March 27, 2009

VOLUME 52, ISSUE 8 FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009

Music virtuoso makes cello magic

Pg. 8

Has played at the Grammys

Pg. 4

CASTRO VALLEY, CA 94546

Days of Diversity photos!

We like As You Like It

Student production dazzles

School celebrates cultural differences

Layoffs notices hit teachers, staff Employees released at year's end

By Alicia Harger and James Rose

James Rose / Staff Writer

Eight German students dance the Waltz during a lunchtime performance for Days of Diversity. From left to right are Jenny Monsen, James Rose, Sierra Sukalski, Kai Jower, Ashley White, Jeffrey Stevens, Kelly Morgan and Stephen Ching.

Unknown writer slams school for "brainwashing" "Concerned parent" got hold of email addresses

By Lisa Carmack and Lindsay Oda Many parents woke up on Thursday, March 12, to find an anonymous email from a “concerned parent” expressing outrage over a presentation a lesbian pastor gave during Days of Diversity.

The writer accused CVHS of “outright brainwashing” and the pastor of giving students “step

“This email begs the case for diversity education Arlene Nehring Pastor

”

by step instructions on how to become gay,” accusations that the school and pastor deny.

Days of Diversity is “a weeklong event in which the students, teachers, administrators, and the community celebrate diversity through several mediums,” according to the CVHS web site.

The program has been running for nine years and this is the third year of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) presentations.

“Days of Diversity is to develop education of cultural experiences,” said Principal Pete Alvarez when asked why Days of Diversity is important. “We’re about educating all students at CVHS.” The email begins “Time to WAKE UP!” and indeed many were jolted to their senses as they read through the accusations of indoctrinating students with the “gay agenda,” and directing them to web sites “that should be labeled porn sites.” The writer then encouraged parents to call Alvarez to complain about the presentation.

“If a parent is concerned he should call me instead of sending emails to other parents,” said Alvarez.

Reverend Dr. Arlene Nehring, pastor of Eden Church in Hayward, who gave the presentations, expressed sentiments of empathy to the author of the email. “The person who wrote it was clearly someone under tremendous stress,” Nehring said during a phone interview a week after the email circulated.

Nehring found the letter disappointing, as it was based on misinformation and the author did not use proper terminology in conveying his thoughts.

“This email begs the case for

diversity education,” she said.

“We don’t all have to agree. We rarely do or will. But we should be able to express ourselves without being abusive to one another.”

How the anonymous writer

“

I hope this is not what people remember about Days of Diversity.

Robin Munsell Teacher

”

got a large number of parent email addresses is unclear. Alvarez does not believe the writer got them from CVHS. A few minor changes will be made to Days of Diversity in the coming years as a result of the complaints in the email. Alvarez intends to post presenters on the school website and provide information about the content of the presentations to avoid the spread of misinformation.

“I hope this negative event is not what students remember about Days of Diversity,” said Robin Munsell, event organizer and leadership teacher.

Pg. 3

In response to the recent state budget crisis, CVUSD has been forced to take drastic measures to survive the next school year with the money in the reserves.

14 first and second year CVHS staff members were handed layoff notices on or before Friday, March 13.

The teacher layoffs will not be in effect until next year, but still this is an unfortunate event for the teachers that are losing their jobs. As teachers, they don’t even receive unemployment checks.

However, they are trying to stay positive.

“Murphy’s Law, being the fun thing it is, decided to step in as soon as I was getting excited about sticking around. It is completely unfair that after five years of college, and getting what seemed to be a dream job, that I don’t have a chance to even be considered for a position next year. It is unfortunate, but things

could be worse I suppose,” said Michael Rackley, an art teacher.

It was a hard decision for the administration to lay off staff members. The final decision, as to who will stay or go, however, will be decided in May. “It’s just tragic. We hope to hire as many back as possible,” said Pete Alvarez, principal.

Although these economic times are hard for many, there are bound to be hard feelings. Those untenured teachers feel that perhaps the quality of a teacher is more important than how long they have been teaching.

“I understand the reasons from the tenure system, but even when the budget is tight, quality should still have priority. The quality of a person’s instruction should be the criteria as apposed to experience,” said English teacher Clare LePell.

Teachers will not be the only ones affected next year as students will have fewer sections available and will face larger class sizes with a higher studentto-teacher ratio.

The students may miss their teachers, but teachers will truly miss their jobs. They will have to search long and hard just to find a job in California, which has a 10 percent unemployment rate.

Sit-in planned against budget cuts

By Sarah Gilchriese Staff Writer

Junior Kristin Feagley and English teacher Daren Wilkerson are planning the opposite of the failed walk out: a sit-in overnight on Monday, March 30.

The purpose of the sit-in is to protest budget cuts, showing that students are actively concerned about cuts to education funding.

The principal and the superintendent have both approved the sit-in.

When students first arrive at the gym for the sit-in, they will plan sleeping arrangements and then eat dinner. Students will then spend an hour and a half receiving and sharing information about the budget. Then there will be another hour and a half that students will spend working on homework, giving and receiving tutoring. There will be a final activity, most likely a movie, and then at 11:30 p.m. the lights will be turned off, and the students are supposed to go to sleep.

The boys and the girls will be

sleeping in separate gyms, but will be together for the rest of the evening.

“The whole point is to create media attention so that the state may decide to make cuts from another area other than education,” said Feagley, the student organizer of this event.

“I think education should be the last place the state government should be making cuts from.”

“My hope is that we can show to our school district and possibly our state government that students feel the pain of the cuts, and want to be proactive,” said Wilkerson.

The goal is to get around 120 students to show up and participate in this event. The more students, the more publicity it will have.

“I think that it will bring a lot of media attention to the high school, which will bring more supporters and donations which is what we need,” said junior Frank Hernandez, one of the many students planning to attend this event.

Let my students go: set my people free

School Security

By Brandon Lui Copy Editor

There has been a recent rash of crime at CVHS and in the surrounding area directly endangering students. It so happens that crime and student safety is always an issue in America. The administration is doing its best to keep students as safe as possible, but what we really need is a more direct approach.

Schools all throughout California clearly need concealed weapons permits or even exposed weapons licenses for every student. Now before those progun and anti-gun people jump to conclusions, hear me out.

Blades and firearms are much too violent for students. So the alternative is concealed weapons or exposed weapons that exclude bullets and blades of any kind. What does this leave?

Blunt weapons of course, things like baseball bats, hockey sticks, quarter-staves, flails, morning

stars, a jitte (a feudal Japanese baton), a regular baton, a sock filled with d-batteries, a shinai (a bamboo sword), and the all powerful nun-chuck.

Most of these weapons would never be used, but would add a scare factor to students. Criminals may approach a group of unarmed students, but they would think twice before attacking a group all armed with visible nun-chucks, or even a single person with a nun-chuck. We can really deter criminals from the school by even displaying our armed skills. Imagine, “CVHS, home of the Trojans and a student body that knows how to use nunchucks.”

What other security measure can the school possibly act? Locking more doors? How will we get the money to get more campus patrollers? The schools can only stretch as far as the campus can go with student safety, but a nun-chuck can stay with you forever.

The Olympian is a publication of the Journalism Class, Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2009 Editor-in-Chief...............................................................Malena Bell City Editor.......................................................................Irene Liang News Editor......................................................................Tim Wong Opinion Editor..............................................................Alicia Harger Feature Editor....................................................................Eva Poon Sports Editor.........................................................Alexandra Gomes Copy Editors...................................................................Erin Mundy Joseph Wan Photo Editor..............................................................Howard Whang Business Managers............................................................Isabel Chi Lindsay Oda Staff Writers: David Ahn,Lisa Carmack, Sophiana Carrell, Frank Chao, Moises Fonseca, Sarah Gilchriese, Lawrence Ham, Brandon Lui, James Rose, Trevin Smith, Elizabeth Tran Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

Editorial: We at The Olympian believe the recent closing of school gates for security measures is a major hassle for students and staff.

Only three gates now remain open during the school day: the main gate by the office, the Mabel Street gate, and the gate into the courtyard from the senior lot.

Many students reacted to the announcement of the locked gates with fury and The Olympian feels their pain.

Because of the new rule, students find themselves locked in and out during times when many of them have the right to leave and return to campus.

They are forced to scramble to get to their classes on time after navigating through one of the three gates onto campus or face being shut out.

Bicycle-riders are blocked from parking at the designated bike racks and athletes have a difficult time getting into the stadium after school because of the locked gates.

The administration should allow the gates to be open at lunch and eighth period. Closed gates especially inconvenience those with lockers, classes, and cars near the edges of the campus.

Walking all the way around school to get to where we need to be is not exactly conducive to time well spent.

In addition, a safety hazard lurks as auto shop students with cars idle while waiting for someone to open the gates in the midst of students trying to walk.

While the administration needed to do something to protect students after a rash of crimes

near campus, locking the gates is not the best way to keep students safe.

Criminals can still get on campus through the gates that are open. Most of the recent crimes have taken place near CVHS but not actually inside school grounds.

Locking the gates does nothing to protect students from these crimes while they are off-campus during the school day.

We need to look at the reasons why so many robberies and assaults have taken place recently and focus on ways to make the entirety of Castro Valley safer.

We do realize at times convenience has to be sacrificed for safety, but we need to find a solution that does not antagonize the very people the administration is trying to protect.

having to rely on long-time smokers who just can’t quit.

Why do we smoke? We are the young people who are supposed to be the smarter ones. I think that if you’re aiming to look cool, there are other ways of doing it besides damaging your body.

If it’s a stress thing, then I would strongly suggest channeling it elsewhere like being creative and working on some art.

Kids of Castro Valley, be smart and choose wisely what you put into your bodies.

Just say no: its not that hard

By Trevin Smith Staff Writer

Students of Castro Valley have a hobby these days and it’s not fighting or tagging.

It’s smoking, and it can be seen across the town and in the Bay Area in general.

I see these students walking up and down the boulevard every weekend and think of all of the times my parents told me that smoking was bad for me and that it would give me cancer.

I’ve never smoked, but I have plenty of friends who do and I can’t understand why.

It’s never appealed to me and plus I don’t have the money for it.

I’m certain I’d get caught by one of my million strict, Catholic Italian family members if I walked around town blowing smoke.

I have many memories of when I was really little and had to watch my grandma every summer suffering with her breathing and coughing fits daily as a result of years of smoking.

I was scared for her and I don’t want any of my friends to end up like that later in life.

People will do what they want, but after years of studies that have proven that tobacco is terrible for you and that it does cause lung cancer and other complications, you’d think someone would get the hint.

Although these days less and less people are smoking, this leaves the tobacco companies

PHOTOpinions BY: Lindsay Oda

What do you think of select gates being locked during school hours?

“HELLA stupid. It makes life “I understand the administraa lot harder having to go all the tion’s concern, but it doesn’t affect way around or having to hop a anything.” fence.”

–Tania Gutierrez, senior –Charlie Sterba, junior

“I think it’s safer, so students “I find it to be slightly interestfrom Hayward or Redwood Aling, like a challenge to ‘infiltrate’ ternative School won’t come on the school. Good knowledge for school property.” future use.”

–Kyle Heimerl, freshman –Richard Warren, sophomore

Days of Diversity

CVHS celebrates cultural heritages

By Isabel Chi

Business manager At the diversity assembly, a Latvian song with a beautiful message met with a round of applause and a Colombian dance both informed and entertained.

“I never knew dance could be used as a form of resistance,” said sophomore Erica Kim. From March 9 to 13, students at CVHS arrived to school to see some of their fellow classmates dressed in traditional garb from all around the world.

A plethora of countries were represented from traditional Tahitian to Latvian.

Tuesday, the whole school was treated to an assembly full of cultural treats, and the variety of performances awed the students.

Thursday and Friday, fourth period classes were separated into two sessions for presentations, which represented almost every culture and subject from gay and lesbian rights to Chinese culture.

“I learned [in Media Perceptions] that everybody is unique and not everyone has to look like the models in magazines,” said sophomore Carolyn Gilchriese.

The Zimbabwean dance class also earned rave reviews.

“It was new and fun; I’m glad we did it,” said sophomore Kevin Chea.

Diversity Week at CVHS has been a long-standing tradition and has helped students taste a little bit of the world. Hopefully, this tradition will continue on for many years to come.

As You Like It was as we like it

By James Rose Staff Writer

William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, As You Like It, charmed audiences with an all CVHS student cast. The show debuted with two showings on March 12 and 13. Seniors Caitlin Lushington and Jordan Mackey directed the performance.

“We thought it would be a lot of fun to direct it,” said Mackey.

Lushington added, “Love is a topic that interests high schoolers.”

As You Like It is a story about all types and varieties of affection, ranging from flirtatious small talk to hardcore rejection and hate. Every character experienced some form of emotion on this spectrum.

The tale starts out when the honorable Duke Senior was banished by his younger brother, Duke Frederick.

“I sent Duke Senior away because I wanted the throne. I’m basically the villain,” said junior Tina Tope, who played Duke Frederick.

Junior Erika Schweizer played Tope’s brother. “I can relate to Duke Senior, because he is a laid-back, chill dude,” said Schweizer.

Roughly four different story-

lines occur at the same time.

First off, Rosalind, Duke Senior’s daughter, is living with Duke Frederick’s daughter, Celia, at the court. During a wrestling match between Duke Frederick’s formidable wrestler Charles and a young man named Orlando, Orlando and Rosalind fall in love. When she is also banished, she and Celia disguise themselves and enter the Forest of Arden in search of Rosalind’s father, Duke Senior.

“She goes through a range of emotions,” said senior Monica Ammerman, who played Rosalind, because Rosalind had to leave her heartthrob image of Orlando behind.

Orlando, on the other hand, quarrels with his evil older brother, Oliver. “He’s trying to find a place to be useful. He’s been cut off from a romantic opportunity and he’s frustrated,” said senior Chris Han, who played Orlando.

Along the way, both Rosalind and Orlando, separately meet up with a host of other characters in the forest: a jester named Touchstone, an old woman named Corin, a lovesick man named Silvius, a scornful shepherdess named Phoebe, and a goatkeeper named Audrey.

“She is very cute, not very

Frost/Nixon appetizes the viewers

By Frank Chao Feature Editor

When the President does it, that means it is not illegal. That was what former President Richard Nixon said near the end of the Frost/Nixon interviews.

Frost/Nixon, was the account of how a British television presenter, David Frost, gave Nixon the trial he never received due to being pardoned by President Gerald Ford.

There were four interviews and Frost was utterly defeated after the first three. The movie was extremely emotional in showing Frost’s struggles. Frost desired to be successful in American television.

In a way, Frost’s American dream was to be able to succeed in the America’s spotlight, after being successful in the entertainment business in England and Australia.

Once Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal and was pardoned by Ford, Frost saw the value in giving him the

trial he never had. However, no American broadcasting company would pay for the interviews, making Frost coming up with other ways to gain money all the while interviewing Nixon.

Despite difficulties, including Nixon’s competence in making himself look glorious, Frost was not a man to cave into the struggles and was able to overcome the deficit as an underdog.

One particular scene came to mind during the movie. Near the end of the interviews, Frost had nearly given up after the first three interviews and was well prepared to throw away the final interview. He then received a phone call from a drunken Nixon, an inspiring phone call that would change Frost’s mindset and his life.

Nixon would later forget this interview, but Frost would never forget this conversation that began about a cheeseburger.

Frost/Nixon may sound and look serious and only be watched for its historical value, but the movie is full of humor. A running joke about Italian shoes and cracks at Nixon’s Republican values were made throughout the movie, making it as entertaining as it was educational.

James Rose / Staff Writer

The wild and crazy cast of the romantic comedy As You Like featured, in alphabetical order, Monica Ammerman, Astra Birznieks, Jason Bollick, Chris Han, Shawn Hughes, Ashley Ison, Tamara King, Chris Landon, Caitlin Lushington, Jordan Mackey, Rebecca Marshall, Wil McDermott, Leslie Moura, Johnna Murch, James Rose, Erika Schweizer, Kayla Steinorth, Sam Temming and Tina Tope. bright, and has a stalker,” said senior Rebecca Marshall, who played Audrey.

Rosalind, disguised as a man, toys with everyone she encounters. For example, when she confronted Phoebe, she offends her by saying, “For I must tell you friendly in your ear… sell what you can; you are not for all markets.”

“Her situation is humorous to

watch,” said freshman Johnna Murch, who played Phoebe.

“Love prevails in the end, but sucks until it does,” said senior Chris Landon.

In the end of the play, all four couples: Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Touchstone and Audrey, and Silvius and Phoebe magically get married, and make up for all of the previous hostility towards one another.

The Fray returns

By Eva Poon News Editor

Four years is a long time in the radio world, but The Fray has returned to take back the throne of American piano poprock royalty with its second self-titled album.

The Fray is a darker album that questions the existence of God and comments on the volatility of love while relying on the drum crescendos and piano melodies that brought the band to massive popularity with 2005’s How to Save a Life. Radio hits don’t always deserve their bad reputations, as the single “You Found Me” proves. The song highlights lead singer Isaac Slade’s ability to show vulnerability and redemption at the same time.

The best part is the bitterly honest hook: “Early morning the city breaks and I’ve been calling for years and years…

You’ve got some kind of nerve taking all I want.”

During the four years between albums, The Fray’s band members must have experienced some turbulent relationships, as a majority of the songs

are about losing a loved person and a desire to return to a better past.

The first time I listened to the album I found the songs really similar, but it takes multiple listens to hear the nuances of each song. The only track I dislike is “Happiness,” a song about the destructiveness of joy.

It just seems to go against what I was expecting from a song with that title.

One of the catchiest songs is “Where the Story Ends,” which talks about a relationship on the breaking point and showcases the beautiful piano that The Fray is known for. The band experiments successfully with various instruments in “We Build Then We Break.” Slade sings the chorus “Hold your breath till it’s over/There’s something left underwater,” in an urgent breathy way that matches the frantic accompanying guitar.

For fans who have waited so long for a new album, The Fray does not disappoint, adding an impressive amount of lyrical depth with a tiny bit of angst while not messing with the formula that makes the band so popular. The Fray won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, especially not for people who despise Top 40 radio, but it is definitely easy on the ears and the band is a mighty step above the mediocrity that plagues FM radio.

“It’s pretty exciting playing the goddess of marriage. It’s great to make people fall in love,” said junior Leslie Moura.

The entire cast of As You Like It felt moved by its performance.

The rehearsal process was very rewarding for all of them. For many of them, this was their first acting role.

“It’s just a really great thing to do, and I have made a lot of friends,” said sophomore Kayla Steinorth.

“I love the play, and it is the first one I’m doing,” said junior Astra Birznieks.

“I’ve got something to look forward to every day. Celia has taught me to never take anything at face value and to appreciate what friendship is,” said junior Ashley Ison.

Mr. CV returns to CVHS

By Sophiana Carrell Staff Writer

The popular and beloved Mr. CV event is scheduled to take place Friday, April 24 at 7 pm. This will hopefully be the contest’s comeback as committee leadership issues prevented it from occurring last year.

Though the event is still in the planning process, candidates have been selected out of the original 15 nominations received.

A jungle theme, Mr. CV Goes Wild, or a superhero theme, Mr. CV’s Hometown Hero, are still being debated.

Tickets will be sold for $17 prior to the event and $19 at the door. Another sold-out crowd of more than 300 people is anticipated, so get your tickets quickly!

Superman’s identity unveiled!

Hero’s evil foe captures costume

By Trevin Smith Staff Writer

Trevin Smith / Staff Writer

Lex Luthor (or maybe Assistant Prncipal Jason Whiteman) shows off Superman’s framed costume.

On a cold and mysterious Halloween day at CVHS, students saw a figure on the gym overhang. Was it a bird? A plane?

No, it was Superman.

The caped superhero was dancing to Soulja Boy for about 40 seconds on the roof.

Superman was faster than a speeding bullet as he ran to the middle of the overhang. Students were in awe of what was happening before them and cheered him on as the Man of Steel leaped onto the roof in a single bound.

But for once, Superman hid his identity with a mask, leaving witnesses in confusion.

It may seem like Superman was on top of the world in more ways than one here at CVHS, but he does have a nemesis.

His name is Lex Luthor, whose secret identity has been discovered to be Assistant Principal

Jason Whiteman.

“He knew what he did,” said Whiteman about the speedy stunt. Luthor has concluded Superman’s identity to be none other than Andy Lindstrom, a mild-mannered senior who graduated last June.

“I told you I’d get you the cape, so I decided to frame it for you.

Andy Lindstrom “Superman”

”

Despite his super speed, our hero was captured by Luthor’s minions of the courtyard and had

to write a letter of apology to the diabolical Lex to get permission to attend prom.

After winter break, citi zens wondered, “Where’s Andy?

Did he go back to his home planet of Krypton? Did Luthor finally finish him off?”

Actually, Superman decided to use his super strength and Soldier Boy powers to fight with our troops and left for Marine Corps boot camp in January.

Before Superman’s departure, he gave his costume to the evil Luthor as a memento from their encounter.

“I told you I’d get you the cape, so I decided to frame it for you,” Lindstrom/Superman told Whiteman/Luthor. To this day, the cynical Lex proudly hangs the outfit in his evil lair in the main office.

The great Superman has fought the forces of evil in CVHS for justice and continues to fight today for all of America.

Cu t s fo r c a n ce r K i n g K o n g e at s h e re

By Alexandra Gomes Sports Editor

Since October, the American Cancer Society club has been gaining support and getting more donors to give their hair to be made into wigs for those who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy.

People who are tired of their long hair, who feel it gets in their way all the time, or just want to do something good with it have an opportunity can go to the Cuts for Cancer event at Stacy Monroe’s hair salon on Saturday, April 25.

The hair donated for the event, which is sponsored by the CVHS ACS Youth Club, will be given to two different foundations, but they do have different requirements.

For people who want to give their hair to the Locks of Love Foundation, their hair must be 10 inches long, but for the Pantene PRO-V Beautiful Lengths Foundation, the required length is eight inches.

Those who give their hair to

the Locks of Love foundation will be giving wigs to children who have lost their hair from the effects of cancer.

The Pantene PRO-V Beautiful Lengths foundation specializes in wigs for women who have lost their hair from chemotherapy.

This event isn’t just for girls.

Are you a guy with super long hair that you are just dying to donate in the name of cancer?

No problem. Guys can also give their hair to either foundation just as long as their hair meets the length criteria.

“Guys sometimes grow out their hair for a year and wear them in ponytails,” said junior Allison Greaney, vice-president of the ACS club.

Many people on campus probably have not heard of this event even though they would want to donate. That is not a problem. Donors do not need to commit early on to give their hair. They can just arrive at the Stacie Monroe’s hair salon on the day of the event, April 25, and donate their hair as long as it is long enough.

Leadership Announcements Coming up in the fourth quarter are loads of student activities just for you! Senior Ball is May 30 and tickets will go on sale the last week of April. Senior sweatshirts and sweatpants are still on sale; get yours in room 607 at lunch.

Junior Prom is on April 4. On April 6, junior, sophomore, and

freshman social studies classes will attend the ASB forum to see the candidates running in the 2009 ASB elections. April 23 and 24 are the actual elections at lunch and all students will need their school ID cards to vote. Hope your fourth quarter is going well!

By Lawrence Ham Staff Writer

Can you imagine a restaurant with mouthwatering food?

Well then you should go to King Kong, a recently opened Chinese restaurant located at 2966 Castro Valley Blvd. There is a row of assorted foods to the left of the restaurant that

is already waiting to be bought.

The food’s appearance has a very tempting look.

The food was as tasty as it looked. It had many of the main food groups on the counter; they had a variety of vegetables, fish, meat, poultry and grains. Along with these mouth-watering entrées they had some pretty tasty appetizers.

The menu offered items from egg rolls to deep fried crispy prawns. Rice plates offered cost from $4.50 to $5.00. It comes with one side order and steamed or fried rice.

The staff was very welcoming and kind. We were immediately greeted the minute we came through the door, even though they were tending to other customers.

My family and I had dinner and we each had lots of different kinds of food. We started off with some Spicy Fried Chicken Wings. I ordered a rice plate with Mongolian Beef and my dad ordered Kung Pao Prawns. Both were very delicious and worthwhile, which is why I highly recommend this restaurant.

characters. Though it could be argued that the violence was needed to exemplify the horrors which human beings are capable of doing, and to explain the ideology of certain characters, the sex did nothing for the movie. The long scenes were completely unnecessary and the story could have progressed just as smoothly without their presence. Rather than telling a story, it felt like the director was just a plain pervert.

Despite its faults, Watchmen was very intriguing. Its long duration was warranted by the deep and well developed storyline. Though things seemed to skip around, the story was pulled together in the end to form a clever conclusion that allowed for audience to reflect and speculate upon.

The visuals were spectacular and the movie also benefited from the soundtrack. It was nothing short of art in almost every scene of the movie.

The most interesting part was seeing how certain characters represented the different aspects of humanity. It was interesting to see the interactions between the characters who were reminiscent of an embodiment of unwavering morals, the pinnacle of human existence, a detached God-like figure, the eternal, nice-guy optimist, tormented individuals and the philosophical pessimist. The different interactions between characters and their clashes in morals and values was a smart commentary of the nature of human beings, which made the movie much more bearable and even enjoyable.

Watchmen intrigues despite faults

By Tim Wong Staff Writer

Following the trend of superhero themed movies, which have been coming out almost every season since the unprecedented success of Spiderman 2, Watchmen is the story of former super heroes, in a world where their actions are prohibited by law.

Unlike the other movies though, Watchmen portrays a much less idealistic view of vigilantism.

The movie is excessively long and extremely graphic. It did not fail to spare any details when depicting the sex scenes or during the atrocious murders of many

Tennis boys trample over San Lorenzo Solar eclipse and “blood of baby lamb” power Trojan victory

By David Ahn Staff Writer

CVHS boys tennis team easily won their game, 6-1, against San Lorenzo High School. The team had been training for this moment, and it was great seeing that their efforts had finally paid off. “[We] drank the blood of a baby lamb before a match to heighten the five senses. Pumped a lot of iron. Became the racket and the ball,” said coach David Roth-

Rossi when asked of the secret of the team’s success.

Evidently, this “strategy” was extremely effective if one goes by the result of their game against San Lorenzo on March 11.

Senior Cliff Ching, the “Beast,” number one singles, easily won his match against his opponent with a combination of deadly serves and powerful backhands.

His 12-0 match victory epitomized Castro Valley’s awesomeness as they annihilated San Lorenzo’s morale early in the game.

David Kempen also had a strong game winning handily with two 6-0 shutout victories.

On the doubles scene, junior varsity players, juniors David Duncan and Chris Mulready, “the

Dream Team,” destroyed their opponents with no losses.

This trend repeated again and again as Castro Valley only suffered one doubles game loss.

Roth-Rossi has high hopes for this team, as the general consensus is that the players have a good chance of winning the league.

“I’m a beast, I [eat] my opponents for breakfast,” said RothRossi on behalf of Ching. Players also reported that Ching was able to block out the sun by creating a solar eclipse.

When asked what their weakness was, Roth-Rossi replied that the team still had to work on their consistency, especially on third set clutch plays to put away close matches.

Volleyballers struggle against Moreau

By Erin Mundy Copy Editor

The CVHS boys volleyball team put up a tough fight before losing to Moreau on Tuesday, March 17, with a final score of 25-15 in game four of four. The Trojans started off on their toes, earning 11 points in game one.

Senior Daniel Henry was an active player, constantly saving the ball to keep the rally going.

The boys kept up a persistent effort, talking and calling to each other to keep the ball up. Both

Henry and senior Iliya Mialik collided to smack the ball into the Mariner’s court, earning another point for Castro Valley.

After a hard hit to Moreau, the ball sailed to the ceiling and a Mariner was sent back flipping across the floor to save it. A moment of rallying back and forth was ended another hit to Moreau, bringing another point in for the Trojans.

Castro Valley kept the ball up with hard bumps and swift spikes, but was faulted twice for calls on junior Harsimran Singh

for reaching across the net to spike. A strong set from the Trojans brought a Mariner to the floor for a dive, but resulted in one point for the Trojans.

An apparent misunderstanding unfolded when a Castro Valley player disagreed with a call from the referee, but the decision stood that the player had in fact reached across the net. After regaining their spirits after a close win in game three, the Trojans were met with defeat in game four, but they did not give in without a fight.

Elizabeth Tran / Staff Writer

Sophomore Ben Eversole comes in first with a strong finish in the mile run at the Castro Valley Invite.

Attention great writers: The Olympian seeks staff members for the upcoming school year.

Fame, fortune, free pizza, UC elective credit, prom dates, and inner peace and happiness are (almost) guaranteed.

See Mr. Johanson in 113 for an application today!

S up e r S a v v y Sp o r ts St a rs

Moises Fonseca / Staff Writer

Emilie Sorensen, freshman

Alex Billings, sophomore

Husna Maysam, junior

Vincent Gerochi, senior

Freshman Emilie Sorensen competes on the varsity swimming team. She has been swimming for about three and a half years. “I like the competition.

I like to beat my own times,” said Sorensen, her favorite part of swimming at CVHS. ”I remember that I went from 2:18 to 2:13,” said Sorensen on what her own personal record was.

Her events are the 200 free, 100 free, 200 free relay, and the 400 relay. Outside of swimming, Sorensen enjoys hanging out with her friends, shopping, and playing with her little brother.

Sophomore Alex Billings competes on the junior varsity swimming team. Billings has been swimming for seven years now and this is his second year on the CVHS swim team.

“Hanging out with friends at practice and meets, getting better, and improving times,”replied Billings when asked what he likes about his swimming team. Billings’ events are the freestyle and fly.

Other than swimming, Billings enjoys playing soccer, listening music, and watching movies.

Junior Husna Maysam competes on the junior varsity track and field team. Maysam has been on the track and field team for two years now. “I like to improve and hang out with my friends,” said Maysam.

Maysam also said that even though she doesn’t remember own personal records, she does remember that she has never given up in any of her races and that she feels proud of that.

Maysam said that even though this is her second official year competing on the track team.

Besides track, Maysam likes to read and hang out with her friends in her spare time.

Senior Vicent Gerochi is on the badminton team. Gerochi has been playing badminton for only two years. “My favorite part of badminton is that I get to hang out with my friends,” said Gerochi after asked what his favorite part of badminton is. Gerochi is proud of playing at CVHS and got a personal best last year. Last year we played Tennyson and we almost beat them 21-0, said Gerochi.

Badminton boys slaughter Moreau

By Isabel Chi

Business Manager The gym was filled with the cacophony of the squeaking of badminton shoes, the whoosh of speeding rackets, and little thuds of birdies being hit, all punctuated with an occasional cheer from the sidelines.

Castro Valley swept Moreau at a home varsity match on Thursday, March 19.

A lot was going on during badminton matches; there were at least six simultaneous games going on.

The match was no different than any other. However, a few Castro Valley athletes shined out of the bunch.

In boys singles, Jimmy He won with a score of 21-18 the first match and 21-17 the second. In girls singles Ingrid Wong played an amazing match winning both sets: the first 21-6 and the second 21-4.

All three teams playing in the boys doubles teams won each game by a considerable margin.

The majority of the girls doubles teams also brought a victory. In mixed doubles, the cooperation between Kristal Lam and Alvin Liang was seamless. They won their first set 21-6 and their second 21-5.

Overall, Castro Valley won over Moreau with a team score of 12-3.

“It was such an intense game,”

said captain and junior Kristal Lam. “Although there were some losses, everyone tried very hard and did well.”

Lindsay Oda / Business Manager

Senior Anthony Wong returns his opponent’s shot.

Lindsay Oda / Business Manager

Junior Jimmy He tries to hit back the birdie.

Staff Writer

It’s not every day that you hear about a student from CVHS who has played at the Grammy Awards. But guess what? Senior Alana Shannon, CVHS student and great cellist, played at the Grammys when she was just 12 years old. When the award ceremony was in need of a string quartet, Shannon took the opportunity.

She has also toured to many places, including Carnegie Hall in New York and countries such as Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, England, and Scotland.

Shannon has been in an orchestra since she was eight years old. She is in the CVHS orchestra

“As a kid I heard

it and loved the sound, so I decided to learn how to play.

Alana Shannon Senior

”

and Chamber Orchestra as the principal cello.

In addition to being a member of the school orchestra, she is also in the Villa Sinfonia, which meets in San Francisco. In this orchestra, professional musicians and student musicians play together as a learning experience.

Shannon has been playing the cello since she was just seven years old and usually practices for one to two hours a day.

“I always thought it was a cool instrument. As a kid I heard it and loved the sound, so I de-

Lawrence Ham / Staff Writer

Senior Alana Shannon hopes to continue her cello-playing in one of the nation’s best music schools. cided to learn how to play,” said Shannon.

Her cello is from France and was only one hundred dollars in the 70s when her mom bought it, but now it is worth several thousand.

Shannon’s family is full of musicians. Her father plays the French horn, her mother plays the clarinet, and her older sister plays the violin and minors in music at University of California, Santa Cruz. They have all played their instruments since

they were kids. Her parents currently play professionally.

Shannon herself makes money from her musical talent.

“I’ve made enough money to the point where I have to file taxes,” said Shannon.

In the future, Shannon hopes to continue playing her instrument and hopes to attend the University of Indiana. At the University of Indiana, she wants to major in music. This school is one of the best music schools in the country.

ce J

P ea ov

By Lawrence Ham

e

Gigs have included the Grammys and Carnegie Hall

L

CVHS’s own star cellist makes beautiful music

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