashley Wen said, “Mr. Kelly is a source of advice and emotional help for me. As someone with anxiety, I find myself in situations when I can’t control my emotions and start freaking out, and though it may not be convenient for Mr. Kelly to help me out when I reach that sort of a situation, he helps me anyway because that’s the kind of person he is. Having him as an outlet on that level of accessibility increases his approachability and my trust in him as an admirable adviser.”

Student-teacher relationships are also very beneficial for teaching purposes. According to the University of Nebraska, teachers who have appropriate relationships with students creates a safe and inviting environment in the classroom.

Instructional Vice Principal Jennifer Cho said, “It’s important that staff and students have relationships where they trust and respect each other. Students may form relationships with some staff members that are closer than the typical student-teacher classroom relationship because they are going through hard times, seek their advice, or feel especially connected to them.”

However, it is up to the student and teacher to follow the boundaries between their relationship.

“Many of the staff at Carlmont connect well with students and enjoy being around them. Students and staff members may follow each other on social media, but the same rules that go in the classroom should be applied to social media,” said Cho.

Equity cards have different effects on students Mackenzie O’Connell Students stare uneasily at a stack of card held firmly in the grip of their teacher.

The teacher paces up and down the rows of desks as eyes stay glued to the blue deck of cards.

Who will be chosen next?

Teachers and the school districts have set up a system to give each student a chance to be heard in class. This method, known as equity cards, allows students’ ideas to be shared with each other and requires them to remain on task in case they are called on to share.

The blue cards at Carlmont hold a series of information that refer to a student and his or her abilities in school. Each teacher at Carlmont has been told by the school district to use these blue cards in each class so everyone participates.

In certain studies, it has been seen that kids need this push in a classroom, especially in high school.

In an article written by author Cathy Keen about keeping stu-

dents engaged, Jerome Dancis, a learning and understanding of said Lopacinski.

University of Maryland math pro- material so they do not look Teachers do realize that it may fessor, said, “Only a small number “dumb” or “stupid” in front of be hard for some students to be of students are willing to raise their classmates. put on the spot, and try to comtheir hands in class, usually the Junior Austin Lopacinski felt fort their students as much as best students. It’s important for teachers were able to avoid this they can by pushing them to reteachers to realize that students “dumb” feeling with time to talk alize that their futures will consist need to be encourof being put on the aged to speak in spot. class, especially Chemistry high school stuteacher Joshua Eng“If I’m unprepared and get called on, it dents because this berg said, “Equity makes me stressed out to know if I will be cards have to be is a shy age.”

Yet as these right or not... I’m not really present with used properly, not cards are assigned overused. It can the class because I’m going ahead to try to be useful so the to each student, it has caused stress teacher gets everyfind the answer.” for some students one in class to talk. during class.

Teachers, like anyNic Bouchard Sophomore Nic one, have habits to Bouchard said, “If call on same group Sophomore I’m unprepared of kids, and equity and get called on, it cards help you get makes me stressed to the names that to know if I will be right or not. If to classmates before the student aren’t there or called on often. You someone just gets called on, and answers the question. should not cold card someone; they’re not sure how to even get “Equity cards aren’t always you should give the question, give the answer, it’s not helping. They bad. It gets equality across the time to think and time to talk to a should understand it some way or class. But you need to be prepared neighbor, so the students are not understand how they got that an- because the teacher will always put on the spot.” swer. I’m not really present with pick it randomly. Some teachers Other teachers use the cards the class because I’m going ahead let you speak to your partner for as a sign of mastery to see if the to try to find the answer.” more shy kids, it makes them not students are understanding what Students tend to rush their want to go to class or participate,” they are teaching.

Spanish teacher Carly Gatzert said, “I use it as a measure for myself to see if students have mastered concepts. I do try to give students opportunities to talk before showing answers so they have a chance to communicate before, but they show you need to prepared and this might happen in college. You might not feel prepared in the class, so you have to prepare by doing homework. You need to assume you are going to get picked.”

Though equity cards are highly recommended by the school district, students still tend to be highly stressed out by the pick of one card.

Sophomore Mailey McLemore said, “They do they make me nervous because sometimes I don’t know the answer, and it’s like you’re set up for failure. It’s hard to learn because you’re just trying to find answers and asking other students for answers instead of learning so you’re not made a fool of.”

The cards are shuffled.

Each name is there to stay.

Will you be picked next?

Page 4

CAMPUS

The Highlander

April 2016

Driving safety assembly makes an impact Chesirae Barbano The car approaches a busy intersection, music blasting. The driver hears the ping of a text notification. She reaches over to check her phone, leaving the car with no one to stop it as it gets closer and closer to traffic.

Impact Teen Drivers representative Zoe Schuler and Officer Andy Montiel visited Carlmont on April 14 to remind students of the risks of distracted driving.

This assembly organized by the PTA, urged students to think about the small acts, like changing the radio, that could result in a crash.

ASB Assembly Supervisor Annie Klups said, “[The event] will make students realize the consequences of distracted driving and how many people that it can impact. I can only hope that the message got through to students.”

According to Impact Teen Drivers, the number of deaths from drug use and sui-

Chesirae Barbano

A totaled car in the quad shows students the effects of distracted driving. cide combined do not equal the number of deaths caused by reckless driving.

“Students might not be completely aware of what the dangers are. It’s not just statistics; this is real. This is something that

we [police] see on a regular basis,” said Montiel.

According to Montiel, the conversations police and medical personnel have with the affected families are the most difficult.

Senior Lauren Young said, “You need to teach people how to think critically about things in ways that they never really thought before. I think in order to progress our society and our culture, you need education, if anything, to show people that there are a lot of different opinions and a lot of different ways you can do things. The world is so big, and you need to be able to have a very complete knowledge of what’s going on.”

According to Crame, Carlmont’s philosophy is to teach students critical skills like one-on-one communication.

However, such a large campus creates a challenge for the limited staff members.

Math teacher Andrew Ramroth said, “When I have 150 to 170 kids, I don’t get to invest in all the kids that I would like to. I hope that I can offer a good math education for the majority of the students. I may not be meeting [students] needs and that’s due to the fact that I have so many students.”

By senior year, the hurdle that this student-to-teacher ratio posed is less of an impediment.

Young said, “I think [Carlmont] has definitely shown me all ways to think about different things and all the different subjects. If you have the same teacher teaching them all [subjects], you’re going to get a pretty basic view of everything because you only get one teacher’s opinion and way of teaching. [Carlmont] definitely expanded my view of the world and my way of learning.”

Carlmont’s variety of teachers and classes have given students options and a foundation for their goals.

“Education is supposed to be something that assists and gives [students] skills to obtain the goals that they want, in the areas that they want,” said Crame.

By offering AP classes and numerous extracurriculars as well as regular classes, Carlmont serves as a springboard for students to find and explore their interests.

Carlmont tries to take into account the other aspects of a student’s life that aren’t found in a library.

“The school doesn’t do a bad job of making sure they give you that space to

The speakers of the assembly advised drivers and drivers-to-be to create their own rules to prevent distractions.

“I kind of expected to hear the same message that we’ve already heard before on social media and commercials on TV, the speakers engaged with the audience and the stories were interesting and really drew your attention. [The assembly] instilled a sense of security, like ‘these kind of things are preventable,’” said junior Savanna Dillon.

However, not all students thought the assembly was executed in a way that resonated.

Senior Shayan Mandegarian felt that the assembly covered topics that were obvious like not texting while driving and wearing a seatbelt.

“I respect the message itself and I respect the officers, but I didn’t think [the assembly] was needed. It was really just stating the obvious for me,” said Mandegarian.

It’s not what you learn, but why you learn it Chesirae Barbano Many people assume education is just a term to reference grades, but it isn’t just about a student’s GPA. Education encompasses many fields: from the three main subjects to the school’s goal for its students.

Carlmont is no exception to using this widespread definition of education.

Principal Ralph Crame said, “Our philosophy on education is to prepare our students for the next level, whatever that level may look like. We teach skills that would be applicable either in the workforce, in college, or just life in general. We want to build problem solving skills... people to be critical thinkers... people to be able to communicate.”

To many, education has an influential role that determines the majority of beliefs, for example, how educating the population about science rather than faith was pivotal to America. Schools guide the next generation with education that goes beyond just grades.

figure all of that [issues outside of school] out while also making sure you can do your best,” said sophomore Spencer Stancil.

While many students may not find certain subjects useful for their goal, the education taught to students create a base of skills.

The continuous conversation between staff and students is what keeps relations harmonious. This conversation should continue to grow with a newly discussed team at Carlmont.

According to Crame, this group will look at students beyond their school image to deduce the next action to help or support. To expand the relationship between students and staff, there will be a variety of participants on this study team that will reflect the whole of Carlmont that includes students of different backgrounds and staff members.

Crame said, “We strive to address the needs of each individual student and prepare them for where they really need to go next. We want to make sure people have the right education and follow their passions.”

Applying education in the real world

Math

Problem solving skills

Language

English Applying for a job

Easier to communicate with people from different countries

Writing a resume

Isabel Mitchell

Page 5

CAMPUS

The Highlander

April 2016

Exploring the benefits of being bilingual 78.2 percent

Bilingualism

of students in Europe learn English at school.

helps ward off the mental aging process.

Multilingualism inspires the brain to work more efficiently through improved

Speaking more than one language could present

career

more opportunities.

cognitive ability.

18 percent

Bilingualism increases

of Americans speak another language, according to Forbes.

grey matter

in the brain.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2012/04/13/do-multilingual-individuals-earn-more-money/

Nicole del Cardayre and Mona Murhamer

Rachel Borshchenko Language - it’s something many people take for granted.

Currently, 78.2 percent of students in Europe learn English at school, and many learn a third language as well, according to Pew Research Center.

With over three quarters of Europe having a basic understanding of English, and much of the rest of the world knowing English as well, it begs the question: why would learning a language help Americans, when most already know English?

A mere 18 percent of Americans speak another language, according to Forbes.

French teacher Kathryn Burton said, “Americans tend to be monolingual, but unlike most of America, at Carlmont we have an amazing language program so many of our students are fortunate enough to be multilingual.”

Although it may seem pointless to some to learn another language, many Carlmont students speak various languages and feel some of the advantages that come with being fluent.

Sophomore Josh Vendrow has spoken Russian in his household since he was born.

“I speak Russian every day with my parents and with my other family. Sometimes I speak it with my Russianspeaking friends as well,” said Vendrow.

Language can open up a world of culture for those who are involved in it. Different areas of the world have developed, and continue to develop their own languages, which go along with their specific culture, and can connect those who speak that language together, according to the University of Delaware.

According to the Manchester Language School, “A language doesn’t shape the way you think. A language expresses the way a culture thinks and categorizes things.”

Vendrow also feels that he has been able to better connect with his culture through the language that he speaks.

“With my language, I am able to learn more about Russian history and culture from Russian immigrants. On occasion, I watch Russian movies with my family, which help me to understand Russian pop culture, and they are often very entertaining,” said Vendrow.

Aside from the cultural benefits, language can be scientifically beneficial to humans.

Studies show that being bilingual can improve a child’s likelihood to succeed in school and to receive higher scores on standardized tests.

A study conducted by the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science showed that children who interpreted for their parents had a positive correlation to academic performance.

Junior Alex Girlea, who speaks Romanian, has seen the

effects her bilingualism have had on her academics.

Girlea said, “Being able to speak Romanian is most helpful in my Spanish class because some of the words and grammar conventions are similar. The language keeps my mind sharp, is fun to speak, and is culturally enriching.”

Fluent French-speaker and sophomore Amaury Avat also feels that his knowledge of French has helped in school, especially due to the similarities between English and French.

“Many of the roots in the two languages are similar, so it helps me learn the root words that we do in English class,” said Avat.

The experiences one has can also be affected by the knowledge of a language.

Vendrow said, “A few of my friends and I hosted a workshop for seniors to help them learn how to use their iPhones, and many of the seniors that came were Russianspeaking immigrants. It was difficult for them to learn through English, so I was able to teach them by speaking to them in Russian.”

With such a diverse world, learning to speak another language may prove to be very beneficial to those who chose to do so.

“I love learning language because it really gets my brain to work. Learning a language is good for the soul,” said Burton.

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Page 6

LIFESTYLE What gives you the mental edge The Highlander

Taran Sun Caffeine, Adderall, and Redbull are short fixes that will never make your mind the sharpened tool that natural methods will.

Whether it be to focus for a test, clear the mind of stress, or simply become more present and alert, many activities have been scientifically proven to provide the mental boost that you need.

Meditation is a method many use with the goals of reduced stress and increased mental performance. In fact, meditation changes the very shape of your brain over the course of time, according to Forbes, increasing connectivity between different brain regions.

Studies conducted at Yale on the topic of meditation found that it “decreases activity in the default mode network (DMN), the brain network responsible for mind-wandering and self-referential thoughts.”

College sophomore Veronica Pontis said, “Meditation is an interesting concept in the modern world because I think it greatly contrasts the chaotic and fast -paced society we live in. It is a valuable tool to help people release stress, yet the most stressed people do not make time for it.”

According to Psychology Today, as a result of regular meditation, when you experience a bodily sensation or events that are potentially dangerous or upsetting, you are able to look at it from a more rational perspective. This means that stressful events can be dealt with more calmly and reasonably.

“As a college athlete, I have learned to juggle many schedules at once, soccer, lifting, speed and agility, school, study hall hours, work, and it gets overwhelming. Meditation reminds me of a mind nap, even though you’re using energy to concentrate, you’re helping to empty your mind of thoughts and just breathe, kind of like a mental detox. When I’m done meditating I feel more ready for what’s to come,” said Pontis.

Although many schools see gum as a negative due to the mess that poorly-disposed-of gum can cause, gum can actually be another key to mental success.

Studies conducted at St. Lawrence University show that chewing gum during study sessions and then chewing the same flavor of gum during tests can help with a short cognitive boost.

April 2016

Sophomore Ben Zaino said, “I think that the gum trick works. I always chew the same flavor gum before and during a test.”

Senior Alex Yang said, “I actually don’t really use any strategies to help concentrate. They could have to do with the placebo effect, where the student thinks chewing gum should help them memorize something, but actually doesn’t.”

If you want to stay on top of your mental game, drink up. A study conducted at the University of Barcelona found that even mild dehydration can negatively impact a person’s ability to concentrate.

Additionally, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Human Performance Laboratory conducted studies on groups of young men and women to discover the effects of mild dehydration, or a loss of approximately 2 percent water mass.

The young women experiencing mild dehydration experienced “headaches, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.”

In the tests involving the young men, mild dehydration “caused difficulty with mental tasks, particularly in the areas of vigilance and working memory.”

Senior Sage Shamsai said, “I use breathing patterns to calm down before I start something that requires focus or is stressful. I also drink water to stay hydrated, and I exercise every day before I study.”

A study from the University of Illinois found that exercise could aid in increased attention span and mental acuity.

“Mozart makes babies smart” is more than just a saying. Geneticists Now Rauscher and Hong Hua Li, at Stanford University in California, conducted studies on the “Mozart effect,” the idea that Mozart’s music or classical music may induce short term improvement on mental tasks. Their study used rats, which showed increased performance on learning and memory tests after listening to a sonata by Mozart.

Senior Seena Sebt said, “Whenever I listen to classical music, my whole body relaxes, and I become much more focused.

It’s really the best medicine for distractions, I always use it for homework.”

Sleep is another important factor that contributes to mental ability. According to WebMD, “reducing your nighttime sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32 percent.” This reduction in alertness leads to impaired memory and cognitive function.

Remedies for Stress

Meditation

increases mental performance, connectivity between brain regions, and decreases stress.

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Chewing

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the same during study sessions and tests can help with memory boosts.

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Sleeping

for at least eight hours per day helps your brain function properly, maintains hormones, and reduces the risk of getting sick.

Isabel Mitchell

A sleep time of seven to eight hours is optimal for a healthy adult, based off of studies conducted by the University of California San Diego over a six year period.

Senior Sam Levy said, “I find that it’s never easy to focus in class without much sleep, especially when I’m up late because of homework.”

These many mental techniques aren’t the only ones that exist, but in the long run people who practice them can potentially reap the rewards that are not offered by the short term chemical induced focus or alertness that something such as a jolt of caffeine would provide.

The Highlander

LIFESTYLE

Page 7 April 2016

Negative ions produce good vibes Biochemistry affects one’s mental and physical health

Skylar Weiss The ions in the air may be harming you.

Or helping you.

It depends on which kind they are, and there are simple ways to be surrounded by the right ones.

EMR Labs, a company that specializes in electromagnetic research, stated that 75 percent of a general population is affected by the amount of positive or negative ions in the air. Negative ions tend to have positive effects on people, opposed to positive ions, which have negative effects.

Web MD stated that negative ions are unnoticeable molecules with a negative charge. According to EcoNest, an organization that builds sanctuaries out of natural materials, negative ions are known to resolve fatigue, kill bacteria, and purify air.

When absorbed into the body, they produce biochemical reactions that oxidize serotonin. Serotonin, in healthy portions, is a mood chemical that improves memory, aids in sleep and digestion, and helps maintain a balanced mood by lowering stress levels.

Negative ions are most common in forests, on mountains, around waterfalls, and near the ocean, as they are generally produced in areas with cosmic rays and moving air or water. Places like these typically contain tens of thousands of these ions, whereas the average home or industrial area contains dozens or hundreds.

“When I’m in nature I feel at ease. It’s a lot more comfortable, and I like being out in the open rather than being closed in by four walls. With negative ions, nature has a vibe like nowhere else,” said junior Matthew Irwin.

Nature is full of negatively charged mol-

Nicole del Cardayre

Montara State Beach, Half Moon Bay is a common destination fit for those who enjoy the ocean and exploring the California coast. ecules, which is one of the reasons that some people find outings in the natural world highly beneficial to their well-being.

In addition to the effect created by ions, people often feel exhilarated in nature due to views, exercise, and the freedom they experience.

Moving water specifically possesses high amounts of negative ions. According to ion researcher Michael Terman, Ph.D., people often report positive mood changes after thunderstorms. Negative ions are a reason why many people feel energized and happy

while at the beach or near a body of water.

“My wife and I made a purposeful decision to move out to the coast in 2003 to be closer to the ocean for ourselves and for our son, daughter, and dog. Every time I am on, in, or near water, I feel better because of it.

Negative ions have that kind of effect,” said ASB teacher Jim Kelly.

In his book “Proof Positive”, Neil Nedley, M.D., stated that negatively charged air is often ruined by pollutants, which means that the largest quantities of negative ions are found in fresh air environments, far

from city smog or cars.

“Fresh air makes me feel calm and peaceful. Every time I need to clear my head I always take a walk outside or sit in my backyard. Nature always has a positive effect on me because it’s a reminder that life goes on! It sounds cheesy but nature can be extremely comforting,” said junior Maya Paulo.

Positive ions have the exact opposite effect of negative ions, as they trigger the overproduction of serotonin.

According to EMR Labs, they are capable of causing headaches, dizziness, irritability, or anxiety. People exposed to an increase of positive ions are more likely to become ill or develop congestion. The elderly are also more prone to extreme fatigue.

Positively charged air is most common preceding a storm, in polluted areas, near metal ductwork, and in fluorescent lighting. It is also common in dry wind gusts and during full moons. In addition, positive ions are emitted by electrical appliances and technological devices, such as cell phones and televisions.

It is evident in this generation that students are spending an increasing amount of time around and in front of screens, which are positive ion generators. According to a survey conducted by the LA Times, teens spend an average of nine hours a day around media.

“It’s absolutely mandatory for people to get outside. I have a firm belief that we spend way too much time on our screens.

I know that a whole lot of the stress that teens are experiencing nowadays would be reduced if they got outside more. If they interacted with nature, it would be even more effective,” said Kelly.

Music: the driving force behind our actions Josef Gonzalez With 1,264 micro-genres of music in the world, there’s something out there for everyone.

Millions of people around the world individually listen to various genres of music everyday. Do the songs that these people listen to define and change their actions?

Listening to music with or without lyrics can impact a person in many ways, the biggest being their personality.

Junior TJ Amiglio said, “Depending on the genre of music I am listening to, the lyrics sometimes influence me be in the mood the artist.”

It is scientifically proven, according to Dr. Ellen Weber, that music can impact the way someone acts; scientist say that this process works in a mental chain.

The chain starts with music influencing the way you feel, which leads to an effect in the way you think and, ultimately, impacts your actions.

Music is one of the most emotional forms of art, as artists express their feelings through the music they create.

Junior Kyle Kawakami said, “When listening to music, I soak in the lyrics and listen to the singer’s meaning behind theirwords. I listen to music as a way to express myself, and to hear the expression of others.”

Sophomore Lucas Billot said, “I don’t

think music defines personality, but the lyrics in a song can certainly pursude you to live your life differently and change your actions.”

Scientists in the article “What operating system is installed in your brain?” by David Joel Miller are beginning to discover that when we listen to music, our brains release enzymes which can quickly impact our actions and our thinking process. Daniel A. Yudkin has proven that in order for a song to have an affect on a listener, it cannot be foreign to the listener. The song must relate the listener in a particular way in order to affect the listener.

While music can have a strong affect on some, it leaves others untouched. An average person has a range of up to eleven types of feelings, all of which lead to the actions that a person makes depending on which feeling is more prominent at the time.

Music genres have a heavy impact on people’s actions. According to the American Association of Pediatrics, “Adolescents who listen to heavy metal music have a greater propensity for substance abuse and other risky behaviors during adolescence.”

Sohinee Dutt claims a person’s behavior is heavily correlated with the genre of music that they prefer. There is a bigger chance that someone listening to “BPT” by the rapper YG is going to be more excited and rowdy than someone listening to “Stay with me” by Sam Smith.

Jill Albertson

Sophomore Jimmy Rudger becomes motivated for the long day ahead of him as he listens to his favorite pump-up playlist.

Freshman Julian Morin said, “I think music defines me because I am able to relate lyrics to my own life. Music can quickly change my actions depending on the song I am listening to and how I am feeling. If I am listening to a fast-paced song I typically want to get up and dance and my mood becomes more positive for the rest of the day.”

Certain types of music can change the way a person thinks. It is also scientifically proven by Alfred A. Tomatis that listening

to classical music while studying enhances your concentration. An example of this is the “Mozart Effect.”

A person’s actions change when listening to classical music, and they start to mellow down which makes them focus better when trying to concentrate on a certain subject.

The combination of harmonies, melodies, and a meaningful message can have powerful affects.

Page 8 The Highlander

LIFESTYLE

April 2016

Some believe GMOs present dangers Nicole del Cardayre

topic.

“I think it is absolutely OK for GMOs to be created, as About to take a bite of her dinner, a massive percentage of the a girl stares at her plate admiring population of our world consists her leafy greens and rich juicy steak. of starving people. Many of Little does she know, the food on her the GMOs created are for the plate has the potential to cause a lifeeasier production of food in threatening disease. third world countries,” said GMOs (genetically modified sophomore Liam Gunning. organisms) are living organisms According to Fox News, whose genetic material has most third world countries been artificially manipulated that are offered genetically in a laboratory through genetic engineered seeds by companies engineering. like Monsanto reject the use of These living organisms are then them because of their desire to processed into refined products like stay “clean.” corn, soy, and sugar.

In 2002, Zimbabwe and According to Statista, worldwide Tanzania, two African nations there are around 181.5 million acres both experiencing famine and of genetically modified crops. poverty, rejected genetically Around 40.2 percent of those modified seeds given to them. crops are grown in the United States.

In an interview conducted According to the World Health

by Fox News, Greenpeace coOrganization, the GMO industry founder Patrick Moore said, Adriana Ramirez started due to the need to increase “They basically are saying it is the yield of crops and products. better a million people starve Some genetically modified foods are made by transferring the gene of interest from one It is believed that if the perfect to death than eat perfectly orgnaism to another. This is done through a series of steps. seed was created, a seed that can nutritious genetically modified withstand a drought and create an food from the U.S. where people abundance of crop, then America’s economy and food academic publishing company. have been eating it for 10 years without negative effect.”

After the article was published, there was a lot of industry would improve.

However, Moore’s argument is contradicted by studies “GMOs in certain cases are beneficial for growing food controversy revolving around the topic of GMOs. like the 2013 one, which involved mammary tumors “After learning about them I have started eating more for people when traditional methods don’t work,” said created by the feeding of genetically modified organisms. organic foods because the idea of GMO’s slightly creeps sophomore Max Ladabaum.

“The fact that GMOs have been shown as possible Even with economic improvement and an increase of me out,” said sophomore Harris Branch, a student who is carcinogens is very concerning. I did not know that cancer currently enrolled in Biotech 1-2. crop, GMOs have the potential to harm people.

According to Just Label It, an organization that and GMOs were linked, and it definitely makes GMOs “It’s wrong to change crops, as they are considered the advocates for the labeling of GMOs, 64 countries with seem worse for us than I had thought before. It probably seeds of life,” said sophomore Eric Swanson. won’t impact my current eating habits, since I mostly eat A key trait that GMOs contain is the herbicide Roundup over 40 percent of the world’s population label their foods organic foods, but it definitely deters me from considering that are genetically engineered or modified. (glyphosate).

“I don’t like that it is not required to put labels on the GMOs when I get food,” said Ladabaum.

Roundup is a chemical sprayed on plants to prevent Some schools in the USA have chosen to educate their foods that have GMOs because we still don’t know the long them from becoming overridden by bugs and insects. students about the benefits and health risks of GMOs, Roundup is incorporated into the genetically modified term effects of them,” said Branch. however not all of them do.

In the United States, nine out of 50 states took the organisms so they will become “super plants.”

“I have been educated moderately about GMOs in In 2013, a study was conducted around the harmfulness initiative to label their genetically modified foods in stores. biology for biotechnology. I was able to see the views of of GMOs and the herbicide Roundup. The study was led As well, over 90 percent of American’s prefer their food to both sides: for and against,” said Gunning. by biologist Dr. Gilles-Eric Seralini from Caen University be labeled.

In freshman year, Carlmont’s courses for biotechnology “I think that GMOs should be labeled. There is no harm in France. The experiment tested the effects of Roundup and biology showed a movie called “GMO OMG!” on female rats to see if there were any medical concerns in labeling a product for what it is, but there is potential “After watching ‘GMO OMG,’ I began to wonder about harm from withholding information about a product,” said revolving around the chemical. the food that Carlmont was providing us. I want to be able At the end of the study, the rats had developed Ladabaum. to know if the food my school is providing me is safe or In 2012, California launched Proposition 37, which mammary tumors; they begun to grow after the rats were not, ” said Branch. fed genetically modified food with and without Roundup. would have approved GMOs to be labeled. Monsanto, a Human bodies are very resilient as the rise of some Because of the mammary tumors that appeared huge company that creates genetically engineered seeds GMOs appear during midlife. on the rats, the scientists believed that those tumors spent over $46 million to kill proposition 37.

So how can younger people become motivated to adopt Because of the experiments that had been conducted correlated to human tumors, specifically breast cancer. eating nutritional lifestyles that will help prevent negative The rats developed their tumors at the age of two, which is regarding the rats, and the controversy regarding the topic impacts of GMOs later in life? of GMOs, the initiative of big companies like Monsanto equivalent to 35-40 human years.

The study was published to the public by Elsevier, an to kill the labeling of GMOs created more debate over the

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The Highlander

LIFESTYLE

Page 9 April 2016

Businesses exploit ‘the next big thing’ Estella Lippi It’s the next big thing.

It’s water.

It’s more expensive.

It’s water in a milk carton.

And people are buying it to post it all over their social media.

This company is called Boxed Water.

Freshman William Ramirez said, “It’s all about promoting. The more people talk about [a product] the more people will want to buy the product.”

Their slogan, “Boxed water is better,” is written in bold across the cardboard containers. However, junior Maddison Dugan said, “It only ‘tastes better’ when it’s cold. If it gets warm or sits for a long time it tastes like cardboard, so there’s an advantage and a disadvantage. I don’t think the slogan is completely true.”

The simplistic cardboard milk containers are just different and new. They attract teens who spread the word to their friends, who then tell their friends, and the business takes off.

English teacher Jody Humes said, “The design is cool. People are suckers for design. I’m a sucker for design.”

Now the cardboard water box is present all over social media. People are posing with the cardboard box of water just to show that they have their own. Whether or not it “tastes better” is almost irrelevant.

Dugan said, “I found the boxed water on tumblr. I think they are popular because it’s something new and creative and people know if they have it, they are going to stand out.”

Young adults possess a special talent that’s hard to go unnoticed. They’re constantly looking for change and trying to break away from social norms in order to be different.

Businesses, more than ever, are attempting to profit off of this by appealing to the teenage mentality through social media.

Humes said, “When I was younger, I would just study catalogs and look at window displays and watch TV commercials.

Social media has changed that. I find all these small businesses on instagram. Most people use social media. It impacts me more personally than a TV ad would.”

In a Ted Talk, Seth Godin refers to this as Otaku, a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests. Godin said, “It’s really simple -- you sell to the people who are listening, and just maybe, those people tell their friends. So when Steve Jobs talks to 50,000 people at his keynote, who are all tuned in from 130 countries watching his two-hour commercial -- that’s the only thing keeping his company in business -it’s that those 50,000 people care desperately enough to watch a two-hour commercial, and then tell their friends.”

A popular company who uses this strategy is Chipotle. They target the younger generation through social media and with a different way of doing things. They get people talking about their buffet looking counter and how they have a server making completely customized burritos with fresh and organic ingredients.

Humes said, “Before I tried Chipotle, I said I was never going there, I don’t know why, I thought I was too good for Chipotle.

But now I love Chipotle and looking back I should have listened to the people who recommended it.”

Chipotle does not advertise on TV or radio; instead, they have made apps that make fun of big businesses such as Friend or Faux and The Scarecrow, and rely on their consumers to spread the word of the industrial design of fresh ingredients and bags covered in stories that make one think while munching on a burrito.

Humes said, “With word of mouth, generally you only pursue the company or product if you can trust the [business].

A problem with marketing is when it focuses solely on design is it begins to forget about its main job, serving the consumer.

However Ramirez disagrees, he said, “It’s not just about design because innovation is still important. It’s not all about what it looks like.”

New businesses are learning how to

Estella Lippi

Boxed water VS bottled water: do the differences outweigh the similarities? market to Millennials. This is necessary if the business wants to stand out. People have a mindset in America where they constantly are looking for the newest and best way to do things.

Similar to how the fashion industry works, Millennials are picking and choosing certain businesses to put their money in, based solely on a gut feeling that they are better and that everyone else will think so too. For businesses this makes it much harder to get customers because as Godin said, “[We’ve] got way more choices than [we] used to, and way less time. And in a world where we have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff.”

Today, society gives these trend seekers the title of hipster.

“I feel like I follow some trends and others I don’t. I really don’t feel like anyone is specifically a trend setter or a trend follower because someone has to start something and someone always have to follow.

It’s never the same person starting every trend,” said Dugan.

There are still the ethical questions of whether or not these marketing strategies are justifiable. We live in a capitalistic system where we can target audiences legally, but ethically is it okay to manipulate the minds of young adults and children?

Dugan said, “I feel like companies shouldn’t aim just to get younger minds.

Some companies are wrong in doing it but others aren’t. For some companies that’s the only way they are going to sell anything.”

As society changes so will the businesses that cater to it. Humes believes it’s for the best.

She said, “[TV ads] don’t feel personal it’s just for this generic person that I can’t relate too but if it’s like a face of a company I’m more likely to respect or admire a company with an Instagram than a company that puts their ads on channel four.”

Uncovering the truth about asexuality Holly Chen

The snail. A common species found in many backyards, is adored by biologists and hated by gardeners. And a common known example of asexuality.

Biologists define asexuality as reproduction without the fusing of gametes, which are the cells involved in sexual reproduction.

This is one definition of asexuality and a common misunderstanding according to Asexual Visibility and Education, or AVEN. Though it accurately describes biological asexual reproduction, it doesn’t define the sexual orientation. AVEN describes asexuality as “someone who does not experience sexual attraction.”

But that does not mean there’s not a longing for close relationships.

A Carlmont student who asked to have their name withheld said, “For me, I’m ok with snuggling or kissing a significant other. I’ve had boyfriends before. My first boyfriend didn’t know I was asexual, because I, myself, didn’t know how to describe how I felt. It was just that I felt uncomfortable talking about sex and so he was curious and started asking me. Back then I couldn’t explain just what I was.”

But for others, physical relationships are unwanted.

Freshman Patrick Martin identifies as asexual, “ For me, I don’t want to get married or have children when I’m older. Sometimes people are weirded out by this, but it’s

because I don’t ‘like’ anyone or anything.”

When Paula Nurius published her 1983 study about asexuality, psychologists and scientists began to debate the nature of it. They have argued about whether or not asexuality is a deviant sexual disorder or a common and normal phenomena.

The DSM-5, a handbook for psychologists diagnosing psychological anomalies, still considers asexuality as a mental disorder. But recent developments have proven that asexuality is not at all abnormal. Many activists are working with the DSM-5 to reclassify asexuality as a sexual orientation.

Martin said, “I personally don’t think that it is a mental disorder. I believe that people can not have sexual desires if they don’t feel them in the first place.”

Many misconceptions surround asexuality. AVEN said, “Unlike celibacy, which is a choice, asexuality is a sexual orientation. Asexual people have the same emotional needs as everybody else and are just as capable of forming intimate relationships.”

Asexuality is a very diverse sexual orientation that is often considered an “ace,” because of its wide variations.

Martin said, “Asexuality, itself, has a huge spectrum.

People can lean one way or the other. I know some of my asexual friends absolutely do not like sex, and I know some that are fine with it.”

But asexuality is not as obscure as it was once thought as. A study done by psychologist Anthony Bogaert from

Brook University in Canada showed that one in every 100 adults are asexual, making the world population, as a whole, one percent asexual.

But asexuals are still targets for harassment and discrimination.

Asexual activist Julie Decker told HuffingtonPost about an incident between her and a former male friend. He allegedly tried to rape her, as a ways of “corrective rape” to cure her of her asexuality.

This is not uncommon. Corrective rape is considered a hate crime, but is still prevalent in many countries, like South Africa.

Junior Sonia Mahajan said, “I’m disgusted and unsurprised that such things are still happening. People, for some reason, always feel the need to ‘correct’ others they don’t understand. Trying to fix something that isn’t broken.

It’s ridiculous and absurd.”

Asexuality is taking its stand. Asexual Awareness week will be October 19th-25th, and now there are two major parades for asexuals.

There are even asexual dating sites such as Celibate Passions, Platonic Partners, and Asexualistic, all encouraging other asexuals to meet and develop relationships.

Martin said, “I hope people can eventually understand and come to terms with asexuality. People who are asexual aren’t heartless or don’t care about people. Some of us just don’t want sexual relationships, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want friends or companions.”

Page 10 The Highlander

FEATURES

April 2016

Paganism lives through today’s traditions Leea Ivanel

And as He was born the Lord’s angels came down and said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10) Soon more angels descended from Heaven and sang their praise of the Lord and the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see the Messiah born of a virgin and as they gathered around Him they praised God as the Messiah was just as the angels had told.

Henceforth every cold December humble families sit around the fire and sing of Jesus’s birth and of jingling bells and an old fat man who comes down their chimneys bearing gifts for the obedient and coal for the naughty.

But what connection is there between an old fat man in red and the birth of the Christian Lord, and what do gifts have to do with angels and the Virgin Mary?

Well, as it turns out, they really do not have much connection at all, as a lot of the traditions people consider to be Christian are actually pagan in origin.

According to Alan Cameron, a latin and literature professor, “paganism traditionally encompasses the collective pre- and

non-Christian cultures of the Greco-Roman, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic tribes.”

The term paganism is also used to refer to religions which are polytheistic and natureworshiping.

Many people today hold the belief that pagan traditions are nothing more than ancient bits and pieces of lost human history that no longer have any influence on our modern world.

Sophomore Julia Tu said, “It’s really quite easy to tell that pagan traditions are no longer around these days. There are never any religious news about paganism, and a lot of people don’t even know what it is.”

However, with just a little patience and research, one can find that paganism is actually still very much alive in today’s society as it lives on through many Christian traditions. This is because when the Christians went into Europe to convert the pagans centuries ago, some pagan traditions were brought into Christianity.

Christmas, for example, is a traditionally Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The holiday is also celebrated by a large variety of people who many times aren’t actually Christian.

Perhaps the most well known symbol of Christmas, the keeping and decorating of a Christmas tree, is a pagan practice at

origin. According to an article on SimpletoRemember, the Germanic and Norse pagans would celebrate nature and its trees by bringing them into their homes and decorating them.

Santa Claus, the oh-so-beloved fat, redwearing man, also comes from pagan beliefs and traditions, specifically those of the Germanic people.

Margaret Baker said in her book, “Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore,” “Santa owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Gift bringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts.”

Odin was a Germanic and Norse god of the olden days and he was celebrated at a festival held around midwinter, approximately the same time as Christmas.

Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse, was eventually converted into Santa’s eight flying reindeer.

The pagan influences do not stop there, however. The gift-giving rituals of Christmas come not only from Odin but also from the Romans, who celebrated Saturnalia in the month of Dec. and brought gifts to the emperor. Eventually the gift-giving practices spread to the common people, and they have lived on to this day.

Christmas is not the only holiday with a

strong pagan influence. One of the biggest Christian celebrations, Easter, also owes much of its practices to the pagans.

In all truth, Easter was actually a pagan holiday at origin, celebrated by the Saxon people, German tribes that lived on the coast of the Northern Sea during late Roman times. According to the New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring.”

In fact, these Saxon origins are the reason for eggs being implemented into several traditionally Christian rituals such as egg decorating, tapping, and egg hunts.

What these eggs really symbolize is the Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, Eastra. The bunnies which are often seen in the time of Easter also have pagan origins, symbolizing fertility and, like the eggs, rebirth and the goddess herself.

At the end of the day these are just two examples of pagan traditions becoming part of modern culture, when there are actually many more examples that could be given.

Still, it is easy to see just from these two examples the sheer impact that paganism has on society today, whether it be in being the blueprint for Santa Claus or the reason why Easter is full of bunnies and eggs.

Paganism was never really dead or gone, it just became one with new traditions.

Bay Area real estate prices continue to climb Sarah Tocatlian Buying homes for millennials is no problem at all, as long as they don’t mind living in a house the size of a shed.

According to Business Insider, around 30 percent of young adults find themselves living with their parents, having to cope with unemployment and high-priced rent.

“The children of today are very likely to face the oldfashion way of doing things when it comes to real estate: work hard, save a lot, buy later in life or buy small then sell and buy larger,” said realtor Violaine Mraihi.

According to California Educator magazine, even though millennials are the most rapidly growing class of millionaires and billionaires, they don’t expect to achieve the same standard of living that they were raised in.

“Because house prices are being raised so much I sometimes think I won’t be able to raise a family in the same city I lived in,” said sophomore Angela Grundig, who moved to the Bay Area with her family before the real estate market started to rise.

From the year of 1996 to 2001 there was a market surge when the market emerged from the early-nineties recession. This constant increase was interrupted by the Dotcom Bubble that caused a market hiccup.

The Dot-com Bubble of the 1990s and early 2000s was characterized by new technology which created a new market with many potential products and services, and highly opportunistic investors and entrepreneurs who were blinded by early successes,which all lead to an inevitable crash.

After the Dot-com Bubble in 2001, the Bay Area experienced the September 2008 market crash and a continued decline until 2011. However, supply and demand dynamics began to change in mid-2011, leading to the market recovery of 2012.

ISABEL MITCHELL

While house prices in other parts of the country have remained fairly constant, Bay Area house prices have continued to skyrocket, making it almost impossible for students to return right after college.

According to Paragon Real Estate Group, compared to the rest of the United States, in Oct. 2015, the Bay Area median house price was more than triple what the US median existing home price was.

“Unsurprisingly, [when it comes to buying a house] people tend to appreciate good schools, privacy, accessibility, pleasant and safe neighborhoods, and lively down-

towns,” said Violaine Mraihi.

These are all characteristics that many cities in the Bay Area share, causing them to be such desirable locations.

“I think it’s worth [buying here] because there’s so much to do in the Bay Area and it’s such a nice place to live so it would make sense that it’s more expensive,” said sophomore Sehar Masud.

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Page 11

FEATURES Technology shapes millennials The Highlander

April 2016

Minh-Han Vu

Walk into any classroom today and you will find that a smartboard and a set of chromebooks have replaced the traditional whiteboards and textbooks. Along with this new incoming world of technology you can find the new experts-- the students.

As the first generation to grow up alongside technology, the millennial generation, born between 1986 and 2000, is in a position that no other generation can truly relate to.

“I remember when the first iPad was released and I was in sixth grade,” said senior Cole Harper, “and even then, I was the one teaching my parents and grandparents how to use it.”

In a world that’s embracing technology at an increasing pace, many adults have yet to meet the level of technological expertise their younger counterparts have reached.

According to Pew Research Center, 41 percent of American adults 65 and older do not use the Internet, while 91 percent of teenagers use the Internet daily.

Harper continued, “Our society’s acceptance of technology has created a kind of role reversal-- a lot of times, I find myself teaching adults about the technology we use in our world rather than the other way around.”

As a growing number of millennials begin to leave their tech-filled classrooms and enter the workforce, many of those outside of the millennial generation are debating whether their unique situation is a blessing or a curse.

Activities director and leadership teacher Jim Kelly is one of many that believe the incoming generation will have a largely positive impact to the adult world.

Kelly said, “The tech-savvy qualities of the millennial generation can lead to some amazing things, especially in a work world

MINH-HAN VU

According to Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, more than one-in-three American workers today are Millennials, and they surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American workforce. that demands a high level of technological capability. With access to more information than any previous generation, the possibilities within their reach are mind-blowing.”

Some attribute the millennial’s tie to technology as the source of their intrinsic qualities, as well as their range of knowledge. According to Rice University, this generation can be generalized with a sense of heightened confidence and optimism, group-oriented rather than individual motivation, and a better understanding of tolerance and equality.

Senior Mateen Nozzari said, “I think a lot of the qualities associated with my generation will prove beneficial. During my law firm internship, I saw first hand that characteristics like self-certainty and a more egalitarian mindset-- both parts of our stereotype-- helped with the success of

the company.”

But with all the positives that resut from our generation’s shift in focus towards a newer set of skills, there is a flip side.

Junior Connor Juliano recognizes some of the faults his generation faces as a whole.

“Although growing up with technology has given us skills that past generations have not seen, I think it has allowed a lot of us to live an overly sheltered life, and I’m not sure if that will get in the way of facing the real world,” said Juliano.

This continuous exposure to technology has left its mark on the millennial attention span. According to Northwestern University, the number of children and young adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose by 66 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Some believe that technology has had

a negative impact on the new generation’s mode of communication.

Kelly said, “I’m a firm believer in the power of human relationships, and the emphasis on technology has stunted this generation’s ability and desire to build faceto-face relationships.”

Despite the debates surrounding whether or not the combination of technological skill, optimism, and changed communication is a primarily good or bad thing, it is hard to argue against the millennial generation’s uniqueness.

Harper said, “My generation has grown up in a very new environment. I don’t know if this is for better or worse, but either way, I think the millennial generation is going to take us somewhere new.”

Me, myself, and I(Phone): addicted to screens Kian Karamdashti

time,” said Rebecca Pearlman, a mother and math teacher at Carlmont. “I think that the growing attachment to the “Maybe if you weren’t on that phone so much you screen has definitely affected the quality of relationships for our younger generation. It is much easier to type somewould---” I’m going to cut the above quotation off early because thing then to face someone in person.”

But there isn’t any truth to that, right? Our parents are I think we all are familiar with the varying conclusions of surely just being their grouchy Generation X selves? Althat sentence. Whether the ending of the above sentence though we may not see eye-to-eye with our parents on a has to do with better grades, timeliness, or a cleaner room, variety of issues, they may actually be onto something. almost every teenager in this current generation has heard In recent years, a new disorder has infected thousands that phrase in their life. of teenagers worldwide, a disorder that many are calling “My parents definitely give me a hard time regarding “smart phone addiction.” A problem how much I’m on my phone,” said so real that rehabilitation facilities junior Leo Mcbride. “As long as I get such as reStart, in Redmond, WA, of“You see it everywhere. As my work done, I won’t get my phone taken away or anything like that. soon as there’s a second of free fer a program for “mobile fixation.”

A recent poll conducted by the However, it does become difficult to time you see someone pull National Safety Council revealed focus on your work when a phone that 82 percent of Americans believe their phone out.” full of distractions is in your pocket.” cell phones are addictive, and they A study taken by The Atlantic are probably right. found that 32 percent of parents Jacob Segal “The emergence of smartphones actively limit their children’s screen Senior has exacerbated our addiction to time, and that number rises to 47 connectivity, not to mention pleapercent if the survey was isolated to sure, said Deborah Hersman, CEO just parents with a child in the preschool age group. of the National Safety Council.

“Scientists have shown our Of course as children grow older, especially in this genbrains get a hit of dopamine the chemical linked to haperation, it’s become almost impossible, and arguably unpiness when we hear our phones beep or ring. ” reasonable, to stop a teenager from having unsupervised While this may seem like a harmless addiction, many access to their phone. With school work and socializing say that this growing attachment is subtracting from our becoming more and more prominent on a screen, students quality of life. have become more and more attached to their devices.

A 2015 study taken by Baylor University found that “Screen technology definitely has its advantages and female students at their university spent an average of 10 disadvantages, and that’s why when my children were hours a day interacting with their cell phones. younger, I definitely set limits on my children’s screen “In today’s age, we literally have a tool in our hand that

allows to connect with essentially anyone, anywhere, at anytime, on multiple interactive platforms,” said senior Jacob Segal. “That’s why it’s no surprise to me that people are becoming so attached to our phones; they represent a window to a whole another aspect of one’s social life and in result, have become an extension of ourselves almost. You see it everywhere. As soon as there’s a second of free time you see someone pull their phone out.”

Besides the growing attachments to the screen, there are other physical drawbacks being reported. These drawbacks include pressure put on our spine when one tilts their head down for a long period of time, digital eye strains, and even multiple studies suggesting that radiation from phones may be causing lower sperm count in men who store their phones in their pockets.

So what can we do to minimize our use of screens in a world where their influence grows and grows every single day?

“I try to spend as much time away from my phone as possible,” said junior Ashley Wen. “I make it a personal rule to use my phone as little as possible when in front of friends and family, as well as keeping away from reach from my bed, and simply not taking it into the bathroom. I never want to be one of those kids who can’t be pried away from his phone, and so far I think I have done a good job.”

How the world responds to the growth and development of technology is uncertain, but one thing that is certain is that technology won’t be going away anytime soon.

“Phones, Androids, and tablets are only going to improve and get more interactive as time moves on, drawing more and more people to them, said Segal. “I guess we’ll see if we will actually turn into the humans all these sci-fi movies predicted.”

Page 12

Deaf community: working for acceptance Sophie Penn Imagine a world of silence.

No constant background noise. No birds chirping or cars honking. Just silence.

You can see people’s lips move as they speak, but nothing comes out.

For members of the deaf community, this is a part of everyday life. Some people are born deaf, others lose their hearing due to disease, nerve damage, or injury.

Deafness is often thought of as a disability or a handicap. It is a common belief that deaf people would never be able to be a fully functional member of society.

Senior Johnny Crespin has a cousin who is deaf, and communicates with him through sign language.

“I don’t think my cousin is limited because there are so many things that this country has done to help them. From having schools for the deaf, to having tools in movie theaters that are used to help them watch the movie,” said Crespin.

Many people assume that deaf people communicate by reading lips and learning to speak.

However, it is extremely difficult for deaf people with significant hearing loss to learn to mirror sounds. Forcing deaf people to speak and read lips instead of signing is forcing them to assimilate into the rest of society, instead of embracing their own.

Oscar winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin is a strong advocate for the development of a more empowered deaf community.

Matlin said in her autobiography, “I’ll Scream Later” saying, “We aren’t handicapped in any way, except by what other people think. Focus on people’s abilities. I can’t be on American Idol, but there’s all kinds of stuff I can do.”

Currently on season 22 of Dancing With the Stars is Nyle Dimarco. He also was the winner of the 22nd season of America’s Next Top Model, as well as being the only deaf contestant to compete on the show. He is a successful model, actor, and activist.

Dimarco’s achievements further prove that deaf people can overcome what might be seen by some as a disadvantage in society.

Hearing loss is prevalent at Carlmont as well.

Carlmont student Isabel Mayoss, a sophomore, dealt with slight hearing loss as a younger child. Up until age seven, Mayoss had partial hearing. However, her parents never considered teaching her sign language, and her hearing has improved over the years. “[My hearing] has made my life more dangerous because in the past, haven’t heard fire alarms when they went off. I don’t know anything about the deaf culture, but if my hearing was worse I would want to learn sign language because it seems easier than hearing aids,” said Mayoss.

In the past few decades, deafness has emerged as a diverse and accepting culture in America. Like any other culture, the deaf community has its own language, American Sign Language (ASL).

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded the first school for the deaf in America in 1817, where he developed ASL, based off of French sign language.

However, not all people, both back in the day and now, believe that sign language is the best way for deaf people to communicate.

Alexander Graham Bell was one of the biggest supporters of the oralism method. He believed that deaf people should be taught orally, and trained to speak instead of signing.

This outlook on deafness caused many members of the deaf community to face oppression as they were forced to read lips and learn to speak, instead of using sign language.

Currently, there are 61 schools for the deaf across the United States, with at least one in almost every state. Gallaudet University, located in Washington D.C., remains the only deaf university in the country.

According to the Gallaudet University Library, there are currently between 500 thousand and 2 million people who use ASL in the U.S. today.

Heather McClure is an ASL teacher at CSM and Hillsdale High School. She is hearing, but has deaf friends and co-workers, granting her an insider’s perspective to deaf culture.

“The most common misconception about the deaf community is that sign language is the same as English. It is its own language, just with signs that match English word order,”

A

said McClure.

There are two kinds of deaf people. Deaf with a capital “D” is when a person has a loss of hearing and communicates using sign language, while associating themselves with the deaf community. Deaf with a lowercase “d” refers to those who are deaf but do not sign, and are not part of the deaf culture or community.

Allison Alhadas is a student of McClure’s at CSM currently taking ASL 1. She is learning sign language in order to be able to communicate with her boyfriend’s parents, who are both deaf.

“There is a controversy when you have a deaf child, because you have the choice of giving them a cochlear implant, but you are taking them away from the culture by doing so,” said Alhadas.

A cochlear implant is a medical device that functions in a way that allows the hearing impaired to have an electronic semblance of a functioning cochlea.

With technology developing, cochlear implants are becoming a more popular option for the deaf.

However, many deaf people have little or no interest in getting a cochlear implant, and continue to embrace and show pride in their culture.

ASL has begun to gain recognition as a foreign language, and the deaf community and culture is starting to become more widely recognized in the U.S. “There’s a huge deaf community and people should embrace it,” said Alhadas.

Hearing people are not always aware of the deaf culture that is present around them. ASL is often overlooked as not being a real language, and is not offered as a language at most high schools.

However, deaf culture is just as important as any other culture, and deserves to be more widely recognized and celebrated than it currently is.

D e a f ness causes people to interpret the world differently than hearing people.

America is known for its diversity and acceptance of different religions, cultures, and ideas. The same acceptance and acknowledgement should be extended to the deaf community.

S

American Sign Language

L

Celine Yang has hear Like many others in th has learned to embrac uplift those struggling

Page 13

BEING DEAF IS NOT JUST A DISABILITY. Individuals experiencing hearing loss or deafness have built a community to look past the disability and embrace deaf culture.

The gift of silence in a loud world Celine Yang

“Who’d you put a plane on? Not the exper test?

Most of my time is devoted to donut two and you blung grayed it! I have a total -- shush -- of 1500 hours of sleep.”

This sounds like a horrible (and entertaining) subtitle service.

But as a student with hearing aids, this is a part of my life.

No w, don’t get me wrong.

This inconvenience can be hilarious. I usually play it off with a laugh and a joke, and the conversation carries on. Sometimes, I even repeat the misheard statement back on purpose, because humor is preferable to awkwardly asking, “What?” ring loss in both ears.

Humor, however, lasts only a short while. he deaf community, she I have bilateral hearing loss, which ce hearing loss and to means that I have hearing loss in both ears.

I wear a hearing aid in my right ear, and my left in the deaf community. ear’s pretty much hopeless. I’ve adjusted -- when I’m with people, I tend to stay on their left side.

I know that having hearing loss doesn’t seem like a situation someone would want to be in.

Hearing is tiring. It’s not just physical. It’s also mental.

I miss a lot of what’s going on around me -- the jokes in class, the YouTube videos that don’t have subtitles, the conversations between my friends, and anything involving the use of voice. Sometimes I can’t even hear someone talking right next to me.

And because I can’t hear it, I don’t know what I’m missing. I just know that I’m missing out. And to avoid missing even more, I have to put in extra work and devote all my attention to what someone’s saying.

Having a disability -- I have yet to come to terms with that word -- means that I often fall into a hole of resentment.

Sometimes I wonder, why me? What happened to that five-year-old kid that everyone loved because she was so outgoing? Even the big fifth-graders would hold her hand and laugh with her. Other kids didn’t really care that much about hearing loss, as long as you were fun, nice and good at running.

What happened to that kid before insecurities took ahold of her?

I could go on laying out my grievances. I could let out that pent-up anger and resentment.

But what I’ve learned is that when I fall through that hole of resentment for the umpteenth time, I’m not getting better.

Every moment, I’m learning how to deal with my hearing loss not by crying, but by speaking. By listening. By acting. If I want people to look past my disability, then I need to look past it first. I need to be that cheesy voice in my head and say, “Be positive!”

There are so many benefits that come with the detriments -- incredibly fast reading skills, lip reading abilities that allow for some entertainment and eavesdropping, friends who stay by me, the ability to empathize, and not taking communication for granted.

In addition, I’ve had so much help in my education system. My speech therapists helped me hear and say my s’s and f ’s right, my audiologists fitted my hearing aids and offered counsel, the school administration met with me, and all my incredible teachers were there, day in and day out.

Just this past month, there was the National Spanish Exam with an audio portion -- the bane of my existence. You know, the type with headphones and multiple-choice answers.

Then my Spanish teacher swooped in. She was the one who contacted the organization and set me up with a Special Ed teacher. A classmate of mine and her mother went beyond the call of duty and transcribed two entire exam sets of audio so that I could practice. That was amazing, and it proved that there’s always a way to deal with everything. It just takes effort.

So I work with my hearing aids and I enjoy the adjustments that I’ve been able to make over these 15 years. Hearing is exhausting, but it’s so worth it. It’s taught me how valuable communication is and has forced me beyond my comfort zone. I found out that I like to be uncomfortable, and having hearing aids gives me more ways to be in that state.

To know that I’m not alone and that there’s a support system is incredibly uplifting. My family and friends remain supportive. My sister’s a Speech and Hearing Sciences major in college. I don’t know if that was partially because of me, but that surprised me. She told me that she was able to get an inside perspective and a head start on her major with me as her sister.

And having hearing aids?

It’s a privilege that I’m extremely lucky to have. Having hearing aids, which may seem like an obstacle, offers entirely new perspectives. And only I have that experience -- something that’s wholly mine -- including an appreciation for silence.

Yes, I have sound. But silence? It’s beautiful. It’s its own kind of experience. You don’t need to hear anything to understand silence. That’s how I sleep -- in silence. It would be bad news if a burglar broke in, but my dog will take care of that.

The best part is that my hearing loss gives me the ability to help others.

I’m planning to contact movie theaters and petition that they improve the subtitle services that they offer. That goes for airlines with in-flight entertainment too.

There is no one else who cares more about hearing loss than I do, and that’s because I know what it feels like. There are so many out there who are in need of hearing aids and don’t have them. Providing hearing aids for all is a lofty goal, but goals are there to be met.

I’m also on a personal mission. I haven’t met another high school student like me, but I will in the future. I’m going to find others in the community. There are people out there who have it harder than I do. I will learn sign language beyond the alphabet and communicate with the community that I have largely been absent from.

Needless to say, I wouldn’t give up my disability for anything. It’s a gift. It pushes me to be more active and has exposed me to numerous worlds. It’s helped shape me into the person I am today.

So I’m not going to lament my hearing loss, whatever caused it, or all the grievances that it gave me.

Instead, I will say thank you, hearing loss, for giving me so much.

Page 14

FEATURES The Internet is smarter than you The Highlander

April 2016

Jackson Monge

We like to ignore things.

Especially things like the ads that pop up before we start to watch a video on youtube, or the ones on the side of a webpage.

However advertisements like these be taken into account; after all, they were made for you.

However hard we try to not pay attention to thsese, by either skipping a video ad ad, or clicking out of a pop-up, the Internet will not allow itself to go unnoticed.

The Internet may just seem like a tool we use to read articles, watch Netflix, and laugh at YouTube. Contrary to popular belief, what we do on the web does matter. The web tracks what we search and either delivers us content such as targeted ads, or recommended websites based on our search history.

Targeted advertisements are the ads that are displayed ads are displayed based on your search history, purchase history, and demographic. These are typically from a search engine or website selling your personal information to companies, to make a profit. Those companies then use “tags” such as specific words to track your interests and will show ads based on those tags. According to a 2012 Pew Internet and American Life Project report, 59 percent of Internet users said they observed targeted advertising while surfing the Web. “Targeted ads seem like a good idea business-wise; showing people what it seems like they want. However, the ads are typically really big, and people use adblocking software which really makes them ineffective,” said sophomore Aiden Wantz.

Buzzfeed and other online news sources have a sly way of advertising, called native advertisements. These native advertisements are usually disguised as an article or feature, these are intentionally deceptive, to convince consumers to buy or support a

corporation's products.

Native advertising is becoming more and more prominent because many realize traditional banner ads are not working very well. In fact according to statistics taken

by The Rich Media Gallery, between December 2015 and February 2016, for every 10,000 times an ad is displayed there are

Justin som

only 7 clicks on it.

“I can definitely see why corporations are using native advertising. Regular pop up ads, are just easily ignorable. If you can make an ad something actually interesting, then people would actually click on it. It doesn’t bother me too much seeing how there's a lot of biased journalism these

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days. MSNBC, and Fox News for example both have overt bias on what they report and how they report it. The only difference is that native advertising seems [untrustworthy],” said Carlmont history teacher Jayson Waller.

The Internet doesn’t only change for the individual. In fact, it is constantly changing based on popular searches. Which can lead to many innocent things to getting an offensive connotation. For example, in 2015, Google Maps had a series of embarrassments. Because of racist remarks about President Barack Obama, Google Maps would display the White House, when “Nword king” was entered.

Another recent example of this is Microsoft’s AI, Tay who according to Microsoft emulated teenage speech patterns and would learn by observing other Tweets, and replies.

However after, many anti-semitic and racist responses were posted onto Tay’s profile, the AI’s Tweets turned anti-semitic, and pro-white supremacy.

Lisa Nakamura, a University of Michigan professor was quoted in a Wired article saying “[This] is a higher-profile example of something that’s been happening a really long time, which is that user-generated content used to answer questions reflects those pervasive attitudes that most people don’t want to think about.”

The Internet has long been adapting to what we say, write, and watch on it. Finding new ways to entice us, and new ways to change the Internet itself.

But now the Internet has a consciousness. Leading us to have to start to become more wary of how your electronic footprint treads.

“I don’t like the fact that the Internet is becoming like this, I see the internet as a private thing, where I dont have to worry about people looking at what I do,” said junior Elanna Vital.

Page 15

FEATURES El Niño fails to end the drought

The Highlander

Bijan Khalili

At times, rainfall was coming in bunches, and the week would feel like a hot summer day.

One word to describe this winter: sporadic.

The great El Niño that we were all expecting fell short of expectations.

According to CNBC Weather News, this El Niño will do minimal improvements to the drought across California and Nevada.

“I was hyped so much, and when there wasn’t as much rainfall as expected it was a disappointment,” said junior Jack Morris.

And that is just what had happened.

The community had a false sense of hope.

According to the The University of Arizona Climate Assessment for the Southwest, stated that el Niño will be one of the strongest events on record.

An article on the Los Angeles times stated that California stands to get above normal amounts of rain January to March 2016.

The goal of this winter season was to get enough rainfall to help with the water that California desperately needs.

Although this has been the wettest year since the drought started in 2012, it was not enough to compensate for four years of drought according to the California Department of Water Resources.

“It’s unfortunate that even though there was a lot of rain we still have a drought problem,” said junior Leo McBride.

That is the question that is being raised: At times there was a lot of rainfall, so how is California still dry?

However, the weeks of dry spells were not accounted for.

“Although there have been times where there was a lot of rain, there were also a lot of times where it was dry and

April 2016

hot, so it kind of got balanced out,” said senior Jake Kumamoto.

Snow, just like the rain in this year’s El Niño was an improvement from previous years but was just not enough.

Sierra snow is just as important for the drought conditions as snow provides 30 percent of California’s water supply.

The April survey team in the California Department of Water Resources found that California statewide snowpack is just 87 percent of the average for this time of year.

With less than expected rainfall and snow, many people are worried the shortage of water in the western states such as Nevada, California, and Arizona need to be taken care of.

“Something must be done to make sure we do not waste any water that we desperately need since we are in the drought,” said Morris.

The California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have finalized the 2016 Drought Contingency Plan that outlines State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations for FebruaryNovember 2016.

The plan focuses on water project operations and the potential modification requests needed to balance the competing needs and benefits of our limited water supplies in the context of consecutive dry years. One of the key purposes of this plan is to have set goals for 2016 water management and the potential operations needed to achieve those goals for water resources stakeholders and the public.

This El Niño season made some improvement to the lack of water in the state of California, but ultimately, there still needs to be a significant amount work done by the government and in the community to start to find a way to help end drought.

Snow provides 30% of California’s water supply Desalination will only provide 7% of the county’s total water needs With efficient agricultural water use, California could reduce its water use by 17% California Department of Water Resources

Page 16 The Highlander

DEATH AND EVOLUTION

April 2015

Gene therapy: changing who we are Hanalei Pham

From curing genetics diseases to designer babies, genes control who a person is, and now, scientists can change one’s genes.

But is it morally right to change who we are?

Composed of DNA, the famous double helix, genes regulate the body’s form and function. When genes don’t work properly, the person suffers the consequences. From cancer to myopia, many diseases both deadly and benign, can be traced back to genetics.

According to Arthur Nienhuis, the former president of the American Society of Gene Therapy, in the 1960s, as the scientific community’s understanding of the connection between genetic disorders and specific genes grew clearer, the “dream of gene therapy emerged.”

Today, gene therapy is still in its infancy.

Currently, gene therapy focuses on somatic cells, which are body cells such as blood cells. Gene therapy can be conducted in multiple ways: replacing a mutated gene with a healthy copy, “turning off ” a bad gene, or altogether introducing a new gene into a person, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) website.

Though still very new, from the time of its conception, gene therapy has progressed. Clinical trials have yielded successes, with several diseases successfully treated by gene therapy. Such diseases include Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID), hereditary blindness, Hemophilia, Parkinson’s, and cancer, according to the Genetic Science Learning Center’s website.

But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining.

Unfortunately, when the therapy triggered leukemia, the gene therapy for SCID ended. Because of this, gene therapy is “currently only being tested for the treatment of diseases that have no other cures,” according to the NIH website.

Gene therapy comes with many inherent risks, as therapy alters the very makeup of a person. Patients face unwanted immune reactions, infection, and tumors.

Sophomores Seddon Stamper, Isabel Harnett, and Jac-

queline Bursalyan are part of Carlmont’s Biotechnology Institute. The three collaborated on a project about gene therapy.

Stamper said, “There are many potential problems, from altering the wrong cells to damaging the DNA of the patient. These are all complications that need to be resolved or reduced for gene therapy to become a safer and more effective treatment.”

An additional complication is that cells die. For the patient, the effects of somatic cell gene therapy is often temporary. As somatic cells are not passed down to future generations, somatic cell gene therapy’s benefits, and harms end with the patient.

Harnett said, “Gene therapy alleviates the symptoms of hereditary disease, but in most cases this therapy is temporary and will have to redone multiple times as the cells will die off. It is not a permanent cure.”

In contrast is the idea of germline gene therapy- gene therapy targeting germ cells. Germ cells are reproductive cells, and gene alterations would be passed down from generation to generation. However, the subject is highly controversial. Scientists are unsure how germline gene therapy would affect the development of the fetus and possible long-term side effects, according to the NIH website.

Additionally, germline gene therapy poses the issue of consent. An unborn fetus cannot decline or accept treatment. Beneficial or not, therapy would be imposed upon them.

Furthermore, many fear that germline gene therapy allows for too much control over human life. A fine line separates therapy and enhancement, deliberately manipulating genes to create a smarter, stronger, prettier human being.

Stamper said, “Gene therapy is facing multiple controversies. Especially with germline gene therapy, the religious opposition is that through gene therapy humans are playing God. The medical issues still remaining give rise to the question as to whether doctors should recommend patients to join a clinical trial. The potential Pandora’s box

Brooke Chang

Gene therapy is used to alter the genetic code. scenario of designer babies creates a social issue as germline gene therapy could increase discrimination, inequality, and racism.”

Biology for Biotechnology classes at Carlmont show the movie “Gattaca” to introduce bioethics. In the movie, people were segregated not by the color of their skin, but by their genes. Human control over genetics were taken too far, and doctors would tailor the perfect baby specimens.

Those who were conceived naturally, without genetic enhancements, were considered inferior. With the growth of gene therapy, many share a similar concern that gene therapy would be used for eugenics rather than therapy.

Bursalyan said, “Gene therapy has a bright future and can help cure many currently incurable diseases. More research on somatic and germline therapy is necessary.

While we should take precautions, we also need to expand our horizons.”

Mankind has witnessed many past scientific advances, and push past their own set of ethical, legal, and social implications. While consequences must be weighed, they should not completely obstruct progress.

Right to die threatens the right to live Sarah Schisla

This is a matter of life and death.

California’s End of Life Option Act went into effect on Jan. 1, and other states are beginning to consider similar legislation. This measure explicitly claims to protect an individual’s “right to die,” but how will the same individual’s right to live stand up to this legislation?

“Death with dignity” laws are intended to provide terminally ill patients with the option to die on their own terms in order to avoid prolonged physical suffering and emotional distress.

People should be able to make this highly personal decision themselves since it revolves around their own suffering and their own lives.

In the case of terminal illness, each individual should have the right to full autonomy in choosing between life and death.

However, rushing to implement right-to-die legislation could complicate this matter.

I was living in the Netherlands when assisted suicide became legal.

My neighbor had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he decided to live out the rest of his life at home. His landlady already considered him a burden, because the terms of his lease severely restricted her control over the property.

After my neighbor’s diagnosis, the landlady publicly expressed her desire for him to go to the hospital and just die already, now that it was simple and legal to do so. She didn’t hide her frustration from him or from other neighbors.

She wondered what he was hanging on for and questioned his decision to continue to live because it was inconvenient for her.

In a country where euthanasia had just been legalized, some already expected terminally ill patients to choose death.

I am horrified by this response, and America must avoid this mentality at all costs.

Estella Lippi

The right to die allows people who are terminally ill to die on their own terms.

At what point will someone’s right to die become an obligation to choose death? The answer should be simple -- never.

But what if, like my neighbor’s landlady in the Netherlands, Americans begin to see euthanasia as the best option for society? What if people regard those diagnosed with a terminal illness as a burden and pressure them to choose assisted suicide?

This harsh, unsympathetic fate can be avoided by setting a precedent of compassion and respect for each individual’s choice. Right-to-die legislation should be introduced gradually, and advanced directives should ultimately be integrated to ensure that the wishes of the terminally ill are the priority.

A terminal diagnosis is not a community problem. It is a personal tragedy, and the decision must be personal as well.

It is now up to California and the other five states that have enacted right-to-die legislation to ensure that death with dignity laws serve their intended purpose.

Oregon was the first state to allow assisted suicide, legalizing the practice in 1997.

Although requirements may vary slightly by state, most states seem to have followed Oregon’s lead. Those choosing assisted suicide in Oregon must be adults who are expected to live fewer than six months, and the state requires that patients give written and oral consent (twice) at least 15 days apart.

According to a 1999 Oregon Health Division report, the program has achieved its goal. Patients who chose physician-assisted suicide were able to die with dignity, and those who chose this option were “not disproportionately poor (as measured by Medicaid status), less educated, lacking in insurance coverage, or lacking in access to hospice care.”

Death with dignity laws have succeeded in Oregon, but what matters now is how other states respond. With many states contemplating the “right to die,” California’s implementation of the End of Life Option Act will likely influence how many other states follow suit.

Moving too fast without first ensuring the measure’s success in California could be dangerous.

However, given the controversial nature of assisted suicide, it seems unlikely that the country will rush into the implementation of death with dignity laws.

Even California Governor Jerry Brown struggled with his decision before signing the bill. He wrote, “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

Personally, I think that every individual should have the right to choose in this matter.

The problem arises from the fact that future generations may feel pressured to follow a precedent, which, if we aren’t careful, could end up contradicting the measure’s initial goal of protecting an individual’s right to die… or to live.

We must remember that the bill was passed to protect an individual’s “right to choose,” not to make a terminal diagnosis become an immediate death sentence.

An individual’s right to choose to die means nothing if the choice is not his own.

Page 17

ENTERTAINMENT TV seasons: more is sometimes less The Highlander

April 2016

Kiera Pendleton-White Lately, more and more popular franchises such as “The Fast and the Furious” are being stretched extremely thin. Film studios, in this case Universal Pictures, keep pushing out sequel movies like well-oiled machines.

Although these sequels do extremely well, people tend to be less satisfied by the overload of content.

“Most times, the quality of the sequels go down and the people that create these movies seem to get lazy. It makes me angry because book adaptations seem to be good, and then the sequels are just horrible,” said senior Kate Bryan.

The latest “Fast and the Furious” sequel, titled “Furious 7,” earned a worldwide box office total of around $1 billion.

Not only do movies have too much content in their franchises, television shows can also have an excess of seasons and sequels.

The daytime soap opera “General Hospital” has been running for over 50 years.

It holds the title of “the longest-running American soap opera in production” in the Guinness World Records. There have been

Estella Lippi

Many popular TV shows have multiple seasons that have similar plots. over 13,000 episodes aired since its start in 1963. Yet, with so many seasons and episodes, “General Hospital” had their highest percentage of views in the 1980-1981 season, according to information collected from Nielsen Media Research, when 14 percent of Americans were tuning in.

For the 2015-2016 season, only around 2.3 percent of Americans watch the soap opera.

Another franchise that has a lot of con-

tent being produced is Marvel. There have been an overflow of television shows and movies that stem from the highly popular comic books.

“I think that there are definitely some Marvel characters that are being used to gain more money. There’s a lot of TV show spin-offs that aren’t exactly the best, but the movies are definitely amazing,” said senior Percy McDaniel.

Sequels are being released more fre-

quently, because the extra content brings in more money.

The Twilight Saga, which was based on the popular series by Stephenie Meyer, released two movies from the last book of the series.By making an extra movie out of the same book, titled “Breaking Dawn - Part 2,” the Twilight franchise made around an extra $143 million from domestic box office sales alone, according to an estimate given by the entertainment studio, Lionsgate.

Even though the Twilight franchise made money, people found the extra movie unnecessary and were not entirely thrilled with the idea of having to watch another movie.

“I think that Twilight was just copying the idea from Harry Potter and how the last book had two movies. But Twilight didn’t need the two movies. They definitely could have condensed it into one,” said sophomore Marjan Moshiri.

“In any form of art, you need to accept it for what it is. Extending a storyline beyond where it should end is doesn’t do the story justice. The people making extra sequel movies should try and focus on making a good story instead of making more money,” said sophomore Kiran Boone.

Japanese animation popularity rises Karen Gao Big sparkling eyes, bright colorful hair and an unrealistically high-pitched voice. This is Japanese anime in its most cliche form.

According to Tech Times, anime has seen a drastic increase in popularity in the past decade, both in its home country and in western countries.

This medium is very popular for many reasons, and dedicated fans take it much more seriously than the average viewer of a popular American television series.

Senior Melody Nejad said, “To me, anime is a form of Japanese animation that has all kinds of genres. I absolutely love the lessons that anime has taught me. I feel like they are not just shows that people watch for fun. Anime can be used as a relatable outlet for people, and some can learn a lot from watching them.”

Some people find the moral themes and lessons very appealing and others find that Japanese animation contains deeper meanings than western animated series.

Junior Swathi Nair said, “Anime not only focuses on big themes and morals, but also emphasizes on smaller things.

It shows you the importance of valuing things like friend-

Karen Gao

The popularity of new anime has gone beyod Japan and spread to other western countries. ship and family. Also, since anime has the liberty to exaggerate morals and messages are retained longer.”

University of Texas professor Susan Napier teaches and writes about Japanese animation and manga. She stated

that people often say that the stories feel more real than Hollywood cinema.

Napier said, “What is fascinating is that—in an almost stealth operation— Japanese popular culture is huge. Not just anime and manga ...This is really making inroads into worldwide popular culture. It’s very exciting to think that such a distinctive culture like Japan’s could have such an impact on the rest of the world.”

Napier also noticed that much more thought and depth in themes are implemented in anime compared to western animation.

“I was just amazed,” Napier said. “I loved animation as a kid, but this was very different from any Disney animation I had ever seen. It was just superb, but darker and the music was very intense—it was an extraordinary, almost visceral experience. So much more sophisticated than I ever dreamed.”

People host entire conventions for fellow anime fans and devote time and effort into promoting their favorite anime through art and media.

This rise of anime is due to the connections young people feel with this new and unique form of entertainment and the joy it brings them.

Karen Gao

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Page 18

NEWS

The Highlander

April 2016

Drones zoom in and out of danger Jason Zheng

A citizen is relaxing in their backyard, reclining on a hammock or chair and sipping lemonade. They might have a book on their lap, or the might just be chatting away on a cell phone.

Regardless, they hear an unfamiliar buzzing sound that is definitely not a bug. They glance around themselves, finding nothing, and then shift their gaze upward.

Immediately, they flinch.

Flying around their backyard is a drone. And it has just interrupted their privacy.

This is a situation all too familiar for adults around Carlmont. As of now, people have been feeling disrupted by drones, which have a habit of distracting and annoying citizens during private matters.

According to Drone Buff, a website dedicated to explaining drones and their capabilities, private drones are used for a variety of tasks like surveillance and construction. These tasks, thanks to the drones, make life easier due to the drones’ versatility.

“[These drones] are very talented. Crime scene- send the drones to investigate. Fire trapping people- drones could enter and show the way out,” said history teacher Jarrod Harrison.

That being said, drones, in addition to being useful, can be viewed as invasive. They can sneak into areas silently so they cannot be heard, but they can still be seen.

According to Major Injury Law, a website showing every potential injury and lawsuit that can follow, people have a strong sense of privacy, like times of solitude or private affairs, so having someone -- or something -- sneak in can be viewed as intrusive.

“I don’t want to be caught at my own home, and I wouldn’t like [a drone] with a camera near me, as it violates my privacy. I just want to do my own thing,” said Harrison.

Privacy is not the only concern with drones; they can also interfere with certain tasks due to their proximity and flight abilities.

In fact, as the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports, a drone was the reason why a firefighter helicopter was destroyed. The drone in question collided with the helicopter’s rotating blades, destroying the aircraft and cancelling

MUSIC & DANCE for all Ages!

operations, according to CNN. Some of Carlmont’s students have similarly negative sentiments toward the drones.

“I think some of the people operating them are not considerate,” said sophomore Julietta Picco.

In fact, some students even think the drones, which were originally created for military purposes, should remain that way.

“I think we should just use them for the military, and for good reasons; they could really do some good deeds,” said junior Victor Li. That being said, drones are starting to become part of mainstream culture, becoming a regular occurrence for certain tasks. LiveScience notes that it could be integrated into almost all modern tasks.

Even so, how drones will fare in the future is still unknown.

“They’re going to become more sophisticated. We’ll struggle to regulate them, and I’ve seen how they can be armed,” said Harrison, “Because these things could have devices installed, they could be dangerous outside of collisions.”

Revisting the dangers of texting and driving Where MUSICIANS & DANCERS become CONFIDENT ARTISTS! An Amazing Team of 33 Professional Teachers

Continued from page 1

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Page 19

NEWS

The Highlander

April 2016

Students speak in code Connor Lin

Hello! ¡Hola! Bonjour! Click.

There are roughly 6,500 languages spoken around the world today.

But there has been an increase in the new popularity of a other languages -- the ones used by computers.

A bill was recently proposed and passed in the Florida Senate which provides high school students with an opportunity to take computer science classes instead of a foreign language. After being passed in the Florida Senate, Bill 468 was rejected in the House of Representatives. If the bill had been endorsed, Florida would have been the first state in the United States to allow its students to take an alternative path towards receiving foreign language credits.

Spanish teacher Carly Gatzert said, “Even though I am a proponent of learning a foreign language, I think providing this opportunity would be beneficial for students who are more mathematically inclined than they are with languages.”

Senator Jeremy Ring proposed this bill in hopes of spreading the belief that technology education is necessary for future generations.

In an interview with USA Today, Ring said, “If you don’t have an understanding of technology, you will be left behind. Technology usage is important in every industry. It’s a basic skill, as much as reading and writing.”

This bill has been a very controversial issue, as teachers and students have all had individual opinions about opting out of taking a foreign language in high school.

Freshman Kaylie Moropoulos said, “I think that as progressive as society is with technology, computer science shouldn’t be a replacement for language, but a supplement.

Part of the reason that it’s important to learn a foreign language is that you’re learning their culture as well, which is an aspect that you don’t get with computer science.¨ Florida Senate Bill 468 encountered many supporters and opposers. Some people argued that learning a language is beneficial for life after high school. The news of its rejection produced various responses.

Kevin Tung, a sophomore taking a computer science course at Carlmont, said, “I’m not surprised that this bill was rejected, but at the same time I am disappointed. My

Kelly Song

Anya Meredith utilizes her knowledge of coding to create a customized online website. academic life would be easier without having to take a foreign language. However, I do understand that foreign language holds importance over computer science. Although computer science uses programming languages, the class itself is more fit to replace a science class than a foreign language class. Even though computer programming is important for many jobs, language and communication are essential in every job.”

According to The Florida Senate website, the proposal to give students foreign language credit for taking computer science classes was originally filed on Oct. 8, 2015. After going through multiple revisions, the bill was passed on Feb. 24. Soon after, the proposal was rejected by the House on March 11.

Though this bill does not appear to have a future, it has sparked ideas and a new conversation regarding what courses fulfill high school credits for other subjects.

Computer science teacher David Lai said, “Complementary to my belief that students should graduate from high school comfortable with technology, I do believe there will need to be an alignment with the updated graduation requirements to include something computer science related, but not at the cost of language.”

This bill could have been a negative change for some people, because it takes away the requirement to learn foreign languages and their diverse cultures. However, this bill could have introduced a new variation in the class schedules of students, as they could have had more freedom to focus their schedules on subjects that they enjoy.

Gatzert said, “This bill would have been a positive change for high school students. Despite my love for Spanish, I believe that it is important to giving school credit for more diverse classes because it is a great way to help students pursue their passions.”

North Korea threatens nuclear war Justin Som

For the past decades, the United Nations has assured the world that they have done everything in their power to maintain world peace; but recent advances by North Korea point to the contrary.

President Barack Obama said in his 2016 State of the Union address in January, “In today’s world, we’re threatened less by evil empires and more by failing states.”

In putting their full attention to the threat of ISIL, the United Nations has overlooked the rising nuclear power of a regime in the east -- one which mirrors the “evil empires” that were defeated in World War II. Similar to Adolf Hitler, who ignored the League of Nations, the military dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has continued to test his regime’s military abilities by firing missiles just off of the Korean peninsula despite sanctions made by the U.N. “Many students are unsure of North Korea’s intentions,” said sophomore Christian Licudine. “There are some who believe that Kim Jong-un will surely attack in the present with his new missiles, and there are some like myself who think they’re bluffing like in the past.”

On March 26, the dictator fired five short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan immediately after being criticized by the U.N., and threatened use of nuclear force against the United States “if they budge even an inch towards us.”

“I hope the sanctions help stop nuclear yang a simple message,” said Obama in imadvancement, but it seems like North Ko- mediate praisal after the declaration of the rea is determined, and will keep testing U.N.’s verdict. “North Korea must abandon missiles,” said AP U.S. History teacher, these dangerous programs and choose a David Gomez. “In recent years, they have better path for its people.” become aggressive and bold. North Korea Of course, Kim Jong-un did not accept is willing to develop a nuclear program no the demands made by the United States, matter the repercussions.”

Japan, and South Korea with open arms.

Placing a strict sanction on the hostile Hours after the other three had negotiated country on March 16, the United Nations how to treat North Korea on April 1, the believed that their resolution to North dictator fired yet another ballistic missile Korea’s military into the ocean. demonstrations “If the United “We might have to resort to force States continues, would mean an end to the adif these sanctions no longer work. then we have vancement of to make the If the U.N. allows North Korea to c ou nte r- m e a North Korea’s nuclear progain a nuclear advantage, it’d be sures also,” said grams.

North Korean like giving a child a bazooka.”

According to Ambassador So the sanction, all Se Pyong, in an cargo going in interview with David Gomez and out of the Reuters. “So we U.S. History Teacher nation would be have to develop closely investiand we have to gated by U.N. make more depersonnel, meaning the United States and terrence -- nuclear deterrence.” its allies could filter all dangerous materials In truth, this nuclear deterrence has and fuel from landing in the hands of the been overall successful. Despite the warnregime. ings given by the U.N., North Korea conThe president believed this to be the end tinued to test its missiles in April, announcof territorial conflict between North Korea ing that it has successfully tested its newest and the United States. of devices -- an engine which could fire “Today, the international community, long-range missiles that could hit the Unitspeaking with one voice, has sent Pyong- ed States and members of the U.N.

With the new engine, North Korea would able to “keep any cesspool of evils in the earth, including the U.S. mainland within our striking range,” said Jong-un, according to BBC News.

In truth, North Korea’s rise to power has been a result of its past actions being incredibly similar to present ones.

Ever since the death of Kim Jong-il, the previous dictator, Kim Jong-un assured the destruction of both the United States and South Korea to ensure support for his regime, but never backed up with this promise with proof.

As of late, Kim Jong-un’s efforts for nuclear dominance have become closer to fruition. North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear bomb in early 2016 and then released its newest propaganda, “Last Chance,” in which the United States was bombed for attempts at North Korea’s disarmament.

In addition, the video showed images of captive Americans from the Korean War, which resonated with the belief that the Korean War never ended given that no official peace treaty was ever signed.

According to Gomez, the United States and its allies will likely have to try another course of action.

“We might have to resort to force if these sanctions no longer work,” said Gomez. “If the U.N. allows North Korea to gain a nuclear advantage, it’d be like giving a child a bazooka.”

Page 20 The Highlander

SPORTS

April 2016

Medically cleared doesn’t mean healthy to play Artie Hazelton Playing in a competitive sport comes with the risk of being physically injured.

Once an athlete is injured, they go to a doctor or a trainer so they can recover, and after a certain amount of time they are cleared to return to their sport.

Although a doctor or a trainer, who are trained professionals, clears the athlete, are they really safe to play the sport like the rest of the healthy athletes?

Sophomore Alexis Eliopoulos said, “During soccer season, I had many injuries with my wrist, and most recently I got a concussion. I immediately went to the trainer at school but after my parents took me to a doctor to see if I was okay.”

Eliopoulos, like most athletes who got injured while playing at Carlmont visited the trainer who helps with the recovery.

For every day she is out, the trainer will check on her physical state.

Doctors used a three-step survey known as the Return-To-Play (RTP) DecisionMaking Model in order to assess an athlete’s ability to play after an injury. Step one and two have to do with the seriousness of the injury and the type of sport, while the third is the athlete’s needs or desires.

Rebecca Shultz, PhD, of Stanford Medical School said, “At the heart of the RTP decision is the ability to assess the risk of injury to the athlete and the factors in steps 1 and 2 of the RTP decision-making model affecting this risk were generally considered important.”

Trainers are not only there while students are at practice, but they put them

through a process in order to make sure that a student is actually ready to go back and play at their best ability.

Junior Kyle Kawakami said, “I had to go through a long process before I could go back and play soccer when I got my concussion. Every day I had to fill out a form rating different symptoms from one out of ten. Once you have no symptoms you are then able to play.”

The trainer checks in with students every day in order to make sure that they will not injure themselves again. After they show no symptoms, they are slowly worked back into playing competitively.

Other students at Carlmont only get cleared by a doctor, and end up never going to a trainer, like sophomore Sophia Eaker.

“While playing soccer, I hurt my ankle

and tore my ligament. I had to see a doctor and in the end, I needed surgery. After being cleared, I eased my way back into practice, and finally was able to play,” said Eaker.

Although the doctor is not at the practice every day like the trainer, they are able to determine whether or not an athlete can go back and play a sport.

Junior Steffan Forster went to a physical therapist after his injury and never met with the trainer.

“During the offseason I had kicked the soccer ball in a weird way. My knee started to hurt, then swell. I went to see a doctor who recommended a physical therapist and I’ve been slowly coming back to play soccer again,” said Forster.

Even though the therapist did not of-

ficially clear Forster, the exercises and stretches the therapist provided to him made him feel comfortable coming back to play.

Many students are unworried after injuries when they are cleared by professionals, but some athletes think otherwise.

Sophomore Grant Norman said, “While I was playing soccer, I had broken my thumb. I needed to get better for the upcoming baseball season so I went to see a doctor. The doctor did provide a cast, but he only checked for whether it was broken or not.”

The doctor had only checked for lack of symptoms, but did not see if Norman was fit to play after recovering from an injury.

“Even though my thumb had healed, I wasn’t entirely sure if I could come back and play at full speed. I would much rather get cleared actually play rather than to have someone check to see if my bone is broken,” said Norman.

Whether or not an athlete feels comfortable with going back to play after an injury also depends a lot on them. Those who are fearless are willing to go back playing right away, but others are more cautious and careful when it comes to injuries.

Being cleared by a trained professional is usually safe, and trustable. It is important to remember that there is no such thing as being too cautious.

“I’m never too worried about getting injured for the first time. But the second time is much worse, and I tend to be more careful when it comes to playing after an injury.

It is key to be alert for any sort of pains,” said Norman.

cruited by Division One schools is miniscule.

Besides excelling at a sport, it often takes a lot of effort by the student to get noticed by a college recruiter. However, students can also be recruited through club sports.

For example senior Colley Loum rows for Norcal crew.

Even though Carlmont offers a variety of different sporting activities, they still exclude some sports due to either low popularity or cost. However, seniors Loum and Claire Grundig have both been offered scholarships to top schools.

“Because Carlmont doesn’t have a crew team, rowing for my club team has really helped me get recognized,” said Loum.

Loum has committed to row for the

University of Pennsylvania, and Grundig has committed to Yale University.

Another way that student athletes get noticed is by creating or sending highlight tapes to colleges. Sites such as Hudl and Recruitreels also allow students to be exposed to various scouts around the country. The videos showcase the student’s athletic abilities.

“I created a Hudl account to get noticed by college scouts. I’m able to put up highlight videos of me along with my personal information,” said senior Kayla Fong, who will be playing soccer next year for the University of California, Berkeley.

Although most scholarships are offered to seniors, underclassmen also have chances to receive scholarships. Sophomore

Maily Mclemore has already verbally committed to play softball at UC Santa Barbara.

“I started playing softball at the age of six. It’s taken a lot of hard work and practice, but it really has paid off,” said Mclemore.

An early commitment like Mclemore can be a relief because it guarantees an admission into college.

“I committed to play at UCSB because it was already one of my top college choices,” said Mclemore.

A student athlete can decommit later on if they are to change their mind.

Apart from excelling at the sport, the athlete also has to be eligible academically.

Many Division one schools, especially Ivy League schools or top UC schools require high academic standards.

Kimiko Okumura

Cameron Dennler sits out of his soccer game after breaking his nose.

Carlmont athletes commit to future sports career Seiya Mirande

Many students at Carlmont participate in after school sports.

Among these students, only a few have been offered scholarships to play for Division One schools.

This year, six Carlmont athletes have committed to play at the next level.

According to the National College Athletic Association, there are over 7 million high school athletes. Out of these, approximately 25 thousand receive scholarships from Division One schools, which equates to less than 0.4 percent.

Considering the acceptance rate of top schools such as Harvard or Stanford being around six percent, the chance of being re-

The Highlander

Page 21

SPORTS

April 2016

Ignoring pain may be the key to athletic greatness Alexandra Stein

Pain is our body’s way of saying “hey something’s wrong.” Feeling pain is a good thing, it prevents. us from hurting ourselves.

What if, when someone’s brain tells them that they’re hurting, they simply don’t listen?

Some kinds of pain, like the ones encountered during vigorous exercise act mainly as obstacles and prevent individuals from realizing their potential.

According to David Linden, a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, the brain has two systems for processing pain. One system decides pain’s location, intensity, and the type of pain that is felt.

The other system handles the emotional side of pain.

“Pain is not just a message from injured tissues to be accepted at face value, but a complex experience that is thoroughly tuned by your brain. The results are often strange and counterintuitive, like quantum physics, but the science is clear: every painful sensation is 100 percent brain made, and there is no pain without brain,” said science writer Paul Ingraham.

If pain is just a signal from the brain, then it acts as a hindrance to achieving full potential. Pain existing in the brain means

that it is not actually in the part of the body that is “hurting.”

Stephanie Jones, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Brown University ran a study that suggests that it is possible for people to teach their brains how to filter out things like chronic pain through methods like meditation.

This idea of thinking through pain exists in many elements of our society.

Children’s book writer Rodman Philbrick said, in his book, “Freak the Mighty,” “Sure it will hurt. But so what? Pain is just a state of mind. You can think your way out of anything, even pain.”

The concept of enduring pain using the power of the mind is one that is used by athletes when they encounter pain in their training.

Many Carlmont athletes train hard and use different mindsets to get them through their workouts and seasons.

“I associate a good workout with lactic acid. Feeling intense pain and soreness in my legs and chest. When my coach says we are going to have a hard day at practice I know I’m going to be breathing hard. I try to think of it as a positive thing that will make me a better swimmer,” said sophomore Cameron Ho. An Athletes’ ability to deal with pain and familiarity with that pain is important

Isabel Mitchell

Earl Kwofie perseveres as he struggles to lift a barbell in weight training. when he encounters it during competition.

“I’m glad I train hard, because when I encounter that same pain in the middle of a race, I have felt it before and know how to deal with it,” said Ho. Sports psychologist Eddie O’connor believes an athlete’s ability to tolerate pain is essential to their success in sports.

“I just think about doing my best and the pain slowly fades as I continue,” added Ho. O’connor also affirms that athletes

watching their team members perservere helps get someone through the pain of their work out, they know everyone is working as hard as them, and healthy competition can come out while training hard and challenging one’s self.

“Accepting the reality that pain is a part of training and competition may be most helpful. You cannot perform at a high level and not experience pain. Comfort and performance excellence are mutually exclusive,” said O’connor.

Coach Liggett reaches his 1000th win with Carlmont Nate Godwin

Varsity softball coasted to a 3-0 win over Capuchino High School on April 12.

This marked head coach Jim Liggett’s 1000th career win.

“Really, 1000 of anything is noteworthy, and 1000 wins is a milestone,” said sophomore Josh Fong.

Fans, alumni, and former players all packed the stands and tried to get a view of the field to see if Liggett would reach 1000 wins with the result this game.

“It’s unbelievable how many people came out to watch this game. It really shows what we’ve done all the relationships that have been created. It’s more about the people than 1000 wins,” said Liggett.

The game started well with Carlmont taking a 2-0 lead from some strong hitting from the top of the order in the first inning.

Drawing in the runs for the Scots was senior Jacey Phipps followed by sophmore Mailey McLemore Carlmont’s pitching from sophomore Abygail Lan kept Capuchino off the base paths.

Strong defense from Capuchino stopped Carlmont from scoring as it remained 2-0 through the second inning.

The Scots added another run in the third inning with the help of smart base running. Capuchino stranded two base runners in the top of the fourth inning, but their defense kept Carlmont from increasing their lead.

Despite a lead-off double from the Scots

Isabel Mitchell

After his 1000th win, Liggett speaks to his players and fans about his achievement. in the fifth inning, the score stayed 3-0.

With momentum on their side and the fans cheering loudly, Carlmont quickly moved through the sixth and seventh innings to capture their 15th win of the season and clinch playoffs.

After the final out, the teams and fans walked onto the field to celebrate and congratulate Liggett on his achievement.

The veteran coach’s track record speaks for itself with 41 years of coaching, 40 playoff appearances, and eight Central Coast Section championships.

Now in his final season coaching Carlmont softball, Liggett has reached 1000 wins.

Not only has Liggett now won 1000

games, he was also inducted into the San mateo hall of fame in 2000.

In 2006 he was also inducted into the California State Coaches hall of fame, and also the National Coaches hall of fame in 2007.

He then was a finalist in the National Softball Coach of the Year in 2008.

Liggett said, “I hope the team didn’t feel too much pressure. This wasn’t something I was focusing on. The girls wanted to reach this and they’re a strong team. We’ve been playing very well this season.”

Varsity will continue to play this year for the rest of the spring season under Liggett and also continue to raise his amount of record wins.

Carlmont’s Media Guide

Jordan Hanlon

Page 22

OPINION

The Highlander

The Tao of Megan Megan Tao “The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

-Finley Peter Dunne

We can change politics without the right to vote Before this year, I was just another teenager, another millennial, completely oblivious to anything remotely related to politics, and I was perfectly content with that.

The words politics and government are enough to make most teenagers put their earbuds in and tune out the conversation.

However, with the 2016 presidential election heating up, the usual disinterest towards politics is replaced with passionate debates between students about which candidate should be the next leader of our country.

With such an eclectic pool of presidential candidates, students are trying to impact the election through social media.

Social media has played a huge part in this year’s election as a means of sharing opinions and as a way for presidential candidates to connect with an important group of supporters.

Ironically, this important group is made up of high schoolers, most of whom can’t even vote yet, so why should politicians care about them?

The issues that the candidates are discussing greatly affect high school students. For example, college is a huge priority for most students, and with college comes student debt.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders understands the burden of student debt and college tuition, and seeks to make tuition free at public colleges and universities. This stance on college tuition is a huge part of Sanders’s campaign, and it mostly appeals to high school and college students.

However, for a candidate to actually attempt to implement any new laws that could affect the high schoolers, they need votes to get elected into office, and most high schoolers can’t directly provide them with that form of support.

But they can indirectly provide support through social media.

Social media is the most efficient way to share your opinion with the world. It’s the fastest medium for publishing breaking news and one of the best ways to stimulate conversations about rather controversial topics.

According to Pew Research Center, 72 percent of people in high school or younger use social media.

Imagine going on Facebook and your entire news feed is full of videos and posts that your friends have liked, about the election; therefore, Facebook recommends you watch them. At that point, you have already succumbed to the influence of your friends through the means of social media.

The inherent nature of social media drives high schoolers to usually side with what their friends believe, mostly because that’s the only side they were exposed to, or the only side the social media site wanted them to see.

Through social media, high schoolers can influence a mass of people, and if they can make an ordinary student with the same white shoes as everyone else go viral, then when it comes time to actual important topics, students won’t hesitate to take advantage of their internet empires to make sure their voices are heard.

This is why candidates see the importance of appealing to teens’ interests, and the easiest way to reach them is through social media.

According to a study by the Huffington Post, 41 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 25 have participated in some kind of political discussion or activity online.

I’m still just another teenager, another often despised millennial, but now I actually care about what’s going on in the political scene and I have the means to get my opinion out there, and, most importantly, I’m not alone.

April 2016

Bringing back home economics Jill Alberston

of how to properly take care of their bodies, or balance a checking account.

Senior Pyper Hayden said, “I’m honestly not 100 perAfter four years of high school, most students will have cent sure I even know what a checking account is, let alone mastered the art of algebra, learned all about our founding how to handle one.” fathers, and written countless essays. Yet, somehow when According to a survey conducted by Daily Mail, 44 perthey’re faced with the problem of making dinner for their cent of students cannot set up a direct debit card account, families, doing their laundry, or paying off a student loan 42 percent cannot iron a shirt, and 35 percent cannot pay they’re left clueless. a bill. Home economics classes would address this issue.

The words, “home economics” usually brings to mind As freshmen, Carlmont students are required to take a sewing machines and cupcakes. However, the subject of life skills course that is integrated into their history class home economics, or home-ec, addresses much more im- and covers sexual education, proper communication withportant topics such as personal finance, nutrition, and in various relationships, and how to keep a healthy mindvaluable skills that will be relevant set. for the rest of our lives.

Life Skills teacher Cyriakos “In the grand scheme of things, The so called “real world” that Nichols said, “The subject of life knowing how to balance your high schoolers speak of is just skills teaches students how to suraround the corner as students finances will help everyone a lot vive in high school, which is an work their way towards graduaimportant thing for freshmen to more than it will to know how to tion. In order to succeed in life aflearn. We cover binder organizaanalyze Shakespeare.” ter high school, there is a skill set tion, peer pressure, drugs and alneeded that they have yet to learn.

Davis Schmitt cohol, and teen talk where we disUntil most students turn 18, Senior cuss how to make healthy choices their parents handle a majority of regarding our bodies. It’s a helpful their everyday tasks, such as makpart of freshmen year that allows students an easier transiing dinner, or guiding them through financial decisions. tion into high school.”

Then later, they are expected to know how to handle these Although it may be brief, the quarter that is dedicated to situations without being formally taught. Due to a lack of life skills at the beginning of high school sets students up experience, they’re thrown into adult-life unprepared and for a positive high school career. unsure.

Similar to the integration of the life skills course, a Senior Davis Schmitt said, “Home economics is one home-ec course could be incorporated into all levels of of the most useful things you can learn in high school. I history offered to seniors at Carlmont. This would require know so many people who don’t know how to pay taxes, minimal funds seeing that there would already be a teacher handle bank accounts, or even fill out a job application. In and classroom provided for the history class, although the the grand scheme of things, knowing how to balance your teacher would have to be properly taught the new material. finances will help everyone a lot more than it will to know And the money needed to purchase textbooks and supplies how to analyze Shakespeare.” could be raised with a few small fundraisers put on by pasCarlmont provides students with an abundance of sionate students and teachers. knowledge so that they are educated young adults when In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, First Lady they are finally handed their diplomas. But it has yet to Michelle Obama said, “We can’t call it home-ec because teach us about the skills needed to become well-rounded that’s got a bad connotation. But something like that for young adults. young men and young women that allows them … the Carlmont should offer a home-ec class because students tools they need to survive nutritionally, economically, fiare graduating from high school without basic knowledge nancially. No kids are getting that anymore.”

Fame doesn’t happen immediately Adriana Ramirez Scrolling through your Twitter feed, you see everything your favorite celebrities are doing.

One is releasing a new album while planning a world tour, the other is on a vacation in London, and, “Oh look, she just got a platinum record.”

These people must have had a lot of experience to be able to get so far.

Then you check their bios and realize they are the same age as you.

“What am I doing with my life?” you ask yourself as you stare at the pile of school work you have to complete by the next day.

Everyday, we see teenagers taking off into singing, acting, modeling, and other careers that classify them as “celebrities.”

For example, singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes, who is only 17 years old, is already on a world tour for his debut album, “Handwritten.”

There is also actress Willow Shields, who is only 15 years old and has been a part of “The Hunger Games” movie franchise, alongside Grammy winner Jennifer Lawrence.

Others include singer-songwriter Daya, a 17-year-old who won a platinum record from iHeartRadio for her hit single “Hide Away,” and Maddie Ziegler, a 13-year-old who has been in multiple music videos for the artist Sia and a dancer on the hit TV show “Dance Moms.”

The list goes on, just as the “normal” teens’ self-esteem starts to drop. While they are off living the life of fame, we are at school. While they are off on vacation, we are in a classroom.

As a result, people our age aspire to be like these celebrities because they want to live the life of fame as well, assuming it’s enjoyable all the time.

There are also others who just enjoy singing, acting, or even being “YouTube-famous” and want to pursue either

one as a career.

A survey done by Daily Mail found that the top three future career choices chosen by youth were sports star, pop star or actor.

There are many talented people all around the world, many whose voices want to be heard. But the truth is, the chances of being a successful celebrity are very slim. People say all the time that the road to stardom might have a dead end.

Seeing all these people become artists at a young age can make teens feel inferior. But an important concept to note is how being famous is not a synonym to being a “celebrity.” Fame can be achieved in different ways, not only as an actor, singer, or the like. Doctors can be famous amongst their patients, lawyers can be famous amongst their clients, veterinarians can be famous amongst animals and their owners. The list goes on.

To get to that point, young adults need to have gone through school first. Those young celebrities might now be devoted to whichever profession they have chosen, leaving school in oblivion. This really isn’t reasonable either because school provides students with a basis for a successful future (we all know it’s true) and if these young people’s fame starts to fade away over time, where would they go?

Back to school it is.

If one is just jealous of the life of Shawn Mendes or Willow Shields, just look at the behind the scenes of their lives, to the people who provides them with what they need. If they are sick: doctor. If they get in a mess: lawyer. If they want to read a good book: author.

In current society, fame seems to be everyone’s desire.

But the only focus is on the side of fame of a celebrity. So naturally, the audience begins to get jealous of how big these artists are, while still being young.

But the truth is, whatever fame teens wish for, cannot always happen in the blink of an eye. Just because we haven’t gotten to the place we want to be in yet, doesn’t mean we’ll never make it.

OPINION

The Highlander

Service with a smile, no matter what Kelly Song Beep, beep, goes the scanner. The conveyer belt rolls forward toward the cashier, inching closer.

Closer.

The excruciatingly slow speed of the checkout line is a slow, painful death.

While you’re tapping your foot and checking your watch and sighing deeply (like that will speed up time somehow), you look around to take out your rage on someone. And who else can you blame but the innocent cashier at the start of the line who is calming packing groceries? The fault lies in the perky employee practically living the line “service with a smile,” his brow furrowed as he tries to wrap a carton of eggs with a stack of newspapers.

“Ma’am, how may I help you?” he beams, while offering you an option of paper or plastic.

Now he’s really offended you. How dare someone ask a question like that? And without warning, you begin unleashing your frustrations at him, yelling about how the bread was stale in aisle three. You shout at his confused face, his now-strained smile infuriating you even more.

Customer service employees are treated no less harshly during their daily interactions with customers. More than once, I have personally witnessed a customer speaking with annoyance and frustration toward an employee, simply because they need to unleash their personal issues on someone. We look to unburden ourselves from our own frustrations without thinking we take it out on those who offer to help us. Because here is a young employee, poised and ready to listen to our concerns, and it becomes human nature to subconsciously alleviate ourselves with them.

And more than once, the crowd witnessing the situation remains silent.

It is during this silence when the irony becomes evident.

Because in a world where everything is noise – the chaos of traffic, the billions of footsteps in the streets, the shouted opinions on politics and religion – the people who work for our community still find themselves facing silence when they receive a harsh yelling in public. Bystanders avoid eye contact, because society has labeled it embarrassing to be associated with customer service.

The most prominent story I vividly remember hearing is one of a young boy at a movie theater, an instance happening just weeks ago. The child of just age eight or nine turned to the janitor of the theater, one soda in each hand, and slowly began to pour the sticky liquid on the newly wiped floor.

“Clean this up. It’s your job,” the boy said to the janitor, and proceeded to walk away.

We often see customer service employees during their job, dressed in uniform and asking helpful questions, a big smile plastered on their face. They seem almost tied to their job, as if they were made to help the world with its issues. They look like they can fix anything and resolve every issue in every store. But the truth is, they are only human, just like the thousands of customers who roam in and out of their workplace each day. They can only fix so much, and they can only assist so much. To demand perfection from them is simply impossible.

On the other hand, truly bad customer service isn’t entirely nonexistent either. There have been many instances when an employee will refuse to be helpful, or checkout counters will make a lackluster effort to speed up their work. But just like with those who are competent at their job, an unqualified employee doesn’t deserve less respect.

It is how we treat the employees, based on humanity rather than job descriptions, that makes all the difference.

According to Help Scout, a web-based help desk for customer service improvement, for the average American customer, it takes 12 positive experiences with customer service to make up for one negative experience. The happiness to dissatisfaction ratio is overwhelming; one negative encounter with customer service requires a dozen times more positivity to wash away its effects.

The human condition states that every person considers themselves to be the center of the world. Standing in line at the grocery store, we only focus on what we’re purchasing or how much of a hurry we’re in. But we often forget that each person around us has a unique lifestyle, with equally complex thoughts and questions. Perhaps if we focused on the humanity of each person around us, rather than labeling them by their job, we will not require 12 positive experience to make up for one negative experience. We may even begin to see each employee, and in turn each employee will see each customer, as a singular, unique human.

Just as we urge others not to objectify women’s bodies, label people because of their different races, and generalize the variety of sexualities, this same idea of morality does not fade with customer service. Employees are not defined by their job. They are just like us, working a job to support themselves and their family, stacking clothing or handling dirty dishes because they want to provide the best for the community they serve. And just because their job requires them to help others, it doesn’t mean we should take advantage of them.

HIGHLANDER

THE Editor-in-Chief Zoe Wildman

Managing Editor Alyssa Fagel

Staff Writers

Lily Bakour Chesirae Barbano

Artie Hazelton

Sophie Penn

Leea Ivanel

Hanalei Pham

Rachel Borschchenko Kian Karamdashti

Justin Som

Brooke Chang

Bijan Khalili

Ally Stein

ScotCenter Editor-in-Chief Elena Mateus

Holly Chen

Estella Lippi

Taran Sun

Nicole del Cardayre

Anya Meredith

Megan Tao

Art Director Minh-Han Vu

Aria Frangos

Seiya Mirande

Jiselle Vigil

Karen Gao

Isabel Mitchell

Skylar Weiss

Nate Godwin

Jackson Monge

Celine Yang

Josef Gonzalez

Ivy Nguyen

Hannah Young

Sophie Haddad

Mackenzie O’Connell

Jason Zheng

Faculty Adviser Justin Raisner

Kiera Pendleton-White

Scot Scoop Editor-in-Chief Sarah Schisla

Mona Murhamer

Editors

Avery Adams

Jordan Hanlon

Kimiko Okumura

Kelly Song

Connor Lin

Jill Albertson

Adriana Ramirez

Sarah Tocatlian

The Highlander is a newspaper dedicated to providing Carlmont students, staff, and the community with high-quality news, features, and opinion articles. We want to keep our readers informed on important issues ranging from events at Carlmont to international news, and want to engage them with unique stories and images. The Highlander is a publication completely run by the students of the journalism classes at Carlmont High School. Story ideas are generated by the students and the published content is up to the discretion of the editorial staff. This month’s editorial was written by Elena Mateus.

Page 23 April 2016

EDITORIAL

Paying the price for higher education For many, the pathway to “success” comes with an annual price tag of $21,000.

To students planning on attending a 4-year university, consider this reality.

According to the College Board, the price tag for one year at a university, on average, ranges from $21,000 to upwards of $70,000. Yet, these numbers do not seem to deter many students.

In fact, many students will consider the amount of prestige a university has before they even consider the actual cost. However it is not necessarily the students at fault, rather it is in part due to the cutthroat, competitive society that we so happen to live in.

Regardless, it is on the students to separate what’s important and what’s not, before making a potential six figure investment into their education.

And although U.S. schools have remained competitive globally even with less federal grants and rising tuition costs, it’s fair to ask whether students are getting what they pay for.

So is college worth the cost? Many recent graduates don’t think so, according to a study done by the GallupPurdue Index. Just 38 percent of students who have graduated college in the past decade strongly agree that their higher education was worth the cost, according to results of 30,000 alumni polled.

Among those with debt, the perception of their degree’s value was even lower. Just one in three strongly agreed that their education was worth the cost.

Yet despite results like these, college is still seen as a pathway to success for people across the socioeconomic spectrum. The amount of minority students pursuing higher education is at an all time high and female enrollment has exceeded that of men in undergraduate institutions, according to NPR. And this increased enrollment comes despite a 538 percent inflation in college tuition since 1985, according to NPR. But the begging question is, are the students -- the ones succumbing to the system and shelling out the big bills -- doing better?

This question about whether a degree is worth it tends to surface as an issue during strenuous economic times.

In 1976, Newsweek magazine ran a cover story suggesting that as much as “27 percent of the nation’s workforce may now be made up of people who are ‘overeducated’ for the jobs they hold.”

At the time, fewer than half of high-school graduates in the U.S. went on to college the following fall. Today, nearly 66 percent go right to college. The subject of higher education causes much anxiety among parents and students because a college degree is seen as the only entry ticket for any good job. That ticket was a high-school diploma 40 years ago.

It’s unnerving that higher education costs 4.5 times more now than it did 30 years ago, but attending a fouryear university seems to be the norm now more than ever.

A popular opinion among Carlmont students is that going to college is the best way to ensure success, and that a degree is necessary no matter the price tag.

And they may not be too far off the mark either, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), men and women with bachelor’s degrees took home 65 percent more income in 2012.

For some students, their college decision has to be made based on their financial capabilities. For others, the cost of college is not the deciding factor. But for all who want to ensure financial stability later on in life, the financial commitments you make now may be tolling in the future.

Go to a university because you want to, not just because it’s an Ivy League school, or because people say you’d be silly not to attend.

In the end, all you’re left with is yourself, your degree, and hopefully not (but potentially) some debt.

College, professional, and graduate schools currently cost more than ever. However, without them, you statistically stand at a disadvantage in the work force.

In reality, if you’re going to have one of the best university systems in the world, someone’s going to have to pay for it. Just make sure you know how you will before you seal the deal.

modern family’s mother’s day

Brooke Chang Each year, she receives breakfast in bed, a box of chocolates, and some flowers with a sweet note titled “#1 Mom.” It’s Mother’s Day, a day of pampering, gifts, and love. It is a whole day devoted to thanking her for all that she has done. After all, she is the one that kept you warm, took care of you when you were sick, and drove you to all of the practices, recitals, and playdates.

However, not every family has the same people in the same roles, and some families don’t have a mother that fits this cookiecutter description.

Instead, they have other family members or friends that serve as the mother figure for the family.

Many find that this day for celebrating mothers has turned into a day for celebrat-

ing mother figures. Therefore, the person that deserves this “thanks” is not necessarily their biological mother, or perhaps, not a mother at all.

In the modern world, families come in all shapes and sizes, with different people filling each role. Because of the wide variety of families today, some find themselves honoring two parents of the same gender, step parents, siblings, or others in the place of their mothers.

New York Times writer Katherine Schulten wrote about the definition of family: “The time has long passed, if it ever really existed, that family meant a ribbontied grouping of Mom, Dad, Junior, and Sis, dressed in Sunday Best.”

Over time, new varieties of families that many would consider untraditional have joined these traditional families in raising children and creating their own ways of life. These new types of families have roles

and relationships that do not always fit the descriptions of a traditional family.

Because each new type of family has its own unique values, some find that the way they celebrate holidays is something special in its own.

For instance, junior McKenna Jamison has her own way of celebrating Mother’s Day with both her mother and her stepmother. Jamison says, “I always get brunch and spend the day with my mom. However, I also write a card and get flowers for my stepmother so that she knows that I appreciate her too.”

Other families, like that of sophomore Kendall Mantoani, have molded Mother’s Day in their own way to celebrate their untraditional mother figures.

Mantoani said, “Coming from a family with two moms, Mother’s Day is a lot more work. Many of my friends receive help from their fathers to make the day special,

but since we have two moms, my sister and I must take on double the work to make sure that they know that we love and appreciate them both.”

Despite the varying traditions of Mother’s Day, many agree that the purpose of the holiday has always been the same.

“Mother’s Day is all about celebrating your mother figure, biological or not. It is to show the person that has put so much work into making sure you grow up right that you appreciate them. It shows how much you love them and how much their hard work has paid off,” said sophomore Josh Camerino.

As unique families become more common in this constantly changing world, many traditional holidays, such as Mother’s Day, are being morphed into something that all families can celebrate, instead of something that only a traditional family can take part in.

How do different family dynamics affect traditional holidays?

Simon Haugwitz Sophomore

Lillian Gowen Junior

Nicole Turk Freshman

“I think the way people celebrate holidays like Mother’s Day depends on the relationships within each family and the values that the kids grow up with. Since every family has different people, these relationships and values are different as well. Therefore, each family celebrates in its own way.”

“I have two moms, which probably makes people think Mother’s Day is different for me. Honestly, I’ve never really thought of the way I celebrate Mother’s Day to be anything special. It’s just like anyone else’s celebration, but I have two parents to give cards and gifts to rather than one.”

“Each family has their own culture, or their own variation of a culture, and each one of those cultures teaches children to place their respect in different places.

Each child has different relationships in their life, so it is up to them to choose who they want to thank on Mother’s Day and how they want to do so.”