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TEACHERS

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CRISIS

We need to change how we view rape

Anya Chauhan: Female Footballer

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OPINIONS | 6-7

SPORTS | 10-11

THE IRVINGTON VOICE

AC Transit buses: overcrowded and over regulations

By ISHA SANGHVI Staff Writer

By SABRINA SUN Entertainment Editor

Anyone who has tried to frantically get back to class after lunch knows firsthand how congested, and uncomfortably intimate, the entrance to the freshman hallway can be. Conditions that have resulted in an unfilled position in the English department indicate that Irvington High School’s ample student population will only grow. The teaching position is assigned freshman and senior English classes, and is currently being held by long term substitute Lyell Walker in P16. Principal Sarah Smoot confirmed that although many potential candidates responded, the majority from either

Kulture to Korea

By ELAINE CHAN Staff Writer

What better a place to drench yourself in the K-culture than to go to Korea? Kulture Club is planning to embark on a 10 day trip to Korea from June 12-21, 2016. This trip will involve exploring both the urban life of Korea’s biggest cities and the authentic customs of traditional villages. With interest in Korean culture on the rise in these past few years, it is fitting to hold an international experience, to fully im-

VOL. 25 No. 1

FRIDAY, October 14, 2016

CURRENT TEACHER SHORTAGES PREDICT FUTURE ISSUES

Continued on Page 2

SPOTLIGHT

New Additions to IHS Family

AC Transit bus gets ready to depart from Irvington.

Southern California or outside states, applicants have been discouraged by high housing costs.

“We’ve had people that have expressed interest. They were on EDJOIN (an online edu-

ISHA SANGHVI /STAFF WRITER

cation job site),” said Ms. Smoot. “We contacted them but they then declined the position and sometimes even declined to interview.”

The vacant English position is not a soli-

tary incident; an empty position in the health department was only recently filled. Although the health slot had been publicized since April, only five candidates exContinued on Page 2

The AC Transit bus system is Irvington’s unofficial savior to the students trying to get a ride home from school.

But recently, our savior seems to be the one who needs the saving.

Since the first week of school, several students have reported being left stranded on campus due to a lack of space aboard the buses. For those who have been fortunate enough to catch a seat, the experience hasn’t been pleasant either.

When asked about her experiences on the bus, sophomore Lily Yang recounted, “I feel like it’s very chaotic. People want to get onto the bus on time so the lines are really long. I think the school should get the right kind of buses - the bigger white buses that fit everyone in. Since the

size of Irvington is so huge, it is necessary for us to have bigger buses.”

With our main transportation system unable to accommodate the rapidly growing student population, students are exasperated and impatiently waiting for change. Some students have even resorted to taking the 239 bus opposite 7-Eleven instead of the school’s 623 route.

The problem started ever since the buses have become smaller while the number of students taking the bus have increased. Previously, bus drivers didn’t let students on board after the bus reached maximum capacity. But, in response to the large amount of stranded students, bus drivers Continued on Page 2

A series of municipal disasters: all is not well in Fremont

By WILLIAM YOO Staff Writer

Rather comically, the city of Fremont, a wealthy suburban city located in the heart of Silicon Valley and a symbol of the new technological boom, has recently been listed by Wallethub as one of the worst-run big cities in America: a blistering 64th place by their standards. These results beg difficult questions on Fremont’s rather unassuming exterior, and reveal profound difficulties in our city’s infrastructure, efficiency, and transparency.

For starters, Wallethub compares cities

with data from the US Census through a variety of factors which include financial stability, education, health, safety, and infrastructure.

These factors are then analyzed and ranked by a panel of college professors, political experts, and municipal directors.

When we take solely consider overall quality of city services, Fremont ranks amongst the top ten cities in America with high ranks in education, safety, health, and economy. However, Fremont ranks extremely low in total budget per capita, and even lower for infrastructure and pollution. All is not well in our golden city, but

CITY

Race to City Council Election

Seven candidates will battle over just two City Council seats this November. Vinnie Bacon, the incumbent, is seeking re-election after his term ends.

Toxic Algae Blooms found in Quarry Lakes The waters are off-limits to swimmer until further notice.

The blooms are especially toxic for dogs

Continued on Page 2

California Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez dabs at debate.

New Mission Peak Parking Lot

$6.5 million parking lot is projected to need 300 hundred more spaces to meet demand at peak times.

what reforms could be made? Fixing infrastructure requires enormous amounts of government spending, but Fremont already collects relatively high tax rates. Increasing efficiency is also another problem, as city governments are usually small and sometimes not very transparent.

The new rankings especially beg hard questions of corruption and inefficiency. Some Irvington students believe that the root cause, however, is the lack of transparency.

“Everything is super expensive… goes towards taxes… and it all disap-

GARY REYES/MERCURY NEWS

STATE

Loma Prieta wildfire scorches dozens of homes in Santa Clara County.

The fire, which started on September 26th, is now 80% contained.

New Fault Line Discovered

Seismologists from University of California, San Diego discover a new fault line near San Andreas the week of October 2nd.

Sanchez ended the Oct. 5th debate against Attorney General Kamala Harris with the once-cool dance move.

Covered California requests a waiver for Obamacare regulations.

The waiver would allow illegal immigrants to buy health insurance, possibly making California the first state to grant insurance benefits to illegal immigrants.

NATIONAL

Hurricane Matthew hits Florida October 7th

The Category 4 hurricane moved

TONY /WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

At least the sign works fine! Fremont’s budget spends more than a hundred million dollars every year.

closer after passing through Haiti, triggering a slew of evacuation orders.

New Menu Item Introduced at Chipotle.

Chipotle added chorizo, spicy sausage, to its menu in an attempt to win back customers after recent outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella, and norovirus.

First (and Only) Vice-Presidential Debate

On October 4th, Senator Tim Kaine and Governor Mike Pence faced off in the first vicepresidential debate. Continuous interruptions were frequent, and CNN’s post-debate poll gave Pence a slight edge.

PATRICK SEMANSKY/CNN

INTERNATIONAL

Three British physicists awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

Thouless, Haldane, and Kosterlitz further investigated phase transitions and superconductivity within the exotic matter – potentially applicable in future quantum computers, electronics, and superconductors.

2 THE IRVINGTON VOICE NEWS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

HOUSE PRICES UP IN IRVINGTON, DOWN IN MISSION

By FIONA ZHAO STAFF WRITER

Over the past year, recent trends in housing retail indicate that home sales are increasing in the Irvington area, but decreasing in the Mission San Jose area.

Though not commonly acknowledged, analyzing rises and falls of housing trends is an effective method to gauge and speculate changes within the community..

In California – notorious for its sky-high prices – the median home value is around $469,300, or more than two and a half times that of the national average.

Yet according to Zillow, a popular online real estate database, the average house price in Irvington is $850,400, nearly two-fold the high state average, and $1,382,300 in Mission San Jose.

During late 2015 and early 2016, Mission saw a decrease of $215,000, or 17%, in home sales. On the flip side, Irvington’s home sales have increased by 3%, or roughly $22,500 in the same time period.

Factors often attributed to a home’s value include the individual home’s features and overall condition, yet a home’s location, including proximity to public facilities, demographics, and median household income, arguably plays a much larger role.

Irvington and Mission San Jose high schools both have critically acclaimed faculties and student bodies with graduation rates of 94% and 98%, respectively, that are far higher than the state and even FUSD average.

Although both areas have seen a major rise in overall sales over the past decade, Mission’s recent drop is not due to its nearby school or median household income of $147,491, but because the average price of nearly $1.4 million is simply far too expensive for even those working in Silicon Valley, especially since most homes’ conditions and quality do not surpass that of in other areas within Fremont.

“People in Silicon Valley make more money and are willing to spend more money,” sophomore Celine Young said. “That being said, [the housing prices are] still ridiculous.”

Meanwhile, Irvington’s increase in home sales point that despite the expensive prices, more are willing to move into Fremont.

New additions for the new school year

By ZARAH ZHAO STAFF WRITER

Tired of Irvington’s rundown buildings and lacking facilities? Evidently, so were the school administrators and FUSD board members, who worked together to revamp the school’s appearance. The renovations included the new announcements marquee at the front of school by Valhalla Theater, which is up and running for the first time in years. They also involved the construction of new building, which is located between the 200 wing and the portables, and opened at the beginning of this school year to eagerly awaiting students and staff.

The construction for the new building, which consists of 8 general classrooms and 4 laboratory classrooms, began on May 13, 2015.

The project was completed this summer, with

AC Transit buses From Page 1

are now forced to allow them on the bus. While this may solve the fear of being rideless, it causes another problem - overcrowding past regulations. Overcrowding is a huge safety hazard and students have the potential of getting injured.

Kulture to Korea From Page 1

merse students into the culture.

Kulture Club is a Korean-culture based club at Irvington. Last year, Kulture Club participated in Cultural Week by performing to a medley of K-pop tunes.

This year, the club is hoping to elevate interest in Korean culture by broadening students’ knowledge about culture beyond K-pop and allowing them to experience the country first hand.

As advisor Mr. Lee points out, “For this trip, I don’t want it to be just,’ Oh, I’m hopefully gonna see a celebrity’; it’s to be an educational trip with classmates and hopefully away from parents, away from their everyday life in Fremont.”

World Travels, the company sponsoring this trip, has planned excursions to multiple Korean cities. At the capitol, Seoul, students will be living metropolitan city life by exploring open-air markets and tasting authentic

a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sep. 1 2016. This major addition, which was funded by FUSD’s Measure E, was part of Series ‘A’ Classroom Additions Project. Measure E was approved by 61.8 percent of Fremont taxpayers, and, according to the FUSD website, involves a “$650 million school facilities bond that will upgrade and repair neighborhood schools by updating technology and aging classrooms”.

Feedback from students and staff has been very positive. The buzz about the new building and marquee has added to the excitement about going back to school and taken away from the monotony of students’ daily school routines.

“Many students are really tired of the old architecture, fading walls, and chipping paint, so I feel like the new building helps the students’ attitudes as they get to work in a

well-maintained environment,” said junior Taarini Hariharan.

However, the new additions have had their fair share of problems.

The administrative staff is working hard to maintain the cleanliness of the new building, as they are faced with a shortage of custodial workers.

Learning to use the marquee software has also presented challenges.

Furthermore, a student was trapped inside the elevator due to mechanical malfunctions, according to assistant principal Ms. Guzman.

Despite these minor issues, ASB President Nickita Gupta said, “I think [they are both] exciting implementations for Irvington and have hopefully made student life easier--since with the marquee you’re able to see announcements-- and more lively-since the new building has such cool features and is such a technologically advanced facility”.

But, there is still hope for those who rely on the bus.

Ms. Smoot addressed the growing issue, “I haven’t heard anything about students being left behind. But, maybe it’s too early in the school year for students to report it to their parents. It’s usually a sequence where the students complain to their parents. The parents hope it gets resolved and it doesn’t. Then, it goes to the administration

where we can notify AC Transit and hopefully reach a solution. ” Students are starting to see some changes materialize as bus sizes over the past week have increased, as well as the campus supervisor’s efforts to create an organized system to boarding the bus and avoiding chaos.

With prospective solutions on their way, it looks like our beloved savior may not need some saving.

Korean delicacies. Students are also planned to visit notable historical monuments and cultural museums such as the famous demilitarization zone bordering the infamous North Korea, the third infiltration tunnel, and the National Folk Museum. Lastly, students will taste a bit of true Korean village life by exploring a green tea field in Boseong and a Korean folk village in Yongin.

Other clubs have hosted similar trips to various other international locations in the past. French club hosted a trip to France and the Netherlands during spring break of last year. Students and advisor Madame Cayla both described on what an unique cultural and historical experience this was. International travel is definitely an expensive commitment. However, for the the diverse cultural experience, these kinds of worldly adventures are definitely something to think about.

Advisor Mr. Lee remarked, “They say it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity; [students] can experience a place that they will likely never see again.”

ZHARAH ZHAO /STAFF WRITER

The new marquee, which costed over $50 thousand, greets students each morning with announcements.

Fremont From Page 1

pears”, junior Mansi Saxena said. Such sentiment is shared by many both in Irvington and out. Other students, such as junior Ping-Ya Chao, said they “weren’t urprised” at Fremont’s low ranking, whereas Saxena admitted that she did not think the situation was as bad as it is.

Fremont is fac-

ing deep, systemic problems with efficiency and transparency for its citizens. Its annual operating budget sits at a hefty 252 pages. Buried within is a detailed listing of expenditures, revenues, and debt that many citizens simply do not have the time for.

Part of the problem is the lack of easily transferable information to Fremont’s citizens, and the lack of scrutiny of the budget due to widespread apathy.

3 THE IRVINGTON VOICE NEWS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

TEACHER SHORTAGES From Page 1

pressed interest. The position is now held by Mr. Gulet in Room 13, a recently hired P.E. teacher with credentials in health.

Irvington’s current enrollment is 2,267 students, a healthy number but nothing compared to the 2,736 students that the FUSD enrollment projection predicts will attend Irvington by the year 2022. Residential development, coupled with moderate immigration,

will further the predicted population boom.

Thanks to the FUSD policy 6151 AR in section 6000 Instruction, which maintains high school student-toteacher ratios of around 30 to 35 students per teacher and will provide more teachers if necessary, current land development and immigration levels do not affect class sizes. The availability of courses is adjusted annually, determined by enrollment numbers and registrations. This adaptability currently allows Irvington to accept any students within the school’s attendance area.

However, the issue of overcrowding is prevalent in FUSD elemen-

tary schools, where fixed class sizes force incoming students to attend inconveniently distant schools.

“We have roughly 1,050 students who are on an overload,” said Greg Bailey the director of FUSD Student Support Services. “Some of the students will be on overload for many years.”

While Irvington is currently only hiring one long-term substitute to fill in for a vacant post, this may change soon. Rising housing costs, projected student population growth, and the current condition of elementary schools indicate inevitable future overcrowding.

FIRST CLUB RUSH EXCELS DESPITE PUBLICITY DELAYS

SABRINA SUN /ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Long term substitute Lyell Bailey teaches a senior English class in P16 during third period

Mission loses football team MANBIR GHUMAN /STAFF WRITER

By MANBIR GHUMAN Staff Writer

Eddie Yi (11), President of National History Club, barters with students over the price of pop rocks.

The first of four annual Club Rushes took place on Tuesday, September 21st, featuring regulations put into place

by Michelle Obama.

Over 40 clubs participated to raise funds, leading to a variety of new foods being sold at the event. Club Rush attendance was similar to that of future years, and ASB plans to improve publicity for future events.

This year, Club Rush did not follow any new regulations but rather adhered to Michelle Obama’s school food policies that were already in place.

Some of the rules that were followed by the vendors are: all foods must contain less than 35% calories from fat, have a sugar content be less than 35%, and have less than 10% fat from saturated fats. These regulations are aimed at encouraging healthy meals for lunch.

Although Club Rush was successful, ASB did have a minor setbacks during its planning.

“Due to a few problems there was substantially less publicity for this Club Rush and there was also a problem with the event being delayed” said senior Clubs Commissioner Calvin Tam. The delay did not affect the turnout or sales of Club Rush, but rather only caused a later turnout since it took students who were not aware of the event to realize it was that day.

One of the several clubs at Club Rush

was Interact, selling spam and chicken musubi. “Profits were very good and we managed to sell out fairly quickly, even with the regulations in place,” said junior Assistant Director Dhiresh Bandaru.

Regulations did not affect many clubs, since their foods already met the requirements put in place.

While vendors and ASB benefited from an excellent event so did students at Irvington.

“Although prices were a little high, the food was good, especially spam musubi,” said senior Alex Huie “I didn’t even notice there were regulations, the food tasted amazing.”

With a great start ASB plans to hold its next Club Rush sometime within the next Quarter. ASB hosts a total of four Club Rush events throughout the school year.

By RISHEEK PRIYADARSHI Editor-in-Chief

This year, Mission will not have a football team. Due to a lack of student participation for the team this year, the school had to drop its team altogether. The athletes from Mission who wished to continue playing football were given the choice of joining Kennedy High School’s or Washington High School’s football team.

There is a rumor that the Mission principal wouldn’t allow the athletes to join Irvington or American because we

are rival schools; however, the real reason why the Mission athletes were not able to come to Irvington or American is because they are closed schools, meaning they are no longer taking in new students.

There was an exception for those students willing to transfer schools in order to play football. They do not need to meet the requirements for credits of that school this year; however, this exception will not last next year.

“After the meeting, there were a few players still interested in playing,” stated Coach Eddings. “They would have had to transfer to either Kennedy or Washington.

From what I heard, nobody transferred.”

During Spring Ball, only about 10 students showed up to play, when there should have been around 30. There

were also only nine incoming freshmen who signed up to play.

The coaches came together and decided that the lack of participation meant that the team should be cut altogether.

Dropping the team proved to be a difficult decision for Mission because it’s almost impossible to bring back the sport in later years.

“Once you cut a sport, it’s very hard to get that sport back,” said Irvington Athletic Director Michelle Stone. “One because of money, two because of interest [in the sport]”.

Although there is one less team in the Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL), which our school competes in, there will not be a lack of football games this year.

Mission hopes to bring its football team back, but there are grim hopes of doing so.

4

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

Question Man

By ELAINE CHAN STAFF WRITER

What food will you never eat again?

“Fritos. I once took a Frito from a bag of chips and it tasted disgusting. It turned out that the bag was expired.”

Sashrika Pandey (9) “Chicken liver. I ate it once at a festival and it was the grossest thing I have ever tasted.”

Raymond Zhao (10) “Octopus. They have a lot of legs, and I feel like vomitting when I see them.”

Student Life

First-ever Clubs Week attracts widespread interest

By MICHELLE HUANG Humor Editor

Irvington clubs participated in lunchtime events for the school’s first-ever Clubs Week from Sept. 12 to 16.

The week-long event featured dozens of clubs, as well as a Club Rap Battle and performances by clubs such as ICED and IndoPak. Clubs Week was intended to provide another opportunity, besides MAZE Day, to call attention to clubs, and for students to sign-up for clubs that they may have missed during orientation. There was a

Club Rap Battle on Monday, and from Tuesday to Friday, clubs set up booths in the courtyard.

Culture-based clubs set up booths on Tuesday, a variety of interest-based clubs displayed their options on Wednesday, service-based clubs advertised their service events on Thursday, and performance-based clubs showed off their talents on Friday. The booths were similar to those that clubs set up on MAZE Day. Many people turned out to watch the clubs battle it out on the day of the rap battle.

“The event

By AYUSH PATEL STUDENT LIFE EDITOR

“Green vegetables. I might like them when I’m older, but for now, I’m not used to them.”

SABRINA SUN/ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The International Thespian Society is one of many interest-based clubs at Irvington that publicized during Clubs Week.

Welcoming the newest additions to the Viking Family

By TANISHA SINGH NEWS EDITOR

Mr. Jaramillo (Assistant Principal) If you still haven’t His favorite subtalked to your attendance ject in school has always clerk or even been to the been World History. main office, then you are Throughout high school, probably unaware of the college, and post college, fact that Irvington has a Mr. Jaramillo traveled to new assistant principal. Europe and South AmerThat’s right! If you hear ica. In fact, traveling to 80’s music or smell Ital- landmarks and visiting ian food, then you can museums always kept guess that it is coming him close to the subject. from Mr. Michael JaraIn addition to travmillo’s office. eling, Mr. Jaramillo is a Before coming to sports enthusiast. He Irvington this year, Mr. not only enjoys watching Jaramillo has been a sports, but also enjoys special education teach- exercising and playing er for 13 years and the baseball recreationally.

Extended School Year He was a college baseSummer School Prin- ball athlete at UCLA, cipal for special educa- and played some minor tion in Fremont for two league baseball throughyears. After graduating out his career. from UCLA, he started Advice from our his educational career in assistant principal: “Enthe Los Angeles Unified joy your high school caSchool District followed reer! I know academics by teaching at public are important and everyschools in Portland, Or- one wants to get into the egon for four years. Re- best university possible, cently, he taught special but really take in these ed students at Washing- four years and enjoy ton High School for three them!” years.

TANISHA SINGH/NEWS EDITOR

Mr. Jaramillo enjoys Indian cuisine, especially chicken biryani.

said. “I just want to say that the whole thing was completely a joke and only for laughs. Everything that was said was planned ahead and shown to everyone else, so we all approved of the roasts and none of us took it personally because at the end of the day we’re all homies!”

ASB will most likely host the event again next year. “It went pretty smoothly but we definitely could’ve had a bigger turnout,” said Clubs Commissioner Assistant Catherine Cheng. “Next year we could increase publicity to attract more clubs to participate.”

Dumbledore’s Army is Rowling into IHS

Ummal Shateeka (11)

Joseph Mins (12)

turned out amazingly,” Clubs Commissioner Calvin Tam said. “It was just a friendly rap battle between friends who all knew what we were getting into. ” Sophomore Reetam Ganguli participated in the rap battle on behalf of Debate Club. His creative rap lyrics gained widespread attention across social media, as many students shared it with their friends, who enjoyed a good laugh at it.

“The rap battle was definitely really fun and great for everyone to roast their friends and have fun,” Ganguli

Ms. Abogado (College Career Counselor) Role on Campus: was definitely psychol“In general, I’m here as ogy. She then transa resource for the stu- ferred to UC Irvine to dents. Our counselors at receive her Bachelors in Irvington play a big role Psychology and Social in helping the students Behavior. These courses take the right classes and helped her decide her cameet the requirements reer pathway as a college needed to graduate high and career specialist. school. I’m here to help Aside from out after the fact. This working with the stuincludes when students dents at Irvington, Ms. need to figure out exactly Abogado really likes which colleges they want pasta and just about to attend, scholarships anything carby! From needed for those col- spaghetti and lasagna to leges, what major they garlic bread, she loves would want to take, find- to dig into Italian food. ing internships, and any In addition, she recomfinancial aid help they mends that students try may need among other out Rock n Salsa, which things.” has Taco Thursdays.

Ms. Abogado She loves watchis a college and career ing movies and tv shows specialist, but previ- in her spare time. In ously, she worked as a fact, she’s currently on secretary at the FUSD season three of Game of office for two years. She Thrones and owns all the grew up in Fremont and Harry Potter movies. particularly liked math.

Advice from our However, once she at- College Career Countended Ohlone Commu- selor: “Be proactive. You nity College she found are on the verge of adultthat her favorite subject hood and it’s time to adjust to that mindset.

TANISHA SINGH/NEWS EDITOR

Want to discuss the Harry Potter books and movies?

Come talk to Ms. Abogado!

Founded by senior Angela Chan this school year, Dumbledore’s Army appeals to students who are vaguely familiar with the series and to huge fans. The club is set to host a number of events this year including the Sorting Ceremony, Valhaunted, and a Quidditch tournament.

“The purpose of this club is to expand interest of the Harry Potter fans through the books to basically have a community at school,” President Angela Chan said. “We want people to actually talk about their interests and experience the fandom in person with all different types of people.”

The Sorting Ceremony is still in the process of being developed; however, Chan said that the club may replicate the ceremony as depicted in the movie. Members would have to submit personal information to the club and based on that information, the club will sort members into different houses.

“We’re going to have a hat,” Chan said, “and I am going to see if there is a way I can put a microphone and bluetooth speaker in it, and make the hat move. We can then just speak into the thing and make it super cool and dramatic.”

In addition to determining the members’ houses, Harry Potter Club will coordinate with the Performing Arts Club (PAC) to host Ir-

vington’s haunted house this year, Valhaunted.

Members will have the opportunity to be exposed to the theater and performing arts.

PAC President senior Simi Sen said that PAC is collaborating with Dumbledore’s Army to createscary thrills for all ages by creating a nostalgic, familiar, but kidfriendly level of scary.

“It definitely shall be different from last year, mainly because our theme is Harry Potter and we are teaming with Dumbledore’s Army to make that happen,” Sen said. “This is also great publicity for Dumbledore’s Army because this is their first year as a fellow Viking club.

We want to bring them out to the light and let people know that this is a fun club that will have events.”

Chan said that Valhaunted requires aid and Dumbledore’s Army is a specific targeted community in which people who like the books really tend to like them.

“Once we have a solid concept for Valhaunted House, I think we can definitely help them get more members since they will need a lot of help,” Chan said.

Other events that Harry Potter Club may feature include a Quidditch tournament.

“I want to do a Quidditch match instead Continued on Page 5

AYUSH PATEL/STUDENT LIFE EDITOR

Harry Potter Club officers discuss how members will soon be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin.

5 THE IRVINGTON VOICE STUDENT LIFE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016 From Page 5 HARRY POTTER of dodgeball or another game similar to it,” Chan said. “I wanted to do several collaborations with other clubs as well, but then again ,we also want to make a dedicated community by just doing things together.”

Junior Pavitra Jayabalansingam said that she looks forward to Harry Potter Club’s sorting ceremony. “ I hope that they recreate it based on the movie,” Jayabalansingam said.

ANNIKA YOUNG/STAFF WRITER

Former Irvington teacher runs for California State Assembly

By RAHUL SUDHARSAN STAFF WRITER Retired AP US History teacher, Cheryl Cook-Kallio, is running for California State Assembly in Nov. as a Democrat in order to convey strong messages about education and women’s health care. Her political campaign has been preceded by 39 years of public school teaching.

Teaching U.S. History and Government, We the People, and QUEST has strengthened her belief in today’s youth.

Cook-Kallio plans to improve Women’s healthcare in the Alameda, especially in underserved communities.

“Most women in this situation are single moms and which also affects their children,” Cook-Kallio said.

Environmental concerns and gun violence prevention are also priorities in Cook-Kallio’s campaign.

“We need to make sure we have clean air and water. Finally, we need to do more with gun violence prevention measures,” said CookKallio.

The California League of Conservation Voters have endorsed her campaign as the best choice for the environment.

Cook-Kallio said that she is accepting QUEST students for her campaign.

“I love it that my teaching friends at Irvington are all in for me and I love to see former students as well as current Irvington people at my offices. The more the merrier. We need everyone we can to get the message out. We are flexible! Come on over anytime!”

As a former teacher, Cook-Kallio advises students to take pride in their community.

“The most important is that democracy is a participatory sport. We have to pay attention and participate on all levels,” Cook-Kallio said. “I feel so fortunate to be in this situation and have such wonderful support. It is humbling to have so many people working to ensure I am elected in November.”

Senior Week brings unity among students of Class of ‘17

By RADHIKA MUNSHANI NEWS EDITOR

ASB designated the second week of school this year as “Senior Week.” It consisted of four days of activities and events planned specifically for seniors after the Labor Day Weekend, to spur student bonding and build excitement for their final year of high school.

Tues. Senior Selfie ASB partnered with Snapchat to provide a specialized Snapchat filter for students on campus. The filter was put to good use as students throughout the day used it to send pictures and post on their stories.

“We all used the filter throughout the day to post on our stories or send pictures to friends.

It was really cool to have our own snapchat filter too,” said senior Keerthana Routhu.

Wed. Senior Tee The second day of Senior Week was dedicated to showing off senior spirit, as seniors wore their class t-shirt.

It provided an early opportunity to spur class bonding and unity.

“It was really cool because it was the first time all the seniors really represented the class all together,” said senior Eunice Kim. Thurs. Senior Picnic Seniors spent the

NICKITA GUPTA

Seniors Tanisha Singh and Nickita Gupta take advantage of the custom Snapchat filter on Senior Sunrise

Hello Dance ticket sales rise based on high attendance from freshman

By SYDNEY WELCH STAFF WRITER

CHERYL COOK-KALLIO

Cheryl Cook-Kallio serves as a board member to the Pleasanton Partnership in Education Foundation.

ASB’s Audio Tech Commissioners senior Nate Sullivan and junior Shanay Randeria hosted this year’s Hello Dance, in which there was a high freshmen attendance, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Sept. 9 in Irvington’s courtyard. Sullivan and

Randeria began planning the event since early August. Sullivan said that ASB began brainstorming ideas during the last month of summer.

“The part that took the longest was figuring out what music to actually play at the dance,”

school day at a campground, participating in activities with their friends. This year, ASB shifted senior picnic to early first semester, rather than late second semester. Also notable was the expanded guest list; the senior picnic hosted seniors from all six FUSD high schools. Students met with friends from other school while spending the day at the grounds.

Attractions ranged from water slides to inflatable obstacles courses, and rock climbing to archery.

“Senior picnic was a great experience, especially because we got to meet up with friends from neighbor-

ing schools,” said Senior Shivali Baveja.

Fri. Senior Sunrise & Unity Day Senior Week ended with seniors meeting early morning at the football fields to see the sunrise with hot chocolate and donuts, along with another custom Snapchat filter. It marked a final show of unity and class spirit to cap off a week dedicated to the class of 2017.

“Even though the sun didn’t rise at the expected time, it was so cool to see so many people of our class wake up early and come together to share a memory,” said senior Nickita Gupta.

said Sullivan. “There are so many unique people at our school, so naturally, we tried to make sure we had a little bit of everything.”

Shanay Randeria said that he saw students from every class at the Hello Dance, but still believes that the freshmen made up a good portions of the attendees.

“The most stressful part about planning the dance was the type of music that we decided to play and actually being able to create a welcoming environment for all of our students,” said Randeria. “This was especially important for us because it mainly had a huge impact on the freshmen that attended the dance.”

Freshman Nava Babaei said that the Hello Dance was better than Horner socials.

“Seeing the projector I automatically knew it was going to be

way more legit than the Horner socials,” said Babaei.

Although freshman Helen Nguyen thought the food selection was not the best, she enjoyed the dance overall.

“I loved the music, said Nguyen.” Everybody was pumping their firsts, and up on their feet.”

Although Sullivan said that he was nervous at the beginning of the dance, he eventually overcame his fears.

“But once I got up there and started getting into it, my anxiety soon left me and I started having a good time,” said Sullivan. “Honestly with a dance like this, being the first one of the year, you can never really expect any type of turnout.

Our ultimate goal is to work to unify the school, and it’s events like dances that I believe we can become one united school.”

6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

Opinions

The health of presidential candidates is none of The criticism of Malia Obama our business is entirely undeserved Caitlin Chen Just days after Republicans argued that Hillary Clinton’s coughing spells along the campaign trail were indicative of a more severe health issue, Clinton left a 9/11 memorial ceremony to rest at her daughter’s apartment. Re-emerging around two hours later, she flashed a thumbs-up and told reporters that she felt “great”; just two hours later, her campaign revealed that her doctor had diagnosed her with pneumonia.

Democrats and Republicans alike have raised questions about both her and Donald Trump’s health and transparency, clamoring for more medical information that could potentially affect their abilities to lead. This may seem wise, while releasing medical records could in theory prevent us from electing presidents who are unfit to serve, this invasion of privacy has negative consequences for politics, media, and the health of the candidate.

Historically, candidates have infrequently released medical records. There is no legal requirement for candidates to disclose health information, and no precedent of doing so as there is for releasing tax returns. While John McCain released more than 1,000 pages of medical records, other presidential candidates have remained silent about their diseases, including Senator Paul Tsongas, who ran for the Democratic presidential primary in 1992. Though he suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his campaign reassured the public that he was cancer-free. However, if he had been elected, he would have died soon after being elected, as he did a few years later at home.

Perhaps because of cases such as these, 59 percent of voters now believe that all major presidential candidates should release at least their most recent medical records to the public.

However, it appears that detailed medical records are used more to spread panic than anything.

Releasing medical information about candidates has not helped the public predict which of their president would die in office. Of the eight presidents who died in office, and the four who were not assassinated, the others died suddenly, of ailments that could not be foreseen. President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia that he contracted after he was sworn in. President Zachary Taylor died of gas-

troenteritis he developed likely due to contamination from the White House’s open sewers. Harding was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and Roosevelt died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. Even if these presidents had all released their medical records, the records could not have given indication about their abilities to finish their terms. It seems like requesting health information is more about political maneuvering rather than any real concern about ability to lead.

Forcing candidates to release health information could also pointlessly impact the candidates. John F. Kennedy suffered from many ailments in private.

Had he released this information and consequently not been elected, we would have lost a great president to lead us through the Cold War. Similarly, though Franklin D. Roosevelt suffered from polio and was hardly able to stand, he successfully led the country through World War II. Perhaps Clinton should not have hid the fact that she was sick, but her doing so was entirely reasonable. Alarmists and whistle-blowers are blowing pneumonia, a very common and easily treatable disease, way out of proportion. Running for president is absolutely exhausting and running for president while sick is a testament to her unbelievable stamina and determination rather than a nonsensical theory about more serious health issues.

Her minor ailments are distracting from true issues. Millions of Americans live perfectly healthy lives with hypothyroidism, but her doctor’s letter is causing people to question her ability to lead, giving for politicians the chance to stigmatize and twist easily treatable diseases. Trump, for instance, has already asked her about her stamina. Irrelevant conditions, despite their ease of treatability, provide ample ammunition for critics to manipulate and stigmatize under the pretense of transparency.

Voters do have the right to know about critical diseases that may truly prevent their candidates from serving, such as cancers or a strong indications of mental diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, but knowing Trump’s childhood appendectomy or about Clinton’s hypothyroidism has only led to unfounded speculation that distracts from the true issues. Our focus on minor aspects of candidates’ health has reduced the political race to unfounded attacks rather a debate of the issues.

iApprove the iPhone 7 Ayush Patel Think about your first Apple product. It was probably some version of the iPod. From the elementary days, you grew more and more spoiled and eventually came to today. You now have an iPad, Macbook, Beats headphones, and of course, the iPhone. People heavily rely on Apple’s iPhones in particular because of its many useful features; the GPS, voice-text messaging, and health monitors are among many applications that assist people’s daily routines. However, after Apple’s announcement, which stated that the company would remove the headphone jack from the iPhone, many customers became angry at the idea of wireless earbuds. However, people should stop criticizing Apple for their newly-released iPhone 7 because, despite the phone’s drawbacks, Apple always creates products with quality and innovation.

As always, the new iPhone 7 is faster than its predecessors. According to Apple’s product testing, the iPhone 7’s A10 Fusion chip makes it twice as fast as the iPhone 6. In other words, the iPhone 7’s superior speed almost makes it a mini computer. People should not complain, therefore, as this quick speed is very user-friendly. Those who are impatient only need to wait a fraction of a second for their phones to load videos, games, or other applications. In addition to the A10 fusion chip, Apple improved the the camera in the new iPhone. Although the number of megapixels per photo did not change, the maximum aperture, which allows for blurry background effect, of the iPhone is now 1.8, compared to 2.2 of that of the iPhone 6s. In other words, the iPhone camera is on par with many professional cameras, and it allows for the user to takes pictures with similar high-quality depth. Apple stated that in the iPhone 7 Plus, there is an optical lens

that allows a user to zoom twice as far as the normal iPhone 7 without making the photos seem grainy.

Despite the iPhone’s many new features, many are mostly fixed on the fact that there is no headphone jack and condemn Apple’s efforts to make the phone more user friendly. Remember how no one knew how to use the iCloud? Now, iCloud is extremely convenient as it allows users to easily share photos with others without going through the hassle of sending a multitude of photos through email or iMessage. Just like the iCloud, the idea of the Air Pods are undergoing a similar phase. Unsurprisingly, the most common complaint is that it is impossible to use earphones to listen to music on the iPhone 7, but one can still listen to music through the lightning connector.

With Air Pods, people do not need to worry about tangled wires; students can even hide them better in the middle of boring lectures. Air Pods are expensive, but with good reason. They can be used as Bluetooth chips and have five hours of battery life on a single charge, which is more than enough power to listen to music. Just fifteen minutes of charging can yield three hours of battery life. In addition, Edison Research, a company that conducts polls and surveys monthly, claims that the average American listens to a total of four hours of music a day, meaning that the five-hour battery life is more than enough.

If you’re still unconvinced that the iPhone 7 is not worth the price, then buy the iPhone 6s. Except you will not. You will still buy the iPhone 7 because deep down, you know that Apple products are very long-lasting and reliable. Otherwise, you would never have bought previous iPhones or taken interest in the wireless Air Pods anyways. At least the iPhone 7 is not a ticking time bomb like its main competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Subaita Rahman Before the Obamas officially moved into the White House, twins Jenna and Barbara Bush published an open letter to the Obama sisters, saying: “Go to anything and everything ... Have fun and enjoy your childhood in what is such a magical place to live and play.” Sasha and Malia Obama have done just that, from cheering at basketball games to fangirling over Ryan Reynolds together, all while being exemplary role models. Considering the high expectations of being the first black family in the White House, the Obama sisters have done nothing wrong. Lately, however, critics have been using every opportunity to tear down Malia Obama, and it is simply unfair for Malia to be so heavily targeted by the public for doing what most kids her age do.

Unsurprisingly, the first families of the past have a history of receiving criticism at any imperfection. Alice Roosevelt was once reprimanded for sneaking in her pet snake, and the Bush twins had a reputation for wild underage drinking, which naturally brought in disapproval. However, it is clear from the beginning that the Obamas have had a raw deal, as the sisters have had unusually hard standards set for them from the beginning. At the annual turkey pardoning ceremony in 2014, spokesperson Elizabeth Lauten was quick to attack Malia, just for looking bored. She wrote, “Try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play...Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.” It should be pointed out that the two sisters were both wearing modest sweaters, with Malia in a loose skirt and leggings. When Malia chose Harvard for her college, people everywhere quickly took up arms, throwing racial slurs and calling her acceptance an example of “black privilege”, which is an offensive term that reeks ignorance towards the natural struggles in black people’s lives. Naturally, being the President’s daughter will invite disapproval, but it seems as if the Obama sisters must meet impossible standards simply because they are young black women.

Recently, Malia Obama was the target of such criticism because she was spotted at festival Lollapalooza, where she was filmed dancing and smoking marijuana instead of being at the Democratic National Convention. However, nothing she did was illegal - Illinois recently legalized the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana.

Smoking marijuana is also nothing newsworthy; Pew Research reports that over 70 percent of all college students try marijuana, and that 1 out of every 17 students smoking

it daily. So why is it so outrageous if Malia, another college-age girl, is part of that 70 percent? Obviously smoking is not encouraged, but it is also common and part of many students’ regular college experience. While she was out being a normal kid, the DNC hosted speeches from various political figures and presidential nominees, none of which pertain to her specifically. By allowing Malia to go to Lollapalooza instead, her parents have shown that they, like everyone else should, think of her as a person and not a prop. Lollapalooza is obviously a more appealing option to any 18-year-old, and keeping her around and the DNC just for ornamentation or public image would be ridiculous.

It’s understandable that the First Family should be held to a slightly higher standard, given that they reach millions across the country. However, too many people have publicly denounced her, calling her and her sister despicable and classless despite their constant respectable composure, and throwing slurs from the start of the term. It’s ridiculous to discredit her eight years of model behavior just as soon as she begins to loosen up. Malia is also going to Harvard, which is plenty role model worthy by itself. Her admirable reputation should not be overshadowed by simply being a kid.

Malia Obama will soon be entering Harvard as a normal teenager, and normalcy will be impossible for her if we keep giving her such a hard time for things that anyone her age would do. She is her own person - she is not the White House, she is not the President, and she has made no efforts to step into the political spotlight that would invite such extreme scrutiny. This habit of tearing down the family of politicians as if they are there only for ornamentation is dangerous and demeaning, and it distracts from actual problems.

It’s about time critics focus on real issues, instead of an Ivy Leaguebound teenager enjoying life.

EDITORS

STAFF WRITERS

Zarah Zhao

CAITLIN CHEN, Editor-in-Chief

Annika Yong

Manbir Ghuman

RISHEEK PRIYADARSHI, Editor-in-Chief

Fiona Zhao

Subaita Rahman

RADHIKA MUNSHANI, News Editor

Elaine Chan

Vivian Hoang

TANISHA SINGH, News Editor

Isha Sanghvi

Breanna de Vera Sydney Welch

MARTIN H. SIMON-POOL/ GETTY IMAGES

AYUSH PATEL, Student Life Editor

William Yoo

SARVESH MAYVILHANAN, Sports Editor

ADVISOR

SABRINA SUN, Entertainment Editor

Matthew Phillips

7 THE IRVINGTON VOICE OPINIONS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

No Is the New Yes Atira Nair Last January, the rape of a young college student and the outrageous verdict given to the perpetrator sparked outrage nationwide.

The Stanford rape case is one of many cases in the U.S. that emphasizes the depth of rape culture in our society. Even though we might believe that America is always progressive, in reality, the U.S. still has work to do when it comes to rape policy. Even now, many victims are struggling to find justice, because rape is still debated constantly.

However, the definition should not be so complicated.

Rape is when sexual intercourse occurs when consent has not been given. Rape is still rape if consent was given, but revoked.

It is still rape if the person is intoxicated or not conscious enough to give consent, if any sexual activity occurs without the person’s consent, and if it occurs between spouses or any domestic relationship. Recently, there have been cases upon cases of rape where the victim is blamed while the perpetrator is left unharmed. To combat this, it is vital that societal and political changes be made in order to halt the spread of rape culture that is so prominent in the United States.

There are many unre-

GABRIELLE LURIE/AFP PHOTO

solved rape cases in which the perpetrator does not get convicted, due to loopholes or societal values.

For instance, in the Stanford rape case, Brock Turner digitally raped another student while they were both intoxicated. Turner defended himself by claiming that the act was consensual, despite clear evidence of the victim’s unconscious state.

USA Today reported that Turner’s father also tried defending him by claiming that a lengthy prison sentence is “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.” This statement just

reveals how prominent rape culture is in the U.S. It only affected Turner for 20 minutes, however, it will affect the victim for her entire life. Due to this, the judge only gave Turner a six month prison sentence (which was cut short by three months for good behavior), claiming “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others.”

The judge’s bias and sympathy towards the assailant rather than the actual victim impacted his verdict, revealing how rape culture is evident in the U.S. in the way

people excuse the perpetrator’s actions and fail to bring justice for the victims.

Rape culture is a real issue in the United States. It encourages male aggression and entitlement, due to the reinforced yet incorrect idea that men are naturally inclined towards violence and assault. Rape culture is defined in the way many people flippantly say things such as: “boys will be boys,” implying that boys are not responsible for their actions and that it is the victims who are to blame in their own assault. This only further increases the rate of rape crimes and is not at all valid.

Men are responsible for their actions and just as it is for other serious offenses, they should suffer the consequences. Furthermore, many people imply that rape victims are to blame for their assault. They defend rapists by claiming that rape occurred in part because of the victim’s clothing, outer appearance, or actions. This is an atrocious claim, because people do not wear what they wear or act the way they do to actively initiate rape. Although rape leaves a lasting impact on the lives and emotional wellbeing of many people in the world, cases involving sexual assault are often not taken as seriously partly due to the influence of rape culture.

There are also the cases of rape that we don’t normally hear about, involving two men, two

The role of a debate moderator Atira Nair “#LaueringTheBar” was trending on Twitter after the disastrous forum held by Debate Moderator Matt Lauer during the live prime time forum involving Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Sept 7, 2016. Lauer received numerous criticisms for not taking the chance to correct Trump’s lies, while challenging Clinton with tougher questions about her leaked emails. The role of a debate moderator is not limited to keeping participants from going off topic and reminding them of the time limit. Asking candidates questions with similar difficulty as well as challenging their statements to make sure they don’t benefit from presenting false facts to the voters is also important for a fair debate, especially now when the debates matter the most for deciding America’s next president.

During the interview, Lauer failed to point out Trump’s numerous false claims during the forum.

Trump said he was against the war in Iraq from the beginning, but according to Politifact, Trump actually told Howard Stern in a phone call he supported the war in 2002.

Lauer did not point the lie out even when Hillary mentioned about Trump’s phone call with Howard Stern in the previous interview and allowed Trump to lie to the American voters on television. He was unsuccessful in running a fair forum and condoned Trump’s behavior.

According to PEW Research Centre, live cable news is seen as the most helpful source for American voters, with 24 percent of American voters seeing live debates and

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

forums as the most reliable information source. Therefore, making sure the candidates are honest with their facts is crucial for providing accurate information to help voters make the correct choice and vote for the candidate truly demonstrating the attributes the voters value.

Furthermore, Lauer used a third of the time to question Clinton about her email scandal, but asked Trump open-ended questions he was usually able to evade. Lauer repeatedly pressed Clinton about her leaked confidential emails, leaving little time for other major topics, such as domestic terror attacks, veteran treatment and ISIS. However, he gave Trump a “free pass” and did not press on him the same way he did to Clinton. He started with asking Trump why he was qualified for commander-in-chief, and other

relatively open-ended questions.

In addition, when Trump said he was going to form a court system in the military, Lauer did not grab the chance to point out that there already was a court system in the military. When a candidate gets to answer easier questions while another candidate gets challenged and interrupted constantly over the debate, the candidate without the challenging queries gets an unfair

advantage. Since voters may view the candidate answering the softball questions as the participant with a better performance, an unfair forum may impact their final decision. Lauer did not challenge the two candidates the same way and therefore fails to carry out his job professionally.

The role of a debate moderator is to fact check their candidates to prevent false information

women, or a woman as the perpetrator. We don’t hear about cases like these mainly due to societal ideas about men, women, and the nature of rape. Cases involving men as the victim are often overlooked, partly due to the idea that men cannot be subject to rape. In some cases, cultural values put pressure on men to appear strong, thus, the victims often refuse to speak up about their assault and bring it to court.

Furthermore, when women are involved as the perpetrators, juries have a hard time believing the victim, due to preconceived ideas of women being weak. Clearly, societal values are important factors in rape cases.

To combat this injustice and ignorance, it is vital that rape policy be revised to help victims and rape as a concept be redefined. A good way to start is by informing students in public schools about the definition of rape and the unjust outcomes of rape culture. If we educate the younger generation about rape and its consequences, we can reduce rape crimes and make sure that future policies will not allow for loopholes that leave the perpetrator free of consequence. In addition to this, we can help enforce stronger government policies that help victims and stop rape culture from influencing verdicts for sex offenders. Political and societal change are both strong factors in upending rape culture and providing justice for rape victims.

from being perceived as truth. Lauer is an example of debate moderator condoning blatant lies told in debates. Journalists are chosen to be debate moderators because they are most aware of what is true and what is not. They should be well-prepared and quick to point out their false claims. Chris Wallace, a presidential debate moderator for the upcoming third debate in October, said that he will not be in the “truth squad” because he believes that it is not his job to fact check candidates during a debate. But without debate moderators fact checking on the validity of their statements, the audience may be deceived into believing in their false claims when they rely heavily on live debates and forums for information. What is journalism, if not a “truth squad”? Debate moderators should also ask candidates equally challenging questions to further help present the truth to the audience. They should not ask one candidate hard, grilling questions while asking another candidate questions that could be easily evaded. This may mislead the public voters into thinking one candidate performed better, just because the candidate was able to give vague, evading answers to openended questions while the other was pressed to explain her wrongful mistakes.

8

Features

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

A WALKER TO REMEMBER

By FIONA ZHAO Staff Writer

How to Last in

The coach of the boys’ and girls’ tennis team for the past three years, Mr. Lyle Walker, is a familiar face at Irvington. This year, Walker undertakes a long-term challenge to substitute sophomore and senior English classes in P-16. Though he is currently eligible to substitute for up to sixty days, he earnestly remarks that he would be willing to teach for an entire year, for “as long as they want [him]”. Although Mr. Walker has never taught at a public school as a year-round instructor, he takes his role seriously, acknowledging the need for a teacher to care of the students’ learning process and intellectual growth. Walker specializes in teaching the humanities, including English, History, Drama, and public speaking. His wide range of interests include theatre – in particular dance theatre and Shakespeare – gardening, politics, and tennis; Walker even has a tattoo of a tennis ball.

The Irvington Voice newest t FIONA ZHAO/STAFF WRITER

“The very first thing that I wanted to do was teach. When I got my degree in drama, I didn’t want to become an unemployed actor because that was usually the situation, and my ego kept me from teaching drama – and that was a mistake ... But I’m teaching now and I’m happy about it.”

IRVINGTON’S NEW ENGLISH TEACHER LOVES DOGS

By ATIRA NAIR

MR. PLAYER, LIKE BASEBALL PLAYER

By VIVIAN HOANG

Staff Writer

This year, there have been many new new teachers arriving at Irvington, including Matt Reznick, a teacher for 9th grade English Honors and 12th grade English. Reznick came from Santa Barbara, California to teach at Irvington High School. He taught previously at Santa Barbara High School as a 12th grade English teacher and at UC Irvine as a Lower Division Literature and Composition professor five years prior.

Reznick talked about the friendly and helpful teachers here at Irvington and he also has noted on the determination and motivation of both his 9th and 12th grade students.

So far, Reznick has been showing off some Viking pride. He participated in the marshmallow challenge at the Hello Rally.

“The amount of fun everybody was having, it’s not just a place where people are motivated to work,” he stated. “It’s a place where people are motivated to excel as people.”

Besides teaching, Reznick also has a poodle mix named Luna and owns over 400 vinyl records. At the end of the day, Reznick’s ultimate goal is to help students.

ATIRA NAIR/STAFF WRITER

“I also know what it’s like to have a bad teacher...I also love literature and I think that it’s not just about books, it’s about self-advocacy ... and I want to be able to help people reach that.”

Staff Writer

Mr. Rodney Player is Irvington’s newest resource teacher from Houston, Texas. He has been working in special education for the past seven years and specializes in helping students who have behavioral issues. His patience and understanding helps him teach kids who may struggle with certain tasks. The goal is to reintegrate those kids back into regular classrooms.

Player says that best part of his job is, “helping students work towards graduation and succeeding later in life.” He really loves his family, especially his two kids, an eight-month boy and and eight year old daughter. He is a huge Houston Rockets fan, but is not willing to become a Warriors fan. Mr. Player enjoys his job and the California weather. He wants to be active in the school community, and is willing to be a club advisor or participate in rallies. He and his wife have been frequenting the football games and supporting Irvington’s athletes.

Player is available in room 43 for students who want to talk about school, life, or basketball.

VIVIAN HOANG/STAFF WRITER

“Be proactive and plan ahead. Stay on top of things. Don’t be afraid to seek out help.

9 THE IRVINGTON VOICE FEATURES FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

n New Classes

e takes a look at our teachers HIS TIME AS AN ADMINISTRATOR IS NOW HISTORY

By ZARAH ZHAO

MS. STILWELL SUPPORTS ALL HER STUDENTS

By RADHIKA MUNSHANI News Editor

Ms. Stilwell instructs all students who may require additional emotional support, through the Counselor Enrich/Outreach Program.

Through this position, she teaches all subjects for all grade levels, and crafts personalized curriculum for her students, ranging from, “science to English to math, and every level of it.” She is required to be able to understand and teach a vast array of subject material every period, every day. However, Ms. Stilwell says, “It’s hard to [teach so many subjects and curriculums], but I have really great kids, and they make it all worth it”.

Prior to coming to Irvington, Ms. Stilwell taught at an elementary school within the FUSD school district for four years, teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities, and before that she taught in Stockton for seven years. This will be her first year teaching in a high school full-time. She is slightly nervous but very much excited to start teaching at Irvington, where she will now once again be teaching in the same school as her husband, History teacher Mr. Stilwell. “[Teaching with Mr.Stilwell] is nice. We don’t see each other too much because we’re both too busy, so it’s nice to carpool and be able to go over our days together, and it cuts down on gas”.

Ms. Stilwell is looking forward to getting to know her students and other teachers better, as well as participating in Faculty Follies.

RADHIKA MUNSHANI/NEWS EDITOR

“I’m looking forward to teaching at Irvington and getting to know all of my kids. They all work so hard, and that makes all of it worth it.”

Staff Writer

Jay Jackson: champion Stanford wrestler and coach, administrative staff member, and now history teacher once more.

After 4 years, the former assistant principal has returned to his original position as a world history and sports psychology teacher.

Though many know of him as a part of the administrative staff, Jackson, originally from Mercer Island, WA, joined the Viking family as a world history teacher.

“I have a pretty well-defined true north or purpose for myself, and it’s that I want to help people be better and happier, and I thought that going back to teaching would help me more directly follow that true north,” said Jackson.

Jackson has always enjoyed teaching history and sports psychology due to the flexibility history provides and the ability for students to learn from the mistakes and successes of real people in history and become “more productive, happier people”.

Furthermore, he mentioned the pros and cons of being an assistant principal, which is clearly not as easy as it may seem.

“I’ll miss the challenge of being an administrator, because as a teacher, you have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen any given day. But as an administrator, you never know what that day’s going to bring. I will say though, that it’s a ton of work, and it’s very difficult. It’s more time away from my family too, so I’m not going to miss the hours.”

LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

By SARVESH MALIVAHANAN Sports Editor

One of Irvington’s new staff members, Mr. Tawakuli, is teaching Core Support, a class that helps prepare students for the future, in room P-15.

“I’m looking forward to challenges and getting my kids acclimated to curriculum, helping them to succeed, and getting their big picture planned,” Tawakuli stated.

His main priority is making sure students are prepared for life after college and that they have a plan that they can follow. His class does career planning and explains what students need to do to for different routes after high school such as a four-year college or a two-year college. He goes over the different required classes and informs them of what skills they need to develop to go into a certain career path.

“There’s specific teachers in my life that affected me very positively and gave me opportunities that other ones would not give me and they changed my life and my direction dramatically,” he said. “I knew I was going to get into teaching. I wanted to give advice after seeing other people like myself, and hopefully they can learn from my mistakes.”

SARVESH MALIVAHANAN/SPORTS EDITOR

ZARAH ZHAO/STAFF WRITER

“If you focus on grades, you get stressed out. If you focus on learning, you’ll be happy, and the byproduct is good grades.”

“It’s okay if you don’t know exactly what you want to do. You can take time to find that, don’t feel rushed. But make sure you’re always working on something as a backup, and I wish I had done that. I wish I always had a backup plan. Even if you don’t know what you want to do, make sure you have that backup job you’re working on so at least you have something fall back on.”

10

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

Entertainment

Fall Fashion 2016

By Isha Sanghvi STAFF WRITER

Shawn Mendes’s “Illuminate” will brighten your day

Casual Comfort:

Staying comfortable in the fall is everyone’s priority. From sweatshirts to boots, fashion at Irvington is often very casual. Senior Riley Sasaki said, “Fashion for me isn’t what other people are doing.

It’s more of a personal thing. It’s hard to isolate yourself yet still be with the trends. But, comfort in my opinion is the most important thing as well as functionality.”

Dressed for the Weather:

Fall’s weather is fickle, with chilly mornings rapidly shifting into sunny afternoons. “It’s cold in the mornings, so I usually wear long sleeves and jeans. But, I wear light colors because it tends to get warmer throughout the day. Anything that has light colors or brown reminds me of fall,” said sophomore Angelique Membrido.

Simple yet Refined:

Fashion isn’t always about a certain trend or type of outfit.

Sometimes, it’s just a reflection of how one feels that particular day.

When asked about his sense of fashion, junior Atul Mavuduru said, “If I could describe my fashion sense, it would be simple yet refined. I usually just dress according to how I’m feeling that day or how the weather is.”

By Vivian Hoang STAFF WRITER

Autumn Accessories:

“For me, fall fashion is all about accessories that go with sweaters. So, a musthave accessory for me would have to be a scarf,” said freshman Ishi Kharbanda. Accessories like scarves, hats, gloves, and boots can add an extra touch of fall to make any outfit autumn-inspired.

ISLAND RECORDS

“Illuminate” is expected to sell 100 to 105 thousand copies solely in the United States, and 120 to 125 thousand copies globally.

ISHA SANGHVI/ STAFF WRITER

Emmys inspire future of multiracial inclusion in television and Hollywood

By Subaita Rahman STAFF WRITER

In contrast to the disappointing display of white-washing in last year’s Oscars, the most diverse Emmys award show to date aired on Sept. 18 on NBC. A significantly larger number of ethnic actors and actresses walked onstage to accept their well-deserved awards and to break trends and tradition.

The 68th Primetime Emmys Awards show nominated a record number of people of color. Rami Malek from “Mr.Robot” received the award for Outstanding Leading Actor In a Drama, being the first non-white actor to win for the first time in eighteen years. The award for Best Actress In a Comedy was given to Tracee Ellis Ross from “Blackish”, who is the first woman of color to win since 2008, and the first black woman since 1986.

Hopefully, the Emmys will serve as an example with the remarkable improvements made in the nominations. In fact, this is the first time in 68 years worth of Emmys ceremonies that people of color were nominated in every leading acting category. The total number of actors of color nominated for Emmys has

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

Aziz Ansari, the first south Asian to win an Emmy, a ccepts an award for show “Master of None” with co-star Alan Yang. more than tripled since 2013.

The 2016 Emmys ceremony shows a lot of promise of increasing diversity on TV. Many of this year's nominees are celebrating ‘firsts’, showing how few and rare nominations for non-white performers can be. Unfortunately, such diversity is pretty uncommon among the majority of awards shows, as evidenced by the Oscars’ decision to only nominate white actors for two years in a

row and the meager number of black actors nominated throughout the Academy Awards’ 85 year history.

Alan Yang of “Master of None” fame brought light to this issue as he joked, “There are 17 million Asian Americans in this country, and 17 million Italian Americans. They have “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “Rocky,” “The Sopranos.” We got [the character] Long Duk Dong.”

Nowadays more

and more ethnic actors are making it to the big screen, a huge improvement from the industry’s tendency to cast primarily white actors and to limit people of color to stereotypical roles.

The Emmys demonstrate that people can now see more of the Asian-American experience than Long Duk Dong and the stereotypical nerdy sidekick. Such displays of diversity allow for more accurate and respectful depictions of ethnic cultures on TV.

Canadian singer, song-writer, and former Vine star Shawn Mendes released his sophomore album “Illuminate” on Sept. 23. The standard album contains twelve tracks, and the deluxe version contains three additional tracks. The influence of acoustic rock artists John Mayer and Jason Mraz, resonates throughout this album’s guitar heavy melodies and clear vocals. “Illuminate” serves as an outlet for Mendes’s past experiences and romantic thoughts. His intimate and relatable lyrics strike his audience and make this album heartwarming.

The opening track “Ruin” describes Mendes’s experience pining after a girl who did not reciprocate his feelings. A poignant line from the chorus, “And I’m not tryna to ruin your happiness, but darling don’t you know that I’m the one for you,” captures the essence of unrequited love. The combination of Mendes’s sweet crooning over a guitar accompanied by a thumping drum, both of which are very John Mayer-esque, sets a high standard for the rest of the album.

Mendes opens the second song “Mercy” by humming and nostalgically recalls a girl who had complete control over him and his heart.

He laments in the chorus, “Show me an open door, then you go and slam it on me. I can’t take it anymore.” Mendes begs for mercy, while an echoing choir backs his pleas, and concludes the song by reverting back to his humming. The song is catchy and captures the raw emotion of a passionate, but unhealthy relationship.

“Three Empty Words” is the fourth song on the album, and outlines the process of breaking up and the emotions involved. The song is reminiscent of works by Jason Mraz, but Mendes personalizes it with his own vocals and unique viewpoint on love. The opening guitar riffs sounds like a love song, but close attention to the lyrics, reveals that it is a song about falling out of love. He sings about the feelings one has at the end of a relationship when the partnership seems reliant more on habit than on chemistry. Mendes refuses to waste time pretending to be happy, “We’re going through the motions, cause we can’t fix what’s broken. Those three empty words will only make it worse. I’m tired. I can’t take it anymore.”

I enjoyed listening to this album in my down time. “Illuminate” slowed down my fastpaced life and created a perfect atmosphere for reflection. Overall, I liked the music, but I still think there is room for growth. Instead of imitating songs of the early 2000s, Shawn Mendes needs to develop his own individual style. The similar sounding ambience and composition of the tracks makes the overall album repetitive and songs forgettable.

The “Illuminate” album is perfect for the fall season. Hopeless romantics and fans of John Mayer and Jason Mraz will enjoy Mendes’s style and lyrics. “Illuminate” is a testament of Mendes’s continued growth as an artist who is quickly making his way to the center stage.

Rating: 8/10

11 THE IRVINGTON VOICE ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

FIFA 17 game review

By Sarvesh Mayilvahanan SPORTS EDITOR

EA SPORTS

“FIFA 17” holds a 9/10 rating on GameSpot and a 8.4/10 rating on Metacritic.

The new FIFA game was released by EA Sports on Sept. 28 and boasts an array of new features and game improvements. FIFA is a popular sports video game franchise based around soccer and each game is played by millions worldwide.

FIFA 17’s biggest update is a story mode titled “The Journey” in which the player takes on the role of young soccer star Alex Hunter, who is trying to make it into the big leagues. “The Journey” utilizes flawless cutscenes and an engaging storyline to provide a great experience for both experienced FIFA fans and newcomers. The story follows Hunter’s ups and downs on his way to fame and glory.

The player helps Hunter navigate the world of professional soccer by selecting his dialogue with his teammates and coach and directly controlling his actions during actual soccer games. In order to help Hunter advance his career, the player must meet certain require-

ments each match. For example, they may need to score a goal or achieve a certain rating.

The rocky road Hunter faces on his path to stardom realistically depicts an athlete's rise to the top. The game is challenging and punishes the player for even the smallest mistakes. On the flip side, accomplishments and success are satisfyingly rewarded.

FIFA 17 also has many behind-the-scene improvements that raise the quality of the game above older installments of the franchise. The now game runs on the Frostbite graphical engine, resulting in a complete overhaul of the game’s graphics. The in-game character models and physics are far more realistic and provide an immersive experience.

I would definitely recommend FIFA 17 to anyone who has played previous versions of the game or is interested in the new features that this installment holds. Those who play soccer as a sport will also enjoy how close the game matches reality.

Rating 9/10

Must. Indulge. Pumpkins.

By Fiona Zhao STAFF WRITER

Fall into fall season with America’s favorite orange vegetable – the pumpkin! A symbol of autumn, this squash plant is synonymous with the harvest celebration and Halloween. The pumpkin is more often thought of as decoration, and many throw out the filling without an afterthought. However, when you start carving your Jack-O-Lanterns, remember to save that filling. Pumpkin pies and bread are nice, but in case you’re not up to baking, here are some simple recipes that take no time at all to prepare: Pumpkin Soup Creamy pumpkin soup for the soul.

Ingredients: six cups of water (or stock of

people.

Pumpkin Refreshments Hot or cold, it’s sure to immerse you into this fall season.

Ingredients: 16 ounces of pumpkin puree, two cups of milk, two teaspoons of ground cinnamon, sugar to taste.

FIONA ZHAO/STAFF WRITER

Share this creamy pumpkin soup with friends and family-or savor it all by yourself. choice), four cups of pumpkin puree, one teaspoon of parsley, one cup of chopped onions, one half teaspoon of thyme, one minced clove of garlic, one half cup of heavy whipping cream.

Heat the water or stock, pumpkin puree, onion, thyme, and garlic to a boil. Reduce the heat

to low and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Puree the soup, one cup at a time, using a food processor or blender.

Return to the pan to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Stir in heavy whipping cream, and add parsley.

Serves three

Cool pumpkin smoothie: Pour milk into the blender. Add pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and sugar (optional). Blend until smooth.

For an icier finish, you can store the pumpkin puree into the freezer for 24 hours before blending.

Warm pumpkin drink: Heat pumpkin puree, milk, cinnamon, and sugar (optional) to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer.

Club collaborations add new spooky twists

By Breanna de Vera STAFF WRITER

Valhaunted is returning again this Halloween season, with a new event and new theme: the Zombie Run and a Harry Potter theme! The Performing Arts Club (PAC) and International Thespian Society (ITS) will be teaming up with the Harry Potter Club to create Irvington’s annual haunted house, Valhaunted.

This year, it is inspired by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Organizers hope to utilize some of the more frightening aspects of the franchise, so expect death eaters and dementors.

Another spinechilling club collaboration is the Zombie Run, which is on Oct. 22 and will be co-hosted by Mission Spartan and Irvington’s Center for Creative Arts (CCA). It will feature an obstacle course used in Saturday Spartan runs with the addition of plenty of zombies.

Volunteers, some of who will also be working at Valhaunted, will chase visitors throughout the course, adding excitement and creating a challenge.

VALHAUNTED TECH CREW AND HARRY POTTER CLUB

Irvington’s Harry Potter club, also known as Dumbledore’s Army, looks to add a wizarding touch to last year’s Haunted House theme.

Valhaunted will be a collaborative effort that extends outside of Harry Potter Club, ITS, PAC, CCA, and Mission Spartan. Stagecraft, a seventh period class that builds all the sets for Irvington’s musicals and plays, will be making the costumes for this event.

Instructed by set designer Beth Ziegler and costume designer Liz Whitaker, students are learning how to make clothes straight out of the Wizarding World.

Previous members of the Valhaunted team are also returning to help.

Senior Angela Chan, co president of Harry Potter Club, is looking forward to this year’s Valhaunted.

“It’s a theme that is already easy to publicize and targets a specific audience,” said Chan. “Because Harry Potter is such a big thing, I think it can attract people outside our school, and incentivize people in our school who aren’t

already interested in Valhuanted.”

The event will be suitable for all ages.

While Valhaunted will be just as delightfully frightening as it has been in past years, there will also be “Good Fairy” evenings. During these evenings, a “good fairy” will walk with younger children and help reduce fear, maintaining a kidfriendly level of scary.

ITS member senior Simran Sen, who was part of last year’s Valhaunted team, is excited for the multiple upcoming collaborations between clubs.

“The amount of students able to volunteer their time and effort and skills in any aspect of the process, from tech, to costumes, to performing, will make it a truly fun experience,” said Sen.

Bring your broomstick and running shoes, and don’t let yourself be hit by a 'confundus' charm. These innovative takes on the classic Vallhaunted and Spartan Race events are sure to be amazing!

12 THE IRVINGTON VOICE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

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13

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

Sports

SPOTLIGHT: ANYA CHAUHAN

By Caitlin Chen EDITOR-in-CHIEF

Quiet and softspoken, Anya Chauhan nearly didn’t write her name down on the list for football tryouts. Standing at barely five feet tall, she felt the rest of the players staring her, the only girl in the room.

Chauhan’s journey into football began when she and her father went to football games together in San Diego. Though she always wanted to join football, she was hesitant, knowing that it would involve a lot of tackling and the potential to get hurt. Still, she decided to go for it over the summer.

On the first day of tryouts, the coaches checked athletes’ 40yard dash time, their vertical leap, their horizontal leap, their shuttle run time, and their standing broad jump. Chauhan, though small, was fast.

“Back in my time, they wouldn’t let girls have the time of day,” Coach Wayne Stone said.

“You had to be a certain size. Now, you play because of your skill.”

During the season, Chauhan trains alongside her teammates, lifting weights, tackling, and running. While her teammates were inclined to go soft on her, Coach Stone refused to let them.

“She gets mad.

And I get mad too,”

Coach Stone said. “I tell them, ‘Go do it again.’

And she wants to clobber him because the game is designed a certain speed, a certain way. The game is very fast and it’s a very violent sport. There’s not stipulation, boy or girl. We don’t have girls or boys in this team, we have football players.”

“Sometimes when the guys wouldn’t think I couldn’t take a hit, the coach would yell at him,” Chauhan said. “He’d say, ‘You should go ahead and hit her as hard as you can because if she goes onto the field and they don’t know she’s a girl and she gets hit, it’s not going to be her fault or their fault. It’s going to be your fault.’ On the field, I’m the shortest and I’m really thin.

During practice, it’s been helping me not become intimidated by other players that are 6’5” and weigh 300 pounds.”

Her height makes her easy to pick out on the field. While her diminutive size keeps her from playing offense, it is also an advantage. As cornerback, her job is to cover receivers and make tackles. While taller players need to get down low to pull players from the other team down, she is “just there already.”

Though her teammates and coach see her as an equal, other teams have not been as welcoming.

“In our last game, against Moreau Catholic High School, when we were walking towards our lockers, we had to go past the other team’s lockers,” Chauhan said.

“The guys came out and they saw that I was a girl and they walked back inside and yelled ‘girl!’ and laughed. So I was like, ‘I’d better show these guys what I’m made of!’

When it was my turn to get on the field, on the first play, I was playing corner. I heard them yelling, ‘Knock the air out of her!’ The receiver ran up to me and tackled me even though he’s not allowed to. We both fell down and my whole arm went numb, but all of the sudden I saw the running back come towards me, so I got up. I pushed the guy who tackled me, so he wouldn’t be able to keep me away from the runner back. I made the tackle and I kept them from scoring.”

Her refusal to give up has earned her the nickname “Thunder” and a position as the coach’s “Little Assistant.”

“When I’m not satisfied the way we’re doing something, I say, ‘Anya, you satisfied?’ She goes, ‘No, Coach,’” Coach Stone said. “So she wants to see things performed the best. And that’s the way it should be. That’s how I am. She works exceptionally hard, and she doesn’t give up.”

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL FIGHTS VALIANTLY AGAINST KENNEDY

By ZARAH ZHAO Staff Writer

On Thursday Sept.

22, Irvington and Kennedy played in an intense Battle of Blacow volleyball game. After two vigorous hours, Kennedy took home the win with a final score of 3 sets - 2 sets.

The night started off optimistically for the Vikings. Freshman Natasha Tehrani scored the first point with a spike and boosted the team’s confidence, resulting in Irvington winning the first set 25-20. However, Irvington’s cohesiveness was not enough to counteract Kennedy’s infectious spirit and consistent team communication. They lacked the speed and rapid reaction times that Kennedy had and lost the second game 20-25. Undeterred, Irvington made an impressive comeback the third set after a pep talk by coach Marcus Young, winning 25-20. Captain Emily Kao was highfiving teammates and encouraging them after mistakes, reminding them to keep their heads high and shake them off.

Unfortunately, Irvington’s lead would not last long. Despite fighting hard and playing aggressively, the girls were unable to return a many of Kennedy’s serves, resulting in several lost points. Kennedy’s play-

VARSITY GIRLS’ TENNIS OUTPLAYS KENNEDY

By SABRINA SUN Entertainment Editor

Irvington’s Varsity girls’ tennis team played against Kennedy in a series of home games in Irvington’s outdoor tennis courts on Sept. 29.

Irvington clinched the win with a score of 6-1, through team spirit, perseverance, and concentration.

Players viewed the matchup as more of a mental challenge and a chance to improve their strategical thinking and mental strength. After a brief warm-up and customary lineup where both teams greeted one another, the game assignments were read aloud: four singles games and two doubles. Varsity players then split off to their designated courts and began to play.

Rallies in the first portion of the games were in general rather casual. In court one, team captain Amanda Tran (12) took on a defensive position and had difficulty returning her opponent’s shots,

which were widely scattered across the court.

When the score reached 0-15, Tran traded shallow, far-reaching shots with her opponent in a rally of endurance, only to lose the point in the end. Team captain Katie Grant (12) in court three remained near the net and exchanged soft drop shots with her opponent.

Team members on the side of the court actively cheered the players on, urging them to remain cool-headed and focus on strategy.

“I think Kennedy was a good team,” Tran said. “It’s just personally, I let myself lose the game. I was making my own kind of mistakes which costed me many points. Other girls however had trouble with bad line calls [balls that are incorrectly called out] and that frustrated them, but they got over it.”

The second portion of the set was significantly more intense and taxed many of the players’ composure. The doubles team on court two, which was made

up of Brianna Nguyen (11) and Namrata Vedagarbha (10), struggled against the Kennedy players’ spontaneous and energetic play style. They managed to keep the ball in play through teamwork and a solid supportive strategy. In court three, Alice Ma (10) and Jacqueline Gullion (11) were able to win with a combination of ambition and confidence.

“I played a girl right at my level, which meant that I had to work extra hard to win points and games. It was like playing against a mirror of myself so I had to quickly identify my opponent’s weaknesses while pacing myself,” said junior Allison Cheung. “I believe I won because I was more hungry for the win! In future games, I’d like to improve on my mental strength by reducing my frustration, being patient, and staying optimistic.”

Irvington’s overall victory can be attributed to the players’ self-control and competitive spirits. The singles games demonstrated

the power of persistence and a strong mental state while the doubles

ers successfully blocked several of Irvington’s hits, resulting in loud cheers from the purple crowd. The energy from Kennedy’s fans was contagious, and aided in their winning streak.

After a very close game, Kennedy ended the match with a series of spikes that resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Vikings.

“We need to work on our communication, which is something our coach grills us on” junior Neha Krishna said, “but we had a lot of energy today, as always when we

play Kennedy, and the team dynamic this year is more balanced and makes for better practices and games.”

Despite the loss, however, the team is optimistic and has a clear sense of direction for improvement for the next game.

“We definitely need to work on our service receive passes, because that first contact when the other team serves is crucial in setting up our attack and hopefully getting a kill”, said captain Emily Kao.

ZARAH ZHAO/STAFF WRiTER

Junior Ashley Furuya spikes the ball past Kennedy’s blockers.

displayed solid defenses bolstered by teamwork and confidence. Every

player acknowledged the importance of an ingame mentality.

Varsity member senior Amanda Tran prepares to serve in her singles game (Photo: Sabrina Sun).

14 THE IRVINGTON VOICE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

15

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016

Humor

A dollar a day keeps the darkness at bay

By WILLIAM YOO Staff Writer

Irvington recently introduced a new locker registration fee in order to fund a muchneeded renovation of our outdated lockers.

The mass influx of new students offered a new problem, but soon a profitable opportunity, for our administrators.

At a rate of a dollar per locker, calculating for the lockers now available, the administration potentially made about two thousand dollars in fees. In their capable hands, as much as a full quarter of the money will be spent on renovations.

The possibilities for the yet unused fees are endless, but two outstanding examples tower above the rest: a new water slide and several hundred hamsters.

Five hundred dollars could fund fifty feet of plastic mattingenough for a new water slide connecting the freshman and senior hallways. We expect such a slide would come fully equipped with necessities of student travel, such as a drain, towels, and inflatable tubes. Students will have to buy their own insurance, however, in case of potential accidents on the slide or any issues

By BREANNA DE VERA Staff Writer

WILLIAM YOO/STAFF WRiTER

Introductory trials were extremely successful, especially for the new water slide! with the tap water. Full body wetsuits are recommended; AP Chemistry lab tests found contamination issues with government-added fluoride in the tap water.

Another possibility is a collaboration with Petsmart, which could provide as many as two hundred hamsters, at ten dollars each, for Irvington students. With selective breeding, ten thousand more could be roaming our halls within a year. These hamsters could be placed in our lockers with an additional two hundred dollar “hamster registration fee” made out to ASB’s newly created Locker Commissioners, whose own gold-plated lockers seem to be only slighter larger than the next dozen lockers combined.

Hundreds of students could benefit from the increased levels of hap-

piness, decreased levels of stress, and positivity of having a hamster, at least until they will have to face the work of caring for and paying for a hamster’s needs. The new policy has been so successful in trials, ASB is considering even letting those who aren’t extremely wealthy earn hamster privileges with an additional six hundred dollar donation to the Homecoming Fund.

In fact, these projects are predicted to be so successful that plans to double, triple, and quadruple the fees are already being approved. With slow increases in price, including additional spending on student re-education, we may never remember a time when Irvington did not have water slides, hamsters, and a selective bias towards the wealthy and well-connected.

Art critique of Maria Benz’s “Hgaoabluh” exhibit

By SABRINA SUN Entertainment Editor

On Sept. 30, Mercy D. Benz, a rising star in the Bay Area modern art scene, opened the doors to her exhibit “Hgaoabluh.”

The gallery was hosted in the Refrigerator Art Hall, 101 Meryl Streep St. and featured all of Benz’s newest works. “Hgaoabluh” also contained a much anticipated collaboration with Bay Area interpretive dance choreographer expert The Family Dog. The works within “Hgaoabluh” are composed of a wide range of media, including crayons, glitter, cheerios, and saliva. The Family Dog’s collaboration pieces are notable as they also include chewy dog toys.

Benz’s work shows distinct Jackson Pollock influences alongside with more subtle tributes to Matisse. The haphazard collages, constructed of saliva and nasal mucus, serve as a eulogy to the chaos of Dada. In a sense, it is traditional modern art.

“I’ve recently celebrated my third birthday and am already looking towards advanced potty training,” Benz says. “I feel that for me ‘Hgaoabluh’

Warm Springs BART Station to open fall 3016

After several postponements of the grand opening, BART recently announced that their new opening date is in fall of 3016. The extension would add only 5.4 miles of track, connecting the Warm Springs District of Fremont to Central Fremont. The amount of time to construct such a small distance has taxpayers slightly ruffled, but BART construction teams are working hard.

Construction began in summer of 2012, and teams have been working hard to complete the project ever since. The Warm Springs station was initially set to open in late 2015, and was repeatedly delayed--to as late as Fall 2016 . However, the Fremont City

Board, as well as BART’s development team, thought this was much too early.

“It takes time to grow the hypoallergenic trees that beautify our parking lot!” says BART official Barry Taxem, “And we’re taking our time now. We can’t have any more mistakes.”

He was referring to last week’s discovery, when a passing citizen realized the entire structure was made of Legos, filing a complaint to the Board of Directors.

However, to appease taxpayers, the new station will feature both a never-before-seen functioning escalator and elevator. However, bike racks are not permitted on the premises due to possible security concerns.

Chief architectural designer, Eliza Modart, referenced

White Painting [three panel], by Sarah Roberts at SFMOMA as her biggest inspiration. However, not all are pleased with the design. Gary Chang is outraged that there his request for a statue to commemorate a recently killed gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo was rejected: “He didn’t die for this. He would want to be remembered.”

Many agree with Chang, but BART officials rejected his request due to the controversy surrounding the fallen gorilla.

“Our development team is looking to extend BART to all districts in Fremont. This new project will designate this rail segment as Fremont Area Rapid Transit, or FART,” said Taxem. This new addition to BART will create a hopefully unified rail system for the Bay.

BREANNA DE VERA/STAFF WRITER

Chang’s plan for a memorial statue was rejected at a Board Meeting this month.

United we standoff

By SUBAITA RAHMAN STAFF WRITER

SABRINA SUN/STAFF WRITER

“Duhrhadugoo” is one of Benz’s better works is a chance to cast away numerous motifs of my old style: no more grape juice or jam smears. I am very satisfied that this gallery changed from a generic display of established talent into a thrilling adventure.”

Although Benz should be lauded for her personal bravery, the gallery itself is dry and, at most, a well of unfulfilled potential. The glitter is suffocating, the crayon is timid, and the cheerios are carelessly scattered. Every art critic knows that cereal positioning can make or break the rhythm of a piece; unfortunately for Benz, even the sparkle of glitter can’t mask amature unorganization.

Technical skill aside,“Hgaoabluh” also fails to be unique. The

themes expressed are too cliché for any ‘bold, new’ gesture: stick-family-portraits, houseswith-corner-suns, dogs, mommy-grapplingwith-her-impendingalcoholism-and daddy’sprevalent-gambling, scrawled-flowers, and favorite-teachers.

It is unfortunate that“Hgaoabluh” turned out the way it did. Although Mr. and Mrs. Benz fully appreciate the amount of effort that went into the gallery, they cannot, in good conscience, hang such trash on the refrigerator. The Benzs have an artistic reputation to uphold. Therefore, until her works can surpass the likes of Andy Warhol, Mercy D. Benz’s art should be hidden from the public eye.

A courtyard rap battle for the ages: roasts, fire, and ... bonding? The Clubs Rap Battle inspired attacks on other people’s clubs, classes, sports, and of course, grades. Club was pitted against club, sport against sport, and a few people got so excited that they started roasting themselves.

Some of the best lines were, “Last time I cried was when I saw my GPA, you already know I’m not getting financial aid” and “College Board must have laughed at loud at my SAT, because a better score could have been given to a tree.”

Of course, if there’s one thing Vikings are good at, it’s dealing with toxic environments. This more literal approach in their usual pitting against each other had people actually enjoy being roasted.

“I love feeling truly united with all the other Vikings, doing what Irvington is best at,” said freshman Chris Bishop.

Even after being roasted to a crisp, they still managed to have the time of their lives. Vikings have finally united as one under a common cause - their rivalry with each other.

And of course, people everywhere are astounded with the results.

“The battle went

better than we imagined.

We can finally skip the dances and get to what really makes them unite.

Who knew the students would be so into it?” said administrator Hester Lolt. Club Week’s planning team was so surprised by the outcome that they’re already implementing changes for later spirit weeks.

Of course, actual combat seems like the obvious next step. Rumors of Fight-Club style matches for next year are already circulating now that we know the real secret to getting Vikings united. Meeting location and times will have to kept on the down low, of course, but you’ll know it when you see it. You didn’t hear this from us.

SUBAITA RAHMAN/STAFF WRITER

Look out for this secret logo next time for more details. We’d tell you more about it, but we’re already breaking the rules just by mentioning it here

16 THE IRVINGTON VOICE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016