Volume 45, Issue 7, April 8, 2015

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estoque

MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL ELESTOQUE.ORG APRIL 8, 2015 ISSUE VII, VOLUME XLV

imagine that :

fig. 1

SPECIAL REPORT 25

SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE 26 INNOVATORS OF THE PAST 28 TEN CLASSES MVHS SHOULD HAVE 29 TEN PROBLEMS OUR GENERATION WILL SOLVE 30

INSIDE HOT THIS SPRING: FOOD, MUSIC, FASHION TRENDS 20

YES, STEM AND THE HUMANITIES CAN CO-EXIST 14 COACH PUSHES TEAM TO DEBUNK ‘DUMB CHEERLEADER’ MYTH 36

DO OUR HISTORY TEXTBOOKS REFLECT OUR HISTORY? 6

TEACHING CULTURALLY RELEVANT CURRICULUM

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NEWS

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OPINION Inspiring new research Students search for balance between STEM and the humanities

History in the making

Should minorities be a focus in history courses?

Finding balance Despite numerous awards MVHS is still considered a STEM heavy school. Why?

Remembering Zayn

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More than math

Remember that the humanities still matter

Beyond the book

How can we promote greater creativity on campus ?

Finding a new friend Hint: it doesn’t start with roommate matching

Just a bit sensational On higher ground

Out of the blue

A&E

18 19 20

22 23

Just dance

Students share their love for traditional indian dance

Mastermind Learning the world’s oldest card game, bridge

Spring Preview Finding fun during the long month of March

Finding the perfect match How to choose the right college roommate

Tattoo you

She’s the man

Dear feel-gooders T he two of us were an unlikely pairing.

Not like peanut butter and jelly. Or macaroni and cheese. Or even Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.

We were more like Rob Lowe and Taco Bell. (It’s up to you to decide which one of us is which.)

Our very first day in charge, Balmeo remarked, “You two have skill sets that complement each other very well,” which was her polite way of saying we had little in common.

But this arranged marriage had to work. We had to keep El Estoque afloat.

We’re still not sure whether or not we succeeded. Some times we were like Pam and Jim

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and some times we were like Tom and Jerry.

But now that it’s all over we can both firmly But, somehow, we managed to produce eight say it was worth it. All the long nights. All the issues, argukeep the ment s. website All the updated craziNATHAN DESAI AND and made ness.

DANIEL FERNANDEZ it to the It was end of our 1 0 0 LETTER FROM THE EDITORS run withpercent out all our wor th hair fallit. ing out. (Although one of us has seen a couple Last May in our very first letter we wrote of black hairs turn gray over the course of the that each of us has the ability to do something year.) incredible. And that our ability to do great EL ESTOQUE

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SPECIAL REPORT

25

The cloud collective

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Schools of the future

Exploring how online sharing defines us Reimagining Monta Vista

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Innovators of the past

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Thanks for sharing

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A brighter tomorrow

MV alumni share recent creative endevours

Experts on sharing explain their craft 10 problems our generation will solve

things doesn’t come from being editor or a club officer or the head of a leadership commission. It’s something that happens when we care about our community — whether that’s our school or our sports team or something else entirely.

Over the last year we have seen that sentiment proven time and time again. We see our staff writers venture into the unknown each month to tackle complex topics like domestic abuse and minority issues. We see them pitch stories at the beginning of each month. We see them work tirelessly to finish pages on Friday late nights. And we see them return to class the next Monday, ready to start the proAPRIL 8, 2015

SPORTS

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35 36 38 39

The other ball game Cricket players struggle to pursue dreams in America

Fitting in Teachers share how they fit workouts into their week

Finding balance

Cheer coach emphasizes academic merit

Stop the madness Rookie of the year

What’s in your bag?

Wrestling junior Momoko Ueda’s weapon of choice is a pillow

cess all over again.

We would be nothing without all the writers, editors, designers, artists and photographers who work everyday to keep this publication running. We would also be nothing without our readers. Whether you love us or hate us, we love you. Our work is meaningless if no one reads it. (Hopefully there are still a few of you out there.)

Finally, we would be nothing without our vision, which was simply: “Don’t screw up.”

Which may not sound too difficult. But when you walk into A111 and see that El Estoque has won so many awards that we use one of our trophies as a pen holder, the stan-

el

estoque

21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014 mv.el.estoque@gmail.com

Editors-in-Chief: Nathan Desai, Daniel Fernandez Managing Editors: Yifei Wu, Kathleen Yuan Copy Editors: Rahul Iyer, Jady Wei, Varsha Venkat Webmaster: Varsha Venkat News Editors: Elia Chen, Maya Murthy, Dylan Tsai Sports Editors: Alina Abidi, Amol Pande, Malini Ramaiyer Entertainment Editors: Christine Liang, Sarah Ramos, Lydia Seo Opinion Editors: Gabriella Monico, Pranav Parthasarathy Special Report Editors: Kristin Chang, Harini Shyamsundar, Mingjie Zhong Beats Editors: Ashmita Chakraborty, Avni Prasad Photo Editors: Justin Kim, Aditya Pimplaskar Design Editor: Rhonda Mak Graphics Editors: Rhonda Mak, Sharon Tung Business Editors: Claire Lu, Sarah Weinberg Staff Writers: Rabina Bisht, Brandon Chin, Aditi Desai, Brian Fan, Kalpana Gopalkrishnan, Pranav Iyer, Pranav Jandhyala, Trisha Kholiya, Elliot Ki, Anjana Melvin, Sanjana Murthy, Vishal Nagar, Jyotsna Natarajan, Colin Ni, Neha Patchipala, Vanessa Qin, Anushka Tyagi, Joshua Tsuei, Emily Zhao Adviser: Michelle Balmeo Credits Some images in this publication were taken from the stock photography website sxc.hu.

Mission Statement El Estoque is an open forum created for and by students of Monta Vista High School. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and not of Monta Vista High School or the Fremont Union High School District. The staff seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas and bring news to the MVHS community in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our readers. We strive to report accurately, and we will correct any significant error. If you believe such an error has been made, please contact us. Letters of any length should be submitted via email or mail. They may be edited for length or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at El Estoque’s discretion. We also reserve the right to reject advertising due to space limitations or decision of the Editorial Board that content of the advertisement conflicts with the mission of the publication.

dard for success can seem higher than “Try your best!”

And as Balmeo walked toward her car following our final late night last Friday, she yelled “You’re not responsible for the great journalism catastrophe of 2015.”

So this it. And with our one-year anniversary having just passed, it’s also time for our partnership to come to an end.

And it’s up to you to decide whether we were more like “I Love Lucy” or “Jon & Kate Plus 8.” n.desai@elestoque.org | d.fernandez@elestoque.org

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NEWS

Missed Representation Is regular U.S. history a good account of minority history in America?

BY MAYA MURTHY ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ANJANA MELVIN

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here are 73 California State Content Standards for U.S. history courses.

Asian-Americans are mentioned twice, in reference to gains made towards equality during the Civil Rights movement, as well as the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Mexican-Americans are mentioned once, in a standard about Mexican immigration and its impact.

Indian-Americans are never mentioned.

Though some teachers choose not to use it, in the textbook assigned to the regular U.S. History classes, The Americans, Asians appear during Japanese internment and as a side note to chapters on urbanization that mention Chinese railroad workers during the Gold Rush.

In a community like MVHS, where 79.1 percent of the student population is Asian, this begs the question: should U.S. history teachers teach students about the impact of their own minority groups on the history of the U.S.? And, more importantly, can they?

Minority Representation History textbooks, though broad, are one of the main resources students use in learning. Curricula that attempt to cover the entirety of the American experience often leave out information deemed extraneous, usually about minority groups.

“In terms of my education on Chinese people in American history so far,” junior Emma Huie said, “it hasn’t been very extensive.”

Even when textbooks do cover minorities, they tend to focus on negative experiences rather 0 than positive 182 the ber e cont r ibuaft erica the ed lift y Am after, es. tions. s r n r o tu ly io rict en ort . sh est 18th c a. Sh n U.S r o n de tra , late Chi ived tish War e with ts arr i r h B ary ad an Wit ution me tr migr ol iti im Rev n mar inese ga st Ch fir 790

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“That actually might be part of the problem,” junior Thomas Lenihan said. “I can’t remember one day in history when we talked about the contributions of [Asian] minorities.”

Junior Ajay Jain would like to know more.

“A lot of what we learn about minorities are sob stories and not as much about the pride of those groups, the successes of those groups.”

sometimes teachers gravitate toward that.”

While the wording for each standard is intentionally vague to allow teachers to present the topic in the manner they choose, there is very little room for teachers to introduce new topics into an already packed curriculum.

In comparison, in the AP U.S. History standards, Asian Americans are referenced twice, in both the contexts of groups moving out West, especially after the Civil War, as Act well as the Civil Rights on -- in i s l xc 2 movement. e E 90 law nes ly in 1 only ce. i h “As a departt C ite the ra firs defin . It is is of e h ment, we can in nts bas dt

State Standards According to U.S. history teacher Robbie Hoffman, while teachers do have some leeway in creating their curriculum — especially after the advent of Common Core, which focuses on skills rather than content — they are still obligated to teach the standards.

“As long as we’re teaching the information that’s in there, we have freedom on how intense that information is,” Hoffman said. “It all depends on the teacher.

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carve out six weeks time for the civil rights CAN I movement,” Stolhand said. ¨Six weeks is R E not enough time to cover the entire civil AM p E S g u st rights movement — there’s no way.

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6 t 9 n 1 ow co ad n eve Korea , H e a s h tow ia ook ts] ar ssacre China r t b s u e his gran f ma g in of A th es 9 ish immi ews o livin nd arked and d l a b n o s i t p n e gge 193 pu erd and s rowth y wa iR is chines and nts in dra . The F I I z m g a s s m n n o n ic ce xis ra WW sio ma t “[ cis igr e F allian onom S. eco . ng epres the A o k Tho te tha y.” Ra imm i r u . c n u f w d t n d at D er o of t rch ean of e he U essio t 2 wro socie ctio e Gre rend ping firs of A Europ ecade ies,” t Depr u to 201 d n r p . o the of Rep ir io ling a d ent eat r f th e su dro pan t s p a e a r e t o th .’s Ja r g in tw om se -ch e the n .S ass tan fte ng he G rtim ou ith bec e Hou the co on th es , ass ed en War. A roari lt -- t Wa e U.S. ed w the U mbs o a i m h e a n s o t o Th root rld he “ a ha th r end and ic bo bec sian an ifor of als use S. Cal mber ra is ch foc the U. up st Wo y in t d to dal f Loui eric wa owers atom n i m e e r e i t m J . o i k o B 4 d h fi per kic p m fr by or n A U.S s ra can ntly, s, w a an 191 rate Bob overn India n the pro i Be meri Curre Caucu Indi t ri g m s n r A n A s. e o a fi d s o me i e n e ia ve nd tw ed the over Ind ntati use I ip be g sec d the r e s e a r ch s e o h res he H tions tate an on 1 t la about the Chin s lism, mati 6 f r 7 e o e d 8 r 1 ne uth iona Procla il War 200 nese demographic sig y v 82 r so ect 9 on nalit e s fte mic s ation he Ci 1 n a o [in her research pai h h r p n t T t o i o a . c J Na es t n e Su w a y , eco Eman . free 870. ed ed ne nd don and revok tas se per],” Huie said. “But d n n S 1 n m a y . a r e s th e U nd t L tion w uo es. fou ee ix s th ni some part of me was worried co- pion s Un the den igra The la tion q untri les olitio igned in th 865 a i a s l n a d s a ch h t lai ers. ab ln s ves en 1 Pre Imm 965. igra er co about not finding enough strong Kho hi suc a beg d t the of 1 imm d oth ar ry an Linco ing sl etwe od ms, w ods, g, tha mpu n W i s e b t . e l n V r t eth utin ’s co sources.” s Ac viou ia a iC vi slav coln ecla ned y d n as in ros g m mp ay ig pre r Ind One solution proposed by Hoffman, is Mic putin nt co or tod rica ch m L lly re s fo me ns su raha forma ts we m clie on f A o to expand U.S. history from a one year-long b c e 5 o n i , n Th reas of A war dme thi ndat 196 u to to a two year-long course, a system that has o for ection g the amen f n cludrica ficel urin 3 been adopted by a few states. Stolhand, who he in 2 t me and ish d 9 , A 1 i n g ind t atta e an poet Engl i h d taught in a school with a two year U.S. hisT o n re h is t In . A in specific ing may hip th ice firs ction orks for h eon.

S tory program, said that by expanding from t e s th is fi s w ion ig ga an ens tw case studies of Bha t Indi r citiz voked 936. one to two years, teachers can go deeper. ji is for h ed hi ognit of a P r . e v minority represens os ec y re n 1 uk al ha fo But the financial impact of additional teachtate led t plied ship izen i l M Med comp ead r e Stor S a p u n r d tation. r p it e Go ery erji sp , th ers needed to add a second year of U.S. hisnite urt nd a citiz a c an wb uk ide ck “The contributions are In U me Co . Thi d his ming Dh a Ne ter, M ed w ay Ne p ha eco v G tory at MVHS alone would exceed $220,000. i n i e e i r r h i w n w ach ook undeniably there,” Stolhand Sup tizens , and ally b This puts the onus on students to learn tio and ’s b i es fin c n said. “But if you don’t know about re tim fore d l through their own research about experii ch be 14 Plessy v. Ferguson, then Gong Lum

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to ting ber a r ig um f n m at l ost o ega work ys. M h’s. b s ian a to lwa Sik Ind iforni n rai s are o l Ca lls or Indian mi hese t

need years.”

Because of the shortage of time, teachers also need to balance giving students a broad overview of the topic with in-

APRIL 8, 2015

v. Rice [a 1927 Supreme Court case that said the exclusion of a Chinese girl from a white school was not a violation of the 14th Amendment] doesn’t matter.”

In order to address the underrepresentation, some teachers include projects give students the freedom to focus on minorities, though Stolhand said that most students choose not to.

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ences beyond what is taught. But because students are unaware of the existence of the history in the first place, they don’t know what they don’t know.

Yet in the midst of all of this, the one thing that everyone can agree on is that there is a need for representation that remains unfulfilled.

“The U.S. is a melting pot,” Huie said.

“Shouldn’t our history reflect that?” a.melving@elestoque.org | m.murthy@elestoque.org

5

NEWS

If STEM Wins... ...how should students find balance between STEM and humanities?

BY DYLAN TSAI AND YIFEI WU

I

n a recent humanities competition, MIT Inspire, three groups of MVHS students have been selected as the finalists along with 100 other groups from across the nation, which seems to debunk the notion that MVHS is an STEM school. Yet, the distinction between humanities and STEM might not be as great as people think. As Jim Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment of Humanities, pointed out in his speech in 2013 called “STEM and the Humanities: a False Dichotomy”, the humanities and fields of inquiry related to science, technology, engineering and math are complementary

officer team collaborates to decide what topics to present to the members. Yet, the club suffers from lack of membership.

Xu acknowledges that the humanities do seem to be crowded out in MVHS, but she believes that this is inevitable.

“The community is based on STEM and

humanities

(N.) A FIELD THAT INLUDES PHILOSOPHY, ART, MUSIC, HISTORY, LITERATURE, RELIGION AND LANGUAGE. rather than competitive. In an environment where STEM and humanities are viewed as two opposite sides, students find different balance points on the spectrum of STEM and humanities.

Humanities for life “When you share your perspective through writing, you create a deep connection between human souls… a connection that you probably didn’t realize you had before,” senior Liwen Xu, officer of National English Honors Society said.

Currently an AP English Literature student and a former American Literature Honors student, Xu acknowledges that the classes provide her the necessary tools in writing and reading. However, the classes are mainly focused on analytical writing.

When asked why hasn’t she taken other writing classes at MVHS, Xu replied that the school does not offer a wide variety of writing classes.

Xu joined NEHS junior year as one of the first few members of the club and became an officer senior year. According to Xu, the 6

technology, so it’s easier to get into STEM and get more exposure in STEM,” Xu said.

Not an either/or problem Junior Nathan Vu competed with junior Harjot Sidhu in the MIT Inspire competition, submitting a paper as well as a website about Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design’s architectural rating system called LEED. MIT Inspire is a competition that began last year, accepting submissions of research papers in various topics of humanities.

Though uncertain, Sidhu plans to continue her interest in architecture by going into urban planning. Vu, on the other hand, does not plan on pursuing the humanities.

“I’m not really interested in architecture,” said Vu. “It was mostly a learning experience for me.”

Vu has been taking art classes, previously planning on pursuing product design. However, he fears a lack of career opportunities in humanities. So, he decided to pursue business.

“I’m a little worried about the income of humanities-based careers versus STEM-based careers,” said Vu. “[But] when I think of a future career, I can’t see myself in a cubicle.”

Similarly, senior Rhea Choudhury, another EL ESTOQUE

MIT Inspire finalist, wants to pursue STEM as a career.

But she also wants to minor in comparative literature in college, aside from majoring in medicine. Humanities and STEM are not two completely disparate fields, but rather complement each other for Choudhury.

“Humanities allows you to understand human nature,” Choudhury said. “STEM helps you understand how the world works.”

As the co-president of the French Honors Society, an AP English student and an officer

of it, too.”

Less humanities?

English teacher Sara Borelli described the decline of the once-popular English class, Humanities, over the years. It was a course that combined literature, art, music, architecture — that tried to help students understand how different components of culture manifested in everyday life. Borelli started teaching the course in 1990 and had five or six periods of Humanities. However, gradually, less and less students enrolled in the class. By the year 2013, the school decided to cancel the course because of lack of enrollment.

“Students just gradually stopped to sign up for the class because they thought it would be too hard,” Borelli said. “I think there is definitely the [factor] that students are more interested in math and science.”

Social studies teacher Bonnie Belshe has noticed this gravitation toward STEM among MVHS students. Though Belshe believes that FUHSD places equal emphasis on STEM classes and humanities classes, the high amount of technology in Silicon Valley influences students’ perception of desirable occupations.

Due to this inherent preference of STEM, MVHS lacks many large and active humanitiesbased clubs. Although Vu and Sidhu are in Archeology Club, most of their work was independent.

However, Belshe asserts that students are not forced to make a concrete choice between humanities and STEM. The research processes for humanities and STEM are the same. So, students who pursue humanities can later apply their skills to STEM, and vice versa. In addition, Belshe says that humanities links different classes.

“That’s one of the big things for history that we want students to get out of [the class],” Belshe said, “understanding that what they’re learning in here, they take to those [STEM] classes and they can see value in that, and then they’ll understand the time and work to put into it. Humanities and history really look to be that bridge between other classes, to be the bridge between current events that are happening around you, the world that you see and your understanding of them.”

WOULD YOU PURUSE HUMANITIES EVEN IF FINDING JOB ISN’T A CONCERN?

57

43

percent no

percent yes

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURSUE HUMANITIES, STEM, OTHER OR BOTH? humanities *From a survey of 126 students

Yifei Wu | El Estoque

APRIL 8, 2015

stem

37 8 43 12

percent

both

at Science Honors Society, Choudhury thinks that with the knowledge in both STEM and humanities, she would understand people better and at the same time know the more practical knowledge of how things operate.

Trying to have a balanced education, Choudhury didn’t plan on participating in the MIT Inspire competition after first seeing it on School Loop. However, as she continued to read novels outside of school, she became interested in the contest. As she started doing more research, she saw that the role of female protagonists in the novels were often reflective of the feminist ideas of that time period, and decided to start researching for the contest.

Choudhury thinks that many students choose classes with AP or Honors titles, crowding out the less popular humanities courses.

“It’s just the culture in here,” Choudhury said. “And I have to say I myself am guilty

other

d.tasi@elestoque.org | y.wu@elestoque.org

7

CLASS OFFICE ELECTIONS

BY ELIA CHEN AND SARAH WEINBERG

Each year, elections are held to decide the next year’s class officers. The elections for next year’s class officers started April 6. Here’s an overview of the facts about this year’s class officer teams.

Of the 22 class officers,

59% are female

67%

25

Senior class officers have stayed in class office since freshman year

signatures needed from other students saying that they will vote in support for the student

Freshman Representative is the title freshmen run for instead of running for specific positions from Kennedy or Lawson. To get balanced representation between Kennedy and Lawson, the top two winners from Lawson and the top three winners from Kennedy are chosen as freshman representatives.

BY NEWS staff

Photo used with permission of Santosh Sivakumar.

Photo used with permission of Bhushan Balagar.

“I think being a class officer is about connections and helping your class become junior Arpit Jaspara more united.” e.chen@elestoque.org s.weinberg@elestoque.org APRIL 8, 2015

87%

Photo used with permission of Arpit Jasapara.

Photo used with permission of ARachel Plouse

of the class officers are Asian

Versus: students Asian 79.8% ofareMVHS

*according to the MVHS website

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NEWS

In defense of Zayn Zayn Malik is not a terrorist

F

10

cant minority that think Zayn is joining ISIS. Or that he already has and is in the process of converting the naive to fight with him on the dusty battlefields of Iraq.

For the record, Zayn Malik left One Direction because of stress and depression.

I did some research because I could hardly believe what I was seeing and it only got worse. Zayn branded as a terrorist in 2013, Zayn being the butt of an ISIS joke on the Daily Show, Zayn told to die for expressing an opinion on Palestine.

I guess I hadn’t really realized, because I was far too wrapped up in my blind dis-

And just think about it: the purpose of a boyband is to give a harmless object for teenage girls to love and adore, wholesome and innocent. Think of the last couple acts—Justin Bieber, NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, the Beatles— what, other than outstanding haircuts, linked all of these acts together?

They’re all white. Zayn is obviously not.

In an arena where minority representation is so utterly lacking, Zayn somehow became the one brown face for teenagers of color around the world to pin our affections on, finally someone who vaguely resembled the type of progress needed to one day see ourselves reflected in the media we consume.

And now, he’s gone, and One Direction now resembles nothing more than the cream cheese I like OUT OF THE BLUE to spread on my morning bagel.

And now, I’m left feeling a little bereft for a figure I never idolized taste for the boy band in general, but Zayn when perhaps I should have. is really one of the most successful artists I can only hope it’s not too late to memoof South Asian descent in the world right rize “What Makes You Beautiful.” now. The rest of us never really break out m.murthy@elestoque.org of our stereotypes as math nerds or motel owners, or go back to the Motherland to pursue careers as playback singers for Hindi movie soundtracks. Amidst all of these expectations of the people we are supposed to be, Zayn was an example of what we could choose— a completely irresponsible, completely crazy scheme to become a world famous pop star. And it worked!

MAYA MURTHY

Photo taken from Hot Gossip Italia

ive years ago, One Direction burst into the collective minds of every teenage girl, and nothing could ever, would ever be the same again. We fell in love and in hate in tens of thousands, mindlessly, as we scoured the internet for videos and audio and interviews that let us pick a favorite to pin our hopes and dreams of marriage upon.

Dramatic? Yes. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

Personally, I tended to lean toward the “hate” side of the spectrum. I was 14 years old, already a full-blown cynic only eclipsed by the person I am today. But two of my friends spent hours together in an enclosed space and came out changed women, converted to the life of the true Directioner.

I hated the fact that I could name all of the singers, that I could name their varying levels of hotness depending on the friend I was speaking to and their varying levels of singing ability depending on the friend I was speaking to. I hated their hair, their shirts and their shoes, but most of all I hated Zayn Malik.

Shocker, I know. I’m not certain on the details, other than the fact that Zayn seemed to be the sexy one and the best singer of the bunch. He also frequently had ridiculous hair (hello, that weird blonde streak?).

All of this goes to say that when Zayn announced that he was heading in a different direction, I was surprised when the dominant emotion I felt was loss, rather than triumph.

I figured that anything I was feeling was just residual nostalgia at the end of an era, until I found the internet’s wide and varied response to the leaving of Zayn.

Or at least a part of it. Most of it was grief stricken and full of incoherent sobbing captured on vine. Alright, I expected that.

What I hadn’t expected, was the signifi-

EL ESTOQUE

An open letter to those seeking roommates online

BY VARSHA VENKAT ILLUSTRATIONS BY VISHALRATHNA NAGAR magine yourself in a 19-by-12 foot thought of being paired with someone who room, with two weathered wooden shares none of your personal preferences, desks, a small wardrobe and two take a breath and count to 10. Most colleges platform twin beds nestled against and programs rely on an extensive survey to the walls. “Breaking Bad” post- pair students up, and the questions asked ers and old polaroids line the generally follow those of any roommatewall and your desk is neatly finder group. Sure, it can seem risky to let an arranged. It may sound like the administrative staff make rooming decisions perfect personal space, but hav- purely based on these forms, but they’ve ing the “wrong” roommate could been doing it for decades. ruin your experience.

As college admissions and acceptance letters to summer programs finish rolling in, many of us have joined websites percent of college like Room Surf to find the “perfreshmen who have fect” roommate and Facebook trouble getting along groups where enthusiastic with their roommate future classmates introduce themselves in carefully worded posts that they’ve rewritten at least three times.

Because it’s so pe important to fre rcen feel comfortor shm t of mo en **according to a paper published by the Higher Education c able around Research Institute at University of California, Los Angeles re wit olleg r your roomo h e o *ba sed mm on on mate, many as tud ate e yo f ro of you will om A poll of Brown University ma s tes at D artm choose to students showed that roughly 70 outh coll ege room with somepercent of college freshmen are by Bru ce Sa one you already know satisfied with their assigned roomcer dote or have a lot in common mates. Your roommate is most likely not with. This is not a good idea for the one person you plan to spend all of most people. College, or any extendyour time with, but someone who shares ed overnight program for that matter, is a your personal living preferences, so having a time to explore new avenues, whether it be “random” roommate can save you time and by participating in out-of-the-box activities prevent future dorm room meltdowns. on campus or by rooming with someone For those of you who are introverts — or “randomly” selected by the school. are simply too shy to interact with other proBy leaving your rooming arrange- spective students online — having a “ranments to the college or program, you dom” roommate will give you the chance to can find a better-suited match in your be more social: If you don’t think you are ready roommate, increase your to talk to others, you can at least build connecexposure to different tions with your roommate. cultures and have a And if you are more rewarding col- interested in broadlege experience. ening your perspecIf you are tives, letting the stressed by the college or program APRIL 8, 2015

choose your roommate could be the best option. Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that students were more likely to volunteer if they roomed with people from lowincome backgrounds.

Having a “random” roommate gives you a chance to explore a diverse range of cultures and beliefs since you will be rooming with people who have varying interests.

But most importantly, choosing not to room with friends can prevent the inevitable fights that can lead to the destruction of that friendship. Spending plenty of time in the same room as a friend can lead to an overstepping-of-boundaries, and this can pose big issues if it goes unaddressed. Some students feel awkward confronting their best friend, and when you’re living with someone, those resentments fester.

If you have already roomed with a friend for an extended period of time and know that you can handle being in close quarters, hey, you might be able to work things out!

Just be wary of the fact that problems will arise at times, and make sure you are comfortable addressing any problems with your friend.

Regardless of your decision, the first day of college or a summer program is full of surprises: a new setting, new challenges and — above all — new people. Acclimating to the numerous changes can be difficult, but it is easier when you have a roommate who complements your personality and lifestyle. How do you find this perfect roommate?

Fill out the forms, and leave the decision to chance. v.venkat@elestoque.org

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OPINION

Beyond the Book MVHS should implement design-based learning to promote innovation on campus

E

ly ial id

rig

Str e wh ss e

ec

resentful, frustrated, and bored as we ighty-two percent of college-edu- CEO Tim Brown, through design thinking struggle to salvage their efforts, all in the cated professionals wish they had his firm is able to redesign organizations pursuit of higher scores. These projects more exposure to creative thinking by taking a human approach and finding are at the crux of student stress as grades when they were students according to a previously unthought of solutions to the hang in the balance along with friendstudy conducted by Adobe Systems. An companies’ problems. ships. overwhelming majority believe that our “Design thinking is a human-centered system of education prioritizes simple, approach to innovation that And here’s the problem: grade its creativity, rote-style learning over the innovative, draws from the designer’s b i e obsession has caused many to multidimensional approach necessar y to toolkit to integrate the inh me frames a sp neglect the actual process of re ti succeed in the modern economy. That we needs of people, the learning, a process where n are taught at our schools to be good at possibilities of techmaking mistakes and tinlistening, but not understanding. nology, and the rekering is fundamental to success.

Field trips to Peru to explore Incan quirements for busicivilizations through the study of histor y ness success” Brown However, MVHS and cultural anthropology. An emphasis said. students appear to be on the “design thinking process,” a form Brown’s aptruly learning outside of problem solving rooted in treating proach to innovation the context of the grade. real-world problems as one would treat is especially poignant Take a look at the AP a creative project: looking anatomically at MVHS where many Computer Science kid who and strategically in pursuit of a solution. classes focus on covering codes a game in his free time, Project-based learning that integrates as much material as possible in the woodshop kid who fabricates real world problems and independent order to prepare students for AP exams or a beautiful box for his own personal enstudy into the curriculum. A “recital proj- more advanced curriculum in following joyment, the biology student who enters ect” that allows eighth grade students to years. Several “Creative choose and pursue a passion of their own projects” are tacked on individual choosing. as a side note at the end All of these innovative learning tools of an intensive semesput the process of learning into the stu- ter of lectures, problem dents hands where it belongs. Many of sets and tests. These OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE these learning tools, while expensive, projects seem more of could be applied at our school. And an assignment created EDITORIAL BOARD many are part of the curriculum at the to satisfy common core rather Nueva School in San Mateo, California. requirements The school follows the model set by the than promote any sort graduate program offered at Stanford of innovative approach science fairs out of sheer intrinsic joy, recalled “design thinking,” which consists toward learning material. In classes so dominated by Powerpoints and gardless of the other benefits. They are of a five step process that sets O s see f CE conventional tests, these projtaking innovation into their own hands the foundation of creative c o re t ects turn into awkward and simultaneously improving the quality problem solving. en rtant leaders at hi and almost incongruous of their education.

Design thinking has po afterthoughts.

To foster creativity and innovation gained attention in AP Biology’s end on campus requires more than tacking business schools and of year PDP (Product on a few more projects and incorporatvarious companies Development Project), ing a field trip or two. It requires a comacross the nation as AP Economics’ end plete reworking of the curriculum with a way to create “the of semester “creative” project-based learning at its core, not as next big thing.” Bay project and AP Statisa supplement. Schools like Nueva have Area-based company tics’ survey project all set the precedent for this kind of instrucIDEO is a global design serve as examples. Each of tion and their results are remarkable. Just firm that innovates orgathese classes consist primarlast year, students designed and created nizations both in the public and ily of lectures and workbooks, but a prototype for a glove so the speech private center through design thinkimpaired can better communicate with ing. According to IDEO President and at the end of the semester they make us

12

e as th ty ivi quality p

Sixty p mos erc t im

STAFF EDITORIAL

EL ESTOQUE

Seventy-fiv are livin e p g u

APRIL 8, 2015

lieve they be ot otential p e

others not proficient in sign language, recorded a concept album and designed and sewed original dresses among other equally laudable creative projects. Now it’s time to take their example and apply it to our own curriculum. Not replace the lecture, but augment it.

While this may seem impossible there are many steps we can take to make it a reality. Some are already implemented by the school, such as World Studies’ trip to to Los Angeles in order to visit the Holocaust museum and the TED talk projects promoted by some World Literature classes. While these steps are commendable, they are nowhere near enough.

Because more importantly than adding in field trips and projects is reassessing classroom instruction. Our classes should begin and end with questions, the emphasis being on creative and individual interpretation. The addition of new, cutting-edge instructional tools like 3D printers and multimedia rooms would also be incredibly helpful, though not an absolutely necessar y step.

While these tools may not be financially feasible for MVHS in the short term (in contrast Nueva is a private school with a hefty $40,000 price tag), many of these suggestions, if applied responsibly, should not stretch the budget so much.

Before these lofty plans can be set, however, we must change our simple view of creat ive learning. It is not an easy e p o f ple way out of “real nt o do learning” or e c i r er to the creati n some newv p age concept that will make st udent s “dumber” or “ l a z i e r. ” Cre at iv it y has been a core trait of many of the world’s greatest inventors, CEOs, leaders and politicians. We are depriving ourselves of the chance to become leaders and doers, instead of mindless followers. If we do not attempt to mold our beliefs and curriculums to accept a new approach to learning, one that forces us to push beyond the pages of our textbooks.

OPINION

We’ re only humanities STEM and humanities should share equal importance in our student body

BY RHONDA MAK AND SHARON TUNG

F

or whatever reason, MVHS puts a weaker emphasis on humanities compared to STEM . Maybe it’s because there isn’t one right answer. Maybe it’s because it requires some guesswork and analysis. Maybe it’s because it requires a lot of reading and not a whole lot of doing. Maybe some people think it’s just boring.

This discrepancy is apparent not only in the number of clubs that promote STEM careers and activities, but the vast differences in the number of AP and honors classes offered to students each year. Honors courses in STEM classes such as Chemistry Honors and AP Computer Science become available to students as early as their sophomore year, while students have to wait until junior year to even be offered honors classes in the humanities like American Literature Honors and AP US History. MVHS lacks some AP courses that are offered in other schools in other nearby districts: AP European History, AP Psychology, AP Human Geography and AP World History.

Students are allowed to explore the sciences early, but receive few options for the same level of exploration in the humanities. There is a push towards greater involvement in math and science and as a result, the strong desire to leave the humanities like the books you read in fifth grade: collecting dust.

The problem doesn’t only lie in the numbers, however. It’s that fewer students appear willing to participate in humanities activities and that their success goes unnoticed by the student body. If you think this isn’t true, just think about the last time there was an announcement for a student who won a writing competition. At a more basic level, we fail to respect winners of humanities-related competitions the same way we respect someone who has won a STEM competition. There is a lack of interest for humanities-related competitions while every Club Promo Day is a meat market for nearly every kind of STEM competition you can imagine.

Part of the problem may stem from the fact that many parents believe that there are fewer jobs available to students who are not

14

EL ESTOQUE

TEN

jobs to get in humanities

Travel Agent

Social Worker

Lawyer

Lobbyist

FBI Agent

Museum Worker

Interpreter/Translator

Editor

Genealogist

Counseling

pursuing STEM-related careers. This is blatantly incorrect. Journalists, technical writers, public relations managers and human resource specialists are just a few of the various job opportunities in the humanities. In fact, deterring students from studying the humanities have little to do with job prospects and everything to with salary.

Although concerns with pay have some merit, money should not be the reason why we avoid a field. Especially in high school and college where we have the opportunity to explore a multiplicity of ideas, we should study in a field we are passionate about. Even Silicon Valley, tech giants like Steve Jobs dabbled in the humanities.

In fact, Jobs’ explorations in calligraphy during college led to the Macintosh’s famously beautiful typography. Even if you’re into JAVA, you shouldn’t hesitate to take a creative writing class. You never know when it’s going to come in handy.

The humanities bridge the gap between the source of the information and the general public. True, science and technology bring innovation that make our lives more convenient, but without writers, their inventions may well have not happened. Humanities help make immensely complicated findings into something that people will actually care about and understand. We need people in STEM to keep up progress in their fields, and people in STEM need people in humanities to make STEM accessible to the general audience.

We need to start small, like supporting clubs such as NEHS that are dedicated to the humanities and offer those clubs the resources and support needed to participate in national competitions or research. Classes can be offered to Even STEM students can benefit from a humanities class on rhetoric, helping them strengthen their persuasive speaking, an invaluable skill in any field. The problem lies in the students’ mentality, not the school.

Students need to shed the mentality that the humanities are less important than STEM. The two are equally important. r.mak@elestoque.org | s.tung@elestoque.org

APRIL 8, 2015

15

OPINION

Our Sensationalist Media

With the Germanwings disaster so recent in memory, hopefully our media will grow up

A

s I w r ite one of my final columns on board. T his is concer ning for several of the year, I look to my previous reasons. First, almost ever yone has conones to get a sense of what I’ve cluded that the crash was a successful w r it ten about in the past. Chr is Chr is- suicide at tempt by a depressed 27-yeartie’s Br idgegate scandal. T he protest s old. Second of all, I planned to visit Barin Hong Kong. T he never-ending plague celona for my senior tr ip, and now I’m of ISIS. And though these event s are all paranoid of using low-cost airlines. dramatically different, one aspec t reBut the bigger question is how the mains constant. T he media sensational- co-pilot managed to get away with the izes them, and sensationalizes them so escapade. You would think that if it were that it becomes difficult to draw the line this easy, some ter ror ist organization bet ween news and enter tainment. would have infiltrated the pilot rank s by That’s par tially because of how the system is set up: news chanON HIGHER GROUND nels are dependent on adver tising revenue.

MSNBC, by far the poorest of the ma- now and crafted 9/11 2.0. T he sad par t jor cable news outlet s, brought in $227 is, it really was this easy at the million in 2013 in adver tising revenue. budget European airlines.

CNN brought in $320 million. Fox News, In Amer ica we are obthe most popular cable news net work, sessed with secur it y. brought in a whopping $776 million. T hat’s why we live News channels are also dependent on by the “t wo-person cable subscr ibers for money. T he more r ules.” It controls people watch, the more money is made. our nuclear And that leads to a problem. forces — the T he news stops being a public ser- P r e s i d e n t vice and becomes an enter tainment of the show, more “Keeping up with the Kar- Un i t e d dashians” than any thing of meaning ful substance. You have explosive graphics editor ializing political scandal. You have tons of speculation, with lit tle real news. You have a headline “War on Chr istmas” for holiday coverage. And, to cover the stor y of a missing plane, Sharon Tung | El Estoque you have months of incessant conspiracy theor ies, replete with tack y shot s States can only deploy nuclear weapons from a fake airline cockpit. with the approval of the Secretar y of Speak ing of that Malaysian Airlines Defense. It also controls airlines — the disaster, we have another one of the cockpit can never have only one resident media’s favor ite catastrophes, a plane in it. crash. T his time it does not involve MaT he pur pose of this t wo-person r ule laysia (T hank goodness for them), but is rather self-evident: it prevent s suicida low-cost car r ier called Ger manwings. al maniacs from tak ing innocent s with Ger manwings Flight 9525 crashed in them to the grave. Yet for some reason, the French Alps on Mar. 24, k illing all in Europe, they didn’t have this r ule. For

PRANAV PARTHASARATHY

16

some reason, they decided that a t woperson cockpit is over rated and it cost them, and the world, dearly .

And it’s not like they ignored the rest of what Amer ica adopted in the post 9-11 era. Yup, the cockpit can be per manently sealed from the out side, becoming a bank vault at 36,000 feet.

Tr uly ter r if ying.

Yet undoubtedly the biggest mistake was hir ing the guy in the first place. I mean, I understand why Asiana airlines kept the man responsible for HL7742’s crash on it s pay roll: he had thousands of hours of f light exper ience. But this guy, First Officer Andreas Lubit z, had only 630 hours of f light exper ience and was depressed. W hy on ear th would you give a young man with a propensit y to at tempt to commit suicide access to a 30 ton, Mach .97 steel machine capable of ending hundreds of lives within seconds? Had the ac tual pilot managed to re-enter the cockpit, he would have probably been able to save the day with his extensive f light exper ience. But instead he was given a suicidal maniac as a copilot, and ever yone per ished in the process.

So Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, spend

m o n t h s cover ing this cr isis.

Spr ing as many conspiracy stor ies as you can.

But instead of doing it to enter tain your viewers, do it to send a war ning to these budget airlines. p.parthasarathy@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

A&E

just dance

Three students share stories of their lifelong pursuit of bharatanatyam

BY KALPANA GOPALKRISHNAN

B

haratanatyam, a classical South Indian dance form, conveys stories and emotions through hand movements, facial expressions and body movement. Most of the time, a dancer remains in aramandi, a half-squat where the dancer’s legs form a diamond shape. When a teacher deems a dancer ready, they perform their arangetram, or debut performance. However, the arengatram is far from the dancer’s endpoint, and the three students below hope to continue the art for the rest of their lives.

EE: How do you want to pursue dance for the rest of your life?

EE: Can you describe the feeling of your arangetram?

Vijaykumar: I might even become a dance teacher someday. I like teaching and I taught a few classes with my teacher now. I think it’s really uplifting to teach kids an art form especially classical Indian dance [which] isn’t super popular, but its still important to keep your heritage.

Vijaykumar: It was probably the best feeling of my life. I remember not sleeping the night before cause I was too excited. And I was like, “Janani you should really sleep right now cause you need the energy.”

But I couldn’t because I was thinking about my dances and all the people that were coming.

JUNIOR janani VIJAYKUMAR Arangetram in 2013

EE: How has your bharatanatyam teacher Mythili Kumar influenced you?

FRESHMAN SANTOSH SIVAKUMAR Arangetram in 2012

Sivakumar: We have so much respect for her. She is so, so flexible and such an amazing dancer. She can still do the splits at 60 which is amazing. The amount of time she commits to us, there is no way we can replace that

Photo used with permission of Janani Vijaykumar

EE: It is not as common for a boy to do bharatanatyam. As a boy, how did you overcome being a minority in a female-dominated art form?

Sivakumar: For a long time I didn’t want to be doing it. Once I put more effort in I realized it paid off. It ties you into your culture, it makes you feel rooted down.

Photo used with permission of Santosh Sivakumar

EE: If you had to pick between Raas [an MVHS dance team with an Indian folk style] and bharatanatyam, which one would you choose?

Shah: I’m passionate about both, but Raas is something that I do for fun and relaxation while bharatanatyam is just a part of me now. I can’t imagine going through a week without going to class once a week or teaching a class . It’s just become a part of my routine where I feel like I need to do it, otherwise something’s wrong.

18

EE: Why do you do bharatanatyam?

Shah: It started with my mom forcing me and I used to hate bharatanatyam. I used to hate going to class and practicing and everything about it. But my mom made me stick to it especially since my aunt dances. But I think after a certain point if you put in the hard work it pays off. Having your teacher not yell at you for once is definitely rewarding.

SOPHOMORE GOONJA SHAH Arangetram in 2014

k.gopalkrishnan@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE Photo used with permission of Goonja Shah

BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES

OLD SOUL

overview

Senior Kevin Rosenberg shares his love for bridge with students from around the Bay Area

BY DANIEL FERNANDEZ

S

eated in a gray chair under the bright f luorescent lights of West Valley College’s multipurpose room, senior Kevin Rosenberg stands out. Although his tall frame puts him above most of the room’s occupants, his height is not what makes him noticeable.

Rather, Rosenberg doesn’t have bald spots, greying hair or children to talk about. He’s one of only a few students in the packed room.

Despite this apparent gap in age, Rosenberg seems at ease. He sits quietly, breaking his silence only brief ly to go over final strategies with his precocious sixth grade pupil Michael Hu. The son of two professional bridge players, Rosenberg grew up with the popular card game, learning how to play when he was just three years old.

“I was brought to bridge nationals and there’s a child care,” Rosenberg said. “And I learned at the childcare while [my parents] were off playing.”

Although he had an unusually early exposure bridge he was not an avid player as a young child, preferring to play in chess and Scrabble tournaments. However, as he progressed to higher levels of play, Rosenberg found both games to be too tedious. Still, his parents were not eager to let him take up the game.

“My mom and dad actually tried to discourage me from playing bridge initially because of how time consuming it is,” Rosenberg said.

As the first round of the tournament begins, Rosenberg carefully sor ts his cards into order, tr ying to imagine the proper bid and play for each moment during the round. To the casual obser ver, this decision making process appears glacial at times, but in reality Rosenberg is not just

planning one play, but dozens of possible outcomes. He must consider the order of his play in order to ensure that he reaches the contract set by he and his par tner at the beginning of the round.

“The goal is to take as many tricks as possible and to tr y and figure out what their cards are or tr y to figure out the most common cards that they could have,” Rosenberg said. “But the process is hard because of all the combinations and the fact that it’s closed.”

As the sun sets, Rosenberg remains aler t, although Hu seems ready for a nap after two hours of play. It’s a mental challenge for most young players to sur vive the grueling 20 or more rounds that make up a session of duplicate bridge. This shor t attention span is something that Rosenberg must battle against as a mentor for the U.S Bridge Federation, helping to train aspiring Senior bridge players KEVIN ROSENBERG like Hu at these less impor tant Nationally ranked tour na ment s. bridge player But at the end of the day, the fun should always over weigh the technicalities.

“I’m tr ying to help them see how fun bridge can be... So I tr y to look for one interesting point to make each round. I’m not tr ying to critique their play.”

Although bridge may not be a popular activity among high school students, Rosenberg doesn’t mind. But he also thinks that it shouldn’t be characterized as an activity for grandparents or an inherently boring activity. He says it’s quite a likable game.

“I’d at least encourage people to tr y it and I know that people say that it’s nerdy, but that should be an encouraging factor at our school anyways.”

Bridge is a four player card game played in pairs. During each round a pair establishes a contract, which is the number of tricks they must make in order to win the round.

bidding

1

A bid communicates the strengths and weaknessess of a player’s hand.

Each bid has a suit, which inidicates the trump for that round.

Some times a player may choose to bid NT or no trump if they are strong in a variety of suits.

The number of tricks plus six that a pair intends to win. For example, if you bid 3 spades you would expect to win nine tricks with spade as the trump suit.

Bidding ends when three players pass. The pair with the final bid now must complete their contract in order to win

roles The person who makes the final bid is called the declarer.

The partner of the declarer becomes the dummy and turns their cards face up. They observe the game while their partner plays for them.

The person left of the declarer starts the game and is often called the opening leader.

gameplay

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The opening leader begins the first trick with play continuing clockwise If the player doesn’t have a card from the suit played, they can either play a trump card or discard a card from a different suit.

The pair with the highest card that matches the suit wins the trick, unless there is a trump card. In this case, the trick goes to the pair with the highest trump card.

The player who won the previous round begins the next one, continuing until all cards are played.

Play continues until every card is played. If the declarer fulffils their contract, they win the round.

A typical session of bridge has between 20 and 28 hands.

d.fernandez@elestoque.org

APRIL 8, 2015

19

A&E

ingbox, a new gourmet chicken wing restaurant, recent ly opene d its doors near 85ºC and The prospe ct of 27 different ave.

SnoCr flavors with the promise of all-nat ural chicken meat makes Wingb ox an unexpected delight. While a visit will still leave your wallet feeling empty, your tastebuds will definitely be satisfie d.

W

Spring Into It

axi dresses and maxi skirts are some of the few pieces that provide comfort along with style for the spring season. Senior Scarlett Perry feels that “light linens and tops with square necks and spaghetti straps will come back in [style]” in the coming months.

The incorp oration of new styles and textures provide a shift from bulky winter clothing.

M

2015 Spring Preview

BY SARAH RAMOS AND ANUSHKA TYAGI ART BY CHRISTINE LIANG

link-182 has been pretty quiet since their last album release d in 2011. Former lead singer Tom DeLonge has taken the initiative to stay relevant. DeLonge will be releasing his solo album To The Stars… on April 20. While the prospe ct of potent ial Blink-182 demos on the full album have the band’s fans feeling antsy, DeLonge’s singles leave something to be desired.

B

“New World” contains riffs reminiscent of Blink182’s signature melodies, just at-half speed. It’s nice to see DeLonge harking back to his roots while also showing off a refreshing, mature feel. “The Invisible Parade” is even more serious and sensitive, but lacks the arena-worthy qualities of “Adam’s Song” — one of Blink-182’s most popula r singles.

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EL ESTOQUE

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C

RE AM — one of the mo st loc ally Instagrammed foo d spots — is opening a new loc ation in Cup ert ino this spr ing. San Jose and Pal o Alto are no longer the only places to get your hands on ice cre am sandw ich goo dness. The popular chain is also openin g loc ations in Los Gatos, Milpita s, and Almaden Valley.

pring fashion this year will be spearheaded with the revival of past trends. Senior Kelsey Hsing predic ts that “a lot of old trends of the 1970s are going to come back like yellows, pastels, and denim on denim.”

Bright colors and solids are spring fashion staples, along with neutrals and the “natural makeup look.”

S

Joseph unior Hsiung prefers to tone down the “preppy school boy” look, substit uting thicker sweaters and collare d shirts with button-up shirts. “I like to make it more casual for spring and wear a t-shirt underneath my buttonup shirts.” Spring time comes with wather changes and layering allows students to stay warm in the morning and cool in the afterno on.

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APRIL 8, 2015

c.liang@elestoque.org s.ramos@elestoque.org a.tyagi@elestoque.org

21

A&E

stranger

Stuck with a...

friend blind date

Randomizing college roommate selection has varied outcomes

roommate

BY CLAIRE LU AND NEHA PATCHIPALA

F

or decades, one of the first challenges of going off to college was meeting the stranger that the school randomly chose to be your roommate — the person that you would either instantly befriend or simply tolerate. However, today, a growing number of students are bypassing this tradition and making the choice themselves through social networking.

Students who wish to have a voice in choosing their roommate may use Roomsurf. When students join the site, they are prompted to take a short survey about their living habits and then fill out boxes such as “About Me,” “Interested In” and “Message Me If.” Roomsurf then compiles top matches based on the user’s survey responses, simplifying the process of finding a roommate.

Facebook makes it easy to find roommates, as well. Most colleges create an official “Class of ____” page, which all incoming freshmen are invited to join.

People talk about various subjects in these groups, ranging from their own roommate preferences to their favorite movies and fo o d s.

Sharon Tung | El Estoque Illustration

22

Facebook groups also help college students find people who will be participating in the same activities and organizations as them.

The blind date

Some college officials say that choosing roommates for students helps ensure they are exposed to different points of view. They worry that incoming freshmen will tend to pick people of the same ethnicity, social background or hometown, inhibiting them from their ideal college experience.

Earlier this year, MVHS class of 2014 alumnus Ashish Samaddar, a freshman at UC Berkeley, filled out a short questionnaire that his college provided: Do you maintain normal sleeping hours? How social are you?

Sleep style? Do you keep your room clean or messy?

As more freshmen go online and use social media sites in an endeavor to shape their living situation, college officials are split on whether or not this is a good idea.

An editorial written by the Washington Post says, “Giving freshmen more say in their living arrangements can result in fewer roommate conflicts, some college housing officials say.” Living with a stranger is always a risk, but allowing students to pick that stranger builds an investment in wanting to make things work.

Samaddar said that initially he worried that the wrong roommate could ruin everything. After enduring several summer camps with unfortunate roommate experiences, Samaddar realized that he would never want to randomize his college roommate selection process.

“I understand the appeal of randomized roommate pairings, as you get to meet a really different person, or have an experience different from what they already have,” said Samaddar.

However, Samaddar has not been satisfied with his roommate, citing personality clashes and different extracurricular interests as

5

things to look for in a roommate

Study Habits

Visitors

Sorority/fraternity recruitment

Sleeping habits

Common interests

reasons for most conflicts. Although, Samaddar has not had the best experience with his “blind date” and the option is risky, there still remains the possibility that others that take this chance may find their ideal roommate.

The random roommate

Senior Kaholi Kiyonami is excited by the prospect of having a random roommate chosen by the college she will be attending.

Living with a roommate that you know beforehand may prevent you from putting yourself out there and trying new things, EL ESTOQUE

which is one of the main reasons that Kiyonami prefers the idea of being paired with a stranger.

“If we’re from similar backgrounds, it might prevent me from exploring other cultures and putting myself more out there,” Kiyonami said.

There are most definitely different ways that you can look at finding a roommate. If you have the same interests as your roommate, you may also share the same classes and therefore will be able to work together.

However, if you have different interests and passions, you will not be stuck talking about the same subjects and would gain a different perspectives.

Kiyonami’s ideal roommate would be more outgoing than she is and would push her to step out her comfort zone. Being assigned a roommate in her mind his appealing because it would force her to meet new people and expand

APRIL 8. 2015

Sharon Tung | El Estoque Illustration

her network.

“Our questionnaire only has four questions, and I don’t think that’s enough. I don’t really care about if they are from a different country,” Kiyonami said. But I’m more concerned about lifestyle, like what if we don’t wake up at the same time and I am up at 3 a.m. and they get really pissed?”

Kiyonami agrees that a difficult roommate could potentially ruin her college experience as the pressure that comes from her classes combined with the stress that comes from dealing with a troublesome roommate would be overwhelming. However, she remains optimistic that rooming with a person that she has never met before will allow her to explore new cultures and gain new insights.

“You’re meeting a completely new person [and that is] like a new friend. Whereas, if I [were] going with someone from my high school, I’d be obligated to room with them,” Kiyonami said.

“It pushes you to step out of your comfort zone and get more involved.” c.lu@elestoque.org | n.patchipala@elestoque.org

23

A&E

Tattoo You A

SARAH RAMOS SHE’S THE MAN

— usually, it’s the ones that reflect outdated t rend s.

If someone else does a double take because your tattoo screams “1985,” chances

are, you’re going to get sick of it, too.

Coming from a generation where fewer and fewer graduates are getting hiredWout of college, I don’t blame anyone who is concerned what employers are going to think about their tattoos. Guys have less to worry about because tattoo sleeves, for instance, are easily covered by, well, sleeves. While people are more accepting nowadays, you still have to ask yourself what you would think if you were in the hiring manager’s position.

An office is a professional setting, and I’m not saying that tattoos can never be tasteful (They can most definitely be.), but not everyone feels the same way about them.

You have to be able to take yourself seriously if you want someone else to as well. And if “business in the front, party in the back” is your motto right now, get a mullet.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, just think about it first. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with getting a tattoo when you’re 18 (or at any age, for that matter). But at the end of the day, your life isn’t even 25 percent of the way over. While 18 to 25 is the same amount of years as 40 to 47, a lot more of your life, personality, and values change.

For starters, you’ll be less occupied with prom dates and more concerned about staying connected with old friends. Who knows who you’ll be in the next seven years? I’ll give you a hint — it’s not you.

Having a story to go along with your ink is always a plus — people say “no regrets” jokingly, but a tattoo is a permanent feature on your body that you should seriously consider and think over. Mistakes and regrets can fade from memory, but not when they stare back at you everyday in the mirror. s.ramos@elestoque.org

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tattoos are done properly, it’s hard to even notice, but at the same time, makeup trends change. What are the women with tattooed eyebrows going to do when in 10 years the thin, near nonexistent 90’s eyebrow trend comes back around?

In fact, it’s pretty easy to tell when someone got a tattoo for the sake of getting one

Rhon d

s many of my classmates celebrate their 18th birthdays on the cusp of our transition from high school seniors to college freshmen, I can’t help but notice a trend. Piercings, tattoos and other practices that used to require parental consent now fall into the hands of the 18-year-olds, and consequently, have become “the thing to do when you turn 18.” While many fault the cliche retaliation towards parental control as the driving force for 18-year-olds flocking to tattoo and piercing parlors, I think a lot of it is just because they wanted these modifications for so long that the second they’re in control, they go from 0 to 100 and get piercings and tattoos galore.

When I talk about these 18-year-olds, I’m talking about myself too, even though I’m not 18. I still catch myself fantasizing about the tattoos I am free to get when I do turn 18. The thing is, while I spend hours perusing Pinterest for tiny tattoo ideas — and talking about them for days whenever anyone asks — I still hesitate.

Tattoos, whether you’re 18 or 80, are a topic of controversy. After polling a few of the older adults in my life, I realized that there are still stigmas attached, but the resentment comes from older generations and people have grown closer to wholly accepting body art. People who are in their 20’s and 30’s are more accepting than those in their 70’s.

The thing is, people who are our parents’ age and older are from a period when prison inmates and sailors were the only people with tattoos. We’ve evolved to the point where if you ask a random person under 30 what they associate “tattoos” with, I’m confident they wouldn’t say “criminals.”

While you are constantly dealing with others’ perceptions of you, it’s easier to brush them off when you’re just self-conscious of the shirt you’re wearing. You can take the shirt off, but can’t do the same with your tattoo. That’s why facial, “makeup” tattoos scare me a little bit. If eyeliner

There’s more to tattoos than ink and bad decisions

EL ESTOQUE

SPECIAL REPORT

Y T I V I T A E R C

The

ISSUE

BY HARINI SHYAMSUNDAR

W

APRIL 8, 2015

she does this is through her end-ofthe-year “Fact or Fiction” project, in which students choose a scene from a sitcom or movie and validate or disprove its authenticity by analyzing the chemistry in the scene.

Gupta says that students are caught off guard by this project because the strict routine of the high school day does not often give way for such imaginative thinking.

“In order to bring true creative inquiry to my students, I work hard to emphasize problems where there is a lot of gray area … where there is a possibility of more than one answer,” Gupta said, “because that is when actual problem-solving comes into play — when students are forced out of their comfort zone of black and white answers.”

The World Language Department is also starting to implement this system. According to Depart-

ment Chair and Spanish teacher Molly Guadiamos, she and her fellow Spanish teachers have shifted to “teaching with images,” rather than with words.

Recently, she conducted an exercise in her Spanish 4 Honors classes where she showed them pairs of photographs and asked them to describe connections between them.

“I was trying to show a mother’s happy reaction to her son doing the laundry,” Guadiamos said, pointing to one pair of images. “But one sentence that someone came up with was, ‘The boy washes the colorful clothes with the white clothes so that his mother gets to go shopping, and that was a really creative idea that I would never have thought of.”

Creativity is embedded in the future of MVHS. Read pages 26 to 31 and discover this for yourself.

Justin Kim and Harini Shyamsundar | El Estoque Photo Illustration

hy do scientists, who spend years pondering a certain problem, discover the solution in one mind-numbing moment of realization? How can artists change the entire appearance of a painting with one simple but crucial brushstroke?

At MVHS, this pressure to innovate and be original runs deep.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but students are always trying to be innovative,” junior Gayathri Kalla said. “It’s not really about being artistically creative, here. It’s about ... thinking in new ways.”

However, according to a survey of 125 MVHS students, 62 percent don’t believe that MVHS meets the bar in terms of fostering innovation.

AP Chemistry teacher Kavita Gupta is working hard to counter this attitude by cultivating creative growth in her classroom. One way

h.shyamsundar@elestoque.org

25

SPECIAL

TH E

FUTURE

M V H S OF

Vanessa Qin | El Estoque Illustration

A new field, new books, new technology-- what does the future of MVHS hold? W asked a few members of the MVHS faculty to share what they would implement in

BY VANESSA QIN AND KATHLEEN Y school if they had the chance with no limitations.

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY

FACILITY FIXES

HV AC UNITS

26

FACILITIES MANAGER CHRIS KENNEY SHARES WHAT'S IN STORE FOR MVHS IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.

D BUILDING BRIDGE

LED LIGHTS

NEW CLASSROOMS

REDESIGN GY

EL ESTOQUE

S P O R T S D E P A RT M E N T

O

ver the past eight years, the MVHS athletics department’s renovation list has included the new turf field, new locker rooms and resurfaced gym floors. More recent replacements include scoreboards, soccer goals and field hockey goals. Now, Athletic Director Brian Sullivan is looking to upgrade other specific sport facilities.

“This year, our plans are to get a whole new volleyball system,” Sullivan said. “[The construction agency] is going to refinish the tennis courts over summer. The dance room isn’t configured really well for dancing … we’re looking at giving it more space.”

Sullivan is also exploring the ideas of implementing a simulcast system in the student lobby, and finding technology to videotape games without requiring major setup.

d ra m a & a r t s D E P A R T M E N T

A

? We nt in our

ccording to drama teacher Sara Capule, obtaining the Footloose script and rights alone cost the department $3,000, so really the ideal future MVHS would have enough money to put on productions. Aside from additional funds, Capule would like to be able to have Chromebooks in drama so students can collaborate more easily.

“There’s a lot of collaborative stuff like writing scripts, so it’d be great to have them on Google Docs on Chromebooks to do that,” Capule said.

In addition, Capule hopes to receive money to bring in professionals to teach students about different aspects of drama.

EEN YUAN G BY JUSTIN KIM

CO C OR E C L A S S E S

E GYM LOBBY

nglish department chair David Clarke predicts that in the future, there will be more technological advancement in the classroom.

“This school will become more and more wired, and more and more cloud-based,” Clarke said.

Aside from improvements in technology, the English department hopes to get more books and laptop carts to assist with their curriculum changes. A specific addition to the Contemporary Literature curriculum includes expanding from text-based novels to graphic novels.

For standardized testing in all core classes, testing will all be moved to an online platform.

k.yuan@elestoque.org v.qin@elestoque.org

APRIL 8, 2015

27

SPECIAL

Dreamers

Innovators

Catching up with MVHS alumni who initiated VISHALRATHNA NAGAR innovative projects in high school BY AND MINGJIE ZHONG

GRADUATED FROM MVH S: 2014 THEN: Shan kar was a final ist in the 2014 Talent Search Intel Science Competition for dimensional structure of hu determining the threeman prostan special class oid receptors of proteins. ,a NOW: He is a college fresh man at Stanfo rd University “What I spec . ifically gaine d [from high sc an ability to no hool research t be fazed by ] is the difficulty gained] men of a problem tal fortitude an . [I d persistence ,” Shankar sa id.

“It’s more abou t the connectio ns you build al tice you rece ive,” said AP Bi ong the way, and the pracology teache r and mentor Renee Fallon.

Natalie Ng GRADUATED

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FROM MVHS: 2014 THEN: Ng won fifth place in th e 2014 Intel Sc Search among ience Talent other competit ions for her wor oping a diagno k in develstic tool for iden tifying breast ca ncer.

NOW: Ng atte nds Stanford U niversity and is studying phys currently ics, though he r major is unde clared.

“My creativity stems from a de sire to explore different things many ,” Ng said.

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s e s s a l C N E T

MVHS SHOULD HAVE

BY KRISTIN CHANG

Potential classes to fulfill lack of focus on practical skills, student health

Life skills

Physics in Video Games

...and apartmenthunt.

Naptime

Greenwich High School in Connecticut blocked out a 20-MINUTE period for students to POWER-NAP at school for the 2014-2015 school year. Administration believed that naptime may have contributed to their higher standardized test scores.

Reading like A HISTORIAN IMAGINE a history class without textbooks...

That’s exactly the VISION that Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, Calif. has implemented. “Reading like a Historian” encourages the ANALYSIS of only primary source documents.

LEARN to INTERPRET what the media tells us and how it creates and shapes our biases.

SIMULATE and LEARN about the laws of physics and math by playing puzzle video games like Portal and Minecraft.

Mental health

senior study Instead of second semester ENGLISH, seniors can PLAN a project that occupies

10 HOURS

of classtime per week.

EXAMPLES: Becoming a certified Emergency Medical Technician or writing a thesis paper.

Financial planning LEARN

ENCOURAGE stress relief, meditation and mindfulness

about student loan options

how to do your taxes and how/when to save money.

First aid LEARN TO

LEARN to cook...

Media analysis

Gender Studies The Freehold Regional High School District in California implemented a Gender Studies course in 2006, and since then, many others have followed suit.

BIND A WOUND

EXAMPLE TOPIC: AN PE D RF OR

Perceptions of

FEMINIST M

CPR

FIGURES in the world

Public domain photos via The Noun Project

k.chang@elestoque.org

APRIL 8, 2015

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OUR GENERATION WILL SOLVE Each generation brings with it new ideas, new inventions and new solutions. What will we do?

BY ASHMITA CHAKRABORTY AND EMILY ZHAO

1

Body Image

All princesses have unrealistically slim waists, and males represented in fitness advertisements or action figures are overly masculine — is modern culture telling us that our bodies should coincide with perfect standards? According to senior Phoebe Lim, there is an obsession to match up to social media. “I see little girls saying that they need to go on a diet and that’s ridiculous… It starts from people learning not to compare themselves and accept who they are,” Lim said.

30

2

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE RIGHT REASONS

According to Forbes magazine, about seven percent of communication is done verbally, showing the potentially harmful impact of social media on face-to-face communication. Junior Aditi Kilambi thinks that social media can possibly harm relations among family. “I think it’s a problem that we can definitely solve by using social media effectively,” Kilambi said. “Technology is a tool that we can use to connect rather than to disconnect people.”

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Rising Temperatures

According to National Geographic, the Arctic region may have its first iceless summer by 2040. Freshman Mahima Shanware’s friend, who currently attends college. created a device that converts nighttime fog and dew into water which can be used in place of non-filtered water — for example, toilet water. “It helps the environment by saving water, which definitely helps the drought here in California,” Shanware said.

4

living in space

Humanity has long dreamed of settling in space, but the scope of this dream has been too vast to execute.

Senior Neoman Nouiouat believes that our generation can make the dream of living permanently in space a reality. “[We can live in space by] making space stations bigger and being able to sustain people for long periods of time,” Nouiouat said. “Then people could get stop by space stations and get supplies easily.”

EL ESTOQUE

Rhonda Mak | El Estoque Illustration

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technological advancement

Assisting underdeveloped countries seems to be a notable goal of this generation. Google has come up with a creative way to aid underdeveloped countries by shipping balloons that carry wifi, according to senior Oindril Dutta. “[Shipping these balloons] solves the issue of lower opportunity to access information, and [spreads] the internet web across the entire world,” Dutta said.

6

Medical Inventions

New medical technologies that were unthinkable before, such as a vaccine for HIV, a fast cure to Malaria and a treatment for color-blindness are emerging . Junior Andrew Chow suggests that hightech robots could help cure diseases. “Incorporating technology like creating nanobots that can get into cells and create solutions-that’s really cool...and [making] it affordable for everyone,” said Chow.

APRIL 8, 2015

7

Gender Norms

8

Human Trafficking

Acceptance of the feminist movement has been accelerated recently through willingness to discuss the inherent status difference between the genders.

Junior Vidhi Tibrewala believes that these distinctions may diminish entirely. “I think guys are more open to understanding things like [the feminist movement] that and women are getting better at making people understand. The barrier [between genders] is kind of fading,” junior Vidhi Tibrewala said.

Illegal trading of humans, usually for sexual slavery, pervades all nations. Those who engage in a lifestyle of human trafficking, senior Sonia Lee believes, are in need of assistance. “People who run human trafficking are brainwashed about their identity... I think having rehabilitation centers is so important [for those who run human trafficking] for healing and restoration [to take] place.

Justin Kim | El Estoque

9 9

Education on Taboo Topics

Due to the near-taboo status association of sex, contraception, STDs, etc., teenagers often have a difficult time discussing these topics with others. But the awkwardness is quickly waning, according to junior Natalie Thé. “I feel like with this generation, people are more willing to educate [others] and we aren’t as embarrassed to talk about [sexual education]...

[It’s] a big shift from before,” Thé said.

10

College tuition

The cost of quality education is yet a predominant concern; junior William Li believes that the United St at es government should put more money into education, and offer student benefits. “ There should be initiatives to help students combat high tutions, such as job opportunities be the school, partnership with business and more interest,” Li said. a.chakraborty@elestoque.org | e.zhao@elestoque.org

31

SPORTS

The Other Ball Game Avid cricket players realize that they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pursue their dreams in America

BY AVNI PRASAD

Justin Kim | El Estoque

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EL ESTOQUE

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Did you know?

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even boys, ages 5 to 13, rally around in a circle just outside of the Cupertino librar y on March 14. “Wow,” they whisper to each other as they take turns stroking their hands along the shining new cricket bat in the center of the circle.

Instead of Michael Jordan shoes, these boys ogle a vintage box for a red cricket ball signed by Rohit Sharma. Instead of a Colin Kaepernick jersey, they save up for posters of Sachin Tendulkar. Instead of a spor ting U.S.A. jacket, they’re wearing a light blue jersey with strokes of orange, white and green brushed across the word “India.”

Cricket is played mostly by immigrants making it one of the most diverse spor ts in America. However, the cricket fer vor apparent in countries like India, Britain and Australia is yet to catch on in America.

Cricket in the United Stated Hemant Buch and his wife co-founded the California Cricket Academy, one of 50 cricket leagues in America, to spread cricket and sustain a world class cricket program, despite the unpopularity of the sport.

“In ver y few places do we have this kind of program,” Neeraj Bhalla, whose son is par t of this group, said. “But it is a big struggle in Bay Area since there is no space to play the game.”

Did you know?

Cricket was played in the U.S. before baseball was even invented.

A standard cricket field spans more than 140 yards wide, and the cricket pitch is made of sand. For these boys they play on a field less than 100 yards long — one third of a football field smaller than a standard size. And their pitch? Just a concrete pad placed over the patchy grass.

Idenity crisis The lack of financial suppor t for cricket in the U.S. prevents many Americans from pursuing a passion for cricket.

“If my son keeps playing as he does now, I know he will make [the under 19 U.S.A. cricket team],” Neeraj said. “But there is no career or money you can make off of living that dream.”

With roots in India and homes in America, these boys are left facing an identit y crisis. Should they continue playing cricket knowing there is little hope of receiving acknowledgement from their home countr y? Or should they drop their cricket ball for a baseball and conform to a more ordinar y dream in America?

Senior Rutvij Bhise used to be one of these boys. He played on the same patchy field outside the Cuper tino Librar y. He faced the same identit y crisis. And he chose the same ball game to pursue.

Before Bhise picked up a cricket ball 12 years ago, he was just a young boy interested in ever y ball game under the sun.

He played baseball. He played football.

He even played slam ball — basketball on trampolines.

In 2003, when India went to the Cricket World Cup, Bhise and his family went to the Indian Communit y Center in Milpitas to watch the game. The excitement from the 300 people in the room inspired Bhise to sign up for California Cricket Academy.

“I took to the spor t like a fish in the water,” Bhise said. “[Cricket] was one of the three spor ts I was playing at that time, but it was the one I felt the most at home while playing.”

“Home” for Bhise was not baseball or football or slamball. It was cricket. And his inspiration came from a place 8,203 miles from home — India.

The first ever international cricket game was hosted

by America in 1844.

America lost to Canada by 23 runs.

Cricket career “Ver y few people are as lucky to discover their true passion in life as earlier as I did,” Bhise said. “So, I am really thankful for that.”

After one too many windows broken, Bhise had officially outgrown the patchy field outside the Cuper tino librar y. Bhise, along with senior Anirudh Srinivas, were recruited for the under 15 U.S.A. cricket team. For both of them, one of their best moments of their cricket career was the time they first put on the red, white and blue jersey.

“I had seen this on TV all the time,” Srinivas said, “when the team walks out on the field together, the umpire picks out the ball from a box and hands it to the opening bowler. I got to go through the same [actions]. And live that same moment.”

Like father like son Srinivas’s father dreamed of becoming a national player in India, but an injur y crushed those hopes. Despite residing in America, Srinivas picked up his father’s dream and aspires to someday wear the national cricket jersey for India.

“In the U.S., since we don’t have much [financial] suppor t, it is not an actual profession, since you can’t get paid that much [for playing nationally],” Srinivas said. “But, cricket was actually the ver y first [outdoors] spor t played in America.

The president played cricket before baseball was invented. Not many people know that, and they disregard [cricket] as not an ‘American spor t.’”

33

outside the Cupertino Library

Avni Prasad | El Estoque

SPORTS

Middle schooler Kanash Bhalla (left) and 21 other boys gathered outside the Cupertino Library to play cricket on March 14.

The grounds were not equipped for cricket, but the boys held a professional, competitive game.

Avni Prasad | El Estoque

Avni Prasad | El Estoque

“The first time I played was four years ago. It was at Jollyman Park. Everyone passing asked ‘What are you playing?’

Is it like baseball?’” senior Karan Gugle

Losing home base Surprisingly, cricket was once America’s national sport. In fact, the first international cricket game was hosted by the U.S against Canada. Introduced by the British, cricket was a common pastime from the early 1700s to the mid 1800s. However, after the Civil War, cricket took the backseat as baseball was promoted as a patriotic and native sport.

“Before the tech boom, America was a society arguably twice as fast paced as any other society in the world,” senior Bhise said. “So when you have a game that takes five days, 34

eight hours a day, it is very difficult for a society that is used to quick rewards to find satisfaction in a slow sport like cricket.”

A shorter ball game However, newer, shorter formats of cricket are gaining more popularity amongst the younger generation. A five-day test match has been condensed to a twenty over game, which lasts only three hours, roughly the same amount of time as a baseball game.

“Twenty20 cricket is taking off in the world,” Bhise said. “I hope to see cricket be-

come more popular in America because of the short game being introduced.”

Patiently, Bhise, Srinivas, Buch and over 150 of the boys in the California Cricket Academy wait for support. They have experience — cricket, after all, is a game of patience.

Back outside the Cupertino library, the boys begin their eight-hour-long game under the scorching sun. It’s a long game. There are even tea breaks. Some may not get to touch the ball. Others may never get to bat. But, not one of them will complain about the game. a.prasad@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

➤

CLAY STIVER

Training style: Hypertrophic lifting

Training time:

Weekends and after school

TIME COMMitments: Graduate classes and MVHS boys basketball practice

Guidance counselor Clay Stiver’s current training goal of hypertrophy requires many reps and a large chunk of time. Because of this, Stiver struggles to get much sleep.

“I feel guilty because I am telling kids to sleep,” Stiver said. “But I get as much sleep as them, if not less.”

Fitting in

Teachers incorporate exercise between bells

➤

STORY AND PHOTOS BY AMOL PANDE

Kyle Jones

Training style: HITT and

Strength lifting

Training time: Free fourth period and brunch

Issues: Graduate classes

Jenna Smith

➤

Training style: Cardio-

vascular training

Training time: Free sixth period or weekends

Issues: Teaching at two schools, internship with athletic trainer and graduate classes

Though science teacher Kyle Jones was an athlete in high school, he received a wake up call in 2012. Despite being skinny, he had high cholesterol and was told he should start exercising. That same year, Jones started teaching physiology and started his journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Since working out, Jones has experienced a spike in his testosterone levels, so his body works at a much higher level.

Science teacher and leadership adviser Jenna Smith has been playing soccer for most of her life. With her affinity for cardiovascular workouts, Smith enjoys circuits, soccer and mountain biking.

“Just lifting bores me,” Smith said.

“I need to run around.”

Smith prefers to play soccer but because of knee injuries she has to find other ways to stay fit, such as non-impact exercise in the swimming pool. a.pande@elestoque.org

APRIL 8, 2015

35

Justin Kim | El Estoque

Aditya Pimplaskar | El Estoque

Justin Kim | El Estoque

STRIKING A BALANCE Cheer coach’s reward system supports students’ academic performance

BY RAHUL IYER AND JADY WEI

C

rowds of cheerleaders trickle into the auditorium where they will perform their routines before a panel of judges.

The teams are immersed in anxious discussions, roaring laughter and boisterous small talk. In one corner of the room, however, the MVHS cheer team remains quiet. A few of the girls even have textbooks in hand,

Justin Kim | El Estoque

diligently flipping through the pages as the team patiently awaits its turn to compete.

Junior Emily Leung recalled this scene at the 2015 National Cheer Convention.

There is a pervasive stereotype that cheer members are less intelligent than their peers.

The MVHS cheer team, however, tries to dispel that.

“Cheerleaders are portrayed as dumb and ditzy in the media. Some people don’t even consider cheerleading a sport,” spirit coach Brittany Carey said. “But did you know that it takes just as many hours and skills as a sports athlete to be a cheerleader?”

According to Carey, not only does the team practice four to six hours per week

Justin Kim | El Estoque

“

in all sports there is a minimum gpa requirement, but [coach brittany carey] expects more from us junior Emily Leung

preparing for its cheer routines during football and basketball seasons, but it is also putting in extra efforts to refine its gymnastics, dance and core body stunting skills.

Leung has long noticed the discrepancies between the behaviors of MVHS cheerleaders and those from other schools.

“At competitions, we always bring our textbooks to study. It’s just [MVHS] that does that,” Leung said. “Other girls would be dancing and talking really loudly, but for us, while we’re waiting, we study and read.”

For sophomore Smita Iyer, adhering to the expectations helps her reinforce the positive aspects of cheer and dispel the negative stereotypes.

“By keeping up with these high standards, sometimes people will see us differently and not as the stereotypes,” Iyer said. “We work really hard, and we tr y really hard.”

In order to incentivize good academic per formance, Carey created a system to award scholastically successful cheer members for their accomplishments. According to Leung, Carey commonly rewards people who can maintain a 4.0 GPA with prizes such as Jamba Juice or Victoria’s Secret gift cards.

In addition to the award system, Carey has pushed members of the cheer team to succeed academically in other ways. By supporting team members and creating a positive environment, she has continuously emphasized academics as a key part of cheer team.

Every athlete signs the FUHSD contract before the season, which mandates that athletes maintain a minimum GPA in order to compete. According to Leung, however, her coach expects more from the team than maintaining good grades. Carey usually marks each grading period on the Cheer calendars, so the students can ensure that

APRIL 8, 2015

they are staying on track and remaining organized with their schedules.

“The other team members help you and encourage you to do better because you see them doing really well and you want to be as good as them,” Iyer said.

As a result of the emphasis on academics on the cheer team, several members have helped one another in their classes, through encouragement and tutoring. This has fostered a positive environment in which girls lean on each other for support.

“There are a lot of girls that get 4.0s and do really well in school, and they’ll actually help us,” Leung said.

Leung found herself in that situation as a freshman in Biology. When she struggled to grasp the more difficult concepts and comprehend the technical terminologies, Leung turned to her older teammates for help.

Carey emphasizes academic performance for team leaders, who the rest of the team looks up to.

“In order to be a captain, [Carey] does look at your grades,” Leung said. “She counts them for everything. For example, if you want to be a leader, you need the grades, so you can be a role model.”

Carey believes that her strict requirements for her team enforces team etiquette and helps dispel the stigmas that continue to prevail in modern culture. In a sense, these more rigorous standards force team members to make hard decisions on responsibilities to the team versus other commitments.

“All of the skills learned and practiced take teamwork and timing,” Carey said.

“Spirit members are role models that are constantly leading the crowd, encouraging

Justin Kim | El Estoque

SPIRITED AWAY (LEFT) Cheerleaders balance on their stools during the Homecoming football game on Oct. 17.

Due to the demanding schedule, cheer members must manage their time and often seek homework help from older teammates.

TRYOUT TALK (ABOVE) Cheer captains seniors Kelsey Hsing and Mane Mikayelan talk to coach Brittany Carey before tryouts on April 1.

When deciding leadership positions, Carey heavily emphasizes academic performance.

r.iyer@elestoque.org | j.wei@elestoque.org

37

SPORTS

Stop the madness Brackets and numbers are not the point of NCAA tournament

I

finished my first March Madness bracket in 10 minutes — Harvard won. I then turned to my friends to see that they were still determining their Round of 64, looking at team statistics and seeds and discussing whether Wofford was as cool of a team as its name. One friend chose No. 2 seed Virginia and another chose No. 1 seed Kentucky. I looked down at mine in shame and realized my champion, Harvard, was a No. 13 seed, so I tried again.

By the time my round of 64 was done, I was tired of being analytical and got a little more liberal with my choices, throwing around random upsets here and there. By the time the whole bracket was done, I was proud. My bracket was complete with three number one seeds in the Final Four, a fair amount of upsets along the way and an interesting Champion: UCLA. I guess I made my bracket knowing that I wouldn’t win.

Maybe I’d break the record for the least amount points in March Madness history.

On the first day of the tournament, UCLA was losing in the first half of its first game. People snickered and kept showing me the score and I was fine with it. I’m not a basketball person anyway, but I kept checking the score during seventh period English. I had to minimize the tab when nosy eyes looked over at my screen. After I made a comment about gender roles in Their Eyes Were Watching God, I checked again and UCLA had won. I held my poker face so I wouldn’t get in trouble, but my faith was restored, though it never really existed to begin with. stration plaskar | El

Aditya Pim

Estoque Illu

They won on a controversial goaltending call, which is apparently what it’s called when the other team gets in the way of their shot. Isn’t that the point of defense? I didn’t care either way because the score said that my champs won.

People who had laughed were impressed by my choice in UCLA. It seemed as though there was less logic behind their bracket than mine — the same bracket that had Harvard as the champion initially. One of my friends had very few upsets and, as I learned it’s called, “went chalk” with her bracket, but at one point, she had a 100 percentile and many, many more points than me. We’d joke about how as the rookies we always had 20 to 30 points more than real sports

fans who would discuss how Georgia State had miraculously defeated Baylor and joked about the one coach who fell out of his chair at the game-winning three pointer. They fans had actually watched the shots, the calls and the key moments of the games.

MALINI RAMAIYER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

For all the hype they get, the March Madness brackets are really not about the brackets at all.

There is no sense in the whole matter. No one can predict that UCLA, of all teams, will make it to the Sweet Sixteen because of a controversial goaltending call in the first round game or that first seed Villanova would only win a single game. It’s impossible, yet it’s all people can watch and talk about. It’s both a joke and a passion at the same time. It’s a culture that seems framed by the brackets and the numbers but really exists in the plays and the game, a point that I missed.

I spent so much time watching the app, my bracket, the scores that I overlooked the actual game of basketball, which is what I had set out to learn. While I may take pride in my choice of UCLA, I’ve been too focused on my numbers, which ironically suck. I only have 360 points out of a possible 640. I have a 16.9 percentile and a rank of 9,619,974th in the nation. Harvard could have won (it lost by two points in the first round) or UCLA could have lost (it won by one point in the first round) — these numbers are ultimately meaningless but the possibilities are infinite in the last minutes of the game. So perhaps I’ll actually pay attention and watch a game by the end of the tournament, but I guess that means that I’d have to know how basketball actually works. m.ramaiyer@elestoque.org

38

EL ESTOQUE

Mat to mattress The downtime between wrestling matches can be a trial of its own STORY BY BRANDON CHIN PHOTOS BY JUSTIN KIM

D

uring the season, junior Momoko Ueda, struggles with three opponents at the same time. The match lasts the entire morning and as surely as the next day will rise, the match will begin again.

These three opponents are the lack of sleep, comfort and time.

Wrestling is one of few sports where players will literally struggle from the weight of the game. To prepare for tournaments, Ueda has to wake up as early as 4 a.m. which can take a player down in a unique and systematic manner.

Ueda’s practice includes running 10 miles per week, lifting weights, and performing sprint laps to complement her dietary habits. The intensity of the conditioning caused Ueda to lose a total of

“I still get nervous [in tournements] but the medal shows that effort is worth something.”

“These are my little brother’s. They’’re broken into and comfortable so I’ll keep them for now.”

APRIL 8, 2015

20 pounds. The loss of pounds, however, carried some weight in her matches, as Ueda placed fourth in the girls Central Coast Section in her first year.

To compensate for her fatigue, Ueda brings her wrestling shoes, head gear and knee pads. Underneath lies a pillow when she surrenders to morning fatigue.

Ueda admits that the latter is more often used. Her pillow accompanies her anywhere. Other items include old peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrappers, eaten traditionally before tournaments and long-expired Sports Authority coupons. These items attest to what Ueda describes as a messy mix of “heart” and “pure laziness”.

A medal earned from the 2014 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, Ueda’s

first competition, retains a special value given its unique origin. Earned from a series of matches in the male’s bracket, the tournament consisted of a total of four wrestlers and four medals being awarded.

“I got a medal even though I lost all of my matches,” Ueda said. “There were only four people who were competing at my weight.”

Though each wrestler in this tournament received a medal, it’s unique nonetheless.

Each circlet of metal was awarded with the guarantee that nobody else at the tournament deserved it more than they did.

“It makes me believe in myself,” she said smiling. “It reinforces a kind of ‘mental toughness’ that is crucial to wrestling.” b.chin@elestoque.org

“[The pillow is] very versatile. It can be used for anything.”

“You know how expensive workout clothes are? I really should have used these.”

39

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