Junior and seniors will be playing against one another in the postponed powerpuff game on Monday, Feb. 27.
The SPHS Boys Volleyball team will host a car wash fundraiser in the SPHS parking lot on Saturday, Feb 25
The SPHS Band will be performing and hosting their annual Spaghetti Dinner Night on Thursday, Mar. 2.
The Cultural Club Fair was held on Thursday, Feb 16 during lunch on the Tiger Patio
The South Pasadena High School Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity representatives, juniors Kendall Taylor and Hanna Diop, along with the Peer Mediator Liaison, senior activities from their culture
The Multicultural Club, the Black Student Union, the Filipino Club, the French Club, and the Asian Culture Club were among the clubs that participated in the fair Taylor, Diop, and Woo wanted to give the cultural clubs on campus a chance to showcase their own culture with other students on campus.
“I wanted to give an opportunity for the clubs to be able to share their cultures with the student body The fair not only provides visibility to these clubs but is a great way for students to learn about different cultures and identities which helps to promote understanding and respect for them,” Diop said.
The fair included seven stalls of cultural clubs from around campus. The Black Student Union had cornbread for students at no charge and the Taiwanese Club was selling popcorn chicken and milk tea boba drinks. Other SPHS cultural clubs at the fair sold food as well as presenting activities, decorations, and music from their various cultural backgrounds and traditions.
Diop said, “I think the fair turned out extremely well. I think it is fair to say for all that it went way beyond our expectations and I personally was just really happy to see students
Tiger analyzes the culture present in American youth that puts down women for participating in “basic” culture and how these thoughts against mainstream content impacts women in school.
having fun, engaging, and interacting. It was also great to witness the clubs being able to share their culture with the student body as well ”
The fair was packed with students from different cultures learning about other cultures students shoving through lines to get to all the foods, activities, and decoration-making, the South Pasadena High School lunch quad had stands being moved apart from each other to accommodate the crowd of kids hungry to learn about other cultures through food and activities.
ASB advisor Casey Shotwell and Stage Production teacher James Jontz, as well as advisors of clubs that are participating in the fair, were helpful in the process of hosting the event.
“We were eager to participate in the Cultural Club Fair as our club’s mission is to celebrate the cultures of the world, and having a fair to share SPHS students’ cultures aligns exactly with our goals. Our club officers started SPMS’s own Multicultural Fair when they were in middle school, so there was a lot of excitement within the club seeing the Cultural Fair being brought here to the high school,” President of the Multicultural Club senior Ellie Yamada said.
The DEI Representatives along with the Peer Mediator Liaison are also hoping to continue this event in the future
The DEI Representatives have already started evaluating this year’s fair and brainstorming what they can improve upon in future years. Money raised during the fair went to each respective club as a fundraiser
Tiger journeyed to Universal Studios to explore the wonders of the amusement park’s newly opened Nintendo World, featuring vibrant colors and childhood sights.
Tiger addresses the lack of resources and assistance for women athletes on the SPHS campus and how an absence of awareness for health problems impacting women on campus is perpetuated in sports.
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Six SPHS entries qualified for state competition in Sacramento.
STORY ROSE VANDEVELDESouth Pasadena High School’s chapter of Future Business Leaders of America attended the Gold Coast Section Leadership Conference on Saturday, Feb. 11 in Westlake Village.
At the conference, students demonstrated and expanded on their business knowledge in competitions and workshops. They also had the opportunity to network with the students of other schools in attendance.
About 20 students participate in the SPHS FBLA chapter, which is led by advisor Cathy Mason and student officers, juniors Elijah Macias and Lance Leung, sophomore Miles Woo, and senior Roy Liou. In FBLA, students get the opportunity to participate and compete in multiple conferences throughout the year, including this section conference. Of the students, 13 traveled to the competition where they competed in events that ranged from spreadsheet applications to public speaking.
“It was the first time we had been back in person so I was expecting the students to get reacclimated into the culture of FBLA… [I was] very happy with the results,” Mason said. Of the 19 entries of both teams and individuals, six automatically qualified for the state conference in their events, which will be held in Sacramento this April.
The entrepreneurship, marketing, business management, hospitality and event management, and public speaking entries placed in the top six or top two results in their category in order to qualify for state, and some placed higher, such as hospitality and event management who placed first.
South Pasadena’s entries competed against over 500 other students in these events. Those who did not qualify for
state, which in some competitions meant a top two finish, in others top six, can enter as a wildcard.
“My brother Miles Woo and I placed first in our team event hospitality and event management, and I placed fifth in public speaking,” FBLA member and senior Anette Woo said. “We also had many other members placing within the top ten spots of their competition, and [I] am overall happy with our results.”
At this conference, as well as at state conferences, students also have the opportunity to run for leadership roles which include president, vice president of membership, vice president of activities, secretary, and public relations. SPHS FBLA member Woo was elected last year as president for the state of California, a position that bears responsibility
for over 6,000 FBLA members. This year she is serving out her term as president of the state with duties that include preparing for the state competition.
“I think the students had a good time, and I think most of the competitions that we won were team competitions so it was a collaborative effort which I am very proud of,” Mason said. FBLA’s next of multiple conferences throughout the year will be their state conference which will take place on Thursday, April 27 to Sunday, April 30.
Student qualifiers at the next conference will enter into their respective competition, as well as having the opportunity to compete as wildcards in events of their choice ranging from objective skills to public speaking.
and SPHS was recognized in the non-profit THO Instagram account.
The group is open to everyone who feels they struggle with mental health, but is specifically focused towards discussing student-athlete stresses. They plan to give out motivational goody bags for the spring sports, and continue with their discussions based on cooperative activities.
“We look for club members who see the true value in mental health and will continue to advocate that to not only their teammates but anyone else,” Ramos said. “I hope to have this club continue past my graduating year. I would like to give every sport a mental health game and continue to impact incoming student-athletes.”
JUNIOR MIA RAMOS AND FELLOW OFFICERS have worked to help establish a chapter of the nonprofit organization The Hidden Opponent at SPHS for student athletes.
Sports mental health has been a common topic of discussion at SPHS for student-athletes. The Hidden Opponent (THO) is a non-profit organization founded by a former USC volleyball player, Victoria Browne, that addresses these concerns with chapters at colleges and high schools across the country — including at SPHS beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.
Juniors Mia Ramos, Helena Foord, Kai Munoz, and Mia Holden partnered together to bring the organization to South Pas through a club chapter — all of whom are student-athletes that are passionate about the role of mental health in sports. Using education and support, they advocate for the importance of mental health with
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a student lead period product drive launched on campus. Run by senior Sarah Chung, the drive is collecting all period hygiene products as donations for the South Pasadena Public Library.
Chung collaborated with the SPHS .GEN club and their president, senior Stephanie Law, to organize this donation drive and gather all of the needed materials.
.GEN became South Pasadena’s first menstrual equity organization in 2020, initially working to change school policies on menstrual health and empowering the spread of accurate information on reproductive health and social issues like period poverty.
education and support. Meetings held every month consist of student-athletes congregating in room 921 to have interactive games.
“Personally, I have seen the role mental health plays in sports as a whole and athletic performance. I feel this concept gets dismissed, and there tends to be a clear stigma around dealing with mental health as an athlete,” Ramos said. “Some believe it can make you seem weak, and mental health is less significant in comparison to physical health. In reality, they are so intertwined that the line between the two is blurry.”
The club partnered with a sports psychologist that came to SPHS to organize a discussion on athlete mental health with the sports coaches in December of 2022. The professional trained the coaches on sports performance
In the past, the club organized educational workshops examining these topics. .GEN began collaborating with Chung in November of 2022 to conduct donation drives for the library.
“.GEN has hosted donation drives in both December and February to supply Sarah with menstrual products for her Gold Award Project,” .GEN President Stephanie Law asserted. “We may also be checking in a couple times every month at the South Pasadena Public Library to see if their bathrooms are stocked with these products.”
Chung chose this project as her Girl Scouts Gold Award project, inspired by the period product shortage that occurred over the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After California law instated a requirement of all public schools to carry period products in bathrooms, Chung felt there should be a way to extend these effects.
The club hosts resources and opens up room for discussion of mental health within a community of student-athletes. The space allows people to gather and share their own experiences as well as keep from isolating themselves.
Ramos emphasizes the importance of connection with other people of the same circumstance to talk about the struggles and bring awareness to the prevalent issue.
“You will find that more people have the same struggles as you than you would believe. It is so important to be able to form a community where you feel safe to open up about anything,” Ramos said. “Explore activities that you enjoy, and find an outlet. Being a high schooler is stressful and everyone acknowledges that, [so] find your safe space.”
The club’s next meeting is likely to be scheduled to be during the first week of March.
“We should be expanding this accessibility of products to other public spaces, too, like the library,” Chung said. Moreover, Chung decided the optimal way to carry her drive was through the SPHS campus:
“This is also about involving the student body; a lot of people at our school and in our neighborhood have the resources to donate.”
In coordinating with the South Pasadena Public Library alongside .GEN, Chung hopes to successfully complete her project, with a goal of enough products to sustain two months of donations to the library.
Any donations, including pads, tampons, and panty liners, are being collected in the SAC room from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every school day throughout February to Friday, March 3.
South Pasadena High School has worked alongside Toby Bangar to aid in the beginning of training service dogs at SPHS. With the hectic environment on campus, puppy trainer Bangar has established a system alongside SPHS Social Worker Natasha Prime to help train service puppies before they enter further professional training to become service dogs for Americans in need of assistance, especially for those who are visually impaired.
STORY ETHAN KWAK & ROSE VANDEVELDE PAGE DESIGN ALLISON LEE VISUALS ELLIE NAKAMURA & SAMANTHA SHIROISHI
Each Monday at SPHS, puppy raiser, Toby Bangar, and service dog Cody draw a crowd of students wherever they go on campus. As part of her role as a puppy raiser in the Guide Dogs of America institution, Bangar prepares the dogs she raises to eventually enter the service dog program.
Bangar grew up with and has always felt connected to dogs; Golden Retrievers in particular (the breed she now trains as service dogs). She first learned about the guide dog program from a friend who participated in high school. During the pandemic, the idea took off when she watched “Pick of the Litter,” a documentary following the journey of seeing-eye dogs. After researching the process extensively, she began the process of adopting River, a golden retriever puppy, from Guide Dogs of America.
In order to become certified, puppy raisers fill out an application as well as go through a home inspection to ensure the dogs’ safety. Prior to getting the dog, and throughout the training process, raisers are encouraged to attend meetings with other candidates and professional trainers.
“[It’s] just this big community and they [all] support each other, so if you have questions you can always reach out,” Bangar said.
River, who is soon to enter further training with professional handlers following medical tests, was her first dog, and she raised him for a total of 14 months. When raising guide dog puppies, Bangar will constantly make positive associations throughout the day to reinforce good behavior.
“[You’re] always training even if you’re at home and you’re just chilling out. If the dog is behaving really well, I just give him a treat because I want to reinforce always the good stuff,” Bangar said.
If the dogs have passed their training benchmarks, following professional training, they have a variety of career paths available to them, including as a guide dog for someone impaired, children with autism, or for veterans that have disabilities such as PTSD, or a mobility impairment. Other dogs that divert from that track also can become breeders for the program or police dogs.
“I went to the guide dog graduation… It was just an overwhelming experience seeing how much these dogs have impacted these people’s lives and seeing how important it is. It was just amazing,” Bangar said.
She began by bringing River to SPMS on Fridays, and after seeing success there, decided to also introduce him to SPHS. Every Monday she visits with one of her dogs, (currently her therapy-certified pet Cody), who she walks around campus.
“From the moment you get them, I’ve had dogs my whole life, but these dogs are just different… I want to be able to spread that joy, and that love to other people. Whether [he] makes it all the way through the program or not… [River] has such an impact on so many [students],” Bangar said.
After being a part of River’s journey, Bangar adopted a new service dog in training, Ember, on Friday, Feb. 17. Bangar plans to keep training service dogs as long as she can.
“[Dogs teach you] patience and but also like determination because puppies are really determined to work hard and being in the moment and like loving…but it’s like no matter what kind of day you’ve had or how you’re feeling and they’re always there for me,” Bangar said.
A few years ago, Toby Bangar, a community dog owner and parent stepped forward with the proposal to bring her two dogs to school at lunch. The idea was propelled with the intent to relieve stress and calm students down during finals. SPHS Social Worker Natasha Prime assisted in coordinating approval from admin.
Despite not being trained for therapy, the dogs became a huge hit. Then, the pandemic slammed the brakes on lunch visits. This year, a guide dog in training, River, has started the visits again every Monday at lunch. Students on break or walking around campus in their free time have the opportunity to pet or interact with a therapy dog.
“It’s not really organized or official, and that’s what is kind of cool about this community. It’s like, ‘Oh, there’s a parent who has a therapy dog and she wants to bring the dog to school at lunch to make the students feel good,’” Prime said.
Bangar has already received the next puppy in training, Ember. For the majority of her guide dog training, Ember will become one of the main therapy
dogs for SPHS. It will take up to three months for Ember to become situated and trained for a school setting.
One appeal of the therapy dog is evident by the positive presence it has on the community. According to a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine, the presence of dogs in college campuses can reduce psychological stresses.
Therapy dogs are not just at SPHS. La Cañada High School has a therapy dog at their wellness center. Universities and schools nationwide have had therapy dogs since animal therapy research began in the 1960s. The studies and school implementations prove the usefulness of having therapy dogs on campus.
“I think it’s being recognized more and more as a thing. I think as long as we have community members who have dogs and are willing to come I can see it continuing,” Prime said.
1913
CSPA SILVER CROWN 2021
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2019
CSPA SILVER CROWN 2018
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2017
CSPA CROWN AWARD 2016
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2015
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2014
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2013
CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2011
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANIKA EBBERT
MANAGING EDITORS
HANNA BAE, Print
ELSIE WATERS, Online
NEWS
KAHLEN MIAO, Editor
OPINION
MICHAEL MAYEMURA, Editor
FEATURE
HANNA BAE, Editor
ELSIE WATERS, Editor
SPORTS BENJAMIN REGAN, Editor
DESIGN ALLISON LEE, Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY
MICHELLE SHADMON, Editor
COPY
KAHLEN MIAO, Editor
RALUCA TUDUSCIUC, Editor
STAFF WRITERS
CLEMENTINE EVANS
ETHAN KWAK ISU PARK
MORGAN SUN JAYDEN TRAN
ROSE VANDEVELDE LINDA YUN
PHOTOGRAPHERS
SHIN-HYE (RACHEL) CHOI
EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER SAMANTHA SHIROISHI
ILLUSTRATORS
ISOLE KIM
ETHAN LYONS
ELLA MIZOTA-WANG
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ELLIE NAKAMURA
BUSINESS AND ADS
ADA BORREDON REV BRICK ETHAN LYONS
FACULTY ADVISOR KAREN HAMES
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Relying on “how-to” guides for antiracism and pushing away controversial literature is harming our scope of understanding.
Over the past decade, English class reading lists nationwide have been embracing the works from authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robin Diangelo, and Crystal M. Fleming — champions of modern liberal literature. Their supporters have since pushed against the curriculum implementation of work by controversial writers, notably on classical authors like Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway, for varying reasons among racism, sexual misconduct, or misogyny. Ideally, the removal of these books welcomes a friendlier learning environment, sustained by the inclusion of “progressive” books.
However, some believe that true critique values creative pieces for its existence alone, without regard to its artist. It is an endless and aimless debate, separating art from artist or not, but as for literature, the exclusive inclusion of politically correct, liberal books and the notion of “safe spaces” is more harmful and counterproductive than its proponents claim.
In reality, separating art from artist is impossible. Artists cannot transcend their own experiences, and instead, are influenced by their lives in how they think and what they produce, just like everybody is. It is undeniable that most, if not several artists –musicians, painters, and writers alike – do not belong on a moral high ground, and these wrong-doings certainly gave insight into the intent of their work. Regardless, consuming a product of theirs does not make readers complicit to those actions.
Reading or learning is not always meant to be pleasant, and it is the opposing belief that limits discussion in classrooms. The notion of “safe spaces” stems from the same post-war liberalism that created modern censorship in the first place. Molding information to be digestible for liberal, white audiences is the phenomenon that prevents truth and progress. Liberal books with titles like White Fragility or How to be Less Stupid About Race seek to educate those audiences, once again following history’s tendency to uplift white experiences instead of
authentic, powerful critiques on race that come from Black radical tradition.
As for classroom curriculums, it is unreasonable to only empower these liberal books for students because it is unreasonable to expect all authors to be virtuous; expecting such is a part of a long tradition in American literature where art was meant to coincide with religion and purity. Early American families rejected controversy in the name of preventing chaos, and this included certain books. Even centuries later, this behavior still remains in most art-politics: journalism, social media, and in school, for instance.
Policing art to a point of ignorance prevents the spread of true history and the call for true progress because it discourages questions and curiosities. Considering practicality alone, it is only fair to assess an author’s background as a component of their work.
The lesson here extends past literature, and into a more theoretical discussion of morality and perceptive morality. People tend to believe that compelling narratives are always connected to compelling ideas and compelling people, while this is an illusion that is reinforced by refusing to hear a side different from your own. As for larger issues that liberal literature claims to conquer, there is no such thing as a how-to book for antiracism. It is this that allows white readers to develop their own narratives on racial literacy, which is the opposite of the point. Liberalism has always avoided explicit confrontation, but it is not possible to read a way out of conflict. Isolating a library to follow this idea will not create the progress it is advertised to do. Instead the goal should be a fuller scope of truth, in that a true want to understand and grow comes from a want to understand all of it – the meaning behind classical literature, liberal books, and everything in between.
BOO to the Chinese spy balloon. That is not the way to Angel Falls.
BOO to two-step verification. You're unnecessary and no one likes you.
BOO to happily-ever-afters. When will it be my turn?
BOO to sleep. I don't need it, it needs me.
BOO to invasive questions from relatives. No, I'm not pregnant and no, I don't have a future.
BOO to my 2014 Macbook Pro. NASA, she's ready for take-off in three, two, one!
BRAVO to Swimming Upstream. We're totally not biased at all.
BRAVO to couples on Valentine's Day. You do not fill me with existential dread.
BRAVO to the Phantom of the Opera. SING FOR ME!
BRAVO to Nintendo World. You're healing my inner child coin noise by coin noise.
BRAVO to people who watch Instagram Reels. Confidently four months behind.
BRAVO to Madame Kanner. Your letter slapped.
Dear Editorial Staff of Tiger:
First, I am very gratified to teach languages in a school where students are so excited to learn them, and to communicate in effective ways! In my own language classes, I am thrilled to see my students use the target language in new ways all of the time. In fact, it is an essential tenet of second language acquisition that students demonstrate mastery of both the productive and interpretive language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening), in the target language.
Our language program is designed to meet the language standards of the State of California, which were updated in 2019. In these standards the expectations for communication emphasize that students at the novice (beginner) level converse and write using memorized phrases in predictable conversations. The standards are as follows:
WL.CM2.N: Participate in real-world, spoken, written, or signed conversations on very familiar topics. Use memorized words, phrases, and simple sentences, and questions in highly predictable common daily settings
As many students in our program are learning the language for the first time, we start with these goals in mind, and increase the breadth and depth of communication, in both writing and speaking each year. Furthermore, the standards have set a series of goals to measure student proficiency from one level to the next, and, according to these standards, students use language in:
• highly predictable common daily settings (Novice)
• transactional and some informal settings (Intermediate) most informal and formal settings (Advanced)
• informal, formal, and professional settings, and unfamiliar and problem situations (Superior), in their communities and in the globalized world.
Students recognize (Novice), participate in (Intermediate), initiate (Advanced), or sustain (Superior) language use opportunities outside the classroom.
Given these goals, my colleagues and I create opportunities to practice, and to use these skills in each lesson. Students are asked to use the language to perform a variety of tasks, from asking questions about likes and dislikes in level 1/2, students then synthesize class data about preferences to summarize their findings. In level 3/4 students move to developing their own questions on a given topic, and then using these questions and subsequent findings to expand on their knowledge of target language, and of themselves.
In fact, not only do students in LOTE classes use the target language to communicate with classmates, they also record themselves for assessment questions, and for feedback on pronunciation and content. These types of activities, which are done across languages and at levels of instruction, are to help students develop the skills they need to interact with target language speakers.
Per the statements in your editorial, we are doing the very activities you mentioned: interviews, role-playing, and problem solving, to help students access the target language on their own terms, and in their own way. For me personally, creating these opportunities to increase communication, and to share literature and resources from the target language, are two of my favorite things about teaching.
It is also important to mention that, without a command of the language syntax and structures, students cannot reach these communicative goals. As with communication in English, we teach these agreed upon rules and structures in LOTE classes so that students will readily understand, and be understood, when using the target language in the real world. These structures and rules do take practice, which is also a part of our teaching.
Additionally, in the advanced levels, students use target language sources to inform their opinions as they develop their own, and to debate them in spoken and written language. In fact, I contacted a few alumni and asked them about their experiences with LOTE beyond our classrooms, and have included some of their comments. Frances Lee, class of 2022, stated that she: “took French Literature my first semester of college, nervous at first that I would not be as advanced as other students in a class solely instructed in French. I was soon grateful to enter the class with a strong foundation in grammar as I
found that many other students struggled to keep up with grammatical structures in their writing.... Although I’ve already met the language requirements for my school, I would love to continue taking French classes or partake in opportunities surrounding the French language/ culture to further grow my knowledge and proficiency!”
Rachel Serwin, class of 2021, also took a language at the University level, and said: “In my college level French courses, I felt prepared, and that I had the knowledge to succeed in a course with higher expectations. I honestly feel like I learned better and more in your class than I did in my college level courses; … I was genuinely impressed by how well I could speak and especially write.”
Parents, too, have recognized the benefits of our program, as is explained in these comments from an SPUSD Board Member: “...[student] was your student last year in Spanish 1 is now studying for a year in Scotland.... She has found, at least in Spanish, that she is quite advanced for the class she is in. I sincerely credit your class for giving her such a strong base for the language … She was delighted because she was able to use an assignment you gave from last year as the base of her presentation! Apparently, the teacher thought it was excellent!”
In regards to the Chinese program, the Ying family commented: “Our family is an English speaking only family because my husband is the third generation American Born Chinese and doesn’t speak Chinese at all... When [student] started the ninth grade at the high school...the Chinese classes motivated their interest to learn Chinese again! The classes were very vivid and interesting! The presentations were very hard for my [student], but they conquered the difficulties with the encouragement from Ms. Chiang... who teaches students with hearts in listening, speaking, and writing!”
I hope that this discussion will encourage students at SPHS to continue their language studies, as we in the LOTE Department work to help all students to meet, and to exceed, the CA State Standards, and to become proficient in a target language. Thank you for allowing me to share what we do each day, and for your thoughtful consideration.
Ms. Erin Kanner NBCT, LOTE Department Chair & The LOTE Department
the adjective like a hot potato to distance ourselves from it, we subconsciously participate in the Olympics of selfdestruction – pervasively comparing our tastes with that of others and picking ourselves apart before even building them. At its core, “basic” is a stereotype. Like all stereotypes, it assumes the worst of the group it seeks to patronize. As seen in slurs like “White Trash” or “Fresh Off the Boat” that condemn poor white people and newly settled immigrants, stereotypes are weaponized with the most hostility when the group wielding them wants to distance themselves from another group that they are, in truth, similar to in some way.
Even when modern feminists push to embrace being “basic”, something about this label does not sit right. There is a visceral ignorance in dismissing the interests of a woman as “tasteless” just because a large number of other women seem to also find joy in the same, perhaps because the ability to avoid the “basic” is a privilege. Whether someone is basic is entirely dependent on the variety of goods that are accessible to them.
Being called basic is like catching the cheese touch: it is as unpleasant as it is inevitable. Since the days of its creation on top of the literal toilet seat of American comedian Lil Duval, the term “basic” has come a long way. Today, it is short for “basic b*tch”, a stereotype with misogynistic undertones, connoting pumpkin spice lattes, Taylor Swift albums, and a lack of self awareness. But more than touching bases with the Top 40, the quality of being “basic” has been uprooted from its history to be weaponized against the poor, the female, and everything in between.
In the eyes of the modern feminist, the term “basic” reeks of patriarchy. The “basic girl” stereotype almost always applies to women, perhaps because it was designed with them in mind. While male equivalents of “basic” come in the form of the insipid “NPCs”, their respective label does not seem to roll off the tongue as easily as it does for women. When told to think of a basic person, the image that pops up is not a jock decked out in flannel. Instead, it almost always refers to an exclusive collection of commonly feminine interests: like enjoying popular musical artists or shopping from the same chain stores. By agreeing to the precondition that feminine interest has no value, men will begin weeding out the unique from the tasteless. To compensate, women will start to use the term against other women and express their
disdain for “basic” just as they pronounce their own uniqueness and superiority.
Demonizing the mainstream also means demonizing the people who follow the mainstream. The assumption that popular things are tasteless and predictable leads many down the path of “finding themselves” through validation from subcultures or alternate cultures. But this process is not so much “finding yourself” as it is curating a superficial persona. There is nothing wrong with enjoying things from subcultures, just as there is nothing wrong with enjoying things from the mainstream. The problem arises when individuals pride themselves in their newfound identities so much that they are no longer a person who happens to like niche things, they are a different person in whole.
At the end of the day, if there is not something universally enjoyable about the mainstream, it would not be a mainstream to begin with. By hiding behind the thinlyveiled idea that the “lamestream” and the eccentric are mutually exclusive, the critic is implying that there is something inherently wrong with the person liking the mainstream; that by jamming out to Taylor Swift, one forfeits the depth to appreciate the complexities of more underground artists.
The idea of “basic” even seems to exist within the genres that share the label, within people who are anxious about their position in the cultural currency. As we fling around
If there is a universal “basic” – wearing overbranded leggings, liking Starbucks a little too much, shopping from Target, among other stereotypes – it should reflect the flattening of the consumer market, not the uninspired taste of the individual. Rural, suburban towns have been taken over by chain stores over the course of the last 50 years, which is to say that consumers do not have a choice other than Walmart and Target. And within the likes of Walmart and Target, there are no other choices other than overbranded clothing. And perhaps the “basic girl” and her posse storm the Starbucks because there is no other coffee shop in town.
To summarize the work of theorist Pierre Burdieu, we don’t choose our tastes so much as the specifics of our class determines them. The adjective “basic” seems to assume that there is an option outside of the mainstream if you challenge yourself more than the average consumer. However, no amount of spark or curating Pinterest boards can overcome the looming threat of “basic”, especially when the label reflects a distinctively capitalist upbringing.
For how much it pressures young adults to color within the lines, the twenty-first century is on a mission to enforce originality. The idea of “basic” stems from the confines of the male imagination, and extends as far as its elitist undertones. There might be some truth to the hopeless predictability of the mainstream, but never enough to warrant insults against those that were culled into participating in it. As far as corporate is concerned, unoriginality is only a concern to the profit margins of feminine insecurity.
Algorithms and recommended content continue to shape the world around us. From a silly cat video on TikTok’s For You page to the Yelp reviews that are pushed onto people visiting Los Angeles, America is controlled by recommendations made online.
The state of personalized content on the internet is in danger, with the family of American student Nohemi Gonzales pushing forward in their civil liabilities lawsuit against Google. Nohemi’s family has been lobbying for corporations to be held liable for the content posted to their sites; their case states that content supporting the Islamic state led to the Paris Attack where Nohemi died.
In Gonzales v. Google, the Supreme Court will determine overturning the 26 words in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which prevents companies from being liable for the information posted on their sites. For the sake of free speech online, it is imperative that the court rules in favor of corporations to continue preserving the sanctity of how content is pushed to consumers online.
The decision in Gonzales v. Google will shape the future of the internet, and more specifically, the involvement of corporations in how they moderate and control their spaces online. On one hand, it is implied that corporations do their best to promote equal and safe platforms in the forums and platforms they create. On the other hand, it is unreasonable for companies to be expected to vet and moderate all the content of all the users on their site, especially for large companies like YouTube that have 3,700,000 videos uploaded to their sites daily.
If the Supreme Court determines that Section 230 is a violation of specific civil rights for users online, it is likely that there will be a complete overhaul of the internet and media that impacts users on all levels. By striking down this portion of legislation in the CDA, corporations will
lose their governmental protections and find themselves buried by an assault of lawsuits for content published to their site. Whether it be Swifites coming together to sue Twitter in a civil action lawsuit for someone’s tweet that Midnights is a bad album or Republican legislators suing Instagram for coalition accounts that promote voting in favor of the Democratic party, overruling Section 230 will challenge the content that sites allow to be uploaded.
The attorneys representing Gonzales claim that – when content is outlined to individuals on the basis of data and algorithmic recommendation – Section 230 is not applicable to corporations. For Gonzales’s case, while YouTube could not have controlled ISIS-specific content being uploaded to their platform, they believe that YouTube is at fault due to their algorithms recommending this content to specific individuals. However, these videos targeted individuals who were already likely to join or agree with the movement; this lacking argument has led both district and state courts to disagree with the claims made by Gonzales’s attorneys. This case completely
counters the very thought of consumable content in the modern day.
An individual’s interest is tracked through data, searches, and cookies. The tracking of an individual person’s likes and dislikes is what leads to people seeing a targeted advertisement for the dress they looked at on a website or receiving ads slandering a political candidate running a campaign in their district. Without this tracking, the For You page would cease to be a FOR YOU page, YouTube feeds will become what has the most attention throughout the world, and small clothing shops may never get their name out there.
Tailored content is presented for individuals to continue consuming, but this can only be done if corporations keep their protections under Section 230 of the CDA. Simply speaking, the basis of content recommendation has become a significant aspect of the lives of teenagers and Americans alike, and this culture is now stuck being debated in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Being “basic” is a label young women know all too well. However, few are aware of the reductive undertones of this common stereotype that has become rooted into high school culture.
Since World War I, personality tests have been a work in progress, despite its wide usage in workplaces, school, and individual use.
Before the popular personality tests that America utilizes in the modern day — from the novelty Harry Potter based Pottermore to the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) — which widely circulate the internet, personality tests have held different purposes.
The first personality test, created by psychologist Robert S Woodworth in World War I, evaluated a soldiers’ potential for suffering from shell shock, a form of PTSD. Distributed to limited groups of soldiers, Woodworth’s Personal Data Sheet included 45 yes or no questions including: “Do you usually feel well and strong?” and “Did you have a happy childhood?” This test would be the predecessor for new tests implemented for different functions.
For example, personality tests have become rooted in the workplace, with millions of American workers assessing their strengths and weaknesses to bolster collaboration and productivity.
The accessibility of these tests have led to major dependence on nonscientific conclusions, which has led to minor concern. Some argue that personality tests pigeonhole people into stereotypes, whereas others counter that these tests are a convenient indicator for organizations, institutions, and individuals.
Arguably the most influential personality test created, the MBTI, came to conception from the research of Katharine Briggs in 1917. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychoanalyst and the creator of analytical psychology, had a major influence on Briggs’ research. Categories of the MBTI such as introverted/ extraverted were drawn from some of Jung’s concepts.
Above all, Jung’s theory of collective consciousness is evident in the intent of Briggs’ research. Collective consciousness states that all people have certain traits hidden deep in sub-consciousness. Jung created four personality types from this theory, which share parallels with the four categories created by Briggs.
The popularity of the MBTI has risen in previous years. Mainly hosted on website 16Personalities, the MBTI has also become a social media phenomenon.
Confusingly, to the unaware viewer, the four letter combination often seen on social media profiles seems to be meaningless. From “INTJ” to “ESFP,” each combination is like a barcode that is assigned to a role. For example, “ISFJ” correlates to “the defender” and “ISFP” correlates to “the adventurer.”
However, although MBTIs are widely used in workplaces and other environments, experts and researchers believe the test to be wildly inaccurate.
Some argue that, due to Briggs’ lack of scientific background, the MBTI is not to be trusted. In a study conducted by David J Pittenger of Marietta College, 50% of the subjects received a different personality type after taking the MBTI a second time.
This is a problematic revelation. Despite this realization, the MBTI has had continual usage in professional settings. This calls the authenticity of productive teams into question, completely undermining the ‘meaning’ behind the MBTI. For individual use, it brings a minor existential crisis into play.
The question is, “Who am I really?” Taking multiple personality tests will only reveal different answers; they reveal molds for individuals to shape themselves into until the same mold shifts into something else.
A more refined and trusted test is known as the Five Factor Model (FFM). First developed in the 1980s and 1990s by Dr Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, the FFM is based on lexical hypothesis.
As the Encyclopaedia Britannica states, lexical hypothesis suggests that, “the fundamental traits of human personality have, over time, become encoded in language.”
The five factors of the FFM are derived from multiple languages and cultures, sifting common adjectives that are universally shared. Unlike the MBTI, the FFM takes the background of the test-takers into consideration. Still, critics find flaws in the FFM. For example, the “all-encompassing” theory heralded by the creators has been perceived as “tunnel vision” and “too narrow” to fully address the multiple languages and cultures it claims to incorporate.
As evidenced by the multitude of tests introduced over the years, the history of the personality test has evolved with the development of new psychologies. Trial and error will pave the way for more accurate tests in the future.
Personality tests, mainly popularized validation but do not address
Personality tests have become a phenomenon, spreading are familiar with the notorious BuzzFeed quizzes or MBTI their personality, even when entirely inaccurate. People of self-actualization; there are layers to the unique experience
At the epicenter, people want to feel understood and validated, create a community of supposedly like-minded people, a powerful — however barren — motivates people that want to gain an understanding
The generalizations created by these tests put people into neat little world, one could find a person’s personality type and gain wisdom the awkward icebreaker stages. However, the eight billion people
As different beings, people will have different tendencies that cannot
On another level, the unconscious bias of oneself can interfere with can only answer to the best of their knowledge. One can deliberately may not recognize aspects of their personality that other people see. the test-taker is entirely truthful.
These tests are suitable when analyzing group trends of human surroundings. Even a single person may tweak their exhibited personality test was taken in changes the validity of the results. Human behaviors difference between two distinct results.
Human minds store information in a schema — a mental representation categorize everything and everyone around them, allowing humans assumptions about others may be helpful on the surface but detrimental maps grant less practicality than expected.
Personality tests offer the sense of comfort in normality yet individuality to know they are special one way or another, but find peace quizzes can bring attention to aspects of their personality This concrete definition of self may be affirming for some, Perhaps the most important factor of personality quizzes confirming a piece of the puzzle that is your true self Whether the personality test analyzes someone’s animal, there is a boost of self-awareness in their weaknesses to continue the good and improve
At the end of the day, a personality quiz more about yourself, but the results
Humans are flexible, ever-changing not put people in boxes when to change
With the personality tests of the past being altered to fit the modern day, the history of identity-based tests continues to be furthered. From the concept of “Soldier, Poet, King” to aligning oneself with a Winnie the Pooh character, ultimately the growth of these tests continue to evolve. The value of these tests rest in the eyes of the beholder and how they choose to apply these tests to their individual identity.
Since the origins of understanding ones’ personality in the midst of a social crisis in history, personality tests have Despite the roots that tests such as the MBTI have in our communities, the overall impacts of these tests divide individuality
popularized by the internet, offer convenient address the nuances of humanity.
spreading like wildfire through the internet. Most people MBTI acronyms and go so far as to adopt the results into are not just obsessed with themselves in a vicious cycle experience of a personality quiz.
validated, while learning about themselves. The personality types powerful tool to spread quizzes. The insight provided by the results understanding for themselves and the world.
STORY ETHAN KWAK, MORGAN SUN, LINDA YUN, & ROSE VANDEVELDE PAGE DESIGN ELLIE NAKAMURA ILLUSTRATIONS ISOLE KIMThe quest for self identity is often hindered by the standards of “uniqueness” that the Gen-Z generation The quest for self identity is often hindered by the standards of “uniqueness” that the Gen-Z generation values. Personality tests such as the MBTI and the Five Factor Model appear to be simple solutions and are used in a variety of applications that range from the workplace to individual counseling, despite scientific questions of accuracy. Other less serious assessments such as fictional characters, or animal quizzes (Pottermore, BuzzFeed, etc.) have also risen in popularity and are entries to likeminded communities focused on results or the topic.
The “Barnum effect” is akin to a type of the “placebo effect” where an individual believes results of statements about self such as personality test results, crystal ball reading, horoscopes etc. apply to them specifically when they are in reality generally written. Even more so, people are more likely to believe positive general statements than negative ones, such as those a personality test offers.
The “Pollyanna Principle,” otherwise known as the positivity bias, details that “individuals like to be complimented and will more likely accept positive comments about themselves and believe them to be accurate, even if they are general and vague” (decisionlab). In association with the Barnum effect, unclear and general statements that are advertised as a defining factor of your personality type are easily accepted. Compounded by the self-validation that takers seek, the tests can feel accurate in accordance to their identity.
little boxes of categories, simplifying social situations. In a perfect wisdom on every one of their quirks or behaviors, saving people from in the world do not have a built-in template to their personality. cannot be unlocked at just a glance into their profile.
with the test. Each person answers questions about themselves, but deliberately change an answer to construct a better image of themselves, or see. This implicit bias will skew the accuracy of said test, even when
behavior, but individuals base their personalities on contextual personality depending on the situation, or the environment that the behaviors are not static or fixed, so a single day or event could be the
representation of that person, object, or situation. They automatically humans to quickly perceive the world with minimal effort. These detrimental in nuanced practice, so the inaccurate social road
individuality in uniqueness that humans crave. People want peace in knowing others share their quirks. The unassuming personality previously unknown while gaining a place in the world. some, but cannot capture the true depth of a person. quizzes is its universality. The affirming recognition in self is a dopamine shot everyone has experienced. someone’s whole character or merely assigns a spirit their mind. It can draw attention to strengths and improve what may be holding them back.
quiz is a fun, relatable test to discover results should not be taken too seriously. ever-changing creatures, so we should when they have the capacity and grow.
The tests often provide information such as who an individual works best with, their level of introversion or extroversion, and their learning method (visual, auditory, kinetic). The level of accuracy greatly varies, and the pitfalls of these inventions lies in the amount of trust a taker puts in them. Some assessments will most likely ring true, but giving these tests the ability to define a person is an unsound and unstudied idea in a quest for self-validation. Not only could they feel correct, due to the Barnum effect, they leave no room for questions. With only a set number of personality types and responses possible, it is out of the question for a test to be 100% correct. However, because of the statements that people feel are accurate, the legitimacy of these tests will remain unquestioned, and continue to draw more takers.
As personality tests rise in popularity and are used more frequently, another trademark of Gen-Z, peer pressure has contributed to the growth. For the lighter tests that match with fictional characters, animals, houses, etc., the more people that use them, the more others hear about them. These tests relate takers to others and naturally spread from one person until the next wants to do it out of a need to relate to these people and find their own community.
Self-actualization is the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, so it is no wonder that people want to figure themselves out. In today’s day and age, online personality tests seem the solution. In their accessibility and availability, these tests readily provide their users with information about themselves. However, the ease in which people access these tests, and the number of people who use them, seem to provide an illusion of credibility that does not exist.
While not necessarily bad, the results of the test that connect an individual to a certain group can lead takers to ignore the other aspects of their personality that do not “fit” into the category. While personality tests are a nice summary of one’s personality, they are just that: a brief summary.
Psychology is considered a soft science not because it is less scientificallybased than other hard sciences, but because understanding the brain is subjective compared to understanding of physics. The personality archetype is nuanced because the human brain is brimming with complexities. To limit the human personality to the confines of 16 personalities is at best, ignorant, and at worst, deceiving.
On the other hand, however, access to a community that shares many of the same interests and some characteristics of personality can be a positive source of role models and validation. Developing personality is a part of finding self-identity and can bring confidence and a feeling of belonging. Not only that, the connections that these tests give with others are a conversation starter - and an entry into a friendship formed on mutual interest. Like anything, the tests themselves are not inherently evil - nor is wanting to take them because of others, they just require a balance to healthily navigate.
Overall, these tests help takers find their group in relation to others, providing information on Info about who you work well with, about your personality, about the kind of people like you are all factors that draw people in. Even if the tests are not completely accurate, they validate self, and people will keep returning to take them.
An unique invention, personality tests have built their prevalence by formalizing self-validation in a way relatable to others.
STORY MORGAN SUN
PHOTO EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER
The SPHS drama department put on the studentled play created by junior Charlotte Dekle, titled Swimming Upstream. Dekle wrote, directed, and acted in the play, along with seven other co-stars. Performing on the Friday and Saturday of Feb. 10 and 11, the actors portrayed a beautifully moving yet humorous play.
The play was delightfully written, with each tense moment broken up by well-placed jokes. It stayed grounded in its portrayal of real life. Each scene took place in a room with minimal decor only to illustrate the setting. The set changes were quick and efficient, and each prop transferred into the next scene — a wall for one scene was transformed into a bed for the next. The costumes were from the actor’s own closets to immerse the audience in the humanity of each character.
The themes touched on typically taboo subjects including polyamory and LGBTQ+ stereotypes, and included mentions of sex and sexuality, setting the content advisory to 13 years or older. The story incorporated an authentic love triangle between Mallory, played by senior Lauren Dubria, and two other lovers. After another Friday night date ruined, Mallory attempts to find “The One” by dating two people at the same time — Pamela, played by sophomore Shelby Collins, and Grant, played by junior Sam Franco.
“I wanted my characters to represent real people, and that they are all very flawed, dramatic, witty, funny, and smart,” Dekle said. “I thought the actors were perfect. I think that they definitely portrayed all of the humanity of the characters.”
In Mallory’s storyline, she continues to fail at gaining the love of her life after scaring off each potential date with her clinginess. The play addresses her lack of self worth and her use of “The One” to fill her emptiness. She sifts
through potential life-long partners as quick as a dime and falls head first in love just as fast. The ambiguous ending emphasized human tendencies to get attached to the same unhealthy cycles while creating empty promises to escape.
While the story mainly centers around Mallory’s struggles to maintain a love life, the plot also follows Mallory’s best friends Simone and Taylor. Simone, played by the creator Dekle, navigates a turbulent long-term relationship with Georgia, played by sophomore Lisa Zhang. Played by Mikala Toshima, Taylor is the supportive friend that is involved in a steady polyamorous relationship with two other people.
Near the middle of the play, Simone and Taylor get into a heated argument about their respective love lives, where Simone judges Taylor for their polyamorous relationship.
A prominent point in the play was the bisexual stereotype of cheating on a significant other, in contrast to Taylor’s healthy poly relationship. Taylor refutes this claim, mentioning their mutual consent and contentment in the relationship. This moment becomes a turning point in Simone and Taylor’s friendship, where Simone accepts Taylor even though they go against her societal norms.
Between the beats of the play came a tension diffuser in the form of a commercial. At each dimming of the light, a different dating app commercial would play to give the audience a moment of reprieve in the interlude. This play was the ultimate mix of humor and solemnity. An exquisite combination touching on deep-rooted human flaws while lightening the mood with innuendos, Dekle and the students who contributed to the play did a phenomenal job with bringing the production to life.
“It was surreal seeing people say my words,” Dekle said. “On the whole, I was pretty shocked by the audience’s reaction. I thought they would like it, I didn’t think they would love it as much as they did. I wasn’t expecting all of the gasps at the twists…I wasn’t expecting all of the love, honestly.”
Now for everyone here who did not see Swimming Upstream, where were you? If you were in Sacramento not seeing Gavin Newsom, I respect that. If you were doing the Afram research paper, however, how dare you? If you had just climbed out from under a rock, I wrote a play entitled Swimming Upstream, in which I also directed, produced, and starred. Swimming Upstream has changed my life. The sheer amount of adulation I received should only be reserved for Hugh Grant. But now that it is over, one question has been percolating in my mind. What should I do next? Now this question is not an internally created one.
After each performance, legions of people harangued me about what my next project is. Am I going to extend the run? Am I going to write a new play? These kinds of questions are understandable. From teenagers, they want to see more of what I produce, which is very kind of them. From adults, they may see potential and want me to capitalize off of this success. Little do any of them know, I have no desire to capitalize. I posit that I do not need the next step. Swimming Upstream was my conclusion, not my beginning. Our society is so obsessed with results and climbing the ladder that individual moments that were a culmination of years of hard work are not enough.
The process of writing, producing, directing, and starring in Swimming Upstream was a laborious one. I had to coordinate the schedules of eight busy teenagers, while navigating cast drops due to the “risque” material. All of this while being unsure when I was able to use the theater. But it was rewarding all the same and I would not exchange this experience for anything else. No one forced me to write, produce, direct, and star in this play. I am so passionate about theater that I wanted to.
More so, I hope that many students can produce a play in the future. In some ways, I brought this upon myself by not really asking for help and not bringing lunch. This was a transformative experience that my muscling through makes it easier for anyone to do in the future.
I also do not want to genuflect under the expectation that I should do anything. Should implies an expectation that I somehow need to uphold for others. I have no inclination to go further with this play at this time. That does not mean I will never pick it back up. Nor does that mean that I have no impulse to write an entirely new play.
My spark for writing is what started this whole mess anyway. If I were to develop an entirely new play from scratch, it would not be because I should, it would be because I want to.
Now I have to work on distilling my entire Swimming Upstream experience into a college essay format by dissecting the lessons I learned. The primary lesson I learned is that you should only do things because you want to, not because you should. I know that bottling that message in a ‘should’ statement is ironic considering the message, but it is the only one that would be grammatically correct.
Life is too short to have other people dictate it. If you want to write a play, write a play. It was a thrilling experience and that I wholeheartedly recommend. If you want to act in the play you wrote, do that. And if you do plan on dedicating months of your life, I warn you, you will feel like you are swimming upstream and that is okay.
To Paradise is the latest work of Hanya Yanagihara, acclaimed author of the tear-jerking BookTok starter pack, A Little Life. Despite her reputation as a writer of what some may call “misery porn”, Yanagihara’s tormenting stories come folded in the most unexpected shapes — sometimes in the peculiarity of hope.
The novel is broken into three books, all a century apart. Interweaving the past, present, and future, Yanagihara presents a candid portrait of love and loss in an alternate rewriting of a gay New York, a disorienting reimagination of the AIDS epidemic in Hawaii, and an Orwellian portrayal of the future to disrupt the exhausting fairytale of paradise.
Nicknamed “Washing Square”, Book One takes place in a parallel dimension of post-Civil War America, where New York is a part of the Free States - one of four sovereign nations. In this rewrite of history where gay marriage is legal, an odd, reserved David falls hopelessly in love with Edward, while being bound to a wealthy suitor - Charles, in a love triangle gone wrong. When Edward has to move across the country, David is torn between duty to his family and his love for Edward, to which the book furiously ends before he chooses.
The exciting storytelling puts the reader on the edge, only to leave the last sentences empty of a resolution, and the reader full of wondrous head-scratching. Some readers appreciate Yanagihara’s artistic choice, while others are enraged by its ambiguity.
Perhaps the most interesting snippet of the first section is the profundity of wealth in its ability to seep into the fabric of relationships. When they are together, Edward - of a lower class than David, often feels the need to prove himself worthy of David’s love even when David seems to be preoccupied with everything but material status.
Book Two, “Lipo-Wal-Nahele”, follows another David - a young Hawaiian man who descends from royalty as he is pushed and pulled in different directions. Fraught with fears of his own past, this “reincarnated” David grapples with his relationships with both his partner Charles, and his father, Wika.
Themes of generational trauma, race, class, disability, and longing lace the first and second sections together, as Yanagihara’s intricate world building collapses in an emotional downpour. Readers almost want to reach through the pages, and knock Wika out of his state of passivity to his illness. While the first narrative was hard to warm up to, the second was nothing short of a rollercoaster. Wika’s letter is an honest sketch of fatherhood, not afraid to trace over the breakdown of family and the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise.
Book Three, “Zone Eight”, follows a young woman in the distant future in an America ravaged by pandemic after pandemic. It is also told in parts: one through the perspective of Charlie - a sterile young woman, and the other through Charles - her grandfather.
Of all the things Yanagihara captured with her writing, the complexity of human emotion is one that she has mastered. Among such characters is Charles, patron of the state, who grew to resent the world he helped build. As he slowly breaks down into a puddle of himself, his status tumbles, from an influential scientist down to a
statesman, until he becomes one with the rest - another victim of the regime.
Inspired by a pandemic near at hand, “Zone Eight” raises the interesting question of what humanity would become if physiological needs are threatened only by pandemics, and what would arise when those threats are heightened by an institution’s indifference to the outcries of its citizens.
While the plot was at times compromised by line after line of purple prose, the rich, layered portrayal of utopia’s undoing checkmates the certainty by which we say that the future will be an unquestionably better one. To Paradise is a novel as beautiful as it is deeply disturbing, with characters knee-deep in grief, but never too sunken to look up with hope.
Each book ends with the words “to paradise”, as the respective Davids leave the cards to fate to deal out the next chapter of their lives. With each line of voluptuous prose, Yanagihara’s To Paradise masterfully paints the complexities of the human experience and the elusive promise of utopia.
Ilived in an apartment where television was my regular passtime. I would sit on the couch for hours watching cartoons, news, or childrens’ shows. One thing that never struck me then, when I was younger, is how I cannot remember ever seeing queer couples on those TV shows. Obviously, I do not have high expectations for producers of children’s shows. However, there were romantic relationships and crushes between characters on shows I watched.
On those shows, I saw heterosexual relationships between straight characters. I never saw characters of the same gender having crushes on each other or being in a relationship.
“Relationship” for the mind of a seven year old meant a man and a woman crushing, then years later getting married and having a family and a life together. When I thought about my crushes, that is how I imagined our future together. I never really figured out that the person I wanted this future with was right in front of me, because I had no role models to show me that it was normal to be gay.
Recently reexamining myself, my past friendships and my romantic and unromantic relationships, I am also reexamining fictional shows that depict people who do not represent our society as a whole. I also remembered my first crush on a girl, one that I was unaware of.
When I was in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, I was best friends with this girl. We can call her “Kelsey.” We were very close, sharing every secret we possessed with each other. I, however, never shared a secret with her that I did not even know I had.
As we both got older and more mature, I began feeling a lot closer to her then any of my other friends. I did not think about it as a crush, but just that I liked her more than my other friends, but in a yellow heart emoji kind of way.
I never thought girls could like girls, because no one in my life, especially my world of fictional shows, had ever been part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Now, with the current state of acceptance and tolerance of LGBTQ+ people, there are so many more shows and movies with LGBTQ+ characters. Some of them portray these characters fairly, like Heartstopper and Ginny & Georgia, but others also heavily over-sexualize queer characters, like The L Word, Elite, and Gossip Girl. There are gay people who are just like characters on these shows, but that does not mean we are all the same, cookie-cutter LGBTQ+ people.
All these shows are very recent and made for adults and teenagers. All those shows are rated R, TV-MA, or TV-14, showing that when there is representation in shows, it is only meant for an older generation of people who are seen to be more mature. Just because kids do not know everything about the world does not mean society has to shield children from sexualities.
I am not only criticizing shows that I do not particularly like that do have queer characters. Take Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of my all-time favorite shows, which has an iconic lesbian couple that I absolutely worship. The producers, however, villainizes one of them and kills off the other.
Gay characters do not emerge as victorious and heroic as the straight ones. When we are represented, we languish in the shadow of straight characters. Society deemed heterosexual people as normal and queer people as idiosyncrasies.
If I had had shows that showed queer characters, I honestly think I would have been able to figure out my own sexuality as a lesbian way sooner. It makes me sad that I was not able to see representation of people who really exist. There are so many more children’s shows today that portray a range of queer characters like, The Legend of Korra, The Dragon Prince, and Owl House
As I scrolled through old texts with Kelsey, I revisited our friendship and our past adventures together. It was only recently as a return to former experiences with her that I really discovered how much I cared for her.
Every time we would see each other, I would get butterflies in my stomach. Now, I realize how jealous I am of the kids of today and how many more opportunities they have to discover their identities.
And after eight years, I have finally realized that the person I loved and admired the most was also my best friend.
With stunning scope and depth, Yanagihara’s To Paradise challenges our hopes in the happily-ever-after.
The 95th Oscar Awards are being hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, to be presented on Sunday, March 12. With a vast array of nominations for several acclaimed flms, Tiger predicts the winning candidates for seven of the categories.
Brendan Fraser’s empathetic and emotional portrayal of Charlie in The Whale is likely to secure him the win in the category of best actor. Fraser’s character examines an overweight English teacher who is grieving after the passing of his lover as he tries to repair his broken relationship with his daughter for a last chance at redemption.
Charlie’s self-consciousness leads him to stay in his home teaching online writing courses, but he keeps his webcam off, afraid to show others his true face. Fraser’s role could be overlooked due to the restricted movement his character has and the use of practically one set, but he conveys the nuances of Charlie through vivid expression and a bold command of the screen, facial expressions, and his tone of voice.
The audience can feel the regret and sadness reflected through Fraser’s portrayal of Charlie. With a transformative performance worthy of an Oscar, he explores Charlie’s character on a deeper level than perhaps The Whale called for.
Michelle Yeoh delivers a showstopping performance as lead actress in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh conveys the dynamic and complex relationship between a first generation immigrant and their seemingly never enough daughter brilliantly. Her authenticity embeds grit and passion into her character, evocative, moving, and oftentimes forcing the audience to tears.
She allows her character to fall naturally into a guarded perspective, cold and disapproving to all around her, enabling the balance of her more vulnerable moments to be all the more impactful. Her effort is only enhanced by actress Stephanie Hsu, who plays Yeoh’s daughter.
While fellow nominee Cate Blanchett offers strong competition in Tár, Yeoh’s talent demands the attention and ultimately the respect of an award. Her feat is only made more commendable as should she win, she would be the first Asian woman to do so. While this recognition is long overdue, Yeoh’s nomination embodies pure talent.
Steven Spielberg has stacked up awards in the past and this year, his movie The Fablemans will have him adding another award to his collection. This movie explores Spielberg’s own childhood growing up in a post-war Arizona and follows the journey and healing process of a broken marriage of Spielberg’s parents through a young depiction of himself, Sammy Fableman. He falls in love with films after seeing The Greatest Show on Earth
After his revelation, he begins making his own movies at home. Spielberg’s directing of The Fablemans was excellent and Oscar worthy. In the movie, the camera pans around the characters and the setting of the film, making audiences feel like they are truly in the scene with the cast.
His collaboration with the actors and producers made this production outstanding. Spielberg directed this movie with poise that was the knot in tying this film together. His personal additions combined with his vulnerability in this movie will have him taking home yet another Oscar.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has been a game changer to the world of animated film as the industry knows it since its release, with the acclaimed film garnering support from fans across the world. Directed by Joel Crawford, the movie serves as a spinoff sequel to the beloved Dreamworks franchise that takes a known character to create an engaging story.
The stylistic aesthetic, despite being produced with the same 3D animation programs, allows the movie to shine in comparison to its other animated counterparts. The movie is set apart from the competitors with the vibrant colors and sketchbook look, paying homage to the typical 2D animation look from prior films.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a heartwarming story detailing how Puss in Boots restores his passion and vigor for adventure; the exhilarating plot and action scenes, textured art style, and innovative approach to animated film that contrasts prior contenders and winners for this award make the movie a strong contender to take the Oscar home.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is the winning contender for this year’s packed nominations for Best Picture. This film is a strong candidate in the category based on the cast’s stellar acting paired with the riveting and ingenious plot. Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, and Ke Huy Quan’s acting ties the plot along with the storyline together.
The film’s score and directing pulled the production together like no other movie in the running. The movie traverses an aging Chinese immigrant who begins a quest to save all the universes. Along the way, she finds and connects with her other lives she could have led in other universes and truly answers the question of what could have been.
The story of Yeoh’s character, Evelyn, and her journey explores her relationships with her children and her husband along with the challenges immigrants continue to face. With the excellent direction, production, and acting, this movie will likely take home the award for Best Picture.
Son Lux’s work in Everything Everywhere All at Once transcends typical genres of music to create a cinematic masterpiece that directly builds off of the film’s cinematography and action. Lux, in true fashion of cultural appreciation, utilized the Chinese sound and adapted it to further the plotline.
From traditional opera singing to gongs, the film was able to play off of the heavy hitting sounds that reminisce Lux’s older albums and EPs that the group has released. Heightening the action through synthetic beats, the movie was able to further raise tensions and emotions through a collaboration of a cultural sound with modern elements.
Closing the score with Byrne and Mitski on “This Is A Life,” the score does what the other competitors for the Oscar this year fail to do: appreciate the beauty in culture and create a haunting chill down the listener’s spine that causes the audience to think further than the film’s plot and cinematography.
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608. Open 8 AM-10 PM Friday-Monday, 9 AM-9 PM Tuesday & 10 AM-6 PM Wednesday-Thursday
Ticket Prices: $109-$149
Extended off of the Lower Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood, Super Nintendo World illuminates in the sun and the night lights of Los Angeles. Opening on Friday, Feb. 17, the kinetic glow of Mario and Luigi’s universe outshines any attraction.
Elsie, Michelle, Kahlen, and I began our quest in anticipation, waiting for Jayden at a nearby Starbucks before filing into the backseat of Elsie’s mom’s SUV. By 9:40 a.m., we arrived at the intersection of Harry Potter, The Simpsons, Despicable Me and everything in between. With a cold brew in hand, we made our way down the citywalk into the park.
After a slight detour to Revenge of the Mummy, we neared the entrance of Super Nintendo World, until we were faced with a detrimental factor: The Virtual Line. The rush of newcomers to the park called for a virtual waitlist, an aspect that, evidently, none of the other guests had anticipated. Using the Universal Studios app, parties were allotted a time slot to enter the land.
In a panic, we frantically tried to book a reasonable time slot. The only available time (that we ultimately booked) was 8:40 to 9:00 p.m. Frustrated, we made our way to Jurassic World: The Ride, until a new time slot had appeared for our oddly numbered party. We immediately rushed out of the line, and at about 11:00 a.m., we had finally made it into Peach’s castle.
As we waddled through an iconic green pipe, we were greeted with an almost aggressive array of vibrancy, walking straight into a Nintendo video game. Everywhere I turned, I was faced with an entirely new plain of color and pure joy. Making our way through the park, we followed a list of priorities, starting at Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. We waited, surrounded by detailed set pieces resembling components of Mario Kart, ranging
from racing suits to an accurate and incredibly elaborate Bowser’s Castle.
After roughly an hour-long wait, we put on our Mario headsets, waiting while listening to an instructional video on the logistics of the ride. The attraction is an innovative and comprehensive combination of a traditional ride and virtual reality.
Riders, wearing VR goggles mounted onto the headsets, dive into the world of Mario Kart, hitting virtual cars and characters, collecting coins along the way as they battle against other guests. While Kahlen and Jayden racked up over 100 coins each in the same kart, I basked in my nostalgia, stacking up an astounding 72 coins.
After the 4D Rainbow Road extravaganza, we headed over to the Toadstool Café where we eventually agreed to receive a reservation card for the restaurant, prompting us to return between 6:45 and 7:00 p.m. Hesitantly, we left the land hungry and tired, but with a full heart.
We made our way back up to the Upper Lot, stopping by Cletus’ Chicken Shack in the The Simpsons rendition of Springfield, Illinois. Kahlen and I split some questionably hard chicken tenders while the others ordered their own takes on the classic chicken sandwich.
After lunch, we explored the rest of the Upper Lot, taking on Krustyland and the Wizarding World where Michelle took a long-awaited sip of fresh, cold butterbeer. After being suspended mid air when Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey broke down, we found ourselves in line for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, giggling about Jayden’s resemblance to Agnes and Elsie’s apparent lack of Despicable Me knowledge.
While waiting in line, we were able to reserve a spot at Super Nintendo World once again, this time from 4:15 to 5:15, about an hour and a half before our dinner reservation. After converting from human, to Minion, to
human once again on Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, we headed back to the Lower Lot to reunite with Yoshi and Toad once more.
Once we were back in the park, with an hour and a half left to spare, we played more mini games, stacked up more virtual coins, and explored the 1UP Factory. When it came time for our dinner reservation, we made our way into the Toad-themed interior. After Jayden’s indecisive back and forth between two types of soup, we ordered our food and were seated inside.
Upon entering the main dining area, cartoon wood styled seats and tables were surrounded by elaborate “windows” and Toad displays throughout the restaurant. All five of us ordered the Super Star Lemon Squash, a honey lemon soda decorated with popping boba and star jelly.
The citrus soda was a balanced pairing with the sweet popping boba and star jelly. Jayden and I both ordered the Mario burger, a classic hamburger served with bacon, mushrooms, American cheese, tomato, and lettuce served on a soft and buttery brioche bun with a side of truffle french fries that eluded a scent of truffle that almost seemed to sneak in.
Michelle ordered the Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs while Kahlen had the kid’s meal rendition of the dish. The classic marinara spaghetti was accompanied with classic meatballs, eluding a home-made atmosphere accompanied with the homey nature of the park. We all then shared the Mt. Beanpole cake, an adorable recreation of the iconic landmark of the game. Although a bit dry, the cake was the perfect conclusion to the meal. As the night came to a close, we rushed to go on Revenge of the Mummy and Transformers: The Ride-3D before making the trek home back to South Pasadena. Ultimately, the disordered day was the perfect occasion in the midst of the second semester, a plan that none of us had expected to make it out of the group chat.
STORY HANNA BAE PHOTOS MICHELLE SHADMONREINVENTING NINTENDO IN AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE , Super Nintendo World is a visual spectacle.
Prominent athletes prioritizing their mental wellbeing has brought new emphasis on personal health in the sports industry. Despite unprecedented success among both men and women, we often only see men’s accomplishments recognized in the news. The glaring disparity in female-to-male based research comes at the price of women’s health, revealing a dangerous flaw in the implementation of athletic routines. It is long overdue for female athletes to receive proper support specific to their health needs, separate from their male counterparts. Women are more likely to develop injury, disordered eating, and mental health issues, resulting in a drop in performance. These issues are manifested in the form of RED-S, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports. The main symptoms of RED-S are extreme weight loss, irregular to no periods, and stress fractures. What was once a passion can easily become a health hazard; female athletes are illequipped to identify toxic behavior.
In South Pasadena, coaches are beginning to address these issues. Michael Parkinson, a coach for cross country and track, thinks coaches and athletes have an important role to play.
“[Students should begin by] reading about it,” Coach Parkinson said.” It comes down to fueling enough, eating enough to have the energy necessary for our sport. That’s true for girls and boys, so we need to bring more awareness to that topic.”
Biomedical research is primarily based on men’s physiology because of the complicating effect women’s hormones may have on study results. This means treatments are based on male subjects, which can be detrimental when applied to women’s health. Coaches fail to acknowledge health issues commonly faced by women, meaning a disproportionate amount of female athletes are treated incorrectly and miss more time due to injury.
With little to no awareness or access to resources to support their own health needs, females experience immense pressure to perform. Many become hyperaware of their bodies, specifically body weight, in comparison to other athletes. The belief that relative
thinness equates to superior athleticism in sports like basketball, tennis, and running can lead young women down the path to disordered eating, which includes skipping meals, extreme dieting, and restrictive eating.
The reality is that, while body composition can contribute to athleticism, it is not the only factor in determining success. Conditions like amenorrhea can be developed due to hormonal imbalances, low body fat, and stress. Long term, having these conditions can lead to osteoporosis and problems with growth and development.
Along with physical pressure, women face stigma around their identity. Male athletes are recognized for their athleticism and strength. Rather than emphasizing their athletic achievements, meager coverage on female athletes focuses on traditional feminine values like appearance. This objectifies women to illegitimize their athleticism and appeal to a male audience.
In comparison to their male counterparts, female athletes get less recognition and pay under the belief that women’s sports are easier. With less representation, young girls in sports face a fear of being judged and low self-esteem especially regarding body image.
Many women struggle to initiate conversation regarding their menstrual health and other health issues due to embarrassment or fear that coaches will fail to understand.
“I would like to see more open dialogue between players and coaches about mental health, stress both unrelated and related to school, and physical stress, in order to hopefully create an understanding for the coaches about what their players experience but might not have an easy time expressing,” an anonymous girls’ basketball player said.
Ultimately, a better way to reduce inequality in sports is to require female athletes and their coaches to be educated on their health needs, similar to the concussion presentation all are required to attend. Women need to be included in important conversations regarding training and health. Continuing to raise awareness on women’s health needs will allow new generations of female athletes to train in a safe and healthy environment.
The SPHS swim team has begun splashing back into the pools for their 2022-2023 seasonal meets. Having started their pre-season training earlier into the school year, the team is entering this year with determination and stride. After successes last year from swimmers qualifying for CIF participation, such as senior Jordan Mullin and sophomore Ana Mancera-Rodriguez, this year’s season has started with confidence. The first meet took place on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Immaculate Heart; the team is prepared to debut their pre-season training that started last week. This year’s team has a set of four varsity captains, distributed to consist of two for the girls and two for the boys. The girls team is led by captains senior Jordan Mullin and sophomore Samantha Long, while the boys team is led by seniors Andrew Sakahara and Lewis Polansky On the junior varsity team, junior Lauren Kim and senior Christopher Liang help lead and prepare JV swimmers.
“Everyone comes into the pool with a positive attitude which makes me feel confident that we will have a good season,” Mullin said. “In previous years, I was an underclassman that looked up to my captains for encouragement, but now I have the privilege of being the person to uplift the team in any way I can.”
For a number of swimmers, the lack of time and aid for training outside of pre-season and during the season has become an apparent issue. Outside of participation on a club swim team, there are very few ways for some athletes to stay consistent and prepared before the start of the season.
“Pre-season has been alright for me, but it has been very physically taxing since I am not on a club team year round unlike some of the other swimmers,” junior Marlee Foster said. “The sets are hard and it’s overwhelming to balance practice everyday alongside the junior year workload.”
With the entrance of several new swimmers to the team, the dynamic of fresh talent has drastically impacted the team’s performance. This year’s 47-person swim team
has been working to challenge the number of swimmers having gone down this year compared to last year.
“New swimmers are going to swim every year, and you get new people and you just don’t know how they’re going to do,” Long said. “It’s going to be exciting to see how all of the meets will play out with new swimmers participating this year.”
As the season starts, the coaches and captains continue to aid the team in preparing for their individual events.
“We have a lot of new swimmers that are showing great potential as we go into the season,” senior Andrew Sakahara said. “Our coaches and captains are working hard to get the team into shape, and as always, we’re looking forward to our meet against Temple City which usually decides our placement in the league.”
The SPHS Swim Team will be racing against St. Francis High School and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Although most high schools have a rivalry, the competition between South Pasadena High School and San Marino High School goes deeper then average opposition. This infamous rivalry between the two school dates back almost a century. This rivalry has culminated into a deep-burning hatred towards each other.
In 1907, the South Pasadena Unified School District was formed, just a year after SPHS was founded. At that time, the city of San Marino did not have their own high school or middle school. About 13 years after SPUSD was created, San Marino decided to merge with SPHS, creating the South Pasadena-San Marino High School. Since students in San Marino lived farther away from South Pasadena, they traveled via the Red Cars on Huntington Drive.
The relationship between the two cities strengthened, but that only lasted for about 30 years. In 1952, San Marino decided to split from SPHS, thus creating South Pasadena High School. San Marino then formed its own high school, San Marino High School. SMHS broke off from SPHS because of unagreeable construction bonds in the city of South Pasadena. The first graduating class of SMHS was the class of 1956. This separation sparked the rivalry since San Marino was the one who decided to join South Pasadena High School. That resentment and hatred from both schools continues today. Some students see the rivalry as a mere dislike for one another, but others take it more seriously.
SPHS Alum, Sharine Xuan, said, “[The rivalry between SPHS and SMHS] gives the athletes [of each school] an extra shot of team spirit and brings the school together. It [gave] the student body [from each school] something to think about on boring Saturday afternoons and [the rivalry] is an excellent source of amusement…We [SPHS
and SMHS] are actually a perfect match for each other. [But] I have always regarded [the] school rivalry as silly, immature, and for people who have nothing better to think about. ”
The first football game between the Tigers and the Titans was played in 1955. The Titans came out clean with a 27-0 victory. There was a turnout of about 6,000 people in the crowd and San Marino went on to have an undefeated season of football that year. These two teams vie for The Plaque, which carries the scores of all the football games played between both schools, and the Crowley Cup. This cup was established in 2010 in honor of Paul Crowley, a fan of both schools who graduated South Pasadena-San Marino High School in 1945. Crowley came to watch every game from 1955 to 2010, an uninterrupted streak of 58 games in total.
Students of both schools generally excel academically and athletically and are both from the same social class. Although the two schools are similar, and could seem like a perfect match for each other, students still have a rivalry with the other high school.
Traditional pranks between the two high schools have dated back since the late 1990s, such as South Pasadena High School spray painting San Marino High School’s football field logo in 2000 and San Marino High School returning the favor by dyeing the South Pasadena High School pool with red dye. Cheerleaders of SMHS also made posters containing vulgar language about SPHS in Oct. of 2016 for a football game.
Students of South Pasadena High School have an all-consuming hatred for San Marino High School. The tension between these two schools is a longstanding tradition that is not expected to be resolved any time soon.
Football and basketball are two of the main sports rivalries between SPHS and SMHS that have remained integral in both schools’ histories. The two high schools face off throughout the year in drawing large crowds to their football and basketball match-ups.
“For the school, and players, and the program, it’s a pride thing. It’s something they could talk about for the rest of their lives, saying that we didn’t lose… The energy is high, the focus is there, the intensity is there, and I think everyone wants to win on both sides of the ball. It can get very intense,” SPHS football coach Jeff Chi said.
Unlike most other sports, football only has one opportunity to defeat SMHS every year, resulting in a culmination of pressure on both sides. Athletes from both schools train in preparation for their respective seasons, but the SMHS vs. SPHS games reserve a special place for both programs.
Students at SPHS prepare for the occassion by decking out in orange and black for the school’s annual Color Day. The SPHS vs. SMHS football game has become a schoolwide tradition for all individuals on campus, ranging from staff, students, and athletes. From department-specific costumes to students that coordinate group outfits, Color Day signals the beginning of the day for the SPHS vs. SMHS game.
Supporters of the Titans and the Tigers fill the stands, with both schools’ cheer squad adding another layer of raucous, competitive shouting from the sidelines. On both ends of the field, high expectations are raised about bringing the victory home. This past season, however, the Tigers fell short to the Titans 23-21.
Last season, the SPHS boys basketball defeated San Marino at home and away, kicking the Titans away from automatically making the playoffs.Both teams were tied for third place in their league when they played one
another. These crucial games decided which team would have an automatic bid to the playoffs.
“At the away game a few weeks ago the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. As a coach, I enjoy that kind of atmosphere because it’s the chance to see how your players do under pressure. This is the first year we beat them there and we beat them here. So it was a really good rivalry this year,” SPHS Boys Basketball coach Ernest Baskerville said.
The SPHS vs SMHS are one of the highlights of each student athletes’ high school career. Despite a strong roster in SPHS basketball, multiple injuries led to a close defeat even after making the playoffs.
Whether the second game is home or away can decide if the teams flounder or thrive. Leering posters declaring victory at both homecourts are a common sight. While the rivalry games hold the highest stakes in a season for either team, the opposition remains respectful, despite high tension and competitiveness.
“I enjoy [the rivalry]. They boo our team, they boo me. When we play them [on their court] they play the Star Wars [Imperial March] theme. When they come here, we play the theme from Halloween. It is a rivalry, but it is a respectful rivalry. We have a long history of trying to [knock] each other [out] the playoffs, [every year for each sport].” Baskerville said.
Pride or not, the longstanding rivalry has stood the test of time. The rivalry is expanded to all SPHS sports, not just football or basketball. No matter the sport, SPHS versus SMHS games remain an obligatory spectacle for supporters of the Tigers and Titans.
The next season will bring elevated pressures for football to succeed and a maintained expectation for the Tigers to show the Titans that if only one team can win, SPHS will dominate.
a longstanding
each other.
The two high schools have been at odds ever since 1952, when SMHS broke away from SPHS. Recent games between the schools has proven the tension still exists.
South Pasadena High School’s athletic program has continued to train student-athletes for over 100 years, many of whom take their sports beyond high school.
SPHS alumni and Hall of Fame member, Michael Parkinson, is one of the athletes to go through SPUSD schools. Born in South Pasadena, he attended SPHS, where he competed in cross country and distance track and field.
During his time at SPHS, Parkinson set a 43-year long record in the mile race and competed in CIF championships multiple times. Once, the team placed fourth in the state behind San Marino and La Canada.
“We were [constantly] in third place to La Canada and San Marino… I suppose being on the edge, we were [always] trying to strive to [beat them],” Parkinson said.
at the high school and collegiate level. Not only was she an impressive athlete, Davis has thrived in her career as a businesswoman and entrepreneur with her fund-raising company Dimensions, which she has been running for the past five years.
Davis moved to South Pasadena with her family in middle school and later attended SPHS, where she quickly rose to prominence in track.
CIF sports had only recently been available for women to compete in at the time, and Davis entered the CIF league six years after Title IX had been passed.
“I was able to come in to the era of IX and that was into effect… and I was part of that at South Pas. So I think not only being an 800 runner but I was a woman…, and was able to be part of that movement at the time,” Davis said. In 1981, Davis held every single record from the 100 to the 800. To this day she holds the record for the 880 yard race, about 804 meters with a time of 2.12.7, two seconds faster than the current 800 meter record.
After his high school graduation, he competed at UCLA, a D1 track program. After advancing past Nationals in USATF for the mile junior year, he qualified for the Olympic trials in Los Angeles, but did not advance.
Parkinson suffered a major setback when he tore his plantar fasciitis during his senior year at UCLA. As he was recovering, he was plagued by further injuries and anemia. After his college graduation he decided to stop running competitively and pursued a career in physical therapy. He eventually moved back to South Pasadena and completed a full circle at SPHS, where he is the current cross country and long distance track coach.
“Even in college, I came back and ran with all the guys and helped with the summer program. Carrying on the tradition and trying to build up [from] being third all the time… [to league champs],” Parkinson said Sally Davis, another graduate of SPHS’s athletic program and hall of fame inductee, also found success in her sport
By the end of her time in high school, Davis accumulated a multitude of awards, such as the Weldon Award and Rio Hondo League champion for every event up to the 800. After high school, she attended Drake, a D1 track and field program with a strong speech communications department.
After graduating, Davis worked in higher education. Following time spent at large corporations Cummins Inc. and Eli Lilly, she decided to switch back into nonprofit work. She started her now thriving fundraising business, Dimensions, five years ago.
“I fundraise for not-for-profits and some for-profits, but if they’re for-profits they’re for-profits with a really definite meaning…I do what I love and so it allowed me, kind of like track, just to focus. I just focus on what I do really well,” Davis said.
STORY ISU PARK
ILLUSTRATION SHIN-HYE (RACHEL) CHOI
SPHS Track and Field competed at the Covina 5 Way Meet against Covina, Walnut, Glendora, St. Lucy’s, and Damien on Saturday, February 18. The Tigers gave an exceptional performance and were able to make personal records and individually place within the top 10 in countless events.
The team anticipated a successful meet, with an arsenal of record breaking athletes that have carried SPHS to victory in several past meets. The Varsity team certainly accomplished their goals and set new standards for future competitions.
Junior and Varsity member Mia Holden excelled in her events, placing first in both the 100m dash and 200m run with times of 12.58 and 25.98, respectively. Varsity Boys’ placed fourth in the 100m dash by junior Zeke Gavlak, sixteenth by junior Gavin Faulmino, and third in the 200m run by sophomore Logan Vargas. Gavlak also placed sixth in the 200m run and Faulmino placed twelfth.
Vargas placed second in the Varsity Boys’ 400m run with a time of 53.06, while senior Jeff Chen placed fifth in the same event at 54.86.
Varsity Girls’ dominated the 1600m run and 3200m run, with sophomore Abigail Errignton in first place. Errington’s times were an outstanding 5:21.93 and 11:56.68, respectively. The Girls’ team did well overall in the 1600m run; sophomore Sofia Humphrey placed fourth, senior Leo Gonzalez Pacheco at fifth, and sophomore Chloe Koo at sixth.
In the 3200m run, Gonzales Pacheco placed second, and Humphrey placed third. The Varsity Boys’ 1600m had senior Jack Ishibashi in tenth and junior Jarvis KikekawaFraser in eleventh. Their 3200m run had Kikekawa-Fraser in fourth, sophomore Kallean Beebe Read in fifth, and sophomore Noah Aldana in sixth.
Varsity Boys’ performed exceptionally in the 800m run, where junior Keeran Murray placed first with a time of 1:59.69. Junior Owen Correll placed fourth, senior Jason Baek placed fifth, and senior Ian McLendon placed sixth in this event. As for Varsity Girls’, sophomore Amelie Geoffron placed third in the 800m run, with sophomore Melanie Romo and senior Tyra Williams following behind at sixth and seventh. The boys also placed first in the Triple Jump, with Zeke Gavlak at 12.19m.
Senior Brooke Toshima won second place in the Varsity Girls’ High Jump at 1.42m, and junior Avery Taylor also placed second in her event, the 100m hurdles event, with a time of 17.96.
The Frosh/Soph team had an excellent race day as well, setting the stage for the coming years of SPHS Track and Field. Frosh/Soph Girls’ placed first in the
4x100m relay event, at 51.58, while the Boys’ placed second at 47.51.
Additionally, freshman Raden Estridge placed first for Frosh/Soph Girls’ in the 1600m run with a time of 5:52.61. Sophomore Perri Koo also placed first for Frosh/Soph Girls’ in the 400m run at 1:03.39, and freshman Anna Kowal placed second at 1:04.79. Sophomore Kezia Gavlak placed first for the Frosh/Soph Girls’ 100m run at 13.46, and Naya Holden placed second at 13.58.
Lastly, Frosh/Soph Boys’ won first place in the 110m hurdles by sophomore Peter Dickinson, while sophomore David Eisenberg won third.
This meet was a massive win for the SPHS Track and Field team, and South Pasadena can look forward to competing against Alhambra at North Hollywood High School on Thursday, February 23.
