The Union - Milpitas High School - February 2013

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UN I O N

E D I TO RI A L 3 O PI N I O N S 4

FEBRUARY 2013 Volume XXV Issue IV

F E AT U R E S 6 D E D I C AT I O N S 10 S PR E A D 12 I N - FO C U S 15 L I F E S T Y LE 16 E N T E R TA I N M E N T 19 S P O R T S 2 2

T HE

MHSTHEUNION.NET For the latest updates

STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL

N EWS IN BR IEF FAFSA workshop held at Milpitas Library The Santa Clara County Library District and Mission College Financial Aid Of�ce will hold a hands-on workshop for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The workshop will be held in open-house format on Monday, Feb. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Milpitas Library. First annual Cupcake Wars on Feb. 27 The �rst annual Cupcake Wars will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at G03. Students who wish to observe and eat the student-baked cupcakes must pay $3 for an admission fee. Students who wish to compete can do so for free, and the winner(s) will receive a $50 cash award. NJROTC hosts annual Military Ball The National Junior Reserve Of�cer Training Corps (NJROTC) plans to have its annual Military Ball on March 16 at the Milpitas Community Center from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 per couple. Milpitas Key Club to host LTG Banquet in March Milpitas Key Club will host its second annual charity banquet on March 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring a variety of performances. From 5 to 5:30 p.m., Key Clubbers from San Jose, Milpitas, and Fremont will gather to acknowledge this year’s accomplishments, honor Lieutenant Governor (LTG) Vanessa Yeh’s term, and welcome the 2013-2014 LTG.

Lunar Show promotes culture, allows expression BY BRENDA SU

Chinese Club hosted its annual Lunar Show to promote Asian culture and allow students to express themselves on stage, according to Chinese Club Co-President Tina Chung. The day show, featuring seven acts, was held throughout all six periods on Jan. 24 while the night show, featuring 21 acts, was held on Jan. 26. The theater was full during the night show, with around 300 tickets sold, Chung said. The acts ranged from traditional martial arts to modern renditions of Chinese songs and dances, and the show featured more acts from outside of school that many students might not have seen in previous years’ shows, Chung added. “The night show had many more acts such as the ‘Bian Lian’ Master, the BCS [Berryessa Chinese School] Orchestra, and Chinese yo-yos,” Chung explained. “Some outside acts are performed by alumni who the Chinese Club cabinet still keep in touch with, while others were hired by the club to perform.” MHS Alumnus Josh Nghiem substituted for a Hip-Hop Club dancer during the day show and performed as a lion dancer with Yun Yee Tong at the night show. This was Nghiem’s sixth time performing in the Lunar Show, as he has performed in every production since his freshman year in high school. “I do agree that Lunar Show has

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Seniors Venus Shih (left) and Jan Llorico (right) dance to a Chinese-pop and Korean-pop medley at the day show in the MHS theater on Jan. 24. The duo also performed at the sold-out Lunar Show at night on Saturday, Jan. 26.

gotten a lot more cultural,” Nghiem said. “It feels more like a presentation of the Chinese culture instead of a talent show.” Sophomore Michael Truong attended the Lunar night show and enjoyed the Wushu performance.

BY ANDREA WANG

DECA wins at conference BY RUITING QIN

SEE DECA ON PAGE 2

“definitely attend next year’s.” Lunar Show auditions began early December, Chung said. About eighteen acts comprised of MHS students auditioned and ten acts were selected, she added. MHS clubs that performed included the Hip-Hop Club and C4.

Debate tournament hosted; MHS debaters receive ‘bids’

Promposal competition awards winners with two Prom tickets Students may enter the competition by uploading videos onto YouTube of how they asked their dates to Prom. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges, but the video that receive the most votes will win the participants a free picture package. Last day to enter is March 1 at 11:59 p.m.

Twenty-one students represented MHS at the Silicon Valley DECA 2013 District Career Development Conference (CDC), according to Milpitas DECA President Caryn Tran. The competition took place at the San Jose Marriott from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6, Tran said. Freshman Misbah Surani, Sophomore Zahra Surani, and Juniors Amy Zhao and Brenda Su received trophies and medals in their respective events, Tran said. Sophomore Jacky Lu, Juniors Vikram Sastry and Sumukh Shekar, and Senior Caryn Tran were also awarded medals. “The purpose of DECA is to provide an environment for students to further themselves in marketing, business administration, finance, and hospitality,” Tran said. “There are about three major competitions per year which we study and prepare for,” Tran continued. Competition events are split up into four levels: principle series, team decision making, individual series, and written events, according to Tran. The principle series are overall tests in business administration, finance, hospitality and tourism, and marketing. The individual series tests split

The ribbon dance was also interesting and informative, Truong said. “Some performances were more intriguing than others; they could’ve sorted it so that the ending of the show ended with a bang,” Truong said. However, he said he would

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Mobile desks with wheels will be piloted in six MHS classrooms. The furniture will enable interactive environments and facilitate collaboration.

Mobile desks to be adopted BY CATHERINE FREY

Six classrooms at MHS will begin piloting new furniture that will facilitate movements towards more interactive learning environments within the next few months, according to Principal Ken Schlaff. The desks will have wheels that enable students to move around, and expenditures will be drawn from the General Obligation (GO) Bond, with the goals of the California Common Core standards in mind, Schlaff continued. The mobile desks are set to arrive on Feb. 20, but there is not yet a set date for the arrival of the mobile table units, according to Social Studies Teacher Danilo Escobar. Escobar will be using the new furniture in his classroom, F14. There are several possible configurations for the furniture, with chairs,

chairs attached to tables, mobile tables, and smaller chairs, according to Schlaff. Escobar stated he will be testing mobile tables with separate chairs. Escobar chose purple tables from the various colors available for teachers to choose from. The colors include lime green, dark blue, and yellow, and several other options, Schlaff stated. “[The furniture is] part of moving towards putting into place interactions, Schlaff said. “[This would allow activities that] would deal with critical thinking, collaboration, higher order kinds of things.” Escobar hopes that the furniture will make his room more dynamic. He wants to incorporate more groupwork into his lessons and thinks the furniture will allow easier transitions between different size groups.

MHS Speech and Debate recently hosted its annual tournament, according to Speech and Debate Coach Charles Schletzbaum. Over 400 students and 200 adults from 25 difference schools in the area attended, Schletzbaum said. The tournament was hosted on campus on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27. Students from all over the area, including MHS competitors, participated in the tournament. The duo of Junior Karen Shyu and Sophomore Alefia Kothambawala went undefeated 4-0 in the novice public forum debate. In previous years, this tournament raised about $5000 in profits and used 130 rooms on campus as well as all the classrooms across the street at Thomas Russell Middle School, stated Schletzbaum. This year, the tournament registration was only opened a week and a half before the date, giving other schools only a small window to sign up, and as a result, there were less participants. This year, the MHS Speech and Debate team only raised an estimate of $3000 in profits. All the profits help pay for the tournaments the team participates in, according to Shletzbaum. “Although it seems like a lot in money for just a club, the price to enter in a tournament can range anywhere from $30 to over $200,” said Schletzbaum. This year, the team has already competed in tournaments in La Costa, Stanford, Santa Clara, and Las Vegas, costing the team and individuals a lot of money. Because the team has grown in numbers and ability every year, they need more funds to participate in bigger and bigger tournaments, said Schletzbaum. The most elite tournaments require invitations,

and of those include a “Round Robin,” in which the top 12 debaters in the nation compete against each other. Junior Miranda Le and Sophomore Michelle Huang were recently invited to a “Round Robin” and will be competing all day on Feb. 14 and 15 at the Marriott in Walnut Creek. Le and Huang also received a ‘bid’ to participate in the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky, which is the biggest debate tournament in the nation. A ‘bid’ is an invitation, and typically those who receive two bids automatically get to participate in the Tournament of Champions, Schletzbaum said. “The team has never received bids until this year,” Schletzbaum said. “We have a chance to be nationally ranked.” Juniors Pranay Patni and Jonathan Ngo recently participated in the Stanford tournament, making it to semifinals and tying for third place out of over 300 other participating teams. After their latest tournament, Patni and Ngo are in a six-way tie of being the 31st ranked team in the nation, according to debaterankings.com. Patni and Ngo received a bid to participate in the Tournament of Champions. The next tournament will be this weekend, Feb. 16 and 17, all day Saturday and Sunday in Berkeley. Le, Huang, Patni, and Ngo will all be competing in the Berkeley tournament. The MHS Speech and Debate team are in a competitive league with schools ranging from Fremont. down to Gilroy, back up to South San Francisco. There are schools such as Leland, Harker, and Bellarmine College Prep who are among the top 20 nationally ranked teams, “which makes it really hard for us to win in our league,” said Schletzbaum.


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