THE
OCTAGON
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668 @scdsoctagon
VOL.47 NO.1 • Sacramento Country Day School • 2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento, CA • www.scdsoctagon.com • October 2, 2023
FIRED UP In the midst of a global climate crisis, junior Saheb Gulati speaks out against the recommendation to postpone the Sacramento carbon neutrality goal by 15 years from 2030 to 2045. The rally took place outside the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting chambers on July 11. PHOTO COURTESY OF KENT LACIN
Sacramento County considers carbon neutrality target delay BY GARRETT XU & REBECCA LIN
A
midst the modern climate crisis, Sacramento lawmakers are seeking effective solutions to alleviate its impacts and safeguard the planet’s future. However, Sacramento’s recent proposal seems to diverge from this global trend. On July 11, 2023, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors met to discuss a rec-
ommendation to amend the timeline of the county’s 2020 Climate Emergency Declaration. The proposed change — delaying Sacramento’s carbon neutrality goal from 2030 to follow the statewide goal of 2045. In a vote of 3-1, with Supervisor Sue Frost abstaining, the board decided to postpone any definitive action, neither endorsing nor rejecting the recommendation — for now. Instead, the board requested revisions to
the Climate Emergency Declaration, which included proposing new requirements for monitoring progress towards carbon neutrality every five years. The board plans to revisit the 15 year pushback suggestion at a later date, leaving room for future reconsideration. The proposal to delay Sacramento’s plans of carbon neutrality originated from a recommendation by the Sacramento County Staff with lawsuits at the forefront of the issue.
Fearing potential lawsuits as a result of the possibility of failing to attain the 2030 goal, their suggested solution involved extending the timeline by 15 years, shifting the target from 2030 to 2045 as a way to address these legal and compliance concerns. However, Supriya Patel, who is Vice Chair of the Sacramento Climate Mobilization Task Force and founder of Fridays For Future
CARBON NEUTRALITY page 3 >>
Supreme Court removes affirmative action in college applications BY SAHEB GULATI & ZEMA NASIROV
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the challenge against the constitutionality of affirmative action, eliminating a practice ingrained in college admissions for over a half a century. The 6-3 decision in favor of Students for Fair Admissions, INC. (SFFA) centered on the claim that affirmative action, a racebased admissions policy at private universities, violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of the ruling were two cases, held simultaneously against Harvard Col-
lege and the University of North Carolina (UNC), initiated by SFFA. The Court made several observations about the flaws within the admissions process of both Harvard and UNC concerning their use of race in applicant selection. The admissions programs at both institutions proved to be a disadvantage for certain racial groups, which violated the Equal Protection Clause’s mandate not to use race as an adverse factor. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the majority that a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.” To Jon Reider, former admissions officer
CAMPUSCORNER HIGH SCHOOL TRIPS
PSAT AND SAT TESTING
From Oct. 3-6, high school students will be going on their annual class trips. The freshmen will be going to South Lake Tahoe, the sophomores to Greenhorn Ranch and the juniors to Ashland, Oregon. Seniors will have on-campus college workshops on Tuesday, Oct.4 and Wednesday, Oct. 5.
On Oct. 11, all sophomores and juniors will take the PSAT. Seniors can choose to take the SAT. This year, the PSAT will be adminstered digitally by the College Board for the first time. Juniors may qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, and freshmen will have the day off.
at Stanford University, the ruling came as no surprise. “We had meetings with Stanford lawyers even back in the ‘90s, discussing what we would do when affirmative action was killed,” Reider said. “It took 25 years to kill it.” According to Reider, the consensus is unanimous that the number of minority students enrolled in private higher education institutions will decrease. But to him, one thing is clear: “Colleges are prepared, and they’re adapting. They’re not giving up on diversity.”
History of Affirmative Action
In September 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the Executive Order of Fair Employment, which required federal contractors to ensure equality of employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sex or national origin. This was the first of many affirmative action policies to follow and its results proved to be positive. Prior to the executive order, 4.9 percent of college students were Black. However in wake of the affirmative action measures, the percentage of Black college students
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION page 4 >>
INSIDE the ISSUE Is MrBeast’s chocolate goated? Read The Octagon’s own MrFeast review of MrBeast chocolate bars series. (PAGE 11) PHOTO COURTESY OF FEASTABLES