Issue 5, 2015

Hello and goodbye to Lynbrook admin

BY MICHYLA LIN & JJ IGNATESCU

T

his past month, Lynbrook said goodbye to former Principal John Dwyer and Assistant Principal of Activities Craig Tuana. At the same time, we welcomed our new Principal Maria Jackson, and former guidance counselor turned temporary assistant principal, Malissa Goldstein.

yer will help coordinate input from the school community to ensure good communication between the district and those affected by their decisions.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to do something new and learn more about programs in the school district, so I’m really looking forward to that,” said Dwyer. “It’s a great opportunity for Ms. Jackson as well, since she gets to work as a principal. We’re all looking forward to that.”

John Dwyer Due to shifts caused by those retiring in the FUHSD, John Dwyer, the prin- Maria Jackson In order to ensure continuity, the cipal of Lynbrook High School for two years, has taken up an opportunity as school district decided that instead of Principal of Special Assignment-Stake- going through the interview process to �ill in the position of principal, which holder Engagement for the district.

In his absence, Maria Jackson, for- would require several weeks without merly an assistant principal at Fre- one, it would be best to directly invite mont High School, has taken his place Maria Jackson, former assistant principal of Fremont High School, to �ill in. as Lynbrook’s new principal.

Besides having shown interest in “I’m a bit sad about it, because I love working here,” said Dwyer. “Especially the position in the past, Jackson also with the students, wonderful teaching has a long history at Lynbrook. She staff, and very supportive community.” is the parent of a Lynbrook alumnus and has worked as a Superintendent teacher, librarian, as Polly Bove invited well as an assistant Dwyer to become principal on campus. part of an in�luen- “MY AGENDA IS TO BE M i d - Fe b r u a r y tial team that looks EXACTLY WHAT LYNBROOK may seem like a at new legislation, HIGH SCHOOL NEEDS AND strange time to programs and activintroduce a new ities in the district.

TO WORK HARD TO DO principal, but it is The team also does THAT.” actually when adconsultation work with community //MARIA JACKSON ministrators work to members, staff and NEW PRINCIPAL prepare for the upcoming school year. students throughout “I’m also really the �ive high schools. glad I got to come “I think I’ve had about thirty years working in schools, before WASC,” said Jackson. “I’ve read either as a teacher or administrator,” the report and I feel like I could really said Dwyer. “It’ll be different for me in help bring that action plan forward.”

In addition to her duties as a princian environment that does not directly involve working with students and pal, Jackson hopes to connect with students by continuing an old hobby that staff, but I’m ready for that change.”

Dwyer is excited to work with these she enjoyed at Fremont High School.

“I like to take a lot pictures and I different individuals to understand their perspectives on a whole variety used to do that for different school of district-wide issues like enrollment, events,” said Jackson. “Many people student wellness, the question of a lat- have said that they really appreciate me capturing those moments. It was er start and the curriculum initiatives.

As part of this new position, Dw- kind of like a snapshot of life here.”

During her �irst week as principal, Jackson hosted a Principal’s Coffee meeting, joined a Robotics and Thespian club meeting and worked with ASB to get to know students better.

“My agenda is to be exactly what Lynbrook High school needs and to work hard to do that,” said Jackson. “I want to make sure that the whole student, not just the academic piece of the student, is really being supported and encouraged, because high school is a time you never forget in your life.”

Craig Tuana After almost two years, former Assistant Principal of Activities Craig Tuana left Lynbrook on Feb. 5.

Tuana has changed jobs to work at Carmel High School in the city of Carmel, California to stay closer to home. “[Some favorite memories at Lynbrook include] simple things like talking, working and laughing with students and staff,” said Tuana. “Some speci�ic moments were the homecoming skits. The staff skit I always �ind hilarious, as well as the student skit.”

Though he had good times with activities like watching the homecoming skits or sitting on the edge of his seat at basketball games, Tuana found Lynbrook’s true heart in its people.

“The students and staff are wonderful. The parents are supportive.

I don’t think you could ask for better students,” said Tuana. “During my last week there, a student returned a lost phone to me after a Powderpuff game; this was not unusual.”

As the assistant principal of student activities, Tuana worked with the ASB Of�icer team arrange and plan commissions around the school. Thus, Tuana was able to work closely and get to know students better.

“I worked with him on events such as the 50th Jubilee or even things like rally clean-up,” said ASB President Prashant Pokhiryal. “He was very helpful, very understanding, and most importantly, he’s a nice person!” see NEW STAFF page 2

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY - EPIC

NEWS//

Business clubs implement new member policies

BY AURELIA YANG

T

he Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006, a state rule, emphasizes that students participating in any of the three Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSO), which include FBLA, DECA and HOSA, must meet speci�ic course requirements in order participate in the club’s events. It also speci�ies that students have to complete these requirements to render the club eligible to receive federal funding from the organization, which is the equivalent of a federal mandate.

In other words, all students must be enrolled in the corresponding Career Technical Education (CTE) course to be allowed to participate in the club.

The original intention of this rule was to help students perform better at conferences

and competitions. The CTE courses mentioned in the policy are meant to help cultivate the skills and knowledge necessary for students to excel during competitions. The rule also ensures that clubs are not be taking advantage of the fund money provided to them by the organization, and also guarantees that students are provided with the appropriate resources to do well in the clubs.

Despite these motives, the regulation has never been taken seriously at Lynbrook until recently.

The reason that it has not been strictly enforced in the past is because not strictly enforcing these policies would inevitably have allowed more students to explore CTE clubs without being placed under the limitations of taking a course. However, the organization has recently decided to begin closely monitoring the implementation of the rule, dras-

tically affecting CTE clubs and forcing the three clubs to amend their previous policies.

Brad Fulk, the advisor of Lynbrook’s DECA club, explains the reasons behind the sudden rule enforcement.

“Technically speaking, the rule has always been there, but [recently] there were some changes that happened,” said Fulk. “The people in the state realized that the rule was not being enforced. They felt that if the rule was included in the state laws and talked about what we should expect from the board of education, then we should really be enforcing it. So, the difference isn’t the existence of [the rule], but the enforcement of it.”

As the president of Lynbrook’s FBLA chapter, senior Kenny Yuan notes how the club has been handling the policy update. see CTSO page 3

BASEBALL// pg. 13

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY - EPIC

WASC visitation commitee returns to Lynbrook

BY RENUKA BELWALKAR AND SOPHIA LING

F

rom March 7 to March 9, the Accrediting Commission of Schools Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) will be visiting Lynbrook to review the school’s report on its current curriculum, culture, organization and future objectives.

The WASC committee accredits high schools, a process necessary for diplomas to be legitimate and count as a credential when applying for jobs and colleges. The committee will provide feedback after they have veri�ied the accuracy of Lynbrook’s report and observation in the campus has been conducted.

The observation process is composed of checking the school’s functions and operations, as well as talking to staff and students to gain a greater insight into Lynbrook’s current environment; there is a modi�ied schedule during the observation to allocate time for the committee to conduct their visit. After the week-long review, the committee will prepare a follow-up report that details their impression of the school.

“The best part is working with all the students and staff,” said Suzie Wiese, chair of Lynbrook’s WASC visiting committee.

“The dif�icult part is visiting all of the different classes because we really want to see as much as we can.”

The committee also designates a certain number of years for the school to continue operating before the next WASC report is to be written. This recommendation can range from one to six years; a recommendation of one year means that the school needs further supervision, while a recommendation of six years mean that the school is above average in WASC standards.

“I dropped into a few classes at random and the kids were very attentive, and involved, and that’s always impressive,” said Suzie Wiese, chair of Lynbrook’s WASC visiting committee. “Each school brings their own personality and their own type of community. [Lynbrook comes] with great scores and we assess to see the other side of how you will be prepared for the rest of your life after high school.”

The formation of the WASC re-

port began in January 2015. Assistant principal David Erwin, counselor Malissa Goldstein, and English teacher Robert Richmond were the main coordinators of the process.

Lynbrook teachers, student and parents were heavily involved in the creation of the report: staff members worked to gather research data and lead focus group meetings, while volunteer students and parents participated in discussions and shared their experiences at Lynbrook.

“The words that come to mind is that it’s just been an interesting learning experience.

It is not an easy process, because it involves a lot of time,” said Goldstein. “I’ve enjoyed learning a lot more about Lynbrook than I thought I knew because you �inally get to talk to all staff members.”

One chapter in the WASC report, the self-study, focuses on �ive main categories: assessment, culture, organization, instruction and curriculum.

These categories involve e x ten-

sive research and are a focal point of the report. Assessment focuses on the testing process in classes; culture on the everyday life of Lynbrook staff and students; organization on the operation of the school; instruction on how classes are run; and curriculum on the content of lessons and assignments.

One focus group is assigned to each category, with all groups meeting on Wednesday mornings to compile their part of the chapter.

Math teacher Brad Fulk and business teacher Andrea Badger lead the Assessment focus group. While it was Badger’s third time working on the report, it was Fulk’s �irst time.

“It was interesting, informative and a lot of work,” said Fulk. “If you look at it as a process that can help, change and shape the culture of the school, then it can be as valuable as your groups can make it. I think we were able to pull a lot of valuable information.”

Sophomore Advait Patil became i n -

volved with WASC after receiving an email sent out to the student body requesting volunteers. He and 13 other students were divided into focus groups based on the �ive WASC categories. Patil was assigned to the Curriculum group, and met up regularly with fellow students, teachers and parents to discuss indicator questions provided by WASC to create content for the report. “[Working on WASC gave] me more insight on how [Lynbrook’s] curriculum is developed. I realized that it’s not just teachers thinking of their own stuff with how they want a class to be run, there’s a lot of structure behind it, such as common core standards, that often times students don’t [know] about,” said Patil. “[It] really gave me more insight on how the school operates.”

The entire WASC report is divided into �ive chapters detailing the school’s pro�ile as well as the results of the self-study. The most critical part of the report is the action plan, which identi�ies areas of need at Lynbrook, as well as methods of implementing necessary changes. This action plan will be enacted at Lynbrook following review and approval from the WASC committee.

“The visiting committee will come and go and they’ll leave their recommendation, but what remains is the report and the action plan. We’ll be living with that for years,” said Richmond. “It’ll really shape the direction Lynbrook is headed in operationally.”

This year’s action plan involves maintaining and increasing high levels of performance for every student. Although the basic structure of the report has not undergone any major changes since WASC’s creation, the content requirements have increased.

When including appendices, graphics and other details, Lynbrook’s 2016 WASC report has 425 pages, almost double that of the 249page 2010 report.

“You end up with a product that the whole school has helped assemble. It re�lects us and is something that we can be very proud of,” said Richmond. “If anyone becomes obsessed with Lynbrook and wants to know every possible thing about the school, the WASC report is the place to go for that information.”

GRAPHICS BY URMILA VENKAT AND ESHANI MEHTA

New arrivals and departures of Lynbrook staff continued from PRINCIPAL page 1

Letter from the Editors Dear readers, We’d like to introduce our �ifth issue of the paper in typical formal fashion. As we approach the halfway point in our issue distribution, thank you, readers, for putting up with us so far.

Turn to page 5 to read on Bernie Sanders’ �laws, page 9 for a feature on Lynbrook’s Coffeehouse, and page 11 for an exploration of tech’s effects on intimacy.

Stay in style, Kristen Wong and Stephanie Lu

Malissa Goldstein Guidance counselor Malissa Goldstein took over as assistant principal of activities the week following Tuana’s departure.

After working as a guidance counselor at Fremont High School for four years, Goldstein came to Lynbrook in search of a new challenge for her career. Twelve years later, Goldstein jumped at the chance to once again challenge herself by taking on a new position and working with a new group of people. “[The interim position] was a great opportunity to work with students and community in a different way without leaving Lynbrook,” said Goldstein. “Even though I have been at Lynbrook for 12 years, I have never been involved in student activities or athletics, but have always admired the student spirit and am happy to be a part of this now.”

Though the new job is exciting, Goldstein still has a few doubts about the time commitment necessary.

“I love working at Lynbrook and with students, but I have two daughters at home and

sometimes feel as if I don’t see them enough,” said Goldstein. “This is a challenge that is not easily solved, but I am working at it.”

Within her �irst week on the job, Goldstein already found herself learning new things about how school activities are arranged.

“On my �irst day, students asked me to approve �lyers to post on campus; I had to look up the policy for posting �lyers,” said Goldstein. “Even though this is a minor detail, every day, these little questions come up and I have to research before I can give an answer.”

Despite the struggle of getting used to her new position, Goldstein looks forward to working with students in a different capacity and helping to build school spirit around athletes and student activities. When asked if she would consider reapplying for the position next year, Goldstein remains open to the idea as she learns more about the job through the interim position.

“I am going into this [Assistant Principal] position open-minded to see what it brings,” said Goldstein. ”If it seems to work for me, the school and my family, I may apply for the permanent opening [next year].”

Jennifer Grif�in Following Malissa Goldstein’s departure from the guidance department, former PE teacher Jennifer Grif�in will �ill the vacant counselor position for the rest of the year. “[The job change] was to help out the team,” said Grif�in. “I know our school has had a lot of transition lately, and after a lot of thought and discussion with my family, we decided it would be good idea to help out.”

In fact, prior to teaching, Grif�in was part of the guidance department and is familiar with the programs used to arrange grades and courses.

“I worked in the guidance department before I was teaching,” said Grif�in. “So I understand School Loop [and] how to do course selection on In�inite Campus.”

In addition to these advantages, Grif�in is optimistic about working with some familiar faces in her new position.

“It will de�initely be a new challenge for me and I will miss my students in PE,” said Grif�in. “But this gives me a chance to see some of my former students as well.”

PTSA Job Shadow Oreintation Remember to head over the auditorium on March 8, during brunch or lunch for job shadow oreintation.

Junior Prom If you haven’t already, grab a date and buy your tickets for Junior Prom at the top of the quad. This year, Junior Prom will take place on March 12th, from 7:00 to 11:00 pm at the Coyote Creek Venue in Morgan Hill.

American Red Cross Blood Drive On Monday, March 21, Lynbrook’s Red Cross is holding their annual Blood Drive.

Anyone above the age of 16 can meet in the cove to donate, and receive a free ice cream sandwich. Remember, the �irst 20 people who sign up will receive free Red Cross apparel, so sign up quickly.

Daylight Savings It’s that time of year again, but this time around, you can sleep in a little longer. Remember to set your clock one hour forward on Sunday, March 13.

Instrumental Spring Show See your friends play in the annual spring concert by the LHS band and orchestra. This year’s show takes place on Thursday, March 17, in the auditorium from 7:30 to 9:30 pm, so get your tickets before they run out.

by Michyla Lin

“The rules about having to take a CTEapproved course have always existed in our organization, but FBLA hasn’t really enforced it,” said Yuan.

“So we haven’t really had much to worry about until this year. [The club was] quite anxious at �irst, but FBLA is not going to be hit too hard by these regulations in the upcoming [transitional] year, as CTE courses will not be required for membership yet.”

The California State of Education Department has not set a speci�ic date as to when they will begin strictly enforcing and checking for CTE courses at Lynbrook.

However, it is ideal for any student graduating after the class of 2017 to take a CTE course if they wish to participate in any of the three clubs, as the organization could start checking for regulation enforcement during their time spent as a club member.

Without taking the class, it is likely that the student will be kicked out of the club as well as banned from further conferences.

Both FBLA and DECA have been working with their advisers and administrators to look into the possibility of providing more funding to create new CTE courses in the coming years that follow a speci�ic business pathway.

The courses include Principles of Business, Accounting and Virtual Enterprise/ Economics, which all teach concepts that have been covered in the CTSO clubs.

“There’s not much we can do in terms of countering the rule,” said senior Indu Pereira, co-president of DECA. “A few other schools have started petitions, but this law is on a national scope and is the current way the California Department of Education chose to interpret it. Mr. Fulk, our adviser, has discussed the rule change with DECA State Association members as well as the Silicon Valley and California State of�icers to better understand the situation.”

However, HOSA, as a professional health organization, is not supported by any Lynbrook courses, as the school does not offer certi�ied CTE courses in the science department.

This inevitably prevents the club from attending conferences organized by the national HOSA organization, as it does not provide the required science courses for its students.

“The certi�ied CTE requirements are stricter for HOSA than any other CTE club, as we are a relatively newer chapter,” said Durga Ganesh, president of Lynbrook’s HOSA chapter.

“Once we found out about the enforcement of this rule, we actively worked with the state and national HOSA representatives, as well as FUHSD administration to determine if it would be possible to establish a CTE science pathway for Lynbrook students.

We will continue to work toward developing a solution in the future.”

The California State of Education Department’s sudden administration of the Carl D. Perkins Act has largely impacted all three CTSO clubs, forcing the organizations to alter old protocols to accommodate the change.

//DURGA GANESH

“The competition aspect to our club won’t be there, but we will still continue our goal of promoting the health professions. We will also continue to do local competitions, like the collaboration we did last year with other health science clubs on campus.”

//INDU PEREIRA

WILLIAM GUO - EPIC

continued from front page

“We created flyers, business cards, and purchased pencils to give out to 8th grade students at Electives Night, as this rule affects the class of 2020 as well. This will certainly affect our promotional strategy next year.” //KENNY YUAN

WILLIAM GUO - EPIC

Spring Choral Concert The annual LHS Spring Choral Concert is set to take place on March 9th, in the auditorium from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Be sure to go and show support for your fellow vikings!

CTSO| Business and health clubs deal with regulation

WILLIAM GUO - EPIC

News in Brief

“Organizations like FBLA and DECA are so, so different from a standard classroom setting in that they give students a platform to explore their own interests and develop hard, applicable skills -- not just book-knowledge; this rule seems to force us to choose.”

Bay Area Delta Channel plans raise controversy

BY ANYA POPLAVSKA

what Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to propose,” said sophomore Vedika Shenoy, a member of n light of California’s drought, Governor the Youth Stewardship Commission with Jerry Brown’s announcement of a Bay the SCVWD. “This could possibly cause Delta Channel Plan, or the BDCP, in April species to go extinct in the delta, so I of 2015 raised skepticism among Silicon Val- just don’t think it’s a good idea.” ley Water members and supporters of water Scienti�ic studies, conducted conservation efforts. by state biologists, show that The plan, which would cost around $14 certain aquatic species curbillion, proposed building two channels on rently residing in the Delta top of the San Francisco Bay Delta to import could become extinct from water to the Bay Area from Sacramento. a lack of water. With both Brown hopes the channels will help provide opposers and supporters water to millions of Californians as well as of the plan discussing the raise awareness for the Delta environment, future, three water disamong other potential bene�its. tricts across California Members of the board discussed the have given about $250 BDCP during a meeting on the Jan. 26 at million to the project and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (or the research surrounding it. The SCVWD). research has been aimed at inThe SCVWD plays a key role in the de- vestigating both the infrastructural cision about what to do with and environmental needs of all who the Delta, due to its close would be affected by the project. proximity to the district.

“Not only would the construcThe board’s input is tion of the tunnels be detrimental something the state to the native salmon who considers before live and mate by moving forswimming through ward with all the delta, the conplans. Howstruction of the tunever, the denels would become a cision about burden on taxpayers,” whether or not said Whitney Li, presto build the tunident of Lynbrook’s GRAPHIC BY MICHYLA LIN nels on the Delta is Conservation Action Associacontroversial, because tion. “In this debate, I see the environmental this plan also raises mulneeds outweighing any economic or social tiple concerns. needs of the people.”

“I don’t think we should In accordance with voiced concerns from rush: there are de�initely better options than around California, Brown released a new and

I

improved Delta plan in 2015, broken into two parts: “California Water Fix” and “California Eco Restore.” One part of the plan, the Water Fix, focuses on bringing the pumps into the Delta through constructing two channels under the Delta; the other, Eco Restore, focuses on creating acres of land for environmental protection and for different habitat types.

In total, a new and improved Delta plan in 2015 would cost about $300 million, which would be paid for in taxpayer funds.

Currently, the SCVWD is discussing whether restoring habitats or going with the Water Fix and building the tunnels would be a better idea. The SCVWD is remaining neutral and looking carefully at all options.

“The water district is a contractor with the state and the federal government to get imported water from the Sierra Nevada,” said Colleen Valles, the Water District’s spokesperson. “We are interested in a healthy delta to make sure that the water we receive is safeguarded.”

However, citizens and organisations are

still discussing their concerns. Research from government agencies and environmental groups indicate that with this plan, more salt water would �low into the Delta, which would kill more �ish species, such as salmon, regardless of habitat restoration plans.

“I think that we have a lot of other options,” said Shenoy. “There’s always water conservation, there’s desalination, and you could always bring in water from other places; although it’s costly, it won’t come at the cost of the environment itself.”

Nonpro�its such as Save the Delta advocate for a sustainable water plan and for money to go toward new ideas, rather than the Delta tunnels. According to studies conducted regarding California’s water supply, 75 percent of water in the state is used in agriculture.

Restore the Delta, another nonpro�it, composed of 15,000 Californians, also advocates for a sustainable plan instead of the tunnels.

Although the state has now spent over six years discussing the issue of instituting tunnels, there are still projections in the future, such as the enviro n m e n t a l impacts of the new plan.

“Currently it’s a learning process for the board,” said Daves. “The district is trying to learn more, to try to make an informed decision.”

BY ESHANI MEHTA

W

alk in the girls’ section of any toy store and the Barbie dolls will appear: shelves of blonde, impossibly skinny dolls smiling arti�icially at passersby. On Jan. 28, that all changed.

Mattel, the company that manufactures Barbie dolls, released three new types of Barbie body sizes: petite, tall and curvy. They also released seven new skin tones, with various eye colors, hair colors and textures. Although Mattel has been criticized as being motivated by monetary gain, this change still allows the Barbie doll to be more realistic and relatable for children, and is a step in the right direction for promoting acceptance of all body types.

“I think that this [change] helps kids understand more about the world at a younger age,” said sophomore Maya Shah.

“When you’re older it can be harder to change, but when you’re younger, you start off learning something and you have it engraved in your mind, so you never have that instinct of thinking someone’s not beautiful because they’re bigger.”

From her conception, Barbie has been infamous for her unrealistic representation of body image. Her disproportionate physique, with her long legs and small waist, eventually caused some parents to stop buying their children the dolls in hopes of preventing the development of unfeasible expectations.

Over the years, Mattel has faced a signi�icant drop in sales for Barbie dolls, with

SAMHITA HONNAVALLI//IN MY OPINION

Take pride in every part of Indian culture

W

hen I heard about Coldplay’s new music video, “Hymn for the Weekend,” I was eager to listen to it. After all, Beyonce was in the video, but more importantly, it was set in India, the country I spent �ive years living in. My enthusiasm, however, changed the minute I �inished watching the video. I had hoped that Coldplay would showcase India’s rich culture and

global sales falling 14 percent in the third quarter of 2015, marking its eighth straight quarter of a double-digit drop.

“I think they made this change more for the press than the actual children, because Barbie got a lot of bad press for creating this fake image,” said Shah. “It is always about bringing awareness, but companies and businesses only do what’s best for them.”

But even if it is true that the change was motivated by monetary gain, the new additions to Barbie still remain a positive change, because the positive message of acceptance is still conveyed to any individual who buys the new doll.

“This change is great because it’s telling them that their body does not have to look like a speci�ic way,” said sophomore Arushi Tewari. “I might have bene�ited from a doll that looked like me when I was young, because when I was younger, my dolls led me to wish I had blonde hair and blue eyes.”

The new Barbies can also be customized in so many different ways, from hair color to eye color, that most children can buy a doll that more closely resembles them, teaching youth that unique body shapes are normal and expected.

A 2006 study published in the journal Developmental Psychology found that early exposure to unrealistically thin dolls negatively affected the con�idence and body image satisfaction of a majority of the children involved in the study.

The study also found that younger girls more likely to develop eating disorders after playing with the Barbie dolls than their

older counterparts. By changing Barbie’s design, Mattel is educating children on size acceptance at a young age.

“It’s about teaching the kids,” said Shah.

“Giving the kids toys that look like them isn’t going to create as big of an impact as being a teacher and teaching them about positive body image.”

While this change is a step in the right direction, Mattel has been criticized because the change took too long and because new Ken dolls that promote positive body image for males were not released. What needs to be understood is that dramatic changes such as Barbie’s transition happen slowly, and that the design and production of these new dolls takes extensive time and money.

“Yes, some people will say we are late to the game,” said Evelyn Mazzocco, vice president of Barbie, to Time magazine. “But changes at a huge corporation take time.”

And for those who are more traditional, genuinely prefer the older design, or feel nostalgic, the original Barbie doll is still available for sale on the company’s website, where customers can purchase the classic Barbie under the category of “original.”

While there is more that has to be done to �ix the damage that unrealistic body images have caused, the new Barbie dolls are the �irst step to revolutionizing toys for younger children to embody acceptance of all body types and sizes.

“Ultimately, haters are going to hate,” Richard Dickson president and COO of Mattel told Time. “We want to make sure the Barbie lovers love us more–and perhaps changing the people who are negative to neutral.”

beautiful scenery, but was extremely disappointed when it painted the same biased picture of India that has been publicized in the media over and over.

By showing only the poverty, it seemed as though Coldplay thought that only the poor parts of India existed or was worth showing.

It angered me to think that these undeveloped parts were what most commonly represented India, when in reality there are so many more quality aspects to India. Holi is not the only festival of India. Even if it was, it is not a comprehensive representation of India to assume that everyday people just arbitrarily put colored powder on their face.

Because Coldplay showed only the slum side of India, anyone who isn’t educated about India, or has never been there, would assume that the country is only made of poverty.

Upon doing a little more research on the video, I discovered that Sonam Kapoor, a Bollywood actress, was featured in the video.

She was featured for a grand total of three seconds in the entire video. I had to rewatch

it three times before I �inally caught a glimpse of her �leeting cameo.

Aside from completely negating the necessity of Indian actors in a music video about India, the video added insult to injury

by Kapoor being a part of something showing only part of what India looks like. It seems as though nobody, not even Indians themselves, want to recognize the better half of India.

Especially during school, when someone ignorantly states something about India, I often see Indians not objecting or correcting the erroneous statement. They go with the �low, instead of enlightening the misinformed person about India. My freshman year, when I moved back to California from India, a lot of people were shocked that I was �luent in English--even Indians! I tried to explain that although India may have poverty, its cities are very well developed and the schools there are as good as those in America.

People often seem to completely ignore India’s development and innovation, forgetting the positive impacts that India has had

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY RAKSHA NARASIMHAN

A pivotal step in Barbie’s evolution

on the world. Indians invented the zero, yoga, chess, and made contributions to early plastic surgery, just to name a few of their accomplishments. But instead of acknowledging those facts, many people hold a Eurocentric view, where they believe that the British taught India all that it knows today. While it is true that the British helped India in terms of development, saying that Indians didn’t know anything before they came only reinforces the Eurocentric perspective on India.

People shouldn’t just pick on India for its uncleanliness; if they complain about that, they might as well take a look at the slums of New York too. Due to the imperfect picture painted by artists such as Coldplay and movies like Slumdog Millionaire, people only see the Eurocentric version of India and not its beauty and holistic culture.

In the end, it’s not just about criticizing the rampant, biased view about India. It’s about taking action to revise the discriminatory representation of India. It’s time to put the past behind us, and take pride in India.

Take caution when feeling the Bern

BY KATHLEEN CUI

N

ot every presidential election starts with a socialist leading the polls, and the 2016 presidential race is well on its way to making history.

Bernie Sanders, a 74-year old Democratic socialist, has transformed from an independent Vermont senator to Hillary Clinton’s greatest threat in the primaries. Unlike his opponents, Sanders has managed to excite the younger generation through ambitious plans for free college and single-payer health care. Yet while it is undeniable that Sanders has the interest of the common people in mind, it must also be recognized that Sanders is as idealistic as he is tenacious. Although the polls and numbers indicate that Sanders has the support of young people, Sanders must account for the feasibility of his plans if he intends to represent the common man.

“The positions that Sanders is standing on are unrealistic, and quite honestly pretty socialist on all scales,” said senior Alvin Fan, Vice President of Training in Model U.N. “But he stands best with the students, because he knows what we want and represents us much better than Ms. Clinton does.”

Sanders emphasizes his representation of the young a n d un-

SHIVATEJA VEMIRREDY - EPIC

SHIVA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

derprivileged, with intentions to raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour. Yet such an aspiration has not been empirically con�irmed to be successful in any developed country. The closest paradigm is the city of Seattle, which enacted a $15 per hour minimum wage 10 months ago. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the city has experienced increases in unemployment, though the full effects of the increased wage have not yet been completed. Nonetheless, Sanders insists that a $15 minimum wage is “not a radical idea,” as reported

by Huf�ington Post.

Testing uncharted waters with the largest economy in the world is neither responsible nor feasible, especially without the support of congressional Republicans who already oppose raising the federal wage �loor to $12.

Along with his plans to raise the minimum wage, Sanders intends to enact a single-payer healthcare system to substitute private health insurance companies with a government-operated, public system.

Sanders’ plan would separate employment

from insurance, meaning unemployed citizens would still be insured.

Sanders claims that his plan would save $10 trillion over the next 10 years-and yet, as noted by the New Yorker’s James Surowiecki, “you can’t [save $10 trillion] by cutting administrative costs and drug prices,” which is all that Sanders’ ambiguous plan currently speci�ies.

Even if Sanders were to form a different method of addressing the lacking funds, a vague plan with more loopholes than the tax laws Sanders is attempting to close is nowhere near for a ADITYA KOTAK suf�icient future President.

SENIOR “What Sanders is trying to do is admirable, but his plan is not one that I can stand behind because it seems too idealistic and not very factual,” said senior Aditya Kotak. “I do hope that one day we can see the changes that he’s trying to implement, but they need to be phased out over time, not pushed for all at once.”

A single payer health care system is not an irrational idea, given its success in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. But while there is nothing wrong with having that kind of insurance model, Sanders needs to articulate how he plans to ef�iciently implement it in the U.S. A complete renovation of the country’s health care system cannot be explained away with a few pages of print.

Considering the matter holistically, Bernie Sanders is not an ineffective dreamer. He has a reputable record in Congress, and was recognized by Rolling Stone as the “Amendment King” for his history getting legislation passed. Yet the large issues that he is basing his presidential platform upon, such as breaking up banks and expanding social security, have never been realized, even during years where Democrats dominated Congress. His radical ideals are based upon his intentions to do right by the American people, but if Sanders plans on following through with his word, he needs to substantiate his legislative capability to moderate the “top 1 percent.”

“WHAT SANDERS IS TRYING TO DO IS ADMIRABLE, BUT HIS PLAN IS NOT ONE THAT I CAN STAND BEHIND BECAUSE IT SEEMS TOO IDEALISTIC AND NOT VERY FACTUAL.”

KRISTEN WONG//IN MY OPINION

Join the ghostly side

I

lost a heart about two weeks ago. I wasn’t paying attention and it just disappeared; all that was left was a grinning smiley face and a smiley face with Heisenberg sunglasses. I �igured my best course of action was to tread lightly, but of course my friend found out and now I owe her. Big time. Snapchat red hearts don’t just grow on trees.

It all started two months ago, when I met a freshman on the varsity soccer team who introduced me to the concept of a Snapchat “streak.” At the time, I thought a streak was another lame social media ploy, much like the outdated and useless Facebook poke. But now, two months later, I’ve since joined the dark (and ghostly) side of social media.

I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but I am unapologetically proud of all of my three Snapchat streaks.

Just to set things straight: I don’t snapchat because I like taking pictures of myself (I abhor pictures.) I snapchat because of a deeper appeal that lies in the app’s medium of communication. In elementary school, my best friend and I used to send letters to each other--folded in a real envelope, licked and everything. To save money, we didn’t use stamps; instead, I wrote my friend’s real address as the return address and mine as the outgoing address, and she did vice versa. The mail system worked pretty well in our favor as we wrote pages of letters every week (to all my English teachers, this may be the cause of my messy handwriting), but the post of�ice mail lady caught on and put an end to it. Oh, the savagery. That lady was the equivalent of Emperor Palpatine driving a divide between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, of Gollum trying to take Frodo away from Sam, of Gunther breaking up Ross and Rachel in season three of Friends. Okay so the last one was a bit of a stretch. You get the picture.

And even though the lady was only doing her job, what she spawned was our failure to communicate and, coincidentally, a critical lost piece of my childhood. Because when it comes down to it, communication speaks to our instinctual desire to want gifts, to want to be thought of, to be loved.

Our lives are meaningless without the people in them and Snapchat keeps people in the loop, from the social butter�lies to their hermit-like counterparts. Sure, the platform is based on �leeting photographs, embarrassing screenshots and uber competitive best friend lists, but these de�ine a kind of social interaction that retains emotional potency. It’s that feeling of opening a freshly sealed envelope or tapping a red square and seeing a friend’s Snapchat that brings us joy and humor.

As so-called “millennials,” let’s just say we have a strong tendency to document our lives and share things among our friends. Call us the generous generation, if you will, for it’s how we live in others that we live ourselves. Whoever said you only need to be content with yourself was either an extremely lonely person or Buddha; either way, there are many alternatives that don’t involve living under or on a rock. And though no human relationship could ever be adequately expressed through social media icons, the smiley face, the �ire and the heart come close. Like I said, snapchat hearts sure don’t grow on trees, but maybe that’s what makes them precious.

If all you take away from this article is one sentence, let it be this: don’t be the mean mail lady, and hold on to the people you love most, even if it’s just for four seconds at a time.

The real roots of Hollywood’s diversity problem

BY SHREYAS IYER

H

ours after the 2015 Oscar nominations were released in January of last year, thousands around the country castigated the awards committee for what they believed to be a slight against people of color (POC): zero POCs were nominated for any of the actor/actress awards, and Birdman director Alejandro G. Inarritu was the only POC up for the Director or the Best Picture awards.

The Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite blew up on the Internet and the Academy, realizing the gravity of its errors, vowed to mend its ways. Or so America thought. One year later, after another avalanche of whites and no POCs were nominated, talk resumed about the racial injustice of the Oscar committee. Major black �ilmmakers like Spike Lee have boycotted this year’s show for its lack of racial representation. What Lee and other protesters are forgetting, however, is the root cause behind the Academy’s choices: POC’s have less of a chance to attain leading roles in major �ilms than whites. The choices by directors and �ilm companies around the country, not to mention the acting schools that feed these factories, have played the biggest role in the lack of POC representation in the Oscars.

Currently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences governs the Oscars selection process. The Academy is made up of a secretive membership of roughly 6,000 theatre professionals. While the identities of the Oscar voters are kept con�idential, recent reports con�irm that the voting committee is nearly homogenous: 94 percent of all voters are white, 77 percent are male, and 86 percent are age 50 or older. These statistics, combined with the Academy’s recent controversial decisions and the overall clandestine nature of the nomination process, have drawn the ire of the public. If the committee responds to such anger with reform, the Academy may nominate more POCs yet only from the small pool of non-white talent that is available in the industry. The committee has no effect on whom theatre universities or acting companies choose from the yearly applicants into said groups, and thus has no direct impact on the number of POC’s that enter the industry. Unless the industry opens its doors for more POCs to enter the talent pool, the cinema industry will not have solved the underlying race issues that pervade theatre companies today.

The cinema industry has had a history of racial exclusion, ever since the founding of motion pictures in the early 1900’s. POC actors were scarcely cast at the time, and even if they were lucky enough to get selected they played cultural, stereotypical roles. Starting in the late 1920’s, POC’s slowly began to gain a footing in the industry due to more diverse screenplay writing and a more open environment in Hollywood. Although Hollywood remained

predominantly white, POC’s seemed primed for advancement. In the current era, POC’s appear to be making gains. Looking past recent Oscar-worthy blockbusters like Selma however, it is apparent that nonwhites still have a steep slope to climb in hopes of getting the recognition they deserve.

“Hollywood as an industry has always been strict [in terms of appearance], said junior and eight-year drama veteran Claire Dunn. “You have to look a certain way, you have to make certain types of �ilms. [Despite this, POCs] are on the rise up, and I think this Oscar controversy represents their attempts to equalize with whites.”

UCLA’s Ralph Bunche Center, one of the nation’s foremost �ilm critic organizations, reports that nonwhites are underrepresented by a factor of three to one for all leading roles in movies, and that more than half of all �ilm casts among the roughly 200 movies chosen for the UCLA study had less than 10 percent of POCs acting in them. These stats have been ampli�ied at the award podium, with no POC actors having been nominated for any acting category in the Oscars this past year.

The past few Oscars, which have been dominated by the majority, are just an aftereffect of the institutional oppression that POC’s have been the victims of in the �ilm industry.

“A lot of the reactions [attacking the Oscars] are an overreaction to the wrong problem,” said sophomore and drama member Sultaan Ahmed. “The problem that activists need to focus on is the low amount of [POC] actors placed in leading roles.

This year there weren’t too many movies [with POC leads] that deserved a nomination, and if you aren’t obligated to win the award, you should not win it.”

Ahmed notes that the Academy ought to be governed by a meritocracy in which talent determines awards, but �irst all actors must have equal opportunities to show �ilm directors their talent.

Furthermore, many of the movies that critics took into consideration for an Oscar nod, such as the rap �ilm Straight Outta Compton, dealt with ethnic culture in novel ways; the typical African-American biopic, for example, focuses on sports stars or civil rights leaders, not rap groups. Such movies allow screenwriters and directors to think outside the box in regards to how they can portray ethnic minorities, and provide a blueprint for such people to include POC’s in �ilm.

A policy that admissions of�icers should consider parallels af�irmative action, in which theatre companies and directors allow for greater acceptance of POC’s in theatre by recognizing the inferior standing many POC’s have in the industry and the fact that many POC’s do not have the same access to amateur theatre groups and high school drama clubs as whites do. Unless �ilm companies admit more POC’s into their ranks, #OscarsSoWhite will become #OscarsStillWhite, and the cycle of oppression that POC’s have in the �ilm industry will never be relieved.

CTE rule restricts members’ opportunities

U

nder the new enforcement of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006, all Lynbrook students participating in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), DECA, and Future Health Professionals (HOSA) must take an extra course if they want to continue in the clubs.

Many students who are unwilling to take an extra course will drop out, including top placing competitors and irreplaceable members.

It will also be nearly impossible for the district and Lynbrook to add enough sections to the business department to ensure that there is enough room for all competitors to take a CTE course.

FBLA and DECA both have corresponding certi�ied Career Technical Education (CTE) courses at Lynbrook: Principles of Business and Accounting.

But Lynbrook does not have any CTE science courses, so HOSA, a professional health club, has no way of being involved in nationally organized events.

This is unfair to those students who are interested in a professional health career because students, yet have no way of controlling what courses are offered or where the funding comes from. Essentially, this act would prevent students from exploring potential career paths in health care.

“Especially since we are a newer chapter, the CTE course requirements for Lynbrook HOSA are particularly strict,” said senior Dur-

Staff Editorial The Voice of the Epic ga Ganesh, Lynbrook HOSA president. “We will undergo some changes next year as we work with the new statewide requirements, but the core principles and ideals that drive our club will remain the same.”

The Perkins Act is meant to ensure that competitors will fare better at conferences and be better educated and dedicated to the speci�ic professional club that they are involved with.

In past years, however, Lynbrook students have performed well even without the required CTE, with 45 competitors qualifying for FBLA’s 2015 National Leadership Conference and 49 competitors placing in the top eight at DECA’s 2016 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference.

The enforcement of the Perkins Act will

only cause these clubs to lose interested and talented competitors rather than boost club success and participation.

“A lot of students simply don’t have enough time or interest to take another course just to be a part of a club,” said freshman Emily Zhang, an active Lynbrook FBLA member.

From their conception, clubs were created to allow students to explore their interests without being INFOGRAPHIC BY ANYA POPLAVSKA obliged to add an additional course to their schedule.

The execution of the CTE Improvement Act defeats the purpose of having separate clubs on campus and detracts from the �lexible nature of being in a club.

“It’s not logical for the Department of Education to make us take a class in order to be

in a club because the point of clubs is to give students an experience that they can’t get in a classroom environment,” said junior Teresa Yang, Lynbrook FBLA’s vice president of conferences. “Instead of doing something like FBLA or DECA for enjoyment, they’re forced to do it for a grade.”

But even this problem is overshadowed by a much larger issue: it is nearly impossible to add extra sections into the business department to accommodate for every FBLA and DECA member who does wish to take an extra business course.

“If our population does not change and the number of sections we are allocated stays the same, the only way to add more business classes is to delete other classes,” said DECA adviser Brad Fulk. “If I saw one extra class next year, I would not be surprised, but to see more than that would be tough.”

Lynbrook’s clubs have already showed that they have the capability to perform well without the required courses. While enforcing the rule may produce better results at some schools, schools should be considered exempt from this rule if they meet certain criteria like having enough active and competing members and sending enough qualifying competitors to state and national conferences.

Though this process would be much more extensive and time-consuming, by evaluating schools individually the Board can ensure that the rules they enforce bene�it all schools in the long run.

Capturing the bay one frame at a time

BY SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY

A

s the sun starts to rise, junior Kevin Huang sits by the Golden Gate Bridge, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to capture the venue’s magni�icent scenery. He closes his left eye, holds his breath steady, and gently presses the shutter-release button. Click.

Though Huang has gained a wealth of experience in the three years, he has been practicing photography, his favorite shot remains the landscapes and cityscapes he can see and explore throughout California.

“My favorite shoot of all time was when I was up in the Marin headlands above the Golden Gate Bridge, said Huang. “Wednesday night, I got word of low fog possibly entering the bay the next morning, along with high clouds being in a favorable position to light up. Knowing that low fog events happen only a couple times a year, I woke up at 4 a.m. that Thursday and headed to San Francisco. It was the most spectacular scene I’ve seen in my life, the fog �lowed in like a slow moving tsunami as the sun rose and lit up the sky with �iery light.”

In the few years he has pursued photography, Huang has already amassed over a thousand followers on Instagram and is currently a photo editor for Lynbrook’s Valhalla. Huang has also been requested by many organizations to shoot for professional events throughout the area, especially pre-prom photoshoots.

Huang was inspired to pursue photography early on in his life.

“When I was around ten years old, I used to see online videos of really cool photographs of America’s landscapes and nature,” said Huang. “That’s inspired me to start taking photos.”

Huang’s direct path to become a photographer began in eighth grade, when he took his �irst photography class at Miller Middle School and began practicing with the DSLR cameras provided. He received his very own DSLR camera that following summer and began to take photos to specialize in his long exposure style of photography and learn how to edit his photographs using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

“To me a raw �ile straight from the camera is kind of like an empty canvas,” said Huang. “And so it is my job to distinguish the scene through my vision onto the screen. On average, each shot that I put up takes around four to �ive hours of processing and usually spans over a time period of a week.”

As his experiences in photography grew, so did his passion for the art. This past summer, he was eventu-

ally inspired to join a local photography group called Escaype. The group is run by many notable Bay Area photographers, including UCLA alumnus Jeff Lewis.

“Some of my favorite photographers are Jeff Lewis, who founded the weather forecasting service and community Escaype, Marc Adamus for his absolutely amazing dedication to explore new and original compositions and his excellent vision and Michael Shainblum for being the �irst photographer that I started following and inspiring me,” said Huang.

Escaype provides its clients with a detailed weather forecast designed to aid photographers in �inding the perfect conditions for their shoots including, sunlight, fog and even the conditions of the moon. For Huang, the experience was less about cementing a reputation in the photography world as it was about gaining new technical skills and training.

“There is really a whole community surrounding this service. I began working with them late last summer and have been able to explore a lot of new places. For example, I have been to Yosemite several times over winter break, Los Angeles, the Sierras and basically all over California with them,” said Huang. “It really helps me improve my photography.”

For Huang, the passion and the joy brought to him by photography will push him to continue photography.

“Some shots I just know on the spot that I was able to capture an amazing scene in front of my eyes, and usually I �ill up with pure euphoric joy,” said Huang. “One time as I shot my cover photo of my facebook page and website, I couldn’t hold in my excitement and shouted w i t h joy over and over, ignoring the fact that I was drenched neck down and my camera bag was almost swept to sea.”

Huang is currently gathering some of his best works to compose several portfolios with hopes of attending UCLA in the future.

“I hope that I can become a professional photographer in the future,” said Huang. “But for the time being I am content with taking photos as a hobby or part-time job.”

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

How to enjoy your Hack-a-thon experience A

long with the rise of the tech industry, a popular event for coders of all levels has come to existence: hackathons.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a hackathon is a competition between groups to create a project using a speci�ic application program interface (API) or software; the winner usually gets cash prizes or startup grants for companies. If you’re going to your �irst hackathon, don’t be intimidated by the highly intelligent geeks and nerds surrounding you - here are some tips on having a good one.

1. Take a nap before you go If you are competing at an overnight hackathon, bring a sleeping bag and get plenty of sleep beforehand. If it’s an overnight event, sleep before you attend the hackathon to proverbially maximize the pro�its. People will be up all night during the hackathon, and if you plan to compete, you will probably have to stay up all night too. If it isn’t an overnight event, you can sleep anyway to make sure you can power through your coding tasks.

2. Go with friends When trying something new, it’s smart to go with people who have done it before, so it would be wise to take a fellow experienced coder. But if you and your friends are new to the whole idea, don’t be afraid to check out

things that you haven’t done before. There are a plethora of different types of codes and platforms for you to check out. Bigger hackathons often also have speakers or company demos too, so don’t be shy. Go out there and make new friends!

GRAPHIC BY SHIVA VEMIREDDY

BY WILLIAM GUO

3. Get handouts at the front seats At the beginning of each Hackathon, the hosts like to pass out free stuff. Guys, free stuff! Move to the front of the auditorium as soon as you can. The closer you are, the higher your chances are to get something. They have lots of goodies, from shirts to stickers and many other accessories. Google socks?

Yes please.

4. Strategize where you camp To make things easy on yourself, make sure that where you decide to sit/sleep/ work is convenient for anything that you might need. That means keep in mind where power outlets are, and where food and drinks are kept, among other necessities. Optimize your work area in such a way that everything can be done ef�iciently. There are sometimes mentors that will have a station somewhere, and if you want them to look at your code or help you with a bug be sure that they aren’t far away to make sure you have easy access to them.

Hopefully this information serves you well, and happy hacking!

Life of Pie: an epic cooking challenge Call me a love expert

W

e’ve all been there before. That sinking feeling in your stomach, that cold moment of horror as you stare at the glowing screen of your phone and read over the most embarrassing, unfunny text that you just sent your crush. Maybe it was a lame pun. Maybe it was a cringe worthy compliment. Or maybe it was an obscure reference to something only a creepy stalker like yourself would know. Nonetheless, here you are, mentally apologizing to all the English teachers that you’ve ever had for creating this repulsive, nasty abomination of a text message.

It doesn’t have to end this way. In fact, with my excessive romance expertise and obvious success in the art of “pulling” backing you up, the love between you and your person of interest is guaranteed to bloom. Now get ready to say goodbye to all those lonely nights texting that special someone, and say hello to all those lonely nights texting that special someone the right way!

1. Never double text.

Double-texting is the act of sending someone two (or more) messages in a row without receiving a reply in between. It is the pinnacle of desperation and should be avoided at all costs. In fact, I recommend that you make your messages as fragmented and indecipherable as possible to keep them guessing. But don’t be afraid to get creative! With the existence of the infamous “k”, “haha lol”, and [unrelated emoji], you have an arsenal of possible replies at your �ingertips. As the amazing lyrical artist Justin Bieber once said, “What Do You Mean?”. And that’s exactly how you want your crush to feel as they’re texting you.

2. Hit them with a “seen at”.

The power technology gives people to cause others immense anguish, literally without having to do anything, is far scarier than any impending (and inevitable) robot apocalypse. Just when you thought frustratedly waiting for a reply couldn’t get any better, messaging applications came up with the unique new feature that allows users to see just how much the people they’re talking to don’t care about them. Use this to your advantage. To keep things spicy, try throwing your phone off any nearby bridge or highway overpass immediately after opening a message to leave them hanging for a good two or three months. Nothing screams “take me now!” like having an enlightening conversation with an empty void.

3. And by all means, never text �irst.

As lyrical artist Selena Gomez once said, “When you’re ready, come and get it. Na (x4)”.

This is the kind of attitude you want your crush to have when it comes to approaching you. Playing hard to get always works, so why not take it a step further and completely disappear off the radar? Just don’t do anything and wait for them to realize how heads-overheels they are for you. That way, you’ll know that if your crush is that hard-pressed to �ind you they’re de�initely interested. Which, of course, solves the problem of you wanting them to like you back in the �irst place. You’re welcome.

CLAIRE CHIANG--EPIC

THE EPIC CHEF CREW| From left to right: junior Harsh Jain, junior Shivateja Vemireddy, sophomore William Guo, senior Stephanie Lu, junior Jessica Luo, sophomore Raksha Narasimhan.

Harsh Jain: Just like the New England Patriots, my team was framed from the beginning of the challenge itself.

We grabbed our crappy utensils, and went to work. The time was ticking, and we didn’t have much time before the judges were coming. Looking at our luck, obviously nothing was going to go wrong (smh). Dab on em. However, Stephanie, being the amazing and perfect chef she is, turned the oven off while our pot pie was baking, and everything went in the garbage. Once again we were being denied our destiny to the top.

Despite what she may say, it was obvious that she was sabotaging us. I mean who turns off the oven when there’s food cooking in it? Still, we didn’t lose morale.

We picked ourselves off of the ground and did everything that we could to �ix everything. In the end, it was clear: we were the champs. The pot pie may have been a bit watery, but hey, who doesn’t like to have the leisure to be able to eat and drink their dinner? Dab on em.

Raksha Narasimhan: Before you jump to conclusions and judge our team by the not-so-great reviews we received, please let me state for the record that we were severely disadvantaged. From having to wait for the other teams to boil their vegetables to getting stuck with a pan that was too wide for the puff pastry sheets, Harsh and I were the underdogs the whole way. As if those events weren’t enough, another team “accidentally” turned off the heat while our pie was baking. Sabotage? I think yes.

Given that Shiva was sitting around most of the time and that the only conversations between Will and Stephanie consisted of him repeatedly informing her that he watched a video beforehand, I was feeling pretty glad to have Harsh as my partner--even if he was a little slow in realizing that him and I were a team.

Like most of our reviewers said, our pot pie did turn out more like soup with a thin layer of puff pastry �loating on top.

But overall, I got free dinner out of it and had a lot of fun cooking with Harsh--even though we came in last.

Without a doubt, these tips are a sure�ire way for you to smooth-talk (or I guess text) your way and �ind “the one”. cya Sophia “Love God” Ling (Boba count: 57/50) *Just like Jelena, results may vary.

ANTICIPATION| Junior Harsh Jain and sophomore Raksha Narasimhan prepare to put their masterpiece in the oven.

MASTERS OF KNIVES| Juniors Shivateja Vemireddy and Jessica Luo are hard at work chopping up all the vegetables.

Shivateja Vemireddy: Reading all the other accounts, I see downright outrageous accusations being made about the amount of work I did, or lack thereof. I did stuff... just not cooking stuff.

I was assigned the extremely dif�icult task of bringing a deep cooking pot, some milk and some knives. However, when I arrived with my cooking materials, those unappreciative peers of mine insulted every single one of my items. I had brought a brand new cooking pot, which Stephanie so rudely criticized for being “too deep” and Raksha and Harsh ended up using because they got the last pick (HA!), a gallon of milk that never got used and a butter knife (there was butter in the recipe so it seemed legit). After helping Jessica chop some vegetables, I went behind the camera to document the entire situation until I decided to carefully lift Jessica’s prized Chicken-less Chicken Pot Pie out of the oven.

And to all those who said I did no work, I would like to respond with, “Stephanie has a very cute dog.”

Jessica Luo: This challenge reduced me to tears. Literally, because I chopped the onion. Other than that, I’d say making the “pie” was not as catastrophic as I thought it would be.

I now know that it is possible--barely--to cut a raw carrot and potato with a dull bread knife. I also now know that when there are six teenagers crammed into one tiny kitchen with one sketchy oven and one decent knife, it isn’t really a contest to see which pie tasted the best, but more a race to throw it in the oven before any other team (except Harsh, who didn’t even know there were separate teams until about an hour after we started).

The most dif�icult part of the cooking wasn’t chopping vegetables with a dull knife, it wasn’t even trying to decipher the difference between parsley and chives, no, it was trying not to strangle William after he said “I know how to do this because I watched the video” a hundred times.

Regardless, I can con�idently say that Shiva and I won. Not only were we the �irst to �inish, we were also the only group that worked without arguing--which, if you know any of us, is quite an accomplishment.

William Guo: I think that out of this entire cooking challenge, what I learned most was that our female staffers are one hundred times more competent at cooking than I am. I credit Stephanie with why the mushroom pot pie turned out okay. If you are still new to cooking, I recommend working with or watching someone who actually knows what to do, and yes, that sometimes means WATCHING THE VIDEO. In my defense about the mushrooms, my good friend Recipe (pronounced Recip-ay ) only mentioned to cut them smaller, and in the video there is no mention of how to cut the mushrooms being diced already.

Luckily for me, Jessica was cutting mushrooms across from me, and monkey see monkey do right? Eventually everything turned out alright, as the recipe was relatively clear from there. My only gripe about was that we didn’t actually use enough salt, and while cooking the sauce I thought I might have added too much. Overall the experience was pretty fun, I would say that it was a good way to measure how much I knew. Still a lot of room for improvement.

Stephanie Lu: Okay �irst of all, I take offense to the notion that my oven is “sketchy.” It’s not! It’s a perfectly wholesome oven with good family values that just happens to smell like something’s burning whenever it gets turned on.

And speaking of non-sketchiness: sometimes people just have little accidents, you know?

And occasionally those cost people a good pie, but let’s look at the big picture here--by which I mean, let’s just focus on the fact that even though William kept talking about how great he was at watching cooking videos, he still didn’t know how to cut the mushrooms.

All joking aside, it wasn’t so bad. Even though Raksha was late and Harsh didn’t know what was happening for a good hour and Shiva made Jessica do everything and Jessica yelled at me for throwing away extra puff pastry (I’m sorry!!) and Will decided to introduce his new friend Fred the Friendly Oven Mitt and the reviewers ragged on my pie for not having enough salt, I had a good time. If you ever have the chance to bake a vegetable pot pie with �ive other people in a crowded kitchen and an attention whore of a dog (like mine), go for it.

TEAMWORK| Senior Stephanie Lu and sophomore William Guo work together to figure out what the recipe calls for.

ASB organizes Lynbrook’s own coffeehouse

BY URMILA VENKAT

I

n daylight, Lynbrook’s library is exactly what it seems--students and teachers �lood the area with constant chatter, printer noises, and the usual hustle and bustle of school life. But wait until nighttime, string up some holiday lights and bring together all the comfy seats in the library, and the place is transformed into an atmospheric performance area.

Inspired by the vibes of San Francisco’s wellknown hipster cafes, the ASB Recognition Committee put together Lynbrook’s �irst ever Coffeehouse Talent Show on Feb. 12. The event was open to all students who wanted to showcase talents ranging from music to comedy to slam poetry.

“When ASB Recognition got together to plan our events for the year, we de�initely wanted novel ideas,” said Kavya Nambiar, an ASB Recognition commissioner. “We knew that people who were interested in poetry didn’t have anywhere to express themselves, so we put together an event where they could express themselves in whatever way they wanted to: music, poetry, analysis or storytelling.”

After sipping hot chocolate and catching up with friends, attendees headed inside the library to watch the performers. The �irst performance of the night, freshman Tanvi Narvekar, played the acoustic guitar song Paper Hearts by Tori Kelly. Narvekar has been learning Carnatic music for ten years and guitar for three, and was a little hesitant at �irst to play at �irst.

“It’s always been nerves,” said Narvekar, “But I just felt inspired to �inally get on stage and perform

and share my talent.”

Music was not the only expressive art form demonstrated; slam poets, like senior Alekhya Surepeddi, also attended the Coffeehouse show. Surepeddi performed a slam poem she had written speci�ically for the occasion concerning her struggles with body image and her ultimate realization of self-con�idence.

“Slam poets are so passionate and enlightening; they make you see the world in a whole new way and question the status quo,” said Surepeddi.

Surepeddi has been writing slams for several years, but had never performed publicly until the Coffeehouse show. She plans to try performing again, especially after the support she received from this event.

“The whole point of my slams are to let people know they aren’t alone and that their feelings are valid and that they’re beautiful,” said Sureppedi. “When people came up to me in tears or told me how much my poem meant to them--it was the best feeling in the world.”

Senior Aditya Kotak gave a different performance than many of the others as his act centered around verses from a song from rapper Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning album “To Pimp a Butter�ly.” Kotak decided that the open forum would be a medium to express something he found intriguing.

“I ended up participating because last year I was really fascinated by Lamar’s message on racism and how he used hip-hop to convey that message. A lot of hip hop artists get a bad rep for talking only about sex, money, and fame, but Kendrick talks about race, religion, depression, poverty, and so much more, ” said Kotak. “To see someone adopt a particular style and take it back

to its original roots is commendable, and that’s why I wanted to share it with others.”

Seniors Raaghav MInocha and Negin Mortazavi, who were also inspired by rapping and singing, performed “Make it Home” by Hoodie Allen. Minocha started rapping in sophomore year, after making a song for a group project on Macbeth. He credits his friends with giving him the con�idence to be able to perform in front of others. “[My friends] Hinten and Ryan and I have been jamming since then,” said Minocha. “They gave me the con�idence to share my stuff with my friends, so i really owe them a lot in that respect.”

After the performers who had signed up �inished their acts, there was time for a few walk-on performances. Several original displays followed, from an impromptu time-travel inspired standup comedy dialogue to a nostalgia-inducing rendition of “Guy Love,” a song from the show “Scrubs,” performed by Minocha and fellow senior Kyle Sung.

“I think in ninth grade [our friend] Sid found the song, and we all fell in love with it. We sing it all the time in Ene’s class,” said Sung. “I was originally going to do an improv thing--since I’m a funny guy--but then I looked at Rags and remembered the Guy Love song. So I winked at Rags, and we decided to do it.”

ASB Recognition remains open to the idea of holding another Coffeehouse talent show.

“We’ve received a lot of good feedback saying that more people would bring their friends to this type of event,” said Nambiar. “We are de�initely considering it, but nothing is �inalized yet.”

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

Stealing the identities of cultures

The study of appreciation versus appropriation

BY RAKSHA NARASIMHAN & SAMHITA HONNAVALLI

E

AL

LP

HO TO S

TA K

EN

BY J

J IG

NA TES

CU

very culture borrows from other ones; that much is true. A multitude of ideas--from those as simple as Korea’s adaptation of Chinese black bean noodles to those as crucial as India’s zero--could not have spread, or even existed, without cultural cross-pollination. But there comes a point when simple borrowing becomes an unwarranted claim.

The term for such a claim--cultural appropriation--involves using traditions from other ethnic groups. The phrase often appears in the context of everything from slang, to music, to wrongfully adapted attire; Halloween stores warping traditional Native American clothing into stereotypical costumes, or caucausian girls wearing bindis at music festivals. Sometimes, appropriators may receive adulation for wearing or doing something that a member of the original culture would be mocked for.

“It’s kind of irritating when people say that a [caucausian] girl looks hot wearing a bindi, but apparently its a problem or ‘fobby’ when people of [the original] culture do it,” said Indian senior Shailja Somani. “The idea that [Westerners] can take parts of [another] culture without realizing the historical signi�icance about it is completely wrong.

They wear something like a bindi and saree without realising that 20 years ago women who wore that outside in this area faced severe amounts of discrimination just for showing their culture.”

One of the many modern-day examples of appropriation of Indian culture is Coldplay’s video for their latest single, “Hymn for the Weekend.” It features Beyoncé dancing in traditional Indian clothes and jewelry and shapes her into the main subject in a video revolving around Indian culture despite the fact that she is not of Indian descent. The music video also shows Holi without ascribing any meaning to its festivites, and the lead singer of Coldplay is also shown visiting India and inserting himself into Indian culture while using Indians as part of the static, inaccurately poor version of India the video uses as a backgroud. of.

Coldplay made themselves the main focus of the video and used Indians as props in a video that supposedly revolves around their own culture.

Celebrities, with their immense in�luence and visibility, can impact thousands of followers when they decide to take aspects of other cultures and use them for their own gain. Famous Caucausian celebrity and socialite Kim Kardashian West’s box braids were praised by major media outlets like Cosmopolitan and MTV, and the hairstyle was attributed to female boxers rather than black culture, where it originates.

On the other hand, African-Americans have long been criticized for their natural hair; even the U.S. Army severely limited or outright banned hairstyles like cornrows and braids as recently as 2014, though further protests led to a reversal of this policy a year later.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for white people to try having dreadlocks. It’s [more] like, when white people do it it’s cool, but when black people decide to embrace their

culture, it’s not cool or accepted,” said senior Tyesha Riley, who is AfricanAmerican. “Like Kim Kardashian’s box braids--box braids are a very normal thing for African-American girls to wear, to protect their hair… And they’ve been doing it since day one. But when Kim Kardashian does it, suddenly it’s a ‘cool’ thing to do.”

Despite these instances, borrowing from other cultures can also be fully justi�ied; after all, the world would be radically different had inventions like paper or the telephone not been globally adapted. Cultural innovations such as Arabic coffee or the English sitcom have also seamlessly passed into cultures outside of their own, raising the question of what is truly cultural appropriation.

“If cultural appropriation is used as a way for disrespect, mockery or sacrilegious purposes, then it is wrong,” said Gruenloh. “I think there is appreciation in appropriation, when it is not done with malicious intents.”

Lynbrook’s upcoming Silsilay showcase is one example of partaking in a culture without appropriation. During Silsilay, members of several different ethnic groups can be seen wearing traditional Indian attire and partaking in Indian dance. The show allows its audience to learn more about Indian culture, rather than serving as a place for non-Indians to take credit for a culture not their own.

Even so, it can be easy to go from harmless appreciation to unjusti�ied appropriation. In the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, model Karlie Kloss wore an out�it resembling a traditional Native American headdress. This type of attire is a sacred part of Native American culture; the feathers represent honor and respect, and had to be earned by tribe members.

Using a headdress as a fashion accessory only serves to further stereotypes and take away from Native American culture.

More abstract cultural aspects like religions and dialects can also become caricatures at the hands of others: barely understood tattoos of Om, a syllable considered the most sacred mantra in the Sanskrit language; or the adaptation of AAVE (African American Vernacular English) by those for whom AAVE is not their native dialect.

When those aspects include words derived from racial slurs, the negative effects of appropriation multiply.

Possibly the most prominent example of this is in AAVE: the word “n*****,” while mainly non-derogatory when used by African-Americans, becomes a racial slur in non-African-American mouths. Today it is frequently used as slang among teenagers and hip-hop songs, with little to no backlash from society.

“People might not think that using racial slurs is a big deal, but it can bring back a history of oppression directed at a particular group,” said sophomore Saketh Muvva, who is Indian.

Although the appreciation and inclusion of all cultures is important, there is a �ine line between showing respect for a culture and abusing its traditions.

And that line, when crossed, can strip away a culture until its original meanings are lost.

Technology’s role in human connection and communication

Is technology interfering with YouR friendships?

Exploring how modern devices influence relationships

M

r. Watson--come here--I want to see you.” On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the �irst words through a telephone call.

While Bell knew that his invention had the potential to revolutionize communication, he could not have expected an era where technology allowed much faster communication. Today, anyone can log into various social media accounts and instantly connect with many people they would never be able to see face-to-face.

Communication has changed drastically over the past few decades--of�icial letters have been replaced with phone calls, which are losing popularity against texting and chatting as the new mediums of conversation. Social media, on the other hand, has become the primary way to broadcast personal thoughts, ideas and photos to both friends and strangers.

One form of messaging that many students frequently �ind themselves turning toward are instant messaging applications. Like many other forms of digital messaging, apps like these are convenient but require each message sent to be constructed with more care than usual.

Words on a screen or page fail to create enough context for conversations and last online forever, even if deleted, so careless chatting may create unwanted drama.

“An advantage [of messaging applications] is the ability to be direct. You also have the luxury of taking your time formulating messages without the immediacy that’s required in real time conversations,” said school psychologist Brittany Stevens. “However, because our brains are tuned to speci�ically read the nuances in real time through listening to someone’s voice or reading their body language, it’s dif�icult to convey the same emotion through text and online apps.”

Despite these nuances, online messaging provides an instantaneous opportunity to contact people in areas that would otherwise be dif�icult to reach in person.

“[With online messaging], I’m able to talk to my friends in other states like Minnesota or people on the East Coast on a regular basis, which can really expand our friendship,” said junior Daisy Ni. But the lack of exclusivity on social media can also produce distrust in online communication. The notorious “seen at” function on several instant messaging acts can lead many to become anxious when their messages are seen but not responded to. As a result, the dynamics of the “chat” are changed--the person who has “ignored” the message now holds more power over the conversation.

In an experiment recorded in the journal Social In�luence, researchers encouraged people to post on Facebook and comment on their “friends’” posts. Without their knowledge, comments and posts from half of the original group was set up to receive no response. When asked about their existence, meaning and belonging after the experiment, the half that received no feedback reported feelings of low self-esteem and control, while the group that received regular feedback reported a markedly different response.

“There have been people who cancelled their Facebook accounts because of negative feelings it brought up--because they didn’t get the number of likes they wanted, or because of unwanted comments,” said Stevens.

“Seeing your friends all hang out with each other and then realizing that you’re being left out does bring out insecurities.”

In addition, technology can also deter intimacy. Emotions and context are often absent--as such, users may overlook sarcasm or send messages that lack empathy, which could make one’s interpretation of the messages different from their true meaning.

A research study conducted by UCLA on two groups of students found that students who had no access to electronics were more likely to pick up emotions and nuances in expression than students who used technology.

According to the Of�ice for National Statistics (ONS), people who use social media often have distinctive traits such as obsessive personalities, short attention spans, and little empathy from the lack of emotion conveyed

through messaging.

“Sometimes people aren’t very clear because of shortened words, incoherent phrases or because they don’t thoroughly explain something,” said senior Austin Cheng. “Messages also lack a lot of formality and can sometimes be misinterpreted as an insult.”

The evolution of messaging technology, however, has created new ways of communication that lack many of the drawbacks of online messaging. Video calling allows users to communicate with their loved ones and strengthen relationships, while avoiding the lack of emotions and other negative aspects of messaging.

“I generally don’t have the chance to meet often with friends in college or from summer programs, but with video calling I can talk to them whenever I want and keep my friendships intact,” said Ni. With newer audio and video calling technology, people can express themselves easily through facial expressions and vocal in�lections, and digital storage keeps track of conversation histories and allows for replays of interactions. The increased access to the Internet has resulted in more possibilities for contact, meaning that no one will be farther away from each other than the click of a button.

“I’m a senior, so lots of my friends have already gone to college. Online communication helps maintain friendships, even if they’re half a nation away,” said Cheng.

Online communication has become an essential part of the everyday lives of students, families and almost everyone with access to the Internet. Newer technological developments are slowly solving the problems with current messaging, but even the best program to date may not be able to fully emulate the experience of an in-person conversation. Given the advantages and disadvantages, the delicate balance between online communication and face to face conversations may be slowly leaning in favor of technological potential, and soon the majority of communication could be behind screens.

1

What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning for school?

A) Turn off your phone alarm B) Send a good-morning tweet to your followers C) Check Facebook and reply to all your messages D) Get up and greet your family

2

What do you do during intermission at a show with your friends?

A) Check your phone, buy snacks or take a bathroom break B) Instagram a selfie with your friends (#frontrowseat!)

C) Notice you’ve missed the whole movie because you were texting D) Remain seated and chat with your friends nearby

3

What do you do when your best friends starts talking to you?

A) Put your phone on vibrate, so there’s no disturbance B) Text others while trying to listen C) Browse social media and catch up on any gossip D) Set everything aside and give your friend your full attention

4

How would you spend a few minutes of spare time in a public place?

A) Call a friend to see if they’re available closeby B) Post a funny snapchat to your story for all to see C) Check if anyone has liked your Facebook status D) Rest your eyes, just for a little bit

5

Where do you put your phone when you’re at dinner with friends?

A) Keep it close in case of emergency B) Have it handy in your pocket for browsing social media every so often C) Hold onto it and continue texting

...

YOUR RESULTS Technology is probably...

Mostly A’s: being used at a healthy rate.

Mostly B’s: interfering with your friendships.

Mostly C’s: keeping you from establishing real connections with others.

Mostly D’s: of low importance in your life.

BY ALEXANDER XU & CATHERINE HUANG

Take the quiz to find out!

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIA LING

SEVEN QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE ZIKA VIRUS

BY ESHANI MEHTA

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXANDER XU & JJ IGNATESCU

T

he Zika virus, a mosquito-transmitted infection, has been spreading explosively in the Americas.

In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has even declared the Zika virus a Global Health Emergency.

The Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, although the spread of the virus through blood transfusion and sexual contact have also been reported.

One of the most pressing problems is the hypothesized effect on pregnant women, whose babies may have incomplete brain development and face a higher chance of getting microcephaly, a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than usual. The knowledge of the link between the Zika virus and microcephaly is evolving, but CDC recommends precautions.

Another pressing problem is the supposed connection between the Zika virus and the Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), which is a sickness of the nervous system in which a person’s immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and paralysis. While more research is being conducted on the link between Zika and GBS, some people with GBS have permanent damage, and one out of twenty people with GBS have died.

The possibility of locally-acquired cases, however, is very low, because the mosquito is not found in the U.S. Anybody who has traveled to a high-risk country should be aware of the symptoms and anybody traveling to these countries should keep in mind that the best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites.

Batting through the competition

BY RENUKA BELWAKAR

W

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

ALL PHOTOS BY SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

ith a strong squad of new team members and a new coach, the boys’ varsity baseball team is looking forward to this upcoming season with high expectations to qualify for Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs.

Hoping to rebound off of last year’s 10-16 record, this year’s team had a rough start. Despite proving able to face top competition throughout the season, the team lost its �irst game of the season to CCS participant Sequoia. Having lead for the most of the game, the men took a 6-4 lead into the sixth inning before losing 10-6.

“Based on our �irst game, we would like to improve on our ability to stay focused until the end of the game and hold the lead for the entire game,” said junior Uday Tripathi.

While poor chemistry may prove toxic to some teams, the baseball team has enjoyed considerable success in player bonding and unity. Many of the players have played with each other outside of school in organizations such as Cupertino’s Little League, allowing for a more tight-knit squad overall.

“We’ve all grown up together,” said sophomore Johnson Ku. “I’m looking forward to playing with them because the team chemistry is really good.”

This year’s squad has been bolstered by the addition of the JV members from last year’s league co-champions.

“I’m looking forward to replicating the success we had on JV last year, especially because it didn’t translate up [to varsity],” said junior Ethan Liu. “I think this is our year to shine.”

While coach Chris Norton chose not to have of�icial team captains, sophomore Andrew Destin and junior Reece Breuckman, the squad’s catchers, have taken on the roles.

“They are an extension of me out there and run the show from the squat,” said Norton. “I have complete con�idence in both of them.”

In previous years, Norton had coached the Lynbrook JV baseball team to many successful victories. This year was Norton’s �irst year coaching Lynbrook varsity, but he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team. Norton played for Archbishop Mitty and went on to play at Chapman University before starting his coaching career at Lynbrook.

“There’s a lot in baseball you cannot control, [such as]

where the ball is going to bounce or where it is going to lie,” said Norton. “The only thing you really can control is just putting maximum effort out there and getting better. I do not expect any of them to be perfect in every single thing they do, I just expect perfect effort.”

Having coached baseball for seven years, Norton is excited to see the young players in the team mature to their potential.

“I’m looking forward to everybody �inding out who they are as a person, so that they’ll �ind out who they are as a player on the baseball �ield,” said Norton. “We have great leadership on the team this year, and we are laying a strong foundation for something special.”

Although the team is optimistic about its playoff chances, the players have a few weaknesses that they would like to improve upon, including hitting, pitching and communication.

“Last year [communication] was lacking sometimes,” said Tripathi. “If we really get solid communication, I think it will de�initely help us take it to the next step.”

Last year, the team’s strengths were primarily with �ielding and baserunning; the team had 52 total stolen bases and a �ielding percentage of .885, both marks besting the national averages. Their record suffered inconsistent hitting and pitching, however, and as a result the team �inished below .500. To make CCS, the team must successfully retain its previous strengths and incorporate the batting and pitching prowess that brought last year’s JV team the league title into this year’s gameplan.

Some team players have already set their personal goals in order to help the team. Senior Eddie Fu hopes to hit at least a .300, which is a 30 percent batting average; this is calculated by dividing the total number of hits by the total number of at bats. Alongside Fu, Tripathi hopes to help the team by improving his Earned Run Average (ERA), a statistic measuring the effectiveness of a pitcher by counting the amount of earned runs he gives up per game.

“I think our team has a lot of potential,” said Tripathi.

“There’s a lot of raw talent on the team, it’s just a matter of unlocking it and really utilizing all the talent and that will hopefully lead to winning.”

The next Division League game will be held on March 8 against Gunn at Lynbrook.

Crying foul with spectators

O

ne Sunday afternoon, I stepped into the Lynbrook gym and laced up my basketball shoes. This time, however, I wasn’t playing—I was of�iciating a recreational game.

While refereeing, my nervousness at the prospect of making errors was not lessened in any way by the coaches. During one of the games I was refereeing, one team was far more aggressive than the other. Each time I called a foul on the aggressive team, the

team’s coach would yell at me and sarcastically laugh on occasion. When I let a softer foul slide in order to preserve the �low of the game,spectators from the other team would complain about the lack of a call. I was in a lose-lose situation, and the constant yelling made it dif�icult to concentrate on my work.

It was then when I realized just how dif�icult a referee’s job is. Not only does it require complete focus and the ability to make decisions under pressure, but one must also stay con�ident in his or her decisions throughout the game. A moment of hesitation could convey to the coaches that a referee is easy to manipulate. Each time I paused before making a call, I could feel the eyes of the spectators on me. Whenever I appeared to be confused, the coaches would try to take advantage of me and coax me into calling a play in their favor.

The job involves many crucial aspects, and referees do not get half of the credit nor the respect that they deserve. Many do not have a problem with berating or harassing referees; they do not, however, consider the fact that of�icials work a very dif�icult job and that they are vital for games to function.

At high school-level games during the

school season, I’ve heard coaches screaming at referees if the of�icials do not call a timeout on their �irst request or a foul in favor of their team. I’ve heard parents–so called “role models” for their children–shouting obscene insults and accusing referees of accepting money from the other team’s coach.

From my experience, players do not play as large of a role in the disrespect of referees as coaches and spectators do; they are generally too focused on playing the game to do more than groan in frustration. However, at one of my more competitive club games, I witnessed a particularly rude incident in which a player lashed out at a referee. Two minutes remained in the last quarter, and the score was tied. An of�icial called a foul against one of the players on the other team, and she completely lost her temper--she shouted at the referee and swore loudly. Of course, she was swiftly pulled out of the game, and the referee called a technical foul against their team. But I will never forget the referee’s scared reaction when the player �irst turned on him--I realized that he was just another person doing his job, vulnerable to criticism and utterly capable of making mistakes.

Granted, there are a few referees that are ignorant about the sport theyof�iciate for-they may not care at all about their job. There are countless of�icials, however, who are devoted to the sport they referee and who genuinely put in all their effort when they work.

Although the heat of the game may push coaches, players and spectators to lash out at referees, stereotyping all of�icials as being incompetent and apathetic to the sport leads to unfair treatment of the referees that genuinely attempt to do their job.

On occasion, a referee may make a few blatantly bad calls. I’ve been in positions like that, where I regret blowing my whistle or letting a particularly aggressive foul slide; however, changing my mind would only further the annoyance of the coaches and spectators. Referees are only human--we make mistakes, and in the heat of the game, it is not always possible to rectify them.

Although tempers might rise during competitive sporting events, it is important not to let them get the best of us and to treat referees with respect. After all, they play an essential role in sports and rarely receive anything but backlash for their efforts.

Boys volleyball sets up for CCS run

BY URMILA VENKAT

ly], so this year, our physical traits are our weakness. We really have to focus on getting every ball up and utilizing ollowing a third straight Central Coast Section every ball as another chance to execute offense.”

(CCS) playoff appearance, the boys’ volleyball Whereas players on past teams were taller, this year’s team hopes to extend its post-season success team will try to make up for the lack of height by centerthis year. In order to make CCS again, the team is play- ing the game on technical skills and speed. ing to different strengths and focusing on overcoming “Even though we aren’t as tall as we wish we were, their weaknesses. we’re a lot faster,” said Chu. “We can focus on being at the With a new squad of players, the team must adapt right spot at the right time and keeping the ball alive, so to playing without their star players Aaron Huang, Ali we can constantly keep on the attack while maintaining Khan and Numair Baseer from the graduating class of our defense.”

2015. Last year, the varsity volleyball team won 21 of An advantage from last year that has carried over is 31 games over the course of the season, ending with a team chemistry; the players are much closer this season, CCS quarter-�inals match against Los Gatos. The sea- allowing for a more effective group dynamic. Freshman son average was 10.6 kills, or point Anson Li, one of three underclassscoring plays, per set, with Huang, men on the team, was initially worKhan and Baseer leading the attack “IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ried about not �itting in with the oldwith a combined season total of 703 er players, but his mindset changed WINNING, IT’S ABOUT kills. The team is optimistic that, with after bonding with his teammates.

PLAYING TO THE BEST OF a more defensive strategy, they can “People obviously play at differOUR CAPABILITIES AND make a run at another CCS berth. ent levels, but that didn’t make a “We’re probably more defensive KNOWING THAT WE TRIED difference,” said Li. “My teammates oriented [than last year’s team] bebecame my quickest forming family, OUR HARDEST.” cause we don’t really have that many and I’m completely glad and thankful KEVIN CHU that I’m part of that.” attacking options,” said junior co-capSENIOR tain Nathan Wang. “We just have to set “I realized that because volleyup in a way that allows the defense to ball’s a team sport, everyone’s there create plays. Everything we do is just to just help each other out.” said based on our back row [back line of sophomore Raj Mehta, also new to players in a game].” the team. “The team, as a whole, is really open and invitTo co-captain and senior Kevin Chu, there were ing. They really just push you to work harder.” both advantages and disadvantages to last year’s reliDuring practices, Coach Peter Kim wants to ensure ance on the team’s stars. that each player, regardless of age or class, will contribute “It was both a curse and a blessing,” said Chu. “We their strengths to the team. could really rely on them for every single point, but “We don’t have one single star player hauling the team then if they didn’t play well that day, no one else had this year; instead we’re �illed with equally talented and the capability to pull the weight of the others. This athletic players, so I’m hoping to see each and every one year, we need to go back to the fundamentals.” of them equally contributing and playing as a single unit,” The team plans to improve foundational skills said Kim. while learning how to work cooperatively. From With last year’s talented squad of seniors now a disa combination of these factors, the team hopes to tant memory, the team looks forward to improving and achieve success. enhancing team chemistry and individual skillsets.

“We’ve been together for a long time, so we all “The team is made up of a majority of seniors, so for know how each other play and it’s easy for us to com- us, this year is a year to really go all out,” said Chu. “It’s municate with each other,” said junior co-captain Na- not just about winning, it’s about playing to the best of than Wang. “Last year we were a lot bigger [physical- our capabilities and knowing that we tried our hardest.”

SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

F

BY NANDA PANDIAN

F

ollowing the success of Lynbrook’s annual Powderpuff competition and the National Football League’s 50th Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Athletics Unlimited (AU) hosted its fourth Super Bowl tournament from Feb. 8 to 12.

The format of the tournament consisted of six teams in total, with seven players on the �ield at all times.

AU began preparing for the tournament with a basic meeting in which they discussed equipment, referees and timings of the game plays. AU co-president Mukund Hari assigned roles to each of�icer and began publicizing the event over winter break. They had three teacher referees: social studies teacher Jeffrey Bale, paraeducator Tim Wehner, and PE teacher Ray Wright. The of�icers collected balls and acted as “markers” for the yard lines.

“I want to tell my of�icer team for next year to �ind a way to publicize the Super Bowl to viewers and not just players because there were lots of players and we had cut some out,” said Hari.

The majority of the teams did not practice much prior to the event--some went over offense game plays, but many ended up playing with no game plan. Despite the lack of preparation, however, most teams felt that they played well compared to what they had expected.

“I thought we did amazing for how little preparation we had and how uncoordinated we were,” said junior player Kyle Huang, who was part of the winning team.

The tournament concluded when Kung Pow Chicken beat Broncos Suck 14-7.

“The other team had a stronger offense, but we had a stronger defense, so technically the game could have went any way,” said junior Brandon To from Kung Pow Chicken.

Although the AU Super Bowl was set up in a competitive manner, the ultimate goal of the event was to promote recreational activity, with the hopes that the end result would not affect each player’s experience.

“In the spur of moment [winning the tournament] was the best feeling in the world, but when I look back at it I see a quality pickup game of football between two great teams

who both had a common goal to have fun,” said sophomore Garrett Riley of Kung Pow Chicken.

Despite the players’ positive feedback of the game play, many felt that a bigger audience would have made the game more exciting. For next yext, AU wants to promote this event more to garner large audiences. The of�icers also want to see more non-football players participating.

“I enjoyed [the tournament] a lot and had quite a few signups, but I wanted more people to watch and cheer on the teams,” said junior of�icer Yokiya Ito. This year AU encountered quite a few issues that they plan to tackle properly next year. Due to the delays that were experienced when players were slow to come to the �ield, AU of�icers were forced to shorten the games; next year, they plan on enforcing punctuality more strictly. Dif�iculties keeping track of equipment was also another factor that interrupted the �low of their plans.

“I feel that our team was slightly disorganized in keeping track of our equipment,” said Hari. “With ASB athletics’ Powderpuff event we needed to stay more organized with our own footballs and �lags.”

In addition, players lost �lags or damaged them on accident which created greater hardships. Thus, for next year, AU of�icers plan to check every �lag before handing them out and to make sure all equipment is set. Following from the issue of �lags, AU of�icers agreed to get the actual 10-yard markers for next year so they do not have to share with ASB Athletics.

“Next time, I would like our of�icer team to be independent from ASB Athletics, to prevent any confusions like this year,” said Hari.

Besides these main issues, AU wants to bring back commentary during the entire game, enforce stricter refereeing and increase the hype during their publicity stage. Overall, though, Hari considers the tournament a success.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for those who couldn’t play competitively due to circumstances,” said Hari. “And we achieved our goal of helping students have an outlet to have fun with friends by playing sports.”

ALL PHOTOS BY SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY—EPIC

Athletics Unlimited hosts 4th Super Bowl

When I grow up...

BY SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY

I

f you asked any student at Lynbrook what profession they’re aiming for in the future, you would most likely receive a job that feel in the medical or engineering �ield.

What happened to us to make us stop dreaming? When we were kids, our imagination led us on great adventures to the dark, mysterious attic, or the expansive water park known as the bathroom.

Kids weren’t afraid to dream; unadulterated by parents, society and reality, the �irst thought that came to mind would be their sole focus and nothing could change it. Before factors like money, success and responsibility came to mind, many children, just like these students when they were younger, had some pretty interesting ideas as to what jobs they wanted to have.

Right: A jockey is a person who rides and races horses for the sake of competition or sport. Well, “jockey” could also be used to describe someone who partakes in the exotic sport of camel racing, but I am pretty sure that aspect is not what freshman Christina Cui had in mind when she dreamed about becoming a jockey in her adulthood. Cui’s early decision to become a jockey stemmed from her immense passion or obsession with horses for a long time as a child. This job is the perfect instance of something a child would �ind appealing but a matured adult or teenager would probably shut down really quick because of its extremely high chance of getting a permanent, debilatating injury. The plus side is, however, this sport is shown to result in tremendous weight loss... mainly because of the common state of dehydration in jockeys. But still... weight loss!

Left: If you were overwhelmed by the dangers of riding a horse, imagine the possibilities in space.

These potential threats of the lonely, cold void known as space, however, didn’t seem to register in sophomore Kevin Chacko’s toddler head, who was mostly interested in learning about space through watching numerous programs about the different planets in our solar system. However, the thought of taking a trip on your favorite rocketship, would seem interesting to a toddler. Chacko is now focused on becoming a biomedical engineer.

Below: This profession is de�initely not as dangerous as the previous, unless you consider the possibilty of getting a paper cut, in which case this might be the most frightening.

Being a writer is what junior Danlin Lillemark wanted to be growing up. Lillemark spent most of her time as a kid immersed in a myriad of �ictional

worlds through reading books.

She read these books with the hopes of one day becoming a writer to create her very own fantasy worlds. Now she wants to learn computational biology or bioinformatics.

Bottom left: Senior Adish Jain wanted to be a �ire�ighter and has a story of how it came to be. He recalls going to Los Angeles as a kid and hiking up a mountain at night. He eventually reached the top of the hike, but got stuck there somehow when the time was really late.

With the simple command of three numbers on his cellphone, he summoned a helicopter to his rescue. He vividly remembers the bright lights of the helicopter shining down on him as a �ire�ighter descended down to aid him in his predicament. He realized after this experience that �ire�ighters not only �ight �ires, but are there for anyone.