Dec 15, 2011

VOLUME 55, ISSUE 4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011

CASTRO VALLEY, CA 94546

WWW.CVHSOLYMPIAN.COM

Governor “We love you, Conrad! Badminton scores suggests the winning shot Oh yes we do!” teachers retire later

By Kate Pellegrini Staff Writer

By Emily Courchaine Staff Writer

Teachers may be forced to retire no younger than age 67 if Governor Jerry Brown gets his way with pension changes.

In October, Brown proposed 12 major pension reforms as means of solving the financial crisis California is facing. If they were implemented, the new plan would save the state billions of dollars over the coming years.

“It’s time to fix our pension systems so that they are fair and sustainable over a long time horizon,” said Brown. “My plan raises the retirement age and bans abusive practices like ‘spiking’ and ‘air time’ while mandating that public employees pay an equal share of pension costs.”

The proposal includes changing the minimum retirement age for state employees from 55 to 67, and increasing employee contribution to pension benefits from 5%-9% to 10%. The proposal also changes the one-year final compensation to three-year final compensation, limits post-retirement employment, and prohibits retroactive pension increases and pension holidays for employers and employees.

Despite Brown’s assurances that the plan “protects taxpayers while being fair to the employees,” the reforms have been met with great disapproval from teachers’ unions in California as

PENSION: Page 8

Melody Moteabbed / Staff Writer

Bye Bye Birdie’s Ursula (Morgan Morris) swoons over Conrad Birdie’s (Matt Lindberg) “glorious sound” that reduced her to a “snarling, raging, panting, jungle beast” during the song “Honestly Sincere.” See story on page 4.

For the past few months, CVHS badminton players have had little on their mind other than whether they would be able to play this year. They have been avidly fundraising, soliciting donations, and doing everything else in their power to stay afloat.

It seems that their efforts have finally paid off: this past November, at the deadline for baseline funding, the players learned that they would indeed be competing this season.

In order to remain a competing team in the district’s league, the team would have to raise a minimum of $3,800 by a November deadline, or be cut for the year.

This money would go towards uniforms for the players, transportation to away games, and referees to keep the games fair.

“It used to be that the district would help pay for school sports,” explained Assistant Principal Jason Whiteman, “but not anymore.”

A couple of years back, the budget was cut in half, and then gradually eliminated completely.

Now, students have to fight to keep their sports.If the students don’t raise enough money in time, their teams face being cut, and there are no second chances once the deadline passes.

When asked if the team would have been given more time to raise the money if needed, Whiteman replied, “If we could, we would, but it would be unfair to the other schools, because the league has to plan things like the matches and number of teams competing.”

Nonetheless, the badminton team succeeded in raising enough money,and players were exuberant to hear the good news.

“It would be such a shame if we couldn’t play! It’s a lot of fun, and I would be so sad if we couldn’t continue playing the sport we all love,” said sophomore Kelly Chan.

“It used to be

that the district would help pay for school sports.

Jason Whiteman

”

Assistant Principal Last year the team was so talented that they went on to the Northern California Badminton finals.This year’s team is eager to carry on the prestige of years past.

The badminton team survived, but some sports may not be as fortunate.

The boys golf team is also in danger of being cut, and many other teams face similar fates if they don’t get enough funding.

“We support all kids who want to engage in school activities like sports,” asserted Whiteman. “It keeps them interested and motivated, and really helps bring the community together.”

Meeting minutes for clubs now mandatory or suspension

By Cheyenne Donatello Staff Writer

CVHS clubs are being suspended for not turning in their meeting minutes.

The meeting minutes are important because they help track money, ensure clubs are authentic, and make sure that clubs are doing what they are supposed to do.

Not turning in the meeting minutes goes against ASB rules, which the clubs are bound to follow.

“If a club says they are meeting, we want to make sure they are meeting,” said Leadership teacher Nicholas Whitaker.

At the beginning of the year

there are around 56-57 clubs that claimed existence, yet throughout the year the student council discovered that only about half of those clubs are actually functioning.

Clubs that are in danger of being suspended are generally the clubs that do not have a secretary or a vice president, since those positions have the job of recording the minutes. It is then the job of the club president to turn in the meeting minutes at the regular club president meetings.

At first, about nine to ten clubs were being suspended monthly.

After resolving a few minor problems with some club presidents, the number has decreased

to six to seven clubs.

“The funding of CVHS is regulated by the state government and part of the money comes from extracurricular activities, which include clubs,” said Jessica Anthony, CVHS club commissioner.

The student council does not want to discourage clubs; in fact, the suspensions are to help the clubs run more efficiently and to ensure that the clubs get the proper funding. The school wants to work with the clubs, not against them.

“In order to receive that money, we must have club minutes as proof on hand in Room 607 [the Leadership room],” said

Anthony.

“ ...we want

to make sure they are meeting.

Nicholas Whitaker Leadership Teacher

”

In the past, the meeting minutes have been loosely enforced.

Since the clubs are student-run, the minutes have always been

dependent on the current club commissioner. This year the club commissioner decided to crack down on the meeting minutes to ensure the money the clubs spent and received is valid.

The clubs which aren’t turning in their minutes will receive a warning. If they continue to not comply, then the club can expect a two-week suspension. The enforcement and punishment of the meetings is an ongoing process.

“I have decided to enforce the minutes policy not only to benefit extracurricular programs on campus, but also to display the excellence of our clubs to the state government,” said Anthony.

Later retirement age would punish teachers and students Editorial: Governor Jerry Brown has proposed changing the retirement age from 55 to 67 years for public employees. When this was proposed, loud protest from teachers across the state brought attention to the flaws of this plan. Not only does the state already cut off funding for education that students desperately need, it is also making future generations of teachers rethink their career paths. Is this proposal really a solution to the financial crisis in California?

We at The Olympian believe that a compromise would be the best way to deal with this situation. This compromise would set the retirement age at about 62 instead of 67, and would raise the tax on the rich a little higher. This way, the state would still end up with the same amount of revenue as it would receive in Governor Brown’s proposal, and public employees would still get the benefits of retirement they deserve.

Since 2008, California has been having economic prob-

Andie Smith / Opinion Editor

lems. Due to these economic problems, the state doesn’t have enough money to fully cover the pension for retired public employees. Pensions are funded by three sources: contributions

Additional budget cuts heading our way

By Melody Moteabbed Staff Writer

Although the school year may become shorter, that would come with a price. Due to another statewide financial deficit of $13 billion, the possibility of reducing the school year by a week has been considered.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I was ridiculously excited when I learned of a shortened school year. I personally feel like our school year is incredibly long; a lot of my friends who live in other states start school in the first week of September, yet their school year ends in late May or early June. With their ideal school length in mind, I was really looking forward to the future.

Yet, once I learned about the additional budget cuts, I had to quickly repeal my words.

Another blow to the California public university system is occurring through the $100 million in cuts to UCs and CSUs. Community colleges may also be facing $72 million in cuts, but the worst of them all hits home: a cut of up to $1.4 billion to all public K-12 schools.

The decision is left to California’s Department of Finance’s

director, who will either accept or deny the proposal in December.

Cuts are not exclusive to educational systems; funds to child care services and local libraries may also be cut.

Although college cuts don’t directly affect us now, they certainly will later. Tuition increases, fewer classes and other negative effects will impact public universities in the state. Getting financial aid is becoming more

“Worst of them

all hits home: a cut of up to $1.4 billion to all public K-12 schools. ”

difficult every year, even though there are so many of us who can’t completely afford the full four years of schooling.

We hear about budget cuts being made every day and everywhere. The remaining classes and activities we have here at CVHS need to be saved from cuts. It’s not like our school year would even shorten that much anyway (a maximum of a week), but if it still matters that much to you, then I suggest you look at the classes here that are unintentionally taken for granted and reconsider which option holds more value to you.

by the employees, contribution by the government, and investment returns. In this economic time, depending on investments is a risk; Wall Street has been dropping rapidly, and since in-

vestment results are linked to the benefits of pensions, money for pensions is also decreasing.

A part of the compromise that would help California’s financial crisis and not affect

the public employees too much would be to increase their retirement age to 62. This age is a reasonable number because most teachers don’t retire until their mid-sixties anyway.

Another part would be raising taxes on the wealthiest citizens. Even though poverty is currently increasing, rich are still rich. By increasing their taxes a little higher, the 1% would help the state and the remaining 99%. It won’t be much money for them since they probably can’t even count how many zeros are in their bank accounts.

As students, we at The Olympian appreciate how much time and effort teachers put in to teach us. Since teachers already have a hard and demanding job and deal with kids who often don’t appreciate what they do, increasing the retirement age is unfair to them.

Also, having older teachers affects the future generation of teachers because this new generation would have fewer teaching jobs available.

So we encourage Californians to consider The Olympian compromise!

PHOTOpinions pinions By: Joyce Liang

How about making teachers retire at 67?

“I understand the reasoning behind increasing the retirement age, but I hope they can find cuts elsewhere.”

Gina Zhao, sophomore

“Education always gets cut. The state needs to find other areas than education to save energy.”

Elisa Frozena, English teacher

“There’s a point in your life where you are too old. Teachers shouldn’t be forced to do their job.”

Zach Lopez, sophomore

“I understand why he did it. I don’t agree.

I think there are other ways for the state to raise money.”

Ian Rodriquez, history teacher

Letter to Editor: “What you wear does impact others”

As a CVHS alumnus and former Editor-in-Chief of The Olympian, I thought it was hilarious that some things never change. Every year, there’s an opinion article about the dress code. My very first opinion article published was about immodest dress (“Hide Your Butt, Slut” – [I did not come up with that headline]).

But I do think it’s pretty clear that what you wear does impact others, especially when you have

to look at people to be social in this world. Let’s all be a little bit considerate of other people’s values as well. Even if modesty isn’t all that important to you, it’s disrespectful to flaunt what someone else believes to be wrong in front of their faces.

If we held that kind of logic when speaking about race, it’d be like saying it’s okay for me to say racial slurs to others because I can say whatever I want. I’m not saying people shouldn’t have

the freedom to choose, because they obviously do, but let’s all be a little bit considerate of those around us as well when choosing our clothing.

It’s not just all about you/us/ ourselves, after all.

Flora Tsang, Class of 2007

LETTERS

To the Editor

.

Olympian

The December 15, 2011

Girl’s death reveals moral crisis Dana Lin / City Editor

Photo Editor

It seems strange to me to regard with such familiarity and sudden protectiveness this little girl sitting next to me in the library. She’s reading a chapter book. I can’t discern the title.

She’s polishing off a cheese and cracker snack combo, the kind that comes with the red plastic stick to spread the cheese ever so carefully on the flat, buttery biscuit.

And here I sit, attempting to type my response to what people are calling the instigation of a moral crisis in China, the death of Yue Yue Wang.

The toddler was run over by a white van, and was left there to bleed. It’s a terrible crime to ignore a helpless, injured individual, and even more so when it’s a toddler there, lying crushed on the street.

A terrible crime, isn’t it? Irrefutably. Yet one still committed by 18 civilians, no less, without a single one pausing to provide aid, not even to drag the girl’s body out of the way of a second oncoming truck. Only one woman, a trash collector, took

By Anna Balassone Editor-in-Chief

the time to do so.

When I first read about this girl, I couldn’t understand why the world hadn’t exploded with outrage on the very day of the horrific event. I could hardly sit through the entire video footage that captured Yue Yue’s plight.

I couldn’t bear to think I was distantly related to the people of a country that would allow such a thing to happen. Moral crisis indeed.

The trouble with today’s upand-coming world powers: economically, they take the cake; socially, not so much. The Chinese have had too much in the way of take-everything-and-anythingin-any-way-you-can development - that is, a development of capitalistic selfishness - as of recent decades. Their moral compass has been severely tampered with, but it’s certainly not beyond repair.

This girl next to me is of some sort of Asian descent. Maybe that familiarity I felt came from her ethnicity, maybe because I used to be a bookworm myself.

She’s only a few years older than Yue Yue. I feel it would be the absolute least I could do to stop immediately my activities and offer assistance if she was in any apparent trouble, ever. I don’t know her, and chances are after we leave this place, we’ll never encounter each other again. But this instinct to protect, I feel, is the same sentiment that many, many, many people would feel as well, faced with a dying stranger somewhere.

Considering China’s reputation for desperately craving global respect and quick efficiency in reform, I have high hopes that an instinctive, selfless response will soon be more evident in more than just 1 of 19 Chinese people.

ners like CJ Hamilton and Ben Eversole.

That year I improved my two mile time from 20:35 to 11:54. To say the least, I was proud.

In my sophomore year I improved greatly from my tenminute mile origins. Part of it was that I was used to running five miles a day and another part of it was that I was becoming more competitive towards my teammates. Whenever the upper classmen would tease me during the workouts, I would run up to them and try to stick with them for as long as I could.

toe the starting line. The worst part of competing is waiting to compete. Therefore, as a runner, one learns how to wait, whether it is by reading a book, sleeping, or doing some other activity to keep your mind off the upcoming event.

My last year here on the CVHS cross country team I have learned this one fact: running is a mental sport. At all times you have to have a very strong belief in your body and your mind. When you run, you can’t be afraid of going too fast or too slow. When I started this season, I trained with Samantha Fong, who at that time was our second fastest girl. She ran about as fast as the number one boys junior varsity runner, which was where I wanted to be. The varsity runners would tell me to run with them instead, but I decided against it because at the start of the season my body was delicate. I could tell that my knees were on the brink of becoming injured, and I devoutly iced them every night in order to heal them. A month later when my knees felt better I began running the varsity workouts.

That is the difference between a veteran runner and a rookie.

Overall in my four years at CVHS I would say I have learned to be in tune with my body and how to race. Yet I have learned more than that. As I have grown, I have helped my teammates and coaches to be proud of hearing the name “CVHS cross country,” where we always run the extra mile.

“We always run the extra mile”

By Matt Barney Business Manager

At HAAL finals the CVHS junior varsity cross country team placed second to a very strong Bishop O’Dowd team.

The Trojans were not too happy with that, but I preferred not to dwell on being second. Running lets me relax and escape daily life, especially when I personally improve.

My freshman year was a struggle. Before I even showed up to practice I began running a mile every day to get prepared. Boy was I in for a surprise on the first day when the coach said, “All right everyone, one mile warmup.” There wasn’t much else going through my mind except fear of what was next while I ran my mile.

Throughout the rest of that season I “survived” races, as coach Peter Brewer liked to put it. I didn’t care. I just liked to get out of school and run dusty trails out in the countryside. Mainly I looked toward the future because the CVHS cross country was very strong at this point, with run-

Analyze This

A plea to my fellow seniors: grow up

By Rebecca Fong

“At all times

you have to have a very strong belief in your body and your mind. ” As junior year approached, I started to understand the routine a runner goes through to prepare for a race: arrive an hour before the first race starts and cheer on your teammates until an hour before your own race starts.

Then go to the bathroom and make sure you are wearing your uniform. After that you warm up half an hour before your race starts for ten minutes, and

3

It comes as no surprise that, as a teenager in the 21st century, I have a Facebook page. And, as a senior, I am also part of the “Castro Valley High Class of 2012” Facebook group. This group was ostensibly created to do nothing more than inform seniors of upcoming school and class activities. It has, however, quickly become a breeding ground for comments and posts that exude hate, prejudice, and most recognizably, immaturity. In my opinion, there’s a certain responsibility that comes with being the oldest students in the school. And sometimes, some people in the Class of 2012 seem to come up short.

The most recent scandal that has caused a frenzy of heated Facebook posts is the changes for this year’s yearbook. When the yearbook staff announced the categories for this year’s Senior Superlatives (Senior Best), it became apparent that some had been changed from last year. For instance, “Best Eyes” and “Best Hair” were no longer going to be considered categories, as they depend only on the person’s physical appearance.

Understandably, those students in the class that had considered themselves potential candidates for the old categories were upset by such a decision. While some respectfully shared their viewpoints on the matter, the vast ma-

jority of comments included curse words and unfounded insults of the yearbook class.

Yes, it is true that the decisions about the Senior Superlatives were made without the approval of the entire class. That does not mean that the mature way to fix the situation is by clogging up a social media site with hateful remarks.

As seniors, I would have thought we had passed the stage of complete and utter buffoonery. The yearbook class has been working vigorously all year to create an excellent product and the least we can do is treat them with common courtesy by voicing our requests with respect. And, while we are at it, why not try speaking eloquently? That never hurt anybody.

In the end, many of the old Senior Superlative categories were brought back and the complete list was made to include: Most Unique, Most Outgoing, Most Likely to Brighten Your Day, Most Likely to be Best Friends in 50 Years, Most Changed Since Freshman Year, Most Athletic, Best Dancers, Most Artistic, Most Likely to Make You Laugh (Class Clown), Most Inspiring, Best Dressed, Best Hair, Most Talented, Most Spirited, Biggest Heart, Biggest Brain (Academics), and Most Likely to Succeed.

One might argue that, thus, the heated Facebook debates made the change that was originally intended. Next time, however, we should try acting as maturely as possible in the process.

We get no closer to adulthood by acting like children. Our actions directly affect the image of ourselves that is conveyed to others. So, Class of 2012: It is our choice to be seen as disrespectful adolescents or a group of mature young adults, ready to face the real world after years of training. Let’s choose the latter.

The Olympian is a publication of the journalism class at Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2011 Editor-in-Chief.............................................................Anna Balassone Copy Editor.........................................................Holden Parks City Editor...................................................................Dana Lin News Editor...........................................................Natalie Chin Opinion Editor.............................................................Andie Smith Feature Editor............................................................Amber Yang Sports Editor.............................................................Reyna Garcia Arts and Entertainment Editor........................................SangEun Choi Photo Editors..............................................................Rebecca Fong Tim Pak Business Manager......................................................Matt Barney Online Editor......................................................Michael Castillo

Staff Writers: Lily Carrell, Suzanna Chak, Betty Chen, Eva Chen, Emily Courchaine, Rachel Crary, Cheyenne Donatello, Natalie Fazeli, Alex Gao, Ryan Gray, Jane Hong, Anya Keller, Joyce Liang, Victoria Liang, Melody Moteabbed, Kate Pellegrini, Camilo Riveros, Matt Talajkowski, Lillian Xie, Christina Yee Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

Fond Farewell TO “BYE BYE BIRDIE”

By Melody Moteabbed Staff Writer

When students stay at school until 10:30 p.m. to rehearse for a musical, it’s obvious they’re devoted. Their dedication is clear the day they present the show, and because of that, they deserve every ounce of praise they get This year ’s musical, presented by the CVHS drama and music departments, was Bye Bye Birdie, a satire based on American society in the mid1900s. When Conrad Birdie (a rocker inspired by Elvis Presley) is drafted into the army in 1957, his agent and songwriter, Albert Peterson, becomes insanely worried about his career’s future.

Thanks to the suggestion of his secretary, Rosie Alvarez, they have Birdie do a final publicity stunt: have him kiss one of the girls in his fan club while singing Albert’s newest song, “One Last Kiss,” on a popular TV show before going into the army. From this story come a variety of vivacious characters that all come together as their personal lives tie into one an-

Melody Moteabbed / Staff Writer

Shirley McMurrian, Laura Portillo, and Isabella Kaser have got a lot of livin’ to do as they dance their way through “Sincere.” other’s.

Even if the storyline may not seem very interesting initially, the show was definitely worth a watch. The talented cast and musicians brightened up the

storyline with humor and, at some points, an overwhelming sense of sympathy toward various characters.

Director and CVHS drama teacher David Judson ex-

plained why he chose Bye Bye Birdie as this year’s musical: “A show like this has a lot of different things, like dancing, acting, singing, but not too much of either–they’re equal. Because

each student has a variety of talents, this year ’s musical showcased the talent of the entire cast at all three of these things. There are strong people in both these categories.”

“Each scene had a lot of focusing involved,” said senior Erin Sullivan, one of the double casts for Rosie Alvarez. “But the payoff of the satisfied feeling at the end of each show is worth it.”

When asked how successful he believed the show would be, Judson responded with positive comments: “Lots of shows are either too easy or too hard, but this one fit our cast just right. This year, the cast is smaller than most, but because of that, they’re extraordinarily close. They all really know how to work together.”

Junior Jessica Kruschke agreed: “Last year for High School Musical, we had a bigger cast and I only knew a few people. I know a lot of people this year. It’s more comforting.”

Bye Bye Birdie ran for two weekends at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts, from Dec. 3 to Dec. 11.

Castro Valley Quiz Kids to appear on television Seniors compete on televised academic competition

By Anna Balassone Editor-in-Chief

The Castro Valley Quiz Kids team competed in a televised academic competition on Sunday, Nov. 13. The program will air on Saturday, Jan. 14 on the local television station KRON. Quiz Kids is a game in which two teams, each consisting of three players, compete for points by answering trivia questions from a variety of subject areas.

The three main categories from which questions are chosen are liberal arts, natural sciences, and recent news. With these categories, question topics can vary from ancient history to astronomy to pop culture. Each round has a different scoring system, and the team with the most points at the end of the last round wins the game.

Castro Valley has been competing in the Quiz Kids competition for the past few months with the help of advisor Dr. Deborah Yager. Although Yager is considered the advisor for the team members, she admits that she

Anna Balassone / Editor-in-Chief

Seamus Guerin, Bright Zhou, and Travis Mattas pose intelligently for the camera at Peninsula TV Station in San Carlos on the day of the competition. was not the driving force behind the decision to create the group.

“It wasn’t me deciding; it was the students who decided.

My main job with them is getting them to and from competitions,” explained Yager. “This is student-driven. This is in them to do. They really want this and they thrive on competition.”

In actuality, it was senior

Bright Zhou, one of Yager’s former honors chemistry students and a current member of Yager’s Science Bowl Club, who took charge. He researched the competition and assembled the team, explaining, “I had done Science Bowl before and, really, it's an extension of that. Who doesn't want to recreate the heroics of Ken Jennings or Watson?”

The two other members of the team are Travis Mattas and Holden Parks, both of whom achieved the recognition of being top scorers in a Quiz Kids tournament held on Nov. 5. In most matches, Mattas, Parks, and Zhou have competed as the three team members, with senior Calvin Cheng as the alternate. As Parks and Cheng were unavail-

able the day of the match, however, senior Seamus Guerin was recruited to take the third spot on the day of the televised match.

Mattas, Guerin, and Zhou met with Yager at Peninsula TV Station in San Carlos on the day of the competition. The three were eager to represent CVHS against the Crystal Springs Gryphons, yet somewhat jittery about appearing on television.

“I was nervous about how my hair was looking!” Guerin said.

“I was confident about the competition, though.”

The competition began with both teams entering the filming studio to complete sound tests with microphones. The audience in the studio was instructed on when to applaud, when to be silent, and how to behave during commercial breaks.

With a “5-4-3-2-1" from the cameraman, the competition was quickly underway. Questions and answers were fired back and forth between the host and the competitors until the last buzzer resounded through the studio with finality.

Zhou was very proud of his team’s performance, explaining, “There's a certain thrill that comes from competing against some of the Bay Area's nerdiest kids and occasionally being able to come out on top.”

In the end, the Trojans put up a valiant effort against the Gryphons. Tune in to KRON on Jan. 14 to view the match and the results!

Olympian

The December 15, 2011

5

Robotics competition provides education and fun

By Christina Yee Staff Writer

“Three, two, one, Lego!”

The announcer ’s voice was followed immediately by the sounds of whizzing noises of programmed Lego-crafted contraptions, the roars of the crowd as people rooted for their favorites, and breathless competitors as they watched anxiously.

As an onlooker, you might have thought you stumbled upon Nerd-a-palooza, but this wasn’t just a scene of robots racing through obstacles to win coveted awards. It was a gathering of young minds ignited by a passion for engineering, and an experience that shows the significance of cooperation and responsibility.

This event was the second annual For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Lego League (FLL) Robotics Competition held in the CVHS cafeteria on Nov. 19. The competition was directed toward kids in grades four through eight. This year’s competition was conducted by Bill Nott, Castro Valley Rotary Club President and Silicon Valley Regional Planning Committee Chair for FIRST, with the aid of many volunteers including Interact and the FIRST Robotics Space Cookie Team. The purpose of this program was to enhance knowledge about science, math, technology, and

engineering while learning about team-building.

When asked what made him want to be a part of FLL, Nott responded: “I enjoy seeing the kids excited with engineering.

I was an engineer myself so I like watching their fascination.

I also wanted to help introduce kids into engineering so it can be a possibility as a career in the future.”

The tournament consisted of two parts. The first involved the competitors placing their robots in front of a panel of judges to compete for awards. The second was a field competition where the competitors’ robots went through a series of obstacles like toppling towers or retrieving fish and balls. The difficult thing about the competition was that it was a parents-free event where only the kids were able to build the machines and compete, without any adult interference.

“We’re competing in this event to learn about teamwork. We get a once in a lifetime experience out of it and that drives us,” commented a member of SAP4Robots, one of the competing teams.

Senior Lindsey Matheney, a member of the FIRST Robotics Space Cookie Team, which consists of girls from around the bay, knew the feeling the competitors felt.

“It’s fascinating that I can build such a robot. I didn’t believe I could do this on my own, being a girl, but it proves that girls can

Christina Yee / Staff Writer

The Robotics Competition was at full pace from start to finish. do anything,” said Matheney.

Her team competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition, an event for high-schoolers.

After a seven-hour-long struggle to capture first place, only six teams were deemed successful.

The SAP Cheesebots, Techno

Wheeler knows what’s up

By Camilo Riveros Staff Writer

Could you ever picture yourself writing a poem, pouring your soul out onto that piece of paper, and no more than 15 minutes later, having to perform it in front a full auditorium? Now, picture yourself doing the same thing, but add the pressures of competing for a national slam poetry competition! Not a lot of people can describe that kind of experience, but if you were to ask CVHS teacher Joshua Wheeler how it felt to be a national champion, there’s probably a few things he could tell you.

Wheeler has been writing poetry ever since he could remember, but only since 1998 did has he decided to focus on spoken word, enjoying the creative freedom that the genre allows him to experience. He began to enter competitions in 2002 and quickly became the “Grand Slam Champ” for Oakland. It didn’t take him much longer to receive the honor of winning the National Slam Poetry competition in 2004. Participating in competitions has allowed Wheeler to perform in front of large audiences in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

When asked why he started in poetry, his answer was simple: “I really liked writing and I thought that writing poems was a fun thing to do.”

Only a few people actually know of the critical acclaim that he and his group, Proletariat Bronze, receive throughout the West Coast.

Although he has a full-time job as a high school teacher and volunteers his time to take the prestigious role of the Trojans boys wrestling coach, Wheeler still manages to find time to travel across the country and support efforts by organizations that are attempting to develop his style of art.

In the summer of 2011, Wheeler was personally invited and flown out by HBO to New York to help judge the East Coast semi-finals for HBO’s Brave New Voices slam poetry competition, one of the country’s top contests between the nations top spoken word artists.

Just like anyone who has attempted to excel in anything, obstacles came to challenge Wheeler when he first started competing.

“My second year doing competitive poetry, I failed to make the cut for the Oakland Slam team,” said Wheeler. “I started to feel silly for wanting to partake in that genre.”

Perseverance runs through Wheeler’s veins. It only took him a couple of years to not only make the slam team, but also take the title as champion for the whole city of Oakland.

“Your smile is like a flower, blooming in the rubble of these broken mornings.

And like them, I’ll take my last breath when the day comes. But until then, I’ll cherish every moment ‘cuz it is what it is. And so it goes,” says one of Wheeler’s more powerful and impactful lines.

To those who are aware of the talent that walks beside them in the hallways during the day, this is not a new story.

Wiz’z, Legofreaks101, and All Stars received the awards determined by the judges (the Robot Design Award, Project Award, Core Values Award, and Judges Award respectively). The Robot Performance Award was given to the Blockheads for their triumph

in the field competition. The most coveted award, though, was the Championship Award, which was achieved by the Fremont Chunky Monkeys, who surpassed the competition by being the best in front of all the judges as well as placing second in the field competition.

Breaking Dawn breaks expectations Taylor Swift is

By Dana Lin

City Editor Anyone who is a fan of the Twilight movies will be a fan of Breaking Dawn Part 1.

To anyone who fangirls over the half-naked body of Jacob, played

by Taylor Lautner, you’re in for a ride because the movie starts out with him taking his shirt off! And to anyone who drools over the bare torso of Edward, played by Robert Pattinson, please bring a bucket to the theater because there is plenty of that too.

If you’re a guy and are dragged by your girlfriend to see this movie, do not fret because Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, also looks quite hot as she tries to seduce Edward in several scenes (I pity you if that girlfriend of yours covers your eyes when that happens).

The storyline of this movie basically follows the first half of the book. Jacob runs away from his home, furious, after he receives an invitation to Bella’s wedding.

Bella gets married to Edward in the middle of a forest (this was actually the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever seen, and I think many

people are going to start getting married in Canada’s forests where this movie was filmed), where Jacob decides to visit and give his blessings, and off they go on their honeymoon. At the mysterious location Edward decides to take Bella, the newly wedded couple gets busy in bed!

This is the part where you see Edward half-naked when he breaks the backboard of the bed as he tries to refrain himself from completely crushing Bella. Very nice, Edward, I must say, you controlled yourself quite well, as all you did was bruise her in several areas of her body.

Moving on, though, a couple of weeks later we find out Bella

made punk

is pregnant.

The makeup and special effects combined make it seem very realistic when Bella starts to die due to her pregnancy with a fetus that is part human and part vampire.

Somehow the filming crew was able to make her skin look like it was clinging to her bones when the baby is in her stomach.

That’s not the only part with great effects, though. There’s a scene where Bella and Edward frolic in the ocean, and the water just glimmers so beautifully.

It’s kind of weird when we go inside Bella’s body and see her veins, though. I felt like I was watching a biology video describing how blood circulates (I don’t mind, though).

Overall, the movie was a huge improvement from the first one— there weren’t random scenes inserted into the movie that weren’t in the book. The acting is still somewhat weak compared to most movies, but the special effects made it worth it.

I have one warning, though.

Although though this movie is rated PG-13, I do not suggest you take your 11-year-old daughters or sisters to see it. It’s rather graphic; a lot of skin is shown and toward the end of this movie, it almost turns into a horror film.

Punk Goes Pop Volume 4 is an amazing crossover album. The album takes extremely trendy pop songs and makes them punk.

Popular punk bands such as The Ready Set, Go Radio, and more sing the songs. For those of you like me who aren’t the biggest fans of pop, this album makes the songs exceptionally good for listening.

The various artists can even make songs by Rihanna, Ke$ha and Taylor Swift not just tolerable, but good.

The album not only manges to transform pop songs, but hip-hop songs as well, like “Roll Up,” by Wiz Khalifa. The artists put their own spin on songs, making them gender appropriate or plural. The song “Super Bass” turns from being sung by Nicki Minaj to The Downtown Fiction. The lyrics change from her original female voice to plural male vocals. While Minaj sings the song to the guys, Downtown Fiction makes it for

By Lillian Xie

City” brings back memories of growing up in one’s native city.

Some may find “This City” too syrupy for their tastes, while others will enjoy reminiscing about childhood.

By Reyna Garcia Sports Editor

the ladies.

Some of the songs seem more than punk; they are even death core or “screamo.” The song “You Belong With Me,” by Taylor Swift, begins with screaming.

“You’re on the phone with your boyfriend, he’s upset,” sounds so much better in punk vocals than it does in Swift’s anti-feminist whine. Chunk No, Captain Chunk! successfully makes a Ke$ha song not unbearable. While the lyrics are still undoubtedly pointless, the song is now a good listen even while lacking depth. “Love the Way You Lie,” originally by Eminem and Rihanna, is a completely different song when sung

by A Skylit Drive. The band does a great job making the song less of a martyr song and more of a painful ode to love.

Unfortunately, the album can’t successfully save every song. “Just the Way You Are” and “Yeah 3x” are pop songs that are beyond saving. While the less techno beats used on the songs are refreshing, the two songs still, for lack of a better word, suck. The bands, however, do an excellent job with the rest of the songs and the album is well worth buying.

Immortals: the ones Patrick Stump debuts Soul Punk that live for ever “ With sleek

By Ryan Gray Staff Writer

Long ago, before man was even a thought in the mind of Zeus, a massive war raged in the heavens between all the Immortal beings. The victors of the war, the Gods themselves, cast down the defeated and imprisoned them in the mountain of Tartarus.

Now Hyperion, King of Crete, wishes to free them and see the Gods destroyed once and for all.

The movie Immortals was released in November, and anyone who was a fan of 300 is recommended to see it. The same slow-motion epic fighting scenes will thrill anyone seeking a good action movie.

The movie is built around a good story plot of revenge. Who

doesn’t love seeing a movie about vengeance? Our hero, Theseus, is after King Hyperion for an unspeakable act he committed while destroying Theseus’ village. The end can be a bit confusing as it somewhat jumps all over the place. However, it is filled with fighting so the confusing plot can be overlooked.

Some of the story doesn’t coincide with actual Greek mythology, however. Even though the movie is fiction, a certain level of accuracy should always be maintained. For example, numerous gods perish in the movie after a seemingly unnecessary fight scene. Another complaint that anyone who is a fan of prolonged action scenes will have is that the actual action is very short compared to 300.

Immortals fulfills its job as a thrilling action movie, but can use some tweaking compared to its role model 300.

Staff Writer

Patrick Stump, the former Fall Out Boy lead singer, made his debut as a solo artist with Soul Punk in October. Soul Punk is completely Stump’s own creation: he wrote, sang, produced and played every instrument heard on the album.

Stump has little trouble transitioning into singing a different genre with Michael Jacksonesque vocals. With sleek clubpop synths and an unabashed usage of beats, Stump is fearless with his experimentation.

Stump’s album kicks off with the first track, “Explode.” This song has the same effect as downing a cup of coffee; energy radiates throughout the track and has jittery feel to it. The ending surprised me with its abrupt stop. All of the built up energy wasn’t given time to dissipate.

Suddenly ending the song without a conclusion certainly wasn’t the most mainstream thing to do. But Stump didn’t aim for his music to be mainstream. In fact, in an interview, Stump admitted that he was pleasantly surprised with Soul Punk’s success.

The most mainstream song on Soul Punk is probably “This City.” In this track, Stump sings about his hometown, Chicago.

With very relatable lyrics, “This

“Allie” is my most played song on the album. With its catchy melody and lyrics, Stump tells a story about his high school innocence. His naivety is successfully conveyed through “Allie” in a very endearing way. Though he changed genres, he doesn’t fail in satiating Fall Out Boy fans with a good guitar solo a little past the halfway mark.

club-pop synths and an unabashed usage of beats, Stump is fearless with his experimentation.

”

Stump has made an amazing transformation with Soul Punk.

As a compilation of catchy hooks, Stump’s debut album will definitely leave listeners excited to hear more.

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Trojans ride winning streak to postseason showdown

By Alex Gao Staff Writer

The CVHS football team faced the San Ramon Valley Wolves in the NCS playoffs Nov. 18. Though the Trojans were defeated after a long battle with the Wolves,42-14, they still had an amazing streak of six consecutive wins before

this loss.

Starting a little before the Homecoming game a while back, the Trojan football team began a series of wins that continued up until the most recent game against San Ramon Valley. In the beginning of their season, the boys had a four-game losing streak that began to turn around with a

win against San Lorenzo.

After that, they powered through their next games, winning by large margins with a mix of outstanding plays.

When questioned about the team’s large successes in the past six games, team captain David Valladares said, “Our coaches went over films on the other teams, and we went over

Runners Anthony, Mackey shine

Trojans face defeat in final league meet

Staff Writer

The boys basketball team is looking forward to having another magnificent season. Last year the varsity team won HAAL and the NCS championships. The freshman team was also victorious at HAAL, and JV got second place at HAAL. “It was great; the season was really great,” said Nick Jones, the basketball coach at CVHS.

Staff Writer

Matt Barney/ Business Manager

Carter Mackey runs ahead of the pack in a boys varsity race. competition with a score of 32, with CVHS coming in second with 66. Matt Eva came in fourth with a time of 16:02, and Carter Mackey placed eighth with a time of 16:19.

Although the cross country team was disappointed with the outcome of the season, freshman Mackey was a welcome addition on a team that lost valuable seniors.

“Mackey is really good; he

is our number three guy,” said Anthony.

“We lost a lot of good runners last year,” said Anthony.

“That’s one of the reasons [both teams] had trouble this year.”

Next year, Anthony vows that she, Mackey, and the rest of the boys and girls cross country teams will be able to slay the Dragons and continue to the state championships.

San Ramon Valley. Though the varsity boys fought hard, their opponents were tough and included one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

For the seniors on the team, this last game against San Ramon Valley was especially emotional, as it was the last game of their high school careers.

High hoops hopes

By Natalie Fazeli

By Matt Talajkowski

Both the CVHS boys and girls varsity cross country teams were defeated this year at the HAAL championships.

The Bishop O’Dowd boys and girls teams won both races and qualified for the state championships. One runner from CVHS, Nicole Anthony, qualified for the state meet.

“We were surprised,” said Anthony, “but we are building our way up, so we will beat O’Dowd next year.”

O’Dowd won the girls competition with a score of 25.

Arroyo High School came in second with 41, and CVHS came in third with 59. Anthony placed second in the race with a time of 19:10, and Alex Embody came in tenth.

O’Dowd also won the boys

every move.”

“After we won the Homecoming game we were all pumped and we knew what we had to do,” said Valladares.

From there, the team worked off of its win streak and powered through to the NCS playoffs.

Unfortunately, the Trojans’ win streak was cut short by

Most of the freshman players last year have moved onto junior varsity, hoping for another great win, while the varsity team of last year was composed of nine seniors, losing many amazing athletes this year.

“We practice every day,” exclaimed Darren Collier, a player on the junior varsity team. The boys have been running some new plays and training hard for the season.

“The guys put in a lot of work during the fall,” said Jones.

Wrestlers gearing up

By Natalie Fazeli Staff Writer

The girls wrestling team also did well last season. They made it all the way to nationals, with a few bumps and bruises on the way.

Last year, nine of the girls were injured and couldn’t compete at nationals. The team, however, persevered, and felt victorious though they didn’t win.

“After last season I am definitely nervous to see how I will do

in the matches to come, but I’m trying to keep a positive attitude and do my best,” said Rebecca Busch, a sophomore on the team.

The team took a hard hit, but is hoping that this year they will make it out with no crutches, and hopefully a championship title.

“You have to play the cards you’re dealt,” Busch’s coach always says to the team.

The team is gearing up for the season. The athletes’ immense training them to become “like a family,” said Busch.

A m a z i n g l y Acti ve Ado le s c e nts Suzanna Chak / Staff Writer

Joshua Valli, freshman

“Boing, boing boing, swish!” Sound echoes through the gym as the bright orange ball bounces on the smooth, polished ground of the basketball court and travels swiftly through the net. Score!

Joshua Valli is a freshman who plays for the CVHS freshman boys basketball team.

Valli has been playing basketball ever since he was eight years old. His position is power forward.

“It’s fun to be on the court playing. I like to compete,” Valli said.

Some of his favorite memories are the times in middle school when he played on the basketball team.

Besides playing for the school team, Valli also plays on a church league team.

His future goals include attending college and continuing playing basketball.

Quinn Forrester-Wamsley, sophomore

Quinn Forrester-Wamsley is a sophomore who plays for the CVHS girls varsity soccer team. She has been playing soccer for nine years. She began by playing recreationally for four years and now has been playing competitively for five years. She used to play forward, but now she plays defense.

In addition to playing for CVHS, Forrester-Wamsley also plays on the Castro Valley Fury U15 D1 team.

“I like to play because it’s a good way to workout. I like the people I play with, and it’s fun,” Forrester-Wamsley said.

Her inspiration for playing soccer comes from Mia Hamm, a retired professional soccer player.

Forrester-Wamsley hopes to play in college.

Nick Lima, junior

Nick Lima is a junior who plays for the CVHS varsity football team. He plays cornerback, running back, and kicker. He has been playing football for three years and enjoys both playing on a team and in his free time. Lima also plays for the CVHS boys varsity soccer team. He has been playing soccer for 13 years. He plays forward. In addition to playing for the school team, he also plays on an academy team called De Anza.

Lima received a soccer scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.

He will begin there in the fall of 2013.

“My inspiration is Brent Grimes, who went from nothing to making a name of himself,” Lima says.

His future goals include following his dreams and playing college football.

Pam Crosby, senior

She steps into the yellow circle on the forest green mat, ready to face her opponent.

Pam Crosby is a senior on the varsity girls wrestling t aam. She has been wrestling for five years.

“I love to wrestle because it’s something I can control. The feeling of winning is a feeling that can’t be beat because you worked two and a half hours everyday for a match that you give everything you got,” Crosby says.

Some of Crosby’s accomplishments include being placed sixth in state, winning league twice, and taking third and fourth at NCS. Although Crosby may or may not wrestle in college, the lessons she has learned about life will stay with her forever.

Olympian

The December 15, 2011

Snuff ’em out, students advised “People who smoke die”

By Anya Keller Staff Writer

Leadership students set up an event in the courtyard on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in order to celebrate the Great American Smokeout Day. For the cause, Leadership students hung a cigarette-shaped banner in the quad that read “I pledge to be drug free.” Students came up and signed the banner, promising to steer clear of harmful substances.

The students also set up a game to promote non-smoking.

Teams of three competed by dipping sponges into a bucket of water and racing to squeeze them into a separate bucket.

The task was finished when the water reached a line signifying that there were two liters of water in the container.

This game was meant to serve as an alarming visual for the amount of tar that cigarettes can put into a smoker’s body.

The students chose to use a two-liter mark because smoking

PENSION: from Page 1

well as individual teachers.

CVUSD Superintendent Jim Negri acknowledged that “the pension system needs to be reformed because it is broken.” However, he believes that Brown’s proposal is flawed and will be a disincentive for welleducated people to become teachers.

History teacher and Castro Valley Teachers’ Association President John Green also feels that the Governor ’s reforms would discourage young graduates to become teachers.

“Who wants to become a teacher when you have to work until you are 67 and for low pay?

And since the retirement age would be changed, that would be 12 years of job opportunities to become teachers not opening,” said Green.

Over the past few years, billions of dollars have been cut from public schools, and limiting teacher pensions would be another blow to education.

“Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions,” stated Green. “Public education should give students equal opportunity. Now people have to pay for private tutors, which puts students from low income families at a disadvantage.”

Junior student Laura Miller also worries about the effect

ten packs of cigarettes can cause a person’s lungs to be filled with two liters of tar.

Counselors Karena Doan and Natalie Mathrole originally had the idea to hold the event at CVHS. They noted the fact that other schools do something for this day, and felt that it would be a good opportunity to encourage students to make healthy choices surrounding substance use.

Senior Jane Hong is head of the Tobacco Use Prevention Education Committee in Leadership.

She saw value in the event, and hoped it would make a difference in the way CVHS students approached smoking.

When asked what she hoped the effect of the Great American Smokeout Day would be, she commented, “I think [the effect is] encouraging teenagers who don’t smoke to keep up that lifestyle, and the few students on campus who do smoke I hope will gain a new perspective of what it does to their bodies and health in general.”

Though the event dealt with a serious subject, students still found room for fun. Junior Joshua Hicken jokingly warned, “A hundred percent of people who smoke die.”

Brown’s pension plan would have on education.

“There have already been so many heavy cuts to the public school system, and teachers should not have to suffer further,” said Miller.

On Dec. 1 a legislative committee reviewed Brown's plan.

The governor is hoping that lawmakers will place a measure on the November 2012 ballot that would provide new rules for the more than 3,000 public pension plans in California. In order to accomplish that, a two-thirds vote of the Legislature is necessary. Several California teachers’ unions are working to ensure that our state keeps the retirement system it has currently.

The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) “view[s] the Governor’s proposal as a bold starting point for legislative deliberations—a proposal that would implement substantial changes to retirement benefits, particularly for future public workers.”

The LAO feels that some kind change is necessary because “the current structure of these benefits—wherein state and local governments provide compensation in forms that are very different from that offered in the private sector—impairs the public’s ability to assess whether government is carefully managing its funds and can affect the public’s trust in government itself.”

8

Camilo Riveros / Staff Writer

Cornel West, a Princeton professor, rallies with the crowd about funding problems in the California State University system.

CSU faculty, students protests cuts

By Camilo Riveros Staff Writer

Faculty from all Northern California CSU Campuses converged at CSU East Bay on Nov. 17 to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the executives that run and manage the CSU systems all over the state, primarily Chancellor Charles Reed.

Over the last 12 years, Reed has done more and more to undermine students’ needs and education in an effort to award CSU executives with un-earned salary increases and bonuses, protestors said. Even with his outlandish decisions, it was not until Reed began to refuse payment of previously negotiated salary increases for faculty members in the 2008-2009 and 20092010 school years that students and staff felt enough was enough and that they personally had to do something to make a change.

“This is exactly what needs to happen, students and faculty standing together saying cuts cannot happen,” said State Senator Loni Hancock, who was present at the strike.

Students have faced economic repercussions that have made it more difficult to afford the public

and high-level education known to be provided by the CSU system. Over the last ten years tuition prices have increased by almost $5,000, from a mere $1,500 in 2001-2002 to $5,970 for the upcoming school year.

These tuition spikes came after Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget

“ This event

was extremely organized and the message was very cohesive.

Ellen Corbett State Senate Majority Leader

”

for 2011-2012 cut nearly $650 million from higher education.

The California State University Board of Trustees has announced a nine percent tuition increase that will be put into effect unless a requested $333 million in state aid is established. This aid cannot be issued unless two-thirds of the Legislature approves the legislation.

“Regular people can help this situation by simply participating in the upcoming elections. By electing in at least twothirds Democrats, the chance at a possible act to provide more funding for the CSU system becomes more of a reality and less of a dream,” said Hancock.

It can be sure that Reed heard the message of the demonstrations loud and clear, but simply showing signs of frustrations isn’t going to make anything different.

“This event was extremely organized and the message was very cohesive. It’s time that people are willing to speak up and make a change for their future,” said State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, who was also present to view the demonstrations.

According to Corbett, “only four people are standing in the way of any change. Two senators and two assemblymen have made it impossible to reach the definitive two-thirds agreement and there’s nothing we can do to change their minds.”

It’s obvious that there is a long way to go, but students and staff began the journey properly, letting it be known that they are fed up with how things are run at the head of the CSU system.