Issue 5 - March 2020

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2020

THE PROSPECTOR

ISSUE 5, VOL. 62

Student Newsmagazine of Cupertino High School

IN THIS ISSUE

news Mock Trial Goes to Semi Finals............................................. 04 Declining Enrollment in CUSD..... 06 Bringing Universal Basic Income to California....................................... 07

features

Teen Activists................................ 08

Activists 08: Teen at Cupertino

lifestyles

Evolution of Boybands................. 20 opinions Expose on Art Theft...................... 22 Predictive Policing........................ 12 Effects of Sajaegi in the Music Lowering the Legal Minimum Industry......................................... 23 Drinking Age................................. 14 sports

investigations

Satire on Coach Talks.................. 24 What’s in Our Food? A Look into the Athlete of the Month: Amy Thuesen Cafeteria....................................... 16 (Track and Field).......................... 25 Rise of E-Sports............................ 26

perspectives

CHS Classes as People................ 28 Satirical Guide on How to be an Immigrant..................................... 29

postscript Cities of 30: Sister Cupertino COVER DESIGNED BY ALEXANDRIA HUNT

Blurb on Cupertino’s Sister Cities............................................. 30 Column: Aashna’s Experience with Dance and Injuries....................... 31

THE PROSPECTOR

STAFF 2019- 2020

editors-in-chief Alexandria Hunt Lawrence Fan Sarah Pollans

copy editors Calvin Anderson Amir Iravani Keerthi Lakshmanan

news editor Juliet Shearin

photo editors Calvin Anderson Amir Iravani

opinions editor Rachel Park

online editors Stella Jia Avinash Pandit Sanat Singhal

features editor Megumi Ondo lifestyles editor Krithika Vekatasubramanian investigations editor Joan Thyagarajan sports editor Henry Ma perspectives editor Ankita Acharya postscript editor Jenny Wu

business manager Keerthi Lakshmanan writers Ariana Fahri, Kavya Gupta, Kenneth Jeon, Ashley Kang, Sohini Karmakar, Sydney Liao, Angela Ma, Maia Matsushita, Taha Shafiei, Aashna Shah, Nikita Srinivas, Darshini Vijayakumar, Jeffrey Xiong, Anthony Zhu

advisor Ann Peck Editorial Policy

“The Prospector” is an open forum of expression for student editors to inform and educate their readers. It will not be reviewed by or restrained by school officials prior to publication or distribution. Advisors may and should coach and discuss content during the writing process.

The staff of “The Prospector” seeks to recognize individuals, events and ideas and bring news to the Cupertino community in an accurate, professional and unbiased manner. “The Prospector” will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible dissent or controversy.

If you believe an error has been made or wish to have your opinion expressed in “The Prospector,” please contact us via mail or email. Letters sent become the sole property of “The Prospector” and can be edited for length, clarity or accuracy.

“The Prospector” editorial board reserves the right to accept or reject any ad in accordance with its advertising policy.

Contact Us The Prospector 10100 Finch Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 prospector.chs@gmail.com

A LETTER FROM THE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Dear Reader, When we started to plan for this issue in February, it’s safe to say none of us could predict what the future had in store. We never could have known that the release of our issue had to be changed to — well — whenever you’re reading this. Needless to say, it was disappointing when we found out our publication schedule was altered, but there was nothing we could do but carry on.

However, the Coronavirus continued to impact our community in more ways than we could have imagined — including clearing out grocery stores, local businesses and libraries closing, standardized tests being canceled and a county lockdown. Check out our Instagram, @chsprospector, for coronavirus coverage and updates by our online staff.

The entire nation has felt the impacts of different events of 2020, including Kobe Bryant’s death and the upcoming elections. Among these events, a local change that will soon have major implications on local FUHSD high schools is the declining enrollment in the Cupertino Union School District — go to page 6 to read Kavya Gupta’s coverage regarding this issue.

Although negative changes will always occur around us, what matters is how we as students counteract this and initiate action. Teen activists Alyssa Yao, Eunsu Lee and Justin Li have been raising awareness about animal rights, Covid-19 and the housing crisis (page 8), respectively — an exemplary measure of the power us high schoolers are able to have on the world.

Additionally, Cupertino’s Mock Trial team, led by our own Mr. Bui went to semifinals in the Santa Clara County Mock Trial Tournament. Flip to page 4 to read Jenny Wu and Darshini Vijayakumar’s coverage on their competitions. In pop culture news, Krithika Venkatasubramanian analyzes the growth and popularity of boy bands across the decades on page 20.

We don’t know when we are going to go back to school, and when you’re reading this letter, maybe you won’t know if society as we knew it will ever return. Although we have been plunged into a world of uncertainty, it is important that us students continue to look into the future with our heads held high with hope.

Stay safe and healthy, Alexandria Hunt, Sarah Pollans and Lawrence Fan

4 | DESIGNED BY JULIET SHEARIN

NEWS

Mock Trial

FINALS

JENNY WU postscript editor

DARSHINI VIJAYAKUMAR writer

For the first time in history, Cupertino High School’s Mock Trial Team competed against Homestead High School at the finals round of the Santa Clara County Mock Trial Tournament debating the murder case of People v. Matsumoto.

In Mock Trial, students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a fictional case provided by the Constitutional Rights Federation and compete against local schools at a yearly county tournament.

This year’s case, People v. Matsumoto, centered around the alleged murder of Taylor Matsumoto by their husband Bailey Matsumoto.

Students represent either the defense or prosecution. The prosecution side con-

teams meet for every week. So it’s really amazing that even though we had less time to practice, we were still able to do so well this year. This year, especially, we took a lot of time to dissect the case, to figure out the specifics, and really hone in on things like how do you win a competition and not just how do you win a trial.”

Said president, and senior, Elisabeth Young, “We changed a lot of things this year, in terms of trying to be more competitive. We were much more intense about teaching the legal concepts behind each objection and how to be strategic with objections.”

A lot of the team’s success this year can be credited to the dedication of the members.

Said Elisabeth Young, “In past years, we’ve had people who we thought would drop halfway through and then we would have to deal with that, but this year everyone was really invested in not only getting to comps, but also winning comps.”

As individuals, the team members gained fresh insight as the season progressed, which not only contributed to individual team member’s gaining knowledge, but also the growth of the team as a whole.

Ian Dong, senior and defense lawyer on the team, exclaimed, “Honestly Mock Trial is just like a great way for me to gain public speaking skills and I was always out-

“This year, especially, we took a lot of time to dissect the case, to figure out the specifics [...] not just how do you win a trial.”

- Vice President Joshua Yu

“This year everyone was really invested in not only getting to comps [competitions], but also winning comps.”

- President Elisabeth Young legally destroy someone in the courtroom.

It gives a great insight into what the legal world is like.”

After ending an extremely successful season with Mock Trial, the members take some time and reflect on the lessons learned and the rewarding experiences they had gained from the club.

Said Joshua Yu, “Being able to work with them [the team] every week, work on meeting plans, working on witness character, or direct examinations and cross examinations, all of that, I think that that team spirit and actually being able to see each other every week and be excited to be there, is something that made this year really special to me.”

Although the team’s season is now over, this is just the start. The club has be-

It’s a really great experience to legally destroy someone in the courtroom. It gives a great insight into what the legal world is like.”

- Member Ian Dong gun to organize the officer team for next year and are building up for an even more successful season.

NEWS | 5

sists of attorneys from the state of California who are bringing criminal charges against, in this case, Bailey Matsumoto, while the defense side consists of the defense attorneys hired by Matsumoto.

Said vice president and senior, Joshua Yu, “As a prosecuting attorney, we had the responsibility to bring four witnesses to the stand that implicate Bailey Matsumoto’s guilt. We argued that Bailey struck their spouse Taylor on the back of the head with a golf club, causing them to drown in the master bathtub.”

Regarding the general structure of the club, the officers decided to make some fine adjustments this year in order to better educate its members.

Said Yu, “I think this year we, first of all, extended our practice times from 1 and ½ hours a week to 2 hours, which is still half the amount of time that a lot of other

going but like sometimes in the courtroom there is such a unique power dynamic between you and the judge and the other attorneys. It’s a really great experience to

Declining Enrollment in CUSD Schools KAVYA GUPTA writer

6 | THE PROSPECTOR

As enrollment at the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) continues its downward trend for its sixth year in a row, students and families look to the community for answers. The astronomical prices of family housing, underfunding of the school district, and low birth rates are all supposed instigators of the phenomenon.

Regnart, Meyerholz, John Muir and Blue Hills elementary schools have been particularly impacted by the trend. As their class sizes become smaller, the schools face a growing threat of eventual closure.

In 2017, then-Superintendent of CUSD Wendy Gudalewics told Mercury News, “The schools feel it. We’ve been out there with parents. They say it’s hard to raise funds. In some cases you don’t even have two full grade levels per grade. That can impact teachers with collaboration.”

Gudalewics said that the district had already been undergoing declining enrollment for two years. She cited the rapidly rising prices of family housing as a major issue, as well as low birth rates in Silicon Valley.

As of 2018, enrollment is projected to drop by 1200 students from 2018 to 2023.

Decreasing birth rates may in fact be a significant contributor. As of 2017, birth rates in the Silicon Valley have dropped by nearly 13% since 2008, dropping to their lowest levels since the mid-80’s.

However, it doesn’t seem to be nearly as impactful as other explanations.

An obvious reason for the decreasing enrollment is the well-known housing crisis in California. The immigration rates of younger students fall below emigration rates in Silicon Valley, as the cost of renting or buyPHOTO BY AMIR IRAVANI ing family housing continues to trek

upwards. A study from Bloomberg claims that “more than 40% of residents are considered cost burdened for housing — paying more than 30% of their income toward shelter.” “[The high cost of living] is impacting us throughout the district, but we see it in areas where we have apartments; communities like Garden Gate have told us they’re getting out-priced, they can’t rent,” Gudalewics said. “In the south end, the homes are extremely expensive, so when the houses are [ bought], they’re usually not households with little kids.”

CUSD is also combatting a lack of funding. As a higher ranked public school district in the state, CUSD receives less funding due to a divestment in funds made to schools with greater amounts of low-income families, which are given more money to overcome issues of poverty. Additionally, California is ranked at 41 in the nation for school funding, according to CUSD Board of Trustees President Lori Cunningham. Public schools in California are thus already prone to diminishing enrollment, funds and resources.

If the aforementioned schools do close, their students will be relocated to other schools throughout the district. Families see this as an inconvenience because they will be moved outside walking proximity. Housing prices in the area will also drop.

According to studies done in Chicago, Michigan and Ohio, at the time of closing, there is little change in the displaced students’ test scores or grades, but the quality of schools that absorb those students tends to drop. In the long-term, students that had been displaced showed small impacts on reading test and math test scores.

Unfortunately, FUHSD will also be significantly affected. The size of Lynbrook High School’s freshman classes have been decreasing for years, allowing FUHSD to create the Lynbrook Supplemental School Assignment Plan (LSSAP) to improve numbers.

The LSSAP helps students from Miller Middle School and Christa McAuliffe Elementary School enroll at Lynbrook, while reserving spots for a few students from Hyde Middle School as well. If enrollment drops by a significant amount, the school will be forced to remove some elective courses and reduce the size of their athletic department.

Bringing Universal Basic Income to California ASHLEY KANG writer

the city of Stockton. Mayor Michael Tubbs’ UBI pilot program selects 125 low-income residents to be given an unconditional $500 per month, with payments having no effect on other forms of public assistance.

According to data from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), recipients, by and large, spend the money on basic necessities like food, clothes, and utility bills—disputing popular concerns regarding the potential “misuse” of UBI payments.

However, Low’s bill has a caveat: recipients of existing public assistance programs such as Medi-Cal, CalFresh and CalWORKS, would be ineligible to receive payments from Cal-UBI. In other words, the bill would exclude low-income families and individuals that already receive cash assistance and other benefits allocated to the state by the federal government.

Critics argue that paying for UBI with a 10% VAT would disproportionately hurt the poor and force them to choose between public assistance and the UBI. Finally, the bill’s ambiguity regarding residency requirements and its potential to increase California rent prices have received significant opposition.

Still, Low is adamant about continuing the conversation on how job loss from automation will have profound impacts on the economy and necessitate some form of compensation.

Said Low, “The innovations and technologies created in California today are already disrupting our workforce. It’s time that we consider the merits of expanding economic security through a universal basic income.”

10% VAT tax to pay for the bill

$1000 per adult per month

67 years since UBI was first proposed

40% of pilot UBI income went towards food

NEWS | 7

On February 20, CA Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) introduced Assembly Bill 2712 which establishes the California Universal Basic Income (CalUBI) Program as a continuation of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s signature Freedom Dividend proposal.

Funded by a 10% Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods & services — which exempt groceries, medicine, clothing, textbooks, etc. —- the bill would give unconditional cash payments of $1000 issued monthly to residents of California over the age of 18 “with the intention of ensuring the economic security of recipients.”

Said Low in an interview with ABC7, “This is an issue that transcends any type of candidacy of an individual, but rather this is about a movement, a grassroots movement to make sure we rewrite the rules of the economy to make sure it works for everyone.”

Since its announcement, Low’s bill has garnered considerable support online. The “Yang Gang” and Yang himself tweeted support for AB 2712, alongside the hashtag #EndorseUBI trending on Twitter. With Yang’s longshot campaign having popularized UBI to an unprecedented degree, the platform is now slowly advancing into the mainstream of political thought.

Especially amidst an increasing panic surrounding the COVID-19 virus, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been calling for UBI stimulus packages to be doled out as both a baseline of support for Americans and a preventative measure to mitigate lasting economic damage.

In fact, California has already been experimenting with UBI on a smaller scale in

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how CHS students are using their voice to advocate for change.

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COURTESY OF ALYSSA YAO

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alyssa yao animal rights activist MEGUMI ONDO features editor

Today, many youth activists around the world advocate to change society, hoping that their voices would raise awareness and impact others. Sophomore Alyssa Yao is one of them, standing for animal rights.

Yao first developed an interest in animal rights activism after going vegan.

“I went completely vegan [in] August of eighth grade. Before I had taken little steps [to become a vegan], but that’s when I decided to cut [all animal products] off.” explains Yao. Yao ultimately decided to become vegan for numerous reasons. One of them was watching film about intensive factory farming, ‘Forks Over Knives’, after her mother’s recommendation. “[Watching the documentary] created a spark in me. It made me think, ‘Why are we doing this to innocent animals that have done nothing wrong to us?’” said Yao, “By purchasing animal products, we’re supporting this. The only way for it to stop is for us to stop supporting it.”

The spark eventually developed into something bigger that led Yao to become an activist Said Yao, “[As an activist], in general I would explain to other people about what made me go vegan, if they ask about it. I’ve also attended the Cube of Truth a couple of times.”

A Cube of Truth is a peaceful street activism demonstration by an organization called Anonymous for the Voiceless.

Activists participating in the Cube of Truth act for animal rights while wearing

an ‘Anonymous’ mask. “[Activists participating in the Cube of Truth] go to places that have heavy traffic and show clips of standard industry practices of factories. People who walk by have the choice to enlighten themselves about what they are supporting, and they can ask questions about the video.” explains Yao, “The purpose of [a Cube of Truth] is to not get people to convert to being vegan but it’s to get them thinking about what they support.

At the end of the day, we are just trying to be a voice for the voiceless.”

“We are just trying to be a voice for the voiceless.”

When Yao first chose to become a vegan, she may have not known that it would be something that she strongly stands by for.

Nonetheless, it is a choice that she will never regret.

Said Yao, “It is important to know how your action affect others. Every little step counts.”

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eunsu lee COVID-19 activist ANKITA ACHARYA perspectives editor

10 | THE PROSPECTOR

With the issue of the coronavirus touching almost every part of the world, it’s crucial that steps are taken to contain the pandemic and help those in need. Junior Eunsu Lee has already begun taking steps to help those in Wuhan.

Her idea started off with a spark from Mr. Cheung.

“I first had the idea to fundraise and raise awareness for COVID-19 when Mr. Cheung talked to his classes about the supply shortage in Wuhan,” said Lee. “He mentioned that he had a contact who could possibly ship whatever supplies have been gathered directly to facilities which needed them, I figured that the student population at Tino would be able to help the cause in some way, as supplies such as masks were more accessible to us.”

Lee discusses how the effort evolved over time, working to combat issues like mass panic and overbuying.

“Initially, we wanted to hold a supply drive in which people brought in packs of masks, as we had a reliable method of transportation to hospitals which needed them. We then decided to hold an online donation drive through an accredited organization called MedShare. They use the funds to supply hospitals and clinics directly.”

Lee, a current officer of Unicef, has worked to include other clubs in the initiative to broaden the impact.

“I felt that members of other health-related clubs would be as passionate as I was about helping the cause,” explains Lee, “I reached out to three other health-oriented on-campus clubs and met with the officers to organize the fundraiser in

an engaging manner - a competition between the clubs.”

The four clubs - Cupertino Global Health Club, Red Cross, UNICEF, and Student Doctors plan to compete to garner the greatest amount of money and win the contest.

“Through the effort, the health clubs are hoping to gather as many contributions as possible to assist the Coronavirus initiative. Ideally, each participating club will raise 50$ each for a sum of 200$, but any amount will help!” said Lee. As the virus drew nearer and touched our community, the effort began to become more personal for Lee. “Most of my extended family lives in Korea, so I am hoping to do whatever I can to alleviate the situation, no matter how insignificant the contribution may seem to be. The fundraiser is a work in progress - we are still gathering input from clubs in order to announce the initiative - but now that CHS itself has closed due to the number of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County, I feel that more people will be made aware of the need for medical supplies and support.”

Rather than identifying as an activist, Lee views the issue from a community lens, saying, “There are many great club officers and club members who are taking part in this campaign and are equally as passionate as I am about making a change.

The initiative is a group effort, and we are extremely thankful for anyone who is willing to take part in it!”

COURTESY OF GOOGLE

COURTESY OF EUNSU LEE

justin li housing activist

HENRY MA sports editor

The amount of teen activists is increasing and each activist has their own reason for becoming an activist. For junior Justin Li, it began with the civic engagement project assigned in AP Government.

Said Li, “The more research I’ve done with my group the more genuinely concerned I became [with the housing crisis].”

After completing his assignment, Li along with his group decided to investigate and take actions on the controversies surrounding Vallco Reconstruction. Following his research and hearing from both perspectives, Li determined who he wanted to advocate for.

Said Li, “When I [listened] to those who are most affected by the housing crisis in Cupertino – namely De Anza students and public sector workers – I [realized] how many people truly yearn for an affordable place to stay in over nostalgia of what the city looks like. With the education sector being Cupertino’s largest source of income, these are the people that contribute the most to Cupertino, and these are the people I want to advocate for.”

In order to combat the housing issues present in Cupertino, Li created Cupertino Students for Housing (CSFH) to raise awareness among the student body. CSFH is a group which represents the youths’s concerns for the city and is currently helping Cupertino For All, a group that advocates for inclusion and affordable housing, to hold a meeting for school officials.

COURTESY OF JUSTIN LI

Said Li, “My team is planning on helping Cupertino For All hold a town hall-esque meeting for school officials to discuss our state of education in relation to housing.

Students that want to help the housing issue can do a number of things such as joining SCFH to represent the youth’s voice

“These are the people that contribute the most to Cupertino, and these are the people I want to advocate for.” on the current housing crisis, and speaking at city council meetings.

Li said, “It’s important to build a new political atmosphere of inclusion and humans over landscapes, hopefully making it so that Cupertino is no longer the infamous city across the state for being hard on housing projects, the city no developers want to work with.”

COURTESY OF GOOGLE

OPINIONS tion to other factors. HunchLab uses historical crime data, in addition to temporal writer patterns (day of the week, seasonality), Predictive policing, as defined by The weather, risk terrain modeling (locations of National Institute of Justice, is policing bars, bus stops, etc.), socioeconomic indithat “tries to harness the power of in- cators, historic crime levels, and near-reformation, geospatial technologies and peat patterns. evidence-based intervention models to The inherent problem with place-based reduce crime and improve public safety.” policing technologies is the data that is Predictive policing is not meant to replace used to create these models. Historical traditional policing but is meant to aid it by crime data may be based on practices that applying advanced analytics to data sets, have disproportionately targeted those who created from data of past crimes, to help fo- live in low-income areas and minority comcus law enforcement and allow them to re- munities. If the police have discriminated in the past, then these new technologies will only serve to intenIf the police have discriminated in the past, then sify the problem, sending more officers to areas that are already these new technologies will only serve to intentargeted and unfairly treated.

However, in response to consify the problem, sending more officers to areas cern with regards to over-policthat are already targeted and unfairly treated. ing, HunchLab may re-weigh the severity of crimes in their models to avoid aggressive and heedless policing. The company also specifically adact preemptively to what is likely to happen justs its model to avoid increasing racial and to deploy resources accordingly. While tensions through unnecessary contact. meant to be more accurate and efficient, Not all systems on the market do this, and predictive policing in practice only serves some impacts may still be discriminatory, to exacerbate biases in the system and are HunchLab does attempt to avoid this probusually opaque with regards to what data lem. fuels these algorithms, presenting dangers The other, and more concerning form, to our society and communities these poli- of predictive policing is person-based. cies are implemented in.

These systems, a prominent example being There are two types of predictive po- the Chicago Police Department’s Strategic licing technologies: place-based and per- Subjects List (SSL) or “heat list,” attempt son-based. Though different in practice, to predict who is likely to commit or be a theory and design, both can be problematic victim of certain crimes. The SSL predicted to the communities that are targeted. city residents who were most likely to be Place-based predictive policing involved in a shooting, either as policies, such as HunchLab, predict the perpetrator the sites of criminal activity based on historical crime data, in addi-

12 | DESIGNED BY RACHEL PARK

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or victim, and would assign each individual on the list a risk score, which reflected their predicted likelihood of being involved in a shooting.

A de-identified SSL dataset - the data that went in about each person and the risk score that came out, but without identifiable information about each individual obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times through the Freedom of Information Act, consists of 398,684 individuals. More than a third of individuals on the list have never been arrested (133,474), with 88,592 individuals of that group having a score greater than 250 (on a scale of 1-500), and two-thirds of the list have been arrested at least once for any crime (265,210). According to the Sun-Time’s reporting, the list is made up of “everyone who has been arrested and fingerprinted in Chicago since” 2013, but what still remains unclear if there are other ways to end up on the list as 126,687 individuals who were listed have never been arrested, never been a victim of gun violence, and never been party to violence. It further remains unclear how one could lower their score or be removed from the list entirely.

Officers were aware of who on their beat is on the list, and were directed not to include an individual’s score in a police report should they be involved in an arrest, making it difficult to track exactly how the police are using the list and to evaluated an officer’s interaction with an individual is influenced by their placement on the list.

Person-based predictive policing supports traditional, punitive policing tactics, allowing law en-

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forcement to target certain members of the community who are deemed to be “high risk”. It does so without having to be transparent about how one becomes “high risk” and how that affects their interactions with law enforcement.

Anyone who has taken even a brief glimpse of the history of policing in America knows that surveillance technologies tend to be used against communities of color in a disproportionate manner. This reality forces us to take a critical, even cynical, look at any new technology that law enforcement can utilize in order to minimize the risk of replicating the past and reinforcing old biases.

Proponents will make the argument that these technologies are malleable, that they can change. They will cite new entrants into this field who have begun to adver tise solutions to the problem of racial bias in data or point out t h a t many of the current systems are changing

in response to concerns brought up by the public. It is true that these technologies can change. However, why were such glaring problems not addressed earlier?

Policing programs cause ripple effects throughout communities. Any technology, regardless of intent, has to be tested and studied much like a vaccine, before it can be implemented at a large scale or else the consequences could be disastrous.

But even if we test these programs, and make them as unbiased as they realistically could be, that still leaves the larger problem: transparency. Specifically, transparency with regards to what programs are being implemented, what data and logics govern said programs and how these programs will affect how law enforcement police an area.

It took the Chicago SunTime’s

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FOIA request then a legal battle to obtain the data that they did, and still there are unanswered questions about the program Opaque decision-making with little to no accountability is dangerous at best.

For the most successful implementation of predictive policing, which is frankly inevitable given the spread of machine learning in different applications, it is imperative that we hold our law-enforcement agencies accountable for their actions and their programs, that we as communities understand how our information is being processed and for us to determine as a collective how much of our freedom we wish to give up for security.

lowering legal

SARAH POLLANS editor-in-chief

Unlike some other points of contention in society, the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in America has not spurred walkouts, protests or other demonstrative events.

Despite this, the fact that America has set its MLDA at the age of 21 is outlandish, and it should be lowered.

The minimum drinking age in America has a long winding history. After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the US made the legal drinking age the voting age at the time, 21. When the US lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971, roughly 30 states lowered their MLDA to 18 as well. However, in 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in an effort to reduce drunk driving, designating that all states have an MLDA of 21, and by 1988, all states did. Though some states have exceptions to the MLDA, the general age across America remains 21.

Although America has such a high MLDA, many countries around the world have much lower legal drinking ages, going as young as 14 for beer and wine (with a legal guardian present) in Germany. But no one is asking for America to go that low: most countries have their MLDA set at the age of majority in the country. A reasonable choice, given those considered legal adults are also granted several other rights.

In America, the age of majority is 18. And while it used to be 21 in the 1930s, if the legal age of majority is currently 18, so should the drinking age.

Along with this logical line of reasoning, there are several fairly reasonable arguments as to why the legal drinking

age should be lowered.

Lowering the drinking age allows young adults to learn to drink responsibility at home under the supervision of parents before going out into the world, minimizing the risk of them abusing alcohol consumption later on in their 20s. Parents would likely feel more comfortable knowing that their children understand the dangers of alcohol abuse and how

14 | THE PROSPECTOR

Lowering the drinking age allows young adults to learn to drink responsibility at home under the supervision of parents before going out into the world. to drink responsibly before moving out. In addition, lowering the legal drinking age allows those 18-21 to be allowed in safe drinking environments, such as bars and restaurants, as opposed to house parties and frat houses, places notorious for unsafe drinking.

Much of the “hype� from underage drinking comes from the fact that it is underage drinking. Those 18-21 often look towards alcohol as an act of rebellion, and reducing the MLDA limits the amount of rebellion allowed with the consumption of alcohol. Simply put, if what is now known as underage drinking no longer is underage drinking, the thrill of it ceases to exist.

One of the major arguments against lowering the MLDA is that keeping it high reduces the number of traffic accidents and fatalities due to drunk driving. At first glance, this appears to make sense: if the MLDA is high, fewer people can drive under the influence, and thus the amounts of accidents caused by drunk driving are lessened.

However plausible, the statistics say otherwise. According to the 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety by the World Health Organization, about 31% of fatal car accidents in America involve alcohol. Compared to the much lower percentages of 4% in China, 29% in France, and 16% in the United Kingdom — all places with an MLDA of 18 — it is clear that a higher MLDA does not directly correlate to lower drunk driving accidents and deaths.

In addition, two years before America changed its national MLDA to 21, there was an overall decrease in the number of deaths caused by drunk driving in all demographics, despite the MLDA being only 18. This shows that the amount of drunk driving fatalities cannot entirely correspond to the MLDA and that other factors were involved.

Today, even with America’s current MLDA, it is no secret that underage drinking, particu-

larly among college students, occurs on a day to day basis.

This may not seem like that big of an issue, until the drinking gets out of hand. When underage drinkers abuse alcohol to the point of needing medical attention, many are hesitant to get necessary treatment due to potential legal repercussions.

However, with a lower MLDA, teenagers would be more willing to receive the proper medical help as they would not have to face law enforcement for underage drinking.

Regardless of the concerns held around lowering the drinking age, the fact is that doing so causes little to no effect on society as a whole. Statistics prove that having a higher MLDA does nothing to prevent fatal accidents caused by drunk driving; a lower MLDA allows several currently underage drinkers to get medical help without worrying about legality; and most of all, it merely allows legal adults to be legal adults who are trusted under the eyes of the government. At the end of the day, there will naturally be people who will abuse a lower national MLDA; we know this because even with an MLDA of 21, underage drinking is still a prevalent issue in America.

People above the legal age of majority are allowed to vote, open bank accounts and even get sued, so why does drinking fail to make the list?

OPINIONS | 15

INVESTIGATIONS JOAN THYAGARAJAN investigations editor

SANAT SINGHAL online editor

ANTHONY ZHU writer

JULIET SHEARIN

16 l DESIGNED BY JOAN THYAGARAJAN

news editor

WHAT’S IN OUR FOOD?

INVESTIGATIONS | 17

WHERE IT COMES FROM

Roughly one in ten Cupertino High School students visit the cafeteria on any given day. That means the cafeteria staff need to balance the dietary and nutritional needs of hundreds of different students, while making sure they don’t run out of inventory or supplies. “[For the number of students] we serve for brunch and lunch, the basic number would be between 250 to 300,” said Cupertino High School Food Services Supervisor Chean Hoang. Add in the five rotating dishes, vegetarian options, and salad bar, and making sure Cupertino high school students get fed is an enormous logistical challenge.

“All my staff work together, and we work according to [our] schedule.

Cooking is about timing, and you have to get things ready by brunch time and lunchtime. It depends on the schedule,” said Hoang. So that all their food is ready on time, the kitchen staff often start defrosting or seasoning food days in advance.

To make sure their inventory stays fresh, they get in daily shipments of some foods, like pizza, while most other foods come in once or twice a week. That food comes from Gold Star Foods, who provide frozen meat products, fresh bread and produce.

But buying and transporting all that food takes a lot of money. Last year, the Fremont Union High School District spent 3.43 million dollars on food services, spread out among their five schools.

That money goes to a variety of different cafeteria-related things: paying food service workers, purchasing budget, and even the cost of main-

taining kitchens are all included under the food service umbrella. The district also retains a Cafeteria Fund, or money earmarked to only go to food services, to ensure that they have enough funds to feed every student.

Helping offset that cost is the price of lunch. The district can set prices such that they offset the cost of keeping up the food service program, and they keep lunch prices the same throughout their five schools.

The money needed to operate the food services program is similar at every school in the district.

Each school has the same menu, which is planned months in advance according to availability and seasonality.

Said Hoang, “In cold weather we want to do more hot food, and when the weather gets warmer maybe we go to something [...] cool instead of hot.” That care and attention is paid to every facet of the food service process, and ensures Cupertino students get the best hot lunches possible.

Serving hundreds of meals to Cupertino students every day is time-consuming, expensive and challenging, yet student lunch is also a vital component to making sure students can effectively learn without being hungry throughout the day. Despite the challenge, the Cupertino cafeteria always rises to meet it.

HOW IS I The Fremont Union High School District follows the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program created to provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. “This means that the school has to fall in line with USDA requirements and receives reimbursements from the government for providing free lunches,” said Divya Puri, the district manager for food services.

While the school cafeteria staff are responsible for making and supplying food to the school, the district is in charge of deciding the food items that the cafeteria serves. According to Chean Hoang, the food services supervisor of Cupertino High School’s cafeteria, the food is made fresh daily.

Hoang has a set of cooks that are responsible for cooking the meal, while she oversees the cooking and distributing brunch and lunch.

Said Hoang “My cooks [do] the cooking, and if we are behind I chip in.”

An important part of meal preparation is how the meat is prepared.

The two main types of meat served in the cafeteria for lunch are beef and chicken.

Both of these meats arrive at the school frozen and then are thawed a few days before they are served.

Said Hoang, “Roast chickens, they come frozen but raw, and we have to thaw it out, season it, at least a day ahead or so.

A few days before we season it, we thaw it out, of course. And then baking it the day of.”

One of the major differences between how the chicken and the beef at Cupertino arrive at the school is that the beef comes pre-cooked, so it simply has to be baked

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he day of, while the chicken comes raw, so it must be seasoned, defrosted and baked.

Since all cafeterias under FUHSD have he same menus and guidelines, they share their inventory whenever necessary As Hoang explained, “Inventory-wise, try to control and use up what we have, and then sometimes we run out and borow from other schools, or we share with other schools when they’ve run out. We kind of divide it among ourselves.”

In general, the menu changes around every two months to prevent redundancy.

Other considerations are student particpation, labor, cost and cultural sensitiviy. The last criteria was one of the driving orces behind the recent introduction of Fusion Indian pizza.

“A major change we made was introducing the Fusion Indian pizza and introducing tofu to the menu. I plan to make he menu healthier in the future by serving burrito bowls and having scrambled eggs,” said Puri.

Puri also aims to reduce the carbon ootprint of the cafeterias. “I have tried to have items that are clean labels and had a plan to get rid of individual condiments ...] Unfortunately, with COVID-19 there are health concerns of students using he same dispensers so that plan has been put on hold,” Puri said.

COVID-19 has caused more serious disruptions than just putting the dispenser plan on hold. The district is faced with the challenge of helping provide for students without access to food due to he school shutdown. “We have a working plan right now that is subject to change.

We intend to have a drive-thru service with brown-bagged breakfast and lunch served ree of cost for anyone under 18 at all the schools during the shutdown,” said Puri.

STUDENT OPINIONS

Disclaimer: This article does not represent the opinions of all students but solely the ones interviewed.

On the FUHSD Website, they state that: “The goal of our Food Services Department is to provide healthy and delicious food for students, prepared fresh daily to help enhance their overall learning experience.”

Of the 2000+ students that attend CHS, around 250-300 students purchase food from the cafeteria each day. The students that eat the food have varying opinions on the state of the cafeteria food, regarding its price, quality, and taste.

Says Senior Ethan Wong, a cafeteria worker, and frequent cafeteria food eater, “I feel like the cafeteria food is generally pretty good, except a lot of their food has to be refrigerated or reheated. That might make the food taste not as good and less fresh.”

Wong o f t e n works at the cafeteria, receiving free food on the days he works. He would eat at the cafeteria much less often if he did not work there.

Says Wong, “I think the food is a lot more expensive than it needs to be, so I don’t think it’s a fair price.”

As a worker, he is also familiar with how the food is created but he is unsure of what companies the cafeteria food is sourced from. One positive of cafeteria food for Wong is its nutri-

tional value.

Says Wong, “The food is actually relatively healthy. For meals, they provide salads, and there aren’t too many fatty foods. The cafeteria has a lot of limits in terms of health restrictions and rules they have to follow. They’re also pretty good about catering to the dietary restrictions of different students.”

Many students on campus choose not to patronize the cafeteria; instead, they bring their own food or go out to eat.

Says Senior Pulkit Singhal, “I don’t usually eat at the cafeteria. The food could definitely be better for the price it is at.”

On a typical day, Singhal brings snacks and home-cooked lunches to school because he prefers them to the cafeteria food, and it makes more economic sense to him. Additionally, with Cupertino High School’s open campus policy, the proximity of Cupertino Main Street to CHS Campus, and many students reaching legal driving age, students have many off-campus food options to choose from.

Some students, like Winny Kung, choose whether or not they eat from the cafeteria food based on their daily circumstances and what the cafeteria is serving.

Says Kung, “I usually don’t get food from the cafeteria, but I did today because I couldn’t bring food from home. I usually only get food when they have the self-serve pasta because you can get as much as you want.”

For students like Kung, the cafeteria serves as a backup plan for when they are not able to get food elsewhere.

LIFESTYLES

MAIA MATSUSHITA

20 | DESIGNED BY KRITHIKA VENKATASUBRAMANIAN

writer

Stealing the M o n a L i s a would be hard. There is an immense personel of security protecting the painting, not to mention the crowds that would act as witnesses as they not only take pictures of the painting but of the thief as well, creating a target on their back. Physical barriers -a guard rail and a glass case surrounding the painting -- also make it nearly impossible to steal such a phenomenal piece of art.

Compared to this hardship, online artists are constantly at risk of getting their art stolen. With the presence of technology and the ability to hide behind an account name, it is much harder to trace down the culprit of online art theft, as well as to take legal action against them.Online art theft comes in many forms; a very prominent yet subtle way the theft can occur is through accounts that repost content on various social media platforms. Instagram for example, has a high volume of accounts that repost other users’ works and compile them under one account, such as “satisfying videos”. These accounts use others’ content to make their account popular, which also leads to advertisers and revenue for those taking content. While some accounts do credit the original artist, it is unjust that individuals are making money off of someone else’s content. Some other accounts do worse and steal artists’ work, posing it as their own, a crime that is im-

AN EXPOSE ON

ART THEFT probable with physical art.

The culture that the Internet has created, namely, a place where virality is everything, also contributes to the frequent art theft online. TikTok, an app that allows users post videos for up to a minute, has created many viral dances and trends since its introduction as a social media app. A recent trend, the Renegade dance, was first made by a fourteen year old in Atlanta named Jalaiah Harmon, but she was never given credit as it spread like fire through the platform. The dance was even accredited to a different TikTok star, Charli D’Amelio, as she was the one who popularized it on the app. Especially with a dance, it becomes easy to lose track of the original creator as many people record themselves doing the moves and post the video without giving much thought about where the dance originated from. As this process multiplies throughout the platform, spreading word of the original creator becomes harder unless divine intervention occurs; in Jalaiah’s case, she was mentioned

by K-Camp, the creator of the background track to the Renegade dance.

Another instance with art theft involved a celebrity, Aaron Carter, who started to sell new merchandise under his name. However, the original artist, Jonas Jodicke, soon noticed that Carter had taken his art piece and assumed it

as his own. When Jodicke asked Carter to take the merchandise down, the latter replied in an aggressive manner, telling the artist that he should be thankful that his art was being featured. The Internet has given way to many interactions that resemble this situation, art theft or not. The former engagements people used to have with each other now exist on a minimal level, which brings out people’s true character, like Aaron Carter and his petty response to the artist whose work he stole. While the Internet has created a forum for artists to experiment with their abilities and have a better chance of getting recognized, it has also caused outsiders to distance themselves from the story and people behind the art pieces; to these outsiders, they are simply presented as images online.

However, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. With the presence of online databases, artists can constantly check if their work has been stolen and have a possibility of tracking down the culprit by doing reverse image searches.

People familiar with an artist’s work also help in keeping plagiarism in check, so an artist arguably has a larger support system than ever before. There is also a heightened general awareness of art theft online, and there are programs put in place, such as authentication processes, that can prevent a piece of artwork from being resold if stolen.

It is unreasonable to say that there are any digital forms of art that are protected like the Mona Lisa; but as online netizens ourselves, we should help protect artists’ rights and prevent art theft by not interacting with accounts that repost art and report uncredited, reposted artwork.

RACHEL PARK opinions editor

Sajaegi, a Korean term to describe chart manipulation through buying hordes of albums and continuous streaming, has been a huge issue in the music industry. In the 90s, it was suspected that agencies made mass purchases of CD, in the 2000s, with background music and phone ringtones, and recently, with hacking IDs and continuously streaming music on music sites.

Suspicions about Sajaegi have been going around for many years. When Nilo, a South Korean singer, got first place on Melon, a Korean music streaming app, beating Exo, Twice, and many other famous Korean idol groups in 2018, many accused him of being guilty of Sajaegi. The issue was soon forgotten, as there was no evidence that Nilo had indulged in this practice. However, Park Kyung, a member of Block B, recently posted on social media saying “I want to do Sajaegi like Vibe, like Song Ha Yea, like Lim Jae Hyun” and listed many more artists, leading to more debate on the existence of Sajaegi.

Typically, songs by lesser known artists move up the chart after gaining popularity in noraebangs (karaoke), according to a noraebang owner. However, most songs that have been suspected of Sajaegi gained popularity first in the charts of Melon or Genie music, before gaining popularity in noraebangs. Also, they moved up the chart rapidly in the middle of the night around 1 to 2AM. Despite these suspicious occurrences, companies and artists that have been suspected of Sajaegi have all replied that their success was due to viral marketing. According to Song Ha Yea’s agency, Song’s music gained popularity due to aggressive advertising on social media, such as uploading numerous music covers.

Artists that have received Sajaegi offers say that it is possible to become first place on music charts as long as you have the money. Reportedly, Sajaegi agencies told these artists that they needed to release a ballad or mid tempo song that has so-called “relatable” lyrics. Malvo, a lesser known artist who received a Sajegi offer, was told that it was possible for him to gain more popularity, and the artists that the agencies talked about actually made it to the exact position in the chart a few days later.

Brokers, who work in between the agencies and Sajaegi

industries, confirm the reality of Sajaegi. Sajaegi agencies premake covers and post them on various social media platforms a few hours after the song is released. However, brokers say that Facebook and Youtube covers are mere excuses and facades for what they actually do behind the scenes–macro programming.

Macro programing is a way to run several independent computers in one single computer. Marketing industries buy ten thousands of IDs and IP addresses and continuously stream the artist’s music in one computer. That one computer holds several other independent computers, increasing the number of streaming exponentially. In addition, Sajaegi industries stream other random songs that are similar to the song of the artist’s competitor, ultimately pushing them down the music chart.

The brokers’ explanation of how Sajaegi is done aligns with people’s experience.

There have been several reports that people’s accounts would randomly start streaming music or buy a song from a specific artist multiple times.

Sajaegi is easily overlooked because it is hard to prove and highly profitable to the artist committing it. Officials say that they cannot investigate an agency or artist because they showed “unusual” paths of going up the chart. Also, brokers are used in between agencies and Sajaegi industries, making it harder to identify the Sajaegi industry. Furthermore, Sajaegi can be done with a few computers or electronic devices, making it almost impossible to locate where this fraud is happening. In addition to this secrecy, Sajaegi’s profits are massive. It is common for users to listen to the top 100 on the list of their music apps.

More listeners and streaming implies more profits from copyright.

Sajaegi has made music into a product rather than an art, and an online world that we have long trusted has turned into a scene of fraud. Artists are not sure whether their music is accepted due to their lack of artistic talent or money. The myths and rumours around Sajaegi must be cleared so that music can once again be appreciated as music and not a profitable industry.

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LIFESTYLES | 23

20 | THE DESIGNED

BY KRITHIKA VENKATASUBRAMANIAN 22 PROSPECTOR

Evolutio n of

B oybands

KRITHIKA VENKATASUBRAMANIAN lifestyles editor

all over the world can hear music from people that come from the same country, background and lifestyle as they do.

With recent advances in social media, fans can now find content of their favorite boy bands all over the internet, whether it be a cute candid picture snapped at a meet-and-greet, a funny interview clip, or an acoustic cover. This has only added to the traction of boy bands, with people falling in love with the perceived person-

"Boybands present a breath of fresh air to audiences of all ages." ality of their favorite band member. Many fans even create “fan accounts” on instagram where they post daily content on their favorite member of the boyband.

Many will go to any extent to get this content, including stalking the artists. Often, this invasion of privacy can become very uncomfortable for the artists, especially when fans begin leaking their home addresses and phone numbers, and harassing their family members.

Although the lives of boyband members as beloved pop culture icons may seem rosy on the surface, underneath, boybands face a lot of struggles in their

path to becoming successful. Band members are often not allowed to speak out on personal issues or rumors spread about them due to strict management.

As a result, these rumors (often concerning their various romantic relationships) tend to get out of hand. This, combined with the “cancel culture” that has normalized jumping to conclusions about a celebrity’s personal life with information derived from unverified and cryptic social media posts, means that boy band members can never go far without being exposed to toxicity and hate. This is exacerbated by fan accounts on Instagram that are popularized for posting “exclusive” gossip about celebrities; in reality, this gossip is just random bits of information pieced together and is often untrue. Boybands are hit quite hard in this aspect because the increased number of members provides more openings for rumor-mongering. In addition, boy bands are often pitted against and compared to each other: notably, the highly publicized rivalry between NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in the ‘90s. These rivalries have only been exacerbated in present day times, with social media providing a forum for individuals to voice their thoughts anonymously.

Although we might enjoy their music, it is important to remember that at the end of the day, boyband members are just humans following their passions, and the constant hate does take a toll on them. Whether you’re humming along to “I Want It That Way” or jamming to “Best Song Ever”, remember to spread appreciation, and not hate, to these hard-working musicians.

LIFESTYLES | 23

From the Beatles back in the 60s to One Direction in the 2010’s, boybands have formed a pervasive part of American and global music culture for over half a century. Exacerbated by the rise of social media and pop music, boybands have skyrocketed to popularity in recent years, becoming some of the most loved music artists on the planet.

Boybands, as defined by Merriam Webster, are “a small ensemble of males in their teens or twenties who play pop songs geared especially to a young female audience”. However, prior to the 1980s, the concept of “boybands” did not exist; rather, they were called “male vocal groups”.

Members of a boyband are often home-grown musicians who gained fame or went viral at a relatively young age. One Direction, for example, was formed by judge Simon Cowell on the popular British singing show “The X Factor”. Boyband members are often musically gifted in areas other than their voices: many can play at least one, if not more, instruments. For example, Daniel Seavey, a member of American boyband Why Don’t We, knows how to play 20 different musical instruments. Modern day boy bands often stick to pop music, occasionally experimenting with rock, in order to cater to the tastes of their primary audience in teenagers. However, boybands present a breath of fresh air to audiences of all ages, as the number of unique voices in a band provides more versatility and a greater variety of music.

The boyband trend has gained traction worldwide. Boy Bands come from all over: 5 Seconds of Summer from Australia, One Direction from Great Britain, and PRETTYMUCH from the United States are just a few of the numerous examples. The ubiquity of boybands has added to their appeal, as people from

SPORTS

ARIANA FAHRI writer

24 | DESIGNED BY HENRY MA

Coaches lead the team. They are the masterminds behind every game and player, as they drive the entire team forward with their dedication to success. Of course, there are different types of coaches, as well as various strategies to achieve victory on the battlefield (matches).

The coach is under a lot of pressure to succeed. Sometimes, this means carefully following the every move of the team during practice, especially since they have to call out the slackers at the end of the day. They have to ensure the team is running all of the drills perfectly. Any mistake leads to the entire team redoing the move, an eternal shame on the players and their family in the eyes of the coach.

Most coaches are stressed out to the max at typical practice — but that is nothing compared to the new levels reached on competition or game days. In order to successfully host a pre-game talk, coaches down a case of redbull that they bought at Safeway on their way to the game to give them the necessary red-faced energy and scary vein bulging to get their players moving extra fast.

At the end of game, the coach’s personality will shift according to the end result of the game. A victory means well. To translate into advanced sports lingo: a happy coach means fewer conditioning drills at practice. A loss, a zero in the score book, has immensely negative power over the morale of the coach. The coach, by the rules of Coachdom, must single out the mistakes made by individual players.

However, the greatest sin in the Coachdom book, the Cible, is a player looking at their phone during a game. The rest of the team will pray for the poor soul who made the big faux pas, however, nothing will be able to stop the coach from attacking this player.

The coach is the any team’s backbone. Without them, athletes would wander around like lost, unmotivated ducklings in the crazy world of sports.

AMY THUESEN AMIR IRAVANI copy editor / photo editor

Track and field is an event found in every school with a variety of competitions. The Cupertino High School program has done especially well in the league, and one such athlete is junior Amy Thuesen.

Having earned top honors such as 8th at high jump at CCS, and 1st in long jump at SCVAL, Thuesen is an accomplished athlete through many events.

Said Thuesen, “Usually I do long jump, triple jump, and high jump, and I get thrown in the four by four -- the last event of the entire meet.”

She was first exposed to track through middle school PE. Thuesen mentions, “It initially started in PE, I just tried it and I really liked it. I was currently doing gymnastics, and when I found out that I really liked it [track] I just completely quit. I was also dancing so I quit ballet and I quit rhythmic gymnastics, and I decided to go headfirst into track.”

After the school track season ends, she participates in a club track team for the next four months. Due to CCS restrictions, athletes cannot participate in both school and club at the same time. Through her club team she competed at Nationals in 2017 placing fourth in high jump and fifth in triple jump.

Thuesen recounts, “This was over the summer, not really for school, but I competed at Nationals, that was the season that I quit eating sugar and I felt like this was the moment I wanted to seize and I went headfirst [into it] this is what I’m going to do.”

However, sports come hand-in-hand with injuries of which many track athletes have shin splints, which are a result of the pressure on the bones from running.

Looking toward college, Thuesen says, “I don’t want to be tied down to a school and just because I’m there for a sport. I want to be able to have more freedom.”

26 | THE PROSPECTOR

CALVIN ANDERSON copy editor / photo editor

The 21st century has brought about a wave of new fashions. The contrasting qualities of the two centuries such as R&B of the 20th century and rap of the 21st century to the formality of clothing has evolved into the utmost, drastic disparities through the course of time.

One of the most novel and controversial of these changes include the rise of esports.

Esports encompasses the competitions held among professional video game players.

It experienced an exponential surge in popularity beginning in the 21st century largely due to mainstream live streaming and sponsorships. In the following years, the subject of Esports made major strides with the advancement of technology further fueling the demand of gaming competitions. In the current decade, the term “esports” has claimed its revenue standing at $1.1 billion. In Cupertino High, Clubs such as Game Development Club and Cupertino Gaming Club illustrate the effects of mainstream media’s mass output of competitive gaming competitions seeping into our daily lives.

Taking a peek into Cupertino’s esport culture, you wouldn’t find large scale isolated facilities with colored lights and paparazzi, instead what you’ll see are informal, local competitions held for 50-60 people.

Said Junior Nand Dixit. “It’s like a family where every-

one is in a college room and you have a bunch of college students playing Smash Bros. and everyone is cool and relaxed and no one is taking things super seriously.”

Other than the positive social aspects of Esport players within our school, there also lies immense health benefits contrary to social norms. While improving their specified art of gaming, players in the field learn a better mentality. Players learn skills to be more productive, patient, and confident. Such skillful wealth gained from the prospect of esports can be applied to attain academic success.

Said Nand Dixit ,“Before competitions, I always go to my room, I close the door, and I start praying to the god of Shiva for success; I spend about 10 minutes doing this before going to the tournament. I think it really helps me concentrate on my play because I can feel the divine influence guiding me so I play better at competitions.”

Where we see technology and culture progress through time, esports shall persevere as well. As time allows the culture of esports to evolve, we will see a time when the demands of esports drive technology-reversing their roles to the initial rise of esports.

“It’s like a family where everyone is in a college room and you have a bunch of college students playing Smash Bros. and everyone is cool and relaxed and no one is taking things super seriously.”

NAND DIXIT

SPORTS | 27

chs classes as people

PERSPECTIVES

ANGELA MA writer

PCH

Lit/Writ

He is very excited and very hard working (especially after the Scarlet Ibis Paragraph) and is always ready to learn more juicy words. He secretly wants to be an actor and LOVES remaking Romeo and Juliet.

APUSH

His parents wanted him to become a doctor but he secretly wants to be an artist, so they compromised -- he now draws detailed diagrams. He also has a green thumb (he loves growing mustard plants), is good with animals, and has a great memory.

The most patriotic person you’ll meet (favorite holiday is Fourth of July). He knows people from all age groups and always keeps a stack of flashcards to help him remember everything. His idol is George Washington and he is a distant descendant of the Pilgrims. He loves writing everything in pen.

28 | DESIGNED BY ANKITA ACHARYA

AP Bio

She’s the little sister of AP Calculus BC and she loves to derive things.

She’s easily TRIGgered when she is compared to BC. She always has a water bottle and a stop watch because she loves calculating volume and rates with friends

Law

Amlit

That kid who lives across a green light and drives a yellow car to school. She learns new vocab everyday and likes to read classics about the American Dream. She is fascinated about pear trees, raisins and mental asylums.

That kid who always has something to say and her talent is arguing. She lives for justice and winning arguments, and has evidence against everyone.

Chinese 1

World Core

That foreign kid that’s enthusiastic about sharing her culture, always ready to share traditional snacks.

She has literally lived in every single country in the world and no one nationality defines him. She has souvenirs from every country she’s been to.

guide to being an immigrant KEERTHI LAKSHMANAN copy editor / business manager

TIPS AND TRICKS Whether you are an immigrant, or perhaps a first generation kid, undoubtedly, you are happy to refer to the Bay as home. We have plenty in common—primarily the ease withat which we live in this country. But in case you needed a refresher, here’s some handy tips to help you breeze through a childhood in America.

It’s crucial to begin with wardrobe choices. If you are first generation, chances are, your parents still dress you. This is no shame! Their taste (Costco’s clothing section, or, if you’re lucky, Old Navy’s clearance rack) will fit perfectly with the rest of your friends. In your best case scenario, your closet is only full of traditional clothing. Wear your kurta or your áo dài. Pair your hanbok with Air Force Ones. Rest easy, you will not be dressed out-of-the-ordinary. The bright colors of your traditional wear are certain to brighten up your dreary classrooms instead.

Tip Two: bring your mother’s cooking to school every day, without fail. Your classmates will love its taste and fragrance— middle school children have the best nose for good cuisine, of course. Tell your mother you can take her idli as long as she packs you enough to share! Eventually, American fast food will never be able to compare.

“Bring your mother’s cooking to school every day, without fail.”

Along with looking the part, you’ll thrive as an immigrant in the West if you speak the part, too. No matter how long you have lived in America, never lose your native accent. You can forget the language; this is unimportant. If you are first generation, you may have to wing it, but it is central to achieve the heavily-accented English that marks you as foreign (you can’t change your skin color or your facial structure, after all).

REAL WORLD RESULTS These tips will take you far. Your parents uprooted their entire lives to bring you to this country—no use in disappointing their expectations now. Take a look at history! To be a good American, first you must be an excellent immigrant.

The Prospector’s Guide to Being an Immigrant seriously helped me as I was growing up! Although I’m a first generation child, it is a universal experience attempting to navigate the tricky waters of the West. I used to refuse to wear anything but a T-shirt or hoodies to school. After reading this guide, I realized I had to live life without regrets. Traditional wear has never looked better against the white-gray walls of my high school.

I blend in well enough that you would never imagine my parents were born on a different continent altogether. In fact, I was inspired enough to stop changing my name for teachers to pronounce! It’s important to me that my name is as difficult as possible. Your bullies will be too intimidated to continue. Follow this guide, and you’re sure to have a blast in the land of the free.

PERSPECTIVES | 29

POSTSCRIPT

sisters of

ALEXANDRIA HUNT editor-in-chief

In 2007, Cupertino formalized a sister city relationship with Hsinchu, Taiwan, also nicknamed the “windy city.” In addition to its weather, Hsinchu is known for being a prime center of education and technology. Each year, the Mayor and the Cupertino-Hsinchu Sister City Association hosts delegations a student exand program. change

In 1776, a Spanish cartographer travelling in Santa Clara named a stream “Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino” to honor Saint Joseph of Copertino — inspiring the name Cupertino.

Copertino and Cupertino’s sister city relationship was formalized in 1963 when former Cupertino mayor, John Benetti, visited Cope r t i n o during the 300th anniversary of St. Joseph’s death.

30 | DESIGNED BY JENNY WU

The sister city relationship with Toyokawa was formalized in 1978, and to symbolize this, in 1979, Cupertino sent Toyokawa 25 Redwood tree seedlings, and in 1983, 200 cherry trees were delivered from Toyokawa to Cupertino. To continue to foster this relationship, Cupertino holds a Cherry Blossom Festival and exchange program each year.

Bhubaneswar and Cupertino formalized their relationship in 2012. Bhubaneswar honors its cultural heritage through its thousands of temples. Recently, the city achieved a position in India’s Smart Cities Challenge, to drive economic growth and improve citizen life. Each year, the Cupertino-BBSR Sister City Initiative fosters cultural interactions through exchanges.

all images curtosey of google

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY JOURNEY WITH DANCE AASHNA SHAH writer

“EVEN THOUGH MY INJURIES MEANT I HAD TO WORK TWICE AS HARD TO CATCH UP, IT TAUGHT ME TO PERSEVERE.”

to catch up, it taught me to persevere, and most importantly, to fight for what you’re passionate about, regardless of circumstances and setbacks.

Tino Dhadkan has allowed me to make some amazing friends, brought me closer to my Indian heritage, and given me some truly memorable experiences. These four years of show days, bondings, and morning practices have given me purpose and taught me lessons that’ll last a lifetime. I’ve learned that there will always be obstacles in your way, but it’s up to you to keep going and jump over them. Hopefully without injuring yourself.

POSTSCRIPT | 31

The powerful beats of the tabla made my heart thud alongside it, and the saccharine scent of Indian sweets wafted around the decorated hall.

During my favorite festival, Navratri, my friends and I would spin aimlessly in our sparkling chaniya skirts for hours. At the age of three, I was under the impression that dance simply consisted of jumping and twirling, and my excitement surrounding it drove me to join dance classes.

I’d spend as much time as possible dancing, whether it was in my garage or at a studio. I dedicated myself to learning different styles, and I found a love for it that I had never found for any other activity. As a child, I lacked pride in my South Asian heritage, but dance was a form of self-expression, and allowed me to embrace my culture.

As I grew older, however, I began to notice my ankles ache after practices and performances. Every doctor I visited called it “growing pains,” which irked me to no extent. I was certain that there was more to it, that there was something wrong with me, but I couldn’t get an answer. After months of waiting, I got an appointment with a specialized podiatrist, who diagnosed me with femoral anteversion and protonation in both of my ankles, which had led to the persistent, radiating pain I had been feeling. I learned that my ankles were carrying a larger proportion of my body weight than what was healthy, and as a result, I was more susceptible to injuries.

For years, dance had been the one activity I committed to. When I learned that it could make my condition worse, I distanced myself from it, afraid to dedicate myself to an activity in which I could not succeed. This fear of failure led to me quitting dance for two years, during which I tried and failed to find another activity I was passionate about. In my freshman year, however, I attended a meeting for my school’s south Asian club, Tino Dhadkan. As I saw my older sister speak so passionately about the dance team, I realized that I was ready to rekindle my love for dance despite the likely challenges.

When the doctors said that I would be more prone to injury, they weren’t wrong. Over my four years of high school, I tore a knee ligament, sprained my ankle twice, and fractured my foot right in the middle of a dance audition. I became known for being so injury-prone, which was something that my friends and I often laughed about. Even though my injuries meant I had to work twice as hard

BE A PART OF SOMETHING GREAT!

General Audition Dates for 2020-2021 Season:

Thurs. & Fri. (4-9 pm): March 26-27 & April 2-3, 2020 Sat. (all day): March 28 & April 4, 2020 Wed. (6-9 pm): April 1, 2020 [Percussion Only] All levels of school-age musicians are welcome!

Marching band musicians may join after marching band season Apply Online at www.sjys.org DEADLINE: MARCH 20, 2020

SJYS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has limited scholarships and financial aid offerings available based on a showing of need For Additional Information, contact: sjys@sjys.org

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