October 2020 Howler

2
November December 16, 2020 2019
Student-organized sit-in
By Yejin Heo
Staff Writer
An informative sit-in led by junior
Sondos Elbershawi and Orange
County for Black Lives (OCFBL)
educated San Clemente residents on
police brutality and racism on Sept.
27. Kurt Reinhold, a black man, was
shot and killed by white policemen
on Sept. 24 in San Clemente
for a crime that most
people do not get fined
for: jaywalking. To spread
awareness about the continuing
perils of racism in
San Clemente, Elbershawi
decided
to organize
an educational
event.
“0.7%
of people in
San Clemente
are black, yet
two in the past
month have died
at the hands of the
police,” a speaker
from OCFBL said
at Elbershawi’s sitin.
“The system is
failed. The system
is broken. We see
it every day.”
After successfully
partnering
with OCFBL,
Elbershawi spread
infographics and
flyers to teachers,
residents,
students, influencers
and businesses,
receiv- ing an
overwhelm- ing wave
of support. Initially,
everything seemed to
go as planned on the day of
the sit-in as people gather
around on blankets and
passing out water bottles,
but conflict
soon arose
after the speeches
began.
White
Sondos Elbershawi The Northwood Howler
strangers approached the group multiple
times throughout the sit-in,
shouting violent, racist and profane
statements. One of them said that
the participants “were not welcome
here,” and later revealed he was
equipped with a firearm.
“It became very clear that
people are not afraid to harm others
when their superiority is threatened,”
Elber- shawi said.
“These
people
did not care
that we were
being
peaceful,
that this event was
or- ganized by
someone a
third of their
age or that we
were simply
being informative.”
Three police
cars and
many more on
motorcycles
circled the area
throughout the
three-hour sit-in.
Despite the verbal
assaults, Elbershawi
was thankful
that her event was
being recognized and
making an impact.
Elbershawi plans
on teaming up with
OCFBL to organize more
gatherings. Until then,
she is attending as many
other protests as possible
and educating others using
social media, which she
uses to share petitions,
articles and infographics.
“Nothing will
change unless you actively
try to educate yourself
first, then others,” Elbershawi
said. “Always
look to
be educated
and educate
and do not be afraid to confront people.
Every voice matters.”
NEWS
The Northwood Howler
Science Olympiad places in BEARSO
By Jonathan Kang
Staff Writer
The Northwood Science Olympiad
team competed at the BEARSO
invitational, a virtual tournament
hosted by California Science Olympiad
coordinators, on Oct. 9.
Sophomore Annie Lee and junior
Andy Zhu placed first in Sounds
of Music and they placed eighth in
Codebusters along with freshman
Derek Lee. Freshman Yutong Ke
and junior Kaitlin To placed sixth
in Ornithology, and Lee along with
co-captain senior Andrea Huang and
senior William Pan, placed 10th in
Experimental and Data Analysis.
“I am proud of the hard work
and effort everyone put in in the
weeks leading up to the competition,”
Huang said. “I think our performance
overall sets a good baseline as to how
we can each improve as individuals
and as a whole team.”
203 teams from 135 schools
across the nation competed in 23
events, five of which were exclusive
to BEARSO. The BEARSO exclusive
events were Cybersecurity,
Digital Structures, Experimental and
Khan wins election for Irvine mayor
By Erin Tsai
Staff Writer
Irvine Councilwoman Farrah
Khan won the Irvine mayoral election
against incumbent mayor Christina
Shea on Nov. 3.
Khan won 48.81% of votes
compared to Shea’s 35.48%, leading
by almost 15,000 votes.
“Thank you to the residents of
Irvine who have put their faith in my
leadership,” Khan said on her Instagram
and Twitter after results came
out. “Even if I didn’t earn your vote,
I look forward to serving as a Mayor
for all Irvine residents!”
Khan, a strong advocate of minority
voices in Irvine and a council
member since 2018, made equal representation
a major part of her 2020
campaign.
“When I ran in 2018 for Irvine
City Council, it was based on bringing
civility, transparency and placing
residents first,” Khan said on her
campaign website. “I became the first
woman of color ever to be elected to
Sondos Elbershawi The Northwood Howler
I JUST VOTED!: Senior Audrey Landis explores
the vote.org website in preparation for the election.
California became the first state
to propose potential reparations to
descendants of enslaved people and
those who continue to feel the effects
of slavery under a bill signed by Governor
Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30.
“This is not just about California,
this is about making an impact
across the rest of the country,” Newsom
said in an ceremonial broadcast
moments after signing the bill.
After months of protests across
the nation spurred by racial inequality,
California lawmakers approved
Assembly Bill 3121 to hold the state
accountable for its past grievances
involving slavery and the systemic
racial disparities that it caused, which
are still present today.
The specifics of reparations
have not yet been set in
stone, but the bill
calls for a ninemember
team that
will propose the method by
which the state can pay reparations
and who is eligible to receive them.
These reparations may include cash
payments, leniency for student loans
Data Analysis, Helicopter, and Write
It CAD It, while the others were national
Science Olympiad events. The
tournament was the largest national
level competition the Northwood
Science Olympiad team had attended,
with teams from over 15 states
including California, Hawaii, Texas
and New York.
Northwood sent two teams to
compete in the high school division,
which implemented the Mini Science
Olympiad (Mini SO) model that
banned hands-on events from being
run.
The competition was run on the
Scilympiad website hosted by the official
Science Olympiad association,
which featured systems such as a list
of links to enter the tests for certain
events and built-in texting between
teammates. However, students were
banned from calling each other to
make the competition equitable for
those with no means of verbal communication.
The Mini SO format also altered
the way tests were administered. For
construction events, students submitted
designs rather than showcasing a
completed project. Students competing
in study events were monitored
on how much time they spent outside
of the testing browser to prevent
cheating.
“It felt completely different
from a normal competition because
we couldn’t even talk to each other,”
sophomore Shayan Halder said.
The team prepared by taking
practice tests every week for their
events and communicating online
with teammates through Discord. Despite
rigorous preparation for BEAR-
SO, the team faced technical difficulties
such as tests not being submitted
on time and the chat feature malfunctioning,
due to delays on the website.
Northwood’s team hopes to continue
improving in all their events
following their first competition this
season with BEARSO, and is currently
preparing for the Rickards Invitational
on Dec. 5.
“I am happy to see how everyone
has continued to support each
other as much as we would in person,”
Huang said. “This tournament
sets a baseline for our growth as a
team, and I have no doubts that our
motivation will continue to grow
throughout the season.”
Photo provided by Northwood Science Olympiad
BEAR-ING MEDALS: Science Olympiad students proudly display the
resources they created in preparation for virtual competition BEARSO.
the City of Irvine. Irvine deserves a
mayor who reflects the inclusive,
compassionate and progressive values
of our city’s residents.”
The runner-up of the election
was Shea, who is a prominent figure
in the Irvine community due to her
rich history of political involvement
as an elected official and incumbent
mayor.
“The voters spoke and they did
not choose me,” Shea said. “I just
wish the best for the city of Irvine.”
Other contenders of the election
included business owner Luis Huang
and former campaigner Katherine
Daigle running for mayor. Most made
statements in their campaigns that
their policies would ensure the safety
and health of Irvine citizens during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even with the uncertainty of
2020, the election process went
smoothly due to the flexibility of voting
procedures to account for the effects
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Shea prepares to leave office
next month, Khan plans to make Irvine
more environmentally friendly,
provide leadership on social justice
issues and help civilians recover from
the economic shutdown.
“I am excited to get to work as
your next Mayor,” Khan said. “Together,
we will ensure we continue to
protect our great city’s quality of life,
build back our economy, and restore
transparency in local government.
To view election results, please
visit ocvote.com.
Reparations for slavery
By Ryan Wu
Staff Writer
and funding for public work projects.
“California’s recent reputation
as a liberal haven has allowed for
people to ignore its racist past, but I
think that this bill is the right step forward
in advancing black prosperity,”
senior Virginia Crook said. “The state
is doing what the federal government
should have done a while ago.”
The distribution of reparations is
not a novel idea to the United States.
After World War II, the government
compensated Holocaust survivors
with German payments. In 1988, the
U.S. government set up repayment
programs for Japanese Americans
affected by internment camps from
nearly half a century ago.
Newsom will pick five members
of the task force, while the other four
will be selected by the State Assembly
and Senate. The team will submit
its reparation proposals
Richelle Gunawan The Northwood Howler
to the Senate
in a year.
“California
has come to terms with
many of its issues, but it has
yet to come to terms with its role
in slavery,” chair of California’s Legislative
Black Caucus Shirley Weber
said after Newsom signed the bill. “If
we can do it, others can do it also.”