Volume 45, Issue 4, December 17, 2014

el

estoque MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL ELESTOQUE.ORG

Stuff THE

WE’RE MADE OF

DECEMBER 17, 2014 ISSUE IV, VOLUME XLV

5 NEWS

Social media advocacy 15 OPINION

Taking a mental health day 18 ENTERTAINMENT

Holiday foods 34 SPORTS

The danger of turf fields

6 11 34 NEWS

4

6

Updating Activism Social media as new stage for activists

Time Off Skipping school for work and teacher’s response

8

Saved by the Bell

9

Silent Solidarity

10

Change to finals schedules

Out of the blue

Letter to the Editors

A teacher’s take on dress code

OPINION

11

Instapproval Materialism demands approval through social media

12

Junk Food for Thoughts

14

Now panic and freak out

15

It’s a mental health day

16

It’s an addiction guys

Unfiltered information feeds untrue information

How to deal with stress

Exhaustion should be a reason to leave school On higher ground

Dear stuff owners, I

n the world of writing, we’re taught to avoid using the word “stuff.” We’re pretty sure you’ve heard it from your literature teachers too. (We prematurely apologize to the entire English Department. The word shows up 14 more times in this letter alone.) So it was especially out of the ordinary to see Balmeo’s eyes light up at the idea of having an issue about stuff.

After all, stuff is ambiguous, it doesn’t really mean anything. Stuff gets into your shoes if you run around on a turf field too much.

Your closet is full of stuff. You have stuff to do tonight. Stuff is paradoxical because it is both everything and nothing at all.

As our special report staff explored the 2

different parts of stuff this month, we both thought a great deal about the stuff that matters to us too. Not only the piles of stuff in A111, which range from ordinary newspapers, to ridiculous paraphernalia like football helmets and over a thousand forks, but the stuff that makes us who we are.

So we put that stuff to good use. We searched around the classroom, we looked under our beds and we emptied our pockets looking for the stuff that defines us.

We found lots of it. From Russian stacking Matryoshka dolls to Barbies, our stuff came in all shapes and sizes from all over the world.

Each one also tells a story.

Whether it’s the reindeer antlers we used

A&E

18

All in one

19

It’s over

20 22 23

What smarphones replace

De-stressing after finals

Season of sweets Celebrating unique food traditions

Cover masters Violinist duo’s online popularity

Oh, the Weather Outside is Dreadful She’s the man

to signal when a copy editor is available or a wooden elephant gifted by a generous student, all of these things were much more than just things.

Despite living in a world where so much of our lives happen in the immaterial online world, we are still unified by the objects that we possess.

Take a minute and look around. Everything you see has its own unique and intricate history. What’s the story behind your backpack?

Your wallet? Your umbrella?

Was it a gift? (Page 28) A part of a collection? (Page 30) Or perhaps even something you took from school grounds? (Page 29) So maybe it wasn’t that out of the ordinary EL ESTOQUE

el

estoque

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

20 SPECIAL REPORT

25 26

The Story of Stuff Stuff reveals life stories

Some Things Old, Some Things New Stories behind memorable items

27

Out of Sight, Still in Mind

28

The Gift of Giving

29

Drama Room

30

Not Trash, But Treasure

Leaving behind is not the same as forgetting Alternative kinds of gifting History of the drama room through objects Collections of “trash“

to see our adviser intrigued by our proposal for this issue. After all, we’re a staff of 48 journalists and as journalists, we’re supposed to search for stories. And we all know better than to claim that there isn’t anything newsworthy happening when we open up our pitch form and see no new submissions.

Because we all know that there is always stuff going on. Every person, place, thing, sight, smell and sound has a story to tell. Sure, the literary sin is one of the most unclear words in the English language.

But that’s why we chose it.

SPORTS

32

34 36

37 38 39

Leading the Play Team captain roles differ

Under the Cleats The safety of turf

Fittest Run Find the right fit for you

Season’s Greetings

Winter sports preview

Heading for the Goal Rookie of the Year

What’s in your bag?

Sophomore Sassan Hashemi’s goalie gear

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

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

NATHAN DESAI AND DANIEL FERNANDEZ LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

n.desai@elestoque.org | d.fernandez@elestoque.org

DECEMBER 17, 2014

3

NEWS

Kathleen Yuan | El Estoque Illustration

march 5, 2012

April 15, 2014

KONY 2012 The Invisible Children Inc. produced a film on Joseph Kony, an infamous A frican warlord. The video compelled over 2 million people to advertise KONY 2012 signs, purchase T-shirts or donate to stop Kony from abducting and killing more children.

DEFEATING DOMA The Human Rights Campaign advocates equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Their logo, an equal sign, quickly spread over Facebook and other social media.

aug. 9, 2014

FERGUSON Following the death of Michael Brown, #handsupdontshoot began trending on Twitter.

The phrase caught fire and made it onto the signs and into the chants of protesters across the US.

4

Social media provides a new stage for activists to advocate change

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS Boko Haram, an extremist Muslim group in Nigeria, abducted over 200 girls for wanting to go to school. The international community began spreading awareness through the Twitter saying #BringOurGirlsBack.

june 26, 2013

#UPDATING ACTIVISM

BY AVNI PRASAD AND KATHLEEN YUAN

R

ewind — it is early May 1963. In Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of students are absent from their classrooms on a school day. The students can be found marching on the streets in opposition to the city’s segregation laws, protesting in what will come to be known as the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. However, lining the streets of children are men with badges, menacing hoses, and snarling dogs. Still, the students continue to march. These young activists would influence the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, thrusting the issue of civil rights into the national spotlight.

Fast forward — it is early March 2012.

Around the world, millions of people are learning of Joseph Kony, an African warlord who kidnapped over 5,000 Ugandan children to train into child soldiers. The video by Invisible Children amasses over 100 million views in under a week, and 3.6 million people give their pledge of support. However, it is pelted with accusations of having little tangible effect; “slacktivism”, coined by Dwight Ozard and Fred Clark as a portmanteau of “slacker” and “activism,” that only produces a fulfilled feeling of contribution.

Despite this, passionate supporters continue to rally for the cause with the release of the sequel video. This unified, digital activism would influence a unanimous passing of the Kony 2012 resolution in the Senate.

From the Occupy movement to #BringBackOurGirls, activism has expanded from protesting on the streets to clicking the like

button on a computer screen. For every tragedy, there is a profile picture; every movement, a hashtag. “[The younger generation] is now posting videos and posts versus physically protesting,” 2017 class president Malika Singh said.

“I do not think anyone will want to risk missing a week of school for protesting, so they push toward social media by making videos, creating clubs at school and making posts with incentives to share.”

Thus, social media creates a global platform for promoting change and gathering support for worldly issues. However, the palpable effect of sharing a post, liking a photo or tweeting with a hashtag is much debated.

“A hashtag does not change anything,” Grey’s Anatomy producer, writer and creator Shonda Rhimes said in a commencement speech to Dartmouth College. “It’s a hashtag. It’s you, sitting on your butt, typing into your computer and then going back to binge-watching your favorite show.”

Still, hashtags have proven to be a powerful tool that encourages recruitment of supporters, which remains a large component of activism. Earlier this year, in the wake of the deadly Isla Vista shootings, the Twitter hashtag #YesAllWomen emerged after #NotAllMen, disputing the prevalence of misogynistic culture and treatment in society. Short for “not all men are like that,” #NotAllMen was created by bloggers fighting generalizations of misogynist acts by men. In response, bloggers of #YesAllWomen shared stories of EL ESTOQUE

SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM BY THE NUMBERS 38% YES

IS ONLINE ACTIVISM MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL ACTIVISM?

64% NO

#Ferguson

Source: CNN

THE “SUPPORT DARREN WILSON” FACEBOOK GROUP HAS RECEIVED MORE THAN

29,000 LIKES

THE ALS ASSOCIATION RAISED

$100 MILLION IN 30 DAYS, AND $114 MILLION IN 55 DAYS

SINCE ITS CREATION ON AUG. 9 *From a survey of 157 MVHS students

female harassment to spread awareness of daily encounters with sexism, expressing that all woman have and will experience sexual harassment or sexism.

Through rapid spread of information on social media sites, the Isla Vista killings brought gun control, mental health and misogyny back to the center of America’s discussion table amidst other international conflicts. As a result, hashtags have resounded with many far and wide, stemming from simple social media.

But even as the reverbs of such national and global issues settle down over the web, support remains stronger at home. Organizing the first created candlelight vigil in front of 7-Eleven honoring the life of Ethan Wong was an online endeavor, originating with Lincoln Elementary School parent Tarun Dwivedi.

“People are talking, but they still are not healing,” Dwivedi said. “Somehow, they have to come together.”

The idea travelled to MVHS through senior Megan Chandler. Chandler wanted to open a Facebook event after Dwivedi introduced the idea on the online community Nextdoor Monta Vista.

“It needed to be done,” Chandler said.

DECEMBER 17, 2014

From Aug. 9, the day that FORMER POLICE OFFICER DARREN Wilson killed MICHAEL Brown, to Aug. 25, the hashtag was used on Twitter 11.6 million times with retweets and 1.9 million without retweets

Source: CNN

“It would be better to come together as a community. If there’s a Facebook event, then people can formally commit to it that way.”

Chandler and fellow organizers junior Ajay Merchia and senior Aditi Soin, who officially created the event on Facebook, amassed over 1,000 commitments through the Facebook event in the few days leading up to the vigil. With the Facebook event, community members and MVHS alumni that were not able to attend physically were able to show their support, even from across the country.

“I guess I should’ve [expected the turnout],” Chandler said. “I was expecting big, but I guess I should’ve expected bigger …

I didn’t expect it to have that much power.”

The day of Wong’s death, Merchia began gathering his emotions into creating a profile picture. Once he posted the picture on Facebook, he was surprised at how quickly it spread. In an online survey of 157 students, 92 MVHS students changed their profile picture in honor of Wong.

“It sort of became the norm,” Merchia said. “It felt like their own way to contribute to the event and spread awareness… When people changed their profile picture, they wanted to share that compassion and advo-

Source: Slideshare.net

cate that he was ‘Once a matador and always will be a matador.’”

Additionally, a big-rig curfew petition on change.org was created, which, by Nov. 14, had gained over 7,000 of the 7,500 required signatures. Many of the signatures were generated through Facebook shares and the vigil’s event description.

From its inception, social media has become a megaphone for change. However, change itself often occurs when actions are taken. Though social media has become a means of inspiring change and quickly spreading information, revolutions such as the “Justice for Michael Brown” campaign come from old-fashioned grassroots movements. From assembling a mourning community to hosting humanitarian debates, online activism has become a powerful supplement to traditional protests and physical movements. a.prasad@elestoque.org | k.yuan@elestoque.org

5

RETAKE PHOTO

Time off

Aditya Pimplaskar | El Estoque

Increases in student stress influence teacher attempts to create healthier learning environment

BY BRIAN FAN AND SANJANA MURTHY

T

ime. It’s often taken for granted, but when stressed and drowning in work, the most valuable asset for a student is time. As the workload increases year after year, some students begin to look toward new solutions for attaining the time that they seem to never have. And as more and more students feel this kind of stress and desperation, teachers attempt to reduce that number by implementing policies that they feel will provide students with more flexibility and alleviate stress. But in a class of about thirty students, these attempts may help one student tremendously, and do next to nothing for another.

For one junior, who asked that her name not be used out of fear of teacher retribution, skipping school is almost like second nature. She doesn’t do it to hang out with friends or go out for lunch. Instead, she calls in sick and skips school when the stress of handling six classes and several extracurriculars becomes too much to handle, and one

6

day spent at home makes all the difference in the world.

“If it’s been a really stressful week and I have a lot of stuff to do, but I know we’re not doing anything of value in class the next day, I’ll just stay at home to catch up on work and study for upcoming tests,” she said. “Some

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, IT WOULD BE A TEAM EFFORT AND A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY. AP Biology teacher Pamela Chow

days, I just need that break.”

She explained that she doesn’t see the point of going to school when she has a major test or project due the next day, while knowing that nothing of importance will be done in class the day before. To her, a block day in which a movie is being shown or a

worksheet is assigned means a day of catching up on work that would otherwise have taken her all night to finish. Because she finds that staying at home is far more beneficial for her, she does not see anything wrong with skipping school and claims to feel absolutely no guilt.

“I’m a lot more productive than I would have been if I had come home from school, exhausted,” she said.

However, she does know that teachers are not to blame for the stress and large workload. As teachers, it is their right to assign the work that they feel is necessary for students to be successful in the class. In a school as big as MVHS, it is difficult for teachers to collaborate and work around each other’s schedules, so she understands that they don’t deliberately place a heavy workload upon students.

“I don’t think teachers assign a heavy workload on purpose,” she said. “They might not feel like they are assigning a lot, EL ESTOQUE

que

Reducing Stress Aware that students are overworked on a daily basis, many teachers try their best to lower their contribution to students’ stress For example, AP Statistics teacher Colin Anderson arranges test dates in a way that he hopes will prevent student’s schedules from being cluttered.

“I place all our assessments on Mondays, and only Mondays, for two reasons,” Anderson said. “First, I think that students just already have too much stuff on Fridays.

Second, I feel that students appreciate the weekend to recover and study, then come in on Monday fresh and take the quiz.”

However, senior Jae Han Lee thinks that having quizzes on Monday may not work best for everyone.

“The Monday quizzes in [Statistics] do relieve stress because we get more time to study for them,” Lee said. “But it’s also not effective for all students because some might have other quizzes/tests on Mondays.”

Although there are rumors that some teachers create unusual testing schedules in order to keep students from cutting class, Anderson states clearly that for his policies, this is not the case.

Finally, Anderson warns students to keep in mind that they chose their own courses.

“It’s an AP course. Students need to ask themselves if they are putting in AP effort,” Anderson said.“There was no intention at all that my testing schedule was to keep students from skipping class.”

Lee also sees little justification in students skipping class, regardless of what teachers are doing in class.

“Student should still participate in the activities during the class regardless of the productivity of the activities. It is the student’s responsibility to have studied for the test beforehand outside class, and skipping the class to compensate for his ineffective time management skill is unjustified,” Lee said.

While it is uncertain whether such techniques effectively help reduce student stress or simply create other conflicts, it can be said that promoting dialogue about the relationship between students and teachers is a step in the right direction. Some students, however, believe that as much effort as teachers put in to reduce stress, it may never work for everyone.

Team Effort Much like Anderson, AP Biology teacher Pamela Chow also makes an effort to reduce stress in the learning environment as much

as she can, without taking away from the necessary rigorous curriculum that comes with all AP courses. Although she believes teachers should try their best to take students’ requests into consideration, Chow understands that this is not always possible.

“There’s a lot of things that teachers have to balance, so I can understand how it might be difficult sometimes to accommodate students’ needs,” Chow said.

Chow explains that students aren’t the only ones juggling several tasks at once.

Teachers of AP courses have a deadline to meet and owe it to their students to finish the course’s material prior to the AP exam, leaving time for review. With such a tight schedule, Chow can see how some teachers may find it more efficient and better for the class as a whole to set a schedule and abide by it, regardless of individual conflicts.

With regards to how stress and the number of student absences can be reduced, Chow states that there really is no single, one-step solution, but that a more comfortable student-teacher relationship would help.

“Teachers have to be receptive and somewhat understanding, but students also have to communicate possible conflicts in advance, rather than the day of or day before a test,” Chow said.

According to Chow, the problem cannot be solved by changes made by only students or changes made only by teachers. Both must find ways to be as understanding and accommodating as is possible, with detracting from the learning process.

As for the reason behind these “excused” absences, Chow understands why a student might want to miss school, but from a practical standpoint, doesn’t believe that doing so would serve his or her best interests.

For Chow, deliberately missing school just makes it more difficult for the student themselves. It gradually turns into a habit and a never ending cycle of missed class, make-up work and tests, stress, and more missed class. She would much rather the student come speak to her beforehand, instead of sacrificing their own learning for a problem that could potentially be solved by a quick conversation.

Teachers and students seem to be aware of the detrimental effects of the stress surrounding time management. As a result, both are working towards building a relationship that will allow them to effectively coordinate their schedules. Yet, both understand the importance of striking a balance and continuing to maintain the academic integrity and trust between teachers and students. ”In an ideal world,” Chow said, “it would be a team effort and a joint responsibility.”

Rhonda Mak | El Estoque

but work from other classes and extracurriculars piles up and the stress accumulates.”

b.fan@elestoque.org s.murthy@elestoque.org

DECEMBER 17, 2014

7

NEWS

Saved by the bell Change to finals schedules this year

BY JADY WEI

O

ne week at the end of each semester, students go through the notorious and traditional final exams. A time of stress, finals week is easily one of the most cumbersome: after half a year of learning and studying, everything comes down to this last week of testing.

This year, however, finals week hasn’t been the same.

For the first time in over four years, MVHS administration and teachers have implemented a change regarding final exam schedules.

The three most prominent differences in this year’s testing period are pushing back the starting time to 8 a.m., spreading out seven exams over the course of four days and following the regular order of periods rather than shuffling them. One primary factor galvanized this change: alleviating student stress.

ing discussions. The WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) report from last year definitely prompted [the change] by giving us more data in regards to these issues,” social studies teacher Robyn Brostowicz said. “But ultimately, it was not the

only reason.”

11%

more stressful

44%

45%

less stressful

about the same

Reasoning behind the adjustment Vaness Qin | El Estoque Illustration “Every year, we try to make improvements in this school,” math teacher Jennifer Pazirandeh said. “The first thing we brainstormed as a teacher staff [this year] was to look at what increased student stress that teachers could still have control over. What percolated to the top was we could make some small changes for finals week.”

According to Pazirandeh, the school administration and teachers have noticed that students experienced stress from taking three final exams on one day. Based on the schedules of previous years, this was a situation that many students faced. In addition, teachers took into consideration a recent report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommending that schools commence later than they usually do in order to accommodate student’s health necessities.

“Student stress and time management has always been something that is in ongo-

How do you feel about THE NEW FINALS SCHEDULE?

8

*of 157 students surveyed

Deciding on a new schedule Several weeks ago, the faculty leadership team proffered the new finals schedule. Through a survey given to every staff member, the leadership body gauged the level of support and decided to implement the change so long as a majority of teachers were in favor of it. Math teacher Scott DeRuiter was one of the staff members who voted for the modification.

“The majority of teachers and staff decided this would be a good change to at least try,” DeRuiter said. “It seemed to me that the teacher leadership was advocating for this change and I didn’t object to this change. I didn’t feel strongly against it, so I

voted for it.”

Despite taking this position, however, he finds that there are still areas for improvement, even with the modified finals schedule. Unlike before, finals now begin on Monday instead of Tuesday, depriving many teachers and students from using Monday for last-minute review or study sessions.

Spreading out the final exams across the duration of four days also means that students will be tossed into a long, exhaustive testing period.

Ultimately, this year’s finals schedule will serve only as an experiment for the years ahead. It is a step in the process of implementing changes to remedy the pressure and anxiety of a typical finals week.

Looking ahead With the execution of the new finals schedule, staff members are now looking to other possible areas for change.

“Now, we’re discussing potential changes [for] next year as well, but that’s in its early stages,” Pazirandeh said. “It’s rooted in the same sense that we’re focusing on the aspects of student stress and sleep.”

The school administration and teachers have initiated discussion on a potential change in bell schedules next year following the same goal of reducing student stress.

Another possibility would be to add a second tutorial each week. Unlike changing the finals schedule, however, modifying the bell schedule would be a much longer process.

Finals are, only a week, while the bell schedule would affect the entire school year. The many ideas proposed so far include commencing school days later, lengthening the school year while dispersing more vacations and changing the schedule of summer break.

“Nothing is set in stone — I would say it’s understandably a trial run,” DeRuiter said. “What usually happens at Monta Vista though, based on history, is we try something out and if it’s not horrible we just stick with it.” j.wei@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

NEWS

Silent Solidarity

Spreading awareness about social issues without making it about you

I

’m not black. high on a list of people about to be brutal- denly stop caring, but that we should be proI know it seems obvious, but it’s an ized by our own law enforcement. Our broth- moting the life experiences of those whose important distinction for me to make. ers could probably swing a toy gun around lives are ruined by the police for the color I’m not black: I don’t come from a history and live another day. Our fathers could be of their skin, sharing those people’s stories of oppression, a history of being treated as bailed out of jail the next day if found selling rather than blasting our own thoughts into property, a history of 3/5 compromises and tax-free cigarettes, rather than be buried in the void.

Jim Crow laws. the ground.

What we really need to do is amplify I don’t come from a history of Michael It’s because of this privilege that we just what needs to be seen rather than adding to Browns, Eric Garners and Tamir Rices. don’t have the context necessary to carry the cacophony ourselves.

I’m not black, so I couldn’t Rather than posting a status uppossibly understand what it date on how police brutality against must be like to watch blacks is destroying the fabric of as my brothers and sisters this country, we can easily link to are executed in front of the pieces written by people who might nation – left to die on local have actually suffered the double sidewalks by those who once standard. For example, there’s an took an oath to protect every entire hashtag called #AliveWhilecitizen at all costs. I feel outBlack that’s full of heart-breaking rage and fury for others, but injustices the average black person never fear for myself when suffers as the price for living. ReI watch white male police blog, retweet, share, like and most officers be validated for murimportantly: what we really need to der and never fear for my fado is read. ther, nor my younger brother, Read stories and statistics and because I’m not black. tales of triumph and terror that we In the aftermath of Ferguneed to become informed of rathson and New York, each of er than opinionated on. Consume us has a tendency to try and media produced by actual black find a place for ourselves in people. Validate their decisions to the narrative, to find a reason tell the world about how they live to care. We make Facebook everyday by interacting with the posts late at night, reblog content. rants on Tumblr, argue about Remember that our place in this semantics of cases that we story is as active listeners, conduits don’t quite understand as if for information the world needs to each of us carried a law deknow, rather than the direct source. gree in our hands granted by The simple fact is that most of us Statistics from: USC Annenberg, Politifact, Huffington Post Sharon Tung | El Estoque Illustration the powers of social media. today don’t know what it feels like We insist that we underto walk down the street as a black stand the oppression and the person. We don’t know what it’s anger, insist that we stand like to spend a day in their shoes, in solidarity as we demand and we’ll never even start to unchange from behind our comderstand until we actively seek out OUT OF THE BLUE puter screens. those perspectives and share them It’s an easy trap to fall into, with everyone we know. We don’t and we’re far from alone. The know what it’s like to be black, so hashtag #BlackLivesMatter rather than pretending that we do, was soon hijacked by well-meaning whites out the conversations we force ourselves we need to make room for those who do. and turned into #AllLivesMatter as a way of to have, and in the process of making ourBecause after all this time, it’s the least including everyone in a conversation most selves heard, we manage to drown out the we can do. of us don’t belong in. After all, in the grand voices of those that could be filling the m.murthy@elestoque.org scheme of things, we’re probably not very space instead. It’s not that we should sud-

MAYA MURTHY

9

EL ESTOQUE

Letter to the Editors would be if all the male teachers showed up to teach in Speedos and net-mesh tank tops, attire that might be perfectly fine at a backyard poolside barbeque with adult close friends. It would be wrong at MV, not because we’re worried about “controlling the girls”, but because it’s the wrong place and time for that choice, and would show disrespect for the school and for the students and other staff who are part of it. This is an academic institution, not a vacation resort, fitness center, or singles bar, so cover yourself accordingly, save your other styles for another venue, and get over it.

MV’s dress code is not really a sexist plot against girls, even if you perceive more enforcement against feminine fashions. Think about what’s really going on. Fashion for girls traditionally pushes the edges of taste and propriety far more than fashion for boys, who show one heck of a lot less skin (or skin tight garments) on average. If boys start

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pushing the boundaries, you’ll see the enforcement pattern change, too. Perhaps you should also take a look a few pages later in the same issue of El Estoque, to find a female staffer complaining about the shaving habits of boys, and you might recognize that gender bias against self expression in personal style is a two-way street. Next, add in to that mix the inescapable fact that most male teachers don’t dare to talk to girls who wear disrespectful or inappropriate clothing. Even if it we find it highly offensive, we fear being perceived as “creepy”. How unfair and sexist is that, when we can’t mention the problem because of fear of being labeled? Are we not supposed to notice your very public self-expression? Your exercise of your right of self expression should be tempered by awareness of the respect you owe to those around you.

Jon Stark Math Department

Since 1993

Dear Editors: One important aspect was missing from your recent piece on dress codes, and that’s the matter of respect for appropriate time and place. Self expression through fashion is fine, but even the most fashion-conscious women generally don’t wear string bikinis to church, short shorts to a job interview, or their favorite night clubbing outfit to argue a case before the Supreme Court, because it’s disrespectful to do so. When a girl comes into my classroom wearing clothing that conforms like paint to body parts that should be familiar only to herself and her personal physician, or with shorts cut so high that bare “cheeks” are exposed, I find that disrespectful and offensive to me, and that has nothing to do with “controlling the boys” or “rape culture”. It’s the wrong place for such expressions, and I shouldn’t have to tolerate exhibitions like that in my classroom.

Imagine what outrage there

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EL ESTOQUE

OPINION

INStAPPROVAL

Materialis, integrated with social media, fosters a cycle of discontentment

BY EMILY ZHAO

L

onging for affirmation, for things, for attention. It’s the feeling that propels us to be drawn into a degrading mindset.

Modern culture is currently facing the prevalence of people who are constantly longing for more. The holiday season gives us an opportunity to spend time with and appreciate family and friends, but every year amidst opening stores on Black Friday and lavish gifts advertised on TV, holiday attitudes seem to be drifting toward buying more things, toward showing others what we acquired and toward forgetting to find personal and sincere contentment. It’s great to feel excited about acquired things and wanting to show them to others, but do we really know where to stop, or where to draw the line between holiday spirit and superficiality?

Doing something enjoyable, lying under the Christmas tree, enjoying the simple scent of baked cookies, or taking a break from social media can help lessen these self-degrading feelings. What’s stopping us from finding true internal contentment is mostly centralized in one trait: materialism.

Materialism thrives in a mindset of competitiveness and comparativeness.

In the Journal of Consumer Research, 2,500 people were studied for six years.

The study found that materialism creates social isolation, and isolation paves the way for more materialism, creating a harmful effect on an individual.

Everyday, people are on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites, sharing pictures or aspects of their lives and opinions. That’s completely appropriate, but those actions, when done often, can generate feelings of insecurity fueled by the need to advertize things we have. It’s natural to be competitive, to constantly strive to portray ourselves as better than we are. When being better means having better and more things, however, the dangers of materialism could be at play. When life is so fast-paced, we become drawn into this mentality, constantly striving for more superficial things, but not focusing on improving or appreciating the internal qualities of our lives.

The blame isn’t just on ourselves though, the environment in which we live fosters a materialistic attitude. Consumerism fo-

DECEMBER 17, 2014

cuses on these insecurities and fears of alienation to convince people to buy products. However, we don’t need to adhere to that.

Param Sharma, a nineteenyear-old who has over fourhundred-thousand followers on Instagram, goes by Instagram name itslavishbitch, and posts about so-called lavish items that he acquires. “My life is like Louis Vuitton, everyone wants it,” Sharma’s Instagram biography says. In a posted picture of a gold rolex watch, Sharma said in his caption, “It’s nice to wake up to luxuries that you will never have.” This is perhaps satirized and an extreme version of materialism displayed through social media, but regardless, posting pictures of luxury items and gifts in hopes of getting many likes resembles a similar outlook.

Acquiring expensive presents, such as the latest phone, trendy shoes or clothes, and seeing over two-hundred likes on a clothinghaul-holiday picture can make us feel successful or fulfilled in the moment, but no satisfaction is guaranteed in the long-term.

A study undergone by Springer Science Business Media New York showed that “highly materialistic US adolescents who received an intervention that decreased materialism also experienced increases in self-esteem over the next several months, relative to a control group.”

Predominantly, embodying a materialistic mentality traps an individual in a never-ending cycle of dissatisfaction, constantly longing for more things for more approval, which consequently diminishes quality of life.

This is not to say, however, that materialism is detrimental. Actually, exhibiting this characteristic can allow for excitement and energy.

With another round of holidays to end 2014, it’s important to keep in mind the val-

Instagram

286 likes holiday clothing haul view all 32 comments Like

Comment

ue of finding sincere, personal satisfaction.

Feelings of longing can bring impulses that influence materialistic behavior, but those impulses can be rejected by truly enjoying the holidays and putting down our phones.

Ultimately, outright materialism especially when coupled with social media guarantees no permanent happiness, but rather dissatisfaction with our lives. e.zhao@elestoque.org

11

249,164,22

OPINION

Junk food for thought

Our constant connection to the internet facilitates the spread of inaccurate information

A

man was planning to propose to 2014, the average Facebook user has 338 his girlfriend who died during the friends, and the average Twitter user has Boston Marathon 208 followers. While prior to the internet, bombing. Myth. people could influence the opinion of those Most rural they interacted with on a daily basis at Americans home, school and work, now it is much would easier to reach people we hardly even rather vote communicate with face-to-face. All for Iran’s it takes is the click of a button.

Spread by: Empire News president The problem inherent in our Busted by: Snopes, an online Mahinterconnectedness with the rumor research website which moud world, however, is the ease Ahmawith which we can consume posted a picture of the fake birth dinejad or ourselves spread inaccucertificate to prove its invalidity. than rate information. Where once Barack Americans could only access the Obama. Myth. news via television, radio and word Blondes are goof mouth, now, according to research ing extinct. Myth.

All these stories, however, were at one time or another touted as facts conducted by the Media Insight Project on the internet. Often a misleading photo- in 2014, at least once a week 69 percent graph, statistic or quote accompanies these of Americans get their news via the internet on their computer, while 55 perOur Facebook friends are cent use the internet on their cellphones.

Thus, while we now have much broadnot trained journalists er access to information, quality control viral stories that wind up on our Facebook has become an issue. In order to ensure feeds, Twitter and unreliable news websites that the information we are absorbing is including the O’Reilly Factor, The Rush Lim- indeed accurate, we must filter much of baugh Show and the Huffington Post. These what we read or hear so we can be constories often appeal to our emotions; they scientious consumers of information. shock us and intrigue us. They seem crazy, To do this, we must first and foremost impossible and reaffirm our faith that truth must be weirder than fiction.

In many of these understand that our Facebook friends are not cases, it isn’t. trained journalists.

With the advent of social media, any perWhile we may agree son with a computer with their opinions Spread by: National Report or support their and an internet conBusted by: Raw Story, an Amernection can touch ideas, the facts hundreds if not thouand sources they ican online news publication promote may be sands of people with founded in 2004 by John Bryne. biased or downtheir beliefs, opinions and ideologies. Accordright misleading. In fact, 38 percent of ining to a Pew Research ternet users will “bounce” Center study conducted in 12

off an internet page without engaging with any content. Of the remaining 62 percent, five

Obama Admits to Forg PresidentObama’s i 16 year old daughter, Malia, H

confirmedpregnantPr

C h i n e s e c i t y a d d s w a l k i n g Cong l a n e f o r p e o p l e t e x t i n g Recor

H i p p o Foun d I n th Michele Bachmann Suggests Labor Camps For Illegal Immigrant Children

EL ESTOQUE

Fa Be Us

spans coupled with an menting with clarifying questions or links overwhelming amount to more credible sources may serve to draw of information leads attention to the accurate information, and people to promote thus facilitate the spread of reliable news. at times very slipHow often have we seen posts about OPINION OF THE EL ESTOQUE shod opinions Ferguson? Eric Garner? Bill Cosby? founded Posts that often polarize the EDITORIAL BOARD upon issue and represent misunreconstrued facts. Yet, it liis these very events, percent won’t stay long enough to scroll able Spread by: Video by Aatma evidence or which by their nature down. Furthermore, according to research dangerous mismerit a great deal of Studio, reported incorrectly by conducted by data scientist Josh Schwartz i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s . media attention, that Fox News New York of Chartbeat, there is clear evidence that In order to betend to go viral on people share articles they come diligent absorbBusted by: commenters of the internet. When have not fully ers of information we every social media the Youtube video. read. Short must first ensure that user feels the need a t t e n - the sources of informato share his views on a t ion tion we ourselves refer to national or international are reliable. These sources can issue, the spread of misinrange from the local news channel formation or “dumbed down” on television to the gold standard of jourversions of a complex issues is rampant. nalism, the New York Times. As long as Our access to a seemingly neverendwe are avoiding less-reliable sources ing stream of information may seem overlike the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed whelming. It can appear like an impossible that use second-hand information task to filter through the hundreds of headto spread often-sensationalizing lines and posts we consume on a daily bastories, we are much more likely sis. But if we are to actively engage with the to be correctly informed of curinternet and accrue the benefits it provides, rent events and important issues. we must also be willing to protect ourselves Though it may seem like an aragainst one of the largest problems associduous process, we should then proated with the web, rampant ceed to double-check any facts our m isinfor mat ion. friends post on social media. While That old a d a g e , “don’t it is much easier to passively accept b elieve Spread by: Capitol Hill Blue our friends’ version of the truth, the ever yBusted by: Snopes, an online chance that they are wrong is much t hing higher than the chance that a reputay o u rumor research website which ble news source is wrong. Actively disr e a d posted excerpts of the Capitol Hill criminating among different sources on the

STAFF EDITORIAL

rging Birth Certificate s iPhone 5 HAS d a, Hologram

ntProjection

ngress’ Domestic Violence cord Worse Than the NFL’s

th e C hic ago River

Facebook to Begin Charging U s e r s M o n t h ly

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Blue article to prove its invalidity.

of information is an important characteristic of an attentive public attuned to the political climate of the times.

In order to further promote the

internet,” takes us only halfway there. The formation of a spread of accurate well-informed active internet news, we should as public is the strongest proteca final step question against a platform that tion and comment allows any information to Spread by: Weekly World News go viral regardless of how on our friends posts when the unreliable it is. Not only Busted y: Snopes through cirinfor mation culating emails among Facebook should we be wary conthey are sharsumers of information, but users. ing does not we should also be in active align with the pursuit of accurate news. information provided by our reliable news sources. Com13

NOW PANIC AND

FREAK OUT Effective management of stress can raise productivity.

BY PRANAV PARTHASARATHY AND SARAH WEINBERG

S

tanford professor Robert Sapolsky Smith and Kyle Jones have started to intewrites in his book, Why Zebras Don’t grate in their Physiology classes. By thinkget Ulcers, “for the vast majority of ing ‘like a zebra’, or rather any herd animal, animals on this planet, stress is about a one would respond immediately to the short term crisis, after which it’s either stressor, thereby avoiding the dangerous over with or you’re over with.” Stress is portions of the stress cycle. Zebras, along supposed to be short-term, a tool used with most other animals, become stressed in order to survive in do-or-die situations. only by ‘acute physical crises’ or ‘chronic But that’s not how we use it at MVHS. physical challenges’, short-term challenges We have taken stress, a response in- which hormones enable them to surmount. tended to make And these horquick reactions to MVHS students can get mones have incredibly dangerous situapotent effects. Adrenacarried away [because] tions more efficient line and noradrenaline and immediate and we think that we have to can heighten one’s misused it. We fret sense of smell, hearbe superhuman. over our chemistry ing, and vision. Higher senior Hershey Sriraman blood sugar levels exams, our physics tests, our literature contribute to an overpapers, and even after we turn them in, we all increase in energy and improved abilcan’t stop. Even after we turn in our projects ity to concentrate. For zebras along with and take our tests, we obsess over the con- many other animals, this short-term stress sequences, flooding the hall with a virus of a response helps them survive. For students, question, “What did you get?” But that’s not this response helps us remember that obwhat’s stress is about. The stress response scure court verdict for the history exam or floods our bloodstreams with adrenaline the formula to solve the physics problem. and glucagon, hormones which make us Taken to chronic levels, however; work faster, think quicker, and respond to stress can also cause depletion of energy the challenges ahead. It’s important to lever- stores, impairment of the immune sysage this portion of the stress cycle, rather tem, and accumulation of fat in the abdothan getting trapped in the obsessive wor- men. However, through our perspectives, rying that results in physiological harm. In we can avert the later stages of stress. order to learn how to do this, we should look Sriraman believes that students at for inspiration from the experts: animals. MVHS sometimes overextend themSapolsky popularized the ‘think like a selves by attempting to pursue too zebra’ idiom that MVHS teachers Jenna many extracurriculars at the same time.

DECEMBER 17, 2014

“MVHS students can get carried away [because] we think that we have to be superhuman,” senior Hershey Sriraman said.

Sriraman only pursues what she is most passionate about: golf, public speaking, and law studies. This focused intensity allows her to be a successful student, accomplished Mock Trial lawyer, and captain of the Girls Varsity and JV Golf Team.

Senior Aiswarya Sankar also has effectively managed her stress. She takes the most rigorous classes offered at MVHS, is the president of the Research Club, is captain of the Varsity Tennis Team, and studies advanced college coursework in computer systems. Sankar has a 4.0 GPA, is a nationally ranked tennis player, and has awards in the prestigious Siemens Science Fair.

“We want to attain greatness, but that’s not what causes stress. What causes stress is when these high aspirations become our expectations,” Sankar said.

We traditionally view stress through the negative lens: the chronic worry which follows everything we do academically. But that’s not what stress is for. Stress is an evolutionary response designed to make us work faster and better, and accomplish the goals we set for ourselves. As long as we set realistic expectations, realistic schedules, realistic workloads, we can use stress as it is intended to be used, as a tool. p.parthasarathy@elestoque.org s.weinberg@elestoque.org

23

It’s a (mental) health day Students who feel exhausted should be allowed to take a day off

BY NEHA PATCHIPALA

DECEMBER 17, 2014

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[in comparison to a more temporary form of fatigue]... lasts longer and is more profound. It’s a nearly constant state of weariness that develops over time and diminishes your energy and mental capacity. Fatigue at this level impacts your emotional and psychological well-being, too”.

The clinic also asserts that a person who suffers from exhaustion in some instances could need medical treatment.

However, the

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who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life”, said Pediatrician Judith Owens, MD, FAAP. A student’s mental and physical health is just as important as their grades and academics. In fact, health should always be a student’s and school’s priority, regardless of how important a particular day’s lesson may be.

If a student doesn’t take care of him or herself, then all of the hard work that he or she put into their academics would be a waste. The student would not be able to utilize his or her education to the best of his or her ability simply because he or she has reached a point of utter exhaustion.

Taking a break enables them to pay attention in class the next day, instead of feeling the need to rest their head on the palm of their hand and drift off to sleep, completely invalidating the purpose of attending class in the first place.

There is absolutely no point in a student showing up at school if they do not possess the capacity to pay attention during class and have a strong desire to be anywhere but in their seat listening to a lecture.

Vi

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aving various tests, quizzes and homework assignments every week is considered the norm by almost all MVHS students. Complaining about these tests, quizzes and homework assignments is also the norm for most.

These burdens, combined with ineffective time management, is what drives some students to skip school on test days.

The reasons students skip school are easy to understand. Students do not feel prepared for a test and, in turn, worry about their grades, which invokes stress. They then decide that the only course of action available is to skip school, which gives them more time to study for their tests.

This is not a solution.

Rather than acknowledging the fact that they are either not managing their time effectively, or are overwhelming themselves with too many difficult classes, students opt to compound the problem by missing school and having even more work to make up, perpetuating a vicious cycle.

AP Biology teacher Pamela Chow is aware of the stress that MVHS students face and tries to make an effort to avoid giving a major test on the same day as other teachers. She understands why students feel it makes sense to skip school, but believes that students need to be more proactive and ask for help.

Furthermore, missing school to avoid taking tests is simply unethical. It is unfair to the students who decide not to skip school and take their tests on the assigned day, regardless of whether they are prepared.

MVHS students, however, often take on many challenging classes and are involved in a plethora of extracurricular activities, and because of their time commitments, this stress is inevitable. Thus, students who are exhausted need to broaden their definitions of “illness”.

The idea that the only acceptable reason to miss school is illness or personal tragedy is not a valid one, as a student who does not have the capability to absorb and understand the material being taught gains nothing out of feeling exhausted in class.

Mayo Clinic states that “Chronic fatigue

causes of fatigue generally include particular habits or routines.

Clearly, it is not worth it to stay up late and cram.

Teachers are permitted seven days of paid sick leave. If students are susceptible to the same types of situations that teachers encounter, then they should be extended the same courtesy. School should be considered a student’s “job”. Students should have the same rights as teachers in regard to taking a personal day off.

The school should not only recognize but also do something about the exhaustion that students face. Not just individual teachers.

The American Academics of Pediatrics encourages schools to consider changing the time that schools start to 8:30 AM. “The research is clear that adolescents

n.patchipala@elestoque.org

15

Opinion

It’s an addiction, guys With the police brutality so rampant, we need a New ear’s resolution

Rhonda Mak | El Estoque

cle. This column is being written a week before you will see it in print, three days before it is due ON HIGHER GROUND to be published.

My last column was written his will be my last column of the three weeks before you guys read it. year. It’s funny how I’ve only written But here’s the thing. I’m willing to take three of them so far, yet it already responsibility when it comes to the number feels like something of a tradition for me. of tasks ahead of me. The buck stops with Like how I always have my coffee black on me. That is a sentiment which sadly our govWednesday mornings, or drive my car long ernment refuses to adopt. distances on Saturday nights. Like all of On Dec. 9 the Senate Intelligence Comthese other traditions, writing my column mittee released the results of its investigafeels routine to me. It just feels right. tion of the CIA’s torture practices. Sadly, But that isn’t what happened this time our intelligence agency has been lying to us around. At the beginning of my previous from the start. Its interrogation techniques column, I took pride in how early I was able were far more brutal than they let on, subto finish. About how I was able to get my jecting prisoners to sleep deprivation for up job done on time. About how I was unlike to a week, medically unnecessary “rectal those politicians I enjoy mocking so much feeding” and all sorts of other torture which because I’m willing to take responsibil- are so terrible I cannot say. The CIA has also ity when it comes to the number of tasks been misleading not only members of Conahead of me. In retrospect, however, that gress, but also the president, hiding intelliseemed incredibly ironic and almost hypo- gence and refusing to report to anyone. Even critical. more shockingly, they had been leaking inSee, I haven’t been like that at all this cy-

PRANAV PARTHASARATHY

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16

formation to the media that was incorrect in the hopes of getting good publicity. They had basically been feeding lies to journalists like me, suing us for publishing the leaks while improving the image of the CIA at the same time. The agency is responsible to our nation, not responsible to only itself.

And police brutality is even more shocking. Police in New York choked Eric Garner to death while attempting to arrest him, using tactics banned by their own rulebook.

Even though the entire incident was captured on video, a grand jury still acquitted Garner.

When we look at the relative rarity of grand jury indictments of police officers, we see a clear problem. We talk about how proud we are of our legal systems and of our own citizens, but when they absolve someone of fault who appears obviously at fault, it is incumbent upon us to start asking questions.

Because the American public isn’t always correct. One guy named Paul Rosolie went to the Amazon rainforest for six months and found the biggest anaconda he could find. He brought the anaconda back to the United States, and he decided to build a suit which could withstand 900 psi of pressure so he could be ingested by the anaconda and observe “the inner workings of the anaconda”. However, when he was entering the anaconda, his helmet cracked, so he bailed out of the experiment, ejecting himself from the anaconda. But the eight million people who were watching were furious, because they thought that the man’s mission was do or die, not do or don’t.

This experience raises a compelling question: Are we a bloodthirsty folk? At the end of the day, why is NASCAR the most popular spectator sport in America? For the crashes, obviously. Why do we flock to stores to buy video games where the entire premise is killing hundreds or thousands of anthropomorphic foes within a few hours? Why do we sit glued to our television screens while a man is presumably eaten by a massive South American snake? Why would the CIA torture prisoners so viciously, and why would police abuse run so rampant in so many parts of our country? People are addicted to violence, and our New Year’s resolution should be to quit. p.parthasarathy@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

SPECIAL

4

EL ESTOQUE

A&E

ALL IN ONE All the objects the smartphone has come to replace

BY JYOTSNA NATARAJAN AND VANESSA QIN

1. Alarm clock

3. Notes

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junior Navya Annam iPhone 4s user for a month unior Navya Annam frequently takes naps and depends on her iPhone to keep on schedule with her work and her sleep. “I just think it is easier to have everything in one place so I don’t need my laptop, alarm clock and camera all the time,” Annam said. With the many choices of sounds for alarms, Annam chooses the most annoying one so she won’t have a choice but to get up and turn it off. While she would be willing to get an alarm clock if, Annam believes that the smartphone is a convenient device to have.

2. Gaming

sophomore Joseph Kuo iPhone 6 user for a month

P

rior to the age of the smartphone, back when Nokias were standard, sophomore Joseph Kuo had been playing Bejeweled and other classic phone games. Now, Kuo is an avid iPhone user for its convenience of communication and access to social media and gaming. Kuo’s favorite game on the iPhone is Puzzles and Dragons.

“Without my iPhone, I would actually get work done and have more of a social life,” Kuo said with a laugh. Though having an iPhone provides a distracting source of entertainment, Kuo feels that it is also a necessary device for communication.

junior Lily Spitzen iPhone 5 user for over a year age 67, bottom of page 111.

These are annotations of the literature book that junior Lily Spitzen is reading. She jots them down on the Notes application on her iPhone 5. Spitzen writes everything she needs, and makes it her screen cover to have that constant reminder.

Occasionally, she also records moments of her day that she wants to remember. “I write all the inside jokes [my friends share] so I can remember it and put it in their birthday card,” Spitzen said. Spitzen believes that the Notes application is more convenient than a physical planner.

4. Social media

junior Lucca Martins iPhone 5s user for over a year

J

unior Lucca Mar tins discreetly pulls out his phone dur ing a movie in his World Literature class. He consults the photos of his textbook that he took the night before to finish up homework during class. The teacher doesn’t notice him. Mar tins, like many other students on campus, constantly checks his iPhone, using it primarily as a source of enter tainment and as a way of communicating with his friends. “I look at my phone almost ever y five minutes,” he said. “I’m addicted to it.”

Mar tins feels that smar tphones have combined var ious devices from the past all into one convenient lit tle block. j.natarajan@elestoque.org | v.qin@elestoque.org

18

EL ESTOQUE

It’s over

In her free time, Junior Anya Martin draws pictures of characters in her blue sketchbook. Drawing helps Martin take her mind off of finals during winter break.

After studying for finals, students share how they relax during winter break

Sharon Tung| El Estoque

I

STORY AND ILLUSTRATION BY SHARON TUNG

O

Sharon Tung| El Estoque

Sharon Tung| El Estoque

ne of the biggest sources of stress that every student on campus experiences is finals week. As students worry whether their grade is going to make it, they become sleep-deprived and wonder when winter break is going to come. Some students have already planned what they are going to do to fully enjoy their break. No matter what activity they do, it clears their minds of finals and refreshes them so they can tackle the last 96 days of school.

n order to de-stress from finals, junior Anya Martin pulls out her Copic markers, mechanical pencils and a few pieces of paper. “All cares go away when I draw,” Martin said. “I would feel really stressed if I didn’t draw. It would be so blah, like what’s numbers, what are words?” Her drawings include original characters, inspired by Japanese anime and manga. She also takes commissions from buyers on Deviantart, with her commissioners requesting drawings of chibis, a japanese cartoon of a short person. Martin enjoys following her passion while making some money along the way.

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iking is one of the ways sophomore Adarsh Parthasarathy enjoys his break after finals. He bikes to Yogurtland, Panera and his friend’s house, where Parthasarathy and his friend film short videos over break using Adobe After-effects and Adobe Premier to create explosions.“I’m not educated on the technical side of it, but the results are fun to watch,” Parthasarathy said. Most of the time, the duo just creates short, unrelated videos, such as news parodies, one in which a newscaster was subjected to unfortunate events, or a visual effects video with a choreographed lightsaber fight scene.

Below right: Sophomore Adarsh Parthasarathy and his friend performed an action sequence with lightsaber effects. He collaborates with his friend, uploading short films onto their YouTube channel.

Used with permission of Adarsh Parthasarathy.

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Student advocate Richard Prinz encourages students to relieve their stress after finals by distributing their time between different activities.

Because MVHS students spend so many hours in front of their computers for academic assignments, Prinz suggested that they spend some time on a variety of different activities. Here are three suggestions to make the most of winter break: 1. Work a different part of the brain: Play a sport or read a book. Avoid spending excessive time in front of the screen.

2. Relax, don’t study: Catching up on sleep and doing something enjoyable is important.

3. Make goals: Create some personal goals, like being nicer to people, being more cooperative with parents, or getting out of bed without an alarm clock. s.tung@elestoque.org

19

A&E

W

hen he’s hungry, Junior Tal Marom reaches for the blender. A dozen or so fruits, vegetables and a scoop of spirulina — an algae powder — later, Marom has a blue-green smoothie to sip.

Then Marom introduces each of the dishes on the table: chocolate babka bread, crispy latkes and blintzes: thin crepes that hold sweet cheese filling.

“This was my first time making [the crepes] myself,” Marom said, smiling and just barely glancing down at his hands. Marom has been learning these traditional Jewish recipes from his mother, and will attempt to adapt them to suit his healthy lifestyle.

“My next step would be to try to healthify them,” Marom said.

The process involves swapping one ingredient at a time with a healthier alternative, such as poppy seeds for chocolate, and tweaking the cooking time to account for the change.

No matte gratitude one trad

20

EL ESTOQUE

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ragrant orange zest, creamy cheesecake swirl and gooey chocolate that sticks to your teeth and fingers make this a brownie that demands a glass of milk.

Senior Archana Simha enjoys baking gifts for her family, friends and even teachers during the holiday season. In the hectic weeks around finals, there’s something comforting about quietly whisking eggs to bake something sweet for people to enjoy. “This is when you can really use spices which can warm people up,” Simha said.

“

BY NATHAN DESAI AND CHRISTINE LIANG

matter how you give gifts or show your ude during the holiday season, there’s radtion that everyone has in common.

I

t’s my Hanukkah-Christmas mashup,” Andrew Goldenkranz says, gesturing to two slabs of dough: one is eggnog flavored, the other gingerbread. Since Goldenkranz is Jewish while his wife is Catholic, he is no stranger to reinventing holiday foods to incorporate the traditions of both.

Boiling oil nearly licks his fingers when he drops square-inch pillows of dough into the cast iron pot he bought in the year of his marriage. The beignets puff, and Goldenkranz works quickly on the cramped stovetop in between B-building classrooms, his movements smooth with practice. He pours cinnamon sugar into a metal bowl, hesitating for a heartbeat before shaking more from the jar and turning back to the stove.

“They fry up fast,” Goldenkranz says, gently flipping the now golden-brown pieces of dough with a slotted spoon. Oil dribbles over the pot’s lip.

Passerby, teachers and TAs alike, slow down to glance over his shoulder and comment on the smell: spicy, familiar and out of place in the usually stale air of the hallway.

Goldenkranz smiles and spoons fried dough into the sugar, then gives the bowl a good shake before turning to fry up some more for the staff meeting after school. n.desai@elestoque.org | c.liang@elestoque.org

DECEMBER 17, 2014

21

A&E

Notes Ligier and Wang don’t use sheet music or compose their covers.

They listen for the melody of a song and play from memory.

Justin Kim | El Estoque

Cover masters

58,105 views

(as of Dec. 12)

At SNL last year, Wang started playing the wrong song, but he quickly caught on and no one noticed.

“We were rookies back then,” Wang said. “We don’t mess up now.”

Ligier’s parents only found out about their duet earlier this school year.

Seniors Michael Ligier, Andy Wang reflect on their journey as violinists

BY RABINA BISHT

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t the precocious age of five, they placed their instruments under their chins and drew their bows across their violins for the first time. Beginning their musical careers, seniors Michael Ligier and Andy Wang didn’t even know each other, let alone know that 10 years later they would collaborate to become a successful violin duet.

Ligier and Wang met each other in the Kennedy Middle School orchestra as co-concertmasters. This led them to collaborate together for the first time in their sophomore year of high school for the MVHS Winter Talent Show in 2013.

“We were really nervous... we had both performed in public before, but not together and not with this style of performing,” Ligier said.

They walked out together for the first time. When they started playing “Toxic”

by Britney Spears, the crowd cheered.

“That was one of my best moments in high school,” Ligier said.

Before they had the support from their MVHS peers, Wang and Ligier had their

22

teachers to support them and mold them into the violinists they are today.

Ligier found his love for the violin because of his orchestra conductor and the way he is able to bring the different instruments of the orchestra together beautifully.

He makes coming to rehearsal and playing music fun for Ligier, and it is the reason Ligier found his way to music and specifically the violin.

Wang has been with his teacher for about five years now. There was a period of time after Wang’s parents divorced that it was difficult for Wang’s mother to afford violin lessons every week. He was forced to cut down to one lesson a month, which affected his ability to grow and learn at the rate he was before. However, due to Wang’s close relationship with his teacher, his teacher gave him free lessons for two years.

“Free lessons really motivate you to practice even more and make sure his time is worth it. Now I pay again, but it was really kind of him to do that. It’s really hard to give up at that point,” Wang said.

Their recent cover of “Bang Bang” by Jes-

sie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj is one of their proudest accomplishments.

The cover received over 50,000 views on Facebook, markedly their most successfully publicized cover to date.

“There was this fury around the song that made people like it even more,” Ligier said.

The “fury” was rooted from being unable to perform their cover of the song at this year’s homecoming talent show due to complications regarding the appropriateness of the song. Like their cover of Bang Bang, most of their other covers were performed at school events, promoting class and school unity.

The struggles they have overcome, their determination and the support they’ve received from their peers, have molded Wang and Ligier into the violin duet they are today. It has motivated them both to potentially collaborate together after high school and continue pursuing music recreationally in the future. r.bisht@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

Oh, the weather outside is dreadful Mostly Irritating

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º

Wednesday Today

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he downpour of jokes the rest of the the same jacket every single day? Hopefully nation flings at Californians when not, so let’s say you have about three $100 we whine and complain about the jackets. For the same $300, you could have weather dropping below 68 degrees is frus- 10 basic sweatshirts, and they will get use trating. But then again, they have a point. even in the spring (and occasionally on one Stereotypes come from somewhere, so if of those weirdly chilly June days). After all, non-Californian natives are going to throw when was the last time you whipped out “California’s wimpy” around every Decem- your North Face coat after April?

I suppose that’s what is the most frusber, I’ll complain all I want.

Because it’s not fun to wake up and see a trating part of winter apparel — I can wear monsoon brewing when I’m supposed to go the same T-shirt all year round, whether it’s to school. The most frustrating thing about with shorts in the summer or a jacket in the this supposed “wonderful” time of the year fall, but no way am I donning a bulky winis sporting 10 layers of clothing just to walk ter jacket any other time of the year. Winter outside and get soaked by falling water. No matter what you wear, the weather will catch up with you and find you. (mugshot) I’ve always been thwarted by SHE’S THE MAN weather that dips below the 60s.

Having lived in California my entire life, the weather in this area is consistent, and you can get away with jeans and a T-shirt.

But once the temperature starts to drop, coats are called “winter” for a reason, but you need to pack on jackets, hoodies, coats, you never hear anyone saying, “these are my cardigans, fleeces, hats, gloves, scarves and summer jeans!” Plus, what do girls do every boots to sustain feeling in your extremities. year if clothing is constantly going in and out And if you think about it, that’s a lot of cloth- of style? What’s the protocol? Do you buy new coats every year? (Asking for a friend). ing you need to buy, and it’s expensive, too.

And what are you supposed to do with Stumbling into any popular clothing store, such as H&M or Gap, $20 or $30 will your feet? Just walking around school durget you a basic hooded sweatshirt. But if ing a downpour, I see students wearing evyou want a thick, water resistant jacket from erything from combat boots to flip flops. somewhere like The North Face, you have Definitely a no on the flip flops — you’ll to shell out over $100. It’s true that cough- slip and slide and lose feelings in your toes. ing up a Benjamin will get you years of use And every time I see a girl with Ugg boots out of that jacket, but then again, winter is on, wading through puddles, I can’t help but a few weeks. Are you really going to wear think there is a better way to take care of

52

expensive, suede boots.

But the frustration I harbor for winter apparel is nothing compared to the irritating spell non-green leaves place on Californians.

Whenever autumn hits and the handful of trees in Cupertino change color, everyone makes it a point to declare fall as the best season of the year, when just a few months ago, they were raving about summer’s beauty. Fall truly hasn’t begun until your Instagram feed shifts from “hot dogs or legs?” poolside photos to combat boots on squishy, fallen leaves. But if you think about it, why are Californians so outward with their love for windy, rainy, cloudy days, yet they choose to live in one of the most mild climates in the world?

If you want to experience true autumns and winters — snow, leaves and all — I’m sure the other side of the country would be happy to have you.

I’ll confess that I too can appreciate the visual appeal of the multicolored trees, but what’s the point of beautiful fall scenery if you’re inside all day, hiding from the rain? Being the sadistical gleeful Californian that I am, I do enjoy staying indoors knowing that people are outside, miserably battling the rain with broken, inside-out umbrellas.

As with anything, we’re all entitled to our own opinions and our own “favorite” season. But if I catch anyone else taking a picture of the “gorgeous scenery” while driving, I won’t hesitate to honk.

SARAH RAMOS

DECEMBER 17 , 2014

s.ramos@elestoque.org

23

The Story of

Stuff

What is this?

Find out on page 28

What is this?

Find out on page 26

What is this?

Find out on page 29

Icon | Corie Johnson, the Noun Project Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0)

What is this?

Find out on page 30

‘TIS THE SEASON OF STUFF. EVERYWHERE, STUFF.

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c c ording to a survey of 157 MVHS students, 43 percent of students buy new things each month, meaning that by the end of the year, a household will have acquired at least 12 items every year. That doesn’t seem like much.

And yet, according to the same survey, 43 percent of students get rid of their things yearly, meaning that we consume more than we discard — part of the great phenomenon of American consumerism.

The average American is exposed to 3,000 ads per day, commercial assaults that loom everywhere: on our laptops, on our TV screens and even the walls of this school, all instructing us to buy, buy, buy.

The difference between having too much and

DECEMBER 17, 2014

too little is all in perspective. After all, what is the value of a magnet collection? An animal bone? A plain glass jar? A green towel, a box for apples, a slip of paper, a paper fan — all these objects matter, regardless of their listed price or their newness or whether or not they were on sale.

Whether we purchase monthly or yearly, whether we choose to trash or treasure or somewhere in between, whether we’re giving, receiving or leaving stuff behind, there is no other month of the year when material objects are so coveted.

Whether in store windows or lounging on living room sofas, our stuff often transcends being stuff: these objects tell us something about ourselves.

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BEIJING OPERA FAN Belongs to: Sophomore Ritta Liu WHY: To portray her emotions during performances CHALLENGE: Persistence; the music required a lot of practicing “Beijing opera is a really unique kind of music,” Liu said. “Not everyone would appreciate and understand it. Everything about it is different from the usual singing and opera.”

SOME THING PUN JAR Belongs to: Freshman Megumi Pennebaker Inspiration: TV shows with jars (e.g. swear jars) HOW IT WORKS: Every time her friends make an overused pun, they must throw some change in the jar Money earned so far: $20 Time it took: Two months “It’s not about the money amount as much as it is about stopping bad puns,” Pennebaker said.

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S OM E

THI N

What memories do objects bring to

I

t’s a well-known phrase among journalists: “Everything has a story.” They can be as unique as a Beijing Opera fan or as mundane as something that would be found in the back of a closet, like a bag full of receipts.

And although these things may not not seem to hold much significance, to the person they belong to, it’s a piece of the story of their life. c.lu@elestoque.org | a.melvin@elestoque.org

EL ESTOQUE

OU T OF S TI L L I N

BY MINGJIE ZHONG Coping with the objects she left behind

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RECEIPTS Belongs to: Junior Itay Barylka WHY: To catalog his consumerism CONDITION: The receipt must evoke some sort of memory ANECDOTE: Barylka and his friends decided to go to Fentons Creamery and Restaurant. Unfortunately, the sundaes were expensive, so they purchased only a liter of ice cream instead.

“You could only eat inside if you’d ordered [the restaurant’s] food or a sundae,” Barylka said. So we were sitting outside … in the rain, eating ice cream with plastic spoons.”

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old,

new

NGS to mind?

BY CLAIRE LU & ANJANA MELVIN

sight,

mind

unior Ramya Dronamraju keeps many items for sentimental purposes, including stuffed toys, books, pictures and cards from friends. Many of her possessions were lined up and stored on a shelf, rarely touched but always present. Her family even had a whole wall entirely dedicated to shelves and cupboards of books.

Dronamraju moved from Hyderabad, India last month, bringing little more than clothes, utensils and boxes. Most of her family’s most cherished objects remain in India. She was unable to bring any items to remember her friends by.

“I couldn’t bring any memories [of my friends] because we had so many clothes, so many other things to get,” Dronamraju said. “All the stuff you like, that mean something to you, all become secondary.”

But Dronamraju’s stay in Cupertino will be shortlived. After she graduates high school, her father will have completed the job-related project which initially brought the family to Cupertino, and the family will most likely move back to their old house in India. Due to this, the family converted Dronamraju’s bedroom into a makeshift storage room — they pushed all of their toys, clothes, beds, sofas and dining table into Dronamraju’s bedroom. There was so little space left that the dining room chairs had to be stored in the bedroom’s connected bathroom.

“When we opened the door, it was so packed,” said Dronamraju. “There’s a treadmill, a sofa set, a television set … We locked that room up, and rented the rest of the house out. We made [my bedroom] our storage room in our own house.”

Before nearly all of Dronamraju’s paraphernalia were crammed into her bedroom, she kept many objects for display on shelves and inside dressers; she always found a place for her possessions. Dronamraju recalls that of her many possessions, most were neither used nor necessary.

“I used to hide things from my mom because she would say, ‘Why do you want it? You don’t do anything with it. Throw it,’” Dronamraju said. “But then I manage to keep it somewhere or the other.”

Many of Dronamraju’s possessions were kept in her dresser and shelves; she had three entire shelves full of stuffed toys. Dronamraju says that she keeps these toys because she grew up with them; even now she finds them dear to her heart.

“I just feel happy about [those toys],” Dronamraju said. “If any person finds some value in some toy or anything, they’ll make it a point to find a place for it no matter what.” m.zhong@elestoque.org

To read more about students having to say goodbye to cherished posessions, visit elestoque.org.

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SPECIAL

t h e G i f t o f

Giving

Examining the psychology of gift-giving at MVHS

BY ADITI DESAI

Combining

Regifting

crafting

Baking

Priyanka Agarwal

Smita Iyer

Hadia Ahsan

Janani Vijaykumar

Junior Priyanka Agarwal has participated in combined gifting, partnering with another friend to give one gift, for the past three years. She first started combined gifting because she wanted to purchase gifts she knew her friends would like. By partnering up with her other friends, Agarwal has the ability to give more expensive and useful gifts, that are more affordable.

“For me, whenever I give gifts, I want it to be something special for them that they can treasure,” Agarwal said.

Sophomore Smita Iyer occasionally participates in regifting for the past couple years. Iyer was influenced by her mom to start regifting. Her mom would give gifts to other people instead of using them herself. Even though she participates in regular gifting, she uses regifting as a way to give away a gift that she does not like,

Junior Hadia Ahsan has been creating intricate gifts for the past three years. Her most recent gift consisted of a Christmas-themed bag decorated with bright red ribbons and filled with hershey kisses, filling, tootsie rolls and mini chocolate santas.

“For me, its more rewarding when its something thoughtful that maybe they didn’t think that they wanted,” Ahsan said.

Junior Janani Vijaykumar has been baking cakes for her friends’ birthdays since last year. One of her most successful cakes was her kit-kat cake, composed of three layers and covered with frosting, mini-kit kats and white and milk chocolate chips. ‘‘If you put effort into the gifts it shows the person you care. I feel its super important to put effort into the gift,” Vijaykumar said. a.desai@elestoque.org

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but that others might.

“When people talk about regifting its usually a negative connotation. I’m saving money giving a present to someone else they would want, instead for myself,” Iyer said.

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EL ESTOQUE

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STAGE

Freight

The history of the drama room captured in objects

BY DANIEL FERNANDEZ

2

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3 Justin Kim | El Estoque

despite its black walls, black ceiling, black floor, black cabinets, chairs and curtains the black box is anything but colorless.

A

medley of paint splotches dot the floor, bright posters detailing productions from classic playwrights like Shakespeare and Molière hang next to each other along the walls. Costumes of innumerable color surround the black loft, a sea of blues, greens, greys, reds that all blend into a single colorful array.

The voices of students enjoying lunch mix with the practicing of monologues and muffled laughter. This vitality juxtaposes a room that seems almost old, like a well-loved childhood book or family heirloom.

DECEMBER 17, 2014

“In drama we always are breaking and moving onto the next big thing,” senior Cathy Ma said. “It’s hard to define drama because we always seem to be changing.”

Although the sets fall after each production, well-rehearsed lines slip from memory and veterans move on, the room carries a sense of history. Here are a few mementos that current drama students remember.

Some things are personal. Others are communal. Some are large, some are small.

Yet each object tells a story, the story of a room that is constantly re-inventing itself.

Senior Megan Chandler works behind the production of the plays and scenes put on by drama. Chandler hails from a family of tailors. She learned how to sew growing up.

“I don’t remember the first time I picked up a needle. It was something my grandmother used to always do,” Chandler said. “We were always knitting little pillows and I think my love grew out of that.”

This costume, designed for Juliet from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is one of Chandler’s favorites from among the many she has designed. Chandler worked on the costume over the course of summer break, along with other costumes that were used in various drama productions.

At the end of each closing night, drama students take part in the ritual of strike. Countless time spent designing extravagant sets and detailed props comes down in in a few hours, as plywood paint and metal make their way into the scrap pile. After a long night playing the starring role of Jay Gatsby, junior Eric Crouch salvaged this prop, a 2D car used in the opening scene from the scrap pile.

“At the end of the night I was exhausted and tired and cut up and bruise and I saw this poor car lying in the pile” Crouch said. “And then I thought about it for a second. I felt ridiculous as Gatsby and this car was ridiculous too. This car and I have a shared bond that we were a little ugly, a little weird and a little out of place in Gatsby. ” Sprawled across the black couch, he munches away on a vegetable wrap, between bites pausing to resume his retelling of his experience playing Nick Carraway in this semester’s drama production. Then junior Hari Ganesh stutters. He stops. He collects himself. Before continuing with his story he adds, “Sorry this happens sometimes.”

Ganesh played his first starring role this year, in the drama department’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, which required him to not only overcome complex dialogue, but also his stutter. Ganesh attributes his poise on stage to practice and feedback from his directors.

“When you pretend it’s not there everyone else thinks it’s not there either.”

Although Ganesh loved the set of Gatsby, his fondest memory comes from a scene where Nick interrupts Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan’s emotional five-year reunion to offer tea.

“Nick brings tea in the middle of Gatsby and Daisy’s really personal reunion and it’s just so awkward,” Ganesh said. “I’m totally a third-wheel and it’s so uncomfortable… But the audience is laughing and I really think it sums up Nick as a character.” d.fernandez@elestoque.org

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SPECIAL

T rash T reasure

n o t

BY BRANDON CHIN AND TRISHA KHOLIYA

b u t

Discovering meaning in collections of objects

B

efore the holidays arrived, there were items sitting on the shelves. These objects are years old and had passed through many hands before, yet as time continues, they renew themselves in their value and their place in our minds. These objects that are collected are the ones cherished most, and as the holidays approach these will be the gifts that shine even without the wrapping paper.

Justin Kim | El Estoque

Justin Kim | El Estoque

COLLECTIONS BY GENERATIONS

Senior Scott Haskell

Collects: Animal bones, pennies Started: Age nine Why: Mother collects

Brandon Chin | El

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Within county parks and his community, senior Scott Haskell collects pieces of life in the form of animal bones and pennies. These collections were inspired by his mother, whose childhood in Panama lead to the collection of these unique treasures. Together, they have collected an assortment of partial skeletons and a sum of pennies amounting to at least $250.

Haskell picked up his mother’s tradition of collecting pennies when he was nine and he saw his mother’s collection at his grandparents’ house. He remembers standing amazed in front of the large jars crammed with shiny pieces of metal and he asked his parents if he could he have them all. Instead, he received a promise that he could have the pennies if he could lift the massive jars and over the course of many months he was able to pick up his reward. This trove of coins became the first deposit among dozens of others until his collection reached the luster and value that it has now.

Against the glitter of his coins, Haskell rests his unique animal bone collection.

Adventures through areas like the Fremont Older Open Space Reserve and Rancho San

Antonio Open Space Reserve lead to the discovery of these unique and lasting souvenirs.

Among his collection are the lower jaws of a fish, the hollow bones of a seagull and the enormous skull of an animal suspected to be a horse. These bones continually surprise Haskell’s guests but at one point they even terrified their owner. As an eleven-year-old, he thought that the animal bones on his desk were watching him sleep.

This growing collection of old treasures remains in Haskell’s room. His favorite is a cleaned goat skull lit up with red LED lights.

To him, each bone is a treasure because each has a unique story. Though many were from his own adventures, others were bones that his friends and family found.

His mother started both collections and passed them down to Haskell. At first, he felt the childish joy of having a connection to his mother, but now the collection is just a habit.

“It’s something exciting and new.” Haskell said. “As you get older it starts to wind down but it has already become a habit and you stick by it.”

Later, Haskell plans to do what his mom did with the collection — give it to his child.

Estoque

EL ESTOQUE

COLORFUL. CULTURAL. COLLECTED. Junior Kinnari Shah has around 80 magnets neatly tucked away in a framed glass display case.

At the age of five, she got her first magnet from San Francisco. She started collecting because her dad had a collection already in the making. As a young child, Shah traveled quite often and wanted to have something to capture the essence of the area so that she’d never forget it. “[The magnet] has everything on it and captures the most important features of the place in one place,” Shah said.

Her favorite came from the warm, sandy beaches of Cancún, a city in Mexico. She recalls buying the magnet on her last day in the city. The one that she finally chose had bright weather, sunny skies and clear waters to clearly illustrate Cancún. She specifi-

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b.chin@elestoque.org | t.kholiya@elestoque.org

JUNIOR KINNARI SHAH

Collects: Magnets Started: Age five Why: Father collects

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cally chooses magnets to reflect the area that the originate from. Whether it be weather or culture, each magnet continues to represent its unique origination.

Shah does not collect alone. The collection started with her dad, and as a collective effort, the collection has developed into something much more unexpected, presented in a display case for all to see. Shah believes that collecting magnets is easy to manage as they are inexpensive and remnants of travel sites.

t

Jus

WATAPON In Vallco’s chain store, Legends, posters are pasted like wallpaper and the number of figurines outnumber present customers. It is in this shop that senior Ben Nguyen encountered a man with a fake Chinese Yu-Gi-Oh card with a picture of a Buddha on it simply named, The Thousand-hand Buddha.

This card was hysterical to Nguyen, who asked the man for the card and added it to his collection of hundreds of other real Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

At the age of five, Nguyen began his collection when his aunt gave him a lonesome deck out of obligation as she entered their home. The Yu-Gi-Oh Pegasus starter deck drew his interest into the game and began the hobby that he continues today. In three boxes he collects, stacks and shoves several hundred Yu-Gi-Oh cards for storage purposes, except his favortie card, Watapon, which he doesn’t own.

Nguyen maintains his love for the game to this day as he plays in local tournaments to continue his passion for the game. Over the summer, he played in a local tournament and tied between DECEMBER 17, 2014

Trash or Treasure Check the boxes to find out Is the object shiny?

Senior BEN NGUYEN Collects: Yu-Gi-Oh cards Started: Age five Why: He likes the game

wins and losses. It’s just easier for him to continue playing because the collection is in his house.

Though this started as a childhood hobby and Nguyen still enjoys the game, he plans to eventually discard or donate his entire collection — except his current deck because he only feels as though that is the important part of his collection. Until then, the trove of cards remains in his room, providing just enough fond memories and countless plays for him to draw upon whenever he should need it.

Does it come in black?

Would your friends still be your friends if you kept it?

Would the police confiscate it?

If you gave it to a stranger would they take it?

Is it in your favorite color?

Would you be in danger if you swallowed it?

If you checked most of these boxes, you have treasure!

31

SPORTS

LEAD THE PLAY

Team captains take on diverse roles in various sports

By Pranav Iyer

LEADING THE

play Different teams, different captains, different responsibilities

BY PRANAV IYER

G

oing into the final minute of a game last year, the boys soccer team was in a dead tie with Homestead High School, the best team in the league. With mere seconds before the referee blew his whistle to end the game, a Mustang player found his way through the Matador defense and shot the ball directly at current senior Anirudh Srinivas.

The entire team knew it is going to be an easy stop. The Matadors were going to come out with a hard fought tie against a superior team, or so they thought. But swallowed up in the importance of the moment, Srinivas was unable to maintain possession of the ball and it slipped through his hands into the goal. Final score: 2-1.

The team was devastated after the heartbreaking loss. However, captain senior

32

Brad Ohadi led them through this loss and kept everyone going in a positive direction.

He sent a heartfelt message later that night to his team about the game and how much he appreciated his teammates.

“It is really an honor for me to get to come to practice and call myself your guys’ captain,” Ohadi wrote in his message. “I see every single one of you getting better every single day.”

He even spent an hour on the phone with Srinivas explaining to him how vital his play was to the team and that he should be proud of his valiant performance.

The captain’s responsibilities Ohadi is among the few that have the privilege of being team captain. Selected in a variety of ways and given differing roles, captains can often face major challenges Last year, after Ohadi was named full time captain, he had to take a whole new outlook on the game to live up to his responsibility of leading the team.

“When you wear that armband and go on the field, you‘re not only representing your

school and the name on the back of your shirt but the 2,400 people here who are looking up to you,” Ohadi said. “So everything I do, I try to lead by example.”

And leading by example is what Ohadi does best. He always tries to be the first on to the field and the last off. Often, he even shows up an hour before practice just to get in some drills by himself. By doing this, he believes that it encourages others to follow in his footsteps and adopt his mentality and dedication to the sport.

But this complete leadership of the team that Ohadi and the three other captains display is not the case for many captains in other sports, including wrestling. Juniors Alexandra Sakellar, Momoko Ueda and Helen Chen, who have all joined the wrestling team for the first time this year, are among the few girls to participate in the sport at MVHS, according to their coach. Unsure whether they would be discriminated against, both Sakellar and Ueda hoped that teammates would welcome and lead them through the hardships. As Ueda went to pre-season practices alone while Sakellar attended field hockey EL ESTOQUE

Justin Kim | El Estoque

Pictured above (Left to right): Alissa Paterson (11), Monica Polgar (11), Janaye Sakkas (12), Anirudh Srinivas (12), Anjan Amarnath (11), Gregory Moe (12), Brad Ohadi (12), Hannah Pollek (12), Kaisa Rautiainen (12), Christina Jennings (12), Aunoy Poddar (12), Robert Lee (12)

practice, she felt out of her comfort zone and was scared at first.

“I was the only girl,” Ueda said. “So I was very intimidated. But they are really supportive. They believed in me since day one.”

Ueda and Sakellar couldn’t clearly decipher the differences between the captains and the non-captains as they believed everyone had a positive attitude and partook in leading the team. Sakellar explained that no one is really “in charge” among the players but instead everyone has an equal responsibility. They both agree that the term captain in relation to their team is more a title than anything else.

“There’s not really that captain vibe,” Ueda said. “For us, everybody’s the same.”

The selection process The process in which team captains are selected is complex. Coaches attempt different methods until they find the one that works. For examples, football captains vary each game based on the players’ perforDECEMBER 17, 2014

mances in the past week. However, most teams have set captains throughout the year.

This is the case in soccer as Ohadi was selected as team captain this year through a combination of his teammates’ opinions as well as his coach’s, Patrick Lowney.

Lowney pulled aside players during practices and asked them who they believed the three or four best leaders on the team were and why. With this information along with what he observed from the players through the one month they spent together, he elected four team captains. This was a process he resorted to because in the past he has let the players have all the say in voting for team captains, which did not work out too well.

“I learned when I was much younger not to do that,” Lowney said. “That led to me having some captains that weren’t really the best representatives of every aspect of the team.”

Ohadi also experienced this same failure in his freshman year. He said that although the captains were great people, they messed

around too much and did not take proper command of the team. Ohadi and Lowney believe that this method led to the selection of poor leaders because the captains were chosen by popularity, instead of by the key leadership traits.

Many athletes, including Ohadi, Sakellar and Ueda, believe the word captain is often incorrectly correlated with the best player on the team. While these key players receive much of the attention, they are not necessarily great leaders, just great individual players. And although there are many cases in which the team’s best player is captain, they believe the captain’s success in the sport is due to the dedication and leadership that captains must have. Through experience, these athletes have come to understand that captains serve much more than just the leading scorer or the flashiest player. They are the ones who work behind the scenes and push the team to greatness. p.iyer@elestoque.org

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SPORTS

Under their cleats Limited turf exposure keeps high school athletes safe from dangers revealed by recent studies

BY JUSTIN KIM AND ANUSHKA TYAGI

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t’s everywhere. In your hair. In your shirt. In your socks after a game.

Those little black crumbs always find their way into your shoes when you walk across the field. For field athletes, constant action causes turf to follow them around everywhere, becoming their own personal shadow.

Recent studies have exposed the harmful effects of artificial turf, a substance made out of synthetic fibers and recycled tires, but short term exposure reduces the risk of danger for high school students.

Senior Janaye Sakkas was a sophomore when the turf was first installed two years ago on the MVHS fields. A well-rounded athlete who plays soccer, field hockey and softball, Sakkas considered the upgrade from game-slowing grass to efficient turf a significant improvement in her games.

“For field hockey, when you’re trying to hit the ball, [the] thick grass [can make you] miss it, and that can cause danger to the other person if you swing and miss,” Sakkas said. “Overall, I think that [grass] slows down the play of the game because in soccer you [also] have to pass a lot harder to go faster. On turf it goes so smoothly that you can beat teams with your speed.”

However, Sakkas did have some concern with playing on the turf fields, especially on hot days when she could physically see the heat sizzling off the turf. During the summer, the turf can heat up to about 10 to 15 degrees above room temperature.

This causes the release of compounds such as benzene and methylene chloride into the air which can be mildly toxic in gas form.

Although harm from short-term expo-

34

GRASS vs. turf

A

WHICH IS MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE?

76%

of students say grass

WRONG

TURF

is more enivronmentally safe according to Risk Science Center

WHICH HAS FEWER HARMFUL EFFECTS?

76%

of students say grass

RIGHT

GRASS has fewer harmful effects according to New York State Health Department

WHICH IS EASIER TO MAINTAIN?

95%

of students say turf sure is unlikely, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that long-term exposure has been known to cause cancer in high numbers among players with constant direct contact and vulnerable children with turf in their playgrounds.

The maintenance procedure for turf is also a benefit as athletic director Brian Sullivan stated that the process is more time and cost effective.

“We kept battling the issue of sprinklers, fertilizers, seedings and the conditions of the field,” Sullivan said. “There’s

RIGHT

Turf is easier to maintain according to FIFA

*Based on an online survey of 157 MVHS students

still maintenance going on with artificial turf fields, [it] is more controllable.”

The procedure for turf maintenance involves professionals combing the field, a process in which all the visible debris on the top of the “turf rug” is raked off. After this, a magnet is used to scan through the fields and pick up small items such as hair pins, jewelry or screws that might have been left behind.

The constant running, kicking and diving creates more wear and tear in the middle of the field, whereas the sides barely EL ESTOQUE

Justin Kim | El Estoque

Sanjana Murthy | El Estoque

Senior Janaye Sakkas passes the ball on turf to a teammate in a game against Homestead High School on Oct. 24. Sakkas has played field hockey, softball and soccer on both grass and turf at MVHS since her freshman year and believes that the turf results in a faster, smoother game. see any action. According to Sullivan, these center portions require replacement after 8 to 10 years, while the corner portions have an average lifetime of 20 years.

With the intense amount of cuts, fertilizer and water required on a regular basis with grass, the turf automatically creates a less stressful clean up process.

Junior Ayush Sangari, a midfielder on the boys soccer team, was often disappointed that games had to be cancelled due to weather issues such as rain. Having played on grass at other schools, he feels DECEMBER 17, 2014

turf is the better choice. The rubber bits in the turf also cushion impact, which helps prevent injuries such as concussions.

Kathleen Michels, Ph.D, the co-founder of Safe Healthy Playing Fields Organization, the mother explained in a phone interview with El Estoque that she first became involved when her son’s school made a substantial change on the field from grass to turf.

“Playing on this new and unknown ground raised questions when my son came home with rug burns and scratches

more often than usual,” Michels said.

After conducting research through several websites, Michels joined Healthy Child Healthy World, an advocacy program for parents that protects children from harmful chemicals. She was voted as a Mom on a Mission finalist, which eventually launched her into creating the Safe Healthy Playing Fields Organization.

“When I attended my son’s high school games and saw the goalies rolling around in that turf, I realized that in the hot sun, long periods of constant exposure to the artificial fields could end up harming the child via skin, mouth or inhalation,” Michels said.

Over the past months, Michels has been able to influence tp substituting turf playgrounds with environmentally safe materials such as tanbark or sand.

“I think little children are the most at risk involving turf,” Michels said. “I know turf fields are more effective when it comes to sports, but long time exposure is the only thing that worries me with my children and others’ [children].”

Michels’ feelings are not unique, as studies have shown that turf can pose dangers to athletes over time, especially if there is continuous contact. Turf is all around these athletes, and they spend hours each day playing on it. Short term exposure to the black beads that increase field efficiency is generally safe, but there are still dangers to be recognized. j.kim@elestoque.org | a.tyagi@elestoque.org

35

SPORTS

Illustration

Fittest Run

Mingjie Zhong

| El Estoque

Find the perfect run for you

BY VARSHA VENKAT AND YIFEI WU

S

enior Arooshi Barua went to the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot on Nov. 27 with little notice: her dad informed her five days prior to the event that he had signed her up to participate, so with only a couple of days of practice Barua ran 10 kilometers alongside her family friends in a run to support local charities. Although the experience was tiring for Barua, a first-time runner, she enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and the view of downtown San Jose during Thanksgiving.

Runs have become more popular in the Bay Area, with charity runs and fun runs occurring throughout the year. Which run is for you?

Do you like themed runs?

v.venkat@elestoque.org | y.wu@elestoque.org

Do you want to run more than 5 km?

NO

When do you want to run?

YES

Do you prefer a view of the Bay OR the City?

YES

DAY TIME

NO

NIGHT TIME

Do you prefer playing with colors OR bubbles?

BAY

CITY BUBBLES

RACE TO END WORLD HUNGER

SILICON VALLEY TURKEY TROT

BUBBLE RUN

COLOR RUN

Date: Jan. 1, 2015 Location: Sunnyvale

Date: Nov. 26, 2015 Location: Downtown San Jose

Date: June 13, 2015 Location: Santa Clara Fairgrounds

Date: May 23, 2015 Location: San Jose

Cost: $12 - 49 Tip: Start off with the 5k run if it is your first time doing a run, otherwise go for the 10k or one of the competiitions!

Cost: $30 - 50 Tip: Wear white clothes so that the colored foam shows up at the end of the run.

Cost: $60 Tip: Bring a white shirt so you have a blank slate before the color-throwing begins.

Cost: $35 Tip: Buy your tickets now while they are only $35 — prices go up on race day.

36

COLORS

BLACKLIGHT RUN Date: March 14, 2015 Location: Santa Clara Fairgrounds Cost: $20 - 40 Tip: Watch out for other runners’ feet and hazards on the ground — it can be very hard to see during night runs!

EL ESTOQUE

Boys soccer Captains: Seniors Greg Moe (pictured), Brad Ohadi, Anirudh Srinivas and junior Anjan Amarnath Last year’s record: 7-3-2 Key differences: Different strategies due to new coach and several new players

Justin Kim | El Estoque

➤

Season’s greetings

Aditya Pimplaskar| El Estoque

Justin Kim | El Estoque

➤

Girls basketball Captains: Seniors Hannah Pollek, Kaisa Rautiainen and Christina Jennings Last year’s record: 9-3 Goals: Move beyond the second round of CCS Key difference: Less experienced team

With younger teams, new coaches and different divisions, each winter sport adjusts to changes. Get to know the five teams.

Malini Ramaiyer | El Estoque

Wrestling Pictured: Junior Nick Kolesov and senior Leon Rovner Last year’s CCS ranking: 9th place Key difference: Graduation of three Division 1 athletes 2014 alumni Aaron Wu and Faris and Tijani Kariborni

Amol Pande | El Estoque

BY ALINA ABIDI AND MALINI RAMAIYER

Girls soccer Captains: Juniors Monica Polgar (pictured), Alissa Paterson and senior Janaye Sakkas Last year’s record: 0-12 Changes: Mostly underclassmen team with only one senior DECEMBER 17, 2014

Boys basketball Captains: Seniors Aunoy Poddar (pictured) and Robert Lee Last year’s record: 6-6 Goals: To be top three in league and make CCS Key differences: Graduation of strong 2014 alumni

a.abidi@elestoque.org | m.ramaiyer@elestoque.org

37

SPORTS

Heading for the goal In soccer, not all games are created equal

M

y friend and I started watching the London Arsenal against Borussia Dortmund game in our busy sixth period classroom. Ready for Thanksgiving break, students buzzed around us, but we focused in.

After a quick kick off, the players sped back and forth across the field in the humid London weather. The game seemed normal at first. They kicked the ball.

Soccer seemed simple enough, but only because the players were not trying. They simply played a game of pinball by launching the ball back and forth.

This game, the stakes were low for these high-ranking teams. As first and second place respectively, Dortmund and Arsenal had essentially already made it to the next round because the top two teams move on.

The first, and probably last, European soccer game that I watched did not matter.

Arsenal scored one goal within the first two minutes against Dortmund’s listless defense. Without an interesting game, we argued the purpose of the offside rule.

To me, offside seemed stupid. The offense is forced to give up possession when there are no defenders between a forward and the goal. Why punish players for running faster?

If the defense gets offside, why does the goalie get to use his hands?

Soccer has few things in common with other sports. First, the players have funny names — Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ciro Immobile, Yaya Sanogo. Second, the rules, like offside, can be oversimplified. Corner kick: players kick from the corner.

Throw in: players throw the ball in.

Wall pass: players use each others as walls to pass.

Yet, unlike other sports, soccer is ruled by stamina.

Stamina keeps players fit for the long season mund, the top two teams on this Champions and helps them reach the true goal — the League, will play in a round of 16 teams.

FIFA World Cup. Since this game played a From there, the eight winning teams move on small role in achieving this goal, I missed the to quarter finals, semifinals and finals. They nuances of soccer that I would normally miss have a long way to go. anyway because the players just didn’t care.

Soccer is like school. If your grade is in the So as the soccer game digressed to mere sets of liners, we maturely resorted ROOKIE OF THE YEAR to making jokes about the players’ names.

“Are you a Messi Person?” safety range of three to six percent above the “No. I’m clean.” grade benchmark, what is the point in studyAlexis Sanchez scores. The score changes. ing for finals? It’s smarter to study for other The players go back to their liners. finals with higher stakes. Every semester, stuMy friend began to educate me on the dents must prioritize studying to have energy UEFA Champions League. Arsenal and Dort- when it is the most important.

Even though teachers will not see a reflection of students’ understanding and even though I still don’t know what overlaps, single scissors, penalty kicks or Maradona’s are, students and athletes play strategically by prioritizing. If teams spend all their energy on one minor game, players will not have the energy to compete at an important game the next day in a different country.

Dortmund was dormant and Arsenal scored twice. The end of the game was not intense or close. In fact, Arsenal player Joel Campbell completely missed a free kick in the last minutes of the game. He must have been aiming for the Dortmund fans...

The game ended at 2-0 — not that it matters. The teams will move on to the next round as students will move on to their next final exam. They both have a long way have to decide what is worth their A-game.

MALINI RAMAIYER

m.ramaiyer@elestoque.org

38

EL ESTOQUE Malini Ramaiyer | El Estoque Photo Illustration

What’s in your bag?

Sophomore Sassan Hashemi’s goalie gear PHOTOS AND STORY BY ADITYA PIMPLASKAR

S

ophomore Sassan Hashemi joined the varsity boys soccer team his freshman year. As a two-sport athlete, Hashemi must balance his efforts between football and soccer.

Hashemi’s duty as the goalkeeper involves keeping the team out of sticky situations. Along with the responsibilities of a goalie, comes the need for a lot of equipment.

FOOTBALL CAP Hashemi received a concussion during football season, so for the soccer season, he invested in a rugby helmet.

“I have a history of concussions, so I’m much more likely to get another one,” Hashemi said. “This helmet will absorb the impact to make sure I don’t get hurt.”

SOCCER PANTS

As soccer is a winter sport, players are required to compete in cold conditions. “As a goalie, soccer pants help me make slides for the ball without hurting myself or getting dirty,” Hashemi said. “Once, I forgot my soccer pants on a rainy day. After the game, my legs were covered in mud. My shorts and underwear were soaked and gross.”

SOCCER CLEATS Cleats provide traction when players run on turf and are a vital piece of every soccer player’s attire.

Some players buy cleats for their appearance. “I bought these cleats because they looked really cool,” Hashemi said. “A few people even complimented me on them.”

TEAM JERSEY The team’s uniform sets players apart.

“People have got to know which team I’m on,” Hashemi said. The Matadors sport their school colors, wearing white for away games and purple for home games.

GOALIE GLOVES “These gloves make it easier to handle the ball,” Hashemi said. The padding on goalie gloves prevents the ball from bouncing off and allows for more control when retrieving the ball.

“This isn’t mine. I don’t even have my own bag. Honestly, I usually just use my sister’s bags.”

DECEMBER 17, 2014

a.pimplaskar@elestoque.org

39

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

5