The Coat of Arms Issue 46.2

The Coat of Arms The Coat of Arms

serving Menlo's Upper School since 1973

Who’s On TikTok:

eBoys

VSCO Girls Your Spanish Teacher?

by CHASE HURWITZ

Almost all students have heard of TikTok by now. Even if someone doesn’t have the app, they’ve likely seen TikToks on Instagram or their friends’ private stories on Snapchat or Instagram. If not, they’ve at least seen some freshmen on the quad dancing to American rapper DaBaby. Regardless of whether they like the app or not, there’s no denying its massive popularity; CNN reported in June that TikTok hit over a billion downloads worldwide.

Like most internet trends, it’s taken parents and teachers a few months to

catch up. Now that teachers are on board, though, it seems like they’ve given TikTok a big thumbs up. Some are using TikTok as a medium to assign projects, while other teachers are filming them with their students. Now, the question is: how long can the hype last?

It’s impossible to tell whether TikTok is here to stay or whether it will go down as just another brief internet trend. However, TikTok is currently alive and well, even in the classroom setting. “To me, I just like to make learning a little bit more current,” Upper School Spanish teacher Joel Co-

Chew on This: Veganism at Menlo

by VALENTINA ROSS

Recently, activists leading the charge in a new wave of environmental activism have suggested that individuals turn to veganism in order to live sustainably and reduce methane in the air, which harms the planet. But some wonder how vegans can live a healthy lifestyle without the consumption of crucial proteins from meat. Veganism is a type of diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients.

Junior Jackson Kunde has been vegan since seventh grade because of environmental and health reasons. “I get my protein from a lot of fake meats. There’s also beans and legumes that have a lot of protein, and tofu,” Kunde said. Kunde relies primarily on the fruit and salad options in the cafeteria, and while tofu is offered, the tofu is vegetarian, not vegan, according to Kunde. He notes that, as an athlete, he needs to bring his own food to get sufficient nutrients and feel satisfied. “It’s certainly risky,” Kunde said. He wished the cafeteria would add more options.

Spanish teacher Joel Colom-Mena, who was vegan for 11 years, explained that he didn’t originally intend to be vegan; rath-

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lom-Mena said. Colom-Mena, along with other Spanish teachers, are offering TikTok as an option for students to complete their projects. “I’m trying to lose the paper and the books and make the project relevant to [the students’] lives.”

In other cases, students have started making TikToks with their teachers just for the fun of it. “It may seem a little patronizing, like putting a Snapchat filter on your grandparents, but it’s still a fun way to bond with your teachers if they’re down for it,” sophomore Jazlin Chen said.

Upper School history teacher Abby Tiek

thinks that although the app is a great way to get a laugh, there may be more meaning behind it. “Some of my freshmen made TikToks about the French Revolution, which I thought was really funny,” Tiek said. “But I have this theory that memes are almost like the 21st-century versions of political cartoons: that’s the way your generation makes political and social commentary.” Tiek thinks one day these “short little sound bites” are going to be studied

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Students Petition Menlo to Invest Sustainably

by SOPHIA ARTANDI

Since the beginning of October, seniors Angel More and Lucy Pike have been working with the administration to reinvest Menlo’s $60 million endowment solely into mutual funds and bonds that are socially and environmentally responsible. The endowment is a fund of donor contributions that Menlo then invests as the school sees fit, providing 5% of Menlo’s nearly $41 million annual operating budget, according to interim Chief Financial Officer Bill Silver.

Most of Menlo’s expenses are covered

by student tuition; the endowment serves as a long-term investment to fund financial aid and other programs. Money from donors gets invested in mutual funds, meaning Menlo gives the money to professional portfolio managers who invest it in stocks and bonds in order to generate capital gains for the school. Menlo’s invests with The Vanguard Group, which is one of the world’s largest investment companies. Specifically, Menlo invests in Vanguard’s total stock market, total international stock, total bond market and total international bond index funds. According to Sil-

Endowment, page 3

Mobile Food Delivery Services and Ride-Hailing Apps Are Changing

by ELLA HARTMANIS

Mobile ride-hailing and food delivery services continue to gain in popularity, but raise concerns as to whether or not they positively impact society.

Uber is the most widely used ride-hailing app worldwide, according to The New York Times, and is popular amongst Menlo students because it is an easy and simple form of transportation, especially for underclassmen. “I use Uber to get to and from plac-

cense yet. It’s also convenient because you can arrive somewhere and leave whenever you want,” sophomore Cassidy Hurwitz said.

However, some Menlo parents don’t allow their children to use these services because they don’t like the idea of their child being in a car alone with a stranger.

Uber has a few options that some parents feel are safer than Uber’s standard service. For example, Uber Black provides luxury cars and professional drivers, making

es I need to be when my parents can’t drive me, and it’s especially useful because I don’t have my li-

it more reliable, but at the same time, more expensive, which some students like sophomore Sammie Dostart-Meers’ parents approve of.

A nationwide survey done in 2018 by the Pew Research Center found that 20% of high schoolers have used ride-hailing services at least once; this is a considerable increase from the same survey done in 2015 when only 6% of high school students answered yes. Although Uber and Lyft users are supposed to be at least 18 or be accompanied by an adult, this is not heavily enforced. Often,

people below the age of 18 use Uber and Lyft by themselves or with groups of friends who are also underage.

The survey also showed that 53% of U.S. citizens who make over $75,000 annually say they have used ride-hailing services, while only 24% of citizens who make less than $30,000 per year have used them. In San Francisco, the average annual income per household is around $96,000, according to Smart

20% of high schoolers have used ride-hailing services at least once.

Asset. More Bay Area residents have the means to use these services and choose to do so, making it a popular area for the services. While Uber is a convenient form of transportation, not everyone is able to use it because of the expenses.

Menlo students frequently use DoorDash as a key food delivery service because they know it is popular and reliable. “DoorDash is the most convenient option because it’s simple and quick,” freshman Ellie McCusker said. However, it is against school policy to have food delivered to campus during school hours, according to Upper School Dean of Students Tony Lapolla.

TikTok, cont.

the way her students analyze historical documents in her classes. “I think the appeal of TikTok is probably the virality part of it,” junior Claire Ehrig said. “No one really says it, but whenever you post a TikTok you kind of hope it goes viral.” Ehrig thinks that although going viral is in the back of most people’s heads, TikTok is mainly just for fun.

Outside of Menlo School, teachers are also using TikTok to engage with their students in new ways. Some teachers at San Jose High School have started offering extra credit to students who make TikToks about what they’re studying in class. Menlo-Atherton High School recently had a VSCO-girl themed spirit day, a joke popularized on TikTok. Oth-

er high schools around the country have even started making TikTok clubs, according to the New York Times.

Most trends go away over time — that’s what makes them a trend and not a habit although there are many nuances. Take another internet trend: YouTube, which just hit two billion monthly users. Whether TikTok has the same qualities as YouTube that will allow it to last for so long is unpredictable.

“The word cool should not have stuck around for a hundred years because a word like rad is a new word for cool, and in order to be cool the word has to be new,” Upper School history teacher Dr. Charles Hanson said. “So, by nature, these words don’t stick around for very long. So, is TikTok cool, or is TikTok rad?”

Power Outages and Kincade Fire Impact Menlo Community

by SYLVIE VENUTO

Recent Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) power outages, as well as the Kincade fire in northern California, have had impacts on several members of the Menlo community.

For students without power, especially seniors, the power outages added stress to their daily lives. Senior Chris Ponterio, who lives in Hillsborough, did not have power from Oct. 26 through Oct. 30, and Senior Cami Gorospe, who lives in Redwood City, lost power from Oct. 26 until Oct. 29.

“With having college applications due [Nov. 1], it was hard because I really needed power,”

Ponterio said. Gorospe received extensions on her college applications (some colleges sent her emails inquiring about giving her an extension while she emailed others).

Ponterio had no hot water while his power was out, so he went to his grandparents’ house in order to access hot water, while Gorospe had a generator that allowed her family enough power to light a room. At school, teachers allowed both students extensions on classwork when required. “A lot of my

Fire, page 3

ACT Makes Changes, UC Schools Debate Going Test-Optional

The ACT made changes to its system for its 2020 tests, while the University of California (UC) school system has been debating becoming test-optional for admittance.

On Oct. 8, the ACT announced that it will be introducing ACT section retesting, ACT superscoring and ACT online testing on national test dates for 2020 tests, according to the ACT website. After first taking and completing a full, standard ACT exam,

Test-takers will be able to retake any of the four individual sections instead of the entire test

test-takers will be able to retake any of the four individual sections instead of the entire test, which is designed to better reflect test-takers’ “skills and accomplishments over time,” the ACT website said.

The cost of a standard ACT test is $52, and the ACT is $68 with the writing option. There will be an unannounced lower fee for the individual section retakes,

according to USA Today. These prices can cause wealthier students to have more opportunities to retake the test and therefore to receive a higher score. In addition, unnecessary stress may be added to students’ already busy lives as they try to receive the highest score possible in each section instead of being satisfied with already good scores, according to USA Today.

In 2020, test takers will also be able to report their ACT superscore to colleges, according to the ACT website. A superscore is the average of the four best individual scores from all attempts of the ACT to find a new score.

This ability will “better reflect your knowledge and achievements,” according to the ACT website. However, this higher score is becoming “increasingly common and thus non-distinguishing,” Adam Ingersoll, a co-founder of test-prep firm Compass Education Group, said

in an interview with USA Today.

The ACT also announced that it would provide online testing as an alternative to the traditional paper method, which is designed to provide faster results, according to the ACT website. With the online testing, scores could be received in as little as two days within taking the ACT, allowing students more time to make in-

formed decisions regarding their college application process.

The UC schools are deliberating over whether or not to have standardized testing be optional for admission because of the unfair barrier that the tests pose to disadvantaged potential students, according to the LA Times. If students don’t have access to enough resources to study for standard-

ized tests or can’t pay for the test, their scores will be lower than their wealthier counterparts, according to The New York Times.

Over 1,000 colleges in the U.S. currently do not use SAT or ACT scores to admit a substantial number of students, according to Fair Test, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing.

While the UC schools are not expected to make their decision until 2020, a potential alternative to the SAT and ACT, the Smarter Balanced test, has been proposed, according to the LA Times. The test, which assesses how well students in grades K-12 have mastered English and math skills through Common Core Standards, predicted first-year college grades for UC and California State University students with less bias against disadvantaged students, according to the LA Times.

The Smarter Balanced test is already provided at state expense during school hours in public schools, making it more accessible to those students, according to The New York Times; however, this does not address the issue of cost for disadvantaged students at private schools such as Menlo.

Endowment, Cont.

ver, 70% of the endowment is invested in stock and 30% in bonds. “We’re investing broadly and that’s a very solid strategy, especially for perpetual endowment,” Silver said.

Because Menlo invests in the carbon economy, More and Pike want to construct a new portfolio that is composed of stocks that only invest in environmentally and socially conscious companies. “[Divesting in the carbon economy] has an impact and creates a message for Menlo students that climate change is an issue we need to work on,” More said. However, since the school is invested in the world market, divesting in specific energy companies would be complicated. “There are ways to invest in the elements of the economy that leave out energy companies, but that isn’t necessarily in the best interest of the endowment,”

The two seniors have also said that the administration has been working with them with an open mind and are considering the idea.

The decision is ultimately up to the Board of Trustees’ Finance and Investment Committee, whose job is to make money for the school through the endowment. There are many energy companies in the Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500), which measures the value of stocks of the world’s largest 500 companies, so it is in Menlo’s best financial interest to continue investing in those companies. In addition, investors choose what stocks and bonds to invest in based on risk and return. Reorganizing Menlo’s investments would not only be riskier, but the school would also be changing the basis on which they decide what to invest in. “Any time you concentrate or don’t concentrate in an area, it changes your risk-reward profile,” Silver said.

More and Pike hope to present their proposal for a new portfolio at the next Finance and Investment Committee board meeting. “The [Finance and Investment] Committee is very knowledgeable and definitely knows more than [Pike] and I, and so they [can] hopefully give us feedback and we can work together,” More said.

Vegan, Cont.

er, he just stopped eating meat for Lent 11 years ago. He continued to eat a vegan diet because he saw it as a challenge. The next year, he started to learn more about veganism through the whole process. However, he is no longer vegan because of health drawbacks.

“My body was falling apart. I had a lot of deficiencies,” Colom-Mena said. He realized that because he chose to be vegan in his late 20s, his body was not used to this drastic change in diet. He was not getting certain types of nutrients he needed solely from plants.

Today, Colom-Mena has to get shots of B-12, a nutrient that comes from animal products, which helps keep the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy, every other week because he doesn’t absorb B-12 anymore.

Varsity boys water polo coach and Upper School philosophy teacher Jack Bowen holds an opposing point of view. He started to eat vegan about three years ago because he felt that he was a selfish eater. Bowen had been bothered that humans were eating meat and letting animals suffer just for the pleasure they get from eating them. However, he initially started to eat vegan because his wife noticed that they had not been eating healthily, and she wanted a two week reboot.

Bowen finds it important that we are all aware of this and how being vegan is a process. “I ate a cookie two days ago that had eggs in it. [...] So, it’s not a game of catching people or pointing fingers. It’s more about being aware,” Bowen said. He believes that even reducing your intake of animal products in half is a huge improvement; it is better for the environment and the animals.

Fire, Cont.

classmates would send images and stuff like that, and that helped me out a lot,” Ponterio said.

Many teachers at Menlo lost power the weekend before first quarter grade report comments were due, compounding their already heavy workload.

Dean of Teaching and Learning Bridgett Longust lost power from Oct. 26 through Oct. 28. Without power, Longust had no lighting, heating or hot water and was unable to cook. Longust recently moved to Half Moon Bay and had to purchase camping lanterns, flashlights and water. Grade report comments were due from teachers over the weekend of Oct. 26, so Longust and her husband, Upper School teacher Tripp Robbins, went to Menlo to complete their work and access hot water.

Upper School History Department Chair Carmen Borbón lost power twice, once for 24 hours from Oct. 9 to Oct. 10, and a second time from 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 through all of Oct. 28. Borbón, who also lives in Half Moon Bay, did not have a generator, so her perishable food spoiled, and she used headlamps as lighting during the night while the power was off. Without a landline and reliable data service, Borbón was unable to easily communicate with others without power. “If it hadn’t been for [the San Mateo Public Library], I would have been completely cut off,” Borbón said.

Upper School English teacher Whitney Newton, who also lives near Half Moon Bay, lost power twice, both times for around 48 hours. Newton had no power on Oct. 28, the same day that school was canceled due to the poor air quality caused by the Kincade fire

in northern California.

Newton, whose daughter attends the Menlo daycare, was left without planned childcare and power while still having work to complete. While Newton was able to have her daughter stay with her husband’s family on Oct. 28, “it was not ideal,” Newton said.

“[Not having power] was irritating, it was annoying, it was a pain in the neck, but

“If it hadn’t been for [the San Mateo Public Library] I would have been completely cut off”

it also pointed out to me how lucky we are and how much we actually have,” Longust said.

“I’m trying to keep in mind all those other people who I think are more impacted than we are,” Newton said.

Students Form Climate Coalition to Take on Climate Change

by Elisabeth Westermann

With the goal of channeling widespread student enthusiasm for fighting climate change, several students interested in improving sustainability on campus recently started the Climate Coalition in order to consolidate the various student environmental groups to create real change.

“Our goal is to be more than just a club and to be more like a committee and to work directly with the administration to make tangible impacts in the sustainability field at Menlo and to be a committee based on action and not on discussion,” coalition co-leader and senior Janina Troper said.

The coalition has five branches: plastic waste, energy, education, food and transportation. Each branch has several student leaders, and the branches meet independently each week to work on their respective goals. The student leaders of each branch will have an additional weekly meeting with teachers and members of the administration.

The coalition has already taken steps to improve Menlo’s sustainability. At homecoming, parent volunteers bought plastic water bottles for the tailgate tents. At the suggestion of students from the coalition, the parents decided to donate the plastic water bottles to homeless shelters and use jugs of water and compostable cups instead.

Some of the Coalition’s long term goals include eliminating plastic from the snack bar, installing solar panels on campus,

divesting the Menlo endowment from coal-related industries, encouraging students and faculty to commute sustainably and incorporating education regarding climate change into the school curriculum. Although it’s students who are taking the lead on implementing steps Menlo can take to become more eco-friendly, teachers and administrators have also been strong supporters of the coalition. “I hope that we can continue to support all the efforts of the Coalition. [...] [Students are] stakeholders in the school and [they] should have a voice into what the school is doing,” Upper School Dean of Students Tony Lapolla said. After many Menlo students participated in the Sept. 20 Climate Strike around the Bay Area, it was

Upper School Director John Schafer who suggested to several students that they hold a meeting to discuss uniting student sustainability efforts.

Ultimately, the group’s goal is to help Menlo do its part in the global effort to combat climate change and to step up when political leaders don’t appear to be. “It’s an issue where 10 years from now our world could be ravaged. [...] It’s frustrating because there are so many things we could be doing to improve and make sure that doesn’t happen, and I feel like a lot of our political leaders aren’t listing and they aren’t taking action,” freshman Penelope Stinson, one of the leaders of the Education branch, said.

“This group really formed because of the passion students have towards mitigating climate change and the worry students have. There’s a lot of people who want to make a difference, and this is the way we know how to,” Troper said.

Creative Expression or Impress Through Dress?

by LAUREN LAWSON

Menlo has a long-standing reputation of trend-following and expressively dressed students, as seen in The Coat of Arm’s fashion Instagram account (Mogue) or even by just looking around the quad. Because there is no dress code, students are given the freedom to dress the way they please no matter the color, size, length or fit. Some see this culture as creative, and others see it as “try-hard.” The question lingers of whether or not Menlo students have built a constructive environment where students feel comfortable to express themselves in a setting that accepts individuality and encourages confidence, or if students have created a negative environment full of an obsession to impress through the way they dress.

Freshman Madison Vitro came from the Menlo Middle School and saw a significant trend change from middle school to high school. Menlo’s variation of styles “shows that this is a comfortable environment where people feel confident enough to express their own stylistic preferences,” Vitro said. Because of her self-awareness of what she’s putting on in the morning, the transition has made her more conscious of the image she puts

out at school. While some find presenting themselves as positive, many also disagree. Trend culture, also known as mass popularity of a look, is prevalent at Menlo, but students follow these trends for various reasons; some follow the trends they support, while others follow them to fit in. Of course there is always the option of rejecting trends, but no matter the category a person fits into, fashion is used as a medium to explore. “I think half [of the students] dress to express themselves, while the other half dress up because everyone else is,”

junior Alex Mccusker

ers and one-shoulder tank tops were extremely popular last spring, while a rise in Chubbies shorts and Princess Polly dresses have appeared on the quad this fall. Also very relevant at Menlo is the dress code discussion. One of Menlo’s many principles is allowing students to have the freedom to dress in the way they choose. This leads to creative expression, but some question if an unspoken code must be enforced to avoid inappropriate clothing choices. “The way you dress is a way of free speech, but I think there should be certain norms and limits,” Upper School Spanish teacher Adriana Diaz-Ross said. Over the years that Diaz-Ross has been teaching at Menlo, she has noticed fluctuations

said. This causes student fashion to come in waves. For example, platform sneak-

Wat Expresses Emotions Through Dance

by SARAH NORUM

Senior Victoria Wat is the female Artist of the Issue due to her incredible talent and commitment to dance inside and outside of Menlo.

Wat has been dancing for over 14 years, starting when she was just 3 years old. “I took my first ballet class in Hong Kong, really liked it, and that was the only thing I continued doing extracurricular-wise when I moved to California,” Wat said. Since then, she has picked up various forms of dance that she currently pursues. “I do ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, modern and point but my favorite is probably contemporary just because it combines the technique of ballet

“My favorite part is when you’re on stage and the dance just allows you to be vulnerable and express emotions you might not even know you’re feeling.”

but also the freedom of lyrical,” she said. Wat sees dancing as a time when she can fully express herself on stage. “My favorite part about dance is when you’re on stage and the dance just allows you to be vulnerable and express emotions you might not even know you’re feeling,” she said. “It is very therapeutic in a way, so I really like how it helps me get in touch with my body and helps me know what I’m feeling.”

At Menlo, Wat participates in Knight Life, the hip-hop team, and Knight Dancers (Knights), the varsity dance team. “I mostly do jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop at school,” she said. “I have been on Knights for four years now and Knight Life for three.” Last year, Wat was also a

Teacher’s Assistant (TA) for Upper School dance teacher Jan Chandler’s Advanced Jazz Dance elective. “The position didn’t necessarily get me more involved with dance but more connected with the people in the class,” she said. “I mostly helped fellow students learn across-the-floor combinations and went over choreography for upcoming performances, which is something I regularly do even when I’m not an official TA. It’s really rewarding to see other people get that ‘aha’ moment when they finally get a dance combination right, so I’m always happy to guide other people through it.”

Outside of school, Wat attends the Ayako School of Ballet in Belmont, where she practices ballet and point while on weekends, she helps out with Nutcracker rehearsals during the holiday season. Over time, Wat balanced out her extracurriculars and now does not spend as much time at dance. “I used to dance every day for three or four hours until injuries came along,” she said. “But now I mostly do four days a week because I have also switched to prioritizing school and other extracurriculars.”

In the coming years, Wat plans to continue pursuing dance, but depending on which college she attends, the intensity of that commitment may vary. “I want to keep dancing but not as a major, possibly as a minor,” she said. “Depending on the school, if they have a ballet group or dance team, I’ll probably join one of those.”

in student fashion. She defines this generation as a repeat of the 90s, but many who fol-

low today’s current trends are not aware of their history and influence. Fashion’s history isn’t crucial, but it is notable. It can be said some dress to follow the trends rather than be genuinely invested in the connotation they give off. “There’s a bunch of influence and inspiration from my friends—they’re all very passionate about fashion, [... and] I build off them because I find it really fun to dress up,” junior Troy Demmon said. Following the trends is a form of fitting in, but feeling encouraged to do so by the people you are surrounded by is an easy habit to fall into. Therefore, this reveals there is a compromise between both sides. Fashion, inside of Menlo and throughout the world, can be seen as a form of unification and community. Various versions of expression highlight the creativity and originality within each individual. Whether or not the consideration of the way you dress is an important factor of who you are, to many it is an undeniable personality trait. That being said, understanding the deeper meaning allows students to see an aspect of their peers that may have gone unnoticed before.

Minning Doubles “Cabaret” Cast Size

by GEORGIA PAYE

Some directors worry that they won’t have enough good actors for a show; this fall’s “Cabaret” had more than twice as many as required. The theater department put on a production of the musical “Cabaret” this fall. “Cabaret” premiered on Thursday, Oct.

31 and continued through Sunday, Nov. 3. Although the script only called for 16 cast members, there were 35 members for the Menlo production. Steven Minning, Creative Arts and Drama Director, wanted to include everyone to “share the experience of working on a show and especially a show of this nature that has a strong social and political comment,” Minning said.

It is not unusual for the musical to incorporate more people. “There are many versions of the show, like some shows don’t have the Kit Kat boys and some do,” said junior Annabelle Marenghi, who was cast as Texas, a prostitute in the Kit Kat Klub.

The musical takes place in Berlin between 1929-30, during the post-World War I economic depression. The eighttime Tony award-winning musical is a transitional piece from the era of an avant-garde nightscene at the Kit Kat Klub to the beginning of Hiter’s re-

gime and the rise of the Nazi party. The musical is set in a cabaret club. A cabaret is a form of theatrical performance including song, dance and drama. It is normally performed at a nightclub or restaurant. To include more people in the production, there was a set of tables with casted patrons and German citizens from the time period sitting down to eat and watch the cabaret show. “They will be dressed in costume, makeup, and they will have their own characters,” Minning said ahead of the show, “They don’t necessarily have any scripted lines, but they will be added to the entire ambience of the piece.”

The tables were placed in the front row of the stands, below the stage. Normally, a musical or play is limited strictly to the stage, while the audience watches from below. Minning’s interpretation of the musical broke this boundary between performers and the audience. “It’s going into beyond the footlights; it’s going into the audience, so I’m excited to see how it all works and comes together,” Minning said before the premiere.

“A makeup artist […] gave [the patrons] fun 30s makeup and they had costumes. The cabaret tables, the lighting and their presence added to the feel of a cabaret. It made it feel a little more seedy and intimate,” Marenghi said after the four showings of the musical.

Senior Declan Stanton starred as the emcee in his first theater performance at Menlo. His love for performing and the influence of his peers pushed him to try out for this year’s fall performance.

“This is a pretty intense musical, and it requires a lot of people in order to get the full depth of the play,” Stanton said before the premiere. “I’m most excited to see people’s reactions and to be up on stage. Getting some applause would be really awesome. Hopefully people like it.”

Menlo Alums Discuss Their Experiences After High School

by GRACE WILSON

Alex Neuman (‘16) and Paige Pietrofesa (‘16) reflect upon their experiences at Menlo, and contemplate how high school impacted their life in college and beyond. Despite pursuing different interests in college, both hold similar sentiments regarding Menlo’s emphasis on producing hardworking, college-bound students.

Neuman, who graduated from Northwestern University in Illinois, regards the academic rigor and challenge of college as “100%” comparable to Menlo. “I feel like I had a really strong grounding in writing and research,” Neuman said. “Even the most basic things — like how to write an essay and how to argue a point — are things that I had always taken for granted.” Such academic assets, while standard at Menlo, proved highly useful to Neuman later on. “I was expected to be well prepared,” Neuman said. “But I was sur-

“[My ability] to create or seize opportunities of all sorts in college stems from how much Menlo encouraged me to be proactive.”

prised at how similar college classes [...] were — academically — to high school.” Pietrofesa, a senior at Elon University in North Carolina, said that Menlo overprepared her for college in terms of academia. “I felt so prepared going into college and

finally, for once, I felt like a bigger fish in a smaller pond in college, whereas at Menlo, I felt like the tiniest fish in the largest pond,” Pietrofesa said. Menlo’s emphasis on student independence translated well for her, as her professors at Elon often urged students to meet outside of class.

Moreover, Pietrofesa attributes her ability to take initiative as a college student to Menlo. “[My ability] to create or seize opportunities of all sorts in college stems from how much Menlo encouraged me to be proactive,” Pietrofesa said. Like Neuman, Pietrofesa learned many valuable skills from Menlo that she hadn’t realized until after leaving high school.

According to the two alums, Menlo’s social and political climate, as well as its academics, contribute to its exceptional nature as an institution.

“Being in the South has been a different experience,” Pietrofesa said. While she considers Elon to be more liberal than

Menlo, Elon has exposed her to more people who feel confident in their conservative views. Pietrofesa attributes the difference in political exposure to the sheer difference in school sizes. “The student body is much larger [at Elon], whereas Menlo was very small,” Pietrofesa said.

In addition to Menlo’s distinctive political climate, the rigorous nature of the school is something that stood out to Neuman when reflecting upon his high school experience. “I would define Menlo as hyper focused on [the notion that] high school is “I learned later in college that I got the most out of the time I had that hour long talk with my teacher or

[when] I went to that club that wasn’t for my resume.”

meant to get you into a good college,” Neuman said. “I think it’s a fair goal, but there are other things that I think that [the Menlo] environment is less geared towards.”

“I didn’t feel like I had to go through a lot of the big struggles and challenges in college because [at] Menlo you spend [...] so many late, countless nights studying for the AP test that means the world, [or] for the SAT and for your English essay that you have to get an A on,” Neuman described. “I didn’t realize that’s supposed to happen in college and not in high school, I don’t think so at least. I wish I had had more room for that sort of kind of intense growth in college

and then been forced to grow and struggle more [...] than I did in high school.”

“When I got to college it was the same: I’m here to go to school, and I’m going to go to this club because it will look good on my resume, and I’m going to go to office hours because that is what will help me get the best grade,” Neuman said. “I learned later in college what I got the most out of is the time I had that hourlong talk with my teacher about something that wasn’t about my class, or [when] I went to that club that isn’t for my resume, [...] and I met this awesome friend that I will have for the rest of my life.”

Neuman says that in his high school career, he wishes he had taken more advantage of enjoyable activities—ones that were not just for the purpose of getting into a good college. “I wanted to meet other kids, spend time just talking to teachers about things that weren’t school related [or] get to know friends and parents [in the Menlo community],” Neuman said. It took going to college for Neuman to realize the importance in engaging in such activities because for him, the “nature of the rigor and the prep of Menlo [did not prepare him] to have those experiences as much.”

Selected Student Profile: Senior Nils Forstall

by KYRA GESCHKE AND KATE HAMMOND

CoA: What is a thing you say a lot?

Nils: Life is meaningless.

CoA: Why do you think life is meaningless?

Nils: Oh, okay. So there’s actually a lot more to that. I don’t still believe that that’s true. I think that life doesn’t have inherent meaning and that we kind of have to build some meaning around it. And, like, you know, I think that existence precedes essence, so we just exist and there’s no reason that we exist but then we can, like, we can determine our life path by ourselves with no higher power that is actually saying that we should or shouldn’t do whatever it is. The saying is ‘life is meaningless,’ but that’s misconstrued in a lot of ways. The intention is that life is inherently meaningless but not necessarily. It doesn’t have to stay that way — we can still build meaning into it if that makes sense.

CoA: What is the most stupid thing you have done because someone dared you to?

Nils: Snort flaming Hot Cheetos, but that’s not that stupid. I think that’s pretty intellectual.

CoA: What part of the human face is your favorite?

Nils: The left eyebrow.

CoA: What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Nils: I guess crumbs.

CoA: If you could wedgie any historical figure who would you pick?

Nils: Hitler came to mind. Also because I want to see what kind of underwear he wears.

CoA: Do you have an opinion on garden gnomes?

Nils: I think that the film “Gnomeo and Juliet” and the sequel “Sherlock Gnomes” are both phenomenal and have created a brilliant identity around the garden gnomes.

CoA: What’s your favorite sound?

Nils: I guess that like sigh of disappointment that you get from your parents whenever you tell them that you’re not going to do what they asked you to do.

CoA: If you were invisible for 10 minutes right now, what would you do?

Nils: Probably tap a bunch of people on the shoulder. I

don’t think I would get too creative with it. I would probably sing or whisper a lot of things.

CoA: What are you proud of, but never have an excuse to talk about?

Nils: I made a board game about urinals.

CoA: What would your last meal be?

Nils: I guess like… maybe a salad, because I never fully finish a salad, like you know there’s always a little bit left, so then I wouldn’t die. It couldn’t be my last meal until I finished it, right? So I would just like really slowly eat a salad.

CoA: If your friends could describe you in three words, what would they be?

Nils: Basket case.

CoA: That’s two words.

Nils: Maybe it would be like a long pause and then they might say, um, and then they would say basket case.

CoA: If you could only watch one movie or show, what would it be?

Nils: “Bojack Horseman.”

CoA: What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever watched?

Nils: I don’t know; I don’t feel passionate about any commercials. I think that they’re like, kind of terrifying. Their whole goal is to manipulate and control our minds, and you know, suck us into buying [stuff], but I guess that Tide ad was kind of funny.

CoA: How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza?

Nils: Totally depends on the minute. I think it’s socially acceptable.

CoA: If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends and family assume you’ve done?

Nils: Really good question. They probably would think that I was disrupting the public by singing “Bet On It” from “High School Musical 2” really loudly and dancing around super violently in a town square or something.

CoA: What is your signature dance move?

Nils: It doesn’t have a name, because it is my own. There’s one that I did a lot towards the beginning of sophomore year, which really creeped people out when I was in “Heather’s” the musical. I would do it backstage where I just moved my rib cage back and forth. I don’t know if I should do it now because [the people in the student center] are all looking. They will all look, but it’s just like really scary… *does dance move*

CoA: Do you have any nicknames?

Nils: A couple that you probably can’t print. My last name is Forstall, but sometimes people call me Mr. Foreskin. I really like it. And if you could get Tripp to let you put that in the newspaper, I would love that.

Morgan Explores Various Art Forms

by PARINA PATEL

Senior Aaron Morgan has been involved in the arts since around the age of 5 and has continued to grow as an artist when he came to Menlo freshman year. Since then, he has immersed himself in jazz band, the Moviemaking elective and an Integrated Program (IP) on the topic of jazz.

Morgan started his musical journey on the African hand drums through lessons his mother signed him up for in an attempt to eventually introduce to him the violin. “There was some philosophy about learning instruments, where as you start with rhythm, you can go towards the piano and violin and stuff like that,” Morgan said.

The African hand drumming lessons actually led him to want to play the drums on a drum set. Morgan started getting serious about the drums in middle school, when he began playing jazz music. He hasn’t taken lessons consistently; however, his involvement in the La Entrada Middle School Jazz band, Menlo jazz band and summer camps has compensated for the lessons he didn’t take.

Being homeschooled since fourth grade — the start of middle school in his school district — gave Morgan a lot of time to pursue his interests, allowing him to more easily continue when he got to Menlo. “The reason I do a bunch of these art things was because I was able to establish [a foundation] in middle school, so I was able to spend a lot of time playing drums and doing moviemaking and photography in middle school,” Morgan said.

One of the ways Morgan shines is through his performances at countless Menlo events such as the senior show, two graduation ceremonies and many Menlo’s Got Talent shows. He often performs with junior Leo Jergovic, who enjoys accompanying Morgan as a pianist, guitarist and singer. Morgan didn’t get as many chances to perform when he started at Menlo, so he is willing to perform whenever he’s asked to.

Another passion of Morgan’s is moviemaking. His interest in moviemaking developed from creating a film as an assignment in middle school, to making them for class projects to then just making them with

his friends for fun. Morgan is doing a Jazz Trio IP with Jergovic and senior Adam Kasser to take their playing level a step further. “We’ve all been playing jazz for a long time, so we wanted to work in an environment where we could go do things that we might not have the chance to do in the jazz band class, “ Morgan said. “It’s us trying to create the space to go a little bit further than what I think the Menlo structure is set up [to do].”

Morgan believes that Menlo offers great arts courses for students who are starting at the bottom. However, he thinks that there is some sort of gap for the students who want to go farther. “I feel that the system needs to be re-evaluated on a foundational level in order to provide a better path for people interested in pursuing the arts beyond Menlo,” Morgan said.

Freshmen Comment on High School Transition

by HAILEY TSUDA

Every year, around 70 new students join the Menlo community, and 70 or so more students transition from the Menlo Middle School to the Upper School. Together, these two groups form the freshman class - this year: the class of 2023. Each one of these 140-plus students has a slightly different experience from one another and from what they expected.

Freshman Tori Chou, who attended The International School of the Peninsula for middle school, shared that she came to Menlo in part because of how impressed she was with the teachers when she shadowed. Now that she is at Menlo, the teachers have surpassed her expectations. “The teachers are actually better than I expected, which is really good,” Chou said.

Freshman Alea Marks, who went to Menlo Middle School, was anticipat-

“I was looking forward to having more freedom and being less restricted in terms of dress code, phone use and other things.”

ing the freedom and social changes that came with the transition to the Upper School. “I was looking forward to having more freedom and being less restricted in terms of dress code, phone use and other things. I was also looking forward to getting [to know] new people,” Marks said. Unlike some others, Marks hasn’t found the Menlo Upper School to be cliquey. “I was surprised by how fast I made such close friends with [new] people,” Marks said, “I really branched away from my middle school group and most of my close friends now are new [to the school].

Freshman Beckett Vogel, who attended Menlo Middle School didn’t experience the change in friendships that Marks described. “I thought there would be a lot more social change than there was,” Vogel said, “so it really wasn’t any change.”

Freshman Edwin Alvarez, who entered

the Menlo community after attending St. Matthew’s Episcopal for middle school, said he has found the Menlo community to be welcoming and inclusive. “St. Matthews was a really small school, and Menlo is a big school, so [I thought] the transition from a small school to a big school was gonna be a little tough, but Menlo’s community is really welcoming so [the transition] was smooth,” Alvarez said. Despite the differing opinions on the transition to Menlo socially, there was a shared expectation that Menlo’s Upper School would be academically challenging. “I was expecting the academics to be really [hard] and obviously Menlo academics are [hard], but I [thought] I wouldn’t have time for activities such as sports and other extracurricular activities once I joined Menlo,” Alvarez said. The academics are something that some have found challenging and others have not. “Academically, I was pretty prepared. One

“I really branched away from my middle school group and most of my close friends now are new [to the school].”

thing that did surprise me was how much of my weekend I spend doing homework,” Marks said. On the other hand, others think that their workload has decreased. “[I am] definitely a little bit less busy [than in middle school] probably just because we [had a lot of work] in eighth grade,” Vogel said.

Twins Split Apart: What It’s Like to Go to Different Schools

by VALENTINA ROSS

What is it like when another part of you goes to a different school? There are several twins or triplets at Menlo who can attest to what this is like and how Menlo differs from other schools in the area, especially when one twin goes to Menlo while the other attends a different school.

Senior Declan Stanton has a twin sister who goes to St. Francis High School, and senior Charlotte Lee is a triplet with a sister and brother who attend Sacred Heart Prep.

“[At St. Francis], the lowerclassmen tend to radiate a carelessness towards school and end up shifting the mentality of other students to that.”

Stanton and Lee both feel that they have more academically strenuous experiences than their siblings. Stanton views Menlo as less traditional than other schools as the curriculum does not follow a textbook. He also added that the student-to-teacher ratio

is much higher at St. Francis. According to the Saint Francis High School website, the school enrolls 1,776 kids, so it is harder for teachers to focus on individual students.

Stanton also mentioned once a student starts in a certain level at St. Francis, it is difficult for that student to ascend in academic rigor, which makes it hard for students to progress throughout high school. “My friend [at St. Francis] had to go through a difficult process and testing phase. He was one of the only people to actually rank up,” Stanton said. Stanton also noticed from his sister’s experience that “the kids in the lower classes tend to radiate a carelessness towards school and end up shifting the mentality of other students to that one.”

Stanton and Lee both enjoy going to separate schools from their siblings. The combination of Stanton’s Menlo friends and his sister’s St. Francis friends has created a larger cumulative social circle. “I know people in her school and she knows people at my school,” Stanton said. Lee likes that she and her siblings get to have different high school experiences and doesn’t feel much comparison to her sister.

Stanton chose to attend Menlo because of his passion for lacrosse and felt that Menlo was a better fit for him compared to St. Francis, although he did apply there.

Lee’s parents wanted their children to attend Sacred Heart, but Lee liked Menlo better, so her parents chose to oblige. Sacred Heart called the Lee family before the acceptance letters came out to make sure they were all going to go to Sacred Heart (according to Lee). Once Lee rejected, “Sacred Heart tried to withdraw

my siblings acceptances because they thought we were a package,” Lee said. Sacred Heart Associate Director of

“I know people at her school and she knows people at my school.”

Admissions Melissa Bamberg said that when it comes to twins and triplets, if they all are academically qualified, then they make the same decision on all of them for the benefit of the family. Menlo admits twins and triplets differently than Sacred Heart, as Menlo does not have a policy when it comes to admitting twins. “If both twins have very similar applications in terms of their academic profile, we will make the same decision. There have been a few occasions where we split decisions on twins, but it’s very rare and would only be in a case where they had clearly different profiles,” Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Beth Bishop said. Bishop also mentioned that parents have come forward to make sure that the school looks at twins individually and not as a package deal.

Are Menlo Students Judged Based on Their Ideologies?

by: HAILEY TSUDA

It is a common perception that the Menlo community tends to be liberal, but how does the community handle other political opinions? Senior Charlotte Acra is a very politically outspoken member of the Menlo student body — she self-identifies as economically conservative and socially liberal. “When I say something in class that doesn’t go with the mainstream liberal opinion, there are definitely at least 10 hands that shoot up before I’m even done [talking],” Acra said.

[may have] a very defined non-debate centered curriculum, then I’m probably going to be a little more reserved about actually sharing how I feel on issues,” Acra said.

On the other hand, senior Mara Lebovitz, who self-identifies as a democratic socialist, said she rarely feels judgment from teachers but feels it from her peers. “I definitely feel judged by my classmates, especially in [AP United States Government]. But that doesn’t mean that I’m upset about it,” Lebovitz said. She also shared that she is very confident in her beliefs and doesn’t let others’ opinions affect her. “I know that people judge me, but that doesn’t stop me from sharing my beliefs. I’m proud of my beliefs, and I want people to know about them. So I’d never shy away from sharing my beliefs,” Lebovitz said.

Beyond her opinions sparking conversations within her classes, Acra shared that in some classes, she censors herself simply because she doesn’t want her grades to suffer. When asked how she navigates these difficult situations and how she decides when to censor her opinions, she said it depends on the teacher. “There are certain teachers where around the beginning of the quarter or the beginning of the semester, I can get a sense of whether or not the teacher is going to be receptive of my opinions. [...] In [certain] history classes, where the teacher

Junior Ben Siminoff spoke about his experience in the Menlo Middle School during the 2016 Presidential Election, when Donald Trump was elected. “There’s just kind of a mob mentality within the school, especially because we live in such a liberal area. [...] During middle school, and during the Trump election, there was a lot of hostility for anyone that voiced their support for him,” Siminoff said. He believes his experience has been better in high school, despite the fact that he has still received judgement for his political beliefs.

Senior Alex Morgan has a different outlook on the judgement.

“I actually think [judgement is] a good thing. In any productive political forum, it’s important that there’s some force to moderate beliefs that are seen as too extreme, unsavor or out of touch. Do I wish this could happen without character judgment? Of course. [...] But most political beliefs aren’t entirely rational; they’re inseparable from our emotions and values and personal experiences,” he said.

Several other students also share the opinion that judgement and difficult political discourse is a good thing. “When it’s appropriate, I do try to bring up political dialogue when I think it should be brought up. I think it’s an important thing that should be discussed at our school,” said sophomore Andrew Yagen, who self-identifies as conservative. Though this is true, there is a common consensus that Menlo students judge other students based on political beliefs; however, Siminoff shared that this judgment hasn’t affected his friendships. “The judgement hasn’t played a particularly strong role in whether or not it breaks friendships,” Siminoff said.

Political Discussions Add Depth to Classroom Environment

by: TESSA FRANTZ

Climate change. Gun control. The upcoming presidential election. Every day, new political discussions are brought to light and are inevitably discussed among students. In fact, politics often find a place in classroom discussions. Of course, certain classes are known for their political conversations, but in general, politics finds its way into student conversations, whether prompted or not.

On one hand, discussing political matters fully immerses students into current events and prevalent issues. According to Upper School history teacher Matthew Nelson, politics is directly tied with the values and beliefs instituted in schools today. “When people ask, ‘Does politics belong in education?,’ my response has always been that education itself is a political act. I think this is why in school, it’s hard to be apolitical because education de facto is political,” Nelson said. “If one is educating for democracy, and [democracy] is a stated philosophy of education as it is for me and many educators, how can education

not be political?”

But when discussed, politics can lead to unpreventable biases from teachers and students. Upper School government and politics teacher Dan Devitt believes that when it comes to leading a political discussion, teachers have to consider all perspectives, not just their own. “As a government and politics teacher, [these issues] have been something that I’ve wrestled with for a long time. I think generally, it’s more constructive to be a devil’s advocate rather than completely avoiding the subject, like some teachers have since Trump was elected, or use the classroom as a launch pad for criticizing President Trump or Republicans in general,” Devitt said.

Because of this, politics become more than just opinion; they become a characterization and identifier for certain students. According to Devitt, more outspoken, conservative students are characterized by their political views. “Although I don’t think Menlo should have any hard and fast rules about politics, teachers are in a position of power, and I’ve heard from conservative students over the years that they feel they

can’t express their point of view, either in assessments or in class,” Devitt said. There are still some students who feel judged based on political views in classes. “There [are] definitely some teachers that lean very far left, and I feel like they’ll look at you a little differently if you say something that isn’t in line with their beliefs,” senior Brandon Aprill said.

Currently, there are no specific policies instituted that regulate politics in class, but moving parallel to Menlo’s mission and values, there are goals for teachers to keep in mind while involved in political, potentially controversial discussions. According to Upper School Director John Schafer, “There aren’t any rules that restrict teachers, but I’ve said to teachers that our role is to get students to talk about criminal and political issues, while learning how to make coherent arguments with evidence, improve listening skills and other skills that come from these discussions. I generally think that we should engage in this [political] conversation instead of ducking away from it.”

by: SYLVIE VENUTO

Menlo Assemblies’ ‘Liberal Bias’ Explained

Menlo School has a history of hosting influential political speakers to discuss their beliefs and policies during assemblies or making appearances on campus, but difficulty occurs in balancing the political beliefs of the guest speakers because of Menlo’s political demographics.

“We want our students to be engaged in the world, in the conversations that are happening in current events and in politics; we want our students to become good citizens of the world; we want our students to become voters and informed people,” Upper School Director John Schafer said. This desire to inform students of the world outside of Menlo draws the Menlo Administration towards hosting political speakers at Menlo.

Recent political speakers who have spoken at Menlo include the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who spoke in April of 2010 and Jan. of 2014, Republican consultant Bob Wickers who spoke in Oct. of 2011, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright who spoke in March of 2013, former United States Ambassador to Russia Mike McFaul who spoke in March of 2016, current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who spoke in April of 2016, and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer at Stanford Lanhee Chen who spoke in March of 2018. Chen, Wickers and Rice are Republicans, while Albright, McFaul and Pelosi are Democrats, according

to Stanford University’s Political Science website.

However, getting these speakers to come speak at Menlo is not an easy task. It can cost upwards of $30,000 to get a politician as influential as Pelosi or Rice to give a speech, which Menlo School is not set up to pay for, according to Schafer. Rather than the school’s administration actively seeking out and asking politicians to speak at Menlo, more often, a parent of a student or a former student has connections with a politician who will be in the Bay Area and will ask the Menlo administration if they would like to have that politician come speak at Menlo, according to Schafer.

“We don’t have a budget to spend a lot of money to pay for speakers,” Schafer said. “But if someone in our parent community, which is pretty well connected, has access to [...] some author or some leader or some statesman or some politician, and [that person] would love to come speak to Menlo’s bright students, we’re up for that.”

When the Menlo Administration does pay for a speaker to talk at Menlo, the speaker is paid from a couple of hundred dollars up to two thousand dollars, according to Schafer.

The common consensus is that Menlo’s student body — as well as the Bay Area, according to the Public Policy Institute of California — tends to lean more liberal than conservative. This can result in a skewed number of liberals,

largely Democrats, speaking at Menlo more often than conservatives, particularly Republicans, as there are more parents who may have connections with liberals or Democrats who work in political fields. Because of these connections, Menlo had a series of three liberal speakers in a row (Albright, McFaul, and Pelosi) from March 2013 through April 2016, Schafer said.

In order to try to even out this disparity between the political affiliations of guest speakers, Schafer personally reached out to Chen, who did an interview with a panel of four or five students and then opened the discussion up to the entire school, according to Schafer.

Upper School History Teacher and Global Programs Coordinator

Peter Brown has foreign policy connections which enabled him to ask McFaul to speak at Menlo, Schafer said.

“I think that any speaker who comes here and makes the students think — whether they agree or disagree with what they said — and makes them want to learn more about the issues and say, ‘That was interesting. I want to learn more about that problem’ or ‘I don’t think that was right. I want to learn more to challenge that view,’” Schafer said. “That’s a good speaker.”

Why Saturday Night Live is President Trump’s Best Frenemy

by CHASE HURWITZ

“It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live (SNL), not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side.’” President Trump tweeted this on March 17 of this year, but his feud with SNL spans longer than just a few months. Ever since Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, it’s been rare to find one of SNL’s impersonations of him not trending on YouTube and other online platforms. SNL guest ac tor Alec Baldwin’s Trump imper sonation — complete with Trump’s recognizable pursed lips, exagger ated hand motions and of course, a distinct yellow wig — has boost ed SNL’s ratings to new highs they haven’t seen in at least a decade, according to Nielsen Holdings. De spite Trump’s angry tweets, it is likely that SNL’s constant ridicule is actually helping the president more than it is hurting him.

SNL rode Trump’s coattails to new levels of popularity in 2016, but it seems like they are slow to evolve past that. Although some are still funny, most skits make fun of the same stereotypes and make the same jokes over and over again. The only thing that has really evolved is which

by KATE HAMMOND

scandal they can make fun of Trump for; this is why I don’t think SNL can be faulted for overusing these jokes. Trump constantly provides them with some seriously low-hanging fruit for material; some of the things he says already sound like they’re from a comedy sketch. With the scandals he continues to be apart of — as of now, the impeachment inqui

ry — it’s hard to not make sketches about him, especially when those jokes have significantly boosted their ratings. 2016 was one of SNL’s most successful seasons in over 40 years, according to Nielsen Holdings. So whether impersonating the president is an old joke by now or not, no one can really blame SNL for repeating these skits.

they can receive news on an app that they already check every day.

As I walk onto the quad most days, the discussions I hear and partake in are based on current events. Whether it is about the upcoming election or whispers about changes in the school, our conversations are saturated with what we heard, where we heard it and whether we think it is true.

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2017, two-thirds of U.S. adults received their news from social media. For the majority of people who tend to disengage with the news, the social media platforms that have implemented a news aspect are extremely helpful; without much effort, a user can be updated on the news. Specifically, many news sources, ranging from CNN to NBC to Vogue to ESPN, are all on the “Our Stories” aspect of Snapchat. A user can subscribe to one of these sources, and stories will come up each day on their Discover page. Although they generally aren’t the most hard-hitting stories, this aspect of Snapchat makes it easy for users to stay up to date with current events;

The Coat of Arms

According to the Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans say that fake news has left them with a “great deal of confusion” about basic facts, causing distrust in legitimate sources.

Although the increase of technology and digital news platforms seems helpful, it can also cause people to be misinformed or confused. As we live in the era of fake news, the majority of Americans don’t trust the news. According to Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans say that fake news has left them with a “great deal of confusion” about basic facts, caus-

Editor-in-Chief.............................................Samantha

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Geschke Opinions Editor......................................Elisabeth Westermann

Sports Editor....................................................Page Wolfenden

Copy Editor............................................................Parina Patel

Social Media Director........................................Vionna Eshghi

Video Editor.............................................................Emily Han

Photo Editor..............................................................Bella Guel

Assistant News Editor.........................................Sylvie Venuto

Assistant Arts & Lifestyle Editor............. .........Sophia Artandi

Assistant Spread Editor............................. ............Tessa Frantz

Assistant Opinions Editor..................................Chase Hurwitz

Staff Reporters................................................... Ashley Grady, Ella Hartmanis, Lauren Lawson, Georgia Paye, Lucy Pike, Valentina Ross, Shefali Sahai, Hailey Tsuda, Grace Wilson

Staff Photographer.............................................Sadie Stinson

Adviser................................................................Tripp Robbins

ing distrust in legitimate sources. According to Statista, as of March 2018, 52% of Americans felt that online news sources regularly reported fake news.

Many people do not know what to look for while reading the news, so here are a couple of ways to make sure that what you are reading is accurate and how to know when it isn’t.

First, read news like a fact checker. According to Sam Wineburg, a professor of education and history at Stanford University who led a study on news literacy, a solution for readers is to read consciously, like they are fact checkers. Try isolating claims that are made and check them with other sources. Discover whether they match or not, and try to decipher any limitations or bias one source might have.

Second, be able to recognize the name of the source you are reading. Be aware of which sources are known to produce fake news or unreliable facts and the sources that are known to be reliable. Additionally, understand each source’s biases. If you are reading a story from Fox News, real-

What I feel is often overlooked, though, is how much SNL has helped Trump, despite what he may claim in his tweets. The president has seemingly thrived off controversy throughout his presidency. From sexual harassment allegations to Russian interference in the 2016 election, scandals seem unable to bring him down the way they do with other politicians. Trump has even recently said he “thrives on [the controversy],” in regards to the impeachment inquiry, and there’s no one better to add fuel to the fire than SNL.

Every Trump impersonation reaches millions of viewers across multiple platforms, making it impossible to deny the influence the show has on people’s perceptions of the president. As someone who has been emboldened by criticism, Trump is spurred by SNL’s constant mockery to verbally take arms against SNL. By having someone to fight against, Trump unites his fanbase behind a common opposition. There is no doubt SNL leans very liberal, and those views are likely shared by SNL’s most devout fans. By portraying himself as the victim of left-wing media, the president only energizes his die-hard, conservative supporters.

There’s no such thing as bad publicity; whether you believe in that adage or not, it seems to be especially true with the president. Trump’s presidency has helped SNL, but maybe even unknown to the president, Alec Baldwin in orange makeup and a yellow wig returns the favor.

ize that it is a right-leaning news source. If you were to read a story on the same topic from The New York Times, it will likely be written with a more left-leaning bias. It is important to know which way the sources lean politically, especially in today’s political climate. Additionally, it is important to get news from multiple sources, on different sides of the spectrum, in order to understand the full story.

Third, pay attention to quotes and who said them in each story. Especially if a story does not have many quotes or doesn’t use quotes from multiple sources, you might want to be more cautious reading it. If there are studies mentioned that are not linked, look them up.

Today, it is difficult, especially for teenagers, to decipher articles and find trustworthy stories. In the era of “fake news,” many people are unfortunately not trusting the sources that are reputable or detecting ones that aren’t. Being literate in reading news can become easier if you are a more cautious and conscious reader.

The mission of The Coat of Arms is to report accurately and thoroughly on news that is significant to the greater Menlo School community. We will chronicle in context the different events and perspectives within the school, while ensuring unbiased coverage. We welcome feedback and aspire to create an open dialogue with our audience by being accessible on multiple platforms and by striving to remain neutral in all circumstances.

On the Quad: What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving, and how does your family celebrate the holiday?

“My favorite part of Thanksgiving is seeing my family and friends since we don’t have school that week. My family celebrates by eating dinner together, and we usually get Chinese food because we don’t like turkey.”

- Egan Lai ‘21

“There’s no school and no homework, so I like to watch football and watch how the players on my fantasy team perform.”

- Noah Kornfeld ‘22

“My family, being Australian, doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead, we go to Disneyland and we spend time together in that way, but we don’t have a proper dinner.”

- Siena Bundy ‘21

“It’s such an amazing time to reflect on what your family means to you and be grateful for the privileges that you have. My entire family comes together, and we make a big meal and watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.”

- Alta Knuff ‘21

“My favorite part of Thanksgiving is cooking before the meal because I get to cook with my mom, which is really fun.”

- Maya Julian-Kwong ‘22

“One of my favorite parts is a baking competition and being able to eat and have a feast with the whole family. It’s really nice because it’s one of the most chill holidays.”

- William Floyd ‘23

Don’t Worry About Pizza, It Can be Good for You!

by ASHLEY GRADY

There is no such thing as “good” food and “bad” food. Sure, a piece of kale unquestionably has more vitamins and nutrients than a piece of pizza, but defining certain foods or food groups as “good” or “bad” promotes unrealistic and unsustainable eating habits. In fact, the key to healthy living is neither following fad diets nor eliminating all foods that have been deemed as “bad,” according to The Washington Post.

Diet culture is not only damaging to a person’s body image but it has also been shown to have adverse health effects. As an example, people who have lost 10 or more pounds and regained the weight within a year or less are more likely to have poor cardiovascular health, according to a 2019 study by the American Heart Association. This “yo-yo” dieting involving sudden weight fluctuation is fueled by fad diets and the $66.3 billion United States weight loss and diet industry as a whole, according to Time Magazine. These individual fad diets may come and go, but the diet industry has been around for centuries and appears to be here to stay. In the early 1900s, people on the Tapeworm Diet went as far as to swallow beef tapeworm cysts. The goal of the diet was for the tapeworm cysts to grow inside of the dieter’s stomach, and in turn, they would lose weight, according to Health Magazine.

In addition, cigarettes have long been used as appetite suppressants; cigarette brands have launched numerous campaigns advertising accordingly. For one, Lucky Strike Cigarettes promoted their product with the slogan, “When tempted to over-indulge, reach for a Lucky instead!” In the 1970s, those who wanted to lose weight could turn to Dr. Sanford Seigal’s cookie diet. Dieters would eat a number of cookies specifically designed with a day’s necessary nutrients, adding up to a total of around 1,000 calories—an extreme calorie deficit for most people.

Although our understanding of health and the human body has developed enough to understand that ingesting parasites and smoking cigarettes are not wise methods of weight loss, unrealistic diets are not absent from society today. Thousands of people, particularly young women, participate in juice cleanses, over-restrictive diets or ap-

“But what many dieters have found reigns true for all diets that they try: they are ultimately unsustainable.”

petite suppressant teas or candies. But what many dieters have found reigns true for all diets that they try: they are ultimately unsustainable, which can lead to binge eating and again, yo-yo weight gain and loss. As for poor body image, dieting and labeling certain food groups as “good” or “bad” can lead to eating disorders, as people begin to associate guilt with food. “People use ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to describe food as if one is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for eating them. This only leads to guilt and stress from overeating! You are not good for eating kale and bad for eating ice cream,” dietitian Deanna Wolfe, co-founder of HealthyBody Nutrition said.

Instead of focusing on eating a realistic diet that includes eating high-sugar, high-fat or high-carb foods in moderation, many seek to eliminate all foods they consider unhealthy. “I’m asked if fruit is bad because it’s a ‘carb’ at least once per week. The fact that people, who are trying to do right by their heath, actually question if fruit is bad for them is a window into how distorted our society’s view of food is,” said dietician Marjorie Nolan Cohn, owner of MNC Nutrition and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Science’s understanding of nutrition is constantly evolving with new research, so changing one’s diet to align with just one

study seems less reliable than sticking to a sustainable diet of moderation. For decades, the world believed that fat in food was the enemy. Then studies revealed that processed sugars are the primary culprit behind America’s obesity problem. Professor Robert Lustig, a specialist in childhood obesity, even went as far as to characterize sugar as “poison” and “evil” in his 2009 lecture: “Sugar: The Bitter Truth.” In recent years, the Department of Agriculture, the World Health Organization and a plethora of studies and scientists have told the world to limit their intake of red meat, connecting processed meats to heart disease, cancer and other health problems. But four recent studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the most cited medical journals in the world, declare that the negative effects of consuming red meat are completely overstated and not significant enough to take into account.

The bottom line is that our understanding of food and our relationship with food is evolving. There is no one food group that is the enemy; the consensus from dieticians and doctors is to incorporate moderation into your eating. You can’t eat broccoli for every meal, just like you can’t eat chocolate cake for every meal, but there is space for both in a balanced, sustainable diet. “Pizza is often demonized as ‘bad’ because it is high in fat, high in refined carbohydrates and easy to overindulge. But

“You are not good for eating kale and bad for eating ice cream.”

if that pizza isn’t an everyday occurrence and brings friends together, encourages conversation, laughing and connection, the otherwise ‘bad’ food becomes nurturing for your soul. Food inherently is not good or bad,” said Dr. Chris Mohr, co-founder of the nutrition consultation company Mohr Results.

Letter to the Editor

by UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

In the most recent issue of the COA, an article on campus cell phone use quoted Than Healey employing an analogy concerning the use of plastic bottles on campus: “We could, as a school, make a decision to ban single-use plastic water bottles from campus....or, we could work to educate students ...(in the hopes that) they make the ethical choice themselves”. As a department we were deeply disappointed to see this statement. Plastic pollution in our oceans ranks second only to climate change in its impact on our planet’s environment. The statistics are there for all to read, and the photos of plastic pollution in the ocean, on beaches, and in the bellies of marine animals are heartbreaking. Plastics are destroying our oceans. Most people probably do not realize that recycling is not the answer; only 10-15% of plastics are recycled. When plastics are recycled some new plastic pellets are introduced to improve the quality of the product, thus introducing even more plastic into the environment. The only solution is to use less plastic. Water bottles are especially egregious as they require fuel to ship, particularly absurd when potable water is readily available nearby.

It is our belief that the school should not only teach students by presenting the facts, but should also teach by example. Banning single-use plastics on campus sends the message that we take the plastics problem seriously and hope that our students will also. While we realize the use of plastic on campus was not the focus of the article, we would like to see the school pursue a policy of not using plastics - bottles, cups, flatware, plates - on campus. We hope that the administration will seriously consider this proposal and utilize alternatives to plastics at all school functions.

U.S. Companies Must Defend Free Speech Over Business Interests

by ELISABETH WESTERMANN

A recent controversy between the NBA and the Chinese government caused by the general manager of an NBA team expressing support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters has raised alarm about the ways China uses access to its markets as a way to influence American speech.

In early October 2019, Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets, expressed his support for the Hong Kong demonstrations by tweeting a popular slogan among the protesters, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” who are largely peacefully demonstrating for direct elections of legislators, among other demands. Support for the protestors is one of the only issues Americans seem to agree on. Politicians ranging in viewpoint from Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham have expressed support for the demonstrators.

Morey’s tweet sparked an immediate backlash from China. The Chinese Basketball Association cut all ties with the Rockets, and the Chinese state broadcasting company, China Central Television (CCTV), stopped broadcasting NBA preseason games held in China. This response produced the intended results. Morey deleted his tweet and issued an apology, and the NBA issued a statement saying that Morey’s tweet was “regrettable,” in an apparent attempt to repair business relations with China.

This appearance of bowing to Chinese pressure was, in turn, widely criticized by Americans, including politicians as far apart as former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and Republican Senator Ted Cruz. In response, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a defense of free speech. Silver said that “Daryl Morey

is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression,” even though the NBA had suffered “significant losses” in China.

Although the NBA ultimately decided to defend free speech, the influence China originally seemed to have is concerning. The New York Times Editorial Board described China’s actions in response to Morey’s tweet as “a histrionic display intended not just to punish the N.B.A. but also to intimidate other foreign firms.” Unfortunately, the board seems to be correct. There are many examples of other American companies discouraging speech and removing content that could potentially be deemed unsuitable or offensive by Chinese authorities, apparently to maintain access to China’s profitable marketplace.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a few weeks ago Apple removed the app HKmap.live: a crowdsourced map app that enabled Hong Kong citizens to see the locations of police officers and protests, as well as where tear gas was being used and where barricades had been put up. Howev-

er, after criticism from Chinese officials, Apple, (who makes one-fifth of its revenue from sales in China) removed the app from the App Store again, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Smaller companies are subject to the same pressures. According to The New York Times, the American video game company, Blizzard Entertainment, banned a Hong Kong-based player for a year and took away his earnings from competing in and winning tournaments where Blizzard games were played, after he said “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time,” in an interview on the company’s broadcast channel. The company only returned his earnings and shortened his suspension after it faced widespread criticism from players and its employees for its actions. Although the participant’s speech was in violation of a company rule banning speech that could potentially be offensive, it seems unlikely that the company’s reaction would have been so severe if a good relationship with China was not so important to their business interests. Its revenue from China

doubled last year, and China has the largest market for mobile games, according to Market Watch.

China is very clear about its intent to use access of its markets to bully American companies into self-censorship. In response to Silver’s statement that the NBA supports free speech, China Central Television said, “We express strong dissatisfaction and opposition to Silver’s stated support of Morey’s right to free speech. We believe any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability do not belong to the category of free speech. [...] We will also immediately examine all other cooperation and exchanges with the NBA,” according to CNN. As the New York Times Editorial Board wrote, “now China is seeking to control not just what is said in China but what is said about China too.”

In August 2019, 200 CEOs of many leading American companies, including Apple, Amazon and Walmart, signed a “statement on the purpose of a corporation” arguing that companies have important duties in addition to maximizing profits and acting in the interest of shareholders. The first sentence of this statement is that “Americans deserve [...] to lead a life of meaning and dignity.” It is difficult to see how people working for an American corporation can be seen as completely leading lives of “meaning and dignity” if they are not free to express their belief that the citizens of Hong Kong, or China or any other country deserve the same freedoms. American companies should commit to defending fundamental American values such as freedom of speech. Although doing so could mean losing access to markets in countries such as China, CEOs should take inspiration from the courage of the Hong Kong protesters who are putting their lives at risk to preserve the fundamental rights that America stands for.

Current Team Records

Football: 3-7

Boys water polo: 20-8

Girls water polo: 15-9

Volleyball: 18-13

Girls tennis: 19-3

Girls golf: 10-2

* All varsity records include tournament, league and non-league games. Last updated Nov. 9.

Students Reflect on the Merits of Team and Individual Sports

by LUCY PIKE

Team and individual sports often pose different ideas of camaraderie and independence: senior student-athletes Sulwen Ma, Sophie Golub and Ayinde Olukotun reflected on their experiences with both types of sports and the impact they have had on them.

Ma has been an avid golfer since she was 9 years old and has dedicated her athletic career to the sport. Individual sports have been centric to Ma’s athletics, but Menlo golf seems to be a hybrid. “Golf at school is pretty much a team sport. We play as individuals but also very much as a team. Even though we score separately, they get added together as a team score at the end,” Ma said. In this respect, it is hard to categorize golf as an individual or team sport, as it has components of both.

The individuality of golf does not affect the men-

tal game when a part of a general team, according to Ma. “Mentality wise, I don’t see much of a difference. We work together strategically, in terms of lineups and helping each other out on the course,” Ma said. Ma maintains a positive perspective regarding her athletic endeavors whether or not they are individual.

Golub has had experience with both team and individual sports through swimming and water polo. However, she has specialized in water polo by playing on both club and Menlo teams. She prefers team sports based on her water polo experiences. “I love water polo and team sports because they set you up for success a lot more. Swimming makes you focus on yourself, and the only thing you can do to get better is just swimming faster, whereas water polo allows you to succeed in a lot of different ways. For example, you might not make a goal in a game, but you are able to help your team on defense and make great saves,” Golub said.

The mental game also differs significantly for Golub when playing individual or team sports. “Mentality wise, I think that an individual sport is more difficult because, at least when I swam, you feel alone because it is just you all the time,” Golub added.

Olukotun has focused his athletic career on pursuing track and field, an individual sport in his mind. Olukotun recognizes the self-inflicted pressure when it comes to competing for oneself in athletics. “I see a difference between the two [types of sports] because individual sports promote individual responsibility and accountability whereas team sports help develop one’s teamwork skills,” Olukotun said.

He has had positive experiences with track and field because he can see that his hard work directly relate to his success. “I love track because your achievements are directly dependent on the work that you put in to achieve your own goals; they can’t be distilled to something that you only contributed minorly to,” Olukotun added.

The Menlo athletic community is fortunate to offer a wide variety of sport options giving students the opportunity to experience both individual and team sports.

New California Law Allows Compensation of College Athletes

by PAGE WOLFENDEN

The national precedent in college athletics has been that athletes are unable to be compensated for their play, apart from possible scholarship toward their tuition. While there has long been a debate about whether collegiate athletes should be able to receive forms of compensation, the topic gained traction in late September when California State Senator Nancy Skinner proposed SB 206, the “Fair Pay to Play Act,” which would prohibit California schools from punishing their athletes for pursuing compensation through endorsement deals and sponsorships. On Sept. 30, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law, which will go into effect in 2023.

While the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) initially opposed the decision entirely, it has since voted to implement similar policies for each athletic division. On Oct. 29, the NCAA released a statement announcing that they will begin modifying current rules to allow college athletes to be compensated for their “name, image and likeness.” The money will not come from the schools or the NCAA; rather, the athletes can pursue brand deals and advertisements, as well as hire agents to help them do so. Skinner was prompted to create the bill from her belief that college athletes have been taken advantage of by the NCAA,

considering the high revenue certain sports teams bring in and the inability of players to reap any of those finances, accord ing to The New York Times.

“The NCAA, the universities, the media, they’ve made bil lions of dollars on the tal ent of athletes while the athletes have not re ceived anything,” Skinner told the Sacramento Bee.

Following Skinner’s pro posal of the bill, a few large fig ures immedi ately voiced their support through Twitter, including Ver mont Senator Ber nie Sanders and NBA star Lebron James. James said in a tweet, “Call your politicians and tell them to support SB 206! This law is a GAME CHANGER. College ath letes can responsibly get paid for what they do and the billions they create.” Shortly after, Sanders added, “College athletes are workers. Pay them.” With

the law now officially signed by Newsom, college players in California will have the ability to earn compensation. “The law creates an unrestricted market for others who want to use the athlete’s name, image or likeness,” as stated by Dan Murphy of ESPN. While some believe the new law is crucial in allowing athletes to benefit fiscally from their hard work, others feel differently. In the eyes of opponents of the law, professionalizing college athletics poses certain dangerous implications. The Pacific-12 Conference has been heavily critical of the law. The Pac-12 released a statement on the matter: “This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism, imposes a state law that conflicts with

national rules, will blur the lines for how California universities recruit student-athletes and compete nationally.” Certain schools have also individually expressed opposition, including Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Southern California, according to The New York Times. Initially, the NCAA opposed the law as it believed the law gives California an advantage in recruiting and would create an imbalance of talent across college athletics, according to The New York Times. This imbalance would derive from the financial leverage that California would have as a result of the law, as explained by Forbes. Highly skilled players might solely pursue California schools due to the monetary opportunities, thus complicating athletic recruiting on a national level. However, as more states began to propose similar bills to California’s, the NCAA has shifted its attitude and is now working toward a more uniform national policy to avoid conflicting laws state by state. The NCAA’s Board of Governors voted unanimously to begin updating the policies for the three divisions. The move toward allowing monetary gain of college athletes sets an entirely new model for sports at the collegiate level and will likely change the dynamic between athletes, institutions and the NCAA.

Menlo-SHP Rivalry From 1970s Continues to Evolve Today

by EMILY HAN

Menlo has developed an increasingly spirited and neighborly rivalry with Sacred Heart Preparatory since even before the first Valparaiso Bowl (Valpo Bowl) 17 years ago. Although Menlo was founded in 1915, it was an all-boys school until 1979; Sacred Heart, established in 1898 as an all-girls school, switched to being co-ed in the 70s as well. In the years following each school’s transition to being co-ed, both Menlo and Sacred Heart built strong athletic programs for girls and boys, which grew alongside each other and led to a decades-long rivalry.

According to Associate Admissions Director Cindy Lapolla, who joined Menlo in 1991, the rivalry between the two schools was not very prominent until the first Valpo Bowl in 2003, which is the annual football game between Menlo and Sacred Heart. As of 2019, Sacred Heart leads 10-7 in past Valpo Bowl games.

Middle School Athletic Director Joe McDonald, who has watched the growth of both schools’ athletic programs over the past 22 years, believes that the rivalry came about mainly due to the proximity of the two schools. “We always compete against Sacred Heart, so it’s being neighbors and being really close that [leads to the fact that] we play a lot,” McDonald said. Because the Menlo Knights and Sacred Heart Gators compete in the same leagues in nearly every sport, they frequently meet each other in matches.

Moreover, the two schools are located right next to each other on Valparaiso Avenue, so families at both schools are often part of the same neighborhood communities. “We have more spirit and more rivalry with the schools [that students] know. Kids here know kids at Sacred Heart. The other night at the volleyball

game, there were kids [from both schools] hugging each other even though they were cheering against each other,” Lapolla said. McDonald, whose wife is the Middle School Athletic Director at Sacred Heart, hopes for the rivalry to stay strong but also friendly. “I support great competition, and I support collegiali-

ty between the two schools,” he said. According to Lapolla, both schools make an effort to preserve the spirited and good-natured dynamic that exists between them. “Both administrations want to keep the rivalry healthy and are watchful of that. I know that the athletic directors and the deans talk,” she said. Additionally, student-athlete committees from both schools occasionally meet with each other to discuss how to keep the rivalry healthy, Lapolla said.

Having a good rivalry contributes to both schools in positive ways by creating a stronger sense of school spirit and by increasing enthusiasm for athletic games. “Every opportunity we have to play each other, it’s great competition, and students get more excited about playing each other than with any other school,” McDonald said. McDonald adds that he supports the rivalry as long as students remain courteous and understand that the competition should stay within athletics without allowing relationships to turn hostile. “The only thing I don’t like about the rivalry is when people use it to downgrade the other school,” he said.

“Both schools have a good history and if a rivalry builds spirit, that’s a great thing,” Lapolla said. She added that ultimately, both Menlo and Sacred Heart have the same goals: to cultivate an environment where students can grow both academically and athletically and where having a rivalry should build character rather than weaken it.

Committed Athletes Recall College Recruiting Experiences

by VIONNA ESHGHI

Many Menlo students take part in the college recruitment process in order to be considered for admission to certain schools due to their talent in athletics. However, many misconceptions circulate regarding how the process works and what academic life is like for students following their athletic commitments.

Senior Ryan Young verbally committed to Lafayette College to play lacrosse on Nov. 16, 2018, and officially signed a National Letter of Intent with them on Nov. 13, 2019. Young explained that students looking to play Division I lacrosse cannot reach out to schools until Sept. 1 of their junior year. “You can [...] email them, [and] they can only respond about stuff related to their school and encourage you to come out for a prospect day. They can’t tell you anything about your skills, what they want to see in you or anything like that,” Young said. For Young, Lafayette sent him an email on Sept. 1 saying they would announce their official interest in him. Shortly after, he committed to the school. “That part of the process was actually very easy for me as opposed to a lot of other kids; it was pretty straightforward. I just got an email, and then went from there,” Young said.

Senior Gianna Inguagiato, who commited to Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U) to play golf on Sept. 3, 2019, describes the process a little differently.

“If I could give any analogy, the recruiting process is like dating,” Inguagiato said. “Contrary to what most people assume, getting recruited goes so much farther than just being ‘good’ at the sport, having any specific score or recording any time.”

“Getting recruited goes so much farther than just being ‘good’ at the sport.”

Inguagiato says that when meeting coaches, they need to see an athlete’s work ethic, love for the game, respect of authority and personality, among many other qualities. “You have to meet with many coaches, and it’s tough to know exactly where you fall on their list because they are looking for the best deal, just like you are. That being said, you really have to make the effort to be known,” Inguagiato said.

For her experience with golf, Inguagitao recalled coaches visiting many of her tournaments to watch without commentary. “They aren’t going to just come over to you because they saw one amazing swing, they have a list of people to watch and you won’t likely be on their list unless you have reached out to them first,” Inguagiato said. “Once you email them and send over a compilation of tournament results, if they are remotely interested, they will set up a call. From there they get to know you a little better. As things go farther, they will ask for your tournament schedule, trying to find an event they can come to where they want to see you specifically,” Inguagiato said. After this, athletes must be sure to stay in touch because at this point in the process, “[col-

leges] won’t be begging for your attention every second,” according to Inguagiato.

Athletes are often secretive about sharing the schools they are communicating with or thinking of committing to. Senior Carly Retterer, who committed to Dartmouth College for soccer during Feb. 2019, believes this is something Menlo students do only with other Menlo students. “I think it’s partly because there’s this idea that if you’re an athlete, you have a much easier way to get into college. A lot of athletes feel undervalued about how much work they put into what they did,” Retterer said. “Personally, I was secretive just because there are people on my team and in my club competing for the same spot and there are usually only seven spots per class per school when it comes down to it, there are seven spots for an entire class for a specific school.” Young believes athletes can be secretive about the recruitment process so that other students do not question their decision. “I think people don’t want to talk about it because if they don’t choose another school over another, they don’t want people to be questioning their decision,” Young said. “[Athletes don’t want

people thinking], ‘Oh, you got a place from university x, but you went to [university] y instead.’ I also think that people don’t want to brag [about the number of calls received from universities.]”

Inguagiato recalls the experience of becoming a committed athlete being much different than she thought it would be. “I have to say, before I committed, I thought that being committed was this fantasy land where I wouldn’t have to care about anything. I thought I could go to the city or the beach and just relax,” Inguagiato said. “In reality, it doesn’t really feel much different. I don’t want my grades to be reported back and for my coach to think I am slacking. I still try hard and want to do well; in fact, my grades have pretty much stayed the same.” Inguagiato explains that the only difference is that it is easier for her to mentally overcome a bad grade. “[I can] reassure myself that it is not the end of the world, whereas before, I would start to go down a spiral thinking I wasn’t going to make it to college because of one bad test.”

November 15, 2019

Committed Corner Committed Corner

Trevor Perez, Wash U

by LUCY PIKE

Senior Trevor Perez committed to play Division III soccer for Washington University at St. Louis (Wash U) last spring. Perez follows in his brother, Kyle Perez’s (‘15) footsteps to Wash U, who was also a member of the soccer team.

Perez began his soccer career at the age of 5 and has played for the Genesis Club and Alpine Club. Soccer has been at the center of his athletic endeavors since fifth grade, when he decided to make it his main sport. In high school, he has played on Menlo’s varsity team for the past three years as a central midfielder, as well as participated in club soccer. Perez said that his position on the field may change. “I’m not sure if I’ll end up playing a slightly more defensive role, but definitely somewhere in central midfield,” he said.

Perez has a genuine appreciation for different aspects of the sport. “I like how it is a fast-paced game, and something is always happening, where there’s not a lot of pauses, and how it’s really strategic,” he said. Playing soccer in college has been a longterm goal for Perez. “Once I got over like the childish thinking like, ‘Oh, I’m going pro,’ then collegiate soccer has always been the aspiration,” he said. The soccer team at Wash U will be no exception in terms of competition for Perez, as they are a prominent team in Division III Men’s Soccer.

Perez decided that Wash U was the place for him to continue his athletic and academic career after seeing it first hand. “When I went out for my visit at Wash U,

I really loved it and there was a great student vibe. I fit in well with the social scene there I think,” Perez said. The academics at Wash U are also of great interest to Perez. “They have a joint business computer science major, but they’ve just started [it] and not a lot of schools offer that so it was really appealing to me,” he said.

Cole Kastner, University of Virginia

by VALENTINA ROSS

Senior Cole Kastner, a double-sport varsity athlete, committed to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Virginia in late July 2019. Kastner will be playing in his third season on Menlo’s varsity lacrosse team this upcoming spring.

Sports have been a large part of Kastner’s life; he has been playing basketball since first grade, and he started playing lacrosse in sixth grade as a midfielder. Kastner became more serious about lacrosse in eighth grade, when he switched from the position of midfield to defense, which is what he currently plays and will continue to play at Virginia. He currently plays for the West Coast Stars, which is a team based in San Diego. They focus on getting West Coast players as much exposure to coaches and schools as possible since East Coast lacrosse players tend to receive the most exposure. During his freshman year, Kastner “tried to put [himself] on the best team possible and in the best venue possible to be seen and to play against good competition.”

Although Kastner enjoys playing both basketball and lacrosse, he chose to continue with lacrosse because he felt he was at a disadvantage with his height in basketball, whereas height is not as much of a factor in lacrosse. However, Kastner has been able to apply similar skills to both sports. “The footwork and different skills that I’ve developed from basketball translate to lacrosse,” Kastner said.

He admits it was not a simple choice choosing between lacrosse and basket-

ball. “It was definitely a really hard choice for me because I’ve devoted my whole life to playing basketball and working on that,” Kastner said. However, because of the skills he learned in basketball, he was able to continue improving in both sports.

Despite the fact that Kastner has committed to play lacrosse in college, “I’m still working just as hard as if I were to continue playing basketball, and I’m looking forward to great basketball and lacrosse seasons,” he said. Kastner also mentioned that he would be able to play pickup basketball in college or recreation games. The basketball coach at UVA offered that Kastner could try to walk on to the team so that he could play in college.

Even though Kastner long believed he was going to play basketball in college, he looks forward to further pursuing lacrosse.

ball and lacrosse, Kastner has chosen to continue playing lacrosse collegiately. Photo courtesy of Cole Kastner.

Charlotte Tomkinson, Duke University Gianna Inguagiato, Wash U

by KYRA GESCHKE

Senior Charlotte Tomkinson committed to run Division I cross country and track for Duke University on Sept. 16, 2019. Tomkinson has been a captain of the Menlo girls’ cross country and track teams for three years, and has led both teams to state championship meets. Despite her recent success, Tomkinson has not always been a runner. She started her athletic career with swimming at the age of 6, and continued until the end of her freshman year. She also regularly competed in triathlons from the age of 9 until the end of her freshman year as well. “At the end of my freshman year, I realized I only liked one of the sports I was doing, and that is when I got serious about running,” Tomkinson said.

Tomkinson has run for Menlo’s varsity cross country and track teams the past four years, and lead the varsity cross country team to the state finals the past three years. Additionally, Tomkinson competed in the 800-meter event in the state championship meet for track last year, earning second place by less than a second. “The 800-meter and 400-meter relay races are my favorites. The 800 is definitely my sweet spot for speed and endurance, but the [400]-meter relay is really fun because it is the last event of the meet and you run it with a team so it is really exciting,” Tomkinson said.

Tomkinson feels very grateful to her coach, Jorge Chen, and her family for their support throughout her athletic career. “I attribute a lot of my success to my coach Jorge, because he believes in me when I don’t believe in myself. But, I also could not be where I am without the support of my parents and sister. They listen to me talk about track all the time, get me where I need to be and support me so all I need to do is show up and run,” Tomkinson said.

Chen has coached Tomkinson for seven years and has seen her develop as an athlete and team player. “Charlotte is not only a great runner and athlete but she’s a phenomenal team-first leader. She’s a confident yet humble competitor. It’ll be a bittersweet handoff when the time comes since I’ll miss her, but it’ll be very exciting to see the great things that she’ll do at the next level,” Chen said.

For this year’s cross country and track seasons, Tomkinson hopes to continue on the success they had last year.

“For cross country, our team is better than it’s ever been, so we are going for a podium at State as a team. And for track, I am hoping to get back to the state finals in the 800-meter race and hopefully improve on my second place finish last year.”

by PAGE WOLFENDEN

Senior Gianna Inguagiato recently committed to play Division III golf at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U). Inguagiato has been a key player on the Menlo varsity golf team since her freshman year and is currently a team captain.

Although Inguagiato has a long history playing various sports, it wasn’t until the summer before going into eighth grade when she began to pursue golf. “I played a lot of other sports while growing up. I was really into tennis and basketball, and I did a lot of running. I also played softball and even tried lacrosse for a little bit, [... but] I actually got a pretty late start on golf,” Inguagiato said. It did not take long for her to realize her passion for the sport from there. “That summer, I played every single day. I just kept getting hooked on the feeling of hitting a really good shot and kept coming back to get better and better. [...] Over Christmas break of eighth grade, I played my first competitive event,” Inguagiato said.

As a primarily individual sport, Inguagiato sees both positives and negatives in golf. She values the individual aspect, as it relates to her ability to focus on personal growth and hone her skills. “I really like that [golf] is something that you can always work on. [...] You don’t really have any restrictions as to when you can and cannot practice, so it gives me more opportunity to become better and find my best self,” Inguagiato said.

Although there is a large element of individuality in golf, Inguagiato also gets a sense of community through the Menlo golf team. “Obviously being on a team is a lot of fun and I do get that with the high school team. I really enjoy the season and we all get along well. We really push each other to do better in competition,” she said.

During her recruiting process, Inguagiato wavered between both Division I and III teams. Ultimately, she looked for the school that could offer her the greatest ability to succeed as a golfer and a student. “Even though Wash U is Division III and [another option was] Division I, I thought that I would actually improve more as a golfer playing at Wash U. [...] In golf, you’re just playing against the course so [the division] doesn’t really change how I’m going to play. I just looked more for the program that was going to help me,” Inguagiato said. “Also, when I talked with the coach, she had a different philosophy than most other coaches in terms of bettering the player.”

In addition to the strong appeal of Wash U’s golf program, Inguagiato always wanted to choose a school that she loved regardless of whether golf was in the picture or not. “Totally disregarding golf and the divisions, my number one priority was to find a school [where] I was going to thrive as a person, and if I wasn’t playing golf or if I had an injury, that I would still love,” she said. “I absolutely felt that way with Wash U, so I knew I had to go with it.”