Editorial: Be brave

by Editorial Board

March 28, 2020

On Jan. 24, Harker Aquila ran its first story on the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 1,287 worldwide cases. Over the next month and a half, we watched — and continued reporting — as the virus traveled around the world, creeping closer and closer to home in what felt like a hyperreal sci-fi movie.  I...

Editorial: Response to outbreak calls for corroboration

March 7, 2020

With over 75,000 cases across 26 countries, as of Feb. 19 according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has raised health concerns, caused city-wide shutdowns and made headlines around the world. On Jan. 31 just as the outbreak was escalating, the panic hit home, with two confirmed case...

Editorial: Challenge Day serves as first step

March 7, 2020

A hundred students and 20 to 30 members of faculty met in the auxiliary gym to participate in community developing activities on Feb. 6. The program, Challenge Day,  focused on mindfulness, to address racist epithets and racially-charged comments made by Harker students.  And while Challenge Day may have served as a...

Editorial: No joke has bullets as a punchline

November 6, 2019

A threat is never a joke.  In the downstairs Dobbins boys’ bathroom this morning, an as-yet-unidentified student graffitied two lines from a J. Cole song: “I'm counting my bullets / I'm loading my clips.” They added a third: “Don’t come to school tomorrow.”  That threat led to the f...

Editorial: Female president could fuel culture shift

February 24, 2019

In the recent weeks, a number of Democrats have announced their bids for the 2020 presidential election, hoping for a chance to lead the party and oust the current administration. Although the race is still in its infantile stages, about half of the current candidates are women. According to a F...

Editorial: Reacting to disasters that affect us

December 8, 2018

While the Camp Fire in northern California and the Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire in southern California destroyed over 1,100 homes and left tens of thousands homeless, they also produced toxic smoke that clouded the streets of the Bay Area. Many in the Harker community and elsewhere in the Bay Area wore ...

Editorial: Channeling our anger to effect change

September 28, 2018

After the recent events involving two former Harker teachers’ inappropriate interactions with students and their subsequent arresting, we’ve seen, among other warranted responses, some knee-jerk reactions to the news. The news is absolutely important, and as the national situation with Supreme...

Editorial: We are not “the enemy of the people”

September 3, 2018

What would America look like without the press? At first, this question seems too far-fetched to merit consideration. America is a country founded on the freedom of the press, which is not only an intrinsic aspect of our culture but also a fundamental right enshrined in the First Amendment of our...

Editorial: Healing, recovery and moving forward with time

September 3, 2018

In the wake of the arrest of a longtime Harker teacher for misconduct involving a student, the Harker community is experiencing a complex jumble of emotions — denial, grief, frustration, shock, betrayal.   You may be feeling the jolt of that initial shock, or a blanketing sadness that dulls you...