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Teens find alternative sources to get high By Amber Kury Staff Writer
Flora Tsang & Chris (Hongzhe) Qian
Because teenagers have been abusing over-the-counter medicines, many drug stores have now prohibited their sales to people under 18 years of age.
Teenagers around the nation have found a new way to get high, called “robotripping,” by taking cough and cold medicines in large doses. These medicines contain an ingredient called dextromethorphan (DXM) that one in every ten teenagers abuses, according to CVHS Nurse Sandee Velasquez. “Because cough medicines are sold over the counter and found in most homes, it is perceived as a safe way of getting high,” said Velasquez. “DXM, which is found in well over 100 cold medicines, is chemically similar to morphine; it is easily misused and can be very dangerous and
addictive.” According to A Partnership For a Drug Free America, medicines with DXM as the main ingredient can cause users to feel as though they are in a dream or a euphoric state. When taken in high dosages, it can cause blurred vision, severe liver damage, seizures, increase of heart rate, a lack of coordination, and comas. “I took one Dayquil and one Nyquil. I was feeling okay, but my friends were in a whole different state of mind. They were looking at their hands in astonishment, wondering what they were used for,” said junior Morgan Medina.
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Are class sizes a grove of oak trees in front of the campus’s Memorial Stadium. Copy Editor Though he did join tree sitters As a CVHS student, Jake for about six hours in the first week Gelender never passively sub- of demonstrations in early Decemmitted to the whims of authority, ber, his priorities as a student evenoften questioning administrative tually took over, as it was finals decisions in the form of his un- week when the protests began. derground newspaper, Masada, “I did miss class, but I had to or teaming up with lawyers come down and take my finals to create a “Student Bill Of and everything,” Gelender said. Rights.” “I think I did all right… since Now a junior anthropology then I’ve mostly been doing major at UC Berkeley, Gelender ground support and documenting has become involved in the police activity.” community’s movement to save The city of Berkeley approved t h e u n i v e r s i t y ’s plans to cut down 38 oak trees to make way for a $125 million athletic training center, including 900 parking spaces. Demonstrators remain beneath and even in the trees at all times. Gelender became involved when Zachary Running Wolf, one of the initial tree sitters, asked for the protection of Copwatch, a local organization that documents police activity, particularly regarding homeless people. Gelender is an observer for Dawn Berden / Copy Editor Copwatch, and carJake Gelender joins tree sitters to protect ries a camcorder 38 oak trees in Berkeley. to videotape police when they patrol
By Dawn Berden
the area. Though not always involved in on-campus conflicts, Gelender remains vigilant in his Copwatch duties. He currently faces charges such as refusal to disperse and resisting arrest in both San Francisco and San Mateo counties for Copwatch-related incidents. “Sometimes it even involves going up to people in the middle of a [police] stop to inform them of their rights,” he said. Gelender maintains an interest in CVHS politics. He says that many issues on campus, such as racial tension and the practice of drug searches, existed when he was a student. Despite his propensity for sly rebellion, several CVHS staff members remember Gelender fondly. One of such staff members is history teacher Jeffrey Goldstein, who has used an article from Gelender’s underground newspaper Masada as supplemental material in his World Civilizations classes. “He’s great. He’s a unique, unique guy in that he’s interested in learning – and he doesn’t just learn. He thinks,” said Goldstein. Gelender has distaste for the word “activist,” but there are few other words that could describe him as accurately. “If I believe something, I always want to follow up my beliefs with some kind of action,” he said. “So I guess you could call me an activist. I just don’t like the word.”
By Kevin Hanley Staff Writer
The teachers of the Castro Valley Unified School District are renegotiating their contracts, and large class sizes are a major issue in the negotiations. According to data CVHS teacher Richard Schneck has collected, “We’ve got some of the largest class sizes in the entire county.” According to Schneck’s data, CVHS has an average of 32.2 students per classroom, which is significantly higher than other schools in the county, such as Pleasanton, which averages 29, San Leandro, which averages 27, Hayward, which averages 26, and Dublin, which averages 18. “I checked 12 different schools in the county, and I couldn’t find one that had higher class sizes than we did,” said Schneck. This large student per classroom ratio presents many problems for the teachers of CVHS. “I have desks for 36 students, but only enough lab tables for 28, making labs not only difficult, but hazardous,” said science teacher Jully Yi, who has between 31 and 35 students in all of her science classes. Students also seemed to feel their learning environment is overcrowded. “I think class sizes are too big in some classes, and okay in oth-
ers. But for the most part they are too big,” said junior Alex Iwanicki. Class sizes were discussed at a December school board meeting at the Castro Valley Unified School District office, which at least 50 teachers attended. Barbara Siegel, a ceramics teacher and president of the Castro Valley Teachers Association, spoke directly to school board officials. According to Siegel, many classrooms at CVHS are “grossly overcrowded,” and she urged the school board to help make classrooms manageable. “Please, will you help make it possible for us to what we really want to do, and are capable of doing for the students,” she said. Superintendent Fitzpatrick had this to say about the issue: “As a district, we really value the importance of quality instruction and want to provide teachers with a quality working environment that operates within the constraints of state funding. California has the rare distinction of being 49th in class size amongst all the 50 states. We are continuing to discuss this topic and we are confident that we are going to come to a mutual resolution.”
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