TAKING TIME OFF As junior atheltes struggle with the atheltic and academic balance, coaches voice their opinion on their dropouts SPORTS page 15
GENERATION GAP
From old school to our school, explore the differences and similarites between generations
CENTERSPREAD pages 11-14
TWISTED TALE
The classic Cinderella story gets a makeover with Drama’s new student-produced play ENTERTAINMENT page 19
HATRIOTISM
VOLUME XLI | ISSUE 8 | MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL | CUPERTINO, CA
AP test sign ups up 1,200 since 2004
SCORING HIGH Students and the misuse of ADHD drugs on elestoque.org
MAY 11, 2011
College costs bringing new value to Advanced Placement tests
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fter having decided which college to attend in the fall, many seniors are looking at the upcoming Advanced Placement tests in a new light—do they really matter? Advanced Placement classes are often taken to demonstrate proficiency in a subject or to skip a college level course after scoring the required number on the Advanced Placement test. However, college credit is not always awarded for Advanced Placement tests and skipping courses is increasingly more discouraged by colleges. The University of California system offers credit for all Advanced Placement tests on which students score a minimum of three out of five points, the passing score. The credit cannot be applied to all circumstances though, because what the credit counts for is dependent on one’s major. According to Career Center liaison Miriam Taba the AP credit does not count toward the credit needed for one’s major, then it will count towards fulfilling the general education credit requirements. Many private universities, however, are reconsidering the value of AP course credit.
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e was labeled the face of terrorism by millions around the world. Then, late on the night of Sunday, May 1, the rumors began to swirl. It first started on Twitter after the announcement that President Obama would be addressing the nation later that night. One man even tweeted “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)”, unknowlingly live tweeting Osama’s death. News networks caught on soon after, hinting at, but afraid to declare it: Osama bin Laden had been killed. During his address, the President confirmed the speculation almost immediately. “On nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done,” Obama said. Those last four words quickly hit headlines across the nation. It was what he said earlier in his speech, however, that left a more
lasting impact. “On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together... On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family,” Obama said. Much of America and MVHS had the same response as Obama’s May 1 speech in reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death. Students’ Facebook Newsfeeds flooded with bin Laden related statuses—an outpouring of emotion from a generation that grew up in the aftermath of 9/11. But among students’ joyous declarations of America’s accomplishment lay a few quiet opponents that voiced discomfort at celebrating a death—anyone’s death. Was the national pride displayed just patriotic celebration? Or something more aggressive? Was it an act of justice or revenge? see BIN LADEN on page 2
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<EIFCCD<EK “Some of the more selective schools are starting to say, well, we’re not so sure about this,” Taba said. “Even though the AP classes are supposed to cover the same things and the tests are supposed to cover the same things there are still different levels of teaching and outcomes, and what students learn or retain. So some of the more selective [colleges and majors] are starting to not accept AP credits.” In addition to taking AP courses at MVHS, students have also opted to take college courses at De Anza College, as did senior Sanam Tabatabai. She took her first course, General Psychology, the summer after her sophomore year, and has taken eight other courses and five Advanced Placement classes since. “For the [2011] winter quarter at De Anza, I took three courses, and it was easier for me – I got college credit and it was a college class,” Tabatabai said. see AED on page 2
Alumna becomes activist for Japan disaster relief Former ASB President reaches out to Leadership for support of her cause
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er mother told her she could not go to school. She had to tell her friends that her mother wanted her to stay home. Her mother said she had some weird premonition. That day, her school was flattened and her friends were gone. This is the story that has been passed down in 2009 alumna Matisse Yoshihara’s family about her grandmother, who was born in Japan and survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing because of Yoshihara’s great-grand mother’s forewarning. Although Yoshihara remains skeptical about the validility of the story, she and her family members believe the radiation from that day caused her grandmother’s throat cancer, which eventually took her life. Yoshihara, a sophomore at Northeastern University, has a never-ending relation to Japan. Not only was her grandmother near the site of the bombing in Japan decades ago, but this year, she lost contact with several friends and family in Japan due to the March earthquake and tsunami.
GE employees from 41 countries pledged more than $1 million in cash to disaster relief organizations associated with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. — officials of the GE Foundation publicly announced. Class of 2009 alumnus and former ASB President Matisse Yoshihara, who now works for GE, is proud to be part of a company that supports a cause close to her. Yoshihara is still waiting to hear from many familiar members in Japan. _kkg1&&nnn%^\%Zfd&]fle[Xk`fe&[`jXjk\iVi\c`\]&`e[\o%ajg s JZi\\ej_fk
To top it all off she works as a marketing intern for General Electronics in Ohio, the very company that created the nuclear reactors currently leaking radioactive material in Japan‘s earthquake-afflicted areas. She has now stepped into the role of knowledgeable activist, raising funds for the relief effort in a country to which she has never-ending ties.
“This whole [situation] hit home for me because I have a lot of family in Japan,” Yoshihara said. “It was one of those things where you say, ‘What do I do?’ I don’t know where my family is, I don’t know how to help them, how to keep in contact...it is pretty frightening.” see JAPAN on page 3