Our student editors and staff writers have worked hard to bring you our December 2021 Holiday edition. Please enjoy it here, and have a safe and happy holidays!
Month: December 2021
By Jackson Wedel, Staff Writer
As of October 2021, California has become the first state to ensure that students must take an ethnic studies course in high school. While the decision has gotten mostly positive responses, there are still several common misconceptions about the course. So why is Ethnic Studies such an important course, and what purpose does it have?
The concept of a social science course focusing on human diversity emerged nationwide in the 1960s alongside the myriad of other civil rights movements at the time. Not only did schools consistently exhibit discriminatory behavior towards students of color, but they also educated their students on the humanities (a category including subjects like history and literature) purely from a white American perspective. However, it was not until San Francisco State University students protested at their school demanding a more inclusive education that the modern idea of “Ethnic Studies” was born. San Francisco State soon established its own College of Ethnic Studies, and similar programs began forming across America.
The class, at its most fundamental level, revolves around the various cultures that make up the world – particularly marginalized groups that are often overlooked in most academic settings. The curriculum highlights the contributions, experiences, and achievements of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, and Indigenous Americans. On a broader level, it emphasizes the impact forces like racism and colonialism have on communities and the world as a whole today.
C.K. McClatchy High School has had a fairly long history with Ethnic Studies classes. Introduced in 2001, the program was intended to help focus on voices and identities that often went unheard. “Ethnic Studies came out of that desire to have something that students of color would feel connected to,” argued Bridget Martinez, one of the school’s original Ethnic Studies teachers.
Ethnic Studies is a constantly relevant course, in part because of how malleable it is to fit current events and related discourse. “The fun thing about Ethnic Studies is that it could be different every time you teach it,” Martinez claimed. “There’s a few basic core concepts, but you can really shape it to what’s going on in the state, in the country, on the campus.”
According to Martinez,the overarching theme of the course is exploring diversity of all kinds. “Identity is the one constant theme that we weave into everything, because the point of Ethnic Studies when it first started at San Francisco State was that students didn’t feel like they had a voice, and didn’t feel like their issues and their concerns were being talked about in academic settings. I kind of stick to that and use it as an opportunity to give students a chance to find their voice.”
Martinez believes that Ethnic Studies is so crucial because it gives students the opportunities to explore otherwise-overlooked perspectives. “Kids start to think about things beyond just themselves and their own experiences,” she noted. “To get them to see that there is a connectedness – that it doesn’t have to be about you for you to care about it, I think is one of the biggest benefits.”
Ultimately, it seems likely that Ethnic Studies will continue to flourish at McClatchy. The school has perhaps one of the most diverse student bodies in Sacramento, so such courses will undoubtedly help exemplify and celebrate those inter-student differences. On a wider scale, now that both the Sacramento City Unified School District and California as a whole have made Ethnic Studies a high school graduation requirement, it seems likely that these courses will continue to bolster students’ intercultural understanding long into the future.
By Jackson Wedel, Staff Writer; Taryn Yee, Staff Writer
The winter holiday season brings with it a unique atmosphere, a renewed sense of joy, and its own traditions, like Christmas music. Often, this music is the highlight of people’s holiday season, and helps set the mood for the coming festivities. However, there is one constant debate surrounding it: when should people start listening to it?
According to various polls, by far the most common opinion is that Christmas music should start after Thanksgiving. Others object, and begin listening to music before Thanksgiving (in some extreme cases, before Halloween). In this article, Prospector staff writers Taryn Yee (T) and Jackson Wedel (J) attempt to determine once and for all when people should start listening to their favorite holiday music.
T: Christmas music itself isn’t so bad, but when the radio suddenly switches from regular music to holiday tunes the day after Thanksgiving, it loses its value and excitement very quickly. People who turn on Christmas music before the month of December spread holiday cheer a little too early. It seems as if Thanksgiving is just another obstacle prolonging ‘the most wonderful time of the year,’ and playing music seems to erase that date straight off the calendar. The commercialized nature of Christmas correlates it as a holiday more centered around giving and receiving, and the music associated with it disregards the feeling of gratefulness that accompanies Thanksgiving.
J: Overall, I disagree with the notion that Christmas music undermines Thanksgiving because the majority of Christmas songs do not actually revolve around gift-giving and consumerism. Most Christmas music focuses on the very same themes that Thanksgiving emphasizes: family, togetherness, and kindness. Holiday classics like “Jingle Bells”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Deck The Halls”, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, “White Christmas”, and so many more do not mention presents at all, instead emphasizing other prominent elements of the holiday. The songs simultaneously increase anticipation for Christmas and add to the Thanksgiving mood.
T: Regardless if it reflects the values set forth by Thanksgiving, it’s still inevitably tied to Christmas. While I have the luxury of aux in my car, there are those of us that have to hear the same songs repeated on the radio. Part of what makes the holiday so special is the anticipation of waiting for it all year. Like Jackson argued, music adds to the excitement. However, when it’s played in November it causes the arrival of Christmas to be somewhat anticlimactic. At that point, the suspense has been drawn out and when December finally arrives, the magic of Christmas has been diminished by its overbearing presence in every department store.
J: Being forced to listen to Christmas music before you feel the holiday season would definitely become irritating fast. However, there is absolutely nothing forcing you to listen to this music if you do not want to. Sacramento’s own holiday radio station does not start playing until a few days before Thanksgiving, giving people lots of time to listen to whatever music they want to without any hindrances whatsoever. Therefore, it seems unfair for people to govern when others should listen to Christmas music if it is so avoidable.
T: As for my most controversial take yet? Christmas music is annoying and overplayed. While I don’t mind it during December there are some songs I can’t seem to escape. Christmas classics quickly become worn out, and the sound of bells and carolers are only palatable in small quantities. Call me a Grinch, but the soundtrack that accompanies December should honestly only play during December. Singing Christmas songs before Thanksgiving, at the risk of everyone else’s sanity, is Grinch-like in itself.
J: Obviously, it is impossible to argue about whether Christmas music is annoying or not, because that is simply a matter of personal opinion. However, arguing that all Christmas music can be summed up with bells and carolers is fairly reductive. Lots of Christmas songs have completely different flavors to them. For example, the various Christmas songs written by popular artists of their times, like “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Last Christmas”, have completely different moods. Whether you like pop, rock, metal, or any other genre, there are Christmas songs that fit those tastes. In fact, many of these songs work fine outside of the Christmas time period. Therefore, while I agree that Christmas music can often be repetitive, there are plenty of songs to listen to that fit anyone’s personal tastes.
Categories
Java is a Bad Language
By Tristan Olynick, Staff Writer
As someone who has done extensive research into Java, and worked on back-end server plug-in development with it, I would like to state that Java is slow and finicky.
I’ve worked with programming languages such as Python and C++ before, creating multiple bots for platforms like Instagram and Twitter. To do this, I have had to interact with this god forsaken language (which also includes JavaScript or as I will refer to it for now on, JS) and it’s corresponding JSON files. Every time I’ve used it, something has gone wrong.
The only positive thing I am able to say about JS is that when you aren’t getting a constant flow of errors (approximately 3% of the time) it’s actually fun to write in. In addition to this, because Java is not a compiled or interpreted language, it’s completely platform-independent. This allows Java to run on phones, computers, servers, and more without any extra code or languages.
A massive negative point about JS is how abominably slow it is. According to Forbes, when accurately translated to Java, optimized C++ code runs 3x slower. Compared to C++, Java is a high level language; it doesn’t have access to lower level functionality like C++, making it way more inefficient. Along with bound checks on arrays, and higher memory usage, Java is generally considered to be an unproductive language.
If being slow wasn’t bad enough, even Java’s libraries are flawed. Log4J is an open-source, apache logging framework that many developers use to store logging information. On December 1, 2021 CloudFlare (a widely used cybersecurity plug-in/company) reported that an exploit in Log4J allowed remote code execution on other people’s computers. Essentially, if you exploited this bug, someone could anonymously run code on your computer or server (which is really bad). Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks can lead to your system being accessed remotely, key logged, and even bricked.
My final problem with JavaScript is its readability. Because it is a single-threaded, asynchronous, language, it is hard to read and learn. When using someone else’s code, you want to be able to understand what you’re working with.
As a scripting language that is very slow with zero readability, I believe that Java is a bad language. Despite all of this, JS is used frequently, which is unfortunate because it makes it an important language to learn.
Heartbreak is a feeling so strong that it makes you want to crawl into bed and never wake up. It causes you to ask yourself, “What did I do wrong, do I deserve this?”
The feeling is similar to that of gray clouds on a sunny day. It’s wondering how you’re going to get through the day with this terrifying agony. It’s waking up again and again, believing that the pain will be endless. It’s grieving without death.
I think that the most devastating part about heartbreak is that the person who broke your heart continues on, and you’re forced to live a life that doesn’t include them. You fear that they’ll move forward from what you shared.
Not only do you lose that person, but also the part of yourself that existed during the relationship.
I know it feels like an everlasting pain, a hole in your chest, a void of nothingness. Heartbreak is such a long process that begins with the “numb stage”. You’re in denial, telling yourself lies in order to avoid the pain. When people ask if you’re okay, you respond, “I’m fine”. In doing so you’re not only lying to them, but yourself as well.
The next phase, the “clarity stage”, brings the worst of your emotional pain. This is when you stop lying to yourself and others. It is when you confront the pain instead of avoiding it. You just want to be able to understand the breakup and your relationship as a whole. The only way to pass the clarity stage is to fight it. The reason it brings the greatest emotional pain is because you’re finally letting all the pain come to you. After this phase, the healing starts.
The “healing stage” is next. However, this doesn’t mean things are easy. There are moments where you fall harder than ever, because you are still vulnerable from the last stage.
The best part of the healing stage is that you can begin to grow from what happened to you, and are able to open your mind to a new perspective of your relationship. Ironically, it takes sadness to know happiness.
If you are dealing with heartbreak, it is important to remember that you matter and are enough. Sometimes you may feel stuck, like you haven’t learned anything new or felt any better. I encourage you to be patient with yourself. These things take time.
Heartbreak is surmountable, but only if you fight for yourself. Acknowledge the pain and allow yourself to feel it. By doing this, seeking help and embracing yourself, you can begin to overcome a breakup.
By Jackson Wedel, Staff Writer
Spider-Man: No Way Home has almost certainly been the most anticipated movie of the year. The film not only continues the story of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, following a massive cliffhanger in the previous movie, but also features the return of several popular characters from previous Spider-Man movies.
The film needed to live up to the nearly-endless amount of hype, fan theories and speculation. In this situation, it would be easy for a movie to end up a muddled mess, overburdened by a desire to appease every fan’s wildest dreams. However, Spider-Man: No Way Home shockingly managed to be not only cohesive, but genuinely compelling.
It opens right when Spider-Man: Far From Home left off: Peter Parker, alongside friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), must deal with the repercussions of Spider-Man’s secret identity being leaked to the public. An attempt from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to magically shield Peter’s identity goes awry, summoning previous Spider-Man villains from their home universes.
On paper, the movie’s premise sounds like it sidelines Holland’s Spider-Man in his own series. It seems to be disregarding the emotional build-up established in the last movie by bringing in completely unrelated supervillains. However, this plot choice is played out phenomenally.
Tom Holland gives perhaps his best performance yet as Spider-Man in No Way Home. He still embodies the same youthful, reckless spirit from the previous movies, but also manages a genuinely emotional performance. Despite the fact that the plot seemingly revolves around completely unrelated characters, his character arc is put at the forefront of the movie. Every major story beat is driven directly by Holland’s actions and their consequences, turning what could have been a mess of surface-level references into an emotionally-satisfying narrative. Furthermore, it also addresses key criticisms of this incarnation of Spider-Man carefully, making him into a much more well-rounded character.
The returning antagonists are also a highlight of the movie. They are very entertaining characters just because of how well they match their original characterizations, but they are also interwoven into the underlying themes and moral conflicts in an engaging and satisfying way. In particular, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, reprising his role in 2002’s Spider-Man) is a standout, retaining his eccentric yet menacing personality from the original movie.
The movie balances maintaining the existing motivations and personalities of the 5 returning villains with keeping an internally consistent narrative. While that does mean that a few of the antagonists are given less screen time and focus than in their original movies, it is a worthy sacrifice to make to keep the story focused.
No Way Home has a markedly different tone than its predecessors, moving away from the “high school comedy” atmosphere from the previous Tom Holland movies and into a more generic “superhero” tone. Even though this tonal shift takes away from what made the Spider-Man movies unique, it also seems fitting that the movies get gradually more “mature” alongside their protagonist.
Furthermore, one thing I thought was particularly noteworthy in the movie was its humor (and, at times, its lack of it). The film is certainly not dour: there are quips and jokes throughout it – most of which land fairly well. It also shows restraint in its humor, allowing for certain sequences to feel much more serious and emotional. Marvel movies tend to have an issue with undercutting emotional moments with corny jokes, so No Way Home’s more consistent tone helped it stand out.
Possibly the biggest issue with No Way Home is the pacing of its storyline, which feels underwhelming. It feels as if the movie completely switches gears far too often: initially, the movie is about the public finding out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but the focus takes a sudden shift towards tracking down the escaped supervillains. The film is only about halfway done when that plot is resolved, so the story swings in multiple other directions. By the end, the storyline tightens up, and all of the major plot threads converge in a poignant and emotional final act. But before that point, the movie feels slightly directionless, pushing from storyline to storyline with seemingly no rhyme or reason.
While most Marvel movies intertwine with each other in various ways, No Way Home takes the connectivity even further, linking both to other movies in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe and to the previous Spider-Man movie franchises. Thankfully, all the necessary details and connections are explained well enough that no previous movies are completely necessary viewing to enjoy No Way Home. However, the film is peppered with details and references to previous movies in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The movie’s connectedness is a huge boon to it: there are enough details to reward longtime fans, but the storyline is still accessible to first-time viewers.
Overall, Spider-Man: No Way Home is both a thoroughly entertaining blockbuster and an emotionally-compelling journey for a beloved character. While it occasionally shows its imperfections, it is very rewarding for those invested in Spider-Man as a character.
The emotional stakes are among the highest in the series, and are handled very respectfully, while the fanservice and references scattered throughout are enough to please any longtime fan. Despite the movie’s seemingly-convoluted premise, it manages to succeed on almost every level.
By Taryn Yee, Staff Writer
McClatchy’s beloved basketball program has officially started the winter season, clocking in late night practices on campus and competing in local tournaments.
Starting off the season strong, all teams won their first games, with the exception of the boys’ freshman team who lost a close game (37-40). Both varsity teams have impressive records so far: the men’s varsity team has a 6-1 record, while the women’s varsity team has a 4-1 record. The varsity teams have each lost one game in their respective leagues, using the tournaments as preparation for Metro League.
Both junior varsity teams are working on building a sense of community. Mainly composed of underclassmen, the coaches are working hard to encourage team bonding to strengthen the program for future years.
“Winning is nice but building the skills to be successful at the next level — that’s important,” Assistant Coach Justin Kumamoto said.
Varsity men’s basketball had their first win against Hiram Johnson on November 19 and will be involved in various tournaments over winter break. Their first league game is against Monterey Trails on January 5.
Jeff Ota returns as head coach for the varsity women’s team, as well as Assistant Coach Carlos Vicente who coached the 2015 CIF Championship team. This year, the varsity women’s team is split between seniors and underclassmen. Senior Caila Chappell admitted “We have a lot of young players, so it will be a learning curve.” Despite the makeup of the team, Chappell explained “Our games have been going really well. We’ve been winning by a good margin.”
Senior Jameel Pongyan agreed, crediting wins to the persistent and supportive nature of the coaches. The ultimate goal is to advance to Metros, but they face tough competition.
Grant, Burbank, and Folsom high schools pose the biggest threats this season. Varsity thus far shows potential, confident that their continuous practice and driven mindset will give them a fair chance at advancing further into the season.
As of now, in-district games are limited to household members only. Per SCUSD COVID-19 mandates, each player is allotted four tickets to distribute to household members. Spectators without tickets are not allowed to attend games. Players are also tested weekly for COVID. However, some out-of-district games allow more attendees.
Coaches and players alike miss the energy of the crowd. “It’s really sad how COVID is making a mark on our season. It’d be great to get Legion back in the gym. They totally change the whole atmosphere,” Coach Antawn Greer said.
Chappell and Pongyan can testify to the difference the crowd brings too. They hope students can return to the stands soon. Until then, spectators can only watch McClatchy compete at out-of-district games. “We just need the crowd,” Pongyan remarked.
By Juliana Castro, Staff Writer
McClatchy’s ASB put together the school’s very first “Winter Bazaar,” which was held at lunch on Tuesday, December 14. The bazaar, essentially a fun winter festival, was hosted in the lunch quad and aimed to inspire holiday spirit among students and raise money.
ASB’s original vision of the festival looked much different. They had hoped to hold a bigger festival over a weekend earlier in the year, but COVID restrictions prevented them from holding a large event outside of school grounds or school hours.
Instead, ASB hosted the festival on campus to make it more accessible for students to attend. Although it was smaller, it acted as a “test run” — in the future, similar events might be held.
The Winter Bazaar offered numerous different fun activities. Students could pay to get hot chocolate or take a picture with Santa and play arcade-like games including cornhole, fishing, and basketball. There was also a booth set up where students could make origami snowflakes, and the German club had a crafting station where students could make their own ornaments. A photo booth was also available for attendees to take fun pictures. Some other clubs sold coffee and donuts. Each booth at the Winter Bazaar will keep 100 percent of their profit.
As expected of a bazaar, there was a massive raffle for the chance to win school merchandise, a gift certificate to the student store, and other prizes.
ASB is working hard to excite students and increase fundraising efforts after nearly two years of online learning. A few days after the Winter Bazaar, ASB held a winter rally on Friday December 17 in the ROTC quad. During the rally ASB leaders encouraged school spirit among students, passed out school shirts, and played Family Feud on stage. The Mane Event Dancers and McClatchy Cheerleaders also performed.
ASB has a winter dance in the works, which is tentatively planned for January.
By Ainsley Bock, Staff Writer
At Sierra 2, a community center north of the Curtis Park neighborhood, a bright and cheery Christmas tree stands covered with decorations. But this tree is unlike hundreds of others filling living room corners at this time of the year. Instead of classic ornaments, slips of paper with children’s holiday wishes hang upon Sierra 2’s tree.
It’s an annual tradition. The Salvation Army’s “Angel Tree” event strives to deliver presents for underprivileged children. Every year, families of the Sierra 2 community — Curtis Park and Oak Park residents — gather presents between November 10th and December 14th to donate.
Donators take an “ornament” (a slip of paper) from the Christmas tree. Each ornament details the name, gender, and Christmas wishes of a child. Gifts are returned to Sierra 2, where they’re wrapped with holiday-themed paper by volunteers. Then, the presents are transported to Cal Expo, where they’re distributed to thousands of families and children.
“This program strives to make someone happy during the holidays and give back to families in need,” said Stacy Gray, who manages the Angel Tree event at Sierra 2. In 2020 alone, over 52,000 gifts were donated, just within Sacramento.
“Every child deserves to experience the joy of Christmas morning. These programs are a very rewarding experience,” Gray explained. “It left me in such great spirits knowing that I was able to make someone’s holidays bright.”
Although the Angel Tree event has wrapped up this year, people who are interested in other holiday volunteer work can volunteer with the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services to distribute food to hungry families.
Loving as a teen can be difficult most of the time since there’s going to be little to no experience. There’s no step-by-step manual to show you how to love or be loved. Each person’s background impacts their love language a lot.
For example, people with a parent that showed them tough love tend to give that tough love back, not being emotionally available because of issues with ego and pride. Orphans or people with one parent tend to have abandonment issues. It’s hard to not have a loving mentor to guide you into an easier chance to love and be loved.
My background with my parents is really good. My mom is a very loving person, always reassuring each one of her kids that we can talk to her about anything. My dad as well — he isn’t your typical Mexican dad with masculine pride. He always comes into my room and says “I love you”. In that aspect I’ve been really lucky and I am very grateful for that.
On the other hand, my experience with loving and dating so far has been slow.
I’ve had 2 girlfriends and lots of talking stages. My first girlfriend was in 8th grade. It was a school relationship. She taught me a lot, we grew with each other in every aspect and stage of our life, even as exes we still keep in touch and have a healthy friendship. My second girlfriend was a little more serious since I understood feelings a lot more than middle school, but it was during the pandemic. We only lasted about 3 months but it still was a really good relationship.
Both of those relationships ended for the same reasons. I felt like I deserved better. I know that’s a really cruel thing to say, but at the end of the day people need to think about themselves first so that the relationship can prosper. I realized that in both situations I was actually more into the relationship than the person. I liked that it kept me busy and I like the way I act in a relationship. I take care of myself but for the wrong reasons. I start taking care of my skin and I work out a lot more, but they’re my only motivation. I realized I needed to put myself first instead.
If you put yourself first in a relationship you get to learn how to be a better person on your own, and it’s better to share that maturity with someone else. You can learn to coexist with that person. Grow with that person. Create memories. Which all of them can lead to a very healthy relationship. Work on your insecurities, don’t just avoid them because you’ll never fully defeat them.
Talking stages for me are really important before dating. A talking stage is a way to see how your significant other acts when you’re close with one another, but it’s not as serious as actual dating. If you start the relationship too soon, it’ll just lead to an unnecessary commitment over time. But if you wait too long, the feelings might fade away.
Overall, the advice I would give teens or my children is to definitely try out dating at a young age. You’ll never know what you like until you try. Let time do its thing, and don’t force the relationship. Emotions shouldn’t be forced. Looks do matter, they’re just not everything in a relationship. At the end of the day the truth is there is no manual to falling in love.