The Mark December 2013 Vol. IV Issue II

The Mark

Menlo-Atherton High School

555 Middle eld Road, Atherton, CA

Volume IV, Issue II

December 2013

Welcome to the December issue of Volume IV of The MArk. As we close the current semester and open a new one, we feel confident in saying that the staff’s zeal for reporting has never been more prominent.

Our content for this issue will explore the struggle to find identity amid the constant strain from academic and extracurricular stress. We analyze the eternal search for a niche, discussing subjects such as teenage alcoholism, the contortion of the word “unique,” and the continued stratification between men and women in the publishing and writing industries. Let the vast Turkish expanse on the cover of this issue inspire you, the M-A community, to explore different ideologies and depart from the quotidian; peruse the pages and attempt to find where you belong.

We hope that this issue provokes conversation. Please share your thoughts with us by emailing themarkjourn@gmail.com

Thank you,

STAFF STAFF

EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Gabe Cohen

Megan Kilduff

CREATIVE EDITOR

JOANNE CHO

MANAGING EDITORS

LINDY LAPLANTE

CAYLA STILLMAN

SPORTS EDITOR

BRETT MORIARTY

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

FRANCESCA GILLES

SUBMISSIONS EDITOR

SARA SOLOMON

WRITING STAFF

Sami Andrew

Alex Argente

Sofia Bergmann

Sarah Dairiki

Matt DeTrempe

LisSette EspinoZa

Tara Fahimi

Marta Fatica

Alexa Finn

Eliza Fitz

Elena Fox

Nina Fox

Jonah Guenther-Schmidt

Amir Heidari

Ben Hickman

Molly Kearnan

Amirteymour Moazami

Ivana Petani

Nico Plume

Sarah Reichow

Ian Robinson-Lambert

Liz Sommer

Sabina Vitale

Kristen Walsh

Katie Webb

Katie Weiner

NEWS

They can do it! 19 Teaching methods at m-a 26-27 Under the Radar 32 Can We Keep Up with Ourselves? 34-35

A

Food Myths 8 Pizza Polls 9

Fly Through Finals Week 12

The Best of the Worst Holiday Gifts 18

Drinking or Driving 20 Confessions of a shopaholic 21

Celebrity Stalking 101 24

How Much Do YOU Know? 25

Thanksgivukkah 28

How Do You Celebrate Your Holidays? 29

Argente’s Corner 33

Netflix Exclusives 42

Opinion

Fundamentally Flawed 10

HIGH MARK LOW MARK 15 Caught in the Act 36 Bathrooms 37

Cover Art

Cappadochia Hot Air Balloons Eli Goodman, 9th Volume IV, ISSUE II

Letter to the editors

Are women good writers?

Makes You Unique

Under the Influence

38 Is the SAT an Accurate Measure of Intelligence?

31,536,000 Seconds

Physical Education for the Physically Exceptional

THE ART OF JUNIOR YEAR

Winter Time

Black and White Spread

color Spread

Letter to the Editors

Dear whom this may concern,

I find that the article “Rave Culture” in the October issue of The MArk is offensive and invalidating. This article is not so much an opinion, but rather a critical judgement on an event that is very misunderstood. Yes, raves are commonly associated with drugs, alcohol, and people dressing and behaving sexually. However, these characteristics can be found in every single concert in the Bay Area. It’s also offensive that the author finds it “hard to have a serious conversation with them because of the presumptions she automatically makes.” I’m offended that I am now characterized as someone with whom conversation is impossible, because this is entirely invalid. The fact that I attend these concerts does not diminish my value as a human being, and it shouldn’t cause a judgement as such to be published in my school’s magazine. As someone who attends raves, it makes me upset that all I’m doing is trying to enjoy myself at a concert and I’ve found out that this article characterizes me as another “pill popping” “naked teenage girl” who partakes in “alcohol abuse.” I feel that if this article were to be rewritten, the author should focus on the facts. Not everyone who goes to these concerts is under the influence. There is a very large amount of people who actually go to enjoy the music, and we would prefer not to be grouped with the “mentally skewed” people you are describing. I feel directly attacked by being generalized when I feel I’ve done nothing wrong but attend a concert. I’m also saddened by the fact that the author chooses to use the description of the music I listen to as “’the music that is created from transformers having sex’” because she fails to acknowledge that this is derogatory to a wide range of listeners and the artists they listen to. While it is one thing to describe the type of music using facts, it is another thing to imply judgement directly on its style, and I think it’s incredibly unprofessional. Overall, I feel overwhelmingly judged, bashed, and offended by the author’s negative diction and one-sided view, as well as stereotyped into a category whose characteristics I do not possess.

- Rachel Freed, 12th

Letter FROM the Editors

Dear READERS,

We are thrilled to see that the October issue of The MArk elicited contemplation and discussion. As stated on the very first page of our magazine, “We hope[d] this issue would provoke conversation” because we advocate a deeper analysis of the world around us. The M-A community has brought up incredible points supporting and opposing certain statements in the magazine, which is a great sign of critical reflection. Naturally, not everyone will offer the same opinion as all of their peers, and ultimately that is healthy; conflicting viewpoints and mature discussion are conducive to the necessary evolution of society. There has been particular discussion of one of our opinion pieces, “Rave Culture.” The author of this article offered an outside perspective of what she believes has been shaped into a popular lifestyle. We commend her for her piece because it reminds the student body of how their actions may be interpreted by others, and the consequences quotidian choices can have. The piece should not be interpreted as “ignorant,” the author clarifies in the article that she’s writing as a bystander, acknowledges there is much she could learn about the culture, and expresses frustration in struggling to pursue such information without being turned off by other parts of the lifestyle. She intentionally writes from an outside perspective, because she believes it strengthens her statement. Moreover, she does not intend to shame rave-goers for their actions, but remind them of how they may be interpreted. The piece, like many of our articles, is meant to make readers more deeply consider a major part of student life.

While we commend the critical discussion of “Rave Culture,” the online shaming of the author of the article is appalling. The MArk advocates for the expression and discussion of views and aspects of student life, not the pointed victimization of other students for bringing such to light. While there is a fine line between discussed opinion and attack, said line was crossed when certain individuals were specifically targeted on several social media platforms. These attacks are not only morally unsound, but unpropitious to mature discussion. A more comprehensive response to an article would be discussing thoughts on the story among peers or with the author herself, not broadcasting calls to shame her for her opinion.

Now that everyone might better understand the goals of The MArk, we’d like to remind the community that our magazine is a public forum for student expression serving Menlo-Atherton, as reminded on the last page of every issue. This means that we invite and encourage the expression of student work and opinion. This includes everyone who has already vocalized disagreement or dissatisfaction with any of our articles. We’d love to see those same people utilize the magazine for its intended purpose and express their thoughts. We accept letters to the editor at themarkjourn@gmail.com and also urge students to submit work of their own to submittothemark@gmail.com. Thank you so much for expressing your thoughts and taking the time to hear ours; we hope such mutual contemplation will help the M-A community move forward with communication and discussion in the future.

- The Mark

Ioften find that I have two different personas: my home persona and my school persona. At home, I can be whomever I want. I can throw on a pair of sweats and my favorite Harry Potter t-shirt and no one is there to judge me but my cats. If I want to yell at inanimate objects for failing to perform their functions then so help me, I will. At school, however, it’s a different story. I, and many of my peers, constantly feel the pressure to stay calm and not reveal our excitement about nearly everything that brings us a semblance of joy. When we reached high school, it became clear that to avoid judgmental side glances and the dreaded indirectlyinsulting Facebook posts, one must emit a “holierthan-thou” air at all times. We must remain vigilant during school hours, living with the fear that any sign of our secret selves, our true personas, might slip through the cracks in our carefully constructed exteriors. Alas, occasionally something happens; perhaps a book not assigned by a teacher (gasp!) falls out of your backpack, or maybe you accidentally make a reference to a sci-fi TV show. You scramble to cover your error, but it’s too late; the damage is done. There goes your social life, and with it, any chance you might have had to land a date to prom. For the rest of your high school career you will be followed by whispers of “nerd” and “geek”, and no matter how many pairs of Lululemon leggings you own, there’s no salvaging your status. People will always remember who you truly are; they remember the “shameful” self that you struggled to hide, and Lord knows what a catastrophe that is.

Putting that aside, if you insist on labeling me and my peers, it is important that you are aware of the difference between “nerd” and “geek”. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a nerd is defined as a person who is very interested in technical subjects, computers, etcetera. A geek, on the other hand, is a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity. So for my sanity’s sake, if you are going to judge me for following my passions, at least have the decency to insult me with the correct term (I am a geek, not a nerd, thank you very much).

At the age of fifteen, the immense wisdom and maturity that is so commonly associated with this age has helped me see that I do not have to always maintain my “cool” persona, or at least my sorry attempt at one. Instead, I can let my geek flag fly and knock down anyone who dares to object to it with my perfected spells (two words: Harry Potter. Look ‘em up). While the majority of my grade feels pressured to prove that they are in fact superior to the freshmen, I can gleefully admit that I am an eight year-old at heart, and there is no one else I would rather be. I hope that with this article, I can encourage you to join me in my journey to shameless living and that you too will no longer feel forced to hide your true self just for an impressive amount of likes on your profile picture.

Double Agent

Double Agent

by Molly Kearnan

Drawing Untitled Jaya Blanchard, 10th

Are Women Good Writers?

by Lissette Espinoza

Writing is for the enjoyment of the writer When one publishes a book, she searches for appraisal; proper recognition for her work. Good writers are the ones with a distinguishable style. So why are women not yet equals in the literary world, where staffs for well-known literary publications consist predominantly of men, and the majority of books reviewed are by men?

In 2012, VIDA, an organization devoted to promoting women in literature and the media, revealed some remarkable numbers concerning women working in publishing: At Harper’s Magazine, women make up approximately 9.6 percent of the writing staff, while about 15.7 percent of book reviewers for The New York Review of Books were women, and 32.7 percent of authors reviewed by The New York Times book review were women.

Far too many variables are at play within these recent numbers to allow us to view this data in its proper context. However, since VIDA has been tallying the mento-women ratio since 2010, we can compare those ratios to the number of books written by men to women in that year. Ruth Franklin, writer for New Republic, an online magazine, wrote the following in her article “A Literary Glass Ceiling?” in 2011 regarding the stratification between male and female writers:

“We looked at fall 2010 catalogs from 13 publishing houses, big and small. Discarding the books that were unlikely to get reviewed—self-help, cooking, art—we tallied up how many were by men and how many were by women. Only one of the houses we investigated—the boutique Penguin imprint Riverhead—came close to parity, with 55 percent of its books by men and 45 percent by women. Random House came in second, with 37 percent by women. It was downhill from there, with three publishers scoring around 30 percent—Norton, Little Brown, and Harper—and the rest 25 percent and below, including the elite literary houses Knopf (23 percent) and FSG (21 percent). Harvard University Press, the sole academic press we considered, came in at just 15 percent.”

With these numbers, it is hard not to speculate on why the work of women is not as frequently published as men’s. Sexism may seem like a far-away time, and hard to believe women still struggle achieving the same rights as a man, but admission into the world that belonged only to men for centuries does not mean women are always warmly welcomed. When a woman writes and places her name on the cover, it is less likely for men to pick up her book (remember, Joanne K. Rowling was told to use J.K. Rowling on the cover because her publishers believed her books would not attract a large male audience otherwise). Somehow, if a woman writes about

women in society, her writing is parted into a separate genre-as women’s fiction; not to be considered a novel that is worthy of a title like the “ Great American Novel.” Earlier this year, Wikipedia, everyone’s favorite non-profit answer to everything, had systematically removed “women writers” from the list of American novelists and placed them in a sub-group under “American women novelists.” They maintained that their goal as making categories that would make searching easier for users. However, men did not have a term for their fiction; it was simply fiction. After an article for The New York Times was written on Wikipedia’s sexism this April, Wikipedia has kept a categories for each gender.

Since our literary history has consisted predominantly of men, interest in exploring the views of a woman intellectually has developed into more of an acquired taste. At its core, the belief persists that the reader of a book by a woman will not take away as much intellectually from the lessons or experiences of a woman, especially from fiction about women, unless the reader is a woman. A good book is a book that is able to reflect the current state of our culture, a book that can become dear to the reader, however numbers have said otherwise. And though it may be surprising to be seeing this as issue in modern times, it is not “years ago” that people thought women were unable to produce credible work for large issues--it was only in 2005, let us not forget, that Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University until 2010, said women were not a large portion of those involved in the sciences because there were “innate differences” between the sexes.

With this hegemony, we lose the value of literacy when we choose, consciously or unconsciously, not to communicate with each other--taking part in a “culture of silence”--said, by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher, to be oppression instilled by stillness due to internalized negativity for the privileged, systematically forcing a culture to be the dominant one in a society. Rather than a complement to American society, it is interpreted as an insignificant factor of mainstream culture that is hardly a branch that stems from real values. The domestic, familial, cultural and ethnic struggles of a diverse society seem not to faze the British heritage of America and its “rags to riches” ideals.

Singrid Rausing, owner of Granta, a literary magazine and publisher, has even commented herself that Granta’s mission is to progress by going global as “we cannot in good conscience pretend that an Anglo-American dialogue is at the heart of our cultures.” Granta has co-publications with Spanish, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Chinese publishing houses and Robert McCrum has written for The Guardian saying Granta will be entering new realms as it shares local events from their offices in New York and London with different countries, offering all their readers various forms of literature. In contrast to Granta’s growing equality in overall publishing, Harper’s Magazine has actually seen the number of women’s overall representation drop between 2010 and 2012.

HOLIDAY FOOD MYTHS

by Eliza Fitz

MYTH: Turkey makes you sleepy

MYTH: Pumpkin Spice Lattes Contain Pumpkin

NMYTH

ow that the turkey myth has been broken down, on to another holiday favorite among parts of our community: the pumpkin spiced latte, or rather the “pumpkin” spiced latte. Starbucks brings out this seasonal pick every fall and has sold 200 million in the past decade according to the Starbucks website. However, zero traces of actual pumpkin are found in the drink! Instead, “pumpkin flavored sauce” is added into this golden hot beverage enjoyed by many. The drink that “makes your breath smell like a Yankee Candle,” to TV show host Jimmy Fallon does not really contain any pumpkin!

Most feel lethargic after gorging on a holiday dinner. However the myth that turkey makes you sleepy is based almost purely on truthiness. The common wives’ tale, particularly at this time of year, is that turkey makes its consumers tired because it contains a specific amino acid called tryptophan that stimulates the production of melatonin which causes drowsiness. There are countless reasons why people would want to believe this myth, especially for justification for why they feel exhausted after watching three hours of football. And because turkey does contain tryptophan, it’s easy to believe the fable as there is another phenomenon referred to a “food coma,” that is regularly attributed to holiday meals. The true part: turkey does have tryptophan, which is an amino acid with a documented sleep inducing effect. However, that’s about it. In order for the tryptophan to have any effect, it must be consumed on an empty stomach and with little other amino acids in the food. In other words, in supplement form, which has been banned for the past thirty years due to its potential health risk, it has no notable effect. So essentially, your Thanksgiving turkey had no more influence on your brain than the stuffing or the pie. Possibly even less, as carbohydrates are high in tryptophan and low in other amino acids and thus allow for more absorption in the blood stream.

MYTH

The truth is, a) turkey does not induce drowsiness any more than carbohydrates, and b) turkey contains no more tryptophan than soybeans, chicken, or pork, and in fact, reindeer contain quite a large amount more. So in light of the holiday spirit, roast Rudolph instead.

Pizz

lls

by Sabina Vitale

Fundamentally Flawed

Why the American Health Care system is inherently unsound.

By Amirteymour Moazami

When one thinks of the United States of America, he or she would assume that there could be few to no flaws in such an trailblazing country that has access to an abundance of resources. Unfortunately, the United States of America does indeed have a few flaws, many of which exist within the fabric of our current healthcare system, known as ObamaCare, which was recently passed by the Obama administration. With its passing, ObamaCare replaced the previous federal healthcare system of MediCare.

ObamaCare is the unofficial name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts, which in fact are structured very similarly to “Romney Care.” The main focus of is to provide the American people with an opportunity to gain cheaper, more accessible healthcare. With this healthcare system, President Obama and his administration hoped to create a one-stop marketplace for healthcare providers and for those in need.

However, once the website was created, the expected number of enrollment was not reached; the site was inaccessible to the public for weeks after launch. Additionally, the system in it of itself is flawed; the program is a poorly run federal site that expects the consumers to sign up of their own accord, rather than through government solicitation. Three programmers from Silicon Valley are responsible for improv-

ing the user interface and functions of the website, but have achieved little success thus far.

The main issue that exists within the ObamaCare system is that many people risk losing their healthcare providers, which could affect insurance businesses around the nation. However, President Obama’s 2008 platform was based around the assumption that anyone who already has a healthcare provider would not need to change it. A significant part of this assertion stems from the fact that President Obama promised not to raise taxes but unfortunately, Obamacare says otherwise. Hospitals and medical device companies are being charged with higher duties, which hinders the production of medical devices and the cohesion of healthcare in general.

Amid all of these problems, the Democrats are unsure of what the future of Obamacare will hold. It is not clear what is going to happen with the healthcare plans. Once Obamacare was passed, President Obama’s poll numbers went down because the trust that his supporters had invested in him plummeted. Masses of predominantly white middle-class individuals have lost faith in their government and, more specifically, their president. These poll numbers have never been lower for Obama during his time as president.

OVERVIEW

1. People might lose their health care providers, which could affect insurance businesses.

2. The one-stop marketplace for patients and health care providers did not turn out to be as successful or effective as expected.

3.Obama promised not to raise taxes, but unfortunately his plan says otherwise.

THE COMMON APPLICATION

Writing Questions

What makes you unique?

byKatieWeiner

In high school, it is easy to let yourself be overcome with the desire to fit in and abandon everything that makes you different. I, however, have managed to retain my uniqueness throughout the years. This singularity is reflected in every aspect of my life, especially my fashion choices. While most girls my age are obsessed with looking put together every day, I refuse to buy into this desire to be perfect. My careless attitude is obviously shown through a typical daily outfit – yoga pants, Uggs, and a north face jacket. The outfit did cost $492 but hey, at least it looks like I don’t care. Right? So many girls buy into trends just to fit in, but I don’t. I go to country concerts because I love the music (hooking up with 8 guys in one night is just an added bonus!) and buy pumpkin spice lattes not to fit in with the masses but because I truly love the taste. In this sense, I am unique. Because I am so unique, it is sometimes difficult for people to truly understand me. Except Ed Sheeran. He gets me. Music and tumblr are what get me through the toughest times. With tumblr, I am able to express my uniqueness to random strangers in Australia who I can obviously relate to much more than anyone at my school. Being unique in high school isn’t always easy— the drastic differences between me and, well, everyone else are overwhelming. But I manage to hold on to my differences despite the extreme difficulty and this is what makes me truly special.

continued from page 9: Are Women

Good Writers?

Perhaps the fear publishing companies are consciously or unconsciously living in is having the number of authors grow and the prestige of the company, or just their standard for reviews, decrease in its effect. But it is not that readers are not interested in reading works by or about women, but the publishing companies carrying a narrow perspective on what gives writing strong literary content and do not review commercial books because it could lower their image. Most often in high school, one reads something because a friend has suggested it, not because they read a review in a literary magazine. The focus for publishers today and from now on ought to be to find more opportunities for the underrepresented so they have more influence in the literary world, and in effect will also heighten the companies’ status. If publishing companies like Harper’s , The Paris Review, The New York

Review of Books continue to try and preserve the identity they have built for themselves they will continue to neglect and to diminish the identity of real readers. So let us consider this: maybe one solution could be to take a form of affirmative action, a mechanism that would compensate for any past discriminatory factors of the decision process. Publishing companies will not have to lower their standards on the books they publish, not at all; publishing companies ought to continue hiring people based on merit, but with the real public’s criteria in mind. Beginning to be more conscientious of the perspective reviewers will bring a more diverse group of authors worth acknowledging with a new and diverse team of reviewers. As long as we expand and teach the discipline of insight we will see more of what we need to and bring to light more of the challenges people are facing alongside us.

FlYfINalStHroUGh weEK

The COmPleTE guIDe fOR a sUCceSsFUl FinALs WeEk

Form study groups with your friends so that you aren’t just sitting with a textbook, but try not to gossip too much.

Talk to your teachers about what content you are responsible for. You do not want to waste time studying for things that will not even be on your final.

“I do the review materials that [my teachers] give me, the study guides. I like to go on SheppardSoftware.com for maps. Sometimes I’ll look over old assignments.”

-Helmi Henkin (12)

Get a good night sleep. Try not to pull an all-nighter because it will probably do more harm than good.

“I make a lot of notecards and go over them a lot of times.” -Katie Beebe (10)

Ask questions. Other people probably don’t understand the same topics.

Take a break. Read old copies of the MArk.

Stock up on 5-hour energy for long study sessions.

Look over old tests and quizzes to review materials.

“I create a study group with my friends.”

-Erin Sanchez (10)

Put your textbook under your pillow so more information can diffuse into your brain as you sleep.

“I set up a plan to study and most of the time I follow through with it.”

-Isis Lemus (11)

Do the review packets your teachers give you. We know they’re like four hundred pages long, but often final questions will come straight off of the review packets.

Take a break. Watch a couple episodes of your favorite TV show.

Start studying early! You don’t want to be cramming the day before your final.

ByKatieWebb

Photography Fog

Jackie Lopez, 11th

The Junior Year Art of

by Carolyn Watson

Winter has begun to surround us through the cold weather, holiday beverages, and passionate canners. As we are approaching finals week, the juniors at Menlo-Atherton High School have spoken out that there simply isn’t enough to do. The workload for the junior class this year has been quite light, refuting the infamous junior year reputation of nonstop work. “I find myself sleeping more because my homework typically takes me downwards of 28 minutes flat”, speaks junior Sarah Howell, “and that’s while watching various reality television programs.” A recent poll has shown that 87% of the junior population is sleeping upwards of thirteen hours a day. “I usually come home, watch TV, eat, and do all my homework and studying before 5:30pm”, shared junior Erin Goode, “this leaves me nothing to do at night, I’ve started going to bed progressively earlier around 8:30pm.” One explanation is that the usually grueling AP US History class taught by Mr. Wellington has taken a sharp turn in direction this year. Instead of the usual FRQ’s and terms quizzes, Wellington has implemented historical coloring sheets into the curriculum. One can now find students

sharing a box of crayolas while filling in the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria in order to review for spring AP testing. “The muscle memory of coloring helps me remember certain facts that I otherwise would not have been able to remember,” states junior Healey MontagueAlamin, “I can’t wait for our arts and crafts unit! We will be having a Lincoln log cabin building competition for extra credit.” Juniors have also been cut some slack in the AP Biology Course taught by Mr. Roisen. In place of the reading notes quizzes and the notorious DNA lab report, Roisen has decided to direct a new project to help students, Mitosis: The Musical. Students will learn cell division through fun songs such as “The Chromosome Zone” and “Don’t Stop Dividin.’” “I’m looking forward to the show, it is easy points and some pretty catchy tunes,” spoke the student playing “Centromere #3.” This lack of homework or need to study translates into more free time for the junior class to partake in important leisure activities. Favorites include twiddling of thumbs, walking in random directions, as well as looking for needles in haystacks. Excuse me, as I must get back to studying for my interpretive dance SAT subject test.

high MArk

Canned Food Drive a huge success

Extra day off this year for thanksgiving

POST WITH CAUTION.

Your Mark IS MORE PERMANENT THAN IT SEEMS

ACeramics classes use art to support our community

Seniors nish UC and CSU applications

Football plays in CCS Semi nals

Early decision applicants hear back

M-A Today Actually said "MotherTrucker"

Cyber Monday deals relatively weak

Heightened Rally security dampens Spirit

First semester nals

Typhoon HAIYAN Devastates the Phillipines.

LOW MARK

by The MArk Editorial Board

lthough it seems the things we do and say on the Internet are inconsequential, everything we post has potential to come up later in our lives. The things we put online are written in stone and can become public information in a matter of seconds. Moreover, actions we don’t intend to share online can easily end up on the Internet; anyone can share information they see or find with the world by uploading it.

Such was the case with University of Wisconsin-Platteville student Joshua Inglett. As a sophomore, he was nominated by Governor Scott Walker to the UW System’s Board of Regents. Just days after his initial nomination in June 2013, he received a phone call from one of the Governor’s aides asking whether or not he had signed a recall petition to push Walker out of office in 2012. Inglett did not remember, and after asking his parents, he was reminded of a night that he was home for the holidays, when a petitioner approached his family in a parking lot. After learning how Walker’s education policies could put his mother’s job as a high school teacher at risk, he agreed to sign it. Reminded of this, Inglett responded that he had signed the petition. Later on, Inglett received another phone call, which stated the Governor would be rescinding his nomination. Although it seemed very clear why Walker had pulled his support, when confronted, Governor Walker offered no reason.

Though Inglett somewhat thoughtlessly signed this petition, with no intention of publicizing his views, it was published to searchable online databases. Governor Walker and his aides could thus find that Inglett had in fact signed the petition in just seconds. What Inglett thought would be an benign action evolved into a life-altering one because of the accessibility provided by the Internet. Inglett’s case is just one example of information published online having detrimental affects to one’s future. As teenagers constantly posting about our lives on the Internet, it’s important to remember that what we post will forever be accessible. Whether it be cyber bullying, compromising photographs, or anything else, we need to be cautious with what we post, as it can affect us later on. We must be more deliberate with our actions both on and offline.

Winter Time

The Best of the Worst HOLIDAY Gifts

Coupon Books Box-ception

The cheesy “gifts” scratched down on colored paper as a last minute attempt for a thoughtful gift. Often given by little kids because parents would rather have an act of kindness than a tangible gift. However, when the coupons are redeemed, if they ever are at all, there is apparently an expiration date that was written on the coupon with “invisible ink.”

andOrigamiOther Handicrafts

The classic box inside a box inside a box inside a box inside a box just for the purpose of holding a gift card or similar gift. When given to little kids, the initial ecstasy from a huge box gradually deteriorates as one box leads to another, until the final gift is in a little envelope. The box-ception can have two results: either the receiver enjoys the joke and laughs along, or the receiver’s joy turns to confusion, then frustration, then hate and you can say good-bye to that relationship.

Usually made to cover up for a lack of gift or lack of effort. Most often made last minute and intended to be a thoughtful, time-consuming, loving gift. Normally received well, but “accidentally” placed in the trash within a few days.

Socks Gift Cards

The go-to gift when you don’t really know what to get someone. When received, the giver profusely explains that he/she wanted you to get whatever you want and that he/she wants you to chose what you want. While this may have some truth, a more likely reason is that the giver simply does not know you well enough to pick out a present for you.

“Excuse me, am I a house elf searching for freedom? So why would I need socks for Christmas?” This is the usual response to socks or other cheap clothing articles. Not really sure why clothing hidden behind pants are considered thoughtful gifts.

by Nicolas Plume

They Can Do It! M-Aʼs

very own Feminist

Club

by Marta Fatica

The Feminist Club recently caused a stir when they sent an open letter to the administration regarding dress code policy. The letter draws attention to the similarities between the enforcement of the dress and rape culture, and argues that the so-called revealing clothing does not imply a lack of self-respect, and asks that the manner in which female students dress themselves not be punishable.

“We want M-A to be a school with a safe and accepting environment, so we decided to bring the effect of the dress code to the attention of the administration. Students spoke to members of the administration last year, and it was clear that the message wasn’t getting through, so we decided to write a letter in hope that both the administration and the community would recognize the harmful effect and ideology of the dress code,” explained the leaders of the Feminist Club, Emma Heath (12), Ursula Jongebloed (12), Annika Roise (12), and Valerie Taylor (12).

Feminism, the belief in equal rights and opportunities for men and women, remains a controversial topic. Heath, Jongebloed, Roise, and Taylor started a Facebook page over the summer regarding feminism. After receiving positive feedback, they resolved to start a club to promote further discussion. While many people believe feminism is a belief in the superiority of women, the leaders emphasize that the goal of the movement is equality. Through the feminism club, the presidents hope to “[reclaim] the word feminism, which has been stigmatized and misconstrued... [they] hope [their] club can help put out a good name for feminism and show M-A an example of what the modern feminist movement stands for.”

When the subject of feminist stereotypes emerged, Heath discloses, “I hate the argument that feminism is ‘dead.’ Yes, women are allowed to do the same jobs that men do, but there is a large disparity between salaries, promotions, treatment and that’s just in the workplace.” Jongebloed stresses that feminism’s goal is to create a society in which women are not inferior to men, but one in which they are equal to each other. To this, Roise adds that feminism is not exclusively for women but, “for anyone who values equality. People often think that the word “feminism” applies only to females, so we want to show that the movement can apply to a broader range of people.”

Taylor comments that she “noticed that bringing up the term feminist can generate a sort of repulsion and some preconceived ideas about what a feminist is. Usually people think that feminists are the angry bra-burning sort of the ‘60s, or that we’re man-hating, whiny, or unreasonable.” Heath jokingly concludes that “there is this generic stereotype that involves feminists not shaving, burning bras, and running around spreading messages of misandry. I mean, come on. I personally only do one or two of those things.”

Carolyn Watson, a junior at M-A, explains she joined the Feminist Club initially because of the dress code issue but then realized that, “there are more issues to address whether it be in school or across the world.” When asked what feminism means to her, Carolyn claims “Being a feminist isn’t about hating men, it’s about wanting equality and inspiring women to achieve success in all fields and works of study.”

Drinking Driving

by Jonah Guenther-Schmidt

Did you know that the legal drinking age in Germany is 16? In the United States, you are not allowed to drink before the age of 21. As an exchange student from Germany, not being able to go to bars or clubs during the weekend is a big change. For many M-A students, legally going to bars might sound really weird, but for German kids, it is totally normal. In Germany, the 16-year-olds go to bars and drink beer, champagne and wine. Moreover, if a person is 18, he or she can legally drink vodka and take shots.

However fun this may sound to the average American student, German teens would love to give up their young drinking age in exchange for a lower driving age. Unfortunately, the legal driving age in Germany is 18 rather than 16 like it is in America. My host sister agreed that for one or two weekends, it would be really exciting to go to clubs and drink, but it could be generally bad for one’s health. Rather, it is far more fun and useful to be able to drive around without having to ask your parents to be a chauffeur. Teens in Germany would do without alcohol for the chance to drive at age 16 in a heartbeat!

There is a weird phenomenon that occurs in the United States: there are more American teenagers who

develop alcohol dependency than there are in Germany. I think that this stems from the fact that drinking is illegal in America until one is 21. Therefore, underage Americans surround alcohol with a sort of mystique and excitement. By contrast, German teenagers who can legally drink find that the taste is not to their liking, and they stop soon after. Since there is less excitement surrounding alcohol consumption in Germany, there is less abuse.

According to an interview with an M-A student regarding how he sees underage drinking, he also preferred to drive than to drink. He had no interest in drinking alcohol or going to clubs. When he visited Germany, he found it funny that it was normal to see teenagers his age walking around the street with beer and other alcoholic beverages. It was a different experience from typical American society, but he also knows that the American right to drive at age 16 trumps any ability to drink.

Of course not everyone shares the same sentiments regarding drinking age and driving age. Do you prefer a lower drinking age or our currently lower driving age?

CONFESSIONS of a S H O P A H O L I C

9:30 p.m.- Cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner!

11:30 p.m.- First coffee of the night; getting excited for my favorite day of the year

11:50 p.m.- Getting dropped off at mall (because parking is crazy) with list of stores in hand

11:59 p.m.- Standing in line behind mall doors

12:00 a.m.- SCORE! I’ve made it inside… let my mission begin

12:30 a.m.- Shoving my way through a maze of excited shopa-holic women (the worst enemies)

1:45 a.m.- Wetzel’s Pretzels and lemonade stop!

2.30 a.m.- OHMYGOD! 40% off of Urban Outfitters!

3:30 a.m.- Victorias Secret! I definitely need some more lace thongs 1 for my mom, 1 for my aunt, and duh 1 for my grandma

5:00 a.m.- Jamba Juice stop! And off to Nordstrom... (2 hrs later); I just made a very important in-vestment by buying UGGS for $200 instead of $215

6:00 a.m.- THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE OPENING OF JUICY COUTURE HAS COME. I push my way through to the front and manage to injure a few people… It’s all good though they will get through their bloody nose, broken toe, and twisted ankle.

7:45 a.m.- $500 and 3rd coffee of the night, we have survived the climax

8:30 a.m.- All this shopping has got me feeling pooped!

9:45 a.m.- Bath and Body Works! Marshmallow Fire-side, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Pecan Waffle, Cranberry Woods, candles galore! My life is officially complete.

11:00 a.m.- Oh no! I think I’ve lost my sense of smell!...Off to Sephora for a sample of heaven

12:30 p.m.- After emptying my wallet, I’ve had a pretty good day.

by Tara Fahimi

Photography

Untitled Anna McDermott, 12th

Photography

Flowers

Blanca Viña Patiño, 11th

Celebrity Stalking 101: James Franco Edition

Celebrities are a rare species here in the Bay Area. Fortunately for you, The MArk has a few secrets for successful celebrity stalking! Follow these steps and your chances of meeting a celebrity will greatly increase.

by Joanne Cho and Cayla Stillman

STEP 1:

Stay updated on all of his social media accounts.

STEP 2:

Hang out at his favorite restaurants and cafés.

STEP 3:

Casually drive by his childhood home.

What better way to know what James is up to than to keep tabs on his Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram? (don’t forget to like every single one of his posts!)

We’ve listed them below for your reference. You’re welcome.

Twitter: @jamesfrancotv

Instagram: @jamesfrancotv Tumblr: jamesfranco.tumblr.com

James Franco’s favorite restaurant happens to be Café Borrone in Menlo Park. So the next time you are there, you have approximately a 7 in 365 chance of running into James himself! Just make sure to order his favorite Italian Sausage Sandwich - only $12.95! (totally worth it for the chance of meeting James, am I right?) Hopefully, its delicious scent will lure him to you.

This is by far the most difficult and risky step. First, a very generic looking car is imperative (preferably a Prius) because walking/biking passed his home may come off as a bit creepy and distinctive cars are easier to report to the police. Once you find his address, make sure not to drive by more than 6 times and avoid lurking from across the street, or the Francos will be creeped out. (We learned this the hard way)

Photography My Love Mark Evans 12th

We bought the tri-tip steak sandwich pictured above as well as the famed sausage sandwich. Unfortunately, Cayla devoured the sausage sandwich in minutes before the aroma could attract James... what a shame.

*Disclaimer: Joanne and Cayla are not actually this creepy! We only really followed 2 of the 3 steps listed. The fear of being arrested was far too great for us to go through with step 3. For those of you die-hard Franco fanatics who do decide to follow step 3, please do not hold us accountable for any consequences you brave souls may face.*

How Much Do YOU Know?

by Sara Solomon

We at the MArk have gathered a variety of questions ranging from American history to geography to notable American figures. After careful surveying and analysis of the M-A student body, here are the results. How much do YOU know…?

Who was the president of the United States when you were born?

Who was the second president of the United States?

Who was the first person (first and last name) to step foot on the moon?

How many states are there in the United States?

Which president issued the emancipation proclamation?

How many continents are there on Earth?

Who is the current vice president of the United States?

How many years are “four score seven...?” On which continent is Egypt located?

Answers: Bill Clinton, John Adams, Neil Armstrong, 50, Abraham Lincoln, 7, Joe Biden, Africa, 87 years

TEACHING METHODS AT M-A

by Ian Robinson-Lambert

There has always been a longstanding debate over teaching methods in schools, especially public schools. Professors, psychologists, and teaching experts are constantly weighing in on the effect of various teaching styles on students, and what they believe is the “best” method. This discussion is especially prevalent at M-A, because of its enormously diverse student population. The school is composed of students that live in cities ranging from Atherton to East Palo Alto, from every living situation and socioeconomic status imaginable. As such, it is only natural that M-A has a plethora of classes offered, each taught by a teacher who abides by an individual teaching method. These methods often vary based on the type of class being taught, the students that attend the class, and the teacher in question. Some teachers prefer to discuss readings and information in order to involve the students more in the learning process. Others believe that notes and structure are essential for learning, and others still believe in hands-on learning that is controlled mainly by the students and merely supported by the teachers. Other methods exist, of course, but too many to list cohesively.

Discussion is more difficult... because only the students who did the reading can participate.

While there are dozens of teaching styles present in M-A classrooms, there are two or three that seem more common than others. The first is lecture-based teaching, which is the dominant teaching method in classes with

information that needs to be learned or memorized in short periods. Unfortunately, lecture-style methods have become something of a negative stereotype in high school education - sitting silently in desks, taking notes, and listening to the teacher address the class verbatim. Despite the fact that they have earned a bit of a bad reputation, lecture classes can be very effective in that they give students large amounts of information within short periods of time, which in turn allows them to remember more at a given time.

The second teaching method that one would probably see on a given day at M-A is discussion-based teaching. This has become most popular in AS and AP classes, since it mirrors the

I believe a student should be talking at least once during the lesson.

teaching methods used in university classes. Sitting in on a discussion-based class usually yields one of the following views: students arguing over interpretation of a quote, discussing an article in small groups, or, of course, writing an essay. This style of teaching is prevalent in English classes, because they provide the easiest framework for engaging in discussion - it’s more difficult to have an engaged debate over a math problem or a science lab.

These two methods are generalizations, and there are variations on each between classes and teachers. However, the general conclusion about the connection between teaching methods and class types seems to be the following: discussion is more pres-

ent in upper-level Humanities classes and some electives, and lecture is more present in regular-level STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) classes and some branches of the Humanities.

Some lectures can definitely be interesting, depending on the teacher and what they’re talking about.

But why is this the case? And is there a best style that stands out among all of these? Most likely notthese methods usually depend on what is most effective for the type of student being taught, which obviously changes between classes. The MArk was able to speak with a few teachers who gave their opinions on their preferred method of teaching, and why they support the certain methods.

I spoke first with Ms. GreenHeffern, who teaches Western Civilizations and U.S. History at M-A, and is an advocate for lecture-style teaching. “I don’t know if [lecturing] is my preferred style, but it’s definitely the most beneficial towards the students,” she explains. “The idea is, once we’ve spent some time on information that is really pertinent, we try to go back and be more interactive with it.” Ms. G-H is one of many teachers at M-A who believe that the lecture-style teaching method, which allows students to gain information quickly and at once, benefits students the most in comparison to other methods.

However, Ms. G-H is not opposed to discussion-style teaching - in fact, she wholly supports the idea of discussing relevant information with her classes. “There are some instances

where we do things outside and then we discuss them, and those tend to be more fruitful. But it honestly depends on the subject matter,” she maintains. As with most history classes, discussion is an option that depends on what is being taught, and in this case, there are not many instances where it ultimately benefits the class. “I know some students don’t like lecture,” Ms. G-H admits. “And I think that it would be interesting to assign more of the information that I lecture on as a reading the night before, and then have a discussion. However, I’ve found in my experience that that doesn’t necessarily happen.” She believes that, while the idea of discussion is a good one, it isn’t a realistic option for the classes she teaches. “Discussion is difficult if you assign a reading because only the students who did the reading can participate, and the students who didn’t are completely lost.”

This is a common problem, not only at M-A but at schools in generalsome students are eager to do the work and have a discussion, but others tend to lag or fall behind, and therefore can’t

The general Methodology is to allow for a lot of practice and a lot of feedback.

participate as fully. “Lecture is more equitable in the sense that I cover it for everyone and we don’t have to worry about students not being able to learn the information on their own,” Ms. G-H explains. “Most of them remember quite a bit of what’s said and enjoy the practice...seeing and hearing and writing it.” On the other end of the spectrum, many teachers at M-A support teaching by discussion rather than lecture. Discussion teaching allows students to give their personal views on the information given, and debate these views with the teacher and the rest of the class. While it can be a hindrance in that students cannot learn large quantities of information at one time, the discussion method allows them to expand their views by hearing the opinions of their peers. Mr. McBlair, who teaches AS English II and AP Eng-

lish as well as the M-A Bear News Journalism Class, offered his thoughts on his preferred teaching methods.

“The general methodology is to allow for a lot of practice and a lot of feedback,” Mr. McBlair says of his teaching style. “Sometimes I’ll give feedback on a student’s piece of work in front of the whole class. But predominantly, my class time is spent doing some sort of discussion, either student-on-student discussion or group discussion.” The discussion method is predominant in English classes, where there is less information to be learned and memorized. Mr. McBlair is part of the school of thought that information is better analyzed if multiple views are addressed. “If it’s something that you’re analyzing and a subject that you’re exploring with grey areas, that’s definitely geared more towards discussion,” he explains. Mr. McBlair also believes that student opinions are intrinsic to the discussion method. “I believe a student should be talking at least once during the lesson,” he says. “The amount of discussion and talking about the subject matter is one of the benchmarks of my classroom.”

Mr. McBlair, who has had experience teaching proficient-level and remedial-level English classes in addition to advanced-level, also believes that teaching methods vary across skill level. “In classes where students do not necessarily feel as successful, their selfconfidence is generally lower, so they can give up sooner if they’re pushed too hard. Whereas with my advanced classes, I sort of welcome the struggle at times.”

Teachers are not the only ones to have opinions on teaching methods at M-A. Most students have a teacher that they like because they teach a certain way, or conversely, a teacher or class they dislike because they find the teaching style cumbersome or difficult to understand. In fact, when a student complains, “I hate this teacher!” usually what he means is “I hate the way they teach.” The interesting thing about all this is, some students might say of the same teacher, “I love this class,” or, “I love the way they teach.” This isn’t exactly a revolutionary idea - some students prefer teaching environments that others cannot stand. In order to better understand how different students at M-A learn and process information, and

how this relates to teachers and teaching methods, the MArk spoke with juniors Morgan Corona and Cameron Melloy about what they believe helps them learn best. Teacher names and classes have been kept anonymous.

“I think discussion is way better,” Melloy explains, “because you’re more engaged that way.” Corona disagrees, believing that lecture is superior in that it’s a concrete way to gain information. “Some of my teachers just don’t like lecture, they just tell us to figure it out,” she explains. “So I definitely like lecturing more.” Corona shares Ms. GH’s line of thinking - that lecture is an equitable, reliable way of teaching information, and that discussion can create

THe best way to teach is to crack a joke now and then.

an inequality among students. There are also methods that Corona and Melloy believe take away from the learning experience. “One of my teachers is activity-based,” Corona states, highlighting a lesser-known method of teaching seen at M-A, “so she only believes in doing activities. But I end up not learning enough because she doesn’t really teach it, she just expects us to figure it out on our own.”

The two also disagree with the stereotype that lectures are mundane. “I like one of my teachers a lot because her lectures are usually pretty interesting, and they’re usually on topics that I find interesting,” Corona says. “Some lectures can definitely be interesting, depending on the teacher and what they’re talking about.” As is common with most teaching methods at M-A, lectures are highly subjective and depend on what’s being taught. Both Morgan and Cameron emphatically agree that lectures in English and history are very different from lectures given in math and science classes. “I learn a lot from some teachers’ lectures because they joke around and aren’t too serious,” Melloy adds. “The best way to teach is to crack a joke now and then.”

Thanksgivukkah

by Liz Sommer

‘Twas the night of Thanksgiving

And all through the house

The dreidels were spinning

The candles needed not a douse

On the table lay the turkey Latkes, gravy, and nosh

The night was a bit quirky The decorations so posh

‘Twas the second night of hanukkah

American Jews ‘cross the land Donned their yarmulke

Ate pie, the food was not bland

Amid all this madness

Of turkeys, miracles, and thanksgivin’

The nation filled with gladness, People were drinkin’, singin’, and forgivin’

With presents, parades, and football Pilgrims, Maccabees, and more We can’t wait ‘till next Thanksgivukkah In the year seven two three one four.

On Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, Hanukkah and Thanksgiving fell on the same day. This once-in-a-lifetime event inspired hybrid recipes, (turkey donuts anyone?), decorations, fall-themed hanukkah parties, and a social media frenzy (#thanksgivukkah). A variety of t-shirts have been created to commemorate this event, the most popular of which read “Thanksgivukkah: 8 Nights of Light, Liberty & Latkes.” On this evening of clashing cultures, American Jews had the opportunity to celebrate America, thanks, and to incorporate their Jewish rituals. In homes across the United States, Jews were able to celebrate both holidays, combining foods, activities, and traditions.

The only problem is that now that Hanukkah is over, Jews don’t have much to do on Christmas except eat Chinese food and go see Anchorman Two. Maybe it’s the right year to start celebrating Festivus…

How do YOU celebrate your holidays?

by Sami Andrew

“Instead of doing 1 day of presents, my wife and I give our kids 12 days of Christmas.”

- Mr. Longyear

“I wrap my own Christmas presents because my brother cannot wrap Christmas presents”

- Kimi Railey

“MyfamilyandIgo outtoaChinese Christmasrestaurantonbecause weareJewish.”

-IlanaBaer

“My nana has a rotating Christmas tree so me, my nana, and my cousin lay underneath the Christmas tree and look up at the ornaments as they spin.”

- Devin Joos

“Every thanksgiving our cousins throw a huge party in LA with like 100 people, and during Christmas as a family we all help out to make a deep fried Turkey.”

- Shaan Chilukuri

“I have a different type of international food each Christmas.”

- Lisa Willis

“We always get a fake Christmas Tree.”

- Emma Roellig

“I Jump off a dock into the ocean in the British Virgin Islands with my family on New Years Eve.”

- Pauli King

“We eat chicken for becauseThanksgiving no one in my family Turkey.”likes

- Sydney Frame

“My mom makes tamales, posole, mole, and ponche for thanksgiving dinner.”

-Isidro Revuelta

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

by Francesca Gilles

Alcohol is poison. It alters the state of mind and impairs judgement. It makes people physically ill and can even cause death when consumed in excessive quantities. Our society’s reliance upon alcohol is detrimental; drinking responsibly is the exception, not the rule. According to the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were approximately 10,000 fatalities resulting from alcohol-related traffic accidents in 2010. This translates to one every 51 minutes. How does the thrill of a brief high even compare to the risk of harm to yourself and others? When consumption of a substance such as this can have such egregious consequences, it is necessary to become extra-conscientious of individual levels of tolerance and the risks involved with drinking. Why is alcohol consumption automatically conducive to having fun? When there is so much on the line, so much risk that could easily translate into tragedy, shouldn’t these factors take away from the buzz? Finding a stress release, especially during a period of life during which teenagers are under so many external pressures, is a healthy part of managing anxiety. However, a line must be drawn when attempts to relieve stress threaten to harm innocent people. There is a certain mystique surrounding alcohol; the relatively high drinking age leaves a period of years in which underage minors feel as if they are ready to drink, but the laws do not allow them to do so. However, it is easy to overlook the consequences of early alcohol use. Alcohol abuse during the teenage years and early adolescence has disastrous effects upon adultonset alcoholism; children who begin drinking at age 14 or below have a 47 percent chance of developing an alcohol dependency later in life, while those who begin drinking at age 21 have only a nine percent chance of fall-

“People don’t understand how easy it is to develop a dependence on alcohol.”

ing victim to this disease. One senior states that “People don’t understand how easy it is to develop a dependence on alcohol. When you’re a teenager, you feel like you’re invincible, and people underestimate the severity of alcoholism.” She affirms that alcohol dependency developed during the teenage years is “Sad to think about,” saying that “It’s an issue that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Some people don’t understand the risks associated with drinking as underage minors and by drinking excessively in high school, they both put themselves in danger and ruin all future opportunities for safe, legal social drinking.” Unfortunately, these consequences do not carry the weight that they should; even though drunk driving is condemned in our society, there are still those who ignore the obvious and continue to endanger themselves and others on the road. Designated Drunk Drivers, or DDDs, have risen to popularity as a result of the nearly universal culture of binge drinking among high school and college students. For those of you who have not heard this term before, a DDD is someone who, instead of staying sober for the entire night and driving the drunkards home at the end, has her fun early-on during the festivities and is supposedly sober enough to provide rides by the end of the night. The shortsightedness of teens on a mission for controlled substances is astounding; the consequences seem to have no effect upon decision-making. The .01 percent BAC limit placed upon under 21s, hefty fines, and even jail time that can follow a DUI notwithstanding, it is possible that you may kill someone as a result of a few poor decisions. If the problem is bad in high school, it only becomes worse in college. In 2008, a student at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo died of alcohol poisoning while pledging the Sigma Alpha Episilon

fraternity. After consuming enough alcohol to raise his BAC to a level between .39 percent and .44 percent in 90 minutes, this pledge perished in the fraternity house “barf room.” However, this grim death could have been avoided; several of his fraternity brothers, while in the process of driving this pledge to the hospital, made the conscious decision to turn the car around and bring him back to the party, where he died within minutes. Their motives were selfish, and an 18-year-old died because of this negligence. High school and college are both milestones in the lives of young people. We feel an increased sense of independence, but with this independence comes responsibility. Unfortunately, individual levels of maturity and self-control are often incongruous with good decision-making. The responsibility does not compute as quickly as the joy of living more independently. Earlier this year, two parents of M-A students were struck and killed by a drunk driver. Marjorie Reitzell, 54-year-old Redwood City resident blamed her gross intoxication on the night of Oct. 24 upon the fact that her mother had recently passed. Her lawyer, now potentially facing a second-degree murder trial, concurs, and is attempting to use this tragedy as an excuse for Reitzell’s flawed life decisions. Hasn’t our society evolved past the point at which a relative’s death becomes a free pass for murder? Blatantly driving at, in the words of San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, “well over two times the legal limit,” (which would constitute a Blood Alcohol Content of .16 percent or higher) in and of itself should constitute the complete and permanent removal of this woman from the road. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and when someone violates the unwritten contract of preserving the safety of themselves and others when she gets behind the wheel of a car, she should lose her driving license permanently. A fearsome combination of substance abuse and poor judgement is to blame for the senseless killing of innocent people. The system has failed; Reitzell already had a charge of misdemeanor drunk driving against her, filed in Nov. 2012, when she got back behind the wheel. This is a repeat offender whose negligence and disregard for anyone besides herself caused the deaths of two innocent people. This is a disease that does not go away with time alone; approximately one-third of drunk driving offenders have committed the same crime at least once before. It is a disease that takes innocent people down with the host. It is a disease that lingers, tearing at your being until you fight back, or succumb. It waits in the shadows, and it preys on weakness of the psyche and the physique. And it is rampant among today’s youth.

Underage drinkers account for 11.4% of all the alcohol consumed in the United States

Adolescents who start drinking before age 15 are 5 times more likely to develop a dependency on alcohol than those who begin drinking after age 21

In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency room visits by teens under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol

*Data reported from dosomething.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spurring social change through the efforts of young adults

Not So Fun Facts

CLUBS Under the Radar

by Kristen Walsh

Melodies for Charities provides students with the opportunity to perform and to give back to their community through supporting various charities. Musicians in the club are able to play their own style of music, including rock, classical, and jazz. Melodies promotes an inspiration and wide range of creativity. In the interview with Melodies for Charities’ President and Vice President, Rachel Fosnaugh and Danielle Walsh, both reflect their passion and devotion to the diversity and creative style of music that their club brings forth.

As the leaders of Melodies for Charities, why are you guys personally interested in the club?

“We love Melodies for Charities because it really gives students, who love performing or who have never performed before, an expressive outlet to share their love of music and passion for giving back to the community. If you don’t know how to play an instrument but love to sing, no problem! There are many talented musicians in the group who love to accompany any singer in any song. And you don’t know how to sing but can play an instrument? You’re very much welcome too! Or if you don’t enjoy either but are good with musical equipment and technology, we welcome you too! The club is open and welcoming to students of many talents and that’s what we truly love about this club.”

What/how does your club offer (originality) to the diverse culture here at MA?

“Melodies for Charities welcomes everyone and anyone who loves music. Throughout the many events that we have hosted and attended, we have heard a wide range of music genres, instruments, and voices that all add to the diversity and sense of community within our club. Our club members work together to create new renditions of classics or covers of current hits all while having fun doing it. From experience, there is no better feeling than performing a song with friends or alone that you have dedicated a lot of time and effort into.”

What are your future goals as a club?

“We hope to inspire creativity and courage among students here at M-A. Although our main focus is serving our community, we hope to support the students and serve as a musical outlet and center of growth.”

SEEDS stands for Strategies for Ecology, Education, Diversity, and Sustainability. The club aims to initiate environmental change within the community, and to create environmental awareness through education and service. Co-President Sabiha Viswanathan shares her insight on why she loves the club and what she hopes to promote through it.

How did your club arise?

“The club arose when I was a junior here at M-A. It was the first year of the AP Environmental Science Class with Mr. Powell, and there were many of us who sought to spread our love of environmental science beyond the classroom. Combining this passion into one, we came together to begin SEEDS. When we began the club, we were a really small group of about eight people, but we all worked so well and efficiently together.”

As one of the President’s of SEEDS, why are you personally interested in the club?

“My love for this club and our objectives has its origins with my experience in the AP Environmental Science Class. I truly owe my love for the subject to Mr. Powell, who has so much passion and love for what he does. He was always so eager to educate us about it. Through Mr. Powell’s style of teaching and his passion for the subject, he truly made me love environmental science and what it is all about. After the course, I have looked upon my own actions and our actions as a global community in an entirely new light. So as a club we aim to really educate our community and other communities in that sense about the ramifications of our actions and how important it is to be environmentally aware.”

What/how does your club offer (originality) to the diverse culture of MA?

“I think our club is extremely unique because we are one of the first clubs that really has an entire environmental objective. Our whole goal of education is something that I don’t think has really been tackled before on the environmental scene at M-A. Issues that we all know about, we do not really take action for and I think that we are approaching this like never before. We are taking it upon ourselves to educate the rest of the Menlo-Atherton student body about environmental issues that are extremely pertinent in our current times. Our actions have larger ramifications than we all truly perceive.”

ARGE TE’S ARTS AND CRAFTS COR ER N N

by Alex Argente

As the holiday season rolls around the corner , there is a need among M - A students to take a break from cramming and exercise their cre -ativity . . Arts and crafts are undervalued in today ’s society , , especially by those who claim to have outgrown the activity . Art is a language that can be spoken by all ethnic and social groups . Self --expression through the arts also works to develop collaboration and independence ,, traits essential to any maturing intellectual It has also been found that par -ticipation in arts and crafts can directly enhance students test scores ,, creativity , and an overall good attitude . So what more reason do you need to dust off the construction paper and bust out some Elmer’s glue ?

1) Pick your desired paper and be prepared for it to transform into a beautifully festive work of art.

2) Using the liquid glue, pour the shape of a Christmas tree on the construction paper.. Any type of evergreen conifer should suffIce but I recommend a nice healthy spruce, or even a pine tree If you’re feeling extra wintery

3) Crack open a box of Mac and Cheese and try to resist the temptation to scarf it all down.. Remember It is not cooked.. Also, if you get out a box of Hamburger Helper, you’re doing it wrong.. We’re talking elbow macaroni folks

4) Glitter .Need I say more?

5) Now before you go running to your mom to show her your beautiful piece of art, wait for that glue to dry Your Christmas tree will be stuck on the fridge in no time.

Detroit, Michigan: Our American history textbooks deem it a glittering industrial capital from the early to mid-twentieth century, the heart of American dominance, a cause of victory in the Second World War, and a Mecca for Fordism. Born in the late nineties and raised in Silicon Valley, a new urban gem, we haven’t been raised to appreciate Detroit as anything special. As the rest of the world has caught up to-- and surpassed-- the city in automotive technology and innovation, Detroit is struggling to outlive its glory days. Over the last few decades, much of the city has appeared to be deserted, as the population moves to new, booming urban capitals. Tales told of blocks of abandoned buildings, looting, and gang-dominance paint the city as a sort of urban wasteland. (Have you seen the “100 Abandoned Houses” project? The skeletons of what were once vibrant homes in a bygone era leave a stark impression that is hard to shake.) Now, the latest chapter of Detroit’s downfall reports that the city’s file for bankruptcy has been approved, making it the “Biggest City to Qualify for Bankruptcy,” as labeled by the New York Times. While this will allow the city to pay off its debts, it will have drastic effects on the city’s “nonessential” programs, such as education benefits and pensions for city workers.

Local Headlines read

"Online education is the way of the future." and “Why you should pursue your startup now.”

So, despite a proud remaining populace and valiant efforts to pull the city back into relevance, Detroit’s future could be grim. Over 2000 miles away, in perhaps the world’s most innovative digital hubs, we should be concerned. Detroit is a prime example of a geographic region built around a single market, in their case, that of automobiles. In a time of the new Ford model and urban sprawl, Detroit essentially monopolized the entire industry, which was arguably the most successful in America at the time. The city saw even more prosperity manufacturing related goods; tanks and weaponry to aid in the Good War. But as times changed and innovation created new, different demand, Detroit’s auto industry, the base of its production, economy, and society, grew obsolete. The city was stripped of its prosperity, which eventually stripped it of many of its inhabitants and left it in the predicament it is in today.

"for each new high tech job in a city, five additional jobs are ultimately crEated outside of the high tech sECtor in that city."

Now, we live in an area that depends on modern technology as its main industry. The dot-com boom rocketed Silicon Valley into relevance and its success created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the local service sector. Economist Enrico Moretti explains in The New Geography of Jobs, “For each new high-tech job in a city, five additional jobs are ultimately created outside of the high-tech sector

in that city, both in skilled occupations (lawyers, teachers, nurses) and in unskilled ones (waiters, hairdressers, carpenters).” The success of Apple, for example, which employs 13,000 people at with just its Cupertino base, has created 70,000 other, “unrelated” jobs in the area- schoolteachers, baristas, drivers, financial advisors, publicists, and thousands more. So the collapse of such a company would be devastating to the surrounding community. Though the dot-com bubble “burst” over a decade ago and Silicon Valley’s recovery makes the economy seem indestructible now, our predicament has evolved to one more precarious than ever. Local headlines reading, “Online education is the way of the future” and, “Why you should pursue your startup now,” suggest our community’s ever-growing dependence on digital industry. Stock in Twitter, a San Francisco-based website, is said to have made 1,600 new millionaires; digital technology seems to be where today’s money is being made. San Francisco has felt this “creative migration,” and the hilly city now battles a housing shortage. This influx of well-paid “techies” wonderfully encourages creativity and innovation, but puts the city’s less economically advantaged populations at risk. If these populations are forced the relocate, the city’s diverse culture, whose novelty now attracts the tech industry’s elite to areas like the Mission District, will be at risk. At the same time, as other regions’ high-tech sectors catch up to those in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, competition is bound to weaken our most successful tech companies, and perhaps wipe out our smaller ones. It’s important that, as the future of this region, teenagers recognize that this area will not always have the monopoly on the digital industry that it has today; other regions will rise up and new innovative hubs will form. “Creative migration” will move to other cities, as trends are constantly changing, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that our neighborhoods survive it. In order to ensure long-term stability of the region, therefore, Silicon Valley must diversify its money-making industries; we must not become solely dependent on high-tech business, as Detroit was. Digital industry isn’t the only job sector; we must be aware that other positions in society must also be filled. Until the Internet can build a roof over our heads and offer physical nourishment, we must look out for our other industries, lest we be reduced to a wasteland of empty Apple warehouses and shattered Google glass.

by Megan Kilduff

Intercourse

Caught in the Act

Groping

In the 2013-2014 planner, M-A displays its rules concerning excessive displays of affection, or P.D.A., specifying in the planner only that “kissing, petting, and other physical demonstrations considered to be inappropriate when conducted in public” are not acceptable on the campus. This does not specify what kind of kissing, the level of petting or many other factors that determine the amount of affection displayed. This lack of specific examples of P.D.A. begs the question: what is the limit at M-A, and how much affection is too much?

I decided to help the school and rank P.D.A. into three categories: 1. Acceptable, 2. Unacceptable, and 3. Sickening. Acceptable ranges public displays of affection winking through hugging, unacceptable a peck through neck kissing, and sickening Groping to intercourse. These three categories rank the P.D.A.s in ascending order of level of disgust felt by an observer. Acceptable displays of affection are normal between couples at M-A and when I see anyone holding hands or kissing each other goodbye, I don’t feel bile rising from my stomach or a heat of hatred from my heart. This is the same for the rest of group 1; although they are P.D.A., they cause no harm to others and are not mentioned as unacceptable by the M-A establishment.

Holding Hands

Winking

The second unacceptable group of P.D.A is full of affection forbidden by M-A rules; anything from the unacceptable list should be kept in privacy away from everyone but you and your significant other. I can vouch for every person at M-A by saying that tongue kissing and neck kissing are too much, and unless you’re the couple equivalent of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie nobody is interested in watching you get some action.

The sickening P.D.A.s are much more intense yet are not specifically labeled as inappropriate for the campus; it is specified that petting is not allowed but what level of petting, if there was dog on campus is there a rule against petting him? Though it’s sickening it is strange that there is such a lack of specificity. The final P.D.A is most likely inappropriate for school yet I can never be positive because of the lack of specific examples in the M-A planner. This last of P.D.A. is definitely gut wrenching, but without conformation, who can know if it is inappropriate for school.

by Ben Hickman

A different point not addressed by the M-A planner is the people who display their affection in public. An unnamed student claims “I saw two people making out, I decided I wanted a kiss too and I walked up the girl and asked for one, she said no and walked away.” This makes it clear that people who are publicly displaying their affection are very selfish and unwilling to share.

In conclusion, M-A’s P.D.A. regulations are not clear and don’t specify about certain actions; it also fails to address the more personal side of P.D.A. and the people who do display affection. Ken’s Lucky Day

Bathroom Theory

by Gabe Cohen

“This is the way the bathrooms SHOULD look,” says the administration at the back to school assembly year after year, as they point to the picture of our school bathrooms looking so unfamiliar, so clean. We all look back at the administration, with the mutual understanding that this simply won’t happen. At this point, M-A has become synonymous with disgusting bathrooms, and really I’m not sure who or what could change that.

Honestly how do our bathrooms get so gross? It seems as if someone truly walks into them each morning, pisses all over the floors, puts gum on all the faucets, and then breaks all the hand driers. While one would assume that such malicious behavior would be carried out by a sadistic person who gets off from ruining others days, I have discovered the true culprit, the administration.

I know I know, that seems like a ludicrous proposition, but hear me out. How many teachers do you have that love when their students interrupt their lectures to ask if they can go to the bathroom? That’s right, none. Moreover, how many of these same teachers love when students leave their class or extended periods of time to use the bathroom? You’re right again, none. Think about this: what if the administra-

tion goes into the bathrooms every morning before school and just filths them up so that students don’t want to use them, therefore keeping us in class. Mind boggling, I know. Although at first it’s hard to believe the more you think about it, the more sense it’ll make. The administration needs to keep us in the classroom, learning for as much time as possible, so they do not want us wandering the halls and wasting time. Feasibly, this makes sense. Everyone take a minute to play out the morning routine in your heads. As Mr. Zito takes a hammer to the hand driers, Mr. Lippi throws urine on the floors, while Mr. Losekoot and Ms. Kennel unroll all the toilet paper, and systematically clog the toilets and urinals. It’s a weird image, but I’m telling you it’s true.

But honestly, who really wins? Everyday before school, the administration has to get down and dirty, ruining the bathrooms of the very school at which they work, while students must deal with the nastiness that are the M-A bathrooms. Anyways, do these bathrooms really deter people from leaving class to use them? I speak for the student body when I say that we get the last laugh, because no one actually goes to the bathroom when they leave class.

2 2Is the SAT an Accurate Measure of Intelligence?

Questions 10-16 are based on the following passage. by Amir Heidari

As a person who is really happy with his SAT score, I still don’t believe my score nor anyone’s score is an accurate measure of one’s intelligence. Look at the writing category of the SAT. The first section of the writing category is an essay.

The essay section gives one a relatively broad statement and asks you to formulate an essay in which you argue in support or against the statement. However, you can expect to get a higher score on the essay if you just simply fill up the two pages you are allotted for the essay. Furthermore, the essays are not fact-checked. I talk about Ronald Regan’s current life (even though he died 9 years ago) and my score would not be affected in a negative way. The majority of the remaining writing category involves various grammar rulessince when is knowledge of grammar a test of intelligence? Is it really important to know that its grammatically correct to say, “it is I” instead of “it is me.” In addition, one can easily and relatively quickly learn the majority of the grammar rules that are tested on the SAT. A person is not more intelligent than another simply by knowing more grammar.

The second category of the SAT is critical reading. The first series of questions in every critical reading section is vocabulary based. The question’s words involved tend to generally get harder as one progress through. Furthermore, people can significantly improve their critical reading score if they extend their vocabulary knowledge. However, vocabulary does not attest to a person’s intelligence. The rest of the critical reading section involves a series of passagebased questions. Some people tend to be better than others in reading comprehension and thus find these questions easier. However, their skills do not confirm a superior intelligence. Through various tutoring programs, a person can also learn key strategies to improve their critical reading score. The mere fact that one can prepare and thus significantly improve their score rules out the SAT as an intelligence test since one should not be able to prepare for an actual intelligence test.

The final category of the SAT is math. The material tested in the math sections is rarely challenging. However, the wording of the questions and the manner in which they are presented often-trick people. If the math section or any math test for that matter tested actual math knowledge, the wording nor the form of the question should not be the reason one gets stuck on questions. Similar to performances in the other categories, one’s math score can be heavily improved if one spends time preparing for the SAT. Again, the mere fact that one can prepare for these questions rules out the test as a proper measure of intelligence. Students get too fed up over their SAT scores. The SAT unfortunately plays an integral role in the college admissions process but it doesn’t demonstrate one’s intelligence. Furthermore, success is not synonymous with a high score. Successful individuals like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates did not become successful because of their SAT scores, they thrived because of their dedication to their life goals. As senior Nick Landolfi says, “In a couple of years, you’re going to realize how pointless this test was.”

10.The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) To criticize a certain group of individuals (B) Point out the faulty nature of a program (C) Assert his own views with regards to the issue (D) Appeal to a certain group of individuals (E) State a thesis and follow it up with evidence

11.The main tone of the author is

(A) Cynical (B) Condecending (C) Depressed (D) Happy (E) Passive Passive

The MArk December 2013

31:536:000 Seconds

That's All You've got in 1 year. Make Each one count.

Iby Alexa Finn

t’s a Friday night, the beginning of the weekend; let’s say for argument’s sake that you ask a few people about their plans for the night. You’re suddenly bombarded with a thousand different responses; some say they have a sports practice, others are going shopping, and some are just hanging out. Many teenagers would say their lives are focused on extracurriculars and schoolwork. However, this is not the case for many M-A students; some simply waste their time.

You have about 31,536,000 seconds in a year to do whatever you want. You could watch hours of TV, or you could go out and try a new activity. Unfortunately, much of our time is eaten up by school, homework, and transportation to and from extracurricular activities. You know those kids who are exceptional athletes, have perfect grades, and are super friendly? It’s natural to feel jealous; why can’t we all have As in five AP classes, excel in athletics, and top off every wildly successful day by baking chocolate chip cookies for friends’ birthdays? Fear not; it’s really rare to be this way naturally, and it takes hard work and drive to become the best you can be. The people who barely sleep and somehow make it through the day with so many activities are the ones we should look up to. This does not always mean that to be a successful person you need to fill your days with a lot activities; though we think that these people are perfect, their rigorous dedication to one or two activities does not allow for intellectual diversification. Not to say that this is a bad thing, but I find it kind of sad that current teenage culture prevents many students from exploring new activities and satisfying their sense of wonder. We might not have enough time in the day to do all the activities we want and we sometimes just have those lazy days where we do not want to do anything, but as a community of students, we should pledge to have new experiences. If time were money,

you would want to spend it on the right things, not waste it on buying the same banal product over and over.

Finals are just around the corner and it’s more important than ever to manage your time to get all of your studying done. As the homework piles up and the stress level rises, it is difficult to have time for anything else in your life. It is almost as if the world around us stops for a week and all we are focused on is achieving that A. Finding a balance between activities, a social life, and school is one of the most stressful situations a teen can be put into. When we are so swamped with homework, it is really difficult to set aside the time to go and try new things. Take a break from studying and take a yoga class, or paint, or write a short story; the possibilities are endless. High school is a balancing act; on one hand we need to do homework and focus on getting into college, but on the other, students spend hours participating in extracurricular activities. I think it’s safe to say that on the weekends, it’s pretty depressing to stay inside and do homework while other people are out having fun; to some extent, we all develop a serious case of FOMO syndrome (Fear of Missing Out). Take some breaks, go out and have fun; try something new for a change. Even I am stuck in this vicious cycle of school, extracurriculars, homework, and somehow managing to sleep. Although as a high-schooler so many things are calling your name, try to find that space of time where you can broaden your horizons and explore the world around you.

There are so many cool things you could be doing with your time: you could go for a run, listen to some new music, plant a tree, go to the beach, or, you know, be lazy and sleep (trust me, we all have those days). All I’m saying is, go out and diversify; figure out your niche in the world, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll enjoy what you find. After all, that’s what high school is all about. 39

Photography Leaf

Jackie Lopez, 11th

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Untitled Evan Reed, 10th

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Untitled Elana Schulman, 11th

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Untitled Anna McDermott, 12th

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Untitled ,Anna McDermott, 12th

NETFLIX EXCLUSIVES NETFLIX EXCLUSIVES

by Ivana Petani

With the rise of shows that are being streamed online only, more and more people are turning to the Internet to get their daily dose of entertainment. The greater accessibility to shows and their complete seasons through sites such as Netflix enables viewers to watch shows on their time rather than on a set network time adds to the appeal of online TV, and many M-A students and staff members alike are relying on online TV to watch their favorite shows.

Arrested Development

The show follows the life of the Bluth family, whose members are forced to readjust their posh lifestyle as their family patriarch is imprisoned for fraud. The shock of losing their lavish lifestyle has proved to place the family in interesting situations as the family attempts to rely on the most responsible of the group, Michael Bluth, while he is desperately trying to separate himself from the chaos that is his family. Senior Lauren Nathan says, “The absurdity and childish humor makes you laugh so hard your stomach hurts”. The comedic cast includes Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Michael Cera to name a few. Originally debuting as a TV show on FOX in 2003, Arrested Development was cancelled in 2006 but reappeared solely on Netflix for a fourth season; with this new approach, the show greatly amassed its fan base and many M-A students have become loyal viewers.

Orange is the New Black

With its debut in July 2013, this Netflix original quickly became a success. The show centers around Piper Chapman, played by Taylor Schilling, and her adjustment to prison life after she is sentenced to prison for a year for transporting money to her drug-dealing girlfriend (Laura Prepon) ten years ago. While it is primarily a drama, Orange is the New Black is riddled with dry, sarcastic humor that provides a laugh despite the dire situation present in the show. Students and even teachers at MA have indulged in this new hit. Junior Gianna Prainito comments, “I think it has a really good plot line, it is pretty original compared to others things I have seen and the actors are also really good. There is a diverse range of characters that are really well developed and have many different sides to them as well. It’s funny and at the same time emotional and heartfelt.”

House of Cards

Loosely based off a 1990s BBC show following British political miniseries, House of Cards focuses on the political world in Washington D.C. as it follows the schemes of Congressman Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire (Robin Wright). The duo plot their revenge on the members of the presidential administration who betrayed Underwood, as they did not reserve a position for him in the Presidential Cabinet despite the fact that he greatly assisted in getting the administration into power. Senior Noah Schneider shares, “I think that House of Cards is a very exciting and interesting show! Kevin spacey plays a particularly brutal and exciting character!”

Bear DOWN

by Sarah Reichow

As soon as the doctor walked in the room I could see the disappointment on his face. He knew he was about to shatter my world. It was one month before the beginning of the water polo season. I was pumped and nothing could stop me from having a great season. Nothing except my wrist doctor. Up until July 16th I had been diagnosed with a small tear in my TFCC (the real name is too complicated to remember). The diagnosis changed dramatically July 16. The doctor diagnosed me with Ulnar Styloid Impaction Syndrome. Basically I had a bone that was both too long and slowly cutting away at three major ligaments in my wrist. The doctor had to fix my completely torn ligament through surgery. This was originally only meant to put me out of the pool for a month, which was perfect timing to start water polo. Unfortunately, the odds were not in my favor and coming out of surgery the doctor explained everything inside my wrist was much worst then expected. The first question that I asked the doctor was “when do I get to play water polo?” He looked at me again with sullen eyes, just like he had when he originally diagnosed me. He looked me in the eye and said “Sarah, I cant give you a time right now. But I can say if you play water polo before you are back to full strength, you will never be able to use your wrist again. I have to say it will be about three months” The whole season I would not be playing water polo. I would not be improving my skills for a whole year. Millions of questions started flooding my head. What if I never play again? What if my strength doesn’t come back? Will I be able to make varsity junior year? What if I wanted to play water polo in college? Unfortunately with the pressures on athletes these days, many more high schooler’s are stuck asking themselves these horrible questions. Alexa Finn dedicated her life to swimming. She spent countless hours a week in the pool. In January of 2012, Alexa experienced horrible pain in her shoulder and neck. She was sent to many doctors to determine the cause of the pain but all the doctors had the same answer: the injury was attributed to the overuse of her shoulder. She was told that in a few months everything would be fine and she would not be in pain. When this did not

happen, Alexa was sent to a specialist and was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. It required invasive surgery that could paralyze Alexa from the shoulders down. If she chose not to have surgery, Alexa would not have been allowed to do any sort of physical activity which included swimming. Not doing sports was not an options for Alexa. After the difficult decision to go with the surgery and months of recovery, Alexa was cleared back for sports. “I am working my hardest to be able to be the swimmer I was before the injury, but right now that is very hard. It is difficult coming back from over a year of being injured.” Although Alexa is back in the pool, it has proven difficult for her to return to the shape she was in prior to her injury. Injuries do not only affect the individual athlete, it similarly brings down the rest of the team. Girls Junior Varsity water polo coach, Tatiana Dehnad was able to give insight into how coaches believe injuries affect the athlete and teams. “ I think that it has a big impact on the team dynamics. As a coach, you want the best for your players and the best for your team, and sometimes when a player gets injured and gets taken out of the game, it can impact the way the other players interact and contribute.” The coach also talked about how it is sometimes hard to know if an athlete has a serious injury or just a small one that goes away over time. “A lot of times it comes down to the character of an athlete and how you [as a coach] have watched them. There are those athletes who will complain about every little ache or pain and then there are those who never complain, so when they do you know it’s big.” Finally, coach Tatiana emphasized how important it is to help ease an athlete back to the sport once they are clear. She talks about how it is important to push them and to encourage them to get back to the sport. “Based on the injury, I notice athletes lose the confidence and self worth on a team, it is important to help them back to feeling confident.”

It seems that with each year, more and more student atheletes are getting injured. Regardless of the age or skill level, these injuries prove devastating both to the individuals as well as the team. No matter how severe the injury may be, it is important to remain patient and wait until you are healthy to begin participating again.

sports

COLLEGE BOUND

COLLEGE BOUND

Senior Zach Plante has committed to Dartmouth University after being recruited for running track. He started the process last summer, when he took initiative and emailed about eight different schools, including D1 and D3 programs. Though all of the coaches replied, Zach planned official visits with his favorite schools, Brown and Dartmouth. He recalled, “Before the visits, I had been immersed in an environment filled with constant talk of SAT scores and grades. I realized that although a number of kids have really strong ‘numbers,’ I had distinguished myself from other applicants with my track times instead.” He knew immediately after visiting Dartmouth that it was the school for him; the “Rural campus, amazing academics, and smart and centered kids,” gave him clarity concerning where he would find his niche. Though he has committed to Dartmouth, he still thinks it necessary for committed athletes like him to continue to work hard in school in order to “prove that we have put in a lot of effort to get to where we are now.” Senioritis may be tempting, but not worth the blows to both grades and character.

Senior Pauli King began the recruiting process early; she began receiving letters of interest from various universities during her eighth grade year, but because colleges are not allowed to send personal emails until September 1 of the junior year, she only received generic explanations of their interest. When she began seriously considering different schools, she was deciding between Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and University of Kansas, which all have incredible athletic programs. After visiting Princeton, however, Pauli knew that it was the right school for her. “Being on campus with the team and experiencing a day in the life helped [her] realize that it was a place [she] wanted to be,” King reflected. She was also drawn to Princeton’s strong engineering program, but for the most part, her attraction to the school was driven by a strong, positive gut feeling. This excitement of committing to college early, however, has not affected her academic drive; she has continued to work hard in her academics and her various hobbies. She added, “It has definitely allowed me to focus more on training for college [volley]ball as well as expanding my extracurriculars, like playing piano and guitar.”

Erik Amundson, a senior, has committed to the University of California San Diego after a long process of communicating with baseball coaches at various schools. In order to get started with recruiting, it is necessary to “Try to stand out as a team leader,” Amundson advises. It is important for coaches to be able to picture themselves coaching the athletes that they recruit; they are really looking for the work ethic and coachability in the athletes. In addition to demonstrating openness to criticism and coachability, Amundson advises to “never make snap decisions from a first impression, keep your options open, and be courteous.” Coaches from different schools are in communication with a myriad of highly competitive athletes, so it is important to be open to different schools that may be interested in you. His last piece of advice is to “take the initiative.” Coaches appreciate this sort of attitude and are likely to come and watch you play if you contact them with your schedule, information about yourself, and attempts to solicit a visit to a match. These coaches are looking for drive, excitement about college, and dedication to your sport.

by Lindy LaPlante and Brett Moriarty

Physical Education for the Physically Exceptional? Physical Education for the Physically Exceptional?

by Sofia Bergmann

Menlo-Atherton’s policy about physical education credits has concerned a substantial amount of students who participate in sports that are not offered at M-A. Is it fair for a competitive gymnast or black- belt in Karate to lose an opportunity to take an elective or wake up extra early for a zero period?

Many students have claimed that competitively playing non-M-A sports provides more than enough exercise and has stressed them out more as they try to cram in the required PE credits. Katie Bariteau, a sophomore and horseback rider, concurs: “I honestly don’t know what to do, because I have to ride [my horse] every single day and don’t have time to play an M-A sport. I even miss school for big horse shows, which are already stressful enough, but I still need to take a CTE and another year of PE, which doesn’t allow time for interesting classes that I want to take.”

In addition to this conflict that students are facing, many claim that the sports they play outside of school are bigger commitments than some sports offered at Menlo-Atherton. This is a recurring complaint amongst M-A rowers. Sophomore Julian Zucker expressed his displeasure at the PE requirement, “I wake up at four in the morning for crew practice, I row 14 hours a week, and the stress of rowing competitions is beyond compare… Crew is the only true sport, yet [rowers] don’t receive the same recognition as people who play school-related sports.”

Although Zucker’s claims about crew may be slightly unreasonable, he does make a good point. Fourteen hours per week of rowing is a respectable amount of conditioning, especially considering that he still has to take PE, and zero period is not an option because he already takes one. Case in point, when asked about her experiences

in M-A Badminton, sophomore Jorja Kahn seemed as though she did not find it as serious of a commitment as Julian’s crew endeavors. “I just love badminton because it’s so fun and chill; everyone bonds and it’s not so much about getting the super intense workout if you don’t want it; its more about having fun and meeting new people, not everyone has to take it seriously.”

Furthermore, there have been instances where athletes try to participate in two sports (one of them being an M-A sport for the credits, the other a sport that they are passionate about) concurrently, taking away their time to focus on school and causing sleep deprivation. Jessica Troxel, a competitive blackbelt in Karate made the decision to take up golf her sophomore year in order to avoid taking PE. “I didn’t get to start my homework until super late every night because I had golf until 5:30 and karate for about two and a half hours, then I had to eat dinner and I finally got to start my homework at around ten, and I ended up going to bed at like one or two in the morning every single night.”

But is that really necessary? Should students be stressing themselves out just so they don’t have to take an extra year of PE? If the athletic directors were to take this into consideration, how would they count sport credits for non M-A athletes? When is it safe to say that the outside athletes meet the requirements to skip PE? Though the California State Standards are in place for a reason, it seems unfair to blindly ignore hardworking athletes simply because they do not participate in a school-related sport. It’s only a matter of time before the administrators realize this, and when they do, innumerable student-athletes will thank them.

The MArk, a feature magazine published by the students in Menlo-Atherton High School’s Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The MArk is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity. Submissions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of all M-A students or the staff of The MArk. Send all submissions to submittothemark@gmail.com.

Photography Tahoe in Film NIna Fox, 11th

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