April 2016

TJTODAY THE MAGAZINE

6560 BRADDOCK RD. ALEXANDRIA, VA 22312

F A M I LY

E D U C A T I O N

APRIL 29, 2016 || VOL 1 ISSUE 7 || www.tjtoday.org

THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FOR SCIENCE AND TECH || ALEXANDRIA, VA

American 14

E N V I R O N M E N T AROUND THE WORLD

International opinion on 2016 election

24

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Pros and cons of current voting system

28

NOTEWORTHY NOVELS

Jefferson students discuss their favorites

IN-DEPTH || 6

to be an

POLITICAL INFLUENCES

M E D I A

CONTENTS 4 Virginia Science and Engineering Fair 5 Chess team IN-DEPTH 6 COVER STORY Political influences 12 Student poets 14 International perspective on politics SCI-AND-TECH 16 Integrity in scientific research 18 Cell phones SPORTS 20 Spring Track 22 Lacrosse, Crew OPINION 24 EDITORIAL Number 1: Good and the bad 26 Twitter poll debrief ENTERTAINMENT 28 TJ Drama’s new musical WHAT I'VE LEARNED 32 Connie Chow

NewsMAKERS

NEWS

NEWS

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Anjali Khanna, Esther Kim TEAM LEADERS Ankit Agrawal, Kate Deng, Katherine Du, Adithi Ramakrishnan, Uzma Rentia DESIGN EDITOR Kate Deng BROADCAST EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Alexa Nguonly BUSINESS MANAGER Patrick Toulme STAFF REPORTERS Mei Baek, Neha Bhargava, Jiny Cho, Natalie Homnyom, Katherine Hughes, Albert Jang, Angel Kim, Anupama Jayaraman, Sruthi Jayaraman, Sabria Kazmi, Shehar Kachru, Minna Kuriakose, Madeline Old, Avni Singh, Nikita Sivakumar, Angie Sohn, Sammy Tavasolli, Bayliss Wagner, Millan Welman, Anna Zhang, Christine Zhao ADVISER Erinn Harris

tjTODAY is the official newsmagazine of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology published by the journalism staff.

The staff is deeply committed to a code of journalistic ethics that demands the exercise of accuracy, good judgment and impartiality.

The content of tjTODAY is determined by the editorial board.

Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

Photo courtesy of Omar Saracevic

Photo courtesy of Margaret Rogers

Photo courtesy of Anshu Sharma

NEWS

3

APRIL 29, 2016 WHY DID YOU APPLY TO PARTICIPATE WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORIN THE JUNIOR 7 SUMMIT? WARD TO ON YOUR TRIP? BACKSTORY I applied because I love being involved in I am looking forward to seeing a part of The United States (U.S.)-Japan Council foreign affairs and working with students Japan I have never seen before, the Ise chose senior Omar Saracevic as one from other countries.

Peninsula, which I heard is very beautiful. of the four U.S. delegates to the 2016 I am also looking forward to discussing Junior 7 Summit in Mie, Japan. He and HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FOUND with other delegates from G7 Nations students from other G7 nations will OUT THAT YOU WERE SELECTED TO on important issues that plague us all. I discuss important issues regarding the SERVE AS A U.S. DELEGATE? think that I am most looking forward to theme: The Planet for the Next GenWhen I found out that I was one of four visiting with the Prime Minister of Japan, eration – Environment and Sustainable delegates to represent the U.S., I knew Shinzo Abe, and presenting to him the Society. Saracevic will attend the summit that I would need to work hard to preswork that will be performed in the week from April 19 -29 and will present the ent my views as well as those of the U.S. leading up to his visit. outcomes of the discussion to the prime when discussing worldwide issues. minister of Japan.

Anupama Jayaraman || STAFF REPORTER

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU HEARD THAT YOU WERE BACKSTORY RECEIVING THE AWARD? Junior Kristen Myers received a I was really surprised because I Student Peace Award of Fairfax didn’t really know what it was. But County on March 13. The award I was definitely really happy. I went recognizes juniors and seniors who home and told my parents and we promote peace, such as Myers’ work went out to celebrate. with the Honor Council at Jefferson.

She is one of seven of the Honor HOW DOES THE HONOR COUNCIL Council’s founders, which works HELP WITH IMPLEMENTING with students who commit Honor RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AT TJ? Code infractions using restorative For all of our academic integrity justice. related cases, we use the restorative Angel Kim || STAFF REPORTER

Avni Singh || STAFF REPORTER

BACKSTORY Senior Anshu Sharma recently won an essay competition on Thornton Wilder’s novel “Ides of March.”

The competition was for students in Advanced Placement (AP) Latin who are reading the writings of Julius Caesar. Students answered three questions in their essays, and supported their theses with quotes from the novel.

justice process, and additionally, we do some outreach events within the school to promote academic integrity and to inform the student body about what restorative justice is.

CAN YOU GIVE AN EXPLANATION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE? Restorative justice focuses on the relationships harmed by the incident and how all parties can move forward peacefully in their communities.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU PARTICIPATE? WON? Our Latin teacher did not have an I felt surprised, then very grateful. official project for third quarter, I was very proud of my essay but offered to add a project grade when I completed it and finished for us if we did this essay, the CAV all the formatting, but I was English essay, or the CAV Latin concerned that my points in my essay. I was interested in having body paragraphs or my conclusion another assignment factored in to wouldn’t seem to connect to my help my grade, plus I liked reading thesis, or that I didn’t have enough novels, so I decided to try it out. evidence. I was very glad to see the results and see it worked out.

4 NEWS Renovation Update

ON THE RADAR:

New paving will begin on the roadway areas near the old bus route and staff parking.

Photo courtesy of Shawn Frank

Students explore their passion for science and engineering Natalie Homnyom || STAFF WRITER

W

ith 28 participants and 18 award winners, Jefferson made an impression at the annual Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair on April 9. Sponsored by the Va. Military Institute (VMI), the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) has been providing a platform for students to showcase their scientific endeavors since 1950.

Ranging from biomedical and health sciences to robotics and intelligent machines, the 28 Jefferson participants’ research delved into a wide range of categories reflecting their interests.

Sophomores Mihir Patel, Ethan Wu and Adam Yee won an organizational award for their work, a mobile application to aid wound care after being inspired by their mentor.

“I overheard Dr. Harmon complaining about how his patients had to frequently travel to his clinic, even though they should be immobilized,” Yee said. “Most people nowadays will talk about diagnosing or finding cures for cancer. What I like about this subject is that it’s rarely brought up.”

Other students such as senior Jake Cui and freshman Siona Prasad won first place in biochemistry and earth and environmental sciences, respectively.

Sophomores Sajana Challa and Niharika

Vattikonda earned third place, exploring the effects of B12 on the associative learning rate of planaria, a flatworm. “[In the future,] we [want to] use more complicated vertebrates and different stimuli to test their problem solving ability and see if there is any relationship associated with aging and other neurodegenerative disorders,” Challa said.

However, apart from the prizes and competition, the students attending the state science fair at VMI had the opportunity to explore the campus and meet judges with vast experience in their academic fields.

“A lot of the judges are professionals in their field, and are probably the top in their field too,” Wu said.

In addition, with hundreds of participants, the competitors also had a chance to interact with other likeminded teens from different walks of life.

“Being there was actually really fun,” Challa said. “There were so many people there from so many different parts of Virginia. The girl next to us had been growing oysters since she was seven, and I don’t think I’ll know anyone else who does that.”

GRAPHIC // Anjali Khanna DESIGN // Katherine Du

Introducing

Design and Construction is working to remove construction vehicles from the senior and church parking lots this month.

Ensure your tag is on the windshield to avoid getting ticketed.

tjTODAY MOBILE APP

available soon for Apple and Android

Construction near the cafeteria doors has already begun, and will continue this month.

STATE SCIENCE FAIR:

5

NEWS

APRIL 29, 2016

CHESS TEAM COMPETES IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jefferson ranks 13th in K-12 Championship, 18th in K-12 Under 1600 and fourth in Blitz K-12 Katherine Du || TEAM LEADER

C

hess isn’t just about kings, queens, or rooks. When an experienced player places a piece on the blackand-white checkerboard, implemented within their move is strategy, patience and even creativity. In fact, according to previous studies on the effect of chess on academic ability compiled by ChessBase on March 31, the greatest measurable benefits in chess are in mathematics, cognitive ability and reading.

On April 1-3, Jefferson’s chess team participated in the U.S. Chess Federation’s National High School Championship in Atlanta, placing 13th as a team out of 42 total schools.

“Overall we did quite amazing as a team and very well in Under 1600. Minwu [Kim] represented TJ very well in the unrated section as well,” senior Joie Wang, co-captain of Chess Club, said. “For the championship, we did about our strength level, but we could’ve done a bit better.”

Photo courtesy of Wei Feng Jefferson’s chess team attended the 2016 National High School Championship from April 1-3, finishing with a total team score of 16.

in the main event.

Jefferson competed in the K-12 “My favorite moment in the competition Championship, K-12 Under 1600, K-12 was hearing my opponents say, ‘I resign,’” Under 1200, K-12 Unrated and Blitz K-12 Naidich said. “It sounds pretty cruel, but categories. The chess games were limited winning games in chess is very satisfying. I to four hours. also enjoyed hanging out with the team.”

“One game I played nearly three hours Team members were able to bond when with a higher rated [opponent]. I struggled they were not competing by comparing three games against a higher rated, but plays and participating in group activities after nearly two-and-a-half hours [in this such as mafia. game], I finally got an advantage,” Wang “My favorite moment was going back to said. “Playing a quality game where no the hotel rooms after a challenging match one made an obvious mistake was tiring and just talking and hanging around with yet satisfying.” the other team members,” Gan said. “It During the championship, senior really helped me just unwind and prepare Perry Feng, juniors Isuru Attanagoda for the next match.” and Ben Lyons, freshman Camden To prepare for the tournament, the Wiseman and Wang attended both the players reviewed chess tactics, studied blitz and the main event. Junior Aaryan possible openings that they could execute Balu, sophomore Christina Scheible and freshmen Eric Gan, Minwu Kim, Pranav in games and competed in online chess. In Karthik and Rachel Naidich participated addition, students challenged each other at

Chess Club, an eighth period club held in Friday B blocks.

“During chess club we play a variation of chess, called bughouse, which is more of a teamwork game,” Wang said. “I don’t think it’s all that useful in a chess game, but it’s enjoyable.”

Although chess shares similar characteristics with other sports, including its competitiveness and organized divisions, it also differs from many athletic sports since it demands the player to demonstrate creativity in his or her strategy in order to win.

“I think that chess is unique because it’s very mentally and psychologically challenging in comparison to many other sports and activities,” Naidich said.

“Chess players have to be mentally and physically healthy in order to perform at their best.”

IN-DEPTH

VOTE

VOTE their

How an individual’s political vote and voice is influenced by environmental factors, including viewpoints of family and media outlets Katherine Du and Uzma Rentia || TEAM LEADERS

T

he 2016 Presidential Election has defied the odds in more ways than one, from a real estate mogul leading the Republican party to the surprising popularity of a man who, for most of his life, was written off as a socialist. When candidates were just announcing their intentions to run in early 2015, most of the American public had never imagined that the race would become so interesting.

But how did it happen? Who or what has led America to look in the far corners of their party and alter the status quo?

While many would prefer to believe that they are in control of their own thoughts, the fact remains that in the case of nature versus nurture, nurture often triumphs.

The environment around individuals, from family and friends to their level of education, shapes their particular view of the world. For students, family is a major influence in their political stance. In many instances, the majority of the children’s exposure to politics comes from their parents, who may or may not have impartial views.

“In elections when I was little I’d color in maps with which party won and I was always told, ‘We want blue,’” junior Emma Cuddy said. “I agree with my parents, but there’s no denying they shaped my political views. Furthermore, they can eloquently defend their opinions, which gives them credibility.”

In a survey of 100 Jefferson students, 66.3 percent of responses indicated that family played a role in determining their

IN-DEPTH

7

APRIL 29, 2016

current political perspective, and 60.7 percent designated that parents’ political views had an impact on their opinions.

“They always did a good job of making sure I thought through things by myself,” senior Jasper Treakle said. “I remember saying I supported John Kerry for president one time and my dad asked me why. ‘Because you like him!’ I responded.

Then I spent the next five minutes getting lectured on why I shouldn’t like a candidate, or any person or concept for that matter, just because my dad did. Still, growing up in a household with more liberal views, I was definitely shaped to think along those lines and often agree with my parent’s political views because of that.”

Opinions between parents and their children are related, because they share the same home environment and face the same hardships. Therefore, both often support candidates that have a similar

“[My parents and I] agree on the fact that the democratic candidates are stronger and more likely to take office, but tend to differ in views on the underlyingprinciples of each party.”

-- sophomore Leila Mabudian mindset and will act to make the reforms they would like to see.

“If they are suffering through a problem, then it affects me as well thus I cannot help but side with the one who provides the solutions,” sophomore Kshamata Neupane said.

However, some students also believe

that children’s opinions are not solely based off the views of their parents.

“They are older and more experienced so I like listening to their opinions on politics, especially those on Donald Trump, but I tend to come to my own conclusions and like to do my own research so our discussions usually only strengthen my beliefs,” freshman Natasha Rao said.

Other students are partially swayed by their family members, but ultimately decide their stance on specific issues by themselves.

“I agree with most of the basic conservative principles, but the Democratic candidates are more appealing. However, my parents agree with more liberal views than I tend to agree with,” sophomore Leila Mabudian said. “So, we agree on the fact that the Democratic candidates are stronger and more likely to take office, but tend to differ in views on the underlying principles of each party.”

As demonstrated by the divide in the support for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the Democratic election, the generation gap is one of the overarching themes of this election cycle. While Sanders generally appeals to younger Democrats, older and more experienced voters tend to vote for Clinton.

In fact, when The Washington Post conducted a recent survey questioning women about which Democratic candidate they supported as well as their life experiences, it was found that the older the women and more experience they had in their career, the more likely they were to support Clinton.

“I wouldn’t say [my views are] extremely different, but I would like to think that I’m young and naïve while my parents are experienced,” sophomore Frank Tian said.

While some agree or compromise with their parents on political issues, there are some that lie on the opposite DESIGN // Katherine Du

8 IN-DEPTH end of the spectrum. Several students hold unique viewpoints about political parties and candidates in the upcoming election, as sometimes their environment and experiences differ greatly from their family members.

“Me and my parents are of different generations, causing the differing of views or opinions and positions on politics. Also, they grew up in Algeria, while I did in the U.S.,” sophomore Ayman Slamani said.

However, several news outlets have been regarded as biased, although they do not outright support one candidate over another.

For instance, popular media sources such as the New York Times have been accused of generating too much positive coverage of Clinton while doing the opposite for Sanders.

Friends and financial situation also play a role in student’s political tendencies, in photos courtesy of Creative Commons via Flickr which 55.1 percent and 37.1 percent On the other hand, the Pew of Jefferson students, respectively, Research Center estimates that 40 voted that the two factors have percent of “The Daily Show” viewers influenced their political views. are between 18 to 29 years of age, the youngest of any outlet, and such When presented with conflicting programs tend to view Sanders in a information, people tend to look to more positive light. their support system to help guide their decisions.

In addition, media coverage has become a key source of information for many students interested in politics, as 66.3 percent of Jefferson students indicated that media sources help them decide their political views.

In a 2016 study published by Vox, Crimson Hexagon, a company specializing in social media analytics, found that Clinton received the greatest negative news coverage since January 2015.

Filtering through more than 170,000 posts by media outlets such as the

Washington Post, Fox News, the Huffington Post, Politico and CNN, they used an “auto-sentiment” instrument to sort stories based on positive or negative language. The study indicates that the widespread influence of social media might not offer impartial views on politics, especially for students who readily use technology in their daily lives.

In addition to the influence of media, 65.2 percent of Jefferson students believe that school or level of education provides instruction that allows them to make more knowledgeable decisions when debating over which political parties or candidates to choose.

Students hope that their increased awareness would allow them to make the best decision when they vote in future elections.

“I feel like it hasn’t necessarily affected my views, but it has just made me more aware of the difference in ideologies of specific party policies which lets me make a more informed choice about my views,” senior Shirley Zhan said.

HOW TO BECOME PRESIDENT PRESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

Natural born citizen

To earn the nomination, candidates must win a certain number of delegates The National Conventions of each party determine how many delegates to give to each state, the two main factors are population and party loyalty

Voters cast secret ballots, similar to the general election process. Open primaries allow registered voters to vote for any candidate, regardless of political affiliation; closed primaries do not

2,383

Resident of the United States for at least 14 years

Primaries and Caucuses

1,237

35 years old

Finding a Candidate

Primary

Caucus Voters may openly show support for one candidate. Voting is done by raising hands or dividing into groups

Winner -Take -All Under Democratic delegate rules, delegates are rewarded proportionally, with a threshold of 15 percent.

Under certain Republican delegate rules, certain states have a winner-take-all system

IN-DEPTH

9

APRIL 29, 2016

POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON BERNIE SANDERS: He wants to fix the campaign finance system, and he wants to return integrity to politics -- something really important to me. He also participated in the March on Washington with Martin Luther King, Jr. many years ago, which means he is sincere about what he preaches, unlike Hillary Clinton, who was a volunteer for a Republican campaign at the same time.

- sophomore Varun Saraswathula

Political Parties of Past Presidents

ON HILLARY CLINTON: She is the most qualified of all of the candidates, does not make promises she can’t keep and is the most fit to handle Congress and the duties of being President.

- sophomore Maya Parker

Federalist Whig Democratic-Republican Democrat Republican 05

10

15

20

ON JOHN KASICH: In this time of irreverence, mud-slinging, and anger, Governor Kasich is the only trustworthy candidate with a consistently conservative, practical and humanitarian message. He is intelligent, experienced and strong. He brings to this time of discord a positive message for America.

- senior Dhruv Gupta

Information from The Washington Post

NationalConventions Each party hold a gathering to finalize the nominee, the candidate then chooses a running mate

General Election

VOTE

VOTE

Candidates campaign across the country gaining support On the Tuesday right after the first Monday of November, voters cast their ballot for any presidential candidate, regardless of party loyalty

Electoral College The candidate gets 270 electoral votes wins the election. An elector that does not vote for the candidate they are pledged for is called a faithless elector. However, this is an uncommon occurrence and has never changed the outcome of an election INFOGRAPHIC // Uzma Rentia and Ankit Agrawal DESIGN // Katherine Du

ADS

PUBLICATIONSwww.yearbookordercenter.com PACKAGES ARE STILL ON SALE Order #13621 Don’t miss out on the memories.

325 copies left.

892 students left to buy.

Do the math.

ADS

11

APRIL 29, 2016

Exceptional Tutoring and Test Prep by Tripathi Learning & Enrichment Center, 1360 Beverly Rd, Ste 100, McLean, VA

Small Group & One to One Help for Test Prep Academic Enrichment The New, SAT, SAT II, PSAT, ACT TJ Admission Test

The new SAT is not difficult; it is different!

We can help you choose between SAT & ACT & help you ace either one!

Subject Tutoring

Algebra-Calculus, Statistics, Chem., etc.

If you want to get top scores on SAT/ACT, attend top colleges, raise your grades in Math/Stat/Chem, etc. or need mentoring for Intel STS, Call us today.

Congratulations to all Intel STS semi finalists and the finalist, including A.M., who conducted his research under Dr. Tripathi’s guidance and became a semi finalist.

“Your help was a Game Changer!” (S.M., a TJ’2015 parent) Dr. Tripathi received a PhD from Stanford. He has been teaching since 1983.

(703) 893-6222 learn@tripathi.com www.Optimalsatprep.com google.com/+tripathilearningenrichmentcentermclean/about facebook.com/tripathilearningandenrichmentcenter

Juniors - Let your Senior Year be relaxed!

"Crafting Your College Application" Summer Camp Choose from: August 1st ʹ 5th August 8th ʹ 12th August 15th ʹ 19th August 22nd ʹ 26th August 29th ʹ September 2nd For more information: Website: www.nancylevonian.com E-mail: nancy.a.levonian@gmail.com Call: (703) 426-1962 Brought to you by >ŝǀĞƐ hŶĚĞƌ ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƚŝŽŶ

Monday ʹ Friday, all day; see website &Žƌ ƌŝƐŝŶŐ ƐĞŶŝŽƌƐ͗ Finish the main part of your applications and some school-specific supplemental essays over one week in the summer, and let your senior year be anxiety-free! We cover: the character traits colleges look for; your "message" about your unique identity and extra-curricular activities; and writing essays that will intrigue the reader.

12 IN-DEPTH

EDUCATION V. POLITICS TODAY Where do candidates draw the line on education?

Jiny Cho || STAFF WRITER

I

n the upcoming 2016 presidential election, candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have expressed their individual stances on education in the U.S. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s main views revolve around the ideas that high-quality education is for everyone no matter where they live, and that teachers are integral to the students’ success.

“We have to do things differently, but it should all be driven by the same commitment to try to make sure that we educate every child,” Clinton said in one of her public statements regarding education. “Every child should have the same opportunity, and so I think we’ve got to get back to basics, and we have got to look to teachers to lead the way on that.”

As for the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, he fights for the equality of education for all and the reduction

of ever-growing college tuition in the country.

“If we were to reduce the president’s proposed increase in military spending by less than half and instead invest that money in educational opportunities for today’s college students, we could cut tuition by 55 percent,” Sanders said in one of his public statements. “So I challenge all of you; ask yourselves, where should our priorities lie?”

On the Republican side, Texas senator Ted Cruz believes that education should begin closer to home so that families would have more control of their schools, not the entire country following the same policies laid out by the Department of Education.

“If [curriculum is controlled] at the local level, you can go to the [local] school board meeting, and if the curriculum being taught to your kids doesn’t make sense, you can

speak out and say, ‘This isn’t right,’” Cruz mentioned in one of his public statements about education. “Every one of us should have control over what’s being taught to our kids.”

Businessman Donald Trump is focused on producing more graduating students each year with more skilled teachers to teach them, factors which all result in the United States’ higher international ranking and presence in education.

“Our schools aren’t safe,” Trump said in a public statement. “On top of that, our kids aren’t learning. Too many are dropping out of school and into the street life—and too many of those who do graduate are getting diplomas that have been devalued into ‘certificates of attendance’ by a dumbed-down curriculum that asks little of teachers and less of students.

Schools are crime-ridden, and they don’t teach.”

IN-DEPTH

13

APRIL 29, 2016

FOR BETTER OR VERSE

April marks the time of year for student poets to shine

ANGIE SOHN || STAFF WRITER

P

oetry, a seemingly niche interest, often goes overlooked at STEM schools. However, events such as the Scholastic Writing Awards and Poetry Out Loud are opportunities for student poets to pursue their interests. Some students at Jefferson have thrived in utilizing poetry as an effective tool of expression.

“I think that poetry is really something that everyone can enjoy and you really just have to find your way with it,” junior Zara Batalvi said. “Poetry is a way of expressing your ideas. It’s really up to you.”

Student poets believe that not only are there endless possibilities for finding a poem that fits one’s taste, the topics of poetry can also be versatile. The flexibility of poetry allows the reader to connect many ideas that span across different fields of interest.

“I had a college essay that asked me to write about three of my academic interests, and I was able to use the poem ‘Planetarium’ and talk about astronomy, history, and English,” senior Ellie O’Reily said. “So it was kind of fun to integrate all of these things that I enjoy into one thing.”

Aside from reading and writing poetry, O’Reilly also recites poems, having participated in Poetry Out Loud for all four years of her high school tenure. Events such as Poetry Out Loud attract those who already have an interest for spoken word and

If the scientists and engineers of our generation were to create technologies that can collect more energy from renewable energy sources at a cheaper price, it would make sense to use renewable energy from an environmental, economic, and political standpoint.

- senior Abha Agrawal

1.

FOSSIL FUELS

2.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

3.

poetry, and expose individuals who are not as familiar to try out something new, and perhaps realize a new side of poetry that they have not seen before. For some, poetry is an outlet for their thoughts that may otherwise be difficult to express. From the most complicated feelings to the mundane moments of life, it conveys a wide breadth of sentiments.

“I think poetry gives you the opportunity to talk about your emotions in a way that is difficult to put into straight language,” junior Richa Gupta said. “You can be more abstract. A lot of times we feel things but we don’t know the words to put them in, but we can compare them to something, like a tree growing out in the middle of a forest of skyscrapers, or the sound of a breath in complete silence.”

Student poets also hope for events such as National Poetry Month to remind the public that there are a multitude of poems available out there, waiting to be discovered and read.

“It’s [poetry] not that inaccessible,” O’Reily said.

“The whole reason I love poetry, is because there’s so many poems that you can just pick up and read and realize you love it.”

PROTECT OUR

PLANET

We focused on taking local action by participating in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Grasses for the Masses program.

- senior Virginia Pan

Shedding light on significant environmental issues, in honor of Earth Day I think people should put more effort into being

DESTRUCTION OF NATURALECOSYSTEMS

aware of the environmental effects of the factories and production centers in their local areas and then call for changes to be made via their local legislatures.

- junior Nick Yoon GRAPHIC// Katherine Du and Angel Kim DESIGN// Ankit Agrawal

14 IN-DEPTH

CULTURAL CLASH

International Internation al students’ students’ take on the 2016 election

Lilia Qian and Anna Zhang || STAFF WRITERS

T

he diverse cultural backgrounds of Jefferson provide grounds for a variety of political opinions.

International students, in particular, can have unique perspectives owing to both political and cultural differences between two countries.

“Frankly I don’t support any of the candidates, but I guess my views lean more towards the left,” senior MinJae Kwon said.

Kwon moved to the United States from South Korea in third grade and takes a political stance influenced from his cultural background.

“One of the big [differences between Korea and the U.S.] is gun control laws,

ALL IN THE FAMILY Parental political views and how they can impact who Jefferson students support Sruthi Jayaraman and Anna Zhang || STAFF WRITERS

For many students at Jefferson, family is a big part of their lives, influencing everything from morals to way of speaking. However, some students at Jefferson hold different political views

because in Korea you basically don’t use guns at all there, so for me it doesn’t really make sense why people to say it is our right to have guns,” Kwon said. “It’s the same reason why we’re not allowed to own bombs and nuclear warheads.

The same thing should apply.”

Other international students feel a sense of disconnect from American politics as they are not as impacted by this country’s political issues as much as a U.S. citizen might.

“I’m not really interested in politics, and I’ve never been that invested in political candidates,” sophomore Mei Baek said. “I can’t vote yet, and [politics] doesn’t feel like an issue that would from their parents, with other factors such as experience or community playing a larger part of their political identity.

“As soon as we go into the school system, you’re now seeing your school friends and everybody there more than you’re actually seeing your family, so it’s that influence around you that really shapes you as a person as you grow up,” freshman Beza Girma said.

For Girma, it was the community that she was in growing up that influenced her political views towards welfare today.

“My elementary school was known

affect me directly, and I don’t feel like it’s something I need to worry about.”

However, on an issue closer to home, Baek has a stronger opinion.

“The fact that I’m an immigrant makes me more inclined towards politicians who support immigrants and people who aren’t American citizens,” Baek said.

While cultural factors may have an impact on political leanings and preferred candidates, election events have yet to result in significant change in daily life.

“It’s kind of fun to watch the campaigns of candidates, there’s nothing that directly impacts my life,” Kwon said.

for giving free lunches. Seeing and going out in the community, I saw a lot of people were living off of welfare or were living just above it.

So I’m highly Democratic when it comes to social [issues],” Girma said.

Other students changed their political views after learning and gaining knowledge on topics such as economics.

“Taking economics and doing debate in high school was when I was forced to explore views that were different from that of my parents, and learning about fiscal policy in economics is what made me fiscally conservative,” senior Rini

IN-DEPTH

15

APRIL 29, 2016

PORTRAIT OF THE CLASS OF 2020 Out of the

2,868 students that applied to Jefferson this year, only 483 were selected

GENDER RATIO

DIVERSITY 350

40% Female

Mutliracial/Other

300

Asian

250

60% Male

Hispanic

200 150

White

100 50 0

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

20.7% 1.7% 2.3% 69.4% 6.0% White Black Hispanic Asian Multiracial

SCHOOLING

Applied with reduced fees: 11.6% Admitted with reduced fees: 2.1%

92.3% attend public schools

Statistics from fcps.edu

DESIGN// Uzma Rentia

Sarkhel said. “I have also grown up under a different socioeconomic class [than my parents], which caused some of my views to change as I matured and learned more about the world.”

Despite familial connections, political views can differ simply due to contrasting ideologies and visions for the present and future. “[Family members] have different views because different people have various ideas of what they want this country to look like,” Girma said.

Students can harbor views drastically deviating from those of their parents as well as directly aligning with them.

Varying opinions offer positive

impacts, as they can contribute to a more intellectually active society as a whole.

“I think people usually go to an extreme where they either believe steadfastly in their opinions or are entirely the opposite,” Sarkhel said.

“People like me are more rare who stop to consider opinions beyond our own demographic or inherit only some of our parents’ values.”

DESIGN// Adithi Ramakrishnan

SCI II TECH SPOTLIGHT ON:

ELIZABETH BORJA Katherine Du || TEAM LEADER

E

lizabeth Borja is the Reference and Outreach Coordinator at the National Air and Space Museum Archives. The museum’s archives hold 17 thousand square feet of materials, from 17th century ballooning to modern space flight. Most of the documents relate to aviation and spacecraft history. A major part of her job includes answering a wide variety of calls and research queries from the public, as well as searching for requested archival materials.

Inquiries range from World War I to genealogy of one’s grandparents involved in flight or space exploration. Borja was first introduced to archives when she was a student at the University of Maryland. After having submitted an application to shelve books at a library, she was instead hired by the head of the Public Broadcasting Archives to be a student worker.

WHAT DO YOU SPECIFICALLY DO AS AN ARCHIVIST? I specifically am the Coordinator for Reference and Outreach. I’m the one that you’re going to hear on the phone if you make a phone call. If you write in on our email inquiry form, a lot of the time I’m going to be the one who’s making a response.

If you come into the reading room, I’m going to be one of the ones sitting in the reading room. That’s the reference side of things. The outreach side of things involves coming to events. I’m the one that coordinates that for the archives, comes up with the collections we’re going to highlight, makes sure we have all the correct copyright permissions to work with those collections, creates the spread and is there for the presentation to talk to people about it.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO COME TO WORK EVERY MORNING? I can have a general sense of how the day is going to go, but I don’t know what twists and curves it’s going to take. On Friday, halfway through the day someone came in and said, “Do you have any World War I documents and letters between this gentlemen and another

one?” I’m going, I don’t know, do we even have a collection regarding any of these two? I know we have a scrapbook, and I’m still looking [in our files] going, “But we got to have more!” I go back into another file, and I find three massive folders full of correspondents and newspaper clippings. Unfortunately I did not find the person that they were specifically looking for, but I got to read these great letters. [A] gentleman died as part of World War I as part of the Lafayette Escadrille, but we had all of the letters written to his mom sending condolences.

So it went from a day of technical drawings to a day of fascinating people. That’s what gets me up -- is the fact that I can do that.

WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN YOUR JOB? A lot of it is just sheer volume of materials, and the fact that we are moving to a more digitized world, and to a certain extent we can’t keep up with the expectations. Everybody expects everything to be digitized and immediately available. We need to catch proper metadata [in digitizing our collections]; we need to make sure that we’re scanning it in the best resolution on the

PHOTO// Katherine Du The trailing edge on a wing of the Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver, completed in the spring of 2014, was modeled during its restoration process using 18 reels of 35 milimeter microfilm drawings from the archives collection.

technology we have now. [Digitizing a million pages] took 15 months, which is not even scratching the surface of our collection. So you can imagine, we would love to digitize as much as we can, but we want to do it properly. So it frustrates people on both sides.

HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF THE ARTIFACTS THAT YOU HAVE? Most of the artifacts we have are paper. One of the collections we have that we do have to work specifically with is our film and microfilm collections. We have a cold vault [in the Udvar-Hazy museum] where we store those materials separately, because it needs lower temperatures and lower humidity.

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING PERSONAL ARTIFACT THAT YOU’VE SEEN? I am a big fan of the Ruth Law scrapbook. She was only the third woman in America to earn her pilot’s license. [The scrapbook] has a votes for women button right in there; she has tickets from her flights, all of her newspaper articles from her flights. The sheer size is just amazing.

SCI & TECH

17

APRIL 29, 2016

TECHNOLOGY IN STUDENT LIFE

Research introduces football helmets that prevent head injury Angel Kim and Nikita Sivakumar || STAFF WRITERS

F

ootball, a classic American sport, is just as dangerous as it is fun.

Continuous tackles between opponents expose players to a variety of injuries, especially those to the brain. Such injuries can change the entire life of players within seconds. A new field of research focused on producing safer helmets that mitigate risk of head injury in collisions is underway.

An active participant in this field of research is a team of engineers at the University of Michigan which has been working on a football helmet design called “Mitigatium.”

This design of helmet dissipates the energy from hits, preventing the head from full-on, concentrated damage, as opposed to current helmets which are only designed to

withstand a hit’s maximum force. The majority of brain injuries are caused by direct impulse, which transmits kinetic energy after a hit. The factor that sets the Mitigatium apart from other helmets is its ability to absorb the impulse, rather than let it reach the player’s brain.

The helmet prototype is composed of three layers: the first two layers, made of polycarbonate and a flexible plastic. revert the initial shock from a hit. The third layer, made of visco-elastic, serves to dissipate the energy through a series of vibrations.

The University of Michigan, however, is not the only researcher in the area. Jefferson students, such as senior Juliana Bain, have also contributed to the field. Bain has worked on building safer helmets since she was in middle school and perfected her work through a series of tests and data analysis. Currently she has a patented design that helps reduce the peak shock from collisions.

Cell phones become educational tools in the classroom Millan Welman || STAFF WRITER

T

he cell phone craze is nothing new among teenagers, and Jefferson students are no exception. Research shows the average American teenager uses a cell phone on an average of eight to ten hours a day and checks it every 15 to 20 minutes while awake. Excessive use of cellphones has been linked to lower quality sleep, lower GPAs and with that increased stress.

Reading this, it is hard to image the cell phone as an educational tool.

School districts around the country, such as Boston’s public school system, still largely prohibit the use of mobile devices on all school campuses. Fairfax County, however, has been much more liberal in its approach, promoting the use of mobile devices as effective educational tools. One of the teachers pushing this method on the national level, is Hayfield Secondary’s history and United States government teacher Ken Halla, who integrates technology into

his classes and is a nationally recognized blogger on teaching techniques for his courses.

Halla follows a simple usage policy. He has found that simple monitoring of students generally prevents students from becoming distracted. Use of educational websites, such as Quizlet, are highlighted as engaging and effective ways of presenting information. In addition, the rise of “educational apps” provides easy and cheap supplements to student learning that are easily accessible and have appealing placement for students.

Commonalities between Halla’s philosophy and those of teachers at Jefferson do exist. While some Jefferson teachers have strict no-phone policies, other teachers encourage the use of mobile devices for activities ranging from teaching new words in a foreign language to memorizing historical events and causations for an upcoming exam. It is likely that this trend of integrating devices into the classroom will continue into the coming years with the rise of newer technologies, not only at Jefferson, but also across the United States.

DESIGN// Uzma Rentia

?

18 SCI & TECH

THE ETHICS OF SCIENCE We don’t like to think about it, but how common is fraud in science?

Uzma Rentia || TEAM LEADER

S

cientific research and its ramifications are ubiquitous; they are what fuel diets, govern the medication for the sick and provide insight about the world around us.

Given its importance, one can only hope, but not question its validity.

Who’s to say whether there was some dishonesty or morphing of numbers that did not take place somewhere down the road?

The lab led to a hypothesis that met great skepticism by many; ordinary cells could be turned into embryonic stem cells through a half-hour soak in a weak bath of citric acid. Though many perished in the process, the cells that did survive the regimen emerged anew, with the capacity to multiply and grow into any type of cell, an ability known as pluripotency.

Senior Kunal Shroff, who won third place in Basic Research in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search, believes that such concerns may be unfounded.

The institute was eager to publish the expectation-defying study, and in January of 2014, STAP made its debut in two papers in Nature. Across the globe scientists began to think of “Scientific experimentation is STAP as the way to develop a patientinherently set up to counter scientific misconduct and false claims. Science is specific drug, thereby eliminating inherently cumulative. If someone lies the possibility of immune-system rejection. Soon talks of a Nobel Prize about the results on the first part of the experiment, it is usually impossible and multi-million dollar business deals soon began to circulate. However, to accomplish the second part of the critics began noticing inconsistencies experiment that relies on the positive results from the first part. The same is in the paper. Researchers were called to replicate the experiments, in which true in our labs. If someone were to all attempts to do so would eventually misrepresent experimental data, they fail. Five months after the publications would run into a roadblock in their of the papers, both were retracted on next phase of experimentation which would likely force them to start all over the grounds of scientific misconduct.

STAP cells had been a glorified mirage again and waste more time,” Schroff the whole time. said.

However, mistakes do happen and lies are told. One such example is the stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells. STAP cells were born in Center for Development Biology (CDB), a branch of the prestigious Japanese research institute Riken. Staffed with ambitious scientists and equipped with the some of the world’s best laboratories, the institute had high hopes for the lab. Riken expected results and the scientists delivered.

While the story made for sensational headlines, such an occurrence is not likely to occur again for some time.

Unlike the STAP cells, which were an anomaly in many ways, most cases of scientific misconduct generate little attention as they often have little chance of impacting the scientific world at large.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about scientific misconduct is that it occurs because people want to be famous for making a potential

?

?? ?

‘breakthrough.’ That is never the motivation… in order for research to be ‘ground-breaking,’ it has to change the field in some way…The truly ‘ground-breaking’ work has been verified and used independently in multiple labs making it impossible to have been falsified,” Shroff said. “The main reason people make false claims in science is that they don’t care about the science anymore. They have been disillusioned by the scientific process and just want to get a paper published, regardless of the veracity behind the results.”

Still, the fact remains that for some scientists and students focused on scientific research there is pressure, often self-inflicted, to gain recognition, a phenomenon that is seen in competitive environments. In such a case, they need to keep in mind that they have the rest of their lives to prove themselves.

“Breakthroughs don’t happen overnight. Science is iterative. What appears to be one huge discovery is actually the result of dozens of smaller discoveries compiled into one piece…

There are a number of intermediary results that will never be published, but instead were important in shaping the direction of future experimentation that lead to the breakthrough. The smaller discoveries that researchers tend to make are absolutely essential to being able to produce future breakthroughs. You can’t run a marathon without first taking a single step,” Schroff said.

ADS

19

APRIL 29, 2016

SPORTS “My favorite part of tennis is playing doubles blees and matches. We reallyy com come me together seamlessly ly despite despitte varying levels of experienc experience.” ce.”

-Seniorr Kavya Ravikannti Ravikanti

“My favorite part of soccer is my team. They’re the best. Everyone’s so supportive and has my back. When I’m feeling down from a loss, they’re always there to say motivation words and get me hyped for the next game.

“My favorite part of track is meeting new people. Even though track isn’t as much of a team sport as some of the others, there’s still a sense of community.”

-Sophomore Frank Tian

-Freshman Nali Huynh

HEART and

“My favorite thing about lacrosse is how close you grow to your team and having a group of girlswho push each other to be better.”

S O L E

Student athletes discuss the reasons they lace up for practice

“My favorite part of softball is being a part of the family. We’re all really close and I’m glad I get to practice with them every day.”

-Sophomore Amanda Hsu “My favorite part of baseball is the family aspect. You become really close to all the guys that you’ve been playing with for a long time. Also the -Junior baked goods from our managChris Liu ers aren’t bad.”

-Senior Helen Ngov

“My favorite part of baseball is the camaraderie. The senior leadership is strong and we have guys who want to see each other do well. Also shout -Junior out to our managters, Ellie and Ankush Joshi Bita, for the baked goods.”

PHOTOS AND REPORTING // Kate Deng

Sprinting to the Hall of Fame

Track & Field athletes excel at the Lake Braddock Hall of Fame Meet Mei Baek || STAFF WRITER

On Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, the Lake Braddock High School outdoor track was bustling with athletes representing schools all around Northern Virginia for the Lake Braddock Hall of Fame Meet.

“This was a big and very competitive meet with some of the best runners in the area,” junior Caroline Cox said. “A lot of meet records were set.”

PHOTO // Mei Baek

Though Jefferson was underrepresented in comparison to

some other schools, the athletes that did attend performed very well. Junior Saurav Velleleth and senior Nate Foss were ranked third and fifth place respectively in the boys’ 1600 meter run, a highly competitive event.

With the uplifting results of this last meet, sophomore Anna Zhang is optimistic about the rest of the Spring Track & Field season.

“I think TJ did great,” Zhang said. “I am looking forward to our improvement as the season continues.”

SPORTS

21

APRIL 29, 2016 PHOTO // MiJin Cho

Junior Quinn Dawkins swings his

bat and steps up to the plate.

Varsity Baseball: New Season, New Faces “I like the way Coach Richards approaches the game. We didn’t have any problem adjusting to him. He’s all about that teamwork,” senior Amir McGettrick said.

MiJin Cho || STAFF WRITER

T

he Varsity baseball team strides into the season with brand new faces in the form of three freshmen.

“The bond between the upperclassmen and underclassmen at TJ is great. As a team we’re close. Here, it’s teambased; everything’s for the team,” freshman Todd Hartman said.

However, freshmen aren’t the only baseball players feeling the collaboration. With players from all four classes, the diversity of the team brings out the best.

Led by new head coach Nick Richards, the team looks forwards to the new success this season.

APRIL CALENDAR

APR. 25 Girls 4:00 pm vs. Falls Church HS @ Jefferson District Park Boys 4:00 pm @ Falls Church HS JV Girls 5:45 pm @ West Potomac HS JV Boys 5:45 pm @ Hayfield SS JV Boys 5:45 pm @ TC Williams HS JV Girls 6:00 pm vs. TC Williams HS Girls 6:30 pm vs Thomas Edison HS Varsity Boys 6:30 pm vs. Thomas Edison HS GRAPHIC // Sharon Kim

While their first game at J.E.B. Stuart High School didn’t reflect the momentum in the team, the players plan use their team and its competitiveness to guide them in future games.

The team looks at the future of the season with goals in mind for the team.

“A goal for the season is to do the best that we can possibly do throughout the season and compete in the conference as well as the in playoffs,” junior Chris Liu said.

For the six seniors currently on the team, this season serves as the final year to play baseball for Jefferson.

“My time at TJ has been amazing. I started as a freshmen for TJ Baseball Varsity; tt’s been an awesome four years. It’s tough.

It’s bittersweet. I find myself thinking that after this year, it’s not going to happen anymore,” senior Alex Cintron said.

: HOME

Varsity Boys Varsity Boys Varsity Girls APR. 26 JV Boys

: AWAY

7:15 pm @ Hayfield SS 7:15 @ TC Williams HS 7:30 vs. TC Williams HS

6:30pm @ Thomas Edison HS

APR. 27 Boys 4:00 pm @ Lee HS Varsity Boys 7:15 pm vs. Thomas Edison HS Varsity Girls 7:30 pm @ Thomas Edison HS

L

22 SPORTS

DESIGN // Kate Deng PHOTOS // Jiny Cho

Finding their strides in the new season

JV Girls Lacrosse reflects on a tough loss against Wakefield

Christine Zhao || STAFF WRITER

Fun, exhilarating, team-building.

Strategic, exciting, thrilling Intense, fun, and teamwork: these are just a few of the words that come to junior varsity lacrosse players sophomores Louise Hicks, Amanda Hsu, and freshman Annie Wang when they think of what lacrosse means to them.

They then go on with adjectives frustrating, disappointing, disheartening, and embarrassing, describing their home game against Wakefield High School on April 13.“We scored the first goal, but then Wakefield came back,” Hsu

said. “We kept scoring and then they would tie back up with us.

Around half time, like in the second half, they started scoring more and more goals.”

However, even though the team was disappointed by their 8-4 loss to Wakefield, Hsu, Hicks, and freshman Annie Wang had their fair share of exhilarating moments during the game and throughout the season. Hsu and Wang both take pride in their teammates’ successes in their match against Wakefield. “My favorite moment was probably when Melanie Le made two goals during the game,” Hsu said. “It

was really exciting for us because that tied us with Wakefield.”

Other team members were not only excited about their personal achievements during the game, but were also proud of those made by their fellow teammates.

“Even though I didn’t score, a lot of the other members scored, and it just felt really good to have them make a shot for our team,” Wang said.

Regardless of the scoreboard, the team is content with their improvement throughout this season and look to the future for more to come.

Photo courtesy of Frank Ding

Sophomore Amanda Hsu carries the ball during a practice.

LETS GET

KICKIN’

SPORTS

APRIL 29, 2016 Mei Baek || STAFF WRITER

The junior varsity (JV) girls soccer game against Falls Church High School on April 8 ended in a tie with no points scored on either side. The majority of the first half featured Jefferson’s team surrounding Falls Church’s goal.

“This is the first time we’ve actually played as one, and the major change was that we warmed up correctly,” freshman Rhea Nandra, a team captain, said. “We all completed our laps and lines professionally, and our little games to warm up were done well. We were also able to get everyone excited to play.”

This did not continue in the

From left to right, up to down: 1. Both teams come together at the midfield line to shake hands at the end of the game. 2. Freshman Nali Huynh heads towards the ball in hopes of making a goal. 3. Freshman and captain

23

Lauren Wattendorf and sophomore Jessica Ly practice shooting the ball with other teammates. 4. Freshman Eden Gordon shoots the ball away from a Falls Church playeme after resting during halftime. 5. Jefferson

second half, but the goalie, freshman Mariko Gardiner, saved the score and stopped Falls Church from being able to lead.

“To improve our chances of scoring, we need to know how to play our own positions; that’s where our issues branch off from,” freshman captain Kayla Krieger said.

A large number of the players are beginners in the sport, which is a disadvantage to Jefferson as many other schools have travel athletes on their teams. To make up for this factor, the JV team is working towards learning faster and communicating more efficiently. athletes head back to the 6. Captain and freshman Lauren Wattendorf passes the ball to freshman Nali Huynh. 7. Coach Prem helps goalie freshman Mariko Gardiner prepare for the game.

Crew continues team tradition through iNite Madeline Old || STAFF WRITER

D

espite more than a few casualties, Jefferson crew worked around its obstacles to start the 2016 season on a high note. This season’s opening regatta took place on April 2, the same day as iNite. Students whose races were in the morning could make the evening show, but many boats lost racers. The first varsity boat had to pull people from the second boat to replace rowers it lost; the second varsity boat pulled people from the third boat, and so on and so forth.

the top two boats because of iNite we still put on a pretty good show,” senior Gabe Margolis said.

same time.”

Crew is an physically demanding sport, requiring rowers to stay in time School hours dictate practice times, with each other and get through a 1500 so every team is on the river in the same meter race as fast as possible. Teams attend regattas every Saturday for the few hours of afternoon. duration of the season, and Friday night “I think the coaches do try to make the whole team gets together for a pasta sure the practice time isn’t the exact party. same as the other schools’ because then “It’s kinda carbo-loading,” senior at the end of practice if everyone has to come into the docks at the same time Andy Zhao said. Well, as the old saying there’s this huge traffic jam on the river goes: the more you put in, the more you get out. “An excuse to eat way too much “Even though we were missing some and it takes forever to get in,” senior PengPeng Liu said.

“But it’s roughly the pasta for the size you are.” people, I think with eight people from

The crew team practices daily on the Occoquan river, with other teams in the county. However, the team travels for regattas later in the season each year.

Photo courtesy of Kazuya Chue

OPINION DESIGN || ANKIT AGRAWAL

RIAL LEAD EDITO

? y n a M o o T ” When does being #1 lose “One its meaning?

2nd place

1st

Logo courtesy of tjhsst.edu

W

ith rankings consistently in the top five for America’s top public high schools, Jefferson has always prided itself on being one of the best facilities for learning in the country— and fortunate enough to harbor the best students.

But just what exactly do these rankings mean? Just this past March, Jefferson topped Business Insider’s list of “America’s Smartest Public High Schools,” yet how can Jefferson’s ranking be at the top of US News and World Report’s list one year, and number five the next? It’s about time we asked ourselves if being “#1” has as much importance as we once thought it did.

Although as students of both a diverse and academically focused institution like Jefferson, it’s definitely easy to pat ourselves on the back for ranking so highly.

In fact, SAT scores, as well as the number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes taken by classes as a whole, is one of the primary factors in determining ranking for public high schools for organizations like Newsweek, Business Insider and US News and World Report.

However, other factors like student to teacher ratio, percentage of economically disadvantaged students and minority enrollment also contribute to where schools place on these lists. It’s quite easy to forget just how little of an influence students actually hold in the ranking process.

Though maxing out on these categories is a characteristic that Jefferson has become quite good at over the years, there’s no point in taking extreme measures to achieve a #1 rank. The quality of administration combined with its unique student body makes Jefferson graduates “college-ready” regardless of whether the school is ranked first or fifth in the nation.

Additionally, professors and authors like Alfie Kohn suggest from experience that excessive competition can only be harmful to the psyche, arguing that children succeed not because of competition, but in spite of it. An excessive obsession with ranking amongst other 14-18 year olds in the nation only causes unnecessary self-doubt when rankings do not fall in our favor.

So instead, it’s time that we as students

3rd place focus on what matters: ourselves and our careers. The motivation to succeed has already found its way to all of us simply by being in an academically focused environment like the one Jefferson has to offer. With that powerful skill, we know no bounds to what we can achieve.

#1? son arch, Jeffer Just this M iness us B on #1 was ranked 50 of t nual lis Insider’s an h ig H lic ub Smartest P erica.

Schools in Am

OPINION

25

APRIL 29, 2016

X

the electoral system is fair.

Many dislike the electoral college because the system allows for big states to have more influence than little states. In order to win the election, a candidate needs 270 of the 538 electoral college votes. To get the votes they need, candidates only have to win the eleven largest states. This means, potentially, thirty-nine states could give all their electoral college votes to a candidate that doesn’t win.

Another unfair part of the electoral college is how it gives individual citizens within different states an unequal vote. An example of this occurs between Wyoming and California citizens. For every one elector vote, there are more than 675,000 votes from citizens in California, compared to less than 190,000 votes in Wyoming. This means SABRIA KAZMI || STAFF WRITER a vote in Wyoming is worth three and a half times as much as a vote in California.

America is one of the few countries in Yet, many argue a positive of this system the world that uses an electoral college to is that the electors do not have to vote elect its president. This system works so for whoever they are supposed to be that when you vote for the candidate you representing. It is commonly believed that hope to become president, you are voting in elections where there is a candidate that for electors rather than the actual candidate. perhaps is not qualified to be president, The Founding Fathers decided that this an elector could vote against the candidate system would be the best for our country despite the popular vote. during its formation, but even today, much However, the truth is that this is not the controversy still remains on whether or not case most of the time. Only twenty-four

Is electoral college the best way to count our votes?

of the states do not have a law or pledge requiring the electors to vote for a specific candidate. While this is still approximately half of the states, it is still very uncommon for one of the electors to vote against the candidate they are supposed to vote for. In fact, since the electoral college became the system for presidential elections, there have only been eighty-five cases where an elector abstained from voting or changed their vote from who they were supposed to be voting for (not including cases where the candidate died right before the election) according to “Faithless Electors” an article from FairVote. That’s only eighty-five unfaithful electors for over two centuries. I think it’s safe to say it’s not a usual occurrence.

Although this system might have a possible benefit for some elections, particularly when there is an unqualified candidate, overall it makes more sense for us to stop using the electoral college. The system clearly is unfair in the way it gives large states as too much power, while also giving individuals of smaller states votes worth more than others. Our method for electing the president has already cost candidates who won the popular vote to lose the election, such as Al Gore in the 2000 election. We need to change the electoral college system before it costs another candidate their chance at presidency.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

s

CALIFORNIA DESIGN || ANKIT AGRAWAL Data provided from archive.fairvote.org

Each vote that goes to an elector in Wyoming, is equivalent to three and a half votes that go to an elector in California.

WYOMING

26 OPINION WHAT YOU THOUGHT

This month’s Twitter Poll Debrief

March 14: What do you have planned for spring break?

Studying for APs

36 Votes Hanging out with friends

Stay-cation

Going on a family trip

April 4: What’s your preference for iNite showtimes? 39 Votes Su.

M.

Tu.

W.

Th.

F.

S.

1 day, 1 show 1 day, 2 shows 2 days, 2 shows

INITE FOREVER

April 11: How often do you use emojis in your texts?

66 Votes

On Occasion

56% 38%

Never 6%

April 18: Did you forget to sign up for 8th period today?

46 Votes

oh shoot...

70

30%

%

Nope!

All polls conducted via tjtoday_news on twitter and run for 24 hours.

GRAPHIC // Anjali Khanna

Unauthorized copying or reusing any part of this page is illegal

TO CRAM OR NOT TO CRAM? As the fourth quarter begins, students ask: Should AP classes schedule their finals at the end of the year or right before AP Week?

Bayliss Wagner || STAFF WRITER

S

tand in the any of Jefferson’s halls History, AB Calculus and AP Psychology for five minutes in late April and you online this year, concurs with the minority. “I’d will hear, eventually and repeatedly, rather have a final after the APs so that you the terror-filled but casual statement: “I’m don’t get burned out too quickly,” he said. screwed for AP tests.” Or maybe you’ll hear Others of his opinion said that because “I haven’t even finished studying,” to which Jefferson finals are often more another student might reply, “I difficult than AP tests, students haven’t even bought a prep book BY THE NUMBERS could use the time to further yet.” Regardless, the two weeks review the curriculum at a slower of official Advanced Placement pace.

(AP) testing that punctuate Students preferring finals before the beginning of May concern AP tests reasoned that earlier nearly every junior and senior at exams would incentivize earlier, Jefferson. more intensive studying, therefore 65.1% This month, tjTODAY staff avoiding cramming right before want finals decided to investigate students’ the AP test. In addition, students BEFORE feelings on final exams in AP could correct their final exams AP week classes. After surveying 86 AP earlier and feel more prepared, students on their preferences, 22.1% even over-prepared, before taking the conclusion was this: though want finals the official AP test. most will take the majority of AFTER AP Akliku disagreed, saying that final exams in their AP classes in week the stress would ultimately June, more students felt that final counteract this extra preparation: exams before the AP test would HOWEVER “I understand studying for the Although the benefit them more. fi nal would also help you prepare most ppular The poll showed that 65 for the AP test, but I think being number of APs percent. 1 pecent of those relaxed and not really stressing is 3 at, 36.5% surveyed preferred finals before about how you just did on an AP week and only 22.1 percent Only 13.5% exam is important.” wished to keep final exams of students Still, many of the 65.1 percent during Jefferson’s exam week. had all 3 agreed that finals in June would Of the remaining 12.8 percent, final exams just make students study twice two students wrote in that they before AP when they could be enjoying a wanted finals during other times week more relaxing fourth quarter, and and nine voted for no finals at all. both sides merit consideration by Based on a survey Those Many of those who teachers in the context of each of 86 students support keeping the final in June specific AP class. Though both argued that taking final exams sides have their merits, many AP around April would add stress classes may opt for tradition, and continue to to the end of third quarter. Junior Kirubel do as they have always done.

Akliku, who is taking AP United States

26

GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE

OPINION

27

APRIL 29, 2016

closer look at the pros and cons of BOOK VS. E-BOOK: Aliving in an increasing digital world

T

echnology has made leaps and bounds in the last few decades, and now there is no doubt that it’s definitely a big part of our lives. Fortunately, all this technology comes increasing access to the internet worldwide, a useful tool both research and leisure.

One of the main advantages of digitalization is that information is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can be accessed almost immediately from almost any location that has Wi-Fi. In the case of e-readers, this allows users to read anywhere, anytime.

Granted, this can also be done with traditional books, but e-readers have the added advantage of being able to hold, literally, a library full of books without much hassle to a student in the classroom, or merely an avid reader.

Another pro of going digital is

the reduction in paper use and thus environmental benefit. Authors of resource books often have to publish several editions of the book in order to add new information and/or revise content. Yet websites with these resource books in their databases often just update content whenever information is released within a scientific or academic community— both increasing accessbility and decreasing paper waste in classrooms around the world.

Additionally, digital books and resources allow users to interact with the material.

Links, podcasts, and embedded material can be placed in the text with ease, providing a wider variety of supplemental material. Not only that, the shift from paper to digital has been beneficial in the last decade to organizations attempting to expand digital use to education and commerce.

Pros of going digital Avni Singh || STAFF WRITER

I

Cons of going digital Katherine Hughes || STAFF WRITER

DESIGN // Uzma Rentia

n class at Jefferson, much of what we hear when already on the computer. about quality of education is bolstered by Not only is digital work distracting, but it the fact that it’s going digital. can also be dangerous to health. Blue light, emitted by electronics, has been proven to Yet with increasing digitalization in public school systems like Fairfax County (FCPS), the produce negative health effects in the body students who don’t have home computers or when viewed at night for extended periods of internet suffer. Requiring the approximate 10 time. According to a 2012 study by Harvard percent of FCPS students who this applies to Health Publications, it has been proven to places new burdens on these students who are upset your circadian rhythm, be a cause of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. already struggling with disadvantage.

Digitalizing education would only harm both Additionally, having hard copies of work students and faculty alike. and textbooks is more practical, both for With digital education, low-income students disadvantaged students and for those who travel to places with limited access to the web. are put at a greater disadvantage, students You never have to wonder if you’ll have wifi, don’t have as much access to homework, and you can count on being able to access your distractions are abundant and health work anywhere. Also, hard copies of work deteriorates. Students already suffer with the don’t light up with social medial notifications limited use of electronics in education, but and may not be as distracting for young teens. if all education is digitized, students will only Let’s face it. No matter how much self-control suffer more. we have, it’s hard to resist checking Facebook DESIGN // Uzma Rentia

ENTERTAINMENT PLAYING THE TRUMP CARD

Series on “unusual” Trump voters offers a new perspective on the election

VOTE

Madeline Old || STAFF WRITER

of gay versus not gay have turned into an argument of “Trump v. Cruz,” which is less personal.

Stereotypically, heterosexual cis-gender white males, seeing as that’s the only group Trump doesn’t regularly insult. But that demographic isn’t nearly large enough to make up Trump’s unbelievable poll numbers.

Photo courtesy of user Gage Skidmore on Flickr

Who are Trump voters?

Both parents also admitted Alex’s bizarre (to my ears) power complex. He wants to be the man with a penthouse on the 99th floor. And it’s that future vision of himself causing him to say that Bernie Sanders’s wealth redistribution plan doesn’t respect people who worked for their money. Alex admitted it himself. “I have this sort of like gravitating pull towards people who are successful because I too want to be successful… I don’t focus on wealth. I focus on power.”

This Feb. 19, the National Public Radio (NPR) weekly podcast “This American Life” featured a half-hour-long profile on an unusual Trump supporter: a young, gay black man named Alex Chalgren.

He doesn’t vote like an evangelical voter, or like a gay voter or like any other box a statistician would put him in. His complicated life story— adopted by a loving white Evangelical mother who vehemently doesn’t “see his participating in a gay life as God’s plan for his life—” led him to this race’s most unconventional candidate. The family battles

The podcast is definitely worth a listen.

For a notably liberal source of media, NPR is respectful of the Chalgrens’ evangelical beliefs. You can also find Alex Chalgren on Twitter and Instagram as @AChalgren and @ alexblessingrex16 respectively.

Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The National Public Radio (NPR) performed an interesting study on a unique demographic of Trump voters.

Drama gets “Connected” with upcoming spring show Nikita Sivakumar and Angel Kim || STAFF WRITERS

PHOTO // MinJoo Kang

Following “The Little Mermaid,” drama student’s daily life. The play was written by prepares to present “Connected,” a set of Lia Romeo, a friend of director Jennifer vignettes that highlight social media’s role in a Lowery.

Jefferson drama presents “Connected” on April 29 and 30. Drama members created social media accounts for their personas in the play to further get into character.

Sophomore Masha Goykhberg said that the production, though seemingly unorthodox, conveys a relatable message.“After we started doing read-throughs and developing our characters, I realized that it’s actually not that inappropriate, and there are some aspects of characters that Jefferson students can identify with,” Goykh said. “The vignettes also target different aspects of technology and human interaction.”

Additionally, since the production is smaller than previous takes such as “Little

Mermaid,” the crew has been able to experiment more with their characters. For example, to publicize the play, each cast member created a social media account detailing their respective characters, allowing them to form closer relationships with their roles.

“Connected” has also been an opportunity for new members to join the theatre crew. Junior Ian Carrera is one of the new additions.

“I think drama is worthwhile because everyone needs to unwind from the stresses of Jefferson, and drama lets you leave that all behind,” Carrera said.

ENTERTAINMENT

29

APRIL 29, 2016

COMPLETELY BOOKED

Rekindle a love of reading with staff favorites, from sci-fi to gripping suspense Mei Baek and Lilia Qian || STAFF WRITERS

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Written by Mark Zusak, “The Book Thief ” is a work of historical fiction about a young German girl living through the Holocaust. The novel features a uniquely poetic writing style and is told from the perspective of Death.

“My favorite book is ‘The Book Thief ’ by Mark Zusak because it is very poignant and is probably the only book

Set in the twentieth century, “Childhood’s End” is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke that details the peaceful invasion of Earth by friendly aliens known as Overlords.

“It was something I had never seen done before, the characterization, the concepts and the people in it,” senior David Barto said. “It’s

to this day that has legitimately made me cry,” sophomore Clara Kim said. “I’d honestly recommend it to anyone. It’s a book with a touching story, memorable characters and an interesting point of view.”

a well-written book, but it is definitely not for everyone.”

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke Photos courtesy of Random House, Huffington Post, Goodreads, and Amazon

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is a comedy science fiction beloved by geeks all around the world. Written

by Douglas Adams, the book

“To Kill a Mockingbird” has become a classic in American literature through its insightful

started as a radio series by the same name, but was later turned into a five-book series.

However, this first book is the best known, with many funny quotes recited by avid fans.

“It’s a perfect balance of funny and smart,” junior Jasper Wadsworth said. “I recommend it to pretty much everyone... it’s just a funny, ridiculous, and relaxing read.”

and original depiction of racial injustice during Great Depression. It won a Pulitzer prize and was even followed by a sequel.

“You get to see the world from an innocent child’s point of view. It got me thinking a lot,” freshman Seon Woo Cho said. “‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ kind of gave me hope for humanity.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Design // Adithi Ramakrishnan

30 ENTERTAINMENT

tjTODAY interviews published student poets Bayliss Wagner || STAFF WRITER PHOTOS // Bayliss Wagner

Last year, current senior Bita Saaedi submitted two poems to Threshold and had one accepted. This year, she had selected five, choosing three to put into Jefferson’s literary magazine.

When did you start writing poetry?

I think I started in 6th grade. I remember that my 5th grade teacher did a unit on poetry that really fascinated me. It was really terrible in the beginning, but slowly I just started writing more and more and just figuring out my own style.

SENIOR BITA SAAEDI

Freshman Alexander Kao-Sowa submitted four poems to Threshold this year and had three accepted. Here, he discusses death, his nightly source of inspiration, and plans for the future.

When did you start writing poetry?

Ever since I was around 5 or 6. It was pretty bad back then, but it was a way to express myself.

What inspires you to write poetry?

Typically I stay up really late at night and then you get a little more creative. It’s always the outdoors that inspires me, never the indoors.

I’m always outside at night, either walking my dog or just sitting on the porch.

What inspires you to write poetry?

I suppose it can be anything, even another poet’s work. For example, if I read something I really like and that inspires me to create something. Anything that happens in my day-to-day life can show itself in my poetry, like big life events or even stories that other people tell me. One of the poems I wrote—not in threshold—was based on an article I had read about a survivor that jumped off the golden gate bridge.

What kind of poetry do you write—free verse, metered, sonnet, etc.?

I always write free verse. Pretty much all my poems have no capitalization or anything.I like how unstructured it is; it feels like you have a lot more freedom to get your thoughts down. When you rhyme, it limits your word choices. I like not having not to worry about rhyme scheme or structure.

How have you found time to write poetry outside of school?

Sometimes, I’ll go a couple months without writing a single poem.When I do have time, I’ll sit and write a bunch of poems at once.Some will be awful and I’ll just completely trash them, but I’ll try to get all my thoughts down and just wait a little bit and then come back and refine them. If I get a sudden moment of inspiration when I just have an idea, even in class or before bed, I’ll just write it down quickly and get back to it I tend to break it [the writing process] up into smaller pieces.

What kind of poetry do you write, and what do you write about?

Anything; a lot of it is free verse.

Typically just my views on things my views on life, death, [and] common things just more generic. It’s really just whatever strikes my fancy. There’s no particular rhyme or reason as to what I write about; there’s no set time and place when I go and I say I’m going to pop three poems out in the next hour.

What is your writing process?

Typically poems don’t take that long, as long as you have the inspiration. I’ll be outside because my mom makes me walk dog and it’s dark out and I’ll get inspiration. I’ll come home and a few minutes later, it’s on paper.

The day after, I review it and I’ll say what was good, what was bad, and more often than not, I’ll just scrap the whole thing.

FRESHMAN ALEXANDER KAO-SOWA

ADS

WHAT YOU BOUGHT A IFYEARBOOK? You’ll find your name on this list and you can pick up your yearbook on JDay!

Eshara Abeysekera Abha Agrawal Radhika Agrawal Wayez Ahmed Sahana Aiyer Marcus Alder Tess Alexander Bharath Alladi Sriram Amirneni Nishanth Anand Millen Anand Douglas Andre Peter Andringa Saaketh Anjutgi Gabriel Asel Spencer Atkin Isuru Attanagoda Pranav Avasarala Pallavi Avasarala Varshini Babu Seung-Ho Bae Seung Won Baek Lynne Bai Jennifer Baily Juliana Bain Akshay Balaji Karthik Balakrishnan Meenakshi Balan Shresta Bangaru Akash Bansal Katherine Barbano Devon Barbour Prateek Bardhan Owen Barnett Jasper Barnett Thomas Baron David Barto Anusha Basana William Baxley Patrick Beck Nicholas Begotka Rhamy Belayachi Matthew Bergman Emerson Berlik Cedric Bernard Lauren Berry Victoria Bevard Saloni Bhargava Abhishek Bhargava Neha Bhargava Shreya Bhatia Joya Bhattacharyya Arun Bhattasali Lionel Binder Oliver Bishop Andrew Blackwell Christina Blake Jacob Blindenbach John Boyle Susanna Bradbury Mallory Brodnik Jacob Brower Cecelia Brower Chase Brown Arthur Browne Jonathan Buchinsky Julia Buchinsky Sravani Buddhavarapu Karthik Budharaju Liem Budzien My-Linh Budzien Margaret Bujor Jonathan Burkle Reynaldo Cabansag Jesse Cai Rena Cai Luke Cannon Christopher Cao Brendan Capozzi Fiona Carcani Philip Carr Ian Carr Talia Carstoiu Samuel Case Bradford Case Jonah Casebeer Abhimanyu Chadha Daniel Chae Ria Chakrabarti Anjalika Chalamgari Sanjana Challa Timothy Chan Antonio Chan Rohan Chanda Alex Chang Kevin Chaplin

Shreya Chappidi Andrew Charbonneau Udeyvir Cheema Valerie Chen Daniel Chen Colin Chen Immalla Chen Kenneth Chen Calvin Chen Edward Chen Allen Cheng Selina Cheng Joseph Chetupuzha Shanmugam Chidambaram Natalie Chin Nikhil Chintada Utkarsh Chirimar Neil Chiruvella Haran Chithranjan Tarikasri Chittajalu David Cho william cho Seon Woo Cho Woohyeong Cho Colleen Choi Jane Choi Min-Soo Choi Seowon Choi Hayun Chong Junhyun Chong Nathan Chow Lars Christensen Soren Christensen Landon Chu Laura Chu Victoria Chuah Brian Chuang Kazuya Chue Nina Chung Nathan Chuwait Sean Clancy Emily Cleland Claire Cofield Hannah Collins Elise Conforti Clare Connally Chad Constantine Matthew Conway Joshua Cotton Brenna Courtney Margaret Covey Matthew Cox Caroline Cox Sarah Crossen Brittany Csik Emma Cuddy Joshua Cummings Cameron Curtis Timothy Cyrus Shritika Dahal Samuel Damashek Julia Damron Fatimah Dandashi Blake Daniels Rudra Dasgupta Isaac David Camdyn Davis Sydney Dayyani Stephen Dempsey Kate Deng Ankit Deshmukh Samuel Desmarais Deepshika Dhanasekar Sejal Dhawan Sukriti Dhingra Linda Diaz Sarah Dickson Frank Ding Brendan Divney Megan Do Stephanie Do Wonwook Do Chetan Dokku Debbie Dong Claire Dong Namita Dongre Venkata Doodala Alexander Downey Katherine Du Joyce Duan Pranay Dubey Ravi Dudhagra Mark Dulaney Jack Duvall Siddhartha Edara

Katherine Eisert Leela Ekambarapu Rachel Eom John Erskine Katelyn Etemad Emily Everhart Claire Fan Fudong Fan Eric Fan Vivian Fang Violet Felt Andreea Foarce Brittney Fogg Jacob Fondriest Clara Fontaine Alice Fontaine Nathan Foss Will Frank Shawn Frank Giancarlo Frix Luca Frix James Frucht William Furlong Kanishka Gaba Krishna Gadde Shivam Gandhi Kiran Ganeshan Jordan Ganley Jonathan Gannon William Gao Kyle Gatesman Aaron Geldert Larry Geng Eleni Georgiou Kyle Gerner Joanna Gerr Laura Gersony Michael Gibson Korrina Gidwani Graham Gillman Kiran Girish Zane Givans Emma Glass Evan Glazer Anthara Gnanakumar David Godin Akhil Goel Joel Goetz ryan golant Sarah Gold Sarah Goldberg Grey Golla Isabel Gomez Jacob Gonzalez Ryan Gottwald Angela Goyal Maxwell Graves Pam Gravitte Jenna Greenwalt Gabriela Gresenz Katherine Grosch Matthew Gross Neal Gross Vivian Gruendel Juliana Gruver Han Gu Aaron Gu Hongyi Guan Deepika Gudavalli Dean Gumas Charles Gunn Fatima Gunter-Rahman Matthew Guo Amit Gupta Jay Gupta Atharv Gupta Sai Deepak Gupta Shohini Gupta Priya Gupta Shubham Gupta Anahita Gupta Dhruv Gupta Shrey Gupta Sonia Gupta Vikram Gupta Alexander Gurung Savana Hadjipanteli Richard Hage Manna Haile Kristen Halper Xiaoran Han Timothy Han David Hansen Gregory Harrison Todd Hartman Caroline Hatcher

Yuhei Hattori Olympia Hatzilambrou Alison Hau Joshua Havermale Zachary Hayden Walker Haynes Ryan Haynie Emily He Clare Heinbaugh Griffith Heller Ryan Helmlinger Matthew Heninger Zachary Hershey Aaron Ho Christopher Hoang Rusty Hodges William Hoganson Alexander Hoganson Hayden Hollenbeck Noah Holloway Joshua Holtzman Joyce Hong Chloe How Andrew Howard Alexander Howe Samuel Hsiang Amanda Hsu Charles Huang Jerry Huang Andrew Huang Grace Huang Gabriela Huckabee Daniel Huffman Katherine Hughes David Hughes Benjamin Humleker Alexandra Hummel Matthew Huo Wayne Huynh Matthew Hwang Vasil Iakimovitch Sebastian Ibarraran Catherine Im Chantal Iosso Varun Iyengar Isaac Iyengar Ajay Iyer Sveta Jagannathan Disha Jain Crim Jake Woorin Jang Paula Jaramillo Deepak Jayachandran Sruthi Jayaraman Jaehyun Jeon Eugene Jeong Keqian Jiang Andrew Jiao Caroline Jin Olivia Johann Olivia Johansson Marie Jones Randall Jones Sriharsha Jonnavithula Sharon Jose Suzanna Joseph Amit Joshi Joslyn Jung Amritha Justin Amrutha Kadali Samiksha Kale Prashanth Kallat Hiranya Kamdar Deborah Kang Alexander Kao-Sowa Tai Kao-Sowa Joseph Karaki Abhishek Karkar Sweta Karlekar Anish Karpurapu Vijaygopal Karumathil Prerana Katiyar Matthew Kaufer Sabria Kazmi Karl Keat William Kenefick Raef Khan Rayyan Khan Annam Khan Rajat Khanna Anjali Khanna Raghav Khator

Se Hyun Kim Suyon Kim JeewooKim Hannah Kim Taylor Kim Jean Kim Irene Kim Hyo Won Kim Devin Kim Hannah Kim Yeonju Kim Angelene Kim Samuel Kim Clara Kim Theresa Kim Ryan Kim Robert Kim Danny Kim Jia Kim Maximus Kim Margaret Kirtley Dylan Klapper Anna Klaussen Bailey Knight Raviteja Kodali Markus Koeniger Niharika Kokkirala Kavya Kopparapu Brandon Kosatka Nikki Kothari Devan Kowdley John Krause-Steinrauf Kayla Krieger Rishabh Krishnan Nicola Kubzdela Adarsh Kulkarni Advait Kulkarni Arya Kumar Calvin Kuo Shreya Kurdukar Seung Kweon Min Jae Kwon Joseph Kwon Thomas Lai Ava Lakmazaheri Jason Lam Ishan Lamba Rithika Lanka Rashid Lasker Sean Le Kevin Le Joshua Learn Seo Hyeon Lee Doyle Lee Meredith Lee Hanshin Lee Nichola Lee Justin Lee Yujung Lee Diane Lee Joel Lee Keaton Lee Michael Lee Rachel Lee Jonathan Lee Maxwell Lee Juhoon Lee Raymond Lemanski Justin Leung Christine Li Wan Li Rachel Li Andrew Li Hans Li Christine Li Grant Li Alison Li Zhihang Li Jennifer Li Michael Li Chelsea Li Michelle Liang Samuel Libberton Evan Lien Eli Lifland Linda Lin Kevin Lin Elizabeth Ling Indraneel Lingam Rebecca Linick Eric Link Jeffrey Liu Joyce Liu Jennifer Liu Samuel Liu Ethan Liu Jocelyn Liu

Ray Liu Jiazhen Liu Kevin Livingstone Evan London Timothy Lou Elizabeth Louie Calder Lowenthal Jerry Lu Alison Luckett Eldon Luk Anna Lulushi Alexander Lulushi Kobe Lum Richard Lun Jessica Ly Benjamin Lyons Rachel Ma Yinglun Ma Michael Mace Vikrant Magadi Geetika Mahajan Karthik Maiya Aaria Malhotra Nitika Malhotra Nipun Mallipeddi Sahith Malyala Janet Malzahn Ruchi Maniar Joffin Manjaly Olivia Marcantonio Gabriel Margolis Matthew Maribojoc Sophia Martinese Julia Martinez Rachel Martinka Anooshri Maskeri Dany Matar Nathan Mays Rebecca Mays Reilly McBride Danny McCray Marc McDonald Gabriela McDonald Jimmie McEver Ryan McFarlane Reilly McLaren Katherine McLaughlan Christian McMillin Thomas Mecherikunnel Daniel Medas Shreya Medepalli Divya Mereddy Austin Mills Madeleine Min Gopika Mini Aazrin Mir Ai Mochida Abhishek Mogili Sohail Mohanty Shweta Mohanty Kareem Mohiyuddin Hyung Ju Moon Christopher Morris Sophia Moses Cameron Mukerjee Vinay Mummareddy Nishita Muppidi Bhuvanesh Murali Calvin Muramoto Colin Murphy Anthony Murphy-Neilson Vishnu Murthy Nadia Mushtaq Justin Myalil Kristin Myers Rachel Naidich Kunal Naik Nira Nair Anjna Nair Hrishikesh Nair Yu Nakamura Rithvik Nalamalapu Andrew Nam Rhea Nandra Alyssa Nash Jacob Nash Erin NewRingeisen Helen Ngov Alexa Nguonly Anne Nguyen Vi Nguyen Thuy Vi Nguyen Justin Nguyen Anh-Huy Nguyen John Nguyen

31

APRIL 29, 2016

Not on the list? You can still buy a publications package until May 9. Visit www.yearbookordercenter.com and use order #13621.

Caroline Nguyen Catlinh Nguyen Curtis Nichols Shirali Nigam JaredNirenberg Christopher Niu Alice Nolan Joshua O’Cain Ellie Reilly Tristan Oaks Suhoon Oh Daniel Oh Shashank Ojha Joo Young Ok Madeline Old Christopher Oliveira Wassim Omais Elise Ong Gil Osofsky Anya Owsenek Yu Oyama Gayatri Pai Aishani Pal James Pan Virginia Pan Jefferson Pan Joshua Pan Rohan Pandit Mahima Pannala Augene Park Robin Park James Park William Park Maya Parker Sydney Parks Andrew Pasquerella Mollie Passacantando Surbhi Patel Maitri Patel Rushi Patel Varun Patel Reema Patel Josal Patel Rahul Patel Saurav Pattanayak Sayan Paul Kiersten Paul William Pemble Alex Peng Angel Peprah George Perry Lowrey Peyton William Peyton Akshith Peyyala Phillip Phan Kaitlin Phan Eric Phan Mishka Philizaire Ethan Phillips Benjamin Pioso Srijith Poduval Helen Poe Ryan Pope Thomas Porter Thejus Poruthikode Unnivelan Sri Raksha Pothapragada Melissa Pothen Swetha Prabakaran Jahnavi Prabhala Srivarshini Prabhu Shraddha Pradeep Tara Prakash Neeraj Prasad Harshavardhana Pratha Vikramaditya Pratha Mark Prettyman Tinell Priddy Jennifer Pruitt Katherine Pruitt Roshni Puli Tarun Punnoose Mark Putman Keerthi Puvvada Jiying Qi Young Qi Grace Qi Lilia Qian Emily Quan Shreya Raavicharla Naman Rai Rahul Rajan Gopika Rajanikanth Risheek Reddy Rajolu Bijal Rajput Akash Raju Nikhil Ramachandran Sanjay Ramakrishnan

Sunny Rampuria William Randolph Sishaar Rao Natasha Rao Sujay Ratna Ramya Ravi Sneha Ravi Kavyasri Ravikanti Aditya Ravipati Soham Ray Aneesh Reddy Vishal Reddy Nihal Reddy Pavan Reddy Justin Redman Connor Regen Steven Rehard Akhil Rekulapelli Clayton Reppert Claudia Richoux Victoria Riehle Kai Riley Austin Riopelle Nathan iopelle Jay Ha Ro Tanmaya Rodda Michael Rodriguez Peter Rohrer David Roll Allison Roush Sharmila Roychoudhury Alessandra Rozzi Daniel Rubin Alexander Rudin Charles Ruiter Joshua Rutzick Patrick Ryan Seok Ryu Bita Saeedi Rhea Sahai Mehran Sajjad Kevin Salassi Anusha Samant Frank Sammartino Jerius Samra Aidan San Antioch Sanders Omar Saracevic Rohini Sarkhel Suhas Sastry Nikita Sawant Nikita Saxena Dana Scheetz Alessandra Scholle Clarissa Scoggins Vlada Semicheva Bejoy Sen Melina Seng Dylan Seng Stephan Seo Luc Sequeira John Serger Kanvi Shah Rushi Shah Ravi Shankar Nirmaan Shanker Anahita Sharma Anshu Sharma Yash Shekar Katie Shen Anna Shen Daniel Shen Arpitha Shenoy Elizabeth Sherrock Saagar Sheth Alvin Shi Andrew Shi Mattia Shin Vikram Shivakumar Abigail Shoemaker John Short Ritika Shrivastav Kunal Shroff Meghna Sil Arnav Simha Vinay Simlot Anika Sindhwani Arun Singh Ria Singh Arshdeep Singh Pranay Singh Emilio Sison Nikita Sivakumar Daniel Skeen Jeongwoo Son Won Seok Song Johnson Song Won Seok Song Andrew Song Militsa Sotirova Stella Sotos William Spencer Nathaniel Sperry

Arvind Srinivasan Taejas Srinivasan Tarunikha Sriram Rishab Sriramoju Sun Lee Stechuk Kaila Stein Brian Stephan Michael Stepniczka Grace Stewart Jason Stranne Kody Stremick Nathan Stroh Sarah Sturken Tanvir Sublok Virginia Sun Virginia Sun Matthew Sun Edward Sun Emily Sun Eric Sun Sylesh Suresh Aneesh Susarla Varun Talwar Katie Tam Jenny Tan Rohan Taneja Tina Tarashi Samira Tavassoli Anna Thamasett Athilesh Thanigai Fionntan Thinnes Jason Thomas Nora Thompson D’Michael Thompson Erick Tian Frank Tian Arthur Tisseront Edward Tong Patrick Toulme Jade Traiger Sean Tran Tan Tran Helen Tran Jasper Treakle Cassidy Trinh Andrea Tse Ian Tucker Edward Tyles Phineas Ulmishek-Anderson Aarushi Upadhyaya Sitara Uppalapati Giancarlo Valdetaro Rohan Valluri Julian Vallyeason Albert Van Valkenburg Sebastian Vander Ploeg Fallon Michael Vanderlyn Rachel Vasta Niharika Vattikonda SAJNI VEDEREY Artemis Veizi Abhilaash Velamati Kaushik Venkatesh Dhriti Vij Aaraj Vij Patticha Vitsupakorn Vanya Vojvodic Joseph Waddington Akhil Waghmare Julia Wagner Keely Wan RandyWang Jeffrey Wang Angela Wang Lilian Wang Wendy Wang Shirley Wang Joie Wang KevinWang Danny Wang Andrew Wang Sophia Wang Franklyn Wang Ray Wang Henry Wang Emily Wang Carolyn Wang Andrew Wang Sarah Wang Shuxian Wang Christine Wang Alexander Wang Sara Warrington Lauren Wattendorf Christina Wei Jason Wei Spencer Weiss Millan Welman Phoebe Whitmore Charlotte Wickert

Adam Wilkie Fox Wilson Caulton Wilson Savannah Wilson Gabriel Wimmer Nyein-Chan Win Daniel Wisdom Camden Wiseman James Woglom Milana Wolff Mira Wroblewski Erica Wu Bernice Wu Gerald Wu Ethan Wu Arthur Wu Serena Xia Jeffrey Xia Ming Ray Xu Kevin Xu Anna Xu Bryan Xu Benjamin Xu Ruiran Xun Anuraag Yachamaneni Stella Yang Jaehee Yang Michael Yang Kathryn Yang Victoria Yang Jennifer Yang William Yao Roshni Yaradi Rohan Yaradi Nicholas Yoon Jessica York Lydia You Michael You Grace Young Haoxuan Yu Christopher Yuan Michael Yue Michelle Yue Alexandra Yun Demian Yutin Jackson Zagurski Diana Zavela Kathryn Zechman Albert Zeng Shirley Zhan Nova Zhang Andrew Zhang Fred Zhang Olivia Zhang Anna Zhang William Zhang Reed Zhang Natalie Zhang Alec Zhang Ran Zhang William Zhang Tiger Zhang Emma Zhang Cynthia Zhang Peter Zhao Haimeng Zhao Andrew Zhao Sophie Zhao David Zhao Jonathan Zheng Alan Zheng Jenny Zhu Brian Zhu Cynthia Zhuang Kevin Zou Emily Zou

“

PHOTO // Alexa Nguonly REPORTING // Alexa

YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY EVERYDAY. You have to face life. When you’re sad the day is still going on, so you have to be happy.

Learning to read is important because

UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND THE WORLD IS IMPORTANT.

WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO OUR PARENTS

because when we become parents, we can’t expect [our children] to listen to us unless we do the same to our parents.

School may [teach] you the basic things, but WHEN

YOU GO OUT TO WORK YOU DEAL WITH REAL WORLD PROBLEMS like people with different opinions.

FAMILY IS IMPORTANT; if you have any problems, you can always talk to your parents and siblings.

FOOD SERVICES

”

CONNIE CHOW || WHAT I VE LEARNED