NEWS AND FEATURE ARTICLES
Below are my works from two years as a journalist. I enjoy covering topics from a wide range of areas: from culture and community to environmental justice. I look forward to the stories I will write and edit about in the future!
May 30, 2024
Breaking the silence on BRSSD music education disparities
Since she was young, Emily Navasca has always been interested in playing a string instrument.
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So when fourth grade came along and she could finally sign up to learn music, she excitedly took up the violin.
“I was grateful that the school I went to offered a music program,” Navasca said...
May 30, 2024
Behind and beyond the counter
Although providing a strong academic program has always been a focus for schools, it’s not the only contributing factor to student success. In recent years, schools have begun dedicating more effort to another contributor: ensuring that their students have the proper nutrition to learn.
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At Carlmont, food service policies have undergone many changes...
Photo credit: Arianna Zhu
Photo credit: Arianna Zhu
April 15, 2024
Climate change heightens California’s home insurance crisis
With climate change accelerating the rate of wildfires and other natural disasters in California, getting access to home insurance for residents is becoming increasingly difficult.
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Standard home insurance, provided by insurance groups such as the American Automobile Association (AAA) and State Farm, covers most damages to personal property and physical dwelling structures...
March 20, 2024
Students press for journalistic freedom
The First Amendment gives Americans freedom of speech and press. In 1969, the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case extended those rights to students. However, 19 years later, the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case pushed back, deciding that school-sponsored publications have fewer First Amendment protections.
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Despite the importance of journalism as an avenue of news and information, covering sensitive topics will elicit opposition, and students are not exempt...
February 27, 2024
A grassroots sustainability effort: local groups continue the fight against climate change
The sea level is rising, wildfires are burning, and the planet is heating. The consequences of human activity and climate change seem overly daunting for a single person — but smaller groups are showing that there is hope in building successes into more significant change.
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While grocery stores and other organizations have been taking steps toward sustainability, creating community volunteer groups for schools, homes, and restaurants is an increasingly common way to do so...
January 28, 2024
Martin Luther King Jr. Day march honors civil rights activist’s legacy
Beginning at Caltrain’s 4th and King Station, attendees of the annual San Francisco Martin Luther King Jr. Day march wave signs, play music, and sing as they make their way through closed-off streets to Yerba Buena Gardens.
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Thousands of participants marched from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. before congregating at Yerba Buena for speeches by Mayor London Breed and leaders of United Playaz, a violence-prevention organization, as well as musical performances...
December 13, 2023
Senior mistreatment allegations underscore larger senior abuse issues
While new medical and technological advances aid in the continued growth of the elderly population and the consequent importance of senior care facilities, senior abuse has also become an increasingly prevalent concern.
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Senior care facilities, such as assisted living and nursing homes, provide daily care for residents who can no longer care for themselves...
November 29, 2023
A new era 'fore' female golfers
What image is associated with the word “golfer?” Likely a figure of a rich, older white man. For those more familiar with golf, possibly Tiger Woods.
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However, the rise in global engagement in the sport due to the pandemic has given way to an emerging diversity of participating groups.
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One particular group, which constitutes almost half of the world population and has participated since the sport’s founding, experienced a significant increase in interest in the sport within the past few years...
November 22, 2023
The global chessboard: international influence on the Israel-Hamas War
As the Israel-Hamas war continues into its second month, the question of international involvement and the extent of participation has been circulating among foreign nations.
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The key thing to note is that international involvement has been at the heart of the expansive conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
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The latest war extends from long-term hostilities beginning in 1948, when Britain lost control of Palestine, an area in the Middle East...
November 12, 2023
Staffing shortages in senior care facilities impact residents' health
The ongoing issue of staff shortages in the healthcare industry is impacting senior care centers — such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities — where insufficient staffing affects elderly residents’ physical and mental health.
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According to the National Institute on Aging, nursing homes, or skilled nursing facilities, focus on medical care for older people, providing “nursing care, 24-hour supervision, three meals a day, and assistance with everyday activities...”
October 20, 2023
California's prescribed burns: protective services doused by climate change
Concerns over the heightening wildfire crisis in California have prompted government action and the official implementation of prescribed burns, however, the climate crisis is threatening the execution of this essential service.
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Controlled fires, also known as prescribed burns, are deliberate burnings of certain areas of vegetation to prevent wildfires, provide habitat for endangered species, recycle nutrients in the soil, and promote the growth of native plants, among other benefits...
September 28, 2023
Santa Clara County approves new plan amidst Bay Area opioid crisis
After obtaining a multi-million dollar grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new plan to address the opioid crisis in the area. The plan increases services available to combat opioids, such as fentanyl, through public awareness campaigns promoting overdose and poisoning prevention measures and providing information on important medication...
May 1, 2023
Goldman Environmental Prize celebrates global climate leaders
The Goldman Environmental Prize Award Ceremony, held at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, celebrated the work and lives of six climate activists around the world. The event connected 2,000 interested youth and adult participants.
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The Prize has recognized grassroots environmental leaders from six continents for 34 years since 1989. By recognizing these individual leaders, the Prize seeks to inspire ordinary people to take extraordinary actions to protect the natural world...
April 2, 2023
California act proposes journalism usage fee for certain technology companies
Oakland Assemblymember Buffy Wicks has recently authored the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886), a bill focused on the state that would require Big Tech companies to pay a “journalism usage fee” following the failure of a federal bill titled similarly.
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According to Wicks’ press release, the bill, if passed, would make companies pay a certain fee whenever they “use local news content and sell advertising alongside it.”
March 23, 2023
BART's Homeless Action Plan addresses homelessness in the Bay Area
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has recently developed its first Homeless Action Plan, which outlines the state of homelessness in the Bay Area, funding for increased outreach, and collaboration with local governments to address the regional crisis.
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BART’s Senior Manager of Social Services Partnerships, Daniel Cooperman, began working on the plan in May 2021. His goal was to create a roadmap for how the BART District could confront homelessness...
February 11, 2023
Lunar New Year x Black History Month unites Black and Asian communities
Oakland’s first Lunar New Year and Black History Month joint event celebrated Black and Asian solidarity with the sharing of food, crafts, literature, music, and history at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC). Admission was free for those who attended.
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The OACC worked with the Malonga Arts Residents Association (MARA) to invite Black and Asian performers and local vendors to the event on Feb. 4, a date that coincides with Lunar New Year, now an official holiday in California, and Black History Month...
January 23, 2023
A national labor movement: The journey towards better working conditions
“What do we want?” a protester yells. The sound of their megaphone pierces through the cold November air.
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“Living wages!” the crowd of 50 cries back.
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“When do we want them?”
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“Now!”
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The shout reverberates—a blaring reminder of the urgency of their message.
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Chants like these echo down the block like drums as people from the United Automobile Workers labor union (UAW) march along the sidewalks of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) campus on Nov. 17, 2022...
January 22, 2023
A step toward sustainability: California bans single-use plastics in hotels
A 2019 bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed has recently come into effect in 2023, banning the use of single-use plastics for bathroom essentials in California hotels with over 50 rooms.
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The bill, titled “AB 1162 Lodging establishments: personal care products: small plastic bottles,” was written by California Assemblymember Ash Kalra and approved by Newsom on Oct. 9, 2019, to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. The bill will ban single-use plastic bottles in hotels with less than 50 rooms in 2024.
December 9, 2022
Cantonese classes preserve culture in San Francisco
After community-led efforts began in May 2021, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) finally became the first community college in the country to offer Cantonese certificates — a bid to save Cantonese classes from being further reduced during budget cuts. The program will start in the spring 2023 semester.
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CCSF has offered Cantonese classes since the 1960s when they were established by Professor Gordon Lew. However, according to the San Francisco Examiner, since the Cantonese program did not have a certificate program, it did not receive state funding. Therefore, the school mostly had to pay for the program themselves and were going to reduce the program while making budget cuts...
November 10, 2022
Proposition 29: Third time wasn't the charm for stricter dialysis regulations
Proposition 29, which would have imposed more regulations in dialysis clinics has failed for the third time in a statewide California election since 2018.
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The appearance of another dialysis-related proposition had many voters scratching their heads and asking “haven’t we rejected this before?” In the end, 69.9% of voters voted “no” on stricter dialysis regulations...
October 11, 2022
Photo credit: Elaine Jiang
Putting 'unity' in 'community': San Carlos Art and Wine Faire makes a comeback
Laughter, music, the smell of fresh barbeque, and many cries of “Oh my gosh, it’s been so long!” fill the air as pedestrians walked the streets of San Carlos during its annual Art and Wine Faire.
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It’s the first fair in two years, and the community is enjoying the return of the event after the pandemic. The fair’s 30th anniversary occurred over the weekend of Oct. 8 and 9 in the lively blocks of Laurel St.
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From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., many local businesses, artists, and thousands of residents were brought together to enjoy music, food, art, and alcohol...