Back on Our Feet: As we leave distance learning behind us, we are reminded of what we missed—sipping from water fountains on hot days, competing against rival sports teams, and seeing friends face-to-face. is edition of e Mark celebrates these light-hearted moments while discussing the more complex topics that also a ect us. Our editorial looks ahead to new challenges to our basic rights and how we must respond with action instead of dismay. Elsewhere, we recognize areas of progress on campus and propose solutions for areas where we continue to fall short. As the year wraps up, we highlight individual and shared identities, and hope to honor the unique perspective every student has to o er by including several pieces from students outside of the journalism classroom as well.
e Policy
e Mark, a feature magazine published by the students in M-A’s journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. e Mark is distributed to its readers and the students at no cost. e sta 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 re ect the opinions of all M-A students or the sta of e Mark. Send all submissions to submittothemark@gmail.com. To contact us directly, email us at themachronicle@gmail.com.
Ella Bohmann Farrell
Emily Buck
Sheryl Chen
Katie Doran
Maia Goel
Juliana Jones
Emily Olson
Brianna Aguayo
Marlene Arroyo
Tess Buckley
Elias Chane
Samir Chowdhary-Fitton
JJ Discher
Natalie Fishman
Sonia Freedman
Grace Hinshaw
Brian Hoyle
Ellie Hultgren
Alex Parikh-Briggs
Cleo Rehkopf
Isabelle Stid
Chase Trigg
Malikahon Vahobova
Sarah Weintraut
Katherine Welander
Jane White
Justina Wilkins
Jackson Williams
John McBlair
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief
Fountains on Campus Is the SAT Actually Racist?
Roe v. Wade Will Fall: Why You Should Care and What You Can Do
cover illustrated by Justina Wilkins
Poemas Sobre la Identidad Latinoamericana
Poems About Latin American Identity
El Verano del ‘16
Nacida en el país de oportunidades,
Me decían mis padres.
Vuela la Mariposa
La Mariposa
Llena de música y emoción
Poema de Orgullo Latinoamericano
Sin entender la de nición de ese término,
Luego se me ocurrió decirlo cada vez que me preguntaban cómo era vivir aquí.
A una temprana edad me sentía vacía.
¿Quién soy y cuál es mi propósito?
Mis raíces eran desconocidas
Y mi anhelo de saber más pronto terminaría.
El verano del ‘16
Fue cuando nalmente entendí.
Nací con un poder, Aunque no sea un ídolo. Solo un niño afortunado, Que habla el español.
Me enamoré de mi pueblo
De mi gente
Vayamos a un asado, Con familia y amigos, Y comamos chorizo, Y tomamos vino.
De la cultura
La mariposa está llena de hermosa cultura
Llena de lenguajes hermosos que une la gente
Esta mariposa se migra
No conoce este lenguaje
No conoce esta cultura
Está sola la mariposa
Encuentra nueva maneras de volar
Vuela con emoción
Vuela con felicidad
Vuela con cultura y hermosos lenguajes
Ese vacío que sentía en mi alma de repente no existía
Mis raíces quedaron marcadas y por n entendí
Que aquí pertenezco
Y aquí me quedaré
Nacida y criada en los Estados Unidos
Orgullosamente chicana
Y agradecida por las oportunidades que me ha dado este país
Aunque quisiera quedarme en México
Y vivir toda una vida ahí
Mi país siempre va a ser mi destino
Y mis raíces siempre serán marcadas por las venas de mi cuerpo
Aprender amar cada lado igual siempre será difícil
por el hecho de que
Mis raíces siempre me van a de nir más
Y por eso las amaré toda mi vida.
Mi cultura Argentina, Me conecta con toda Latinoamérica. Encendió un fuego dentro de mí, Que nunca se extinguirá.
O vayamos a la cancha, A jugar un poco de fútbol. Las estrellas Argentinas no esperan, Maradona, Passarella, y Fillol.
Podemos dar un viaje al Sur, Para visitar a los pingüinos, O jugar en la nieve, Y tomar mate con los vecinos.
Que lindo es Iguazú, Donde se encuentran las cataratas. Que parte a los tres países, Brasil, Paraguay, y Argentina.
De la ciudad de Buenos Aires, Al frío de la Patagonia, Es todo mi país, Es parte de mi historia.
Siento mucho orgullo, ¿Y quién no lo sentiría? Si su sangre uyera con linaje de Latinoamérica.
Mi Orgullo
escrito
Yo vengo del pozole
Yo vengo de la morisqueta
Yo vengo de los tamales
Yo vengo de carne asada
Y yo vengo, de todas las comidas de mi infancia
Yo sé de las estas que se escuchan los gritos de la música banda hasta las otras ciudades
Los corridos que hace temblar todo
El mariachi que se trae pa’ las serenatas
Los zapateados de toda la familia que tiembla todo el piso como un temblor
Y el centro es el lugar de los antojitos que se va con los amiguitos
Cintos, botas y gorras de cocodrilo Joyas de oro blano, amarillo y rosado
Los niños corriendo por las banquetas
Y no puede resistir la sonrisa, al ver a todos disfrutando el día
La navidad es un día muy hermoso
Todos están feliz, con una sonrisa y disfrutando sus familias
Los árboles cubiertos en luces que brillan como el sol
El niño Jesús afuera de las iglesias con un grupo de gente alrededor rezando
Y cuando yo entro a mi casa huele el aroma de la comida y el ambiente de mi familia que me quiere
Yo vengo de la sangre de mis padres
Yo vengo de raíz hispana
Yo vengo de México
Yo vengo de Michoacán
Y yo soy muy orgullosa de donde vengo
diseñado por Katie Doran
escrito por Alejandra Lombera, grado 12
escrito por Camila Escobedo, grado 11
escrito por Lucas Selvik, grado 9
por Sydney Valladares, grado 11
Queer Representation Should Be More Than Subtext
e modern literary canon—the works or authors generally expected to be taught in schools—is no stranger to debates over diversity. While the canon has evolved to be more diverse in recent few years, there are still gaps— one of which is the inclusion of queer perspectives.
LGBTQ+ representation, like the inclusion of any other minority group, must be overt and clear in order to properly confront and discuss the struggles and challenges unique to that identity. Yet, in my four years of taking English at M-A, I’ve never been taught a novel or play that clearly and overtly includes the experiences of queer people like myself. It can be discouraging that part of my identity is not re ected in what I’m learning. An English teacher pointing to the interactions between two friends as evidence of a queer relationship is too covert for it to count as substantial representation. It just isn’t enough.
A lot of the literature that I have encountered in my English courses are classics like Shakespeare’s e Merchant of Venice and Homer’s e Odyssey, which were written so long ago that the lack of queer characters isn’t surprising. Yet I’ve also read more modern novels in English courses, like Invisible Man, A ousand Splendid Suns, and e Handmaids Tale, that all deal with various important social problems, but there aren’t any that provide queer representation. e omission of LGBTQ+ perspectives suggests to students that their experiences and identity aren’t important enough to include and implies that there isn’t anything to learn from their stories.
written and designed by Katherine Welander
Sophomore Eva Grant said, “I think it’s really important that everybody gets representation and has role models and people to look up to.” ey added that the inclusion of queer novels “can show [queer students] that the school thinks that their stories are important, and that queer people in general are important. It can also help students become more connected to the stories if they relate to the people in them.”
English teacher Lisa Otsuka said, “If there’s any department that should be doing it, it’s us, because the primary job of literature is to give a voice to people who otherwise wouldn’t have a voice, to give power to people who otherwise wouldn’t have power.” She explained, “If we don’t have representation we reduce groups to a single story. at all queer people are this or whatever group. One way we can increase contact is through what we’re reading in our classes.”
Reports by groups such as the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) show that the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the literature can be an incredibly important factor in how safe and supported queer students feel at school. GLSEN’s 2019 National School Climate Survey found that only 19.4% of LGBTQ+ students nationwide were taught positive representations of LGBTQ+ people and history. When compared to students that didn’t have a LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, the survey found that those that did “felt greater belonging to their school community,” were “more likely to report that their classmates were somewhat or very accepting of LGBTQ people,” and were less likely to hear homophobic remarks and feel unsafe at school. Despite this, GLSEN’s survey also shows that the percentage of students reporting positive LGBTQ+ representation in school remained relatively stagnant between 2001 and 2019, at around 10-20%.
In California, the 2011 FAIR Education Act requires that schools teach LGBTQ+ history. is most explicitly applies to history and social studies curriculums, so queer voices are already supposed to be included in M-A’s curriculum. But literature has the ability to do things that nonction can’t—good ction can create connections between the reader and the characters, and creates an understanding of the characters and empathy for the challenges they face.
In his book e Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argues that reading ction can expand one’s sense of empathy for others and their experiences. In one experiment that Pinker references, literary scholar Jèmeljan Hakemulder had participants read either Malike Mokkeddem’s novel e Displaced or Jan Goodwin’s non ction Price of Honor, and found that those that read the novel became more sympathetic to the experiences of Algerian women and were less likely to “blow o the women’s predicament as part of their cultural and religious heritage.” Pinker also compares this to “the chronology of the Humanitarian Revolution, in which popular novels preceded historical reform, [which] may not have been entirely coincidental: exercises in perspectivetaking do help expand people’s circle of sympathy.”
Incorporating new perspectives into the canon requires a lot of independent exploration because our teachers best know the canon they were taught, which didn’t have much diversity. So, after some extensive reading, here are some recommendations for novels that feature LGBTQ+ narratives.
LGBTQ+ Literature
Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
“She was horri ed to perceive how low an opinion she was forming of the other sex, the manly, to which it had once been her pride to belong.
‘To fall from a mast-head,’ she thought, ‘because you see a woman’s ankles.”
James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room
“And here my baby came indeed, through all that sunlight, his face ushed and his hair ying, his eyes, unbelievably, like morning stars.”
Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
“‘I love her.’
‘ en you do not love the Lord.’
‘Yes, I love both of them.’
‘You cannot.’
‘I do.’”
E.M. Forster’s Maurice
“I think you’re beautiful, the only beautiful person I’ve ever seen. I love your voice and everything to do with you, down to your clothes or the room you are sitting in. I adore you.”
Opinion
Let Me Tell You A Story...
written and illustrated by Meghan Lam designed by Emily Buck
“Strength in Diversity”
Outside of the Classroom
At four o’clock on a school day, students occupy every corner of the football eld, classrooms turn into places for teams to drill for upcoming academic competitions, and the PAC echoes with a variety of musical instruments and student voices. Despite numerous high-quality programs o ered at M-A, a large portion of the student body is not bene tting from them. For this reason, our community often falls short of its motto, “Strength in Diversity.”
Like M-A’s Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes, many of the co-curriculars on campus lack diversity. e majority of sports teams are predominately white; similarly, activities like Journalism, Leadership, Drama, and Robotics have few Latinx, Black, and Paci c Islander students—and sometimes none at all. is discrepancy is an unfortunate reality of M-A, not something that can be blamed on any speci c co-curricular; our Journalism class is also predominantly white and Asian, which limits our ability to represent and report on di erent perspectives found on campus. Participating in sports teams and activities provide a number of bene ts to students, which makes the lack of diversity in many of M-A’s co-curriculars a problem. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “Recent research suggests that participation in extracurricular activities may increase students’ sense of engagement or attachment to their school, and thereby decrease the likelihood of school failure and dropping out.”
Co-curriculars also reinforce
skills and lessons learned in class, and they are crucial to providing students with key social bene ts, like the opportunity to make new friends, develop collaborative skills, and form a tight-knit community.
When students cultivate crosscultural friendships in their afterschool activities, they may feel more welcomed in environments they are less represented in at school, such as
to participate in athletics, requires students to provide health records and attend a physical. An M-A Athletic Hall of Fame awardee and volunteer Susan Mohr said, “ e Athletic Clearance process can also be daunting for students who lack support at home. We need to make sure that is never a barrier for students’ participation in athletics.”
ago, to over 20 this past season. ey have an incredibly diverse group that is amazingly close, and they’ve won multiple CCS and State titles in the last ve years.”
Jenna Carson, who leads the Sequoia Aspirations Advocacy Program at M-A, added, “Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School has recently joined the Art David Athletic League which organizes middle school sports in the Peninsula with teams from San Mateo to Palo Alto. My hope is that the team’s experiences in middle school will excite and encourage kids to continue playing in high school.”
in planning campus events, and they hope to use this data to make joining leadership easier. Sophomore Violet Riley from the Social Justice class said, “We want to make an infographic and work with counselors, administration, and leadership to make sure that all students have access to the data [from the survey] so they can collaborate on solutions.”
honors and advanced classes.
Senior Jeremiah Earby said, “Football and track have helped me build bonds and friendships throughout M-A with people I wouldn’t have thought I shared anything in common with if we were walking in the halls.” e amount of support students receive at home can also be a barrier for participating in co-curricular activities.
For the students who have not been exposed to these activities earlier, Mohr suggested,
E orts to diversify M-A’s activities extend beyond sports. Carson said, “If you look at our band program, you will see that there are few Black and brown students and almost none from Ravenswood.” She continued, “ e Ravenswood Educational Foundation has started supporting middle school music. It was disrupted by the pandemic, of course, but we are hopeful that giving them this opportunity in middle school will not only be a positive experience for them personally, but could also result in a more diverse band at M-A in a few years.”
M-A also o ers many co-curriculars that students can join with little to no background in the area.
To diversify the after-school involvement on our campus, it is important that all students receive the support they need from counselors and sta . For example, athletic clearance, which is mandatory
“Counselors could review sports and activities with every student and discuss participation as being a really important part of their schedule. Encouragement and support from the very start of high school, from counselors, teachers and administrators, could be what it takes to get students involved.”
M-A has made e orts to improve co-curricular involvement before and during high school, such as by reaching out to middle schools. District Athletic Director Paul Snow cited the girls wrestling program as an example, saying, “ ey have brought their numbers up from one person, just six or seven years
Leadership is another program that is often targeted for not representing the ethnic distribution of the student body. is year, M-A’s Social Justice and leadership classes teamed up to conduct a survey measuring how represented and welcome students feel in leadership and their activities. ey found that 60% of students would like to be involved
certainly a source of our strength.”
Freshman Teagan Murphy, who was in M-A Drama’s two productions this year, said, “I think the M-A drama community is really welcoming, especially to people with less experience. Being a freshman doing any sort of extracurricular with upperclassmen can be intimidating, but for me, they were all really nice and just wanted the best for everyone.”
M-A still lacks diversity in many of its co-curriculars. Students’ family backgrounds and middle school experiences often in uence what classes they take, but co-curriculars are a unique opportunity for students to come together. For all students to reap the bene ts of co-curricular participation, recent e orts are worth both celebrating and expanding.
Athletic Director Steven Kryger added, “For sports like football, wrestling, and lacrosse, we’re open to having bigger numbers, and kids who have not played before have opportunities to join.”
Carson said, “Football also requires no previous experience and is ‘no cut,’ which makes it a pretty diverse sport and
written by Jane White designed by Ella Bohmann Farrell
Water You Waiting For? Try These Fountains On Campus!
written by Natalie Fishman and Sonia Freedman designed by Natalie Fishman
“ cool , witha balance of sweet and crisp” “smooth mouth feel” “
It was a hot, barren spring day and two parched M-A journalists needed a soothing drink of water. After a treacherous journey by foot, they nally reached the water fountain. Upon the rst taste, they were intrigued by the unique avor and crispness of the water, and at that moment, their watertasting journey had begun.
For our investigation, we asked ten M-A students to do a blind taste test of water from ve di erent campus water fountains. en, they described the avor and experience of each water sample on a comment card and ranked the samples.
We began by rating the water fountains based on location and atmosphere. #1, between the G-wing tables and I-wing, won our top pick for ambiance due to its proximity to the Coach Park’s Field as well as the swimming pool. Unlike some spots on campus where we’ve seen wads of gum stuck to the buttons, this spot had only a bit of schmutz in the fountain. Due to its location, it is great for student athletes seeking hydration. #3, next to the G-wing lunch lines, was easily the grossest fountain, coming in last place for ambiance. With grimy dirt
plastered to the drain of the fountain and a broken water bottle ller, we were very disappointed with our experience. However, we were pleasantly surprised to nd a spotless fountain at #2, near the G-wing bathrooms.
e F-wing water fountain was also impressively clean and had both a working water lter and a quiet space.
Next, we traveled to the mirrored K-wing bathroom to test fountain #4. is was one of the fountains that had a working water bottle ller, which is a win in our book. But, while the water bottle ller worked, it was too sunny to see anything and we fear that in the hotter future, the fountains will be scalding to the touch!
As “scienti c” journalists, we found some fascinating results through our investigations. e taste of the water seemed to correlate with the appearance, ambiance, and cleanliness of the fountain, even though the experiment was blind and most testers had no idea where we even got the water from. Some even jokingly asked about one sample, “Did you get this from the pool?”
e sparkling cleanliness of sample #2 water gave the best results, and it is subsequently not surprising that 6/10
of our esteemed testers chose this water as the best tasting. One tester said the water was “cool, with a balance of sweet and crisp” while another said they liked the “smooth mouth feel.” Although it got rst place, it may surprise some that the taste was also called “chlorinated” and “rubbery” by a few judges. e most disgusting water fountain, #3, was also considered the worst quality water by the majority of the judges, 6/10 again. “Temperature bad, avor bad” and “horrible,” said two judges. Another simply said it tasted like “dog s***.” A particular judge stated that it tasted “like cardboard, but not really in a bad way.”
e o cial water fountain tasting experiment has come to a close, but that doesn’t mean the water drinking should. Remember to stay hydrated as the weather gets warmer!
#1, between the G-wing tables and I-wing
#3, next to the G-wing lunch lines
#2, near the G-wing bathrooms
is is a shortened version of a twopart series which appeared on the M-A Chronicle website earlier this year.
“I believe this test is a racist test, there’s no two ways about it,” said Jonathan Sures, a University of California (UC) Regent. He was one of the UC Board of Regents members who voted unanimously in 2020 to suspend the UC’s use of SAT and ACT test scores in admissions, a decision which they made permanent last semester. e UC’s decision re ects national debates about test scores in college admissions, and is particularly consequential for M-A as more than half of our students stay in California for college, with many going to the UCs. But how can a standardized test be racist?
Average SAT scores among white and Asian students are substantially higher than those of Black, Hispanic, Paci c Islander, and Indigenous/Alaska Native students. While M-A scores better than the national averages, Mai Lien Nguyen, one of M-A’s college counselors, said, “When I’ve seen M-A scores broken down by race/ethnicity, they show a similar trend [compared to national data] of racial disparities.” Test results are also correlated to a student’s household income.
e disparities are clear, but there’s disagreement over their cause: are they a continuation of larger disparities in educational opportunities? Or is there something about these standardized tests speci cally that fosters inequality?
Researchers like Jay Rosner, executive director of e Princeton Review Foundation, have used “itemlevel data,” or data on how students in di erent demographics did on particular questions, to look for skews. In prescreening, when questions were tested before being put into o cial exams, they found that questions in which white students outperformed Black students were more likely to be chosen as questions for the actual SAT than questions on which the opposite was true.
Part of the problem is that test scores need to be consistent from year to year, so when choosing new questions, test-creators make sure that those who historically did well on the SAT keep doing well. Rosner wrote, “Girls score lower than boys on math, and black students score lower than white students. So if, on a particular math question, girls outscore boys or blacks outscore whites, it has almost no chance of making the nal cut. is process therefore perpetuates disparities, virtually guaranteeing a test that’s ultimately easier for some populations than others.”
However, the College Board stopped releasing item-level data in 2000, so this type of research by independent parties is no longer possible. In recent years, the College Board has emphasized that questions on the SAT undergo careful review for possible cultural bias before they’re approved, but Rosner pointed out that score disparities have not changed since his analysis.
e more common view is that di erences in SAT/ACT scores are not caused by unfairness within the tests themselves, but rather are caused by disparate educational opportunities. When asked for comment, a College Board representative said, “We recognize real inequities exist in American education, and they are re ected in every measure of academic achievement, including the SAT and other standardized assessments. Performance di erences across groups
of students re ect an unequal K–12 system.”
Application administrators reported that more selective private schools saw over a 20% increase in applications from underrepresented minorities, rstgeneration college students, and students who got an application fee waiver. ese students were also the most likely to apply without test scores, suggesting that, as Geiser has argued with regards to the UC, “Test scores have become a deterrent to admission of poor, rstgeneration college, and Latinx and African American applicants.” Without test requirements, UC’s class of 2025 saw record diversity.
the SAT. Do not blame the weather forecaster when the prediction of a hurricane is correct.”
Additionally, many argue that high school GPA or “soft” metrics like essays, extracurriculars, and letters of recommendation are even less equitable than test scores. Schools with the greatest “grade in ation,” or increases in GPAs, in the last couple decades tend to be whiter and wealthier than schools with more xed grades. Proponents of
testing also say that privileged students can get more coaching on essays, more personalized letters of recommendation, and access to expensive extracurriculars or internships through family connections and payment. ey assert that standardized tests, if anything, serve as a relative equalizer in admissions. Still, universities around the country that placed less emphasis on test scores in admissions last year did see more diverse applicants. Data from Common
Donald Wittman, an emeritus economics professor at UC Santa Cruz, has argued that, if the goal is diversity, the UC should just adjust the weighing scale of admissions criteria to consider a student’s background more heavily, rather than dropping the SAT altogether.
However, this doesn’t
However, Geiser’s research contested the premise that test scores indicate college readiness. He reported that when many factors, including test scores, GPA, course load, class rank, income, parental education, and more are considered, they “explained 21.7% of the variance in students’ rst-year grades at Berkeley.” However, when they removed test scores from the list of factors, the explained variance only fell by less than 2%, implying the SAT provided little additional predictive power, a pattern that applied to the UC system as a whole as well. is suggests that, at least for the UC system, test scores provide little unique value in predicting college success. Most studies that support test scores’ ability to predict college success focus on students’ rst year of college. In terms of four-year college performance, one pre-pandemic study found “virtually no di erence” between students who submitted test scores at test-optional colleges and those who didn’t, with an average four-year GPA disparity of just 0.05 points.
resolve how
test scores
discourage some students from applying in the rst place. While schools have long been known to consider students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and the opportunities a orded to them while making admissions decisions, it has taken the dropping of test requirements to get such a diverse group of students to send in their applications at all.
Still, “other things being equal,” Wittman said, “the higher the student’s SAT score, the better the student is likely to do in college. It is unfortunate, but true. e problem does not lie with
SAT scores provide, at best, only a limited prediction of a fraction of students’ performance in college. In dropping test requirements, schools may lose that metric, but they stand to gain a whole new pool of applicants and students and a substantial amount of diversity.
To read the full two-part series on the debate about standardized testing and race, scan here:
Part 1: Is the SAT Actually Racist?
Part 2: Is Test-Free Better For Diversity?
written by Katie Doran designed by Sonia Freedman illustrated by Tess Buckley
Roe v. Wade Will Fall: Why You Should Care
and What You Can Do
written by the Editorial Board designed by Katherine Welander
A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion indicates that the Court is likely to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey this summer, which would remove federal protection of abortion. is would allow states to completely ban the procedure, endangering the reproductive health of millions of Americans. Although the reversal of Roe v. Wade is almost certain, we can still push forward legislation that defends reproductive rights and o ers support to people in need of this essential healthcare. Nearly half of U.S. states have already proposed bills that make abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy. Nearly
one in four women have an abortion in their lifetime, so the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the laws restricting abortion access that will follow will have a devastating impact on reproductive rights. is disproportionately a ects poorer communities and minority groups. Even in places where abortion is o ered, detection of pregnancy is required to undergo the procedure, which is less accessible for populations without healthcare services and the uninsured. In addition, out of state travel to get the procedure may be unrealistic due to nancial circumstances, child responsibilities, or employment insecurity.
12% of women got abortions because of concerns about their own health, according to a 2005 Guttmacher Institute report.
Read the leaked draft opinion here:
5,000 people died each year before Roe v. Wade as a result of illegal abortions
1 in 4
women (23.7%) will have an abortion by age 45.
By age 20, 4.6% of women will have had an abortion, and 19% will have done so by age 30.
Para la versión en Español de este artículo utiliza este código QR:
Overturning Roe v. Wade will strip access to abortion for millions of people and result in an increase in maternal deaths. is is because pregnant individuals will be forced to resort to unsafe abortion procedures or carry unwanted pregnancies to term, despite risks to their own or their fetus’s health. Research by the Guttmacher Institute shows that abortion rates—the percentage of pregnancies that end in abortion—remain relatively constant, regardless of whether a country has restrictions on abortion or has banned it altogether. Loss of access to legal and safe abortions won’t lead to fewer abortions; it will only lead to fewer safe abortions and, as a result, more
abortion-related deaths. e American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG) found that illegally induced abortions are 14 times more likely to result in death.
1 in 20
rapes result in pregnancy according to a 1996 study by the AJOG.
e Supreme Court is no longer going to defend abortion rights. We need to focus our e orts on measures that will
keep abortion legal. Making our voices heard, pressuring politicians to enact durable legislation, and supporting abortion advocacy in states likely to revoke protections is necessary to ensure that millions get the reproductive healthcare they deserve. Here’s how you can help:
Donate to Abortion Funds
Abortion funds are organizations that raise money and provide nancial assistance to those who need it to get abortions. ese can be especially useful for people in states with trigger laws.
Contact Your Representative
Use the QR codes below to nd your Representative and Senator in Congress and urge them to ght for the right to choose.
Post helpful information—for example, that abortion pills can be mailed to any state.
Follow or Donate to Planned Parenthood
Learn more about sexual and reproductive freedom through Planned Parenthood’s educational resources.
Donations to Planned Parenthood go to directly providing people with abortions and other reproductive and preventative services, as well as supporting legislation that protects reproductive rights.
Spring Sports Recap
written by Chase Trigg designed by Ella Bohmann Farrell
e 2022 spring sports season was one of growth and triumph for the M-A Bears. Nonetheless, the Bears athletics program remained a familiar headline, winning sports championships and a number of titles.
Baseball
In a season marked by ups and downs, the varsity baseball team learned how to be resilient. After losing seven out of their rst ten games, the Bears rallied and got back to a tally of 12-15. Senior Matt MacLeod said,
“ e team showed a lot of character in bouncing back, and we have a lot of young guys that make me con dent in our future.”
Coed Track & Field
e Bears varsity track and eld team was another story of success this spring, dominating almost every meet that they participated in. Senior Jeremiah Earby said that their success stems from,
“team spirit and pushing each other every day to become the best.”
Boys Volleyball
e M-A varsity boys volleyball team achieved a record of 13-9, and a record of 8-3 when playing against teams in their conference. e bears had a strong season of resilience and hard work, and took home a PAL title.
Boys Tennis
Adding another trophy to a crowded shelf, the Bears boys tennis team won their PAL league title and quali ed for CCS, nishing with an undefeated record of 9-0. Senior Luke Jensen credited the team’s success to the team’s collaboration and said,
“We have a lot of young guys that will hopefully carry the team in the future.”
Girls Lacrosse
Despite their record of 7-8, the M-A girls varsity lacrosse team quali ed for the highest division of CCS playo s. is title re ected the girls hard work and might, and capped o a successful season. Sophomore Shea Dekshenieks said,
“Teamwork and work ethic at practice has been our key to sucess this season.”
Boys Golf
Softball
e M-A Bears softball team experienced a season of ups and downs, nishing with a record of 13-12. Star Sophomore Danielle Koo said,
“ e team worked hard to turn the season around and we have lots of young talent for the next few years.”
e M-A Bears boys golf team is full of promise and experience. While they did not take home their title, the team enjoyed every moment of the season. Junior Ben Eisner said,
“ e highlight was meeting new people and playing a bunch of di erent courses.”
Coed
Boys Lacrosse
e boys varsity lacrosse team nished with a record of 16-2, and quali ed for the CCS quarter nals. Senior Marcello Battista said,
“ e seniors are all playing for each other. ere’s not one sel sh player on that eld.”
CCS
Badminton
M-A’s coed badminton team was an absolute force, nishing with a record of 11-1, while coasting to a PAL title.
Junior Yue WuJamison said,
Qualifiers
“ e team is always cheering us on and that gives us the motivation during games to keep trying our best.”
Swimming
e Bears athletic program continues to be one of the best in the bay, and the legacy will continue with the Freshman and Sophomore classes. So Bears, get ready for what next year has to o er. It is an exciting time to be an athlete at M-A.
Both the boys and girls varsity and JV swimming teams performed incredibly this spring season. e JV boys and girls teams both placed rst in PAL championships, while varsity boys and girls both earned third place in PAL. All of the teams placing was extremely impressive, and capped o a great season for all four teams.
Swimming
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball
written
As M-A’s teacher salary schedules are racing to keep up with in ation, housing prices are also increasing rapidly. is raises the question:
Can teachers and sta a ord to live near M-A anymore?
We asked teachers and sta for their home addresses or locations near their homes. 71 responded, representing 55% of all M-A faculty.
[Shown on the map on the right]
e research reveals that the majority of teachers do not live locally, and spend a considerable amount of time each day commuting. We dug a little deeper to understand why teachers live where they live.
73% of teachers do not live within 5 miles of M-A
In fl ation And Housing Costs Outpace Teacher Pay Raise
e Teacher Perspective
“I can name at least ve teachers that have left the area because of housing concerns. at’s pretty much the number one reason why teachers leave. ere are teachers that have been at M-A for 10+ years who are leaving because they can’t a ord to ever buy a house in the area.”
“We’ve been told to buy a house, have our own stable family and it seems like a dream that was achievable for our parents, so would it ever be achievable for me? It doesn’t seem achievable in this area where a 2-bedroom, 900 square foot house is going for 2 million dollars.”
It is clear that the discrepancy between pay and cost of living near M-A is driving teachers further away. e question becomes how can M-A successfully retain its highly regarded
29 mins
& designed
by Ella Bohmann Farrell
teaching sta , while still attracting the same quality in new teachers?
e
Raise
On February 16th, 2022, the District Board approved a new teacher-proposed contract that asks for a total of a 7% raise over the span of two years to keep up with in ation.
In past years, teachers had to ght for any raise. is year they bargained for a 2.5% raise starting July 1, 2021, another 2.5% for the 2022-23 school year, and another 2% for the 2023-24 school year.
However, in ation is reportedly at 7.9% as of February 2022, the highest it has been since February 1982. e new raise still doesn’t account for the full impact of in ation, or the cost of living in the Bay Area.
Teacher’s homes
Menlo-Atherton
High School
Salary Persists As A Barrier
On the current 202122 salary schedule, the yearly starting salary for teachers is $72,753. After taxes, one would only keep around $51,898. According to Red n, in February 2022, Menlo Park home prices are selling for a “median price of $2.4M.” According to HSH.com, a household salary of $216,181 is practically required to buy a “median-priced house” in San Mateo County. Put best by an M-A teacher:
2.5% A increase in 2022-23
7.9%
In ation Rate as of 2022
Average time spent on teachers morning commutes 4.7% In ation Rate as of 2021
“It’s honestly almost impossible to buy a house right now on a teacher’s salary, unless you have the added salary of a signi cant other, or many years of experience, and your salary increases.”
e Bottom Line
Despite the recent push for improved teacher pay, M-A salaries still don’t compare to the exorbitant cost of living in the Bay Area and peak in ation rates. Either we need to turn towards other compensation programs for support on housing and commutes or put pressure on the District to compensate teachers for these externalities that teaching at M-A encompasses.
The Music Moment
writtenbySoniaFreedman designedbySarahWeintraut
See where M-A Journalism’s Class of 2022 is o to next...
Barnes poses for an Alice in Wonderland inspired photshoot
Senior Daniel Roman released his debut EP, “LUCKY”, as well as a single, “RUNNING,” last August. As a predominately indie-pop artist, Roman describes LUCKY as “groovy tunes you can play with your friends.” Roman draws inspiration from artists such as Tyler, the Creator; Pharrel; Frank Ocean; and the synthesizer trend of 80s music, which is evident in “SUN DON’T SHINE,” the fourth track of the EP. He also said that making music has helped him feel more connected with new people: “It’s made me realize that people will like my music, and that I can do this. I’ve always really wanted to pursue music as a career, so it’s just been really tight to have people be excited about the one thing I’m really proud of.” Now, he’s focusing on creating dance music and more rapcentered beats, as well as working on a pop song with M-A junior Ryann Barnes. He released his rst album, Lilith’s Den, recently in March 2022. Roman plans to ful ll his dream of becoming a full-time producer as well as possibly creating a radio show and hosting concert events. Check out his music on YouTube or any streaming platforms under Daniel Roman, or follow his Instagram for updates @summerneverlasts.
During quarantine, junior Ryann Barnes decided to take her long-time hobby of song-writing and release her music to the public. Her songwriting is in uenced by her imagination as well as childhood stories like Alice In Wonderland. She also draws inspiration from cultural icons Taylor Swift and Elton John. Barnes has been singing the national anthem in stadiums, including Oracle Park, since she was in elementary school. Despite handling a busy schedule as a junior, she says that pursuing her passion in music is a necessity for her. “I’ve always loved knowing all the little details and signi cant memories of di erent periods of my life, so I try to write every day [for my future self].” In her latest release, Velcro Tie, Barnes uses beautiful and soft harmonies to sing a story about teenage love. Although it has been somewhat of a challenge to nd a balance of vulnerability in her songs while being a student, she says she tries to stick to her own path and not be swayed by the judgment of others. “You’re never going to please everybody, so just do what you want.” Check out her music on YouTube or any streaming platforms and look for any new projects @ryann. barnes on Instagram.
Roman’s album cover for his most recent release, “Lilith’s Den”
Brianna Aguayo UC Berkeley Marlene Arroyo Cal Poly SLO Tess Buckley University of British Columbia Elias Chane University of WisconsinMadison
Isabelle Stid Bryn Mawr College
Jane White WashU in St. Louis
Grace Hinshaw Villanova University Ellie Hultgren CU Boulder Juliana Jones Dartmouth College
Samir Chowdhary-Fitton University of Bristol
JJ Discher Bucknell University
Maia Goel Duke University
Katherine Welander New York University
Jackson Williams CU Boulder
Emily Olson Brown University
designed by Cleo Rehkopf
Senior Pranks
Senior Pranks
Seniors hid hundreds of water balloons around campus in classrooms, under lunch tables, and in bushes. ey set up extravagant water balloon launchers with a pulley system attached to two large posts on either side. ey used them to launch the balloons from the Green during lunch. e balloons ew all over campus, from the library all the way to the G-wing. M-A Alumni Blair Johnson said, “After they ran out of water balloons, the students moved onto other items such as milk cartons given out in the school lunch.”
2006
written by JJ Discher
A group of seniors snuck onto campus in the middle of the night with carpentering equipment and dry walled the indented door frame of Mr. Florio’s room in the B-Wing. Next, they painted over the drywall to match the color of the rest of the wing. Otsuka said, “ ey did such a good job, the district thought the classroom disappeared.”
2010
2008
A small group of seniors got a hold of the school directory and sent a recorded phone call message from an area code in Israel, informing their parents of a false gas leak on campus. It was also translated into Spanish. Parents were told not to send their children to school all day. As the school had no knowledge of the prank, teachers and sta came to school as if it were a normal day, though very few students were present. During second period, the school administration noticed the extreme number of absences. After administrators sent their own recorded message , students began showing up during third period. e school tried countless times to catch the guilty seniors. English teacher Lisa Otsuka said,“Although there was general consensus about who did it, it was never able to be proved.”
2011
e senior class audaciously stole three goats from the Sacred Heart Prep petting zoo. ey spray-painted the goats with the numbers one, two, and four to confuse the school sta , putting one goat in Pride Hall, another on the lacrosse eld, and the third on the football eld. All three goats were found before rst period. However, the custodians believed there was a fourth goat, and continued their search for the rest of the school day.
illustrated by Justina Wilkins designed by Emily Buck
