EXPECTATION
Quantity vs quality of fire alarm drills, see page 7
epitaph
Know your student rights, see pages 8 and 9
The Epitaph rates the MPAA s controversial movies, see page 12
the
HOMESTEAD HIGH SCHOOL
VOL. 50
ISSUE 3
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012
Giants celebrations turn to chaos, see page 15
21370 HOMESTEAD RD. CUPERTINO, CA
Homestead s Red Cross Club joins Sandy relief efforts By Leona Rajaee
Last week, Homestead’s chapter of the American Red Cross organized an emergency fundraiser in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, one of the largest storms to hit the East Coast in years. Club members distributed red jars throughout the school, from the choir room to the library. In addition to the jars, members volunteered to set up a donation station in the quad during lunch. The club raised a total of $600, exceeding their initial goal of $500. “We set the goal pretty high cers,” said vice president Fumika Takazawa. “It was amazing to directly feel the generosity of donors. One student’s mom wrote us a $200 check,” Takazawa added. Homestead’s Red Cross Club attributes a large part of their success to “spreading the word,” according to club member Megha-
ABOVE: American Red Cross volunteers unload supplies for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The money raised at Homestead, directly aids these relief efforts.
throughout the school, posted statuses throughout Facebook and created a video to raise awareness about our fundraiser and how serious the situation is on the East Coast,” Mungala said. The money raised at Home-
Homestead s CSU Early Assessment Results are released
By Matthew Chow
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMERICAN RED CROSS
By Camille Miller
Remaining mostly consistent with previous years, the school wide EAP results for English were: 49 percent exempt, 36 percent non-exempt, and 14 percent conditional. The Mathematics results were: 38 percent exempt, 20 percent non-exempt, and 42 percent conditional. Homestead’s 2012 California State University (CSU) Early Assessment Program (EAP) exam results were delivered last month, allowing staff members and stu“college ready” the graduating class of 2013 is. The EAP exam, which is administered each spring at public high schools in California, determines a student’s readiness for college English Language Arts and Mathematics courses according to CSU standards. An “exempt” report implies
that a student meets CSU placement standards, and will not be required to take the English Placement Test (EPT) or EntryLevel Mathematics (ELM) exam when admitted into a CSU. A “non-exempt” report means that a student is not ready for collegelevel coursework, and would be required to take the EPT and ELM exams upon admittance into a CSU. “We have a conditional status for Math and English,” said Carolina Cardenas, the Associate Director for the Outreach and EAP. “Basically what that means is that you would be exempt, however, we feel that if you don’t get a senior year experience in English or Math, you would lose skills. So what we require from students that are conditional is that they take a twelfth grade English
Continued on page 2 CSU results
stead will be donated to the American Red Cross, which is among the largest organizations contributing to the relief efforts. “Every day Red Cross volunteers are loading trucks and traveling to affected neighborhoods with food and supplies,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president of Disaster Services for the Red Cross. “We understand that people are living in very tough conditions and we are doing everything possible to assist them during this In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Homestead’s Red Cross Club participated in a similar emergency relief effort. However, this year the process of donating was much easier. “Red Cross was one of the organizations that are already in the FUHSD’s approved list of charitable organizations that all clubs could donate to without needing to go through the process of approving the charity,” said activities director Melina Nafrada. “This makes it much easier for them to donate in the event of an emergency.” “Every dollar brings victims closer to returning to their normal lives,” Takazawa said. “You can really make change with the change in your pocket.”
Greg Giglio to be Homestead s future principal
PHOTO COURTESY OF VILLAGE HIGH SCHOOL
ABOVE: “Every kid is different and has a different story to tell,” said Greg Giglio, current principal of Village High School.
Greg Giglio, principal of Village High School in Pleasanton, CA was selected on Nov. 6 to take over principal Graham Clark’s position at Homestead by the Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees. Previously, Giglio has served as a vice principal at Amador Valley High School as well as an English teacher at both Amador Valley and Berkeley High Schools. Giglio was approved to this position after a one-month selection process that was broken into three steps. The school received more than 60 applications for the position. “Obviously you can’t interview 60 people,” said Clark. So an interview panel, consisting of Homestead staff members, FUHSD staff members, students, and parents, paper-screened all candidates to interview in person. The applicants that passed the interview then presented at the
Features: The ins and outs of the school website SEE PAGE 10 News: Homestead s election results compared to nation s SEE PAGE 2
Inside:
News Opinion In-Depth Features
public forum, which took place in the Homestead band room on Oct 20. The top three applicants included Giglio, John Rodriguez, assistant principal at Cupertino High School and Ben Clausnitzer, assistant principal at Monta Vista High School. They gave a prepared message and answered a few questions chosen at random. “I’ve never had an audience that big for a job application,” said Giglio, “but it was fun as well, getting to talk and let them get to know me.” Ultimately, the superintenchoice. his responsibilities as principal on Jan. 7, 2013. “It takes a while to move somebody mid-year into a new position,” said Polly Bove, FUHSD superintendent. To facilitate this transition,
Continued on page 2 New principal 1 5 8 10
Entertainment 12 Sports 14 The Last Word 16
PAGE DESIGN BY AYSE DILARA ARSLAN
2
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Continued from page 1 CSU results
Election 2012
How Homestead s Government classes stack up American voters
51%
School voters
74%
Barack Obama
or Math, you would lose skills. So what we require from students that are conditional is that they take a twelfth grade English or Math class (whichever they scored conditional in) and get a C or higher.” However, the exam does not only serve students that get accepted into CSUs. “Even for students who have other means of demonstrating college readiness them because if by chance they go to another school, a private school or a UC, and they have to -
American voters
48%
School voters
10%
Mitt Romney
American voters
1% 16%
School voters
Other SOURCE: VOTERGUIDE.SOS.CA.GOV
Proposition Title
30 – Temporary Taxes to Fund Education 31 – State budget, State and Local Government 32 – Political contributions by payroll deduction 33- Auto insurance rates based on driver history 34 –Death penalty 35 – Human trafficking 36 – Three strikes law 37 – GM food labeling 38 –Temporary tax hike to benefit schools 39 – Business tax for energy funding 40 – Redistricting State Senate
lish teacher Lisa Clausnitzer. To respond to those who are not yet academically prepared to take on college courses, most two and four year colleges in the United States provide students with remedial courses in English and Math. Once these courses have been completed, students required courses needed to earn a degree. age [of students who are remediated] but the fact that we have any worries a lot of teachers,” Clausnitzer said. “To see any students have to face remediation because hurts a little bit because we work so hard. So to see the numbers, to understand why they are being remediated, has been relieving.” In addition to providing opportunities to students, teachers have also taken advantage of this program through participating in EAP workshops and aligning their curriculum with CSU standards, preparing students to meet the demands of college courses.
Yes Votes (Students)
No Votes (Students)
81%
news
Continued from page 1 New principal Clark plans to organize with Giglio “a few meetings and have a transition binder and go through all the important information that he needs,” said Clark. Since many things will be in process during the middle of the school year, Giglio will step in by picking up most of the meetings. Having served as principal of Village High School, an alternative education school, for six years, Giglio has learned to and to connect more personally to his students. “We only have about 110 kids on campus,” Gi-
have had tough experiences […] Each kid is different and has a different story, so I have to think about each individual rather than the whole system.” However, despite the differences between these two environments, “leadership is leadsmall school or a big school,” Giglio said. “The purpose of leadership is to best support everyone so students can be successful. In that regard, there are a lot of similarities, but just on a different level with bigger numbers and more programs and more resources.” “I want to carry on the great traditions and successes that have made the school what it is,” Giglio said. “I want to take good help make it better.”
19%
Yes Votes (Californian Voters) 54%
No Votes (Californian Voters) 46%
55%
45%
39%
61%
40%
60%
44%
56%
52%
48%
45%
55%
63% 56%
37% 46%
47% 81%
53% 19%
70% 56%
30% 44%
69% 47%
31% 53%
43%
57%
28%
72%
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34%
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29% PAGE DESIGN BY KHALIL BOURGOUB
news
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Marching band hosts annual home show By Morris Yang
Homestead prepares second annual Sadie Hawkins dance By Sanjana DeSilva
People will be expected to dress according to the semi-formal theme. According to Patel, leadership will introduce new activities. For example, the Homestead jazz band will play for the first thirty minutes so students can swing dance. The dance may also include the photo booth that was present at last year’s dance.
Last year, Homestead High School introduced a new tradition: the Sadie Hawkins dance. On Nov. 30, from 7 pm to 10 pm in the large gym, the tradition will continue, but not without some changes. Monil Patel, sophomore class president, explained that the theme for the dance this year will be “dynamic duos.”
MORRIS YANG
The marching band and color guard performed their last home show of the season on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Mustang Field. This year, for the first time, the home show included gourmet food trucks from around the Bay Area. The performance incorporated music played during the football games and the 2012 Field Show,
Poseidon’s Dream. “I think Poseidon’s Dream showed the best of the Marching Band this year,” said Director of Bands John Burn. The seniors were recognized before the field show performance with their parents. The band will perform next at the Festival of Lights Parade in Los Altos on Nov. 25.
Colleges extend application deadlines after Hurricane Sandy By Morris Yang
Colleges and universities around the country delayed deadlines for early action and early decisions applicants as a result of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy. The extensions range from a few days to as long as a month past their original deadline. The extensions could affect seniors applying early to college, as some of the most popular universities, such as Co-
lumbia, Yale and Princeton Universities, have extended their early decision deadlines. The extensions primarily aim to accommodate students affected by Hurricane Sandy, but most extensions apply to all applicants. College and Career Center advisor Nicole Deatherage said, “Some students just came in and said they’ve had a few extra days to submit their applications. They got lucky.”
FUHSD s logo gets a new look
News
By Sanjana DeSilva
in
Brief
Homestead kicks off its annual canned food drive By Sanjana DeSilva
The Fremont Union High School District logo has received an upgrade. “We wanted a strong academic look, but we wanted the classic look and a little more modern,” said Jason Crutchfield, the director of business services for FUHSD. The new logo includes a new ribbon to showcase the districts insignia of ‘excellence in education’ and a change in font. “We kind of re-did everything,” said Crutchfield. Crutchfield believes that the old logo “no longer fully represents the image of our district.” The image should portray a sense of college readiness and advancement in technology. FUHSD’s previous logo dates back to the 1960s.
From Nov. 14 to Nov. 28, Homestead will be hosting its annual canned food drive to benefit those in need. Students can participate by donating items such as nonperishable foods, household items, and clothing. The event is a competition between the fourth period classes. Some items are in higher demand than other items and are worth more points. The most valuable item to collect is laundry detergent, which is worth 150 points. To collect even more points, students can bring the ‘show me the points’ items, which are
PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN RED CROSS
Student s SAT scores delayed due to improvement By Eunice Chae
At 2:00 am on Oct. 25, senior Kiel Kaneshiro was still awake, eager to see his scores from the SAT he had taken on Oct. 6. Since the previous spring, he and his best friend, had vigorously studied together for the SAT. While his friend discovered his improved scores, Kaneshiro was left with a message on the SAT website that notified him that his scores were not yet available. When Kaneshiro called the College Board, the organization in charge of the SAT, they told him his test was marked because his scores had a 300 point increase in the critical reading section of his last test. “I got tutors this summer,
and since a month before October, I started taking practice tests everyday, just hardcore, like 4 hours a day,” said Kaneshiro. According to Kaneshiro, his point increase marked his test for extra review. “You get filtered into this one category of people, where they just review it to make sure it’s legit.” Even if College Board suspects foul play, “they don’t automatically cancel your scores,” said Kaneshiro. When contacted, College Board would not comment on the review process, nor how many SAT tests have been subject to the process. The delaying of scores could negatively affect Kaneshiro’s college applications because
College Board told him that it would take up to three weeks for him to receive his scores. Although many colleges accept scores after the college application deadline, Kaneshiro still faces a challenge. “I am basing a couple of my college essays off of the assumption that I did get a very good SAT score,” he said. Recently, College Board has tightened security regarding the SAT exam in an effort to prevent cheating. In order to register for the SAT, a photo of the test taker is required so that it can be printed on the test taker’s admission ticket. Proctors- who administer the test to students- are to check IDs more frequently. “They’re being a lot more
3
strict with the new policies like the picture on the admissions ticket. They are trying to cut down the chance of there being any kind of cheating,” said Nicole Deatherage, the College and Career Center Advisor. Kaneshiro has no fear that his scores will be canceled by College Board, but he hopes he will receive his scores before his college application deadlines. “I think it’s just a matter of time before I get my mine back. I’m not worried about anything else, I’m just worried about the time.”
worth certain points on certain days. The collected cans will be donated to Sunnyvale Community Services. The official lists of show me the points items can be found on Homestead High School’s website along with additional information about the canned food drive.
Homestead serves as polling station for election day By Morris Yang Homestead’s auditorium was utilized as a polling station for the presidential general election last Tuesday Nov. 6. Homestead’s polling station represented the 3622 precinct. Some election officers included Homestead students selected from government and economics classes. “I think it was a good hand-on experience. It’s interesting to see how [the election] actually happens [rather] than from reading the textbooks,” said Evelynn Chun, a student clerk at the polling station. The clerks were hired by the county and participated in the election process from the early morning opening the polls to the doors closing at the end. In addition to the presidential election, the ballot included referendums on California propositions and elections for the school district board and water board. PAGE DESIGN BY MORRIS YANG
4
news
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Are you ready? The Bay Area s danger zones
Examining the Bay Area s preparedness for a natural disaster
tor of an EOC’s preparedness. Gienger said that, in Florida, hurricanes occur three to seven times per year. Florida’s EOCs have become extremely efficient because they are activated regularly. No Bay Area city has Sonoma County declared a state of emergency in more than six years. Once a Napa County natural disaster occurs, EOCs may not operate as efficiently as in other areas because they do not have consistent experience. Solano County A region’s level of preparedness also depends on the indiMarin County viduals’ awareness. After a natural diContra Costa County saster, like Hurricane Sandy, “You KEY: definitely notice Areas at risk for an upsurge in San Francisco County interest in prefloods paredness, which Alameda County Areas at risk for is good because you hope you wildfires can get people Fault lines prepared County lines during those San Mateo County p e r i o d s Santa Clara County when they s t i l l h a v e interment, “run the city’s By Liz Metrulas e s t ,” operations, as far as response s a i d In the wake of Hurricane and recovery to a disaster,” said Gienger. Sandy, which hit the East Coast Sunnyvale’s Office of EmergenLocal on Oct. 29, it is important to as- cy Services coordinator John government addresses most of sess how prepared the Bay Area Gienger. the community’s concerns, but Currently, Sunnyvale’s EOC the efforts of private compais for a natural disaster of the is staffed by about 40 people. nies also contribute to a comsame caliber. City governments are pri- These people are specifically munity’s readiness. For exmarily responsible for respond- trained to manage the relief ample, Pacific Gas and Electric ing to the impact of a natural efforts by coordinating com- has been working to minimize disaster. Once a city declares munication between people in the impact of natural disasa state of emergency, its Emer- need and those providing as- ters on power lines. One of the gency Operations Center (EOC) sistance. major concerns after a natural However, sufficient fund- disaster is downed electrical becomes active. EOCs, which are funded by the city govern- ing is not the primary indica- wires, which can spark electri-
cal fires. “There’s a movement within the company to try and put the electrical [lines] underground,” said Joe McManus, the emergency coordinator at Humboldt Bay Power Plant. Napa has recently begun constructing underground power lines to reduce the damage natural disasters and extreme weather cause to electrical towers. Additionally, the local economy’s resiliency ref lects the region’s preparedness. For instance, Google employees undergo annual disaster recovery testing (DiRT) to prepare for disasters that impair operations. A group of engineers stimulate the effects of disasters, like an earthquake at headquarters, and the entire company must react accordingly. “Copious documentation on how something should work doesn’t mean anyone will use it, or that it will work if they do. The only way to make sure is through testing,” wrote Kripa Krishnan, a member of DiRT. Finally, an area’s socioeconomic status can inf luence the precautions people take and the region’s recovery rate. “People in Sunnyvale are probably more likely to buy earthquake insurance then people in Louisiana are likely to buy f lood insurance, just because of the socioeconomic factors,” said Gienger. “Being able to bridge that gap between [monetary assistance] you get and what it costs to repair is easier here than in other areas,” he said.
Disaster relief chain of command Step one: Emergency Operations Center provides assistance Step two: City manager prepares declaration of state of emergency Step three: City council has fourteen days to ratify declaration Step four: State provides assistance Step five: Governor declares state of emergency through regional Federal Emergency Management Agency Step six: State and Federal officials conduct preliminary damage assesment Step seven: Federal government provides assistance
PAGE DESIGN BY SANJANA DESILVA
opinion
Thursday, November 15, 2012
epitaph Practice makes perfect Discussing quality versus quantity in emergency drills STAFF
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Liz Metrulas Leona Rajaee
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epitaph
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The Epitaph is a non-profit publication at Homestead High School, 21370 Homestead Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014. The Epitaph is a forum for student expression and not subject to prior review, in accordance with Education Code 48907. The staff is comprised of Homestead Journalism students. Views expressed do not necessarily represent views of the school, its staff, or the district. Editorials are opinions of the editorial board. The Epitaph welcomes all letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Include contact information. Unsigned letters cannot be published, but names will be withheld upon request. Send via Homestead.Epitaph@gmail.com, or drop letters in the newsroom or the office mailbox. If The Epitaph has made an error, please send corrections to Homestead.Epitaph@ gmail.com. The corrections will be published in the corrections box for the next issue. To reach the Epitaph staff in C-106: call (408) 522-2572 or fax (408) 738-8631.
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Corrections (Page 8): The quote in paragraph eight is actually Marcus Lee s quote (Page 12): Julia Verbrugge is attributed as a junior not a freshman (Page 13): LeBron James is attributed as a golf player not a basketball player (Page 14): Samantha Ferrell is attributed as Captain not Co-Captain (Page 15): Emily Reed was attributed as a cross country runner not a volleyball player
By Morris Yang
My grandfather was one of many affected by the Feb. 28 massacre in Taiwan. He
Alessandra Albanese
Co-Editor in Chief
THE DISSENTER
REALITY
Editors
Co-Editor in Chief
5
The term “fire drill” is apt. After all, the emergency routine is drilled into students’ heads from the time that they are old enough to write their names on their Dora the Explorer lunch boxes. By the time they are in high school, the drill is muscle memory. But somewhere along the line, the diligent and serious drill becomes a joke. A fire alarm rings, and suddenly yardstick signs become weaponized for faux-lightsaber battles, and students with cars wave goodbye as they drive off campus. When confronted with the idea of an emergency situation, it is easy for one to believe that he will be brave and will keep his wits about him. The harsh reality is that he most likely will not. People often panic, and sometimes with fatal results. Students are invincible until they are not, and a fire is the furthest thing from students’ minds until one happens. Of course, the frequency of fire drills is the biggest factor
as to why they are not taken seriously. Nobody takes an emergency situation seriously when they know it is “just a drill,” and when fire drills occur on a regular basis, they are trivialized. However, Homestead’s administration is not at fault in this regard. According to Title 19 of the California Code of Regulations, schools serving students from grades nine to 12 only need to have fire drills twice per school year. Because
Hint: It is not burning food. Pulling the fire alarm when there is no crisis occurring is a prototypical high school prank. But, besides the inherent issues of pretending there is a dangerous emergency, evacuating every classroom for 20 minutes is extraordinarily costly. Annually, each class section costs $20 thousand, and each class period consists of roughly 69 sections. The annual cost of one period’s worth of sections, divided by the number of days spent in school, multiplied by the percent of a class period that one fire alarm takes, is $1,605. Nobody pretends that fire drills are fun, but they need to be given due diligence. If they are actually taken seriously, and if wannabe pranksters take the higher road, fire drills only need to take place twice a year. So stop the lightsaber battles, stop pulling the fire alarm and stop fooling around. It is time to pay attention, even if it is “just a drill.”
WRITTEN BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Homestead’s fire alarm system is sensitive, and can be affected by non-dangerous factors such as low water pressure and burning food, administration only plans for one drill per year. Then why, pray tell, are there so many fire alarms?
Lucasfilm changes hands but little else changes By Gabe Tecot
Though the purported end of the world is marked for Dec. 21, 2012, to some, it might have come a little too early. With the turnover of Lucasfilm and related companies, such as Skywalker Sound and LucasArts to Disney, Star Wars may be in for a bastardization. However, for some fans the chance to see a new Star Wars movie far outweighs the possibility of disaster. When Disney bought out Marvel Entertainment just three years ago. it resulted in this year’s critically acclaimed “The Avengers”; a product of filmmaking genius in the incorporation of multiple films into one incredible movie. Even if the new Star Wars installments do not turn out as well as Disney’s Marvel project, the new Star Wars installments will not necessarily be harmful. “People don’t have to watch the movie if they don’t want to,” said senior Dalton Techmanski. Even so, even the most skeptical Star Wars fans have some reason to see the film; original Star Wars creator George Lucas is to have a role in the
new films as a “creative consul- ready done, with the exclusion tant” for what may turn out to of a few recent projects, such as be the biggest Star Wars films Star Wars: The Old Republic, yet. “They [Disney] have all or the remake of the Monkey kinds of capabilities and facili- Island series, both of which are ties,” said Lucas in a video re- the work of LucasArts. Hopeleased on the official Star Wars fully, Disney didn’t just pay YouTube channel. $4.05 billion for three sequels. Additionally, game developers LucasArts could see actual growth under Disney’s wing, or perhaps see the return of some old $4.05 billion favorites, such as “Grim Fandango.” Disney has a great chance to change Lucasfilms’ reputation as a company that twiddles its thumbs a n d simply profits from what it has al-
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY GABI SOLEIMANIPOUR
until he was jailed for his involvement with ongoing protests during the incident. Back then the government targeted anyone that protested against authorities. He passed away when I was two years old after suffering from long-term illness and traumatic experiences from the incident. The Taiwanese government has since then dedicated itself to democracy and equality. For my native land, despotic government is a thing of the past. But the same cannot be said for other nations with dictators. Civilians in those parts of the world are denied access to resources that every human deserves. A prime example of a nation under tyranny is Syria, More than 34 thousand Syrians have died as result of the clash between rebel groups and the forces of President Bashar al Assad. The rebel groups will not back down until Assad resigns and drastic reforms occur. Killing thousands of civilians to ensure tyranny is monstrous, and cannot be tolerated in a civilized world. Citizens in this nation have the right to choose their own leaders and decide their own futures. Any nation’s prosperity depends on a fair government and quality education. Assad’s Baath Party is a monopoly that does not provide opportunities for the commons, and changes will never take place if Assad continues to win one-man elections. Syria’s future is also uncertain. Students hide and study in caves in war zones. Even with their extraordinary effort, those students may never have access to the form of education we have here. Syria is in havoc and its people are suffering. Civilians cannot walk out their doors without fear of gunshots and bombs. Every day, I see pictures and videos of the ruins in Syria, and every day, I read stories of more and more innocent children being killed. Despite this violence, thousands of civilians continue to risk and to provide a wake-up call to their nation’s government. Assad and his fellow despots need to realize that dictators are no longer accepted. Nations like Syria need to remove dictators. Communities are globalizing and the children in Homs, Syria deserve the same opportunity for a safe, successful future as much as the children of Cupertino, California. PAGE DESIGN BY KIRA POLYUDOVA
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opinion
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Prior experience optional. Password required.
A new trend poses privacy concerns to job applicants By Laura Tang “Give book
me
your Facepassword.” ing a common demand in the workplace. A growing number of companies, according to an Associated Press report, are requiring prospective employees to provide their Facebook passwords when applying for positions. Employers examine job applicants’ private and public pictures, messages and chat rethe less desirable candidates of supposedly questionable virtue. These employers originally belonged to public agencies and
government institutions, such as the McLean County but increasing reports that surfaced in 2012 indicate that this job application method is being picked up by ordinary companies unrelated to law enforcement. Typical job applicants such as Justin Bassett, a New York City statistician, who are forced to give up their Facebook passwords upon interviewing, must decide whether to proceed and endure an uncomfortable scrutiny of all their private online activity, lest they give up the opportunity and turn elsewhere. Using a candidate’s Facebook activity to gauge his or her eligi-
bili t y for the job has little merit to begin with. Private life must be kept entirely separate from professional life and is completely irrelevant to an employee’s competence and aptitude. And moreover, what are the limitations? To what extent will employers be able to gain insight into job seekers’ personal lives and use such information as reason not to hire employees? Simply put, this practice is a blatant violation of privacy and, for government job applicants, a possible breach of Fourth Amendment rights, which pro-
tect individuals against unreasonable search or seizure. Job seekers must give up such personal information against their consent if they wish even to be considered for the job. With such a high demand in the job market, many have no choice but to oblige. According to Busirenly no law preventing companies from accessing potential employees’ Facebook accounts, although legislation has been proposed in public agencies from doing so. That employers need to look at private content on Facebook to screen candidates indicates that the company’s job application scrounging out personal information, the company must make its application procedure much more narrowly tailored and thorough. to get a full picture of somebody and shows that their interviewing process is unsatisfactory,” said
Sarah Veale, the Trades Union Congress head of employee rights. But this technique, however suspect, is a rude awakening. Social networking now applies to no longer is Facebook solely used for trite status updates and accumulating “friends”. This new technique in the modern job market serves as a reminder that social media interaction is becoming increasingly interconnected and ever-expanding. While this new trend toes the line between uncomfortable voyeurism and illegality, online communication as a whole is undeniably heading in the direction of a more open informaternet is ever truly private, and whatever the state legislatures cide what to do about this issue, one should only expect similar trends to manifest in the future.
Administrators are human
Faculty s true intentions are often misinterpreted By Camille Miller ementary school fear of getting volved members of administration in traditional threats against students since grade school. The walkie-talkies in the hall are often motivators for pulling down short skirts or refraining from using profane language when passing by. Whether it is a matter of instinct or knowledge based off of someone else’s misfortune, administration is often labeled as a negative aspect of school from a student’s perspective, and it is time to get rid of “So many students only see administrators as disciplinarians,” English teacher Mary Hill said. [administration] is responsible for in the basic functioning of they would be surprised.” An administrator’s job can range from working in the academic center, to supervising school events, to dealing with classroom and individual student is-
or if a student gets injured at a tions are huge,” Hill said. “There is so much safeguarding that happens and there are so m a n y things administrators prevent from ever happening.” “We’re really advocates for students,
we’re more than just referrals and suspensions,” said Christopher Moore, Dean of Students. Moore worked as a social studies teacher, substitute and coach for many years before joining Homestead’s administration. Ac-
part of his job is being able to have conversations with students on a teaching many years ago,” he said, “and that’s what keeps me motivated and keeps me Needless to say, disciplining
students is an inevitable aspect of an administrator’s role. However, there is so much understanding and compassion that goes into dealing with students at a high school, it is unfair to say that all encounters with them are a result of negative action. education or any of that stuff so can have with kids because it was a very long road for me,” Moore well because we know you guys are kids. So to see students having to go through big person problems and big person things, that’s
ers, the safety element, and the substructure. Although their goal is not readily seen at times, one thing is for certain—administration is not out to get anyone. derstand that administrators don’t go home at night and try awful,” Hill said. “The more the students can see the teachers and administration as humans, the better.”
PAGE DESIGN AND PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAURA TANG
opinion
Thursday, November 15, 2012
7
Letters to the Editor: Homestead s voices “I really liked how you did an article about color guard because usually it is not very recognized at school. It was nice reading about something that you do.”
“[There should be] more teenage topics, you cover important stuff but most people won’t look to read this, [there should be] more visual appeal.“
O ST R R E TT ITO LE E ED TH
- Roslyn Axtell junior
- Nicole Strossman senior
The Obsession
Equal coverage
From: Zoya Hsiao junior
From: Jhoselyn Barrera senior
From: Kelly Ronsheimer French teacher
I would like it if everything connected to all races and even minority races. If you do interviews, go out of your comfort zone and go up to someone and ask even if they don’t look like they read the newspaper.
I would like to see the amount of people taking AP classes and how that affects their level of stress, because I think a lot of people overburden themselves, and they think they have to do that to get into good colleges.
One article I really liked was “The Obsession” by Laura Tang and it basically talked about how these days instead of pursing your genuine interests people instead like to rack up the extracurricular activities to impress colleges. I guess when I was a kid I always thought of high school as the cliché time of self-discovery and then when I got to high school all I hear are people saying “Did you do this club?” “Did you do that club?” “ What activities are you doing” and “How many volunteer hours do you have?” I promised myself that I would never compromise myself like that but then I came to realize that people come with this mindset that they have to do the most to get ahead of the game so that they can come up on top. So that destroys the whole purpose of this while self-discovery stuff.
Progress
From: Mary Anne Plano AP Calculus/ AP Physics teacher I am very impressed with the latest issue of the Epitaph (10/25/12). I enjoyed the breadth of topics you covered as well as the depth. The articles I enjoyed seeing were the ones about the national and local elections, the front-page article on the API score and also the article about the ipads/textbooks. I think this is the first issue that I want to take home with me this weekend and read in fuller detail! Great job.
Suggestions
If you ve got, flaunt it
From: May Zeng senior
I do not believe your discussion of female sexuality is in any way inappropriate. We teach our students history so that they do not become bullies. We should teach our children about choice and responsibility, not fear and shame, so that they do not grow up confused, as most of us do. There is no shame in recognizing one’s own sexuality, and denying one’s sexuality does not make one morally superior.
likes
epistaff
Song lyric edition
“Slow down you crazy child, take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while. It’s alright, you can afford to lose a day or two. When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?” Song title: Vienna
Gabi Soleimanipour “And it’s so easy when you’re evil- this is the life, you see, the Devil tips his hat to me.” Song title: When You’re Evil Artist: Voltaire
Author: Billy Joel
“They all call me a lunatic. Okay, call me a lunatic. If I stand on my own, so be it.”
Have any questions, comments or concerns about this issue of The Epitaph? Type them up, and... 1. Send them to homestead.epitaph@ gmail.com OR 2. Put them in Mrs. Harris mailbox OR 3. Bring them to room C106 ...and you might have your letter to the editor printed in the next issue!
Elisa Massenzio “But jealousy is just love and hate at the same time.” Song title: Over My Dead Body Artist: Drake
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY RONI STOK
Destiny Jackson
Alessandra Albanese
Let us hear your voice
Anthony Garcia Camille Miller
“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you have the time of your life.”
Leona Rajaee “And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.” Song title: Let It Be Artist: The Beatles
Laura Tang “With the lights out, it’s less dangerous; here we are now, entertain us.”
Song title: Alone in the
“Another year, I am older today. In many ways I’ve grown, but these questions still they roam.”
Universe
Song title: Never Fallin’
Spirit
Artist: Seussical the Musical
Artist: Living Legends
Artist: Nirvana
Song title: Good Riddance Artist: Green Day
Song title: Smells Like Teen
PAGE DESIGN BY DESTINY JACKSON
8 Thursday, November 15, 2012
Freedom from corporal punishment Yes: 15% No: 85%
No: 100%
Yes: 0%
Faculty
Should the faculty have the right to exercise corporal punishment to discipline students?
Student
One case challenging corporal punishment was Ingraham v. Wright. I n
this case, James Ingraham, a student at Charles R. Drew Junior High School, was subjected to corporal punishment after failing to promptly leave the auditorium when asked to do so by a teacher. Ingraham was taken to principal Willie J. Wright’s office where he was forcibly spanked with a paddle so severely that Ingraham suffered a hematoma requiring medical attention. On April 19, 1977, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of school administration arguing that the Eighth Amendment only applies to the criminal justice system and not to school children.
Christopher Tinker wore black armbands to their schools, and their father, John Tinker, wore one the next day. They were suspended from school until they would return without their armbands. The court ruled in favor of the students on Feb. 24, 1969, and stated that, “. . . In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.”
Freedom of expression Students’ right to freedom of expression was established in 1969 in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In Dec. 1965, a group of individuals in Des Moines had held a meeting where they decided to publicize their objection to the violence in Vietnam and their support for a truce. They planned to display this by fasting on both Dec. 16 and on New Year’s Eve, and by wearing black armbands during the holiday season. On Dec. 16, 1969, Mary Beth and
Yes: 47% No: 53%
Faculty
Should students have the right to wear potentially offensive clothing that reflects political/social views?
Student
Yes: 18% No: 82%
in-depth
Freedom from arbitrary invasion
Student
Faculty
at Piscataway High School found T.L.O., a high school student, and another girl smoking in a restroom. The girls were taken to the principal’s office where assistant vice-principal Theodore Choplick demanded to search T.L.O.’s purse. Without T.L.O.’s permission, Choplick discovered a pack of cigarettes along with the drug paraphernalia. T.L.O. was taken to the police station where she confessed and was sentenced to a year’s probation. On Jan. 15, 1985 the Court decided that balancing T.L.O.’s interest in privacy held less significance against the school’s interest in maintaining discipline.
Yes: 18% No: 82%
Should the faculty have the right to search through students private possessions at any time?
Yes: 26% No: 74% The freedom from arbitrary invasion was argued in the case Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, in which James Acton, a student, was denied participation in his school’s football program after he refused to consent to the random drug testing of student athletes at Washington Grade Middle School. In June 1995 the Supreme Court concluded that blanket drug testing was reasonable because they supported the school’s interest in preventing teenage drug abuse The landmark case New Jersey v. T.L.O. challenged the constitutionality of school search and seizures. In the case, a teacher
Acquitted,” which discussed the trial, along with the acquitting, on the assault charge of a member of an organization known as “Up Against the Wall, M --f --.”, and it contained a political cartoon depicting policemen raping the State of Liberty and the Goddess of Justice, with a caption that read: “. . . With Liberty and Justice for All.” The court found that “mere dissemination of ideas – no matter how offensive to good taste – on a state university campus may not be shut off in the name alone of ‘conventions of decency.’”
Freedom of speech In Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri in 1973, students’ right to freedom of speech was argued. A graduate student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism had distributed on campus a newspaper “containing forms of indecent speech” and was expelled. The newspaper, the Free Press Underground, had been sold on this state university campus for more than four years. The particular newspaper issue in question was found to be unacceptable because it contained an article with the headline “M --f --
Should students have the right to use profanity or obscene language in classrooms?
Yes: 9% No: 91%
Faculty
Student Yes: 45% No: 55% DATA COLLECTED FROM A SURVEY OF 138 STUDENTS AND 22 FACULTY MEMBERS
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Veronia v. Acton
Bethel v. Fraser
2007
1995
Morse v. Frederick
Determined that speech which encourages illegal drug use can be confiscated by school officials and does not violate free speech.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
Decided that public school officials could exercise prior restraint on student newspapers if the school has a reasonable educational concern.
New Jersey v. T.L.O.
1988
1985
Declared that public school officials may conduct a search and seizure of a student if there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.
INFORMATION COURTESY OF HTTP://WWW.SUPREMECOURT.GOV/
1983
Determined that disciplinary action for lewd and indecent speech does not violate the first amendment.
Determined that random drug testing of high school students involved in athletic programs is constitutional.
It can hardly be argued that students shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. - Tinker v. Des Moines School District
1977
Ten Supreme Court cases every student should know
Brown v. Board of Education
Goss v. Lopez
1974
Ingraham v. Wright
Decided that public schools must conduct a hearing before subjecting a student to suspension.
Declared segregation in schools is unconstitutional; separate facilities are ruled inherently unequal.
By Leona Rajaee and Andrew Watson
West Virginia v. Barnette Prohibited public schools from forcing students to salute to 1943 the American flag and say the pledge of allegiance.
1954
Tinker v. Des Moines
Granted student expression 1969 as long as an act of expression does not interfere with school discipline or the rights of others.
Upheld the constitutionality of corporal punishment (a form of physical punishment) as a disciplinary practice in public schools.
Freedom of religion
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Yes: 13% No: 87%
9
Should religion be a part of the school s curriculum?
Student
Faculty
violated if they are not in the interest of the country.
Yes: 18% No: 82%
Freedom of religion was argued in Minersville School District v. Gobitis. William and Lillian Gobitis, two Jehovah’s Witness children, were suspended from their school after refusing to pledge allegiance to the American f lag during mandatory morning exercises. The children’s faith prohibited any act of worshipping an image or idol because they considered this offensive to God. Consequently, the childrens’ father had to pay to enroll William and Lillian in a private school. On June 3, 1940, the Court supported the school district arguing that school’s intent was to create national unity. According to the Supreme Court, religious f ree doms can be
PAGE DESIGN BY MATTHEW CHOW
10
features
Thursday, November 15, 2012
A fresh look at canned food
By Danielle Mange
ally the week right after Homecoming. [We] start looking at the points, contacting Sunnyvale Community Services and we start updating the forms from last year,”said senior and ASB Social Manager Anne Gahart. Annually, the overall results of the Canned Food Drive are shown through numbers. Terry Chavez, a representative from Sunnyvale Community Services, said, “Over 30 percent of the food we get comes from canned food drives, so we receive thousands of pounds of food each year.” purpose, knowing that Home- Even when students donate one stead’s efforts will help families can a day, each contribution adds up, and is essential for Sunnyvale in the community. With such an important cause, Community Services to distriborganizing the canned food drive ute food and other items raised to takes time and dedication to ob- many struggling families. Homestead’s “Show Me the tain an ideal amount of donations from the Points” system, created by ASB, further encourages students student body. of all grades to donate what “We start planthey can by adding an adning it ditional incentive to the usucause: the fourth period class that donates the most items will be rewarded with a pizza party. s y To Gahart said, “We want everyone to doSunnyvale Community Services nate what they can, but As the holiday season approaches, many low-income families around Sunnyvale will struggle to make ends meet in order to provide the essential amount of food and other items for their children. With contributions going to Sunnyvale Community Services, Homestead will be hosting its annual canned food drive this week. The process of organizing and participating in the canned food drive offers
we don’t wa nt anybody t o stress o u t a b o u t bringing the most. [However], a lot is raised in classes where it’s more of a team [effort] as opposed to an individual donating everything.” As each day draws to a close, donations are gathered in order to accurately determine the points each class earn. The donations are then taken to Sunnyvale Community Services, ready for distribution. “Leadership goes around seventh period and collects the food every ‘Show Me the Points’ day and Sunnyvale Community Services will then bring the truck to us and then we load up the van,” said Gahart. As the week draws to a close, the last of the donations are collected and volunteers from Sunnyvale Community Services then distribute them to the community. Every year, the plan-
Four wheels and an air of calm By Alessandra Albanese
HHS
ILLUSTRATION BY RONI STOK
ning and efforts from those who donate not only helps struggling families during the holiday season, but it also strengthens the community by reducing poverty in Sunnyvale. “The volunteers we have are incredible and contribute so much to our cause,” said Chavez. “Our clients are [also] amazing and wonderful. It is very uplifting to work for and donate to the community.”
The answers are just a click away
A closer look at Naviance and SchoolLoop By Anya Kishen “There are no secrets, no handshakes, no Dan Browns involved at all,” said assistant principal, Don Romero, regarding Homestead’s online school report program. For the past four years, Homestead students have been logging in to School Loop, a website where teachers upload grades, homework, and assignments. Most students register for School Loop their freshman year and receive timely updates of their progress through email. Most teachers update their School Loop “lockers” regularly, but some, like American Studies teacher Marc Gonzales choose not to. He works with the philosophy that “95 percent of the time, what we’re doing in class is written on the agenda.”
He refrains from updating future assignments to encourage students to write their homework down and not expect the teacher to hand it to them. Debbie Vanni, a grade 11 English honors teacher, updates her School Loop every day. “It saves a lot of work overall; they [students] don’t need to ask me [about the homework],”said Vanni. With that, she is able to spend her out of class time helping students one-on-one with their questions. “Grades take longer than the assignments, but [homework] gets updated within the week, depending on the class.” Before School Loop, the school used another program, A+ Board, but the company was struggling, so the administration made the switch. School Loop provided applications
that weren’t available in the previous program such as documents like school and student reports. These applications can be found on the home screen in a student’s account. When the program was first introduced, many people had trouble getting used to it. However, as people have become more comfortable, the issues have reduced. Hoang Nguyen, Homestead’s library technology teacher, describes himself as the middle man between teachers and the School Loop maintenance. If the website goes down, Nguyen would call the maintenance, but “since lots of schools use School Loop, they try not to go down.” Naviance, another program students and staff use, tracks students’ progress in the college search process., One of the benefits of Naviance is that “it simplifies the process by sending the letters [of recommendation] through the internet,” said Romero. When it was introduced in Homestead four years ago, only seniors and juniors were required to use it. Slowly the guidance department began to allow freshmen and sophomores into the program to give them a head start in the col-
lege process. Guidance Counselor Brooke Chan was one of the faculty members in charge of implementing Naviance and has seen a growth in usage over the years. Chan explains a new feature in Naviance that the guidance department is trying to work into student use called My Planner. “As guidance, we’re trying to set up tasks [for students] that show the step by step process through events that we set up.” My Planner will assist students in remembering guidance events and when college representatives visit. Aside from students’ college choices, the program gives suggestions based on study habits or quizzes taken on their website. These features reduce the stress caused by the college search by making it easier for students to have an idea where to start. With Naviance, much of the stress of college applications is lifted off the shoulders of both teachers and students. Although daunting, says Chan, “it’s one of those programs where the more you use it, the more you get used to it.” In addition to Naviance, School Loop is a widely used program at Homestead. All school-related events can be found on the School Loop calendar and LoopMail can be used to email anyone; staff or student. School Loop is a useful and easy tool for students from the log-in screen to the subject specific progress reports to anything in between.
Lying on my back and staring up at the sky, I thought, “This is the life.” I was not tanning at a luxury tropical resort, or enjoying a starry night above a relaxed camping trip. In fact, I was in the Homestead High School student parking lot, splayed out in the driver’s seat of my car. Okay, so it’s not technically my car. It’s “my parents’ car that they own and allow me to drive,” as my mother and father often remind me. But my mark on it is indelible; the saved radio stations play my favorite genres, the trunk is littered with board games and old assignments and the trash bag in the back seat is full of my empty 7-11 coffee cups. And past my initial reaction of, “Wow, I am a slob,” I have to consider why I spend so much time in my car. After all, I live in the Bay Area, where the seasons alternate between summer and almost-summer, and the beach is never more than an hour away. Would it really be so difficult to drink my coffee outside, or listen to music on my iPod? Not really. It’s not like I’m a car hermit; I have a life, I have friends and by no means do I spend all of my time alone in my car. But sometimes, life gets out of control. There are projects and essays and college applications, and there is no time to sleep or think or imbibe large amounts of coffee. So I go to my car. I put the key in the ignition, and I am in control - of the temperature, the music, my physical location and whether or not I am alone. For a few minutes, I am not powerless, or weak or helpless to whatever obstacles are thrown at me that day. I am protected by a 4,300 pound metal frame, and curled up in the soft back seat, everything else is miles away. As a teenager, I am a member of one of the groups at highest risk for getting in a car accident; yet, when I step into my car, there is no place I feel safer.
PAGE DESIGN BY ANTHONY GARCIA
features
Thursday, November 15, 2012
11
members find community By Roni Stok
Adam Sandler, Star Trek’s Spock, and a number of Homestead students all have one thing in common. They are all members of the world’s only independent, international Jewish youth movement, BBYO. You might have seen their sweatshirts around campus, because Homestead has a relatively large community of BBYO members. “Still,” said senior Gil Bar Or, expresident of the local AZA chapter, “I’m not sure if many people know about it other than as ‘that Jewish thing’.” In our area, BBYO is divided into a boy chapter called AZA, and a girl chapter called BBG. Every weekend they meet sepa-
rately, and sometimes plan events together. According to junior Michael Shaibel, who went to a couple of AZA events, BBYO members spend so much time as a part of the youth group that they “live, eat, and breath BBYO.” According to Bar Or, AZA has events every Saturday night and Sunday afternoon which are 100 percent youth-led. Usually they eat at a restaurant and later go to someone’s house to play games. Senior Jane Sadetsky, member of BBG’s chapter in Walnut Creek, explained that in addition to just hanging out, the group also explores their Jewish connection. “I think it really goes half and half between hanging out and do-
ABOVE: BBG members hold their hands around the Havdalah candle .
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANIELLE SIGURA
ABOVE: BBG member Karina Estrin lights the Havdalah candle during her chapter’s Love and Leadership night. ing Jewish things,” she said. “We try to celebrate the holidays and Shabbat, all that good stuff, and make a stronger connection to Judaism. I think a part of BBYO is just being with other Jewish teens
pluralistic,” said Bar Or, “meaning we will accept all Jews no matter how religious they are or what they believe.” BBYO members who have
One aspect of this Jewish connection is Havdalah, a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the end of Shabbat, the day of rest, and the beginning of a new week. Shabbat ends when there are three stars in the sky on Saturday night. Then, a special braided Havdalah candle is lit, a prayer is recited, and spice is passed around for everyone to smell the fragrance. “A big thing about AZA is that we are
with their life with other friends. Senior Blake McMurray, whose best friend started going to AZA events every weekend, can un“I never felt excluded, but I could see that other people did. I don’t really like that, simply because it tends to set you up in high school for cliques, and that’s something I’m not for.” Member Sadetsky said, “I think it’s really hard to
insert Photo
ferent groups of friends. It’s always really weird when my school friends meet my BBYO friends, so having these two worlds collide is For some members, BBYO offers more than just social opportunities. Bar Or said, “I’ve gained a ton of leadership skills from holding board positions and planning events.” Junior Danielle Sigura agreed, “BBG helped break me out of my shell. I’m more comfortable speaking out and expressing my opinion, without being afraid of being wrong or saying something stupid.”
Dancing to Indian culture By Anthony Garcia
“You can feel the excitement. Everyone’s heart is racing the day of performance. It is a unique experience,” said senior Diveesh Singh. These are the feelings students have the day of the Indian culture event, Sapnay. Sapnay is “an event [held] by Indo-Pak where there are dance performances,” according to Singh, tech officer of Indo-Pak. “These performances range from traditional dances
to modern ‘windian,’ dances for non-Indian people.” Singh said how these dances “expose Indian culture and can be very exciting to watch.” Sophomore Sophie Bandarkar talked about who auditions for Sapnay. She said, “Most people auditioning are Indian; some have experience but not all. People do not generally prepare for the auditions.” Senior Pooja Lalchandani shared her experience with Sapnay. “I’ve never formally learned Indian dancing, but I
PHOTOS BY ANTHONY GARCIA AND GREG SCHRADER
ABOVE: Students practice after school for Windian tryouts.
was in Sapnay last year for fun [...]. I’m not very Indian in my day-to-day life so this is a way for me to connect with my roots with all my friends.” Sapnay is a celebratory time for the students and parents of Homestead High School to come out and perform traditional Indian dances, as well as some modern variations. The process for students to be part of Sapnay is relatively easy. In order for students who to participate in Sapnay, they must become a member of Indo-Pak. This is “so that they will receive emails and announcements regarding when the tryouts are,” said Amy Gill, co-president of Indo-Pak. “Students can join the club anytime and give their email to the officers to receive announcements.” When club members receive an email regarding auditions for Sapnay, the students need to go after school to try out. “[Auditionees] are given a dance routine that they must learn while at the tryouts. Once the dance is taught, [they] break up into small groups of four, and perform the dance.” Gill also said that during the practice
session of the tryouts, judges “take notes and write down yes, no or maybe next to people’s names.” Anisha Jagannathan, copresident with Gill, explained the qualities the judges look for in the auditionees. “[They look for] people who are confident, and understand the moves enough so that it looks smooth.” The judges for Sapnay also look for performers who are “enthusiastic, physically coordinated, passionate, and are decent,” according to Singh. After the tryouts are over, the judges decide which auditionees will perform at the event. “[We] usually wait until after make-up week to decide, and then they send out an email to say who is allowed to perform,” according to Gill. There are polar views regarding the auditioning process. Lalchandani feels “the auditions are pretty open and laid back. Anyone can come and they’re not very stressful.” However, Bandarkar feels the auditions are “competitive.” Despite Sapnay being an Indian tradition, many nonIndians can enjoy and audition
ABOVE: Students learn the tryout dance routine. as well. “People audition to be exposed to Indian culture,” Lalchandani said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
PAGE DESIGN BY EUNICE CHAE
12
entertainment
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Lion King Parental guidance suggested The Toy Story
(1994)
(1995)
Although the MPAA attempts to rate movies fairly, Cars (2006) some believe there is potential for bias WALL-E (2008) By Gabi Soleimanipour Many teenagers can attest to getting into an argument with their parents about not being allowed to watch a movie because of the rating. Usually they lose the debate and slink away in defeat, silently cursing whoever decided rated R. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is responsible for deciding on what ted for review. An independent board of parents watches newly based on the amount and severity of profanity, violence, and nudity cides on a rating and casts a vote. makers can appeal if they disagree This process is entirely volrating. However, according to ie theaters refuse to show unrated
for producers. The purpose of the ratings is to give viewers an idea of the content said that the MPAA rating system works as a guide. “You could have it completely open without any ratings at all, but the convenient part about ratings is that you do have an idea of what you’re going to see.” While this may be the purpose of the MPAA ratings, some believe that the way the ratings are chosen leaves a potential for bias, such as freshman Ken Tint. “There’s always [differences in what people] like and don’t like, what they do want to see and don’t want to see,” he said. “One time they actually changed the color of blood [in a movie] because they didn’t like it. [It’s about] what they don’t want other people to see or what they think they don’t want other people to see.” While Tint could such as Taxi Driver have changed the color of their bloody content at the request of the MPAA. Peck believes that bias is inevitable. “The question is always
Critiquing the controversy The Epitaph evaluates the decisions of the MPAA on controversially rated movies
Megan is Missing By Danielle Mange
36 swear words
violent scenes1
2 sex scenes R
original rating R ideal rating
Missing, released May 2011, is a real missing people’s cases, more of Internet predators. The story follows the lives and deaths of two Los Angeles County teens, fourteen-year-old Megan Stewart (Helen Quinn) and thirteen-yearold Amy Herman (Amber Perkins) after they arrange to meet a psychopath (Dean Waite) who poses as a teenager online. Director Michael Goi does not hold back in his use of obscene language, drug use, graphic scenes of rape and a sobering portrayal of the lives of modern
teens. Thus, it has been banned in New Zealand and given a TV-MA rating for “glorifying young sexuality.” The question behind the controversy is whether the pros of Goi’s message to teens outweigh the cons Even though the conmakes it worthy of a TVMA rating, if a teenager is responsible enough to surf the Internet without supervision, he or she is responsible enough to view its potential consequences.
PHOTO COURTESY OF 365DAYSOFHORROR.TUMBLR.COM
Bully
By Danielle Mange
6 swear words
violent scenes 1
0 sex scenes
original rating R
PG-13 ideal rating Director
Lee
Hirsch’s -
teens in a span of one school
year. The teens range in ages from twelve to sixteen and are physically and emotionally tormented by their school peers. The documentary includes commentary from the teenagers’ parents and teachers, and details of past cases which resulted in suicide. Promptly after its release, controversy surrounded the R rating it received from the MPAA for abundant use of strong language, as well as violent exchanges between the documented teenagers and their bullies. Afterwards, viewers of the docrequesting that the MPAA change the rating of the movie to PG-13. Despite their efforts, the MPAA declined to change the rating. In
response, The Weinstein Company, the studio that produced the documentary, settled for a limited release with no rating. The MPAA eventually agreed to give it a PG-13 rating after the studio submitted an edited version. dards of an R rating, the documentary is not meant to advocate bullying or violence, but to raise awareness towards the tragic reality of it. There is no reason for it to be unavailable to viewers, regardless of age.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ORGANICEYOURLIFE.COM
their standards are as opposed to what the whole population’s standards are,” he said. “Let’s say rental or religious side that wants movies to be very gentle [...] or the other group that wants to show anything they want [...] I guess somewhere in there there has to be a medium, and the question is, who are the members of that the AMC Mercado theater, said, everywhere, especially if you have a small group, but I think [the board has] enough people to be open-minded, hopefully [to make a decision] that’s not biased to a Although the MPAA did not respond when contacted, Marilyn Gordon, the MPAA advertising enforcer, said in an article from the New York Times, “We’re not censors. Our responsibility is to determine whether something falls within the guidelines.” Peck said that the ratings are, “Just like grades. Everybody hates them, but it’s a place to start.”
Blue Valentine By Emi Kamezaki
65 swear words
violent scenes 1
4 sex scenes
NC-17 original rating
R ideal rating
rected by Derek Cianfrance, the tale of a tragic modern family is portrayed by main characters Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams).
Shrek (2001) Up (2009) Tangled (2010) Brave (2012) Forrest Gump (1994) Titanic (1997) Inception (2010) Thor (2011) The Matrix (1999) Scary Movie (2000) Hannibal (2001) Ted (2012)
sexual content, the NC-17 rating is inaccurately given. Due to scenes in which Cindy receives oral sex from her husband, the Weinstein Company commented on turing oral sex performed on males, were given the lesser R-rating, while those showing oral sex performed on females were restricted. The controversy caused the MPAA to be accused of sexism and misogyny. After appealing for reconsideration, the MPAA gave the movie a more accurate accessible to a larger audience. PHOTO COURTESY OF WEAREMOVIEGEEKS.COM
The King s Speech By Emi Kamezaki
60 swear words
violent scenes 0
0 sex scenes
original rating R PG-13 ideal rating The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper, tells the story of King George VI with speech impediment. However, he discovers that he is able to speak smoothly when he curses- using a con-
ventionally negative action to improve himself. The MPAA gave the movie an R-rating due to its excess of swear words. Executive producer Harvey Weinstein considered removing some of the language in order to get a lower rating that would increase the demographic of his audience. The context of the King’s use of profanities detracts from the vulgarity. On the basis of a few swear words, younger audiences are prevented from experiencing an inspirational story of courage.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KINGSSPEECH.COM PAGE DESIGN AND ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELISA MASSENZIO
entertainment
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Lucas passes the lightsaber By Emi Kamezaki
reputation that Star Wars has,” said Bair, stating that the series should not continue. “By doing this, Disney is seriously angering a lot of the older fans because it’s
“May the force be with you,” is a phrase that will now be closely aligned with “A dream is a wish your heart makes,” due to Disney’s recent $4.05 billion deal the two companies on Oct. 30. George Lucas views the deal as an opportunity to enable Star Wars to survive into the next generation. “I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime,” said Lucas in a press release. “Disney’s reach and expetelevision, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.” Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company is also optimistic about the potransaction combines a worldclass portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive sigin the same press release. However, the corporation’s
Disney will not create a Star Wars created by George Lucas. Other students, though not avid fans of these intergalactic tales, agree. “I think that Star Wars might go downhill from here, because sequels seem to be less appealing or less interesthas sparked concern over the future of the beloved Star Wars series. Dedicated fans worry about maintaining the integrity of George Lucas’s masterpieces as they view the Disney brand as something very unlike their wellknown space adventures. This is true for senior Phillip Bair, who “has a bad feeling about this.” He fears that Disney ing badly on the other episodes in the series. “Without a doubt, since it’s Disney, they’re going to orient the movies toward all audiences because that’s what Disney is known for doing. So, as a potential continuation of the series, that will undermine the excellent
movies, in this case,” said sophomore Katie Kolda. movies were not “addicting,” yet he understands the fans perspective. “If the fans are asking for it, why not? But if most of the fans are against it and think that the movie isn’t going to be good, then [Disney] shouldn’t produce [the from the production.” Yet, some students disagree, taking the optimistic stance of Iger and Lucas. “It might be like what happened with Marvel,” said freshman Autumn Gonzales, referring to Disney’s 2009 purchase of Marvel Entertainment. “Not much changed. Disney is a rich company, so it should be good for them.”
Students prepare for Museums of Los Gatos competition By Kira Polyudova
For the next four months, high school students around the district will be preparing for the annual Los Gatos Art competition.This is the second year Homestead will be competing in the Los Gatos Art Gallery’s competition for high school students and is the second year the gallery has gathered sponsors to hold a spring art competition in the Santa Clara County, for high school students. According to John Agg, the executive director of Los Gatos Art Gallery, over 300 students submitted artwork and 75 were chosen for the exhibit last year. This spring, more high schools ing will become stricter and more thorough than before. One of the tips Agg gave was soon as you can.” Doing well in to current art students, as it is a great opportunity to gain recognition for those who are planning on pursuing art in the future. Christina Nathan, said they lacked inspiration at the beginof sitting mindlessly in the classroom. Since many students lack the inspiration in the beginning, they “[look] at pictures [online] that might have to do with my broad and I frequently changed my mind until one of my friends talked me through what I really wanted to portray.” Senior Stefanie Gueorguieva
Upcoming fundraisers
13
By Gabe Tecot and Grace He
Rubio s
Nov. 28, 2 - 9 p.m. Organized by: 2013 Parent Teacher Student Association What: 20 % of sales For: Senior Grad Night Party Contact: Paula Ivers
Canned Food Drive
Nov. 13 - Nov. 29 Organized by: Second Harvest Food Bank What: Donate canned food and other items For: Families in need Contact: Melina Nafrada
Cookie Dough
Nov. 19 - Nov. 30 Organized by: PTSA ANP 2013 What: Buy cookie dough For: Senior Grad Night Party Contact: Paula Ivers
Pinkberry
Nov. 28, 2 - 9 p.m. Organized by: PTSA ANP 2013 What: 20 % of sales with flyer For: Senior Grad Night Party Contact: Paula Ivers
Poinsettia
Oct. 30 - Dec. 1 Organized by: HHS Spirit Booster What: Poinsettias will be sold and delivered For: Cheerleading expenses Contact: Connie LaScola
Wrapping Paper and Holiday Goods
KIRA POLYUDOVA
ABOVE: AP art student Christina Nathan works on her piece for the competition, using acrylic paint to illustrate the combining of technology, culture and art. also went online for help with her I’m trying to come up with an idea is get online and start looking at pictures that might have orguieva opted to work in a new about technology, I decided to try something new by using mixed media instead of traditional painting or drawing.”
Although the competition involves a lot of work on students’ behalf, Homestead students are giving it their all. Senior Connor Church spent a great deal of time he saw his niece playing with an iPad. He realized that current generations get used to technology faster than before. He said he felt how “technology engaged [with us] from our youth.”
Museums of Los Gatos art competition
9-12 grades
Submit up to 3 pieces Deadline: March 22, 2013 Winners announced: March 27, 2013
Oct. 1 - Nov. 30 Organized by: Winter Percussion What: Wrapping gifts and giving out holiday recipes For: To attend WGI Percussion World Championships in Dayton, Ohio Contact: Jackie Browning
Holiday Photo Booth Dec. 6 - Dec. 7 Organized by: The Epitaph What: Take a picture with Santa! For: To attend a journalism convention in NYC Contact: Erin Harris
Sweet Tomatoes
Dec. 11, 2 - 9 p.m. Organized by: Equestriettes What: 20 % of sales For: Equestriette expenses Contact: Sara Frausto
Glow sticks
Sadie s dance, Nov. 30 Organized by: The Epitaph What: Buy glow sticks at dance For: To attend a journalism convention in NYC Contact: Erin Harris
For more information, visit museumsoflosgatos.org PAGE DESIGN AND PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY AYSE DILARA ARSLAN AND ELISA MASSENZIO
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
The college recruitment process
sports
College recruiting, or scouting, is often a mysterious and confusing process, especially for the non-athlete. There is no cookie-cutter aspect to it: athletes generally have different experiences with recruiting and go through different processes. While some coaches approach athletes, being recruited generally requires initiative and commitment on the athlete s part.
Senior Katie Moss has been playing softball for eleven years, and plans on playing in Division I in college. She explained that the head coach at Strike Zone, the organization for which she plays competitively, used to coach at Saint Mary’s College and introduced her to the college’s current pitching coach. “They saw me pitch and they were really interested, so we started exchanging emails, talking about [if I] would be interested in the school, [that] I should come out and take
Active me
Emily Reed
p hi
Katie Moss
schools in th
AA membe NC rs
Colleges are divided into three divisions: Division I, II and III. Division I competes on a national level and is considered the first step toward professional athleticism, while Division II mostly competes with other schools in the region. Division III tends to focus more on the impact of competition on the athlete than on the spectator, but is competitive nonetheless.
r be
e
The three divisions
m
By Elisa Massenzio
Academic requirements
a tour [...] From there, after a couple more lessons and them getting a full idea of who I am and how I play, they offered me a scholarship.” She said that when she was younger, softball was a social activity for her, but that “it really became clear once I joined this team that if I wanted to play in college that I had to become serious and [take] the steps to make my grades match whatever school I wanted to go to.” She will be receiving the letter of intent from Saint Mary’s College in the next week.
The journey or the destination
As well as being a good player, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires a student-athlete to meet minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 2.3 and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score of 1,000. Colleges are often more likely to accept a studentathlete over a non-athlete if their academic records are similar, because, according to athletic director Charlie Bostic, the athlete brings something extra to the school. He said, “When you play a sport in a four-year college, it’s a full-time job; it’s a lot of work and a lot of time. And you’re bringing [fame] to the school.”
After an end-of-season tournament her sophomore year, volleyball player and senior Emily Reed said that coaches from the University of San Francisco (USF) told her club coaches that they were interested in her. Because the NCAA has strict rules about coaches not contacting players before July 1 of their senior year, Reed “had to do most of the work. I had to talk to them and tell them that I was interested and that I really wanted to go there [...] so they knew that they weren’t going after a lost cause.” She called USF’s coaches more as she began her junior year
Anna de Groot
Although she did not think about the possibility of being recruited by colleges when she first started playing water polo as a freshman: “it kind of just came up” in the case of senior Anna de Groot. De Groot is now hoping to play in Division III at Occidental College. “I would love to play for them [...] but I’m scared that I won’t get in, because they might have a better goalie that they’re looking
It looks better to say we won rather than saying we improved. It s easier to show off and make yourself look good instead of doing it for the sake of improving.
es speak out about what s important to them.
Many coaches think winning is the object of the game, butColor Guard coach Jase Peeples believes that competition isn’t everything. “When it comes to competition it’s always best to remember that the journey is indeed more important than the destination,” he said, “[Competition] can motivate athletes to achieve more than they otherwise thought they could, but it can also create an attitude where winning is the ultimate goal – no matter the cost.” However, according to girls varsity basketball coach Jessica Kellogg, “You play to win.” Kellogg, who attended San Jose State University on a full basketball scholarship and subsequently played professional basketball in Switzerland and Spain, asserts that, “The score does matter. No one steps on the court to lose.” Jeff Kordes, coach of the freshman and sophomore boys soccer team, maintains that successful high school sports pro-
grams achieve a balance between player development and the goal of winning. “As coaches, we develop athletes to become better competitors, both mentally and physically, with the goal of a victory in mind,” he said. Kordes expects his players to be dedicated to the team effort, to show up on time for practice and work hard, while also maintaining academic excellence. “We live in a result-driven world,” Kordes said, “People take notice of teams, individuals, even companies, who put up successful ers […] and thus begins the cycle of people wanting to be a part of a successful organization in order to be noticed by others, ultimately driving up the pressure of obtaining that success consistently.” But Kordes believes that a team’s success is only as good as its members. “[As a coach] I feel that team results measure the development of the individual players, and the skills we teach them,” he said.
at. It’s mixed feelings.” She recalled creating an online profile and asking the coach at Occidental College to look at her; the coach emailed her and they kept in contact, discussing information about the college and later setting up phone conversations. De Groot is also being looked at by Connecticut College; she started talking with its coach after they met at a water polo camp.
What causes people to end up caring more about the score than an individual player s development?
Growing as a team versus a winning score: coach-
By Grace He
and told them about tournaments they could go to in order to watch her play. She also made sure to build a strong relationship with USF’s volleyball team by going to home games on Saturdays and watching practices. “I’d gone to their camp, so I knew the girls on the team and they were all so nice and fun to be around.” Reed did not expect to be recruited, “I was just like, ‘Oh my God, other people think I’m really good!’ I never thought I was that good, but I was a hard worker and people can see that.”
- Hannah Allen sophomore, cross country Popularity in the school. It s more popular if the team is winning than if your team is losing and you get to go to CCS if you win. It s popular incentive.
- Chris Chen junior, varsity boys soccer Once they start getting good at [the sport], they start caring about winning because they don t care if other people start to learn as well. They only care about their own personal gain.
- Elijah McQueen freshman, wrestling PAGE DESIGN BY ELISA MASSENZIO
sports
Thursday, November 15, 2012
15
HHS game times Nov. 15 - Jan. 7
Tuesday, November 20 JV/V BS vs. Fremont @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, November 27 JV/V BS. vs. King s Academy @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, November 28 JV/V GS vs. Woodside @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. Thursday, November 29 BBB Cupertino Tournament JV/V GS vs. St. Igantius @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. JV/V BS vs. Prospect @ Homestead 5:00 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY OF NOAH BERGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABOVE: Directly following the Giants’ victory in the World Series on Sun. Oct. 28th, rioters lit fires, primarily in intersections in San Francisco.
Celebrations turn to chaos
The city of San Francisco turned to chaos on the night of Oct. 28, 2012 as World Series celebrations over the Giants’ victory turned violent. Fireworks, bonlar to those that occurred after the Series.
Monday, December 3 JV/V BS vs. Willow Glen @ Willow Glenn 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, December 4 BBB Lynbrook Tournament JV/V GS vs. @Branham @Homestead 3:15 p.m.
a fan of the Giants for as long as
Series as an excuse to be crazy,” -
he can understand how things get out of control. “[Having] intoxicated people in a [large] group is
also attended the parade, and saw
won, [riots would have occurred] in a different city,” he said.
of alcohol, and people rolling around on the ground.” She described the scene as “graphic,” dren surrounded by the chaos.
Giants parade in San Francisco,
World Series celebrations. Still, these festivities were revelers, who were arrested for their destructive behavior. For Ed Riley, world literathe Giants, the rioters are “not a representation of who the city is [and] are not fans.” Riley viewed their actions as “pathetic,” interinvincibility
thing.”
children to attend the parade. they were totally cool with it,” said
“They were saying ‘let’s actually skip class and have a ditch day.’” He noted an excess of drug and alcohol use at the parade, also saying, “We found a spot and people would push us around. There was
Euphoric
indifferent. It’s cool that a local [They were] over-excited about things that aren’t a big deal.”
disregarded the possibility of re-
BBB Lynbrook Tournament JV/V BS vs. Archbishop Mitty @ Homestead 3:15 pm Thursday, December 6 BBB Lynbrook Tournament Friday, December 7 BBB Lynbrook Tournament JV/V BS vs. Menlo Atherton @ Menlo Atherton (Christmas Cup) 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 12 BBB vs. Washington @ Homestead 5:30-7:00 p.m. Friday, December 14
which has swept the school .yet their opinions on the riots align
inch to get a to a place that was a “[There was] crazy behavior for sure, considering there were
Wednesday, December 5
Saturday, December 8
burn the shoe-shine station of New York. “People [were] posting stuff
BBB Cupertino Tournament Saturday, December 1 BBB Cupertino Tournament BS Christmas Cup @ Pajaro Valley
Students and teachers react to World Series riots By Emi Kamezaki
Friday, November 30
neglected to consider the negative parade, describing it as “constant
BBB vs. Oak Grove @ Homestead 5:30-7:00 p.m. JV GS vs. Spoquel @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. V GS vs. Spoquel @ Homestead 4:00 p.m. Saturday, December 15 JV/V BS vs. Santa Cruz (Christmas Cup) 11:00 a.m. Thursday, December 20 JV W vs. Cupertino @ Homestead 5:30 p.m V W vs. Cupertino @ Homestead 6:30 p.m. JV/V GS vs. Freemont @ Fremont 3:15 p.m. Friday, December 28 BBB Pioneer Tournament Saturday, December 29
Cross Country -
Tennis Water Polo Congratulations to girls
against Pioneer High School on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at Palo they played their best, the therefore could not advance to round 2.
Shout out to girls tennis round of CCS this season. On Tuesday, Nov. 6 the vanced onto round 2 against Monta Vista High School at Monta Vista High School -
eled to Toro Park at Saliin CCS. The girls varsity
second with 18:50, breaking the school record by
BBB Lynbrook Tournament Sunday, December 30 BBB Lynbrook Tournament Friday, January 4 BBB vs. Cupertino @ Homestead 7:45 p.m. JV/V GS vs. Gunn @ Homestead 3:30 p.m. V BS vs. Gunn @ Gunn 3:30 p.m. JV BS vs. Gunn @ Gunn 5:00 p.m. JV WBB vs. Cupertino @ Homestead 3:15 p.m. V WBB vs. Cupertino @ Homestead 6:00 p.m.
did not qualify for state will be traveling to Fresno on Saturday, Nov. 24 to
KEY: JV - Junior Varsity V - Varsity B - Boys G - Girls
BB - Basketball S - Soccer W - Wrestling PAGE DESIGN BY GABE TECOT
16
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Pilgrims. People are so into the pilgrims. Excuse me! They were o like, killing people; that s messed up. We should be condemning them for perpetrating genocide. - Lyn Ishizaki-Brown, senior
No white after Labor Day. I am just very stylishly minded. It s too cliche. It s too much part of the system. - Daniel Graves, freshman
Itchy sweaters. Giant itchy sweaters that people like to wear. They re not comfortable so why are people wearing them? - Dori Yehieli, freshman When it s around Thanksgiving people are so nice to eveyone, but then after Thanksgiving, like no one is nice to each other. - Quinn Langlois, freshman All the girls are like cuddle weather! Anytime can be cuddle weather. - Christine Carey, junior
the last word
The fall is kind of summarized in Halloween and I know a lot of people don t celebrate it. So that could be [a cliche]. Like just the pumpkin. It s like like too much. It s just one thing, and they stretch it out a lot. - Ava Aslanpour, sophomore When fall starts . . . most teenage girls just assume they have to wear Uggs because it s in fashion, when they could wear them any time of the year. - Sanika Utturkar, senior
You know how in elementary school you did the handprint and it s a turkey? I feel like if they redid that to make the turkey look cooler, I would like it. - Rory McCarey, sophomore The whole thing with pumpkin pies by itself. Like anything pumpkin related. Like why can t you have pumpkin thought out the rest of the year? Grapes are a seasonal fruit also, but we still buy them all year round. - Connor Pryor, senior
Cornucopias. I just don t like them. I don t know why, but they just freak me out. - Elena Connolly, junior
PAGE DESIGN BY GAIA FAIGON