The Epitaph, Volume 57, Issue 4 by The Epitaph

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Vol. 57 Issue 4 Homestead High School 21370 Homestead Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

@epitaphHHS

Building safe spaces with Mindfulness Room Room creates positive space for students, opens dialogue about mental health By Andrea Sun and Renee Wang Senior Katherine Bright has one goal: create a space for students’ mental health needs. For the past four months, Bright attended meetings with administration, collaborated with clubs and drafted a design for a Mindfulness Room on campus. On Jan. 22, her vision became reality as the room held its grand opening in A211. Her inspiration to create such a space stemmed from personal experience and a desire to open up discussions about mental health. “I’ve been in tough places on campus before, and I want students who have been in similar positions to get the help they need,” Bright said. Though the Mindfulness Room is scheduled to be knocked down with the A building, Bright said she sees this as an opportunity to gauge student responsiveness to the room — a rough draft of sorts. A central feature of the room is stations that promote mindfulness. “Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the moment. And there’s a lot of power in standing in

your moment,” French teacher Kelly Ronsheimer said. The room has a yoga corner, a creativity corner with activities like art and coloring, a sensory station and a meditation space. “We [created] the stations because that’s going to give kids a place to be,” Bright said. “This way ... they can pick a station, try it out and see if that makes them feel less stressed.” The idea for these stations came from the ASPIRE Program at El Camino Hospital. “[The program’s] mission statement is what I am going for: helping every high schooler in need and giving them a place they can go, heal and feel safe,” Bright said. Bright said she wants the interior of the room to feel comfortable — rugs, couches and bean bag chairs. Bright and Ronsheimer also plan to paint an inspiring quote on the wall. “There’s a lot of perfectionism, high self expectations and a lot of self judgment that I think gets perpetuated,” Ronsheimer said. “We think this is important and want to support all of our kids, and not just teach them

but nurture them.” To gather funds for the room, the Mental Health and Awareness Club (MHAC), in collaboration with The Differences Among Us (TDAU) and Key Club are hosting a talent show on Jan. 31, with all proceeds going to the Mindfulness Room (see page 2). “It’s been [rewarding] to see the different talents that we have on cam-

pus,” senior and TDAU co-president Annabelle Law said. Key Club president, senior Chianie Chi agrees with the need for a safe space in a competitive school. “Mental health should be put first,” Chi said. “[Unfortunately], it is overlooked.” As for the room’s impact, Bright said even the smallest differences it

makes in a student’s life is worth it. “[I hope it helps people like] that one kid who has been struggling in school and tries out the room and can finally say, ‘Mom, I need a therapist,” Bright said. “A lot of students are afraid to say what they need but it’s so important they do that because when they do what they need ... they feel better and are much healthier.”

New bus line improves congestion, safety Valley Transportation Authority ushers new route in South Los Altos By Melody Chen, with additional reporting by Amelia Craciun The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) created a new bus line after Los Altos councilmembers recognized for the first time the need for providing students in the South Los Altos area with a way home from school. According to the VTA, the 17mile stretch has been effective since Dec. 28, with services on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The existing Route 51 turns onto Grant Road during non-school hours, while the new 51H extension swerves along Homestead Road to pick up students across the horseshoe before making its way onto the existing path, which extends from Moffett Field to West Valley College.

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“The hope and the goal is that we will get fewer parents feeling they have to drive their kids to school,” dean Steve Puccinelli said. “There are a lot of parents who drive down Homestead and they’ve tried to get in the horseshoe and it’s super congested.” In addition, the VTA took out Route 54, which runs along downtown Sunnyvale, and replaced it with Rapid 523, a rapid transit bus line that arrives every 15 minutes. Freshman Dan Penalosa takes Route 51H and Rapid 523 to study after school in Los Altos and Cupertino. Often, Penalosa said he likes to

hang around Great Mall in Milpitas or the Los Altos transit center to study, and the new bus routes allow him to travel long distances. “Public transport is kind of my lifeline,” Penalosa said. “If I were to get a job at Googleplex, then I wouldn’t want to have to walk all the way.” Senior Rose Chan said she takes two buses — Route 53 and Rapid 523 — to get to De Anza College where she is enrolled in College Now. While Rapid 523 benefits students who prefer a frequent arrival, Chan said the bus may not arrive in accordance to the schedule. “I know there’s some people for whom the bus is their main mode of transportation,” Chan said. “If the routes were different, or it was inconvenient for them, then it would be really hard for them to get around.” The effort is largely ascribed to the need for transportation for students living in South Los Altos who had no bus line catered to them prior to the installment of Route 51H.

“We heard from the parents,” Los way to school.” Altos mayor Lynette Lee Eng said. Eng said that conversation began “We heard how important it was to months ago with the city of Los Altos provide this opportunity because and PTA commissioners. some parents work and not everyone With the new bus line in place, can drive their kids to school. We Puccinelli and Eng said they are hopheard that ing to see less there was a cars on the need so we road and in“I think it was important to wanted to creased safeprovide public transport to make sure ty all around. reduce cars on the street, we fulfilled “If we get that request.” 50 of those and to provide an option The largkids on the for parents to get their est concern bus, very kids safely to schools.” lies with the often that’s dangerous 50 cars that - Lynette Lee Eng, area near the aren’t on the Mayor of Los Altos front road road,” Puccip ar a l l el i ng nelli said. the east side The sinof Foothill Expressway, Eng said. gle-ride or two-hour fare costs $1.25, According to a press release from while the monthly pass is valued at Santa Clara County, a proposed ex- $35 for passengers ages 5-18, accordpansion along the Homestead Road ing to the VTA. corridor may include bike lane bufYet, Puccinelli said he does not fers and revamped traffic signals, want students to feel pressured by the among others. cost. “[There] are a lot of reports where “We do actually have lots of financhildren biking to school have inci- cial support available for students to dences where cars [are] on the road,” get either free or reduced bus passes,” Eng said. “If the child is catching the he said. “And, they just need to go bus, I think parents would feel that into [Candida] Marugg in the ASB they wouldn’t have to worry as much, office and ask. I don’t want anybody regarding their child being hit on the to feel like they can’t afford it.” PAGE DESIGN BY ELAINE HUANG AND KAREN LI

News Talent show to fund new Mindfulness Room

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

TDAU, MHAC and Key Club collaborate on stage event

By Shruti Magesh and Dexter Tatsukawa

NEWS IN A MINUTE

By Shruti Magesh

LOCAL: Curbside Homes To fight the growing homelessness epidemic, a group of activists and volunteers near Oakland, CA built unsanctioned homes over the MLK weekend. The small homes were geared to provide housing for the homeless in the form of “curbside communities,” according to KTVU News.

NATIONAL: Kobe Bryant’s Death Retired Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant, was confirmed dead in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California. Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in the crash that occurred on the morning of Jan. 26, as Bryant and his daughter were headed to Mamba Sports Academy. Following the news of his untimely death, fans gathered at the Staples Center, where Bryant played many games for the Lakers, according to the New York Times.

INTERNATIONAL: Australian Fires Over 16 million acres of land have burned across Australia. So far, the fires have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of millions of animals as well as around 29 people and the loss of 2,500 homes. The fires are largely attributed to the effects of climate change, according to the New York Times.

Coronavirus The Wuhan coronavirus claimed the lives of around 170 people in China and continues to spread across Asia. The virus affects the respiratory system and can be easily spread from contact with those that are already infected. The outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The culmination of the efforts of Key Club, Mental Health Awareness Club and The Differences Among Us Club (TDAU) came to fruition on Jan. 31, in their joint effort to host a talent show. In addition to bringing forth student talent, the three clubs are working to raise funds for the Mindfulness Room, with proceeds from the cost of admission to go toward funding its construction and upkeep. “Collaborating … has a lot of benefits, the first of which is [that] we’re able to reach a lot more people directly, and that way we can help spread the word about the event,” sophomore and project chair of Key Club Martin Wu said. “And also … it provides a lot of different perspectives on how we want to run the event, so it’s really beneficial.” The coordinators said they also hoped the talent show would be an outlet for students to destress and maintain their mental health. “I think it’s a great opportunity for students to finally show off what they want,” senior and co-president of Mental Health Awareness Club Abby Shamelashvilli said. “Not only that, but I think this would be a great op-

Photo by Dexter Tatsukawa A TALENTED BUNCH: Performers showcased various talents at the TDAU, MHAC and Key Club talent show on Friday, Jan. 31.

portunity for students to express themselves in an artistic way, which is honestly a really good healthy coping mechanism that a lot of students don’t necessarily tend to … it’s another way that mental health and awareness can hopefully impact the community.” Senior Sasha Oberman is one of the students who participated in the talent show “I love performing and just performing in general makes me

really happy,” Oberman said. “I know there’s probably a lot of other people like that who want to show their creative outlets.” Another participant in the show was senior Prateek Anand, who performed a duet with his brother, senior Aakarsh Anand. Despite participating directly in the talent show, Anand said he also hoped to enjoy it as an audience member. “I’m hoping to see a lot of different stuff and meet new

people,” Anand said. “It’s always interesting to see people bring out different talents and personalities that you never see in day to day life.” In the theme of promoting student well-being, the proceeds from admission for the talent are also going to help fund the Mindfulness Room. Senior Katherine Bright said the idea for getting funding from the talent show came from Shamelashvili. “We were looking out for grants and stuff … she thought that would be a good way to get it,” Bright said. “We don’t have any [other] fundraising ideas right now and I don’t know if we really need them. We’re actually kind of okay with the money, but I’m looking into getting a $25,000 grant from the Cupertino Rotary Club next year.” As the Mindulness Room is already nearing its final stages of construction, the money from the talent show will help to stock up refreshments in the room. “[The room] is coming together really well,” Bright said. “It’s a big dream to me to help students on campus. I have a very emotional connection to it due to experiences I had in the past.” Bright said.

PTA Reflections encourages student expression Winners share their interpretations of the theme ‘Look Within’ through different forms of artwork, writing

By Nika Bondar Each year, the PTA Reflections Program holds a national level art contest with scholarships and artwork exhibition opportunities for the winners. The competition is comprised of multiple stages with elimination of entries at each stage. This year, sophomore Ye’ela Bronicki, junior Jane Park and senior Sabrina Kim received an award of excellence and advanced to the next stage — the Council PTA Reflections Event, according to the PTSA News. Additionally, sophomore Christine Watts and sophomore Kate Shin received an award of merit and junior Jessica Li received an honorable mention. The theme of the competition this year, “Look Within,” allowed artists to intertwine their individual passions with their artwork. Kim said she found the inspiration for her poem “Why We Dance” in classical music, specifically Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. While trying to avoid the stress of playing in a 17-minute-long recording session of the first movement of the concerto, Kim said she took the advice of her teacher to think of some imagery to go along with the music. This would allow her to focus on the meaning of the music rather than the technicalities. “What I was trying to get out in the poem is that we go through all these different stages

and encounter so many different things, and in the end, we can hopefully emerge stronger from it and emerge victorious,” Kim said. Kim said that various music and imagery served as the inspiration for her poems. “It just kind of happened all at once … I was sitting on my bed, and then I was thinking about the music, and [about] what kind of images came to me, so I had some really specific images for some of it,” Kim said. Other students chose to simply pursue their passions, instead of looking for inspiration. Bronicki said she took many pictures from various angles, and narrowed them down to select the ones she wanted to enter in the competition. “It was like a bunch of different types — I’m not really sure how to describe them. I just tried different angles and … then [I] just chose the ones that I thought looked best,” Bronicki said. Some students opted to share a message through their art. Shin said she used watercolors to create a painting reflecting her concern with the impact of social media on teenage lives. “In the painting, I’m sitting in the chair, looking at the mirror, and I drew my face reflected in the mirror. There’s other people around me, so I used ink for them and color for myself,” Shin said. “To express how I think they are

inside the social media, and I’m looking at myself, thinking about myself.” Similar to Shin, Park said her goal was to create art that would send out both a relatable and controversial message. Her painting portrays a woman tearing apart her face with phrases describing anxiety spilling out of the tear. “I’d rather make something that’s really gross looking and not at all attractive, but still connects with people than something that’s really attractive and doesn’t necessarily inspire people or have much thought into it,” Park said. “I’m just glad that I was fortunate enough to actually win.”

Painting by Jane Park STRETCHED TOO THIN: Park’s

painting represents the societal pressures placed on current high school students.

Painting by Kate Shin MIRRORING YOUR THOUGHTS: Shin’s painting expresses her thoughts about unhealthy social media use.

PAGE DESIGN BY JANE PARK

News

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Amber Tanger named Outstanding Educator of the Year honoree

Teacher creates a safe space for student growth and learning By Shruti Magesh and Renee Wang Amber Tanger, inclusion partner who works to provide extra support and intervention to students on campus, is FUHSD’s honoree for Outstanding Educator of the Year at this year’s Murphy Awards for Sunnyvale. Tanger has been teaching for 19 years. She taught elementary school students for 12 years before moving to the high school level. Tanger has been with HHS for seven years. In addition, Tanger works with the administration in areas such as mental health to increase support for students. “I was surprised and shocked,” Tanger said. “We have amazing teachers that are super supportive and compassionate, so I feel like there’s so many deserving teachers on campus.”

On campus, one of Tanger’s roles includes co-teaching a government and economics class with teacher Christy Heaton. Tanger’s dedication to her students, which involves coming early to class and always being available during lunch, is what makes her so approachable to students, Heaton said. Student advocate Sara Loyd said Tanger goes above and beyond with her students, and takes the time to know them personally. “She is more than just the class that they’re in. She cares about their whole aspect [and] their whole lives,” Loyd said. “She teaches life skills. She’s very realistic and I think teachers [and] students appreciate that.” Tanger said she always includes humor in her lessons.

“We laugh every period, even when we are frustrated,” Tanger said. “That’s part of my teaching philosophy—I use a lot of humor in teaching, which eases student’s nerves and getting them to relax.” Tanger said her classroom is an extension of her teaching philosophy and she tries to brighten it up to make it more enjoyable. Her classrooms are decked with bright colors, with a wall for art therapy and another section where she puts up quotes that students believe are meaningful to them. Tanger said she works closely with her students, sometimes assisting them through the entirety of high school. Tanger said the favorite part of her job is seeing students graduate. Tanger said she keeps

Career Fair gives students insight into professional world Opportunity to explore new interests number of presenters in different fields. Lund said it can be challenging to find people from outside of the business and technology fields to come to the fair, as they may feel they are giving up a morning of their time for a presentation that might be unappreciated by students. This can pose a challenge to students, such as senior James Lu, who could not find presentations suiting his intrests. “I plan on pursuing art,” Lu said. “For my purposes, the offerings were very lackluster. More variety would be great.” Although the variety of presentations can be limiting to those who have already decided on their career path, the presentations can be a valuable rescource to students, like junior Anoushka Shenoy, who

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: Tanger makes sure to always check in

with her students — “I’m addicted to SchoolLoop,” she said.

in close touch with her students even after high school, helping them edit essays in college, create resumes and apply for jobs. “I love watching students and

their growth—when they understand a new concept, how curious they are and seeing them grow as a person,” she said. “It’s the small successes [that make it worth it].”

Construction congestion Blocked C building passageway creates heavy student traffic By Yukari E. Zapata

By Dexter Tatsukawa The biannual Career Fair spanned all grades, giving students the opportunity to interact with representatives from 63 different professions. Because of the sheer scale of the event and its disruption to the bell schedule, the Career Fair was a major endeavor for its planners. College and Career Center adviser Mary Lund said that, in her experience, the fair is capable of doing what it is designed for educating students on possible career choices. “I know a couple of incidents where I believe it has affected kids and probably changed them,” Lund said. “If the kids take it seriously, I think they can get that out of it.” The presenters also posed a challenge to Lund, as it can be difficult to balance the

Photo by Renee Wang

has not made up her mind about her future. “I was kind of worried about the path beyond high school in terms of how much money it will take and which classes I need to be taking,” Shenoy said. “I felt a lot of people addressed the path to [college], which made me feel less apprehensive.” Shenoy said she felt the fair did a good job of preparing students for their futures by setting them up with information and connections. “I think the [career fair] is a really good idea because it is exposing you to a lot of careers that you wouldn’t be able to see otherwise,” Shenoy said. “It also provides a lot of people with opportunities to get internships because a lot of the [presenters] were willing to give out internships.”

With the ongoing construction of the new Guidance and Student Services Building, the C-building corridor has been temporarily blocked. The blocked passageway brings struggles for students, including difficulty getting to class on time and traffic congestion, sophomore Neil Salcedo said. “The main issue is around the K-building, [where] the traffic of students builds up,” Salcedo said. “You have to navigate yourself through the large crowd … it’s extremely difficult when we have everyone bumping into each other.” With the passageway near the K-building being the only way for students to get to L-, S- and C-building classes, many students find themselves not arriving to class on time, Salcedo said. Freshman Tarini Maram said one of the biggest struggles is that students have to cram into one

area during passing periods. “Some people are mad about the construction [and] they don’t feel like it’s necessary,” Maram said. “Half the school is in that small area, and people bump into each other.” The construction has made it hard for students who go across campus to get to classes on time, Maram said. Yet despite the crowding, Principal Greg Giglio said it is no worse than the traffic in the corridors prior to the construction. “People can go around the cafeteria and they can wait a second and let the line die down a little bit.” Giglio said. “There’s no issue. It’s crowded, but it’s no worse than trying to go up the B building steps, which is more permanent.” Giglio said that the administration has asked the teachers to remain understanding, in terms of the tardy policy.

Infographic by Dexter Tatsukawa

Editors Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Senior News Senior News Senior Opinion Junior Opinion Senior Lifestyles Junior Lifestyles

Reporters Renee Wang Andrea Sun Shruti Magesh Dexter Tatsukawa Melody Chen Sahil Venkatesan Katelynn Ngo Nika Bondar

Senior Entertainment Junior Entertainment Senior Sports Senior Sports Design and Multimedia Junior Design Junior Multimedia Business Manager

Saanvi Thakur Shreya Partha Jackson Faria Jane Park Jacqueline Beaufore Kacey Rebstock Miya Liu Yukari E. Zapata

Naomi Baron Elaine Huang Anika Karody Nitya Kashyap Karen Li Leila Salam Sara Shohoud Jack Xu Allen Zhang

Mission Statement The Epitaph is a non-profit publication at Homestead High School, 21370 Homestead Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014. The Epitaph is a forum for student expression and not subject to prior review, in accordance to Education Code 48907. The staff is comprised of HHs Journalsim students. Views Expressed do not necessarily represent views of the school, its staff, or the district. Editorials are opinions of the editorial board. The Epitaph welcomes all letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions. Letters

should be limited to 300 words. Include contact information. Unsigned letterrs cannot be published, but names will be withheld upon request. Send via homestead.epitaph@gmail.com, or drop letters in the newsroom or the office mailbox. If the Epitaph has made an error, please send corrections to homestead.epitaph@gmail.com. The corrections will be published in the corrections box for the next issue. To reach the Epitaph staff in C102 call (408) 522-2572 or fax (408) 738-8631

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PAGE DESIGN BY LEILA SALAM

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Construction steamrolls learning, teaching

Opinion

STAFF EDITORIAL

THE IMPATIENT PATIENT By Renee Wang

Senioritis. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you’ve definitely felt it. It even has its own place in the dictionary: the ebbing of motivation by seniors, evidenced by absences and lower grades. When it comes to a “cure,” solutions often fall into extremes: falling off the face of the campus or working just as hard as you did junior year. Instead, senioritis should be used as a period for selfgrowth. These few months when we await the future is truly uncharted territory: according to an article in The New York Times, without an external motivator (like college admissions), students fall into a sense of purposelessness. But, that lack of purpose can be a good thing. School and many facets of life foster a sense of extrinsic motivation, in which we are bound by parental expectations or grades. When you already know your future plans — what do you become bound by? Intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic lasts longer and is more self-sustaining, according to a study from Vanderbilt University. When we are intrinsically motivated, we feel a sense of calling to the world around us and explore subjects we are fascinated by. Second semester is an ideal time for self-discovery — and students should utilize this “in-between” time. For example, perhaps you’ve always wanted to try an activity but didn’t because you thought it was a “waste of time,” especially on college applications. Or, ask not what you can do to get an A, but what the learning can do for you — focus on subjects that excite you. It’s easy to want to cease trying for a few months. The point is not to give up but cut yourself an appropriate amount of slack. Senioritis does not need a cure. It just needs a new perspective.

As students, our priority is learning. However, learning is difficult when our environment feels aggravating. For the past two years, construction on campus has created confusion and increased problems for everyone. Teachers waiting for drilling to stop while lecturing; a sea of students pushing and shoving to get to the C building before class; administrators rushing students to be on time — all of these are day-today problems caused by construction. According to a paper by the International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, individuals who are exposed to traffic or construction noises in a high-concentration atmosphere are prone to an increased level of stress. Classrooms exposed to construction noise impair students from concentrating on their work. In fact, construction noise can negatively affect test scores,

according to Earth Times. One solution for teachers to keep their classes engaged is to allow students to listen to music while silently working. Another option is for teachers to take their students out to the quad or use an empty classroom in another area of the school during heavy construction times. Practicing patience is also crucial for students and staff to remain calm about the situation; construction cannot be stopped, so we must learn to make do with what we have. While noise is one issue, increased foot traffic introduces a more pressing problem. A common passing area between the C and A buildings was recently closed, redirecting traffic all the way around the C building. While inconveniences are expected, the immedi-

ate safety of students and staff needs to be addressed. In an emergency, students in the C building must all take the same exit out, forcing students and staff to wait for the bottleneck to clear up. If every minute counts in an emergency, it may be too late when the last group of students reaches the door. The onslaught of construction and the resulting closed areas of campus are not a temporary occurrence. Construction has been going on since the K building and quad were constructed in 2015. Following the construction of the Guidance and Student Services Building, there are plans for continued remodeling of the A, B, C and L buildings. With this remodel, teachers in affected buildings (starting with upper A building teachers) will be moved from their rooms and set up to share classrooms with other teachers.

Illustration by Jane Park and Tiffany Yu

Wave goodbye to likes on Instagram

This will displace teachers who have personalized and called their rooms “home” for years. Since there is no sign of construction slowing down, teachers, the administration — and, yes, students — must learn to adapt to the growing inconveniences caused by the construction. For administration, regulating student traffic during passing periods is one way to lessen congestion. Simply putting up a “closed” sign is not efficient to ensure safety for students. Dividing the path with cones between the lower C and L buildings can help mitigate the congestion caused by foot traffic. Teachers should also implement a 90-second grace period at the beginning of each class, where students should not be marked absent. For students, patience is key, as the construction does ultimately serve a greater good — improving classrooms for future students and staff. In addition, leaving your home or arriving to school early can eliminate backed up morning traffic. The inconveniences of construction can be resolved if we all take responsibility to provide a safer learning space. Communication between staff and students will help resolve problems and introduce stronger solutions in the future. Most importantly, staff must be open to suggestions from students to inspire real change.

Instagram’s new feature redefines acceptance By Naomi Baron I’m ashamed to admit that Instagram, among many other social media platforms, is a major contributor to the stress I place on myself. Social media has become a large part of my generation’s life. High school students can attest to the unhealthy amount of strain it causes but also to the amount of joy it provides. When I post a picture on Instagram, I feel the pressure instantly. After posting, I constantly check the number of likes I receive, how many comments I have and who is commenting. It’s a bad habit I can’t break. Unfortunately, I know that I, along with many others, seek reassurance based on the number of likes received on a picture. But things will get better: Instagram has decided to remove likes altogether with the purpose of creating a “less pressured environment,” head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said to Wired25. According to Business Insider, Mosseri announced that Instagram will be hiding likes, meaning that the only person who has access to the number of likes on a picture is the account holder who posts it. The public will no longer have access to this information. For me, the part that causes the most stress is that other people are able to see how many likes

I receive. It’s human nature to seek acceptance from peers, but acceptance should not be measured by a number — especially not likes. At the same time, there are advantages to likes. This number does not have to represent a source of pressure; it can signify happiness too. After all, it’s always an appreciated gesture to receive compliments. The act of liking a photo is a form of compliment as well. It means they thought your picture was nice. But, we have proven that we are not responsible enough to take this number only as a compliment. We tend to compare our likes with others, which leads to an unneeded sense of stress. According to Psychology Today researcher Alyssa Saiphoo who gathered studies on social media use and self-esteem over the past two decades, higher social media usage has a negative impact on self esteem. Instagram has already implemented this plan, according to Business Insider. The company has tested their “private likes” plan in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. An Instagram spokesperson said this will only affect a small number of Instagram users in the U.S.

Illustration by Jane Park NO MORE LIKES: Instagram envokes new “hidden likes” policy.

I hope these tests will show positive results and that Instagram will decide to implement their “private likes” plan to every user. This is a huge step for improving mental health among young people. Although it’s disappointing that we allow a number to affect our mental health, it’s something very difficult to control. Unfortunately, many of us feel that the number of likes we receive directly translates to how “cool” we are, which is why we continue to stress about this un-

necessary number; this stigma needs to be broken. The number that we let influence our mood is a useless count. The fact that I am the only person who can see the number of likes while others do not diminishes the stress of being ranked based on a number. However, even with private likes, we must be responsible and learn to put likes into proportion. While the public may not be able to see the number of likes, we still have access to it and need to learn not to let this number define us. PAGE DESIGN BY NITYA KASHYAP

Opinion

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Illustration by Jane Park

Trump makes a reckless gamble By Claire Oh and Leila Salam single handedly destroyed the peace between the U.S. and Iran. The military officials who presented Trump with these options viewed this reaction as the most extreme of the choices they proposed. According to The New York Times, none of the officials thought that the president would choose such a radical option. The officials even placed more extreme options on the list in order to make the other less radical courses of action appear more palatable to the president, according to The New York Times. There is no denying that Trump’s actions have caused irreparable consequences. The death of Suleimani had a great impact on the world. Although there was plenty of outcry

internationally, Iranian citizens had the strongest reactions. The funeral for the late general took place over four days and drew a crowd of nearly 1 million people. According to Time Magazine, during the procession, 56 people died and more than 200 were injured in a stampede that took a dark turn as anti-American protests pinning the blame on Trump quickly became violent. Such deaths add unnecessary losses to an already grim event. However, one of the biggest consequences of Trump’s actions by far is the death of the 176 innocent people who were involved in the Ukrainian plane crash only a day after the funeral, according to The New York Times.

Despite Iranian officials saying that the two missiles sent to strike down the plane were accidental, it is clear that the incident was in response to Trump’s actions. Due to the buildup in tension, the Iranian military was on edge and fired at the first speculation of danger. Trump made a terrible decision that caused numerous casualties. These deaths have been part of a ripple effect that continues to spark protest. All of this could have been avoided if Trump had simply taken a closer look at his options and thought about the possible consequences that we watched unfold in front of us.

Illustration by Jane Park

The long overdue right for women in war

Selective Service should extend to women in the draft By Sara Shohoud and Shriya Wagholikar

Turning 18 is a huge milestone. You can vote, get a tattoo and sign up for the draft. Actually, signing up for the draft is not something you can do; it is something you have to do. According to The New York Times, male citizens ages 18-26 are eligible to be drafted during wartime. However, the draft was outlawed after contentions over the Vietnam War, where thousands of young men were conscripted and didn’t come home, according to The New York Times. Since then, the Selective Service took over, and men are required to sign up for the draft after they turn 18. Created in 1917, the Selective Service is a government agency that catalogs information on citizens who are eligible to be conscripted during wartime. Since its establishment, the

Selective Service has only required men to sign up. According to its website, this system of conscription was used during the Civil War and World War I. It’s about time that women are required to sign up too. Congress had previously considered passing the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, which states that the country is required to give equal rights to everyone, regardless of gender. This would include the requirement for women to register for Selective Service alongside men. Although war doesn’t sound appealing, it is wise to choose equality over a one-sided draft. Historically, men were required to sign up for the draft during the war. On the other hand, women were set back due to the forces of discrimination.

However, we don’t live in those times anymore, and women deserve to have the same rights as men do, even if it means possible conscription to war. According to Striking Women, during the World Wars, men were sent to fight because of stereotypes about women’s capacity and ability to engage in men’s work. So, women were cast off to factory work, in order to help the American cause. Many women weren’t allowed to fight during the World Wars because many had to tend to their family. But times have changed since then; it’s time for women to be able to be conscripted, not just for behind-the-scenes work, but for war itself. With all the ongoing commotion to make women’s rights

THE MELODIC LINE By Melody Chen

Assassination of Qassim Suleimani builds unnecessary tension Iran is in complete chaos. Tensions between the U.S. and the Middle Eastern nation are higher than ever. The assassination of Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani has left Iran in total shock. When President Donald Trump was faced with the decision of how the U.S. would react to the violence in Iraq, he decided to go for the most extreme option on the table, choosing to assassinate Suleimani. While Suleimani was responsible for organizing anti-U.S. protests and plotting the deaths of hundreds of U.S. soldiers, he was the most influential military commander in the Middle East, according to The Guardian. By killing Suleimani, Trump

America is all about hard-won victories: that’s why many are enthusiastic of the socalled idea of meritocracy — a social system rewarding ability and effort to success. Yet, the merit construct is becoming more far-reaching as such miracles do not often tell the whole story. According to The New Yorker, the word “meritocracy” stems from a satirical context, originally defined as a miraculous combination of the brain and effort. Characteristics such as gender, race, sexual orientation and economic background are extraneous to the upward climb. Yet, meritocracy has recently melted into a garble of idealistic terms — a social contradiction that promises the miracles of merit-based success yet assumes nothing of the sort. According to a study published by The Equality of Opportunity Project, more students from households in the top 1 percent of the income distribution collectively enroll in Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Yale than the bottom 60 percent. Such disadvantages open wider doors for more corrupt measures, such as nepotism, legacy preferences and bribery. Those who wield money and influence tend to assume the likes of a victory they worked hard for when in fact their success is more linear. Meritocracy forces people to assess their individual failure of not measuring up to others when in reality, the playing field is warped. The truth is that everyone begins at different rungs of the social ladder, and it is unjust to define success by a merit-based outcome. Rather than solely justifying success to merit, we should break free from the paradox of meritocracy and redefine the concept for those who deserve it.

equal to men, there should be a change in Selective Service policies. According to USA Today, a federal judge in Texas ruled that it was unconstitutional for the Selective Service program to not include women in the draft, yet no change was seen to the policies. Including women in drafts isn’t some revolutionary idea. Norway, Israel and Sweden are just a few of the notable countries that require both men and women to sign up to be drafted, which is seen as an act of gender equality. It’s about time that the U.S. gets on board too. It’s not only unfair to women, who are left out of service because of their gender, but for men as well, who are forced to serve in a one-sided system. PAGE DESIGN BY MELODY CHEN AND SHRUTI MAGESH

Opinion

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Overlooking the dangers of electability

Democrats rally against Trump by relying on election overconfidence

By Nika Bondar and Karuna Chandran

THE PARTISAN PARTY

By Sahil Venkatesan I’m going to do something a little different: I’m going to talk about a flaw in the Democratic party. High-profile Democrats are ruthlessly attacking each other, and this will lead to the re-election of President Donald Trump. It all started when Elizabeth Warren’s campaign released a statement saying that Bernie Sanders privately said that a woman could not win the presidency, according to CNN. The two candidates restrained from fighting each other until now, at a crucial point in their campaigns, with the voting starting in just a couple weeks. The fighting between the two frontrunners has provoked conflicts among other candidates as well. Joe Biden and Sanders recently attacked each other when Sanders attacked Biden’s record on social security. Sanders was also targeted by someone unexpected: Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee. It seems as though Clinton is still bitter that Sanders waited so long to endorse her in the 2016 election. Recently, Clinton affirmed her belief that “nobody likes Bernie Sanders” and that she would not endorse him as the Democratic candidate. This is exactly what the Democratic party does not need: a repeat of the 2016 election, in which the Democratic candidates harbor animosity toward each other even after a nominee is chosen. If current and past Democratic candidates continue to take shots at each other, they will divide the Democratic party and voters will not unite for a single candidate. The focus must be on beating President Donald Trump, and the only way to do that is to unite together without fighting.

PLACING A BET: Voters

choose candidates based on unreliable statistics to ensure Trump’s loss in the election.

The dangers of gambling lie in placing unwarranted confidence in the probability of a desired outcome. Even if that confidence is built on one’s trust in luck, it is never enough to dissolve the profound degree. It is concerning that the same perception-based judgment is now the foundation of over 60 percent of Democratic voters’ decisions, according to Third Way. Voters should not gamble in the upcoming election through a game of improbable electability, which is defined as the likelihood of a candidate to be elected to office. However tempting it might be for Democratic voters to fixate on beating President Donald Trump, placing votes on unreliable electability statistics is not the way to go. For the Democrats voting for the most electable candidate, there is no guarantee that Trump can win. The ironic downfall of electability comes from its inherent subjectivity. Voters rely on personal biases more than factual statistics. A survey conducted by Third Way shows how 60 percent of voters believe quality is an important factor for a Democratic candidate to beat Trump, compared to only 30 percent believing actions are more influential. This reasoning is incredibly faulty

Illustration by Sara Shohoud

because the supposed qualities of a president should not rely on the candidates’ image, but their accomplishments and policies. In addition, the same survey indicates that voters consider race, gender and character to be considered as a decision-making criteria. Today, many Americans bet their votes on what types of candidates have historically been able to win. As a result, the chances of the U.S. having a first female or any non-white president are significantly low as historically most of U.S. presidents are older, white men. Democrats, bound by the fear of losing to Trump once again, are not only avoiding candidates using criteria such as sex and ethnicity, but are also avoiding candidates with any sign of new or extreme ideas in their policies. Trump’s extremist nature pushes most voters to choose stability over progressiveness. In fact, moderate candidates have been found to do better. A study published by Stanford University’s Andrew Hall found that moderate candidates could earn approximately a 7 percent advantage over more extreme candidates. Instead of risking their vote on contenders who have unorthodox beliefs, voters are settling for a commonly-accepted candidate. According to Los Angeles Times, the primary election is designed to foresee the winning candidate in the election. According to the article, selecting a qualified presidential nominee should be the main goal. However, it is important to remember that electability does not seem to affect the outcome. For example, according to CNN, Trump retains a very low electability. A three-time married reality TV star with six business bankruptcies throughout his career seemed to be an unlikely role model of the free world. However, Trump is now our 45th president — revealing the folly of electability.

PAGE DESIGN BY MELODY CHEN AND SAHIL VENKATESAN

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

PAGE DESIGN BY YUKARI E. ZAPATA

Spread

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Politics across the spectrum

Photo Illustration by Kacey Rebstock and Saanvi Thakur

When party lines and family intersect

Impeachment across the decades

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Press, polarization in Trump versus Nixon impeachment By Kacey Rebstock and Saanvi Thakur

Photo by Saanvi Thakur

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It’s hard to say, because obviously [Trump’s] impeachment, everyone was kinda happy about that, but he’s not going to get impeached. -Lydia Ramirez (11)

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I personally think the things that [Trump] does as a president, like his policies, are better than something that Bernie Sanders would do ... it’s hard to differentiate now because it’s in terms of do you value character or do you value policy? -Hanjune Lee (12)

Although [Trump] may believe that his actions are right for the country, it is immoral and unethical to break apart families [and] chase people out of the United States. He doesn’t have the right to decide who’s American and who’s not. -Haritha Muthukumar (11)

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actions caused him to lose support from his own party, putting him in true risk of impeachment. “He realized that he had lost the Republican base, so it was inevitable that he was going to be convicted, or formally impeached,” Gunderson said This is different from today’s current political climate, where Republicans are still backing Trump, according to Politico. As the impeachment trials make their way to the Senate, which is majority Republican, the odds are in Trump’s favor. The trial and senate adjourned on February third and rejected all of the articles of impeachment that Trump was charged with. “I think [what’s] different from today too [is that] back then you had more conservatives — whether they were politicians or just regular people — who supported Nixon being ousted from office because of what he did,” Lavelle said. “Now, it just seems like the [political] polarization is even worse.” The political polarization has also increased between younger generations, according to The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The development of social media has given the youth a public platform to receive information and discuss their political beliefs, which differs from the involvement that youth had during Nixon’s presidency. Recently, teenagers’ views have been included in more political studies based on the fact that these future generations are future voters. Protests and marches planned by youth have also become more common as a response to the actions carried out by the Trump administration, according to the Guardian. Similarly, during Nixon’s impeachment process, there was a rise in political activism among American youth due to the Watergate scandal, which was also covered heavily by the media, according to American Politics Quarterly. “Nixon was pretty volatile anyway, because he ran on the basis that he was going to end the war in Vietnam, and it didn’t happen that way,” Gunderson said. “It escalated, so he’d lost credibility. The youth were like, ‘Get him out of here.’” The similarities between Nixon and Trump’s impeachment process, from media coverage to reactions from the youth, highlight the vast differences of opinions that have been brought up in the span of 50 years. “I just remember times similar to these times, people, for one thing or another, being very divided [and] polarized on their political beliefs and followings,” Lavelle said.

By Madhavi Karthik and Katelynn Ngo

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With nearly 50 years separating Nixon’s impeachment process from Trump’s, the way the nation receives vital information has drastically changed. In Nixon’s era, the news was delivered through news publications, television or radio. Meanwhile, the modern era has outlets like social media, where direct and immediate communication is available. The constant stream of information has caused a media frenzy, making the coverage of Trump’s impeachment global and monumental. “Back in the early 70’s when Nixon was being impeached, my dad was a big Nixon fan,” English teacher and athletic director Steve Lavelle said. “He had a big poster of Richard Nixon on his wall in his office. One of his friends came over one day and before he got there, my dad covered up the Nixon poster with a big calendar on the wall so [a] liberal friend of his wouldn’t see that he liked Nixon.” When Nixon’s impeachment process began in 1973, the reactions varied greatly. As the media covered the trial process in great detail as information was released about the Watergate scandal, Americans became more divided in their opinions. Nixon’s impeachment process is compared to Donald Trump’s current impeachment by news organizations like The Washington Post and Fox News. “I would say the press is [always] controversial, but they were more respected [back then],” English teacher Mary Jo Gunderson said. “The closest [the press] got to spontaneity was press conferences; nothing like today with Trump and his tweets. There was not as much fake news as there is now.” Although Trump and Nixon were charged with similar articles of impeachment, Trump’s offense was international while Nixon’s was domestic. Even though Trump and Nixon had similar articles of impeachment, Trump’s offense was international while Nixon’s was domestic. This has made it much easier for people around the world to form opinions based on Trump’s actions. Information regarding politics is now easier to fabricate too, compared to Nixon’s impeachment process. This has caused an immense amount of incorrect and fake news to spread. According to Columbia Journalism Review, Trump’s love-hate media strategy has caused many news outlets to be misinformed. The press is also more divided, with news outlets, such as FOX News becoming more conservative while other outlets, such as CNN, becoming more liberal, according to Business Insiders. Because of these obvious divisions, there is a growing gap between Democrats and Republicans, which is becoming a prominent feature in American politics, according to Pew Research. During Nixon’s impeachment process and scandal, his

The people that you surround yourself with have the greatest impact on your political ideologies, according to Boundless Political Science. Having a different political party than your parents or your peers is uncommon, but it happens. Senior Atharva Shah, who supports the Republican Party, follows a different party than his Democratic parents. He identifies as a Republican mainly for economical reasons, Shah said. “My political party is fiscally conservative [and] socially conservative,” Shah said. “My family’s the opposite — they’re fiscally liberal [and] socially liberal.” Since Shah and his parents have different stances when talking about politics, he said he often gets into debates with them. However, these debates often have a very healthy dynamic, Shah said. “We just talk it out. We both agree that we like the healthcare system here and that we are not in support of free public education, but on some issues like gun control, we disagree … I had a four-hour debate on gun control with my mom [the other day],” Shah said. “It’s not really a disagreement as much as it is a debate. We’re just trying to have the other side understand where we’re coming from.” Although Shah said he is a Republican, there are some factors of the Democratic Party that he agrees with. “On the stance of gay marriage, I’m what you consider in other parts of America socially liberal, but for this I’m socially moderate,” Shah said. “I stand with the Democrats that religion has no place in schools and should not be recognized by the U.S. government, [too]. Democrats also critique the tax exempt status of religious organizations like churches and mosques. I agree with them on that issue.” On the other hand, sophomore Mallory Mitton is a supporter of the Democratic Party. Although her parents share her views, some of her extended family who live in Michigan — her grandparents and her second aunts — are supporters of the Republican Party. There have been several instances where politics have leaked into the family dynamic, she said. “We were watching the presidential debates and [when] Hillary Clinton would be speaking. My grandma would kind of be off in the corner,” Mitton said. “They wouldn’t say anything verbally to me, but they definitely did not agree with what she was saying. When I went to visit them for Christmas, we were having discussions about the impeachment trial. They said it was a waste of time to impeach Trump and that [the government] should be doing more useful things. My family was kind of like, well, it’s not really a waste of time.” However, at the end of the day, any discrepancies between Mitton’s family and her extended family’s political ideologies don’t threaten their relationships at all, Mitton said. “We were just sharing our point of views. There was no hate at all because we’re all a family … so it was very civil,” Mitton said. “When we do [disagree], it’s not at all harsh, because we all support and love each other.”

In addition, Mitton said that her family doesn’t judge a candidate solely based on the party they’re affiliated with. “If there’s a Republican, we’re not just like, ‘oh, we don’t like that person,’” Mitton said. “We try to look not at their party, but more at their policies.” Like Shah, junior Joshua Lee said he is a Republican. However, his parents aren’t affiliated with any political parties, as they are from a foreign country. To Lee, the basis behind the Republican Party is keeping up with conservative ideas, he said. “The Republican Party has always been about the conservation of traditional values, the conservation of liberties and the adherence to American values such as free speech and the right to express your religion,” Lee said. However, Lee has often seen hostility toward his political party and those ideas, he said. “People hate on Republicans so much and they just call them bigots, but the entire basis upon which we build being Republican is you have to be open minded,” Lee said. “Republicanism is just about how you have to take individual responsibility. For example, if you feel offended or if you feel oppressed for any reason, it’s not society’s fault. What can you find in yourself to improve it? If people don’t like that premise, they’ll resort to words like Nazi or bigots to describe the Republican Party.” Senior clerical assistant and paraeducator Marjie Fischer, who is a Republican, also warns against portraying Republicans as evil people. “The hard part [is] what’s happening currently [has] gone past just a typical ‘we can agree to disagree’ to almost demonizing the other side if they don’t agree with you, and that’s the part that saddens me,” Fischer said. “If we demonize another person because they disagree with what we do, we’ve lost the ability to be reasonable with one another.” Meanwhile, freshman Elizabeth Kunz identifies with the Independent Party, while her father is a Republican and her mother is a Democrat. Despite their differences, Kunz’s parents always try to provide both sides of politics, which has ultimately influenced her political ideologies today, she said. “I would say that I’m independent because for some issues, I agree with the Republican side. For [other] issues, I agree with the Democratic side,” Kunz said. “This is mostly because of my parents. Generally, they will try to give me both sides of every issue, especially with the whole Trump thing going on.” Despite the way the media portrays political issues as black and white, Kunz said she believes that most people are more moderate and independent in terms of politics. “Most people are in the middle. I feel like there’s a divide that’s happening right now where people are becoming like, ‘you have to pick a side’ and then people are super extreme on both sides,” Kunz said. Talking about politics with people whose views differ from yours can be difficult, but just remember the other person isn’t personally attacking you, Kunz said.

PAGE DESIGN BY KACEY REBSTOCK AND SAANVI THAKUR

Spread

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Politics across the spectrum

Photo Illustration by Kacey Rebstock and Saanvi Thakur

When party lines and family intersect

Impeachment across the decades

“

Press, polarization in Trump versus Nixon impeachment By Kacey Rebstock and Saanvi Thakur

Photo by Saanvi Thakur

“

It’s hard to say, because obviously [Trump’s] impeachment, everyone was kinda happy about that, but he’s not going to get impeached. -Lydia Ramirez (11)

“

By Madhavi Karthik and Katelynn Ngo

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PAGE DESIGN BY KACEY REBSTOCK AND SAANVI THAKUR

Lifestyles

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Infographics By Renee Wang Reporting by Sara Shohoud and Renee Wang

Newest trends take inspiration from ‘90s fashion

Old trends die hard in 2020 By Sara Shohoud

well, senior Minji Kim said. “I think mostly [fashion] influenced from movies are being brought back,” Kim said. “I know that I’ve recently just watched a lot of throwback movies, and I have to say their fashion is bomb. And the whole vintage look is back in because of YouTubers like Best Dressed.” Even though retro fashion is a fairly new trend, some have been dressing that way for ages, and fear their fashion sense will become unoriginal. “Things get popular and then it’s irritating, because it turns into something everyone wants,” Matthews said. “It’s basic, and I don’t want to be a local.”

Rapidly growing fashion trends cause us to demand more clothes in a shorter amount of time. According to the University of Queensland, we purchase 80 billion pieces of clothing every year. This practice is known as fast fashion, where stores like Forever 21 or H&M create new styles cheaply and quickly, Kim said. “It wastes a lot of resources,” Kim said. “Most of those clothes are thrown away so it’s a very big environmental issue.” Luckily, bringing back old trends may help decrease fast fashion through thrift and vintage shopping. According to the Reporter,

thrift stores help remove clothes from the waste cycle. Many thrift stores offer retro pieces previously owned in the ‘90s and ‘2000s. Matthews said that thrift stores became popular because people like to be quirky. This need to be different is beneficial to stopping fast fashion by recycling clothes from past decades. While that fashion style is popular now, it is bound to disappear just like many other trends. However, we can expect them to eventually make a comeback. “I think ‘90s trends are kind of always coming back,” Matthews.

Photo by Sara Shouhoud

It’s 2020. The start of a new decade, a new era. As the decade moves forward, fashion seems to move backward. ‘90s fashion of plaid skirts and scrunchies has made an epic comeback. With more and more people dressing like the cast of Clueless, we have to ask where the sudden need for the retro aesthetic comes from. Senior Sara Olsson said she believes these trends come back due to a desire for change. “I think people just want to switch things up and not wear things that are completely normalized,” Olsson said. However, these new trends could be credited to the media as

‘90s GRUNGE LOOK: Matthews

describes her style as ‘90s grunge and androgynous.

Dear Daisy . . . “How far does Girl Code go? Can I talk to my friend’s crush after he told her he doesn’t have feelings and it’s been a few weeks?” Gals before pals. Sisters before misters. Ovaries before brovaries. Girl code. For centuries the idea that girls (and boys) must choose each other before the other sex has been pushed and accepted by many. But where do we draw the line when someone can go after another friend’s ex-crush? The intensity of girl code depends on how close you are to your friend and if you are acquaintances with this crush. If so, then mention that you are talking to the crush in passing once you are sure they are over each other. If you are close friends, then you can consider telling them the details of the situation. If you are not going after

your best friend’s ex, then most girls are ok with you talking to or going out with that person as long as ample time is given for your friend to get over the person of interest. Personally, if it’s an ex-boyfriend, whether a bad break-up or not, I would advise to not pursue the relationship because many complications can arise. Either way, the best way to approach the situation is to just tell your friend what is happening but do not divulge too much information. By that, I mean you do not need to tell them everything that you talked about or the cute nicknames you gave each other right away because she can get overwhelmed. Just simply tell your friend, “Hey girlie, I just wanted to let you know that Chad and I started

talking a couple of days ago and I was wondering if that was ok with you?” Then, talk it through together. The true girl code steps in if she tells you that she does not want you to talk to that person. Who do you do choose: your gal pal or your boy toy? This is ultimately up to you. But, when making that decision, think about whose relationship you would benefit from more in the long run. It is important to remember that there is more than just dating in girl code. There is also the respect given to each and every single woman you meet. For example, if someone needs a feminine product and you have one, then offer it. And, never let your girls be alone whether they are dancing,

walking home or post-breakup. Most importantly, never hate a girl you have never met before. These things are a few basics that should be followed by each woman no matter what age. When dealing with ex-boyfriends or interests, it can get sticky. But, what will fix the problem is the truth. Feelings have no boundaries. You can like someone you are “not supposed to”; you just need to work it out. Just remember that there needs to be an equal amount of respect shown between both relationships with you, your friend and the person of interest. As Gretchen Wieners of Mean Girls once said, “ex-boyfriends are just off-limits to friends. That’s just, like, the rules of feminism!”

Need advice about friends? Having relationship troubles? Scan the QR code to ask Daisy a question!

-Love, Daisy

PAGE DESIGN BY DEXTER TATSUKAWA

Lifestyles Wednesday, February 5, 2020 11 ‘Unicorn companies’ offer alternative products, services Students rely on companies for ride sharing, food delivery, other services By Shruti Magesh

In the last few years, the prominence of ride sharing, food delivery and vacation rental companies has risen, according to CNBC. These options are considered more accessible, cheaper and easier to use. The companies that have risen in popularity over the last few years are commonly referred to as “unicorn companies”, which are small startup companies that sell a product or service and increase in value until they are valued at over one billion dollars, according to Fortune. According to a survey of 121 students conducted by The Epitaph, 42.1 percent of students use Uber, 18.2 percent use Lyft, 32.2 percent use food delivery services and 41.3 percent use Airbnb when traveling. One of the reasons students prefer these services is accessibility, especially for underclassmen who can’t drive yet. Junior Subhokrity Banerjee said she uses Uber often because she doesn’t have a driver’s permit and it makes it easier to get around. In addition, Uber allows her to have more independence, as she doesn’t have to depend on others to commute somewhere. “It’s easy to track where you’re going in Uber. Uber [also] has [a] new safety button which is really good because it makes you feel more secure and comfortable,”

Banerjee said. Others opt to use Uber and other ride sharing services when they are traveling. “When you’re traveling and you’re in a new [city], for example, New York or Seattle, it’s a lot easier to use Uber because you don’t necessarily know where you’re going,” sophomore Ethan Mahimainathan said. “That’s the way you get around if you don’t have local knowledge ... it’s really just an easy, well thought out system that works wherever you go.” Mahimainathan said that in cities such as San Francisco, which lack an abundance of taxis, it may be difficult to get a ride and wait times are often lengthy. But, Uber ensures that the ride will arrive in a timely manner. However, other students remain conc e r n e d about the safety of Uber and prefer other methods of transportation. Sophomore Thien Nhi Vu said she prefers biking or walking over Uber. Despite the safety concerns, Mahimainathan said that the culture is shifting toward an increased reliance on ride sharing services. “[When traveling], I don’t expect to hail a taxi. When I went to London, I used a taxi cab because they look different. And that was the only reason ... I didn’t view it as an actual means of transportation,” Mahimainathan said. “There’s just been a transition,

“There’s just been a transition, [and] my generation has accepted that transition. A lot of people will just use Uber subconsciously as their default.” -Ethan Mahimainathan

Illustration by Anika Karody MAKING THEIR MARK: Unicorn companies have risen in popularity, due to their accessibility and ease of use.

[and] my generation has accepted that transition. A lot of people will just use Uber subconsciously as their default.” Meanwhile, other unicorn companies, such as Pinterest, serve as a way for students to garner inspiration for school projects and designs. “I always need ideas as a student,” Banerjee said. “Pinterest is a place where you get inspired.” Banerjee said another reason she prefers Pinterest to other social media platforms is the absence of hate comments. “[What] I really find amazing is that there are very few hate comments compared to Instagram, TikTok or Facebook,” Banerjee said. “The amount of hate comments [that] are on Pinterest is way less [than other platforms].” In regards to apps like

UberEats and DoorDash, however, many students said they commonly refrain from using these food delivery services, since there are usually stores within walking distance or close by. “I use DoorDash, but not as much because I feel in Cupertino, I have other food stores [available to me],” Banerjee said. Mahimainathan said he will not use DoorDash and other food delivery services in the future because of the negative impact it can have on the climate, as well as the lack of social interaction it creates. “I don’t think I’ll use [DoorDash] in the future because it’s bad for the environment [due to] the shuttling cost for one [or] two meals,” Mahimainathan said. “I don’t envision myself wanting to eat in a house all alone when I’m

older. I’d rather go where there are other human beings and eat food even [if] I’m not interacting with anybody.” Vu said a key aspect of success for these companies includes their online platforms. “I like having apps because it’s more convenient. You don’t have to look [services] up and then search for what you’re doing,” Vu said. Banerjee said she thinks unicorn companies impact the Bay Area by serving as inspirations for students in regards to success and risk taking. “All these unicorn companies [we’re talking about] are successful,” Banerjee said. “I feel these unicorn companies just proved that if you try hard enough, things are not impossible.”

Confidence, comfort: a guide to clearer skin

Students discuss different skincare routines, meaning of inner beauty

By Naomi Baron

Illustrations by Jacqueline Beaufore

People say it’s what’s on the inside that matters. But for many, feeling confident and comfortable stems from your skin. Wanting to feel good in your own skin is a common goal for many. However, accomplishing this goal is not as easy as it may sound. After years of navigatThe ing through countless brands of skincare products, these HHS students have developed a passion for skincare and have managed to curate a routine that works for them. “It’s hard, for me at least, to walk around school not hav-

ing the best day with my skin,” senior Minji Kim said. “I know a lot of people can relate to that.” Kim walks us through her daily skincare routine. Kim first washes her face using a reusable, eco-friendly microfiber — a cloth used to remove makeup — to exfoliate the skin and diminish any acne. After that, Kim uses a foaming cleaner before moving on to toner and moisturizer, she said. “Then I use a serum on top of that, which is something that most people don’t really do. It’s because I have dry skin,” Kim said. “That’s normally how I finish it off and if not, I’ll do acne treatments if I have active acne.” Like Kim, sophomore Hannah Kim said she feels more at ease when her skin is clear.

Ordinary.

“[Skincare] is important to me because personally, when my skin is looking and feeling good, I’m more confident,” Hannah said. Hannah explains her day-today skin care routine. “Every morning and night, I use curology, which is a personalized product. I wash my face with the cleanser that it comes with every day and night,” Kim said. “After that, I use the actual acne medication and then moisturizer, which also comes with the package. I make sure to use a lot of it because hydration is key.” Over the course of finding Curology, Hannah said she has accepted that not everyone’s skin is the same. Acceptance of this is crucial to finding happiness within your own skin, she said. “Everyone has a different

SPF

skin type, so my products might not work for you. Everyone has it different — some have a lot of acne, some only have a few pimples [and] some don’t even get any,” Hannah said. “Regardless of what you have, try your best to be confident and keep taking care of your skin. Patience is key.” Skin care has been important to freshman Josephine Cho for over a year now. As a swimmer, Cho takes extra care of her skin, since being in chlorine causes extra harm to your skin, she said. “I swim and my skin goes through a lot of stuff from the sun and everything so I want to take care of it. [This is] so in the future, it doesn’t become all bad and wrinkly,” Cho said. Throughout her time as a

swimmer, Cho said she has learned many valuable lessons regarding skin care. “You should not get any skin care product you see online or recommended to you because your skin can have a reaction that you don’t know [about],” Cho said. “I feel like sometimes I’m like, ‘This looks really nice’ and I put it on and get a bad reaction which is not good, so you should always look at the ingredients list.” While inner beauty is more important, how you present yourself does impact your mood and confidence. Because of this reason, many value skincare. “At the end of the day, your outer beauty does not matter as much as your inner beauty,” Kim said. PAGE DESIGN BY KATELYNN NGO AND JACK XU

Entertainment

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

One Acts introduces musical, student-written plays The series of plays allows students to learn theater, life skills

By Shruti Magesh

CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT By Saanvi Thakur “Anyone” is Demi Lovato’s new single, released and debuted at the Grammy Awards. The song was written four days before her drug overdose in July 2018, which she dubbed her “call for help,” according to an interview with Apple Music. Through her long journey of mental health and sobriety, Lovato has always been open about her story and even released a documentary called “Simply Complicated” in 2017, which discussed her difficult road to recovery. Seeing Lovato tease her performance on Instagram, I prepared myself for this dream come true; after a year of inactivity in the public eye, I, along with many fans, was eager to hear this new song. On Grammy day, the song appeared on my Spotify and I was ecstatic. The minute Lovato’s voice played through my headphones and I was able to hear the first few lyrics, I started sobbing. Her voice was so vulnerable and prominent. When I listened to “Anyone,” I was reminded of my own mental health struggles and when I was trying to get help. It isn’t easy to admit that you’re suffering, much less find someone for support. The chorus of the song is what really hit close to home. When I struggled with my mental health issues, I have never wanted to publicize my emotions, but I always wished for someone to understand what I was going through. To hear Lovato singing the lyrics, “Anyone, please send me anyone, Lord, is there anyone, I need someone,” was the most powerful and haunting feeling. It felt as if someone read my mind and wrote a song about it. “Anyone” was written by Lovato with so much care, it’s immposible to hate. Lovato’s talent for singing, combined with meaningful, needed lyrics, was beyond perfect and is only the start to an album that I can only begin to imagine.

The actors scramble across the stage, as they prepare to present their scene to drama teacher Leslie Lloyd. As a small group of actors on stage delivers their lines with emotion and passion, other groups of actors patiently wait for their cues, speaking in hushed tones amongst themselves. The scene draws to a close and the actors and directors eagerly await Lloyd’s opinion, as she hustles to the stage to provide them with suggestions. As the opening night of One Acts drew closer and closer, attention to detail in each of the plays increased, yet the sense of team spirit amongst the drama class never wavered. One Acts is a series of short plays performed in one night, director of “The Lottery” and actor, junior Shaqed Orr said. Co-director and co-writer of the musical play “Coffee Shop,” senior Maya Coutzoukis said that One Acts began with a series of auditions, where anyone could audition for any part. Each director had different requirements for their auditions, from improvisation to acting in accordance with various themes. After the actors were cast, rehearsals for the plays began. Rehearsal were structured differently in accordance with the directing styles of the student directors, Orr said.

Photo Courtesy of Brandon Welty STUDENT-DIRECTED PLAY: This year, One Acts hosted its first musical “Coffee Shop” and included several studen-directed and written plays.

“I really like the flexibility that directors can get from managing their own rehearsal process. And I think it’s really special as a student to be able to sort of bring your vision to life as a director,” Orr said. This year, One Acts was vastly different from previous performances: it contained a musical and several student written and directed plays. Coutzoukis said the writing process for the play was long and required multiple drafts. “I actually wrote two scripts before I got my final idea ... I just

sat down, I was like, ‘Okay, I just need to pick something that’s really simple. What’s the simplest thing I can think about? And then I thought a coffee shop,” Coutzoukis said. Although writing, directing, and acting in plays taught the students various aspects of theater, it also served as a way for them to learn the nuances of social interaction and communication, along with other life skills. Orr said that through the play she was able to work with people on a personal basis. Co-director and co-writer of

the musical play “Coffee Shop” senior Jackson Leuenberger said that his experience in drama allowed him to go out of his comfort zone. “In middle school ... I was pretty introverted, pretty quiet ... but in my second semester freshman year I started leading the lighting crew,” Leuenberger said. “When I started drama, my people skills skills improved drastically.” Through all the rehearsals, planning, and coordination the drama class remained upbeat and enthusiastic. “I think that drama club is just a very hyped-up place. We have a lot of energy and people that want to participate in performances feel that energy and feel the bond between everyone because we really are a drama family,” director of “Conflict,” sophomore Bobby Gorelick said.

Check out the One Acts video on The Epitaph’s YouTube channel

Disney fails to redeem popular series ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ contributes to disjointed trilogy By Bryan Ruiz and Sahil Venkatesan With a 52 percent critics rating, it is clear that “The Rise of Skywalker” failed to triumphantly end Disney’s sequel trilogy. There are two problems with “The Rise of Skywalker:” The movie is disjointed and it disrupts the flow of the sequel trilogy. Let’s start by first examining “The Rise of Skywalker” as just a movie. The trailer featured the late Emperor Palpatine laughing, and it was largely confirmed that Ian Mcdurmid would be reprising his role as the Lord of the Sith. Palpatine’s return drew in massive amounts of fans back to the sequel trilogy, and it is clear that this was Disney’s `last ditch effort to keep their trilogy alive. Walking into the theater, I looked forward to learning how Palpatine survived, but to my everlasting surprise, Palpatine was introduced during the opening text crawl with the words, “The

galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE.” JJ Abrams did not touch on the return of Palpatine at all and left the audience bewildered in the opening scenes of the movie. After that scene ends, the next two thirds of the movie consists of Rey running around to various planets with Kylo Ren ‘tracking’ her by using their mysterious force connection. Though the force connection could make sense with proper explanation, no further details are given on this matter other than the fact that they are “connected.” After watching all three movies again, it is clear that the

main problem is that ideas set up in one movie are often completely ignored or reversed in the next movie. This may have been caused because there were no set plot points that each director needed to follow. Abrams hints at the Knights of Ren and dialogue from Obi-Wan Kenobi in one of Rey’s visions in “The Force Awakens” but Johnson simply throws both those concepts out the window in “The Last Jedi.” In “The Last Jedi,” Johnson introduces Rose Tico as a main character, yet Abrams barely gave

Rose a couple minutes of screentime in “The Rise of Skywalker.” All of this could have easily been avoided if there had been set plot points. However, “The Last Jedi” ended up being more of a stand-alone film than a part of a trilogy, showing how directors look over the details from the previous movies. Johnson ignored what The Force Awakens set up, and Abrams ignored what Johnson did in “The Last Jedi.” The result ends up being a finale that could have been much more.

Illustration by Bryan Ruiz and Andrea Sun DISSAPOINTING SERIES END: “The Rise of the Skywalker” proves to be disastrous end to a dysfunctional trilogy.

PAGE DESIGN BY YUKARI E. ZAPATA

Entertainment

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Chanel Miller’s recount of infamous case hits the charts

Memoir details the impact of rape, sexual assault By Jane Park

In 2016, the 12-page victim impact statement of anonymous sexual assault victim Emily Doe went viral. The statement — prompted by the lenient 6-month sentence her assaulter received — counted about the traumatic experience and the ways it affected and continues to affect her. Now, Doe has spoken up. In her memoir “Know My Name,” Doe identifies herself as Chanel Miller, a 27-year-old writer who narrates the life-changing events of the night of her sexual assault and its aftermath. There were parts of this book that made me smile and cry, frustrated beyond reason and furious at everything that happened to the author. On Jan. 15, five years ago, Miller was found near a dumpster half-naked and woke up in a hospital. She underwent invasive, embarrassing search to determine if she had been raped. While Miller had unwavering support from her boyfriend and family, she faced a lot of hate, specifically from online comments under articles published about the assault. Miller weaves together the

Photo illustration by Jane Park A FRESH START: Chanel Miller’s novel gave her the chance to change the way

the public perceives her.

embarrassing, inhumane and gruesome parts of being sexually assaulted — from not remembering any details of the assault to being subject to constant criticism about her drinking habits. Miller describes how it was difficult to move on with life after being sexually assaulted. She broke down after work daily and

struggled to find her identity. She found it hard to return to her normal life, and even moved to Rhode Island to pursue art for a year. Everywhere she went, the burning memory of the sexual assault still tainted her mind. Miller pressed charges against Turner, although it was unclear as

to what that meant. Throughout the entire process, there was little to no communication. Miller was misguided and manipulated throughout the entire case. The recount of the court trial itself is anticlimactic, but purposefully so. Miller’s trial was incredibly degrading; the defendant’s lawyer blamed her for drinking too much, coddled Turner and revealed exposing, embarrassing photos of Miller without her knowledge. People v. Turner was lengthy, abrasive and disappointing to sexual assault victims. Despite prosecutors’ requests for a six-year jail term, Turner was only sentenced to six months, which became three months due to “good behavior,” according to the L.A. Times. “I’m telling you, [this] country protects rapists,” a comment on a Today Show video reporting the trial said. I was too young to understand this case when it first came out, but it infuriates me now. It feels like no matter how hard women try to speak up about the issues that suffocate

us, the injustice will never end. Judge Michael Aaron Persky, who made the verdict, said “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on [Turner],” and that we would “not be a danger to others,” according to the New York Times. Persky was later recalled in 2018 after national outrage. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, one out of six women in the U.S. has experienced rape. Miller’s story hits home for many women because it exposes the flawed court system, which coddles rapists instead of serving justice for victims. Reading this book was a disappointment to me, not because the book was bad, but because of the failures Miller saw throughout the entire system. The trial was unjust and biased. “Know My Name” gives the victim a voice, a fresh start. Brock Turner never received the punishment he deserved, but Miller, with an army of victims and supporters, will continue to fight for more awareness about sexual assault and the consequences it bears.

‘Little Women’ for the modern era Grammy awards boast Fresh urgency in remake of timeless classic By Karen Li With desperate and angry tears filling her eyes, Saoirse Ronan’s Jo March gesticulates, attempting to convey the intensity of being a woman in the world. When the familiar scene from the trailer appeared on the big screen, goosebumps rose on my arms from the force of her emotions. More than anything, it was the feeling of this movie that stuck with me. Directed by Greta Gerwig, who made her debut in 2017 with the coming-of-age film “Lady Bird,” the latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” hit theaters on Christmas Day, immediately showing itself to be a movie to be remembered. Since its publication in 1868, this novel has seen countless adaptations, the most recent being Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 film. Why do we need yet another remake? We don’t, but we should be thankful we got one that is so beautifully relevant. The story takes place in Concord, MA, during the Civil War era, and follows the lives of the four March sisters: Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen) and Amy (Florence Pugh). Ambitious, headstrong Jo drives the story with her unwillingness to abide by societal expectations of women and determination to pursue writing in a world that is not kind to female writers – or females, in general.

undeniable talent

Music proves to be compelling By Andrea Sun

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment TIMELESS AND MOVING: Greta Gerwig’s latest remake of “Little Women” gives a fresh perspective to each character.

It’s not so much a retelling as an added dimension to this timeless story of love, life and youth. This film takes on a life of its own, lending a new perspective to each character while staying authentic to their core traits. Unlike the novel and previous adaptations, Gerwig’s version jumps back and forth in time, from their childhood to seven years later as adults. The two timelines create a nostalgic feeling showcasing the memories attached to each place. For the childhood scenes, Gerwig chose to use a warmer filter that matched the glow of childhood, compared to the cold, blue tint that colors the present. While a poignant story for female empowerment, Gerwig’s touch transforms it into a story for everyone. With the prevalence of male main characters,

girls have historically lacked representation in literature. In “Little Women,” anyone can step into the shoes of these characters and find a piece of themselves – whether it be Jo’s fire, Meg’s warmth, Amy’s stubbornness or Beth’s quiet strength. This remake gives everyone a voice, portraying the intricate complexity of humanity. Each cast member breathes new life into their characters. Beyond the “type” of character they are, they become their own person. For a period piece, there is a sense of urgency that transcends time periods. Gerwig’s film proves why “Little Women” is and will always be relevant. It’s a story about living — in all its splendor and struggle — that will never get old.

While some families have the Super Bowl and others the World Series, my family has the Grammy Awards. Every year, we gather in front of the TV, order pizza and watch as artists perform and accept awards. I had been too busy before to research performers and nominees; however, from young new artists like Billie Eilish to seasoned veterans like Ariana Grande, each person seemed to deserve the awards for which they were nominated. This year, the performances were what truly struck me that night. Camila Cabello’s performance of “First Man” brought me to tears, even though I couldn’t relate to it. It gave me a new perspective on my relationship with the people: there will always be people who loved me first and I’m grateful for that. Demi Lovato’s new song “Anyone” broke me down, too. Remembering my admiration for her as a 5th grader, I soaked in every word she sang, proving that she is still one of the greatest singers of our time. The thing about the Grammys that I often dislike is the disorganized mood of the show. Performer after performer, it’s frustrating to watch such a serious matter be treated so casually. What made this year’s Grammys different was host Alicia Keys. Her smooth direction and command of the evening proved to be a important in making the Grammys flow efficiently. The Grammys were different

this year, though. Kobe Bryant, his daughter and other passengers’ deaths hung over the crowd as they celebrated music in “Kobe’s house.” The admiration of each artist was thorough and truly reminded me even though life is short, we must work to make the world a better place. The Grammys ended with a shocking series of wins by Eilish, though one could argue they were well deserved. The 18 year-old was at a loss for words by the time she won Record of the Year for “Bad Guy,” and so was I. I couldn’t help but think she was exactly the same age as I was. Overall, the Grammys did not disappoint this year. Most of all, I was impressed by the talent shown, something I hope I will be able to say year after year.

Scan the QR code to read this month’s Behind The Hashtag on our instagram @ HHSEpitaph PAGE DESIGN BY SHREYA PARTHA

Sports

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The Fan brothers: a dynamic duo on varsity soccer

Their bond stems from a lifetime of playing together, allowing them to dominate the field By Kacey Rebstock and Leila Salam

FARIA FOCUS By Jackson Faria The game of baseball has seen many changes in its 100-year history. From new rules, new styles of play, and different forms of cheating, baseball has evolved to stay relevant. To start the new year off, Major League Baseball (MLB) was hit with a serious cheating scandal. Unlike other professional sports, baseball has “unwritten” rules that allow cheating to some extent. Players and coaches are allowed to unscramble hand signs of the opposing team, which are used as a form of communication. In the baseball world, this is known as stealing signs. The MLB conducted an investigation about the 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros to find out if the team was illegally stealing signs from other teams during their championship run. The Astros bench coach, Alex Cora, is said to be the man behind the idea of stealing signs. The investigation then expanded to the 2018 world champion, the Boston Red Sox, who hired Cora as their manager. Both teams were accused of having hidden cameras in their ball parks to film the opposing teams’ signs and then relay them back to the players so they would know what pitches to expect coming up to bat. Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers was the first to come out and publicly confirm the accusation that the Astros were stealing signs, arguing that it was cheating players out of their opportunity to make their start in the league. As the MLB continues to expand their investigation, the Astros have fired their manager AJ Hinch and General manager Jeff Lunhow, and the Red Sox have fired Cora for his involvement.

Playing on a sports team can feel like a family, but the varsity boys soccer team is a little closer than most, Coach Luis Comesana said. “I know [it] sounds like a cliche, but we act like a family [we] care for each other,” he said. Being brothers only two years apart, sophomore Collin Fan and senior Devin Fan share a bond different from what they have with any of their other teammates. “I’m just lucky to be playing with someone who I actually know really well,” Collin said. “With your brother, it’s just a completely different feel to the game.” Playing with your brother changes the energy on the field, as they are not only more in tune with each other, but each can better anticipate the other’s next move, Devin said. “The chemistry is perfect. I’ll see him and I’ll put [the ball] to where he can get it, and I know he can get there,” he said. “It’s like we’re on the same wavelength and we always have been.” This isn’t their first time playing together, though. Living in Shanghai, when they were young,

the Fan brothers dominated the field together, too. “We played in the same recreational team and we won every single game,” Collin said. “Every single game. It was just me and him.” Their experience living in Shanghai also continues to give them an advantage on the field, putting them ahead of the rest, Collin said. “Since we lived in China, we both speak pretty good Chinese,” Collin said. “On the field sometimes we’ll communicate and people won’t know what we are saying.” Brotherhood is to be a common theme for HHS soccer; this isn’t the first set of brothers who have played on the same team. “I’ve been here 33 years, so I’ve seen a lot of brothers,” Comesana said. “I’ve had at least two sets of twins, lots of brothers, lots of combinations. They’re all different.” Since Devin is a senior, he’s ending his career on a high note, he said, playing alongside Collin. “It’s going to be the last time we play together before college so it’s nice to play [together] one more time,” Collin said.

Photos by Leila Salam A PERFECT CHEMISTRY: Devin and Collin’s joint soccer journey started when

Devin was eight years old and Collin was six years old.

Boys basketball shoots for league championship Team chases high aim, work hard mentality By Karen Li

The energy is palpable as the air comes alive with the squeak of shoes against the gym floor, the stampede of feet back and forth, the thrum of the ball on the court and the shouts from the stands. The boys varsity basketball team is focused as they drive forward and staunchly defend their basket, showing their single-minded determination to win. After their game against Los Altos High School on Jan. 29, the team has played seven out of the 12 league games, currently holding a league record of 2-5, at the time of publication. During pre-season, they played 12 games, finishing with a record of 8-4 and qualifying for CCS by fulfilling the six-win requirement. The team’s primary goal this season is to become league champions. With some of the best public high school teams in the area, the De Anza league is a challenging one. However, coach Matt Wright said he believes the team stands a good chance. “We know it’s going to be tough, but we feel like we’re in the race, and if we continue to work hard and improve, we have a chance to win leagues,” Wright said. As seniors, David Aronson and Amit Dunevich said they hope to finish their last season strong. To do so, they understand they must put in the work.

“Lately in practice, we’ve been doing a lot of film sessions, which includes going over [recorded] plays of other teams and figuring out [their] weaknesses,” Aronson said. “In our games, we’re looking to exploit those weaknesses.” Wright said he emphasizes watching game film to help players analyze their opponents. “I try to learn about our opponents and their strengths and weaknesses and do the same with our own game film to teach our players where we need to get better,” Wright said. This season, the team has been particularly strong in winning close games, Dunevich said. Wright said he has been impressed by the team’s rebounding and lack of turnovers. “For a team that’s fairly small, we win the rebound battle in games quite a bit, which gives us extra opportunities,” Wright said. Despite their successes, the boys hope to improve by toughening up their defense in games for the remainder of the season. “In many of our games, we’ve slipped up a bit but regained momentum,” Aronson said. “We’re looking to play solid and make sure the other team doesn’t have the chance to get back into it.” Wright said he strives for more consistency in the team’s defensive play. “Sometimes we’re phenomenal, other times we fall asleep and give up too many easy shots to the other team,” he said. Most importantly, the team aims to foster a healthy environ-

ment, and this sentiment extends from Dunevich, playing his last season of high school basketball, to sophomore Connor Kane who is in his second year. “Working together, communication, and playing hard but together – everyone on the same page – [is essential to the team’s success],” Dunevich said. Kane said that although it was intimidating to be one of two sophomores on the varsity team, he has built strong relationships with his teammates. “When you’re on the court with someone, it’s a different bond than a regular friendship,” Kane said. “It’s a brotherhood.” Junior Ori Brutman said he agrees the secure team dynamic

lends to their ultimate success. “One of our biggest strengths is our chemistry, both on and off the court,” Brutman said. “We are a family, and we know it.” Ultimately, Wright said he hopes to guide his players on their path to becoming young adults. “Through basketball, we can learn a lot of life lessons, whether it’s working hard or building friendships that they’ll have for the rest of their lives,” Wright said. “I’m excited to see these guys become tough individuals who will hopefully go out into the real world to become successful off the court as well.”

Photo by Jane Park TOUGH DEFENSE AHEAD: Junior Daniel Braithwaite furiously defends against

Palo Alto High School at their home game on Jan. 17.

PAGE DESIGN BY SAHIL VENKATESAN

Sports

Wednesday, February 5, 2020 Ph

NEXT GAME: FEB. 3, LOS GATOS

Girls varsity soccer won on Jan. 29 against Los Altos with a score of 1-0.

NEXT GAME: FEB. 5, LOS GATOS

10-9

Photo by Nitya

Girls varsity basketball won on Jan. 21 against Mountain View, with a score of 66-38.

Kash yap

girls Basketball

boys Basketball Boys varsity basketball lost on Jan. 29 against Los Altos, with a score of 56-34. n Su

Wrestling

Photo by Karen Li

P ho to

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Next game: feb. 5, los gatos

Boys varsity soccer lost on Jan. 29 against Los Altos, with a score of 3-0.

Girls soccer

8-3-4

Next Game: Feb. 4, Santa Clara

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Boys soccer

6-6

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SCAN the QR CODE to learn more about the team! PAGE DESIGN BY NIKA BONDAR

16 By Sara Shohoud

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Q A &

“

“ What are you most looking forward to in 2020?

“Getting a girlfriend.” - Rylee Quiambao (9)

“This summer, I’m going to New York for the first time and I can practice my New York accent.” - Rishi Saxena (12)

“The rest of the school year and the basketball season.” - Ivan Loh (9)

“Getting my braces off.” - Suodaba Adel (12)

Photos By Sara Shohoud

Leap Year - this happens every four years, which means there will be 29 days in February

Total Solar Eclipse on Dec. 14 - don’t forget to buy a pair of eclipse goggles before they sell out

Cinco de Mayo is on Taco Tuesday - celebrate this holiday with a taco or two

2020 is full of fun happenings. Check out what you can do this year!

Fashion:

This summer, get ready for strappy wedged sandals, boxy shorts and cropped vests. The style influence for summer ’20 is late ’50s and ’60s. Get excited to see soft colors and dainty accessories. For boys, pair your mid-thigh swim trunks with loose button ups and simple sneakers.

Last Word

ne color you will definitely see a lot of in 2020 is Pantone’s chosen Color of the Year: Classic Blue, a deep, calming shade of blue that brings to mind a bowl full of ripe blueberries. 2020 is already gearing up to be a year full of instability: climate change, impeachment hearings and deadly viruses. Pantone thinks that Classic Blue can bring about a sense of dependability, tranquility and reassurance. Classic Blue is both genderless and seasonless, meaning anyone can wear it at any time. Additionally, this shade can be easily derived from natural plants and dyes, fitting the sustainability trend of the recent Colors of the Year. This shade of blue may seem boring at first glance, but it is livelier than navy and indigo, softer than cobalt and darker than cerulean. Classic Blue is a nonthreatening, but bold color that can hold well by itself. Psychologically, although blue is a color reflected in the sky and the ocean, it is not otherwise found commonly in nature, art teacher Tyler Cripe said. “If you went back five or six hundred years ago, blue would be one of the hardest colors to get,” Cripe said. Blue had to be derived from lapis lazuli, which was only found in the Middle East; therefore, it was even more expensive than gold. What little blue pigment an artist could afford was used exclusively for the Virgin Mary’s clothes, Cripe said. One reason blue is so popular now, he said, is because it is a technological marvel that we can mass-produce this color. As per the usual trend, Classic Blue is bound to pop up everywhere, from clothes to home decor to even food. To match this color, Cripe said he recommends that students look to the color wheel. Directly across blue on the color wheel is orange, and the two colors compliment each other well. However, Cripe said he wants students to remember that Classic Blue is just a product created by Pantone, a million-dollar industry. “Pick[ing] a color of the year is a publicity stunt that totally works,” Cripe said. “And this works over and over again so they just keep doing it every single year.”

By Allen Zhang

The color of the year

Seeing blue

20 VI SI ON 20

Fun Facts for 20 20 Two Friday the 13ths - this year, Friday the 13th will come up in March and November

Fourth of July & Halloween are on Saturdays - now you have extra time to celebrate your favorite holidays on the weekend

By Jacqueline Beaufore and Allen Zhang

Vote for 46th President - come November 5, if you’re 18, you can vote for the next president

100th anniversary of Women’s right to vote - the 19th amendment was passed in 1920

Predictions of 20 20 Music:

Rap: Watch out for and keep an eye on Baby Keem, whose music is a mix between trap and indie. Popular songs: “Orange Soda,” “Honest” and “Leverage.” Indie: Chiiild is an up-and-coming artist known for her slow beats and soft voice. Popular songs: “Hands Off Me,” “Count Me Out” and “Back To Life. “

By Jacqueline Beaufore

HHS:

Construction: The Guidance and Student Services building will be finished but construction will not be over. The current A building will be the next building to be renovated. Sports: The HHS baseball team will win at least half of their games this season and may even go to CCS. Our football team will be in D1 this fall semester. We might have a rough season, but it will prepare the team for years to come.

PAGE DESIGN BY JACQUELINE BEAUFORE, SARA SHOHOUD AND ALLEN ZHANG

Illustrations by Jacqueline Beaufore, Sara Shohoud, Tiffany Yu and Allen Zhang