Editorial: Be brave
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...
Cattle and carbon: Why I chose to stop eating beef
by Nicole Tian, Co-Lifestyle Editor
January 21, 2020
At the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit held on Sept. 23 in New York City, one speaker’s words were particularly convicting. In a YouTube video from Guardian News, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg boldly declared to world leaders, “Right here, right now, is where we draw the line...
Heart of Harker: Prioritizing ourselves
by Amla Rashingkar, Guest Writer
December 28, 2019
Like most of you, I grew up thinking school was my priority. I walked into high school yearning for a high GPA. I wanted to be the poster child for everything I did. The word “stop” didn’t exist in my vocabulary. I always wanted more. The desire to impress my parents and my peers lurked behind me l...
Heart of Harker: OK Millennials!
by Thomas Artiss, Guest Writer
December 16, 2019
There’s a new meme in town. Like all memes, it is catchy, memorable and even mildly amusing. Although the origins of the phrase are debatable, the phrase “OK Boomer” seemed to have gained traction about a year ago. The intent was to offer a simple, eye-rolling and dismissive retort to criticis...
Left in the dark
by Arushi Saxena, News Editor
November 19, 2019
It was a chilly Saturday evening, punctuated only by the shrill cheers of children playing in the yard next door. It was the night before Diwali, and we had just concluded a day of re-organizing the house, embellishing our corners with traditional Indian decorations and placing diyas, mini oil lamps, ...
Heart of Harker: An introduction!
by Scott Engelhardt, Guest Writer
November 10, 2019
Hey Eagles, it’s Mr. Engelhardt or Mr. E, the new attendance coordinator! I haven’t had the chance to meet all of you yet, so I wanted to take this chance to introduce myself. I’ve loved the vibrant community here at the Upper School, and I hope that everyone feels totally comfortable coming...
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: Race-conscious admissions maintain diversity in college
October 20, 2019
Two weeks ago, Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that Harvard University’s use of race in the college admissions process is legal and not discriminatory against Asian Americans as was alleged by the group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) in 2014. In short, the court upheld affirmative action, the ...
Kick Back…to School!
by Kushal Shah, Sports Columnist
September 19, 2019
Anyone else excited for the new 2019-2020 school year? I definitely am! Sure, I may have a few qualms about this upcoming year, but there are certain aspects that are just undeniably thrilling. Coming into this year, I often heard whispers drifting around campus of the intense workload that would com...