Issue 2, 2011

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

Gathering held for counter-protesting

BY JESSICA CAO & GLORIA LIN

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AUSTIN YU—EPIC

IN PERSPECTIVE| From across the street from the Westboro Church picketers in front of Apple headquarters, a group of counter-protestors stand their ground; one woman displays a double-sided poster in her disagreement.

ct. 19 wasn’t a typical latestart Wednesday morning.

Students in the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) voluntarily sacrificed their weekly extra hour of sleep and gathered for one cause: to peacefully counter-protest homophobic Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) picketers and promote equality and love. Former Apple chairman Steve Jobs’s memorial at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino was also scheduled that day. For the WBC it was a chance to express its dissatisfaction at Cupertino High School (CHS).

The WBC is a self-described primitive Baptist church that, according to its official website, seeks to “adhere to the teachings of the Bible, preach against all forms of

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

THE GATHERING| Counter-protesters, including students and adults, stand across from the Westboro Church members with posters made from home.

sin... and insist that the sovereignty of God and the doctrines of grace be taught... to all men.” Since 1991, it has conducted more than 46,000 pickets at churches, funerals and events linked to homosexuals.

In response to the WBC’s plans to picket against homosexuality, Steve Jobs’s memory and what they see as “violent, freakish, worthless [and] brute-beast children” according to their official website, students across the FUHSD organized counter-protest activities with the central goal of promoting love and tranquility. One group planned an inter-district rally in the CHS quad.

Under the supervision of staff members of CHS, students wore purple to symbolize anti-bullying and held up posters and signs. Because they and administrators

see PICKET page 2

JOEY LI—EPIC

COMING TOGETHER| Students throughout the school district congregate in Cupertino High School’s main quad in the morning to protest against the Westboro Church. Many performances were given throughout the morning.

Lynbrook responds to threat of gunman with Code Blue

BY SABRINA SHIE & VIK WAGHRAY

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n the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 5, some students received phone calls from the school office instructing them to stay home because of a loose gunman named Shareef Allman.

It all began that morning at 4:30 a.m., when a frustrated Allman opened fire on three of his coworkers at a Cupertino quarry. He

immediately fled the quarry and wounded six others while trying to escape from the police.

Meanwhile, other students arrived at school, oblivious of the events that had happened earlier in the morning. However, it was soon clear that the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) was in a state of emergency.

Before many students knew how they should react, Lynbrook

High School was placed on a Code Blue lockdown for the first time in at least thirty years. Despite this, principal Gail Davidson said, “I felt confident that our students and staff would be able to move to Code Blue quickly and efficiently. I understood the need and felt it was for everyone’s safety.”

Code Blue is a precautionary measure in which the school campus is closed off and no access is

granted for either entering or exiting the schoolgrounds. Fremont High School was also put under a Code Blue lockdown, while Cupertino High School went one step further and initiated a state of Code Red. Meanwhile, Monta Vista High School and Homestead High School were closed down for the entire day, and their students were told to stay at home.

Students were kept in their sec-

ond period classrooms for approximately three and a half hours before they were eventually released to their parents in a successful and controlled procedure under the supervision of faculty. At the end of the day, Davidson felt that “Our staff handled the entire Code Blue with the utmost professionalism.

[Everyone] stepped up to help.”

see LOCKDOWN page 2

LOCKDOWN| Timeline of events

BY SABRINA SHIE & VIK WAGHRAY

continued from LOCKDOWN page 1

For many students, staff and parents, the events of Wednesday, Oct. 5 may have been difficult to comprehend at the time. The timeline below illustrates how the day unfolded. In order to hear a variety of opinions on the lockdown, we asked random students to describe the day in one word. Some of these answers are presented below.

12:15 (or 12:17) p.m. Notification from the San Jose Police Department and the district office leads to a controlled release. Those who drove to school are released first, beginning with seniors.

9:45 a.m. Principal Gail Davidson

receives a call from superintendent Polly Bove. She has been instructed to place Lynbrook into Code Blue for the first time in the last thirty years. Lynbrook High School proceeds to initiate Code Blue. Class proceeds for a short while before many teachers turn to playing movies to shorten the long hours.

1:15 p.m. Parents are given permission to release their students through text messages. Various staff members act as chaperones and begin leading groups of 10 parents into the school. After finding their students, parents are instructed to sign out with the chaperones. From there, the students are free to go home for the rest of the day.

2:15 p.m. 1600 students have successfully evacuated campus. Only a final 100 students are left in the cafeteria.

3:45 p.m. The parents of the last student are contacted. Reflecting back on the day’s events, Davidson says, “The Code Blue went as we had planned and practiced it. However, we have debriefed the entire day and have come up with a number of ways we can improve.”

Thursday, 8:20 a.m. Bove, who has been

in direct contact with law enforcement officials for the past 48 hours, sends out news that Allman has been shot and killed. This news is promptly relayed from principals to teachers, and then from teachers to students.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NOORSHER AHMED

PICKET| Students respond to WBC

BY JESSICA CAO & GLORIA LIN

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he month of October has been a trying one for Lynbrook High School.

In this issue, the staff of the Epic has taken into account many of the events that have defined the past three weeks.

Take a look at the experiences students had at the Westboro Church counter protest on the morning of Oct. 18 in our front page story and staff editorial (pg.1 & pg. 14). For those who have homecoming fever, the Epic has previewed the Homecoming football game, rally and skits (Pg. 7 & Pg. 12) for Homecoming week. Finally, very observant readers may have noticed that our body font size has increased. After gathering feedback, we realized that the original size was not as easy on the eyes as we would have liked.

We hope the new look will enhance your reading experience.

Be sure to check us out online: even though we won’t be able to cover Homecoming Week in a print issue, our photographers will be frequently posting photos on our Facebook page.

On behalf of our staff, we hope we have covered the issues deemed important to the students, teachers, and parents of the Lynbrook community. Don’t forget that you can write us letters—our inbox is getting lonely!

Happy Reading,

Candy Chang & Namrata Singh

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anted to avoid possible legal ramifications with the WBC, these counter-protest participants were not allowed to have contact with any protesters. When students left CHS gates, sheriff deputies and district staff enforced this rule.

Senior Will Cheng, who attended the events to represent his Christian beliefs, says, “It’s important to show love, note hate, and we’re here to show that God loves [people]... I believe that the WBC has no right to say that God hates homosexuals.”

The CHS quad event started with a moment of silence that coincided with the arrival of the WBC picketers. Shortly after, students from CHS and Monta Vista High School (MVHS) began their routines, which included MVHS senior Powderpuff dancers and the CHS cheer team. Meanwhile, outside of the

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

Letter from the editors

continued from PICKET page 1

MAGIC WORD| Junior Juliette Delforge-Melia and senior Cheng-Yi Lee display a Harry Potter-themed poster used during Wednesday’s morning rally.

gates, another group of counter-protesters stood next to the WBC. Among posters with statements such as “Love is my religion,” some counter-protesters carried signs with more controversial and insulting messages.

Many counter-protesters began shouting insults at the WBC. Soon after, the WBC left CHS fifteen minutes early and headed to Apple headquarters. They then stood on a street corner and directed their attention at cars passing along. Police officers across the street prevented counter-protesters from crossing while the WBC picketers sang homophobic parodies of popular songs.

While most students were in school during the memorial, some participated in the counter-protests at Apple headquarters. The events at Apple were different from the one at CHS mainly due to the differing age groups of the attendants; as junior Jason Chi, who attended both protests, puts it, “The people at CHS were mainly high school students while

the ones at Apple were adults and college students, so [the Apple counter-protestors] were a lot more lively. They also seemed more emotional because they believed more in what they were counter-protesting; this is because they were probably more knowledgeable about what was going on, or because this was happening at a memorial.”

Though many came to these events believing that they were making a difference, others made a statement by ignoring the protests. Senior Naveed Chowdhury, who did not attend due to such beliefs, says, “I think people should have ignored the WBC because counter-protesting, even if there was no contact, just increases the crowd and gives them the attention they want.”

Overall, however, those who attended felt that the decision to attend was worth it. “[The WBC is] a symbol of hatred for anything, so going to the protest is basically something you have to do,” says Lee.

USED WITH PERMISSION OF IRENE HONG

SIGN LANGUAGE| Junior Irene Hong, along with two fellow protestors she met at Cupertino High School, wears her heart on her sleeve as she protests against the Westboro picketers. The signs at the rally included humorous puns, passionate opinions, profane declarations and some that were simply random phrases.

PE program receives new equipment

BY SARAH TARTER

Homecoming Dance This year’s Homecoming Dance, themed "It's All a Game," will be held on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Tickets will be sold at the top of the quad all week during lunch. Tickets bought at the top of the quad are $12 with an ASB card and $15 without. Tickets will also be sold at the door, but prices will be $15 with or without an ASB card. Students who purchase tickets at the door should be sure to bring their ID cards with them.

Music for Community (MFC) Hosts Halloween Caroling

Music for Community (MFC) will be singing Halloween carols to houses around the Lynbrook neighborhood.

On Oct. 31, MFC will be meeting at the Lynbrook parking lot at 6 p.m. Both club and non-club members may partake in this activity. MFC will be singing and playing instruments to various songs such as “Trick or Treat” to the tune of “Let it Snow.” This event will be two hours long, meaning that it is scheduled to end at around 8 p.m.

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tarting this year, students will be doing what they never thought would be possible in class: playing video games.

The P.E. department has recently purchased a Wii gaming system, along with 20 Dance Dance Revolution mats in order to provide an alternate method to burning calories.

After noticing several studies about the effectiveness of Wii systems in providing gamers with a productive workout, the decision was made to introduce video games that involve physical activity to high school students. P.E. teacher Julie Williams says, “It’s something new and fun that provides a way to integrate technology into P.E. and make it more appealing to students.” The P.E. department is providing students with video games such as Wii racquet sports, Dance Dance Revolution, and Just Dance Summer Party, so that they have many options when it comes to exercise.

The dancing games are solely for use by freshmen because the only dancing unit currently included in the 9th grade P.E. program is square dancing, and the department felt that the genre of dancing needed to be modified in order to accommodate for a younger generation. Sophomores taking P.E. Racquet Sports will be using the Wii racquet sports video game because it fits

the current class curriculum.

The P.E. teachers also noticed the fact that playing a dance video game could be just as effective of an exercise as running track laps would be, and realized that students would most likely prefer playing video games for P.E. to running laps. “The goal is that students won’t even realize that they’re working out because they’ll just be having too much fun,” adds Williams.

The gaming system is intended mainly for use on rainy days in order to provide students with a fun way to remain active even when the weather is unpleasant. Before the purchase of the Wii, many students saw rainy weather as an excuse to sit around and talk idly rather than participate in physical activity. The new hope of the P.E. department is that with the Wii gaming system, students will see rainy days as a fun new opportunity to play video games and stay in shape.

Although students have not been able to spend very much time on the new Wii system yet, the P.E. teach-

ers predict that this new rainy day activity will be extremely popular among students.

Freshman Maddi Ficovich says, “I only played [the Wii] once, but it made P.E. so much more fun! I think if the P.E. department continues to become more technologically advanced, it will make students a lot more excited about having to go to P.E.” With all the new technology being incorporated into academic classes, the P.E. department felt compelled to join in on the trend, causing it to become just as modern as all of Lynbrook’s other state-of-the-art classes. By purchasing a Wii system and brand new dance mats, exercise at school is becoming more technologically advanced than ever before.

SHS & Spanish Club to provide reading program to immigrants

Spanish Honor Society (SHS) and Spanish Club are currently working with an organization known as the CET Immigration and Citizenship Program. The objective of is for members of the two Lynbrook clubs to enrich their knowledge of Spanish through helping Spanish, Mexican and other Spanish-speaking immigrants learn English. SHS and Spanish Club are hoping that this partnership with CET will continue for the entire year.

New College and Career Adviser

College and Career adviser Rosemary Bulaich will be working at De Anza College as a counselor for a middle college program. Because this means she will be absent every day except for Wednesday, adviser Allison Bly will be working in the Center with some assistance from Bulaich. A past elementary school teacher, an application reader at UC Berkeley and a director of the student outreach program at Ohlone College in Fremont, Bly has much experience working with students and much to offer students.

By Samuel Chang and Vik Waghray

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION

International Business class adjusted

BY EESHA KHARE

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he real world has never been closer.

This year, students in the International Business class are applying business knowledge to real-world scenarios. The class, though facilitated by Andrea Badger and Ryan Shull, is student-run, as students hold executive positions. Students make business decisions for their respective corporations.

They participate in classroom simulations and carry out tasks needed to keep the classwide company active and running. The three periods run separate companies named Fondue It!, Housing U and Organïk.

The business program is structured around Virtual Enterprise International, an online high school network that provides the technology to support over 500 virtual companies. Through this program, students buy products from and interact with other virtual

companies around the nation. This program also gives each student, or employee, a bank account in which job earnings are deposited and money is taken out when payments need to be made for utilities, housing and rent.

Badger says, “This program is unique because students learn by doing. As it says in Lynbrook’s mission statement, students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to real-world applications.” For example, whereas students in business classes learn of different business principles, students in International Business get to practice on this principles. Senior Aditi Pradhan, CEO of Fondue It!, adds, “We learned about how each department should collaborate weekly to make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Senior Ryan Masad took the class because it “is much like the real world because peers critique each other like in the work place.

Also, as Chief Technology Officer, I experi-

ence working with both technology and business, fields I am interested in for the future.”

One of the professional business aspects of the class is Dress for Success days, when employees dress in business casual attire.

Junior Ruhi Sharfuddin, Executive CEO of Housing U, explains, “This is one of the many factors that remind us that the class is indeed a class where students need to behave and interact professionally.”

The first semester of the class involves creating and learning how to run a virtual company. Shull explains, “In second semester, students will also be able to learn about personal finance. If I were designing our school’s curriculum, I would require students to take at least one semester of personal finance.

This is a very important skill to have.”

The International Business classes will hold an open house to display their businesses sometime next month.

Banned websites with educational value should be allowed on campus computers

BY EESHA KHARE

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ART ILLUSTRATION

outube. You do not have access to this page. Facebook. You do not have access to this page. The list of websites banned at school increases every year. Administrators believe that this promotes an educational use of library computers and school Internet networks. But in an age where Facebook, Youtube, and social networking sites are becoming more invaluable to communication among teenagers, Lynbrook should not block such sites necessary for collaboration and academic growth.

Each year, students are required to sign the “Student Technology Use Policy,” a document that sets guidelines for the district’s network system, in order to access computers on campus. The policy states that the district supports an “online environment that al-

BY JESSICA CAO AND CLAY SONG

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hat began as an opportunity for teenagers across the district to spread messages of peace and equality turned into little more than an organized social gathering for teenagers to display their moves on the floor.

The intentions were pure: in response to the Phelps family-run Westboro Baptist Church’s (WBC) decision to picket outside Cupertino High School against homosexuals, Christians and other groups, students across FUHSD organized early morning activities to peacefully counter the protests.

The methods with which the counter-protesters carried this out, however, are questionable. The Unity Rally consisted of several dance and cheer routines, singing showcases and a conga line, none of which seemed directly relevant to making a statement against the Phelps family in any way. Unite Cupertino, the official Tumblr page created to spread awareness, even introduces the agenda as “plenty of entertainment” without providing any explanation as to the significance of these festivities. This clearly shows a lack of thought on the part of the event organizers— providing entertainment is understandable,

lows [students and teachers] to discuss, collaborate, communicate, create and share in a safe, ethical and responsible manner.” If the ultimate goal of the policy is to promote educational growth, then websites such as Facebook should be allowed on campus.

Social networking sites provide an excellent forum for students to discuss, collaborate, and ask questions on various topics.

Many students use Facebook groups for classes such as AP Literature to discuss textual works. This use not only benefits the students by offering them an extended platform to think through their ideas with their peers, but also benefits the teachers by showing that students are willing to spend extra time in discussions on Facebook to put forth their best effort in class. For example, the teacher-mediated AP Statistics Facebook group successfully incorporates the budding technology with conventional peer tutoring and an alumni support network to ensure that students get the most they can from a class.

Many students also use Facebook for reminders, club groups, and communication as a chatting place, and calendar for many events around campus. This resource allows students to communicate with and ask questions to others.

Moreover, students use Youtube as study tools on campus. Junior Nitya Dhanushkodi says, “Youtube is useful for animations in AP Biology, because some concepts are hard to understand without using moving diagrams.”

Senior Maya Parthasarathy also believes that Youtube should be allowed. Last year, she was working on a research paper and found an interesting video embedded into one of her research pages.

She explains, “Due to internet filters, I was unable to watch that and many other videos which would have been extremely helpful to my paper. I ended up searching random information and could only perform my real research when I got home.” It is critical that students use their time during school. If students can only use video study tools at home, then the educational firewall is counterproductive.

Many argue that such websites should be banned because they are sources of temptation, not information. Library media specialist Kimmie Marks explains, “Students don’t have the self-control [to remain on-task] if they are granted access to social networking sites. For example, we allow them to use their email accounts, but half of the time you see them chatting with their friends or reading emails that do not

Protesting ≠ partying considering the counter-rally advertising was catered to teenagers who would need incentives for attending. However, it is disappointing that none of the entertainment had any relevance to WBC in any way save for the fact that they were on the same campus.

Junior Juliette Delforge-Melia agrees.

“There weren’t that many people at the intersection [where people could directly counter-protest Westboro],” she says. “[The rally is not] why we came. I’m ashamed of the people who went to the rally. We had this thing going to promote human rights, but instead people saw the rally and were like, ‘Hey look, cheerleaders! Let’s go see them!’

I’m annoyed; there should’ve been a peaceful protest like we were promised, but instead there was a rally that was pointless.”

Delforge-Melia’s words may be blunt, but

she makes a strong point. All in all, the organized events for the protest made what could have been a district-wide opportunity for students to stand up for a noble cause into a social gathering. Considering that United Cupertino told students that “the members of the WBC know their rights inside and out [and would] not physically harm [counterprotestors] or commit any crimes that may get them sued,” the WBC could be at least trusted to act nonviolently.

This means the message was clear: everyone knew better than to act violently. Even the moment of silence at the rally, which was the most respectable event of the morning, was not well-thought out. The moment was designated to show WBC that its actions would not faze students, but because it was held in a location that WBC did not see even

have an educational purpose.”

The problem is that this is true in many cases, not just Internet usage. Students waste time during many classroom activities, but there are no “filters” for any of these situations.

Moreover, blocking students from going on social networking websites does not teach self-control.

Instead of sheltering students from the inevitable, school should be a good place to practice willpower.

Teachers could even employ the methods they usually use to keep students on-task during class. Work done when students visit the library or computer lab can be factored into participation in student’s grades. At the end of a computer session, students could print out the work they accomplished during the period as well as a sheet with the websites they referenced. This puts the burden of using the web wisely on students and teaches them that there are consequences for getting off-task.

Facebook, Youtube and other such sites offer valuable forums for student academic and social growth. It’s time to see websites like Facebook and Youtube, not iPrism, show up on our computer monitors.

To read more about social networking, see page 11

once, it is doubtful that it had any effect at all. Even the festivities were probably not noticed by anyone outside the school; senior Cheng-Yi Lee, who stayed outside the CHS quad to directly counter the Phelps, says, “I don’t know if [the rally] left any message [to WBC], because we didn’t hear anything from inside even when people were singing or cheering. Also, if you’re going to be silent, you need to at least show yourselves, otherwise it has no effect.”

It is true that the Phelps family was offensive as they played and sang homophobic songs while holding signs. However, this is not an excuse for people to fight fire with fire. The WBC is clearly a controversial group and their protesting requires a mature and somber response, rather than the immaturity with which it was retaliated.

Even with all that went wrong, it is heartwarming to know that the FUHSD community bothered to do anything at all; a district united in a noble cause is still commendable.

Delforge-Melia says, “Westboro will still protest even if you ignore them. We need to show them that they’re hurting people. They need to know that what they’re doing is wrong.”

Clean up San Jose’s thorny issue

BY NOORSHER AHMED

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alifornia drivers are known for being some of the most reckless and dangerous drivers in the world. But for bikers, thorns are worse than crazy California drivers.

The frustration comes from the fact that while there are no inexpensive methods for bikers to avoid thorns, thorns could be eliminated from streets with little to no cost.

The simple solution is to regulate yard waste disposal. While many cities, such as Davis, have clear signs against placing yard waste on bike lanes, San Jose only mentions that a homeowner cannot dump “pet waste” on the curbside. Homeowners are only penalized with a $50 fine for placing yard waste on the curbside for longer than 24 hours before the scheduled pick-up.

“I really don’t like the thorns around Lynbrook. One time I was going to a Homecoming meeting on Cox Avenue, and my tires gave out and went flat. I had to walk for two hours to get home. [It] was ridiculous,” says sophomore Andrew Huang.

Some suggest that areas such as Miller Middle School will provide shelter from thorns. This is a huge mistake. Strewn all across Miller are thorns, some larger than those placed in the bike lanes.

They are the wrath of nature, and there is no easy way to get rid of them.

Sweeping Miller’s campus every day is impractical, and so is trying to locate and eradicate the sources of all of the thorns.

“Whenever I have to cut across Miller to go to a friend’s house or something, I have to pick up my bike all across Miller because there are thorns all over the place. Luckily, I have a somewhat light BMX bike,” says junior Edward Yeh. Even the side streets that zigzag and wind their way throughout the neighborhood are not safe. They have a combination of thorns that are left there by Mother Nature and careless

homeowners. There is literally no alternative route that will solve this problem for students who have to bike to and from school.

The only thing bikers can do if they do not want small annoying holes in their tires is to invest around $80 and purchase a Kevlar™ tire, made of special materials that are stronger than that of conventional tires. These, however, need to be replaced every year since the tires lose their strength and eventually become vulnerable to the merciless thorns.

For a high school student, buying Kevlar™ tires can add up to around $640 in four years. Such high costs make this solution impractical for many students, who instead choose to invest a few hours every month patching their tires with a cheaper ten dollar bike puncture repair kit. Fixing tire after tire might build character, but the problem has gotten to the point where it only builds frustration.

“The thorns annoy me when I bike home. It’s the supreme time waster.

It punctures my tires, which means I can’t bike home, therefore I have to walk home with my bike, which takes about half an hour. Then I have to go out and buy a bike repair kit, which takes a lot of time. Then I have to switch out my tires which wastes even more time,” says Yeh. This thorny issue has driven many students away from biking, even though it is a very healthy, fun and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. Students who bike to school and back help ease congestion in the parking lot, and to many people, biking is the fastest mode of transportation available. This complication, however, could easily be solved by a change in the yard waste regulations of San Jose.

But even with the policies we have now, homeowners can make a enormous difference by being a little more conscious about where they place their curb-side waste. Just a little care and thought can help bikers go a long way—without punctures.

Procrastination is not your badge of honor

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GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JANE JUN, EESHA KHARE & AUSTIN YU

hen it’s 10:30 p.m. the night before a major AP Lit assignment is due, and I log on to Facebook, I guarantee that I’ll see a multitude of posts by students openly proclaiming the insane extents of their procrastination.

People say things like, “It’s 12:30 a.m, I guess I should be starting that essay now,” or “One page down, nine more to go, six hours till school. FTW!” AP Lit students aren’t the only ones who are so open about their procrastination habits either. I’ve spoken to underclassmen and despite the rivalry our classes show during spirited events, we all seem to agree that Lynbrook students feel no shame in proclaiming when they wait until the last possible hours before beginning their work.

The difference between the way Lynbrook students deal with procrastination and the way they face bad grades is striking. People here hide their grades from friends and claim to “fail at life.” When they are asked about test scores, they respond by saying, “I can’t tell you. They are sooo bad. I’m gonna go home and cry myself to sleep!” But when it comes to procrastination? Heck yes! Of course they’ll share! In fact, students here take time out of their three hours of sleep and get on every crevice of the Internet to broadcast their “mad skillz” at writing “complete BS.” But the bad study habits students openly share and bad grades that students cower in shame over are really quite similar. Grades are supposed to be a measure of how much we’ve learned.

People who leave work until the last minute won’t retain as much information or learn as much.

I know from experience that when I complete an assignment the night before it’s due, my work is minimal. Instead of saying “Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion was a leading force in the transformation of labor in the United States, and the famous uprising ultimately led to the importation of African slaves,” I simply say, “No. It was Bacon.” While my second response may get an okay grade, it’s easy to see that when I procrastinate, I don’t delve as deeply into a topic.

Procrastinators are peculiar. Convinced of their superior intellect, they relish in the fact that while a regular student needs at least a week to complete an assignment, they are able to do the same job at 2 a.m. in the morning.

Vikings are smart people, and our procrastination-infested work may very well be more than mediocre, but that’s nothing to be proud of. We should take pride in our best work, not our passable work. It is indeed noteworthy that some students are able to write an entire essay one day.

Noteworthy, yes. Model behavior? Tumblr/Gmail/Facebook-worthy? I think not!

Nonchalantly proclaiming the extent of one’s procrastination brings the entire community down. As invincible as I may seem, I do admit that when people post, “It’s 2:30 a.m, and I am finally starting my AP Lit essay,” my willpower suffers. I begin to think that starting a five-page essay five hours before school begins is indeed a sane thing to do, and I too procrastinate.

I beg you, stop posting about how you wait until the last minute to complete your schoolwork. You are making something that is bad seem good, but most importantly, you are tricking me into succumbing to your ways! Please, save yourselves and while you’re at it, save me!

Crowded clubs leave no room to breathe E

BY NIKITA DHESIKAN

very Monday at lunch, over 50 students push and shove their way into history teacher Nate Martell’s room, filling it in just a few minutes. They are all here for Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), one of the many clubs on campus that has a problem with limited space. Overcrowding not only makes it hard for officers to keep order and update members, but causes some students to quit the club, thereby losing valuable opportunities.

“Not everyone can fit in the classroom, so we always end up having people standing outside,” says DECA president senior Vaijayanti Duraphe. It is almost impossible for students to hear the officers over the noise of club members talking.

“The officers have a hard time getting a message across in a lot of the club meetings, because everyone seems to have their own social agenda,” says math teacher Patrick Ellington, who is the adviser for five different clubs, including Octagon and Asian-Indo Student Association.

Even worse, students are quitting clubs that are too crowded. After going to two Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) meetings, sophomore Guneet Kaur never went back because it was too hard to get in. “When I finally got into the room, I could hardly even breathe. If I have to go through this every meeting, FBLA is not really a valuable use of my time,” says Kaur. Although clubs are supposed to give students a chance

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rick-or-treat! These are the words we’ve shouted every Halloween since we’ve been able to talk, in the faces of those brave enough to open their doors to ghosts, wizards and (crazily accurate) pop star look-a-likes.

But now that you finally have your learner’s permit and you can drive (with an adult over 25 riding shotgun—yeah, that’s studly) you think you’re too cool for candy corn and pumpkin carving.

But you’re not. And here’s why: First of all, Halloween is ridiculously awesome. It’s the perfect holiday because it lets you dress up as an alter ego, someone you aspire to be or someone you’d be afraid to see late at night in a dark alley.

Second, the candy is a bonus. If you work hard, you can acquire enough candy to last you through St. Patrick’s Day. Last, your excuses are bogus. Sitting at home alone clicking the refresh button on Facebook every five minutes does not count as “already having plans.”

If you’re planning to stop reading because you think you’ve heard it all before, consider this: Trick-or-treating is an investment in your future.

For example, no matter what you become in life, you’re going to have to plan events. And often, your plans will be last minute, just like they will be at 5:45 p.m., Oct. 31 when you realize that, heck yes you want to go trick-or-treating, and then remember that you don’t have a costume.

No worries though, throwing together a last minute look is easier than you’d think. When in doubt, get some animal ears because let’s face it, they’re cute and adults will pity you enough to give you candy when they see how embarrassed you are in bunny ears and a cotton tail.

Halloween helps you learn how to gather information too. If you want to spend time chasing king-sized candy, do your research. Now until Halloween, when you go out, look out the windows for neighborhoods where they go all out; meticulously placing fake cob webs, cardboard witch cut-outs and strings of orange lights below their gutters. They are the most spirited of Halloween-ers and they’ve probably got the best candy.

Halloween is also the perfect stepping stone to killer social skills. Approaching a stranger’s house in search of food can be intimidating. But, a little confidence goes a long way, and rampaging around town dressed in a hula skirt and a clown nose is certainly a fast way of acquiring some.

Also, it will help you with staying out late for when you’re nominated for an Academy Award, Nobel Prize, or Miss America and then (after you win) attend victory parties at fancy clubs into the weehours of the morning. Or you know, for most people, late nights at work.

Money management is also an important life skill. In the case of Halloween, “money” is candy. So here are a few things to do: save your money. If you eat it all at once, there won’t be any left a week later when you’d do anything to get your hands on a Heath bar. Next, carefully inventory your earnings and use your speech and debate skills to negotiate your hands around your little sister’s king-sized Milky Way. Lastly, avoid “taxes” at all costs. Trust me, put your candy somewhere safe before your parents come around and guilt you into handing over all the good stuff.

So there, Lynbrookians. Go forth and come up with a killer costume and get some dang good life experiences.

to hold meetings in larger spaces.

FBLA co-president, senior Roopa Shankar says, “We know that the number of people at each meeting is a problem, but we have decided to stay in Ms. Badger’s room because it’s homely.” While it is the president’s decision, the benefits of moving to a larger space, an increase in participation and productivity, cannot be ignored.

After each meeting, the FBLA officers send out an email to all their members recapping important announcements. This gets basic information out, but does not enable students to experience informative p re s e n t a t i o n s .

This also destroys the social aspect; by not meeting together in a classroom, students might as well explore their interests on their own.

It is time to use the facilities on campus to make club meetings a more rewarding experience for both members and officers. There are many unused facilities during lunch and brunch, but clubs are not taking advantage of the larger spaces. Hopefully, squeezing into a crowded classroom will become a thing of the past.

AUSTIN YU — EPIC

STREAMING IN| CSF members pour into Rm. 301 for their weekly Friday meeting. CSF had difficulty finding a large enough classroom to host all their members.

Admininstration responds admirably to code blue emergency despite chaos

BY SHANNON CHAI

O

n the morning of late-start Wednesday, Oct. 5, the halls on campus were eerily quiet—the threat of gunman Shareef Allman had forced Lynbrook to go into a Code Blue lockdown.

Although the inconveniences seemed to overshadow all other issues at the time, in retrospect, the Lynbrook community really pulled together.

Some students expressed discontent when they were told to go to school only to be immediately placed under lockdown; freshman Jasmine Hahm says, “I didn’t like how they told everyone to come to school, and then proceeded into lockdown thirty minutes later and kept us in for at least four more hours.”

While that is a valid complaint, the lockdown was based on police advice for the safety of every individual on campus. It was only reasonable for the school to follow ad-

vice from the police in order to maintain its top priority: student and staff protection.

Senior Zia Syed says, “I fail to see how our admins made any mistakes at all. Wednesday was an extremely chaotic day, and they did what was right in order to ensure the safety and protection of a majority of the school.”

However, the confusion about whether or not there was school that day was not the school’s mistake, but an accidental mishap in the emergency contact technology used by the district. The notification system was only meant to contact the facMonta Vista and Homestead High students, but accidentally reached some Lynbrook households.

Other complaints about Code Blue stem from policy inconsistencies from room to room: in some classrooms, no electronic usage was allowed, while in others, students were texting and go-

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JANE JUN

You are not too cool for Halloween

to develop and meet others with the same passions, students like Kaur are forced out just because there is not enough space.

“The [number] of people that showed up to the first meeting was off the charts. If the number of students does not go down, CSF [California Scholarship Federation] is going to have to move [from my room],” says Chemistry teacher Jon Penner, advisor of CSF. Moving might seem like a simple solution to these problems. “With so many clubs, it can be a challenge finding locations to accommodate bigger groups,” says staff member Linda Sakoda.

There are several facilities that can be reserved, including the auditorium, field house, gym and the cove.

To book a facility, the advisor of the club has to talk to the administration. The advisor needs to specify the date and time, and the staff member can check what facilities are open and book one for the club. The process could be streamlined, but even now, club presidents should take advantage of these opportunities

ing online.

Also, some upperclassmen were not released with the other juniors and seniors.

These are definitely areas that could be fixed with clearer instructions and policies, but thanks to the efforts of students and teachers, the five hours spent in class were calm and sometimes even entertaining. Spanish teacher Michael Esquivel’s class filmed music videos, while art teacher Charlotte Kruk’s class used their handmade bowls to snack on cereal. Principal Gail Davidson says, “Because everyone experienced the ordeal together, there’s now a sense of closeness in second period.”

Overall, the events of Oct. 5 have shown that the Lynbrook community is calm, efficient and capable of adapting when faced with emergencies. 1,700 students were safely released in two and a half hours. Assistant Principal Sydney Marsh says, “The patience of our students was outstanding, the staff performed wonderfully, and parents were understanding and quick to respond.”

Homecoming 2011: Board games Viking pride demonstrated through multitude of activities

BY MICHAEL PARK & VICKY RO

H

omecoming is a time of school unification. Despite the class rivalry that is evident during the skits and rallies, the school comes together during the football game. Behind the scenes, students have been working diligently, whether it be on the field, in the nearby parks and homes of class officers or in the ASB den.

The students’ hard work, which started over the summer, cultimates in this one week: football players will show their school pride and unmatched skills against Harker on Friday; classes

have been acting and dancing their way to victory all week and students will be screaming at the rally and participating in the competitions that the rally commissioners have been organizing for a month.

For the football players, the hard work was physically strenous, as they plow through practice in sun and rain.

Although it has been many years since the football team has won a homecoming game, this year is shaping out to be different. With four wins under the team’s belt, senior co-captain Daniel Truckai says, “We already tied last year’s record.”

The great improvements that the team made did not come about without a lot of

hard work behind the scenes. Even on days when their coach tells them they deserve some breaks, the team refuses to sit back down and relax, for the players are driven to perform extremely well this Friday.

Truckai says, “We still have practices without the coach. We go the extra mile. I cannot even tell you; we’ve had a decent amount of extra practices.”

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On game days, the team comes together in a huddle to get focused. To the players, it’s all about creating a feeling, no words needed. And this Friday during the homecoming game, this routine will be no different.

Despite the much bigger audience than usual during the homecoming game, Truckai says, “The crowd motivates us because it’s pressure to perform. But in the end, it’s about performing for the team.”

lasses and teams are not the only ones scrambling to prepare for homecoming. Rally commissioners are also busy preparing for the Homecoming Rally this Fiday.

A lot of work is being put into the rally, and commissioners meet several times a week after school. Senior Chris Doi says, “We started planning for this rally a month ago and continually revise the script over and over again to make it perfect for the school. Each week has a whole check list of things to do and as homecoming nears, more work waits for us.”

Rallies are not only about the preparation—the execution is very important as well. Senior Kingston Xu says, “we prac-

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION

Keep calm, decode slang

T

he day I joined the “no slang gang” (or rather, discovered I was in it), I was frolicking like Snow White among all the flora and fauna of my backyard, happy to start another backdrop meeting when

tice running around the gym and going over the script as a way of a dress rehearsal just so that nothing goes wrong.

But even though we practice a lot, we still need to be on guard because anything can happen.”

Despite all the stress and work that goes into putting on the rally, the commissioners are very excited for it because of all the improvements they are making from the last rally. Senior Katie Chon says, “We learned what we need to improve on from the Welcome Back Rally and have really been focusing on how we can get better. We are really hoping that everyone likes the Homecoming rally because we are super excited for it too.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY YUNQING CHEN & SUCHETA KORWAR

Coolmeo mentions that it’s 4:20. Naturally, I stare at him blankly because it is not 11:11 or 1:43 or any interesting time at all. After a “son, I am disappoint” head shake and a crash course from my personal human Urban Dictionary, I will kindly enlighten the rest of us of such foreign words.

Hypebeast: Part man, part beast, hypebeasts have valiantly out-dressed and outcompeted their primitive forms of centaur and Disney Beast (Beauty & the Beast, mind you) as the most fashionably swashbuckling of them all. Often self-proclaimed, these hypebeasts have daily “swag-offs” in the halls, out-hyping each other with pricy namebrand clothing. Watch out for upgrades, when the hypebeast brands (Supremest and The Thousands) make their debut in the So Cool store at Vallco. Don’t be surprised to see

me there twirling my knock-off Gucci belt bought from a grungy alley store in China.

QQ: QQ is used to show sorrow as deep as Hamlet’s unrequited love for Ophelia. Envision the circles as eyes, and the two tails as a single eyelash. With only one eyelash, one cannot apply the newest shade of honeysuckle yellow mascara. However, fear not, at least the bees won’t be attracted to it. For an alternative definition, Romeo’s gamer friends also use this term in Warcraft II. As desperate times call for desperate measures, the ALT+Q+Q shortcut is often unleashed to quit the game to preserve dignity and high score.

Luckily, I have never experienced this as my beast mineral-mining skills in Starcraft have so far been unchallenged and unsurpassed.

Mang: The Jamaican “Ya mahn” is so yesterday; today it’s all about the inherently

African “mang”, a term of endearment used for the BFFLest of friends. In fact, mang is short for mango, a tasty fruit that can be flexibly eaten in cubes or sugared slices. African mango diet craze in full-swing, calling a friend “mang” equivocates your love for them and losing your muffin top. To achieve the word’s full pizzazz, practice your African accents beyond your Kumbayah’s and BABA-BUN-YA, BA-DA-DEE-BA-DA-BOM’s (Lion King, mind you).

Although I feel as hip as a middle aged Asian parent learning how to shuffle (Dear Mom, please stop), catching up on all this urban street talk is not my cup of tea. I think I’ll go back to playing with them seven dwarves who mine diamonds for me all day.

Cheerio & Adieu, Alice

U

berman sleep schedules suggest that one take six 20-30 minutes naps per day, with naps every four hours.

I think there is real potential in this, and I recommend it to anyone willing to try it. However, I could not reap the full benefits from polyphasic sleep cycle due to one thing: my lack of discipline. Several times during the week, I would wake up in the morning to find my alarm shut off, meaning that I had woken up, reached over to turn it off and pulled the cover back over my head.

Challenge accepted: Polyphasic Sleep Cycles

BY JOEY LI & BRIAN ZHAO

I must say that it has overall been a fairly positive experience. I did feel slightly more productive during the odd hours I was up, even if they only gave me more time to hone my Call of Duty skills. I may put this system to use during finals week or the like, as it is definitely an effective sleep method to get more done.

Everyman schedule diary

Uberman schedule diary

10/3 (Day 1): I had trouble napping the first day because I wasn’t tired at all. However, when I woke up at 7 a.m. after staying up all night, my eyeballs, my joints, and the inside of my head were all on fire. I felt drowsy at 10 a.m., but other than that, I was mostly unaffected in my work efficiency.

10/5: It’s only been a couple of days, but I think I’ve managed to adapt to my new schedule. I feel invincible all throughout the day and night, but I am always afraid I will oversleep during one of my naps. As a result, I have to sleep wearing my earphones. When the maximum volume from my iPod alarm kicks in, I wake to the sound of my own screams and my thundering heartbeat.

10/6: I missed a nap, and I had trouble distinguishing between dreams and reality after I woke up from the next one. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been feeling more depressed than usual. I normally worry a lot, but I always go to sleep, thinking to myself, “It will be better in the morning.” Now, I have no dawn to look forward to.

10/7: At 8 p.m., I put my head down for a second to rest. The next thing I knew, it was 10 a.m. Saturday morning. I spent most of the weekend drifting in and out of consciousness. I guess polyphasic sleep can satisfy biological needs, but your brain still thinks it is tired. I think the key to not being tired is to sleep at the same times each day.

10/13: I am very frustrated because unforeseen events have caused me to miss my naps, so I cannot readjust. I am plagued by agonizing sleeplessness as I lay in bed during my naps. I have avoided crashing as of now, but I feel waves of intense nausea roll over me periodically throughout the day. I have never felt this bad before, and I have a literature essay due tomorrow.

T

he Everyman sleep schedule consists of two to three power naps and one episode of prolonged sleep.

An overview

T

o lengthen the waking hours and eliminate sleep deprivation, we followed a polyphasic sleep cycle: taking multiple equally spaced naps throughout the day. Many scientists believe the key part of sleep is the REM phase, lasting one to two hours per night. Polyphasic sleep trains the brain to enter REM sleep immediately by making the body believe it is extremely tired. The main cause of physical exhaustion is an irregular sleep cycle; with polyphasic sleep, that problem is eliminated as the body follows a constant sleep schedule.

The main concern is that these schedules are inflexible. According to online accounts, it takes a week for the body to adjust, and missed or delayed naps cause crashes that take a long time to recover from. Both of these cycles will be altered slightly in this two-week experiment in order to fit with school.

Nonetheless, the end goal remains the same: lots of extra time.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION

10/2 (Day 1): My first 10-hour block was not bad. I woke up more easily than usual, but throughout the morning, I had trouble completely waking up. Good news: I fell asleep quickly after I got into bed for my nap.

10/3: I think I’m going crazy. Is there such a state as being both awake and dreaming? I’m not sure if I fell asleep for my second nap…I felt awake but heard someone talking and music playing outside my room.

Maybe I’m imagining things as I adjust to the schedule.

10/5: For the past few days, I have somehow missed my alarms. I’ve been so tired that I’ve become incapable of operating the alarm app on my phone. It’s been harder to keep my eyes open when it gets to my scheduled naptimes, even though I’ve been sleeping more than I should.

10/6: I think that I am becoming more productive, but it is probably because no one is on Facebook at 3 a.m.

10/8: I crashed. Friday night after doing eight hours of photography, I couldn’t handle it. I slept from 1 to 10 a.m. in the deepest sleep I have ever had.

10/10: Alarms have failed me. I have taken to having people call me to wake me up—it is much more effective.

The marimba tone of my phone will now haunt me forever.

10/12: Today I ran into two consecutive trees during cross country in less than a minute. On the bright side, I have been adhering to my schedule for the past two days.

It actually feels really good when you get into the cycle, but when you crash it feels like you’ve added at least 50 years to your age.

10/14: Despite crashing on Friday, I’ve finally gotten into the schedule and I feel great. My adherence was somewhat out of necessity due to my large homework load this week. The only issue is I often forget to do some small homework assignments. This is probably because when I abruptly wake up from a nap, my brain still feels asleep even though the rest of my body knows that I am awake.

Students flip over changes in new teaching methods

BY KATHY LI

F

lip it! This catchy phrase is the name of the new instructional format that Calculus AB teacher Vivian Frazita is implementing in her classes.

Breaking the traditional mold of math classes, in which the teacher teaches a lesson during class and assigns problem sets to be completed at home, Frazita will have her students will watch videos at home to learn the material and then do the homework problems in class.

The catalyst for the change was overall poor performance throughout Calculus AB classes. “Test scores were averaging lower than what I would’ve liked them to be,” says Frazita. “Additionally, some students were taking much more time to do the homework than should be necessary.”

Other students, who often have many extracurricular commitments such as sports, did not finish the assignments and fell behind.

Frazita felt that a change in the class structure could help students

get back on track. She is using YouTube to share her new lessons, which will consist of the PowerPoint presentations she used before, but with her voice recordings to complement them.

“The goal is to free up class time to do the math when there are people around to help one another out,” says Frazita. Even if the students do not finish all of the problems in class, they can complete the assignment at home with a better understanding of how to apply the lesson.

Senior Nancy Yang was excited for Flip It when she heard about the change. “I concentrate the best at school, so I’m glad that we’ll have class time to work and get assistance,” she says. “I also like that at home we just have to watch and absorb the lesson, so there is no stress about finishing a lot of problems.”

Though the change is taking place halfway through first semester, the students appreciate it and the increased effort to help them learn the concepts.

“This shows how much Ms. Frazita

cares that her students are doing well,” says Yang. “She’s making the effort to improve the class because she wants us to succeed.”

Currently, the Calculus AB teacher at Cupertino High School also uses Flip It, but the class format remains relatively new. “Teachers may be apprehensive about doing this because their content becomes public domain on the Internet,” Frazita explains. While the classroom usually provides a private environment for instruction, video lectures that are posted on YouTube are open to criticism from the public. “I’m just giving it a shot, but it would be interesting to receive feedback about the system. If it’s successful, maybe other teachers can collaborate using Flip It.”

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY DANIELLE LERNER

Avid fans carry on legacy of Harry Potter through Pottermore

BY SABRINA SHIE

A

lthough Harry has hung up his cloak, and the Dark Lord has been defeated in both literary and visual format, the series has a long ways to go before being forgotten. The immensely large fandom continues to support Harry Potter, especially now with the addition of a website called Pottermore.

Pottermore, launched by J.K. Rowling on July 31, is a website that allows the user to virtually navigate their way through the seven Harry Potter books. Unpublished plots concerning side characters are revealed, giving fans an even more intimate look into the Potter universe. One recent user, junior Karen Ouyang, describes Pottermore as “a personal experience for the user. It’s very interactive and it makes the entire wizarding world feel more tangible.”

However, admission to Pottermore is quite difficult.

Since July, Pottemore has only been open to a lucky few who have signed up early and have completed the “Mag-

ic Quill” challenge. Fortunately, for those who still wish to sign up for Pottermore, registration will be open to the public at the end of October.

Those that have already signed up concede that Pottermore is a necessary part of the Harry Potter fandom. Senior Zia Syed, an avid user, says, “Pottermore is a continuation of a series that changed our lives. It’s a continuation of a series that has guided us since childhood.”

Fans that have missed early registration continue to find ways to express their loyalty to the series, such as writing fanfiction. Sophomore Natasha Tchetchetkine says, “I’ve written three chapters that are basically one shots based on my own life, except in Harry’s world. I do it because I’m so obsessed. I write to get [Harry Potter] all out [of me] so it doesn’t fester.”

Other fans of the series show their love for Harry Potter by dressing up as characters from the books.

Since their sophomore year, seniors Christine Fujiki and Syed, along with a couple others, have started a tradition of dressing up as Hogwarts wizards or witches every May 2nd. Fujiki says, “May 2nd is the battle of Hogwarts and we always dress up in scarves and cloaks. I think the whole thing is sort of viewed in a humorous light, like ‘oh, those crazy Harry Potter people are dressed up again.’”

It is clear that Harry Potter will be around for quite a long time, even after the conclusion of the book and movie series. Syed says, “It’s a series that teaches us bravery, trust, loyalty, and all kinds of other important morals and values.”

Potter’s legacy: A chat with the co-presidents of Lynbrook’s Alliance of Witchcraft and Wizardry Sabrina Shie: What gave you the idea of starting a Harry Potter fanclub?

Jamie Chen: It was Econ class. Me and Mayu were just talking about Pottermore, because we’re both in Pottermore, and one of us said, ‘It would be so cool if Lynbrook was split into houses!’ and we were just like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to start a club!’” Yeah, we really based a lot of stuff off ofPottermore.

SS: What do you hope to achieve from starting this club?

JC: It’s really just bringing the [Harry Potter] experience to Lynbrook.

Karen Wang: Yeah and the cool thing in itself is that Harry Potter is a world.

So that kind of theme of a world really builds our club ideals.

SS: What kind of activities are you planning for the club?

KW: Currently, we have Quidditch, Po-

tionmaking, Wandmaking, Scavenger Hunt, Triwizard Tournament, Yule Ball and “Death Eater” Assassins. Besides these, we have the House system— JC: Yeah, there’ll be an actual ceremony.

KW: --and a ceremony at the end of the year for [whichever House] gets the most points. There’ll be a House party like in Harry Potter.

SS: How would the point system work?

KW: Points are just like at any other club, where people attend activities to get points, and those points will go toward their House, so it’s kind of like a group effort. It’s personally modeled after Harry Potter. It’s like “House spirit!”

KW: Capes, glasses, that kind of thing.

SS: How would you split the members up into different houses?

JC: Personality quizzes. We’re going to try to make one, or take references from

online. It’ll be like Pottermore.

SS: What do you think of Pottermore?

Mayu Nishimura: I think that this kind of interactive Harry Potter website really joins the Harry Potter fans worldwide and creates a concept that Harry Potter never ends. Yeah, I got into Pottermorereally early, when it was in early registration. After I got in, I posted the answers [to the Pottermore Quill Challenge] on Facebook.

JC: Yeah I got in through your answers.

Pottermore itself is really fun. It’s more like an interactive storybook and it’s really cool! I’m in Slytherin House, and I was really surprised because I thought I’d be in Gryffindor.

SS: How did you feel when the Harry Potter series ended?

JC:Excited!!

MN: Really?! I was really really sad.

JC: Well, okay, I was sad, but it was a re-

ally good ending! If they continued it, and it was really crappy I would be really upset, and I’d be even more disappointed.

KW: But, I think, for everyone in our grade level, when the movies first came out, we were the same age as the actors, and as every movie comes out, we watch them grow up. It kind of relates to our childhoods, so that’s why Harry Potter is important to our generation.

That’s mostly the movies though. But of course the books are important as well.

JC: Seriously, it’s required reading for my children.

SS: Where do you see Harry Potter in the future?

MN: Well I heard that there’s going to be sequels coming up for something, according to some websites. J.K. Rowling, she hinted that she’s going to continue with her books, so I’m pretty sure Harry Potter’s going to continue on.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY AUSTIN YU

The grim reaper doesn’t stand a chance against Seike

BY SUCHETA KORWAR

A

seventh grade Andrew Seike hangs off a cliff, clutching the roots of some ice plants, and, using the apt cliché, holds on for his life. Fast-forward a few years: Seike and his brother are seconds away from a collision as they’re speeding through an intersection because their car is without brakes.

While several teachers struggle to engage their students in the class material, literature teacher Seike uses his near-death experiences to enhance all of his lessons.

When his British Literature classes were reading Beowulf, Seike wove his own personal neardeath experiences into their discussions to keep students interested.

“In class, when we were discussing an intense fight between Beowulf and Grendel, Mr. Seike brought up his first near-death experience to keep the class interested in the material,” says senior Monisha Kashyap. “He told us about his neardeath experience while walking on the cliffs with his friend in seventh grade.”

Seike has had several other close encounters with death, but usually tells five main ones to his

classes. He also does not tell his classes his five near-death experiences in one period, but gradually reveals the stories to them as the year goes on.

“I repeat my stories, and my lessons, too, to see how different students react to what I give them. I think it’s more interesting than giving my students different materials every year,” says Seike.

Referring to Seike’s gradual method of telling his stories, Kashyap says, “We’ve only talked about one major near-death experience [Seike] has had before because he wants to bring them up as they become relevant to what we are doing in class. He wants to keep us in suspense and make us pay attention to the class material. Hopefully, we will hear another major one soon!”

Although his experiences are not directly relatable to Beowulf, Seike reasons that they have entertainment value, make the text relatable to students, and teach his students things about life outside of school.

“In the piece, Beowulf is constantly confronted with his death, and I wanted to show my students that you have not lived until you have experienced death. You haven’t lived until you’ve put yourself out there,” Seike says.

Seike believes that he has a matter-of-fact at-

titude toward death because of his risky childhood experiences. “I come from very humble beginnings, a kind of rough-andtumble area, so having these near-death experiences was not abnormal for me. Almost getting killed was not out of the ballpark,” Seike says.

Rather than making him feel apprehensive about what the future will hold for him, Seike says that his numerous experiences with death in the past have made him appreciate his current life more than before.

“When you have experienced loss like I have, you gain appreciation for what you do have,” he says.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NIKITA DHESIKAN , SABRINA SHIE & BRIAN ZHAO

Putting all of the pieces together A closer look at the factors explaining the increase of on-campus bike thefts

BY JANE JUN & ALICE ZHANG

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ast May, senior Daniel Kao walked to the bike cage after school to find his bike nowhere in sight—lock cut and discarded on the floor. For the next two weeks Kao browsed the internet in search of a replacement when one Saturday morning, he saw a strangely familiar-looking orange and silver road bike on Craigslist.

“It was my bike,” says Kao. “I recognized it because on it were things I put on myself, like a metal bottle holder and a bike light.”

Kao is not alone. In past months, there has been a staggering increase in bike theft.Generally Lynbrook averages approximately four to five reported cases of bike thefts per year, but this number has already been surpassed in the past two months. “We usually have less bike thefts here at Lynbrook, but lately it’s been the same as any other high school,” says Ramirez. Most have been “opportunity thefts,” meaning the offenders steal on the spot when they see unchained bikes.

However, recently, specific kinds of bikes

are being targeted: BMX bikes and off-road bikes, which can cost up to more than a thousand dollars. Ramirez says, “Kids here have nice bikes, and these bikes are not immune to outside people.”

On Sept. 16, two men were suspected and arrested for repeatedly targeting and stealing bikes off the Lynbrook campus. Four witnesses were able to give a basic description of the men’s physical features, and the arrested criminals matched these depictions.

A week before the arrest, a friend told freshman Xavier Dearo that a group of men at Rainbow Park had his BMX bike. Dearo then approached the group of eight men at Rainbow Park and argued, asking them to return his bike.

“I told them, ‘Hey man, I need my bike back, that’s my bike,’’ says Dearo. “I guess they didn’t want to deal with any trouble because they gave me my bike back.”

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Out of the gang, Dearo remembered seeing “two tall, light-skinned Mexicans with baggy jeans, one of them wearing a white shirt and the other wearing a black hat.” The men had committed the theft by unscrewing the handlebars of Dearo’s bike, which had been fastened to a pole by a U-Lock.

After the incident, the descriptions Dearo gave of the men helped the police identify and arrest the burglars. Shortly after the arrest, there was a significant decrease in bike thefts, yet this is not to say that the issue has fully been resolved or ever will be.

Meanwhile, Ramirez strongly encourages students to lock their bikes securely, as unlocked bikes will unnecessarily tempt passers-by. Dearo agrees. “Getting my bike stolen made me think more about how I should take better care of it,” he says.

A bike should also never be left overnight.

Ramirez advises those who have gotten their

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1.

bike stolen to contact him and file a police report. Ramirez is “pretty confident that more bikes have been taken than was reported” because many students who have had their bikes stolen do not bother to go through the whole process. Students should also file a police report as this will give the San Jose Police Department a better perspective.

The Lynbrook administration is aware of these trends in escalating bike theft activity and is looking for ways to bring the rates to a decline. “We are in the process of having video surveillance around campus,” says Ramirez. “However, I don’t know when this will actually happen, since there are legal concerns that must be addressed in order to get the cameras approved.”

There is no one who is able to predict the time, day or season that a bike theft could occur, and all who own bikes are at risk. With all of the increasing numbers of safety measures taken by the administration, ultimately it is important for students to understand the implications and precautions for owning and maintaining a bike.

1.

Find anchored post inside the bike cage to lock bike to. Do not lock to the fence as it can be easily cut.

2.

Use U-Lock to lock wheel to the post.

3. Securely fix chain lock

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN ZHAO

through both wheels.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIELLE LERNER

Living in America: students open up on U.S. citizenship

BY DANIELLE LERNER

F

or most Lynbrook students, it is difficult to imagine not having the perks of U.S. citizenship: traveling at one’s leisure, applying for internships, having the right to vote. But for people born outside of the U.S., the process of becoming a citizen, naturalization, can take up to eight years.

Senior Disha Banik (pictured top left) just recently obtained citizenship on Sept.

29. She began the naturalization process after moving to America from India at age four, but the process was held up because she lost her birth certificate. Banik says she was eager to complete the naturalization process because, “Although technically I wasn’t born in America, I feel like I belong here more than anyone else. I most likely want to live here for the rest of my life and in order to better participate in my community, I need to be a citizen. I’ve also developed a career interest in government and public policy.”

When her request for citizenship was finally granted after twelve and a half years, Banik says that she does not feel it will have a huge impact on how she is treated. “Because I live

in such a multicultural community, I never really faced many discrimination issues, besides some internships that only citizens are eligible for.” She describes having a “quiet contentment to officially be a citizen of the country I feel I belong to.”

Meanwhile, senior Virup Gubba (pictured in middle) is still awaiting his chance. After moving here in 2001, Gubba’s family started with an H-4 Visa, a temporary residence permit for internationals. In elementary school, Gubba applied for a green card, but the application took many years to go through, and he did not receive one until three years ago. He is not yet eligible for U.S citizenship, having lived here for less than five years.

Gubba admits that not being a citizen has presented some problems. Other than having to fill out an extra section on college applications, Gubba was in for a challenge his sophomore year, while studying to prepare for the Chemistry Olympiad. Only the top two scores from each school in the regional round were allowed to advance to the semifinal round, but only U.S. citizens can qualify. “That was going to be a main scientific focus during sophomore year.

When I found out, I sort of lost most of my motivation to study

chemistry,” he explains. Despite this setback, Gubba says that not being a citizen also has its bright side. “I can continue to live here with a green card or go to some business in India with my Indian citizenship.” However, he still maintains that having a U.S. citizenship would make a valuable difference. “It would help in opening available opportunities,” says Gubba.

However, junior Amanda Lu (pictured top right) sees citizenship as an insignificant part of life. Canadian-born Lu is not an American citizen, and has no plans to become one.

Instead, she plans to return to Canada as soon as she graduates from college. Lu says, “My childhood in Canada was by far the most enjoyable and fun part of my life. My family and I have developed quite a bit of Canadian pride.” Once she goes to college, Lu’s parents plan to return to Canada, where she will join them after graduating college. “During my life in the United States, a situation in which an American citizenship would have benefitted or given me a disadvantage never really came up,” says Lu. Although Lu finds herself able to feel “normal” in the U.S., she still feels a stronger pull towards Canada, her “true home.” While many non-citizens long to make America theirs, others are content in remaining permanently attached to their homeland. These students’ experiences prove that you do not have to be born in America to feel at home.

Facebook as an educational social network for students

BY JESSICA CAO

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN TAI

T

FACEBOOK GROUPS| Numbers represent students in a subject’s online group

he continual incorporation of technology into education is a double-edged convenience. While more convenient, the lure of social networking sites is an unwanted distraction. In a twist that some would call ironic, many students are using Facebook to stay on track with schoolwork. To junior Irene Hong, “Using AP Facebook groups is just like asking peers for help in person, but more convenient.” At the same time, committing academic honesty infractions is still a very real possibility.

There are currently groups for at least ten different subjects with around 20-160 members each. New ones are created each school year, and groups are closed “so only people who take the class or are alumni can join,” says senior Deniz Oktay, creator of the group for AP Literature. Hong, who has created four academic Facebook groups for four different subjects, states that the goal of those groups is to “create a sense of community, which is integral to academic growth.”

Facebook study groups facilitate communication: teachers are not always consistent, so students can share and explain what they know with classmates. “Answering questions helps me learn too because I need to know the content enough to teach it to someone else, even if it’s in a 2-3 paragraph Facebook comment,” says Hong.

Facebook groups also have benefits that extend beyond standard curriculum. “We all explain things to each other,” AP Statistics teacher Bob Blaschke, who created and administrates his own group, says, “So, [the AP Statistics group] is also beneficial in terms of communicating and writing.”

Blaschke’s group, which includes many Lynbrook alumni, even acts as a forum for advice on subjects such as college applications.

Even though some students find these groups useful, the closed-group setting still raises

concerns about academic honesty violations.

Blaschke has very clear guidelines about post content to keep things educational, but most other teachers have no control or knowledge over what is posted in Facebook groups.

Senior Dinesh Jayasankar says, “Some people have a quantity over quality mindset and a lot of people... go on the group to look for straight answers that they can copy and paste.” While a few, if any, people purposefully help others cheat using Facebook AP groups, Oktay states that “some are definitely lazy.”

Jayasankar says, “The [AP Literature] Facebook group is something students know they can fall back on if they can’t come up with any of their own ideas, and it’s usually only a few people posting.”

This is not the type of collaborative environment teachers want.

AP Literature teacher Nelda Clark says, “If the group were functioning maturely… everyone should be participating—giving and taking, not just being lurkers trying to get info.” The problem is that students burdened with multiple AP course loads may not have the time or willpower to do so.

Moreover, Facebook groups are sometimes not study groups at all. Junior CJ Ji finds that they are only useful for “staying on the same page in terms of knowing when assignments are due as well as what the reading assignment for the night is.”

Despite this, many students maintain that what happens in the groups is “more asking about the idea behind them and referring them to teacher PowerPoints or online articles that may help them learn it better,” says Hong.

When it comes to guidelines for these Facebook groups, Assistant Principal Sydney Marsh paraphrases the Bible: “Did I give you the fish or did I teach you how to fish?” This is an apt question, as a Facebook group just like any other resource: students can choose to abuse it, or they can harness it for a positive purpose.

JOEY LI & AUSTIN YU—EPIC

PLAYING THE FIELD| Clockwise from bottom left: Senior Austin Brady, senior Chris Doi, junior Tim Wallis, senior Daniel Stafford and junior Kyle Williams demonstrate Lynbrook’s abilities on Oct. 14 against Cupertino HS.

Football team aims to break 18-year Homecoming game losing streak drills, defensive lineman could be practicing their rip/swim moves, linebackers could be working on reading runs, and the secondary (corners and safeties) could be working on zone coverage,” explains Williams. Along with their strenuous exercises and drills, the team also sees the importance in rest. Senior Chris Doi, a wide receiver and defensive back, says the team works hard even when not on the playing field.

“We have a bye week prior to the homecoming game so we are balancing both working hard along with staying healthy and resting, We are also watching a lot of films of Harker’s past games,” explains Doi. As the Homecoming game approaches, many players are definitely feeling the pressure. Varsity captain senior Kalvin Zee, however, explains how the Homecoming game is just like any other ordinary game. “We want to approach this game as we do in any other game. Harker is just another team and even though everybody hypes up this game, it’s just another game for us,” says Zee. Other players such as Doi describe how the pressure to win is greater than ever as the football team’s chances of winning grow stronger.

“There definitely is quite a bit of pressure given the great opportunity to finally win Homecoming. Lynbrook hasn’t won homecoming game since the year before I was born. Now that we have such a good chance to win, it raises the amount of pressure and now that we know we can definitely hang with the Harker team, we are going to go out there confident and will leave everything on the field,” says Doi. Pressure or no pressure, win or lose, the football team this year will undoubtedly give it all they have on the night of Friday Oct. 28th.

BY SAMUEL CHANG

A

fter a tough and demanding 3-7 season last year, the football team is doing its best to pick itself back up. As of right now, the football team has done quite well, winning over half of its games. With an impressive victory over Fremont High School, in a division opener that they haven’t won since 2007, the hopes of many players are beginning to rise back up again. The Homecoming game against The Harker School is coming up in just three days and the players are now working harder than ever.

Junior Kyle Williams, a running back and linebacker, explains how every single game that leads up to Homecoming is a form of preparation. “We can’t spend every week preparing for the Homecoming game because there are 9 other games in the season that are also important. All we need to do is to take the skills we’ve learned so far and adjust them to Harker’s style of play,” says Williams. Varsity coach Ray Wright agrees and describes how the team practices and works diligently using all kinds of resources going towards every single game. “We go into the weight room a couple times a week and into the practice field and do yoga once a week,” Wright describes.

With a current record of four wins and three losses, the team has increased its efforts during practices with conditioning, weight training and drills. “As far as conditioning goes, the exercises we do are all variations of sprints, because football is a game of sprints. The exercises aren’t too extravagant; usual exercises include sprinting from sideline to sideline any number of times and Indian runs. Drills, however, are specific to positions. For example, during defensive

Stop hatin’ on sports teams

W

alk into the gym and you’ll find a multitude of banners draped along the walls, filled with accomplishments of Lynbrook’s past sports teams. Due to the alleged lack of success and prestigious awards in recent years, however, many students find it easy to dismiss Lynbrook’s teams as underachieving.

Look, I know that our football team hasn’t won its Homecoming game in 18 years. But the problem is that wins are often overshadowed by losses, as evidenced by the less-thanstellar attitudes people have toward the games we win because of our Homecoming “curse.” But a lack of success in the past shouldn’t create the reputation that has been haunting Lynbrook teams for almost an eternity: that we’re inferior and weak. This reputation and our teams’ past failures can be attributed to the lack of spirit among Lynbrook students.

Whenever I hear some clueless student say, “Our football team won?” in a surprised tone and then proceed to proclaim “Meh, they probably got lucky,” I get ticked off, because I know that our team has worked hard to win and ultimately overcome our negative reputation. This feeling is common among athletes here. Sophomore Rahul Chander says, “I try to ignore those who criticize our team, because they don’t understand what it is like to be in the game and what actually happens.”

Chander’s statement holds true for all sports teams—especially the football team—since we put in hours of exhausting work daily to attain wins. But the negative spirit that self-

proclaimed fans share does not properly reflect that.

We’re not as bad as you think we are. The football, girls’ tennis, field hockey, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ water polo and girls’ golf teams all have won more games than they have lost. In fact, girls’ golf and boys’ water polo have only lost one game each, with records of 11-1 and 9-1, respectively.

Also, some students unfairly compare Lynbrook’s teams to those from schools in different leagues or districts that have a more general athletic focus. Additionally, those schools receive more funding from their district and taxpayers. We do well against the other teams in our league, since we play at similar levels. So don’t go making assumptions based solely on how we have done in the past. Please get your facts straight before drawing conclusions about our teams.

Students need to realize that our athletics program should be appreciated and that our sports teams are capable of winning. Lynbrook should not only be known for its stellar academic skills, but for its rising teams. So take pride in Lynbrook’s teams. Now that Homecoming is right around the corner, maybe it’ll become contagious.

Field hockey improves chances for CCS

BY KELSEY HURWITZ

O Girls’ water polo cruises to 6-2 record despite injury

BY LAUREN TAI

I

was playing basketball and I dove into the bleachers. A couple weeks later, I kept getting headaches which became harder to bear,” says junior Emily Fong after receiving a concussion during an outside of school game. This condition forced Fong, the top scorer of the girls’ water polo team, to take a one-month break from playing before returning before week of Oct. 10.

Due to her absence, the team learned how to compensate and faced more individual responsibility. Captain senior Tiffani Lau says, “We just had to adjust because we were not used to playing without her.” The team adjusted by having members alternate in various positions, which allowed players more practice overall.

Additionally, this season’s team consists of nine members because the turnout in the number of players for this year’s team decreased as the school year progressed. This leaves space for only two subsitutes, resulting in difficulties subsituting frequently during games and having to face the requirement of building up their endurance to sustain long

periods of time in the pool. Goalkeeper junior Brita Sanders says, “Each individual has to be more responsible for themselves, which is stressful and tiring.”

Coach Scott Blake says the team spends time on basic techniques rather than complicated tactics by doing walkthroughs on land and spending time in the classroom drawing up plays.

In their recent Fremont game, two weeks ago on Sept. 29, the team played a heated game during which they went into overtime and sudden death. Lynbrook won in the sudden death round, determined by whichever team scores first. The team became less dependent as each member improved.

Junior Natalie Popescu says, “Emily’s leave could be seen in two ways. On one hand, we were sad that she could not play with us but at the same time it gave a lot of the players even more game time experience.”

Blake comments on Fong’s time out of the pool, saying, “The biggest thing that impresses me about how the team is dealing with this situation is in their perseverance. Nobody asks to come out because they’re tired, they just dig in and get the job done as best they can.”

Girls’ golf upholds good record with sights on upcoming CCS

BY EESHA KHARE

T

he opportunity to play at the Central Coast Playoffs (CCS) rests on the outcome of league finals. This is Lynbrook girls’ golf. The team is ready to conclude its season with league finals, which will be held at the Santa Teresa Golf Course in San Jose on Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

League finals this year will be held with the top teams of the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL). The league gets one automatic spot in the CCS tournament, which is awarded based on the highest scores of the top four

of six players on the team. Coach Art Zimmerman says, “We have been successful this year because we have spent more time this season on our short game, chipping and putting, but in preparing for league finals at Santa Teresa we will need to refocus more time to our long game.”

Despite its 11-1 record throughout the season, the team still risks losing the opportunity to play at CCS. Senior Evelyn Chu explains, “You can play the best golf ever during season and give yourself a spot in league finals, but your skills on the day of leagues will truly determine your admission to CCS.” Senior Joyce Chen adds, “Our biggest challenge is just to be consistent. We’ll have good days and bad days, good holes and bad holes. If we don’t fall apart and have a good day, we will for sure be going to CCS.” Chu says that if they want to improve, the girls should focus on “managing [their] game better. It’s really important to have a strategy to get around the course, which often times we lack.”

With CCS coming up, the girls remain larger than life, confident they have a strong finish ahead.

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANIELLE LERNER & AUSTIN YU

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

RUN, JESSE, RUN| Freshman Jesse Tai keeps a steady pace during the Earlybird Invitational at Toro Park on Sept. 10. The cross country team currently has a 3-0 record. Their next home meet is Oct. 27.

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

JOEY LI—EPIC

Jesse Tai (9) lends a freshman perspective on varsity cross country: “The team has been practicing pretty hard as a whole, and with good practice comes good results.”

Shravya Adusumilli (10) says that the tennis team has “kept the winning streak going except top two schools, but we need to get better at mental toughness as opposed to physical strength.”

DOWN THE LINE| Sophomore Shravya Adusumilli hits a forehand in Thursday’s match versus Saratoga. The girls’ record is 7-4. Their next home game is today against Mountain View.

Boys’ polo team maintains stellar record

BY JACOB ANTONY

A

fter defeating major rivals Wilcox High and Saratoga High, the boys’ water polo team is looking to be league champions this season. Although they lost many big players last year, the Vikings have gained momentum with one of their most successful seasons yet. In order to compensate for the loss of physically dominant players, the team remade practices to emphasize speed and smarts earlier this year. Now, the team seems poised to decisively win leagues this year. “Our new strategy is working pretty well for us. I mean, we’re [9-1],” says sophomore Gary Chen.

It seems the team’s predictions of victory from earlier this year are coming true. At the same time the scores are consistently closer than they were last year. “If we can play consistently, [we’ll] do fine,” says Chen. He believes that keeping up their winning streak will boil down to the players staying on the same page both offensively and defensively. In a sport where teamwork and communication are everything, it will be crucial to the team if it hopes to solidify its number one standing in the league.

As the season winds down, the team has been working harder than ever, adding a Saturday practice designed to focus players to their ultimate goal. “We’re getting close to leagues, so we need to be prepared,” says sophomore Daniel Peterson. At the same time, the boys are keeping level heads. “We’re taking it one game at a time,” Peterson says.

An Oct. 20 loss against Saratoga has cautioned them, but they remain optimistic. “As long as we’re number one at the end of the season and [Wilcox or Saratoga] beat us in the finals, it won’t matter. We’ve beaten them twice each, so one loss won’t make us lose our ranking,” says Chen.

Here’s to hoping the team keeps it that way.

About the Milpitas game, Gavriela Fine (12) says, “[it] was really important to us to keep our CCS hopes alive. If we had lost that game we would have been out...Our chance comes down to our game against Cupertino where we’ll fight for CCS.” DANIELLE LERNER—EPIC

KELSEY HURWITZ—EPIC

BEASTING IT UP| Goalie junior Brita Sanders and junior Emily Fong reach up simultaneously to block a shot in the Oct. 18 game against Harker.

n Oct 18, the field hockey team gained a 3-1 victory against Cupertino. The win has shaken up league standings, since Cupertino was previously ranked third. Now Lynbrook is placed fourth in the league, with a chance to make Central Coast Section (CCS). Only the top three teams will attend CCS; if the players stay focused and keep winning important games, moving up to third is within their reach.

At the Cupertino game, the players were able to showcase the skills that they have been perfecting while working for CCS, such as improved passing (to beat defenders), quick feet, and driving to get to the ball first. “We go straight for the ball,” says senior Shannon Jones, who also commented that she has “seen tons of improvement on offense and defense [this season].”

Jones, who attended CCS for basketball in the past, but never for field hockey, is hoping to finally get there during her last year playing for Lynbrook. She commented, “I know what it’s like, and how exciting it is to be there. The whole thing has a different energy... It’d be really good for our team [to get to CCS].”

Whether or not they make CCS will be announced in the coming weeks. Future games are going to play a huge role in determining whether the Lady Vikes will make it. Although the Vikings pulled a 3-1 victory against Del Mar on Thursday, a game against Monta Vista scheduled for Oct. 27 is expected to be one of the more challenging games on the road to CCS. The other league games, scheduled against Branham, Live Oak and St. Ignatius, will determine Lynbrook’s league rankings and ulimately the final CCS verdict.

JOEY LI—EPIC

SPIKE IT| Senior Gavriela Fine, a middle blocker, spikes the ball over the net in the Oct. 18 game against Milpitas. The Lady Vikings won 3-1. The team’s record is 5-2. Their next home game is today versus Fremont.

Student coaches learn through teaching their sports

BY GLORIA LIN

W

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

DANIELLE LERNER—EPIC

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS BY SPORTS SECTION

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

hile after-school sports are known to bring a sense of fulfillment and fitness, some student athletes find that they need alternative methods of improvement.

These athletes become coaches in their respective sports and gain insight into the game beyond what playing can offer them.

For many, coaching began simply with a desire to enrich knowledge and passion in a sport.

Senior Carol Lin, for example, began teaching skating to autistic children after she stopped competitive figure skating. “I decided to start coaching because I wanted to stay connected to skating after I stopped skating…. I was an accomplished skater, and the people running the program thought my experience with autistic children [because my brother is autistic] as well as [my] proficiency in skating would be a good match for the job.”

For students like Lin, the path to becoming a sports instructor often begins with people or experiences in their lives. Many student coaches began their jobs through first speaking with people who played with or coached them.

Freshman Megan Wong, for example, started coaching because, “I got the job because one of my previous coaches needed an assistant, and since he knew how I acted on the tennis courts, he thought I would be a good [fit].”

Senior Sameer Kausar, a current water polo instructor, agrees, saying, “My old head polo coach’s wife was looking for someone to teach a summer introductory program [in water polo], and I got the job.”

As these jobs must be balanced with other matters such as schoolwork and other extracurriculars and commitments, many coaches find it difficult to manage their time. Lin says, “I teach on Friday afternoons, usually the busiest of traffic times during the week. The commute is horrible, especially into downtown San Jose. It takes time to get to the rink, time that I could be spending on more ‘worthy’ things like college applications or homework.” However, since she only teaches on Fridays after school, Lin “makes it work.”

Junior Jennifer Tan, a coach at De Anza Cupertino Aquatics (DACA), however, finds it more difficult to manage her time. “The worst part of [coaching] is that it takes a lot of time,” she says, “Sports [such as Cross Country, which takes up at least two hours every day] and homework already take up a lot of time, and I also go to church and club activities on weekends… I’ve been sleeping later this year in general because I’m taking harder classes than I was last year, and because of work.”

In the end, what makes athletic coaching worth it for these students is not the monetary earnings, but the experience itself.

“Teaching furthers my own knowledge, and I found that I could apply the teaching experience to myself. For example, I’m more cautious about keeping my left shoulder down while shooting now that I’ve helped kids keep it down so much,” says Kausar.

In other words, teaching and coaching sports have allowed these athletes to broaden their own horizons and those of future generations eager to continue an athletic legacy.

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Jae Lee (12)

Marshall Cheng (11)

Vikings fall into fashion AUSTIN YU—EPIC

Selin Toprak (10)

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

BY AUSTIN YU

A

s fall descends upon the Viking kingdom, students suit up for the impending chilly breezes. Clockwise from top left, Marshall Cheng (11) displays a fashionable denim and heavy jacket as comfort is essential for Cheng, who prefers to keep his outfits sim-

ple and clean. Jae Lee (12) bundles down with pieces like fuzzy Uggs and a simple coat in preparation for the cold weather. Patrick Zhu (9) finds the weather to be perfect for shorts but keeps himself warm with high socks and a jacket. Meanwhile, Selin Toprak (10) keeps her attire light with a trendy cardigan, classic skinny jeans and cute boots.

AUSTIN YU—EPIC

Patrick Zhu (9)

AUSTIN YU—EPIC