November 2014 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

Transcription

–Page 6
Teen starts
his own
business
–Page 3
ATHLETICS
–Page 2
Slut shaming
and other
harassment
NEWS
NEWS
City funds
campus cops at
Northgate
VIEWPOINT
November 2014
New hoops
coach at
Pittsburg
–Page 9
CC Spin
November 2014
Volume 8 Issue 1
News & Views From Contra Costa County High Schools
School software leak
provides early access
to student schedules
By BENNET BAKER
Acalanes High School
For a short time in August, Acalanes High School
students were able to get early access to some of the
summer’s most anticipated information: class schedules.
School Loop, the online progress report and
homework board used by the district, ran into an issue
this summer when it temporarily revealed preliminary
schedules to students. For the few days before being
removed Aug. 15, visible drafts of student schedules
caused confusion among the student population and
their parents.
Sophomore Lauren Ladrech heard the news about
schedules being posted from a friend, and used the
same method as many students to see her classes. After
opening School Loop’s new mobile application, Ladrech
said that all she and other students had to do was press
"New LoopMail" in the app’s e-mail function, and all of
her teachers were listed in order in the "To" field.
According to Acalanes Union High School District
Director of Educational Services Aida Glimme, many
schedules, like Ladrech’s, were correct, but most were
still in need of changes.
Sophomore Morgan Rogers also heard that
schedules were visible, but the teachers displayed for
her didn’t match her final, official schedule that she
received on Don’s Day.
Incorrect schedules like Rogers’ led many parents
to contact Acalanes, requesting schedule adjustments,
further complicating the issue.
“We had parents and students calling in with any
mistake they had seen, so that’s the problem we had
with it. Before we had the chance to correct mistakes,
you were seeing drafts of the schedule,” said Glimme,
who left her post as principal at Acalanes at the end of
the school year last year for her position in Educational
Services.
Acalanes counselor Ann Schonauer said that there
are always students changing their schedules over the
summer, so the school was prepared, but counselors
prefer to have scheduling done before change requests
are made.
Aries, the school’s data management system,
completes about 95 percent of scheduling,“but there are
a few conflicts that we have to fix by hand,” Schonauer
said.
The culprit was a bug in the code of School Loop’s
newest update. The bug caused School Loop to
automatically pull any available data school systems had,
without confirmation. As a result, the schedules sitting in
Aries were pulled into School Loop before management
intended for them to be released.
The issue was sent to the district office, according to
counselor Susan Martin. While the problem was being
fixed, Principal Allison ��
Silvestri sent an email to the parents of Acalanes students, alerting families to the issue
and warning them that the schedules were drafts and
could change before the start of school.
The disclosure of schedules isn’t unique to Acalanes.
Glimme said that every district using School Loop had
the problem because the bug was in the newest update,
one of the biggest in years. That means up to 4,000
schools across 30 states potentially had the same issue,
putting a lot of pressure on School Loop to fix the issue.
See SCHOOL SOFTWARE LEAK Page
3
NBA BOUND Northgate senior Spencer Judd (right) and
brother Caden, a freshman, stand with Jabari Parker a top
prospect in the 2014 NBA Draft. See story on Page 8.
IN SYNC The Northgate High Jazz Band performs at the 57th annual Monterey Jazz Festival Sept. 21.
Jazz band a Monterey Festival hit
By STEPHANIE PICK
Northgate High School
One month into school, a group of
musicians experienced the performance
of a lifetime when Northgate High School’s
jazz band performed Sept. 21 at the 57th
annual Monterey Jazz Festival.
The spot on stage was a prize after last
year’s jazz band passed two milestones in
the spring. First, they placed in the top 12
of 140 high school bands from around the
country who auditioned by recording for
the student Next Generation Jazz Festival.
Once there, Northgate out-performed the
other 11 bands, earning top honors and a
coveted spot at this year’s world-renowned
festival.
“Anyone who is anyone in jazz has
played at this festival,” senior Mitchell Collard said. “It’s a pretty big deal.”
Collard, a drummer, is part of the
band—including seven who graduated
and are now in college—who traveled to
Monterey, where they played for 40 minutes
on the Garden Stage, one of many venues
at the Monterey County Fairgrounds.
The band practiced several times over
the summer, the night before and morn-
ing they left for Monterey. Thanks to a
concerted fundraising effort over the past
six months, the Northgate Instrumental
Music Boosters raised the $5,000 needed
to cover transportation and hotel rooms
for the weekend event.
Students played a 40-minute set, and
they also listened to famous jazz artists.
“That’s something that’s special from
the point of view of a teacher,”music director
Greg Brown said. “One of the things I teach
is jazz culture, and that is what we get there.”
Brown has been to the qualifying Next
Generation spring festival 13 times with
three different schools during his career,
including the last six years in a row with
Northgate.
However, only one of Brown’s past
bands made it to the Monterey Festival,
25 years ago.
“This year was very nostalgic. I thought
about those students,”Brown said. “Getting
to the stage, being with these musicians,
bringing the seniors back—it was really
special all around.”
“I also thought about the Northgate
students who have helped us build this
program.”
Three have been his own children.
Son Jeff graduated in 2013 and is in the
music program at Cal State Northridge.
Sophomore daughters Katie, on flute, and
Lauren, on piano, were part of the Monterey
performance.
“That was really special too,”Brown said.
Saxophone player Ben Lugten cited
two performances he and other Northgate
musicians listened to by professional trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire as a highlight
of the festival weekend.
The Oakland native and Berkley high
school graduate studied jazz at USC, where
Northgate graduate Edward Evans is a freshman in the university’s jazz studies program.
“I got to see a lot of great performances
and the atmosphere was awesome,” Evans
said.
Matt Assily, Anna Waletzko, Leah Guerrero, Alex Branson, James Harrington and
Matt Torbett also returned from college to
perform.
Although sad that Monterey is over,
many are looking forward to working to win
that same spot in next year’s 58th Monterey
Jazz Festival.
“I am inspired to expand my musicianship as a drummer to achieve the privilege
to go back next year,” Mitchell Collard said.
Student suicide shocks
Clayton Valley campus
By COURTNEY FISHER & CAMBRIA ROJAS
Clayton Valley Charter High School
Imagine walking into a classroom on a
typical Friday morning. Instead of smiles and
waves you are greeted with tears, worried faces
and concerned teachers trying to console the
class. One of your classmates passed away the
night before.
Shockwaves run throughout your body,
your heart hurts in an inexplicable way. How
could this be happening?
On Friday Sept. 12, this is exactly what
Public Service Academy students at Clayton
Valley Charter High School experienced as
they arrived to class and learned that one of
their own, Wyatt Bredell, had taken his life
one day earlier.
The Public Service Academy and the
entire school were rocked by this unexpected
tragedy and it seemed as if everything came
to a screeching halt that gloomy morning.
The Public Service Academy teachers
remained strong and talked to their classes
about something that no teacher should
ever have to discuss with their students. They
encouraged the older students to collaborate
with the underclassmen in finding a way to
remember Wyatt properly.
They discussed Wyatt’s legacy, his funniest
moments, and the many ways he touched their
lives. Many of the kids chose to write some of
these memories on posters and invited other
students to join in.
Wyatt was loved by so many people,
and after his death many of his friends felt as
though they needed to contribute something
to honor him. Students decorated his locker,
wrote letters to him, and signed posters that
included their favorite memories of him.
Many academy students decided to collaborate with Wyatt’s family to set up a candlelight vigil at The Grove in Clayton. Senior Alyssa
Diquattro led this project. “I feel like the vigil
was a good way for the PSA to stand behind
him and show that we would do anything
for him,” she said. “We always say that as an
academy now we had a chance to show it”.
Over 200 community members participated in Wyatt’s vigil and several Clayton Valley
students spoke on his behalf.
On Wednesday September 17, many
students attended a celebration of Wyatt’s life
at his church across the street from Clayton
Valley. An acoustic version of Johnny Cash’s
“Walk the Line” filled the church as his friends,
family, and classmates paid their respects to
him one final time.
A sea of Public Service Academy students
dressed in black, sat together and comforted
one another throughout the beautiful service.
School officials urged students to call
these numbers if they are struggling with
depression or are considering hurting themselves. Suicide is a permanent solution to a
temporary problem and it is 100 percent avoidable. The Clayton Valley community is here to
help; we wouldn’t be the same without you.
*Crisis and Suicide: 800-833-2900
*Grief: 800-837-1818
Drunk students
ejected from
football game
By CHRISTIAN BERGER
Monte Vista High School
Several Monte Vista students
under the influence of alcohol were
escorted off the stadium premises
at the first home football game on
Friday, Sept. 5.
These students, mostly concentrated in the junior and senior sections of the stands, caused trouble
by blocking the way of spectators,
cursing, and pushing bleachers full
of students over. Some students
believe the incident was a result of
lack of enthusiasm for the school
community.
“It doesn’t represent Monte Vista
at all,” sophomore Andrew Manna
said.“These are the same people who
hate showing school spirit and don’t
appreciate the leadership class.”
Many students feel that situations like these are an embarrassment to Monte Vista’s positive and
healthy atmosphere.
“I think it was a good idea to kick
them out,” junior class President
Renee Masukawa said. “Schoolsponsored events, especially football
games, are also family events. It looks
distasteful and sets a bad example.”
See DRUNK STUDENTS Page
3
News
2
November 2014
CC Spin
Teacher shortage frustrates students
By MEGAN NETHERCUTT
students are falling behind,” exclaimed
junior Laura Bloom.
Many students are aggravated, and
their parents are also voicing their opinions
on the problem. Parents attending Back to
School Night talked to substitutes and administration about what is being done, and
more importantly what isn’t being done.
Junior Nikki Apana’s mother, a substitute
teacher herself, voiced her concerns in an
interview.
“I am greatly disturbed by the fact that
my daughter doesn’t have a pre-calculus
teacher,” Kim Apana said.
“It is a shame that the district didn’t
realize that Northgate was missing multiple
math teachers prior to the beginning of
the school year. I am deeply frustrated for
her and her classmates, as she states that
they are all having difficulties completing
homework and understanding the lesson.”
Vice Principal Rick Aistrope explained
that missing teachers is not just a Northgate
High School problem.
“This is a problem that is stretching beyond the district and becoming a statewide
problem. In one of the superintendent’s
newsletters, she indicated that statewide
there are more positions available than
qualified teachers,” said Aistrope.
The majority of students finding
themselves without teachers are juniors.
Students say they are concerned because
junior and senior year are the two most
important years in a student’s high school
career. With SATs and ACTs coming up, many
parents are concerned that their sons and
daughters are falling behind.
Pre-calculus isn’t just the only class
without an assigned teacher for the year.
What happens when a student walks
into class and there is no teacher?
Hundreds of Northgate High School
students were without a permanent teacher
for weeks after school started. With open
positions for two math teachers, a Spanish
teacher, and art teacher students began
to worry.
Many students experienced this before
ever having to walk into their classrooms.
During Northgate’s walkthrough before
the start of school, students were handed
their schedules with the frustrating words
“STAFFED” written under the teacher
category. People, including teachers and
students, thought this was going to be
a problem that would be acknowledged
rather quickly. This wasn’t the case.
“At first we were all excited. Who
wouldn’t want to walk in and see that their
teacher wasn’t there? But after the first
week, it got slightly annoying. In the fourth
week, you could say students are becoming
highly frustrated,” said junior Megan Ikeda,
who as of September 14 still didn’t have a
pre-calculus teacher.
Students taking pre-calculus had a test
the second week of school, but they were
upset after finding out their substitute
teacher was going to be distributing it.
“I am frustrated because in general
math is not one of my strongest subjects.
Not having a teacher makes it much more
difficult. We are being tested on materials
which we do not understand. It’s not fair
that for the whole first month of school we
haven’t had a teacher. I, along with many
The Spanish and history departments are
also short teachers. Some students even
have as many as two classes without teachers. Junior Max Muskat is one.
“I think it’s disappointing I can’t have
a fair start to the first semester and will be
behind due to incapable substitutes. I’m falling behind in history and algebra II, my two
most challenging subjects”, said Muskat.
Mackenzie Champion, a freshman, also
in two classes without teachers, is frustrated
with how the situation is being handled.
“At the beginning of every week we
are told that the following week we will be
assigned a teacher,” said Champion, who
currently has math and Spanish classes
with substitutes.
“ The next week comes and it will be a
different substitute teacher, not a permanent one. It has become very annoying for
my classmates and me.”
As the fifth week of school approached,
pre-calculus honors classes finally received
teachers. The shocking news is that the
teachers are math instructors Greg Lyons
and Peter Ceresa. Both of these teachers
are already teaching a full schedule, and
are now losing their prep periods to take
on an extra class.
“Losing a prep period isn’t something
that is unusual, but it is an extra step for
everybody that is trying to take that extra
class on,” stated Ceresa. Teachers who take
on extra courses beyond their five-class
schedule are compensated for the extra
work.
In the end, this problem isn’t just affecting teachers but also students. “I just
hope everything gets resolved quickly,”
said Champion.
Lafayette Youth Arts Society's
contest inspires student creativity
Writing, photography contests allow teens to express their more artistic side
By SIAN MARSHALL
Creating and running a contest is a lot
like being an entrepreneur but without the
benefits of making a profit.
Acalanes sophomore Uma Unni and
freshman Linnae Johansson learned this
first hand in 2013 when they founded the
Lafayette Youth Arts Society. This contest is
now run by Unni and Campolindo sophomore Zoe Portnoff and is quickly picking
up speed.
“We’re a society which puts on events
which let middle school writers and photographers in Lafayette show off their talents
and skills,” Unni said.
The idea for the society stemmed from
Unni’s own frustration as a middle schooler.
When she started writing seriously, Unni
found it difficult to get feedback. She realized that while there were ways for people
to show off their sport, painting and drawing skills, there weren’t any local Lafayette
writing or photography contests.
Her freshman year of high school, Unni
and Johansson, an eighth grade student at
the time, founded the LYAS, which is open
to all Lafayette middle schoolers.
Portnoff, who attended Stanley Middle
School with Unni before parting ways to go
to Campolindo, saw an article about LYAS in
Lamorinda Weekly and asked if she could
get involved. Because she had to focus on
her studies, Johansson “took a sabbatical”
according to the LYAS website, so Portnoff
took her place.
LYAS is not an official organization, as
that would be difficult and expensive for
high school students to create. Instead, it
is more of a club that encourages middle
school students to be creative by awarding
the winners with prizes.
Each entry has a chance to win
first, second, and third place, honorable
mention, and Most Creative. First place
winners receive $300–which is given to
LYAS by sponsors–two books, including
one signed by "A Heartbreaking Work of
Staggering Genius" author Dave Eggers, a
place on the LYAS website, and a chance to
show off their entry at an awards ceremony.
Last year’s first place winner in writing
is current Acalanes freshman Kate Gilberd,
who now feels more confident sharing her
writing.
“Not many people knew I was a writer
before the contest, just my close friends,”
Gilberd said.“I feel like not only more people
know about my writing now, but also I know
who some of the teen and pre-teen writers
are in Lafayette.”
Even though it was started from
scratch, the contest gained momentum
when Unni and Johansson emailed the
major Lafayette middle schools to inform
them about the program. Some classes even
made it an assignment to submit an entry.
Last year, the two categories had a total
of 150 entries, and that number is expected
to rise in coming years now that the contest
has gained recognition in Lafayette. The
founders hope that LYAS will eventually
become an annual fixture similar to the Art
and Wine Festival.
Because Unni and Portnoff are both
students, they aren’t allowed to judge
the competition, so they asked Bay Area
photographers and writers to make the
final verdicts. The judging panel consists of
three judges for each category. Last year’s
photography judges included Morris Johnson, Enlightened Images’ Gary Crabbe, and
Keeney and Law’s Michael Keeney.
Keeney has been workin��
g in the industry for almost 10 years. He was drawn to the
contest because of how much photography
has changed over the years.
“It was a contest for students that are
all about the same age that I was when I
started to play with a camera,” Keeney said.
“It felt like I was going full circle a little bit in
being able to give back in this way.”
The judges look for strong composition, a connection to the topic or prompt,
and something that elicits an emotional
response from readers or viewers.
Crabbe, an Acalanes alumnus, finds
storytelling and personal vision to also be
important for a successful photograph. He
sees photography as a form of communication and found it hard to narrow down the
pool of finalists.
“The most difficult part of being a
judge is obviously having to exclude images
that are so good and visually worthy of
winning consideration, simply because
there are too many good photos being
entered in only a few can win,” Crabbe said.
The judges for writing were Happy
Valley Elementary School teacher Cheri
Facer, Jonathan Shelley, who is a Ph.D.
candidate at UC Berkeley, and author
Daniel Handler, who is better known as
"The Series of Unfortunate Events author
Lemony Snicket."
“He lent us his credibility,” Unni said.
With Handler on board, the contest rose
in status.
Shelley, who was Unni’s “Analytical
Writing” teacher for the 2013 UC Berkeley
Academic Talent Development Program,
found something to love in every entry he
read last year for the contest, but the best
ones were always dramatic and intriguing.
“There is nothing unnecessary,” Shelley
said on what makes an entry unique.
“Everything, every detail, every description,
every part of the narrative, every sentence,
matters.”
From the perspective of an elementary
school teacher, Facer liked seeing how the
Society encourages young people to get
involved with the arts and hopes that all
contestants will keep writing even if they
don’t win a prize.
While not all the judges for the
upcoming contest have been announced,
this year’s celebrity writing judge is Robert
Hass, who is a Poet Laureate from 1995-1997
and a Pulitzer Prize winner.
This year, ��
Unni and Portnoff are grooming six middle school liaisons from Stanley
Middle School and Contra Costa Jewish Day
School to take over when the two of them
go off to college. Unni and Portnoff encourage every
middle school student, no matter what skill
level, to enter.
“They’ll at least get to see how good
professional writers think they are, and
that’s always a nice thing to know,”Unni said.
This year’s prompt has not been unveiled, but those interested in submitting
an entry should fill out a form found on
the Lafayette Youth Arts Society’s website
at www.lyas.org. This year’s deadline is Jan.
30, and the winners will be announced in
March.
COP ON CAMPUS Walnut Creek Officer Raquel Cantillion talks
with (left to right) Northgate High freshmen Emma Smethurst,
Caroline Allen, Danielle Dominiquez, Gillian Maraccini and Kayla
Nelson. Photo by Alena Elze, Northgate High School.
City funds campus cops
By OMAR POPAL & MAX MUSKAT
Students and teachers weren’t the only ones who
arrived at school in August. A Walnut Creek police officer
also started the back-to-school routine and will remain
at Northgate all year.
Officer Raquel Cantillon is now walking the halls,
and she will be helping Northgate in case of any law
enforcement need. According to Cantillon, the Walnut
Creek Police Department has a new chief who is trying
to place school resource officers in most of the schools
in Walnut Creek.
“I think it’s a good group of kids,” Cantillon said a few
weeks after school started. “Most kids are good and not
getting in trouble, doing the right thing. Generally I like
the kids here; it’s a nice little community.”
According to Interim Principal Ron Leone, the city
of Walnut Creek is funding school resource officers for
all of the city’s schools. “This is an initiative that was
started by the city of Walnut Creek. They asked that we
have school resource officers to be in both Northgate
as well as Las Lomas.”
Leone said that in addition to officers located in
Walnut Creek schools, the city of Concord is also involved
with the initiative.
“We now have police at all of the schools in Concord
as well,” he stated.
He also said the officer will be available to deal with
issues ranging from harassment and bullying to drug and
alcohol problems. Most importantly, he said he hopes
that the police presence will be a deterrent to student
problems, providing a communication method before
a problem gets out of control.
Leone called the addition of an officer a proactive,
rather than reactive way to provide school and student
safety. “You head off a lot of issues when students are
able to come to the police ahead,” he added.
Cantillon has a small office upstairs in the vice principal section of the office. However, she can often be found
at the stairs above the forum or walking in the hallways.
Some days she goes to Foothill Middle School or one of
the three elementary schools in the area.
Cantillon says her plan is to get to know Northgate’s
students and staff, and get to know Northgate’s needs.
In terms of crime, Cantillon says she will wait and see
what information teachers and students bring to her.
She added that she hopes her presence will reduce
problems on and off campus.
“What you guys do on the weekends, it follows
you back to school on Monday. Part of the hope is with
knowing there is a cop on campus all the time. It’s going
to deter some of the crime that you guys might bring
here,” Cantillon said.
Senior Jordan Brown said it’s good that Northgate
has an officer on campus and that Cantillonis is very
kind. “I think she’s super nice. She seems very helpful,”
Brown said. “I feel the administration made this out to be
really serious, but when you talk to her she’s super chill.”
“I believe that the presence of a police officer will
provide a form of safety but she can be doing more
productive things instead of just sitting in her office all
day,” Junior John Basbas said.
Senior Natalie Weddle questioned whether Northgate really needs as harsh a measure as a cop on campus.
“Some people still don’t have teachers in some of
their classes; I think that’s a bit more important than
having police at Northgate.” Weddle said.
Leone said that having a campus law enforcement
officer is “uniformly done” at many schools. He cited
Antioch and Fremont as examples.
“It’s a proven measure,” he said. “We have a great
campus. We have a great student body. But if we could
help just a few handfuls of kids, it is worth it.”
New principal Michael McAlister also had an opinion
about having a police officer on a school campus.“I think
anything that can be put in place that can support student
learning or support the environment constructively is a
worthy experiment,” McAlister said.
SHORT ON SHORT FLAGS: Spirit squad turnover hinders team building
By NATALIE BOOKER
At the first rally of the school year, students
noted the shortage of Monte Vista High School
flag girls. What once was a team of seven is
now only four.
Short Flags have been a crowd favorite
in rallies for years and even used to perform
during football games. What’s to blame for
this abrupt decline in participation? With
graduating seniors, the returning short flag
performers had to find replacements. Tryouts
to be on team take place after homecoming
week, and by the winter rally there will hopefully be more than four members.
Short Flags members practice every day at
lunch behind the student center. Candidates
have to be physically prepared, but mentally
prepared as well.
“When we go to camps, it is funny because
many other teams tell us that when we catch
the flags we have an expression of surprise and
relief. This is fine, but you cannot show emotion when you drop it,” said senior Michaela
Rubinfeld, a member of the team since her
sophomore year.
The ideal short flag member would be
hardworking, athletic and able to work under
pressure or in front of a large group of people.
Boys are also encouraged to try out.
The Short Flags sqaud has struggled in
the past to find people who are willing to be
on the team year-round. Many members have
quit before the season is over, which sets back
the members who are year-long participants.
“We get around 20 boys during the club
fair who sign up as a joke. We need people on
the team who are willing to put in the hours
and won’t quit due to outside reasons halfway
through the season,” said senior Erika Chun.
As long as Short Flags are willing to perform, the leadership class says they will always
be invited to be in the rally lineup.
3
News
CC Spin
November 2014
ALA ice bucket challenge vs. California drought
By BAILEY LUTTRELL
Have you poured a bucket of ice water
over your head lately?
No? Well many students at Northgate High
School have. The infamous “I was nominated
by (fill in name) to do the ALS ice bucket challenge” flooded the feeds of Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook, Vine, and all other social media
networks last summer. This worldwide trend
has not only raised more than $100 million, but
has spread awareness for ALS, or Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as
Lou Gehrig’s disease.
What is Lou Gehrig’s disease? It is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells
in the spinal cord and brain and eventually
leads to loss of muscle and brain control and
total paralysis.
Despite raising thousands upon thousands of dollars for a worthy cause, the ALS
challenge is coming under attack for wasting
water.
Right now, California is in one of the worst
droughts seen in decades. Precautions have
been taken to conserve water, such requiring
residents to only water thier lawns at certain
times, refraining from refilling swimming pools,
auto-stop drinking fountains.
But what about dumping water over a
person?
From Twitter trends to Facebook pages,
people are voting to put a stop to this challenge because it wastes water. I talked with a
few students to gauge their reactions to ALS
and the California drought.
Senior Jessica Mastrelli pondered care-
fully when asked if she thought that California
residents should cease ice bucket challenges
due to the drought.
“That’s such a hard question! No, I don’t,”
she said. “ALS is taking so many lives and these
nominations and donations are raising money
as well as awareness. People still shouldn’t
waste water!”
When Baily Locatelli, a sophomore, was
asked the same question he hesitated before
answering.
“No, it shouldn’t stop because donations
of $10 and sometimes more are helping the
people who have Lou Gehrig’s disease. That’s
killing more people than the drought.”
But Skyler Morford, a freshman, expressed
his worries about the California drought.
“I’m slightly concerned about the drought
starting wildfires and burning down our cabin,”
he said.
Freshman Hunter Peeff gave a nuanced
reason why ice bucket challenges shouldn’t
stop.
“Well, from saying how much water has
already been wasted, we’re kind of paying back
what we’ve already done by giving money to
people who need it, which is those who are
diagnosed with ALS.”
Northgate students are also compromising every day to conserve water. Jeff Whittington, a junior, refrains from watering his lawn.
Hunter Peeff is encouraging his family to switch
to a turf lawn. Jessica Mastrelli, a senior, is also
conserving by not washing her car.
These actions are a reflection that whether
it’s donating money to a charity, raising awareness for a life-threatening disease, or working
to save water, Northgate stays involved.
False alarms disrupt MV campus
By CHRIS BORTOLON
The blaring wail of the fire
alarm has become a common sound
around the Monte Vista High School
campus, with four in the first two
months of school.
During the last school year, a
majority of the fire alarms occured
during the installment of the new
fire-security system and construction of the new student center
building.
These alarms were accidental
and largely unavoidable.
This year, on the other hand,
every one of the four false-alarms
was triggered by hookah pens.
Many students, however, continue to bring their vapor devices for
use at school, despite the fact they
often have alarming consequences.
Just one puff can set off the fire alarm
system, which sounds the alarms and
notifies the fire department.
If the office is able to locate
where the alarm is set off and determine that there is no threat, the
fire authorities can be stopped from
coming.
However, if personnel in the
office don't make a determination
in time, the fire department races
up to the school to investigate, as it
did on Sept. 29 at lunch.
Repeat visits to the campus for
false alarms can result in a $1,200
service fee per false alarm from the
Fire Department
The person responsible for the
alarm can face significant penalties.
According to the student handbook,
anyone responsible for a false alarm
can face "imprisonment in a county
jail or . . . a fine not exceeding $1,000,
or both (pg. 22)".
This means that students will
have a misdemeanor mark on their
record on top of fines and potential
jail time, in addition to the repayment of the fire department service
charges.
On top of damaging effects to
the perpetrator, the large volume
of fire alarms has implications for
everyone at Monte Vista.
For instance, during a fire alarm,
the fire doors and vents in the 200
and 400 buildings will automatically
close as a way to minimize fire damage. The only way these countermeasures can be undone is by disabling
the buildings’ systems, meaning no
heat or air conditioning for extended
periods.
On top of all this is the general
disruption of class periods and lunch
times. Many students have reported
that the recurrence of these fire
alarms had become a nuisance,
interrupting class activities and
shortening lunch times.
“After a while, the fire alarms become annoying,”junior Noah Sol said.
Admin attempts to cut food in classrooms
By BRIANA WILLIAMS
The cafeteria may be coming
up with new food ideas but the
classroom sure isn’t.
Clayton Valley’s rules on food
in the classroom have become
a lot stricter this year, with the
administration making an effort to
end any eating inside the classroom.
Teachers were instructed to
allow no food to be eaten in the
classrooms. This rule was instated
due to Clayton Valley’s past pest
problem and several other issues.
Teachers say that food during
class can become a distraction and
a mess. Microwaves and refrigerators
that teachers may have in class for
students provide heat and shelter
for potential pests.
For many students however,
food in class can provide the breakfast and energy they need. One
Clayton Valley teacher has even admitted that she “doesn’t completely
understand the rule” but is “Okay
with having a rule if it’s really going
to do what it’s supposed to do”.
Despite this
rule being in place,
many students continue to eat in class
with no problem.
When thir ty
Clayton Valley students were asked
whether or not they
still eat in class, only
one student polled
said no.
School officials
say this can become a big problem
since it takes very
little for pests such
as cockroaches to
thrive. They only
need food, water
and warmth to live.
th
Cockroaches carry PEST BAIT? A freshman in Greg Rosewell’s 6 Period
over forty different English class eats as he does his assignment. Photo by
diseases such as Jillian Argento, Clayton Valley Charter High School.
plague, pneumonia,
typhoid fever, and
good intentions to stop pests from
other diseases that can potentially inhabiting classrooms seem to be
be transferred to humans.
in vain, and Clayton Valley Charter
Some students and teachers faculty and students may be seeing
feel the administration's effort and some familiar pests in the future.
School software leak
releases schedules
From SCHOOL SOFTWARE
CLOSE SHAVE Andres Ruvalcaba, a senior at Northgate High School, smiles
while cutting the hair of a customer. Photo curtesy of Andres Ruvalcaba,
Northgate High.
Teen starts his own business
By JEREMY MONITZ
When the 3:05 bell rings at Northgate High School, it signifies a
short break from education for Andres Ruvalcaba, an 18-year-old senior
who loves to cut hair. His passion for hair is so strong that he decided
to open up his own business right in his own home.
Halfway through his sophomore year in high school, Ruvalcaba
chased his dreams of becoming a barber and enrolled in Urban Barber
College. After many months of barber school, Ruvalcaba felt comfortable
enough with his skills to open up his home on weekends for cutting the
hair of friends and family, at the cost of just $10.
“I do lineups, comb-overs, female haircuts, and pretty much any
other haircut. Mostly customers come in for lineups because it’s most
in style right now.”
Cutting hair has occupied so much of Andres’s life that one might
wonder what compelled him to become a barber. He recalls how he
started out by “lining up” one of his buddies. Lining up means using a
flat mechanical razor to straighten out edges of hair.
“I really liked the feel of cutting hair and my friend really liked the
lineup too. I also cut my dad’s and my older brother’s hair.”
Andres’ hair has always been a very high priority in his life, and he
knew if he enrolled in Urban Barber College, he wouldn’t have to pay
for his own haircuts anymore, which had been a weekly expense.
So he enrolled in barber college on April 9, 2013. He has gone there
every weekday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the last one-and-a-half years.
When asked how he has time for homework and relaxation, he
said he sleeps a lot less – getting less than five hours of sleep a night.
Andres has already logged 1,400 hours of barber school. To obtain
a barber’s license he needs 1,500, and he predicts he’ll achieve that
around May.
“After I get my license, I plan on going to a four year college and
getting a major in accounting and a minor in business management.
I’m definitely going to get my name known around campus so when I
graduate and open up my own barber shop, people will know where
to go for a fresh cut.”
Page 1
Once the problem was brought to the district’s
attention, administrators shut down communication
between School Loop and district data until School
Loop’s programmers corrected the program.
Fortunately for Acalanes and many other schools,
the response from School Loop was quick and effective.
“Any time you use technology, whatever it is,
hardware; software, you’re always encountering some
type of a glitch,” said Glimme. This year, there was an
increase in technological problems in the first week
because of School Loop’s new version, but those issues
have been corrected.
“Overall, while we tend to focus on the negative and
the challenges, the positive and the number of times
technology is working by far supersedes when it’s not
working,” Glimme said. Drunk students booted
From DRUNK STUDENTS Page
1
Administrators confirm that under-age drinking
at any Monte Vista event will not be tolerated.
“We are very disappointed,”Vice Principal John Paul
Ballou said. “We’ll be sure to up our security measures.
Underage drinking is an issue that needs to be dealt
with accordingly to keep Monte Vista safe.”
(C) MCT 2014
Snack days break the classroom routine
By NICHOLAS LIVSON
Throughout the school day, one thing
remains certain – students are hungry.
Eating breakfast at seven in the morning and then lunch at noon can prove to
be a little bit of a time crunch for ravenous
teenagers.
It seems that teachers at Monte Vista
High School are catching on to this dilemma
as the years go on. Recently, you can see
an increase on the number of snack days
in some classes.
When I say snack days, I mean days
where students can bring in snacks for the
rest of the class to enjoy.
Now this isn’t a one-man team sort
of deal. Usually students will sign up for
particular days when they are supposed
to bring in snacks for themselves, their
classmates and even their teachers.
Technically, students aren’t required to
participate in these days but are very much
so urged on by their fellow classmates. More
food, more fun.
Teachers who participate in these
snack days see them as a way to lift up
students’ spirits on otherwise uniform
weekdays.Nicole Messian, an Monte Vista
High advisory teacher, loves to take part
in snack days.
“Food is a social thing and every now
and then, students need a break from
the school rigor to just enjoy a snack and
casually chat with their classmates,” Messian said.
Some teachers also see snack days as
great ways to bond with your classmates.
Taking a couple minutes one day out of
the week and spending some quality time
with your classmates can prove to be crucial when trying to develop a comfortable
workplace at school.
History teacher Gina Henehan sees
snack days as a way to bridge the different
social groups in class together.
“Sharing food breaks down all the barriers in group cliques on campus,” Henehan
said. “It brings the class together and they
look forward to class.”
News
4
November 2014
CC Spin
McAlister late for school, but hits ground running
By EMILY WRIGHT
He missed the first four weeks of school,
but this person’s absences don’t count. That’s
because he’s Northgate’s new principal.
Principal Michael McAlister’s first day was
Sept. 25. He immediately got to work, meeting
formally and informally with staff and students.
“What’s amazing to me is how well the
school has been doing despite the fact that
there has been some uncertainty, and that
speaks to an incredible staff and an incredible
group of kids and parents that have been able
to help the institution along even when challenges are arising,” McAlister said on his first
day at Northgate.
The Mt. Diablo Unified School District
hired McAlister after a three-month search that
started in July, after the late June resignation
of former Principal John McMorris, who had
been at Northgate for six years.
McMorris did not say where he was going
in a letter he sent to the community announcing his resignation.
McAlister was associate principal for three
years at Orinda’s Miramonte High School in the
Acalanes High School Unified School Districts,
and this year had worked at Las Lomas High
School in Walnut Creek as an associate principal
for six weeks before leaving for Northgate.
McAlister taught U.S. government and economics, psychology and leadership during his
16 years at Acalanes High School in Lafayette,
his alma mater, and at Stanley Middle School
in Lafayette.
McAlister says his teaching experience will
help him as a principal.
“As a teacher you are in the classroom;
you see how learning happens. That’s all I’m
really trying to facilitate. All I’m really trying
to do is help teachers help you guys,” McAlister explained while talking with students his
second day on campus.
“That’s my job. Any really good principal
that I’ve ever come across in my professional life
has always been really effective at supporting
the teachers as they support the kids.”
McAlister brings with him a resume that
includes experience acting in New York and
working as a stand-up comedian, as a high
school water polo coach and as a monk.
McAlister was a monk in Thailand in a forest
monastery, a monk in Katmandu Nepal, and
he spent six months in silence in a Zen center
in Marin County. He has written a book about
the experience.
McAlister surfs at Ocean Beach, Pacifica,
and in Santa Cruz, and he is also
busy with his family that includes
two young daughters.
Northgate began this school
year with an interim principal,
Ron Leone, a current Concord City
Council member with high school
administrative background.
Sept. 19 was Leone’s last day as
interim principal, although he will
continue to coach the Northgate
mock trial team and be available as
a substitute teacher.
Principal McAlister is hopeful
that the year will continue to run
smoothly.
“I’m excited to be here. There’s
so much that we can capitalize on,”
he said. “It is an impressive place ON THE JOB New principal Michael McAlister of Northgate
with an incredibly impressive High School didn't arrive for the beginning of school but
student population. Great parent soon made up for lost time. Photo by Jackson McDonough,
community, great staff, just all the Northgate High School.
way around we’ve got everything in
place for really neat things to unfold.
to have kids,” McAlister said.
“On a personal level, I think that one of
“This idea that we are more than just our
the most important things that we as a school GPA’s, we are more than just our ACT and SAT
can do is help students become good citizens, scores and achievements in numerical form.
help them become good partners, help them We are people, we are humans and that is esbecome good parents even if they choose not sentially the business we are in.”
Collaboration
A reader's dream
Book and literary lover
Burkhalter takes the
helm of Acalanes’ library
By IRIS WANT
TEAMWORK Keely Shea Collar, Northgate High School, and Joshua Blakes, Pittsburg High,
share ideas for an 800 word essay at a journalism training at the Contra Costa Times on Oct.
11. Professional journalist Jenn Mattson, who covers stories all over the world from New York
City, was the instructor. Photo by S. O'Donoghue.
New principal brings fresh energy
and enthusiasm to Acalanes High
By MEGAN YEE
The woman depicted standing beneath a guanacaste tree in a painting on Allison Silvestri’s office wall
is none other than Silvestri herself– Acalanes’ energetic
new principal.
Her journey as an educator began 12 years ago in
the exact setting depicted in her tree painting: a rural
village in Costa Rica. This year, Silvestri took the helm
of Acalanes following former Principal Aida Glimme’s
promotion to the position of Educational Services Director for the district.
“This is an amazing staff and support staff. The
teachers are tremendous, and I’m very fortunate to work
with them,” Silvestri said. “If I had one student ask me
how my first day was going or how my first week was
going, I had dozens. I feel so lucky that students were
so welcoming.”
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in English and
Secondary Education and master’s degrees in Mild/
Moderate Special Needs and Public Administration from
Boston College, Silvestri set out on an unconventional
career path in education.
In Costa Rica, she volunteered with World Teach
and taught English to kindergarten through sixth graders. During her time there, she taught a high school age
boy with impressive artistic talent.
“He is an amazing artist, and I commissioned him
to do the one with the tree,” Silvestri said. “That tree is
on the highway from the airport to the town I lived in.
I tutored him in the evenings and I taught his siblings.”
After her year in Costa Rica, Silvestri returned to
a traditional school setting at San Mateo High School
where she taught English to students with special needs.
She had a strong set of role models from whom she drew
teaching inspiration.
Teaching is in Silvestri’s blood, as her father taught
math and held administrative positions for 40 years at
Silvestri’s alma mater, St. Ignatius High School in San
Francisco. By third grade, Silvestri was certain she wanted
to follow in his footsteps after she was inspired by her
own elementary school teachers.
Despite her eventual position as an English teacher,
Silvestri’s first love was biology, and she was further inspired to go into education by her high school biology
teacher and swim coach.
“She was super young and super cool,”Silvestri said.
“I just looked up to her. She made biology so engaging
and inviting and accessible. I loved that it was hands on.”
Three years into her time at San Mateo, Silvestri
decided to take a leave of absence to take advantage
of an opportunity to combine her love of travel and her
passion for education. She spent nine months tutoring
two girls on their family’s private motor yacht while they
sailed around the South Pacific. Because the motor yacht
included a fully equipped diving deck, she got to indulge
in her favorite hobby while on the job: scuba diving.
“It’s my thing. I love it. I call it yoga under the sea,”
Silvestri said. “We’d drop anchor and dive wherever we
were.”
Following this experience, Silvestri taught English
and social studies to kids with special needs at Woodside
High School. She also picked up on the importance of
involving herself in areas other than her students’ academic lives, so she coached softball at San Mateo and
Woodside and served as an assistant volleyball coach,
or “cheerleader” as she likes to describe it.
“I was a great cheerleader and great server,”Silvestri
said. The head coach took care of the strategy and technical, and I helped provide the opportunity for defense
with my serving.”
After she transitioned to the associate principal and
later principal positions at Half Moon Bay High School,
Silvestri maintained her goals of being engaged in students’ lives. She again looked back to her alma mater’s
staff for inspiration.
“Father Prietto would walk the halls every single
morning and greet students and say good morning,”
Silvestri said. “He was at my games, he was in the classroom, he was someone I could talk to. Eventually when
I thought about administration . . . I wanted to be just
like him for students.”
“At this point I’m going to spend time to observe
and understand the intricacies,” Silvestri said. “I hope we
can secure the funding to grow the program so it’s one
to one with each student, but we need to start doing
vision planning on how to make that happen.”
Acalanes’ new librarian, Barbara Burkhalter, has had a special love
for reading since elementary school. Her favorite memory as a child was
not of a vacation or pet, but of an experience reading a book.
“I remember being completely captivated by this one book being
read aloud to us in the fourth grade called The Diamond in the Window
by Jane Langdon. (I was just on the) edge of my seat until the next day
when we had a little bit more read to us,” said Burkhalter.
Her love of great stories continues to this day. Her favorite books
include Viginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, which she wrote her master’s
thesis on. “Also Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead.”
Burkhalter was born in the Bay Area but grew up in Auburn. She
attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree, and started off
with an undeclared major.
“I thought I would do communications or journalism,” Burkhalter
said. “Every semester until I declared English, I kept taking two English
classes, until I finally said, ‘Quit fooling yourself, you’re an English major.’”
After graduating, Burkhalter worked briefly before attending San
Francisco State for her master’s degree in English Literature. After getting married, she and her husband moved to Austin, Texas where she
studied at the University of Austin, Texas, for her teaching credential. She
moved back to the Bay Area and received her second master’s degree
in Library Information Science from San Jose State.
Burkhalter has worked in all pre-college educational levels. When
she first started as a librarian, she took an elementary school position
and worked at all four elementary schools in the Orinda Union School
District. After that, she transitioned to Seven Hills, a private prekindergarten through eighth grade school in Walnut Creek, where she
worked primarily with middle school students.
“I liked helping and interesting them in beginning research,”
Burkhalter said.
At Seven Hills, eighth graders are assigned a challenging research
report, which is a project that utilizes everything they’ve learned about
writing and researching. Burkhalter felt it was extremely rewarding to
help the students and to see how much they had learned.
In June,
��
she left that position to join Acalanes as librarian. “Originally, my teaching credential was for single-subject English
teaching at the high school level, so it’s the age level I was always most
interested in.”
In Burkhalter’s eyes, a library is a classroom of its own.
“I like teaching students how to navigate the subscription databases
we have and the importance of taking advantage of our resources instead
of just using Google,” Burkhalter said. “Learning this is a foundation for
their research in college and beyond.”
Burkhalter is also a mother of two children. As a parent, she found
new appreciation for the fact that her own mother went back to college
while her children were growing up.
“ Burkhalter also dreams of becomig an author. “Just like all English
majors, I’m sure I’d love to write the great American novel some day.”
Losing weight
Sales of diet soft drinks are falling faster than regular soft drinks as
some consumers shy away from artificial sweeteners.
2013 percent change in sales volume
CocaCola
Diet
Coke
PepsiCola
Diet
Pepsi
Dr
Pepper
Diet
Dr Pepper
-0.2%
-0.5%
-3.6%
-6.8%
Source: Beverage Depot
Graphic: Troy Oxford, Dallas Morning News
-6.9%
-6.3%
© 2014 MCT
5
News
CC Spin
November 2014
Link Crew helps frosh acclimate to high school
By ALYSSA LEDERMAN
This autumn Northgate High School is
taking on a new swimming pool, new study
session schedule, and of course, new students.
Freshman are just beginning their journey at
Northgate and to make the transition a little
bit easier, the administration has introduced
Link Crew.
According to Biology and Veterinary Science teacher and Link Crew leader Melanie
Scott, “Link Crew is designed to help the freshmen acclimate to being in high school. It can
be a difficult transition, and statistics show that
freshmen students are the most at-risk group
on most high school campuses –they show up
on the first day and have to figure things out
on their own and many fall through the cracks
when they don’t get the support they need.”
“With Link Crew,” Scott said, “freshmen are
grouped with Link leaders that help freshmen
learn more about Northgate -- navigating the
halls, joining clubs and other activities, how
to be successful in classes, and how to meet
new people and build strong relationships
with peers.
"The ultimate goal is to get freshmen
transitioned so that they enjoy their four
years at Northgate and leave with a positive
experience!”
Many other high schools in the country
have had Link Crew for years. Last year, a
team of Northgate teachers visited a school
in Southern California and learned that it is a
highly successful program, so the staff decided
to make it a part of the new Strategic Support
period at Northgate.
Link Crew is headed by Scott and freshmen football coach Todd Bauleke, who also
teaches Biology and Earth Science. A select
group of upperclassmen was recommended
by two of their teachers at the end of last year
to be Link leaders.
Upperclassmen who were interested were
invited to apply to be Link leaders by writing
a short paragraph on why they wanted to be
Link Leaders.
Successful candidates met with Scott and
Bauleke to learn more about the program and
to test out some bonding exercises that they
would do with the freshmen. Toward the beginning of the school year, the mentors attended
two full day training sessions where they were
taught how the new Strategic Support period
would work on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays.
By Freshman Orientation, two upperclassmen were assigned a group or “crew” of 10
freshmen that they would look after for the
whole year.
Link Crew leader Maria Krasilnikov, a senior,
said, “At freshmen orientation we got to meet
our group of freshmen; there are two leaders
LINK LEADERS Seniors Rachel Hurst and Jordan
Brown help freshmen during Link Crew. Photo from
The Sentinel, Northgate High School.
comparing that to my current personality is
amazing.
"I just hope that they’ll be able to actually
learn something from Link Crew and not treat
it as something they 'have to do”'as freshmen,"
said Krasilnikov.
ALT-J debuts second studio album
Vacation homework
a controversial new
trend for students
By MICHELLE WANT
By JOSH WILLIAMS
for 10-12 freshmen and we didn’t get to pick
partners but it worked out for everyone. We
got to know them and showed them around
the school.”
When asked what freshmen can expect
to do within their Link Crew groups, Scott
responded, “Freshmen were put into their
groups at freshman orientation before school
started. They got to meet their Link Crew leaders and were led through a number of team
building activities that allowed them to start
to get to know their peers. Those activities will
continue each Friday in Link Crew rooms, and
occasionally we will have all Link Crews meet
for large group activities.
Mondays and Wednesdays will be dedicated to Academic Prep, where freshmen and
their Link leaders will have an opportunity for
quiet study time and in some cases, mentoring
when needed.”
Freshman Alyssa Stadie commented on
the Link Crew experience so far, “I do think that
Link Crew is important, although we have not
really done anything yet and I would have been
lost if it were not for the map on our planner.
I think Link Crew should have met with us on
the first day and made sure we knew where
our classes were.”
When asked what she was most excited
about Link Crew, Krasilnikov said, “I’m just
excited to see them grow as people because
I remember how shy I was as a freshman and
If the word “homework” on its own doesn’t scare
you enough, then imagine how Northgate students feel
about their summer homework.
“It’s really inconvenient. Whenever I had plans to go
out with my friends, my homework was in the back of
my head the whole time, so it distracted me from having
a good time,” junior Allison Bertollozi said.
Bertolozzi spent her summer dreading the approaching deadline for AP U.S. History.
For those who didn’t know, when a student applies to
and is placed in an AP or Honors class, that often comes
with mandatory summer homework.
“I’m only a sophomore but it feels like this amount
of work is meant for seniors,” said Brynne Keyser. For
Keyser, AP World History’s homework was a problem
since the beginning of summer.
“I had to give up prime Netflix time, but it was probably for the better,” junior Katie Matson added.
“There have been so many opportunities where I
couldn’t go to friend’s sporting events or even birthday
parties or gatherings because of the workload I had this
summer,” senior Juliana Ortiz reported.
Some parents also believe that summer homework
saps the life out of their child’s summer. Even though
advanced classes look really good on college applications, is it really worth all of the stress and extra time?
After a few conversations with Northgate High
School teaching staff, most agreed that summer homework is a necessity for their upcoming school year.
“About 15 years ago, summer homework had already
become a condition, and so I just followed through,” AP
English teacher Ron Lewis said.
“Legally, whatever we assign, it can’t be used for a
grade. It’s more to see if kids are going to do the hard
work,” Lewis added. Though students may disagree and still passionately
dislike the work, there’s an additional point that must
be considered: the more work you complete ahead of
time, the better you will understand the subject when
actual classes begin.
California High School
As a folky, anti-rock yet indie rock band
that is also a Barclaycard Mercury Prize
winner, how could anyone not completely
love Alt-J?
Formed in Leeds, England in 2007 by
ex-bassist Gwil Sainsbury, frontman Joe
Newman, keyboardist and backup vocalist
Gus Unger-Hamilton, and drummer Thom
Green, Alt-J released its second studio
album, “This Is All Yours,” on Sept. 22, 2014.
Its first studio album was“An Awesome
Wave,” released on May 25, 2012. “An Awesome Wave” was met with greatly positive
reviews. In addition, the album won the
Mercury Prize and certified platinum by
the British Phonographic Industry.
With Sainsbury’s recent departure, a
personal decision, you’d think that Alt-J
would falter a bit, but Alt-J is going stronger
than ever.
“This Is All Yours” has gone straight to
#1 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart, doing even better than “An Awesome Wave,”
which peaked at #13 on the UK’s Official
Albums’ Chart.
“This Is All Yours”has a slower and more
somber mood than“An Awesome Wave,”but
Alt-J still manages to keep the familiar antirock disposition its known and loved for.
The album starts off with choir chants
of “la la la” and leads into a small blurb of
incomprehensible vocals before easing
back to its chorale vocals.
Alt-J manages to capture a calm yet
melancholic feeling comparable to sounds
of Radiohead.
The mostly instrumental “Arrival in
Nara”intertwines slow piano and soft guitar
strums with soft melodies and quiet vocals
that diverge from the harsh realism of the
lyrics: “In a blink and in one motion/Rope
constricts/Rips her towards the ocean.”
A collage of peaceful instruments and
smooth vocals, “Every Other Freckle” layers
together different sounds creating flawless instrumentals. But the lyrics are a bit
questionable:“I’m gonna bed you like a cat
beds into a beanbag/Turn you inside out
and lick you like a crisp package.”
Alt-J. Photo from MTV.com.
“Left Hand Free” has a different feel to
it, with a more upbeat rhythm than the rest
of the album. But it still keeps the uniform
calm vibe, and it’s the best song of the
album although the lyrics and title of the
song give it a potentially suggestive feel.
The next song, “Garden of England,” is
a short one-minute flute instrumental that
acts as a break in the middle of the album,
allowing listeners a minute to catch their
breaths.
“Choice Kingdom” has an overall eerie
vibe and starts off with wind blowing and
melds into soft, mysterious whispers and
long “oooh’s.”
With sound bites of Miley Cyrus singing “I’m a female rebel,” from her song “4x4”
incorporated with Alt-J’s soulful lyrics, it’s
no wonder “Hunger of the Pine” is one of
Alt-J’s most popular songs on this album,
charting 6th in the UK indie category.
“Warm Foothills” has a uniform happy
feel to it, with a few whistles, featuring vocals from folk rock artist Marika Hackman,
soul singer songwriter Lianne La Havas,
folk artist Conor Oberst and alternative
artist Sivu.
Alt-J makes a full round and ends the
album with “Leaving Nara,” a soft, comforting song, just as the musicians started the
album with “Arrival in Nara.”
The album is very similar throughout,
but Alt-J manages to give each song its own
unique twist, making it memorable in the
ears of the listener.
Alt-J concocts a perfect medley of soft,
serious songs, such as “Arrival in Nara” and
“Leaving Nara,” and upbeat, light-hearted
songs like “Left Hand Free” and “Warm
Foothills.”
“This Is All Yours” isn’t just any other
indie album with cool harmonies and chill
tones, Alt-J’s album fuses large ranges of
emotion and attitudes resulting in a remarkable album that shouldn’t go unlistened
by any indie music fanatic, or any music
enthusiast, in general. I give this album a
3 out of 4.
Closed campus stirs protests at California High School
By HEATHER WONG & JOYCE HO
Two hundred frustrated students filed out
of the town hall meeting on Sept. 3 after learning from new Principal Sarah Wondolowski that
reopening California High School’s campus at
lunch was not an option.
The remaining 70 students who stayed
voiced their opinions and offered suggestions
toward a compromise, a goal administrators
have been hoping to achieve since the beginning of this year when the closed campus
controversy reared its ugly head again.
According to a survey conducted last
year, Wondolowski estimates that an extra
250 students are on campus at lunch this year
because of the new rule.
As reported in the April 10 issue of The
Californian, former Principal Mark Corti announced he was closing CHS campus on
March 19, stating the primary reason behind
his decision was student safety.
But many students dislike the food in the
cafeteria, lack of places to eat around campus,
and the perceived abolishment of a traditional
senior privilege.
“[Administrators] shouldn’t take away
rights if we didn’t do anything wrong,” said
Senior Lauren Hutchison. “As seniors we don’t
have any privileges. They should open the back
parking lot if anything.”
Many students agree with Hutchison, but
administrators insist the back parking lot of the
school has always been considered off campus.
Students were only allowed to go in the
parking lot during lunch so they could walk to
their cars to leave.
To accommodate seniors, the football
stadium was opened on Sept. 12 for seniors
as an exclusive place to eat lunch. But on that
day a sparse showing reflected the resentment
of the senior body.
Only one student stayed the entire duration of the lunch to eat in the stadium. Others,
who went out of curiosity, did not remain.
“Attendance for it was very poor and it was
basically useless,” said senior Arvind Dhananjayan. “Anyone who did go didn’t stay long
because of the heat.”
A school flyer on the first floor of the main
building that advertised the senior lunch was
graffitied with the word “boycott.”
This boycott wasn’t the only form of protest. Sophomore Ryan Freels organized a petition to open campus and a boycott of school
lunches, neither of which were successful.
In an attempt to appeal to students, administrators are encouraging students to offer
more ideas for a compromise.
“We are open to any and all suggestions
from students who would want to plan any
senior privileges,” said Wondolowski.
Wondolowski stresses, though, that students themselves should propose ideas.
The concept of a senior deck, a place on
campus that can be transformed into an eating
area, has also been introduced but requires
more student input and organization.
In the meantime, administrators have approached leadership to help ease the feelings
toward closed campus.
“They realize there’s a problem and they’re
trying to find a solution,” said leadership president Lauryn Mellberg, a senior. “They’re trying
to compromise with us.”
In addition to the insufficient amount
of eating areas, many students have also
expressed discontentment with the longer
lunch lines.
“I could barely buy my lunch so I have to
bring lunch now,” said freshman Ta’lia Perkins.
Other complaints are directed at the food
itself. “[The food] tastes terrible,” said senior
Cole Melloch.
To compensate, the cafeteria has been
preparing an additional hundred portions
and has opened another cash-only line for a la
carte items outside the commons. Changes in
the actual food are being considered as well.
“We have been working with the food
services department,” said Wondolowski. “We
tasted all the entrees, and we’re working with
the district.”
Senior Alex Dilling suggested that, as a
compromise, food be brought to Cal for seniors
only. But some students believe that no accommodations can outweigh the inconveniences
of closing campus.
“I have a solution to the closed campus,”
junior Jeremy Coiner said at the town hall
meeting. “Reopen it!”
The decision to close Cal’s campus is not
district wide, as San Ramon Valley High School
still has an open campus.
Because downtown of Danville and its
close proximity with local restaurants, students
can easily walk to get food during lunchtime.
“It was a site-based decision,” said Wondolowski. The plan had been set in motion a
couple of years ago due to the liability issue of
allowing students to drive off campus. Supervision and tardiness were also a
concern.
Viewpoints
6
November 2014
Slut shaming, dress codes
and other forms of harassment
By STEPHANIE PICK
D
id you see her shirt? What a
slut.” I’m sure we’ve all heard
similar dialogue at least once
in our lives, possibly even in the halls
and classrooms of our own school.
Maybe you’re the one who said it.
“Slut.” We know what this word
means. It’s familiar to us in some way.
Does it elicit any sort of emotion? It’s
probably negative; a slut is something to be ashamed of. What comes
to your mind when you hear the
word? Maybe an image akin to that
of a prostitute; the words have the
same meaning, anyway.
Maybe it’s someone you know.
Do you dislike them? Why? Is it
because they wear revealing clothing, or a lot of makeup, or do they go
through relationships like California
goes through water?
I get uncomfortable when I hear
the word “slut.” To me, slut is a word
used too often and unnecessarily.
When it’s used to describe a person’s
clothing—usually a girl’s—I get
angry and I get annoyed. Yeah, so her
shorts are really short, so what? Were
they printed with something that offended you?
If you’ve been buying women’s
clothing lately, you probably know
how frustratingly difficult it is to
find shorts for a reasonable price
that come even halfway down your
thighs.
Oh, her shirt is low-cut? Blasphemy, you saw a slight amount of
cleavage! How will you ever deal with
this devastating revelation that some
human beings have breasts?
Slut shaming is when a person,
usually a woman, is unjustly, unnecessarily, and harshly attacked or
ridiculed for being or seeming to
be sexually active or just expressing
sexuality. Slut shaming is harassment
and it dehumanizes a person to the
point where his or her entire being
is based solely on rumors or on how
that person is dressed.
But this problem isn’t caused by
just one or two people, it’s caused
by our entire society. Crisis Counselor and YouTuber Laci Green said it
best in her video response to Jenna
Marbles’s own video “SLUTS.” “One of
the major things that society needs
to learn ASAP is how to respect other
people’s safe, consensual choices
about their lives and about their bodies,” Green stated.
We’re all going through a time
in our life in which we are all trying
to deal with our own problems and
insecurities, so why do we feel the
need to harass people going through
the same thing for no good reason?
Try to remember this the next time
you see a person you would usually
whisper about or frown upon: Do
their choices really affect you in a
way that interferes with you being
able to get on with your life?
And to those who have been harassed and/or been called a slut, it is
not your fault that other people can’t
mind their own business. Nobody
should tell you what you can or can’t
wear.
With this last statement in mind,
sometimes it’s better to follow a dress
code, depending on the place and
atmosphere.
For example, you probably
wouldn’t wear sweat pants to a formal office meeting. However, I find
our school’s dress code to be somewhat finicky.
While I have not witnessed
it being regularly enforced in our
school, I have heard some girls are
reprimanded. However, never have
I ever heard of a boy being told to
change for sagging his pants. That’s
not to say it has never happened, I
just haven’t heard about it. However,
everyone hears about girls being
ordered to change when they wear
shorts that are reportedly “too short”
or shirts that “reveal too much.” Too
me, it’s a bit silly to punish a person
just because of what he or she are
wearing.
The most common answer I’ve
heard as to why we have a dress code
is that revealing clothing is “distracting.”
Often times the only parts of the
dress code that are enforced apply to
girls.
Apparently, all boys, no matter
their sexual orientation, can’t concentrate when a girl wears a tank
top. Apparently, male human beings
cannot think for themselves.
The school district denies us
actual sex-ed in the hopes that we’ll
just abstain from sex, it is also implied
through the dress code rules that we
have such a strong sexual appetite
that it prevents us from thinking.
It is that mind-set that not only
promotes slut shaming, but it justifies
sexual harassment and rape.
Nothing can justify harassing,
molesting, or abusing anyone in any
way, shape, or form. Don’t even try to
give excuses if you have done this to
someone. It is not OK and we will not
stand for it. No one has ever “asked
for it.”
You have no right to threaten and
violate another human being’s right
to feel safe and comfortable. Just
leave them alone; it won’t kill you. In
fact, it’ll make you a decent human
being.
When you get dressed in the
morning, wear whatever you feel like.
If someone doesn’t like it, that’s their
problem. It’s your body and as long
as you’re safe, do what you want with
it, not what others say you have to.
CC Spin
Time to accept
marriage for all
By COURTNEY FISCHER
I
’m anticipating going to a wedding in late
October that I have been waiting for my entire
life. My aunt will be marrying her life partner
of over 20 years.
These two amazing women were finally
given the right to marry after two kids, two
houses, and two decades together. It is an absolute shame that it has taken this long for them to
receive this basic human right but it is even more
shameful that it will take several more years for
the rest of the states to legalize same-sex marriage.
There are over 600,000 gay and lesbian
couples throughout the country that label themselves as “committed” and have a desire to get
married, but some states still will not grant them
a marriage license.
Studies have shown that states that legalized gay marriages have significantly lower divorce rates. In the Netherlands, where same-sex
marriage has been legal for 13years, the gay and
lesbian divorce rate is about 1 percent. Here in
the U.S., straight marriages end in divorce about
half of the time.
Some critics of same sex weddings argue
that allowing homosexuals to marry will essentially downgrade the sanctity of marriage. They
believe that the institution of marriage will crumble if we alter the definition from being between
“one man and one woman” to being between
“two committed people”. They also consider
homosexuality to be a sin and because of this
it should not have a place in our government.
However, these ideas are completely irrelevant.
In the United States we have a policy of
separation of church and state, meaning that
religion and government should not interfere
with each other. Adultery is also considered a sin.
However, we have not created laws criminalizing
it.
If our society continually denigrates homosexuality by dismissing the validity of gay
couples’ love, younger generations may grow
up thinking it is acceptable to demean that love.
We need to learn to accept all love, regardless of
sexual orientation. The right to marry has been
legally defined as a “basic human right” and
deserves to be treated as such throughout the
world.
Swimming in lie-inducing college applications
By JULIE JUNG
T
he biggest lie I have heard while at
Northgate High School is that senior year is “easy.” Not only do students have to deal with Mock Congress
and plan an epic Senior Project, but they
also have to worry about tedious college
applications.
I feel like college applications purposely set up students to fib. Some of
these prompts are so ridiculous that it
feels like I’m forced to lie.
“What is so odd about odd numbers?”
Well, University of Chicago, I’m not
sure. To be honest, I hate math and
anything that has to do with numbers. I
cringe at the thought of math tests, and
my nightmares consist of derivatives
and cosine graphs.
Of course, I won’t respond in this
way, unless I want to expect a big, fat rejection letter from one of my top-choice
colleges. I will probably give some outof-this-world response that somehow
ties in the history of
numbers. What a riveting college essay.
To make these
college essays worse,
they seem to be neverending.
I remember I
finished my Common
Application essay
and felt so free afterwards; I was 75 percent finished with the
entire process . . . or
so I thought. I then added nine private
schools and faced the bombardment
of supplementary essays. Some, thank
goodness, only had one supplementary
prompt while others, like Brown Univer-
sity, asked for even more.
These supplementary essay prompts
were even worse than the actual Common Application essay itself.
“Why do you
wish to go to (insert
school name here)?”
Now, two scenarios occurred in
this case. In my head,
I thought about how
cool it would be to
go to the school.
In actuality, I wrote
about how a certain program at this
certain school would
help me in this way
and that way.
Hopefully, these schools won’t
expect these essays to be true portrayals
of me.
But isn’t that what these college
essays are for? To give students a chance
to be more than just “good on paper?”
If I were to write these college applications with an honest heart, admissions officers would see me as a 17-yearold girl who’s mostly studied her whole
entire life.
In her free time, she writes, plays
piano, and eats an abnormal amount of
food from her parent’s restaurant. She’s
not some perfect student with the perfect grades and perfect lifestyle habits;
she’s actually a human being.
Of course, if I wrote about my lessthan-stellar life, I would probably be
pooled in with all the other mediocre
and lackluster applicants.
Colleges expect their students to
be the next role models and leaders of
the world but prep them to lie from the
very beginning. I’m sure there’s a better way to secure my future; people just
haven’t found it yet.
CC Spin
CC Spin is printed by the Bay Area News Group but copy, photos, art and other
contents are produced by students at 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 from the Contra Costa Times and other local newspapers instruct
participating students in professional journalism standards and practices.
CC Spin is a product of the collaboration of The Lesher Foundation, the Bay Area
News Group, 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, the Lesher Foundation, 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 tenets of
The First Amendment, the ethical guidelines of the Society of Professional
Journalists and California Education Code sections 45907 and 48950.
Facilitators
Faculty Advisers
Bert Robinson
Managing Editor/News
Bay Area News Group
Larry Freeman, Acalanes High School
Kathleen Odne
Executive Director
Lesher Foundation
Marialana Knorpp, College Park High School
Terry Koehne
Chief Communications Officer
Contra Costa County Office
of Education
Igor Litvin, Hercules High School
Steve O’Donoghue
California Scholastic Journalism
Initiative, Coordinator
Jim Finefrock, Writing Coach
Lesley Guth, Writing Coach
Carol Pogash, Writing Coach
Dick Rogers, Writing Coach
Brian Barr, California High School
Greg Roswell Clayton Valley Charter High School
Rebecca Bellini, Monte Vista High School
Karen Jenkins, Northgate High School
Bryan Farley, Pittsburg High School
Giana Lillig, San Ramon Valley High School
Viewpoints
CC Spin
7
November 2014
Patriotism cannot be achieved by censorship
By ADAM BLAKE
I
n Jefferson County, Colo., more than 1,000 students
have walked out of classrooms to protest a conservative school board’s proposal to focus history education on topics that promote patriotism and respect
for authority.
If the proposed plan passes, it would establish a
committee to regularly review texts and course plans,
starting with Advanced Placement history, to ensure
materials “promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials
and benefits of the free-market system, respect for
authority and respect for individual rights” and don’t
“encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or
disregard of the law.”
Similar actions have been taken on the state level
in Texas and South Carolina. Ultimately, such attempts
to distort American history into a more ideal narrative
are unintelligent and shortsighted.
Ironically, this proposal has had the opposite
effect, encouraging students, teachers, and parents to
exercise their First Amendment rights.
Teachers and students skipped school to take to
the streets, holding signs with lines such as “There is
nothing more patriotic than protest” and “How’s this
for civil disobedience?” It’s reassuring that so many of
the 84,000 students in Jefferson County took action.
To get an idea of the outrage on a larger scale,
search #JeffcoSchoolBoardHistory on Twitter where
people across the country have expressed their shock
and anger at the movement to censor.
This proposal has a clear political agenda,
aiming to create a school system that will turn out
conservatively minded young people who will not
question authority or the status quo. Furthermore, in
attempting to “protect” American values, this proposal
attacks much of what makes America great, namely
freedom of expression.
Civil disobedience, rather than being a social ill,
as this proposal seems to suggest, has been one of the
most important tools of progress in American history,
and has helped turn the ideals of freedom and equality
into a reality. Without people questioning authority
and speaking up for themselves, many of the very
blemishes on American history that these proposals
seek to hide could still exist today.
We should be proud of our history of standing
up for our beliefs. America was founded by civil
disobedience; those who carried out the acts of the
Boston Tea Party are the original patriots.
Had our Founding Fathers regarded respect
for authority in the sacrosanct manner of today’s
conservatives, America may never have become
independent.
Later, freedom-minded Americans helped
bring an end to slavery by flatly refusing to obey the
Fugitive Slave Act. Equality before the law, one of
the main tenets of American democracy, was won
by civil disobedience and protests like the March on
Washington.
Even now, civil disobedience and protest remains
an important tool for Americans fighting for their
rights, especially with regards to the marriage equality
movement.
The proposal also says that instructional materials
“should present positive aspects of the United States
and its heritage” and “promote patriotism.”
Patriotism instilled by portraying a false picture
of American history is not patriotism at all. It is deception. True patriotism is knowing and accepting both
your country’s flaws and its merits and knowing when
it has been right and wrong. Patriotism is seeking to
make your country better, not pretending that it is perfect. Furthermore, glossing over parts of our history
we are not proud of, such as slavery or Japanese internment, is morally wrong. Jefferson County’s School Board is not alone in
opposing the new social studies curriculum. There
have been many cases of people who oppose the
“America bashing” they believe it supports. The Texas
Board of Education is currently considering rejecting
the AP curriculum altogether and replacing it with
their own version.
Beyond the state level, national politicians
weighted in on the issue. The Republican National
Committee condemned the new curriculum, stating
that it “reflects a radically revisionist view of American
history that emphasizes negative aspects of our
nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive
aspects.”
In August, the College Board President David
Coleman released a sample AP exam with the new
curriculum to settle fears of some sort of leftist slant.
Coleman also explained that, “The new framework
does not remove individuals or events that have
been taught by AP teachers in prior years. Instead, it
is just a framework, requiring teachers to populate
it with content required by their local standards and
priorities.”
Quarrels about the new curriculum aside, it is
important for students to understand America is not
infallible, and if they really care so much about the
future of our country, they should want to educate a
generation who will not settle with the idea that we
are simply “the best” and will continue helping America
evolve and to progress as our country’s founders
intended. AP courses are worth the time investment
By DALIA ANWAR
A
t most high schools, challenging
college level courses created by
the College Board are offered to
students. They have the choice to take
AP or Honors classes in place of regular
classes, but many people feel differently
about how beneficial they can be. These
classes first came about for students
who wanted a challenge in subjects
they enjoyed. But today, the reasoning
behind taking them is not the same for
all students.
By taking Advanced Placement/
Honors classes, students can impress
college admissions counselors, develop
college level academic skills, and even
save money in the long run as they can
receive college credit upon successfully
completing an end-of- term test.
These courses are also a great way to
become more informed about a subject.
“If you love a subject, the idea of taking
an AP/Honors can be very exciting,” says
Honors English teacher, Maureen Allan.
The biggest difference between
AP and Honors is that the curriculum
taught in AP classes focuses on passing
the AP exam, which taken at the end of
the course.
In more recent years, there has
been a belief that to get into a good
college, students need to have as many
advanced placement classes as possible
in order to raise their cumulative GPA.
This is because the grades earned
in AP courses are worth one extra grade
point than those in traditional courses.
By doing this, it can be difficult to juggle
other courses, sports, social life, and
often times, a job. Students can easily
become overwhelmed.
AP European History teacher, Paula
Dillon, says she thinks it is a better strategy for students to “focus on one or two
AP/Honors classes and be able to do
those things well and still maintain a
sense of balance in their personal lives.”
There are professors, teachers, and
other adults that feel AP courses are not
as beneficial as others make them out
to be for high school students. There
is the argument that too much material is covered in a short period of time,
leaving little or no room for curiosity or
interpretation of lessons being taught.
John Tierney, a former professor of
American Government at Boston College, states, “the AP classroom is where
intellectual curiosity goes to die”.
However, CV junior Hosna Opeyany
disagrees with this. She says, “I found
that after taking an AP class, I know the
subject like the back of my hand after
Senior Kayla Conger is taking two AP courses along with one Honors course, making her Senior year
not as easy as others. But she knows that in the end, her hard work will pay off. Photo by Jillian Argento,
Clayton Valley Charter High School.
that class is over, even if it did not seem
like that during the course of the class.”
Most feel that the real issue is not
that Advanced Placement courses are
ineffective, but that an overwhelmed
student with too much on their plate
can be the unrewarding outcome. The
tight curriculum taught toward the test
makes for a larger homework load and
much more reading.
Oftentimes, students go into these
courses without realizing what they are
in for. “AP is baptism by fire,” says Dil-
Monte Vista dating policy discourages
student participation in homecoming
By ISABELA SETNA
A
s the first formal dance of the
year, homecoming has a lot to
live up to. With an entire week
dedicated to its theme, you would
think you could bring anyone you
wanted to on your special night, only
you can’t.
Monte Vista High School still
strictly enforces the rule of only allowing students from its school to enjoy
a night of fun in the school’s gym.
Schools like San Ramon and California
High have adapted to the ways of
modern time and students have been
allowed to bring whomever they
choose for quite some years now.
Senior Sophie Bahmani and boyfriend J.T., who attends De La Salle
High School, have been dating for
over a year. After going to the De La
Salle homecoming the previous year,
Bahmani is forced to go to her own
homecoming with friends.
“I wish we could go together,”
Bahmani said, “It sucks I can’t experience our homecoming with him.”
Bahmani is not alone. Senior
Mattie Gebhart also wants to see a
change in this policy.
“I usually go to homecoming with
my friends or I just don’t go at all,”
Gebhart said. “If the school allowed us
to take students from other schools I
would definitely be more excited.”
By continuing this strict policy,
Monte Vista High is turning away
students who would love to go to
homecoming as long as they could
bring their friend or loved one from a
different school along.
With more couples going to
homecoming, the school could be
raising more money with ticket sales.
However, money isn’t the problem. Administrator Mr. Peterson
revealed that Monte Vista is not prejudiced against other schools, there
just simply is not enough room in the
gym to fit students from Monte Vista
as well as students from other high
schools.
Monte Vista allows for students
to bring students from other schools
during Junior Prom and Senior Ball, so
why not homecoming? For freshmen
and sophomores, homecoming is the
only formal dance they can attend
without an invitation from an upperclassman all year.
If juniors and seniors can experience their formal dances with whomever they choose, freshman and
sophomores should be allowed the
same opportunity.
DENIED Sophie Bahmani and boyfriend J.T.
pose together at the De La Salle High School
Homecoming. Despite having a great night at
that event, Bahmani wishes they could have
enjoyed the same experience together at the
Monte Vista Homecoming dance as well.
Photo from Isabela Setna, Monte Vista High
School.
lon, who describes how much more fast
paced and challenging it can be.
It is certainly upon the student to
decide if the added workload is worth
it in the long run. Are you aiming for
a comp[etitive college with then the
added GPA point may help.
Are you looking to get more in
depth into a subject you are interested
in? Or, are you trying to get a taste
for what to expect from early college
courses? All these reasons argue for the
Advanced Placement experience.
Athletics
8
November 2014
CC Spin
Let us vote? Students say: ‘Bah, humbug’
By EMILY WRIGHT
T
urning 18 brings many privileges.
Finally being able to vote is one of
them. In other countries, people as
young as 16 are receiving voting rights.
For example, in Scotland the voting age
was 18, but in the September election
on independence from Great Britain, 16
and 17-year-olds were given the right to
vote.
OPINION
This suggests
the question whether 16-year-olds should be allowed to
vote in the United States. The Northgate
High School student body doesn’t seem
particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
“I do not believe that 16-year-olds
should be allowed to vote because I
don’t think, in general, that we are well
enough informed,” 16-year-old junior
Jake Law said.
Senior Michelle Liang, co- president of the Northgate Mock Trial Team,
agrees. “Being that 16-year-olds are in
the middle of their high school education, they have not taken the subjects
designed to prepare them to be informed voters,” Liang explained. “Most
importantly, U.S. history and government are usually junior or senior level
classes at most high schools.
"These classes should give students
the historical background to prevent
new voters from stumbling blind into
the ballot box.”
Underclassmen also thought that
voting should be a privilege offered to
older people, not 16- and 17-year-olds.
“From experience, most of my
peers—including myself—are not
very politically informed. Even if we
were given the right to vote, very few
would know what to do,” freshman Erica
Nguyen said.
Government teacher Jon Burchett
also has an opinion on what effect
younger aged voters might have on
America.
“That’s a tough one,” Burchett said. “I
think many 16-year-olds are old enough
to make pleasing decisions, but then
again many are not, so I think we should
stick with 18. I have a 16-year-old at
home; the world is very black and white
to him.”
Although younger people are now
voting in another country, Northgate
High School students seem to be happy
with the voting age where it is now.
“The majority of 16-year-olds don’t
really know what we’re doing yet,” said
junior Pamela Ho.
“We haven’t been exposed enough
to social and political issues to truly have
a stand; and thus a misguided teenager’s view would affect the decisions of
our community.”
In New York,
hanging with
Jabari Parker
By SPENCER JUDD
This summer I had the rare opportunity to go
to New York to the 2014 NBA Draft. My close friend
Jabari Parker, a top prospect in the draft who played
at Duke University, had invited my parents, my
brother, and me to this event. We were flown out,
courtesy of his agent, and stayed in a luxurious hotel
in Midtown, right in the center of Time Square.
Before the draft, our days were filled touring
around New York, meeting the other draft prospects
in the lobby, being mobbed by Jabari’s fans on our
walk to the movie theater, and having lunch with
all the NBA draftees and the NBA commissioner.
One night, as we were walking to the hotel
through the city with Jabari, we were literally followed and stalked. It was pretty pathetic to me
that grown men were doing this and begging for
an autograph. I could have at least understood if it
was some kid wanting an autograph.
We never went to sleep at night -- that was
when the real fun began.
Usually each night my brother, Jabari, his friend
Cory, and I would get involved in some fun activities
that you usually wouldn’t expect a possible number
one draft pick to be doing. Most people don’t realize
that even with all this stardom, he’s still a teenager
at heart.
From hide and seek tag through the hotel to
having Jabari prank call a bunch of Northgate girls,
the fun never died. I suggested the idea of ding-dong
ditching Andrew Wiggins, the overall number one
pick from Kansas University, at two in the morning,
but Jabari was too nice to give me his room number.
Most people are surprised to learn that I’m close
with this basketball star. It all started back in Chicago.
My family lived there from about 1996 to 2005, and
my dad was Jabari’s family’s bishop at our church.
My dad would give a key to the church basketball
court to Jabari’s older brother Chris, and they would
go play there everyday, a sanctuary away from all
the drugs, violence, and other bad influences of
their dangerous neighborhood.
It was this place that represented the two key
parts of his character: becoming a star basketball
player and a devoted Mormon. We became closer
as our moms became best friends and his older
siblings were my main babysitters when my parents
went out on dates. We had some crazy, fun times
with them as babysitters.
Each summer when Jabari was in high school,
he and his brother would fly out to stay with us
for a week. Our families have a special bond with
each other.
At the draft, June 26, our excitement was high,
as the Milwaukee Bucks selected Jabari as the second
overall pick of the draft. No word could describe that
experience better than surreal. You don’t grow up
thinking that one of your close childhood friends
ends up in the NBA.
When I asked Jabari for his thoughts, he had
some comments to make about his high school
experience: “I got more excitement in high school
spending time with a mentally or physically challenged student than spending time with my teammates,” Jabari said.
“If anything, I just want to emphasis how important it is to be different in positive ways. I knew
that being mediocre wasn’t going to support my
desire to be remembered. Being different in the
classroom and the basketball court was going to
accompany my aspirations.”
Many people will always look at Jabari for
his basketball skills and that’s what he’ll be known
for. But Jabari is such an amazing and genuinely
good person and not many people will be able to
appreciate this side of him.
Without a doubt he’s the most humble person
I’ve ever met, and that actually means something
when you’re at that level of stardom.
I’m proud to know Jabari Parker for the person
he is and for the inspiration he is to me to be a better person, not so much for his amazing basketball
skills -- though that is a cool bonus. Even once all his
fame and glory is gone, we’ll still be great friends.
WORLD TRAVELER Lauren Valla, a senior at Northgate High School, training on the Guam Women’s National Football team. Senior competes on Guam national team
By JACKSON McDONOUGH
Lauren Valla, a senior at Northgate High
School, played and trained on the Guam
Women’s National Football team over the
summer. After making the 15-hour flight to
Guam, she embarked on a two-and-a-half
week training program. Here is an interview
with Valla:
Q: What was it like to play with teammates from a different country? Was there
a language or cultural barrier or was it easy
to bond?
A: The team was pretty evenly mixed,
with half the girls coming from California
and half Guam natives. I was surprised at
how well we got along, and everyone was
very welcoming. They placed the team in a
hotel in the middle of the jungle to keep us
focused, so we had two weeks of straight
team bonding, which was very fun.
There were some cultural differences,
but it was interesting and really funny at
times to learn about things that are so different on Guam. For example, everyone
made fun of me for saying “hella” and all
the California girls were amazed that Guam
has avocados the size of pineapples, and
the Guamanian lifestyle is so different and
relaxed.
Q: What was it like playing against
teams from other countries? Were there any
different strategies or techniques that certain cultures used different from our own?
A: It was a whole new experience
playing against girls from different countries around the world. Saipan (Northern
Mariana Islands) players spoke English and
were somewhat similar to our team since
they are Pacific Islanders, but Macau players spoke Cantonese, which is a subsection
of Chinese.
On the field, it was so strange to hear
the other team yelling in a different language, but it was a great experience. I’m
really looking forward to playing in Taipei
against South Korea Taiwan, and Chinese
Hong Kong. It will be a great cultural experience
Q: What was the most memorable part
of the whole experience?
A: When we first walked onto the
field for the first game was probably the
most memorable experience for me. I was
reminded of the World Cup as we walked
on because we did most of the same traditions such as walking on with music playing
in a big field, and holding hands with my
teammates, singing the national anthem.
Q: How did you first get the idea to try
out for the women’s national team?
A: My mother got an email from her
friend who works for the Guam football
association saying that they were having
tryouts in Santa Barbara and that I was
eligible.
Being a small island, Guam doesn’t have
a very big player pool to pick from, so they
had to think outside of the box and look
for candidates in California. It was a really
intense three day tryout, most of the girls
there were either playing in college or even
older than that.
I was the youngest to tryout, which
really impressed the coaches, but at the
same time I knew that I had to work that
much harder to keep up.
Eagles turns volleyball season around
By HAILEY PASCOE & ELLIE RALSTON
Things were headed downhill
with a drama-filled start to the
Clayton ValleyCharter High School
volleyball season, but a coaching
change brought about a more
positive outlook on the season to
the team.
According to players, the new
coaches –Diana Lauritsen and Sebastian Sheehan-Wilson–have brought
the team closer together, and the
players feel like the team now has a
more “family-like” atmosphere.
Currently the team is 8-4 in
Diablo Valley Athletic League play
and stand in third place.
Many of the players say they feel
better supported by this coaching
staff, and enjoy the balance between skill work and conditioning
at practice.
When asked what her favorite
thing about her new coaches is,
sophomore Kate Zuercher said, “ I
love the enthusiasm Diana brings to
the team, and how knowledgeable
Sebastian is about the sport.”
Junior player Kiana Smith said
she is“looking forward to what Diana
has to offer the team.”
Sophomore Tori Klock, who is
starting her second year on varsity,
talked about how much more fun
this year has been since the coaching change.
Her favorite part about Coach
Lauritsen is that “she said we could
talk to her about anything.”
When asked about Coach Sebastian
she said, “He is so funny, and we always
get a good laugh during practice with him.”
The players now have a fresh outlook
on a season that started with adversity.
Athletics
CC Spin
9
November 2014
Ducks recruit Acalanes offensive lineman
Senior Brady Aiello commits to Division I football school and is ready to prove his potential
By MICHAEL NEY
Great athletes are viewed as gods among
men. Fans, young and old, routinely set aside
time in their day to watch their idols take the
field or court.
All athletes, however, no matter how
great, must start their careers somewhere.
Acalanes senior left tackle and Division
One Oregon football recruit, Brady Aiello, looks
to make a name for himself next year when
he takes the field wearing the vibrant green
Ducks uniform.
Aiello will be the first player from Acalanes
since 1992 to attend a Division I school on a
football scholarship. In the past few years,
Acalanes graduates Dan Camporeale and Gabe
Newman have attended Division I schools for
football, but as a walk-on and after going to
Diablo Valley College first, respectively.
Aside from his 6’ 6.5” 260 pound frame,
stellar football skills, and 4.8 40-yard dash,
Aiello is just another student at Acalanes. Following his busy, six period schedule, Brady
spends 11 and a half hours during the week
at football practice.
“He’s become a pretty dominant run
blocker. He’s also improved in his pass
protection,” said Head Coach Mike Ivankovich.
“He’s a force on the left side. He is playing with
a high intensity and he’s had a great start to
the season.”
As football is the only sport he plays,
Aiello had to keep busy during the offseason.
Fortunately, Acalanes football is an 11-month
program. The season ends in November and
starts up again with lifting and conditioning in January, giving the players a break in
December.
After putting in the hard work; lifting,
training, and practicing from the middle of the
brisk winter through the end of the scalding
summer, Aiello takes the stage under the
Friday night lights clad in blue and white as a
co-captain of the Dons.
“During the games when I’m on the field,
I am extremely focused on what my objective
is for every play,” said Aiello. “Doing your job
on one play is key, but moving on and fulfilling
the very next one is crucial.”
From third grade to eighth, Aiello was an
avid participant in the Moraga Orinda Lafayette
Football league. Playing at Acalanes
��
as a freshman was his first experience in tackle football.
Football has always been Aiello’s main
sport. However, Aiello decided to take a break
from football in sophomore year and didn’t play
that season. But as a junior, he was convinced
to come back and rejoin the team and sport
he loves.
“My favorite thing is how close you get
with other guys,” said Aiello. “I like Coach
Ivankovich and the whole coaching staff. It’s
kind of like a whole family.”
Aiello attributes much of his success
to Ivankovich, who is also the offensive line
coach. Encouraged by Ivankovich, Aiello be-
gan attending football camps at the end of
his junior year.
According to Aiello, going up against
other dominant players, as well as being seen
by many college coaches, motivated him to
become a better player.
Aiello has worked on his “strength and
then flexibility and then technique,”Ivankovich
said. “He’s done what we’ve required him to
do, and he’s done hundreds of hours of extra
work. So he’s got the full package.”
After the summer camps, Aiello, ��
Ivankovich, and Aiello’s parents met in February of his
junior year twice to discuss the possibilities of
playing Division I college football.
According to Aiello, the recruiting process
didn’t last that long. He would communicate
with coaches and some would come out
to Acalanes to watch Aiello practice and
play. After being scouted by numerous
college coaches, Aiello received offers from
Washington State University, University of
Nevada Reno, and University of California,
Davis. But Aiello wasn’t satisfied.
After talking with the University of
Oregon, Aiello attended the Ducks’ three-day
camp in Eugene. After exhibiting his potential,
he walked away with an offer for a full ride
scholarship and a commitment to play football.
“ The process was pretty stressful because
I felt like I always had to be the best. I felt like I
had to impress the coaches and at times it got
pretty difficult,” said Aiello. “Having it all over
when I committed to Oregon was super nice
because it took the whole entire thing off my
shoulders. I didn’t have to worry about other
schools, other coaches, or playing my season
with a risk of injury.”
Aiello decided to sign with Oregon for
many reasons outside of the fact that in recent
years the Ducks have always been in the top
half of the NCAA Football Top 25 rankings. As
of Sept. 27, Oregon was ranked second in the
nation by the AP Top 25 Poll.
“When I was up [in Eugene] I got a tour
of the campus and checked out the academics
and all the support and tutors you get. There’s
a whole academic center for athletics. It’s really
awesome, all the support you get,” said Aiello.
“I didn’t pick it just on the football side.”
Aiello likely won’t have a problem settling
into college life next year.
“He is a really special person who is
respectful, caring, and passionate. He has such
a great personality that is known in whatever
room he is present in. He always makes other
people happy,” said senior Jewels Biro. “Off
the field Brady is a gentle giant who cares for
others and puts other people first.”
Aiello is ready to create lasting friendships.
“I don’t know what to expect, but I’m just
going to go into it. I’m probably going to be
really excited,” said Aiello. “I’m looking forward
to meeting all the new guys and coaches as
well as building relationships that I’ll have for
the rest of my life.”
Padon takes over reins of Pittsburg hoops
By JOSHUA BLAKES
Pittsburg High School
Pittsburg high school has a new varsity
boys’basketball coach and economics teacher.
Carson Padon came to Pittsburg from
Seattle, where he coached college basketball.
He earned a master’s degree in coaching
and athletic administration from Concordia
University Irvine in 2014, as well as a BA and
teaching credential from California State
University Monterey Bay in 2008.
Padon also received an AA degree from
Sacramento City College in 2004.
As a coach, Padon led Woodland High
School’s varsity basketball team to the playoffs one out of the two years he was there. At
Marina High School, near Monterey, he led
his team to the playoffs for three consecutive years.
In the 2008-09 season, his team was unde-
feated at 4-0 record heading into the playoffs.
The Pittsburg High School boys’basketball
program has struggled, though last year the
varsity squad finished with an overall record
of 22-6 and a league record of 8-2.
The team sailed on to the playoffs but fell
short, losing to San Ramon Valley in the second
round of play. This year, Paden aims to make
dramatic improvements to the boys’program.
Padon stresses academics and takes the
title“student athlete”literally. He wants to prepare players to be academically and athletically
prepared for recruitment to college programs.
Padon, who stays on top of his players’
grades with weekly progress reports and
twice-weekly study halls, says he plans to
continue the culture of success achieved last
season by Coach Ryan Lloyd and his team.
Asked how he was fitting in at Pittsburg
High, Padon said, “It feels great. I couldn’t be
happier, and the tradition at the school runs
Manning breaks Favre’s record
Peyton Manning broke the NFL record for touchdown passes
eclipsing Brett Favre’s previous record of 508, by throwing his 509th
and 510th scoring passes Sunday night against the 49ers
deep into the community and the support of
the community is great – right along with the
alumni base being very active. The student
athletes are talented and very dedicated.”
Pittsburg basketball players said they are
open to Padon’s approach.
“I like the style of play and the way of
discipline,”said Devonce Sanders, a senior and
varsity player. “Academically, study hall helps
keep the players focused and on edge not to
do it at home.”
Junior varsity player and sophomore
Seu Kuka said, “Coach Padon has installed a
program that players take seriously and can
be useful and he will be a good change for
the basketball program.”
INSTRUCTIVE New Pittsburg High basketball coach
Carson Padon works with a player during practice at
Pittsburg High. Photo by Joshua Blakes, Pittsburg
High School.
Improved football program attracts transfer students
By JAKE PERALTA
Clayton Valley Charter High
In the two years since Clayton Valley
High School was converted to a charter
1991-2010
508 school, head varsity football coach Tim
Murphy has led his team to two Diablo
1983-1999
420
Valley Athletic League Championships and
a North Coast Section title.
2001-2014
374
School records were broken over those
2000-2014
372
seasons, including rushing yards, touchdowns, forced fumbles, and points scored.
1961-1978 342
With Clayton Valley Charter High
1983-1998 300
School on the rise, the athletic program
has gained a number of athletes as transfer
1984-2000 291
students:
Marshawn Davenport from Pittsburg
1956-1973 290
high school, Jamel Rosales, Kahlil Mckenzie,
1987-2007 275
and Jalen Mckenzie from De La Salle High
School, Aaron Murillo from Hercules High
*Active players
© 2014 MCT School, and Ray Jackson from College Park
Peyton Manning* 1998-2014
Brett Favre
Dan Marino
Drew Brees*
Tom Brady*
Fran Tarkenton
John Elway
Warren Moon
Johnny Unitas
Vinny Testaverde
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com, NFL
Graphic: Greg Good
510
High School.
All of the transfers students said they
moved to Clayton Valley for a better environment and stronger academics. They
also agreed that it was difficult to adjust
in a new school, and even more difficult to
make new friends.
Every transfer however, was assessed
penalties from NCS for having transferred
after their freshman year.
Both Davenport and Rosales had to
sit out for approximately six weeks. They
agreed that watching from the sidelines
was not fun.
“It didn’t help me at all, because I knew
all of the stuff I needed to know,” Jamel said.
“I don’t like sitting out it was horrible,”
Marshawn said.
But being suspended for eight games,
helped sophomore Jalen Mckenzie: “It
helped me learn to be positive to any situ-
ation and keep an open mind.”
Sitting out and not being able to play
for a few weeks is hard, but not playing
for a whole year is even harder. Transfers
Murillo and Jackson may not get to see the
field this season.
NCS ruled that they will not be eligible
for a year, but the school and their families
appealed that decision.
“It’s hard seeing my teammates on
the field without me out there with them,”
Aaron says.
The senior All-American Kahlil Mckenzie will not be playing a down at Clayton
Valley. The 6’4”, 330-pound defensive tackle
will be spending his time on the sideline
supporting his teammates.
“I’m going to be a positive influence
on my teammates and use my abundant
knowledge to help better my teammates,”
he said. “You can call me Coach Kahlil.”
Top MVHS athletes commit to college teams
By NATALIE BROOKER
As Monte Vista High School approaches
October, a buzz of college app nerves and
excitement floods the seniors. While most
students are filling out numerous applications, a group of students at MV can relax for
a little while.
For many of these students, the hard work
has paid off. They enter their senior year already
knowing where they will be attending college.
And yes, this means they will only have to fill
out one application.
“It’s nice no longer having to stress about
my own application or whether my SAT scores
are high enough. Yet the college buzz is still in
the air, and I am living the stress through my
friends who are going through the process,”
said Marissa Savoldi, in July 2013 who verbally
committed to play soccer at UC Santa Barbara.
Although these student athletes know
where they will be next fall does not mean
they have given up in the classroom.
“I am taking an AP class my senior year so
that I can get credits I can use in college when
I have a busy schedule,” said Hailey Lindberg,
who is attending Santa Clara University in fall
2015 to play volleyball.
The hours they spend practicing and playing their sport are larger than the time it takes
to apply for college. The recruitment process
can be long and stressful.
Most sports involve athletes getting recruited through their club team, an organization outside of school. These club teams attend
large tournaments which are often attended
by college coaches from all over the country.
Some athletes are fortunate enough to
have collegiate level coaches contact them
or their coach, but many have to market
themselves.
This involves something as simple as
contacting coaches and asking him or her to
stop by your game to watch you play, or as
complicated as hiring a recruiter, which many
Danville families decide to do. Recruiters tend
to cost around a couple thousand dollars,
which some people find worthwhile.
“Like all things, it’s a tradeoff between
time and money. The basic fact is that anyone
can get recruited without paying one of the
many available athletic recruiting services,”said
Michelle Kretzschmar, a journalist for the DIY
College Rankings, an online blog.
“But while it’s definitely possible, it’s not
always easy. There are reasons why families
use athletic recruiting services and are happy
with them because they offer valuable services
for the family.”
Committed Monte Vista students as of
Sept. 25:
Michael Anderson, soccer, Brigham Young
University
Chelsea Barry, soccer, Cal Poly SLO
Katie Carr, soccer, Southern Methodist
University
Leah Emerson, soccer, Saint Mary’s College
Courtney Fahey, water polo, University of
Southern California
Mackenzie Flath, water polo, University of
Southern California
Madeline Gibson, soccer, UC Santa Barbara
Mallory Hromatko, soccer, UC Santa
Barbara
Gabby Klein, lacrosse, University of Southern California
Hailey Lindberg, volleyball, Santa Clara
University
Lindsey O’Brien, rowing, San Diego State
University
Lindsay Rood, softball, UC Berkeley
Marissa Savoldi, soccer, UC Santa Barbara
Benjamin Spencer, lacrosse, University of
Massachusetts Amherst
Rachel Underwood, volleyball, Trinity
College
Charles Zalumous, baseball, Saint Mary’s
College
Ariana Zamora, soccer, UC Davis
Features
10
November 2014
CC Spin
Bullying can't flourish if bystanders intervene
By KAYLEIGH ROHRBACH
It can happen anywhere; walking
through the parking lot, opening up your
locker between classes, even while scrolling
through your Facebook wall.
Bullying is a major
issue
in our conOPINION
temporary culture
and society. it can happen to anyone, at
anytime, anywhere.
According to Family First Aid, an organization designed to help troubled teens,
nearly 30 percent of teenagers have been
involved in bullying in some way. This includes both victims as well as bullies.
This would mean that at Clayton Valley
Charter High alone, nearly 600 students
have played some role in a bullying incident.
Bullying is incredibly harmful to an
individual’s self-esteem and affects how
they go about living their life.
Physical bullying, which involves physical violence towards a person, can cause
an individual to feel weak and helpless
against the abuser. Not only does the victim
have physical bruises from the attacks, but
emotional bruises that can last a lifetime.
Emotional and verbal bullying can
severely affect a person’s self-esteem, so
much so that it leads to depression and, in
severe cases, suicide. In addition, the effects
of bullying during the teenage years last
long into adulthood. A new study published
in Psychological Science shows that serious
mental illness and poor social relationships
are some of the long-term outcomes former
victims encounter in adulthood.
Bully victims are six times more likely
to develop a psychiatric disorder or serious
illness than those who were lucky enough
to avoid bullying.
Opponents of bullying argue that this
behavior does not lead to suicide, mental
illness does. A study by psychological scientists Dieter Wolke and William E. Copeland
of Duke University, however, has shown
that bullying does in fact lead to mental
problems, which in turn can lead to suicide.
Bullying is a major issue among teenagers today, and Clayton Valley Charter High
School is no exception.
How would you feel waking up every
day, knowing you have to go to school and
face people who torment you? How would
you feel knowing that even when you go
home, these bullies can hurt you with a
simple text message or tweet?
No one should have to fear leaving
his or her house and being themselves.
Bullying can happen to anyone, but it can
end with you. As Gandhi so famously put
it, we must “be the change we want to see
in the world.”
If you see someone being bullied, stand
up and stay something. Let the victim know
he or she is not alone.
Cyberbullying is when one
person targets another using
Internet technologies
State cyberbullying laws
How states are dealing with the growing problem of cyberbullying:
Have some
type of law
Update
proposed to
current law
Law
proposed
Have
no law
R.I.
Conn.
Del.
D.C.
© 2012 MCT
Source:
Cyberbullying
Research
Center
Graphic: Judy
Treible
NOTE: Alaska and Hawaii are not to scale
Cyberbullying When one
child targets another child
using Internet technologies
Teen spilts her life between Danville and London
By GRACE WENSLEY
Angelie Pathak is a sophomore at Monte
Vista who runs track and is involved in clubs
and the leadership class. She’s just a regular
teen living in Danville–part of the time.
In the summer she transforms into a streetsmart, immersed-in-culture London local.
Pathak, a citizen of Britain and the United
States, has spent about every summer in London since she was born. Specifically in Edgware,
North London, which is roughly 3 miles from
city center.
With most of her family there, and a house,
London is pretty much her second home.
“It feels like home, but it is still a new
experience because I haven’t been there the
whole year,” Pathak said.
London may feel like a second home to
her, but it’s still very different than Danville.
Only 40,000 people live in Danville, versus 8
million in London.
“You walk onto the street and there are so
many people. Here there is not constant traffic
and that energy,” she said.
Public transportation is very prominent in
London, unlike Danville. Many people find their
way around the city by bus, the Underground,
and by boat.
“You walk everywhere. Where as here
everyone uses a car,” Pathak said.
Pathak really appreciates London’s rich
culture. “There are so many people there and
different cultures,” she said. “It would be a
fun thing to work in the city, in a museum or
something, where you could interact with all
the people.”
Pathak only spends her summers in
London, but even in those three months she
experiences the freedom of being a teen in
London. In Danville, most kids don’t just hop
on BART by themselves at any hour and go
into the city. in London, it is quite the contrary.
“Hang out in the city. Have lunch. Shop.
Walk around. Then come home,” Angelie said
about what kids her age do with their chaps.
Chaps, that’s another thing…
Although she doesn’t notice it, living in
London part time, and full time with her parents
who grew up there, rubs off on her. For example,
shopping cart is trolley, trash can is trash can.
“I think it is funny how she says the boot
(trunk), and trainers (tennis shoes),” said Nicki
McCarty, Angelie’s friend.
Living in London is a greatly different
experience from Danville, and Pathak shares
how she benefits from it.
FOREIGN TRAVELER Angelie Pathak poses in front of a classic red London telephone booth on Oxford
Street during the summer of 2013 while she was exploring the city. London is not foreign to her though,
because she has lived there most summers since she was born. Photo courtesy of Angelie Pathak, Monte
Vista High School.
“You have to be aware of your surroundings,” she said.
Walking through downtown Danville
you’re not worried about your purse or phone
being snatched, but everything is different in
London.
College costs deny opportunity
By JILLIAN ARGENTO
Since the beginning of your high school
career, you’ve probably never stopped
dreaming of the day you would graduate.
With all your hard work and everything you
have accomplished, you deserve all of the
freedoms you get as you approach young
adulthood. As one chapter ends, another
one must begin, right?
According to
the U.S. Bureau of
OPINION Labor Statistics, you
might decide to go
to college just like 65.9 percent of American teens. But before you can make that
decision, you must ask the very important
question: Can I really afford college?
The National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education calculates that over
the past 30 years, the cost of college tuition
in the United States has increased by more
than 400 percent.
So if all young people are encouraged
to attend college by parents, teachers, and
other adult leaders, how do they recommend we pay for it?
The simple answer is that we can’t. But
the federal government can,
at least for the time being. In
the United States, the amount
College costs rose again this academic year, but not as steeply
as they have in past years. However, federal aid, which eases the
of student debt has surpassed
burden for most students, has declined over the past two years.
that of all credit card debt, at
Type of college
2012-13
2013-14
% change
$829 billion.
Two-year public
$3,154
$3,264
+3.5%
Essentially, college is afFour-year public
8,646
8,893
+2.9
fordable because of student
28,989
Four-year private
30,094
+3.8
NOTE: Does not include room, board
loans, and one of the only
ways young Americans can
Sources of aid 2012-13
pay for college is a student
Public and private sources of funding, in billions
2012-13 figures are preliminary
loan.
Work/study
Tax credits
Federal aid
Although financial aid
1%
9
$185.5
2010-11
assists students, the debt will
169.7
2012-13
follow them throughout their
Non-federal loans
lives until it is paid off.
Federal Grants
2010-11 8.1
53
loans
So the sensible thing
2012-13 8.8
37
would be for colleges to conState, institutional, private grants
sider the student perspective
2010-11
64.2
68.7
and lower tuition costs overall.
© 2013 MCT
2012-13
Source: The College Board
But colleges and universities
colleges and universities seem to have no
across the United States are
thinking about the same thing that you choice but to pass this expense on to the
consumer.
are, and that’s the money.
The future of the world lies in the
While they are institutions that look to
provide students with an education, they hands of the young people, but unless they
are also businesses interested in making a can afford it, the young people won’t have
profit off of their attendees. With the cost access to the education they need in order
of doing business constantly rising, major to handle such an immense responsibility.
College costs
US should stay out of the Syria/ISIS debacle
By RADEEN SHEMIRANI
While the Islamic State continues to
draw hellfire on the Middle East, some
Americans don’t think there should be
continued U.S involvement in this global
war on terror.
It comes to a point where it isn’t just
a decision for the government to make,
but a decision American citizens have to
determine: Do Americans want increased
involvement in the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) situation?
No we don’t,
OPINION
and here’s why. As of Sept. 22, the United States and
allies such as France, Britain, and Belgium
initiated airstrikes and acts of retaliation
against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. These countries
see the problem and side with the U.S. But
the question remains: Should the United
States become more involved?
Over the summer, President Obama
gave a press conference stating he would
do whatever is needed to end the threats
against the United States.
But President Obama has not consulted
Congress. And according to CNN.com, no
U.S senator has approved sending United
States troops into the Middle East because
senators don’t want a repeat of the war in
Iraq, which lasted almost a decade and
cost the country billions of dollars and
thousands of American lives.
President Obama has given the go
ahead for airstrikes with other countries. But
airstrikes do not involve U.S ground troops.
The U.S. has a long list of countries
that are willing to participate in airstrikes at
ISIS locations. This keeps U.S. involvement
and sacrificing of lives, government time,
and the funding of a military program to a
minimum. But the unofficial war still costs
billions.
As we spend more money on a war,
our economy slowly starts to decline. Gas
prices rise, food prices skyrocket, and life in
the U.S .becomes increasingly more difficult.
Think about all of the previous wars in
which the U.S. has been involved. The war in
Vietnam was so unpopular that eventually
the U.S. pulled out. The U.S.–Iraq war started
because of a false suspicion that Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction.
President Obama stated on Sept. 28th,
that,“This will not be another Iraq war. We’re
not sending in tens of thousands of troops
on the ground” He also stated that, “ U.S.
troops do not and will not have a combat
mission against the Islamic State.”
It’s obvious that sending in ground
troops and upping our involvement in the
war on terror will only result in a repetition
of our mistakes, which has always been a
negative part of our U.S. history.
All in all, Angelie thinks there are so many
advantages of living in London, and it has
opened her eyes to different cultures and
taught her to be street smart and independent.
“An experience that can only be said in
one word, unforgettable,” Pathak said.
Monte Vista High
mourns passing of
talented alumna
By BEN NG
Jacqueline Rush, Monte Vista High School
Class of 2009, died March 30 after a long battle
with cancer. She was 23 years old.
“She was one of the most motivated
people I ever met,” current Monte Vista High
long-term substitute teacher and fellow 2009
grad Paige Wilson said.
Jacqueline Rush was an A+ student who
many people at Monte Vista cared about. She
impressed many with her positive attitude and
problem-solving mindset.
“She tried to do something instead of
complaining if she had a problem,” English
teacher Heather Slipka said.
Rush helped create the “Safe School
Ambassadors” program at Monte Vista. She
also ran for the track team, played piano in
Jazz band, was part of the National Charity
League, California Scholarship Foundation
and Link Crew.
Spanish teacher Sa��
ndra Isbell knew Jacqueline most of Jacqueline’s life. She was her
Spanish teacher at Tassajara Hills Elementary
from firstt to fifth grades and her also taught
her Spanish in preschool.
“She was a brilliant and beautiful young
lady who was loved by everyone,” Isbell said.
Jacqueline bravely fought cancer for four
years, but she didn’t let that hold her back.
During this time she attended University of
San Diego, double majoring in Marketing and
Spanish, and graduating cum laude.
Rush also studied abroad in Madrid, Spain.
Several of her former Monte Vista High
teachers went to visit her and say their
goodbyes during her last days.
One of those teachers was Spanish teacher
Danielle Franco, who said she was as kind
and friendly a person then as she was when a
student at Monte Vista.
Features
CC Spin
11
November 2014
Watson stirs 'HeForShe' debate with UN speech
By SHILPA RAO & BRANDON GARNSEY
San Ramon Valley High School
A speech to the United Nations by actress
Emma Watson about the virtues of gender
equality resonated with students at San Ramon
Valley High School.
Watson, who appeared in all nine Harry
Potter movies, spoke to the United Nations on
Sept. 20 about feminism and its importance
to men and women.
Watson dismissed the idea that feminists
are “man-haters,” saying that feminism is the
“the belief that men and women should have
equal rights and opportunities”and represents
“the theory of the political, economic and social
equality of the sexes.”
The movement deals with issues such as
equal pay, the sexualization of women, and
other discriminatory actions towards women. Men benefit from feminism too, Watson
said, as it aims to counteract “macho” culture
and the notion that men need to be aggressive.
Watson pointed out that men have been
noticeably absent in the discussion about gender equality. This is why she invites individuals
of both sexes to join HeForShe, a campaign for
gender equality.
Watson envisioned a society in which men
and women can be both strong and sensitive,
where “we stop defining each other by what
we are not and start defining ourselves by
what we are.”
Students at San Ramon agreed with many
of Watson’s points about feminism. Junior
Hannah Ramies described feminism as “an
idea meant to bring political and religious
equality for women.”
She added that women have traditionally
been housewives because of societal beliefs
that men were stronger and smarter–better
able to provide for families, a stereotype that
feminism hopes to eliminate.
Senior Harry Gardiner described feminism
as “an idea that promotes and works towards
balancing the gender equality between men
and women.”
San Ramon High School has some gender
discrimination, though Gardiner noted the
situation for women has improved considerably over the past 100 years.
Ramies said teachers are generally fair in
their treatment of both sexes, but students
tend to have double standards. “For example,”
she said, “some boys think it is OK to objectify
women, but when a girl objectifies a boy, she
deserves a scarlet A”– a reference to the symbol
for adultery in the book “The Scarlet Letter” by
Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Sophomore Sheridan Steele has experienced gender discrimination firsthand. “Just
last week,” she said, “I was sitting with one of
my best friends at lunch on the SRVHS campus,
when a guy we barely know walked up to us.
Because we were sitting next to each other and
I was giving her a hug, his first response was
to say, ‘Oh look, lesbians!’, pull out his phone,
and begin taking pictures of us.
"When I asked him to stop, he ignored
my request and continued taking photos, and
when he was finished, he refused to delete
them, assuring me that he‘wouldn’t post them’.
This would never happen to two friends that
were male.”
It is for such situations that we need the
HeForShe campaign, she concluded.
San Ramon students differ about whether
society can achieve gender parity. Ramies
thinks society is too “set in its ways” for equality to take shape, while Steele is confident
that with some time and hard work, women
will have equal rights. All said there has been
progress.
Students who want more information on
this topic can find it on the web at::
• www.youtube.com/
watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk (Emma
Watson’s speech)
• www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-genderequality-is-your-issue-too (transcript of speech)
• www.heforshe.org (HeForShe)
OUTSPOKEN Emma Watson arrives at the 86th
annual Academy Awards on March 2, at the Dolby
Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los
Angeles. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
Monte Vista students journey to Costa Rica as volunteers
By SAMANTHA TESHIMA
In July and August 2014, Monte
Vista High students had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica.
Sandra Isbell, Spanish teacher
at Monte Vista (also known as Doña
Sandra), organized the two-week trip.
The trip included many adventures
such as riding horses up a mountain to
a cloud forest, exploring rainforests,
enjoying the wildlife, and snorkeling
with the native sea life.
“We went to an inactive volcano
and went zip-lining down the whole
thing,” senior Marianna Del Matto said.
“It was called (volcan) Arenal.”
“It was incredible,” senior Diana
Kryukova said. “Costa Rica is known
for its biodiversity so we got to see a
bunch of different plants and animals
that we wouldn’t see here in Danville.
It’s very green. We were in the rainforest
a lot. I remember walking through the
mud, I was soaking wet. I was about
to complain, but then I was thinking,
‘When am I ever going to do this again?’”
Isbell and the students also par-
The Beats
are on it
By JULIANNA BRAMWELL
Beats headphones by Dr. Dre are
today’s headphones of choice. The
noise-cancelling headphones are
famed for not only their star-studded
commercials but also their quality.
Beats are supposedly the best
headphones for serious music listeners who love to block out the world
around them.
As someone who enjoys blasting
my music in order to block out my
10-year-old sister, Beats were appealing
to me. That was until I saw the price. At
a $200 minimum, the headphones lost
their appeal.
Noise-cancelling headphones are
a great thing, don’t get me wrong. I got
through finals using them to block out
all the noise in my house. However, I
used a generic $40 pair instead. They
worked, in my opinion, fine. I couldn’t
hear my sister practicing for her school
play, which is all I wanted. Beats are to
headphones what Camelbacks are to
water bottles.
The appeal of Beats headphones
comes down to the brand name. The
company is pumping out headphones
in every color now, similar to what Apple
did with the iPod nano a few years back.
People proudly walk around with
their Beats hanging around their neck,
just to show off that they own Beats
headphones. They are items that overnight turned into brand names with an
outrageous price.
ticipated in volunteer work and humanitarian projects with Costa Rican
children and teenagers.
Diana Kryukova was one of the
many students inspired by the volunteer work.
“The first day we did a humanitarian [project] where we worked with
kids at an athletic school and did soccer donations and played soccer with
them,” Kryukova said. “The last thing
that we did that was our main focus
was going to an at-risk community
called “El Carpio.”
El Carpio is a slum outside of San
Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, home
to many impoverished Nicaraguan
immigrants who left their country for
political and economic reasons, looking for better lives.
“We went to a preschool that was
just established there by a woman we
called Ms. Nystrom,” Kryukova said.
Gail Nystrom, an American, is the
founder of the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the social
problems in Costa Rica with the use of
creative economic solutions.
“She has made it her life ambition
to make a difference in the community of El Carpio and change it for the
better,” Isbell said. “She has instilled in
them a pride in their community. She
has helped build a daycare center for
single moms (who) have to work, an
elementary school, a preschool, and is
now working to build a youth center.”
“With her, we worked together and
got a bunch of donations and crafts,”
Kryukova said. “We wanted to work
with her in some way to help raise
money to buy craft supplies, anything
that would benefit them or the community, building new roads or painting
murals.”
This experience sparked an idea.
“The Monte Vista students were
very moved by the humanitarian work
that we did and they wanted to continue that,” Isbell said. “This experience
has not only changed the lives of the
Costa Rican teenagers and Nicaraguan
immigrants, but it has changed the
lives of the Monte Vista students who
shared their compassion with them.”
A group of students created the
Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation
Club at MV. There are five founders:
Megan Chan, Diana Kryukova, and
Chelsea Rodgers, all co-presidents, Jillian Van Sicklen and Kyle Pedretti, and
their advisor, Doña Sandra.
During the club fair, 70 students
signed up to be a part of the club.
While on the trip, Kryukova and her
friends found materials and string in
a small store. During their down time,
they made bracelets with the materials.
“We decided that when we got back
to school, we should start a foundation
that would really help the proceeds to
go to the community,” she said.
“For the focus of the club, we really
want to get a bunch of people together
and hopefully start making bracelets,
doing something to raise money for
the community. That’s how we created
this. (We) will send the money to Ms.
Nystrom.”
The trip will prove to be memorable
for these students for many years to
come. “I went into the trip, knowing
two people, but at the end of the trip
the whole group was pretty much a
family,” Kryukova said. “We took care of
each other. I made a lot of new friends.”
A Cappella–
MVHS
goes vocal
From MONTE VISTA hIGH
As of fall 2014, Monte Vista can
proudly boast a group of talented
singers creating music with only
their voices, led by the new choir
director.
When Jodi Reed, the new
teacher, started the a cappella group,
it was formed for the enjoyment
of the students and the chance to
expose them to the music trend of
a cappella. There was a great turnout – 75 students auditioned. But
Reed could select only 22 students
for the group.
Reed decided to create both a
team and a class to prepare students
for next year.
The a capella students find it as
enjoyable as Reed does.
“The best part of being in a
capella is the bonding with the
group and how you grow closer,”
said Joshua Manela, a senior in the
a cappella group. “Our practices are
really fun and energetic and never
fails to be that way.”
The group was formed for the
enjoyment and education of the
students. However, members have
to be committed, to hold their own
parts and to sing in tune. They also
need to be capable of learning music
quickly and adding to the music.
For inspiration, Reed looked to
her children, who often listen to a
cappella groups for entertainment.
“If kids are interested in this,
it might be a chance to give more
[kids] an exposure to more local
music,” Reed said.
A cappella is the art of creating
music solely through the voices of
the singers. They aren’t weighed
down with or influenced by an accompanist or instrumental music.
Students learn vocal percussion and
to mimic instruments.
“It’s creating something out of
nothing,” said Reed.
The a cappella group will be
performing at school concerts.
They’re also going to participate in
competitions. The class will also be
performing, though not as often.
The songs they’ll be performing
will be modern, pop, contemporary
and local. Currently they are working
on a rendition of Sail/Feeling Good
by the Vanderbilt Melodores and Fix
You by Coldplay.
“The best part is being there
when it all comes together,” said
Reed.
12
November 2014
BACK PAGE
CC Spin
CENSORSHIP
The dirtiest word of them all.
Without The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
you wouldn’t have the freedom to listen to, look at, or say
what you choose. Censorship is a way of life for others
around the globe. Leaves you speechless, doesn’t it?
The First Amendment – Keep It Strong!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of RELIGION,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of SPEECH,
or of the PRESS; or the right of the people peaceably to ASSEMBLE,
and to PETITION the government for a redress of grievances.
This message made possible by the
Illinois Press Association Foundation and Copley First Amendment Center
www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com

November 2014 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

Transcription

Similar documents

May 2015 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

January 2012 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

Clarity Vision Change

MONTE HALCONES

Vista News - Vista Clinic

Four Winns 258 Vista - {ModelName} Charter

March, 2008 - Contra Costa Journalism.net

VISTA – A Ticketmaster Product

Vista Travel Presents Cliqbook: Travel Management With A High IQ

Usign SP-300/V with VersaWorks on Windows 7/Vista

EurekaWeb - Eureka Support