The Lowell Newsmagazine January 2020

Lowell The

January 2020

Mental Health: A Difficult Conversation

Skipping the smoke: SFUSD should cancel school on unhealthy air days PHOTO COURTESY OF OLIVIA SOHN CHRISTINA KAN

Not just for kicks: Sophomore runs her own sneaker reselling business

LAUREN CALDWELL

Lowell holds first-ever schoolwide NCAA signing day for five Lowell athletes

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ONLINE CONTENT

Cover illustration by Amy Marcopulos

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

02 EDITORIAL At your

service: Why Lowell should have a community service requirement

03 COVER Mental health: A difficult conversation

10 PHOTOS Fall sports 2019: The run down

12 COLUMN Through the

Editor-in-Chief | Kate Green General Editor | Anna Kaplan News Editors | Crystal Chan | Joelle Chien | Allison Jou Opinion Editors | Elyse Foreman Sports Editor | Seamus Geoghegan Multimedia Editor | Anita Liu Photo Editor | Lauren Caldwell Art Manager | Amy Marcopulos Reporters | Joy Cheng | Pierre Dayon | Eric Dye | Io Gilman | Sarah Liu | Jacqueline Mei | Brandon Ng | Isabella Paterson | Tess Randall | Sophia Shen | Zoe Simotas | Jacob Thompson | Christy Vong | Lee Wilcox | Rae Wymer | Allister Xu | Kristen Yeung | Wilson Zhu

14 FEATURE Give me

Illustrators | Mella Bettag | Jillian Carrillo | Cameron Chan | Amy Marcopulos | Warren Quan | Cindy Tan

convenience or give me death

18 INFOGRAPHICS A Lowellite’s future: The ambitions of students

20 OPINION Beyond the binary

Business Managers | Hannah Lucas | Yi Luo | Ellie Paik | Anson Tan Web Managers | Brandon Bui | Mia Chen Social Media Managers | Ashley Franco |Thanhvy Phan | Richard Soong | Chloe Wong Advisor | Eric Gustafson

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@THELOWELL

SPREAD DESIGN BY LAUREN CALDWELL AND ANITA LIU

ink of my pen

Photographers | Zephyr Anderson | Lauren Caldwell | Isabella Deloa | Christina Kan | Xinglin Li | Anita Liu | Nicolas Ramirez | Marlena Rohde | Nicole Stetsyuk | Justin Yang | Kimberly Yee

EDITORIAL

At your service:

Why Lowell needs a community service requirement

A

t a school where most student learning is confined to the classroom, it can be difficult to recognize that some of the most meaningful and beneficial educational experiences often take place outside of class. With academics being the top priority for the majority of Lowell students, many may not take the time to notice what is happening outside of 1101 Eucalyptus — in their own community and city — and to reflect on the amount of human suffering that exists in one of the wealthiest cities in America. This is why Lowell should implement a 30-hour community service graduation requirement. Not only would the addition of this graduation requirement aid in improving San Francisco’s communities and neighborhoods, but it would also impart a host of benefits upon students.

If students are concerned that such a requirement would be one more burden to complicate their already busy lives, we ask that they reflect on the following: A 30-hour requirement, spread over four years, amounts to just 7 1/2 hours of community service per year and less than nine minutes per week. This amount of time is quite small, especially in comparison to the community service requirements

community service requirement at Lowell could be improved mental health and overall well-being among the student body. Many studies have conclusively shown volunteer work to be linked to better mental health, including one conducted by the UnitedHealth Group. This study found that 78 percent of volunteers had improved moods and 94 percent had lower stress levels as a result of volunteer work.

Equally significant, including community service as a graduation requirement would align with and help to promote Lowell’s Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRs). Every classroom at Lowell contains a poster listing the ESLRs, which outline the characteristics and values that an ideal Lowell student will exhibit. However, very little is done by the school to actively promote and ensure that students follow these guidelines. Community service would assist in ensuring that students live up to the ESLRs, specifically the expectations that students “engage respectfully and civilly with people of varying backgrounds and perspectives” and that they “contribute time, energy, and talent to improve the quality of life locally and globally.” Through community service activities, students have the opportunity to meet people with unique perspectives and to build goals that are not solely

If students start their community service work with even a hint of enthusiasm, that hint may grow into a zeal for giving back to their community. at another academically rigorous San Francisco high school, Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, which requires 100 hours of community service, and within a nearby school district, Gilroy Unified School District, which calls for a minimum of 80 service hours from students.

In Lowell’s case, a 30-hour requirement would be lengthy enough to provide students with an entrée to learning the importance of giving back to their community without negatively impacting their grades and other responsibilities.

For the many Lowellites who are already performing 30 hours or more of community service through their membership in one or more of the approximately 40 clubs devoted to volunteering, such as BuildOn, Key Club, and the Red Cross Club, this requirement would also be a way to formally encourage and acknowledge their efforts.

Moreover, with immense academic pressure and competition contributing to the rising number of mental health issues among teenagers, one of the most significant benefits of implementing a

focused on their own academic and personal success, but on engaging in civic life and improving the lives of others.

With more than 800 nonprofit organizations in San Francisco alone, a community service graduation requirement would also give Lowellites the opportunity to explore these nonprofits and find one that is dedicated to an issue or activity they are passionate about, whether that be by volunteering at a STEM-oriented organization, such as Techbridge Girls, or a writing-oriented nonprofit, such as 826 Valencia.

We acknowledge that it is unrealistic to believe that all Lowell students will be enthusiastic about adding community service as a graduation requirement. That being said, if students start their community service work with even a hint of enthusiasm, that hint may grow into a zeal for giving back to their community. If just a quarter of each graduating class feels that ardor as an outcome of their community service experience, imagine the impact that these students could make on society. v

Accolades 2018 NSPA Print Pacemaker Finalist, 2014 NSPA Online Pacemaker, 2012 NSPA Print Pacemaker, 2011 NSPA All-American, 2011 NSPA Online Pacemaker, 2009 NSPA First Class Honors, 2007 NSPA Web Pacemaker, 2007 CSPA Gold Crown, 2007 NSPA All-American

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v The Lowell January 2020

CARTOON

T-3 minutes until block 4

CINDY TAN

FROM THE EDITOR Dear readers of The Lowell, Since the seventh grade, I have been writing on school newspapers with one of my closest friends, Allison Jou. This issue’s cover story was our brain child: I remember us deciding to write this last school year, running through ideas while leaning up against filing cabinets in the counseling office. We solidified our pact in a Google Doc that we created in August. We continued to add to it until Ally died by suicide in early September.

Mental health can be difficult to talk about. It’s frankly terrifying to be vulnerable around other people — I’m still not the best at it — but learning how to open up to friends, family, and Wellness staff members is what has gotten me through these past few months.

It is important that we don’t just avoid this conversation. To prevent future tragedies and help us foster a healthier and more open student body, we need to start an honest dialogue about mental illness, prioritize our own physical and mental health, and identify and support our peers who may be struggling.

Opinions Editor, Elyse Foreman The Lowell is published by the journalism classes of Lowell High School. All contents copyright Lowell High School journalism classes. All rights reserved.

The Lowell strives to inform the public and to use its opinion sections as open forums for debate. All unsigned editorials are opinions of the staff. The Lowell welcomes comments on school-related issues from students, faculty and community members. Send letters to the editors to thelowellnews@gmail.com. Names will be withheld upon request. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication.

The Lowell is a student-run publication distributed to thousands of readers including students, parents, teachers and alumni. All advertisement profits fund our newsmagazine issues. To advertise online or in print, email thelowellads@yahoo.com.

Contact us: Lowell High School 1101 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, CA 94132 415-759-2730 or at thelowellnews@gmail.com

The Lowell January 2020

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SPREAD DESIGN BY JOELLE CHIEN

Ally, this is your article.

Mental health: A difficult conversation

“C

By Elyse Foreman and Allison Jou

ome in, sit down, be comfortable!� a Wellness Center therapist eagerly instructed.

May, a senior who requested to use a pseudonym, tentatively curled herself into the corner of the office’s couch, her hand gripped tightly around her referral slip.

Despite years of struggling with general anxiety disorder, this session last school year marked the first time May received support from the Wellness Center. A survey conducted by The Lowell found that approximately 36 percent of Lowellites either believe they have a mental illness or have been diagnosed with a mental illness, yet fewer than nine percent of the student body are receiving professional help with their mental health.

These statistics stand at odds with recent school efforts to increase student mental health support, begging the question: what barriers are preventing students from using mental health resources?

COVER

Discussions around self-care and mental wellbeing have not been normalized at Lowell, which Wellness Center Coordinator Carol Chao-Herring believes discourages students from reaching out for help.

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The Lowell January 2020

May’s journey with mental health began in the fourth grade, when school social workers supported her through early struggles with anxiety. Through the following years, May would avoid situations that brought her anxiety; when she couldn’t, her “nerves,” to use the term she uses, could largely be soothed with deep breathing and calming words.

However, May’s condition abruptly worsened in high school, coming to a head during her junior year. Suddenly, May was facing full-blown panic attacks that kept her awake until 5 a.m. These panic attacks also hit before classes, often forcing her to leave school early, and, on some days, not come to school at all. May began isolating herself from her friends and quitting her extracurriculars — anxiety was controlling her life.

When May was at her lowest points, the rigor of Lowell’s academics contributed to her deteriorating mental health. “[Lowell students] focus more on staying up writing an essay while pulling an all-nighter and drinking Red Bulls than sleep, healthy eating, and exercising,” May said. Falling into this familiar pattern served to compound May’s existing anxiety.

This pursuit of academic excellence over physical and mental health seemingly pervades the campus. According to The Lowell’s survey, over 70 percent of students believe that Lowell is not a healthy environment for student mental wellbeing.

Teachers have also recognized this destructive mentality.

“There’s almost a certain pride here about the level of stress,” social studies teacher and Lowell parent Lauretta Komlos said.

“That makes me worry about my own kids, about my students.”

Despite the shared stress Lowellites experience, mental health is still a taboo topic. The Lowell’s survey found that 14 percent of students have never heard peers mention their mental health, and another 22 percent have overheard such conversations on only one or two occasions. Discussions around self-care and mental wellbeing have not been normalized at Lowell, which Wellness Center Coordinator Carol Chao-Herring believes discourages students from reaching out for help. “[Some students] feel a responsibility to look and be happy so that they don’t worry friends and family,” she said. “In a culture where we wear a lot of masks and aren’t able to take them off and be vulnerable, it makes it more difficult to seek help.”

When May’s anxiety worsened last year, she knew she needed support, but the vulnerability of reaching out was daunting. The lack of a school dialogue around mental health on top of negative experiences with middle school therapists caused her to worry that her panic attacks would be dismissed as insignificant or imaginary.

“I thought they wouldn’t think it was serious,” May said. “I told myself, ‘I am just panicking over going to school, they’ll think this is a stupid reason to be panicking, they won’t understand.’”

May finally made it to the Wellness Center after intervention from school staff. May’s AP Psychology teacher Alice KwongBallard, who she considers to be her “safe-person” at Lowell, recognized the severity of May’s anxiety and wrote her a referral to the Wellness Center. “Ms. Kwong was the catalyst to the journey of getting help,” May said. “If she didn’t reach out and help me, then I probably still would be in a lot of mental stress and pain.”

Kwong-Ballard’s efforts demonstrate the vital role many Lowell teachers play in identifying and supporting students struggling with their mental health. Every year, teachers are required to complete an online training on how to recognize warning signs of self-harm or risk for suicide among students.

Whenever Komlos identifies a student who might be struggling,

she refers them to the Wellness Center or contacts their academic counselors. Some staff members, like math teacher Robert Tran, go beyond the action plans from the training, and use creative tools to check in on student well-being.

Periodically, Tran asks his students to write him letters on how they are doing outside of class. These letters give him insight into the stress they are under from other courses, extracurriculars, and home responsibilities and have led him to prompt some students to see counselors at the Wellness Center. “I’ve tried to remind them that their health (physical, mental, and emotional) comes first,” Tran wrote in a statement to The Lowell.

While teachers can help to break through mental health stigma born out of Lowell’s competitive academic environment, stigma rooted in culture is a barrier less easily addressed. According to Lowell’s 2017-2018 school profile, the student body is over 56 percent Asian. The Asian American community’s unique, complex relationship with mental health can be an elephant in the room when discussing students’ hesitance to utilize available resources.

The disparities between which demographics visit the Wellness Center are significant. According to a 2018 survey of 971 San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students by the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), an advocacy group for San Francisco’s low-income Chinese community, almost all students of color were less likely than white students to utilize SFUSD Wellness Centers — Asians being the least represented minority.

While increased health risks might contribute to the overrepresentation of African American, Filipinx, and Latinx youth in Wellness Centers, a 2013 study using data from the 2007 SFUSD Youth Behavioral Risk Survey attempted to control for these variables and still found Asians to be underrepresented.

The CPA believes that this difference is partially caused by the “model minority” myth which portrays Asian Americans as monolithic, introverted, and high achieving.

In its 2018 survey’s published findings, the

generational trauma. Many Asian immigrant families have experienced war, famine, and extreme poverty, harrowing experiences that Hu has seen some get through by using denial as a coping mechanism. According to Hu, this trend can lead to parents downplaying the significance of the problems their children face and deeming discussions about mental health “self indulgent.” May, who is Japanese American, has observed this issue at Lowell. “There are families that are really understanding, but there’s definitely a stigma among Asian American families about being able to open up about mental health,” she said.

The Lowell’s survey revealed that 20 percent of Lowellites consider a lack of parental support, not just for cultural reasons, to be a key barrier standing between them and mental health resources. Early on, May’s parents’ ignorance regarding her panic disorder kept her from care and support. “When I would panic, my parents were like, ‘Just breathe and stay mindful,’” May said. “What does that even mean?

They didn’t even know what that meant.”

Lowell administrators have recently launched efforts to increase mental health awareness among parents. On November 6th, around 200 parents attended a “Family Mental Health Training” organized by administration, SFUSD crisis responders, and Chao-Herring.

After presenter Kevin Gogin, a director of SFUSD school health programs and the point person for Crisis Response at SFUSD, explained statistics on SFUSD teen suicide, it became clear just how uninformed parents were over what resources are available to their teens. One parent asked, “If one in 12 students have attempted suicide [in the past year], what is SFUSD doing to address this problem?” Another parent inquired as to why they had never heard of the Wellness Center before.

This lack of awareness about the Wellness Center has serious ramifications

“There’s definitely a stigma among Asian American families about being able to open up about mental health.”

CPA wrote that this myth “invisibilizes the stories and struggles of many young Asian American people who may internalize behaviors and disorders, such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.”

Further attention has been brought to the Asian American community’s relationship with mental health in the wake of 2009 and 2015 suicide clusters at Henry M. Gunn and Palo Alto High Schools. Half of the students who died were Chinese American, motivating the school district to fund more outreach programs and partner with the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry. One program that came from this effort is Stanford’s “Asian Family Vignette” project in which psychologists perform skits for Asian parents that model healthy communication skills to use when discussing mental health with teenagers.

The Lowell January 2020

SPREAD DESIGN BY ANITA LIU AND KATE GREEN

The program’s founder, Rona Hu, a Stanford clinical professor with a focus on cultural psychiatry and Asian American issues, believes that some Asian Americans harbor a stigma against mental illness due to

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COVER given the essential role it plays in connecting students to outside mental health services.

According to The Lowell’s survey, 30 percent of students were not aware that they could sign up for counseling services or refer other students to the Wellness Center. These services are what gave May the referral necessary to see a therapist in her insurance network, allowing her to be diagnosed for the first time with general anxiety disorder and panic disorder. With a diagnosis, May has access to cognitive behavioral therapy and medications that have significantly improved her mental health.

Without Wellness Center referrals, outside therapists can be out of reach for many students. Data from The Lowell’s survey revealed cost to be the second most common factor keeping students from receiving help with their mental health. The Affordable Care Act mandates that all insurance plans must cover mental health care, but bureaucratic hurdles often cause those with insurance to opt to pay out of pocket. The bill for a single talk therapy appointment in the Bay Area ranges between $150 and $200, according to KQED. This price can be a significant burden, given that Lowell’s 2018 school profile states that 36 percent of Lowell students are eligible for free or reduced meals based on Federal income guidelines.

Students’ whose families cannot afford private therapy have the option of appointments at the Wellness Center itself, but these too can be difficult to secure.

Lowell is the biggest high school in SFUSD; yet, according to the 1999 San Francisco Wellness Intitiative’s 2017 update, Lowell’s Wellness Center has fewer support groups and community partners and a staff roughly the same size as that of every other SFUSD school, with two full-time therapists and interns serving 2,900 students. Still, this is an improvement since when Chao was first hired, when the team was less than half this size and the center itself was largely unheard of by the student body. “If you ask students who graduated around 2011, a lot of them won’t know that they had a wellness center,” she said. Nevertheless, the center’s staffing shortage can mean longer waits for in-school therapy, or

referrals to see therapists who work for the center’s partners during outside hours.

Chao-Herring recognizes her staff is thinly stretched, so she has been teaming up with the wider Lowell

community to help dismantle the aforementioned barriers keeping students from accessing mental health support.

In November, the Wellness Center partnered with Lowell’s Mental Health Awareness Club (MHA) and administration to stage a “Wellness Week” on campus.

MHA, founded by senior Stella McGinn, works to dismantle mental health stigma on campus. “If there is no discussion, there is only darkness,” McGinn said, describing the club’s efforts to encourage dialogue around mental health. MHA helped organize the week full of self-care mantras, daily health challenges, and community-building art pieces on the catwalk, and following its success, Principal Dacotah Swett hopes to make this event an

school schedule, an increased mental health curriculum, and collaborations with outside organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness to bring mental health tools to students. Additionally, administration held a professional development course in November focussed on suicide prevention and support for teachers for staff members.

In order to address the imbalance in Wellness Center attendance, the Wellness team is collaborating with the Chinese Progressive Alliance to bring more outreach to students. Wellness workers are using a CPA needs assessment of Lowell to develop new programming to serve students who are not currently accessing their services, and the district recently approved Lowell’s request to hire a temporary full-time wellness outreach worker. This coordinator will partner with clubs and peer leaders to educate previously unreached demographics about Wellness Center opportunities.

Lowell’s Wellness team hopes that the new programming they develop will serve students who are not currently accessing their services.

Both Chao-Herring and McGinn know that sometimes, more serious conversations are left in the hands of students. Because teachers and Wellness counselors are all mandated reporters, or professionals who are legally required to report any suspicion of attempts to hurt oneself or another, some students fear sharing their struggles with self-harm or suicidal ideation with adults who can help. Several times, McGinn has faced the experience of supporting friends who were struggling with suicidal ideation, or thoughts or plans to take one’s own life. She went to the Wellness Center for help. “It’s scary,” she said. “It’s really hard being on the outside of it, but you have to be there for them.” For students in this situation, Chao-Herring recommends that they turn to the Wellness Center for professional advice to support their friends, where they won’t be forced to report their friends’ names.

When a student doesn’t feel comfortable referring a friend to Wellness Center, ChaoHerring hopes they will begin a dialogue themselves. “Just saying ‘I noticed’ without

“If there is no discussion, there is only darkness.”

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The Lowell January 2020

annual, destigmatizing tradition at Lowell.

Swett and other school administrators are looking into other avenues to improve student mental health. According to Swett, they are considering adjustments to the

judgement, and really giving the person space to open up can really help, ” she said. McGinn recognizes that speaking up in this way requires effort, but believes the temporary discomfort is worthwhile. After losing a friend to suicide two years ago, she found an outlet among her friends and family to speak up about her own

“I went through the worst time of my life, but I’m okay now. I thought it was never going to end, but I’m still here.”

depession and anxiety. “At first it was difficult, but after breaking through and starting to talk about it, it’s relieving,” she said.

May also encourages students to speak up about their mental health, creditting opening up to friends as a major turning point on her journey towards improved mental health. “It’s scary, but it’s not a completely scary thing because we do have resources,” she said. “Once I started talking about it more, I noticed people would be like, ‘Oh, I have this too!’ It’s nice to know that there are other people.”

Having navigated her mental health maze, May now receives the support she needs from her peers, parents, the Wellness Center, and outside resources. “I went through the worst time of my life, but I’m okay now,” she said. “I thought it was never going to end, but I’m still here. Go get help…If you feel like you’re the only one who has this problem, you’re not the only one.”v

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMY MARCOPULOS

The Lowell January 2020

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SPREAD DESIGN BY ANITA LIU AND KATE GREEN

ALL INFOGRAPHICS BY ANITA LIU DATA FROM A RANDOM SURVEY OF 358 STUDENTS CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN JANUARY 2020

SPORTS

NICOLAS RAMIREZ XINGLIN LI

LAUREN CALDWELL

ANITA LIU

NICOLAS RAMIREZ

The run down

FOOTBALL:

The JV football team rushes out onto the field during halftime of the Battle of the Birds game on Oct. 11.

CROSS COUNTRY: The cross country team competes against other high schools, and comes out on top in all events on Oct. 22.

GOLF:

The varsity girls golf demolished their competition yet again, winning their sixth consecutive championship title. In the championship match, Lowell defeated Washington 486-382 on Oct. 28.

VOLLEYBALL:

The varsity girls volleyball team’s junior setter Gabriella Quach (right) sets for junior middle Alina Qi (left) in the first round of CIF State Championships on Nov. 12. The team went one to win the Division-III CIF State Championship for the first time ever.

TENNIS:

Sophomore Danielle Vakutin strikes the tennis ball with a forehand stroke. The varsity girls tennis team went undefeated this season, winning their championship game agaisnt Lincoln, sweeping in all divisions.

The Lowell January 2020

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SPREAD DESIGN BY SEAMUS GEOGHEGAN AND ANITA LIU

Fall sports 2019:

COLUMN

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JILLIAN CARRILLO

Through the ink of my pen

By Joy Cheng

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v The Lowell January 2020

A

s I approached the front gate to my house, sweaty and out of breath, I rushed to unlock the mailbox. Inside rested an envelope, the exterior taped with lace ribbon and decorated with a few dried flowers. Turning it in my hands, I noticed the words “Please handle with care” printed along the bottom in precise cursive. Even after penpalling for over six months, this new letter from Malaysia made my heart skip a beat in excitement.

My journey with penpalling began in the third grade, when my English class formed a partnership with a school in Hong Kong, and I began writing to a boy in the same grade. Through this collaboration, I grew increasingly fascinated with the differences between our school lives — it was hard to believe that his school lunch was stewed fish and steamed rice, freshly made!

The correspondence faded as the semester came to a close, yet the cultural knowledge I gained was irreplaceable. In the following years, I further developed my interest in understanding other cultures when traveling with my family thanks to my father’s job at American Airlines.

Whether visiting London’s bustling city center or Kyoto’s serene bamboo forest, I loved every moment of my time abroad, yet I felt the need to reestablish the deeper personal connection penpalling gave me. Nothing compares to receiving a physical manifestation of effort and knowing you are bringing that same joy to someone else.

I was determined to finally find another penpal, but without school as a liaison, I had no idea where to look. One day, during the summer before ninth grade, as I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram, I came across a hashtag named #lookingforpenpals.

It featured hundreds of users looking to foster friendships across the world. I clicked on a girl from Seattle, Washington’s profile, and after a brief conversation, we agreed to correspond. I was ecstatic anticipating her first letter.

A letter per month quickly became a letter per week, as I went from one penpal, to three, to six. South Korea, Malaysia, Germany, and various American states became interconnected through the ink of my pen. As I had hoped, my appreciation and understanding of these various places also increased. The recommendations my penpals suggested influenced my monthly playlists, the television dramas on my to-watch list, and even my culinary tastes. For example, the gift of instant milk tea I received in my envelope from Malaysia put all San Francisco boba shops to shame. I began to diligently finish my homework early so I could write letters and decorate envelopes in the evening. Sharing the worries of daily life with my distant friends made tough days easier to handle, and was well worth staying up late for. I was also able to compare and contrast the elements of our lives, just as I had

done years prior in third grade.

For the first two years, I was able to set a consistent penpalling schedule.

However, as junior year rolled around, heightened academic responsibility made squeezing in time for writing letters more difficult. School also became the focus of my penpals, and gradually the number of replies in my mailbox dwindled. Though I was hurt that these precious relationships were fading, I came to accept the shift in priorities.

This year, in the middle of a particularly rough week, I was reminded of penpalling when watching a Youtube video entitled “How to Get Your Life Together.” One of the points the video made was that balance is essential to a healthy lifestyle. This message helped me acknowledge that even though academics are important, so is continuing to make time for my outside passions. I have since been motivated to rekindle my penpalling and embrace the benefits of stress relief and joy the hobby has always given me.

Last month, I slipped an envelope into the mailbox and imagined it arriving to my new penpal in Virginia.

She is a university student, with similar academic interests to me, and I hope she enjoys the washi tape and bear-shaped stickers I used to carefully decorate her letter. More so, I eagerly anticipate the bond we will form and learning about her life on the other side of the country.v

Nothing compares to receiving a physical manifestation of effort and knowing you are bringing that same joy to someone else.

SPREAD DESIGN BY JOELLE CHIEN

The Lowell January 2020

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CONVENIENCE or give me DEATH

Give me

MUNI waits lead many to Uber and Lyft, but ride shares have their own problems.

By Lee Wilcox

FEATURE

I

t’s 8 a.m., a student is waiting for the bus. The NextBus prediction has been frozen at 15 minutes for twice that time, and stress fills their mind as they contemplate arriving late for their quiz. With growing irritation, they pull out their phone and decide to order an Uber, hoping they can still make it to school on time.

Late nights and long waits for public transportation are not new to many Lowell students. When it comes down to choosing between waiting 30 minutes and confronting an hour-long bus ride involving multiple transfers or simply pulling out their phone and ordering a direct Uber ride, more and more students are choosing the latter.

The dramatic rise of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft has redefined transportation in affluent, technophilic urban areas like San Francisco and Silicon Valley, with research by the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies showing that an increase in the presence of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft lead to large, measurable reductions in the use of public transportation. These ride-sharing services have started to eclipse public transportation services like San Francisco’s Municipal Railway (MUNI), and have become increasingly popular among Lowell students. With more people using Uber and Lyft, more problems are arising for student riders and the city alike.

Among Lowell students interviewed on the matter, all cited convenience as their main reason for using ride-sharing services. “If

and from what the SFMTA described as “decades of underinvestment” into infrastructure maintenance) accounts for nearly half of subway delays. Slow progress on transportation improvements and conflicts between the SFMTA and the MUNI drivers’ union have also reduced performance and angered riders.

There is also another, largely ignored problem: traffic. Traffic in San Francisco is among the worst in the country, ranking as the eighth worst according to the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard. These facts shouldn’t be surprising to any resident of the City since the recent Proposition D from the last city election cycle intended to use the money raised from taxing ride-sharing services’ fares for a proposed “Traffic Congestion Mitigation Fund.”

In the face of such daunting obstacles to fast and reliable service, some familiar with the matter wonder whether such ambitious city goals are possible. “You could debate whether the [MUNI on-time reliability] goals are realistic,” Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle reporter and former Chronicle transportation expert, remarked in 2017. “Given the heavy traffic and how much traffic has increased in recent years, combined with the hilly terrain, and the unstable passengers, [MUNI bus times] can be extremely unpredictable.”

Unsurprisingly, this causes inconveniences for Lowell students no matter the mode of transportation they use. “[Traffic doesn’t

“It can take a really long time…when I have to wait for a train or a bus, and if I have a specific time I need to be somewhere, I [either] give myself a lot more leeway or I take Uber.”

I’m not feeling up to taking public transportation…because it’ll take a long time…I Lyft,” junior Lilo Bergensten-Oliv said. Other students echoed this complaint about public transportation. “The timings aren’t super reliable,” junior Francesca Ficano added. “It can take a really long time…when I have to wait for a train or a bus, and if I have a specific time I need to be somewhere, I [either] give myself a lot more leeway or I take Uber.”

The matter of inconvenience in public transportation for Lowellites is compounded by the substantial number of Lowell students who take the bus every day. A February 2017 survey by The Lowell found that nearly half of Lowell students use the bus at least once every single school day.

Other students added that, in addition to waiting for individual bus or train lines, transfers and the length of the route they need to traverse also pose difficulties. “Last semester, I had tennis practice,” Sophomore Olivia Ruderman said, “And I really didn’t want to…walk to the M stop, get off the M, and then take another bus to my house so I would just sometimes order an Uber, because it was easier.”

These statements reflect MUNI’s ongoing and growing problems with on-time reliability, and the reasons behind them aren’t new, either. MUNI has a mandate by city legislation to have its buses, trains, and streetcars arrive on-time at their stop at least 85 percent of the time. However, its actual rates are nowhere near these goals, and its failing has been a fixture in local news and politics since the late ’90s. Despite the organization as a whole being well-funded, deferred maintenance (driven in part by a desire not to impede MUNI riders

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v The Lowell January 2020

inconvenience me] super often [in a bus or a car], but sometimes extracurriculars and [the] time [it takes]…to get there…[is] inconvenient,” Marie, a sophomore who requested to remain anonymous, said.

Despite industry claims to the contrary, ride-sharing services are not innocent in the recent increase in traffic. In fact, a study by transportation analyst Bruce Schaller found that ride-sharing services were directly responsible for much of the increase, with the additional 5.7 billion miles driven by these vehicles increasing driving on city streets by 160 percent overall. The study also found that 60 percent of those surveyed would have used public transportation if ridesharing had not been available. This comes at the same time as a series of historically low MUNI on-time reliability statistics, and became exaggerated to such a degree that it even lead to statements from the SFMTA directly accusing Uber and Lyft of worsening city traffic congestion.

In addition to increased traffic, safety concerns are rampant among ride-sharing services. In late 2019, Lyft and Uber faced dozens of lawsuits and thousands of reports from women who had allegedly been sexually assaulted or raped by Lyft and Uber drivers, and claimed that both ride-sharing services attract predatory drivers and don’t fire them despite confirming that they had sexually assaulted or even raped riders.

Sexual harassment issues also affect Lowell students, including Marie, who has been using Uber since fifth grade, despite being underaged. During an Uber ride a few months ago, Marie felt COVER SPREAD PHOTO BY LAUREN CALDWELL

Difficulties with transportation are unlikely to spontaneously vanish...people will likely continue to seek convenience in their daily lives despite the costs. uncomfortable when her driver started to make sexual advances toward her and made her feel unsafe. “[The driver at the time] was very clearly [and] creepily hitting on me, and he knew I was way underage, because I mentioned it,” she said. Marie decided to report the incident on the Uber app, and her account was consequently banned as a result of her being underage. “Usually I wouldn’t report it, but I was feeling scared,” she said.

Many Lowell students are aware of safety issues concerning sexual harassment by ride-sharing drivers. “I would say that…if you think about Ubers and public transportation, [ride-sharing is] less safe,” Marie added, “[Ride-sharing is] more comfortable in the moment, [and] definitely most drivers are totally safe and fine, but…the driver controls everything in that car and you’re…usually one-on-one with the driver unless you’re in a pool, and then you’re at risk with the other people in the ride…it’s more personal.”

Despite knowing that ride-sharing services aren’t the safest, Lowell students continue to use Uber and Lyft regularly. As a result, this causes inconveniences for the broader Lowell community. Last year, there were two incidents where an Uber or Lyft vehicle ordered by a student coming onto campus via the fire line nearly ran other students over. This prompted Assistant Principal Orlando Beltran to contact the District and get the default vehicle order location changed.“I emailed the [SFUSD] legal department last year to get in contact with Uber to

change where the pin drops,” Beltran recalled. “If I put Lowell High School…now, it instructs me to walk to the corner, up to Eucalyptus, which means that maybe we haven’t gotten any issues this year because they’ve changed the pin…the legal department probably talked to Uber and said, ‘Hey you need to move the pin to the front of the school.’”

Although there have been no serious incidents since then, some students remember the large influx of vehicles on campus with irritation. “I have [had problems with it],” Marie said. “Freshman year it was a problem…you’d order it to the school and it wouldn’t let you specify where, so drivers would come down [the fire lane], and you’d be waiting up [at Eucalyptus] and you’d have to call them or run down.”

Sophomore Erica Paschke added, “Sometimes, I’ll order food and it’ll go the wrong way, but that’s the only thing.”

Difficulties with transportation are unlikely to spontaneously vanish. Especially as our world becomes more technologically reliant, people will likely continue to seek convenience in their daily lives despite the costs. Marie acknowledges that a certain degree of inconvenience in daily life and transportation is inevitable. “[Riding the bus is] more uncomfortable, obviously, than having your own seat and window [where] it’s quiet,” Marie said. “[But] it’s not a big deal, it’s just if you can take a car, it’s more comfortable. It’s not super fun waiting for [the bus]…[and] it’s inconvenient, but you know, it’s just living in a city.” v

LAUREN CALDWELL

SPREAD DESIGN BY JOELLE CHIEN AND LAUREN CALDWELL

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INFOGRAPHICS

A Lowellite’s future:

The ambitions of students

By Pierre Dayon, Mella Bettag, and Cameron Chan

Do you plan on attending a four-year college?

Lowell students’ top three college choices

Do you plan on attending a community college?

INFOGRAPHICS BY PIERRE DAYON ILLUSTRATIONS BY MELLA BETTAG AND CAMERON CHAN DATA FROM A VOLUNTARY SURVEY OF 358 STUDENTS CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN DECEMBER 2019

*All results rounded to one decimal place 18

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What field of work do you plan on going into?

Do you think your dream job is obtainable?

Do your parents approve of your desired field of work?

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OPINION

Beyond the Binary

By Sophia Shen

I

n the spring semester of his freshman year, current sophomore Finley Archer packed his PE clothes and left the girls locker room for good. He had been hiding both his body and his gender identity for years, and finally decided to search for a more suitable changing area. Archer — who began transitioning from female to male in the summer of 2018 — believed that any alternative space would provide more comfort to a transgender boy than the girls locker room. He spent the rest of the school year changing clothes hastily in the gender neutral bathroom, wobbling while trying to stand on top of his shoes instead of the grimy bathroom floor.

Archer isn’t the only student who has faced this locker room dilemma and resorted to unsatisfactory solutions.

At Lowell, there’s no concrete infrastructure in place to help noncisgender students like Archer find another changing space that

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WARREN QUAN suits their needs. Having to undress in front of strangers can be stressful for students who barely feel secure in their own bodies, and the needs of these individuals must be addressed. To do so, Lowell should create a gender neutral changing space, with a focus on providing privacy to any individuals who feel uncomfortable in the gendered locker rooms.

This gender-neutral locker room would require a partial renovation of the locker rooms to open up and section off currently unused space.

It would be modeled after the commercial dressing rooms found in clothing stores and would contain five or six open-air stalls that lock from the inside.

While there is a current SFUSD locker room policy that attempts to accommodate students who are uncomfortable using binary locker rooms, it overlooks the issue of confidentiality between students and staff. It states that “transgender students who want to use the locker

room corresponding to their gender identity…will be provided with the available accommodation that best meets the needs and privacy concerns of all students involved.” Since this doesn’t establish a specific space from which students can come and go freely, it requires that students come forward and ask their PE teachers for an accommodation themselves. According to Archer, this is something many students may not be comfortable doing. “You could be in a situation where, for whatever reason, you cannot explain to them about being trans or being gender-nonconforming or nonbinary,” Archer said. “Maybe there’s some distance [between you and the teacher], or they might end up telling your parents and you can’t tell your parents.”

Though PE department head Terence Doherty has done his best to accommodate students who request a separate changing arrangement in Room 23, located near the boys locker room, he too acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. “It does take some responsibility on the part of the student to communicate with the teacher,” Doherty said. “They have to explain and do the coming out and be proactive to get that [accommodation].”

A designated gender-neutral locker room, however, would not require students to come forward to teachers with vulnerable information as they are forced to do currently.

Moreover, Room 23 cannot be used by multiple people while meeting both the privacy needs of students and the safety standards of PE teachers. For one thing, the room is windowless, which means PE teachers can’t supervise to make sure no harassment is occurring between students without physically being inside the room and thus obstructing students’ privacy. For another, forcing transgender or nonconforming students to change with each other in a single room with no privacy screens defeats the purpose of a new, private space.

Lastly, the room is locked throughout the day for safety reasons, meaning that anyone who wishes to use it has to go out of their way to find a PE teacher who can unlock it. The proposed solution, using lockable open-air stalls, would give students their own easily accessible personal space, and a teacher could stand by in the area to monitor.

Despite the obvious advantages a gender-neutral locker room holds over the current arrangement, many at Lowell have practical

objections. From an administration standpoint, the primary concern with instating a gender-neutral locker room is space, according to assistant principal Orlando Beltran. Archer admitted that Beltran had a point, since Lowell seems to already be packed. “The walls of this school are full of lockers and doors and classrooms and bathrooms,” Archer said. “We’re filling everything up here…where would there be room for this?”

While this argument addresses points that definitely can’t be overlooked, it is not entirely informed. According to Doherty, there is ample space in the existing locker rooms to accomodate a genderneutral locker area. It would take money and effort to redo the floor plan and open up the necessary room, but the space does exist.

Furthermore, Archer believes that there’s a big enough desire from the student body to justify this project. “I don’t want to generalize…but I think for a lot of trans and nonbinary people, privacy is a big thing,” Archer said.

“We don’t like seeing [our bodies] most of the time, and if somebody else sees us, that’s a whole other problem.” A locker room where students like Archer can have privacy would allow them the space to develop a more positive body image without scrutiny from others around them. “There needs to be a safer space for anybody to have their privacy, as a basis of human rights,” Archer said. “Privacy is important.

You shouldn’t be forced to show your body to other people.”

Though we have already taken steps like establishing genderneutral bathrooms and asking for pronouns during introductions, we must remember that there are always bigger strides we can take to help the marginalized noncisgender community feel safer in their day to day lives. San Francisco is known for its progressive ideas about LGBTQ+ awareness and inclusion, and as a high school that prides itself in its accepting community, we should reflect those values in our actions. Schools like UC Berkeley and Garden Spot High School in Pennsylvania are already blazing the trail for gender-neutral locker rooms, with Berkeley having completed their Universal Locker Room in 2019 and Garden Spot on track to complete a $2.4 million renovation

by December 2020. We at Lowell need to do our part in joining this movement, to show our support for our LGBTQ+ community and to inspire others to do so as well. v

“There needs to be a safer space for anybody to have their privacy, as a basis of human rights.”

SPREAD DESIGN BY ANNA KAPLAN

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