February, 2009 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

Kicking the
MySpace
addiction
– Page 2
ONLINE
Debate: Should
students be
spied on?
– Page 5
news
FEATURES
Swimmers on
Olympic path
–Page 2
opinion
March 2009
Read us online
at
www.ccjournalism.net
CC Spin
News & Views from Contra Costa County High Schools
March 2009
Volume 2, Issue 3
FRESHMAN PE:
Battle of the Sexes
at Alhambra High
By JORDAN WIGHT
Alhambra High School
Males and females are now separated at
Alhambra High School–at least in physical
education. Freshman PE classes have been
divided by gender and many students are
asking why.
“Too many kids were failing PE," says
Principal Sue Mirkovich. So the administration
and PE staff brainstormed ideas to encourage
more students to suit up daily for gym class
and devise ways to encourage PE students to
behave better. “The PE teachers brought the idea of
separating the class by gender to the table,”
Mirkovich said. “I agreed to allow the gender
separation for freshman classes and the district
approved our decision.”
Thus far, Mirkovich says, “It seems to be
working for the PE teachers in both suiting up
(for swimming class) and in behavior.”
Alan Hern, teacher of two all boys classes
of PE, agrees. “This should be a long-term
change,” he says. “It makes the boys more willing to compete. It is much easier to discipline
and get kids to participate."
“Boys are so different from girls maturity-
ELECTION '08
See COED PE ABOLISHED Page 8
Photo provided by Casey Brian
Cal High student grabs big air
“I just fell in love,” said Casey. “I just started getting
good and it was really fun.”
Casey is currently sponsored by Rome SDS, Eesa Lux
ost kids in the Bay Area don’t include snowboardLayering and Blue Bird Wax. These sponsors give Casey
ing as a hobby, but for sophomore Casey Plettz,
everything he needs to ride.
there is nothing else he would rather be doing
Rome SDS, a snowboarding design syndicate and
then shredding on the slopes.
Casey’s biggest sponsor, makes everything from boards
Casey has been competing in snowboarding contests
since he was eight years old and has only gotten better See SNOWBOARDING Page 7
since then.
By CLAYTON WENNER
M
California High School
Danville pilot saves Flight 1549 lives
Doughtery
High reporter
Jega
Sanmugam
interviews
Chesley
Sullenberger
III at his
Danville
home.
Sullenberger shows
heroism, humility in
emergency landing
By JEGA SANMUGAM
Doughtery High School
New York Departure: “Cactus 1549, New York
Departure radar contact. Climb and maintain one
five thousand feet.”
US Airways 1549: “Ah, this is Cactus 1549. Hit
birds. We lost thrust in both engines. We’re turning
back to La Guardia.”
On the frigid morning of Jan. 16, Captain Chesley
B. Sullenberger III slowly pushed the throttles forward,
letting the engines roar to life, as the Airbus A320 raced
down La Guardia’s Runway 4. A few seconds later, he
pulled back on the yoke, coaxing the 50 ton Airbus
A320, with a complement of 155 passengers and
crew, baggage, and fuel bound for Charlotte, North
Carolina, with continuing service to Seattle. Little did
he know as he retracted the flaps and pulled back on
the throttles shortly after take-off that he, along with
his crew, would become worldwide heroes in a matter
of minutes. Photo courtesy
Jega Sanmugam
Chesley Sullenberger believes that being welltrained and having great judgment are the simple
qualities needed to remain calm in a crisis–and
calm he was. A policeman said, “After the crash,
he was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing
his hat, sipping his coffee and acting like nothing
happened.”
His calm demeanor could be attributed to his
years of experience with the United States Air Force
and US Airways. Captain Sullenberger rightfully
deserves every praise and universal recognition for
his heroic, historic achievement, especially when
considering the fact that there have been no more
'I've always
wanted to fly .
. . It's all I have
ever considered doing,"
said
Sullenberger.
than 11 successful water landings by commercial
aircraft since the dawn of aviation in which every
person on board has survived.
Captain Sullenberger is the epitome of modesty, as partially seen through his decision to grant
a student journalist the chance to have the first
published article following his historic landing. His
humility was evident as soon as I stepped through
the front door of the Sullenberger’s Danville home;
Captain and Mrs. Sullenberger warmly welcomed
my family and me into their home and made me
feel at ease.
“I’ve always wanted to fly since I was a 5-yearold child. It’s all I have ever considered doing,” said
Sullenberger about his passion for aviation. “I was
fascinated by the airplanes that would thunder
above my home” in Denison, Texas, as they would
take-off from Perrin Air Force Base.
As he progressed through his secondary education, he excelled in his classes. “I was actually in
the band, did well academically, [and] loved to
read,” he told me with a warmhearted smile when
I asked him to reflect on his high school days. He
added, “I think in terms of my SATs, I was probably
a little higher in verbal than in math, but they were
still pretty good.”
See SULLENBERGER Page 5
News
2
School tech software
Selection of math texts
watches student Web use divides Alhambra High
March 2009
Even teachers' e-mail
can be accessed by the
district watchdogs
By MOLLY PETERSON
Las Lomas High School
Students probably don't think twice about
using one of the 313 computers on Las Lomas
High's campus. They use them for projects and
occasionally check their e-mail at school, but
for the most part, they are not treated as a
big deal. And certainly for most students, the
Las Lomas computers aren't thought of as a
means by which the district can censor what
students can see and do.
But, underneath the seemingly boring
world of Las Lomas' technology, there is a very
real, very powerful issue: the ability of the
district officials to look at students' computer
activity when they are on campus.
"We have really sophisticated programs,
said government teacher Andy Briggs. "When
certain key words or Web sites come up, the
district is notified and they are able to tell what
Web site is being visited."
Students who run afoul of what the district
considers appropriate online behavior can lose
their computer privileges.
Junior Ramy Shadid said he sorely misses
using school computers. Shadid said he was
looking at a site one day about a band that
he is interested in and there were several
inappropriate sites associated with the band.
He went to use a proxy to get through the
blocks on the sites and searched "proxy" on
his computer.
"The proxy was blocked," said Shadid. "So I
went back to doing homework and didn't think
much of it. Later that day during fourth period,
I was called into (Associate Principal Mark)
Uhrenholt's office and was told that I was doing
inappropriate things on the computer."
According to Shadid, his computer
privileges were reinstated at the end of first
semester.
"I don't think it's fair because I wasn't intending to do anything wrong," said Shadid.
However, according to Associate Principal
and Technology Administrator Ruth Steele, it is
against the district policy to use proxy sites, or
sites that allow students to bypass the school
security measures and access "inappropriate"
sites.
The district uses a service called Light
Speed Systems, software that auto generates
reports that show suspicious queries on district
computers, according to district technology
technician Randy Kahrer. The software also detects instant messaging, which is not allowed
on campus, and other online wrong-doing. It
has the ability to report the student identification number and the time that the student was
logged in, to the Las Lomas administration,
which is what happened in Shadid's case.
The district has the right to "theoretically
look at anything" happening on Las Lomas
computers, according to Steele. According to
Briggs, the district even has "the capacity to
take over the computer." This entails blocking
a student out of a screen by remote control.
"It's a little Big Brother," said Briggs.
The school subscribes to an Acceptable
Internet Use Agreement that students at all
Acalanes Union High School District schools
must sign at the beginning of each year. It spells
out what is unacceptable behavior: "using the
network for illegal transactions", "unauthorized
participation in chat rooms or social networking sites," and "sharing passwords."
Certain things raise red flags, such as
certain keywords or Web sites that students
try to access, such as possible pornographic
sites, Briggs said.
For students who disobey the rules of this
agreement, the administration gives out punishments, and for serious problems, which are
rare, such as computer harassment or stalking,
the district or school may have to involve the
police, said Briggs.
Violators of the school policy may find
their punishment interferes with their school
work.
"If you lost computer access and you take
a class that depends on it, you may have to
drop the class," said Steele. This is especially
pertinent to classes such as yearbook, journalism, Web design and classes in which students
rely on computers.
If students who bring their own computers onto campus for a presentation, or just for
fun, are connected to the district server, the
district can track those computers and judge
whether the students are doing something
deemed inappropriate.
Web sites such as YouTube have been
blocked in the past. Its videos act as useful
learning tools for some teachers, according
to Steele, so YouTube and similar Web sites are
now allowed on campus.
The issue of privacy comes up for teachers
who use computers at school, too. According
to Briggs, the district is able to read teachers'
e-mail.
"It's property of the district," said Briggs. "So
the district has the right to look at it."
Steele believes the most important consideration is that administration and district
officials must uphold the agreement they
make every year with parents: to keep students safe.
Although students believe school officials'
intentions are honorable, students are skeptical
about the way computer use is monitored.
One thing is sure: "Big Brother" technology
policy makes both students and teachers think
before they use school computers.
CC Spin
By KAITLYN QUACKENBUSH
Alhambra High School
Tension is building in Martinez over the adoption of a new
math curriculum at Alhambra High School.New textbooks will
cost approximately $100,000, and be in use for the next seven
years. Two questions must be answered soon: Which textbook
should be selected and who should select it?
CPM, or College Prep Curriculum, has been used in Martinez for many years. District officials have directed the math
department to select a new text to augment or replace CPM.
The new textbooks being considered from publishers including
Glencoe, a division of McGraw Hill, are traditional texts.
Students are divided on which textbook they prefer. A
survey conducted in the pre-calculus classes shows that 29
students prefer CPM, and 38 students prefer Glencoe. Three
students do not like either text.
Some students who prefer Glencoe say CPM has“too many
word problems.” These students appreciate Glencoe’s frequent
examples and direct rather than inductive approach. “It has
answers in the back to check my work,” explains pre-calculus
student Elizabeth Belo-Rex. Joe Warner favors Glencoe because
it “provides examples and is easier to self-teach. CPM teaches
by asking questions and never fully explains how the math
works.”
Those who prefer CPM say the lessons constantly review
old material, encourage collaboration, and cause students to
think. “I like working in groups with CPM. I learn better when
working with others,” was one survey response. Audrey Hakenewerth prefers CPM because in the Glencoe text, “we never
learn any one thing fully, then we’re moving on to something
else.” Another respondent prefers CPM because it has “more
hands-on choices.”
Senior Jackie Benedith, took pre-calculus last year with
CPM and is now repeating the course with the Glencoe text. “I
am struggling even though I have already taken this class simply
because the (Glencoe] textbook confuses me.”
Carol Cho, math department chair, reports that CPM has
raised AHS math scores. In 2008 the average SAT math score
for the state of California was 515, and the average SAT math
score at Alhambra was 557, which means Alhambra is in the top
10 percent of the state. As Martinez Junior High School math
teacher, Joe DeLeon puts it, “CPM gets good results.”
Rami Muth, Superintendent of the Martinez School District
says, “CPM is not just a book but a method of teaching. Some
students do very well with CPM while other students struggle.
One way is not better than the other. Our goal in selecting books
for students is to find resources that meet the broad range of
student needs.”
Another question at the heart of the math book adoption
is the process by which a math curriculum is selected. Alhambra
math teacher Andrea Salas feels the real issue is one of“teacher’s
choice.”
“No textbook will be perfect in every area, but we are the
professionals,” Ms. Cho says. “It is our job to know what is best
for the students. We have better insight.”
The questions and tensions concerning the adoption
must be resolved soon, and even then differences of opinion
are likely to persist.
Olympics beckons two Cal High swimmers
By CHELSIE CHAN
California High School
Delise Batiza and Bridget Bugbee.
Photo by Cady DeLano
Future Olympians could be walking the halls at Cal
High.
Senior Bridget Bugbee and sophomore Delise Batiza
were invited to train at the Olympic Training Center (OTC)
in Colorado Springs, CO., later this month.
Bridget and Delise are both freestyle distance swimmers for Pacific Swimming, a regional club consisting of
more than 100 teams.
They had to apply in order to be considered for the
OTC distance camp. Only 25 members were selected from
Pacific Swimming to go to Colorado Springs.
Dan Cottam, their coach of two years, said it’s extremely
competitive to qualify.
“They go based on times and they’re up against top
kids,” he said.
Delise was also hand-picked to participate at USA
Swimming’s National Select Camp.
News
CC Spin
Getting Saturday School’d—
as if homework isn’t punishment enough
By ISABELLE AVILA
Alhambra High School
Homework is the last thing any student wants
to do, especially on between the hours of 8 and
10 on a Saturday morning. They call it Saturday
School.
What exactly is Saturday School? Let’s say you
miss a few assignments, and depending on the
teacher, you get a warning, and, if you ignore the
warning to do your homework, you get a call to
show up on Saturday morning to complete your
missing assignments.
If you refuse to show for the two measly hours
on Saturday, you get hauled off to “in-house suspension” – which means you get excused from all
your classes to do your homework in a small room
during the school day.
“I think giving Saturday School for not doing
homework is ridiculous,” senior Courtney Ludlow
complains. “Now, if I miss a few assignments I get
treated like a delinquent.”
“Saturday School is not intended to be a punishment,” says Principal Sue Mirkovich. “Teachers
refer kids who can make up their work to keep
them from spiraling to a point where they just give
up. I do not want students to fail.”
Is Saturday School a scare tactic or something
beneficial?“There have been fewer F’s and D’s since
Saturday School has been implemented,” says Ms.
Mirkovich.
Some blame the small minority of “reluctant
learners” for this Breakfast Club institution. These
critics believe it is the students’responsibility to do
their work, and if they choose not to, they should
face the consequences.
Kyle Dell wasn’t happy about having to attend
Saturday School for missing a few assignments
that he had “already completed but just didn’t
print out yet.” He showed up but was not allowed
to print them there ­– so he “read a book and made
a cartoon on PowerPoint in the meantime.”
Dell does think Saturday School “might actually might help some kids since it threatens their
Saturday. It all depends on the person, though.”
“Saturday School actually wasn’t that bad,
said Matthew Pocklington, a senior. “We hung
out in the library and talked a while. I didn’t get
any work done but Mr. Jason Krolikowski seemed
enthusiastic about the whole thing.”
When asked what he was sentenced for,
Pocklington said: “I don’t do math homework.
Call it senioritis.”
Saturday School was implemented for “students who choose not to do their work,” says Ms.
Mirkovich, but some students feel this penalty is
applied too often and is an unnecessary tactic
– that not doing homework creates its own punishment. The fear of getting tangled in Saturday
School’s net, however, shouldn’t be the motivation
for students’ to do their homework.
Regardless of how students feel about Saturday School, this Saturday some of them will be
attempting to catch up on what they were reluctant
to do in the first place.
MySpace ADDICTION:
Forget rehab, quit cold turkey
By JILLIAN LENAHAN
I
Ygnacio Valley High School
t’s another Monday night. The sky is dark, the
clock blinks 3 a.m., and millions of teens are
glued to their computer screens blogging and
posting bulletins with titles like, “It’s 3 a.m. ‘lol’…
need some sleep.”
Now if it is insomnia, that’s a different story,
but many of these people have what we might
call “MySpace Addiction.” Don’t worry, it’s not
deadly, but just in case, you might
want to take three“ROFL’s”and
call me in the morning after
you’ve stopped rolling on the
floor laughing.
So what is MySpace addiction?
Common symptoms are: checking your comments every five minutes, absentmindedly writing in IM
lingo on your English assignment, and
referring to Tom as “God.”
Many kids have developed MySpace addictions. They use MySpace to procrastinate when
they should be doing homework. They stay up late
chatting with friends instead of sleeping.
I understand what it is like to be addicted to
MySpace, and it is hard to break. But you don’t
have to quit cold turkey! If you do, you may have
withdrawals and a potential relapse (example:
foaming at the mouth whenever you come near a
computer keyboard). So take it slow.
I know it is fun to change your MySpace
background and song and upload new pictures,
but honestly, people, it is just a Web site. If you’re
messaging your friends every two seconds and
you are going to see them tomorrow, TURN OFF
THE COMPUTER!!
That’s right. I said it. TURN OFF THE COMPUTER.
OK, OK, maybe we won’t take it that fast.
To break your MySpace addiction, there is a
specific 12-step program … just kidding; it’s actu-
ally pretty easy.
First, if you are spending more than two hours
a day on MySpace, you may want to do breathing
exercises before you start breaking your habit,
since your heart may not be able to take it. Start
limiting your time spent on MySpace to an hour
and a half each day. Continue this pattern for about
two weeks.
Once you’re confident
you have cut your time
down, continue to restrict
your time by a half hour
more every two weeks.
Soon enough, you
should be down to 30
minutes per day, or
even better, going
on MySpace only 3
or 4 times a week.
Find something else to
occupy your time. Read a book! I know
you are probably thinking,“Ew, books? Thanks,
but no thanks.” But even comic books are a way
of entertaining yourself and staying off MySpace.
And hardback novels come with great vocabulary,
which means higher SAT scores.
You could also spend time exercising. And I
don’t mean doing crunches. I mean plug in your
iPod and dance like nobody’s watching. But please,
no freak dancing with yourself. Leave room for
Jesus, people.
And just remember: Don’t let some social
networking Web site suck you away from reality
and your actual social life.
It is easier said than done, but we shouldn’t
allow MySpace to consume most of our day.
It is up to each one of you to curb your addiction. But once you do, you will realize there are a
lot more things in your daily life that need to be
done, a lot more people to talk to and a lot more
fun to be had.
It’s up to you to change your bad MySpace
habits.
3
March 2009
Nurse cutbacks
hurt WC schools
Only part-time coverage of
health needs to continue
By HELEN IRIAS
Las Lomas High School
Las Lomas students should start being more careful. It’s OK
to fall down occasionally and suffer an injury, but make sure this
happens on a Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Personal crises
are no big deal either, as long as they occur on Wednesday,
Thursday, or Friday, so plan ahead.
Due to the bad economy, the city of Walnut Creek and the
Walnut Creek Education Foundation can only afford to provide
Las Lomas with a nurse and a crisis counselor for three days out
of the week.
This means that if on Tuesday, a student were to hobble into
the office in need of serious medical attention, he or she would
be met with an empty room.
“There’s no medical personnel on Tuesdays and Fridays, but
the attendance clerks will call the ambulance, 911, or parents to
take the student to the hospital,” nurse Kathleen Mooney said.
This could present problems, since a surprising amount of
students are injured during school each day.
“On average, there are never any less than eight injured
students per day and sometimes up to 20,” Mooney said.
Some on-campus injuries have been as serious as heart
trouble. For the more urgent cases, it is convenient to have Kaiser
Hospital right across the street from the school, but the typical
student who trips in the hallway and needs a Band-Aid will be
out of luck if the nurse is not on duty that day.
“I went in [to the nurse’s office] with my friend because she
had these blisters from walking to school,” sophomore Adrienne
King said. “We went in and she wasn’t working that day and the
attendance people told us to wait and that they would get her a
Band-Aid. They were busy, so we waited like forever and finally
they could get her a Band-Aid.”
Sophomore Amira Athanasios had a similar experience.
“On Tuesday, I got a nosebleed. I get them all the time, but this
one wouldn’t stop so I went to the nurse, and she wasn’t there.
I kept waiting and looking for someone because my nose was
just bleeding and bleeding, but no one was there. I was thinking I would have to end up going to the emergency room for a
nosebleed, but eventually it stopped.”
Just as students cannot plan for an injury, they are not able
to anticipate an emotional crisis.
Merritt Rollins, the Las Lomas crisis counselor, is available
only on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
“I never worked full-time, but when I first started there were
two of us,” Rollins said. Her room is appropriately stocked with
comfortable couches, pillows, and boxes of tissues.
“I just talk to people about whatever they are going through.
Usually about 20 students come in each week,” Rollins said.
According to Rollins, many students aren’t aware that some
of their classmates are enduring inner crises every day and need
someone to talk to.
“Once, I had to call an ambulance,” Rollins said. “This guy
came in and curled up and was freaking out because his girlfriend
broke up with him.”
Students also come to the crisis counselor if they are in a
scary situation and don’t know who to talk to.
“These girls came in because they were getting texts from a
guy with guns who was planning on using them to kill people,”
Rollins said. “We even ended up getting the New Mexico police
involved,”
If those students had needed assistance on a Monday or
Tuesday, they would not have had their problems resolved,
and Rollins said their circumstances could have escalated into
something much worse.
“A lot of students go back and forth between the crisis counselor and myself,” said Las Lomas academic counselor Ade Villasenor-Melgoza. “If they go to the crisis counselor and she is not
available and they’re crying, then I’ll see them immediately.”
The same goes for students who are in need of the nurse
on a day when she is not working.
“A student brought me a medical paper to give to the nurse
when she is back,” Melgoza said.
On days when Mooney or Rollins are not available, students
must make do.“It does make a difference to have someone there,
Melgoza said. “It really does.”
Opinion
4
Warming the world
March 2009
precisely those the Liberian farmer’s children urgently
need. Micronutrient supplements for children, school
A rubber farmer in Liberia has many problems. deworming programs, and malaria treatments all
To begin with, he lives in Liberia, where the average earned high slots in the efficiency rankings. The U.N. projects that global warming will raise
life span is 41 years and the average wage less than
a dollar per day. In this farmer’s country, the child the number of severely malnourished people by 28
mortality rate is 25 percent. Should he father eight million by 2100. Through the investment of trillions of
children, two of them will likely die before the age dollars in the next several decades, we could possibly
of five, generally either from malnutrition or most prevent that outcome. Whatever is spent on climate
policies saving one person from hunger in 100 years
commonly malaria.
The farmer also suffers from a second problem, could instead save 5000 people today.
In other words, by capping greenhouse gas emisone that is not always acknowledged. More and more
environmentally conscious leaders have come to sions, we could save the life of one of our Liberian farmer’s great-great-great-grandchildren. By
power, the farmer’s plight has fallen
donating food and vitamin supplements,
on the ladder of global priorities. PoliHave
an
opinion?
we could just as easily save the farmer’s
ticians, including President Barack
children and the children of 2499 of his
Obama, find that proposals about
Want to contribute?
neighbors.
climate change yield far more dolWant
to
comment?
These findings are not secret, nor are
lars and votes than those regarding
they in dispute. They are, however, unforeign aid or Third-World poverty. [email protected]
likely to be heeded, because the farmer in
Our Liberian farmer, it appears, is
Liberia has a third problem: his emaciated
out of luck.
Wealthier Westerners might find changes in the children are simply not as cute as polar bears. One of
weather highly inconvenient, but no one is going the tragic flaws of democracy is that people often base
to drown as the oceans rise over Venice and Miami their votes not on fact but on Coca-Cola commercials. Beach at a rate of .2 inches per year. In the Third-World, Few Americans know or care that today’s polar bear
however, the flooding, infectious diseases, and water population is the largest in recorded history—after
shortages which accompany global warming will exact seeing an animation of a drowning polar bear in that
wonderful movie Al Gore made, they now understand
a very real toll in human life.
According to the United Nations, it will cost the that a magnificent species of mammal is in danger, and
world $1.375 trillion every year to limit global climate that human beings will have to come second.
If current trends continue, much of humanity’s
change to two degrees Celsius. Since the true cost of
any transaction is the alternative foregone, the price considerable charity and ingenuity will be directed
of combating global warming will not be tens of tril- towards averting a false apocalypse 100 years in the
lions of dollars, but hundreds of millions of lives. To future, while for one in four children in West Africa the
make the choice starker: In a sense, we can either world is already heading for premature ending. These
children will perish, not because we couldn’t save them,
save human lives or save the planet.
Five Nobel Laureate economists have found that but because we chose instead to preserve soft blubber
the most cost-effective solutions to the world’s ills are and snowy white fur.
By DAVID McDIARMID
Acalanes High School
College hopes dim under cutbacks
By SANA SARESHWALA
California High
Getting into college is already competitive enough,
but the country’s financial crisis is forcing many students to
undergo yet another nerve-racking ordeal.
The University of California and California State University
campuses plan to reject more students this fall--as many as
10,000 from 33 campuses--because their budgets are being
drastically cut, forcing them to lower admissions.
“We cannot admit additional students without adequate
resources,” said Charles Reed, chancellor of the CSU system.
This will be a huge problem at many schools.
Last year, about 50 percent of Dartmouth University
students borrowed money to pay for tuition, according to
TheDartmouth.com. This year is going to be very grim for
these dependant students.
With more students applying for scholarships and
fewer colleges offering them, it will be harder for students
to get financial help.
The economy has compelled families to budget for
college while many students are also saving up money for
college by getting jobs.
The economic turmoil affecting the nation "will affect
students’families and the UC and CSU systems,”said English
teacher Randy Kinavey.
He believes that current conditions will force everyone to rebudget their finances to save enough money for
college.
CC Spin
Cubby legacy
T
hey are a place of personal sanctity for
some. For others, a place to stash dayold ham sandwiches, all but forgotten
until the stench becomes unbearable and
the ants swarm. They are reasonably nondescript, stationary, archaic, whatever … They
are lockers.
However, there are lockers that rise above
the norm of blank, decaying rows of metal boxes,
setting new standards in the world of lockers.
It all begins freshman year, when the unwary
young student proceeds to his or her locker and
opens it for the first time, only to find old Vans stickers on the walls. Over the years, these lockers reveal
the untold past of Acalanes students through the
drawings, photos, and stickers, plus an assortment
of other odd things, hidden behind doors.
“The person before me left behind pictures
of dogs and unicorns in my locker,” said freshman
Marshall Crawford.
The new student either leaves the legacy of
the previous student to endure, or sometimes
they remove what’s leftover, making room for their
own story. “I’ve put up stickers, magnets whatever, just
stuff I’m interested in. I have some stuff from freshman year, sophomore year, and junior year in there,”
said senior Nick Kelly. In a sense, a locker embodies “the home away
from home,” assuming the home can be a threefoot-tall cubbie.
Individuals who stylize their lockers believe
lockers reflect the minds of those who use them.
“I have this cinnamon toast crunch chef doll, a
pimp hat, a Mardi Gras mask and stickers. I would
say some of the stuff in there reflects my eccentric
personality,” said junior Kyla Covey.
Others have a different take.
“For the people who do use lockers a lot, the
lockers represent them. But I think the majority of
students just use them for a few seconds. I barely
ever use my locker,” said sophomore Stephen Mannich.
The students who usually take the time to
customize their lockers are usually girls. Ask any girl
on campus, and chances are she has a book rack,
a mirror, school supplies in addition to magnets,
stickers and photos of her friends and family.
On the opposite extreme, seldom do most
guys take more than five seconds to enter their
combination, deposit their books and leave.
“I think it’s an ego thing. Guys are afraid of being
called girly because all the girls do it,” said Covey.
However, there are guys who do take the time
to personalize their lockers. “My locker shows me in that it’s organized. My
books are all organized by height from the left side
to the right, and my novels are all organized,” said
senior Chris Thompson.
CC Spin
CC Spin is printed by the Contra Costa Times but all copy, photos, art and other
contents are written, photographed, drawn or produced by students at thirteen Contra
Costa public high schools. Story development is supervised by the journalism advisers at the participating schools. Professional journalists coach the students and guide
their reporting and writing. Staff members of the Contra Costa Times instruct participating students in professional journalism standards and practices.
CC Spin is a product of the collaboration of The Lesher Foundation, the Y & H Soda
Foundation, the Contra Costa Times, the Contra Costa County Office of Education, and
the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative.
All opinions expressed in CC Spin are the views of the student authors and do not represent the opinion of the Contra Costa Times, any school, district or county educational
authority, or the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative.
CC Spin is a product of student journalists and is guided by the strictures of
The First Amendment, the ethics guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists
and California Education Code sections 45907 and 48950.
Facilitators
Faculty Advisers
Kevin Keane
Executive Editor, Contra Costa Times
Vice President, California Newspapers
Partnership
Larry Freeman,
Acalanes High School
Emelie Gunnison
Las Lomas High School
Kaki Logan
Alhambra High School
Becky Bellini
Monte Vista High School
Brian Barr
California High School
Karen Jenkins
Northgate High School
Hosay Jamili
Clayton Valley High School
Rick Pyle
Pittsburg High School
Diana Camacho
Heritage High School
Teresa Boardman
Richmond High School
Kathleen Odne
Executive Director
Lesher Foundation
Peggy Marshburn
Chief Communications Officer
Contra Costa County Office of Education
Steve O’Donoghue
California Scholastic Journalism Initiative
Coordinator
Carol Pogash
Jim Finefrock
Writing Coaches
Jason Haley
Natalie Wojinski
Ygnacio Valley High School
Hercules Middle High
School
Corynn Plumb
Dougherty Valley High School
Viewpoints
CC Spin
5
March 2009
Spying?–No! Spying?–Yes! Dropout rate soars
I
f you’ve ever checked your e-mail at
school, gotten your phone confiscated or
had your car, backpack or locker searched,
then congratulations: You’ve been subject
to Las Lomas High School’s privacy-violating
“Big Brother” policy.
Reading your e-mail may seem like a
harmless activity, but at school, anything and
everything you access online is subject to
monitoring by school officials. A quick trip to
your e-mail to print a homework assignment is
simple enough, but how do you feel knowing
an administrator at the district office is looking
over your shoulder online?
Sure, online privacy in is a gray area legally
because the schools own the computers, but
that doesn’t make it right for administrators
to spy on students. And material possessions,
such as cell phones, should fall under constitutional “right of the people to be secure in
their effects,” don’t you think?
As citizens of the United States, Las Lomas
students ought to be protected from having
their rights trampled. Instead, as students of
the public education system, it seems our rights
are severely limited.
In Morse vs. Frederick the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled school officials could curtail students’ free speech rights if they reasonably
believed the speech encouraged illegal activity.
But that decision didn’t destroy all of students’
free speech rights, and it didn’t give school
officials the right to spy on students.
The school’s discipline policy is ambiguous and hence unfair. It states that disruptive
conduct, defiance of authority and verbal
abuse merit suspensions, parental notification
and even expulsion, even though there is no
specific definition of those penalty-worthy
behaviors.
Also, the phrase “probable cause,” found
in the Fourth Amendment in reference to
conditions that must be met for search and
seizure, is subject to “creative” interpretation,
and sometimes neglect, by school administrators. They won’t tell you what the “probable
cause” is before initiating either search or
seizure. Ironic, considering these teachers and
administrators are supposed to be role models
for good citizenship, and ought to uphold the
Constitution rather than ignoring it or violating
it.
Students don’t give up their constitutional
rights when they come to school. Teachers and
school administrators don’t become dictators,
thumbing their noses at the Constitution, just
because they make the rules on campus.
This debate, in essence, is over the jurisdiction of the Constitution in public schools,
where, theoretically, the future leaders of
America ought to be learning from wise, lawabiding, Constitution-respecting teachers and
administrators.
Want to support the First
Amendment in the schools?
E-mail us at:
[email protected]
B
ucking authority is probably the
essence of being a teenager. Independence, freedom and privacy are
important ideals to teens. And yet the job of
finding a balance between freedom and order, independence and equality, privacy and
safety all fall onto the school administration.
It’s easy to say that invading one’s privacy or
infringing upon one’s personal freedoms is wrong,
but when the time comes to actually be responsible
and keep thousands of students safe every day,
sacrifices to student privacy have to be made. This
isn’t a perfect world, and sometimes the people
in authority have to make unpopular decisions to
prevent trouble in paradise.
Don’t like your car being searched? It won’t be
a problem so long as there’s nothing to find.
On the whole, Las Lomas is a very safe school,
and there is more to that status than the virtually
nonexistent crime rate of Walnut Creek. If anything,
this administration deserves our respect and gratitude, despite our grievances.
What students have to accept is that certain
things that one might be able to do outside school
aren’t acceptable on campus. Allowing students to
keep secrets isn’t a luxury that a school administration can afford when the safety of hundreds of
students is possibly at risk from a single student with
violent intentions. While you might have something
personal in your locker, someone else could have a
weapon and intend to use it.
Schools are places in which hundreds of students congregate on a daily basis, and a violent
person with a weapon on campus is the worst-case
scenario for student safety.
Just last year, a student was nearly killed on
campus by another student armed with a razor
blade. The incident, which could have been prevented had a student with knowledge of what was
about to happen spoken up, highlights the dangers
of a school that does not take proactive steps to
prevent violence.
What if that student had been armed with a
gun, or had directed his anger toward the entire
school instead of a single person? The best way to
defend against danger is to stop it beforehand, so
searching lockers or cars is necessary to prevent a
worst-case scenario from arising.
Minors have few rights as it is, and as much as
most teens strongly despise that, the law does not
treat teens like adults, and schools are no exception.
Think about it: What’s the big deal about getting
your locker searched if you have nothing to hide?
A student who abides by the simple rules won’t be
bothered a bit.
School administrators and teachers are directly
responsible for the students on this campus, and
they must actively take steps to stop violence from
occurring. To do less wouldn’t be fair to the students
because it could jeopardize the safety of everyone
who comes to this campus.
T
he reactions I received to the alarming news about
high school dropouts were varied: Some people raised
their eyebrows, a few laughed, and others simply
shook their heads in disappointment; yet all agreed that the
dropout rate in California is something to be ashamed of.
In July, the state disclosed that 1 in 4 high school students will drop out before graduating. While the number of
dropouts has increased more than 83 percent recently, the
number of graduates has only grown by 9 percent.
“It’s depressing,” Heritage High School student Khyiera
Slone said.
Though the accuracy of the dropout statistic is disputed,
the fact remains that this does not bode well for America’s
future, especially in a time when our economic and technological dominance has been challenged. “I think it’s sad
that they (the dropouts) aren’t thinking about their future,”
senior Alyssa Glantz said.
With a devastating recession and several dangerous
countries that could pose a legitimate threat in the future,
the United States is in dire need of young men and women
who have both the skills and education to ensure a safe
future.
“With the country and state of California in a major
financial struggle, seeing the high school dropout rate increase will only hurt the economy further,” teacher Michelle
Lynch said.
“The students who choose to drop out will be competing with people who have been laid off due to the economy
and have higher skill sets; they will also find competition
for jobs with senior citizens who have lost their retirement
money in the stock market and need to go back to work,”
she said.
California was once known to America as the “Athens of
the West.” Our Golden State was the cutting edge, the ideal
many a pioneer set his sights on.
These days, Californians have come to think of ourselves
as a progressive society. While we should be proud of our
open-mindedness, we have allowed arrogance to finally
bloat us into a self-important, disconnected culture.
Isn’t it ironic that other states we bash as being a Biblethumping and backwoods get a better education than
we do? We rank 47th, after all, barely ahead of Alaska and
Alabama.
There is still hope, though. Some institutions have taken
the initiative on the dropout problem. However, most of
these organizations, like the non-profit WestEd, only gather
information. Ultimately, the dropout rate can only be solved
by students who decide to graduate on time.
“The best thing a student can do, especially in a country
and state financial crisis, is to stay in school, earn the high
school diploma and then further their education if not by
going to college then by at least attending a vocational/
trade school and developing a skill they can market to employers,” Ms. Lynch said.
An education is a privilege, and the callous attitude of
some American youth toward such an opportunity speaks
poorly of this country’s character.
In the (man)hunt
By SINCLAIR COHEN
Las Lomas High School
A new year brings a fresh start and some New Year's
resolutions, but new guys? Unfortunately not.
It looks like my selection is severely limited. Thus far,
all of the passably attractive senior guys at Las Lomas are
either taken or unresponsive. The former, being shackled
down by a girlfriend, may be the lesser of two evils, since
my flirting is less subtle than a peacock in peacock-hunting season.
I wish dating were as easy as hunting a peacock
–squatting in the brush, peering through camouflaged
binoculars at the prey, who innocently sips his lunchtime
beverage, making thoughtless small talk with his pack as
I reach down for the tranquilizer gun and . . . Click. Boom!
His limp body doesn't hit the ground, but merely sags
against the table as the luckier males flee the scene in
horror. I approach, tag, and revive him–and I've got me a
genuine boyfriend!
If only it were that simple.
Maybe I ought to post a personals ad among the Death
Row ads (you know: Death Row Prisoner seeks spiritual
partner to discuss world affairs, write Mr. John Doe, cell 12).
I can just imagine it: Smallish feminist socialist Senior seeks
likeminded male to discuss sock sex and foreign policy, and
participate in mutual mocking. Love of Neil Gaiman and
“Unplugged in New York” a must, insightful comprehension
of Shakespeare a bonus. Applications available upon request,
$5 processing fee.
No, seriously, it's not like my criteria for date-ability is that
ridiculously high. I just require an intellect equal or superior
to my own, and looks hot enough to melt the icebergs, I also
demand habitual flattery, and sincerity is a bonus.
Potential contenders out there: the boy in psychology
with the wicked-cool T-shirt, the "blast from the past" in my
government class, the conscientious objector in yoga/Pilates,
the insightful commentator in literature, the Benedick to my
Beatrice in journalism, and the boy with the brilliant grin in
the library seventh period.
By COLLEEN LILIG
California High School
Features
6
March 2009
CC Spin
Incidence of kidney stones
rises among American teens
By SOPHIE WEINGARTEN
Las Lomas High School
In the last two decades, doctors
have noted a rise in kidney stones
in adolescents throughout America.
While kidney stones were once a
problem of middle-aged people,
the number of children who need
to see nephrologists has increased
dramatically.
Las Lomas senior Danny O’Brien
knows first hand just how painful
kidney stones are.
“I had two kidney stones that
were three millimeters each,” said
O’Brien. “It was the worst pain I’ve
ever felt in my life. Nothing comes
close to kidney stones.”
The two main contributing
factors to forming kidney stones
are dehydration and high-sodium
diets. A third underlying factor is
genetics.
“My situation was genetic,” said
O’Brien. “But there are ways to get
around them.”
Though the first two factors are
easily controlled, teenagers who insist on consuming processed foods
and sports drinks are at greater
risk.
“Around (Las Lomas), I see a lot of
students drinking caffeinated drinks
including Rockstar and Gatorade,
which actually are not as hydrating
[as many think],” said Kathi Mooney,
the school nurse.
Kidney stones are likely to form
when the normal balance of water,
salts and minerals found in urine
change. Then the substances stick
together to produce a stone.
Drinking water prevents crystal
formation—the first step in forming
a stone. Eating a healthy diet is also
vital, though it is hard to choose
with all the misleading packaged
foods.
“The most important thing to
do is to stay away from salty chips
and packaged meals,” said Debra
Allen, a nutritionist at University of
California, Los Angeles.
Even with high sodium content
in today’s foods, Allen believes that
drinking water is still the number
one thing a person can do to prevent
kidney stones.
“Do not wait [to drink water]
until you are thirsty,”said Allen.“That
is when the excess salt has to be
excreted through the kidneys.”
According to British Medical
Journal, women who have both
given birth and had kidney stones
say that having a kidney stone is
more painful.
“Sometimes it hurts so much
that you cannot drink, and you
throw up,” said Jennifer Anderson,
a pediatrician at Lamorinda Pediatrics.
If IV fluids do not flush the stone
away in the emergency room, doctors opt for another procedure called
lithotripsy.
“Lithotripsy uses ultra sound
waves to break up the stone,” said
Anderson.
Once broken up, the fragments
pass out of the body in the urine.
For very large stones, the last
option is surgery.
But these outcomes can easily avoided by simply drinking a lot
of water daily, even when you are
not thirsty, and by eating a low-salt
diet.
The Vegan Lifestyle:
Student view of the anti-carnivore
By EMILY BORENSTEIN
Alhambra High School
My name is Emily and I’m a vegan.
When I was in the seventh grade I was
a ravenous carnivore, and if someone had
told me that one day I would be a vegan,
I would have choked on my pastrami
sandwich.
What exactly is a vegan? To put it
simply, vegans do not eat or use any
products that come from an animal. They
do not eat honey, gelatin, or eggs; nor do
they wear pearls, wool, leather, or other
animal products.
The word vegan was coined in 1944
by Donald Watson, a British woodworker.
Watson died in 2005 leaving behind
250,000 vegans in Britain and 2 million
in the United States.
Long before Watson, there were
many others who endorsed the idea of
compassion toward all forms of life. One
was Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher
and mathematician, who preached about
empathy toward animals. Many religions
such as Hinduism and Buddhism also
promote these same ideals.
People approach me all the time and
say they couldn’t possibly give up meat
or eat only vegetables, but these people
misunderstand the restrictions of a vegan
diet.
There are many daily staples carnivores
eat that just happen to be vegan, and most
ethnic cuisines, such as Japanese, Indian,
and Thai, are filled with vegetarian and
vegan options.
Veganism has become so mainstream
that many restaurants provide hearty
vegan options, except perhaps hardcore
steak houses.
Like any diet, vegans must ensure
they get adequate nutrients. Despite what
many people think, eating enough protein
is not difficult.
A vegan diet not only promotes the
idea of compassion toward animals, it is
also a healthy lifestyle and it’s good for
the environment.
MUSICAL Zach Simon, David Solomon, Andrew Liu, and Alex Hillis are going old
school with their new barbershop quartet.
Seniors go 'old school
with barbershop quartet
By BRETT MORRIS
C
California High School
al High seniors Zach Simon, David
Solomon, Andrew Liu, and Alex Hillis
are going old school with their new
barbershop quartet.
“It started on Facebook as an idea between me and Zach Simon,” said David.
Their next step was to find two more
singers to complete the quartet. They discovered Andrew and Alex through their
chamber choir class.
Since it formed in early October, the
quartet has been practicing Mondays and
Wednesdays at lunch and during odd-day
tutorials.
Shortly after the group was formed,
they went to choir teacher Lucerne Mottaz
to ask her to be their coach. With the help of
Mottaz, the quartet is really taking off.
“It’s a lot of work, but I’m happy to do
it,” said Mottaz.
Mottaz recognizes their dedication
at practices and thinks the quartet shows
great potential.
“They’re all really good musicians,” said
Mottaz.
According to junior Raina Petersen, it
really looks like all their practice is making
perfect.
“They sounded great, the symphony
of their voices made me want to join,” said
Raina.
Because of the progress the quartet is
making, they are going to hit the scene this
winter by touring with the choir class.
Aside from performing in front of
friends and strangers, the quartet’s official
debuted was be at Cal High’s Winter Concert
on January 13.
They also performed with the school
choir while the choir carols in San Francisco.
Junior Rachel Abal thinks it’s cool that
the old practice of a barbershop quartet
is making its way to the Cal High music
scene.
“They should sing the national anthem
at our basketball games,” said Rachel.
Barbershop quartets have existed for
more than a century. They were started by
African Americans from the South in the
1870s.
First performing on street corners, these
groups eventually moved into barbershops,
for which they were named.
Barbershop quartets perform a style
of a capella music, or unaccompanied vocal music, with four-part harmonies.The
lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings
the lowest harmonizing tones, and the
baritone harmonizes below the lead.
In Cal High’s barbershop quartet,
Zach is the lead, David is the tenor, Alex
is the baritone, and Andrew is the bass.
All the members of the quartet agree
this is an enjoyable experience they do
for the love of music.
“It’s mostly just for fun,” said Alex.
The barbershop quartet also enjoys
displaying their talent to other Cal High
students.
“We sometimes sing to people when
they don’t know it’s coming, like on their
birthday,” David said. “It just makes their
day.”
In addition to touring locally with the
concert choir this month, the barbershop
quartet will join the class on its East Coast
tour this spring, Mottaz said.
This six-day tour will include stops
in New York City and Boston.
The barbershop quartet will be performing with the choir in places such as
Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, New
York University, Boston University, the
John F. Kennedy Library, and the Berkelee
School of Music in Boston.
The four students in the quartet, who
are also part of the performing choir, will
be singing to give the rest of the choir
a quick break.
“I’m looking forward to singing in
the churches,” said Andrew. “It’s going
to be fun.”
This barbershop quartet is a first
for Cal High, and Mottaz hopes that
the experience will inspire an annual
barbershop quartet.
“I’m excited to have a group of kids
who do this," said Mottaz.
We sometimes sing
to people when they
don’t know it’s coming, like on their birthday,” David said. “It just
makes their day.”
By HELEN WANG
Acalanes High School
CC Spin
News
'Sully' brings the big bird in safely
From SULLENGERGER Page 1
Sullenberger continued to successfully complete his academics at the Air Force Academy,
where he was also an active member of the Cadet
Glider program.
He explained that it was his experience that
helped him in his feat to glide Flight 1549 into
the water. When flying gliders, a pilot only has
one chance to land the aircraft, and Captain Sullenberger fortunately had ample experience with
one-shot landings.
Sullenberger recalled that when he buckled
his seat belt for his very first take off, he was “very
excited and there was just an incredible mixture of
excitement with just a little bit of nervousness.”
Sullenberger spent four decades flying
throughout the United States for US Airways.
He indicated that during his career he had to
make many sacrifices and when questioned about
balancing flying and family he responded, “It’s difficult. I’m gone a lot, I travel. It’s a matter of priorities.
When I’m home, I put my family first.”
As the nine-year-old aircraft continued to climb,
Sullenberger and his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, were
busy coordinating with La Guardia Tower and New
York Departure. A minute and half after taking off
from La Guardia, both Sullenberger and Skiles noticed
that the thrust in both of their engines were quickly
dwindling, following the boom and resulting impact
from the contact with the birds.
Acting quickly, they contacted New York Departure, letting them know that they were turning back to
La Guardia. However, as the in-flight crisis continued
to unfold, Sullenberger elected to divert to Teterboro
Airport in nearby New Jersey, as he realized that they
would not have sufficient speed, altitude, or time to
return back to La Guardia.
Teterboro Tower: “He wants to go to our airport.
Check. Does he need any assistance?”
New York Departure: “Ah yes. He ah he was a bird
strike. Can I get him in for Runway One?”
Teterboro Tower: “Runway One that’s good.”
US Airways 1549: “We can’t do it.”
New York Departure: “Okay. Which runway would
you like at Teterboro?”
US Airways 1549: “We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
That would be the last recorded transmission
from Cactus 1549.
While discussing commercial flying within the
last few decades, Sullenberger quipped, “There are
many more challenges now; it’s much harder. We
work longer hours, but for those who love it, it’s a
rewarding experience.”
But for some pilots, that experience has been
marred by tragedy. Sullenberger recalled 9/11 and
reflected:
“I was driving to work, crossing the San Mateo
Bridge, and by the time I got to the San Francisco
Airport, the Pentagon had been struck and all the
flights had been stopped . . . it was on Thursday
afternoon that I was able to get to work and begin
flying.”
He said he was “anxious, along with a lot of
my colleagues, especially those who were former
military, to get back in the air and get the system
7
March 2009
Snowboarding leads
to professional
opportunities
From SNOWBOARDING Page 1
Photo courtesy of Jega Sanmugam
LOCAL HERO Captain Chesley Sullenberger
greets Doughtery Valley High student journalist
Jega Sanmugam at his Danville home.
going again.”
Following those tragic events, Sullenberger
says there was a sense of mission among his fellow
pilots and cabin crew to ensure that the terrorists
could not defeat the American way of life.
Sullenberger remains so dedicated to his responsibilities as a pilot and as a citizen that upon
his return to Danville from New York, he called
his local library to see if his library books’ late fees
could be waived. The books on professional ethics
he had checked out were now somewhere in the
Hudson River.
In speaking about the future of aviation, Sullenberger said that despite the drastic changes
the airline industry has undergone, “I think the
future could be bright. We’ve done a good job of
improving the technology. We’re doing a better
job of improving the human performance.”
When asked about aviation advancements
and innovations, he said, “At one time, I thought
we would have a supersonic transport (system) by
now, and we haven’t. I hope that we have not lost
our dream to explore.”
Captain Sullenberger maneuvered Flight 1549
with extraordinary skills and gently settled the aircraft
on the Hudson River. The nation watched in awe at
the film of the landing. Sullenberger walked the length
of the aircraft twice to ensure that no one remained
before he disembarked.
Co-pilot Jeffery Skiless also contributed to the
rescue effort by walking up and down the sinking
aircraft, searching for more life vests for those who
had exited the aircraft without one.
Captain Sullenberger, Co-Pilot Skiles, along with
crew members Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh and Sheila
Dail did not just save 155 lives, but also many others–those on the roads and bridges and in the high rise
buildings, business establishments, and surrounding
homes what could have died if the aircraft had not
been set down in the Hudson River.
This humble hero, who is a global sensation,
had a few words for students: “Have a passion in
whatever you wish to do. If you love what you do,
you are likely to be good at. Find someone in your
life that you admire and emulate them.”
Thinking about numbers
Average SAT critical reading score, 2007: 502
Average SAT math score, 2007: 515
Average SAT writing score, 2007: 494
Percent of teenagers 16 and older unemployed in 2007: 4.7%
Average ACT test score, 2007: 21.1
Average English subject area ACT test score, 2007: 20.7
Average Math subject area ACT test score, 2007: 20.1
Average Science reasoning subject area ACT test score, 2007: 21.0
National Center for Educational Statistics
to T-shirts.
Casey is riding with Tahoe Select Snowboard Team (TSST),
where he gets coached by certified United States of America
Snowboard Association (USASA) and United States Snowboard
Association (USSA) coaches Scott Harris, Seth Morrill and Ryan
Erion. Chris Orlady and Danny Witty, who are both 15 and live
in Tahoe, are on TSST with Casey.
“I like riding with Casey because he makes me try new
stuff,” said Chris.
Casey’s dad, Dave Pletz, is very supporting and proud of
what Casey has been able to do in his snowboarding career.
“He has been able to accomplish a lot in the snowboard
world,” Pletz said.
This season, Casey has been riding with his team almost
every weekend there has been snow. He took first place in the
Peanut Butter Rail Jam hosted by Volcom Stone and did a rail
jam in Vacaville for his Rome SDS sponsor.
“Those two rail jams were really fun,” said Casey. “Especially
the Peanut Butter one because I got a nice pair of Volcom nunchucks for winning.”
This year, Casey’s plan is to compete in USSA competitions
across the country and do the smaller competitions put on by
USASA in Tahoe. He also said he is going to film himself with
his camera and try to land some pictures of himself in some
magazines.
Casey started getting really serious about snowboarding
last season when he rode with Squaw Valley Snowboard Team
for the third straight year with his TSST coach Ryan Erion.
Casey moved up to Donner Lake just outside of Truckee with
his dad for the third quarter of last year’s school year. He snow
boarded everyday while going to Venture home school.
“It was awesome moving up there,” said Casey. “I’m hoping
to do the same this year.”
In nationals last season, Casey got second in super pipe,
which is a half pipe with 18-22 feet walls. In his run he did a
front side 900, a move consisting of two and a half full rotations.
He also did a front side crippler 720, a flip with a 360, and three
other 540’s, one and a half full rotations.
In 2007, Casey broke into the scene at nationals by finishing
first in slope style by a huge margin of nine points. From that
performance, some big named companies were interested in
sponsoring Casey.
“Casey has some of the most god given talent I have ever
seen,” said Morrill. “But what is even more impressive is his
respect and great attitude toward everyone.”
San Ramon student shooting victim
By JORDAN HUNG
California High School
San Ramon Valley High School senior
Rylan Fuchs was fatally shot on the front
porch of his Danville home on Jan. 20,
becoming the district’s first student to be
a victim of a homicide while attending one
of its schools, district officials said.
The 17-year-old Danville boy was
taken to the John Muir Medical Center in
Walnut Creek where he later died during
the early hours of Jan. 21 from a single
gunshot wound to the neck, according to
the Contra Costa Times.
A 15-year-old boy accused of the killing
was arrested on Jan. 22 at a relative’s home in Oakland.
The suspect, identified as an acquaintance of Rylan’s, is currently
being held in Juvenile Hall in Martinez on unrelated, unspecified
charges, according to the Times.
Danville police Chief Chris Wenzel said at a news conference on
Jan. 23 that the shooting may have been drug-related.
Rylan’s stepfather, Ron Harmon, told police he was sitting in
the living room when he heard the shot go off at about 9:15 p.m. He
quickly opened the front door, only to see Rylan slouched against it
until falling into his arms, the Times reported.
Rylan was first taken to the San Ramon Valley Regional Medical
Center but doctors there were unable to stabilize him. He was then
taken to the John Muir Medical Center where he died.
Rylan’s death is Danville’s first homicide since January 2007.
Back Page
8
March 2009
CC Spin
Dating abuse endemic among teen couples
By MEENA TAFAZZOLI
M
California High School
arine Biology teacher Bill Pence and
his family were shocked when a police
officer delivered the news of his niece’s
murder.
Jennifer“Jenny”Muhic was only 19 years old in
1994 when her boyfriend was accused of strangling
her and setting her body and her car on fire along
the side of Vasco Road in Livermore.
The on-and-off relationship between Muhic
and her 22-year-old boyfriend had lasted 20
months before its tragic end, but Pence says that
neither he nor Jenny’s parents recognized it as a
potentially dangerous relationship.
“At the time, we thought abusive relationships
were only if one partner was physically abusive
of the other and beat or hurt them,” said Pence.
“Tommy wasn’t any of those things.”
Abuse in a relationship can be physical or verbal, but either way, it can have devastating effects
on the victim and can even lead to death.
“In a healthy relationship, boundaries for the
rights of each partner are respected,”said freshman
health teacher Susan Fitch. “Any time that those
boundaries aren’t respected, you have an abusive
relationship.”
Such abusive relationships are not uncommon,
however well disclosed they may be.
Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), a branch
of the National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline, found
in their 2008 survey that 10 percent of teenage
girls indicate having been hit, punched, slapped,
choked or otherwise physically abused by an angry
partner.
Furthermore, 29 percent of teen girls report
being called names and put down by their boyfriends.
These numbers may seem insignificant to
some, but they show that one in 10 girls suffer from
physically abusive boyfriends, and almost three
times that number are subject to demeaning and
disrespectful verbal abuse.
The boyfriend "would pick on her appearance,
sometimes as petty as making fun of her ‘skinny
calves’,” said Pence. “But it was still hurtful, and it
allowed him to manipulate her.”
Often, friends and relatives can recognize an
abusive relationship before the victim.
Students say they would look for warning
signs such as low self-esteem or sudden changes
in behavior to see if their friends were in an abusive
relationship.
“I would definitely talk to my friend if I saw
that she was in any way uncomfortable when her
boyfriend was around,” said sophomore Kalen
Hendra. “It may not be an abusive relationship, but
it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
10 percent
of teenage
girls have
been hit,
punched,
slapped,
choked or
otherwise
physically
abused
by their
partners.
Other times, the warnings are more obvious.
“I knew my friend’s boyfriend was going too far
when he started reading her texts and made lots
of demands from her,” said junior Stephanie Rebro.
“I made sure to talk to her about it, and she took
steps to end the relationship when she realized it
wasn’t healthy.”
Pence recalls that after Muhic’s first breakup
with her boyfriend he became extremely jealous
and possessive, stalking her at work or when she
was out with her friends.
“He still had verbal and emotional control of
her, and that’s how he persuaded her to come back
to him,” said Pence. “Not long after that she broke
up with him the final time, and he lost it.”
For several years following Muhic’s murder,
Pence and his sister hosted presentations to educate Bay Area students in high schools and middle
schools about such warning signs, which include
jealousy or pressure from one partner to another
to engage in sex, drugs or drink alcohol.
The goal of these presentations, Pence said,
was to prevent others from the threat of potentially
dangerous relationships.
“If my sister and I knew the warning signs,”Pence
said, “Jenny wouldn’t have been murdered.”
If you know someone who is in an abusive
relationship or if you are in an abusive relationship
and would like help, call the National Domestic
Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.
CELL PHONE—a 'Stick-and-poke' tattoos new trend
multipurpose tool
By SASAN KASRAVI
Las Lomas High School
By SAMANTHA HARRIS
Heritage High School
There are plenty of things your cell phone can
do besides make a call. You’ve probably heard of
some of them, but how do you tell fact from fiction?
I put five cell phone tricks to the test.
It would be amazing if dialing six simple
digits could charge your phone. I received an
e-mail a few months ago saying that recharging
your phone on the go was as easy as 1, 2, 3 –or in
this case *3370#.
After dialing this several times only to be met
with the message “incorrect dialing,” I was left with
only disappointment and a dead phone.
The same goes for unlocking my car with my
cell phone. The process seemed easy enough: call
home, have my mom press the unlock button into
her receiver, hold my phone next to my car and the
car should unlock.
Again I was met with disappointment because
like most modern cars, my unlock button doesn’t
use audio tones but a radio transmitter to silently
unlock the door.
Now as for the things that did work. They may
not be as amazing as instant phone power, but they
can come in handy:
* If you have an emergency call to make but
are in a dead zone, dial 112 and your cell phone
will find the nearest existing network to connect
you with an emergency number.
* Someone stole your phone? You can prevent
the thief from using it by calling your service provider and giving the representative your phone’s
serial code. Don’t know it?
Take the battery out of your cell phone. Behind
it is a sticker with a bar code and the letters IMEI
next to a long series of numbers. Write the numbers
down and keep it in a safe place.
* (800) FREE 411. Yes, I know we have address
books in our phones, which have rendered calling
411 nearly useless.
But for people like me, who can’t remember
the number for Domino’s pizza at midnight but
are really, really hungry for Cheesy Bread and are
nowhere near internet access or a phone book, use
(800) FREE 411. It works – and it’s free.
Tattoos are not a recent trend for teenagers, but
do-it-yourself tattoos called “stick-and-poke” are becoming increasingly popular among Las Lomas students.
Stick-and-poke is the process of using a safety pin
and ink to poke thousands of tiny holes in a person’s
skin in order to create a tattoo. Stick-and-pokes can
look as good as a professionally done tattoo, but they
are much more risky.
“Depending on how good the person is and how
patient you are, you can pretty much make it look as
good as you want,” said a tattooed student, who asked
to remain anonymous. “If you want a nice bold one, it’s
a bit of a trade-off [because] you’re going to have to
bleed a little.”
The process takes a long time, according to this
student, and causes considerably more pain than a
professional tattoo.
“It goes numb really fast—after about 200 pokes,”
said the student.
It is illegal for a minor in the state of a California to
Coed PE abolished
From BATTLE OF SEXES Page 1
rity-wise in their freshman year,”Hern adds.“The separation is not a halt in progress. It is helping to meet more
students’ needs.”
The next question students pose is why this year,
why wasn't the change made before?
“The PE staff this year is mainly composed of new
teachers, and the PE department together decided to
try this pilot (program),” explained Mirkovich.
Freshman Rochelle Stiluell thinks the decision to
separate the classes by gender is a step backward.
“People feel more comfortable when boys and girls
are together,” she said.
Mirkovich challenges this statement. She points
to the number of students who don’t dress for PE on
swimming days. She explains that in the coed class
get a tattoo, even with parental consent, because
it is considered child abuse under the California
Penal Code. California defines a tattoo as “inserting pigment under the surface of the skin of a
human being, by pricking with a needle or otherwise, to produce an indelible mark or figure visible
through the skin.”
Stick-and-poke would fall under this definition, which means that it and any other act of tattooing a minor, as well as receiving a tatto when
underage, is punishable by law."
This leads many minors to get illegal tattoos
from professionals after hours or in private, which
has many health risks ranging from minor to major
infections such as hepatitis.
“In some ways, [the stick-and-poke method]
is safer than getting a real tattoo, especially as a
minor, because in a tattoo parlor after hours there
could be hepatitis on the needles and stuff,” said
the student. “As a minor, I would much rather get a
stick-and-poke.”
The simplicity of the process of stick-and-poke
tattoos has caused their popularity to spread
incredibly fast among teens.
students often seemed to be“embarrassed about being
seen in swim suits in front of the opposite sex.”
Stiluell does not agree with the decision to separate
boys and girls in the freshman PE classes because she
believes that in order for girls to be challenged and
to be competitive in class, they need to be together
with boys.
Junior Christian Aguirre was in a coed PE class his
freshman year. He doesn’t think the classes should be
separated. “Everyone should have the same opportunities and not be separated based on gender.”
Tori Meadors, a freshman girl disagrees.“Swimming is much more low-key without the boys,” she
said. “More girls tend to dress and feel better about
swimming.”
So far, indications are that the division will be an
effective tool in reaching the ultimate goal of encouraging more students to pass PE. Based on the increase
in students suiting up and the reduction in behavioral
problems, the separation of the sexes is clearly having
an impact on the physical education atmosphere.