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

California Rep. Adam Schiff speaks about the Protecting our Democracy Act, which he introduced to the House in 2021. Schiff, who is a Democrat, advanced in the primary for Californias special Senate election on March 5 along with former professional baseball player and Republican Steve Garvey. (Provided by schiff.house.gov)

Candidates advance in California Senate race, Trump and Biden clinch nominations

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor March 18, 2024

Rep. Adam Schiff and former professional baseball player Steve Garvey advanced in the primary for the special Senate election in California on March 5. Garvey, a Republican, and Democrats Schiff, Rep....

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have served in the highest political offices. They are all over the age of 75.

Age discrepancy in government fails our democracy

by Isabella Lo, Co-Opinions Editor February 27, 2024

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have served in the highest political offices. They are all over the age of 75. Each of them have struggled with their age at times with Biden’s gaffes, Trump’s...

Civic Tech Club President Krish Nachnani (10) asks speaker Sam Liccardo a question during a club event on Jan. 11. Liccardo touched upon topics of advocacy through talking about his past experiences.

Civic Tech Club continues speaker series with technology and advocacy experts

by Vivek Moorjani, Humans of Harker Profiler January 24, 2024

Civic Tech Club organized a meeting with former San Jose mayor and civic tech specialist Sam Liccardo in upper school history teacher Karen Haley’s classroom at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 11.  Civic Tech...

While it is essential to recognize and respect these collective identities and histories, its equally crucial to ensure that they do not become restrictive boxes that prevent us from seeing the rich tapestry of individual experiences within them.

Lunging over boundaries of identity

by Anwen Hao, Co-Multimedia Editor January 24, 2024

My hands trembled as I connected my fencing body cord to the reel at the end of the piste. This was my second match in the direct elimination round, and a victory here would secure me a spot in the top...

Civics and Regional Politics student Yasmin Sudarsanam (11) explains her regional action project in upper school history teacher Carol Greens room on Wednesday. Yasmin raised awareness about Californias Red Flag Law through writing for a newsletter and creating a Bay Area branch of the Brady Project.

Student speakers in civic engagement panel spark change

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu January 13, 2024

Civics and Regional Politics students Jason Shim (11), Sahngwie Yim (11), Yasmin Sudarsanam (11) and Anoushka Chakravarty (10) presented their regional action projects in a community panel on Wednesday.  As...

Anna Eshoo holds a hearing of the Health Subcommittee on Feb. 20, 2020. As the Chairwoman, Eshoo presented bills regarding medical cures and representation in clinical trials. (Provided by eshoo.house.gov)

Silicon Valley representative Anna Eshoo to retire

by Mendy Mao, Assistant Copy Editor December 12, 2023

Silicon Valley Congress representative Anna Eshoo announced on Nov. 21 that she will leave public service after her term ends in January 2025. Since she was elected in 1992, Eshoo has served as the...

The limit imposed on the number of House seats by Congress from a century ago is outdated and no longer serves a practical purpose in today’s time.

A House confined by size cannot stand

by Jonathan Szeto, Reporter September 11, 2023

When your representative decides how to vote on an upcoming bill in the House, how do they decide? Do they pay attention to calls and messages from their constituents to make up their mind? Or do they...

As new restrictions on abortion medications arise after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, women grapple with losing the ability to make decisions about their own bodies. The abortion debate arose in the 1800s and continues to shape political and social divides in our country.

Pulse of the People: Reaching for the right of choice

by Vika Gautham and Hima Thota May 12, 2023

​​Content Warning: This article contains mentions of abortion, rape and incest. Since June 2022, women across the country have grappled with the consequences of this decision when the Supreme Court...

 While popular culture associates Gen Z with short attention spans and addiction to technology, Stanford research shows that Gen Z strives to address current issues and solve them, whether through protests, activism, and more. “It’s our collective responsibility to ensure that we hear a variety of distinct and diverse perspectives in order to produce the most holistic and effective policy,” Gordon Chen (12) said.

Pulse of the People: ‘Our collective responsibility’

by Vika Gautham and Desiree Luo March 28, 2023

Content warning: This article mentions gun violence and abortion.  When Sara Bhowmick (12) became a political intern for Saratoga City councilmember Rishi Kumar the summer before her junior year at...

An illustration depicting the damage the two party system does to democracy. More than a quarter of Americans view both parties negatively, bringing into question whether constituent views are truly being heard on the political stage.

Failure of the two party system

by Isabella Lo, Assistant Opinions Editor March 23, 2023

In the 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, my dad found that he could not support either candidate: both Trump and Biden did not align with his political views. My dad asked, “What do you...

Harker seniors Sara Bhowmick, KJ Williams and Kris Estrada pose with San Jose mayoral candidate Matt Mahan. Harker and Yerba Buena High School students hosted a youth campaign forum for the mayors on Oct. 25.

Harker students host San Jose Mayoral Campaign in collaboration with Yerba Buena High School

by Sidak Sanghari, Humans of Harker Profiler November 6, 2022

Harker and Yerba Buena High School students hosted representatives of San Jose mayoral candidates Cindy Chavez and Matt Mahan’s political team in a youth campaign forum at the Cambrian Branch Library...

This is the first installment of Midterms Mayhem, a podcast where Aquila staff members discuss the 2022 midterm elections with upper school community members. In this episode, Aquila reporters Ella, Emma and Anika talk with U.S. history teacher James Tate, Emmett Chung (12) and Trisha Variyar (12) about some of the key issues in the upcoming elections. 

Midterms Mayhem Episode 1: Key issues precede upcoming elections

by Ella Yee, Emma Gao, and Anika Maji November 3, 2022

This is the first installment of Midterms Mayhem, a podcast where Aquila staff members discuss the 2022 midterm elections with upper school community members. In this episode, Aquila reporters Ella, Emma...

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