Assassin’s new creed
Traditional senior game, Assassin, is revised with new rules and regulations after administration and teachers voice certain concerns BY NIKITA DHESIKAN & IRENE HSU
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o more “targets” huddling behind sticker sheets, no more “killing” with spoons and no more “assassins” lurking on campus: Assassin is now Some Wicked Awesome Game (SWAG) involving “assignments” rather than “targets,” “tagging” rather than “killing” and “SWAGgers” rather than “assassins.” On Feb. 8, senior class president Sameer Kausar and treasurer Jared Kim met with principal Gail Davidson and assistant principal David Erwin to discuss what was once Assassin, a senior game run by officers. The switch to running the game with adm i n i s t ra t i o n began as an accident when the senior class officers sold tickets in the Associated Student Body (ASB) den. Kim says, “There are very specific rules surrounding usage of the den and the cash box. We were not aware of the rules, and our officers and advisors were informed that SWAG had become a schoolsanctioned activity after we had sold the tickets.” By selling in the den, the officers had inadvertently involved the administrators. In addition, Cupertino High School (CHS) went in a Code Red lockdown on Feb. 6 due to confusing a Nerf gun brought to the school for Assassins with a real gun. Davidson says, “If we had just gone on with the game, it wouldn’t have been respectful to their situation, and we wouldn’t have learned from the experience.” The name change from “Assassin” to “SWAG” by senior class secretary Vishal Kal was also due to the mishap at CHS. Senior Jay Park expresses the sentiment of many seniors, saying, “I was definitely frustrated since we, as seniors,
won’t get the chance to partake in the same game as the seniors of previous years had.” In past years, teachers designated “safe zones” in their classrooms, deciding whether or not students could play the game during class; due to teacher complaints in previous years that the game caused commotions, tardies, and even absences, “safe zones” have changed to “safe times,” which are all instructional periods. SWAG is scheduled to end in April before standardized testing, cutting the game short by two months. By awarding cash to winners, the game
had technically been a form of gambling. The game will now fund prom, and winners will receive bids to the senior prom and picnic. However, many students are dissatisfied with the new rules. Senior Marcus Yee says, “In past years, we’ve seen people hiding behind bushes to ‘kill’ others and people running after each other, but we won’t get to see that this year.” Sophomore Sharon Pneh also adds, “It’s now going to be hard for underclassmen to witness [SWAG].” Davidson says, “I’m glad that Lynbrook is a place where administrators, teachers, and students can come together to create something fun and classy. We are stepping up and showing the way.” Lynbrook’s SWAG is expected to be used as a model in the coming years for interested schools, though as of now, no other schools in the Fremont Union High School District are playing any version of it.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SHANNON CHAI & AUSTIN YU
Committee formed to redraft ASB Constitution BY JACOB ANTONY
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ive years ago, the Associated Student Body (ASB) drafted a constitution that would provide a strong framework for how ASB functioned. And for five years, it lay forgotten in the ASB den until ASB treasurer Andrew Wong found it. “No one knew it existed,” says Wong, “But we reviewed it, and found a lot of things that were just outdated, like the executive council, which is now the leadership class.” With changing school policies, it became clear that it was time to revise the constitution. It will be a transparent processwritten by and for the students. Students are now allowed to submit ideas via email.
The goals are to increase awareness of the way ASB functions and to create a set of guidelines, not rules, that everyone can agree upon. Sophomore Eloy Fernandez supports this process, saying, “If students see something they don’t like in the constitution, they’ll say something.” A large part of the constitution’s revisions will focus on Intra-District Council (IDC), Homecoming and clubs at Lynbrook. Assistant Principal David Erwin says, “It’s about following rules…the clubs help
[the school], and we’ll help clubs operate better.” With separate sections dedicated to club bylaws and a club constitution almost completed, the committee is looking to “tighten regulations and paperwork that people have to go through when they want to create a club,” says club commissioner Candance Liu. “We want to make the procedures clearer for clubs doing activities [...]the previous constitution was just too vague.” On Feb. 13, club presidents held a meeting
to discuss the changes. “Hopefully [the clubs] have already fulfill most of the [new] requirements,” says club commissioner Anika Dhamodharan, “Club bylaws will affect how clubs govern themselves, while the club constitution will dictate how ASB supports [them].” There will also be active member quotas and increased auditing. “My hope is that whatever result we have in writing this constitution is [...] meaningful and [will help us] continually improve,” Erwin says. Fernandez says of student participation in redrafting, “Students are a majority in this school compared to ASB members, so the odds of a genius idea for the constitution will be a lot higher if students are able to participate.”