VOLUME 51, ISSUE 8
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008
CASTRO VALLEY, CA, 94546
Field trip sheds light on Rwandan genocide By Joseph Wan Staff Writer
Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor
Talking politics are House Rep. Barbara Lee and CVHS seniors Courtney Morrison, Amanda Artru, and Mina Masoudi during a Close Up trip to Washington, D.C. See page 4.
New library to open in CV By Esther Lee
Business Manager The new Castro Valley library is scheduled to open to the community in fall 2009 and will be located at 3600 Norbridge Ave. It will be two blocks away from BART and six blocks away from the current library location. Even though it is farther away,
it will have more advanced facilities than the current one, such as a multipurpose education center and an amphitheater. The amphitheater and a park will be situated right next to the recently restored creek. Art and sculptures by local artists will adorn the walls and the entrance. If the need arises for food strikes, the cafe can easily be found near
the entrance. More resources will be available in the new library as well. It will feature five times as many computers, which will all be upto-date, and all have wireless Internet access. There will be 60 percent more books as well. The new library is also being touted as a great place for teens.
sands to the millions. Messages were scrawled on the sides of the canvas tents, including one that read, “You be the change you wish to see in the world.” “I didn’t realize the extent of what’s happening in Darfur,” commented junior Katelin Labat, who called Camp Darfur a “good idea because it inspires people to help.” Pictures of the gruesome abuse and discrimination showed piles of bones and torturous conditions. The tent on Cambodia showed photos of prisoners under the Khmer Rouge. Students read quotes inside the tents from real-life survivors of genocide who recalled the gruesome treatment and sickening abuse they underwent. “Now I’m more aware and it makes me want to do something about it,” remarked junior Brandon Azevedo. Signs posted outside of tents questioned students about how they would act under the same conditions. The sign outside the tent on the Armenian genocide asked, “Would you give a blanket to a family on the death march?” The final tent featured pictures from the genocide in Darfur by the government-supported Janjaweed militias, who
have killed and displaced over 400,000 people. Students read a testimony by Salah, a survivor from Darfur, about the Janjaweed soldiers seizing women from her bombed village. The Camp Darfur program asked students to sign a petition calling on politicians to use their power to stop genocide. “My visits to refugee camps were definitely life-changing,” recalled Stauring. “Going out to the survivors, I realized that they’re just like us and really started to feel for them and their families. If others can connect to
LIBRARY: Page 8
“We see what we believe more than we believe what we see,” said Carl Wilkens during an Arts and Communication Academy field trip to James Logan High School. Wilkens is the only American who stayed in Rwanda for the duration of the Rwandan Genocide. At the field trip on March 10, he told a tragic story about his experiences in Rwanda. Rwanda was once a Belgian colony. The country’s two native ethnic groups were the Tutsis and Hutus. When the Belgians arrived, the colonists preferred the Tutsis over the Hutus and gave them the power to oppress their neighbors. When Belgium powers left the country, the Hutus immediately turned on the Tutsis and armed conflicts began. Starting around April 1994, and over the course of only 100 days, around 800,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsis were murdered. Wilkens, during the duration of his stay, hid Tutsis in his house, protected an orphanage from the militias, and witnessed the acts of many other people who felt as he did, some of whom died. English teacher Gabrielle
Hedlund and Stephanie Papas, also a teacher, from Logan High had recently been awarded a grant which would allow them to fund events in which the students from both Castro Valley and Logan High could meet and discuss matters of importance that were happening in the present day world. Taking this opportunity to provide students with more experience on the matters of genocide, Hedlund organized a field trip for the ACA sophomores. At the assembly, CVHS students sat in theater chairs, which formed a semi-circle around the stage. Soon, students from Logan High joined them, mingling among the crowd as they found chairs to hear Wilkens speak. He spoke about how thinking that “my world will be better without you” is one of the main reasons behind discrimination and murder. People mistakenly think that if a certain group of people is gone from their lives, they will be happy. He also spoke about heroes. A hero is usually thought as only one person, but according to Wilkens, no one person ever does anything of merit by his
RWANDA: Page 8
Days of Diversity ‘Die-In’ inspires CVHS students By Eva Poon Staff Writer
Silence descended on rows of bodies lying on the floor as breathing could barely be heard. This scene took place on March 4 as part of Days of Diversity week with the main focus on the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. The Stop Genocide Now program organized a "die-in" and set up tents in the gym for Camp Darfur where students viewed photographs of past and current atrocities. Gabriel Stauring, director of Stop Genocide Now, described the organization’s goals with Camp Darfur. “The first mission is awareness, using past genocides to relate what is happening now in Darfur. Awareness gives people the power to hopefully affect immediate action.” The five tents in Camp Darfur featured informational sheets and graphic photographs of the consequences of genocide in the world. Each of the tents had a specific focus on a past genocide: Armenians, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur. Upon entering the tents, students saw horrifying statistics of deaths from genocide, numbering from the hundred thou-
Correction: A Feb. 29 Olympian article titled “New disaster plan for CVHS” made a reference to a 2006 lockdown at CVHS. This event was caused by rumors of a gun on campus, not by an actual gunman. The Olympian regrets the error.
them on a personal level, it will compel them to act.” Fifty students laid down in the gym as part of CVHS’s first ever die-in, representing the silence and death in Darfur. Student volunteers read testimonies from Darfur survivors and performed a rap on the effects of violence. They observed a fiveminute moment of silence in the memory of the victims. Students also recorded messages for refugee camp residents that Stauring plans to bring to Darfur in May. “It was really beautiful, especially in a school that is so igno-
rant,” said junior Ariel Navarro, a participant. “It was a big step for us as a community.” Stauring talked about the impact of the program on students, noting that only about half of the students who visited Camp Darfur knew anything about it beforehand. “Still not enough Americans know about Darfur. Americans should be leading the way. We haven’t crossed that line to make a difference with leaders,” he said. “Most of the school population have walked through and seen that small steps can make a difference.”
Howard Whang / Staff Writer
CVHS students participate in the "Die-in" during the week of Days of Diversity. See more on Days of Diversity on pages 3 and 5.