Issue 7 - April 2018

T U ES DAY, A P RI L 24, 2018

LGBTQ+ culture at Tino

Reflection on new health class NEWS page 2

American food waste OPINIONS page 5

VOLUME 60 NO. 7

Exploring drugs at Tino

Art of napping

Volleyball injuries

INSIGHTS page 12 FEATURES FEATURES pages pages 88 & & 99

SPORTS page 14

LIFESTYLES page 11

FLIPSIDE page 16

a friendship blooming in the garden

The Prospector

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Student Newspaper of Cupertino High School

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Best Buddies Club awarded

Best High School Chapter LILY ROSEN MARVIN online assistant

This year, the Cupertino High School Chapter of Best Buddies was recognized by the national organization as the Best High School Chapter in Northern California. The Cupertino chapter was selected for their fulfillment of the three pillars of the organization: providing opportunities, one-on-one friendships and leadership development to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Said senior and Learning Center Student Ayush Kapoor, “When I found out, I was so happy. I was like ‘yes!’ The buddies were excited too.”

This award is the culmination of years of hard work on the part of the officers and club members. Said Best Buddies adviser and Learning Center teacher Rachel Shahrivar, “The last few years the officers have gone above and beyond in trying to create inclusive settings such as activities at school and more off-campus events.”

The emphasis on connecting with others outside of school seems to have been enthusiastically received by the learning center’s students.

Said sophomore and Learning Center student Tanvi Maganti, “I talk on the phone [with my buddy]. We talk every Monday. We talk about how the school is going. It’s fun.”

This extra effort to strengthen the one-onone friendships has gone a long way.

Said Shahrivar, “I know this year [club members] made a big effort to contact the bud-

dies and the parents of the buddies. I know that the parents are over the moon about that.

They’re so happy when their kids get phone calls.”

The officer team has also made an effort to plan more events outside of school for buddies to hang out. This year they held an afterschool bowling social.

Said President and senior Noa Nevo, “Bowling was a lot of fun. There are some extra considerations that go into planning an event with the buddies. The important one is routine. It’s essential that whatever activity we plan doesn’t interfere with their routine. Also, we have to think about their abilities. There are a lot of activities that some of the buddies can’t do physically, and we don’t want to exclude anyone.”

This focus on building strong one-on-one friendships was a considerable factor in Cupertino Best Buddies receiving their award.

Said Nevo, “Just through visiting us, our program manager could observe how tight our one-on-one friendships are and how we are focused on inclusion at our meetings.”

The Best Buddies club has become an integral part of the unique education program at Cupertino.

Said Shahrivar, “My students learn so much from their buddies. They’re amazing teachers. I would say that’s the best part of the program. I see the students in my class who have had challenges with communication grow and seeing their confidence in having conversations with other people. I love seeing the care that everyone in the club has for each other, especially for

ALL PHOTOS BY YOONI PARK

Fun times in the club | The learning center students have fun and chat with their buddies.

my students.”

But it’s not just the students in the special education program who learn from these friendships.

Said Nevo, “While I always had a lot of compassion for people with disabilities, I realized I had always underestimated their capabilities. [My buddy] Grant is incredible and so smart. I honestly think that every special educations class should have a Best Buddies Program.

They go super hand in hand.”

Moving forward, the club hopes to continue promoting inclusion and raising awareness.

On April 21, many members will be participating in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk in San Francisco.

District cancels Clubs Day TAL ASHKENAZI news editor

EDWARD HSU online assistant

After lengthy discussions, the FUHSD board has decided to permanently discontinue Clubs Day, a longstanding tradition at Cupertino High School.

CHS junior and Filmmaker Club treasurer Pranay Rajpaul was surprised by the news, expressing his concern for how the termination of what many clubs consider to be their primary fundraising event of the year will affect his club.

Said Rajpaul, “Clubs Day has had a really big impact on our financial account balance. It was not only important to us, but to a lot of other clubs.”

Many other students and club officers hold the same sentiment. Shakthi Velmurugan, a junior and officer of Aviation and Rocketry Club on campus, was also shocked by the news.

Said Velmurugan, “My immediate thought after hearing the news was “How are we going find

funds if we don’t have Clubs Day?” While the cancellation does have a negative impact on Cupertino High School’s clubs, students and officers alike can understand why it happened.

Said senior Jai Sankar, “Clubs Day food can definitely be unhealthy, I know some people that eat way too much. Those same people end up feeling really sick afterward. But I still understand why we would need something like Clubs day.

Sankar continues, “Rather than force the school to bring Clubs day back I want them to help clubs make new ways of fundraising.”

The district was concerned about the excess and overconsumption of food for quite some time. “[The district] has sent out new standards for ways to make money to replace Clubs day,” said Rajpaul, “But it’s still pretty new, so not many people have had the time to look over it.”

Velmurugan is one of those who awaited Clubs day, “We were looking forward to Clubs day because we had heard so many good things about how much it Continued on page 2

Said Nevo, “All the profits from this walk go towards creating new programs that don’t already exist in other schools. We’re grateful that our school has a Best Buddies program, but there are a lot of high schools out there with special-ed classes that don’t have this program.

The walk is meant to raise awareness and raise funds.”

Within Cupertino, club members will continue to find opportunities for inclusion.

Said Shahrivar, “The care and respect I think is a general trend around campus. Seeing that impresses me. I would like to work more on is just seeing the different events we have on campus and figuring out ways to get a broader audience involved.”

City to improve disaster preparedness standards TAHA SHAFIEI insights editor

In a presentation to the Cupertino City Council on Mar. 20, Cupertino’s emergency services coordinator Clare Francavilla pointed out areas unequipped to deal with emergency disasters and further expanded on the flaws in the city’s emergency response system. Francavilla noted that it would take up to five hours to set up the city’s primary Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at City Hall when it should take no more than two hours. She also emphasized that City Hall is not large enough to support an effective EOC. When asked for possible solutions for reducing the time it takes for the emergency system to respond, Francavilla said, “There are a few issues involved in the setup of an EOC and the amount of time it will take to set up.

The EOC must maintain a state of readiness at all times, where tables, chairs, as well as basic office supplies, phones, etc. are arranged appropriately in a state called ‘warm’ status. Currently, this issue is being obstructed by a lack of storage in the areas adjacent to the EOC. Since there were approximately two hours tacked on to the set-up time to allow for cleaning out this area in Continued on page 2

News The Prospector

STAFF 2017-2018

Cupertino High School Established 1958 Vol LX, No. 7 | 2018 editors-in-chief christina shao esha radhakrishnan neerali shah news editor tal ashkenazi opinions editor kavya gupta features editor sydney liao lifestyles editor ashley kang insights editor taha shafiei sports editor claire warner flip side editor ariana fahri copy editors anthony zhu sudyut yuvaraj online editors aashna shah varun shenoy photo editors kenneth jeon yooni park business managers leo rassieur santosh muralidaran

news assistants

amy zeng ethan qi

opinions assistants

michelle ma gene kim

features assistants

xinyi zhang nico chilla

lifestyles assistants

catherine seok

sports assistants

saagar sanghavi

flip side assistant

caroline gee

online assistant

edward hsu lily marvin

photo crew

jenn zaratan

adviser 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.

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District cancels Clubs Day Continued from page 1 could help with balancing our budget.”

Velmurugan also has other concerns, “Even if we do find other ways to fundraise; we’re a small club, the number of people participating might be low.”

Students are also alarmed by the possibility that their Clubs may not have means to compensate for the money they would have earned.

Freshman Tanay Athreya is worried about the possible implications of not having Clubs

Disaster preparedness Continued from page 1 the event we would need to activate, removing these items has eliminated this extra set up time.”

This presentation comes as a follow-up to a decision by the council last year to designate $385,000 for the establishment of an office of emergency services that would create and maintain a policy for a variety of emergency situations. The office has lead the recruitment, development, and training of community members to lead volunteer programs such as Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Cupertino Amateur Radio Emergency Services (CARES)

April 24, 2018

day, “I just hope that it doesn’t hurt clubs, it was a very fun and sometimes excessive day, but I know that a lot of the clubs are in need something like Clubs day.”

Sankar believes the school will be able to replace the event efficiently, “I’m not sure how or what, but I believe in the school and the administration and their support of our clubs.”

However, other clubs are taking fundraising into their own hands.

Said Sankar, “I heard that the Humane Society club is doing some activities with slime to raise money, and that’s awesome, but this change is going to impact a lot of clubs drastically.”

and the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). They have also trained city staff in basic Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policies and procedures, and have begun advanced training for staff members who will take on crucial management roles in the EOC during a disaster. Recreation and Community Services (RCS) staff has also been fully trained to provide mass care and shelter and food to those displaced from their homes during a disaster.

In addition to addressing the problems brought up by Francavilla, Cupertino City Council is hosting its first-ever disaster preparedness fair on June 23. The fair is meant to give community members an op-

Rajpaul notes, “I think a lot of clubs are going to struggle to adapt with this, but most of the clubs will come out of this somewhat unscathed.

I, myself, am going to need to do some research into what we as a club can and can’t sell.”

Many of the smaller club officers believe the same thing as Rajpaul. Velmurugan as well is aware of the need to adapt, “I’m going to be looking over the requirements for fundraising so that we can try to get something done. I’m trying to stay optimistic, but it remains to be seen whether or not we’ll survive this.”

Said Sankar, “It will be missed dearly by everyone who was involved with it.”

portunity to learn new and review old skills and knowledge; the fair will host many Cupertino-based services with the aim of informing community members.

CARES will also be present to demonstrate the proper communication skills a community must execute in times of disasters. Meanwhile, Santa Clara County Fire will provide demonstrations and workshops on hands-only CPR. The city will also be promoting AlterSCC, an emergency notification systems that informs residents of what to do in the event of a large-

scale disaster, at the fair. The council’s goal is to encourage the registration of community members for AlertSCC. Said Francavilla, “Participation is optional though so we will do our best to properly promote why it is important to register and encourage each community member

to do so. Every home, every family member should register their cell phones and emails.”

Student reflections on the Health Career Pathways course CHRISTINA SHAO editor-in-chief

Offered by Foothill College but taught at Cupertino High School, the Health Career Pathways course covers a variety of subjects related to health and medicine. With this school year as the first year it was taught at CHS, the seventh period course intends to provide students a glimpse of possible careers in the fields of health and medicine, as well as educate students on basic health and medical concepts.

The Health Career Pathways course is split into three parts. The first part exposes students to health professions, the second explains medical terminology, and the last focuses on psychology. Since Foothill College offers the course, it is structured similarly to a college class. Students who pass the course also earn 9.5 college credits.

New Racquet Sports class

2

Said senior Shyam Maisuria, “The class is more lecture heavy, much like college classes. There are also more discussions and very limited paperwork, although we have a lot of writing assignments due online and huge projects at the end of each health class.”

Most students who decided to take the class were interested in pursuing a career in the fields of health and medicine. However, many of these students were unsure which job was truly suited for them, and the course allows students to explore various careers and make better-informed decisions.Said junior Jinna Han, “Through the class I really became more confident in my decision to go into nursing because [the teacher] made us think about why we wanted to go into that profession, what it takes to be in that profession and how it matches up with our values and who we are as a

AASHNA SHAH online editor

After noticing a decline in students wanting to take PE classes, Cupertino’s Physical Education Department has chosen to add a new PE class, Racquet Sports.

Said PE Department Lead James Gilmore, “When marching band started getting PE credits and we started getting smaller numbers, I tried to find a class that was already approved by the district and being taught that would bring interest back to PE and get people wanting to take PE instead of leaving to do other things.”

After seeing its large success rate at Monta Vista, Gilmore realized that the best way to bring up the numbers of students taking PE

person.”

The second part of the sequence is memorizationheavy, requiring students to learn about various disease symptoms and other healthcare knowledge.

Said senior Sruthi Shri-

“

are not going to check up on you every day to see [if you did it]. I think that was different,” Han said.

While students do not know their grades until the very end of each part, it was not something Han wor-

You would need all of this for basic living. You know how to provide prelminary care. -Senior Sruthi Shriram

ram, “[This part of the class] is informative because you would need all of this for basic living and, if someone in your family is going through some disease, you know how to provide preliminary care to them and do exactly what has to be done for that disease.”

The Health Career Pathways course is structured differently from other classes at CHS. “You are more responsible for your work. They give you a deadline, and they

ried about. “Participation is worth a lot of your grade. So if you participated in class, was involved in activities, and did your homework, you’re pretty much set,” she said.

Students believe that any downsides of the course were quickly outweighed by its benefits. Said Maisuria, “I like the discussions and conversations that we had about so many different topics. They were both fun and interactive at the same time.

classes was to add Racquet Sports to the classes available for students.

Said Gilmore, “Once a month, I meet with the other department chairs in the district and so we speak about what is going on at different sites and this class has been available at other sites for a while and the only reason that we are offering it now is because the total number of people taking PE is down and we are trying to encourage people to take PE classes.”

One of the most appealing aspects of the new PE Racquet Sports class is that it is heavily activity-based.

Said Gilmore, “The premise behind the class is that it is supposed to be an activity based class so people that already know how to play badminton, they would really just have that whole period to come and be able to play

Something I didn’t enjoy was the long lectures, but that’s just how college classes work, so it didn’t take long to adjust.”

For Shriram, the best part of the classes is hearing from the various guest speakers. Said Shriram, “All of us in the class were there because we had an interest in [health and medical professions], but none of us knew what a daily routine in these professions would be like and the kind of obstacles that people who are already in the profession would face.”

Overall, the Health Career Pathways course received a positive response from CHS students. Said Maisuria, “I would recommend it to other students, even if you’re not sure if you want to do healthcare in your future. Tino should offer it for the years to come, as it’s an invaluable experience that everyone can benefit from.”

badminton for a long period of time. It’s more about activity than it is skill development and fitness. It’s more about getting your fitness level from the activity itself.”

Much of the curriculum has already been planned out for the year; there will be 12-week sessions of badminton and tennis, as well as either speed-minton or pickleball.

This new PE class has garnered vast amounts of support from Cupertino students.

Said tennis player Michelle Gan, “A lot of students play racquet sports outside of school, and this new class encourages those students to continue playing those sports, but during the school day. I think this would help them by giving them more time after school to do other activities and still be able to play their racquet sports on a daily basis.”

NEWS BRIEFS

News

The Prospector

April 24, 2018

3

Teacher strikes

No Easter for Google

Police at CHS

Library passports

On Monday, April 2, thousands of teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky, inspired by West Virginia teachers, walked out of school. Many of the school districts in both states shut down, and teachers have asked for a $10,000 raise along with additional funding for schools and support for bus drivers and janitorial staff members.

On Easter Sunday this year, Google.com did not change its logo. Usually, the iconic Google logo is updated with a “Doodle” illustrating holidays and special events such as the Olympics and Christmas, which, if clicked, leads users to more information about the occasion. Due to the lack of a “Doodle” this Easter, conservative Christians have accused the company of being anti-Christian. Google argues that it does not have Doodles for strictly religious holidays and has not had an Easter Doodle for the past 18 years.

The FUHSD has been receiving email threats of violence that have been deemed not credible. Nonetheless, the school imposed a small police presence to ensure the safety of students and staff. These threats have been posed by a cyber hacking group in Europe that has taken credit for such threats to FUHSD and other districts across the nation.

On April 3, the Cupertino Library began offering passport services to the public. The new facilities offer first-time passports, renewals and replacements. Passport photo services are available as well. To make obtaining a passport easier for the public, the library is offering appointments Tuesdays through Saturdays.

COMPILED BY MICHELLE MA

Oxfam Hunger Banquet gives a look into hunger acrosss the world SUDYUT YUVARAJ copy editor

On Mar. 27, the Cupertino Cooking Club hosted CHS’ first Oxfam Hunger Banquet with assistance from Tino UNICEF. As an extension of the charity confederation, Oxfam, the banquet aimed to raise awareness for the increasingly widening hunger rates around the world. CHS culinary teacher Kristi Kuehn first proposed the idea of hosting the event to senior Ryan Liao, president of the club.

Said Liao, “We started planning three to four weeks of time, and I think our advisor helped a lot, without her it definitely wouldn’t be possible.” The club encountered many difficulties as they attempted to find a proper on-campus location to host the banquet. Speaking with Mrs. Balga from the ASB office, the club was first offered the upper floor of the cafeteria but pushed for a different area as the banquet would have been too chaotic and uncontrollable. Using the entire cafeteria was out of the question, so the organizers decided to move to the Wagon Wheel for the event.

The Oxfam organization played a supportive role in the banquet, assisting by supplying posters and materials to promote the event, as well as a brief guide on how to plan such an

event.

Students from both the Cooking Club and UNICEF began setup during the fifth period, opening up the Wagon Wheel during lunch. Cooking Club members helped set up tables and prepare the venue, but students in CHS’ culinary class prepared the food for the event. This resulted in a unique phenomenon where students learning the school cooking curriculum and the club worked towards a singular goal.

Students were handed a random ticket as they entered the Wagon Wheel, split into low, middle, and high-income status groups—with seating arrangements and food accommodations to match. Students in the high-income group were seated at tables and served proper food, in contrast to the middle and lower income groups, who were seated at low tables and on the ground, respectively. Some students switched income groups partway through the banquet, and while a few students were moved upward in the social hierarchy, the majority who were rotated down were left dissatisfied and unhappy.

Said Liao, “[The event] showed the unequal distribution of global resources, and makes it very visual.”

Students left the banquet with a new sense of appreciation for what they have, as well as being more emotionally prepared for possible turns in their socioeconomic status later in life. According to Liao, the event was smaller than the cooking

club would have liked, and he stated that if the banquet would be hosted next year, it could be larger—possibly as a dinner banquet. Liao also stated the planning should be started two months ahead for best results.

Commented senior Ryan Marks, “The banquet needs to be more rehearsed, with more organization with the people running the event so that they can teach the ones coming in.”

In its first year, the Oxfam Hunger Banquet sparked talks of socioeconomic inequality among students and brought together two clubs and a cooking class—all elements that contribute to justifying it as a successful event to raise awareness of global hunger and inequality.

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Opinions

4

Specialized Schooling

P R O

SYDNEY LIAO features editor

In a world rich with opportunities and career paths, some children discover where their interests lie earlier on and proceed to work towards their ultimate goal.

Some choose to study under the guidance of traditional schools, while others seek specialty schools. There is the belief that conventional schools function well enough for students who are more passionate about specific subjects, but there are many reasons why specialty schools would better cater to the needs of such students.

For one, specialty schools have the budget for more extravagant projects and performances. The most prestigious specialty schools in the nation are private and cost up to $35,000 per person. This means that funding is integrated into the tuition. For instance, High Technology High School, a private pre-engineering career institution located in New Jersey, boasts a sophisticated research lab and program, a feature that is rarely found in traditional

NICO CHILLA features assistant

Focused education is a reality for students of LaGuardia High School for Visual and Performing Arts, one of nine specialized public schools in New York City and the subject matter of the hit 1980 film Fame. There, students can tailor their studies to specific fields or careers, as shown through the elaborate dance routines and synth-heavy beats of Alan Parker’s classic musical.

However, alongside a host of other detriments attached to specialized education, there is a logistical reason that schools like LaGuardia only exist in cities like New York. The tightly-packed, high-density layout of the Big Apple is ideally suited for a school that needs to be able to service students located all across the city. By contrast, Cupertino and San Jose’s low-density populations are spread across a large area, crisscrossed with freeways

schools. Programs at specialty schools receive a set budget for their endeavors and are at less of a risk of facing budget cuts. The same thing cannot be said for traditional public schools like Tino, where the threat of budget cuts is much higher. Here, elective teachers would be the first to be discharged, as many electives are not required for credit. This would be a disservice to the students. While it is true that some specialty schools will use the money for selfish intentions, a majority share the objective of producing results that live up to their name.

Also, almost all performing arts schools, such as the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco, require auditions for a specific arts program as part of the admissions process. Likewise, admittance to the nationally ranked High Technology High School involves a competitive application process with a 25 percent acceptance rate. Auditions for elite schools are highly particular and only welcome the best of the best. The selective process raises the quality of the programs at specialty schools, making them exceptional compared to ordinary elective classes at traditional schools. This aspect of specialty

and dotted with different public schools servicing their surrounding communities. For that reason, one would need to distribute several specialized schools of the same type across the Bay Area to reach the same group of students found in one “big city” school like LaGuardia. It is impractical and unaffordable to construct specialized schools that will not accumulate a large body of students due to the diversity of interests in any given area.

Even when ignoring these pragmatic issues with specialty schools, the value they provide is questionable for several reasons. Recent trends in the job industry demonstrate that employers are searching for applicants with a wide range of abilities and strengths. This indicates that even for the most right-brained students, the humanities, directly and indirectly, teach important skills like public speaking, writing ability, and communication. Also, as CHS English teachers will often stress, the most important aspect of literature classes are the lessons of human nature they instill. On the other side, STEM fields are

April 24, 2018

schools appeals to students who are serious about pursuing a particular career, as they can offer a program that better prepares them for university-level courses.

Furthermore, specialty subjects are unacceptable at schools like CHS due to the social stigmas surrounding them. In traditional schools, there exists the pressure to take as many challenging classes as possible, a trend that is not present in specialty schools. For example, it is looked down upon for students at Cupertino to take less demanding core subjects in favor of a higher level art course. However, at specialty schools, students do not face judgment for prioritizing specialty pursuits over academics because that is exactly what their peers are doing.

This lack of appraisal makes for a healthier learning environment that benefits both the students’ mental health and their aspirations.

Although CHS and other traditional schools offer sufficient support in the electives department, some students desire a more profound background to prepare them for their university-level studies better.

evidently the world’s economic future, and whether or not one is directly interested in their study, they teach vital life skills critical thinking, problem-solving, and a general understanding of the science underpinning life.

But the ultimate irony in the desire for specialty schools is the fact that just within Cupertino High School, students have a tremendous amount of choice in the direction they take their education. In both the humanities and STEM, classes at each level vary widely regarding subject matter and difficulty. For example, a junior interested in a career in medicine could choose to take AP Biology and AP Statistics to satisfy this alongside US History and American Literature for a lighter humanities focus. Combined with the questionable value of focused education and the utter impossibility of establishing schools capable of serving the necessary population, the opportunities already available at Tino ultimately eliminate the need for specialized schools.

C O N

THE INNACURATE PORTRAYAL OF PHYSICAL DISABILITIES IN

H O L LYW O O D

ANTHONY ZHU copy editor

In the wake of movies such as Wonder and A Quiet Place, it is essential to think about the message and stigmas about disabled people that Hollywood is presenting to audiences, along with how Hollywood casts movies featuring disabled people.

For a long period, facial disfigurations have been associated with evil and the villains of the story. Characters such as Freddy Krueger and Scar all had crude blemishes on their faces to emphasize their evilness and represent the internal damage of their souls. This creates the connection of disabilities to evil in the minds of the audience, thus creating less compassion and empathy towards people with disabilities.

However, a new movie called Wonder featured a protagonist that had a facial disability. Many people come into conflict with this movie because instead of casting a disabled actor, they used only of disabled make-up and prosthetics to make the lead actor, Jacob Tremblay, seem like he had characters are played a facial disfiguration. This is a common practice: according to a study by the Rudby disabled actors erman Family Foundation, only 5 percent of characters with disabilities are played by actually disabled actors and actresses. When directors cast non-disabled people for handicapped roles, they not only take away opportunities from disabled actors, but they also risk inaccurately portraying the lives of handicapped people.

Take, for example, Me Before You. Many critics take issue with how the main character is euthanized at the end of the movie because

5%

he found his disabled lifestyle too difficult. Disabled people and others alike believe that the ending of the movie sends the message that disabilities are impossible to overcome and romanticizes assisted suicide. Many also saw this movie as emotionally manipulative. When it takes advantage of the disability of the main character, it detracts from the actual hardships disabled people face.

The movie Million Dollar Baby also ended with the main character deciding to take her own life.

The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund said that the movie “advances the offensive and dangerous message that death is preferable to life with a disability.” Movies that portray disabilities as the defining characteristic of people create dominant narratives that individuals with disabilities find it hard to overcome socially.

One movie that has been more inclusive of the disabled community is A Quiet Place. Director John Krasinski pushed to have deaf actress Millicent Simmonds play the deaf character in the movie.

This meant she could more accurately represent the lives of deaf people and she was able to teach sign language to everyone on set. Other movies that have hired disabled actors include Baby Driver and Wonderstruck. Many movie directors should follow examples like these and be more inclusive of the disabled community, especially when they are depicting the lives of handicapped people.

It is crucial that we as moviegoers are able to see through the common movie tropes of treating disabled people as objects of pity, charity, and medical treatment.

It is crucial that we as moviegoers are able to see through the common movie tropes of treating disabled people as objects of pity, charity and medical treatment or the opposite, superhumans who have accomplished the impossible. Instead, we should recognize that although being disabled can be a huge challenge to overcome, it is not the defining characteristic of a person.

April 24, 2018

Opinions

The Prospector

SUGAR TAX

5

Food WastE in America

How The Demand for Perfect Food Is detrimental

VARUN SHENOY

ETHAN QI

online editor

news assistant

America is currently facing an obesity epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control, 36.5 percent of U.S. adults are obese. Not only is obesity a precursor for life-threatening afflictions, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but it also accounts for a significant portion of American health spending. In 2008, the estimated medical cost for obesity in the United States was $147 billion, and the average additional cost for people with obesity in comparison to those without it was a whopping $1,439.

While most of the public pins the blame for this crisis on high-fat and high-calorie diets, recent publications say otherwise.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association attributes the growing obesity problem to sugar, not fat.

Research also points towards the fact that more and more of the average American’s diet is composed of processed foods, such as sugary breakfast cereals, microwaved meals and soft drinks.

To address the growing problem of sugar consumption, the U.S. government should pass legislation to add an excise tax to all items containing high quantities of sugar, such as sodas and junk foods. Even in rich, well–educated areas, such as the city of Berkeley, researchers were surprised to find that a sugar tax can have profound impacts. Mexico passed a similar tax in 2014 which drastically reduced the consumption of sugary beverages, especially among the economically disadvantaged. The United Kingdom and Ireland will be implementing similar policies in the next few months.

The money collected from the tax can then be utilized to fund public initiatives.

Currently, Philadelphia uses their sugar tax revenue to fund pre-kindergarten programs and public development projects. However, this particular tax has faced a significant corporate backlash. While public health interest groups, such as the American Medical Association and American Heart Association, vocally support the tax, the American Beverage Association, a group primarily funded by large businesses in the soda industry, spent $10.6 million in persuading the general populace to vote against it. Moreover, companies such as Pepsi laid off employees in Philadelphia, pinning the blame onto the sugar tax.

Taxes in the past for similar reasons have met with conflict as well. The tobacco tax was initially faced with criticism by the tobacco industry. In the end, the tax prevailed. Today, all research points to the fact that the tobacco tax has directly led to a decrease in smoking rates. One study after the Obama-era cigarette federal tax concluded that every 10 percent increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes, overall youth smoking rates drop approximately 7 percent. This phenomenon follows the economic principle of elasticity: as a tax on a good rises, the amount of that good sold falls. This concept can be transferred to the idea of a sugar tax as well. The benefits from the tobacco tax are likely to run parallel with the pros of a nationwide sugar tax. Obesity rates would decrease as the average American sugar intake is likely to drop. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that a sugar tax on soda alone could generate upwards of $14.9 billion in the first year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a 3 cent per ounce soda tax would bring in over $24 in revenue in four years. This money can be reinvested to pay for health needs such as obesity prevention, nutrition education and public health services.

The United States should not give way to big businesses and place the lives of its citizens on the line. This self-fulfilling cycle of collected tax revenue and funneling it into public health programs will be ultimately better the health of the American people and ensure a brighter future by keeping severe sugar-caused illnesses at bay.

It was in 1798 when Thomas Malthus published his Essay on the Principle of Population, that the world was first exposed to the concerns of population growth and the earth’s ability to sustain an increasing human population. The thesis of his argument was that while food production increases linearly, human population follows an exponential path, and would sooner than later outpace the former. Luckily, innovations in agricultural techniques and production have been able to keep pace with our population.

Among concerns of climate change and a population that has doubled in just the past half-century, Malthus’s concerns are more real now than ever. In a UN report published in 2017, the world’s population is expected to increase to 9.8 billion by 2050. With just over three decades until that date and of U.S. food is an increasingly hungry society as more are lifted out of poverty, it becomes important to reconsider the status quo regarding our food consumption. wasted each year, At the heart of the issue is the wastefulness of American food culture. One of the greatest contributors to this an amount valued phenomenon is the American public’s obsession with aesthetically pleasing food. As with anyone who has put a at three trillion banana in a lunchbox will attest to, fruits and vegetables tend to bruise, discolor, oxidize, and wilt. This quality alone turns dollars. off American shoppers in supermarkets, making them opt for produce that is better looking, regardless of any lack of meaningful, internal differences. In fact, most grocery stores immediately trash or refuse to stock those foods which look unsightly to consumers. And that is even an optimistic outlook; before many of these fruits and vegetables even reach the stores, they are left to rot in farms and warehouses. This results in a foodsupply chain that runs directly from farms to landfills for reasons nothing but cosmetic.

The result is a country that throws away roughly 50 percent of all its produce. That’s 60 million tons, or $160 billion worth of food, in a country that holds just under 5 percent of the Every American world’s population. Even if this potential saving would not solve for the world’s hunger problem, it represents family throws hundreds of billions of dollars that could otherwise go to solving our broken education system or improving away an average of healthcare for the millions that go without it each year.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each American family throws away an average of $1,600 food each year, representing the true cost of this unhealthy obsession with the beauty of food.

While this obsession is not as problematic in other in food each developed countries, a culture of wastefulness still exists.

On a global scale, the United Nations Food and Agriculture year.

Organization (UNFAO) estimates that one-third of all food grown is wasted in some way, totaling a whopping $3 trillion lost annually.

Additionally, as with most global issues tied to the future, climate change will inevitably play a major role in the ability of the world to feed its future population. Ensuring an environment conducive to crop cultivation will go hand-inhand with staving off climate change. And interestingly, changing our resource consumption is productive toward that goal as well. The EPA finds that in the US, discarded food is the single largest component of landfills and incinerators, which produce carbon dioxide and especially, methane, which is a gas 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas than the former.

But the solution to this problem is almost as simple and elegant as the problem is grave.

In a report published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the current food production is enough to feed everyone on earth, in addition to 3 billion more. And with current levels of production already exceeding our real demand for food, the answer to this issue lies in governments’ and corporations’ ability to educate the public and institute reforms to redistribute and resell food to those who need it the most. This issue is unique. It will require as much engagement on policy as all the other global challenges of this century, but it will also demand a significant cultural shift as well— meaning that the answer no longer lies within the halls of Capitol Hill— but with citizens like you and me as well.

40%

$1,600

Reducing food waste by

15%

would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans every year.

6

April 24, 2018

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Features

8

April 24, 2018

TERMINOLOGY SAAGAR SANGHAVI sports assistant

Let’s be honest—members of the LGBTQ+ community often face disrespect and degrading stereotypes simply for who they are, ranging from blatantly offensive slang and to nuances in our language that often have negative connotations. As our culture continues to evolve and become more inclusive, it is necessary to set some ground rules on what is socially acceptable. Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve our respect; it’s as simple as that.

Politically Correct Terms:

Heterosexual - attracted to members of the opposite sex.

Homosexual (used as an adjective) - attracted to a person of the same sex.

Asexual - not sexually attracted to anyone.

They can still have romantic relationships, though.

Pansexual - attracted to someone solely on their personality and without regard to their gender.

Bisexual - attracted to both women and men.

Genderqueer - general term for any person whose gender identity is not male or female.

Transgender - anyone who does not identify with the gender they are born with, may undergo gender reassignment surgery or take on a different identity to switch gender.

Cisgender - opposite of transgender, identify with the sex they were born.

Intersex - a person who is biologically born with both male and female anatomy.

Hijada - transgender/Intersex community in South Asia.

Androgynous - partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex.

Lesbian - woman attracted to a woman.

Gay - an overarching term for homosexual, usually refers to man attracted to a man.

Queer - blanket term for all people who are not cisgender or not heterosexual.

Questioning - when one does not know their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Closeted - a member of the LGBTQ+ community who has chosen to keep their sexual orientation private.

Coming out - the process of explaining one’s sexual preferences to one’s peers.

Drag or crossdressing - wearing clothes of different sex.

Gender Expression vs. Gender Identity - gender Identity is how someone “feels” and has the sense of “being” male or female, while gender identity is how they express that to others or manifest their sense of being masculine or feminine.

Politically Incorrect Terms:

A homosexual (used as a noun) - identifying someone solely as “homosexual” is dehumanizing and fails to give basic human dignity to the person in question. There are more characteristics and qualities to the person than just their sexual orientation. Instead, use something along the lines of “person who is gay,” which recognizes them as a person before recognizing that “gay” is an adjective that describes them.

Note: a similar argument applies to why “autistic,” “cripple” and “black” are considered politically incorrect when used as nouns. Instead,

“a person on the autism spectrum,” “a person with a physical disability,” or “a person who is black” are preferred.

When referring to same-sex couples or relationships, avoid using the label of “gay relationship” or “homosexual relationship.” Simply a “relationship” or a “couple” are preferred.

If elaboration is needed, use “relationship between two males” or “relationship between two females.” By adding an adjective of “gay” or “homosexual,” you fail to recognize the legitimacy of the relationship.

Sexual preference - this term has the connotation of sexual orientation being an individual’s choice. Use “sexual orientation” in its place.

Transvestite - this term is outdated and now considered offensive. Instead, use “crossdressing” or “drag” to refer to wearing clothes of the opposite sex.

Admitted homosexual - the underlying connotation of this term is that homosexuality is inherently shameful. Use “openly gay” or “out” as an alternative.

Hermaphrodite - this biological term is used for animals that can be both male and female and is often misleading when used to refer to humans who are born with both male and female genitalia. Instead, use “intersex,” as it is more respectful.

Note on transgender people and preferred gender pronouns (PGPs): While the English language assumes a gender for singular personal subject pronouns (either he or she), some transgender individuals may identify as third gender or nonconforming and may choose to go by “they”.

In general, it is more respectful to ask someone who is transgender on their preferred gender pronouns and refer to them as they want to be called rather than assume they are either male or female.

Derogatory or Offensive Terms:

“Dyke,” “Fag,” “Pansy,” “Poofter” or “Sodomite” - these are considered vulgar slang.

“Shemale” - this phrase is commonly used in pornography and prostitution to refer to a person with both male and female anatomy and is highly offensive.

Finally, one last note: associating the LGBT community with pedophilia, bestiality, abuse, adultery, or incest is very offensive and makes it seem as though members of the LGBT community pose a threat to society.

Avoid making statements that may explicitly or implicitly draw false associations.

LGB

THEIR THEIR STORY STORY ARIANA FAHRI flip side editor

Every person experiences that moment in their life when they realize a significant aspect of their identity. The only difference for people in the LGBTQ+ community is that they have to announce it to their family and friends.

Frequently referenced to as “coming out,” this moment is full of trepidation and anxiety for many people, because as actor Nick Robinson said in his movie, Love Simon, “No matter what, announcing who you are to the world is pretty terrifying.”

Before coming out, questions revolve around not only whom to trust but also the consequences of trusting. For many students, it is easier to tell their friends than their family, especially if they are afraid of repercussions- they may face at home. The fear of being exposed to strangers is a significant part of the decision-making process in choosing a trusted confidante. Even when students decide to come out, parents often request them to not share that information with their grandparents or other family members.

Navigating the dating realm can be as scary for many people. It is a time for many firsts, and that means it will be awkward, exciting and nerve-wracking. Many parental figures feel discomfort when their children share news about their dating life, which initiates a cycle of misunderstandings and unease.

Being in the LGBTQ+ community comes with many similar difficulties, mostly related to ignorance and older generations struggling to understand the complexities of gender identities and sexual orientations. Typically, people with less exposure to

rounding family, friends, acquaintances and as a result, students feel increasingly more uncomfortable. One-liners like “no homo” and phrases like “don’t assume my gender” mocks the integrity of the vast range of identities in the LGBTQ+ community. While many call Tino a friendly and diverse environment, jokes about the LGBTQ+ community still pervade and manage to wiggle in between Definitely do watch what you’re saying, advisory periods.

Said an anonymous junior, “Definitely do because there’s likely someone part of the watch what you’re saying, because there’s likely community in your class and around you, someone part of the community in your class and you could ruin them and cause them to and around you, and you could ruin them and cause them to feel unsafe. ” feel unsafe.

- Anonymous Homophobic jokes and words automatically distance a member of the LGBTQ+ community away from classmates. Said Schenkman, “Whenever I know someone homophowith the spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community struggle more bic, I know I can’t be friends with them.” with accepting them, so it makes sense that older generations In contrast, the LGBTQ+ experience links people who unhave more issues comprehending contemporary ideas about dergo the same struggles and share critical moments, like comone’s sexual orientation and identity. ing out, together. Said Schenkman,“Having that connection with Said Alicia Schenkman, a sophomore who identifies as bi- other gay people is the best part of being in the LGBTQ+ comsexual, “Your family always knows you one way and when you munity.” change, it’s like a punch in the face.”

Needless to say, at the end of the day, regardless of race, genCupertino High School is riddled with this tumultuous re- der, religion, skin color, sexual orientation and gender identity, lationship between one’s identity and the reactions of their sur- everyone wants to feel accepted.

April 24, 2018

Features

The Prospector

9

MISCONCEPTIONS Stereotypes are a standing presence in the LGBTQ+ community. Many can easily be offensive and dismissive, while others can also simply be misunderstandings. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that such assumptions cannot be applied to an entire community. Judging one’s personality off of their sexual orientation or disregarding their sexuality as a phase are just a few of the countless presumptions made about the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s Not Just a Phase:

Many LGBTQ+ teenagers are forced to face ridicule when coming out to people with older, homophobic mindsets. People like to assume that choice plays a major factor when it comes to one’s sexuality and often tends to trivialize the importance of encouraging others to accept their identity.

KAVYA GUPTA opinions editor

More Than Two Genders in the Spectrum: When people learn that more genders exist outside of “male” and “female”, they often joke about the topic, even insinuating that objects count as genders. However, this is completely untrue, for the LGBTQ+ spectrum includes those who are agender (those without a gender), genderfluid (those who identify with more than one gender), and others as well. Said an anonymous contributor who identifies as agender, “With gender, many students take any gender outside of cis as a joke, so it’s common for me to hear people laugh about it. It often leads to not only me, but my friends feeling incredibly down because we’re not taken seriously.”

“Man” and “Woman” of the Relationship:

People in same-gender relationships are frequently asked who the “man” or “woman” of the relationship is. Not only does this stereotype force gender roles, but it also implies that the personality of someone in the LGBTQ+ community revolves around their identity. Said sophomore Lena Williams, “There’s an obsessive need to have a ‘man’ and a ‘woman’ in a relationship, especially in gay or lesbian relationships. This stereotype is something I’ve experienced, and I tell them that the whole point of a gay relationship is having men together or women together.”

Williams identifies as a cisgender homosexual girl.

[Stereotypical jokes] hinder people who are actually LGBTQ+ from feeling accepted and instead make them feel more vulnerable.

- Julie Ye

Dating a Girl Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Like Boys:

There is a misunderstanding about whether bisexual or pansexual people can be attracted to men while dating a woman, or being attracted to women while dating a man. Many think that one cannot be attracted to one gender at the same time as another, but instead go through periods where they change their sexual attraction. Bisexual or pansexual people can appreciate all genders at the same time. But, some may prefer one gender over the others. Said junior Elaine Mai, “A lot of people think I magically don’t like girls because I’m dating a boy. That’s not how bisexuality works. Who you are dating does not change who you are attracted to.”

All interviewees agree that to be more understanding towards all LGBTQ+ individuals, CHS students should not make fun of the community, especially those that appear in the forms of jokes like “Did you just assume my gender?’ or using “gay” or “homo” as insults. Said junior Julie Ye, who identifies as nonbinary, “[They] hinder people who are actually LGBTQ+ from feeling accepted and instead makes them feel more vulnerable.”

LEO RASSIEUR

business manager

At Cupertino High School, LGBTQ+ students face unique experiences based on their gender identities and sexual preferences. A lack of awareness of their perspectives can make them feel excluded by their peers from time to time, even if that exclusion is unintentional.

Said junior Julie Ye, who is asexual and gender nonbinary, “Identifying as genderqueer has allowed me to build lasting friendships with others who also identify as LGBTQ+. However, I have always felt self-conscious in classroom settings, where people would use gender pronouns on me that I felt uncomfortable with. Not many people use ‘they/them’ when referring to individuals, but those are the pronouns that I prefer to use for myself.”

Ye added that their asexuality is often misunderstood by those less familiar with the concept.

Said Ye, “I can feel romantically attracted towards any gender. The difference between sexual and romantic orientation is that the former describes who you are sexually attracted to, while the latter describes who you would want to have a romantic relationship with. They don’t always align.”

With respect to inclusivity and language use, having the

staff educate students may not be enough to create the change that some LGBTQ+ want to see, as students can often be careless about others’ emotions.

In an ideal world, we could simply educate students and tell them to be aware of what they say, and they’ll follow. Unfortunately, students will laugh about it, thinking it’s some sort of funny joke.

- Anonymous Said an anonymous CHS student who is pansexual and agender, “In an ideal world, we could simply educate students and tell them to be aware of what they say, and they’ll follow.

Unfortunately, LGBT+ receives the short end of the stick and students will laugh about it, thinking it’s some sort of funny joke. I would say, definitely do watch what you’re saying, be-

AT AT TINO TINO

BTQ+

cause there’s likely someone part of the community in your class and around you, and you could ruin them and cause them to feel unsafe.”

Above all, however, many in LGBTQ+ community want for their fellow students to treat them as capable students, not as an outcast minority. In fact, some see their experiences as fundamentally similar to that of any other student at CHS. Said junior Elaine Mai, who is bisexual and gender nonbinary, “I guess I feel more uncomfortable than the average person when I hear something homophobic or transphobic. Other than that, I wouldn’t say [my gender identity and sexual orientation] have impacted my high school experience. My friends are either very supportive or don’t care. Having supportive friends is nice, but I really like it when people just don’t care and treat me like they would anyone else.”

&

RESPECT

SUPPORT

Lifestyles

10

April 24, 2018

VULGARITY VULGARITY fashion

UPGRADE UPGRADE NICO CHILLA features assistant

My guess is this is the question in most of my readWHY ers’ minds after skimming over the title. You may be thinking: “Who cares how I look to other people? I’m comfortable in the generic sports t-shirt and basketball shorts combo that I wear every single day, and that’s all that matters.” This is a misguided, albeit noble opinion.

Upgrading your style is not about other people, and moreover, it has little to do with following trends, spending bucket loads of cash, or sacrificing comfort. Some may scoff, but dressing in a way you believe looks “good” is simply a booster to self-confidence; not because people perceive you differently, but rather because you feel that your identity more closely matches your appearance. And in today’s day and age, this can be as simple as switching from track pants to joggers. The process of developing a personal style is a fun, creative exercise that doesn’t require breaking the bank; while exclusive brands like Bape or Supreme are available for those who enjoy them, many people find their favorite items at Goodwill or other thrift shops.

HOW

So how does one go about upgrading their wardrobe?

It begins with a Pinterest account. For the fashion amateur, Pinterest is a treasure trove of inspiration. For example, for boys, I suggest searching terms like “athleisure” or “streetwear” that will offer you a wide selection of styles and outfits to choose from. Whenever you see an outfit you like, pin it for later analysis (see “What”). My first Pinterest hunt began with the discovery of joggers, a staple of athleisure that now constitutes a majority of my wardrobe. Now charged with inspiration, it is time to take a trip to the mall. Set a budget and do some exploration with the goal of buying 1-5 new items that coordinate a new outfit.

Finally, rinse and repeat this process, slowly constructing a personal style out of your favorite types of clothing. This is full of trial and error, and thus you must never be afraid of attempting new things; even if something seems outlandish, you may discover it looks nice or fits your body type.

Shoes often define the rest of an outfit. The personality of a pair of Vans, for example, is completely different WHAT from that of a pair of Nike Air Maxes or the infamous “Timbs.” Branching out from the running shoes you wear every day opens many doors in terms of the outfits and styles you can choose from.

Layering: Your articles of clothing do not have to exist in isolation from each other! Indeed, layering is exactly what it sounds like: overlapping different items in your wardrobe to make new and unique outfits. For example, have you ever tried putting on a flannel shirt or jacket over a hoodie? Changes like these are mind-blowingly simple, but with the right combinations of color and texture, they exponentially improve an outfit.

Colors: Perhaps the simplest but most important tip I can offer is to pay attention to the colors in your wardrobe. Keep yourself limited to two to three colors per outfit, and mess around with dark and light shades to create contrast in tandem with your layering. Bright primary and secondary colors can look appealing but are usually paired with more subdued shades and tones to keep a look from being too loud.

in films and tv shows

ROLL

SCENE

TAKE

KENNETH JEON photo editor

Creating good entertainment for teenagers is a hard target to hit. The best movies and shows amuse while teaching valuable life lessons based off of real-world situations. At the same time, young audiences are very impressionable and are prone to blindly following what they see around them. It is easy to fall to one side or the other: becoming too preachy or too gratuitous. Accurate and effective reflections of real-life require depictions of the problems that plague it, but these problems need to be addressed and portrayed with care.

Talking about the darker aspects of teenage life is essential. Anyone can observe or recount the profanity, drug use and depression that was and is rampant in most high schools. Since morals are definitively based on overcoming personal problems, it only makes sense that these problems are explicitly addressed and acknowledged.

However, unbridled, full-force depictions of violence, sex,and drug use can very well mislead young minds.

Context is essential in successfully portraying violence, abuse or profanity. The filmmaking and story elements that surround these themes can completely make or break successful executions.

Many still admire the R-rated The Breakfast Club as a quintessential coming-of-age film.

Most would agree for a good reason, as its message about self-acceptance and maturity is great for kids to keep in mind as they navigate their way through social classes, self-esteem issues, the stresses of society, and personal relationships. This lesson is only solidified with the portrayal of the world; the environment feels like a real high school, with kids swearing, making threats and smuggling marijuana in accordance to their personalities.

Sex is not the horrible off-limit topic it usually is in kid’s movies, as the characters’ dialogue is filled with sexual jokes and references. However, the movie stands firmly to the point that sexual harassment and irresponsible sex can harm a person’s sense of identity and dignity using small features in the acting and script.

Marijuana is also shown to have stress-relieving effects, with a regularly high-strung character acting casually and relaxed after a smoke. Again, the film also presents the opposite side by giving the character most associated with drugs a history of abuse and academic failure.

The presentation of both sides is the best thing a work of media could do to educate an audience. It allows audience members to make intelligent choices for themselves. After all, a show is just a show, and a movie is just a movie, they cannot force a person to behave a certain way. But a choice that a viewer makes on their own can dictate their actions.

Even gratuity can be executed well with this type of respect for the audience. The film Dope is filled with bad language, nudity, violence, and criminal activity, even having the protagonist temporarily became a drug dealer during the story. But the movie depicts this gratuity with just enough comedic timing and exaggeration, trusting its audience to be able to pick up on the satirical tone. When the film wants to make real points about using and resorting to crime and violence, it takes on a more serious tone.

The The massively popular Netflix series 13 Reasons Why received criticism for doing exactly the wrong things. In the final episode of the first season, a flashback is shown where the central character graphically slits her wrists and dies in a bloody bathtub.

The show attempts to scare watchers from suicide with unnerving sound effects and blood instead of thoughtfully persuading them with writing and acting. Add that to the fact that the show seemingly validates the characters’ suicide by having her dramatic revenge plot play out. No choice is given, no change is considered.

The fundamental idea is to treat teen audiences with respect by allowing them to make their own decisions on what has been presented intelligently. Hiding vulgarity to reduce its influence on teenagers only seems patronizing to the people who are already well aware of the problems in their environments.

Breakfast Club

The Prospector

April 24, 2018

Lifestyles

11

NAPPING FOR THE SLEEP-DEPRIVED the golden rule

the prime time

the caffeine nap

the full cycle

If you’re waking up from naps not knowing what year it is, then you’re napping wrong! Short naps have shown to boost mental energy, productivity and cognitive functions that often decline as a result of sleep deprivation. Napping in 30-minute increments—ideally 30 minutes maximum, the golden rule— allows just enough time to rest sufficiently without the risk of entering into a deep sleep. Anything beyond the golden time frame may result in feeling more tired than before the nap.

If you want to maximize your naps, make sure to schedule them before 4:00 p.m. Whether that means basking in the sun during lunch or hitting the bed right after school, it is imperative that you comply with your body’s natural sleep cycles (except in class). You are most likely to fall asleep between noon and 4:00 p.m., which indicates the time frame in which your body’s circadian cycle declines.

By targeting the afternoon prime time, you can give your energy levels a quick boost before getting back to work!

If you’re one to drink coffee rather than take a nap, consider a compromise between the two: a caffeine nap, or a “napalette.” Quickly drink a cup of the caffeinated drink of your choice and take a 20-minute nap immediately afterward. This caffeinesleep combo will give you an extra kick of energy when you wake up, leaving you feeling mentally sharp and refreshed.

According to sleep expert Michael Breus, Ph.D., “You’re good for four hours, guaranteed.”

As a busy high school student, you may not necessarily have the time to take naps at all. But if the opportunity ever does arise — you have some time to spare and are feeling especially tired — treat yourself to a 90-minute snooze, and your body will thank you later. Full sleep cycle naps allow your body to go into REM, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, which makes up for lost sleep and can enhance creativity. I wish you the best in your napping endeavors!

COMPILED BY ASHLEY KANG

comforting people JENN ZARATAN

inst ag rams CATHERINE SEOK lifestyles assistant

1

studywithinspo

High school senior Brian Qian, creator of @studywithinspo on Instagram, has amassed a following of over 200 thousand followers by posting photos of his stationery collection and his aesthetic and artistic bullet journal. His style is more colorful, as he maintains a warmer color theme throughout his posts. A collector of Mildliner highlighters and Muji pens, Qian is an influential figure in the studygramming community.

2

studytee

Therese, owner of Instagram account @studytee, is active on both Instagram and Youtube and often posts her minimalistic biology notes. Accompanied by neatly drawn and colored pictures of scientific diagrams, her notes are admired by many.

Also a stationery fanatic, many of her favorite Mildliner highlighters and Tombow brush pens can be seen throughout her hundreds of posts.

3 revisign Revisign is a 15-year-old minimalistic studygrammer whose account features bright white photos with his notes and his bullet journal. The growing account has nearly 55 thousand followers, and it is evident why; each post is carefully planned with a layout of pens, papers, markers, and paints. With under 60 posts, Revisign has still managed to reach and connect with thousands of people.

4 lydia.studies Like many other studygrammers, student Lydia of @ lydia.studies presents many of her neat flashcards, notes, and flowcharts through her Instagram account. Stabilo highlighters are sprinkled throughout her posts, and as a result, her largely white posts still have pastel colors.

photo assistant

“Oh, I know, egg his car. Oh, he doesn’t have a car, does he? Egg his mailbox then.”

I was joking, of course*. But as I sat on the couch, trying my best to uplift a friend with relationship blues, it became yet another exhibit—Exhibit F, that is, of a time I probably didn’t take the best approach to comforting a friend. In my estranged way of trying to help, one second I’m typing out empathetic aw’s and suggesting ice cream flavors, and when that doesn’t work the next, I find myself advocating for legitimate property damage.

Generally speaking, when someone is crying, and you are just sitting there awkwardly on the side, it is quite the sticky situation. Some people always know the right thing to say—whipping out beautiful, eloquent pep talks and managing to provide solace when the going gets tough. Then there are people like myself. In the exceptionally trying times that were this month—whether it was college, relationships or just the overwhelming chaos of this cruel world—I watched myself be pretty much useless to several people in distress: a fair enough number that pushed me to go down a rabbit hole, browsing Wikihows and Cosmopolitan articles on a quest for self improvement. And, as much as I find Wikihow a reliable source, for this article, I also spoke with Tino’s student advocate and licensed therapist, Deni se Salin, for professional advice.

As per my defense mechanism, I always laugh (or, try to insert laughter) even when I probably should not—which is fine when it’s just about my own life. But when it comes to other people and all I have to offer is my favorite compilation of “Family Feud” answers and an Amazon link to the best-selling book, “Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be,” it becomes more of a problem. In my experience, my compulsive need to shove laughter into tough situations can at times be helpful. Other times, Steve Harvey not only doesn’t cut it but is also potentially insensitive. The other week I spent a good minute cheerily explaining how the Chipotle near X college hardly gave me any more lettuce when I asked for more, and no one wants to go to a college with a stingy Chipotle, now do they?

“Sometimes humor can break that moment of intensity,” said Salin. “It really is about timing and sensitivity.”

Salin explained there is a common instinct to try to fix whatever is making your friend cry instantly. For me, that manifests itself as laughter, but you too might have a similar impulse.

“It’s hard to see anybody struggle or be in pain, so we have to wrestle at that moment with our own discomfort,” said Salin. “[One of the best things you can do is] just listening and being there for them: empathizing, not trying to solve the problem and not rushing to make the pain go away. That’s often our tendency even when we’re feeling our own pain: to want to distract and cover it up. Sometimes the best way to go through a hard time is to go through a hard time.”

Above all, the key is to acknowledge the person’s feelings. Cracking too many jokes or otherwise attempting to put a positive spin on the situation can seem to invalidate their problems. Even if unintentional, it might not be much of a comfort to make a joke out of their tragedy or chalk it up to something that can be easily fixed if only they reframed their mindset. This may sound something like, “I always hated Andrew anyway, so it’s a good thing that he cheated on you.” If your friend is genuinely disappointed at something, someone or some college that they lost, it may be better to acknowledge that loss before moving on to the silver lining.

Perhaps an even worse response is to compare it to your own or someone else’s problems. When a friend is heartbroken over a particular college, fight the urge to say, “If it’s any consolation, I didn’t get it in anywhere haha!” It may make them feel a little bit better, but there is also a good chance it will be annoying when you make it about yourself. In fact, it might even bring up some sad emotions in yourself to think about that, and you are truly no use to them if you’re just two people crying.

When I think back to each situation, there is no cut-and-dry Wikihow recipe for successful comforting.

There are, however, a few key pointers of which we can all be conscious, to communicate support in whatever way works.

“I’ve had many people tell me that they don’t want anybody to tell them what to do or feel like they need to make them better,” Salin said. “There’s a lot of power in just being there for someone.” *I am a fully law-abiding citizen who does not condone criminal activity.

Insights

12

Understanding drugs at Tino Here in Cupertino, we pride ourselves on being one of the top schools in the nation. Some may think that because students are so academically driven, illegal drug use is a distant issue.

The reality may be surprising to some.

Culture Growing up, we are taught the same lesson: drugs are bad. In health classes, we learn that marijuana is a gateway drug—one whiff, and all that lies ahead is a life of addiction and poverty. For some of us, the lessons we learn and the facts we are presented early on are enough to steer us away from trying drugs.

That is the case for junior Harmony He, who has no intent of trying drugs. Said He, “In freshman year, they have this unit on drugs. I feel like that’s good enough, at least for me it was. I don’t know about others.”

To investigate the topic of drug use at Cupertino High School, the Prospector staff conducted an online survey of CHS students, garnering a total of 261 responses. A majority of students—86.2 percent—reported that they had not used drugs before, compared to a 13.8 percent who reported that they had.

Atlas, whose name has been changed for maintaining anonymity, is one of the 13.8 percent of students who have tried drugs. For many of these students, the sense of mystery surrounding drugs intrigues them, making drug use appear harmless, adding to its overall appeal.

Said Atlas, “They try to scare you out of trying anything, which tended to make me more curious, if anything. I had pretty easy access [to edible marijuana] and I just thought what’s the worst that can happen? So I tried it.”

Marijuana—the most-used drug by Cupertino students—is legal to both medical marijuana card holders and those aged 21 and up in California, but the majority of CHS students do not have legal access.

However, when participants of the online survey were asked if they

An exploration into school drug culture knew anyone who uses or has used drugs, the responses were mostly affirming. 72.4 percent responded “yes,” as opposed to the 27.6 percent who responded “no.” Participants also rated their access to drugs on a scale of 1, being the easiest, to 5, being the most difficult. 13.4 percent responded 1 and 29.9 percent responded 5. The percentage of survey takers who claimed to personally know sellers or dealers was 37.9— contrasting to the 62.1 percent who did not. What these statistics imply is that while the drug culture at Cupertino is not typically openly discussed, it certainly exists.

After his first experience with marijuana, Atlas began using the drug once every couple of months, which is the average reported among CHS drug users. Of those students, 19.4 percent use drugs more than once a day and 50 percent use drugs fewer than once a month.

Although Atlas believes that drugs have neither affected his intelligence nor his function, he still acknowledges the negative stereotypes associated with drug users. Says Atlas “If you really consider facts and do your own research you can see what’s safe and what’s not safe. I go about that negative stigma by just looking out for what’s true and what’s fact.”

He advises curious high schoolers not to rush into drug use. Said Atlas, “Wait till you’re at a legal age because the effects of drugs like marijuana haven’t fully been studied on the youth.

But if you’re not gonna wait until a legal age do not do any form of opioids because that is just a stupid choice. There’s nothing good that can come out of that.”

Administrative Perspective

Every year, students who are caught or suspected to be under the influence or in possession of drugs are referred to the CHS administration. Teachers, counselors and the student advocate are participants on different sides of the perpetual entanglement among health, pleasure, pressure, responsibility and addiction.

Drug use is strictly prohibited on school grounds, and offenses result in progressively severe disciplinary action. Also crucial to

preventing repeated offenses is counseling and therapy.

Said Assistant Principal Andy Walczak, “We will certainly provide those students with consequences but we will also provide them with resources. Our district has programs for students who have been caught either under the influence or in the possession of illegal substances.”

The community school at the

April 24, 2018 Investigations LEO RASSIEUR business manager

MICHELLE MA opinions assistant

XINYI ZHANG features assistant

district office accommodates students with drug addiction, offering a controlled environment where students can recover while still getting high school credit. Meanwhile, concerned parents work with administration to make the most of their resources on therapy and rehabilitation.

Despite administrative efforts, the overall prevalence of the issue has remained constant in modern CHS history, with fluctuations in frequency of drug use. As student advocate, Christopher Hickey counsels students who have poor mental health. Hickey notices a trend between stress and drug use.

Said Hickey, “Usually if someone is using drugs of some kind, there is a reason, some sort of underlying distress. For example, someone may be suffering from depression and is self-medicating, and turns to weed to deal with the symptoms they are feeling. You have to watch out because soon it starts to snowball and take over your life.”

In order to keep drug use in check, Hickey believes the administration should continue to improve their methods in addressing its roots. However, that can come only with proactivity on the students’ part. Hickey encourages friends of those who use drugs to go the extra step and notify faculty, preferably a counselor who can then talk to the said student to uncover their reasoning.

“We are not real big on punishing people and getting them in trouble, more like, if something is going on, we’ll try to figure out what it is and help.

There’s a lot of resources around here, and I don’t think students are aware of that we are here also to take care of people and not just to punish,” Hickey said.

How students first got involved in drug use

who has used drugs, and over a third know a dealer, despite the vast majority of them not taking drugs themselves.

Said an anonymous CHS student, who will be referred to as Lane for privacy, “One kid starts, and before you know it, the whole friend group blows up in a puff of smoke, literally. A dude I know started up about a month ago on edibles, and I know exactly where he got it from: one of his best friends.

It’s cyclical, that way.”

Often, friends not only provide access to a drug, but also pressure students to start using drugs; a staggering 44 percent of CHS students who take drugs report starting due to social reasons.

Said an anonymous CHS student, who will be referred to as Nancy, “[The drug users] started [taking drugs] toward the end of my junior year, and their drug usage intensified towards the beginning of my senior year, and it seems as though peer pressure and popularity made more students start partaking in drug usage.”

This assessment was affirmed by another anonymous CHS student, who will be referred to as Roy, also added that stress can be a major push for students to consider using drugs.

Said Roy, “Students do drugs mainly due to peer pressure and also to find an escape from stress or because they are curious.

I think it’s probably a snowball effect where if people can’t say no they start small with stuff like alcohol and the devil’s lettuce and then move on to harder drugs.”

An anonymous CHS student, who will be referred to as Elijah, sees academic performance and curiosity as significant pressures that encourage students to use.

Said Elijah, “There are also those who use drugs to help study performance when preparing for tests. The most common of this would be Adderall.

Most kids

For the 86 percent of students at CHS who have never used drugs, the decision to take drugs can be difficult to understand. Not only does one have to make the decision to transition from being clean to using drugs, but one also has to have a

contact to provide him or her with the drug in question. Consequently, the motivating factors are largely hidden from the student body, and the reasons are often complex and vary from student to student.

Friends often serve as the first person to give drug users access to a drug. In fact, most CHS students—72 percent of them—know someone

will e x periment with drugs through the influence of peers, who encourage them to try it once. In addition, many students are simply curious about the experience themselves and may just want to try it once to see what it’s like.

This typically occurs during the later years of high school, in late junior year and early senior year.”

Marijuana in particular draws students in because of its purported anti-anxiety effects.

Said Lane, “In a world where the crushing realities of academic stresses and college anxiety reign supreme over the student body, it’s understandable that people [use marijuana], if just for a little while.”

April 24, 2018

13

Insights

The Prospector

Perspectives

NEERALI SHAH editor-in-chief

A reflection on the recent school-wide evacuation ESHA RADHAKRISHNAN editor-in-chief

On Tuesday, Mar. 27, Cupertino High School was thrown into sudden panic after receiving a robocall threat from an anonymous caller. After rapid deliberation, the administration ordered a school-wide evacuation, instructing students to run-off campus and seek shelter in the surrounding community. Banks, businesses and homeowners opened their doors to both teachers and students seeking help. It is because of their actions that many students were kept away from potential danger.

The Prospector staff has decided that the most efficient way to debrief the recent crisis is by understanding others’ experiences. To preserve the authenticity of the perspectives of different community members this article will be a compilation of their direct quotes. Our goal is to have readers view the evacuation through a variety of lenses to better understand the diverse implications of such events.

YOONI PARK

A Community in Crisis

photo editor

Congratulations you are the winner of the birth lottery. Cupertino is the hub of such winners. Most of us have been raised in the lifestyle of not having to worry about spending money on day to day expenses like gas, boba, coffee, lunch, etc. Food is not the only aspect of the birth lottery; this lottery also includes educational resources, safe transportation, running water, shelters, and internet access. Growing up in Cupertino, not much has gone wrong.

Students have always received the best care and opportunities at school, and many of us live comfortable lives. The birth lottery has given us these treasures of life.

The environment in which we have been raised in has allowed us to open our horizon to endless opportunities.

We are rarely denied food, the school facilities are clean and upto-date, our athletics programs are typically always well-funded, our teachers all care about our livelihoods, and even our school administration is on the lookout for every student’s personal life. However, this is not the case in many schools and communities in the nation or even in California. For example, in Cupertino, 3.73 percent of the population lives in poverty, which is nearly a quarter of the national average of 12.7 percent. With low poverty rates and one of the highest median household incomes, we can live lives full of wealth and opportunity. The economic safety net we have grown up in has given us the chance to give our future families similar chances. For example, right now parents pay around $1000 to $3000 for their children’s standardized test prep, not including additional money for tutoring and col-

lege counselors. All this money is thrown into student education because at the end of the day, we all know that knowledge is what leads to success. With the constant support of educators and money to fund our endeavors, we have exceptional advantages compared to students across America.

The birth lottery gives us not only educational advantages but also major lifestyle advantages. Being able to clothe ourselves decently and afford all the trips we go on i s not considered the norm in other parts of America. It is an aspect of life that many people have never been able to dip their toes in.

We get to live lives almost free of crime. In Cupertino, the chances of being a victim of violent crime are one in 831 while in Detroit, Mich., nearly 14 children are victims of crime every day. The human experience is not something that we create for ourselves in our lifetime—it is something that is directly given to us when we are born.

Much of our fate is dependent on geographic location, and more than just providing aid to those are impoverished, we need to appreciate the one spectacular life we have been given. Rather than being stressed or making insensitive jokes about dying rather than studying, it is crucial to value the mere fact that our teachers, parents, and schools care about our future so much that they push us academically so we are ready for college and life beyond school. It is admirable to be able to recognize that most of us are winners of the birth lottery, and without making the best use of the resources we have been given, there is no point of living the privileged lives we do today.

ALL-NIGHTMARES

Birth Lottery

Let me start off by saying that I believe I am highly specialized in this subject as I tend to pull all-nighters whenever my teachers collectively decide to throw six different tests all in the same week.

It usually starts off early, where I am filled with nothing but determination and excitement to finish my work. I always tell myself to study efficiently in a short period to maximize my hours of sleep (Spoiler alert: it never works). I take out all my textbooks and a clean piece of paper, and of course, I optimistically work and efficiently take notes, for like four whole minutes. By then, I have somehow already logged into Netflix and binge-watched three episodes of Stranger Things.

It is already 12 a.m., and this is when I start panicking and questioning all my life decisions. I stress and overthink everything (this happens for a very, very, very, very long time). To be honest, if I studied for tests in the time I spent stressing about it, I probably would have a 4.9 GPA, and have already received my acceptance letter to Harvard in the middle of my sophomore year.

I despise tests in which a severe amount of memorization is required. These seem to take the longest time and become the most dreaded part of pulling an all-nighter. Even in the times, I manage to memorize all the facts by heart; my brain usually decides to prank me the next morning and go blank during the test.

(And yes, because of this I still do not know how many steps Mao Zedong took during in the Long March).

At this point, I have a tough time trying to keep my eyes open, and I eat whatever I can to stay awake (usually coffee, energy drinks, and late-night snacks). I have already accepted that I am not going to receive the grade I want, and thus I let myself slip into a black hole of sadness.

There is only a few hours before school starts, and that is when I start getting my act together. I even surprise myself with how much work I can get done in such a short amount of time.

I guess I prefer doing my work in a deadline-induced panic. I am somehow able to finish everything and, oh, would you look at the time; it is 7:15 a.m.

Businesses Said Sergio Cruz, an employee at Panino Giusto, “I think businesses are obligated to lend their services at a time [of crisis], regardless of how it affects their flow of business. I also think students should also reciprocate this kind awareness and accountability that businesses show. Kids are very young and are not that experienced in terms of judgment, but I think that when this kind of situation happens, we have to all be prepared with how to deal with it.”

Said Cinnamon Trietsch, senior team lead for Target, “The letter received from the district thanking us for our services during the crisis was cool because, to me, the district was acknowledging us and reaffirming this idea that we are a community even though we’re different entities: with Target being a place of business and CHS being a school. Even if you don’t know if a threat is real or not real, it’s real because it’s happening, and having a connected community and these types of crises lets you know that there are a lot of bad in the world, but a lot of good too.”

Students and Families Said senior Khushi Valia, “I was walking to the quad at the end of lunch with my friend and we just saw everyone running. Everyone was so confused; it was this big chaotic mess. But then we heard Mrs. Tomberlain announce that ‘This is not a drill.’ We joined the chaos and ran to my friend’s car. We drove to our friend’s house and her family let us, the people huddled in our car, and another 12 students into their house. And I am so glad that this home was open to everyone—strangers or not; in this situation, we were a family. But I never imagined this would happen in Cupertino High School.”

Faculty Said English teacher Jenny Padgett, “One of the things that struck me were the responses of the faculty. It was clear to me that they were determined to not leave until all students were off this campus. It was really stressful seeing people running for their lives, and it’s something that I really can’t stop seeing. No one knows how to respond to a crisis until after one. And sitting at table, I had a sandwich, my keys and phone with me. And when the announcement came on, the only thing I thought of were the students sitting in my classroom. I didn’t even give my cell phone a thought until I was halfway down the street, and realized that I have no way of receiving any information or updates from the school. To people who were upset along the sidewalk, I acknowledged that the situation was scary, it was confusing and it was chaotic, but assuring them that we were safe.”

Sports 14 varsity Boys volleyball you do d e a l s w i t h i n j u r i e s WHAT?

wacky sports from around the globe

SANTOSH MURALIDARAN business manager

“I got injured after the first three games when I found out I had an eye injury and I needed to get a surgery immediately,” Thomas Mathen, CHS senior and boys’ varsity volleyball team player recalled. Due to his injury, he could not play for his team, but Mathen was not alone on the sidelines, as many of the varsity volleyball team could not play as a result of a myriad of injuries during the season.

Said Mathen, “A lot of practices were [attended by very few] peop l e . It was hard to run practices overall because many players were injured.”

Fewer players meant that the non-injured players had to adapt to new positions to fill the positions the injured athletes would have played in, making practices difficult for some.

Aaron Ho, CHS senior and starting setter of the team, tore one of the tendons of his left knee last year and did not participate in tournaments or practices last year. This year, he re-injured his knee but still managed to still play for this season. During practices, Ho dealt with his and the other players’ adaptations to new positions.

Said Ho, “[Changing our lineups] was a new experience for everyone, and having it click together took us a while.”

With harder practices, tournaments were more difficult than usual to compete in at first. Nicholas Bennett, sophomore and outside hitter, injured his elbow and could not play for three weeks. Regardless, Bennett attended tournaments to support his team. During the first few

[Changing our lineups] was a new experience for everyone, and having it click together took us a while.

- CHS senior Aaron Ho games, it was evident to him that the non-injured players struggled to adapt to their positions while playing other teams. However, as he continued to watch the tournaments throughout the season, he noticed improvements.

Said Bennett, “[I along with three other players] had injuries at the same time… It was definitely a challenge to the

GENE KIM opinions assistant

TAL ASHKENAZI

VARSITY BOYS VOLLEYBALL | Members of the varsity boys volleyball team huddle after a play against Harker High School on April 11.

team at first, but it got easier after.”

Also, Emmanuel Muriuki, junior and outside hitter, stated that although new lineups resulted in difficulties at first, it served for the better in the long run.

“Overall I think we got better as a team because now our different players are able to play in different positions … now, we can utilize players in different ways,” Muriuki stated.

Mathen expressed similar sentiments. “[The team was able to] effectively work despite all the injuries, not just mine,” he said.

Recently, the team recently won the Campbell Classic Volleyball tournament, held at Leigh High School in early April. This win was monumental with the small group, as it indeed shows the team’s unity and commitment, and the players’ success in their endeavor to adapt to new positions.

Muriuki recently got injured at a tournament against Homestead High School on April 13, 2018. When he was diving to receive the ball, he hit his chin on the ground and got a deep cut, for which h e had to get seven stitches at the emergency room. Despite the fact that this season, the CHS varsity volleyball team has continuously had to deal with different types of injuries in its players over and over, Muriuki remains optimistic.

Said Muriuki, “If we remain on the bright side of things and continue to think positively, I think we can [continue to] get better as a team.”

HEALTH and NUTRITION POCKET DICTIONARY YOONI PARK photo editor

ETHAN QI news assistant

Antioxidants (n.) 1. A substance that inhibits oxidation, especially one used to act against the decaying of stored food products. 2. A food item such as vitamin C or E that removes potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism. Antioxidants include goji berries, blueberries, artichoke and kidney beans.

Cholesterol (n.) A compound of the sterol type found in most body tissues. Cholesterol and its derivatives are important constituents of cell membranes and precursors of other steroid compounds, but a high proportion in the blood of low-density lipoprotein (which transports cholesterol to the tissues) is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Milk, cream, butter and yogurt are high in cholesterol.

Electrolytes (n.) 1 The ionized or ionizable constituents of a living cell, blood, or other organic matter. 2 A nonmetallic elec-

Humans have become increasingly creative when thinking of ways to be entertained, and the realm of sports is certainly no exception. Although most sports follow unsurprising rules, some lesser-known ones have an intriguing and sometimes even humorous set of rules and objectives. Here are some of the world’s most bizarre but lovable sports.

tric conductor in which current is carried by the movement of ions. Electrolytes control the minerals in blood and other body fluids that carry an electric charge. Foods that are high in electrolytes include bananas, dates, spinach and coconuts.

Gluten (n.) A substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. A mixture of two proteins, it causes illness in people with celiac disease, including digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea and even constipation. Wheat, rye and baked goods contain gluten.

Omega 3 (n.) A class of essential fatty acids found in fish oils, especially from salmon and other cold-water fish, that acts to lower the levels of cholesterol in your blood. Foods that contain omega 3 are atlantic mackerel, salmon fish oil, cod liver oil and herring.

Superfoods (n.) A nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being. Some examples of these nutrients are antioxidants, which reduce one’s risk of cancer; healthy fats, which prevent heart disease; and fiber which helps support the digestive system. Superfoods include kale, berries, chia seeds, oats and nuts.

th e one- f oot H igh Kick This popular Alaskan sport, played mostly by the Inuit people, is a combination of high jump and kick ball. Individuals jump from the ground using two feet, then kick a suspended ball with a single foot. However, players must land on the foot they kicked with. A combination of balance, leg strength and style will ensure a successful and enjoyable experience.

shovel racing The human desire to see different entities compete with speed knows no bounds, extending even to inanimate objects like that of the shovel. In this sport, individuals climb a snowy mountain, mount shovels, and charge rapidly down the mountain in a race. Thus far, the world record for the highest speed attained on a shovel is 73 mph. Due to safety concerns, this sport no longer holds national competitions in America. However, it is still considered a yearly tradition in parts of New Mexico.

ostrich racing For all of human existence, we have found entertainment in domesticating animals and forcing them to compete in foot races. Perhaps the most creative of these instances entails the Ostrich, which can reacha surprising speed of 43 mph. This sport was popular in South Africa, but started to gain popularity in the United States, particularly in parts of Arizona, Nevada, Kentucky, and Iowa. In 1892, even a farm for raising ostriches was opened to the public in Jacksonville, Florida.

extreme sitting This German street-sport combines elements of skateboarding with the athletic art of sitting. In this sport, individuals perform tricks using a colorful stool, called a sporthocker.

Tricks range from twirling, cartwheeling, and much more. Only lack of creativity can limit the variety of stunts that can be performed with a sporthocker. After performing a set of stunts, individuals are expected to sit on their stools to indicate the end of a routine, similar to the final landing seen in gymnastics.

Sports

The Prospector

gainz2jamez

15

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James Lee: Improving himself and his peers.

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CLAIRE WARNER sports editor

Numerous Cupertino High School Students have heard of senior James Lee, typically referred to as Gains James. His Instagram account features several shirtless mirror selfies, captioned with inspirational quotes and detailed workout routines. To many, his social media activity comes off as conceited, but for Lee, it’s a medium through which he can motivate and help others reach their goals.

According to Lee, several of his friends and followers ask him for advice on how to lose weight or how to get stronger, and Lee enjoys helping them achieve their goals by providing them with workout routines. He also takes some of his friends to the gym with him and teaches them how to exercise correctly, but usually, he works out alone. After waking up at 3:30 a.m., Lee runs three miles to the gym every day. Once there, he exercises and then runs back home to get ready for his classes. Lee finishes his day working at an ice cream parlor, heads home and then completes his homework at 12 a.m. To catch up on sleep, he takes a series of 20-minute naps throughout the day.

Since Lee was in kindergarten, his father has encouraged him to do push ups, sit ups, and various other exercises to stay in shape. Initially, Lee disliked working out, but his viewpoint changed when he began playing sports and saw changes in his body.

Said Lee, “When I go to the gym, it feels like home. I have so much negativity at home, but when I go to the gym, I don’t feel any of that. I just feel positivity; I just want to get better.”

Despite his positivity and accomplishments, it is difficult for Lee to be consistent in his training and diet. When Lee lived in Korea during his middle school years, he practiced judo, a form of martial arts in which a judoka, or person who practices judo, attempts

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following to throw their opponent to the ground. Due to overexertion from competing, Lee developed a small tear in his ACL that gradually increased in size as he participated in football and wrestling, ultimately leading to his decision to stop fighting.

“My dream used to be to become a world champion judo player but I had to give that up because of the surgery. The doctor told me that if I did not get the surgery and continued judo, then I would not be able to walk when I was 40 or 50,” Lee said. “It was a very hard choice, but I decided to think about my future, and so I chose to have the surgery.”

It took a year for Lee to fully recover from surgery, during which he was unable to perform his regular workouts. As a result, Lee has a muscle imbalance and has since shifted his focus from judo state championships to returning to his health before the surgery.

Lee lives alone with his aunt while his parents reside in Korea. To meet the cost of living, Lee works at an ice cream parlor.

But even with a job, it can be difficult for Lee to maintain a healthy COURTESY OF JAMES LEE diet because nutritious food tends to be more expensive than processed foods.

Additionally, Lee has encountered several people who have suggested that his intensive routine is a waste of time, and his aunt often tells him to stop exercising and focus on academics instead. However, Lee aspires to further incorporate his passion for exercise and helping others into his daily life by studying to get his training license and becoming a natural bodybuilder.

Lee wants people to remember to never give up on their dreams.

When asked what advice he would want to give others, said Lee, “Ignore those who hate on you for no reason, strive for your goals, and get gains. Gains don’t need to be just fitness or gaining muscle; it could be knowledge or anything in life.”

Track Stars compete in the stanford invitational CAROLINE GEE flip side assistant

As sophomore Oriana Jalal stepped up to the starting line at the Stanford Invitational, no one would have guessed that just eight months earlier she had been lying in a hospital bed. Four laps later, Jalal crossed the line in 5:08.85 minutes, thereby affirming her progress on a comeback trail. Tino’s track and field team this season boasts two of the top-ranking athletes in the Central Coast Section (CCS): distance runner Jalal and hurdler Maxine Schultz. Among other achievements, both students qualified for the Stanford Invitational and Arcadia Invitational, two highly prestigious track and field meets that select from the top athletes in the nation.

Schultz, a junior, currently holds school records in the 100, 300 and 400-meter hurdles. At the Stanford Invitational, on Friday, March 30, Schultz placed 4th out of 15 athletes in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 65.03 seconds, shattering her previous school record. Schultz competed in the faster of the two heats, toeing the starting line next to the CCS champion from last year. For Schultz, competing among such high-caliber athletes was a daunting and energizing experience.

“I was really nervous because when they announced [the name of the athlete in the next lane], they said, ‘Chloe Kimes, she’s ranked really high; we need to watch out for her,’” Schultz said. “I was thinking, ‘I want to beat her because I want them to watch out for me.’”

Jalal competed at the Stanford Invitational the day after Schultz in the 1,600-meter race. Like Schultz, Jalal ran in the faster of the two heats and placed 19th out of 28 runners. The competition that day featured top distance-running athletes in CCS, many of whom encouraged Jalal and helped calm her nerves before the race.

If qualifying for the Stanford Invitational was a feat, then gaining entrance into the Arcadia Invitational was the real jawopener. Taking place in Arcadia, CA, the Arcadia Invitational is the largest high school outdoor track and field meet in the nation.

Although both Jalal and Schultz qualified for the meet, only Jalal chose to actually compete. At the invitational, held on April 7, Jalal placed 32nd out of 51 athletes with a time of 5:15.47 in the 1-mile run.

Said Jalal, “It’s kind of nerve-racking but then you got to gather yourself and say, ‘You know what, this opportunity comes once, you need to get into the pack and this can help you be better.’”

As far as an opportunity coming “once,” these two meets were especially monumental for Jalal. Due to medical reasons, Jalal had to cut her 2017 cross country season short — a devastating blow, especially since Jalal would typically rely on cross country to develop a strong base for the track season.

Said Jalal, “For me, Stanford was getting over that mental block, breaking the 5:10 barrier which is obviously something I could have done easily last year but because of everything that happened, it was a big confidence booster for me.”

Unsurprisingly, Jalal and Schultz are both considering competing in college at the Division I level. At the Stanford Invitational, Schultz couldn’t help but notice the flashy purple and gold uniforms worn by athletes from the University of Washington, one of Schultz’s top college choices. The college athletes competed in separate heats, but their presence reminded Schultz of her long-term goals.

Said Schultz, “I was really scared because I wanted to prove myself in front of the [college] coaches, and there was an Olympian there too for the 100-meter hurdles … I was really nervous because all these people were so fast, but I just kept telling myself, ‘I belong here, I made it here, I can run, and I can do well.’”

Schultz’s mindset at the Stanford Invitational reflects her efforts this season to overcome personal mental blocks. Learning not just to build but also maintain mental toughness in pressurecooker-like atmospheres has been instrumental in Schultz’s and Jalal’s success.

“I was reading an article the other day: ‘Mental Toughness — How to Build It,’” Jalal said. “And a) wake up early, b) eat the foods that you don’t want to eat.” Jalal laughed before taking a more serious tone, “It’s being able to be like, if you see a hurdle in front of you, just being like, ‘I can overcome that.’ This is going to hurt but this is what I need to do, and I can’t be afraid of something hurting during a race.”

COURTESY OF SCHULTZ AND JALA L

TRACK STARS | Sophomore Oriana Jalal (left) and Junior Maxine Schultz (right) embrace.

Flip Side

April 24, 2018

16

APRIL IN PHOTOS

ALL PHOTOS BY YOONI PARK

INT. WEEK CULTURAL PERFORMANCES | Students participate in traditional dances.

CLUBS | KASA showcases

PRESENTATIONS | Students teach others about their culture and traditions.

popular Kpop dances and songs.

Across

CLASS CAMPAIGNING | Stu-

Foreign language classes dents rally in support of poface off in soccer matches. tential candidates.

Peek at Next Month: May

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1. Horror novel writer (initials) 2. Difficult High School classes 3. ____ and behold! Magician’s saying 4. Same as 2-down 5. Catch some ___: get sleep 6. @ 7. Homecoming __: best memories of high school 9. Filled with fish eggs 10. Yes, of course!

11. Networks 12. Hearing organs 13. Stop ____ at him like that!

16. Put deodorant under your a_______ 17. Speed of music 18. Go-______: Kids car racing 19. Physician working in Emergency Room 20. Military officer below captain (abbr. ) 29. Donate to the CHS Athletics _________.

30. 11. Networks Put an ___ ____ ____: Make it stop 31. 12. Hearing organs Frequently in front of an email subject 33. 13. Stop ____ at him like that!

3.1415926…

16. Put deodorant under your 37. a_______ Mama T’s first name 38. 17. Speed of music Class to get ahead and prepare for college 39. 18. Go-______: Kids car racing Journalism Advisor 40. 19. Physician working in Emergency Killer Whale 45. Room Canadian Interjections COMPILED BY SAAGAR SANGHAVI 49. 20. Military officer below captain Helping verb

ANSWERS FOUND ONLINE

Spring Choir Shows

DOWN

1. Assistant Principal, Activities Coordinator, and Sensei 8. BTS is a group of ____ ____ 11. ASB Leadership Advisor 14. Math Teacher and Music Club Advisor 15. Consume 16. PV = n___ (Ideal Gas Law) 18. Engineering and History Teacher 21. Female undergarment 22. ___, Myself, and I 23. Speech & Debate Advisor M__ __ 24. Reading time 25. After lunchtime 26. Yellow Brick or Rocky (abbr.)

27. 192.672.189.2 is an __ address 28. Principal Kami __ 32. Idea or theme 34. __ size fits all 35. Number without decimal 36. Take too much of a drug 37. Colin __: 49ers football star 41. Pass ____: collect $200 in Monopoly 42. 1___, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 43. 1600 Pennsylvania ___: President’s address 44. GG no ___ 46. Give it ___ me!

47. Item that, when you drop the middle letter, names the person who’s using it 48. χ 50. “Bailando” artist (initials) 51. I have no idea (messaging shorthand) 52. Official travel documents 53. Indefinite article

SOCCER TOURNAMENT |

42. 1___, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Across: 43. 1600 Pennsylvania ___: 1. Assistant Principal, Activities President’s address Coordinator, and Sensei 44. GG no ___ 8. BTS is a group of ____ ____ 46. Give it ___ me!

11. ASB Leadership Advisor 47. Item that, when you drop the 14. Math Teacher and Music Club middle letter, names the person Advisor who’s using it 15. Consume 48. χ 16. PV = n___ (Ideal Gas Law) 50. “Bailando” artist (initials) 18. Engineering and History (abbr. ) 51. I have no idea (messaging Teacher 29. Donate to the CHS Athletics shorthand) 21. Female undergarment _________ to support your sports 52. Official travel documents 22. ___, Myself, and I teams!

53. Indefinite article 23. Speech & Debate Advisor M__ __ 30. Put an ___ ____ ____: Make it stop

24. Reading time 31. Frequently in front of an email Down: 25. After lunchtime subject 1. Horror novel writer (initials) 26. Yellow Brick or Rocky (abbr.)

33. 3.1415926…

2. Difficult High School classes 27. 192.672.189.2 is an __ address 37. Mama T’s first name 3. ____ and behold! Magician’s saying 28. Principal Kami __ 38. Class to get ahead and prepare 4. Same as 2-down 32. Idea or theme ing puzzles with these residents, I never leave without a walk ways, Flora is not only a grandmother figure to me but a role 5. Catch some ___: get sleep 34. __ size fits all in the garden with Flora, my closest friend at the senior center. model asfor college well.

39. Journalism Advisor 6. @ 35. Number without decimal Life moves along at a more leisurely pace when we’re in Now that the stress of the college application process 40. Killer Whale 7. Homecoming __: best memories of 36. Take too much of a drug the garden. What would have taken a hurried person less than has faded, the fact that I’ll be leaving the home I’ve known for 45. Canadian Interjections high school 37. Colin __: 49ers football star five minutes to travel from one9. Filled with fish eggs end of the senior center to the so many49. Helping verb years has begun to dawn on me. Leaving Cupertino 41. Pass ____: collect $200 in our lengthy admiration of each means leaving my family and friends, the comfort of nearby Monopoly other, now extends itself due to10. Yes, of course!

Special Edition chs Crossword

a friendship blooming in the garden

MICHELLE MA

AMY ZENG news assistant

Ever since my sophomore year, I’ve spent my Saturdays at a local senior center, where the residents have grown to be some of my good friends. From feedback on prom dresses to advice on what I want to be when I grow up, they have supported me through high school’s many ups and downs. Though I often spend my volunteer time running errands or construct-

flower or plant we come across. Conversations with other friends enjoying the garden and our laughs at my attempts to navigate Flora’s wheelchair uphill fill the air.

As schoolwork and extracurriculars began to increasingly take up my time from sophomore year to senior year, my relationship with Flora remained constant. I like to think that we fill an emptiness in each other. Flora’s daughter and grandsons don’t come to see her much anymore, and I have taken it upon myself to be her family. I demonstrate my love through small offerings—a tin of cookies last Christmas, a new mug for New Year’s to replace her cracked one, a lucky bamboo plant on her birthday. And over the years, Flora has become akin to my grandmother, subbing in the hugs and kisses that my actual grandparents, living six thousand miles away, cannot always provide. Her stories about growing up as a young girl in Shanghai during the Second World War taught me more about my Chinese heritage and left me in awe of her strength. In many

boba shops, the familiarity of being in the Silicon Valley bubble—and Flora. When I leave, I will only be able to visit her when I come back home, squeezing time for her out of the already limited time I’ll have with my own family. I feel guilty about not visiting her often enough and leaving her to navigate the often dreary environment of the senior center alone. How can I feel the weight of discarded duty when I have no legitimate claim to her? How do I classify a relationship that isn’t defined by the same blood running through your veins, but has the same binding properties, the same love, and the same responsibility? And how do I reconcile my love for Flora with my love for my true grandparents?

My friendship with Flora has taught me to take time for the small things in life that matter and the importance of constancy to the people whom I love, no matter if it is by family or by choice. Whenever I spy a beautiful flower, I am reminded of its namesake: Flora, who outshines all the roses in the world.