Who is Facing the Consequences of Gentrification in Oakland?

Known as one of the most diverse cities in the country throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, Oakland, California, is a place of immense historical and cultural significance. However, in recent years, the social and economic landscape of the city has changed rapidly. The very streets where the Black Panther party was formed, and where its founders discussed issues of race, politics, and culture, are now bustling with yoga moms, bearing reusable Whole Foods bags in one hand and oat milk cold brews in the other. With new, wealthier residents pouring in, many Oakland natives are being pushed out.

How did this city undergo such an immense transformation in a matter of years? The answer lies in what is commonly referred to as gentrification: the process of the middle class moving to less affluent neighborhoods for cheaper housing, forcing residents to relocate in response to increasing home prices. Though gentrification is not unique to Oakland, it was named one of the two most gentrified cities in the country by a 2020 study from The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, along with its neighbor across the bay, San Francisco. While proponents of gentrification assert that new residents help improve cities by strengthening the economy and increasing funding to public services, many Oakland residents are reluctant to embrace this phenomenon.

In 2010, Oakland had a population of 390,724, with white residents making up 25.9% of the city and African-American residents making up 28%. Nine years later, the racial demographics of the city had changed drastically. With a population of 433,031, 35.5% of Oakland residents were white, and 23.8% African-American. Shifting demographics can be partially attributed to the desirability of closer proximity to San Francisco and cheaper prices. According to a report from Causa Justa, a housing advocacy group based in the Bay Area, the rent prices in places historically inhabited by African American communities have significantly increased in the past decade. North Oakland and West Oakland are two such examples.

The changing demographics of Oakland bring many to question whether the culture of the city has suffered due to gentrification. Sheng Thao, Oakland’s District 4 Councilmember, discussed changes in her district of the city that she has witnessed through her work.

“In a city as diverse as Oakland, any major change in demographics impacts the ways communities function. Shared lived experiences inspire culture and art that makes a community thrive, and if there is an exodus of one community, like our black residents, then the culture and art of Oakland takes a big hit,” Thao said. 

Despite claims that new stores and residents will help fix systemic issues in the city, Thao urges instead to invest in existing communities in Oakland. 

“Market rate development is not the cure to this problem. Only strong investments into these communities such as affordable housing, violence interruption programs, after school programming, strong educational services, and so forth will help heal these communities,” Thao said.

Among those facing the consequences of gentrification are children in public schools. 

“There's been more funding to the public schools following Prop 39. The problem, though, is that 45% of the funding goes to the 30% of the students that are in charter schools in Oakland. So while there's more funding for the schools, it's not equally distributed,” said Melissa (Barry) Hansen ‘85, a fifth grade teacher at Oakland’s Bella Vista Elementary School and an Athenian alum.

This lack of funding has impacted the ease with which public school administrators can purchase supplies for the school year.

“Our principal at Bella Vista didn't have the money to buy supplies this year,” Hansen explained.

Proponents of this development in Oakland point out that in tandem with the city’s changing demographics, the poverty rate has decreased by 9.2% since 2010. Whereas in cities like San Francisco, gentrification is synonymous with an increase in the white population, parts of Oakland have also seen an increase in middle class Latinx individuals moving to the city, starting small businesses in many neighborhoods.

“Where we once had vacant storefronts, we now have Latino businesses,'' former East Oakland Councilman Larry Reid said in an interview with SFGate.

Though residents of Oakland have differing opinions regarding the gentrification of their city, the effects of this phenomenon are far from over and will continue to reshape the face of Oakland for years to come.

Unpublic Public Spaces: Hostile Architecture and Culture

Tattered tents, dirtied sleeping bags, and cardboard beds litter the streets of San Francisco, manifesting the housing shortage that has been plaguing California since the 1980s. A combination of developments–from cuts to mental health services and public housing, to rising unemployment rates and house prices–forced thousands of citizens out of their homes decades ago. 

The consequences are still apparent today: in California alone, over 161,500 people experience homelessness on any given day, making it the U.S, state with the largest homeless population. Among that group, about 71% are living without shelter—sleeping on the streets of the Golden State. However, hostile architecture, also known as “anti-homeless architecture,” threatens to make matters worse. This facet of urban design is used to purposely restrict human behavior, targeting the people who use those public spaces out of necessity.

TJ Johnston, a reporter for the Coalition on Homelessness, a policy and advocacy organization for unhoused people, explains how some communities have been disproportionately affected by homelessness.

“The African-American community in San Francisco, while only representing maybe about 5% of the city's population, constitutes about 37% of the unhoused population,” Johnston said. “And you could find a similar trend with Latinx people and with the LGBTQ community . . . and I think it all goes back to affordability, or the lack thereof.”

Hostile architecture, described by Johnston as “another tactic to exclude unhoused people from public space,” is present everywhere, though easily ignored by housed people. However, the people directly targeted can't afford that luxury. Spikes embedded in the concrete, for example, make it impossible for someone to lay down and find shelter for the evening, but someone unaffected by homelessness walks by without thinking twice. 

“If you're not actively looking for them, they pretty much blend into the background,” Johnston said. “But once you see those particular patterns, say, like, a park bench that has an armrest right in the middle, you just can't unsee it, no matter how hard you try.”

As Johnston has personally experienced homelessness, he holds a personal opinion on the public design that directly affected him. 

“You know, seeing spikes on a windowsill, or studs on the sidewalk, I see those as, not just ugly, but cruel,” Johnston said. “And there are so many things to worry about when you're living without housing. And that's just one more added annoyance, to see all these studs, spikes, fences, rocks, or anything that would keep somebody from enjoying a moment of comfort.”

Lack of awareness of these inhumane designs is a major reason why they still exist. 

“Just recently, it seems like cities across the U.S. are kind of becoming aware of the human crisis that is homelessness,” Johnston said. “And not just as a nuisance or an eyesore to people who are housed. And there have been efforts in the past few years, and I think maybe the COVID pandemic, kind of like you know, helped spur things or kick things into gear.” 

Johnston recommends everyday actions that people can take to help. 

“Urge our elected officials and our local governments to move towards actual solutions to homelessness,” Johnston said. “In the meantime, support your unhoused neighbors in any way that you can. Getting to know your unhoused neighbors . . . affirms their autonomy, their own personhood. Do it in a way that makes them feel that they're human and that they're worthy of support.”

Opinion: Should Spanish-Speaking Countries Integrate the Gender-Neutral Pronoun “Elle”?

Anyone who has ever taken an introductory-level Spanish class was taught the binary gender pronouns “ella” and “él”, which parallel the English-language feminine and masculine identities “she” and “he”. These gendered pronouns are necessary to certain Spanish language sentence constructions, which have not seen widespread use of a nonbinary pronoun like “they.” 

For example, the English-language sentence “they went to the movies” could refer to an individual; whereas the closest Spanish translations–“ella fue al cine” or “él fue al cine” are gendered. No official pronoun equivalent of “them” is widely accepted in Spanish.

So, what are people who don’t identify in the binary meant to do? How can someone express that identity when the fundamental grammatical structure of a language doesn’t include a fitting pronoun? The solution is simple: the integration of the gender-neutral pronoun “elle”. 

Dramatized confusion is the main talking point that opposition parties use to argue against this shift in language, but when it comes down to it, it’s clear that these arguments are based on plain and simple homophobia, disguised as concern for clarity. 

In any case, this pronoun would be used only in specific instances, seeing as only around 3% of Spanish-speaking individuals identify with the term “Latinx” (another way to express Latin heritage, devoid of gender), according to a 2020 poll by Pew Research Center. In cases when “elle” would be used, context clues would inform individuals involved in these interactions of who was being referred to. 

Language is ever-changing, and new terminology is constantly being introduced into the dictionary due to things like internet culture. Fifty years ago, phrases like “I’m going to snap someone”, a reference to Snapchat culture, and “Just send me a DM!”, a reference to the direct messaging feature on Instagram, meant nothing. Now, they are commonplace, just like the 520 additional words that are added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary every year.

There is no reason for a small shift–the introduction of a new pronoun–to be causing this much controversy, especially seeing how fluid the rest of language historically has been. Existing as a non-binary individual in the Spanish-speaking world is already challenging enough, due to the machismo culture that is omnipresent. The integration of “elle” would only work to validate gender non-conforming individuals. 

The Rhode Island Institute of Technology defines the phenomenon of machismo culture as, “a strong sense of masculine pride. In Latino culture, machismo is more than just a word, as it is so embedded in the culture that it is not only accepted but often even expected.” 

This same machismo culture, which perpetuates gender norms and works to enforce male superiority is the driving force that is working against including non-binary individuals in the first place. No matter how vehemently advocates argue in support of introducing “elle” into the common vernacular, it’s a cultural shift that’s unfortunately unlikely to happen soon.

Meet Meadow Davis, Athenian’s New Upper School Head

In August of 2021, the Athenian student body entered the school year with a new Assistant Head and Head of Upper School: Meadow Davis. As an incredibly important and well-known faculty position, the Head of Upper School role entails a wide variety of responsibilities and expectations, some of which are less prominent than others.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about the experience of students on our campus, as well as that of the adults who support them in their learning,” Meadow said. “I work closely with faculty, and with students, to understand what is working and what we need to think about shifting and changing to better meet the needs of our community. In addition to my work with the Upper School, I also get to work with Lauren Railey, Head of the Middle School, to ensure a positive and connected experience from sixth through twelfth grade.”

Even before her time at Athenian, Meadow was drawn to school administration and similar types of work, largely due to her desire to help people live rich lives.  

“I got my master’s in nonprofit management and was working with nonprofits. Then, for 15 years, I worked at Bowdoin [College] with college students, where I was in charge of student culture,” Meadow said. “The work I do now is primarily driven by how I can ensure students live happy, healthy, and meaningful lives in high school, college, and beyond.”

However, there is a reason Meadow now works at Athenian rather than at another high school that could have fulfilled her inclination to improve the social and academic lives of younger students. Namely, she is drawn to the pillars of Round Square and other similar principles that are ingrained in Athenian’s foundation.

“When I looked at the Round Square pillars—those were all pieces that I value in my own life. The idea that I could be part of a school that was really thinking about not only academics, but also how to think in a holistic way, was really interesting to me,” Meadow said. “Personally, I have two children who go here, so I also wanted a school where they would be engaged and excited; I wanted an adventure. California felt like a different world.” 

Still at the very beginning of her career at Athenian, Meadow has much time to experience and appreciate Athenian student culture. She’s looking forward to observing and cultivating Athenian’s democratic processes—from town meetings to the Pillars.

“I’m so excited by the student voice at Athenian,” Meadow said. “I’ve been working with the Town Meeting Officers… and learning how to help students identify the change they want to make and help them get the skills to make those changes.”

On a more personal level, Meadow cites her outside hobbies as a way she works to bring joy to her own life.  

“I love hiking. My husband and I hiked a big part of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Virginia,” Meadow said. “I love to read—mostly fiction. And, of course, I love spending time with my family.”

In fact, Meadow describes this familial connection as one of the most important and formative components of her life. Motherhood has brought her a new outlook on the world, as well as granting her the ability to deeply understand the students she is working with, many of whom are the same age as her children.

“A really important thing in my life is the fact that I am a mom,” Meadow said. “Raising two young people and working with the same age as the kids I am raising is a really interesting thing to do.”

All of these facets of Meadow’s life have shaped her into the multidimensional individual that she is. While the exact future of The Athenian School is unclear, one thing remains certain: students now have a caring and approachable Head of Upper School to turn to in times of need.

Review: Archer Farms Non-Dairy Vanilla Cake & Cookie Dough Frozen Dessert

Archer Farms, a relatively new player in the world of vegan ice cream products, didn’t disappoint us when we tried its Vanilla Cake and Cookie Dough frozen dessert. Unfortunately, Archer Farms didn’t wow us either. This frozen dessert is a solid option for anyone looking for a run-of-the-mill vegan alternative to ice cream, but not a flavor that you should go out of your way for.

If you’re a fan of almond milk and love its nutty roasted flavor, this pinky perfection may be something you can get behind. However, despite the great-tasting base of almond milk, it has a fairly watery consistency. As almond milk is mainly made of almonds and water, this dessert does not hold its shape well and melts very quickly. However, if you enjoy more icy and light desserts, this may be something you may want to try!

Although the feel of scooping this ice cream is not a perfect emulation of scooping real ice cream, the cookie dough chunks increase the overall enjoyability of this treat, as they diversify the texture present.

Archer Farms makes this dairy alternative available in quite a few different flavors, giving fans of the dessert a wide variety. The vanilla cake and cookie dough flavor do a nice job of imitating the taste of cookie dough while still maintaining a semi-sweet vanilla background.

To some, the big swirls of fudge and chewy cookie dough of this ice cream are the perfect blend. However, to others, they may result in a strange texture that is an odd combination of watery and thick and generally unpleasant.

Overall, this treat is great to try out, but you should consider that it tends to melt relatively quickly, and does not exactly replicate dairy ice cream, factors that may easily bring this treat from an enjoyable and light dessert to one that may leave you quite unsatisfied.

Taste: 🍦🍦🍦/5

Consistency: 🍦🍦 /5

Similarity to Ice-Cream: 🍦🍦/5

Overall: 🍦🍦/5 

Vandalism and Theft: How the Devious Licks TikTok Trend Ravaged Schools

In the first few weeks of the academic year, a viral TikTok trend held schools across the country hostage. The trend involved students purposefully vandalizing and stealing from their schools to post what they did on TikTok.

The majority of the vandalism occurred in boys’ bathrooms. Students ripped out soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, sinks, and even urinals straight from the walls and took them home.  

The trend first hit Bay Area public schools in early September. Damage has been severe, causing  bathroom closures and the diminishment of emergency supplies at several schools.

“Unfortunately, only the PE locker room, 1000 Building and Commons boys' restrooms will be open for the rest of the week,” Dougherty Valley School Principal Evan Powell wrote in an email to parents. “Our reserve supplies have been depleted within one week and we are waiting for the next order to arrive.” 

Although parents and administrators are furious, the destruction has affected students the most.

“It is hard to go to the bathroom at school because there is no soap anywhere,.” cComplained Trent Rong ’23, a student from San Ramon Valley High School.

Locally, stolen goods were not only limited to bathroom supplies. According to the SRVUSD parents Facebook group, a golf cart was stolen from a house near San Ramon Valley High and flipped several times in the school parking lot. Even though the incident happened off of school grounds, it is suspected that the theft was motivated by the TikTok trend.

“I was going to the bathroom and smelled incense,” Rong said when talking about other incidents at San Ramon Valley High School. “I walked out of my stall and then the fire alarm went off. I heard screaming and when I looked into the open stall I saw two kids flushing flames down the toilet.”

“Someone blew up the a porta potty at SRV and got the bomb squad called on him … He used fireworks.” San Ramon Valley High School student Ila Milelli ’23, said.

Though less frequent, vandalism has also occurred at middle schools. 

“Someone at my school flushed the soap dispensers and paper towel things down the toilet,” said Keaton ’28, a student from Charlotte Wood Middle School. “Now it's clogged.”

When asked about devious licks at school, administrators from San Ramon Valley High, Monte Vista, Cal High, and Dougherty Valley all refused to comment. The San Ramon Valley Unified School District also refused to comment.

On September 17th an email informed the Dean of Students Susie Childs, the Chief Operations Officer Keith Powell, the Director of Operations Bridget Guerra, the head of the Maintenance Department Johnny Payton, and the SSC Manager Karla Simmons of the trend through an ABC news article.

Later, on September 29th, Childs was informed of an Athenian incident in which the paper towel dispenser was torn off the wall and the urinal shield shoved into the back of the sit-down toilet.

“Tearing the toilet paper off the wall maybe it could have been an animal but putting the urinal shield in the toilet was definitely a person.” Childs said. “There’s no way a racoon or another animal could think of doing that.”

So far, the culprit has not publicly been identified. Furthermore, an anonymous source from the Disciplinary Committee said that there has been no trial for the individual responsible.

The wave of attacks has subsided since the months of September and October and American schools hope it will continue that way.

Virginia Governor's Race: Predictor of Upcoming Elections?

The 2022 midterm elections are around the corner as Democrats and Republicans are faced with their first real test in next week's Virginia governor's race. The race will provide the first snapshot of the political shape of this country with Democrat Terry McAuliffe running against Republican Glenn Youngkin. Democrats hope to end the trend of Virginia governors in the opposite party of the sitting president winning elections. A McAuliffe win could potentially create momentum for Democrats to pull off an upset in the 2022 elections. 

Historically, the party that elects a first-term president loses congress in the succeeding midterm elections. Democrats hope to find a variety of issues to base their 2022 campaign off of the outcome of this election. 

Zakiya Newman, of Youth Leaders World Learning said, “This is a major test for the two parties to test out their campaign strategies, but since Virginia has such diverse demographics that are representative of America, it will also be the closest indicator we have to what party will have more political power in the coming years.”

Virginia consists of near equal numbers of urban, suburban and rural voters of all races and economic classes, making it a good reference point for voter turnout.

In an interview with Nathan Warters of W&M news, William and Mary professor John Mcglennon said, “Key questions are going to be related to turnout, and there's not that much persuasion going on in this election campaign. There's a relatively small number of voters who really don't know which way they'll wind up on Election Day.” 

The level of undecided voters is at an unprecedented low, so the two campaigns will be more concerned with getting their established voters to the ballots instead of convincing others to vote for them. This creates a unique opportunity for the two parties to test out their platforms, yet also inhibits them from understanding what will encourage undecided voters to the ballots. 

For Republicans, this election presents an opportunity to capitalize off of receding Biden approval ratings. Phillip M. ‘23, Co-leader of the Political Inclusion Club at Athenian said, “The Republicans are being offered a fresh start; [Former President Donald] Trump has lost a level of relevance while recent errors in Afghanistan have lessened Biden’s popularity. The Republicans are being given a chance to go on the offensive, which if successful in Virginia, could continue them into 2022 and beyond.” 

Republican Glenn Youngkin is trying to carefully distance himself from Trump, publicly acknowledging Biden’s victory yet not going so far as to condemn the insurrection. The American political field is shifting, though the direction the country chooses to take is yet to be decided.

How Should We Combat Our Ever Increasing National Deficit

Photo Credit: Zimmytws/shutterstock.com

By Zach McGraw

As of May 2021, the United States national debt is approximately $26.51 trillion dollars, which is roughly 130 percent of the U.S. GDP. Many believe this number is worthy of being considered a national crisis, while others think it is extremely misleading, prompting the question: How much of an impact does the national deficit have on our lives? 

Prominent politicians such as Rand Paul have called for the lowering of the national debt, saying, “We have seen currencies and countries fall under their unsustainable debt. Interest on the debt this year alone is $261 billion, more than we spend on the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, the EPA, NASA, NSF, and the Small Business Administration, combined. While our national debt continues to grow, investors will become uncertain of the government's willingness or ability to pay U.S. debt obligations. It is time that we get our fiscal house in order to prevent potential catastrophe and keep this outrageous national debt from falling on our children and grandchildren.” 

People wary of the debt often believe that an overload of debt will drive away any potential investors.  

Another concern is that debt can only be paid off by printing more money and simultaneously creating high inflation rates. Athenian student Phillip McClure elaborated on this issue.

“I am okay with the prospect of having debt—it is important to find a balance where we can pay off the debt we take in, but spending without any boundaries will only create problems we will have to deal with in the future.” 

Other students such as Kasey Kazliner view the the national debt as a complex issue, being both good and bad, “I’m worried about the debt getting too large but at least the government is using this money to actually be a force of good for society, instead of using it to give tax breaks to the rich like they usually do,”

Another area of concern for people worried about the debt is the historical implications of countries racking up too much debt; some look at Greece when referencing this issue. In 2009 Greece’s budget deficit was 12.9 percent of its GDP, far higher than the European Union cap of three percent. Greece caused a global scare after the recession when they announced that they may default on their loans, which might have caused another recession. 

But economists say this is actually an example of how the government deficit is not as harmful as we believe it is. Top economists such as Stephanie Kelton believe we are looking at the debt incorrectly, and that there are two players in an economy: a currency user and a currency issuer. The reason why many perceive the debt as dangerous is that they look at the debt from the lens of a currency user, who sees the debt like a household budget where you can’t spend more money than you have. But the other part of this equation is the currency issuer, who sets the value of the currency and controls inflation and the percentages each person pays in taxes to the government. Kelton says that Greece was a currency user since they had recently joined the EU, making it possible for them to go broke, but a currency issuer like the United States does not operate under the same set of rules. 

While the government has been operating under these guidelines for a while, political activists and economists question if the deficit is being used productively. 

Jason Holt, a tech investor, said in an interview, “The U.S. has been increasing the debt for a while now, which in itself is good; but the sad reality is that when America increases its deficit it usually is just going to tax breaks for the rich and benefits for powerful corporations.” 

The deficit can be used for good, but oftentimes it contributes more to the wealth gap than it takes away. Depending on whom you ask, the deficit may either be considered a crisis, or an opportunity to help the economy and American citizens in need.

The Re-emergence of Shoegaze and Dreampop

Graphic By Alekhya Maram

By Sahana Garg

The experimental guitar synthesizer sound of dream pop began to rise in popularity in the early 1970s, and its incredible musical influence remained popular until the early 1990s. Such sub-genres of music are hard to describe, but dream pop could be best explained as a crossbreed of 60s psychedelic rock, pop, indie rock, and British alt-rock. The most notable feature about dream pop is the fact that the vocals aren’t the primary focus of the songs. Instead, the voices are used in an almost background music-like fashion, and instead, the focus lies on the instrumentation of the guitars, synthesizers, and fast-paced drums.

Shoegaze was heavily influenced by Dreampop and  contains a hazier, louder, and distorted sound. Although both are categorized separately, they shared many similarities, and therefore fans. Shoegaze is primarily a neo-psychedelic category of dream pop that reached peak popularity in England in the early 1980s.

Both genres were curated by groups such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Lush, the Cocteau Twins, and Ride. The way that many people identify what category certain albums should belong in is by comparing the songs to My Bloody Valentine’s star hit, “When You Sleep.” If a song doesn’t sound similar to “When You Sleep,” the Shoegaze community doesn’t accept it as a part of their genre.

Although they emerged many decades ago, Dreampop and Shoegaze are rising back to popularity with Gen-Z’s often retro-obsessive, and sometimes outcast-feeling teenagers. The reason why such genres have risen back to popularity in the last 10 or so years does not have a direct explanation. Many attribute  it to teenagers searching for a comfort genre in lonely times especially during the pandemic while others say that it is due to the rise of more recent groups such as Jay Som, the Beach Fossils, Cigarettes After Sex, Salvia Plath, and the re-emergence of Mazzy Star, the 80s hit duo of Hope Sandoval and David Roback. Their most notable song is “Fade Into You” which was recently re-released as well as covered by country turned pop-rock star, Miley Cyrus.

Although many groups have brought Dreampop back to popularity, I would like to highlight the duo, Beach House, founded in 2004. Started by members, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, the alternative Dreampop group has redefined “lonely” with their hit single, “Space Song,” which has been increasing in popularity with teens on social media platforms such as TikTok. The pair has released 7 albums throughout the last 12 years the most notable being, “Depression Cherry” in 2015, a personal favorite from the album being “PPP”. Beach House reports the Cocteau Twins being their largest musical influence, underscoring  the reemergence of Shoegaze. To learn more about them, click on the Spotify link listed below.

With the moody but ethereal varieties of such categories slowly rising back into popularity in this post-Covid world, musical experts predict an exponential increase in listeners across all platforms and therefore increases in related genres such as indie rock and alternative music as well.

Some final playlist, song, and album recommendations:

Dreampop Classics

Shoegaze Classics

My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” Album

The Cocteau Twins’ “Heaven or Las Vegas” Album

Mazzy Star’s “So Tonight That I Might See” Album

Beach House

Never Have I Ever Been More Horrified by a Show

Photo Credit: Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com

By Sonya Surapaneni

There’s nothing more infuriating than watching a show, hating it, and then listening to everyone else rave about how amazing it is. Nothing more annoying than listening to people talk about how they binged it all in a day, or how they excused the absurdity of the show because it was too “addicting,” or even how they wished there were more seasons of the dreadful “masterpiece,” as they called it. And this is exactly how I felt about Never Have I Ever--the only show I have ever watched in a day, and hated with a burning passion. 

Although I strongly oppose watching the show, of course, it has its supporters and fans rooting for the show till the end. Found on Netflix and various other streaming sites, the show focuses on an Indian girl, Devi, getting through high school with the highest GPA she can acquire, accumulating her extracurriculars on the way. As she balances her over-exaggerated Indian family, perfectly weird friends, and absurd crushes through the years, she continues to try to assimilate—hoping to fit in with the crowd at her school. Comedic and goofy on the surface, the show may look like a classic, but when looking deeper, we explore the problematic faults that the show reeks of—simply bringing us back years to before progress was ever made for the South Asian community.

As a first generation Indian teen, Devi begins the show with the great loss of her dad. As she continues to attend school, she battles all of her pent-up trauma and emotions, as she’s unable to talk to anyone about it except her therapist. Since South Asians don’t get a lot of representation in the media for getting aid for their mental health, this is seemingly progressive in the show, as many viewers (including me) thought, but led to a massive let-down. Nalini begins the episode (Season 1 Episode 11) with an extreme face of disgust towards therapy, claiming that she doesn’t believe in it. She further says “therapy is only for white people” directly to the therapist, but still continues to take advantage of the therapy session. This is problematic in so many ways, pushing Indian stereotypes through the show—reinforcing that Indian women (or Indian people in general) should not be able to access therapy.

Another problematic moment in the show is when Devi is forced into Ganesh Puja—an important event that is celebrated on Ganesh Chathurthi. It’s considered one of the most significant traditions in India and throughout America, with many throwing their own pujas at home. In episode 4, the puja is celebrated in the show—much to Devi’s frustration. As she throws a fit when her mom wraps a sari for her and grumbles all the way to the car, she’s immediately isolating herself from her culture, portraying it in a negative light. On the way to the puja, she becomes increasingly frustrated when she learns it is at her high school, embarrassed that someone might see her in her cultural clothes. Through the whole puja, she isolates herself and remains judgmental of the activities proceeding in front of her. As she comes into conflict with two of her friends who explain the culture to her—with one saying that the Bollywood dance that proceeds is cool, opposing her own thoughts, and another saying that he learned to love his culture after he met someone at the dorms who taught him to embrace his culture, Devi stands her ground, still being embarrassed by her roots. Encountering Paxton (her white-passing fling/hookup/crush) later in the episode, she thinks and talks down upon her culture, surprised when she learns that he likes her outfit. This whole episode reveals Devi’s internalized racism about her own culture, painting Indian pujas and activities as undesirable—showcasing it in a negative light. With the diversified demographic of the show, this could potentially influence many Indians to feel the same, which can be extremely harmful to South-Asians in the community. 

Furthermore, stereotypes about the South-Asian community are prevalent through the show—with barely any representation in the community. The three lead Indian women reinforce the model minority myth, with Nalini being a successful doctor, Kamala (Devi’s cousin) being enrolled in a prestigious school, and of course, Devi being star student, aiming for the Ivy League. The other Indian aunties we meet seem to gossip constantly, another stereotype that is presented about Indians and Indian-Americans today. They talk about prestige, class, and exhibit Islamophobia through the conversation. The arranged marriage trope is also extremely prevalent through the show, portraying anyone who marries through love as unsuccessful, unhappy, and ultimately unmarried as through societal standards. 

Apart from all the disrespect to South Asians today, the show continues to be ableist—presenting Devi with sudden paralysis at the beginning of the show. With paralysis being one of the most severe disabilities around the world, you’d think it would be regarded as a big deal in the show. However, the show displays an absurd act of ableism in the first episode, with Devi’s best friend, Eleanor, regarding disability as a problem. She dramatically falls to the floor (extremely problematic on its own), and remarks “in protest, I shan't use my legs either.” This raises so many questions—why is she pretending to be disabled? Why is she portraying disability as a problem in society? Why is she acting like disability is a choice? How is she not totally, and utterly, ashamed of doing that? This horrifying representation of ableism continues, when Devi miraculously regains her ability to walk—but not after the same pain many people go through. Instead, she reaches up to see her (white-passing) crush at a store, and can suddenly walk again. Although surprising, the show turns her disability into a joke, regarding it as funny throughout the show—again, blatant ableism. 

Further, anti-Semitism and Jewish stereotypes are prevalent through the story, introducing Ben, another main character in the show. From her worst enemy to her lover (spoiler alert), Ben is subject to many of Devi’s harsh jokes, including her off-putting comments in class that begins with the second episode. While early in the show, Devi isn’t afraid to make vile remarks to Ben, muttering to herself that she wishes pain on him—bringing in the Nazis. Being asked to speak up, she firmly repeats herself to the class, saying that she wishes the “Nazis would kill Ben.” She doesn’t seem to be shamed of her anti-Semitism, which is clearly reflected here, and continues to repeat many of those jokes throughout the show. Devi and her mom also reinforce the anti-Semitic myth that Jews are “greedy” or “rich” through the show, stereotyping Ben’s dad as a well-off lawyer who has no trouble making his own money. In Episode 5, while Devi continues to complain about her Indian heritage, she compares her Indian function to Ben’s bar mitzvah—asking why she can’t have her party at a rich place like Ben did. Her mom, Nalini, replies, saying “Jewish people know how to save.” As a stereotype that has been around for many years, dating back to the Middle Ages, the show continues to reinforce harmful stereotypes that apply to a population at whole. However, these aren’t the only times in which the show has been anti-Semitic—there’s almost a micro-aggression in every episode. Do better Mindy Kaling! 

The Shocking Truth About the Inner Workings of the Wool Industry

Photo Credit: Kira Volkov / Shutterstock.com

By Pavika Vachirajindakul

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains graphic descriptions of animal abuse. 

Wool has been used throughout human history—in fact, people have been weaving and wearing it since 10,000 BCE! Despite its long history, wool is not an outdated material and is still used to make a wide range of products. The natural fiber has many incredible properties and characteristics: it is breathable, odor resistant, renewable, stain resistant, UV resistant. Unlike synthetics, wool actively responds to changes in body temperature, which means it keeps the wearer warm on cold days, and cool on the hot days. Because of wool’s various properties, its fibers are made into socks, sweaters, headwear, scarfs, gloves, blankets, and even sportswear.

In fact, wool plays a very important role in many industries. According to Textile School, “the majority of wool (72.8%) is used in apparel; home furnishing accounts for 15-45%, industrial uses 6 to 7% and exports 5%, wool accounts for 3.3% of all fibres for apparel.”

Because of consumer demands, harvesting wool has become a competitive business. Australia is the world’s leading producer of wool. According to Woolmarks, Australia produces 345 million kilograms of wool every year. Australia is followed by China, Russia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, the UK and Uruguay. In comparison, 25 million pounds of wool are produced annually in the United States (according to Farm Flavor) from 101,387 sheep farms in the nation. 

However, while people usually think that the wool industry is not as cruel as the fur and animal skin industry, hoping that sheep are left peacefully to be given a haircut, shearing can be a traumatic process for sheep if not done properly and carefully. 

Shearing is not just a haircut for sheep when done on an industrial scale where shearers work against the clock. In many of these industries across the world, according to PETA, an animal rights organization, shearers are typically paid by the volume of wool being sheared, not by the hour, which leads to fast, careless work that leaves sheep with gaping wounds and missing parts of ears and teats. When time is precious and shearing becomes a business, animal welfare is neglected. 

In 2014, PETA released a video about the cruelty in the wool industry in Australia, which acted as a wake up call for many people. The footage shows the shearers hurriedly and roughly shearing sheep, leaving many with bad cuts and bleeding. Oftentimes, a piece of their skin is still attached to the fleece. Afterward, the workers use needles to sew the wound shut without a pain reliever on the dirty floor. When the fearful sheep showed signs of resistance, shearers felt tempered, they punched, kicked them, slammed their head on the floor, and sometimes beat them up with metal clippers until the animals bled. 

PETA revealed the same cruelty in 43 farms across South Australia, and New South Wales in 2017. 

Such cruel, abusive acts toward sheep are not only found in Australia, but also in many of the world’s other leading wool-producing countries: Argentina, South Africa, England as well as others. Until now, PETA has produced 12 exposés of 100 sheep operations on four continents.

Life is no better for sheep in the U.S. According to PETA, eyewitnesses have recorded abuse of sheep from 14 farms across Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. This video shows a shearer who forcefully bent and twisted the sheep’s neck until it broke. With a careless voice, he said to other workers, “I might have killed it.” Then he went on and kicked the dead sheep down the vent. Moreover, Shearers poked their fingers into the sheep's eyes, kneeling down on its body to hold the sheep in place. The video includes the moment when workers throw and kick sheep while sharing their opinion about them, “I got all permission to pound the f*** out of them”. Another worker said, “I want to choke that sheep.” 

To protest against this cruelty, PETA encourages people to never wear wool products, while calling out clothing companies in many countries to eliminate all wool products completely. 

However, many sheep farmers question if this is the best solution. In fact, sheep farm owners reveal that shearing is important for sheeps. 

“Sheep have been bred for thousands of years to grow wool, therefore shearing is not just about harvesting wool - it's also about keeping the animals comfortable, relieving them from having to endure the hot summer months with a heavy fleece,” remarks ZQ, a wool certified organization. 

Moreover, the Farmhouse guide reported that unsheared sheep can lead to tangling and matting of overgrown wool, which can strangle blood flow, cause painful sores and prevent sheep from moving properly.
“It is true that their wool is sold to make money, but that money helps to feed the sheep, keep them happy, and provide some of the money needed to have the sheep sheared regularly,” one farmer told Farmhouse Guide.

As wool shearing is essential for sheep’s health and wool is an important and unique fiber, however, inhuman treatment to animals in the wool industry is utterly unacceptable. 

Therefore, the real question is: how can we continue using wool products without unknowingly supporting practices that are harmful to animals? 

This is what we as individuals can do to help!

There are many sources of cruelty-free wool.

Wool certified by ZQ

ZQ is a certification organization that works to provide 5 freedoms for sheep:

• Free from thirst 

  •   Ensure their sheep always have access to clean water and adequate nutrition.

• Free to live naturally 

  • ZQ sheep are free range, free to roam in vast open pastures, with typically more than an acre of space each.

• Free from discomfort 

  • protect sheep from distress and ensure they have adequate shade and shelter available at all times, especially during the winter months. 

• Free from distress 

  • Shearing process is done by highly trained shearers. 

• Free from disease 

  • ZQ growers regularly monitor their flock to prevent disease and illness, as well as to rapidly diagnose animal health issues.

What brands follow ZQ wool guidelines?

• Best wool 

• Smarter Wool 

• Aclima

• Woolyarns

• The fabric store

• Swanndri

• Rewoolution

• Reda

• Neem

• Kilt

• Kowtow

• Ice breaker

• John Smely

• 49+ more brands (Check out more at ZQ webpage)

Wool certified by Animal Welfare Approved(AWA)

AWA’s sheep standards include the following: 

• Shearing of sheep must be carried out by a competent person who can minimize stress and avoid injury.

• Any sick or injured animals on the farm must be treated immediately to minimize pain and distress. This must include veterinary treatment if required.

• The discovery of untreated injured or ill animals may be grounds for removal from the program.

• Animals must have access to pasture areas that are well drained and clean

• Prohibit the use of chemicals that would cause the cessation of wool growth. 

• Where extenuating circumstances requires shearing in colder weather, bedding and shelter must be provided for at least seven days.

You can buy AWA certified wool from the following farms:

• Capella Grazing Project

• Casari Ranch, LLC

• Dew Dance Farm

• Emancipation Acres

• Folsom Farms

• Hestholl Icelandics

• Shepherds Cross Incorporated

• Weirauch Farm & Creamery

• Wolftree Farm

Wool/Clothing brand certified by RWS

Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) is a global standard that “provide[s] the industry with a tool to recognize the best practices of farmers, ensure the wool comes from farms that have a progressive approach to managing their land, and practice holistic respect for animal welfare of the sheep.” 

The manufacturing process of wool is a long process. To avoid the animal’s cruelty, RWS works to ensure the animal's welfare and wool quality throughout the entire process before it reaches retailer stores. 

Picture from Textile exchange webpage(https://textileexchange.org/standards/responsible-wool)

Clothing brand that follow RWS standard are : 

• H&M

• REI

• Marks & Spencer

• William-Sonoma

• Patagonia

• Eddie Bauer

• Eileen Fisher

• Tchibo, Varner

• Vaude 

• Coyuchi

• Mountain Equipment

• Deckers

• Kathmandu 

• Knowledge Cotton Apparel. 

How has the World Responded to COVID-19?

Photo Credit: Manoej Paateel / Shutterstock.com

By Noelle Woodward

As the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic die down here in the United States, in other countries, the surge is just beginning. In India, the daily case rate for the virus has risen from 15,000 new positives a day to over 400,000 in just two months, while the once newsworthy reports of China’s case count have been nearly eradicated. 

The differing leadership stances under autocratic, authoritarian, and federal governments of India, China and the United States have led to completely different timeframes for the coronavirus outbreaks and contrasting plans of control and immunization. 

In China, the origin of the outbreak, the government worked quickly in an attempt to lessen the impact, although with scarce knowledge early on, limiting the spread became increasingly difficult. 

The Chinese government is largely centralized and authoritarian, creating a system in which, once restrictions were put in place, they were efficiently enacted everywhere and the government was able to impose onto its citizens' lives. 

One restrictive feature, put in place in late 2020, is a QR code tracker. “You scan it and then you can get into places but if you aren't out of quarantine, or if you've been to suspicious areas or areas of danger, then your code will turn yellow or red, and then you won't be able to go anywhere,” says Kitty Zhan ‘21. 

While the tracker has been largely successful and Covid cases have plummeted in China, the feature can frequently feel like an extreme invasion of privacy to some.

“It's scary, I can't say if it's worth it but I definitely know I would be super uncomfortable to wear that around,” says Zhan. “You just feel like there's a danger. Knowing that a government basically can track whatever you do, that's scary to me and it doesn't feel right. But it's effective. So, you know, up for debate.”

However, the tracker is just the tip of the iceberg for the Chinese government’s drastic measures taken to prevent COVID-19 for its citizens.

“They cut everything, [travel, transportation] off, because they didn't want it to expand to the country,” says Zhan. “That's good, big picture wise, but if you were someone in that moment, it definitely felt really desperate; you would feel like nobody has cared for you and nobody respects you as an individual. In a democratic government, it's harder to handle because of their respect for individual rights, but also, that doesn't allow them to uniformly issue one law that [puts] the entire country under control.” 

The response differences between the United States and China are drastically different, proving how directly the governing styles impact both the autonomy and safety of its citizens and the cost of prioritizing one or the other. 

“The Chinese government has way more control over the cities and just over each person than they do in the US,” Zhan adds. “So they were able to just kind of [eliminate Covid in China] because of how much control they had, but here you had to deal with it, you had to tell people to wear masks. In China, you could have been arrested if you didn't wear a mask right. So, it really is two sides.”

On the other side of the spectrum is India. Similar to China, India faced the pandemic with strict safety measures and drastic protocols early on, causing a complete shutdown of the Indian economy and consequently leaving many citizens stranded in crowded cities, far from their families with only a few hours notice. However, unlike China, India’s safety protocols were able to prevent a big spread early on and have lasted effectively up until a few months ago when everything seemed to fall apart. 

“[In India they] don't have the same health system resources that European nations do,” says Marty Rubio, a world cultures and economics teacher at Athenian. 

So when, Indian Covid guidelines were eventually lifted a few months ago and various COVID-19 variants made their way into the country, everything took a turn for the worse. 

“There are so many people in India and the potential for that really growing and growing, is huge,” says Rubio. 

Unlike both China and India, where there have been large outbreaks at either the beginning or the most current parts of the pandemic, the United States seems to have had a steady amount of cases both increasing and decreasing over the course of the last 14 months. 

“In the United States we have a federal system where the states get to decide for themselves, and you have two political parties with generally different philosophical approaches to dealing with [Covid],” says Rubio. “We are just so politically divided, one side doesn't trust what the other side says no matter what it is, and so I think there's unfortunately just these decisions which should be really scientific, that have become politicized”

Some of these decisions, such as vaccinations, have fallen completely to the public’s individual choices, where despite the United States’ relative success in distributing vaccines, there is a large amount of variation in who is willing to accept it. 

“It's sad because it's a failure of us to think collectively about each other, how do we take care of each other by our own personal choices,” adds Rubio. “The United States is a metaphor for internationalism, if you think of the individual states who have a lot of their own power what to do, that you have a whole lab that has all these different policies and responses that produce different outcomes.” 

The almost consecutive peaks of the outbreaks in each country overlap just slightly, signaling how certain efforts to curtail the virus have achieved either success, both temporary and long lasting, as well as distinct failure. These differences ultimately raise the question: what is the government’s role in protecting its citizens from the COVID-19 outbreak and where is the line between too much involvement and not enough?

Hear these South Asian Parents’ Perspectives on Athenian

Graphic Credit: Alekhya Maram

By Rishi Reddy

The Athenian School has a rigorous academic program. Not only does the curriculum entail a variety of challenging classes, but it also offers many unique opportunities such as Town Meeting, Round Square, AWE, March Term, and a lot of other exciting programs. At its core, Athenian is an excellent school that prioritizes equity and inclusion among their student body and faculty; however, South Asian representation is lacking in the student body as well as the administration. Interviewing some South Asian Athenian students’ parents gives valuable insight into their perspectives on the Athenian curriculum. It is important to see the ways in which they comprehend the way Athenian’s educational system is designed and understand how they view the school. 

Classes

Athenian is one of the top schools in the nation, so it's academic curriculum is undoubtedly rigorous. The school offers a wide selection of difficult classes, ranging from demanding math and science options to challenging humanities courses. What do the parents have to say about that?

Deepak Chichili, father of 10th grader Tanvi Chichili, says, “Athenian offers a good depth and breadth of classes, especially in humanities and languages. Athenian provides the freedom for students to pick the courses they like which gives a lot of flexibility to students. My opinion, however, is that Athenian should offer more stem classes.” 

The amount of stem classes are rather limited compared to how many are offered at public schools and other locations. However, as one always says, quality is more important than quantity.

Prathibha Koduru, mother of sophomore Rishi Reddy, shares, “Athenian classes definitely drive my children to work really hard. The courses encourage them to think outside the box, form new ideas, and mold their own perspectives of the given subject.” 

The courses at Athenian always help students better themselves continuously. Students always rise to the occasion and push themselves to become better and better at different subjects.

Srikanth Surapaneni, father of sophomore Sonya Surapaneni, discloses, “Athenian classes are super competitive; however, my daughter seems like she’s learning and growing a lot from them. She’s becoming more culturally competent which is something that they focus on healthily. The classes are pretty difficult, especially the humanities classes, but I think it is definitely helping my daughter to become a better writer.” 

This is really true. By the end of senior year, students turn out a completely different writer than when they started. The Athenian humanities department really hones in on analytical thinking and persuasive writing, a skill that is gradually drawn out of students as they engage in more literature and history courses.

Town Meeting

In a school like Athenian, where democracy is a critical Pillar, Town Meeting is a must. It’s a form of community meeting that the Athenian student body holds weekly for when students have a proposal regarding a change in the way the school is run or discuss what to do with the Town Meeting money. A lot of parents did not even know about this part of the Athenian program; however, once their kids explained it to them, they fell in love with the concept.

Shanti Surapaneni, mother of Sonya, expresses: “I don’t really know much about Town Meeting; nevertheless, I think it is really great that Athenian has a democracy at school. It is a sort of student government because it provides a way for students to make change. I would really like for my daughter and her friends to get involved in it, because I think it’s a great opportunity and experience.” That’s good to know! Students can definitely get involved in Town Meeting, for there are town meeting officers who lead the discussions and manage the proposals.

Sudheer Sreerangapalle, father of Rishi, articulates, “It seems like a great way for students to have their voices heard. I can’t believe the entire upper-school gathers together in one location just to discuss how they can improve the school and change the way things work. To give students such a major responsibility at such a young age--it’s amazing that Athenian offers this. Students would be able to take initiative and truly understand the power of democracy. I love it.”

Sudhathi Chichili, mother of Tanvi, carries a similar opinion. She shares: “I think that it’s great that students would have a voice in the school and could propose changes.”

Round Square

Athenian’s Round Square program is really quite special. Not many schools have it, so it is a real privilege for Athenian students. Students are able to build cross-cultural skills that will greatly benefit them going forward in life and enhance their global competence in general.

Prathibha shares, “It’s an excellent way for my kids to meet new people and understand foregin cultures. It’s a great exposure to kids.” It is indeed! Round Square really hones in on the idea of making international connections and allows a student to grow in several facets. They learn how to work with people from all across the world and bond over their differences. The collaborative environment leaves an endless room for growth. 

Deepak repeats, “I think that round square pillars and ideals are a very great approach to education.” 

Shanti adds: “Round Square is fantastic. Sonya has already been on one virtual exchange, she has hosted a virtual exchange. She has even coordinated two different round square conferences. All the exposure she gets from multiple people across the world--I think it’s really a great program.”

March Term

March Terms provide students with the opportunity to focus on one subject area and delve deeper into it. Students are able to choose a field of interest and learn about it with hands-on activities and an interactive learning experience for a whole month.

Deepak says, “March term is very unique to Athenian. Though my children have never actually done a March term before, I know that it would allow students to explore their passion sometimes other than academics. I think that is really advantageous to a student.”

Sudheer states: “My kids never experienced it, but I think it’s a good program. Students can concentrate and learn a lot about one subject area. It’s important and helps build life skills.”

Srikanth shares: “March Term is really cool, although Sonya hasn’t really had an opportunity to participate in it yet. All the classes look really interesting, especially the Spanish immersion one. I think it’s really cool that students can practice their spanish constantly in an environment that fosters mistakes. It would really allow a kid to grow from all the mistakes they make and the Spanish setting would be perfect for my daughter to develop her Spanish-speaking skills. Yeah, it is really a cool program.”

AWE

The Athenian Wilderness Experience is a program that is completely, 100%,  unique and authentic to Athenian. In AWE, juniors are sent on a 26-day backpacking trip in the wilderness with nothing but a small group of their peers, instructors, and a few supplies. More than any of the other programs at Athenian, AWE promotes students’ life skills and establishes a bond between students like no other.

Prathibha shares, “It develops confidence in kids. They come back knowing they can do so much more than what they ever really thought they could do. They learn how to face challenges and make solutions for their problems.”

Sudhathi Chichili shares, “AWE is awesome! I think that students mature a lot during AWE, and I think that it’s a very unique experience.”

Shanti says: “AWE seems really challenging to me. I don’t know how my children or other students are doing it. My daughter is rather apprehensive towards it just because it’s a lot of hiking and she hasn’t really done that before, but I think it’s a great experience for students to bond with one another.”

In Conclusion

It’s evident that The Athenian School has a great program; the South Asian parents, who are usually a tough group to impress, seem to love every aspect of it and are fully satisfied with sending their kids to such an incredible institution. Way to go Athenian!

International Cooking: Zephyr

Graphic By Alekhya Maram

By Gianna Beltramo

Zephyr is a marshmallow-like sweet popular in many of the countries that formed the Soviet Union. It takes its name from the Greek god of the west wind thanks to its exceptionally light and fluffy texture, which is similar to marshmallows, but softer. Zephyr also includes eggs in its recipe, while marshmallows do not. It can be made with a variety of fruit flavors, including apple, blackberry, and cherry. Though its shape, achieved by a piping bag, closely resembles that of meringue, zephyr is not baked, nor does it have a crispy texture. Zephyr originates from pastila, a Russian dessert reportedly dating back to the 14th-century made from fruit paste. It was extremely popular in the Soviet Union, available in the majority of grocery stores. Fortunately, its popularity continues today, which means I get to try it!

When I say that this project was a mess, I mean it both literally and figuratively. (But mostly literally.) There was pink goop in places pink goop had never been. I had to wash kitchen tools that hadn’t even been used, because guess what? There was pink goop on them.

I gathered my tools, almost dropping a stand mixer on my foot in the process. There were two reasons for my decision to make blackberry-flavored zephyr: 1) apple-flavored things taste horrible, and 2) I wanted to eat the extra blackberries. I added the prescribed ½ cup of sugar to a saucepan, only to realize that I didn’t have enough for the rest of the recipe. When I’d looked over the ingredients list to see if I would need to buy anything, I glossed over the bits that listed “sugar,” because why wouldn’t we have sugar? I’m not exaggerating when I say that there is always at least one bag of it in the pantry, so of course today was the day that was not true. 

And that is the story of how I sent my parents on a second grocery trip that day. Technically speaking, it was the third, because it turns out that agar-agar is not something available at even the fancy grocery stores.

The blackberry liquid smelled amazing, but since I was planning on giving these to people, I unfortunately couldn’t quadruple-dip like I normally do. (If you’re reading this and you’ve ever eaten my cooking, don’t worry. I swear I only do that with things I’m making for myself.) I put the bits that didn’t pass through the strainer in a separate bowl and ended up with a delightful bonus blackberry spread. That alone was a solid A in my books.

When it had finally (emphasis on finally) cooled, it was time to progress to the next step. This was when I discovered that there was a single egg in the fridge.

(See, this is what I’m talking about when I said that this endeavor was figuratively a mess.)

Fortunately, the recipe only called for one egg white. My family, newly returned from the grocery store, teased me, warning me not to mess it up. I hyped myself up, as the youngsters say: “Come on, I’ve got this. I can count the amount of yolks I’ve ever broken on one hand. Yeeeeeee HAWWWW! *flexes muscles*”

Naturally, I broke the yolk. (At least I was able to fish most of it out!)

You may be wondering if my non-school cooking experiences are this chaotic. I would answer that with a hard “no,” because (cliché warning) those ones are worse. And the sad thing? I’m not even joking. It’s horrible.

When I finally thought the worst of it was over, I immediately disproved that theory by once again proving to myself that I have no concept at all of how time works. The egg white and blackberry mixture were supposed to mix together for 8-10 minutes, but at the same time I was somehow expected to manage the preparation of an agar-agar (or rather, gelatin, because I couldn’t find the actual ingredient anywhere) syrup. I thought I’d allotted a reasonable amount of time to allow the mixture to boil, but apparently not, because that thing simply refused to boil. I cranked the burner up to speed the process, but then the saucepan was way too hot. I noted the smell of roasting marshmallows, which turned out to be the burning syrup attempting to permanently adhere itself to the side of the pan! Oh boy! (Doing the dishes was certainly not a pleasant experience.) I ended up passing off a couple of 30-second switches between “COOK, gosh darn it” and “oh my GOD STOP FROTHING OVER ALREADY” as “a low boil for five minutes.”

As someone who prides themself on their whipped cream, I was petrified of the idea of the egg-blackberry...thing...breaking (where it gets really clumpy, weird, and generally unappetizing). I was too stressed to even verify that meringue (or at least meringue-adjacent food items) could break, but post-cooking research has led me to believe that it’s a cream-specific phenomenon. 

I should have whipped it for longer before adding the syrup, both because it would have given me more time to actually cook it, and because they ended up a little bit...melty...in comparison to the ones in the recipe. But then again, my mom was already really annoyed by how long the mixer had been on, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

I should not be trusted with a piping bag. This is where the more literal use of the word “mess” comes into play; my hands were, quite frankly, coated in wretched pink goop. The amount of respect I have for cake decorators cannot be conveyed in words, because the things I managed to pipe out did not look terribly edible. The first ones more closely resembled Peeps than my reference photos, in all honesty. Even the simple act of refilling the bag was a disaster. So...sticky...I shudder even to recall it.

Even after all of that, the dishes were still the most unfortunate part. 20 minutes of soaking in hot, soapy water was still not enough to loosen the burnt-on wannabe marshmallow juice. No, I sat there and scrubbed. The bright side: at least I finally got to lick the whisk!

I’m never doing this again, I adamantly refuse. I think that if I had to, I would cry. It doesn’t matter how good they were, I shall not.

I later discovered that I had committed at least two major meringue(-adjacent) sins, with more up for debate: getting even the slightest hint of a yolk mixed in with the white, and not letting the egg come up to room temperature before incorporating it—in my defense, I already knew about this one and used it straight out of the fridge anyway because I do not fear the consequences of my actions, but the flavor was still impeccable. Heavenly, if I am to reference the mythological origins of their name.

All who sampled them bore words of praise. The blackberry flavor strengthened with time, and the insides remained very soft and vaguely sticky despite the leftovers having spent several days sitting uncovered on the counter. The powdered sugar coating resembles the firmer outside of a marshmallow, but better. They’re so much softer and lighter, and fruit flavored to boot! They are, however, quite sweet, something I didn’t pick up on as much as other people because for some reason I’m desensitized to sweet things. In my mind, the sugar level was perfect. I mean, if you’re going to eat something that is very definitely a dessert, it may as well be sweet.

Don’t do this if you hate scrubbing things for extended periods of time. Or just make someone else do the dishes and tell them they can have some zephyr as a reward.

Here’s the recipe I used!

International Cooking: Kue Lapis

Photo Taken By Gianna Beltramo

By Gianna Beltramo

Kue lapis is an Indonesian steamed layer cake, which it is also prepared in other Southeast Asian countries under various names. Unlike its baked form, kue lapis legit, the steamed version has a sticky, jelly-like texture and its numerous thin layers are often colorful as opposed to lapis legit’s more “natural” shades. The dish has its roots in 19th-century Dutch colonialism, with kue lapis legit being known as Spekkoek in the Netherlands (“spek” meaning bacon, and “koek” meaning cake, in reference to its brown-and-tan striped appearance). Kue lapis and kue lapis legit translate literally to “layer cake” and “sweet layer cake” respectively, though my mid-summer dabbling into the language of Indonesia is only enough to recognize the word “kue.” The faintly-sweet layers are peeled apart and eaten one at a time, made possible by the unique texture. Kue lapis is sold in shops and bakeries throughout the country, though it is also quite simple to prepare at home.

My cooking experience began with the mental gymnastics of trying to figure out how many tablespoons is equivalent to 0.268 cups—4.288, by the way—and other fun metric conversions. A split second after I’d poured the coconut milk, I realized that the measuring cup had a handy 300mL mark on the other side which would have proven much more efficient.

Still relatively unfazed by such measurements as “1 cup, 4 tablespoons, and ~1 teaspoon,” I added an amount of sugar that was nothing short of baffling, especially considering how not-sweet the final product is. Perhaps it says something about the world, that we are so used to heaps of sugar being a key component in every sort of food we eat that we don’t even taste it anymore. Or maybe I just don’t know how much sugar constitutes “a lot.” At any rate, the stirring-in of the tapioca starch created an unanticipated non-Newtonian fluid situation which required me to set aside my faithful plastic spoon in favor of the electric mixer. However, the resulting mixture of water, sugar, coconut milk, vanilla, and tapioca starch was a beige color that can only be described as “comforting.” (Something I seldom say about any shade of beige.) Both the starch and rice flour were extremely fine, and in closing the bags I caused quite the explosion.

The batter being mostly complete, I put more water than I thought I would need in the steamer I wasn’t sure we owned until 30 seconds before I started cooking, wrapped a towel around the lid (to prevent condensation dripping back onto the cake!), and turned the burner on high. Having never used a steamer before, I probably should have googled, or at least asked someone, how much water I was supposed to put in, but I guess I was more out of sorts than I thought I was: it didn’t so much as cross my mind to do either of those things. 

For the entirety of the hour-and-a-half cooking time, I had no idea how much water was in the steamer, because all the holes were covered by the cake pan, but it wouldn’t have really changed much since I’m pretty sure I wasn’t doing it right anyway. There was also the age-old question of how high the burner was supposed to be, another very easily answered question that I didn’t even think to look up. Cooking activates my fight-or-flight response, it would seem, except I don’t fight or flee, I just run around silently screaming pretending everything is fine. 

I’d read that red, white, and green were typical layer colors for kue lapis, though I’d seen a vast number of color combinations, which is a good thing considering the “red” food coloring turned out to be purple. Oops.

The cooking process was very stressful and hands-on, since I had to pour in a new layer every couple of minutes and was pretty much constantly stirring, measuring, or rinsing something. I was so focused on not trying to mess something up that I kept forgetting to take pictures, but naturally things managed to go wrong anyway. While the previous layers had all cooked in the amount of time dictated by the recipe, layer four was still too sticky. I let it cook for several minutes, to no avail. I added water! I turned up the burner! Eventually I just poured in the next layer, which was still pure liquid after ten minutes. In retrospect, I was definitely way too exhausted to be cooking, because for some reason I thought it would be a cool idea to add layer 6 despite layer 5 being little more than colorful lukewarm milk water. So...they mixed together. As liquid does. However, I sorted things out with an award-worthy amount of improvisation which really only amounted to me sitting in the kitchen and waiting for it to solidify while my mother gave me a worried look every couple of seconds. By the last layer (7, because that’s all I could fit in the pan), things were back to normal.

When I took it out of the pan, it was incredibly sticky—so much so that the side got stuck to the plate I was trying to put it on and I had to rip off a chunk to get it to unstick—but a night in the refrigerator helped that. The layers also became much more vibrant and distinguishable, and while it’s certainly not perfect as any of the images on the internet, it’s a passable first attempt.

When you first bite into it, it doesn’t taste like much; the first noticeable thing is the texture, which is similar to Jello from an alternate dimension. The “cake” part is more noticeable in the later layers, when bits of flour and starch have started to settle at the bottom of the mixing bowl. After a couple of seconds, the vanilla flavor becomes more apparent, though it is still quite subtle compared to the more typical baked vanilla cakes most of us are familiar with. There is also a hint of something else that might be the coconut milk, though that could just be because I knew there was coconut milk in the recipe and was therefore that flavor. Ambiguously-psychosomatic coconut. The sugar, as I mentioned previously, was extremely subtle.

It is stretchy without being chewy; many recipes I read recommended peeling back the layers and eating them one by one, which I was able to do without breaking any layers even though they were a bit hard to separate due to how very sticky they were. I tried cutting it into a “cake” slice and into strips which made it look like colorful rainbow cake bacon, and the bacon style was definitely the superior of the two. It was much easier to peel and a lot of fun to do so.

Was it stressful? Yes. Was eating it fun? Yes. Did it take forever? It depends on one’s definition of “forever,” but for me that’s anywhere longer than an hour and a half, so: yes. I liked the texture a lot, and the layers were gorgeous, but I prefer my desserts with more flavor. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but it was an interesting way to spend an evening at home.

Leaving Athenian — Our Hopes for the Future Pillar

Graphic Credit: Alekhya Maram

By Alekhya Maram and Anna Ravid

For the past year, we have had the incredible pleasure to helm The Pillar as Editor in Chief and Managing Editor. In an unconventional year, despite many limitations, we hope to have left our mark on the journalism community here at Athenian. 

Assuming the mantle of Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor during this unprecedented time (as it is oft-described in the news) was overwhelming. Due to coronavirus, our formerly print paper had to transition to an online format. We had to design a new publishing schedule to accommodate the online format, set up a website, offer office hours, plan lessons on journalistic writing and current events, and try to foster a sense of community over Zoom. 

While we knew that this transition would pose enormous challenges, we also saw an opportunity for change. We were happy to introduce new opportunities for flexibility and discretion within the class. The online format allowed our team to experiment with a wide range of mediums and styles: we had weekly cooking columns, digital concert reviews, and podcasts centered around everything from sustainability to mental health.  

Our greatest challenge was realizing a longstanding goal of The Pillar, creating our own website. We began the year as novices at web-design; our many painstaking hours learning how to feature posts, credit photography and organize the sections yielded a modest result for our first edition. But as time passed, and we continued to experiment, the website took shape and has now become an essential component of the Journalism program. In future years, we hope that this year’s website will be a foundation on which The Pillar’s online presence can grow. 

As underclassmen, serving as staff writers on The Pillar was entirely different. Our first project together was in sophmore year, writing a series of articles investigating Athenian’s old community garden. Speaking to John Harvey, we learned about Athenian’s hydroponics systems, and chickens that had disappeared from campus during the masterplan construction. Furthermore, we went on to interview Amy Wintermeyer to get an administrative perspective on student efforts to revive the garden. While Athenian has yet to install a sexy garden, we hope our series made the community aware of a little known, yet fascinating corner of Athenian history. 

Rather than sitting stagnantly in our Zoom boxes, during layout week, the entire staff would pile into the David-Ruenzel room in the library: a small, dusty room crowded with monitors and papered with old Pillar editions. Armed with an abundance of highlighters and red pens, the entire staff would proofread and initial each sheet of the paper. Each edition, the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor would take on the dreaded task of arranging the ‘jumps’ page, containing the continuations of articles from every section. We can safely say that we were very glad to escape editing the jumps this year. 

Though the two of us are leaving Athenian, we want to ensure that The Pillar remains a platform dedicated to uplifting student voices. We hope students are encouraged to explore their passions, whether they be about environmental justice, space travel, racial equality, or international cooking. We also encourage them to delve into unknown topics, and to ensure their articles are balanced, truthful, and uphold journalistic integrity. In our time on The Pillar, we hope we pushed students to consider how journalism can be used to truthfully and transparently highlight the things that they care about. 

Real journalism is uncomfortable, messy, and often exhausting––it forces us to reckon with all sides of the issue at hand. A good piece will never leave everyone feeling happy. Rather, it engenders a diversity of opinions, sparking discourse and maybe even conflict. On a school campus that strives to prioritize equity and egalitarianism, it is imperative that we protect student voice and never shy away from hard topics, even in the face of backlash or pressure. 

Ultimately, The Pillar is crucial not only as a space to hone one’s writing abilities, but allows passionate and enterprising students to push the boundaries of what we consider “safe,” while simultaneously striving to uphold the truth. 

Reflections On a Pre-pandemic Athenian

Graphic By Alekhya Maram

By Ilah Ross

During the 2020-2021 school year, a typical day on the Athenian campus consists of masked students wearing name tags which are subtly tucked under sweatshirts or into dark pockets of backpacks, conversations attempted (and many sentences repeated) from six feet apart, and the breathtaking view of the new modular classes placed haphazardly on East Lawn, as well as the mountains obscured behind them.

Though this picture of in-person learning may sound grim, I am the last person to complain about the immense privilege we have as Athenians to be back in person while most California high school students remain online. However, as this unusual and unprecedented school year comes to a close, I feel that it would be fitting to reflect on all that the community misses about our school.

Whether it’s a favorite meal, a staple Athenian tradition, or a class rite-of-passage, most students have an opinion on the topic of what they miss about our school. For Milan Boga, a sophomore at Athenian, it’s the regular sports seasons that he misses most. 

“I really miss the normal basketball season,” Boga said. “I miss going to away games on the bus with the whole team and also bonding with my teammates at the practices.” 

Although Athenian was able to offer sports clinics throughout the school year, and in some cases, a short competitive season, Boga’s account confirms that many students miss their full density sports team, and the community that comes along with it.

For the freshman class, however, many students feel the loss of much more than their favorite sports season at Athenian. 

“Since my first day at Athenian in sixth grade, the Point Reyes trip, a rite of passage in the Athenian community, was something we all looked forward to,” noted Miriam Moyes, a freshman at Athenian. “When I found out it was cancelled I was so sad that I wouldn’t get the chance to meet my new classmates, but I was even more sorry that the new kids wouldn’t have a chance to meet anybody before they were sent into an entirely new environment.”

Bella Vukelich, an Athenian junior, recalls a simpler time at Athenian, where advisory meetings were not held online and sandwiched between countless Zoom calls, but rather, in an in-person and informal format. 

“One thing I really miss is how advisory used to be,” Vukelich said. “We would all sit in a circle, eat snacks, and just talk about the week. Although we still do have advisory now, I really miss being able to have those fun weekly meetings.”

Another student, Allie Girzadas (class of ‘23), reflected on what, for her, is an incredibly meaningful aspect of Athenian: the performances in the CFTA.

“After only getting to perform once in the CFTA last year, I really miss the excitement in the hallway before performing, the pre-show dinners in the main hall, and supporting all my friends while they perform,” Girzadas explained.

Many students at Athenian miss the comfortable and community-based atmosphere which normally meets us as we walk into school, but as this bizarre school year comes to an end and we prepare for the next, the overall sentiment among students is hopeful.

“Obviously with COVID this year, it has been challenging to connect as a community,” Girzadas said, “but I am hopeful that next year we will get to experience the old Athenian again.”

Risks Posed by Extreme Consumption of Matcha

Photo Credit: Anna Pustynnikova / Shutterstock.com

By Savonnah Wong

Matcha and green tea are often advertised as health beverages with many benefits including the following: weight loss, fighting cancer, protecting the liver, eliminating fat from the body, etc. But how much of this information is accurate?  

Few consumers are aware of the health risks posed by aluminum, fluoride, fluoroacetate, and many other contents in tea. For example, a simple switch between drinking matcha or green tea results in a drastic change in fluoride intake. Because green tea is usually imbibed in the form of brewed tea leaves in a teabag and matcha consists of ground tea leaves in a powdered form, it is far less concentrated than matcha. Thus, the amount of fluoride in matcha is about triple the amount of fluoride in brewed tea. Given the rise in the consumption of black tea, green tea, and matcha, it is important to be conscious of the possible negatives that come from overconsumption, especially considering the fluoride concentration in these drinks. 

“There are two types of fluorosis,” explained Katherine Papastephanou, anatomy and physiology teacher at The Athenian School. “Dental fluorosis, which affects the teeth, and then skeletal fluorosis which affects the bones. In both cases, it is caused by higher levels of fluoride, and if they are just a little bit higher, it again causes visual differences on the teeth, and then if they get higher and higher, then it can cause more damage.”

If a person consumes more than the adequate intake recommended by age, “which is typically between 0.4 to about 0.7 mg per day” they can suffer from various illnesses such as fluorosis or endemic fluorosis, osteofluorosis, Papastephanou noted. 

Black tea and green tea leaves have been reported to have the highest fluoride concentration of any vegetation. Fluoride is a Schedule 6 Poison according to the Australian Government’s Department of Health and can be lethal if consumed at more than 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. 

However, there are some possible pros to fluoride if consumed in moderation. 

“Fluoride works to reduce the prevalence and severity of dental caries that require restorative dental care, in pre-eruptive, posteruptive, systemic, and topical situations,” explained Dr. Howard Pollick, a full-time clinical professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences of the School of Dentistry at the University of California San Francisco. 

“Most people in the U.S. show no signs of fluorosis. There are varying degrees of dental (enamel) fluorosis, ranging from none (most persons in the U.S.) to very mild, mild, moderate and severe. Dental fluorosis occurs from the exposure of high levels of fluoride during tooth development and is apparent by the way teeth look when they come into the mouth [...] Swallowing too much fluoride toothpaste by young children on a regular basis may also contribute to lesser forms of dental fluorosis, so parents/guardians are recommended to supervise their young children when toothbrushing and apply small amounts of toothpaste,” added Pollick.

“Fluoride is present in nearly all foods and beverages to a varying extent. Usually, most fluoride is consumed in water depending on the fluoride concentration of the drinking water,” says Pollick. 

In green tea, the tea leaves absorb fluoride present in the soil. As matcha is ground-up tea leaves, the fluoride level in a serving of matcha is much higher than that of the same serving of green tea. 

“The National Fluoride Database shows the different concentrations of fluoride in different teas, which varies from 0.13 ppm(mg/L) (herbal, chamomile, brewed tea) to about 900 ppm (instant, powder, unsweetened unbrewed tea),” noted Pollick. However, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends about 0.7 ppm of fluoride daily.

It is also important to keep in mind that water facilities fluoridate our drinking water “to adjust the already existing fluoride level to 0.7 mg/L or parts per million, which is the current recommendation by the US Public Health Service for prevention of tooth decay on a community-wide basis.” Thus, it is very easy to consume excessive amounts of fluoride per day since “fluoride is a naturally occurring ion of the element fluorine that is ubiquitous and fluoride is present in nearly all foods and beverages to a varying extent. [And] usually, most fluoride is consumed in water depending on the fluoride concentration of the drinking water,” stated Pollick. 

For daily tea consumers, the key is to “drink in moderation and not to excess,” advised Pollick, for “there have been reports of individuals who have consumed excessive amounts of tea over many years who developed skeletal fluorosis. One person drank 10 to 16 cups of black tea daily, with an estimated fluoride intake of 13 mg/day; another admitted to consuming excessive amounts of iced tea (30 to 40 eight-ounce glasses of tea/day) for about 30 years, with an estimated daily fluoride intake of 14 mg/day.”

Because tea contains high levels of fluoride, it’s best to drink brewed black or green tea and to avoid tea powder altogether. Although five cups of tea per day would still be within the bounds of the concentration of daily fluoride intake, it is important to consider these facts the next time you brew a cup of tea. 

The United States in Afghanistan: A Historical Perspective

Photo Credit: GoodAndy45/Shutterstock.com

By Adam Tufts

On September 11, 2001, grief and despair swept the United States following the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. Unfortunately, the tragedy would not end there; after this devastating disaster, the United States would engage in conflicts within Afghanistan that would span over two decades. However,  the United States long-waged war against terrorism in the Middle East may soon come to a close, with President Biden announcing plans to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021— the twentieth anniversary of the catastrophe that shook the world. 

After the two commercial airliners struck the Twin Towers in New York City and killed almost 3,000 individuals, Americans were enraged and sought justice. The United States directed this unifying feeling of anguish and frustration towards combating the perpetrators of the attack. These assailants operated under the name of Al-Qaeda, a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden who was protected by the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling faction. Less than a month after the attack, the United States began bombing raids in Afghanistan. 

“These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime,” said President Bush in an October 7, 2001 address following several strikes against military installations and communication centers in Afghanistan.

By the end of 2001, the Taliban had largely been driven from power, despite Osama bin Laden having managed to evade capture. For the next two years an interim government was established, prominently led by the Northern Alliance, a group of major Afghan factions. President Bush and the United Nations Security Council spearheaded efforts to instill governmental order in Afghan society. 

“By helping to build an Afghanistan that is free from this evil and is a better place in which to live, we are working in the best traditions of George Marshall,” said President Bush in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute, evoking the post-World War II Marshall Plan that revived Western Europe. 

Then, in January of 2004 a delegation of 502 Afghans drafted a new constitution for Afghanistan, creating a strong presidential system intended to unite the country’s diverse ethnic groups. In the period between 2004 and 2006 a series of elections were conducted to concretize the democratic advancements made in the Afghani political sphere.

Despite a string of successful elections, in the summer of 2006 the Taliban waged a violent resurgence, periodically bombing and creating chaos in the otherwise peaceful society. In the face of this national strife that pervaded Afghanistan, Bush pushed an interventionist agenda until the final days of his presidency, characterizing the United States as an international disciplinarian. 

2008 brought regime change in Washington D.C., with newly elected President Barack Obama promising to bring American troops home from Afghanistan. Despite his campaign promise to retract most American soldiers from Afghanistan by 2011, he instead recommits to the anti-terrorism efforts being led in Afghanistan. As of January 2009, the Pentagon had 37,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Particularly in his first term, Obama continued developing the United States’ reputation as a global humanitarian, in a strikingly similar manner to Bush. 

In May 2011, almost a decade into the Afghanistan war, American troops managed to assassinate Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a Pakistani compound. Osama bin Laden’s death fueled a long-simmering debate about continuing the Afghanistan war. As tensions climaxed in both the United States and in Afghanistan, Obama prepared to announce the withdrawal of most, if not all, of the thirty-thousand surge troops positioned in Afghanistan in July. His efforts, however, were questioned by congressional lawmakers who continued to puzzle over whether or not military engagement in the Middle East should be continued. 

Periodic and violent outbreaks led by Taliban militants influenced Obama to maintain the American military presence in Afghanistan. On May 27, 2014 Obama finally announced an official timetable for withdrawing most U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 2016. The plan failed to come to full fruition and most troops remained in Afghanistan, with a few thousand managing to return to the United States. 

President Trump’s election in 2016 ushered in a new era of international policy. Differentiating his policy from Obama’s, Trump said decisions about withdrawal will be based on “conditions on the ground,” rather than arbitrary timelines. He hoped to remove as many Americans from Afghanistan as possible, while still preventing a vacuum of governmental control, in which terrorist operations thrive. 

Throughout his presidency Trump more or less kept true to his campaign promises, at least in regards to international policy, and retracted most of the surge troops stationed in Afghanistan. By 2020 only a few thousand Americans were still deployed in Afghanistan. Trump invigorated nationalist and isolationist sentiments that had largely been dormant over the past two presidencies. He advocated for “America first” policies that disincentivized international humanitarian aid, in favor of promoting the American economy.

Now, as the United States readjusts to a Biden presidency, Americans are left wondering: what does this mean for the Afghanistan conflicts? Fortunately, Biden has explicitly expressed how he hopes to withdraw all American surge troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. The details of his plan remain unclear; however, considering the United States’ heavy involvement in Afghani politics since 2001, this policy move is likely to mark a momentous transition in American international affairs. While Biden’s agenda is littered with both interventionist and isolationist elements, his main goal is to reframe the United States’ image on the geopolitical stage. Thus, while the American public and presidencies have difficulties compromising on specific international policy moves, one thing remains certain: Americans are eager for violence to end, no matter where the violence takes place. 

Short Stories to Keep You Occupied this Summer

Photo Credit: vipman / Shutterstock.com

By Kati Wilkes

The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio by Ernest Hemingway (1933):

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest fan of Hemingway as a person, but you can’t deny that he sure knew how to write a good story. I initially encountered “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio” while reading through a copy of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and Other Stories. The story itself wasn’t what drew me to the collection, but it sure ended up being the most enjoyable read of the entire book. “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio” follows a gambler named Cayetano who, after being shot, is recovering alone in a hospital. As the title suggests, during his stay at said hospital he crosses paths with a slew of nuns, as well as a small group of musicians who are brought in to lift his spirits. The story itself is told mainly through rather simplistic dialogue and doesn’t, at least on a surface level, seem to be all too complex. While I’m not usually the biggest fan of straight forward dialogue, Hemingway manages to weave in not only humor but also thought-provoking questions that make this read both digestible and, if I do say so myself, rather fun. If you aren’t necessarily an avid reader and don’t want to be bogged down by the minutiae of overly-complex storytelling and character development, this short story is certainly for you!

Track by Nicole Flattery (2017):

This short story ended up winning the White Review short story prize back in 2017, so it came as no surprise to me that I enjoyed this seemingly deadpan narrative about a young woman struggling through an abusive relationship and working, albeit failing, to stay afloat in a big city. What really set this story apart for me was the writing style itself and how it managed to convey both humor and this strong sense of pain that the main character was dealing with. I’d certainly suggest this to someone looking for something a bit longer (and more serious) to read that has a modern and more familiar setting.  

Three Thanksgivings by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1909):

If the name Charlotte Perkins Gilman rings a bell, there’s a good chance you may have encountered her immensely popular short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. While I’m certainly a fan of Gilman’s brilliant feminist work in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” I thought I might also plug one of her lesser known works: “Three Thanksgivings”. The story follows Delia, the daughter of a late senator and the widow of a minister, who is faced with a dilemma. She is unable to pay the mortgage on her family home, so she either needs to sell it, find a way to pay it herself, or marry Mr. Peter Butts, who holds the home mortgage. Her solution is to open a women's club at the home and charge a membership fee in order to make a profit, and hopefully keep possession of the house. Much like “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio,” this story has a fairly straightforward plot and narration style, which makes it a great read for anyone who doesn’t feel up to the challenge of a more traditional (and most likely convoluted) read. 

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury (1950): 

Veldt is defined by Miriam Webster dictionary as, “a grassland especially of Southern Africa usually with scattered shrubs or trees.” A logical next thought would be that this short story takes place in just that, a veldt. Without spoiling all too much, let me just tell you that this story does in fact take place in a veldt, just not at all in the way you think it will! 

The Lady, or the Tiger by Frank Stockton (1882):

“The Lady, or the Tiger” is certainly the oldest (and least enjoyed by me) story on this list, hence its placement at the bottom. Don’t get me wrong, this story is a classic for a reason, it just personally wasn’t to my liking. “The Lady, or the Tiger” follows a man accused of a crime against the mythical king. He must choose between two doors in a public area as his form of punishment; behind one door is a beautiful woman and behind the other is a tiger ready to kill the man. Though this story does have a rather whimsical undertone because of the time period and style it’s written in, the narrative itself isn’t all that interesting and is more along the lines of a  moral dilemma or thought experiment that is meant to provoke thought or spark conversation. If you do end up reading this short story, I’d suggest partnering up with a friend and tackling it together so that you’ll have someone to bounce ideas off and discuss the story with!