March 23, 2007

VOLUME 50, ISSUE 8

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007

CASTRO VALLEY, CA 94546

Lunch periods swap for next school year

By Alexandra Shiluk Staff Writer

By Stephanie Lombardo Staff Writer

Starting next year, the new California physical education standards may require students to meet different requirements to earn the credit they need to graduate.

The state law could require those students who do not pass the California Physical Best Fitness Test (CFT) to complete four years of physical education in order to fulfill the new requirements.

“The ultimate goal is to see students engage in the class,” said Assistant Principal Marcie Plummer.

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Saritha Kosarussavadi / Photo Editor

Junior Xin Xin Lin (front) and senior Kevin Maier (back) paint a cow for "The Art of Dairy: Cows and History" art competition.

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For the sake of better student appetites and attention spans, Castro Valley High’s administrative staff will swap lunch times of freshmen and upperclassmen.

Though a short-lived institution, the tradition of freshman lunch preceding the upperclassmen has become a high school custom that is as well established as schoolhouse bells and apples for teachers.

Beginning next school year, the period five freshman lunch will be exchanged with the upperclassmen period six lunch, an administrative act that, among upperclassmen, has been the subject of much dissent.

The discussion started last year, when administrators did not feel that the early lunch period benefited the majority of ninth grade students as the bulk of freshmen are registered in course periods two-eight.

“The majority of seniors are

not taking an eighth period, so it won’t be a huge departure from what they are going through right now,” said counselor Duane Magno.

While upperclassmen did not receive this change so well, freshmen are positive about the effects a later lunch creates for the incoming class.

“Switching the lunch periods is a good idea,” said freshman Chelsea Schneider. “It feels like I am spending such a long time in class after lunch.”

The lunch period switch was in direct response to the growing number of complaints submitted by freshman teachers. Chief among these complaints was the students’ inability to concentrate during afternoon classes.

While the lunch switch may be of benefit to freshman students, many upperclassmen feel that the change favors the new freshman class over the rest of the student body.

LUNCH: Page 8

Teacher salaries rise, Former math teacher arrested class sizes capped Officers find knife during search

By Hayden Folks Staff Writer

Smaller class sizes and higher teacher wages will soon be a reality in Castro Valley schools.

For the first time ever, the Castro Valley Unified School District has agreed to put a cap on class sizes staring next school year. Teachers will receive an eight percent raise to their current salary.

This deal was negotiated at a recent Castro Valley Teachers Association meeting, where teachers were able to speak out.

The class size cap means that there will be a maximum of 33 students in most CVHS classes.

Some freshmen classes will be exceptions; however, this exception will be a good one – the class sizes will be even lower. As a result, individual students will receive more attention as well as fewer assignments and tests for teachers to grade.

Some academic classes and physical education sections will have greater numbers.

Many students and teachers are happy about the class size reduction.

“It is good that there are going to be less people in class so we can get more help from teachers,”

sophomore Ryan Flores.

Teachers also feel that this raise will make it more affordable to be a teacher in the Bay Area and make the district more competitive with other school districts.

“I think it is progress but we can do better,” said English teacher Elisa Frozena.

Under the new deal, beginning teachers will make about $45,000

“

Our teachers deserve a raise because they work hard.

”

CHRISTINE MATHENEY Sophomore

annually while teachers with 27 years of experience can make about $83,000.

“Our teachers deserve a raise because they work hard,” said sophomore Christine Matheney.

By Sophiana Carrell Staff Writer

Former CVHS math teacher Eric Wing was arrested on campus on Feb. 28 for “possession of a weapon on school grounds.”

Sheriff’s deputies handcuffed Wing, 42, and detained him in a patrol car after the incident in the administration parking lot. The officers eventually released him though he must appear in court on the misdemeanor charge.

It seems that there are various versions of what occurred on Feb. 28.

Sitting in her office directly across from the parking lot, Deputy Sara Egelston heard loud yelling outside just a few minutes before the end of school.

After coming out of her office, she saw an argument between a student, Wing and a friend accompanying the former teacher.

Wing and his friend got in their car and started backing up, Egelston said, and she ordered them to stop. She and Deputy Tim Vales learned that Wing's license was suspended and searched him, the officers said.

“We lifted up his shirt to search his waistband and we saw it,” said Vales. Clipped inside Wing’s pocket, the officers

Laramie Project amazes the crowd Pg. 4

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discovered a blade “at least eight and a half inches long” which Vales described as “a tactical knife, usually used for combat.”

The officers confiscated the knife for evidence.

Teacher Don Sargent witnessed the incident as well. He reports he saw two students outside the main office who began yelling “things” when they saw Wing and his friend. “(Wing’s) friend was doing most of the yelling,” Sargent said. “God, what a

mouth on him.”

During an interview with The Olympian, Wing said he came to CVHS to pick up his last paycheck and claimed he had only a pocket knife with him. “I always have a pocket knife with me when I’m not at school,” said

Wing.

Wing believes the officers searched him because of his attire that day. “Yeah, I was not dressed as a teacher,” he said.

“Roca Wear, backwards hat, Timberland. That’s how I dress when I’m not going to school.”

Though he only taught here for less than one semester, Wing has been teaching for eight years at various schools, he said.

When asked if he had enjoyed teaching at CVHS, he replied, “I left half way through the year.

What do you think?”

“I loved my job but I would wake up dreading the day,” he said. “And at the end of the day I did not feel good... Grading sucks and paperwork sucks. I had been thinking about leaving all year.”

Wing taught three classes of Algebra 1A as well as two other Algebra 2 classes.

“My Algebra 2 classes were good but my freshman classes were difficult. Ninety percent of them were cool, but ten percent were driving me crazy,” said Wing.

“He wasn’t there that much,” said junior Rebeckah Burnette, a student in one of Wing’s classes.

“He would sometimes talk about how he hated teaching here.”

Wing claimed the incident involved only one boy, who was a previous student of his.

“He was one of the reasons I’m not teaching anymore,” Wing said. “I don’t want any trouble for him. I never wanted any trouble for him. I just wanted him to behave.”

Change changes only in favor of freshmen

A delinquent shares a lesson learned

By Tim Buhlig Staff Writer

Editorial: Next year, the administration will change the lunch schedules around.

The freshmen will have the later lunch, and the upperclassmen will have the early lunch.

We at The Olympian think this is a negative change. Many other upperclassmen feel the same way.

The administration gives the reason that f re s h m e n a re d o i n g

poorly in their afternoon classes, so they need to have fewer classes after lunch. Doesn’t this logic apply to upperclassmen as well? Upperclassmen have classes after lunch too, and those are usually more challenging than the classes freshmen take.

There are other reasons why this is a bad change.

Many seniors and some juniors are not taking a seventh or eighth period class, so they look forward to leaving campus at lunchtime.

The new schedule means that they will have to stay for one more class. There is already a problem with students cutting class after lunch, causing the school to lose money, and this will likely make matters worse.

Administrators are trying to make things better, but they are making an unpopular change. The administration really needs to listen to what the students want.

Awhile ago I had to go to court for a ticket I received for juvenile infractions, which I will not go into detail about because they were stupid. The total fine for these infractions was a whopping total of $790.

I was terrified the night I had to go to court and face the consequences for my stupid actions. I took consolation in the fact that I thought I would be the only one in the room talking to the judge, so I wouldn’t be on display for everyone else to see.

Well, I had no such luck. When I got to the courtroom I wasn’t the only one who was going to be in there with the judge.

The other people were called up to the podium to speak to the judge one at a time. I was listening to some of the cases and biding my time till it was my turn.

PHOTOpinions COMPILED BY CANDACE WONG

How do you feel about the lunch schedule switch; the upperclassmen lunch first, then the freshmen lunch?

“It's so stupid. I liked everything the way it was. I don't see what the change in lunches would do.” – Sarah Collard, junior

Close down on censorship

By Kevin Hanley Staff Writer

Is there any 14-year old in this country who has not heard the s-word?

Having attended three years of high school, and listened and taken part in many conversations with my peers, I’ll answer my own rhetorical question with a non-rhetorical no.

So then why are they not allowed to say the s-word on a TV-14 rated TV show? Why must there be so much pointless censorship in America? Do people really think that they are somehow protecting kids by censoring everyday profanity on TV?

Censorship of TV in America is among the strictest in the world, compared to countries like England and Canada, where things like saying the s-word uncensored don’t cause the moral outrage that it does in America.

Even this paper is censored, as you can probably tell by the fact that I am using the “s-word” in place of the actual word.

What’s worse is the restrictions don’t even seem to make sense. For example: the s-word can be said in a PG- 13 movie, but not a TV- 14 show. What!?

But wait - what if little ten-year old Johnny turns on the TV and hears the s-word? It will scar him for life! Then why don’t Johnny’s

parents block the channel so Johnny can stay innocent and pure?

Parents and whoever else have no right to complain about what is on TV when parental controls for TV are so readily available.

And for that matter, why do people get so freaked out over words? Words are nothing more than letters put together. They don’t have any meaning beyond what we give them.

There are a lot more things that people should worry about on TV than “bad” words. So in conclusion, if you don’t want to see TV shows with profanity, don’t watch them! But stop watering down TV for the rest of us.

Fortunately for me, the judge I got was a nice guy and he let me off with a stern warning and a $200 fine.

After being humiliated in front of an audience of people laughing at what I was charged with and how I got caught, I was free to go.

I learned several things during this whole ordeal on how to stay out of this kind of trouble. First, listen to the little voice in your head when it tells you that you shouldn’t do something.

Second, don’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time and if you are, don’t run when you get caught. That just makes it worse.

Third, use your brain to make wise choices and avoid the kind of situations I got involved in.

Finally, think of what my parents always say: “Everyone makes mistakes; the important thing is to learn from them and not make them again.”

“I think that the switching of lunches shouldn't be a problem but there might be more trash.” – Ivan Ly, senior

“I think it would be better for the freshmen and for the “I personally think it's better because it would be the upperclassmen so they won't same for me next year and complain about the freshmen taking all the food.” we wouldn't have to wait until – Jazmine Wong, the later lunch.” –

Andre Marston, freshman

sophomore

The Olympian is a student publication of the Journalism Class, Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2007 Editor-In-Chief.................................................................Flora Tsang City Editor...................................................................Mari Robinson News Editor..........................................................................Gray Bae Opinion Editor.....................................................................Ellen Yau Feature Editor...............................................................Kamry Zhang Sports Editor...............................................................Malena Bell Copy Editors.................................................................Dawn Berden Kyle Friedrich Photo Editor...................................................Saritha Kosarussavadi Systems Manager.................................................................Gray Bae Business Managers..................................................Michelle Matsui Candace Wong Staff Writers: Tim Buhlig, Julianne Burnette, Sophiana Carrell, Becky Chao, Hayden Folks, Kevin Hanley, Amber Kury, Esther Lee, Stephanie Lombardo, Laura Mitchell, Ariel Navarro, Chris (Hongzhe) Qian, Sholeh Salimi, Alexandra Shiluk Advisor: Matt Johanson

The Flora Factor North Korean nukes need noticing

By Becky Chao Staff Writer

Ta da. Technology is here to bid our sevice

By Flora Tsang Editor-In-Chief

Though I would like to say that I have much faith in my generation, that we’ll accomplish great things, find the cure to cancer and learn how to travel at the speed of light, I’m not convinced.

My generation is slowly but surely getting dumber, and I blame it on technology.

For everyone out there who doesn’t have a teenager at home, or is oblivious to what their child does, let me explain to you the typical life of a student. Students come home from school, eat, head straight towards the computer, flick it on and sign onto AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), MySpace or YouTube. For the rest of the night, they multitask between chats, friend comments, phone calls and English homework before they suddenly realize that it is Tuesday night, which means Heroes is on.

Don’t know how to do a math problem? Help is only a chat away! There’s no need to cause more pain for our brain when someone else already has

the answer.

The word “focus” has departed from our vocabulary because we have none. And when I say we have none, I mean we have neither focus nor vocabulary. According to one of my teachers, a student asked him what the word “oppose” meant during a test.

Instead of reading, teenagers are addicted to the television.

My estimate is that most teenagers read about four books a year and those are the ones required for English class. By the way, that’s giving them the benefit of the doubt; probably over 60 percent “read” the book using SparkNotes.

Don’t get me wrong; I really do love the Internet. But there’s a thin line between love and hate.

This past month, the Department of Education released information that said students are now taking more challenging classes and getting high GPAs but the test scores were lower. A quarter of high school seniors are “competent” at math and just over a third are at the right reading level.

Students in California can grimace even more. We are the 47th smartest state (out of 50, just in case you didn’t know) for the 2006 Smartest State Award.

There’s potential out there, but because of the Internet and how it’s “helping” us, we’re doomed for the future. Thank you, technology – you made it so easy for us to think that now, we don’t even need to.

Street signs melted, clocks stopped forever, skyscrapers were eliminated, and people lay on what is left of the roads, suffering burns. Piles and piles of rubble.

The Golden Gate Bridge falls onto its side, leaving the view not nearly as magnificent before.

Imagine the entire west coast, from Vancouver to Los Angeles, in that state.

I don’t t h i n k we have been taking North Korea seriously enough.

The communist country has recently claimed to have finally achieved its goal of possessing weapons of mass destruction, along with some proof.

A c c o rd i n g t o e s t i m a t e s , North Korea has the fifth largest military in world, along with the highest percentage of citizens enlisted.

They mean business. Of course, this number is just a guess and they would hardly want us to know. What do their citizens want?

In one story from the New York Times, a few North Korean residents said they danced around when they heard of the nuclear test; others said they hoped their country would eventually reform.

We can hardly take a trip there, take a survey and decide for ourselves.

Even if they are unhappy, America can’t just walk in and get stuck with another situation similar to the Iraq War. The U.S. worked very quickly, keeping their nuclear weapons

secret as a secret.

Our first nuclear device was tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.

Less than two weeks later, the President warned Japan to surrender and end World War II or risk “prompt and utter destruction.”

Less than two weeks after that, on August 6, 1945, the Air Force dropped a bomb on Hiroshima; three days later, Nagasaki got nuked.

Oh, and less than two weeks after that, World War II was officially over.

Imagine how fast it could happen to us.

This has been going on for years: North Korea has been suspected of building nuclear plants since the late 1980s, thanks to satellite photos.

Talks have been going on for a few years now and nothing has happened.

I did a project on North Korea as a seventh-grader and had some trouble contacting North Korea’s embassy office in the

United States of America because it didn’t (and guess what? still doesn’t) exist.

We are afraid of being called hypocrites.

Our country has several thousand warheads, far more than what North Korea probably has.

If we want to stop someone else from getting their hands on nukes, we shouldn’t have any either.

But of course, t h e re a re other countries with weapons to consider and we sure don’t want them to kill us first.

So, a solution?

We need to do more than “prevent the sale or transfer of material related to North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile and unconventional weapons programs, and maintain a ban on travel by persons associated with those programs.”

That doesn’t quite ensure that someone couldn’t hop on a plane, fly to San Francisco and drop the bomb.

One thing not to waste time on is arranging talks; the six-party talks haven’t achieved anything in three years.

Reducing aid shouldn’t be an option either because North Korea gets about $118 million in food from World Food Program, according to the World Factbook and the U.S. definitely won’t look good if we petition for that.

People would starve since some are reliant on the Food Program.

I don’t know what we should do, but whatever it is, it should be something in the middle.

It should be something that can stop North Korea’s nuclear program and at the same time, still be reasonable to the rest of the world not involved with it.

Carnivores, open your eyes to the hate and lies

By Amber Kury Staff Writer

I look at the chicken legs and breasts that so many people love to eat, and I feel nauseous. I see the terrified chicken hanging upside-down with her neck slit open, slowly bleeding to death in a slaughterhouse that smells putrid from all the dead bodies.

I look at the piece of cow that people cook on a grill and I feel sad. I see the cow being raised in a slaughterhouse where he has so little space to move that he lives in his own secretion. I see the cow violently screaming for his life as

a metal rod is in thrust into his head, painfully killing him.

After someone finds out I am vegan, and I explain to them it means I eat absolutely no meat, dairy, or products of animals, they become shocked and ask me “Why!?”

If only they could see what I have seen, they would understand why. After my eyes were opened to the torture that animals endure to provide people with meat and dairy, I became absolutely disgusted and made the choice to never put another piece of meat or dairy in my mouth.

I was a vegetarian for two years, and have been a vegan for one year. I never could have made a better decision in my life.

I am in great health. A common misconception is that vegans don’t get any protein or calcium, but that is terribly wrong.

We can get the same protein by eating grains and legumes (beans), which are already in many foods.

The meat and dairy industry feeds that idea into our minds so that they can make more profit.

Their desire to make money kills over ten billion innocent and defenseless animals just in our

nation each year.

It is truly unbelievable to see how few people really know about how the chicken and steak actually get on their dinner plates. People really need to open their eyes to what they are supporting, because as consumers, we can make a huge difference in the stopping of useless murder.

Just because of my choice to live a cruelty-free life, others have looked at me differently, or made rude comments to me. It always disgusts me and makes me lose hope that our generation will ever accept reality. People

need to start opening their eyes.

It is time to realize that torture does occur to innocent and defenseless animals because of what you choose to eat.

Everyday, I eat delicious ethnic and healthy food without a single animal being killed or tortured.

In this day and age, there is no need to eat the flesh of animals.

We have grocery stores full of food that can provide us with sufficient amount of nutrients to be healthy and happy.

Do we really want to live in a world where we selfishly choose our own taste buds over the life of another? I surely do not.

Art students have a cow Holocaust survivor

By Dawn Berden Copy Editor

When art teachers Jo Sutton and Jennifer Leighton entered their students in Lucerne Dairy company’s second annual “The Art of Dairy: Cows and History” art competition, they had no idea that junior Xin Xin Lin’s devotion to the assignment would take her to the next round of the competition, which involves painting a life-size sculpture of a cow.

Sutton says the assignment – basically a coloring sheet of a cow - was merely a transitional activity, “just a fun exercise.”

Lin, however, spent a significant amount of time on her creation, which impressed the judges at Lucerne. Her entry, a depiction of westward migration, earned her Regional Finalist status.

In the final round, Lin and her artistic accomplice, senior Kevin Maier, must paint the elusive cow sculpture with the design used in Lin’s entry.

If their cow is deemed the best cow, CVHS’s art department could win the grand prize of $20,000.

To get the actual cow to CVHS, a rather bizarre and convoluted turn of events transpired; for example, Lu-

cerne informed Sutton that the cow was approximately four feet wide, making it impossible to fit through a normal-sized doorway.

Additionally, neither Sutton nor supervising Assistant Principal Sue Goldman knew precisely when the cow was due to arrive on campus.

The big payoff to everyone’s suspense came when one day during lunch, Sutton carried the enormous cow across the courtyard to room 608, where it now resides.Apparently, the cow is not to be taken lightly. Lin had to create an official affidavit, or declaration, swearing that she had not stolen any ideas for use in her entry.

“I had to swear that I would protect the cow,” said Sutton.

“The notary didn’t even charge me [to have it notarized] because it was so hilarious.”

Lin and Maier have until the end of April to complete their masterpiece, at which time they must send in four photos to Lucerne. When all is said and done, Lucerne will take the cow and place it on display in a Safeway somewhere in the U.S. Sutton hopes that the company will decide to place it in the Castro Valley Safeway, since it will have been created here. Lin is ambivalent as to where they put

the cow.

“I don’t go to Safeway very often,” she said.

Despite the high-stakes prize, Lin and Maier are pacing themselves on this project.

Maier has previous experience with large-scale projects, such as the sports mural on campus, but this is Lin’s first.

“It’s not stress time, man,” said Maier. “As soon as we start stressing out, we’re not going to do as good of a job as if we are relaxed.”

If Lin and Maier’s work wins the grand prize of $20,000, the art department plans to put the money to use purchasing computers to be used for potential Animation and Fashion CAD courses.

Sutton is also working with Principal Lisa Garcia to convince the district to match the amount of prize money, should the sculpture win. “[Superintendent James] Fitzpatrick hasn’t verified it yet, but Garcia’s looking into it. Sometimes if teachers win grants, the district often matches their grant, so we’re seeing if we can apply that to contests too. We’re hoping that the district will be so generous,” said Sutton. “We’re definitely in the hoping phase right now.”

speaks to students

in 1998.

In addition, Sorell discusses Staff Writer her experiences as a Jewish As an annual tradition, Dora person during the Holocaust to Sorell made a day-long visit to many different audiences.

CVHS and left a lasting impresSorell was born in Sighet, Rosion on her mania, but audience by in 1944 Sorsharing the rel and her inspiring yet family were completely moved to a true story of ghetto and her life. were sub“I am Dora sequently Sorell,” she deported to said. “I am Auschwitz.

85 years old, U p o n a retired arrival at physician, the camp, the mother of Sorell was three, grandseparated Julianne Burnette / Staff Writer mother of from her seven. I have been married for mother, father and two of her 61 years. I would be considered brothers.

Their last glimpses of each to be a successful person.”

In addition to all these things, other on the dark platform were Dora Sorell is a survivor of the filled with agony, confusion and fear. These emotions form Holocaust.

“I only wish my [family] could the essence of all of the horrific have had the same chance [to experiences of the victims of the Holocaust. live],” Sorell said.

Sorell’s purpose in sharing her She wrote a book about her experience during World War story is clear.

“It is important to educate II, Tell the Children: Letters to Miriam, which was originally a young people [and to] prevent compilation of letters to her first genocides, which, unfortunately, grandchild that was published happen,” said Sorell.

By Julianne Burnette

Good things rewarded Uncovering hate and evoking hope despite different nations

By Amber Kury Staff Writer

By Dawn Berden Copy Editor

If Blur frontman and Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn doesn’t want his name to become synonymous with “side project,” then he ought to stop starting them. His latest escapade, a supergroup known as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, features the likes of former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, Africa 70 drum master Tony Allen, and Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse as producer.

Together, they wrote this little collection of songs about London, whose inhabitants can apparently be summed up by the title. As a record, The Good, The Bad & The Queen sounds good in all the right places, but as Albarn himself said about the

album, “nothing is overt.” Well, other than the fact that they are all really, really unhappy with Tony Blair.

As far as the lyrics go, this album makes me painfully aware of the differences between middle-aged Englishmen and 16-year old American girls. But despite my national handicap, The Good, The Bad & The Queen does not disappoint. Remarkably different from a vast majority of Albarn’s other works, the record is moody, slightly d u b b y, b r e a t h y, and dare I say bleak – but in a good way that even a 16-year old American girl can appreciate.

And despite the new sound, Albarn can’t help but be his old self. The song “Northern Whale,” for instance, feels the most like the Damon Albarn I don’t really know personally but love anyway, with lyrics like “In a tide end town, everyone hallucinating on you / But a northern whale wouldn’t

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Aaron Kreiffles, played by senior Kelvin Vu, paced up and down the stage with his hands pulling at his hair as he intensely explained the story of how he found the bloody body of Matthew Shepard.

Shepard was tortured, beaten, and left tied to a fence for fourteen hours in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming, until Kreiffles found him. The two men that tied Shepard to a fence and beat him intended for him to die.

Shepard was murdered because he was homosexual.

The Laramie Project started off differently from any other play I have seen. Many of the characters were sitting in chairs on the sides of the stage. At different times, a character would walk up to the center of the stage and start to talk about an experience in the town of Laramie. Actors junior Matthew Baldo and senior Craig Whitaker played the murderers of Shepard, along with many other characters.

All the words the characters said in the play were from real people from the town of Laramie, who were all interviewed around the time of Shepard’s murder. Knowing this made the play twice as effective.

The play takes place after Shepard’s murder. It showed how the world was affected by

the 20-year-old’s death. The play also uncovers many of the feelings of hate people tend to have not only to homosexuals, but to all different kinds of people. The fact that a boy was murdered and tortured simply because of who h e w a s re a l l y disgusted me.

After seeing the play, I felt like my eyes were a little more open to the hate that exists in our world. People Saritha Kosarussavadi / Photo Editor cannot change the fact that they Junior Emilee Sorenson plays Romaine are gay, black, Patterson, who dresses as angel at Middle Eastern Shepard’s funeral in The Laramie or Asian. People Project. are people.

When the play was over, I really an innocent young man just felt like I knew all the characters. because he is gay, really makes It is quite an eye opener to learn me sad.

The fact that our high school the story of Matthew Shepard, for he was a great person who devoted so much time into makwas murdered simply because of ing The Laramie Project turn out his sexual orientation. This play beautifully, really gives me hope. makes you really think about the Now, hopefully the people who were touched by this play will try world we are living in.

To know that such hatred to eliminate the hate around their exists in this world that would community to make sure nothing make two boys want to murder like this ever happens again.

Jin accepted to Notre Dame

By Sholeh Salimi Staff Writer

When 13-year old boys were still riding their bikes and playing video games, Brendan Jin was discovering a completely different world of golf. Everyone likes the occasional game of miniature golf, but Jin plays more competitively, being on a team for almost six years.

Now a senior at CVHS, Jin plans to go to college at Notre Dame De Namur University in Belmont, California to continue playing his sport of choice.

Having a golf teacher for an uncle, Jin had plenty of opportunities to start the sport.

“He first took me to a golf course,” said Jin, “and ever since then I’ve been playing on a team.” It began as a hobby when he joined the Canyon Middle School team in seventh grade.

Then he started playing more competitively going straight to Varsity as a freshman at CVHS. The boys golf team already has a win under its belt, winning by three strokes against rival school Bishop O’Dowd.

Along with Jin’s many golf accomplishments is winning first place in an important golf tournament last summer against high school students in the Sonoma area. He was also voted MVP in his junior year.

Jin preferred to attend college with the benefits of a golf team: “At the end of my junior year I sent out about 30 e-mails to 30 different colleges,” he said.

By Tim Buhlig Staff Writer

Chris (Hongzhe) Qian / Staff Writer

Senior Brendan Jin practices at Willow Park to perfect his swing.

Among those colleges were the University of South Florida and Fresno State. After talking with

the different colleges, Jin decided on Notre Dame. He will major in business and marketing.

people to a seat and backpacks piled into the middle of the bus as it would be if we were to drive ourselves,” said senior Andrea Chow.

She, along with her fellow teammates, was also upset about the waiting time many of the students had to endure after practice since the different groups ended their workouts at separate times.

are dedicated scholastic athletes and we can handle it,” said junior thrower Claire Koeneman.

Although the students find many faults in the bus system, the coaches are pleased with how effective and helpful it has become. “[Coming up to Canyon] has its disadvantages, but a huge advantage is that it forces kids to be on time,” said track coach Barbara Klews.

“The buses work because people are stuck here now. When we were at the high school, people would start disappearing at 5:00 but now they have to stay until the end of practice,” said track coach Peter Brewer.

Elliot Hung, a senior, agreed with that sentiment: “It’s harder to cut [practice] now,” he joked.

The relocation of track practice is also disheartening to the seniors on the team since they have to deal with this inconvenience during their last year as well as being unable to run at the actual high school.

Probably the most positive statement made about the buses from any student on the team was made by junior Irene Gilchriese: “It’s better than every member of the team driving themselves, but it’s still a pain.”

Track team forced to Canyon

By Michelle Matsui Business Manager

Due to the construction of the new stadium, this year’s track team is forced to practice at Canyon Middle School for the entire season. The only way to legally transport the expansive team up there, however, is to load everyone into two buses every day both to and from practice.

This new practice schedule and procedure has become a great inconvenience to most of the students on the track team, especially to juniors and seniors who drive to school on a regular basis. Even these students are not allowed to drive to Canyon due to liability reasons. Although the students understand how the school is ultimately responsible for their well-being during practice hours, that doesn’t stop them from complaining about the mandatory bus rides.

“It’s just as dangerous for us to come up in the bus with three

Montesdeoca competes in state

“

A huge advantage is that it forces kids to be on time.

Barbara Klews Track Coach

”

“It kind of cuts into life, and sometimes homework time, but as [coach Peter] Brewer would tell you, we are there because we

George Montesdeoca, senior and co-captain of the varsity wrestling team, finally achieved one of his dreams when he competed at the California state championship tournament for wrestlers.

“It was amazing. It was the definition of a dream come true,” said Montesdeoca.

This dream, however, was not an easy one for Montesdeoca to achieve. Not only was there the usual hard work involved with wrestling competitions, but he also had to overcome many obstacles this season to compete at state.

Last summer, a motivated Montesdeoca attended the Jay Robinson 30-day High Intensity Camp in Minnesota. Five days before completing the camp, Montesdeoca was sent home on crutches after breaking his kneecap.

At the start of the new wrestling season he was still recovering when he hyper-extended his knee.

On top of those two injuries, one month before NCS, he had the bad luck of breaking three bones in his hand.

Even that didn’t stop Montesdeoca.

He removed his cast and decided to compete in the NCS

match, finishing third, and advancing to state.

Montesdeoca and his father tracked down Dr. Donald Chu, who fixed up Montesdeoca’s hand so he could compete.

Even with his hand fixed up

“

It was amazing.

It was the definition of a dream come true.

”

George Montesdeoca Wrestling Co-captain

Montesdeoca had to pack up his things and go back home when he unfortunately lost the 125-pound consolation round at state.

“I feel like I could’ve done better if I had a full grip, but I couldn’t let an injury stop me from competing at state,” said Montesdeoca.

Michelle Matsui / Business Manager

Senior Kelsey Lee trains for hurdles at a practice held at Canyon Middle School.

Swim team dives into a new season

By Ellen Yau

Opinion Editor

With a splash into the pool, the CVHS swim team is ready for its upcoming season.

Considering the varsity boys team got first place in HAAL and the varsity girls got second last year, the thought of them grabbing titles this season is not far-fetched. “[Last year] we were happy that we placed first. This year I am confident that we will win first place,” says senior Anthony Crans, co-captain for the boys team.

Though the team lost some seniors last season, including star swimmer Matt Oldenhage, the team is in no frenzy about overcoming the senior gap barrier, especially with the addition of new blood to the team.

“We were able to fill it up with awesome freshmen and other new swimmers that we picked up,” claimed senior Garrett Gerstenberger, co-captain for the boys

team. “From the looks of this year already, we are anticipating to be even better than last year.

We have high hopes of breaking our records and winning NCS. Another thing that makes us strong this year is that we have more depth in our team. In every stroke, each swimmer is strong and competitive, which makes us less reliable on one outstanding swimmer.”

The familiarity with head coach Trevor Croghan (previous assistant coach) and assistant coach, Brian Berry, also smoothed the transition period of the season’s coach changes, making it clear for all to see the solid bond the swimmers have created for themselves with their coaches.

“Many of the swimmers know Coach Trevor from summer league swimming or from the previous year,” said senior Max Martinez. “Coach Trevor was an assistant coach last year so we know him and trust him.”

In addition to being accustomed to their presences, the swimmers also feel at ease with their coaching styles, whether it be with dry-land training or water polo training or swimming laps.

“I love working with Trevor

Saritha Kosarussavadi / Photo Editor

Junior Sarah Hurtubise races the 400-meter freestyle at a pre-season meet.

as a coach,” said senior Devyn Mills, co-captain of the girls team with Maria Hassett. “He's strict when he needs to be, but he has also come up with a lot of ways for us to practice without just swimming repetitive laps. As for Brian, he's a pretty laid-back guy but a really good coach as well.”

On top of all their challenges,

the entire team does not practice together everyday. This is due to several swimmers’ year-long commitment to their USS teams, but like any other obstacles thrown its way the team still finds a way to have all the swimmers practice together once a week.

“Tuesdays are our big practices and they also happen to be the day before our swim meets. It's not bothersome to have our swimmers at their USS practices and practice with us once a week,” stated Berry.

“Those athletes get attention that we can't necessarily give them.

All the USS swimmers are just as much a part of our team as anyone else.”

If the big practices don’t help build friendships among the swimmers, the long standing tradition of team dinners are there to serve that purpose.

“When I was a freshman, team dinners were explained as ‘carbo-loading’ for the big meet,” said Mills. “As I soon found out though, they are more for team bonding and a chance to get excited for the meet the next day.

The dinners are extremely useful for this purpose. It’s the few hours a week where we're bonding with our teammates outside of the pool.

I have no idea who started it, but if I ever met them, I would thank them.”

Many of the swimmers are seeking a great season with hopes of reaching for the highest recognition, such as NCS or HAAL. This high-spirited optimism is in sophomore Laura Pardee who is swimming with the team for the first year.

“I’m hoping to beat my individual times and to get to the championships,” said Pardee.

Though some swimmers aspire to reach for the stars like Pardee, others are less focused on getting to the top.

“My goals this year is just to have fun swimming while keeping myself in good shape,” stated Katie Lonsdale, senior.

No matter what the swimmers are individually striving for this season, the eagerness and actuality of the team going far shone

through with their pre-season match against the tough team of California High, March 7.

Though only the varsity boys won against Cal High, all the other teams received preparation from the meet for the start of the league meets.

While the varsity boys team is also preparing for league meets, the 400 free relay unmistakably displayed the skills the team has to offer this year.

“The best race [Wednesday] was the boys 400 free relay. We won the race by two tenths of a second! Max Martinez [the anchor] and Justin Cox had stunning swims,” said Croghan.

As to what they’re hoping

“

I know this year our Varsity boys team will crush them [Bishop O’Dowd].

We’re juiced.

”

Garrett Gerstenberger Varsity boys co-captain

for, the team seems absolutely certain that their upcoming meets are easy wins. Swimmers are anxiously waiting for the Bishop O’Dowd meet on April 4 at CVHS. “Usually, we roll through every team except O’Dowd.

As much as I hate them, they’re still good. I know this year our Varsity boys team will crush them. We’re juiced,” said Gerstenberger with an air of confidence.

PE: From Page 1

By Ariel Navarro Staff Writer

This year, the class of 2007’s graduation ceremony will take place at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. The graduates will be bussed there.

“This was the best choice we had with the most amount of space,” said AP Marcie Plummer.

Every graduate will receive four tickets for their family and friends, instead of six as in previous years.

Many students with larger families are very upset about the limited tickets to graduation.

“I wouldn’t mind graduating the day after if it meant that even one of my eight siblings could see me graduate,” said Kellean Beyella, a senior. “I also find it hard to believe that there is no college stadium within 30 miles of CVHS that are available on June 14 or the 15.”

Other graduates with smaller family sizes like the idea of graduating in the Paramount.

“I think it’s nicer than here,” said Meredith Brennan, senior.

Some CVHS seniors are upset because graduation at the Paramount is untraditional. Every other graduation has been at the football field until now, though this year the new stadium’s construction made that impossible.

“I think we should have what the other classes had,” said senior Allison Elliott.

Beyella agreed: “I don’t even get to graduate where my older sibling graduated.”

Worst of all, many students are now faced with the “which relative do I like the best” problem. “Oh… and which of my grandparents should I choose to come?” said Beyella.

The state government has not yet passed the bill for the CFT and lawmakers are still working on details that they hope to have figured out around July.

The school district would also have to decide how to apply a new state requirement. A committee including Athletic Department Chair Shari Rodriguez and Plummer will consider the state’s decision.

The new standards have already passed, which changes the P.E. classes for the incoming freshmen. Class options will be completely different from before which may lead to future students having trouble finishing their two-year P.E. requirements of Course 1 and Course 2.

“It is a structured approach to physical fitness, wellness, and lifelong activities,” said Plummer.

Five hundred million dollars has been set aside for this statewide program and will be distributed to California schools according to attendance.

The fitness tests could be used to determine whether or not each student is able to move onto the next course.

The tests would consist of components such as aerobic capacity, flexibility, upper body strength, body composition, and abdominal strength.

Students would show their fit-

pressure ness in each category through activities like push ups and running. There may also be a body fat measurement.

If the CFT bill is passed, students who do not pass Course 1 may have to not only have to re-take it until they pass, but also continue taking P.E. for all their years of high school. This would mean that no matter how much progress they made throughout their P.E. class, they would still have to take P.E. for four years.

“Each individual person needs to have attainable goals,” said Rodriguez.

“There is going to be a huge impact on the school with the whole passing or not passing issue,” said physical education teacher Terry Felix.

Once students pass Course 1 and Course 2, they will be allowed to choose from various individual sports classes as optional electives for their junior and/or senior years.

If a new policy makes students take extra years of P.E., many students will have to take their classes more seriously.

“They are not going to like it at all, but hopefully the impact will be beneficial for them later,” said Felix.

The physical education teachers will attend a teachers’ convention in order to learn more about the new standards and how to enforce them for the 2007-2008 school year.

Teachers expect the state government to make its final decision over the summer.

REVIEW: From Page 4 leave you until England’s tears are done / When the day comes, we’ll move on endlessly.”

By track four, “Kingdom of Doom,” I realized that unlike most of Albarn’s repertoire, these songs do not contain a big, catchy pop payoff. The Good, The Bad & The Queen is an album of basic chords and soaring melodies that could be boring. The only problem with this is that few people would bother to listen to the music past forty seconds, but for those of us who are here for the duration, the payoff comes in the form of curtly critical lyrics that stay true to the Albarn form: “Drink all day ‘cause the country’s at war / You’ll be falling on the palace floor / I can’t be any more than I see / In the flood get washed away.” My one grievance about this record is that underneath Albarn’s large ambitions, Simonon, Tong and Allen seem barely audible in

LUNCH: From Page 1 A fifth period lunch would split the freshman school day into halves with three periods before and after lunch, while upperclassmen will generally only have one class after lunch.

“The lunch switch is a horrible idea. Some upperclassmen are taking periods one through eight, which means even more time spent in class without a

the music.

Other notable tracks on this record include “Nature Springs” which sounds eerily like Gorillaz, and “Three Changes” which incorporates Blur-esque organ, an electric riff from Tong (finally!), and an interesting change in rhythm near the end that catches your attention just as you’re nodding off. “Green Fields” is a prime example of Albarn’s ability to tug your heartstrings with the simplest of tunes: “The war and the tidal wave engulfed us all, it’s true…We saw the green fields turn into stone.”

Even though he must now be on sedatives, Albarn can still write a melody, if you don’t mind perking up your ears and waiting around for it to seep out from under his keyboard. Patience is a virtue when listening to the songs of The Good, The Bad & The Queen. According to the man himself, “they take a few listens.”

break,” exclaimed junior Kaitlin Santisteban.

However, freshman teachers remain optimistic about the new change, believing that the change will boost the freshman performance in the afternoon classes.

“Students have a lot of stress and a lot of challenges, and we need to support them better,” asserted freshman health teacher Sue Anderson.