Issue 3

FIELD SHOW PERFORMANCE:

MARCHING BAND AND COLOR GUARD IN 1001 NIGHTS

BY KRISTEN WONG AND CHRISTINA LIU

Through Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and more, marching band and color guard explore the world through music and dance.

ALL PHOTOS USED WITH PERMISSION OF MARTIN ECKERT

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MARCHING FORWARD| Marching Band takes the field. In clockwise order from left: The marching band at the Homecoming Game; top: junior Jessica Sheu with a ball; right: marching band and color guard perform their show together; next page: one of the movements of the performance.

92.45

First place: 92.45/100 points, the average points marching band finished with.

ast week, marching band ended their season with a 1st place win at the Northern California Band Association (NCBA) finals at Fairfield High School. After months of practices and competitions, the marching band finished their season with an average of 92.45 points out of 100 for their last show.

In August, marching band and color guard began rehearsing their fall program, titled “1001.” In the folktale collection “One Thousand and One Nights,” Queen Scheherazade tells one thousand and one tales. Appropriately, the five movements of the show correspond with five of the tales from the story.

From the jazzy “Night In Tunisia” to the slow “Arabian” ballet, from the Nutcracker to the Arabian-Bollywood “Dijinn” drum solo and “Finale,” viewers audiences were taken on a journey through the Middle East, experiencing bits of culture from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria and more. In contrast to past shows, where only one genre was performed, the medley of nationalities presented a greater challenge to marching band’s prevailing success.

“This season’s show was very non-traditional; it encompassed more visual effects from the band compared to last year’s, and the music was very unique,” said sophomore trombone player Ryan Eckert.

The color guard conveys the story through dance, while the marching band is more involved in visuals, which include a dance feature. “[The dance] that we perform looks really good when we’re wearing our uniforms and moving in unison,” said freshman trumpet player Phoebe Soong. “In my opinion, it’s one of the best visuals in the show.”

One particular highlight of the marching band performance that sets it apart from former shows is its inclusion of different-sized retractable balls. Each of the three large balls represents a story told by Scheherazade and the small balls supplement visuals like rotating blocks.

Besides carrying a heavier burden in terms of marching drills and other exercises, the band members’ differences in age, skill level and personality were at first detrimental to the team chemistry.

“In the beginning, [the marching band] was a bit disconnected because we struggled to understand everyone’s strengths and weaknesses,” said Drum Major senior Emily Su. “Now, we’re all good friends and no matter what, we win and lose as a team.”

The hard-trodden road to glory is not one unfamiliar to the band; members had already gotten a taste of tough competition. Two weeks ago, on Nov. 9, the marching band and color guard performed at the Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Long Beach for the Bands of America competition. Despite facing higher-ranked marching bands from Ayala High School, Foothill High School and Saratoga High School, they were still able to earn 11th place.

“We had a lot more choreography and jazz music in our show this year so it took a while for everyone to get used to the new style,“ said baritone player senior Srinath Ganesh.

Nonetheless, 11th place was a great achievement.

Although place-

DRUM MAJOR

on Nov. 16. During the annual petal ceremony, each member of the marching band and color guard was given a flower pin as a representation of their season.

Seniors were then given opportunities to speak in front of the entire marching band and color guard. From marching memories to future goals, bittersweet speeches were given and tears were shed in remembrance of the marching season. In the midst of sobs, heartache and last words, senior color guard member Annie Liu commented on receiving her final pin. “[It] was very sentimental; we had senior speeches and everyone was very emotional,” said Liu. “I put all that feeling into my performance. I focused more on making the best of my show and performing rather than worrying about technical mistakes.”

Like Liu, color guard captain senior Sharon Pneh reflected on what color guard has taught her throughout her last four years of participation.

“In marching band, I’ve learned a lot about responsibility,” said Pneh. “I try to keep my guard life and personal life separate and when it comes to managing my time; I tell myself to ‘just do.’ I always put 110% into practice so that when I step off the field, I have no regrets.”

EMILY SU

ments have been inconsistent throughout past seasons, the marching band and color guard have risen to the 5A class this year, the highest class in their circuit.

While the band did not make it into finals at the Long Beach competition, they ended their three-day trip on Nov. 10 taking home a trophy.

One day later, the band was back at practice, preparing for NCBA finals the following weekend. Over time, the rigorous training hours have impacted some marching band members in more ways than one.

“We spend a lot of time [practicing],” said alto saxophone player sophomore Shayok Neogi.

“It’s taught me not to procrastinate and sit around; marching band keeps me active.”

Aside from learning some lessons on time management, marching band members have also bonded with each other as a result of the countless hours spent rehearsing.

“The experience is definitely worth it,” said freshman Kimberly Ku. “I’ve made a lot of new friends and as a team we were able to achieve great goals.”

Emotions ultimately struck during the last competition of the season, which took place in Fairfield, Calif.

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KASTURI PANTVAIDYA —EPIC

ince middle school, Drum Major senior Emily Su knew she was born to do marching band.

“I just had one of those epiphanies that this was what I was meant to do,” Su said. “It must have been pretty hard to imagine - my short stature barely able to hold up this huge drum - but at that moment I knew it was a passion that I wanted to follow for many years to come.”

And follow it she did. Like many other students, she juggled stacks of homework and a plethora of extracurricular activities in between countless marching band practices. Su did not, however, feel an intense amount of stress and was able to find a balance between band and work.

“When you’re doing something you love, it’s easy to find time for it,” said Su. “For me, everything sort of falls into place and my schedule naturally adapts to my priorities.”

Su also performs in the El Camino Youth Symphony. Practicing long hours both day and night has taught her a couple things about success and the mentality of those who tend to be detrimental to the success of the band.

“If you’re the person bringing the band down, the weakest link who always makes all the mistakes, that’s the worst feeling in the world,” said Su. “You have to keep on pushing yourself to be the best you can be so that you can push others up to that level as well.”

Akin to Lynbrook athletic teams, marching band requires the same amount of hard work and dedication. Despite the similarities between sports and band, there are differences.

“There are no bench players or substitutes and in some ways that aspect of competition, fighting for your spot on the starting roster, is lost,” said Su. “In general, we’re all just one big happy family and I think that’s the special thing about [marching band].”

Throughout high school, Su has participated in numerous band competitions across the country. Her most memorable show, however, was this year’s fall program, “1001.”

“The music, the dancing, the equipment: it all fit together perfectly and everyone had a good time,” Su said. “Even though the theme was extremely different from past shows, Ryan [the show designer] did a great job in bringing everything together and making it very entertaining both for us and the audience.”

There were many highs and lows of the season, but as Su said, “the show must go on.” In retrospect, Su recounts her overall marching band experience.

“Being in a marching band is not necessarily a career I want to pursue,” Su said. “It’s more like a passion, a hobby that I was to keep with me by my side for the rest of my life.”

A NEW BLUEPRINT

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY DHIRAJ NALLAPOTHULA

CHANGING UP THE LIBRARY //A Global Learning Center was planned as an extension to the library and envisioned as a flexible meeting room.

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espite the changes that have occurred over the past 48 years since its founding, Lynbrook has retained the brick walls and decades of history that make it the campus that it is today. The arrival of Lynbrook’s Facilities Master Plan (FMP), an architectural plan which proposes changes to the layout, design, and structure of Lynbrook’s facilities, will most likely alter the look and feel of the campus.

According to Principal John Dwyer, the FMP “takes into consideration what the needs of the school are, in terms of student learning needs, staff needs for facilities, parent community needs for the building ... and requirements from the government.”

The plan integrates these needs into a blueprint for what the facilities will look like and what tools they will contain to effectively serve the community.

The architecture firm designing the FMP, Quattrochi Kwok Architects (QKA), is still a few months away from a first draft.

The FMP planning committee, a group composed of four student representatives from each grade, two parents, four teachers, two classified staff members, two board members and the principal, is working with the architects to develop the plan.

“One task of the site committee members will be to provide feedback to the greater Lynbrook community and are also tasked with providing feedback to us so from the greater community so that everyone is informed,” said Nick Stephenson, QKA Project Architect for Lynbrook’s FMP.“We will be asking ques-

tions about connection to the community, imagery of the campus, how the student body moves through the campus, what are the major strengths or shortcomings of the campus, etc. It will be the answers to these questions that formulate the ideas for moving forward.”

The planning committee is currently holding meetings with Lynbrook staff to get their opinions on what changes need to be made. On November 26, the planning committee and the architects will hold a meeting in the Flex Lab with five to ten student legislative representatives from each grade to discuss ideas for the FMP. That same evening, there will be a meeting with parents and the community members during the principal’s coffee meeting in room 72.

Last year, Lynbrook had plans for the construction of two new buildings: an additional office building and the Global Learning Center, which was to be an extension of the library.

The purpose of the extended office building was to expand the facilities for the counselors, office staff and administrators. The Global Learning Center was intended to be a flexible space to hold meetings, and would have included movable furniture and improved technology.

The previous construction plans were put on hold so that the school’s needs as a whole could be taken into account, rather

than just the needs of one part of the school.

The old construction plan was not entirely scrapped—parts of the previous plans could still be incorporated into the FMP, depending on what are determined as the biggest priorities for the school.

“The idea is to get the master plan going so we figure out whether [the previous plans] still fit with what the overall school needs are,” said Dwyer.

“Our superintendent’s idea is that we really need to step back from what we have currently got planned and create this master plan. [We need to] figure out what our priorities are as we’re going into the 21st century, what our technology needs are [and] what changes to buildings we might want to make.”

The school faculty have varying ideas on what the school could use to reach its full potential as a learning facility. For Dwyer, the top priorities for the school are safety and access; examples include fixing uneven concrete and making the school more accessible for disabled students.

“There are parts of this campus that really need to change because people who are disa

ALL PHOTOS BY KASTURI PANTVAIDYA GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY PRASANN RANADE

disabled can’t get access, so that’s got to be a priority,” said Dwyer. “Safety first, of course, and access for others second and then the third piece, although it’s very important, is how we support student learning with the environment.”

Although all of these ideas are still speculative and nothing has been finalized as of yet, the committee has also discussed adding, removing and relocating buildings.

“An interesting topic of discussion is trying to change the cafeteria up a little bit because, as most Lynbrook students know, the cafeteria is probably underused, [more so] than it is used in other schools,” said Prashant Pokhriyal, sophomore class president and planning committee member. “We were thinking of doing something to the cafeteria, whether that means making it two stories and providing Wi-Fi, or having sort of a cafe feel with tables, just to make people feel more comfortable and create a better environment.”

Some teachers, however, feel apprehensive toward potential changes to the campus. PE teacher Jennifer Griffin, who was on the planning committee for the previous construction project, worries that excessive modernization could reduce the historic charm of certain buildings.

“Some of the ideas looked great, but the thing that worried me the most about it was that it was a lot of floor-to-ceiling windows,” said Griffin. “If we started to do that on our campus, we would lose the brick, and we would lose the feel of the school.”

As a former Lynbrook student, Griffin car-

ries ties to the school.

“When I came back and started working here, everything was still Lynbrook. There are new buildings, but they tried to stay with that brick theme, so it still looks like Lynbrook.”

Construction for the project will be paid for by a bond measure, which is a tax that is applied to the community until enough mon-

ey is raised to pay for the project Dwyer’s hopes are for the school to be a welcoming environment for the community and an effective teaching facility for teachers and students.

Dwyer summed up his vision for the school: “The most aesthetically beautiful but functional place for all kids to learn the best that they can.”

Science teacher Amanda Alonzo talks about what she would like to see with the changes in the FMP. “I would love to see outdoor learning spaces and outdoor space converted into a more green, less pavement and more fun and inspiring space. Ideally, my classroom would have more natural light to minimize the use of electricity during the day and let plants grow.

Having more flexible or movable furniture would allow for different learning spaces indoors.

It would be wonderful to have more lab space for students’ individual research where it doesn’t impede on teachers’ prep space or classroom space.”

Beating the bell with a modified tardy policy

BY SABRINA JEN

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On Nov. 12, students and parents received an email from principal John Dwyer addressing the tardy policy. It explains that the definition of a tardy remains unchanged, but reiterates its importance.

The administration has been sending emails to parents whenever their students are late to a class, in order to prevent some unnecessary tardies.

In the past, punctuality was a school policy that had never been actively enforced by the administration. Because this is their first year, Dwyer and assistant principal Eric Wong decided to collect information and statistics regarding tardiness during the first 11 weeks of school to get a better understanding of the particular situation at Lynbrook. After realizing that it was a problem, they created the new system.

The new system was created mainly based on data indicating that there were a large number of tardies during first and second period.

“Our main goal was to have a policy clearly communicated to students and parents,” said Wong, noting that few school policies are clear. “As the data shows, tardies have gone

down significantly since the clarification.”

Wong also mentioned that students have been responsive to this particular system.

“Most students will change their behaviors if we talk to them about why it matters,” he said. “Being on time is not only an important skill, but it also allows students to get as many instructional minutes as possible.”

Junior Yaoyao Pei agrees that the possibility of having an email sent home due to a tardy motivates her. “Because I don’t want to go through the trouble of potentially having to explain to my parents about why I was late, I try to avoid it more now.”

Dwyer feels the need to provide a model workplace environment for students by emphasizing good habits such as being on time.

He also stresses the importance of respecting teachers by not being tardy.

“Teachers are often distracted by students coming in late,” he said. “They sometimes have to wait for students who are late to begin their lessons, or even have to re-teach the material to tardy students.”

Although Spanish teacher Kim Revilla does not have a class during first period this year, she believes that the new system

of communication between the school and parents is a step toward potentially having a uniform policy for teachers regarding future tardiness.

“We never really had an organized formal policy in terms of tardies that was followed by all teachers, but I think that it would be beneficial to many teachers, since no one likes students trickling into the classroom after the bell rings,” she said.

Some teachers, like math teacher Patrick Ellington, however, are unsure about what the purpose of the new system is.

“Students who are always late will not change their habits,” he said. “It would be interesting to see the numbers in a couple more weeks.”

For junior Kenneth Vaz who drives himself to school, being on time for first period is a constant struggle due to traffic issues.

“The system doesn’t really help me since the traffic does not just go away,” he said.

For students or parents who still have doubts regarding the tardy policy, Dwyer advises them to read the official policy on page eight of the student planner for further explanation of the policy.

tardies during Homecoming week, week 8, the most of the 13 weeks

average number of tardies each week for the first 13 weeks

tardies in week 13, the week the tardy policy was enacted

516

362

253

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION

LHS GOES MOBILE WITH ITS OWN APP Gallery: a collage of school photos can be seen under the “More” section

BY FRINA REDOLOZA

Map & Staff: Map of the school and teacher information can be found here.

Calendar: School events and holidays are listed on a calender.

Home: homecoming photos from skits and the staff gauntlet are here.

Academics: events and schedule changes are listed here.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION

Seniors James Lee and Alex Wong develop a mobile app for the school

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hen does class end again?”

This is a commonly heard phrase in Lynbrook classrooms.

With the constant need for efficiency, taking out a planner or straining to read the small print of the bell schedules mounted in classrooms becomes irksome.

To remedy this, seniors James Lee and Alex Wong took on the task of planning, designing and programming an app to provide convenient access to basic school information such as a teacher directory, a school calendar, a school map, a photo gallery, an RSS feed with academic, athletic and school life updates, and, of course, a bell schedule.

The LHS News application, optimized for iPhone iOS 7, is scheduled for official release in December .

Almost a year ago, Lee, Wong and senior Henry Shangguan formed iCode Studios, a registered non-profit organization created to provide other non-profit organizations with useful mobile apps. The team fielded several ideas, ranging from a club logistics organization app to a mobile-optimized photo sharing app for student photographers. As they deliberated their options, they realized that a Lynbrook app would be the best first project.

“The LHS News app reaches out to a broader community and helps Lynbrook as a whole, rather than just a select group of people,” said Wong.

“And because the Lynbrook app was not extremely hard, but also not extremely easy to make, we thought it would be a good project to start on,” finished Lee. The developers started by scouring the web for in-depth tutorials on how to design and code iOS applications. Throughout their

“Even though I sometimes sacrificed sleep to code, working on the app made me happier because I knew I was making something for Lynbrook.” //James Lee

KASTURI PANTVAIDYA—EPIC

yearlong endeavor, Lee and Wong worked separately toward the same end.

“I’m the programmer,” said Lee. “And Alex is the manager and designer. Henry helped a lot with coming up with ideas and giving us tips.”

Apart from research, planning proved to be mostly smooth sailing since the first stage of development consisted of deciding what features to include or leave out. They spent most of January and February deciding what features were most important for the application.

“There was too much to add and not enough storage space for the kind of app we were planning, so we had to be very selective,” said Wong.

As the designated designer, Wong transformed the ideas from their planning binder into full color drafts on Photoshop.

Although he felt confident in his Photoshop abilities, he discovered that designing these graphics also required additional re-

search and contemplation.

“I had to learn several new techniques to be able to make previews and photoshop multiple designs so we could decide which to use,” said Wong.

At the start of February, Lee and Wong anticipated the next development stage: coding. The first draft was finished quickly, motivating and elating the team.

“I remember James telling me over chat that he had the first draft finished,” said Wong.

“It was really exciting and we got together the next day to play around with it.”

When the team separated due to summer plans, meetings were put on hold and Lee continued the coding process alone.

“The coding stage was definitely the busiest and hardest stage because I did not know how to code some parts,” said Lee. “Thankfully, I was doing this during the summer, so I had a lot of time. Going through those challenges was fun because I felt like I was improving.”

Draft after draft, the LHS News application began to take on a more refined form. The app’s progress, however, was occasionally hindered due to the team members’ opposing preferences.

“We had quite a few drafts that were supposed to be final, but someone wouldn’t like some part of a draft, so we had to modify them to make everyone happy,” said Wong.

Because of their more-or-less healthy team dynamic, the developers quickly built the app into something they could be proud

of. Unfortunately, complications with Apple’s iOS updates proved to be a recurring obstacle.

“We wanted to release it earlier but Apple keeps coming up with new designs and new updates, like the recent iOS 7, and James had to keep making the changes,” said Wong.

As the sole programmer of the team, Lee often worked late into the night to recode the app.

He stayed positive, however, and constantly reminded himself why he was coding it in the first place. Ultimately, Lee concluded that the experience was more gratifying than tiring.

“Even though I sometimes sacrificed sleep to code, working on the app made me happier because I knew I was making something for Lynbrook,” said Lee. The team knew that the LHS News application was approaching its final stages when they could estimate an official release date. Although they initially planned to unveil the app in November, the release had to be pushed back until December because of iOS 7 updates.

“As of now, we don’t have intentions of making it well-known because we still want to work out the kinks and produce our best work,” said Wong. “We don’t want people to use it just yet because we don’t want to give them a bad impression.”

Although iCode Studios has decided that the app is not yet ready for official release, iOS 7 users interested in beta testing the LHS News application may download it from the App Store.

Wong said, “We really enjoyed designing this app, and we hope people will enjoy using it just as much.”

Pointers on activity points

BY MEERA KRISHNAMOORTHY

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GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SABRINA JEN

he activity points system was created to award students for their extracurricular achievements. On the activity point sheet, points are awarded to students based on the variety of extracurricular activities they participate in as well as their positions within those activities. The “Special Senior Award” is the award given to students at the end of their senior year based on the points they have earned. The benefits of filling the activity point sheet, however, are countered by the lack of publicity of those benefits, unattractive prizes and a skewed point alloca-

tion system. ASB must remedy the shortcomings of the activity points system in order to increase student participation.

“The purpose of activity points is to present [seniors] with the chance to be awarded for all of their Lynbrook-related activities,” said ASB Recognition Commissioner senior Karen Hao. Many students, however, do not take advantage of this opportunity. According to Hao, not the entire student population fills out the activity point sheets, which is due to lack of incentive and awareness.

Because of the underwhelming awards offered by the current activity point system,

many feel that keeping track of their points is simply not worth the effort. A senior that has been club president for two years, member of three other clubs for four years and has attended six ASB-related activities and three conferences receives a total of 850 points, which is worth only a small LHS pin.

Moreover, if this student forgets to record activity points for even just one semester, it becomes increasingly difficult to earn an award--prompting the student not to bother continue filling out activity point sheets.

Granted, filling out these forms and getting an advisor signature does not take much effort, but when the only attainable award is a

small pin, it’s no wonder that students do not hold activity points in higher regard.

Even some of the more substantial prizes, like a lifetime pass to all home games, may lack broad appeal to the student body.

“I think that [the lifetime pass to all home games] is not really an incentive for many people,” said Hao. “When I tell people that you get a lifetime pass for achieving a certain number of points, they say that they don’t really want that and now they won’t even try.”This prize is not effectively incentivize students to fill out activity points.

“I already don’t attend that many home games,” said junior Nanxi Wang. “If the prize I’m reaching for is a lifetime pass to all home games, and I had to do activity points in order to get it, I don’t think I would do them.”

One award that does generate interest, the “Special Senior Award,” which is a scholarship of $5000, is simply out of reach for a majority of students. Eligibility for this award requires 1900 activity points -- a difficult achievement that deters students from pursuing its appealing award.

To remedy this, ASB should survey students to determine what kinds of awards

appeal to them and make sure that these awards easier to attain.

One suitable replacement suggested by Wang is, “an extra stole or cord, the way that valedictorians or CSF members get recognized at graduation.”

Before fixing the prize system, ASB must first clarify the system’s point allocation. Currently, some activities or leadership positions are awarded more points than others that seem to be equally deserving, with no clear explanation.

“I was observing how they scale [activity points], because it’s a little subjective. Like, how do you measure what you contribute to the school as a whole?” said senior Emily Su. “I’m head Drum Major of marching band, and marching band plays

a similar sort of role in school as dance and cheer, but marching band members get 50 points, and the Valkyries and cheer team get 75 to 100 points.”

Su emailed Assistant Principal David Erwin about her concerns regarding the topic.

Erwin said, “The major reason the marching band has fewer activity points awarded is because it spans over the fall season of football only whereas Cheer and the Valkyries are a year-long programs, and therefore spend more time in their activity.”

Other seemingly unfair point allocations may also discourage students from filling out activity points sheets. A common theme throughout the activity point sheet is awarding students who are in ASB, or participate in ASB-related activities, with more points than students not related to ASB. While the work that ASB does is beneficial to the school, the points awarded to ASB are much higher than those awarded to other similar positions without clear justification.

For example, a class president receives 150 points for his or her service, 100 points more than that awarded to a regular club president.

Because neither Erwin nor ASB can field questions about every point allocation, these inconsistencies must be clearly justified and publicized to students.

Most importantly, ASB should publicize the benefits of filling out activity points and the distinct recognition that activity points are able to provide.

“Many students, including myself, don’t fill out the activity point sheets because we don’t really know what they are,” said Wang. “They are only briefly mentioned in announcements and emails. Students will not want to fill it out unless they know exactly what the benefits of activity points are.”

The work that students do in extracurricular activities is equal to, if not greater than, the amount of effort they put into school work. The activity point system, while flawed, is valuable because it acknowledges that the time and effort spent are of paramount importance.

“I’ve really tried to immerse myself into school activities,” said Su. “Although the awards as of now might not seem equal to the effort I want to put into this point sheet, the idea of getting recognition for what I do, regardless of how small, is very valuable.”

I

t’s that time of year again. Yes, the rain is freezing, and yes, the wind is cold, but frankly I’m just grateful to have an excuse to wear sweatpants and sweatshirts to school.

In general, this whole sense of fashion at Lynbrook is overstated. Ever since our great forefathers invented skinny jeans, not to mention all the other types of clothing on the racks of Forever 21, there’s been a widespread clamor to look appealing to the general public. Whether it’s putting on make-up an hour before school or creating a clothes calendar to keep track of daily outfits, fashion—and the desire to look pretty—has taken over students’ lives.

Honestly, how many times have you heard “Eww, didn’t you wear that shirt yesterday” or “God, your sweater totally doesn’t match with your shoes“? I don’t know about you, but while others are freezing to death in their too-tight leggings and cut-off t-shirts, I’m going to be chilling out in my soccer pants and hoodie, just because I can.

For one, whatever happened to the whole “inner beauty” concept? Back in the day when people weren’t competing to see who could wear the shortest shorts, ideals like integrity, kindness, and acceptance were more appreciated. Over time, these ideals have been corrupted to the point where two girls will claw each other’s eyes out if they’re wearing the same prom dress.

And don’t even get me started on make-up. I could play an entire soccer game before some girls finish putting on mascara, concealer, and all those other fashion thingamajigs I’m not familiar with.

And really, if you think about it, what is the point? For athletic students, make-up isn’t an option because there’s something called working hard which results in a process some of you fashionistas may not understand called sweating. This causes your face to drip into one big gloopy mess, and I’m not sure your coach would like it

if you couldn’t even see the ball, or anything, for that matter.

Granted, some students put on make-up to hide their insecurities and to feel more confident about themselves. They have been bullied, teased, and ridiculed about their “ugliness” to the point where they depend on their make-up to blend in with the crowd and get through the day without being put down.

Now, I ain’t some Buddhist monk preaching to you about the goodness of the human heart and all that mushy gushy stuff, but I will say this: you are beautiful, and anyone who tells you otherwise ought to go die in a hole.

Screw all the bullies who picked on you because of the way you dressed. Screw the popular kids, a.k.a the “fashion police,” who didn’t like the color of your shirt (I mean come on, light blue was sooooo last year) and pointed out one too many pimples on your face. Screw all the haters who found something wrong with your outward appearance, because in the end, it’s what’s inside that counts. I know that’s pretty cliche, but hey, I still see a few students pushing people over to find a mirror and put more foundation on their cake-covered faces. Or my personal favorite, putting on eyeliner before going swimming in P.E. class. It is during times like these when I seriously question the meaning of life.

Go into a fruit market and notice all the lumpy apples, the deformed and misshapen, the ugly and rotted. They lay there untouched, hardly glanced at by the eyes of shoppers, all of whom scramble to pick the prettiest looking fruits of the bunch. I, for one, confess that I also tend to pick the most visually appealing apples when, more often than not, they turn out to be the sourest.

Case in point: we live in an aesthetic world dominated by punk hairstylists, tanning beds, and an infinite number of shades of nail polish. I mean come on, I can’t watch a soccer game without running into Proactiv acnecleansing infomercials. And even Target, my go-to shopping store for everyday supplies, has turned into somewhat of a cosmetic advertising market, selling who knows how many bottles of conditioner, volumizer, moisturizer, and “salon professional advanced damage repair” hair products. Thanks, but, I’m just fine with using my regular, same old

shampoo. All I’m trying to say is that we are often too busy caring about how we look and need to value more meaningful principles such as intellect and reason.

I have yet to see a Proactiv infomercial whose use of vocabulary extends from “shiny”, “clear”, and “disappear”. At Lynbrook we are all apples in the same basket and although some of us have prettier colors and fewer spots, that doesn’t make the rest of us less, err, fruity. Okay, maybe using apples as an analogy was a bad idea, but you get the picture.

I believe we as a school need to cut down on the judgemental cracks about students’ outfits and focus on the more important things in life because after all, America is a republic, not a Banana Republic.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY LI

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE SU AND YONI ZEMLYAK

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“Standing up to sexist ideas/thoughts/actions/ words” “Equality, sexism, patriarchy” “Believing that women are not necessarily just equals, but rather, better than men” “Wanting to level the playing field for women” “Freedom to wear certain cloth-

ing, freedom to express discontent over status quo” “High horse, arrogant” “Activist, must

be girly” “Overpowering, Dominant, Rebellious”

TWO PERSPECTIV STEPHANIE LU

L

et me make this very clear: I am a feminist, and I do not hate men. Usually when I tell people that I’m a feminist they seem like they couldn’t care less, until I go to journalism camp for the Epic and I get laughed at for identifying as a feminist.

No one else joined in, , but the reaction only made me even more aware of how the word “feminism” has been twisted into something dirty and full of hatred.

Women have historically been oppressed; that cannot be denied. We have been mistreated and at the mercy of men, and even now are not taken as seriously as men are. Our media is littered with misogynism, and women face double standards every day.

Those are the kinds of things that I, as a feminist, am fighting against.

I appreciate it when a guy holds a door open for me, or buys me coffee, or is even just polite and friendly. I understand that most men are not rapists and that accusing a random guy of being a misogynistic pig is stupid; I’m certain that almost all other feminists will agree with me there. Guys are pretty cool, period. And hating on them has nothing to do with feminism.

And with men as feminist comrades in arms, together we can agree that both men and women would benefit from the implementation of feminist ideals. Women who are victims of rape may be subject to inquiries about whether or not she was “asking for it,” but a male victim is told that he should’ve been able to fight back, especially if he is accusing a woman of the crime. Male nurses and stay-at-home dads are ridiculed, or at the very least, used as the butts of jokes. Preconceived notions about men being the stronger sex are rooted in misogyny, which is exactly what feminists are fighting against. In this way, both sexes benefit from feminism.

Unfortunately, no one at Lynbrook seems to realize or agree that guys are, in fact, included in feminism. I asked more than 10 students whether or not they considered themselves feminists, and aside from maybe two girls (who, by the way, also don’t hate men) and one wishy-washy guy, I always got a “no, I don’t hate men.” Frus-

trating, but unfortunately understandable.

I’ve found that misrepresentation of feminists is a key factor in dissuading men and women from joining the feminist movement. So let me make a few things very clear.

Feminism is about women having the same respect and rights men have. It means I no longer hear the word “slut” being tossed around by people of both sexes to insult girls, because girls can wear short shorts and still be clever, funny people, dammit. It means there will be just as many badass female characters as there are awesome guy characters in the books I read.

It means people will judge me by my mind, by my intelligence. That they will like or dislike me because of how much kindness I show, or how many dirty jokes I can make in a 30-second conversation, and not because of how low my top is.

Feminism is not about burning bras or not shaving, and it is definitely not about hating men. It’s about ripping misogyny from society by its roots. There are men out there who consider women to be beneath them, and those are the kind of men I will rage against. But there is no reason to complain about all men.

Those kinds of statements are exactly why feminists are given a bad rap by people who stigmatize them as self-righteous man-haters.

Unfortunately for people who believe in that stereotype, I, as a feminist, literally cannot hate men and still believe in being able to change the status quo. Unless I believe that men can be just as rational and intelligent and respectful as women are--which I do--I am fighting against an inherently flawed system that cannot be changed.

Men are people too. As obvious as that statement may seem, there is no way we can achieve gender equality if men are excluded from the conversation. They may not be the ones society brands sluts or catcalls to on the streets, but that doesn’t mean they should be cut out of feminist discussions. Only by including men can we truly achieve gender equality because then, we are no longer men and women who are feminists, but simply feminists.

Feminists are not women who hate men. We are simply people who want gender equality.

VES ON FEMINISM T

his summer, I went to a creative writing camp for about four weeks, and as in just about anything that has to do with creative writing, the camp was female dominated; there were about six girls for every guy. I learned a couple of things there: that in writing, you should never use adverbs, and that all men are rapist pigs.

My experience reminded me of those summer camp survival guides: pack enough toothpaste, get ready to tolerate your roommates, and, if male, prepare to listen to a lot of hate for your gender.

It became this trend at camp:. People would proclaim themselves feminists and then proceed to denounce the male gender, to the point that it got ridiculous and forced me to completely rethink my stance on feminism.

I have to admit that the majority of the ideals of the feminist movement, such as its call for gender equality and women’s rights, are irrefutable. But brands of feminism like the kind I encountered at camp, those that decry the negative aspects of the male gender, distort this ideology.

This type of feminism should not be condoned by any, including feminists themselves, because it ultimately hurts the feminist cause by making feminists seem less reasonable and sympathetic, alienating half of the world’s population.

It happened during lunch: the topic of the conversation somehow shifted to women’s rights, when someone began a tirade against rape—listing off ridiculous statistics that I can’t remember, and concluding that “guys are messed up.”

After the lunchtime incident, I came to the conclusion that 1) I am not a rapist and therefore her statement was incorrect—I might be messed up, but not in that way, and 2) I probably would have agreed with what the person was saying had her arguments not degenerated into man-hating.

Man-hating isn’t helping the feminist cause at all; instead of encouraging others to help the cause, this brand of feminism discourages people from rallying behind it. It is extremely difficult to support a cause that openly denounces you, and seeing how about half of the population is in fact male, it would be a good idea for feminists to stop the man-hating if they want to get anything done.

Implying that all members of an entire gender are rapists isn’t just a blatantly incorrect statement; it also promotes a negative gender stereotype that could have potentially harmful effects. Though I didn’t feel directly victimized during camp, the doctrine of man-hating feminism that I was subjected to was not unlike types of stereotype-oriented bullying.

In this respect man-hating contradicts feminism on an ideological level by perpetuating the very negative gender stereotypes it seeks to abolish.

Though I think we can all agree that the feminist aim toward gender equality is perfectly reasonable, what these extreme feminists are doing--pulling men down through such stereotypes--isn’t, and is ultimately counterproductive to their cause.

The solution here is simple. Stop the manhating. Or if you aren’t the one who’s man-hating, don’t encourage others to do it, because it does nothing for the feminist cause. Vying for gender equality is commendable cause, but feminism that involves man-hating isn’t.

And to any guys that might be reading this: if you hear someone hating on your gender, don’t just sit and listen like I did—stand up for yourself.

Just because someone calls themselves a feminist, doesn’t mean that everything that they say about men is correct. But before you open your mouth, just be sure you know what you’re talking about, and if you still aren’t sure, check to make sure you aren’t a fair representation of what they’re saying about males.

JEFFREY YANG

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY AUDREY ZHENG

Teachers constitute the heart and soul of Lynbrook, working diligently to provide students with the best possible education. Often, a teacher may be perceived in a negative light if he or she is unable to connect with students, prompting comments like “I didn’t learn anything from that lesson” and “That test was so unfair.” To help teachers identify and rectify practices that inhibit student learning, the administration should develop an evaluation form for students to provide their opinions and suggestions to teachers.

Students spend more time with their teachers than any faculty members do, so student evaluation is naturally the most accurate gauge of teacher efficacy. Because teaching is directly aimed at students, they must be able to provide feedback directly to teachers, in order to gain the most from their time in the classroom. According to FUHSD’s Director of Human Resources Tom Avvakumovitz, the administration is required to sit in on lessons twice a year for teachers in their first or second years, and once every two years for tenured teachers. Although Principal John Dwyer has made a point to increase the frequency of in-class visits, these visits still are not as telling as an actual student’s would be.

Although official complaint forms already exist, located on both FUHSD’s and Lynbrook’s websites, they do not fulfill the intended purpose. The procedures are an effective medium through which to critique, but they do not account for both positive and negative feedback, along with carrying a strongly negative connotation. Not only is their existence virtually unknown to the student body due to a dearth of publicity, but the complaint forms are structured only to communicate grievances, not positive feedback on what a faculty member is doing right.

Thus, in order to make up for the complaint form’s shortcomings, the administration must make sure to encourage positive feedback in addition to its negative counterpart, which would result in a fair and balanced approach to the evaluation. The evaluation forms should be for students to communicate with their teachers, and shouldn’t be used by the administration for critique of teachers. The administration, however, cannot stop at simply instituting an evaluation process; with quality as its priority, the school must branch out and advertise that medium of feedback. At the very least, the procedure should be

published in the planner as an accessible reference.

Such an evaluation system should by no means be a method to unrestrainedly lash out with unconstructive, or even offensive, criticism.

It should be based on mutual trust, with teachers entrusting their students with a voice to shape their curriculums, and with students trusting that their opinions will be taken into account. It is the responsibility of the students, however, to give honest and constructive feedback; those prone to unabashed offensive language are counterproductive to their cause, and increase the risk of ruining the process for everybody else.

Although no standardized evaluation form currently exists, some teachers choose to conduct personal class evaluations to assess their performance.

History teacher Kimmie Marks has her students write class reflection letters at the end of both semesters of the school year. She says that she gains “the students’ perspectives when conducting evaluations,” and often builds upon the feedback. “Last year, one of the critiques I received was that my class was slightly behind schedule-wise compared to the other history classes,” she said. “So this year I made sure to plan out the curriculum ahead of time to prevent this from happening again.”

These teachers actively seek out what worked well for them, what did not, and what the students would have liked to see more of, allowing them to improve their teaching for later years. The result is a dynamic curriculum in which the students have more say when it comes to governing their own learning, something that Marks says has proven useful and effective for her so far.

An evaluation form would enable students to give constructive criticism to their teachers, an avenue which students are often hesitant to embark on due to the natural side-effect of critique: fear that their comments may cause their grades to take a hit.

Junior Manoj Vasishta has not had a teacher that has solicited feedback from his students, but sees the potential benefits of evaluation.

“An evaluation would have enabled me to tell the teacher how I learned best, and what didn’t work,” he said. “There were things I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to openly confront the teacher, so I wasn’t able to get my thoughts out.” The affected teachers could then

build upon the critiques they view as legitimate, tweaking teaching methods to augment student learning.

When the evaluation form is conceived, teachers should take care to implement it. Both teachers and their students would enjoy the unquestionable benefits, enhancing the learning environment and building for the future. Suggestions and feedback are bound to stem from the most brazen student to the quietest, and an evaluation form would provide a medium for students all over the spectrum to input.

When a student’s learning is at stake, it is everyone’s responsibility to find the solution. Whether it be through an individual teacher wishing to hear feedback or through advertisement of a schoolwide evaluation policy, student feedback must be sought out in order to maintain teaching excellence.

Christina Liu Freya Liu JJ Ignatescu

Joey Li

Sarah Tarter Vik Waghray

KASTURI PANTVAIDYA--EPIC

BY JJ IGNATESCU, CHRISTINA LIU & FREYA LIU

A

MAIN DISH| The sophomores put tomatoes and rosemary around the plate to decorate their turkey tenderloins for the judges.

s ontask and organized sophomores, we started searching for recipes two weeks before the highly-anticipated challenge. After sifting through recipe books, online recipes and YouTube tutorials, we decided on our dishes: green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, potato chowder, buttery southern biscuits, a fluffy chiffon cake, and the star of the show, turkey tenderloins.

Originally, the turkey had a tropical twist, which was a spontaneous decision by JJ—who else would have thought of pineapple stuffed turkey? The second those words were muttered, our hearts were set. The shopping session began with a quick drive to Safeway, where the three of us marched through the maze of aisles with coupons aimed and ready to fire. We tried to finish shopping as efficiently as possible, yet spent most of our time peering over Christina’s phone, trying to figure out the conversions between cups, pints and gallons. With generous coupons and Safeway member discounts, the total cost became a manageable $73.82, far short of the $100 we were allocated.

Finally, the day of the challenge arrived. Due to the seniors’ unwillingness to keep their promise and drive us, we began cooking late and were forced to work like maniacs—hair torn out, profanities flying, the whole deal. First, we peeled and mashed ten pounds worth of potatoes for our side dishes, quickly filling our sink up with soggy brown peels. Next on the list came making the marinade, which looked like a concoction of not-so-heavenly mush, yet its smell assured us that it would taste absolutely delectable.

While putting our ability to multitask to good use, we flew around the kitchen, chopping up onions, opening cans and shredding three pounds of cheddar cheese. As the turkey was marinating, the potatoes boiled and we prepared the mix for the lemon chiffon cake. The end of the afternoon was fast approaching, so we hastily roasted the casserole, mixed the chowder, baked the cake and broiled the turkey. JJ’s baking expertise lead the way for preparing the dough, and three flour-covered shirts later, the biscuits rocketed into the oven. When the last batch of fluffy biscuits were brought about, we all collapsed like buildings during an earthquake onto a nearby couch, completely exhausted. Once everything was in its destined spot, containing our excitement became almost unbearable. The process of picking recipes, shopping and cooking together had been an epic odyssey, and now the highly anticipated showdown had finally arrived. The judging, however, seemed to be completely unfair. We used coupons for every item we bought and even used less money, which should awarded us hefty bonus points. Plus, we were also stranded in our homes that major morning, since the seniors were unwilling to drive us.

Nevertheless, everyone sat down as an Epic family and took pleasure in eating our exquisite food, and that was the sole purpose of the meal. So for this challenge, we humbly accept defeat. Congrats, GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION seniors.

BY JOEY LI, SARAH TARTER & VIK WAGHRAY

MAIN DISH| Senior Joey Li takes out his team’s turkey from the oven to put final touches on it before presenting it to the judges.

T

o put it simply, holidays are all about the food, and we had to do that fact justice. And do it justice we did. Our spread of Thanksgiving fare, from the traditional to the unexpected, was a resounding success with surprisingly few mishaps.

In typical senior mindset we left the planning until the end, when we consulted our resident expert Gordon Ramsay for turkey and the Tarter cookbook arsenal for sides and dessert. Ingredient shopping consisted of an A$AP-filled drive over to Trader Joe’s where we obtained the necessary items-bacon, potatoes, herbs, mascarpone cheese, egg nog (for ourselves) and did I already mention bacon? Thus supplied, with a turkey already defrosted in the fridge, we embarked on our cooking expedition the next day at 11 a.m. in the Tarter kitchen.

Turkey was the first order of business as the centerpiece of dinner. Following an herb butter recipe by the profane culinary god Gordon Ramsay, Joey seasoned, buttered and delivered the turkey flawlessly to the oven. Meanwhile Sarah started on the butternut squash soup and was found staring dubiously down at the pot of very much not liquid squash, thoroughly perplexed as to how such a complex conglomeration of ingredients would magically transform into a delicious medley of fall flavors.

Vik, who was originally scheduled to cook, was at football practice and didn’t end up arriving until 2 p.m. Jessica was there to hang out and compose the grading sheet but was slowly compelled into joining the amazing, too-irresistible-to-resist senior team. First there was an innocuous request to set the table, then came assisting by opening and closing the oven. Eventually she sliced the potatoes, saw no one was free, and continued to boil, mash, and season the potatoes. She was basically the little hyperactive kid in the busy kitchen flailing around slicing one thing, losing interest, and stirring something else in between sneaking cinnamon bread croutons behind Sarah’s back. The whole thing ended up being less like a stressful competition and more of a relaxing hangout.

We only ran into trouble at the end in the time crunch with 30 minutes on the clock. With the turkey just out of the oven, gravy became a problem because the initial product Joey ended up with resembled a layer of oil atop the La Brea Tar Pit. Pouring off the oil, placing it back on the heat and adding some flour to thicken the mixture quickly remedied the problem. The chocolate souffle cake was more pudding than pastry and crumbled inwards like the apocalypse was occurring when the springform mold was removed. After contemplating the idea of presenting ramekin-molded brown lumps, the “cake” quickly went back into the oven, to the consternation of the dessert-hungry judges. Meanwhile, Sarah started on the raspberry drizzle, but added too much corn starch without first mixing with water caused it to end up with a jelly consistency.

Amidst the chaos of helping the sophomores set up and seating Epic staffers, we didn’t pay much attention to the judging but it seemed like it was going professionally. Pai was clearly knowledgeable on culinary matters and Bhatia would be unbiased as a junior. We trusted that the judges would recognize our hard work and were confident that Joey’s mindful preparations, Jessica’s eagerness for experimentation and Sarah’s motherly inclination made our team the perfect combination of organization and risktaking. The balance of personalities on our team made for an entertaining experience in the kitchen, and ultimately contributed to our success in winning the challenge.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION

KASTURI PANTVAIDYA--EPIC

used with permission of Eric Wu

BY SANA SHARFUDDIN

I

t’s the silence that causes you to take a second look. Or maybe it’s the 200 screaming girls. There is no doubt that meeting your idol is the best feeling in the world. Some will do whatever it takes to come face to face with their star, whether it is hunting them down on Facebook or even paying hundreds of dollars to personally meet them.

Others, however, have random yet still memorable encounters.

Jeremy Lin (Image 4) When senior Anirudh Velamuri made plans for lunch with his friend at Ike’s Lair, he was unaware of who he might run into that day. As they sat down to eat lunch, they were unsure whether the person sitting a few tables away could be famous basketball player Jeremy Lin. To confirm their doubt, Velamuri walked over to the group.

“I was really hesitant to approach them because I didn’t want to look disruptive.” said Velamuri. “I went over to the group of guys, and asked one of them, ‘Are you Jeremy Lin, the basketball player?’ And it was him.”

Though Velamuri is not a fan of Lin, the thought of taking a picture with someone well-known stood out as a

opportunity to make some memories.

“We asked him for a picture, and he was really chill about it,” Velamuri said. “When I was getting the picture, I kept thinking ‘Hey, I’m taking a picture with someone who lots of people are dying to meet.’”

While Velamuri enjoyed this brush with fame, he was more struck with the randomness of the encounter.

“I’m just really surprised that I got this lucky. Throughout this whole encounter I was just in shock because I never thought that a lunch could possibly turn into so memorable,” Velamuri said. “This experience made me realize that even famous people do normal things such as going out to lunch with a group of friends.”

One Direction (Image 3) A fan of One Direction since the release of their first album, class of ‘13 alumna Cherry Ji was more than willing to pay $350 to receive an ultimate VIP ticket to their Oakland show last summer. She tried to stay calm desspite the fact that she knew she was going to meet the five stars.

Before the concert, Ji was given three minutes to share a conversation with the boys.

“I kicked off the conversation with some good jokes about alcohol and weed, which made the boys laugh so hard,” said Ji. “They were really chill and started joking back. Niall [Horan] told me he was really familiar with Captain Morgan (a type of spiced rum).

Throughout this whole meeting, I was laughing a lot and felt extremely giddy.”

After jokes were made, Ji asked the boys for a picture and received hugs from all of them.

“When I hugged them, it almost felt unreal,” said Ji. “I think the best hug I received was from Harry Styles.”

When the encounter was over, Ji went to the stadium along with some friends, where she took her front row seat. What struck Ji the most was when Horan pointed at the girls as he sang their hit single, “One Thing.”

“The fact that Niall remembered us as the girls who made alcohol jokes was the peak of the night,” said Ji. When the night came to an end, Ji took home memories of the amusing encounter with the boys as well as their captivating performance.

“Since I’m a huge fan, this experience made me happy,” said Ji. “Now, every time I listen to one of their songs, I’ll be thinking about the hugs I received from them, and the memorable laughs we shared together.”

Cast of Hunger Games (Image 2) After her mom won a free online Amazon Raffle to a Q&A session with the cast of Catching Fire, sophomore Natasha Nema was determined to be a part of this experience. Once she discovered that only ages 18+ were permitted, Nema made her mom email the director of the event to change the age limit. After ten emails were fired back and forth, the director allowed Nema to attend the event.

“I was ecstatic when I heard the news,” said Nema. “I love the Hunger Games cast and I was delighted at the news because not many people get to meet them.”

To get to the secret location of the

grabbed her Catching Fire poster and walked to Lawrence to get it signed.

“I actually got to speak with her. I started by complimenting her on her acting and outfit,” said Nema. “She laughed and complimented me on my sweater! I almost died right there.”

After the event concluded, Nema sat back on the bus and basked in the feeling of contentment. The experience satisfied her feelings about the series. ““You will see me at the premiere of Catching Fire,” said Nema.

KevJumba (Image 1) As senior Eric Wu prepared for his performance in San Francisco as part of his a cappella group, The Ritards, he could not believe that the well-known YouTube star, KevJumba, would be attending the event.

“I have been a fan of KevJumba ever since he started making videos, so the fact that he would be watching our performance made me extremely happy.

Before our performance, I was peeking out of the stage curtains to see where he was sitting,” said Wu. When the group took its position on

used with permission of Anirudh Velammuri

used with permission of Cherry Ji

used with permission of Natasha Nema

Q&A session, everyone waited 30 minutes at Shoreline Theater for the buses. “My hands were shaking and all I could think about was what I would say to them once I saw them,” said Nema.

“As we got closer to the secret location I could feel my heartbeat race faster with every step I took to the building.”

When she reached the Facebook Headquarters, Nema was led by security guards into a room where the session would take place. After 15 minutes passed, the actors appeared on the side of the stage. Once the stars started talking, she observed how different they seemed in person.

“All three of them, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth, spoke with such confidence,” said Nema. “Being able to see how they behave when not in character was surprising. They were all very calm and funny. It looked like they were having a good time.”

As the actors answered questions regarding various scenes from the movie, they cracked jokes that made Nema’s experience more memorable.

“Lawrence and Hutcherson started making jokes about one scene which takes place underwater and how it was ‘fun peeing together in the water,’” said Nema. “They completely amused me.”

The most thrilling moment for Nema came at the end of the event. She

stage, Wu felt proud as he looked straight at Jumba. Standing in front of someone he respected and admired was to be a milestone moment for him; looking back, he would never have expected to come so far through his passion for singing.

Wu said, “When I was on stage, the only thought that was running through my head was, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we are finally big enough to perform in front of famous people.’”

After the performance came to an end, the group was finally able to meet Jumba.

“We talked and took pictures, and then he complimented us on our performance,” said Wu. “It really made us feel special because it gave us confidence that we are good at what we do.”

The experience of meeting Jumba is one that motivated Wu to continue working the hard work with his acapella group.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION

MOVIE REVIEW BY IZZY KIPNIS

C

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FRINA REDOLOZA

onsidering that “Catching Fire,” by Suzanne Collins has the least exciting plot of the “The Hunger Games” trilogy and serves as a transition between the first and last book, I was not expecting the movie to be much better. I was, however, positively surprised.

Set in the fictional nation of Panem, “The Hunger Games” has a hierarchical society where a wealthy, authoritarian Capitol has undivided control over 12 surrounding, poor districts. The Capitol reminds the districts of its power by holding annual games where two tributes, teenagers ages 12 through 18, from each district are selected to fight till the death in an intricate arena. In “Catching Fire,” the Capitol celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games with a Quarter Quell where past victors are forced to compete again.

I was fortunate to see an early screening of “Catching Fire” on Wednesday, Nov. 20. I left the theater mostly pleased with the movie and think Francis Lawrence, the director, only missed the mark in a few places. Not surprisingly, the movie cut out several of my favorite scenes from the book, but included everything that was vital for the plot.

While the movie’s plot was relatively consistent with the book’s, the abrupt climax was cluttered.

Having read the books, I knew exactly what was supposed to happen, but I still felt that while certain parts of the movie were drawn out, the climax made me want to run back to the book to confirm certain details.

The cinematography, on the other hand, was exceptional.

More specifically, when filming within the intricate clock-shaped arena, the director captured scenes from angles that made me feel as though I was there.

Similarly, the costumes rocked and looked just like how I had pictured them while reading. From Katniss’ burning dress to Effie Trinket’s ever changing hair color, each new outfit drew prominent distinctions between the social classes.

The special effects were the highlight of the movie. Reading about poisonous gas, huge tidal waves and savage apes is one thing, but seeing these perils come to life is so much more exciting. The special effects kept me on the edge of my seat as I watched the tributes survive each near death experience.

And while the acting was a tad exaggerated, I barely noticed as my focus was directed at the beautiful Liam Hemsworth, who played Katniss Everdeen’s lover, Gale Hawthorne. Likewise, I am almost positive that the majority of the men in the theater couldn’t help but slowly fall in love with the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence who played Katniss Everdeen.

Judging by the diverse yet enthusiastic crowd in the theater, it is safe to say that this movie is well-suited for all ages. If you are looking for a movie with a nice blend of action, politics, romance, tragedy and comedy and does not evoke too many emotions except for the occasional “ooooh” and “aaaah,” then “Catching Fire” will be perfect for you.

make them way too long—but in many cases, they go in different directions from the text.

For example, the “Half-Blood Prince” movie was downright awful. There is way too much focus placed on the sexual tensions between characters—I think we can all agree that the excessive footage of Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown eating their faces off was disgusting— rather than more important aspects of the plot, like the fight between Death Eaters and students that is never acknowledged in the movie. And while this isn’t exactly pertinent to the plot, Voldemort’s rabbit-like nose just absolutely gave off the wrong vibe; I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t take him seriously whenever he’d try to flare

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I

’ve always wondered what the point was of making film adaptations of already good books, if all the movie does is ravage the story. Now, I’m not saying that all such films are like this, but let’s be real, there aren’t a whole lot of them that do the original books justice. On too many occasions I’ve been excited to see a movie based on a book I enjoyed, only to be severely disappointed.

L e t ’ s take “The Hobbit” for example, and heck, even the wh o l e “Lord of the Rings” series while we’re at it. I was looking forward to movies that would accurately depict the plot. Instead, some of them turned out to have jumbled, even incorrect plotlines that twisted the story in a confusing manner. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the intense battle scenes with no shortage of Orc slaying, and the beautiful recreation of Middle Earth— but for me what matters most is whether the plot actually aligns with the book. For instance, a certain character dies in “The Hobbit”, but in the movie, by some miracle he comes back from the dead at the end of the movie. It’s things like this that leave me making the same expression as Jackie Chan in that internet-famous meme. Fur-

thermore, Bilbo Baggins is supposed to be FAT, not a fit-looking, glamorous pansy as he is portrayed in the movie. Granted, he is somewhat of a pansy initially in the story, but the overall depiction of Bilbo in the movie is unforgivably off. The quality of computer-generated images is far higher nowadays, so there’s really no reason to be screwing up simple details.

Also, in the second book, at the Battle of Helm’s Deep, there is no such Elvish army that comes to help Rohan in the book, yet this t a k e s p l a c e in the movie. I distinctly remember seeing this in the movie theater and (perhaps a bit loudly) expressing my confusion with a sharp “huh??” which elicited plenty of shushes from other moviegoers. But excuse me for being a bit of a LotR geek.

If directors are gonna go around calling their films accurate representations of books, they can’t screw up simple stuff. ‘Cause viewers who know about the books will automatically be skeptical of: a) the movie’s credibility, and b) whether it’s worth their time and money.

If we’re discussing booksturned-movies, I can’t not mention the “Harry Potter” series, which were essentially loose interpretations of the actual storyline. Sure, for each movie to contain every iota of information from the plot would

his non-existent nostrils while screaming “AVADA KEDAVRA!!!”

Maybe the directors have their own vision of how they want the movie to be, but if they’re gonna make that many changes, then they should not name the film after the books.

It’s mind-boggling that they would not stick to the book.

Logically speaking, shouldn’t adaptations of books, be based off what the author wrote?

I guess the lesson I’m trying to get at is that directors who plan to make film adaptations of books better get their act together. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but if I have to go through something like the Half Blood Prince again, I might just give up on seeing some of these movies altogether.

THE LATEST FAD ON THE LYNBROOK DRUG SCENE

BY JACOB ANTONY & KHAYA BHATIA

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY LI & JEFFREY YANG

T

here’s too much wind here,” senior Jeff Chan* remarked.

The closet was pitch black, save for the flashlight and the light creeping in beneath the shut door. No one understood what he meant, but Chan insisted.

“I’m going to a kickback later, so we can do it my friend’s house.

He’s chill with me vaping there.”

Fast forward ten minutes. We got to the house first and waited

High school drug use has come a long way from the hippie camp days of Woodstock and tie dye shirts. The potency and availability of common drugs like marijuana have skyrocketed, and the rise of the pharmaceutical black market has only exacerbated the issue.

As drug culture settles into the 21st century, it entrenches itself in new ways on high school campuses. A recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) poll found that vaporizer use among middle and high school students nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012. Over the summer of 2013, that rising trend found its way to Lynbrook.

“It’s just a way for you and your friends to chill out and socialize. People say it’s a lot healthier for you than smoking but it still feels like you are,” said senior Michael Choi.

Vaporizers, colloquially referred to as “vapes,” are devices which heat substances to very high temperatures, then release vapors resembling smoke. Substances used range from herbs to flavored fluids that contain chemicals like nicotine.

Though the most popular type is the cone-

outside. A gold Toyota pulled up; Chan and four of his friends got out. In their hands: a bottle of Jack Daniels, red Solo cups, and an unidentifiable black bottle.

It was a Thursday afternoon.

One of his friends’ eyes widened.

“Are they supposed to be here?”

She gestured at the cameras.

“Yeah, they’re just taking pictures for the newspaper. Let’s go inside,” Chan responded.

shaped device used for marijuana known as a “volcano” vaporizer, the type cited as the most popular at Lynbrook is the smaller, penshaped variety, more commonly known as ecigarettes, made by eGoVape.

“Most Lynbrook kids have the basic eGo model, which has a battery and an atomizer (the vaporizing element),” said Chan.

Although it is illegal by California law for anyone under 18 to possess vaporizers, they are relatively easy for minors to obtain—vaporizers do not contain tobacco, and subsequently are not subject to the stringency of federal tobacco regulations or age verification during purchase.

“You can literally just go on Amazon with a credit card and ship it to a friend’s house, or have an older friend get it for you from one of the local smoke shops,” said senior Jake Zhang*, who has used vaporizers with occasional frequency.

An underage staff member of the Epic verified that it is possible to purchase an electronic cigarette from Amazon.com without age identification.

The Appeal The alcohol and the cups were placed on the kitchen table. We followed Chan upstairs to the guest room for the shoot. He pulled out the vape, which was surprisingly small. The vapor smelled like cotton candy.

“I’ve ingested so much nicotine today,” Chan grinned after blowing a chain of smoke rings. “I could do this all day.”

Videos of smoke tricks done with a hookah or vaporizer accumulate hundreds of thousands of views online through social media platforms like Vine. Vaporizers enable students to do these tricks without having to ingest any harmful substances.

“A lot of people I know use vapes for the tricks. They’ll use a zero-milligram juice to smoke with in class or with their friends to blow smoke rings or whatever,” said Chan.

The flavored liquids present in most vaporizers are also a draw for many students.

“E-cigarettes and e-hookahs are really fun to use because there are different flavors of juice (the vaporized liquid) that you can do cool tricks with,” said Zhang.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFREY YANG

Another purported advantage of vaporizers is that they are portable and inconspicuous—easy for students to stow in jackets, backpacks and lockers. Students like Chan have exploited the innocuous smell of the flavored vapor to smoke even in classrooms.

“If the teacher’s not looking for five seconds you can do it, pretty much anywhere on campus. In class if you blow it into your sleeves or into your shirt no one is any wiser.

Now that the weather is getting colder you can just mix it with the fog in your breath,” said Chan.

The Origin of Vaporizers The predecessor of the modern pen vaporizer is the e-cigarette, invented by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003 after his chainsmoking father died of lung cancer. The product quickly took off as a modern alternative to cessation aids for smokers because the carcinogens ingested when smoking rolled cigarettes are not present in vapes. Instead, only the substance and a flavored vaporizer compound (usually propylene glycol) are inhaled.

It is this quality that makes e-cigarettes appealing for a quitting smoker--and for those who use them for recreation.

Addicted cigarette smokers like Chan and class of ‘12 alum Prateek Bhatt turned to vaporizers as a smoking alternative.

“The vaped smoke has less nicotine but

tastes better. So I like smoking cigarettes because of the buzz, and I like to smoke vapes when I feel like I’ve been smoking too much and feel guilty,” he said. Bhatt said that he never used vapes at Lynbrook and believes the use of vapes is a recent fad.

Despite being touted as an alternative to other cessation aids, the tool is only as effective as the person using it. Because they still contain nicotine, vaporizers that are marketed as healthier alternatives to cigarettes can help young adolescents get even more hooked.

“I started at 12-milligram nicotine juice because I wanted to quit smoking. But I’m addicted, and now I’m using 24 milligrams in my vapes. I’ve been trying to quit cigarettes for four months but it’s hard with vapes--honestly smoking weed satisfies my craving better,” Chan admitted. “At least when I’m [high] I don’t feel like reaching for a stoge (cigarette).”

Although vaporizers may be healthier than cigarettes because of the lack of toxins, they still contain nicotine, which has been shown in the past decade to promote cancer formation. In a 2003 study at the University of Tokyo, for example, nicotine was shown to stimulate cancerous tumor growth.

Furthermore, no clinical evidence exists to definitely prove that vaporizers or e-cigarettes are better for a smoker, or even that they are better at helping people quit than other cessation aids.

“E-cigarettes are too recent for us to have any data about the outcomes of their use,” said Debon Cochrane, an oncology nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. “Zero clinical trials have been done on e-cigarettes, so we simply just don’t have enough data to make any connections.”

Ingesting potent amounts of nicotine via e-cigarette in an effort to quit can be counterproductive as well.

“A good way to analogize nicotine cravings is by thinking about someone who likes chocolate cake. If that cake is in front of them all the time, they’ll want to eat it,” Cochrane said. “Likewise, if a quitting smoker is in an environment that triggers their cravings or is around people who smoke, it’s hard to resist that urge.”

Many leading health organizations have recognized the potential dangers of seeing vaporizers as smoking cessation aids or alternatives without drawbacks. The World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement in July 2013 regarding electronic cigarettes, which contended that “the implied health benefits associated with these claims are unsubstantiated or may be based on inaccurate or misleading information.”

The need for regulation in the e-cigarette industry has ignited concerns in the health community as well. The lack of transparency regarding the ingredients of e-cigarette fluids has raised concerns with health professionals because people do not know exactly what chemicals they are ingesting.

“It’s an amazing thing to watch a new product like that just kind of appear; there’s no quality control,” said Dr. Richard Hurt, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center in Rochester, Minn., quoted from a November Huffington Post article. “Many of them are

Vapes and the Law California Health and Safety Code Section 119405 states that “...it shall be unlawful for a person to sell or otherwise furnish an electronic cigarette… to a person under 18 years of age.”

Those at least 18 years of age, however, are not completely exempt from regulation of vaporizer possession. According to the California Education Code 48901, no school is allowed to permit any kind of smoking on its campus, which is the precedent that the Lynbrook administration follows. Regardless of age, smoking is banned at all times during school hours or on campus.

“We have faculty members who smoke, but even they can’t do it on campus either. It’s not an age thing, it’s a zone thing under the Education Code. According to the Education Code, you can’t have them here regardless of nicotine content; it’s simply a safety issue,” said Student Conduct Specialist Jose Ramirez.

The administration is employing a twostep policy regarding the use and possession of vapes on campus. A first offense results in the device’s confiscation, at which point the offending student’s parents will be able collect it from the office. A warning for suspension will be issued and the incident will be documented on Infinite Campus. The second offense, however, results in at least a one-day suspension. Both offenses will also result in a

referral to counseling.

Because of their relatively recent appearance, however, the administration does not yet have a complete protocol in place for dealing with vaporizers on campus.

“It’s a little bit unclear as to where the po-

lice lie in all of this, because the health and safety codes indicate it’s illegal for a minor to purchase or possess these things,” Dwyer said. “For the most part, however, we will treat people who possess these products with the same consequences as those who are selling them.”

As always, it is a tough job for administrative, legislative and law enforcement bodies to keep up with adolescent drug culture. Dwyer’s experience with vape use at his previous schools helped him decide what stance to

take on vapes at Lynbrook.

“We had to learn how [vapes] are used by different groups of students and the associations with people who may be using other substances,” said Dwyer. “That’s what we’re most interested in, and moving forward in the year, we’ll be trying to find out where the police stand on these kinds of things.”

According to Dwyer, the issue has been discussed at the district level among the principals of other schools, who plan to adopt similar policies to that of Lynbrook.

Fading Into the Smoke For some, vaping may seem like a passing fad--yet another drug-related headline that will fade away within a year or two, just as others have in the past. E-cigarettes, however, are on their way to becoming a billion-dollar industry, and Lynbrook is not an exception to this trend. They are marketed as both a smoking alternative and a way to quit smoking, although perhaps they should be labeled as an alternative to quitting smoking.

As he was being interviewed, Chan demonstrated how his vape actually worked. The smell of cotton candy again filled the air.

Chan admitted, “You’re supposed to decrease the dosage [of nicotine] until you get to zero [when you try to quit using vapes]. It’s bull---t. I can’t stop. I’m vaping and stoging every day. I get nauseous and I’ve got an advisor for it now. It’s gotten bad.” *Name has been changed

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFREY YANG

manufactured in China under no control conditions, so the story is yet to be... told.”

BY SARAH TARTER & AUDREY ZHENG

ART ILLUSTRATION BY SANA SHARFUDDIIN

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hether present in the furious scribble of chemistry notes, the scrawl of a signature on a class syllabus, or the meticulous penmanship of a birthday card for a friend, lettering is a ubiquitous aspect of everyday life. Handwriting characteristics are often just as unique as humans themselves, and can be objectively analyzed in order to provide information about one’s personality traits. Graphology, the study of handwriting, is an increasingly popular field that deals with the assessment of character.

Pseudoscience or not?

Despite its continued use in the forensic sciences, human psychology field and medical field, there are many who view the study of handwriting as a pseudoscience.

“While I think handwriting can be used to make assumptions about people’s personality, I think there are aspects of a person that cannot be adequately evaluated,” said sophomore Durga Ganesh. “How rushed or stressed a person is can be seen in their handwriting, but something such as intelligence shouldn’t be measured [using handwriting alone].”

Quigley insisted that there is a reliable network of professional graphologists who collaborate with one another to validate the legitimacy of graphology as a discipline.

“Professional graphologists contact graphologists all over the world and meet at conferences and symposia where we listen to lectures given by our members and also share analytical exercises as a group,” said Quigley.

“We are able to keep in touch and share our knowledge as well as learn from each other.”

In 1622, Italian doctor Camillo Baldi composed the first known publication on the study of handwriting. Since then, modern graphologists have expanded upon his ideas and conducted more thorough research within the field. Graphologists look at as many as 300 handwriting features in order to analyze writers and draw connections between trends in particular features of composition and certain personality traits.

Senior Alvin Chiu, who thinks of graphology as a legitimate science, remembered observing in others’ handwriting several of the features graphologists gather and analyze.

“I think people can be accurately evaluated by their handwriting,” said Chiu. “If a person wrote without thinking, it reflects their personality. In the same way, people who take the time to write neatly tend to be more thoughtful because there is much more effort put in.”

A nuanced study By analyzing such components of handwriting, many graphologists believe that they can accurately judge specific qualities such as creativity, energy, persistence, intuition and

drive in a writer. According to British Institute of Graphology Vice President John Beck, “It takes an interminably long time to become a good graphologist.” Intensive study is usually required for about five to seven years for a beginner to be considered a professional.

For Quigley, it took three years to complete and pass an examination course which enabled her to become a qualified member of the British Institute of Graphologists, along with several years of self-study beforehand.

Graphologists learn to spot slight differences between handwriting samples, producing increasingly accurate and reports.

“It is the differences between how you were taught and what you now produce in your writing that analysts look for,” said Beck. “The differences between the two have psychological meaning, and a graphologist pieces the evidence together from these differences until he or she is ready to draw up a portrait of the writer.”

According to Director of the Graphology Group in New York Barnard Collier, graphology is rarely a useful tool in analyzing the handwriting of individuals of high school age or younger, since “...adolescents are still under the control of the teacher.” Handwriting tendencies will often undergo minor fluctuations and authentic personality traits are usually not solidified until the subject is 18 to 21 years old.

The applications Once handwriting is solidified, analysis of it can be used as evidence in criminal investigations, as junior Traji Omar found out after taking a psychology course over the summer.

“I found it interesting that certain court case outcomes could depend on handwriting analysis,” said Omar. “For example, I learned that [graphologists] would look for differences between a forged suicide note and a real one. The real note would probably have teardrops and the words could be squiggly, whereas the fake one that the victim was forced to write might be illegible and messy.”

While experiences with graphology vary among students, graphologists who have undergone years of training are able to testify for the validity behind their careers. According to Collier, “The hand is an extraordinary piece of machinery. [Whether you are left handed or right handed makes] no difference, because it is the brain that makes the curvatures, slants, and flair in one’s handwriting.”

From Camillo Baldi’s first informal study in 1622 to the present day, graphology’s proponents and detractors have argued over its legitimacy as a science. To skeptics like Ganesh, penmanship analysis has limited applications; Chiu and other advocates contend that it is an important way to measure character and personality.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTINA LIU

Battling Concussions STORY BY DHIRAJ NALLAPOTHULA COLUMN BY KELSEY HURWITZ

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njury has long coexisted with sports culture, ranging from the classic ankle sprain to the grisly anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.

The most infamous of them all, the concussion, has transcended its reputation as an injury that is easy to shake off; new research on the detrimental effects of head injuries and athlete testimonies regarding concussions has forced not only schools, but state legislatures to redefine the concept of athlete health and safety. Consequently, Lynbrook has restructured its concussion protocol to maximize athlete safety.

Laying down the Law

The state of CA chaptered

a new bill into law which outlines the general protocol if an athlete were to suffer a concussion. Assembly Bill (AB) 25 requires that “On a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury information sheet shall be signed and returned by the athlete and the athlete’s parent or guardian before the athlete’s initiating practice or competition.”

In accordance with the CA concussion laws, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) implemented Bylaw 313 which dictates that “A student-athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in a practice or game shall be removed from competition at that time for the remainder

of the day. A student-athlete who has been removed from play may not return to play until the athlete is evaluated by a licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and management of concussion and receives written clearance to return to play from that health care provider.”

A New Protocol

As a result of these state mandates, Lynbrook has been forced to rework its original protocol for not just concussions, but for head injuries in general.

The old protocol was contingent on coach discretion and communication between the coach and the trainer, who would evaluate the athlete. The previous protocol, however, was not as comprehensive as the current protocol.

Lynbrook revamped its concussion protocol after Heather Bridges took over the position of head athletic trainer in the 2012-2013 school year.

PHOTOS ILLUSTRATION BY KELSEY HURWITZ

“The law made it possible for us to fully implement things we believed were important to begin with,” said athletic director Jeremy Kitchen. “It’s become really obvious over the past years that head injuries are a big deal and they don’t just happen at the professional level. They happen [at the high school level] and it has real consequences.”

Under the new system, an athlete that suffers a blow to the head is immediately brought off of the field to undergo a preliminary evaluation conducted by Bridges. The athlete then undergoes a battery of tests that measure basic brain functions ranging from short and long term memory, ocular reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Based on the results of the evaluation, Bridges decides whether the athlete can return to a practice or game.

“I will usually keep [the athlete] out. I play it really safe with concussions,” said Bridges. “There was a player recently who said he was feeling a little off; his

balance was a little worse than normal but not a ton. I probably could have sent him back in and he would’ve been fine, but again I don’t want that one kid that I send back in to get a second concussion.”

The Gray Area

When an athlete sees a doctor, the doctor has the final say on an athlete’s eligibility to play.

“I cannot send a player back to play until a doctor has cleared them. If [the athlete] gets put on restriction for a head injury,” said Bridges, “I need a written note from the doctor telling me when [the athlete] is cleared and no one at school can override that.”

Based on the severity of the athlete’s symptoms, Bridges can request the athlete to visit a doctor to make the formal diagnosis. The final decision to visit a doctor, however, rests with the athlete and the athlete’s family. Should the athlete decide not visit a doctor, they are

placed under Bridges’s jurisdiction.

“Probably for 100 percent of the head injuries that I see, I recommend that [the athlete] see a doctor. There are a few where I will absolutely require it, other times I’ll recommend it because it is always good to get a doctor’s opinion,” said Bridges.

A problem in the communication between doctor, trainer and athlete is created as Bridges cannot work with the doctor unless a waiver is signed by the athlete’s parents, giving her access to their medical history. “This year, I thought a doctor was being too lenient. I didn’t think their diagnosis was correct,” said Bridges. “The doctor said the athlete could return to play much sooner than I would’ve let him return. In a case like that, I talked to the coach, I consulted Mrs. Lamb in the office. And in the case of this athlete, we all agreed that he should be kept out of practice longer, so we kept him out practice longer.”

The comprehensive protocol does have loopholes, however.

She said, “An athlete can totally lie to me, especially if I don’t know them that well. Last year I had a football player not be totally honest with me about he was feeling in a game. It wasn’t until after the game when he came to me and told me that something was really wrong.”

Expanding the Protocol

As long as the protocols adhere to the laws set forth by the CIF and state of CA, schools can individually expand the system For example, Bridges has implemented a preseason baseline tests for athletes.

“This year, I created a baseline protocol,” said Bridges on the changes she’s been putting in place. “I did it for the athletes who at higher risk for a concussion based on what [sport] they play.” Bridges knows that she cannot ensure that every athlete gets a baseline test.

“I don’t do it on every athlete because there is one of me and hundreds of athletes so it’s just not possible for me to do a baseline on every single athlete,” said Bridges.

Shaking it Off

In her first year at Lynbrook, Bridges saw six concussions and has dealt with three so far this year.

But she feels that these numbers are not entirely accurate because of a prevalent “shake it off” mentality.

This mindset has been inherent in athletes from the time they were introduced to their sport. At times, an injury may be easy to suppress, but other times, the injury is far too severe to overcome. Despite the risk of reinjury, athletes still choose to return to the field early.

Various reasons exist for the “shake it off” mentality, but the most comprehensive explanation lies in the injury itself.

“At first, many athletes are hesitant to shake it off, but after they shake off an injury, shaking off future injuries becomes mostly inherent,” said junior Rohan Khasgiwala.

“The athlete feels that since they shook off previous injuries, they can shake off almost any injury.”

Future Awareness

Bridges ultimately believes that the number of reported concussions is contingent on athlete awareness of concussions and a level of trust between herself and the athlete.

“The number of reported concussions is increasing around the country in high school sports,” said Bridges. “That’s because of the test-

ing protocols and that athletes are coming forward more because they are starting to understand that [concussions] are actually very serious and more than just ‘Oh I just got my bell rung, I’ll be fine.’”

As more and more evidence is uncovered about the ramifications of concussions, and athlete health and safety emerging as the forefront of high school athletics the protocols surrounding concussions are subject to inevitable change in the years to come.

BRAIN SCAN|These photos are of the actual brain of class of ‘12 alumna Elyssa Hurwitz, taken when she hit her head, as doctors generally take MRIs to check for concussions. Photos used with permission of the Hurwitz family.

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he first concussion I had at Lynbrook, and my second concussion overall, was during my sophomore year, in the winter of 2010. It took place during a home game, and after lying unconscious on the soccer field, trying to walk it off, and then being taken out of the game, the athletic trainer (AT) was called to the field.

The extent of his help was giving me and my mother a ride on his golf cart to our car, and the rest of it was up to us. Other than telling us to go to the hospital, he didn’t do too much to help us out or give us guidance. And though I checked in with him as a courtesy when I went back to school to update him on how I was doing, I felt like he was uninvolved and uninterested in my case. The only person who seemed to be concerned with how I was was my mother, who took me to countless doctor’s and neurologist appointments, and did tons and tons of research on how to handle and heal from concussions.

By the time I had my third concus-

sion, we had a better, more involved AT (although this was still before Heather’s arrival.) Before I had my head injury I was in her room every day rehabbing my sprained ankles, so I was already familiar with her. When I hit my head during an away game, I knew it was a concussion. It’s this feeling that’s unexplainable to anyone who hasn’t had one, but it’s completely recognizable if you have. Since it was my third, I knew the second it happened that something wasn’t right.

I left the game for about five minutes, but then, since we only had one sub, I went back into play the rest of the game--probably not the best decision, but my coaches didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with me and didn’t mind sending me back in.

This was the first mistake in treating my concussion.

The coaches didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that I’d hit my head. They didn’t run any tests or call over the opposing school’s AT to run any. I got the vibe that they were impatiently waiting

to send me back in, and were more concerned that we were short on subs than with my health. Coaches should have the proper training to recognize any head injury, concussion or not. If you hit your head you should have to sit out, even if you don’t want to, and despite how much your team may need you. The long-lasting effects of head trauma can be much worse than losing one high school game.

Players also need to have the mentality that the long term consequences are more important than the short term gains of staying in the game. That was a concept that I hadn’t quite grasped.

The next day at practice I was still feeling bad yet I decided to participate in practice. After practice that day I was 100 percent sure I had a concussion. I sat outside the AT room for about an hour after practice, debating whether I should tell her, or do what I usually do and walk it off. The decision seemed nearly impossible. I knew I was hurting, and I knew things would get much worse if I continued to play, keeping my concussion a secret. I wished that someone else knew, wished that the choice wasn’t up to me and that someone would make it for me and tell me what I knew was inevitable, that I had to stop playing. What made it even worse was that I couldn’t shake the

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me play again until I had talked to the AT or a doctor. Student athletes shouldn’t have to decide whether or not to get help when it comes to a head injury. We’re generally not thinking straight enough to make those decisions, myself included. At the time, I thought my sport and my team were the most important thing.

I thought I could handle a few headaches (and all the other awful symptoms I had) if it would help the team, and I couldn’t fathom not being a part of it.

Now, I’m stunned at how crazy I was acting back then. What the hell was I thinking, valuing a game over my health?

Yes, I miss soccer, but you know what else I missed while I was recovering from my concussions? Reading, and doing well in school, and feeling good, and not hating bright lights and loud noises, and exercising. When I was trying to decide if I should tell someone about my concussion, my priorities were totally screwed up. It shouldn’t be a hard choice, it should be the only choice.

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idea that I’d never play again. I knew that after three concussions, the odds that my parents and my neurologist would let me go back to soccer were next to nothing. The next day I caved in and ended up telling the AT and my coaches about what had happened. Once again my mom took me back to the hospital and we went through the whole shenanigans of doctor’s appointments.

This time, the AT was much more involved in my healing process. She wouldn’t let me play until she was completely sure that I was healed. She checked me weekly to see how I was responding to tests and to see how I was feeling, and I definitely felt more cared for than I did when I had my previous one. The thing that bothered me though, was that no one noticed that something was wrong until days after I was injured.

Not my coaches, nor the AT. The only reason that the AT asked me about it is because I had told my friend, and when we were in the AT room getting our ankles taped she started reading off the “If you think you’ve had a concussion” poster and asking me which symptoms I had.

Even though I was in the AT room daily, it took quite a while for anyone to question how I was feeling. ATs are supposed to be trained to recognize the signs of head trauma. I don’t doubt that she had received her training, but I question why in a real-life situation she couldn’t recognize that I was injured. Maybe she was busy or just didn’t think to take a closer look, but if an AT suspects in the slightest that someone has a head injury I think they should have to check.

Looking back, I also can’t believe my coaches let me back in the game five minutes after I hit my head. They should’ve known better. They should’ve had to keep me out of the game if they thought that I hit my head. They should’ve not let

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he denotation of oppression is prolonged cruel and unjust treatment, generally on grounds of race, religion and other bigotrical factors. My oppression, however, is neither based on race, religion nor on other bigotrical factors. Instead, I suffer the woe of high volume, high pitched, propaganda-filled torment from local loony sports enthusiasts: the daily suffering of sports-haters of the world.

I’ve been a sports hater for so long, it was difficult to remember when the war began.

But eventually I was able to pinpoint an exact moment in time when I decided that I hated sports. I was sweating in the sun at a tennis camp; I watched as the coach threw the ball at me. I swung, putting so much power into the swing that I could have knocked my fellow six-year-olds senseless; but I swung too early, and the ball continued on its trajectory.

The coach and crowd watched with horror as it hurtled towards me, until, with a smack that shook the Earth, it hit me in the face. It was a dark day.

Since then, I have assumed the role of a resident sports hater in the hope of showing the world this evil that walks among us. My general enmity with sports has given me the clarity of vision to observe a class of people I have yet to understand: sports fanatics.

Sports fanatics seem to have made it their life mission to torment me with 101 Reasons Why You Should Like Sports.

After meticulous observation and painful football games, I have curated my data into an analysis called The Four Levels of Sports Fanatacism.

Level 1: Passionate Snorers My homies! My fellow warriers against sports and nappers at sports games. Some of us have suffered scarring childhood experiences that have turned us against sports, such as my tennis incident.

Followed by my soccer incident. Followed by my basketball incident. Truly, the trauma never goes away; I am still tormented by flying balls. Other snorers use sports hating as a method of flouting convention. (Imagine if this became a popular movement--Facebook statuses around the world would say, “Didn’t go to the game today! #thuglyfe”) But for many, the honest answer is ignorance. Many people have no knowledge about the sports they go to watch and spend the whole game gaping in confusion.

Level 2: Grimace Grinners These are my favorites. Grimace Grinners are sports dislikers that fight tooth and nail but eventually get dragged to sports games with their friends. Who said bandwagon had to be intentional? These grinners spend sports games plastering fake smiles on their faces and counting the agonizing minutes until the game ends, stabbing at their giant potatoes and mentally plotting revenge on their dimwitted friends.

Sports haters like me tip our invisible hats to those noble sufferers.

Level 3: Cheerleaders My bitterest foes. As irksome as sports are, these perky dunderheads are ten times as irritating. Cheerleaders are the people--mostly girls--who have no knowledge about sports, but grace sports games with their presence anyway. Every time someone cheers, they join in enthusiastically though they don’t have a clue what’s going on. Some are simply bandwagoning, but the number one reason to come: to watch the cute guys. Cheerleaders are part of

a massive female conspiracy involving strategic studying of attractive males undercover of sports. It’s a rather clever method of finding prospective love interests while simultaneously showing school spirit--women are such evil geniuses.

Level 4: TV Smashers Lord help these people. TV smashers are the worst, most outrageously fanatic of sports fanatics. They attempt to emulate the average middle-aged, beer-drinking American man by sitting in front of the TV or at a game, with half-chewed nachos hanging from their mouths, alternatively screaming suggestions and obscenities at players. Their eloquent commentary consists of, “Dude what the beep! Beep beep beep!

Even I could see that!” Really, you could? Gold star for you.

While they receive death glares from half the population for the ruckus, the other half thank the sports gods for the commentary so they know when to cheer. Currently in residence with two TV smashers, I’ve come to develop a fervent gratitude for earplugs.

Despite my confirmed status as a member of the Snorers clan, I have come to develop a gradual, grudging respect for the tenacity and loudness of sports fanatics of the world.

Although I find your inspirational speeches on the marvels of sports as delightful as my parents’ lectures on the marvels of the SAT, you give a sense of unity and excitement to Lynbrook.

I’ve come to learn that sports isn’t just a superficial activity, it’s a healer; the Boston Red Sox victory was a large step toward recovery for the city after the Boston bombings.

Sports isn’t an empty hobby; it’s our culture.

Therefore, as of today, sports enthusiasts, I extend the white flag of truce to you: let us step into a new era together, no longer as enemies, but as friends.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY PRACHI LAUD

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hree months and more than 500 miles later, Lynbrook’s cross country season has once again ended for the year. For senior Rohit Sarathy, junior Grace Ling and sophomore Justin Robison, however, their greatest meet has yet to come. Placing 9th, 3rd and 3rd respectively at CCS Finals on Nov. 16, Sarathy, Ling and Robison qualified as individual runners for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championships on Nov. 30 in Fresno.

The road to states has not been an easy one. As the only runner who qualified for CIF the previous year, Robison, who currently holds the third fastest cross country time in Lynbrook history, felt pressured to repeat his achievement from last year.

“There was a ton of pressure,” said Ro-

KASTURI PANTVAIDYA —EPIC

bison. “It felt like a lot of weight on my shoulders. If I didn’t make it, I would’ve just worked a lot harder next season. But when I finally crossed the finish line, it was like the day just got brighter.”

On the other hand, Ling and Sarathy both recall feeling “surprised” about making it to CIF; neither expected to make it as far as they did in qualifications. The two respectively placed 30th and 25th at CCS last year.

“I just felt elated, but a bit surprised,” Sarathy said about qualifying for CIF. “At the beginning of the season, I really thought I’d just run the season to the best of my ability. I didn’t think I would’ve gone past CCS.” This season was also Ling’s first time in a year running without injuries.

Cross Country Coach Jake White explains that Ling is the type of athlete who would “run 100 miles a week if we would let her.” As a result of overworking, Ling developed shin splints in her sophomore year, a condition caused by muscle imbalance. Ling worked painstakingly to recover, regularly wearing

ankle and shin support during practice. Ling is now the 3rd fastest on Lynbrook’s all-time records.

Back on the running trail, Ling addresses how she combats her inclination to overwork herself.

“If I have a big weekend meet, then I’ll treat the [meets leading up the the big meet] kind of like a tempo run (a distance running workout) now.”

Their season nearly coming to a close, Sarathy, Ling and Robison look forward to running with Lynbrook again in track and, for Ling and Robison, in cross country next year as well. For Sarathy, however, CIF will be the last time running in his Lynbrook cross country uniform.

With only a few days left in the season, Sarathy has this to say: “I’m really grateful for the support we’ve gotten from teammates.

It hasn’t been easy getting here, and even though the rest of the team isn’t here now, it was definitely a group effort. We wouldn’t be here without them.”