Volume 48, Issue 6, March 7, 2018 by El Estoque

March 2018

elESTOQUE Monta Vista High School

Issue VI Volume XLVIII

6 NEWS

16 OPINION

31 A&E

34 SPORTS

Students and staff share what brings them joy

The MVHS community reflects on the growing fear of nuclear war

Unraveling the stigma behind car modification

Divers and coaches from various schools find ways to collaborate

NEWS

OPINION

IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Students and staff reflect on what brings them joy IN TIMES OF WAR Cupertino residents reflect on personal experiences

HANDLING DISHONESTY MVHS teachers discuss academic code violations in their classrooms

COSTLY CHOICES Examining the impact of AP exam fees

A&E

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

The MVHS community reflects on the growing fear of nuclear war

AP STRESSIN’ Students unnecessarily worry about AP testing

COPY AND PASTE Cheating is a product of our culture

REPUTATIONS: PROM Students’ opinions on Junior Prom and Senior Ball

IN DUE TIME Students and teachers discuss each generation’s transition into adulthood

SPORTS

A MODIFIED CULTURE

ON BOARD

Unraveling the stigma behind car modification

Divers and coaches from various schools find ways to collaborate

CRISP, SWEET, SAVORY DIY recipes using pears

STRAYING AWAY How the MVHS mascot lost its ties to bullfighting

SYMPHONY OF SENSES Exploring the experiences of synesthetes

PASSING THE BIRDIE Badminton team adjusts to frequent coaching changes

WRITE FOR YOU Reviews of the best pens and highlighters

UP THE RANKS Girls soccer team has first winning season in seven years

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NEW IN TOWN MVHS drama department prepares for the spring musical

SPORTS FLASH A wrap-up of the past month of MVHS sports

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES WEIGHT THROUGH THE AGES How people of different ages feel about weight 0

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

PILLAR OF SUPPORT How family influences perspectives on weight

CRUMBLING UNDER THE WEIGHT

PAINS AND GAINS

A staff member’s reflection on self love in her childhood

MVHS students and staff discuss the effects of gaining weight by bulking

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS... T he numbers on the scale shift back and forth, manipulated by circumstances like age and genetics. Naturally as we grow, our bodies change and so does our weight. But sometimes the numbers shift due to external factors. The pressure of finals pushes some to stress eat and others to lose their appetite. Listening to advertisements promoting supposedly “healthy” diets can cause our weights to drop — at least temporarily. And a holiday full of potlucks and parties and sleepovers might lead to some weight gain, followed conveniently by New Year’s resolutions to hit the gym. For most of us, these aren’t things we pay much attention to. We simply let our weight follow its own course, only stepping on a scale every few months or at every visit to the doctor. But for others, those numbers take on a vastly different significance because of family expectations or societal beauty standards. The societal stigma of how one is supposed to look affects people differently and at different ages. As an oblivious six year old, our priorities were more likely to be playing on playgrounds rather than worrying about the weight we could gain by eating that piece of birthday cake. As teenagers and young adults, weight can begin to take on more, well, weight, as social media and advertisements in mass media force feed us messages about accepted beauty standards. And if that wasn’t troubling enough, sometimes the messages about beauty that we receive contradict each other. On pages 20-21, reporters Zara Iqbal and Claire Yang take a look at how different age groups view weight. Being that many of us at MVHS are children of immigrants, our parents can have vastly different views of beauty. And even within families, views on weight can vary. Although one side of our family may think we’re beautiful, others we are surrounded by might say otherwise. On page 22, reporters Karen Sanchez and Vivian Chiang explore the ways that our families and heritage can affect our perception of weight. While some are focused on weight itself, others are also focused on muscle mass. On pages 24-25, reporters Om Khandekar, Chetana Ramaiyer and Anjini Venugopal cover the way some individuals seek to gain muscle mass through a practice known as bulking. Bulking is the practice of increasing caloric intake and exercising more to spark muscle growth, before then reducing caloric intake back to a more regular amount. For some, the act of bulking is motivated by appearance. For others, the purpose of bulking is simply to gain strength. Yet in the end, what’s important is still our own perceptions of weight. Even if our magazines and cultures dictate that we are too light or too heavy, we get the final say about our own bodies. And even though we all have things we’d like to change about ourselves, it’s not up to those outside influences to pressure us into making that change. Yes, the numbers on the scale will shift — it’s inevitable and sometimes the change will be beyond of our control. But the weight those numbers carry — that we allow them to carry — that’s something that we can control.

Ananya Bhat

Ilena Peng

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

Editors-in-chief: Ananya Bhat, Ilena Peng Managing editors: Aanchal Garg, Om Khandekar, Akshara Majjiga, Chetana Ramaiyer, Priya Reddy Copy editors: Emma Lam, Karen Ma, Andrea Schlitt Web editor: Daniel Lin Design editor: Elizabeth Han News editors: Claire Chang, Gauri Kaushik, ZaZu Lippert, Jai Uparkar Sports editors: Rana Aghababazadeh, Roshan Fernandez, Sannidhi Menon, Anthony Moll Entertainment editors: Sara Entezar, Shar Rahman, Michelle Wong, Himani Yalamaddi Opinion editors: Ruth Feng, Songjun Na, Mallika Singh, Nate Stevens Feature editors: Helen Chao, Vivian Chiang, Katerina Pappas, Karen Sanchez Beats editors: Bill Cheng, Anjini Venugopal Business editor: Shayon Moradi Public relations editor: Jennie Chen Visuals editors: Sunjin Chang, Ankit Gupta, Rajas Habbu, Stuti Upadhyay, Anish Vasudevan, Jacob Wee Staff writers: Robert Borrego, Anirudh Chaudhary, Charlotte Chui, Aditya Dash, Aditi Gnanasekar, Alyssa Hui, Zara Iqbal, Shuvi Jha, Ria Kolli, Sreya Kumar, Hannah Lee, Jasmine Lee, Carol Lei, Maggie McCormick, Andrea Perng, Jahan Razavi, Ishani Singh, Rucha Soman, Swara Tewari, Chelsea Wong, Emily Xia, Claire Yang, Julia Yang, Sarah Young Adviser: Julia Satterthwaite 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. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | ELIZABETH HAN

Cupertino residents reflect on their personal experiences during the Vietnam War BY CLAIRE CHANG AND SHUVI JHA

t the height of the Vietnam War, American soldiers entered the village of My Lai, opening fire on and killing over 500 innocent Vietnamese men, women and children. March 16, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of what is known today as the My Lai massacre, an event which highlights the anger and anti-war sentiments felt by American citizens and the trauma suffered by the Vietnamese. Fifty years later, student advocate Richard Prinz describes his experience as a passionate anti-war, anti-violence protester. A college student at UC Berkeley at the time, Prinz, like many of his peers, was critical of the U.S.’s involvement in the conflict and participated in a series of marches to call for immediate change. EL ESTOQUE: Could you tell me about your experience during the Vietnam war protests at UC Berkeley and what you learned from it? RICHARD PRINZ: I came from Fresno, so going from there to Berkeley was a big change. My second, third and fourth year were all fraught with demonstrations. A state of emergency was imposed on the campus and surrounding area so that meant you couldn’t be out after nine o’clock. There were times there [were] police stationed on every corner near the campus. There was barbed wire in the streets and the national guard. I lived in a dorm a block from Sproul Plaza [the site of various social protest at Berkeley during the Vietnam War], and I could look down and see this barbed wire and [the] police with fixed bayonets. So that was the kind of atmosphere.

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EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

RP: The Alameda County sheriff had blue overalls on, and they had two thousand John Doe warrants, so they could arrest anybody for anything — they didn’t have to have a reason. And they would drive down the street and sometimes just throw tear gas out of their car, just to put a damper on everything. My campus life was very unsettled. Some professors would say, ‘I can’t ask you to come on campus, it’s too dangerous, so here’s a book list, read the books, write a paper, turn it in to me.’ RP: One day I decided I would get into this march where there were people in Sproul Plaza protesting with signs, walking around in a circle, which was illegal. They had made every group of three or more a group that they could break up and arrest people. I decided that this [cause] was really worthwhile; I had forgotten about that. I didn’t even get around the circle, and somebody yelled police and I ran. I ran up into the student union. It’s several stories high, like 10 or more. I just ran up all the stairs to get away. And I looked down and I saw police chasing people with their billy clubs. They would chase people and grab them. One day I was walking back to my dorm after I’d been away during that day — there had been a lot of protests — and all of a sudden I was crossing the street and the tear gas was still in the air from the day [but] you can’t see it. And I was blinded and I remember going down on a knee; somebody came and helped me back onto the sidewalk and it kind of cleared up and I was okay. A lot of that [protest] was the Vietnam War. It was very hard. OT O|

RP: In retrospect, I was really happy for the experience because it really KH AN woke me up to the world and DE KA R what’s important [aside

from] just grades and studying for classes and getting a job. And also later it showed [how during] the Vietnam war there were a lot of lies, like Watergate and the Pentagon Papers, and that Nixon was kind of a crook. RP: [There] was a worldwide social movement at the time, and it was amazing to see people, instead of just going along the treadmill and getting stressed out and blaming themselves for how they were feeling, [see] that there was something that needed to be changed in society, and then actually tried to do something about it. I didn’t like the violence, so that kind of led me to the question [of] how [to] make social change without violence. So that led me to traveling after university and finding meditation and getting involved with that; it was a very transformative experience. So although it was troublesome and painful, I was fortunate to be there at that time. EE: What motivated you to participate in the protests? RP: I was born in 1949 [after] World War II had happened, so I knew about that. My dad had served, and then there was the Korean War and now here’s the Vietnam War. And so my meditation teacher pointed out that perhaps if we hadn’t been brought up in all these wars and all this tension and all this threat of nuclear war, then maybe we wouldn’t have been pacifists. But it got us to say wars are no good; it’s not good to be treating each other this way. So I think I had that in me. I didn’t like fighting, I didn’t fight in high school, so that was a big question I left university with: how do you change society without violence?

escaped the wrath of communist soldiers from the North, Gustafson’s story is that of survival and determination. From living in overcrowded refugee camps to witnessing firsthand the horrors of battle to departing her home without her parents, Gustafson expresses that there’s not a day that goes by when she doesn’t think about the events from the Vietnam War. EL ESTOQUE: How old were you at the time of the Vietnam War? TU GUSTAFSON: I was born when the war was already happening. I was born in 1957 in the South [of Vietnam]. My parents were from the North, and they escaped in 1954 going South, so I was born a few years after that.

BELOW: Gustafson, pictured on the very left, sits with her mother and siblings in a Vietnamese garden. The family lived in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975.

your life, you have your parents with you, and all of a sudden, they’re not there. You can’t believe it, and I remember I just cried. I remember my dad would wipe away our tears, and he hugged us and he said, “Children, you don’t know how bad communists are; you have to leave because when they take over, you won’t have this life.” And he actually leaned down and begged us. In our culture, you only lean down for mercy. Parents never lean down. We are children and we do that to our parents, so I remember he leaned down and said, “I beg you all, you have to leave.” And then the car came, and my mom and dad said, “Just go, we will come with you.” So we get in the car, and that is the last time I saw my dad. Six months later, he passed away. e

SUN JIN CHA NG

EE: What was your family’s experience living and going to the refugee camp? TG: I was told that my mother put all her jewelry on her, if she had bangles or rings, she put it on herself and layers and layers of clothing on herself and on her children and escaped to the camps. When she reached the South, she sold all her jewelry to buy food for the entire family. And then my father joined the army, so the life at the time is of course very hard because the ladies have no choice [but] to do everything, to buy food for the children with whatever they have.

EE: When Saigon fell in 1975 at the hands of communist soldiers, how did you feel? TG: That was a bad day. My sisters were working for the American embassy at the time, so they were informed that they would get to leave Vietnam. My dad said to us that we, meaning his children, should all leave because we cannot live with the communists. I was 18 at the time, still too young to know much, so it didn’t get to my head that I would be leaving Vietnam without my parents. I was just a child; I thought “I will be wherever my parents are,” so I didn’t think he was being serious. TG: When we were about to leave, I remember crying a lot because now I knew he was serious, that my father was not gonna come with me. All

BELOW LEFT: Gustafson rides her bike with her younger sister sitting behind. For most of her life, Gustafson’s siblings have been her biggest supporters.

| TO PHO

EE: How did your parents escape from the North? TG: When my parents escaped, my father was actually captured by the Communists. They came and they took him away, and put him in jail to try to execute him. But you know, he was lucky because one of the servants there helped him. [Once] he escaped from there, he came home and said goodbye to my grandmother. [When] my grandmother passed away, they had a funeral and everything, and escaped with my brothers and sisters to a refugee camp where [my moms, my siblings and dad] found each other again.

EE: What was your first experience with the war? TG: I had no taste of war until 1968, when the communists attacked Hue. 1968 was the year of the monkey, and the name is: mau phan. They attacked us on the New Year, which in our tradition, means celebrating the first three days of the year with relatives and family members. That is the best day of the year. It is part of our culture, but the North took advantage of that. Nobody prepared for war or anything like that, so of course we were murdered. I remember, no markets were open. Everybody stayed inside the house, everybody was very quiet, people [hid] because of the shootings and the bombings. I remember the neighbors were screaming and crying and yelling because they saw a body float up from the water, and that was one of the neighbors killed by the communists.

LEFT: Gustafson poses for the camera in traditional white Vietnamese wear. At this time, in 1975, Gustafson was 18 years old and escaped Vietnam to go to the U.S.

NEWS

u Gustafson shares her memories of the war, particularly how the friction between democratic Southern forces and communist Northern forces impacted her family. Born in South Vietnam to parents who

NEWS | MARCH 2018

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IN PURSUIT OF

Happiness

Students and staff reflect on what brings them joy BY RIA KOLLI AND ZAZU LIPPERT

PHOTO I ZAZU LIPPERT

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

appiness: that elusive feeling of elation, the motivation behind many human actions. People buy cosmetic products because they believe that reaching a certain societal standard of beauty will make them happy. They compare test scores because they believe that happiness comes from outperforming others. They put off having fun as they wait for the long-term reward that they hope will come later on in life. Yet according to the 2017 World Happiness Report, happiness in America is at a 10-year low. In 2011, to address the issue of unhappiness around the globe, the U.N. decided to designate March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. In light of happiness day, here’s a peek at how MVHS students and staff find happiness in their daily lives. Student advocate Richard Prinz sits in his office and gazes at his large whiteboard, which showcases students’ thoughts and feelings. Given his psychotherapy license and his experience talking to MVHS students about their emotional issues, he understands that happiness can come in many different forms. Prinz believes that sometimes people are so caught up in ensuring their future happiness that they forget to appreciate what is happening in the moment. “[Happiness is] identifying with something that’s bigger than just temporary things,” Prinz said. “It is not going to your target college, because then you get there and then you think, ‘If I only had a good job, then I’d be happy. Only if I had a partner in life, then I’d be happy. You’re always putting your happiness off.’” PE teacher Dasha Plaza says she makes a conscious effort to live in the moment, taking pleasure from the little moments of beauty in her life. “When I drive off to work, I actually look at the sky and notice how beautiful the colors are,” Plaza said. “Because life is too short, and I think the more you pay attention to your surroundings, the more you notice, the louder the music of nature [becomes, and] everything becomes more

Top, from left: Dasha Plaza performs the standing bow yoga pose at a beach in Krabi, Thailand. Right: Student advocate Richard Prinz’s whiteboard contains motivational messages written by students who come to see him. Bottom, from left: Sophomore Kevin Sun works on a hat for an upcoming performance. His job as costumer encompasses the creation of both large garments and detailed accessories. Right: Dasha Plaza poses for a photo at a Nutcracker performance. Beyond being a dance teacher, she still makes the time to perform whenever she can. DASHA PLAZA I PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION

PHOTO I ZAZU LIPPERT

vibrant.” everything, because the rewards are big, Prinz notes that different people find such as when he helped with the costumes happiness in their own ways. Some people for the fall play this past year. put their happiness off, believing that it “[When I saw my pieces onstage for will come from delayed gratification, while ‘She Kills Monsters’], it was like ‘Wow, I others seek immediate pleasure, but often did that,’” Sun said. “[The costumes] could face regret later. be really different from another person’s “We just go with the first thought that point of view, and it’s really cool to see how comes up in the mind, ‘I hate homework,’ I helped Mrs. Capule [and the assistant and then we reinforce it by telling ourselves directors] portray [their] vision of what the that over and over show would look and then it becomes SCAN FOR MORE like.” a habitual thought,” This growth COVERAGE Prinz said. “Once it mindset and becomes habitual, focus on passions we start to believe is something that [it] and then [it] becomes a truth, and then Plaza implements in her daily life. Every we spread it around others and then it day, she begins her fourth period PE Dance becomes part of the community.” class by asking her students if they’ve paid Sophomore Kevin Sun, a member of attention to the weather. the MVHS drama community, finds his “Did you look at all the blossoms on happiness through making costumes for the trees today? It’s such a beautiful day drama productions. But for Sun, creating outside!” she says as her students roll out a balance between his passions and other mats and grab resistance bands. commitments is something that took time. For Plaza, happiness is all perspective. Like most students at MVHS, Sun can’t She says she doesn’t see herself as the spend all of his time doing what he loves. same person as she was a year ago or With many other extracurriculars and a even yesterday. Today, her happiness can constant amount of schoolwork, he has had to find a balance. PHOTO I ZAZU LIPPERT “The beginning of freshman year, I had this fixed mindset, as they call it, where I had to get really good grades and that’s all that mattered,” Sun said. “I wasn’t really passionate about a lot of the stuff I was learning about in school, but I still made that my very first priority. But towards the end of freshman year and maybe early sophomore year actually […] I kind of shifted to more of a growth mindset where I focused more on learning.” Sun doesn’t necessarily prioritize one over the other, but rather makes time for his passions along with his responsibilities, balancing his time spent in the drama department’s stash of costumes with a needle and thread with time spent doing homework. For him, this balance is

stem from the assurance of knowing that her family is healthy or being greeted by a student as she walks onto campus. Plaza takes these little moments of happiness with her to the studio, using music and movement to express herself. When she can let go of worries about whether her choreography or movements measure up to anyone else’s, and she can just trust herself and become one with everything around her, she feels truly happy. It makes her feel grounded and at one with nature, connected spiritually to everything around her in a way that’s far from tangible. And even as a dance teacher who focuses on music and movement, mental health through connectivity and happiness is just as important to her as physical health, because she feels that both mental and physical well-being are necessary to balance a person. “The physical shell of who we are doesn’t really mean much,” Plaza said. “It’s [being healthy in your mind and your heart], nourished and balanced and that goes back to happiness [...] I believe that a lot of times, happiness [...] is the source of life.” e DASHA PLAZA I PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION

NEWS | MARCH 2018

HANDLING DISHO MVHS teachers discuss academic code violations in their classrooms

BY SUNJIN CHANG AND ILENA PENG

hether it be sneaking peeks at other papers, storing answers from tests on graphing calculators, copying homework or asking for test questions. From a survey of 298 students, 56% of MVHS students have admitted to violating the academic integrity policy at least once. In response, teachers have developed strategies to minimize cheating in their classes, as well as their own ideas of what an academic code violation should look like in the context of the classes they teach. “Sadly, it is a part of our culture,” English teacher Vennessa Nava said. “I think that it has been so normalized that people just take it as a given.” Students turn in a signed document every August pledging to follow the guidelines of FUHSD’s academic integrity policy, which considers actions like copying homework assignments and using electronic devices on tests to be policy violations. But year after year, students fail to follow them. History teacher Robyn Brostowicz has caught students with notes scribbled on their hands, and now she has her students wave their hands in the air before each test or quiz. “I have students give a quick jazz hands hello,” Brostowicz said. “I think it also gives a little bit of test relief or a little stress release […] having students smile before they go into the test [and] take a deep breath, but at the same time showing me their [hands].” Most recently, one of Brostowicz’s students violated the academic integrity policy on an

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

PHOTOS | SUNJIN CHANG

essay. Even though Brostowicz agrees that suspended or if we have any reason to the pressure of the limited time students doubt a student’s integrity,” Goldenkranz have to complete their work combined said. “Ninety-nine percent [of the time] with the anxiety of doing well can motivate we have no reason to doubt a student’s a student to violate the academic integrity integrity, [but in rare cases] we have to policy, she expresses her belief that it’s characterize a student who made a mistake always more important to be honest. versus a student who is making the same “As a teacher and as a parent, I would mistake over and over again.” hope that we were molding people to As an administration, they respect be good and the decisions honest people AS A TEACHER AND AS A PARENT, teachers make and citizens I WOULD HOPE THAT WE WERE r e g a r d i n g moving forward cheating in their MOLDING PEOPLE TO BE GOOD d e p a r t m e n t . outside of the classroom,” AND HONEST PEOPLE AND As long as the Brostowicz CITIZENS MOVING FORWARD students get the said. “I try to message about OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM. reiterate that […] the severity of even though the academic HISTORY TEACHER ROBYN BROSTOWICZ an anxiety may be code violation, high in that you’re short on time, ultimately the mission of leading students in the right doing the right thing is more important.” direction is complete. Assistant principal Andrew Goldenkranz “Some teachers use [this as] a teachable addresses the common misconception moment [while others] have a fixed surrounding academic dishonesty reports response,” Goldenkranz said. “In a world to colleges. The administration believes in where the rules are not clear, I think part giving students a second chance in cases of of our teaching job is to help clarify [those] minor offenses as it ends with a contact to rules for students.” the parents of the student. Even among teachers, the academic “Generally our perspective with colleges integrity policy has some gray areas that — with very few exceptions — [is that] are subject to dispute. There seems to be a we do not want to define students by the thin line between collaborating and sharing mistakes they make,” Goldenkranz said. ideas and using opinions from others “We want to define them by the things that without permission, particularly in the they do well.” English department. However when these policies are taken All students in advantage of again and again, or Honors American when the offense is serious, Literature classes the school takes action write an author to contact colleges. study during The administration is second semester, also willing to speak to where they read the colleges regarding multiple books the student’s integrity by one author when necessary. and write a “School reports research paper ask us if a analyzing the works student has as a whole. Although ever been Nava encourages students to talk about the books with others studying the same author, she says that the ideas should still be conveyed differently on assignments. “If they have the same

HONESTY articulation of ideas then that is crossing the line for sure,” Nava said. “Even when we talk about things in class, everyone still has their own take on the topics we’re talking about.” Having taught AP biology for years, Pamela Chow has witnessed students copying information from upperclassmen who had taken the course previously on several occasions. This eventually led to the formation of contracts regarding previous students sharing information. “Now we ask students to sign a paper at the end of the year basically acknowledging that we hope they save their AP biology work, but [that] they shouldn’t be handing that off to another student who’s going to be taking AP biology in the future,” Chow said. “That could get them and the student they handed it off to in trouble if the student decides to copy anything from them.” AP biology students complete two problem sets for every unit, each including conceptual questions where students are supposed to apply the knowledge they’ve acquired from lectures and textbook readings. Originally, both problem sets were assigned as homework. Yet upon discovering that students were copying answers from each other, Chow and AP biology teacher Renee Fallon decided to allow students to take the first problem set home if unable to finish it in class, but to have the second individual problem set completed in class so that teachers could prevent the information from being spread. Although Chow knows that she can’t control whether people discuss the individual problem sets outside of class, she hopes that keeping the paper in the classroom helps minimize cheating. “At least their work’s theirs, as they’re doing it in class and the problem sets have not gone home,” Chow said. “Honestly, I don’t

think this is a perfect process yet, but it’s hopefully moving towards encouraging students to do it for the sake of learning it as opposed to doing it to get it done.” Similarly, French teacher Sarah Finck gives very few substantial assignments to be completed outside of class in order to avoid cheating. That decision was in part motivated by an experience she had during her first year at MVHS, when she assigned students a poem analysis and received many versions with advanced language that was above the level of what a student would have. “What I would consider academic dishonesty would be submitting a full sentence that I would say the student would be incapable of creating on their own,” Finck said. In many language classes, Google Translate and other translation softwares are considered a violation of the academic integrity policy. Finck explains that it tends to be fairly obvious when students have plagiarized off of a website since the phrasing will be unusually sophisticated. But sometimes, Finck doesn’t notice the more subtle usage of translation softwares where the vocabulary is typically not within the students’ realm of knowledge. “I would argue that that is the kind of learning that you almost want — that a student says ‘Here’s a new verb, I’m going to try out this tense online somehow and then use my brain to think about how it should be and put it in,’” Finck said. The fine arts department is also subject to academic code violations. Photography and multimedia teacher Tyler Cripe believes that the false stigma surrounding cheating in the department is wrong. “We don’t treat photography different than we would teach English or something like that,” Cripe said. “There have been cases in the department where we have had to escalate that to academic code violations and [the student is] always shocked that can happen in a creative class, but of course we are no different from any other department.” However, the

line between cheating and collaborating in art is different from other departments. Cripe believes that if a student takes on a project and requests help in a certain step, it is considered collaborating. When that line is crossed and the final product does not originate from the student, he considers that cheating. Cripe spoke from his experience when he left a personal photographic print in the darkroom, only to find it later as a student’s final print. He assumes that the student had felt pressure from a deadline and had made the decision to cut a corner by turning in Cripe’s print. Cripe decided to play along but decided later to confront the student. “Whether I should have escalated that as a code of violation or not, I felt like I got my point across and I gave the student a second chance, and he never did it again,” Cripe said. “I think that was one of those gray areas where it could have gone either way.” Cripe says that teachers understand that students can make mistakes as they are still young. “We try to be as human as possible in [understanding] that you are still learning to be adults and how to survive in the world,” Cripe said. “We are just trying to hold up the best examples and let everybody know that there will be consequences when those things happen.” e

NEWS | MARCH 2018

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF PIXABAY

COSTLY CHOICES Examining the impact of AP exam fees

College 5 miles ahead

BY JENNIE CHEN

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EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

I AT

US ILL

any aspects factor into the $94 to go into that test and do everything in to cover standard fee for each College their power to perform well because I think it, I’d be Board AP exam — paying experts that they have pride in their school, pride like, ‘I’ll take to write exam questions, printing and in their family and, most importantly, pride just distribution and paying graders to grade in who they are and who they’ve become,” it because Flores said. why not?’” the free response questions. According to the College Board’s AP Qi also College Board’s website states that schools pay them $85 per exam, and Report to the Nation, California was one believes that the receive a $9 rebate. Due to the higher fee of the states that exceeded the national having covered of $105, MVHS receives a $20 rebate, average of graduates scoring a three or fees which goes towards paying the proctors, higher. Florida, also above the national would cause a and is occasionally used to help cover the average, is one of the leading states in the decrease in the expansion of AP programs. According to the quality of student cost of testing tables and facility rentals. for Junior Ashley Lin, who is taking five AP Orlando Sentinel, one of its main efforts to preparation exams this year, feels that the exam fee is boost exam participation has come from the exams. Despite assisting students with AP exam fees. this, Qi feels that not a significant burden to her family. Flores believes covering AP exam costs exam fees should “If [AP exams] allow you to skip a college class, you’re going to save money at MVHS would be cost prohibitive, adding still be lower. U l t i m a t e l y, ultimately,” Lin said. “And even if [you on to the already quarter of a million dollars believes think the cost isn’t] reasonable, you’re still that MVHS pays THE MVHS STUDENT Flores that students [choosing] to take the AP exam. You could College Board. Based on data IS GOING [...] TO should place also choose not to take [it].” by DO EVERYTHING IN more emphasis Senior Grace Qi, who is taking four AP collected on their own exams this year, sees paying the fee as C h a l l e n g e THEIR POWER TO wellbeing and accepting responsibility for studying for Success in 2014 passions over the test. And although her parents view and 2016, an PERFORM WELL the amount of the fee as expensive, they are willing to average MVHS NICO FLORES AP exams they pay. Additionally, Qi believes that students student takes should be mindful of how they want to use three AP exams. Any higher, and Flores try to take. thinks the stress and workload becomes “If anything, I AP credit. “It just depends on your major,” Qi said. unmanageable. Instead, Flores would [hope students can that],” “I don’t think you would want to use credit rather support student wellbeing, anxiety consider from an AP Physics class to skip a college and stress management, which he believes Flores said. “[And not] because [engineering] class, and keep going with are far more valuable than any AP exam. “If we tried to push and stretch MVHS, everyone else is only that [as a] foundation. I would rather I think we would be ignoring what we feel doing it or you think just retake the course.” is the right thing that that’s the only Flores views AP for MVHS,” way you can get exams as a doubleSCAN FOR MORE Flores said. into college.” e edged sword — “[Which is] to there’s potential COVERAGE make sure we’re benefit in that the nurturing and AP exam cost is we’re reminding only a fraction of the cost of the same course in college, but kids [to pursue things] in a healthy and also a chance that colleges won’t accept the stable manner.’” Lin wonders whether paying for the AP credits. Based on a Progressive Policy Institute study by economist Paul Weinstein exams is something schools are obligated Jr., 86 percent of colleges restrict AP credit to do. To her, Florida’s measures may result in some way, such as limiting AP subject in more AP exams being taken, but they areas that count for credit or capping the may also bring unintended consequences, such as people choosing to take AP tests number of credits awarded per student. Furthermore, Flores believes that they might not be prepared for. “Last year I considered taking AP Physics money isn’t what truly drives students to 2, and in the end I [thought] ‘I’m probably take the exams. “If [College Board] charged $1 or not going to study and it costs a lot of charged $1000, the MVHS student is going money,’” Lin said. “But if MVHS was going

Students unnecessarily worry over Advanced Placement tests BY RUTH FENG

THE PRESSURE IS ON, as Advanced Placement, AP testing season, fast approaches. A common question heard around campus is “how many AP tests are you taking?” With our competitive culture, it’s easy to feel like you’re never doing enough.

OPINION

AP STRESSIN’

DON’T GIVE IN TO THE PRESSURE. At the end of the day, do only what you can handle because numbers don’t

define us. e

OPINION | MARCH 2018

copyandpaste Cheating is a product of the competitition culture, not the other way around

e’ve all had those weeks. The cheating. At the end of the day, is it the other people or from online, which, under weeks where it feels like there’s students’ fault that they cheat on work that FUHSD’s Academic Integrity policy, is a test was assigned technically cheating. The fact that such in each period, for the sake of cheating is so prolific at MVHS means that 1 where it feels like busy work? students often prioritize their grade over every teacher MEANINGFULLY DOING THE The answer their learning, and that is a sign of a deeply forgot students WORK AND CARING ENOUGH should be a rooted problem stemming from the attitudes have other classes, r e s o u n d i n g of both students and teachers. Obviously, where it feels like NOT TO CHEAT ALMOST ONLY no. If anything, the school’s competitive environment and there isn’t enough HAPPENS WHEN THE WORK, AND students are status as a survival school contributes, but time in the day CONSEQUENTLY THE LEARNING learning to it then becomes the responsibility of both to get everything p r i o r i t i z e students and teachers to adapt. done. So we cut THAT IS INTENDED TO COME OUT certain tasks Adapting means teachers and students out valuable sleep OF IT, MATTERS MORE THAN THE over others, should communicate effectively with in order to make GRADE. like studying each other, drawing the line between time for work. for a difficult valuable work and busy work, and between And after the dust test over collaboration and cheating, taking into settles and we get a moment to breathe, doing 10 essentially identical problems out account that students have many other we ask ourselves: was it worth it? Was it of a workbook. Skipping the assignment classes to juggle and teachers want to give worth the sleep deprivation to get pages of completely is an option, sure. But more students the ability to put into practice the problems done? What did we learn from often than lessons them? Did we learn from them at all? not, however that they And with the seemingly endless classes pointless the take away comes even more work. A lot of the time, work, it’s still from the the homework teachers assign holds necessary to class. little to no real educational value — it’s do it because I t ’ s OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE considered busy work. Instead of spending even just one important our time studying for a test the next day zero has the to keep in EDITORIAL BOARD or writing an essay, busy work distracts potential to mind that students by making them complete tedious tank a grade. cheating is tasks. Oftentimes, our priorities should be For many students, it’s a simple not behavior only associated with students elsewhere, but the daily grind of homework question of their priorities.Meaningfully struggling in a class. It is common to see can interfere with those priorities. doing the work and caring enough not to students copy their homework but still In order to get everything done, we turn cheat almost only happens when the work, understand the content of the class and to our classmates 2 and consequently thriving, which should be a sign to all of and the Internet the learning that MVHS — students and teachers — that we for answers that THE FACT THAT SUCH CHEATING is intended to need to reassess what truly makes cheating we can easily IS SO PROLIFIC AT MVHS MEANS come out of it, wrong or bad. copy. In fact, holds a higher Copying off of another person’s THAT STUDENTS OFTEN out of a survey priority than the homework does not necessarily make you of 303 students, PRIORITIZE THEIR GRADES OVER grade. But for the a bad person. More likely, it is a survival 82 percent have THEIR LEARNING, AND THAT IS vast majority of skill to try and manage the difficult course copied homework busy work MVHS load typical of MVHS. If someone is able A SIGN OF A DEEPLY ROOTED answers from students are so to be successful in a class without needing a friend or an PROBLEM STEMMING FROM THE accustomed to to complete busy work, we shouldn’t look online source. It ATTITUDES OF BOTH STUDENTS seeing, that is down on that. But if a student cheats on may be deemed not the case. The homework and then does poorly on an AND TEACHERS. cheating to some, points, or lack of exam, it says to the teacher that the work but to many, it’s a points, often have a student put in wasn’t sufficient, and more way of staying afloat in MVHS’ demanding a bigger impact than whatever benefits needs to be done on the student’s part. environment, and others don’t view it come out of copying answers from sources As it stands right now, copying another as cheating at all: out of a survey of 299 besides our own thinking. person’s homework is viewed more or less students, 62 percent said that they did not To make sure that our grades remain as a universal sin. Tt is perceived to indicate consider copying homework answers to be intact, we frequently copy answers from a moral deficiency, but many students do

STAFF EDITORIAL

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

it anyway in order to stay afloat. But from that build on learning, both students and a teacher’s perspective, students cheating teachers will create a more healthy and indicates an unwillingness to put in the productive school environment that is effort to learn, and oftentimes that effort mutually beneficial. only comes in after their grade is affected For anything to be different, we negatively and they feel the need to bring need change on both sides — effort it back up. from everyone. Especially if we want to In an ideal world, homework would be strengthen understanding, both students optional, with little to no impact on grades. and teachers need to be engaged and willing However, if a to compromise. 3 student wanted a It’s impossible retake or another to satisfy opportunity to FOR ANYTHING TO BE DIFFERENT, everyone, but make up a poor WE NEED CHANGE ON BOTH a little bit of grade, they communication could only do so SIDES – EFFORT FROM EVERYONE. goes a long if they had shown ESPECIALLY IF WE WANT TO way towards a willingness to STRENGTHEN UNDERSTANDING, reducing the learn beforehand profusity and completed BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS of cheating the daily NEED TO BE ENGAGED AND in a school homework. That WILLING TO COMPROMISE. environment. way, it is left up While tools to the students like the conflict whether or not they feel they need the calendar fix these problems in theory, they work, while still encouraging extra effort are made useless when students don’t before it can cause a negative impact on update them or when teachers don’t look one’s grade. Unfortunately, that is not the at them. Without a feasible and effective reality we live in, since students would way of understanding and minimizing still have the ability to copy this optional workloads, students will simply resort homework, and we are restricted in the back to cheating in order to get everything changes we can make. done, which becomes unproductive and Before anything else, we need to detrimental to not only the individual reassess our attitude about what is or student, but the school community, both is not considered cheating. Copying teachers and other students, as a whole. someone else’s homework in order to fulfill If these actions are taken by students a meaningless requirement and focus on and teachers, MVHS might be able to more valuable work isn’t a descriptor of breed less cheating and more meaningful moral character, but rather is an indication collaboration. While there are always that students are managing and prioritizing exceptions to this — math and language their time elsewhere. classes can benefit from daily homework Secondly, we as students should care — there is a significant difference about learning and understanding the between practice and pointless repetition. content in advance. While cheating may Distinguishing between those two is how help a student in the short term, it shouldn’t we can help to foster a positive learning be what we resort to. Instead, students atmosphere where we don’t feel the need have to put in more work rather than just to cheat just to survive. e doing what we need to survive, because ultimately, nobody wants that. Therefore, it is crucial that teachers be able to assign work that helps students actually learn more than it causes students to feel like they are wasting their time. With more of a focus on meaningful assignments

Match Overview

82%

of 303 surveyed students have gotten homework answers from a friend or online source

62%

of 299 surveyed students do not consider copying someone else’s homework cheating

60%

of 290 surveyed students would do nothing if they caught a stranger cheating

56%

of 298 surveyed students have cheated before

51%

of 298 surveyed students believe that the biggest reason to cheat is a lack of time to study or do the assignment

*According to a survey of MVHS students

OPINION | MARCH 2018

REPUTATIONS : PROM MVHS students discuss their opinions on Junior Prom and Senior Ball BY AANCHAL GARG

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

PROM DRESSES

ROMANCE

of students HAVE HAD A ROMANTIC ENCOUNTER/ RELATIONSHIP AS A RESULT OF PROM *According to a survey of 261 MVHS students

of students Do Not care if someone wears the same dress as them

*According to a survey of 278 MVHS students

OF STUDENTS WOULD/HAVE GONE TO PROM UNDER THE INFLUENCE *According to a survey of 284 MVHS students

PROMPOSALS

ILLUSTRATION | ANANYA BHAT

GOING WITH SOMEONE IN A DIFFERENT GRADE

65 41 36 %

of UPPERCLASSMEN would TAKE AN UNDERCLASSMAN TO PROM

of UNDERCLASSMEN would GO TO PROM WITH AN UPPERCLASSMAN

*According to a survey of 234 MVHS students

*According to a survey of 215 MVHS students

TOO EXPENSIVE PARENT(S) WON’T LET ME TOO MUCH HOMEWORK

PROM DATES

24% 18% 15%

NO DATE

14% 14%

NOT INTERESTED

14%

*According to a survey of 277 MVHS students

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

of students would ACCEPT A PROMPOSAL EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T WANT TO GO WITH THEM

*According to a survey of 284 MVHS students

TOP REASONS FOR NOT GOING TO PROM

FRIENDS AREN’T GOING

ILLUSTRATION | ANANYA BHAT

of students WOULD GO TO PROM WITHOUT A DATE *According to a survey of 292 MVHS students

IN DUE TIME

Students and teachers discuss how every generation transitions into adulthood differently BY HANNAH LEE AND SWARA TEWARI

enior Juliane Tsai spent countless Platt believes that in rural areas, kids benefits in the future. He believes this type hours of her senior year behind the have to become independent earlier in of delayed gratification is what distinguishes wheel of her car, learning to drive. life as they don’t have access to the same people who are successful from those who Tsai also holds two jobs — tutoring and resources as kids in more urbanized areas are not. babysitting children throughout the week. such as the Bay Area, where she notices Jones believes that while delaying She thinks there is an inexplicable freedom that self-sufficiency isn’t expected until gratification or independence can provide in being able to transport herself and earn much later in life. one with self-sufficiency in the future, her own money. She values that freedom “[Rural kids’] independence depends on it may have negative consequences. He more than academics. their ability to connect and hang out with explains that kids who choose not to work “I think it’s just having that extra money their friends,” Platt said. “You’ll see them or drive are neglecting an important part that you can spend on anything,” Tsai said. go get their licenses immediately. At Monta of growing up, which may lead to a rough “Parents will support you with food and Vista, you don’t need that.” transition into adulthood. other necessities. The Platt notices that in “There are different kinds of experiences money [that you earn] her generation, there you can gain from working that you will not RIGHT NOW, AT is for the extra things, was an eagerness to take gain by not working,” Jones said. “Working MONTA VISTA, WE’RE so you can manage your the first step towards with people in a professional environment own money.” independence. Platt is very different from working with people LEANING TOO Unlike Tsai, senior recognizes that academic in an academic, learning environment.” HEAVILY ON THE Amita Mahajan opted standards have changed Mahajan agrees, believing that her [ACADEMIC] SIDE. to not get her driver’s over time. However, decision to not work or drive will affect license in order to focus she does not believe her in the future, when she THERE NEEDS TO BE on schoolwork. Mahajan that the enthusiasm for will be forced to shoulder A BALANCE. decided that her packed independence is present in the responsibilities of schedule could not MVHS students. adulthood all at once. SENIOR accommodate a job. To “It used to be kids “When we go to AMITA MAHAJAN Mahajan, having to rely would always want to get college, we should on her parents for rides a job,” Platt said. “Even have more basic and money is acceptable, as it means that high-achieving kids that wanted to go off life skills. A lot she is able to focus on her academic life. to college [wanted jobs]. The pressure was of those life Similarly, in a survey of 284 students, 83% not like it is today, to compete to get into skills come from said that they do not have a job, with 34% college. You see kids today opting to not responsibilities attributing it to a shortage of time and 16% get a job so they can focus on their studies.” like driving saying that they want to focus on academics Science teacher Kyle Jones explains and working,” and extracurriculars. that while he was growing up, getting a Mahajan said. “I could have gotten my permit during job and a license was almost a given in his “Right now, at second semester of sophomore year, but community. Jones got his learner’s permit Monta Vista, we at the time I didn’t feel mature enough to as soon as possible and held a job at Target lean too heavily on actually get behind the wheel and start during his high school years. As a teenager, the [academic] side. driving,” Mahajan said. “I would get my the idea of independence highly appealed There needs to be driver’s license, but I don’t have that time.” to Jones. a balance.” e On the other hand, Tsai believes that “To me the idea of self-sufficiency and MVHS students are able to take on these independence was more of a priority responsibilities earlier in life due to their than my academics,” Jones said. ability to multi-task. “I didn’t want to have to [ask my “I think that we do a lot as students. A parents], ‘Can I have 20 dollars? lot of us are really good at juggling things,” Can you drive me here?’ I wanted IL LUST RATIO Tsai said. “We can do all these things all at to do things when I wanted.” N ELIZ ABET H HA once. It’s the culture at MVHS to use up all However, Jones explains that N your time doing something productive.” students’ tendency to focus History teacher Margaret Platt on school is not necessarily reminisces about her own teenage years, negative, as the hard work recalling that she got a license and a job that students invest in as soon as she could. She explains that their academics now will because she grew up in a rural area, her allow them to potentially social life depended on her ability to drive. experience greater OPINION |MARCH 2018

VOL. XLVIII

El Est

A BLAST FRO

CALIFORNIA, WEDNESD

THE MVHS COMMUNITY REFLECTS ON THE FEAR OF NUCLE BY ANANYA BHAT AND MALLIKA SINGH

t was 3 a.m. He and his mother were fast asleep, but his dad was already heading off to work. He wouldn’t hear from his dad for another week. His dad’s routine of leaving in the middle of the night and returning days later was a part of normal life for math teacher Jon Stark, who grew up during the height of the Cold War. With his dad being in the Air Force and flying daily missions to the Soviet Border, Stark was always aware of the fact that at any moment, his dad could be ordered to attack Moscow. Stark moved from base to base with his family, attending schools where he practiced duck and cover and civil defense drills. He knew friends who had built bomb shelters in their backyards. The Air Force had even given him a set of dog tags with his name on it so that they could identify his remains in the case of a nuclear holocaust. For Stark,

PHOTO | AANCHAL GARG

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

and many others at that time, the threat of the information provided,” Sivakumar said. nuclear war was real and imminent. “It also seems like attention toward the issue After the Cold War, most discussions of nuclear war fluctuates a lot.” of nuclear war subsided and until recently, But Sivakumar also understands that there hadn’t been much talk about the whatever little fear there may be, it should possibility of an attack. But developments be allowed at this time, when there is so in North Korea concerning nuclear missiles much uncertainty present. and warheads and “It’s definitely Trump’s consequent justified, especially THE ATTITUDE WAS NOT responses have when it’s so hard IF SOMETHING MIGHT put many in both to come by clear, countries on edge. reliable information HAPPEN. WE WERE KIND With drills sounding — people have a OF EXPECTING IT ... IT in Hawaii and articles right to express their WAS A QUESTION OF on how to protect fears and to desire yourself during a safety,” Sivakumar HOW LONG WE COULD nuclear attack, the said. “It definitely GET AWAY WITHOUT IT present growing fear sucks to have to HAPPENING. of nuclear weapons grow up in a time has begun to resemble where the worsts MATH TEACHER JON STARK the sentiments of the of history repeat public during the Cold War, bringing to mind themselves, and I only hope that this period the old adage of history repeating itself. will quickly subside in a safe and transparent Still, Stark feels the fear present today is manner.” far less prominent or persistent. He explains Even for those who didn’t live on Air that back then, an attack was not just a Force bases, the threat of nuclear war hung future possibility but a guarantee. above their heads. Class of 1973 MVHS “The attitude was not if something alumnus Lea Hutchison describes how, might happen,” Stark said. “We were kind although people never talked about it much, of expecting it — it was a question of how most people expected the bomb to be long we could get away without it happening. dropped at any time and didn’t feel there It seemed to be one of those things where we was anything to be done about it. were dodging bullets all the time. It gave me “We never really talked about it, it kind of a warped childhood. I really thought was just kind of this attitude of fatalism,” [an attack] was going to happen, and you’re Hutchison said. “We just all figured, ‘Hey, if always happy for any day it didn’t.” the bomb was gonna drop, then we weren’t Senior Santosh Sivakumar agrees gonna be there to even know about it.’” with Stark that there are clear differences Living on an Air Force base, Stark’s between the fear then and now. He believes proximity to the threat of war was closer there is a lack of urgency nowadays when and thus likely influenced his childhood it comes to the threat of nuclear war. more than the average kid. But in general, Sivakumar explains, however, that there are he feels the lack of information regarding justifications for this behavior. international affairs and the employment of “[It] seems like people now aren’t sure the draft made the fear of a nuclear attack what to believe and [what] to decipher from much more tangible for his generation. “It doesn’t have the same immediate Math teacher Jon Stark recieved a dog tag chain direct reality for them that it did for me,” from the Air Force as a kid. The tag contains Stark said. “It’s a different notion here when information about him and his dad. kids don’t even have the fear of getting

stoque

OM THE PAST

ESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

10 CENTS

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION OF UMITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

CLEAR WAR AND HISTORY’S TENDENCY TO REPEAT ITSELF

drafted. I don’t think it has been internalized and are trying to bring it forward,” Stark by kids here. I don’t think it’s part of their said. “There’s a conscious attempt to repeat conscious daily thinking.” history, but it’s a distorted view of history. Despite this, Stark admits that today’s It’s not the way things really were.” political Stark also climate does explains that WE NEVER REALLY TALKED give him he is forced to flashbacks to acknowledge both ABOUT IT, IT WAS JUST his childhood the good and the KIND OF THIS ATTITUDE every once in bad parts of history OF FATALISM. IF THE BOMB a while. But seeing as he lived rather than through a lot of WAS GONNA DROP, THEN WE seeing this it. This helps him WEREN’T GONNA BE THERE as history not look back in a TO EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT. naturally distorted fashion in rep e at ing which everythign MVHS ALUMNUS LEA HUTCHISON itself, Stark worked out the b el i ev e s way they wanted. people actively push for a repeat of the past. He understands that while the past may “There’s been a big movement lately have been easier in some aspects, in about making America great again. What many others, things were worse. He cited does that mean? You’re looking nostalgically examples of various diseases like polio and at a past era, seeing what you liked about cancer that used to be untreatable, and the that or what you’ve imagined about that, fact that women and African Americans

A mushroom cloud and seen after the underwater Baker nuclear explosion on July 25, 1946. The photo was taken from Bikini Island.

also had little to no job opportunities and could practically get nowhere living in this supposedly “great” period of time. “People actually consciously try to repeat some aspects of it, and along the way they drag some things that are not so good. It doesn’t sit well with me,” Stark said. “I know how narrow that knife edge we walked before was. I don’t want us stepping back onto another knife edge.” Hutchison, on the other hand, sees history as both organic and cyclical, with attitudes towards issues like immigration and civil rights swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She points to the recent developments in the women’s rights movements as an example of this. “We get the vote [in 1920] and the movement went into a dormant period for a time, and then it came back loud and proud in the early 70s,” Hutchison said. “There are times where things go into dormancy and there are times where things go into ascendancy.” Although she believes that history naturally has lulls and resurgences in attitudes, Hutchison still feels change is possible — that we don’t always have to repeat the past. She feels that there is more transparency nowadays, which makes it easier for the public to call foul and that helps to change the situation. “I think that when it comes to history repeating itself, it can — but it doesn’t have to,” Hutchison said. e OPINION | MARCH 2018

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WEIGHT ON OUR

FEATURES

THE

SHOULDERS

PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

Weight stares back, unflinchingly, when we try on clothes in front of the mirror or tentatively step on the scale and brace ourselves for the impact. We aren’t born with this hypersensitivity to weight — it festers from occasional, nonchalant observations about how much we’re eating, to little side-comments that stick in our heads. In this package, we explore beyond the number on the scale.

AGES

How different generations think weight affects their age group

BY CLAIRE YANG AND ZARA IQBAL

PHOTO BY | CHETANA RAMAIYER

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

PHOTO BY | ZARA IQBAL

Weight THROUGH THE

SAAHIL SUKHIJA Ten-year-old Saahil Sukhija spends most of his time playing basketball, watching Youtube videos and solving math problems — a student at Stevens Creek Elementary, weight doesn’t matter much to him. Sukhija doesn’t think elementary school students have weight standards, because he hasn’t heard any of his peers ever mention weight. Since he is only in fifth grade, his diet and lifestyle is mostly determined by his parents. He’s never worried about the number on the scale. Still, Sukhija isn’t satisfied with his current lack of freedom over his weight. “If you’re a 10 year old like me, then it’s probably not a good idea just to rely on your parents to [manage your weight],” Sukhija said. “You should do some things by yourself.” Despite denying the existence of weight standards in his generation, Sukhija imagines different genders would have varying opinions. “[It’s because of the] stereotypes,” Sukhija said. “I just feel that girls would care much more about their appearance than boys would.” However, Sukhija does believe that when he gets older, people of his generation will be able to take matters into their own hands as they will have more independence. “I would care a lot more if I was in high school than now, about my weight,” Sukhija said. “I’m getting older and I’d take care of myself instead of my parents taking care of me.”

13 PRAGATI DHANAM Every since she started middle school, eighth-grader Pragati Dhanam heard snarky comments at school. Most of them were the typical remarks — ‘you’re too fat’ or ‘you’re too skinny’ — but some even escalated to references of eating disorders. “I hear a lot [of] jokes that are being made about students that are overweight or underweight,” Dhanam said. “Students make fun of each other just if they look different from everyone else.” Dhanam hears these terms in middle school, however, she says this type of behavior was unheard of when she was in elementary school. She knows plenty of her peers are ridiculed because of their body type and believes that these insults impact a person’s self-perception. “I think people, in middle school especially, should stop being so judgmental because that’s the age where you’re supposed to grow and … become the person you want to be when you’re older,” Dhanam said. “It’s a really important time and we shouldn’t have people being so sad about their body type and about who they are.” Even though Dhanam thinks that students her age should stop being judgmental, she suspects that it would be difficult to achieve. “It would be changing our nature to stop people from judging,” Dhanam said. “All of us are different in basically every single way so it’s really hard to ... stop people [from] judging.”

PHOTO BY | CLAIRE YANG

35 VENNESSA NAVA Literature teacher Vennessa Nava doesn’t own a scale. According to Nava, focusing only on one’s weight is unhealthy and superficial. “I value strength and flexibility and capability of a physical body over visual aesthetic standards,” Nava said. “[However,] I can tell when I’ve been eating a lot and I start to put on a few pounds … it doesn’t feel normal because I have had a relatively stable weight after I stopped growing.” Her parents often limited how much they ate, and as a child, Nava never realized how her parents’ struggles caused her to develop a negative outlook on managing her own weight and health. Until high school, Nava’s unhealthy lifestyle scarcely changed. “It was stress and I went through a bout of depression during my junior year and I just didn’t have a healthy relationship with food,” Nava said. “As I moved into college and I started being more physically active because I made a conscious decision [that] I want[ed] to be healthier.” Since then, Nava has been doing yoga, as she thinks it helps her accept herself and everyone around her. She believes even though the Bay Area is fitness oriented, staying positive about body image should be universal. “Every person is lovable,” Nava said. “If we just value people and their humanity based on whether they conform to this beauty image or [weight standard] ... then [aren’t we] kind of monstrous?”

SHASHI KAPOOR Shashi Kapoor thinks measuring and keeping track of one’s weight is crucial, especially as she watches her grandchildren grow older, comparing them to other kids’ their age who have different body types. Kapoor believes that people’s weight should be appropriate for their height — not too thin or obese. Now that she has aged, she is indifferent to weight by appearance, although she says she struggled a bit with her weight after giving birth. “[My weight] changes many times, it changes with the time,” Kapoor said. “Within one year or so, the body comes back to normal. [I] need not do much about it.” As young adults have many responsibilities such as maintaining a job, home and, potentially, a family, Kapoor felt that gaining weight could lead her to become sluggish and less productive when she was younger. On the other hand, Kapoor’s parents never particularly cared about her weight. But now as a grandmother, she feels parents should take care of their children’s health and maintain their weight until they are able to manage themselves. “As long as they’re young, it’s [the] parents’ responsibility at least to tell them about it, to guide them, to educate them or to train them,” Kapoor said. “Once good food habits are formed in [their] childhood, they carry forward.” e

PHOTO BY | CHETANA RAMAIYER

PHOTO BY | STUTI UPADHYAY

JEFFERY YANG Lean and lanky. Short and pudgy. Tall and muscular. Junior Jeffery Yang looks around MVHS, spotting people of all different sizes and vastly different builds — and subsequently different weights. “If you’re within a [healthy] range, you have plenty of other more pressing concerns than how much you weigh,” Yang said. “[At MVHS], your grades matter more than your physical appearance.” According to Yang, since MVHS students seem to be more focused on academics instead of appearance or body weight, he rarely sees students being discriminated for the latter. However, Yang is convinced that, like most high schoolers in America, MVHS students must also have some sort of standards concerniWng their own weight. From his knowledge, most revolve around being well-built and relatively thin. “If you’re really short, you have to be kind of fit,” Yang said. “The taller you are, the heavier you can be without people commenting about it.” However, Yang doesn’t let current weight ideals affect him and is more concerned with his health to avoid diseases such as diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, the remaining lifetime diabetes risk for males ranged from 7.6 percent for those with BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2 to 70.3 percent for those with BMI more than 35 kg/m2. “At a certain point you just start to think less about how other people think and more about how can I stay healthy,” Yang said.

FEATURES | MARCH 2018

PILLAR OF SUPPORT MVHS students discuss the way their families influence their perspectives on weight BY KAREN SANCHEZ AND VIVIAN CHIANG

he followed the flow of the calling her nicknames such as “chubby conversation, from one topic to the baby.” It was later on, when she confronted other. As her friends stopped briefly her father about the situation, that she outside the cafeteria at Kennedy MS, the realized they didn’t mean any harm, rather conversation shifted once again and this “chubby baby” was a nickname created out time the topic at hand was thigh gaps. of affection rather than malice. She found herself confused as her friends Meanwhile, senior Darren Kopa’s own frantically exclaimed their yearning for the standards on weight have been molded by gap between the two thighs, a symbol for his own family, his parents passing down thinness. She had no idea what a thigh gap certain habits that he now possess. was. When she asked her friends, they “Generally my family is in a healthy replied with a quick response: “You don’t weight class,” Kopa said. “My dad likes have one, so don’t worry.” to stay active and exercises a lot so that Junior Sureena Hukkoo was in 7th definitely influenced me. My mom [tries] to grade at the time and didn’t think much of stay healthy [by] eating salads and that kind the situation. However, she viewed herself of thing.” differently from that point onwards and no Kopa also points out the manner in longer felt comfortable wearing shorts. which the genetics his family passed down However, the feeling of insecurity she to him play a role in the way his own weight felt that day was not new to Hukkoo. In fact stays stable. He’s able to eat unhealthy she had been conscious of her weight since without his weight changing. she was seven years old. And throughout “As long as I’m fit and healthy and my her negative and positive experiences with weight, strength or lack thereof never weight, her family impedes what I want to do, then stood beside her. MY PARENTS RASIED that’s a good body type,” Kopa “From a very said. young age, I was ME NOT TO WORRY Junior Jacquelyn Loretto taught to eat as ABOUT WEIGHT shares a similar mindset, finding much as I wanted, AND SELF IMAGE , strength and health more never starve myself important than weight. Her family and never overeat,” BUT THE BEAUTY IN has played an important role in Hukkoo said. “It’s YOURSELF her positive mindset. the kind of thing JUNIOR JACQUELYN “My parents raised me not were they are like to worry about weight and self LORETTO ‘oh you’re gaining image, but the beauty in yourself,” a little weight,’ but then they say ‘eat as Loretto said. “My mom, she struggled with much as you want.’” that a little bit, even now her mom still Despite the small remarks, Hukkoo’s makes comments, so it’s different in that family has overall been supportive of her my mom didn’t want me to experience through times of insecurity. She recalls that.” various times when she would end up crying Growing up, Loretto understood that because she was unable to understand why weight was not a defining aspect of a she wasn’t thin, feeling as if she was doing person. Her mother made it clear that something wrong. Her family would always health and happiness was more important assure her she was fine the way she was; which left an imprint on Loretto, especially but that wasn’t enough to stop a feeling of since she understands her own mother has isolation develop within her. Her weight a hard time finding her own beauty. made it easy for her to feel seperated and “My mom is a strong woman,” Loretto thus targeted. said. “If you hear some of her stories, the When she visited her family in India, for verbal stuff my abuelita would say to her instance, Hukkoo found herself wondering growing up, and then how she treats us is why her family was so mean to her. Her a completely different thing and it inspires aunts and uncles would joke with her, me to be like her when I have kids.” e

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

SUREENA HUKKO0| PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION DARREN KOPA| PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION

Crumbling under weight A reflection on weight and self-love BY KAREN SANCHEZ

’ve concluded that my body enjoys I sat in class learning basic math while find comfort in a new activity, I understood playing tricks on me, convincing me it’s my mind bombarded me with suffocating that the real problem lies in the absence of deteriorating. Logically, I understand thoughts. I started wearing training bras teaching self-love. it’s my mind that enjoys making me feel and crying in the shower. Children verging on the tender, seemingly unworthy, not my body. My poor body I guess that’s what makes me the most carefree age of eight question their worth in simply responds to my mind. sad: I was only eight years old, new to the response to the acknowledgement of their My body is solely an exterior, quite world, and already hyper aware of the growing bodies, shifting identities and of literally a cover that protects what I carry expectations placed upon me and all the course, their weight. And when you’re eight inside: a large and small intestine, a liver, a ways I didn’t fit into a mold. years old, helplessly stuck in a heart, a brain. So then why does it matter However, that point in time WHY DOES MY cycle of self hate, you may not so much? has to come eventually. It does LITTLE NOT SO understand the very emotions Why does my little, not so little body for everyone. It’s natural. that plague you, because no matter so much to me? But there have been far LITTLE BODY one ever talks about it. No Granted, my body has helped me walk too many moments in which I MATTER SO one says anything. long distances, swim in warm water, hug my recognized myself in children MUCH TO ME? During that crucial time friends and pet dogs. But I don’t feel grateful far younger than I and there’s when the mind of a child slowly for it. I still struggle finding comfort in my something concerning in the way a 16 year morphs into something more complex, being. My body draws unwanted attention, old and an eight year old can share the same they should be taught that their bodies questions and comments from family feeling of unworthiness. I feel immediate and minds are valid. Knowing how to love members. My body causes uncomfortable connection and sympathy. I wonder if their oneself, care for one’s self and understand moments when I have to squeeze through parents are offering the proper support, or your own breaking point is an important small spaces. My body rips my jeans right the best lessons on self love, if any at all. life skill. If no one ever sits you down, in the middle of my inner thighs, causing I felt this way recently when I met a girl asks you to pay attention and explains in my skin to rub together painfully. My body named Destiny while rock climbing for the a comforting tone that a body is simply a droops and jiggles. My body makes me feel first time. We bonded over the dreaded body, then when do you learn this truth? heavy. My body makes me lose sight of harnesses you have to wear when rock No one ever tells you that the standards of a myself. climbing. I hated the way they squeezed my “normal” body or “the perfect” weight have I remember exactly when these fat thighs and climbed around my waist. I felt been made into something unrealistic; the thighs and wide hips began disgustingly aware of my body and problem is not you, but the society which to exhaust me. I was in third THEY SHOULD the fat that lingered everywhere. surrounds you. grade, about eight years When I looked at Destiny, I knew You may hate yourself, your weight and old, and it was then that I BE TAUGHT from the nervous expression in every inch of your body, but you only do so began to obsessively take THAT THEIR her eyes, she felt the same. because you’ve been told to. note of my weight. Eight Destiny voiced my own self The expectations placed upon you BODIES AND years old. destructive thoughts out loud. In a and your weight and anything that comes In the midst of learning MINDS ARE concerned and insecure tone, she with it, be it body dysmorphia, eating how to write in cursive and VALID asked, “Does weight matter when disorders or depression, create restrictions. long divide, my mind shifted you do this?” The simplest everyday actions such as from one place to another, chucking my I saw myself in Destiny. She is a child, showering or speaking to others become childish persona out the door and replacing but not really. Her concerns aren’t simple. difficult to follow through when you find it with a more mature, yet troubled one. Her concerns don’t let her breathe yourself obsessing over the number on the I remember feeling like I was far beyond properly. She has fallen into a trap which scale or the way your stomach rolls seem to my years, as if from one day to the other I restricts her from reaching her potential. protrude when you sit down. had grown twice my height and experienced Her growth is hindered. I now have a month until I turn 17 and the turbulence of adolescence all in one Destiny, who turned eight about a I still don’t know how to love myself. Isn’t sleepless night. My motivations, character month ago, doesn’t have a clue how to love that alarming? e and emotions no longer matched my age. herself, and while I watched her struggle to FEATURES | MARCH 2018

PAINS AND GAINS MVHS students and staff discuss through bulking

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EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

BY OM KHANDEKAR AND ANJINI VENUGOPAL ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHETANA RAMAIYER

ne hundred and 40 pounds. That’s how much senior Steven Ataee weighed his freshman year. As a the effects of gaining weight member of the MVHS football team, he trained extensively to be on the offensive line, but struggled as he simply did not (Left) Guidance counselor Clay Stiver works weigh enough. After the football season out after school in the weight room. Stiver ended, he did some research online and doesn’t bulk but he works out regularly decided to bulk. Three meals a day became (Below) Senior Steven Ataee works out during five meals a day, 2,000 calories became his weight training period. Ataee bulked as a 4,500 calories, and in a mere six months freshman through junior year, however now Ataee gained 50 pounds. as a senior he has stopped bulking and lost Bulking is the common term used weight. Photos by Om Khandekar. to describe the process of an individual trying to undergo muscular hypertrophy. The process involves increasing protein and calorie intake partnered with lifting weights. The ultimate goal is to add more muscle mass and spark muscle growth. In contrast to bulking is cutting, a process by which caloric intake is limited and the body’s metabolism starts to burn through stores of glycogen in the body. For students however, athletic trainer and the MVHS health clerk Javier Margarito warns of issues with engaging in these activities. “Can it be done safely — yes — but it’s on an individual basis,” Margarito said. “There’s a lot of things to consider as far as putting on muscle on a frame that’s still developing. It’s the main question or conundrum.” An example of this health risk is Ataee himself. Ataee had some knee issues the summer leading into his sophomore year that were serious enough to require surgery. Although some of the added stress on his joints was due to football and bad form in the weight room, Ataee says that the added weight from the increased muscle mass was another contributing factor in his injury. Back when Ataee first began bulking, it wasn’t as simple as just eating more food, because he had to force himself to continue eating even when he wasn’t hungry. He recounts how he didn’t approach bulking the right way his freshman year, as he would excessively eat unhealthy foods and feel nauseous, but force himself to hold it in. Ataee distinctly remembers staying up an extra hour on some days to complete his daily goal of eating 4,500 calories. “I did it really bad,” Ataee said. “I’d stay up [an] extra hour for that terrible bulking smoothie, like high calorie, high carb, high protein, and I had to throw up but I wouldn’t because I always knew, ‘If you throw up Steven, you lose. You have to hold

it in.’ I don’t think a lot of people knew, but I was really nauseous a lot of those times because I was forcing myself to chug down like so much volume again and again and again.” After his first year of bulking, however, Ataee learned the proper way to bulk, which included developing an intense workout regime in order to build metabolism as well as an appetite. He also recommends eating higher volumes of healthier foods as one increases their overall calorie intake. However, not all students bulk for athletic purposes. Some use it as a way to bulk up a lean frame. Senior Kashish Singal doesn’t like how he skinny he looks, but he has never quite managed to keep up with the process of muscular hypertrophy. “I think the hardest thing is continuing with [bulking] because it gets really tiring,” Singal said. “Believe it or not, it gets tiring to eat a lot, mostly because you’re constantly forcing yourself to overeat. If it’s not food that you think tastes good, that’s problematic as well.” According to Singal, he mostly bulks to become happier with the way he looks, but he also explains how being comfortable with the way one looks is also a must to succesfully bulk. “I think an important thing to take away is that regardless of how you look, you should be comfortable with your body,” Singal said. “Even though I’m skinny, I’m pretty much fine with how I am. I know that I will look better if I’m bigger, but that’s not really something that’s very pressing for me. For anyone else who’s skinny out there or fat or whatever, they should be okay with their size and if they want to improve their size that’s great, but just be content in general.” Although Margarito doesn’t feel qualified to make statements about consuming the excess amount of food people like Singal and Ataee associate with bulking, he does believe overeating may cause an issue for any student that tries bulking. “That could be potentially an issue, because it’s also listening to their bodies,” Margarito said. “Because it’s like ‘Hey, if I’m not used to eating this amount of food and you’re trying to do it all of a sudden, your body can trigger a stress response where it’s going to have an adverse effect to what the end goal will end up being.” He believes this stress response and the resulting flood of cortisol in the body will cause the body to create larger stores of fat and not the intended muscle mass. Despite the discomfort and injuries, Ataee unequivocally stands by his decision to bulk. He says it made him a stronger

athlete, and gave him the necessary motivation to strive for excellence. However, guidance counselor Clay Stiver finds the concept of bulking to be questionable. He recalls his own high school experience, playing basketball and working out regularly, and how he ate an “insane” amount of food without any added attention to overeating. “I don’t ever think it’s really good to overdo things, everything [should be] in moderation, right?” Stiver said. “In my opinion, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to do that to your body, to try to gain weight really, really quickly or lose weight really really quickly. I just want people to be healthy and happy.” Ataee agrees that moderation is key, but unlike Stiver, he believes that bulking can be done moderately. He has faced his own struggles with finding that level of moderation, but after years of working out, he is content with his current regime. “It was a good experience,” Ataee said. “It taught me a lot about how to eat healthier now, and although I made a lot of mistakes, I’m glad I did it. Because it got me where I wanted to be.” e

FEATURES | MARCH 2018

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Crisp, Sweet, Savory Three easy pear recipes that anyone can make at home BY PRIYA REDDY

pring is just around the corner and local grocery stores and farmer’s markets are beginning to flood with different varieties of pears. With their light flavor, pears are a versatile fruit, perfect for jams, marinades, sandwiches and more. From sanwiches to crumble, these three recipes are sure to make you consider adding pears to your next grocery list.

1. Pear, honey, cheese and

caramelized onion sandwiches

Step outside the box and try this unique sandwich combination. Ingredients 1 loaf of your favorite sandwich bread 4 oz mascarpone 1 bunch of fresh arugula 1/2 cup caramelized onions 2 Bartlett pears, cleaned, cored and thinly sliced Honey to taste A little butter for toasting the bread (optional) Directions 1. Spread some goat cheese on one side of a slice of bread. 2. Top it with arugula, caramelized onions and sliced pears before drizzling with honey.

2. Roasted pear crumble

Rich and sweet, yet still healthy, this pear crumble is the perfect dessert. Ingredients 2 ripe, but firm Anjou or Bartlett pears, halved and cored 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/2 cup mascarpone 2 teaspoons sugar Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheirt. 2. Place pears, cut side up, on a small baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tsp. oil and roast on upper rack until soft (20–30 minutes). Let cool slightly. 3. Toast on lower rack, stirring occasionally, until golden (10–12 minutes). Let cool. 4. Whisk mascarpone and sugar in a small bowl. Spoon mascarpone onto plates and top with pears and nut-oat crumble.

3. Asian pear slaw

Looking for a lighter version of your typical coleslaw? Try this healthy and tangy slaw featuring Asian pears. Ingredients 2 celery ribs 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated and peeled 2 firm Asian pears, cut into 1/4-inchthick matchsticks 2 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh hot red chile, or to taste Directions 1. Peel strings from celery with a Y-shaped vegetable peeler and cut celery into 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks. 2. Whisk together juice, vinegar and ginger, and stir in remaining ingredients with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

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A & E | MARCH 2018

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

S ILLUSTRATION | EMILY XIA

y n o h p s e m s n y e S

he sits on the cool wooden bench of the piano, her fingers grazing the smooth keys. She lifts her hands and begins to play. To her family members scattered throughout the house, the chorus of notes creates a flowing melody and lively tune. To her, it is much more. Colors and light fill her vision, illuminating the quiet space of her living room. At first, all she can see is dark red. Gradually, as the tempo of the Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu” becomes faster, the red grows brighter and more intense. All of a sudden, her mental canvas turns

Analyzing how synesthesia affects individuals’ lives BY ADITI GNANASEKAR AND EMILY XIA

a stormy blue, and her fingers are moving more slowly than before. She sees yellow now, with spots of pink. Before the slow section of Chopin’s piece finally ends, her mind is flooded with a light teal color that grows increasingly darker as she plays faster. Black abruptly turns into a dreamy white color that tempts her to close her eyes and fall asleep. This is what senior Anisha Kollareddy experiences when she hears music. According to the Scientific American, synesthesia is a blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one sense leads to the stimulation of another. According to

Kollareddy, synesthesia has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember, although she was unaware that it was a special condition until her junior year. “[My best friend’s] first reaction was ‘You’re insane,’” Kollareddy said. “But then we did our research and found out that it’s rare, but I’m not insane. So because I only found out it wasn’t normal last year, I’m still learning about synesthesia as I go. I always had thought that everyone associated things with colors like me.” Kollareddy has grapheme color synesthesia, where she can see colors in numbers and letters, as well as chromesthesia, where she can see colors in music. Similar to Kollareddy, most synesthetes experience several types of synesthesia. For example, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital neurologist and researcher Joel Salinas experiences multiple forms of synesthesia, including an extremely rare type called “mirror-touch synesthesia.” According to Salinas, mirror-touch synesthesia means that he can feel others’ pain. If he sees someone get poked in the cheek, he feels a poke on his cheek in the exact same location on his body. “Because of mirror-touch synesthesia, my brain automatically sees others as a part of me,” Salinas said. “Sometimes I actually have to focus on my own body so I don’t confuse your feelings too much as my own, and so I don’t forget about myself and my own feelings.” As a child, Salinas had no idea that he had synesthesia, but he was aware that something was different about him. “I just chalked [my behavior] up to being a weird kid,” Salinas said. “As a child, I was incredibly particular about how I colored letters and numbers. They had to be their ‘right’ color. ‘A’ has to be red. ‘B’ has to be the right shade of orange. The number ‘1’ has to be light yellow. Fussing over these things, I’m sure you can imagine how often my parents rolled their eyes.” Synesthesia is fairly uncommon; according to Boston University, synesthesia can affect from one in 5,000 people to one in 100,000 people. Many people are unaware of what synesthetes really experience. Because of this lack of knowledge, best-selling author Wendy Mass wanted to spread awareness through her children’s novel “A MangoShaped Space” even though she had never personally experienced the condition. “I didn’t know anyone with synesthesia before I started writing the book, but I have met a lot of lovely synesthetes along the way,” Mass said. “A lot of their stories and

experiences made it into the novel. I loved letters and numbers with colors, but she the fact that there was a way of perceiving also perceives people around her as colors the world that I didn’t know about, and that as well. people couldn’t see from the outside.” “When I first meet someone, I would “A Mango-Shaped Space” became say they have a basic color,” Kollareddy extremely popular and has been nominated said. ‘It just starts out like that. And I get for over 14 awards. The book is about to know people more, there’s more facets Mia Winchell, a 13 year-old girl who to them, more sides, and I know the depth sees colors within letters, numbers and of their personality, so it adds on color.” sounds. Throughout the story, she learns Synesthesia enables people to better how to navigate through her condition and empathize with others’ concerns and incorporate herself into society. emotions. Having mirror-touch synesthesia Although allows Salinas W i n c h e l l ’s to have a higher IMAGINE HOW DIFFERENT A story is of WORLD WE WOULD BE LIVING understanding fictional, it others, a lesson IF WE DIDN’T JUST THINK represents he hopes to teach what many others as well. ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE synesthetes “Imagine how IN OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES, experience. different a world BUT ALSO TRULY FELT WHAT To Salinas, we would be living having and IT’S LIKE TO BE IN THEIR SHOES. if we didn’t just understanding think about what it’s synesthesia is like to be in other NEUROLOGIST something that people’s shoes, but JOEL SALINAS challenges him also truly felt what everyday. it’s like to be in their “I don’t [see] myself [as] overcoming shoes,” Salinas said. “Reasoning through synesthesia, so much as I see just as an that experience and responding from a intrinsic part of how I experience the truer, more enduring place of compassion world,” Salinas said. “As you can imagine, and kindness.” in the hospital, having mirror touch can be Although she isn’t a synesthete, a bit of a challenge sometimes [...], but it Mass encourages others to embrace the also helps me help others.” condition and accept themselves. Mass mentions that there are certain “I wanted to tell a story about needing to disadvantages for those like Kollareddy and learn that we all see the world differently,” Salinas, but there is also an abundance of Mass said. “We all have something that positive aspects of having synesthesia. makes us unique and different, and that’s “I do think math and languages in general something to celebrate and not to feel bad are harder for some synesthetes, but of about.” course not all,” Mass said. “Memorizing Kollareddy believes that synesthesia things, likes dates in history and phone isn’t something to be ashamed of. numbers, are generally easier because they “[Synesthesia’s] positive,” Kollareddy can remember how the colors are strung said. “I see all the colors in my head. together as well as the numbers or letters.” Rainbows are associated with According to the New York Magazine, positivity and happiness. synesthesia is most common among That’s kind of how creative artists. Because of her ability to synesthesia helps in see music in different colors, Kollareddy my life.” e loves to play piano. To Kollareddy, songs mean more than notes and sounds, and her synesthesia helps her compose music. “I like to mash music,” Kollareddy said. “Synesthesia is a really big part of music for me because when I bring together pieces, I see the colors flowing together and it just makes sense. Different colors go together and my favorite songs are like paintings in my head.” Not only does Kollareddy associate music, A & E | MARCH 2018

Write for you

Reviews of various pens and highlighters BY CHARLOTTE CHUI

Stored in a container on the corner of a desk, tucked behind an ear or buried at the bottom of a backpack — writing utensils can spruce up chemistry notes or add a colorful pop to a daily planner. Here are some of the best items, from pens to highlighters, to try out.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Maica

Price: $2.50 each, $1.50 each if buying a pack of 12

Pilot’s Hi-Tec-C Maica pens come in a whole rainbow of colors, with a selection of 12 ink options, though the nuances between colors like Orange and Apricot Orange or Pink and Baby Pink are subtle. With a slightly wider barrel than most conventional pens, the Maica makes for a comfortable grip. Offering only 0.3 mm and 0.4 mm sizes, the precise tip widths lean towards the thinner side, so writing with these pens gives a slightly scratchy feel on paper. The price point is a bit steep, but they are more reasonably priced if buying them in a pack.

Rating: 3/5

Muji Gel Ink Ballpoint

Price: $1.50 each, $1.00 each if buying a pack

These pens come in a wide variety of colors, offering selections from the classic black and blue to more unusual colors like purple and orange, with width options of 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm. The gel ink lays down smoothly on paper, with no bleeding or feathering and only minimal smudging. Conveniently, Muji also sells ink refills at a slightly lower price to replace old ink cartridges, making these pens a little more environmentally friendly. Muji’s minimally packaged pens are the ones to reach for on a daily basis. Reliable, no frills — these are the Carmex of ballpoint pens.

Rating: 4.5/5

Sakura Pigma Microns

Price: $2.89 each

Sakura’s Pigma Microns offer the most comprehensive range of tip widths, starting with 0.2 mm and increasing in increments of 0.05 mm to the thickest of 0.5 mm. With pigment-based ink, these pens don’t bleed, smudge or feather. However, these softer, felt tip-like pens may not be the best choice for heavy-handed writers, especially when using the thinner tip widths. These Pigma Microns are on the higher end in terms of price, but what they lack in affordability, they make up for in quality.

Rating: 4.5/5

Zebra Mildliners Muji Dual Clear Tips

Price: $6.80 for pack of five

Zebra’s Mildliners are double sided, with a chisel tip on one end and a pointed tip on the other. There is minimal ink bleeding with thin paper — none at all in other cases, depending on paper thickness — and no smudging. Mildliners’ ink come in all the standard colors of highlighters and then some, with options like brown and gray. But true to its name, Mildliners come in mild, muted tones. Think less of the neon fluorescence of conventional highlighters and more pastel. Slightly frivolous? Probably. Visually pleasing? Absolutely.

Rating: 5/5

Price: $1.95 each

Sticking to its simplistic style, Muji’s dual ended highlighters come in clear packaging and have a more limited selection, with only five color options. The ink doesn’t smudge and has some minimal bleeding on thinner paper. The chiseled end has a transparent tip which helps one see the words being highlighted on the page and know when to stop highlighting — a unique concept, if a bit unnecessary. These Muji highlighters’ muted ink colors are of the same breed as the Mildliners and are overall reminiscent of a slightly more expensive, yet minimalistic cousin of the Mildliners.

Rating: 4/5 3

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

D E I F I D O M A E R U T L CU their explain re and s t s ia s hu ltu Car ent odification cu m love for isunderstood m why it’s RJEEL BY SHA

RAHMA

nder the buzzing lamp posts of a deserted Target parking lot, a little before midnight, something unexpected happened. Owners of modified cars — everything from lowered Japanese models to classic American muscle cars — pulled up into the space and lined up their vehicles. Despite the obvious differences in the drivers’ tastes in cars, their shared passion brings them together in this empty parking lot to converse. Senior Rahul Srinivasan has been a regular at these car meets, and has been a car enthusiast since he was a child, in part because of his Oringer’s parents’ passion for 2011 BMW 135i cars. His mom used sports a carbon to point out the fiber aerodynamic kit, badges of cars full racing exhausts, as they were engine tune and a custom driving suspension setup to make it and later suitable for daily driving as fueled his well as track driving. Photo interest by used with permission of introducing Oringer. him to the British TV show, “Top

PHOTO | SHARJEEL RAHMAN

Gear.” Srinivasan has attended many car meets to share his passion with other enthusiasts in the Bay Area. When he got his Subaru WRX limited in October 2016, Srinivasan wanted to modify it because he felt it would display his car’s full power and potential. “[Car modification] is a form of personal expression, just like art is,” Srinivasan said. “That’s what makes car culture unique, it brings people with different tastes together and gives them something to bond over.” Whereas some people see cars as a method of transportation to get from point A to point B, enthusiasts like Srinivasan see cars as something special, changing the daily commute from mundane to enjoyable. Mechanic David Nguyen, who has owned his garage in Santa Clara for roughly 20 years, specializes in Japanese cars. Nguyen explains why he believes people should learn to modify their car. “Modifying your car does not increase its value, but you should still do it anyways,” Nguyen said. “It’s your car. Make it an extension of yourself. For people like [me], cars are a release from the stressful day. It’s always enjoyable to push my car to the limit and hear the exhaust roaring behind me.” According to Nguyen, a lot of people who visit his garage see modified cars parked outside and are immediately turned off, because they think his garage promotes reckless driving; commonly associated with modified cars. Both Nguyen and Srinivasan, however, feel this culture is misunderstood. “It’s that sort of thing that keeps this culture from becoming bigger,” Nguyen said. “It is completely misunderstood.”

Srinivasan has made numerous modifications to his 2016 Subaru WRX limited to make it suitable for late night mountain driving.

Car enthusiast Michael Oringer regularly attends car meets all over the Bay Area and began modifying cars when he received his father’s BMW 330ci as a gift. His passion for the style of driving of BMW cars led him to purchasing his own in 2011. He loved the motor in his new BMW, leading to him spending over $30K in modifications on his car and, like Nguyen and Srinivasan, believes that the art of modifying vehicles and street-racing is misunderstood. “People think enthusiasts like us are dangerous, but that’s not the case,” Oringer said. “I never race on roads, I save that for the [race] track.” For most people like Oringer, modifying a car is a hobby, which becomes a passion and then an obsession. According to Oringer, they start with small little things, such as a tune or a suspension change, to improve their vehicle’s looks and it snowballs from there, with some people spending over $30K in modifications. Some people see it as a waste but enthusiasts like Nguyen will argue that it’s better than spending it on other things. Nguyen says no project is ever complete, there is always something enthusiasts say they can do to change their car and keep everything fresh. “With a car like mine, there’s always something I want to do,” Oringer said. “My BMW is never complete. It’s a neverending process and that’s what keeps its fun and fresh.” e

A & E | MARCH 2018

realizes the system is flawed that he starts an uprising against the company. For Haro, this year’s performance will be his first ever musical. In addition to helping with his acting skills, Adams has created a bright atmosphere for MVHS drama department prepares for the spring musical the class, according to Haro. “He’s done acting before, outside of BY JAHAN RAZAVI AND MICHELLE WONG this, so it’s good to know some more h e show never stops for MVHS College Preparatory, and directed stuff from someone who’s actually had drama students; even though various student performances in the larger scale experience,” Haro said. “He [also] has a they have just finished SNL past. What stands out the most about good sense of performances, the department’s MVHS students humor. The class newest schedule has propelled them as to Adams is their I HOPE THAT AUDIENCES ARE is always making the spring musical — “Urinetown” — is work ethic. ALSO ABLE TO WALK AWAY jokes with him. right around the corner. “Something It’s a lot of fun HAVING SEEN A HISTORY Despite drama teacher Sarah I’ve found at and he’s a really Capule’s maternity leave, the drama [MVHS] is that OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL good director.” students are pushing through — the students CHOICES WE’VE MADE AS A In addition building sets, rehearsing lines and are incredibly COUNTRY REFLECTED BACK to Adams, practicing dance routines — as self-sustaining,” ON THEM the musical deadlines creep closer. But the Adams said. students are not alone — substitute “They do a lot DRAMA SUBSTITUTE TEACHER p r o d u c t i o n team has two JEFFERY ADAMS drama teacher Jeffrey Adams of the work new members: has come to lead the department themselves from choreographer Claire and direct the upcoming musical. s e t - b u i l d i n g to character analysis. Calalo and vocal director Monique They are very prepared for shows, Hafin. Although Haro’s character does not dance as much as the background Adams has worked primarily as an which is very helpful as the director.” actor, appearing in works such as “Into “Urinetown” depicts a society where characters, Haro says Calalo always the Woods” with the San Francisco a major corporation controls all of the keeps the cast on its feet and has made Playhouse Company and “The Addams bathrooms and forces all of the people the whole process enjoyable for him, Family” with the San Jose Stage in the city to pay to use them. Those despite the difficulty. However, the ability to sing is Company. However, he has also who do not pay or use a facility not taught at various Bay Area controlled by the corporation an important part of his role in the high schools, such as are taken to a place called musical, and Hafin has helped Haro Bellarmine Urinetown. It is not until improve in this area. “[Hafin has] helped me realize the main character Bobby (played by more of my vocal range,” Haro said. senior Alberto “This is actually my first musical, so I t o Haro) didn’t really know how sing properly before this.”

NEW IN TOWN T

ILLUSTRATION | JAHAN RAZAVI AND PRIYA REDDY

THE SUBSTITUTE

3 2

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

Junior Bryce Nevitt, who plays Although he says he starts off the role of Old Man Strong, has rehearsals a little shaky, Haro has also found it found that cracking jokes and talking to be a smooth with friends helps change between him warm up. IT’S A BIT DIFFICULT teachers. Through this, he TO TRANSITION FROM “All of us, I has been able BEING A DOCILE, QUIET think, can agree to gradually build PERSON WHO KEEPS [that] it’s been character as he TO HIMSELF MOST OF a pretty easy enacts the scenes transition,” and sings along. THE TIME TO SOMEBODY Nevitt said. WHO’S SINGING AND “[Adams is] a DANCING AND STARTING really funny A REVOLUTION. guy, he’s really sociable [and] A l t h o u g h SENIOR ALBERTO HARO really good at Adams says the what he does.” name of the play makes it seem funny and satirical on a surface As Haro describes himself as a level, he specifically chose this play relatively reserved person, he says that because of its underlying messages. one of the greatest difficulties he has “I wanted it to be something that faced with his role as Bobby is getting pushed the boundaries a little more,” into character. Adams said. “I look for teachable “I’m not very outspoken. I’m not moments in the theater, and I think one to start a revolution like Bobby to be able to choose a show that is would,” Haro said. “So it’s a bit difficult socially relevant and has political to transition from being a docile, quiet commentary and talks about social person who keeps to himself most of class and government oppression, the time to somebody who’s singing and especially now in 2018 dancing and starting a revolution.”

THE BIG PICTURE

THE ADVENTURER

— I thought it was the perfect time to do the show.” The main problem the production team has run into, however, is the issue of time. With over 40 songs and 110 pages of material, the team has had difficulty scheduling for all the various components of the musical. According to Adams, the one-week break in the middle of February along with SNL production added more scheduling complications, and what is supposed to be a two-and-a-half month period of preparations turned into the equivalent of roughly three weeks. Although it can be stressful, Adams says he is grateful for the drama students who are able to carry a lot of weight during this busy period. Adams’ overall goal is for the musical to be applicable to modern society — to highlight its flaws and successes. After all, the play is just that: social commentary. “I hope that audiences are also able to walk away having seen a history of social and political choices we’ve made as a country reflected back on them, so they’re able to see that — laugh at that, yes, but think about it in a critical way,” Adams said. “It’s more than just satire.” The musical will be showing on March 16, 17, 23 and 24. e

A & E | MARCH 2018

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | KAREN MA

WITHIN THE TEAM

ON BOARD

Although diving is considered an individual sport, divers and coaches from various schools find ways to collaborate BY KAREN MA AND AKSHARA MAJJIGA

t’s MVHS tradition to be competitive — from contending against other classes during rally weeks to promoting the annual Beat Lynbrook Day, Matadors seem to think that if people aren’t on the same team, they’re competing against each other. But the MVHS diving team holds a different mindset.

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

Jan. 29 marked the MVHS diving team’s first practice of the 2018 season. Since then, they have returned to the pool five days a week, from 3:30 to 6 p.m., allowing novice divers to learn four basic dives within the first two weeks. The team was on an accelerated program this year, with each diver needing six dives for the first meet on March 1. This unforgiving requirement makes diving coach Gregg Mahurin view the sport as one of the most challenging for beginners to grasp. “The difference between diving and other sports like swimming or track is, you can run track or you can swim and just be slow,” Mahurin said. “But you can’t [be on the team] unless you can learn the dives.” Because of this, Mahurin aims to use the first couple weeks of the program to solidify the basics for beginners, such as the approach and the hurdle. As the season progresses and divers get increasingly comfortable with their technique, he plans to introduce new, more complicated dives. “The thing about diving is you’ve trained your whole life to not let your body do certain things,” Mahurin said. “Don’t go backwards, don’t do this, don’t do that. Your body follows your head. So, [for] diving, you have to re-train your body to go backwards and to not turn your head … you have to trust yourself. And so I think it’s more mental than most people think it is.” Even for senior Pranav Malavalli, who has been on the diving team for four years, there is still a sense of fear and anxiety as he prepares for a dive. Like Mahurin, Malavalli believes that diving pushes the body further than mere physical discomfort. “What I found it to be is more like a character test,” Malavalli said. “Every time you go up on the board, you’re scared of flopping, so you have to get over that fear and you’ve got to keep working on yourself.” Senior Demetra Williams, another fouryear MVHS diver who has competed at Central Coast Section every year, notes that the difficulty of learning and retaining a dive makes it challenging to continue season after season, which may be why divers who join the team in ninth grade often don’t continue throughout high school. “It’s a hard sport to stay by, especially when you’re not doing it all year-round,” Williams said. “So just to have to come back and to kind of have to quote ‘relearn’ your dives afterwards is kind of difficult.” It is this uneasiness and sense of singularity that Mahurin believes largely account for the lack of participation in diving at MVHS in recent years. He feels,

WITHIN THE LEAGUE

PHOTO | AKSHARA MAJJIGA

Because of his goal to foster a sense MVHS coach Gregg Mahurin and Los Gatos HS of community among divers, Mahurin, as coach Michael Berwald watch over a league well as some of his fellow coaches, make practice on Feb. 17 at Homestead HS. They it a point to establish camaraderie, not hope to hold four to five of these collaborative practices throughout the season. just within their own teams but across the league. A couple of years ago, the group continue to be successful is in large part of seven coaches from all of the teams in through the friendship of the coaches. the Santa Clara Athletic League De Anza Mahurin was a gymnast when he was Division decided to attempt league-wide younger, not a diver, and coach Michael practices. After their original success, Berwald of Los Gatos HS was a swim coach the coaches attempted to make these who learned to coach diving through books practices more regular over the last couple and Youtube. They realized that working of seasons. This year, the coaches hope to together benefitted all of their divers, and host four to five league practices over the so all-league practices were formed. next few months. “That’s very unique probably within “The coaches have all gotten together all the leagues. I mean you wouldn’t find with a common goal and a friendship, and very many coaches working together,” we all strive together to work together Berwald said. “It has to do with kind of instead of separately as individual schools,” the openness of all of us as dive coaches Mahurin said. “It’s benefiting kids in a way to understand that we don’t know exactly that I don’t think would’ve ever happened.” what we’re doing. And we’re learning along During these league practices, usually the way just like these kids are learning.” around three to four of the seven teams Their professional relationship and in the league are represented. With music common goals have fostered a friendship blasting on the pool speakers and a table between them. The coaches from across of snacks on the deck, divers from any of the seven schools PHOTO | KAREN MA are encouraged to come to get feedback from different coaches to improve their technique. Since diving is scored by judges who inherently have different opinions on specific dives, having different coaches give feedback to the same diver can be beneficial, according to Mahurin. “Every coach out here wants every kid out here to do their best,” Mahurin said. “Whether it’s their school or not their school. If you get beat on a day that somebody else dove better, that’s fine. Then you work harder and you get better.” The reason these league practices were originally established and the reason they

the league attend coaching clinics as a group, and after a league practice or league finals at the end of the year, they often go out to lunch together, sometimes with their divers. Their friendship, they hope, allows their divers to realize that in a sport like diving, rivalries are unnecessary because everyone is going through the same struggles. “There’s a special fraternity of divers,” Berwald said. “Because they’re the only ones who kind of understand how those belly flops and back flops feel and so they really do empathize.” When Berwald first started coaching, he noticed that at higher level meets like CCS, experienced divers tended to clump together with their club teams, leaving divers who had never competed for a club with few friends to cheer them on. Through these league practices, Berwald hopes that newer divers are not only able to improve their skills but form relationships with other divers they may see at later meets. Mahurin echoes this sentiment, believing that friendships among competitors are more important than rivalries, and in a sport like diving, friendships are inevitable. “We all sit in the same hot tub,” Mahurin said. “I don’t care how many kids are here, we’re all sitting in the same hot tub so you’re going to get to know these people and become their friends.” e

SPORTS

however, that the individuality of diving — performing and being judged as an individual — is what fosters perhaps the most collaborative environment out of any sports team on campus. In fact, the MVHS team is joined by divers from Lynbrook HS, who compete in a different league from MVHS, for practices and bonding events. “Everybody’s on the same team,” Mahurin said. “Even though we’re competing in the finals against each other, in all the schools, all the divers always help each other because in the end, you’re only competing against yourself.”

Members of the diving team sit in the hot tub at a practice on Feb. 14 to keep warm between dives. Each diver needed to learn six dives before their first meet on March 1.

SPORTS | MARCH 2018

STRAYING AWAY How the MVHS mascot lost its ties to the sport of bullfighting BY ANKIT GUPTA AND ELIZABETH HAN

hen art department chair Brian Chow first entered the MVHS gym more than 20 years ago, his eyes skimmed past the towering basketball hoops and purple banners, only to land on the mural on a wall. It contained two rows of light skinned athletes, painted in 10 variations of MVHS sports uniforms. Upon seeing this, a series of questions popped up into Chow’s head. “Why is everyone in one tone? Or one particular race? Why is it only European?” Chow said. “I thought that was kind of an odd mural.” The MVHS demographic was undoubtedly different when the mural was first painted. While the original intent of the piece remains unclear due to the passing of the artist and former art department chair Garrett Post, a newer audience like Chow may feel concerned from the lack of minorities represented, especially when considering today’s racial diversity. Yet for many, that initial concern stays at just that. Students move on for the next four years, perhaps passing jokes about the mural’s stiff figures and much too trim shorts. It doesn’t concern most beyond that. To many, artwork is merely artwork. History and tradition seemingly lie beneath the 2D landscape to remain untouched. Art and sports have gone hand in hand since the beginning of time, with murals, mascots and other imagery celebrating teams and players. But as societal views change, artworks modernize to fit new norms. With this, another remnant of the school’s past comes into question: MVHS’ mascot, the Matador. The origins of the mascot trace back to traditional Spanish bullfighting where men, known as matadors, attempt to kill a bull using weapons with a stadium of onlookers cheering them on. Though it was once an

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

integral part of the Spanish culture, the By idealizing the bull and the matador’s sport is under controversy today, and the relationship, MVHS seems to ignore the United Nations discourages viewers under context of bullfighting. But to Principal 18 from watching the sport. April Scott, these distinctions between While the uncomfortable undertones the sport and the mascot are important to remain, the MVHS mascot has strayed away MVHS’ identity. from the actual sport. Very few students “I have attended a Spanish bull fight are likely to have ever seen bullfighting, so I know what they are like,” Scott said. but MVHS still celebrates the matadors for “We have some drawings and paintings of their apparent valor. a matador in a bull ring [THE MATADOR] The three murals because a matador isn’t outside the gym seem to a matador unless there SHOWS STRENGTH. reflect these conflicting is a bull ring and a bull. IT SHOWS interpretations of the But I think we as a school TRAINING. IT SHOWS have diminished the fight mascot. From left to right, the murals, painted in part, and the goring of COMMITMENT. IT the 1960s, portray three the bull and focus more SHOWS TRADITION. on the person … [The stages of a bullfight, with the last mural showing matador] shows strength. PRINCIPAL APRIL SCOTT the matador basking in It shows training. It shows victory. Chow directed the second mural commitment. It shows tradition.” recently, with his own twist. While the other As for Chow, he is surprised that the two featured the matador in the spotlight, mascot hasn’t changed in the last 60 years. Chow and his students made a conscious Chow says the mascot carries offensive effort to stress the bull’s strength, placing undertones, but a bigger problem to him is the animal and matador on equal ground. that the community doesn’t seem to care. Further disparities widen the gap For example, he believes the MVHS mascot, between the mascot and the real sport. At which was purchased from a school mascot football games and rallies, Monte and El store, doesn’t hold any sentimental value to Toro — the infamous matador and bull of anyone at MVHS. MVHS — channel a sense of friendliness To solve this, Chow believes the student between their soft costumes, a sharp body should take part in recreating the contrast to the life-or-death battle of the community, whether it’s redesigning the actual sport. mascots or painting new murals that reflect Sophomore Sid Vundamatla recognizes the school’s racial demographic. the difference as one more reason to keep “It just adds to the narrative,” Chow the mascot in place. As a football player, he said. “The more people that are able to believes that the mascots help bring a fun do that, especially students, it just builds atmosphere to games and rallies, severing a richer community. Someone [will] come ties from the violence of real bullfighting. back, and say ‘hey, I painted that when I “Along with the cheerleaders, they root was in high school and it’s still there.’ It for the [MVHS] football team to win the builds roots.” e game,” Vundamatla said. “And, [they] make our school proud.”

PASSING THE BIRDIE TION | EM ILLUSTRA

ILY XIA

Badminton team adjusts to frequent coaching changes BY ROSHAN FERNANDEZ AND JASMINE LEE

adminton coach Brian Sullivan wrapped up the 2015 school year with an undefeated season. But at the end of the year, he had to walk away from the sport when he accepted a job at the FUHSD district office. As the head coach of the program, the varsity team finished with an impressive 24-0 record, and the JV team matched that record. Three years later, he has returned as the badminton coach once again after leaving the district office. Now a PE teacher, he is planning to reshape the team, aiming once again for success. “There’s a lot of talent on this team and it’s just a matter of getting it to mesh and mold,” Sullivan said. The team will have to adapt once again after experiencing three changes in coaching in the past three years. According to junior captain Kevin Zhou, having different coaches means that the team will have to adjust to different expectations for the season. “[The team] was mostly run by the team captains and they hosted tryouts and came up with schedules for practices,” Zhou said. “So we got a lot of freedom last year, but it was too lenient [and] a lot of people ditched.” Sullivan noted this issue and decided to tweak the way the team was managed. “It is getting [the captains] to realize that [the coaches] want to be more in charge of what’s happening, with feedback from them,” Sullivan said. “Because I don’t want to completely step on their toes and

be a complete change from what it was, for your team. So it’s a fine line between [but] it’s [also] a little bit of a transition of getting what you need out of [the team] allowing us to take over that responsibilities as a whole,” Sullivan said. “I really preach that we used to have.” about the part about being a team and In response to the change of coaches in looking out for each other.” this season, junior Karina Wang expressed Similarly, Zhou believes that bonding her appreciation as a new team captain. is important within the badminton team. “It’s great that they are willing to step Regardless of the changes, Wang explains up and be our coaches this season because that the captains will continue to take our old coach [left] two weeks before initiative and help everyone on the team the season started, so it was really short improve their skills. notice,” Wang said. “I don’t think the goal is to win,” Zhou According to Wang, said. “Obviously the coaches come up with winning is great, but I DON’T WANT TO drills, aiming to strengthen I think it’s more of COMPLETELY STEP ON the JV team. She explains having fun because [THE CAPTAINS’] TOES, colleges don’t really that many of the MVHS sports programs tend to give badminton BUT IT’S [ALSO] A LITTLE focus more on the varsity scholarships, so BIT OF A TRANSITION team, but for badminton it’s really about the OF ALLOWING US in particular, it’s especially social experience.” important to help the As for the TO TAKE OVER THAT less experienced players beginning of RESPONSIBILITIES THAT develop their skills. This this season, WE USED TO HAVE. is significant because Zhou expresses many players have never The COACH BRIAN SULLIVAN optimism. played badminton before captains, and the freshman year PE and still rest of the team for have a lot to learn in terms of technique. that matter, understand that things have The captains and their coaches are changed from last year, but they are doing aiming to put a lot more emphasis on team their best to adapt and continue playing spirit. Despite the fact that badminton is their best. traditionally thought of as an individual “I just hope that everyone understands sport, Sullivan explains that the team that [we’ve got] new coaches and it’s aspect is just as important. new policy,” Zhou said. “And I hope that “You’re the one on the court at that everyone stays interested in the sport.” e time, but there is a reason you’re competing SPORTS | MARCH 2018

UP THE RANKS

PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

How the MVHS girls soccer team left its losing reputation behind BY SANNIDHI MENON AND SHAYON MORADI

fter a close loss to Fremont HS, coach and plenty of underclassmen talent, MVHS girls soccer coach Jose has managed to greatly exceed expectations. Vargas pulled out his phone to read a In the classic underdog story, the girls message from the FHS coach. team overcame “The Fremont coach ended FRESHMAN YEAR, I WENT their past reputation up texting our coach and INTO IT KNOWING to shock many saying ‘You guys were a very of the traditional THAT [MVHS] SOCCER powerhouses of the good team and you guys have A JOKE. MY league, grown a lot over the past few WAS including years,’” senior captain Srinidhi PARENTS NEVER EVEN Milpitas HS and FHS. Balaraman said. The start of the SHOWED UP. The MVHS girls soccer team’s season took team has, in years past, not SENIOR MANSI many opponents by REDDY had much competitive success. surprise, as they were They only won one game last season. But much better than expected. Teams like this year, the team appears to have turned FHS that, in the past, were used to beating themselves around. The team finished the MVHS by sometimes three or even four season close to the top of the table with a goals, found themselves struggling to score record of 6-3-3. With a winning record for even once. the first time in seven years, they finished “When we played Lynbrook [HS], we third in league, with only Fremont HS and overheard players saying that ‘Oh we have Gunn HS ahead of them. to beat [MVHS], they’re not the good As senior Mansi Reddy explains, the team,’” Balaraman said. “I would say it’s team wasn’t taken very seriously by the advantageous because people don’t expect players themselves or the opposition. you to be as good as you are, so we came in “Freshman year, I went into it knowing and showed them and we beat them.” As the season went on and as the team that [MVHS] soccer was a joke,” Reddy said. “My parents never even showed up.” played more opponents, its “joke” status This year’s team, with a second year was long gone. According to junior Mythili

EL ESTOQUE | MARCH 2018

Ketavarapu, teams began to take them much more seriously and began to respect their skill. “It makes it harder the second time we play teams because we play every team twice,” Ketavarapu said. “Because then the second time [we play them] they’re like ‘Oh we underestimated them last time, but not a second time.’” With slim CCS contention in its last two games, the team tied Cupertino HS 0-0 and beat Wilcox HS 4-0 on senior night. However, this was not enough to secure a CCS spot. The team would have needed to pass Gunn HS and reach second place to have a chance to make it. Even with this slight disappointment, however, players like Reddy still view the season positively. “I think we have proven our playing level as a team,” Reddy said. “We shouldn’t be seen a joke as we have been in the previous years and I hope this year will ... give MVHS a new name in terms of girls soccer.” e

SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE

spORTs FlASh Senior Andrew Burke pins his opponent in the wrestling team’s final home dual meet of the season on Jan. 30. After the meet ended in a 4127 triumph over Saratoga HS, some Matadors could be seen throwing whipped cream at one another in celebration of their senior night victory.

Sophomore Jaimie Chan dribbles past her defender in MVHS’ game against Lynbrook HS on Feb. 2. The match ended in a 3-2 win, putting MVHS in second place for the time being and giving them the opportunity to qualify for CCS.

PHOTO | ROSHAN FERNANDEZ PHOTO | RANA AGHABABAZADEH

Dribbling through a double-team, senior Ryan Lee drives toward the basket in the Matadors’ 59-45 victory over Milpitas HS on Jan. 19. The team earned its second league win of the year, finishing the season with a 3-9 record.

PHOTO | ROSHAN FERNANDEZ PHOTO | SANNIDHI MENON

Freshman Kelli Kosakura goes up for a layup during the Matadors’ senior night game against Los Altos HS. In the final six seconds, the team ran a play in hopes of overcoming a one point deficit, but ultimately fell short, losing 45-46.

PHOTO | OM KHANDEKAR

SPORTS | MARCH 2018

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NEWS Artists reflect on their use of color to convey emotions

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