The Talon | Issue 4 | December 15, 2015

Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA ■ December 15, 2015 ■ Volume XXXI, Issue 4

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AVID PILOTS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

What’s up with Wi-Fi? The school’s connectivity issues explained JIM HOLLINGWORTH Staff Writer

SET CLUB PROMOTES FUN SCIENCE Learn about the club’s efforts to build a giant rocket out of kitty litter and powdered sugar. Features, 13

Food drive combats Bay Area hunger ASB’s annual food drive raised about 25,000 pounds for Silicon Valley Second Harvest Food Bank.

News, 3

Voices of the holiday season To celebrate student voices on campus, The Talon shares stories of varying cultural traditions.

Opinions, 6

Recreational Sports Read the opinion of the school’s Leadership class on the importance of recreational sports and the availability of sports equipment during lunch and brunch.

Opinions, 8

Mahalo Bowl embodies food truck values into a modern boutique shop After a year food-trucking acai bowls and healthy smoothies around the Bay Area, Mahalo Bowl recently opened new shop on Castro Street.

Entertainment, 15

First Semester Finals December 19-January 5

Holiday Recess

January 11 @ 7 p.m.

Grad Night Meeting January 13 @ 7 p.m.

PSAT Scoreback Info Night January 18-19

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Teacher Service Day January 28 @ p.m.

Health Van comes January 29 @ 7 p.m.

Winter Ball

News Editorial Opinions

2 5 6

Features 9, 12 In-Depth 10 Entertainment 14 Sports 18

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Freshmen AVID students and peer tutors participate in their first quarter rose ceremony, which celebrates students who earned 3.0 or higher GPAs. This spring, a technology internship program will allow freshmen and sophomore AVID students to visit and intern with large local tech companies such as Adobe and LinkedIn.

RACHEL LU ALEX WONG Staff Writers

MVLA Community Scholars, a volunteer-run mentoring and scholarship program, is preparing to pilot a technology internship program for AVID freshman and sophomore students in the spring.

The program will allow AVID students a chance to visit and intern with local tech companies, such as Adobe and LinkedIn, and is part of a larger initiative to provide opportunities for underrepresented students to gain more experience in Silicon Valley’s largest industry.

Through tours of local companies, the program will give AVID students a glimpse of work life in a professional setting. Superintendent Jeff Harding hopes that the tours and eventual internships will

help counterbalance the wealth and privilege gap among the district’s students.

“Many high socioeconomic [standing] students who come from families with parents with graduate degrees become familiar with the business world because they see it through their parents,” Harding said. “They have an inroad into a business environment. For students from low socioeconomic environments where parents don’t have more prominent positions in business, the business world is more nebulous… [and] harder to access.”

Community Scholars plans to have the school’s AVID students visit the LinkedIn campus and Mountain View AVID students visit the Adobe campus for meetings and tours of departments within the companies. The group is working

‘Things That Go Up and Down’: an environmental art exhibit

Seniors Carina Burdick and Juliette Martin cap off their high school tennis careers.

Sports, 18

December 16-18

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COURTESY KEREN DAWSON-BOWMAN

Seniors win CCS doubles championships

UPCOMING EVENTS

with Harding and AVID teachers to craft curriculums around field trips and future internships.

“The overall purpose is for students to get a broader overview of the companies they visit,” Community Scholars volunteer Susie Mielke said. “Students will split up into different departments they are interested in, and there will be guides who will tell them about the jobs and maybe give some personal background in the company.”

Community Scholars aims to provide one-on-one internships to junior and senior students in later years. AVID teachers hope that the complexity of internships will increase as students make relationships with professionals. At the end of an internship, students will give a presentation to their classmates about their experience.

Following numerous student connectivity issues, the district is working to reshape the underlying support system behind the school’s Wi-Fi. Despite problems surrounding the implementation of the current network and its development, the district hopes that a new focus on the management of its Wi-Fi networks will enable more reliable campus coverage.

Due to the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy and the recent school-wide adaptation of Google Apps for Education (GAFE), stable Internet connectivity is a necessity in many classes. Problems with Wi-Fi, such as slow connectivity speeds and entire shutdowns, require teachers to rethink lessons and lose important class time.

“Connecting to the network is critical... and it’s irritating… when you can’t rely on that,” Associate Superintendent Mike Mathiesen said. “We’ve been very sensitive to that.”

Toward the beginning of the school year, the school experienced a particularly severe outage of Wi-Fi that left the majority of the students entirely without Internet for several days. This was due in part to the IT department ignoring key firmware updates to the routers.

MICHAEL SIEFFERT

Students from the Environmental Science class pose in front of their artwork at the “Things That Go Up and Down” art exhibit in San Francisco. The display features art made by these students to learn about climate change.

AKHIL JAKATDAR MICHAEL SIEFFERT Staff Writers

In a small room on the eighth floor of a bustling San Francisco business district building, quirky moving models with bright colors perch on podiums in the gallery. Soft music plays in the room bubbling with excitement. The high spirits of the students summarize the essence of the event.

Throughout early January, the Environmental Science class, taught by teacher Bobby Soto and former football coach Rudy Alcala, is exhibiting their work in a gallery called “Things That Go Up and Down.”

The art project was created to teach the students through a more hands-on method about the effects of climate change on our environment and how

it has detrimental effects in the long run. Through kinetic artwork, or moving art, these students learned much more about environmental science than by being taught a lesson in class.

“I find it extremely cool and amazing to be able to create a project to help us understand different things that can actually affect our planet,” Environmental Science student Alex Chavez said. “It’s truly a great experience.”

The exhibition is hosted by Spare Change Artist Space, which is run by two associates from the company Rhodes & Fletcher, Sean Fletcher and Pamela Rhodes. Spare Change Artist Space was founded in 2005 and exhibits artwork by local artists and curators, incorporating a theme which is important to both personal finances and art.

“Exhibit”

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“AVID”

“Wi-Fi”

Goals: Girls soccer shoots for success ALEXIS MALGESINI Staff Writer

With an experienced roster and a new coach, the varsity girls soccer team is off to a fresh and promising start.

The girls will be playing in the El Camino League in the upcoming season, a step down from previous years.

“We are expected to be one of the top teams, being that we came from a higher divi-

sion last year,” junior Quinne Woolley said. “And I think that we will be.”

This season’s team is stacked with upperclassmen, with five seniors leading the pack in experience. Four of the five seniors did not play on the school’s team last year, so they are returning from their sophomore year when the team won CCS. “[Our] experience will benefit us,” Quinne said.

“Soccer”

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BEYOND THE SCREEN EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF VISUAL MEDIA ON OUR LIVES

In-Depth

P.10

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The Talon December 15, 2015

Get daily LAHS updates and read the news archives at lahstalon.org/category/news

Los Altos hosts Festival of Lights parade EMILY TERADA Senior Writer

The Festival of Lights is a Los Altos tradition that has been welcoming the holiday season for the past 38 years and gives people from all age groups the opportunity to connect with other generations.

The parade, which takes place downtown, allows people of all ages to enjoy music from local high school marching bands, as well as floats and characters that fall under the theme of “A Child’s Holiday Fantasy.” Characters featured in the parade range from Peter Pan to The Wizard of Oz. The parade also gives high schoolers the opportunity to complete school-required service hours by helping out.

“We use teenagers and high school students who help us bring the characters out,” board member Nancy Schneider said.

Additionally, students also have the opportunity to march in the parade, as many organizations are involved with the community event.

“It was really fun, but a little nerve-racking to be in front of so many people,” drum major senior Rory Maclean said. “I think the parade is appealing because the whole town is there, and many people have friends in the parade.”

The festival gives the opportunity for people of all ages to connect over a common experience.

“We helped set up and prepare for the parade, and then we watched it afterward,” junior Krishna Brunton said. “All the lights and floats

Wi-Fi

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE “[Updating the routers was] like updating your iPhone from iOS 5 to iOS 9,” Mathiesen said. “I use those numbers because there were several updates that our IT staff had not applied throughout the last year and a half since the system was installed.”

Although the problems were ultimately resolved, Mathiesen believes that there should be a more streamlined process for supporting the network.

“Our IT staff were the ones who really should have been doing [the updates], and they didn’t,” Mathiesen said. “That’s the blunt answer. One of the main tasks [going forward] will be making sure we have a better support process in place, that there’s specific people tasked with monitoring it, that our staff gets the required training.”

The disconnected communication among the network’s administration stretches back to the original implementation of the school’s current Wi-Fi system.

After the district decided in 2013 to update the outdated Meru system, they faced two replacement options for network hardware: Xirrus, or the routers of a local supplier called Hula Networks.

However, due to a miscommunication within management, one

COURTESY TATIANA GIBSON

The “snow princesses” pose for a photo after the parade — (left to right) alumna Casey Charlton ‘14; seniors Kelsey Moran, Tatiana Gibson and Jenny Chin; and Stephanie Hing. Each year, the Festival of Lights parade chooses five girls as a way of honoring girls who have engaged in exceptional community service. were beautifully decorated, and we had a great time. It was cool to see so many people working hard to put together this one event.”

As a way to give back to the community, five girls are chosen to walk in the parade as “snow princesses.’

“I was chosen to be a snow princess, one of the five girls who walk alongside the first f loat in the parade,” senior Kelsey Moran said. “The ‘snow court’ is made up of five high school senior or older girls who have demonstrated extensive service to the Los Altos community.

This year, my jump rope team,

Sol Jumpers, also performed in the parade with light up ropes… so I switched out my princess costume for my Sol Jumpers uniform and ran back to jump the last block with them.”

The parade began when merchants Hope Higbee, Jack Huston and Marion Jackston wanted to create a light parade to introduce holiday spirit for the city of Los Altos. This led to the creation of the volunteer organization, coined the Festival of Lights Association, that runs the parade. Over the years, the parade has grown in size and remains a yearly highlight for com-

munity members.

The Festival of Lights Association maintains the costs of the parade through community support, donations and grants. Not including costumes or new floats, the operating expenses to run the parade is about $20,000 each year.

“We have our own floats that we own, and people are sponsors so they give donations to put their signs [on the floats],” Schneider said. “Individuals can put [signs] on a float if they want to, as long as it meets the criteria for safety and size.”

There are numerous challenges involved in planning the parade.

of the networks was never tested, and the Xirrus system was installed by default.

“The intent was to do a side-byside comparison and evaluation,” Mathiesen said. “But a proper evaluation of the two systems was not done… Hula Networks called up [and said their] devices were never connected, there’s no record of that.”

This is why Mountain View has a different supplier of routers: after the untested installment of the Xirrus system at Los Altos, the district awarded Hula the chance to install its system at Mountain View High School.

“I think [using Hula’s hardware]

was one of those opportunities,” Mathiesen said. “We didn’t want to put the district in a place of being exposed to… ‘You could’ve gone with this system and you didn’t.’”

There is no clear indication yet of which network is more effective; the prices were competitive, and the coverage similar.

“Mountain View has had similar problems, but they have a very different system,” technology coordinator Chris Avila said. “As of right now their system appears to be stable and functional.”

However, both while the schools’ networks are stable now, Mountain View’s network has so

far proven to be more reliable.

“The blunt assessment is that they haven’t had as many issues as Los Altos in the last two months,” Mathiesen said.

Another early communication issue was that the district originally ordered more routers than were needed. Many of these extra routers sat in a warehouse, expensive and unused, for most of last year. Only recently have they been reassigned to new access points within the district or returned to the manufacturer.

However, thanks to recent changes in leadership and a more comprehensive focus on the importance of Wi-Fi, the district

JIM HOLLINGWORTH

“One of our challenges is people setting up early downtown,” Schneider said. “The merchants downtown get upset because the sidewalks are clogged. [Another] challenge is to redo our old floats.

We just did a float this year that used to be the drummer boy, and it’s 20 years old.”

With the challenge of aging floats comes inspiration to make the parade relatable to new generations of viewers. “[This year] we designed Captain Hook’s boat,” Schneider said. “It’s really cute, and it’s going with our other characters from Peter Pan. We want to keep [the parade] fresh and exciting. People like to see old familiar floats which is important to maintain, but they also like to see something new. It’s such a wonderful event for the kids and community.”

Some parade-goers come to support their friends who perform in the parade.

“The [number] of LAHS students in the parade encourages high schoolers to come,” alumna Karen Zellers ‘15 said. “The parade would be more appealing if even more high school clubs got involved.”

With each parade, the group celebrates its successes, while evaluating areas for improvement.

“Right after the parade we have a critique session,” Schneider said. “We get together and say this is what we liked about the parade and this is what needs improvement... After the parade on Sunday is when it’s fresh in our minds and [we] see what we can do better [for next year].” hopes to stabilize Internet access in the near future. On November 16, Barney Gordon took over as the district’s Director of Information Services. He hopes to improve intra-district communication and organization, as well as continue essential ongoing projects.

“I intend to work closely with the school sites and Educational Services staff to evaluate current educational technology within the district and help implement a plan for the future,” Gordon said.

Part of this plan includes the development of a new physical space to store and maintain critical servers.

“One behind-the-scenes effort of the district is the creation of a new and more robust data center,” Gordon said. “The construction continues today, and we are expected to migrate our existing servers into this new, industrystandard space over the holiday break.”

However, Gordon recognizes that the challenges specific to his position are unique in their demanding time constraints.

“One of the biggest challenges in this industry are the rapid changes in technology,” Gordon said. “[Networking hardware is] an industry that sees a near complete technology turnover every year.”

Despite these past issues with implementation and maintenance, the district is optimistic that the new structure and plan for ongoing Wi-Fi support will allow students to focus on their classes and not their Internet connection.

The Talon December 15, 2015

3

Food drive combats Bay Area hunger for donations, and so I think that is meaningful, and they are using their time and energy at school as The goal was to raise 20,000 well as at home,” Woolfolk said.

ASB delivered the food and monpounds within two weeks for Los Altos High School’s annual Holi- ey accumulated over the course of the food drive directly to Second day Food Drive.

This year, the school did just Harvest. According to its website, that and more, surpassing the Second Harvest provides food to goal by over 4,000 pounds with nearly a quarter of a million people the help of online donations, every month and around one milwhich extended the collection lion meals every week. While 1 in 10 people in San Mateo and Santa time by another week.

Each November, ASB coordi- Clara counties rely on Second Harnates with Second Harvest Food vest for food every month, 1 out of 3 kids does not have Bank of Santa Clara access to food to eat and San Mateo counevery day. ties to collect nonTo collect donaperishable food and A lot of our tions from all parts of money from the com- families at Los campus, donation munity. As of DecemAltos do depend the boxes for food and ber 5, ASB collected money are placed in $8215.05 and 3825.07 on food donaevery second period pounds for a total of tions... Because class and collected by 24362.695 pounds so many of our from LAHS and students are im- ASB later in the day.

Both staff and stuDraeger’s Supermardents alike made daily ket. Monetary dona- pacted by [the reminders to donate tions were converted food drive], it is informing the comto pounds with the a great way... to munity of the progFood Bank’s calcula- give back. ress made through tion that one dollar — ASB vice president the collections. is equivalent to 2.2 Olivia Jain “Because Los Altos pounds. is such a small town, “Second Harvest Food Bank relies on our totals,” the community definitely gives a Assistant Principal and ASB ad- lot to us,” ASB vice president sevisor Suzanne Woolfolk said. “If nior Olivia Jain said. “A lot of our we do not hit our food totals that families at Los Altos do depend Second Harvest expects or hopes on food donations, and because for from LAHS, that affects the so many of our students are impacted by [the food drive], it is a food bank over the holidays.”

Besides the contribution from great way for those who are not the staff and students from the [affected] to give back to the comhigh school, ASB relied on the do- munity.”

The success of the food drive nations collected from Draeger’s.

“ASB kids sit in the cold for hours resulted from competition beand hours outside the store asking tween second period classes and

JULIA SANTOS Staff Writer

an incentive of a class party of In-N-Out burgers. Offering an incentive proved to play a key role in the food drive as it pushed both students and staff to donate.

“As [students are] still growing up and developing, ASB believes that we can offer an extrinsic reward, like In-N-Out burgers, to help support the intrinsic reward

of helping others,” Woolfolk said. “There are so many requests placed on kids of all sorts, that [rewards are] a positive spin on the whole effort. We do not need to [give a reward], and some years there has not been a reward, but it seems to make it more fun.”

Despite the incentives, the purpose of the food drive is to

promote raising money for the greater good and include charity in the lives of students.

“Initially, there is always a sense of competition that gets promoted, but at the week goes on and people start to donate, I think it is more about giving back to the community, and the [students] see that,” Olivia said.

FRANCESCA FALLOW

Storage bins in the teachers’ lounge hold cans of food raised for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. This year, students and teachers raised the equivalent of over 24,000 cans of food in their second period classes through cash and food donations.

Colleges face campus racism charges COLE HANSON

Copy/Content Editor

Recently, accusations of racism within America’s universities have caught national headlines.

In the past couple of months, specific institutions such as Yale, Claremont McKenna and the University of Missouri, have

come under scrutiny from administrations and students alike for their conduct toward minority groups and racial insensitivity.

Although racial equality, or the lack thereof, has been a consistent topic of discussion at the university level for decades, the events that ensued around this year’s Halloween season have raised

awareness regarding the issue.

In October, Claremont McKenna College (CMC) quickly landed itself in hot water. Initially, the conflict originated from a group of students’ Halloween costumes that were described as perpetuating stereotypes toward Mexican culture. In a response that sparked even more controversy,

SKYLER MAESO

Dean Mary Spellman was accused of implying that minority students did not fit the “CMC mold,” which prompted a slew of protests eventually resulting in her resignation.

Claremont McKenna is not alone. Ivy League institution Yale University also came under fire in late October when it was revealed that some students had been turned away from a fraternity party that was labeled as “white girls only.”

Although some fraternity members deny such allegations, Yale, under pressure by student activists, decided to address concerns about the conditions of alienated student groups at the campus. Actions include increasing budgets for cultural centers, educating faculty members and holding conferences on racial, gender and social inequalities.

Unlike the situations unfolding at Claremont McKenna and Yale, the University of Missouri’s recent racial issues were the result of a long-term build in tensions, and no particular incident is responsible for sparking the issue.

Protests in November at Missouri originally spawned in solidarity with the news of Claremont’s Halloween and Dean incidents and unrest, as well as dissatisfaction with the school’s former president, Tim Wolfe, had been escalating for several years.

Tensions continued to escalate in late October when a swastika

painted with feces was found on a residence wall and Wolfe refused to meet the demands for equality of Concerned Student 1950, the student group that spearheaded the effort to combat racial discrimination.

In addition to Concerned Student 1950s efforts, black members of the football program boycotted the team, demanding the removal of Wolfe. Finally, protests, student government pressure and even a hunger strike by one individual proved to be too much pressure for Wolfe, who announced his resignation on November 9.

Social media platforms have made it easier for students to stand in solidarity across America, garnering more and more attention with each protest. Reactions by mainstream media outlets ranged from the traditionally conservative, such as the idea that the events accused of racial discrimination are expressions of free speech to more liberal approaches, like the concept that the incidents are completely insensitive and intolerable.

Although the incidents at these three schools have captured headlines in the past several months, accusations, protests and administrative actions regarding racial inequality and discrimination have and continue to saturate a wide range of universities across the nation.

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The Talon December 15, 2015

Parents push to reopen local elementary schools OLIVIA JERRAM

is an indicator of future trends, is now at an all time high.”

Parent activists argue that not The Mountain View-Whisman Dis- only is there adequate, if not amtrict Board looks likely to approve the ple, reason for reopening one of plan presented by numerous Moun- the two elementary schools, but tain View Northeastern quadrant the absence of these schools is parents campaigning for the reopen- inconvenient to parents who are ing of either Slater or Whisman Ele- forced to shuttle their students mentary Schools. Before their closure, across town on a daily basis and these schools fed into Graham and harms the students themselves Crittenden Middle Schools, which by disrupting their learning and social environment. then feed directly into LAHS. “Particularly at the lower eleThe Northeastern quadrant of Mountain View, known locally mentary-school age, social-emoas the Whisman-Slater neigh- tional learning, forming relaborhood, hosts a population of tionships and friendships, is [at approximately 500 elementary least] as important… as the actual students. These students are dis- academics,” Chang said. “By havtributed among the eight local ing this constant churn in neighpublic schools in the district, given borhood families and [students that there is no school in their part in the same square mile area] assigned to three different schools, of the city for them to all attend.

The closing of Whisman Ele- our children are deprived of this mentary School in 2000, followed very important [social] learning.”

Parents like Chang have been closely by the close of Slater Elementary School in 2006, has actively protesting and presentleft these students scattered and ing this information at board meetings, holding has begun the resineighborhood disdent parents’ crusade cussions and meetto reopen either of ing with the board the two previously Any time you trustees and the new closed schools, both have involveMountain Viewof which were withment from the Whisman Superinin their quadrant of community, tendent, Ayinde RuMountain View. dolph, individually.

“Although there mainly parents, The previous dismay have been good it’s a good trict superintendent, reasons for clos- thing.

Craig Goldman, was ing the school at the — Mountain quoted saying he betime, those reasons View-Whisman lieved the Board’s no longer apply,” Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph decision would be community parent soundly in favor of the Vicki Chang said. plans to reopen one “Enrollment was declining at the time. However, of the two requested schools. Rusince Slater was closed, enroll- dolph has been less committed in ment in the district has increased his response but still expresses his by almost 1,000 students. In fact, approval at the parents’ genuine kindergarten enrollment, which involvement and concern for their In-Depth Editor

AVID

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

“In future years the idea is to build up the program as we get more contacts [with companies],” AVID teacher and Department Coordinator Keren Dawson-Bowman said. “Then the students

would move towards having single day internships junior year, and then senior year they would move to longer internships.”

Even for students who do not get internships, the experience is a time to explore future career options.

“A lot of students who are the first in their family to go to college have a disadvantage to other students who come from more affluent or educated backgrounds,” Dawson-Bowman said. “They don’t

RACHEL LU

Mariano Castro Elementary School is one of several that serves students in the Mountain View-Whisman School District. Recently, parents have begun calling for the district to reopen the Whisman or Slater Elementary Schools in Mountain View’s Northeastern quadrant. After the two schools closed in 2000 and 2006 respectively, their students were redistributed to other schools in the district, including Castro. does vote yes to reopen Slater, the positive impacts to our neighborhood would be invaluable.”

Both the superintendent and the parents wait to hear the Board’s expected favorable announcement at the next meeting on December 10.

“Knowing all of this, I would f lip the question,” Chang said. “[I would] ask why wouldn’t the kids living in the Northeast quadrant deserve a school in their neighborhood? But now it is up to the Board to be the judges [of that question].”

community and their children.

“Any time you have involvement from the community, mainly parents, it’s a good thing,” Rudolph said. “They have an argument about the need for a school in their corner of our city. We have looked at all the variables, pros and cons and soon our board is going to make a decision… With all the growth that Mountain View [has] experienced, I think anything is possible [and] I look forward to [hearing] the [Board’s] decision.”

At the previous Board meeting on November 19, four out of

five of the trustees indicated that they were planning to vote in favor of reopening Slater Elementary School, and the fifth trustee expressed that he was undecided.

“I’m grateful to the Board for seriously considering reopening a school in the Northeast quadrant and for taking the time to talk with us and hear our thoughts,” Chang said. “I’m also grateful for Superintendent Rudolph for providing what I feel is a ‘fair trial’ and providing the proper tools so that the Board can make a fully informed decision. If the Board

have the ability to do many internships over the summer, and that [has] an impact after they graduate in terms of career options.”

Community Scholars and the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce have been working to obtain connections with larger tech corporations that have the capability to showcase a field of different careers. Mielke, who organizes communication and outreach to corporations, received an enthusiastic initial response from many

businesses about the program. She write about in your application, it’s is currently focusing on choosing a valuable part of who [you are],” companies that are large enough Harding said. “Universities are looking for unique qualities, less for entire AVID classes to visit.

“I’ve talked to dozens of com- about numbers and more about the depth of characpanies from small ter, the passion, the to large about what drive, the grit. You get we’re trying to do,” those qualities from Mielke said. “They’re These kinds of doing something outall on board and want experiences side of school.” at some level to help can be life Harding has experistudents that don’t altering... When ence in his two previhave the opportuous school districts nity to have ongoing we begin seecreating and setting contact with people ing ourselves in motion similar working in different as adults and programs to provide professions.” building relainternship opportuniThe program is in tionships... that ties. Because the prodevelopment, and gram is being implethe plans are not fi- gets me exmented for the first nalized. Community cited. time in the district, it Scholars is working — Superintendent is focusing on the lunon transportation loJeff Harding derclassmen before gistics and getting in expanding. touch with compa“When we start something new, nies, as well as developing one on we want to start small, and we one internships for more depth.

“The challenge for us later want it to be a win,” Harding said. on [will be] trying to get every “We want to nurture this thing, AVID student [an] internship,” and then let it grow.”

Overall, the program’s coordiDawson-Bowman said. “That’s a huge task, if you’re thinking nators have an optimistic outlook about trying to find internships on their endeavor to institute an for 80 students, to have some- internship program at both MVHS body whose job is to navigate and LAHS. With prior experience building internship programs, and find those companies.”

The internship program not Harding believes that this proonly seeks to involve AVID gram has the potential to greatly students and give them a real- impact AVID students.

“I believe these kind of experiworld outlook, but also to provide a platform to showcase a ences can be life altering,” Hardstudent’s talents, which may ing said. “They can be deeply improve students’ chances emotional when we begin seeing ourselves as adults and building when applying for colleges.

“If you have experience do- relationships with people outside ing something, and you’re able to of school… that gets me excited.”

RACHEL LU

Students talk in groups during English Teacher Arrantxa Arriada’s 2nd period AVID 10 class. Under a new program organized by MVLA Community Scholars, freshman and sophomore AVID students will be able to visit and intern with large tech companies in the area in order to gain valuable experience and connections.

The Talon December 15, 2015

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Please send letters to the editor to talon.lahs@gmail.com Los Altos High School

MV city council must enact rent control Rent hikes threaten economic diversity on campus; students should be more aware of local housing issues

N

o teenager should have to worry about the status of their housing situation.

While important, issues like rent prices and real estate volatility add external pressure to students who, at this time in their lives, should be focusing on their education. However, dealing with these problems is an unfortunate reality for students at our school, and if rents in this area continue to rise, we will lose this 20 percent of economic diversity that makes our campus such a unique place.

There’s no doubt that the high price of rent is a hotly debated topic in Mountain View. The issue has plagued the city for years, and it’s obvious why.

According to the city, rents have risen by an average of 53 percent over the past four years, and the constant demands from tenants, landlords, and other interest groups have pushed the residents can apply to the Communicity council to rapidly pursue a variety ty Services Agency (CSA) and receive monetary aid to help them pay inof solutions in recent weeks.

Although these measures will creased rents for up to four months.

Another ordinance will allow tenhelp to relieve rent hikes in the short ants to lock in their term, they are not leases for up to one actual solutions to and a half years and the housing short- The city is currently avoid rent increasage crisis that this reviewing a number es. In early Decemarea, especially of projects in the ber, the city also Mountain View, ordered its staff to faces. The city North Bayshore area draft a detailed proneeds to aggres- that would add more posal for a threesively build new housing. Those will step mediation prohousing in order help, but more develgram designed to to accommodate opment is needed — reduce unreasonits growing popu- fast. able rent hikes and lation. Rent hikes tenant evictions. have had a signifiBut these solutions won’t make a cant effect on our campus, and students would benefit to be aware of sizeable dent in reducing rent prices or solving the actual housing shortthis issue as it develops.

Multiple factors have contribut- age at all. According to city estimates, ed to the increase in housing prices, the $150,000 set aside for the rent rebut the most important factor is the lief program will only serve about 75 increased demand for housing from families. A major drawback of the meemployees of large tech companies diation program includes the subjecsuch as Google. Employees who tivity of what a reasonable rent hike want to live in the area are often able is, which doesn’t stop the problem of to pay exorbitant rents, driving out high rent in the first place. And the long-time residents who can’t afford city’s continual influx of high-wage tech workers will continue to drive up to keep up.

The city has been looking at a va- demand and push out old tenants.

Eventually, the city looks likely to riety of programs in response to the issue, while seeking to avoid absolute resort to directly controlling rents. rent freezes. Under one program, However, even that won’t be enough

Sophomore Honors English Books Dear Editor, I would like to share about how uncomfortable some of the English book material was for me to read sophomore year.

The most obvious and pertinent issue is of the written pornagraphy we were forced to read in “Like Water for Chocolate.” I did

not appreciate the soap opera story of Tita making immoral decisions while going through her traumatic and sexfilled love life. I know that the book is a very clear interpretation of magical realism, but is it worth it to force us to read about sex in order to learn what magical realism is? The movie, I might add, is rated R. In Balzac, it made me uncomfortable to read about Luo bringing back a leaf covered in first-sex blood and describing what had just happened. The Kite Runner is about a boy trying to find redemption after watching his best friend

201 Almond Ave., Los Altos, CA December 15, 2015 Volume XXXI, Issue 4 Editor-In-Chief Sofia Guo Managing Editors Alice Dai (Print) Katherine Yen (Print) James Sun (Web) News Editor Spencer Dembner Opinions Editor Hanna Khosravi Features Editor Emily Aoki In-Depth Editor Olivia Jerram Entertainment Editor Jessica King

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Sports Editor Josh Kirshenbaum

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Media Editor Carl Faust Copy/Content Editors Claire Bai, Teddy Chmyz, Cole Hanson, William Jow

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Business Manager Eric Thiem Senior Writers Chris Dadok, David Lisbonne, Emily Terada, Kevin Yen

to solve the problem. Without new extracurricular activities to which housing development, prices will wealthier students have access. continue to increase and residents These students typically live in one will continue to be evicted. or two room apartments with their The city is currently reviewing families, and their monthly rents a number of projects in the North range from almost $2,000 for one Bayshore area that would add more bedroom to around $3,400 for a housing. Those will help, but more two-bedroom place. development is needed — fast.

Students tuned into these issues are On campus, rent hikes affect a better able to become more involved sizeable amount of students. About and connected with their peers who 20 percent of our students take ad- need help. The CSA provides aid in the vantage of our free or reduced lunch form of financial and housing counprogram, and many of these stu- seling, active, well-informed youth are dents live in apartments in Mountain key motivators for the community and View. Those who can’t afford the rent those who have the power to change hikes are forced to leave their friends things in the community. and move far to cheaper places like No single group can solve the city’s San Jose, Gilroy, and housing issues, but even Sacremento. if students and comThose who are munity members can barely afford No single group can organize to raise their rents can’t solve the city’s housawareness, they may spend much time ing issues, but if stube able to spur dewith their parents, dents and community cisive action by the who often each members organize to city. Our school’s work two to three raise awareness, they economic diversity jobs to cover the is one of our greatmay be able to spur rent. Despite their est strengths. Keepparents’ best ef- decisive action by the ing rent under conforts, many stu- city of Mountain View. trol and striving dents are forced to towards effective take jobs to help long-term solutions support their families. As a result, allows us to preserve that unique these students often don’t have diversity and benefit those at the the time or money to pursue the school who need it the most.

get raped. In Nectar in a Sieve, Ira was forced to become a prostitute.

In Cry Beloved Country, a 16-yearold girl marries a man in jail about to die, and Gertrudis is a prostitute.

I would like to point out that the class never discussed (or danced around it extremely uncomfortably) the pieces of the books that had to do with prostitution and sex.

My friends and I would complain about how disgusting the readings were in order to make the readings feel more like a joke.

I understand that sex and prostitution are a part of life and that

many books are based on love stories. I’m asking whether or not it is okay to force 15-year-old teenagers to read about the immoral behavior in detail.

Janelle McAfee Class of 2016 The Talon welcomes letters to the editor.

E-mail letters to lahstalon.eic@gmail.com, or drop them off in room 409 or the box in the attendance office.

In the case of spelling or grammatical errors, obscenities, libel or personal attacks, a letter may be edited or not run.

Letters must be signed, but a name may be withheld upon request. Letters may be published online, in print or both.

Staff Writers Keith Bohrer, Paola Campos, Eli Colbert, Anisha Desai, Savita Govind, Jim Hollingworth, Akhil Jakatdar, Miranda Li, Rachel Lu, Alexis Malgesini, Booker Martin, Julia Santos, Tinomuda Tugwete, Avi Varghese, Alex Wong, Ben Zaeske Photographers Francesca Fallow, Katie Klein, Rachel Lu, Allegra Maeso, Kunal Pandit, Michael Sieffert, Kimia Shahidi, Meilin Tsao Graphic Artists Jim Hollingworth, Miranda Li, Skylar Maeso, Vanessa Mark, Anne Schill Videographers Bobak Afshari, Matt Carpenter, Britt de Visser, Danny Nguyen, Eitan Weiner, Andrew Young Adviser Michael Moul

POLICIES Los Altos High School’s Compositional Journalism class is solely responsible for The Talon, which is published eight times a year. The Talon also updates its website, www.lahstalon.org, with full-time coverage.

The Editorial Board sets the policies of The Talon and crafts its editorials and thumbs. Its members are Eli Colbert, Alice Dai, Spencer Dembner, Jim Hollingworth, Olivia Jerram, Josh Kirshenbaum and Katherine Yen.

ADVERTISE & SUBSCRIBE Send advertisement and subscription inquiries to Eric Thiem at talon.lahs@ gmail.com.

Talon Supporters Honorary Pulitzers Sanjay Desai, Corrie Dunn and Rick Jow, Fallow Family, Elizabeth Faust, Haiyan Gao, Lisa Giannini and Simon Patience, Emily Goto, Tabitha Hanson, Gary Herbert, Su-Jane Hsieh, Quyen Nguyen, Susan Slater, Lillian Terada, Tracy Weatherby, Wendy Yang and Yusheng Bai, Danny and Tracy Young

Silver Supporters Martin Family, Zeyu Li, Puneet Pandit, Pradeep Parmar, Taya Perry, Ruth Slater, Tony Sun

6

The Talon December 15, 2015

Read more opinions articles at lahstalon.org/category/opinions

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he holiday season is a time full of diversity and varying traditions. Here at Los Altos High School, we are exposed to a multitude of cultures and religions on a daily basis, and so to celebrate the array of student stories on campus, we want to share the voices of students and their holiday traditions.

INTERVIEWS BY:

HANNA KHOSRAVI, OPINIONS EDITOR GRAPHICS BY: SKYLER MAESO, GRAPHIC ARTIST | ANNE SCHILL, GRAPHIC ARTIST WRITTEN BY: HANNA KHOSRAVI, OPINIONS EDITOR GRAPHICS BY: SKYLER MAESO, GRAPHIC ARTIST | ANNE SCHILL,ofGRAPHIC he holiday season is a time many ARTIST different cultural traditions and experi-

T

ences, and on our campus alone, we have an array of different stories to tell.

In honor of the religious diversity among our students, The Talon looks at several voices and opinions of students regarding the holidays and the stories that make each of us unique.

“I

FRESHMAN MITCHELL KITA

am Buddhist and we don’t have a holiday like Christmas or Hannukah, but my family celebrates Christmas the American way. New Year’s Day is an important holiday for the Japanese. Our whole family always goes to my grandma’s house. She makes all the traditional New Years foods, like mochi soup and sweet black beans. All of the foods mean different things, such as good luck, so my grandma makes us eat a little bit of everything to start off the new year with good luck.”

“M

SENIOR SOPHIA HARTENBAUM

y dad is Jewish, so I’ve been celebrating Jewish holidays, but I haven’t gone to the synagogue a lot or anything like that. Usually my family gets together and we sing our prayers in front of the menorah, and we light the candles and open presents. My grandmother brought over some jelly donuts, because they are Hannukah food in Jerusalem.”

“G

“S

JUNIOR SANA KHADER

ometimes, especially when I was younger, the fact that I wasn’t white and Christian like the majority made me feel excluded...I’m Muslim, so I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I never felt like it detracted from the holiday experience. Yes, the holidays are really concentrated on Christmas and gifts, but I think it is more of a season than one event that you feel like you’re excluded from.”

“M

JUNIOR SEAN ADIBI

y parents are Iranian immigrants and they were born into a Muslim household, but they aren’t practicing Muslims, so we do follow some Muslim customs, but not all of them. As my parents came to America, I feel like they felt the obligation to assimilate some of the American traditions, so even though we aren’t Christian, we do celebrate Christmas, because its more for the fun of it. We are Iranian Americans, and [Christmas] is one of the ways we express ourselves as Americans as well as Iranians. We mix the two cultures today. So rather than having a ham, we have different Iranian dishes.”

SENIOR JULIA KHAN

rowing up with a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, I’ve had these two different identities and these two different practices and these two different sides of my culture. I would say that this time of year, I get to see my family — I don’t consider this a particularly religious time of year… so it’s just festive in general and its fun to get together and have this sense of community. I would say I have a much stronger cultural tie to my family than a religious tie this time of year.”

INTERESTED IN GUEST-WRITING FOR TALON?

“I

SENIOR LAUREN JACOB

’m a Catholic, so the Advent season and Christmas are pretty important to my religion. I get to see a lot of my extended family over the break, which is a lot of fun. I also have an unhealthy obsession with Christmas music.”

If you would like to write about your stance on an issue that’s affecting students at our school, email Opinions Editor Hanna Khosravi at opinions.lahstalon@gmail.com with a summary of your idea.

The Talon December 15, 2015

7

Casualties of misunderstanding: The Vaccine Scare by anti-MMR campaigners! It had no controls. No experiment. The “evidence” was based on biased parental recall, which was later found to have been extensively falsified by the lead writer, Wakefield. Many of A baby drowning in needles! Abort- the co-authors listed on the study to ed fetuses are being fed to your chil- give it more credibility had almost no dren! Don’t trust the government! involvement in the process, and even In 1998, a man named Andrew less revision of the final document.

Wakefield published the deadliest sciSo why did he write it? Because Anentific paper of the last 20 drew Wakefield had years. In it, he details both a massive conflict of the medical backgrounds interest — prior to and neurodevelopmen- This is not an his experiment, he tal health problems of 12 attack on antiwas approached by a children, and based on his vaxxers... This lawyer, Richard Barr, own diagnostics, makes who essentially hired one damning claim: is an attack on Wakefield to write a there’s a link between au- ignorance. paper that would link tism and the widespread MMR to autism. Not MMR (measles, mumps, only would the duo be and rubella) vaccine. able to sue the vaccine companies, but As a parent, or a potential parent, they would also be able to fund a new what would you have done? Babies company providing diagnostic tests for were being born. People didn’t have this correlation — a predicted turnover time to do their own research. They of about 50 million dollars per year. read the headline, “Science links Vac50 million dollars. What would you cines to Autism,” and a growing trend do in the name of science? against vaccines was born. It’s not fair In 2010, following these revelato condemn these panicked parents — tions, Wakefield’s article was retractthey thought they were doing the right ed by the journal that published it thing. But they were wrong.

— an incredibly rare occurrence in Because Andrew Wakefield was the medical research industry. His not the pharmacy-fighting expert medical license was revoked. Since scientist so many anti-vaxxers be- publication, dozens of independent lieve him to be. The actual story articles have disproved his hypothbehind his fraudulent claims was ex- esis, analyzing over 14 million kids in posed by an investigative journalist, total. In case you missed that: WakeBrian Deer, who pointed out flaws in field examined 12 unfairly selected the research, the peer-review process children, and scientists have since and even in the author himself. looked at millions. No evidence has It wasn’t even a scientific study. It been found for a link between autism was simply a description of a dozen and the MMR vaccine. None at all. children, all of whom, as it turns That should have been the end of out, had been artificially selected the story.

JIM HOLLINGWORTH Staff Writer

But since 1998, the rumors have exploded. One small paper has evolved into a massive web of dubious science and fringe theories. Encouraged by the fear-provoking media coverage of Wakefield’s article, a network of fraudulent websites now exists dedicated to exposing the “evil” of a medical device responsible for saving millions of lives. Some of the leaders of this movement are out for profit, selling “alternative medicine,” while others are simply victims of a self-perpetuating cycle of bias reinforcement.

It’s very difficult to convince antivaxxers that they’re wrong. Many of them talk about a conspiracy of doctors and industry workers known as “Big Pharma” that is out to harm children and steal money. As a result, many harbor a strong distrust of formal medical science and all the evidence behind it. Without a strong factual basis to stand on, they focus instead on biased studies.

But this is not an attack on anti-vaxxers; many of them are good, concerned parents who are simply worried about their children.

This is an attack on ignorance.

Because it’s hard, right? Scientists like to hide their facts under mountains of data, with conservative conclusions: “an analysis of 29,000 children did not find any substantive evidence for a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.”

Meanwhile, anti-vaxxers use emotional appeals to scare people into subscribing to their cause: “FACT: VACCINES ARE KILLING OUR KIDS.” Which headline do you read?

But why do I care about this?

Why should you? Shouldn’t people be allowed to pursue their own medical paths?

There are people who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons, such as immune deficiency or allergies. These exceptions rely on a phenomenon known as “herd immunity” — the concept that if a very high percentage of the population is vaccinated and therefore immune, then disease will be unable to spread. The Center for Disease Control strongly recommends that at least 95 percent of a community is immunized. By choosing not to vaccinate their kids, anti-vaxxers threaten this entire structure.

For example: in 2014, a group of children in Disneyland whose parents decided not to vaccinate them, spread a preventable disease, measles, throughout the amusement park. Many of their victims were infants who were too young to receive the vaccine — casualties of ignorance.

So the people who choose not to

vaccinate their children aren’t just a danger to their offspring, they’re a danger to everyone. Sure, technically, it’s your right not to vaccinate.

But don’t expect me to sit in a room with your child — and don’t expect to send that kid to a public school.

Anti-vaxxers have a lot of legitimatesounding arguments. The ingredients in vaccines are toxic! Vaccines are derived from aborted fetuses! Babies can’t handle the demanding vaccination schedule! These are scary headlines.

They’re also completely untrue — but don’t take my word for it.

Do a google search. Check out an infographic. Watch a video. If you’re feeling brave, read a research paper. People get scared by things they don’t understand. So we have a responsibility, not just as potential parents but as intellectuals, to educate ourselves.

JIM HOLLINGWORTH

Reactions to the 2015 Paris attacks EMILY AOKI HANNA KHOSRAVI Features Editor Opinions Editor

In a multitude of different ways, social media has completely altered the way we disseminate information about the tragedies that take place in our world. Words spread virally, and humans, irrespective of where they are on this earth, get to express their opinions regarding such controversial topics more openly and vociferously.

In early November, Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated attacks by the terrorist organization ISIS. The immediate reaction in the media was one of mourning, the news punctuated by an outpouring of prayer for families who had lost loved ones and for the city of Paris itself.

Coupled with this massive display of empathy though, was a troubling question. A nearidentical attack in Beirut, a week prior, also carried out members of ISIS, garnered a fraction of the media coverage, and general outcry which Paris had received.

With this growing sentiment, the Internet exploded with messages of lament not only for Paris, but for the overlooked city of Beirut. Anna Ciezadlo of the Washington Post wrote that even the way that the media talks about the different attacks matters. The neighborhood bombed in Beirut, Bourj al-Baranjeh, was not described as a neighborhood or a place filled with living, breathing families and innocents who have seen far too much violence, but rather

a “Hezbolla Stronghold” where things like this inevitably happen because of the city’s geographic location on a map.

Perhaps Ciezadlo captured it the most apt way possible. “Paris is a city,” Ciezadlo said. “Beirut is a ‘war-zone’.”

The assumption that terrorist attacks simply “happen” in places like Lebanon, Syria and Iraq while in an elegant Western city like Paris such tragedy may be news worthy began to be attacked by writers and regular social media users everywhere.

The question that started popping up on Facebook, Twitter and other social-media outlets around the globe was whether it is fair that we turn a blind eye to the Middle Eastern countries currently rocked by warfare. In fact, should we not have more of an emotional response to these nations that have been endur-

ing war and displacement for so many years?

The Atlantic dubbed this idea as an “Empathy Gap,” articulating that the disparity has never before been seen so clearly as the present day.

“It’s become a predictable pattern: One act of violence in the world overshadows a similar, concurrent violent act, inviting a backlash against this imbalance in scrutiny, sympathy, and grief,” David A. Graham of The Atlantic said. “But that predictability doesn’t make the pattern any less distressing. Each time there’s a major terror attack in an American or European city —New York, Madrid, London, Paris, Paris again — it captures the attention and concern of Americans and Europeans in a way that similar atrocities elsewhere don’t seem to do.

Seldom do events line up so neatly, offering a clear comparison, as the

FLICKR USERS MAZUR/CATHOLICNEWS.ORG

People in London’s Trafalgar Square held a French flag in solidarity with the victims in Paris. Paris received an outpouring of mourning worldwide following the ISIS attacks, both in person and via social media.

bombings in Beirut and the rampage in Paris.”

This inequity extends to practical measures as well. In the wake of the French bombings, Facebook brought into effect a “Safety Check” tool for Parisians to affirm their safeness for relatives and friends, in the panic immediately following the news.

The similarly endangered Lebanese, however, had gone “Safety Check”-less.

“When the blasts went off in Beirut, there was no ‘safety check’ on Facebook for Lebanese — or Syrians or Palestinians — living in Bourj al-Barajneh,” Anna Lekas Miller of Rolling Stone Magazine said. “There were no visible solidarity demonstrations, showing support and compassion for those who lost their lives.”

People soon began to change their prayers for Paris to prayers for all of humanity struggling against the cancer that is ISIS. It is integral to remember the nations who are exposed to this violence constantly — just because they happen to be in the “war zone” does not mean that we must neglect their troubles.

It means that we must emphasize them even more.

This gap in coverage is indicative of the social problem of uninformed, fashionable support and grief. We are all familiar with Facebook’s “Change your profile photo to support France and the people of Paris” campaign. The next day, Facebook was painted in blue, white and red. Above all else, this is a tremendous and noble gesture rooted in a kinship

with our French allies. But it must be mentioned that when compassion and shared grief become trendy, we lose something. We add a superficial frame to something tragic. And this sort of thinking can foster uninformedness, and ultimately, forgetting.

It shouldn’t just be “cool” to put a filter on your photo to support a grieving city. It’s great that Facebook can help educate people on issues they may not have prior been exposed to, but it enables those who understand very little about the global conf licts that led to this type of terrorist action to express a sort of false support for Paris and the French people due to peer pressure.

Irrespective of these discrepancies, however, what happened in Paris is unforgivable and an affront to the entirety of humanity.

Paris will eventually win, as it has seen atrocities far worse than this — it has been the battleground for the French Wars of Religion, experienced the most dramatic revolution in history, the reign of the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, a war with Russia, Nazi occupation, and an endless history of adversity. And yet, Paris has risen to win every single time and is known to be one of the most stunning cities on the planet.

Those who open fire on innocent people are cowards, irrespective of their religion, ideology, creed, cause or nationality.

Human history has shown us repeatedly that in the end, cowards never win.

8

The Talon December 15, 2015

It’s time for recreational sports bit in the middle of the school day.”

Many factors influence students’ ability to participate in after-school sports. In many cases students often don’t have enough time or resources to make the commitment. With recreational sports, students can play during the school day and enjoy It’s dodgeball season, and the cam- the sport without worrying about pus buzzes with special energy over attending practices or games or perthe daily lunchtime tournaments. Stu- forming at a certain level. dents pummel each other with rubber “I like it because it’s a really fun sport balls while an announcer tallies every and there’s not really any commitpoint, hit and miss. It’s an exciting ac- ment,” team member senior Ashwin tivity that gets students’ blood pump- Krishna said. “It’s just a club, and so ing while also boosting their moods, you can just go and play whenever you so it only makes sense that the school want. There’s no required practices or should strive to establish more of these anything, and it’s just fun to play with activities. All students other people I wouldn’t will reap the benefits usually talk to.” of recreational sports The campus has a on campus if there are It definitely natural separation of more opportunities to helps me rediffering social groups get involved. duce stress. It’s and grade levels. It’s the It’s scientifically provresult of a variety of sysa great way for en that staying active tematic problems which during the day boosts me to relax a bit could be alleviated by mental and physical in the middle of recreational sports. health. According to the school day.

“I’ve made a lot of new the Washington Post, friends [through playing — senior Sam Morimoto fitter students score ultimate for four years],” higher on tests than Ashwin said. “Especially less-active ones. as a freshman, I [con“People really enjoy that euphoric as- nected with] seniors and juniors that I pect of a runner’s high and the clarity of wouldn’t normally have. It’s just a good mind you get from a routine workout,” way to connect with other people.” neuroscientist at the University of VicAs the school becomes more contoria in British Columbia Brian Chris- nected, students will have more emtie said in a Washington Post article. “If pathy and support for all students in you go out for a walk, your stress levels addition to being less stressed, more usually plummet. And that’s when the healthy and most importantly, more answer comes to you.” involved within the school.

Members of the Ultimate Frisbee Such a program would improve team, which is one of the larger rec- more than just students’ quality of reational teams on campus, vouch for life. Research has shown that frequent the relaxation this activity gives them. exercise actually enhances students’ “It definitely helps me reduce stress,” academic ability, reducing stress on the team member senior Sam Morimoto brain that improves capacity for cognisaid. “It’s a great way for me to relax a tive function in the long term.

Jim Goes to College

LAHS LEADERSHIP CLASS

By Jim Hollingworth MEILIN TSAO

Students play ultimate frisbee during lunchtime. Recreational sports like ultimate frisbee are beneficial to students both as a way to relieve energy and as a way to provide peace of mind to often stressed out students.

The first step towards establishing more recreational sports on campus begins with the student body. ASB is active and experienced in organizing recreational activities, and with enough interest from students, it can help set up a sports equipment bin for all students to use during brunch and lunch.

“I definitely think it’s feasible,” senior ASB activities commissioner Nate Spencley said. “It’s not very expensive to buy a few balls and some equipment for students to use. And I don’t think it would be difficult to have maybe teachers sign up for shifts every once in a while to watch students and make sure they return the balls. So I don’t think it’s too difficult of a project to undertake.”

The check-out system would likely entail students leaving their backpacks in a teacher’s classroom in return for balls and other equipment after lunch or brunch. A teacher or staff member would have to use lunch to facilitate this system, but that would require relatively minimal effort in exchange for so many benefits to the student body. “[The administration] would

maybe have to manage sharing [facilities] if there were two groups that wanted to play field hockey or [another sport],” Assistant Principal Galen Rosenberg said. “The challenge for the school is always the supervision and responsibility for [equipment] part… If we’re going to check out basketballs or street hockey equipment, how do we have a system that’s manageable to make sure we get it back, and if it’s broken, then who’s responsible? That’s not to say it’s not impossible.”

P.E. instructor Kiernan Raffo said that the P.E. department has the equipment and motivation to set up such a system with ease, so for students who stay on-campus during lunch, sports equipment could become a noontime staple.

The mental and physical health benefits are undeniable, and the boost in social connections on campus will help our school environment. So let’s get out of our seats, meet some new people and create a better campus for all.

Staff writer Avi Varghese contributed to this article

Negative effects of modern consumer culture increases and inflates the prices of its products as a sign of the quality Staff Writers of the product. Through clever marketing, Apple and many other tech companies have created a correlaIn modern society, big technol- tion in the consumer’s mind that the ogy companies like Apple, Google, social status of a consumer depends Netflix and Facebook have revolu- on the cost and brand of his devices. tionized the way consumers react This has caused a society where only and behave toward new products. looks really matter. Some may argue that this is positive as Modern consumerquality is considered in ism isn’t inherently priority over price, but bad, but its effects the materialistic greed have a negative im- Strive to really is a negative impact of pact on the modern understand the the marketing towards society overall. value behind social status.

As consumers, it products you The attachment of a makes sense for us buy — and then material item to social to want the highest status is by no means quality product for you’ll really be new, but like all concepts our money. But it more than just it is evolving and growturns out that many a statistic for ing in every era. Producprefer a product, a company to ers pump out new prodservice or platform ucts at an alarming rate for its brand name analyze. these days. One can exbecause we see these pect a new phone from material things as innearly every manufacturer every dicators of social status.

Social media applications like year, and to many, these items are Instagram and Snapchat adver- simply must-haves. However, it is tise many products to the public important to evaluate how different through their mediums and heavily these products actually are. Are we influence. Search Engine Optimiza- purchasing the newest phone for a tion (SEO) is a new feature that has significant upgrade we need, or berevolutionized the way companies cause it is new? There are legitimate like Facebook and Google advertise cases of both.

“I think nowadays, social media their services to users. SEO is the process by which the Google search definitely impacts what students engine maximizes the number of want to buy , [and they can also be] visitors to a particular site by make really be influenced by what celebrithe site appear higher on the list of ties think… it can also be on TV or in a newspaper,” school psychologist relevant sources for a certain topic.

Apple, for example, purposefully Chad Ablang said.

AKHIL JAKATDAR MICHAEL SIEFFERT

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KUNAL PANDIT

In classrooms all over campus, Apple laptops are incredibly popular.

Apple is an example of a company that holds onto a large fanbase although they raise product prices with minimal innovation.

In recent years, technology has experienced exponential growth through the efforts of technology giants. Although this has completely revolutionized the consumer market, companies have taken the advantage of their consumers by creating products that aren’t very innovative, but that are “new.”

This concept of “new” being innovative was created by marketing teams to lure consumers into needlessly buying products that have very little innovation. Because of good reviews from previous products like the iPhone series from Apple, consumers are convinced into buying the newest type of the product such as the iPhone 6S, simply because of the branding. The iPhone 6S is still essentially the same phone as the iPhone 6, only with minor updates. Clever marketing strategies, however, convince consumers that “the only thing has changed is ev-

erything,” in response to the former claim that nothing significant has been altered.

The new type of consumerism has created a generation of consumers who spend too much time looking at the brand and getting caught up in trends that they lose sight of the real innovations that can change society for the better. Companies, knowing what consumers want, are more motivated to appease the demand, and thus creates a neverending cycle than doesn’t benefit the overall good of society in any way.

But there are ways to turn this consumerism into a positive aspect of our society. Look beyond the obvious, the ads that are right there in your face all the time. Strive to really understand the value behind products you buy — and then you’ll really be more than just a statistic for a company to analyze.

Hi, Sweetie!

A scenario: It’s three years from now, and I’m in the depths of college. One evening, as a study break, a group of my friends and I decide to walk downtown for some ice cream. We’re talking about difficult classes, and our exciting sports teams, and last weekend’s fun party, when suddenly – we run into my mother.

“Hi, sweetie!” she says, in a cheek-pinching sort of way.

“Hi, mom,” I mumble, as my cheeks turn red and my friends stifle their giggles. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I imagined my independent college years.

One of the biggest decisions in the application process is where to apply. Physically. I’m not just applying to colleges, I’m applying to their surroundings — to city streets and hot dog stands, or to green hills and huddled cows. And one of the most important factors of that decision is how close to home I’d like to be.

In case you didn’t know, America is actually quite enormous. I’m looking at universities on the west coast that I can reach by scooter, and others on the east coast that I can still technically reach by scooter but will more likely require an airplane, a full body scan and an overly expensive ticket.

There are benefits to living nearby, or at least attending an in-state institution. The ability to come home for the holidays is not a luxury to overlook. It’s reassuring to know that you can return to the dinner table to eat something other than ramen once every now and then, and it’s even more valuable to know that you could potentially contact family in the event of a serious problem. Plus, going to in-state colleges is (generally) a smart way to save money, and living at home is a smart way to do laundry.

But I’ve lived in the same town for over ten years.

I see the same landscapes every single day. Despite some effort to diversify­, I find myself surrounded by a lot of people with the same mindsets, political beliefs and ambitions that I have. Even though I’m old enough now to travel occasionally to San Francisco or drive to Palo Alto for a night of ice-cream sandwiches and Apple gadgets, it’s beginning to feel repetitive.

Even the sphere of Californian influence is a little stifling. As much as I love this state, I want to experience the pessimism of the east coast, or the lifestyle of the midwest, or, y’know, winter. I want to experience total disassociation from what I know here, and suffer the uncushioned consequences of my mistakes.

There are upsides and downsides to every location, and there’s no definite distance that signifies independence — it’s as based on mindset as it is on location. There’s tremendous value, however, in new experiences. Anyone who’s worried about straying out of their comfort zone should grab their scooter.

The Talon December 15, 2015

9

Read more features articles at lahstalon.org/category/features

POETRY, MUSIC, WRITING: ARTISTS OF LAHS BOOKER MARTIN Staff Writer

D

EMILY TERADA Senior Writer

INTRODUCTION

uring the day, the library serves as a vivacious study spot. But on a chilly night in early November, it turned into a stage where students could share their work while sipping on in-house coffee. For the first time, the school hosted Open Mic Night — an opportunity for students to

express themselves in ways that are not often seen in the classroom. In the following spread, several artists, many of whom performed during Open Mic Night, share their experiences on their performances and art that has influenced them throughout their lives.

FRANCESCA FALLOW

Viktor Niemiec

MICHAEL SIEFFERT

Juniors Viktor Niemiec (left) and Derek Mark (right) perform at the Open Mic Night in the library. Viktor sings and plays the guitar, while Derek beatboxes.

J

unior Viktor Niemiec is a poet and musician.

“I look for inspiration in songs I hear, conversations I have or even the rhythm of footsteps,” Viktor said. “Out of the blue, I’ll hear a word, rhyme or even sound that excites me and puts me into a place where I want to build my own verses off of it and express how I am feeling through it, whether that be a positive or negative outlook.”

Viktor has always been drawn to words and poetry.

“Since I was little, I kept a notebook where I wrote down words

that rhymed or captivated my attention in some way,” Viktor said.

“I started to realize the extent your word choice and how you say things affects how others will perceive you and understand your experiences.”

However, performing is not always easy for Viktor.

“The scariest part is the anticipation and the fear that you are going to disappoint the crowd with a piece of art that wasn’t original, or fails to connect to the people watching,” Viktor said.

In Viktor’s case, the rewards of performing far outweigh the challenges.

Margo Lusinchi

MICHAEL SIEFFERT

Junior Margo Lusinchi recites her original poetry from her phone at the Open Mic Night in the library. Poetry has served as a creative outlet and therapy for Margo.

S

ometimes expressing thoughts and feelings can be challenging, especially when they connect to one’s deeper and more private experiences. However, junior Margo Lusinchi has discovered a way to overcome this barrier through the art of poetry.

“I think [poetry] is a great way to discover your voice and your way of expressing yourself,” Margo said. “Every person’s poetry reveals something different about his or her self.”

Margo was introduced to poetry in elementary school but took interest in the art when her middle-school English class introduced in-depth poetry analysis. She was intrigued by the messages weaved within the words and realized poetry was an

effective way to make a difference.

“Looking at other people’s poetry can broaden people’s perspectives,” Margo said.

Margo does not actively seek motivation for poetry; motivation finds her. If something strikes her in a certain way, she reflects upon it during the day and often writes down the experience the first chance she can.

“When I am feeling a very specific emotion that is overwhelming or hard to express, I like to write about it,” Margo said. “A lot of my poetry is observations turned into generalizations and theories on the world and its people.”

Poetry appeals to Margo because it nourishes creativity. She constantly pushes the boundaries of imagination to make her writing effective, reflecting that oversaturated topics

“Nothing beats the feeling you get seeing faces smile as you throw out a verse that no one expected or a rhyme that resonates with you,” Viktor said.

In contrast, writing down personal works can also be gratifying, even if those works are not shared.

“I am most proud of my un-named verses that I always have in my notebook or scribbled down in a conglomerate of meshed emotion,” Viktor said.

Although poetry can be difficult, Viktor encourages others to hold on to the unique pieces they create, even ones that they might not be proud of.

“Don’t ever scrap your work because you think the idea isn’t worth pursuing,” Viktor said. “Even if it is not your best work, if you thought of it and it is truly yours it’s worth keeping around. Don’t obsess over others’ notion of perfection. Reflect who you truly are in your writing.”

By encouraging others to experiment with new forms of expression, Viktor hopes others will discover a love for poetry and other forms of art.

“Find other people that have that same passion,” Viktor said. “By finding others who share the same interest, they can pushed you out of your comfort zone into a new world of expression. Chances are, you won’t regret doing it.” tend to degrade a poem’s power.

“I think a lot of people look down upon poetry — assuming it to always be about love and rain and other cliche material,” Margo said. “But when looked at in depth, I think poetry can do one a lot of good.”

Margo feels that a vital aspect of poetry is being more vulnerable to others.

“What’s really important is to not feel embarrassed about what you write,” Margo said. “I know that a lot times I [am] ashamed of a certain thought or idea and [am] scared to write it down.”

Margo attempts to realize every potential topic she encounters.

While some subjects never leave the pages of her journal, others are brought to life through revisions and, most importantly, being shared with others.

“There are a lot of things that feel impossible to admit or tell people, but it’s not good to keep it all in,” Margo said. “For that reason, poetry has created both an escape and a blank canvas for me to spill out whatever I’m feeling.”

Margo’s raw emotion is apparent when she performs, a result of her prioritizing meaning above “flowery imagery.” “[Poetry] has made me feel more confident and free. It has created a kind of therapy that I have found nowhere else,” Margo said.

Emily Goto

ALLEGRA MAESO

Senior Emily Goto writes in her notebook. Since she was young, Emily has enjoyed creating many forms of visual and literary art.

A

t a young age, senior Emily Goto fell in love with making both visual and literary art.

“I’ve always been interested in writing, but [it was] probably reading [that] got me interested in writing because the moment you read something that’s really good, you’re like, ‘I want to make that,’” Emily said.

Emily’s passion for creating art stems from her early education.

“I went to a school that was very arts-focused,” Emily said. “The moment I left, I realized I needed to be driving my own artistic path so that I could be who I am.”

Being able to pursue numerous directions within art and writing has allowed her to gain insight on future projects.

“The reason I do so many different things is because I feel like ultimately those things support each other,” Emily said. “Like I’ll even start knitting and then I’ll come up with something to do.

It’s like having a lot of creative outlets allows me to gain inspiration from all of them and make stuff at the same time.”

Through words and artwork,

she believes that something significant can be gained from being confident in her work.

“I think there’s a power in showing things to people, but there’s also a power in knowing in yourself that something you do is like, ‘Oh that thing I just did, I think that’s one of the best things I could have ever done,’” Emily said. “Just having that compass for yourself. Now I can say for myself that that was good.”

Her philosophy on art is to look at different forms of selfexpression and gain insight from previous experience.

“Don’t start from nothing,” Emily said. “Whether that something is reading a short story and being like ‘Oh my god, that image is just so beautiful, I need to draw it.

Or whether it’s ‘Oh that line of poetry is just right. What happens if I take that line of poetry and then change it. Or take all of the words out and put something else.’ I think starting from something is seriously powerful because starting from nothing is seriously intimidating.”

For more features on performing artists, visit

www.lahstalon. org/category/ features MICHAEL SIEFFERT

The Talon December 15, 2015

PERCE

PTION

R E A L I TY

“

I’VE ALWAYS SAID YOU ONLY GET ONE FIRST IMPRESSION. OFTEN PICTURES AND GRAPHICS ARE THE FIRST THING YOU’RE NATURALLY DRAWN TO. THEY GIVE YOU A REAL OVERVIEW, EVEN IF IT’S NOT EXACTLY WHAT THE ARTICLE IS SAYING.” — JUNIOR ADAM ROSENBAUM

WHICH CARTOON CHARACTER ARE YOU?

BEYOND TH

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?

A

B

APARTMENT

COUCH

C PENTHOUSE

WHICH FOOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO EAT?

A POMEGRANATES AND YOGURT

B

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED POTATO CHIPS

C FRIED EGGS AND BACON

PICK A COLOR.

A PURPLE

B YELLOW

C SILVER

IF YOU SELECTED MOSTLY A’S, YOU ARE RAPUNZEL FROM “TANGLED;” IF YOU SELECTED MOSTLY B’S, YOU ARE JAKE FROM “ADVENTURE TIME;” IF YOU SELECTED MOSTLY C’S YOU ARE HOWL FROM “HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE;” IF YOU SELECTED A MIX OF LETTERS, YOU ARE SPONGEBOB FROM “SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS”

ENTERTAINMENT VISUALS n this fast-paced world, peoIvisuals ple and industries are using as a way to communicate

emotionally compelling ideas for their entertainment value. Visual media catches our eye when we open any modern social media platform, and it is a crucial part of our entertainment intake and social lives.

The influence of modern visuals is becoming greater with social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook, some of the most widely consumed idea and information sharing platforms. Providing alternatives to traditional visual entertainment on magazines, TVs and in movie theaters, the rise of the internet, along with increased photo and video sharing, has pushed the production and consumption of visuals to much higher levels. Social media increases dialogue and personal communication and these aspects are what modern-day entertainment looks

like to the public.

This change can clearly be seen today in two areas: mass advertising and individual media sharing.

Corporations employ entertainment-based visuals in advertising to catch attention, and many websites, whose business models rely on getting views, use visuals to create reactions and intrigue audiences. Communication serves a primary role in reaching out to audiences and creating a need for a certain product or piquing interest.

Nike’s image-based marketing campaign is a good example of the advertising industry’s need for visuals to inspire purchases.

Instead of using paragraphs and logic to explain the values of their products, Nike illustrates action and usability in images, displaying aesthetics in their products that cannot be conveyed through text. Customers are also attracted more by these graphics because rather than being told why they

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF V

should buy Nike, they are shown why they should buy Nike.

These advertisements use visuals as the primary sources of information for its audience, supplemented with catch-phrases and its famous logo which are ultimately much more eye-catching and persuasive than any amount of text Nike could provide to potential buyers. To communicate with larger audiences, Nike and many other companies are advertising through social media — in Twitter feeds and Facebook posts. With society’s online presence increasing, social media is a powerful tool for these companies to push their brand names. Company logos become imprinted in consumers’ memories simply due to their frequent appearance on major social networking sites.

Social media has also become a powerful communication tool for the average individual, too.

According to The Social Times, as of June 9, Snapchat users

WRITERS: HANNA KHOSRAVI, OPINIONS EDITOR ALEX WONG, STAFF WRITER | ALEXIS MALGESI ER | ELI COLBERT, STAFF WRITER | JIM HOLL STAFF WRITER | RACHEL LU, STAFF WRITER GRAPHIC ARTISTS: MIRANDA LI, GRAPHIC A

W

hen we were kids, the things that appealed most to us had to meet simple requirements: They had to be brightly colored, they had to be shiny and they had to be interesting enough for us to drop whatever had been holding our attention (quite literally) and make our way over to the new thing.

Most of the time, this intrigue lasted all of about 60 seconds before another thing came along to steal our attention, and so began the process all over again.

For a 2-year-old, this might have been a yellow plastic duck, but over a decade later, these requirements haven’t really been dismissed — they’ve only evolved. The things that catch our eyes today still have to be vivid, have some degree of luster and, more than anything, they have to be relevant. We’ve grown up and now we care about more important things: work, grades, our social lives and eventually college; we don’t care about yellow ducks anymore.

Visuals have methods behind them, whether they are meant to entertain or inform people. Those who create visuals make sure that our judgements aren’t our own at all — they’re exactly what the article, magazine, or advertisement wants them to be. Visuals that we believe exist only for the purpose of entertaining us can have

shared 8,796 photos per second, and Facebook users shared 4,501 photos per second. Images speak louder than words and also allow people to entertain others on a highly personal level.

With our phones and media surrounding us all the time, we can easily snap a photo of something interesting and upload it.

These photos represent a larger truth, a moment frozen in time and transmittable to share with friends and family.

For larger media presences such as celebrities, social media uploads entertain masses of fans with doses of celebrities’ whereabouts and actions. Many fans

hunger for more knowledge of their favorite celebrity, and platforms such as Instagram allow celebrities to provide those fans with exactly that.

As in journalism, there is a huge element of production and selection that goes on behind the scenes of both corporate and consumer-generated entertainment.

In many cases, this careful selection and representation of only the author’s intended emotional effect is forgotten and people take what they see as reality. We should be aware of this method and make sure we are truly spending time to evaluate the content we are consuming for enjoyment.

The Talon December 15, 2015

INFORMATIONAL VISUALS any of us, in response to the M question of how we learn best, would probably say that vi-

sual learning plays an immense role in how we understand concepts, ideas and definitions. Be it in the form of a graphic or image, visuals can serve as some of the most powerful and accessible informational vessels, and the power they have in accentuating our ability to learn is vast.

“Illustrations, charts, diagrams and photos can often explain more than words,” Dee Dickin-

son of the Johns Hopkins School of Education said. “They make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable; they make information memorable; and they can facilitate learning.”

According to the Social Science Research Network, 65 percent of all people are visual learners. They process best when given an image to relate to and absorb information more quickly when given a perceptible display.

Thanks to the rapid growth of social media, people are spend-

HE SCREEN

ing more and more time focusing on their electronic screens and the ever-growing collection of memes, graphics and Instagram posts. More and more people are able to share their voices and opinions using visuals, as the technology to create and share images becomes more accessible.

In journalism, visuals are often used for their eye-catching appeal. Chunks of text are not only intimidating to the human eye and mind, but also lack any true visual stimulation and can therefore turn off the reader.

However, one of the most overlooked aspects of visual journalism is that there is always a limitation to what is represented. When a photographer snaps a photo of a catastrophic event, viewers only see what the lens can cover. When a graphic artist chooses which

VISUAL MEDIA ON OUR LIVES

R | TEDDY CHMYZ, COPY/CONTENT EDITOR | INI, STAFF WRITER | BEN ZAESKE, STAFF WRITLINGWORTH, STAFF WRITER | PAOLA CAMPOS, R | FRANCESCA FALLOW, PHOTOGRAPHER ARTIST | VANESSA MARK, GRAPHIC ARTIST

hidden agendas and convey ideas that shape the way we think.

Yet, sometimes visuals are misinterpreted in the eyes of the viewers.

We often assume that what we see is reality, and something as simple as a filtered Instagram photo is put on a pedestal and glorified as the way our lives should look. At this point, visuals that are actually designed with the sole purpose of entertaining become misleading.

Things are in constant competition with everything else for our attention, and ever since that yellow duck caught our eyes over a decade ago, we’ve been trained to look for the next great thing to fascinate us.

So, bold headlines have become our friends, because anything that IS WRITTEN LIKE THIS must be important. Vibrant-colored pictures are used to bring dull stories to life, because a series of sentences printed in black in white is so boring and not worth our time. Statistics and graphs have been blown up for easier reading, because if fractions of our entire academic careers have been dedicated to teaching us the value of a number then they must mean something to us.

In this spread, The Talon takes an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of creating entertaining and informational visuals and how these pictures shape the way we see the world.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, ARE YOU ONE? 1

2

3

4

5 6 7 VISIT LAHSTALON.ORG FOR THE ANSWERS.

ACROSS: 1. GOOGLE DRIVE’S ANONYMOUS _____BARA. 5. DOUBLE STUFFED. 6. LESS FUN THAN WATCHING A MOVIE. 7. SPACEBOUND. DOWN: 1. POP FOOD. 2. _____ 51.

3. TWO IN A POD. 4. POWERFUL, YOU HAVE BECOME. EXTRA CHALLENGE: CREATE YOUR OWN 4X4 PUZZLE AND BRING IT TO ROOM 409 BY THE END OF TUESDAY 12/15 FOR A PRIZE.

statistics to incorporate into their visual to create the most compelling message, viewers only see that specific perspective on the issue. It’s important to keep in mind that there are always more perspectives than what’s being represented.

While visuals were initially seen as additives to the text of the article, they have now grown to be almost as or even as influential as articles themselves. Take TIME Magazine. The popular publication holds competitions for “photographs of the year” and also emphasizes photographs, as well as articles, as a crucial part of its works.

With the rapid growth of technology, graphic design has also seen a hike in popularity as a career option. Artists now have the chance to pursue it as a major,

“

channeling not only their artistic ambition, but connecting that ambition with the new age of technological advancement.

At the hand of a skilled graphic artist, a paragraph of text littered with statistics, percentages and complicated data can be replaced with a meaningful and visually captivating representation of the author’s message.

In journalism, visuals represent a snapshot. While they attempt to encompass entire ideas and convey and communicate, they can only do so within a range of available voices. Informative visuals can shed light on situations in ways that can truly connect with viewers and readers everywhere, and simultaneously, audiences should always seek more interpretations to ensure they have truly seen the whole picture.

MOST PEOPLE DON’T REALLY READ WHOLE ARTICLES; THEY USUALLY JUST READ SNIPPETS OR SEE VIDEOS OR PICTURES. SO VISUALS ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE’S ONLY SOURCE OF NEWS.” — SOPHOMORE AEVIA TRAINOR

12

The Talon Debember 15, 2015

New class combines fitness and leadership TINO TUGWETE Staff Writer

The word leadership is often associated with power, control and radiant confidence. It can be difficult for some students to identify with this model, and sometimes they don’t know how they can become a strong leader themselves.

To help bridge the gap between a student’s ideas of leadership and reality, social studies teacher Christa Wemmer established the new Leadership class this year, a seventh period class consisting of sophomores and juniors who learn about fitness and how to get involved on campus.

“I really wanted to work with a group of students and work on health and fitness,” Wemmer said.

“I did this before at another high school where I taught students to run and lift weights and I saw incredible results in health, fitness, self-esteem and being connected as a group, so I wanted to do something similar here.”

During seventh period, Wemmer pours her passion for teaching fitness, health and leadership skills into the new class. Many of her students are from her former Skills classes, several of whom are still currently in the Skills or AVID programs. Leadership offers all students a chance to gain health and fitness habits along with leadership skills and community participation.

“I always wanted to be a leader and I didn’t know how or how to get involved,” junior Natalie Munguia said. “I just felt [that joining] ASB [would be] a little too stressful, so then I decided to join Leadership. So far, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences which [have]

affected me to be a better person their health and fitness. academically and socially.”

“I’d like them to see the importance Wemmer was inspired to pilot of nutrition and exercise,” Wemmer the course after realsaid. “We’ve talked izing that many of about diets a lot and I her Skills students think just being more lacked a strong con- So far, I’ve had aware of what you put nection on campus. in your body and how it nothing but “I think the biggest affects you health-wise, thing is to be part of positive experistress-wise and your Los Altos High School ences which energy level [is a] big and to be doing some- [have] affected goal.” thing positive that me to be a On most days, the helps the school while students begin class giving back and tak- better person with a warm-up jog ing on that leadership academically or track workout role,” Wemmer said. and socially. around the school.

“A lot of the students The class then moves — junior Natalie that are in the class are into the dance room Munguia not in a sport, extrawhere Wemmer leads curricular or club, and free-weight workso I think a big goal is getting them outs, focusing on the entire body. connected more to the campus.”

“I liked working out before, In this community, students but I didn’t really understand are exposed to some of these why I should work out,” Natalie options while taking care of said. “I just thought it was fun,

FRANCESCA FALLOW

Students interview a subject for an Opinions article in Skills teacher Christa Wemmer’s new class Leadership. The class helps students gain confidence in themselves through activities on leadership as well as health and fitness.

but now I’m learning how to be healthy and that’s more important. I’m taking it more seriously and so I’ve been exercising more and eating healthy.”

On other days, the class will meet in the classroom to work on nutrition lessons focused on different topics. During these sessions, the students will often plan different campus events that impact the student body. Working with other student groups, such as LSU and ASB, they help plan and organize events like Family Skills Night, Spirit week and the Holiday Fair. These events are a chance for Leadership students to apply the skills they learn in the classroom to reality.

“This class has taught me a lot,” said sophomore Ashly Salgado Cruz. “It has also really helped me with my shyness… this class forces you, in a good way, to interact with others on campus. It [involves] a lot of interaction with other clubs, school officials, and just students in general. It really helped me get out of my shell and become more social.”

The true colors of the class come through with the passion and enthusiasm these students carry and the support they have for each other, while getting to play a more integral role on campus. Since joining the class, many students have gained interest in joining other school programs and various school sports.

“They love participating,” Wemmer said. “That’s the strength of the class. Now they want to do events and they want to be visible on campus and I wasn’t expecting what I’ve found… I feel like we’ve tapped into something they want to do.”

By Eli Colbert

Vol. 3: Huh Sometimes the broadest part of us is what the people we know, the people we share coffee, a kiss, a fist with, think of us. This is paralyzing. Sometimes not. Anyhow, sometimes we don’t want to come home.

Went to Dolores Park, But Felt No Pain

By Margo Lusinchi

butt poised on a bench, a sandy one surrounded with pushes down the slide and pushes to the side. with the blink of an eye friends are made.

And underneath your sweater, your arms sweat and inside your boots, your feet are quiet with blisters. and the sun lightens your hair your face, your body and your soul; your thoughts now too bright to cross your own mind.

As you sit on a bench suddenly you’re playing hacky sack with some free-spirited 20 year-olds, suddenly you’re reading the book you didn’t bring, in the hammock you don’t have playing beer pong at 16.

As you sit on that bench. you watch, and it’s amazing how many people recognize a good day and meet on a hill of grass. there’s mud beneath all of us, You are sharing this cloudless sky, this electric sun, this city like a square on a quilt. the borders just thick enough for everyone around you to remain in complete mystery.

Exhibit CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE The two founders loved art, but they could not find sufficient time or space to promote it, so they started the gallery. From Spare Change’s official website, the goal of the exhibit is “to create an environment where art enthusiasts will better understand personal finances and where everyone will better understand art.”

“We wanted to make a show about moveable art, call it ‘Things that Go Up and Down,’ and then curate with [this class],” Fletcher said. “Bobby Soto approached me, and someone in his class found this call for art and the need for moveable art.

Rather than curate a bunch of artists, I [choose] this group of students, and that’s how it was.”

The firm felt like environmental art was the most appropriate form of art at this moment in time as global warming has become a major subject of debate in recent years.

Remarkably, Soto and Alcala’s science class was working on a project exactly like that.

“An art contest presented itself through the Spare Change Artist Space Exhibit, where we submitted five kinetic art pieces that related to the the theme, ‘Things that Go Up and Down’ as we are studying up and down climate change in Environmental Science,” Soto said.

The pieces were the result of two weeks of hard work and dedication to create their anthropogenic models of the effects of climate change.

Choose Your Own Poetry Adventure!

‘Home’

MICHAEL SIEFFERT

Left to right: juniors Ronaldo Flores, Martin Quezada and Luis Arias Diaz pose next to their artwork. The environmental science class’s artwork is currently being featured in the “Things that Go Up and Down” art show at the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco.

“The end result was an art exhibit where our students had to share the story that their artwork represented about global warming and climate change, which involved the study of fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, COP21 Paris conferences and human activity that causes excess of amounts of carbon emissions,” Soto said.

Starting with understanding the main concept of climate change, the students began building their artwork with the intention of proving their knowledge of the environment through the meaning of their sculptures.

“I learned a lot of things, actually that I wouldn’t have learned in normal class,” junior Luis Arias Diaz said. “I learned about everything that is happening in the world, what’s happening up north

with the glaciers melting, and with all the global warming that is happening around Earth.”

After the artists’ reception on Thursday, many of the artists shared how this project truly tested their limits and taught them more about the environmental science they were learning in class. Many lacked the grasp of knowledge in environmental sciences and had to slowly build it up throughout the process of creating their work. The time restraints were a massive obstacle, and tested the resolve and work ethics of many of the students.

“In the beginning, we [thought] were never going to beat the contest and were not going to make it, but right now, we made it,” Luis said.

For some students, this project and exhibition opportunity in-

spired them to take a stand in society and to go more in-depth into the field of environmental science.

“I find it really interesting that many people don’t know about this, don’t know what burning a fossil fuel is, [and] carbon dioxide,” junior John Dunn said. “Most people take it for granted... [Now] I’m really interested into getting into environmental science.”

Although the artists’ reception was only available on Thursday, November 19, the exhibit will continue to run through January 8, 2016. The exhibit, which is held at the Merchants Exchange Building located at 465 California St, San Francisco, is free to the public.

“You never know what is taking place in the world until you start learning about it, and now I know more,” senior Zajari Aguilera said.

By Eli Colbert

I have taken something which isn’t mine, so I know what’s waiting for me at home. The micro explosions of gnats looking for something in the porchlight.

They will be calling me inside.

Grandma makes jell-o salad by the sink with boiled peanuts and tufts of carrot. Long ago, my parents babyproofed the house. They took the edges off of wobbly chairs and art deco coffee tables. They put assorted adult items into drawers, vibrators still chiseling beneath oak in the night. The dog went missing and wasn’t found: solace swallowed tragedy. The limestone breathed with her. They wondered why they didn’t cry after sex.

The unspooled wedding tape and the dress barked pale by bright air.

My aunts and uncles will be talking: “Don’t wear so much make up. I don’t like the thought of being in bed with someone who’s not truly naked.” My father will be on the telephone: “The wedding trunk is closed, and keeper of how I opened you.” My mother’s voice on the answering machine, at home: “There’s $20 on the table for your lunches, and a lightweight poncho for rainy days.”

The Talon December 15, 2015

13

SET Club promotes fun, relaxed science SET offers a more flexible option for students to pursue projects and ideas that are not present in exist“It’s a serious club, but it’s in- ing science courses and intends to sanely fun,” senior Science and create an environment away from Engineering Team public relations the classroom that can appeal to officer Aditya Vohra said. everybody’s scientific curiosity.

The Science and Engineering “[SET] is sort of like that soft spot Team (SET) is planning an upaway from the compecoming venture that titions, behind maybe just may top their list robotics or participatof “most dangerous SET is sort of ing in science fairs; it’s projects.” By mixing a little more homekitty litter and sugar, like that soft grown, easy-to-manalong with other in- spot away from age,” Paul said. gredients, in a hollow the competiHowever, SET didn’t cylinder and lighting tions, behind start with such a cait aflame, the SET sual outlook. When maybe robotics should be able to crePaul founded the ate a rocket that can or participating club two years ago, launch up to 2,000 in science fairs; the purpose of SET feet high. As SET it’s a little more was to help students president senior Paul participate in science home-grown, Dennig put it, the refairs with team-built sult should be “pretty easy-to-manage. projects. sick.”

— SET president “I started out the senior Paul Dennig The goal of SET is to club because I parmake science and enticipated in science gineering as approachable as pos- fairs—I still participate in science sible. By focusing on projects with fairs—because I thought it was the goal being to have fun, the club really great,” Paul said. “I did a lot hopes to lower members’ stress and of cool projects and I feel like dopressure from competition. The ing science fairs is something that

JESSICA KING

Entertainment Editor

most people associate with ‘this is really fun!’ It was [fun] for me and I wanted to share it with people, but I went about trying to encourage people the wrong way.”

The idea was that students could bring their ideas to the club meetings, and the team would work together to create them. When only a small number of kids showed up, Paul realized that he needed to reform the focus of the club and shift it to a more casual purpose.

“We reframed the club’s purpose the second year around, and we ended up just doing cool projects,” Paul said. “Instead of thinking about competing in science fairs… we just were more relaxed.

We started doing projects in Mr. Randall’s room for our own fun, not really for anything else. That’s the main idea. It’s not a science fair club, and it’s not robotics club either, it’s just doing cool projects.”

On any given week, SET’s projects can range from intense, month-long undertakings to quick ideas that span a single meeting. Some of its recent ventures include radios and holograms made from transparencies, which the team sold at the Holi-

TALON FILE PHOTO

RACHEL LU

Above: Sophomore Attila Delingat gets ready to test out a handmade remote control airplane with the rest of the Science and Engineering Team. Bottom left: The Rubens’ tube, a visual representation of sound waves, that the team created last year. The club aims to provide a comfortable and relaxing environment for high school students to pursue science with group projects and experiments. day Fair on Friday, December 11.

One of the team’s more wellknown projects is its first one, the Rubens’ tube, a tube that uses compressed gas to create a visual representation of sound waves through fire. Creating the waves of flame was one of the more long-term projects the SET took on. Operating out of the science wing, the SET has a variety of resources, but usually holds fundraisers or donation drives for project materials. However, unlike other projects, the Rubens’ tube was completely funded by the science department in exchange for the final product. After building it, SET donated it to the school to be used in class demonstrations

after the team fixes it up.

Though Paul will be leaving for college in the upcoming fall, the SET is all set to carry on. By giving his officers greater control over the club this year, Paul is ensuring that they will all be prepared to handle the management of the team once he is gone.

“I hope that it’s [going to] continue and I hope that it’s [going to] be in the same spirits that it is right now,” Paul said. “I think we offer something unique. It’s not too overbearing and it’s not crazy, but it’s meant to inspire sort of casual interest, which is something a lot of people can develop really easily.

It’s something we really have and want to share with other people.”

SOPUDEP provides assistance to Haitians in need tive to the Haitians because around 78 percent of the popuSenior Writer lation lives in poverty. In order Staff Writer to combat the vicious cycle of hardship, education and supThe Society of Province Unit- port need to be given to the Haied for Economic Development tian people. SOPUDEP was one of Petion Ville, better known as of the many organizations that SOPUDEP, is an organization stepped into help, even before founded in Port-au-Prince, Hai- the 2010 earthquake happened.

In addition to education, SOti. SOPUDEP’s principle focus is to provide education for poor PUDEP has created a mobile clinic to provide children, and create additional health programs to help services to those economically grow SOPUDEP is spe- who can’t access it. the community.

With volunteer docThe leader of SO- cial because it PUDEP is Madam raises the aware- tors and nurses, the clinic offers vital Réa Dol, who has ness level about medications to the worked with the population.

Haitian commu- what our fellow History teacher nity for years. SO- humans are goSeth Donnelly, who PUDEP was formed ing through not is the advisor for in 2001 to combat only in Haiti but Solidarity the lack of educain many different Haiti Club, was involved tion and poverty in in SOPUDEP before Haiti and overcome places around the Haiti Club was social barriers. In the world, therestarted. Seth has the 2010 earth- fore it raises been going there quake, SOPUDEP empathy in us. since the early 2000s was thrust into the —Haiti Club advisor and has become exfray and struggled Seth Donnelly tremely invested in to keep up with the Haiti. From donattumultuous problems that followed in the quake. ing money and supplies firstSOPUDEP has worked toward hand in Haiti to managing a improving the education of ar- garden to helping support doeas in poverty by providing free nations, he has truly gone above education to 80 percent of kin- and beyond to aid SOPUDEP in dergarten through 12th grade its fight for a better Haiti.

“I got connected to SOPUDEP schools and initiating a scholarship program for high school because I was in a small human graduates in fields such as engi- rights delegation and met Réa who was also heavily involved in Haineering and medicine.

This assistance is impera- tian human rights,” Donnelly said.

CHRIS DADOK SAVITA GOVIND

After he began to become heavily invested in SOPUDEP he and a student created the Haiti Club as an instrument to aid SOPUDEP. Every year in April students travel to Haiti in order to help create change with SOPUDEP. “SOPUDEP is special because it raises the awareness level about what our fellow humans are going through not only in Haiti but in many different places around the world, therefore it raises empathy in us,” Donnelly said. “It also raises the bar for us because we see how much people like Réa and SOPUDEP students are accomplishing under such difficult circumstances.”

SOPUDEP has gained international recognition, being featured in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist.

“Google has said that whatever we raise and donate, it will match,” Donnelly said. “If Google matches our $40,000 donation, it will turn into $80,000, which would cover teachers salaries for over a year and a half.”

SOPUDEP has spread to college campuses from Stanford to the University of Colorado, with more students and young volunteers traveling to SOPUDEP’s school in Haiti. Even with numerous multi-million dollar NGO’s in the country, corruption is still present in Haiti which causes a major problem for SOPUDEP. “There have been multiple recorded instances of fraud,” Don-

ALLEGRA MAESO

Society of Province United for Economic Development of Petion ville (SOPUDEP) leader Madam Réa Dol and her husband Bataille Dol at their presentation in the college career center on Wednesday, December 2. SOPUDEP aims to provide Haitian people in need with education and programs to aid the community economically. nelly said. “They changed a lot of the voting stations, and if you didn’t have the internet then, and since most people don’t have Internet, they had no idea where they were supposed to vote. Ballots were being switched out, which was exposed to the media, which has not been covered over here as much.”

The widespread corruption in the country hinders SOPUDEP’s ability to rebuild Haiti from the ground up. When these elections are rigged, the leader will not properly represent the population.

“They let a new guy to become

president, but [the general population] never knew about him before, he just came in two months before the election,” Dol said.

The Haiti Solidarity Club, which takes an annual trip to Haiti to support SOPUDEP, has several expectations for its next trip which will be in April during spring break. While SOPUDEP has already expanded significantly, educating about 900 students K-12, the organization still has many goals looking forward, which include constructing a fourth f loor in its new school building.

14

The Talon December 15, 2015

Catch reviews of new movies, music and more, plus read the entertainment archives at lahstalon.org/category/entertainment

Mahalo Bowl blends flavor and health KEITH BOHRER Staff Writer

Mahalo Bowl

Acai Bowls and Smoothies 650 Castro Street #140 Mountain View, CA

★★★★★ Price Range: $$

For the past year, Mahalo Bowl has been the vibrant purple food truck that roamed the Bay Area, preaching health and happiness. While the Mahalo Bowl truck had a set location in Sunnyvale, it ran on an inconsistent schedule. Unfortunately, without a set agenda to abide by, customers would often arrive at Mahalo Bowl’s usual site and the truck would be nowhere to be found. Luckily for fans, Mahalo Bowl has opened up a permanent store on Castro Street in Mountain View. Building its empire from the ground up, Mahalo Bowl sticks to its modest roots in every aspect of its business, ultimately ending up with acai bowls that will leave customers yearning to come back for more.

Upon walking into Mahalo Bowl, one notices the gentle but bold lavender walls, similar to the color of the acai bowls they offer, painted with informational paragraphs on acai. Big windows look out onto Castro street, giving the store a relaxing open feel. Similar to a coffee shop, Mahalo Bowl offers free

KEITH BOHRER

Top: a truck-shaped poster referring back to Mahalo Bowl’s roots as a food truck hangs on the wall. Bottom: From left to right, the Shaka Bowl, Mahalo Bowl and Original Bowl stand beside each other.

Wi-Fi which gives their on-the-go customers the opportunity to enjoy their bowls and work at the same time.

Just to the right of the cash register on the wall is a large depiction of a food truck, with the Mahalo Bowl logo on it, reminding their customers as well as themselves where they came from. Written on the truck is

Mahalo Bowl’s motto, “Your Body will Thank You!” highlighting that eating Mahalo Bowl is a smart and advantageous choice.

With 10 acai bowl choices, six pitaya bowl choices, as well as six smoothies, newcomers can find themselves a bit overwhelmed.

However, the manager is extremely friendly and talks the customers

through all their options. MahaloBowl’s recognitionn of the value of good customer service was made apparent through its considerate treatment of customers.

With a wide range of organic options, Mahalo Bowl has created a community of people who believe in a healthy lifestyle, feeling light and energetic, and fresh organic products. This aspect speaks volumes as it shows Mahalo Bowl is among the new breed of stores that are not only looking to make a profit but also make a positive impact in the local society. Through one of its slogans, “What’s in your bowl?” Mahalo Bowl provokes its customers to consider their eating choices and make healthy decisions.

The three most popular items at Mahalo Bowl are the Original, Mahalo, and Shaka Bowls. The Original is the typical acai bowl, made with acai, blueberries, bananas, and strawberries in the blend, and garnished with granola, strawberries, and bananas. With no specific attributes that make it stand out, it compensates with the quality of the ingredients and final product. The Mahalo Bowl is a fan favorite, hence the store’s name in its title. It differs from the Original in its use of guava juice and mango in the blend, giving the bowl a more prominent tang. Along with the guava, coconut shavings are feathered on top to adorn the bowl.

However, the best bowl by far is the Shaka Bowl. Rather than having apple or guava juice, the Shaka combines pineapple juice and coconut milk. With the pineapple and coconut combination, the Shaka finds a perfect harmony between tangy and sweet, taking one’s tastebuds to the relaxing shores of Hawaii and back.

The comparison between the three bowls relates to the porridge in acclaimed story of Goldilocks. The Original was too normal, the Mahalo was too tangy, and the Shaka was just right.

It is key to point out the freshness of the bananas at Mahalo Bowl. Bananas are an essential part of the fruit topping and can easily make or break a bowl. Seeing as it is extremely hard to keep bananas fresh, it was a pleasant surprise to see perfect bananas. On top of that, each bowl included a honey drizzle over the granola, adding a candied taste that was drool-inducing. The quality overall is thorough; from the smoothie blend to the fruit on top, Mahalo Bowl shows that they hold each and every one of their bowls to a high standard.

Coming from its beginnings as a food truck, it is clear that Mahalo Bowl has taken the values of hard work and genuine quality and infused them into a modern acai bowl shop. So the next time someone asks you “What’s in your bowl?” your answer should be “Mahalo.”

Bethesda’s ‘Fallout 4’ lives up to the hype BOOKER MARTIN Staff Writer

“Fallout 4”

Action Role-Playing (RP) Nov. 10 2015 Bethesda Game Studios Playstation 4, Xbox 1, Microsoft Windows

★★★★★ There are few games that allow players to smack mutated enemies with a baseball bat one moment, then place beds around a town they control the next. In fact, Bethesda Softwork’s “Fallout 4,” released November 10, may be the only game in existence to feature this diverse array of gameplay.

Once players get a taste of the freedom “Fallout 4” offers, they may never leave the wasteland.

The game takes place in the year 2287, exploring an alternate reality in which America has been devastated by World War III and in a state of “nuclear holocaust.” The power of this setting lies in its believability, which explores the terrifying but real possibility that human greed can lead to the end of our race. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, and the city’s close surroundings, the game map is both massive and filled with detail. Everything is in ruins, stained with nuclear waste and strewn with bodies of recent victims of the toxic wasteland.

The main character is a survivor of the war, alive as a result of 200 years of cryogenic hibernation. At one point during this period of time, the character is awoken to witness the

murder of his wife and kidnapping of his son, then put back to sleep.

The second time he awakes, he sets off into the wasteland driven by his urge to find his son and his burning desire for revenge on the unknown assassin.

Witnessing how the main character is exposed to the abstract cultures, dangers and conflicts of the wasteland are one of “Fallout 4”’s biggest highlights. The protagonist is forced to adapt to a new lifestyle, from dealing with radiation to deciding whether or not the next intelligent creature he meets is sane.

The character encounters several factions, from the noble Minutemen to the mysterious Children of the Atom cult. Each faction has a unique way to survive in the wasteland, and moral struggles ensue as the player begins to understand these factions all believe they are following the best steps to ensure humanity’s future. Resolving these struggles requires the player’s critical evaluation of just how corrupt their ideals have become.

The story is more than enough to keep one occupied for a long time, yet “Fallout 4” goes above and beyond by including a vast amount of engaging sidequests. It is impossible to travel to a new destination without discovering a multitude of new locations to explore, enemies to conquer and additional quests to pursue.

“Fallout 4” offers enough styles of play to suit anyone. From the traditional first-person-shooter perspective, the gameplay feels continuously fresh and exciting. However, the player can also take a more tacti-

BETHESDA

Above is a screenshot of the “Fallout 4” gameplay. This screencap depicts the use of the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.).

Using V.A.T.S., a player can slow down real-time action. cal approach, delving into the deep crafting system, upgrading the roleplaying-game elements and slowing time to analyze an enemy’s weak points limb-by-limb. No matter how many hours players sink into this game, they can always expect to find something new.

Addicting gameplay is only the beginning of “Fallout 4”’s many successes. The characters are welldeveloped, each with their own set of believable flaws, personalities and backstories that add depth to the plot of the game. A wide selection of characters are available to be the player’s “companion,” meaning they follow the player and assist them during missions. Each companion is brought to life through the unique ways they react to various situations. Stray too far from what they stand for, and they will leave on their own accord.

In terms of outstanding characters, the player’s own is no exception. Starting with the choice of being either male or female, there are a myriad of ways to embody any role possible. The character creator is decent, although a little overwhelming and unintuitive. It takes time to figure out how to perform minor edits on the character such as changing skin and hair color. The option to mold the character’s face by dragging certain facial features around seems interesting, but far too complicated to even consider using.

Customizability goes beyond mere appearance. Unlike many first person games, in which plotprogressing dialogue is merely portrayed through video cuts, the player has control over how his or her character reacts to situations or speaks with others. The decisions because increasingly weighty as the

game progresses. Several moments will likely leave players tensely moving their cursors back and forth over contrasting choices that determine who lives and dies. The most ingenious element of these choices is that the consequences only become apparent some time after they are chosen, and when they do the players have only themselves to blame.

Unfortunately, “Fallout 4” falls flat in regards to the core tech powering the game. The game looks dated, especially when compared to some of this year’s beautiful releases, such as “The Witcher 3,” that are setting the new standards for the industry.

The draw distance on PC is impressive, but this does not make up for the low-resolution textures and finicky animations, and the heavy frame drops that occasionally interrupt hours of previously fluid frame rates. The engine feels similar to ones used in previous Bethesda titles, such as Skyrim and Fallout 3; it plays a little clunky but has benefited from years of refinement. In traditional Bethesda fashion, the game has its share of glitches, though they usually prove to minor to detract from the overall experience.

All in all, “Fallout 4” proves yet again that Bethesda is king of the open-world RPG. The latest entry in the Fallout series does the legacy of the previous titles justice, and is a must for fans of both the FPS and RPG genre. While nuclear radiation seems to have rusted the game’s graphical appearance, the outstanding elements of gameplay, setting, story, and character prove there are more to games than just their looks.

The Talon December 15, 2015

15

‘Star Wars’ is coming — are you ready?

KEVIN YEN

Senior Writer

ANNE SCHILL Graphic Artist

ALL IMAGES FROM LUCASFILM AND 20TH CENTURY FOX

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2’ AKHIL JAKATDAR Staff Writer

“Mockingjay Part 2” Nov. 16 2015 (PG-13)

Directed by Francis Lawrence Starring Jennifer Lawrence

★★★★☆ The Mockingjay has returned to its nest — with just as much appeal and magnificence as its first appearance last year, in the final production of the acclaimed “Hunger Games” series.

With a star-studded crew of the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, there was a lot of pressure on director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson to produce a fitting ending for one of the most popular movie series in current years, but they finished with a bang.

As the final installment for the film adaption of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling “Hunger Games” trilogy book series, “Mockingjay Part 2” is the final movie in the four-part “Hunger Games” series.

Like many recent book-to-film adaptations, the final book of the series was split into two separate parts.

“Mockingjay Part One” leaves off with Katniss Everdeen and the rebel army drawing closer and closer to the Capitol, but still having trouble capturing District 2. After being brainwashed by President Snow, Peeta has grown hatred for Katniss and the rebel cause. The shift in his outlook and personality drastically affects the tone of the film, creating a darker and more sinister air of resentment.

The final movie sets the stage for the ultimate showdown between President Snow and his Loyalist army and Katniss and the rebels. Finally entering the capitol after months of desperate fighting from both sides,

Katniss, Peeta and the rest of the rebels must end the revolution by taking down Snow in his home district. Katniss, in her goal to eliminate the Loyalists and Snow, must put her friends and family on the line to finish off the revolution she has started.

As of November 26, 2015, “Mockingjay Part 2” has grossed $146.7 million in North America and $337.7 million worldwide. Despite being the least successful of the four previous “Hunger Games” films, it has still had the 24th best opening weekend worldwide ever, and its success is entirely justified.

Francis Lawrence beautifully directed the final part to the “Hunger Games” series by intensifying the emotional conflict between Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Lawrence focuses the majority of the movie on the District 13 crew as they navigate the booby traps that lie throughout in the city, but aside from the wild action shots, he zooms in on the emotional side and psychological tolls of the battle.

Many of the fundamental film trademarks of the “Hunger Games” series return, including quick camera cuts during intense fighting or chase scenes, with accompanying powerful music that adds to the level of intensity. Many film elements such as the incredibly realistic CGI effort during the final showdown in the capitol and beautiful cinematography during fight and actions scenes really brought the excitement to the movie. In the final battle, a bomb detonating temporarily blinds and deafens Katniss, and the violent, chilling serenity in the eye of the storm portrayed moments after the explosion truly shows the effort put in by the production crew to portray a realistic post-war scene.

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutch-

WIKIMEDIA USER IMP AWARDS

Above is the theatrical poster for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.” The movie is a solid wrap-up of the series, satisfying fans of both the books and the movies. erson both performed excellently in the movie, effectively illustrating the emotions of their characters on the big screen. Lawrence proved why she is one of the best actresses in Hollywood; when Katniss’ sister, Prim, died, Lawrence had the audience crying along with her as Katniss sobbed in despair. After returning to District 13, Katniss breaks down in front of her dead sister’s cat, the emotion and stunning cinematog-

raphy of the moment marking it as pivotal scene and a pivotal moment in Jennifer Lawrence’s acting career.

Josh Hutcherson played the role of the brainwashed Peeta skillfully. As a disoriented and borderline insane character with vivid realism, Peeta’s personality shifted from the previous movies severely, going from humble and sweet to a polar-opposite — a cold shadow of his former self.

Hutcherson’s flawless performance

in spite of this dramatic switch only proves his ability to adapt as an actor.

His shy and shrewd attitude added to the conflict in the movie and kept the audience on its feet about what would happen next.

Compared to most book-to-movie adaptations, “Mockingjay Part 2” is an effective translation of Suzanne Collins’ original novel to film, including many important scenes that encompass the essence of the story.

From the sequence with Prim’s cat and Katniss to the scene where Katniss is shot by a District 2 soldier just outside a train tunnel, the film addressed a variety of specific moments and closely mimicking the novel itself. Lawrence was clearly dedicated to pleasing the “Hunger Games” fans, emphasizing the small details in the main plot to develop the emotional storyline of Katniss’ internal struggle and deepen the connection of the film to the book.

As the final piece to the “Hunger Games” series, the anticipation of the audience can finally be relieved with a well-crafted finale. The ending sequence was one that seems sudden, but wraps up the series well by answering the question many fans have: Who will Katniss truly fall in love with, Gale or Peeta?

“Mockingjay Part 2” is a movie that is recommended to people of all ages, but it can only be truly appreciated if you have watched every movie so far or read the books. There are too many references and characters returning along with the plot to understand the storyline if this is your first movie watched in the series.

This movie truly lives up to the immense media hype that was put on it leading up to its release. With many twists and turns, “Mockingjay Part 2” will keep you on the edge of your seat at all times.

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The Talon December 15, 2015

MUSIC

It’s time to shuffle the music industry SPENCER DEMBNER News Editor

Is Spotify killing the music industry? Musicians appear to think so.

Taylor Swift drew the headlines when she announced that her latest album, “1989,” would not be available via the music streaming service, and she wasn’t alone.

Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys called the royalties paid to artists by the service “laughable.” David Byrne, the former lead singer of the Talking Heads, matter-offactly explained in a Guardian op-ed, “The internet will suck the creative content out of the whole world until nothing is left.”

In the music industry of yesteryear, record labels curated the content produced by its artists, and people had to buy the music they wanted to listen to in the form of a

full album. Yet starting with the release of iTunes in 2001, that model of music production has become increasingly challenged.

Since its debut in 2008, Spotify and its competitors such as Rdio, Rhapsody and Beats Music have turned that formula upside down, allowing people to stream whatever music they want and pay a flat fee, instead of purchasing individual albums and tracks.

Users have flocked to the service in droves because of its economic convenience and flexibility.

Undeniably, this method of distribution has benefits — if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be so popular.

Not having to buy albums means people can be exposed to a far broader range of styles than they might otherwise encounter and allows people to easily share their musical tastes with each other.

But those benefits come at a sig-

VANESSA MARK

nificant cost for the control artists have and the quality of music consumption. Instead of listening to an artist’s music the way it was intended, streaming services increasingly commodify individual songs as part of “playlists” that draw from numerous artists and often play songs in a completely random order.

And that’s not how it should be.

Artists in the past could develop long, drawn-out and complex musical themes over the course of a 40-minute album, even composing “concept albums” that focus on a single theme between tracks. Those tracks, taken out of context, mean nothing.

What’s more, the streaming model is bad for artists. Without the ability to sell directly to consumers, they’re forced to make do with the comically low payments provided to them by the streaming services, which average one tenth of a cent per song playthrough.

Even as streaming overtook CDs to become the largest segment of the music market, the most popular tracks net only a few thousand dollars for their musicians, far below what comparable physical music sales would warrant.

Supporters of streaming counter that it’s better than the alternative: without Spotify, consumers would simply pirate music for free. But that claim has always been overblown, and most of the growth in streaming appears to come from cannibalizing album sales, while piracy remains nearly constant.

The solution, however, is not a return to the previous system.

Under the oligopoly that predominated for decades before streaming, highly corporatized music conglomerates took most of the profits from music sales, while leaving the artists with little.

Only the best-paid could afford to bargain for better rates, and the exorbitant costs of pressing an album created a barrier to entry that prevented many aspiring artists from entering the market.

That system is dead and gone — and good riddance.

Instead of creating more ways to distance artists from their listeners, the new system should emphasize connecting them together in a shared experience.

Under this new system, listeners could pay what they want, musicians could release and distribute their music freely and the middlemen could be eliminated entirely. Listeners would pay less and appreciate more, and artists would get a much larger cut of the profit. Everyone would benefit.

Artists such as the indie rock band Radiohead have already pioneered what this system could look like — Radiohead, after dumping its label, released its 2008 album “In Rainbows” for free on the web, allowing people to pay what they want or download it for free.

Streaming has shaken up the music industry. Considering how commodified and alienating the system was, that’s a good thing.

But we can still do better.

Coldplay: a cacophony of chaos JULIA SANTOS Staff Writer

“A Head Full of Dreams,” Coldplay Alternative Rock Dec. 4 2015

★★☆☆☆

The British classic alternative rock, pop-rock and synth-pop band Coldplay released its seventh album, “A Head Full of Dreams” in early December. In 1996, the band was formed by lead singer Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer and backup vocalist Will Champion, and bassist Guy Berryman. “A Head Full of Dreams” and “Ghost Stories,” released in May 2014, marked a new era of music for Coldplay, straying from its original musical style and gravitating toward EDM and upbeat melodies.

“A Head Full of Dreams” incorporates the soulful and piano-pop elements from past albums with a psychedelic vibe and a strong instrumental base.

The pleasing instrumentals in the songs play the important role of compensating for the lack of ballads and meaningful lyrics.

The first single of the album to be released to the public on November 6, 2015 was “Adventure of a Lifetime.” The single immediately, and almost forcefully, introduced Coldplay’s new style with a catchy guitar riff and vocals. The song is led by compelling instrumentals from Buckman’s guitar and Berryman’s bass, and is accented with simple lyrics and Martin’s singing. However, the lyrics are not Coldplay’s usual

ballads with captivating meanings and stories; the songs in the album taint Coldplay’s reputation for composing well-written songs.

There are usually hiatus periods lasting 3 years between the releases of Coldplay’s albums. “A Head Full of Dreams” was released less than a year after “Ghost Stories.” However, the rush to release the album has resulted in the failure to fulfill fans’ high expectations.

In an interview with Ryan Seacrest earlier in November, Martin said, “We’re making an album that we’re really excited about. It feels like the finale of a certain story, the closing chapter of a story, the party scene, or the end of a movie. We feel like we’ve been trying to get to this for ages. That’s how I always wanted us to sound.”

Along with an obvious variation in music genres, Coldplay confirms the band’s evolution with its first-ever breakup song, “Everglow,” released on November 26, 2015. The song is about the divorce between Martin and American actress Gwyneth Paltrow. “Everglow” divulges in the significance Paltrow had in Martin’s life as he sings, “I know you’re always with me/And the way you will show/You’re with me wherever I go/And you give me this feeling, this everglow.” The song’s style most accurately reflects Coldplay’s old style of lyrical ballads and slow tempos. The compositions in this song, and throughout the album, are strong and preserve Coldplay’s musical talent. However, the lyrics are vapid and without meaning. Despite the song being a breakup song, the lyrics are shallow and could

be written by any amateur artist.

The seventh track is the centerpiece of the album, although it is not what most people would expect. “Kaleidoscope” is not a song, but rather an experience that sparks confusion and begs the question, what went through the minds of the band members?

The piece includes an excerpt of the poem “The Guest House” by 13th century Persian poet Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi. After one minute and 25 seconds of utter bewilderment, the song transitions into “Amazing Grace” sung by President Obama at the funeral of a victim of the Charleston church shooting during the summer of 2015. This track epitomizes the new direction in which the band is leaning

towards: unstable songs with unpredictable production.

The erratic theme of “A Head Full of Dreams” is confusing. Despite its strong instrumentals, Coldplay ultimately deviates from its traditional soft classic rock and meaningful lyrics, insistently pushing toward synthetic electronic sounds. The new Coldplay era consists of many collaborations such as “Hymn for the Weekend” featuring Beyoncé and “Fun” featuring Swedish singer Tove Lo. “A Head Full of Dreams” is a perplexing album in all the unusual ways, yet the members of Coldplay believed they achieved the sound they have been striving for throughout their careers.

PARLOPHONE AND ATLANTIC RECORDS

Above is the album cover for Coldplay’s newest album, “A Head Full of Dreams.” The album deviates from Coldplay’s signature echoing sounds and strays too close to psychadelic rock.

Avi(ew) on Music

By Avi Varghese

Great Produced Albums We often remember great albums strictly for their songwriting and vocals, but we rarely talk about the producers behind the magic. Here are a couple classic (or classic-to-be) records that should be on your Christmas list this year.

“Piñata” by Madlib and Freddie Gibbs This album will go down in history for brilliant performances from Gibbs, but a large part of the audience will return for Madlib’s jazz-sampling witchcraft. Madlib refuses to call himself a producer since he just slices and loops selections from his record collection, but the way that he is able to bring out entirely new sides of the music he samples still qualifies him as one of the greatest beatmakers in the rap game today. It may just be looped jazz samples and obscure ‘70s rock, but the beats off “Piñata” are some of the most futuristic in modern music.

Favorites: “Bomb” samples “Goblin,” a deep cut by an eponymous Italian band that is best known for scoring horror flicks of the time. Sliced and sped up, it sounds like the future, and not just an impersonation of it. The rhythms subtly slow down and speed up, providing a challenge with which few rappers could keep up — but Gibbs delivers with standout bars.

“The xx” by The xx Quiet indie bands rarely require much production. Much effort is put into playing with the acoustics until they sound just right, but it’s almost always in service of making the instruments as raw and intimate as possible. “The xx” arrived in 2009 to change the paradigm.

You might recognize producer Jamie xx from this summer’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” with Young Thug and Popcaan as well as Drake and Rihanna’s “Take Care.” This album is a different beast. The drum line is stereotypically indie, but it consists of drum machines. The guitar is picked and strummed in simple fashion, but producer Rodaidh McDonald used enormous amounts of reverb and delay to make the guitar take on a very fluid effect and wash all over the mix. Only the rhythm of play would make it at all identifiable as a guitar; it captures the gentleness and fragility of excellent instrumentalists while exploring soundscapes normally restricted to electronic.

Favorites: This approach finds greatest success on “Shelter.”

Romy Madley-Croft’s emotive guitar splay as huge on the mix as an orchestra or a full band, but it feels just close-quarters enough to make her intimacy as a vocalist feel authentic.

The Talon December 15, 2015

17

BEHIND THE SCENES OF POP PRODUCERS DON’T GET ENOUGH CREDIT 0:15

2:45

MIRANDA LI Staff Writer

GRAPHICS BY MIRANDA LI

In the simplest analogy, a director is to a movie as a producer is to an album. Producers don’t simply produce the song itself; they’re also responsible for overseeing the entire album production process, from start to finish. This includes everything from the more technical aspects of filling consent forms and booking studio time to the artistic, creative control of shaping each piece down to each chord progression to make a track into a hit. Despite this, the face on the album cover gets significantly more recognition than the producer— recording artists are given too much credit for the songs they sing, with no mention of the producers who pioneered the project.

A common misconception is that a track is the recording artist’s

brainchild, but in fact, the producer often hires a recording artist after a large portion of the song has already been written.

Producers are paid up-front for producing each track or album by the artist and recording company. They generally earn some sort of base salary or charge a base fee and gain additional royalties depending on the number of record sales. Some are classified as the staff of a recording label, while others work independently as freelance producers.

As producers prove their consistency at making hit tracks, they can charge higher fees and work with more prestigious recording artists, thus climbing their way upwards financially and wielding an even larger influence upon the music community.

Producers such as Arca and Boots become celebrities in the

music community while remaining relatively unknown to the general public. Despite this seemingly behind-the-scenes lifestyle, music producers often have arguably more influence on the hit tracks that we know and love than the artists themselves.

The recording artist is not much more than a pretty face and a melodious voice. The producer is the one who is truly the pioneer of the project, the captain to the ship that is an album. Despite their endurance of the long and tedious process to produce a product, producers simply don’t get enough credit for their work.

We see pictures of Beyoncé, of Rihanna, of FKA Twigs. Who is Arca? Who is Boots? There is little to no recognition for the bigname producers that truly shape the entertainment industry outside of the music community.

BOOTS: ‘AQUARIA’ 1:45

1:15

JOSH KIRSHENBAUM Sports Editor

“Aquaria,” Boots Alternative

Nov. 13, 2015

★★☆☆☆ While music fans may only be just getting to know Jordan Asher (better known by his pseudonym, Boots) by name, they’ve been hearing his music for a while. Just two years into his career as a producer, he’s worked with big names such as FKA twigs and Beyonce, and is beginning to emerge as an artist himself.

Asher’s story is really one of a climb up the proverbial ladder. A sort of renaissance musician, he learned to drum, sing, rap, and play guitar in his early days as a frontman of multiple smaller indie bands such as Blonds. In 2013, he took on his stage name and signed on to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company as a producer. His

most well-known work came on Beyonce’s self-titled fifth album in 2013.

Estimates on how much of the album was Boot’s creation range from 80 to 90 percent. He penned four of the songs (“Haunted/Ghost,” “Jealous,” “Heaven” and “Blue”) while providing many of the backup vocals and nearly all of the instrumental parts.

His identity as a largely unknown figure behind the scenes allowed Boots to make music creatively without any real expectations from the public.

“I’m free to make whatever sound comes to my head,” he said in a 2014 interview with Vogue. “I’m free to release it however I want, to whoever wants to hear it. And that was really, really invigorating. Most people don’t get the choice to do things on their own terms, especially in the Internet age. I didn’t court this ‘mystery’ idea, but I’ll go with it… because it allows me really interesting opportunities to release music and art in an unconventional way.”

Now, Boots, whose Roc Nation page bio reads only, “Boots was born

in the mouth of an 808,” is trying to emerge from the shadows. After a year of dropping singles every few months, he released his first full album, “Aquaria,” on November 13.

Most of the songs of “Aquaria” carry a sort of dystopian, experimental R&B sound. He layers a minimalist acoustic drumbeat over a simple baseline and minor synth, letting his vocals (both singing and rapping) take center stage.

This works better in some cases than it does with others. When he focuses on rapping, and sticks to rapping like in “Brooklyn Gamma,” the track is left monotone, without any melodic variation, and it never really gets off the ground. The other issue with such a consistent style is that while there are minor changes in the beat, many of the songs lack any sort of melodic footprint, and tracks run together.

That being said, there are plenty of good points to the album too. While his singing is nowhere near Beyonce’s level, his voice is quite good, and the songs in which he exhibits it, like “I

COLUMBIA RECORDS

Above is Boots’ album cover for Aquaria. The album sounds futuristic and experimental, but goes beyond interesting and just sounds strange.

Run Roulette” are, for the most part, great. The most critically acclaimed song on the album, “C.U.R.E.” is a fast-paced, loud warning of the evils of a capitalistic society (along with a nightmare-inducing music video to boot), and is probably the best style Boots can make for himself. He will never be Beyonce, and the tracks on “Aquaria” show that he can both

write music for her and for mere mortals.

“Aquaria” is nowhere near a perfect album, but it showcases Boots’ obviously expansive musical and production talent and the high ceiling that he has. If he keeps climbing up the musical ladder, pretty soon the who music world will know Boots by not only his music, but also his name.

ARCA: ‘MUTANT’ 2:45

0:15

AVI VARGHESE Staff Writer

“Mutant,” Arca Electronic

Nov. 20, 2015

★★★★☆

The software we use to create electronic music is just an instrument, but we tend to forget that. For all the innovation that supposedly goes on in the electronic scene today, the majority of popular artists and listeners have gravitated towards the formation of a genre and a common identity that

MUTE RECORDS

Above is the album cover for Arca’s most recent album, “Mutant.”

“Mutant” is an innovative album that reflects back to the roots of electronic music.

has resulted in stagnation. In doing so, these musicians have placed limits on an artform that promised to be unlimited. Arca is here to change that.

Born Alejandro Ghersi, the Venezuelan producer burst into the public consciousness with his production on four tracks from Kanye West’s “Yeezus” in 2013. He quickly followed with work for indie favorite FKA Twigs and co-produced the entirety of Björk’s “Vulnicura.” Arca works like a chameleon; his work takes on the colors and styles of his collaborators while retaining his own ambitions. Where Kanye and Twigs gravitate towards the earthly and material, Arca orients himself towards the astral, allowing his collaborators to reach into those less defined spaces and create music that is distinctly alien.

“Mutant,” the successor to last year’s “Xen” and his 2013 mixtape “&&&&&,” hones in on these spaces without the shackles of the vocal or the recognizable. Where electronic’s ability to quantize and loop has led to a reliance on constant tempos and

repetition, Arca ignores the idea of constant tempos entirely, creating an atmosphere that is both uneasy and extremely natural. And where much of traditional electronic leans on a synthetic, sample-based aesthetic, Arca brings the mentality of the production scene — which encourages the impersonation and improvement of analog sounds — and innovates in directions that extend far beyond the reach of his contemporaries.

The music takes on the textures of one’s own voice or a click of the tongue, both impossibly big and invitingly soft. Rattling, soft drums and warped organ samples oscillate between the delicate and the aggressive; the album seems to take listeners on a journey through nature, stopping along the way to goggle at strange landmarks and waterfalls.

The pioneers of electronic music pushed primitive synthesizers to their limit in order to create what they believed would be the music of the future. In a way, their descendants have carried on that tradition over the

years, building upon the structure of 4/4 and buildups, releases and breakdowns with new and strange sounds and production techniques. But the pioneers were dedicated to constant innovation, the creation of sounds that had never been heard before and avenues for composition that did not yet exist. The electronic game needs to remember its roots before it can instigate progress.

If the big names of Arca’s collaborators can bring him sufficient attention, he may be poised to carry the torch.

Intentionally or not, Arca’s work always manages to feel like a living, breathing creature, constantly morphing into new shapes and sizes in a way that few other artists can muster. Trying to explain it himself, Arca always comes back around to his use of music to mirror his queer identity: “One day you wake up feeling masculine, and one day you wake up feeling feminine,” he said in a recent interview with Pitchfork. “The flickering in between those two states is what’s most fertile for me.”

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The Talon December 15, 2015

Get daily updates on Eagle athletics and read the sports archives at lahstalon.org/category/sports/

Freshmen on varsity: underclass, above expectations SAVITA GOVIND BOOKER MARTIN Staff Writers

Though the higher level of competition of varsity athletics results in a majority of upperclassmen in the programs, younger athletes have occasionally found that varsity is their most comfortable level. While they train alongside seniors and juniors, their experiences with the team and overall atmosphere can be a little different.

Sophomore tennis player Aline Wu first made the varsity teamlast year as a freshman. Oftentimes the freshmen who make it on varsity set high expectations for themselves.

“You feel pressure when you’re

trying to prove yourself,” Aline said. “Prove to others that you are as good as them and that you do deserve to be here.”

At the same time, being on the lower end of the age range results in less pressure because older teammates are expected to perform at higher levels.

Freshman soccer player Sanjana Mishra feels the same way.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself so I can prove to myself that... I belong here, but there’s no external pressure telling me that I have to prove myself to everyone,” Sanjana said.

In a similar manner, freshman Owen MacKenzie, who ran varsity during the cross country season,

COURESTY ANDREW ZAESKE

took comfort in competing against the best. His natural apprehension faded as he started to run.

“At the beginning of the race when we lined up on the starting line, it was intimidating seeing all the big men who would be racing against me,” Owen said. “However, once I was in the race it was the same as any other. Varsity is a little more competitive so the only pressure I felt was to not let my team down.”

Talented underclassmen who compete on frosh-soph or JV may be expected to rank highly in that level of competition. In contrast, playing at the varsity level can provide a feeling of reassurance because athletes can perform well without worrying about placing in the top.

“I felt like I had less pressure than running against my age group because I could always make the excuse that everyone else is older and way bigger than me,” Owen said.

However, underclassmen may face certain disadvantages on varsity, such as less playing time or lack of experience.

“I think I would get more playing time if I was on JV because here you have upperclassmen who are better than you, faster than you. Whereas on JV everyone’s equal competition with each other,” Sanjana said.

Fortunately, underclassmen often gain a lot of experience throughout the varsity season and grow accustomed to the competition. The following year,

Seniors win CCS doubles championship

they will likely benefit from what they have learned.

“Racing on varsity was a great experience for me because I got the opportunity to run in invitational meets and familiarize myself with the varsity courses,” Owen said.

In terms of underclassmen being accepted into varsity, the school’s sports teams appear to be very welcoming.

“The upperclassmen were really nice,” Sanjana said. “They didn’t judge me for being a freshman at all, so that was nice. In general, I just felt very connected with the team despite being one

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

of the few freshman on varsity.”

Owen had a similar experience on cross country.

“I am so thankful for my upperclassmen... for being such good role models and for teaching me so many things,” Owen said. “They supported me and gave me fatherly advice.”

Underclassmen honored with a position on varsity may place more pressure on themselves, but their teammates are always there to look out for them.

“The upperclassmen are amazing,” Sanjana said. “We’re all incredibly close friends... We’re basically a family.”

Cheer qualifies for Nationals AVI VARGHESE

ANISHA DESAI In their final game playing for the Eagles, seniors Carina Burdick and Juliette Martin crushed their opponents, taking first out of 16 teams in the CCS doubles Championship. The pair went into the tournament with a record of 8-0.

The competition took place at Bay Club Courtside in Los Gatos on Tuesday, December 1.

“It was a feeling of relief and joy” Carina said. “We were confident going into the final match and it was a great way to end our high school career together.”

In the opening round of the tournament, the duo won both sets 6-1, 6-1. The quarter final match was another clean win of 6-0, 6-1. Play was suspended for a week due to impending weather conditions, but when it resumed, the pair dominated semi-finals, winning 6-0, 6-2. After that, they went on to win the finals 6-2, 6-1 over Pamela Duke and Elizabeth Schick of Harker.

It was the end of a long run of success for Carina and Juliette.

Both made the varsity team as freshmen, and they began to play — and dominate — as a doubles pair as sophomores.

“I think that our doubles games have improved a lot since when we first decided we wanted to play CCS doubles about 2 years ago” Juliette said. “Being good doubles players is what really allowed us to dominate in both SCVALS and CCS.”

JOSH KIRSHENBAUM

Top: Sophomore Aline Wu, who made varsity tennis last year as a freshman, winds up to swing. Bottom: Freshman Owen MacKenzie runs for the varsity boys cross country team. While being a freshman on a varsity team can be challenging, it provides a great experience for top young athletes.

Despite the team’s success on the mat, the judging process did not go as well as they had expected.

“We performed a stunt called a ball-up lib, which is [a violation] in our division because of the released foot [of the f lyer],” Kelly said.

The rules that prohibit specific moves and techniques are unique to each event organizer and division; a stunt like the ball-up lib may have gone over perfectly at another tournament, so it caught the team by surprise. But they still have an equal chance of competing and winning at Nationals.

“We will definitely be removing the [violating] pyramid section, cleaning up our routine and formations, and possibly adding in difficulty (such as more tumbling, more flexibility positions in stunts, and more advanced dismounts from stunts) in order to score even higher at Nationals,” Kelly said.

Seniors Juliette Martin and Carina Burdick (left and right) pose for a photo with head coach Hung Nguyen (center) after winning the CCS doubles title. The win was the pinnacle of the girls’ four-year varsity tennis careers.

The cheerleading team has qualified for the Jamz Nationals tournament and will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the tournament on February 9, 2016. The team scored an impressive 83.47 at Jamz’s Slam City on December 5 to secure its place at Nationals, and it hopes to improve upon that success come February.

“I’m incredibly proud of the performance,” senior captain Kelly Little said. “We learned our competition routine in a matter of weeks, while most competitive teams have been practicing their routines since the summer.

We hit our entire routine... so overall I’m more than satisfied with our performance. But more importantly, I’m proud of our ability to pull together and confidently perform our routine with a limited amount of practice.”

Carina and Juliette began playing doubles together in sophomore year. The following year, Juliette was injured which prevented them from playing together as juniors.

The two were going strong together coming into their junior season, but Juliette encountered injury problems that looked troublesome for their chances. However, she was able to play through the pain, and was good to go by this year.

“I had shin splints for most of [last] season so I decided to [mostly] play doubles this year so I wouldn’t have to run a lot

The cheer team poses after a competition at Jamz Slam City. The girls’ score was high enough qualify them for Nationals next February.

COURESTY CARINA BURDICK

and play tough matches,” Juliete said. “This allowed me to be fully healthy by the time CCS came around.”

With Juliette back on the court, the duo had little problem ending their careers in the best possible way.

“We had planned to play CCS doubles since sophomore year” Carina said. “Juliette getting injured junior year wasn’t part of the plan, but we did come into the season with the goal of staying healthy and competing [to win] CCS together as our last hurrah for high school tennis.”

SKYLER MAESO

The Talon December 15, 2015

19

Wrestling prepares for new season

forfeits in each meet.

“A difficulty for us is always not having every single weight” With a solid past season and a Joseph said. “We’re definitely a group of experienced upperclass- lot more adaptable for this year. men, this year’s wrestling team be- We have a lot more people than gins with a number of new faces, we did last year so we are close to while maintaining the same hard- a full bracket, but we don’t have driven mentality and passion for that full lineup yet.” the sport. The team aims to reach This year’s team is pushing CCS and States this season. past the obstacles and maintain“This year there’s a lot more ing the same driving principles new people,” junior Joseph Don- that made last year’s team a force nelly said. “Last year we had a to be reckoned with. good amount of people who were “I personally think the focus is just experienced and just being aggressive knew what they were and pushing the acdoing. There’s a lot tion especially since of new people so we We are a young we’re not going to aren’t [able] to go team, but we be the most technias fast paced as we have a lot of cal team,” Joseph would originally. said. “We always ability, a lot of [However] we are strive to be the most still moving as fast as skills, and the hard working team… leadership... is we can.” so even if we don’t With conditioning going to really know as many moves a new team and se- help bring the as the other person, lecting varsity and JV we’re always going to players complete, the team along. be the stronger, fast— head coach team has been preer [and with more Randy Jimenez sented with another endurance]. I think challenge. In previjust pushing the inous years, the team had been un- tensity and not really slowing able to field wrestlers for every down [is the focus].” weight class, resulting in multiple The team credits head coach

TINO TUGWETE Staff Writer

CARL FAUST

Junior Joseph Donnelly leads the team in stretching during a practice.

With young roster, the wrestling team will have to overcome the challege of inexperience to find success this year.

Randy Jimenez as the backbone that pushes them through rough patches and drive the wrestlers to their fullest potential by being a phone-call away for support and guidance and pushing for 130 percent in practice Monday through Friday. In true “Randy Style”, he shows no fear in guiding the new team.

Soccer

Soaring Eagle

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE “In the past, we’ve had to carry a lot of underclassmen just for more numbers to put on the roster, but this year there were a lot of good players who got cut, which shows how strong the team is. There is not one single player on the team who does not deserve to be there.”

Rather than assessing the girls’ performance in comparison to previous years, head coach Eric Madrigal views the upcoming season as a clean slate. Madrigal plans to push the girls to the best of his ability regardless of the team record.

“My priority as a coach is to develop student athletes, not necessarily to win games, Madrigal said. “With that being said, I have high expectations for this season and it’s my job to ensure that we work hard to meet those expectations.”

Madrigal notes that there is a positive aura that surrounds this group of girls. The players are working together f luidly are bonding well already.

“So far, there has been a great group dynamic,” senior Stephanie Kouvelas said. “I think we are going to have a lot of fun on

“I do have some returning wrestlers that are going to bring some leadership to the room,” Jimenez said. “I do see that we are a young team, but we have a lot of ability, a lot of skills and the leadership that I do have in place in the school is going to really help bring the team along.”

Getting the new team in shape

and ready for the season continues to be intense, for both experienced and new members of the team. After the initial conditioning,which often includes carrying people in your weight group, the team moves into intense conditioning. “[Coach Randy] always emphasizes that when you’re in a match you have to give it your 100 percent,” sophomore J.J. Rosenberg said. “You can’t give it your 100% percent the first two minutes in a match and then slack of at the end.

He puts [the hardest part last] because he knows we are at our tiredest at the end… he’s like now you’re gonna do even more than what you’ve been doing and you can’t stop because you’re near the end.

The wrestling team has integrated new players and more experienced players to create a cohesive and fast-moving machine.

“I think the strength [of the team] is honestly the hustle,” Joseph said. “ A lot of the guys showed up and they said they were going to work… a lot of the guys are stepping up to the plate and… people who returned, but didn’t do well last year are stepping up this year. They’re taking time out of their day. They’re doing the extra work.”

MATTHEW CARROLL ERIC THIEM

Business Manager

Grade: SENIOR Position: CENTER MIDFIELD Club Team: MVLA CLASH

PHOTOS BY KIMIA SHAHIDI

Top: Senior Stephanie Kouvelas looks to pass in a game against Palo Alto. Bottom: Junior Megan Woolley watches the ball in the 4-1 loss. With a new coach and an experienced roster, the girls soccer team is looking to do well in the El Camino League. and off the field.”

Even in the beginning stages of the season, the team chemistry is proving to be undeniable.

“In practice, we are connecting and communicating well,” senior Carrie Wendelken said. “We have strong players and our center mid-

fielders are skillful and smart.

They will definitely hold the team together and distribute the ball well during games.”

In order to regain the power that they played with two years ago, the girls are striving to win as many games as possible this season.

“We want to win and I think our attitude in itself will make the team push each other hard to make that happen,” Stephanie said. “We want to prove that we didn’t deserve to be moved down [divisions].”

This year’s team has all the tools necessary for success, and the girls hope to do great things in the upcoming games.

“We agreed at the beginning of the season that we had three major goals,” Quinne said. “[Our goals are] to be classy, to have fun and to win it all!”

Originally from England, senior Matthew Carroll has always had a passion for soccer.

During his time at the school, Matthew has played all four years and become a leader of the team.

Matthew, the starting center mid for the school’s soccer team, has played soccer ever since he can remember. To this day, he loves the sport like it’s his first day on the field.

“I was raised with soccer in my life,” Matthew said. “My dad exposed me to it at a very young age and it just stuck with me. I have always enjoyed how fast paced the game is, you are running and being involved for the majority of the game.

I felt like that was something I didn’t get with some other sports.”

After winning the AllLeague First Team Award as a freshman on the JV team, Matthew was moved up to varsity during his sophomore year. Since then, he has won the All-League Second Team Award in both of his years on the team, and hopes he can retain that level of performance this year.

Outside of school, Matthew is the captain of his club soccer team, MVLA Clash, and dedicates around nine to ten hours a week to developing his

skills, whether that be running the track to stay in shape or practicing on the pitch with his teammates.

Along with the rest of the varsity boys soccer team, Matthew hopes they can keep up the level of intensity that has propelled them forward at the beginning of this year’s season, and keep their perfect record going for as long as they can.

“We have won our first three preseason games this year, one of which against a team that beat us 3-1 last season,” Matthew said. “We are all very confident going into the season and we believe we can get promoted back to the top division after getting relegated last season.”

TALON FILE PHOTO

YEAR IN The Talon December 15, 2015

REVIEW #VOLLEYBALLDYNASTY

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he Mongolian Khan family, the Los Altos varsity girls volleyball team and the 1991 Chicago Bulls.

What do these three things have in common? They are all dynasties. The varsity girls volleyball team cemented its dynasty as it repeated its victory in the championship of the Golden Gate Classic. After losing the likes of former captain Carmen Annevelink ‘15, who led the team in kills last year, and senior libero Sarah Tritschler to injury, there were multiple question marks surrounding the team. However, all questions were dismissed when The Eagles defended their crown as Golden Gate Classic champions versus St. Igna-

#2K15 #LAEAGLES f

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WILLIAM JOW, COPY/CONTENT EDITOR | CHRIS DADOK, SENIOR WRITER KEVIN YEN, SENIOR WRITER| KEITH BOHRER, STAFF WRITER

#BASKETBALLLEGENDS

tius by the score of 28-26, 18-25, 15-10.

“Last year we were expected to win, but this year we had to work really hard to win,” senior Megan Wilhelm said. “I think it was the first moment that we played as a strong team and played our best volleyball. It was a huge turning point for our team and I think it gave us a huge confidence boost.”

The team went on to post a stellar 28-8 record that included a run in the CCS Division I tournament which ultimately fell short. By repeating as Golden Gate Classic champions, the seniors of the squad cemented their places within the legacy of Los Altos volleyball.

T

he varsity boys basketball team’s run to the CCS championship was reminiscent of any classic underdog story. Entering the CCS championship as a sixth seed and with a 14-15 record overall, Los Altos found itself up against the favored, first-seeded Leland Chargers. Despite thier lower seeding, the Eagles had ramped their game up to a new level of intensity. “[When] we [saw] the stage we [were] on, we rose and played like a championship team,” Thomas Kelleher ‘15 said.

While the story of the Los Altos team is great, the game proved to be even better. Initially, Los Altos found themselves in a 34-21 hole after the first half. Determined to not let history repeat itself, the Eagles surged in the third quarter, out-

scoring their opponents 18-9, essentially erasing Leland’s lead and setting the faithful Blue Crew alight. With 21.1 seconds left in the game, down 54-52, a last second layup from former team captain Daniel Rosenbaum ‘15 forced the game to overtime. With the Eagles’ momentum building, it was clear that it was going to be a night to remember.

“We just didn’t give up,” Kyle Cumagunm ‘15 said. “We kept playing, even when we were making mistakes. We just kept playing through it.”

The team kept the energy high in overtime, and continued its success from the second half.

As the clock wound down, Rosenbaum sunk key free throws to seal the game, and the Eagles won by a final score of 63-59 in a night that Los Altos athletics will never forget.

Last seasons’ captains Daniel Rosenbaum and Sami Nassif ‘15 embrace after winning the school’s first CCS boys basketball championship ever.

The girls volleyball team celebrates an ace. Despite losing many of their leaders to graduation and injury, the Eagles came together to win their second straight Golden Gate Classic.

Senior Albert Gwo celebrates after a race.

Over the summer, he captured two state championships, in the 50 and 100 yard sprints.

Senior Lauren Jacob runs toward the finish line. She brought home her third straight CCS championship in November.

CLOCKWISE FROM VOLLEYBALL: KUNAL PANDIT; TALON FILE PHOTO; COURTESY JEFF ADAMS; COURTESY ALBERT GWO

#SWIMMINGCHAMPION

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nown affectionately as “Big Al” to his friends and English teacher Michael Smith, senior Albert Gwo carved his name into school history this May by winning the 50 and 100 yard sprints at the California Interscholastic Federation state swimming and diving championships with times of 19.90 and 44.60 seconds, respectively.

“I told myself the whole season,” Albert said. “I had done everything that I could to prepare myself for this moment, and if things didn’t go as planned, then there was nothing else I could change.”

Finishing first in the 50 yard event was just the icing on top of breaking the 20-second barrier, which had been a season-long goal.

“It was my last chance the whole season to race in a 50 yards course so I wanted to make a lasting mark,” Albert, who will be swimming with the California Golden Bears’ men’s swimming team next season, said. “I honed in on my lane, my block, [the] water and let myself feel the world around me.”

Armed with a season’s worth of training, Albert also had what he calls a “special feeling” in the moments before both races.

“I can’t really put it into words except that I feel ‘crispy’ in the water,” he said. “Luckily, I had that spectacular feeling behind the blocks for both the 50 and the 100, which definitely boosted my confidence.”

#XCOUNTRYDOMINANCE

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hree-time SCVAL runner up, two-time CCS champion and seven-time additional first place finisher were all thoughts that might have been running in senior Lauren Jacob’s mind before her final CCS race at Crystal Springs on November 14, where she’s competed 13 times.

But so was four years of training, preparation and learning to be positive. That pulled her through to finish first in CCS again with a time of 18:05.6.

“I felt strong [starting out], but I was really surprised because a lot of girls went out really fast,” Lauren said. “I knew they would die out in the last part of the race, so I just kept at my own pace and slowly started to catch them.”

Near the end of the race, Lauren cemented herself as one of three runners in a pack that outdistanced everyone else. With 800

meters to go, a runner from Menlo-Atherton passed her before Lauren managed to break ahead.

“There was still another girl in front of me from Cupertino that I didn’t think I was going to catch before the finish line,” she said. “But with 200 meters to go, I saw that I was going faster than she was, so I started sprinting. I won in the same exact way last year, so I was confident once I passed her that I got the win.”

With three CCS crowns on her head from two divisions and two different courses spanning over a four-year cross country career, Lauren’s last CCS win can be summed up in one word.

“Validation, because it proved to me that I was still the strong runner that I was my previous high school years,” she said.