Dec 17, 2004

Page 1

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2004

Volume 48, Issue 4

Campus patroller fired after socializing with girls

Thieves burgle from portables By Analisa Harangozo Business Manager

By Krissy Bussell Staff Writer

CVHS fired campus patroller Daniel Correia on Nov. 24 for walking a female student to his house, Correia said. Correia, 23, started working at CVHS as a campus patroller on Nov. 3. “A girl had gotten out of class because she was frustrated and wanted to share/vent her social issues and I was the uninvolved third party,” said Correia. “I had forgotten the multi-way radio at my house, minutes away,” he said. “I, not concerned about doing anything wrong, invited her to go with me. She told me she wrote it in her journal and her mom read it. Her mother wrote a somewhat nasty letter to (Principal Debbie) Coco and that was it.” CVHS administrators do not comment on personnel issues, and The Olympian was not able to reach the girl who walked with Correia. Ariana Neves, a freshman, met Correia before he started working at CVHS. “I was walking back from this kid's house and he walked me home,” said Neves. “When he starting working here he asked if I was Ariana and he asked me to go ice skating. Then when I broke up with my boyfriend he asked me out. I was creeped out. “He took people over to his house to smoke and he’s offered me cigarettes numerous amounts of time. He also told us how to break into the movies and how to choke your girlfriend,” Neves said. “He was pretty cool besides the fact that he asked me out.” Student Ashlee Hoos also spoke about Correia’s contact with students. “Daniel said my jeans were kind of tight but they looked nice and he said I have nice hair. He also told me what type of soap to buy to wash my body with,” stated Hoos. “I thought he was cool, he was nice and everything. The only thing that freaked me out was when he talked about my clothes.” Correia doesn’t think he did anything wrong. “I think it’s wrong for young adults to pressure kids in any way but positive. Quite frankly the world needs to relax a little,” said Correia. “So many decent people are getting scowls and cold stares for being strange, not evil. I don’t

PATROLLER: Page 8

Castro Valley, CA 94546

Alexia Laines / Staff Writer

Sophomores Richard Holland and Natasha Signorelli dance and enjoy the formal festivities of Winter Ball.

Underground paper Masada returns By Amanda Gelender Staff Writer

Critiques on Christmas in the media, Homecoming week and The Olympian are just some of the articles published in the Nov. 18 issue of Masada, the underground newspaper formerly operated by Jake Gelender and currently run by freshman Erik Hughes. “[Masada] serves as an alternative newspaper, a place where people can voice their opinions without the bias taken out,” said Hughes. “If it’s just one stream of information, you can’t really get a second opinion or have any different thoughts. Like the media; if there’s only one opinion, and no one else says anything about it, then you’re kind of stuck with having to believe it.” Hughes wrote the entire November issue that also included a brief history on Masada and “Strange but True” facts. Gelender, the paper’s founder, graduated from CVHS in 2003 and attends the University of California, Berkeley. “Masada made high school at least 100 times more fun and it made me at least 1 million times more popular,” said Gelender, who edited Masada his sophomore, junior and senior years at CVHS. “I’m sure Masada will stir up some controversy just because of the free speech, but there’s a whole new administration that I never had

to deal with,” said Gelender.  Hughes is not very concerned about the administration’s involvement with Masada. “I expect there will be some [negative feedback], but Debbie Coco, the principal, supported me with it so I don’t think she’ll be really bummed about it,” said Hughes. “But the administration can’t really do anything as long as I don’t do anything illegal when I print it, so they can’t really touch me on it.” Senior Lizzy Dostal read Gelender’s Masada and Hughes’ Masada and was available for comment on the underground paper. “I really think Masada is off to a great start this year and I’m psyched that Erik started it up again. He obviously has a lot to say and it’s great that he has a way of getting it all out there,” said Dostal. “I just can’t really see him totally following in Jake’s footsteps though I don’t think anyone can replace Jake. I really think that Erik should just continue doing his own thing and not really concentrate on trying to make Masada as it was when Jake ran it,” said Dostal. “I really like that it differs from The Olympian. It gives the population at CVHS something new and unedited.” Hughes intends to publish

MASADA: Page 8

Burglars stole five computers, a stereo system, a DVD player and other items collectively valued at more than $20,000 in four breakins during the last six weeks. The chain of thefts started with the burglary of a laptop in Barbara Klews’ room on Halloween weekend. Clare LePell’s room was the next to follow. The police believe the thieves entered though the windows, which they unscrewed. “The fact that so many things were disturbed, so many cabinets opened, filing cabinets looked though inferred they were here for awhile,” said LePell, who assumed that there was more than one thief. The burglary in Lepell’s room occurred on the weekend of Nov. 20 and 21. The thieves stole her laptop, printer and personal calculator. The thieves seemed to be looking specifically for a key that led to the Interact club’s cashbox kept in the back storage room of LePell’s classroom. The burglars extracted the door from its hinges and attempted to break open the locked filing cabinet. Luckily, LePell had the key in her possession. The police collected potential evidence such as a used glove and footprints left by the thieves, LePell said.

“I don’t like the sense of not being able to trust my students,” LePell said, assuming that the thieves are students who overheard the location of the money. CVHS uses an alarm system called Sonitrol which sensors room entry and sound. The thieves quietly entered each room through the windows, which did not activate the alarm, school officials believe. Sometimes teachers forget to turn the alarms back on after they’re done using their classrooms, which are then open to all intruders, according to Assistant Principal Mark Autrey. Autrey sent out a letter to all staff members as a reminder to rearm the alarms after leaving their rooms on weekends. “The more people are proactive about it, the less it will occur,” Autrey said. The next weekend, two more burglaries occurred in Diane Baldwin’s and Norma Severson’s classrooms. “At first, it wasn’t a surprise to me because everyone has the key to get into that room,” Baldwin said. After walking into her room Monday, Nov. 29, Baldwin noticed the absence of her computers and DVD player. Immediately, she rushed to Autrey to report the burglary. “When I walked in, I was absolutely shocked that this has happened to me. I felt so violated,” Baldwin said.

THEFT: Page 8

Teachers demand 4.5 percent raise By Trini McGeogh Staff Writer

Hundreds of members from the Castro Valley Teachers Association (CVTA) are demanding a 4.5 percent raise. The district offered a 2.41 percent raise and a one-time bonus of 2.09 percent. Without a raise, beginning teachers start at about $36,000 per year. A teacher with 27 years of experience with higher credentials can make up to $72,000 a year. Many teachers feel that their current salary is not enough. At a school board meeting held Nov.17, the members of the CVTA spoke up. “We tried to give the board an idea of who we are as people, what our lives are like, and where we were with our finances,” said English teacher Eric Unti. Because of the recent California

budget crisis, the district believes that it cannot promise the full increase in payment because it does not have the ongoing money to fund the full 4.5 percent increase that the teachers requested. “Nothing has been given yet,” said Jo Loss, president of the school board. “We don’t feel that it’s responsible to say that we can give the full increase, because that’s not ongoing. There are 16 school districts in Alameda County. Seven of them are in trouble, and we don’t want to join them.” If the district did give the full increase in the future, it might have to cut some school programs, Loss said. There are still negotiations going on between the CVTA and the school board. “I can see both sides of the issue,” said senior Beatriz Castillo, ASB school board representative.


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Dec 17, 2004 by The Castro Valley High School Olympian - Issuu