Club Spotlight: MSJ Red

By Shuhan Jin Staff Writer

On February 1, MSJ Red was approved as an offcial MSJ club, marking the beginning of their journey to enlighten students on women’s health issues and fght for quality female products at MSJ. After noticing a consistent shortage of quality menstrual products provided on campus, MSJ Red Co-Presidents Seniors Ashley Buk and Ashley Kim decided to form MSJ Red in order to put an end to this problem. “We noticed how there was a lot of period taboo in the school and within our global society, and we hope to change that one step at a time by having this club at our school,” Ashley Buk said.

After expressing their concerns to some other students at MSJ who felt the same way about this overarching issue, they formed the club’s current offcer team, made up of Ashley Buk and Kim, Vice President Sophomore Sabrina Buk, Secretary Sophomore Kaelin Tsang, Treasurer Sophomore Sophia Saqlain, Publicity Coordinator Sophomore Kayla Zhang, and Activities Coordinator Sophomore Kavya Kantamneni.

Aside from the student body, the offcers of MSJ Red have also recognized a lack of resources for females outside of MSJ, such as in public restrooms and homeless shelters. Therefore, while their main goal is to emphasize on supplying MSJ students with quality menstrual products that are accessible across campus, they also aim to support women around the community. “Our purpose is to fundraise for better menstrual products at school and also use that money to help buy products for local women in homeless shelters,” Tsang said. In order to do this, the offcers plan to host regular boba and food fundraisers to raise money for these products. They also intend to host events in the near future, such as an upcoming event to create care packages containing feminine products that will be donated to local shelters.

Following the founding of the club, MSJ Red had its very frst club meeting on February 28, in which they introduced the club offcers, goals, and future events. Club meetings are held in C9 and are advised by Health and Science Teacher Lauren Ware-Hartbeck. The offcers plan to hold bi-monthly informational meetings throughout the school year, with each meeting centered around a specifc topic related to women’s health, including prominent female fgures who advocated for rights, women’s health issues, period poverty, and fundraising to provide better menstrual products.

Even though MSJ Red is a relatively new club, membership is steadily growing due to the vast number of students who agree with the club’s mission. At the frst meeting, the turnout was around 20 students. With more meetings, fundraisers, and events, the offcers are hopeful that they will be able to spread even more awareness of this subject among the student body. “In the future, I hope that we will continue [spreading awareness] and partner with other schools in the district to try to provide better quality products in the entire district other than just our school,” Ashley Buk said. ▪

By Goonja Basu & Tushara Devapatla Staff Writers

As blue uorescent lighting dims, the crowd starts growing louder, shifting excitedly and cheering at the thought of a singer arriving on stage. At that moment, Joshua Bassett bursts onto stage as the crowd explodes into cheers. It’s March 7 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and pop artist Joshua Bassett is playing the opening night of his The Complicated Tour.

People had lined up around the block for hours before the doors to the venue opened, eager for the show to begin at 8 p.m.. Indie singer Lindsey Lomis performed as the opener, creating a casual environment as she got the crowd more anticipated for what was to come. Despite an unfamiliar audience, she captured the crowd’s attention with two unreleased songs. To close her set, Lomis taught the audience the chorus of her song “save your breath,” and had them sing as loudly as possible. Overall, Lomis performed exceedingly well as a new artist, even if the audience wasn’t very receptive.

Bassett, originally a Disney star, gained prominence from rumors of being the subject of Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR. With multiple EPs and many singles such as “Smoke Slow,” and “Secret,” Bassett’s music leans heavily into pop, changing to a slower indie taste after he delved into his newfound interest in religion.

After a customary thirty-minute intermission, fans shifted closer to the barricade, anxiously awaiting Bassett’s arrival on stage. At last, as his band started his 2021 single, “Feel Something,” Bassett entered under the cover of darkness that faded into red spotlights focused on him. Immediately, the crowd was entranced with Bassett’s undeniable stage presence that never faltered throughout the show. He had boundless energy as he ran from side to side onstage and jumped on top of the piano, hopping backwards with his guitar and tripping as he climbed over the barricade. His interactions with the crowd are frequent, taking BeReals or putting a tiara from a fan on his head. As soon as the rst track was over, the crowd went wild and started barking at Bassett, who laughed and indicated it was a tradition at his shows.

Between almost every song, Bassett talked about his life in the past couple of years, including working on and writing music for his Disney+ show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. He used this to introduce his song, “Finally Free,” written for the third season of the show. Bassett often offered advice or talks about what’s going through his head at that very moment, which resulted in an impromptu decision to perform an unreleased song called “Sinking Ships,” which, despite never being of cially released, the crowd still animatedly sang along to. Bassett sang through the rest of his set, including the title track of his most recent EP, Sad Songs In A Hotel Room, with the audience never missing a beat until he got to his debut single “Common Sense.” He asked the crowd to form an open path from the stage to the middle of the audience, who shifted in anticipation as Bassett made his way to the center. With help from the crowd, Bassett performed a heartfelt rendition of his rst-ever song as he played his guitar and the audience swayed in turn.

Bassett continued to talk to the crowd between almost every song, laughing with them and creating a personal environment, as if he and the crowd were friends and it were just a normal conversation. At one point, as he alluded vaguely to his religious experiences, the crowd took the reins and yelled “Amen.”

Bassett then launched into “Beautiful City,” from the musical Godspell, which aligns with his recent evangelical development. He closed off his set with a cathartic performance of his own song, “Set Me Free,” the song where the crowd was the loudest all night. The crowd chanted for an encore and one more song, but when “SHE SAID HE SAID SHE SAID” started playing, Bassett was nowhere to be found on stage. Instead, he was up the balcony and made his way down to the stage, while the audience began to dance more energetically than they had all night. Bassett waved goodnight to the crowd one last time, and the opening night for The Complicated Tour was of cially over.

As the night came to a close, the audience trudged down the stairs, slow to move away from the stage after the exciting performance. With a lively and interactive show, Joshua Bassett starts his tour on a high note, pulling the audience along on an emotional ride, from dancing on his upbeat songs to swaying and singing on his softer ones. ▪