Issue 5 - March 2016

F RI DAY, M A RC H 4, 2016

Student Upbringings

FEATURES pages 6-7

VOLUME 57 NO. 5

LIFESTYLES page 8

The KPOP Scene at Tino

Italiano 101

SPORTS page 10

staffers test language learning methods

Varkhedi sisters dance at historic events

FLIPSIDE page 12

The Prospector

CHSPROSPECTOR.COM

Student Newspaper of Cupertino High School

10100 FINCH AVENUE, CUPERTINO, CA 95014

Best Buddies Club to attend Best Buddies Friendship Walk CAROLINE GEE flipside assistant

On April 23, thousands of people will gather at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in a tremendous display of unity and fellowship to raise funds and awareness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the annual Best Buddies Friendship Walk. Organized by Best Buddies International, a non-profit organization dedicated to one-on-one friendships, leadership development and job opportunities for individuals with IDD, the walk will attract members of numerous Best Buddies programs from across the Bay Area. Participants can choose to walk or run the 5K course amid music and cheering spectators.

Every week, members of Best Buddies programs practice unity and companionship by forming friendships with individuals with IDD, called “buddies.” Said senior Vaibhav Vijaykar, Co-Vice President of the Best Buddies Club, “The purpose of the Best Buddies club is to make a connection that you do not generally make in high school and to expand your horizons by interacting with the special needs community.”

Students in the club can choose to be peer buddies by pairing up with a single “buddy,” or can opt to be associate buddies by mingling with a broad range of special needs students. Said Vijaykar, “There can be instances where people will interact with a lot of different buddies, but there is also this importance with a one-on-one connection that the club wants to stress, and that is why we have the peer buddies.”

Club members attending the Best Buddies COURTESY OF BEST BUDDIES AND VAIBHAV VIJAYKAR

Friendship Walk will have the opportunity to undergo a unique experience outside of their normal setting. Said sophomore Noa Nevo, Co-Vice President of the Best Buddies Club, “The walk is a great bonding opportunity for the buddies because it can get really repetitive when they do the same thing every week, but this will be a different environment where they can be together.”

The walk aims to raise donations from the public that can then be used to produce more opportunities for individuals with IDD. These funds can be used to help find jobs for adults with disabilities or to create more programs in the Best Buddies organization. While the proceeds from the walk will benefit the special needs community, participants without IDD will also gain valuable insight from the experience. Said Vijaykar, “Not many people know about the special needs community in depth, and going to the walk places you in a position to open your eyes to how individuals with disabilities interact with others and how you can appreciate them.”

“When people see us doing the friendship walk, it shows them that we are here to make longlasting friendships with the buddies,” said senior Johnny Acevedo, President of the Best Buddies Club.

San Francisco is only one of the many cities across the nation to host the event; since the walk’s debut in 2009, the event has been held in over 26 states with more than 70,000 participants.

“The friendship walk is a great way to not only interact with your own buddy but to also see buddies from different areas,” Vijaykar said. “It will be as if we are marching in unison and walking towards the purpose of our goal.”

New classes offered for 2016-2017 Revisiting stress with Julie Lythcott-Haims COURTESY OF LISA MCLEOD

AP Environmental Science Involves out-of-class excursions and assigments to explore a different field of science

Writing for Publication

Focuses on technical and journalistic writing as part of the Career Tech Education (CTE) program

MELISSA SILVA

ALEX SHIEH

flipside editor

online assistant

Students will have more course selection options, as two new classes, Writing for Publication and AP Environmental Science, are being added next school year.

Writing for Publication, open to all grade levels, will serve as a preparatory journalism class, ideal for those who have an interest in journalistic writing and would like to participate in journalism but whose schedules may not accommodate the class.

Said English department chair Susan Rocha, “I think that sophomore year, when we work on the Revolutions Magazine, some students really enjoy that kind of writing and maybe did not realize before that. So it would be nice that Writing for Publication was an elective option. I think the more elective options you can have for students, the better.”

The administration’s decision to include this class in the school’s 2016-2017 school year resulted from funding made available for Career Tech Education, or CTE. CTE offers training in different pathways for students, one of these being technical, or journalistic, writing.

New courses, continued on page 2

Over the last couple years, stress has become a prominent topic of discussion within school communities. Through several surveys, however, the administration has begun to acknowledge the severity of students’ stress levels.

“Some students were saying they are cheating in ways they do not think is the right thing to do, but are cutting these corners because there is too much on their plate,” Principal Kami Tomberlain said. “From these surveys, we realized we did not have the school that we wanted.”

Thus, the school has been working relentlessly to

find methods to combat the immense amount of stress. These methods are often times coordinated by Challenge Success, a Stanford committee that is currently implemented at this school by Tomberlain and a handful of students. One of the changes made this year required each department to implement some type of redemption and revision policy. In compliance with the new policy, teachers began to allow test retakes, draft redos, and many other methods that benefited the students.

“We believe that if a student is mastering the material, then he or she does not have to keep re-learning

Julie Lythcott-Haimes speaks about student stress, continued on page 2

2

News The Prospector

S TA F F 2015-2016

Cupertino High School Established 1958 Vol LVII, No. 5 | 2016 editors-in-chief maithilee kanthi brian zhong news editor meilinda sun

The Prospector

Julie Lythcott-Haims speaks about student stress continued from page 1

it,” Tomberlain said. “Also, sometimes life just happens. There might be some days a student has too many things going on, so there needs to be some opportunity for leeway in these situations.”

In addition, teachers have begun to provide conflict calendars that students can use to display their exam dates on a calendar. This allows teachers to better schedule exams and projects that do not conflict with other classes. Some other changes include educating teachers on reasonable homework loads and creating surveys to see current student conditions.

“Although we are doing a lot, there are still plenty of things we could do,” said senior Ulyana Tkach, the student representative for the school’s Challenge Success committee. “I think what the school needs is cooperation between everyone because there [is often backlash against] making certain changes—teachers refusing to change their ways and students becoming uninterested.”

While many believe the problem resonates with the school faculty and

opinions editor shalmali patil

New courses

features editor stephanie shi

Open to incoming juniors and seniors, AP Environmental Science, or APES, will present a new AP science opportunity for students less interested in biology, chemistry, and physics. Three other schools in the district already offer the course. The class will seek to offer a new career path for students, as the course aims to cover a variety of subjects not explored in existing courses.

In order to be eligible for the class, students

lifestyles editor isabel lin sports editor peter martin flip side editor melissa silva managing editor daniel fertelmeister copy editors delanie medina anirudh pai photo editors jason muñoz jeremy xue online editors michelle pyke jay shroff business manager mark wang news assistants

ethan qi amy zeng

opinions assistants

sudarshan kannan saagar sanghavi

features assistants

josephine robinson erin song

lifestyles assistants

aishwarya laddha jennifer zaratan

sports assistants

rishi nair mark wang

flip side assistant

caroline gee

online assistants photo crew

must have completed Algebra 1 along with one year of life science and one year of physical science, preferably biology and chemistry. Although Algebra 1 is the minimum math requirement, knowledge of statistics will be beneficial to students in APES. Students should not underestimate the course, which is demanding with a twenty-five chapter book, a summer assignment, and potential out-of-class excursions.

NEWS

presidential nominations. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each won seven states, solidifying their leads over their competition.

On March 1, known as Super Tuesday, voters across 11 states traveled to their polling places to elect their candidate for the Democratic and Republican

American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on March 1 after spending 340 days in the International Space Station (ISS), the longest time in space among American astronauts. Kelly has participated in a study designed

BRIEFS

If enough students show interest during course selection, these two courses, both of which have been approved, will be taking place next school year.

Said guidance counselor Lisa Hart, “It is important that students really do think about what they want to take because we really do use that information to figure out how many teachers we need.”

to examine how long-term exposure to a microgravity environment may impact overall human health. During his time in space, Kelly performed several experiments onboard the ISS that could enable NASA to carry out a mission to Mars.

about Apple’s refusal to create an operating system that could bypass the security measures on the phone of a suspect in the San Bernardino shootings. While the FBI contends that the phone may hold valuable clues about the shootings and potentially foil future terrorist plots, Apple likens the operating system to a backdoor that would undermine the encryption in hundreds of millions of iPhones.

On March 1, Apple legal counsel Bruce Sewell and FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee

COMPILED BY BRIAN ZHONG

Cupertino housing prices continue to skyrocket

The problems posed by the lack of affordable housing and subsequent actions PHOTO BY JEREMY XUE

$1,627,000

Average sale price of a home in Cupertino

$914

Price per square foot

$3,000 - $6,000

catherine seok

15%

of new housing in Cupertino must be priced at a “Below Market Rate”

Monthly rent of 2-3 bedroom apartments in Cupertino complex

adviser ann peck

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

student body, Julie Lythcott-Haims, the author of the recently published novel How to Raise an Adult and the former Dean of Freshman at Stanford University, expresses her concern for the parent population who create a “checklist” for their children to succeed through a guest speaker event.

Said Lythcott-Haims, “Our job as parents is to put ourselves out of the job and raise our kids to self-actualized independence. This means we cannot always be hovering over them, wondering what they are doing, wishing them to do this or that. We have to actually raise our kids to be able to look after themselves.”

As Challenge Success and teachers continue to combat the stress present within the school, Tomberlain clarifies the objective of the whole situation.

“In the end, the goal is not to eliminate stress, because to some extent, stress is good,” Tomberlain said. “Rather, we want students to be able to manage and monitor it themselves to know when it is too much.”

continued from page 1

allison lo lily marvin alex shieh

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

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

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

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

March 4, 2016

SOURCES: ZILLOW, TRULIA, NINETEEN800, CITY OF CUPERTINO

JAY SHROFF online editor

Prices such as those above for a house in Cupertino have become commonplace, as the prices for real estate in the 95014 zip code have doubled over the last five years. Over the next year, the prices are expected to rise, putting the average house price in Cupertino close to 1.8 million dollars.

In determining the causes of this massive increase in prices, analysts point towards the strong job market in Cupertino, home to a variety of tech companies and start-ups. Apple’s new campus is expected to employ 13,000 people, with a majority of them living in or near Cupertino. At the same time, the high schools in this area rank among the top schools in California, making Cupertino an attractive location for families focused on education. With these factors and California weather, houses are often sold for over the listed price, with the winner bidding up to $200,000 more.

Consequently, builders are competing to buy land and develop new housing projects. Even with the new influx of homes, however, the prices remain high. The Nineteen800 apartments that were recently built across from Vallco offer two and three bedroom apartments that can be rented for $3,000 to $6,000 per month. Compare these rates to those of similar-sized apartments in neighboring San Jose, where the monthly rents vary from $1,000 to $3,000.

According to the San Francisco Association of Realtors, the average family income in Cupertino is $186,000. This makes Cupertino, along with San

Francisco and San Jose, the area with the highest paid residents in the country. With house prices astronomically higher than those of most nearby towns, even the teachers at Cupertino High School find difficulty in obtaining affordable housing in the Cupertino High School area. When asked why many teachers choose to live farther away from Cupertino, History teacher Sean Coleman cited the large difference between teacher salaries and the cost of housing in the area.

“I think it is really hard to [live in Cupertino] on a teacher’s salary. We get paid fairly well in our district, but at the same time, there is not a whole lot of options here,” Coleman said. “Apartment prices, condo prices, are pretty much out of our reach.”

To combat the problem of extravagant house pricing in Cupertino, the city created a Below Market Rate (BMR) housing program, in which individuals with middle to low income can qualify to buy or rent housing in Cupertino.

City ordinances require that 15% of all new housing projects be set aside for the BMR program, yet a quick glance at the list of all BMR housing available in Cupertino shows only 118 for-sale units, a far cry from 15% of 18,000 housing units in the area.

As the number of people who desire to buy a house in Cupertino rises, so does the price. With the current pace of growth and number of future houses in development, it may be only a few years until the average price of a house in Cupertino surpasses the $2 million mark, which may pose problems for the future of housing affordability.

3 Controversial cell tower to be constructed in Cupertino ANIRUDH PAI copy editor

ETHAN QI news assistant

Following the “No Towers in Schools” movement of the previous year, the City of Cupertino has yet again voted to erect another cell phone tower. On Jan. 19, the City Council voted unanimously to give permission to sign a five-year lease with Verizon Wireless. The tower is planned to be built next to the civic center, standing 55 feet tall and designed to resemble a eucalyptus tree.

Said Cupertino City Council Member Rod Sinks, “Public safety needs at this location were of particular concern, and were well articulated by police, fire and those responsible for emergency management [and thus] we voted unanimously to approve the tower.”

Like the towers constructed before it, the plan is designed to improve the area’s unreliable to nonexistent coverage, especially with regards to emergency services.

Similar to the reasoning used to prohibit phone usage at schools during emergency events, the reliable coverage

News

The Prospector

March 4, 2016

will make the jobs of the city’s police, fire, and medical services significantly easier. Dependable data is an integral dimension that is overlooked, and in the past few years, Cupertino has vowed to make it one of its priorities.

Said Public Affairs Director Rick Kitson, “City surveys indicate the vast majority of city residents want better coverage and are not concerned about safety.”

However, despite these claimed benefits, opponents of these cell phone towers have attempted to curb the city’s proposals. In addition to concerns about the aesthetics of a cell tower in such a public area, protestors cited health concerns as well. In March, neighbors rallied to oppose the proposal and its “potentially hazardous” levels of radiation from radio frequency emissions. They cited evidence similar to that of the a 2011 press release by the World Health Organization, which deemed radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic.”

In response to the health concerns, Sinks said, “If you are sitting in a crowded classroom or at a sports event at Cupertino High, you can well imagine that you are getting much more radio frequency from the many phones around you than from the tower.”

SOURCE: MERCURY NEWS

CELL TOWER RENDERING | The city council votes to sign a five-year lease

with Verizon to build a cell phone tower in the city’s civic center

School copes with a rapidly growing student body ALLISON LO online assistant

MARK WANG business manager

Over the past few years, the school has experienced a drastic increase in the size of its student body to 2,200 students. School administration and the district office are combining efforts to prepare for the anticipated growth in student population. Measures such as building expansions and staff increases are anticipated in the coming years.

The growth of the student body population has affected the school in many ways. Traffic has increasingly become a pain to the teachers and students, with some blaming the few routes to the school, limiting parking spaces such as the pool and band lots, where the students can be dropped off at the school. Senior Micheal Munson, who drives daily to school, said that many seniors like him face difficulty finding a parking space to park their cars.

Said Munson,”I know I have to come five minutes earlier now because many parents are trying to drop off students. I know some seniors who are now attempting to park in the teacher’s

parking lot and some have to park way down the street and walk to school.”

Said Tomberlain, “We had a traffic study done by a traffic engineer about four years ago while we were getting ready to build the school administration building, anticipating the growth and trying to figure out where we should put students versus staff and where the drop-off area should be in order to try to minimize the effects [of growth].”

To accommodate the population, the school administration has taken measures to increase school capacity by adding new buildings. For example, the parts of the 200s wing that used to be the school library have now been transformed into new classrooms. A two-story building was built on the front campus last year, housing the cafeteria, the library, and the school administration office. Construction of new buildings, however, has not ended. School principal Kami Tomberlain said that the school might see a new two-story building built where the 600s wing currently is.

Conversations about building expansion are accompanied by talks of hiring new teachers to accommodate a bigger student body in the future. However, it is becoming more difficult for Tomberlain to communicate what she is trying to make a deci-

sion about a schedule or a particular program to a whole staff since the group is already over one hundred.

Said Tomberlain, “Instead of communicating to the staff as a whole group, it is really important that I provide structures for us to talk about it in smaller groups and bring all of that feedback together in order to make decisions.”

Some school staff members have also noted that student body growth makes connecting with staff and students on an individual level more difficult. For example, when English teacher Nikki Merrick started teaching at Cupertino, the English department has ten teachers. Now, the number is close to 20.

Said Merrick, “When there are more people, it is harder to get to know people. There are some staff members that I do not really know that well.... Now, there are more kids that I see that I do not know than I do know. I wonder what it feels like to be one of the 2200 kids in the school.”

When guidance counselor Lisa Hart started her job at the school, it had only three guidance counselors. The school has since added a fourth counselor to accommodate the influx of new students. Hart is confident that the school administration is ready to handle the growing student population.

Opinions

4

March 4, 2016

incarceration ≠ rehabilitation LILY MARVIN online assistant

For years, California has been pioneering social change in America. Unfortunately, not all changes have been for the better. Former California governor Ronald Reagan implemented California’s deinstitutionalization policy nation-wide in 1981. Deinstitutionalization relocated patients, who suffered everything from depression to schizophrenia, out of government-funded hospitals and institutions into inadequate and inappropriate privately-funded facilities. Teenagers were moved to nursing homes, and people with severe mental disorders were placed in facilities with staff ill-equipped to deal with their extreme symptoms. Many patients, unable to pay private rates, were released from these establishments. To make matters worse, President Reagan instituted California’s misguided Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act at the federal level, making it nearly impossible to recommit the released patients against their will. Thus, people whose mental disorders made them a danger ended up in jail, where they finally got access to psychiatric care. The mental health care system began adjusting to its new clientele — convicts — which is when the shift from rehabilitation to incarceration began.

The three largest mental health care providers in America today are Cook County Jail, Los Angeles County Jail, and Rikers Island Correctional Facility. Clearly, this transfer of mental health care from hospitals to prisons highlights a fundamental problem in the government’s handling of mental illness. Someone suffering from a mental disorder is ten times as likely to be placed behind bars than to receive treatment in a well-equipped mental health care institute, according to the National Alliance on Treatment Advocacy Center. In many cases, poor people have no access to mental health care unless they commit petty crimes and are absorbed by the legal system. Unfortunately, the care they receive in prisons is often inadequate. It is shameful that it is easier for someone with a mental disorder to find care behind bars than as a free citizen. Simply having a mental illness is not a crime, and yet criminalizing it seems to be the most common way of treating it.

Obviously, if a person with mental illness commits a serious crime, they should be dealt with by the legal system. However, mentally ill people who commit much milder offenses, such as vagrancy or public intoxication, should be treated in a more humane way. Sadly, when people with severe mental illness like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder interact with police, their odd behaviors can be misinterpreted and frighten inadequately trained officers. This can result in needless injuries and deaths of the mentally ill. People with severe mental disorders do not fare much better in prison. Counselors working in prisons have neither the time nor the means to properly treat these patients.

The Department of Justice reports that one in six state prisoners suffer from mental instability.

In local jails, that number becomes one out of four. It is undeniable that mental illness plays a role in the country’s inflated incarceration rates. The most prominent mental illness facing inmates is addiction. The National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse found that “out of the 2.3 million prisoners in America 1.5 million fit the medical criteria for substance abuse or addiction.” People with addiction are sick; instead of helping them, the criminal justice system forces them into jail cells without effectively addressing their issues. It should come as no surprise that former inmates are rearrested for substance abuse soon after their release.

The police in Nevada have recognized this problem. After repeatedly arresting the same people for substance abuse, they realized that their method was not working. In partnership with the Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, they started the Crossroads rehabilitation program. The program estimates that since its opening in 2011, it has saved its community nearly 16 million dollars (averaging about four million dollars per year) that were previously being used to fund the detainment of the substance abusers. Crossroads has been a champion of rehabilitation over incarceration, and it is a model that the rest of the country should follow.

The United States government’s deinstitutionalization policy handed off the mentally ill to an underprepared judicial system. People with mental disorders should never have been filtered into the criminal justice system. However, now that they are here, steps need to be taken to reform the system. More programs like Crossroads must be funded to end the cycle of incarcerating people with an untreated mental illness. Furthermore, the government must work to rebuild programs that will make mental health treatment readily available for all citizens.. These steps toward a more humane approach to dealing with mental illness are the beginning of a long-awaited shift from incarceration to rehabilitation.

PRISONS ARE LARGEST PROVIDERS OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE 10 times more mentally ill patients end up in jail over mental institutes.

SOURCE: NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER

Out of the 2.3 million inmates in the U.S., 1.5 million fit the medical criteria for substance abuse or addiction.

SOURCE: THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADDICTION AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

75 percent of females and 63 percent of male inmates in jails, will experience an issue that requires mental health services each year.

SOURCE: BUREAU OF JUSTICE

ZIKA: MEILINDA SUN news editor

Having ravaged much of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Zika virus is the newest public health scare. While researchers have not yet found an explicit link, Zika is suspected of causing babies to be born with a condition called microcephaly: babies with the condition have abnormally small heads and suffer from intellectual disabilities. The disease swept through the South Pacific and French Polynesia several years ago and has resurfaced in Brazil, where the Brazilian Health Ministry reported a record 4,704 microcephaly cases, prompting questions about the source of this exponential rise. Mosquitos transmit Zika, and researchers have yet to determine whether the virus can be transferred through bodily fluids and other mediums.

In the meantime, however, governments in Latin America have been advising women to refrain from getting pregnant, with El Salvador urging women to avoid pregnancy altogether until 2018. While women should take preventative measures to limit the spread of Zika, such government precautions unfairly place a burden on women and are therefore not only unjust but ineffective.

Many women in Latin America have no control over whether they become pregnant. The region suffers from high levels of sexual violence. Foreign Affairs finds that one woman is assaulted every fifteen seconds in Brazil, and one is killed every two hours. Moreover, these countries have high rates of teen pregnancy: the World Health Organization quantifies that 18% of all births by teen parents occur in Latin America. Dangerously high levels of sexual violence and harmful conditions for women have one critical impact — women have little control over their

GOVERNMENT POLICIES TARGETING WOMEN ARE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

sexual health and pregnancy. Ultimately, this lack of choice makes adhering to the well-meaning advice of Latin American governments difficult. In such countries, social conditions deprive women of choice, unfairly placing the burden of “not getting pregnant” on women — as if it were that easy.

Avoiding pregnancy through abstinence is an unlikely option; women must, therefore, have other options to prevent pregnancies to stop the spread of Zika. However, women in Latin America have limited opportunities to do so. The Brazilian government, for example, nominally provides healthcare and contraception to all, but the reality is vastly different: women — particularly teens — are dissuaded from using contraception due to social stigma. In rural areas, where teen pregnancy rates are disproportionately high, such attitudes are more extreme, and the remote proximity of such locations merely exacerbates the inaccessibility of contraception.

Because avoiding pregnancy is not a realistic choice for poor women in Latin America, and access to contraception is limited at best, the last remaining option is abortion, which is illegal in many countries, excepting only the most extreme cases. While one need not be a staunch advocate of abortion rights, it is clear that when women exhaust the previous two options, abortion is the last resort, and even that is unavailable.

Scrambling to mitigate Zika’s spread, governments have doled out well-meaning advice on how to avoid Zika, but each of these solutions merely leads to a dead end. Women in the developed world generally avoid pregnancy through abstinence, using contraception, or obtaining an abortion. Yet none of these options is feasible, particularly for women in the region who face legal and social restrictions. Unfairly placing the burden of following through with such measures on women is not only unfair but also ineffective. Until governments prioritize women’s rights in health services and disease prevention, they cannot declare victory over Zika.

March 4, 2016

The Prospector

Opinions

5

PATERNITY LEAVE should be as respected and as valued as maternity leave

DELANIE MEDINA copy editor

Despite the headway made toward professional equality, a shift in attitudes has yet to occur with issues that deal with child rearing. Lengthy maternity leaves are understood to play a major role in preventing pay equity and, at home, unequal family leave reinforces repressive gender norms that leave women responsible for child care. A study published in 2007 found that 60 percent of women who stopped working cited their husbands’ unavailability to share housework and childcare duties as their main motivation to stay home. Paternity leave has been shown to boost male contribution in the household, enhance female involvement in the workplace, and promote overall gender equity. Research suggests that, more often than not, fathers want to be more active in the early stages of their new child’s life, but they cannot due to a lack of opportunity. Unfortunately many Americans must choose between working or spending time at home to care for and develop a stronger bond with their children.

Recent changes to policy mean that women in the military will now get 12 weeks of maternity leave, doubling the amount of time women in the Army and Air Force previously had. Inter-

estingly enough, the change is a decrease in maternity leaves for women in the Navy and Marines who had their leave tripled from six to 18 weeks last summer. Men in the military, however, will see their duration of their paternity leave increase only slightly from 10 days to 14 days.

Like the military, many private-sector companies in the technology industry have recently begun to expand their parental leave to stay competitive with one another. The notoriously maledominated tech industry is home to companies that have created generous maternity leave policies to retain female employees.

Spotify provides six months of paid leave for both parents (samesex couples included) which can be split up in any way up until the child turns three. Amazon offers 20 weeks of paid leave for birth mothers and six weeks of paid leave to other new parents— fathers, LGBTQ partners, or adoptive parents. Perhaps most impressive is Netflix, whose policy promises its employees paid maternity and paternity leave for up to one year.However, these same companies can sometimes fall short when it comes to paternity leave. Most tech companies offer much less time for new fathers than mothers receive. Google, for example, offers 22 weeks of maternity leave and only 12 weeks of paternity leave. Similarly, expecting fathers who work for Yahoo receive half of what expecting mothers receive.

Unappreciated: BRIAN ZHONG editor-in-chief

Barely noticing the teacher recap the day’s lesson, the student runs through the routine again: Walk down the hall, open the door, ask the teacher. Simple as that! The sound of the bell reverberates through campus, prompting the student to rush over to the teacher’s classroom. Immediately the student asks: “Could you write a letter of rec for me?”

This situation repeats itself every year in classrooms across campus, as numerous colleges and universities call for applicants to submit teacher letters of recommendation. Such institutions seek to solicit an independent perspective that offers a more comprehensive and detailed evaluation of a student than grades and test scores. However, while the conversation surrounding letters of recommendation fixates on the students and the institutions, the dialogue often glosses over the teachers, who pour hours of their spare time into writing these letters.

According to self-reported data provided by the College and Career Center, the number of seniors at this school who requested a teacher letter of recommendation increased from 234 in 2014 to 284 this year, a 21 percent increase. This surge in applicants translates to 2,347 letters sent by teachers to all of the colleges those students applied to this year, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2014.

Teachers must confront another reality: With students scrambling to uncover more opportunities to demonstrate their abilities, they increasingly turn towards summer programs and internships as a prime strategy to outperform their peers. Apply-

T qu he n es um ted b ris a l er o en ett f s by er o eni 21 f r ors pe eco at SO UR rce m CH CE :C nt me S w OL LE GE sin nd h AN D ce ati o re CA o RE 2 ER 01 n h CE NT 4. as ER

The policies implemented by tech companies highlight significant inequalities in America, the only industrialized nation without a national paid maternity or paternity leave policy in place. Although their company’s policies are innovative, and should serve as a model for others, it should not be up to businesses in Silicon Valley to make up for inequity in American workplaces. The United States is far behind countries like Canada, Germany, and Norway, who have 35, 44, and 70 weeks of paid maternity leave, respectively. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Department of Labor, only 12 percent of workers in America have access to paid family leave through their employer, and that access is unequally distributed.

Only percent of employees in the lowest-paid 25 percent of the workforce are entitled to paid leave; however, more than 20 percent of the top 10 percent of earners are.

A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that after California’s paid family leave policy went into effect in 2004, men were 46 percent more likely to go on leave after the birth of a new child. The study also found that when given paid leave, new fathers are more willing to take an active role in their child’s life. What’s more, the number of men who stayed home while their wives returned to work climbed by 50 percent. The increase of paternity leave time is of particular importance when considering the wage gap which grows around the time that women take maternity leave and their male counterparts do not. The general lack of paternity leave and the unfair bias favoring maternity leave highlights a need for more equitable family leave to create an environment where both parents can enjoy crucial time with a newborn without sacrificing one’s professional life in order to do so.

Confronted by an increasing demand for letters of recommendation, teachers deserve more consideration from students

ing to such activities has become synonymous with applying to colleges—students must submit transcripts, draft essays, and yes, request letters of recommendation from teachers. Consequently, teachers compose letters all-year round, not just during the fall.

Some students approach their teachers with a semblance of entitlement, acting as if these teachers must fulfill their obligation to write letters for them. Nevertheless, the task of formulating such letters never appears in the Fremont Union High School District teacher job description—meaning teachers are never compensated for the time they spend composing letters of recommendation.

The school indeed offers some teachers with one day of paid leave so that they can devote their entire energies towards writing these letters. Though this courtesy does offer some reprieve, allocating one whole day to churn out letters yields fewer letters than one would expect. The entire process requires significant energy on the part of teachers—they must review the Naviance questionnaires and other supplementary materials, recall memories they have had with the students, and conjure ways to differentiate the student from others. Teachers therefore spend on average two to three hours writing a single letter, reducing the impact of a one day leave on their overall workload.

As such, teachers need additional consideration from the school and the students in overcoming this increasingly monumental undertaking. The school should enact more streamlined policies that are communicated at the school level, not just from teacher to teacher. These procedures can compel students to provide more notice or limit the number of recommendations that students can request.

Far more important than anything the school can imple-

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ment, students should express their appreciation towards their teachers for assuming this responsibility when they are in no way obligated to write letters and are not paid to do so. When contemplating whether to apply to another college or program, students should not just consider how many essays they must write, they should consider equally the amount of time their teachers must spend composing their letters and adhering to the requirements of that particular institution.

Moreover, letter of recommendation requests fall heavily on a handful of teachers, who teach AP and Honors courses in core subjects such as English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Some colleges do require students to seek letters from specific teachers, and students applying to certain majors may benefit from a teacher who could attest to their abilities in that particular area, such as math and science. The majority of students, however, should strive to ask teachers—even their art, music, or foreign language teachers—who know them well enough to substantiate not just their academic performance, but also their personal attributes.

Not only can students potentially garner stronger letters, but the workload can also be distributed among more teachers.

Instead of treating this process as a trivial matter, the student demonstrates that he or she regarded the teacher’s point of view beforehand. He or she ensures that the request in no way induces an encumbrance on an already busy teacher. Above all, the student exhibits an aura of immense gratitude, not the expectation that the teacher must respond with a yes. This approach can engender a smoother, less arduous process, enabling teachers to continue to focus on their responsibilities in the classroom while extending a courtesy to students applying to colleges and other programs.

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Features

JEREMY XUE

celine washington

student backgrounds

timothy robinson

nour dannawi

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March 4, 2016

JEREMY XUE

JEREMY XUE

daniel hurt-ben

student upbrings are not always cookie-cutter puzzles

JEREMY XUE

March 4, 2016

“Since Curacao is a part of the Netherlands, we would wear orange on April 27 each year to celebrate the Queen of Holland. I still do so [here].”

SAAGAR SANGHAVI opinions assistant

Among the large community of first-generation immigrants at Cupertino High, many students are immigrants themselves and have recently moved here from places abroad. Sophomore Nour Dannawi, a Dutch-born citizen from the Caribbean island of Curacao, has a unique story to tell about growing up.

“My mom is from Lebanon, and my dad is from the Caribbean, from Curacao,” Dannawi said. “They met in Lebanon, and after they fell in love, my mom went to Curacao and lived there with him. I feel like the different backgrounds— being that my father’s side of the family is Papiamentu, and my mother is Lebanese—are a big part of me because I have two different backgrounds that I share with people.”

Dannawi spent the first nine years of her life in Curacao and later moved here in search of new opportunities. At a relatively young age, Dannawi faced many challenges in a new environment.

“In Curacao, there are two languages, Papiamentu and Dutch. I knew both, but at school I spoke Dutch,” Dannawi said. “When I came here, it was really difficult for me. I remember understanding science, understanding math, but not in English.”

“I came here, and it was really hard - it was a time of just stress, all through fourth and fifth grade, because I didn’t understand anything,” Dannawi continued.

“I had to get a lot of help from other people and my family, and I had so many

“I used to sing a lot of Indonesian music when I was little with my mom.”

“We celebrate Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year.”

STEPHANIE SHI features editor

Junior Timothy Robinson and senior Celine Washington are two multiracial students at Tino, who have grown up immersed in different cultures.

Said Robinson, “My mom’s parents are from China, but my mom was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Taiwan. My dad is a mix of German, French, Scottish, English, Irish, and Native American.”

While Robinson’s parents met while attending college in the United States, Washington’s parents met while her father was on a business trip. “My dad is black, while my mom is Indonesian. My dad used to travel a lot for work. One time, he was in Indonesia, and my parents met through my mom’s friend, who was working in the same company.”

One aspect of being multiracial embraced by both Washington and Robinson is their exposure to multiple cultures.

Said Washington, “I used to sing a lot of Indonesian music when I was little with my mom, and she would always cook Indonesian food. With my dad, I can delve into the more American side of me.”

Robinson also celebrates many Chinese holidays with his family. “My dad was very accepting of Chinese culture, so we celebrate Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year,” Robinson said.

“It was not until high school that I really paid attention to Filipino culture.”

ISABEL LIN lifestyles editor

For senior Daniel Hurt-Ben, the ordinary experience of walking into a restaurant with his family has frequently drawn second glances from onlookers. “People would notice the two white parents with a dark-skinned Filipino kid,” Hurt-Ben said.

Hurt-Ben, who is half-white, half-Filipino, lives with parents who are both white. As a result of being raised by adoptive parents, Hurt-Ben has had many unique life experiences growing up. While Hurt-Ben emphasized his good fortune in being adopted by “good parents,” he also acknowledged the unfortunate disconnect he feels in his cultural ties to Filipino culture.

Said Hurt-Ben, “Though my parents have always given me the opportunity to explore Filipino culture and my mom will do small things like make occasional Filipino foods, it was not until high school that I really paid attention to Filipino culture.”

In an attempt to learn more about Filipino culture, Hurt-Ben joined the Filipino Student Association in his junior year; he currently serves as president. Nev-

The Prospector

tutors and teachers helping me. [Getting over this obstacle] shaped the way I live today because it is a really big part my life.”

Despite the initial challenge, she worked hard to immerse herself and get used to the new environment.

“Since I struggled so much in English in the fourth and fifth grade, I used to get made fun of a lot,” Dannawi said. “At that time, it was also very difficult because everyone knew English, and it was just hard being left out. I was not motivated at that time to learn English or do well in school. I had trouble making friends and I often felt really bad, and I felt like there was no point to learning.

“However, at the end of sixth grade, I earned an award from the president of the United States as an acknowledgement for learning the language. It made me more of the person I am today because I started to feel like all my hard work had finally paid off and I had something to show for it. In a way, it motivated me to do better because I never knew that people would recognize me for all the hard work I had done.”

While Dannawi represents a classic story of overcoming adversity in a new country, she always found moments to laugh at along the way.

Said Dannawi, “Once, the teacher asked us to share something, and I volunteered to go up in front of the class. However, I was completely clueless; I just started saying things in Dutch, and everybody started laughing at me. At first, I was really sad, but then I started laughing at myself, too. I kept talking like nothing ever happened; I was so little, I had no idea what was going on.”

Though many often lose some of the personal heritage and customs when they move here, Dannawi still finds a way to connect with her old culture.

“Since Curacao is a part of the Netherlands, we would wear orange on April 27 each year to celebrate the Queen of Holland. I still do so [here]. I remember doing so at school one time; I don’t remember if anyone noticed, but I’ll still continue all the years that come. It’s a family tradition that we’d always have in our heart.”

However, due to their mixed races, people have often tried to stereotype Washington and Robinson.

“I do not identify with one [race] more than the other, but my identity is often defined by who I am surrounded by,” Washington said. “For instance, when I go to Georgia, which is where a lot of my dad’s family lives, there are a lot of black people, so I am the Asian girl. But here, I am known as the black girl, which is weird because I am half-Asian.”

Robinson noted that his older brother has had a similar experience to that of Washington’s. “[My family] lived in Sacramento until I was in first grade, so I do not remember experiencing this, but my older brother was known as the Asian kid. The funny thing is that when he went to Chinese school in Sacramento, he was known as the white kid.”

Robinson, however, has not had the same experience growing up in Cupertino. Said Robinson, “We have so many people who are half white and half Asian here that there is the term ‘Wasian’ to characterize people like me. It is not so much that we have to fit into a single box, but rather we fit into an entirely separate box.”

Nonetheless, Washington and Robinson continue to embrace their multicultural identity.

Said Washington, “I feel a lot more open to things than anyone else, and I almost feel compelled to try new things because I’m exposed to different things.”

“The best part of being ‘Wasian’ is that I can either consider myself to be both white and Asian simultaneously or neither at any point in time. Still, I do not let my race define me because I think that it is my own character that defines me,” Robinson said.

ertheless, he expresses a regret for getting into the cultural aspect of his background late. Said Hurt-Ben, “I wish I spoke some Tagalog and learned it with English early on, because it is so much easier to learn languages when you are young.”

While Hurt-Ben underscored the fact that he has not experienced any pesonal discrimination because of his special upbringing, he did admit the somewhat awkward nature of reunions with his extended family, who all live in the Midwest. “It wasn’t ever that weird to visit my relatives on my mom’s side, but my relatives on my dad’s side are very homogenous in their looks. When you’re the one kid that looks different and everyone else knows each other well, it can feel strange at times.”

Hurt-Ben, however, was quick to stress the gratitude he feels towards his parents. Said Hurt-Ben, “In high school, I started realizing that there are many kids who were not adopted by good parents or adopted at all.”

Similarly, Hurt-Ben began recognizing the hardships faced by individuals like his birth mother, who was a single mother enrolled in college at the time of HurtBen’s birth. Consequently, Hurt-Ben has developed an interest in pursuing a career related to community service and geared towards helping children or those facing hardships.

Ultimately, Hurt-Ben is thankful for his upbringing, despite its unconventionality. “There is this misconception that being adopted is a bad thing. If anything, I would have a worse life if I was not adopted. There are many kids who are not lucky as me.”

Features

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Lifestyles

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RISHI NAIR sports assistant

ERIN SONG features assistant

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march 18 This Is What the Truth Feels Like Gwen Stefani

After Tris (Shailene Woodley) opens a box containing a message from beyond the walls in Insurgent, she and Four (Theo James) venture outside the city in hopes of finding peace.

april 16 Views From the 6IX Drake may 6 Captain America: Civil War [Superhero, Action]

Conflict arises as Captain America (Steven Rogers) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) have differing opinions regarding the Avengers’ management. As a result, the heroes themselves fight each other rather than villains.

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march 18 The Divergent Series: Allegiant [Action, Adventure]

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March 4, 2016

may 20 7/27 Fifth Harmony

STUDENT DRIVERS driving down memory lane: students recall their most interesting driving experiences out of 55 surveyed students:

47% OF ELIGIBLE DRIVERS HAVE NOT STARTED DRIVING

55% OF STUDENT DRIVERS HAVE BROKEN DRIVING LAWS COMPILED BY RISHI NAIR AND ERIN SONG

june 10 The Conjuring 2 [Horror]

PHOTO BY JASON MUNOZ

Bold student driver stickers, accidental swerves into the wrong lane, and doubts regarding which pedal serves as the accelerator or brake, all comprise the exhilarating yet terrifying experience of learning how to drive. For many students, driving serves as a rite of passage that symbolizes newfound independence. Naturally, students rarely feel completely confident in their driving ability when first learning, so it is safe to say that student drivers have accumulated a wide variety of strange experiences behind the wheel.

Junior Jessica Xia, who just recently started learning how to drive, describes her driving experience as unfamiliar and nerve wracking. “My instructor tells me that I grip the wheel so tightly that I cannot concentrate on pressing the accelerator or brakes,” Xia said. “I feel comfortable driving 19 miles per hour, but if I go faster, I feel as if I am going to hit something.”

Senior Idean Nakhjavani, who has been driving for more than two years, has experienced awkward scenarios due to the unique nature of his car.

“My car has a manual gearbox, so I have to balance the clutch and the gas without stalling and embarrassing myself in public,” Nakhjavani said.

Nakhjavani recalls several instances in which he had gotten stuck in traffic because of the complicated mechanics of his car.

Although the prospect of hitting the road may seem too tempting to resist, some students choose to refrain from driving until a later time. Said junior William Xi, “I never found myself having the time to learn how to drive yet, and I do not really need to drive myself anywhere right now.”

Some student drivers, however, choose to lead a more chaotic life on the road. Although no serious accidents have occurred as a result of CHS student driving, some members of the school faculty express some concern over the safety of student drivers. Said Assistant Principal Andy Walczak, “Students like to zip out at the beginning and end of lunch to rush to their sixth-period classes. It is a safety concern for pedestrians, bikers, and even other drivers.”

Walczak hopes to see the student driving situation improve once construction for Downton Cupertino has finished. “Downtown Cupertino has approved our request to use their drive-in space as a student drive-drop. We hope to see traffic improve once that happens.

Needless to say, the experience of learning to drive for the first time continues to serve as a nostalgic and entertaining memory for drivers of all ages.

PHOTO BY JASON MUNOZ

PHOTO BY JASON MUNOZ

Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson), paranormal investigators, visit London to rid the mysterious spirits residing in the house of a single mother and four children.

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october/tba Dangerous Woman Ariana Grande november 18 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [Fantasy]

Follow Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), wizard and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, on his journey of chasing down creatures of the wizarding world.

november 23 Moana [Adventure, Comedy]

Watch Disney’s first Polynesian princess, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), set off on an incredible adventure with her hero, demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson).

COMPILED BY CATHERINE SEOK

KPOP AT TINO MICHELLE PYKE online editor

Upon further inspection, a gateway can be found standing tall in the midst of ordinary occurrences, one that bears witness to the countless individuals who enter with few preconceptions. South Korea — a country that harbors an earnest ambition to dominate global music charts and provide entertainment to audiences across the seas — has influenced an entire generation through online platforms such as YouTube. Senior Diane Lee was introduced to a South Korean boy group after watching its Gayo Daejun 2013 Performance. “What is the appeal?”, one might ask.

Said junior Amanda Lu Han, “Once you become open-minded and accept how weird [the music] is, it is really good.

It is very hyped up music and similar in

style to American Pop music, but has a more upbeat quality to it.”

In regards to the production quality of the music videos, there are few industries that can match those released by South Korean music labels.

Said senior Decker Ure, “Korean music has a lot more production value.

You can see actual storylines and plots [in the videos]. In America, artists pump out music very quickly, so their music videos tend to be mediocre”.

Some notable groups that entered the Korean Pop music (KPOP) sphere in recent years include iKon, GFRIEND, Exo, and Exid, while there are dozens more that bear equally talented records.

The most apparent influence of the KPOP movement at the school is Korean club, which has performed several dance covers at spirit ralliees in the last several months, always igniting the crowd.

Lu Han notes that the practices for upcoming performances are her favorite memories of being in the club.

“We either have super long or lastminute practices directly before our performances, so that it is still fresh in our minds before we perform,” Lu Han said.

Not only does the choreography provide a general appeal to worldwide audiences, but KPOP opens the doors to Korean culture itself. While waiting for a the release of a comeback song at 2 A.M., fans often fine tune their knowledge about Korean news, including the cultural habits that mark the streets of Seoul or even the latest gossip circulating among entertainment sites. KPOP may seem like a fading trend, but once fans commit themselves to it, often times, there is no turning back. For better or for worse, its influence will not be forgotten.

Lifestyles

The Prospector

March 4, 2016

THE FORMULA FOR HAPPINESS a closer look at what makes students happy

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When we hear the word “happiness,”many different images come to mind. A quick Google search yields dozens of bright yellow smiley faces, laughing models, and even a marketing campaign by Coca-Cola. Judging by the sheer number of inspirational quotes that are superimposed on sunset backgrounds, nearly every single famous person, from Aristotle to Kim Kardashian, has something to say about happiness.

Countless studies about happiness have come with our society’s increased focus on mental health and wellness. In 2010, a study published by Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Economics found that a person’s happiness depends on his or her income—but only to a certain extent, up to $75,000 annually. A 2012 article in The Atlantic featured a 72-year study of one class of Harvard graduates. Psychology and science magazines published articles and studies about happiness. Research says that individuals are happier when they are in relationships, earn higher incomes, are healthier—basically all the indicators of success and happiness that can be expected. Daniel Gilbert’s findings, featured in the Harvard Business Review, hypothesized that happiness can be achieved both when things go our way, as well as when we make the best out of situations.

But what does happiness mean to us? For the staff, teachers, and most importantly, the students of our school, the definition of happiness may differ from the findings of the various happiness studies, which were based on adults. To find out, we posted a survey on our high school’s Facebook page. Some may predict that many of the students would answer “college” or “straight A’s, when asked what happiness meant for them. Our results, however, may be surprising.

Out of ninety students, the number one reason that led to the happiness of students was having good relationships

JEREMY XUE photo editor

AMY ZENG news assistant

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with family members and friends. As one student said, “Making meaningful connections with people make me happier than good grades ever could.”

Though Cupertino is often said to be an academically fixated region, most students seem to focus on the importance of mental health and wellbeing in their lives. The responses to the question, “How much do you value your own happiness and mental health as opposed to success,” on a scale of 1-5 yielded a skewed left graph, suggesting that a majority of students found themselves placing their health and happiness over success to some extent, with a majority responding with “4”. The answers to the free-response question were more varied, ranging from answers that were religious, to answers that stated pleasing parents as the source of happiness.

Of note are students’ opinions on the relationship (or lack thereof) between happiness and success. Students responded passionately with arguments on both ends of the spectrum, with some stating that happiness and success are completely distinct, with others stating that happiness is the synonym of success.

“My friends and significant other are really a huge part of what keeps me going,” said senior Rachel Arnold, who has been struggling with depression and anxiety for a large part of her high school career. “The love and support we share is one of the most important things in my life and they make it worth living. I have spent a lot of time struggling with depression and anxiety, and I know I am going to fight through so much more, but they give me the hope I need to keep going.”

With these varying interpretations of the definition of happiness, with everything from grades to relationships to activities, Cupertino consists of a spectrum of different ideas on what it means to be happy.

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Q: What brings you the most happiness?

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Said sports/hobbies

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Said getting good grades/reaching success

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12.4% Said other data from 90 student responses COMPILED BY JEREMY XUE AND AMY ZENG

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Sports

March 4, 2016

dancing with the stars

The varkhedi sisters dance at historic bay area events MAITHILEE KANTHI editor-in-chief

JASON MUNOZ photo editor

Few high schoolers can say they have ever danced at the Super Bowl halftime show or for the Prime Minister of India. Yet, for sisters Poonam and Varsha Varkhedi, these dreams are a reality. As longtime members of the Bay Area dance company Mona Khan Company, Poonam and Varsha have had the chance to be part of two historic moments in the past school year alone.

Senior Poonam and sophomore Varsha both decided to join a local dance class at the ages of 13 and 11, respectively, with Poonam joining MKC after years of gymnastics experience. Poonam says that her greatest challenge in learning Bollywood dance was being more evocative with her facial expressions. “Gymnastics is so stoic, and your face has to be so stiff for all of it, so it was really hard for me to learn to be expressive,” said Poonam. “In class, they always yelled ‘Give me some face, some face!’”

Yet, Poonam’s and Varsha’s innate talent and obvious enjoyment of the art quickly led to promotions within the company, with Poonam landing a coveted Junior Company spot within a year of joining MKC, and her sister following the next year. “After moving up in classes, I eventually joined [the] company and went back to teach the teen class I used to be in,” said Varsha. “And the girls in the room were the same from when I was there, and they asked ‘Did you come back?’ and I said to these [older] girls, ‘No, I’m actually here to teach the class.’”

As part of MKC, Poonam danced in a special production“Between the Lines”. The company performed multiple acts in a San Francisco box theater, with each group portraying a social problem through choreography, staging, and props. Dancers covered a wide range of topics, from gender roles to Alzheimer’s.

Poonam’s group portrayed the topic of corporate power struggle, with each dancer assuming the character of a vicious businessman or businesswoman. “We had two teams on either side of a long conference desk, fighting over it, and growing more animalistic as time went on,” said Poonam. “Then everyone would take a moment, straighten their suits, and turn back around, [implying that] that animalistic anger was just under a mask.”

However, Poonam’s largest show did not come until the winter of her senior year, when she was offered the chance to dance at Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl show. Dancers were contacted

by Touchstone Industry, the producers of the show, months in advance, and were required to sign nondisclosure agreements, ensuring their silence on the topic until the third quarter of the game, on Feb 7, 2016.

While dancers were contacted in November, rehearsals only began in the two weeks leading up to the show itself, during which the dancers were given 48 total hours of rehearsal to learn the choreography and staging. “It was so cool dancing in an empty Levi’s Stadium every day after school. I knew I would probably never get to see it from the field like that ever again,” Poonam said.

While the public learned of Bruno Mars’ and Beyonce’s appearance in the halftime show just a weekend in advance, the dancers learned it by accident the previous week. “They play the

track in our ear pieces and they usually stopped right at the end of Coldplay’s piece, [but they] accidently kept playing the whole track. So all of us dancers realized ‘Oh my God, Beyonce is singing!’ while the people controlling the sound in our ear pieces were yelling ‘Turn it off,’” said Poonam. “When the talent finally arrived on Saturday, I was so close to the stage, I got to say ‘Hi’ to Bruno Mars, Beyonce, Jay-Z, and even Blue Ivy.” When screens across America finally began broadcasting the halftime show on Super Bowl Sunday, audiences were greeted by a Pepsi logo, made up of placards held by fifty dancers. Poonam Varkhedi held a blue placard in the top left corner of the logo.

As the show went on, Poonam sprinted from one costume into the next. She changed out of her blue jumpsuit from the Pepsi logo, straight into a sparkly green bodysuit with a skirt, as part of her flower costume for Coldplay’s performance of Adventures of a Lifetime. When asked about any halftime show secrets, Poonam said, “Everything is choreographed. When you see Chris Martin reach for a hand in the audience, it is always the exact same person at the exact same time, during rehearsal and in the final show.”

After the show, the dancers were not issued tickets to continue watching the Super Bowl game itself. So Poonam changed into comfortable clothes, got back to their original meeting spot by bus, and immediately drove to join her friends at their Super Bowl viewing party.

Poonam was hailed as a celebrity by proxy by her friends.

When everyone insisted on rewinding to the halftime show, Poonam squinted at the screen and pointed out where she stood, confirming it by finding the white stripe on her black sneakers.

“I can’t even remember how I was feeling at the end of our set. I just remember them telling us in our earpieces going ‘all right, we are down, now go to the exits’, and we just kept sprinting,- through the staging area, through the hallways, all the way out the door. And I just kept thinking, ‘I hope my friends are still at the party so I can see them all,’” Poonam said.

While Poonam had a chance to perform in the most watched broadcast in America, Varsha, herself landed a spot to dance for the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, back in October.

“When they told me, I freaked out because it was such a big show,” Varsha said.

During the rehearsal stage, practices would be between seven and eight hours, often in the summer heat. On the weekends, they rented huge studios, all over Northern California, to practice dancing with choreography specifically made for the SAP Center stage. “In all our practices, there would be people with large cameras, filming us training and interviewing us,” said Varsha. “It was all very surreal because we knew that whatever they were filming, they were live streaming it somewhere.”

On the day of the performance, the dancers showed up to the SAP Center, already full of members of the Indian diaspora, eagerly waiting for Prime Minister Modi. While getting ready, the MKC dancers were treated like celebrities. “We got our own green room and [if] we needed to use the restroom, we had escorts walk us. If we were hungry, we would get these elaborate food packages,” Varsha said. “It was a very weird experience because so many people were in awe of us and I wasn’t used to that.”

The MKC dancers had a bit of a scare before they went on

DOn’t fear the cheer DANIEL FERTELMEISTER managing editor

There are some crazy basketball fans in this country. The 942 Crew, a student section at Arizona State, is famous for its Curtain of Distraction, in which they do everything they can to distract the opponent during free throws – everything from wrecking balls to kissing unicorns to funerals have appeared behind the curtain. At Sheridan High School in Ohio, a group of students stood behind the backboard during a game earlier this year and pretended to give birth to one of the smaller fans while an opposing player was shooting free throws; he missed. Duke’s basketball fans, the Cameron Crazies, have an ESPN list written about all the chants that they have invented. At the University of Pittsburgh, the student paper puts out a four-page report on every opponent that their team plays so that the fans can come up with proper insults.

Is that not what fans are for? Sure, we go out to support our team – it is easier to play well when you have a crowd behind you. But we also have a second purpose, and that is to make the opposing team uncomfortable, to throw them off their game. Fans are not just spectators, they are an extension of the team, and they can play just as big a role as a player in shutting down an opponent.

In every level other than high school, notorious fanbases are celebrated. The Cameron Crazies make Duke a terrible team to play at home; Bay Area fans make “Roaracle” the most difficult NBA stadium to play in, and the Seahawks’ “12th Man” makes Seattle one of the worst destinations in the NFL. Both in college and on the professional level, fans are encouraged to be as disruptive as pos-

stage, though. The set right before theirs had a technical difficulty – the audio track simply cut in the middle of the dancer’s performance. “We were so nervous when we saw that because we thought ‘oh no, what if our audio stops too? We aren’t ready for that,’” Varsha said.

However, the MKC performance went off without a hitch, running for a total of 8 minutes. Of the five songs performed, Varsha was in the opening and finale piece. “I turned around [in the first song], and I actually saw my mom in the crowd,” Varsha said.

“And when our performance was over, everyone told me my face was actually on the Jumbotron. So we went onto Youtube and tried to watch it all over again.”

Being asked to represent the ethnic pride of the Indian diaspora was not an honor Varsha took lightly. “It was an important moment for the Indian population in the Bay Area, so to be a part of that was really memorable,” Varsha said.

Between the two sisters, both acknowledge their mutual love for dancing and being on stage. When asked if they would continue dancing in any capacity, they both expressed a desire to dance in Indian dance groups in college. Regarding a career, however, the two were more hesitant. “I was talking to Beyonce’s backup dancers during rehearsal one day, and they were telling me that after this show, they are out of a job. They have to audition for every part they do. There is no job security in the market,” said Poonam. “But continuing dancing in some way? Always.”

DESI PRIDE| Varsha Varkhedi dances in the finale of MKC’s set,

celebrating Indian culture and welcoming Indian PM Narendra Modi.

ADVENTURES OF A HALFTIME| Poonam Varkhedi dances along to Coldplay at the 15 yard line in Levi’s Stadium.

sible. So why should that change in high school?

At a basketball game earlier this year, the fans sitting around me were asked to refrain from doing things such as booing the opposing players, falsely counting down the shot clock, criticizing calls, and calling out numbers. After multiple warnings, we reached a point where nobody in the student section understood what they were allowed to say anymore, in fear of being thrown out by a ref or principal. By the end, the Rowdy Rooters could not do much other than clap and yell “Go, Tino.” I would hardly call that “Rowdy.”

I want to be clear that I am not speaking out against the people who enforce these rules. They are doing their jobs, and I appreciate their efforts to keep the fans and the team out of trouble with CCS. It is not them that my fellow fans and I have a problem, but rather the rules themselves that they are made to enforce.

Is idea that high schoolers are too fragile to endure the jeers that fans can hurl at them? That’s ridiculous. If “notorious fans” can be encouraged in college, then they should be accepted in high school. There is just no harm in yelling random words when someone is shooting a free throw or calling out someone’s name when they are next to you on the court. There is also no harm in telling a referee that you disagree with a call; it is all part of the game.

We should be allowed to be real fans. For the first time in a while, the Rowdy Rooters are big on campus. Tons of people want to come to games, and arbitrary rules on behavior should not restrict us. As long as nobody is threatened, nobody is harmed, no profane language is thrown around the gym, and nothing is damaged, the fans should be encouraged to yell whatever they want. We should be allowed to tell the opponent that their tag is out, repeatedly let them know when they miss shots, and make it known to them that we just do not like their player’s shoes. Of course they will not like it. But who cares? That is what they get for playing against Tino. When they come to play at our school, they should not just play our team; they should be forced to play against all of us. We will be pretty hard to beat.

March 4, 2016

The Prospector

Sports

11

Cupertino Wrestling TEAM Wins

LeagUe Championship AISHWARYA LADDHA lifestyles assistant

JOSEPHINE ROBINSON features assistant

“Be mean, be tough, be physical.”

The wrestling coaches repeat this piece of advice to the wrestling team before every meet.

With a final score of 48-28, the Varsity wrestling team emerged victorious from the Tino V.S. Fremont dual meet, earning them the League Champion title for the De Anza League, a title that they have not claimed as their own in the past thirteen years.

Said senior wrestler Derek Pan, “Both teams, Fremont and Tino, were undefeated the entire season and had had a long history of dominance in this sport. We were both powerhouses during Coach Lawson’s time, and living up to the legacy and “bringing it back” were what made the win so important.”

For freshman Claire Peters, this win predicts a positive future for the wrestling team in the years to come.“As a team we have always had a huge rivalry with Fremont, and it has come down to [Fremont’s and Tino’s] teams a couple of times,” Peters said.

Although the meet was slated to be tough, as Fremont has been ranked second and third in CCS (Central Coast Section) for the last two years respectively, the team went in with confidence.

They knew that their hard work throughout the season would pay off.

The meet excited the spectators and participants with nail-biters and surprises. This was true for freshman Alex Cruz, ranked 14th in CCS, who was pitted against Fremont’s Ryan Lee, ranked 7th. Although the competition was tough, Cruz cleanly pinned Lee’s back. Cruz set a positive momentum for Tino, which boosted the team’s confidence in the face of having to forfeit two matches due to empty weight classes.

As the meet came to a close, Tino and Fremont were neck in neck with 32 to 28 respectively, meaning every single point from thereon forth could determine the outcome of the meet.

“I think that Alex’s win added to the energy and excitement we had, but the real game changer was James Lee’s match,” Peters said.

Sophomore James Lee, a former judo player and first-year wrestler, was the second-to-last wrestler. Faced with a formidable opponent, the outcome of the match was uncertain at best. Lee, however, defeated his opponent with a quick pin, scoring six points for Tino and secured the win

WRESTLING MEET | Miguel Reyes (sophomore) faces off against a Fremont High School wrestler in the Tino V.S. Fremont dual meet on February 11th. Reyes won the match for Cupertino.

for Varsity.

Said Peters, “All of [us] were jumping out of our seats because we were so happy James won, and then we were screaming with joy because we realized that that was it, we were league champions.”

Finishing off the meet, senior Micheal Munson, ranked 9th in CCS, wrestled a 195-weight class opponent. With a rocky start, Munson managed to pin his opponent and won the final eight points for Tino, a win by pin.

Of the seven matches that the JV team went up against, three were victorious. Even though the JV team suffered an overall loss, they still put up a fair fight and found victories in individual matches. One of the first victories was claimed by Claire Peters, kicking off the meet by pinning her opponent early in the first period.

The spirit and support so strong, it was felt by the entire audience. One of Tino’s biggest supporters and well known throughout the league, Coach Lawson made an appearance at the tournament. The wrestlers were grateful to have his support at such a difficult and nerve-racking meet.

Said, junior, Christophe Peters, “I am also very grateful for the huge number of fans that came to support us.”

Defeating Fremont served as a monumental and fitting send off for the seniors, who had their senior night the same evening.

Said Peters, “Almost all the seniors won, and it is great that we won the duel meet because we sent all our seniors off with a win and a league championship.”

Flip Side

12

March 4, 2016

FEBRUARY IN PHOTOS JASON MUNOZ

JEREMY XUE

MADDY MOLARO

JASON MUNOZ

JEREMY XUE

CHOIR SERENADES | Senior Tanya Chaudry was serenaded by the capella boys choir group on Valentine’s Day

HOW TO RAISE AN ADULT | Author Julie Lythcott-Haims speaks to CHS parents on Tuesday Feb. 23

POWDERPUFF | Seniors Lady Batingana and Gloria Kandeh play for the Senior Storm during powderpuff

BASKETBALL | The girl’s basketball team takes on Palo Alto High at the CCS quarterfinals

three staffers spend a month learning Italian through Italiano 101 different mediums and then reflect on their processes Over the course of four weeks, I set out to learn Italian completely from scratch.

Using only Spotify, I listened to Italian lessons each week and tracked my progress along the way. Tracks on the playlist included lessons such as “Italian Greetings” and “Using the Possessive”, with a total of 53 hours of lessons available on the platform.

At the end of Week One, I could only confidently say three to four key phrases.

Admittedly, it was nearly impossible to retain my vocabulary by only listening to each word twice. I found myself replaying the soundtracks several times just to pick up a some of the material, and not being able to see the words turned out to be a greater disadvantage than I expected.

Around Week Two, I started to appreciate the convenience of audio lessons. I could listen to them anyJENNIFER ZARATAN lifestyles assistant where and multitask while walking home or other simple activities. My vocabulary slowly grew, but since the lessons hardly overlapped on material, it was difficult to see my overall growth.

Week Three, I still had notably poor grammar and was unable to form sentences I had not directly heard word for word in a lesson.

On several occasions, it was hard to hear the distinct spaces between the words in a phrase or sentence. As a result, I could say the phrase altogether but did not learn what each part meant or how to alter it as I please.

During Week Four, I decided to go back to the first album and see how much I remembered. Disappointingly enough, while everything did sound familiar, I had forgotten the majority of the language; a considerable downside to Spotify is there is no way to test yourself or revisit the material besides replaying the tracks, which I found was rather crucial to learn.

Overall, Spotify was a relatively effective tool in teaching Italian, but it would have been beneficial to do alongside another visual method. It helped me learn the basics within four weeks but is definitely insufficient to serve as a sole learning aid, if I ever expect to be fluent.

Spotify

I decided to learn Italian with Duolingo.com, an online language tutoring website, and, as part of this self-imposed regimen, I had to spend approximately three hours per week doing Italian-related exercises on Duolingo. Duolingo has many of the key elements crucial to basic proficiency in a foreign language. Some of these features include translation exercises, grammar explanations, flashcards, and speaking practice.

From my experience, the hardest part of learning a new language is not the vocabulary; rather, it is the new grammatical concepts. However, Duolingo made tackling the grammar issue much easier, as I was able to access plenty of practice exercises and tutorials on concepts and ideas that I had SUDARSHAN KANNAN difficulty wrapping my head around. Be it verb conjugation, gender pronouns, or subject-verb agreement, opinions assistant Duolingo had well-written explanations that worked in tandem with the practice exercises. Of course, there were times when I needed extra practice, which was when the“Strengthen Skills” icon came handy.

However, the most difficult part was learning how to speak Italian, as Duolingo is somewhat ineffective at teaching pronunciation.

Although I was exposed to native speech, it was often robotic and incomprehensible, hindering my learning process. It does, however, distinguish itself with its voice input speech practice, in which I had to speak into a microphone either to translate a phrase into Italian or to repeat a sentence spoken by a native speaker. The voice input feature was somewhat laggy, sometimes failing to recognize my words (perhaps due to my poor pronunciation).

I would recommend Duolingo.com more for learning how to write and read a language than to master the conversational skills of one, as it provides a wide set of tools for you to develop your skills. It should be noted that Italian is not the only language offered but one of the twenty languages available. Ciao!

Duolingo

I decided to study Italian using primarily books with the occasional assistance of the audiobook which accompanied one of the books. My biggest fear going into learning Italian was not being able to pronounce the words as they should be while still being able to speak fluently and at a comfortable pace. I did not want my inability to navigate smoothly through technology to negatively impact my learning of the language, which is why I choose books as my point of reference.

Because I had to study using books and notes, learning Italian felt much like studying for any other class in school which made me take it much more seriously than I would have if I had used only audio or language learnSHALMALI PATIL ing games. I was also able to study anywhere without worrying about wifi and battery life. opinions editor Of the two books that I used, the more effective one was Basic Conversational Italian by Hall and Bartoli.

Since the book focused primarily on basic, conversational Italian, I found it more helpful than memorizing vocabulary words.

Two weeks later, the grammar came naturally to me, and the spelling was easier as I was not intimidated by the pronunciation of the words on the page. After the initial two weeks had been over and I began using the audiobook for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Learning Italian by Gabrielle Euvino, I realized how horrible my Italian pronunciation actually was. I am happy that I was able to take my Italian one skill set at a time and avoided getting overwhelmed by it. But because I had been pronouncing Italian words almost entirely incorrectly, I had to go back and relearn the some parts of the language except this time with the correct pronunciation. As frustrating and slow as that process was, I am ultimately happy that I chose to learn Italian through books as opposed to any other medium. I recommend using books to learn Italian for anyone who gets intimidated by technology yet is dedicated to comprehensively studying.

Books

CAREER FAIR | Children’s book author-illustrator Aree Chung reads to students at the third annual Career Faire

Spotify had 20 million users worldwide as of June 2015 STATISTA.COM

34

hours

on Duolingo = 1 college semester

DUOLINGO.COM

In a poll by Benny Lewis, founder of fluentin3months.com...

51% of people said they learned a new language best with podcasts

31% preferred using books 18% chose a website

NEXT MONTH: MARCH Masterworks Concert Friday, March 4

Winter Sports Awards Monday, March 7

Spring Rally Friday, March 11

11th Grade Parent Night Thursday, March 17

Junior Prom Friday, March 18

Spring Musical Friday, March 25 Saturday, March 26