Volume 44, Issue 4, December 18, 2013

elESTOQUE MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL elestoque.org

december 18, 2013 Issue IV, Volume XLIV

Fais m i ly what you make it 26 SPECIAL REPORT How our families shape us, and how we shape them 26 SPLIT FAMILIES 28 SIBLINGS 30 FAMILY TRADITIONS 31 FAMILY DINNERS

4 NEWS

12 OPINION

18 ENTERTAINMENT

34 SPORTS

Lessons in bike etiquette

Making service meaningful

Embracing Christmas

Gender and coaching

Contents NEWS 4

Learn bike etiquette

6

14

Meaningful volunteering

8 11

School Loop changed us COLUMN: Little Lessons

OPINION 12

Connecting through service

13

Re-evaluating TA grading policies

14

Secularity, please

15

The benefits of School Loop

16

COLUMN: No Monkey Business

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 18 Celebrating Christmas 20 Quirky holiday gifts

22

Legends in the making

25

COLUMN: Out of the blue

SPORTS 33

Shuyi Qi | El Estoque Photo Illustration

“

26 percent of the school’s population has been involved in a bike accident of some kind.

4 6

New girls soccer coach: DJ Driscoll

34

Dynamics of cross gender coaching

37

Families bond over sports

38

Avid fantasy football gamers

39

SPORTSFLASH

SPECIAL REPORT

starts on pg. 26

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

Colin Ni | El Estoque

33

el

ESTOQUE

21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014 mv.el.estoque@gmail.com Editor-in-Chief: Amrutha Dorai Managing Editors: Karen Feng, Jennifer Lee, Athira Penghat, Yashashree Pisolkar Photo Editors: Catherine Lockwood, Colin Ni Copy Editors: Tanisha Dasmunshi, Pranav Parthasarthy Webmaster: Ashish Samaddar News Editors: Maya Murthy, Joyce Varma, Varsha Venkat Sports Editors: Nathan Desai, Mihir Joshi, Sarah Ramos Entertainment Editors: Anjali Bhat, Neesha Venkatesan, Kathleen Yuan Opinion Editors: Ambika Dubey, Daniel Fernandez, Eva Spitzen Special Report Editors: Yuna Lee, Namrata Ramani, Yifei Wu Design Editor: Rhonda Mak Graphics Editor: Shuyi Qi Business Editors: Elia Chen, Robert Sulgit Public Relations Editor: Claire Lu Staff Writers: Alina Abidi, Rochish Ambati, Ashmita Chakraborty, Kristin Chang, Elliot Ki, Colin Kim, Christine Liang, Steven Lim, Alaina Lui, Gabriella Monico, Amol Pande, Neha Ramchandani, Manasa Sanka, Lydia Seo, Ruba Shaik, Harini Shyamsundar, Sophia Tao, Joshua Tsuei, Jady Wei 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.

Letter from the editor

FINDING OUR FAMILIES

W

ith the holiday season right around the corner, it’s easy to get caught up in gift giving and pumpkin spice lattes. This issue, we’ve covered those topics — see page 20 for a gift guide and page 18 for a quick feature on students’ favorite winter beverages — but we thought we should dedicate our special report to one of the most important things in our lives, regardless of the time of year and now in particular: family.

We spent time with senior Mikey Goldman and his sprawling split family. We learned about the importance of eating dinner together with senior Joseph Martin and his parents. We discussed sibling rivalries with younger sister junior Rabina Bisht. We looked into all these stories, threw them

Colin NI | El Estoque

the pieces together because they don’t; if there’s anything we can conclude about the modern family, it’s that it comes in all shapes and sizes. It AMRUTHA DORAI can’t be reduced to a single archetype.

And, what’s more, there’s no right way to be a family — all permutations and combinations are equally valid.

Because regardless of how a family looks or acts — whether it has two members or 10, whether it is connected by blood or by choice — it shares the same set of core values.

Love. Respect. Unity.

So this holiday season, go ahead and enjoy your warm beverages and presents. However, don’t forget to spend time with your family. It doesn’t matter whether your family is your parents or your siblings or your friends or even your fellow journalism staff members. What does matter is that you sit down with them for a meal, tal­k with them about your day, let them know you love them.

To quote Michael Bluth of “Arrested Development,” “What have we always said is the most important thing?”

And no, the answer is not breakfast.

There’s no right way to be a familY ­­­­­­— all permutations and combinations are equally valid. on paper, and asked ourselves: How do the pieces fit together? What can we conclude about the modern family?

Trying to find a cohesive narrative was a challenge. These stories — of death and divorce, of fights and friendship — seemed so disparate.

Eventually, we stopped trying to force a connection that didn’t exist. After all, didn’t the fact that each student’s story was so different say something in and of itself?

No two families are the same. We couldn’t fit

a.dorai@elestoque.org

THE JOURNO FAMILY (above) Journalism staff members eat dinner together at our late night on Dec. 13. As we explored our Special Report theme for this issue, we discovered that a family doesn’t necessarily need to be related by blood. We sure aren’t.

DECEMBER 18, 2013

3

NEWS

BRAKING the

RULES

BY KAREN FENG AND HARINI SHYAMSUNDAR

Major and minor biking accidents correlate to a decline in simple road courtesy

DON’T:

Ride your bike on the crosswalk.

N

ot long ago, math teacher and avid cyclist Jon Stark was waiting on McClellan Road on his bicycle, left arm outstretched, signaling his intent to turn into the D building parking lot. Within a few moments, the last few cars on the road passed by. With a quick glance around to check for oncoming traffic, Stark maneuvered his bike left toward the school.

“This kid roared up behind me,” Stark said. “We were within an inchand-a-half of a major collision, right there on the school’s driveway.”

Bicycling is one of the most popular modes of transportation at MVHS. At 7:35 a.m. on a recent Monday morning, the school’s bike rack contained about 135 bikes and an online survey of 202 students revealed that 20 percent of the school’s student population rides a bike to school.

But students’ fondness for this form of transportation does not exist without complications in technique. According to the same survey, 26 percent of the school’s population has been involved in either a minor or major bike accident. Dean of Students Leslie Robledo, who stands on McClellan Road every morning before school to regulate traffic, experiences a great deal of stress trying to keep all vehicles in check.

“Sometimes we just shake our heads, sometimes you can hear us yelling,” Robledo said. “One morning, [Principal April] Scott had to beat on [a reckless driver’s] car.”

This vast number of bike accidents has also kept the school’s health aides, Deb Mandac and Monique Franzino, quite busy. As health aides, they are certified in both in CPR and firstaid and are also responsible for bringing wheelchairs to injured students on campus and for calling emermath teacher Jon Stark gency services as needed.

“The biking accidents that have happened haven’t been due to cars,” Franzino said. “[Kids] are riding their bikes and they turn fast and they flip off of them, or they lose their balance and fall.”

Losing balance, riding on the sidewalk and swerving into other lanes are all considered common biking errors. But all three of these minor mistakes can be corrected by simply adhering to biking etiquette.

PEOPLE CARRYING HELMETS ON THEIR HANDLEBARS ... MAKES SENSE TO ME IF THE BIKE HAS MORE BRAINS THAN THE RIDER.

Headfirst According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, teenage bicyclists are more likely to suffer head injuries than younger children due to the decline in helmet usage as children age. As a result, children are often taught the importance of wearing a helmet

DO:

Signal when approaching a turn.

4

EL ESTOQUE

before they are even entrusted with their first bike.

Nonetheless, Stark has witnessed more than just a few students riding to school without any sort of protective headgear in the past year.

“I’ve seen people carrying helmets on their handlebars … and that makes sense to me if the bike has more brains than the rider,” Stark said.

“It’s supposed to protect the smarter of the two of you, whoever that happens to be.”

Slowly passing a deserted stop sign

LEGAL

ILLEGAL

Biking in the opposite direction of cars

LEGAL

ILLEGAL

Listening to music with both earbuds

LEGAL

ILLEGAL

Having a bike light that shines 300 feet when biking at night

LEGAL

ILLEGAL

Using the left turn lane along with cars

LEGAL

ILLEGAL

DO:

LEGAL: 4, 5 ILLEGAL: 1, 2, 3

1 2 3 4 5

IS IT LEGAL?

Your life is in your hands After a knee injury about one-and-a-half years ago, English teacher Vennessa Nava — originally a runner — decided that it would be more efficient to start commuting to school by bike a couple days each week. In order to avoid the everyday early morning traffic that occupies a great deal of space surrounding MVHS, she leaves her house at 6 a.m. for a school day that starts at 7:35 a.m.

“I’m incredibly conservative when I ride my bike,” Nava said. “I’ve only heard, secondhand, about bicycle accidents.”

Nava believes, from experience, that the most common biking mistake that leads to accidents is the tendency not to use common hand signals.

“You’re not the only person out there,” Nava said. “It’s just like driving. You have to look before you turn. I use hand signals at intersections — and even curves.”

According to the California Highway Patrol, unsafe bicycle turns rank amongst the seven most common causes of road accidents.

In order to reduce such accidents, Mountain Bike Club vice president senior Eric Fa plans to hold a public bike safety clinic to educate students outside of the association. A date and location have yet to be announced. “[Bike safety] is hard for people who are 13 or 14 and in high school because they haven’t even learned car laws,” Fa said. “It means they haven’t learned bike laws either because [the two are] basically the same thing.”

Make eye contact with drivers when crossing the road.

Walking the fine line As someone who bikes close to 4,000 miles each year, Stark believes that the sport of biking is one that should be taken seriously. He does not believe that the fine line between road safety and casual biking is one that should be meddled with, due to the fact that he was once in a road accident that put him on crutches for a full year, with his fe-

mur attached to his hip with four big titanium pins.

But many of the mannerisms exhibited by MVHS bikers are not only risky, but are also sometimes illegal.

“People just don’t understand the terms ‘sidewalk’ and ‘crosswalk,’” Stark said. “They both have ‘walk’ in them — you’re not supposed to ride on them.”

Cyclists endanger not only themselves but also others by riding their bicycles on sidewalks and crosswalks, which are only meant for pedestrians according to the Cupertino Municipal Code (with the exception of children under the age of 10). According to Stark, some cyclists even hop off of sidewalks into the bike lane, colliding with other bikers in the process.

k.feng@elestoque.org | h.shyamsundar@elestoque.org

DON’T:

Forget to wear your helmet.

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque Photo Illustration

5

GREAT expectations

NEWS

T

Varsha Venk at | El Estoq ue Photo Illu stration

he tune of “Amazing Grace,” a popular hymn, sounds from the activity room in Amberwood Gardens, an assisted living center for the elderly and adults with disabilities. In the room, a large group of elderly adults, clapping and laughing while looking at the song book on their laps, follow the lead of junior Divya Lakshmanan and the center’s activity assistants.

Nearly every weekend for the past five months, Lakshmanan has volun-

6

ON TOP OF THE WORLD Many students, like junior Nicole Stomakhin, join volunteer clubs with high expectations of impacting the world.

teered at Amberwood Gardens, leading activities ranging from singing songs to helping residents around the center to playing group games with them.

“I get to interact with people who have been put in these places because they have such bad illnesses that they can’t lead a normal life anymore,” Lakshmanan said. “The fact that I get to get them engaged in activities … I can see it brings a smile to their face and that they’re actually entertained and engaged, and that makes me feel good.”

For Lakshmanan, helping out at the center not only serves as an educational opportunity but also provides a volunteering experience which makes her feel as though she is making an impact on the community.

Many students like Lakshmanan spend a significant amount of time during their high school years doing community service, and some join volunteering clubs on campus to speed up the process. However, some students find that the volunteering activities conducted by such clubs fall short of their expectations.

Doing disservice In an online survey of 202 students, 37 percent said that they find volunteering through external organizations to be better than volunteering through service clubs, with only 19 percent preferring service clubs.

Lakshmanan is part of the 37 percent that prefers volunteering outside of school.

She joined a service club her freshman year with the hopes of gaining service hours and making an impact on the community; but when Lakshmanan found out about the events that the club offered, she found that the events did not meet her expectations.

Service clubs fall short of student expectations

BY VARSHA VENKAT “I [feel] like the volunteering events they offered weren’t really rewarding. Generally they were like ‘set-up at this community event’ or ‘clean-up’” Lakshmanan said. “I don’t feel like I get anything out of it.”

Most service clubs on campus host smaller events throughout the year, with a few large fundraisers dispersed in between. But Lakshmanan is not convinced that even helping out with these bigger events deserves community service hours. She believes it is important that students earn their volunteer hours through meaningful services.

According to sophomore Tal Marom, the Public Relations officer for Key Club, the type of activities hosted by service clubs depends largely on the goals of the club’s officer team, and students should choose to participate in whichever best suits their interests. He said that some clubs focus mainly on catering toward the number of events needed to accommodate all members, while others focus on providing members with fun and impactful events. “[Key Club plans] fundraisers for types of [causes] like [maternal and neonatal tetanus], which is a project that Key Club [International] runs, and we sponsor women and children with neonatal tetanus in Africa,” Marom said. “So it’s projects like those where we can plan funds ourselves and raise money and make a huge difference.”

In Leo Club, volunteering events are chosen according to how much they help out the community, according to sophomore Sharon Tung, the club’s Events Coordinator.

“I do hear about some of [the service clubs’] activities and it seems like the volunteers go there just to have fun,” Tung said.

“I’m not saying [that] is bad, but I don’t know if it’s helping the community that much.”

Student choice Junior Nicole Stomakhin, who used to volunteer at Kaiser Permanente, finds that the major difference between club-related and non-school-related volunteering is that the events hosted by service clubs are often smaller and so make less of an impact on the community.

“I feel like [students join] the clubs at school for fun or [for] making friends and memories,” Stomakhin said. “But if you want to do something in the outside world EL ESTOQUE

like [medicine] or engineering — even if it’s handing out water or telling people where to go — you get to experience what it’s like to [be in that] working place.”

For junior Liwen Xu, the problem was not choosing between service clubs and external opportunities; it was choosing which service club to join. In her freshman year, Xu joined a service club in hopes of gaining community service hours and found that the club provided her with good opportunities to interact with the community; however, she was disappointed with the number of events the club offered. She said that when she tried to sign up for one of the club’s weekly activities, she found that all the spots were filled and that she had no opportunity to gain service hours.

Xu prefers service clubs that offer a wide variety of activities so that students can experiment with different causes. For that reason, she feels that service clubs must offer a large number of activities to cater to all the members’ needs.

“As high school students we may not have a lot of experience beyond what we see, what we go through every day, so these kind of opportunities are very useful in helping us see more into the world,” Xu said.

To have a wider variety of events to vol-

unteer at, Xu decided to switch to a different service club.

Over the course of her volunteering, Xu learned to focus more on getting something out of volunteering rather than earning community service hours, as she initially did. Her journey began in eighth grade, when she did a four-week community service project in which she volunteered at a different place each week. Xu enjoyed the diversity of perspectives and experience that she gained through the program.

“I feel like [many people] would be enticed by the reward of these community service hours to satisfy their [requirement],” Xu said. “But while you’re doing it, you realize it’s a lot more rewarding and you can get a lot more out of it than just service hours.”

Whether students choose to volunteer through service clubs or not, Marom encourages everyone to participate in volunteering some way or the other. “[With] volunteer clubs … it’s how much time you put in is what you get out,” Marom said. “[It’s] definitely something [people] should look into because not only are they spending time having fun and hanging out with friends, but they are also doing something meaningful.” v.venkat@elestoque.org

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

CRAFTING WITH THE CLAUSES Senior Sahana Mundewadi (above) and junior Michelle Li (below), volunteered at Breakfast with Santa, held at the Quinlan Community Center on Dec. 7. The members ran craft stations at the event. Photos by Catherine Lockwood.

NEWS

has

School Loop made us

BETTER? How School Loop has changed the way we interact with school

BY STEVEN LIM AND NEHA RAMCHANDANI

G

overnment teacher Benjamin Reckt- tery of a subject such as literature. Though enwald was one of the first teachers she does not directly fault School Loop for to make the switch to School Loop. it, she believes School Loop can’t accurately He recalls paying $10 a year for the online express how well a student has mastered grading service he used before. Though it writing, given the variety of techniques and was a small amount to pay, being able to use styles involved.

School Loop for free was enticing, in addi“I don’t know that School Loop has an tion to the added capabilities over his online efficient way to help teachers communicate gradebook. Before, grades weren’t as transback particularly what a parent and communication was limited, teacher wants, to perbut much has changed since then. haps over 150 stu“[Before School Loop] dents, for maybe 50 I used to have parents different sub-skills Closing the loop coming in between For Recktenwald, that they want a third and fourth period School Loop has student to mas...asking about their percent of kid’s grades.” brought many poster,” Utter said. students itive changes to She believes Government teacher prefer com munic at ion that being able to Benjamin Recktenwald having School Loop and organization. see your grade when accounts “[Before broken down into School Loop,] reading, writing and Cost of School I used to have parspeaking is useful.

Loop per year ents coming in between However, she regrets third and fourth period ... and that breaking those they’d walk in asking about their categories down furkid’s grades,” Recktenwald said. ther to provide more Recktenwald says this occurs context is impractical. far less frequently now, thanks to Mixed feelings the real time communication capabilities that School Loop provides. With In addition to making it simpler and more convenient for School Loop, Recktenwald can send emails to all of his students and their parents, noti- teachers to communicate with students and fying them that he’ll be absent the next day their parents, School Loop has transformed how students connect with staff members and post the homework the day before.

Although Recktenwald has had a mainly and fellow students. positive experience with School Loop, he Like many students, freshman Itay Golan believes that it could be more effective if enjoys School Loop for all of the purposes it fulfills. He primarily uses the system as a teachers used it more consistently.

English teacher Christy Utter believes way to communicate with different people, that some inadequacies of a system like check what homework and assignments he School Loop are in how it evaluates mas- has due and take a look at any content he has

94

$9,957.75

8

missed if he was absent.

Likewise, junior Rebecca Kao especially appreciates being able to monitor her academic progress at the touch of a finger.

“It’s a really efficient way to get a lot of information at once [because] you can see your assignments, you can see your grades in different categories...it’s just really convenient,” Kao said.

However, Kao also acknowledges some of the downsides of using the program. She mentions the recently added feature of the “Grade Trend” graph, which uses relative scales to display a student’s progress in any given class. According to Kao, this feature can misrepresent how positive or negative a student’s performance might be because of small increments used. Consequently, parents might not be as understanding of a student’s academic situation if their student’s grade trend is the first thing they see upon logging in.

“It does a great a job of bringing a student down,” Kao said. “There is no need for [the feature] to be a constant reminder of a single percent drop.”

Regarding the importance students put on their grades, junior Sara Ye acknowledges that many School Loop users inevitably become obsessive over minute aspects of their grade, therefore adding fuel to the growing fire of competition at school.

“You hear it all of the time, ‘My grade went down 0.25 percent!’,” Ye said. “Sometimes, that’s all it takes to either make it or break it, but most of the time the effect is so trivial that it doesn’t even matter.”

Coming full circle Assistant Principal Michael Hicks agrees that School Loop can distract students and parents since checking progress happens so seamlessly and because they are glued to the number.

“Sometimes [School Loop] feeds into that feeling that students need to be conscientious and aware of every point they earned, so they’re constantly refreshing School Loop,” Hicks said. “It’s nice that it’s transparent, but I think it often gets in the way of learning and focusing on some more important things for each class.”

Despite these downsides, Hicks believes that School Loop’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks. The ability to send mass emails to classes, share electronic documents and access so many resources so quickly are a few of such benefits.

“Overall I think it’s a wonderful tool,” Hicks said. “I just think we have to be careful sometimes with the direction it might send our students and families in.” s.lim@elestoque.org|n.ramchandani@elestoque.org EL ESTOQUE

BEFORE SCHOOL LOOP “[IT WAS] PRETTY COMMON, THAT YOU WOULDN’T FIND OUT WHAT YOUR GRADE WAS UNTIL YOUR PROGRESS REPORT.”

Teachers used different online gradebooks or didn’t use one at all

Principal April Scott

74

%

AFTER SCHOOL LOOP Teachers can view a student’s grade in all of their classes

Parent-teacher communication was through take-home printouts phone calls and emails when necessary

Through daily emails, parents can stay up to date with their child’s grades

Students checked current grades by asking teachers for a printout, or waited for teachers to post class grades

Students can submit assignments and ask questions of their peers

students check their School Loop more than once a day

* from an online survey of 202 students

How often do you check School Loop? *

“YOU HEAR IT ALL THE TIME, ‘MY GRADE WENT DOWN 0.25 PERCENT!’ MOST OF THE TIME THE EFFECT [OF IT] IS SO TRIVIAL THAT IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER.” Junior Sara Ye

1% 25 %

students check their School Loop weekly students check their School Loop once a day

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Bound 2 Crack

Rob Ford and Kanye West crumble under the pressure

I

swear I’m not addicted to drug addicts, “Bound 2” music video. Even before this vidbut this Rob Ford story is too good to eo, West has been recognized for his cocky pass up. I recently wrote about Lamar and egoistic nature.

Odom’s and Alex Rodriguez’s drug probBut then he released “Bound 2” and his lems, but Toronto mayor Rob Ford has taken ego amplified. The song is typical Kanye it to a completely different level.

West but the music video looks like they lost Ford was elected as mayor of Toronto in the actual footage so they shot the video in 2010, which I did not know six months ago. his garage and edited it in Windows Movie But in the span of half a year, he’s gotten his Maker. It may all be part of his new artisname out there due to a leaked video of him tic vision, but he has produced much betallegedly smoking ter content in the past. I legitimately think I crack cocaine last could have thrown up a better music video. year. Even though He could have just set the music to the final the video was rescene from “Scarface” and it would have leased in May, been a better music video.

Ford maintains relHowever, West is notorious for his perevancy due to the ceived self-importance and ingenuity. This is endless backlash. A the guy who said that George Bush doesn’t little lessons major factor of his care about black people during a Hurricane continued newsKatrina benefit concert. This is the guy worthiness is his who called himself Shakewacky personality. speare in the flesh on Rob Ford must have the worst PR agent ever a radio show. This is because some of his actions are so stupid the guy who made that they sound like scenes from “Dumb and a song titled “I Am Dumber.” a God,” featuring Despite his absurdity, he has still re- God. (Get me my mained popular with an approval rating of damn croissant.)

42 percent as of Nov. 22 — one percent But there is one more than that of President Barack Obama. p e r s o n However, he’s still receiving hate from those w h o outside Toronto. His alleged seat robbery at on ati str a Buffalo Bills game, undesired late night TV Illu to cameos and extreme clumsiness are all que Pho to s targets on the Rob Ford Dart Board. lE |E a rm I have to give him props, a eV yc Jo though — he put Canada on the map. No longer just known as the land of maple syrup and hockey, Canada is now a symbol of indecisive leaders and drug addicts.

But don’t think I’m trying to justify Ford’s actions. As the mayor of a major city, Ford has to meet certain expectations, and sobriety is on that list. One of his duties is to behave in a professional manner and he didn’t do so.

And this theme of people failing to meet basic expectations is not just prevalent across the border.

If you’ve used the Internet in the past month, you’ve probably seen Kanye West’s

NATHAN DESAI

DECEMBER 18, 2013

he puts above himself and that is Kim Kardashian. (This must be true because she is the only person he follows on Twitter.) And that’s where my next problem with Kanye West comes in.

The self-proclaimed genius’ fiancée doesn’t quite meet his own standard. Beside every strong man is a stronger woman. So what has Kim Kardashian ever done to demonstrate her strength? (And that Skechers Shape-ups commercial doesn’t count.) With West’s bar set so high with the success of his last two albums, he has a new set of expectations but meddling his romantic life with professional work is restricting his potential.

(Seth Rogen would have been eager to take her spot on the motorcycle.) His inability to separate romance from work is transforming Kanye West into Ben Affleck.

West may call himself like a genius, but there are certain choices that continue to hold him back. The same goes for Rob Ford, who may be a popular mayor but doesn’t have the public image to match. In an attempt to live up to their titles, Ford and West have acted bizarrely. At this point, our expectations of them are so low that I would believe anything you say about them. If you told me that they formed a Toronto-based r ap duo, do you know how I would respond?

Uh-huh, honey.

n.desai@elestoque.org 11

OPINOPINION

SEARCH FOR SINCERE SERVICE Service clubs should offer long-term project commitments

animal animal shelter animal rescue center animal hospital

I

t’s 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The sun events had on the community using a scale is shining, and you are out at your local of one to five, students responded on avercommunity park. But you are not playing age with a mere 2.8. Students feel like they in the sun, hanging out with friends or even are not making a difference. studying in the cool shade. Instead you are In order for volunteering to have any impicking up trash from the previous night’s pact either on the volunteers themselves or community barbeque. You are helping clean the community, students must engage in serup the park, but something feels wrong. vice that is meaningful and actually serves Maybe its because there is more trash than the community — and that requires some just you and your Hefty garbage bag can reinvention of the way service clubs operate. pick up. Maybe its because its 100 degrees outside, and your service club forgot to bring A lack of continuity extra water bottles. Maybe its because you Currently, the majority of on-campus serare the only person in the actually cleaning vice clubs function in more or less the same up. This is not what volunteering should be manner even though they may have differlike. This is not what you expected. ent purposes or goals. Upcoming events are Volunteering, acposted on their webcording to a Februsites, and students can ary 2010 article in sign up to attend online.

Psychology Today by When students particiUC Berkeley Sociolopate in events, they gain gist Christine Carter, hours; each club has a should increase self different quota of hours esteem, decrease that must be fulfilled in chances of depression order to be considered and lead to a longer, an active member.

OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE healthier life. If there There is rarely any are so many benefits to continuity from event to EDITORIAL BOARD volunteering, however, event; a student could why do MVHS stube cleaning a park one dents often feel disconweekend and then disnected from volunteering clubs? tributing water at a half-marathon the next.

According to Carter, the many positive This lack of continuity leaves little to no time benefits of volunteering are caused in part for students to develop a passion for the serby what is known as a “helper’s high.” When vice they perform. They arrive at the event, we feel that our actions are benefitting oth- they do what they’re told to do for two hours ers, we experience a feeling similar to an en- maybe three — then they go home and that’s dorphin high. And that is simply what many it. Dedication to a cause is a vital component MVHS service clubs are failing to provide of volunteer work. At too many of these club students. When we asked 202 students to events, it is nowhere to be found. rate how significant an impact volunteer This reason likely explains why, of the

STAFF EDITORIAL

12

157 student survey respondents who are not involved in any service clubs, 38 percent volunteer either with an external organization or on their own; they dedicated their efforts to an organization in which they could focus on a single cause which they cared about. If service clubs reorganize themselves to reflect students’ desire for a meaningful connection with the work they perform, they will likely discover that more students will stick around.

Restoring meaning In order to better serve both the community and the volunteers themselves, service clubs should replace the current method of first-come, first-serve signups with a matching system that pairs students with causes that interest them. The boy who loves animals should be working at the shelter, not bouncing from a county festival to bushtrimming at the rose garden; the girl who cares about the environment should be planting trees, not filing paperwork for one organization or another. The goal of volunteering should be to build long-term relationships, not participate in one-shot events.

It will take more effort on the part of club officers to find appropriate opportunities and match students. But the end result — students who are happier because they are performing work that is meaningful to them, and a community that is happier because it is benefitting from the efforts of volunteers who genuinely care — will be more than worth it.

Let’s bring back the helper’s high.

EL ESTOQUE

OPINION

grading

LINES

within the

By Kristin Chang

A

t the back of the math classroom, a girl is bent over her desk. She glances methodically over her papers, marking the top of one sheet before placing it on a growing pile to her right. Then she begins again. She is in class, but she is not a student. She is breaking the rules, but she doesn’t even know it. She is a Teacher Assistant, and she is grading.

According to district policy, TAs are not allowed to grade anything in order to protect student confidentiality. Yet year after year, it happens.

During annual staff meetings, principal April Scott establishes that TAs can only sort books, file, make copies and execute other clerical work.

The gradebook is strictly off-limits. If a TA is allowed to determine or even glance at another student’s grades, it is a clear violation of privacy and district rules.

Therefore, many TA policies make sense and need to be enforced more strictly: TAs, who are already inexperienced, aren’t qualified to grade when the material is highly subjective.

For example, an essay or short answer question, which is assessed based on content, should not be graded by students with no credentials, no training and little practice with evaluation. With short answer questions, a TA’s lack of knowledge and objectivity may affect the final scores of other students.

However, though TA limits are reasonable to some extent, TAs should be able to grade objective assignments, such as completion-credit homework assignments or multiple-choice tests — especially when a teacher is drowning beneath loads of paperwork that need to be returned and grades that need to be updated.

If an assignment or assessment can be objectively graded, teachers shouldn’t have to wallow away their time grading it. Hours that could be spent preparing lectures or scoring projects should not be spent staring back and forth between an answer key and a paper.

A TA can easily perform this task, and with the help of a TA grader, classroom efficiency may improve drastically: assignments that

Some TA policies should be better enforced, others too rigid to be efficient

are returned more quickly to the student will allow for more time to understand mistakes, review the material and improve on subsequent assignments. Spending a free period to grade multiple-choice answers or stamp homework is tedious and certainly doesn’t require a degree.

But as long as there are names attached to papers, no student can be legally authorized to score anything, unless the assignments are made nameless.

With anonymity, however, TAs can continue to grade objective assignments with no risk of breaching student confidentiality. If tests or quizzes were numbered, for example, with each number corresponding to a name, then TAs can grade without infringing upon privacy.

Classes such as AP Chemistry have already

As long as there are student names attached to assignments, no TA can grade anything.

13

Can my TA

instigated this system, allowing students to receive their scores as soon as possible.

However, speedier grading can also be achieved without TAs. In other schools, programs such as GradeCam allow student papers to be graded by a camera. Using a document camera, it instantly scores multiple-choice tests and allows the teacher to give immediate personal feedback. Also, essay-grading software such as EdX can identify formatting and grammatical errors quickly, while still allowing teachers to type comments. Arguably, using technology for speedier grading is more accurate and reliable than depending on TAs, and programs such as GradeCam include nifty features like linking comments to state standards.

Several of these softwares also include a feature that blocks out a student’s name, allowing TAs to operate them as well.

There is no shortage of solutions: anonymity, software, even a change in policy could make all the difference during the frantic finalsgrading season.

grade this?

k.chang@elestoque.org

Is the assignment objective? (eg. multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank.)

No

No, this assignment cannot be graded by a TA. Assignments must not include student names or subjective material.

Yes, this assignment may be graded by a TA, but be aware that this is a judgment call — be sure that TAs have no access to confidential material.

Yes

Yes

Is the name of the student visible on the assignment?

No

EL ESTOQUE

OPINION

Calling Timber

Annual holiday tree condescending, inappropriate for school grounds

I

f you want to give me a gift this holiday season, just do me this one favor: don’t wish me a Merry Christmas.

I know that this friendly holiday greeting is nothing more than a casual pleasantry, and I don’t presume that anyone who wishes me a Merry Christmas is trying to guide me in the path of the Lord and convince me to atone my sins — but as a Jew, it still makes me uncomfortable.

I don’t have a problem with you having a Merry Christmas, just as I wouldn’t expect you to object to my Happy Hanukkah. The issue is that as more people see Christmas as a non-religious cultural holiday, there is an immense amount of social pressure to partake in Christmas celebrations. And the truth is: I don’t want to celebrate Christmas.

It’s bad enough as a non-Christian to survive a holiday season full of flashing red and green lights and omnipresent indoor trees.

What really irks me, though, is that the problem follows me to school. We see this through Leadership putting up Christmas decorations, Variations singing Christmas songs, Drama performing Christmas plays and organizations across campus hosting Secret Santas.

People can say that these festivities are innocent and non-religious all they want, but when you sing songs about Jesus and force me to walk by a pointy ornament-adorned 14

Shuyi Qi | El Estoque Illustration

tree, I’m going to associate your holiday festivities with Christianity. And just like I do not want to be wished a Merry Christmas, I am still not okay with people shoving Christmas in my face masqueraded as secular holiday-fun-time.

We know that “a rose by any other name” is just as sweet. Why, then, is Leadership under the impression that renaming a Christmas tree a “holiday bush” somehow eliminates the non-secular nature of a long-time religious symbol?

Doing this is the same as me sticking a giant Menorah in the middle of the rally court and dubbing it a “festive candelabra” — the inherent religious connotation of the object doesn’t go away with a different name. And whether intentional or not, by renaming a Christmas tree “holiday bush,” Leadership implies that there is a problem with erecting a religiously-affiliated symbol on campus.

I’m not blind to the fact that students on the whole seem to enjoy the annual Christmas-related festivities, and I know that if I try to explain myself to any of my Christmas-loving peers I will be immediately dubbed a Grinch trying to take down one of the happiest times of the year. But the primary concern when it comes to Christmas related activities should not be the majority of the school that is happy with the festivities: it should be the ones who are offended.

Beyond avoiding non-Christian kids like myself with hurt feelings, there’s a legal backing as to why Christmas-related activities shouldn’t be present at school. Supreme Court cases Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) and County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989) established that schools can set up Christmas decorations as long as they are secular. So clearly religious symbols such as angels, crosses and manger scenes are prohibited. When it comes to Christmas trees, Santa Claus and Christmas wreaths, however, the line is not as definitive.

The fact is, definitions of what is secular versus non-secular inevitably are going to vary among any population, including our own. And while not clearly prohibited by the Constitution or the Supreme Court, some part of the population — including me — is always going to view traditionally Christmas-related symbols as inherently religious.

We should respect every definition of secularity by refraining from hosting religiouslyaffiliated activities on campus.

Eliminating the use of religious symbols on campus doesn’t mean that we have to forgo holiday spirit altogether, though.

There are plenty of non-religious winter symbols and decorations that are universally non-offensive and equally as effective at raising holiday cheer. Snowflakes, snowmen, gingerbread houses and lights are all festive decorations that are free of any religious connotations.

School holiday activities are only the tip of the North Pole’s biggest subjectively non-secular iceberg when it comes to society accepting Christmas as the norm in a religiously diverse community, but awareness of discomfort caused to non-Christian students as a result of Christmas activities is a good start to true inclusion.

I don’t want to be a Grinch, and I really do want you to have a Merry Christmas. I just don’t want to be suffocated under piles of thorny bauble-adorned branches and miniscule Santa figurines in the process.

EVA SPITZEN

e.spitzen@elestoque.org DECEMBER 18, 2013

IS SCHOOL LOOP BAD FOR US? Complain all you want. School Loop changed us for the better

BY AMBIKA DUBEY

S

ince the adoption of School Loop in 2006, teachers, students and parents have expressed varying beliefs on the effectiveness of the service. Teachers especially appreciate the increase in communication that School Loop provides, but despite these perceived benefits, many students scorn School Loop.

While it is convenient to have updated grades and access to an online planner, many parents use School Loop as an opportunity to over-monitor their students academic lives. As a result, many students’ gut reaction is to dislike School Loop and dismiss it as yet another cause for anxiety in their already stressful lives.

Although this reaction is in no way invalid, these subjective factors, like added stress and discomfort stemming from parents’ access to grades, only come into effect on an individual scale. That is to say, my experience with School Loop-related anxiety can vary drastically from yours, and on top of that much of this stress can be alleviated through small, voluntary changes on the individual’s part.

Benefits of School Loop The benefits of using this online service are twofold. Perhaps the most obvious is that everyone on campus has access to School Loop, along with all the tools it offers. But beyond this, all the positives that School Loop offers are contingent upon the school’s use of this service, while on the other hand, for example, drawbacks like added stress would still be a problem without School Loop.

Although students often complain about petty grievances related to School Loop, the service has in fact aided our ability to learn through facilitated communication on several fronts.

Communication on campus If a student, for instance, forgot to write down homework for a class, the website makes this information easy to find. And for the 47 percent of MVHS students who,

DECEMBER 18 2013

according to our survey, rely on School Loop for their homework (“rarely” or “never” use their planners for noting homework), the website is indispensable.

Loopmail, another feature of School Loop, allows for streamlined contact with anyone on campus, be it a student, teacher, or other staff member. A feat not even the most comprehensive Facebook group could offer, Loopmail revolutionizes communication on campus, in creating a direct web of all individuals at MVHS. Why stress is not an issue Finally, for teachers who opt to use the service, School Loop’s gradebook provides feedback for students as soon as grades are published, which allows students to monitor progress and adjust their efforts accordingly.

While dissenters would argue that this is precisely what fuels academic anxiety, personal measures can be taken to alleviate it: Unsubscribing from the daily School Loop emails could go a long way, and even clicking on the “Hide grades” button beneath the gradebook could be a small but effective step in relieving grade-based stress.

If, instead, the issue is that parents’ use of Schoolloop is intrusive to students, a conversation between parent and child is in order. But even this issue is not one that affects every person in the school, and can be ameliorated through changes on the individual level.

Even if these simple solutions are not reason enough to diminish any potential impacts of the stress argument, academic anxiety would still exist without School Loop. Stress is therefore not a unique product of School Loop use.

On the other hand, the multiple benefits are unique to School Loop, and definitely outweigh the limited drawbacks. The website is here to stay, and for good reason. a.dubey@elestoque.org

Teachers: use of School Loop’s gradebook over the years 50 40 30 20

2005-’06

’07-’09 ’09- Present

Based on a of a survey of 50 teachers

How often do you use your planner to record your homework?

Sometimes

17 % 25% 20%

Rarely

27%

Never

21%

Always Often

Based on a of a survey of 202 students

96% of teachers use school loop Based on a of a survey of 50 teachers

15

OPINION

OPINION

YOU SUCK ... but thanks for trying You know, despite having an amazing life, living with myself can still be kind of depressing.

I basically spend most of my time doing things I’m not good at, so I spend most of my time wishing I was better at doing. whatever I’m doing.

no monkey business

When I was in the fourth grade, I played trumpet in the school band.

SHUYI QI

This is how I imagined myself:

But the more I practiced...

…the worse I got.

But in reality, I sucked…

Nevertheless, I still loved band and so I practiced a lot in and out of class.

...and Sarah, for being the best flute player.

At the end of the year, the band teacher gave out awards to the best students.

Now I’d like to congratulate Shuyi for being the most improved student!

Everyone was clapping, but they all seemed… too nice.

I realized that they pitied me.

While I was surprised, I couldn’t help but think that the medal said something else.

I just went from being the worst player to the dimwit in class that everybody felt sorry for.

But the award wasn’t lying: “Still Sucks But Thanks for Trying” describes most of life. And it will continue to because I’ll just keep trying.

s.qi@elestoque.org DECEMBER 18, 2013

16

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OCT 26 contact

artclass70@gmail.com or 408-234-6933

for registration or more information

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Christmas REDEFINED Memories define the experience of Christmas

BY ELIA CHEN AND TANISHA DASMUNSHI

W

hen Roots Christian Club copresident junior Cheryl Wan sees a candy cane, she does not immediately think of it as a holiday treat.

Rather, she thinks about its religious meaning.

“The red symbolizes Jesus’s blood that washes away our sins,” Wan said.

“And the white symbolizes purity that is made clean again.”

But despite Christmas’s origin as a Christian holiday, only 16 percent of students view Christmas like Wan: as a day to celebrate Jesus’ birth. At MVHS, 57 percent of 202 online survey respondents celebrate Christmas without regard to its religious significance — most just consider the holiday as the time for trees, presents and family. The majority of students separate Christianity from Christmas — how did that happen?

Senior Mihir Athavale’s family is Hindu, and they separate Christmas from its

religious ties and choose to focus on the decorative and family-driven aspects of it. For Athavale, Christmas is about hot chocolate and bonding with family.

“It’s like asking, why do [nonHindu] students go and celebrate Rangeela? They’re not celebrating the religious meaning of the dance itself,” Athavale senior Mihir Athavale said. “They’re just trying to have fun ... and embrace another culture.”

But Athavale’s family did not always celebrate Christmas. When he was 12 years old, Athavale convinced his parents that the holiday could be celebrated secularly as well.

That December, Athavale joined his excited peers as they embraced the holiday — especially its gift-giving tradition.

“I woke up that morning to stockings filled with presents, and I just remember feeling so happy that they went through with it,” Athavale said.

Like Athavale, junior Jonathan Lin, an atheist, views Christmas as a time for

IT’S JUST LIKE ASKING, WHY DO [NON-HINDU] STUDENTS GO AND CELEBRATE RANGEELA?

strengthening bonds within his family.

Every year since his birth, his family has put up a plastic Christmas tree and placed presents under it. Because of his family’s tradition, Lin’s memories of Christmas revolve around the tree itself — decorating it and opening presents with the family.

Ghost of Christmas past While Athavale views Christmas differently than Cheryl and Jenny Wan do, both were driven by cultural sentiment to celebrate Christmas — their families did 3%not originally celebrate Christmas and only began to do so after immigrating to America.

“They celebrate Christmas because oth- 11% er people celebrate Christmas,” said Lin, about immigrants celebrating Christmas.

“Over time it became a sort of tradition, so then people who didn’t celebrate Christmas wanted to fit in with society.”

Cheryl and Jenny Wan immigrated to America when they were five years old to join their mother and stepfather, so they celebrated their first Christmas in 2003. At first, the Christmas celebrations at school came as a shock, and the sisters did not understand its religious significance.

“Christmas wasn’t celebrated in Chi-

49%

A HUG IN A MUG

BY ASHISH SAMADDAR

S

hivering from the 30 degree weather on the morning of Dec. 6, students in English teacher Lynn Rose’s first and second period British literature classes crowded around her brewer to receive hot cocoa. Wouldn’t a nice, cup of hot chocolate provide warmth and comfort like a hug? Forty-nine percent of 202 student respondents to an online survey feel that hot chocolate is their favorite drink to indulge in during the holiday season, and 73 percent consume their favorite holiday drink at least once a week. The students featured to the right are some of the many who are embracing their cravings.

73

percent of students consume their favorite holiday drink at least once a week *from a survey of 202 students

a.samaddar@elestoque.org 18

EL ESTOQUE

17%

%

A&E na,” Cheryl Wan said. “We weren’t Christian until our stepdad introduced it to us.”

Two Christmases Although non-Christian students’ celebrations of Christmas focus less on the holiday’s religious significance, those who celebrate Christmas religiously embrace nonChristians’ commemoration of the holiday.

“I’m happy that they celebrate it because Christmas is about how Jesus was born, and he saved us, so Christmas is a big festival that we want to share with everyone,” Cheryl said.

Jenny shares similar thoughts even though the sisters celebrate Christmas differently from non-Christians. During the holiday season, she watches Christian films and attends church performances. For both sisters, Christmas is a sacred experience during which they feel thankful.

Cheryl is also accepting of non-Christians, who place more emphasis on family than on religion, celebrating Christmas. Like many other Christians, Chang and the Wan sisters engage in secular activities on Christmas as well. Because they did not celebrate their first Christmas religiously, the Wan sisters’ most cherished childhood memories of Christmas are ones of opening presents under the Christmas tree and reuniting with their grandparents from China.

As Athavale, Lin and the Wan sisters observe, Christmas transcends its literal significance. For all those who celebrate the holiday, what matters most are the memories that they create in the spirit of Christmas. e.chen@elestoque.org | t.dasmunshi@elestoque.org

What symbols remind you of Christmas?

LIGHTS

Junior Stephen Lai “During this time of year, you see them pretty much everywhere.

Down every street, you’ll see a couple of Christmas lights. They’re entertaining to see.”

STAR

Paraeducator Tina Volzing “I love the stars and I think that’s why I like the lights on the trees ... because they look like a bunch of stars.”

CHRISTMAS TREE

Senior Sameera Vemulapalli

“We have this little plastic Christmas tree that’s pretty small ... and we always buy more ornaments each year so we can’t fit them all on this tiny Christmas tree.

HAWAII

Career Center Liason Miriam Taba

“Ever since I married my husband, we spent Christmas and New Years in Hawaii ... and it has been our tradition since we got married.”

Sophia Tao | El Estoque Photo Illustration

Junior Michelle Lentfer: “I like the Starbucks pumpkin spice frappuccino because it is really good and tastes like pumpkin pie. One week, [Hadap and I] had [the pumpkin spice frappuccino] seven days a week.”

DECEMBER 18 2013

Senior Rahul Hadap: “I tried the pumpkin spice frappuccino, and I thought it was really good. I have to stock up on the pumpkin spices because this is a fall drink. I even got a venti sized one day since I didn’t want to make another trip. I am actually going to feel really depressed [when the season is over].”

Senior Shivani Arora:“I love hot chocolate because it’s something I can have whenever. I have it every evening without fail. Sometimes more than three times a day. It’s kind of crazy. I can have it in any form. With whipped cream. Without whip cream. Bitter, sweet. It’s kind of creepy, maybe unhealthy, but I still like it a lot, so I have it a lot.”

19

A&E

SANTA’S

WORKSHOP Take a lesson from the elves and learn how to make four quirky gifts for your friends

BY JENNIFER LEE AND KATHLEEN YUAN ILLUSTRATIONS BY KATHLEEN YUAN

Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque

ARTSY ARTSY MUGMUG FOR THE

Minimalist You’ll need: • Plain white mug (available at Goodwill) • Black porcelain pen (available at Michaels) • Pencil • Wet Q-tips • Oven Estimated cost: $8

Tutorial source: designmom.com 20

PEPPERMINT HOT COCOA JAR

Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque

What you’ll do: 1. Think of a design you want to create.

Potential ideas include quotes, shapes, flowers, characters from your favorite shows, etc.

2. With the pencil, sketch out your desired design onto the plain white mug.

It may be a good idea to practice drawing the design beforehand on paper.

3. With the black porcelain pen, trace the penciled contours of your design.

4. Use the wet Q-tips as necessary to erase any smudges or mistakes from the porcelain pen.

5. Once done, let the mug sit for 24 hours, then bake in oven at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

6. Take mug out and wipe off any residual graphite.

Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque

FOR THE

Foodie You’ll need: • Empty jam jar • 3 candy canes (available at any grocery store or supermarket) • ¼ cup cocoa mix • ½ cup marshmallows • Ziploc bag • Rolling pin Estimated cost: $10

What you’ll do: 1. Securely seal two candy canes in Ziploc bag.

2. Hit bag with rolling pin to crush candy canes into smaller pieces.

3. Pour crushed candy canes into jam jar.

4. Pour cocoa mix over candy canes.

5. Add marshmallows.

6. Cap jar and store in a cool, dry place.

7. When you want peppermint hot cocoa, add hot water or milk until jar is three quarters full, then stir.

8. Garnish jar with third candy cane.

EL ESTOQUE

STUFFED DOLLS

TEMPORARY TATTOO

SOURCE: IAMASTUFFEDANIMAL.COM

SOURCE: TATTLY.COM

Crunched on money?

Try ordering online from tattly.com.

You can pick from over 300 professionally designed temporary tattoos printed with non-toxic, vegetablebased ink. Designs feature everything from popular quotes to sleeping cats to whimsical sailboats.

Cost: $5 for a set of two

FOR THE

Time-deprived

Looking for a funny present?

Try an online purchase from iamastuffedanimal.com. While it’s on the pricey side, the website allows you to upload images of yourself and a friend to create stuffed dolls in your likenesses. Your friend will never forget this unique token of appreciation.

Cost: $78 for a 2-pack minidoll set

Colin Ni | El Estoque

Colin Ni | El Estoque

LANA DEL REY SUNGLASSES FOR THE

Fashionista You’ll need: • Cat eye sunglasses • 2 metal roses (available at Michaels) • 4 pink ceramic flowers (available at Michaels) • Craft glue (available at Michaels) • Bowl • Q-tips Estimated cost: $20 Tutorial source: honestlywtf.com DECEMBER 18, 2013

What you’ll do: 1. Squeeze dime-sized amount of craft glue into the bowl.

2. Dip Q-tip into the glue and apply metal rose.

3. Press the flower against rightmost outer corner of sunglasses for at least a minute.

4. Glue one pink flower to the left of the metal rose.

5. Glue pink flower below metal rose.

6. Repeat process for the left side of the sunglasses.

7. Wait three hours for flowers to dry before wearing sunglasses.

Depicted: [1] Embellished case

PERSONALIZED IPHONE CASE

FOR THE

Techie

Depending on the case, you’ll need: • Clear iPhone case (available on Amazon) • [1] Craft glue, embellishments of your choice (available at Michaels) • [2] Sharpies • [3] Nail polish, small craft sponges • [4] Mod Podge (available at Michaels), paint, glitter Estimated cost: $15

What you’ll do: 1. For an embellished case: Use craft glue to apply accessories.

2. For a sharpie design: Experiment with different patterns for a one-of-a-kind look.

3. For a smooth, painted style: Use a sponge to evenly apply nail polish over the case.

4. For a textured case: Apply a layer of Mod Podge as a sealant/glue, then splatter paint or apply glitter. Varnish with another coat of Mod Podge; let dry.

Tutorial source: brit.co 21

A&E

WELCOME TO SUMMONER’S RIFT Junior Young Guo assembles student-run League of Legends tournament that will take place during Winter Break

W

hile some students watch their favorite TV shows or play sports after a stressful week, junior Young Guo sits in front of his computer to play League of Legends with his friends. With last year’s League of Legends tournament hosted by HisTech Commission from Leadership, Guo took this gaming community to another level and created a similar tournament this year.

“I think League of Legends is already big enough at MVHS so people can create their own teams and play each other,” Guo said. “At first I didn’t think that I had enough support for this to happen, but it worked out at the end.”

On Oct. 11, Guo created a Facebook event and opened the sign-up form to students, each team requiring five players and three optional substitute players. Nine

BY COLIN KIM

teams were finalized by Nov. 9.

The tournament will be held during Winter Break. The participating players are required to play on their computers at home and the games will be broadcasted live through www.twitch.tv. The winning team will receive 3,200 Riot Points for each players— game currency equivalent to $20 and a champion skin — the customized color scheme and appearance of the champion. c.kim@elestoque.org

THE TOURNAMENT Over this winter break, Guo will be broadcasting the tournament matches through www.twitch.tv. There are two elimination brackets—winners and losers. Each bracket match will include best of three games, while the final match will be best of five with a one game win advantage to the team from the winners bracket.

The set-up of the matches will be five versus five on standard Summoner’s Rift map. Guo established a critical rule that only registered accounts may participate in the tournament in order to avoid cheating. If a player is caught breaking this rule, the team will be disqualified along with any prizes voided.

WE HAVE WILDTURTLE A HOOSHANG CLAN BATTLE OF THE LEGENDS: First game of the tournament will be between Team We Have Wildturtle and Team Hooshang Clan.

THE GAME League of Legends, commonly referred to as “LoL”, is a competitive online game that combines aspects of Real-Time Strategy games with some aspects of Role-Playing Games.

League of Legends is similar to the popular team sport, capture the flag. In this game, two teams of “champions”— characters’ players can choose such as an Assassin, Fighter, Mage, Marksman, Support and Tank—play against each other across many different game modes, such as the Classic 5 vs 5 game. The objective is to work together as a team to destroy the enemy team’s Nexus building, which is the central building of each team’s base.

Since its release in 2009 by Riot Games, League of Legends has garnered over 32 million personal accounts.

51% NAMENT 22

OF 202 Students surveyed who either play league of legends or know people Who do

THAT’S SO META WINNER OF GAME A SOMTIMES I AM HAPPY HOMIEKNIGHTS ALVIN CHEONG YOUTUBE THANGONDIE 5 FRUITS 3GSWIFI I MAKE THE BIG PLAYS

To watch the League of Legends tournament games, visit twitch.tv/mashedbeartatos

EL ESTOQUE

THE POSITIONS ap carry

An ability power carrying champion, also known as “AP Carry” or “Mage”, is an ability damage based champion who usually has high range and low ability cooldown. AP carry champions have the tendency to carry the team by using higher ranked abilities, but are usually harder to maneuver.

Tank champions are the champions with most armor, health and resistance in this game. They are useful in team fights, as they take the enemy team’s damage. Their main goal in this game is to increase the survivability of the team and crushing the enemy team’s main line of defense.

JUNGLER

Jungling champions are the most unique champions in this game, as they gain money and level by killing monsters in areas out of the main fighting lane — the “jungle”. The main goal of a jungler champion is to hide from the opposing team and cast a surprise attack along with the teammates.

Attack damage carrying champions, also known as “AD Carries”, are physical damage based champions who deal a high level of DPS — damage per second — in the game. AD Carry champions usually have strong auto-attacks and can carry their team to victory in the late game.

SUPPORT

TANK

AD CARRY

The name speaks for itself; these champions have abilities that support the teammates, such as heal, attack damage boost, and shield. The main goals of these champions are to have a high assist to death ratio and to take damage for the team.

Without their teammates, however, support champions are most likely to be defeated.

Rhonda Mak | El Estoque Photo Illustration Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque Photo Illustration

THE LEGENDS

Junior Young Guo

SENIOR ERIC HUEY

Senior Eddie Liu

Favorite Champion: Ezreal (AD Carry)

Favorite Champion: Ahri (AP Carry) “She’s one of the [better] looking champions in the game, and has a skill set that I love to play with using a high amount of damage and mobility.

[I started] to play this [champion] when I achieved a penta-kill with my friends.”

Favorite Champion: Singed (Tank)

“Well I don’t really have a favorite champion. I just play whatever, but if I had to [choose one] it would be Ezreal. It’s because he is very versatile and mobile.”

DECEMBER 18, 2013

“I think [Singed] has a unique aspect of the game. [It’s] extremely annoying to deal with him [as] he has the ability to run through the enemy team and slow them while staying alive.”

23

SPECIAL

T E R SEC

S

LIFE OF AN AMERICAN TEACHER

Why I’ll never stalk teachers on facebook again

Rhonda Mak | El Estoque Photo Illustration

o there I was, stalking random people I vaguely knew on Facebook when it hit me. I looked at the list of names, the thousands of people who had Facebook profiles and thought, “Hey, wait, I wonder if my teachers have Facebook, too...”

My eyes grew wide and my fingers shook as I typed the first name of an old elementary school teacher into the Facebook search bar, wondering if I would ever be able to look any of my teachers in the eye again. After all, I knew what my peers had been posting ... but no. These were adult role models, not the hormonal teenagers they taught. I shook my head at my flight of fancy, and continued typing, confident that our teachers would not be posting anything worse than knitting patterns.

Her name popped up immediately, along with a scantily clad profile picture that seared my eyes, tattooing its horrific image on my brain for life. out of I stared, unable to look away as the teacher who had once read me picture books as a child struck a pose commonly seen in the profile pictures of teenage girls - chest out, head cocked to the side and eyes open wide as she grinned seductively at the camera.

My world shattered into a million pieces as I saw the woman I had held on a mile-high pedestal for most of my life staring out from my screen indistinguishable from the hundreds of tacky profile pictures designed to draw views from admirers across cyberspace.

So, I might have tossed that year’s yearbook in the trash.

Childish? Absolutely. Something I regret in retrospect? Not really. I mean, she was my role model all throughout school, fading into fond memories only after years and years and Algebra distracted me from reminiscing on how fabulous she was.

It‘s not that I don’t realize that my teachers have different private lives, that if I didn’t really want to see their profile pictures then I shouldn’t have looked in the first place. I do, and sincerely regret the day I had the impulse to see what my beloved teacher did outside of school.

Every single person in this school’s Facebook profile will probably be checked by someone out there looking to recruit them for college or hire them for a job. Their Facebook profile will be the basis on which they are judged fit for a position, the first impression they might never be able to unmake. People lecture us every day about our “online personas,” saying that the people the blue we are online will haunt us forever. My own parents warned me about posting profile pictures that I would regret in 20 years, citing swimsuit shots as especially innapropriate for a picture that can be viewed by friends and 40 year old stalkers in the middle nowhere alike Its not that I’m saying people shouldn’t post swimsuit pictures at all. By all means, post them in droves if you feel the need to, but for God’s sake at least change your settings so that it takes more than three clicks for me to find it.

MAYA MURTHY

m.murthy@elestoque.org 24

EL ESTOQUE

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welcome

HOMES

A STUDENT WITH SPLIT HOUSEHOLDS REDEFINES THE MEANING OF FAMILY

Used with permission of Mikey Goldman

BY SOPHIA TAO

M

ondays, Wednesdays and every other weekend at his mother’s house. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Used with permission of Mikey Goldman Fridays and every other weekend at his father’s house. That was senior Mikey Goldman’s schedule until this summer. finding comfort and support through exGoldman hasn’t known anything other than panding his definition of family. his split household lifestyle, since his parents Even though Goldman stayed at his separated when he was six months old. mom’s house more frequently, he still Goldman grew accustomed to living made sure to spend quality time with between two houseboth families holds, but it wasn’t during the holeasy — he has had idays. Someto deal with difficult times that meant changes along the way.

I’ve known Mikey all my he had to travel His mother and stepbetween his parlife. He’s not my step- ents’ households father merged their brother, he’s my brother. families when he was within a day. On three years old. His holidays such as junior Rachel Plouse family further expandThanksgiving and ed when his father Christmas, he remarried when Goldwould spend the man was eleven. morning at his mother’s house and the eveHowever, his mom and stepfather later ning at his father’s house, or vice versa. divorced, and his father, Perry Goldman, Goldman’s mother, Jill Scoby, realized passed away in June. Goldman has had to that his situation wasn’t as easy for him as deal with the complications of these family it was for her. She lived in one house while structure changes.

Goldman had to go back and forth between Nine percent of students at MVHS can two households. relate. In a survey of 331 students, 30 said “My perspective is really different,” that their parents were separated. Of the Scoby said. “I recognized that it was really approximately 40 percent of children nation- hard. That was one thing that I really thought wide who have divorced parents, 20 to 25 about a lot when I was raising Mikey and his percent display signs of not dealing well with sister [Kim Goldman].” the change in family structure, according to Once Goldman got to middle school, he the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ser- was more able to understand what was hapvices Administration. Luckily for Goldman, pening with his family. It hit him hard. He he has been able to adapt to his situation by said it was a culmination of things that built

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26

Colin Ni | El Estoque

up to his reevaluation of his family life, but there is one event that sticks out particularly in his memory.

“My sister left to go to my dad’s full-time,” Goldman said. “She and my mom and my stepdad were fighting with each other. I could tell something was different. She went outside, and they called Dad. [After that,] Kim didn’t come back over to the house.”

Goldman says there was a temptation to choose a side, but he’s seen how choosing sides has affected his mother and father, who both came from split households.

“You have two households and it’s easy to compare the two,” Goldman said. “But once you start comparing and deciding which side is better, it detaches you from one side of your tion family. I realized stra Illu ue q it’s better to not o st El E t| choose a side.” ha eng P ira Goldman atAt h EL ESTOQUE

SPECIAL Used with permission of Mikey Goldman

Used with permission of Mikey Goldman

so instead he acts as an outlet for Goldman if Goldman needs it.

“I usually don’t really have much to say, Used with permission of Mikey Goldman Used with permission of Mikey Goldman but that’s okay because when he does confide in me, that’s what he’s really looktributes being able to fit in with both house- on a space and have to put on clip-on ear- ing for,” Pieb said. “It’s probably more about holds partly to his siblings — five stepsis- rings, a necklace or a ring.” what I don’t say than what I do say.”

Jeff Kluger, author of The Sibling Effect, ters and one full sister. Despite being As different as their backgrounds are, the only boy, Goldman be- says that relationships between step-siblings Pieb and Goldman treat each other like famlieves it would have been in blended families are often as intimate and ily. Although Pieb has always distinctly sepaa lot harder if he didn’t enduring as the ones between full siblings, rated his family and friends, Goldman is as have his sisters. once the family survives beyond the bench- close to family as a friend can be.

He could vent mark of six years. This is clearly true for “In the beginning I was always tough to them, and Plouse and Goldman, who still interact and [about having] your family no matter how they empa- bond like any other pair of siblings, despite good of a friend you become,” Pieb said. now living under different roofs. thized.

“It’s not done out of malice, it’s just because “I’ve known Mikey all my life. He’s not this is your family and they hold a special One of his his stepsisters my stepbrother, he’s my brother,” Plouse place. That said, I guess Mikey comes as is junior Rachel said. “I don’t just consider people that are close as a family member to me as a friend Plouse. Though their related to me by blood to be my family. It’s could.” parents are now di- whoever I love and whoever I can’t live withIn terms of his future family life, Goldvorced, Goldman and Plouse out — so Mikey’s my family.” man says he will think carefully before he Another person who isn’t strictly related marries. From what he’s witnessed and exstill hang out regularly. Plouse has known him since she was a to him, but who Goldman has come to con- perienced, Goldman could see himself getbaby, and has many funny sto- sider family, is his best friend senior Alex- ting divorced, but would much rather take ander Pieb. With similar senses of humor the time before he marries to consider if he’s ries from their childhoods.

“I remember he would al- and common interests like drama, Pieb and ready. ways force me to play Poke- Goldman easily became best friends in their “I always felt like my family was a mix of mon cards with him — I freshman year. here’s what to do and here’s what not to do,” Pieb and Goldman are close enough that Goldman said. “For some reason divorce is didn’t like those much,” Plouse said. “So I would Goldman feels comfortable discussing his becoming a lot more common. I think more force him to play this family life with Pieb, who knows a good people start jumping into marriage [without game called Pretty amount about Goldman’s family situation. being] ready. I believe I would know when Pretty Princess, Since Pieb comes from a very close-knit fam- I’m ready instead of just going for it.” where you land ily, he doesn’t feel qualified to offer advice, s.tao@elestoque.org DECEMBER 18, 2013

27

SPECIAL

WE

kin GET ALONG

BY MANASA SANKA

An older brother, younger sister, and only child reflect on how their role influences family dynamic

Used with permission of Ankur Lohiya

Used with permission of Ala Jalli

(Left): Ankur Lohiya and family enjoy a day in San Francisco. (Middle): Ala Jalli, only child, poses by her apartment’s pool. (Right): Rabina Bisht, older brother and parents begin a holiday cruise.

Used with permission of Rabina Bisht

W

e’ve all seen the perfect-looking family picture framed on a refrigerator door, the one from our childhoods that we all wished we had. There are two parents together: one tall, another shorter. There is one smaller child either side of these parents: the siblings.

Another family drawing has two siblings holding hands with the parents on either side. In the final drawing, each parent holds the child’s hand as she looks up, smiling, at both of them. The ideal families. But how do these families interact in reality, removed from the two-dimensional frames and projected as multi-dimensional people?

the

older brother

“This memory stood out to me because we were always so tight,” Lohiya said. “And ne night rang with raucous laughter it struck me that we could always have fun and inside jokes (funny to no one but at any time.” themselves) as older brother senior At the same time, Lohiya admits that he Ankur Lohiya and his younger brother, often gets blamed for mistakes involving his age 12, went trick-orbrother because his treating together late parents expect him Halloween night. The to be a good role It feels great to be the brothers went around model. While Lotaking half a bowl of oldest child since I get to hiya is pleased that candy instead of just his brother looks up be in control and I lead my one as the owners specto him and that he sibling. I wouldn’t change ified. Afterward, he can give his brother and his brother fooled a thing. advice, he also feels senior Ankur Lohiya around in his room havrestricted by these ing a candy war, each expectations. fortifying the protecIn Lohiya’s famtions around their pile and acting like secret ily, he and his brother stand apart, but this agents trying to steal each other’s candy. picture rearranges often, to reflect the

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“

brothers standing together in the middle among their parents.

“It feels great to be the oldest child since I get to be in control and I get to lead my sibling,” Lohiya said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

the

Y

younger sister

ounger sister junior Rabina Bisht stole her older brother’s headphones and ran to her room. When he came looking, she screamed at him, and he screamed back at her. When their argument began to heat up, lucky for her and unlucky for her brother, Bisht’s parents came in. Bisht gave them her puppy dog face and that was the end.

“Being a younger child is great sometimes because my parents baby me and I can get away with starting a fight with my EL ESTOQUE

brother,” Bisht said. “My parents come and blame my brother even if its my fault.”

Compared to Lohiya, Bisht, stands at the other end of the spectrum. She is the younger child looking up to her older brother However, being the baby of the family poses a different challenge for Bisht – it often affects her freedom.

“Since I’m younger, my parents want me to stay a baby,” Bisht said. “So my brother can come home at three in the morning and go wherever he wants, but I have to give my mom every single detail even if I’m only out until ten o’ clock.”

Bisht acknowledges at the same time that if she’d been an only child, she would not have her big brother as her role model.

“I can’t imagine my life any other way,” Bisht said. “If I was an only child, I wouldn’t have my big bro, who I look up to and is someone I can really count on.”

the

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only child

ne day, senior Ala Jalli came home and saw a giftwrapped box on her desk. When she opened it, she found a brand new phone. Her mother came in and yelled “Surprise!” When Jalli asked her mother why she got it, her mom replied that she’s the only one she wants to keep happy.

Jalli loves that she can get everything she wants when she wants. She enjoys a close relationship with her parents, but she also regrets that she does not have a sibling to share her experiences and thoughts with.

“Being an only child is lonely and boring, but also, I don’t have to worry about competing with other people,” Jalli said.

She says that being an only child comes at a price realized with age. Her parents have higher expectations of her and they are also overprotective since she is an only daughter.

“I can be an astronaut, an engineer, a doctor all at the same time, and it wouldn’t be good enough,” Jalli said.

“Because my parents have so many hopes and dreams and only one child, they push them all onto me. We are spoiled until we’re around 13, when we have to start working hard.”

Furthermore, Jalli believes that she would interact with her parents more with a sibling since having more people around encourages conversation. Also, having siblings provides a wider choice of people to share things with.

“I have a lot of extended family, so I know what it feels like to have a sibling in a way,” Jalli said. “From experience, I interact with my parents more when there are more people around, so if I had a sibling, we would probably be a lot closer overall.”

Perfect families vary. We can cut out the members and rearrange them. We can draw them in different shapes and sizes and surround them with different numbers of siblings. But in reality, when these photos represent people, the family dynamics change, and each relationship is unique and special. m.sanka@elestoque.org DECEMBER 18, 2013

*Middle

children invest in

friendships outside the house

*Oldest

*Only

children gain exposure to the adult world before others and are more

mature

children have

IQ and linguistic advantage a higher

Did you know?

From www.bayareacensus.ca.gov

2.87

average family size in Cupertino

*From Jeffrey Kluger’s “The Sibling Effect”

*Younger kids tend to develop

greater social strategies, like getting inside the minds of and charming

other people.

29

SPECIAL

home

FOR THE

HOLIDAYS

Yuna Lee | El Estoque

FAMILY HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

the Gottlieb family

BY GABRIELLA MONICO

F

fast FACES

or senior Allyson Gottlieb, the holidays do not mean decorating Christmas trees, waking up early on Christmas morning to unwrap presents, and singing carols in the streets. The holidays mean buying songs on iTunes, making potato pancakes with her father and watching movies on Christmas Day. Before the nightly festivities can begin, Gottlieb makes a list with her sister of the presents she wants for Hanukkah, a tradition her father has implemented since the girls were little. She also peels potatoes for her father to help him prepare his special holiday pancakes.

Hanukkah is for family and close friends for the Gottliebs. Over the eight days of Hanukkah, they meet at sundown every day to open presents and light a candle.

This year, however, Hanukkah started a day before Thanksgiving, which has not happened since 1888 and will not happen again for another 79,043 years. For the first time, Gottlieb’s grandmother spent Hanukkah with her and her family.

Even though Gottlieb’s grandmother

30

came this year, they still kept the same holi- will ever happen again when I go off to colday traditions. lege,” Gottlieb said.

This year, the family tried to make GotWhether her grandmother participates or tlieb’s grandmother’s stay as comfortable not, Gottlieb hopes to keep the family tradias possible, while still maintaining the same tions going even after she leaves home. family traditions.

“She didn’t cook or anything because he plastic tree stays hidden in the gawe would shoo her out of the kitchen so she rage year-round until it is taken out in wouldn’t have to do too much work,” GotDecember, stored away among other tlieb said. rarely used relics. It is hard to believe that the Gottlieb’s grandmother usually comes in nondescript cardboard box holds a plethora the spring, so this was Gottlieb’s first Ha- of family traditions. nukkah with her Senior Abhi Vaidyagrandmother. The natha and his mother, family still sang stepfather, stepbrother It is hard to believe that and lit the candles and stepsister decorate the the nondescript cardboard every night, exChristmas tree together evbox holds a plethora of cept for when they ery year. After putting the forgot to do so tree together bit by bit, they family traditions. on Thanksgiving. dress it up in different colThough they kept ors and lights and sparkling the traditions the ornaments, the same ornasame,“family time” during Hanukkah in- ments they use every year, adding only two cluded grandma as well. or three new ones.

“It was nice to see her and spend time The tree itself holds countless memories. with her again because I don’t know if this The family puts up trinkets made in grade

T

FRESHMAN

JUNIOR

Grace Nevitt

Carmelia Muljadi

Every other year, Nevitt and her extended family go to a reunion in Massachusetts to celebrate the holidays and ski.

Muljadi’s father’s birthday falls on Christmas Eve. The family all gets together to celebrate her father’s birthday and the holidays.

SOPHOMORE

JUNIOR

TJ Tarshis

Gregory Moe

Tarshis and his family decorate their house every holiday season. Not only does it help the family bond, it also adds to the holiday mood, according to Tarshis.

Every year during the holiday break, Moe’s extended family meet at their cousin’s home in Los Angeles to celebrate Christmas and catch up.

EL ESTOQUE

Food AND

Used with permission of Abhi Vaidyanatha

BY YIFEI WU

the Vaidyanatha family school by each of the children and each ornament is carefully chosen. For Vaidyanatha, it is the countless ornaments, not the tree, that holds more family memories.

“We buy a new star every year so I get dragged off to Pier One with my mom,” Vaidyanatha said.

He spends an afternoon following his mother around the home design store and helping her pick out the perfect star.

Though wandering around Pier One is not Vaidyanatha’s ideal family outing, he at least gets to be the one to put the star on the Christmas tree and it gives him more time to bond with his mother.

Yet the star is not the ornament that readily comes to Vaidyanatha’s mind when it comes to special family ornaments. It is a framed picture of him as a baby that Vaidyanatha recalls. He enjoys putting it up every year. Its a reminder of how long the family has been decorating the tree and how much things have changed. Yet by putting it up every year, it functions as a reminder of how much things have stayed the same.

At the end of the holiday season, the family meticulously puts away the ornaments and carefully takes the tree down.

It goes back inside that inconspicuous cardboard box, and for eleven months, it waits patiently. g.monico@elestoque.org

SENIOR

SENIOR

Corinna Vong

Norman Mu

Vong and her family pick a new place to vacation every year during the holiday season. This year, she is going to Seattle to visit the original Starbucks store.

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Mu listens to the same holiday CD every season in the car with his dad.

Mu believes it is his father’s way of integrating into American culture.

O

family

nly 32 percent of American families sit down and eat dinner together on a regular basis, according to the National Center for Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The family dinner may look like this — the TV is on, the iPod is blasting and someone is on the phone. Long periods of family time when members focus each other have become almost impossible. Yet, families still find ways to bond, even if it is only for 30 minutes.

For senior Joseph Martin’s family, 30 minutes is enough for a dinner with each family member sitting at the dinner table, sharing stories about school, work, current events and food. Throughout the years, the Martins have moved from New Jersey to Santa Clara and, eventually, to Cupertino. Despite the transitions into new school, new houses and new peers, they have always found family dinner a bonding time, a refuge from the fast-paced life.

“We try to pick the topic that everyone is interested in,” Ruth Martin, Joseph’s mother, said. “Sometimes it can be soccer, physics or just the bad weather.”

Through communicating with each other at the dinner We want to build their table, however trivial the topics may be, character so that after we families can release are gone, we know that stress from the day, they can still continue on. according to Kelly Musick, an associate Ruth Martin professor at Cornell University. However, besides relaxing, Joseph’s parents also view family dinner as a time to guide Joseph and his younger brother, both in high school, onto the right path.

“Sometimes we just tell them directly what we want them to do,” Ruth said. “We want to build their character [so that] after we are gone, we know that they can still continue on.”

She specifically told Joseph and his brother that they should always try their best and work hard for their future. Only a few weeks ago, she encouraged Joseph to apply to Stanford; Joseph refused. The conflict was eventually resolved when Ruth decided to respect his choice, but she still held on to her belief.

“We want them to get the best of the best of the best,” she said.

Unlike his mother who viewed family dinner as a chance to guide, Joseph simply looked forward to it to as a chance to spend time with his family. When asked why family dinner was so special to him, Joseph stayed quiet for a moment, scratching his head, trying to think of an answer.

He said finally, “People I know the best are my family, so I want to spend time with them.”

“

y.wu@elestoque.org 31

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SPORTS

DJ’S PLAYLIST

Coach DJ Driscoll prepares girls soccer for intense, memorable season

BY ALINA ABIDI AND CHRISTINE LIANG

Colin Ni | El Estoque

A

t the end of one of the last tryout days, son by bringing passion and professional exfouled and rather than yelling across the junior Cindy Hu recounted, girls soccer pertise to an already motivated team. field, Driscoll walked up to her. He explained coach DJ Driscoll Previously, varthat though she made a good decision, she asked his players to sity and JV practices needed to watch her positioning.

COACH DRISCOLL line up on the endline. were on different “A lot of players, they do the same thing ­­ Playing for 29 years The players groaned fields and at differover and over with the same negative reCoaching for 16 years at the thought of doent times, so the sults,” Driscoll said. By offering specific adBorn in Chicago ing sprints after a tiring two teams rarely invice, he hopes to ensure that players know practice, but Driscoll teracted. This year, what and how to improve.

Also coaches girls explained that this all the players pracLast year, the team had 11 seniors, and soccer in Sunnyvale Colin Ni | El Estoque — rather than scrimtice on one field and this year it is down to three. With a younger What he values in a player: commitmages — was where warm up together team that is composed of mostly sophoment, adaptability, communication he was looking for varbefore breaking off mores and juniors, it is important to Driscoll sity players. He was not into their teams. to provide an atmosphere that shows them focused on who could dribble past everyone New JV coach Lewis Saxelby said that he they can play against seniors and older else or even who was necessarily the fastest, and Driscoll work closely to make judgeteams — and win. but on who was willing to push themselves ments and build the “The whole team is more the farthest and make an effort every time. program together. involved and it’s more highThe start of the soccer season welcomes Saxelby met Driscoll level,” sophomore Alissa Patnew players as well as new coaches. In past when the two terson said. “He’s definitely years, girls soccer coaches have been par- coached together in more dedicated than [club ents or teachers. This year, however, profes- Sunnyvale. soccer] coaches have been, sional coaches lead both the varsity and JV “[Driscoll] is so he helps us to also be more team. While Driscoll is new to MVHS, he is fairly serious,” Saxdedicated and play real soccer, not new to coaching. He has coached profes- elby said. “He’s very unlike it has been in the past.” sionally for the past 16 years and currently organized, plans his While Driscoll is dedicated coaches at Sunnyvale Alliance Soccer Club sessions well, and is a to helping players reach their as well. Driscoll hopes to use his experience good soccer coach.” full potential, he also values to push the team to a new level.

Driscoll considers the experiences the team will Driscoll started coaching when he was his coaching style to have together.

20, but he had been interested in soccer be very personalDuring a game, Driscoll from a young age. ized, and believes in sprinted to retrieve a ball, “[Soccer is] a sport that captivates every- getting to know each knocking over a trashcan in Colin Ni | El Estoque one in the world, and it captivated me,” he player individually. the process. said. “I wake up every morning, just wanting In order to provide HALFTIME HUDDLE Driscoll “I’m nimble,” he said with to touch the soccer ball.” one-on-one support, offers the team feedback during a straight face before laughing Returning players said that last season’s Driscoll coaches with along with the players. a home game against Gunn High final score of 6-7-6 motivates them to work close conversation.

“I [always] have a smile,” harder this year. Last year, the girls team did For example, during School on Dec 7. Driscoll explained Driscoll said. “How can you not qualify for CCS, but Driscoll believes in a preseason game that in order maintain posession, get upset at kids who want to focusing on the future, not dwelling on the against Gunn High they needed to pass more precisely. play soccer?” past. Driscoll aims to have a successful sea- School, a player was a.abidi@elestoque.org | c.liang@elestoque.org

DECEMBER 18, 2013

33

SPORTS

MINDTHE GAP

BY YASHASHREE PISOLKAR AND SARAH RAMOS

Underlying factors define the dynamics of cross gender coaching

I

n all the years Brian Sullivan, physical education teacher, has coached teams at the middle and high school level, he has been to many senior nights. During girls basketball senior nights in particular, he usually sees underclassmen scramble to put the finishing touches on posters to commemorate their graduating seniors, as watches patiently. For his teams, he leaves all the senior night traditions to the players. Dressed in their personalized team warm-ups, little quirks like this are just some of the few things that differentiate girls sports teams from boys sports teams.

“The girls want everything to be perfect,” Sullivan said. “They want to design their sweatshirts and the guys are like, ‘Just give me a piece of cloth.’”

In any sport, the overall success of a team may be attributed to a healthy coach-athlete relationship in which both entities work toward a common goal. On a deeper level, however, gender dynamics can have a major impact on how a team performs during a particular season.

Girls volleyball co-captains seniors Alice Liu and Beverly Yu were at home, playing their last game of the season against Los Altos High School on Nov. 7. They had won

their Senior Night game against Milpitas High School on Nov. 5, but the game underway wasn’t progressing as well as they had hoped. Despite their loss that night, head coach Colin Anderson ser ved

OF

OF

as a s t rong male presence on the field. Anderson was not new to cross gender coaching –– he had been coaching girls volleyball for the past 12 years. He recognized that each team has its own strengths and weaknesses, and according to Yu, at the end of the day, Anderson was proud of the girls because the athletes demonstrated the will to improve.

According to Anderson and Sullivan,

Colin Kim | El Estoque

IN THE HUDDLE Coach Colin Anderson talks to his players partway through a match against Homestead High School on Oct. 3. In each of the teams he coaches, Anderson focuses on the strong and weak points, regardless of gender.

34

the dynamics of cross gender coaching depend on a wide array of factors, ranging from not only the sport and age level of the athletes, but also the mind set of the athletes and the goals they set.

Sullivan’s Comparison According to Sullivan, “coaching is still a male-dominated occupation,” whether it be within male or female sports. Based on his 30 years of coaching experience, Sullivan believes that coaching female athletes is a completely different system –– more notably on the JV side. He contends that at the JV level, female and male athletes have a different approach when it comes to learning a sport. He attributes this to the distinct adolescent mind sets of different genders.

“The girls are more willing to learn in this age group,” Sullivan said. “They still want to learn techniques, want to work on shooting mechanics a lot more than game strategy, whereas the boys have been playing for many years and think they know it all. The girls are more willing to absorb information.”

Sullivan enjoys training JV athletes –– boys and girls –– because as a coach, he is able to focus more on imparting his knowledge about the fundamentals of the game and less on winning to go to CCS. “It’s a nice change of pace to actually work on the nuts and bolts of the mechanics of everything and then let the game strategy hopefully take care of itself,” he said.

Since Sullivan has coached both genders, he has also observed the different personalities that come out of boys and girls teams.

“One thing I like about coaching the girls is that a half hour after the game, they’re already onto other topics,” Sullivan said.

“The boys have a tendency of letting it eat at them for the next day or two. With girls, sometimes I have to remind them to think about [what] went right and wrong, but with the boys, I’m saying, ‘It’s done. It’s over with. Knock it off. It’s time to move on.’”

Both sides of the field Senior Jacqueline K. Yee, a four-year basEL ESTOQUE

ketball player at MVHS, has been coached by male coaches on JV and Borelli on varsity. According to Yee, Sullivan is aware that there are clear advantages and disadvantages for athletes when it comes to working with a male coach versus a female coach.

“As a boy coach, [Sullivan] felt there were boundaries he couldn’t overstep [when he was coaching girls],” Yee said. “But at the same time he knew how to push us in different ways than Borelli does. Borelli is the same gender as us, so there’s no boundaries she has to worry about. I think it helps the team dynamic a lot because she knows how to push us even harder.”

While Yee believes that a coach of the same gender may be able to better identify with and support the needs of the athletes, Yu proposes that a female coach may try to put her friendship with the players before coaching.

“I’ve worked with female [volleyball] coaches who are too shy to give honest feedback and criticism,” Yu said.

“That just defeats the whole purpose.”

Yu believes that Anderson, being a coach of the opposite gender, is better able to identify and communicate the team’s weaknesses and areas for improvement. Yu recalls a time when Anderson challenged the team during a practice. What was sup-

posed to be a straightforward 30-20-10 drill turned into a 40 minute struggle as many of the athletes were having trouble keeping the ball in the air.

As punishment, every time a player dropped the ball, she would have to run the width of the gym from wall to wall.

IF [THE ATHLETES] RESPECT [THEIR COACH] THEY’RE GOING TO GET RESPECT IN RETURN...

National Trends Anderson observes that there is a definite trend in high school and college sports that favors male to female cross gender coaching rather than female to male. This one-sided trend is apparent within the MVHS athletics department as well. An inventory of all sports teams and their coaches for the 2013-2014 school year reveals that there are no female coaches who coach an all-boys team while seven male coaches coach girls varsity teams.

In fact, cross gender coaching tends to be a controversial subject on the national scale on account of the fact that females coaching male athletics is much more rare than males coaching female athletes.

In 2010, Biology and Environmental Science teacher Natalie Rudolph at Coolidge High School in Coolidge, AZ became the third ever female head coach of a male high school football team in the nation.

According to an article in The Washington Post, Rudolph built up a strong track record during her time as an assistant coach for H. D. Woodson High School’s football team in D.C. After coaching CHS for four seasons, however, Rudolph resigned, citing, “[Coaching] takes up a lot of time. I’m focused on family ...

Karen Feng | El Estoque and focused on handling a lot of my own HANDS ON Coach Brian Sullivan demonstrates a swing to the personal business.” girls golf team during a practice on Aug. 29. As a coach, Sullivan According to an prefers to focus on the technical side of the sport. article in USA ToDECEMBER 18, 2013

day, Patrick Nero, former chairman for the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics, believes that there are certain pressures that come with male and female coaching.

Pa r t icula rly, female coaches of college teams find it very hard to balance their work lives and coach Brian Sullivan family lives as coaching a team requires constant relocation and traveling.

Nero’s theory about coaching being a greater investment for female coaches may explain why male coaches outnumber female coaches at MVHS. Although both male and female coaches at MVHS work alternative full-time jobs, according to varsity girls basketball head coach Sara Borelli, female coaches may find it hard to balance family with work. Additionally, female coaches must convince the team that they know enough about the game to coach.

“I think [the disparity] is because women have traditionally had to defend themselves in regard to knowing the sport and knowing the sport well,” Borelli said. “A female coach with a family only works when the husband adopts the caregiver role.”

Moving Forward Although both athletes and their coaches agree that gender dynamics have a major influence on how effectively a coach is able to mentor a team or an individual athlete, Sullivan and Borelli agree that the respect shown within the coach-athlete relationship takes precedence over the underlying factors of which gender coach is better able to connect with the players.

“How the boys ... respond to a female coach can be a tough situation,” Sullivan said. “If [the athletes] respect [their coach], they’re going to get respect in return, so that’s a difficult dynamic that needs to be addressed with the players.”

Having coached a co-ed basketball team, made up predominantly of young boys, at the San Mateo recreation center early on during her coaching career, Borelli shares a similar sentiment.

“Initially it’s harder for female coaches to gain that respect,” Borelli said. “[Until] the players know that you know the game, you know the strategy, and you know and understand everything [about the game].” y.pilsokar@elestoque.org |s.ramos@elestoque.org 35

Used with permission of Tracy Fell

SPORTS

IT’S IN THE FAMILY

Students and their families bond through watching sports

SHARK ATTACK Junior Justin Fell and his younger brother Sean watch a Sharks playoff game versus the Vancouver Canucks last year. Fell and his family watch many sports, including hockey, football, baseball, basketball and soccer.

BY RHONDA MAK AND RUBA SHAIK

T

he saying goes families that play together stay together. In the traditional sense, this would mean weekend frisbee or an occasional family scrimmage. But playing together can’t be confined to physical sports. El Estoque found four students that bond with their families through watching sports. And while they might not be physically engaged with their, families they are still cementing memories and moments that will last them a lifetime.

Bonding

The date was Oct. 22, 2012. The San Francisco Giants had just won game seven of the National League Championship Series 9-0 against the St. Louis Cardinals, earning them the National League pennant and a place in the 2012 World Series. AT&T Park seemed to be ablaze with orange as fans celebrated. Back home, junior Justin Fell and his younger brother were celebrating in their own way.

36

“We just started jumping up and down for 20 minutes,” Fell said.

Fell, who is one among many students who watch sports with their families, has found that it brings his family together in the same way family game night or even holiday bonding would for other families. In fact, for the Fell family, Thanksgiving is just as much about the NFL as it is about the turkey. Fell gets together with his entire family and watches football all day during Thanksgiving.

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

EL ESTOQUE

UE

Rivalries

Ruba Shaik | El Estoque

Senior Anush Velmurugan and his father have been Arizona Cardinal fans since before he can even remember. In 2009, the Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever with Ken Whishenut as head coach. Velmurugan remembers Whisenhut as the man that took them there; his father, on the other hand, remembers Whisenhut as the man who cost his home team the Super Bowl.

Despite this, the Velmurugans still manage to enjoy themselves, especially when it comes to superstitions.

“I try to avoid wearing red,” Velmurugan said. “Red is the Arizona Cardinal’s color, but over the past few years, whenever I wore red [during a game] they’d get owned really bad, so I stopped wearing red on Sundays. It’s worked fifty-fifty. My dad dosen’t care for it.”

Passion

Junior Vineet Joshi and his family have been watching tennis ever since he started playing the sport. Their favorite is Swiss native and Olympic gold medalist Roger Federer. Joshi has found that the activity not only bonds them but also saves him from the boredom that being an only child entails.

For the Joshis watching sports is just as much about the learning experience as it is about the entertainment. Joshi has often found himself emulating his favorite players in their style and grace. “[Roger Federer] is very elegant and fluid in his style of playing and that’s how I want to play,” Joshi said.

Joshi and his family see themselves as Federer fans forever.

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

Fondness for basketball

Junior Jessy Hirsch, dresses head to toe in red when she watches sports. An avid Stanford fan, Hirsch attends Stanford basketball games with her entire family on a regular basis.

“I used to spray paint my hair red for games and have ‘Stanford’ written across my face in red,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch, whose father attended Stanford, holds season passes to basketball games along with the rest of her family. And after attending so many games, they aren’t afraid to hold back when it comes to expressing their enthusiasm.

“Our whole family would start dancing in the stands to get onto the dance cam,” Hirsch said.

Despite having a family that lives and breathes Stanford basketball, Hirsch doesn’t classify herself as a sports fan. Instead she describes her relationship with sports as a developed fondness.

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

DECEMBER 18, 2013

r.mak@elestoque.org|r.shaik@elestoque.org 37

SPORTS

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

BY LYDIA SEO AND ROBERT SULGIT

Fantasy football brings together students, teachers alike

W

hether you’re grading papers or avoiding writing them, fantasy football is a hobby that anyone can get involved in.

Fantasy football players of any skill level can be found among the students and staff members at Monta Vista. The inclusive game appeals to anyone from veteran students to beginner teachers.

Junior Aunoy Poddar has played fantasy football for about four years. His interest began in the eighth grade when his friends began a fantasy football league. Poddar, who had played football and watched professional games, decided to join in. Ever since, fantasy football has been an annual recreational activity for him.

“It’s not that time-consuming,” Poddar said. “It’s [something] that you play with your friends.”

On the opposite side of the player spectrum is World Studies and AVID teacher Jackie Kolbeck, who has recently entered the world of fantasy football. Like Poddar,

Kolbeck was introduced to the sport by a friend who set up a league.

Although she had enjoyed watching football, avidly followed the 49ers football team and knew the game’s rules, Kolbeck lacked knowledge of the different professional players and their stats. After much research, she created her team. She enjoys playing in her league, and is currently ranked third.

“My fiancé and I are in the same league, so any time we try to trade players with one another, the rest of the league vetoes the trade because they think that we’re colluding with each other,” Kolbeck said.

“People are very protective.”

Both Poddar and Kolbeck agree that fantasy sports are inclusive to athletes and nonathletes alike.

“I wouldn’t consider myself a stereotypical football person or a fantasy football person,” Kolbeck said. “But there’s so much information out there that I could learn enough about the sport.”

The same is true for science teacher Kyle Jones, who began playing fantasy football when he was in high school.

“There’s so much more around it now than when I started, there are so many websites now dedicated to fantasy sports, and there [are] all these websites about fantasy advice,” Jones said. “I think there [are] a lot more people in it for the fun rather than the real dedicated people that were around when I first started.”

Fantasy football is equal parts serious and fun. There is even a league in Nebraska that chooses a tattoo that the loser must get, but not all fantasy leagues are as serious as that one.

“My math teacher, [Joe] Kim, last year, he was in my basketball fantasy league, and my handle name was kind of inappropriate,” Poddar said. “I forgot that he was in the league, so he ended up seeing the handle name, and in class the next day, he made fun of me in front of the entire class.” l.seo@elestoque.org | r.sulgit@elestoque.org

BASICS What it is: • A predictive football simulation game How the rules work: • A league of players, or managers, that usually consists of 10-12 people who each manage their own virtual team of real NFL players.

• Each week every manager selects a lineup of players from those that they either drafted or picked up off the player pool.

• Managers get points based on their players‘ real life performances.

When and where it takes place: • Players choose their first lineup before the season starts • The game continues when the actual NFL teams play.

Catherine Lockwood | El Estoque

38

EL ESTOQUE

SPORTS FLASH

Boxed Out 1 Senior co-captain Stephanie Jennings dribbles the ball up the court in a game against Evergreen Valley High School on Dec. 3. MVHS won the game by a score of 44-41. Led by cocaptains Jennings, senior Jacqueline L. Yee and senior Tiffany Tsai, the team entered the Glenn Ventura Classic tournament the next day. The Matadors won their first game of the tournament against Pioneer High School on Dec. 4 but lost in the second round to Mission San Jose High School 41-38. The next day the team lost 54-51 to Soquel High School.

To keep up with the latest MVHS sports news, visit elestoque. org/category/sports

BY NATHAN DESAI Accurate as of Dec. 13

Into the Wall 2 Senior Alice Johnson chases a Gunn High School defender to the ball on Dec. 7. The team lost against GHS, its third consecutive match without a win. The team has struggled to find its form this season. After the Matadors’ first four matches, the team had only scored one goal. Freshman Kalpana Gopalkrishnan has scored the team’s lone goal of the season, which came in the opening match against Fremont High School. The team is yet to win, with a 1-1 draw to FHS and three losses.

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Ruba Shaik | El Estoque

3

Amol Pande | El Estoque

DECEMBER 18, 2013

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Past the Keeper 3 Junior co-captain Brad Ohadi attempts to steal the ball from a Valley Christian High School defender in the team’s match on Dec. 5. The Matadors drew the match 1-1 with the lone MVHS goal from junior Chatty Adiga. Ohadi has scored five goals in five matches so far this season, including two in the Matadors’ opener against Terra Nova High School on Nov. 26. The team won 4-1 against TNHS with the other two goals scored by freshman Ori Lavi. Lavi has three goals so far this season having scored the third against Soquel High School on Dec. 9. Ohadi scored two goals within two minutes in that match to give the Matadors the lead with 20 minutes remaining. He also scored a last-minute goal against Westmoor High School on Dec. 7 to get the Matadors a draw.

MVHS’ only loss of the season so far was on Dec. 13 to Fremont High School. Aside from the loss, the team has three wins and two draws so far this season. The team’s strong defense has shined also with an average of only one goal conceded per match.

Colin Ni | El Estoque

n.desai@elestoque.org 39

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