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Davis Senior High School
By Anna Sturla HUB Staff Writer
Student Government changed its system of distributing graduation ceremony tickets for the 2012 graduation ceremony, responding to perceived glitches in last year’s system, as well as student concerns. The new ticket allocation system requires that students submit their total number of desired tickets in one request form, which Student Government will then try to accommodate. The first four tickets remain free, with all additional tickets sold at $8. Last year’s system gave four free tickets to every attending senior, with the option of buying up to three more additional tickets. After distributing the free and purchased tickets, all extra seating was sold. However, one unexpected problem was that those family members whose tickets were bought from the pool of excess tickets were seated separately from those who had gotten their tickets as part of the original seven. “While there were no extraordinary problems with that system,” graduation committee leader Jacob Vanderbilt said, “we felt that it was important that all family members be able to experience the ceremony together.” Some families were also too large to be accommodated, while not every student needed all of the initial four tickets. “One of the main concerns we heard from last year was people worrying about not getting the number of tickets they wanted,” ASB president Courtney Jimenez said. The new system is simply “common sense,” according to Vanderbilt, a senior. “We knew that with this plan we could hit two issues with one solution, both allowing families to request as many tickets as they want […] and seating families all together,” Vanderbilt said. The new system also allows students to fill up the seats that were left vacant during last year’s ceremony, according to Vanderbilt. However, the change does not come without problems. Not all seniors have turned in their form, holding up seat assignment. “As of right now, there are only 20 students who haven’t turned that request form in,” Jimenez, a senior, said. “We want to grant other people their requests, since they have turned in their form are hoping to have a certain number of people attend their graduation ceremony.” The planning itself poses a unique challenge. “The specific challenge at this point will be assigning particular seats to families,” Vanderbilt said. “It’s just like making a giant jigsaw puzzle, but we don’t have the picture on the box to go off of.” With students’ new ability to make a blanket seating request comes the worry that there will not be enough seats to accommodate all requests. Because not everyone has responded to Student Government’s form, the exact TICKETS continued on Page 2
Volume 86, Issue 9
By Gary Djajapranata HUB Staff Writer
DHS’ PERFORMANCE RELATIVE TO SIMILAR SCHOOLS
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California uses two rank5 ings to measure school performance: the overall state rank, 4 and the similar schools rank. DHS maintains top-caliber 3 performance in the overall state rankings, but has poor 2007 2009 2010 2008 standing in the similar schools Year ranking. In fact, DHS’ place 2010 API SCORES OF SIMILAR SCHOOLS in the similar school ranking 800 820 840 860 880 900 920 940 has been sinking lower and Granite lower with each passing year. Bay The California DepartPalo ment of Education bases Alto these reports and rankings on Henry Academic Performance Index M. Gunn numbers, or API. These API Piedmont numbers, which range from 200 to 1000, are derived from Arcadia students’ performance on STAR and CAHSEE tests. DHS DHS most recently received a ranking in 2010. In the overall state rank, it *API (Academic Performance Index) scores range between 200 and 1000 scored in the 10th and highSource: California Department of Education est decile. Each decile contains 10 percent of all schools in that school type (elementary, junior Granite Bay High (844) and Arcadia High (890). high or high school) in California. In 2007, DHS scored in the seventh However, when compared to a list of 100 similar schools, DHS scored in the decile among similar schools. In 2008, its third decile in 2010, meaning it performed ranking slipped to the sixth decile; in 2009, beneath more than half of schools with a to the fifth, until falling to the third decile similar demographic profile. DHS’ API in 2010. Comparatively, Da Vinci Charter Acadscore in 2010 was 858, compared to the emy, which scored in the ninth decile similar schools’ median score of 877. The list of DHS’ similar schools is cre- statewide in 2010, scored in the bottomated on a variety of factors, including pupil low first decile among its similar schools. Principal Jacquelyn Moore says DHS’ ethnicity, socioeconomic status, percentage of English learners, etc. Some of DHS’ poor performance in relation to its similar similar schools include Palo Alto High schools is “a big concern.” Moore finds, (which scored an API of 897 in 2010), TEST SCORES Henry M. Gunn High School (918), continued on Page 2
VISUALIZING THE NEWS
JOSHUA CLOVER, UCD PROFESSOR AND POET, AND 11 OTHER UCD PROTESTERS FACE JAIL TIME
By Genny Bennett HUB Staff Writer
In an email sent to all DHS students on March 19, counselor Courtenay Tessler announced that ROP Environmental Science had been UC/CSU approved as a “d” laboratory science. Science teacher Ann Moriarty taught Environmental Science this year. Although the class was an ROP class, it was not considered an approved college preparatory course as determined by the UC/CSU a-g course list. Moriarty wrote a proposal to turn the course into a “d” laboratory science for the upcoming year. California State Universities and the University of California require high school students to take a minimum of two laboratory science classes for admission. As students filled out their course planners for the 2012-2013 school year, UC and CSU schools approved the ROP Environmental Science class as a laboratory science class that could fulfill this requirement. Current life science teacher Eric Bastin will teach the course next year because he has taught the subject previously at other schools. This will allow Moriarty to put her primary teaching focus on biology and biotechnology. The class will be like a traditional Environmental Science class including topics such as ecology and water management. But Bastin also plans to give his students lots of handson opportunities. “We are going to focus on sampling and focus on the jobs people may have in the field to give students a taste,” Bastin said. Bastin plans to take his classes on a field trip to Lake Tahoe to study salmon as well as to Bodega Bay where the class will examine vertebrates. “It is an ROP class so I’m taking that to mean get out and do a field trip component,” he said. Junior Monica LeFlore plans on taking the class next year and is excited about the class’s application to her future. “I decided to take Environmental Science because I want to major in Environmental Studies, so I though it would be good to show colleges that I am taking my major seriously,” Leflore said.
By HEnry anker & Daniel Tutt
From Jan. 2 to Feb. 27, protesters “occupied” the entrance to US Bank on the UC Davis campus to protest “the privatization of public universities and international austerity,” according to the group’s statement. On Feb. 28, the bank responded by closing its UC Davis branch. About a month later, the Yolo County DistrictAttorney issued letters summoning 12 of the protesters to appear in court on April 27. The bank said the protests risked the security of its customers and employees. The 12 are charged with 20 counts of blocking access, which is a misdemeanor, and one count of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. If convicted, they will have to pay up to $1 million.
PETER LIN/HUB PHOTO
Graduation ticket distribution changes after last year’s controversy
A look into the most popular book series of our generation
DHS falls in similar Science school ranking class approved for a-g
HENRY ANKER/HUB GRAPHIC
Senior Courtney Jimenez demonstrates how she will fill out the Graduation Ticket receipts she will be handing out over Senior Week. The actual tickets will be passed out the morning of graduation during the rehersal.
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HENRY ANKER/HUB GRAPHIC
PETER LIN/HUB PHOTO
April 6, 2012
Ranking
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(1 being the worst, 10 being the best)
Yellow balloons were released at the quad Tuesday. Why?
In-Depth | Page 8-9
Juniors Adrianna Defty and Cole Sedgley work on opening day of Café Diablo, organizing and selling the treats prepared by DHS students. More on Page 3.
Sources: Occupy UCD statement, Yolo County District Attorney Office, Email circulated among UCD staff
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Go behind the scenes and meet the contestants for Mr. Blue Devil Entertainment | Page 11
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