Tam News September 2022

THE TAM NEWS

THE TAM NEWS

September 2022

TITLE IX TITLE IX

Dear Reader

This year, we wanted to begin our first issue by highlighting current news that’seffecting the student body here at Tamalpais High School. The news section reports about Sausalito’s homeless conflict being temporarily resolved, the re-assignment of four gender-neutral bathrooms, and the return of Coho salmon in Pine Gulch Creek. Additionally, the credit card scimmer found at 7-Eleven in Tam Valley is addressed after a video on social media went viral.

Our new assistant principal, Mr. Lieberman is introduced and the article dives deeper into his background. We also learn about Kaiden Dossa’s baseball journey as he recently committed to play Division I baseball at Yale University. In this article we hear about Dossa’s strong commitment to the sport from his teammates and coach.

In our feature article, we explore the lack of equality surrounding sports treatment at Tam, specifically regarding the division between baseball and softball. Title IX was passed over 50 years ago, however there are still issues that are affecting girls sports teams. The neglect of the softball field and facilities is very clear and although the school has tried to address the concerns, there is still a lot of work that can be done.

In this issue of The Tam News, the opinion section highlights the Yerba Mate addiction that has consumed the student body as this satire piece provides a comical outlook on the real reasons why the drink is so popular. The Editorial Board addresses the requirement of physical education here at Tam.

As a publication, we are aware of our power to influence and sway the culture here at Tam High. We hope that this year we will be able to positively impact the school community and provide a platform for students to voice their opinions on local issues.

Moore, Asa

Lehman, Carley

Bernstein-Lawler, Caden

Murguia, Ana

Paine, Jude

Robinson, Nathan

Searson, Luella

Shine, Anne

Stuart, Flynn

Tibbs, Dola

Townsend, Ashley

Turner, Railay

Weinberg, Sophia

Yarnold, Zane

Editors:

News:

Stauffer, Catherine

Collister, Dylan

Lifestyles: Boon, Kayla

Bringard, Hannah

Behr, Savannah

McIntire, Jack

Features:

Felder, Lauren

Howard, Violet

Schwartzman, Gabe

Op/Ed:

Slavin, Wesley

Pearson, Emma

Hale, Colette

Catrini Abdullah, Samuel

Endangered Coho Salmon return to Point Reyes

By Chloe Bowman

Aftermore than a decade-long absence, around 300 Coho Salmon have been spotted in Pine Gulch Creek, the largest number that Point Reyes National Seashore has seen in 20 years. Coho Salmon are considered endangered, but were once thriving in both the creek and the Pacific Ocean, from Northern California to the Chukchi Sea in Northern Alaska.

“Those that survive over the summer and through the winter will migrate out to sea next spring as molts. Hopefully several will return again as adults to keep the coho salmon population alive on Pine Gulch,” the park service staff shared in an update to their Instagram account on Aug. 3.

Pine Gulch Creek is a seven-and-a-half-mile creek that flows from Point Reyes National Seashore and empties into the Bolinas Lagoon. Until the 1970s, the creek supported a steady population of Steelhead and Coho Salmon until environmental factors, including droughts and damming through locations of the watershed, led to a depletion in numbers of salmon.

“I feel hopeful that people are taking restoration and management projects more seriously—recognizing the importance of salmon as a keystone species in the ecosystem,” Tamalpais High School biology teacher Suzanne Garcia said. “It’s crazy to think that every stream along California’s Northern Coast used to have its own genetically distinct salmon that spawned there …

it’s encouraging to know that restoration efforts do and can make a difference.”

The National Park Service first discovered the return of Coho Salmon to Pine Gulch in 2001, where they remained in steady numbers, until the last reports of habitation in the creek ceased in 2010. Due to genetic testing, it was determined that the salmon

has financially supported many conservation efforts for the salmon species, along with countless other fishermen. According to the National Park Service, “Since 1950, anglers across the United States have paid several billion dollars toward the conservation of waterways, wildlife habitat, and angler education. Anglers [people who go fishing] play a critical role in conserving wild places and animals in the United States.”

found in 2010 had strayed from Redwood Creek, where they have genetically distinct features.

“I feel elated, proud and hopeful for the restoration and survival of this magnificent, iconic species. We as fishermen are conservationists first with a deep concern for the environment,” Bruce Kemp said, a local salmon fisherman, when asked about his feelings regarding the return of Coho Salmon to Pine Gulch Creek.

Kemp lives in Corte Madera, and has been fishing for most of his life. He

Tam junior, Ella Emison, has been a member of the Surfrider Club since she was a freshman. The club is a chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that focuses on protecting and preserving oceans, beaches and waterways around the world. “The Coho comeback makes me hopeful for other endangered species. I think we need to use this comeback as motivation to continue helping our local ecosystems and doing our part in reducing our carbon footprint,” Emison said.

Emison and other club members do many different things, including testing water in local waterways, with Pine Gulch Creek as a potential location. They focus on the environmental impact that everyone has, especially on local wildlife, such as Coho Salmon. “We are always looking for new projects and would be grateful to contribute in helping the salmon in Point Reyes, by taking water samples or working with local scientists to meet data needs and help protect that environment.” ♦

TUHSD forum on upcoming potential candidates

By Kelsey Cook

The League of Women Voters is holding a forum at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22. for information about potential candidates for the three open Tamalpais Union High School District Board of Trustees seats. There are six candidates for three seats on the board for the November election.

The nominees will answer ques-

tions and share their position on educational issues relevant to the district. The three TUHSD board members stepping down in December 2022 are Cynthia Roenisch, Dan Oppenheim, and Kevin Saavedra.

“Candidates will be asked questions that the league of women voters has gathered from the community,”

Superintendent Taupier Tara said.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots group representing voting rights to ensure representation in our communities’ democracy, according to its website. The forum can be viewed on the League of Women Voters YouTube channel or TV channel 30. ♦

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Carnavale

New gender-neutral bathrooms available to students

By Lauren Felder

Tamalpais High School announced the re-assignment of four gender-neutral bathrooms via a map in the leadership slideshow on Aug. 26. The map initially came from an email sent from Principal J.C. Farr to staff members at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

“At Tam High, we create welcoming and inclusive spaces for our students. We promote facilities that are physically accessible (ADA compliant) and open to people of any gender identification,” the email stated.

The newly assigned bathrooms are distributed evenly throughout the school. There is one on the second floor of Wood Hall, one between the wood shop and ceramics building, one on the first floor of Palmer Hall, and lastly one outside of Ruby Scott gym. The Ruby Scott restroom is labeled “all gender” with multiple stalls, an inclusive design new to Tam’s campus. The other three gender-neutral restrooms are single-stalled, offering another level of privacy.

While the Wood Hall restroom has been available as a gender-neutral space in previous years, it wasn’t always an easily accessible option. “There were a lot of times when students came into wellness and said that it was locked so I would send them to the front office to get it unlocked. It’s unfortunate that it was like that,” Sophia Kauffman, wellness outreach specialist, said.

This restroom being locked was a common concern amongst students last year and has been brought to light in recent conversations due to the newly accessible additional gender-neutral bathrooms. “Before [the gender-neutral bathroom] wasn’t accessible to a lot of people and there would be a big line all of the time … the passing period just isn’t that long,” sophomore Leo De La Huelga said. De La Huelga hopes that these new restrooms remain unlocked throughout the school day, like the rest of Tam’s bathrooms.

Reactions to the gender-neutral restrooms have overall been positive, particularly among Tam’s nonbinary

and transgender student body. “I find it great, like it’s very good to see, especially the one that’s more towards the P.E. area. It has lockers in it, so I assume it’s probably also used as a gender-neutral locker room if needed. Although I’ve not seen any of the lockers really look like they’re being used,” junior Olivine Bues said.

According to a research report from the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, nearly two-thirds of transgender students avoid bathrooms due to feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. Recognizing this data, Kauffman is one of many advocates for our new gender-neutral bathrooms. “I think it’s so important that everyone has a space where they can fulfill basic human needs on campus. And also, I think just in general in the world, we need more gender-neutral bathrooms,” Kauffman said. “[Gender-neutral bathrooms] help alleviate more problems besides, you know, feeling uncomfortable having to choose between a binary just to go to the bathroom.”

Kauffman expressed further benefits of offering single-stalled bathrooms on campus. “I think there are a lot of other issues that this could help with, whether it’s medical issues, someone needing more privacy. Honestly, even vaping in the bathrooms. If there can’t be huge groups of people

going into one stall, I think that would be really helpful.

One concern, however, is the attitude that students might have towards gender-neutral restrooms. “The only thing that I’m not so sure on is that the original [Ruby Scott] bathroom — it was the girls’ bathroom, right? And then they converted it, but there’s still the boys right next to the bathroom. So it does still have the mindset that there are boys and then here’s what is called ‘all gender.’ But it’s really going to still create division,” Bues said.

Bues suggested that the Ruby Scott boys’ bathroom be converted to an all-gender restroom to alleviate some of this separation. He also brought up the new tampon and pad dispensers stationed in girls’ restrooms across campus. Adding pad and tampon dispensers, he said, “makes sense, but it’s also something that if had done that with the boys’ bathroom, it would have clearly said ‘for all bodies’ because there are urinals in there too.”

Aside from this critique, Bues is grateful for the exposure that these gender-neutral spaces are fostering. “If [gender neutral school bathrooms] started at a young age, society would kind of just get used to it, if that’s what they grew up with. And so normalizing this just creates comfort and that this is normal,” Bues said. ♦

Photo by Nathan Robinson

Credit card skimmer found at Tam Valley 7-Eleven

By Zachary Breindel

Acreditcard skimmer device was found attached to a payment terminal in the Tamalpais Valley 7-Eleven in August, shown in a viral video posted to the popular social media site TikTok on Aug. 25. The incident occurs after numerous reports of credit card skimmers being found throughout the Bay Area.

In the video, user @willhunter908 shows a skimming device being removed from the store while speaking to a clerk who does not speak during the video. In a follow-up video, the user revealed that unusual buttons and a large faceplate were the giveaways for the device. Credit card skimmers are illegal devices, often attached to pointof-sale (POS) terminals in stores and ATMs, that record all incoming transactional data, including credit card numbers, CVV codes and PIN numbers, for malicious use. In the weeks since the video was posted, the Tamalpais Valley location added a sticker near the checkout area to reassure customers that all transactional devices are authorized by 7-Eleven.

“I’ve used my credit card there a lot,” senior Charlie Horowitz said. “I’m definitely going to start paying with cash.” However, cash is not the only option for those seeking to protect themselves from potential skimming devices; mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Android Pay disguise your card information when processing transactions. “I pretty much only use Apple Pay at gas stations and the like,”

30-year Tamalpais Valley resident Jonathan Martin said.

According to ABC7 News, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it took a report on the incident in the Tamalpais Valley store.

Neither 7-Eleven nor the employees of the Tamalpais Valley branch responded for comment. It is currently unknown who planted the device in the store, or if the owners knew about the device prior to its removal. “I think it’s still at the fault of 7-Eleven for not regulating [their payment terminals] even if [the skimmer] wasn’t planted by them. So, like, no matter what, it’s 7-Eleven’s fault,” Horowitz said.

The incident is just the latest in an uptick of credit card skimmers being found throughout the Bay Area. A

similar device was found in an Oakland 7-Eleven location on July 17. Additionally, Petaluma Police issued a warning over skimming devices found in 7-Eleven locations and a Bank of America ATM on July 18. No suspects were found in either case.

If you think you may have used a compromised payment terminal, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises to monitor your bank accounts for fraudulent charges. Should you see an unknown transaction, it is vital that you immediately report it to your bank or card issuer. “Federal law limits your liability if your credit, ATM, or debit card is lost or stolen, but your liability may depend on how quickly you report the loss or theft,” the FTC website states. ♦

Mill Valley to host 45th annual film festival

By Chloe Bowman

The45th annual critically-acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) will be held from Oct. 6 to the 16, both in-person and online.

More than 100 films are slated to be screened across five theaters: The Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, Cinéarts Sequoia in Mill Valley, The Lark in Larkspur, BAMPFA in Berkeley, and The Roxie in San Francisco.

According to the MVFF’s website, “The festival has an impressive

track record of launching new films and new filmmakers, and has earned a reputation as a filmmakers’ festival by celebrating the best in American independent and foreign films, alongside high-profile and prestigious award contenders.”

Over 200 directors will represent 34 countries, with 49 films premiering at the festival. Major films such as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Women Talking will be screened with

director Rian Johnson attending, along with actors Leslie Odom Jr., Katherine Hahn, Kate Hudson, and Frances McDormand.

According to MVFF’s press release, “The relaxed and non-competitive atmosphere surrounding MVFF, gives filmmakers and audiences alike the opportunity to share their work and experiences in a collaborative and convivial setting.” ♦

Photo by Zachary Breindel

Protests held over San Rafael police brutality

By Kelsey Cook

There was a protest regarding the incident of police brutality in San Rafael at the San Rafael City Council on Sept. 4 and Sept. 16.

Protesters held signs reading things such as “Justicia para Mateo Latino es Unidos,” calling for justice for the victim of the violent arrest five days after the bodycam video from the incident came out to the public.

The incident of police brutality occurred on July 27, when the San Rafael police spotted a man from San Rafael

with an open can of beer. As seen in the video, posted to ABC News, the officers told him to grab his ID, and he responded in Spanish and English saying he had to stand up to grab his wallet as they requested. The police quickly responded by asking him to sit down, and then forcefully pushed him into a headlock, looking as though they were banging his head repeatedly against the cement.

The man asked to stay anonymous so he is currently being given the name

Mateo. As a result of the violent arrest, he wound up with a broken nose and a concussion. Mateo’s lawyer Charles Dresow is requesting a criminal investigation into the officers and the district attorney.

Dresow sent a letter to the Marin district attorney requesting the officers involved in Brandon Nail and Daisy Mazariegos encounter a criminal investigation, according to KRON4.♦

Camino Alto brush fire frightens locals

By Sophia Weinberg

Abrush fire erupted on Camino Alto Avenue in Mill Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

The citizens of Mill Valley were notified at 2:17 p.m. about the fire and potential shelter in place orders.

“Fire units from Mill Valley and Central Marin Fire are working on a 1/2 acre vegetation at the top of the Corte Madera Ave. and Camino Alto area. Smoke was seen in the area but no evacuations were needed at this time,” a tweet from the Official Police Department of Central Marin reads.

Community members expressed concern, shared photos of the fire, and conveyed gratitude towards Southern

Marin firefighters on multiple forms of social media, including Twitter and Nextdoor. One user, Rich Mertes, wrote, “That did NOT look good. It was spreading fast and shooting flames could be seen over here at Horse Hill.” on a Nextdoor post.

The fire was contained and then put out roughly around 3 p.m. According to an email sent out at 2:33 p.m. by Tamalpais Union High School District, there was no evacuation needed but everyone was asked to avoid the affected area. “My mom texted me during the day to let me know what was going on, but she said that they always had it under control so I never felt super wor-

ried or like my house was going to burn down,” ASB President and Anna Harrell said. Harrell is a resident of Scott Valley, a neighborhood in close proximity to the fire.

Camino Alto Avenue was closed to through traffic until later that evening, causing backup on both Camino Alto and neighboring roads. Mill Valley Police Department is still investigating the cause of the fire. ♦

Photos by Asher Goldblatt

New attendance policy adopted in response to seniors

By Carley Lehman

Tamalpais High School administration enacted a stricter attendance policy beginning Aug. 17 of this school year. The policy had been drafted at the end of the prior school year but didn’t come into effect until the first day. This new attendance policy consists of tighter rules regarding tardiness and absences. The administration felt that, due to the large number of tardies and unexcused absences seen last year, there was a significant change to be made.

“So if you have five or more tardies in one class or ten total, your parents are contacted, and the students will receive a notification, “ Dean of Students Nathan Bernstein said.

Some students feel as if this is unreasonable or that there is little leniency for mistakes.

“ I feel it is a bit extreme because there should be a small room for human error, and five tardies in a semester is a little bit unfair,” senior Owen Dasovich said.

Depending on the student’s specific situation, changes are made to design a system to get them back on track.

“Like if a student has recurring tardies right after lunch, they can be prohibited from having off campus lunch,” Bernstein said.

So far there have been positive outcomes from the newly proposed policy, “We have seen an improvement but we still got a large way to go,” Bernstein said. The consequences of not adhering to this new policy vary drastically among students. The most drastic of consequences is a student’s license possibly getting taken, says Bernstein, but most commonly, consequences consist of revoked privileges, like off-campus lunches and social events (homecoming, prom, etc.). However, most students seem to have not been correctly informed about this new policy. Along with students not knowing what the policy entails, it is implied that they are unaware of the conse-

Latine Heritage Month celebration at Tam

By Ashley Townsend

Photos by Kelsey Cook

NationalHispanic Heritage Month, also referred to as National Latine or Latinx Heritage Month, takes place from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 and Tamalpais High School is celebrating by holding lunch events every Thursday.

“I think these Latine Heritage month lunch events are super fun and I’m really glad Tam has set them up,” junior Jake Neulight said.

Tam’s leadership class has planned four total events, all held at the student center. The first one was on Sept. 22, and the following are on Sept. 29, Oct. 6, and Oct. 14. Each event also has an activity students can participate in. The first event was the lotería (card game/bingo), and the next will be button and bracelet making, followed by a Kahoot trivia game, and finally food mercado (food market). All the food will be from local restaurants such as Lucinda’s and Caribbean Spices. Some foods that will be available are agua

quences.

“No, I do not know about the new consequences. Is it detention?” junior Stella Lowery said.

For students less affected by this attendance policy, it’s not crucial for them to know what it exactly includes, but there is a large population of students who need to know what violates the rules or not.

“Yes, I think the attendance policy helps kids. Being on time to school and class is very important for being productive,” Dasovich said.

Tam administration wants to clarify these rules are not in place to punish students but to help them realize the importance of a high school education, “I want kids to understand that adults are not in the purpose of this business to punish kids, we are doing it because we see the long term effects of not getting a highschool diploma or not being in class,” Bernstein said ♦

frescas and cochinita, the latter of which is a Mayan dish.

“I thought it was really fun and educational. I’m really glad I got to go with my friends and it was a great experience,” sophomore Jordan Harrosh said. ♦

Kaiden Dossa commits to Yale

By Griffin Gustafson

Crack!

Number eight scoops up the hard hit ground ball and throws across the infield diamond to seal another win for his team. While many kids were out partying and vacationing over the summer, senior Kaiden Dossa had different plans. After a travel packed couple of months, the skillful shortstop verbally committed on Aug. 23 to play Division I baseball at Yale University. Currently playing travel ball for the Southern California Giants, Dossa is looking forward to returning back to school and competing in his fourth and final season for the Tamalpais High School Red-Tailed Hawks.

As the main thing people tend to focus on is a player’s final commitment to a school, many fail to recognize how much persistence and dedication goes into the college recruiting process.

“Over this summer, I went to a number of showcases and camps all around the country,” Dossa said. “I think I was out of town more than I was here [Mill Valley]. Honestly, the whole summer was very stressful because it’s pretty late in the process, so I was always nervous to do things when people had already been recruited and committing to schools.”

With less than 2 percent of all high school baseball players carrying on to play at a Division I level in college, Dossa is among an elite group of 2023 recruits and is not there by accident. “Over the past three years, I have been going down to the field almost everyday to work and honestly just get better,” Dossa said.

With Yale being an extremely selective university, Dossa explained how important the academic side of things were during the process. “With schools like these [Yale] if you have any significant number of B’s or C’s on your transcript, you’re off the table. So being consistent on the field and in the classroom was the biggest thing for me and has been the case since freshman year,” Dossa said. He was sure to mention how excited he is for this upcoming senior season at Tam and to have

should be given all the credit for his hard work and drive to reach the next level.

“I have known Kaiden for most of my life,” senior pitcher and fellow teammate of Dossa, Tyler Buxton, said. “Growing up playing with Dossa as a teammate, I always admired his work ethic.”

the freedom to just enjoy the game, without having to worry about any recruiting.

Nathan Bernstein, longtime varsity baseball coach and newly promoted dean of Tam High, had nothing but great things to say about Dossa. “My favorite thing is the example he sets for the young kids and just his commitment to really wanting to get better, and just being a really good person overall. He’s just really what I look for in a leader. As a player skill wise, he’s a phenomenal hitter, a really good pitcher, so he kind of does the whole package,” Bernstein said.

Entering his seventh year as head coach of the program, Bernstein is relying on Dossa to play a pivotal role in the team’s leadership this season. “We as a program look at Kaiden as a lead by example guy, but leaders do need to be vocal and that is my push for Kaiden this year. I want to see him take that initiative and not just worry about himself but how to get the rest of the team engaged in order to succeed and win games. Once we see that next step in leadership, we are going to see a lot of growth with his teammates,” Bern stein said. Regarding his recruitment, coach Bernstein explained that Dossa

Focusing on his high school career, Buxton explained how immensely he has seen Dossa grow throughout his varsity years. “Since Kaiden and I were on varsity together since sophomore year, he has skyrocketed as a player. As he kept getting better, I noticed his love and passion for the game grew as well, and that is something you really can’t teach,” Buxton said. Buxton lastly mentioned how thrilled he was to play with Dossa for one last year, and can’t wait to see what he’s going to do this upcoming season.

As he enters his senior year at Tam, all eyes are on Dossa to lead the baseball team and make his mark as a hawk. After a grueling college recruiting process, the future is bright for Dossa at Yale. All the best to him and a well deserved congratulations for this huge accomplishment in his career. ♦

“He’s just really what I look for in a leader.”

- Nathan Bernstein

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAIDEN DOSSA

A Guide to Wellness

By Shaina Mandala

Wellness’s resources:

Last year, The Tam News published an article about Tamalpais High School’s Wellness Center to bring attention to its presence and briefly cover the resources it provides. However, the resources that Wellness provides are more extensive than the last article suggested and deserve an article of their own. As Sophia Kauffman, the Wellness Outreach Specialist, said “We can help people navigate whatever is going on.”

Wellness’s website:

On the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) website, Wellness has a section of its own. Once you find yourself in that section of the website, Redwood Wellness, Tam Wellness, and Archie Williams Wellness have separate links that navigate to a page with office hours for the physical Wellness Center, a small description of Wellness, and the Wellness staff.

Below the link to Redwood Wellness is another link that takes you to Wellness’s mission statement and its observed impacts on the TUHSD community. Below the link to Tam Wellness is a link to the “Virtual Regulation Room,” an interactive animation of tools: a stress relief yoga guide, videos of dogs, a virtual zen garden, etc. Below the link to Archie Williams Wellness is a link to a video of the Wellness staff giving an overview of Wellness. Scrolling past those links are a colorful array of icons, each of which bring you to a separate resource provided by Wellness.

Connect with Wellness:

“Our Wellness people are always down and really excited to talk about what we have to offer and to listen to what people have going on,” Kauffman said.

Wellness wants the community to come to them: it has an Instagram where students and families can interact as well as a link to it through the website. Another icon links a description of how to connect with your Wellness provider. The Wellness events calender provides dates and times of sexual health clinics, therapy dog visits, and other interesting programs the community can participate in. Wellness also reaches out to the community: with their “be an Upstander’’ presentation that it have a whole icon

ing specific resources to those identities. For students and families who need food, housing, and other similar resources, there are organizations linked in accordance to those needs.

“It can be hard to talk about these kinds of things. People might be embarrassed to say that they need support but the more people that use [Wellness] and the more people that talk about it, the more successful it becomes,” Kauffman said, touching on the crises resources.

Educate yourself:

Life is best lived informed. Wellness provides separate icons that link information for sexual health and effects of vaping, drugs, and alcohol.

Take care of your body and mind:

dedicated to, the Wellness coordinators taught every Tam class about the importance of not being a bystander in social situations.

Times of need:

Wellness is a helping hand in times of desperate need. The crisis support icon, two hands holding each other in the shape of a heart, is linked to a number of hotlines that may be useful to students in crisis situations. Beneath each hotline is a description, outlining the reasons to call. Some crises call for a community setting, in which case you would navigate to the community support groups icon. This link provides organizations with meetings for different kinds of people who need support such as addicts, suicide survivors, etc. There are separate icons for LGBTQ+ students and students of color, provid-

Serious topics are not the only things Wellness covers; it provides tips for physical health topics and tips for mental health (with separate icons for mental health apps, tips for getting organized, books, podcasts, movies and shows, and self-care and mindfulness).

Wellness is for all:

Wellness includes everyone: it provides resources to parents, staff and writes a letter to all students and families about what Wellness does for the community. “Mental health is crucial for [everybody],” Kauffman said. School can be overwhelming, especially with outside factors such as social lives, family issues, and emotional wellbeing. That’s why Wellness is on campus with all of these resources. Utilize what is provided for you; you don’t have to struggle alone. ♦

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF WELLNESS

Profile: Mr. Lieberman

By Elisa Cobb

set the standards to make an equal opportunity environment in a school. “I worked with students who didn’t have opportunities. So I watched systems get built that serve only certain students,” Lieberman said.

Prior to working at Santa Rosa High School, Lieberman also worked at Santa Rosa’s Elsie Allen High School, which has a “58 percent total economically disadvantaged rate [of students].”

Elise Allen also has a “72 percent graduation rate (well below the state median), and a 22.8 percent college readiness rate,” according to US News website. These challenges follow with resilience and have given him the experience of working with a large vari-

helps them reflect on the issues with behavior or other matters. He believes that communication with students about what they are going through at home that may have influenced their mood, choices, or ability to thrive in school, is a vital part of creating a school environment that is ready to support its students.

“If a student comes to me and we can talk and figure something out, by taking the time, it takes less time than writing an expulsion,” Lieberman said.

Along with helping students, he is in charge of supervising leadership, physical education, and world language courses. Lieberman said he looks forward to working with leadership as well as the anti-racism movements at Tam.

After three years as the assistant principal at Tamalpais High School, Connor Snow has stepped down. Now, Andy Lieberman has taken on the position and he said he’s ready to bring the time and energy required to continue making Tam the supportive place it is.

Lieberman has worked at over 15 schools in California and most recently left Santa Rosa High School. Not only has he worked as a vice principal, he also has experience working in the private sector for around 15 years, as well as working with a gang prevention program.

His call to working with kids started after he had worked 10 years in the wine industry, and then worked with domestic violence victims. While working with domestic violence victims and helping them achieve peace, he found his purpose in helping people. Lieberman proceeded to earn his masters degree in counseling and later received his PPS (degree in school counseling) from Sonoma State University in 1998.

Lieberman knows what it takes to

ety of students.

In his first month at Tam High, Lieberman has settled into the regular responsibilities of an assistant principal. He is working with the Associated Student Body (ASB) leadership and other programs to develop Tam in new ways, and getting to know fellow staff and administration.

On a daily basis Lieberman is seeing, understanding, and helping students. While he manages students’ behavior, he said he communicates and

Working with his past schools has given him an obligation to support and do the best he can to help these movements, he said, and his work background has given him an exceeding understanding and interest into expanding these movements.

A challenge from last year that Lieberman’s plan to conquer is getting to know staff and students a lot better. “With COVID things were so busy, there was no time with staff and students. I think it’s important to know people and let them know me,” Lieberman said. Coming back and still dealing with COVID-19 has appeared to tangle the bonds of communication and stability between students and administration staff, specifically the assistant principals. His call to build strong connections with students and staff is important to him to make a healthy and positive environment at Tam, he said.

Lieberman’s favorite thing about Tam so far has been being in the classrooms and spending time with the students. He said he looks forward to a fabulous year and is ready to boost and improve the Tam community. ♦

“If a student comes to me and we can talk and figure something out ... it takes less time than writing an expulsion,”

- Mr. Lieberman

PHOTO BY SAVY BEHR

by Siobhan King

photos by Jack McIntire

Title IX at Tam

The lives of young female athletes were forever changed on June 23, 1972. Former President Richard Nixon passed a bill that “[p]rohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs.” The bill is famously known as Title IX. The passing of this historic bill represented a beacon of hope for millions of young women across the country.

Now, 50 years later, despite Title IX supposedly sparking change in women’s sports, female athletes are still having to fight for the same rights and respect as their male counterparts. In this past year alone, the U.S. Department of Education has been faced with roughly 1,300 ongoing investigations regarding non-compliance with Title IX, according to the Women’s Sports Foundation. Compliance with Title IX is still a very prominent issue, not only in our country, but in our community here at Tamalpais High School.

Just by walking past the baseball and softball fields, you can see Tam’s obvious neglect of Title IX. While the up-todate baseball field is decked out with luxurious dugouts, multiple new batting cages, plenty of storage, and a press box, the softball field looks like it’s being held together by duct tape and glue. The dugouts are crammed and lack the huge shelves that line the entirety of the baseball dugouts. The singular, overgrown batting cage at the softball field doesn’t hold a candle to the four state-of-the-art cages located at the baseball field. While the baseball team has a large shipping container to store all their equipment, the softball team has one 8x12 foot shed that pales in comparison. A press box isn’t

NEGLECTED: patches of weeds litter the softball field.

OVERGROWN: weeds cover the softball field’s batting cage. even present at the field.

Field maintenance is also a key disparity between the two fields. Since the baseball field is laid with new turf, it requires less maintenance. The dirt softball field has patches of weeds scattered all over it, as well as major flooding issues due to uneven surfaces.

Tam High’s neglect of the softball field and its facilities seems to instill the message that the team and its players are not worth investing in. This message is beginning to infiltrate the student body .Last year there was a student-led online petition to get more student parking, which prompted one student to comment that the softball field should be turned into a parking lot. This single comment gained lots of support from fellow students.

“I feel like our support doesn’t necessarily come from Tam. It comes from the parents and the coaches. Not the school itself,” Carly Waldeck, a senior on the softball team, said when asked about Tam High’s support of the softball program.

Waldeck and fellow senior, Allie Bertolina, shared that the differences between the fields and their respective facilities, as well as the overall feeling of oversight from the school, leads to a lack of motivation among the softball players. “It’s definitely easier to play better when you feel like you’re supported … That motivation comes from within ourselves, but also from the support of the community,” Waldeck explained.

Neither Waldeck and Bertolina believe Tam supports the softball and baseball programs equally, they said.

However, Nathan Bernstein, coach of the varsity baseball team at Tam and dean of students, disagreed. “I think they do offer equal support.”

Bernstein spoke highly of the athletic department at Tam, as well as the boosters program. “I know students don’t see it behind the scenes, but at other [schools] they’ll have individual team fundraising and they’ll have individual accounts … We worked really hard the last five years or so to change

that,” Bernstein said. He continued by sharing that while everything is fundraised into one pot, it is still up to the boosters board to decide how to divide it.

Bernstein also displayed lots of pride for his players over the care they show to their field. “I think it is good when kids have pride in their facility. I think one of the most important things for any culture in any sport is that the students feel like it’s their responsibility to take care of the facility,” he said. Both the softball and baseball teams maintain their own fields. However, the school administration is responsible for maintaining equal quality facilities between fields and is not allowed to relieve themselves of that responsibility by putting it on the coaches and teams, according to Title IX Specialists.

When asked if he believes that poor quality facilities affect team morale and performance, Bernstein responded, “I don’t think facilities have that much to do with it.”

Bernstein went on to say that the

September 2022

baseball programs’ new facilities and equipment were due to team fundraising and donations made by parents. When speaking to the athletic director, Nathan Johnson, he too suggested that the reason behind the differences in facilities were fundraising and booster requests.

“Maybe it’s possible, and this is my first year here, that the softball program doesn’t know that we can use these different avenues to build up the facilities,” Johnson said.

The baseball program has 64 play-

much,” Bertolina said regarding this issue.

Waldeck added that, “[Our coaches] have other jobs and things that they need to do. It definitely leads to a bit of a disconnection.”

According to Global Sports Matter, having strong and motivating female coaches is key to the success of young female athletes and the longevity of women’s sports programs, but only 27 percent of youth sports head coaches are women.

Despite having his own program to run, Bernstein has worked to use his voice as a varsity coach to support the softball program as well. “At every boosters’ meeting, I’ve spoken up about it and I’ve met with the athletic director a lot about what we need to do,” Bernstein said.

As well as donating paint and supplies to the softball program, he has also met with the parents of the softball players and helped them create a plan to tackle the maintenance of their field. Bernstein declined to comment on how Tam has addressed the disparities between the softball and baseball fields.

[last year],” Bertolina said regarding the condition of the cage.

If the softball team is unable to use their single cage for batting practice, while the baseball team has four, that is a serious disadvantage, and a major Title IX violation, Title IX Specialists reports.

For storage, the baseball team has a large shipping container that comfortably fits all their equipment, the softball team has a small shed, roughly 10 by 10 feet, with no light that Waldeck called a “tripping hazard,” since it is nearly impossible to organize everything with such little space. Because of this, the team is forced to store its bigger pieces of equipment, such as their pitching nets, outside. This has lead to the metal frame of the nets becoming worn and weathered. However, Bertolina admitted that this is not an issue because, since their one pitching machine is broken, they “didn’t really use [the nets] because we couldn’t use our pitching machine.”

ers and families to help fundraise and maintain the field, while the softball program only has 18. Waldeck shared that there have even been years where the softball program had as few as 10 players.

Another element that can contribute to level of field maintenance and fundraising is that the softball team has coaches hired from outside the school who work only during the on-season, unlike Bernstein who is present at the school all year round. Having that year-round presence leads to a stronger community within the program, and can support the amount of fundraising being done and the maintenance of the field.

“Having a teacher [as a coach], you see them often, you can build a relationship with them at school and off the field. Whereas with our coaches, we only see them during the season. So we just know them as our coach and they know us as a player, not as a person as

One of the most distinguishable differences between the fields is the batting cages. While the baseball team has four newly installed cages, the softball team has one, which is overgrown with weeds and frequently floods due to rain and king tides.

“We never use them. We never used it a single time during practice

Another issue that Waldeck and Bertolina discussed was the crammed softball dugouts. The two shared that it is common for the dugouts to become an unorganized mess due to their layout and accessories, or more specifically, lack thereof. Since the dugouts barely have enough hooks for all the players and no other forms of storage, the players have to fill the bench with their school bags, bats, helmets, and anything else they may need to store. These things often spill over to the

DISREGARDED: outside of the batting cage, the turf is rough with over looked weeds.

“It's definitely easier to play better when you feel like you're supported.”

floor of the dugout. When asked if simply adding shelves similar to what the baseball dugouts have would help, Bertolina responded, “I think that would be really helpful.”

The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) has stated that one of the biggest reasons young girls drop out of sports is the “decreased quality of experience” caused by inequitable facilities, equipment, and uniforms between girls’ and boys’ programs, as well as a lack of trained, good-quality coaches. WSF states that the overall outcome of these combined disparities is that “sports just aren’t ‘fun’ anymore” for the young girls participating in them.

Despite the many obstacles that the softball team has faced, the team still had a winning season last year. The team made it to the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) playoffs and placed the same as the Tam baseball team in North Coast Section (NCS).

“I don’t think many people really knew about it or came either,” Bertolina said.

“Part of that could be on the players, but I feel like it shouldn’t have to be,” Waldeck added.

A big part of the team’s success last year was thanks to a family of one of the players that gave financial donations. Waldeck and Bertolina said the family has been working to help “revitalize things” in the program. These parents helped organize the painting of the softball dugouts as well as the building of the new snack shack. Yet another physical difference between the fields is that, for many years, the baseball field has had a press box they could use to MC their games, whereas the softball team does not.

Bernstein, who has been coaching at Tam for eight years, said that the press box was there before he started working here. For years, this remained the case, until finally, the same family lent sound equipment to the softball team. Waldeck and Bertolina expressed their thankfulness for this family, but were also worried about the uncertainty of the next few years.

“What’s going to happen when that girl graduates? Because right now it’s [her] parents running the show,” Waldeck said.

The new athletic director, Nathan Johnson, said he is aware that a change

needs to be made. “There are things that need to be done to make this field better, all the way around. That’s part of what my focus is gonna be for athletics, is how do we make the facilities more equitable for everybody in every sport,” Johnson said.

as the team has seen with last year’s season, just small improvements can help tremendously.

Johnson believes Tam strives to comply with Title IX in relation to the softball and baseball programs.

“I think to say that we a hundred percent do, or any school in that sense, would be selling ourselves short,” he said. “We always have things we need to work on. We always have things we need to repair and get better [in order] to be more equitable, to be more accessible to everybody. I think that we strive to comply with Title IX, as well as we know how.”

Johnson started working at Tam this year. When discussing his plan on how he is going to tackle these issues, Johnson said, “My main focus is to see what we can do on a year-to-year basis. What can we do in the next five years? So smaller projects, [then] bigger projects.”

The changes that need to be made can’t happen overnight. The softball program and community understand that. Getting new batting cages may take multiple years to accomplish, but

EMPTY: the softball dugout only features bag hooks, lacking another form of storage.

“The softball program’s mistreatment is not a new concern. It has been prominent for decades.”

GRAPHIC BY ANIKA KAPAN

The reporter of this article participated in the Tam softball program their freshman year.

Yerba Mate: Tam’s Drink

By Emma Pearson

For some it’s a hot latte, for others it’s a cool glass of lemonade, but there is only one drink that is enough of a deli cacy to satisfy the refined palettes of Tamalpais High School students: the Yerba Mate. As flavors span from Enlighten mint to Sparkling Cranberry Pomegranate, “all-natural” caffeine levels vary from light all the way to mighty, it is no wonder that these refreshing yet elegant potions have become the drink of choice for many a Tam attendee. Better known to most Tam connoisseurs as “Yerbs,” the beverage is an energy infusion brewed from lush, earthy mate leaves, leaving each flawlessly crafted vessel with 80-150 grams of caffeine (not recommended for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or sensitive individuals). Yerb Country (Sebastopol, California), is home to beautiful, sweeping hillsides of factory plants where the handcrafted yellow cans are produced and delicately transported, so that they may age to perfection on Miller Avenue Safeway’s tallest shelf. Crisp, yet slightly toasty (as they are rarely refrigerated), charming yet enigmatic, and seated at the centerplace of faultless crystal purity and balance, Yerba Mates have gone far too long without a critique (or, rather, an advocation) considering their captivation of the students of Tam High.

We begin with the classics: the large, 15-ounce golden yellow cans of Enlightenmint, Bluephoria, Revel Berry, Lemon Elation, and Orange Exuberance are household names. Familiar, yet rare to disappoint, each receptacle contains 150 milligrams of caffeine (“mighty” tier) and bursts with nuanced, character-infused flavors. Rustic and robust, playing alongside a pungent floral aroma, these Yerbs

house flavor notes of mint, citrus zest, berry bouquet, currents, pine needles, and a touch of graphite, and denote aggressively fruit-forward (containing 1 percent juice per can). Cedery and complex, these Yerbs pair perfectly with a bag of Takis or Flaming Hot Cheetos (Limón flavor), and perhaps Sour Patch Watermelons to cleanse afterward. Notably, Yerba Mate released their 25th anniversary flavor with the same can size and caffeine tier, the 2021 vintage known as Tropical Uprising. Encased in the iconic golden yellow can (with pink accentsing), this refreshing Yerb has notes of mango, pineapple, a hint of hibiscus, and stevia. Some Yerb critics feel the new brew lacks tone and texture, however, this arbiter of taste is partial to the leaves and thinks that, paired with a Good Earth scone or Whole Foods cookie, the

enough to transport you out of seventh period contemporary issues, and into a wildflower adorned field with a gurgling creekbed dottling alongside the tranquil expanse. With 70 milligrams of caffeine terrés entitled, mint, passion, raspberry, and traditional, these translucent potions vary in color, from a hazelnut-mocha brown to a burnt-penny orange. The warmed clay, petrified lemon, and rose hip aromatics of these complex beverages blend easily with their alkaline, honey, leaf must, and assorted fruit notes creating a silky liquid that ends with a velvet flowery finish.

Regardless of whether the Yerb is of the original, bubbly, or translucent variety, one thing rings true about every brew: the elixir contains the revered potency of coffee, benefits of tea, the rare euphoria of chocolate, as well

The meticulous art of free perioding

By: Gabe Schwartzman

Senioritisis truly a nasty disease; it’s one that has ravaged senior populations for centuries. A disease that is currently eating away at the flesh of the class of 2023. Although it is still in an early incubation stage, a series of symptoms have already begun to show face. The most obvious being: the uncontrollable urge to try and obtain as many free periods as humanly possible.

Instead of comparing cars or followers, the new true indicator of one’s overall status and supremacy as a Tamalpais High School senior is decided by how many free periods one has managed to accumulate. It has become a running competition amongst the class of 2023, to see who is able to attend the least amount of school, while still remaining within the parameters of legality. “Screw ditching school,” we said, “let’s just administratively drop all unrequired classes and still graduate with perfect attendance while only attending school for an hour and a half a day.”

These students take such extreme pride in obtaining new free periods, especially ones that no one believed were possible. I once saw two seniors hug and embrace for a full minute after one of them managed to drop their AP Bio class. “I’m so proud of you,” the other student said.

On another occasion, I witnessed a kid being carried out of the scheduling office atop a bejeweled throne held up by four other students, while champagne bottles popped and fireworks were shot off not far in the distance; I heard he dropped Calculus.

In truth, it is an art form; Freeperioding, that is. An art form that takes years to master (four, to be exact), and is not for the faint of heart. A select few members of the senior class have achieved such a deep understanding of the intricacies and details of scheduling loopholes that it is truly awe-inspiring. There is one senior who, in my

opinion, managed to pull off one of the greatest heists in Tam High scheduling history. This man, who will remain anonymous, managed to initially obtain a free fourth and seventh period, which he then topped with a free fifth and sixth period, as a result of dropping a Teacher’s Assistant class and replacing a Tam course with an online one, all while maintaining an above average GPA and in the eyes of the administration, being a fully enrolled Tam student. If that doesn’t immediately fire you up, I don’t know what will.

“Not everyone can do what I do,” the anonymous free-period person said. “I spent countless sleepless nights going over the game plan in my head. Now to see it come to fruition, I

couldn’t be happier. I want to thank my team in my corner, and of course my parents, I could never have done this without you.”

I recall many of my friends showing me their schedules at the beginning of the year and all I remember is that the majority of them had more blank spaces than a Taylor Swift music video. I think one of them even wrote “AP Free Period” in place of their English class.

This then begs a final question: how much better of a place would the world be if these Tam seniors put the energy they put into getting free periods into something more productive? For all I know, we could’ve achieved world peace by now. ♦

Schools are back to normal —but students aren’t

By: Ana Murguia

Asschools slowly begin to return to normalcy after more than two years of online school, social distancing, and isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a shift in student needs must be addressed by Tamalpais High School. Many students still struggle with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety due to the years of their high school experience spent behind a screen, or in-person but divided by masks, and the omnipresent reminder that life at the time was anything but normal.

Despite the return to in-person school and the removal of the mask mandate as discussion and coverage of the pandemic lessens, many students still struggle with ongoing mental health issues created or worsened by life during quarantine. In fact, the quick switch back to overwhelming course loads, active social lives, and maskless school attendance has been detrimental to many students, creating the need for a new, evolved system for schoolwork and learning after the pandemic.

Many students are still feeling the lasting effects of long-term isolation from quarantine, such as social anxiety and depression, along with additional stress from the last years of in-person school with COVID-19 restrictions. According to the American Medical Association, over one in three students have reported poor mental health during the pandemic.

“In-person school was very intimidating and anxiety inducing. A lot of it was the social aspect, because I had already transitioned to the academic aspect so the social aspect was very intimidating,” junior Maeyana Vogt said.

For many people, the lack of social interaction during online school was the biggest barrier to overcome as schools attempted to revert back

to a pre-COVID state. However, many schools failed to predict how pandemic-related isolation would lead to increased feelings of social anxiety, stress, and feeling out of place for many students that hadn’t been able to integrate properly into the Tam High setting before the pandemic.

“I felt like a freshman when I was transitioning to in-person as a sophomore, with my social life,” Vogt said.

“[Full in-person schooling] felt very abrupt just in that hybrid school wasn’t for very long,” junior Charly Kerr said. Many students are still ad justing to normal life outside of the pandemic after years of quarantine, masks, and social distancing.

“During the pandemic, we still supported students online, but we saw a pretty big drop in services,” Wellness counselor Yvonne Milham said. “My guess is when you’re online all day for school, one of the last things you want to do is continue to be online for well ness support.”

The difficulty of accessing mental health resources during the pandemic was another factor that contributed to student mental health issues.

Upon the return to in-person school in March, Milham reported an increase in the severity of student mental health issues. “A lot of it was just due to social anxiety, right, you’ve been away from people for a long time; anxiety about us actively being in a pandemic but returning to school … lots and lots of anxiety.”

However, the shift from online learning to in-person learning had its benefits. “I think for an individual stu dent, how this might help them, in the future, is if you’re looking to study past high school, this might inform the kind of place you choose,” Milham said.

Many colleges have online courses that may work better than a tradition

al college experience for students that thrived in online school during quarantine. “It [the pandemic] pushed everyone—teachers, us—to look at other ways we can serve students,” Milham said.

While the pandemic was detrimental to the mental health of many Tam students, it also allowed students to explore learning possibilities for their

Editorial: P.E. requirement

t Tamalpais High School, students are required to get two years worth of credits for physical education (P.E.), usually done in ninth and 10th grade. However, many private schools do away with P.E. in favor of requiring students to play school sports. Considering the commonly voiced displeasure and frustration with P.E., we looked into reasons why Tam should discontinue the class, at least for Tam student

Tam’s athletic director, who used to be a P.E. teacher at Redwood High School, Nathan Johnson believes that P.E. should stay a required class. “I think a lot of people categorize P.E. as just exercise, but I think the direction it’s going now is more curriculum based … P.E. is more than just exer-

While P.E. does play some important roles in the education of high school students, it could potentially be replaced with an online course, or health components could be taught in a science and/or freshman’s Social Issues class, where other health components are already being taught.

At Tam, many students feel that P.E. is an unimportant class. “I’ve never learned anything in my P.E. class

that I don’t already know, ” sophomore Zandra Hyter said.

At a time when everyone is only just getting comfortable with post-lockdown life, now would be an ideal time to improve or even replace P.E. before old, unwanted aspects of student life become entrenched once more. Tam administration showed a willingness to take student input last year by way of a survey asking when students would like tutorial to be, and further correspondence between admin and the student body over P.E. could continue building a healthy relationship between the two.

Underclassmen could benefit from no P.E. by getting another elective. If a student takes P.E. in ninth and 10th grade, they are limited to two electives unless they do P.E. in zero period, which requires them to arrive at school around seven in the morning three days a week. This puts students in a situation where they either have to sacrifice an elective or lose out on valuable sleep, although sometimes they cannot even get into the zero period class.

Tam student athletes are already getting vigorous exercise everyday of the week, on top of what they are required to do in P.E. class. “I had to run

the timed mile in fourth period class and then 30 minutes later I had a conditioning practice where I had to run the mile again, plus more conditioning,” freshman Sarah Cormier said. “It was just a lot for one day.”

Student athletes at Tam work hard to stay on top of their school work and excel at their sport, so they could benefit from assistance from Tam’s administration. The administration has already shown they are willing to take student input and feedback with their survey on the school’s bell schedule. Why not continue this practice and work together to make the Tam experience better? ♦