Friday, May 1, 2015
the
The Smoke Signal
www.thesmokesignal.org
Opinion 5
Smoke Signal
Mission San Jose High School Est. 1964 Vol. 50, No. 8 | May 1, 2015 www.thesmokesignal.org
41717 Palm Ave. Fremont, CA 94539 (510) 657-3600 Editors-in-Chief Tingting Bi, Laura Chen News Michael Hsiu, Tiffany Huang Opinion Alice Cheng, Catherine Wang Feature Megan Ren, Katie Sun Centerspread Katrina Cherk, Vivian Liu A&E Melissa Peng, Andrea Tam Sports Arti Patankar, Abigail Wong Graphics Kevin Chen, Lillian Zhao Web Jacinta Chang, Nithya Rajeev
AnAliceis
Catalyst By Catherine Wang Opinion Editor
Browsing the college Facebook groups for admitted students gives me mixed feelings. It’s exciting to connect with potential classmates, but sometimes there are posts that just leave me shaking my head. One such post Tech Santhosh Paramasivan, Peter Qiu in the UC Santa Cruz Class of 2019 Business Anand Balaji group is a Reddit link that describes a Circulation Hairol Ma Ads Grace Dong, Madeline Zheng controversy about cultural insensitivity Events Tanvi Raja, Apoorva Rajanala at UCSC. At one of the residential colleges, a recent College Night theme Writers & Photographers was “Intergalactic,” and the event Andrew Chen, Kylie Cheung, Sarina Chitre, featured a Mexican food buffet. The Andrew Choi, Sayan Ghosh, Purvi Goel, next day, an administrator e-mailed the Harshita Gupta, Pratham Gupta, Chakshu Hurria, Amrith Krishnan, Ansh Patel, Gelsey student body to apologize for insulting Plaza, Iyesha Puri, Deeksha Raina, Rishab the Latino community by accidentally Ramapriyan, Shivane Sabharwal, Neha associating them with “aliens.” The Shah, Ruiwen Shen, Annie Tang, Monica Tang, Brian Tseng, Hanson Wang, Didi Wu, e-mail concluded with a promise that Rebecca Wu the school will work “to increase the cultural intelligence (CQ) of our staff.” Adviser Sandra Cohen This was an overreaction that’s Send letters to the editors to opinion@the pretty out there, but it made me smokesignal.org. Letters under 300 words wonder about how colleges in general may be considered for publication and must include a full name and school affiliaare placing more and more emphasis tion. The Smoke Signal reserves the right on political correctness. That’s a to edit for clarity and length. good thing in some cases, like how The Smoke Signal’s right to freedom of schools are boosting awareness speech and press is protected by the First of gender pronouns. However, Amendment of the Constitution. many college communities are overly sensitive when approaching topics that need open discussion. To advertise in the Smoke Signal, In the past year, more students e-mail ads@thesmokesignal.org. Advertising that is included on the across the nation have started calling pages of, or carried within, the Smoke for the implementation of “trigger Signal, is paid advertising, and as warnings” in college academic material. such is independent of the news and feature content. These are statements which preface writing or other media, explicitly
warning that the material includes potentially distressing content such as war, depression, or rape. For example, a student at Rutgers University called for The Great Gatsby to be labelled as containing “gory, abusive and misogynistic violence.” Trigger warnings may give a sense of security to certain students who have suffered from traumatic experiences, but at best it’s a false sense of security. The real world doesn’t come with trigger warnings. It’s ironic that colleges used to be at the forefront of the free speech movement several decades ago, yet now, the focus has shifted for some to protecting student “safety.” These recent sorts of protective measures imply that students aren’t expected to challenge themselves and grapple with tough topics. Professors are also less motivated to present and discuss these topics in the first place if they’re limited by trigger warnings. I don’t think that concerns like political correctness and mental health awareness are unimportant, but the problem is that there’s too much sensitivity. The UCSC incident begs the question: shouldn’t the administrators be spending time on more pressing issues instead, like examples of blatant racism recorded in their online HateOr-Bias Incidents Report? More importantly, we students come to college to explore. We hope to be safe, but not sheltered – more people should know the difference. ▪
By Alice Cheng Opinion Editor
What do Warren Buffett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, LeBron James, Hugh Jackman, and Sandra Day O’Connor have in common? Is it that success leaks from the very pores of their skin? Yes, but more than that, they’re part of a campaign called #LeanInTogether, launched by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. The campaign strives to promote gender equality in both the workplace and at home by encouraging men to join the feminist movement. On the surface, #LeanInTogether sounds like a wonderful idea, but upon delving into the implications of this campaign, #LeanInTogether may not be as ideal as it sounds. As a follow-up to her publication of Lean In in 2013, Sandberg co-wrote an article with Adam Grant last month in the New York Times delineating the benefits for men in a world with gender equality. For example, the authors indicate that the more women in senior positions, the more successful the company will be, creating a happier and more prosperous environment for the company – men included. However, presumably, we should treat each other impartially because as humans, we all deserve fairness, not because this treatment will help the business. When we base our ethics and our treatment of those around us on selfbenefit, we fail to think critically about our convictions and let our short-term, pleasureseeking selves make the decision. In this case, we might make the same decisions anyway,
but we need to make the right decisions for the right reasons. Ultimately, it’s our rationale that drives our future actions. If men choose to value fairness, their subsequent actions will show that they are purpose-driven and fair. But, by treating gender equality as some sales pitch, the unpromised benefits of this “product” could fail to come to fruition and instead create negative reactions – it then becomes easier to see gender equality as an option and not so much as a must. Speaking of the rationale behind our actions, if #LeanInTogether is to truly support workplace and gender equality for women, this support needs to be extended to all women, including those of lower socioeconomic statuses. While certain high-tech Silicon Valley companies have joined the movement, #LeanInTogether doesn’t really address the workplace equality problem for blue-collar occupations. In fact, when a group of female housekeepers contacted Sandberg asking for support to start a union, she declined, stating she was busy. #LeanInTogether is meant to be an impactful movement and a point for feminists, but until we can effectively integrate all women, it has yet to become revolutionary. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for gender equality, and I think Sandberg’s movement is a step in the right direction. But, we need to take a look at the big picture and ask if our approach to our goal is correct and whether we’re truly being inclusive. Our intentions may be good-hearted, but others’ perceptions of our actions may not align with our intent, which we should keep in mind in our daily actions and consider when it comes to #LeanInTogether. ▪
The Opinion of the Smoke Signal Editorial Board
Fixing Pre-Reg
“I’m not taking that class because my friend told me it’s hard.” Most of us at MSJ have identified with this statement at one point or another. As high school students, we have a tendency to make choices based on the facts we make out of opinions, and selecting classes is no exception. What results is a problematic status quo: we shape our schedules based on hearsay and the anecdotes of a few friends and upperclassmen. The criteria we judge classes by often emphasizes perceived time commitment and imagined difficulty. All too often, we discount whether or not the course material actually piques our interest. Efforts are being made to introduce courses to prospective students beforehand, but they aren’t as widespread as they need to be. Currently, students enrolled in classes such as AP Human Geography and Ethnic Studies visit classrooms, promoting their respective class by providing a general overview and answering questions. While drop-in visits may introduce the basics of the course, we need to capitalize on those efforts and approach them in a more formal way. Rather than a meager seven days for students to select courses and procure teacher signatures, the registration process can be expanded to a few weeks where teachers can implement information sessions similar to the one held by AP Literature earlier this year. These open forums could discuss what kinds of course material students will encoun-
ter, the pace of the class, and how much prerequisite knowledge is expected. For example, students could browse through mouse trap cars and excerpts of the Iliad to get a grasp of whether or not they would be comfortable with their future work in AP Physics 1 or AP Literature. Current students could pitch in a more personal perspective, sharing their input through question and answer panels or “letters to prospective students.” These letters could include comments on what it takes to succeed in the class and tips on how to do so. Currently, the result of many misinformed decisions in March is a logistical nightmare in September, as students shuffle around different classes and counselors are drowned in schedule change requests. Yet much of the back-to-school stress could easily be avoided if students can more carefully assess their fit beforehand. If information is provided sooner, pre-registration transforms from a frenzied week of pressured decisions into a more thoughtful and less hectic process. With more resources to reflect upon for our future schedules, we will likely be able to reduce the number of changes counselors have to process in the fall and help ourselves better understand our course selections. ▪
Send letters to the editors to: opinion@thesmokesignal.org
staff writer purvi goel