Birthday By: Harrison Chiu

Birthday

By: Harrison Chiu

A birthday should have party hats

Cheap, pointed trinkets

Strapped to heads

A birthday should have balloons

Bright, vibrant air sacks

Filled with helium

A birthday should have some cake

Chocolate, gooey dessert

Shoved into faces

A birthday should have music, song

Lively, off-key tunes

For the special girl

A birthday instead, has no one

A lonely person

Crying to herself

A birthday instead, has pity

A marred individual

Considering her worth

A birthday instead, has hurt

A beautiful girl

Hiding her scars

Coming to Pass By: Harrison Chiu

Coming to Pass

By: Harrison Chiu

When I come to pass,

I wish for flowers

To be borne upon my death

Fresh buds pushing through

The worn earth

Life coming on passed life

Old life replaced by new life

The gentle slope of an arching stem

Leaning upon the hard edges of tombstones

Unfurling crimson petals

Affronting black handkerchiefs

And when petals fade

And final memories flutter, drop

Even my wish shall fade to dust

And all shall come to pass

Apple: For Once, Downgrading America by Ashna Mediratta

Apple: For Once, Downgrading America

“We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put out fire best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity.” Fred Hampton may have even used the wrong word – “gonna” doesn’t cover it. We MUST fight racism with solidarity. Is there any other way?
The United States has continually taken small steps towards ending all forms of racism in America; we’ve tried to loosen stereotypes, tried to educate the younger generation to avoid the issue in the future. At one point we’ve even tried to ignore it, ignore all the inequality and separation in our country. We’ve slowly moved a little closer to that perfect world where people don’t judge off the color of your skin, though nothing yet has worked as effectively as we’ve hoped. But we’re getting there.

Or at least, we used to be getting there. Until Apple decided to shove all the efforts off a cliff and bring back the intensity of the issue of racism.

The company has decided to create a more diverse collection of emojis on the iOS 8.3, for the iPhone. iPhone being synonymous to the phone in the hands of every teen across the United States. So pretty much, by a more diverse collection of emojis I mean Apple has created a collection of racially unique emojis with differing skin tones and appearances through which teenagers, who are yet unaware of the harms of inequality and lack of opportunity in the real world due to racism, have been given an even stronger weapon to harm others with.

I think we all expected more from Apple.

Even behind a screen, where we have started to lessen our tendencies to notice different skin tones, we’ve been given the ability to do so once again. And, even if that exposure to different races doesn’t lead us to harming others with the tools we have been given, it still inevitably exposes. We still acknowledge our differences whenever we pick up the phone. What happened to trying to change the younger generations for the future? What happened to trying to stop the exposure of our differences so much? What happened to fighting racism with solidarity, and not by providing us with a way to separate one from another?

Now, obviously, Apple didn’t make this decision to worsen the condition of our nation. They made it in order to allow us to embrace our cultural individuality… which would be fine, if that’s what it accomplished. But it’s not. So it isn’t.

Many people don’t understand the difference between embracing their own culture and belittling someone else’s. Apple’s intentions were genuine, but they clearly didn’t take this into enough consideration. Therefore their decision turned out to be a mistake, and one that will now further expose thousands of people to our nation’s racial differences.

Ashna Mediratta

Jurassic World Movie Review by Joshua Liao

Jurassic World Movie Review

                Jurassic World, the 4^th installment of the Jurassic Park film series, has become one of 2015’s most popular action movies. It broke numerous box office records and some speculate that it has a shot to get up to as high as third on the all-time highest grossing movie list, behind the untouchable Avatar and the Titanic. After watching the movie this weekend, I can see why. The movie was beautifully made, with breathtaking scenery. The plot was engaging and exciting. Two separate storylines are going on throughout the movie with a pair of teenage boys exploring Jurassic World oblivious to the problems that are going across the park until the problem reaches them. Their Aunt Claire happens to be the head director of the park and she works with dinosaur specialist Owen Grady to solve the problem. The problem happens to be that a genetically created dinosaur named the Indonimous has escaped from its enclosure. After living its entire lift in captivity, the dinosaur is now destroying everything in its path, from other dinosaurs to tourists. As a mass evacuation takes place off the island, Owen and Claire work to destroy the dinosaur in addition to trying to save Claire’s nephews. The entire movie kept me on the edge of my seat, because once the Indonimous got out, all the characters began running for their lives. They manage escape after escape by ingenious methods that will never work twice on the ultra-smart dinosaur. However, the ending was a bit strange and confusing. It of course lived up to the massive clash and heroicness that one would expect, but the combat becomes very confusing. Nevertheless, I recommend that kids and adults of all ages should watch the movie. It totally is worth the money and experience.

by Joshua Liao

Rowling and Measurements by Ashna Mediratta

Rowling and Measurements

            England, being in Europe, began to use the metric system in 1965, and has continued to do so ever since. However JK Rowling, author of the classic Harry Potter series, has created a wizarding world in which they use ounces, pounds, stones, inches, feet, and miles, yet reside in England. Instinctively we ask why, and Rowling has answers.

            Her reasoning begins with the idea that the Wizarding World is not governed by the decisions of the Muggle government, and therefore around the time when the Muggles began to switch over, witches and wizards felt no obligation to. The lack of switch didn’t really affect them anyway, since they had very limited interaction with the Muggle world, if not none at all. Many of the purebloods, such as the Malfoys, were also supposedly pleased with the lack of influence of the Muggles on their lives, as they already preferred distancing themselves from the non-magical part of the world.

As time went on, however, the only people that held back the switch to the now widely popular metric system were those passionate pure bloods. People like Lucius, according to Rowling, refused to give in to the Muggle ways, and shamed anyone who did, or wanted to. If ever asked for the length of their wand in centimeters rather than inches, they commonly accused that shop owner of being a blood traitor. Obviously not a preferable name. Therefore the same old structure of measurement remained, simply in order to avoid the fury of the powerful pure blood families, and an insulting title.

When Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first to be published, Rowling of course refused to switch the wizarding world to the metric system because of this little backstory. As a result, after its release she was offered the opportunity to join the British Weights and Measures Association, to her amusement. She personally laid no importance in switching Europe to the English system, and did fully support the metric; nevertheless, she joined for one reason, and one reason only: to infuriate her sister Di.

Being a sibling, her childish side couldn’t help but get the better of her when it came to her sister; she knew Di hated adherence to previous ways just for the sake of them. By joining, she had the opportunity to annoy her sister terribly with no price. 0.

You would do it too.

When Di found out, as Joanne’s membership was in the newspaper, Jo enjoyed herself a little too much. Her sister was, as she had expected, absolutely enraged, and Jo only paused her laughter to let her know it was a joke. That then only led her to become even more furious:)

Even JK Rowling’s human, with her very own occasional tendencies towards immaturity– she’s brilliant, but still very human :)

Ashna Mediratta

Happiness by Sanjana Pendharkar

Happiness

She stares at me with baby blue eyes

A curious expression on her face

A pointed nose

Whiskers that quiver

Thinking about the softness of the blanket

Wrapped around her.

The moment she is let off from my careful watch

She darts across the room

Pawing a ball of yarn

Nails scratching

The familiar texture.

A content look on her face

Enough to convince me that she is satisfied

In this momentary bliss.

by Sanjana Pendharkar

DANCE By Chandu Singathi

DANCE

By Chandu Singathi

on center stage

under the extreme heat of the bright stage lights

with the people that i know and adore

i work as hard as i can

to get what i want

that amazing feeling in my heart

that i am being the best i can be

improvement

comes as time flies

but you might not notice it as soon as it knocks on your door

and practice helps

now i know

that every other day

all those buckets of sweat

actually meant something

all of a sudden

as the astounded audience watches you

you find yourself

you see yourself

then you smile and enjoy yourself

and when you try really hard

and give it your all

now that’s when you’re dancing

Movie Review for Pitch Perfect 2 by Ravjit Kaur

Movie Review for Pitch Perfect 2

by Ravjit Kaur

The Bellas are back! They are invited to perform specially for President Obama’s birthday, but Fat Amy accidentally ruins the whole show. Their reputation is ruined.

It’s the beginning of a new school year at Barden University, and the Bellas have received shocking news. The school has placed restrictions on the acapella group. They are not allowed to take new members into the group and cannot compete, but they are allowed to go to the World Championships. But, when a freshman shows up to audition for them, they can’t say no. The Bellas are practicing, but with Beca hiding the internship she got, and the new girl in their group, things aren’t going as planned. The Bellas are introduced to their main competition in the World Championships, a German acapella group called Das Auto Machine(DSM). DSM has super tall, good looking singers with strong voices, and things aren’t looking good for the Bellas. At a little singing show down, the Bellas lose to DSM because of Emily, the new addition to their group. Is the new girl good enough? Meanwhile, Beca has inspired some new music ideas at her internship, but her boss won’t take her seriously. With all the added stress, the girls decide to take a vacation to visit Chloe, an old member of the Bellas. With the group reunited, they realize what has been keeping them from singing well, and they regain their confidence. The big day arrives, and DSM is up against the Bellas. DSM may be intimidating, but the Bellas have a surprise. When it comes down to the final minutes, will the Bellas give in to nerves, or will they take home the trophy? Find out when you watch Pitch Perfect 2!

Top 5 Things That I Have Learned As A Freshman Part 2 by Rohith Kariveda

Hey, you can never get enough advice, can you? After thinking about the last article I posted, I realized that I had a couple more tips and tricks that might help rising 9th graders. Below are three more tips that would have helped me if I had known them when starting high school:

Top 5 Things That I Have Learned As A Freshman Part 2

Make time for friends - With all the work, clubs, and sports that you will have, it may seem increasingly difficult to make time for you friends. However, don't let anything get in the way between you and your friends. When school starts, you will see many new faces; making new friends in the beginning of the year will help you get used to the environment and workload. Trust me, when you have 50 other friends to complain with, writing a 10 page government essay won't seem as daunting.

Have a long term vision - One thing that I didn't understand in the beginning of the year was how to create a long term vision. If you want to succeed in the high school, you should start thinking about goals that you would like to accomplish in the future. I don't mean anything like deciding your career or beginning your college application - rather, I mean things like making a varsity sports team or being part of a club. Some things in high school can't be accomplished overnight - these goals that take years to accomplish will be the ones that are the most fulfilling and exciting when you achieve.

Balance! - You'll quickly find yourself under a pile of school work. Wait a couple of weeks, and you will want to choose from a selection of about 50 clubs to join. On top of that, you will find that your sports tryouts are approaching fast. And even with all this, you want to hang out with your friends on Saturday. In high school, this situation may seem desperate; however, the kids who manage to balance all of these activities will soon rise to the top.Try not to quit something if you feel you cannot do it; rather, see if you can plan out your time so that you can complete all your work and still do the things you love.

Although some of the information above may not apply to you, everyone can always benefit from a little bit of advice. After all, not everyone can make every mistake: make sure to take these tips and apply them next year so that you rising freshman can succeed in high school!

By: Rohith Kariveda