Volume 37, Issue 6, March 10 2006

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perspectives

Teachers’ overly harsh tardy policies unfair to students

entertainment

Twin opera stars sing in performance of Manon Lescaut

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sports

centerspread

Boys tennis season begins with tooth-andnail fight

secrets vol

march 10 2006

School fails code red drill

Staff swings with students

by Nandini Dasarathy, art editor and Cheryl Ho, staff writer

see CONCERNS on page 20

edition

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AP Biology program best in the world

by Jordan Kolb, perspectives editor

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fter years of top-notch academic performance, MVHS has finally failed a test.

MVHS’s recent Code Red drill, designed to practice school procedure in the event of a campus intrusion did not go as well as planned, to say the least. Despite knowledge of the Columbine shootings and even nearby De Anza College bomb threats, some at MVHS did not take these basic lock-down procedures seriously and performed poorly overall.

The local Sheriff’s department chastised MVHS, deeming it one of the worst drills that they had ever seen. Principal April Scott said, “I think the piece that disturbed me the most is not those who took it seriously and did it wrong. [These teachers] did the best they could with their interpretation. So they took it seriously, they gave it their best shot, they were sincere in their efforts. It’s those that knew what the guidelines were and chose to disregard them.”

Deputy John O’Brien evaluated the situation shortly afterward.

“Regardless if it is a drill or the real thing, if people don’t take these drills seriously, then they will be in trouble,” he said. “Not everyone took it as seriously as they should have; hopefully everyone will do so next time.”

Although training was somewhat vague at first, contributing to the failure of participating teachers in establishing an effective barricade, the response from some staff members to this drill was substandard.

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Austin Cheng | Photography Editor DANCE 360 Senior Craig Kawashima swings around English teacher Kelly Wong in the dance competition on March 6 for Take on your Teacher Week. Kawashima and his fellow students defeated the teachers in the first day of competition. The annual event brought out large crowds of spectators, students and teachers alike.

Verdadera illuminates sensitive issues

their peers and parents will help them know that they are not alone. “All topics are welerdadera, a new publication at MVHS, come: eating disorders, cheating, depression, will be released at the end of March. just to name a few,” added Chien.

The publication was inspired by Los GaChien’s passion for the publication was igtos High School’s Reality Check, a student-run nited when her daughter committed suicide in newsletter discussing problems that teenagers 2004. “My daughter didn’t know she was deface. It will be the first open pressed. I saw the signs, but forum publication at MVHS I didn’t know what to do. Her to help students express friends didn’t know what to their feelings on serious isdo. She told them to stay sues concerning teenagers. away, and they did. Now The name means “truthful,” they know that they should embodying the purpose of have done something. That the publication. is the goal of Verdadera After seeing the success – to make students aware of of Reality Check at Los Gathe problems their peers are - PTA Co-president having,” said Chien. tos, PTA Co-president HungHung-Wei Chien Wei Chien was very keen After students post their on starting a similar publication at MVHS. “At comments, professional psychologists will proMonta Vista, many children are sheltered or vide help or advice on the issue to help these unaware of harm that can come upon them,” students. Also, hotlines and help organization said Chien. She believes that allowing students contact information will be provided. “Students to submit their own voices anonymously with need to know that they can always get help,”

by Raj Dedhia, news editor

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The goal of Verdadera [is] to make students aware of the problems their peers are having

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said Chien.

For her, the key to Verdadera is exposure.

“With constant exposure, you will always know in the back of your mind that there is somewhere where I can get help,” said Chien.

Also, because Verdadera will be passed to each student and delivered to each household, it can be a topic of discussion. Chien hopes this increased communication helps students cope with their problems.

Sophomore Paulina Dao, Juniors Kim Ang and Kate Sackett and seniors Alex Cohn and Adi Singer worked together to get the publication started. A total of 12 members were chosen to be on the writing staff through an application process. Staff members will be responsible to search for and seek out anonymous submissions. Students will also be able to submit their stories in a designated box in ASB. “I think that this publication has the ability to change the face of MV,” said Ang, “but it is very important that students do not brush this away.”

see VERDADERA on page 20

t would have been great if Monta Vista had the number one AP Biology program in northern California, in all of California, or even the country. But the recognition goes much further than that.

“There’s something haunting about that phrase ‘in the world,’” said Assistant Principal Dennis Plaza. It’s true—based on AP Exam scores, Monta Vista was named number one school for AP Biology in the world.

On Feb. 7 the College Board came out with its annual “Advancement Placement Report to the Nation.” In it were different AP results broken down by ethnic group, gender, state, and subject.

For all AP subjects, the College Board lists the top school based on its size. Monta Vista was the number one school in AP Biology for schools with 800+ students in grades 10-12. The title is given based on proportions: Monta Vista had the greatest number of students who scored a three or higher on the test compared to the enrollment number in the course.

The results for 2006 are from the 2005 school year.

All were surprised at the number one title but not shocked at the recognition.

“Well, a little birdie had clued us in several months ago that the College Board was going to include us in an article... but beyond that, I didn’t expect to hear we were number one,” said AP Biology teacher Debbie Frazier.

“It is surprising since I was unaware that they even keep statistics like this. [But] our scores have consistently been high,” said Tim Krieger, another AP Biology teacher.

The AP Biology program is one of the most costly at the school, with expensive machines, chemicals, and large textbooks. These help in the hands-on biology experience and education.

“Due to annual improvements in teaching practices, materials we use, and support from the rest of the school, we are able to maintain, if not improve, our passing rates. It is inevitable, then, that as the passing rates improve, so do the chances of excelling at the test,” said Frazier, who has taught the course for four years.

So what can most of the course’s success be attributed to?

The teachers? The students? A little luck? Try all of the above.

“The curriculum is focused on understanding, rather than strict memorization. I think this helps students on the test itself since

see BIOLOGY on page 20

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News-Information-Updates

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Photo courtesy of Diana Rogers READY, SET, GO On Feb. 11, (Left to right) seniors Frank Chuang, Katherine Wu, Apoorva Rajagopal, and Sam Rosenberg get read to answer their next question at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for the annual Science Bowl.

Harker beats MV to the buzzer n

On Feb. 11, MVHS sent two teams to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to compete in the annual Science Bowl. The Bowl, a national competition split up into different regions, with MVHS in the largest one, competing against about 26 other teams.

Team one consisted of senior captain Apoorva Rajagopal and seniors Sam Rosenberg, Frank Chuang, Hidenori Yamada, and Katherine Wu. Team two consisted of junior captain Parth Sagdeo, juniors Nishant Bhat, Pavan Datta, and Anshul Bhagi, and sophomore Dhruv Nandamudi. The Math and Science Club organized the teams and has been preparing for this event since the beginning of the school year – with various methods such as 3-hour practice sessions. MVHS put in an outstanding effort, as Team One went undefeated in the first round. The competition came as a surprise to them.

“Since all the teams were better this year, the test was harder than in the past,” said Rosenberg. He also hopes that next year’s team will note to focus more on earth science and astronomy.

Though they were eliminated in the second round, they had tough close losses, one of which against their rival, The Harker School.

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Upon entering the offices around campus, you are likely to find some new faces in old locations and some old faces in new locations. First is Judy Lim, who moved over to the Registrar’s desk where she has taken over for Ginny Yandow, who retired earlier this year. Crystal Pidcock replaced Lim as the AP Secretary and now sits at the front desk in the main office. Lastly is Miriam Taba, who took over for Hilary Avis in the career center. Taba was a former Monta Vista mom who used to volunteer in the career center.

“The days go by so fast and the kids are so great,” Taba said. Hilary Avis will be on a one-year leave of absence; she gave birth to daughter Jane Elizabeth Reece on Feb. 7.

The Bank of America Scholarships, honoring four Monta Vista seniors every year in the areas of liberal arts, applied arts, fine arts, and math and sciences, were awarded last month to Natasha Naik, Tina Gong, Katie Near, and Solomon Lee, respectively.

At the time, there was confusion among the contestants as to what the competition was about, and there was discussion that the whole thing was just a hoax. “It was a little disconcerting,” said Near, who was since assured of the authenticity of the scholarship program.

The competition commenced earlier this month when each department nominated several academically high achieving, well-rounded students. Each student was notified of his or her qualification for the award and was told to submit his or her resume at ASB via a slip of paper.

However information on the award itself was vague. Then, all candidates’ transcripts, resumes, on-site written responses, and personal interviews were rated by a committee, who in turn elected four plaque members, one from each department. “For the panel to choose one from these very qualified students is very difficult,” said Assistant Principal Brad Metheany. “This is a pretty high honor.”

All nominees will receive certificates at the senior awards ceremony, and the four plaque members will advance to the regional competition and will have the opportunity to receive monetary scholarships. n Contrary to popular belief, the “MRS” in the Mrs. Gold project is not an acronym. In fact, when Sherman Wang, ASB president three years ago, was creating the project, he and Leadership Coordinators Tim Krieger and Melanie Walzack were not sure what to call it. Eventually they decided on the name “Mrs. Gold,” aiming for humor rather than for symbolic purposes.

The Mrs. Gold project was created as an opportunity for any school recognized group to earn money through school service. Every year, a portion of the money earned through the sale of ASB Gold cards is set aside in a separate account for clubs or classes to earn. A club must submit an application that includes the idea for a service project. After the idea is approved by Krieger, Walzack, and ASB Treasurer John Moghtader, it is then sent to Leadership Council. If approved there, Krieger, Walzack, Moghtader, and a representative from the club then determine the amount of money that should be set as the goal to earn.

“In a given year, about four or five clubs take up the project,” said Moghtader.

Examples of groups taking on the project are the Class of 2007 cleaning up the student parking lot every other Friday in hopes of earning $4,000 by the end of the school year and Red Cross, who just recently passed their service project to recycle cans weekly.

“If MVHS didn’t have this type of program, our club would probably have to sit outside of Safeway and beg for money,” said Red Cross officer junior Tracy Hsu. In agreement that it is truly valuable to the school in many ways, Moghtader said, “It is really mutually beneficial.”

Though its name may not have any hidden meaning, the project allows an opportunity for clubs that are strapped for money to earn some, while benefiting the school at the same time.

elestoque

2005-2006 Monta Vista High School 21840 McClellan Rd. Cupertino, CA 95014

El Estoque seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas and bring news to the Monta Vista community in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our community.

Editors-in-Chief Alex Cohn Edward Young Managing Editors Neha Joshi Vikram Srinivasan News Editors Raj Dedhia Steffi Lau Perspectives Editors Jordan Kolb Julia Stenzel Design/Centerspread Editors Stephanie Snipes Daniel Yang Entertainment Editors Radhika Chandrasekhar Michelle Tanaka Sports Editors Carolyn Chuang Suzie Smelyansky Back Page Editor Rachel Lui Art Editors Nandini Dasarathy Julia Stenzel Photo Editor Austin Cheng Staff Writers Sarah Bennett Symrin Chawla Aniqa Hasan Cheryl Ho Adam Jacobs Michael Leung Judy Liang Melissa Ni Sonal Patel Samika Savanur Prateek Tandon Anagha Vaidhyanathan Matt Wang Adviser Michelle Balmeo The El Estoque staff can be reached at elestoque06@gmail.com or by contacting advisor Michelle Balmeo in room C210. Advertisements may be sent to the address above. 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.

Pride and Prejudice: what to write about, what not to?

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by Alex Cohn, editor-in-chief

hen deciding what stories to write about for an upcoming edition of El Estoque the questions we normally ask ourselves are “Is the subject matter interesting enough to publish? Will it engage our readers?” Rarely do we have to ask the weightier question: “Is this a story we should publish?” Yet this time we had to---thrice. For the sake of not causing a stir, for the sake of safety, and for our own staff, would we be doing MVHS a disservice by publishing these stories?

Ms. Wu, who has been accused of helping students cheat by going over the past tests of their current math teachers, was a source of controversy.

Some of our staff felt Wu’s practices were not cheating and feared that by making a story out of her practices, we would be stirring up trouble where there was none. Furthermore, would a story about her advertise her services to students, thus making cheating more rampant at our school? And finally, there’s always a chance at a school paper that we’re just taking ourselves too seriously, and the story could prove to just be interesting to those who read it, without causing any of the waves hypothesized.

We discussed the issue and decided that our greatest mistake would be to not do anything, imposing self-censorship and depriving the student body of information it has the right to judge on its own. Hence, my co-editor-in-chief Edward Young’s editorial on Wu’s services. Presented as an editorial, rather than a story, we felt this would allow readers to not have to weed out any bias, with all the author’s opinions out in the open. Additionally,

by including an interview with Ms. Wu, the article gives readers the other perspective.

Less debate occurred over the subject of Cheryl Ho and Nandini Dasarathy’s story about MVHS’ failure to properly perform a Code Red drill. Fearing that advertising our vulnerability to attack would only increase the chances of it occurring, some felt it was best to not write the story. In this instance, with many students and some teachers not taking the drills seriously, we felt it in the school’s best interest to publish the story. In raising awareness of the problem, we hoped to help remedy it.

On a much, much lighter note, a story that gave us pause was Stephanie Snipes’ secret menu story. Many of us who knew about Jamba Juice’s secret menu, myself included, gain a certain sense of satisfaction walking into a Jamba Juice with a group of friends and wowing them by ordering an item not on the menu and being understood by the cashier, as if by magic.

Thus in publishing a story on secret menus, the secret part would be ruined, at least to El Estoque readers, like yourself, clearly a die-hard fan, as you’ve actually chosen to read to the end of the editor’s letter. After a few minutes of trifling debate, we felt it proper, nay, not proper, but our duty as journalists to sacrifice our scant source of smugness and reveal to MVHS the secret menus of Jamba Juice and In N Out. Thus with all these stories, we felt it only right to give our audience as much information as possible. And to see if we’ve gone into the realm of “too much information,” look at the secrets revealed to us MVHS students. Enjoy!

EDITOR’S LETTER

march 10, 2006

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Freaking: Freaky?

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emember how every now and then, parents exercise the customary “back in my day” line to force us to put some clothes on and buy groceries? Dress preference, choice of radio stations, and television programs are common battle-fields where they use the “line” as their weapon of choice. In the past we’ve always retaliated by insulting their age and all’s well that ends well.But what about the issue of freak dancing?

The older generation seems to believe that teenagers in today’s society simply can’t dance anymore and have resorted to “freaking” as a medium through which they can entertain themselves during school dances.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a school site council meeting when I noticed that the agenda read: A. Cafeteria Update; B. Residency Verification; C. Freak Dancing. The sheer prospect of giving the topic as much importance as residency verification amazed me. It made me wonder: is this really an issue at MVHS? According to the teachers attending the meeting, it turned out that the MVHS staff is hesitant to chaperone school dances due to freaking. And while most forms of dancing at school dances are acceptable, preventing obscene dancing is virtually impossible to enforce.

The Administration present at the meeting went on to explain how some schools in Palo Alto and Gilroy had banned freaking at their school dances. While teachers and staff find the policies simply astounding, the students haven’t reacted as well as hoped. Rather than abiding by the newest rules patiently at schools where freaking has been banned, they have resorted to “freak” closer to the center of the crowd, resulting in this section of the dance crowd to be labeled the “Bulls Eye.” MVHS students on the other hand seem slightly divided on the issue. While some agree that freaking is obscene, the majority of the student body has simply adapted it as common dance tradition.

Marquesas dance team member junior Marissa Maple said, “I think it’s just life.

It has always been this way and I can’t imagine school dances being any different.”

Interestingly enough, those who do not enjoy freak dancing have ceased to attend school dances anymore since as a peer of mine duly noted, “that’s all they seem to be about.”

The Class of 2007 found a way around this issue by addressing it when planning for the 2006 Junior Prom. They realized that and wanted to make it an enjoyable night for everyone, not just for those who enjoy freaking. The 2006 junior prom will tentatively include ballroom dancing classes, opportunities to play Dance Dance Revolution, and more! “Hopefully by adding these different options, we’re providing venues for everyone to enjoy,” said Class of 2007 President Kimberly Ang, “Junior prom isn’t about [freaking], it’s about having the night of your life.”

In fact, the officers have planned to have an entire balcony devoted to those who may want to take a break from dancing - just a place to get away from it all. In cases like this, it seems a good balance can prevent our students from leaning to one extreme or the other.

Perhaps this is better than the good ol’ days at Kennedy when all the boys would stand and watch. Everyone is participating and having a good time. Furthermore, would the prospect of banning freaking from MVHS give the school an even more pampered image? Isn’t it bad enough that we’re considered the “nerd” school?

Either way, it’s only a matter of time before new legislation will prevent this innovative dance form from sweeping the nation. Meanwhile, maybe we should all resort to taking ballroom dancing classes?

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Creating a Night in

Las Vegas

by Austin Cheng, photo editor

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Starting March 3, the MVHS cheerleading squad began putting together the Sadie Hawkins Dance in the gym, preparing to host it in the gym the next day. The first day they worked from after school to midnight and the second day from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Couples dressed in various costumes, from casino robbers and Disney characters to Julius Caesar and C.S.I. A chapel was set up for math teacher Joe Kim to marry couples for the night. The dance is one of the team’s annual events to raise money to continue competing. Sadie Hawkins comes from the comic Li’l Abner by Al Capp. Thirty-year-old Sadie Hawkins chased a group of bachelors in a foot race, and the first man she caught she would marry. This was the last dance hosted in the old gym before destruction.

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5 1. Card suit cut-outs hang from clear plastic ribbons adorn the entrance to the gym from the Student Center.

2. Junior Joanie Orvick places a poster on the door of the girls bathroom. Decorations were even put on the inside walls. Cards were taped all over, and big royal card posters were hung over the bathroom doors.

3. Senior Michelle Peery hangs Christmas lights alongside the walls of the north side of the Student Center, surrounding the boxes to vote for the Sadie Hawkins King.

4. Friday night the cheer team is in the early stages of working. In one corner, a Marilyn Monroe poster is being painted while in the middle of the room, a gigantic poster is being painted to be hung along the railings of the second floor.

6 5. Junior Luyi Zhang takes countless feet of tissue paper and folds it into pink roses.

6. In the gym, freshman Breanna Adams, junior Melody Chen, and senior Tiana Nguyen cut out stars and place them on a large poster paper.

7. The top of the Student Center is covered by long sheets of black plastic to create the illusion of nighttime.

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Teachers abusing power in class

Students feel forced to endure “cruel and unusual”punishments

Clicking into a life of crime

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he final bell for second period rings as a student rushes to his next class.

Arriving only seconds after the bell, he unfortunately must face the consequences.

Locked outside of the classroom for a certain period of time, the student is finally let back in, missing a certain part of the day’s lecture that he must somehow learn from fellow students or by himself. The punishments teachers place on students have drastically changed from prior years. Teachers have now found stricter ways of punishing students for their tardiness and misbehavior, but the question is, are they really fair?

Tardiness is a big issue at Monta Vista, especially on block Wednesdays. Cars are backed up on McClellan and Bubb, as parents urge their children to get out and walk the rest of the way to school. Nearby Kennedy Middle School happened to schedule its late start day on Wednesdays as well, starting about twenty minutes after MVHS’s. This adds to the traffic jam as goody two-shoed middle schoolers want to arrive early to school, affecting the chance of many MVHS students to arrive promptly to class. True, many say to get an early start, but if every student, or at least a majority of the school decides to leave a couple minutes earlier, the same situation takes place. Nevertheless, many students tend to be late to class on a regular basis. Yet others are late for their very first time because of

Julia Stenzel | Art Editor

emergencies and other miniscule reasons.

So, should those students have to pay the price for their first-timer mistake as well?

There are a variety of punishments that teachers give to students. For example, locking the door after the tardy bell rings, or giving the student and the rest of the class a pop quiz. Despite their effectiveness, whether they have any or not, does not

Staff Editorial

determine the fairness of the punishment.

Junior Jason Liu recalls a time when he and the rest of the class were given a popquiz when a group of students was late to class.

“I think the reason we were given the pop-quiz was for us to understand that it’s harder for teachers to start the class when so many people show up late,” said Liu. “It was just another way of getting the message across to the entire class.”

Yes, it may get the message across, but is it really necessary to “pop” a quiz on the students just for tardiness? It makes it an extra assignment for the teacher to grade and record, while it may affect a student’s

grade negatively.

Being locked out of the classroom poses a similar threat toward a student’s grade.

Even five minutes outside the classroom can be the loss of the explanation of an important theme from the assigned novel reading or math equation that troubled many students. Again, these small little setbacks can add up and, sooner or later, will affect the student’s grade negatively. It’s important for us students to be disciplined so that we grow up to be proper individuals.

However, punishing us through ways that hinder our learning process or lower our grade proves to be unfair.

There are stricter punishments for tardiness and there are peculiar punishments for tardiness. Ashay Verma, a junior said, “One time I was tardy to math class twice, and the teacher scheduled my detention at 7:10 a.m. to dust the classroom and take out the trash.”

This certainly crosses the line of how far a punishment can go. Sooner or later, teachers will ask students to buy their groceries or change the oil for their car as punishments instead. Boundaries need to be set, and a standard of punishment should be established and followed by all MVHS teachers. Most importantly, the level of punishment should be flexible depending upon how extreme the student’s act of misconduct is.

Tutor uses old tests to teach tutees

Students get to study exam questions weeks in advance

by Alex Cohn and Edward Young, editorsin-chief idden between a Buddhist community center and a kung fu dojo lays a storage room. But this large storage room isn’t only for mops and toilet paper.

Several nights a week, many students from various schools visit this unassuming locale to, of all things, get tutored in math. In fact, as many as fifty Monta Vista students according make a weekly trek to this hidden location according to “Wu Lao Shi,” or Wu, the tutor. Whether it be for classes or standardized tests, tutoring is nothing new at Monta Vista. However, the tutoring methods of Wu have been causing some alarm among some teachers and students.

There have recently been allegations that Wu has tests from previous years that teachers have not released to students, specifically from Math teachers Martin

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matador ((vibe))

Jennings’ and Jon Stark’s classes.

When confronted with this concern, Wu responded by saying, “He gives the the students the tests back. It’s not only I have it. I believe most of the students have Mr. Stark’s tests. They could [have gotten it] from bigger sisters and brothers, from friends. The students give it to me.”

The problem is that on an individual level, acquiring tests from previous years without teacher permission is already a violation of academic integrity. For a tutor to do the same only legitimizes the practice.

In addition, compiling lists of test questions requires organization beyond that of single students, and with her “five to six years” of tutoring, the lists could be quite extensive. This implies a more systematic approach toward cheating. Not only is it a single person gaining an unfair advantage, it is now a large group, and the greater the ...to the lake that emerged in the middle of the academic court on March 6, making it off limits for the day.

number of students cheating, the greater it affects the others in the class who do not practice academic dishonesty. Essentially Wu is sacrificing her morality for profits. By obtaining tests, she creates an incentive for students to pay for her services.

Not only is it a moral issue but a legal one as well. Stark, a math teacher and former copyright lawyer, explains, “If they obtained copies of tests, kept them, and distributed them to current students, then that’s a violation of my copyright under federal law. Anyone who makes copies and distributes copies for money is likely to get sued in federal court by me for federal copyright infringement.”

Jennings, unlike Stark, does not release tests. Still, Wu has been able to acquire test questions identical to those on his tests.

Wu explains, “After taking the test, students

see WU on page 20

...to the decorations at Sadie’s, which were poor considering the $40 bids. Expectations were high due to rumors that the Cheer squad was going to decorate the flor of the gym.

aratoga might have gotten the bad publicity during the cheating “exposé,” but ethically, MVHS really can’t claim to stand on higher ground.

To state the obvious, illegal downloading among teenagers is rampant. And the worst part is that its perpetrators don’t even seem to care. Instead, the vast majority of illegal downloaders brush off their “dignified” version of theft under the premise that, “Oh, no one will catch me,” or “The musicians don’t need the money, anyway.”

Socially, the government can’t be expected to catch every criminal, and some crimes are likelier to be noticed than others.

Illegal downloading is the type of crime where the burden is upon the individual criminal, (and yes, illegal downloading does make you a criminal), to have their conscience keep them in check.

But without authority looking over their shoulder, students, instead of policing themselves, take the opportunity to maximize their violation of the law.

And all the more the reason why they should be ashamed. Theft isn’t the only harm caused by illegal downloading, though. Ultimately, the more destructive and lasting harm is that dealt to your personal sense of morality.

Instead of feeling guilty, perpetrators rationalize their actions, saying, “But you know, there are loopholes, so technically it’s not illegal.” People shouldn’t need the law to tell them what is and isn’t moral and acceptable. Who are we, as individuals, to decide that just because we feel like it, someone else who has worked to provide us a service doesn’t deserve the just reward for their labor?

It’s important to recognize, anyway, that only a small commission of every CD/ legal music purchase goes to celebrities. A great part of the other money goes to the individuals in the record companies and the recording studies that help those CDs reach our market, people with families and jobs and kids, not unlike ourselves.

I find it ironic that at a school where we so vocally endorse charity, through charitable donations and countless hours of community service though Octagon, Interact, CSF, and other clubs, when morality stops being convenient, people stop following it.

We may be a top-notch school academically, but ethically, I strongly doubt that we can trumpet our community volunteerism as evidence of social concern.

After all, the same person who spends two hours doing community service and donates 20 dollars to charity may go home a couple hours later and illegally download 40 dollars worth of digital entertainment, without even noticing the contradiction.

All I’m asking for is some consistency.

If you’re going to download illegally, then don’t go do community service in the name of “helping people.” If you’re going to hold yourself to a high moral standard, then do so all the time, not just when it suits your needs.

Maybe no one will ever know that you have stolen a thousand dollars from the pocketbook of some record company employee who’s collecting nickels to pay for his kid’s college education. But you know what?

You will.

Enough with the hypocrisy. ...to the Staff Relations Committee for organizing the exciting annual event of Take On Your Teacher Week, March 6-10.

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V a r y i n g Is it okay to switch classes?

Viewpoints

As MVHS passes the midyear mark, and schedule changes are open once again, the main office finds itself slightly more crowded than usual, with eager (or brooding) students—and paperwork. Certainly, the question arises: is it worth it? Should Administration put up with the hassle of dealing with disgruntled students who didn’t get along well with their teachers first semester?

by Vikram Srinivasan, managing editor

by Anagha Vaidhyanathan, staff writer

Perhaps the most nerve-wracking episodes in a high school student’s career don’t involve college decisions. For many, summer schedule arrivals in the mailbox are anticipated with toes crossed and fingernails bitten. With their fate for the following school year completely beyond their control, students can only hope to get the teachers they want.

Though possibly tedious, and at times petty, the only reasonable solution is to allow students schedule changes. Such changes are essential to making education at MV as comprehensive as possible, and meeting as many students’ educational needs as possible.

Controversial though it may be to say it, there are definitely good and bad teachers.

At MVHS, we’re just lucky that most of them are on the good side. But even among better teachers, there is a definite variation among teaching (and learning) styles. What works for one student may not work for another.

If a student and a teacher don’t get along, it makes no sense to perpetuate an uncomfortable relationship just because it’s a hassle to deal with the paperwork to end it. A bad experience with a teacher can ruin any enthusiasm a student has for a subject. In the interest of gearing students to appreciate a broad variety of academic disciplines, it only makes sense to allow students to maximize their learning potential.

Some might argue that it’s important for students to learn from a variety of teaching styles.

But ultimately, the most important thing students get out of a class is an understanding of the subject matter, not the “ability to learn from different types of teachers.” And especially in cases where the specific “teaching style” in question really is the lack of one, students should have the right to get out of that situation.

The only real issue with a class-switching policy is that out of two teachers teaching the same subject with the same number of classes, one might end up having a lot more students than the other, and that’s harder to resolve. On the bright side, though, at least more students would be getting the most out of their education.

Anyway, if it is really a problem at all, MVHS ought to be grateful that this is as bad at it gets.

Other schools may have issues with students not showing up to class, but at MVHS, the issue is with the way the class is taught. That students are willing to take the personal initiative to switch teachers and maximize their learning experience speaks volumes to their motives.

Another, more compelling counterargument is the supposed tendency of students to switch not only into another class, but into an easier one within the same subject. However, if you look at what actually happens at MV, this problem is realistically very small. The vast majority of people in difficult classes taught by good teachers don’t switch, even if their grade might be higher in another class.

When students want to learn, I say let them. If that means switching to a different teacher, those requests should be accommodated. In the end, the better the classroom experience each individual student has, the greater the caliber of our crop of graduates.

Without the ability to make schedule changes, students are powerless in the whole process. At a school where academic performance is such a big issue, the opposite should be the case.

As schedule selection rolls by, students can look forward to spending the next few months browsing and choosing from over 50 different courses offered by MVHS to create their ideal schedule for the following school year. Administration will then sort through over 2,500 forms trying to determine the ideal schedule for each and every student. MVHS students receive their tentative schedules in June and temporary schedules in August. The process is complete, right?

Think again. As the August-end Registration Safari rolls around the corner, students can make alterations to their schedules – essentially changing any current courses. Naturally, like any other high school, MVHS has certain teachers who are considered to be more lenient than others, more informative than others, and certainly, tougher graders than others. While it is these inherent qualities that allow MVHS students to receive one of the highest levels of diverse education in the nation, numerous students seem to find it stifling to their education.

As a result, the beginning of the school year is not just a time when students rearrange their courses; it also marks a time when members of the student body attempt to switch teachers. According to MVHS Assistant Principal, Fred Keep, the existing policy mandates that students are permitted to switch teachers within the first 20 days of the school year if, and only if, there is sufficient room in the class in which the student wishes to transfer to. After the 20 day period, only drops or transfers of “classes” are allowed with no specifics regarding teachers.

Thus the ever-popular question arises: should students be permitted to switch teachers within the same courses? For a variety of reasons including an added inconvenience for administration and lack of fairness for all members of the student body, the only logical answer is no. What does a student gain by switching teachers? An opportunity to have an easier school year with a teacher whose grading system is more lax? Maybe a chance to be in a class with friends? Whatever the reason, these changes force administration to sort through numerous scheduling options for each and every student who desires a different teacher.

A student hardly loses out by remaining with their assigned teacher, rather, the variations in Nandini Dasarthy | staff artist teaching and learning styles allow for further student development. Furthermore, will we have an option to change teachers in college?

How about when we reach our workplace; can we pick and select from a list of bosses?

High school is meant to be a training ground for our futures. If exceptions are made to something as trivial as teacher assignments, how will a student ever learn to survive?

MVHS is already known for pampering its students to the extent that they are then spit out into the world, sheltered and ignorant. Such trifling scheduling options will only aggravate the process.

In the end, life isn’t fair. We’ve heard our elders repeat it for years and often find ourselves using the same phrase. While what works for one student may not work for another, students simply cannot get teachers they want. A different teacher should not have the power to ruin any enthusiasm a student has for a subject. If a student truly has a desire to learn the subject, a different teacher should not hinder their experience or their success.

Pro

Voices of MV “Most often you don’t like your teacher because you can’t learn from them.”

-junior Andrew Segal

“Some students and some teachers just don’t get along. If it makes it easier to succeed in a class because the teacher’s more like you, then it should be allowed.”

- junior Mandy Watson

Con

Statistics Why do you think students switch out of classes?

49

A. Different period B. Different teacher C. Class is to hard D. To be with friends E. Other

22 17

11 A

“It’s harder to learn if you don’t like the teacher.”

- sophmore Jennier Chu

“If you hate your teacher, you have to deal with that teacher, because that teacher gives you a grade.”

- sophmore Mototaro Matsubara

B

C

D

1 E

Do you think students should be allowed to switch teachers within a subject?

95

5

“I think it should be possible [to switch teachers]. If the teacher is incompetent, the student should have the chance for someone else.”

- freshman Keaton Chiu

“It’s okay [to switch teachers] if they have a good reason. It helps students to try harder.”

- junior Sera Park

Yes No What subject gets switched out of most often?

31

28 6

math

10 3

science elective history

AP

12 language

10 lit

perspectives march 10, 2006

november 18 2005 el estoque

MV deserves “worst ever seen” title Staff, students should be ashamed of poor “code red” drill

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

When each of our parents drops us off at school in the ’m scared to death. I’m scared to death of a morning, they entrust us into the care of our teachers. If shooting happening on our campus. There are so tragedy were to strike, they would fully expect that our many students who are under pressure,, who are teachers take every precaution possible to keep us safe. unhappy, and who are picked on. Tell me, can you name And if something were to happen to us, the first person at least one student that is depressed or not happy with that our parents would hold accountable for it would be high school? Think about it. Can you name at least one? the teacher in charge. So when hundreds of students, walk through your classroom I thought so. And those are everyday, think about how our the people who could bring parents have entrusted you in a gun to campus and shoot,” that same manner. And when said science teacher Jim our parents have that much faith Birdsong. in you, then you better darn well Monta Vista has it all— protect that trust and take care of we really do. We have your students. an astounding record for Don’t tell me that it’s just a college acceptance, an drill and that if it were the real almost perfect API score, the thing, you would’ve taken the national ranking that puts our proper measures. If you are one school among some of the of those teachers who didn’t take elite. We’re compassionate, last week’s drill seriously, then tenacious, and bold in our there’s no evidence to suggest achievements; we struggle to that in a real scenario, you would achieve only the best. And actually follow the procedures or we’ve seen results. But, as even know what to do. What if our Code Red drill on March something were to happen? And 1 showed, it’s quite easy what if it was your fault? Could for Monta Vista to become you live knowing that because complacent in this seemingly of your apathy, your students are perfect world. injured or dead? I didn’t think As much as we think so, so. we’re not living in a bubble.

As Scott stated, “It’d be nice if We’re not immune to the we could live in this Disneyland tragedies of the outside world and be immune to world, and neither are we Neha Joshi | staff photographer everything, but there’s reality, invulnerable to the teenage and we need to be informed.” societal problems that exist. Classrooms across campus made barricades like this one during Scott also stated that the MVHS Hopefully, we’ll continue to the code red drill on March 1. staff was forewarned about the live in our happy-go-lucky world, but if tragedy were to strike the MVHS campus, we drill a month in advance, given specific training and ample time to ask questions. They were also given a checklist of darn well better be ready.

According to national standards, MVHS fits the profile things they were supposed to do and reminded about the of schools that have been affected by school shootings. As ordeal the night before and the morning of. It was almost Principal April Scott states, “We’re a big school that is high like a test for teachers. They were taught the material, given performing, with high pressure and high expectations. And opportunities to ask questions, and profusely reminded it’s the student that is disconnected in this high pressure about the exam date. It’s possible that MVHS’ staff was babied even more than they baby us students. So even world that is most likely to bring a gun onto campus.”

We’d all like to believe that MVHS is filled with students after all that, when there are staff members who “fail” this who are genuinely happy in their four years here, that exam, I’m sorry, that’s nothing short of ridiculous.

It’d be unfair to just blame the staff for this failure. there’s not a single case of depression lying around.

But that’s not true. And we know that. We knew that on Students, where were you when your teacher wasn’t taking this seriously? You heard the announcements over the Wednesday, March 1, too.

It’s atrocious, but we, as a school, miserably failed the loudspeaker too and, as a student, you know quite well Code Red drill. It is true that the majority of our staff took the that these kinds of directions are meant to be followed. precautions that they were advised to take, but there were And in reality, if someone were to open fire on campus some staff members who took this almost as a joke. There and your teacher wasn’t able to follow the procedures, you were some classrooms where the teacher continued on with know that you would have to step up. Why didn’t you do the day’s lesson, and there were some classrooms where it now? teachers joined in with the students to create a mockery out see CODE RED on page 20 of this entire drill.

by Neha Joshi, managing editor

“I

el estoque perspectives

the

7

extraordinarily

ordinary

Life’s full of those silly little moments. Moments that, although fleeting, are cherished, for how they enliven our daily lives with humor, and encapsulate life at MVHS. The journalism staff is lucky enough to experience such moments, and here, share them with you.

You know how when you learn something new, you keep on seeing it everywhere? It’s like when you get to know a new person on campus, and although you’ve never seen him ever before, you suddenly see him in every hallway, during every break. Like that new person, our AP English book, Beloved is haunting me wherever I go. I spent all of a Saturday looking for my copy of the novel, and when I found it, I had to leave for a game show that I participated in, Quiz Kids. Ironically, when I got onto the show, I was asked a question about Beloved. And even more ironically, when I got home from the taping of the show, the movie Beloved was on television. Talk about major stalking.

When a teacher gives you something you’re not “supposed” to use, you feel very priviledged. Take their keys for example: you feel very special walking around campus with a staff member’s keys that can open up almost any building on campus. You don’t want to upset the teacher who gives you these keys with the kind of power it makes you think you have. At a journalism late night one day, when the bathrooms were locked, I asked for the keys from my teacher to unlock the bathroom. I was on strict instuctions to lock it up when I was done and made sure to follow her directions. I rushed back and promised I had locked it up. I left for the evening soon after, only to arrive home where my mom yelled, “Your teacher called. She says you forgot to give her the keys back. No one can go the bathroom or lock up any rooms until you give them back.” I drove back to school to deliver them--at close to 11:00 at night--but unfortunatly, no one trusts me with their keys anymore. So much for responsibility.

Spanish teacher Molly Guadiamos volunteered to compete in the Dance 360 during Take-On-Your-Teacher week.

She decided that to get the most out of her dancing abilities, she would enlist the help of her classes for some ideas for “cool” moves. Thus began a really long journey during which I saw Guadiamos do things that I have never seen a teacher do before. This included the disco, N*Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye” move, Roger Rabbit, and bhangra. She even tried to breakdance, which concluded in Guadiamos sitting on the floor and throwing her limbs out in various directions. One student tried to teach her to seawalk, which she found so complicated she wrote notes on the board which consisted of “C-walk: w/ monkey arms.” At least, her efforts paid off when she suceeded in beating her opponent during the competition at lunch. She also suceeded in providing us incomparable entertainment. I mean, how many students can say “Oh yeah, we taught our teacher how to breakdance in class today?”

Adopting homework policy would not solve main problems Lynbrook’s guidelines sound great, but Monta Vista wouldn’t benefit from or accept them

by Adam Jacobs, staff writer

D

on’t waste your time, Monta Vista. It’s caramelized fluff--fluff that appears to have substance. Monta Vista’s general consensus is that there is so much time-consuming, stressful homework that not even a rolling backpack could unburden a typical Monta Vistian’s shoulders. So instead, we look toward Lynbrook High School and their Homework Guidelines for insight. These guidelines, ten statements, came into being five years ago at Lynbrook, were recently clarified last year, and have now traveled across De Anza Boulevard to Monta Vista’s front door. Knock, knock? We don’t want you.

Before we dive into Lynbrook’s Ten Commandments, it should be clear that they are more like the Articles of Confederation. As Lynbrook Guidance Resource teacher Malissa Goldstein said, and other administrators and teachers repeated, “This is what we recommend and expect. It’s not a policy everyone has to enforce.” This is a tactful approach, relying on a teacher’s good will, and probably the only realistic one, but it reveals the triteness of the guidelines. The method of passing these guidelines are teacher stimulated: teachers come together and decide as a whole that they want it. Now, if all these teachers want these guidelines and agree on everything on paper, why do they need guidelines to make any changes? Lynbrook Social Studies teacher Mike Williams explained that he had already tried to do much of what the guidelines suggested before they came into effect. And since they’re optional, teachers that disagree won’t be forced to change

their methods. It makes you wonder if the guidelines are per night.” Some experts would agree with this statement, just a pretty object on Lynbrook’s desk with absolutely no abiding by a ten-minute-per-grade rule (for example, possible use. twelfth grade students should only receive 120 minutes The very first point from Lynbrook’s Guidelines states, of homework). By most guidelines, it seems that this is an in other words, that there should be no busy work. All extraordinarily bold statement. However, the guidelines homework is not created clarify that only regular classes are equal; some assignments are affected; AP and Honor classes are in their more valuable than others. own category. Now, the fluff surfaces.

In considering adopting Lynbrook Assistant Principal Regular courses at Monta Vista do a homework policy, Monta Tami McMillan said that if, indeed, at times, give more than 30 minutes because of the guidelines, work. The regular classes do not amount Vista has referenced a similar of “the most advanced to for much of the stress and time at Monta policy created by Lynbrook newest teacher looks at their Vista. The guidelines get rid of the pesky homework and finds even dogs, but are oblivious to the rampaging High School. It can be viewed one thing of busy work, the elephants stamping through town. at http://www.lhs.fuhsd. guidelines were successful.”

One concession: the guidelines do This is not a new concept, describe advanced courses beautifully. org/main_office/Homework_ assigning meaningful “Enrollment in Advanced Placement and Guidelines.pdf homework, and in all Honor classes often require more ‘out of honesty, teachers shouldn’t class’ study and homework than suggested need guidelines to remind in these guidelines. Students and parents them. Regardless, Monta Vista doesn’t give much busy should carefully consider the extra time before enrolling.” work. Students don’t complain about most assignments and Students should realize the consequences of taking if they did, teachers would probably gladly explain the advanced classes. For example, if a student chooses to run importance of the allegedly “useless” assignment. track, that student is well aware of how much time will be The controversy arrives one third of the way down the devoted to the sport and willingly accepts. If students view page. “Nightly homework assignments should be able to classes more as extracurricular activities, homework will be be completed by most students in about 30 minutes per much easier to accept. The honors math class you choose class. The value of homework as it relates to academic performance declines rapidly after two hours of homework see GUIDELINES on page 20

8

What’s I

el estoque

perspectives perspectives

With

?

the...

After seeing fellow math teachers Stark, t’s 7:35 in the morning, and as the rest of us are slowly beginning our day, math McNabb, Puccinelli, Kim, and Dong start using teacher Scott DeRuiter is awake-- and lug- technology in their own classrooms, DeRuiter ging around an almost 15 pound contrap- was inspired to make this contraption. He used a snare carriertion that he lovingly - a big carrier that calls “The Geek the music department Gear.” uses to carry the large A combination of snare drums during a wireless Bluetooth marching band, and keyboard, Graphire then attached wood writing table, a snare to it in order to create drum carrier, and a a platform to rest his few pieces of wood, keyboard upon. this Geek Gear has Building this, become the heart however, wasn’t of DeRuiter’s AP without problems.

Calculus BC classes.

DeRuiter recalls, “I DeRuiter says, “I Teacher: Math teacher built my first one and I wanted to start doing Scott Deruiter used it for a couple of things electronically, days, but then I found and thought of this.” problems with it. The The Geek Gear Object: The Geek Gear Geek Gear that I’m is a contraption that currently using is my allows DeRuiter to

by Judy Liang, staff writer second try at it. I’m move around the planning on building classroom with his some more soon, too.” materials, using his The best thing wireless technology to write things onto the overhead screen about this Geek Gear isn’t the technology from far away. Writing on whiteboards behind it, but watching Deruiter maneuver it. has become obsolete for DeRuiter, as now Teacher Colin Anderson has often remarked only his students use the boards to put up to DeRuiter, “You look like such a dork!” homework solutions. All of DeRuiter’s work DeRuiter doesn’t mind however, as he says is electronic now-- and all of his class notes that being a dork is much worth his beloved Geek Gear. end up on his website.

March 10, 2006

LETTERSEDITOR TO THE

Is there an article that perks your interest, admiration, or fury?

elestoque06@gmail.com Has something at Monta Vista caught your attention? Send a let-

El Estoque 21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014

ter to El Estoque responding to articles in the newspaper or issues at MVHS. Letters of any length should be submitted via e-mail or mail. They become the sole property of El Estoque and can be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at El Estoque’s discretion.

Leadership acknowledges criticism A few days after El Estoque published the article “Lead by Example,” the Leadership class had a discussion about the issues the editorial raised. As part of the Leadership Audit Focus Group, we have been examining how effective Leadership has been over the past year in engaging and involving the student body. In fact, many of the issues raised in the article are issues that Focus Groups are trying to address-especially those of truly representing the needs of the student body and of improving communication on campus. We struggle over how 69 kids can adequately represent more than 2,000 on a day-by-day basis, and we are always concerned about how miscommunication or lack of communication hinders the effectiveness of our activities. These are legitimate concerns and the Leadership class can certainly improve upon them. A few weeks before the article was printed, the Leadership website was changed based upon our Focus Group’s suggestion to make the website more user-friendly and understandable for those who are interested in getting involved on campus.

However, we are disappointed that when the article suggests that the Leadership class should tackle more serious issues on campus in order to be taken seriously as a legitimate program, no mention was made to events like the World Awareness Exposition, which aimed to make students aware of international issues that their peers face in other countries. Similarly, the Peer Support Focus Group is working to increase student efficacy.

Such projects happen all the time, and it is revealing that a great majority of the student body is unaware of the kinds of real issues that the Leadership class tries to address.

Communication is a two-way street, and we are always looking for ways to inform the student body about what we do without giving out the impression of self-importance. In the same vein, we are always looking for methods to increase the level of student input and involvement in what we do. The article mentions how real problems and issues are not adequately addressed, and this gives us a prime opportunity to turn the question back on the student body. What are the issues you would like to see addressed? What are the problems that the Leadership class should tackle? The new Leadership Class website provides an informative breakdown of the responsibilities and fortés of each class and commission, as well as contact information so that students can bring up the issues they would like to see addressed to the appropriate group.

We appreciate El Estoque for printing this article and for revealing the depth of the problems we have to tackle as a class. If students don’t know about the worthwhile things the Leadership class does, it is understandable that they assume the Leadership class does nothing of worth.

Leadership Audit Focus Group

Amnesty dissatisfied with Leadership With regards to the article written by Vikram Srinivasan on the performance of the leadership class, Monta Vista Amnesty International would like to say a few words. MVAI appreciates that MV Leadership had the desire to raise awareness about important issues and put on World Expo Week. It is a relief to know that we aren’t the only ones that care about such issues. We greatly appreciate that you asked Amnesty for help. However, we have to say that we were slightly disappointed at the way the week turned out, mainly because of the lack of knowledge about the topics and the evident halfheartedness of quite a few of the participants who were publicizing and raising awareness. Despite the desire to raise awareness, we feel that as a large leadership class with such high standards and a wealth of resources, you did not live up to your potential. We have received some arguments from a few members of leadership that Amnesty International is jealous of the fact that MV Leadership put on a “bigger and better” version of “Human Rights Week.” To clarify this misconception, we are by no means jealous because this is not a competition to see who can raise awareness better. We simply wanted to let you know that we expected a lot more out of such a great class in terms of presentation, passion, and effort. With that said, we hope that leadership will collaborate to put on an inspiring World Expo Week next year.

Monta Vista Amnesty International

entertainment

13

All eyes on the

opera twins

CHALLENGED BY THE UNKNOWN LANGUAGE ASHLEY AND ELIZABETH SHANNON PERFORM OPERA AT A YOUNG AGE

by Aniqa Hasan, staff writer

F

or most MVHS students, music in a foreign language ends after seventh period. Not for Shannon twins Jessica and Ashley. As avid opera enthusiasts, they perform in 16 operas a year, with rehearsals every weekend, singing for four hours in languages that they don’t understand.

The Shannon twins were first exposed to opera when their mother, Elizabeth Shannon, took them with her to a classical music class.

Elizabeth said, “It seemed more fun to take the girls, and I thought that they would like it.” She imagined it would blossom into one girls’ favorite activities. “I just we’d have a fun time singing as she explained. Now Shannon, a her daughters’ opera singing, time at their rehearsals that she to land herself a spot as an Lescaut, which premiered just

never of the thought a group,” devout fan of spends so much even managed extra in Manon last month.

As the twins’ interest in opera increased, the family slowly got more involved. They learned about the history of opera, as well as the entire environment it involved.

Ashley said, “We learned a lot about opera: acting, singing” and “stage makeup, how to perform, and how to audition well,” Jessica added.

Operas have minimal dialogue, with most of the plotline revealed through song. Jessica said, “Opera is basically just a play with singing instead of talking.” Ashley continued, “It’s a lot like a silent movie, you have to express yourself through movement.”

Though the operas are performed in Italian, neither of the twins can speak or understand the language. Said Ashley, “I learned how to pronounce the sounds using the lyrics.” At the opera house, there are subtitles on rolling banners on either side of the stage.

Through the subtitles and the actors movements on stage, the plotline is revealed in an easy to understand manner, even for those who do not speak Italian.

So far, the Shannon twins have performed in seven operas. They

performed in their latest opera, Manon Lescaut, six times in February. Some of their past operas include The Magic Flute, The Bartered Bride, and Hansel and Gretel. They have also performed in operettas, which are mini-operas, including Little Women, The Chatterbox, and The Marriage of Figaro. Ashley said, “My favorite play was The Magic Flute, because it was the first time I got to work with international opera singers.

Jessica’s favorite part about opera is being on stage singing. She would love to pursue it in the future, but becoming a professional opera singer requires excessive traveling, which she feels would make it too stressful. “But it would be so much fun. I’d have to get a part time job, too.” Ashley, on the other hand, enjoys being able to spend hours and hours with professional opera singers, however, she does not feel that she personally will be pursuing a career in it.

She would like to continue on a small scale, smaller roles within the Bay Area that would not require much traveling.

Their love of opera will one day take them to new levels. Said Shannon, “It’s one thing to sit in the audience and watch an opera, it’s a whole new thing to be standing six feet away from professional actors.” Maybe, one day, the Shannon twins will be among those professional actors.

Photo Coutersy of www.wbopera.org OPERA Ashley and Jessica Shannon perform in Act 3 of the opera Manon Lescaut on Feb. 19 as a part of the chorus. Since Manon Lescaut is an Italian opera the Shannon twins learned the lyrics by remembering the sounds rather than simple memorization of Italian words. The opera is also one of seven operas that the Shannon twins have performed in thus far.

Now leaders in the literary world, teachers become authors that could help us achieve that.” own philosophy regarding running a leadership program.

The teachers spent their first few years at MVHS “We want to have a program that has all aspects to it,” canning through Amazon.com, one can find a wide developing their own activities and instructional techniques said Krieger. “It’s a program that provides students with variety of books; from children’s stories to college and complemented them with some from previous authors to activities at school and helps build individual leadership level publications, online book stores seem to house enhance the school’s leadership program. Two years ago, skills so that the students that go through it are growing as something for every audience. However, until recently, Krieger and Walczak were invited to give a presentation leaders.” it has been extremely difficult to find good educational to new advisors at a conference in Reno, Nevada. The The book also addresses how Krieger and Walczak’s teaching guides for leadership programs. Leadership response they received from their audience was a leadership program allow the leadership class to address advisors Tim Krieger and Melanie Walczak had a solution significant push toward the direction of publication. Many significant issues such as alcohol, student stress, and to that problem. The two MVHS teachers recently published new advisors felt the same way Krieger and Walczak had community service – issues that can have a significant an advisors’ guide, Developing a Leadership Program, as felt when they were first getting started. impact on the student body. The advisors continue to stress their project over this past summer.

“They just said, ‘Oh wow, that’s really neat. So how that a leadership program isn’t just fun activities.

“When we first began teaching, all we could find were can we get some resources?’”

“I enjoyed writing about what books on activities like how you do icebreakers,” said said Krieger. “So we thought, hey we had done wrong and what Walczak. “We really wanted to extend our leadership maybe we can just make one.” we had learned,” Walczak said, program past just activities and couldn’t find any resources Over the past when asked about her favorite part of writing the book. “For summer, Krieger instance, we may have done an and Walczak spent activity, but you know what, we numerous hours would do it totally differently if compiling four years we had to do it over again.” worth of experiences into a guide for high - Leadership Advisor Melanie Walczak While readers of all ages can enjoy reading the book, Krieger school teachers and and Walczak added that their advisors. The 172page, bright blue book encompasses the target audience is designed to be advisors and teachers, in most important information needed for a new some cases ones who have reached out to them for advice advisor to begin or enhance a leadership and input. They explained how advisors, were both eager to involve more students in their program and wanted to program at his or her own school.

“We had done a lot of stuff in class; what emphasize the effect on the school as a whole. They spent we were really writing was the objective of extra time ensuring that this information was specifically the lesson or how to prepare it as a lesson,” highlighted in the book for their sake.

Hiring a professional editor to look through the book said Walczak. “We had to put it into a format and purchasing a website and ISBN number made the that allowed teachers to really use it.”

Both Walczak and Krieger emphasized project somewhat costly. Krieger and Walczak ultimately Anagha Vaidhyanathan | staff photographer utilized an self-publishing tool for publication.

LAUGHING AND LEADING Leadership Advisors Tim Krieger and Melanie Walczak advise sophomores Lisa Kon, that the book was an excellent medium through June Kim, and Natalie Tyson on March 6 on a project. Krieger and Walczak recently published an advising book. which they could reevaluate and discuss their see LEADERSHIP on page 15

by Anagha Vaidhyanathan, staff writer

S

“

We really wanted to extend our Leadership program past just activities and couldn’t find any resources that could help us achieve that.

”

18

el estoque

entertainment

march 10, 2006

Chappelle brings laughter to the theater Comedian’s block party is one party that can’t be missed

by Symrin Chawla, staff writer

I

web blog review

Photo taken without permission from www.cinematical.com Comedian Dave Chappelle has brought a new meaning to the word ‘block party

Because this is an indie film, the cinematography is a little off, and not just in that “artistic” sort of way. The camera zooms in a little bit too close on people and then just stays there beyond the “artistically appropriate” length of time. Obviously, this gets annoying fast, but it is one of the few things wrong with this movie.

In the end, it’s really just a documentary, and despite the never-ending laughs and unbeatable music, it’s no Date Movie.

The same thing could be achieved by watching a Mos Def concert on Vh1 and The Chappelle show through the picture-inpicture... if you’re smart enough to use it.

LIST

the

www.engadget.com Engadget is like ballet for geeks; it keeps us on our toes with its steady, reliable flow of technology news covering Pope Benedict’s newest iPod nano to the latest specs of the much hyped-about DS Lite. Engadget’s biggest competition for readers is most likely CNET.com, which is more polished and professional. However, while CNET offers expert reviews for already released products, Engadget offers an insider look into the technology world, investigating rumors, such as the possible Apple 4” video iPod, and quirky inventions that most consumers will never know about, like the “Manga-inspired robot” now working at a Japanese airport. Stop by Engadget between writing essays for a break that’ll be fun to read, but informative enough that you won’t feel like you’re procrastinating.

walked into Dave Chappelle’s Block Party with a purse filled to the brim with homemade popcorn and two cans of Coke. I was fully prepared to drum out the incessant sound of rappers swearing about their mothers and Dave Chappelle’s Mickey Mouse-like voice with the sound of my own chewing.

Eating my Orville Redenbacher was the last thing on my mind once the movie began.

Cut to Ohio: Dave Chappelle wandering around his hometown inviting innocent--and quite astonished--bystanders to his free block party in Brooklyn featuring Mos Def, Kanye West, Erykah Badu, The Roots, The Fugees, and many more. As soon as I realized I’d be spending the next hour and 43 minutes listening to some of the most prominent African American musicians of our time, instead of Lil’ John and the sound of Crunk swishing around in his omnipresent gold cup, my attitude towards the rap-umentary completely changed. Not only was the music fantastic, but Chappelle’s ever-racist but always hilarious material left me with a pang of guilt and an addition of ten years onto my lifespan from all the laughs.

The film switches between clips from the

concert and scenes of Chappelle’s publicity process (which consisted of him driving in a car and yelling with a megaphone, something to the effect of, “Hey Huxtables!

Come to my show! Bring Theo, and Rudy, and Vanessa!”). The people he encounters are a little quirky, but genuinely real, and if anything, add to the humor of this film.

Sometimes, it is hard to determine if those people are actually as interesting as they seem or if they are faking it for the cameras.

Being in the presence of someone as witty as Dave Chappelle can put a lot of pressure on people to be just as impressive.

The artists narrate, sing, and joke around, which fits right in. There are times when they get deep though, and although Chappelle is a joker, brief excerpts of racial discussion fit in perfectly and help to derive the true meaning and purpose of the concert and film.

Halfway through the film, the artists and the audience begin to carry it without Chappelle. Of course he’s always lingering nearby right when you’re craving him, backstage or standing on a roof with great words of wisdom-osity. And sometimes even real wisdom. Watching Erykah Badu’s wig blow off in the wind is possibly one of the highest points during the concert.

web blog review

It’s bad enough that we see our teachers four days a week in school, but seeing them outside of school can be just about the most awkward moment of a student’s life. We suggest laying low at the following places, lest you see a teacher.

www.doobybrain.com Doobybrain.com is the brainchild of Parsons Design School student Herman Yung, who enjoys chronicling his adventures on the Web via a multitude of unusual links and fresh narrative. Yung’s blog suffers from a slight case of Attention Deficit Disorder as the topics of his entries vary from sentence to sentence, but with thoughts ranging from tilt-shift modeling to the wonders of the Shock Absorber bra, Doobybrain.com is a fast but almost addictive blog that requires a daily checkup.

1. The bathroom. “So...uh, you have to pee? Me too.” Even more awkward if you are a male.

2. The gym. Especially if the teacher is wearing spandex.

3. Overeaters Anonymous meeting. Kind of takes the anonymity out of it.

4. Victoria’s Secret. “Oh um, I’m just... measuring cup sizes for geometry. Spherical surfaces, you know.” More embarrassing if one of you is holding a thong. Even more so if one of you is a male. If both of you are, we suggest transferring out. Say that it’s due to “irreconcilable differences.”

5. On a date. (Especially if it’s your teacher...on a date with another teacher.)

Hint: if both of you are, don’t suggest a double date. Just nod.

web blog review

6. An R-rated movie. “Oh, hi! By the way, would you mind getting me into Brokeback Mountain?”

7. On your teacher’s second job. “Would you like fries with that, Mrs. Johnson?”

9. Encountering your math teacher at a Pussycat Dolls concert. “Don’t you wish your calculator was hot like me?”

4/5 concert

Falll Out Boy performs with All American Rejects

10. The contraceptive aisle. “This is for the Biology scavenger hunt! Honest!”

3/21 cd

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Collector’s edition debuts

3/20 game

V for Vendetta premiers

8. Seeing your literature teacher in the “English for Dummies” section of the bookstore. No wonder he or she didn’t understand the brilliance of your essay.

Teddy Geiger releases his album Underage Thinking

in the

HALLWAYS

Monta Vista students are tote-ing along through the hallways, each expressing their own individual style through their bags, regardless of the unpredicatble weather.

3/17 movie

3/14 dvd

Good Night and Good Luck comes out on DVD

www.newyorkhack.blogspot.com In most movies, New York cabbies are the helpful, funny old Indian men with turbans and accents, who never seem to have a problem with driving haphazardly between old ladies on Fifth Avenue and black-suited Wall Street soldiers. In this blog, not only is the writer a female cabbie (one of only 197 in Manhattan) but a cabbie with a temper, a knack for creatively stringing together profanity, and a trusty camera to document bad drivers around town. Welcome to the world of Melissa Plaut, recent blog celebrity via Associated Press and Yahoo! News, whose blog, “New York Hack”, gives a fresh perspective on the real lives of a cabbie trying to drive a living in Manhattan.

Plaut retells stories of her most colorful cab clients, ranging from strippers to gay cowboys. It’s this energy that makes “New York Hack” a blog worth reading.

el estoque

march 10, 2006 Leadership

to dinner a couple more times.”

The book has gained so much popularcontinued from page 13 ity in the last few months that the (CADA) The book is currently priced at $32.50 California Activity Directors Association will when ordered through the website but now carry the book in their bookstore. They tends to be slightly more expensive when plan to present at CADA’s conference this purchased through online retailers like Am- year. Furthermore, Krieger and Walczak azon.com. The advirecently received an sors explained how e-mail from the (NEA) they determined the National Education price by observing Association, a teachthe prices of other er’s union, stating that books and by comthey plan to recognize paring the number the book in a monthly of pages available to magazine, targeting their own. However, teachers all over the regardless of the country. price, Krieger and “They have a little Walczak said the section that’s called profit was hardly an ‘books by NEA memincentive for publish-Leadership Advisor Tim Krieger bers’ and our book is ing the book. going to be profiled “The excitement in that some time this was all really in creating the book,” said upcoming year,” said Krieger.

Krieger with a smile. “The money is pretty Interestingly, Krieger and Walczak conmuch like, “Oh great, now we get to go out tinue to refer to the book once in a while

“

The excitement was all really in creating the book. The money is pretty much like, ‘Oh great, now we get to go out to dinner a couple more times.’

”

entertainment

in their own leadership class, and after four years, the students still find the class extremely enjoyable.

“I think their whole Leadership curriculum is great,” said Student Recognition for Academics Commissioner junior Connie Lui, “You really learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses and you get the opportunity to learn more from your [peers].”

Krieger and Walczak’s ice-breakers and development activities are soon to become traditions that will continue to build strong student leaders well into the future.

“We’re also keeping a list for book number two someday,” said Krieger. When probed more about the topic, Walczak responded that they “already have an agenda started.”

Many new advisors will be awaiting the release of their new book. When asked if we may lose Krieger and Walczak as teachers to the pull for new and innovative authors, Krieger responded, “We still have a long way to go. No program is perfect, right?”

UPN and WB join forces for better ratings They had the best of shows, they had the worst of shows an independent affiliate, with its own local programming, much like KRON 4 is now. Also in September, the Bay Area’s current UPN affiliate, KBHK TV 44 Cable 12, will turn into the Bay Area’s CW affiliate.

Those who enjoy watching syndicated episodes of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and South Park, on our local UPN affiliate now need not worry; the reruns will continue even when the network becomes CW.

by Alex Cohn, editor-in-chief

T

he ugly stepchildren of the broadcast networks, the WB and UPN have consistently found themselves at the bottom of the ratings, often beaten by Spanish-language networks such as Univision. Launched within two days of each other in Jan. 1995, the two networks were archrivals—fighting for the meager scraps at the bottom of the ratings barrel. Yet in a seeming coup for optimistic teachers and naïve cartoon characters, always preaching the divinity of teamwork, the two rival networks announced that they have agreed to put aside their animosity and unite to create a new network.

Photo taken without permission from rucingular.com “Before, actually, I was kind of upset, NONE TREE HILL One of the WB’s more popular shows, One Tree Hill, is in jeopardy of being canceled in the UPN-WB merge because of its lack of consistent ratings. but then I realized it does make sense. It was just out of the It has already been confirmed that CW will air the UPN blue, surprising” said sophomore Katherine Hu, about findshows America’s Next Top Model, Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates ing out about the merger. “I think it actually does make Chris, Girlfriends, and WWF Smackdown in addition to airing the sense since both of the networks’ target audience is around WB shows Reba, Supernatural, Beauty and the Geek and Smallville. the same range of people, and when they merge, the mergSadly for many MVHS students, who are fans of the show, it ing of the two companies will filter out the filler TV shows” appears that One Tree Hill will not be a part of the CW due to Dubbed CW, the network’s initials stand for the two corits abysmal ratings, having an audience 1/12th the size of Fox’s porations that own UPN and the WB, CBS and (Time) WarAmerican Idol, its rival in the timeslot. Senior Anisha Bajaj still has ner, respectively. By joining together, the networks hope to hope for One Tree Hill. She said, “Teenage girls all over America select the strongest shows from each netare in love with Chad Michael Murray. They work to create a line-up that will be able won’t take this crap,” referencing One Tree Hill’s to compete with its larger, more successful teen idol actor who plays the character Lucas. competitors, CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. Also, the WB has announced that its show Additionally, the merger allows the two netCharmed will not be coming back for a new season works to combine their targeted demographic on the CW. The final episode of the Charmed seaudiences. UPN currently receives strong ratries, about three young witches, will air May 21. ings in the African American demographic, Interestingly, the void being left by the merging while the WB tends to skew towards a preis already being filled by a new network in a few teen and teenage demographic. Sophomore select markets around the country, not including the Bhaavika Patel said of the network’s abilBay Area. Fox has created a new network called ity to target a teenage audience, the demoMy TV network. Currently, My TV plans to offer -sophmore Katherine Hu graphic Monta Vista students fit into, “You shows based on the Spanish soap opera “telanocould almost just turn the TV on, go to that vella” model, in which one story line is followed to channel, and just watch it for hours straight.” its conclusion through 13 episodes, after which, it In the Bay Area, the WB affiliate, KBWB TV 20 Cable 13, is replaced by a totally new show with a new plotline and characters. will stop airing WB content starting in September and become

“

Before actually I was kind of upset, but then I realized it does make sense.

It was just out of the blue, surprising.

”

Q’s

What do you think about the network UPN?

Senior Anisha Bajaj

Junior Dennis Lai

Junior Krystle Ingalls

“Every TV show that I know “They have a lot of black people “Well, I don’t like it because that has been on [UPN] fails to and a lot of funny shows. I used to they took off Buffy. They should capture me after I watch the first watch [the reruns of] the Simpsons at least play reruns.” episode. UPN is in jeopardy” and Friends and Sister Sister. “

What do you think about the WB?

“WB is definitely in a better “I like Smallville and a lot of the position. I think [Gilmore Girls, drama shows. Oh! And I used Smallville, and One Tree Hill] are to watch Pokemon on Saturday holding [it] up.” mornings.”

Do you think CW is a good idea?

“Both networks have a bunch of useless TV shows.”

“I think it sucks because so many people are addicted to it.”

“The problem I see with it is that now you can’t change from UPN “I don’t really care, honestly.” to WB during [the] commercials.”

15

The Children of our Idle Brains

I

was running. I’m not a very fast runner.

And I’d say my 11-minute mile definitely wasn’t fast enough to get away from him.

He was purple. Purple with whatever emotion is associated with that color, purple like a dinosaur. When he caught me--which must have been hard given that he had a bad case of T-Rex syndrome--he threw me into the pool. The “chlorine” was enough to kill me, but I was too preoccupied with a lack of oxygen to reminisce about PE 9.

I couldn’t breathe… I couldn’t breathe for a long time. That’s when I died. Actually, that’s when I woke up.

There’s an old wives’ tale that says if you die in your dream, you don’t have much more time to live in real life. Of course, that’s not true, but for more than just the reason that old wives happened to be drunk off of fermented spit when they came up with their tales.

Thousands of millions of people have dreamed of themselves being killed by Barney the big purple dinosaur, but they are all still alive and well. That’s because they didn’t die. They were killed, but they didn’t die. I know, understanding this requires a small amount of grammar skills and verb use. There’s a difference between death, dying, and being dead.

People see themselves being killed, but never actually hit death. In my dream, I felt myself on the verge of passing out from lack of air, but I didn’t actually feel myself drown and die. I woke up with a headache.

If I had died, I wonder how I would have woken up. Or if I would have even woken up at all.

Think back to your dreams and nightmares: doesn’t it seem convenient that you always wake up right before the bullet hits you or your oxygen runs out. Now that’s freaky stuff, eh?

My question is, what would happen if you died in your dream? If your heart actually stopped beating and no Physiology students were around to give you CPR? We all sweat, cry, and laugh during our dreams.

Our heart rate goes up when we’re riding the imaginary roller coaster, so what’s to stop it from freezing up when an imaginary lightsaber goes right through our heart? I got my SAT Question of the Day correct, so listen to me when I say, your heart would stop. It would stop in your dream, in your sleep, in real life. Yes people, lightsabers are not toys.

In that way, sleeping is just one step off from death. Because if you never wake up from being asleep, that’s called being dead. It’s also called being in a coma, but let’s forget about that, because I don’t appreciate it when science contradicts me.

On the other hand, there’s nothing scientific about the phenomenon of us always waking up right before we’re within Hades’ grasp. It’s not electrons or stomach fluid that stops us from finishing our dreams.

It’s knowledge.

The reason people are scared of death is because they don’t know what death looks like. They don’t know what happens or how it feels. You never truly die in your dreams because nothing in our world has prepared us to even have the slightest idea of what that feels or looks like. Dreams are freaky; they have hidden symbols and deeper meanings around every corner. Anything you dream about can be analyzed by the local psychic as you’re insecurities and fears. They show you things you never thought you knew, feelings about yourself and things about the world you have never seen. Emotions that you have been repressing inside of you come out in dreams. We discover what we never thought we knew. But death…even Queen Mab can’t show you that one.

And as Mercutio said, “True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain.”

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entertainment

march 10, 2006

GotFrag.com journalist makes it big in game reviews Junior Calvin Lin makes considerable money off of real-world journalism and reviewing popular games on GotFrag.com

by Nandini Dasarathy, art editor he competition is intense.

After days of reckoning, the young people present at this tournament are sweating under pressure, as they battle through match after match to decide the ultimate winner and taker of a $150,000 top prize.

There are anchormen providing news coverage and website reporters, all for this one major competition. Sound like an NBA playoff round or the Super Bowl?

Try a professional video game tournament, with thousands of gaming fans as well as a plethora of reporters watching the gamers’ every move. Monta Vista’s own junior Calvin Lin is one of those reporters covering these events.

Plenty of people have heard of professional football leagues and basketball tournaments, but now in popular demand are video game tournaments for those seeking an alternative to athletics. Lin, unlike many kids his age, doesn’t focus on playing games; he covers them from a competitive aspect. “At first, some people thought it was funny that I was serious about a job involving video games, but when I tell people what I do and what I’ve done, they soon learn it’s not what they think it is,” he said. Lin works for a company called GotFrag which focuses on providing online coverage of the competitive video gaming leagues on and offline, similar to how ESPN covers professional sports.

“The professional video gaming industry has only been getting bigger. There is even enough income coming through our website through ads and paid membership similar to ESPN’s Insider service to allow several staff members to be paid,” says Lin, adding that there are over 474,000 registered members.

T

This job is especially unique, considering most high schoolers play games, not rate them. Lin added, “I do feel special that I have this job and the opportunities that come with it. It’s not typical to see other high schoolers doing something like this. How many high schoolers get flown to another state with all expenses paid for a job?”

Lin is currently the section head of the game “Counter-Strike: Source” where he makes sure all major events and leagues are being covered and that there is a regular flow of new content. As a reporter on staff, he is sent to live tournaments with all expenses paid for.

“I’ve been to two live tournaments so far. Just last January, I flew to Denver for three days where a large tournament was being held. There I had the responsibility of providing coverage of the event and I had a really good time talking and getting to know the players and staff.”

Lin has been providing this kind of coverage for the past 1314 months. When the website advertised job openings, he applied over a year ago for what he calls an “unimportant position.” He explained how his perspective quickly changed after he was hired.

“In the beginning, I took my job pretty lightly. But I was gradually promoted to where I am today, allowing me to earn certain benefits that I never thought I would ever attain. It was from there that my love for what I do began to grow.”

The job isn’t easy, Lin spends a couple hours a day and on some nights, an even longer time.

“It definitely gets in the way of school a lot, especially when there

Photo Courtesy of Calvin Lin GAMING TOURNAMENT Junior Calvin Lin professionally reviews an online gaming league as well as tournaments for the popular gaming news website GotFrag.

are many matches being played in one night. I definitely have had long nights and a lack of sleep due to the responsibilities of my job, but I don’t let that get to me because I love what I’m doing.”

Lin’s parents agree. According to his mother, “We support Calvin in what he does as long as he can manage his time between school and other interests. If he wasn’t doing well at school, we wouldn’t allow him to do many things that he does.”

A friend of Lin, junior Seong Won Youm agrees that Lin has gotten a lot out of this job. “I think the fact that he’s writing about what he’s passionate for is really great. He actually enjoys the game, and so writing about it isn’t troublesome and tedious. ” Youm said.

Lin’s job has also helped him in choosing career paths. He said, “It’s ironic to me because when I was younger I’d always say English was my worst subject as I’ve always considered myself to be a math and science guy.

But now the area of journalism is something I really enjoy and may even consider as a career path.”

Just a couple weeks ago, Lin wrote what he considers one of the biggest pieces of his career by covering legal issues with player contracts as well as disputes between team managements and the players. He added, “The whole process of writing with deadlines that matter more than a grade has had an impact on me, and my skill in writing has definitely improved.”

This year, Lin intends on attending a huge tournament at Dallas. The field is getting bigger with more sponsors and more interested gamers. Lin has huge aspirations as well.

“When I first got into gaming, I wanted to be a serious player.

However, school comes first to me and I couldn’t dedicate the time.

So instead, I got into writing.

Now my goal is to go to more live events because being there to see the action firsthand and meeting players is what makes this job worthwhile. As long as you put your mind to it, stay dedicated, and work hard, who knows what might come your way. I never expected to be where I am today.”

sports

17

Boys tennis gets served by Saratoga Teens struggle despite new coach and several ranked players

D

own 5-4 in the third and deciding set, number one singles senior Brandon Low had a long fight ahead of him if he hoped to win the match. His slumping shoulders told the story; he was getting tired. It had been a lengthy battle.

To win, he would need things to swing his way. And with one forehand hit down the line, momentum fell back on his side, and there was no looking back. Strong serves, powerful shots, and intelligent play then carried Low to a 7-5 victory in the set and a 2-1 win in the match.

Unfortunately, Low’s victory earned little more than pride. MVHS was already down 5-1 before his match’s conclusion in the best of seven competition, making his win meaningless in the competition.

MVHS tennis players struggled in all their matches. Number two singles senior Vishnu Parthasarathy lost in straight sets 62, 7-5. His scorching serves kept him competitive in the second set, but it was not enough to give him the victory. Similarly, number four singles senior James Hsu lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. He struggled in both sets, playing too aggressively.

The only decisive win for MVHS came from number three singles senior John Moghtader who won in straight sets 6-3, 64. New MVHS tennis coach Bruce Becker commented on Moghtader’s performance, “John won because he worked the ball really well.” Moghtader worked the ball so well and was so dominant that it visibly frustrated his opponent, prompting him to yell comments that would even make John McEnroe blush. However, Moghtader’s and Low’s victories were the only highpoints for MVHS. The matches on the doubles courts were even more dismal than the singles. MVHS lost all three matches in straight sets, failing to win on service several times. A low point in the competition was prompted by the number one doubles from Saratoga.

After seemingly every point, one Saratoga player would shout loudly and pump his fists, a clear performance of intimidation.

This prompted the Saratoga and MVHS coaches to exchange less than pleasant words, and unfortunately for MVHS, the intimidation worked. MVHS’ number one doubles junior Andy Lee and sophomore Vishal Sridhar were clearly frustrated, al-

Putting to the past

A

by Edward Young, editor-in-chief

Edward Young | staff photographer

REACHING HIGH Senior John Moghtader leaps to vault a high ball over the net. Moghtader’s outstanding performance upset his opponent.

ways trying to smash the ball instead of playing it as their coach had told them.

Becker commented, “We need a lot of work. We need to play smarter and the doubles need to work on their technique.”

Fortunately the competition should be downhill from here. “Our toughest competition is Los Gatos and Saratoga,” explained Becker, Saratoga and Los Gatos being the CCS champions last year in their respective divisions.

Despite being new, Becker has earned the respect of his players. Parthasarathy

said, “Our coach is really good. He talks a lot, but he cares a lot. He spends a lot of time coming early setting things up and buys new tennis balls for us. He’s also helped us develop our fundamentals.”

Coaching nine years at Santa Clara and a year at Homestead, Becker brings much experience to the courts. MVHS’s level of play was dismal, but things are looking up.

They faced probably their strongest competitor and held their own. With an excellent coach running the show, MVHS’s tennis performance can only improve with time.

Lunchtime ballers score off-court friendships “[The club] serves as the middle man between the actual Monta Vista Basketball Team and regular people playing [on the courts] ll members, listen up!” yelled junior Eric Chang as ev- during lunch,” said Chang.

Thus, club status allows those who don’t have the opportunity eryone in the Student Center took a break from their stretching to listen. Chang then proceeded to divide to play for the school team, to be able to play basketball in a the 20 to 25 members of the club into four teams that would spend “more sophisticated environment,” said Chang.

Though the skill level of a player does not affect whether he or the rest of lunch playing basketball. The students changed into their she is allowed to participate, one of the main sports attire before stretching and heading into goals of members is to improve their basketball the gym to take practice shots and begin their abilities. game. When the first team took the ball down “[Their improvement] is because the environthe court, the basketball club meeting had ofment inside the gym is better for basketball,” ficially begun. said Chang. “[For players in our club] the gym The basketball club was initially planned over is safe and private to help members feel comsummer, before school began. Chang and junior fortable.”

Andy Hou felt that a club was necessary to bring Being able to practice weekly in a closed together those passionate about basketball and environment allows such players to improve give them a chance to play organized games.

- Junior Jeff Utsumi and hone their skills, eventually enabling them “Although [the basketball club] did not pass to feel comfortable enough to play in front of in club council, at first, they reapplied for club others. status and we passed them, I would say, generFreshman Vivek Jha, though none of his close friends are memally on the feeling that they had a lot of potential to both recruit new people to play and to provide better conditions to those who are bers of the club, eagerly looks forward to lunch on Mondays.

“The club is a good experience for anyone who wants to pick passionate about basketball,” said junior Kimberly Ang, a member up skills or has skills that they want to develop through more game of club council.

After finally being passed by club council, the basketball club, play,” he said.

In fact, the premise of the basketball club is to ensure fairness, though not widely publicized, has drawn many committed members since. Their weekly “meetings” take place every Monday during lunch, where they hold two simultaneous scrimmages in the gym. see BASKETBALL CLUB on page 19

by Radhika Chandrasekhar, entertainment editor

“A

“

It’s about playing with other people we don’t know. It’s about meeting new people.

”

wave of fear and adrenaline bolted me out of bed as I ran to the telephone, said a few swear words, and dialed. It was as if Harrison Ford asked you to call him to set up a meeting time and you called an hour late. There was a celebrity in town a week ago, and I wasn’t going to pass him up. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the first ever principal of Monta Vista High School, Mr. Dale Deselms.

He didn’t care that I was tardy (take note, teachers) and agreed to meet at 9:30 a.m. in the heart of darkness: Tiki Safari at Golfland. When I arrived, he had already paid.

He told target: Monta Vista Princime he pal Dale Deselms doesn’t Location: The Main Office t a k e When: March 4, 2006 t h i s Mission: To play miniature game golf too seriously. He said if it weren’t for all the sixes he got, he’d turn pro.

It was a lazy Saturday. A few other random stragglers were on the course, but other than that, Tiki Safari was empty, sunny, breezy and not at all like the Congo. On the second hole we were crunching away: both of us got holes-in-one, we high-fived each other, and I realized I very much enjoyed playing miniature golf with this man.

I have a hypothesis about life. When you’re a child you’re energetic, when you’re a teenager you’re passionate, when you’re an adult you’re boring, and when you’re old you become the most interesting specimen on this green earth. I sat on one of those conspicuous orange benches and watched Deselms putt. It hit a rock and rolled back. He swung again and it hit the other rock and came back. He tried again and found a third rock I hadn’t seen. On the fourth stroke he got it in the Tiki Man’s mouth where it rolled out the back, mimicking the digestive system of a human on hyper-speed, missed the hole, bounced off the edge, and came to rest.

No, don’t imagine a weak, little, sad man. Deselms is a man of exactly eighty years, and he’s our founding father.

The next hole was one of those annoying ones with the concentric circles that grow larger and larger. I sent the ball flying way over the 15 foot structure, and Deselms laughed as I yelled “heads up!” a bit too late.

Do the math: He was born in 1926. He explained how they used to have horses in Iowa that you could just jump on and travel to a neighbor to say hi. Just imagine it: “Hey man, you wanna hang out with Rick today?”

“Sure, let me just saddle up. Should I take the Pintabian or Palomino?”

“No, way! Isn’t the Pintabian your mom’s horse? Think of the babes, man.”

“Right. Meet you at the corner of the one road in our town.”

Deselms has this fantastic way of having too much fun with life. He talks to you, with his eyes, and when he makes a joke he sort of stops then brightens up, his eyebrows sort of raise and fall, and he laughs. He told me resolutely that he had much more fun than any kid at Monta Vista as principal. He said we are all winners: students and parents. He winked at me twice. He drove me home in the biggest car I have ever seen, flung off his Martha’s Vineyard hat, and rolled down the window.

There was one insight to life he gave.

“My wife and I were eight days apart.

She died nine years ago. She smoked and I didn’t.” When I asked him if he tried to stop her, he stuck out his tongue and made a raspberry.

He beat me at miniature golf.

Mission accomplished.

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sports

Play by play

MV Basketball Association: Teachers vs. students

march 10, 2006

Faltering Faculty

12:57 pm The game begins as history teacher Andrew Sturgill gets the tipoff.

12:58pm Senior Jeff Lo scores a three-pointer, the first points of the game.

1:03 pm Chemistry teacher Travis Hambleton scores a two-pointer, putting the teachers in the lead 8-6.

1:04 pm P.E. teacher Jeff Thomas throws the ball out of bounds.

1:07 pm Senior Nikhil Kumar scores a three-pointer, the students are in the lead 12-10.

1:09 pm Angry yells erupt from the students’ bench as junior Brett Colloton gets a technical foul for agressiveness towards the referee, Junior Phil Kou. 1:15 pm P.E. teacher Ron Freeman shoots an airball, the students are in the lead 14-12.

1:16 pm Junior Eric Lee passes to Kou, who just happens to be the referee.

1:20 pm Lee makes a three-pointer in the last minute, ending the game.

by Carolyn Chuang, sports editor

“H

Score: 17-14 Students

By the numbers

7 official school sports clubs 16 new tennis balls used per match in varsity 1 left-handed player on the JV softball team 120 runners in track and field

Austin Cheng | Photography BATTLING IT OUT Junior Eric Sum fights to get the ball from math teacher Colin Anderson in Tuesday’s Take-OnYour-Teacher week competition. Students won the game, after an exciting half hour of three-pointers, fouls, and penalties. The field house was filled with screaming fans as students debated whether they should support their own or support their teachers, who were putting themselves out there to show their MV pride.

Cricket bridges culture gap

Health on the run

Students find solace playing in a sport not as popular in the United States

Calcium Deficiency

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Calcium’s popularity with all types of food has been growing for the past year and is still growing. Just to name a few, orange juice, Teddy Grahams, Wonder bread, and even cheese can be found calcium-fortified. The sad fact is that most of us do not get enough calcium. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nine out of ten teenage girls and seven out of ten teenage boys do not meet the daily recommendation of 1,200 milligrams.

“Usually, when you think calcium, you think milk, but I hate milk. Then there are calcium pills and supplements, but I don’t know how to swallow pills,” said senior Julie Chen. “If they put calcium in Sun Chips, I’d eat more of them for sure.”

Luckily, dairy foods are not the only non-fortified sources of calcium. Consuming tofu, nuts, fish with bones, dried beans, and dark, leafy greens such as broccoli and bok choy gives similar benefits. For those who like to stick to supplements, Tums, an over-the-counter drug that provides heartburn relief and calcium carbonate, has a variety of flavors including peppermint, cocoa and crème, and assorted fruit. In order to take in enough calcium every day, one must chew on four Tums tablets, drink four cups of milk, eat 24 average-sized sardines with bones, or eat six cups of broccoli.

Calcium helps build strong bones and makes us taller, while a lack of it results in brittle bones or osteoporosis late in life, along with unresponsive nerves and muscles. In addition, calcium provides a number of remedies such as relieving back pain, lowering blood pressure, preventing migraines, fighting insomnia, and easing pre-menstrual syndrome symptoms.

An increased intake of magnesium, which is found in fruits, grains, nuts, and green vegetables, is advised with calcium consumption. The two minerals work together to treat these health problems.

Scoreboard Golf

Varsity: 2-0

Girls Softball Varsity: 4-0 JV: 0-1

Junior wrestler fights at state

by Austin Cheng, photo editor

ack and forth, junior Affan Mehrotra and Sheikh spend entire Sheikh and senior Suchit nights watching. Cricket is always Mehrotra argue about last played during sunlight hours, therenight’s game in photography class. fore if a game in India starts at 10 “That was a cheap shot,” or “your a.m., one starts watching around 8 team sucks.” No, they are not argu- p.m. in California.

Mehrotra said, “I stay up all ing about football. It’s certainly not baseball. They are arguing about night to watch a match that will last for eight to nine hours, which cricket.

Sheikh and Mehotra are two is about fifty overs. It’s so exciting that I can’t fall members asleep.” of a huge The two cricket fan most popular population cricket matches at MVHS. to people at They can MV are the play and World Cup and watch cricket the matches on television between India for hours. and Pakistan.

In many When it comes ways, basedown to these ball is like two different cricket. Teams matches, the take turns batexcitement is so ting in “overs” instead of in- Freshman Arun Bajaj high that families will host nings, pitching is called “bowling,” and players big cricket parties, similar to a Surun to “wickets.” However, cricket is per Bowl party held every February different in that instead of nine in- for football. Freshman Arun Bajaj’s nings, there can be 40 overs, the family has been hosting cricket pargame is played on a circular field, ties for years.

Bajaj said, “Five to six famiand runners go around from wicket to wicket until they are out, rather lies minimum come to our house. than running around bases only Around fifty come for the World once. Points are counted each time Cup. Matches start around 8 p.m. a player goes from one wicket tp and everyone stays until 4 to 5 in the morning. The women like to sit another.

The largest role that cricket has and talk in another room while all on students at MV is the watching of the men watch. It gets pretty hecthe game. Since matches are broad- tic.” casted from around the world in different time zones, fans like see CRICKET on page 20

“

Around fifty [families] come for the World Cup...everyone stays until 4 to 5 in the morning. The women like to sit and talk in another room while all the men watch. It gets pretty hectic.

”

Swimming and Diving

Badminton

Varsity: 1st in tournament Varsity: 1-0 JV: 2nd in tournament JV: 1-0

ard work pays off,” said junior Grant Kadokura about what he’s taken away from wrestling and his other sports. “If you slack off, you’re not going to get as much out of it.”

Kadokura is definitely the perfect example of someone who has achieved his goals through the means of sheer hard work.

Though he qualified for the state meet this year by winning fourth place in CCS, he was not always so successful.

Kadokura found out about wrestling when he was in middle school from his brother, junior Alex Kadokura, who tried wrestling thinking it was somehow related to the WWF. It ended up being entirely different. Though Grant was a bit reluctant at first, Alex convinced Grant to do wrestling provided that Alex do track. This state qualifier had humble beginnings.

“I was really bad. I didn’t know the rules,” said Grant.

Though this is what Grant remembers, Alex saw that he had a lot of athletic talent. He recalls Grant’s first match where he pulled a lot of illegal moves because he didn’t fully understand the rules, allowing his less-skilled opponent to win.

“He was really good in eighth grade,” said Alex.

Especially because it was only his second year wrestling, Grant improved greatly in a short amount of time. Even so, Grant always has high expectations for himself and always has a mind set of trying to get better, for he said, “I felt like in middle school, I actually didn’t really know anything about wrestling.”

Going through the first year after the jump from middle school to high school was the most difficult, as he went through the season with a negative record. Even so, he felt like he learned the most from that first year.

Grant recalls his previous years’ practices: “We did a lot of working out for about an hour and then running the track for an hour and then getting into the wrestling room and we’d go [wrestle] for about half an hour and that was the practice.”

With new coaches Ken Greenwood and Dave Liebert and a young team this year, the team has put more focus on learning technique and skills. Even without as much conditioning, Grant and Alex don’t just disregard it; they fit it into their schedule.

“They actually began running to Homestead for practice and built that into their prep for wrestling. I admired them for doing that,” said the Kadokura’s mother, Moschel Kadokura.

Many students would groan at the thought of having to run the three miles from MVHS to Homestead High School every day, and then actually start the real practice, but Grant and Alex had been doing it voluntarily. Furthermore, they would usually stay late half an hour after practice to learn from the coaches what they don’t go over at practice. Grant didn’t even regard it as something out of the ordinary.

“It’s really close, so it’s not that bad,” said Grant.

He says that he and the other two captains, Alex and senior Michael Lipp, try to be role models for the other guys on the team. His personal role model is MVHS alumnus Daniel Montanez who also wrestled.

“He was such a good wrestler,” said Grant. “And then he was a really good guy. He would always make it to the finals, and we’d know we’d always have someone in finals.”

see GRANT on page 20

Boys Baseball

Boys Tennis

Varsity: 2-2

Varsity: 0-1

JV: 3-1

JV: 0-1

el estoque

march 10, 2006

sports

19

Baseball fan cheers on MV team each day MVHS alumnus Michael Gottwald loves baseball and rooting for his favorite teams; despite a heart disease, he’s made his presence felt among generations of athletes

by Cheryl Ho, staff writer

I

t is often a common sight to see a man rooting for the home team on the Monta Vista baseball field, decked out in MVHS apparel. Neither parent nor coach, diehard baseball fan and MVHS alumnus Michael Gottwald has been supporting MVHS sports since 1983. “I like being out here, supporting everyone,” he said. As junior Shawn Voight put it, “His life is our baseball community.”

Nineteen years after graduating in 1987, Gottwald has not strayed far from the baseball diamond. He continues to be one of the baseball team’s greatest fans, establishing strong friendships with many of the players from a young age. “I met most of the kids on the baseball team as a supporter of Cupertino National Little League, with the exception of one or two who played Pony,” said Gottwald.

For many of the players, Gottwald has become a regular team supporter. Whenever no rain is present, and there is ball to be played, he is sure to appear. “He’s been around us for such a long time,” said Voight.

“I’d say a lot of us first met him when we were 11 or 12.” He has been so included in the Cupertino baseball world that, according to sophomore Jason Hogin, “he has become a big deal on the team.”

But Gottwald’s love for this sport is not solely confined to

the MVHS field. Wherever baseball is played, Gottwald is sure to be around. “He’s out on the baseball field almost every day at practice,” said Hogin. Gottwald was on the bleachers cheering for MVHS when they went to CCS a few years ago, led by coach and teacher Dave Vieira. In 2002, Gottwald was tuned in when his favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, went to the World Series.

Furthermore, he has even gotten himself published in Steven Hayes Young and Marcella Parson’s book, Sandlot Stories - a collection of various baseball stories.

Gottwald contributed his very own story to it, “Everyone Plays”, for which he received a Distinguished Service Award, presented by Cupertino ex-mayor Sandy James, the City Council, and mayor Richard Lowenthal. Gottwald was also present at the Cupertino National Little League opening ceremony in 2003, where he received the honor of throwing the first pitch with the help of Sandy James and Cupertino National Little League chair, Bill Wilson.

“I got my picture taken, and it got put in a book,” said Gottwald.

However, Gottwald’s life does not only consist of baseball and happy memories. Due to heart disease, Gottwald was never able to play any sports of his own. During his four years of high school at MVHS, Gottwald sat on the sidelines, cheering on his friends from the bleachers.

BASKETBALL CLUB continued from page 17

a policy that is extremely evident in the organization of the club. Its officers continuously make the extra effort to ensure that all aspects of the club are nondiscriminatory.

“We have ten officers to make sure not to assign so much work for one person,” said Hou. He, Chang, and the other officers carry the responsibilities of showing up at meetings, as well as emailing mem-

Cheryl Ho | staff photographer

ENTHUSIASM Despite the fact that he’s the only non-parent supporter at baseball practice, Gottwald still cheers the players on, as he has for the past 22 years. Gottwald has certainly established himself as an important member of the community; he can almost always be found with a Monta Vista cap and an enormous smile on his face.

“It did make me a little sad, not being able to play baseball myself,” said Gottwald.

Through all his difficulty, Gottwald has never lost hope, nor his love for America’s pastime. Of course, his ever-friendly attitude and optimism would never be possible without the help of others to carry him through difficult times.

“My dad doesn’t love baseball like I do, so he’s not out here every day,” said Gottwald, “but he drives me to all the games.”

A continual supporter of MVHS

baseball and a beloved friend to many, Gottwald makes it his goal to be out on the field everyday. “Even though I never got to play myself, I still got to support all these people and make new friends,” he said. “As long as the weather’s good, I’ll be out here.”

Voight said, “He tries so hard, and it’s nice to see him out there having fun.”

Gottwald manages to be an influential part of the Cupertino community, supporting other MVHS sports such as field hockey,

bers to inform them about upcoming events and other basic news. Basically, they are responsible for ensuring that each “meeting” is well-planned and organized.

“If you want to join the club, you have to turn in an application form, in which you need to give information like what position you play, to try to make the teams as even as possible,” said Hou. The goal of such guidelines is to help students meet new people that share similar interests and form friendships,

water polo, as well as Cupertino National Little League. He can occasionally be spotted at City Council meetings as well, chiming in with his own input regarding city matters.

Gottwald plans to support his community for as long as he can.

Asked of his long term plans to support MVHS sports, Gottwald immediately replied, “As long as I’m alive and able to do it.” At every game and virtually every

see FAN on page 20

which is in fact what allows for the success of the club.

Junior Jeff Utsumi, who recently moved to Cupertino, made his first MVHS friends through the basketball club.

“It is about playing with other people we don’t know. It’s about meeting new people,” said Utsumi, with Chang nodding in agreement right by his side.

Utsumi, turned his head towards the courts to watch his new friends enjoying a game of basketball, and said, “Most of all it is about interaction.”

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Contact elestoque06@gmail.com

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el estoque

20 back page biology

continued from front page they’ll be able to reason their way through various questions,” said Krieger.

Driven students helps too. “I think students are highly motivated to succeed, which drives them to prepare for the test,” said Krieger, who added, “We offer two years of biology - many schools only offer one. All our students are prepared their freshman year.” Biology is a required freshman course and provides a good foundation for those who elect to take the AP version another year.

Plaza believes the staff and their priorities help tremendously “We have three teachers who are so studentfriendly. Being number one was never their goal. They challenge students while meeting their needs,” he said.

“I think recognition helps validate the whole department.

Our science department is very strong. Our students are

prepared well by the bio and chemistry teachers. All staff should be proud of their students and themselves.”

While the recognition is hard to comprehend, the title should be taken with a grain of salt. The title is based on statistics gathered from a single test. Other factors, such as student happiness, teaching methods, and curriculum are not considered. This is not to say that the AP Biology course is lacking in any of these areas, but that the College Board only takes a testing viewpoint.

“I believe there are several other factors that must be taken into account. That would include college preparation, such as how well students feel their freshman year in college, and scores on the STAR test, since not all students take AP, but all students take STAR. [Also,] how well students value education and learning when they leave the school--a very difficult thing to measure quantitatively,” said Krieger, now teaching his seventh year of AP Biology.

grant

continued from page 18 Montanez was the only wrestler who made the state meet last year, and Grant achieved that this year. Grant would like to say that he’s following Montanez - that he’s heading toward “Dan Montanez caliber.” Last year, Grant didn’t perform as well as he wanted to at CCS because he had just gotten a severe staph infection drained the previous day, and he wasn’t able to practice before that. This year, he got a minor staph infection, and regardless, he made it far.

Along with Montanez, his previous and current coaches, his team, and his family have continually supported him. Alex and Grant drill a lot together, and Moschel has been going to all of their meets and tournaments since middle school. Alex and Grant’s dad Keith Kadokura, sister junior Elyse Kadokura, and younger brother Kenji Kadokura also come when they can. Sophomore wrestler Daniel Lu even came to watch all of the CCS games.

“I really appreciate all the extra work that the coaches do,” said Moschel. “It’s really a labor of love. It has been a difficult year for the team [not having facilities at school and practicing at later times]…They did a great job in keeping together and supporting each other.”

Even former-coach Brian Woo still comes to their meets to support him and the team.

“At CCS he [Woo] came and got me into the right mindset,” said Grant.

Alex and Moschel both said that Grant’s most dominant characteristic is his

cricket

continued from page 18 The India versus Pakistan games are always important to cricket fans at MV because the history of the political rivalry between the two countries fuels nationalistic pride in their respective teams. In addition, both teams are exceptionally good, always making it to the top rounds during the World Cup. Both Bajaj, a fan of India, and Sheikh, a Pakistan supporter, separately recall one match during the 2003 World Cup with India and Pakistan. Sheikh remembered, “A lot of people came over to my house. We cleared one wall of the room because we had a projector to make a 70 inch screen. India was 350 over, seven runs per six balls.

And then my hero scored over 100 runs for Pakistan. Then he got out. We only needed six runs to win. It was very

march 10, 2006 On top of all the recognition the department has received, the staff knows the problems that go along with an AP course and have managed to turn it into something positive.

“The pressure to take more and more AP classes seems to be increasing annually as well, so all of us get our fair share of kids who face tremendous difficulty doing well in the APlevel class. Some of us complain about this, but ultimately it drives many of us to improve more, bettering the class experience for all. So indirectly, it can be a mechanism to drive improvement in the AP course,” said Frazier.

Being number one is quite a feat, but everyone has taken it with stride and humor.

Jokingly, Plaza added, “We’re waiting for someone to say ‘who got best in the universe?!’ I guess we had to settle for this solar system.”

perseverance.

“He’ll get frustrated when he gets something wrong,” said Alex. “He’ll keep practicing until he gets it right” Moschel felt similarly and said, “Once [Grant] chooses what he wants to do – he wants to achieve pretty high level – he works very hard to get it.”

It’s good to be high-achieving, but Grant does see it as a downfall sometimes. Grant said, “Sometimes I expected myself to beat someone, but I underestimated them. It was a wake-up call for me to work harder.”

This is not only in wrestling, but also in his other sports and aspects of his life. He puts in as much as he possibly can and thus performs with consistency. Going into the state meet, he hoped to wrestle just like he “has been.”

“I’m just going for the experience,” said Grant. “I’m not really just going to do really well. Probably next year I’ll have that experience from going to states.”

At the state meet, Grant had about 40 athletes that competed in the same weight group.

It took place in the enormous three-story Robo Bank Arena in Bakersfield. It was the largest competition he’d ever participated in.

“Before I went [to states], I thought CCS was big, but once you get [to states], everyone’s a section champion.”

Grant won a match against a Washington HS wrestler and lost against the third place finisher from Buchanan HS and the fifth place finisher from Centennial HS. Looking into his next steps for wrestling, as usual, Grant predicts more hard work. “After going to states, I think that I could work more on everything.”

heartbreaking.”

Bajaj recalled, “The winner would play Australia in the finals. India batted first for 350 runs, which in itself was really impressive. And then when it was Pakistan turn, they could not follow.”

The strong cultural ties keep these cricket fanatics glued to their televisions. Bajaj said, “My dad and uncles brought [cricket] upon me. I used to see them all the time playing out in the street. So I joined them.”

Not only do these fans watch cricket, but they also play.

Both Mehrotra and Sheikh compete on the same team, the Falcons, in the B.A.C.A. league, which stands for Bay Area Cricket Alliance. Bajaj plays in the C.C.A. league, California Cricket Academy.

“I love the 100 mph ball bowled, batting the ball, and the fundamentals. It makes you appreciate it,” said Sheik.

wu

continued from page 5 call me and ask me questions and I immediately write down the question. That’s how to prepare for the test. I always have the habit…[of] writing it down.”

This, however, seems like nothing more than justification after the fact. There is no necessity to write down the questions, and there’s even less to use it in her tutoring of future students.

It shows the truly sad state we’re in when teachers must sue people to protect their test. It is not the responsibility of the teachers to stop cheating. Rather, students and tutors alike must abstain from gaining unfair advantages compared to other students. When tutors such as Wu provide unfair advantages for a charge, it is not only illegal, but immoral.

coNCERNS

guidelines

continued from page 7

continued from front page

is merely a sport for the brain, and by enrolling in it you understand that it will take up time that you could spend other ways. It is, in the end, your choice and not Berkeley’s.

Now, when all the fog and busy work and canines were cleared away at Lynbrook, could one see a difference in students? Did it reduce stress and time?

Doubtful. Most of the people interviewed were hesitant when asked whether this did any real change.

However, it hasn’t done anything to hinder Lynbrook’s education. There were rumors flying about that test scores were dropping. If API scores, measuring the schools academic performance with a number, are any suggestion, they prove otherwise. Lynbrook’s score in 1999, more than seven years ago, and its score in 2005, after the guidelines were in effect, were both in the mid to high 800’s.

Is that worth it, though—do we indeed give abnormal amounts of homework?

According to a report done by RAND Corporation, only about one in ten American high school students does more than two hours of homework a night (MVHS and Lynbrook, or even MVHS and the rest of humanity, must be inverse curves because the value of homework over here certainly doesn’t decline after two hours). However, we’re also a bastion of education. The behemoth would die hard. Both learning and grades would plummet or the material would have to be presented at a snail’s pace. There would be an enormous uproar of students learning where the brakes are. Until MVHS is willing to turn off the engine and settle into its surroundings, meaningful homework guidelines will shrivel in practice. If you personally feel like you want to take matters lower difficulty.

English teacher Michael Kanda agreed. “As far as instructions go, training could have been a little better, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that people totally blew it off, and I think that sends the wrong message to our students. As leaders of the classroom we need to make sure that we do a good job by modeling the seriousness of the situation. Regardless of what training we got, I don’t think it excuses our behavior,” he said.

In such an affluent community as Cupertino, it may be hard to find gangs and day-to-day fights.

However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Assistant Principal Dennis Plaza added, “I don’t want people to think that it’s going to happen here. But even more than that, I don’t want people to think that it will never happen here. We live in a wonderful community, and we’re sheltered from a lot of the ugliness in the world, which is great to grow up in, but the ugly reality is still there.”

The Sheriff’s department expanded on the possible situations in which a shootout would occur, and it severely contradicted popular belief. “The sheriff painted the picture of the profile of the kind of school that would most likely be victim of this and the student that would most likely do this. So he describes this, and it was chilling,” Scott said. “The teachers were frozen because what he described was MVHS: an affluent community, high-performing, high expectations, high standards, pressure on students, expecting families, all that was MVHS.” Spanish teacher Molly Guadiamos was one of the teachers that the department commended for an excellent job. Guadiamos made it clear to her students that this was a situation that was to be taken seriously. “Although we don’t have gang fights happening every day, there’s a pretty big chance that a shoot out would happen,” said Guadiamos. “You’d think we’d be pretty safe, but look at what happened in De Anza.”

The procedures were explained beforehand to all staff. Everyone was expected to cooperate and ensure that instructions were carried out. “There were a series of things we expected [the teachers] to do,” said Plaza. “Turn off the lights, close the blinds, lock the doors, bring in any kids who were outside the door and make sure they were safe.” Furthermore, teachers and students were instructed to build a barricade to block the doors as well as an interior barricade where kids could hide in case of an intruding shooter.

Despite the instructions, most classes did not efficiently create proper barriers, and some classes ignored the drill completely.

Due to the failure of the first alert, an emergency staff meeting was called to make sure such a disregard and misinterpretation of directions does not occur again. Scott said, “It was very soon after the end of the drill that they received a very blunt email from me that this was not okay. I will take some responsibility, and part of that is that I am now going to postpone the redrill until a few weeks out to provide opportunities to make appointments with sheriffs. We had teachers bring in things to try, and they asked us if it was okay if they could try new things. It has increased the dialogue a thousandfold, and I can’t tell you how different it is with the seriousness in how they are approaching this.” Deficient emergency kits, a lacking public announcement system, poor lighting, and other issues that have come to attention are also being checked.

“After listening to Mrs. Scott and what she had to say and what the sheriffs had to say about how we did, I think most everybody is sobered,” said history teacher Margaret Platt.

In the future, MVHS will be having another drill to ensure that both the students and staff are prepared for a Code Red emergency. However, this one will be unannounced, thought it is due to happen some time before the school year ends. “We understand that we need to be focused about this. It’s about protecting all of us,” Platt said. This is, after all, one test MVHS can’t afford to fail.

verdadera

continued from front page Currently, the staff is working to find the first topic for the March issue. They plan on distributing the newsletter every month after that. The program is funded by a foundation, attributed to Chien’s daughter.

The outlook for the publication looks very promising. “This will open a lot of doors between parents and students. This is something so unusual, and because there is no other open forum like this, I think it will have a very positive outcome,” said Sackett.

fan

code red

continued from page 19

continued from page 7

practice, Gottwald is one man the MVHS baseball team can always expect to see around the baseball diamond with a bright smile on his face and a greeting for all familiar faces.

“If you get to know him, he’s a real nice guy,” said Hogin. “He’s always trying to help, and he never tries to be annoying to anyone.”

Senior Jim Chin was part of a classroom where many of the students created a mockery out of the drill. He, himself, joined in on the laughter but in hindsight, states, “I don’t really know why any of us were laughing. It isn’t even funny. It’s a serious issue.”

MVHS, we have become complacent. Remember, Columbine High School thought it could never happen to them.