The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

As predictive algorithms have become the norm throughout the internet and streaming world, users have less control over the content to which they are exposed. As a result, it is now important that viewers deliberately pick the content they wish to see.

Media Matters: Resist autoplay and pick videos wisely

by Adrian Chu, Reporter and Aquila Columnist April 16, 2016

It’s late at night and you take a break to watch a quick YouTube video. You open up a silly video of a parrot singing. A series of autoplays later, you find yourself watching a video on how to play the...

In the picture above, a civilian films a bombing incident in Syria. While the rise in social media has ushered crowd-sourced journalism, the resulting saturation of violent content through platforms like LiveLeak can pose more harms than benefits.

Media Matters: Excessive violent media online leads to desensitization

by Adrian Chu, Reporter and Aquila Columnist April 13, 2016

After any tragedy, such as the bombing in Ankara on Mar. 13 or the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Mar. 22, one can expect to see a flood of information relating to the incident, condolences to victims...

Senior Oklahoma Sooner guard Buddy Hield, who averaged around 25 points per game, won the James A. Naismith, which is awarded to the best college basketball player, this past Sunday. The University of Oklahoma lost 51-95 against Villanova University in the Final Four. By not winning it all, Hield seemingly did not match his being recognized as the top collegiate player, even though his season proved excellent by collegiate standards.

Beyond the Game: Single-elimination games expose flaws in social judgment

by Alex Youn, TALON Sports Editor and Aquila Columnist April 4, 2016

May the best team win. An unpredictable combination of grueling losses whittled 68 teams down to just one: the Villanova Wildcats, who, in a storybook ending, upset the top-seeded University of North...

Acetone peroxide is actually created as a mixture of monomer, dimer, trimer, and tetramer forms. TATP, the trimer form of acetone peroxide, can form an explosive less detectable than and almost as dangerous as TNT, a powerful explosive used in artillery, construction and fracking.

Brussels attacks highlight necessity for quotas on chemicals

by Derek Yen, Reporter and Aquila Columnist March 27, 2016

  In the deadly attacks in Brussels this week, the terrorists reportedly used the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP). Anyone with basic chemistry knowledge and access to ingredients available...

Understanding my cultural identity required adjusting to social norms and fitting in, something that I did not excel in at a young age.

Discovering my multicultural identity

by Elisabeth Siegel, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief March 24, 2016

The value of heritage was first impressed upon me because of how I lacked it. Firstly, I’m multiracial — “half Asian-American, half white” according to government and forms. It’s a little...

Thats a Wrap: Media overstepped its bounds by forcing Lilly Wachowski to come out as transgender

That’s a Wrap: Media overstepped its bounds by forcing Lilly Wachowski to come out as transgender

by Melina Nakos, Reporter March 22, 2016

Lilly Wachowski, of the directing team known as The Wachowskis, recently came out as a transgender female after several media outlets threatened to out her without the director's consent. While people...

Beyond the Game: Maria Sharapova’s admission to using meldonium raises concerns about drugs and gender-bias in sports

by Alex Youn, TALON Sports Editor and Aquila Columnist March 15, 2016

Maria Sharapova, seventh-ranked women’s tennis player in the world, admitted to testing positive at the Australian Open for the recently banned drug meldonium in a press conference on March 8. According...

Philosophy has long been a pillar of education and culture. But recently politicians have increasingly called for STEM to be prioritized over the humanities. Although frequently treated as opposite fields, STEM and the humanities overlap in surprising ways, making it essential to sustain a balance between the two.

The politicized prioritization of STEM over the humanities is detrimental

by Derek Yen, Reporter and Aquila Columnist March 12, 2016

Presidential candidate Marco Rubio boldly declared in November that “we need more welders and less philosophers. If we do this, we will be able to increase wages for millions of Americans and be able...

In the picture above, U.S. citizens vote at the polls during the 2012 Presidential election. Although critics claim that the media has not done enough to educate voters throughout the 2016 campaigning period, rising voter participation indicates that the mainstream medias coverage could have positive repercussions to democracy.

Media Matters: 2016 campaign coverage demonstrates the importance of media in politics

by Adrian Chu, Reporter and Aquila Columnist March 12, 2016

The road to the 2016 Presidential election has been marked by unprecedented levels of shocking rhetoric, unexpected candidates and radical policies. A year ago I would have laughed if I saw a news headline...

Thousands of fans join 4.5 million online viewers to watch the 2014 finals of the International 5, a Dota 2 competition.
The eSports industry and eSports betting has rapidly grown in the past years, making it easier for younger audiences to start gambling.

Media Matters: eSports gambling serves as a negative influence for younger players

by Adrian Chu, Reporter and Aquila Columnist February 29, 2016

After my advisory’s Secret Santa party, in which I received a $20 Steam gift card, I contemplated what to do with my newfound wealth. In spite of an ongoing Steam sale, I was still short a couple dollars...

Although an estimated 111.9 million Americans watched Super Bowl 50 on TV, such sporting events are becoming more expensive to witness in person. With ticket price dictating who gets to attend the event, money plays an increasingly larger role in sports. Ultimately, these higher ticket fees may dampen enthusiasm for the sport.

Beyond the Game: Money: 1, Sports: 0

by Alex Youn, TALON Sports Editor and Aquila Columnist February 20, 2016

Let’s say someone wrote you a check for $5,134. That amount of money can cover the average worker’s salary for six weeks, purchase an 11-night Caribbean cruise (three times), and buy about eight iPhone...

Spread by mosquitoes, the  Zika virus can cause severe fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. With the virus outbreak reaching epidemic levels in February, understanding Oxitec, a gene-based pesticide which has the potential to eradicate mosquitoes completely, is more important than ever.

Eradicating mosquitoes could come back to bite us

by Derek Yen, Aquila Columnist February 18, 2016

The Zika virus made headlines last week for its oft-occurring but unproven link with microcephaly in infants. Transmitted by mosquitoes, Zika threatens tropical and subtropical countries as well as those...

Load More Stories