centerspread18135Setting the record straight about Camp Everytown

Journey to become Eagle Scout turns boys to men

Cross Country girls stride toward record season shoplifting

perspectives entertainment sports

november 200518

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Programming Club invites Java creator James Gosling to speak

Innovator gives presentationNew alcohol policy passed

On Nov. 10, Monta Vista students were treated to a presentation by James Gosling, the chief architect

of the Java Programming Language and Vice President of Sun Microsystems on the history and future of his innovation.

Club Member junior Arvind Shrihari was dazzled by the exhibition. “It’s really scary how important Java is today. I never realized the language’s full significance un-til the presentation.”

How did Java Club manage to invite the legendary creator of Java to MVHS? Con-trary to popular belief, junior Anshul Bhagi, president of the Java Programming Club,

did not know Gosling prior to the presenta-tion.

“I was able to contact Mr. Gosling through email and was excited when he agreed to come. He was appreciative of the interest Java Club members were showing in Java technology and wanted to spread his love of Java to students at MVHS,” Bh-agi said.

A relatively new organization, the Java Programming Club formed during the last four weeks of the 2004-2005 school year. Currently, the club has about 20 members but, with the recent promotion, Bhagi fully expects a boost in membership.

In recent years, the Java Programming Language has revolutionized modern com-

puting through the language’s cross-plat-form functionality. Programs in Java, being compiled in the simplest of byte code, can be run on any machine containing a Java Virtual Machine.

“Java is now utilized in smart cards, cell phones, and supercomputers. Before Java, cell phone programming differed from desktop computer programming, which in turn differed from supercomputer program-ming. Java’s flexibility as a multi-platform language allows programmers to conceive of computer networks in a branched ecol-ogy,” Gosling said.

Thanks to Java, what was once thought

by Prateek Tandon, staff writer

Recently, the Alcohol Focus Group in the Leadership class made a proposal to Leadership Council regarding stron-

ger consequences if a student is caught under the influence or in the posession of alcohol. The focus group, which consists of eight students, proposed that any time a student is caught under the influence or in posession of alcohol at any school func-tion, they would be banned from all dances for the next 365 days, even going as far as carrying into the next school year. This preventative measure is designed to make students think of the consequences before they decide to come to a school dance un-der the influence.

Previously, many students had been talking about the need to strengthen con-sequences for drinking or being under the influence at school events. This is why the Alcohol Focus Group made this proposal to Leadership Council. After a vote in Lead-ership class showed that the measure was unanimously supported, the idea was then presented to the Administration. The Admin-istration adopted the proposal, and then members of the Alcohol Focus Group pre-sented it to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). The PTA did not get to decide the out-come of this proposal, but they are notified to be informed on the change in policy.

The Administration uses the Leadership class as a representative voice for general student opinion. Because members of the Leadership class are elected by students or appointed by elected officials, any state-ment should, in theory, be a reflection of what the general student population of the school wants.

Yet, students are still split in their opin-ion on the matter. As junior and Leadership class member Lisa Merkhofer said, “I think it is not a good idea because if people that come to dances drunk cannot come to dances, they will go to unsafe places where there is no supervision and get drunk any-way.”

There are also students who feel that it is a good proposal but should be changed slightly to accommodate first and second of-fenders, who deserve lighter punishments. Sophomore Sonia Dalal said, “It’s kind of harsh because if a person has learned their lesson, they should be allowed to go to a dance. Then if they are caught again, it should be more.”

Although some believe that Leadership has too much say in new rules that are passed, by taking proposals made by the students themselves, the Administration is guaranteed at least some student support. As Leadership advisor Tim Krieger stated, “This measure came from the students, which is important.”

The exact proposal, “Students found in possession of and/or under the influence of alcohol at any school function will lose the privilege of attending all school dances, including formals and proms for 365 days from the date of violation,” will go into ef-fect Jan. 2.

by Aniqa Hasan, staff writer

Since the beginning of the school year, junior Ramya Chitters has had to be dropped off early at school on Wednesday because her brother had a zero period at Kennedy Junior

High, which started at 7:20 a.m. Hwever, this routine came to an abrupt end when administrators disallowed students from coming on campus before 9 a.m. Junior Alex Bishara reports a similar experience.

“I have to come to school early everyday,” said Bishara, “and last year, I could go any-where on campus—on the roof, even. But this year, they make me stay in the bus circle. It’s ridiculous.”

Though students such as Bishara are report-ing a noticeable change in policy, Assistant Principal Brad Metheany asserts that the rule has always been enforced.

“The rule’s always been in place,” said Metheany. “We’ve always told students to come closer to 9, and if they don’t, we ask

them to go to the bus circle.”Metheany explained that before 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, teach-

ers are required to be in meetings or in their classrooms and not meeting with students or parents, which makes it difficult to super-vise students scattered all over campus.

“It’s a safety issue,” said Metheany.The change some students are noticing with regards to early

Wednesday arrival is not isolated. Increasingly, more students are noticing changes in a number of school policies, whether they be

the increased enforcement of existing rules or the addition of new rules. While many students consider some of the changes to be unneces-sarily stringent, the Administration maintains that all the rules have legitimate rationales.

It has been fairly well known that eating up-stairs has been discouraged. However, many students said that they used to eat upstairs without any issue in past years and notice that only this year has the Administration been

by Michael Leung, staff writer

Students feel stricter enforcement

“ Last year, I could go anywhere on campus—on the roof, even. But this year, they make me stay in the bus circle. It’s ri-diculous. ”- junior Ramya Chitters

AUTOGRAPH James Gosling, who is accredited with creating Java, signs junior Jonathan Lu’s paper. Gosling gave a lunchtime speech on Nov. 10 in the Gym. Gosling created Java, a programming language

used for an array of purposes, while working for Sun Microsystems, which is based in Santa Clara. He was invited by the Java Programming Club, which hopes to invite other speakers in the future.

Austin Cheng | photography editor

see GOSLING on page 20

see RULES on page 20

NewNews-Information-Updates tationS

Decisions pertaining to article divisive of class

n From Nov. 7 to Dec. 2, the MVHS library hosted the Mercury News Gift of Reading program. Librarian Megan Birdsong asked students to donate new or lightly-used books for distribution to over 40 agencies who would give these books to disadvantaged children and teens from families with financial struggles.

The idea for a book drive started with Megan Birdsong, who actually wanted to host one for the school library. Through a teacher and the San Jose Mercury News, she heard about the book drive for disadvantaged youth.

“It’s a great cause,” she said. “It’s an easy way to give back to the community, since students have outgrown some of their books.”

Students of science teacher Jim Birdsong also benefit from this program. Those in his tutoring program need to tutor for half an hour 20 times each year, but they can receive credit for five sessions by donating five good quality books to the drive. As of Nov. 29, the library had five boxes full of books. Megan Birdsong hopes to continue this program every year.

Photo courtesy of Ed PuccinelliPEERSUPPORTOn Dec. 3, friends show support in a San Carlos TV studio for senior Ojas Sangemeswara.

news october 21 2005

MVHS Quiz Kids defeat rivals

2 news december 16, 2005el estoque

n Although the traditional time for Winter Ball is usually in December before winter break, this year the ASB has decided to change the date to January 20, 2006. The theme this year is “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.” Winter Ball will once again be held in the Decathlon Club in Santa Clara. In order to compensate for the change in date, a regular school dance was placed in the gym on December 2, 2005. ASB secretary Danielle Fabrizio said, “Our main reason was that we wanted to have cheaper bid prices, but we also thought it would be easier for more people to make it.” Bids will start selling the Tuesday after Winter Break at the starting price of $65. They will be sold everyday in the rally court until the Thursday before Winter Ball at the ending price of $100.

n MVHS community service clubs Interact, Octagon, Key Club, and CSF have joined together in sponsoring a school-wide scholarship essay contest

CSF President, senior Melody Ju says, “The idea is to raise awareness of the significance of community service beyond the whole ‘it looks good on a college application’ thing and we thought it’d be beneficial to have members themselves consider a topic they’ve probably not thought about a lot.

The prompt was, “What role does community service play in today’s society?Although regarded as a positive idea by many, a lack of participation from MVHS

students this year was saddening to Ju. The contest only brought out a handful of essays, but nonetheless was a positive first step towards getting students to reevaluate what community service really does mean to our society. Results from the contest will probably be announced before Dec. 16.

EDITOR’SLETTER

by Alex Cohn and Edward Young, editors-in-chief

n These past several months, MVHS has been disrupted by ear-piercing sirens of numerous fire alarms. These faulty fire alarms have been a nuisance to students and teachers alike, forcing classes to leave their studies only to return to their rooms five minutes later.

According to Assistant Principal Erik Walukiewicz, the fire alarms have primarily been started by the old buildings. The F building, which had its sprinkler system disconnected by the district several years ago, set off sirens when the sensors signaled that there was no water in the pipes, although no water was supposed to exist. Meanwhile, the portables experienced broken thermostats that heated up the rooms to around 90 degrees. On one occasion, the thermostat began emitting sparks, rightfully setting off the alarms. The alarms were also linked to construction, which put dust in the air and set them off.

Technically, “the fire alarms are doing what they’re supposed to do,” states Walukiewicz, who says that both the F building’s sprinkler system and the portables’ thermostats have been fixed. Walukiewicz apologizes for the disruptions. He is confident that the campus is safe and stresses that student safety is a top priority at MVHS. “Students should evacuate, no matter what,” he says . “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

n On Dec. 3, the MVHS Quiz Kids team beat local powerhouse The Harker School, which has placed second in the Quiz Kids Show for the past four years. Besides the pride that comes along with winning these academic competitions, the MVHS team is enticed by the possibility of placing first on their television show, Bay Area Quiz Kids. A few weeks ago, they beat another local powerhouse, Mission San Jose High School, and now Menlo-Atherton High School is the only strong school between them and winning the entire show. On Dec. 11, the team took part in a tournament composed of 16 teams, taking 2nd place. They now are eligible to compete in the national tournament to be held later this school year in Chicago. Team member, senior Ojas Sangemeswara said, “This weekend’s [tv show taping] was really great. Some of my friends wrote my name on their chests as most fans would do for a football game, and it really made all of us laugh. It was nice to have support.” The team is advised by Ed Puccinelli.

When we first heard that a photographer was coming to visit MVHS, we were all incredibly excited. Little did we know that the story would cover a watershed of issues, muddling race, culture, academic pressure, and racism—probably

the most sensitive topics at MVHS. When reading the article, we realized it was our role to do what, in our opinion, the article didn’t—accurately repre-sent race-related issues at Monta Vista. It seemed the author forcibly tried to clump together a bunch of issues. As such, it became the job of this month’s paper to untangle the massive lump presented as race and explore each issue independently.

Because of the amount of information needed to accurately cover every facet of the is-sue, we dedicated a special edition eight-page centerspread to the topic. While we don’t expect most of our readers to want to take in that much information on one subject, we feel there’s enough story variety to answer all unanswered questions.

We interviewed Cathy Gatley and Hung-Wei Chien, the PTA co-presidents quoted in the article, to get their perspective. During our interview, their stance on the issues pre-sented in the Wall Street Journal article was markedly different from how they appeared in the article itself.

In addition, we tried to contact the author of the Wall Street Journal article, Suein

Hwang. As journalists, we know the difficulty of accurately representing a subject in a story and wanted to hear Hwang’s take on her own article. Did she stand by it as truth? Did she write it with an agenda, as some people have claimed? Unfortunately, Hwang was unavailable for comment, although the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal did reply that the paper felt the story was written accurately, based on Hwang’s own notes.

Besides those directly affected by the article, we also wanted to give a voice to those never quoted in the article—Monta Vista Students. Within is an article on student responses, as well as the transcript of a round-table discussion we hosted, providing an open forum for a few students we hoped would represent various viewpoints around campus. Additionally, we conducted a survey to try and statistically derive a conclusion based on

facts. While the article painted a black and white picture of our school community, we at El Estoque have added color to that incomplete picture.

While the article has hurt many, we feel it’s important to note the positive effect it has had on campus. While race is often discussed, it never has been talked about so openly; the article sparked a meaningful and substantial dialogue. Teachers used the article to open up dialogue about difficult issues on campus.

If anything, the article has united the student body by portraying it as divided. MVHS students and parents from all races and cultures have bonded together in defense of our school’s reputation. So in the end, it is our diversity that has led to our unity.

elestoque2005-2006Monta Vista High School21840 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA 95014

El Estoque seeks to recognize indi-viduals, events, and ideas and bring news to the Monta Vista communi-ty in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our community.

Editors-in-ChiefAlex CohnEdward Young

Managing EditorsNeha JoshiVikram Srinivasan

News EditorsRaj DedhiaSteffi Lau

Perspectives EditorsJordan KolbJulia Stenzel

Design/Centerspread EditorsStephanie SnipesDaniel Yang

Entertainment EditorsRadhika ChandrasekharMichelle Tanaka

Sports EditorsCarolyn ChuangSuzie Smelyansky

Back Page EditorRachel Lui

Art EditorsNandini DasarathyJulia Stenzel

Photo EditorAustin Cheng

Staff WritersSarah BennettSymrin ChawlaAniqa HasanCheryl HoAdam JacobsMichael LeungJudy LiangMelissa NiSonal PatelSamika SavanurPrateek TandonAnagha VaidhyanathanMatt Wang

AdviserMichelle Balmeo

The El Estoque staff can be reached at elestoque06@gmail.com or by contacting advisor Michelle Balmeo in room C210. Advertisements may be sent to the address above. Opin-ions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and not of Monta Vista High School or the Fremont Union High School District.

by Carolyn Chuang, sports editor

“Think about all the debris and all the garbage after a football game. All of the sunflower seeds, people

never throw them away,” said Facilities Su-pervisor Chris Kenney.

When most people attend football games, they focus on the sport and don’t really notice if they forget to put their soda can in the recycling or their hot dog plate in the trash. These mind lapses contribute to the four to five hours spent after each football home game by custodians to clean up all of the mess. Being taken for granted defines the sort of job the custodians have. Without them, the campus and facilities used by the school would be contaminated and difficult to use, yet most of their work goes unnoticed or expected.

Each day, Kenney arrives at Monta Vista at 6 a.m. to greet his desk filled with requests from teachers and administration for tasks that need to be done. His main day-to-day task is to fix things that get broken, so he actually keeps the school healthy, working, and running.

Aside from mending air conditioners and other odds and ends, the day shift custodians maintain a neat campus in which students can feel comfortable working. Then, the night shift takes over at 4:30 p.m. and stays until 12:30 a.m., going through all of the buildings to ensure that each one is reasonably neat.

Not only do they go through the classrooms, but they also have the fearsome responsibility of ensuring the sanitary conditions of the bathrooms.

“When you use the bathroom,” said night shift custodian Rudy Padilla, “you go in and expect TP to be there, but you don’t realize that it didn’t just show up.”

Padilla touches on the evident lack of recognition, as most people do not take into account the extremely busy schedules of the custodians.

“I think, ‘I don’t even know who you are’,” said Padilla. “Yet, you expect me to stop everything I’m doing to help you.”

On the night shift, De Anza students ask to get into classrooms early, parents ask for help looking for their kids, and much time is taken away from their work-time when all of the needs are put together. Especially with the addition of the new library, auditorium, and D building, the three night custodians have to cover significantly more ground than before.

According to night custodian Francisco Nolasco, when he first started working 17 years ago, the school had a mere 1,000 students to look after. However, now with

Business clubs compete for the top

Behind the scenes: MVHS custodiansAn inside look at the people who keep the campus spotless

Everybody knows about it, but the topic tends to get brushed under the rug. Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and DECA, an association of marketing students, the two domi-

nant business organizations at MVHS, are competitors whose ri-valry can get a bit intense.

Students perceive the rivalry in varying degrees. Some believe the rivalry is only present during the recruitment phase, dying down when each club has a set membership. Others assert the rivalry runs a lot deeper.

Sophomore Charles Xue, who has been a member of both FBLA and DECA, remarked that the distinction between these clubs is analogous to the difference between Pepsi and Coca Cola. “Many of the club competitions even have word for word the same questions.”

Functional overlaps between the clubs have led some members to view the situation in absolutist terms. FBLA was Monta Vista’s first business club, serving as the center for business-bound students. Three years ago, DECA was created as an alternative to FBLA, with a primary concentration on marketing. Marketing was chosen as the emphasis because the field is now viewed as the core competency of most U.S. business enterprises—almost every other aspect of business can be outsourced. In addition, Monta Vista’s Business Department was moving away from teaching Keyboarding, Desktop

Bus boycott legacy

A couple of weeks ago, I sat beside the T.V. and flipped through the channels searching for something to

make math homework less mundane. Natu-rally, 5:00 in the evening was too late for Full House, and too early for Friends, so I resorted to news. As I switched to CNN, a black and white photo of a 20-year-old African American woman dominated the screen. “Legend Dies at 92.” Following was a black and white video clip of a bru-tal scene set in southern Virginia where the Ku Klux Klan were setting white picket fenc-es and lawns ablaze as a cloud of black smoke circled the sky. That’s when it struck me.

On Dec. 1, 1955 on a small street in Montgomery, Alabama, a young African American woman took her place among over 40 other passengers on a public bus. Tired and unwilling to stand at the back in the sweltering heat amongst people of her race, she took a seat towards the front of the bus – the “white” side.

When Rosa Parks was arrested, over 50 African-American leaders organized a 381 day boycott to protest segregation on public buses. Since then, Parks has been credited with sparking the great Civil Rights Movement.

When we were children, Disney movies like Pocahontas and Mulan emphasized how anyone can be a leader and strive to achieve their goals, regardless of their race. In our history classes, we learn how abolitionists risked their lives to secure the rights of people of all ethnicities and how it is wrong to racially segregate.

Yet, how far have we come since the 1950s? Do we, as citizens of the U.S., still judge people based on their sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and lifestyles, rather than on their character?

“Since we live in such a diverse community, students [at] Monta Vista have not come across serious discrimination,” said junior Vikram Joshi. “We dismiss it as a problem that occurred 20, 30 years ago and fail to realize how it affects us in society today.”

Our community has enabled us to gain acceptance of the various races present within our school system. We walk to the store or ride our bikes to school on a daily basis and rarely do we dismiss each other as being inferior based on the color of our skin. Unfortunately, other societal issues such as sexual orientation and varying physical features continue to cloud our judgment.

Oftentimes, we hear students saying crude statements based on a person’s physical appearance or saying offensive phrases ignorantly regarding one’s sexual orientation, and tend to wonder if society has progressed enough.

Fortunately, various students across our campus have made commendable efforts to alleviate the situation. The Gay Straight Alliance Club was reactivated earlier this school year in order to promote the acceptance of all sexual orientations. This small group of MVHS students have managed to gain support across campus for a often difficult concept to understand in parts of the U.S. and the world in general.

Maybe this is a sign that all hope isn’t lost. The civil rights movement has had a lasting impact on U.S. society, both politically and socially. We owe it to Rosa Parks, legendary heroine, abolitionist, and first woman to lie in state at the U.S. capitol, to preserve her efforts and maintain justice in our public system. Why? Because, we’re teenagers with the power to influence three generations: the parents who nag us, the peers who support us, and the children who question us. Given that we’ve already taken the first step towards ending societal discrimination within our schools and communities, hopefully it will only be a matter of time before the United States can claim equality for all.

Austin Cheng | staff photographerCLEAN UP Custodians (shown clockwise from main photo) Lee Kosack, Jorge Couto, Francisco Nolasco, and Rudy Padilla work together to keep the campus clean. Most of the custodians stay at school as late as 12:30 a.m.

el estoquenovember 18, 2005 news 3

“ DECA has done a lot of the same activi-ties that used to be traditionally FBLA’s ideas.”- junior Yang Yang Liu

by Prateek Tandon, staff writer Publishing, Computer Applications and Introduction to Business, all key FBLA strengths, and towards Principles of Business, Marketing and Money, and Banking to better serve the needs of Monta Vista students planning on entering undergraduate business programs.

Could this departmental shift be making FBLA a bit queasy? Senior Melina Mathur, president of DECA, believes the animosity is a product of FBLA’s perception that its spot as the dominant business club is being challenged by DECA.

Junior Yang Yang Liu, president of FBLA, claims that FBLA doesn’t fear being replaced but believes the officers feel a bit disconcerted having to work harder now that there is another business organization on campus fulfilling similar functions. “DECA has done a lot of the same activities that used to be traditionally FBLA’s ideas.”

Rumors and accusations arise in discussions between the two clubs. The tension between the clubs has led to sour feelings on both

sides. How can the two nearly identical clubs coexist peacefully?

While extremely similar, DECA and FBLA do have their own unique ‘markets’ of students to cater to. Specializing in their strengths may reduce the disputed overlap of the clubs’ functions.

Mathur said, “DECA is ideal for students interested in learning

see BUSINESS on page 20

more than double that number, there is much more for the crew to take care of.

When asked about the possibility of getting a new custodian, night custodian Noe Higuera responded, “It’s been 15 years, and they’re still working on it.”

Even as busy as they are, the custodians have a positive outlook on their work.

“We take pride in our job,” said Kenney. “Some people say ‘You’re just a custodian,’ but the guys take pride in doing their cleanup. They take pride in setting up for a football game. We do all of the setups for the graduations – we set up all of the 3,500 chairs, and then we break it all down after.”

They must take pride, for all of the custodians have been working at MVHS for many years. In fact, Kenney is the most recent member of the team, joining the staff around five years ago. Gilbert Zomora, Nolasco, and Higuera are the veterans of the staff, working at MVHS for 15-18 years – as long as most students have been alive. Also, they will be saying goodbye to custodian Lee Kosack this year, as he will be retiring in February.

Throughout the many years, the custodians have gone through several interesting incidences, especially in terms

see CUSTODIAN on page 20

news november 18, 2005el estoque

Leadership Student Life commission organized a blood drive on Nov. 4, run by Stanford University. One hundred people donated their blood for a collective total of one hundred pints of blood. Senior Theodore Lin donated blood for the first time in his life during sixth period after waiting for about an hour and after con-suming several bagels. Here we document his journey.

by Austin Cheng, photo editor

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3

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1. Senior Theodore Lin prepares a bagel to eat before donating blood.2. Lin fills out paperwork once he enters the cafeteria.3. The nurse takes Lin’s blood pres-sure and rubs iodine over his arm to prepare for the insertion of the needle.4. Lin rotates a stick in his hand in order to get blood actively circulating into his arm.5. Lin looks out to the rest of the cafa-teria while lying down on the cot.6. After having his blood drawn, Lin is told to raise his arm in the air for a few minutes.7. At the snack table, Lin makes an ice cream sandwich to replenish his glycogen levels.8. Lin smiles with a sticker on his cheek that was put on for donating.

pricelesspresent

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anews

Camp Everytown viewed incorrectly

Nandini Dasarathy | Art Editor

5

‘Til Next Time

Earthquake victims left out in the rainToo many students unaware of all disasters not named Katrina

Wrong impression of retreat leads to meager student sign-ups

matador ( (v ibe) )

See EARTHQUAKE on page 20

StaffEditorial

...to false fire drills that have interrupted several class-es this and last month, causing students to leave their classrooms only to return to class 30 seconds later.

...to Drama teacher and director Holly Cor-nelison and her successful, oversold direc-torial debut at Monta Vista. Bravo!

Camp Everytown may have changed its name from Anytown to Everytown, but the

perceptions of it still remain the same. The tougher crowd sees it as a place

only for the leaders to learn more good-doing habits. The average students think it is only for the racist and sexist to learn the wrongs of their ways. And an array of others are either turned away by the mention of “respect” and “responsibility” in the flyer, or convinced to go only by the fact they miss two days of school.

Whatever the case, the majority of students seem to carry a “that’s not for me” attitude when hearing about the mysterious Camp Everytown. The numbers tell the sad story. Monta Vista can take up to 80 students on the retreat. The most recent October trip, they took 50, and six were second-time attendees. The year before only 34 went. Monta Vista has rarely filled all the spots, and they’ve been participating in Everytown for more than 10 years.

Flyers were all over the school. It is a three-day retreat in the Santa Cruz mountains where students address issues that exist in our society, including sexism, racism, and other existing “-isms.” The salmon-colored paper reads: “Everytown is based on respect, acceptance, and responsibility, core values that promote safe schools and communities.” These words are not exactly ones that excite and entice students to join.

“I think people pre-judge Camp Everytown. Some parents think that it won’t be an experience that will benefit their child. Some students think it’s not meant for them,” said Student Advocate and Camp Everytown organizer Richard Prinz.

So does it mean MVHS just isn’t into emotional intelligence as much as everyday academics? Possibly, but mostly people just misunderstand Everytown’s purpose. Those who think it is meant only for a certain group—either just the leaders or just the intolerants—don’t realize a campful of just one group would be pointless. If just the racists arrive at camp, there would be no victims to share their side or mediators to help out. The opposite goes for a camp full of leaders; there would be no instigators of the prejudice or stereotyping. Think of a courtroom with just a prosecution or just

a defense. With no opposing side, no jury, and no judge, there would be no dialogue or debate.

“Camp Everytown is perceived by some to be for troubled youth. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” said Assistant Principal Dennis Plaza.

Other misinformed opinions exist too. One anonymous source said, “I don’t think it’s necessary. Everyone is going to have different opinions and views. [A camp] can’t affect how you act towards people.” Students do not realize it is not about making everyone conform—it is about informing and discussing.

“Some people are under the impression it is some sort of brainwashing. Everyone has a pre-conceived notion of it that’s pretty negative or campy,” said another student.

Apparently those students just haven’t

asked around. Statistics of those returning from Everytown say that 98 percent of people who go have an awesome time. It’s rare to find such impressive stats like that. Try finding out if 98 percent of students are happy with their math grades or if 98 percent of students are happy with their schedules. Good luck.

For the students who don’t have a particular reason for not going other than “it isn’t for me,” Spanish teacher and recent Camp Everytown attendee Norma Abarca has some food for thought.

“The ones who are not curious are the ones who should be going,” she said. She later went on to describe the experience as, “Fabulous. So well thought-out and developed. You didn’t see it coming.”

It’s the on-the-spot and in-the moment thinking that students need more of and Camp Everytown can provide. With students, teachers, celebrities, and Newsweek magazine recommending the program, it remains a mystery why numbers are so low. In the same way, Everytown will remain a mystery to the students who haven’t gone due to one misconception or another. Students need to ask friends or faculty what the trip is like instead of pre-judging it. This would get more kids open to attending the great opportunity.

The camp was not given its name by accident. “Every” means it’s open to everyone and beneficial for everyone too. If it wasn’t, Prinz wouldn’t have so much confidence in the experience.

“I don’t really care if they go just to get out of class or to make friends. I don’t care the reason, as long as they get there,” said Prinz. Only for Camp Everytown will you ever hear a staff member say that.

It was lunchtime and loud, vibrant music echoed throughout the rally court. Yet, while

most students chatted animatedly amongst themselves, junior Tracy Hsu, a Red Cross officer, had more important things on her mind as she ventured from group to group, jar in hand, asking people to donate towards a special cause.

Although her efforts to reach out to

all students were tremendous, she said, “It’s hard to fundraise [for] something that people don’t know anything about.”

On Oct. 8, a massive earthquake hit the border of Pakistan and India. Initially the number of deaths was calculated to be between

20,000 and 30,000. However within the next week itself, the death toll spiked to over 79,000, which is over 50 times the

number of deaths incurred by Hurricane Katrina. So, the million-dollar question remains unanswered. Why has our school not made a significant effort to contribute and help the 2.3 million people devastated and hungry?

It’s the same question that Hsu herself ponders as she realizes that having a table set up for donations isn’t raising as much money as she had hoped. When Katrina struck the southeast, its devastating effects

“Many students at MVHS still have no idea that an earthquake has even occured.”

..to the maximum capacity of the new library: 150. Students have been asked to leave due to lack of space.

by Radhika Chandrasekhar, entertainment editor

In the weeks leading up to Homecoming, I was continuously harrassed to go to float building, dress up for the spirit days, and

be as spirited as humanly possible. I was baffled why people would want to waste otherwise well-spent hours on “school spirit,” a meaningless cause in my eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever understand.

But after four years of high school, four homecomings, and dozens of dodged rallies, I understand why third place in a rally is different from second—all over two days.

Since April, I had invested more than 300 hours into volunteering for the Governor and his campaign for reform. Almost every day of my summer was dedicated to making some kind of difference in the outcome of the election, be it while working at county GOP headquarters or not. Just like homecoming frenzy takes over the MV population and most AIM profiles, my life was, at that stage, defined by my political volunteerism. I loved it, working under the knowledge that your smallest effort was getting you somehow closer to your goal.

I almost knew my side would win. Cause and effect, right? I put so much effort into this. This was a campaign I couldn’t lose.

Then reality hit me—hard. Like a deer in sight of headlights, I saw trouble coming but I couldn’t do anything about it. In the week leading up to the election, The San Jose Mercury News ran some poll numbers for the upcoming election. Up until then, I’d dismissed the Governor’s low approval ratings as liberal media spin. I proceeded to fact-check the facts. On the whole, the data didn’t put me in a good mood. The abrupt end to seven months of dedication that I had feared from the outset seemed closer than ever.

Frustration took me over. I was angry. How could all my effort be meaningless? If the election was lost, what else was there?

And then I understood. The feeling is universal; when you put work into something like float building, regardless of the motive, it hurts when you lose. It’s not just a time investment, but an emotional one.

When you do lose, it makes sense to grieve momentarily and reflect on what you did wrong. Clearing the hurdle of accepting reality is the most difficult part, by far. Unless you can do that, you won’t ever be able to get past failure. We get so caught up in our goals that we fail to realize that being angry about the past won’t change it. All you can do is hope for, and work for, better luck next time, using this experience and others as your guide. Losing can be a positive experience, giving you the edge you’ve been missing, but only if you let it. A loss remains a loss only so long as you keep it one.

I’ll admit, I probably still hold a grudge, and that’s natural. I know plenty of seniors are still resentful over the homecoming loss. Months and months of commitment don’t dissipate, nor should they, in days, or even weeks. Nevertheless, our focus must remain on clearing the barrier of disappointment, not by dismissing the loss as for the best, but making some use of it, remembering it for its lesson.

So there won’t be another special election this year. So the class of ‘06 will never win their senior Homecoming. It may seem like the end of the road. But you know what? Somewhere down the road, this experience will help us. There’s always a next time.

“If the class is there for the people to take it, there should be no restrictions on who takes the class.”- Senior Jeff Feng

“In Chinese class, Chinese people already know the material we cover so instead the non-Chinese people have to learn more and it makes the class more rigorous and competitive.”- Senior Winston Nilumol

“I know last year in French 3 we had two students who spoke only French at home. They took the class because they wanted to learn how to read and write the language, and they didn’t even get A’s in the class.” - Senior Kipp Trieu

Voices of MV

V a r y i n gV i e w p o i n t s

Pro Con

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Statistics

A B

Do you feel as if there should be a separate class created for students who are na-tive speakers of that language?a. yesb. no

25“I don’t like being in a class where a lot of the people already know the material. It makes me feel stupid.”- Junior Eric Nguyen

A B C D

Describe the learning environment in your foreign language class.a. Comfortableb. Somewhat in-timidating because of native speakersc. Too intimidating because of native speakersd. None of these

*Graphs represent the percentages out of a group of 100+ students.

46

“Even though they may have an advantage, it would not necessarily affect other people’s learning experience, and that they can help others in class as well.”- Senior Hazuki Watanabe

50 50

54

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perspectives october 21 2005 el estoque6 perspectives november 18, 2005el estoque

by Austin Cheng, photo editor

Imagine being a foreign immigrant, leaving an old life behind and coming into a new place where everybody speaks in a different language. Communication would be near impossible, and one could feel isolated and lonely from the new surroundings. Foreign

language classes are a place where a person of another country can feel comfortable amongst peers and be able to have a place where he or she will not be left out because of communication barriers.

Despite this, students who have been taking a language for two or three years find it unfair for people to jump levels because they feel that those who do are only doing so to get an easy ‘A’. However, it is not always the easy ‘A’ that people strive for when taking a higher level course. Oftentimes, it can be beneficial to the student’s education to imme-diately take a high level course even though they are proficient in the language.

Just because a person already knows the language, it does not mean he or she would be a negative influence on his or her peers. Japanese teacher Keiko Howard has a different method for working with students who already know Japanese.

“I use the students who already know Japanese as models to the other students who have been learning it for the past several years as a way to encourage everybody to speak in Japanese,”

said Howard. This teaching style creates a system that allows everybody to be an active participant in class, incorporating

those who are already native speakers to help those who have been learning the language over the course of a couple years. It promotes a more conversational lesson in the language that normally would not be possible through teaching by a textbook.

To maintain a balanced assessment between those who already know Japanese and those who do not, Howard said, “More is required on the final for those who speak and know the language in order to keep things fair.” This prevents those who already speak Japanese from having a huge advantage over other people.

For those who are fluently bilingual, a foreign language class can still be a challenge. A person does not necessarily know the fine mechanics of a language. Their advantage is only in speaking the language in a more casual and conversational way, which is oftentimes a lesser part of grading compared to test and essays. Sophomore Stefan Paquet has grown up speaking French fluently all his life with his family.

When asked what it is like taking French 4, Paquet said, “Even though I know how to speak French, I cannot write as well, and therefore I take the class so that I may be able to develop my writing. And believe me, French 4 is not an easy course.” Paquet’s advantage over other students by being able to speak French only stretches so far. When it comes to the fine grammar of the language, Paquet is not able to be as proficient as he speaks. By taking French, he is better able to build a solid foundation in the French language and is not rather than flying through the material of the class.

The fact is that sometimes we cannot always be expected to take challenging courses that require long hours of studying each week. If one already knows a language proficiently, taking a course on that language will give them credit for having the knowledge and allow them to focus on other areas.

This problem of native speaking students taking language classes in their own language is apparent in all foreign language courses including Spanish and French. However, because of the large population of Asian students at MVHS, the Chinese

and Japanese classes are most affected. When native Asian-speaking students take these language classes it creates a disadvantage for the students who do not have the same background. Asian-speaking students can easily ask their parents for help, and oral tests come easy to them because they grew up speaking the language.

The Japanese 4 Honors and Chinese 4 Honors classes have a majority of students who have either lived in Japan or China and/or speak Japanese or Chinese at home. Clearly, the native speaking students are going to perform better in the class.

Chinese students who speak Chinese at home and have taken Chinese School classes currently dominate the Chinese 4 class. When asked why they decided to take Chinese 4, most responded by saying that they took it because they wanted an easy A. The additional GPA point is also an enticing reason to take the course, especially when students know the material like the back of their hand.

In some cases, students taking these Asian language classes have come over to the United States within the past year and hardly know English. These students take an Asian language class as an easy passing class and are limiting themselves to study about what they already know instead of embracing a new language and culture.

The reason MVHS has a language requirement is that the school encourages students to become well-rounded and open to different cultures, not to choose the easiest class that would result from studying only one own language.

This year there are roughly 10 new students to Japanese 4. Some speak Japanese at home, others moved here from Japan recently. There is no doubt that all of these students decided to take the class for the Honors credit. Students are no longer taking classes to enrich themselves intellectually. They pick and choose their classes by asking themselves two questions: is it an AP or Honors class and how hard do I have to work to maintain an ‘A’.

Having a large amount of native speaking students also intimidates the other students who do not share the same background. Students feel that they are expected to know just as much as

the native speaking students because those students set the standards for the class.In the past, teachers have had regulations on taking foreign language classes. Previous

teachers only allowed native Japanese speaking students to take a Japanese class if they didn’t know how to write Japanese or knew very little of the language.

However, that type of regulation is not common among foreign language teachers. A student fluent in the language has no reasons to take their native language class because there is nothing the student can learn from it. Students need to challenge themselves with different languages instead of taking an easy class and hindering their classmates’ learning experience. By studying a language other than their native tongue, students not only broaden their horizons, but also preserve a healthy foreign language class environment.

by Michelle Tanaka, entertainment editor

“It’s unfair for Chinese people who already know Chinese to take Chinese at school because it’s like cheating. They already know everything so its unfair for the other students”- Junior Emily Malan

Do native speakers have an advantage?

Nandini Dasarathy Art Editor

26

Students question severity of new drinking consequence Recently passed sobriety policy includes ban from all school dances for one yearby Daniel Yang, centerspread editor

Recently, Leadership initiated a policy that cracks down on student drinking. Just a few weeks ago, School

Administration and the District approved the plan, taking effect Jan. 2, 2006. Upon its passage, all students caught drunk or with possession of alcohol at school-sponsored events will be banned from school dances for 365 days--a whole year.

Underage drinking certainly has no place on the Monta Vista campus. In fact, enforcement of anti-student-drinking rules was long overdue. However, was banning students for an entire year really necessary and proper, as school policies should be?

To ban students from dances on their first offense means that because of one mistake, students could be excluded from their senior and junior proms. Because of one mistake,

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Submitted by senior Rachel Doran:So my sister comes home and she was wearing her

class T-shirt that says, “I’ve got five” on it. My mom looks at it and she goes, “What? Five on What? Your AP test?” And she was dead serious.

Submitted by senior Emily Liu:The saddest moment of my life: I come back from the

Homecoming game and ring the doorbell several times. No answer. So I finally dig out the key to unlock it. Right when I open the door, I am greeted by the loudest movie music ever. It turns out my parents were watching a movie. Guess which movie? Yeah, Spiderman.

Emily’s class (the seniors) had just lost to the juniors, whose Homecoming theme was Spiderman.

Life’s full of those silly little moments. Moments that, although fleeting, are cherished, for how they enliven our daily lives with humor, and encapsulate life at MVHS. If you are lucky enough to experience such a moment, please share it with our school community by sending it to ElEstoque06@gmail.com.

Submitted by junior Radhika Chandrasekhar:In first period American Literature Honors, English

Teacher Michael Kanda was passing out copies of Invisible Man, that have plain covers. My friend, after receiving his copy, holds it up while facing me and asks, “Hey Rad, don’t you love this picture of the invisible man?”

Submitted by senior Judy Liang: In History teacher Ben Recktenwald’s Government AP

class, we have a reading quiz every day accompanied by a bonus question that tests our knowledge of current events. One day, the question read, “__________ is currently on trial.” Confident of my answer, I hurriedly wrote, “Harriet Miers.” After the class turned in all the quizzes, Recktenwald asked us for the answer, and the class unanimously said, “Saddam Hussein.” Who knows? Maybe Miers was on trial, and that’s how the Bush administration rejected her.

Submitted by junior Steffi Lau:I was in my history class and was taking notes on the

advantages the North and South had in the Civil War. The southern soldiers had the advantage of knowing how to manage horses and guns from a young age. This particu-lar day was Hawaiian day of Homecoming Spirit Week, so as I was writing, the people around me and I started talking about the weird boys who wore coconut bras to school (with no undershirt)! So I ended up writing in my notes, “The Southern men had the advantage of managing bras from a young age.”

Submitted by English teacher David Clarke: I supervised the rally a couple weeks ago and

inadvertently covered the back of my shirt with wet paint from one of the posters I was leaning up against. So, I called my wife and she brought me a new shirt during AP Literature. I introduced her to the class, explaining that she didn’t have my last name. Maybe I needled her a little bit for it, which apparently emboldened one of my students to yell out “Bye Mrs.Clarke” as she was leaving. That got a laugh from the class, and a quarter-serious dirty look from my wife, along with the response that she “could handle insults like that.” That, in turn, got a big “Oooo, you’re in trouble now” from the class, perhaps for me, or perhaps for the student.see UNDERCLASSMEN on page 20

by Anagha Vaidhyanathan, staff writer

Sophomore Dhruv Nandamudi casually walked into his first period class and parked himself among the sea of 35 other students in the room. He pulled out

his Chemistry notebook, flipped to a page marked “Atomic Spectra Lab” and sat patiently waiting for his teacher to begin lecturing. Unlike most sophomores, Nandamudi didn’t sign up to take Chemistry or Chemistry Honors at the beginning of the school year; rather, he is one of the few tenth graders at Monta Vista taking AP Chemistry.

“I know it seems really unusual, but taking Chemistry Honors as a freshman allowed me to double in sciences this year as a sophomore,” said Nandamudi. “I am not sure if it would have been possible without that initial advancement.”

The interesting question at hand is “Why?” Why push oneself into taking advanced classes as an underclassman when the same courses are available for students during their later high school years? What does a student achieve by completing these courses ahead of time rather than spacing out the extensive load?

“I think it depends on if they are trying to reach their goals or if they feel the need to challenge themselves,” said junior Akshay Mani.

As a student who didn’t take many honors and AP classes his sophomore year, Mani went on to explain how APs can accelerate the progress toward one’s goals and essentially, allow students who fear they aren’t being challenged to excel. The key phrase here being “isn’t being challenged enough.” This is why, in a school as advanced as MVHS, where normal classes are challenging enough, it’s a shock to see underclassmen taking college-level courses.

While students continue to push themselves to excel, course standards are increasing at shocking rates. In the 2003-2004 school year, approximately 50 students were enrolled in the Geometry Honors course at MVHS feeder Kennedy Middle School. Now, that number has shot to approximately 100 students, making the once “advanced” course an eighth-grade standard. As a result, for the 2005-

2006 school year, the MVHS Administration agreed that it would no longer be necessary to offer the regular Geometry course and have therefore limited student selection to just “Geometry Enriched.”

“Taking advanced courses is most definitely not out of the norm here at MVHS,” said AP Calculus BC teacher Scott DeRuiter. “Our students are intelligent and eager to succeed, but they shouldn’t push themselves into taking advanced courses when they’re not ready.”

DeRuiter went on to explain how underclassmen are able to get ahead and take AP classes (in the math department) by taking a placement test at their middle school, taking a course over the summer, or by skipping the course. Ten years ago, the AP Calculus BC course had over 90 percent seniors, with the remainder being juniors. Now those numbers have averaged to be 50 percent seniors, 47 percent juniors, and the remaining three percent, underclassmen.

“An underclassman truly doesn’t gain anything by skipping classes,” said DeRuiter. “And a six-week summer experience just doesn’t do justice to a year-long course.”

When students take courses that they are inadequately prepared for, their grades often take the toll. Worse yet, teachers are forced to spend additional, and unnecessary time repeating and reviewing class material.

Aside from the educational implications, a student taking Advanced Placement classes before he or she is ready suffers in many other aspects as well. Caught up in the extensive preparatory work required for that course, they are often unable to participate in the various other activities MVHS has to offer such as the competitive sports and enriching clubs.

Nandamudi, who is currently taking Pre-Calculus Honors, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry said the appeal of the sciences themselves intrigued him while the courses allowed him to broaden his knowledge of the subjects and challenge himself academically. As valuable as it may be for students to develop a greater passion for the learning process, this should not come at the cost of sacrificing other

students would have to miss out on what is supposed to be one of life’s most treasured memories. When cast in such light, a one-misake-and-it’s-game-over policy is far too harsh, especially considering that the teenage years are supposed to be a time for growth and learning. Whether or not hapless offenders are served a sound dish of justice is not central to the issue. Rather, it is much more important to make sure that students learn from their previous lack of judgment and grow into more mature human beings.

The frustration the school has with alcohol is understandable. However, simply using severe punishments to scare students into submission is not a viable method. A harsh policy would only cause students to be more cautious with alcohol on campus, but it would not attack the root of the problem by teaching students to

make responsible choices while away from the Administration’s watchful eye. Instead of such a harsh policy, Leadership should have looked for a compromise of extremes, one that would suppress the problem to an acceptable degree and at the same time

give students a chance to correct their past mistakes.

“I think it’s too harsh, “ said Senior Yumu Zhao, “because it’s just one mistake, you know? They should make it so it’s like 3-strikes and you’re out kind of thing.”

“When students get drunk, they already have to deal with the police, and it’s going

to go on their school record. I don’t think the school should further punish the students by taking away their senior or junior proms,” said junior Seong Youm.

Could Leadership be falling short of its accurate representation of the student body? Quite possibly. Perhaps the class is forgetting to consider that for many teens, their learning process occurs through a confusing dash of trial and error. Lack of foresight often compels them to rush headlong into things that will not make a lot of sense afterward.

Most students need a second chance, since for many, natural growth can only occur through learning from past mistakes. In its wisdom, Leadership is still obliged to take these factors into great consideration. Yet, with the one-year ban for alcohol consumption, the student body seems to be cheated of its voice in school government.

perspectives november 18 2005 el estoque 7el estoquenovember 18, 2005 perspectives

Overachieving underclassmenYounger students in higher-level classes to “get ahead”

Han Youn | guest artist

Simply using severe pun-ishment to scare students into sumissions isn’t a viable method.”“

?WithWhat’s

the...Is there an article that perks your interest, admiration, or fury? Has something at Monta Vista caught your attention? Send a let-ter to El Estoque responding to articles in the newspaper or issues at MVHS. Letters of any length should be submitted via e-mail or mail. They become the sole property of El Estoque and can be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at El Estoque’s discretion.

ETTERS EDITORL TO THE

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El Estoque21840 McClellan RoadCupertino, CA 95014

perspectives el estoque8 perspectives november 18, 2005el estoque

Retractions and Corrections|Issue IIEl Estoque strives to report accurately and will correct any significant error. If you feel such an error has been made, please bring it to our attention at: elestoque6@gmail.com.

- The annual amount allocated for each art student was reported as $3. The correct amount is $12.

- Senior Melody Ju was incorrectly identified as Melody Chen in the description of the Homecoming Court on page 11.

- Biology AP teacher and leadership advisor Tim Krieger was misquoted as saying that Cupertino and Fremont High Schools saw significant increases in grades due to the implementation of School Loop. No such data is available.

- Biology AP teacher and leadership advisor Tim Krieger was misquoted as saying a directive from the District requested that schools utilize the same type of system. No such directive exists.

- A quotation from Librarian Megan Birdsong implied that after the trial period of the School Loop program is completed, MVHS staff will be required to use the program at some point in the futue. At this point in time, no such plan is in place.

- It was reported that 30 percent of MVHS staff was using the grade display feature in School Loop by the first week of its introduction. No such data is available.

When students first see English teacher Kerry Hosmer’s stick mysteriously hanging on the

wall under a banner proclaiming it “Mrs. Hosmer’s Royal Stick,” they ponder its poten-tial use.

“They worry I might be going back to me-dieval times,” said Hosmer. Luckily, for her students, Mrs. Hosmer does not subscribe to corporal punishment. The stick’s real use is far less violent. According to senior Susanna Der-gee, who was in Mrs. Hosmer’s sophomore World Literature class, the fluorescent light-ing in Hosmer’s class would often “make a little clicky sound,” and flicker, creating a very annoying distraction.

One day, Hosmer used a stick some students had brought for a class project to give a malfunctioning fixture a light whack. Somehow, the lights returned to normal. Hosmer recalled, “Everyone went ‘Whoa!’”

For a mere stick, it has had quite a color-

ful past. Twice it was “stolen for ransom,” then returned shortly thereafter, Hosmer said. While the first disappearance remains

a mystery, Dergee took it the second time. In actuality, she had merely hid it behind a bookcase in the class, but all who had to en-dure a week of hum-ming lights acutely felt its absence.

Dergee eventually revealed the location of the stick, then bringing it home with her over the summer to decorate it. “It was just a fun part of the class…and it was boring so it need to be decorated,” said Dergee. Thanks to Dergee’s fine work, the stick is in its current condition, wrapped with gold ribbon, befit-ting of its royal appel-lation.

Above all, Hosmer said it serves as an icebreaker between her and new students, with students asking more and more about it as they get comfort-able in her class. Hosmer added, “Once I use it for the lights, people understand its powers.”

by Alex Cohn, editor-in-chief

Teacher: English teacher Kerry HosmerObject: A stick that ends a light’s plight

one week later...

Editorial Cartoonist

Editorial Cartoonist Carl

entertainment 13

Have you ‘scene’ it yet? The scene kids see it firstThe latest trend ‘scene’ brings new meaning to the words ‘style’ and ‘attitude’

Symrin Chawla | staff photographer

by Cheryl Ho, staff writer

Trained from youth until old age, Boy Scouts live by the Scout’s Honor: “On my honor, I will do my best.”

For senior Greg Humphreys, his eleven years of dedication have definitely paid off.

Last Saturday, Humphreys received his Eagle Scout award during his Court of Honor at the Cupertino Community Hall. A silver eagle suspended from a red white and blue ribbon, the badge colors symbolize

courage, honor, and loyalty, respectively. Only four percent of scouts reach the eagle

scout level.But being an Eagle Scout is not as simple as it

might seem. The general process to become an Eagle Scout takes about four to six years for

the average Life Scout to finally reach Eagle Scout status. Prior to that, scouts must also fulfill the requirements of previous rankings,

which also takes several years. The journey can be subdivided into two sections – learning survival skills and self-management. As beginners, boys

start out by learning basic scout law. As they learn and gain more skills such as camping, cooking and basic first aid, they move on to Tenderfoot, Second Class, then First Class.

“Myths say that Boy Scouts can only rub two sticks together and make fire,” said junior Harold Pan. “I don’t think that’s true – I’ve actually never learned it myself.”

After they have acquired the physical skill they need, boys embark on the second part of boy scouting: becoming good leaders.

The next rankings are the Star, Life, and Eagle, where boys learn to exemplify and use their scouting and leadership skills to teach others. The highest ranking is Eagle Scout, an honor that many MVHS students, like Humphreys, are working toward now.

“It’s been a good three years,” said Sophomore Colin McKinlay, who aspires to earn his title this coming summer. “I think that hopefully, in a few Michelle Tanaka | staff photographer

see SCENE on page 16

months, I’ll be ready to complete the requirements.” In order to become an Eagle Scout, a scout must

complete certain requirements between the ages of 11 and 18. He must assume a leadership role in his troop, such as a patrol leader, scribe, bugler, assistant, or troop guide, in addition to earning merit badges. Eagle Scouts are required to earn ten standard Eagle Scout Badges, exemplifying qualities and survival skills necessary to be a good scout. In addition, he must earn nine other badges of his choice.

Plus, a budding Eagle Scout must take on a project which benefits a non-profit organization, by assuming all aspects of the task. Pan recently spent the last summer devoted to his project, where he and some friends built a tree bench in Kennedy Middle School’s Nature Center. He plans to finish up his Eagle Scout badge in December.

“It’s a good process of learning how to do things from the mistakes you make,” Pan said. “It’s better to make your mistakes early on in your life – you get a lot of experience from scouting.”

In addition to experience, Boy Scouts also form bonds that they cherish for the rest of their lives. Aside from the normal hiking and camping trips, there special events as well. Pan’s troop got the opportunity to travel to New Mexico for camping.

Also, every four years, the Boy Scouts of America have a National

Jamboree, a giant gathering attended by scouts from all across the United States.

In all, being a part of Boy Scouts is a good opportunity for boys to become strong leaders and role models in their community.

“It’s kind of like a fellowship,” said Pan. “There are actually some 60 to 70-year-olds who still hold positions affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America.”

As a new Eagle Scout, Humphreys was advised to “wear [his] award with humility, ever mindful that the Eagle Scout is looked up to as an example.” Having demonstrated the five Eagle responsibilities: honor, loyalty, courage, cheer, and service, he most certainly will.

by Symrin Chawla, staff writer

It’s been called the white kid’s response to street gangs, the cooler version of emo, and just a plain excuse to be a poser without getting bashed for it.

Maybe you’ve seen them at local concerts; the anorexicly skinny kids who all look alike and refuse to mosh. And they call themselves hardXcore! They are the new forms of teenagers invading the myspace population and going vegan just for the heck of being skinny. Load up on eyeliner because here come the scene kids. No, not the My Scene kids, these ones are way more punk rock.

This group of music and fashion forward teens took the concept of emo, and then styled it up with tight pants, home-cut hair, backward mullets, and children’s T-shirts.

Despite the stereotypes associated with people who follow those trends, sophomore Shamira Maheswaran stated, “I like people who dress like that. I think it’s a pretty cool style.” Most of the “emo” people seen walking around aren’t truly emo. They are just Scenesters following the latest emo trend.

“I think they’re stuck between being a ‘real’ punk rocker and being a normal MTV mainstream in the know person,” stated junior Emily Malan, who has seen many scene teens at various concerts she attends.

Summing up the fashion aspects of the scene world, senior Reni Pernova said, “They are really just a bunch of teenagers trying to impress each other with their trendy wardrobe that looks like it’s from Goodwill, but is really from Abercrombie cult corporations.” But being in the scene

is also about the music. A typical scene kid will find a completely random and unknown band, listen to one or two songs, and then post their undying love for them on their myspace.

The main goal of a scene kid is to be the first. The first to discover a new clothing trend or the first to discover a new band. This reflects on the primary goal of a scenester to try their hardest to keep their favorite bands from selling out because once they sell out and everyone knows about them, it just isn’t scene anymore.

“It goes more like: ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you just started listening to them, I listened to them even before they were famous, except now everyone listens

“ It’s a good pro-cess of learning how to do things from the mistakes you make.”- Life Scout, junior

Harold Pan

by Adam Jacobs, staff writer

The first aspect of House of Falafel, located at 19590 Stevens Creek Bou-levard, across from Vallco Mall, and

replacing Pizza Hut, that caught my atten-tion (other than the brilliant and humorous name) was the two slabs of glistening chick-en and beef that were rotating behind the counter. The atmosphere comprised of fast service and very friendly and tolerant peo-ple, as I bumped into at least three people who smiled in my task to take the picture that adorns this review.

The food itself, which consisted of numer-ous dishes other than falafel that contained lamb, chicken, and beef, did not only look and taste healthy, but was extremely appe-tizing. My House Falafel (balls of garbanzo beans with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, egg-plants, tahini and spices) at $5.99, was prudently encased not in a half-circle of flimsy pita bread that rips and drips, but in a long cylindrical wrap. Not only that, but a sheet of tin foil was wrapped around one half to give added reinforcement. The falafel wrap itself seemed a bit bland, but luckily, the restaurant supplies each table with two sauces. I never ended up finish-ing the huge helping of falafel, and a night

A house is not a home without a falafelHouse of Falafel: Tasty Mediterranean meals with meaty portions

Halloween, a favorite holiday for young children and creative MVHS students. This year popular cos-tumes included army outfits, Harry Potter, and Girl Scouts. However, these are a few costumes that stood out.

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14 entertainment november 18, 2005el estoque

Leftovers are one of the many results of a hefty Thanksgiving meal. Here are a few creative ways to use excess holiday food.

1Sun-dry stuffing and use it as environ-mentally-friendly tanbark substitute in

childrens’ playgrounds.

2 Leave it all out until it gets rock hard, then build a castle out of it and challenge all

who dare enter your Fortress of Thanks.

3 Make a t u r k e y -

shaped pinata with realistic filling!

4 Freeze all of your leftover turkey until you have

enough assorted body parts to build an army of Frankenturkeys.

5Wrap different scraps in cellophane and pass them out at Halloween next

year to all of the kids who are “too cool to wear costumes.”

6Save little bits of all your favorite parts to decorate your ginger bread houses

with.

7Make “surprise cupcakes” for your next birthday party.

8Glue the turkey to the inside of the mailbox of someone who took you off

their MySpace “Top Eight Friends.”

9Cover the floor of a hallway with garbage bags, then round up all of your

friends and spread your collective leftovers all along it and make a giant festive Slip ‘n Slide.

10 Christmas dinner.

If you fancy being able to unconscious-ly bob your head, tap your foot and si-lently karaoke all at the same time, look no further. Franz

Ferdinand’s got a solution that works as long as you don’t mind some repetition.

With electric guitars singing roughly in the background, a bass playing up and down a scale, and the easily recognizable vocals of lead singer, Alex Kapranos, Franz Ferdinand’s new CD, You Could Have It So Much Better, starts out in typical Franz Fer-dinand style. Segueing smoothly through the track list, “Do You Want To”, the lyrics, while masterful in the previous song, are quite confusing and really repetitive. To-wards the final 20 seconds of an intensely growing crescendo, six times of “lucky, lucky, you’re so lucky” is just a little too much to handle. Maverick songs, however, such as “Eleanor Put Your Boots On” with its wistful, Beatles-esque piano bits, stand out with their lack of a 1-2 drum beat and a couple of the same electric guitar riffs here and there. They are, unfortunately, a bit rare on the CD.

THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE AGAIN! screamed the title in full yellow glory and as I opened it carefully, wishing

for this book to be everything the quotes on its cover screamed it to be (“Take it from us on the highest authority!”), and the book did not disappoint. With 365 “daily instruc-tions for hysterical living”, this book aims to “provide a whole new year’s worth of unhinged daily guidance that will tear your routine to shreds. Such instructions include Day 3’s theme of “Claim you’re Jesus Day” or Day 353’s “Investigate a news story yourself” and are accompanied by some re-ally exceptional graphic design work. The book also provides two pages for personal-ization, including a spot to “deposit a drop of your urine...to mark your territory and let others know this book belongs to you”, a Mood Chart Deluxe for the entire year, and last but not least, a Life Planner that includes the date of your Retirement Party. All that for $18.00 isn’t bad, so why not give it a shot?

Imagine being a sophomore in high school and one day, suddenly becom-ing a Death God, armed with a sword that has its own soul

and special powers, who has to fight off soulless monsters called Hollows and save the world. This is the life of Kurosaki Ichigo, the main character of an up-and-coming an-ime and manga series, Bleach.

In comparison to its rival anime and manga series, Bleach is superior in terms of art, animation and story plotline. With the exception of only a few fillers, Bleach strives to provide at least one action-filled situation in each anime episode, making it an interesting watch every time.

Only available online, episodes of Bleach subbed in English are usually avail-able every Friday and can be downloaded legally via Bittorrent (www.bittorent.org). Torrents for the anime are listed on most fan websites, with the most popular be-ing www.bleachportal.net, which not only offers direct downloads, but also guides to the anime, music from the soundtracks, and scans of the manga.

book review

comic review

cd review

Adam Jacobs | staff photographerMEDITTERANIAN FOOD One of the meals offered at House of Falafel, the Shawerma combo con-tains, chicken, lamb, rice, hummas, lettuce, and a mouth-watering dressing for $8.99.

in the refrigerator cou-pled with a splurge in the microwave made the falafels moist and brought out the taste the next day. In my opinion, falafel are much better heated, so either eat fast or take it home to be heated.

I found myself eat-ing from my friends’ enormous dishes which included the Chicken Shish Kebab, two skewers of mari-nated chicken, and the Shawerma Combo, which contained chick-en and lamb, both at $8.99. Both came with rice and hummus, top-notch meat, savory salad, and an ad-dicting dressing rivaling that of the secret sauce in Big Macs. Even the pita bread, in which food from the Shawerma is stuffed into fajita style, was fulfilling on its own.

My Baklava ($1.50), a Mediterranean pastry, was full of apple-honey goodness (and I hate apple pie), and my refillable Arabic Tea ($1.25, same price as the soda)

was so satisfying and warming that one of my friends kept on drinking it.

My only complaint, but more of a laugh, was that their teapot must have had a glitch in it; you had to pour it extraordi-narily slowly, or the liquid would just spurt out of the sides.

I would say it’s a testament to the place that we stayed there for an hour and half talking, laughing, and sipping my tea.

Latin music is taking over Monta Visa. That’s right, you heard it here first: artists like David Bisbal, Juanes, and Reik have infil-trated the very being of the school with their sweet melodies,

permitting students to kick back their heels and dance along to the beats of songs like “Ave Marìa,” “Camisa Negra,” and “Que Vida La Mìa.”

The ongoing fad, originally started by former Spanish teacher Richelle Griffin, has been recently feuled by Molly Guadiamos, who incorporates it into her classes on Fridays, and Spanish teacher Joyce Fortune, who has made it a regular block day tradition. By incorporating music into their curriculum, Fortune and Guadiamos encourage their students to enjoy and connect with the language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries. Said Fortune with consideration, “It gives them a moment of relaxation.”

Both teachers have expressed a passion for the Latin beat. “It gave me the opportunity to really develop my knowledge,” said Fortune as she pulled out a massive binder teeming with CDs and overheads of song lyrics. She attributes the curriculum to a personal unearthing of the more classic artists like Celia Cruz and Juan Luis Guerra. “Celia Cruz was the queen of salsa in the fifties and sixties,” she explained eagerly. “Juan Luis Guerra also had a Caribbean style.”

Guadiamos attributes her enthusiasm to a summer teaching program she took at UC Santa Barbara. “A bunch of us went to a night club that was using Maná, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t this be cool to add into our classes?’ ” She has been an undying fan of Maná ever since, but her diverse classroom selections still give her students a bit of variety. This year, she has included songs from popular artists like Juanes, Shakira and Reik.

Students express their gratitude for the artistic variety that the

music embraces. “It’s different – it’s out of the ordinary,” says senior Scott Marshall. “There’s something about [the] music that’s upbeat and interesting.”

“It is a nice alternative,” agrees senior Kim Cauwet. “It also helps me to learn Spanish better.”

In any case, most students are thankful for the break that the music days offer and generally learn while tapping their toes. Many even take the time to seek out music in Spanish on their own. Said Marshall,

“I buy it through the iTunes Music Store. This way, I can buy the songs I’ve heard from a variety of sources that I like.”

And now, for some final thoughts from Reik, an artist whose music is on the tip of everyone’s tongue:

"Solo dame un poco tiempo solo para convencerte" which translates to “Just give me a little time to convince you…” that Spanish music has taken over, so watch out!

The secret life of obsessionHigh School is definitely about learn-

ing. I’m saying that right off the bat. But if all you do is sit around trans-

lating Spanish novels, it can get a little dry. Which is why when we’re bored, we rely on the most amusing and time consuming form of entertainment known to us, one which requires a certain amount of under-cover work as well. And who loves under-cover work more than: The Obsessor. Yes, I like to think of it as a superhero we all have within us. And if you dig deep enough, and waste enough time being an obsessor, you might just evolve into the next level as: The Stalker. I feel like a Pokemon…but then again, who doesn’t.

So what does being a true Obsessor re-quire? You need stealth…and I guess that’s all you’re going to need because that’s all they ever say in intense undercover movies. Second, you need a noun to obsess over. Person, place, or thing, remember? I would go with a person, just because people who stalk trees don’t really have as much fun. So pick a boy/girl, depending on whom you like better. Find one and dub it: Target. We’ll call you Private, just for the fun of us-ing underground jargon.

Have you picked your target? Bravo. I’m telling you, we all have the power of The Obsessor within us. We just need to be able to summon it. So you’ve got your Target now. Do they know you? No. Do you know them? No. But you do know that It uses 0.7 lead everyday in math class. Good job Pri-vate, you’re doing well. What’s your next step? Attack It’s best friends. It was a hit and run; no one saw it coming.

Suck up to them. Buy them candy. Make sure you juice them for everything they’re worth. Get every single last drop of infor-mation about Target before you ditch them. Who needs more friends anyway? You already know everything there is to know about Target. Now you’re just sitting pret-ty…pretty quiet. Because if Target finds out that you know It cried during Titanic and It’s dog’s name is Bustah, it’s going to get pretty awkward, given that they have no idea that you exist.

So you shut your trap…well except for your very best friends. Because they just HAVE to know, you know? Yeah, I know. So just tell a couple. Seven or eight. Yeah that’s a good small number. And they all totally crossed their hearts to never tell a soul. Super cool, you’re good. Now comes the stealthiest part of this operation: Memo-rize It’s schedule. Follow them around a bit. Who cares if you’re a little late to 4th pe-riod? You’ve got to know where It is at all times! It’s essential to the plan! Once you’ve got It’s life memorized, its time to alter your daily route just for them. You’re in love remember? I’m sure It would do the same thing for you…if It knew you existed.

This kid is practically your best friend. You know everything about It including the tiniest semantics of their lives. Except one thing: the way It interacts. Who cares? Make it up with a Fantasy…yes, another fragrance from the Spears collection, but also a major distraction from chem home-work. There’s just one problem: when you actually meet this person, It isn’t going to live up to any of the standards that you set up in your mind. So It cries during Titanic. That doesn’t mean it is a cute innocent little person with a beautiful soul. Maybe it gets into fights every weekend and cries during those too. Not so attractive anymore, is it?

So what you need to do is go up to the Target. And say: “Hello Target. I noticed you use 0.7 lead. My pencil is out. May I please borrow some?” And do that before you ditch It’s best friend.

And the target will say: Oh of course! Your name is Private isn’t it? Nice to meet you.

And then comes the best part:*SMOOCH *

Which song (in Spanish) would you serenade someone with?

If you could be any musician (that sings songs in Spanish), which would you be

and why?

“I would take Juanes, because we could ask him to get up and sing ‘Nada Valgo.’”

“‘Porque Llorar’, because it’s got the most awesome tune.”

“I would serenade Mr. Recktenwald with ‘Los pollitos dicen pío pío pío’ because

he’s such a fan of bird sounds. P’kok! “

“‘Cielito Lindo.’ It expresses my undying love for life and Spanish people in general.”

“Ator Piazzola. He’s the most awesome guitarist I’ve ever

seen.”

“I’d be Shakira, ‘cause then I’d be HOT!”

“Jennifer Lopez because she had a music video with the ultimate love of my life:

Eduardo Verastegui.”

If you could get any musician to perform at prom, who would it be?

“Juanes, because he’s for young kids, but he can also

get the party going.”

Senior Taline MinassianTeacher Molly Guadiamos Junior Javier Little

New music trend has students tapping their feet to a new beat

15el estoquenovember 18, 2005 entertainment

Q’s

Latin RadioFM 100.3FM 105.7

Phototakenwithoutpermissionfromhttp://juanes.de.sr/SPANISH SENSATION Juanes is sweeping the school with his upbeat Latin music and new lyrics.

“Juanes, because it’s love music and it’s dance music.”

AuthorsteachAsianparentingBook finds a balance between learning and enjoyment

by Sarah Bennett, staff writer

by Steffi Lau, news editor

Taking a look at a typical AP or Honors class, there’s one word to describe the majority of students—Asian. Yes, in

these classes, there is the occasional some-thing-other-than-Asian face, but one must admit that the numbers lean overwhelm-ingly toward Asians. It can’t be that these students are equipped with far superior brains than their counterparts…so is it sim-ply that they are more driven to succeed, that their parents push them far more than other parents do?

We all know the answer to that question and finally, unbelievably, a book has been written detailing how to raise children for academic success or in other words, the Asian way. More frightening than a self-help book, a little less frightening than a SAT preparation book, it is a book that you just might cringe to see in your parents’ hands. Written by Dr. Soo Kim Abboud and Jane Kim, two sisters, Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers—and How You Can Too targets non-Asian parents who want to lead their children to scholarly excellence. While some may find the title downright hilarious and others may blink in disbelief, the book is for real, based on the Korean-American sisters’ own parents’ methods that they grew up under. With Abboud and Kim as a doctor and lawyer respectively, their chosen professions attest that their parents must have done some-thing right.

The book opens with these numbers: see ASIAN PARENTING on page 20

Spanish wave sweeping MVHS

Asians constitute only four percent of the American population yet at the Ivy League colleges, they make up 25% at Columbia and Cornell, 18% at Harvard, 24% at Stan-ford…The authors then proceed to hastily assure readers that Asians are no smarter

than their peers, it’s merely that they are raised to strive to excel in school. In fact, they go on to disclaim this so many times throughout the book that they take on a con-descending tone and one begins to think that they really do believe that Asians are more intelligent. The book is a bit self-cen-tered in this way as it is also basically a medium for the sisters to declare that their parents have the best parenting methods that should be followed by all.

However, as bad as the book’s title sounds and this fact aside, the 17 “Secrets” that they reveal aren’t about forcing children to take demanding course loads and cram study time into all hours of the day. Fortu-nately for the readers’ children, the sisters insist that a balance between fun (though their version of fun is being intellectually stimulated) and learning must be achieved. The book is based on the principle that education and intellectual fulfillment are the path to happiness. Secret 1, the most im-portant step, is “Instill a Love and Need for Learning and Education.” The idea is that giving children a passion for learning will give them the initiative to work hard and pursue higher education. The book defies the typical Asian stereotype of strict parent-ing as it goes beyond simply dictating to students what should be done, emphasizing playing a direct role. The sisters give the ex-ample of how their parents sacrificed their time to help them understand, their father excited to learn new words even with his

Title: Top of the ClassAuthors: Dr. Soo Kim Abboud & Jane Y. KimPrice: $13.00

Junior sees a future in serving GodChelsea Temple gives sermons to further pursue goal of becoming a Methodist pastor

el estoque october 21 2005november 18, 2005november 18, 2005entertainment el estoque16 november 18, 2005

Scenecontinued from page 13

to them and they didn’t even know them before they were on MTV,’” Pernova stated sarcastically to emulate the seemingly pathetic need to stay on top as a scene kid. Take My Chemical Romance for example. They were a big part of the scene world until they hit MTV.

The way that people in the scene talk online is also very distinguishable. Xs are common and are most usually put between words like: hardXcore or sceneXcore, or used to replace Us in as many words as possible. In addition, 3 replaces E, 1 for I, and 0 for O. The ‘super sceneXcore’ kids will also use phrases such as:

by Judy Liang, staff writer

As MVHS students ponder about their answers to the question, “What do you

want to be when you grow up?”, Many plan to work in the field of sciences, mathematics, athletics, or fine arts. For junior Chelsea Temple, her goal lies in the religion in which she desires to be a pastor. The journey to this decision has been full of revelations, surprises, and obstacles strengthening and challenging her faith.

“The main point of sermons is to get a particular passage across to a wider group of people. Many of them have affected me, so I want to return the favor to another audience,” said Temple.

Confident in her public speaking, Temple had considered a career in politics, but a missionary trip to Australia with her youth group from Los Altos United Methodist Church during the past summer changed her mind. When one of her pastors asked her and three other church members to give a presentation at a church service along the trip, she received part of her inspiration. Later, at another stop during the trip, her presentation became a crucial part of her decision to choose the path of becoming a Christian leader.

“Something just went click, and I went back to when I was giving the sermon. I was like, ‘Okay. This is where I belong. This is what I want to do.’” She continued, “It was just kind of like God is telling me this is what I need to do. This is where I am in my life and what I am supposed to do.”

One of the first people to be notified of her decision was her

mother, Yvonne Murray. The only other member of Temple’s family who is a Christian, she described her reaction when she read about her daughter’s decision via e-mail.

She said, “I was surprised, because it was different than what she had been talking about. I was also curious about what had happened during the missions trip.”

Adding to the support from Temple’s mother, many of the leaders who Temple talked to along the trip helped and advised her. Terence Hagans is a mentor who guided her the most. Similar to Temple’s situation, he had been involved in politics and aspired to be the first African-American president of the United States before realizing his calling to become a pastor.

“Being a pastor is unique, first, because it is not just something you can choose to do. You can choose to become a businessperson or a lawyer, but only God can call you to be a pastor,” explained Hagans. “Second, pastors are unique, because they have been given great authority and with that authority, great responsibility. While doctors care for your physical bodies, pastors must care for your eternal soul.”

Female pastors have inspired Temple as well to follow her passion because they show her that the gender difference should not discourage her.

“It’s harder, but I don’t think it’s impossible,” noted Temple on the gender issue. “In general, people tend to think of pastors as men. That’s kind of the tradition that has been handed down generations and generations. Although I

think people are very accepting of women pastors, and I’m not trying to insinuate that there’s a lot of discrimination going on there, there’s probably in small, subtle ways somehow easier for men to become pastors than for women.”

The nontraditional idea of females being pastors is not the only obstacle Temple faces. She explained that her friends from school have also given her a hard time.

“I heard a lot of ‘Oh, you’re wasting your life! What are you doing? This is so stupid!’” said Temple.

Despite the opposition, Temple continues to move toward accomplishing her goal. MVHS has helped her to perfect her public speaking skills and gain knowledge that helps her to communicate with non-Christians. Her youth group has encouraged her to strengthen her relationship with God while her mother has supported her by helping her sign up for Lay Speaker classes, a three-day program that teaches students of all ages how to give sermons. Upon completing them, she can sign up for a district of churches, so pastors can contact and give her opportunities to preach. She is also hoping to give a sermon the Sunday after Thanksgiving at one of the churches in the district for which she will sign up.

After graduation from high school, Temple wishes to attend UC Berkeley where she wants to double major in business and political science, two of her other passions. After, she plans to continue her studies at either Duke University or Claremont College for seminary school. When asked to explain seminary school,

she described it as the equivalent of law school for a lawyer. A place of intense education, it teaches students everything about Christianity along with other religions and languages such as Greek, the original written language of the Bible. It is not only for those who want to become pastors, but also for everyone who plans to have a career that

constantly involves Christianity. As Temple discusses her

plans, her face lights up with joy, indicating that her dream can not be extinguished.

“It’s like a fire burning inside me,” she said. “If I try to pile other things on it and hide it, it’s just gonna break through that. I don’t think I would be happy doing anything else.

”

“ I’ve been stereo-typed as scene and I don’t think it’s right to judge people based on their music choice or fashion sense.

- sophomore Shamira Maheswaran

Kthnxbai, I hate you kdie, im cooler than you k, and sup im rad; everything is hawt, so the sexx, and <3s are a must.

The invention of myspace has helped the advancement of this group and is where this scene jargon is most commonly seen. It is a basic requirement that if you are in the scene, you will have a myspace.

“They defiantly pride themselves in their ability to take myspace pictures of high contrast and obscured faces,” Pernova stated. Most scene kids will have enough MB worth of pictures on their myspace to crash your

computer. They all spend hours a day taking pictures with their bangs in their face and looking away from the camera like: ‘uh oh!’ which makes “their three pounds of eyeliner,” very noticeable, Pernova added.

Scenesters don’t like being dubbed “Scene” though, because of all these negative connotations and stereotypes associated with them.

“I’ve been called scene, but I can’t really agree with the people who call me that, because anyone who thinks and says that they are scene become the anti,” stated sophomore Andrea Brush.

Maheswaran said, “I think that scene is definitely just one big stereotype of a current trend. I’ve been stereotyped as scene and I don’t think it’s right to judge people based on their music choice or fashion sense.” The circle of life continues and MVHS is still cool yet.

Photo Courtesy of Chelsea TempleMISSIONARY TRIP Junior Chelsea Temple takes part on a cruise during her church choir’s trip to Australia this past summer. Temple visited Australia along with some other students from MVHS.

They didn’t like the gender of my partner, junior Jordan Kolb. I had just finished shimmying under the front gate of Mon-

ta Vista at 2:30 in the afternoon to get to the tennis courts when English teachers Mi-chael Kanda and Andrea Chin confronted me with this problem that Jordan was male. Obviously, I should have realized we were playing mixed doubles, and obviously, I was

t r y -ing to cheat by se-cret ly enlist-i n g

the help of Jordan. I protested—it was only fair that since Kanda had played tennis be-fore, I have a partner that had too.

It was definitely an odd turnout. I had brought two rackets along: one wooden and made so long ago it was petrified and the other with such a big surface area it would have made any math teacher drool. And during the actual tennis playing, Chin and I were more or less petrified wood as we stood there and did nothing. After a few rounds, or games, or innings, or whatever they’re calling them these days, Chin and I decided to go off and try our own game of tennis and let the Venus and Mercury sisters duel it out.

We played half-court but soon gave up to watch the full-courters. The ball went back and forth, skimming over the net at record speed, back and forth, thwack, thwack, thwack! Compare it to our game, which was thwack, drop, bounce, bounce, bounce. Sometimes there wasn’t even a first thwack.

Eventually we all came back together and started a real game. I was at the front of the net, in my ready position, dangling like some drooling monkey swaying in the breeze. This was ridiculous. We played a few more games in which not much hap-pened except that I learned to hit the ball, until halftime ended and we switched sides. Chin raised up for the serve and thwack! sent it right into Kanda’s right shoulder blade. Kanda did a slow turn around and asked, “What the hell was that?” But Chin was already on the floor in a fetal position unable to contain her laughter and exclaim-ing that she’s never done that before. It wouldn’t be her last time, either.

There wasn’t much love in the rest of the game, either, what with me throwing my racket onto the other court twice to see if I would be disqualified.

I think the game ended at around the bottom of the sixth, but we weren’t about to stop the set there. The next day, after some insults across the quad, we all met in Chin’s room to continue the competition over a fierce game of Mario Tennis for the N64.

This was my stadium. I was so excited as we hustled all the students out of her room, pulled down the projector screen, and closed the door. Among intense but-ton mashing, blaring music, Chin’s glee over the crazy characters, her relentless perseverance to win, and Kanda’s calm composure in the face of tipping courts, ba-nana peels, and flying Koopa shells, I was amazed at this common bond I had found with them. I even left the Nintendo in their room--you think they’re grading your Awak-ening essays?

Once again, Chin thwacked Kanda on the back with a virtual ball. Once again, as I did on the real courts, the underdogs in this virtual realm improved—and actually came back to win the last game. Eh, with all this fun, I guess there was a bunch of love these past two days. The scoreboard certainly showed that.

Mission accomplished.

The Odd Couple(s)Cross country girls in best season yetVarsity pushes to be top team during Morris’ last year coaching

On Nov. 1, the varsity girls team’s determination, motivation, and hard work paid off as they placed

first place in league, defeating their main rival Los Gatos High. However, the CCS meet on Nov. 12 turned out differently from what the team expected. The team placed second, unable to defeat Carlmont High School. However, MVHS qualified for the state championship that will be held on Nov. 26.

Two weeks before the CCS meet took place, Coach Mike Morris said, “This year the team has had their best chance yet. These particular girls are ‘seasoned’ veter-ans, and they are a lot more serious about the sport than most of the kids.”

As the team trained intensely week by week, it was the consistency of many of the same runners each year that gave the team the most strength. Runners such as junior Angela Hsu and senior Stephanie Cham have been on the team for the past three years. Each year of training and work with the same girls creates a family-type atmo-sphere and a well-conditioned team with each runner supportive of her teammates.

Cham said, “You could say we’re pretty competitive with each other but in a good way because we want to help the team and each other get better.”

With friendly competition going on be-tween team members, each runner’s expe-rience gives the team another push toward success. Most of the girls have been run-ning since middle school; Freshman Jean Feng, the only underclassman on the var-sity team, has been running competitively since sixth grade. As one of the fastest girls on the team, Feng’s speed and agil-ity make a huge impact that help the girls’ chances at doing well at meets.

“It is nice to be fast,” said Feng. “How-ever, it’s important to keep pushing your-self until you think you have reached your peak moment or time in running.”

Because of placing second for the last two years in CCS, the team had more mo-tivation for improving and claiming first place.

Before the CCS meet, Hsu said, “We have been so close these past two years and this year, we are even stronger, so our motivation is to do better and get first this year. It seems like we started out strong

and each year we get even stronger.” Beating Los Gatos was the team’s main

focus before the race. They had only raced against their team once this season and were defeated. They knew that Los Gatos was their main competition. Throughout the race at the league meet, all the girls ran well, with the top four getting their fastest times ever. Placing first in league proved to them that they are as good as they wanted to be and the amount of effort that went into the race paid off.

“They have made steady progress over last year and last year was a great one.

They have been ranked in the top five in CCS all season and on Nov. 1 defeated Los Gatos for the league championship- a team that was ranked higher. Every girl has im-proved over last year and some have been

Rowland retires after 20 years coaching at MV

She waits anxiously where a group of girls have gathered on the lower field. It’s their last practice of the season, and though this practice has been a common ritual under Coach Jerra

Rowland for the last 20 years, this year will be different. It is Rowland’s last season of being a full-time athletic coach. After years of service to both the field hockey and track teams, Rowland will be retiring from this de-manding career.

Rowland has always had a passion for sports; she has played, watched, and participated in a multitude of different games. After obtaining teaching degrees in physical education and life science, she intended to teach P.E., but became a science teacher instead.

“Being in class was good, but I missed sports,” she said. This attitude brought her to Monta Vista High School in 1980 after ten years of teaching at Lynbrook High School. Rowland be-came Athletic Director in 1985, and she coached field hockey and track, fully committing herself to field hockey in her later years.

Her affinity for field hockey is intriguing, as she calls it a “special sport, unique from all the others, because those who are watching have no clue what’s going on.” She further describes it as a sport that not many people play because of the “one-sidedness”; the stick can only be propelled in one direction, unlike ice hockey, which makes it a lot more challenging and complicated.

When asked what draws her the most to her team, Rowland promptly replied, “It’s all about working hard, and when you do that

as a team, the bonding just happens. This way, you’re working hard for a common goal.”

Undoubtedly, she has achieved massive goals with her team, but she strongly asserts that “[the experience] isn’t always about winning.”

After retiring, Rowland intends on playing lots of golf, traveling and watching professional sports, such as women’s basketball and other un-usual sports that fascinate her. She also plans to continue working on her hundred-year-old house which she has been working on since 1970. Pri-marily, her long career in athletics has influenced her decision to always be involved in athletics; this is not the end.

“I’ll be back. I’m not just going to turn my back on Monta Vista and never return again,” she stat-ed. She will always be a supporter, and as much

as MVHS field hockey will never forget what she has done for them, she will never forget what they have done for her.

The transition is obviously not easy for MVHS, and it is espe-cially difficult for Rowland as well.

When asked what she will miss the most, she said, “The day-to-day contact with young people, definitely, because they have a certain amount of enthusiasm that mature people don’t, and I will always continue working with young people, because it makes me feel younger.”

Rowland’s energy, commitment, and passion for this sport will definitely be missed as she moves into her retirement.

amazing,” said Morris. By getting second in the CCS meet for

the past two years, there was a need to change their second place streak to first. Yet, the team successfully qualified for the state competition, which is their next hurdle to overcome.

“Sometimes you have a really good race, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you’re disappointed, and sometimes you get frustrated. Each day is different but in the end you learn to appreciate running no matter how well you do, because there [is] nothing left but to run with your heart,” said Cham.

Currently, the team looks forward to the state meet, improving on their running

target: English teachers Michael Kanda & Andrea ChinLocation: B204 & B205 When: October 16-17, 2005Mission: To play mixed doubles tennis

INTENSITY Freshman Jean Fang and junior Lisa Worsham compete with over a hundred varsity runners on Nov.12 at the CCS championships. Austin Cheng | staff photographer

sports 17

by Samika Savanur, staff writer

see TOP NOTCH on page 20

by Nandini Dasarathy, art editor

It’s 20 minutes until four in the after-noon on gloomy Friday afternoon and Coach Alan Kute watches the

varsity girls soccer team as they warm up, passing the ball back and forth. He tells junior Jenny Kute to make sure she’s alternating legs if she gets tired. She acknowledges his advice know-ing that it’s coming from her coach. And her father.

Alan has coached his daughter since she started playing on Califor-nia Youth Soccer Association’s (CYSA) under 9’s team. Since then he has coached Jenny on and off again, but most currently at MVHS and her club team, De Anza Force. Alan played college soccer but started getting into coaching when his daughter first start-ed the sport. Soccer is a big part of the Kute family; Jenny’s three younger siblings all currently play soccer and have been coached by their father at some point in their soccer careers.

Although it may seem awkward to have your dad as your coach, Jenny shrugs it off. “[My dad and I] are re-ally close, so that helps a lot. It doesn’t bug me.”

Since Alan started coaching Jenny at a young age and coached a simi-lar group of girls on the club team that currently play for MVHS, Jenny has always maintained a comfortable rela-tionship with her dad on the field.

Jenny admits that Alan still plays a fatherly role on the field. “He pushes me more in practice than other people because he expects more from me.”

“When I get mad at him it’s usually soccer related. My attitude is a big thing on the field and he always has to remind me.” Jenny adds, “He defi-nitely focuses me.”

“Sometimes you can see the father role in Alan come out when he talks to Jenny on the field, which sounds like something he would say at home,” says junior Emily Rubin. “But most of

Boys Soccer

Varsity: 2-8-1

JV: 8-6-5

Wrestling

Freshman Jay Voigt, sophomores Konstatine Rovner and Daniel Lu placed 1st at the Del Mar Tournament

Dad and daughter team upby Michelle Tanaka, entertainment editor

Varsity girls soccer coach trains his daughter on team

Girls Soccer

Varsity: 11-3-4

JV: 7-8-1

Boys Basketball

Varsity: 7-14

JV: 3-16

Girls Basketball

Varsity: 4-3 JV: 5-2

Play by play Game: Varsity boys basketball on Jan. 27 against Saratoga

7:41 pm The game starts as MVHS gets the tip-off7:44 pm Junior Marcus Woo scores the first MVHS points7:57 pm Junior Phillip Kou makes a basket, putting an end to a Saratoga 18-4 shooting streak8:03 pm MVHS turns over the ball to Saratoga, allowing them an easy lay-up8:05 pm Junior Ben Hodges makes a solid shot-block, re-sulting in the ball bouncing off the head of a Saratoga player Junior Brett Colloton scores a three-pointer off the play8:10 pm Woo sinks a three-point buzzer-beater to end the first half8:32 pm After a few minutes into the second half, Kou makes a fade-away two-pointer8:34 pm Another shot block by Hodges, allowing Junior Eric Sum to score8:43 pm Woo makes a steal, scoring another two points.8:50 pm Junior Kevin Schroeder scores his first points of the game8:51 pm The game ends

Score: 66-45 Saratoga

the time he just treats her like a regular player.

Jenny has played on the varsity team since freshman year as a for-ward and midfielder. Last year the team placed first in their league divi-sion, moving up to the higher league, and competed in CCS. Jenny received the award for “best offensive player” in her league division, an award given to only one player within the five schools of a league. Although the varsity team lost some strong seniors last year, they

Scoreboard

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Health on the run

1204 new boys and girls lockers in the re-built locker room

4 new team locker rooms

1hairdrying room for girls

0 hairdrying rooms for boys

18 sports february 3, 2006el estoque

have a supporting cast of veterans who have continued to make strong contri-butions to the team. The girls are cur-rently first in their new league and plan to compete in CCS this season.

Jenny plans to play soccer in col-lege. Alan will continue to coach MVHS soccer after Jenny leaves, and he will probably coach his younger children once they are older.

“My hope is that they end up hav-ing a good time with [playing soc-cer],” said Alan.

By the numbers

DADDY’S GIRL Junior Jenny Kute and her dad, Alan Kute, share a moment to take a break from working hard at practice by joking around. The Kutes have been playing soccer together for more than seven years, and they are are still going strong.

SPECIAL OLYMPICScontinued from page 16at first, because they think that they will not be ‘normal,’” said Worsham. “Once you talk or spend a little time with them, you find out that they are welcoming and friendly people, just like the rest of us.”

Practice, which ended on Jan. 28, usually began with laps around the gym to warm-up the athletes. The warm-up continued with stretches and then dividing the athletes into groups of three; two athletes to one coach to pass the puck back and forth. After the warm-up athletes pushed pucks around cones that were set up and at the end and practiced shooting them into the goal. This drill was more of a challenge for the athletes since they could not knock down any of the cones, however it definitely helped them improve their skills.

“It amazes me how motivated and determined they are to win and have fun. It’s a different environment there; ev-eryone is so friendly and great to talk to,” said Joo. “When you watch them play, you can see that except for a few slight differences, they are just like everybody else.”

To end each practice, the athletes got to scrimmage where some of the coaches played as well when teams were short of players. Whitehill claims that her best experi-ence yet has been attending these practices and watching MVHS students getting involved with the athletes.

“People usually go to the practices not sure what to ex-pect but always come out with a smile after realizing how much of an impact they’ve had,” said Whitehill.

During the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, a series of Special Olympics floor hockey games took place at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds where several Bay Area teams came to participate.

The teams that the officers were scorekeeping for were good friends. Throughout the game, both teams laughed and made jokes while having some friendly competition.

“I think what made this memorable for us was it showed us although many athletes take this very seriously, like we do, they always know how to keep it light hearted and fun for everyone,” said Whitehill. “We had numerous athletes coming up and talking to us, and I think that made the experience memorable overall.”

Though only a few of the club officers were able to at-tend, they enjoyed themselves whole-heartedly and hope for more club members to join them.

As a new club on campus, the officers hope to gain new members in the near future to get involved with their cause. They would also like to continue to be assistants and committed coaches who attend more than one prac-tice, with other sports like swimming and basketball as the new spring season starts.

“The Special Olympics organization has a particular seasonal schedule, and according to that, we will contin-ue to help the different sports along the way, even during the summer,” mentioned Satterlee.

In order to increase awareness in the school and com-munity, S.O.CAL plans to host fundraisers at local res-taurants, where students can dine and profits from their meals go to support the Special Olympics. S.O.CAL has also invited two Special Olympic athletes to MVHS in the beginning of February to talk to the club members and anyone else that is interested during lunchtime. The ath-letes will advocate the Special Olympics, speaking about its importance and how clubs such as S.O. CAL make a tremendous difference.

Worsham concluded, “All of the other volunteer clubs do not focus on one specific group of people. I feel that a separate club needed to focus solely on the Special Olympics. The people who participate are truly amazing. The determination they have to overcome their disabilities is worth noting. S.O.CAL is dedicated to work with this amazing organization and do all we can to help.”

Radhika Chandrasekhar | entertainment editor

The helmet is here to stay again MV Football regains their claim to “the helmet” for the second year in a row by defeating Cupertino

On Nov.10, 2005, a chilly Thursday night, friends and fam-

ily came to watch the traditional football game between Monta Vista and Cupertino to determine whether MVHS would keep “the helmet” or if Cupertino would win it back. Not only were ten-sions high as a result of the foot-ball game, senior cheerleaders, football players, marching band members, and color guard mem-bers were anticipating their long awaited senior night, an annual event that recognizes the hard work and dedication put on by all of the seniors involved in the football games.

At the beginning of the eve-ning, freshmen, sophomore, and junior cheerleaders were lined up along the field ready to welcome the senior football players, cheer-leaders, and the seniors’ families. Mothers, fathers, and siblings walked proudly down the field as they reflected on all of the foot-ball games they attended and all of the hard work they helped out at. As each cheerleader and football player walked across the field, their achievements, words of wisdom, memories, and future aspirations were shared with the crowd.

“It was really sad because it was our last game, and it almost seemed like it was over,” said

senior cheerleader Tiana Nguyen. “A lot of us felt like crying because we knew cheerleading was over for us seniors, but then we knew that if one of us did, we would all start crying.” Families and friends sat in the stands ready to cheer on their senior players in their last game and anticipated another win in the helmet game.

Before the ceremony, MVHS football players had brought out the infamous helmet onto the field on a wooden plank. The helmet is separated in two halves; one side representing MVHS and other Cu-pertino. On each side, it listed the years that each team had won for the helmet game. MVHS had won the first game in the early 1980s and after a devastating defeat in 2001, MVHS regained the helmet back in 2004.

After the ceremony, the foot-ball players went back to focus on winning the helmet game. With 20 seconds left in the first quarter, junior quarterback Marcus Woo made a touchdown, bringing loud cheering within the crowds. Woo had just faked a pass and sprinted down the field onto MVHS’s side making a touchdown. Unfortu-nately, with 6.9 seconds left in the first quarter, Cupertino made a matching touchdown, leaving the score at the end of the first quarter 7-7.

In the second quarter, senior fullback Roger Kapul caught a

by Rachel Lui, back page editor pass and ran to MVHS’s 10-yard line with 11:50 left on the clock giving the players their first down. On the third down, Woo again makes another successful touch-down making the score 14-7. De-fense on MVHS’s side continued to stay strong throughout the sec-ond quarter after Cupertino made their first touchdown. With 11:02 left in the second quarter, senior wide receiver Cody Chamberlain picked up a Cupertino fumble giv-ing MVHS possession of the ball again. With 4:57 left in the sec-ond quarter, Woo made his third touchdown for the night running 40 yards down field.

“I thought that the season was pretty good because we improved from last year, and it was kind of sad to see all of the seniors leav-ing and we don’t get to play with them again” stated Woo. “The juniors and seniors were playing together for a while and we all bonded together.”

During halftime, marching band and color guard game onto the field, ready to perform their last show for the year. After an-other outstanding performance, immense cheering came from the field and the crowds to recognize all of the hard work marching band and color guard had done for this year.

“Most of the seniors have been in marching band for four years and have given an enormous

amount of time, effort, and pas-sion,” stated senior Romin Bahk. “We have built many friendships and ties with both students and faculty. The Senior Night football game gave the seniors a chance to be recognized for their dedi-cation and allowed them to com-memorate the ending of a long

and wonderful journey.” In the third quarter, no success-

ful touchdowns were made on ei-ther side. With the score of 24-14 entering into the fourth quarter, MVHS seemed to have already won the game. Unfortunately, this

19el estoquenovember 18, 2005 sports

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Austin Cheng | photo editorTRIUMPH Senior Rajan Nanavati holds the helmet up high after successfully defeating Cupertino

see HELMET on page 20

It all came down to one relay. One relay with freshmen Audrey Kwong, Emma Drysdale, and Me-

gan Fischer-Colbrie along with senior Dominique Lazarovici swimming in what may have been MVHS’ first time ever beating the Palo Alto High School girls swim team.

Senior and captain Nareen Bag-dasarian brought the thrilling moment back to life, saying, “It was really cra-zy. Everyone from Monta Vista was standing right there and just scream-ing and screaming.”

They won.Bagdasarian said, “We were just

so excited and Palo Alto was really bitter and dumbfounded.”

And that word, excitement, is what describes this year’s swimming sea-son for the varsity girls.

Coming into the season, all three se-nior captains and the coach had their concerns. Due to the construction of the MVHS pool, practice would be cut down tremendously. Instead of having both morning and evening practices, the team would only be able to have practice in the evening time, while still competing against teams who trained for almost twice the time.

“I knew at the beginning of the season that things were going to be hard because of the pool construc-tion,” said coach Dan Kemnitz, “but the team rose above that and handled it very well.”

Having placed tenth at last year’s CCS, Kemnitz’ main goal was to get

the girls to place higher, hopefully aiming for fifth place. However, both he and Bagdasarian knew that this would be a tough goal to reach.

“We were trying to reach for some-thing that we were thinking wasn’t even possible,” Bagdasarian com-mented on their expectations.

Hope came in the form of several freshmen swimmers, five of whom qualified to CCS this year.

Kemnitz explains that qualifying to CCS is a tough feat on its own, but to accomplish this as freshmen is ab-solutely amazing. “Not many other teams can boast that, especially at public schools where we cannot re-cruit swimmers,” he said.

The girls also had to deal with the many swimmers who could not attend MVHS practices in favor of their club practices. Badgasarian says that the team had to compromise here, stat-ing, “We had to build team unity, while having to also train as well as we could.”

That team unity was evident in the girls’ last, and perhaps most exciting, meet against Palo Alto. Captain se-

nior Katie Near said, “Even though it was our last meet, it was the first time all season that we really came together as a team.”

This win against Palo Alto was an unprecedented turning point for them. Kemnitz said, “I can’t find the last time that they beat them! Ron Freeman has been here for over 20 years, and even he can’t remember. It’s definitely an accomplishment. At that point, I was thinking that we could go better than top five at CCS.”

At CCS, the girls placed third, seven spots higher than last year, and a handful of spots higher than even the coach had imagined. “They really wanted to do well at this meet and they were shooting for the stars,” Kemnitz said.

As for next year, Kemnitz wants to see the girls be strongly competitive against this year’s first and second place teams. “We’re going to be chal-lenged by them, and we’re going to try to challenge them both next year,” he said. “But we’ll miss our seniors. It’s the leadership that we’re going to miss most from them. They are a group of really great and talented girls that provided examples for the younger ones to follow. That’s going to be really hard to replace.”

Bagdasarian has high hopes for next year’s team, too. “They know how big it all is and they know what to do,” she said. “They’re going to be breaking records like no other! Left and right!”

Frosh legs give team fresh start

by Neha Joshi, managing editor

Girls swimming defeats Palo Alto and takes third in CCS

Play by play Game: CCS varsity singles badminton against Santa Teresa at MVHS.Junior Emmanuel Pun vs Junior Chi Pham

6:41pm Pun starts off the first game with a serve6:42 pm Pun scores the first point against opponent Pham6:44 pm Pun smashes the birdie into his opponent’s court to score the 13th consecutive point6:45 pm Pham scores his first point against Pun6:48 pm Pun scores the winning point ending the first out of three games 6:49 pm The second of three games starts with a serve by Pham6:50 pm Pun scores the first point of the second game6:53 pm Pun returns a seemingly impossible smash and wins his 12th consecutive point for the second game6:54 pm Pun scores his 15th consecutive point and shuts out the second game 15-0

Final score: 2-0 Monta Vista

BlistersBlisters form from frictional forces between the skin and

surroundings that tear apart the many different layers of skin tissue. Fluid from adjoining tissues then seeps into the tears to create that throbbing sack of body fluids.

A main cause for blisters is uncomfortable shoes. “When runners buy new shoes, they get blisters because it takes a week to break in [the shoes],” senior Gordon Shyu said. It is recommended to buy shoes during the afternoon or evening because feet swell with the shoes.

Certain socks and insoles can also help prevent blister-ing. Acrylic and polyester socks are better than cotton or wool ones. Also, thick socks lessen blister potential by ab-sorbing more force during exercise than do thinner ones.

Moreover, putting mole skin on a blister does help as-suage the pain and prevent blisters from forming.

After the blister has already formed, the best thing is to leave it alone; popping it increases the chance of infection. Clean the blister with rubbing alcohol or antibiotic soap and water. Boil a straight pin or safety pin in water for 5-10 minutes or heat it over a fire until it glows red. Once it is cooled, puncture a small hole at the edge of the blister and drain the fluid through gentle pressure. Then apply an antibiotic ointment and cover with a bandage changed at least daily. Watch for signs of infection: increased pain, swelling, redness, or warmth around the blister, drainage of pus, fever, or swelling of lymph nodes.

But Shyu advises, “Don’t rip off the…[outer pocket of] skin—it’s protection.”

Health on the run

20 sports may 22, 2006el estoque

2 birdies stuck to the wall in the Field House

70 points scored on average by senior Anthony Bello during Quiz Kids competitions

6’2” cleared by senior Patrick Lee in the high jump at track league finals on May 4

By the numbers

Track and FieldVarsity Boys: 2-4Varsity Girls: 6-0

Swimming and DivingVarsity Boys: 4-2Varsity Girls: 5-1

GolfVarsity: 4-7-1

Boys BaseballVarsity: 10-8JV: 10-7

Girls SoftballVarsity: 11-1JV: 4-9

ScoreboardBadmintonVarsity: 12-0JV: 11-1

Boys TennisVarsity: 10-5JV: 14-1

“ We were trying to reach for something that we were thinking wasn’t even possible.”- senior Nareen Bagdasarian

OFF THE BLOCKS Freshman Audrey Kwong dives into lane three at the Central Coast Section finals on May 13 as she begins her race. Kwong has been among the top MVHS varsity girls competitors, competing at a national level in club swimming. She has contributed as a scoring member and helped the MVHS varsity girls maintain their success throughout this season.

Michelle Tanaka | staff photographer

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