The Mirror | June 2023

Untold narratives Parents, teachers and politicians clash over the new AP Black History class. CURRENT EVENTS 5

From doo-wop to disco The choir

program breathes new life into iconic songs from different eras. ENTERTAINMENT 19

Unsung heroes Out of sight, but not

out of skill, the boys tennis team has silently dominated the courts. ATHLETICS 22

OR theMIRR JUNE 2023 | Van Nuys High School | Van Nuys, California

SECTIONS CURRENT EVENTS 3 LIFESTYLE 7 OPINION 14 ENTERTAINMENT 17 ATHLETICS 22

AI

Brave new future or digital dystopia?

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vnhsmirror.com THE MIRROR | PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BEVERLY REGINO

| PAGE 2 |

JUNE 2023

THE MIRROR | BEVERLY REGINO

the MIRROR

Artificial intelligence isn’t just sci-fi movie stuff anymore:

An exclusive interview with

ChatGPT

A

n artificial intelligence (AI) innovation from OpenAI, ChatGPT is a far cry from mere sci-fi fantasies. It’s an active player in reshaping how we learn and operate. This mega-brain has shared its perspective in an exclusive interview, revealing the real-world impacts of AI. The discussion sheds light on AI’s evolution while highlighting its transformative role in the educational landscape. AI’s tremendous potential, as well as the significant hurdles it brings to the learning environment, are discussed in depth. The interview delves into hot-button issues like AI-induced hallucinations, copyright complications and ethical dilemmas related to AI’s integration into education. Practical tips are also provided for high school students eager to utilize AI tools like ChatGPT. However, the chatbot emphasizes that despite these digital advances, traditional critical thinking skills maintain their indispensable value.

information. Why is this happening?

How would you describe artificial intelligence at its basic core?

This is indeed a complex issue. AI generates outputs based on training data but doesn’t “know” the specifics of that data. It’s up to the users and developers to use the technology responsibly.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) at its core is a field of computer science that aims to create systems capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. These tasks include things like recognizing speech, making decisions, understanding natural language, and so on.

What are the major breakthroughs that allowed AI large language models to become what they are today?

The breakthroughs include advancements in machine learning algorithms, especially deep learning, more data to train on and the development of more powerful computer hardware. Also, innovations like the transformer architecture, which allows for better understanding of context in language, were key.

What are some of the primary advantages of using large language models in education?

Large language models can offer personalized learning, instant feedback and 24/7 availability.

They can assist in learning new languages, answering questions and aiding in essay writing.

What are some of the main issues with using large language models in education?

Issues include potential misinformation, lack of understanding of context and privacy concerns.

There’s also the risk of over-reliance, reducing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students.

AI has a malfunction in which it “hallucinates,” meaning that it generates incorrect or biased

AI models learn from vast amounts of data, and if that data contains incorrect or biased information, the AI can reproduce it. The AI doesn’t understand the information it processes, it simply predicts the next word or phrase based on patterns.

What kinds of copyright issues may arise from the use of large language models, since they don’t cite or credit their sources?

How effective will these ethical guidelines be in solving present issues?

Is society at a point where it is even possible to properly regulate AI? The effectiveness of guidelines will depend on the responsible adoption of these by the AI community. Proper regulation of AI is a complex issue, but efforts are being made in this direction.

Are you concerned about people becoming overreliant on AI large language models?

Balance is important. While AI can be a powerful tool, over-reliance could lead to issues. It’s essential to foster critical thinking and problemsolving skills in addition to using AI.

What are some of the best ways high school students can utilize ChatGPT?

How can users know whether the information they are receiving is factual and unbiased?

Users should cross-verify any important information provided by AI with other reputable sources. AI doesn’t replace human critical thinking, it augments it.

What ethical guidelines do you believe must be implemented for using large language models in education?

Ethical guidelines might include transparency about the tool’s limitations, privacy of user data, avoidance of bias and safeguards against misuse.

High school students can use ChatGPT for research, essay writing help, brainstorming and even learning new languages.

What percentage of the information generated by large language models like ChatGPT is factual and unbiased?

It’s difficult to quantify the exact percentage, as it depends on the input and how the model interprets it. It’s essential to treat AI outputs as suggestions and always cross-verify information from reliable sources. AI is a tool, not a source of absolute truth.

STUDENT VOICES

AI: Friend or foe?

Students standing at the precipice of their journeys into adult life are contemplating the possibilities, challenges and potential impact of AI large language models on their future. Some have concerns about job displacement, while others remain confident that AI poses no threat to the field they are planning to pursue, showing the intricate relationship between AI and the career opportunities of tomorrow.

When it comes to the professional field you are going into, are you threatened at all by AI large language models like ChatGPT?

“I want to pursue a job as a prosecutor or political figure.

I don’t think AI Marcela Aguirre poses a threat Aguilar to legal professions. Lawyers and prosecutors use human judgment to advocate for their clients and interpret laws. AI lacks the human touch needed to perform these tasks. It’s better suited for mundane assignments like research and paperwork, which could make legal professionals’ jobs easier. On the other hand, AI does threaten political jobs. AI can easily spread misinformation about a politician which could be detrimental to their career.”

“Once I graduate high school, my intended career is related to Ashley Calderon working on operating machines. I would work on maintaining them and making repairs if they’re needed. These machines can range from electrical systems to hydraulic and pneumatic systems. I would say that for my specific line of work, we don’t yet have the AI that can do those jobs but it’s likely there will be new AI that will take over many jobs. Some of these jobs consist of ride services since we’re seeing the advancement of self-driving cars, which is scary.”

“I plan on going into psychology and becoming a therapist, but Siv Nair I’m not sure specifically what kind yet. The field I wanna go into mostly deals with human emotion rather than dealing with logical thinking and writing which AI and ChatGPT tend to work with. Sites using AI tend to use information given to them from previous sources so it won’t necessarily be the most useful when trying to talk to someone. I feel like it can’t compete with human connections and emotions so it wouldn’t really be seen as competition for me in the future.”

“I do not think that AI will completely replace jobs in healthcare.

John Revilla A main reason is that some people do not trust AI or have a distaste towards it. Some people may prefer human interaction in the healthcare system. For example, I do not think nurses will be replaced anytime soon. Perhaps AI can help healthcare workers do their jobs more efficiently but not replace them entirely.”

THE MIRROR | CREATIVE VOICES PHOTOS BY NICOLE TOVAR

NEWS BRIEFS UC COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES | The

University of California (UC) application deadline was on Nov. 30. The application cost per household is $70, with the possibility of a waiver for parents below a certain income threshold. Acceptance letters started rolling out in February. The first wave of decisions came from UC Berkeley on Feb. 10, followed by UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 2. UC Riverside’s rolling admission decisions were released throughout March 1 to 31. UC Davis released its decisions on March 10, and UC Santa Cruz officially released decisions on March 15. On March 17, decisions were announced

by UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego and UC Irvine. Finally, UC Berkeley’s official decisions were released on March 30.

AP TESTING ENDS | The two-week-long

Advanced Placement (AP) testing period commenced with exams spanning various subjects. On May 1, U.S. government and politics exams were held in the morning, followed by chemistry and Spanish literature in the afternoon.

May 2 featured Chinese language and environmental science in the morning, and psychology in the afternoon.

English literature and composition, as well as comparative government and computer science A, took place on May 3. May 4 saw human geography and macroeconomics exams in the morning, followed by seminar and statistics in the afternoon. The morning of May 5 hosted European history and United States history exams, while art history and microeconomics were scheduled for the afternoon.

SBAC TESTING | Eleventh graders took the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests for the first time since their eighth-grade year. English Language Arts exams were completed in April, while math testing took place from May 15 to 19. All juniors participated in the math testing during their history classes, marking a significant milestone in their high school journey.

SATURDAY CLEAN-UP | Students had

the opportunity to clear their absences by participating in Saturday clean-up for one hour, an initiative aimed at beautifying the campus and promoting responsibility among students. By volunteering their Saturday mornings, students could contribute to creating a better school environment while addressing their absences. Five tardies equals to one detention. Participating in the event allows students to clear one detention. Students who haven’t cleared detentions by the end of this year should be aware that they will roll over into next year.

ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP | The Castro

Alumni Scholarship for Future Educators offered a $500 scholarship to aspiring educators in the Van Nuys area. Eligible students needed to have a minimum GPA of 3.0, to reside within five miles of Van Nuys High School and to receive acceptance into an accredited community college or university. To apply, students were required to complete an application and submit a one-page autobiography explaining their passion for education and their plans to give back to the community.

A letter of recommendation and proof of college acceptance were also necessary.

The deadline was May 25.

JUNE 2023 | 3

| CURRENT EVENTS |

the MIRROR

Strike leads to new contract

By Zachary Skolnick

F

THE MIRROR STAFF

or almost 20 years, Ms. Fe Reyes has been devoted to her role as a teacher’s aide at Van Nuys High School. However, beneath her cheerful demeanor, she fights a hidden personal battle— struggling to make ends meet to support her family.

“I work seven days a week,” she said. “Even with the wage increase, it is hard for me to be able to make a living wage. I had to get a second job on the weekends to afford goods at home for me and my daughter.”

After enduring years of low wages, inadequate benefits and a lack of respect, the school support staff within the district reached a critical breaking point.

This ignited an essential fight for workplace equity.

United in their struggle, workers across the district took a stand, supported by the solidarity of the United Teachers Los Angeles union members. Their banners held high and their voices echoing demands for fairness, members of the SEIU Local 99 Union sought improvements not only for their own working conditions, but also for the future of the countless students they serve.

Representing Education Workers United, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 encompasses Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino Counties. With a diverse membership of public and private education workers, this union

‘‘

We tried to get a contract for three years but nothing happened until we got together.”

Ms. Fe Reyes TEACHER’S AIDE

represents over 30,000 LAUSD teacher assistants, special education assistants, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other non-teaching staff.

In a significant show of strength, Local 99, backed by classroom teachers, staged a strike from March 21 to 23. This decision was not made on a whim.

“This was something beautiful and historical,” Ms. Reyes said.

“We tried to have a contract for three years but nothing happened until we got together. It made us stronger.”

The new contract promises a substantial 30 percent wage increase for union members, raising the minimum wage to $22.52 an hour and setting an average salary of $45,000 a year. It also ensures health benefits for parttime employees working over four hours a day and offers enhanced compensation and hours for paraprofessionals serving students with special needs.

Before the new contract, some SEIU employees had jobs that only paid minimum wage. According to the union, the average annual salary for members was $25,000, with the average worker working

COURTESY | COLIN RABAGO

CITY HALL RALLY Striking LAUSD service workers, supported by teachers, rallied in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. demanding higher wages.

only five to six hours a day.

Leaders from across the Local 99 community regularly convened to discuss the looming strike, ensuring full transparency about the union’s dialogue with the district.

“What we were out there doing is fighting for more, for better wages so that we could hire more people and provide better services to the students that we already serve,” Local 99 President Conrado Guerrero said. “We asked for respect for the workers, along with language for protecting ourselves from bullying and harassment on the work site.”

Despite challenges, including inclement weather, the three-day strike showcased the determination of Local 99. Guerrero emphasized how member leaders, staff, teachers and the community rallied together, undeterred by the continuous rain.

Alongside local backing, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lent her support to the union. She bridged the gap between LAUSD and the union by offering city hall as a neutral ground for negotiations, ultimately leading to the settlement between the union and the district.

“Her leadership was invaluable to us being able to reach an agreement,” Guerrero said. “When

we were ready to walk away, she kept going back and forth and it ended up being successful and caused us to reach an agreement.”

Furthermore, the district intends to allocate three million dollars towards an Education and Professional Development Fund for SEIU members. The language regarding respectful treatment and protection against harassment and bullying has also been updated.

“We were able to shut down the second-largest school district in the nation and we were able to get what we received,” Guerrero said. “Right now the membership is really riding high on their strength and moving forward.

They’re not going to hesitate to take action, they feel empowered.”

In addition to local issues, SEIU Local 99 persists in supporting state legislation, championing increased education funding.

Advocating for the past legislature, the union strives for equal opportunity for its members and the students they serve.

As the dust settles over this new contract, the union and its members stand at a pivotal moment. Their recent victory has demonstrated the power of collective action, offering union members hope for the challenges that still lie ahead.

COURTESY | COLIN RABAGO

SENIOR BREAKFAST CANCELLED

The graduating class of 2023’s Senior Breakfast, originally scheduled to take place on the morning May 26 in the small gym, was canceled for the first time due to a lack of interest from seniors, based on low ticket sales. Students have been asked to check their LAUSD emails for refund information. Eligibility to attend was determined based on the requirements outlined in the senior contract, including a limited number of absences and tardies. Senior Breakfast is one of the many year-end activities planned and sponsored by ASB.

30,000+ TURNOUT LAUSD service workers are joined by teacher’s union members in a show of solidarity as they protest in front of

LAUSD’s downtown headquarters for higher wages and better working conditions. The union estimated a turnout of over 30,000.

4 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

| CURRENT EVENTS |

Tackling the student loan crisis: The push to reform the process

By Allison Antonio & Angelina Kanno

A

THE MIRROR STAFF

t a staggering $1.757 trillion, student loan debt casts a long red shadow on the financial stability of those wrestling with monthly loan payments.

With an average monthly payment of about $299 and a typical repayment period stretching over 21 years, the weight of this debt can be crushing, but there may be relief ahead.

Introduced in the U.S. Congress by President Joe Biden in 2022, the Income-Driven Student Loan Forgiveness Act comprises three essential components, aiming to provide financial stability to American working families affected by the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic.

The first component focuses on providing debt relief to alleviate the financial burden caused by the pandemic. If the bill is passed, the Department of Education would be obligated to offer relief measures for student loan debt.

The second component aims to revamp the student loan system, making it more manageable for borrowers. This includes potential changes to the repayment structure and terms to ease the burden on individuals struggling with loan payments.

The final component focuses on reducing the excessive costs associated with college education.

The bill aims to lower the financial barriers by holding universities accountable for price hikes and working towards making higher education more affordable for prospective students.

If passed in its present form, the bill would direct the Department of Education to offer debt relief to address financial hardships caused by the pandemic. Additionally, it seeks to revamp the student loan system, making it more manageable for borrowers while lowering the exorbitant costs of college education. The bill also holds universities accountable for price hikes, ensuring that prospective students are protected.

To alleviate the economic burden inflicted by the covid-19 pandemic, eligible students could see up to $10,000 of their student loan debt wiped away, with the amount potentially increasing to $20,000

for recipients of Pell Grants. Mr. Arnulfo Castaneda, a college advisor burdened with his own student loans from his time at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), understands the weight of the student debt crisis firsthand.

“I’m familiar with the student debt crisis because I borrowed money for college, since I didn’t have enough to go,” he said. “I qualify for up to $20,000 because I received the Pell Grant, so I was part of the demographic that is in need of financial aid. That money will help me become debt free if it ends up getting [okayed] by the Supreme Court.”

However, the plan proposed by the Biden-Harris administration has faced significant delays due to legal challenges, including opposition from several Republican-led states. Nebraska took the lead in filing a lawsuit, with support from Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Arkansas, arguing that the Income-Driven Student Loan Forgiveness Act exceeds executive powers of the President.

U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey dismissed the challenge, stating that the six states lacked the judicial standing to sue.

Thorough research is essential to prevent the risk of falling into an endless cycle of debt when

‘‘

Eventually these students get into so much debt that they don’t even realize how much money they owe and it just ends up stacking up year after year.”

students decide to take out loans. It is crucial for them to be fully informed about the potential risks and rewards before committing to financing their education.

“I don’t think student loans are a bad investment, a lot of students just make their decisions not based on research,” Mr. Castaneda said. “As long as they’re informed and know what goes into taking out student loans and the process of paying them back then I think it’s completely fine to take out student loans. The reason is because investing into their education can potentially result in receiving a degree to get a high paying job.”

As the deadline for the Supreme Court’s decision on the fate of the Income-Driven Student Loan Forgiveness Act draws nearer, anxiety mounts among many individuals. The rejection of the act would dash their hopes of future loan forgiveness.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling will determine the future of student loan forgiveness,” Mr. Castaneda acknowledged. “If it is blocked, the prospects of student loan forgiveness seem unlikely in the near future. However, if the act is approved, it becomes increasingly plausible that we will extend student loan forgiveness to more and more students as the years progress.”

College Adviser Arnulfo Casteneda

BIG SHADOWS, BIGGER LOANS

Students loans continue to rise every single year as government financial aid isn’t enough to cover college students’ tuition. The IncomeDriven Student Loan Forgiveness Act could make or break it for these students.

THE MIRROR | BEVERLY REGINO

Time is ticking for TikTok. The future of the social media app remains uncertain, as Congress has deemed it a national security threat.

By Allison Antonio

I

THE MIRROR NEWS & FEATURES EDITOR

n December, Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” requiring the removal of the social media app from federal agencies’ technological devices. The Biden administration made this decision in response to escalating security concerns tied to the Chinese government.

TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese internet technology company, which has come under scrutiny after four of its employees reportedly accessed data from journalists at BuzzFeed News and The Financial Times. This incident led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to warn the U.S. government about ByteDance’s potential access to TikTok users’ information.

Some, however, question this action. Senior Gia Rizvi, for example, understands the government’s concerns to some extent but disagrees with the passed bill.

“I personally think it’s mindless,” she said. “I get the original intention for banning TikTok on government devices, but I don’t think it’s helping anyone or our country.”

Efforts were made to extend the ban to all devices in the United States, but explicit information is lacking due to the closed-door operations of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The topic resurfaced when

Congress held a hearing with TikTok’s CEO to discuss concerns about the app posing a national security risk.

During the five-hour hearing, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee dominated the conversation, while TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew kept his responses TIK TALKING TikTok’s logo may be less succinct. The entire ordeal visible if Congress gets its way. was broadcast by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and posted on YouTube.

Beneath the video, comments from viewers expressed dissatisfaction with Chew’s treatment. This sentiment is prevalent across various social media platforms. Rizvi, too, believes Congress was disrespectful towards the CEO. “They mispronounced his name often and they especially did not let him speak,” she said. “There were multiple instances where they would ask him an open-ended question and when he tried to explain, they would interrupt by claiming that it’s a yes or no question when it really wasn’t.”

Some observers have characterized the lawmakers’ behav-

ior at the hearing as xenophobic. They argue that other social media apps engage in similar practices, yet Congress appears to single out TikTok due to its presumed ties to China.

“Apps like Instagram and Facebook collect data from users just like TikTok,” Rizvi said. “The difference is that the U.S. government doesn’t like TikTok because they think it’s connected with China, but their association hasn’t been proven so their treatment towards TikTok and its CEO feels targeted.”

Given limited opportunities to speak, Chew outlined a plan known as Project Texas, aiming to relocate all U.S. user data to domestic servers. The initiative would also allow tech firm Oracle to examine the app’s source code and serve as a third-party monitor. He claimed it could be implemented by year’s end.

Yet, this proposal did not sway many lawmakers, who remained skeptical. Among them was Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte, who asserted that Project Texas could not provide the assurance the government sought.

As Congress’ stance on TikTok remained unchanged following the hearing, the app continues to be viewed as a potential security concern. Should a nationwide ban occur, over 150 million Americans who embraced the platform would be affected.

“TikTok is my main source of entertainment,” senior Diana Zalmanov said. “It’s a platform that allows people to express their creativity by posting different types of videos so I would hate for it to be shut down.”

JUNE 2023 | 5

| CURRENT EVENTS |

the MIRROR

OVER HEARD

BLACK POWER Figures in

African American history (clockwise from bottom center): Rosa Parks, W.E.B Dubois, Thurgood Marshall, Maya Angelou, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, Toni Morrison, Ida B. Wells and Malcolm X.

‘‘

It was some fierce competition. Except for David Gonzales, boy did he screw up.”

Sabrina Chase talking about

the Student vs. Faculty Mario Kart tournament on May 24.

I have been having a pretty backed up week with all the planning for spirit week and projects needing to be turned in.

It was nice to be able to

forget about them and spend some time to create my own succulent that I can take care of. It really helped me relax and forget about my worries.

Jesse Grandin on the Succulent Pot Making hosted in the Quad during Mental Health Awareness month

My experience made me feel like I started too late cause at the end of my season, I wish I never stopped playing volleyball with the people I enjoy most.

Leo Mokhtari on the Student vs.

Faculty Volleyball Game during lunch on April 26.

Four years went by quick, from walking past the hallways to get to our next class to walking up on stage wearing our cap and gown leaving those 4 teenage years behind. Finding our own path into the adult world.

Jackie Recinos on ther thoughts about the upcoming Graduation on June 9.

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to share in front of my peers. Getting to hear all that they’ve worked on throughout the year really validated my pride in my magnet and how much dedication the school puts into our little class.”

Ava Boris on the Medical Magnet Symposium on May 22

HISTORICAL IMAGES CREATIVE COMMONS

AP African American Studies quietly rolling out next semester

By Lindsay Han & Mia Ramirez

T

THE MIRROR STAFF

he College Board’s newly launched Advanced Placement course in African American Studies has sparked nationwide controversy. This has left a diverse group of politicians, parents, students and academic leaders at odds regarding the course’s content and relevance.

The course faced especially harsh backlash in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s education department labeled its teachings as “indoctrination.” They announced intentions to ban the course from Florida high schools unless the curriculum was revised. The National Parents Union was outraged by the decision to block the course.

Shortly after Florida’s threatened ban, the College Board released the official curriculum for the new course, which had been revised.

Governor DeSantis maintained that his “principled stand for education over identity politics” prompted this nationwide revision.

The revised curriculum addresses many of Florida’s concerns by omitting certain topics or categorizing them as optional.

The upcoming 2023-2024 academic year will see Van Nuys High School offering AP African American Studies for the first time. Despite the controversy, the course’s introduction follows its successful pilot year, which was rolled out in approximately 60-70 schools across the country. Social science teacher Ms. Aditi Mehta Doshi, will be teaching the course here.

“I am very grateful that the school is offering this opportunity,” Ms. Doshi said. “I feel a sense of responsibility to do this course justice and to ensure students are exposed to the discipline of African American studies.”

The curriculum for African American Studies stands out from other AP history classes as it focuses on a broad spectrum of knowledge.

According to Ms. Doshi, the interdisciplinary nature of the course makes it exciting.

“It is going to combine elements of history, literature, art, music, data analysis and we are going to study the African American experience with all these types of sources,” she said.

Ms. Doshi is confident about the availability of resources to support students’ learning about the various aspects of African American history and culture. She emphasizes that instructors and students need to work diligently to develop and organize resources over time.

The main objective of the course is to delve deeper into African American history than what is typically covered in American History courses. Ms. Doshi explains that the course aims to explore the complex stories that encompass the full spectrum of the African American experience in America.

“The class is going to allow us to study the complex narratives that get the full humanity of the black experience in America,” Ms. Doshi said. “African American Studies has its own themes and narratives that are not shared with the broader American narratives.”

During the course, students will explore different facets of black history and the African diaspora. They will also complete an independent research project on a topic of their choosing. According to Ms. Doshi, this will provide them with the chance to learn how to conduct college-level academic research and explore a topic that is meaningful to them in-depth.

The launch of this new course has thus far been free of local controversy. However, the relevance and importance of the course has been a subject of debate since its inception.

Governor DeSantis criticized newer topics in

the curriculum, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and black queer studies. He deemed these “problematic” and barred the class from Florida until they were removed.

The College Board removed the disputed topics the following month after Governor DeSantis’s January statement. However, they denied that the governor’s remarks instigated their updated curriculum, providing evidence showing that the course’s revision process started in December 2022.

“College Board claimed that these topics were removed not because of political controversy, but because there wasn’t enough time in the schedule to teach the course,” History Department Chairman and social science teacher Mr. Jacob Ferrin said.

Both Ms. Doshi and Mr. Ferrin agree that any debate against the validity of this course is outrageous and inarguable.

“The idea that this class quote on quote lacks educational purpose is frankly madness,” Mr. Ferrin said. “American history classes in the U.S. have so historically underrepresented if not completely changed and bastardized the history of African American people in this country to such a great extent that if you try having conversations with normal people, they don’t know things.”

The marginalization of certain communities in the mainstream study of U.S. history has been a continuous issue. Ms. Doshi believes it is imperative that students and teachers strive for a complex understanding of different community experiences.

“We have a responsibility, as students, as teachers, to come to a complex understanding of different community experiences,” Ms. Doshi said. “Whether we’re talking about the African American community or the Latino community or the Asian community.”

6 | JUNE 2023

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| CURRENT EVENTS |

COURTESY | LEVI MEIR CLANCY

L.A. River Master Plan aims to reinvigorate the city

By Angelina Gevorgyan & Angelica Venturina

A

THE MIRROR EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

devastating flood demolished over a thousand homes and bridges 85 years ago, prompting a clear and immediate response: lining the city’s namesake river with concrete to ensure the safety of people and businesses.

At an impressive 51 miles long, the Los Angeles River winds its way from the peak of Canoga Park to the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach.

Since the 1700s until the construction of the California Aqueduct, the river served as a vital water source on which local communities relied. Yet, a day of heavy rain in 1938 caused the river to break its banks, resulting in a flood viewed as the river's death knell. Following this event, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers embarked on a project to pour 3.5 million barrels of cement into the river.

Once a bountiful resource, the river was suddenly turned into a freeway to channel floodwater from the mountains to the ocean. In response, the L.A. River Revitalization project was born, aimed at mitigating the destructive effects of concretizing the river.

Conceived by the renowned architect Frank Gehry, also the architect of the

iconic downtown Disney Concert Hall, the project's objective is to enrich the lives of river-adjacent communities. The plan includes the construction of parks, trails and affordable housing, as well as ensuring clean water provision and job creation.

The far-reaching influence of any L.A. river revitalization plan on its diverse neighboring communities necessitates more than merely engineering prowess.

The L.A. River Master Plan, for instance, called for the expertise of a landscape architect.

At the helm of this initiative is Jessica Henson, a partner at OLIN Group. She guides the Los Angeles Studio and heads design projects and planning aimed at fostering environmentally and socially resilient infrastructure.

“A lot of departments of public works across the county focus really singly on infrastructure," she said. "I think the breakthrough was that this plan can't just focus on infrastructure, it has to focus on people and culture.”

In her projects, Henson utilizes her expertise on applying landscape architecture to create more equitable and successful communities in rural and urban regions of the city. She studies the

relationships between social, cultural and hydrological factors of communities and works to integrate them sustainably with one another through her initiatives.

In a series of meetings with stakeholders, technical experts and neighborhood representatives, Henson and her team collected feedback about the community's relationship with and hopes for the future of the L.A. River.

“We want to be very focused on how we enhance the lives of people so it makes us really interested in what a neighborhood really wants," she said. "A lot of planning and landscape architecture was very topdown focused, and that’s pretty outdated at this point. We're trying to create more tailored community strategies, and in order to do that we wanna hear from the community about what they need.”

Despite the presence of wildlife reserves and natural landscapes throughout the county, the territories that include mountains and basins are starkly fragmented due to the intensive urbanization of L.A. Consequently, the L.A. River Master Plan emphasizes connectivity, aiming to link these natural regions and integrate them smoothly with the surrounding urban areas.

At the heart of the L.A. River Master Plan are nine primary goals focused on revitalizing the river and the surround-

HYDRO HIGHWAY The Los Angeles River is currently a 51-mile concrete channel that's main job is to prevent flooding. A new masterplan envisions landscaped parks and trails lining the shores.

ing regions. These include reducing flood risks, enhancing parks and wildlife reserves, improving ecosystems, increasing access, fostering arts and culture, making housing more affordable and promoting community engagement and educational opportunities. Moreover, the plan aims to improve the quality and supply of water.

The L.A. River Revitalization project aims to give communities not only access to basic necessities but also the opportunity to enjoy open public spaces and robust infrastructure. The planners implemented a data-based methodology to ensure that the needs of all areas and communities are met effectively.

With an estimated budget of $25 billion over the next 25 years, the plan involves multiple federal government agencies. Funding will come from federal, state and county streams.

Henson is now broadening her scope, focusing on the Headwaters Area Project and the Rio Hondo Confluence Area Project.

“These are projects now coming out of the plan, as the county is moving more towards development,” she said. “These processes are now helping communities design their stretch of the river.”

L.A. River Revitalization

Canoga Park

HEADWATERS

The Los Angeles River stretches for 51 miles from the headwaters at Canoga Park High School to the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach. The riverbed was converted to a concrete channel beginning in 1938 to help stop uncontrolled urban flooding.

Van Nuys

PIERCE COLLEGE LAKE BALBOA PARK

CASTLE PARK

Encino

Burbank

SHERMAN OAKS FASHION SQUARE

WARNER BROS. STUDIOS

Sherman Oaks CBS STUDIOS

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

ZOO

Studio City TO LONG BEACH & PACIFIC OCEAN THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO AGUIRRE

CAMPUS LIFE

BRIEFS

SPIRIT WEEK | ASB hosted a lively

Class Wars Spirit Week, spanning from May 22 to May 26. The week kicked off with College Day, where students showcased their collegiate pride by donning college apparel.

Tuesday's Dress for Success day encouraged students to dress in attire reflecting their aspiring careers. On Walking Yearbook day, students sported all-white outfits and carried markers to collect signatures. Thursday transformed the campus into a tourist destination as students dressed up like tourists.

Wrapping up the week, Color Wars Day ignited class spirit with seniors in red, juniors in black, sophomores in grey, and freshmen in white.

BSAP AWARDS | The Black

Student Union (BSU) pulled out all the stops to host an unforgettable and prestigious event, the BSAP awards ceremony. This event was dedicated to honoring the incredible achievements of Black seniors as they soared towards their high school graduation. It was an evening brimming with joy, laughter and an overwhelming sense of community, as families and fellow Black students joined hands to revel in the brilliance that radiated from these young trailblazers. The ceremony took place on May 24 at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria. Seniors were recognized with certificates and received cords to wear at their graduation ceremony, celebrating their accomplishments alongside their families and fellow black students.

CHALK IT UP TO KINDNESS | Students were swept up in a whirlwind of positivity and inspiration as they dived into the remarkable and uplifting event that unfolded on May 23 during lunch. They orchestrated the uplifting Kindness Chalk Message event. Students were equipped with chalk distributed in the quad, encouraging them to write positive messages throughout the school.

The event aimed to foster a culture of kindness and spread affirmations across various hallways and floors.

JUNE 2023 | 7

| CURRENT EVENTS |

the MIRROR

Trash talk: Litter plagues campus THE MIRROR | KEELY DUARTE

By Rain Santos

T

THE MIRROR STAFF

he campus of Van Nuys High School, with its grassy quad and mature shade trees, offers comfort to a diverse community, encompassing not just students and staff, but also local wildlife. A staggering population of squirrels call the campus home, a phenomenon that can be traced back to a single cause: trash.

From wasted cafeteria food to crumbs from crushed Doritos, this trash keeps the campus squirrels well fed and populous.

Custodian Mr. Orlando Gardea is weary after dealing with students who have the habit of not cleaning up after themselves.

“These kids, they’ll have a trash can next to them and they won’t use it," he said.

The squirrel community at Van Nuys High School has won the heart of Mr. Gardea.

Initially, he fed them peanuts, later switching to sunflower seeds due to concerns about student peanut allergies.

Nevertheless, the trash students leave behind presents a far greater burden for Gardea than any mess made by squirrels. The students' actions, however unintentional, have a detrimental impact. Their littering, often a result of sheer laziness to locate the nearest trash bin, undoes the painstaking efforts invested in maintaining the campus's beauty.

"There is a lot of littering, and I find it very sad because we have a beautiful campus," senior Eliza Khodar said.

Littering often stems from an absence of personal responsibility, with individuals expecting custodians like Mr. Gardea to manage their discarded items.

Senior Raina Marangattu acknowledges that she has noticed litter scattered around the campus. Yet, she frequently bypasses it rather than actively cleaning up. With the constant bustle of classes and lunch lines, students overlook the litter issue.

Nevertheless, the school is actively addressing the problem. Detention programs like trash

‘‘

If we could try to change our students' mindset, and have them appreciate where they are getting educated for the next four years, then maybe we might see some change.”

Ms. Tracey Kim

SCIENCE TEACHER AND HEART OF NATURE CLUB ADVISER

pickup are proof of this proactive approach.

Among these initiatives is Saturday Clean Up, where students spend their Saturday mornings tidying up the campus. This annual event has successfully curbed littering and fostered a more accountable school community. It's part of the School-Based Management (SBM) program, which maintains a disciplinary committee that sets incentives and penalties for students infringing on school policies.

An hour of participation in this cleanup event can substitute for one detention. These cleanup sessions commence in the lecture hall with a discussion about the importance of punctuality and the effects of littering on campus, followed by litter collection and tasks like moving library boxes. Deans supervise to ensure safe and productive participation.

The troubling litter issue on campus extends beyond the visible trash, hinting at

TRASH PICKERS An influx of squirrels can be seen in the Quad after lunch or nutrition, going through trash or picking leftovers left behind by students.

a deeper concern: students' lack of respect and school ownership, according to science teacher Ms. Tracey Kim. Boosting school spirit and providing incentives for campus care could counteract this lack of respect, Ms. Kim suggests. One idea is a campus beautification project, such as tree planting. The possibility of earning community service hours, she believes, might encourage active student participation.

But altering students' attitudes and behaviors isn't an overnight process. It will take time, persistence and a focus on more than just punishment for littering. Fostering a sense of school pride and encouraging students to take responsibility for their actions should be at the heart of this movement.

“If we could try to change our students' mindset, and have them appreciate where they are getting educated for the next four years, then maybe we might see some change,” Ms. Kim said.

There is hope that this approach can create a healthier, more appealing environment, benefitting not just the resident squirrels, but all members of the campus community.

BUILD YOUR OWN SUCCULENT GARDEN | Psychiatric social work-

ers Ms. Katherine Stockly and Ms. Karina Lares teamed up with the Heart of Nature club to facilitate the creation of students' own succulent gardens. Materials for building these gardens were made available in the quad during lunch on May 25. This event aimed to provide students with an opportunity to relax, unwind and practice coping mechanisms through the therapeutic act of gardening.

MARIO KART MADNESS |

Lavender Club hosted an exhilarating student versus faculty Mario Kart tournament in the small gym during lunch on May 24. Tickets for the tournament were available for presale at the student store during nutrition and lunch, priced at $1 until the day of the event. Additionally, tickets could be purchased at the door for $2. Students eagerly participated, taking on their teachers in a fierce Mario Kart competition.

DECLUTTER WITH PURPOSE | Following the completion of Advanced Placement (AP) exams, the library opened its doors to receive donations of used AP review books. The library accepts books that are relatively recent and contain up-to-date information. At present, the library has not received any donations, making all books welcome contributions. As a gesture of appreciation, donors will receive a small trinket to acknowledge their generosity.

Fueling students and funding programs

By Mia Ramirez

THE MIRROR | NICOLE TOVAR

A

THE MIRROR STAFF

s soon as the break bell rings, students eagerly gather around the student store's window during lunch and nutrition, drawn to the wide variety of snacks and treats available.

According to Mr. Luis Cornejo, a school staff member who works at the student store, more than 800 kids purchase items from the store daily. From Lemon Lays and Powerade to red velvet cookies, it serves as the ultimate beverage and snack destination.

Grand G&G Inc., the district-approved vendor, supplies all the snacks available at the store. Each snack is priced at $1, while drinks are offered at $1.50. Many students prefer buying snacks from the student store instead of using the vending machines, which charge an inflated price of $1.25.

What remains unknown to many students about the student store is its contribution to various school programs, despite its low prices.

"We strive to give back to the student body as much as possible," Mr. Cornejo explained.

The student store contributes a substantial amount of money to the sports program throughout the year, ranging from $12,000 to $15,000.

This funding is allocated to cover the expenses of game officials.

Members of the Associated Student Body (ASB) also access funds through the student store.

"Having these funds is essential because they not only enable us to acquire necessary resources but also allow ASB to create highly entertaining and enjoyable events,” explained ASB Vice President Brianna Carrillo.

STORING FUNDS With students flooding the cafeteria during lunch and

nutrition, the student store caters to students willing to pay for snacks.

Title 1 Coordinator Ms. Milagro Medrano anticipates an upcoming decline in funds for the 2023-2024 school year.

"Next year, we are facing a $3 million deficit compared to our current budget," she said. "Although concerning, we will always prioritize essential resources for our students when budgeting."

One contributing factor to this deficit is the decreasing interest from entertainment companies to rent the school as a location to film commercials, TV shows and movies.

Given the impending budget cuts, the revenue generated by the student store will assume an even greater significance.

8 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

| LIFESTYLE |

The impact of attendance: More than just marks THE MIRROR | KEELY DUARTE

Punctuality has an unseen influence on school revenue

sters school funding, which gives back to the students in ways like providing more textbooks and field trips.

By Olamide Olumide THE MIRROR STAFF

E

mmanuella Akinleye, a freshman, found her breaths shortening while her thighs burned. It was freezing cold, but that was the least of her worries.

She sprinted towards the main building's doors, acutely aware that lateness was inevitable. Glancing at her phone, panic set in when she saw 8:31 a.m. on the screen. As she looked up, a long line of nonchalant students awaited their tardy passes. Their leisurely pace suggested little concern for tardiness, adding an estimated 10 minutes to her delay.

Upon entering her first-period biology class, Akinleye handed her tardy slip to the teacher. Marked 8:42, it caught the attention of her fellow students as the door clicked behind her. Their focus shifted to her tardiness, despite her being only a minute late to school.

She was left to bear their penetrating stares.

“It's unfair,” she said, exasperated. “If I'm already at school by 8:31, there's no point in getting marked as tardy.”

This year, administrators put a strong emphasis on the school's attendance and tardy policies. However, students often view the consequences as excessively harsh.

According to the tardy policy, an automated phone call and email are sent home after a student's first three tardies. If a student accumulates more than four, they must serve detention and their parent is required to meet with a counselor to discuss the issue.

While these potential consequences may appear intimidating, there are methods for students to clear their records. They can attend detentions or participate in Saturday campus cleanup activities to reduce their absences and tardies.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS Student attendance bol-

Despite these facts, the school is taking extreme measures to emphasize the importance of attendance, indicating there's more to it than simply desiring punctual and present students.

The shift to distance learning during the covid-19 pandemic quickly normalized the practice of students simply rolling out of bed and logging in to school, all without the risk of tardiness.

During the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year, student absences totalled 6,895.

This figure rose to 9,270 in the first semester of the following year.

In the 2021-2022 school year, the school lost $70.14 per absent student. Absences last year resulted in a loss of around $2.5 million, with an average monthly loss of $234,060.

Assistant Principal Anabel Bonney noted that the rising numbers of tardies and absences this year led the faculty to strictly enforce existing tardy policies with added penalties, hoping to inspire punctuality.

It's not just the school's image that benefits from perfect attendance — it also bolsters its funding.

Funding from the district is determined by the school's attendance rates, with each

student's presence playing a crucial role. This serves as the district’s method of compensating the school for maintaining an attending student population.

“The school gets attendance money for every student in class,” Ms. Bonney said. “The district does give a little bit of money to the school as a way to say ‘Hey, you got students to come into school.’”

Funds generated through student attendance are funneled into an Instructional Materials Account (IMA), which is then distributed among all departments including science, math, history, English, PE and electives.

“Every teacher gets a portion of that money that they can use to buy classroom supplies,” Ms. Bonney said. “The departments can also use it to purchase things for the classroom, such as subscriptions to certain websites and programs that they may need. It depends on their needs, but all the money is spent to benefit the students in the classroom.”

In addition, Ms. Bonney pointed out that when a student skips class, the school loses a portion of its funding. Thus, chronic absenteeism could seriously affect the school's finances, potentially leading to staff reductions.

After learning about the financial implications of attendance rates, some students express uncertainty. They question if a teacher's push for better attendance is for the students' benefit, or a means to secure payment.

However, Ms. Bonney underscores that the school's intentions are purely to motivate regular attendance.

“Teachers will get paid regardless of if the students show up or not,” she clarified. “However, if too many students are absent, it is the responsibility of the teacher to encourage the students to come to school, make phone calls home and to inform the administration of any attendance concerns they may have because the student is missing too many school days.”

Students should get eight hours of sleep… in your dreams Behind their baggy eyes, too many teenagers are severely sleep deprived

THE MIRROR | BEVERLY REGINO

By Allison Antonio

P

THE MIRROR NEWS & FEATURES EDITOR

eering at her phone, she sighed upon seeing the time.

It was a little after 1 a.m.

Her AP Environmental Science homework was in front of her, completed after a laborious two hours.

Next, her gaze landed on her AP Art History textbook. Despite her exhaustion, she still had assignments left to tackle.

For senior Mikayla Lorenzo, this late-night homework grind — instead of the restful sleep she should be getting — has become an all-too-familiar routine. She manages just three to four hours of sleep on school nights, significantly less than the recommended eight or more hours.

In a school poll, 85 percent of the 62 participating students confessed to getting less than eight hours of sleep per night.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emphasizes the benefits of adequate sleep, which are a better mood, clearer thinking and improved performance in school or work. Insufficient sleep can lead to the opposite effects.

Despite being aware of these risks, students find it challenging to get enough sleep due to their hectic daily schedules. Lorenzo, for instance, tried to implement a sleep schedule, but the overwhelming nature of her responsibilities made it ineffective.

“I have tried a sleep schedule but I just can’t sleep if I know I haven’t prepared or studied enough for school,” Lorenzo said.

NIGHT OWL Senior Kaden Wright encounters more of his creative endeavors at night compared to the day.

Lack of sleep affects Lorenzo's test performance, leaving her unsatisfied. She frequently thinks back on how improved recall of her studied materials could have boosted her scores.

Despite her disappointment over the consequences of not getting enough sleep, Lorenzo feels helpless to change her situation. She dives into her homework as early as possible and heads straight to bed once she's done.

The Child Mind Institute recognizes the amount of assignments as the third leading cause of sleep deprivation. While more familiar culprits like biology and technology usage overshadow this issue, Lorenzo wishes it garnered more discussion.

“I know it’s inevitable if a student is taking hard classes, but schools should spread awareness on a subject and its workload,” she said.

With school and homework dominating their schedules, many students find little time for hobbies and interests. However, a few, like senior Kaden Wright, manage to engage in their creative pursuits after completing schoolwork.

In order to wrap up his work as quickly as possible, Wright makes it a point to stay focused and avoid distractions.

“I don’t get distracted with my phone while doing work,” he said. “I scroll on Instagram for maybe an hour before sleeping but other than that I don’t use social media much at all.”

While excessive screen time and social media are commonly blamed for sleep deprivation among students, Lorenzo believes this is often overemphasized. Instead, she reserves her gaming time for weekends to keep her focus on academic tasks.

The struggle to balance sleep and school is a constant throughout students' academic years. While there's no universal solution, a few strategies like efficiently spacing out assignments and seeking help when homework becomes difficult could potentially increase sleep hours.

Improving sleep hygiene could also involve avoiding phone screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime.

“The biggest influence on our sleep hygiene is light, and the best ways to limit exposure to it is putting your phone away at least 30 minutes before going to bed,” Psychiatric Social Worker Ms. Kat Stockly explained.

In order to maximize sleep, students may need to reconsider the time used for school responsibilities and personal interests.

“If you feel like you need more rest then listen to your body,” Ms. Stockly said. “If you have a lot of homework, then at least take a few moments to relax your body. But I definitely recommend prioritizing sleep.”

the MIRROR

JUNE 2023 | 9

| LIFESTYLE | THE MIRROR | SHAHEN AKOPYAN

Team places tenth at Science Olympiad regional competition

COURTESY | SHAHEN AKOPYAN

By Olamide Olumide

T

THE MIRROR STAFF

he Science Olympiad team clinched first place in Anatomy and Physiology, ranked second in Environmental Chemistry and came fourth in It’s About Time, a physics and building event at the regional competition last February.

They also performed well in Chemistry Lab, Astronomy, Dynamic Planet and Forestry, securing top ten spots.

Yet, despite excelling in individual categories, the team’s overall tenth-place regional finish fell short of the advancement threshold for the state competition that kicked off in early April, after a series of invitational competitions in October.

Each year in February, Science Olympiad stages regional, state and national competitions. Teams progress through each level based on their performance.

Featuring fiercely competitive teams of 15 students each, the Science Olympiad program prompts collaboration to tackle challenges across 23 unique events covering a spectrum of scientific disciplines.

Raina Margaruttu, the Science Olympiad Captain, notes the club’s broad selection of topics, ranging from biology to engineering. The diversity of options, she asserts, ensures a high likelihood of students discovering an event that aligns with their interests.

“The program offers a platform to explore participants’ passion for engineering and science through designing and building innovative projects like a tennis ball launcher, bridge or even a plane,” Margaruttu said.

For the team from Van Nuys High School, it was their first time participating in an in-person competition, a stark contrast to the online contests they’d become accustomed to over the years.

“None of us had ever been to an in-person competition, so there were more nerves this year,” Margaruttu said. “There were more regulations and materials needed for in-person competition, but thankfully with the help of Ms. Rickelmann and other science teachers, we managed to make all the last-minute adjustments.”

Margaruttu emphasized that, akin to other extracurricular activities and sports, Science Olympiad fosters community building. It offers members an avenue to make friends and others who share their interests.

“Science Olympiad provides bonding opportunities for members through team dinners, group activities and team traditions while also broadening their understanding of scientific concepts and inspiring them to pursue careers in science and engineering,” she said.

While Science Olympiad shares the broader goal of science education with regular science classes, it differs significantly. The club emphasizes team collaboration to solve specific problems, offering students a more comprehensive understanding of scientific topics.

“Without Science Olympiad, I wouldn’t have learned about the experimental components of science in high school,” Margaruttu said.

Aside from a keen interest in science, no specific requirements restrict students from joining the Science Olympiad.

THE SCIENCE BRAINIACS The Science Olympiad team led by

captain Raina Margaruttu places tenth in the regional competition this school year.

SCIENCE WIZARDS The Science Bowl team, led by captains Shahen Akopyan and Jacob Merida competed in this year’s tournament, placing

in the top 20 after two years of Zoom competitions. They plan on recruiting more members to train and to come back stronger than ever next year.

Science Bowl: A battle of

‘‘

knowledge and know-how

By Olamide Olumide

“W THE MIRROR STAFF

hich human body organ is composed of nephrons?”

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Five seconds to answer...

“The kidneys!” Josh Paramban shouted.

Four points were awarded to the school’s Science Bowl team in the first round of this year’s LAUSD regional competition against Larchmont High School, along with a chance at a 10-point bonus question.

Science Bowl is an exhilarating Jeopardy-style competition that immerses participants in the vast realm of science. Each year, schools from across the district come together for a battle of knowledge and know-how.

The ultimate prize is an invitation to the National Tournament.

This year, the school fielded two teams. Team A consisted of Captain Shahen Akopyan, Trenton Ayson, Raina Marangattu, Srijesh Molala and Abhinav Nair, while Team B included Captain Jacob Merida, Rushfiq Hossain, Iftykhar Ifty, Edgar Lalafarian and Paramban. Both teams competed independently.

Similar to sports teams with a Junior Varsity and Varsity distinction, Team A boasted seasoned participants, while Team B comprised Science Bowl newcomers.

Although the school’s team achieved a commendable top-20 placement at the regionals in March, only the victorious North Hollywood High School Team A advanced to the National Tournament in Washington D.C. Contestants face an unpredictable array of questions, requiring acute intellect and comprehensive mastery. The thrill lies in the unknown, as competitors are not privy to the questions or topics in advance.

Teams race against

THE MIRROR | KEELY DUARTE

I’ve got Ms. Kim to thank for bringing me into this world and showing me how fun Science Bowl can be.”

Science Bowl Team Captain Shahen Akopyan

the clock, relying on their individual preparation and collective brilliance to outshine their rivals.

Preparation for Science Bowl requires extensive individual studying as team members are expected to possess a wide range of knowledge across various scientific branches. According to Ms. Tracey Kim, participation in Advanced Placement (AP) classes is advantageous for the program.

“Questions could span from college-level biology to chemistry,” Ms. Kim explained. “Taking AP classes certainly aids in preparation, although most students must rely on independent study.”

Although not mandatory, taking AP classes enhances one’s chances of success in Science Bowl competitions.

The questions posed during the competition tend to be more advanced, making AP coursework valuable for effective preparation.

Beyond the pursuit of victory, Science Bowl fosters skills essential for thriving in the scientific realm. Critical thinking, rapid problem-solving and effective teamwork serve as cornerstones in this intellectual arena, ultimately preparing participants for future careers in science.

Akopyan attests to the transformative power of the competition, describing it as a crucible that sharpens his abilities while fueling his passion for a scientific career.

“If you’re pursuing a STEM major or a career in the STEM field, Science Bowl is undeniably worth it,” he affirmed. “Personally, as an aspiring biochemistry major with ambitions

of attending medical school. Science Bowl aligns with my academic goals.”

The impact of Science Bowl extends far beyond the confines of the competition hall. Its alumni, armed with a reservoir of scientific knowledge, have gone on to reshape the world as engineers, doctors and innovators. Their journey, sparked by the intensity and intellectual vigor of Science Bowl, stands as a testament to the event’s lasting impact.

“Brijesh Moala (Srijesh’s older brother) comes to mind immediately when I think about successful students,” Ms. Kim said. “He’s at UCLA right now as an astrophysics major and he helps out with these competitions currently.”

A former participant turned college scholar, Moala, exemplifies the profound influence of Science Bowl.

Moala’s dedication to the competition has endured, as he selflessly returns to lend his expertise and support to the next generation of aspiring scientists.

“It’s literally like a game, a buzzerbased game, and I think it’s really worth anyone’s time,” Akopyan said.

When Akopyan joined Science Bowl in tenth grade, he was a part of Team B. Now in his senior year, he has worked his way up to captain of Team A. As captain of Team A, Akopyan conducts tryouts and collaborates with Ms. Kim to pick students who are best fit for competitions from tryouts.

While many people can try out, only 10 get to compete.

“We select 10 for the actual competition, but the rest still stay because it shows commitment,” Akopyan said.

“If they’re a sophomore and don’t get picked for a team right now, they might get picked next year because they committed to it and stayed and studied on their own.”

Science Bowl is great for anyone who has an interest in science. Both Ms. Kim and Akopyan encourage anyone who wants to join to try out.

“In Science Bowl, you feel the adrenaline running through which is why I think it’s really fun,” Akopyan said. “I’ve got Ms. Kim to thank for bringing me into this world and showing me how fun Science Bowl can be.”

10 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

| OPINION |

Editorial The future is female, but not in America

I

n 2016, the exciting news of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign electrified millions of young girls and women.

The prospect of a woman finally being elected president ignited enthusiasm and anticipation in many.

However, not everyone shared this sentiment.

Donald Trump’s victory came as a shock to those who believed that Clinton was poised to win. Despite reports of her winning the popular vote, the country’s dream of having a female president for the first time was shattered.

Given the lack of female presidents in the past century, it’s disheartening to consider the slim possibility of a woman being elected to the office within the next decade.

In a study done by political scientist Christopher Berry, who teaches at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, the lack of women in elected office had to do with “election aversion,’’ or women just not wanting to run for office. Their study found that women see themselves as unqualified and underestimated by men, due to the mistreatment of prominent female politicians in the media.

The disparity in how women are portrayed compared to their male counterparts influences public perception.

For instance, a New York Times article highlights how Hillary Clinton was criticized for passionately expressing her stance on gun violence. In response, she pointed out the double standard, noting, “when women talk, some people think we’re shouting.”

Similarly, Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeleine Dean received advice not to cross her arms when meeting potential voters, to avoid appearing angry.

On the campaign trail, women must be more vigilant than men about their appearance and actions. This heightened scrutiny stems from the concern that if they don’t meet the public’s expectations or standards, the media will cast them in a negative light.

Even when women fare well in elections against their male opponents, women aren’t running for office at the same rate as men.

Many feel discouraged from doing so. A 2021 study (the Citizen Political Ambition Study) surveying elected officials, lawyers, businesspeople, educators and political activists about their interest in running for office, revealed that nearly 60 percent of men considered doing it, but nearly 60 percent of women did not. Only 20 percent of the women surveyed felt that they were qualified to run for office at all.

Historically, the process of running for office itself has always been inherently for men. And the current demographics and structure of the U.S. Electoral College makes it nearly impossible for women to win.

Candidates who have held office in the past hold an incumbency advantage over their challenger candidates. About 89 percent of U.S. House members run for re-election, and 97 percent of incumbents who run are re-elected. Thus, there are very few seats open in any given election cycle. But with the majority of representatives being disproportionately male, this leaves only one option for female representatives: wait for male representatives to retire.

The belief that women aren’t suited for the presidency was further reinforced when six women running for president in the 2020 election — Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand and Marianne Williamson — dropped out of the race before it was over.

Given the outcomes of both the 2016 and 2020 elections, the future looks discouraging. If a woman with the popular vote couldn’t secure victory in 2016, and six women faced dwindling support in 2020, the odds of a woman winning a presidential election in the foreseeable

future seem slim.

While Kamala Harris being elected the first female Vice President is a notable achievement — especially for women of color — America should have made more progress in 247 years. Women have been eligible to run for president since 1872 and we have yet to see a woman hold the highest office.

Countries like Denmark, New Zealand and Finland have been led by women, who have demonstrated exceptional leadership during crises.

For example, amidst the 2020 pandemic, these female leaders acted swiftly and effectively to protect their citizens, while U.S. President Trump downplayed the rising covid-19 cases and silenced scientists on social media.

If other countries can thrive under the guidance of female leaders, there is no reason why America shouldn’t be able to.

A YouGov poll indicates that 55 percent of Americans hope to see a female president in their lifetime, while only 50 percent actually expect it to happen. As optimistic as these results may seem, they do not align with the current reality.

When Americans chose to vote for candidates like Donald Trump and Joe Biden (both of whom faced multiple sexual harassment allegations) over the qualified women who ran in 2020, it suggests that despite being ready for a female president, the electorate remains hindered by ignorance and misogyny.

In the House of Representatives, only 125 representatives out of 425 are women.

In the Senate, 25 out of 100 are women. As of 2020, the United States ranks 82nd in the world in terms of women’s representation in national legislatures.

One way to boost the amount of representation of females in higher positions in US politics is through political parties.

They need to set goals to increase the recruitment of female candidates, especially women of color, for primary elections in any given year. National and state party officials must collaborate with interest groups or campaigns like She Should Run and Run to Win that specifically recruit and train women to run for public office.

According to 2020 research from the Center for Responsive Politics and Common Cause and Representation, they found that political action committees (PACs), groups organized to elect or defeat candidates, systematically underfunded women running in open-seat races. Individual donors and PACs need to start setting goals that prioritize the amount of women they support in every campaign cycle.

By focusing on qualifications, promises and the candidate’s history rather than gender, Americans can pave the way for a brighter future.

This would empower young girls of the future to confidently aspire to the presidency, inspired by the example of a female leader in the White House.

‘‘

Despite being ready for a female president, the electorate remains hindered by ignorance and misogyny.”

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO AGUIRRE

OUR TAKE ON THE IMPORTANT ISSUES...

teacher wages TEACHERS DON’T GET PAID ENOUGH

Teachers’ hard work does not reflect the treatment they receive. Recently, a legislator in Sacramento introduced a new bill that would increase teacher pay by 50 percent over the next seven years. This year they negotiated a 21 percent wage increase over the next three years, but it’s still not enough.

Compensating teachers for their hard work might fix issues like teacher shortages, lower quality education and unqualified teachers in classrooms. They deserve higher salaries and better classroom funding.

the lottery IS WINNING THE LOTTERY TRULY WORTH THE COST? Winning the lottery might seem like a dream come true at a glance. However, for the lucky few, the dream come true can have some serious mental health tolls. One common result of instant riches is sudden wealth syndrome, a psychological condition that can cause people to withdraw from their relationships and develop feelings of paranoia about losing their new fortune. The news should give more attention to this condition and how those who have won the lottery can avoid it.

jaywalking WALKING IN L.A. Jaywalking is the norm

in Los Angeles. While some jaywalkers are more careful in their crossing habits, others couldn’t care less about stepping into oncoming traffic. In Los Angeles alone in 2022, 159 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents, up 19 percent from the previous year. Despite the continuing carnage, jaywalking was legalized in California this year. The Freedom to Walk Act protects pedestrians from wrongful tickets when crossing against traffic or away from a crosswalk. Unfortunately, this new law will probably lead to even more pedestrian deaths.

theMIRRoR VOLUME 108 | ISSUE 3 EXECUTIVE & PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Angelina Gevorgyan Angelica Venturina ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Baron Kim ASSOCIATE ONLINE EDITOR

Cristian Mejia CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Beverly Regino CURRENT EVENTS/FEATURES EDITORS

Allison Antonio Lindsay Han OPINION EDITOR

Daimler Koch ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS

Dashiell Dekker Katrina Gomez ATHLETICS EDITOR

Selma Timpers PHOTO/SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Samantha Ramos GRAPHICS/LAYOUT

Diego Aguirre Val Arias Cruz DeHerrera PODCAST CREW

Joshua Castro Rachel Khutorsky STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS

Grey Amaya Emely Arevalo Alexa Ballesteros Andrew Covarrubias Docette Danialypour Keely Duarte Jaden Gervacio Wendy Gonzalez Angelina Kanno Seth Keimon Alexis Martinez Olamide Olumide JG Perez Mia Ramirez Destiny Reveles Nicole Tovar Rain Santos Isabel Valles Ana Villalva Zachary Skolnick Darling Zelaya JOURNALISM ADVISER

Mr. Ron Goins ABOUT US The Mirror is the student newspaper of Van Nuys Senior High School in Van Nuys, California, a district of Los Angeles, published six times per year. Opinions expressed in bylined commentary articles and columns represent the views of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mirror or the Editorial Board.

DISTRIBUTION Copies are free to students, faculty and staff and are available in Room 112, Second Floor, Main Building.

Digital issues are available at vnhsmirror.com.

CORRECTIONS We strive to be accurate and factual. Please report errors via email to ronald.goins@lausd.net.

READER PARTICIPATION Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Editorial Board. Letters to the Editor may be delivered to Room 112 or mailed to The Mirror, 6535 Cedros Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91411. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and style.

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MEMBERSHIPS National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), Southern California Journalism Educators Association (SCJEA), Los Angeles Journalism Teachers Association (LAJTA) and Los Angeles Press Club.

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| OPINION | THE MIRROR | NICOLE TOVAR

TO PROTECT: SEARCH Student

backpacks overflow with exposed contents. As controversial as they are, searches at school may be one of the few ways to prevent further shootings.

Bring back backpack searches

I

Daimler Koch

remember the day well: Feb. 16, 2023.

During lunch, I was sitting in the covered lunch area with my friends when an administrator told us to head to our fifth period class. I started walking.

When I was halfway across the quad, however, an announcement came on over the intercom saying that the school was entering a lockdown.

I joined the mad rush to scramble inside, and soon found myself safe from harm in my journalism class.

Over the next hour or so, as I sat at my desk confused and worried, the rumors swirled, saying that there was a student with a handgun on campus.

Later, it was reported that the student’s firearm was a toy replica and that the school

wasn’t in any real danger at all. The student was later arrested under penal code 626.10, which states that it is illegal to carry weapons on school grounds, including airsoft guns. Still, for days after the incident, I couldn’t help but think about how I felt during the lockdown – frightened, bewildered and out of the loop.

Incidents like these have shrouded schools all over the country in a state of worry and stress over whether or not their students will be a part of the next statistic. And while Feb. 16 thankfully did not escalate to that level of violence, the event left me and my friends with feelings of fear experienced by students involved in actual school shootings.

A Pew Research Center article states that 25 percent of all US teens aged 13 to 17 are very worried that a shooting will take place at their school, while 32 percent report that they are somewhat worried about a school shooting.

Going to school with this kind of fear increases anxiety and panic, which in turn affects student attendance and performance.

Studies have shown that exposure to gun violence can have effects over a student’s

lifetime, affecting their chances of entering higher education and getting a job.

Backpack searches should be reinstated at our school in order to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone on campus.

Students should not have to go to school worried that they will one day be a victim in a school shooting.

In February 2022, a gun safety bill was proposed by State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), in which school administrators would collect information from parents about guns stored at home and would mandate backpack, locker and car searches if there is a credible threat. The proposal followed after Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley raised suspicions among teachers but was able to come back to class without his

backpack searched. Later that day, he used a gun he brought with him to allegedly kill four students.

If this bill become law, it would reduce the likelihood of students bringing guns to school. The lack of backpack searches at our school makes students feel they can carry anything without facing consequences.

Implementing searches is a fast and effective measure schools can adopt to combat gun violence.

If schools aim to enhance our safety swiftly and effectively, reintroducing searches should be considered.

Starbucks: The coffee chain that stomps on other coffee shops

Ana Villalva

C

offee enthusiasts have no shortage of options on their way to school, from local coffee shops to popular chains like Dunkin’ Donuts and Philz Coffee.

But one brand stands out among the rest: Starbucks.

With over 30,000 stores worldwide and more than $24 billion in sales, Starbucks is America’s most popular coffee chain, surpassing competitors such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Peet’s Coffee.

Peet’s Coffee, on the other hand, typically features a bolder and darker flavor than Starbucks’ light and

mellow taste. However, Starbucks offers more than just coffee. The chain provides a complete cafe experience with a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere, including ample seating and ambient lighting.

This environment is ideal for relaxation, socialization or even work while enjoying a favorite beverage.

Moreover, Starbucks is renowned for its high-quality coffee beans and expert brewing techniques, ensuring a consistent taste that customers can trust.

Starbucks is not just a coffee chain, but a brand that focuses on sustainability and social responsibility. Starbucks has implemented initiatives to promote sustainable farming practices and reduce its environmental footprint.

Additionally, the company has been recognized for its efforts to provide opportunities for underrepresented

PERKING UP PRICES Starbucks has been criticized for having overpriced products compared to other shops all over the nation.

groups through programs such as the Starbucks College Achievement Plan.

In contrast, cheaper brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts offer coffee with a higher caffeine content, which is a significant factor for many

coffee enthusiasts. Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that purchasing a Starbucks drink goes beyond just the coffee; it entails the complete experience that Starbucks offers.

Starbucks prices have been rising, with prices going up by

6 percent in 2022, discouraging some people from purchasing their coffee. Some customers of other brands argue that Starbucks’ coffee quality is not worth the inflated price. In fact, cheaper brands like Dunkin’ Donuts make their coffee with a higher caffeine dose than Starbucks.

But for many, paying for a Starbucks drink is worth it, considering the quality and consistency of its coffee and the full cafe experience. Although some criticize its high prices, Starbucks compensates with quality customer service, a broad range of drinks and baked goods and regular introductions of new products and limited-time offers.

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY CRUZ DEHERRERA

| COVER

12/13 | JUNE 2023

Artificial intelligence Brave new future or digital dystopia?

The technology of the

future nowhere near as

is

perfect

as it seems

C

hatGPT is revolutionizing how people all around the globe think and write. The AI system created by OpenAI received about 1.8 billion visits in April alone as students and professionals worldwide tapped into its power.

In seconds, ChatGPT can generate original essays, stories and dialogues customized to users’ requests. While this rapid generation of complex language heralds exciting possibilities, it also poses intricate issues that must be addressed.

THE AI EXPERTS To gain expert perspectives on AI systems like large language models, researchers in areas of artificial intelligence, policy and ethics from Northwestern University were interviewed.

According to the four experts, tools such as ChatGPT demonstrate exciting possibilities for automation and personalization but also raise important questions around policy, society and ethics. Developers, researchers and communities must work to apply these technologies safely, accountably and for shared benefit.

By Angelina Gevorgyan The Mirror Editor-in-Chief

‘‘

This is a new technology and we should be

cautious

because of how fast it is, because of how adept it is at doing certain tasks.”

Dr. Mohammad Hosseini, Northwestern University

SYNTHETIC SMARTS Artificial intelligence refers to

computer systems that can mimic human behavior on a huge scale. Technologies like robotics can now create physical machines that can sense and navigate using machine learning.

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY BEVERLY REGINO

Dr. David Liebovitz, an as of health and biomedical in Mohammad Hosseini, a pos ventive medicine, argue for to balance AI’s benefits and assistant communication s Nina Wieda, an assistant ins say recognizing human stre people to steer tech.

AI refers to computer sys man behavior on a mass sca Large language models a technology driven by machi models analyze massive dat connections between words use these connections to ge opinion pieces and paragrap GPT is one such model, prog dataset that allows it to prod es tailored to users’ prompts After thoroughly analyzin

R STORY |

ssociate professor nformatics, and Dr. stdoctoral fellow in prer including more voices risks. Duri Long, an studies professor, and structional professor, engths AI lacks allows

stems that mimic huale. are a new type of AI ine learning. These tasets of text to identify s and concepts. They enerate news articles, phs on demand. Chatgrammed with a huge duce detailed responss. ng extensive datasets, AI

systems developed new capabilities like recognizing complex patterns in language and conducting sophisticated problem solving by identifying conceptual connections. ChatGPT and other language models can now understand language at an advanced level and solve complex problems that previously required human cognition and judgment.

CHANGING VIEWS Over decades, perspectives on AI have shifted.

Still, people often refer to artificial intelligence as either a technological miracle or major threat.

“Bringing it up to a point where you describe it as something wonderful, as something miraculous, is a distraction,” Dr. Hosseini said. “And bringing it down to a point of being an enemy that is going to take over your job and thinking that you should be afraid is also not helpful. The middle ground is that this is something we’re still exploring. This is a new technology, and we should be cautious because of how fast it is, because of how adept it is at doing certain tasks.”

As a postdoctoral scholar in preventive medi-

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cine and an editor for Accountability in Research, Dr. Hosseini is wary of AI. “The best way to think about artificial intelligence is to think about it as a stranger,” he said.

“They might be helpful, they might be excellent friends, they might help you form communities or they might harm you or threaten your existing community. They could be anything.”

Through writing and teaching at Northwestern, Dr. Hosseini aims to foster balanced public debate about artificial intelligence and its implications.

“Don’t come up with a black and white analysis of a situation without acknowledging the fact that this is a complicated situation, and there is no one way of looking at it,” he said. “Talk about it with other people just to create awareness and share this understanding that this is a nuanced issue.

There’s good and bad in it. What we can do is try to benefit from the good and mitigate the risks while treating it cautiously and like a stranger.”

AI EVOLUTION AI has evolved in phases over many years. In the 1960s, researchers developed technology mimicking human behavior. By the 2000s, machine learning techniques enabled real progress.

“These systems have been around, it’s just that ChatGPT and OpenAI have commercialized them and made them

so widely accessible that even a student can use them from their home,” Dr. Hosseini said.

Extensive years of research in machine learning, particularly deep learning, is what has led up to this point. Deep learning is a type of machine learning where artificial neural networks loosely mimic the human brain’s neural networks.

“It all starts from mimicking a certain innate human behavior,” Dr. Hosseini said. “When you think about an artificial system, it only understands the language of zeros and ones, and the only way we can help it to mimic learning is by using statistics and statistical models.”

These neural networks “learn” from huge amounts of data to detect patterns and solve complex problems like language understanding.

“Imagine having an orifice of data that is just beyond what you and I can imagine, terabytes of data and text generated by human beings throughout the years,” Dr. Hosseini said. “And imagine having a system that can digest, analyze and learn from all of that. It takes a lot of computational and processing power. But ultimately the system can learn how the language works, and once you teach it all the proponents of a language, it can start communicating and understanding.”

A key breakthrough was the discovery that neural networks perform better when they use graphics cards for processing because they can handle the intensive calculations required. This allowed the development of far more sophisticated systems.

“Having access to these large amounts of data, as well as being able to have a computer that can be trained on such large amounts of data, has led to the ability to create models that are capable of this natural language and human interaction,” Professor Long said.

The analytical capabilities of these systems can serve as a major advantage.

“If you want to start doing research on something, the first thing you need to do is to find the gap,” Dr. Hosseini said. “You want to figure out what is not discussed, what is not being said. And that is so difficult because every year, there are more papers and more research being published than the year before. And for a human being to synthesize existent literature, what is already available, it is so time consuming and it is so exhausting.”

In this way, large language models can help users explore, analyze and organize existing research in an easy to understand way.

“It can help people like me for whom English is not their first language,” Dr. Hosseini said. “I write all day every day, and I would normally spend a lot of time editing my work, going back and forth at it to try and improve grammar and the flow and structure. ChatGPT is great in supporting people like me.”

Another benefit is that large language models can help overcome language barriers.

“It is very useful for researchers who are working in international spaces, and there’s a lot of them,” he said. “English is the language most used in the news to communicate research results, but English is not everyone’s first language.”

Yet another advantage this technology provides is speed and efficiency.

“It eliminates so much work,” Professor Wieda said. “It can basically generate in seconds something that would come out of hours and hours of work.”

STORY CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE u

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| COVER STORY |

14 | JUNE 2023

Artificial intelligence Brave new future or digital dystopia?

HALLUCINATIONS The main problem with large language models is that they can have “hallucinations” - instances where they generate incorrect details, facts or references.

Because language models like ChatGPT produce responses by analyzing huge volumes of data and text, it is difficult to check the accuracy of the information provided. Dr. Hosseini argues that there is currently no way to verify with certainty that claims made by ChatGPT and similar AI systems are correct.

“The way this thing responds so politely, it gives that false impression of being well-researched and nuanced,” Dr. Hosseini said. “It isn’t.”

According to Professor Wieda, this is not a problem that can be easily fixed.

“It’s designed in such a way so as to evade detection, so we have to prepare for the world where there is no way to know whether something was generated

by AI or by a human,” she said. “We need to learn to act accordingly.”

However, some experts like Dr. Liebovitz are testing ways to help language models provide accurate information and cite sources.

“It turns out, there is a way to focus the attention of a large language model on a given set of data,” he said.

“There are ways to focus the large language model only on authoritative reliable information and when doing that, to include the linkage to source material in the output.”

BUILT-IN BIAS Large language models have built-in biases that are often difficult to identify.

“Any machine learning model is going to have

bias in it,” Professor Long said. “It’s only going to know and have information that you’ve trained it on, so if you’ve trained it on thousands of examples of text probably pulled from the internet, there’s a lot of bias that exists on the internet and in the world.

People think AI is objective, but it mirrors the data it learns from.”

Professor Long notes that the hallucinations exhibited by language models occur because these systems are producing what they calculate to be the most probable response to a question, not because they are drawing on a specific data source or responding in a genuinely human way.

AI bias has even emerged in medicine, as some tools have been trained on data lacking diversity.

“Sometimes the data sets that AI learns from don’t have people of all different shapes and sizes so to speak, and therefore there may be biases represented in it,” Dr. Liebovitz said. “It’s going to miss findings in a group of the population because it just doesn’t know how to interpret that data yet and it hasn’t been trained on it. We have societal biases that unfortunately get integrated into AI algorithms that then get applied and can perpetuate or worsen some of the biases that we have.”

Bias in these systems could impact media literacy worldwide, according to Dr. Hosseini.

“This thing is developed in the Anglophone world as a U.S.-based company and most of the people who

have trained the data are native English speakers, so it is very easy for the system to be biased in its world views and towards biases of the Anglophone world,” he said. “What if this system propagates all these views and biases to its user base around the world? I don’t think people would be able to recognize these biases.”

Embracing these tools, Dr. Liebovitz presents an intriguing idea: a system where large language models engage in mutual fact-checking. He envisions an environment where these models scrutinize each other’s outputs, acting as a built-in mechanism to ensure information accuracy. This approach could help identify and correct potential inaccuracies, adding a robust layer of reliability to AI systems.

CREDIBILITY GAP At the moment, there are two models of ChatGPT accessible to users. ChatGPT-3.5 is free, while GPT-4 is available for a $20 monthly subscription. Each version gives very different answers to the same questions, greatly limiting research reliability.

“One of the major facets of good research is research that is reproducible,” Dr. Hosseini said. “With a model that is developing this fast, doing a reproduction of generated content is near impossible unless we all have access to the same version at the same time, which is not possible.”

Large language models provide different responses to the same questions each time because they do not draw from any definitive set of “right” answers.

Instead, these systems generate what they calculate to be the most probable responses based on the data they’ve been trained on.

The range of potential responses within even a single AI language model

THE FUTURE IS HERE In seconds, ChatGPT and other

programs like it can generate original essays, stories and dialogues customized to users’ requests.

While this emerging technology brings exciting possibilities, it also poses risks and challenges that must be addressed.

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY BEVERLY REGINO

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JUNE 2023 | 15

| COVER STORY | Artificial intelligence Brave new future or digital dystopia?

means the answers provided to the same prompt can differ significantly in factual accuracy or quality.

“The cost barriers surrounding these technologies have pretty big impacts on who has access to using these technologies, how they use them and also what regulations are put in place surrounding these technologies,” Professor Long said.

Many experts and members of the general public worry that large technology corporations may gain undue influence over society through the development and application of their systems and platforms.

“Systems like this could threaten democracies by means of spreading misinformation and malinformation,” Dr. Hosseini said. “These companies can basically change how we engage with each other, how we interact. These companies can change the world and if we don’t hurry up now, it could be too late, maybe a year or two from now.”

The current state of models scanning THE MIRROR | BEVERLY REGINO and summarizing available informaTo determine how good of a writer AI actution does not seem to easily lend itself to ally can be, we asked Grade 11 English manipulation. However, future services built on more teacher Ms. Ernesta Hasa to grade an esadvanced systems could potentially be developed and say written by ChatGPT-4, the latest version of the artificial intelligence agent available applied to spread misinformation if guardrails are to the public. Once the prompt and supnot put in place. porting outline material that was provided One obstacle to transparency is the proprietary to students was given to GPT-4, it took nature of the training data used by large language about 30 seconds to return a response (partly shown above). The response was models. Creators often do not disclose these datasets, then printed and provided to Ms. Hasa, who keeping them exclusive. evaluated and graded it.

“Because OpenAI has not disclosed the sources, it’s a fertile ground for copyright issues,” Dr. Hosseini The essay prompt: Identify a central theme in “The Crucible” said. “The name of the company is OpenAI, but there and analyze how [Arthur] Miller is no openness in it.” conveys that theme.

There’s a clear trend of private firms gaining more influence as they exert more control over the domain EVALUATION of artificial intelligence.

“Even if they are not willfully manipulating the Introduction paragraph: Hook: information being delivered to users, it’s not always cohesive; Essential background: Theclear where that information is coming from,” Professis: convoluted. sor Long said. “And if people outside of the company Body paragraph 1: Analysis: insufaren’t able to audit the datasets to look at them and ficient. see if they are relatively unbiased, I do think that is a concern. There needs to be an interplay between Body paragraph 2: Topic sencompanies and public policymaking and legal regulatence: Cohesive; Lead-in + transition: tions surrounding these technologies. If companies eloquently prepares the reader for are in ownership of them, there needs to be a public supporting details; Analysis: Adcheck on them, because these models can have really equate. wide-reaching impacts on our society but decisions about them are being made by a few people who are Conclusion: Artfully wraps back to not elected democratically.” hook and thesis.

Transparency in the development and use of these OVERALL SCORE new technologies is crucial.

“The problem is that when you ask developers or companies who own these systems to be transparent, you are asking them to basically disclose the inner workings of systems that have been patented,” Dr. Hosseini said. “You cannot ask a commercial entity to AI tools present novel opportunities. Yet, alongside fully disclose how their system works.” these benefits, they introduce fresh challenges that Before we can start creating rules for this technolforce educators to reconsider their approach in the ogy, we need to understand it better. Professor Long classroom. This shift affects all aspects of educaadvocates for the direct involvement of people in the tion, encompassing teaching materials and grading AI design process.

“I think that this is important to better understand systems.

“Now we have a very easy tool that in seconds prohow people are going to use them, how they are goduces possible papers that used to require hours, days, ing to affect people and how to design to center the sometimes weeks of work,” Professor Wieda said. human in the interaction with these technologies, At the onset of the spring semester, there were because ultimately I don’t think our end goal is to deeducators who wished to prohibit the use of large velop AI that can supplant us or do all of our creative language models in the classroom. Their hope was work for us, I think it’s to develop AI that can support rooted in a desire to maintain traditional teaching us and inspire us,” she said. and learning methods. The educators saw these AI systems as potential threats to intellectual growth, EDUCATORS TRY TO ADAPT fearing that the ease of use could lead to less effort Over the past year, educators worldwide have from students in critical thinking and writing tasks. had to navigate unique obstacles presented by the Despite this viewpoint, the ubiquitous nature of techadvancement of AI. nology and the potential benefits of these models With the ability to answer questions, assist in esbrought up the challenge of effectively implementing say composition and provide instant feedback, these

So you think you can cheat with ChatGPT? We put an AI-generated essay to the test; It got an “A”

9.5 / 10

such a ban.

“It takes a bit of a conceptual shift for professors to come around to the idea that you can only ban something if you can control the outcome,” Professor Wieda said. “A lot of work needs to be done not to make the shift too drastic, and I think a lot of responsibility rests on teachers now, because young people who are learning may not be considering the long-term impact of not learning to write.”

In the world of education, professionals like Professor Wieda and her team are striving to adapt. Despite the rise of AI resources, their goal remains the same: ensuring effective teaching.

They’re developing strategies that take these new technologies into account and working on how to integrate them into teaching without losing the essence of traditional learning.

This means finding a balance where students can benefit from AI without it overshadowing critical thinking and writing skills. It’s about using these tools as aids, not crutches, in the educational journey.

RELIEF FROM THE MUNDANE As AI innovation continues, it’s increasingly influencing various professional fields. AI systems can relieve humans from mundane tasks, allowing them to concentrate on more engaging aspects of their work.

“A few years ago everybody was thinking that AI would take over manual work,” Dr. Hosseini said.

“But the people who develop AI were smart and they quickly realized that money is in the creative industry and in sectors that are at the moment occupied by white collar workers.”

This growing prevalence and impact of AI concerns various experts as well as public groups.

Researchers studying the societal effects of advanced technologies, ethicists focused on responsible innovation and civil rights advocates have all raised issues around AI systems generating content, curating information and performing human tasks.

“These tools can be used to augment and support human creativity and human productivity rather than replace or supplant human jobs,” Professor Long said. “It’s probably going to involve legislation and policy to ensure that these services serve as productive tools for us, so I think there’s a role to be played in both educating people about the limitations and capabilities of these tools as well as having policymakers, regulators and corporations put in guidelines and work to make the tools less biased and more focused on augmenting human creativity.”

HUMANS REMAIN ESSENTIAL While AI can now perform human tasks or enhance jobs, experts argue human skills remain essential.

“AI draws on what already exists, but generating shockingly new comparisons, unusual juxtapositions, those moments of unusual combinations of data or analysis is not something that the AI is good at,” Professor Wieda said. “It’s still something that humans can generate better at this point. We have to use this tool to prop us up and give us an opportunity to shine with what we have to offer instead of just giving up and yielding to it.”

By recognizing the value people continue to provide, individuals and groups can determine where and how AI may augment and empower rather than replace or undermine existing professions.

“My advice would be to check out the tools, use them to see what they do and think about your own work in comparison to that,” Professor Long said.

“I think you’ll probably find that you bring a lot of value to the work that you do that can’t be replicated by AI.”

16 | JUNE 2023

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| ENTERTAINMENT |

The extent people will go to for popularity Mukbang creators live unhealthy, problematic lifestyles to achieve that perfect viral moment.

Nonetheless, viewers are eating it up.

Wendy Gonzalez & Destiny Reveles

O

n social media, people constantly strive to go viral.

Some will do anything to achieve that goal, even if it means filming themselves eating two large trays of McDonald’s burgers and fries for an hour straight.

A popular topic for content creation is mukbangs. Originating in South Korea, mukbangs have become a lasting trend on social media platforms due to the comforting feeling they provide for audiences, akin to sharing a meal with a friend. The term was coined by combining two Korean words: “muk-ja” (먹 자), meaning “to eat,” and “bang song” (방 송), meaning “broadcast.” Mukbangs can be described as intimate cooking shows that focus on the eating aspect rather than the cooking process. They rose to popularity in South Korea during the 2010s and gradually gained traction in the United States in subsequent years.

Since mukbangs became such a popular subject, the total number of views from October 2017 to April 2018

grew up to 176 million more views.That is more than a 12 percent increase in a year. Many times they collaborate with channels completely different to their genre, such as beauty creators, to reach a larger diversity to their audience.

Mukbangs have become so popular that some people have built entire YouTube channels around them, dubbing themselves mukbangers. Initially, the creators of these videos had innocent intentions: to provide comfort to others during times of loneliness. However, nowadays, many creators prioritize landing on the trending page with eyecatching thumbnails, messy eating and oversized, unhealthy food portions.

Although mukbangs might seem like harmless entertainment, just like other content on YouTube, the negative impacts they create for people and the environment far outweigh their benefits. One such negative effect is food wastage.

Creators such as Nikocado Avocado and Eat With Boki faced heavy criticism when viewers discovered they edited their videos to remove segments where they spit out chewed food. Mukbangers frequently pile heaps of food on their plates to captivate viewers. Once they finish filming, they discard their leftovers, thereby setting a detrimental precedent concerning food shortages and waste issues currently affecting other countries.

While some mukbang creators claim they donate leftovers to struggling communities, the quality of the food being donated isn’t what hungry people can realistically use. Much of what mukbang creators consume comprises processed foods full of saturated fats, such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and In-NOut. These creators should reduce their food consumption rather than merely eat large portions and give away the

leftovers.

Exposure to mukbang YouTubers may encourage viewers to adopt binge eating behaviors. Mukbangs often depict people consuming vast amounts of food, far exceeding what is considered a balanced meal. They present overeating as entertainment and overlook appropriate portion sizes for a healthy diet.

The growing popularity of mukbangs comes with a downside, as creators gain attention and fame by eating excessive amounts of food on camera. Young audiences are impressionable, and mukbangers have become idolized for their eating habits, potentially contributing to eating disorders.

For example, Nikocado Avocado, also known as Nicholas Perry, is a prominent mukbang creator who has faced criticism for his use of the platform to gain views. Perry began as a mukbanger in 2016, initially following a vegan lifestyle. However, he later abandoned veganism and started creating extreme mukbangs featuring large trays of fast food, spicy instant noodles and other processed foods.

As Perry’s weight increased, his videos took a disturbing turn.

He would film himself eating while crying into his food, discussing his crumbling life and body dissatisfaction.

The more unsettling his thumbnails and videos appeared, the higher his view count climbed. Hundreds of YouTube compilation videos showcased Perry’s ongoing meltdowns and the copious amounts of fast food he devoured on camera.

He quickly became one of the most

‘‘

infamous mukbang YouTubers, causing the genre to be associated with people like him.

Naturally, Perry wasn’t the sole mukbang creator known for excessive consumption of unhealthy food.

Other popular mukbangers on YouTube include Zach Choi and Trisha Paytas.

Although not as controversial as Perry, their videos still impact younger audiences by promoting unhealthy eating habits.

Taking a more conscientious approach, some mukbang creators use their platform to promote healthy eating habits and demonstrate how food can be mindfully enjoyed in moderation. Stephi Nguyen, one of these health-focused creators, has amassed a substantial following on YouTube with her plant-based mukbangs centered around wholesome foods. By showcasing her nutritious meals and inspiring viewers to make positive dietary changes, she counters the detrimental influence that many other mukbang creators have perpetuated.

Though mukbangs offer entertainment value, we must not overlook the problems of binge eating and consider the consequences. It’s vital to educate the public, particularly influencers with large followings, about the impact of such practices. Social media users share a responsibility in promoting healthy food habits instead of endorsing unhealthy ones.

Nowadays, many creators prioritize landing on the trending page with eye-catching thumbnails, messy eating and oversized, unhealthy food portions.

GORGING FOR GLORY A disturbing trend has been plaguing the web, in

which mukbang YouTubers from all over the world are sitting in front of their cameras and recording videos of themselves where they eat large amounts of unhealthy food for fame.

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO AGUIRRE

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FROM MAGIC TO MEDIOCRITY

The iconic studio Disney strives to extend the enchantment of beloved stories, but there’s an unfortunate pattern of creative missteps.

JUNE 2023 | 17

| ENTERTAINMENT |

The real reason

Disney keeps producing terrible sequels

By Daimler Koch

M

THE MIRROR OPINION EDITOR

any of us, while growing up, developed a fondness for The Walt Disney Company.

Whether captivated by Iron Man, Luke Skywalker, Elsa or Buzz Lightyear, most have felt a connection to Mickey Mouse’s domain throughout their childhood.

However, today, a disconnect has emerged between Disney and its fanbase, with fans frequently criticizing the company for prioritizing profit over quality storytelling.

As an avid Disney enthusiast myself, I understand this sentiment. Disney has undermined the quality of its entertainment by stripping filmmakers of creative control, ultimately sacrificing exceptional content for the sake of revenue.

This issue centers around an often-ignored film from Pixar:

“Toy Story 2.” Prior to “Toy Story 2,” Disney and the animation industry as a whole were hesitant to create sequels for their most cherished films. Just before acquiring Pixar in 2006, Disney had relegated sequels to direct-to-video releases. However, “Toy Story 2” upended this notion. The film received critical acclaim and grossed $511 million worldwide, approximately $150 million more than the original. “Toy Story 2” demonstrated that sequels could be a lucrative business model for the animation industry, and Disney embraced this lesson upon purchasing Pixar.

However, Disney failed to grasp the essence of storytelling that made “Toy Story 2” so beloved by audiences.

Conduct a quick Google search for any Disney sequel released after 2005, such as “The Last Jedi,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” or “Cars 2.” Next, examine the reviews for those movies, whether directly on the Google results page or from Rotten Tomatoes. I can almost guarantee you’ll find passionate critiques from upset fans and critics, along with an overall audience rating of two or three out of five stars.

Although the box office numbers for these sequels might suggest success, audience reactions to Disney sequels don’t seem to align with the profits they generate. Disney fans of all stripes are often annoyed, or at least divided, when the company announces a new sequel to one of their franchises. Who needs a “Star Wars 10?” An “Ant-Man 4?” A “Toy Story 5?” (The last of which, incidentally, is in the works.) These stories must eventually come to an end. People won’t always want to spend $15 to see how Protagonist X overcomes Antagonist Y, and Disney needs to acknowledge this.

As a devoted Disney fan myself, it’s genuinely disheartening to see some of my favorite entertainment content decline over time. Every time I step into a theater or click a button on my TV remote, I hope that whatever I’m watching will be engaging enough to entertain me for at least an hour or so. Yet, more often than not, I find myself disappointed. I long for the days when the MCU and Star Wars united fans of the franchises rather than dividing them. I long for the days when Disney and Pixar animated films captivated and entertained me. I long for the days when Disney symbolized quality entertainment and safeguarded the characters we cherished, not the force that leads them to obscurity.

Disney needs to return to the basics— fundamentals like a compelling story with believable characters and an exhilarating plot. The only people capable of achieving this are the storytellers, artists and animators the company employs. These creatives are the only ones who intimately understand the characters and stories they’ve created. This is why “Toy Story 2” triumphed both financially and critically, while nearly every Disney sequel after 2005 fell short. Executives didn’t dictate the creation of “Toy Story 2”—the animators made that decision independently.

In other words, sequels shouldn’t be churned out just for the sake of having sequels. They should be produced if the story permits, if it’s not only convenient but appropriate for these characters to continue. Only creatives—not the “C-Suite”—can genuinely determine this. What draws audiences to theaters isn’t merely the flashy CGI, big-name actors or nostalgic scenes and characters.

What truly entices audiences is a captivating story, for great stories are what bring people together.

THE MIRROR | SAMANTHA RAMOS

How the Oscars fail to celebrate true exceptionalism In an attempt to exempt themselves from inequality, award shows further prove their narrow-mindedness

By Dashiell Dekker

A

THE MIRROR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

ward shows have always been predetermined displays of fraudulence, designed to systematically glorify vanity, popular opinion and pay-offs. With no shortage of undeserved wins over the years, the question of whether these events are rigged has been posed many times. Let’s examine the most prominent award show of the past year to illustrate the apparent discrepancy of the supposed unanimous vote.

The 95th consecutive Academy Awards ceremony took place earlier this spring on March 12, with a total of seven accolades going to A24’s independent blockbuster phenomenon “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” I happen to love this film quite a bit, but even I felt somewhat indifferent to the excessive amount of praise surrounding it. Not that it isn’t a film worth undying affection—it certainly is—but I think we all had a slightly sour taste in our mouths when all was said and done.

One of the many downsides from this night included the peculiar decision to award Jamie Lee Curtis the Best Supporting Actress category, not just against other actresses like Kerry Condon, Hong Chau and Angela Bassett, but especially against Stephanie Hsu. As another “Everything Everywhere

All At Once” cast member, Hsu played a far more prominent emotional role in the movie and had significantly more screen time. This odd choice, when considered, doesn’t make a strong case for the supposed voting process we’ve all been skeptical about regarding this blatant display of Hollywood superficiality.

With a staggering 397 new members joining the Academy last year, an influx of fresh perspectives was expected.

It’s evident that the Oscars are striving for change and attempting to create an equal playing field for films from around the world.

However, this effort falls short: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” may boast a predominantly Asian cast with genuine talent, but it was a film that had to win. Through internet buzz and the relentless noise of social media, everyone and their grandmother had heard about this movie. It embodies what the Oscars want to project: a unique and refreshing genre-blend with unconventional heroes and an emotional chord that resonates powerfully with younger audiences.

Choosing any other film would have provoked an uproar.

Am I upset it won Best Picture? No. Were Todd Field’s “Tár,” Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” superior movies? Yes. While the Academy is technically being inclusive, it’s merely performing a disingenuous act of self-importance.

Jamie Lee Curtis’ win was primarily due to her legacy and contributions to the industry.

It’s easy to see where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences believes it’s heading, but this change in direc-

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DIEGO AGUIRRE

THE GREAT ILLUSION From snubbed talents to undeserved victo-

ries, it’s time to confront the ramifications of rigged awards in ceremonies like the Oscars.

tion doesn’t differ much from the strategies they’ve employed since the industry’s inception.

To want to be inclusive is one thing, but to claim you are without giving due credit to the international populus and accolades is just absurd. It’s evident that the Academy Awards have never been about the quality, but one can only hope there will be a shift in transparency in the future.

18 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

| ENTERTAINMENT |

THE MIRROR | PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY BEVERLY REGINO

Netflix: How to waste your money fast A decline in content quality, new charges on password sharing and increasing subscription prices raise the question of whether Netflix is still the best streaming service out there.

NOW STREAMING Even with some hidden treasures on Netflix’s platform, quality, prices and the new password sharing rules have made many longtime fans pass on this classic streaming service.

Docette Danialypour

A

s a kid who grew up watching Netflix, I thought it was the coolest on-demand video streaming platform because it offered so many movies and shows. Every Friday after school, my family would gather in the living room with popcorn and pick a random movie that we hadn’t seen before on Netflix. We enjoyed almost every movie we saw through that ritual.

Movie night used to be the highlight of my week. But nowadays, my family and I don’t end up watching anything because it takes too long to find any movies that aren’t pure garbage. With new charges on password sharing being implemented, content quality plummeting and monthly subscriptions increasing, Netflix doesn’t seem as desirable to audiences when compared to the other streaming services available.

Netflix became a household staple when it reached 1 million subscribers in 2003.

The streaming service offers over 3,600 movies and 1,800 shows, so it makes sense that it has become a hit among people of all ages. My siblings, parents and even grandparents watch Netflix. The service provides titles for everyone’s taste. However, despite this widespread popularity,

Netflix seems off their game.

When I try to watch a movie with my brothers on Netflix, we usually spend about 20 minutes, if not more, just looking for a good movie to watch. Half of the time, we give up and simply rewatch a show we’ve seen a hundred times. It’s quite disappointing, and we often blame ourselves for it. We thought that we were too selective and had seen everything, but after talking to some of my friends, I realized that we were not alone. Apparently, we aren’t picky – Netflix’s content quality has just gone down. After this realization, we started choosing movies that looked mediocre and boring, and made fun of each other like we’re movie critics. But we shouldn’t have to watch a bad movie and make fun of it for entertainment when Netflix costs more than $100 a year and claims to be the best streaming service out there.

A Forbes article written last August stated that many series and movies on the Rotten Tomatoes front page with a “rotten” score are Netflix Originals. I’m not totally surprised, seeing as when Netflix releases a new original, I notice it’s either heavily advertised or barely advertised at all. Because of this, I think Netflix knows what movies are worth the advertisement and what movies they should barely mention.

One of the worst series I have ever watched on Netflix was “Hype House,” and I cannot begin to describe how horrible the viewing experience was. The show follows a group of “talented” TikTok “stars” who live together in a $5 million mansion to create social media content. However, none of the members of the Hype House are actually

talented – they just create a ton of drama, get canceled for saying something idiotic, make an apology video and then complain that their lives are so miserable and that they are the true victims of society. The Hype House did not deserve a show, and I’m not the only person who hated it to the point where I couldn’t even get through 10 minutes of the first episode. On Rotten Tomatoes, it scored a whopping 12 percent in audience scoring. Netflix would have been better off not including it.

After the horror that was “Hype House,” I realized that Netflix isn’t trying to make good quality shows and movies. The streaming service just wants to make a large quantity of shows and movies, so it looks better on the numerical scale when it comes to advertising. The corporate officials running Netflix think that the availability of a bulk of shows will convince people to pay more for subscriptions.

In January, Netflix announced that the streaming platform plans to raise their prices to continue offering a “wide variety of quality entertainment options.

According to a Truelist article from last January, approximately 25 percent of Americans share their Netflix account with relatives or friends. That means Netflix will make big bucks when it fully implements a charge for account sharing, especially because it is estimated to cost a whopping $7 per month.

You could get another streaming service in addition to Netflix for that price.

I think people should start looking into changing their streaming service. There are various services out there that are better

than Netflix, my favorite being HBO Max. Despite costing about the same amount of money as Netflix, HBO Max offers more desirable titles. Because HBO is a cable television company, many movies that stream on the cable network go to the streaming service. Now, that doesn’t mean it has more titles, but I would definitely say it has more appealing titles. One of my favorite things about HBO Max is that people can stream movies often only about a month after their initial release, as I did with “King Richard” and “Black Adam.” Meanwhile, with Netflix, I don’t usually see a new movie pop up until at least a couple of months after its release. And not to mention, HBO Max has hubs for DC Comics, Studio Ghibli, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, all of which are hugely popular franchises. And like Netflix, HBO Max has outstanding originals, my favorite right now being “The Last of Us.” In my household, ever since we purchased a subscription to HBO Max, it has taken us a lot less time to find something to watch.

Netflix just isn’t meeting basic viewing standards anymore. It needs to quit it with the price increases, unless it’s planning to produce Steven Spielberg-level movies. The service must consider the wallets of the people who are subscribing and sharing their account with their grandma. And maybe, just maybe, Netflix could make some actually good movies and shows that have decent lines and aren’t torturous to watch. And maybe then, and only then, will Netflix ever be worth it again.

I just want my movie night back – is that too much to ask for?

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS A KALEIDOSCOPE OF DANCE Wit-

nessed by an enthralled audience, the school’s dance classes recently presented the captivating performance titled “Kaleidoscope Heart” in the auditorium.

Choreographed by the talented duo Ms. Reesa Partida and Ms. Diane Hula, students from beginner to advanced levels showcased their incredible skills. The show was a mesmerizing display of talent and creativity. There were performances that took place from May 25 to 27.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION The VNHS

Digital Media’s annual film screening occurred on May 19 and 20 showcasing the first, second and third year students’ film projects curated throughout the year.

From documentaries, narrative films and show episodes, digital media students are given the opportunity to shine light on the filmmaking that goes on at Van Nuys.

The screenings were held at the Donna Hubbard auditorium at 7 p.m. and tickets were sold for $6 at room 118.

MELODIES AND BRILLIANCE Students

in Ms. Reesa Partida’s musical theater class held their yearly Musical Theater showcase displaying the students’ work on each piece over the course of the school year. The show is filled with student choreographed trios, duets, solo and collaborative performances with songs from musical movies and musicals like Six, Tangled and Burlesque. The two-act performance occurred on May 17 at 4 p.m. and May 18 at 6 p.m. in the Donna Hubbard auditorium.

PLUCKING STRINGS The auditorium came alive with enchanting melodies during the recent strings concert featuring Ms. Jennifer Bellusci’s ukulele, guitar and beginning orchestra classes. Though most numbers were group numbers, there were some soloists as well.The students delivered a captivating performance, showcasing their musical skills and passion. From classical to Spanish and rock genres, the repertoire offered a delightful range of musical experiences. The performance took place at 6:30 p.m.

FEEL THE RHYTHM VNHS’ Orchestra

and Band held their annual “POP’s” concert on June 3 at 7 p.m. Under the baton of Mr. Robert Eisenhart, the classes performed popular songs from games, movies and radio. This was a showcase of their hard work and talent in the Donna Hubbard auditorium. The concert not only showed what the classes have been working on throughout the year, but also allowed for the audience to hear some of their favorite songs performed.

the MIRROR

| ENTERTAINMENT |

JUNE 2023 | 19

Choir’s D time-traveling tunes Photos by Gianna Iovino

From the swingin’ 50s to rockin’ 80s…

elighting audiences with “Singing Through the Decades,” the school’s choir program took center stage to showcase their vocal talents. They swept through eras, with music from the swingin’ 50s to the rockin’ 80s, in performances on May 11 at 4 p.m. and a second act on May 12 at 7 p.m. The Donna Hubbard Auditorium came alive during these performances as the choir members’ energy and enthusiasm sparked a connection with the audience. The concert was rich in nostalgia, featuring not only group performances but also highlighting numerous choir members who delivered solos and duets. Each class under the guidance of choir teacher Ms. Alexis Weddle – beginner, intermediate (Chamber) and advanced (Vannaires) – brought their distinct zeal and retro charm to the stage.

PETTY’S MELODY Im-

mersed in emotion, Xavier MartinPorter captivates the crowd with his interpretation of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” at the musical event held at the Donna Hubbard Auditorium on May 11, contributing to the nostalgic ambiance of the evening.

ROCKING THE CLOCK:

Seniors Ella Robinson (L), Kaylyn Majers and ensemble transport the audience back in time with their animated rendition of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” during the “Singing Through the Decades” concert on May 11 at the Donna Hubbard Auditorium.

DREAMING SOLO In

a memorable solo, Madison Braybon stirs the audience with her rendition of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” during the “Singing Through the Decades” concert, held at the Donna Hubbard Auditorium on May 11, adding a sweet note to the night’s repertoire.

TRIPLE HARMONY Creating a

resonant harmony, Ella Robinson (pictured), Maddie KC Jordan and Delilah Sanchez elevate the event with their version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” performed at the “Singing Through the Decades” concert at the Donna Hubbard Auditorium on May 11.

20 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

| ENTERTAINMENT |

Alexis’ playlist

Tunes to bring a spring back into your step

Lana Del Rey “Lets The Light In” with new album release

By Katrina Gomez

O

THE MIRROR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

GORDON’S GARDENPARTY | The Cardigans Alternative/Indie Pop

The soft, ’60s feel of this 1995 release is just the melody to get anyone outside to smell the roses. Nina Persson’s breathy vocals and bubbly lyrics about a garden party create the perfect vibe for an outdoors adventure.

HEY LOVER |

grentperez

ver the years, alt-pop singer Lana Del Rey has captivated fans with her continuously evolving lyricism and impeccable melodies, enchanting audiences through her poetic expression and gentle touch. In her groundbreaking debut album, “Born to Die,” she encourages listeners to embrace life to the fullest, conveying harsh truths with her sultry voice and haunting lyrics, reminding us that life is fleeting. With her iconic “Norman F***ing Rockwell,” Del Rey entrances fans through her resonant whispers and soothing instrumentals, brilliantly showcasing her alt-pop dreamscape.

Once again, Lana Del Rey shares her otherworldly thoughts in her ninth studio album, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.” The elaborate title mirrors her boundless creativity, as she skillfully balances the soothing lull of her voice with the innate darkness of her lyrical poetry. As per her signa-

Rock

Released in 1965, this song perfectly encapsulates spring in its upbeat instrumentals and heartfelt lyrics about true love and understanding. Listening to this vintage piece makes for a dreamlike experience as everyone anticipates the warmer months to come.

TROUBLE SLEEPING | Corinne Bailey Rae Soul

As the season of love settles in, love songs are, of course, a necessity. Perfect for yearning hopeless romantics who love the springtime, this track is about denying being in love and losing sleep over it.

APPLE CIDER |

FAN FAVE After two years, Lana Del Rey releases her ninth studio album “Did You know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.”

ture style, Del Rey elegantly accompanies each track with refined instrumentals that harmonize seamlessly with her vocals. The album and its release process exemplify her enigmatic nature, the privacy she maintains and the carefully curated information and artistry she shares with her fans.

“This album is one of my favorites as of right now,” senior Leilany Castro, an avid Del Rey fan, said. “It includes some of her best songs, and I love how she uses her voice all throughout the album. Her songwriting is amazing, and the experimentalism on this album was such a good addition to her discography.”

Fans not only admire Del Rey’s vocals, but also appreciate the diverse array of artists featured on the album, such as Jon Batiste, SYML, RIOPY, Father John Misty, Bleachers and Tommy Genesis.

“I truly loved the song ‘Let The Light In,’” senior Elim Kim, another strong supporter of Del Rey, said. “I loved how uniquely her and John Misty harmonized together.

The melody alongside both of their vocals made the song so dreamy and made me interested in hearing more from him.”

The album dropped on Mar. 24, surprising

many of Del Rey’s fans and followers. However, a select few individuals who followed her private Instagram account were privileged enough to witness her discreet announcement. Her only post revealing the release date expressed her thankfulness to collaborators and supporters.

“Thank you friends who helped me make this record,” Del Rey said in her post. “The music is for fun and for you and for me and not always free unless you’re streaming ha - but spirited with the best of intentions!”

Unlike other artists, Del Rey chooses to privately release new music without promotions, claiming that her purpose is simply to create music for her own enjoyment and fun.

“She doesn’t really care about publicity, even if it is to promote her work,” Castro said. “She knows her real fans will support her no matter what and doesn’t mind if it gets popular or not, she’s just grateful.”

Most fans embrace Del Rey’s choices, discovering that her unique approach to releasing music heightens anticipation and excitement among listeners.

“I think her being more private adds to the suspense when she does release a single or music video,” senior fan Aj Escobar said. “I don’t really feel mad or deprived. I just live my life, and when she does drop something it excites me.”

Although Del Rey’s desire to keep her personal life private has positive intentions, she faces challenges when releasing her music and expressing herself artistically. Numerous incidents over the years prompted her to deactivate many of her social media platforms in 2020.

Despite facing harsh criticism, Del Rey perseveres in expressing herself through “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” and her fans expect nothing less. She continues to experiment with her vocals and singing style in her musical endeavors. Amid the backlash and high expectations accompanying the album’s release, fans acknowledge Del Rey’s artistic prowess and resilience.

“I find it very impressive how consistent she has stayed over the years despite the hate she gets every time,” Kim said. “Whether you like her or not, she truly works hard with everything she puts out almost every year.”

LET THE LIGHT IN Lana Del Rey, with her alt-pop style, continues to release music with her ninth studio album “Did You know That There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd.” Released on March 24, 2023, the album is met with mostly positive reviews.

beabadoobee

Alternative/Indie

A song about “the innocence of love,” as singer-songwriter Beabadoobee puts it, “Apple Cider” is a great melody to put a smile on your face and get you enjoying the beauty of the passing season.

COURTESY | HARMONY GERBER

read

In A.J. Finn’s thriller “The Woman in the Window,” Anna Fox suffers from a crippling disorder that prevents her from venturing outside.

Fox spends her time spying on her neighbors, but all goes wrong when she sees something sinister that she wasn’t supposed to.

listen

Hip hop legends De La Soul unveiled their debut album “3 Feet High and Rising” to streaming services for the very first time in 1989. This unmatched fusion of positivity and musical mediation is one of the greatest albums of its genre.

watch

Based on the 1987 play, “Real Women Have Curves” follows 18-year-old Ana Garcia, a first generation Mexican-American girl, as she struggles between choosing to follow her dreams or becoming the stay at home wife her mother wants her to be.

play

Decades after a fungal infection turns most of the world’s population into flesh-craving Cordyceps, “The Last of Us” follows Joel Miller as he transports Ellie across the country to a base where a resistance group hopes to develop a cure and save the world.

eat

Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks is home to Mardi Gras Tuesday “A Taste of New Orleans,” one of the most singular pieces of culture on the strip. Home to authentic soul food, live jazz performances and a laid-back atmosphere, this quaint outing is rooted for the seasoned and non-gourmet alike.

the MIRROR

JUNE 2023 | 21

| ENTERTAINMENT |

sci-fi The best

movies ever made

Fantastic films of futuristic flare and flagrant humanity | In an age where the digital landscape has completely reshaped how media is produced, viewed and interpreted, it’s essential to explore the portrayal of technological advancement in cinema. Here are three timeless, beyond influential films of the science-fiction genre that range from wonderfully grandiose epics to painstakingly down-to-Earth melodramas. By Dashiell Dekker ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

A.I. IN L.A. Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johanson stare love in the face in “Her.”

Videodrome

David Cronenberg (1984)

t

here is an air of cognitive recession in body-horror master David Cronenberg’s 1984 character study of a man overtaken by a TV. “Videodrome” is a cautionary tale of imagination, the classic dangers of curiosity and the true impact a screen can have on a specimen detached from their world entirely.

Max Renn (James Woods) runs and produces a video nasty channel on the Civic TV Station, in which he indulges his time and money into snuff films alongside his seemingly sane lady friend Nicki Brand (Debbie Harry). Max’s life drastically changes, however, when he comes across “Videodrome,” a program of unknown origin that transmits hardcore violent films through satellite which he then broadcasts on his show. All is fine until his increasingly sadomasochistic girlfriend auditions for the mysterious show and promptly goes missing. With a burgeoning series of daymares, Max falls into a downward spiral in which he frequently hallucinates. His delusions include shoving his head into his television, witnessing a gaping hole growing in his chest cavity and experiencing a handgun, which he relies so much on for safety, drilling itself into his skin and gluing its metal to his body.

This film is a definitive science fiction film for multiple reasons, one of which being its incredibly uncanny ability to foresee modern society’s reliance on media consumption via screens. The protagonist is a desensitized man whose obsession for artificial bloodlust takes on a metaphysical form.

The question as to “what is real” is a rhetoric often attributed to video and social media, and the fact that this film can elegantly, if not flagrantly, depict that very fact’s hellish consequences is a literal sight to behold.

With “Videodrome,” Cronenberg expertly crafts a dystopian atmosphere in which the terrifying realities of humankind’s relationship with technology come to an idealistic fruition with incredible practical effects and a grotesquely jarring shock factor. It portrays a particular view of the real world and ultimately how TV, or video at large, detriments society’s relevance and sustainability.

It’s a terrific thriller of magnificently dark proportions, and an exceedingly scathing prediction by a filmmaker whose provocative views on sexuality, politics and how we talk about them will reign in artistic integrity for decades to come.

On The Silver Globe Andrzej Żuławski (1978)

f

MISSING PIECES Polish Sci-Fi “On The Silver Globe” is an unfinished masterpiece.

TIME WARP Director David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome” was, and still is, ahead of its time.

ollowing the dystopic fall of society as a result of ultimate environmental instability, the last of Earth’s remaining astronauts embark on an interstellar journey to seek a new world in which they can rebuild humanity. They’ve set their sights on the moon itself, now prosperous with copious amounts of oxygen, fertile plants and biomes and a bizarre infantile race of aliens in need of new world leaders. This film is an artistically rich epic with the timeless commentary that humanity’s true greatest threat is itself.

The master of the unearthed and the cosmically devastating, Andrzej Żuławski is notorious not only for his tremendous sense of scale but also for his almost inhuman conceptual motifs. Adapting the internationally renowned “The Lunar Trilogy” novels for the Polish film world in the late seventies, this film was intended to be his grandest project to date. However, in light of the Polish government’s rule at the time, a tumultuous halt struck the film’s production due to the plot’s intrinsic disapproval of communist leadership and Poland’s hypocritical past. Inevitably, the Polish government seized the project in an act of censorship and was hellbent on burning the film reels, costumes and any remnants of the production they could find.

“On The Silver Globe,” as it exists today, remains unfinished. Approximately 75 percent of the film was preserved by the cast and crew and, thankfully, restored and redistributed in 1988. Żuławski himself added segments of narration to substitute missing pieces of the movie and stitch the film together. It can be watched on YouTube for free.

The sheer amount of ahead-of-its-time technological genius and uproaring worldbuilding in this movie make it an essential piece of film history. Audiences can watch as hell-

ishly dust-ridden, pale-tinted landscapes seep into catacombs of darkness and hundreds, if not thousands, of extras in gloriously detailed costumes and prosthetics uproar the screen through such an unhinged spectacle, it could only come from Żuławski’s brilliantly-phantasmic directing and the gloriously absurd cinematography of Andrzej Jaroszewicz. This mighty beam of foreign entity transcends anything in a science fiction film at that point in time or even today, and is guaranteed to engulf the soul.

Within this film’s glorious madness is a distinct prophecy. In the human protagonists’ attempt to centralize an order to a race of beings unscathed by human condition, their attitude inadvertently turns repulsive, vindictive and egregiously communistic, leading to a biblical indifference that simultaneously prophesies and reevaluates humanity’s worst moments and how history, while kind to some, repeats itselfw even in fantasy.

With its robust visual glory, mind-melting dialogue and beyond freakish creatures, Żuławski’s “On The Silver Globe” is a horrifyingly intelligent science fiction with effects and filmmaking techniques bound by no time period or governmental censorship. It is yet another incredible work from one of the single most audacious filmmakers to grace this planet we take for granted, and a profound reminder that you can never suppress true art.

Her

Spike Jonze (2013)

i

n a futuristic version of Los Angeles, an artificial intelligence system designed to act as a placeholder for partnerless people finds its place in Theodore’s (Joaquin Phoenix) life. He is an introspective, recently divorced man who occupies his time ghost-writing letters for other people’s lovers. With technology as predominant as it is, Theodore gives in to the operating system, going by the name Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), to find a blossoming love formerly not thought possible.

Director Spike Jonze’s “Her” is one of the most viscerally vulnerable films I’ve ever seen. It is a resonant tale of love told from the perspective of one person, not only crafting an intimate portrait of human nature surrounded by the metallic overcast of our dependency on computers, but instating a profound sense of equal disparity and reassurance.

In the revealing complexities of their inquisitive relationship, Theodore and Samantha become infatuated with one another as a romance blooms — despite only one of them being human.

Though the A.I. that Theodore is in love with, Samantha, is not a person, she evolves progressively faster than her human counterpart. She has a distinct voice and, above all, an excitedly curious personality, one which subsequently matches that of Theodore’s repressed drive for life.

The irony on display in “Her” is that Theodore finds solace in a computer and begins to resent the relationships he has shared with his peers; this is a statement on general misunderstanding and how truly difficult it can be to connect and empathize with people once you know too much about them. Change is scary, and this film expertly details that through its illustrious minimalism, passionate color palette and leading performances that are so unforgettable, it feels almost intrusive to watch their lives transpire, even at a distance.

In this dystopian world not too different from our own, the reliance on tech to comfort and help people survive is conveyed as a selfish commodity. This blatant commentary on attraction and the devastation derived from unmet expectations makes “Her” so heartbreakingly real. While the character of Samantha could very well be nothing more than a voice in our protagonist’s head, it’s the connection they share that derives the most earnestness, genuine chemistry and empathy above all else.

I find it incredibly interesting that this film foresaw a reality quite similar to what we are experiencing now, as well as the idea that artificial intelligence is a relentless paradox of falses and truths.

Without a doubt, “Her” is the pivotal science-fiction love story and one of tremendous depth and longevity. It’s wonderfully shot, exceedingly well written and features some of the greatest acting of the century. It is a perfect tragic romance and simply one of the most restrained tales of the future ever put to film.

22 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

|ATHLETICS |

THE MIRROR | KEELY DUARTE

A PARRY AND A SCORE Senior and varsity player Eric

Heng competes against Kennedy on March 13. The game is part of the team’s 12 game winning-streak throughout the spring semester, with an end score of 7-0.

By Emely Arevalo

N

THE MIRROR STAFF

ervously awaiting his turn, senior William Otero Lima tightly gripped his racket. Coach Min Woo So instructed him to begin, and he positioned himself to serve the ball. However, it sailed over the fence and hit a parked car.

“I was like, there is no way I am getting on the team,” Otero Lima said. “I just kept watching videos and kept practicing, just to show that I cared even if I wasn’t that good.”

When the roster for the 2021-2022 season was posted, Otero Lima was taken aback.

“My name was on the list,” he said.

From that point onward, Otero Lima resolved to give it his all.

“I was very nervous when I started,” he said. “I remember trying out and when I saw them hitting the tennis balls, I couldn’t even see the ball.”

Otero Lima, who began playing tennis only in his junior year due to quarantine restrictions, now dedicates every day to practicing for the varsity tennis team as a senior.

“In freshman year I knew I wanted to join a sport, but I wasn’t sure which one,” he said. “Since a sport like tennis looks good in college applications, I decided to try out.”

Some players, like varsity player Daxon Beaumia, have been playing tennis seriously for two years, inspired by their tennis-

What the racket is all about FAST TRACK Ms. Reesa Partida trains for her first ultramarathon, a 33-mile trail race that took her five hours and 42 minutes to complete.

playing parents. On the other hand, varsity player Sean Kim, who has been playing for five years, was introduced to tennis through video games like Wii sports.

Every morning and afternoon, the team engages in rigorous practice sessions. They begin with warm-ups, followed by rallies (back-and-forth shots between players) and drills such as dribbling or serving under the guidance of Coach So. Tennis is a highly strategic sport that places great importance on honing technique. Known for its complexity and demanding hand-eye coordination, it also presents the challenge of feeling isolated during a match.

“The most challenging part is that it’s a one or two person sport, so having a strong mentality is important,” Kim said.

While tennis enjoys popularity, its distinctiveness lies in the expectation of maintaining silence during a match. Unlike football or basketball, where cheering and screaming are the norm, tennis is a quiet sport.

“Some don’t even know we have a tennis team,” Otero Lima said. “I would tell my friends I’m on the tennis team and they would ask if we even have courts. The courts are kind of hidden in the back of the school, so not many people know we have them.”

Tennis is widely regarded as a respectful sport, where loud cheering for the team is not acceptable during a game.

However, clapping is allowed, and insulting or teasing the opponent is frowned upon, setting it apart from other sports.

Following the match, the two players must shake hands, regardless of the match’s outcome.

“Not many people come to watch us play,” varsity player Joel

Captain’s Take

The impact of participating in sports teams is multi-faceted, according to student athletes. They have identified personal growth as a key benefit, citing the discipline and commitment they’ve learned from their coaches, which they’ve started to apply to their daily routines. Additionally, many have found a safe space for creating meaningful relationships. Overall, the consensus is that sports have played a pivotal role in their lives, both on and off the field.

Has being on a school sports team been a beneficial and enjoyable experience?

GOOD SPORTIN’

Nam said. “I feel like it’s because they don’t know the etiquette of the sport.”

While the players wish they could have more student attention on their sport, they take pride in the fulfillment of their hard work this season.

Considering last year’s team consisted mostly of experienced seniors who have since graduated, Nam held little hope for this season’s team to make significant progress in the league. However, boasting an impressive overall record of 12-1, the team feels they have exceeded their wildest expectations.

Coach So notes the young team’s significant progress this year, earning a spot in the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) playoffs.

“This season has turned out really well, we really are doing our best,” Coach So said.

According to players, Coach So’s guidance and support have been instrumental to the team’s development and surprising success.

‘‘

Most students who responded to our online poll that are part of a sport reported that they think it is enjoyable and beneficial.

49% No, it has not been enjoyable

61% Yes, it’s been enjoyable

We hope to improve a lot more in terms of skills, but I think there is a lot more potential in our team.”

Varsity player Sean Kim

“Coach So constantly reminds us to play to improve and have fun, and that winning would just be the cherry on top,” Nam said.

The team’s accomplishments extended beyond the playoffs as they secured a place in the CIF City Individual Finals. Van Nuys selected six players to represent them: freshman Joel Nam, junior Daxon Beaumia, junior Sean Kim, sophomore Milap Joshi, sophomore Dubem Akapati and sophomore Joseph Kim. The players competed in paired matches against other schools. Unfortunately, in the first round, Kim and Joshi faced a highly competitive match against El Camino Real and narrowly lost.

Throughout the tournament, they faced several opponents and showcased their resilience, ultimately advancing to the quarter-finals.

While the young team’s remarkable performance this season has brought great pride and honor to the school’s athletic program, it is their continued dedication that sets the stage for success in seasons to come.

“We have a lot more new members and more people in our junior varsity team,” Kim said. “We hope to improve a lot more in terms of skills, but I think there is a lot more potential in our team. Most of the team is very close to each other and it only gets deeper as time goes on. We really are a tight bunch.”

Steven Tostado Boys Baseball

Yvette Canuto Girls Softball

Jackie Recinos Girls Tennis

Lily Rang Girls Soccer

“Being part of a team has definitely made me a better person. Our coach, more than anyone, is trying to set us up for life after high school. The team has been a great space for personal development and learning discipline.”

“Like many others, I would have rough days due to stress from academics or personal things happening in my life. But being on a team has helped me become a better person. The support given to me by my teammates, coaches and parents helped me become more understanding, open to criticism and willing to learn to work with others.”

“Being on a team and having people there to support me has helped me to become a better person. I have improved in various ways like academics, being more socially interactive with people, expanding my social bubble and improving my mental state as a person.”

“I met a lot of new people. I became so close with some of them to the point where I have gotten to know the family members of my teammates and I grew really close to them. Before I joined the team, I had a few close friends, but playing with new people helped me build new friendships.”

THE MIRROR | SPORT CAPTAINS PHOTOS BY GIANNA IOVINO

the MIRROR

SUPER ATHLETE

| ATHLETICS |

JUNE 2023 |

WHY PICK ONE SPORT WHEN YOU CAN SWEAT THROUGH FIVE?

Giving it their best

I

A

n the grand tradition of teenage overachievement, senior Joselyn Giron conjured up quite the audacious plan last summer.

She set her sights on a lofty goal - to juggle not one, not two but five school sports. Now, as the school year is in its twilight weeks, she’s graced the fields and courts of the varsity soccer team, varsity basketball team, junior varsity volleyball team, varsity track and field team and varsity softball team. Talk about not knowing when to take a breather.

When she was six – back when finger-painting was still a challenging task for most – Giron took her first kick at organized sports. She was thrown into the mixed-gender chaos of a soccer team dubbed ‘Real Madrid’.

“Since then, I fell in love with playing sports and my passion grew and grew,” Giron said. “Now, I play multiple sports.”

In her junior year, Giron cast her hat into the ring for the girls soccer team at Van Nuys. As a center midfield and sometimes striker, she swatted away opponent goals like flies and kept the ball churning upfield.

After a grueling soccer season in her junior year, Giron was nudged into the world of track by her coach. Oddly enough, the nudge pushed her into a fresh, new love for sports.

Giron took to the track like a cheetah to the savanna, her innate speed and agility carving her a niche as a sprinter. She grabbed first place in the 4x100 relay event at the Valley Mission League Finals. They didn’t just win – they took home gold.

Giron decided to kick off this school year by diving headfirst into junior varsity volleyball, stepping into the role of an outside hitter.

After track, Giron was charmed into the wild world of basketball by an encouraging teammate. Standing firm as a defensive guard, she took on the challenge of handling the opposing team’s best player.

Beyond medals and glory, Giron scooped up invaluable lessons that will stick with her.

“I learned to stay focused, don’t slack off, do what I love, make friends with people who push me to my limits and just have fun,” she said. g Jaden Gervacio

‘‘

I maintained a positive mindset from always keeping calm, and always pushing myself forward, even when negative things were being thrown at me,” Senior Joselyn Giron

FIVE-STAR WONDER

Senior Joselyn Giron has had a passion for sports since she was six, her most recent endevour being basketball.

By Isabel Valles THE MIRROR STAFF

THE MIRROR | KEELEY DUARTE

shot

‘‘

s sweat trickles down his face, a heavy metal ball is nestled against his neck. He focuses intently on a white mark in the dirt, a challenging 25 feet away.

His mantra resonates in his mind, a silent chant: Throw it as far as you can…

Throw it as far as you can… Throw it as far as you can….

With a tightened grip and unyielding form, he catapults the ball skyward.

He watches as it arcs through the air before striking the dirt just short of the white mark.

His teammates whoop and cheer.

“Every foot and inch matters in this competition,” junior varsity Track & Field member Kaisher Barbaran said.

This competition is shot put, a classic track and field event. Competitors are positioned within a seven-foot diameter circle, tasked with launching a weighted metal ball, known as a shot put, as far as possible across a dirt landing area. The athlete who flings the shot the furthest takes the win. Distances are meticulously measured with a tape measure.

The clock begins to tick as soon as an athlete’s name is called. They have just 60 seconds to unleash their shot. The shot put must be positioned close to the athlete’s neck, resting on their shoulder.

A foul is declared if the shot put sinks below the shoulder, if the athlete leaves before the shot put lands on the ground or if the shot putlands outside the designated boundaries.

Among the variety of Track & Field events, shot put is unique. It’s distinct from popular events like boys and girls relay, triple jump and long jump. The shot put team, comprised of only five members, is a smaller, more discreet component of the track and field team.

“Shot put is not all about strength,” Barbaran said. “It’s one of the main parts of the sport but there are other many key factors to keep in mind when doing shot put. Just like other sports, form and fundamentals is a big part of it. Without those two, you won’t be able to throw a shot put as far as you want.”

In addition to strength and form, technique is pivotal. Common approaches include the half spin and glide spin.

The half spin technique involves the athlete rotating their right leg around their left foot, pivoting the left leg behind the right to the front of the circle, then spinning and launching the shot put. A glide throw resembles an explosive, exaggerated backward lunge, culminating in the shot’s release.

“Every athlete has their own style of the way they throw the shot put,” varsity Track & Field member Kevin Munoz said.

“Some may use their shoulders, some may use their throats.”

Regardless of the technique employed, the objective remains the same: to achieve greater distances when hurling the shot put.

Initially, Barbaran was a novice with no experience or knowledge of the sport.

He joined the track team last semester after the football season ended, inspired

23

Every athlete has their own style of the way they throw the shot put. Some may use their shoulders, some may use their throats.”

Kevin Munoz, Shot-putter

HEAVE HO Kaisher Barbaran practices releasing the shot put on the school’s practice field. Athletes, part of the track and field team, hurl a 16-pound metal ball as far as they can.

by his football teammates’ transition to track and field.

These days, Barbaran can be found practicing shot put with his team each morning before school and during sixth period every school day. If they’re not circling the track for two-mile runs, they’re in the weight room, building strength for their next track meet.

“We’ve been throwing further and further every meet, which is awesome,” he said. “We keep improving our team chemistry and our performance.”

Senior Kevin Munoz, a member of the track team since his junior year, echoes Perez’s sentiment, noting the positive impact of this engaging sport.

“Shot put has had a positive effect on me, it has shown me that you can not cheat the sport,” Munoz said. “If you want to be good, you have to be willing to put

THE MIRROR | SAMANTHA RAMOS

in the work and sacrifice free time.”

However, there are moments when Munoz questions his progress.

“There has been a time where I felt like I was not making any progress and I got frustrated, but I pushed through it,” Munoz said.

Barbaran, too, shares such moments of self-doubt.

“I’m always over thinking about what if my throws aren’t good enough or what if i’m the worst one there,” he said.

With support from his former football teammates and experiences from multiple track meets, he has surmounted these hurdles.

The track and field team, including shot put, is guided by Coach Alejandro Becerra.

The present shot put athletes are keen to see their team grow, encouraging students of all genders to join.

“There are kids looking for a way out of stress and I hope they can join shot put and use that as a way to grow, in and outside the sport,” Munoz said.

24 | JUNE 2023

the MIRROR

|ATHLETICS |

THE MIRROR | NICOLE TOVAR

Past champions learn to succeed in a new reality

Lessons from the

By Selma Timpers

I

net

OVER THE NET The boys volleyball team,

led by co-captains Nieco Erasmo and Devin Brown, has led a fairly successful season with their overall score of 13-17, achieving fourth place in the Valley Mission League.

THE MIRROR SPORTS EDITOR

n the climactic moments of the 20202021 volleyball season, team captain John Legaspi leapt skyward. His strike pierced the defense, landing the game point and solidifying the squad’s victory as Los Angeles City Section Division 1 Champions.

The explosion of cheers that followed could be heard throughout the field, as sophomore Nieco Erasmo watched in awe. The team’s boundless jubilation marked their most significant athletic achievement in their high school careers.

“It was definitely a really gratifying moment, especially because other than two people, the team was entirely seniors,” Erasmo said. “It was also that coach’s last year, so it felt like a really good goodbye.”

Erasmo now leads the varsity team with co-captain Devin Brown. They have bold visions for the team’s future, but an immediate repeat of the City Championship is off the table.

Every season culminates in the Los Angeles CIF Championships, where teams earn the opportunity to compete against higher-level opponents. Making it to this stage can be the key to bringing home the coveted Championship title.

“That season, everyone wanted it,” Erasmo said. “But now, most people on the team are just going through the motions.”

Fellow varsity player Gursewak Singh, a two-year member of the team, is no stranger to longing for that title.

“Even last year, I would always think, how would it feel to be a finalist of that level?” Singh said. “I’ve always wished to have gone there, but we just couldn’t. We did the best we could.”

Ending the season on a high note, the Wolves rode a 7-5 winning streak to secure fourth place in the Valley Mission League, trailing closely behind 8-4 Reseda.

According to Erasmo and Brown, the contrast between this year’s volleyball team and

the 2020-2021 roster lies in commitment and discipline.

“The team this year is not as focused,” Erasmo said. “We had a first-year coach along with a lot of first-year players, so a lot of people just don’t know how a sports team goes. They don’t understand the concept of seniority. They expect playing time rather than trying to earn it during practice.”

Their stability took a hit mid-season when first-year coach Miguel Morales left for a position at another school. This unexpected Nieco Erasmo, Boys Volleyball Co-Captain departure paved the way for Coach Miguel Becerra, who, despite stepconflicts inevitably occur. A poignant instance ping in to help the team, took a more passive Brown recalled involved a varsity player beapproach. It was then that Brown and Erasmo coming noticeably unmotivated mid-season. assumed the reins of leadership.

Their minimal effort resulted in reduced playLast year, Brown was a varsity player; this ing time, which left them puzzled. year, he shares the captainship with Erasmo.

“As captain I’m not going to let them fall His role expansion has him assisting Erasmo apart, and I’m not going to let that slide bein capacities typically reserved for a coach. cause it’s disrespectful to the team, yourself “This year, especially with our coach being and the captains,” Brown said. “If we’re putting a little more hands off, I’m making more prac- in all this effort, where’s yours? Sometimes tice schedules while the coach is going along they expect that playing time even if they’re with me and adjusting to my ideas,” Brown not putting in that effort, but you have to call said. “As a captain, it’s definitely my job now to them out on it and remind them that nothing give notes to certain players, so when people is guaranteed.” mess up, they have to ask me what they’re doOther players saw how this lack of effort afing wrong and I have to fix it.” fected the team and their dynamic, including Striving to be exemplary leaders, the coSingh. captains maintain constant communication “Everyone just wanted to improve on themabout practices, games and team issues. Their selves, rather than improve as a team,” Singh solid partnership offers a platform for resolvsaid. “We made more improvements towards ing any unique challenges that arise. the end of the season, but it should’ve been However, even with dedicated leadership, built earlier on to develop those habits.”

‘‘

As the season wore on, even the captains

Being a solo captain makes you feel sensed their own commitment waning.

“I think this is the first year where vollike you have all the responsibilities leyball has definitely taken a step back in of the team, like everything is your my life,” Erasmo said. “With all the other activities, and maintaining classes fault. But having a co-captain keeps senior and college applications, I just told myself me composed.” that I’ll still try, but I’m not going to make

that same effort that I made last year, that extra step.”

Despite his impending graduation, Erasmo’s determination to better the team remains unshaken. Both he and Brown are formulating strategies to extend their winning streak into the next season.

Focusing on volleyball fundamentals, like passing, is seen as a key area for improvement.

Looking forward to his senior year as the sole captain, Brown harbors hope. His strategy is encouraging his teammates to expand their horizons by going to volleyball clubs and experiencing a different environment.

Above all, fostering robust relationships between teammates emerges as the most significant solution, which Erasmo emphasizes.

“I try to be friends with everyone and have everyone be friends with each other,” Erasmo said. “We have to foster an environment that makes teammates comfortable and have everyone be friends because that chemistry takes the team to the next level.”

SPORTS UPDATE BOYS VOLLEYBALL | With a sufficient

season, the boys varsity volleyball team clawed their way into the Valley Mission League playoffs, finishing with a decent 7-5 record. However, they fell short behind the Reseda Regents. Their encounters with the Sylmar Spartans, Reseda Regents and Kennedy Cougars proved to be disappointing, suffering three consecutive losses. Despite these setbacks, they bounced back and overpowered the Panorama Pythons with a 3-0 victory on April 25. Unfortunately, they faced a devastating 0-3 defeat against the Monroe Vikings on May 2.

GIRLS SWIM | Securing a spot in the

City CIF Playoffs, the girls swim team displayed determination and skill. Although they faced challenges due to a shortage of team members, they gave it their all.

Lorena Guevara and Sinai Barajas represented the team in the CIF playoffs and achieved commendable results. In the fiercely competitive 200-meter race, Guevara showcased her prowess, claiming an impressive fourth place with her butterfly stroke. Barajas secured seventh place. As the season drew to a close, the team is hopeful that new members will contribute to improved results.

BOYS TENNIS | Domination defined

the boys tennis team’s season, as they emerged triumphant in the Valley Mission League, boasting an impeccable 12-0 record. They left no room for doubt about their superiority, demolishing their opponents with resounding 7-0 victories in each match. The playoffs began on April 25, with the Wolves confronting Granada Hills Charter School, another undefeated team in their league. The team’s journey came to an untimely end in the first round, suffering a devastating loss of 2-27. Now, they are setting their sights on a championship in the upcoming season.

BASEBALL | Marked by disappointment, the baseball team endured a challenging season, tallying a discouraging score of 2-8 in their league and an overall record of 5-11.

Their journey was plagued by a ruthless losing streak, succumbing to Monroe High School, Sylmar High School, Canoga Park High School and San Fernando High School.

Another blow came on May 8, when they faced the Sylmar Spartans, suffering a 14-0 defeat. Their performance landed them in sixth place in the league, missing out on the playoffs. Despite the disappointment, the players remain optimistic, looking forward to the next season with hope of improvement.

SOFTBALL | The softball team faced a

tumultuous season, grappling with a 0-10 losing record in the Valley Mission League and an overall score of 1-13. Victory eluded them in every game they played, including a difficult 4-20 defeat against the Panorama Pythons on April 18 and a 0-10 loss to the Reseda Regents on May 4. They were forced to forfeit five games due to a shortage of players and various injuries, curtailing their season prematurely.

Looking ahead, Coach Cox is determined to recruit more members to build a stronger team and achieve greater success in the league next season.