The Coat of Arms Issue 44.4

The Coat of Arms The Coat of Arms

serving Menlo's upper school since 1975

Lack of parking frustrates students Administration's

attemps

to fix the issue not satisfying students

by KATE JEFFRIES

Ever since the change in parking lot assignments, with the previous senior lot becoming a junior and senior lot and the previous junior lot becoming one of the three on-campus faculty lots, on-campus parking has been an issue.

Currently, there are 156 spots that are allocated to either carpool or generic spots for students in the lot known as the Junior-Senior Lot. The Coat of Arms asked every junior and senior student, the only grades allowed to receive a parking permit, if they drove to school, taking into account those who carpooled, drove electric vehicles, or had special accommodations; 189 of those students answered that they regularly drive to school. Nine students did not respond. With that data, 33 students can’t get a proper on-campus parking spot. The methodology is further explained in the final paragraph.

Dean of Students Tony Lapolla emphasized that there has never been enough parking for everyone on campus. “If everyone was on campus at the exact same time, all juniors and all seniors, we would not have enough parking.” Lapolla said. “By combining the juniors and seniors into one lot, the biggest lot on campus, we are giving [the students] the best opportunity [to find a spot],” Lapolla said. However, even with this change, it is common to hear stories of students having to park on the street even if they

arrive to school on time.

“I got to school around 8:28 a couple weeks ago so I had to park on University [Drive] and I couldn’t leave school during lunch to move my car since I had a teacher meeting so I got a ticket,” junior Kevin Chen said. The ticket Chen received for not moving his car out of the two hour parking spots on University, the closest street to the Menlo campus, was $45. Additionally, Chen recalls his parents frustrations with the ticket. “My parents were pretty mad, they almost took my keys away,” Chen said.

Junior Luca St. Goar has also received numerous tickets for being forced to park on University Drive even when he has arrived to school on time. “I have paid over $100 for parking tickets [which] Menlo should refund because it’s their fault,” St. Goar said.

Many Menlo students share similar experiences to Chen and St. Goar or have witnessed the issues caused by Menlo’s lack of parking in their classrooms. “People have gotten tickets because

they have to park on the street and they’re late to class which is [...] impeding on our education,” senior Katie Guardino said.

The lack of on-campus parking also hinders students’ ability to sleep in when they have a free period first in their schedule. Oftentimes students refrain from sleeping in during their free periods since it is unlikely that they will find a parking spot after the first block of the day. “Normally parking isn’t a problem, but it would be nice if there were spots available when I sleep in,” junior Maxwell Patterson said.

Guardino echoed this sentiment. “There’s never any parking unless you get to school super early, which seems unfair and counterintuitive since the administration made start time later so we could sleep,” Guardino said.

In addition, many students have voiced their frustrations regarding the empty visitor spots being off limits to students even when there are numerous visitor spots available and all the student spots are full. “It’s kind of an-

noying how everyday there are plenty of visitor spots that aren’t used,” junior Charlie Hsieh said. “There are usually a few visitor spots open that we can’t use which is unfair because we actually need to be on campus and they don’t,” Guardino said. Yet upperclassmen are still ticketed for parking in the free visitor spots. Junior Matt Flower believes that there should always be parking available for upperclassmen who return to campus during off times of the day. “I believe that if students leave campus during a free period or lunch and come back and there are no spots, they should be allowed to park in visitor parking,” Flower said. With the obvious lack of spots compared to the number of student drivers, the administration has attempted to aid the issue at hand through different initiatives.

Continued on page 2

Trump's presidency sparks varying responses

Jan. 20, 2018 marked President Trump’s first full year in office, with the various changes that have unfolded since his inauguration. The success of his presidency thus far has been widely debated, with some applauding his policy efforts and others shaking their heads at his unconventional behavior. Menlo students are no different in voicing their opinions about the advances and setbacks the nation has experienced as a result of Trump’s victory one year ago.

Some mixed opinions from the student body stem from whether Trump’s recent tax plan will stimulate economic growth or only sink the nation deeper into debt. “I think the recent tax cut will foster even more economic growth because of the cut to the corporate tax rate, which has been and will continue to raise wages, decrease unemployment and cut most

Menlo students reflect on Trump's presidency a year from his inaugaration

people’s taxes in the end,” junior Brian Mhatre said.

Other students seconded this opinion. “I love what he’s doing with tax reform in that it’s getting more money in peoples’ pockets and not dealing with bureaucracy,” freshman Ben Siminoff said.

Junior Thomas Woodside voiced a different opinion. “[The tax plan] is going to drive us into a lot more debt and I’m not convinced the economy is really going to grow like Trump says it will,” Woodside said.

Differing viewpoints also circulate around what Trump’s top priority should be. Many believe he should concentrate on following through with his promised policies. “I think what Trump should really be focused on is getting through the infrastructure bill he discussed while he was running,” Mhatre said.

Students also emphasized Trump’s need to raise his approval rating, which is currently at 37 percent. “I think he has to deal with the fact that he is not supported by the majority of Americans. […] The President doesn’t work for the people who voted for him; the President works for the people of the country,” Woodside said.

Even so, when compared to the Obama administration, a few students prefer Trump in office. “I think we are stronger

under Trump. I think our foreign policy is much better. I think the way we are regulating the free market is much better. I think the tax plan is much better,” Mhatre added. “Of course I’d rather [have a president] who wasn’t going to make these crazy outlandish statements that make many people look bad, but I think at this point I would rather Trump [be] in office than Obama.”

Contrasting opinions focus on the benefits of the stoic presence that Obama offered in comparison to Trump’s. “The reason I think that Obama is better than Trump is because he’s a composed president who doesn’t say things that insult a lot of people,” freshman Jessica Peters said.

Republican and Democratic students alike agree that Trump is certainly flawed in some aspects, whether that be through his policies or the way he presents himself to the people. “I think he’s really hindered himself in the way he’s used Twitter and the ways he’s spoken at times. […] Things like the sh*thole comments recently, even though he could’ve not meant them in a racist kind of way [...] takes away from the good policy he could be focusing on,” Mhatre said.

Continued on page 2

AHEAD

Feb. 9 - Feb. 11: Winter play

See the Menlo Drama Department's production of Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night."

The week of Feb. 12 is Writers Week! Get excited to see all different kinds of writers give talks during lunchtime.

Feb. 14: Valentines Day

Spread some love on this special day. Give roses to your special someone, hang with some friends or tell you family how much they mean to you!

Feb. 19 - Feb 23:

Enjoy a week of winter bliss. Hang with friends, read a good book, spend time outdoors and relax.

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News: 1-3

A&L: 4-6

Spread: 7-10

Opinions: 11-13

Sports: 14-16

Parking, Continued

“We continue to encourage people to carpool, which has helped because it has reduced the number of cars on campus,” Lapolla said.

Students who carpool receive a carpool sticker instead of the normal student sticker that permits them to park in the designated carpool spots which are at the prime location near the entrance to school. This makes finding a spot much easier since there is less competition amongst other students.

However, many students without carpool stickers take up the carpool spots, creating even more frustration for students that have them. Additionally, some students have noticed that their peers lie about carpooling with students in order to obtain a carpool pass. “Obviously carpool is there for a reason and it should be reserved for people like myself with larger cars who carpool people,” senior Sophie Siminoff

said. “I don’t have a problem with people parking there when they’re desperate at all but faking carpool for the pass is a little underhanded I think.”

In addition to students who don’t rightfully have carpool passes using carpool spots, there have been incidents of teachers parking in the carpool spots as well as other spots on the junior-senior lot. Teachers are assigned to one of the three other lots on campus so that they avoid taking parking away from students. Most teachers arrive on campus earlier than the average student. “We have had two or three faculty members we have had to speak to, but they have generally been cooperative,” Lapolla said.

Parents are also instructed by security to solely park in visitor parking when they arrive on campus or to park in the loop if there happens to be a parent meeting on any given day. Yet, many parents

Trump Presidency, Continued

Peters agreed. “I think his Twitter [usage] is extremely negative. Just the fact that he has his phone and can share his thoughts in a snap with no approval is a diplomatic nightmare.”

Others were more concerned about some of the executive decisions he has made so far. “He dismantled a lot of very important but poorly implemented policies of the Obama administration. For instance, DACA and the clean power plan,” Woodside said.

Even with his flaws, some students mentioned some of the benefits the political world and our nation as a whole have experienced since Trump took of-

fice. “[Trump] has created a nice space for moderate Republicans to actually start differentiating themselves from their party and thinking more independently from the rest of the Republicans,” Woodside explained.

The directness of the president, while at times quite blunt, is viewed as a positive quality by some Menlo students. “I appreciate how Trump speaks his mind; he’s clear,” Peters said. Siminoff agreed with this sentiment. “I think it’s a very interesting experiment, seeing a president who really doesn’t care what the public thinks about him, and I think that makes him very dangerous in that

Housing programs aids Menlo teachers

by CONNOR VAN LIGTEN

In the Bay Area, something as basic as finding housing can be a challenge due to the rapidly rising housing prices. Around Menlo School, housing is extremely scarce and expensive which makes it hard for Menlo teachers to get adequate housing. To address this problem, Menlo created two programs to assist with providing housing to teachers. One, a mortgage program to help new Menlo teachers find housing, and the other, a series of temporary apartments that teachers can use for two years at a time.

Upper School Director John Schafer gave a fairly simple answer when describing the two programs. “The school bought an apartment building a couple of years ago. It is designed as a place for teachers new to Menlo”, said Schafer. “The second is a program by which the school helps teachers get a mortgage to buy a house. The school co-signs with the teacher with the bank, because that’s the hard part in buying a house.”

Allen Lantor, CFO of the Business office mentioned that these programs are important especially due to the rising housing prices. “A real concern

for this area, with the housing prices so astronomically high, is the extent that we can help our faculty just in general or to adjust if they’re new to this area, that’s a really positive thing to do for the school,” Lantor said. Whether it be the apartments, which last for two years, or a more long-term solution with the mortgages, new teachers will want to get housing close to menlo campus any way they can. “A lot of people have long commutes; a lot of people have high rents,” Schafer said.

While these programs are helpful for giving new teachers options for reasonable housing, both Lantor and Schafer admitted they aren’t perfect. “[The programs] have been effective, much more effective than the alternative which is nothing,” Schafer said. “Could they be more effective? Could we have more programs? Could we have more housing units? Of course.” Lantor agreed with Schafer. “I think they could evolve or expand. We’re actually looking at alternatives for trying to make it a better program for the faculty and staff. Whether that would mean we could opportunistically find an apartment building that might come up that is a good situation, I think the school would look at that,” Lantor said. “We’re revisiting the mortgage assistance program to see if there’s any things we could do to make it better for the teachers as well.”

Emphasizing the concern with improving the housing programs, Schafer said, “If a generous benefactor to the school said, ‘I have ten million dollars, how can I help?’ very high on that list would be to buy housing to use for faculty. It’s just a real challenge to afford a rent or a mortgage payment on a teacher’s salary, even if that teacher’s salary is the best in the Bay Area.”

Lantor echoed Schafer’s sentiments. “We’re always looking to try to improve it, because we think it is a really important thing to do to maintain a really high quality faculty for Menlo.” Both seem to have a similar idea; that the housing programs are effective, but there is more work to be done.

and campus visitors are unaware of the parking system at Menlo which leads more of the student parking to be taken. “Parents should have to park on the street because they are only there [for a] short period but [students] are at school the whole day,” junior Grace King said. Parking on the Menlo campus, especially for students who drive to school, is an issue that has been present for many years and has yet to reach a solution that is 100% successful. Even though the actions taken by the administration have been an attempt to help improve student’s chances of finding a spot when they arrive to school each morning, the lack of student parking on campus is an issue that is extending into student’s learning environment, stress levels and sleep.

In researching the data, The Coat of Arms did not talk to a few students, primarily close friends of staff members

who The Coat of Arms already knew do or do not drive. To account for students who carpool, The Coat of Arms requested the names of students who carpooled in a given car, and counted those students collectively as one parking space. Students who drive electric vehicles were not counted as needing a generic parking spot. Students who drive irregularly (not daily) to school were also not included in the final count of students who drive to school.

he can make lots of change, and I’d like to see where that goes,” Siminoff said.

As for his State of the Union address that took place on Jan. 30, students expressed mixed opinions on his delivery. His composure and call for unity was appreciated. “Since he stayed on-script pretty much the whole time, I think we saw a side of Trump that we haven’t seen so much of up until this point. I liked that he included stories of individuals who have served the nation well in the past year and called out the need for people from both political parties to come together,” senior Kathryn Wilson said. On the other hand, many felt he failed to

address important specifics regarding his policies. “One thing I would have liked to hear more about is his plan of action for a wider variety of policy areas, one being environmental policy. As environmental issues are extremely pressing right now, I think that it was problematic that Trump did not address plans for implementation of renewable energy or air pollution prevention,” Wilson added.

With at least three more years of his presidency, there is no doubt that debate around Trump’s persona and policies will continue to swirl in the future.

Lack of humanities classes upsets students

by CRYSTAL BAI

At Menlo, students are able to take a variety of Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes in almost every subject. However, Menlo offers more opportunities to take higher-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classes over humanities classes, creating a feeling of favoritism towards STEM.

Menlo’s current course catalogue offers 16 STEM AP and honors classes, compared to 15 of the humanities. While these two numbers are near in comparison, eight of these 15 humanities classes are a world language, leaving a mere seven in English and history. Next year, the history department is expanding to accommodate more honors options within its new elective classes.

An inequality between STEM and humanities begins as soon as freshman year, where students choose between two levels of science and three levels of math, yet are all grouped into singular levels of English and history.

Despite a difference in levels, History Department Chair Ryan Dean argues that both the STEM and humanities departments have addressed the challenge of taking kids from different schools and putting them into a common Menlo experience come freshman year.

“I think that math and science have actually solved the problem with the variety of classes that kids can take- they separate them out. But, there are all sorts of advantages to having what we call a homogeneous classroom, where the kids who really like history and the kids who are less passionate but still want a good learning experience share that environment together,” Dean said.

The trend of a higher-level STEM emphasis continued into sophomore year, until the recent decision to move AP U.S. History from the junior to the sophomore curriculum.

“I know that an honors level history class now exists for sophomores, but that previously wasn’t the case. It seems really restricting to have had no option in the past to choose honors level humanities classes until junior year,” sophomore Jonathan Hou said.

While freshman year will still offer just one level of humanities classes,

Menlo’s overall humanities curriculum is expanding. With the implementation of AP U.S. History into sophomore year, the junior history curriculum will be free for electives. Next year’s juniors and seniors will have more history elective choices than ever before, and each elective will have an honors option.

As for the English classes, “It’s our feeling that everyone in the ninth or tenth grade can equally access their education, can read the text and participate in the discussion and work on their writing. We haven’t felt the need to level, nor do we feel that we want to level those classes,” Upper School Director John Schafer said.

Although Menlo’s humanities offerings are expanding, some students still hope for higher-level humanities classes freshman year. “I think the humanities options for underclassmen are extremely limited. For STEM, there are an abundance of options and ways for one to explore different subjects, and I think replicating that for humanities would be really fantastic,” sophomore Meredith Fenyo said.

Revised senior projects plan generates mixed student reactions

by CLARA GUTHRIE

Beginning this coming spring, Menlo will be rolling out its new Senior Project guidelines, adding more requirements and structure to the final project. Current seniors were alerted to these new guidelines during a class meeting on Jan. 9.

In the revised version of the project, seniors must first create a video proposal, in addition to a written one, in order to progress. They must then choose two “modes”, one being primary and one being secondary, out of four options to hone in on. The modes are write, make, internship/apprenticeship and community engagement. Write must be an academic or scientific research paper. “[Project advisors] used to say ‘no’ to a lot of projects just based on the topic. [...] Now, I’ll pass just about any project [...] if you can fit in in the modes [and guidelines],” Dean of Student Life Programs Cathy Chen said.

Certain seniors disagree with this statement, feeling restricted by this new prescribed project trajectory. “Almost everyone I know has had their ideas shot down by the committee [... because] their ideas ‘aren’t hard enough’ or involve ‘activities they already have experience in’ and somehow that is a

negative. It feels like we are being restricted to certain predetermined ideas that teachers came up with,” senior Kate Gruber said.

Other seniors have echoed this idea. “The project overall is starting to feel [more] mandatory rather than like a great opportunity for us to explore new things or practice more in depth something that we’re already passionate about,” senior Ariana Carranza said.

Additionally, some seniors are struggling to fit their original project ideas into these seemingly strict modes. “They’re trying to make the senior projects more academic, which I understand, but some of these projects don’t necessarily [fit the modes], so people are irritated that they aren’t able to explore something they’re really passionate about just because it doesn’t fit,” senior Nicole Priestley said.

Some seniors find comfort in these new modes because they streamline the project and lay out a specific structure to abide by. “I’m glad we have more streamlined guidelines this year because it makes the whole process more structured, as well as more focused,” senior Kathryn Wilson said.

In addition to the new modes, seniors will be assigned a faculty advisor from a small pool of staff, as opposed to past years when students chose their advisors from almost all of the Upper School staff. According to Chen, this switch is due to the limited number of teachers available during May Term. Based on their assigned advisors, seniors will be arranged into cohort groups which will meet periodically during the project timeline.

Unrelated to their advisors, seniors must now find an outside expert to aid them in their project research. This expert cannot be a family member or be affiliated with Menlo in any way. “[Advisors] help you move the project along, but [...] at some point, you’ve got to get professional feedback from somebody,” Chen said. “And also, you get the skill of networking.”

Some seniors are frustrated by the mandatory addition of an outside expert. “I know that a lot of senior projects throughout the years have involved teaching yourself something new [...] and now we can’t really do that unless we know someone who is an expert on it. This is also limiting to those that do not have a wide network,” Carranza said. According to Chen, the

Details of May Term’s new programs explained

by VIONNA ESHGHI

This coming spring, Menlo will begin the new program of May Term in place of Knight School. Knight School was a program that promoted the love of learning by allowing students to learn in different contexts and develop skills both on and off campus. It provided a variety of courses for students to engage in and learn beyond their standard academic classes.

Sophomore Kyra Geschke learned about the history and culture of San Francisco from her course in Knight School, called “Films of SF,” and was able to learn through her daily travel to San Francisco for a week. “I thought it was really interesting because it wasn’t like a regular class or something that you would even be able to learn about in a classroom because you got to experience it first-hand,” Geschke said.

Although Knight School was enjoyable for many students, others thought that students viewed it more as a break that didn’t need to be taken seriously according to Upper School Director John Schafer. “I think the challenges of my Knight School classes was getting kids to take it seriously,” Dean of Student Life Programs Cathy Chen said. “I think when you’re a Knight School teacher you have a lower expectation because it’s not like a traditional classroom, which it’s not sup-

posed to be, but you can also see in the investment from students [...] and it was a little tricky holding kids accountable for work.”

During Knight School, the administration saw that students were not fully invested in the courses and didn’t do the work that was expected of them. This led to the creation of a new program that should address some of the weaknesses of Knight School: May Term. “I think that a school always has to look at how it can improve and so this is one way that Menlo has decided how we can improve,” Upper School Math and Science Coordinator Adam Whistler said. “[Menlo is] really taking the idea that was Knight School and turning it into this experience that all the freshmen will have a singular experience and all the sophomores will have a singular experience and the juniors will get to take these really cool classes.”

This year, May Term will be a week of more experiential education that will begin at the end of May and run into early June, although the long term goal is two or three weeks. May Term was placed at the end of May so that it does not conflict with sports the way that Knight School did. It has been refocused to expand students’ knowledge outside of Menlo’s walls and learn to appreciate diversity and make commitments to purposes larger than ourselves, according to Schafer. “People here are pretty focused on their thing and a lot of great things happen within the walls of the school, but our point is there’s a whole lot else going on out in the world, so we want to get students out in the world, and that’s the logic behind it,” Schafer said.

“So it’s four different programs that at least in the 9th, 10th and 12th grades sort of speak to this mission statement of committing to purposes larger than yourselves and ever-widening communities and for the juniors this year it’s just different kind of funky classes and learning experiences,” Schafer said. The freshmen will be engaging in a California-focused

Senior Project Committee plans to help students with this issue by using Connections Beyond the Classroom (CBC) as well as parent and faculty networks. The Senior Project Committee hopes the seniors can find the revised project to be a positive and possibly formative experience. “When you look at the way that we ‘changed’ the program, it actually is exactly the same, but it’s more explicit up front,” Chen said. “We’re just trying to create a structure where [seniors] can work independently and [still] do something.”

course, where they will explore the many different “versions” of California to teach them more about what is happening where we are. The goal is to show freshmen that there are parts of California much different from where we live, and they will get to visit those “versions.” He continued, “We’re in a very nice part that some people call a bubble, but not too far away there aren’t a lot of jobs, there’s pollution, [and] declining industries, so we’re getting the freshmen out into the different Californias.”

The sophomores will be taking a course with a social responsibility focus and public policy challenge to learn about the issues that aren’t too far away from our school. Sophomores will think about how they will solve the problems in our community and think deeply about them through visits to a jail, unresourced schools and interacting with the homeless. The goal for sophomores is to learn a little about their own lives and the lives of people who got trapped in the cycle of poverty or criminal justice system and what the remedies are for that.

Menlo wants to offer juniors more interdisciplinary and skills-based courses that aren’t about covering traditional content like in the classroom. “We want to offer a wider array of classes that are kind of experiential and innovative like making electronic music, understanding modern art, understanding machine learning [and] film studies classes,” Schafer said.

“The theory there is, let’s come up with some totally innovative classes, see how they go, and give students a different kind of learning experience than what they typically get in our classes,” Schafer said. However, for the seniors, May will not change for them because they will be working on their senior projects.

Though Knight School will be missed by students, May Term will provide many unique and experimental courses that will help students develop an awareness for the world and develop a more sophisticated appreciation for the opportunities that they have.

Honors grade bump increased to 0.5 and new classes added

by BRIDGET QUIGLEY

Upper School Director John Schafer has recently mentioned that Menlo will change the bump given to honors and AP classes from 0.3 to 0.5. This bump will become effective for the 2017-2018 school year. In addition,

there will be added honors classes created in the history department beginning next year.

“[The honors grade bump] has been 0.3 for a long time, so it was worth revisiting,” said Schafer. “[0.5] is more in line with some of the other schools. 0.3 is on the low end of schools that give a weighted bump. Having looked at our curriculum, we think that 0.5 is a more accurate reflection of the rigor of the honors classes.”

This bump will be retroactively added to the transcripts of all students currently at Menlo, making it benefi-

cial to all grades. “We thought it would be easiest in terms of communicating to colleges and to the world that we would do it and have it affect all students in the school,” said Schafer. However, this bump will only change the calculation of a student’s Menlo GPA, not the specific grades in each class.

In terms of the additional honors classes, the school will be creating honors options for traditional history classes that did not have the option before, but the specific courses have not been decided yet. Due to concerns that honors options are primarily given to

STEM classes, the administration is focusing on adding honors courses to the humanities department. The Menlo administration is looking forward to this change and thinks that it will be a successful and smooth transition. “I think that [the news of the honor bump] was well received,” Schafer said of his announcement at an assembly on Jan. 23. “It is not going to radically change how colleges view [the students]... but if it helps to alleviate some stress, and allow [students] to focus on other things, then we are happy to do that.”

Menlo drama performs Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

by BROOKE HODGE

This weekend, Menlo’s drama program will be performing Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night.” Shakespeare’s language adds both challenges and richness to the production, according to the actors.

After the production of “Heathers” in the fall, director and drama teacher Steven Minning wanted to contrast the modern play with 17th century comedy. “I thought it was a nice comparison and juxtaposition [to ‘Heathers’],” Minning said.

Junior Maddie Bernheim, who plays Viola, thinks “Twelfth Night” might be a harder sell following “Heathers.” “Shakespeare can be considered ‘boring’ by some,” Bernheim said “But my hope is that people step outside of their comfort zone and take a chance to come and see it.”

Minning chose “Twelfth Night” for several reasons. “We haven’t done Shakespeare, a classic piece, in probably seven years and I thought it was time,” Minning said. “Some consider it to be Shakespeare’s best comedy.”

In order to make the 1600’s play more “accessible,” Minning chose to set Menlo’s rendition of “Twelfth Night” in a more contemporary time, taking place in the 50s and 60s. “What’s fun about Shakespeare is how the stories have a flexibility about them and can translate to being performed in a wide range of locales and time periods,” Minning said.

The rehearsal process for “Twelfth Night” differed from past plays due to the unique and difficult Shakespearean language. “You have to spend some time at the beginning tearing apart the text and understanding what Shakespeare’s saying,” Minning said.

“A lot of us had to be asking questions about what we were saying [and] how our characters were acting at certain points,” junior Braedon Young, playing Feste said.

Along with difficult pronunciations, the syntax of the language presents difficulty to the actors.

“What’s so amazing about Shake-

TOP 10: Lice Treatments

by GILLIAN BRESSIE

speare is how much meaning every word and sentence holds,” Bernheim said. “Almost nothing that is said has merely one interpretation – the text is filled with hidden gems, and that’s what makes it so interesting.”

This year is a transitional year where freshmen, sophomores and some upperclassmen English electives are reading Shakespeare; however, in succeeding years, only freshman and upperclassmen English electives will be reading the plays.

Although the actors have been exposed to Shakespearean texts in English classes, performing Shakespeare differs from reading it. “A lot of the ways it’s performed and said is very different from reading it straight off the page,” Young said.

Though the actors believe the play will be well received, the difficult language may pres-

ent obstacles for the audience. “The language is going to be a lot harder for the audience to grasp,” Young said.

Despite the hard language and preconceptions of Shakespearean plays, the actors are optimistic about the audience’s reaction. “No matter if you don’t understand a single word, I can promise you will be laughing,” Bernheim said.

HQ frenzy sweeps over students and teachers

by SHELBY RENDE

HQ Trivia is a new mobile game that has taken over the Menlo campus in the last few weeks. HQ is a live trivia game at noon and 6pm PST every day, with the exception of only one game on Sunday, where users compete by answering trivia questions in order to win a cash prize up to $10,000.

There are 12 questions per round that increase in difficulty, and if a player makes it to the end and there are still other players left, the prize money is split between all remaining competitors. Many Menlo students play during lunch. Students get very animated while playing, often shouting and screaming on the quad. “[I walked onto the quad] and everyone was screaming, and I thought it was a semi ask. But then it was just HQ,” sophomore Lily Loftis said.

Many students have quickly be-

come very passionate about the game. Loftis has made it to question seven and was very vocal about the question she lost on, which was a question about mythical animals. “A walfin sounds really dumb [so I didn’t choose it]. I thought the answer was jackalope and then I was really upset [when I got it wrong].” Loftis said.

Freshman Aayush Goyal discussed some of the obscure questions he has answered. “[The weirdest question I have gotten] had this weird Latin [word] that meant kitchen, and I thought it meant bedroom,” Goyal said. Goyal said he has made it to question 10 out of 12.

Not only have students become addicted, but some teachers are also loving HQ. Adam Whistler, Math and Science Coordinator and JV Lacrosse Coach, has made it to question

number 10. “I’m still mad about the octopi question. I definitely missed that one about octopuses and I knew that. I clicked octopi and you can’t change your answer,” Whistler said.

Spanish Teacher Janet Tennyson and some of her students have decided to make a club out of it. “I’ve gotten to 11 questions but not on my own. [I did it] definitely with lots of help,” Tennyson said. She found out about HQ over winter break and then was approached by students when school began to make a club. Although it is not a formal club, the group meets in A150 Fridays at 12 to play together. Anyone wanting to head the club is free to walk in and talk to Tennyson. Like many trends, the HQ obsession will

likely end soon but for now the HQ frenzy is still prevalent on the quad each lunch period.

On the [Senior] Quad:

“Playing golf on the quad.”

-Bo Leschly ‘18

“Everything.”

- Caroline Douglass ‘18

What is the best thing about being a second-semester senior?

“Spend more time con mis amigos.”

-Nicole Priestley ‘18

“Getting to watch TV at night and not feeling guilty about it.”

-Sarah Donato ‘18

“I just got out of class 45 minutes early, and I’ve been looking at hot girls on Pinterest.”

- Ari Troper ‘18

Maddie Bernheim shines in Menlo’s drama program

by JACOB HALABE

Junior Maddie Bernheim is the female Artist of the Issue due to her outstanding performances in Menlo’s theater program. She has taken on roles in Menlo’s renditions of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and “Heathers.”

“I really like studying characters and why people do things [...] For me it’s been really interesting to be able to play a wide range of characters. [...] It’s getting to explore different people, different personalities who are wildly different,” Bernheim said. Drama also gives her a sense of camaraderie with her castmates. “I think the theater program is a really close-knit program. [...] The more shows you do, the more theater becomes like a second family.”

“[Bernheim’s] thoughtful consideration to the characters, commitment to the work, and her openness and willingness [make her stand out],” Upper School Drama Director Steven Minning said, who has worked with Bernheim many times in the past.

Bernheim began performing in sixth grade, participating in all Menlo Middle School shows. In the Upper School, Bernheim took Drama class for both her freshman and sophomore years. Despite doing it many times before, performing in front of people can still be a nerve-wracking experience. “It can be scary to get up in front of a group of people and play this char-

acter who is totally not like you,” Bernheim said.

Most recently, Bernheim was cast as Viola, the main character in Menlo’s production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” “I really am enjoying this part because I think it’s combining a lot of the skills that I’ve learned previously from playing different parts,” Bernheim said, “[I enjoy] having the privilege to play a character that is so renowned in Shakespeare’s world.”

In the future, Bernheim doesn’t see herself continuing theater in college. “[Theater] is something I really enjoy in high school, but I do it more for the character work side of it, which translates to a lot of other things that I do,” Bernheim said. “I think I will definitely carry on the skills that I’ve [learned].”

“There’s a lot less stress on grades and individual classes.”

- Nick Barrett ‘18

“Not doing homework.”

- Kristin Sellers ‘18

Ben Lasky: The multidimensional artist

by SAM FORTENBAUGH

Junior Ben Lasky is the male Artist of the Issue for his many artistic talents, particularly his love of photography. Lasky did not have any formal background in photography before Menlo. He took photography last year as a sophomore and continued to advanced photography this year. “I have always loved film, but photography is like taking one frame and having it tell a whole new story. In some ways, photos leave their interpretation up to [their] viewers,” Lasky said.

Menlo’s photography classes have introduced him to various techniques and styles. “In advanced photography, I have been able to experiment with abstract and unique ways of photography,” Lasky said. For example, he has tried burning his film and developing it by splashing water on it to make it look like the print was melting.

Lasky likes to explore different types of photography. “I have no favorite type of photography. As an artist, I have always been interested in album covers. That is what I have tried to do in my class because it is relevant to my other artistic endeavors. I also like to use humor and make things that are entertaining [and] fun to look at. I also like to make fun of how we take our art so seriously,” Lasky said.

In addition to photography, Lasky is also a big time songwriter and rapper known as Quadeca. Lasky has released many songs including

albums on Spotify and other music platforms.

Lasky has a blog called Ben’s Bangers where he publishes his photos on Tumblr. His photos range from nature photos to still shots of fashion. Lasky even has photos where he has mixed multiple photos onto one print. If you scroll through his blog, you can see Lasky’s remake of famous album covers.

Lasky’s photography skills have come along way since last year. He looks to continue exploring new techniques and variations of photography.

Gillian’s Cooking Column: Oatmeal Cookie Bars

by GILLIAN BRESSIE

This is a super delicious brown-sugar cookie bar recipe with oats that has great texture and a buttery-caramel taste. I made these for my advocacy and they loved them! I hope you do as well.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup butter at room temperature

- 1 cup milk chocolate chips

- 2 cups rolled oats

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 eggs - 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13-inch baking pan with baking spray, parchment, or butter/flour. I found baking spray most effective.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (can also use hand-held mixer) beat the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well mixed, about 3 minutes.

3. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4. With mixer on low, add in the va-

Random Student Profile: Sidney Peña

CoA: What’s your favorite word?

SP: Tragic.

CoA: What’s an average Sidney Saturday?

SP: Wait, I don’t want people to know what I do on Saturday. Well, I workout and than hang out with my friends.

CoA: What do you think of when I say the name George?

SP: Washington.

CoA: How would you explain the color yellow to a blind person?

SP: Vibrant. Vivacious. How much time do I have?

CoA: As much time as you want.

SP: Oh, good. Vibrant. Vibracious. I mean vivacious. Lively. Happy. Smiley face.

CoA: Do you like the color purple?

SP: Yeah, I do. Why?

CoA: Just wondering. What are your thoughts on the wall?

SP: The Great Wall of China?

CoA: Sure.

SP: I think it’s an interesting historic monument.

CoA: What about Trump’s wall?

SP: Umm... I don’t want to talk about politics. I refrain from making political decisions. I am not a Democrat or a Republican.

CoA: Do you like sushi?

SP: Yeah, I do.

CoA: Why do you name people after the food of their heritage?

SP: Is that one of the questions? You should publish this. I think they embody certain aspects of their culture and I see certain differences... They have similar qualities to the food of their culture. So when I see someone of a certain culture, I often see other examples in foods so therefore I name them by that.

CoA: Are you afraid of lice?

SP: I’m not afraid, but I’d rather not get it.

CoA: What’s your favorite weekday besides Friday?

SP: Wednesday! Hump Day!

CoA: Do you like mice?

SP: No, that’s disgusting.

CoA: Do you want a pet bunny?

SP: No, I’m allergic to bunnies actually. One time I pet my cousin’s bunny and was in the car and I was itching my face and then I got home and my aunt walked me in and said, “Oh my God Sidney! Get in the shower. Your face is bright red. You have welts everywhere. What happened?” and I was like, “Oh my God I don’t know!” and my mom came home and I was like, “I’m fine I just have welts on my face.”

CoA: Carrots or eggplant?

SP: Carrots dude.

CoA: Red or yellow?

SP: Carrots?

CoA: No, like colors.

SP: Oh. Yellow.

CoA: People or dogs?

SP: People. I’m not a weirdo.

CoA: Soccer or tennis?

SP: Soccer. Tennis. Soccer.

CoA: What is life?

SP: 49. Is that it? I’m still ready.

5. Remove bowl from stand mixer and add in salt, baking soda, baking powder, flour, rolled oats, plus semisweet chocolate chips.

6. Stir by hand to moisten all ingredients.

7. Spread 1/2 mixture into the prepared baking pan. Pour milk chocolate chips on top of mixture. Carefully press remaining cookie mixture on top of chocolate. I saved some chocolate chips to put on top as well.

8. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 24 to 30 minutes.

9. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before cutting into bars.

Menlo students on Spotify and Soundcloud

by CAROLINE FRANTZ

Although Menlo has many talented singers that perform during choir and arts concerts, there are many student singer-songwriters that write and produce their own music outside of school.

Senior Katie Guardino, who goes by the stage name Hazel Gray, started to write her own music in eighth grade, which led to recording and releasing an album called Freedom at the end of her freshman year. Guardino’s father originally inspired her to pursue making music because of his own passion for music. Although she finds inspiration from many singers such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, the 1975 and Bon Iver, Guardino attributes John Mayer as her main role model for song writing. She writes all of her songs and then records them in a professional studio in Oakland.

For even more variety in her music, Guardino collaborates with other artists on her songs; two of the songs on her brand new album, Fluoresce, feature collabs. Through her music, Guardino hopes to both relate to listeners and speak to them in a way only music can.

“I felt like I had a lot of emotions that I wanted to express, and I also felt that my experiences were shared by others in the world and I wanted people to know that they weren’t alone,” Guardino said. “I think that music really brings people together in a magical way.”

Guardino will continue to make music in college and as a career once she graduates. Next fall she will be attending NYU as a Music Theory and Composition major. Her music is available on Soundcloud, Youtube, Apple Music and Spotify.

Junior Ben Lasky is also on Spotify, but he has a different style than Guardino with mostly rap-based albums. Going by the name Quadeca, Lasky primarily promotes his music on Spotify and Youtube, where he has close to 280,000 subscribers. At

the age of five, Lasky started writing rock music with influence from 80’s bands like ACDC. Now, he writes rap and hip-hop songs with inspiration from artists like Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Brockhampton. His love for rap began when he used to freestyle rap with his friends in elementary school and middle school.

Lasky’s song writing process is often long and random. “The best ideas sometimes come to me right before I go to sleep, and if the idea is good enough to get me out of bed, I will write it down,” Lasky said.

Lasky hopes to continue making his own music in college and eventually as a full time career. Similar to Guardino, Lasky also acknowledges the strong affect music can have on people. “Music is a good form of expression, a good way to vent emotionally and a way to connect to other people,” Lasky said.

Another Menlo student who creates their own music is sophomore Trevor Perez. Perez was originally inspired by his older brother’s pursuit of music, so he started writing songs in middle school and eventually started putting out his work during his freshman year. Like Guardino, Perez draws most of his inspiration from John Mayer. “[John Mayer is] an incredibly talented guitar player and his songs have a nice blues/pop feel,” Perez said. “I try to emulate his sound in a lot of my songs.”

Although he hasn’t done any collabs yet, he hopes to do some in the future. Similar to what happens to other artists, Perez’s songwriting ideas come randomly. Ideas can come in a second, or come slowly over time. One day he hopes to perform live like his older brother did when he was in high school. Although he is not sure if he will pursue music in college or after, he loves songwriting and does not plan on stopping as a hobby. His music is featured on Youtube and Soundcloud.

SEX POSITIVITY AND SEX EDUCATION AT MENLO

Clarifying Consent Confusion

by Bridget Quigley and Kate Jeffries

The word “consent” often sets off an alarm in the mind of every teenager in this day and age. Consent is talked about often, and typically carries very negative connotations that have become heavily stigmatized. In lectures and sex education classes, teenagers are told that in order to obtain consent, one must explicitly ask for the other’s consent, using the word “consent” in the question. However, there are many other ways that one can ask for consent without “ruining the mood” or making a situation awkward while still being respectful and not crossing another’s boundaries.

Often, teenagers unintentionally go beyond their partners’ comfort zone by not asking for consent out of fear of ruining the moment. By awkwardly asking for consent in the formal methods that school programs emphasize, teenagers feel that the situation will become uncomfortable. However, fear of “awkwardness” is not an excuse to avoid asking for consent. Obtaining consent can be as simple as asking the question, “Is this okay?” and continuing upon receiving an explicit “Yes” from your partner. Discussing consent does not have to be the daunting task that is made out to be. When trying to subtly suggest one’s intentions in intimate situations, there are many questions that can be substituted for the formal “Do I have your consent?” (See options to the right.)

Ultimately, asking for consent, no matter the method, is bound to be slightly awkward due to the stigma that surrounds the topic. However, the awkwardness is outweighed by the importance of making sure both people are comfortable in the given situation.

• Are you good with this?

• Are you sure?

• Can we keep going?

• Are you comfortable?

Why You Should be Having SAFE Sex

1. 1 in every 4 sexually active teens contract an STD every year.

2. Young adults between the ages of 15-24 account for 50 percent of all new STD’s, although they are only 25 percent of the sexually active population.

3. In 2011, nearly half (45 percent or 2.8 million) of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the United States each year were unintended.

4. California spent $1.8 billion of public expenditures on unintended pregnancies in 2010.

5. Emergency contraception is a way to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure; but it has no effect on an established pregnancy.

Sources: 1. https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-teens-and-stds, 2. https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-factsabout-teens-and-stds, 3. https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-united-states. 4. https://www.guttmacher. org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-united-states#9, 5. https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states

MENLO HAS SEX ED?

by Clara Guthrie and Gracie Hammond

Menlo’s sex education program has expanded in the past few years and, according to staff members, will continue to do so, aiming to provide students with a robust and accurate understanding of sex and safety in their lives and safety.

The start of the sex education program begins in Freshman Rotation when Upper School counselor Nina Keebler teaches roughly three class periods on topics including healthy relationships, consent, pornography, rape culture, sexual orientation and more. “We want to make sure that [students] don’t feel ashamed to talk to adults about these topics and to get good information, rather than educating themselves simply from the internet,” Keebler said.

Keebler also said that many students gather the majority of their sexual education from pop culture and internet pornography. “[Most freshmen’s] exposure to sexuality is Hollywood movies, where there might be a little bit of romance, and then [...] pornography [...] and they think that’s what sex is,” Keebler said. She makes the analogy between action movies being one’s Driver’s Ed and pornography being one’s sexual education. “A high speed car chase is not how most people drive,” Keebler said, suggesting the unrealistic expectations of sex put forth by internet pornography. Keebler is explicit in saying that pornography and being

curious is not bad, but that students should be aware of the risks associated with pornography, given the average age of exposure is 11 years old. “I always want to reinforce that it’s natural to be curious, [...] but we want [students] to be educated and know the risks [of pornography addiction] and the often imbalanced or narrow representations of sexuality.”

Sex education is reinforced and expanded upon in junior biology during the reproductive system unit in which students learn about anatomy, how impregnation works and what forms of contraceptives are available. “We hope students [leave biology understanding] reproduction and how birth control methods work: their availability and their pros and cons for different outcomes,” Upper School science teacher Dr. Cristina Weaver said, noting the increased relevance of birth control methods in upperclassmen’s lives.

Menlo is hoping to grow its sex education program in coming years by adding it to the curriculum of each grade. “[The biology department] would like to coordinate more closely with other programs in the school so that students can get information they need to know during specific developmental phases of their life,” Weaver said.

Dean of Student Life Programs Cathy Chen commented on the school’s recent efforts at reconstructing the program. “I proposed a comprehensive sex ed program last year and we weren’t able to make it happen this year, but it will happen next year,” Chen said. “[Students will] take [roughly] eight lessons in Freshman Rotation. [...] For tenth, eleventh and twelfth [grade], we’re using a combination of class meetings and advocacy time to have smaller groups for more grade-level spe-

cific topics.”

Initiatives for improving the current sexual health program have been impacted by constraints such as the layout of the block schedule. “It would be awesome, like some schools do, to have a health and wellness block all year long for all grades,” Chen said, “The challenge with Menlo and having a sex ed program is that we only have that in ninth grade. I would love it if we had it in tenth, eleventh and twelfth, but it would change a lot of things in the school, like you wouldn’t have the ability to take seven academic classes.”

Menlo has brought in outside help in order to build the program. “Justine Fonte, who spoke at the assembly, has been a consultant, meaning that she helped us put together the program, and so one of the things that we’re trying to figure out is if we want an internal person to get trained in sex ed or if we want to bring in an external person like Planned Parenthood or another social health educator,” Chen said.

Students have varying opinions on the educator they would prefer for their sex ed class at Menlo. “I’ve asked a few students and there’s a mixed bag: some kids are like ‘We think it’d be way better to have somebody in school because you feel like you could trust them,’ and some kids are like, ‘That would be so awkward to have a teacher who’s here,’” Chen said.

Regardless of the instructor chosen, a focus of the program will be comprehension. “Most freshmen would say that they don’t remember what they learned in [Freshman Rotation] by the time it’s relevant. We’re trying to give as comprehensive program as we can given the structure and constraints that we have,” Chen said.

“I didn’t learn anything I hadn’t heard before, but it brought up the discussion again and dove deeper into topics.”

-Kevin Sandoval, Freshman

“Do we have a sex ed program?” -Sam Weseloh, Sophomore

“I think the assembly we had is a great start, but we definitely need more. It needs to be expanded over all four years at Menlo.”

- Jake Martin, Junior

“I

didn’t have any sex ed in the high school. I definitely think that’s something to work on.”

-Julia Fry, Senior

BOYS ON SEXUAL ASSAULT

by Eva Herr

After the assembly by Justine Fonte, Menlo’s male community had varied responses to the ideas expressed. Students agreed that what Fonte preached was important and interesting for our community. “I thought it was a good assembly and pretty eye opening. Some of the points [she] addressed I hadn’t seen before in the sex ed classes I have taken at Menlo,” senior Cooper Stewart said.

Freshman Mattias Yotopoulos also felt that Fonte approached the subject in a universal way. “I feel like she presented the idea that we need to work on this in a way that wasn’t completely directed towards men, but work on it as a society,” Yotopoulos said.

However, the conversation surrounding sexual assault in general sparked some frustration within certain male students. “It’s a little bit frustrating when guys are often portrayed as the at-

tacker when nearly 100 percent of us are not like that but we are still grouped in,” senior Thomas Brown said.

Similarly, Stewart felt that some people assume all men do not know what consent is and stereotype their knowledge on the subject. “Personally, I don’t think boys like to be grouped into this large group that is illiterate about what consent is,” Stewart said.

Yotopoulos felt that while men are often portrayed as the attacker, that is consistent with reality. “The majority of rapes are men sexually harassing women so I feel like that’s a bigger problem than women raping men,” Yotopoulos said.

Some men also expressed the fear that they could be accused of rape by a woman even if it were not true. However, many Menlo men are educated on the topic and know how unlikely this type of fabrication is. “There was a

statistic I read in The New York Times that [faking rape] is as rare as fabricating a murder and it’s not something people should be afraid of because it rarely happens,” Yotopoulos said. According to Stanford University, less than 2 percent of all rape and related sex charges are determined to be false (the same percentage as other felonies. However, society is far more likely to disbelieve a rape accusation than any other crime allegation.

Stewart also felt that he could take steps to avoid a situation that would result in fake rape accusations. “I think that it comes down to picking the right person to have your relationship with, someone who you know won’t do that,” Stewart said.

Following Up with Assembly Speaker Justine Fonte

by James Kinder

To become a more sex-positive community, the Menlo administration invited Justine Fonte, a Menlo alum and nationally recognized sexpositivity activist, to speak about consent and how we can work to approach the topic in our community. After the assembly, there were some lingering questions in the minds of many students concerning the relevance of the assembly within the context of Menlo, along with some confusion around specific references in the assembly itself.

Fonte was quick to emphasize the importance of sparking conversation on the topic. “It was never discussed at all in my four years as a student in classes, member of student council or as an athlete,” Fonte said. She went on to clarify that it was not the absence of a problem that resulted in the lack of discussion. “What I have gathered from my recent visit is that blame [is] placed on the female student if there was any negative sentiment or outcome from a sexual incident,” Fonte said.

Another key topic is the prevalence of misconceived fears that girls sometimes lie about rape accusations. Fonte said that these fears demonstrate that “the male sexual script includes very little about empathy and introspection, unlike the female script which emphasizes being in tune with one’s emotions and those around them.” Fonte further explained how institutionalized sexism plays into rape culture. “This social construct, therefore, positions females to be at fault for any inconvenience in a sexual encounter. That includes the assumption that females would also lie or falsely accuse of rape when it didn’t happen,” Fonte said.

After these general descriptions of the male rhetoric about the rape, she concluded with the statistic that only one in four rape cases on women are reported, a statistic found and

checked by the National Sexual Violence Center, the Justice Department, and the Association of American Universities. “Most rapes aren’t even reported at all because [victims] fear the backlash and blame,” Fonte said. She stated that female victims also find it extremely disheartening when people, especially men, assume they are lying. However, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, only two percent of reported rape and sexrelated charges are determined fake. Some Menlo students were confused by the Macklemore reference Fonte mentioned during her assembly. She was glad Menlo students wanted clarification as she believed that she hadn’t quite gotten to the point of the example. Her intention was to use a pop culture reference to make the idea of ‘no means no’ and ‘yes means yes’ more relatable for students. “When it comes to rappers, Macklemore is ‘not bad’ but I wouldn’t say that he is good,” Fonte said. In the absence of ‘no,’ the default is not ‘yes,’ which is something that many people incorrectly believe.

Finally, she gave her top tips for high schoolers when approaching consent. She stressed the importance of an “enthusiastic yes” and that if the consent is “at all blurry, unclear, or not enthusiastic, the default is no.” Additionally, she approached the topic of consent being awkward. “If you are trying to avoid awkwardness by not talking about what one is

Senseless Facts of the Issue

#1: More than 13,000 years of human life has been spent watching the Gangnam Style video.

#2: The average person spends about 20,000 minutes kissing in their lifetime.

#3: You have a better chance of dying on your way to get a lottery ticket than of winning the lottery.

#4: Michael Phelps has more Olympic gold medals than 97 countries.

#5: The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

Colloquialization of Mental Illnesses

by GILLIAN BRESSIE

You are hanging out with your friends one Friday night watching movies and as your friend picks their feet up to put them on your bed, you say, “Hey can you keep your shoes off my bed? Sorry, I totally have OCD.” No, you like to keep your room clean, you don’t have OCD.

You forgot that you had a test and when someone reminds you, you start to stress out. You respond, “I’m freaking out. I have anxiety right now.” You don’t have anxiety, you are anxious.

You ask someone to a dance and

Mental illnesses are not feelings; they are incredibly complex experiences that involve a multitidue of emotions and thoughts.

they say no. You respond by saying that you are depressed. You are not depressed, you are disappointed. Too often we use mental illnesses as adjectives to describe our emotions. Mental illnesses are not feelings; they are incred-

Why starting a conversation is not an acceptable way to solve a problem

by TY CORLEY

“Let’s start a dialogue.” “We need to start a conversation.” “There is a certain stigma that we need to talk about.” These phrases are all fluff used too often by those trying to convince people that they are taking action on a problem when they are really just sitting around blaming others. While I am all for spreading awareness, I think that “starting a conversation” is a phrase uttered too often in our society and at our school which has caused it to lose meaning.

Whether it’s a global or a local problem, the administration is always challenging us to “have a conversation.” I believe that while spreading awareness and talking about issues is important, the idea of “starting a conversation” has been romanticized. Too many times, we have an advocacy discussion after a powerful assembly which doesn’t stick with students for more than a few days. We need more experience-driven events that will stick with students for longer than an advocacy conversation. We need to replace things like community circle and advocacy with time that we use to actually go out and take action and make a difference in the community. Instead, we choose to talk about the problems to the point where everyone suddenly thinks that progress has been made. That isn’t progress and there won’t be any progress unless people start taking real action.

ibly complex experiences that involve a multitude of emotions and thoughts. I am guilty of this too, having previously described my stress over a test or a social situation as “anxiety.” It wasn’t until I struggled with anxiety myself that I realized how problematic this rhetoric is.

Throughout my personal experiences with anxiety and depression, I have learned how damaging it can be to equate small emotions to mental illness. Anxiety is hiding in your car at lunch, sobbing, and not being able to breathe anytime you encounter a trigger. Anxiety is reliving a traumatic experience anytime you are reminded of it. Anxiety is an inability to productively live your life because of an all-consuming disorder.

In my experience, I have also learned that depression is not a feeling; it is a thought process. Though depression is associated with feelings of extreme sadness and hopelessness and causes you to think that there is no brighter future, it in and of itself is not a feeling. Reducing such a complex illness to one feeling minimizes the experiences of those battling depression. “Feeling depressed” is not depression itself.

While oftentimes it is easy to link our feelings and experiences to rhetoric referencing illnesses as adjectives, it can be really damaging to hear something you have struggled with deeply minimized and colloquialized.

A conversation is the easy way out. It’s a path that people in our administration and the world choose to try and make it look like they are doing something. It’s time for them and us to start taking action. Having all these heavily-biased speakers come to our campus is drowning out a call for action in our local communities. There is only one literacy day for the ninth grade where students assist low-income students at Taft Elementary. For all the other grades, there isn’t much allocated time for us to go out and make a difference without going out of our way which is tough for kids with busy schedules. Yes, I know there are a number of out-of-school opportunities for students to get involved in their communities, but let’s be real: the involvement would spike exponentially if our assemblies were replaced with mandatory community service opportunities.

The bottom line is that the administration needs to stop with all these initiatives that press us to start a conversation when there is real work that can be done. We need to stop talking and start doing. In today’s world, starting a conversation is no longer an acceptable option because its value has been tarnished. Starting a conversation is simply an excuse for many people to appear as though they are taking action, but in reality they are not. It’s time to end the conversation and get to work.

Valentine’s Day Crossword

DOWN

1. The date of Valentine’s Day is ________ 14th

3. This little flying baby is a symbol of Valentine’s Day

5. ___________ cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day

6. SAD stands for Singles ________ ___

7. These flowers are very popular to buy in red and pink

9. Valentine’s Day is the celebration of love and _________

10. ____% of pet owners give gifts to their pets on Valentine’s Day

ACROSS

2. ____ Candies

4. ________ are a girl’s best friend

8. Valentine’s Day is the feast day of who

11. Life is like a box of _________

12. Sealed with a ____

Why we should destigmatize menstruation

Periods, tampons, menstruation, bleeding, cramps. There, I said it. Despite the fact that menstruation affects billions of women worldwide, it is a subject that is rarely talked about and is greatly stigmatized. This fear and discomfort around the topic teaches girls to be disgusted with their own bodies rather than feeling confident in themselves. But this stigmatization can be life-threatening for some girls across the world. Being a student ambassador for an organization called Femme International, which educates communities across Africa about menstrual health, has shown me that in developing countries there are customs surrounding menstruation that are oppressive and severely limiting in a woman’s daily life.

In Kenya, women in the seminomadic Maasai region are not allowed to touch animals or eat animal products during their periods for fear of contamination. In rural Ghana,

by EVA HERR

women are forbidden from entering a dwelling with a man or from cooking him food while she is menstruating. In Nepal, the tradition of Chaupadi involves sending menstruating women to live in sheds, isolated and forced to endure the elements, often without access to food or clean water. This has led to illness and even death for many. Clearly, these cultural practices are violating a women’s most basic rights and we need to fight for change on a global level.

You may think: “nothing this severe happens in my community.”

However, after examining my own society I found that menstruation is still stigmatized in a different way. While traditions like banishing menstruating women or impeding their actions don’t usually persist in the U.S., there is still shame associated with having your period and a silence that surrounds the subject.

Girls hide tampons up their sleeves when walking to the bathroom. They

make up phrases or sayings to avoid saying the word “period” – “I’m riding the crimson wave,” “It’s my time of the month,” “I got a visit from Aunt Flo.” When a girl is so passionate about a topic that she is either energized with excitement or brought to tears, she can be minimized to “being too emotional” because she’s on her period. These may sound like trivial incidents, however, these small but ingrained actions that girls take with-

Menstruation is not a disease, not a condition and not something to be afraid of.

out thought, are proof that there is a problem.

Yes, blood is not the most cleanly thing. But feeling like you have to

Thought Bites:

The subtle things that go through our minds

“ “

Professional runners spend a lot of time running in order to run for as little time as possible.

”

The more talented the actor, the less likely we are to know what they’re really like.

”

Why we should embrace the SHP vs. Menlo rivalry

by CONNOR VAN LIGTEN

The game was a blowout. The Menlo boys basketball team easily dismantled Sacred Heart Prep, and yet the bleachers for the Gator students had not cleared. As the clock ran out, the SHP students turned towards the Knights crowd and chanted, “Vaaaalpo Bowl, Vaaalpo Bowl,” as they had won the rivalry football game in a wild fashion. However, the Menlo students oneupped their enemies with a chant of “Scoreboard! Scoreboard!” This single moment was one of, if not the most, intense moments of the entire matchup, and it is a microcosm of why Menlo’s intense rivalry with Sacred Heart should be embraced, not shunned.

A key aspect of all great rivalries is opposition to the other side. Classic rivalries such as Lakers-Celtics and Ohio State-Michigan are built upon the desire to beat and claim bragging rights over the other side. Menlo has discouraged any open expression of hatred for Sacred Heart, claiming it is disrespectful. However, all good rivalries come from a general disapproval of the other side. Of course, the rivalry should not escalate to the point where the it stops being fun and becomes problematic. However, I believe that both Menlo and Sacred Heart students possess the aware -

ness to prevent that line from ever being crossed.

Part of what makes games between Menlo and Sacred Heart so compelling is the intense desire to beat the other school. So much is on the line: bragging rights, achievement and whether one can leave the stadium with pride or shame. The desire to beat Sacred Heart unites Menlo students in a common cause. Sometimes, things will get too extreme, especially when social media gets involved. When arguing over the internet, it’s too easy for students to escalate disputes and make things personal without any way to calm tense moments down. No amount of frantic tweeting can replace the authenticity and intensity of jawing face-to-face, so it should be kept to that for the sake of everyone involved. Social media allows these rivalries to become toxic far too easily, taking out the authentic spirit of competition and the fun.

Menlo’s rivalry with Sacred Heart should be openly celebrated and embraced. As long as things are kept within reason, the intense desire to beat the Gators will help to unite Menlo students and keep people engaged in athletics.

cover up your period like it is a dirty secret is frustrating because it is simply not something we should be embarrassed about. Menstruation is not a disease, not a condition and not something to be afraid of. Periods are a completely natural and healthy bodily function, so instead of using periods to minimize and embarrass girls we should celebrate this entrance to womanhood.

This starts by watching what you say. If peers, family members and coworkers avoid grimacing at the sound of periods and blood, young girls would begin to learn that their cycle is not disgusting but a normal part of being a woman. And if everyone in society would stop attributing a woman’s emotions to her period, then girls would not feel like their periods are their enemy but instead see it as a sign of female empowerment. Of all the things that limit a woman, her own body should never be one of them.

PERIOD.

“ ”

Candy corn is just corn turned into corn syrup then back into corn.

Defining sexual harassment

by SHELBY RENDE

Last summer, I was having dinner with my family at a restaurant. As we sat down the waiter came to take our order. He instantly made me feel uncomfortable. He would constantly ask me once I finished saying something, “Are you sure?” He singled me out, and every time he came over he became increasingly flirty and touchy with me. On one occasion, he touched my forehead after I asked for a recommendation on the menu and said, “Are you sick what’s wrong? Why can’t you decide?” It was clear to me from the tone of his voice that him, an older man, was flirting with me even though I had done nothing but sit down and order. Throughout the whole dinner, I appeared visibly uncomfortable and continued to not talk to him as much as possible as the rest of my family laughed and brushed it off.

When we left dinner, I told my dad that the waiter creeped me out and made me uncomfortable with his flirtatious advances. All he said back to me was that he didn’t think the waiter was being flirty. After dinner I talked to my sister and she agreed that the waiter was being flirty and making sexual advances. The waiter crossed a line with me, but to my dad, he was just being funny. It wasn’t until more stories came out in the media about sexual harassment and assault that I thought of this experience as sexual harassment and not just a strange experience with a waiter flirting and hitting on me.

Today, many women in the public eye are coming out with stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment. An argument I have heard from those

who try to dismiss victims’ claims say that a certain event wasn’t sexual harassment. For example, when Al Franken appeared in a picture pretending to grope a woman’s breasts when she was sleeping, many people defended Franken, claiming it was just a joke and all in good humor.

This argument of where “the line” of sexual harassment should be drawn is a heated one, but what I think gets lost in the debate is the victim’s point of view. In my personal opinion, the line is drawn with the victim in every single different case, and that’s easy to forget. If the victim felt uncomfortable and they felt it was an unwanted advance or rude, it should be considered sexual harassment. It isn’t a bystander or outsider’s perspective that should shape a sexual harassment story. From my point of view, there will never be a simple answer, and even though there is a definition for sexual harassment, it will never be as clean cut as many people want it to be. Every single case of sexual harassment is different, and because of that, the way we think about every case should be different as well. I think the only way to quell this is to be more aware in our actions and comments we make everyday and the impact they have on those around us. We need to be in conversation to better understand each others’ needs and how others perceive our actions. Doing this means we can be more careful about other’s emotions and not only what they want from us but most importantly what they are feeling.

Why advocacy lacks consistency

by SAM STEVENS

My attitude towards advocacy is mixed; sometimes the laid-back mind break is exactly what I’m craving, but other times I’d prefer some sort of productivity, like tutorial for instance. The main issue I have with advocacy is its inconsistency, ranging from your advocate to the activity done.

I went to the Middle School where we switched advocacies every year (both the teachers and students). I found this to be a reasonable approach because if you ended up with a teacher that you didn’t gel with, you weren’t completely stuck with them. In addition, some advocacy groups, both in the Upper School and Middle School have a great chemistry in terms of personalities and interests, whereas others can’t manage holding an engaging conversation or just end up splitting off into separate subgroups during advocacy time.

It makes sense that each advocacy I experienced in Middle School was different because a lot of the dynamic depends on the teacher you’re assigned to. One of my advocates would strictly follow the guidelines outlining exactly what we were supposed to be discussing that day, while a different advocate I’ve had would allow us to just sit back and talk to one another naturally. I found it reassuring to know that if you weren’t particularly fond of your advocate, you would be switching groups entirely in the next year.

An additional benefit of switching advocacies every year is the opportunity to bond with more students in your grade. Even though you’re only together for a year, it still helps with getting to know people outside of your usual “friend group.”

Now that I’m in the Upper School, I find advocacy time to be vacuous -- not that I didn’t feel that way in the Middle School as well. We are either

forced to talk about subjects in an inorganic matter or we sit around idly while eating snacks.

For example, Open Session, in which we write notecards anonymously, is bound to be unnatural and uncomfortable, therefore garnering resistance from students. I understand that the goal of Open Session in advocacy is to feel supported by one another, to the extent that maybe by senior year we could have those types of vulnerable conversations without the anonymity, but I don’t think that is realistic.

If I’m not comfortable with the teacher or fellow students in my advocacy for whatever reason, why would I open up to 10 other randomly selected students? Why not just have a private conversation with two close friends instead? I understand that the aim of advocacy is for my fellow classmates to no longer be “randomly selected students” by the end of our four years here at Menlo, but I personally would not seek out my advocate or advocacy in general over a personal matter.

On the contrary, I do think it is helpful to use advocates as academic guides. I have heard of students having issues with individual teachers or classes and receiving help from their advocate to resolve the conflict. But at the same time, this kind of adult involvement goes against the self-advocacy that is often encouraged here at Menlo. According to Menlo’s values, students are encouraged to “take progressively more responsibility for themselves and their education.”

To be clear, I am not suggesting that the advocacy program should be entirely removed. But I think that a switch of groups every year or after two years could be beneficial in getting to know a wider range of classmates and teachers.

Why adolescents should care about politics

by ABBY WOLFENDEN

Prior to taking AP Government and Politics at Menlo, the discussion of elections, policies and the government was something that made me feel uncomfortable and uninformed. Especially during the 2016 election, when people openly advertised their political ideologies with “I’m with her” social media posts or “Make America Great Again” bumper stickers, I felt hopelessly out of place. I didn’t know enough about the candidates or politics in general to have an educated opinion. This ignorance and desire to discover my own political ideology encouraged me to sign up for Mr. Devitt’s AP Gov class. Taking this class ended up being one of my best decisions at Menlo. Not only have I become more informed on political debates such as gun control, health care, and immigration reform, but I also have a better overall knowledge of how our government works. The electoral college and the specific workings of Congress were mysteries to me before taking this class, but now I have a much clearer understanding of these important institutions.

Politics is often viewed as a controversial topic, when in reality it is actually a really interesting and complicated subject to study and discuss. In the 1930s, Harold Lasswell famously described politics as “who gets what, when and how.” This year, I have loved learning about the different policymakers and policies that make up this statement. Taking this class has given me the chance to be inspired by interdisciplinary learning, since many of the discussions I have in classes such as English, Journal-

Parking: a proposed solution

by KAITLYN TOM

ism or Spanish are connected to our political climate. Although it is not necessary for all students to take AP gov, it is still important to understand politics because of its relevance to other subjects.

Political participation in the United States is lowest for millenials and young adults, which is why it is critical for Menlo students to familiarize themselves with politics. Because of AP gov, I feel like I finally have my own voice in the political world and I can participate in conversations about government.

Politics dictates the major decisions made in the United States and the world. In order to influence such decisions, it is necessary for American youth need to be knowledgeable about the politicians and processes by which policies are implemented.

Whether you choose to take AP Gov at Menlo, read the politics section of The New York Times, or major in Political Science, I urge all students to become more informed about politics and government. Especially for seniors who are turning 18, students should register to vote in order to promote democracy. It is important for students to be knowledgeable about how our government works and how different policies affect different groups of people.

Politics should not be feared or avoided, but a topic that is embraced and understood. I highly recommend taking AP Government and Politics, not only because it has been one of my favorite classes at Menlo, but also because it has made me more educated and better equipped for a world where my

According to photographic evidence, there were 50 parking spots in the loop parking lot last year. Having 50 more parking spots would solve the parking issue, given that a conservative estimate of 33 juniors and seniors don’t receive on-campus parking daily. With sufficient park-

ing, students can arrive to class on time and avoid the hefty $45 parking violation for parking on University Avenue for longer than two hours.

I recognize two limitations to this solution. First, turning the loop into a parking lot decreases the aesthetic appeal of the school. While aesthet-

The Coat of Arms

Editor-in-Chief....................................................................Kaitlyn Tom

Print Editor ......................................................................Gillian Bressie

Online Editor.......................................................................Baily Deeter

News Editor...............................................................................Eva Herr

Arts and Lifestyle Editor.............................................Abby Wolfenden

Spread Editor..............................................................Gracie Hammond

Assistant Spread Editor..................................................Caroline Frantz

Opinions Editor................................................................Electa Narasin

Sports Editor..................................................................Emilio Simbeck

Copy Editor..........................................................................Kate Jeffries

Video Editor.......................................................................Clara Guthrie

Marketing Director............................................................James Kinder

Social Media Director.............................................................Ty Corley

Staff Photographer.................................................................Bella Scola

Staff Reporters...........Addie Ahlstrom, Crystal Bai, Eric Chang, Sid Chari, Vionna Eshghi, Sam Fortenbaugh, Kate Hammond, Jacob Halabe, Brooke Hodge, Casey Kline, Peridot Park, Martina Punnonen, David Quezada, Bridget Quigley, Silas Stewart, Shelby Rende, Samantha Stevens, Connor Van Ligten, Elisabeth Westermann

Faculty Advisor................................................................Tripp Robbins

ics are important and we don’t want the school to look like a big parking lot, we have to balance our priorities; there’s a serious amount of energy that students are wasting on parking, including getting to class late or having to pay a fine. Second, neighbors have often complained about the number of cars on Valparaiso. Admittedly, this solution does not alleviate that concern. Adding back even 30 spaces, and leaving some green space for aesthetics would at least be a stopgap solution while we work together for more creative solutions.

SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO

kaitlyn.tom@menloschool.org

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The mission of The Coat of Arms is to deliver honest, comprehensive and accurate coverage to the Menlo School community. As a student publication we strive to present the diversity of voice, interest and activity within the school. We will remain relevant and accessible by using multiple forms of media, offering new angles on subjects significant to the community, and encouraging dialogue and feedback.

Earl Koberlein to step in as Athletic Director

by CLARA GUTHRIE

On May 29, Earl Koberlein, currently the Senior Associate Athletic Director at Stanford University, will fill the position of Menlo’s Athletic Director. The position is now being filled by Joe McDonald in the interim.

Koberlein will be officially replacing Kris Weems who announced his leave of Menlo in Sept. of 2017. Weems now serves as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors G-League team in Santa Cruz.

Before working at Stanford, Koberlein played basketball at the university from 1982 until 1986. Following his participation in Stanford basketball, he played professional basketball in Australia. Koberlein returned to the university in 1993 as basketball administrative assistant and has risen in the ranks of Stanford Athletics ever since.

Koberlein has been at Stanford for the past 25 years of his

professional career and has held his current position since 2006. Previously, Koberlein has been Director of Intercollegiate Sports and Championships, Assistant Athletic Director and Associate Athletic Director. “I oversee a number of sports and a number of departments related to studentathlete wellness such as Sports Medicine, Sports Psychology, Sports Science and Massage,” Koberlein said.

Given his immense commitment to Stanford, Koberlein found it difficult to walk away from his position at the university. In Koberlein’s eyes, however, Menlo is of a similar academic and athletic caliber, making it an appealing place to work. “I believe that participation in athletics combined with a passion for knowledge in the classroom leads to a well-rounded individual. The lessons learned in an athletic environment augment the lessons in

the classroom,” Koberlein said. Koberlein highlighted his equal appreciation for both athletic and academic commitment. “It is important to me to have student-athletes striving for scholastic achievement and athletic success at a very high level,” Koberlein said. “Being the Athletic Director at Menlo provides an opportunity for me to provide student-athletes with valuable learning experiences.”

Looking forward in his career, Koberlein is excited to begin his work at Menlo and positively influence the entire community, particularly the student athletes. “I look forward to getting to work at Menlo and helping transform lives. I hope to provide the student-athletes with a wonderful experience,” Koberlein said. “I would like to use athletics to enhance the experience of students, staff and the Menlo community at large.”

Boys lacrosse ready for big year, tough competition

by DAVID QUEZADA

The 2018 Menlo Boys Lacrosse season is underway. The boys began practice on Monday, Jan. 29 and are looking forward to facing the new challenge of the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL).

Last year, Menlo played in the PAL, a league that had only three teams: Menlo, Sacred Heart Prep, and Menlo-Atherton High School. But this year the Knights face a new challenge: in the offseason the decision was made to move into the

WCAL, consisting of teams such as Serra, Archbishop Mitty, Bellarmine and, most notably, Saint Ignatius. Saint Ignatius is consistently ranked in the top five of all teams in California, which presents a clear challenge for the boys in blue and gold. Although the prospect of playing Saint Ignatius looms in the future, it’s not as though Menlo is unable to beat them. “We were a pretty juniorheavy team last year, so there’s a lot of people returning, and with the addition of the new coach, we’re in a good place this year,” said four-year varsity starter and Senior Captain Brody Laporte.

Returners such as junior Conor McCusker, seniors Silas and Cooper Stewart, David Schmaier, Brody Laporte, and sophomore Samson Axe present hope for the season. “We should have a good year if we learn how to play together because of the strength of our roster,” LaPorte said. It’s clear that Menlo has the roster to be successful, which leaves it up to the team and coach to learn how to play together and be successful.

Recent scores

by EMILIO SIMBECK

Boys Soccer: Menlo 1, Eastside Prep 0

Menlo shutout Eastside Prep to improve to a 9-3-2 record on the year and a 6-1-1 record in the WBAL. Sophomore Andres Simbeck scored the lone goal in the 13th minute, and it proved to be the game winner.

Boys Basketball: Menlo 68, University 57

The Knights defeated University High in one of the most highly anticipated regular season matchups. Both schools were ranked highly in the state, and Joe Foley’s 28 points helped push the Knights to a win and a 19-1 record on the year.

Girls Soccer Notre Dame-Belmont 3, Menlo 0

In the second game of league play, the Knights came back to beat NDB 3-2 at the end of the game. This time around, NDB did not let up in the second half. After a scoreless first half, NDB poured in three goals in a convincing win.

Girls Basketball: Menlo 43, University 31

The Knights sealed a big victory over University High behind electrifying freshman Avery Lee, who scored 21 points. Senior Ally Stuart was also a major contributor from behind the arc, finishing with four three-pointers.

Another aspect of the upcoming lacrosse season is the addition of the new Head Coach Blakely Kim, who is replacing last year’s coach Greg Wiegel. Coach Kim, who coached at Sacred Heart Preparatory in the late 2000s’ for two years and longtime youth lacrosse coach, played lacrosse at the University of Albany.

Despite the increased competition from switching leagues, Coach Kim is very hopeful for the upcoming season. “The first few practices have been outstanding: we’re seeing a ton of energy and enthusiasm from every lacrosse player out there. I expect a highly-skilled and highly-conditioned varsity team and a JV team that will provide a solid development environment with a healthy mix of experienced players and enthusiastic rookies,” Kim said. It’s evident that Kim is doing his part to bring the team together and raise their level.

Addressing the teams biggest challenges, Kim noted that aside from limited field space from ongoing soccer seasons, the lacrosse program would be stronger if it had

by EMILIO SIMBECK

a few more players to fill up roster space. “We would love to have some of the younger Menlo students give the sport a try. I am confident that lacrosse will be an enjoyable experience for anyone who is new to the game - especially under our watch. In my humble opinion, it’s never too late to pick up a stick and learn the game, and I am 100% prepared to work closely with and help provide a skills foundation to any Menlo student who is interested in giving it a shot,” Kim said.

Initial reactions to the new coach have been positive from the players, indicating a bright future ahead. “So far, the new coach has been great. Instead of conditioning us by running sprints, he runs full field drills that incorporate stick skills and endurance,” junior Conor McCusker said.

Overall, the boys lacrosse 2018 season provides an exciting new challenge for the Knights, facing top teams in the state. Now led by Kim, only time will tell if they will rise to the occasion.

Alumni corner

Nikky Price / William and Mary lacrosse:

Price, now entering her sophomore season, had an efficient first season playing for the tribe. Last year she netted seven goals, a pair of them coming against Virginia. She hopes to see an even bigger role this upcoming season.

Bobby Roth / Colorado College basketball:

Roth is playing in his last year as a Tiger, and is having his best season ever. He has started every game except one, and is shooting 43% from three-point land and averaging 10 points per game.

Ryan Young / Colorado College basketball:

Young, a teammate of Roth, is also having a superb year on the hardwood. He has snatched up 79 defensive rebounds, as well as 22 offensive rebounds.

Kyle Perez/ Washington University in St. Louis soccer:

Senior Kyle Perez has started 48 out of 52 games in his career, scoring three goals and adding an assist during his time on the pitch.

13 senior athletes signed to play in college

by CONNOR VAN LIGTEN & EMILIO SIMBECK

There are 13 Menlo athletes who have committed to play collegiate sports this past fall. The list is as follows: Niko Bhatia (Brown, water polo), Siddharth Chari (Dartmouth, tennis), Ashley Dreyer (Yale, volleyball), Joe Foley (Lehigh, basketball), Miller Geschke (MIT, water polo), Jayden Kunwar (Johns, Hopkins water polo), Robert Miranda (Yale, cross country/track), Kristin Sellers (Brown, volleyball), Sophie Siminoff (Princeton, golf), JH Tevis (Cal, football), Max Ting (Princeton, golf), Abby Wolfenden (Haverford, lacrosse), and Brody Laporte (Villanova, lacrosse).

For many of them, being a student athlete is a special experience. “Lacrosse has long been one of my primary passions. I’ve been playing for a long time, and to know that I will still be playing in college is exciting,” senior Brody Laporte said.

Although LaPorte will be taking his talents to the Big East conference, it is typical for Menlo to send most of their committed athletes to the Ivy League. This year that trend has stayed true; Seven of the 13 athletes this year will be off to the Northeast to compete not only in Ivy League athletic competition, but also to benefit from the world renowned academics.

However, other athletes have also deemed it both stressful and fulfilling. “Being a student athlete has

been difficult, especially at Menlo, but so rewarding. I’ve learned so much about time management, teamwork, and work ethic from my experiences,” senior Kristen Sellers said. Robert Miranda also claimed that it was a whirlwind to balance everything from talks with coaches, practices, and the classroom.

Jayden Kunwar credited Menlo for playing a cru-

cial role in his recruiting process. “Jack Bowen, my coach and the head of college recruiting at Menlo really helped guide me through the process, offering tons of advice and help,” Kunwar said. Kunwar added that having Bowen as a guide through the recruiting process made it significantly less stressful. Something much less common than the handful of student athletes going on to play Ivy League sports is the group of three players who will be playing in major Division I conferences. JH Tevis, who was given a scholarship to play at Berkeley (Pac 12), is the first athlete to be recruited to play football on scholarship to a major conference in many years. Joe Foley, who will be playing on the hardwood at Lehigh University (Patriot League), will also be the first basketball player to make it that far in over five years. Villanova-bound Laporte (Big East) rounds out the trio.

Looking back, the stress of the recruiting process was worthwhile as when things got rough, they were able to fall back on their passion and love for their sport. “The best advice I can give is to remember why you started in your sport and why you love it, because for me this was a huge motivation to continue at the next level when things got hard,” Kunwar said.

Mark Newton steps down as football head coach

by CONNOR VAN LIGTEN

After 14 seasons and 101 wins, Menlo Football Head Coach Mark Newton recently stepped down from his position, to spend time with his family. The Newton Era comes to a close with many accolades, including multiple league championships, CCS finals berths, and Valpo Bowl wins. The Coat of Arms recently interviewed Newton about his career.

Newton, who also teaches Upper School History, doesn’t regret his tenure in the slightest. “I’m hugely satisfied. I think that one of things about having done it for so long is that I get to talk to alumni and players that have graduated and get to reflect on their experience...those relationships are really important to me”. When asked about how his coaching style changed over time, Newton said, “Hopefully we’re always evolving as human beings. I was always evolving as a coach as I evolved as a person.”

High school football has changed since Newton was hired, especially with the growing worries surrounding concussions. “All the research and data on what we’ve found about CTE and about concussions and head injuries, I think it’s great that knowledge has come to light,” Newton said.

When it comes to his replacement and potential

future involvement in the team, Newton said that he’s not directly involved with choosing the replacement head coach, but will be helping the transition go smoothly.

Reflecting back on his career with the team, Newton found it hard to pick one moment that stood out to him the most, but recalled one special time. “In 2005, we didn’t have anyone to sing the National Anthem for a game, so our choir boys on the football team sang the National Anthem before the game, which was cool.” The future may be uncertain, but Newton’s contributions to the football program will not soon be forgotten.

Boys basketball off to a hot start

by CONNOR VAN LIGTEN

The Knights’ varsity boys basketball team entered the 2017-2018 season looking to build upon their previous success. Under head coach Keith Larsen, the team started the season strong with an 18-1 record and a 10-0 league record, thanks to great coaching and quality play from the whole team.

After handily winning their opener against Menlo-Atherton 59-47, the Knights spent the rest of December in tournament play. Menlo took down Stuart Hall, Aragon and Palo Alto to win the Burlingame tournament while also finishing third in the Orange High School tournament. Their only loss of the season came in that tournament, where they fell to Canyon High School.

The Knights continued rolling in their next five games, defeating Pinewood, Eastside, Sacred Heart and Harker all by double-digit margins. After defeating Crystal Springs, King’s Academy and Priory, the Knights have been on

a roll during the month of January. In the first month of the new year, the team went 10-0, averaging 64.9 points per game. The momentum was carried into February as the team defeated their rivals SHP once again, by a score of 55-40.

The starting five, featuring the deadly trio of seniors Joe Foley, Thomas Brown and Riley Woodson, have the perfect combination of inside scoring, outside scoring, rebounding and defense to dominate opponents. Rounding out the starting five is sophomore Cole Kastner’s interior game and junior Sam Fortenbaugh’s sharpshooting. In addition, the Knight’s deep bench features great shooters and defenders. One example is fan favorite RD Babiera, whose 3 point shooting has energized the Sea of Gold many times over. If the team’s strong performances continue throughout the season, the sky’s the limit for the Knights.

Athletes of the Issue

Athletes of the Issue

Wang dominates the midfield Brown is strong on both ends

by SAM FORTENBAUGH by ERIC CHANG

Thomas Brown, starting small forward on the varsity boys basketball team, has been selected as the male Athlete of the Issue due to his superb play on the court this season, averaging 13 points and 4 rebounds. Brown, who was pulled up to the varsity team as a freshman, has been an important piece for the Knights over the past four years. In his final year on the team, he has stepped up and helped the team lead the league with an undefeated 5-0 record and a 13-1 record overall.

Brown has been playing for quite some time, partly because of his sister. “I’ve played basketball my whole life, since I was 3 years old. My sister played basketball and I would go to a lot of the same basketball clinics she went to,” Brown said. Not too long after, he joined his own team. “Once I got old enough to start playing NJB in 2nd grade, I had a ton of fun playing with my friends,” Brown said. “I started playing year-round basketball in 3rd grade with my team from Palo Alto that would travel around to places like Las Vegas for tournaments.” Brown fell in love with basketball since the beginning. “I love how [it] is so fast paced and how the game can change so quickly with momentum swings,” Brown said. “It’s also fun playing as a team because we all have our eyes set on the same goal.”

Balancing a sport with academics is tough, especially at Menlo, but Brown has found a way to manage both. “It can be difficult to play a demanding sport at a school like Menlo, but usually I find that I become more efficient with my homework during the season because I have to, so I end up finishing my work at around the same time,” Brown said. “The hardest part is when we have a game a couple hours away, which usually happens in the playoffs, because it’s difficult to do homework on the bus and it ends up being a 6 hour commitment.”

The Knights have a lofty but realistic objective this year, which they try to reach by accomplishing small goals throughout the season. “Our goals for this season are definitely to go further than last year into the postseason. In league, we have a team goal where we try and hold all the teams we play under 44 points every game, which really helps us step up the intensity on the defensive end.” Brown said. Brown also wants to become a better player himself. “As far as personal goals, I’m trying to get more assists and I’m focusing on limiting mental mistakes like turnovers and bad shot selection,” he said. Brown has had a successful career being a part of the Knights team. “The highlight of my career was winning CCS last year,” he said. “It showed us what our team was capable of and motivates us to do even better this year.

For his future, Brown does not plan on stopping the sport he loves. However, he is still debating whether or not he wants to play on a college’s varsity basketball team. “There are a few smaller Division 3 schools where I might be interested in walking-on to their team, but I didn’t really contact any coaches during the admissions process since I’m not entirely sure if I want to go to a small school as compared to a larger Big 10 school where I probably couldn’t play varsity basketball,” Brown said. Fortunately, this won’t get in his way of playing basketball in college. “No matter what, I’m definitely going to keep playing basketball in college,” he said.

Senior soccer player Julia Wang has been chosen as the Athlete of the Issue due to her contributions on the field throughout the last four years.

The Knights struggled in out-ofleague competition, but the team is currently 3-1-1 in league play. Wang, a captain, has played on the varsity team for the last four years and led her team to a CCS championship as a sophomore.

Wang has played soccer since she was four years old. “My dad was a big encouragement when I started playing soccer,” she said. “He was my AYSO (youth soccer) coach and helped me fall in love with the sport.”

As a senior and one of the strongest players on the team, Wang has embraced her role as the team’s captain. “As a play-

Committed Corner Committed Corner

Mallory North, Occidental University

by ADDIE AHLSTROM

The female athlete featured in this issue’s Committed Corner is senior Mallory North, who committed to play Division III basketball at Occidental College last December. As a four-year varsity athlete, North has played a large role in the success of the girls’ basketball program during her time at Menlo, contributing to the team even as an underclassman.

After the team victories in the CCS Division IV title her freshman year, North led the Knights to a quarterfinalist finish in the CCS Open Division playoffs and a semifinalist result in the CCS Division IV playoffs in her sophomore and junior years respectively. Through the first 12 games

of her senior season, she has averaged 15.6 points per game, 5.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 2.8 blocks as a power forward.

A positive aspect of North’s basketball experience at Menlo has been the close-knit, welcoming atmosphere of the team.

“They definitely have been my family over the past four years […] Our team is super encouraging; we all support each other,” North said.

One of North’s most fulfilling moments as a Knight came this year in Menlo’s win over Bay Area powerhouse Saint Ignatius.

“I used to play all those [Saint Ignatius] girls in middle school,

Niko Bhatia, Brown University

by ELISABETH WESTERMANN

and they used to beat us by like 30. So it was satisfying to finally beat them,” North said.

North looks forward to beginning at Occidental College, located in Los Angeles, Calif. next fall. With an undergraduate enrollment of 2,062 students, North will be able to experience the intimate academic setting she was looking for. “I know I wanted to go Division III because I really like the small school feel Menlo has, and I also like California a lot because I’m kind of a softie with weather, so I looked in Southern California. I also really loved the [Occidental basketball] coach too,” North said.

Senior Niko Bhatia committed to Brown University to play Division I water polo. Bhatia has been playing water polo since he started middle school and has played on the boys varsity team since he was a freshman. Bhatia spends time on water polo almost every day, either attending practices or lifting, year round.

One reason he spends so much time on the sport is because of his teammates: “Some of my best friends are from water polo [...] Even if the team’s not doing well, it’s still fun to be playing with people who have been my friends since sixth grade,” Bhatia said.

Another aspect of the sport that

er, I don’t have to worry as much about how my actions will impact others,” she said. “Being a captain is much more about setting an example and leading.” As a central midfielder, she is constantly involved with the play.

Between club and school, Wang plays competitive soccer year-round. “High school [soccer] is more fun than club, but there are definitely some downsides,” Wang said. “It’s nice to be able to represent the school, but with teams changing every year, success often depends on individual players rather than team chemistry.”

After playing with her club Palo Alto Blue for nearly a decade, Wang’s team has since become a second family. “The atmosphere and style of play in club soccer is much more enjoyable,” she said. “The games are more competitive and I’m playing with a team of friends who I’m very comfortable with.”

On top of the stellar team chemistry, the team has improved significantly since Wang joined. “When I started playing with the team we were ranked in the hundreds. Over the past eight years we have climbed from the bottom of the lowest division, and now we’re battling between number one and two in the nation.”

Wang has played hundreds of games over her career, but a few outstanding games stand out in her mind. “A very memorable game was sophomore year when we won the CCS championship under the rain,” Wang said. “We were an amazingly bonded team and coming home with the title was a perfect ending to one of my favorite seasons.”

Wang looks to punctuate her stellar career at Menlo with a strong finish in the remainder of league play and into the CCS playoffs.

Bhatia appreciates is the commitment that is required: “You can’t be a one dimensional player and be good at water polo […] It’s a sport that really asks a lot of you and anyone who isn’t fully into it will have dropped out,” Bhatia said.

During his tenure on the Menlo team, Bhatia went from one of the only freshmen on the team to a senior captain. He attributes a large part of his positive experience on the team to head coach Jack Bowen. “The culture on the team has been very important thanks to [Bowen],” Bhatia said. “He prioritizes water polo, working hard, winning, but also the team coming together and

being a really close group of guys.” Bhatia first made contact with coaches at the beginning of this school year when several coaches from west coast schools reached out to him. However, he ultimately chose to attend Brown next fall because he likes the team and wants the rigor of its Ivy League academics. “When I visited Brown, I loved the school [...] and when I met the team I was like ‘oh, these guys I could see myself being with for the next four years’,” Bhatia said. Bhatia said he looks forward to his future academic and athletic endeavors at Brown.