The Union - Milpitas High School - February 2024

Innovation Campus update: Recruitment process begins, logistics being finalized

By Sidhant Burela

The Innovation Campus, an extension of the MHS main campus, will be open to MHS students in August for the 2024-25 school year, Principal and Chief Innovator Greg Wohlman said. The application to enroll into the Innovation Campus can be found on the MHS website and will be open till Mar. 1, Wohlman added.

The student population at the Innovation Campus will start off small with primarily Engineering and Technology (E-Tech) Academy students and incoming ninth graders, Wohlman said.

“We’re hoping to have 265 to 300 students in August,” Wohlman said. “And within another year, probably another 100 and, within two to three years, maxing out at about 500.”

There will be designated trans-

portation for students involved in after-school activities on the MHS main campus, Wohlman said. Students attending the Innovation Campus will be let out at 2:41 p.m. on Mondays and 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, allowing them to return to the main campus, he added.

“If there’s an event during the middle of the day, that may be something that the students attending the Innovation Campus won’t be able to attend,” Wohlman said. “But it goes both ways. If there is an event on the Innovation Campus that students (at the MHS main campus) want to attend, they may not be able to attend that.”

The Innovation Campus will have classrooms with “accordian walls” that can move to conjoin classrooms, E-Tech student and sophomore Ziad Elkordy said.

Elkordy has visited the campus multiple times and was involved in making a video to show parents and students what the campus will be like, he added.

“We got to see classrooms that were fit to the students’ opinions and what they wanted and what they were looking for in a school,” Elkordy said. “Mr. Wohlman looked at what the students wanted and that’s what this (the Innovation Campus) is based off.”

While the Innovation Campus is focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors, it is also a campus for students who want a smaller setting or different elective choices, Wohlman said.

“It will be hard moving over there since I do have a lot of friends on this (main) campus,”

SEE PAGE 15

Admin analyze culture and climate survey

By Agna Soneji

The results of the culture and climate survey allow administrators to see what groups feel unheard on campus and make a more welcoming environment for students, Assistant Principal Jonathan Mach said.

Being able to meet with every student is impossible, but administrators use the breakdowns and feedback given from the survey to create change on campus, Assistant Principal Sean Anglon said.

“There’s so many different problems for different kids,” Mach said. “We can’t figure out what it is that we need to work on today because it just feels like there’s a million things that go on in a kid’s head.”

From the results of the survey, administrators found that many students who did not fit into the standard gender norm felt disconnected to the campus, Mach added. Next year, MHS will offer Ethnic Studies LGBTQ+ to help students who don’t fit into stan-

dard gender norms feel more seen at school, he added.

“Mr. Webber is slotted to teach that class next year, as somebody who can give a lot of guidance on what the people within that community can do to be able to advocate and educate,” Mach said.

Many administrators understand that there is a disconnect between students and staff based on the results of the survey, Anglon said.

“We can work together,” Mach said. “And it’s not that you have to take the first step, but steps have to be taken all over the place until we find something that does work.”

A school is a place to get educated and feel accepted, Mach said. The Ethnic Studies LGBTQ+ class is one of the things the school is implementing to create such an environment, he added.

“One of my own personal goals is trying to visit every club throughout the semester,” Anglon said. “If students see that admin as well as teachers are interested in their

clubs, that also gives them that sense that we care about more than just their grades. We care about some of their passions.”

The survey results are brought to a staff meeting, and an action plan for the survey is determined with teacher input, Mach said. It is difficult to make changes that accommodate everyone because there are so many different people at this school, Mach said.

Administration figures out a lot, “from making the right choices at school to what catering trucks do we get,” Mach said. “If I just get the tacos then people don’t like tacos. But if I get sushi, then people that can’t eat sushi. All those conversations happen.”

Bridging the gap between students and staff members can make students feel much more connected to the campus, especially when they first come to the high school, senior Haleta Ayalew said.

“If we could interact with them

School board approves 4% wage increase for teachers

By Savan Bollu and Paarth Gupta

The MUSD Board of Education unanimously approved a 4% compensation increase for certificated staff for the 2023-24 school year, among other tentative agreements in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The vote took place at the board meeting on Feb. 13.

Prior to this agreement between the district and the Milpitas Teachers’ Association (MTA), many MTA union members attended the Jan. 9 board meeting to urge the district for a better compensation increase than what was originally proposed. Over 100 teachers attended, MTA president and Rancho Milpitas Middle School physical education (PE) teacher Clarissa Isbell said.

“What we proposed was met with something much lower than it should have been,” Isbell said. “I’ve been on the negotiation team for a long time, and we felt that they were, what we call, ‘lowballing’ us—going really low.” MTA worked with the California Teachers Association (CTA) to analyze district finances and believes “the district is manipulating the budget,” MTA Vice President of Secondary and lead negotiator Brett Webber said.

“There is a practice of moving money into restricted accounts that creates an illusion that we can’t afford to pay teachers a reasonable wage,” Isbell said in a public comment at the Jan. 9 board meeting.

The district typically spends $3-4 million on the Books and Supplies portion of the annual budget, Isbell said. However, this year, the district budgeted $25 million for Books and Supplies, which is a “red flag,” she added.

Overall, the district has a $27 million surplus carried over from last year, Isbell said.

“We want them to understand that we know that there’s money, so the offer they had given us that was really low was unacceptable,” Isbell said.

The Books and Supplies category is like a “holding account” for unspent state grants earmarked for specific purposes that can’t be used for compensation increases, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Wendy Zhang said.

Last year’s surplus was primarily due to an influx of this state-provided money, and the district is developing a long-term spending plan, Zhang added.

“There is a particular resource code attached with each funding, and we’re supposed to use those funds to spend on either supporting student learning or maybe on staff development,” Zhang said.

“There’s a specific need attached with the spending, so we’re not supposed to use this for salary negotiations.”

Instead, compensation increases come from unrestricted funds in the district’s reserves, Zhang said. During negotiations, Zhang analyzes the budgetary implica-

SEE PAGE 16

Toilet to faucet: California plans new method to recycle wastewater

By Yunxi Fang

California approved its first regulations for using Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) on Dec. 18, 2023, according to the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) website. DPR is the purification of wastewater into drinking water through a treatment plant without first going through an environmental buffer, such as a groundwater aquifer, according to the California State Water Resources Control Board website. Indirect potable reuse, in which wastewater, such as sewage water and industrial wastewater, is first transported and treated using an environmental buffer such as a groundwater aquifer before being treated at a drinking water treatment plant, is already in use in California, according to the State Water Board website. California will be the second state to allow DPR, according to the article “California Adopts Direct Potable Reuse” on the Wastewater Digest website. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), which provides around 56% of Milpitas’ drinking water, has not started implementing facilities for DPR, SFPUC commissioner Newsha

Ajami said.

“There are other agencies in the Bay Area that are considering building it, that have been building facilities to make that happen,” Ajami said. “We are talking to a few other of our utilities to collaborate on one, but that’s only a conversation.”

The Bay Area has the technology capable of doing DPR, Ajami said. It’s excellent that Milpitas will have the regulations to use that technology, Ajami added.

“From the system’s perspective it’s a little bit more complicated,” Ajami said. “I think all the utilities (will) like DPR because it gives them an opportunity to treat the wastewater and put it back in their centralized system.”

The challenge with using DPR is that it requires a lot of energy and electricity for the water to be clean, Ajami said. There is a huge carbon footprint and a huge material cost, she added.

After the treatment, “that water comes to people’s homes, and they use it for various purposes,” Ajami said. “For example, they flush it down their toilet. So the water that we use in our home for different purposes doesn’t need to be the same quality.”

STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL

Students between 8th-11th grade and parents tour the Innovation Campus at the open house on Feb. 15.

Sidhant Burela | THE UNION

Teachers deserve right to take away devices

Almost every student on campus owns a cell phone and other devices such as headphones and smartwatches. Electronic devices, when used inappropriately in classrooms without permission, lead to disruption of the learning environment and cause distractions. Therefore, teachers should have the ability to confiscate electronic devices when necessary.

If students are using their cell phones or headphones during class and are aware of their teacher’s confiscation rules, they should not be using their devices in the first place. Devices are obstacles to teachers’ goals of engaging their students and providing meaningful learning experiences. Thus, a teacher should be allowed to get rid of such distractions in order to ultimately benefit their students. According to Educator

announcements. Moreover, having readily available cell phones fosters an overall dependency on devices to constantly stimulate the brain and receive instant dopamine, according to the Guardian’s “Constant craving: how digital media turned us all into dopamine addicts.”

TANISHA VARMA

Online, getting rid of cell phones in the classroom led to the test scores of 16-yearold, low-performing students increasing by 6.4%. It is evident that cell phones are hindering students’ academic performance and thus should be taken away, if proven to be distracting. Students often turn to their cell phones when they are disengaged or feel as if they have nothing to do in class. However, this use may lead to incomplete classwork, receiving lower test scores, and missing important

On the other hand, some may argue that confiscating devices is unnecessary and that a simple warning will suffice. However, without real consequences, students can ignore the warning by using their phones in other periods or by being more discreet with their use in the future. Getting rid of consequences in order to protect autonomy will only lead to more students using their cell phones and continuing to prevent themselves from learning. Students still own their devices; they are simply being confiscated for a short period of time to benefit themselves and those around them. The only effective solution is to continue confiscating these distracting devices if a student is caught using one, eliminating any possibility of their usage.

Confiscating distracting devices when necessary allows students to give their undivided attention to what they are learning in class and result in more benefits than harm. School is for learning, not scrolling through social media or playing video games.

CON

Electronic devices should not be confiscated

In the ongoing debate over whether schools should confiscate electronic devices, a key question emerges–does the current practice compromise students’ autonomy and their right to personal property?

Under the current phone policy, MHS teachers can confiscate phones and have them sent to the office to be held for various durations depending on the number of offenses, ranging from the end of the school day to up to five school days until a parent or guardian picks up the device. It is vital to explore alternative approaches rather than resorting to outright confiscation.

The confiscation of personal devices, such as phones or Bluetooth devices, potentially disrupt students’ learning experiences. Given the widespread presence of digital education platforms like Google Classroom and virtual labs, a lack of phone access might impede students from being able to complete assignments. Additionally, phones contain a variety of essential classroom tools like cameras and calculators, along with a wealth of information on the internet.

Sex education unit lacks vital information

Sex education is intended to inform us on matters relevant to nearly all stages of our lives that we may not learn about elsewhere, as certain topics are avoided by parents and are not typically talked about on the internet. School should be a place where questions about difficult or uncomfortable topics can be answered in an educational manner to prevent misinformation and unsafe decisions. However, our school’s sex education unit in biology class merely grazes basic information such as reproduction that many students are already aware of, and must be taught with more thorough and relevant subunits.

Although some may argue that teenagers are not at the appropriate age to be taught sex education, it is inevitable that some students will be sexually active. The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior survey in 2021 states that “nearly 1/3 of students had ever had sex and more than 20% were currently sexually active.” According to “Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S” by the National Library of Medicine, “the national data show that the incidence of teenage

pregnancies and births remain positively correlated with the degree of abstinence education across states.” In essence, the more abstinence education is emphasized while sex is shunned, the higher the incidences of teen pregnancies tend to be. Being uneducated on these matters does not prevent pregnancy or sexual activity, but instead promotes unsafe sex and may lead to unplanned pregnancies.

periods may be unaware of the many variations of contraception available, including hormonal pills, barrier methods, and birth control shots.

to auditory distractions, Bluetooth devices such as noise-canceling headphones can even offer a means to enhance focus. Ultimately, taking away electronic devices can negatively affect a student’s safety as well as their overall well-being.

Rather than confiscating a students’ phone for multiple days, schools can implement alternative consequences such as detentions, parental involvement, or even resorting to suspensions for repeated offenses.

Furthermore, while confiscation may initially seem like the best way to prevent phone usage in classrooms, taking away electronic devices is an infringement on the student’s right to personal property.

SANVI PARVATIKAR

Students often rely on their devices for personal purposes, such as contacting family members or monitoring their health. Phones serve as vital tools in emergencies, facilitating communication with family and emergency services when necessary. For students sensitive

A student’s right to personal property is a fundamental right.

The confiscation of a phone raises serious privacy concerns. Relocating the phone to the school office lacks transparency and control, potentially exposing private information to unauthorized individuals.

MHS’s current practice needs reconsideration, given its potential disruption to student learning experiences. Extended phone confiscation raises privacy concerns, challenging the balance between order and students’ rights. Moving forward, the policy revisions should align with the evolving landscape of education and technology, emphasizing fairness, autonomy, and the preservation of students’ rights.

Some students may not know where or how to access contraceptives, and educators must provide them with information on how to do so. Because it can be considered taboo to talk about sex as teenagers, we should normalize asking questions in and out of the classroom to allow teens to comfortably reach out for help and know who to ask. Emergencies such as accidental pregnancy or contracting an infection can be terrifying and even isolating. Therefore, knowing how to access the proper resources keeps individuals safe.

Furthermore, most types of contraception can be used for more than practicing safe sex. Some female students who suffer from painful or irregular

According to the article “Can Birth Control Help With Cramps?” by Kids Health, “birth control works because it decreases the amount of prostaglandins — chemicals your body produces to make the muscles of the uterus contract. With fewer contractions, there is less pain. Birth control pills also can decrease the amount of blood flow with your period.” This is another crucial yet neglected aspect of sex education that, if taught, can help many struggling female students. Some may claim that educating students on contraceptives will essentially promote sexual activity, but this is false as some women use birth control for reasons unrelated to sex.

Ultimately, the sex education unit taught during freshman year at our school lacks the depth necessary to educate students on significant topics. To improve this system, the unit must include more essential topics, such as contraception and menstruation.

Grading should be standardized for fairness in classrooms

Some classes only have flat letter grades while others have pluses or minuses. Some classes round up, while others directly change letter grades according to class performance. Even teachers who teach the same subject will often have different policies for their class. The lack of grade standardization at MHS ultimately creates an environment where it’s easier for a student to earn a better grade in one teacher’s class compared to their peers in another class, which, in some cases, can have larger consequences than it should.

MHS should implement a standard letter grade policy among the large variety of classes that it offers. This policy would either implement the plus or minus grading scale across all subjects or remove it entirely. By doing so, it will allow colleges or other institutions to have a more accurate view of a stu -

dent’s academic performance. This ensures that students will be represented on the same scale as the rest of their peers. Issues with the grading system extend beyond just the symbols of letter grades to how teachers adjust student grades. Some teachers have rounding policies and some Advanced Placement (AP) classes allow grade changes based on AP test performances. However, as these rules are implemented inconsistently, some students may achieve higher grades in the same level classes compared to peers who have different teachers, which can create an imbalanced academic climate.

teach a particular course. This will provide students with a more formulaic and just grading system, reducing potential cries of injustice.

To fix such issues, clear rules regarding grade adjustments should be outlined and standardized for all teachers who

Ultimately, grade standardization at MHS will not only create a more balanced field for students, but also guarantee better credibility for the school’s academic system. By enforcing a more equalized letter grading scale and grade adjustment process, MHS can not only ensure institutions evaluate graduates on a more even scale, but also allow us to better understand our own students by evening the playing field. It is clear that the benefits of a standardized grading system far outweigh not having one, which makes it all the more important that MHS integrates it as soon as possible.

We need more vegan, vegetarian lunches

After new vegan options were introduced in the school cafeteria, many vegetarians and vegans were excited to finally have a proper meal during lunchtime. However, the availability of vegan options on the menu has become scarce, according to senior Satvika Iyer, who worked with district nutrition managers to create the vegan menu at MHS.

Currently, the vegan menu offers a vegan burrito and chana masala with rice, which were only two options out of the multiple that used to be offered for school lunch. This current version of the school menu disregards inclusivity and varying nutritional needs among students because of the lack of vegan options. It also marginalizes a substantial portion of the student population that rely

on the cafeteria for lunch. This scarcity highlights an inequality in the school lunch system for students at MHS, especially those that have dietary restrictions or allergies to other options in the school cafeteria.

With the placement of the few vegan options near the front of the cafeteria, many students are drawn to the first available option of food, which leaves less vegan food behind for those who cannot eat anything else available in the cafeteria. Moving the vegan menu to a place that may not attract as many students, and therefore leaving more food for those who rely on the vegan menu as their meal for the day, may alleviate

this issue.

Since a large proportion of the school’s population may not follow vegan or vegetarian diets, adding more vegan options to the school menu may take away from the lunch experience of those students as more effort could be put in preparing the vegan options rather than the non-vegetarian options. However, vegan and vegetarian meals are accessible to all since all people can eat them, wheras foods that include meat and other meat products are not.

Addressing this issue is consistent with the larger school community value of inclusion.

RUBY BUI

DHARA MEHTA

KEVIN TING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

The lack of available vegan and vegetarian meals discriminates against students of different cultures and religions whose diets are restricted by their religion, and those who follow a vegan diet for personal reasons. Those who practice Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and

many other religions would not be able to eat many of the options available in the cafeteria because of dietary restrictions on different types of meat and seafood.

MHS should take a closer look at its school lunch program to ensure that it caters to the needs of all students, especially those who are vegan and vegetarian.

By addressing the current lack of vegan options and rebalancing the emphasis on non-vegan items, the school can create a more inclusive environment for everyone in terms of their diets. This approach not only promotes student well-being but also reflects a commitment to respecting the diverse choices and preferences within MHS.

EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union

MHS must embrace well-rounded education

What is the purpose of school?

Is it necessary only to produce proficient workers? Is school a place where children should be taught the rules and ways of society? Or, should school be a place where students learn how to be well-rounded adults in order to lead fulfilling lives? We believe in the latter.

Schools should educate students in every way possible to encourage them to explore many disciplines and garner skills and qualities that will help them in the future, regardless of what career they choose to pursue. We believe that our school can do better as there is far more emphasis placed on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education than there is on non-STEM education.

Living in Silicon Valley, one of the technological capitals of the world, has created the perception that STEM education is more important for students than other types of education. Our school also supports this idea by disproportionately providing resources to students of STEM which further perpetuates the supremacy of STEM subjects.

For example, MHS currently has three academies: Digital Business Academy, Engineering and Technology Academy, and Travel and Tourism Academy.

Two out of these three academies emphasize STEM majors, completely ignoring the student

population that hopes to pursue non-STEM majors. The third academy, Travel and Tourism, focuses on a niche subject that fails to provide any value for a wide range of non-STEM students.

Students in academies are given the opportunities to find high-school internships, make cover letters and resumes, practice job interviews with experts, and visit numerous college campuses. These privileges are primarily given to STEM students, leaving students that are prospective non-STEM majors lost and helpless.

Additionally, MHS has recently announced the Innovation Campus as a new opportunity for students interested in STEM, giving more opportunities to those who already have plenty.

Moreover, the STEAM showcase encourages students to build projects that show-off their scientific prowess to their community and instills in our students that only things related to this field are worth showing off. If students work on projects like short stories and films or come up with ideas to increase voter registration and political participation then don’t they deserve to show these projects off, as well?

Students in non-STEM fields acquire skills imperative for any career such as communication, literacy, writing, research, analysis, critical thinking, and

empathy. In classes like government and civics, students learn about the inner workings of our political system, making them more equipped to participate in a democracy as well as stay well informed. In electives such as Humanities A/B, students learn how to analyze works of art and architecture, understanding the context and true emotion behind historic pieces.

Altogether, it is this side of education that teaches students how to build relationships, think critically, and truly understand how to make sense of the world around them. However, these are the classes that often have far less enrollment than STEM courses and, while this is partly the product of environmental pressures and where we are located, our school should be advertising these courses as much as they can to ensure that more students take them.

Overall, through its lack of resources, opportunities, and options for students pursuing non-STEM fields, our school and district supports only a certain part of our student population- those that choose to pursue STEM. Adding more resources and opportunities for those pursuing non-STEM fields will encourage students to pursue this vital part of their education and also put an end to the unfair neglect that a huge part of our current student population has experienced for far too many years.

EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union

New school policy fosters SBAC participation, benefits community

Our school’s standing among Bay Area high schools has always fluctuated, with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test being a contributing factor in the performance assessment of these schools. With MHS more strongly encouraging SBAC testing through stricter waiving policies and generally greater student participation, the school’s standardized test scores have increased drastically, ending a downward trend in test scores in recent years.

According to the California Teachers Association, California law mandates that parents have the option to opt their students out of any state-mandated assessments. In previous years, MHS had relatively light restrictions towards juniors who wanted to skip the SBAC tests, simply requiring their parents to opt them out, which resulted in a large number of students not taking the exam. In the 2021-22 school year, 517 out of 714 students took the English Language Arts (ELA) test and 404 out of 714 students took the Math test, according to the California School Dashboard website. However, according to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (caaspp.org), students who do not take the SBAC are automatically given the lowest possible

score, which led to a dramatic drop in MHS test scores in that year, bringing the scores for both categories below California’s standard score.

MHS implemented new policies in the 2022-23 school year in order to encourage more students to take the assessment, which has led to a large increase in participation for the test. Although MHS students are still allowed to opt out of the test by California law, the school directly discouraged parents from allowing their children to opt out, and required a parent conference to those who still desired to opt out, as seen in an email by MUSD CAASP Coordinator Maurissa Koide.

As a result, a total of 722 students took the ELA portion of the SBAC last year, while 723 students took the Math portion out of a total of 791 students, according to California School Dashboard. The increased participation directly led to a 134.1 point increase for ELA scores and 124.4 point increase in Math scores, bringing MHS above the standard level of test scores for both categories, albeit only slightly above for math.

On the surface, better SBAC performances may not seem particularly impactful to students, but the effects are much greater than one might expect.

For example, colleges evaluate

students in the context of their school’s overall performance, which is generally compiled into a profile report that is submitted by the high school itself, according to the U.S. News & World Report. Data such as the student population, grades, and standardized test scores are included in this report. With better school performances, the student will give the impression of succeeding within a competitive environment, which makes their application more impressive to universities.

MHS’s more favorable standing can also help attract more families to the city, as parents would be more inclined to enroll their children into MUSD. As parents are more willing to enroll students into MUSD, it will directly encourage more people to move into Milpitas, which will also help grow the city itself by contributing more to businesses and resources. Furthermore, by raising the demand for houses in Milpitas, home prices will also increase, which can benefit homeowners.

Overall, MHS’s new approach to the SBAC has led to a positive trend in our school’s SBAC participation and scores, and we welcome this new school policy. MHS should continue to encourage further SBAC testing in order to continue to better our community.

Those who would like to

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STAFF

E ditor -in -C hi E f

Ruby Bui • News Editor

Dhara Mehta • Asst. News Editor

Sidhant Burela • Op-Ed Editor

Paarth Gupta • Asst. Op-Ed Editor

Tanisha Varma • Features Editor

Maryam Mohamed • Asst. Features Editor

Erick Johnson • Sports Editor

Akshaj Kashyap • A sst. Sports Editor

Sanvi Parvatikar • Lifestyle Editor

Tiffany Ng • Asst. Lifestyle Editor

Kevin Ting • Entertainment Editor

An Nguyen • Asst. Entertainment Editor

Agna Soneji • Spread Editor

Yunxi Fang • Asst. Spread Editor

Akshaj Kashyap • Business/Ad Manager

School chomebook, email use has limited privacy, autonomy

By Dhara Mehta

With many students using school internet or email accounts on a day-to-day basis, the amount of access prompts the question of what exactly the Information Technology (IT), administrators, and teachers can track.

While students are using the school network through wired and wireless networks, the school’s network can monitor sites that they access, time spent online, and the general nature of the student’s use of the school network, separate from students using their school email accounts, Director of Technology Services Chin Song said.

“The actual content of personal communications, like emails or texts sent from personal (nonMUSD) accounts, is not monitored or accessed,” Song said.

Even if not on the school WiFi or network, activities can still be monitored if they’re carried out using school email accounts, Song said. Login times and email traffic are tracked, similar to email systems at large companies, colleges, and universities, he added.

“The intention of monitoring is not to infringe on privacy, but to maintain a safe and secure digital environment for all students,” Song said. “This is in line with both educational best practices and legal requirements, such as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).”

The level of access administrators have to student accounts and their ability to monitor student activity on the school network frightens her, senior Navi Dasari said.

“I would like to use that email at home, but I don’t want to use it knowing that (the school is) watching what I’m doing,” Dasari

said.

Besides being able to monitor activity on the school network, IT is also able to block specific websites like Quora, Reddit, certain videos based on content and appropriateness for a school setting, Song said.

“Websites are typically blocked through CIPA compliant filters,” Song said. “This decision process often involves input from educators, administrators, and sometimes students to balance safety with access to informational resources.”

For a senior applying to college, having access to a wider range of websites is crucial, Dasari said.

“Sometimes, I’m trying to search up when (certain) college decisions are coming out but it’s on Reddit, so I feel that is really unfair because I, as a senior, should have a right to know that,” Dasari said.

Senior Ish Bali believes that YouTube is the most unjustly blocked website when using school networks or email accounts, she said.

“We use those videos for class and then teachers sometimes forget to unblock (the videos), and it kind of gets frustrating,” Bali said. “It takes away from the learning experience because, if I wanted to watch a video that’s educational at school, but it hasn’t been unblocked, my learning has been halted.”

Overall, teachers and administrators have limited access to what students browse on school networks or with their school email accounts, Song said.

“Transparency is key,” Song said. “As technology evolves, so too do our approaches to managing our technology in a way that respects student privacy while ensuring a productive, educational setting.”

Lunar New Year off to fiery beginning with Year of the Dragon, district provides holiday

By Tanisha Varma

Striking red envelopes filled with blessings, traditional foods such as dumplings symbolizing wealth, and the welcoming of Spring are all key aspects of marking a fresh start with the Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is a holiday widely celebrated in China, South Korea, Vietnam, and many other countries.

A large portion of MHS students celebrate the holiday, and for the first time this year, the Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) has granted a day off for the holiday, according to the MUSD calendar.

“Lunar New Year is significant because you can wash off all the bad omens and have a fresh start,” senior Jessica Kwan said.

Customs Kwan follows include cutting her hair before the new year and avoiding taking a shower or washing clothes the night before to retain good luck, she said.

“We also put something red under our pillow so we can scare away any monsters or spirits creating bad luck,” Kwan said. Visiting a Buddhist temple during the new year is one way Kwan feels a sense of belonging in the large mix of cultures found in the Bay Area, she said.

“When I go to the temple, I feel more connected to my culture since I get to celebrate my ancestry,” Kwan said. “I feel tied to my ancestors since we pray for them and for new beginnings and they are still there, helping you get through it all.”

The meaning of Lunar New Year has evolved for Kwan over the years, she said.

“As a child, I definitely participated in more activities such as

the Lion Dance, but I didn’t really understand the significance behind it,” Kwan said. “But now that I’ve been through school and am older, I understand the importance of celebrating to stay close to my heritage and adhering to superstitions since it’s a family tradition.”

Senior Kim Vu is from Vietnam and follows other traditions during the Lunar New Year, she said.

“Every year, we visit San Jose Vietnamtown to give our newborn nieces and nephews their New Year’s greetings,” Vu said. “Now that I’m 18, I have to be the one giving them money.”

Vu feels like more of an adult now that her own money is put towards New Year’s blessings and she is treated like a woman by her family, she said. Vu feels grateful to be able to see her family and feels a sense of belonging in her Vietnamese community, she added.

“I’m really lucky that I grew up in the Bay Area, where we have a whole Vietnamtown, and I’m able to see my family since they immigrated here after the Vietnam War,” Vu said.

Growing older has allowed Vu to see the New Year as more than just receiving money from her elders, she said.

“When I was little I only knew how to say ‘please wish me’ (and) ‘please give me’ in Vietnamese, but now that I’m older, I get to go to the senior homes and community centers and converse more,” Vu said. “I can talk to the elders and listen to their stories about immigrating and facing discrimination. There is greater meaning behind the new year tradition that has lived through so many generations.”

Senior Michelle Ng is from Korea and China, and often feels pressured to choose between her two identities, Ng said.

“Lunar New Year allows me to celebrate both cultures proudly, a rare time in the year where self-acceptance of my blended background is present,” Ng said.

Ng appreciates how Lunar New Year is celebrated on campus through cultural shows during the second semester including the Korean American Student Association show, she said.

“There are many cultural clubs held on campus that demonstrate that MHS students have strong ties to their culture and want to show it off proudly,” Ng said.

Vu likes how the previously named Chinese show was renamed to the Lunar Show to encompass most of Southeast Asia rather than only China, she said.

“Now, the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and the Korean Dance Team, along with other clubs, perform as well, showing how each culture collectively celebrates (Lunar New Year),” Vu said.

Vu would enjoy seeing her friends at school and exchanging gifts and would prefer that more than having the day off for Lunar New Year, she said.

“Coincidentally, this Lunar New Year is on a Friday, which is the VSA meeting day, so it would have been nice to invite our members and celebrate together,” Vu said.

Others are excited to spend more time with their families on the day off, including Kwan, she said.

“The day off shows how our district cares about our culture, and I wish they did it for many other cultures as well,” Kwan said.

cost of living and came to realize that they couldn’t afford to live over here with that range of salary that they were going to get, and we lost them,” Anglon said.

The lack of a librarian also impacts the English Language Development (ELD) classes, English and ELD teacher Ana Hahs said. It would be great to take her ELD students to the library to let them pick out books and do independent reading activities, she added.

Lack of librarian spells concerns

By Erick Johnson

The librarian position at MHS has remained vacant ever since the summer of 2022, which is detrimental to students who can’t access many of the library’s functions, Assistant Principal Sean Anglon said. MUSD is still searching for candidates to fill the position, Anglon said.

School administrators completed the interview process with a potential candidate and offered them the librarian position at the beginning of the school year, Anglon said. The candidate gave the school administrators a verbal confirmation that they would accept the position.

“But then, over the weekend, that person started to look at the

“Many of them don’t have access to books at home, or they don’t have access to libraries in their neighborhoods,” Hahs said. “If we can’t take them to the library and have them pick out books, it means that we can’t do independent reading assignments.”

The lack of access to books means that there is no chance for students to select their own books to read for ELD class, Hahs said.

Another issue that arises from the lack of a librarian is the lack of a staff member who can dedicate

time to teaching students valuable lessons about library usage that teachers might not have the resources to teach, Hahs said.

“Normally, you would be able to take your kids to a librarian and they would be able to talk about how to use the library for research and how to use the library’s databases,” Hahs said. “We don’t have that, so it’s very much on the teachers to figure that out.”

Additionally, a librarian would be helpful to teachers who want book recommendations for their student’s specific needs, such as novels that teaches a specific subject or a recommendation for graphic novels, Hahs said.

“When I’ve worked at schools as an English teacher with a librarian in the past, it’s been an amazing resource not only for myself, but also for the entire English department,” English teacher Kristen Porter said. “Librarians would host things like book clubs on campus, or different activities for students to get involved in, to

continue their love of reading and literature, which was a wonderful benefit for the English department.”

A librarian can also help students who are exploring possibilities for their future, Porter said. Whether it is information about colleges and career paths or learning about new fields of work, a librarian could use their expertise to guide students towards the right path, she added.

“When I teach research, it somewhat falls flat because I can’t be as thorough as someone who’s had experience in the library,” English teacher Cindy Ung said.

Outside of classroom skills, MUSD looks for someone who respects diversity, Anglon said. A librarian that is comfortable working with a diverse group of people, whether ethnically diverse or cognitively diverse, is a priority for the school, he added.

“I haven’t met a librarian at MHS in three years,” English teacher Cindy Ung said. “It’s a strange situation.”

Vu celebrates the New Year with the Vietnamese Student Association by selling Banh Mi sandwhiches.

Courtesy of Kim Vu

Dhara Mehta | THE UNION MUSD issued chromebooks restrict certain websites like reddit.com.

Tanisha Varma | THE UNION

For some students, having no librarian has impacted access to books.

Courtesy of iStock

48.4% of 94 MHS students have made resolutions for the New Year.

Students stay resolute with resolutions

By An Nguyen

Every year brings fresh New Year’s resolutions. This year, 48.4% of students are making resolutions, according to a survey conducted by The Union with 94 respondents.

Many responders struggle to keep up with their resolutions in the past as the year progresses, according to the survey.

“If you have a strong enough will to make them work, they’ll work,” said senior Derek Castro.

Castro’s resolution was to go to bed before midnight every day and avoid procrastinating on his homework, he said. For the first and second weeks, he was doing fine with his resolution, he added.

“(Third) week is bad,” Castro said. “(The resolution) fell apart within the span of this week. I think it’s just me seeping into the bad habits again.”

Social studies teacher Roy Huang seeks to lose ten pounds, propose to his girlfriend, and create a corporate investment account, he said. He has already lost around three pounds, he added.

“No simple carbohydrates, no sugars, no snacks, intermittent fasting, working out, and trying to cut back on red meat,” Huang said when asked about how he plans to lose weight.

Huang has been successful with his resolutions in past years, he said.

“Discipline,” Huang said when asked how he achieved his past resolutions.

Senior Issac Jones aims to improve his sleep schedule for his resolution, he said.

“I created what I call my ‘sunrise 1/17’ system,” Jones said. “The idea is that I will always aim to get up an hour after sunrise or earlier, and sleep 17 hours after the day’s sunrise or earlier. This equates to 8 hours of sleep if done correctly, as well as taking full advantage of the daytime sunlight.”

Jones wasn’t getting enough sleep due to failing to hold himself accountable for not sleeping on time, he said. In senior year, where things matter less, it could be difficult to hold himself accountable, he added.

“I was depressed because I had the opposite problem on weekends,” Jones said. “I would sleep in as late as noon to catch up on lost sleep, but I still ended up tired. I was also sad because I enjoy experiencing sunlight, and I would miss about half of the day’s sunlight in the morning hours while I was still sleeping.”

Jones personally believes that resolutions are a great idea because anything that encourages people to set goals to better themselves is meaningful, he said.

“Trying and failing is better than not trying at all, even if what you are doing is futile,” Jones said.

Huynh reflects on instrumental role piano plays in her life

By Kevin TIng

For senior Anna Huynh, piano is more than just a hobby; it’s a unique, wordless expression of herself, she said. Having found success at various competitions and recitals, piano has been one of Huynh’s focuses for the past few years, she said.

“Parents want their kids to do extracurriculars, so my parents signed me up for piano lessons,” Huynh said. “Later on, as I played more, I ended up really liking playing piano as a hobby.”

Huynh started playing piano when she was eight years old, she said.

“I remember one specific moment that made me want to take piano more seriously,” Huynh said. “Listening to a Chopin piece for the first time really captured me and made me want to grow as a pianist.”

Chopin’s pieces have continued

to capture Huynh’s interest in the musical world, she said.

“I prefer to play more musical pieces than technical pieces,” Huynh said. “His pieces are so musical and their melodies are just beautifully crafted.”

Huynh’s most recent competition was the Golden Classical Music Awards competition, where she placed first, allowing her to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, she said.

“Playing at Carnegie Hall was one of the best experiences of my life,” Huynh said. “Just being able to perform at a place where most pianists would dream to perform (...) was a really surreal experience, and I’m grateful for it.”

In the past, Huynh has also had the opportunity to compete in other prestigious competitions, such as one in Europe, she said.

“I think that one was one of the turning points for me in my piano career,” Huynh said. “After that, I think the way I started playing began to mature even further, especially as I practiced through COVID.”

Performing at such a level requires consistent practice, Huynh said. Huynh usually practices for three hours a day, but practices up to five hours a day in preparation for competitions and recitals, Huynh said.

“In recent years, I’ve definitely had piano as my focus,” Huynh said. “But now that I am going to college, I

think I’ll scale down a little.”

Huynh attributes a lot of her success to her parents, as they have always been supportive of her throughout her journey, she said.

“My parents always encouraged me in piano and really just in general,” Huynh said. “They never forced me to play piano. I know that if I didn’t like piano, they wouldn’t have forced me to do it.”

Huynh also appreciates the support from her current piano teacher, whom she has built a strong relationship with, she said.

“My piano teacher also plays a big part, she pushes me to do the best I can, but also not to be too hard on myself,” Huynh said.

Huynh does not plan on fully dedicating her time to piano in college and as a future career, but still wants to keep it as an important hobby, she said.

“In college, I’m planning to teach piano students, so I can keep a sort of piano career,” Huynh said.

Throughout her years in competitions and recitals, Huynh’s approach towards piano in general has evolved drastically, she said.

“My mindset has changed by reminding myself to not be too hard on myself, to just tell myself to have fun,” Huynh said. “The main goal of a competition isn’t to win, but to share your music with others.”

District begins complying with state organic recycling mandate by creating share bins

By Maryam Mohamed

The California Senate Food Recovery Act, also known as Senate Bill (SB) 1383, requires all local education agencies to maintain an edible food recovery program starting Jan. 1, 2024, according to CalRecycle.

In an effort to reduce food waste, the MUSD nutrition department established a food recovery program at MHS with transparent, transportable share bins starting Feb. 12, Student Nutrition Services director Sucheta Gehani said in an email. Daily announcements in the first week were meant to help publicize the share bins, she added.

“These share bins provide an opportunity for other students to take additional helpings of food or beverages at no cost,” Gehani said.

Unconsumed food and beverage items such as prepackaged foods, wrapped foods, and food items with a peel can be placed in the share bins after breakfast and lunch, Gehani said. Whole fruits, juices, and crackers are some examples of food that qualify for

this program, she added.

“We did a pilot at Russell Middle School for the share bins and the students usually throw away fruits in those bins,” Gehani said. “We rewash the fruits and use them the next day.”

At the end of lunch, the MHS cafeteria staff will collect the dry goods and whole fruits that can be saved for further use and dispose of temperature-sensitive foods, Gehani said.

“We are also working with a charitable organization that will pick up leftover foods once a week from the (MHS) food court,” Gehani said.

The share bins will be located near the cafeterias and satellite kitchens throughout breakfast and lunch periods, Esociety president Satvika Iyer said. Esociety officers have worked with Gehani since the 2021-22 school year for initiatives like the vegan food menu, and are now working with her to initiate this food recovery program, she added.

“There’s a lot of food waste on our campus,” Iyer said. “At first, we (Esociety) were looking at composting and other things, but

then we realized that, through Gavin Newsom’s law for free lunch, we’ve had free lunch for the past three years. We should take advantage of that and actually give back to our community.”

Composting systems have already been implemented in some elementary and middle schools in the district, like Robert Randall Elementary School, Iyer said. Some of them also use share bins, she added.

“We have one third of the entire district population (in MHS),” Iyer said. “It’s time we got it (share bins) here.”

The district is planning to work with nonprofit organizations in light of the food recovery mandate in Senate Bill 1383, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.

“We’ll do that much better, as far as reaching the goal of remedying climate change and reducing key aspects of the methane that food that is left rotting in the landfills contributes to,” Jordan said.

Esociety vice president Junior Ester Liu wants to see improvements in the school garden and other sustainability activities as well, she said.

“We only share one world,” Liu said. “It’s not like we can turn back time and get back the (resources) we already lost.”

Courtesy of Sucheta Gehani

The share bins are available in the main cafeteria, available for unopened foods, fruits, and any other items that students do not want.

Courtesy of Anna Huynh

Huynh performed Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21, “Waldstein” at NV Recital Hall in New York in 2022.

Indian supermarkets proliferate in Milpitas, store niche cultural goods

By Savan Bollu

After over 50 years of serving the community, the Lucky supermarket on South Park Victoria Drive closed down in 2023 due to low profits, according to The Milpitas Beat article “Lucky grocery store in Milpitas will be closing on January 13.” Soon after, its bright red sign was replaced with saffron, green, and white—the colors of the Indian flag—letters spelling out “Apni Mandi,” the name of the supermarket that replaced Lucky.

Indian supermarkets like Apni Mandi are on the rise in Milpitas: from the newer India Metro Hypermarket to the long-established New India Bazaar, there are now at least seven prominent local Indian grocery stores, according to Google Maps.

This growth may be because of Milpitas’s evolving population, as Asians went from about 51% of the population in 2000 to about 71% in 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. Furthermore, as more Indians continue to immigrate to the United States and share their cuisine, many non-Indians have also come to appreciate India’s rich spices and foods, increasing demand for ethnic supermarkets.

The shopping experience at Indian supermarkets is certainly unique; catering to the local Indian diaspora, aromatic spices like chili powder and staples like rice, dal (lentils), and roti (flatbread) are often in stock. Pre-packaged sweets like laddus and fresh savory foods like samosas are also

common.

Like other grocery stores, there is also a section of fresh produce with items like onions and tomatoes, ubiquitous in Indian curries. One thing to note is that the produce often has a farmers-market-like quality, with occasional blemishes. More niche items include karivepaku (curry leaves) and okra—ingredients that all, Indians and non-Indians alike, can explore and enjoy.

Especially in smaller Indian stores, the layout can be cramped and unpolished. Most stores have a TV in the corner showing a Bollywood music video or loudspeakers playing traditional Indian music.

However, these Indian supermarkets are much more than a place to shop for groceries and snacks: they’re a way to stay connected to Indian heritage and continue traditions. Whenever my family needs neem flowers for Ugadi, the New Year for Teluguand Kannada-speaking people, the cashier knows exactly what we’re looking for. As we check out, they make small talk in Telugu and Hindi. Instead of Snickers bars and Gatorade, the checkout aisles are lined with items like Cadbury Gems, the Indian version of M&M’s, and henna cones for temporary tattoos. Overall, the stores tend to be intimate and homely.

For many, ethnic supermarkets go beyond their roles as grocery stores—they’re a microcosm of home and a way to stay connected to their native culture.

Streaming goes mainstream, impacts entertainment industry

By Erick Johnson

At Great Mall’s Cinemark theater, a ticket costs $15, which is the same as the average price for a one-month subscription to a streaming service, according to the Wall Street Journal. For the same price, streaming services offer thousands of titles that can be accessed at any moment on many different devices.

It is easy to see why streaming services such as Netflix, Max, and Disney+ have gained widespread popularity since their inception.

But how have these services impacted the entertainment industry?

Each streaming service has its unique library of films, shows, and documentaries. For example, Netflix claims to include 6,621 different titles. Max, another service, boasts more than 35,000 hours of content. Just one of these apps has enough content for decades of viewing, and these libraries are being constantly updated. These expansive libraries become convenient when you own a streaming service with your favorite show or an exciting new release you can watch whenever you want. The wide variety of content permits people with many different tastes and interests to find content they love on the same platform.

The way we consume content has changed as well. Watching a television show meant waiting for a new episode to be released every

week. Worse, episodes sometimes premiered at a time when viewers were unavailable, meaning that some people had to wait for reruns and avoid spoilers. If you did not watch a show as soon as it was coming out, you had to watch the reruns out of order. With streaming, however, viewers can stream a show in its entirety in one weekend as soon as it releases and watch episodes whenever it is most convenient.

Streaming companies like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ also tailor their platforms to each one of their users. The main page of one student’s Netflix account is different from their classmate’s main page. This is because streaming platforms use artificial intelligence to tailor your account to recommend content that it thinks you might enjoy. They record viewers’ preferred genres, actors and actresses, and can even recommend shows based on your age and location. This allows streaming platforms to hook users much more easily than cable providers can. Still, not all effects of streaming have been positive. One group that has been negatively affected by the rise of streaming platforms has been the actors playing parts in the platform’s shows and movies. Before, actors got paid each time their movie or an episode of their show was played on television, even years after its release, Variety Magazine reported.

“An actor on a one-hour episode of an Amazon show would make no more than $2,000 in the first year of reuse,” Variety magazine stated. “The same episode on a broadcast network could pay up to $3,600 for each rerun, with the potential for multiple reruns in a year.”

Streaming platforms can be bad for the actors and actresses working for them, but they are also detrimental for the viewers. Streaming platforms’ overwhelming content has shown to have psychological symptoms, the article “Investigating Binge-Watching Adverse Mental Health Outcomes

During Covid-19 Pandemic” in the National Library of Medicine (NLM) found.

Higher screen time exposure can sometimes lead to sleep deprivation, depression and anxiety symptoms, the NLM study stated. Therefore, there is a need to warn people prolonged screen time.

People who binge-watch appear more likely to experience multiple mental health problems, leading to personal suffering and increased health care expenditures, the NLM article “Binge-watching and mental health problems” stated.

Streaming platforms have had a huge impact on the way we consume content, but whether streaming platforms have changed the industry for better or worse, it is safe to say that they are here to stay.

Rise of new COVID-19 variant JN.1: how to protect yourself

By Tiffany Ng

As of Jan. 9, California has followed Oregon in establishing a policy breaking away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. This policy allows people to resume their normal lives and go back to school or work even if they have COVID symptoms, as long the symptoms are “mild and improving,” according to USA Today. With the CDC guidelines no longer in place, it will be much easier for people to get sick, as there is now less emphasis on staying safe and protecting yourself.

tation” of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and a subvariant of Omicron, another COVID-19 variant. First identified in September 2023, the number of COVID cases JN.1 has accounted for has increased exponentially, starting from 3.5% of cases in mid-November, to a little over 21% in December, and eventually to over 60% of cases in January 2024, according to the CDC.

Because of its potential impact on the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization has classified it as a “variant of interest,” according to maxhealthcare.in.

There has recently been a rise in cases of illnesses such as COVID-19 and RSV, according to the CDC. More specifically, a new strain of COVID-19 called JN.1 has been on the rise, and it is currently the most widely circulating variant in the US, according to Yale Medicine.

According to Max Healthcare, the JN.1 variant is the “latest mu-

Cheers to the top energy drinks of this year

By Akshaj Kashyap

In 2024, an increasing amount of students consider energy drinks to be a necessity. With students facing increasingly longer days filled with homework, sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities, the extra dose of caffeine goes a long way. Energy drink companies have switched their marketing strategy from athletes to young people to capitalize on the increasing desire for mental alertness in the past decade. According to Expert Market Research, the global energy drinks market is projected to be at almost $75 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach up to $130 billion by 2032. The North American market makes

up roughly 34% of the total energy drinks market, according to Grand View Research. Here is my top five ranking of the most popular energy drinks based on price, taste, and market share:

1. Redbull Redbull is the clear market leader, coming in at 39.5% of the United States energy drinks market, according to Statista. Easily one of the most recognizable and iconic brands, Redbull’s diversified enterprises bring immense publicity to the company. In my opinion, Redbull easily has some of the best flavors and tastes for energy drinks, and the difference is not insignificant. My top flavors are the original

and The Yellow Edition: Tropical.

2.Monster

Placing as the second-best energy drink in both my ranking and the market share, Monster holds a sizable 29.7% of the U.S. market, according to Statista. The market share accurately represents Monster as very popular but still lagging behind Redbull. The price tends to be cheaper than Redbull by 10 or so cents, and the savings add up especially when bought in bulk, but the drinks also have an inferior taste. My top flavors are Mango Loco and Rehab Lemonade.

3. Celsius

no different from what was emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines are available to boost your immune system and protect your body so that you don’t get seriously sick. As new vaccines become available, they will not only be effective in protecting against JN.1, but other variants as well.

JN.1 is similar to most other variants in that it causes the same symptoms: sore throat, congestion and runny nose, fevers, chills, cough, and fatigue, according to Everyday Health. The severity of these symptoms varies, depending on a person’s immune system and how healthy they are.

As JN.1 symptoms are similar to the symptoms of other variants, protecting yourself will be

Taking the middle spot in this ranking, Celsius has been gradually increasing its market share, with 5.9% of the U.S. market currently, according to Statista. Although a lesser-known brand, Celsius has been on the rise in recent years, and it’s not difficult to see why. The average price is similar to its competitors and has a taste only comparable to Redbull, if not better. My top flavors are Strawberry-Lemonade and Orange.

4. Rockstar Coming in fourth place, Rockstar holds the least market share in this list at 3.9% of the US market, according to Statista. Curiously enough, Rockstar tends to be more popular in places outside of the U.S. Rockstar has some of the best prices when it comes to energy drinks while still having palatable flavors, especially citrus ones. My

Additionally, wearing a mask is always effective, as it stops potential virus particles from spreading or entering your body through your nose or mouth. Getting enough sleep is also an effective way to protect yourself, as it helps in boosting your immune system, reducing your risk of getting sick.

Considering how rapidly it is spreading, the only difference between JN.1 and other variants is that this variant could be more transmissible or better at evading the immune system, according to the CDC.

Based on this idea and the fact that JN.1 is currently accountable for most COVID cases, it is likely that the variant will be a common cause of illnesses this season.

favorite flavors are Organic Island Fruit and Pina Colada.

5. Bang Bang comes in at a respectable fifth place and retains a U.S. market share of 4.2%, according to Statista. Despite being a top brand, Bang has been in a downturn in recent years due to its involvement in multiple controversies including its association with Turning Point USA which is a conservative organization. Bang Energy was even acquired by Monster Beverage last summer. Bang remains competitive in price but has significant inconsistency in quality depending on the flavor. My go-to flavors Cherry Blade Lemonade and Cotton Candy are still worth picking up. Overall, the clear leader in energy drinks is Redbull.

Savan Bollu | THE UNION Indian grocery stores contain produce, packaged sweets, and snacks.

People stan Stanley cup in latest internet craze

By Sidhant Burela

The newest trend that has taken the internet by storm is the Stanley cup. Whether through TikTok or students at MHS carrying them around, many of us have at least heard about the product. Coming in a variety of sizes and colors, the cup is a surprisingly normal product that you may have previously walked past. For example, a pink “Valentines” edition Stanley cup had people trampled in line as the doors opened at Target, according to the New York Times article “Why People Are Camping Out at Target for the Valentine’s Stanley Tumbler” by Sopan Deb. For something as simple as a water bottle, what makes it so special that people line up outside of stores just to buy one?

Water bottles having a place in mainstream media is not something new. Back in 2019, Hydroflasks were the craze when they were an essential part of the “VSCO girl” starter pack. However, Stanley stands out due to how their product grew to mainstream success. One of the first events that started the meteoric boom of Stanley cups was when a woman who was involved in a car crash revealed on TikTok the aftermath, and how only her Stanley cup stood undamaged. Stanley capitalized on this and sent

the woman a brand new cup as well as a new car, which encouraged fans on TikTok to quickly buy the bottles.

TikTok was the main plat form where the popularity of Stanley cups rose. Users uploaded thousands of videos to the app that included people waiting outside stocked stores such as Target for the bottles, as well as peo ple with multiple bottles with various different colors. While the trend of multiple bottles ultimate ly contradicts the reason for buying a reusable water bottle, which is to save re sources by using the same bottle, the videos encouraged people to buy one for themselves.

Another factor that attracted customers, which is primarily women, according to the article “The rise of the Stanley tumbler: How a 110-year-old brand achieved viral success” by Caroline Jansen, is Stanley’s ability to use a surprisingly simple economics concept: supply and demand. By making an extremely popular item limited in stock, the price that consumers are willing to pay increases.

By utilizing this technique, as well as the popularization of their product, Stanley was able

to go from a reported $73 million revenue in 2019 to a reported $750 million revenue in 2023, according to the article published by Vox, “The Stanley water bottle craze, explained” by Alex Abad-Santos. Through collaboration with brands such as Starbucks and creating limited edition color selections for their bottles, Stanley cups became similar to collectible items.

The craze over Stanley cups represents something larger, however. It shows us that social media can create trends out of thin air and manipulate the marketplace drastically. Market manipulation is not a new concept, but manipulation due to social media is something that is occurring more and more in recent times.

If that woman had not posted a TikTok, Stanley may not have been able to dramatically increase their revenue and we would have all stuck to our Hydro Flasks and ThermoFlasks. However, one video being uploaded to TikTok became the catalyst for something bigger, and it is only a matter of time before the next seemingly average product takes over the internet.

California’s diverse community blends fusion cuisines

By Yunxi Fang

As one of the nation’s most diverse states, Californian cuisine reflects a melting pot of different cultures, creating a wide-ranging culinary landscape. A distinct aspect of Californian cuisine that has risen from this melting pot is fusion food. Fusion foods combine elements of culinary tradition from different cultures or regions.

Punjabi-Mexican Cuisine

During the late 19th century, Punjabi immigrants (mostly men) from India immigrated to the United States in hopes of finding work. The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted Indians and other Asians from entering the country, and many men found themselves stuck in America while the rest of their families were in India, according to the article “California’s Lost (and Found) Punjabi-Mexican Cuisine” by Eater.

During this period, California’s miscegenation laws prevented people from marrying outside of their race. However, these laws were vague in some regions, and Punjabis and Hispanics, who were both deemed “brown,” were allowed to marry. Mexican women cooked “Punjabi” dishes using

local ingredients and what they were familiar with, creating Punjabi-Mexican cuisine. A popular Punjabi-Mexican dish today is Tikka tacos, which typically include soft tortilla shells, onion, chunks of marinated chicken or lamb, tomato, salsa, and yogurt or cream.

Chinese Fusions

Chinese American cuisine first developed in California during the mid-1800s, when many Chinese immigrants immigrated to America during the Gold Rush. Some of these immigrants opened eateries and sought to appeal to a potentially broad customer base, which resulted in many sweeter, more calorie-heavy variations of Chinese dishes. Since then, many Californian regions, particularly San Francisco, have developed strong culinary ties to Chinese culture.

One American fusion dish that has been popularized in California is General Tso chicken. The story began with a New York chef named Tsung Ting Wang, who found the dish in a restaurant in Taiwan, according to the article “General Tso Chicken – A Tangy Taiwanese Dish with a Sticky Ending” by EatFlavorly. Knowing the preferences of American

customers, Wang added a sweeter sauce and a crispier batter, thus creating the General Tso chicken.

Mexican Influences

Mexican cuisine has a heavy influence on California cuisine due to California’s proximity to Mexico (being a part of Mexico before 1848), as well as the many Hispanic communities that reside in California. Cal-Mex foods tend to focus more on authenticity and health, relying on fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy, and fish, as opposed to styles such as TexMex, which uses more sauces, cheese, and meats. One dish that has become a staple in Cal-Mex is tacos gobernador, which consists of shrimp, melted cheese, tortillas, and vegetables such as onion, bell pepper, and cilantro.

Filipino Impacts

Filipino Americans make up the third-largest Asian ethnic group in the U.S. and the second-largest in California according to the 2020 United States Census, but Filipino culture is often underrepresented in Californian cuisine. The Philippines was annexed by the U.S. in 1898, (and gained independence in 1946) and many American businessmen saw the country as a source of cheap labor. Many Filipinos, primarily men, would travel to America to work as farmers or do city work, according to the article “Exploring The More Than 400 Years Of Filipino History

In Southern California” on the LAist website.

Compared to other Asian immigrant groups, Filipino immigrants didn’t initially open as many restaurants to earn money. However, many Filipino-Californian fusion foods still emerged as Filipino and American culture blended. Filipino-American food is often sweetened and the strong flavors in Filipino cuisine are sometimes lessened for American customers.

The most popular Filipino-American chain restaurant is Jollibee, which opened its first U.S. restaurant in California. Jollibee offers American-influenced fast foods such as Chickenjoy, a fried chicken dish, and a sweet Filipino spaghetti with meat and banana ketchup.

Courtesy of Blast and Brew San Jose

One fusion food is chicken tikka tacos with cream, cilantro, and onion.

Daly becomes first African American woman to earn chemistry Ph.D. in U.S., pioneers research

By Tanisha Varma

Despite facing the obstacles of both gender and racial bias, Marie Maynard Daly was an essential part of discoveries regarding heart disease, sugars, and protein and their roles in the human body, according to the Science History Institute Museum and Library. She was also the first African American woman in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Daly was an avid reader and loved to read about scientists and science adventures from her grandparents’ large library, according to an article by Medical News Today’s.

Inspired by her father’s love for chemistry, Daly decided to pursue a career in the same field. Daly’s father conducted chemistry research at Cornell University, but was forced to quit due to financial difficulties. Her father’s financial struggles inspired Daly later on to help dissolve financial barriers preventing low-income people of color from succeeding.

Daly completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Queens College and

graduated magna cum laude in 1942. She later completed her master’s degree at New York University the following year, also in chemistry. She then went on to complete her Ph.D. at Columbia University while also teaching and conducting research on how the body’s chemicals help digest food.

Because of her research, scientists gained a greater understanding of the correlation between high cholesterol and clogged arteries, along with practical applications in health and nutrition, according to Columbia University’s “Notable Columbians” page.

Daly then went on to become a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for two years. Later, she received a grant from the American Cancer Society to conduct research with Alfred E. Mirsky, a renowned scientist in molecular biology, with whom she studied the metabolism of components in the cell nucleus. In 1960, she took up a teaching position at Columbia University in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and stayed there until her retirement in 1986.

After further researching how com-

History must be taught from African American perspective

By Sidhant Burela

In the history of the United States, the experiences of African Americans have been boiled down to two narratives: slavery and the civil rights movement. In classes, we are often taught about the horrors of slavery but are never truly shown the richness of African and African American culture. If our generation wants to view our history holistically, we need our classes to dive deeper into the history of African Americans and have it be taught from the African American perspective.

As it stands, the absence of African American voices in our history textbooks creates a distorted image of America that does not match what truly occurred in history. By teaching history that omits the experiences of an entire group of people, students only see history from one perspective and not the many perspectives that shaped it. History is taught for us to learn from the past and make better decisions in the present. If this is the case, why do we continue to neglect the experiences of African Americans?

For many of the cultures taught in history classes, we learn about their unique traditions and way of life. For example, in Advanced Placement (AP) World History, I was taught about the significance of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism in ancient China and how these different ways of thinking were integrated into their society. However, for African American history, it seems that we are only taught about it through the lens of slavery. We need to spend more time talking about the culture that African Americans have built. For example, the Harlem Renaissance was a pivotal moment in America where African American culture flourished, but it is not focused on nearly as much as slavery related events. Without knowing the full scope of the accomplishments of an entire group of people, how can we truly understand and appreciate their contributions?

In the existing curriculum regarding slavery, there is a discrepancy between what students learn based on where they are in the nation. For example, teachers in some Southern states still teach their students that the Civil War was a battle over states’ rights and not over the issue of slavery, according to The Washington Post’s article “What do students know about slavery? It depends where they live.” By ignoring the true meaning of the Civil War, we are undermining the African American struggle for freedom during slavery and the sacrifices they have been forced to make for this country. By teaching students through the perspective of African Americans, students can more clearly see the reality of the causes and

pounds affect the digestive system, Daly went on to write her dissertation, titled “A Study of the Products Formed by the Action of Pancreatic Amylase on Corn Starch.” She earned her doctorate degree in 1947 and officially became the first African American woman to accomplish this title, paving the way for many more to come.

In addition to her passion for chemistry, Daly was dedicated to encouraging minority students to pursue medical school and graduate science programs. This goal inspired her to create a scholarship fund for African American students in honor of her father.

Not only did Daly contribute to the strides made in the fields of nutrition and health, but she actively defied the stereotypes created for women of color and made an impact on the world that would allow other people of color to succeed in the United States. Courtesy of Markus Library News

effects of slavery and realize that slavery was the true reason the Civil War was fought. Instead of only being taught about slavery and civil rights, we need to be educated on the importance of events such as the Harlem Renaissance and how we still see the effects to this day. For the curriculum on slavery, we need to be taught about it in the right way.

In a time when civil rights are of the utmost importance, thoroughly understanding the past does our generation a service. It teaches us the methods that past civil rights leaders utilized and gives our generation the tools to do the same. It allows our voices to be heard and provides us with a new lens to view society with, which then allows people to ask questions about the present times.

One way our school can play its role in teaching students about African American history is by adding the AP African American Studies class to its course catalog. By doing this, the school will have an entire class dedicated to informing students about African American history through the lens of those who truly lived it, and not the primarily white written history books. Another solution could simply be for more regular history classes to incorporate African American history into the existing curriculum. Although this may take time away from other units in the curriculum, it is important that our school shines a brighter light on a group of people who built this country.

History is something that does not change, but is simply built upon. It is time for us to do our part and acknowledge the true experiences of an entire race that helped build America, by learning about their perspective. After all, history is incomplete without the experiences of all who played a part in shaping it.

Ben Gross served as first African American mayor in Milpitas, combatted housing discrimination

By An Nguyen

Milpitas has a low African American population, at 3.2% of the total population, according to the Milpitas government, compared to 13.6% of the total population of the United States, according to the 2020 U.S. federal census. Despite these low statistics, Ben Gross would be one of the first African Americans to become mayor of a predominantly white city: Milpitas in 1966.

Gross was born and raised in Jim Crow Arkansas and was inspired to oppose racial discrimination after being denied downstairs seating at a theater with a friend, according to Black-

Past. He led a successful protest at his high school against discrimination and segregation during his senior year. After high school, Gross spent a year in the Navy before moving to Richmond, California in 1949. Gross began work for the Ford Motor Company. He joined the United Auto Workers Union (UAW). He was promoted to housing committee chairman in 1954, according to BlackPast.

In the same year, Milpitas became an official city, a year after

Ford moved their assembly plant to Milpitas.

As the housing committee chairman of UAW, Gross fought for integrated housing for African Americans in Milpitas alongside the American Friends Service Committee, according to The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein.

Gross encountered many obstacles, from uncooperative local developers to securing funding to the developers of Sunnyhills making a plea to the city council to deny access to sewer lines for the housing Gross was working on, according to Rothstein.

The union rallied against Sunnyhills and boycotted the sale of homes by flooding open houses to disrupt sales to white buyers. Gross, with the UAW, would find a developer willing to buy Sunnyhills and the housing UAW was working on, uniting them under the common name Sunnyhills, according to Rothstein.

Gross created the first integrated community in California, according to the Milpitas Historical Society. Gross became the first Black city council member in Milpitas in 1961, and then mayor in 1966, according to BlackPast. Gross’s achievements in creating one of the first integrated neighborhoods in California and fending off the annexation of Milpitas by San Jose as mayor have been major contributions to Milpitas.

Gross also initiated the request that led Nikita Khrushchev, Former Premier of the Soviet Union, to visit Milpitas and its integrated neighborhood in 1962.

Courtesy of Patch

Gross helped develop Sunnyhills, recognized as California’s first integrated commmunity.

Daly did chemistry research and social advocacy work.

‘More than just our struggles’: Black Student Union reflects on Black History Month, purpose of club

By Savan Bollu

From decorating trees annually for Christmas in the Park to educating students through field trips and guest speaker events, Black Student Union (BSU) has existed as a student-run cultural club on campus since 2002, BSU co-advisor and special education resource specialist Herm Wilson said.

BSU members also attend college-and-career-related expositions and do community service in African American neighborhoods, Wilson said. The organization is especially important because it provides a space for African American students, a minority on campus, to feel comfortable and express themselves, he added.

“Black Student Union means, to me, a very inclusive, safe, and comfortable place where people of African ancestry like (me) will be united and be more comfortable around each other and be more comfortable at the school,” BSU president and junior Deyonnah Bighem said. It’s “a little reminder, like, ‘Hey, you’re not alone. We’re all here. We’re all in it together. We’re all gonna get

through high school.’”

One of Wilson’s goals as a BSU advisor is to facilitate “courageous” and “open” conversations about African and African American people’s history and their interactions with other cultures, he said. All are welcome to participate, regardless of their heritage, he added.

“A lot of African Americans don’t know their own history,” Wilson said. “It is U.S. history, but there’s also a vein that’s specific to a culture (like) African, Latino, Indian. There’s specific veins where (people of different) cultures come to America and they make it their own. That’s one of the reasons why I continue to do the BSU: I like the historical aspect.”

To celebrate Black History Month, BSU raised the Pan-African flag at the Milpitas City Hall flag-raising ceremony on Feb. 1, Wilson said.

“Black History Month is important to honor people of Black or African American heritage (...) who stood up for Black rights, who should be remembered for all time,” BSU vice president and junior Roman Johnson said. “It’s a way to commemorate and pay homage to what

Black music strikes chord in American history

By Maryam Mohamed

Black music and artistic expression have revolutionized American culture and activism. From the melodic, melancholic blues to rap and hip hop, this music first born on plantations ultimately planted the seeds for all American genres that followed. As Wesley Morris states in the New York Times’ ongoing 1619 project, which focuses on contextualizing American history with the African American experience, “For centuries, black music, forged in bondage, has been the sound of complete artistic freedom.”

The spirit behind Black voices is what fuels the music that so effortlessly captivates its listeners. According to the 1619 project, Black music is filled with creativity and expression that comes with improvisation, reflecting a freedom the Black slaves on plantations only felt through music. Rough, playful, spiritual, exhausted, and hopeful tones flow through the music and possess its listeners, regardless of race—including figures like Elvis Presley and the Beatles, who were strongly influenced by Black music.

In addition, the Harlem Renaissance of the early 20th century was an era in history that sparked the creation of riveting Black music. Coinciding with the Roaring Twenties, artists like Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzegerald became national stars for their jazz music, according to Biography. The growth of artwork, literature, and music in the Black community spurred pride and self-esteem that set the scene for the civil rights movement of the 50s and

they did to fight for me and other Black people.”

Conversations and education about Black history should be about more than slavery, Bighem said.

“In history class, when my teacher talked about Black history, it would be about segregation, or slavery, or the Civil War, or World War II, and less about the highlights of what Black people brought to the world and what we have to give and what we have given— more than just our struggles because I feel like Black history is more than just our struggles,” Bighem said.

Wilson has noticed that people regularly talk about the past rather than the modern day when discussing Black history, he said.

“I don’t talk about slavery at all,” Wilson said. “Everybody knows 1865 to 1979, but I’m a 70s baby. I want to talk about what happened from 1980 till now.”

Black history is more talked about now, but is still viewed as a delicate topic, Johnson said.

“People are afraid to talk about what has taken place in this country and what things have happened,” Johnson said.

To Johnson, one notable figure in Black history is Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her rightful seat, he said.

“That’s something that really stuck

with me because it’s really easy to just get up and move, but she decided that she wanted to stand her ground,” Johnson said. “She was sitting in the right spot, which shows me that I shouldn’t always just push over and give into whatever everyone else wants, and I should fight for what I want as well.”

For Bighem, a notable event in Black history was the “Afro Era” in the 60s and 70s, she said.

“Black people started wearing afros and Soul Train (was released), and I feel like that was the highlight of the Black community since everyone was embracing themselves more,” Bighem said.

This year’s national Black History theme, African Americans and the Arts, is perfect because of the contributions African Americans have made in musical genres like hip hop, rhythm and blues (R&B), and classical jazz, Bighem said.

“I feel like we’ve brought a lot of musical aspects into this world, and I’m very happy it’s going to get recognized,” Bighem said.

Overall, it’s important to talk about the successes of African Americans, Wilson said.

“It’s not all about slavery and all the negative stuff; that’s all you hear,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you don’t need the sympathetic ear; you just want fairness.”

60s, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, hip hop, folk, and sacred music genres also came from Black people; the sheer multitude of artists, groups, and sub-genres of Black music are nearly impossible to cover in one mere article, which shows just how large this movement is.

While Black musicians are responsible for much of the amalgamation called Western music, they are rarely credited. Since slavery, African music has been dissociated from its primary purpose of uplifting Black people, and instead is used to please and entertain white people. According to Vince Dixon’s website, slave masters learned how to use the African banjo from their slaves only to perform “coon songs” and minstrel shows that belittled Black people. During the Harlem Renaissance, the Black artists in the famous Harlem’s Cotton Club could only perform for white audiences—Black people weren’t allowed to join the club as patrons. Some Black musicians set to perform in packed venues couldn’t even enter through the main door, and while performing, they had a clear view of ropes separating Black concertgoers from the white ones.

As Dixon aptly states, “America’s admiration for black culture has always coincided with its blatant disdain for black people.” To remedy the racism that still taints discourse today, we should uplift Black artists in the genres their ancestors produced and acknowledge the message behind the music. Only then can we pay proper homage to the massive influence of Black music.

BSU attended De Anza College’s African American Empowerment Conference on Feb. 8.

Courtesy of Herm Wilson

'Hourglass' delivers masterpieces, mediocrities

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

By Sanvi Parvatikar

Arras Periodical x Thespian Showcase “Hourglass” was a hit-or-miss filled with masterpieces and mediocrities alike. Each show had its ups and downs but had good messages of friendship, love, and found families.

Kicking off the show was Crystal Huang’s “Everlasting Regret,” a story about a ghost who followed around her chronically ill husband in hopes of communication. While the play seemed to promise intrigue, it stumbled in execution. I was unable to figure out which actor played which character. Despite this setback, Huang's exploration of regret and missed opportunities offered a poignant message, albeit one that felt somewhat lost amidst the narrative.

Next on the bill was Kate Chua's "Timmy's Wish," a whimsical tale about the lengths Santa Claus takes to attempt to fulfill a young boy’s wish of receiving $1 million, with humorous antics and clever dialogue. The plot felt nonsensical, with its interpretation of a dimwit

overworked elves. One of my favorite scenes in this play was the absolute absurdity of the government coming to arrest Santa Claus for shooting one of his elves. Andrew Zhu’s “Please Live” tells the story of a man’s journey to cure his ailing mother. The play made up for the lack of emotional connection with its surrealist humor. The audience could’ve been shown scenes with the mother and son, to connect to the son’s plight. Another issue with this play was; certain scenes came off more cringeworthy rather than humorous, with the main character getting on his knees and begging at some point to convince another character to help him.

Jeslyn Nguyen’s “Next Time” emerged as a standout performance, captivating me with its creative format and heartfelt storytelling. As the relationship between Lucas and Ben progressed through email exchanges, I was drawn into a world of unrequited love and bittersweet longing. With a poignant portrayal of friendship, Nguyen’s play left a long-lasting mark on me.

Uyen Yu’s “Don’t Trust Monocled Men” offered a comedy

While the play’s abrupt ending left me wanting more, its witty banter and fourth-wall breaks kept audiences entertained throughout. Yu succeeded in delivering a lighthearted performance that provided much-needed comic relief amidst the showcase’s more somber plays.

Next came Duong Khuu and Rachiel Hsieh’s “The End of Our Dreams,” a play reimagination of Romeo and Juliet, with the two protagonists being named after Romeo (Rosey) and Juliet, according to the playbill. There were no rivalries within the family, and the forces pushing the characters apart were a combination of distance, when Rosey has to move away, and Rosey’s marriage. While the play’s erratic plotline and one-dimensional characters, such as Paris D’acoholler left me feeling a little disjointed, I appreciated the dynamics between the two protagonists, Rosey and Juliet.

The final play, “I don’t want it to end,” by Andrew Ton, served as a fitting conclusion to the showcase. I appreciated the plot of the story, of a burnedout genius finding her purpose amid an apocalypse. Each character had their compelling backstories, and the music

'Mean

Girls'

fails to live up to original, disappoints

'Race For Glory: Audi vs. Lancia' stars as phenomenal sports thriller

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

By Akshaj Kashyap

“Race For Glory: Audi vs. Lancia,” simultaneously released in theaters and video on demand on Jan. 5, highlights the struggle between Germany and Italy in the 1983 Rally World Championship for racecars. Audi for Germany and Lancia for Italy were both powerhouse car manufacturers at the time. The film follows the team manager for Lancia, Cesare Fiorio (Riccardo Scamarcio), as he recounts the daunting task of competing with Audi’s four-wheel drive car. Lancia has a significantly smaller budget for research and development, which makes it practically impossible to create a four-wheel drive of their own, forcing Fiorio and Lancia’s engineers to adopt a much lighter but fragile, two-wheel drive model.

the pace down too much through too many landscape shots, but it only adds to the immersion and intensity of the movie.

The pacing was also done well for the most part; although the beginning was slightly slow, the plot worked out well as the pacing gradually increased, working to heighten the emotions during the movie’s climax.

MOVIE REVIEW

RATING: 3 out of 5

By Ruby Bui

In the 2024 “Mean Girls” movie, the original 2004 film is set in a modern time with a musical twist. I was ecstatic to see one of my favorite classics be remade, but unfortunately, the film fell short of my expectations and did not accurately reflect a lot of the original’s content.

The plot follows a formerly homeschooled student in Kenya, Africa, Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who struggles to fit in at an American public school. She then befriends the popular and vastly admired friend group, the Plastics, which includes Regina George (Reneé Rapp), Karen Shetty (Avantika Vandanapu), and Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Woods). However, things turn sour when Cady develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney).

The most commendable aspect of this movie is the casting. Rapp and Vandanapu in particular played their roles as Regina and Karen wonderfully, and they closely mirrored the original characters’ personalities. Not only does Vandana-

pu make the audience laugh during scenes such as Karen using a sandwich to blend out her makeup, but she also perfectly encapsulates the “dumb but sweet” role that Karen was written to have. Additionally, Regina’s glamorous yet terrifying reputation is upheld from the original film. “Meet the Plastics,” sung by Rapp, who has a beautiful voice, was one of the few songs I enjoyed throughout the musical. Regina’s “queen bee” persona especially shines through as she menacingly sings the line “I am Regina George.” It was refreshing to see that Rapp is able to radiate the same intimidating energy that Rachel McAdams had in the original. However, the most off-putting aspect of the movie to me was the outfit selections for the Plastics. Although costume designer Tom Broecker maintained the concepts of the original characters when modernizing their outfits, the glamor that the Plastics are associated with was severely lacking in their wardrobe choices. Their clothes appeared cheap and sometimes even out of style, especially Regina’s monochrome pink outfit. This especially bothered me because Regina George was absurdly wealthy and classy in the 2004

film, yet this aura failed to reflect in her clothing in the new movie.

Overall, I was not a fan of the majority of the songs played in the movie. It also appears that much of the character building in the original movie was cut out to make time for more songs, leaving the audience expecting more than they receive. The plot seemed fragmented and incomplete throughout the movie since there was hardly any time to create an emotional scene. In the 2004 version of “Mean Girls,” Cady gives a heartwarming speech at the school dance when she owns up to her mistakes and makes amends with those she hurt. This scene, however, was cut significantly short in the latest film as the scene skips to yet another song. This diminished Cady’s character development and the movie overall was not as true to the original as I had hoped it to be.

Ultimately, although there were some praiseworthy details about this movie, this version of “Mean Girls” did not leave much to be impressed by. Seeing this remake on the screen was nostalgic, and I am glad to have been able to see such an iconic and beloved movie be recreated, but this movie is merely a one-time watch.

Through Fiorio’s clever, though perhaps not perfectly legal resourcefulness, Lancia’s 037 car is approved for the 1983 Rally season. Although they are clear underdogs, the team and car are competitive. Fiorio also recruits Walter Röhrl (Volker Bruch), an accomplished but reluctant driver who stubbornly insists on choosing his races but is chosen regardless because Fiorio believes he is skilled enough to help narrow the gap between Lancia and Audi.

The season begins in Monte Carlo with further resourcefulness from Fiorio, including mind games with Audi’s team manager, Roland Gumpert (Daniel Brühl), who adopted the four-wheel drive. As the season progresses, Lancia receives top finishes but remains behind Audi. Röhrl’s continued pickiness in race selection frustrates Fiorio, leading him to replace Röhrl with Ugo Kurt (Giulio Brizzi), a younger driver with potential.

The movie exhibits wonderful filmmaking throughout. The filmmakers almost flawlessly executed the visuals and cinematography, straddling the line between vivid immersion and elaborate, over-thetop displays. Some of the visuals, in the beginning, slowed

The music fantastically ramped up the tension in more suspenseful scenes and established the dramatic mood exceedingly well throughout the film. A sizable portion of the movie is spoken in other languages, mostly Italian, French, and German, which adds to the immersion of certain scenes quite well. Perhaps the weaker aspect of the film was its plot, as it was a little nebulous and confusing. The average viewer would understand the film’s essence as a sports thriller but would likely lose sense of some of the smaller plot points, such as the presence of Dr. Jane McCoy (Katie Clarkson-Hill).

McCoy is a nutritional doctor brought on by Fiorio to increase his team's performance and had the most screen time in the movie yet never had a particularly clear role. At best, she helped flesh out Fiorio’s emotions to the viewer, but at worst, she was just a random character haphazardly connected to Fiorio with no real purpose. Her role ends up feeling a little unnecessary.

A major character detail is the rather psychotic and admittedly obsessive nature of competitive racing and how Fiorio is consumed with winning. However, there is no given cause for this obsession other than for the sake of the sport and winning. The movie is meant to show the negative consequences of such obsession, but also the impressive results that can come from such effort and sacrifice.

Although some of the plot and characters weren’t executed well, the screenplay and viewing experience of the movie were truly phenomenal. The movie works quite well as a sports thriller and is an enjoyable experience, but it is probably not going to become a bona fide classic anytime soon.

Sanvi Parvatikar | THE UNION

The entire cast of Hourglass, along with Arras Periodical and Thespian Showcase celebrates at the end.

Courtesy of Lionsgate Audi driver Roland Gumpert (Bruhl) stands next to the Audi Quattro O'Neill.

'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quests to recreate books, falls short

By Dhara Mehta

When I opened the first page of “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” in fourth grade, I knew that I would be obsessed with these books and the world of Percy Jackson for years to come. So when Disney+ announced that Rick Riordan would be creating a TV show adaptation of the books, I was excited for a chance to relive the excitement of reading the books again.

The show follows the protagonist Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) who is on a quest to save the world with his two best friends Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava’ Jeffries) and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri). Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all work together and venture across the U.S. to retrieve Zeus’ (God of the Sky) master bolt and prevent war from breaking out between Poseidon (God of the Sea) and Zeus at Olympus (the home of the Greek Gods).

The first two episodes were released on Dec. 19, and the eighth episode, the finale, was released on Jan. 30. Not only was the total number of ep-

isodes not enough, but the short length of each episode ruined critical character development, had limited opportunities to worldbuild, and did not provide enough context to audiences that had not read the book series.

For someone who hasn’t read the books, the show proves an enjoyable, exciting watch. The set designs, acting, and digestible storyline make for a good show when separated from the books. In terms of acting, each actor does an excellent job portraying their characters, doing justice to the way they were written in the books. While Simhadri is able to bring Grover’s meekness and comedic timing to the screen, Scobell steals the show with his ability to portray Percy as a sassy, yet fierce character.

The set design is as if Camp Half-Blood had fallen out of the books and onto our TV screens: the layout of the cabins and design of each cabin’s interior make the show come alive.

One of the most crucial relationships in the novels is Percy and Annabeth’s relationship. Their love story is clever, sweet, and they truly are one of the best couples in any book series I’ve read to date. However,

in the show, because the entire first book is captured in short episodes, their relationship dynamic is ruined, and their relationship seems forced and awkward.

The show lacks a romantic build-up and tosses a few romantic scenes in so the audience gets the sense that Annabeth and Percy are falling in love, but as a whole, the relationship seems like an afterthought to the main plotlines in the show.

While the plot feels rushed in the show, each episode (45 minutes including credits) goes by extremely slowly, as if the trio isn’t trying to save the world.

The sense of urgency is lost because of lack of worldbuilding, as audiences don’t understand the dynamics of the world of the gods and demigods, and audience members fail to understand the gravity of the situation. In certain scenes, the characters seem to be taking their own sweet time to complete tasks, making the quest seem insignificant and not as dangerous as it was described in the books by Riordan.

While it may not be for those who enjoyed the books as I did, the show still is entertaining and definitely worth a watch.

'Flame and Shadow' finishes trilogy with fiery world-building, dimmed by characters

RATING: 4 out of 5

By Agna Soneji

As the final book of the Crescent City trilogy, “House of Flame and Shadow” is an action-packed, 700-page finale to the series. Set in the world of Midgard, Sarah J. Maas’s impeccable world-building skills create a fantasy world that transports you to a land of magic.

Centered around Bryce Quinlan, a half-human halffae, the book starts off right at the cliff-hanger at the end of the previous book.

“House of Flame and Shadow” follows Bryce who has traveled to a different world and the aftermath of what happens to the other characters.

This story is shown through the eyes of various characters: Bryce Quinlan, Bryce's lover Hunt Athalar, Bryce’s half-brother Rhun Dannan, Tharion Ketos, and Ithan.

In line with the other two parts of this trilogy, this book was very long with too many plot twists. However, because it has so many narrators throughout the book, it seems much shorter than it is, but it could have been condensed.

In typical Maas fashion, the book switches between these multiple points of view.

The plotline can get a bit confusing to follow with such abrupt switches between the different characters' stories, but they are all interwoven

Heavenly Delusion Sonny Boy

Psycho-Pass

with one another.

The books are connected to Maas’s previous series, “A Court of Thorns and Roses."

It is helpful but definitely not necessary to read the previous books to know the full context of what is happening in this book and the characters from the other series.

“House of Flame and Shadow” did not cultivate the unique personalities that Maas had created for her characters in the previous books. It seems that Maas uses this book to recreate her popular series so that it would sell better, rather than trying to really develop the characters as their own people.

Maas tried to replicate Bryce with the personality of Aelin, a character from her “Throne of Glass” series. Bryce’s snarky and lighthearted character was replaced with a calculated and fierce personality without any clear character arc or transition to make her this way.

Reading the previous two books in the Crescent City trilogy is essential to reading this book but the world that Maas creates within this trilogy is truly astonishing.

Her ability to place easter eggs at the beginning of the series that give clues to what happens at the end of the series shows her attention to detail and amazing plot-building ability. I truly enjoyed this story for how well-established the plot is, but it felt like Maas was trying to mimic the characters from her other books.

The Witch and The Beast RATING KEY

Food Wars

'The Zone of Interest' explores human desensitization to Nazi Holocaust

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

By Paarth Gupta

When I noticed the release of the German movie The Zone of Interest by director Jonathan Glazer at film festivals early in 2023, I believed it to be yet another movie about the Holocaust that addressed a complicated subject in an underdeveloped, overdone, and boring way. After watching this film, it is safe to say that it was like no other film I have watched before, cementing itself as an integral addition to political expressionist cinema.

The film follows the family of Nazi Commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Freidel) who is stationed at the largest and most brutal Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz. Höss and his family, consisting of his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), and his three children, live in a house right next to the camp, hoping to build a life there. The family is shown living their daily lives, completely indifferent to the sounds of screaming and killing that can be heard from the neighboring concentration camp.

In the last scene Höss is seen

exiting his office in Berlin and walking down a stairwell that gets darker as he goes down. With every couple steps, Höss retches but is unable to throw up. While he goes down the stairs, flashes of the future are shown with janitors wiping down display cases getting the Auschwitz museum ready for opening day many years after the war. The film ends with Höss walking down the last step into complete darkness.

This film was courageous in that it took on challenging ideas of indifference and the banality of evil. Höss and his family were portrayed as people who didn’t know or care about the extent of the atrocities they were committing.

Certain scenes in this film were chilling to the bone and horrifying because of the extent of the characters' indifference. Scenes such as the one at the end in which the janitors were cleaning display cases of

human remains and hundreds of burned shoes from the gas chambers to prepare the museum in present day also showed just how desensitized our present society is to the horrors of the Holocaust.

In addition to the interesting thematic elements, the movie was a display of filmmaking mastery. The film was harsh but beautiful to look at, using sharp, cool-blue tones throughout to create an atmosphere of hostility, introducing

distance and detachment from the characters. The sound design in this movie was some of the best I’veseen, the highlight being the use of screams and gas as white noise in the background. The sound and lighting design actually told the story instead of enhancing it for effect, which I've seen in very few films.

What brought the film down was an absence of the most basic quality of a film: entertainment. This film was simply not engaging with minimal dialogue, a lack of plot, little to no character development, and a very slow-moving story.

It is clear that the intent of the film was not to entertain but to express the complex thoughts of an experimental director. Many elements of the film are easily lost to the average viewer and the film felt like something only a filmmaker of Glazer’s caliber would truly understand. If the audience isn’t engaged, then they can’t possibly grasp the intended social message. A film must be thoughtful and entertaining, and this film only attained one of these qualities.

Unfortunately, an intellectual snooze-fest is something that will never get through to the average audience.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

Courtesy of Disney+

Percy (right), Annabeth (center), and Grover (left) take on the Underworld in their quest to save the world.

Courtesy of A24 Pictures

Rudolf Höss watches the pool party at his home next to Auschwitz, where smoke is visibly coming from.

MOVIE REVIEW

Navani squashes competition, makes commitment to Stanford squash team

By Agna Soneji

With dreams of playing squash professionally, senior Riya Navani has committed to Stanford for squash, Navani’s close friend Ria Pandya said. Ranking 92nd globally in the world of squash, Navani is a very sought-after talent, Pandya said.

When she initially started at age seven, Navani had no interest in squash, Navani said. She started playing squash as a pastime with her brother, however, she has grown to love the sport and is ready to play competitively on a team in college, she added.

“I know that I’ll be motivated to improve because in college, as a team, you know that you’re not just playing for yourself anymore,” Navani said. “You’re playing for a whole team. You’re playing for a school.”

Although she has gotten many other offers from different schools, many of them were on the east coast, and she wanted to stay closer to home, Navani said. She visited many schools but, in the end, she settled on Stanford, she added.

“For me, my personality, and where I’ve grown up, it made the most sense to me, and I could see myself here,” Navani said.

Navani knew that Stanford

squash was the best fit for her not only because of the weather, but also because she is very close with many of the girls on the Stanford squash team from many previous events, she added.

“The energy that you get when there’s ten girls outside cheering for you, that’s kind of the energy and atmosphere that I’m excited for,” Navani said.

She is ready to start her career in a team setting but most of her squash achievements till now have been on her own, Navani’s close friend Muskan Gupta said.

“She’ll wake up hours before school to work out and then she’ll come to school, do amazing things at school, and then go to her squash training sessions,” Pandya said.

Navani’s dedication to the sport is very palpable in her commitment to her regimen, and her commitment has led to her success, Gupta said.

“The biggest tournaments I’ve played, the most prestigious ones, are the World Junior Championships and the British Junior Open, on the junior scale,” Navani said. “On the professional side of my career, I’ve played some tournaments as well but I’m still growing in that sense.”

Playing in over 200 tournaments, Navani has been learning

squash from the time she was seven and has grown into the powerhouse she is now, Navani said.

“I’ve played in tons of countries,” Navani said. “I’ve been to Europe at least four or five times. This past summer, I was in Australia for the World Juniors.”

Every athlete shows off their trophies and victories, but that isn’t the most important part of an athlete’s journey, Navani said.

“The hardest part is the journey or the times when you lose, which is more than you win, and just being able to bounce back repeatedly from these losses,” Navani said.

The passion and strength that Navani uses to grow in squash also push her in her daily life, Gupta said. Her squash playing has helped her grow a strong character, Gupta added.

“It’s taught me how to use my competitive edge in every part of my life and, not as a bad thing, but just to always push myself for more,” Navani said.

Navani has helped inspire many other students to push themselves, including her friends, Pandya said.

“I’ve seen her juggle high school and squash at the same time, which is very hard to do, especially with her level, and she’s grown so much as a student-athlete, which is very inspiring,” Pandya said.

Trojan athletes recount experiences with injuries

By Yunxi Fang

Athletes often face setbacks on their road to success, including injuries that can prevent them from playing their sport or affect their performance.

During practice, junior swimmer Jinyu Zhou misused her leg while doing breaststroke, which led to an injury called breaststroker’s knee, a combination of strain to the medial collateral ligament and compression on the knee, she said.

“I could (still) swim, but it was really painful for my leg,” Zhou said. “My coaches made it so I could practice any stroke except breaststroke.” She could not go to an upcoming race because the knee injury would affect her other performance doing other strokes, and she didn’t want to worsen her leg injury, Zhou said.

“I was off practice for around three weeks,” Zhou said. “It was kind of hard for me to walk too.”

Taking time off helped the injury gradually improve, Zhou said. While going back into the sport, she consulted with one of her coaches about stretches, she added.

“[Getting back] was a bit difficult because sometimes I would relapse,” Zhou said. “I would start swimming and then the pain would arise all over again.”

Junior Amey Gulati had two injuries during track and field: a knee injury, likely due to bad form, and carpal tunnel syndrome, an injury to his wrist, he said.

“[For] my wrist, I don’t think it was caused by track and field because I got carpal tunnel,” Gulati said. “But I think doing strenuous exercise on my wrist at the same time as getting carpal tunnel was not the best.”

For his knee injury, he took lighter practice for a few days, Gulati said. For the wrist injury, he took around two days off and was feeling better afterward, he added.

“I feel like getting back would have been hard if it affected me more,” Gulati said. “My injury wasn’t as serious as something that would stop me from going to practice longer term. I didn’t really have any problems.”

During football practice, junior linebacker and wide receiver David Jamie fell backward and overextended his wrist, he said.

Wrestlers grapple with making weight, practice

By Erick Johnson

There is a saying in sports: “Embrace the grind.” However, athletes do not truly know the meaning of it until they endure a full wrestling season, wrestling coach Roberto Clemente said. There are no requirements to join the team, but perseverance is key, Clemente said. Many kids have joined and decided that wrestling is unsuitable for them, he added.

“If you want to come out, you have to survive,” Clemente said. “Outside of water polo, I think wrestling is the toughest sport there is.”

The wrestling program practices from Monday through Saturday, Clemente said. On competition days, weigh-ins, where the wrestlers’ weight are measured in order to qualify for competitions, begin at 7 a.m. Wrestling competitions end approximately at 8 p.m., so wrestlers have to take on twelve-hour wrestling days, he added.

“In order for you to go to that Saturday competition, you have to be the number one in our room for that weight class,” Clemente said. “Sometimes you have to wrestle off.”

Wrestling is not a sport where being on the team automatically means athletes are participating in competitions, Clemente said. If a student can’t beat one of their fellow teammates of the same weight class, they do not deserve to go to a competition, he added.

“It’s brutal, definitely not for the faint of heart,” senior Noel Hwang said. “We had literal steam coming off of our bodies (during practice).”

Wrestling culture is special because it is a fight against themselves, Hwang said. Wrestlers have to be strong and disciplined, not just when wrestling, but every day when it comes to watching their weight, he added.

“Recently, I lost seven pounds in two days,” Hwang said. “Some guys on our team cut twelve pounds in a week.”

Being a wrestler is especially hard when you are also taking rigorous courses, Hwang stated.

“I’ll be losing my mind because I’m so hungry, but I have to do this test,” Hwang said.

In order to lose weight, wrestlers should drink lots of water so they can easily sweat it out during

“My adrenaline took over, and I didn’t feel any pain,” Jamie said. “It was pretty smooth.”

His good friends were a bit sad that he was injured, Jamie said. His friends wanted to see him play and play with him, Jamie added.

“On the day of my injury, I was down about it,” Jamie said. “But I wasn’t too upset about it, but my friends were very sad about it.”

Nothing really changed regarding his performance once he got back into football practice two months after his wrist injury, Jamie said. He kept playing wide receiver once he came back, Jamie added.

“I think in hindsight the experience was fine because for the most part, if you just took care of yourself and not do anything dumb, your experience with your injury won’t really hurt, it’ll just take time to heal,” Jamie said.

For people that really want to play their sport, injuries should not discourage them from playing as long as the injuries are minor, Jamie said.

“Honestly, [injuries] just come,” Jamie said. “[Injuries] are something to expect; you just continue playing the game.”

practice, former wrestling coach Kent Mitchell said. What is most important is to consume complex carbohydrates because they are slowly digested and are more filling, he said.

“Because you may be limiting how much you’re eating, you want the stuff that you eat to take care of you as far as you can,” Mitchell said. “You want all the weight of that food to count and help you.”

The process of weight management is complicated, and requires the cooperative effort of both wrestler and coach, Mitchell stated.

“It’s an ongoing conversation with your coach,” Mitchell said. “You talk and share with each other what it is you’re eating and what’s happening; then you can adjust things.”

Losing water weight is another method wrestlers employ to cut weight, junior Tovie Pascual said. It consists of putting on several layers of clothes during their cardio and practices to sweat out as much as possible and lose weight, he stated.

During the offseason, Pascual weight lifts, works on his cardio, and practices his wrestling technique, he said.

“(Wrestling) really does take a toll on the body,” Pascual said. “You have to take care of it (and) ice up your muscles when you need to. I’m sore almost every day.”

Wrestling might be tough, but the feeling after every practice is indescribable, Hwang said. Anyone who can last a full season as a wrestler deserves respect, he said.

“It changes you in so many ways, discipline-wise and physical-health-wise,” Hwang said. “I’ve never seen someone not change.”

Wrestling teaches athletes about delayed gratification, Hwang said. If wrestlers are able to overcome the hard physical and mental work, they’ll reap the benefits from it, he added.

“Wrestling has taught me that when you suffer together, you create a strong bond with those who you suffer with,” Pascual said.

Mitchell agreed with Clemente’s statement that wrestling is one of the toughest sports there is, based on the fact that the sport is centered around hurting your opponents, an idea that is not prevalent in other sports, he said.

Riya Navani competes in a nail-biting match in the 2022 U.S. Open Squash competition in Philadelphia.

Courtesy of Riya Navani

Banjara takes shot at international soccer

By Ruby Bui

When he was four years old, varsity soccer player and junior Aryan Banjara adopted his father’s interest in soccer and fell in love with the sport, he said. Banjara often travels throughout California for soccer tournaments, but took the opportunity in 2022 to play in the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, with his club soccer team, the Silicon Valley Eagles, he said. The Gothia Cup is an international youth soccer tournament, according to the Gothia Cup website.

Playing in the Gothia Cup was Banjara’s first international trip, and he is one of the captains of the Silicon Valley Eagles soccer team, he said.

“It was nice being able to play with my teammates and be along-

side my coach and everything,” Banjara said. “I loved every second of it. It felt great when I got invited.”

There were about 1,700 teams playing in the Gothia Cup, and the Silicon Valley Eagles ended in roughly the top 600, Banjara said.

“My team was in group A and we got knocked out in the second round,” Banjara said.

Banjara is also a dedicated goalkeeper at MHS who helps the team with training and always motivates his teammates on the sideline, varsity boys soccer coach James Williams said. However, there are two senior goalkeepers who have been getting playing time over Banjara for this year , he added.

“It’s not easy going through what he’s going through right now,” Williams said. “To keep

training, to keep his focus, to keep working hard to become a better player—it’s really a testament to his own mental strength and ability to fight through those things.”

Banjara’s coaches have taught him respect, sportsmanship, and leadership, which are all keys to being a captain, he said.

“Especially when my team is down, I have to be able to lift up my teammates and tell them it’s okay and just keep on playing,” Banjara said. “So, (my coaches) really taught me a lot about good character in life and in soccer.”

As a player, Banjara is a great goalkeeper, varsity soccer player and junior Luqman Abas said. As a person, he’s always able to make others laugh, Abas added.

“He’s always willing to sacrifice himself to save the ball,” Abas said.

Playing soccer is Banjara’s passion, and although he hopes to turn it into a career, the chances are extremely slim, he said.

“I plan to play college ball and everything, and hopefully I make it pro—I mean, that’s my number one dream since I’ve been little,” Banjara said. “I definitely do see a future in playing soccer.”

Besides his coaches, Banjara looks up to professional soccer players Lionel Messi and Alisson Becker as his role models, he said.

“I love everything about the game,” Banjara said. “The bonding with my teammates, the tactics, the fans, everything.”

If Banjara continues to grow as a soccer player and work hard in training, he has the potential to become a starter next school year at MHS, Williams said.

“My boys and my coaches, they really taught me a lot about the game and how to treat each other, and I just look forward to continuing to play and having a good time,” Banjara said.

Winter Sports High lights

Banjara celebrates with his father after a game in the Gothia Cup.

Courtesy of Aryan Banjara

Erick Johnson | THE UNION

Sriram and Plummer earn spots in CCDA All-State Honor Choir

By Akshaj Kashyap

Freshman Akash Sriram and senior Rachel Plummer made the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA) All-State Honor Choir and performed in Sacramento on Feb.3. CCDA All-State Honor Choir is the next highest honor after making the Coastal Regions Honor Choir, choir teacher Emily Moore said. Choir students who were interested in the Regional Choir prepared for a 10-minute audition that covered sight reading, scales, arpeggios, and more, Moore said. Scoring at a certain level would allow students to make the Regional Choir, the region extending from the Oregon border to around San Luis Obispo, and scoring even higher would automatically qualify students into the All-State Choir without having to re-audition, she added.

“I think the best thing I did was just encourage people to audition,” Moore said. “I was able to show everyone the process, how it works, and then host auditions to get people to join.”

Plummer was the only person to audition for the Regional Choir last school year and was the first to audition in over a decade from MHS as not many people were previously aware of the opportunity, Moore said. Plummer

helped pave the way for multiple students auditioning this year, Moore continued. Plummer went from making the Regional Choir to the All-State Choir this year, Moore said.

“I was proud of myself for taking that leap and going for it,” Plummer said about her audition last year. “When I got in, I got to learn so much and meet a lot of amazing people. I didn’t care so much that I didn’t get into AllState.”

Sriram found the choice to audition an easy decision as he had been involved in musical activities for over nine years, including five years of choir, he said. Sriram also takes classes for Carnatic music, classical South Indian music, along with choir lessons for western music on the weekends, he added.

“I first told my parents (that I made All-State Choir), of course, but the next person I talked to was Ms. Moore,” Sriram said. “She’s been really supportive of me, helping me with choir stuff, and she was the one who introduced me to All-State and Regional Choir in the first place.”

Despite upholding a major commitment to his various musical aspirations, Sriram still prioritizes his academics, he said. He tries to find ways to incorporate both activities together, Sriram said.

Board meeting emphasizes need for proper internet use

By Tiffany Ng

A digital citizenship study session took place during the Nov. 2023 Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) board meeting to discuss effective methods for creating a better environment online.

The goal of the study session wasn’t to ban communication services, but to encourage students to use them appropriately and reduce negative behavior, MUSD Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said during the board meeting.

“There’s always the latest cutting edge, new app that kids feel most comfortable with or starting to use,” Jordan said. “But it does start to get overwhelming in terms of thinking about all the different spaces as an education entity that we are then expected to have insight into or know what conversation is happening and be responsive to.”

Digital citizenship, or using the internet responsibly, is a critical concept, former Board President Chris Norwood said in an interview. It’s a life skill that everyone, especially children, should have, he added.

“Understanding what it means to be a digital citizen lets you know what types of behaviors you should have online, and then what types of behaviors are acceptable to (use) online,” Norwood said.

Not using social media properly can have negative consequences, Principal and Chief Innovator Greg Wohlman said. The results of these negative consequences can be seen in the mental health of people of all ages, all over the world, and they can be devastating, he added.

“If we can find a way to teach people about the pros and cons of digital citizenship, I’m hoping that that will (take effect) in some way, especially in not only our country but the world,” Wohlman said.

Cyberbullying is a societal issue, Wohlman said. Students can talk to trusted adults to cope, but it’s more effective for the school

“Every time I do a homework assignment, I listen to a song and I sing it back,” Sriram said. “It just is something that comes really naturally to me, and it definitely helps me in studying certain things, especially for concentration.”

Sriram and Plummer both spent extra hours working with Moore to gain more technical and practical experience, Moore said. They felt that they needed more practice on their sight-reading and made sure to emphasize that in their practice, Moore added.

“Ms. Moore is really kind and understanding, so she would have me work during karaoke on Fridays and also during the week as well,” Plummer said. “I had to learn various skills, memorize different skills and learn how to sight-read, which was a challenge for me as someone who doesn’t play an instrument.”

Plummer thinks that singing in church and adult choirs has given her a lot of valuable experience, she said. Besides that, she can remember going to choir rehearsals since she was 8 years old, and has worked with professionals since she was 14 years old, she said.

“Even if you’re afraid to put yourself out there, just do it because you’ll be so glad and so proud of yourself afterwards,” Plummer said.

Culture and climate survey results

FROM PAGE 1

to encourage students themselves to stop cyberbullying, he added.

“If you could imagine 3,025 students not participating in exacerbating the problem of online bullying, that would be powerful,” Wohlman said. “Just like, ‘Hey, fighting in school doesn’t belong; it just doesn’t have a place here.’

So online bullying doesn’t have a place with our students, doesn’t have a place in our community.”

Part of the school district’s efforts to reduce negative behavior online is the “Say Something” app, which is effective for creating a better environment, Tech Services Director Chin Song said in an email.

The “app is a part of an integrated system in creating a safer school,” Song said. “It allows anonymous reports, which can be a big deal for a student who is worried about speaking up.”

The culture created by teachers and leaders at schools encourages students to care about their peers and report any negative behavior, Norwood said.

“The ‘Say Something’ app is effective because kids care about their school and their community as a whole, as well as their friends,” Norwood said. “No tool is going to be as effective as positive human relationships.”

Social media was a primary form of communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, so people were more likely to be affected by cyberbullying, Board Trustee Robert Jung said.

“There’s a lot of negative pieces of (social media),” Jung said. “And if you’re not familiar or have the skills to deal with that negativity, it can have a negative effect on mental health.”

It is always better to develop a relationship with someone in person than online, Jung said.

“Once you have a real relationship, you can use virtual (communication) as another way to enhance that relationship,” Jung said. “But it shouldn’t be the only platform that the relationship is based on.”

(staff) more, I feel that we might improve understanding between each other,” Ayalew said. Being able to build understanding between staff and students more will lead to more change that can help students feel more connected to the school, Anglon said. To help build these connec-

tions, administrators have been planning bonding activities for students to attend and meet staff outside of just a classroom setting, Anglon said. “I’m trying to work with San Jose City College to see if we can get some students to attend an event in March,” Anglon said. “I’m also working on a little project with the counselors and some

teachers and it’s designed specifically to build more connections.”

The survey can only address so many issues, and students are urged to book a meeting with administrators to address deeper concerns, Mach said.

“We just have to figure it out, with everything—how do we all accept each other and find that (common) interest?” Mach said.

Innovation Campus moves towards opening

FROM PAGE 1

Elkordy said. “However, moving over to the Innovation Campus is overall good because eventually you will make new friends (…) On normal days, you’ll be let out at 3:10 which allows you to come back to the main campus in order to still maintain those relationships.”

The bell schedule for the Innovation Campus includes a standard six-period schedule on Monday and alternating block schedule days from Tuesday to Friday, according to a parent presentation held on Jan. 25.

“We’ve had multiple drafts and now, we’ve settled on something that is very close to being done, but it could move a couple minutes one way or another,” Wohlman said. “If we have students that need to attend a certain college or working with colleges, what can we do inside their school schedule at the Innovation Campus to continue that?”

The block schedule days will include a seventh period for Project Based Learning (PBL) called “PBL Land”, which will include dedicated student collaboration time, according to Executive Director of Learning and Innovation Priti Johari.

“There’s also time in the day that’s focused on project-based learning that’s going to be driven by students’ passion projects— what are (the) needs that they are seeing in the community, and they want to work on filling?” Johari said.

The current focus is to increase Innovation Campus’ student enrollment numbers as well as the number of teachers who are willing to teach there, Johari said.

“If we don’t have students or teachers, we don’t have a campus,” Johari said. “So we are really working on sharing these ideas with our students or families and with our teachers and getting their buy-in.”

The Innovation Campus will not offer any Advanced Placement (AP) courses as of now, according to a frequently asked question document on the MHS website. However, dual enrollment courses will be offered, which include world languages.

“I hope our dual enrollment class can become equal to some of our AP coursework because our post secondary institutions via your colleges and academies and such are also looking at dual enrollment courses,” Wohlman said. “If our Innovation students have dual enrollment courses, internships at our local tech firms or summer jobs at our local tech firms, they are building their resume.”

While the addition of the Innovation Campus offers a new pathway for students, it is not meant to create competition between the different campuses in Milpitas, Johari said.

“We want you all to thrive and now we are creating multiple campuses between the MHS main campus, the Innovation Campus, the Middle College, and Calaveras Hills where we are re-

ally thinking about how students learn and how we can create those different opportunities for them,” Johari said.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Innovation Campus is its interdisciplinary focus, E-Tech academy lead and math teacher Mimi Nguyen said.

“The students can actually use the projects that they built in the engineering class, bring it into the math class, and then do calculations on it,” Nguyen said. “So we’re not just looking at problems in a textbook, but looking at the students’ project, so I think that’s something that’s cool that we can try out and we have the opportunity or more flexibility to do that.”

The Innovation Campus was awarded a $1,500,000 grant from the California Department of Public School Construction for construction, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said. The campus received other grants such as $750,000 from the Kelly Foundation along with federal funding to construct the buildings, Jordan added.

“I will continue to work with other legislators, senators, Congress people, as well as corporations because my goal is to raise $14 million,” Jordan said. “That way, our Innovation Campus is something that’s built not only with our own resources from the city, but also with resources from others around our city that support our region.”

Kevin Ting contributed to this coverage.

Sriram (third from the left in the front row) stands alongside his choir members as a tenor at the All-State Choir in Sacramento on Feb. 3.

Courtesy of Akash Sriram

Wage increase negotiated

FROM PAGE 1

tions of proposed wage increases to keep the district “financially safe and sound,” she added.

“I appreciate them (teachers) going to the board meeting to share because I think this is the good thing about Milpitas—we have a channel for staff, for people to share their opinions,” Zhang said. “Sometimes, we might not always see things eye to eye, but we’re done with negotiations with them (MTA). We were able to meet in the middle and then move forward.”

MTA Proposed a “Conservative” Raise

MTA and MUSD negotiate compensation increases every year based on annual state funding, Webber said. Last year, the district received a 12% ongoing increase in state funding from various programs and, therefore, was able to provide a 9% compensation increase for teachers, Webber said.

Next year, California will be running on a deficit, which will

impact district funding and cause budget reductions, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.

“We’re going to have to do some cost management and evaluate some of the positions that we have and possibly put those on hold,” Jordan said.

In light of the projected deficit, MTA was “conservative” while proposing a raise to ensure that teachers aren’t laid off or don’t face unexpected wage cuts next year, Isbell said.

MTA never intends to put the district in financial hardship, Webber said.

“That goes against our philosophy completely because, who does it hurt? The students,” Webber said. “Our primary focus is always, ultimately, the education of our students.”

Out of the 74.4% of MTA members who participated in voting, 98.7% voted to ratify the updated CBA, including the 4% compensation increase, according to Webber.

“We would not have settled if we thought it wasn’t a fair tentative agreement,” Isbell said. “So we’re very happy with it.”

Wages and Teacher Retention

A wage increase is crucial to ensuring the district attracts and retains teachers and compensates them adequately for their efforts, Webber said.

“I want my students to get the best education that is possible,” Webber said. “If there is a district that’s paying $15-16,000 more than we are, our good teachers are going to be able to get a job there.”

In addition to state funding, school districts receive local funding from property taxes, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.

Because Milpitas has lower home prices and property taxes compared to cities like Palo Alto, MUSD receives less community-based funding than them, Jordan said.

“We do, on occasion, lose people (teachers) to Palo Alto, Santa Clara Unified, Fremont Union High School District, and other community-funded school districts because they can pay more,” Jordan said. “But there’s no way we could ever pay that much unless we became community-funded.”

Due to high costs of living,

Eye on Campus: Lunar Show

MUSD has attrition rates ranging from 6-10%, which is why the board makes efforts to recruit and retain educators, Jordan added.

“All of our educators, especially our teachers in the classrooms, have done a lot of extraordinary work since coming through COVID (...) as far as making up gaps for learners’ academic achievement as well as learners’ social-emotional development,” Jordan said. “I really appreciate the work that they do, and to the best of our ability, we will do what we can to compensate them.”

A Good Working Relationship

MTA’s presence at the Jan. 9 board meeting made “quite a statement,” especially since over 100 teachers attended on short-notice after a break, Isbell said.

“This time, we felt we needed to show our solidarity as a union, just to say, ‘Look, we’re here, look at us. We know that you value us as teachers, so just remember who you’re giving your raise to,” Isbell said.

The district board and MTA maintain a good working relationship, Isbell said.

“I just feel very lucky to be in a district where the management side listens to us and not everything is confrontational,” Isbell said.

Considering that next year’s

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) projection is under 1%, the 4% compensation increase is a “good compromise,” English teacher Skyler Draeger said. Draeger was previously an MHS administrator on the district’s compensation negotiation team, but is now an MTA member and attended the Jan. 9 board meeting, he said.

“Regardless of the side we’re on, we’re all Milpitas Unified; it’s our district; it’s our home,” Draeger said. “We’re here to support our school, our kids, and our district.”

The board understands both sides and works with employees while remaining fiscally responsible, School Board President Minh Ngo said.

“Teachers are always going to advocate for themselves—more power to them,” Ngo said. “As a district, we continue to work together to make sure that we provide the best educational opportunities for our students, and that starts with the people in the classrooms.”

California approves new laws for wastewater purification

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Many people working at Santa Clara Valley Water are excited about the new ruling because the Silicon Valley advanced water treatment is in the Alviso area, which is in our district, Santa Clara Valley Water director for District 3 (Milpitas) Richard Santos said. They are looking forward to using recycled water for drinking water, he added.

“We’ve had three years of critical drought (2012-2016),” Santos said. “And for the last 20 years we’ve periodically had droughts (...) We continue work at the (Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center) because that’s our future. And the best way of doing things is recapturing the water and cleaning it up.”

Santa Clara Valley Water has been participating in developing these new regulations for over a decade, Kirsten Struve, the Santa Clara Valley Water assistant officer for the water supply division said. Direct potable reuse is really important for improving climate resilience, she added.

“There has been years of research and collaboration with the regulators to develop rules that will be protective of public health,” Struve said. “Years to make sure that this water is reliable, and that we can have a new water supply.”

Water is too precious of a resource to only use once, Struve said. Right now, Santa Clara

County receives 50% of its water from outside the county. One use of this water is to replenish the groundwater that is pumped for potable water because there is not enough rain in Santa Clara County to replenish the groundwater, Struve added.

“And with climate change, the snowpacks which currently store a lot of California’s water will be diminished,” Struve said. “And so that’s why we need to look for drought-proof and sustainable water supplies.”

Milpitas receives around 40% of its drinking water from Santa Clara Valley Water, Santos said.

“Since I’ve been elected, I’ve been to the Milpitas City Council and I encouraged them to look into getting all of Milpitas’ water from Valley Water,” Santos said. “I believe (Milpitas) has a good process (for water services) right now, but I do encourage them to look into us for even more water.”

Unfortunately, there are just too many restrictions and regulatory agencies to go through to implement DPR immediately, Santos said. He believes DPR is good for use right now, he added.

“It’s probably going to take about 10 years (to finalize the regulations),” Santos said. We are going to work with legislation, with everything we can, and we’re going to have a demonstration process that could encourage our legislators and regulatory agencies to speed up the (regulations) process.”

Over 100 teachers attended the Jan. 9 MUSD board meeting wearing red shirts to support MTA in urging the district for a higher compensation increase for the 2023-24 school year.

Courtesy of Brett Webber

The annual Lunar Show hosted by Chinese Club took place on Feb. 17 in celebration of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 10. Performers included the Evergreen Valley High School Lion dance team and many MHS groups.

Courtesy of Brandon Nguyen