The Californian Paper

The

Californian California High School

We investigate the chilling mystery of Cal’s $10,000 ice cream fund. Read more in News Lite on page A8.

Friday, March 18, 2022

9870 Broadmoor Dr. San Ramon, CA 94583

Volume XXXI, Issue V

Say goodbye to waking up early

New schedule will replace A period with a 7th period, which could end around 3:45 p.m.

Asiyah Ally A&E Editor Students can say goodbye to waking up before 7 a.m. with the removal of A period next school year.

The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is reviewing possible new bell schedules for

the 2022-2023 school year that replace A period with a seventh period that could run as late as 3:45 p.m.

The change resulted from the 2019 Senate Bill 328, which prevents classtime before 8:30 a.m from counting towards required instructional minutes.

This change will be implement-

ed no later than June 1, though the end of the current school year is June 2.

SB 328 has forced the district to revise their schedule and replace the optional A period with a seventh period class at the end of the day. Although no schedules have been finalized, seventh period is expected to

start after 2:30 p.m. and end around 3:45 p.m., according to the district website.

Cal High sophomore Izzy Der said she is more inclined to take seven classes now that A period has been moved to the end of the day.

“I’d rather stay at school later [than] come to school earlier,” Der said.

Der believes that having more time in the morning will be beneficial to students.

“Some people are super busy

in the morning and stuff, compared to after school,” Der said.

It is possible that the 15minute brunch break will be removed if Cal prefers that its school days end earlier.

The district student senate, a group of students who provide suggestions to the district that can be implemented, is actively looking into different ways to incorporate the brunch break for high school students.

Jon Campopiano, the district’s executive director of sec-

ondary education, said there will still be breaks such as brunch.

Lunch is expected to remain the same 30 minutes throughout the entire week.

“Everyone is definitely committed to give students and staff the break they deserve,” he said.

Campopiano said the district is in a tough situation because they have to try to create a schedule that works around jobs, sports and other extra-curricular activities.

See SCHEDULE, page A3

Student organizes Walk for Ukraine

Dozens speak out against Russian invasion Anirud Lappathi Staff Writer

Photo by Shiphrah Moses

Cal High students march through the quad holding Ukrainian flags and sunflowers, the national flower, to show support for the country, which was invaded by Russia on Feb. 24 and has seen thousands of injuries and deaths as a result.

Ukrainian junior Shawn Reznikov took the initiative to organize a Walk for Ukraine earlier this month to help spread awareness for peace and justice in Ukraine, which has been subject to a Russian invasion for nearly a month.

“I have family back in Ukraine and I just know how terrible the situation is,” Reznikov said. “Nobody here is really

talking about it.”

Reznikov organized and led the Walk for Ukraine in order to raise awareness of the situation. During lunch on March 3, nearly 100 students of all backgrounds walked around campus with flags and signs, chanting, “Peace in Ukraine”, “Justice for Ukraine”, and “Long Live Ukraine”.

“I’m definitely praying for Ukraine and praying that there’s going to be a more positive outlook for the future,” said junior Simi Shetty, who participated in the walk.

Reznikov thought a walk would be the best way to shed light on the issue, so he talked

See UKRAINE, page A5

Students learn vegetarian Celebrating Holi festivities salad contains anchovies

District plans to replace Caesar dressing to one without fish Shiphrah Moses Managing Editor Vegetarian senior Brunda Kashavijjala walked back to her group of friends after picking up lunch from the cafeteria.

From the few vegetarian options available at Cal High, she chose a Caesar salad. Just as she was about to dig in, her friend stopped her and asked her a question she never thought she would have to consider: “Can you have anchovies?”

It turns out that the salad, labeled as vegetarian, contained a packet of Caesar dressing

Sports

with the addition of anchovies, a type of fish.

“That day, instead of using that Caesar dressing, I was using ketchup,” Kashavijjala said. “And it was the worst thing ever.”

The salad has been served as a vegetarian option since the beginning of the school year. Many students who are vegetarian for religious, dietary, or ethical reasons have eaten it multiple times.

“That was pretty much the only thing that I was eating,” said junior Abinaya Ramesh, who is a vegetarian.

The Californian notified the district about the issue on March 7, but Cal’s cafeteria staff were instructed to continue serving the salad.

The next day, salads were served with a label reading “contains fish”.

“This must have been an oversight on our part,” Zetta Reicker, director of child nutrition for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, wrote in an email. “I can say that due to supply chain issues and shortages, it has been extraordinarily hard to consistently receive the exact products we order.”

In the future, the vegetarian salad won’t continue to be

See SALAD, page A5

Photo courtesy of Shekhur Battu

From left to right, Sami Tripasuri, Praneeta Agrawal and Pari Saluja perform a Bollywood fusion dance for Cal High staff and parents on Feb. 22 as part of an oncampus Holi celebration. Read the full story on page A5.

Features

A&E

Spring sports hit out of the park

Wordle takes over the world

PAGES B2-B3

PAGE B4-B5

Cal’s busiest sports season is off and running

Students spell out their passion for the word puzzle

Force is with new Star Wars game

New Lego video game light yeas ahead of original

PAGE B8

A2

News

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com Friday, March 18, 2022

UC Berkeley almost cuts enrollment Gov. Newsom overturns court’s decision to drop admissions by 3,050 students Daphne So Features Editor With college admissions decisions sending seniors into a panic, the last thing the Class of 2022 wanted to hear was that a top college was drastically cutting enrollment.

But that’s exactly what UC Berkeley was about to do.

A California Court of Appeal decided on Feb. 10 that UC Berkeley would have to freeze student enrollment at 42,347 for the 2022-2024 school years, the same level it was at in 2020-21, according to UC Berkeley News.

This meant that 5,100 applicants who could have been accepted to UC Berkeley would have been denied. This could have resulted in 3,050 fewer students accepting admission and enrolling, according to an email UC Berkeley sent applicants on Feb. 14.

But Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Monday overturning this decision so the enrollment freeze will not occur.

This was a huge relief for Cal seniors who applied to UC Berkeley.

“I’m elated,” senior Lulu Khalil said. “I was pretty upset about it. It makes me very happy to hear. It gives me hope.”

Photo courtesy of Christine Oh

UC Berkeley students walk under Sather Gate on campus.

Added senior Tanya Gupta, “I’m very happy. UC decisions are irregular anyway, so to hear it’s going back to normal is very inspiring.”

A local group of Berkeley residents and activists called Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods sued the school for not being able to provide housing for the new students.

“The group that brought this lawsuit against [UC] Berkeley wanted originally to have Berkeley tie enrollment to the number of beds it can build and

supply,” Cal High’s college counselor Kathy Nichols said.

“The Berkeley chancellor said in the past that is not an option.”

When UC Berkeley admits more students, the housing availability for non-student Berkeley residents decreases, Nichols explained.

“The university has created a tremendous housing shortage in Berkeley,” Nichols said.

“Because they cannot provide enough beds for their students, this pushes out lower income families because [students] have

to rent in residential areas.”

As a result, residential areas are becoming too expensive for native Berkley residents.

Enrollment for 2020-21was unusually low because fewer students applied because of the pandemic, Nichols said.

When UC Berkeley freshman Stephanie Su first heard about the enrollment cuts, she thought it might be a good idea because of the adverse effects that more students on campus might have on the surrounding environment.

But after researching the group behind the lawsuit calling for enrollment cuts, she said she learned that SBN was being hypocritical.

“I found out that even though the proponents of the freeze are like, ‘[UC Berkeley] shouldn’t have more students than it can house,’ oftentimes they’re the same ones suing UC Berkeley every time [the school tries] to build more housing,” Su said.

When Cal seniors heard the news about enrollment cuts, they had conflicting opinions.

“Initially, [my first thought] was this can’t last for a long time,” senior Aryan Sarda said.

“They’ll probably appeal it in the Supreme [Court]. It’s unfair almost. There’s no shot they’re gonna keep [the freeze].”

“I felt really sad because Berkeley is my top choice,” said senior Pranay Thakkur.

UC Berkeley made an appeal to the California Supreme Court against the enrollment cuts, which was denied on March 3, Nichols said.

Luckily, the new legislation that Gov. Newsom signed on Monday allows UC Berkeley to offer admission to 5,100 more students for the 2022 school year than it would have been able to because of the lawsuit, according to The LA Times.

Nichols believes that the enrollment cuts would have been unfair to UC Berkeley applicants.

“On a student level, it is an unfair situation,” Nichols said. “[Students] are admitted to a university based on academic achievements and all the other criteria that is used to admit a student to [UC] Berkeley and your admissions now are based on factors beyond your control.”

Su thinks the cons of the enrollment freeze outweigh the potential pros.

“The enrollment has grown by like 11,000 in the past 20ish years, and yet a lot of the resources seem kind of limited,” Su said. “It doesn’t feel like UC Berkeley has enough resources, but even then, decreasing the enrollment by several thousands of students wouldn’t really make a dent in that issue because there’s so many students to begin with.”

Su feels that because UC Berkeley is a public school, it is able to provide better quality education for the public, and should thus accept more students.

“In order to continue that mission of increasing accessibility to education, it is necessary to have as many students as UC Berkeley can reasonably provide for,” Su said.

Robotics A-team places 5th at state Cal’s two teams built robots to compete with best in California Andrew Ma, Parwaan Virk and Shiphrah Moses Staff Writers The ‘Tipping Point’ for Cal High’s Robotics Club this year made school history.

Both of Cal High’s robotics teams were honored at regional competitions this year, allowing them to compete at the Northern California VRC High School State Championship for the first time ever.

Cal’s A-team took fifth place overall and received the Judges Award, a special recognition after the judges interviewed the team. Cal’s B-team earned 33rd place out of 36 total teams at the state competition on March 5 in Milpitas.

Each team received Excellence Awards at regionals, allowing them to advance to the state finals. Regional competitions opened in September and provided multiple opportunities for teams to advance to the state competition.

The robotics team’s official name is Team 1516, or The Fighting Grizzlies. Both A-team and B-team make up Team 1516, with six students in each sub-team.

The teams are part of Cal’s Robotics Club, which is advised

by John Reed. The club has more than 50 students, including 12 in the competition teams.

Senior Ramyasree Kaja, the A-team captain, said the teams can participate in as many regional competitions as they want, but they have to qualify and receive an award to advance to state.

Excellence Awards, which are an overall assessment of team performance in multiple matches, are a way to advance to the state tournament.

The A-team was awarded the Excellence Award on Jan. 29, while the B-team won the same award on Feb. 21.

Kaja said every year, the robotics teams build robots from scratch and work on them for months. VEX Robotics, the company that provides materials and hosts the robotics competition, makes a new challenge for the robotics teams to solve.

This year, the competition was ‘Tipping Point’, where the robots had to lift goals from a field to a designated platform and try to score more points than their opponents in various ways.

Teams are judged on the design of the robots, completion of the objective and teamwork.

Cal attended state for the first time, but teams qualified in 2020 when the competition was canceled because of COVID-19.

Attending regionals allowed Kaja and her team to make the

News in Brief Junior Prom in two weeks Cal High’s annual junior prom will be hosted at Lake Chalet in Oakland, on March 26 from 7-10 p.m. To enter the venue, students will need a hard copy of their ticket, which will be passed out in the quad, during lunch from March 23-24. Prom photos are being taken in Hap Magee Ranch Park in Danvillle at 4 p.m. on March 26.

District hosts GSA Forum San Ramon Valley High School’s Gay Straight Alliance hosted the annual GSA forum on March 9, where GSAs across the district played games and spoke with district officials about issues affecting the LGBT community, which included sexual education and LGBT representation in school curriculum.

MUN team wins BMUN

Cal High’s Model United Nations Club was one of three clubs to win “Best Club” distinction at the Berkeley Model United Nations conference, hosted at UC Berkeley on March 4-6.

Seniors Andrew Frank and Prisha Narasimhan both earned the “Best Delegate” award in their committee, while 14 other delegates earned individual awards.

Corrections The Californian strives to cover the news accurately, fairly, and honestly. It is our policy to correct all significant errors.

Corrections should be emailed to californianpaper@gmail.com or bbarr@srvusd.net.

Connect with The Californian online:

Twitter: @_TheCalifornian

Photo by Ryan Syms

Cal High’s robotics A-Team perfects their robot before competing in the state competition. adjustments needed before competing in state.

“I had a lot of fun doing it,” senior Bhavya Pandey said. “It was nice exploring a different side of STEM. [The robotics competition] was a fun experience overall.”

Despite their success, both teams faced many challenges this year on their road to state.

“We didn’t have many materials,” said Kushal Dave, who co-captains the B-team with

fellow junior Ketan Mittal.

Kaja said the Robotics Club is not funded like they are at a lot of other schools.

“We have to fund it all ourselves through fundraisers, donations, and sponsorships,” Kaja said.

When students join they club, they’re divided into different groups based on skill level.

“We teach basic robotics, and then test them after a few months to determine if they are ready

for competing for the team,” Mittal said.

The competition team plans to form a third C-team and raise more money to fund the program next year to build on this year’s success, Mittal said.

“We have a good sense of what we need to improve on for the coming year,” said freshman Kadon Liang, who is on the B-team. “That will hopefully get us past states next year.”

Instagram: @thecalifornianpaper

Website: thecalifornianpaper.com

News A3 Mock trial team wins county for fifth year in a row Friday, March 18, 2022 Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Cal beats rival Miramonte to advance to state finals Andrew Ma News Editor Cal High’s mock trial team had a daunting reputation to live up to at the virtual Contra Costa County Mock Trial championship.

Led by senior co-captains Cindy Zhu, Ami Baid, and Daniela Kuthy-Cervantes and coached by teacher Brian Barr, the team had won the county championship for the last four years. Trophy after trophy won

by Cal’s team in the past line a shelf in Barr’s classroom.

“The whole team was really trying to [win], especially all the seniors,” senior defense witness Noelle Yamamoto said. “We were pretty good friends with last year’s team when we won the four-peat, and with them gone, it was more of like, ‘Do we have what it takes to carry it on?’”

It turns out they did. After

pulling through in the finals on Feb. 15 against longtime rival Miramonte High, Cal’s fouryear win streak became five thanks to Judge Joni Hiramoto and four attorneys who scored the trial in the team’s favor.

“We’ve won every single year since I’ve been on the mock trial team,” Zhu said. “And it’s really nice that my senior year we kept the streak going.”

Miramonte placed second in the four-week competition that began Jan. 25, while De La Salle finished third after defeating Dougherty Valley in the consolation round.

Cal defeated Dougherty in the semifinals and Acalanes in the quarterfinals to reach the championship for the 10th time in the past 11 years.

The only precedent to the five consecutive county championships is Miramonte’s streak from 2002-06. The two schools have won every championship for the past 15 years, with Cal claiming eight of these titles.

In addition to its current streak from 2018-22, Cal also won the county championship in 2011, and 2014-15.

Mock trial competitions revolve around a different criminal case each year. Every

Illustration by Carol Chen

Senior Carol Chen’s illustration of Zoom courtroom earned her third place in the mock trial courtroom artist competition this year.

Cal High’s mock trial team won its fifth consecutive Contra Costa County championship last month. school has a prosecution and defense team, which are matched against other schools’ opposing sides. Students take on the roles of attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs that would be in a real trial.

This year’s case was People v. Cobey, the trial of desert gardener Jamie Cobey. Cobey was charged with the first-degree murder and manslaughter of landlord Erik Smith, who died after not seeking medical treatment when he was bitten by a Mojave rattlesnake coiled inside his mailbox.

Prosecution teams alleged that Cobey placed the rattlesnake in Smith’s mailbox with the intention of killing him because he contributed to the death of Cobey’s mother. Defense teams argued Cobey didn’t commit the crime, pointing out the likelihood that Smith’s death was a coincidence and contending that Cobey had no intent to kill.

“Murder cases are my favorite,” said Yamamoto, who played the role of Cobey. “I’ve always loved murder trials more than other ones, but this year is really interesting.”

Cal competed against 15 other schools throughout the county. The top eight schools from the four preliminary rounds advanced to the playoffs.

Cal had a record of 2-2 in the preliminaries and was seeded seventh. But in the playoffs, where teams were eliminated

after just one loss, Cal went undefeated.

“The top eight is very stiff.

It’s not an easy league at all,” Cal attorney coach Ken Mifsud said. “I’d say 12 of the 16 are very competitive schools.”

Cal’s mock trial team is trained by Barr and two attorney coaches, Mifsud and Larry Lowe, who have volunteered for the team for seven and 12 years, respectively. Mifsud is a criminal trial attorney and Lowe is a commercial trial attorney. “[Our coaches] are excellent at what they do and they really know how to train us like actual attorneys instead of just students, and that makes a big difference in the courtroom,” said prosecution witness Reeya Deshpande, a senior who has been on the team for four years.

Deshpande said she fondly remembers the prosecution team working together to brainstorm snake puns for their opening statement theme where they metaphorically referred to the defendant as a true snake.

Many students said this type of bonding really helps with the team’s chemistry.

“We have really good friendships and chemistry, which is really important especially for witnesses and attorneys that need to have really good flow,” Yamamoto said. “Having good team morale has always been important, and I think that’s one of the things that helps us succeed, because we perform

as a team.”

To prepare, Barr, who also serves as The Californian’s adviser, helps members meticulously study the case details and practice applying them in their arguments and performances.

Lowe and Mifsud each come in once a week to add their legal expertise. The team also scrimmages against schools outside of the county to prepare.

“We just have a really great support system, and we have really dedicated teachers that make the students really dedicated as well,” Zhu said. “It’s a combination of hard work and resources that we’re super grateful for.”

Lowe and Mifsud attribute the team’s success to Cal’s deep pool of strong and driven students and its consistent coaching.

“Once you establish a level of excellence, that tends to continue, as the older students pass it on to younger students,” Lowe said. “It’s easier to be dedicated to a program like mock trial when you feel that kids are equally or even more dedicated.

It wouldn’t work otherwise. And winning a lot helps.”

By winning county, Cal advanced to the state finals, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday. Here, 32 county champions compete in four trials over three days for the right to represent California at the national championship in Michigan in May.

Photo by Lili Loney

Senior Shiphrah Moses and junior Sathvika Sitaraman also advanced to state by placing second in the competition for courtroom journalist and artist, respectively.

“It’s definitely going to be very stressful but fun,” said senior Carter Soe, the team’s defense expert witness who has been in mock trial for three years and will be competing in state for the first time.

Zhu said that competitors at state have very diverse approaches, pointing out that like many Southern California teams are more dramatic and acting-based.

“It’s always nice to compete against something fresh and something new,” Zhu said.

“There’s a lot less pressure when going into states as well, because there’s not like this tradition of winning or expectation that you really want to get all of state. It’s just really to have a good time with your team.”

One of the highlights of team bonding this year came when most of the team met at the City Center to watch the livestream of the county awards ceremony, when students learned they won.

“I swear, I just know that we caused some kind of noise complaint somewhere, like there’s no way [we didn’t], we were yelling so loud,” Deshpande said of the celebration. “It was such an exciting moment for our team to sort of be together even when we’ve been so far apart.”

School not allowed to start before 8:30 a.m.

SCHEDULE From page A1 “[I am] real hopeful it’s going to be a smooth process,” Campopiano said.

Cal geometry teacher Surbhi Jain has been teaching A period for three years and is sad to see it go.

“I have seen more productivity in A period,” Jain said.

“Because I enjoy teaching A period, I’ll continue to do that in seventh period.”

Jain feels A period plays a big role in connecting and establishing relationships with her students since they meet four days a week.

She is hopeful this will happen with seventh period classes, which is expected to meet every day but Wednesday, just like

A period. Cal’s other periods follow the block schedule and meet every other day.

The regular Wednesday late start is also being removed.

Wednesday school days on the new schedule will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 1:45 p.m., allowing teachers to now meet after school. There will still be no tutorial on Wednesdays.

“I think [the new schedule] definitely puts a bump in the road for our club, especially because most of our club officers don’t plan to take a seventh period, so I struggle to see how we could schedule our meetings around that,” said junior Ammar Wahab, whose Toastmasters Gavel Club meets after school every other Thursday. “I wouldn’t want to stay an extra two hours at school for a

meeting.”

After school sports will also not be able to start until 4 p.m,. said Ken Mintz, president of the district’s Board of Education.

He said this rule would apply to all districts.

Cal athletic director Chris Declercq, said some sports will be directly affected.

“If [some sports] don’t have light they can’t practice,” Declercq said. “Softball, baseball, tennis, golf.”

Since the end of the school would get pushed back for those enrolled in seventh period, students who have to leave early for games may miss more class time as a result of the schedule change.

“Maybe we [will] move more games to Saturday,” Declercq said.

All practices will most likely start later and end later. Junior Emily Xu, who is in the after school marching band color guard, dislikes the later start.

The marching band practices run after the football team’s practice ends, so the schedule will force them to wait even longer after school to start their practice.

“With the new schedule, [practice] could be possibly pushed back to maybe 10 p.m.,” Xu said. “Sports would have to be pushed back, which could interfere with jobs and people with internships and clubs and other stuff after school.”

The reason classes starting before 8:30 a.m. is ending is because of the sleep schedule of students, according to the Senate bill. High school students

need more sleep and starting school later should help.

“I think it’s doing the opposite because being released from school later means a lot of the things we would usually do would be pushed back later, meaning that we just probably end up sleeping later,” Xu said.

Math teacher Bob Allen, who has been collaborating with the district to construct a schedule that follows the guidelines as part of the district bell schedule committee, thinks changing the schedule will not change student sleep patterns.

Instead, Allen wants to have a larger discussion pertaining to students and classes. He believes students are overexerting themselves because of a variety of reasons, which ultimately leads to lack of sleep.

“There needs to be a larger discussion of what makes a successful student in San Ramon, SRVUSD,” Allen said.

Allen said the new schedule has been in the works since 2019. A committee of staff has been formed at each school to brainstorm possible schedules.

The start of the pandemic threw a wrench in a process that would normally would have taken much less time.

“There are a lot of critiques about the process,” Allen said.

“If the pandemic wasn’t here I think things would have gone a lot smoother.”

The district is constantly gaining new information and adjusting as needed, Campopiano said. He does not know when the district’s new schedule will be finalized and made public.

A4

News

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday, March 18, 2022

Plant-based foods launched

Different restaurants serve vegetarian alternatives to meat items Trisha Sarkar Staff Writer

Finding vegetarian options at fast food restaurants can be difficult.

But recently several different fast food chains came out with new plant-based and vegetarian options, creating a wider variety on their menus.

Fast food restaurants such as KFC, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Little Caesars, Burger King, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Chipotle have started offering plant based foods at select locations.

Different plant-based companies are partnering up with these major food chains to bring vegetarian options to people all around the United States.

One plant-based company is Beyond Meat, which has partnered up with multiple chains, including KFC, McDonald’s, and Panda Express.

Specifically, KFC recently launched its Beyond Fried Chicken, a plant-based alternative to their regular chicken.

When the meat substitute was first tested at an Atlanta location, it sold out in hours.

Beyond Fried Chicken is expected to continue to be on the menu in KFC restaurants in the future, and is currently

Photo by Dannika Shah

McDonald’s new McPlant Burger is a plant-based burger that is currently available in some California and Texas locations. available at the San Ramon KFC location.

Although the entree is plantbased, a KFC news release stated, “[Beyond Fried Chicken is] not prepared in vegan/vegetarian manner.”

“Most restaurants don’t have a lot of vegetarian options, but some places can accommodate,” said sophomore Esha Setty, who is vegetarian. “I

can see the increase in the amount of vegetarian options at restaurants.”

From 2019-2020, total plantbased meat sales increased by 45 percent, according to Vox, an American news website.

Setty said it isn’t hard to find vegetarian options in the Bay Area. But when she was in Las Vegas, it was more challenging.

Another plant-based food

launched by a major chain is Chipotle’s vegan chorizo, which has no artificial flavors or preservatives and is made from pea protein.

Chipotle launched three other non-meat bowls that include the plant-based chorizo: the ‘Whole30 Salad Bowl’, a vegetarian bowl, and a vegan bowl. These bowls are branded as ‘Lifestyle Bowls’.

McDonald’s recently announced their McPlant Burger, which is a plant-based burger that was created in collaboration with Beyond Meat made from pea, rice, and potato. It is only available in a few locations in Texas and California as of now.

One McDonald’s that carries the McPlant burger is the location on San Ramon Valley Boulevard. There are also other

locations carrying the burger as well, including restaurants in both Dublin and Danville.

Burger King also carries a plant-based protein option made from soy protein, the Impossible Whopper. The Impossible Whopper and regular Whopper are almost identical, except for one key difference: the patty.

The Impossible Whopper is available at the San Ramon Burger King location at Camino Ramon and Crow Canyon Road.

Panda Express also recently launched its Beyond the Original Orange Chicken in partnership with Beyond Meat, which is another plant-based alternative to its wildly popular orange chicken.

Many students enjoy other alternatives to meat that aren’t plant-based imitations of it, like nuts or beans.

“I’ve never really had meat and I don’t like the texture, so that’s why I don’t want to try the Impossible meat,” junior Pari Saluja said. Saluja is vegetarian.

“I honestly really like to go for beans and rice because that’s a really good way to get protein,” senior Carly Kern said. “It feels good and hearty and filling.”

Kern said it’s nice to have a variety of options around the Bay Area, especially in grocery stores. Other students struggle to find adequate replacements. “[My parents] would buy these really bad plant-based alternatives because they didn’t have Impossible Burgers,” said junior Phoenix Wong, who is a pescatarian. “That had to be the most foul vegetarian item I’ve ever eaten.”

ou y d l u o w e r Wh e th r o w 0 0 ,0 0 h ide $1 on o f ic e c re am c am p us?

Photos by Lili Loney

“I’m gonna say the leadership room because it’s big.”

Lucy Pugh Senior

“In the cafeteria refrigerator.

I don’t want it to melt.”

Nicky McCune Senior

“Maybe in the cafeteria. It’s the last place people would look because it’s expected.”

Xenia Seymore Sophomore

“The fine arts bathrooms because no one goes in there.”

Holdon Major Freshman

“In Tim’s car. I would give him some of the ice cream because I’m using his car.”

Brock Scanlan Junior

“I’d probably put it in a janitor’s closet then I’d lock it and take all the keys.”

Natalie Peete Junior

Friday, March 18, 2022

News

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

A5

Students and parents host Holi event

Colorful festival includes cultural performances and a wide variety of tasty foods Sami Tripasuri News Editor Cal High’s Indian community of parents and students came together on Feb. 22 to celebrate Holi with teachers and administrators in order to gift the school’s staff with a taste of Indian culture and food.

“Holi was the perfect timing and event to showcase our Indian culture to Cal High staff,” school registrar Vinita Battu said.

The event was organized by Battu and consisted of Indian students from Cal’s community performing a variety of activities, ranging from songs to cultural dances.

“I was blown away by the students, totally blown away,” Principal Megan Keefer said.

“I felt this was not only their culture, but our culture.”

The cultural program consisted of three dances and two singers, including classical Indian and Bollywood fusion dances. The program lasted about 30 minutes.

Senior Rhea Manjunath organized the events and helped coordinate all the performances.

“It was really fun to see all my teachers celebrate Holi,” Manjunath said. “It’s really fun to throw colors at my friends, but playing with my teachers was exciting.”

One of the cultural dances performed was an Indian traditional dance called Bharatnatyam. Senior Sanyukta Rohom has been learning this dance since she was in fifth grade.

“It’s [Bharatnatyam] a way to relax and get rid of my stress,” Rohom said.

Along with the cultural activities, staff and teachers were welcomed into the commons for lunch with colored powder.

Rohom said participants applied the powder on the staff’s foreheads. Women had small dots while the men had long lines called tilak.

“Color powder is symbolism for the festival Holi,” Rohom said. “It’s so that we can shy away from evilness and make

Photo courtesy of Shekhar Battu

Parents apply colored powder to Principal Megan Keefer’s face at last month’s Holi event. sure the good in the world is prospering more.”

The food provided for the staff was one of the main highlights of the event. There were 14 vegetarian dishes which included appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. Spanish and yearbook teacher Jamie Brindley said the traditional foods included samosas, paneer tikka masala, garlic naan, and two different flavored drinks.

“The word [to describe the event] is vibrant, colorful, and

joyful,” Brindley said. “The teachers felt spoiled and it was a nice way to show appreciation for teachers.”

Battu’s vision for this celebration was to not only provide fun foods for the teachers, but to inspire them to embrace other cultures. About 20 years ago when Battu first started working at Cal, she noticed she was the only Indian staff member and that there were very few Indian students.

“The staff members on

campus did not understand how to treat students coming from different cultures because there were so little of them,” Battu said. “I could see students feeling isolated.”

As more Indian families began to move to San Ramon, Battu organized a celebration for Diwali two years ago, including various finger foods in the staff lounge. Keefer and Battu wanted to make it a yearly tradition and plan to do so.

Although COVID-19 disrupted

their plans, there is potential for more cultural programs in the future, Keefer said.

Students and staff feel celebrations like these are also important for spreading awareness about different cultures and creating a sense of community within Cal. “I feel like if it wasn’t for this, the teachers weren’t really experiencing our culture,” junior Adithya Pappula said.

Rohom said the event was a great way of showing different aspects of Indian culture because it was not limited to one performance, but included a variety of dances, songs, and food.

“I just felt like I was included in something,” Keefer said. “I really wish all of our students had that same feeling of being included.”

In the future, several other students also hope their peers would be included in cultural programs in order to spread the festivities and culture to more people.

“It was only with the teachers so the students did not get to experience everything,” Pappula said. “I wouldn’t say it changed our [Cal’s] culture, but it did change the teachers’ point of view on Indian culture.

I am excited for more festivals.”

Cal students walk for Ukraine UKRAINE From page A1

Photo courtesy of Mahiyat Bhuiyan

Caesar dressing and croutons decorate one of Cal High’s vegetarian salads. Students discovered that the Caesar salad dressing contains anchovies.

Salad dressing has anchovies SALAD From page A1

served with the same dressing. “[The district’s] working on getting an alternative dressing for the salad,” said Elaine Esguerra, Cal High’s lead child nutritionist.

Many vegetarian students are unhappy with this recent discovery.

“I’m frustrated,” said junior Sathvika Sitaraman, who is

vegetarian. “I feel like my needs aren’t being met to the level that they should be.”

Added Kashavijjala, “I was like, what the actual heck.

Why are they saying that it’s vegetarian when there’s fish in the salad dressing?”

Some vegan students knew they could not eat the salad, but not because the dressing contains anchovies. These students said they didn’t eat the salad because they assumed the

dressing contained dairy.

Several students have pointed to the lack of vegetarian meal options as a part of the school’s free lunch problem. While 50 percent of meal options at the cafeteria are vegetarian, these meals tend to run out fast.

“Someone who’s vegetarian can’t necessarily eat a meal that’s not vegetarian but someone who’s not vegetarian can always eat a vegetarian meal,” Sitaraman said.

to teachers and administrators to get approval for the walk.

After they approved it, he spread the word through social media, Leadership, and CSF. “It was an absurd experience, like absolutely crazy,” Reznikov said. “I didn’t expect anyone to show up but I think it was, like, 70-plus people.”

Reznikov’s Walk for Ukraine raised awareness for the dangerous situation in the European country. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, and since then at least 691 civilians have been killed as of March 15, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“It’s killing people, killing children, and it needs to stop,” senior Evelyn Ramos said.

Ukrainian students on campus are concerned for their family’s safety. ​​“It makes me feel sad and worried because my family is in western Ukraine as Russia comes closer to the capital,” said junior Will Sydorak, who is Ukrainian. “It also scares me because my cousin is around the age of 18 and might be drafted into the military.”

Sydorak discussed his pride in Ukrainian democracy and sovereignty.

“It makes me disheartened knowing that Russia is trying to disassemble the free government of Ukraine because

Photo by Shiphrah Moses

Junior Shawn Reznikov chants “Long live Ukraine” in the quad as demonstrators follow him. the Ukrainian people are proud of their democratic country,” Sydorak said.

Students like Reznikov are stepping forward and taking initiative to raise awareness of the crisis in Ukraine, while community members like Dublin’s Katernya Bila have organized humanitarian drives, according to Patch.

Many Cal students with

family in Ukraine are affected by the invasion, but students with ties to Ukraine are not the only ones who are affected. Gas prices have been rising and trade sanctions have been implemented on Russia. According to the American Automobile Association, the state gas price average was $5.75 on March 15, more than a dollar higher than the state average a month before.

A6

Opinions

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday, March 18, 2022

STAFF EDITORIALS

The Voice of California High School

We need a mental health curriculum There is one health class offered to Cal High students, one we typically take freshman year to learn about our physical health. As vital as nutrition and exercise are, this class is missing an even more overlooked area of health for high school students: mental health.

Much too often we see students struggling with depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders. Mental health is a difficult journey every teenager goes through. It may be more severe or mild for some, but all in all, we deserve proper education on mental health in school in order to understand and help ourselves and others.

Fortunately for us, Senate Bill 224 passed in October 2021 ensures a proper mental health education curriculum included in current health class for high schools in California.

This newly formed curriculum includes introduction to the major principles of mental health. How to recognize, treat, and cope with mental health challenges will be taught thoroughly along with the typical health class course.

Teachings of common psychological issues in teenagers, including anxiety, eating disorders and depression, will be accessible to students.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, found that 18.8 percent of teenagers experience mental illness.

From 2016-2019, more than 10

million American high school students struggled with anxiety and other behavioral issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An additional 2 million-plus teens struggle with depression.

A bill so beneficial for students can easily be considered a feat for schools with students struggling in one way or another.

As triumphant as this may seem, there is a catch.

This mental health education will not be implemented until January 2024.

Mental health is a consistent issue that we students cannot wait on. Not only will mental health benefit our well-being, but as stated in SB 224, academic success begins with mental health.

The bill states, “​​M ental health education is one of the best ways to increase awareness and the seeking of help, while reducing the stigma associated with mental health challenges.

The public education system is the most efficient and effective setting for providing this education to all youth.”

If mental health is as critical as we must understand it to be, this mental health curriculum must be implemented into health classes as soon as possible. It is in the best interest for schools and students alike to see the urgency in the lack of mental health resources and education and push for all health classes to be updated now.

City Council must approve Plan Public 2 The San Ramon City Council is currently choosing a new district map for the next decade of city elections.

Each of the four city councilmembers are elected from a district every four years, in addition to an at-large mayor elected every two years. Based on the results of the 2020 Census, the city has to readjust district boundaries to reflect population changes in the city.

When the City Council convenes on March 22 to choose election maps for the next 10 years, councilmembers should vote for Plan Public 2.

Nine maps were created by the demographer the city hired in addition to three maps submitted by the public.

In 1968, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Avery v. Midland County that “application of the one man, one vote principle… to units of local government is of broad public importance”, requiring local election districts, including city council districts, to be roughly equal in population.

In practice, this means the total deviation can’t exceed 10 percent.

Plan Public 2 excels by having a deviation of only 1.5 percent, the lowest of any map in consideration, ensuring as much as possible that the principle of “one person, one vote” is upheld.

Although upholding the principle of “one person, one vote” is the main concern in redistricting, other factors such as demographics or sensibility of boundaries can be considered.

In considering these factors, Plan Public 2 is reasonable.

Plan Public 2 respects our diversity and roughly reflects the demographic makeup of San Ramon: Districts 1 and 2 have a majority White citizen voting age population, while District 3 has a majority Asian citizen voting age population, and District 4 has an Asian plurality, according to the City of San Ramon website.

Plan Public 2 uses sensible boundaries, having major roads act as the border between districts wherever feasible.

Districts 1 and 2 are demarcated by Montevideo, while all four districts at some point use Dougherty, Bollinger Canyon Road, or both in their borders.

The City Council should convene an independent commission for future redistricting, rather than approving the final maps as is currently the case.

Although this option may cost more money, it is worth ensuring that councilmembers’ political interests don’t influence their vote when choosing district maps.

We urge the City Council to make the right decision and approve Plan Public 2.

Illustration by Ari Harvey

The student game Assassins encourages violations of personal privacy, a serious problem in a world of constant surveillance.

The

Californian Editor in Chief Nicholas Harvey Managing Editor Shiphrah Moses

News Editors Andrew Ma Samyuta Tripasuri

Opinions Editor Gabriela Jimenez

Features Editors Nimisa Panda Daphne So

Sports Editors Tanner Curtis Eli Mayerson

A&E Editors Asiyah Ally Allison Cavanagh Samantha Contreras Keertana Sreekumar

News Lite Editor Saachi Sharma

Photo Editor Carol Chen

Graphics Editor Ari Harvey

Dylan Allen Tyler Aronson Vishwas Balla Alexia Broughton Sydney Cicchitto Hallie Chong Sophia DiGiovanni Wyatt Golla

Staff Writers Evan Heinz Aniruddha Lappathi Melody Mulugeta Alice Oh Kaustav Pal Tanvi Pandya Aarna Prashanth Abhinav Purohit Tyler Raymond

Artists Shua Lee, Judy Luo

Social Media Editor Kylie Thomsen Online Editors Anika Choudhary Shravya Salem Sathish

Trisha Sarkar Hannah Shariff Kira Sidhu Jordan Vereen Katya Vial Parwaan Virk Michael Zarich Ylin Zhu Photographers Erica Dembrowicz, Lili Loney, Dannika Shah, Ryan Syms

Adviser: Brian Barr Principal: Megan Keefer Printer: Folger Graphics

The Californian mission statement The Californian is dedicated to printing the truth. The Californian strives to cover the news accurately, fairly, and honestly, refraining from libel and obscenity, and abiding by the journalistic code of ethics.

Opinion page policies: Opinions expressed in The Californian are those of the respective authors. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority view of the editorial board.

Letters to the editor: The Californian encourages letters to the editor.

Letters must be signed and should not exceed 150 words. Letters may be dropped off in Room 321 or emailed to californianpaper@gmail.com.

The Californian reserves the right to edit letters or not publish any letters deemed inappropriate.

It is our policy to correct significant errors of fact. All corrections should be emailed to californianpaper@gmail.com Advertising: Advertising material is printed herein for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an expression of endorsement or verification of such commercial ventures by the staff, school or district.

Distribution: Papers are distributed for free to the student body the day the issue comes out. They are sent to subscribers via the mail in the days following distribution to the student body.

Keep up with The Californian online For updates on all Cal High news, follow The Californian on social media Twitter: @_TheCalifornian Instagram: @thecalifornianpaper For more coverage, check out The Californian’s website at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday, March 18, 2022

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Opinions

A7

Are world language requirements worth it?

like English.

Why force students to sit through another year of world language when we can allow them to take classes in a wide array of fields that are offered at Cal High? Just to name a few categories, Cal High offers classes in fields such as computer science, engineering, medicine, art, and business.

With two years of required world language, and a third recommended (which most stu-

dents just interpret as “just take another year, or you won’t get into college”), world language takes up a lot of prime real estate on one’s schedule.

Since most students who take world languages usually enroll in it in their freshman, sophomore and sometimes even junior year, students have to postpone their interests toward the ending years of high school.

If we were to cut down the world language requirement

to one year, students can take a variety of courses without having to worry about running out of time in high school to explore their interests before they head off to college.

Additionally, learning a foreign language in the US simply doesn’t have as much value as a foreigner trying to learn English. While being bilingual in America might open up a few doors, it isn’t a crucial requirement that employers are looking

for that will be the ultimate deciding factor for a job offer.

Even if students want to achieve mastery in a world language, doing it through required high school courses isn’t the way to go. Simply put, gaining proficiency in a world language through a typical classroom setting rarely achieves proficient speakers.

According to the Linguistic Society of America, most bilingual speakers gain pro-

ficiency in a language during their childhood. This is because of the exposure they get from everyday conversations with parents and family members who speak the language, which acts as a consistent practice to achieve proficiency.

This same environment simply cannot be replicated in a classroom setting. With the focus being more on “requirements” such as tests, assignments, and homework, most already disinterested students become even more disinterested in learning.

Only 21.6 percent of the US population is bilingual according to data from the American Community Survey, which is conducted by the Census Bureau. Most of them are hertiage speakers. It simply doesn’t make sense to invest in world language and spend two to three years of a student’s life to only achieve a minuscule fraction of proficient speakers.

While there might be people who have an interest in world language, making it a requirement harms the students who might have an interest in engineering or business but cannot take the class because of the language requirements.

World language requirements should be reduced since they limit the choices of courses students can enroll in, don’t have a significant impact on one’s career, and are simply a waste of time and resources.

Opinion columns reflect the view of the staff writer.

California has been on top of the COVID-19 pandemic since it first took effect on the world in March of 2020. From San Fran-

cisco being one of the first cities in the United States to fully shut down, to high vaccination rates throughout the Bay Area, there has been a dedication locally to slow the pandemic. After all, the Bay Area has some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, with Contra Costa Co. boasting a vaccination rate greater than 80 percent.

Unfortunately, this is not currently being reflected as Gov. Gavin Newsom is being too lenient in lifting indoor mask mandates.

Lifting the mask mandate at this time is a terrible idea. Cases have dropped and we are mov-

ing in the right direction. But we are repeating the exact same mistake that was made when the last mask mandate was lifted. If history repeats itself, cases are going to rise once again.

Back in June of 2021, Gov. Newsom announced that California will open up, and lift the general indoor mask mandate.

At this time, the vaccine was available to everyone 12 and up, and cases were dipping. Everyone started to relax at this time and thought it was the perfect opportunity to lift the mandate.

After this mandate was lifted, cases immediately quadrupled

by July, moving from an average

of about 50 new cases a day to almost 200. We were on a great path at this time and the removal of the mandate set us back very quickly. Gov. Newsom is aware of these facts but has recognized the backlash which came from anti-maskers and allowed this to overtake his decision.

From a clear conclusion that masks are needed to slow the rates of COVID, the mandate was reinstated Dec 13. At this time in California, the case rates were increasing rapidly, everyday by the hundreds.

Newsom announced on Feb 15 all indoor public stores and other buildings will no longer be

requiring masks.This applies to both employees and customers.

After this announcement, places such as the Stoneridge Mall, the City Center, Target, and other popular stores have opened up and stopped enforcing masks completely. Many customers, of course, are still wearing them responsibly, but these numbers have decreased tremendously.

On Feb 27, Gov. Newsom announced that California schools will also have the choice to require masks or not, starting March 14.

The San Ramon Valley Unified School District announced

on Feb. 28 that K-12 schools will no longer be enforcing a mask mandate starting Monday.

It is very important to recognize that although it is not mandated, it is highly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue wearing masks.

When the CDC highly recommends something that was recently strictly mandated, it should be taken seriously.

Masks have protected us since the pandemic first took effect on the world, and it should not stop until the majority of students feel safe in classrooms without one.

Editor – The email the school district sent on March 8 to caregivers and students at the high schools concerns me.

I am a peace lover and firmly believe it is innocent civilian lives that are lost in any war, whilst people in power remain safe with all their comforts.

I have been teaching at Cal High since 2006. In all the years I have been here I have never read any communication about any other war. A simple search shows dozens of wars that are either ongoing or have occurred since I started teaching here.

When American troops left Afghanistan, marking the formal end of the longest war in U.S. history, did the district recognize the catastrophic events that followed?

In September 2015, images of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi’s

body washed up on shore were in every media outlet. Did the district address the war in Syria?

Then it is only fitting to ask why now? Are some lives more newsworthy than others?

I wrote my concerns to the superintendent. His response to my email: “We understand that we cannot comment on everything; however, our community definitely expects us to comment on some things. And then we have to consider whose voice and experience is being elevated and why. The process is actually not about being fair; if being fair means treating each situation in the same way.”

I am deeply disturbed by this response. Last year, I was asked to be a faculty speaker at the graduation ceremony. I said it then and I stand by it now: “It takes courage to speak up for in-

justice”. I believe in equality for all and strive for that. Cal High, does this communication from the district sit right with you?

– Ghazala Niazi, teacher

was established in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.

The case was decided on the basis that there is a “right to privacy” in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The decision in Roe v. Wade followed the doctrine of substantive due process, which states that the courts should protect certain rights even if those rights are not stated, mentioned or implied in the Constitution. Substantive due process is flawed as it covers “rights” that are never in the Constitution. If we are to accept such a doctrine, any “right” can just be made up with no Constitutional basis.

At the time of the 14th Amendment’s adoption, there was absolutely no hint that would indicate that it protected the act of abortion, which existed at the time.

Though many argue that Roe v. Wade was just following the precedent of previous decisions, such as Griswold v. Connecticut that struck down a state law banning contraceptives on the basis of right to privacy, it’s clear that no matter the precedent, the actual decision lies on whether there is a “right to privacy” in the 14th that protects abortion.

No such right exists. The “right to privacy” originated in Griswold on the basis that there is an “emanation” in the Bill of Rights. This “right” of course is not enumerated in the Constitution. As Justice Rehnquist said in his dissenting opinion on Roe v. Wade, “To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the

Amendment.”

Many legal scholars see Roe v. Wade as judicial activism.

Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy that holds that courts should consider societal impacts whenissuing rulings. This hurts our institutions by disregarding what is actually in the Constitution. Judges should interpret the law, not enforce their view of what is good for society.

The 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution...are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The people and states should be handling this problem and we’re being denied our right to handle it.We need our institutions to work correctly and the first step in doing so is to overturn Roe v. Wade.

– Ayaan Karan, junior

Abhinav Purohit Staff writer Opinion columns reflect the view of the staff writer.

As we head into the last stretch of the school year, many underclassmen and incoming freshmen have submitted their class schedule for the next school year.

But many students will be disappointed to see that their choices are fairly limited because of the graduation requirements and, more importantly, the UC requirements. One way Cal High students could be allowed to enroll in more classes is by just reducing one requirement: world language.

World language is a two-year requirement for high school graduation and a third year is recommended by UC schools.

But this harsh requirement should be reduced to one year for a multitude of reasons.

Taking two to three years of required world language gets in the way of enrolling in classes students might have an interest or passion in, especially considering existing graduation requirements for core subjects

Photo by Erica Dembrowicz

Spanish students continue their second year of learning of a new language, finishing up their high school requirements.

Indoor mask mandate for schools must continue

Alexia Broughton Staff Writer

Letters to the editor: District Ukraine email; Roe v. Wade Editor – The abortion debate is reaching a climax because of the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson, which is about the constitutionality of Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Roe v. Wade establishes a right to abortion without any real evidence from the text of the Constitution, expands the court’s power beyond what it is supposed to do, and takes away the power of legislative choice from the people on abortion.

Both sides of Dobbs v. Jackson argued on whether abortion is a constitutional right, which

A8

ews Lite

Friday, March 18, 2022

BREAKING: Ice cream hoard found in local cal junkyard

Cal screams for ice cream School budgets $10,000 for sweet treats Wyatt Golla Staff Writer We’ve all been fooled.

There was a great revelation hidden right under our noses, and I’m one of the few people both bold and dumb enough to talk about it.

For you see, the discovery of this information left me absolutely distraught, confused, yet simultaneously full of hope.

What is this discovery, you may ask?

Well, it lies within the seemingly mundane details of the School Site Council budget, where the council decides how to spend its discretionary money. It could be on anything like new portables, turf, or some other expense. But, hidden within the margins was a simple little factoid.

In the meeting minutes for the Site Council, a large sum of $10,000 is committed to something called “Ice Cream Fridays”. A whole 10k given to ice cream of all things. I know, I know, it’s a lot to process.

As I said before, the discovery absolutely floored me when I first learned about it.

First, $10,000 is a lot of money. Think about the things you could buy with that kind of

money. That also means there’s going to be a lot of ice cream for $10,000. But how much ice cream exactly?

That’s where I come in. You see, I have a very particular set of skills. Skills that make me adept in ice cream related research. I was also one of the only people to volunteer my life for this harrowing, possibly life threatening mission of dessert analysis. While it may have been a task of Herculean magnitude, I needed to stride forward, in the name of investigative journalism.

After hours of scrutiny, labor, and taste testing I was left utterly depleted, but at last I had my data. Rubbing my two remaining brain cells together I attempted to do some basic math.

It turns out that with $10,000 you can buy about 1,536 gallons of ice cream. I may be the village idiot, but I think that’s a lot of ice cream. If I didn’t an amount of ice cream that may or may not be equal to 1,536 gallons during my research, my mouth would be watering.

But we can delve deeper into this data.

Horrifyingly, 1,536 gallons of ice cream contains about 1,105,920 grams of sugar. To put that into perspective, that would be about 2,204 pounds of sugar. The sugar alone from the $10,000 of ice cream would weigh more than a ton!

Oddly enough, this left me with the question ‘how much sugar is a lethal dose?’, so I turned to my eternal resource for odd questions and cramming, Google. Apparently, not many people have considered my enlightened query, and I think typing that question into the search bar has put me on an FBI watchlist.

But, with these answers, I am left with more questions. As you are almost certainly aware, we students have not received $10,000’s worth of ice cream.

So, with the absolutely gargantuan amount of ice cream, it begs the question of where on campus would somebody hide 1,536 gallons of ice cream? I think I have a few ideas.

My first idea as to where somebody would discreetly hide $10,000 worth of ice cream would be in the dumpsters.

Think about it, they are big enough to hold that much ice cream, and no student would ever go near them. But that’s too obvious, and I’ve already checked the dumpsters for ice cream, and there was none.

How about somewhere that nobody would dare look, a place where only the bravest of souls dare go? The boys bathroom on the 3rd floor. Maybe whenever the bathrooms are out of order, it’s actually an excuse to hide ice cream inside them. No, the bathrooms wouldn’t be able to store all that ice cream.

Illustration by Ari Harvey

We all agree, $10,000 worth of ice cream equates to a monstrous pile of delicious goodness.

I suppose then, that it must remain a mystery. Until this ice cream cache is found or revealed to the general public, we may never know. Then again, after

reading this, perhaps somebody else will go searching for this treasure, the El Dorado of Cal High.

If that does happen, I wish

them luck.

But I won’t be able to help.

I’ll be too busy stuffing my face with other ice cream to aid in the search.

Cal High’s amazing storage museum Sydney Cicchitto Staff Writer Do you remember the island of misfit toys from the childhood holiday classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?” Or maybe you recall the memory dump from Pixar’s “Inside Out”. Perhaps you are a “Suicide Squad” lover and are familiar with the greatness that occurs when people from all different walks of life collide?

Cal High has its very own collection of awesomeness that resides in what we call Cal High’s Amazing Storage Museum, or CHASM for short.

Cal’s beloved storage museum is unlike anything else on campus, located right behind the career tech building facing the student parking lot. Here, you can discover anything. It is a place without bounds.

I have often found myself peering through my car window at this gated area as I drive myself home. What is on the other side? Would I uncover dinosaurs like in “Jurassic Park”? Or maybe it’s like the cursed Bermuda Triangle.

I have had the honor of pushing my face through the fence and may have uncovered the world’s eighth wonder.

Allow me to provide a brief

tour of this fine establishment.

There are two working pianos where artists can have intense classy piano battles; a couch with a matching lounge chair that I can only assume some wise tushes have sat on; a resort for filing cabinets of every style, height and size mingling to find the love of their life; a lawn mower with nothing to mow but concrete; a motorized wheelchair trapped by cabinets; football pushers that have been pushed to their limit; and an orange PE locker that towers over the filing cabinets.

Personally, I connected most with the miniature car there. It is around the size of the Autopia cars in Disneyland. The car is classy and curvy with a bench, low windshield, and practical cup holders. It is the color of a bronze metal rolled in mud.

Basically, the car is similar to a miniature Volkswagen Beetle, but with a complex backstory.

A steal, don’t you think? I could imagine me and the car - I will call it Yoshi - spending our days riding along the San Francisco slopes and enduring the long lonely nights together.

Yoshi and I against the world (Insert “Yoshi” sound with your best Yoshi impression).

While planning my life with Yoshi, I wondered how could

Cal’s storage museum features everything, from a foosball table to filing cabinets, to even an old piano. all these wise filing cabinets, chairs, and pianos wound up here? Is there a way out? Is this place their paradise or prison?

I was able to talk with someone who has access to this remarkable place, day custodian Ricky Galvao. He enlightened me about how these pianos, bins, and cabinets were brought to this glorious storage museum.

“Long story short, we cleared out the old stuff from the storages on campus, to clear [the storages] up and put new stuff from teachers, departments, or other items they want to keep for the season,” Galvao said. “The older stuff from those storages end up in that area.”

Hence, “Avengers: Appliance Edition” was formed.

Galvao said the newest editions to the museum are the foosball tables that were injured in the line of duty. We thank you for your service.

“Time was short for them, it looks like,” Galvao said. “Unless we repair them, those are staying there for now.”

I am certain the museum residents have kindly welcomed

Photo by Ryan Syms

those tables with open arms.

Galvao shared that the stuff needs to be picked up by the district or thrown away depending on their condition, but until then, take it in folks. We can marvel at these beautiful creatures and learn some of their wisdom.

You can bet you will find me there learning piano from Yoshi.

Cal students get ready for the AP Art portfolio review in May. Read more about it on page B7.

Graphic by Judy Luo

B2

Sports

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday, March 18, 2022

Cal athletes spring back into action Baseball Cal’s baseball team has a lot of potential, as five members of the team are already committed to play in college, including three at Division 1 schools.

Seniors Nic Bronzini and Raoul Fabian are going to play for Louisiana State University and Cal State Long Beach, respectively, and junior Aidan Camberg has already committed to be a member of UC Santa Barbara’s 2023 roster.

“LSU is definitely exciting,” Bronzini said. “A dream come true for me. But that’s next fall.

I’m locked into this season.”

Aside from that trio, seniors Steven Verespey, Zach Robman, and Dylan Fanelli have also committed to play in Division 3 at Willamette University, Puget Sound, and Allegheny College, respectively.

Bronzini is very confident that with all of this talent, Cal will be able to be quite competitive this season.

“We will definitely make NCS,” Bronzini said. “We can make a deep run. I definitely think we are a top 5 team in NCS.” – Eli Mayerson Softball Coach Tony Bari and his

tola is looking forward to league and hoping for a strong season.

“We had a couple of tough losses against some really good teams,” Ertola said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but looking good.”

Ertola said the game against San Ramon Valley will be the biggest of the season. Hanson has confidence that Cal will come out on top, as they beat the Wolves last year.

“Our defense is really good, and we have great leadership,” Ertola said.

In addition to Hanson, the other captains are seniors Hunter Holmes and Marcus Lemmon, both of whom continue to show their leadership and dedication to the program.

This lacrosse team doesn’t seem to just be a bunch of “lax bros”. They are here to win.

– Lili Loney Women’s Lacrosse This will be head coach Shannon Geary’s first full season as she took over the program last year. The team is led by four captains, including seniors Evie McMahon, Catherine Casserly, Kadence MacPherson, and sophomore Abbey Kunz.

Another key contributor to the team will be freshman

Photo by Lili Loney

Junior Alyssa Villarde swings during a recent softball game. favorite assistant Tim Ford returns this season with hopes of putting Cal High’s softball team back on the map.

“I’m really optimistic about these guys, they work really hard, I’m proud of them,” Bari said.

Team captain Alyssa Villarde is also optimistic about the potential of the 17-girl squad.

“Our team is looking pretty good,” Villarde said. “We have a great defense and hitters. We picked up a freshman who’s really good.”

Bari and Ford seem to be quite the dynamic duo and have hopes of winning NCS. Villarde said that she has confidence and is excited with this year’s new coaching staff, believing that they are just what this team needs.

“I love this school, I love these girls,” Bari said. “My kids went here. This is a part of my life. I’m not going anywhere.”

– Lili Loney Men’s Lacrosse Despite pre-season losses to Redwood and Marin Catholic, senior captain Matthew Hanson is confident in his team.

Head coach Andrew Ertola shares Hanson’s optimism. Er-

Chase Weaver, who plays for the national team on her club outside of Cal lacrosse.

“We have a pretty strong team this year,” senior Diya Madhok said. “We just need to get our chemistry down, which will take some time, and then focus on sticking to our defensive plan.”

The team is pretty balanced overall, as they have a mix of veteran leadership and young talent, including a dozen underclassmen.

“As a team, we want to keep the intensity very high without letting it get in the way of our chemistry,” Casserly said. “We really just want to represent our school and students as best as we can.”

– Dylan Allen Men’s Golf The men’s varsity golf team has high hopes to make NCS this year behind the leadership of five seniors, including captains Ben Ragland and Ishaan Sen. “We are pretty set this year,” Ragland said. “Last year we did okay. And the year before that, it got cut short due to COVID. So, I’m hoping we can come together and make the playoffs this year and then go on a run.”

Photo by Erica Dembrowicz

Cal works together to set themselves up to score one of their many goals against Piedmont in a 14-2 victory on March 4.

Ragland recently committed to Seattle University, which has a Division 1 golf program.

“I’m excited for the competition to pick up, and to be able to play a lot of new courses,” Ragland said. “But I’m also just really focused on this year because I think we can do well.”

Rounding out the rest of the 12 members on the team are four juniors and three sophomores.

Sen’s brother, Ahan Sen, is a sophomore that made the team and should be an important contributor. Along with both Sen’s, junior Andrew James should also be a big contributor to the team. They are led by head coaches Mike Pottinger and Brian Barr.

“One goal we have for the season is to try and take down De La Salle and win EBAL,” senior Riley Hicks said.

The team got off to a good start by placing fourth out of 26 schools on March 2 at the Cowboy Classic at Wente Golf Course. Ragland and Dylan Hilliard placed in the top 10 with 2-over rounds of 73.

The golf team has a long road ahead of them, but they have high hopes that the adversity they go through now will help them come playoff time.

– Dylan Allen Men’s Volleyball The men’s volleyball team started practicing a week later than all the other sports this spring season because new coach Mariah Cardenas hadn’t been hired yet.

Despite this late start, the team is rolling early on.

“Yesterday we had our first game and [the athletes] said that it was the highest points they’ve scored [in a game],” Cardenas said. “[The new coach is] better than [others have] been the past two years I’ve been playing,” said junior Tyler Cheung,who is a varsity setter and team captain.

“She’s more focused on getting more playing time and less on winning.”

Although Cardenas has just arrived at Cal, she is already looking to make an imprint on the culture of the volleyball program. “[I want to] build fundamental skills and build support with

the kids,” Cardenas said.

–Ylin Zhu Stunt Although COVID has shortened their last two seasons, the stunt team is looking forward to an exciting spring season.

“The past two years, we’ve been completely undefeated.

That’s definitely a goal this year,” said coach Bianca Lucatero, who has coached Cal’s stunt team since 2015. “We’ve also gotten NCS champs second and third in the past years.”

The plan for the season is simple for Lucatero, who said, “We haven’t been NCS champs yet. It’s a goal of ours.”

Junior Brooklyn Gantt, one of the team captains, also hopes the team is able to make it to NCS championships this year.

“Our team has been close every year but we’ve been cut off by COVID, so I hope this year’s better.” Gantt said.

In terms of competition, Amador and Monte Vista are Cal’s main rivals.

The team consists of 13 new and 15 returning members.

“I definitely feel this team already feels way more bonded than the other years,” said Gantt.

“We have in the past had older, more skillful girls but…we’re starting to grow this year.”

Lucatero said the team’s strengths are strong bases with good technique.

“One thing that would be a weakness this year would be our jumps,” Lucatero said.

But the team is looking forward to a successful season.

“We’re all kind of learning right now,” said Gantt. “We can all build each other up

very well.”

– Kira Sidhu Men’s Tennis This season will be the10th for coach Manuel Vasquez, who hopes his team will reach the NCS championships.

“That’s like the biggest goal that we have because we haven’t done it for, like, five, six years, and this year’s team is pretty strong,” Vasquez said. “We have a very good chance to come in second place this season.”

Senior Dylan Hoang, one of the team captains, is also confident that they’ll be able to make it to the NCS championships.

“I would say that we are substantially better than we used to be,” said Hoang, who is most looking forward to playing against Monte Vista.

Vasquez said Dougherty Valley is thought of as Cal’s rivals because of how close they are, and it is a game most players are excited about.

“That’s the one that everybody puts on their calendar.”

Vasquez said.

Hoang said most of the top players on the team are returning from previous years, but there are multiple new players that are also quite good.

“We have a lot of tournament players,” Vasquez said. “So with more practice, more team bonding, I think we’re going to be a complete team.”

– Kira Sidhu Track and Field The track team is back to having around 275 athletes, which is how large the roster used to be pre-COVID, head coach and varsity sprinters coach Mark Karbo said.

Despite it being early, Karbo said there have been a lot of good marks so far. “[The season] has been pretty good,” junior sprinter and jumper Ava Olguin said. “[The] team dynamic is really good, the meets are pretty smooth.”

Karbo said seniors Mara Lampsus and Hannah Richardson were the MVPs of last year’s track and field. Lampsus, a sprinter and jumper, is on her way to run at UC Berkeley.

Richardson, a thrower, is going to Azusa Pacific.

Senior distance runner Jenny Lin is also going to be running at New York University.

– Ylin Zhu Swim The swim team is making a splash after COVID with a new, optimistic outlook for the season.

“I have high hopes,” junior Paul Symank said. “Last season we had to go to SRV’s pool, and the season before that it was cut short. It sucked.”

The swim team did not have a coach last year, but this year the team is excited to be under new guidance.

“I think it’s going to go splendidly,” senior Miranda Duarte said. “We finally have our pool back and we have new coaching staff.”

“I really like the coaches,” freshman Sienna Trento said.

“They just both seem really nice and fun.”

Duarte agreed with Trento’s sentiments.

“They’re very supportive and considerate and open,” Duarte said.

– Daphne So

Photo by Daphne So

Members of the track team turn the corner in the midst of an all-out sprint during practice.

Friday, March 18, 2022

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Sports

Women’s soccer makes historic run Team reaches regional tourney for first time Eli Mayerson Sports Editor By far the most surprising team from the winter sports season was women’s soccer, which entered the NCS playoffs as an unassuming 12th seed.

After all, Cal ended the regular season with a 9-10-4 record, 4-7-2 in league play, and finished in seventh place out of 10 schools in the EBAL. But the Grizzlies went on a magical run to reach the NCS title game and advanced all the way to the NorCal Regional semifinals before their season came to an end.

“I am so proud of the entire team,” first-year head coach Ramiro Rodriguez said.

Entering NCS, the overwhelming favorites were topseeded Monte Vista and No. 2 Carondelet, ranked 25th and sixth in California, respectively.

But hope emerged after Monte Vista was upset 1-0 by No. 16 seed Granada in the first round.

“We were mind blown when Monte Vista lost,” senior team captain Naya Pollack said.

Cal opened with a first-round matchup against fifth-seeded Dublin. Cal’s team had lost their previous matchup to the Gales.

“We were eager to beat Dublin after they defeated us during the league season off a last minute goal,” Pollack said.

The game ended 2-1 in favor of Cal after an amazing 35-yard indirect kick from junior Lili Loney late in the game. The win moved Cal into the quarterfinals against No. 13 Foothill, which had pulled off an upset against No. 4 Tamalpais.

Photo by Leilani Houlihan

The women’s soccer team celebrates. They were able to do that a lot this season on the way to the NCS championship game.

Cal and Foothill ended regulation scoreless, leading to a penalty shootout. It was a tight shootout, but Cal emerged on top 5-4. Sophomore Goalie Layla Armas won the game with a clutch save and Loney made the decisive penalty.

The team then moved on to the semifinals and faced No. 8 Maria Carillo. For the second game in a row, it ended in a Cal victory in a penalty shootout after a scoreless tie.

This shootout wasn’t even close as Cal won 4-1.

This put Cal against Carondelet for the Division I NCS championship.

The string of victories ended here, though, as Cal fell 3-0. But because of their Cinderella story performance in the playoffs, Cal qualified for the NorCal Division IV regional finals for the first time in school history.

The Grizzlies were seeded seventh, meaning they had a first-round matchup with No. 2 Pioneer High from Woodland.

Once again, Cal was able to pull off an impressive upset,

winning 1-0. Their run ended in the regional semifinals, when they lost 3-1 to No. 3 Pioneer High from San Jose.

The culture that the team had built throughout the season was key in making history.

“It was the support that went around for each other,” Pollack said. “We were always lifting each other up and helping each other out and overall had a really positive and fun environment.”

Wrestling All four members of the women’s team made NCS, as

well as seven total from the men’s team, including senior Josh Peralta and junior Kevin Goodman.

Three Grizzlies ended up placing top 12 in NCS and two reached the podium Peralta was the best performer, ending the season in sixth at NCS in the 120-pound weight class. Senior Ella Hofer placed seventh in the 189-pound weight class to medal as well.

She became only the second woman in Cal history to do so.

Goodman was the other team

B3

member who placed top 12 at the 145 pound weight class.

Men’s Basketball The men’s basketball team finished the season 14-12, 4-5 in-league, which was good enough for eighth in the EBAL. This allowed Cal to earn the 6th seed going into Division I NCS playoffs, as three EBAL teams were good enough to make Open Division.

They were matched up against Monte Vista in the first round. They did not see any further action than this, however, as Monte Vista pulled out the upset over Cal, 65-62.

Women’s Basketball Despite a young and inexperienced roster with many underclassmen, the women’s basketball team did well, finishing with a 14-15 record, 5-5 in-league, which landed them in fourth place in EBAL. The team was seeded 11th in Division I and had a first-round matchup against American.

The game was close, but Cal couldn’t quite pull it out, as the team lost 50-49.

Men’s Soccer The men’s soccer team was the most successful regular season team this year. They ended the season with a record of 14-6-5, 8-3-2 in-league, placing them 3rd in EBAL, right behind powerhouses in De la Salle and Dublin High. In fact, Cal was able to hand De la Salle their only league loss of the entire season.

The team was seeded 7th in the playoffs, matched up with Berkeley in the first round. Cal came out on top with a final score of 2-1.

In the second round, Cal was to face 2nd seed Montgomery, who they had tied with much earlier in the season. This time, the second round was the end of the road for Cal, as they fell 2-1.

Song team places 9th Grizzly dancers earn national recognition in pom competition Tanvi Pandya Staff Writer Year-long seasons. Twenty-plus hours of practice per week. A personal role for each member.

These are all characteristics of Cal High song, a nationally competitive dance team which performs different styles of dance, such as pop/hip hop, and showcases their routines at different sports games during fall and winter sports seasons.

Cal High’s song team has always been passionate and hardworking, but this year they reached a whole new level with their performance at nationals.

The song team placed ninth in the pom category last month at the National Dance Team Championship, which is sponsored by the Universal Dance Association and is considered one of the most grueling high school dance competitions.

The competition is televised on ESPN and includes teams from mostly Northern California but also some other states.

“We cried when we found out we placed ninth,” junior Isabella Chimenti said. “We’d worked so hard for nationals and finding that out-it was just amazing.”

Sophomore Caroline Kontaxis, who is experiencing her first year in-person at Cal and on the team, was also overjoyed by the experience.

“It was really emotional,” Kontaxis said. “I almost couldn’t believe it. Everyone was so happy the whole rest of the trip.”

It wasn’t easy getting there though. The national championships have a whole process of qualifications, requiring prior successes in smaller scale competitions. It also accounts for months of dedicated practices perfecting the same routines for hours on end until they’re ready to perform on the major stage.

On top of that, the girls have to maintain proper grades as is required of Cal athletes.

Toneka Webb, who has been the song team coach since the late 1990s, had a lot to say about the work the team members put

in this season.

“They practice for hours on end,” Webb said. “They’re training for nationals year round and each of them play a unique role and can’t be easily replaced.”

And that’s only the training that goes into it. Reaching nationals and performing on a public stage before a nationally televised audience is a whole other battle.

“For most of them, it [was] the most pressure [they’ve felt] in their lives,” Webb said.

Among all the stress and hard work, though, they find time to build strong bonds.

“We’re like sisters,” said Chimenti, who has been a song team member for three years.

“We get really close with each other because of all the time we end up spending together.”

The sisterhood formed between the song girls was never as apparent as when they achieved their goals together.

And ninth place is only the beginning. As amazing as the placement was for the team and their coach, they say this year is only motivating them further.

“Those girls work hard for their success,” Webb said.

“They deserve it.”

Photo courtesy of Cal High song team’s Instagram

The song team poses in front of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando during their trip to the national championships. The team placed ninth in the pom category.

B4

Features

Read The Californian online

at

Photo by Ryan Syms

Students playing Wordle huddle around with their phones, hoping to get today’s word right.

Wordle pops off Word game has become newest daily addiction for Cal students

Shravya Salem Sathish Online Editor

Not too long ago, sudoku and crossword puzzles seemed like the only representatives for the long exhausted grid games.

Then came Wordle: an unadorned, quick word game that planted itself into everyone’s mornings.

Designed in 2020 by Josh Wardle, who created the game for his wife, Wordle involves guessing a fiveletter word in six tries.

For each attempt, correctly placed letters are highlighted in green, letters in the word but the wrong position are in yellow, and incorrect letters stay gray.

According to The New York Times, when Wordle was released in October 2021, it had a measly 90 players the following month.

Today, the number of users is more than 2 million.

Much of its popularity is attributed to its minimalist approach to challenge a person’s brain.

“I think the really big thing is when the letters start turning over, and you see that they’re green [and] it just sparks a different [type of] serotonin inside of you,” senior Aine Keenan said. “It’s like when you eat really good food, and it has that special taste that gets you addicted.”

Wordle has also increased in the terms of popularity because of how quick it is to compare results with other players. Its built-in share function doesn’t spoil the answers, and instead shows a player’s grid of colored squares and the number of tries it took a player to figure out the word.

In fact, most players are dragged in by hopefuls striving to compete against them.

“A lot of my friends were

playing it, and I thought it was kind of interesting too, so I started,” junior Srinidhi Kanchi Krishnamachari said.

Wordle limits players to one word daily, so a missed chance to surpass someone has to wait until the next day. Failing in six tries or skipping also means losing an ever-important streak, and it’s disappointing if a player can hardly commit to even a five-letter word.

“It doesn’t take too much time but allows you to get your brain going,” sophomore Yutong Zhen said.

“You don’t get tired of its length and look forward to it every day.”

But simple rules don’t equate to little strategy. Popular first-try words include “crane” to eliminate the most prevalent consonants and “audio” for vowels.

“I usually use ‘adieu’, and then my second word is ‘snort’,” senior Leah Keswani said.

Once a few letters are on the board, checking a specific pair seems to be the move.

“Sometimes, I’ll underline letters on paper and think, ‘What could be here?’ and list them,” Keenan said.

The game’s appeal also stems from being easy enough for a wide audience to enjoy, but long-time players of the game have argued that rarer words are being chosen after the game was purchased from Wardle by The New York Times in January for more than $1 million, according to a Times story.

Hotly discussed words include “cynic”, “rupee”, and “brine”.

“I felt like the words were very odd. ‘Bloke’ was unfair because it was informal,” Keswani said. “But I think it’s fine now. They’ve taken

the criticism.”

Though a few days have stood out, The New York Times hasn’t been testing people’s vocabulary to a dictionary level.

“The Times said the only change it made was removing a few words that were thought to be too obscure, thereby actually making Wordle a bit easier,” according to a Mashable story.

Some players say they’ve barely noticed a difference in difficulty of the words.

“I don’t think we can blame The New York Times,” Zhen said. “Even if [Wordle] is harder, it will make the game more interesting.

There’s only so many common words they can use.”

Wardle, the game creator, said in a story by The New York Times that the paper partially inspired the creation of Wordle even before hosting it through its Spelling Bee game.

But most people aren’t looking forward to it following the footsteps of the Times’ other games in terms of requiring a subscription.

“Now that more people are playing it, [Wordle] definitely might turn into an app if they think it’ll keep going,” Krishnamachari said. “I hope it stays free though.”

Whether Wordle’s reign without a paywall is shortlived, it has made an impact, and not only in daily routines. Wordle has also linked families together.

“My aunt told my dad that she likes to play Wordle, and she lives in Ireland and she’s 60,” Keenan said. “She plays Wordle, so I play Wordle. I started to get more into it, and I play every day.”

Wordle continues to hold an iron-tight grip on Cal, and the popularity of the game doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon.

“Once you start doing it, you want more and more and more and more,” said Krishnamachari.

Wordle is a word puzzle game where players guess a five letter word in only six attempts. Letter and letters that aren’t in the word of the day remain gray. The game resets daily, which fosters h

Features

at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

B5

Hey NY Times, is this a word?

Sydney Cicchitto Staff Writer

Dear The New York Times: We need to talk. We both know that on Jan. 31 you made a purchase, one that affected the lives of many people – mine included.

You may not realize it, but allow me to explain what your acquisition of Wordle means to me.

In order for you to understand the relationship I have with Wordle, you must know the story of how I found love.

The lifestyle of Wordle includes being a part of Wordle group chats, discussing the word of the day with friends and strangers alike, and solving the word of the day as soon as it is released at the stroke of midnight. I will admit I am new to this lifestyle, but I still remember what it was like before you got a hold of Wordle.

My very first Wordle word was knoll. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, it means a small hill or mound,

Illustrations by Carol Chen

rs in the correct space are shown in green, while letters in the wrong space are shown in yellow healthy competition and occasionally anguish among its players.

according to Oxford Languages. Say what you will about this word, but I found it rather cute. I fell head over hills for this daily word game and embarked on my Wordle way of living.

I would stay up late waiting for the next word to come out and immediately try to solve it. I would play while in class, then after finishing, have a discussion about it with Ms. E or Ms. Saiki, Cal teachers who are also Wordle enthusiasts.

In my Medical Interventions class, I would play Hello Wordl, another variation of Wordle with words that range from four to eleven letters. I appreciated the challenge because I knew what I was getting myself into. I would never fail to impress myself when I managed to guess the right word.

But those glory days with Wordle did not last forever, and I have reason to believe it is because of you.

I must ask you, why? Why did you feel the need to make

the words of the day “ulcer”, “swill”, and “tacit”?

I will never forget the day when the person who inspired me to play lost his streak because of you. He was loyal and had a 35-day streak.

The saddest part is he blames himself for losing.

But I know it was you. You were his undoing.

Ever since you took possession of Wordle, my

Wordle group chat has been filled with comments such as, “All these words have been made up I swear”, “Freaking NYT’’, “I refuse to believe it’s a real word”, “That felt rigged”, and “I didn’t even know that was a word.”

Look at what you have done to this precious community. But I’ll admit it, you haven’t been all bad. I remember once, the word of the day was “robin”. Now that was cool. My mom’s name is Robin. You can

imagine the flood of messages she received telling her to play Wordle that day.

She slayed and guessed the word in three attempts.

But that moment of bliss didn’t last long.

I know for some, the word that resulted in their downfall was “caulk” or “vivid”, but “cynic” left an impact on me.

Cynic is defined as “a person who believes that people are motivated purely by selfinterest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons”.

Dare I say that this word made me believe that The New York Times Wordle has no honor? The game was fun, but now I am not so sure what it has become.

I will keep on playing, using my Wordle group chats as support during these nasty times.

My story ends with the word mourn. When I got this word, I realized you made me go through all five stages of grief. I no longer mourn the loss of the former Wordle.

I have accepted the game’s future, but I have hope that my Wordle group chat will soon be filled with the comments “ez”, “Bow down to me”, “This one wasn’t so bad”, “YOOO”, and “Let’s go!” after we complete the daily Wordle again. I will keep playing and overcome these vivid words and not become a cynic.

A wounded but resilient Wordle player, – Sydney Cicchitto

B6

A&E

Read The Californian Online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday March 18, 2022

Area string festival’s triumphant return Musicians from 5th-12th grades perform at show Hallie Chong Staff Writer For music lovers of all grades, the area string festival returned to Cal High after a two-year hiatus.

The festival, which had been canceled the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, made its triumphant comeback on Mar. 9 as students from a variety of elementary and middle schools came to Cal High to watch and play with the high school chamber and string orchestras.

The festival began with the fifth graders and moved to the middle schoolers before ending with the high school musicians.

All grades prepared two pieces, and as an encore all schools arranged to play “Ode to Joy”.

The high school chamber and string orchestra prepared a special performance of “The Incredibles 2” soundtrack which was a fun piece that everyone, regardless of their music knowledge, could enjoy.

The event hopes to encourage younger students to continue participating in orchestra until the end of their high school years and keep the music program alive and thriving.

“I’m so glad that we have the opportunity to do this again because these kinds of festivals help us to keep the music program alive,” chamber orchestra director Lori Willis said before the show. “I’m looking forward

Cal High strings and chamber orchestra performs at the district’s Area String Festival, hosted on March 9 in the Cal High Event Center. to [seeing the younger students] thinking ‘Wow, I wanna do that!’ That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Some high school students that have been participating in the music program since they were in elementary school find the festival enjoyable every year.

“I think this event is really

fun ‘cause I’ve been doing it since like fourth grade,” senior first chair violinist Eunice Oh said. “It’s always really fun to see what the other grades are playing.”

For most freshman and sophomore orchestra students, this year’s festival is their first time attending and playing as a high school student.

“Since last year was online, I couldn’t really go to the district festival, so I think it would be nice to hear [other groups play],” sophomore Rachel Choi said before last week’s concert.

Despite the long wait, the two orchestra groups and other schools were able to bring the festival to life thanks to students vigorous preparation.

“To get everybody back, especially after the past few years of not being able to do it [the festival], will be really special and it’s gonna be exciting,” first year string orchestra director Javier Cerna said before the show.

As the festival comes to an end, band directors from all schools hope that younger

Photo by Carol Chen

students will be inspired to continue participating in future music programs.

“The fifth graders get to see where they’ll end up if they stay in music,” Iron Horse Middle School music director Jeanette Brown said after the performance. “The high school kids kinda can reflect as to where they came from.”

AP Art students paint their way to the end of the year Student artists prepare their portfolios Sophia DiGiovanni Staff Writer Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Cal High AP Art students are trying to do just that. The course, which is offered for sophomores, juniors, and seniors, allows students to create their own 15-piece portfolios to submit in May for the College Board Advanced Placement Exam.

These portfolios are a combination of different pieces that fit under students’ self-chosen themes.

“My [theme] is exploring curiosity,” senior Ramya Kaja said.

Before taking AP Art as a senior, Kaja took Art I and Art II. She explained that she decided to enroll in AP Art to explore new kinds of art and improve her skills.

Kaja’s favorite piece that she’s created for her portfolio depicts a girl staring from Earth into space.

“I’ve always been curious if there’s life on other planets,” Kaja explained about the idea behind this piece.

Another senior taking AP Art this year is Bella Tom, who is actually in her first art class at

Cal. Tom has been taking lessons at an art studio for a year and a half but said AP Art has given an opportunity to see her peers’ art come together under their themes.

Tom’s chosen theme was growing up, inspired by her own childhood.

“I like to think about my childhood a lot because it was a big part of me,” Tom explained.

Tom said her favorite piece is a pastel drawing of her grandma.

After taking this one class, Tom plans to continue art into college and major in design.

Karina Spunde is an AP Art student but decided not to submit a portfolio this year. Spunde previously took Arts I-III and also practices outside of school.

“Doing it outside [of school] for fun allowed just for more creative ideas and freedom,” Spunde said.

Although Spunde is not submitting a portfolio this year, they are still working on pieces in class.

“I’d say my favorite piece I’ve created within AP Art would be one of my more recent pieces,” Spunde said. “It’s more of a Renaissance type of painting style and it was just me having fun with lighting and really enjoying what AP Art has to offer. Just having fun with art and not really having any

Photo by Daanika Shah

Senior Ramya Kaja’s piece from her AP Art portfolio depicts a girl on Earth staring up into space and follows her theme of exploring curiosity. All AP Art students need to create 15 pieces based on a single theme for their portfolio. limitations.”

Spunde said that although the course is very fast paced (one new piece is due every two weeks), it’s very rewarding to see classmates’ pieces and themes come together, as well as seeing everyone’s style develop and change.

Senior Mina Do joined AP Art as her first art class at Cal because she wanted to improve her skills and find her own style. She has been doing art her whole life and said that she is inspired by both her family and other artists.

Do’s theme for her portfolio

is comedy and its history.

“I’m really into comedy shows and movies,” Do said.

“I wanted to do a theme about that since I’m interested in it.”

Do said that sticking to her theme can be difficult, but her favorite piece for her portfolio is one that she entitled “Homesick-

ness”, which is a play on words because the painting depicts a house that is actually sick.

Her favorite part about AP Art is seeing her own art evolve and grow throughout the year.

“AP Art gives you the opportunity to try all different kinds of art and experiment,” Kaja said.

Friday March 18, 2022

A&E

Read The Californian Online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

B7

Cal High graduate shines on social media Audrey Atienza’s YouTube videos amasses over 9 million views Aarna Prashanth Staff Writer What started out as a creative outlet is turning into quite a successful venture for one former Cal High student.

Cal alumna Audrey Atienza has collected a huge amount of followers online, with her self-named YouTube channel boasting more than 106,000 subscribers and more than 9 million total views.

A 2020 Cal graduate who was ASB president her senior year, Atienza now attends the University of Texas at Austin and spends much of her free time making YouTube vlog style videos mostly about her college life.

Her most popular video, which has more than 3.2 million views, is called “DAY IN MY LIFE: unusual public high school schedule”. In the video, Atienza explains the unusual block schedule that Cal follows as opposed to many other schools nationwide.

Many of her viewers found this schedule interesting.

“I had sixth period off my junior year and both fifth and sixth period off my senior year, so getting out at 12:30 was unusual to so many of my viewers,” Atienza said.

She believed her school schedule added to the intrigue and appeal of her videos. Atienza’s social media fame started to grow after this video.

Atienza’s videos are watched and enjoyed by many people,

including some Cal students.

“I love her YouTube channel,” current ASB President Riley Hughes said. “It’s been great to see her grow and watch all the success that has come her way.”

Added fellow senior leadership student Jack Heinz, “I personally love her YouTube channel. My favorite videos would have to be her day in the life video and her assassins videos.”

During her time at Cal, Atienza made a lot of videos about her life in school. In several of her videos, she refers to being in leadership and being a member of Cal’s swim team.

“A lot of my content revolved around me being in high school and involved in leadership, the swim team, and other social traditions we had,” Atienza said.

In addition to creating content based on her experience in Cal’s leadership program, Atienza feels she has benefited greatly from the experience.

“I also learned so many leadership skills by being in the leadership program all four years and being leadership President senior year,” she said.

Atienza feels that her YouTube channel wouldn’t be the success that it is today without her experience at Cal and the leadership program.

“It was also where my YouTube channel started and without the ability to film the things I did in high school my channel wouldn’t be where it is today,” Atienza said.

Photo courtesy of Audrey Atienza

This Instagram post pulled from AudreyAtienza’s account gained more than 2,500 likes.

While Atienza was a student at Cal, many leadership students thought she was very hardworking and dedicated.

“She had strong leadership qualities, was very driven and always knew how to best accomplish her goals,” Hughes said.

Added fellow senior lead-

ership student Lisette Green, “Audrey was a very driven person and loved to use her platform on and off campus.”

Some students who know Atienza, however, think that although her YouTube channel is great, it doesn’t show her true self.

“I think her YouTube channel

is a great source to show the influencer side of her,” Green said, “but not necessarily her true character.”

Atienza said she decided to start her YouTube channel her junior year because she needed some freedom in her creative space.

“At the time, I was in an art

elective and was co-publicity chair in leadership, so I was doing a lot creatively but it was all very structured,” Atienza said.

“I decided to upload them as I made them and now it has turned into something bigger than I had originally imagined and still is a great creative outlet for me.”

As for her inspirations, Atienza says she is influenced by a lot of content creators, especially Hannah Meloche, a lifestyle You Tuber.

“Watching other people’s YouTube videos inspire new editing and filming styles that I use for mine,” she said.

Atienza loves to make YouTube videos and wants it to be an important part of her future, but she is also working to prepare for another job in the future. She still sees YouTube as a major creative outlet for herself, and although she still plans to make more videos, she wants to do something else in the future.

“I am a corporate communications major with a media and entertainment industries minor, so I am still preparing for a career other than YouTube as well,” Atienza said. “I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but I am still interested in doing something in the entertainment industry.”

Atienza wants students to know that high school wasn’t the best time for her and that she is doing better now, at college.

“As much as I learned and am grateful for, high school wasn’t the best four years of my life so I don’t want people who aren’t having a great experience to feel down,” she said. “I am enjoying college so much more and am really happy here”.

Oscars are an annual snoozefest for teens Award shows nomination choices leave students skeptical Melody Mulugeta Staff Writer Musical award shows like the Grammys, Billboard Awards, and the AMAs make it pretty easy for anyone to provide their two cents on which musical artist or song did or didn’t deserve an award.

Shows like the Oscars, not so much.

With time, it’s become evident that award shows like the Oscars have included a wide array of films and actors on their nominees list, including extremely niche or underground ones.

It seems like the most popular movies amongst teens are usually the ones that aren’t acknowledged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – which votes on the nominees and the winners in each category. This is understandable because teens’ expectations are very, very low.

After all, it’s not common to see documentaries such as “The Tinder Swindler” nominated for Best Documentary Feature or movies like “Lemonade Mouth” as the top contenders for Best Picture, although they were

pretty excellent.

Truth be told, the Oscars simply don’t cater to people who fail to keep up with every critically-acclaimed film being released. This year’s Best Picture nominations did have a few recognizable titles for teens, however.

Films such as “Dune”, “West Side Story”, “King Richard”, and “Don’t Look Up” comprise four of the 10 total nominees for Best Picture. It’s no surprise that these popular films have at least one notable celebrity that is popular in this generation, or close to 10 in the case of “Don’t Look Up”.

As an avid film watcher and actress, I often find myself conversing about critically-acclaimed movies with other actors and film lovers. For Cal High students who don’t watch many films, it may be the exact opposite.

This is where we ask the big question: Are the Oscars really nominating the wrong films, and should they be giving attention to movies that teens actually watch?

“I think they need fresher faces nominated for Oscars,” said Cal senior actor Adrian Casiano

with no hesitation. “The Oscars aren’t necessarily outdated, but the movies they pick should be ones that a majority of us see.

The lens on criticizing movies needs to be switched because it’s not the 1980s anymore.”

Avid film watcher or not, it’s safe to say that there are other teens who agree that the Oscars have created the standard for movies deemed to be “nominee worthy.”

“I don’t really watch the Oscars, so I don’t care much, but I feel like they nominate the same kinds of movies over and over again with the same kinds of people,” senior Simi Saini said. “It’s always the weird movies that nobody really knows. There’s never really a chance for other people because they’re so set in their ways and the same people keep winning.”

Saini said the film “Passing with Ruth Negga” and “Tessa Thompson” definitely should have received an Oscar nomination, The 2021 film is an adaptation of the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, which follows two Black women in the 1920s.

Despite the actresses and film being nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and NAACP Award, “Passing with Ruth Negga” was not recognized by the Academy.

Other films such as “House

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Twenty four Oscar statue awards are handed out at each year at the Academy Awards. of Gucci” and “Respect” were also listed among the films supposedly snubbed from the Oscars nomination this year.

With the rise of successful television shows, it’s safe to say that the Emmys may give the public the nominations they’ve been looking for. The reason for teens not finding interest in Oscar nominations may simply be because they are more invested in TV shows such as “Euphoria” and “Love is Blind”.

“Since the Emmys nominate more TV shows that teenagers watch, like ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, it attracts us to the show so we can see if our favorite actors win,” senior TV fanatic Dhriti Avala said.

Luckily, the six-month gap between the Emmys and Oscars gives actors a few more opportunities to get an award for their work, and that’s if they don’t get snubbed.

In reality, televised award shows will never please all of the public, especially ones that choose which critically-acclaimed film deserves a grand award over another. Honestly speaking, Twitter is a never-ending cat fight on these specific days of the year.

All in all, this year’s Oscar nominations have been a miss for many, but there’s always next year for better nominations.

Knock on wood.

B8

A&E

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Friday, March 18, 2022

Lego announces new Star Wars video game Fans should look forward to playing the new release Evan Heinz Staff Writer When the game “Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga” was released Nov. 6, 2007, it was highly influential and featured levels from multiple movies.

The game had substance, and who doesn’t like that? The more players that can get into a game, the more it’s worth the purchase.

Now “Star Wars the Skywalker Saga” has upgraded the game for the new generation, featuring the new films and adding new mechanics to it.

Lego games are well known for its huge roster of collectible characters. In this large open world players can complete side missions and play through levels to collect characters from a wide array of films. The new Saga game is changing Legos’ usual style with a full blown world with a lot of events and many things to discover.

Lego has been a huge toy company for years and have allowed millions of people to express themselves, calm themselves, and create a WWII death camp and sell it to a museum.

Then there are those who just play the games.

“The Skywalker Saga” will be released April. 5, and no doubt kids are excited for the game. The graphics look great with huge improvements from the original 2007 version.

But when it comes to Lego games there are going to be a lot of bugs. Players will have to redo an entire level or get stuck at one part forcing a restart or a full on crash.

The humor of Lego games has changed throughout the

Illustration by Cynthia Li

From left to right, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Yoda, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and Darth Vader are characters from the Star Wars cinematic universe and will be featured in Lego’s new action video game, “Star Wars the Skywalker Saga”, which will be released in April. years, like a character’s hand being cut off and becoming a pet. Part of the earlier games charm is the characters only using various sounds in place of words. In this new game, characters are fully voiced which takes some of the charm away.

The combat has drastically changed as well. Third person shooting has been introduced with more advanced lightsaber combat. Enemies are more advanced with dodging and blocking. Players can also roll out of the way in combat.

Looking at the information section of the game, it appears full completion will take a long time.

Another positive with the new game is ship combat. There will be custom options for a player’s ship, many from the franchise, to use in space.

Some of the levels will be remakes of the Saga, as well as new ones for the sequel trilogy.

With new technology it will be interesting to see what the game creators have done transforming these classic levels with the

upgraded graphics.

The game will reportedly have an open world with all nine films being portrayed. Many planets, such as the classic Tatooine, will hold hidden secrets and enemies to defeat. There will be some explorable areas of space, allowing players to immerse themselves completely.

Lego games have had a linear design for years, but this game could spell more complex games for the future. There is much dislike for open worlds due to their emptiness. People

are under the impression that small polished areas are superior to a shell of an open landscape.

But given just enough polish, an open world can improve the quality depending on the type of game you are making.

Star Wars is a genre perfect for open worlds because of its many planets and iconic buildings. The many interesting planets and life spells make for a fine amount of variety for an open world game in the Star Wars setting. Star Wars has many creatures not included

in the films to offer to a video game setting and many more planets as well.

Smaller Star Wars characters, such as the female yoda seen briefly in the prequels, will be in the game as well. Characters in the Disney + show “The Mandalorian” could feature as open world unlockables in the game as well.

This will be a great game for fans who enjoy Lego games and Star Wars.There is no doubt that any fan of these Lego games will want to check it out.

Like Kanye himself, ‘Donda 2’ creates controversy Fans must buy $200 Stem Player to listen to singer’s newest album Michael Zarich Staff Writer Kanye West has been a hot topic as of late.

West hosted a listening party on Feb. 22 for “Donda 2”, the follow up album from his 2021 release “Donda”. The listening party was held at LoanDepot Park in Miami, and the livestream happened at an IMAX theater as well as his YouTube channel and Stem Player.

West first announced in January that “Donda 2” would only be available exclusively through his Stem Player, which was developed by Yeezy Tech and Kano computing.

The audio device costs $200 and allows listeners to manipulate the bass, sound, drums and music for a unique experience.

He said he turned down a $100 million deal with Apple to instead release his music on his own platform.

West explained on Instagram why he decided to use the Stem

Player saying, “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.”

This has caused a lot of frustration from die hard West fans who can’t afford or won’t pay $200 for the Stem Player.

Some fans have decided to make it available by pirating the music through file sharing sites on Reddit.

“If I weren’t broke, I would pay the money to get the Stem Player,” freshman Ben Seo said.

“It’s like an investment. You never know if he will become the next big deal.”

But West’s decision to release the album this way has lead to it being deemed ineligible for Billboard charts because of policy.

West has been very active on Instagram as well, using his page to post about controversial topics, such as his soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian and

Photo courtesy of NRK P3 on Flickr

Donda 2 is exclusively available to listen on the Stem Player created by Kanye West. It was released without label affiliation. her rumored boyfriend Pete Davidson.

West has been using Instagram to diss and mock Davidson. After Davidson deleted

his Instagram account, West claimed he “ran Skete off the gram.” Other sources close to the couple say that Davidson deleted his Instagram account

in support of Kardashian, so he can stay out of their drama.

With his new album coming out, a never seen before listening device, the Billboard

ineligibilities, and Instagram controversies, it’s been a wild few months for West, who continues to be an interesting topic with media.