March 2014

1The Tam News — March 2014

March 2014 — The Tam News2

Table of ContentsMarch 2014

4

8

16

12

20

News4. Three Math Teachers Not Asked to Return in Fall —

Sarah Asch, Emma Boczek & Markita Schulman

5. Briefly — Holly Parkin, Cam Vernali & Cassie Jeong

6. Junior Lily Buder Wins Grant — Holly Parkin

Home Burglaries Increase in Marin — James Finn

7. Teachers Pilot Haiku Gradebook — Avi Cahn

Waning GSA Club to Attempt Revival — Emma Boczek

Lifestyles8. Exploring Summer Programs — Hannah Chorley

10. 10 Steps to Happiness — Jasmine Caputo

11. Strange Scholarships — Casey O’Brien

Famous Faces of Tam — Nic Mosher

Feature12. One Day at a Time: Marin Teens on the Road to

Recovery — Sarah Asch

Opinion/Editorial16. Editorial — Staff

17. In Defense of McDonald’s — Jordan Blackburn

18. Writing Wrongs: Dallas Buyers Club — Bella Levaggi

19. Startup Weekend Adventures — Cassie Jeong

Sports20. Sean Haechler, a Leader in the Pool — Liz Archer

21. Spring Sports Preview — Sports Staff


The Tam News, a student-run newspaper, distributed monthly, is an open, public forum for student expression and encourages letters and article contri-butions. The Tam News reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content. All content decisions are made by student editors. The Tam News is published monthly, though dates may vary. The Tam News is nonprofit and any proceeds and contributions are used in the production of the newspaper and for journalism education. Additional information concerning contributions or advertising can be obtained by writing to the address provided above or through our website. Copyright © 2013 by The Tamalpais News. All rights reserved. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent.

Tamalpais High School700 Miller AvenueMill Valley, CA 94941www.thetamnews.org

Volume IX, No. VIMarch 2014

A publication of Tamalpais High SchoolEstablished 1916

The Tam NewsON THE COVER: AA tokens, collected for sobriety milestones, provide encouragement. Cover by: Brent Ferguson & Nate Vogel

This month, I gained a greater appreciation for the role of responsible jour-nalism at Tam. As reported online at thetamnews.org and on page four of this issue, three non-tenured Tam math teachers were told on February 28 that they wouldn’t be asked back to teach next school year, igniting strong reac-tions from students, parents and teachers, as well as a flurry of rumors. District policy and state law dictate that personnel issues remain private, but when the district didn’t immediately address the concerns of the community they opened the discussion to speculation and the perpetuation of a variety of rumors by sources claiming to be experts on the subject.

I was disappointed by the lack of responsible coverage of the event. Unsub-stantiated rumors flew across the internet and were published in the Marin IJ. Opinions took the foreground, rather than the facts. Ultimately, amplifying rumors can only harm those involved in the story, and further complicate an already delicate situation by igniting reactions not based in fact.

As students, we’re deeply affected by and at times personally involved in the stories we cover, especially when they involve our teachers. But as journalists, we must strive to give our readers as complete and accurate a picture of life at Tam as possible, regardless of our own stake in the stories we write about. Despite-–or perhaps because of–the politics and emotion involved with the re-cent changes in the math department, I see this as an opportunity for the Tam News. A story this important to students is an opportunity for us to provide our community with as much and as accurate information as possible, divorced from emotion.

Of course, any time a story breaks there will be confusion, misinformation, and certainly some persistent rumors that simply refuse to be dispelled. But I hope that we at the Tam News can continue to commit ourselves to looking past that surface level of assumptions, and instead use our unique position as student reporters to bring our readers the truth.

Advisor: Jonah SteinhartPrinter: WIGT Printing

Reporters: Ariana Agnew, Elizabeth Archer, Erik Beltran, Avi Cahn, Devon Canepa, Daniel Carroll, Hannah Chorley, Isaac Cohen, Leo DiPierro Claire Donohue, Reis Dorit, Rachel Ermatinger, Robert Finn, Caroline Frost, Marina Furbush, Jackson Gathard, Lily Gutschmidt, Samantha Herdman, Gibson Katz, Kyle Kearney, Raqshan Khan, Ethan Lawrence, Weston Lazarus, Kevin Leake, Emily Long, Bridget Lowry, Kate Luebkeman, Anthony Mazzini, Paden McNiff, Hailey Miller, Camille Morgan, Nic Mosher, Casey O’Brien, Ben Olizar, Austin Peck, Jasmine Pena, Oliver Rosenfield, Joseph Russell, Isabella Schloss, Maddy Sebastien, Tandis Shoushtary, Devon Stoeber, Ra’Jahna’e Troupe, Cam Vernali, Nate Vogel, Haydn Wall, Meg Weisselberg, Johanna Wong, Ryder Wood, Peter Wynn, Hannah Yerington, & Daniel Zwiebach.Editorial Board: Emma Boczek, Cody Duane-McGlashan, Sonja Hutson, Bella Levaggi, Bridget Lowry, Kate Luebkeman, Mae Puckett, Markita Schulman, Randy Shapiro, Emma Talkoff & Meg Weisselberg.

News

Lifestyles

Features

Opinion

Sports

Business Team

Photos

Graphics

Videos

Chief Copy Editor

Social Media

Sarah Asch & Holly Parkin

Cody Duane-McGlashan, Jasmine Caputo & Devon StoeberMarkita Schulman & Anna Vandergriff

Jordan Blackburn & Bella Levaggi

Riley Kuffner & Mae Puckett

Declan Katz, Riley Kuffner & Dom Quaranta

Nate Vogel

Brent Ferguson & Cassie Jeong

Max Bayer, Riley Kuffner & Randy Shapiro

Cassie Jeong

Jasmine Caputo

EditorsMarina Furbush

Tandis Shoushtary Sammy Herdman & Joe RussellJames Finn & Caroline Frost

Anthony Mazzini

Claire Donohue, Joe Russell & Isabella Schloss

Caroline Frost & Daniel Zwiebach

intErnssEctionsEditors-in-Chief: Emma Boczek, Sonja Hutson & Emma Talkoff

- Emma Talkoff

Dear Reader,


News

Three Math Teachers Not Asked to Return in Fallby Emma Boczek, Sarah Asch, & Markita Schulman

Three math teachers, Anders Fair-banks, Ryan Fedoroff and Juan Vidal, were notified on February 28 of their designa-tion as non-reelect, meaning that they will not be invited back to teach at Tam in the fall semester of next year.

This decision, made by Principal Julie Synyard, was upheld at a March 12 school board meeting attended by over 100 com-munity members, including at least 47 Tam teachers and counselors.

Before school on March 13, a group of approximately 30 students, parents and community members stood outside of Tam holding signs in protests of the board’s de-cision. Approximately 80 gathered the fol-lowing morning.

Fairbanks, Fedoroff and Vidal are the only teachers in their department with-out tenure, which goes into effect after at

least two full years of teaching and provides teachers with increased job security. Teach-ers in their first two years, called “proba-tionary,” can legally be non-reelected with-out any disclosed reason.

Fairbanks would have received ten-ure in the upcoming fall semester, having taught at Tam for two full years. This is Vi-dal’s first year teaching at Tam; Fedoroff ’s second full year was interrupted by emer-gency maternity leave last year.

At a “governance” school board meet-ing on March 6, a group of students, par-ents, and teachers silently protested the non-reelections.

Math department teacher leader Da-vid Wetzel said he experienced “complete and utter blindsided shock” after hearing of the “unprecedented” three non re-elections taking place in the same year and concen-trated in the same department. “I’ve worked in three districts,” Wetzel said. “I have nev-er, ever heard of this happening before.”

Wetzel said that the non-reelections left “questions that have to be answered. If some-thing went wrong, it can’t be corrected un-less we know what it was,” he said.

Fairbanks was also taken by surprise. “I never took my contract reelection for granted, but my evaluations were quite positive over the course of my time here,” he said. “No con-cerns about my job per-formance were brought to my attention.”

Synyard followed district policy in giv-ing these teachers no explanation alongside the notice that they would not be invited back. California state law prohibits her from disclosing the reason to the public. Synyard commented on a meet-ing she had with over 20 staff members on the day the decision was announced. “There is definite concern ex-

pressed by the teaching staff regarding my decision,” Synyard said. “I will continue to work with the staff and students to move past this situation and focus on teaching and learning.”

Junior Carla Cardamone began col-lecting student signatures in support of Fedoroff at school on February 28 after hearing of Fedoroff ’s non-reelection. She then moved the petition online with the assistance of junior Russell Wirth. Sopho-more Emma Mastra created a similar on-line petition in support of Fairbanks. The online petitions have gained 375 and 327 signatures, respectively, as of press time, in addition to the 126 physical signatures on Cardamone’s petition for Fedoroff. “[Fe-doroff ] goes above and beyond what most teachers do, which is why I am petitioning for her to stay,” Cardamone said.

At the March 12 board meeting, Federoff expressed her gratitude for the support she has received. “I’m incredibly moved by the show of support by my col-leagues, my students, and my parents,” she said. “The silver lining has been that in our careers, rarely ever do we get to experience this outpouring of support and I felt really lucky to have had that.”

In an email sent to parents and staff on March 10, Superintendent Laurie Kimbrel wrote that “much of what has been distrib-uted is incorrect and misleading” regarding the non-reelections.

Kimbrel addressed speculation, inten-sified by an unsigned March 4 press release which circulated among Tam parents, that the non-reelections stemmed from the math department’s alleged hesitation to incorporate training and methods from the New Tech Network, a nonprofit focusing on project-based learning. Kimbrel wrote in the email that while the district did se-lect New Tech to provide support in the shift towards project-based learning, “deci-sions about what instructional methods to use are up to the individual teacher” and “participation is in no way linked to em-ployment decisions.”

Though Fairbanks said he was “devas-tated about the status of my contract,” he said that support from students and teach-ers “has only solidified my enthusiasm for serving our students to the best of my abil-ity. However this shakes out, I know the best way I can repay everyone is to be the best teacher I can for as long as I’m here.” ♦For continued coverage, visit thetamnews.org.


News

B R I E F L YKevin Coleman Hired as Truancy Officer

by Holly ParkinMarin County juvenile Deputy Proba-

tion Officer (DPO) Kevin Coleman joined the Tam faculty on February 24 to assist with truancy issues. Truancy is defined as a student being absent without permission.

Over the past year, Coleman has worked with Kevin Lynch, Director of Ju-venile Services for the Probation Depart-ment, to develop a program designed to lower truancy rates within the county.

“[Lynch] noticed that truancy was a big issue around Marin County,” Coleman said. “Truancy is the main reason I’m here, but I’m mostly just availing my services to-wards a better Tam.”

Coleman, who graduated from Tam in 1988, decided that it would be a good school to pilot the program at.

He hopes to move the program to oth-er high school campuses as well if it proves successful.

“We’re trying to... see what works and what doesn’t,” he said.

According to Coleman, the program will attempt to lower truancy rates by iden-tifying students with chronic unexcused absences, calling their parents and offer-ing services outside of school to intervene. These services will be more “creative” than what has previously been attempted.

“It’s basically whatever service I can think of and whatever intervention I can come up with or help the family come up with,” Coleman said.

He has high hopes for a positive re-sponse from the student body in the long run.

“You can’t gauge how long it’s going to take [to slow down truancy at Tam],” Cole-man said. “But every small success we will measure as an achievement.” ♦

Suspensions Changedby Cam Vernali

Administrators have continued to edit the suspension policy by eliminating the “K Section” as a valid reason for suspension. They also cut down the length of suspen-sions and made them all in-house.

The K Section is defined by Califor-nia Education Code section 48900 as an act that “disrupted school activities or oth-erwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.”

According to Assistant Principal Brian Lynch, administrators have decided to cut this section out of the suspension policy because they feel that there is a clear over-representation of certain demographics be-ing suspended at Tam. Males are suspended more often than females and male racial minority students are suspended more fre-quently than white males.

Lynch describes the K section as “a big gray area... and with disruption and defi-ance, we might have different definitions.”

Administrators have also decided to shorten suspensions and make the sus-pensions in-house, meaning students will spend the suspension completing school-work on campus.

Tam has also made it possible for stu-dents suspended for drug and alcohol use to be automatically referred to a therapist and start therapy sessions during in-house suspension. Lynch said so far many parents and the majority of the staff have respond-ed well to these new policies.

“The goal is to get students in class as much as possible,” Lynch said. “We want students to be successful [so that] their be-havior doesn’t impact their academic prog-ress.”

Many staff members have also re-sponded positively to the administrators’ changes to the suspension policy.

“I like the idea of us being more cre-ative to try to get to the root of the issue and change behavior,” English teacher Ab-bey Levine said. “I think that any new pol-icy is a trial-and-error and so I appreciate that our administration is having conversa-tions about how to be more effective and is trying some new things... I look forward to seeing those results.” ♦

ARTS AND LEISURE: From March 9 to March 29, the Marin Society of Artists (MSA) hosted their annual Rising Stars High School Art Show, which features student artwork from high schools across Marin County, including Tam, Redwood, Marin Catholic, Branson, Novato, Drake, Terra Linda, Marin Academy, the Marin School and others. This is the 23rd anniversary of the MSA’s High School Art Show. Some students won merit awards for their work, including Tam seniors Albert Streitmann (“Dry Dock Fundament”), Andrew Fuchs (“Dog”), Bella Jensen (“Cabinet,” pictured right) and Nick Henkel (“Untitled”). Senior Grace Lightner (“Me Before You,” pictured left) won the award for Best in Show, and senior Abel Wallace received an Honorable Mention. For more photos of the show, visit thetamnews.org Photos by: Cassie Jeong

Local Art Show Displays Student Work


News

The Tutor Corps Foundation awarded junior Lily Buder the $250 Susan Lindquist Community Service Grant on February 25. Buder received the grant for the volunteer program she has created in part-nership with Bridge the Gap, which provides tutoring services and college prep courses to K-12 grade students in the Marin City area. Buder’s program is called Providing Art Supplies for Suc-cess (PASS), and aims to bring art instruction to students.

“Bridge the Gap does a re-ally good job of offering educa-tional and career opportunities to people and creating a safe haven for students,” Buder said. “But I also think that letting your emo-tion and creativity out is a key part of success.”

The Susan Lindquist Grant is awarded twice a year by the San Francisco-based tutoring organi-zation Tutor Corps. The grant, which offers $250, $500 or $750, goes to support volunteer programs run by stu-

dents from 6th to 11th grade.“I’ve always really loved being around

kids,” Buder said. “I really love teaching, creativity, just spending time with kids and knowing that I can help them. I work

with a little girl named Rachel, a fourth grader, and she’s so creative and I can see

how PASS would really benefit her. We just need the materials to allow it.”

Thanks to the grant money, as well as plans for future fundraising, Buder’s dream could become a reality as early as this April.

According to Buder, PASS is currently in its production phase, as Buder and her advi-sors, Bridge the Gap founder Denni Brusseau and education-al director Alvin Gilmore, seek out donors willing to give sup-plies to the program.

PASS will focus on provid-ing a cost-free creative outlet for students who may not have an opportunity to be exposed to the arts. The program will in-clude painting, drawing, creative writing and computer programs such as Photoshop.

“I think PASS will allow for students to fully express themselves in ways that they wouldn’t normally be allowed in a school situation,” Buder said.

“Art is a really powerful thing, and I want to share it with the students.” ♦

Home Burglaries Increase in Marin CountyMarin residents have experienced the

effects of a surge of household thefts in recent months. According to news outlets including the Mill Valley Patch and the Marin Independent Journal, intruders have repeatedly broken into homes in Kentfield, Mill Valley, San Rafael and other places in Marin.

Mill Valley Police Lieutenant Jacque-line Graf-Rice said that the recent thefts have been part of a county-wide uptick in household thefts.

“There’s a slight increase we’ve all seen through the county [when it comes to household break-ins],” Graf-Rice said.

The San Jose Mercury News con-firmed that crime rates have increased across the Bay Area, stating that “property crime in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda and San Francisco coun-ties jumped by a combined average of 17.5 percent from 2011 to 2012, totaling 261,207 incidents over the past two years...and it is continuing to surge.”

Graf-Rice believes that the thefts have

by James Finn

Junior Lily Buder Wins Grant from Tutor Corpsby Holly Parkin

LET’S GET CREATIVE: Junior Lily Buder receives a $250 grant for her art program, PASS, in partnership with Bridge the Gap. Photo courtesy of: Lily Buder

most likely been committed by previous offenders and that the thieves seem to be searching for small items such as jewelry, cash or other valuables.

“A lot of people are being re-arrested multiple times [in association with these crimes],” Graf-Rice said. “These are people who are looking for easy things to steal and sell...credit cards, maybe some jewelry and cash. They want small things that they can sell easily or use easily.”

Tam students are among those who have felt the impact of this upswing in household theft. Junior Alex Finci, whose house was broken into on December 19, experienced a theft consistent with the typ-ical home burglary described by Graf-Rice.

“[The thieves] came to my house while we were gone and went through all of our bedrooms,” Finci said. “They took jewelry, my Xbox, they took my autographed base-ball... [but] we got most of the stuff back, because the police caught these guys at an-other person’s house.”

Sophomore Andrew Fuchs, whose house was broken into on January 27, said

that his house was stripped of larger items, and that smaller pieces, such as jewelry, were left untouched.

“I came home, and my whole room was kind of destroyed,” Fuchs said. “[The thieves] took all of my camera equipment, like $12,000 worth of camera equipment, all of our computers...no jewelry, luckily. They generally messed up our house; the door was unlocked, so they could just walk in. We were just on a dog walk and our alarm wasn’t activated.”

Graf-Rice said that, in large part, the recent burglaries have been the result of homeowners who fail to take the necessary precautions to protect their possessions.

“The main problem is that people aren’t taking care of their property very well,” Graf-Rice said. “We find that [per-petrators] are entering through unlocked doors [and] unlocked windows; it’s [also] pretty common not to set an alarm.”

“Burglaries... are a real violation,” Graf-Rice said. “It’s very frustrating, as it undermines [our] sense of safety to a cer-tain degree.” ♦


News

This semester a group of teachers have begun using Haiku, a website created to in-put grades on a four-point scale. The web-site, offered by the district for teachers to pilot, is a way to implement the “standards based grading” system put in place to sup-port the Common Core curriculum, which divides teaching into individual program goals. Teachers can categorize assignments into these program goals on Haiku.

“It’s a really nice all-in-one system where the students see everything they need and have a record of it,” science teacher Grace Pender said. “[Students also] have their grades broken down in a way that makes sense to them, or makes it a little easier to see what you need to study.” Stu-dents can see their current score for each program goal on a bar graph or in columns.

Haiku shows the score on one assign-ment from each program goal and then averages all of the assignments from all program goals into a total percent or let-ter grade.

Currently the district office has set up Haiku so that the highest score inputted for each program goal is used to calculate a student’s overall grade for the class.

Pender sees this as a problem. For ex-ample, a student who receives a four on in-class assignments, but scores a two on a test or quiz has a four in a subject they may have not mastered completely, and ends up receiving an inaccurate grade that doesn’t express understanding. “It’d be nice if I could have a little more freedom as to how I choose,” Pender said. To prevent assign-ments with little weight affecting grades, Pender has given students their grades on paper for small assignments, then inputted only the grades that measure skill mastery.

According to history teacher Jennifer Dolan, the district administration will have teachers vote on which grade they would like to count and change it accordingly.

“The teachers using the program will decide how to set up the gradebook,” Se-nior Director of Instructional Technology Tara Taupier said. Dolan believes teachers

will decide that the final grade inputted should count because it is likely to be a unit test or final exam.

Although some teachers have adopted the program, for some it has proved dif-ficult to navigate. Despite Haiku’s website claiming that they “focus on harmony, sim-plicity, and community in our product and in our lives,” the change has not only been difficult for teachers, but for the students logging in and creating accounts.

“I like having all the teachers on Home Access, so I can just look and see all of my grades, so [now] I’ll have to go to two dif-ferent websites and it complicates things and it doesn’t have to be complicated,” sophomore Franny Kiles said. Few teachers currently use Haiku, so students are rarely able to see their grades from all classes at once.

“I don’t know if it matters that all the teachers use Haiku necessarily... it’s new to all of us and we’re learning as we go,” Pender said. “So far what I’ve been able to do with it has been really helpful for me.” ♦

The Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) ceased meetings this semester due to a lack of demonstrated interest and poor atten-dance in the fall. The club may experience a resurgence in the coming months with the help of junior Lucas Stephens and senior and Tam News editor Mae Puckett.

According to senior and GSA presi-dent Lecya Tyaglo, the GSA had 73 sign-ups on Club Day, but only seven students attended the first lunch meeting. Only one student, exclud-ing Tyaglo, attended the next three meetings. Tyaglo said she decided to stop holding meetings due to this lack of attendance. “If people want-ed GSA, I feel like they would come to it,” Tyaglo said. “We can’t make an effort to reach out to them.”

GSA adviser and English teach-er Kate Lorch echoed that GSA is “not a club you can recruit for,” but still sees a need for a GSA. “There is a prevailing myth that [Tam is] okay, we don’t need an alliance,” she said. Although she sees an “accepting and tolerant” culture at Tam, Lorch said “on an individual level, we don’t have

an open culture where two boys would hold hands in the hall.”

The GSA has existed for at least 10 years, according to history teacher and for-mer adviser Laura Garrett, though “some years were more active than others depend-ing on the student leaders and what the group members wanted to do,” she said.

Lorch also said that the club’s dwin-dling popularity may be related to its new,

out-of-the-way meeting place. Last school year, the GSA met in Garrett’s Wood Hall classroom; this year, meetings were held in Lorch’s Upper Keyser classroom.

Stephens, who was involved with the club in previous years, said he thinks “it can be more difficult for a straight girl to be an effective president,” because she may not have “really had to deal with the issues of being a LGBTQ.”

Tyaglo, Stephens, and Puckett aim to revive the club in the coming months on Tues-days in room 147 in Wood Hall. Together they hope to recruit enough members to plan and run Day of Silence, an event traditionally organized annually by the GSA, in the spring. Though the club has not ordered shirts for this year’s Day of Silence, they plan to use surplus shirts from last year.

“It’s really important for there to be a safe space and an opportunity for kids to come talk,” Lorch said. “Without student participation, we don’t have that.” ♦

Teachers Pilot New Haiku Online Gradebookby Avi Cahn

by Emma BoczekWaning GSA Club to Attempt Revival

THE NEW ALLIANCE: Senior Lecya Tyaglo, junior Lucas Stephens and senior and Tam News editor Mae Puckett are working to revive the GSA this spring. Photo by: Claire Donohue


Lifestyles

Students Explore Summer OptionsSenior Cella Wright went to the

Mixe region of Oaxaca, Mexico for eight weeks this past summer with the organi-zation Amigos de las Americas.

“It was incredibly refreshing to be so far out of my comfort zone – around no familiar faces, being challenged to take initiative, test my language skills and reach out to connect with strangers,” Wright said.

Wright is one of an increasing num-ber of students ditching Netflix mara-thons, awkward visits to relatives’ houses, day trips to Stinson and minimum wage jobs to explore educational, immersion and adventure-based summer programs for high school students. These programs vary in length ranging from one week to two months, and students can find pro-grams that take place at colleges across the U.S. or internationally.

Organizations such as Amigos, Rustic Pathways and Global Earth offer community service, language and travel-based programs in countries around the world. These programs put a strong focus on helping others, improving ethnic aware-

by Hannah Chorley

ness, connecting with people from around the world and exploring a new country.

Senior Stella Resta went to India with Rustic Pathways on a program called Chil-

dren of India. Resta spent the majority of her nine-day stay in Jaipur, India teach-ing and playing with young children at an orphanage, along with visiting local res-taurants and markets. “I’ve always loved traveling and I have a really strong passion for community ser-vice and working with kids,” Resta said. “Be-ing in a place so dif-ferent from my home helped me grow as a person and gain a new appreciation for life as a whole.”

Wright attended Amigos de las Ameri-cas, a program cen-tered around building language and leader-ship skills. Amigos offers summer-long

“home stays” in countries across Latin America. Students get “adopted” into a family, speak Spanish for the entire sum-mer, and work with the locals to design and build something that will benefit the com-munity, such as a new school building or a well.

“I loved getting an insight into how other people lived. It gave me a greater ap-preciation for diversity and honestly just life in general,” Wright said. “One thing I won’t forget was that by the end of the trip a good friend I made from the community, Elvira, felt capable and inspired to run for local government. This was so exciting to hear because it is extremely uncommon for there to be a female representative.”

Sophomore Emma Schnee is enrolled in the 2014 Amigos Program, and will be spending the summer in Ecuador, Paraguay or Nicaragua. “I am excited and nervous for my trip,” Schnee said. “I am excited to build close bonds with the community and sup-port them in a way that will make a lasting impact, but I am nervous that my limited Spanish will be a barrier that I will hope-fully be able to overcome.”

One downside to these travel-based programs is their cost, usually ranging from $2,000 to about $5,000, depending on lo-cation and length.

“I spent pretty much all of my junior

CULTURAL EXCHANGE: Cella Wright stands for a photo with her host family during her Amigos trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo courtesy of: Cella Wright

IMPROVISATION: Clem Quittner (top left) and other students pose during a rehersal at Brown University’s TheaterBridge program last summer. Photo courtesy of: Clem Quittner


Lifestyles

year saving up... so I could go the next summer,” Resta said. “It was incredibly worth it.”

Many programs offer partial and full scholarships to students if families are not able to afford the trips. Additionally, gov-ernment-sponsored programs, such as Na-tional Security Language Initiative Youth Program, are completely free, but require a rigorous application process consisting of essays and teacher recommendations.

According to counselor Grace Aviles, there is a common miscon-ception surrounding whether or not colleges take into consideration these programs on a student’s col-lege application during the admis-sions process. “Colleges are smart enough to be able to know when kids just do one of these programs to look good,” Aviles said. “Students need to have depth in their community service, mean-ing they’ve done it repeatedly for the past couple of years, and they have to show that they are really passionate about what they have chosen to do.”

Aviles expressed support of these pro-grams, regardless of whether some students sign up just to “look good” on their applica-tions. “Every student who has gone on one of these programs has loved it and come back with a broader world view, better lead-ership skills and a clearer focus on where they fit in with the community,” Aviles said.

“One of the students was so inspired by his trip to a third world country that he even changed his college focus to sustainability.”

Some students choose to pursue more academically or artistically oriented sum-mer programs. Colleges, such as U.C.L.A., Brown, U.C. Berkeley, and New York Uni-

versity, offer college-level courses for high school students in all subjects, from film and theater to journalism and philosophy. Junior Clem Quittner spent six weeks at Brown University studying theater in a program called TheatreBridge last summer, where she took movement, comedy impro-visation, and Meisner-style classes, which work towards bringing spontaneity and emotion into acting.

“We all lived together in a dorm on campus, had rehearsals from nine in the morning to eleven at night, got to explore the campus and utilize the university’s fa-cilities,” Quittner said. “It was so awesome

NEW FRIENDS: Stella Resta dances with the children she taught at an orphanage in Jaipur, India. She stayed there for nine days last summer as part of Rustic Pathway’s Children of India program. Photo courtesy of: Stella Resta

to be learning from some of the most experienced and qualified teachers in the country.”

Enrolling in one of these courses allows students to explore their specific interests and career choices. Students can live in dorms, explore a new city, com-plete college-level projects, and receive college credit.

“Multiple students have enjoyed the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Scholl of the Art Institute of Chicago, U.C.L.A., and California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSA) programs,” drawing and painting teacher Lynne Klein said. “The student experience, cou-pled with similarly driven artists, focuses the students and greatly improves their skills and personal voice.”

A common theme no matter the fo-cus of the program seems to be friend-ship. “After six weeks, the actors and

playwrights formed incredible friendships and I still talk to my friends from this sum-mer almost twice a week,” Quittner said.

Wright shared a similar experience from her stay in Mexico. “By far the most memorable part of the entire experience was the connections I made with my fellow volunteers, as well as my host family and community members,” Wright said. “This

summer was also a lesson in empathy, con-nection and personal growth. The volunteer experience gave me confidence and more knowledge about myself and my capabili-ties.”

Resta was so inspired by her trip to India with Rustic Pathways that she is thinking about taking a semester off before college to travel and do community service in Africa. “Going to India was the great-est time of my life,” Resta said. “[It] opened my eyes to the importance of happiness and love in my life.” ♦

“After six weeks the actors and play-wrights formed incredible friendships and I still talk to my friends from [last] summer almost twice a week.” -Junior Clem Quittner


Lifestyles

more constructive toward your overall hap-piness. Train your mind to be optimistic. By expressing pointless complaints, you are also sending a negative energy toward the people you are talking to; no one wants to be the person that is “always complaining.”

5. Re-evaluate your social media.If you are the kind of person that is con-stantly feeling bad when comparing your-self to others, then you might want to consider cutting down or eliminating your social media usage. Social media can make it seem like everyone else is happier than you. In reality, these other people are most likely struggling with the same anxieties as you are. If this is a problem for you, end the cycle by adjusting the time you spend on social media.

6. Invest in your passions and guilty pleasures. The quickest way to make yourself happy is by doing things you enjoy doing. You only have so much time in your day, and when it is not being spent at school, it should be put towards your passions. Rather than doing what other people think you should be doing, focus on what interests you. For example, if you hate ballet and would rather play soccer, don’t let other people’s expecta-tions stand in the way of doing what you truly want to. In the end, you’ll be happier.

10 Steps to Happiness by Jasmine Caputo

The pursuit of happiness is something that should be in everyone’s daily schedule. Learning optimism and perspective is one of the greatest lessons that anyone can be taught, but for some people it may be more difficult. Happiness can be a decision and a mindset.

1. Understand that memories make you happier than purchases.You feel excitement when you make money or buy something new, but that excitement soon fades. The possession has now simply become part of your routine. Compare that to an amazing experience or memory you had, whether it be a trip or when you and your best friend couldn’t stop laughing. The happiness from recalling great memories continues to repeat itself.

2. Cut negative people out of your life.If someone in your life consistently causes you more stress than joy, then they are holding you back from reaching your po-tential happiness. These “toxic” friends can be people that you are close to, making it more difficult to break away from them because of your strong bond. I encourage you to closely evaluate these relationships; friends should make you happier, not ruin your day. While it may be daunting to do, it will be worth it in the long run.

3. Open up to people.Talking to someone is the best way to ad-dress your problems head on. Whether you’re talking to a friend, counselor or therapist, having someone to listen and re-spond to your problems is the best way to find a solution. While it may be difficult to open up to someone, identify one person that you trust and whose opinion you value so you can gradually begin to sort through your problems. Having someone that un-derstands your problems will take a huge weight off of you so you don’t feel as alone.

4. Refrain from useless complaining.While it is helpful to talk to someone about your problems, making small complaints to fill conversation is not. Even saying things like “I hate how cold it is today” allows your mind to focus on useless negative thoughts. Finding the silver lining in things is much

7. Let go of the past.The best way to put things behind you is to accept what happened and move on. Don’t waste your energy holding grudges because in the end, they will hurt you more than they hurt the other person. Learn to cher-ish your past and view them as learning ex-periences rather than mistakes.

8. Express gratitude. Expressing gratitude is effective for two reasons: it forces you to verbalize what you are grateful for and it makes another person happy who is receiving your gratitude. Dr. Robert A. Emmons conducted an experi-ment for his book “Thanks!” and concluded that expressing gratitude can improve your happiness by 25 percent. By simply express-ing gratitude toward someone, you can in-crease your own happiness, as well as theirs.

9. Be yourself, no matter what anyone says.Once you learn to end the inner struggle of wanting to act as yourself but not wanting to be judged, you will find peace. You will find the people who appreciate you for be-ing yourself and you will be continually re-warded. The energy you put toward avoid-ing judgement will be spent on enjoying yourself and the people around you.

10. Accept reality. Dwelling on the past or the inevitable is pointless because neither of them are con-trollable. Rather than trying to fight or avoid it, accepting reality might eliminate whatever fear and anxiety you might be fac-ing. Once you are able to do that, you will be able to focus your energy toward posi-tive things and come to peace with the way things are supposed to be. ♦

Graphic by: Cassie Jeong


Lifestyles

Strange Scholarships: From Height to Duct Tapeby Casey O’Brien

With the price of college education in America rising to unprecedented heights, many students have become nervous about their ability to pay for their education and fear having to pay off huge student loans. But never fear, fellow scholars. Organiza-tions all over the country are waiting in the wings to write you a check.

Here are a few of the most unusual scholarships available.

Tall Clubs International (yes, this is a real thing) offers $1,000 scholarships for students, with the only requirement being that they are entering college in the fall and that they are, of course, tall. This means that they must be at least 6’2” for men and 5’10” for women, a striking but by no means un-attainable height. Find a Tall Club member to sponsor you, and it’s all yours. If you are always in the back of group pictures, this one’s for you.

On the other end of the spectrum, Little People of America— an organization

set up to support and offer information to people of short stature—offers a scholar-ship to students of 4’10” or less.

Not all of the scholarships are limited to physical features, however—a few are for your last name.

If your last name is Scarpinato, your tuition is paid in full at Texas A & M Uni-versity—same goes for the last name Zolp at Loyola University in Chicago. Since there are so many students named Zolp, this one may be snapped up fast. Harvard offers scholarships for students named Bexendale, Thayer, Bright or Downer, among others. This is nice, because if your last name is Downer, you may have had a rough time of it in school thus far.

If you want a scholarship related to an interest or skill, there are lots of those, too.

If you can knit, the National Make it Yourself with Wool Competition (wordy but descriptive) offers prizes ranging from $1000-$2000 for your education.

So does the Duck Tape Brand Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Contest which encour-

ages students to create their entire prom outfits out of the beloved, colorful tape and vie for $3000.

My favorite scholarships, however, are those that are related to students’ future ca-reers or their interest in a subject. Mush-rooms for example. If you plan on studying fungi, the Mycological Society of America may grant you a scholarship for $500—hey, it isn’t much, but the world of spore and fungi study has been very lucrative the last few years, so it should all balance out.

And if you can make duck calls—a dy-ing but beautiful art—you can compete for a $1500 first prize scholarship with second and third place awards for smaller amounts with the Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest. Warm up your vocal cords, folks. The ducks await.

Whether you are tall or short, a duck lover or a duct tape lover, there are path-ways for you to attend college—and maybe even with some extra cash to boot. ♦

Famous Faces of Tam: Artists and ActorsIt’s no secret that our school is the home of many talented, creative, and unique individuals. While every Tam student is special, there are some alumni who are so exceptional that they have gained mass recognition from the outside world. Here are a few alumni who have excelled in acting and/or music.

by Nic Mosher

One of the best selling music artists of all time and ranked as the second greatest rap-per of all time by MTV, Shakur sold over 75 million albums. Shakur attended Tam in 1988 for his junior year. Sadly, in 1996, he was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. A prominent part of Tam lore, he’s featured in a painting hung in Wood Hall.

Tupac Shakur

Beth Behrs made her debut in the film “American Pie: The Book of Love.” Cur-rently, she plays Caroline Channing in CBS’s hit show “Two Broke Girls.” Behrs attended Tam in 2004 and participated in Tam’s Conservatory Theatre Ensemble. This photo features Behrs in her senior su-perlative photo for “future movie star.”

Beth Behrs Bridget Mendler

Mendler has starred in various movies pro-duced by Disney, and has two singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She currently stars in the Disney Channel show “Good Luck Charlie.” She attended Tam in 2008 for her freshman year, and then transferred to Tamiscal in order to pursue her career in show-biz.

Photo courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons Photo courtesy of: PAI Photo courtesy of: PAI


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Senior Zack Facter began using drugs with increasing reglu-arity after his first ex-perience at the end of seventh grade. “When I first started smoking [marijuana] it was once every couple of weeks,” he said. “Then it turned into once a week, and then I would say by January or February of eighth grade I was smoking weed every single day. By March or April I was smoking weed every single morning before I went to school. By fresh-man year, I couldn’t get myself to go to school without smoking, I wasn’t eating without smoking, I wasn’t sleeping without smoking. It really dictated my life.”

Facter managed to appear put-togeth-er even as he became more dependent. “I was really good about doing everything I needed to get done in order to make it seem like the drugs weren’t affecting me in a bad way,” he said. “People always talk about ‘Yeah, if you do drugs your grades are going to slip,’ and ‘if you do this that other thing is going to happen,’ so my grades actually got better when I was smoking weed because I would actually worry about my grades and that I would get in trouble.”

Facter started trying to quit smok-ing in his sophomore year. “I would try and I would feel like absolute [crap] for like five or six days,” he said. “After that it was like, ‘All right, I feel so bad that I might as well smoke anyways. None of the negative things are getting any better.’ Then I would smoke for a week or two and forget about

wanting to quit for a month or two. And then I would be tired of this dictating my life again and I would try and quit again and the same thing would just happen over

and over and over again.”Facter’s mother, Nancy Meadows,

tried to help Facter get sober. “In ad-dition to having many heartfelt con-versations with Zack, we also sought professional help in the

form of therapy in or-der to better understand the underlying issues that were influencing Zack’s decision to use,” Meadows said. “Un-fortunately, since Zack was unable find a therapist that he felt comfortable work-ing with and since he didn’t want to stop using, little progress was made.”

He finally went to rehab after an in-cident with several police officers. “Near midnight I received a call from the SFPD telling me that Zack had been arrested for public intoxication, possession of alcohol and possession of false identification. I was also told that he had been injured and

would need to be taken to the ER for stitches,” Meadows

said. “When I arrived to pick Zack up, he had blood caked to the side of his head and face. He could barely stand

and he was shouting obscenities at the police

officers. I was told that they had found Zack wandering in a very bad neighborhood... looking for his friends and his car. He was bloody when they found him. He was apparently planning to drive home but he had been separated from his friends and he was too drunk to find his

car. Zack couldn’t explain how his eye was split open. He had no memory of being hit in the face.”

According to Facter, this was “the last-

straw” that caused his parents to put him in a recovery and rehabilitation home run by Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Servic-es in Petaluma that houses six 12-17 year boys at a time for 45 days each.

“For a couple weeks I hated it and I just felt terrible but [then] I started feel-

ing a lot better and everyone who was there was super cool,” Facter said. “They all used to be addicts. It was just a cool group of people who had fun being sober. When you’re smok-

ing a lot of weed it’s like nothing com-pares to [smoking]. It literally ruins ev-

erything else in your life because nothing else is as fun. So once you are able to get that out of your system and you can hit golf balls and shoot baskets that stuff starts be-ing fun again.”

Meadows is glad that Facter was able to get help before graduating from Tam and going to college at the end of this school year. “I only wish we had acted much soon-er. It’s possible that Zack and every mem-ber of the family might have avoided much pain and suffering if we had,” she said.

Facter is not alone in his experience. Redwood senior Calvin Smeltzer, who transferred to Redwood from Tam his sophomore year, is also in recovery. Smelt-z e r ’ s first experience with mari-

juana was similar to Facter’s. “I started about the summer going into eighth grade… then it just exploded,” he said.

“My story is a little different than

Zack’s. Zack was sent away, I actually chose to [go]. I was coming to a point in my life where it was too much. I was smoking too much, I had horrible grades, I wasn’t feeling like I was going any-where,” Smetlzer said.

Smeltzer was 18 when he decided to seek help with sobriety. He found the Muir Wood home and initially felt very motivated. “But then I

hit about two weeks and I hit a wall. I hit a mental wall and I was just like, ‘I don’t want to be here. Why did I choose this? I just want to go home and smoke,’” Smeltzer

“People who are using all the time... usus-ally have something else going on and so they’re using substances to treat an un-derlying problem.”

Jennifer GolickClinical Director of Muir Wood

Adolescent & Family Service

Pictured above: Sobriety tokens are awarded by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) when someone reaches a milestone, such as staying sober for 24 hours, one month or one year.

Photo courtesy of: Muir Wood Adolescent & Family Service

Photos by: Emma Talkoff


Features

said.Smeltzer’s progress began to turn

around when he attended a meeting on the subject of willingness. “They started talking about how you’re not going to do it if you don’t want to do it. You’re not going to be able to get sober if you’re not fully wanting to,” Smeltzer said. “It’s something you have to have the inner drive to do. Otherwise it’s just going to blow past you.”

Smeltzer was able to overcome crav-ings by recognizing that, “when [an excuse] comes up in your head, it’s just your addic-tion talking,” Smeltzer said. “It really is. It’s like a little devil in your head talking, like, ‘Oh, you won a football game, you did all your homework, you got an A on your test, it’s Friday, you can smoke, you have nothing else to do.’ That’s your addiction talking.”

Jennifer Golick, the clinical director of the Muir Wood Adolescent and Fam-ily Services recovery home in which Facter and Smeltzer lived has many years of expe-rience working with both teens who have substance abuse problems and their par-ents. “We don’t allow parents to just dump their kids in rehab for six weeks and then come and pick them up,” Golick said. “We

really believe that addiction [and] drug use is a family disease and so we treat the whole family.” According to Golick, the Muir Wood home has treated 30 adoles-cent boys, usually on the 45-day cycle Fact-er went through, since it opened last June.

While living in the facility, residents attend different kinds of therapy, including family, individual, exercise, art, and the outdoors. They are also required to keep up with their schoolwork to make for an easier transition when they return to their respective middle or high schools.

According to Golick, a key part of rehabilitation is understanding substance use. “The whole process is really geared towards getting people to understand why they use substances in the first place,” she said. “People start out using because it’s fun but people who are using all the time–people who are smoking pot everyday, all day, or drinking booze all the time–[they] usually have something else going on and so they’re using substances to treat an un-derlying problem, whether it’s anxiety, or depression, or fear, relationship problems, problems at home. Our work here is to get to those underlying issues and to focus on that because really the best way to treat substance use is to understand why people use it in the first place.”

Another important aspect is educa-tion. Muir Wood runs a program that

brings in a panel of former addicts who got sober in their teens to talk to students at lo-cal schools about their experience. “We also talk to students about just the facts of what substances do to the brain and the body, particularly the teenage brain and body,” Golick said. “I take the approach of helping people become informed consumers. I’m not going to tell you to use drugs or not use drugs, but I’m going to inform you about what the risks are associated with that so that you can then make a better choice for yourself.”

Principal Julie Synyard had a similar goal of education-based prevention when she rebooted the parent volunteer group known as the Tam Drug and Alcohol Task Force at the beginning of this year. “We know there are big concerns about drugs and alcohol on campus,” Synyard said. “In the past there had been a drug and alcohol task force so obviously first, natural steps was to bring together teachers, parents, community members.” According to Syn-yard, she is looking to eventually emulate a

Considered Reducing or Stopping Alcohol or Drug Use

Told Self Not to Use Drugs or Alcohol, Used Anyway

9th Grade

Attended Counseling, Program, or Group to Reduce or Stop Drug or Alcohol Use

11th Grade9th Grade

9th Grade

11th Grade

Results of the 2011-2012 California Healthy Kids Survey for the Tamalpais Union High School District with regard to “occurence of experiences related to dependency while using alcohol or drugs.”

11th Grade


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student support system that was in place at her last school in which the school would be able to provide services or refer students to outside help for a variety of issues in-cluding drugs and alcohol abuse. The drug and alcohol task force is not looking at punishment,” Synyard said. “It’s looking at how are we supporting students in making healthy choices.”

Among the Task Force members is Tam parent and Assistant Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administra-tion (DEA), Bruce Goldberg. According to Goldberg, the long-term goal of the task force is to change the culture behind drugs at Tam. Thus far, the task force is focused on educating the community. “We’ve met three or four times, we are trying to orga-nize activities and events both for parents and students that bring awareness about exactly how dangerous some of these drugs can be and how unhealthy it is to start at an early age with alcohol and cigarettes and things like that,” Goldberg said.

Michael Webb is a Tam parent, PTSA

member, and the task force volunteer in charge of coordinating these events. Webb, who worked in mental health for over 30 years and has experience assisting families where children have issues surrounding drug use.

“Last year we had the person who runs the Marin County Youth Court come and speak to parents about the activities of the Marin County Youth Court and he brought two or three students with him to talk

about their experience with the parents,” Webb said. “Then we had [Michael Simon] come in and talk about how parents can strategize around drugs, alcohol and par-ties. This year in April we’re going to have

another event for parents to come and ask a panel of experts any questions that they have about alcohol and other drugs.”

Guest speaker Michael Simon, a Mar-riage and Family Therapist (MFT) and au-thor of the book “Parenting Sideways,” for middle and high school parents, attracted a crowd upwards of 200 parents when he spoke in early February in the student cen-ter.

Before he started his presentation, he stressed the complicated nature of drug use using his model of harm reduction. “It’s a way of understanding the complexity of drug use,” Simon said. “It’s not simple. It’s not about people’s will. It’s not about, necessarily, whether you have a genetic pre-disposition to develop a substance use and

abuse disorder. It’s not about white knuck-ling it. It’s not about ‘there are good people, and the good people don’t use drugs, the good people don’t get addicted to drugs.’ Any drug use is about the drug, the set, or the mind set, and the setting.”

For those who do become addicted, one common support system is Alcohol-ics Anonymous (AA). Facter and Smeltzer both attend AA meeting regularly now that they have returned to Tam and Redwood respectively. “There is the [drug] equivalent which is NA but the AA meetings around here are a lot better,” Facter said. “There are people who call themselves alcoholics but they’re just addicts. But in my opinion [drugs are] all the same thing: it’s just get-ting yourself out of your head. It’s using to make yourself feel good. They might have different effects but they all do the same thing. When I got out of there I was going to AA meetings five times a week. Now I’ve

cut it down to two.”A large element of the 12-step program

at the heart of AA is spiritual. According to Smeltzer, he, like many other members of AA, had problems with spiritual references

when beginning the program. “But the way they explain it is a higher power of your un-derstanding,” Smeltzer said. “I don’t really pray to God, I don’t think it’s religious, and I don’t like the religious part. But it’s part of it so I just tolerate it. It’s whatever you want it to be. You should have something to look up to when no one is there; that’s what they say.”

According to Facter, part of the reason AA is so beneficial is it keeps him in con-tact with people who are in a similar situ-ation as him. “You’ve got to be in constant contact with other alcoholics,” he said. “No one who hasn’t been through it is going to be able to help you out. You can’t get sober for a parent or a girlfriend or even your kids if you are an adult. The only way you can get

sober is for y o u r s e l f . And it’s all about ex-plaining your p r o b l e m s and talking about what’s

happening to someone who’s been through the same thing.”

Since returning to Redwood, Smeltzer has begun going to the gym and surfing in order to “find something to replace [smok-ing] with,” Smeltzer said. “When I crave or when I’m bored, I go surfing or go to the gym, just do something I love, and I get a natural high. I feel good when I do it.”

Facter has advice to make struggles with sobriety less intimidating. “The way I have stayed sober and the way they taught me to do it was you really just have to take it one day at a time. If you say you are never going to drink or use ever again in your life it gets super overwhelming,” Facter said. “If you are just looking at one day saying ‘I’m not going to drink today, I’m not go-ing to smoke today, maybe I will tomorrow but today I am going to make sure I’m not.’ And then you do the same thing the next day. It’s 1,000 times easier.” ♦

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

“You’re not going to be able to get sober if you’re not fully wanting to. It’s something you have to have the inner drive to do.”

Calvin Smeltzer

Photo courtesy of: Calvin Smeltzer

The Serenity Prayer, Alcoholics Anonymous


Opinion/Editorial

The recent announcement that three non-tenured math teachers were designat-ed non-reelect by Principal Julie Synyard and will not return next year stirred ru-mors, petitions and outrage within the Tam community. Since the district cannot le-gally disclose information about personnel decisions and Tam does not make teacher evaluations public, many students feel left out of the dialogue. Although we under-stand that reasons for non-reelections can’t be shared with the public, we are concerned about both district and site administration’s borderline-irresponsible course of limited communication amidst significant person-nel and curriculum changes.

This problem is demonstrated in the context of the teacher evaluation process and these non-reelections. Student input seems to be casually considered at best, and largely ignored at worst. Anecdotally, many students of Ryan Federoff and Anders Fairbanks—two of the non-reelected math teachers—claim to have submitted positive student evaluations of these teachers. This corresponds with impressions expressed by math department teacher leader David Wetzel and Fairbanks (see page four).

We’ll never know the full details be-hind the decision to let these teachers go; we understand the confidentiality law. But

we don’t understand why students’ efforts to convey our opinions seemed to go un-considered, especially by the school board, which upheld Principal Synyard’s decision and finalized the dismissals on March 12. Students lack a directly accessible mode of student-to-administration communication; our student trustee to district board meet-ings holds only a symbolic vote and is ex-cluded from closed session meetings. And when we make petitions, such as those cre-ated to save the non-reelected math teach-ers that garnered hundreds of signatures, we can’t help but feel that they fall by the wayside without parent involvement.

Constructive criticism, another valu-able mode of communication, was also lacking in the evaluation process. Fairbanks said he wasn’t aware of any concerns prior to his non-reelection, which highlights a flaw in the teacher-administration dia-logue. Federoff expressed similar disbelief in a March 8 Marin IJ article. Even more disconcerting is that the three teachers themselves remain in the dark as to why they were not reelected. Had this informa-tion been released to the teachers, even un-der a nondisclosure agreement, school ad-ministration could have better shown their commitment to staff communication. But because they weren’t, these teachers can’t

know what they did wrong and won’t be able to improve for their next job.

The lack of information exacerbated the problem as parents, community mem-bers and even local media outlets fed on the story. Further administrator silence fueled an unsigned press release that crafted an image of teachers wronged by a looming administration, and raised unsubstantiated allegations connecting the non-reelects to Assistant Superintendent Michael Mc-Dowell and his prior relationship with New Tech Network, a nonprofit service and support provider under district con-tract. A March 8 Marin IJ article further contributed to the sensationalism with a dramatic headline (“Tam High embroiled over teacher firings and new teaching methods”), and also conflated supposed disagreement over the New Tech Network with the non-reelections.

Eventually, on March 10, Superinten-dent Dr. Laurie Kimbrel sent out an email to Tam parents and staff — but not stu-dents—citing the California State Law policy on personnel confidentiality and commenting on the optional, unrelated in-tegration of the New Tech Network pro-gram into TUHSD classrooms. Had a more open communication system been in place earlier in the process, perhaps the administration would not have needed to engage in overdue damage control.

Tam News reporters have tried to re-main informed on a variety of district-driv-en reforms this year, with the implementa-tion of Common Core at the forefront of our attention. Attempts to understand this shift in curriculum have been surprisingly difficult, as teachers in multiple depart-ments, from math to science to P.E., have offered sometimes conflicting information. As students, we have observed a shift in Tam’s climate, one that is tenser and storm-ier than in the past. Over 40 Tam faculty members attended the March 12 board meeting that upheld Synyard’s personnel decision, the likes of which typically pass under the radar. It’s unlikely that district administration is fully to blame here, as the reactions of the math department, parents and local news outlets should have exerted greater measures of restraint in the absence of hard facts. But insufficient miscommu-nication from site and district administra-tion is contributing to growing discontent. We fear that if left unaddressed, this com-munication problem will only fester. ♦

What’s Crackin’ What’s SLackin’ ...but says farewell to the sea horses

due to copper in the water.

Running out of episodes of your favorite TV show too quickly.

Hordes of immobile students who clog up hallways.

... but there aren’t any venues near you.

...but there’s still so much mystery surrounding the new test.

Crackin’

&Slackin’

Marine Science welcomes an octopus, two eels and possibly a cuttlefish...

Binge watching episodes of your favorite TV show.

Belting out “Let It Go” when you’re home alone.

When your favorite band announces new tour dates...

SAT changes mean no more memorizing vocab...

EDITORIAL: All Quiet on the District Front


Opinion/Editorial

I was recently subjected to the docu-mentary film “Food, Inc.” as part of my Environmental Science curriculum. “Food, Inc.” highlights many of the major prob-lems with the food production industry in America. Although the shots of massive slaughterhouses did little to dissuade me from enjoying hamburgers, it did cause me to think about the way food is produced and marketed in the U.S., especially with re-gards to fast food. There’s been much debate about obesity in America and “Food, Inc.” reminded me of another film I was forced to watch multiple times in the name of food education: “Super Size Me.”

For those who miraculously escaped viewing the film, “Super Size Me” is a 2004 documentary directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock. He designed, filmed, and executed an experiment in which he ate only McDonald’s food for a month and limited his exercise. The experiment required him to eat every bite of what he ordered and to “Su-per Size” the meal when asked.

Shockingly, Spurlock expe-rienced many ill effects, includ-ing a weight gain of 24.6 pounds in one month, as well as symp-toms of depression and a drastic increase in his cholesterol levels.

Initially, the results of Spurlock’s experiment are in-teresting, if a bit redundant; we all know that fast food is bad, but the experiment’s re-sults seem to indicate that merely setting foot in a Mc-Donald’s is hazardous to one’s health. Upon closer examination, how-ever, Spurlock’s “experiment” falls apart.

Spurlock refused to publish a log of what he ate. Those who have attempted to replicate Spurlock’s experiment based on the parameters set by the film have been unsuccessful in replicating his results. Eat-ing all food on the plate is an extreme re-quirement and not necessarily in line with the actual behavior of individuals eating at fast food establishments. Throughout the film, Spurlock ignores suggestions from his doctors and personal trainer to drink soda less often or to take vitamin supplements.

Spurlock’s film is not a genuine at-tempt to examine the overall health effects

of McDonald’s, but pure entertainment designed for shock value and maximum reaction on the part of the audience.

Still, “Super Size Me” became in-credibly popular, grossing $30 mil-lion at the box office, and even spawn-ing an “educational” version of the DVD that was made “classroom safe.”

Nutritional health is an important topic that people should be able to discuss in an informed way, but “Super Size Me” is not the method with which to do this.

Although Spurlock’s film, combined with the messages of “Food, Inc,” could provide a more complex criticism of

American food production and distribu-tion, Spurlock’s film alone is not enough. Clearly, the American system of food pro-duction has major flaws. The U.S. Govern-ment subsidizes crops such as corn and soybeans, causing farmers to produce sig-nificantly more than we actually need. As a result of this, we’re getting crafty with our usage of grains, especially corn, which finds its way into an astonishing range of foods in modified forms that are nearly impossi-ble to trace back to the original plant itself.

The corn we don’t eat gets fed to our cattle. This causes cows to gain weight very quickly and makes them un-able to regulate the levels of E. Coli in

their stomachs, leading to more bac-teria in the meat we are consuming.

These practices are inhumane and un-safe, but the reduced prices of corn make them the most cost-effective way to produce cattle.

On top of all of this, farmers use ma-chines that consume mass amounts of fossil fuels to run tractors and factories, help to distribute pesticides and even plant seeds.

Producing food with our current meth-ods and at our current speed depletes the soil more quickly than it can recover, meaning farmers are forced to use inorganic fertil-izers such as phosphates and nitrates which can make their way into our water supply

and are toxic to humans and animals alike. McDonald’s is the product of a broken system filled with corn subsidies and artificially reduced food prices.

This doesn’t excuse Mc-Donald’s actions, but as people search for a “solution” to what is often called America’s “obesity epidemic” it’s easier to blame a single corporation than de-cades of problematic policy and resource mismanagement.

There are solutions to these problems, and as pub-lic awareness grows about the methods by which we pro-duce our food we will continue to develop further solutions.

McDonald’s is a prob-lem, yes, but the reality is far more complicated than “fast food is ruining our lives,” as Spurlock would have us be-lieve. Instead of attacking Mc-Donald’s, advocate for gov-ernment subsidies of organic

farming rather than current methods of farming such as chemically created fer-tilizers, feedlots and growth hormones.

The easiest and most powerful thing to do is vote with your wallet: research and try to buy foods that are organi-cally and sustainably produced, includ-ing free-range chicken and grass-fed beef.

Although organic food is currently more expensive than many people can af-ford, a lack of government subsidies on or-ganic foods will only further this problem, keeping traditionally farmed food prices artificially high. If consumers switch to sus-tainable products, farmers will change the methods by which they produce our food. ♦

In Defense of McDonald’sby Jordan Blackburn



Opinion/Editorial

This month, I was ready to write a short column heaping the entirety of my secret rainbow glitter stash upon El-len Page, who used a Valentine’s Day speech for the Human Rights Cam-paign as a platform to publicly come out as gay. I was going to make a lot of points about the importance of celebrity visibil-ity and real-life role models, and there’s a good chance I still will in a future issue.

But then I learned about Jared Leto and his role in “Dallas Buyers Club.” From the corners of the Internet seeped blatantly transphobic quotes from Leto and director Jean-Marc Vallée, and I began to realize that the role of Rayon, a transgender wom-an clinging to life during the AIDS epi-demic of the late twentieth century, should never have gone to Leto in the first place. Going into this, I should note that because I identify as cisgender (meaning my gender identity matches the sex I was assigned at birth), my opinion shouldn’t necessarily be held as an authority on the extent to which this topic is offensive to the trans commu-nity. That said, it’s important that the dis-cussion and the viewpoint of transgender individuals regarding this topic finds light.

While college applications and a per-fectly healthy “Breaking Bad” binge pre-vented me from getting around to watch-ing “Dallas Buyers Club” as a whole (I did watch clips of Leto’s performance), I know the gist of the film’s premise. Matthew Mc-Conaughey’s character is diagnosed with AIDS and then embarks on a mission to distribute much-needed medication on

the black market with the help of Leto’s Rayon. While I can’t speak to the qual-ity of the plot, writing, or the cast’s per-formances, I’m very confident that there is no performance that Leto could have given that could justify this appropriation of a trans role by a cis actor. Such an act rips away from a trans actor an unparal-leled opportunity to tell a trans story in an industry that currently has little to offer trans actors aside from bit parts on crime and medical dramas (Laverne Cox’s promi-nent role on “Orange is the New Black” is a major exception). I think it’s fairly sim-ple: a trans woman was robbed of visibil-ity and opportunity by this casting choice.

Vallée and others don’t have the grounds to defend Leto as the best actor for the role. A TIME.com article published on March 4 reported that when a CBC radio reporter inquired as to whether filmmak-ers even considered casting a trans woman as Rayon, Vallée delivered a priceless com-ment that speaks for itself: “Never. [Are] there any transgender actors?... I’m not aiming for the real thing. I’m aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing.” While the French Canadian Vallée’s English makes the sentence more than a lit-tle awkward, it’s important to focus on the fact that no trans women were ever consid-ered. The quote also implies a belief that no trans actor could have had the ability to pull off the performance, which, though perhaps true—Leto won an Academy Award for this role, after all—, is too much of a pre-sumption to make. Also, it should be kept in mind that this quote also comes from the man who allowed the use of male pronouns for Rayon’s character in both the script’s dialogue and, more problematically, in stage directions. Such misgendering reveals the transphobia of the filmmakers, rather than that of other onscreen characters.

The fact that Leto is cisgender drives the con-versation to focus on the degree to which he was convincing as a trans wom-an, rather than to how well he played a woman battling both AIDS and a world that hated her. It’s valid to argue that this is just a role and, as an actor, Leto is just doing his job by, well, act-

ing. But it’s also necessary to consider why so many in the trans community resent the emphasis this places on the presentation of gender identity. Our society has an obses-sion with gauging whether or not the trans-gender individuals that we interact with everyday effectively “pass”—an idea that harmfully fuels personal gender dysphoria (a feeling of discontent with one’s body due to one’s perception of their own gender). Leto has further played into this misplaced emphasis throughout the course of his awards show appearances. In his Golden Globes acceptance speech, Leto spoke at length about how “shocking” it was for him to have waxed his body, even saying of his interest in the role that “I thought I’d look pretty good in a skirt.” This, combined with his inability to ever say the word “transgen-der” in his vague references to “this beauti-ful creature” and “the Rayons of the world,” add further insult to the injury of his casting.

Sentimentally, I will forever fight to protect the inclusion and integrity of the people whose stories are rarely told. It may not follow a line of tightly drawn logic, but I don’t think it’s fair to see people praised for convincingly portraying dramatized versions of discriminations that some of us experience every day. This isn’t about acting out the struggles of an emotion-ally distant detective whose whole family was murdered, or a protagonist’s mother battling severe alcoholism. It’s about indi-viduals within spheres of systemically ha-rassed existence. As someone who’s seen the roles of queer women go to straight actors time and time again, I am empa-thetic towards the trans women out there who only want to see themselves repre-sented by one of their own—someone who will never crack jokes conflating bi-kini waxes and high heels with the bigoted hurdles scattered throughout their lives. ♦

Writing Wrongs

by Bella Levaggi

When Aiming for the Real Thing Isn’t Enough



Opinion/Editorial

Startup Weekend Adventuresby Cassie Jeong

A Startup Weekend is a three-day teambuilding

opportunity for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to a panel

of willing investors.

DAY 1: Friday, Feb. 21st

A special conference focused on improving public education was held in the former Cole Middle School in Oakland. I attended as a student designer.

DAY 2: Saturday, Feb. 22nd

Our group met early in the morning to assign tasks for each team member. I attended a lecture on product design.

Design is about being empa-thetic to the goals of first-time

and returning users. (In our case, teachers and students.)

Design, test, revise!

Another teammate shared what he learned from a lec-ture on product development.

Keep asking “Why?” to identify the broadest

problem your solution addresses. For example,

why is it difficult for socioeconomically

disadvantaged students to focus on schoolwork?

DAY 3: Sunday, Feb. 23rd

I worked on graphics and animations for our presentation and returned to Oakland in the afternoon, just in time for final pitches.Thirteen teams presented the projects they

had been working on over the weekend.

A rapid-fire pitching process allowed for nearly a third of attend-ees to offer their ideas and form teams based on audience votes.

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) announced that it would pilot the winning team’s product.

A SPECIAL CHALLENGEFROM OUSD:

How can we increase parent and community

engagement in our public schools?

The rest of the day was devoted to networking, receiving profes-sional business coaching and refining our product concept.

Talk to your users;don’t solely rely on surveys.

A compelling, intelligent and supported problem statement is more

important than your solution.

We decided on a multi-media expansion of existing Reading With Relevance workbooks for greater exposure and interaction for teachers and students. We brainstormed possible business models and began working on our presentation for the investors.

I was surprised by how few teams specifically targeted low-income students, especially since the con-ference took place in Oakland. My disappointment turned to outrage at the prices proposed for their products.

“$2000 for a class set…”“$20 a month…”

“$70 per package…”

True, all companies need revenue, but at a conference to improve

public education, it did not seem appropriate to ask that teachers and schools pay for their own educational tools.

I voted for and joined a team called Reading With Relevance, which aimed...

...to create culturally relevant Eng-lish curricula for Oakland and other diverse, low-income student populations.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): A method of

teaching students through personal,

empathetic connections.

Pitch advice fromexperienced Startup

volunteer Josh

The winning project was a speech-to-text visualization program for English lan-guage learners. OUSD English teacher Nina Portugal saw a need for her bilin-gual students to receive real-time feed-back as they learn a new language. She had the idea for a program allowing stu-dents to see links between oral and writ-ten language and connected with software developers and coders over the weekend who helped turn her dream into a reality.

I was glad that the winning team would help students who truly needed the support. ♦


Sports

It wasn’t until his junior year that things started to heat up for Haechler, one of Tam’s fastest swimmers. Breaking four records on Tam’s current swim team—the 200 yard medley relay, the 400 free relay, the 200 individual medley, and the 100 fly—Haechler is expected to help lead Tam’s team for this upcoming swimming season. While those records were set last year, Haechler has already beat them out-side of Tam. “We have a fairly young team with a lot of talented young swimmers,” Haechler said. “I think that as the only upper-classman that swims at a club level, I will be taking on a huge leader-ship role.” Haechler of-ten can’t make practices due to his commitment to the Marin Pirates, a club swim team, but his role as a team captain remains just as vital. “I am still excited to get in the pool with the team. Hopefully there will still be that ‘team feel-ing’ even though I’m not always there. My goal for this season in NCS is to continue to get my personal best times and to keep breaking records for Tam,” he said.

“From Monday to Friday we have prac-tice from 4 to 6:15 at IVC [Indian Valley Campus] in Novato,” senior Sean Haechler said, rattling off the schedule for his club swim team, the Marin Pirates. “Saturday morning I have practice from 7:00 to 10:00 am. And then on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have to wake up at 4:30 to lift with my club team at Kentfield. Now that has been some getting used too.”

While swimming has been his cen-ter focus these past couple years, Haechler hasn’t always been a competitive swimmer. “My freshman and sophomore year I was on the junior national team for freestyle skiing,” Haechler said. “I kept thinking, what’s next? I really saw myself as a com-petitive skier and saw myself going far into that.” Freshman year, Haechler decided to play water polo for Tam during his skiing off-season. With advice from Bob Kustel,

one of Tam’s swim coaches, Haechler was encouraged to try out swimming. “Bob told me, ‘I don’t even care if you don’t know how to swim, we’ll have you.’ So that turned into swimming during offseason of ski season because you need to be fit,” Haechler said.

At the end of his swimming season sophomore year, Haechler started drop-ping time and swimming faster on his event, the 100 fly. He was beating other kids in MCAL who had been swim-ming their whole life. “It made me think that maybe this could be more than just

a way to train in the offseason of skiing,” Haechler said. Before joining his current club team, Haechler swam for the Straw-berry Seals. “The head coach for the Seals, who was also a family friend, said that if I put enough time and effort into swimming he could see me swimming at a collegiate level,” Haechler said. It was then that he had to make a difficult decision: swim-ming or skiing. “Swimming on [the Marin Pirates] means weekend practices, which means no skiing,” he said. “I dropped ski-ing which was a hard decision because I re-ally thought of myself as a skier. I started swimming for the Marin Pirates junior year and that’s when I really started train-ing. I expected it to be hard, but I had never expected it to be that time consuming.”

Along with swimming every day came an adjustment of priorities, but working hard was a set of skills that came naturally to Haechler. “Before a big meet, I sepa-

rate myself from the commotion of every-thing else. I plug in headphones and I run through the whole race from walking up to the blocks to finishing and touching the wall and looking up at the scoreboard,” he said. “If I can visualize that I can swim a perfect race in my head, I can say I’ve al-ready swum the race I only have to do it one more time.”

With four months of swimming on the club team and swimming throughout the summer, an opportunity to excel be-yond high school arose in the spring of his

junior year. Haechler was re-

cruited to D1 college Vil-lanova University for the 100 yard fly and the 200 fly, two events Haechler excels at on both his Tam and Marin Pirate teams. In addition, he has also committed to Villanova’s business school.

Recently, Haechler qualified to be an All-American for the 100 yard fly. “In Seattle two weeks ago I got my All-American time. I went 50.8, and to qualify is a 51.2. It had been one of my main goals for a long time.”

While swimming in college is what Haechler plans on accomplishing, the fu-ture is limitless when it comes to staying in the pool. “I definitely see myself swimming for the rest of my life. My club swim coach, Warren Lagger, always says, ‘swimming is not an end into itself but a means to a greater end.’ What he means is that you don’t swim to get fast–it’s to build those life skills you can take with you through what-ever walks of life.”

From skiing to swimming, Haechler has taken with him the key essentials to be-ing both a teammate and a leader. “Swim-ming is a weird sport because there is so much delayed gratification. You swim miles a day for months for just one race that lasts 50 seconds. And I obviously can’t hang out with my friends as much as I used too, but I consider some of my teammates my best friends. Swimming has overall changed who I am.” ♦

Sean Haechler Provides Leadership in the Poolby Elizabeth Archer

NEED FOR SPEED: Senior Sean Haechler, one of Tam’s premier swimmers, holds the school record for four events. Photo by: Elizabeth Archer


Sports

Graphics by: Dennis Lubensky

From the Coaches - Season Previews

“My goal is to have my divers improve–give them a sense of pride and ac-complishment–and make Tam the best school for diving in Marin.” - Dr. Ken Light, Diving

“We have our whole starting squad of return-ing players, which is awesome. Our goals are emphasizing funda-mentals and finishing with an ‘even 500’–equal wins and losses.” - Paige Jeanau, Girls’ Lacrosse

“Ideally, for the team, we want to win MCALs this year. [Last year} was our first year in Division One, and this year the im-mediate goal is to get to the second round.” - Bill Washauer, Boys’ Tennis

“My goal for this season would be to bring back team leadership and make the girls feel like they are part of an important role represent-ing Tamalpais High.” - Brittany Boyd, Girls’ Swimming

“Looking at wins and losses isn’t the best way to look at things. For me, it’s just, ‘Are we getting better everyday?’ Then we have a good shot at being successful in the future.” - Dustin Nygaard, Boys’ Golf

“We are looking to reclaim our MCAL title and we are out to beat Redwood. I believe we have greater depth [than Redwood] and that could be the decider.” - Ken Weber, Boys’ Swimming

“This year’s team is younger than last year, but we have more depth.Our goals for this year are to make MCAL and NCS playoffs.” - Shane Kennedy, Girls’ Soccer

“I’ve inherited a really great group of guys that work tremendously hard and have really good at-titudes.”- Scott Jennings, Boys’ Lacrosse

“Our goal every year is number one and to have as much fun as possible. We lost a lot of key run-ners, but have great kids and will be very com-petitive.” - Kevin Engle, Track and Field

“I wasn’t here last year, so what we’re trying to stress this year is just concentrating on the little things, the details, the fundamentals.” - Scott Osder, Boys’ Baseball

“[We have] more tal-ent on the court. We’re hoping to improve every game [with] returning players Blake Killingsworth and Yusuf Azam.” - Chris Glave, Boys’ Volleyball

by the Sports Staff

“We are better on all sides this year because we didn’t lose any key contributers. We hope to be competitive with every team we play.” - Erin Lawley, Girls’ Softball


from the archives: drug culture at tam

1966

1967

1965

According to the 2011-2012 California Healthy Kids survey, by 11th grade 58 percent of students in the Tamalpais Union High School District have used marijuana at least once. Over the years, there has been a prevalent drug culture at Tam, espe-cially with regards to marijuana. This issue’s feature, “One Day at a Time,” addresses addiction among students.

1985

Archives

22


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Volume IX, Issue No. VI - March 2014

March 2014

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