WILDCAT UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL
11800 Texas Avenue XCI Issue 5 Instagram: @wildcatpaper Los Angeles, CA 90025 Friday, March 24, 2017 wildcatpaper.com
César Chávez ¡Sí se puede!
“¡Sí se puede!” Translated roughly to “Yes, it can be done”, César Chávez’s powerful slogan remains as prevalent today as it did 45 years ago. As a prominent union leader and labor organizer, César Chávez (19271993) united Californian migrant workers faced with unjust circumstances by founding the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. Later joining with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to form the United Farm Workers, they held nonviolent strikes, marches, and hunger strikes against grape growers. Despite the problems Chávez encountered and the legal barriers that tried to stop the movement, he was able to protect wages and improve farmer’s working conditions in California, Texas, Arizona, and Florida. Today, his efforts continue to live on. Chávez inspires us to peacefully resist when faced with injustice and to never cease fighting for what is right. Although we are faced with great uncertainty under the new administration, we must never forget Chávez’s legacy. In light of immigration issues such as the travel bans and the threat of mass deportations, we must remember that we, the people, still have a voice. By engaging in peaceful demonstrations, gathering signatures for petitions, contacting our local Congressmen, and supporting organizations that aid undocumented immigrants, we can carry on Chávez’s legacy and establish a welcoming environment for America.
Students speak out against immigration restrictions Page 2
Illus tr Trixie ation by Vald
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Find the SkaterCat within the newspaper!
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March 24 , 2017
UNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT
News
A Day Without Immigrants Protests
By Sebastian Orozco Staff Writer
Photo By Melody Fuentes
On Feb. 18, tens of thousands of people hold a peaceful protest against Trump’s immigration policies and the Immigration and Customs Enforcements Agency by marching to city hall.
I
n an event that was dubbed as “A Day Without Immigrants,” people all across the country took to the streets on Thursday, Feb. 16 to protest President Trump’s immigration orders. Protesters voiced their opposition to the President’s ban on nationals from some majority-Muslim countries, plan to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, increased immigration raids, and threat to cut federal funding from ‘sanctuary cities’. People participated in “A Day Without Immigrants” by not going to school, closing their businesses, and boycotting American-made goods. Sophomore Jaqueline Cruz Cruz was among some Uni students who participated in the protests by not attending school and boycotting stores. “President Trump’s goal is to ‘make America great again’, but I don’t see how America will be great if a lot of families are separated and suffering.” Cruz Cruz says that immigrants come to the U.S. “to work for a better life.” As an undocumented immigrant covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Cruz Cruz is concerned about the opportunity she will have to continue to study in the U.S. under the Trump Adminis-
tration. DACA is an American immigration policy signed by President Obama in 2012 that allows temporary relief from deportation for children who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16 and who were under 31 years old in 2012. The order maintains that recipients must be enrolled in school or have earned a high school diploma. Upon review, those eligible would receive a renewable twoyear period for deferred action of deportation and the ability to receive a work permit. However, this policy does not apply to people who have committed serious crimes. “If I could talk to President Trump, I would ask him to not take away DACA because that program has allowed students like me to continue studying hard,” Cruz Cruz said. “We, the dreamers have the dream of continuing to have the opportunity to study in this country and going to college so that in the future we can have a better life.” While Trump has made sympathetic remarks about Dreamers, saying they are “incredible kids,” and that he will deal with the issue with, “great heart,” he has mainly been unclear on whether he will end DACA or keep it. Hardline Republicans that are tough on immigration are putting the Presi-
dent under pressure, insisting that DACA be terminated. According to a University of Southern California study, 1 out of every 10 L.A. County residents is an undocumented immigrant. While the number of undocumented immigrants within LAUSD is unknown, board members of the school district unanimously adopted a resolution that promises that the school district will “continue to protect the data and identities of any student, family member, or school employee who may be adversely affected by any future policies or executive action that results in the collection of any personally identifiable information.” The school district also voted to deny access to campuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials without approval from the superintendent in February. “We interpret that to make sure that all schools are safe places and safe zones,” L.A Unified school board president Steve Zimmer,, said. Senior Edith Cruz argues that people should continue to fight for the inclusion of immigrants because they play such a significant role in society. “Just because we go to a diverse school does not mean that the outside world is as accepting as we are at Uni.”
DACA and AB540 What are they? How are they different? Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) allows for certain undocumented youths to avoid deportation and apply for work authorization. To be eligible for DACA. one must: Be under 31 Have lived in the U.S. continuously for five years Have a clean criminal record Either be in school, have obtained a certificate of high school completion or GED, or be an honorably discharged veteran of the Armed Forces or Coast Guard.
California state law AB540 allows eligible undocumented students to pay instate tuition at California Community Colleges, California State Universities (CSUs), and Universities of California (UCs) One must have attended a California high school for a minimum of three years and graduated from a California high school, or have obtained an equivalent such as a GED or passing the California High School Proficiency Exam.
AB540 Project DACA/AB540 financial aid workshop Open to all students Wednesdays @ 3:30 in Room 100 For more information contact project directors Ana and Paloma at ab540project.hs@gmail.com
March 24, 2017
ENTERTAINMENT
John Wick: Chapter 2 Review
BY JUSTIN REECE Staff Writer
The film follows John Wick(Keanu Reeves) as he seeks to live the rest of his life in peace, but all that is ruined when an old colleague comes knocking on his door in order to make PHOTO BY: LIONSGATE & THUNDER ROAD due on a blood debt.
When the first “John Wick” film released in 2014, it flew under everyone’s radar mainly due to subpar marketing and a fairly irrational premise: “a man goes on a murder spree because his dog was killed.” It turned me off from anything related to the film. But after the reviews came flooding in saying it was good, I decided to see it for myself. Three years later, the film has become my all-time-favorite film.. “John Wick: Chapter 2” is directed by Chad Stahelski, and produced by Lionsgate and Thunder Road Pictures. The film starts immediately after the events of the prior film. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is seeking the location of his car, which was stolen by Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and is now Abram Tarasov’s (Peter Stormare). After reclaiming the car, Wick returns home to his dog and tries to begin living his life in peace. All is ruined when Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a colleague from Wick’s past, comes knocking on his door to make due on a blood debt. Wick refuses, and gets his house blown up. After reflection and counsel from his colleague Winston (Ian McShane), Wick sees that this is the only way to achieve peace and agrees to honor
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the debt. From there, the rest of the plot unfolds. While the film is meant to be an action spectacle, it has some pretty solid performances too. Reeves delivers an intense performance; you can feel his subdued rage. Scamarcio’s performance as D’Antonio is very reminiscent of Joaquin Phoenix in “Gladiator.” He’s a sniveling little punk who thinks he’s untouchable and gets very annoying at times. The amount of bodies and bloodshed in the film is unbelievably high. The signature “gun-fu” and wrestling style that Wick utilizes are still present, but there are also some very creative ways that Wick takes people down (two of which involve a pencil). The only problem lies with the set-pieces. There is never a set-piece that manages to top the “nightclub” from the first film. The nightclub is possibly one of the greatest action scenes in cinema history. It perfectly displays Wick’s skills as he viciously takes down guys left and right while he chases after Tarasov. If you’re a fan of action films or even of Keanu Reeves, you owe it to yourself to see “John Wick:Chapter 2”. Rating:4/5
Bruce Wayne is Batman’s roommate? BY ALYSSA KAUTHEN Staff Writer
Everyone’s favorite brooding good guy is back at it again. Bruce Wayne AKA Batman (Will Arnett), takes on a new form — as a shiny plastic lego. Much like many of his previous incarnations, Batman prefers to be a lone fighter, not particularly enjoying the idea of working with others. Unfortunately for Batman, Dick Grayson, also known as Robin (Michael Cera), enters the picture. Just like the original Lego Movie, Lego Batman is filled with jokes, as well as some fun Easter eggs referencing Batman’s many live action roles. One of these references happened to be his collection of eclectic Batsuits that allude to some of the… weirder moments in Batman history, such as the always colorful Rainbow Batman. Even Alfred makes an appearance as “The Kick Butler.” When Bruce Wayne adopts little Robin, he tries on everything from the Current Bat suit, our very loved and admired black costume with the yellow bat logo, to Batman Beyond, a black and red costume featured at the very front of Batman’s suit collection. He finally decides on the colorful Reggae Man suit from Batman’s expansive collection. After a series of suspicious activities happening in the city, Batman and Robin start trying to take down The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), which, of course, is never as simple as it seems. With evil villains wreaking havoc everywhere, these super heroes find themselves in need of some extra help. After all, it wasn’t everyday that the worst supervillains were released all at once: King Kong (Seth Green), Poison Ivy
PHOTO BY: LEGOBATMAN.COM Batman is back dressed in black as the city of Gotham needs his help, or do they really? The Warner Brothers brought us yet another hilarious lego film filled with all of our favorite characters.
(Riki Lindhome), Medusa (Lauren White), and even Lord Voldemort himself (Eddie Izzard). With Batman facing the issue of learning to work with others, Gotham starts to improve without him, due to Barbara Gordon’s (Rosario Dawson) new criminal task force. Is Gotham really better off without our favorite dark and edgy superhero or could this possibly be just another evil plot by The Joker? Hopefully you’ll agree that Everything is Awesome about this film, when you watch it for yourself while it is still in theaters. To find out more about this funny, action packed film, visit legobatman.com for fun video games, information about the characters, and small clips from the movie. It is definitely a must-see for anyone seeking a good laugh. After all, everything is cool when you’re part of a team. Rating: 5/5
Politically charged clothing to voice your opinion Many dreaded watching the Obama family pack their bags and move out of the White House. What better way is there to remember Obama’s presidency than to wear his face on your clothes? This season, fashion designers have been releasing gear that features former President Barack Obama and other key individuals in politics. Popular clothing brand Supreme has hopped on the Obama train for their Spring/Summer 2017 collection. Originally a skate shop in New York City, Supreme has become one of the most popular brands among today’s youth. Supreme is known for being the epitome of online reselling and pays respect to various aspects of art, politics, and culture. This season, designers settled to pay tribute to Barack Obama, as well as leading Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. The Spring/Summer 2017 Supreme drop features an Obama jacket and bottom combo, as well as tees and pins adorned with the simple phrase “F*ck the president”, referring not to Obama, of course, but to current President Donald Trump. Apart from the evident disapproval of Trump, Supreme also dropped a quilted jacket featuring Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano
Zapata, who was all for expelling corruption. With both of these tributes, the brand seems to be using politics to show its values. Online magazine Highsnobiety’s editorial team member Kam Dhillon stated, “Given the fact that there’s a not-so-subtle nod to former President Obama elsewhere in the SS17 drop, this quilted jacket emblazoned with a portrait of Zapata, a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, makes a lot of sense. I’m sure there’ll be another protest on the horizon to wear this to.” Wearing your appreciation for Obama on your sleeve just got easier with designer Joe Fresh Good’s “Thank You Obama” clothing line, which pays tribute to Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and their children. The clothing line features a No. 44 basketball jersey with Obama’s name, a long sleeve shirt with Mr. and Mrs. Obama’s wedding date, and even a “Malia” t-shirt that uses the crimson color of Harvard University, where she is set to attend this upcoming fall. On his website, Joe wrote, “The night
PHOTO BY: SUPREME & TWITTER: @CHANCETHERAPPER
BY JULIE LEE Entertainment Editor
Obama won his first term gave me so much hope, especially and most importantly as a black man. ” The designer was able to get a hold of Chance the Rapper to model the collection. Joe posted one of Chance’s photos on Instagram with the caption, “I wanted to create a project to show love for a family that inspired me and it’s my job to report current times with my art (clothes)... Special thanks to my good friend @chancetherapper for jumping on board with this idea.” By releasing clothes that were created as political mes- sages, designers are using their brands as a platform to spread awareness to their young adult consumers who may otherwise not be interested in politics.
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FEATURES
Uni Gras UNIfies
student body
Softball Team Club
The softball team fundraises for sports equipment and gear to make up for the lack of funding from the district. They brought back their popular game from last year’s Uni Gras to make their booth more lively. “Our activity was a pie face game where people paid to either pie one of the softball girls, our Coach [Jason] Tilett, or [assistant principal Oscar J.] Lopez,” senior Yisel Salazar said. They also sold many delicious foods like raspados, or shaved ice, and churritos, a Mexican snack. “Everybody had fun and learned how to make shaved ice, [which] was a great experience,” Salazar said. Students experienced a UNIque day of fun and festivities that students, teachers, and administrators get to enjoy every year.
Class of 2017
Photos by Rosa Martinez, Delia Ramos, and Amy Oh Assistant Principal Oscar Lopez gets pied at the softball booth. [Top] Bebi kusuma, Claire hafteck, and Vishal Vinodh raise money for the Class of 2018. [Bottom-left] Salma Abdusamad and Maria palma are married in the Class of 2017. [Bottom-right]
The fragrant mixture of aromas at this year’s Uni Gras on Feb. 23 was enough to make your mouth water. The hardest decision was deciding where to spend your money and your appetite. Booths featured items that put a typical food court to shame. They offered hot dogs, pizza, ice creams, waffles, crispy fried chicken, chow mein, Diddy Riese cookies, salads, sodas, smoothies, and the iconic Jolly Rancher slush. Uni Gras, named after the global Mardi Gras, represents the diverse culture and interests of University High School. The school celebrates Uni Gras every year to create school spirit and fundraise money for the school and clubs. Here are some of the popular booths in Uni Gras:
The Class of 2017 Club dedicates their time and effort to fundraise and plan for senior year. All the money they have fundraised goes into setting up prom and graduation. They meet every Wednesday in room 382, next to drumline coach Kahlil Sabbagh’s room. Every year, per tradition, the senior class gets to hold a wedding booth. “First a person would come up and give their name to Edith, where they would pay and fill out their certificate,” senior president Jackie Lopez shared. “The certificate was passed on to me, the officiator, and the couple stood in front of me. I gave them ring pops, made a short quick speech about their marriage, had them sign their names, and then I would tell them to exchange rings. I would pronounce them husband and wife and they would kiss, high five, or hug.”
By Esther Han and Kate Im
Staff Writer and Sports Editor
Italian Club
The Italian Club works to promote Italian culture every Wednesday at SHES Director Kerri Eich’s room H43. And what better way to promote a culture than through food? “We sold our mom’s Ragù pasta, which is made from tomato, carrot, celery, beef and more,” senior president Maxim Pike said. “It is an authentic Italian dish from the Tuscan region. We also sold some K-Talian food, which consisted of pasta or rice cakes with Kimchi and cheesy garlic sauce!” The Italian club also made the replica of the “Bocca Della verità” statue in Rome and shared the horrific tale of the statue. “Legend goes that if you tell a lie when you place your hand in its mouth, your hand gets chopped off,” Pike said. “We didn’t chop people’s hands off, but we had them reach into the “bocca” for a chance at a free bowl of our ragù pasta.” Hopefully the club was able to prove a point that Italy does not just mean pizza.
Red Cross Club
The Red Cross Club meets every Tuesday in room 289 at Science Department Chair Marschal Fazio’s to inform students about volunteer opportunities for their local community. They work to volunteer for local disasters, veterans, and global issues. This year, the Red Cross Club sold their delicious Chinese food to raise money and create awareness. “We sold chow mein, orange chicken, and fried rice. And it went fantastic as usual! We are very well known for selling out very fast at Uni Gras and other events,” junior Sarai Benitez said. Their famous $5 Chinese food attracted a long line at their booth.
Rotary Contest recognizes student artists
Photos courtesy of Salma Abdusamad and Charlene Herrella Salma Abdusamad’s art piece explored the topic of child abuse. [Left] Charlene Herrella and Kahlil Sabbagh are ready to perform at the Loyola Marymount University pageant on March 11. [Right]
Winners of the Rotary contest, who will advance to the state level Loyola Marymount University pageant this year at Uni, are senior Salma Abdusamad for the art category, senior Charlene Herrella for the music category, and junior Waddah Gorashi for the speech category. However, final results reveal that there were no Uni winners for the Rotary Club’s District level competition this year. Rotary’s Pageant of the Arts is an annual contest where students compete against other high school students in four categories: Art, Dance, Music, and Speech. Those selected within a high school will proceed to the Rotary Club’s District level competition at Loyola Marymount University and get the chance to win monetary prizes-as well as recognition-for each category. Prizes are $1,000, $500, and $250 for the top three winners. Before attending the Loyola competition, those selected had to participate in a sub-contest within the Westwood Rotary Club, as each club could submit only one student per category. The Westwood Rotary Club had also given $150, $100, $50, and $25 respectively to the top three winners and honorable mention in each category.
By Mae Wang
Features Editor
Abdusamad’s art piece features a beaten, bruised boy. The vivid colors of red, orange, and yellow behind him on one side represent the expectations of happiness. However, on the other side, shades of black, purple, and blue symbolizes the dark colors of reality. “Initially, I was looking into children in general at the time of the Syrian refugees and how they didn’t get the things they needed. It really broke my heart” she said. She plans to donate her prize money in the future, to the American Civil Liberties Union. Herella had initially planned to play jazz with a classical guitar for her performance in the music category. However, she had decided to switch to singing “Till There Was You” from the musical “The Music Man” with a track. “[My theme] was about love and appreciation. It took me less than a week [to prepare] because I was told very late,” she said. Kahlil Sabbagh was the official host of the music judging staged event, running the sound, assisting the judges at room 384, where Uni students contestants would perform their music in front of a crowd of more than 20 people. “[Overall,] I was able to appreciate everyone else’s talents,” Herrella said. In the English department, the speech category’s theme had been to explain or promote how serving humanity is a positive solution to life’s challenges. Gorashi formulated a speech, advocating that there are “infinite ways to serve humanity.” “My dad had recently volunteered for a soup kitchen and I thought it was really crazy. I was amazed that really anyone can help out” Gorashi said. Gorashi would come in at lunch with a few other people and practice reciting his speech to him. “I know that they worked hard and it was the first public speaking contest that they would complete. They were fantastic and passionate,” Eisner said. Sadly, Gorashi states that he cannot participate in the state level pageant due to his conflicting schedule with the SATs on a Saturday. But he will most definitely be participating in the contest next year. As for the dance category, the school has not been able to find a suitable replacement teacher with a PE and dance credential. And even if a teacher was found, it is not certain if he or she would participate in the contest. “We continue to work with the District Human Resource Division to identify candidates who hold the appropriate certifications, “principal Eric Davidson said. “We are hopeful to have someone in the position next fall.” All in all, Ishii, Eisner, and Sabbagh will join in next year’s rotary contest as it has been a tradition within the Uni community.
March 24, 2017
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UNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT
FEATURES
How to face rejection like a boss
By Julie Han and Amy Oh Opinion and Features Editors
You pulled on the “stop-request” cord, but the bus did not stop. You wave to your friends, but they did not see you. You ask your teacher for extra credit and she looks you in the eye and says you should have completed your work when it was given. Rejection is a troubling daily experience that everyone has to deal with.
cause he was deemed too short, but he eventually led the Chicago Bulls to 6 NBA championships and won the prized Most Valuable Player Award 5 times. Your time will come sooner or later, like it came for Jordan. However, you will have to reflect and put in hard work in order to reach your goals after recovering from rejection.
The next few months, however, will be marked by ‘promposals’, letters from colleges, and possibly even job interviews. Knowing how to deal with rejection will be especially important during this time, and there is no shortage of ways to do so:
Treat yourself because you put yourself out there.
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
After being rejected, most people are fixated on their flaws. Don’t beat yourself up about it because everyone goes through rejection and you are not alone. Talking yourself down will only further injure your self-esteem, when you should be taking steps to boosting your self-confidence after such an emotional moment. Everyone has flaws, but in order to improve, you will have to recognize them, and work on them one by one.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
There will be people you know, perhaps your closest friend, who will get accepted to your dream college or internship program, while you won’t. You only have control of one life, and it is yours. The time you put into comparing yourself to others is a waste of your own energy, which could have been used to improve yourself. Your talents and qualities are simply too unique to make a fair comparison. Try to make a list of all your accomplishments in order to regain confidence, but also make sure you know what you need to work on to have a better shot in the future. When author J.K. Rowling was rejected 12 times by publishers for her popular Harry Potter series, she continued to write and persevere until a publisher finally approved.
Go at your own pace.
It is best to not pressure yourself for being a late bloomer, just because everyone else seems to have life worked out. Take for instance, former basketball player Michael Jordan. Jordan didn’t make his high school varsity basketball team be-
You should be proud that you took a risk. Despite knowing that you might have a chance of getting rejected, you tried out for something that you were genuinely interested in. This, itself, shows that you are a passionate person. You deserve to treat yourself to whatever makes you happy, whether that’s going on a shopping spree, making a new playlist of songs or watching Netflix all day.
Process your emotions and acknowledge the way you feel.
Your feelings after facing rejection might be a combination of sadness, resentment, jealousy and anger. This is a completely normal way to feel, and you have all the rights to feel the way you do. You don’t always need to be happy. In fact, repressing your true feelings is more detrimental to your mental health than it is to actually process your emotions. Get your thoughts and feelings out by writing in a journal or listening to music, in order to relax and relate to something.
Do not let sadness ferment. Go out and vent.
Swimming in sadness will only cultivate more unnecessary feelings of shame and sorrow, and there is no time for that. Allow yourself to mend over time, but that does not mean you have to remain fixated in one spot. Feeling angry or emotional? Break a sweat and take a jog. Do something that makes you happy, whether it is trying different jelly bean flavors or playing the guitar. It will make the recovery process much more manageable and quicker.
Rejection does not define you.
You are not your rejection. Sure it may be part of your experience, but you are more than your missed shots, and it does not and will never represent you as a person. Besides your quirks, silly jokes, and jaw-dropping good-looks, what does make up your identity is your will and perseverance to put yourself in situations where your fate is uncertain.
Cartoon by Mae Wang
Incredible places to go during spring break
By Rosa Martinez Staff Writer
It’s time to plan because before you know it, it will be spring break. Don’t waste your time sleeping. Be an adventurer and go to places you haven’t been to. Here are some places you can visit over the spring break: Temescal Canyon Park Waterfall: The waterfall is a great place to go around the Pacific Coast. You will be surrounded by fresh air and water, which can relieve you from all the stress you’ve been having at school or work. Make sure you bring snacks as well as a bug spray because you never know if you’ll encounter pesky mosquitos around trees and bushes. Not only will you have fun while searching for the waterfall, but you will also be doing your body and health a favor by exercising. The Temescal Canyon Park Waterfall address is 15900 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. Parking is $7, but you can find plenty of parking spaces outside the park. The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden: This relaxing Japanese garden is located in the heart of Cal State University Long Beach. A garden can be a nice place to take a stroll and enjoy the sound of the nature. It is also a
beautiful spot to take pictures of a little lake in the middle of the garden or a bridge. The lakes are additionally embellished with koi fish of various color. During the night, the fluorescent lights are turned on to make the garden even brighter. If you want to go somewhere to think, relax, or study, this a great place for you. The admission is free, and it’s open from Tuesday through Friday. Venice Canals Walkway: Located near Venice Beach, the Venice Canal Walkway is a beautiful and romantic place to go. You will have a view of houses of unique designs and shapes. Fitting to the personality and preferences of the residents, some buildings are modern and chic, while others are a mixture of Spanish style. It’s definitely worth the time to visit, especially if you enjoy exploring and learning about different cultures. Bubble Gum Alley: It’s a wall full of gum, 70-feet long and 15-high feet. The “sticky” mark had began in the 1950s located near San Luis Obispo. People would come to this place to write a note and make creativity art with gum. Bubble Gum Alley is located at 733.5 Higuera St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.
Bumble Gum Alley
Photo by Crawfish2007
Venice Canals Walkway
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith
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March 24, 2017
UNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT
OPINION
Dear Netflix:
Racism is a two way street
Source: netflix By Emmett Krantz Co-Editor-in-chief
Streaming service and content creator Netflix has come under fire recently over their new series, “Dear White People” and a Nov. 8 tweet from the show’s main writer, Jack Moore. The trailer features its black female protagonist reprimanding “white people” for their racist Halloween costumes. She does not address “racist white people”, nor “people who dress up in racist costumes”, nor even simply “racists”. Apparently, the target of her message and of the show in general is just “white people”, no modifiers whatsoever. More pointedly, Jack Moore, who is white himself simply said in his tweet “F--- white people” Any given race has a whole host of stereotypes associated with them, and while mainstream American society seems to have accepted that judging anyone based on them is wrong, there is one generalization that has been allowed to permeate ‘progressive’ media outlets like Netflix. In one of the greatest ironies that modern culture has to offer, it is apparently perfectly acceptable to assume that a white
person is racist simply because they are white. So acceptable, in fact, that white people like Moore are willing to harbor racial self hatred for the sake of not seeming racist. If one has doubts that complaints against Moore’s tweet or the trailer for “Dear White People” are valid, consider the following. Imagine a black writer who, being so frustrated with Barack Obama’s election, decided to take to Twitter and say “f--- black people”. Now imagine that said writer began contributing to a show called “Dear Black People” whose trailer featured a white woman condescendingly instructing black people how to act. Continuing with the assumption that this is offensive, why shouldn’t one conclude that the sentiment behind “Dear White People”, or at the very least its trailer, is equally inflammatory? One may respond by saying that the two situations are in fact not the same because one needs to take social and historical contexts into account. Fair enough, popular media does not exist in a vacuum, after all. That still begs the question though, why address all white people as if they are personally responsible for
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all racial injustice past and present? Doing so, if anything, serves to drive black people and white people further apart. Some, for instance, have proposed boycotting Netflix (i.e. canceling their subscription), in protest of “Dear White People” . Among them, unfortunately, are the sort of people that left leaning media outlet Gizmodo has labeled “alt-right d-ckheads”. That is, those who may genuinely have racist feelings toward black people. It is difficult to tell, however, if there are more of these people than there are individuals, both white and black, who simply took issue with the trailer because of how it seems to enforce double-standards regarding interracial dialogue. It is equally difficult to find a response in support of the show that can realistically convince anyone to change their mind. Gizmodo referring to those on the other side of the debate as “d-ckheads”, for example, is no way to promote understanding between two groups of people. Even worse is the Huffington Post’s response, which is just as abrasive and condescending towards white people as the contentious trailer is. It reads: “white people that view a
Co-Editor-in-Chief ....................................Sarah Short and Emmett Krantz News Editor...................................................................Trixie Valdezco Opinion Editor.........................................................................Julie Han Feature Editor.......................................................Amy Oh and Mae Wang Entertainment Editor...................................................... Julie Lee Sports Editor........................................................Kate Im Photo Editor................................................................Mekhi Marcelino Cartoonist...............................................Trixie Valdezco Writing Coach.......................................................................James Ward Journalism Adviser......................................................Alexandria Janda
show that depicts their suffocating whiteness as an unfair assessment... are enhancing their hue needlessly and shamelessly.” Again, imagine if the situation were flipped. The article would be indicting black people for protesting a show that depicts ‘suffocating blackness’ and telling them that complaining simply ‘enhances their hue’ (in other words, makes them seem ‘blacker’). If that were unironically published on a prominent website (or if President Donald Trump said it), the outrage would be practically immeasurable, and the Huffington Post would no doubt be quick to publish a passionate response. If the goal of “Dear White People” is to curb racism or promote understanding, the creators have definitely put the wrong foot forward. Instead of recognizing the true complexity of modern race relations, they have chosen to present a simple two-sided situation where any and every white person is ignorant, privileged, and in need of an education from an enlightened (or ‘woke’) black person. Presenting such a simplification as truth is to foster frustration and loathing between the two groups instead of uniting them.
Wildcat Staff: Mariah Ajanel, Sammie Blue, Annie Chavez-Majano, Dumitru Chiriac, Jennifer Cortes, Melody Fuentes, Esther Han, Drew Hatcher, Alyssa Kauthen, Deja Knox, Rosa Martinez, Erika Mendez, Jasmine Mentzer, Sebastian Orozco, Ashley Ortiz, Andrea Parker, Zerrick Payne, Delia Ramos, Justin Reece . ************************************************ The Wildcat is a student-run, student-operated student-produced newspaper, which does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the administration or the school at large. Staff editorials represent the collectively agreed upon opinions of the Wildcat editors. All writers published in the Wildcat are protected under Calfiornia Education Code 48907.
March 24, 2017
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UNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT
OPINION
i.c.e Receives cold Reactions I.C.E SENDS WAVES OF FEAR
Cartoon By: Trixie Valdezco
President Trump has kept to his cruel promise of deporting what he calls the “bad hombres,” or criminals, with 680 undocumented immigrants already rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) agents in the first 2 weeks of February in 12 states. Trump has expressed his belief on how illegal immigrants threaten our society by jeopardizing the economy and our safety. However, evidence suggests that undocumented immigrants benefit the economy and are actually less likely to commit crimes than their Americanborn counterparts. There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., which makes up approximately 3 percent of the total population of 318.9 million people. According to data found on The Nation, “undocumented immigrants contribute about $11.6 billion to the economy annually, including nearly $7 billion in sales and excise taxes and $3.6 billion in property taxes”. If we suddenly got rid of every undocumented immigrant, the economy would plummet drastically, not only because of the money contributed by them, but also because of the $144 billion that would be lost in the federal budget. Some might say that ICE raids are conducted to apprehend undocumented people who have committed felonies. However, statistics from USA Today show that about one in every four people caught by ICE under Trump’s presidency have not committed a serious crime or felony. This proportion is considerably greater than that under the Obama administration, in which the percentage of detained undocumented immigrants who did not have criminal records was only about 10 percent. Based on information found on papers from The National Bureau of Economic Research published July 2007, for every five nativeborn Americans that go to jail, one undocumented immigrant does too.
And one third of the undocumented immigrants that are in jail are not even there for serious crimes; they’re incarcerated because they came into the U.S. illegally. This shows that, contrary to what Trump says, American citizens are more likely to commit serious crimes than undocumented immigrants. As shown, there are immigrants in the U.S., both legal and illegal, that are trying their hardest to contribute to the U.S. and are succeeding. Instead of just deporting anyone who is undocumented, we should create a system that differentiates between people who strive to make positive contributions to society and people who really are criminals. We should allow illegal immigrants trying to make our nation successful to be able to stay and work without fear of deportation. This will benefit the U.S. in the future because their permission to work will open more opportunities for them to contribute to the country. After fighting a four-year battle, 32-yearold Cesar
Vargas managed to become New York’s first undocumented lawyer. Although he came illegally with his parents, he still wanted to help his country, and the court’s decision to let him become a lawyer allowed him to do so Vargas is not the only one. People come here in search of a better life and better opportunities. Undocumented immigrants do a lot for the good of the country, much more than people give them credit. Claiming that residents without papers are a threat to our safety and economy isn’t just and is fairly ignorant, considering all of the evidence provided.
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS PAY STATE AND LOCAL TAXES
Source: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
March 24, 2017
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UNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT
SPORTS Track and field triumphs
By Zerrick Payne Staff Writer
Photo By: Erika Mendez
Seniors 110 meter varsity hurdlers Tessa Henry and Hannah Grace Smith stride over the obstacles at the first home meet against LACES on Thursday, March 9.
From the start of first semester, the track team of 170+ members have been training vigorously. The team has gotten three new volunteer coaches to help train runners this year: Trish Koscheka, Tohun Rodgers and John Washington. This year practices have been longer, more intense, and a lot
of work involved which means great outcomes for the season. Last year, some of the boys and girls made it to city finals, but no one moved on to state. The team this year is determined to compete with all their might to make it to state. With the introduction of new assistant coaches,
Swim makes a splash The crowd erupts in a roar for the final two girls and boys varsity relays in the first swim meet of the season against Carson City on March 3, with boys varsity taking the wave home to victory and the girls just short of winning by 20 points. As with previous years, the team has faced several other obstacles that inhibit the team from reaching its full potential. The financial aspect of maintaining the swim team has always been a prominent burden for Uni high as there is no on-campus pool, unlike other schools in the league. Fortunately, there was a slight surplus of money left over from last year due to the Westwood pool being closed until 2 days before the meet. Aside from the recently approved grant from the school’s budget committee, the rest of the money to cover the cost of the pool, suits, and equipment was arduously fundraised through selling See’s candy, collecting bottles. Despite the promises of getting access to the new YMCA pool, it will not be completed in time for season. “Not having a campus pool is a huge setback in season preparation,
there has been time to manage athletes more efficiently. “I now have time to help individual jumpers with the high jump and long jump. Before I never had time because [there were] so many runners,” head coach Kelly Aguda said. Old and new team members alike are looking forward to this new season. They have been training hard for the past 2 months, improving significantly as a result. They are determined this season to beat times, win against rivals and make it to city finals. “I am trying to take it easy on my body so I don’t get injured early in the season. I try to forget that I am racing against other people and instead try to race against myself to get a better PR,” said senior Tessa Henry. Senior Kaylan Tanner also has individual goals for herself as she finishes the last season of her high school career. “This season I need to work on being mentally tough the last 200 meters of the 800 meter race and be confident
in myself to run my own race and win,” Tanner said. The team’s greatest challenges this season will competing against Venice and Palisades. Venice’s distance runners have always been fierce competitors and last year Pali surprised them with a new group of talented sprinters. Despite their fierce competition, Tanner is confident that Uni is just as good or even better than their main rivals. “All of the new athletes have so much potential and are hardworking. I definitely feel that the Wildcats are a huge threat this season,” Tanner said. The first pre-season meet against LACES was at home on Thursday, March 9. There was a brief ceremony dedicating the stadium to former Uni Coach Richard Kampmann, a track legend who took students to 36 Western League Championships in his 26 years of coaching. The track and field team won their first pre-season meet in all divisions against LACES. Their next meet will be home against Palisades and Fairfax on March 29.
By Sarah Short Editor-in-Chief
so we try to make up for it with the school weight room and daily runs,” says co-captain Emma Mahoney, a senior. This extra effort appears to have paid off as the swimmers started their season off relatively strong. Considering the great deal of new players on the team, a surprisingly small number of two of the 60 swimmers received a DQ (disqualification). This can be attributed to the team’s focus on mastering the techniques of each stroke throughout first semester. Many of the top swimmers, including Valeria Armijo, Josselin Garribay, Chris Argueta, and Melvin Perez, have set goals to break withstanding records. “I hope to break the school’s 100 yard breaststroke record of a time of 1.12 minutes this season,” says senior Melvin Perez. In addition, Coach Arianna Silva is testing the waters with a new strategy for CIF. Rather than focusing the faster swimmers on minimizing relay times, she hopes to place them in more individual races to get as many individual CIF qualifications as possible. “The next step is to work on speed,
Varsity swimmers Emma Mahoney and Matthew Goodman, seniors, swim the 100 meter butterfly and 100 meter freestyle, respectively, at the Carson meet with scores of: Girls JV- (54,85), Boys JV- (58,58), Girls Var- (71,91), and Boys Var(113,59). At their second preleague meet at home against crossroads, Uni swept in all categories with scores of: Girls JV- (74,49), Boys JV- void, Girls Var- (72,10), and Boys Var- (100,67). Photo by Sarah Short.
now that we have a good foundation in all the strokes,” says Silva. Furthermore, the new boys diving team has been an extremely beneficial addition to the team as a whole, adding 10 points and 6 points to the overall scores of boys varsity and JV
respectively. “It was really awesome to see everyone work hard for the pre-league meets of the season, and going forward I think the meets will only get better,” says co-captain and sophomore Aaron Rovinsky.
Boys tennis stumbles into their season The boys tennis team had a disappointing start after losing the first two preseason matches, and it is not getting any better with an overall score of (3-5) and league score of (3-3). Coach Stanford Poon did not show up until half of the match against Westchester because he did not expect the Westchester’s team (overall 3-2, league 2-0) to arrive early to Uni High than the scheduled time. “I wasn’t really late, [just had a little miscommunication] with other schools. We are progressing as far as mental toughness, confidence, and team unity. The challenging thing is to get them to play more even on weekends. I feel like everyone on the team is performing to the best of their ability,” Poon said. To make matters worse, some varsity players didn’t show up because they weren’t able to get out
of class without the teacher’s permission. The team improvised by adding the best J.V. players available. It turned to be very disorganized, but they were close in victory with a score of 3-4. “The game against Westchester should have been an easy game to win, yet we lost. We were missing 6 or 7 out of the 10 varsity players we needed,” singles/doubles junior Chris Park said. Poon ranks each player based on how well they hit during regular practices and not by matches. “We play by our “ranks” that Stan gives for each of us and just [play] a fake match with the closer rank players,” doubles sophomore Raymen Kirolos said. In an intense battle against Venice, the boys repeatedly hit the ball into the corners of the court in order to make it difficult for the opponent team to
return the ball. This strategy worked out beyond expectations with a close victory of 4-3. “I won with the support from my team, I was confident [enough] to win even though I was sick,” singles III senior Matthew Chen said. The boys tennis team did start their season poorly; however, they will continue to approach each game with confidence and a positive attitude.
By Esther Han Staff Writer
J unior Singles/ doubles player Chris Park demonstrated his backhand in a home match against Westchester on Feb. 28.
Photo By: Sarah Short