April 11, 2008

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 9

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008 CASTRO VALLEY, CA, 94546

Youth to Youth program battles bad boozing

By Andrew Huber Staff Writer

Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

Seniors Paula Brown, Francesca Knight, and Ryan Frueh formed their own rap group known as the Star Girlz.

To drink or not to drink, that is the question. During April, Alcohol Awareness Month, the organization Youth to Youth redoubles its efforts to fight against the destructive effects of alcohol and drug abuse.

Many would unknowingly say that CVHS students remain safe in a drug free environment.

Yet, the results of the California Healthy Kids Survey may say otherwise. “A large percentage of CVUSD students surveyed reported alcohol use–9 percent in grade 7; 33 percent in grade nine; and 59 percent in grade 11,” the report asserts.

Of the juniors that were surveyed, 22 percent of them admit to having been drunk or high at school. This is not the miniscule sip of wine that parents infrequently give their kids; 21 percent of juniors surveyed report binge drinking in the

last 30 days, which is defined as consuming five or more drinks within a couple of hours.

These results claim accuracy because of a state-determined 60 percent minimum participation rate of which CVHS regularly exceeds.

In order to sway these numbers, Youth to Youth, student orchestrated by President junior Rachel Bayuk and Vice President junior Chelsea Bush, fights the effects of harmful peer pressure with positive influence directed at the middle schoolers. Using its four components of environmental change, a drug free front, education, and personal growth, Youth to Youth provides alternative ways to be cool instead of using drugs.

“The people there are the few I’m comfortable around, more than I am around other people,” said Bush.

Youth to Youth meets on Wednesdays at lunch in room 122 and at 6:30 p.m. at Canyon

Middle School. Although they do not directly tell the students not to do drugs, they provide a safe learning environment to educate about the destructive affects of drugs, both individually and socially, to help avoid statistics like the fact that 18 percent of ninth graders feel that regular use of marijuana is not harmful.

“It depends on who they are hanging around with, if you are hanging around with kids that are drinking chances are you are going to be drinking, if you are not hanging around with kids that are drinking, then chances are you are not going to be drinking,” said Traci Cross, drug, alcohol, and tobacco prevention coordinator.

Youth to Youth is important to many CVHS students who want to avoid peer pressure to drink and do drugs.

“I felt like there was no one at the school who felt the same way, but then I found Youth to Youth,” said junior Brandon Azevedo.

and sneaking around,” said senior Corinne Velasquez.

Students also questioned the restriction against cell phone use during break and lunch.

“I want them to change the rules so I can use my phone on campus, just not during class hours,” said sophomore Ashley Zhou.

The official school policy allows students to bring cell phones onto campus as long as the phones are turned off from 7:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Teachers have the right to confiscate phones from students who use

them during those hours.

“The rules are not at all efficient,” said English teacher Peter Brewer. “Kids are still good at sneaking around their phones.”

Marcucci does not believe the cell phone rule is too strict.

She says the policy will prepare students for college and future jobs where phone use will not be tolerated.

“The policy teaches high school students respect. When they get to college and they have their phones in class, their professors are not going to be happy,” said Marcucci.

CVHS Star Kids winning phone fight?

Girlz: upand-coming rap artists

By Eva Poon Staff Writer

By Michelle Matsui City Editor

MySpace: home of cheesy bulletins, “Top 8” lists, and new music artists, including the Star Girlz, a local rap group from CVHS. The Star Girlz is made up of three senior girls, Paula Brown, Francesca Knight, and Ryan Frueh, who came together in April of 2007 when they were “bored in Chipotle.”

Since then, they’ve recorded four original songs, which can be found on their MySpace page, along with a photo album full of model-esque pictures, also on their MySpace. They have performed at parks, parties, and Battle of the Bands recently, gaining a wide fan-base.

“We have a ton of fans. We’re nationally known!” they all said with wide smiles on their faces.

The Star Girlz have been doing very well so far and have even been asked to collaborate with a variety of new, up-and-coming Bay Area rappers and producers.

“The producers are all scary old men, and all these people want to take away our money,” said Knight.

The four original songs they have so far include “Zamn Zaddy,” “Skitso,” “Iced,” and “Gettin Money,” all of which share a similar beat and decent vocals.

Their voices can be drowned out by the strong percussion at times, but the songs are pretty catchy, even if a bit repetitive in tone.

“Skitso” is definitely the best song of the four and is the favorite of the three with its catchy chorus and original concept. The other songs are decent and it’s impressive that these girls had the drive and initiative to create their own rap group, produce four original songs of their own, and generate their own group image in such a short time.

Brown, Knight, and Frueh are currently recording three more songs, but they said that if their fans want even more, they should “donate $20 to the SG Fund to pay for studio time,” they joked.

In the future, Knight and Brown plan to go to Hampton University in Virginia while Frueh will go south to California State University Los Angeles.

They plan to stay in touch over the next few years and continue recording over each school break. Look forward to hearing more from these talented seniors.

Every student and teacher at CVHS sees blatant violations of the school’s cell phone policy each day. Behind binders, underneath desks, or in dark corners of hallways, students are constantly making calls or texting their friends.

“Students know they are not supposed to use their phones in class but they don’t understand the consequences,” said physics teacher Melissa Marcucci.

Junior house secretary Jo An Sears reported an average of two phones turned in by teachers every day. She noted that sometimes as many as 10 phones are confiscated in one day.

“The first day of my sophomore year, I totally forgot about the rule and walked into class with my phone,” recalled a junior girl, who also said her teacher confiscated the phone before they had even met.

Students acknowledge that most kids do not actually follow the cell phone rules.

“Teachers will say they don’t want to take phones away and that they’re just following a rule.

People will be texting in class and when the teacher confronts them, they will refuse to hand it over. They just get into bigger trouble,” said a junior girl, describing the typical class scene.

Students displayed bitterness toward the cell phone policy.

The policy appears to apply only to students as teachers are occasionally seen using their cell phones in class.

“The policy promotes lying

Howard Whang / Staff

writer

The cell phone policy has caused conflict between the faculty

and the student body.

Go towards the happy enlightenment rainbow land

By Malena Bell Editor-in-Chief

It has happened to me many times. I walk into the room hoping to see at least 30 or 40 people packed in. But instead there are rows of empty desks with several scattered groups of people numbering 10 or 15 total.

It’s lunchtime on Thursday and there is a JSA debate. We might be debating a hot topic like abortion, immigration, or the presidential election, but once again, I am disappointed with the turnout. Even on a good day when we have maybe 40 people at the meeting, we’ve gathered only a miniscule percentage of the school to discuss politics.

I don’t understand how students can be so unconcerned about current events. There are so many issues being dealt with right now that will affect the people of my generation for the rest of their lives, and they choose to remain ignorant about them.

It’s very easy to get information about current events. There is tons of information online and I know for a fact that students spend enough time on Web sites like Facebook to spare a few minutes on a news site. It costs nothing except a few minutes of time.

Or if you’re old-fashioned like me, you can get a news magazine delivered every week or a newspaper delivered every day for pretty cheap.

And though they may not be as current as other options, anyone can check out journalism works from the library for free. The price of gas isn’t even an issue if you are close enough to walk.

(It only takes about five minutes to walk from CVHS to the public library.) And of course, we have a school library.

It scares me that so many new voters are so uneducated about our country. It also scares me that so many people who are eligible to vote choose not to register to do so .

In a political scene where the presidential race has been so close recently, and the current battle for the Democratic nomination is so rough, students owe it to themselves to learn and get involved.

In a country where we have the freedom to vote and the

freedom to make informed decisions, I would hope that people would realize their luck and show their gratefulness by exercising these freedoms. There are so many people in the world that don’t have the right to vote or the same freedom to information that we have as Americans.

Yet students remain apathetic to

When I got there, a large circle had already formed as people watched the two fighters go at it.

The circle was so densely packed I had to squeeze my way through

I am deeply troubled that as these two girls tried to beat the snot out of each other, people watched as if it was a show. Rather than making any motion to stop the girls from hurting each other they promoted the fight with their enthusiastic reactions to each hit.

I now have added another truth to my list about fights: crowds make for the worst possible scenario for a fight. Crowds not only make it harder for a person to back down from a fight because the fear being made fun of, but they also increase the chance of people getting hurt.

Now, I am not saying that everyone should go around breaking up every single fight they see; that would be dangerous and stupid.

The reason I did it was because I read too many Spider-Man comics and my perspective on reality is now overly idealistic because of it. What I am asking of people is that they stop promoting such behavior. Rather than stopping fights, we should prevent them from ever happening. Stop the conflict before it even reaches a physical level.

People who get in fights are overcome with anger. Like any other emotion, anger is difficult to control and impairs ones ability to make logical decisions. That is why someone who is not angry, someone who is not involved, should intervene because they still have the ability to make logi-

the world of politics.

So what excuse do teenagers have to be ignorant? None. Of course we’re busy people. We are constantly doing things to improve our grades, show off to colleges, and just have lives.

But the smallest amount of time can really give everyone greater insight into what is happening

in our country and our world.

And getting involved in a club like JSA can even go on college applications.

The founders of this country fought hard to earn the rights we now take for granted. It is only fair to repay them by showing how grateful we are to have the things they fought for.

Fight school fighting with preemptive action

By Timothy Wong Staff Writer

Fights are a real problem at our school, though the problem is not a result of escalating tension between people in our school but rather other students exacerbating the small conflicts between two people.

Back in seventh grade I got in a fight and got my butt kicked, but I learned a valuable lesson from it. I began to realize a few truths about fights. First, most fights are the result of the peak of tension between people, and that if the climax could pass without any physical conflict then a fight could be avoided all together.

Second, when leading up to a fight, neither side is willing to back down. Neither side wants to look like the wimp, so it takes an outside force to put a halt to any further tension.

I write about this topic because just a few weeks ago after school, there was a fight between two people. A friend and I were waiting for our rides as we saw an odd amount of people rushing towards the same area. As most people would guess, this meant that a fight had started. Knowing the knowledge I stated before, I predetermined that I would try to do what I could to break up the fight before anyone got seriously injured.

“When I got

there, a large circle had already formed as people watched the two fighters go at it.

”

to just see the action. I finally got into a position where I could see the fighters and I first noticed that they were girls but what struck me even harder was the fact that not a single person in the crowd was doing anything to stop the fighting.

In fact, some had even pulled out their phones to record the fight.

Though the fight ended soon afterwards, the impression this event has made on me still lingers.

cal decisions. All that needs to be done is to keep the two people with tension between them from making physical contact and allowing them enough time to gather their

thoughts. When given some time to think it through, I am sure that most kids are sensible enough to realize that most issues are not worth fighting over.

LETTERS

To the Editor

Hi kids! Unfortunately, due to certain communist sympathizers within The Olympian, Ostrich the Olympian Octopus was censored in his column last issue. In that issue, you were informed that if you didn’t send two letters to The Olympian, Ostrich would: “be forced to become very angry.”

The anti-American censoring of Ostrich’s column made him seem like some cute little cartoon character. Perhaps this is why we recieved absolutely no letters. You didn't take Ostrich seriously. So let me make this very clear: if you don’t send two letters by next issue, Ostrich will not become “very angry;” he will unleash an orgy of death the likes of which has never been seen. The gates of hell will be opened and the streets will run red with blood. Make no mistake, Ostrich is a sadistic maniac that is wanted in seven-

teen states, and his bloodlust can only be quenched by letters. So if you value your lives, send some freaking letters.

Now, once again, here are some controversial statements to enrage you. Batman is way cooler than Superman, Spiderman, and the Incredible Hulk put together. Ron Paul is the greatest American hero of all time. The chicken came 5,372 years before the egg.

Sincerely, Ostrich the Olympian Octopus

Your mom “What’s this opinion about?”

“Your mom”

By Frank Chao Staff Writer

What’s this about? “Your mom.” That’s right, you’re reading about the phrase “your mom” and all its glory.

For those who don’t know, “your mom” is a popular comeback commonly used by teenagers throughout the world. It’s been 8-9 years since the phrase was introduced and its use and popularity has grown exponentially.

However, although it has become popular, it has lost something else: its meaning. Like many other popular phrases, “your mom” is being used so often, it has become meaningless. People say it far too often.

It’s used to answer everything that’s not asked with complete seriousness. It’s said to your family, to your friends, even sometimes to your teachers.

“Your mom” is at the point where it’s not a comeback or a joke anymore, but a couple of meaningless words that can be said as a response to anything.

You might ask me, “Who cares if it’s overused? It’s still funny.” Well, it isn’t funny anymore. “Your mom” was only funny if it was used at the perfect moment and not too often. I think that this phrase must be saved from the doom that befell so many other catch phrases such as “It’s over 9000,” and “That’s what she said!”

In order to achieve this, strict rules must be put in place and enforced. The phrase “your mom” must be tabooed and the offenders of this law must be executed for the sake of the phrase. Hopefully, in 5 years, the phrase will once again be funny and if not, at least we can say it.

Make good choices in life or you will die Editorial:

the California Healthy Kids Survey. In fact, the report states that As one of the few on-campus a whopping 59 percent of juniors influences at CVHS that has the drink at least occasionally. ability to reach the entire student As teenagers ourselves, we body, we at The Olympian feel realize that this will happen at that we have a responsibility to times. Kids are going to expericondemn underage drinking. A ment with alcohol. But it should large percentage of CVHS stu- already be common knowledge dents drink alcohol, accrding to that the negative effects of alco-

hol – impaired judgment, liver damage, addiction, drunk driving injuries and fatalities – far outweigh all arguments that would possibly condone this illegal activity.

Despite this, it still seems like drunk nights are remembered more than sober ones. This is the reason why such programs

like Youth to Youth are necessary.

Telling teenagers that underage drinking is bad is not nearly as effective as proving to them that underage drinking is bad.

Because of this we will not tell you, the readers, not to drink.

Rather, we advise you to educate yourself and decide for yourself what you believe is best.

The answer that should be most readily obvious is the media.

Where do we hear or read about the election? On television, on the computer, in the newspaper: all sources of the media. Where don’t we hear or read about things that some people might deem important but the news does not? The answer yet again, of course, is the media.

The phrase “Knowledge is power,” has been repeated many times in the past, first by English author Sir Francis Bacon, and now by me, but where do we get our knowledge of the everyday happenings in our world?

Haven’t you guessed by now?

What we think is controlled by what we see and hear. For example, some pacifists who speak out against the war are also pro-choice which – depending how you look at it – is akin to

saying that there is no problem in killing innocent babies in our own country, but the killing of enemies halfway across the world in the defense of our country is completely and unjustifiably wrong. But instead of presenting both sides of each argument, newspapers like the Times or the Chronicle unload bullet after bullet of anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-everything propaganda.

So, what I’m trying to say here, with all that stuff above, is that we should be careful that our own opinions aren’t run over by the media’s and to be aware that the world isn’t all that the papers make it to be.

After all, who knows, maybe President Bush has done something good in his term of office despite his apparent failings.

But we’ll never know this as the media never showed us.

Don’t let the media tell you what to think

By Joseph Wan Sports editor

There is no doubt that the upcoming year is a busy one. First came the Super Bowl in which the New York Giants ruined the New England Patriots’ dream of a perfect season. Then, in August, hundreds of athletes will compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. And finally, the election that has been on the front page of almost every newspaper for almost every day of the past month will be held this November.

Hidden in the shadow of these big events however, buried under the resulting wonder and excitement, are stories that many

people probably have never even heard about. Bombings and terrorist attacks in the Middle East barely make the news nowadays.

They’ve become commonplace and almost meaningless when compared to the everlasting advertisements for the election.

Are the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, less meaningful than the next leader of the United States? If so, what about an international competition? A football game?

If you think, like I, that this shouldn’t be so, then why is reality so different than what is portrayed? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has thought this way before.

PHOTOpinions COMPILED BY Ryan Flores

What do you think of teenage drinking?

The Olympian is a publication of the Journalism Class, Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2008

“Teenage drinking is “I think it’s fine as long bad, but I’d rather have as they know what my friend drink than they’re doing.” – Sean do acid.” – Katrina Bliven, junior Green, freshman

“As long as people know their limits, it’s fine. ” – Gloria Zhu, junior

“It’s stupid. I think kids have better things to do with their time.” – Ben Crosby , senior

Editor-in-Chief...............................................................Malena Bell City Editor................................................................Michelle Matsui News Editor.............................................................Sophiana Carrell Opinion Editor..............................................................Kevin Hanley Feature Editor...............................................................Hayden Folks Sports Editor....................................................................Joseph Wan Copy Editors...............................................................Kyle Friedrich Laura Mitchell Becky Chao Photo Editor......................................................Stephanie Lombardo Systems Manager.........................................................Andrew Quan Business Managers.....................................................Candace Wong Esther Lee Staff Writers: Frank Chao, Ryan Flores, Andrew Huber, Irene Liang, Brandon Lui, Erin Mundy, Lindsay Oda, Taylor Pepsin, Eva Poon, Howard Whang, Tim Wong Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

There is no better than No Country

By Kevin Hanley Opinion Editor

Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

Senior Jeremy Dutra shows some fantastic portraits of other students.

A portrait is worth a thousand words

By Lindsay Oda Staff Writer

Around the room sit big pictures of students of all cultures, each student revealing a piece of their personality in a flash.

A short biography sits by every picture, revealing each student’s story.

During Days of Diversity, the advanced photography class presented their “Faces of CVHS” portraits in the photo studio. Forty photographers took portraits of CVHS students who have emigrated from another country or are first generation Americans. Along with the portraits, photographers interviewed students on their cultural experiences and wrote a few paragraphs on them.Senior Lisa Vortman had a hard time with her project at first, but in the end she had a good experience.

“It was interesting because my subject didn’t speak English and

he was shy, but after we got past the language barrier I learned a lot from what he said.”

Vortman’s subject was Junior Hiro Okada from Tokyo, Japan. In his paragraph he said, “America has made me feel so different…I feel free!”

Senior Mina Masoudi took the opportunity to get to know a student. “I immediately knew I wanted to portrait her, I really wanted to learn about who she is,” said Masoudi.

Masoudi portraited senior Meron Asfaw who emigrated f ro m E t h i o p i a d u r i n g h e r sophomore year. Asfaw said in her interview, “I look back and think about some of the people in Ethiopia who have dreams, but are unable to make those dreams a reality, and now I feel like I have to go back and help my country.”

The whole gallery was filled with interesting and deep interviews like this. “The photos all

put together made a great impact,” said photography teacher Stephen Babuljak. “I was proud of my students’ work.”

Many teachers and students enjoyed the portraits. “The gallery was really impressive,” said Masoudi. “Some teachers cried when they saw it.”

Not only did the photographers learn more about a new person, but for some it opened up their eyes to the importance of being culturally aware.

“I think what the problem in our American society is that we are unaware. Unaware of others people’s cultures, beliefs, and customs, therefore we reject them. Rejecting seems an easier alternative, rather than admitting your lack of understanding,” said Masoudi.

“Faces of CVHS” gallery will be in the Center for the Arts from April 14-May 9. Teachers may arrange time for their classes to come with David Judson.

Every night I went to bed with a headache. It was really confusing.”

In the summer of 2007 Antoine moved to Texas to improve his English as part of a foreign exchange program. In the program each student must spend one month in a language camp and a whole year in a high school.

A month later he moved in with a family from Castro Valley to finish the program. “It’s really great here. I really like the school way better. For example, yearbook and dances aren’t at school in France,” said Bruneau.

Some of the contrasts in culture include movies such as Les Choristes in France, where as

here in the U.S. he enjoys Forest Gump and Brave Heart. As far as sports are concerned, he enjoys swimming both here and back in France.

His favorite French author is Emile Zola who wrote Germinal.

As far as comparing French and American food, he enjoys both but he misses authentic French cooking.

When he graduates he will be moving back to France to go to college there. He said his visa will not allow him to stay in America for more than a year.

“If someone could travel around the world like I did, it would be a great experience,” said Bruneau.

French student visits CVHS

By Taylor Pepsin Staff Writer

Some of you may know Antoine Bruneau, a senior here at CVHS. But did you know that Bruneau grew up in La Rochelle, France for 17 years?

La Rochelle is said to be one of the most beautiful places in all of France.

It is surrounded by pale stone, which is used on almost every building and sidewalk.

While in France, Bruneau took English as his second language.

He started learning English in middle school and took 7 years of it. According to Antoine, “It was really hard to learn English.

No Country for Old Men has won four Oscars, including best picture and best actor Javier Bardem. Did it deserve these awards? Best picture? Probably. Best actor? Definitely. The movie is beautifully written, shot, and acted, and is one of the best movies I have seen in years.

It tells the story of Llwelyn Moss, a retired Vietnam veteran, stumbling upon a drug deal gone wrong, with everybody dead and $2 million in cash just sitting there. By taking it, he gets not only the drug runners on his tail, but also professional hit man and all around homicidal maniac Anton Chigurh, chillingly played

by Spanish actor Javier Bardem.

Tommy Lee Jones plays sheriff Edd Tom Bell, who laments the violent turn the world has taken as he searches for

Chigurh, who leaves a steady trail of corpses behind him.

An interesting thing about the movie is that throughout the whole thing, none of the three main characters ever have any scenes together, although they all interact with Moss’s wife, Carla Gene Moss.

Music is used sparingly in the film, and there are scenes where there is no dialogue for a long period of time, such as when Moss discovers the dead drug runners. The dialogue is sharp and even humorous at parts. The best lines go to Chigurh, who often has existential discussions with his victims before he kills, or occasionally doesn’t kill them.

No Country for Old Men is extremely violent, with Chigurh blowing people away with a silenced shotgun or punching through their skulls with a captive bolt pistol used for slaughtering cattle. However, the violence is never glamorized or made light of.

All in all, No Country for Old Men is an excellent movie, with riveting performances and a fascinating story and I urge you to check it out.

Spring breaks to remember

By Hayden Folks Feature Editor

CVHS students do many different things during spring break. Their activities vary widely. Some students do thing that help the world while others work for monetary gain and some just go out to play and have fun.

Chester Wehe, junior, is one of the students who decided to better the world. Wehe went down to Mexico with his youth group from John Knox Presbyterian Church. They went down to the small town Rosarito on the coast of Mexico to build a house for a poor family that can’t afford one.

His church, along with many other churches and organizations, do this every year.

When asked how it was, Wehe replied it was “heck of fun.” So next spring break if you want to help the world or your community and have fun, one way to do so is to get in touch with a

local church.

Working for monetary gain is what CVHS junior Chris Sheehan did. Sheehan, along with many other CVHS students, picked up a job for spring break working for the ATPA, a union organization. Sheehan works in an office sorting things and doing other tasks.

“No, it is not fun, but it’s worth it because I get paid,” he said.

The most common thing to do during spring break is travel.

Junior Dustin Granger traveled around the country. He went to New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Maine. He visited his family and sites important to them. He visited his grandmother’s old house and his great aunt.

There are many different things to do over the week of spring break and anything is fine as long as you aren’t stuck doing homework until three in the morning the Sunday before returning to school.

Seein’ C-SPAN bus was cool, si?

By Ryan Flores Staff Writer

Howard Whang / Staff Writer

Austrian students visited CVHS to see what America is like and to visit our students.

CVHS was one of the few schools lucky enough to get a visit and a tour from the famous C-SPAN campaign bus on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Because the bus tours all around the U.S., it has a very tight schedule. Only 12 students were allowed on the bus at a time. For the students who had the opportunity to tour the bus it was quite impressive. Heath Neiderer, marketing supervisor, showed us what C-SPAN is all about, some of the controls, and the interview section.

“It was cool because I’ve never been on a bus before besides the time I took the bus tour to ‘Nam and almost got blown up by a mortar,” said junior Chris “Juan” Sheehan.

The bus is outfitted with over $1.5 million worth of equipment.

Its length extends to 40 feet with an area to conduct interviews with people such as those running for president. There are two C-SPAN buses and they travel to all 50 states, but they mostly cover the D.C. area. C-SPAN takes calls from anybody and does not censor their calls, which Howard Stern has had a lot of fun with as he often prank calls them.

C-SPAN stands for Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, is offered as a public service and is found on channel 22 for cable.

What makes C-SPAN so distinct from other channels like CNN is that there’s nothing other than the topic, meaning there’s no extra videos and just the main politicians. C-SPAN is a non-profit organization and is funded by cable which also means they don’t need commercials either.

Mariners show up a day early

By Joseph Wan Sports Editor

Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

Senior Michael Gitlin shuts down the Wolves’ offensive with a mid-air block.

Volleyballers try to rekindle their spirit

By Frank Chao Staff Writer

Suffering the loss of many seniors, the CVHS varsity boys volleyball team fell victim to another loss in a long string of bad luck to the San Ramon Valley Wolves on April Fool’s Day. Though they had lost in three sets, things looked bright as the game neared the end.

The Trojans lost the first two sets by scores of 12-25 and 9-25.

Things looked grim until the Trojans attempted to make a comeback in the final set.

The score was 14-14 and it looked as if the Trojans had a chance to come back but the Wolves cleaned up the final set, winning 25-17.

The loss put them at 0-6, last in the HAAL, but the team isn’t throwing in the towel yet.

“I’m glad that we’re having so much fun and putting in so much effort this year,” said sophomore Igor Breyman, a member of the varsity team.

Not only have they not given up on the season, they’re looking

forward to the future.

The junior varsity team captured its first victory of the season against San Ramon Valley, who is traditionally very strong.

“We started out bad but now we’re on fire,” said sophomore Alvin Lu, a junior varsity player.

Also promising is the new coach, Michael Sami, a former volleyball player on the Russian Olympic team. He has brought

“ We started

out bad but now we’re on fire! ” Alvin Lu Sophomore

hope to CVHS boys volleyball.

“This season has been good, I’m hoping the season will turn out better. I still have a lot of hope for the JV,” said Sami.

Despite the discouraging start, the team hopes to move up the standings as the season goes on and to overcome the difficulties that are thrown at them.

It was a strange sight for the Trojans on March 19, when Moreau Catholic’s tennis team showed up for practice. Decked out in their green and white, the Mariners marched onto the green and red courts that Wednesday all riled up for a match.

However, a scheduling error between the two schools left the Trojans completely unprepared for their arrival. The end result was a close match that ended in a 4-3 victory for the Mariners.

Originally, the match had been scheduled for Thursday, but due to some conflict with Moreau’s school schedule, the Mariners negotiated a time change with the athletic league director.

The match date was changed to Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the tennis team’s coach David Roth-Rossi was not notified of the change and the online schedule showed no change as well.

Furthermore, on the same day, both Roth-Rossi, and the number one singles varsity player for Castro Valley, Jake Pawid, were unable to attend.

Assistant coach Steve Argyres took charge in Roth-Rossi’s absence and started up the match between the Trojans and the Mariners. Both teams lined up, announced their players, and shook hands.

Unfortunately, with Pawid gone, the line-up for that day underwent a revision which pushed the number two varsity singles player, freshman Daniel Cheung to play Moreau’s number one, Mark de Castro. Each subsequent player was moved up a slot as well.

The Trojan boys did their best but unfortunately, in the end, Cheung and his fellow teammates, senior Steven Yu, junior Cliff Ching, and sophomore Josh Liu lost each of their matches.

On the flip side, however, every one of the Varsity dou-

bles team players won their matches. Junior Lucas Chang and senior Scott Argyres won 6-4, 6-4. Doubles two, freshmen David Carter and Derek Wong, and doubles three, senior Kevin Oda and junior Victor Huang, won their matches as well.

Still, the Mariners had one game up on the Trojans and so won the match.

“It [the match] was just a mistake in communication,” Argyres said in reflection.

Ranked first seed, Moreau Catholic is the school to gun for and Castro Valley has taken on this status as a challenge. When asked how he thought the boys would do in the next match against Moreau, Roth-Rossi said, “Good, fantastic.”

“There you go,” Argyres agreed.

The coaches also felt that the team had the ability to take the second match as long as they keep doing what they did best: winning. And after Moreau, the team aims to win the North Coast Section championships as well. As long as there aren’t any more schedule changes, of course.

Trojans win swimmingly in meet

By Esther Lee

By Brandon Lui

Business Manager

Staff Writer

The CVHS swimming teams had their second league meet this season on Wednesday, April 2, against Moreau. Brian Berry, the CVHS swim team coach, says “We have strong swimmers in all events. That’s why at league meets we usually come out first or second.”

Swimming is no easy sport; just ask freshman swimmer, Aaron Milan. He’s been swimming for years and he swims the 500-freestyle event, amounting to 20 laps in competition.

“Actually after a while you relax.

You stop thinking about it and it gets easier,” explained Milan.

The swim teams also have older veteran swimmers. Athletes like Jazmine Wong and Jennifer Fong are juniors who have been swimming since their freshman year. They both love working together and training with the whole team.

Ul t imate Frisbee Te am Flie s On

Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

Alyssa Chew cuts through the water towards the finish line.

“Swimming is definitely a hard sport,” Wong and Fong agree, “because you have to use all your muscles, think positive, and use your head Junior Colby Cheung had to

swim four events at this meet, so having a mastery of multiple strokes helped him to score many points for the Trojans.

By the end of the swim meet, Berry was happy with the times

from each of the events.

“All the swims were very strong.

A lot of the swimmers improved their times,” said Berry.

The swim teams are working hard in anticipation of another close and competitive meet against Bishop O’Dowd on April 21. With a good swim team and an enthusiastic coach, it’s assured that the CVHS swim teams will come out on top.

The rain pours down, muddying the field and obstructing his vision. The Frisbee wavers overhead and just as it nears the ground, senior Daniel Eng dives for it.

Eng is able to easily recall it since it is one of his favorite memories.

But on March 18, the skies are clear and Frisbees are being easily thrown left and right as a flurry of people scatter and run. The Ultimate [Frisbee] club members are practicing on the new stadium’s field. The throwers and receivers toss Frisbees back and forth, creating a harmonious unit. In Frisbee lingo, the throwers and receivers are called handlers and cutters, respectively. The Ultimate members practice every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and usually finish the day with a visit to Chipotle.

The number of people who attend practice varies, but usually centers around fifteen. The club spreads responsibility within four captains: Eng, and juniors David Erspamer, Patrick Lahey, and James Lai. Since they are technically still a club, an advisor takes the place of a coach. Their advisor is Becky Grass, a math teacher who has experience in Ultimate Frisbee. Sometimes Assistant Principal Jesse Woodward joins in for practice as well.

The club members also hone their skills by frequently playing players from other schools. They are not limited to just competing with other high schools, they also practice with Las Positas College’s team. They usually place in the top three of 16 teams in tournaments.

“We’re a pretty competitive team,” said Eng. Many of the members have good memories of the club.

“Playing at the Davis tournament was really fun and we did well,” said Lai. The club’s goal is to be the top team in the state, which requires winning in a tournament that spans the course of two days.

“I want to make the college A [varsity] team,” said senior Ben Yu of his personal goal.

Junior Sophia Fong is a new member of the club.

When asked why she chose to join the Ultimate club she replied, “I didn’t want to just run, I wanted to chase something.”

Popular More long days academies ahead for CVHS searching for students more teachers

By Becky Chao Copy Editor

Academy sizes may be limited now that teacher involvement with the academies is strictly voluntary, though the number of teachers willing to teach within a small learning academy is still uncertain. If there are not enough teachers, a lottery might be used for students to make the academies smaller.

Part of the reason for the requirement change was because of the new principal’s vision for the school and a wish to make the academy systems more “meaningful,” according to Assistant Principal Jesse Woodward. “[Pete Alvarez] thought forcing teachers to teach in this structure wasn’t good for the students,” said Woodward. “We also want to make sure every teacher in the academies will create a meaningful experience for the kids.”

It is still not clear yet whether CVHS will actually use a lottery system, said teacher Richard Schneck, who is helping to organize the academies.

Academies are getting more popular among students, according to preliminary numbers from the scheduling request sheets that were turned in early March.

About 77 percent of next year’s sophomores and 80 percent of next year ’s juniors signed up for an academy: Art and Communication; Business Marketing and International Business; Engineering, Construction and Technology; Health, Athletics and Biotechnology; or Global Rights, Activism, Education, and Law. “I really love the idea,” said junior Christine Matheney. “It gathers people together with the same interest.”

So far, teachers mostly seem to share this view.

“I’m pretty confident we will find enough teachers. I’m not aware of anyone leaving our academy yet,” said teacher Matt Rainwater, who is in charge of the largest academy, Health, Athletics and Biotechnology (HABiT). “[But] there are people in every academy who only show up because they’re forced to.”

Besides the possible teacher shortage, the academies have other problems.

One example, according to Woodward, is gender balance.

The Engineering and Construction academy has a very small number of girls and a disproportionally large percentage of boys.

Teacher Ed Burnette saw this problem when he taught a section in the Business Marketing and International Business

academy last year. The class was three-quarters boys who had most of their classes together and “fooled around all day,” he said. He added that he didn’t enjoy it at all.

“It was a valid effort,” he commented on the academies. “It had good purposes, but there’s always bugs in the system at first. But if they don’t fund it, it will not survive. They’ll drop [the academies] like a hot potato.”

Currently, however, Burnette teaches in the HABiT academy and describes his students as “just fine.”

Others haven’t warmed up to the idea of the small learning communities.

“ There are

people in every academy who only show up because they are forced to. ” MATT RAINWATER History Teacher

“For me, it’s just that high school is exploring a bunch of fields before choosing a direction,” explained junior Julianne Burnette. “I’m not ready to settle down into one focus.”

Still, the academies are moving forward and striving to improve.

Student leadership within the academies was being considered, according to Rainwater, with officers at every grade level.

His academy is also planning a series of events called HABiT Olympics, which will combine athletics and academics, but is still a “work in progress.” All the academies are hoping to plan for more field trips and internships in the 2008-2009 school year.

“We’ve told kids we don’t want them to pick an academy because of their friends’ [choices] or the cool field trips,” said Schneck. Academies, he said, were designed for students to see what they may want to do “down the road.” Hopefully, CVHS students will not have to rely on luck for this opportunity.

By Irene Liang Staff Writer

The $4.6 million budget cut has not only affected the Castro Valley Unified School District, but also has greatly reduced the chances of shorter CVHS class periods next school year.

While many have called the current school day too long, the school was forced to lengthen classes this year to meet a staterequired minimum. The staff considered a change to allow more students to take a seventh class, which would have permitted shorter class periods.

But funding for more options of seventh period classes has been out of the question for the district with the substantial cut to the budget. The budget cut is in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal to attempt to help California out of debt. The cut will cost Castro Valley Unified School District $540 per student, which does not leave much money to fund for extra classes.

“With the schedule changing, it is more of a realization that until the school district is willing to fund for shorter days, there aren’t a lot of combinations for schedule options,” says teacher Daren Wilkerson.

Although the state requires a reasonable amount of students to be enrolled in seven period days to count the extra class towards the minimum, only about 20 percent of the current CVHS student body participates.

Assistant Principal Jesse Woodward estimates that the reasonable amount would be 80 percent of the student body participating in a one to eight period day (including lunch).

The administration has been looking to change the current bell schedule in response to the increase in complaints by teachers, staff members, parents, and students about the day being too long. A schedule committee, whose members are librarian Terri Bucklin, Sharafeldin Musa from the math department, Craig Nieves from the P.E. department, Laura O’Brien from the science department, Matthew Rainwater from the social studies department, counselor Jennifer Sitkin, and Wilkerson from the English department, was constituted to come up with an alternative schedule.

Under the California Department Education Code, high school students are to be offered 64,800 instructional minutes in the span of 180 school days.

With the 20 percent of the current student body participating in a one to eight period day, the

state does not recognize eighth period as part of the school day.

As a result, only periods one to seven are accounted for, with the addition of the six-minute passing periods and the exception of lunch.

The schedule committee has looked into several options to get around having more students participate in seven period days without having the district fund for more classes.

“We are currently investigating changing the graduation requirements to increase the participating for more students to take one to eight period days,” says Woodward, who is the head of the schedule committee.

Moreover, at the last Parent, Teacher, and Student Association meeting, a straw vote took place and the majority of the members

favored the current schedule over the traditional bell schedule (without block periods).

With a decision not set in stone yet, one thing for sure is the decision to keep collaboration. In addition, tutorial will not be reinstated due to the lack of students using the time allotted to catch up on their schoolwork.

With the decision to what the schedule will look like pending, many agree that the long schedule should be changed to fit the needs of staff, students, and parents.

“The district is complying with the state but it is not beneficial to have a longer schedule because there are only five minutes added to each class, which is not enough time to complete extra work,” said sophomore Samantha Greaney.