UNION
OP: PSAT CHEATING IS FRUITLESS (2)
STUDENTS AND THEIR JOBS (5)
TIPS FOR BLACK FRIDAY (6)
NEW ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR (12)
T HE
NOVEMBER 2018 VOLUME XXX ISSUE II
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STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL
First MHS-hosted SAT ‘disorganized’ By Ginnie Lo Neval Mulaomerovic
Hosting the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for the first time in October was chaotic for the MHS administration, SAT Supervisor Jonathan Mach said. Students faced issues with poor proctoring and confusion on campus, he said. The unfamiliarity of the site opened up problems for proctors, Mach said. Some proctors performed well while others needed assistance, he added. “Some of [the proctors] were brand new in the area,” Mach said. “For those [proctors] that need some help, we’re going to pair them up with someone that can help them for next time. It’s just that at a new site with lots of new proctors, you’re going to run into lots of problems.” Proctors did not collect phones and students were allowed to put their phones away in their bags, Junior Vanessa Cho said. At other sites, proctors required students to shut off phones and phones were collected, she continued. “I feel like it was kind of disorganized,” Cho said. “[The proctor] actually did not collect phones. He just told us to turn it off.” Several students, who chose to
remain anonymous, described how easy it was to cheat during their test. The desks were placed so close that students could look at their friend’s answer, and everyone in the room cheated when the proctor was not paying attention, the student added. Another student took their test in the L building and stated that their room was handled poorly. The desks were left in groups of four, allowing students to face each other and exchange answers during the test. Proctors decided whether it was necessary to collect phones, Mach said. It is not a College Board requirement to collect phones, he said. “Phones will be collected before the test, and returned before dismissal,” College Board’s Student Registration Booklet stated. “Using phones and certain other electronic devices is prohibited in SAT test centers.” Most proctors were young adults or recent high school graduates, Junior Ashley Peng said. Proctors did not provide adequate assistance while administering the test, she added. “The proctor didn’t really read the script so a lot of people were confused,” Peng said. “He said to just fill out the first page. This
proctor seemed kind of confused as to what he was doing.” Many rooms began their test after the scheduled start time of 8:00 AM, Cho said. Students waited in line in front of their classrooms for 40 minutes before their proctors arrived, she continued. “I saw proctors outside of classrooms after the time we were supposed to be in the classroom,” she said. “One kid came at 8:30 AM. [The proctor] was still reading the test procedures, and he just let him in.” Test centers are supposed to open at 7:45 AM and rooms must close at 8:00 AM, according to the College Board website. Those who arrive after 8:00 AM will not be granted access to the testing area, the College Board site stated. “That doesn’t mean we have to start proctoring at 8:00 AM,” Mach said. “It means that all the students that are waiting to get in need to be in before 8:00 AM. The door opening policy is anywhere from 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM.” Few complaints were received overall, Rojas said. They mostly came from students from other schools who were turned away for not bringing proper identification, Rojas said.
PE fails to achieve state requisites By Luke Ren
A student from San Mateo Valley drowned on May 8, 2018 in the school’s swimming pool during PE, according to an article from The Mercury News. The principal responded by suspending all swimming physical education classes from being taught at San Mateo Valley’s swimming pool, the article added. A student nearly drowned in the MHS swimming pool on Oct. 12, 2007 during PE, according to an article from the 2007 edition of The Union. After multiple attempts to bring the student out of the water, the student was successfully rescued from the bottom of the pool, the article added. MHS, in response to the incident, does not offer aquatics as a physical education course, Principal Francis Rojas said. The administration was aware that aquatics was a requirement by the California Department of Education (CDE) and decided that it was not a priority, Rojas added. The majority of the CDE physical education requirements were being met, which should be sufficient, Rojas said. The accreditation team, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, looked
at the curriculum last year and determined that it was fine, Rojas added. “We also have to understand that when you look at education code, there’s actually no police. There are random audits,” Rojas said. “The reality of it is not every school has these [required courses].” High school physical education courses must include aquatics as an area of instruction, as well as seven other content areas, according to the CDE website. Not every requirement needs to be met in one year, but each course must be touched on in every student’s high school career, the CDE website stated. “The course of study must include the eight required content areas and substantially meet the objectives and criteria of [the education code],” according to the CDE website. MHS does not offer aquatics, gymnastics, or combatives, which are three of the requirements listed on the CDE website, PE Department Head Corinne Osborne said. The main reason that these courses are not offered is there are not enough PE facilities, and there is a safety concern when
teaching swimming, Osborne added. “It’s really the lack of facilities that’s holding us back,” Osborne said. “The class size is [also] a big problem because the students outnumber us 45 to one.” Although the pool is not built for teaching swimming in a PE class, the safety concern is not the main issue when introducing aquatics, Rojas said. The more important concern is the lack of experienced teachers, Rojas said. “PE class sizes normally sit around 45 statewide, that’s how we build them,” Rojas said. “I think the biggest restriction is the experience of the staff. If I have a group of PE teachers that doesn’t have experience in aquatics, I wouldn’t particularly want them to teach aquatics.” The CDE mandates that schools offer aquatics even in the absence of a pool, according to the CDE website. Teachers must also be certified with adequate qualification in order to teach aquatics, the CDE website added. “If the school site does not have a pool or access to a pool, aquatics can still be taught,” according SEE PE ON PAGE 16
KIRK TRAN THE UNION
A student drinks water from a school drinking fountain, but an important question remains: is that water below state-mandated lead thresholds?
MUSD water tested for lead By Kirk Tran
Does MUSD provide safe, leadfree fountain water? The truth is that nobody knows yet. MUSD has yet to provide water testing results according to the government owned website waterboards.ca.gov. MUSD is currently awaiting results on lead results from water samples taken through March and July, MUSD Director of Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation Brian Shreve said. The samples have been submitted to the City of Milpitas for testing and MUSD will better understand whether action is necessary based on those tests, with the purpose of MUSD to sample all its drinking fountains, Shreve also said. “[The water tests] have been taken throughout, probably, I want to say, through March to July.” Shreve said. “We’re testing our drinking fountains throughout the district. The intent is for us to sample every drinking foun-
tain.” The results of the water tests have yet to be uploaded because of the volume of other California schools attempting to test their water as well, Shreve said. Those results will be released in earlyto-mid November, Shreve said on Oct. 4. “It takes time. We’re one of many school districts, so the sampling lab, the testing labs, are taking longer with results to get back, than it would normally be because of the thousands that are getting done, but we’re in line to get the final results.” Shreve said. “We’re as hopeful as anybody else. We would hope in the next month to six weeks, [that the sample results will come back] but that’s not guaranteed. But we should, hopefully around that time frame.” Schools constructed without water systems built after Jan. 1, 2010 must test their drinking water for lead by Jan. 1, 2019, according to California Assembly Bill 746.
Eye on Campus:
Clubs at Trunk-or-Treat
JONATHAN TRAN THE UNION
From left to right, NHS officers Mansi Agrawal, Aavani Tamhankar, Britney Weng, and Aditi Hariharan volunteer to give out candy on Halloween.