The Talon | Issue 3 | November 14, 2017 The Talon

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Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA ■ NOVEMBER 14, 2017 ■ Volume XXXIII, Issue 3

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lahstalon.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

FACILITIES

Los Altos is slated to undergo renovations and add buildings to accommodate student growth. News, 2

WASC reaccreditation This year, the school is beginning its WASC reaccreditation process, forming focus groups in order to determine goals for a school action plan. News, 4

Message over method Staff writer Zooey Nguyen shares her thoughts on criticism of protesting, pushing instead for focusing on injustices faced by the protesters. Opinions, 6

Recruitment in sports In-Depth editor Javin Pombra writes about the negative impact of privileged sports on the recruitment process. Opinions, 7

Questbridge finalists Read about the unique stories of Los Altos’ three Questbridge National College Match finalists. Features, 12

“Stranger Things” review Staff writer Cathy Wang discusses the successes and downfalls of season two of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Arts & Culture, 13

Cultural upbringing

An in-depth look at the global community fostered at Los Altos. Arts & Culture, 14

Los Altos’ niche sports Read about the many athletes at Los Altos who compete in unconventional sports outside of school. Sports, 20

UPCOMING EVENTS November 15

Camp Diversity Begins November 23

Thanksgiving Day November 26

Festival of Lights November 29

Red Cross Blood Drive December 1

Winter Jazz Concerts December 4

Mental Health Awareness Week Begins December 8

Holiday Fair

News Editorial Opinions

2 5 6

Features 8, 12 In-Depth 10 Arts & Culture 13 Sports 17

Boys water polo finishes historic season

COURTESY AMY JOHNSON

The Eagles lost to Bellarmine in the CCS Open Division quarterfinals after a remarkable season as the undefeated league champions of the De Anza Division of SCVAL. MAYU ALTEN Staff Writer

The varsity boys water polo team lost to Bellarmine on Saturday, November 4, in the CCS Open Division quarterfinals, with a final score of 2-11. The game put an end to a historic season. The Eagles took the title this year as the undefeated league champions of the De Anza Division of SCVAL and ended with a record of 17-0. With their overall record of 24-2, Los Altos earned the seventh seed out of eight in this year’s newly introduced CCS Open Division, which pulls the top eight teams from both Divisions 1 and 2. The majority of the teams competing were private schools, with Los Altos being one of only two public

schools to qualify. But this year, with the graduation of “[The game against Bellarmine] last year’s seniors, the level of skill really just represents how far we've throughout the league evened out. come in four years,” The title of league co-captain senior Eric champions was up Warmoth said. “Freshfor grabs, and Los man year, I could never We did so well this Altos managed to have imagined that year because the step up and claim Los Altos would be in team was the hardit, beating Gunn in the Open Division of the championship est-working team CCS, let alone playing game with a final Bellarmine, a team that I’ve coached score of 5-3. that has been domi- since I’ve been here “It was the first nant, winning CCS Di- at Los Altos. game against Gunn vision 1 for many years. that we realized — head coach Seth Tasman We haven't had any we could be the competition like that top team in the this year.” league,” Eric said. “Gunn has been For the past few years, Gunn High so dominant for the past four years. School has dominated the league. After beating Gunn, in one of the last

Sorting out the flaws of a garbage system NATHAN GODDERIS IAN TSENG Senior Writer Staff Writer

At a pickup in the beginning of October, Recology’s garbage trucks refused to collect the waste at Los Altos because students’ poor sorting had contaminated the compost with recyclables. “The compost has to be pure — it cannot be more than 10 percent contaminated,” Green Team Co-President senior Sarah Chang said. “Beyond that, it will just be thrown into the trash.” When Recology, a company that is committed to green recycling and composting, doesn’t pick up Los Altos’ waste, everything ends up in a landfill. This allows food to break down and release methane into the atmosphere, creating greenhouse gas effects stronger than carbon dioxide. Normally, Recology transports recyclables to the Shoreway Environmental Center and compost to a commercial compost facility to be converted to soil. Despite last month’s incident and similar ones, Los Altos is labeled as a “Santa Clara County Green-Certified”

FRANCESCA FALLOW

Los Altos’ garbage is picked up by Recology, a waste disposal company committed to green recycling and composting. The school’s sorting system has faced difficulties due to improper sorting of garbage. high school for meeting environmentally conscious standards. The Green Team promotes an eco-friendly campus and spreads awareness about sorting garbage correctly through hosting awareness events and creating infor-

mational videos. The Green Team also aims to address problems such as the worn-down labels on existing waste bins.

“Garbage”

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games of the first round of league play, it was very apparent that we could be league champions.” To Head Coach Seth Tasman, what sets this year’s team apart from previous years is the fact that the group of boys were so selfless and self-motivated. Tasman has not changed his coaching style from the past years and credits the boys’ want for improvement as the reason for the success of the team.

“Historic”

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What’s up with girls water polo? Check out The Talon’s coverage of their CCS Championship run at lahstalon.org


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