Aspiring 17-year-old musician Olivia Rodrigo has broken multiple records with her new single “drivers license,” including being one of the first Asian Americans to top the Apple Music and Billboard Hot 100 charts. She currently claims third place for most streamed artist on Spotify, trailing behind Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. Many PHS students today have connected with her lyrics and songwriting. Due to her young age and the fact that “drivers license” is her first single, these are astonishing accomplishments. An all-around artist, Rodrigo has also previously acted in Disney’s “Bizaardvark” and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” where she wrote the hit song “All I Want.” Co-written with producer Dan Nirgom, “drivers license” is her first release since signing with Interscope Records and Geffen Records in 2020. 

Aside from its record-breaking status, Rodrigo’s song is a heartbreaking melody about a lost love. The song includes the wistful lyrics, “I know we weren’t perfect, but I’ve never felt this way for no one.” It’s easy to spell out the plot of the song from Rodrigo’s lyrics about driving by an ex’s house. A simple, yet melancholy piano melody combined with searing imagery and a crisp vocal tone created Rodrigo’s masterpiece, and touched the hearts of her listeners. The song’s lyrics are a fresh, new take on symbolizing heartbreak. The meaning behind the heartfelt lyrics as well as the real sound of a car engine starting in the beginning of the song give the masterpiece a mysterious, yet enticing flair unlike many other attempts at creating sad music by modern artists. 

Rodrigo’s teenage fanbase is also eating up the drama surrounding the song’s release. Fans have speculated that “drivers license” is about Rodrigo’s co-star in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” Joshua Bassett. Bassett, according to the Rodrigo fandom, left her for singer Sabrina Carpenter after declaring that he would wait for Rodrigo until she turned 18. This drama has escalated on the social media platform TikTok, where users have been posting videos about the situation, based on the lyrics “And you’re probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt.” The music video incorporates subtle details hinting towards their relationship, including Rodrigo wearing the same sherpa-trimmed denim jacket that Bassett’s character happens to wear in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” However, the drama did not end here, with Bassett releasing his own song “Lie Lie Lie” only a few days later and Carpenter releasing “Skin” soon after. Carpenter claims that the song has nothing to do with Rodrigo, but fans believe otherwise, based on the lyrics hinting at a relationship between Carpenter and Bassett. 

The combination of drama, publicity from the “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” and heartfelt lyrics are what boosted the song’s popularity so dramatically. The song continues to grow, becoming a classic of our generation. Teens constantly stream the song as they suffer through quarantine, feeling isolated through Zoom calls and lack of activity; TikTokers post about the song’s relatability and the comfort it has brought to them when pining over that certain person in their life. Since Rodrigo is only 17, the success of her song has inspired many young artists to continue following their aspirations. She has become a role model for many teens pursuing a career in music, just as Taylor Swift was a role model for her. The song’s groundbreaking success has altered the music industry forever, placing new emphasis on Asian American artists and relatable lyrics. This is the perfect song to blast alone in room or during late night drives. 

“drivers license” speeds its way to the top of the charts

Perched high on her father’s shoulders as a toddler, Sofia Schreiber marveled at the floating orange drapes displayed at Central Park’s famous art exhibit, “The Gates.” Little did she know that admiring this exhibit would be the first of many experiences throughout her entire artistic journey.

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Schreiber spent her early childhood years in Hoboken, New Jersey — an urban environment where art flooded the streets, walls, buildings, and parks. From that point onwards, creativity has been a part of her very being. Primarily focused on the art of theater, Sofia has helped assemble the sets for many high school productions and plans to continue cultivating her passion in The Boston University College of Fine Arts. Despite having a clear career path in mind, she has never restricted herself to one art form.

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When did you find your passion for art? 

Well, I mostly started out with visual art. [Art] has always been ingrained in me since birth. I remember, specifically, I got this easel for my third birthday, and there were so many pictures of me standing on a little red stool scribbling on the easel. I did a lot of drawing. But I really got serious about art when I started taking ceramics classes at the Arts Council. I enjoyed 3D and started exploring sculpture and creating spaces with art, which was really cool. [After that] I started doing tech crew.

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Who is your inspiration for art as well as your favorite artists? 
[I’ve had] two teachers who are also professional artists. One is Barbara de Lorenzo, an illustrator. She’s been so sweet, and she's helped me put together my portfolio. [Another is] my ceramics teacher, Rebecca Graham. She makes these awesome sculptures [out of clay] like puppets. [Ms. Graham] puts them together with objects [she finds] and wire. [Ultimately,] she inspired me to start doing mixed media work, which is really fun. [My] favorite artists [are] Maya Lin, Andy Goldsworthy, and Ai Weiwei. There’s a piece at Storm King [Art Center,] a sculpture garden in upstate New York, by Andy Goldsworthy. It’s basically a stone wall that goes through the whole park, made out of the stones he found in the park. When my mom was pregnant with me, she took a picture standing next to the wall, and I’ve always loved that picture. During sophomore year, we went on a field trip there and I found the exact spot that she stood at and recreated the picture.

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What childhood experiences shaped you as an artist? 
Until I was three, I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. It was really fun living in a more city environment, really close to New York City, and it’s shaped my love for cities because there was always so much art around. Specifically, I remember the artists Christo and Jeanne Claude who did an installation at Central Park called “The Gates.” There were all these orange gates throughout Central Park, probably 1000 of them. My parents took me there when I was three, and I remember loving it so much. I would sit on my dad’s shoulders and touch all of them as we went by. Just being surrounded by art from a really young age made me fall in love with it even more.

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Have you tried experimenting with different art mediums? 
I love experimenting all the time! I’ve tried everything from knitting to wire work. My favorites are probably watercolor, clay, and drawing. I’m always up for trying new things, so I’ve experimented with paper, yarn, and textile collages. There’s one piece that just makes me smile and it’s a fun piece that I did. It was [a] fabric paper collage. I made this chicken, named Patricia, and she’s a very eccentric chicken. She’s just fun and I hung [her] up on the wall.. Every time I walk by, it makes me smile!

How do you stay motivated during the pandemic? 
I guess it is kind of hard to stay motivated when there’s nothing to do, especially when there’s no real in-person theater productions happening right now at the school. [However,] the technical director, Jeff Van Velsor, made me his design assistant this year. I’ve been working on different aspects of theater, [such as] digital posters for all the shows, and how we can make a Zoom show more interesting, design wise. I also try to keep a sketchbook [to] draw something each day, even if it’s five minutes each day [or] drawing a pencil on my table. 

Sofia Schreiber ’21 explores diverse mediums to sharpen her creativity

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”: What is the fate of a fiery romance born from a gaze that lingered too long? What is the fate of the artist that falls in love with her muse? Critically acclaimed for its exquisite love story, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a French period drama depicting a romantic relationship between two women. One of the women, Marianne, is a painter who is sent to an isolated island to paint a portrait of Heloise, a young aristocrat. Upon completion, the portrait will be sent to Heloise’s future husband, whom she has no desire to marry. Because Heloise refused to cooperate with the previous painters meant to perform the task, Marianne is commissioned under a lie. While posing as a walking companion, she must memorize Heloise’s features to complete the portrait in secrecy.

  This film is a captivating blend of beautiful cinematography, strong acting, and layered themes. Each frame is a painting in itself, bursting with vibrancy and color. Actresses Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel give powerful performances as two lovers trapped in unforgiving circumstances that foresee a tragic destiny. The film is not a shallow romance either — there is a deep exploration into the comfort of art and music accompanied by the power of the female gaze. Another compelling aspect is director Celine Sciamma’s portrayal of the same-sex relationship. In an interview with the New York Times in 2020, Sciamma spoke of her opposition to the “taboo of lesbianism,” demonstrating her refusal to portray the characters’ homosexuality as a source of conflict. Consequently, the film remains receptive to the social expectations placed upon the women while mainly emphasizing their relationship. As a lesbian herself, Sciamma also tastefully portrays the passion of Marianne and Heloise’s love without oversexualizing it. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” carries a simplicity with its minimal characters and straightforward plotline. Yet the mesmerizing nature of the film provides for an emotionally resonant, worthwhile watch.



“Moonlight”: Winning three Oscars and a Golden Globe after its release in 2017, “Moonlight” is an inspiring movie adapted from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s semi-autobiographical play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” When I approached this film, I expected a sensational romance of two young gay lovers. However, the first few minutes of the movie were quite unexpected, yet a powerful experience. While it features a romantic interaction, “Moonlight” is mainly a coming-of-age film that follows Chiron, a young African-American man grappling with his homosexuality, pressure from his peers, and an abusive home life. Three different points in his life are documented: his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The film’s realism elevates the basic plot to a remarkable experience, which can be attributed to McCraney’s real-life experiences and director Barry Jenkins’s exceptional script. The movie chapters could easily feel detached from another, especially with three different actors playing Chiron in different time periods. However, the performances are a stunning, cohesive feat that highlight a lifelong self-repression beneath Chiron’s maturation. The cinematography and score also create an immersive look into this protagonist’s life.

 “Moonlight” is the first LGBTQ+-related film to win an Oscar for Best Picture. It highlights the realistic struggles of LGBTQ+ youth undergoing self-discovery in an unfriendly environment. In 2017, Playwright McCraney spoke to BBC News about the film’s portrayal of black masculinity, where aggressive expressions of hypermasculinity are associated with acceptance in Chiron’s community. With this perspective of manhood, gay men are alienated as weak and effeminate. Chiron’s relationship with this toxic stereotype is a focal point in his character journey. Overall, “Moonlight” is as impactful as it is important. With a masterful combination of artistry and care, Jenkins gives a voice to thousands of disenfranchised LGBTQ+ youth. 



“The Birdcage”: Switching over to a more lighthearted mood, “The Birdcage,” the American adaptation of a French classic “La Cage aux Folles,” follows the story of two gay men — played by Nathan Lane and the late Robin Williams — who own a South Beach nightclub. Their son Val gets engaged to Barbara, the daughter of a very conservative family who condemns homosexuality, but Barbara’s father doesn’t know his future son-in-law has two fathers. In order to ensure their son’s plans for marriage are safe, they hide their sexuality during dinner with the future in-laws. As you can imagine, Robin Williams does a terrific job, especially with his liberally used improvisational skills. Robin Williams never fails to bring energy and charisma to his roles, and this is no different. While Williams is terrific, Nathan Lane steals the show as a drag performer. His over-the-top personality throughout the film is hysterical and adds to his chemistry with Williams’ down-to-earth character. Nathan Lane, who is gay, still mentions in interviews the seismic impact of the film and how it spread awareness about the LGBTQ+ community by normalizing same-sex couples. 



“The Kids Are All Right”: Similar to “The Birdcage,” this movie tells the story of LGBTQ+ parents, this time played by Julianne Moore and Annete Bening. After turning eighteen, one of their kids spontaneously decides to call her biological father. Played by Mark Ruffalo, the father incorporates himself into their lives, consequently creating rifts in the family and marriage. The film accurately portrays the modern American family through its normalcy; the fights, the conversations, and the dynamic of parent-child relationships come off as natural occurrences in every family. While Julianne Moore and Annete Bening do a good job demonstrating the struggle of a long marriage, Mark Ruffalo brings the best out of the movie. Ruffalo, who plays a stoner-hippie, creates the conflict in the film while adding comic relief to offer breaks in a movie with a surprising amount of tension. While one of the objectives of the movie is to normalize same-sex couples like “The Birdcage” does, it tackles a bigger question through the introduction of Ruffalo’s character: “Do kids need to have both genders represented as parental figures?” What makes this movie exceptional is that it does not give the audience a black and white answer. Instead, it showcases the highs and lows of raising children and emphasizes how parenthood is never an exact science. With minimal LGBTQ+ representation at the time, “The Kids Are Alright” in 2010 became one of the largest releases for a mainstream film about lesbian couples and parents as it familiarized its audience with the concept of gay marriage. 

Four LGBTQ+ films to check out this March

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 17–20 minutes 



Cake Ingredients:

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

¾ cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup sour cream

12–24 raspberries for decoration



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. 
Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. You can use nonstick spray to prevent the liners from moving.
Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on 50 percent power in 20 second intervals, stirring between intervals until melted and smooth, then set aside to cool slightly.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt one at a time. In a mixing bowl, whisk these dry ingredients together for 20 seconds. Set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer or a large stand mixer, mix together butter and sugar until creamy.
Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
Mix in the melted chocolate, then, once combined, mix in the sour cream.
Add half the dry ingredient mixture and mix until combined.
Add the remaining dry ingredients.
Add about ⅕ of the boiling water at a time.
Once all of the water has been added, mix the batter on medium-low speed for 1 minute.
Divide batter into the muffin tin.
Bake in the oven for about 17–20 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean.
Once removed from the oven, allow to cool completely before frosting.
Once cool, frost with frosting of choice and top with raspberries.


Frosting Ingredients: 

1 cup fruit of choice

½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

¼ cup salted butter (room temperature)

2¾–3 cups confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions: 

Purée fruit in a food processor until well puréed. Different berries can be used based on preference.
Force purée through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove seeds (should have 6–7 tablespoons of liquid)
Heat mixture in a saucepan over medium-low heat until reduced by half. Cool completely.
In an electric stand mixer, whip butter until very pale and fluffy. 
Mix in 1 cup powdered sugar, then mix in reduced fruit purée and vanilla extract. 
Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy.


Chocolate Heart Decoration Directions:

Melt 2 ounces of chocolate in the microwave and pipe onto a baking sheet. 
Let chocolate sit in the refrigerator until it hardens then gently peel from parchment while chocolate is still cold. 


Tips:  

Place one raspberry on chocolate cupcake and frost around before adding another on top of cupcake for a surprise bite. 
After adding the first cup, add powdered sugar in 1½ cup increments and taste test sweetness depending on personal preference. 
Salted butter can be replaced with unsalted butter in the frosting (but more butter must be used in order to make up for it) 
Hearts should be piped with a stem to stick into the frosting.
Using a small piping tip can help with controlling the shape.


Valentine’s Dark Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

ACROSS

 1 Valentine’s Day flowers

 6 Second word of a fairytale

10 Less than ninety, as an angle

11 New Zealand abalone

12 From, in Barcelona

13 Sound from a pressure cooker

14 Houston airport code

15 It’s straight from the heart 

16 The R, B, or G of RBG

19 Disney princess movie not named after a princess 

23 Michaels competitor: __ Lobby

26 Ending with am- or cas-

27 Milky gemstone

28 Legislate

30 Brazilian soccer legend

31 Concert site

32 Change (a piece of writing) 

33 Virtual Valentine’s Day gift



DOWN 

 1 Half-diameters

 2 Atlantic or Pacific

 3 Popular Japanese dish

 4 Airport abbr.

 5 “Told you so!”

 6 Defend (a belief)

 7 Valentine’s day couple

 8 Expel

 9 Apollo 13 org.

15 Small battery

17 iPad, e.g.

18 Valentine’s Day text

20 Princess of Wales

21 Sustain (expenses)

22 Renown

23 It’s audacious, according to Obama

24 Opinionated article

25 Indonesian tourist island

28 Eden exile

29 Japanese tech giant

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Valentine’s Day Crossword

An unknown individual interrupted a sixth-grade Zoom meeting at Princeton Unified Middle School on January 8 and exposed the students to lewd drawings and a racial slur. At the time of the incident, the students were in a grade-wide community period, watching a video by Baratunde Thurston which centered around using citizenship as a verb. The meeting’s purpose was to teach students what it means to be a good citizen in society and how to treat others around them respectfully.

The Princeton Police Department is currently running an investigation of the Zoom “bombing.” This incident also propelled the district administration to modify its former online security system.

The middle school originally posted the Zoom link onto Canvas and Princeton Public School’s website. This unwittingly created an opportunity for an outside individual to take advantage of the open-access websites and links.

“There are things called web crawlers and what they do is they… go through websites to try and find things like [public zoom meetings],” explained Krista Galyon, Director of Technology and Innovation for the district. “Somebody found a… school district Zoom link and posted it on their social media account… and then people just [tried] to jump on if there’s no security.” 

As a result of this incident, the district has adopted stricter approaches to online security. The main change focuses on Zoom settings — in order to prevent Zoom bombing, the district has turned on the default authentication system which only allows people with emails in the Princeton Public School domain to gain access. 

“All Zoom links [now] require authentication unless you go back and disable that feature… if you are meeting with somebody outside of the district,” Galyon said.

Beyond preventing outsiders from joining protected Zoom calls, the authentication system has other measures that enhance cybersecurity. 

“Everybody’s identity is now known because of the authentication feature,” Galyon said, “Even if I decided to go on and change my display name... in the records of this Zoom call, the name … will still be next to my email address.”

The online nature of the Zoom bombing also brings unique challenges to the Police Department’s investigation into the incident.

“it’s easier to hide online… [because] there is more anonymity online,” said Detective Ben Gering from the Princeton Police Department.
 
Nevertheless, there are still methods of identifying the perpetrators of online crimes. Every computer is equipped with its own media access control and internet protocol (IP) addresses, both of which are unique and allow police departments to trace online activities back to the individual.
 
Zoom bombings do not go without punishment: cyber harassment is a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey. The maximum punishment could be up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
 
The ongoing investigation has not revealed the identity of the culprit; however, Jason Burr, Principal of PUMS, assures that the culprit was not a PUMS student. 

“We are confident that it was none of our kids who were engaged in this particular event,” said Burr. 
 
PUMS has launched educational programs for students to more responsibly practice digital citizenship.
 

“Our counselors and our Assistant Principals went and delivered… three lessons to students, as a result, to remind them that…  good digital citizenship means not only do you not do these things but when these [incidents] happen, [we must] be supportive of each other,” Burr said. 
 
Galyon expressed optimism regarding the current cybersecurity state of the district, including the measures taken to prevent any further incidents such as the zoom bombing.
 
“From the technology side… I wouldn’t [feel] there is any specific space or direction for improvement. I’m very comfortable with Zoom and what they’re doing… and the way that we now have all of the accounts secured.”

Elizabeth Collier, Public Information Officer for the district, expanded on Galyon’s response regarding the district’s security adjustments.

“It’s sort of a recreational thing for hackers to try to hack into all different platforms, and Zoom as a platform has had issues of their own that they’ve worked to correct,” said Collier.  “The good thing that the district is doing is that we’re following all the right procedures. We’re following best practices. … You can never guarantee what’s going to happen in the future, but you can say that we’ve made every effort to make the Zoom [meetings] safe for our students.”


PUMS Zoom bombing incident prompts district to strengthen cybersecurity


In the beginning of February, Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso, along with fellow Mercer County Superintendents, sent a letter to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urging for the prioritization of the vaccinations of educators.

The letter placed an emphasis on the importance of healthy staff members for a stable classroom environment. It reasoned that educator prioritization and classroom stability would improve the instruction and mental well-being of students and, by extension, boost their academic performance. The vaccination of staff members would also increase the feasibility of in-person education in the spring.

Additionally, the letter offered Mercer County school facilities as supplementary vaccination locations. In addition to the ample indoor and outdoor spacing for vaccination equipment and spacing requirements, Mercer County districts are equipped with the help of skilled staff and operational planning teams.

Prior to the most recent letter to Governor Murphy, Galasso had already sent a letter solely on behalf of the Princeton Board of Education. The main focus of the first letter, sent on January 28, was the pandemic’s effect on the mental health of students and how vaccination would ease stress on teachers and faculty, thereby positively influencing classroom environments. 

“There are a significant number of students who need not only the academic support but the social [and] emotional support. And the vaccine, [as well as greater classroom security], will allow us to bring students in school for in-person instruction in greater numbers,” Galasso said.
 
Overall, the community and teachers have been supportive of the letter. Teachers and faculty members who had previously felt pressured to return to the building for PHS’s hybrid model expressed gratitude at the district’s advocacy on their behalf.
 
“I appreciate that the superintendent was reaching out to the governor, and requesting that teachers get access to the vaccinations. And when all officials are calling for more increases in ...in-person schooling, it’s important that we try to make sure that the building is as safe as possible for everyone involved,” said PHS Biology teacher, Jayne Ricciardi. 
 
Ricciardi also points out how the letter defines the role of teachers amidst the pandemic.
 
“I definitely agree that... we are being asked to do things that we didn’t necessarily sign up for when we agreed to be teachers…. But [the teachers] were really honestly concerned about the safety of ourselves and our families….I appreciate them calling us, essentially frontline workers,” Ricciardi said.
 
However, the availability of the vaccine remains a critical issue. The county began receiving a total of 1,500 vaccines per week as of January 28, 2021, which is 700 more than previously, as stated by County Executive Brian M. Hughes during his 2021 State of the County Address. Mercer County has a population of roughly 367,000. Currently, these additional doses will continue to go to the immunocompromised and the elderly. 

“I sent in vaccination site plans in the county, and we’re offering PHS and PUMS as vaccination sites….Our nurses have been trained so that in the event that the vaccine becomes available...we’ll be able to [vaccinate] pretty quickly,” Galasso said.
 
Although the vaccination plan currently remains on hold, the process will undoubtedly be a key component to how the district will consider in-person learning in the future. 
 
“[The vaccination of teachers] would be a more realistic [step] towards getting back to normal. But since it’s not necessarily an option now, I think making sure it’s an option for teachers to be virtual is also incredibly important because safety is the most important thing in the situation, over normalcy,” said Eli Edelman ’22.
 
Fortunately, the vaccination process itself is seamless. Both Ricciardi and Edelman have received it due to their underlying conditions.
 
“They gave me the vaccine, [and after] they gave me the date of... appointment for the second vaccine. So the fact that that part was so short, it makes it seem like ’oh, this should be so easy to do for everybody,’” Edelman said.
 
Galasso continues to praise the Princeton community for its resourcefulness as well as adaptability.
 
“We have had tremendous success in opening schools so far on our hybrid and remote schedule. And that’s due not only to good medical protocols and all the things that I described, but it’s the Princeton community at large and [if we didn’t] follow the science, we would not be in this situation,” Galasso said.
 
Governor Murphy recently tweeted that whenever the vaccine is more available, teachers will have a priority status.



Mercer County school districts push for teacher vaccinations in letter to Governor Murphy


In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, PHS’s school nurses are working proactively with the Princeton Health Department to administer vaccines during school hours.

Board Member Deborah Bronfeld announced the plan at the January 26 Board of Education meeting for the Princeton Public Schools district. Currently, school nurses have administered vaccines for the Township from the Princeton Municipal building, which already held the necessary infrastructure such as the regular and ultra-cold freezers needed for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, respectively.

Lisa Goldsmith, a school nurse coordinator who continues to be instrumental in the design of PHS’s COVID precautions, noted that the administration has acknowledged the additional risk that PHS nurses are taking on and are working to foster the safest possible working conditions.

“I’ve been working with administrators for the entire summer. I do know that no one wants anyone to get sick,” Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith is comfortable with doing her job for the school while simultaneously serving the Princeton Township community. However, while she believes that the general sentiment regarding the nurses’ assistance is positive, she knows that not all of her colleagues are as eager to help out and risk their health. 

“Things don’t always go as planned. People are doing the best that they can. But this [generalization] may cause an uproar with my colleagues,” Goldsmith said.

In a letter to New Jersey Governor Murphy from the Superintendents of Mercer County, including Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso, Murphy was urged to expedite vaccine distribution to faculty, whose ability to teach and maintain what was deemed a “constant classroom” is dictated by their health. 

Working with the Princeton Health Department, the Princeton Public Schools district is seeking to expedite vaccines for educators. However, this may prove difficult as vaccines are moved to more centralized locations and stricter regulations are put into place.

While the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) listed frontline workers, such as teachers, as one of their priorities for vaccination, New Jersey teachers have yet to receive doses. Murphy has called for teachers to be “next in line” for the vaccine. Teachers represent a relatively small population group, numbering roughly 116,000 in the United States as of 2019.  

Goldsmith remains optimistic but worries that the rollout may not happen as soon as some may hope.

“We as nurses would love to do that, to make sure all the teachers and staff who want to get [the vaccine] get it. But I don’t honestly see that happening too soon in the future. Federal efforts are currently centered around moving vaccines to bigger locations. I don’t think it will be in our school, anytime soon.”

In spite of that, Princeton Public Schools is looking to get vaccines to teachers as fast as possible, an instrumental step in the process of bringing students back into classrooms.

“I think that it’s great. If we could find a way to vaccinate teachers, they would feel safer. It’s not getting easier for anyone. Nerves are frayed, and people just want things to return to some sense of normalcy,” Goldsmith said.

In the meantime, Goldsmith wants to remind PHS students to continue social distancing protocols and to report online if they feel ill, with vaccines being far from rolling out. 

“We all have contact tracing training. Students must [fill out the online form] if [they] are in the A or B cohort; that allows us to keep the community safe and healthy,” said Goldsmith.



PHS school nurses help the Princeton Health Department administer vaccines


In order to adjust to pandemic-age education, the College Board announced an unprecedented decision to stop offering their Scholastic Aptitude subject tests and the SAT essay portion. This will take effect immediately for students in the United States as of its January 19 announcement and will be implemented in June for international students. 

The SAT subject tests and the optional SAT essay were tests commonly taken by students in the past, making up an important set of standardized test scores in college applications. However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant obstacle for test centers to safely administer tests. These difficult circumstances have caused many schools to cancel standardized testing, thus making test-taking schedules extremely unpredictable.

The College Board made this change to promote student wellness and adapt to pandemic-era admissions processes. They also disclosed that the change had already been underway before COVID-19 and that the pandemic simply accelerated it; however, the initial purpose of the change was still to reduce the academic demand of students.

PHS College Counselor Nipurna Shah believes that the pandemic test-taking environment is unnerving and that the cancellation of these tests would bring much-needed ease for students, aligning with the College Board’s intent. 

“There’ve been so many test centers that have canceled tests, and...when students sign up for a makeup [test], makeup tests are canceled. The uncertainty of [test-taking] ...is scary,” Shah said. 

While many students were unable to take their tests, those who took them found that test-taking had become increasingly strenuous during the pandemic. Test takers were required to follow strict safety protocols during the test, including wearing masks for the entire duration of the administered test and sitting at least 6 feet apart from all other students.

The removal of these tests will not only eliminate the current health risks students have to face but also change the way colleges assess student applicants in the long run. By eliminating two standardized tests, colleges will place more emphasis on other elements of an applicant’s profile.

Since fewer standardized test scores will be taken into consideration, Maggie Yin ’21 who took the subject tests last year, predicts a change in the mindsets of students applying to college.

“I feel like it would change the standard of how people apply to colleges and how people view themselves, [how they] compare to others when applying to colleges,” Yin said.

Shah also sees the trend of colleges taking a progressive view on the admissions process, one with less of a focus on testing.

“The colleges [will] really use more of a qualitative part of their application. So their writings for the different essays that are required, their activities section, [and] letters of recommendation  ...Those things are sort of weighed more heavily in the context of a college application than a test score would be weighed,” Shah said. 

Having activities and essays weighing more in applications would give students a unique opportunity to showcase their story using their voice, instead of simply comparing test scores. 

The removal of the SAT subject tests and essay portion will also open up a significant amount of time that students can allot to activities they are passionate about.
 
Ashley Tao ’22, who had planned on taking both tests, believes that the removal of SAT subject tests and the essay will allow students to focus on other academic responsibilities. In the meantime, she thinks this might increase pressure in a different regard.

“I [will] have more time to prepare for my APs...while [having] more stress [put] on me to have to get a higher grade at school and get a better score on APs...but the good thing is that I have [fewer] things I have to study for,” Tao said. 


College Board eliminates SAT essay and subject tests to promote student wellness


I remember the last day I attended school in person was in March last year. I was clueless about how big of an impact this pandemic was going to make. Since then, PHS has made big adjustments to accommodate the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between online learning and the new system for assignment submissions, students like me at Princeton High School have experienced a radically different school year. Some of the smaller changes made by the school, although the students might not realize it, have impacted students in an unfortunate way. The frequent changes in the schedule from hybrid to remote leave students confused and frustrated, negatively impacting their learning.

Before the pandemic hit, PHS students were habituated to a consistent schedule, and the same 8:20 a.m. start times every day meant that students like me rarely missed classes in the morning But now, due to the irregular start times, students are experiencing the adverse physical effects, which are supported by biological research and not just figments of our imaginations.

Our circadian rhythms, or biological clocks, tell us when our bodies need rest and when they are ready to wake up. Alarms are most commonly used to counter the rhythms when we need to wake up earlier than usual. In past school years, I’ve woken up on time without issue. However, this  year, I have slept through my alarms most of the time, and, based on what I have heard from my fellow classmates, my struggles with waking up are not an isolated phenomenon. Constantly resetting our circadian rhythms can not only damage our bodies but also can cost us academically when we fail to reset quickly enough. Absences or tardies can be detrimental to a student’s profile, putting them at risk of falling behind and potentially harming their peers and teachers’ impression of them.  Furthermore, asking students to attend an earlier class at 8:20 when they were used to the 9:00 start time from the beginning of the year can decrease their performance in school because of increased fatigue and stress in addition to decreased concentration and alertness.

As days and weeks alternate between hybrid and remote, the time when school ends changes as well. Students across all grades attend activities after school such as sports practices, tutoring sessions, music lessons, and club meetings, and these are disrupted by the unpredictable changes in the schedule. For instance, I attend piano lessons right after school on Mondays; however, the recent changes to the remote schedule have forced me to miss them. This in turn causes inconvenience to my piano teacher and interferes with my musical progress. Although it could be argued that these changes have no academic effect within school, it is important to not overlook the benefit of extracurricular activities on students’ personal development. These skills, ranging from greater physical ability to better communication, are often not gained in school and are impeded by constant schedule changes.

Constant schedule changes affect many aspects of a student's life, ranging from academics to extracurricular activities to mental health. In the future, I hope that school administrators will consider maintaining the same schedules for both remote and hybrid learning days so that when COVID-19 outbreaks or other inconveniences require all teachers and students to work remotely, there will be minimal disruption for all the students.

Constant schedule changes harm students academically

Cheers & Jeers! March

On February 17, Superintendent Barry Galasso released a district-wide email mandating that all students have their cameras on during class. This change in policy is just one of the Valley Road administration’s latest moves to shift back to a “normal” school year. The latest camera policy has its warrants; the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) administration reasons that online learning is hard for everyone, especially when one’s camera isn’t on during class. For students, sitting in their rooms during a lesson makes distractions more noticeable. Interruptions like a sudden sound in the house or a text from a friend make it easy to disconnect without the accountability of being on-camera. For teachers, talking to a screen of black tiles is demoralizing and monotonous with no student feedback. However, despite its positive intentions of encouraging more student participation and improving the teaching experience, this latest change fails to take into account one crucial issue: This is not a normal school year. In the process of attempting to move back to “normal” when the global situation and the last semester have been anything but conventional is a drastic oversight of the needs of the district’s student body. Crucially, the latest camera policy ignores the critical negative repercussions it has on the most vulnerable members of the PPS community.



In the policy, Galasso has given students the option to opt out of this camera requirement by having their parents contact the student’s teachers, counselors, and school administrators. However, this option is merely a fig leaf covering the true issue. Many students are reluctant to take so many steps to try to justify their reasoning to their parents, let alone many staff members. They may feel like their reasons for not wanting their camera to be on are not good enough, and simply opt to suffer silently.



Additionally, students that do successfully opt out will be singled out in a class Zoom, signaling to all their peers that they have extenuating circumstances that allow them to turn their cameras off. This exacerbates the already existing problem by directing more attention onto those students as the exception from the rule.



Students have numerous reasons to be uncomfortable or unwilling to turn on their cameras during class. For instance, many students are not comfortable showing their home environments to their classmates or teachers. Although virtual backgrounds are an option, these are rarely used and will flag these students for not wanting to show their homes. Moreover, some students do not have the internet capacity to handle the additional video input that turning on their cameras requires. During the 2018–2019 school year, 12.5% of the student body had family incomes at or below the poverty line. For these students of lower socioeconomic status, lack of access to a stable internet connection should not be a reason they are isolated as the only ones with their cameras off. It is wrong to force these students to either expose what they are uncomfortable with sharing, or label them as being uncomfortable by singling them out as the only students with their cameras off.



Beyond being classist, this policy also targets students with disabilities or other conditions. Many PHS students have chronic conditions that can present during class times, and require time and privacy to handle. Although there are accommodations available to students like 504 plans that allow them to take breaks from class if necessary, these require copious amounts of paperwork as well as official medical diagnoses to be valid. It is extremely difficult to get access to accommodations even if students need them. This lengthy process shouldn’t be necessary if a student needs to take a few minutes with their cameras off for privacy during a panic attack or tic attack.



Even for students who don’t face hardships at home, screen breaks are a necessary component to online learning. With hour-long classes that often run long as well as shortened breaks, students need access to camera breaks during class to use the restroom, get water, or stretch. Paired with the district’s latest moves to increase daily class times, the mandatory camera policy has only further amplified this problem.



The solution to the problem of student engagement is not a strict and official mandate. The solution requires compromise. It is incredibly invasive and overreaching for the district to create this requirement, despite the potential benefits. Instead, a strong recommendation from the district for students to turn on their cameras would suffice, as well as increased participation requirements for students whose cameras are off. For example, the district could ask all students with their cameras off to utilize interactive Zoom functions such as reactions to express their attention. Teachers could also call on students with their cameras off or ask them to verbally participate to increase their engagement with the class and ensure that they are present and learning.



The district’s first priority must always be student wellbeing. The latest stringent camera policy, while positive in intent, fails to recognize the disadvantaged in today’s learning environment. Without this understanding, the district cannot properly carry out its mission and has thus jeopardized its most vulnerable students.

Editorial: March 2021

When asked to justify their actions, many corporations claim that they create wealth for not only themselves but all Americans. Sometimes, it’s true. But when investments go wrong, the people bearing the greatest burdens are more often than not the lower and middle classes. The most recent example is that of the 2008 housing crisis. Large banks, which used predatory lending tactics backed by flawed statistics, eventually collapsed and caused many middle-class families to lose their homes. Yet the same large banks that were responsible for this crisis received significant bail outs from the U.S. government. This, along with many other events, has not only tarnished the image of Wall Street but has also convinced many lower- and middle-class Americans that games of finance are played by the wealthy to benefit only themselves.

But at the beginning of the month, amateur investors, aided by Reddit, worked together to  influence the stock market, and unexpectedly, the values of various companies rose drastically. Hedge fund executives were stunned when Gamestop shares skyrocketed from roughly $20 to a high of $483 on January 28. How had a company, stagnating for so long, suddenly become so valuable?

The answer lies in a trading tactic called “short selling.” An investor borrows a stock, sells it, and then later purchases it to return to the original owner. The hope is that the stock will decrease in price, thus making the purchase price lower than the selling price, resulting in a profit. With a company like Gamestop, slowly being pushed out of business by online retailers such as Amazon, investors swooped in to try and make as much money as possible. However, changes to the company's board of directors indicated that they were developing a digital strategy, and this, along with excitement generated by the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit, prompted independent investors to buy these stocks, increasing their value and causing large hedge funds to lose significant amounts of money.

These actions weren’t the results of people being bored or investing in their free time: rather, they should be considered a form of protest. For years, the stock market has been seen as a playground for the elite, and ordinary investors have increasingly felt that financial institutions work against them. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, in 2019, the top one percent held 36.92% of U.S. wealth while the bottom 50% owned just 7.44% of assets. The amateur investors who took on Wall Street successfully have sent a powerful message: Though inequality seems impossible to combat, movements against the establishment are possible and turn the tide in favor of the common people. In turn, everyone can advance in their path to achieving the American Dream.

In Princeton, wealth inequality can seem to be a minor issue as everyone is assumed to be upper-class. However, this view of our community not only oversimplifies internal differences but also prevents us from seeing farther than our community. Instead, we need to recognize the various injustices around us and stop ignoring problems just because they don’t affect us. Gaining this understanding will allow us to work more effectively in targeting problems and solving them.

As students, this greater sense of socioeconomic awareness can help us better understand our positions in society and how we can best produce change in the world. Most importantly, we should hold on to the belief that our actions can create progress. We certainly don’t have the capital of bankers or the sway of politicians, yet Reddit has proven that even the most unlikely movements can lead to significant change. Whether this takes the form of discussions in class or political organizing outside of school, knowing that we have the ability to alter our world is a prerequisite to unified action and clear communication.

By late February, Gamestop had fallen to roughly $40, a far cry from the prices just a month before.Yet independent investors who’ve taken the stock market to unpredictable places don’t seem to be giving up any time soon in fighting Wall Street, and we, too, shouldn’t forget about the wealth inequality that permeates our lives.

What Reddit can teach us about inequality

If you’re a person of color living, working, or learning in a predominantly white town, you’ve definitely felt the pressure of white people staring you up and down, noticing and taking note of your every move; this is what we refer to as the white gaze. The white gaze is something that weighs down on people of color every single day. Not only does it feel like we are backed into a corner, but it causes POC to feel as if their voices don’t matter. As a Pakistani Muslim at PHS, I have to take extra action when it comes to amplifying not only my voice but the voices of my peers.

PHS is not safe from ethnocentrism just because Princeton is a liberal town. We’ve had our fair share of racist scandals, all committed by white members of the student body. A community circle will not heal the souls that have been damaged at these predominantly white institutions (PWI), and neither will an email from the principal. Talking to friends after these events helped me actually understand my experiences; being a person of color in Princeton is HARD. Over 70 percent of the student body is white, so it’s hard to see yourself represented anywhere, and it’s even harder to make friends because ethnic and racial groups tend to unintentionally self-segregate. My friends of color have said they feel defeated; they hate going to school at a PWI like PHS because students are let off the hook for their racism and ethnocentrism. It’s terribly uncomfortable to know that the person sitting next to you in your math class is a white supremacist. In terms of looking for guidance during these situations, finding the right person to talk to when you’re struggling is difficult because it's extremely rare to find someone who mirrors your experiences.

The concept of the white gaze relies on the idea that people of color must take account of a white person’s feelings and reaction while existing in a predominantly white space. With that definition in mind, it is absolutely no surprise that Black rappers, like Noname, have taken to Twitter to explain how the white gaze affects their ability to perform. Noname tweeted about how she gets uncomfortable performing in front of white crowds, even going as far as to telling her haters to check their “liberalism.” If your liberalism only focuses on your individual freedom and isn’t focused on helping out those who are suffering, you do not follow the principles of liberalism. What Noname meant was that white liberals scream, protect, and care for Black women until it’s time to care for and listen to their perspective. Just because you like one song by one Black artist doesn’t mean that you aren’t normally biased towards white artists. As Ta-Nehisi Coates states in his touching essay to his son, “Between the World and Me,” “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body — it is heritage.”

The severity of the white gaze has essentially destroyed not just the Black body but the body of every person of color it touches. It starts with destroying our identity’s validity and ends up leaving us hurt and confused. This line alone proves that people of color have felt the burn of constantly being watched and undermined by their white peers. These standards are upheld everywhere, especially in PWIs. The only way we can truly attempt to fight these standards so deep into our journeys is by unlearning to take what white people say to heart, un-internalizing hatred, and realizing our true worth; this process is a fruitful experience that helps us stop pandering for white validation and will show us that our lives are not a plan that needs to be approved by our white peers. Our lives are ours to live equally and freely, without having to worry about what others feel they know about us.

Pandering to the White Gaze

Smashed windows. Empty tear gas canisters. Dozens injured. This may sound like a scene from a movie, but instead, it’s the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol insurrection. Taking place in the symbolic heart of our nation, the outburst of violence and rage shocked millions of citizens and distressed democracies around the world. The United States, once extolled as the shining beacon of freedom in a world where authoritarianism has been on the rise, seems itself at risk of an illiberal streak.
	Although the event might look like an arbitrary outburst of violence, the root causes are profound and run much deeper. The problem isn’t just that the insurrection occurred but also that the insurrectionists, along with a sizable minority of the American public, believe it to be an acceptable response to the year’s events and political stirring. A poll done by Business Insider on January 13 of this year indicates that one in ten Americans thinks the siege was justified, highlighting this predicament. This belief in achieving political goals through violence and force indicates a lack of a common civic understanding of the democratic political system among Americans.
	In times of crisis, history can often be useful in offering a perspective to better understand the present. A violent insurrection against a democratic institution is largely an unfamiliar event for the modern American, though it has happened before. At the turn of the 20th century, a violent coup instigated by white supremacists overthrew the Fusion government in North Carolina. The Fusion party was a cross-racial special party made up of African Americans and white Republicans that was a Republican offshoot for regional elections. Outvoted by freed slaves at the ballot box, Southern “redeemers” sought to oust the democratically elected local government through violence and intimidation in what would become the Wilmington Insurrection. Without Union infantry to protect the freed slaves, looting and vandalism spiraled out of control, leaving at least 60 people dead. As one of the few outright coups in American history, the Wilmington Insurrection demonstrates the dangers of a disregard of the basics of civics, especially in terms of respecting democratic elections.
	On the other hand, contested elections can bring out the better angels of our nature. Take the election of 2000 as an example, where after several recounts, George W. Bush narrowly defeated Al Gore in a months-long dispute that made its way up to the Supreme Court. Through the highly controversial decision, Bush v. Gore, Bush triumphed by a margin of four electoral votes despite the fact that Gore had won the popular vote by more than half a million votes. Taken into context with the bitterness during the recent election, it would not be surprising to assume that such a disputed election would have resulted in partisan gridlock and long lasting rancor regardless of the eventual victor. However, in mid-December, roughly a month and a half before inauguration, Al Gore conceded defeat, citing the necessity of unity and his commitment to respecting the democratic electoral process.
	These two crises from history appear antithetical, but both reveal the importance of civic education. Without authoritarianism dictating society’s rules, preserving a democracy requires individuals to follow a certain set of expected guidelines in governance for the continued function of society. This includes simple concepts like respecting free speech and believing in democratic equality, but it also includes rational deliberation and a commitment to republicanism as a form of representation. These expected guidelines are the core tenets of democracy, somewhat like an extension to the social contract theory into the realm of political beliefs. Although individuals may hold differing political views, they must adhere to these common basic beliefs in order to maintain the system that allows for the free discussion and thought essential to a republic in the first place. In this case, these common beliefs are our civic education system. Just like how in the physical sense, the natural right to theft must be conceded to create the right to public property, citizens must transfer their right to be ignorant of civic concepts to create and maintain a stable, cohesive democracy. 
Recent events have indicated a fundamental misunderstanding of this responsibility, so every citizen must learn it. In the case of PHS, although we do not have a dedicated civics course, general courses like AP U.S. History allow us to understand the relationship between people and government throughout American history while AP Government and Politics provides a blueprint for the workings and structure of the government. Though the courses may seem monotonous and dry for some, they shape a perspective on civics that is useful beyond just the class, providing insight on how to engage democratically in our society. They provide the antidote to ignorance, introducing these common basic beliefs that ultimately result in shaping responsible and functioning citizens of a democracy. So next time you hop on that Zoom class, don’t just treat the course as just a source of a grade but rather as a building block towards civic responsibility. America needs civically informed citizens now more than ever, because although the match of the insurrection has been extinguished, the proverbial barrel of gunpowder from society’s civic irresponsibility remains.



America is paying the price of poor civic education


Within the past few years, especially during the Trump administration, many teenagers received their news from social media. Not only is this harmful because of the relevance of misleading and overly-biased information on social media, it also increases the idolization of certain politicians. Idolizing politicians is the act of putting them on a pedestal and neglecting to hold them accountable for their negative actions. PHS is generally left-leaning, which means that many students tend to treat politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders as celebrities. When they’re adored by millions of people, it's harder to criticize politicians when necessary. 
Many people on social media claim to love AOC, Ayanna Pressley, and other progressive politicians. This is not necessarily bad when a group of women of color inspire many young girls and advocate for social justice. However, do people admire these politicians because they actually believe in and can speak to their policies? Or do they actually believe the sensationalized 30-second clips they see on social media? It’s hard to answer these questions because there will always be evidence of both sides. AOC’s official Instagram account only has 1.3 million followers compared to her personal account with 8.8 million followers, showing that many young Americans prefer to follow her personal life compared to her government role. The huge difference in followers raises questions if people are following her as a politician or as a celebrity: Do they see her as a public official or as someone simply deserving of praise? If they see her political career in its entirety, they would acknowledge claims of her anti-semitism and her ironic sale of $65 sweatshirts printed with the phrase “tax the rich,” rather than obsess over one or two policy points. 
Another idolized government figure is late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away last September. After her death, social media erupted with posts dedicated to memorializing her life; I remember scrolling through identical Instagram stories with pictures of her and texts about how much she has helped our country. RBG is idolized by many because of her relentless fight for women’s rights and gender equality; however, her controversial decisions like clearing the Appalachian trail for a pipeline, despite the protests from environmentalists, are very rarely talked about. And when people do bring up her anti-indigenous rulings, her supporters immediately become defensive and dismissive of the criticisms' validity. Similarly, Obama is heavily idolized as the first Black President and for creating the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare. He has over 34 million followers on Instagram, demonstrating how big his influence is among teenagers. Many news outlets praised his actions as President, sometimes rightfully so, but glossed over the fact that he allowed inhumane drone strikes against the Middle East. Decisions that have severe consequences toward the most vulnerable communities deserve more attention. When these politicians are idolized by so many, people don’t care about their “mistakes” and only focus on their political triumphs. Many young liberals tend to focus on how RBG and Obama were both Democrats and only care about proving some type of Democratic superiority to Republican counterparts.
Everyone knows politicians aren’t perfect, but it is our job as democratically engaged students to hold them accountable for their shortcomings — ultimately, they’re public servants, not our friends. There is a fine line between praising politicians and idolizing them. Idolizing people because they align with your party and your choice of beliefs will benefit no one. These widely distributed Instagram stories use combative language against perceived enemies and glorify progressive politicians, yet the people who post these things refuse to take real action. Performative activism, or activism done to increase one’s social capital rather than because of one’s devotion to a cause, and the idolization of politicians go hand in hand. Many of my peers post about progressive politicians without further reading or understanding their policies to strengthen their own lack of awareness. 
Of course, there are people posting on social media who do their research and educate themselves, but there is also a sizable group of people who don’t. They think by reposting the same stories, they don’t have to do any more research. They think that they’re activists, though the distinction between activists and performative activists is quite clear: activists make change, while performative activists pretend to. These performative activists were the same people who posted the black squares for the #BlackoutTuesday and treated Black Lives Matter as a trend. Meanwhile, activists were the ones marching and calling local representatives. Furthermore, these posts were unhelpful for people who needed actual information on Black Lives Matter because the hashtag would be filled with black squares making it impossible to find the information. The people who did post these black squares were typically the same people who put politicians on a pedestal, politicians that they know nothing about and refuse to learn more about. Putting politicians in an untouchable position hinders our ability to criticise them and keep them accountable. While it’s hard to remove this affection, we need to resume our fight for vulnerable communities by holding our favorite politicians accountable.  It’s our job as young citizens to make sure that they do their jobs.









The Dangers of Idolizing Politicians


As schools around the United States accept gender as a fluid concept, students have become more comfortable with how they identify . PHS has started practicing gender inclusion by establishing a gender-neutral bathroom, a step in a positive direction to giving students who are uncomfortable and scared to use traditional bathrooms another option. However, in high school athletics, students are not given the alternative of competing outside traditional boys’ and girls’ leagues. Due to these limited options for competition, the relationship between athletes’ self-identified genders and the sports leagues they compete in remains unclear.

So far, there are 16 states that have rules which accommodate transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming high-school athletes. This means that 34 states, including New Jersey, do not have these accommodating policies and instead make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Generally, transgender people are able to identify and express who they are . But in sports, their gender identity is determined by something other than self-identification. Gender in professional sports is sorted into two categories determined by levels of testosterone. Those who wish to compete as women must be able to maintain a testosterone level of at most 5 nmol/L for six continuous months. This amount is still higher than the average woman’s levels of 0.1-1.8 nmol/L.

However, some believe when it comes to sports categorized through gender, it is necessary to take other factors into consideration. The medical transition period,  the in-between time after a person has come out and takes action to change their gender, must be taken into account. The length of transition periods varies from a couple of months to a couple of years. During this time, transgender athletes may go to gender doctors to confirm their gender dysphoria and may then start taking hormones. So while transgender athletes are transitioning, should they be able to compete in the gender they self-identify as?

“If their hormone levels are similar to [those] of the average woman or man they identify with at that point in time, they should be allowed to compete on that team,” said Anonymous, a transgender student who wishes to remain unnamed.

On one hand, it is immoral to deny people’s rights as human beings to play for what they consider their correct gender, but it is difficult to completely disregard testosterone and estrogen levels.

As a student-athlete herself, tennis player Ashley Chen ’23 believes that people who come out as transgender should be accepted for who they choose to be.

“I think that they should be able to play in whatever league they want to. I don’t think it matters because they’re athletes. They’re all playing the same game,” Chen said.

Although being accepted for who you are in all aspects of life is ideal, it is not always that simple. Unfortunately, biological factors play a large role in athletics. Women and men are built differently, preventing an easy transition between genders. Scientifically, men have a larger lung capacity, a greater bone density, and a higher muscle mass. This distinction is apparent on a high school level in sports teams at PHS. For example, on the track team, the fastest male mile-runner has a quicker time than the fastest female mile-runner. However, their times are never compared because the events are separated by gender. If men and women were placed in the same event, the competition wouldn’t be as entertaining because the outcome would be too predictable. Most likely, women would lose to men due to biological circumstances that are beyond their control.

Another physiological disparity was observed in an assigned female at birth swimmer transitioning to a male.

“I know a trans man who swims. The major issue is that he has never gotten to the level of cis boys,”  Anonymous said.

This difference in strength applies both ways. When a transgender woman decides to play for the female team, she is typically stronger than all of her teammates because of natural genetic variation. However, these physical challenges are not the only ones these athletes must face. In fact, distinction in body composition also has psychological effects, preventing trans athletes from feeling completely accepted.

“There are kids that know they are trans, that know they are in the wrong body, but they can’t go to the doctor either because of their family or financial issues. They want to continue playing sports, but the feeling of playing on the wrong team is inescapable,” Anonymous said.

While transgender athletes may feel that they stick out on strict female and male teams offered at the high school level, it can be argued that sports are a good way for these athletes to be themselves. It is well known that regular exercise has its health benefits, with engagement in physical activity often used to promote physical health and manage mental health. Transgender people report higher levels of depression and anxiety in comparison to the general population and can thus benefit significantly from the stress relief and community that can be found in high school sports. The increased risk of mental health issues and loss of passion caused by their inability to compete with people of their self-identified gender could be dangerous. This negative consequence is apparent in an account of a transgender athlete who quit playing a sport for some of these reasons.

“I used to play sports, but I felt so scared [of changing leagues]. There would [have been] issues with coaches not liking you, people not liking you, feeling so different,” Anonymous said.

In order for transgender athletes to relieve stress by doing the sport they love while still feeling validated, there are a few possible alternatives to just men and women leagues. Piper Sullivan ’21, a gender-neutral student-athlete, presents a potential option.

“Ideally, you combine the two gender teams into just one. But I think a lot of people would be unhappy with that. And it might not be fair. So, I think, even making a third team that anyone can join would be really helpful,” Sullivan said.

Many students agree with Sullivan, and confirm that if the change were to be made they would be open to joining the new team. Kyleigh Tangen ’24, who competes in girls cross country and swimming, adds that change would have to come from the athletes themselves.

“I think it would have to be up to the students. But, if there was an option for mixed-gender sports, I would like that. If there were such a team then I might try out actually,” Tangen said.

When determining the relationship between sports and transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming  athletes, it is important to acknowledge the unique challenges they must face both in and out of their sport. If New Jersey decides to implement a decision on these high school athletes, they must understand that human rights are ultimately more important than sporting events.

Opinion: Transgender Athletes in Cis Sports

She quickly glances up at the stands, spotting her parents cheering wildly. Distancing herself from her opponents, she braces herself to catch a pass. Deftly dribbling the ball across the court, she locks her eyes onto the white rectangle drawn on the backboard. Pivoting, she extends her arm towards the hoop to sink yet another 3-pointer as the crowd erupts into cheers. This is Brynne Hennessy ’21’s third 3-pointer, putting her at 20 points scored against Bordentown on February 28.



Hennessy started playing basketball in sixth grade after making the middle school team as one of two sixth graders. However, Hennessy’s passion for playing sports began much earlier than middle school. Growing up, she was surrounded by the influence of an athletic family. Her father, Steve Hennessy, is a gym teacher at Johnson Park Elementary School and an assistant coach for the PHS Boy’s Basketball team, her mother is a personal trainer, and her brother played football at PHS. Encouraged to stay active and play recreational sports throughout her childhood, Brynne soon realized that basketball was her passion.



“I think my parents just decided I should try out basketball, why not? And then I ended up liking it, a lot more than the other sports that I played,” Hennessy said.



Although basketball is not the only sport she has played, it is the one she enjoys the most because of the engagement and freedom she feels on court. Taking this passion into high school, Hennessy joined the PHS girls basketball team. Since her first game, she has worked consistently to improve her execution, while putting the relationship of the team first. Through her passion for the sport and emphasis on the importance of teamwork, Hennessy has earned the spot of captain for all four years: two years as the JV captain and two years as the Varsity captain. 



With many of the team members being freshmen this year, Hennessy, as team captain, assumed the responsibility of keeping the team organized and motivated. Embodying her team’s motto, Hennessy has emphasized the importance of communication for a new team. 



“We [have a motto] called PEACH: Positivity, Enthusiasm, Aggressiveness, Communication, Hard work... Right now, I think what’s most important is the C in Communication [because] I want to make sure that we’re all understanding each other,” said Hennessy.



Along with emphasizing teamwork, Hennessy brings her personality and motivational energy to every game and practice. Head Coach David Kosa attests to Hennessy’s ability to keep the energy of the team high during tough moments.



“When we get into the gym, [Brynne] is always... positive [and] always joking around. It really creates a fun atmosphere. So on those tough days where, you know, we might come in early in the morning on a Saturday or we [have] just come off of a tough game, her vibrant personality really picks up the team,” Kosa said. 



Like in any sport, injuries are almost unavoidable. Hennessy suffered a number of concussions, with her most serious one being in January 2020. At times, injuries like these have made Hennessy question whether to continue basketball because of how demanding the comeback process is. However, she found the motivation to keep playing from her teammates.



“I remember I couldn’t shoot free throws. I was trying to shoot them and before [my injury] I was at eight or 10. But when I came back, I just could not make any,” said Hennessy. “But my teammates really helped me with my confidence. I would never want to let them down.”



Despite concussions that took her out of school and basketball for months, Hennessy returned to the court determined to make good decisions and stay focused. With this positive attitude, Hennessy soon returned to peak performance.



“I was the leading scorer last year by average, [even though] I had to miss nine whole games due to a concussion,” Hennessy said.



Returning to the team this year, Hennessy is looking forward to creating friendships with her new teammates and building bonds. Within her role as captain, she prioritizes the importance of confidence and hard work.



“I think a lot of times, high school students doubt their capabilities. And I know high school is obviously a very stressful time, but just by having faith in yourself, you can do pretty much anything that you put your mind to,” Hennessy said.

Athlete of the Month: Brynne Hennessy

“Swimmers, take your mark!”



Prior to his descent into icy waters, Owen Tennant ’21 steadies himself with a deep, calming breath. Remembering the day’s conversations and jokes with fellow swimmers and coaches, he prepares himself for the difficult moments ahead. Now breathing quickly, he begins to mimic the racing conditions he will soon be under. Savoring the last of his uninterrupted air, Tennant visualizes his arms and legs moving in turn with his breathing. 



“Beep!” 



On solid ground just moments before, Tennant smoothly plunges into the still water. Although Tennant has long been accustomed to the feeling of the ground leaving his feet, this was not always the case. Playing soccer for five years prior to highschool, Tennant realized his love for swimming only after winning a local race.



“A lot of my friends urged me to do it. I decided that I’ll go along and try, and I ended up coming second. And that’s how I started swimming,” Tennant said.



After making the permanent decision to switch from soccer to swimming in high school, Tennant quickly rose to become one of the most successful and versatile swimmers for Princeton High School and the current varsity co-captain. However, success did not come easy for Tennant. Choking on water and stopping in the middle of a relay race freshman year, Tennant got his team disqualified. Upset with himself for letting down the team, Tennant quickly learned the value of self-confidence.



“Just don’t overthink the races and remember to stay sane beforehand. You’ve practiced for this moment, so you [are] prepared,” Tennant said.



With this new relaxed attitude, Tennant became a valuable contributor to the team. Head Coach Carly Misciewicz agrees with this sentiment, lauding his flexibility and attitude as his greatest assets.



“He’s very light hearted. He’s very easy going. If I need him to swim a certain event one week and a different event the next, he’ll say sure, whatever the team needs,” Misciewicz said. 



This attitude paid off. Apart from swimming breaststroke as his main event, Tennant is also accomplished in a variety of other events including the butterfly and 200-meter sprint. During his Princeton High School career, Tenant swam in every event at least once, demonstrating his versatility in a multitude of swimming strokes and styles. 



More than just competing in many different events, Tennant has found success in them all. Since freshman year, Tennant has been a scorer for PHS in every event; he placed in the top three of the county every year in breaststroke and has been able to place in the top six in all of his events. Head Coach Misciewicz remarks that his willing and confident attitude in the pool is a substantial factor.



“He’s a big contributor, whether it’s dual meets or state, but he always steps up to the plate with a smile, too. And he does it well,” Misciewicz said.



These admirable characteristics have allowed Tennant to find success outside of the pool as well. When COVID-19 hit and pools closed, he found it especially challenging to interact and practice with his teammates. However, he has overcome these obstacles by holding Zoom meetings to prepare the team for their modified indoor season. Understanding the motivational struggle this year due to the pandemic and the impact he has on the incoming group of PHS swimmers, he shares tips on out-of-water workouts, techniques, and creates a game plan for the return to the pool.


“I think this year it’s especially important to be a good role model so that younger kids have someone to look up to,” Tennant said.



Taking on a new leadership role as co-captain this year, Tennant has made sure to pass on his knowledge and experience to new members of the team. Whether it’s by joking around with teammates before each event or by leading by example with his own confidence and strength in races, he ensures that the whole team knows how to approach swimming and racing with composure and confidence. 



Taking these experiences gained from high school to the next level, he will be swimming for Colorado College next year. 



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