We are born to seek the truth! www.cvhsolympian.comVolume 59, Issue 11 June 7, 2016

A new law has been passed in California stating that the age for buying tobacco has been raised from 18 to 21, along with other restrictions, such as regulating the sale and use of tobacco and electronic cigarettes. Companies will now be required to show what is in their products, as people were previously never informed on what exactly they were inhal-ing.

In addition, if anti-tobacco activists have their way, local governments may increase taxes for tobacco products. Tax on a pack of cigarettes could raise $2 above the current $0.87.

The biggest reason for these changes is increasing efforts for the public health of California citizens. Studies and surveys have shown that ninety percent

of daily smokers first began using tobacco before the age of nineteen. Pushing back the legal age for smoking could

New law raises state tobacco age

By Stella Ho Staff Writer

Students have sobering experience in

Halley lin-JoneS/ Photo Editor Junior Sarah Green is treated by emergency responders after suffering a severe leg injury in the crash simulation of the Every 15 Minutes program. Full article and photos on page 4 and 5

Clinton, Trump lead race but students “Feel the Bern”

The 2016 presidential elec-tion has been full of surprises and unexpected results. It is a race like no other and as the top two nominees become more clear, people now have expressed their views on who should be the next president of the United States of America.

While Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both race for the Democratic nomination, many people are shocked to see Donald Trump as the likely Republican presidential nomi-nee. After Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the race, Trump has shown more confi-dence than ever in winning the election and “making America great again.”

Even though many people are supporting Trump, the amount of hate that he receives has been more overwhelming than the other nominees run-ning. With no political experi-ence and a demonstration of “non-presidential” behavior, somehow Trump has still man-aged to win more Republican support than anyone else.

Clinton remains in the lead

and will most likely be the Democratic choice. However, Sanders has stuck close be-hind her throughout the race and has remained confident in receiving more votes from sup-porters. There is still possibly a chance for Sanders, depending on how many states he will be able to win in the upcoming elections.

Based on a survey conducted

on CVHS students, 54 percent prefer Sanders, 23 percent sup-port Clinton, 14 percent want Trump and 9 percent would support someone else.

The survey does show the political trend of students in our area and gives an idea on how California may possibly vote in the election. Winning California would be huge and much needed for Sanders.

Although the survey was heavily in favor of Sanders, many students are also strong supporters of the other nomi-nees.

“I think the presidential race will be close this year between Hillary and Trump,” said se-nior Elijah Warlich.

If Trump and Clinton do end up facing off for the final presidential vote, it will be a shocking race to the finish. Every aspect of the election has been surprising to people and whatever is to come in the upcoming months will be no exception.

There are many of us at CVHS who are eligible to reg-ister and cast a vote in the elec-tion. By the time of the upcom-ing election in California, the majority of CVHS seniors will be eighteen and legally allowed to register to vote.

“I keep up with the elections. I follow Clinton and Sanders on Twitter, and The New York Times. Social media is why I’m really informed,” said senior Emiko Yamamoto who is eli-gible to vote.

Students weigh in on

the 2016 candidates

By Mia BabasyanStaff Writer

anaStaSia le / CoPy Editor

CVHS students’ survey results show strong support for Bernie Sanders in the upcoming election.

See SMOKE: Page 8

deter young people from try-ing such substances and get-ting addicted to it early, at the time when their brains and hormones are still developing.

Jean EmrichHealth teacher

A more mature brain will be

less suceptible to nicotine addiction

“

”

Cigarette sales

snuffed out

Civil War breaks out in theaters

Runners finish the

race strong

Page 2: Olympian supports new tobacco law Page 3: Captain America and Iron Man battle Page 7: Track team places at WACC

EVERY 15 MINUTES

PHOTOPiniOns What do you think about the new tobacco laws?

“ H o n e s t l y, I don’t think people should be smok-ing at all.”

Jore l Dies ta , freshman

PHOTOPiniOns

2

“There’s really no difference between ages for cigarettes. Making the legal age higher makes the young ones want to smoke even more.”

R h e a M i t r a , sophomore

“ I t h i n k t h e new smoking age change would p r e v e n t l u n g cancer and other health issues at a younger age.”

Caitlin Wong, junior

“I think it’s a re-ally good idea to reduce irresponsi-ble behavior when you’re 18 years old.”

Jeffery Lee, se-nior

Editorial:

California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that will raise the age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21 with the exemption of military personnel. We at The Olympian believe the law passed will be beneficial to all the stu-dents at CVHS.

This bill is backed by medical groups like the American Heart Association and deemed to be one of the “most expansive ef-fort” to control tobacco use in California in more than a decade.

Several statistics were pre-sented to legitimize the need for government action against the rising threat of early tobacco use. The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UC San Francisco has stated that adolescents are at particular risk for nicotine addictions as their brains develop. The National Sur-vey on Drug Use and Health has shown that 90 percent of tobacco users started before the age of 21, and 80 percent first tried tobacco

smoking law means positive change for next generation

before 18. We at The Olympian find the

information, research, and statis-tics presented too logical to argue with. Smoking's harmful results on our growing bodies and brain are too disastrous to be ignored and must be addressed. If that means taking legal action, then so be it.

With this bill implemented in California as of June 9, several organizations have estimated its positive impact on current and future high school students. A 2015 study by the Institute of Medicine estimated that it will result in 200,000 fewer premature deaths for those born from 2000 to 2019. The Prevention Institute

of Oakland predicts teens aged 15-17 will benefit most from this legislation.

Many smokers under 18 ob-tain their cigarettes and tobacco products through friends who were able to legally buy these products. Once the bill is enacted, teen smokers will no longer have that connection, and future gen-

erations will be less susceptible to smoking.

The bill will also apply to e-cigarettes, which have been legally categorized as tobacco products. E-cigarettes, often la-belled as an alternative to smok-ing, have become more popular with young people. Studies have shown that those who vape will most likely get addicted to smok-ing cigarettes.

The Olympian believes this bill will also help stop the tobacco industry from making more than $35 billion annually at the ex-pense of their consumers’ lives, thousands coming from teens. We think that 18 is a questionable age to be deemed an adult. At that age, most people are still in school, supported by their guard-ians, and nowhere near being able to provide for themselves, let alone keep up with the smoking or vaping lifestyle.

We hope that this law will fur-ther deter teenagers from instigat-ing a life of tobacco and nicotine addiction.

Can you imagine a security guard preventing you from going to the bathroom at a public library because you don’t have proof of your legal sex? Or your landlord evicting you because you’re un-married and expecting a child? These nightmarish scenarios may become reality in North Carolina and Mississippi, where laws legal-izing this sort of discrimination were signed into effect.

North Carolina’s HB 2 received a lot of attention when the US De-partment of Justice sued the state, its public university system, the governor, and the Department of Public Safety over it. The bill states that public agencies are required to keep transgender people from using the same multiple-occupan-cy changing rooms and bathrooms as others of their gender. Instead,

Safety for all? More like Jim Crow part two

By Fiona RichterStaff Writer

they have to use the bathroom of the sex they were assigned at birth.

Advocates for this bill claim that it isn’t about their own trans-phobia, but the safety of women. They want to protect them from men who disguise themselves to sneak into bathrooms, a behavior they wrongly attribute to trans-gender people.

There are no reported instances of anyone being attacked by a trans person in a bathroom. Ac-cording to a UCLA study, the ma-jority of transgender individuals have experienced negative reac-tions when using the bathroom. Some are physically assaulted.

For many, this bill is reminiscent of Jim Crow laws, which kept people of color from using the same facilities as whites.

Thankfully, the Department of Justice sees this bill as discrimina-tory, and believes that it violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

North Carolina isn’t the only state facing new discrimination legislation. On July 1, Missis-sippi’s HB 1523, a bill that allows religious organizations and busi-nesses to deny services based on “sincerely held religious beliefs,” will go into effect. HB 1523 is the more dangerous of the two bills, as it’s vague and has the potential to affect many.

These are the beliefs protected by the law:

(a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman;

(b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and

(c) Male (man) or female (wom-an) refer to an individual’s immu-table biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth.

Because of this bill, companies can refuse to hire people in those categories, or sell or rent a house to them. Doctors can refuse to treat transgender individuals. Le-gal officials can deny the issuance of marriage licenses. This law will affect all areas of life for Missis-sippi residents, especially those who identify as LGBT+.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Mississippi over this law, but it’s unclear if the lawsuit will succeed. You can help LGBT+ people affected by these laws, and prevent more dis-criminatory laws from happening. Boycott Mississippi and North Carolina. Sign petitions to help pass laws that protect the rights of LGBT+ people.

“This is about a lot more than bathrooms. This is about the dignity and the respect that we afford our fellow citizens, and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them; indeed, to protect all of us,” declared Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The battle for the Republican nomination has ended in fa-vor of Donald Trump, but the Democratic nominees still fight on. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sand-ers has been sticking in the race for the Democratic nomination, but is still quite far behind for-mer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in delegates.

The longer the primaries go on, the more Bernie fans want him to run in the final election, whether it be as a Democrat or an independent.

Don’t get me wrong. I want Sanders to be our next presi-dent. He’s a sweet old man, reminds me of a friendly grand-

By Jacob SchoenfeldNeWS editor

Bernie may not be best answer

father, and promises students like me free college and greater opportunities.

However, it just isn’t realistic at this point to have him as a candidate. If, by some miracle, he does become the Democratic nominee, Clinton’s votes would not necessarily all go to Sand-ers. Sanders is far left of the moderately liberal Clinton, who is more center-left. Hypotheti-cally, if Clinton were to no lon-ger be in the running, her voters would not necessarily support a left-wing socialist, and possibly switch parties to vote red.

And perhaps Sanders would not get the nomination, but still run as a third party, as so many of his voters are insisting. It would be the same situation as Ralph Nader entering as a Green Party candidate, deny-ing Al Gore of what would most likely have been a Demo-cratic victory for the 2000 elec-tion. If the Democratic vote is split in this upcoming election, Trump’s presidency is guar-anteed.

Although I would really like Bernie Sanders to be our next president, I would much prefer Clinton over Trump.

Neo dieSta/Graphic artist

By Lauren Eisenman

The Olympian June 7, 2016 3

The Olympian is a publication of the journalism class at Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2016

Editors-in-Chief.................................................................Anna Nguyen Laniah LewisCopy Editor......................................................................Sally LiangCity Editor..............................................................Caitlin ForbesNews Editor..............................................................Jacob SchoenfeldOpinion Editor............................................................Jessica MiFeature Editor.....................................................Meiling Zhang Sports Editor................................................................Martin BaezArts and Entertainment Editor............................America MoralesPhoto Editor........................................................Halley Lin-JonesVideo Editor........................................................Desiree BroomeGraphic Artist........................................................Neo DiestaBusiness Manager........................................Brittany Bracy

Staff Writers: Mia Babasyan, Nina Bessolo, Elizabeth Chan, Zach Deigert, Lauren Eisenman, Gavin Halloran, Stella Ho, Molly Koch, Anastasia Le, Sarah Nosseir, Fiona Richter, Diego Rodriguez-Peccorini, Emily Salazar

Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

We bury ourselves in piles of prep books and study guides in the hope of seeing a perfect “5” show up on our computer screens in July, but what’s the point? What is the real benefit of scoring the highest score possible on an AP exam?

The AP system is flawed. Students rely too heavily on grading curves for a good score. Exams don’t cover enough of the curriculum to truly test a student’s under-standing of the course. The influx of exam takers and changing standards are affect-ing the kind of college credit students are able to receive.

Most colleges reward stu-

Are AP tests really worth it?

By Meiling ZhangFeature editor

dents with the same amount of credits for scoring a four or a five, but instead of being able to receive credit for the course that their AP class was in, students are only receiving general credits that go toward graduation.

As more universities are re-moving upperclassmen stand-ing for freshmen, the additional credit serves them virtually no purpose. Students are also gen-erally unable to graduate early with their additional credits because of additional require-ments for their major, so those credits go to waste.

The purpose of AP exams are to give students a jumpstart on college and allow them to receive college credits for cer-tain subjects while they’re still in high school. Theoretically, students are expected to take classes that they are interested in and believe will help them out in their career paths. How-ever, that assumes that high schoolers already have an idea of what they want in their lives.

Instead of taking those class-es that they truly like, students are more likely to take the “easy” classes that are known to require less work and effort. Many students also load up their schedules with numerous

difficult APs so they can build up their college resumés.

The original reason for AP classes has been lost. It’s a common misbelief that AP exam scores affect college admissions, when in reality, they don’t completely take the scores into consideration until after the student is ad-mitted. Taking an AP class for a GPA boost means more on a college application than the grade on the exam itself.

Personally, after enduring through a year with four challenging AP classes and exams, I don't believe the potential benefits of settling on a major and university that give more than general credit for classes is worth it. Often-times, the rigor of the exam itself also does not match the expectations of the class, and the extra studying required to pass the exam creates too much stress on top of every-thing else.

Of course, these reason don’t discourage teenagers from taking AP classes and tests. Even those that know the lack of purpose for these exams still subject themselves to taking multiple consecu-tive tests each year.

Captain America: Civil War is spectacular. I’d go so far as to consider it one of the best Mar-vel Studios movies yet.

The film focuses on a new rivalry between Iron Man and Captain America after an un-fortunate incident that makes the world look at the Avengers team in a different light, and causes many countries to create a plan that would allow them to control the team of heroes. Led by Captain America, one portion of the Avengers team wants the Avengers to continue fighting for humanity free of control, whereas the other group, led by Iron Man, be-lieves that being watched over may be the best thing for them. This split eventually leads to conflict, and the Avengers, as you’ve probably guessed, be-gin their own Civil War.

I have to say that my favorite thing about the movie is Spider

Captain America fights friends in Civil War

Man. The actor who plays Spi-der Man, Tom Holland, does an outstanding job because he perfectly imitates the nerdy kid that everyone envisions when they think of Peter Parker. The movie even throws in a Star Wars reference, with Spider-man recreating a famous scene from The Empire Strikes Back.

Hulk isn’t in this movie though, and I really wonder why. You’d think if there was going to be a massive battle between the divided Avengers that the Incredible Hulk would be there. Instead, they added Black Panther and Vision, who has the power of levitation and can walk through walls. He’s like a funny-looking modern-day Houdini, except with a cape and a jewel called a Mind-stone on his forehead. He pre-viously appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

All the other Avengers we know and love are in the movie, including Iron Man, Black Widow, The Falcon, and even Hawkeye. The movie overall is action-packed with some awe-some fight scenes, fantastic spe-cial effects, and the occasional light comedy that we’ve come to expect from Marvel movies.

By Diego Rodriguez-Peccorini

StaFF Writer

The sounds of British electro-indie band the 1975 were heard by thousands in the open-air Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley, on Friday, April 22. The group hails from Wilmslow, UK, and performed with two other Brit-ish bands from London, The Japanese House and Wolf Al-ice. The concert was part of the 1975’s North American tour for their new album, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.

The night opened with a rather disappointing perfor-mance from The Japanese House. All the songs sounded the same, with similar chord progressions and a gross over-use of vocal synthesizer and

British electro-indie band wows

By Jessica Miopinion editor

overlays, to the point where the singer’s voice sounded like mumbled sound.

The second opening band, Wolf Alice, was much more promising. With fast-paced rock beats, they got the crowd warmed up and dancing on their feet.

After an excruciatingly pain-ful wait, the band we had all been waiting for finally took the stage. The most elaborate smoke and lighting effects ac-companied the band’s grand entrance as they opened with “Love Me.”

The 1975 has four members: a drummer, bassist, guitarist, and a singer/guitar player. The bassist and guitarist also play the synthesizer. For this show, a tenor saxophone player as well as another synthesizer player were brought in to help out with the songs.

Lead singer and guitar-ist Matthew “Matty” Healy wowed the crowd with his eccentric dancing and sooth-

ing vocals. Right after the first song, he took off his shirt and performed bare-chested, thrill-ing the crowd.

The 1975’s music encom-passes many genres and has been described as alternative rock, electronica, pop, and in-die. This is because they blend many different styles of music. Lots of electronic synthesizer sounds are generated, but the band also uses a live saxophone player and traditional guitar instruments. The result is a unique and totally new sound that can be mistaken for no other band.

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the performance. The lighting and smoke effects paired perfectly to enhance the atmosphere and the music. Some of the most memorable songs were “Robbers,” “The Sound,” “UGH!” and “Sex.” I highly suggest you check out the 1975 if you’re looking for some unique, laid-back music to listen to.

Iron Man and Captain America fight in one of their many epic battles in the film.

neo dieSta/ Graphic artist

The 1975’s logo can be recognized instantly by many fans.JeSSica Mi / OpiniOn EditOr

Every 15 Minutes staged event proves REAL DANGER

There’s a knock on the door. Your loved ones

open it to greet a police of-

ficer, who informs them that you have died as a result of a drunk driving collision.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were in the car driven by someone who was drunk, high, or dis-tracted by their phone? Have you been that driver? The Every 15 Minutes Program combats the prevalence of this dangerous scenario.

This program is for juniors and seniors, mainly because many can legally drive. Its familiar name refers to a 1995 statistic that every 15 minutes, someone dies in an alcohol-related crash in the United States.

Starting at 8:15 a.m. on

Thursday May 19, the names of “dead” students were called out over the loud-speaker every 15 minutes, two at a time. Officers came into their classrooms, and left a rose on each desk. Once all of the name s were called, all upperclassmen made their way to the field for the crash scene simulation.

Standing on the field and watching everyone file into the bleachers was when it really hit me that the next two days would be the most impactful days of the year.

Once everyone was seated, there was a horrific and loud screeching sound of a car accident, and senior Taylor

Wade made a frantic 911 call, de-scribing the terrifying scene of a collision involving senior Lexie Lange being ejected through the windshield, bloody and unre-sponsive on the hood of the car.

The other car was rolled over with student Cole Sanders trapped inside, and junior Mar-geaux Jackson screamed out in pain for help. Jackson then looked over to see her friend, Sarah Green, a pedestrian with an open femur fracture, who was drifting in and out of con-sciousness, unable to move.

The sober dr iver, Sam Higuera, was able to escape the wreckage and painfully yelled at Connor Piper, “What did you do?!” Piper was his

friend who caused the acci-dent due to impaired driving. Piper responded in a dazed and confused state, “It’s not my fault!”

First responders arrived on scene and students were taken away by ambulance, helicop-ter, and in Lange’s case, the coronary bureau.

As the audience left the assembly with emotions run-ning high, student partici-pants left for an overnight retreat, where we were unable to communicate with anyone to simulate what it would re-ally feel like if we were dead.

We bonded and formed friendships throughout the course of the night and met

By Molly KochStaff Writer

Emotional two-day event aims to prevent impaired driving tragediesMargeaux Jackson, Sarah Green, Cole Sanders, Taylor Wade, Connor Piper, Sam Higuera, Lexie Lange, and local law enforcement officials simulate a tragic drunk driving accident as part of the bi-annual Every 15 Minutes program at CVHS.

Every 15 Minutes staged event proves REAL DANGER

a couple of speakers who told us their stories about drinking and driving, and how that had impacted their lives.

Perhaps the most difficult of the activities was writing a letter to someone who was im-portant to you. I wrote my letter to my family. As we wrote our letters, our parents were at a separate retreat as well, writing letters to us as if we were dead.

After that, we sat in a large group and shared what had stood out to us throughout the day, and many of us com-mented on how all of us had become a family, and pledged to be more safe and never drink and drive.

We came back to school the

next day at 7 a.m. and waited for the three heart-wrench-ing assemblies to begin. In the lobby of the Center for the Arts, student coordinator Kaitlyn Darling hung our school pictures and obituar-ies on the wall to be viewed before and after the assem-bly by family and friends.

Officer Wes Morgan intro-duced our speaker, Marcella Gomez, who survived a real car crash with her family that claimed the lives of her par-ents. Gomez suffered from brain damage and other physical disabilities as a re-sult of the crash. The courage that Gomez had to tell us her story had a large impact on

many students.The highly anticipated vid-

eo that followed illustrated what had happened leading up to the simulated accident. We filmed a party at Alameda Beach, depicting a group of friends having a good time while drinking and smok-ing before they tried to flee to their cars when the police showed up.

We were on the scene of the car crash the day before, but seeing the video all put together for the first time brought on new emotions. Parents of those that were killed or injured in the crash displayed true pain as they watched their child suffer or

lose their life. I don’t think there was a single one of us from the program that didn’t cry, as well as many of the students who were attending the assemblies.

Some students went up to read the letters they had writ-ten the night before, as well as a few parents reading their letters to their children. The entire experience is something that made everyone more grateful for each day.

“Every 15 minutes, some-one dies because of a drunk driver. Today, we lost you.” That’s something I never want my parents to have to say.

After almost 20 years since the program began, not only

has the statistic been changed to every 51 minutes, but also, all of us have learned what an impact the loss of a life means to friends and family. Every 15 Minutes was a life-changing experience that I’m so grateful to have been a part of.

Some may have thought this was not very emotionally impactful, but the goal was to make students think twice before getting into a car with an impaired friend.

I now think that it’s our job to take the initiative to do whatever we can to avoid what could be a terrible trag-edy; take their keys and be a designated driver. They’ll be grateful the next day.

Emotional two-day event aims to prevent impaired driving tragediesMargeaux Jackson, Sarah Green, Cole Sanders, Taylor Wade, Connor Piper, Sam Higuera, Lexie Lange, and local law enforcement officials simulate a tragic drunk driving accident as part of the bi-annual Every 15 Minutes program at CVHS.

PhotoS By olymPian Staff JeSSica mi, halley lin-JoneS, and Gavin halloran

Trojans swim their hearts out at WACC and NCSFor the first time in ten years,

the Trojan boys varsity swim team has placed second rather than first, and Trojan girls placed second once again at this year’s Western Alameda County Conference on May 7.

The Trojan boys were just out of reach of first by under 50 points, and the girls trailed a little farther behind. However, it was still a close competition with Alameda. The Hornets won both the boys and girls championships.

Though it may not have been the victory that Trojan swim-mers were seeking, it was still

By Jacob SchoenfeldNews editor

a result of a season full of hard work and practice.

The meet started with the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle,

and 200 I.M. Both the boys and girls relays finished in fourth place, and CVHS sophomore Sebastian Balica swam his way

to second place in 200 free, getting a new personal record and qualifying for North Coast Sectionals.

Next came the 50 free, 100 butterfly, and 100 free, in which the Trojans generally have strong swims. Team captain Erik Clemensen swam to first place with an NCS qualifying time in the 50 free, and also got second in the 100 free behind other captain Donovan Watts.

Freshman Jacklyn Scheberies also swam an amazing pair of back-to-back events scoring third in both the 50 free and then the 100 fly shortly after. Sophomore Da Di also gained a personal record, an NCS quali-fying time, and second place in the 100 fly.

Trojans fared well in the long distance 500 event as well, with sophomore Di coming in sec-ond again. Sophomores Balica and Helen Senchev both came in third, Senchev with a qualify-ing NCS time.

Trojan boys and girls finished first in the 200 yard free relay, and qualifying for NCS. They both also did well in the 400 free relay, with the girls plac-ing third, and the boys placing second.

The individual events fin-ished off strong with freshman Monica Gong taking third in the 100 backstroke, and captain Watts taking third in the 100 breaststroke.

Though the Trojans did fare well at the meet, the team was not complete because of two injuries that occurred rather late in the season. Junior Matt Proc-tor and senior Brandon Chin were unable to swim, but both came and supported their fel-low Trojans, and Chin did swim in the next week’s NCS meet.

NCS is known as one of the toughest competitions in the nation for high school level swimming.

Clemensen finished fifth in the final round of the 50 free, and 12th in the finals of the 100 free. Watts swam his way to eighth in the 100 free and seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Chin also finished off his swim-ming career by scoring 14th in the finals of the 500.

The Trojan boys also put to-gether stellar relays. Their 200 free relay consisted of Clem-ensen, Luke Severs, Balica, and Watts, and they placed fifth, qualifying for an all-state com-petition in Clovis. In the 400 free relay, Clemensen, Balica, Watts and Chin placed eighth in the finals.

This season was a sad but fun farewell to many of Castro Val-ley’s swimming seniors, most of which have been swimming on this team since they were freshmen, and some who have been in competitive swimming most of their life.

“This season was a great way to finish my swimming career with an amazing group of people,” said team captain Tasha Harger.

Sophomore Da Di races the 100 yard butterfly at NCS.Jacob schoeNfeld/ News editor

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S u p e r Sp e e dy Sp o r ts St a rs

Vincent Thai Alana GusmanChris LauLauren Fung.

The girls varsity softball team enjoyed an overwhelm-ing victory against Berke-ley High School, improving their impressive record in the WACC and clinching the league championship.

With a score of 10-0 in the sixth inning, the game ended prematurely due to the ten-run mercy rule.

The game started out with some great standout runs by seniors Leilani Huey and Delaney Heller, who helped the team build a four-run lead by the third inning.

Softball team wins league title

Their consistency in the early innings culminated in a rapid series of runs in the sixth inning. Hits by several players filled the bases for senior Traci Shaw, who hit a breathtaking home run.

Huey then brought the game to a close with a final run, closing out the Trojans’ final six-run inning.

For senior players, this game marked a triumph not only for this season’s team, but also for their careers at CVHS.

“I feel like I was just in the zone, thinking that it could possibly be my last game on

this field. I was focused the entire time and I wanted to go out with a bang,” said Shaw.

Although the girls hope for a long postseason, with games extending into the NCS championships, this game was in many ways a symbolic sendoff for the talented group of seniors on the team.

By Halley Lin-JonesPhoto Editor

Delaney Heller pitches to a Berkeley Hornet.hallEy lin-JonEs/Photo Editor

CVHS took a loss to rival team Bishop O’Dowd in both varsity boys and girls during the WACC varsity finals on Saturday May 14 at Burrell Field. The Dragons boys and girls placed first with CVHS trailing at a close second for girls and third place for boys.

Over the course of two days athletes competed in the varsity meet. The top 16 in each event from the Thursday meet came back on Saturday to compete against one another once again.

Senior Daniel Bessolo came straight from his basketball sea-son to dominate the track. Bessolo placed first in both the 100 meters and the 400 meters. Bessolo also took third place in the long jump.

Sophomore Austin Fields was dominating field events when he took first place in the high jump and third place in the triple jump.

It was the varsity girls jump squad that stole and dominated the pits. In triple jump Trojan girls took first, second, sixth, eighth, and ninth place. CVHS girls also took first, second, fourth, seventh and ninth place in the long jump.

Senior Tenia Landrum was a huge competitor throughout the entire meet. Landrum took sec-ond place in the 100, third place in the 200, and first place in the long jump. A proven competitor, Landrum was also the anchor leg on the second place 4x400 meters relay.

Sophomore Allanah Lee con-tributed when she took second place in the 100 meter hurdles, and first in both the 300 meters hurdles and triple jump. Lee was also on the 4x400 meters relay team that took second place.

The top nine athletes in each event qualified to the NCS Bay-shore meet on Saturday May 21.

CVHS track teamsfall short of first

By Brittany Bracy BusinEss ManagEr

7

Traci ShawSenior

I feel like I’ve improved

mentally.

“

”“The team’s goal is to win

NCS now. I have seven se-niors on our fantastic team. Everybody works really hard. We’re at a point this season where we’re really having fun,” said coach Marie Gray.

The talent on this team has not gone unnoticed by uni-versities; six out of the seven senior girls will continue to play in college. Five of them, including Shaw, received scholarships.

Shaw will play next year for Sacramento State’s team. For her and the others, the CVHS team was an integral experience that led them to their successes.

“This season, I feel like I’ve improved mentally. I stay in the zone and stay positive the entire time. As a team, I think we’ve learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and how to play around those weaknesses,” said Shaw.

Vincent Thai is a freshman on the junior varsity swim team. As this was his first year on a swim team, he did not know what to expect. Even so, he says that, “Joining the swim team was one of the best decisions I made in my freshman year.”

Thai can’t wait for next year to join the team again.

“My most memorable mo-ment on the swim team is our pre-meet chants. Those were really exciting,” he said.

Thai swims the 100-meter breaststroke and his best time was 1:16.8.

Lauren Fung is a sophomore on the junior varsity swim team. This is her second year on the team.

She has also been swimming on the Crocodiles swim league team during the summer.

“Swim team was a super fun experience and I already miss it,” she said.

Fung’s best stroke is free-style.

“The most memorable part of swim was at champs when we did our last team cheer. We all screamed together. It’s great,” she said.

Chris Lau is a junior on the track team. He has been run-ning for two seasons now.

“My most memorable mo-ment in track was when all four mile runners in varsity ran under five minutes!”

Lau partakes in the pole vault and 800 meter dash events. His best time in the 800 meter dash is 2 minutes 11 seconds, and his best height in pole vault is 10 feet, 6 inches.

“I enjoy the competitive spirit of the track team over-all,” he said.

Alana Gusman is a senior on the softball team. She has been on the team since freshman year, and has played softball since she was 10 years old. “A late start, but I fell in love with the game nonetheless,” she said.

Gusman has played on the var-sity team since sophomore year. She plays catcher and she says that she can not imagine playing any other position.

“My most memorable moment this year was when our team and Livermore’s softball team got together before our game and danced and played elbow tag to-gether due to our umpires being an hour late,” she said.

Sarah Fung sprints to the finish line.Brittany Bracy/BusinEss ManagEr

The OlympianJune 7, 2016

The OlympianJune 7, 2016 8

Three CVHS counselors are now out for the rest of the school year. Ivery McKnight, Mike Byer, and Jamie Wilson all took leaves on personal matters. During the early days of their absence, students had been reassigned to the remaining counselors, thus intensifying their caseloads. Re-tired counselor Lorrie Barrera, Thierry Tresguerres, and Cyndi Valone are now filling in for the remainder of the year. Wilson has resigned permanently with a replacement counselor expected by next year.

“Our goal is to create some-thing as seamless as possible in being capable to speak with someone on student needs. Aside from having new counsel-ors come in, the other remaining counselors have really stepped up to cover the new work until they arrived,” said Assistant Principal Marisol Arkin.

This change of organization within the office led to the prompt hiring of new replacement coun-selors for the remainder of the year. Additionally, they serve as contingencies if the original counselors don’t return next year. When the positions were not filled, the remaining counselors stepped up and took on the case-loads in addition to their own.

“I owe the counselors who have been here through this time of transition an incredible amount of gratitude. When we find out someone is leaving there

Teens have far more interaction with 18-year olds than young adults in their twenties, so their access to tobacco will also be reduced.

“I am happy about the change in the law. In theory, this will al-low our youth to become more educated before trying nicotine and allow their brains to mature. A more mature brain will not be as susceptible to nicotine addiction,” said health teacher Jean Emrich.

So far, a few other states, such as New Jersey and Hawaii, and numerous cities across the U.S. have raised the age for smok-ing as well to 19 or 21. This ac-tion has garnered widespread support, as it helps protect the health and safety of young people as well as save money that might be spent on tobacco or health treatment for the nega-tive effects of smoking.

“Whether or not it will de-crease the overall number of smokers is yet to be seen, but at least there is now a legal bar-rier in place that will make it harder for the younger person to have access,” said school nurse Sandee Velasquez.

These new laws will take ef-fect on June 9.

SMOKE: From page 1

New staff avertscounselor crisis

is lag time between then and when we get somebody in there. It left it up to the four remaining counselors to double up and as-sist those that need help,” said Principal Blaine Torpey.

Fortunately, finding replace-ments for the counselors was not as difficult as perceived. As the end of the school year approach-es, the hiring season commences, and in the event of staff short-ages, administration can readily find a suitable candidate to fill the position in a timely manner.

“I think because of the timing, this is really the hiring season for staff. Spring is a much easier time to find replacements for staff as opposed to the fall. September or October is when it's a bit more challenging,” said Torpey.

Tresguerres is the replacement counselor for Wilson and has found his job to be quite excit-ing, despite the compounded workload.

“I came from a way more cha-otic environment, so I appreciate the order and systems here at the school. Every little detail has been thought about, even when things like this happen,” he said.

Upon his arrival Tresguerres was surrounded by helpful staff and students that assisted him in getting started.

“Everyone has stopped by to say hello and answer some of my questions. I wasn’t able to answer as many questions in the beginning because it's a totally different system here. I took notes of their questions and asked around,” said Tresguerres.

By Gavin HalloranStaff Writer

Although water conserva-tion is a difficult issue to tackle, CVUSD reduced its total usage by 20 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year. This is a significant milestone consider-ing that in 2014, Governor Jerry Brown called for all California residents to strive for exactly this amount of widespread reduction. The district’s usage began at a whopping 49,800 kilogallons in 2013, which then was reduced to 31,339 kilogallons in 2015.

The successful change comes from the management of the district maintenance staff that is in charge of monitoring this monthly usage across all 15 schools in the district. Main-tenance leader Michael Miller urged students and teachers in a newsletter last year to look out for leaking faucets. He also laid out many methods for reducing usage, particularly in the sum-mer months, which included irrigating and trimming fields less frequently.

Despite the decreasing trend in annual usage, Dr. Deborah Yager, a CVHS science teacher and advisor of the Smart Energy Club, sees plenty of opportunity for the schools to further improve these statistics.

“There’s always more we can do. For example, I noticed that in the women’s bathrooms, they are still using high-volume flush

CVHS reduces water usage during drought

CVHS reduced its water usage by 20 percent in 2015. Halley lin-JoneS / Photo Editor

By Halley Lin-JonesPHoto editor

New law ends teen tobacco

sales

toilets. That’s one huge way to reduce the water. I see that every day and it bothers me,” said Yager.

AP Environmental Science teacher Nathan McCreary agreed with this concern, and even sug-gested using waterless urinals in the male restrooms. These devices have a draining system that chemically treats the waste as gravity leads it directly through the pipes, without the need to flush with water.

Irrigation of school grounds re-mains a big culprit of overall water usage, despite efforts to specifi-cally target this area. The amount used during the first six months of the 2015-16 school year (Sep-tember through February) show a surprising 24 percent increase from the corresponding months from the previous school year.

“It is surprising, but I am aware

that the school needs to use water to keep dust down because that can be an issue. Then, of course, there’s also the fire hazard concern with underwatering, as well as just the aesthetic aspect of having watered lawns. It’s a complicated issue because we do still want to have our quality of life and to preserve the way the school looks, while saving water,” said McCreary.

Yager agreed, stating that even though it is a difficult balance of conflicting values, there are many more options that can still be ex-plored for future improvements.

“The question is, how many fields? How much water should they be taking? What water sourc-es can we use for irrigation besides potable water? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but these are the kinds of things that

should be looked into,” Yager said.

Yager also explained that there is difficulty in maintaining enough custodians to monitor and speedily repair leaks and breaks that are commonly re-ported by students and teachers, often with many weeks passing before the repairs are made. When many custodians were laid off with budget cuts in previous years, the school district did not adjust to these changes.

“Twenty percent reduction a year is very significant. We can also try to reduce our individual water use by looking at where we use our water the most,” said McCreary. “Like when you shave and brush your teeth, is the water still running? That would be a simple way to reduce it.”