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Robin Hoodlums giving back to Castro Valley By Lisa Carmack Staff Writer
Howard Whang / Photo Editor
Budget problem solved! Oprah Winfrey delivers a mountain of cash to Principal Pete Alvarez.
Oprah Saves CVHS By Irene Liang City Editor
With the recent economic crisis starting to affect CVUSD as teachers, counselors, assistant principals, and programs are being cut, a hefty donation of $10 million to the district was made by the one and only Oprah Winfrey. Concerned student and senior Kristin Charlemagne wrote to the talk show queen and asked for a bailout. “It isn’t fair that the students have to take the fall for the irresponsibility of Republican legislators,” said Charlemagne. In her letter, Charlemagne mentioned the cuts that would be affecting CVHS next year. With the teacher layoffs and the elimination of eighth period, students will not be able to take as many electives. In addition,
class size increases, especially among freshmen English classes and Algebra I classes, will affect the student-teacher ratios and the way teachers will be able to tend to their students. The letter reached Winfrey’s desk and, a few weeks after mailing the letter, Charlemagne was “overcome with emotions” when she picked up the phone and heard Winfrey’s voice. “It was unbelievable. I wasn’t expecting her to reply at all. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Oprah!” exclaimed Charlemagne. During the interview, Winfrey said that it broke her heart to know that innocent students are limited to what they can decide to add to their courses, the senior said. “She understood that everyone deserves an education,” said
Charlemagne. The $10 million Winfrey donated will help lessen the cuts that CVUSD must make, as about $4 million will go to help make up an estimated $6 million gap. The remainder of the $10 million will be put into reserves to help over the next few years, which may still be tough for the district, or in the case of another fiscal crisis. CVHS Principal Pete Alvarez and Charlemagne flew to Chicago on March 3 to tape a special episode for Winfrey’s show. The show is about how the economic recession is affecting the average American. It’s clear that everyone in Castro Valley will be tuning it to watch their own people on national television. The taping of the show will air on the local ABC channel at 4:00 p.m. on April 1.
In a startling turn of events, Castro Valley's miscreants and law-breakers have come forth to give a semi-public apology as well as to give reparations for their crimes. "We didn't want to admit to ourselves that what we've been doing is bad, but looking back there is a lot to be set straight," said a former delinquent who preferred to remain anonymous. Without the notice of administration or law enforcement, a group of nearly ten law-offenders stood on the corners around the school handing out iPods and cell phones to passing students. "They were also waiting at the bus stops and in the Village," one sophomore student Alisha Marcelli reported last Thursday. Marcelli was a recipient of a brand new iPod touch. "The guy was really nice. It's hard to believe he was ever a criminal," she said. There was a noticeable engraving on the back of Marcelli's new iPod and a closer look revealed "Happy Birthday Mitchell! Love, Mom." Marcelli was unwilling to answer any further questions. When asked about the source of all the electronics, the group responsible for this early Christmas replied with a shifty-eyed response and some incoherent mumbling. Why did these people just realize the error of their ways? Why did they ever think it was okay to steal? "Castro Valley has a lot of rich kids, so they could just replace them. Plus, school kids are easy
prey. It's like Robin Hood, steal from the rich and give to the poor, but we realized we were only giving to ourselves," said the anonymous delinquent. Upon the discovery of this unwarranted distribution of expensive goods, there was a cry of outrage from the Alameda
“..steal from
the rich and give to the poor..
Anonymous Hoodlum Castro Valley
”
Country Sheriff's Department as well as the high school administration. "Why didn't they just turn themselves in? If they really felt guilty we could have them doing time or community service, and we could easily return all the stolen goods to the proper owners because we happen to have the written reports," said an angry deputy in response to the Robin Hood exploits. Law enforcement is currently on watch for the Robin Hood team and is instructed to arrest them on sight. Whether the actions of these repentant sinners are wrong or right is up to you, but think twice before deciding to play out your favorite childhood fairy tale. You might just end up in jail.
Smaller budget, longer summer We now live in Beverly By David Ahn Staff Writer
California recently passed a new legislation aimed to help deal with its budget crisis: extend the summer break of K-12 schools to four months. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal of $5 billion worth of cuts to education over the next eighteen months is drastically hurting public schools throughout the state. Due to a lack of funds, lawmakers in Sacramento were forced to reduce the length of the school year as a method to save money for the schools. Educators’ reactions to the plan are mixed. Some note that a longer school break may give students more opportunities
to excel in avenues other than school. On the flip side, a four month break in the school year may seriously hamper the ability of students to learn in the beginning of the school year. Students may have forgotten what they have learned from the previous year and studies have shown that essential skills such as reading and math scores substantially decrease after long breaks. “Looks like I’m going start looking for another job for part of the year. I feel our political leaders in Sacramento are in the peak of their incompetence,” said Selina Kyle, a teacher who adamantly opposes the new legislation. The shorter school year may have some unforeseen consequences, however, as local
schools would have to alter their year-long schedule. If students were to take National tests (Star, AP, and etc.) at the end of the year, than the school year would have to begin in mid-October. Another option would be to begin the school year normally but have students come back during the summer to take the test. This alternative is highly doubtful since students will have little incentive to come back to school in the middle of their break. Whatever Sacramento proposes, the situation looks bleak as public education is already in a steep decline in California. “At least we can have a well deserved break,” said student Dick Grayson, who had a more optimistic outlook.
Hills… not!
By James Rose Staff Writer
Castro Valley has now been annexed into the city of Hayward under an agreement with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. This is a drastic attempt to save the town from further budget cuts from the county. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. In this case, something extraordinary had to be done,” said county supervisors Samuel Mills and Mary Shellstone. Alameda County is bankrupt, and it has no choice but to under fund its unincorporated communities. In order to receive funds again, Castro Valley must link up with a city. Boundaries must
be severed and school districts must be joined. Basically, Castro Valley is incorporated under the Hayward address. “My city is grateful that it can help. We are glad that Castro Valley could bind with us; besides, maybe this could even boost our property values,” exclaimed Todd Evanswood, mayor of Hayward. With the central part of Castro Valley in Hayward, the Palomares Hills subdivision is planning to secede. It is preparing to become its own city due to the affluent demographics. A city hall, police department, two new schools and a Wal-Mart will be slated for construction in the following months.