Focus
Life & Art
“You & Me: High School Relationships” pg. 6-7
THE
Features
“Talent show preview” pg. 9
“MESA arms itself with prosthetics” pg. 11
Matador
Volume 60, NUMBER 6
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
S a n G a b r i e l H i gh S c h o o l
801 Ramona St., San Gabriel, CA 91776
www.thematadorsghs.com
Flour baby project teaches students about responsibility, childcare A my Yee
Photo by Sydney Trieu
Junior Giovanny Rivas takes care of his flour baby, Isaac, as a part of Medical Careers Academy’s project.
Smartphones become unable to access school Wi-Fi network F ra n k Li eu One of the things modern teenagers value most is their access to the Internet. However, not all students with smartphones have access to the Internet when abroad or at home due to parental or monetary constraints. With that in mind, San Gabriel High School has supplied students with free Wi-Fi access over the past couple years. Recently, students have discovered that access to the school’s Wi-Fi network has been restricted to laptops and staff electronics, leaving many disconnected and in the dark. “I think it’s pretty inconvenient,” junior David Tran said. “People would want to check their grades or do some research [with the Internet].” Phones can still recognize the school’s free Wi-Fi, but when students attempt to connect to “AUSD-STUDENT,” they find their smartphones are unable to connect and therefore cannot access the Internet. “With such a demand on the Internet network, e-mails and other basic [online tools] stop functioning,” Principal Jim Schofield said. With heavy usage of smartphones and Internet straining the network, the school’s free Wi-Fi seemed to slow down or terminate entirely for some devices. With so many people trying to use the Wi-Fi at a given time, the Internet system becomes severely congested, which means sending and receiving data to devices will slow or come to a standstill. Similar to a highway, an increase of cars and a limited number of lanes will cause problems to arise, as traffic jams and slowdowns will occur. The highway requires a period of “reconstruction,” which consists of adding more lanes to meet the demand for school Wi-Fi. This problem does not pertain to only San Gabriel; this issue has popped up throughout all schools in the Alhambra Unified program. “This is not just San Gabriel, its a district wide problem.” Schofield said. “Other schools are experiencing the same thing.” Only 39 percent of U.S. public schools have Wi-Fi networks in place. The idea of having Internet in schools has only been recently introduced and applied to students across the nation. “This is like test and adjust,” Schofield said. “[Campus Internet] is relatively a new idea. We were testing this idea, and now we are adjusting to make it better.” No date has been released yet regarding the return of the school’s free student Wi-Fi, but Schofield will provide students with an update and new information about this issue in the next lunch with the principal.
Junior Giovanny Rivas cooes lovingly to a mysterious bundle of clothes nestled in the crook of his arm. Upon further inspection, the bundle is actually a ten-pound flour sack dressed in baby clothes; Rivas is one of the many students participating in a Medical Careers Academy (MCA) project exclusive to its juniors. Pairs of students were required to take care of a flour sack “baby” for a week, beginning on Feb. 3 and ending on Feb. 8. “The goal of this project is [for students to realize] that the decisions they make now can affect their future,” MCA teacher Cynthia Okimura said. “This is first time MCA has ever done this.” The baby care routine revolved around the concept of “checkpoints” and a schedule, both of which were listed on an outline given to the students by Okimura. The pairs alternated between day and night shifts, treating the flour baby as if it were their own child The checkpoints were basically different tasks expected of parents undergoing the task of raising a child, such as changing the baby’s diaper, putting it to sleep, and feeding it. Pairs were to record themselves performing the task for at least two minutes as proof of its completion. “A lot of them are taking the project very seriously,
and that was what I was hoping for,” Okimura said. Throughout the activity, students had the opportunity to experience life as a parent, and were given information about the necessities, financial costs, and physical and emotional strain of raising a child. “I feel like this project gave us a realistic interpretation of teen parenting,” junior Megan Ma said. “Before this, [I didn’t know what it was like] and now I realize how difficult it is as a parent to maintain the life of a child.” Other students also voiced their opinions on feeling the toll of parenting, which they felt was physically taxing. “I began to understand how it felt to be a real parent,” Rivas said. “My arms would hurt from carrying the baby, but overall, it was an enlightening experience.” However, not all of MCA’s juniors shared the same sentiment; some felt that this activity should be assigned when students are older. “I think [learning about this is too early] and I think I [should be experiencing] this when I’m in my mid twenties,” junior Andy Thai said. “But I still think this was helpful for my future career in nursing.” By the end of the project, each pair of students will put on a presentation detailing their journey through parenthood, including a reflection about their feelings and thoughts regarding the project as a whole.
California community colleges soon to offer specialized degrees
Graphic by Christy Deng
S yd ney Tr ieu Fifteen community colleges in Calif. were chosen to be a part of a pilot program that would allow them to offer a four-year, bachelor’s degrees in specific fields. In this plan, tuition fees for such degrees in selected community colleges would total to around $10,000, roughly half of the tuition at California State Universities (CSUs), according to the Los Angeles Times. Signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown, the bill was intended to fill the shortage of college-educated workers in America’s growing workforce. One of these colleges is Rio Hondo College, located just 20 minutes from Alhambra. This college will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in automotive technology, building on its already successful program, established in the Fall 2016 semester.
“People are lining up to get in as soon as the program opens,” John Frala, a professor of automotive technology at Rio Hondo College, said. “We have the heavy equipment and machinery needed to work in this field, and it’s very popular. The program is well thought-out.” Frala explained that most manufacturers require a degree for workers, and a bachelor’s is a great stepping stone for those who wish to work in those fields. “There are tons of unfilled jobs in mechanical engineering and related fields. The [automotive technology] program would give so many of those jobs to people who need them,” Frala said. At Santa Monica College, 30 minutes away from Alhambra, a similar program will be offered for interactive design, also known as user experience design. “There’s a great need for skill in user experience design, especially since we’re located in the heart of Silicon Beach,” Grace Smith, Santa Monica College’s public information officer, said. “People with these skills are in great demand for many jobs.” Lower-division classes will begin in the fall of 2015, and upper-division classes will follow in the fall of 2016. In addition to promoting community colleges, President Barack Obama announced in his State of the Union Address on Jan. 20 that he would propose a plan to make two years of community college free for those who were willing to work for it. The federal government would cover 75 percent of the costs, while the state would pay for the remaining 25 percent. Its aim, like the new bachelor’s degree programs, is to build the educational foundations needed support the growing workforce.