Irvington Voice 27.8

The official publication of Irvington High School

in Fremont, California

THE V ice

MAY 24, 2019

VOLUME 27, ISSUE 8

Public or Private pg.

The Voice takes a look at the merits and disadvantages with public and private college education.

OPINIONS

Teen Users

pg.

The Voice looks into drugs on campus, the students who use, and the effect it has on the school.

FUSD releases Mental Health Proclaimation

By Emily Liu

FEATURES

Mr. IHS

pg.

Read all about the annual MECHA-hosted male pagent for seniors to win $500 in scholarship money.

ENTERTAINMENT

@theihsvoice @ihs.voice @ihsvoice

New Faces: Dual Immersion Schools

Students from Dual Immersion Schools come to Irvington with a head start on their foreign language.

By Rachel Kavalakatt and Felicia Mo

Staff Writer

Staff Writers

Emily Liu | Staff Writer SURFBoardE, a group of student representatives from each of FUSD’s high schools, were vital to the passage of the Mental Health Proclamation

On Tuesday May 7th, SURFBoardE and the City of Fremont released an official statement recognizing mental health as a real issue within Fremont and Fremont Unified School District. Similar to many cities across the nation, Fremont officially recognized and brought attention to May as Mental Health Awareness Month.

During the City Hall meeting, SURFBoardE representatives and Fremont City Department members presented and accepted the Mental Health Proclamation. It was passed by Joyce Lim and other staff members of the City of Fremont Youth and Family Services Division.

“Their main goal is to try to reduce the stigma of men-

tal health,” explained American High School SURFBoardE representative Meghana Nallapareddy (12). “Currently, they are in the research stages of collecting data from Fremont school students through surveys.”

Since the proclamation’s intention is to help students, SURFBoardE attended this meeting in order to accept the statement on behalf of students.

In addition to the announcement, there was also an animated Youtube video played about mental health awareness.

The video was the winner in the 4th to 6th grade sector of the Fremont Human Services Department/Youth and Family Services’ Continued on Page 4

In the Spring of 2018, the first year of Spanish Dual Immersion students graduated from Hopkins Junior High School’s Dual Immersion program, some of whom went on to attend Irvington High School in the 2018-2019 school year. The Dual Immersion program fosters bilingualism and puts emphasis on a specific foreign language to cater towards the needs of non-native English speakers.

“The first group of Spanish Dual Immersion students entered high school this year,” said Hopkins Principal Corey Brown.

“They have been together since first grade and are currently finishing 9th grade. The first group of Mandarin students promotes from 8th grade this year. The goal is to have fully bilingual students in each target language by the time they graduate high school with a Seal of Biliteracy on their diploma.”

Although primarily for non-native English speakers, the Dual Immersion program is open to all students in the district.

“You didn’t have to have fluency in Mandarin or Spanish to start the program,” said Principal Melsby. “English could be your primary language, but if you wanted that experience, you could enter the program as well.”

The Dual Immersion program has not only given students a broader perspective, but it has also greatly strengthened their communication and collaboration skills.

Felicia Mo| Staff Writer Dual Immersion students are exposed to a foreign language at a young age and gradually build up their biliteracy as they grow older.

“Sometimes I’ve been a translator for my family,” said Amanda Maria Ledesma, a freshman at Irvington who is part of the first group of students that came from the Hopkins’ Dual Immersion school. “They don’t really speak English. We’ll be out shopping and they won’t know how to say something, and I have to step up and talk. I’m switching languages, talking English to the store clerk and talking Spanish to my aunt.”

According to the FUSD, the Spanish Dual Immersion program was established in 1974 at three school sites—Cabrillo, Vallejo Mill and Fremont Elementary Schools. As more students enrolled, the program was extended to additional elementary schools, one of which was Azevada Elementary. However,

Rally Commissionor Election moved to End of the Year Rally

due to decreasing interest, the new programs were shut down in 2009. In 2010, FUSD stationed a Mandarin Dual Immersion program in Azevada Elementary School, which already had the necessary facilities carried over from the Spanish program. The Dual Immersion schools followed a language plan that started with a heavy reliance on the foreign language and gradually integrated more English into the curriculum.

On October 28, 2015, both the Spanish and Mandarin programs were extended into junior high levels at Hopkins.

In 2016, FUSD decided to unify all the Spanish Dual Immersion schools across the district into one program stationed at Marshall Elementary. The district estimates that “the proposed start date will be the 2019-2020 school year.”

By Emily Joe Humor Editor

In an effort to improve the process of student government elections and due to unforeseen complications, a section of the End of the Year Rally will be dedicated to the rally commissioner candidates’ performances.

While these acts are traditionally held during the Voting Assembly during round one elections, ASG’s executive team decided earlier this year to place the rally commissioner voting with the school-

wide class officer elections. However, ASG was forced to further postpone the rally commissioner voting.

“The plan I came up with to move the rally commissioner election to second round just didn’t work when it came time to elect class officers,” said Activities Director Mr. Ryan Willer. “Luckily the executive team of ASG had a great idea to let the rally commissioner candidates be a part of the final rally, so the school can see them in action and vote for

who they want to represent them next year.”

Despite this change, respective ASG members are doing their best to ensure a smooth transition and a fun rally.

“I don’t want to portray this rally as just a voting assembly,” said ASG President Elect Nava Babaei. “It’s still a rally and the acts are still fun. We don’t want to draw spirit away from the school and want to really hype up Continued on Page 2

Emily Liu | Staff Writer Traditionally, the Rally Commissionor candidate performances were a separate rally.

www.ihsvoice.com Inside: Student Life 5 | Opinions 7 | Features 10 | Entertainment 13 | Sports 16 | Humor 18

Page 2

NEWS

End of Year Rally cont. the rally and are working hard with the candidates to make sure we have a good show for everyone.”

The rally commissioner candidates will have about five minutes each to showcase their act, for a total of about fif-

teen minutes of a forty-five-minute rally.

With a substantial amount of time to adjust for these new acts, Rally Commissioner Jared Lao (12) and Rally Coordinator Catherine Cheng (12) have sufficiently adjusted the rally acts and told The Voice about their

The Irvington Voice www.ihsvoice.com feelings towards the last rally of the year.

“Combining the assembly rally and [the] last rally came in as a big surprise to most of us,” Lao said. “Even though we have this problem on our hands, I think we’ll still be able to put on a good rally.”

Fremont raises the minimum wage

By Prahalad Chari and Justin Kim

Editors in Chief Elaine Chan, Isha Sanghvi News Editors Isha Sanghvi, Kayla Xu Student Life Editor Fiona Zhao Opinions Editors Andrew Fu, Srinidhi Sankar Features Editors Elaine Chan, Pia Parekh Entertainment Editor Shradha Krishnamurthy

Staff Writers

East Bay Citizen The Fremont City Council has also created a one year plan to assist businesses to comply to the ordinance.

On Feb. 5, 2019, Fremont planned an increase in the minimum wage for workers within the city two years before the state mandate. This will be a gradual increase that aims to raise the minimum wage from $11 an hour to $15 for employees. As of this year, the incremental raise will be put into effect on July 1, 2019, where employers with up to 25 employees must pay a minimum wage of $11 per hour while employers with 26 or more employees must pay a minimum wage of $13.50. In the case of inflation by 2021, the wages for larger employers will be adjusted to fit the inflation.

The goal of this wage increase is to make life easier for people who rely on the minimum wage to survive the exorbitantly high cost of living. This raise will not only help adults but also students as well.

“I do think that this will help a lot of the newer employees because they usually get paid the minimum wage,” said Ellie Chan (11). “They will probably get a lot more money to spend or save.”

While some working students have heard of the raise, the details of it were rather unknown. “Yeah, I did not know anything about the minimum wage,” a student

Friday, May 24, 2019

who wishes to remain anonymous said. “ As for spending, the money [that I receive] is largely for savings”.

There are some exceptions to this ordinance. Employees under 25 years old may not receive the raise if they work for the government or a non-profit. Specifi-

cally, if they are a summer employee, paid volunteer, or in a job training program, they will not get the raise while being employed by such institutions. This allows organizations to continue to function and provide the same amount of service, while also maintaining the number of people who are employed. Additionally, if the city was to implement this raise for the government volunteers, then the cost of park maintenance and other services could increase by $50,000.

The increase in minimum wage, however, does show some negative effects that may rouse concerns. According to the Fremont City Council’s staff presentation for the minimum wage ordinance, smaller businesses will lose much more money paying these wages to employees compared to larger chains that pay the same amount for their employees. In addition, this wage increase is a net decrease of income for businesses. Consequently, businesses are discouraged from staying in Fremont, relocating to areas without this mandate in place and lowering job opportunities for the unemployed. With the overall raise in minimum wage, their is no telling how the overall living cost may increase as well, especially housing. People already being paid minimum wage may find it harder to buy homes due to inflation in prices.

Sports Editor Achintya Pinninti Humor Editor Emily Joe Photo and Web Editor Annika Yong Business Manager Sherin Lajevardi Public Outreach Director Rebeca Delgado Advisor Matthew Phillips Staff Writers Akshita Nair Alice Shu Ashka Patel Emily Liu Felicia Mo Justin Kim Kritika Sachar Megan Dhingra Michael Zhu Nancy Zuo Nikoo Alizadeh Prahalad Chari Rachel Kavalakatt Rory Conlon Roxana Shahmohammadi Sanjana Gudivada Shivani Manivasagan Vidushee Mishra General Policy The Irvington Voice is a student-run newspaper with the sole purpose of providing an open forum for student expression. Anything printed represents the opinion of the writer, but not necessarily that of The Irvington Voice staff, the administration, faculty of Irvington High School, or any person affiliated with the Fremont Unified School District.

The Irvington Voice does not discriminate against race, political orientation, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Although The Irvington Voice will never refuse to publish student guest submission based on the aforementioned factors, we reserve the right to edit or not publish them.

Freshmen celebrate at Change Project Open House

By Roxana Shahmohammadi and Michael Zhu Staff Writers

On Apr. 8 from 7 to 8 pm, the freshmen class of 2022 presented their Change Project poster boards in front of teachers and parents as they celebrated the conclusion of their freshmen benchmark project. The Change Project was the freshmen’s first experience with a yearlong benchmark, projects which are unique to Irvington. Through Change, freshmen were able to create tangible environmental change in their community, as well as learn useful time management skills and teamwork.

The annual board competition, where spectators can vote for their favorite board, was also held at the Change Project open house. There were many interesting projects with boards that stood out, and some of these boards, along with pictures of some other favorites will be showcased around the school.

Aside from the popular Change topics, such as invasive species removal (26.2% of projects) or e-waste disposal (20%), some freshmen also chose more unique topics, such as creating non-toxic

Michael Zhu | Staff Writer The freshmen were able to showcase their posters as well as their environmental projects to teachers and other students alike.

cleaning supplies or, in the case of Brandon Estacio (9) and his Change group, Western pond turtle habitat restoration.

“The service project was my favorite part of Change as we got to help out a native species in California,” said Estacio.

As the Change Project came to a close, freshmen reflected on the effectiveness of the benchmark project. From a survey of 66 freshmen, results pertaining to the usefulness of Change were evenly distributed. 37.9% of students gave the Change Project 4 or 5 on a scale of usefulness (1-5), while 28.8% of students gave Change a 1.

“Through the Change project, I learned time management skills to avoid procrastination,” Karandeep Singh (9), whose group did French broom removal, said, “I also improved in my essay writing skills.”

The open house marks the end of another successful year of The Change Project, which serves to teach students about local environmental issues as well as prepare them for success in later years of high school and ultimately college.

Friday, May 24, 2019

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Friday, May 24, 2019

FUSD releases official mental health proclaimation (cont.)

“Children Mental Health Awareness Student Art Contest”. It was created by Ardenwood Elementary sixth grader Rohan Banoor. Other artwork from the student art contest was also tacked up onto the walls of the City Hall conference room, and currently on display this month in the glass case first seen upon entering the building.

Currently, the City of Fremont Human Services and the Youth and Family Services Departments are working along-

side FUSD schools to better understand the impacts of mental health issues on students. Earlier this year, a survey administered through Qualtrics was published and distributed to students through a Schoolloop announcement called the “Mental Health Stigma Reduction Survey”. It was made supported by Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Program.

“Our survey instrument was de-

veloped by Dr. Lawrence Yang of New York University with inputs from different stakeholder groups including FUSD Student Support Services, School Board members, school administrators, teachers, parents, students and community providers,” explained department member Joyce Lim. “The survey questions and implementation protocol were approved by Aspire Institutional Review Board.”

The survey was “designed to un-

derstand students’ attitudes about mental health concerns and factors affecting their willingness to seek help. The survey took around twenty minutes to be completed, and there was an e-gift card of $5 distributed to all students who did complete the survey.

However, the survey did not receive many results, and the City of Fremont has continued to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the survey for future distribution.

Irvington QUEST’s impact on the community

The Voice investigates the effect Irvington High School’s senior benchmark project QUEST has on the Fremont community and Irvington alumni.

By Rebeca Delgado and Pia Parekh

Public Outreach Director & Features Editor

Despite an infamous reputation among Irvington High School seniors, both the Bay Area community and Irvington alumni continue to reap the benefits of Irvington’s unique QUEST benchmark project. Some students pursue their project topic as a career, and multiple local organizations have become dependent upon Irvington seniors to remain in business.

Every year, QUEST sends 450-600 students out to complete 5 hours of experience with a consultant on a social issue, and 10 hours of service dedicated to alleviating the effects of that chosen issue, aiding community non-profits with about 8,250 hours of service. The impact on surrounding organizations is hard to ignore.

“QUEST volunteers do so much for TCV,” says volunteer coordinator Stephanie Bristow at Tri-City Volunteers Food Bank in Fremont, whose volume of QUEST volunteers has been steadily increasing over the years, with 68 of Irvington’s seniors in the 2018-19 school year.

High amounts of QUEST volunteers have led TCV and other organizations to create designated positions to accommodate so many volunteers.

“TCV has a QUEST consultant, Michael Meyer, who helps the students with the experience portion of QUEST,” said Bristow. “He is able to connect students with resources and make sure that their questions are thoroughly answered in

the [consultant] interview.”

Many other local organizations have opened their doors to these seniors, including Fremont’s own Aegis Living, Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club, and Boldly Me—who in particular claims to have a very positive relationship with QUEST volunteers even when the project itself ends.

“We love our QUEST volunteers,” said Founder of Fremont’s Boldly Me, Alanna Powell. “They help us do a ton of work to educate youth K-12 on how to be healthy physically, spiritually and mentally…. Now that many Irvington QUEST students are college graduates, there are some that actually work for me. Many of the students who did QUEST with us, in the beginning, are now starting families and they come to Boldly Me [to learn how] to raise healthy children and have healthy families and marriages.”

Outside of service, QUEST testimonies attract community members from all over Fremont and the Bay Area to watch seniors present their year-long findings and share their personal stories of service. May testimonies have even brought out people such as KRON4 newscaster Will Tran and Irvington alumni.

“I wanted to come back and be a QUEST panelist because I wanted to give back to Irvington high school,” said Mithala Khare, an Irvington alumni from the Class

of 2016. “For me, the QUEST presentation was a big moment. I did my QUEST project on academic achievement gap, and in college, I [had] a project in my economics class where I did a presentation using a lot of the resources that I had gathered in my QUEST project.”

While this benchmark project has an overall positive effect on the community, Mr. Rodocker, the former QUEST coordinator, acknowledges the drawbacks.

“The downside to QUEST is that it’s hard. [The project] asks you to do university-level work as a high school student, and every single student is required to complete it,” said Mr. Rodocker. “It occurs during college app time, so October to December is just painful.”

The QUEST project has changed tremendously over the last 15 years. Originally, the project was aimed to diversify where students do their service. Rather than sending all the high school seniors to the soup kitchen, for example, the QUEST project allowed students to pursue service in their personal area of interest.

“I had a girl who did her project on goats, and she was so immersed in the project that she drove out to Lathrop and spend time at a goat farm,” recalled Mr. Rodocker. “She found an organization in Fremont that rented out goats to people that lived on Mission Peak because the goats ate the dry grass, [lessening the risk of] fire hazards in

the summer.”

Although QUEST has become more focused on identifying social issues, the core idea remains that QUEST helps students find service in their personal areas of interest.

“[The majority of] kids in the United States [have] to do service as a graduation requirement. With QUEST, we want you to realize that you can give back no matter what you’re doing as an adult,” said Mr. Rodocker. “So if you become an architect, a dentist, or a goat farmer, within your career, you can find a way to give back to your community because you have found an organization that supports your interests.”

STUDENT LIFE

Friday, May 24, 2019

Irvington DECA Smashes ICDC

By Roxana Shahmohammadi Staff Writer

From Apr. 24 to May 1, Irvington DECA competed at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Orlando, Florida. The chapter performed exceptionally well this year, with eight teams placing in the top 20, six in the top ten and three teams taking home trophies, making Irvington DECA the best-performing chapter in the state.

ICDC is the most important event of the year, and students have been preparing for it for a long time. Only those who place in the top four at state competitions qualify to compete at ICDC, and among those who attended the leadership conferences, 28 members from Irvington flew out to Orlando on Apr. 24, 2019. The competition did not start until Apr. 27, so the team spent the first few days at Disney World and Universal Studios.

“This year was my first year at ICDC, and it was really fun not only competing but also bonding with the chapter as a whole through many fun-filled theme parks and other activities we had throughout the day,” said Ojus Garg (10).

ICDC officially began on the Apr. 27 with a California delegation training meeting, and the first round of competitions began on the Apr. 29. Those who qualified for top 20 competed again on Apr. 30 for very successful results. Ultimately, president Kareena Wu (12) won first place

in Finance Operations Research while Jasmine Tong-Seely (12) and Ojus Garg (10) won third in Human Resources Management and Stock Market Game, respectively.

This was the first year anyone from Irvington qualified to compete in Stock Market Game at ICDC, and Vaibhav Ippili (11) also finished in the top 10 in the event. Winston Wu (11), Arnav Kamra (11) and Kevin Mao (12) also finished in the top 10 in their respective events, and Raisah Khan (11) Kaitlyn Phan (11), and Anushka

Kulkarni (11) also placed in the top 20.

“Irvington DECA as a whole this year performed extremely well at ICDC. I think everyone had fun and enjoyed going to the theme parks and competing” said Kareena Wu.

ICDC wrapped up a highly successful year for Irvington DECA. Next year, the conference is to be held from Apr. 29 to May 20 in Nashville, Tennessee, and Irvington looks forward to a successful year to come.

Page 5

QUESTION MAN

By Kritika Sachar Staff Writer

If you were given control of the Infinity Gauntlet, what would you use it for?

Mrs. Marsella-Jensen: Mariam Mustafa Irvington DECA ends a successful season at ICDC.

“I would want to get rid of all the plastic ocean pollution.”

Choose your MCU Personality!!

By Akshita Nair Staff Writer

Are you an…

Avenger: You are courageous and unwilling to back down, even when all the odds are against you. Sure, you have basically no chance of escaping or winning considering the fact that you are missing most of your limbs and a small, itsy-bitsy part of your brain, but that’ll hardly keep you from at least trying. Self-sacrifice for the sake of others when the teacher finds out someone cheated on a test? You betcha. Go into the time-vortex to fill in that one answer on the quiz and possibly mess up or die on your way? Oh, definitely. Wear the Infinity Gauntlet to make the people you hate in the school disappear? Please, you’re not an amateur. You one of Irvington’s mightiest defenders, and if you can’t save your AP scores, then your enemies can be sure you’ll damn well avenge it.

Guardian of the Galaxy: Let’s face it, you’re not exactly known in the realms that you visit, but it’s not like you’re visiting to be famous anyways. You just came to do what your title claims, defend them, and defend them good. And at times, you come back

to school just to see what’s going on. And you regret it every time. You may have to fight an immortal teacher every now and then, or challenge a weird alien cheerleader to a dance battle, but you know what your job entails. You’re known throughout the school by your stupid alibi like “Star Lord” or whatever (that you think is cool but really it’s not) and you have at least two or more alien creatures as part of your posse.

Most of them won’t take you seriously, not even the talking tree, but you still manage to keep your wits intact and stay sane in this crazy, insane galaxy.

Asgardian: You’re immortal and a god (or at least a secretly adopted child of a Giant Frost King), so yeah, you pretty much got it all. And the students at your school are jealous. You are constantly surviving assassination attempts by your jealous peers and are able to lift a high school diploma that for some reason determines whether people are worthy or not. You are almost always trying to save Irvington from falling into evil hands because every century someone or the other will want to rule.

Odin’s Beard, you never really get a break do you? I mean keeping up the status of a god and a student, and being punished by your immortal father to a mortal land, it just gets tiring. But then again, you can live forever and slam them haters with a hammer if they don’t listen, so you’re pretty good to go.

Confused High School Student: So, somehow you got powers all of a sudden. Where they came from, you have absolutely no idea, but hey, it’s pretty cool. You’ve got powers that you barely have any idea how to use, and in a world full of adult superheroes who will constantly outshine you, you just want to be alone so you can finish you Pre Calc homework. But alas, saving the world is a must, and a hobby that takes up a lot of your time. Keeping your identity secret and still talking to your crush may be difficult, and at times impossible, but you’ll manage.

Don’t worry, after all, college is only a few years away and you’ve got some spare time to save the world and still make it to prom.

Mr. Domingo:

“If I had that power, I would help the most marginal man or woman to give them some dignity and power to get out of their bad situation and help them.”

Mr. Moyer:

“I would want to end war and world hunger.”

Ms. Brannan: Akshita Nair Regardless of what kind of Marvel character you are, you are still either a superhero or a villian!

“I wouldn’t use it for anything because it would cause problems; I would just hide it.”

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IHS FBLA Is A Powerhouse At States

Friday, May 24, 2019

By Michael Zhu Staff Writer

From Apr. 25 to 27, Irvington Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed at the California States Leadership Conference (SLC) in Sacramento. As a chapter, 24 competitors from Irvington placed in the top 10, and 14 placed in the top four for their events and directly qualified for the National Leadership Conference (NLC). For their competitive success, Irvington FBLA was recognized as one of the ten best competitive chapters in the state for the second year in a row.

“I am extremely proud of our competitive success this year as a chapter,” FBLA co-president Amit Bhat (12) said. “I am especially happy for our freshmen who qualified, as they put in a lot of hard work for their events and will carry on the legacy of competitive success into future years.”

The three freshmen who qualified for NLC were Ojas Brahme (9) for Help Desk, Jonathan Cheng (9) for Sports and Entertainment Management, and Trishla Mehta (9) for Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure.

FBLA Bay Section President Jessie Cheng (12) played a pivotal role in planning and organizing SLC. Her Bay Section team was responsible for soliciting pro-

gram sponsors, designing the conference program, running the campaigning and voting sessions, and running the opening, award, and general sessions. Her team was able to ensure that every member had a memorable and meaningful experience.

“States was a huge success as usual, especially with our Clash of the Sections Entertainment Event and smooth awards ceremony,” said Cheng. “I was constantly busy running around throughout SLC, but it was worth it getting to see members have such a great time.”

In addition to receiving recognition of their competitive success at the awards ceremony, Irvington FBLA was also recognized for having the largest membership increase in California. Over the last year, the chapter grew from around 80 members to 150 members.

“Even though our club has ballooned from 30 to 150 members over the last four years, the camaraderie among members in this chapter made me appreciate how we will always be a family,” Brian Wang (12), FBLA co-president, said.

FBLA hopes to continue its competitive success at the NLC in San Antonio, Texas from June 29 to July 2.

Emily Liu Irvington FBLA stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Sacramento during SLC.

Quiz Bowl Places 11th, Attends Nationals

By Shivani Manivasagan Staff Writer

Members of Irvington Quiz Bowl attended and placed at the National History Bee and Bowl competition in Virginia from Apr. 26-28, a first-time accomplishment in the club’s history. Quiz Bowl Captain Arjun Bothra (10) and members Sumukh Murthy (9) and Skand Parvatikar (9) participated in the History Bowl team event, beating several highly-ranked teams and placing 11th in the nation.

The competition featured several other events, including History Bee, U.S. History Bee, and Geography Olympiad, which comprised of Geography Bee and a written test. All events followed a jeopardystyle trivia format with a buzzer system, but the only team event was History Bowl, in which the team placed 11th.

In the months preceding Nationals, the team held practices once or twice a week where they went through packets, or “played the game.”

“The questions are in paragraph style: the first line is probably something you’ve never heard of in your life, and it goes on all the way down to the last line which everyone will get,” said Murthy.

They paid attention to the little details of the clues as they went through these packets, which accumulated over time.

In addition to History Bowl, members shone in individual events. In History Bee, Parvatikar placed 91st, and Bothra and Murthy 43rd and 45th, respectively, close

to making semi-finals. Bothra was a Junior Varsity (JV) US History bee semifinalist.

In Geography Olympiad, Murthy placed 3rd in the JV division as well as 1st on the written test. Bothra and Justin Fong (12) participated in the varsity division, placing 9th and 48th, respectively.

“Competing was the best part,” says Fong. “I went for fun, and got to meet people from a lot of different places, from the Bay Area to another Irvington High School in New York.”

Irvington’s Quiz Bowl club prepares for these kinds of social studies events as well as Quiz Bowl, a different trivia competition encompassing a wider variety of topics. This is the club’s second year at Irvington, but also the second consecutive year in which members have qualified for History Bowl Nationals, though they did not attend last year. Founder and current president Alison Sun (11), who qualified for the National History Bee and Bowl both years, says that her goal for the club next year is to make it to Quiz Bowl Nationals.

“There are more people who would be good at Quiz Bowl than they think they would, but many see the packet questions and think they sound daunting. But over the course of your life, you learn random little facts, and along with what you learn in school, they become really handy for Quiz Bowl,” said Sun. “Quiz Bowl is for everyone, and I really hope to grow our club.”

Changes Come With 2019 Staff Vote

By Rachel Kavalakatt and Ashka Patel Staff Writers

The yearly staff ballot, in which over 87 teachers voted on future Irvington campus procedures, took place in May and resulted in exciting new changes that will be implemented in the 2019-2020 school year. While not all teachers voted, 50 percent of the total number of teachers still had to vote “yes” for a proposal to pass.

New FUDTA representatives, as well as School Site Council and Site Liaison committee members were elected. Among the most surprising changes, however, were the removal of the Responsibility Center (RC) and minimum days starting at 9am.

In an overwhelming majority vote, minimum days were changed to start an hour later, meaning that school would end at 1:45 p.m. The delayed start time would mean that the first day of school, Finals Week, and other minimum days would begin later, giving students the opportunity to sleep in for a little longer. The concept of a late start has been advocated for by students, parents, and teachers alike, and is major transition in the bell schedule.

Additionally, the Responsibility Center (RC) will no longer be implemented at Irvington next year, mostly since it was underused. Removing the RC was decided by a slim vote, and many teachers are still questioning how students will be removed from class if they are not sent there. Students would be sent directly to the office or their assistant principals, and that could be a problem considering how often administration is out of office. Furthermore, questions have arisen about how in-school suspensions would be handled with this change.

“The RC has had a lot of problems, and we’ve been trying to fix the overall mission of what it is for a few years,” said Mr. Phillips, who worked in the RC this past school year. “We’ve only been making minor incremental improvements to try to fix a system that wasn’t great to begin with.

With the ballot, we’re forced to start anew, and while it is a challenge, it could be more beneficial than trying to fix something that was already so broken.”

During Staff Development days, teachers usually focus on certain areas to provide better quality education and cater towards the ever-changing student body’s

needs. For the upcoming year, teachers have decided to focus on ways to improve student and staff wellness, as well as place an emphasis on intervention for struggling students.

Several new additions were made to the School Site Council and the Site Liaison Committee, with many new teachers elected as members. Ms. Marsella-Jensen, for example, transitioned from being a FUDTA representative to being part of the School Site Council. Ms. Marsella-Jensen has previously served on Site Council as a parent at Gomes Elementary School, providing her with experience for the role.

“It’s just making decisions for our school site,” said Marsella-Jensen of her future responsibilities. “There’s decisions that come back from the district office that we don’t have control over such as from the state, but when we get this certain amount of money, we’re deciding as a site how we want to spend it. It gives us some autonomy.”

Additionally, teachers voted for five FUDTA representatives. Ms. Burton, one of the elected representatives, is now serving her second year as a union representative.

“We keep the communication going, and we make sure we put all the stuff in the teachers’ boxes, do all the emails that aren’t through the district, personal emails, that kind of thing,” said Burton. “We also hold meetings for the staff to give them updates because we can’t give those updates during staff meetings because of things like confidentiality.”

Although several changes were made, certain aspects of how our campus runs will remain constant next year. The FLEX schedule, which was newly implemented this year, will continue to be a part of the school day on block days next year.

The system has had an overwhelmingly positive response from both students and teachers alike. Likewise, the special block schedule during standardized testings, such as CAASP and CAST, will remain unchanged.

Friday, May 24, 2019 Page 7

OPINIONS

DISAGREE WITH US?

Submit your Letter to the Editor to Room 84 or through email to ihsvoice@gmail.com for the chance to be featured the next issue!

Public Colleges vs. Private Colleges

Stay With State for a Debt-free Fate

You Can’t Survive it Without a Private

By Annika Yong

By Nancy Zuo

Web and Photos Editor

When it comes to choosing what colleges to apply to, juniors and seniors most likely turn to college rankings to determine the most prestigious and selective colleges as a ticket to success. However, one of the most impactful factors—cost and return on investment—is often overlooked.

The reasoning is simple―most high school students do not have financial responsibilities or longtime jobs, so it’s hard for students to even visualize the magnitude of college tuitions. While many might argue that cost should not be the sole factor in choosing colleges, there is little to justify the often enormous discrepancy in cost between public and private colleges. Most private colleges are simply not worth their value since undergraduate education generally only matters in 4-5 years of your life, while the cost of the education would stay around for decades to come.

Looking into where most Irvington students apply, compare UC tuition (30k) and most higher-ranked privates (70-80k), and we get a staggering 40 thousand difference in tuition per year. 4 years would translate into a 160 thousand dollar in difference, and for the middle class who don’t get financial aid and have to take out enormous loans to afford education, private school tuitions creates huge financial burdens. Fremont has a median household income of 121 thousand, so paying for private tuition accounts for a staggering 61 percent of annual income even for most residents in a relatively affluent district.

There is a common belief that private college students generally enjoy perks such as closer alumni connections, smaller student to teacher ratios, and bigger average endowments that give them more opportunities. However, it is important to note that private schools only give students a better opportunity of obtaining a job or a higher salary, but don’t guarantee it. According to Lexington Law, graduates will earn about 10% more income if they attend a private college over a lifetime than they would have if they chose a public college.

However, private school graduates only start to surpass public school graduates in accumulated earnings over time by age 50, which means that the additional money spent on paying private college tuition in their twenties would only land them financially ahead of those who attend public university thirty years later. On top of that, it goes without saying that no matter the college students attend, what factors the most is how they make use of opportunities.

Generally, students who attain success out of college do so largely due to their effort put in seeking opportunities, while alumni connections, school brand and better resources only provide a slight edge, but are seldom, if ever, the defining factor.

While most students and/or their parents carry the financial burden of paying off private college tuitions for an average of at least two decades, the prestige or increased resources given by private education can only help you so far. The brand names of some prestigious private colleges might help graduates in landing their first job, but after that, employers weigh experience, performance reviews and workplace achievements a lot more than where they graduated. In addition, NCES also found that public college education overwhelmingly surpasses private college education in terms of return on investment, which is calculated by factoring estimated lifetime earnings over four year tuitions. Compare the public and private university with the highest Return on Investment (ROI) respectively, and we find that Georgia Institute of Technology has a 4,735% ROI, far out-winning Princeton University, which has a 2,110 % ROI.

Costs aside, public colleges offer similarly amazing opportunities and education compared to privates. Public universities also have a wider selection of majors and degrees compared to private universities, and more specialized private education could be restrictive for many students who are still exploring their interests and career paths. Since public universities do not factor in legacy and base admissions more on merit instead of familial connections or donations, this allows for greater economic diversity in the student population, which is seldom present in costly privates.

But shouldn’t we choose the college we see ourselves happiest in? This is a rule of thumb that people repeat in choosing colleges, but for some of us that are not given adequate financial aid or need to take out excessive loans in order to afford private institutions, reality dictates that we do not have the luxury to put the “happiness” or “best-fit” factor before the cost. What we often fail to realize is that all in all, college is a lofty investment that will impact us for decades to come, and when the financial return and benefit reaped cannot match up to the racked up price private colleges demand nowadays, there is little value in struggling and sacrificing so much for a four year education. Public colleges offer quality education and opportunities, and you do not have to wait until you are 50 to finally see your investment come through.

Staff Writer

When one thinks of top universities, the schools that come to mind are a mix of private and public schools: Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA. Yet, the differences between publics and privates date back to the 1600s, when education was established in the United States as an elite network of Christian institutions. Unlike other countries, which started with public education, public schools only became available in the U.S. in the 1860s, when the government set resources aside for funding. Today, over five million students attend private universities, while about 15 million attend public universities. While the sticker price of public universities may appear much lower than private universities, the benefits of going to the latter outweigh the costs as private schools are the best fit for students who seek for a smaller community of learners and a larger network of alumni.

The smaller student population at private schools allow students to have better resources, such as small class size and curriculum flexibility. The STAR (Student/ Teacher Achievement Ratio) program hosted in Tennessee, the first large-scale experiment on class size conducted 20 years ago, reveals that small class sizes have positive effects on students and allow them to be ahead of larger class counterparts. The National Education Association also reports that even with instructional aides in larger classes, the students did not perform as well as those in smaller classes. At UC Santa Cruz last year, the overpopulation of students has led Santa Cruz to ask faculty in the area to open extra rooms in their homes for students who were on the housing waitlist.

As a result of a stronger focus on students, most private universities have more cohesive alumni networks that provide students a foot-in-door effect to obtain jobs in the competitive market.

Since private schools are primarily funded through tuition and alumni donors, the family legacy of alumni builds up the social network for students while they are at the school and post-graduation. Students at private institutions obtain experience through internships more easily than their peers are public schools, as the extended alumni network may help them scout such opportunities. Today, more students are getting a 4-year degree than ever before, which leads many students to take on a master’s degree, PhD, or an MBA alongside a job. At a private school, students are

equipped with better resources in order to succeed after graduation.

While state schools are “diverse” with mostly a jumble of students from the same state, private schools are more diverse with students that come from all across the country and internationally.

State schools subsidize tuition only for residents in-state, and set quotas for how many students have to come from the state each year, leaving little room for diversity from other areas. For example, Georgia Tech, a public school in Atlanta, has a student population made up of 60% in-state students and 40% out of state or from another nation. According to the Queen’s University, diversity is important as students work better in diverse environments, which enable them to push themselves further when there are people of other backgrounds working alongside them. Additionally, diversity promotes creativity, and allows students to interact with different viewpoints and collaborate to create solutions.

While some may argue that the average cost of price public universities is significantly lower than those of private schools, not all public schools are cheaper. The College Board cites that the average cost for private schools in 2017-2018 was about $35,000 and the average cost for public schools for state residents was $10,000. However, UC Berkeley and UCLA cost about $35,000 a year with tuition and housing costs, which is the same cost as the average private school. If students have trouble graduating public school due to overpopulation of students and inability to take required classes to graduate, staying back would cause the overall tuition to cost the same as a private school.

Others may argue that private schools are not worth the expensive price that does not guarantee a return on investment. Though this may be true for some private schools, the majority offer needbased financial aid. With the Common Application, applying to college has become easier than before, and students can easily compare offers from multiple schools to compare the price of colleges and determine which one has the best value.

Ultimately, it comes down to one’s own choice to attend a private or public school, and each student’s experience will differ based on personal preferences. Rather than forming an opinion on private schools by paying attention to a couple scandals from USC and Stanford, I urge students to consider each school and its resources, private or public, before making a decision.

Dear Sri Lanka, Don’t Ban Social Media

After the Easter Sunday church bombings, Sri Lanka banned social media for nine days, which created more harm than good.

By Sanjana Gudivada Staff Writer

On April 22, the government of Sri Lanka issued a temporary nine-day ban on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Viber in light of recent church bombings on Easter Sunday that killed over 250 people. The ban was issued over the fear of hate speech spreading, but it did not stop people from finding loopholes, such as downloading VPNs to get across the firewall. Unfortunately, some people could not cross the firewall barrier and faced difficulty contacting family members after the church bombings. The ban was not helpful to the people of Sri Lanka but instead separated families and hurt the country’s tourism industry.

Although a small minority could easily download VPNs to be exempt from the social media ban, many did not know of it or couldn’t download it on time and had trouble contacting their families. Whatsapp and Facebook were the most commonly used sources to communicate in Sri Lan-

ka and the blockage of these two medias caused communication problems. A family based in the UK reported that they had trouble contacting their Sri Lankan based family after the bombings.

In addition, banning social media negatively impacts Sri Lanka as a nation because it hurts its tourism and e-commerce industries, which are often promoted on social media sites. This isn’t the first time Sri Lanka has banned social media: in 2018, the country banned social media when mobs of Muslims attacked Sinhalese citizens in Buddhist temples. The government wanted to prevent mobs from planning their attacks and Buddhist extremists from spreading fake information to target Muslims. The ban backfired as the country faced a loss of $30,000,000 to its economy. Because industries in Sri Lanka such as tourism mostly market themselves online in forms of ads on Facebook, the ban forced companies to lose many potential customers. In desperate attempts to solve the issue of misinformation and hate speech, the government completely disregarded the

damage to the economy could face in the absence of social media.

Sri Lanka banning social media did more harm than good for the country. It

lead to economic decline and created disconnection within families. In conclusion, it caused an enormous amount of inconvenience and wasn’t beneficial in any way.

Page 8

It’s Time to BREAK Up Summer BREAK

Friday, May 24, 2019

The current FUSD school schedule has a lengthy summer break that prevents students from retaining information from the prior school year, while denying students much needed breaks throughout the term.

By Vidushee Mishra Staff Writer

Summer slide, a phenomenon which occurs when students spend too much time outside of school and forget major topics they have learned due to the long break, causes students to lose 2.6 months of math skills, two months of reading, and one month of overall learning. This crisis can be prevented by cutting down summer vacation, and instead having more frequent breaks which are shorter in length.

Despite the numerous benefits of having shorter breaks throughout the school year, opponents claim that without having a prolonged summer vacation, staff members will not having enough time to participate in professional development and prepare new lesson plans. However, because the total length of the breaks will remain the same in both scenarios—180 days—teachers and administration can rearrange their schedules to finish their preparation in a different interval of time. Instead of having a summer break that is almost three months long, Fremont Unified School District should change its system to have a shorter summer vacation and more frequent breaks during the year because this system will prevent the perpetuation of the education gap, while also enabling students to enhance their productivity and mental abilities.

A long summer break perpetuates the education gap between people from different economic backgrounds due to summer slide; however, having a longer school year with smaller breaks allows teachers to teach more content to students in a continuous period of time, and deepen their understanding in the subjects taught.

According to The Atlantic, “‘The Summer Slide’ results in several lost months of reading and math skills, particularly among children who come from lower-income households. Children from affluent families experience similar declines in their math skills, though some research indicates that, thanks to their parents’ emphasis on summer reading, such students may actually make slight gains in their language-arts skills during the summer months.” Due to the length of summer vacation, incomebased inequality in school achievement is exacerbated because students from lowerincome families do not have the same opportunities as wealthier students, causing them to fall behind in their schoolwork because of a lack of resources and oppor-

tunities to help them counteract the effects of the “summer slide.” In addition, in the evaluation of a school district with a shorter summer break, the New York Times found that “Since the district transitioned to the longer calendar, the proportion of students passing state reading tests has gone to 65 percent from 51 percent, and math scores are also improving.” When students do not have a large break in the middle of their schooling, they are able to retain more information, allowing them to perform better on standardized testing since they have a comprehensive understanding about the content that being tested. Because a shorter summer break enables students to commit more information to memory and understand more topics in an uninterrupted period of time, the detrimental effects of “summer slide” are prevented, decreasing the prevalence of income-inequality within education.

In addition, more frequent breaks in the school year enable students to increase their productivity and develop their mental abilities. As described by Edutopia, “In a 2016 study, psychologist Karrie Godwin and a team of researchers measured how attentive elementary students were during class, and discovered that they spent over a quarter of the time distracted… Shorter lessons, however, kept student attention high.” By having breaks in shorter, frequent durations, students can continue to pay attention to what is being taught in class without getting burned out or distracted, since their brains are properly rested and have the ability to focus more efficiently. This increases students’ productivity and makes it easier for them

to complete tasks faster while also learning content on a deeper level. Similarly, “In a groundbreaking 2012 study, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and her colleagues at USC and MIT used an fMRI scanner to examine neural activity during the brain’s “default mode”—a state of rest that’s usually associated with taking a break or letting our minds wander… Further experiments showed that this default mode is crucial for consolidating memories, reflecting on past experiences, and planning for the future—in other words, it helps shape how we make sense of our lives.” More frequent breaks allow individuals’ brains to return to the “default mode” more often, fostering the development of several mental abilities such as fortifying memories, effectively evaluating previous experiences, and thinking about the future. By decreasing the size of summer vacation and having breaks more often, students are able to rejuvenate their brains while also expanding several mental abilities which are crucial to their future success.

Although teachers’ unions do not support cutting down summer break due to concerns about not having enough time to “participate in professional development and prepare new lesson plans,” they fail to acknowledge that these activities can still be done in smaller breaks. Because the amount of time spent in school will still be 180 days, there is the same amount of time for teachers to do everything they need to accomplish. While it is true that teachers may have to shift their schedules to account for a different distribution of vacation days, the benefits which can be reaped from having a short summer and more breaks

National Afterschool Association throughout the year outweigh the small amount of time that will be spent in changing teachers’ schedules. In addition, the teachers only need to change their schedules once when the school calendar changes, so any problem caused by these changes will not be significant in the larger context of the situation. The main argument against changing the calendar, that teachers will not have enough planning time, does not stand because the total amount of school days will remain the same, so teachers will still have the same number of days to organize their curriculum.

Having a shorter summer break and increasing the frequency of breaks of shorter durations is beneficial to students since it decreases the effects of “summer slide,” and also increases the productivity and brain functions of students. Summer slide is prevented because students have a more continuous learning period, so they can remember more information and learn about more topic areas in the same amount of time. Students’ also benefit from this schedule change because they have more time to refresh themselves and develop important skills such as being able to reflect on the past. Although opponents may claim that changing the vacation system will prevent teachers from effectively being able to plan for their upcoming year curriculum, this is not an issue because of the fact that the total amount of vacation days will remain the same. Modifying the vacation calendar will provide numerous benefits to students while also mitigating the effects of societal issues such as income-inequality within education.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Page 9

Overgunning the Issue of Gun Violence The Switch from Gun Control to Gun Safety

By Isha Sanghvi

Editor in Chief

Gun control. Gun safety. Gun violence.

All words and phrases surrounding the current national conversation about gun-ownership, school shootings, and the high level of homicide rates within the United States. But, words that have significantly different meanings for people on opposing sides of the conversation.

From the beginning, the story of gun-related violence has been repetitive. A school shooting occurs. Liberals frame the issue to be that of stringent gun control, whether that’s repealing the Second Amendment or banning handguns. Then, conservatives and interest groups like the NRA come back swinging harder when their constitutionally-protected right is threatened. And the cycle continues.

To understand the very core of why gunrelated violence is the highest in the United States compared to any other country, one must understand the unique culture of gun ownership in the United States. And to even make strides to bring that number of gun-related acts of violence down, we need to stop framing the issue as one of gun control, but one of gun safety—a bipartisan ap-

proach of public health.

While most gun control advocates cite evidence from other countries like New Zealand, Australia, or Japan to support policies like banning semi-automatic rifles, they neglect the culture of gun-ownership which is ingrained in America. While Australia outlawed the use of semiautomatic and automatic rifles, Australia also does not have a constitutionally-preserved right to own guns. As seen in McDonald v Chicago and DC v Heller, when states have tried to ban handgun registration, the Supreme Court has struck down those laws using the most powerful tool any gun owner has: the Second Amendment. As long as we have the Second Amendment, it is highly unlikely for successful policies in East Asian countries—like pacifist Japan where handguns are banned or like China where civilian gun ownership is outlawed—to be established in the United States.

Instead, the conversation should pivot to more bipartisan support issues which are less extremist. While not the most ideal approach, you have to abide by the rules of the game before you can win the game. As according to the Pew Research Center, 93 percent of all households who own guns are in favor of stricter back-

ground checks for gun possession.

And as Giffords Law Center reports, 22 percent of guns are purchased without a background check due to the gun-show loophole in which unlicensed sellers are not required to issue background checks. This allows people with a history of domestic abuse or crime to sidestep federally-required background checks and obtain a gun. According to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s nonprofit, Everytown for Gun Safety, 10 percent of individuals who bought guns through unlicensed dealers would not have been able to do so if they made the purchase with a federallylicensed dealer.

Furthermore, an equally-scary loophole is the boyfriend loophole. While federal law prohibits those convicted of domestic violence from purchasing the gun, the Lautenberg Amendment only keeps guns out of the hands of those who were married to their victim or shared a child with their victim. Effectively, abusive ex-boyfriends are still able to purchase a gun. And with 48.6 percent of gun violence committed against unwed women by dating partner, the evidence proves just how dangerous this loophole can be. Earlier this year, the House set to close these loopholes

with bills, but in neither scenario, has the Republican majority Senate voted to pass the bill.

In addition to background checks, the next smart step to decreasing gun violence is unironically, researching gun violence in the first place. According to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, there have only been 3 National Institute of Health grants awarded to researchers to study gun violence in the United States. There is a lack of funding and general support for gun violence research by the federal government because of a 1996 amendment which prevents CDC research from advocating for gun control. In order to understand how to approach the problem, research needs to be done about possible solutions. We can no longer rely on empirics from other countries, given that no country is comparable to the United States in terms of staunch gun-ownership rights.

Ultimately, the gun violence debate can no longer be the false binary of gun control or hands-off approach. By avoiding this perversion of language and saying the debate for what it really is, making guns safer, maybe we can finally “overgun” the obstacles.

Funding for Notre Dame is not Notre Dumb Despite backlash, funding to reconstruct Notre Dame is important to France.

By Justin Kim Staff Writer

On April 15, 2019, a fire destroyed the historic Notre Dame cathedral and French billionaires and citizens raised over $1 billion within a week for construction purposes. While this was an act of altruistic collaboration, many people were discontent with this sudden response and protested heavily on social media that the burning of an old building should not receive so much funding when other more important issues such as climate change, poverty, and the refugee crisis are largely ignored. However, the cathedral serves more purpose to the country of France than just a building but represents a national treasure and a staple of France’s tourist economy, making the funding for this cause justified.

Backlash over the Notre Dame’s funding was mainly based on the argument that the money could be sent to more “worthy” causes than an old cathedral. What many fail to realize that the Notre Dame is not just a cathedral, but an important staple of France’s tourist economy. France is one of the world’s most popular tourist locations, and in all of France, the most visited places include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles Palace, and Notre Dame.

In 2016 alone, tourism generated a total of 198.3 billion euros (222.3 billion USD).

With that, tourism also provides 2.8 billion jobs, making up a pretty large population of the workforce. With one of the signature landmarks gone, this could lead to a drastic loss of jobs for French citizens and cripple France’s economy, creating massive setbacks for the country and its citizens. While it may be argued that the absence of one cathedral will not affect the income too much, Notre Dame actually attracts 300,000 visitors every day, an estimate of 13 million visitors per year. Although the cathedral itself is free to enter, most visitors pay $6 to enter the crypt and $9 to enter the tower.

Some tours cost $11 and many other tours that include the Notre Dame range from $48 to $117. With the Notre Dame gone, all of the money paid to see this cathedral would also disappear with it.

Because of Notre Dame’s affiliation with the Catholic church and the Vatican’s current holds of 30 billion USD, many have assumed that the Catholic Church could pay off the cathedral’s construction fees without donations. This is false because the Notre Dame is not owned by the Catholic church, but is instead owned

by French government, who does not have the funds to spend over a billion dollars and fix one of their largest money-making tourist attraction without economically collapsing. People who argue that the government can afford to pay the reconstruction costs is also false, as the reason that donations came flooding in was that citizens knew that there would be no help from the government. In a similar case in 2017, the Archdiocese asked for 15 million euros to

NBC News The Notre Dame cathedral, which has very high cultural, economic, and religious significance, burned down on April 15, 2019. fix crumbling masonry and the president offered only 4 million euros a year.

Despite the fact that the Notre Dame already raised nearly $1 billion from donors, these donations will not be able to fully cover the reconstruction costs. The spokesperson for Notre Dame announced that the estimated costs for the total repair of the church would most likely be between $1.13 billion to $2.3 billion. In addition, the fact that individual people are the ones donating, not an organization or companies, shows the importance that the monument had on the French people. These people are free to allot their money to purposes they see fit, and others cannot force them to donate to certain causes that are deemed “more important” than others. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people spending their money on something they consider important.

The negativity over the Notre Dame funding is largely unnecessary, as the cathedral holds a great value to France as one of the country’s greatest contributors in income and. jobs. The Catholic church does not own the cathedral, and the government that owns it shows little support. The French people and numerous philanthro-

pists rushed to fund the reconstruction of the Notre Dame because it held great importance to the country and to themselves.

The funding was an act of altruistic support for something that was worthy of support, something that the donors chose to give up

their hard earned money because it was important to them. Instead of being negative about this, people should rejoice when an entire country comes together to support a common goal.

Anonymous Student User Testimony

“

I’ve been high at school a lot, and I see others do it really often. You can just randomly walk into a bathroom and, when you smell it, you know. Getting drugs on campus used to be really easy, but after a couple of kids got caught up with admin it’s been hard for me. For someone who’s looking, it’s really easy to buy here. Students I know use cocaine, a lot of marijuana, Adderall, acid, I’ve heard of pain pills, and a lot of lean. But it’s mostly weed.

I actually didn’t get into drugs at school—my first time using was at a concert, but since then I’ve used them at school. I remember last year, I went to one of my classes really high, and I was talking so much I ended up getting sent to the RC with my friend. We ended up getting yelled at in there too for passing notes, but I never got in trouble for being high. There [have] been a few times I’ve almost gotten caught at school. Once I ate edibles at school, and I remember my teacher looking at me really weird the whole class but he never approached me. Then, later that day, I stopped by the office to take care of some forms and I got pulled into **********’s office. They asked me a bunch of questions, like “Have you been using marijuana at school recently?” and searched my bag. I’m assuming it was my teacher that told them, but they never found anything and I got out just fine. I think, after everything, I would have no problems using drugs at school again but not at the moment since it’s Ramadan.

”

About the Drugs

I would say tha the increasing not only in bath I have the oblig tion. They kno thing and be d There’s a teena As an administ and offer supp sion: if they ha ably looking at days.

Based on anec time, it’s some consequences, to trust. Paren care because t they are suspe cause they’re j them to servic tions to campu because I am f

Ir vington Admini

Marijuana or Weed is a form of cannabis, in which THC is the main chemical component. Cannabis is very vers

it can be smoked as a cigar or consumed when it is mixed in food or drink (edibles), among other things. Weed can feel relaxed and calm, or nervous and scared, and may have hallucinations. Due to its effects in addition to its ity to stimulate appetite, marijuana has been used to treat symptoms of physical and mental illnesses.

Vaping is become more common due to its convenience: vapes are easy to buy, charge, and share. Vaping is the a of inhaling and exhaling of aerosol through a device, such as a JUUL. Although it may be “cleaner” than traditional cigarettes are still laced with harmful chemicals. After vaping, users may feel more relaxed and alert, leading many college and high students to vape to relieve stress.

Adderall is a capsule or tablet taken to improve one’s ability to focus and pay attention. Due to its nature, Adderall is com used to treat ADHD, hyperactivity, and impulse control. Statistics show that Adderall usage is becoming increasingly common high school and college students to help them focus and stay awake while studying. Adderall also causes a loss of appetite, so us lieve that they are able to stay in shape and study at the same time.

LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide/ “acid”) is usually taken to stimulate euphoria and various other hallucinations. During an acid users may experience mood swings, sensory hallucinations, and irrational fears. While LSD is not classified as addictive, users can d tolerance and require larger doses to achieve the same effect as before. LSD has been used for fun/experimentation or to relieve st Ecstasy and Molly are both forms of MDMA, a chemical with hallucinogenic properties. During an Ecstasy or Molly high, users ence increased enjoyment of nearby events, and distorted perception of time and increased sensory perception. Users report feeling energized during a high, making Ecstasy and Molly popular at music festivals and parties.

For more reliable information please visit: https://www.drugabuse.gov/

Anonymous Student User Testimony

The summer before my junior year, I was in a room with a lot of friends who were all [vaping], and I wanted to try so they explained it to me. I vape because the buzz only lasts for a little bit [for me] and [I] can control over how much [I] do. It kind of decreases my anxiety. With weed, I don’t like getting high much because I don’t like the dry eyes, but when I do, I usually drink with it. It feels like I’m in another world.

As long I’m not relying on drugs, I don’t see it as a problem. However, I would not recommend it to others. I might not stop people from trying it, but I would highly discourage people from buying a device for themselves because when you have it right in front of you, you can create some kind of dependency.

Campus Super visor Ross Eddings Consequences for drug usage are severe. Even for vaping, once a student is caught it goes straight to the administration. I have seen students really high. [Some]times, the fire department is here not [for] injuries or serious illnesses, it’s drug use. They come because the student has more or less overdosed. They can’t function, they can’t get out of chairs. This has happened more than once this year, though thankfully it’s not common.

I caught people before. I saw a boy and a girl vaping right out in the open during brunch. They thought that they were in the middle of a thousand people, so nobody would notice. I saw a puff and they got caught.

“They deal solely to make money your product [In my experience,] most dealers start o themselves with are a huge impact; from terms, and whether it be to actually mak Marijuana is the most common drug am supplied by older people who can legally thing to cover their own drug expenses. business into something bigger, to the p takes off, and they find themselves bein With such a vast environment around us all, an ADHD medication used to help pa

at I’ve been very surprised as the year has gone on, not only at prevalence of drugs, but the boldness of students using drugs hrooms but in front of teachers in classrooms as well. gation to search when someone brings something to my attenow that if I go and search for this person, I’m going to find somedistracted by that and not properly investigate the original culprit. age code of no snitching, so it often ends up as a dead end. trator, my job is to conduct the search, deliver consequences, port to students. There is almost always some form of suspenave something on them or they’ve been dealing, they are probt five days. First-time offenders may get suspended for 2 or 3

The Voice Investigates

Drugs at Ir vington

organized by Pia Parekh, Elaine Chan | Features Editor, Editor-inChief contributors: Achintya P., Andrew F. , Rebeca D. Vidushee M., Rory C., Shivani M., Srinidhi S., Kritika S., Alice S., Nikoo A.

cdotal evidence, when it comes to substances, a majority of the e sort of self-medication. I have to do my job and there will be , but I’m here to help them and show them that they have adults nts can get very defensive, and some shockingly don’t seem to they aren’t surprised by their child’s behavior. The day when ended is not the best time to pursue long term action plans bejust upset. Once the student returns from suspension, I connect ces and bring substance abuse programs and health organizaus to provide counseling. I want to continue the conversation focused on the future.

istration Mr. Honerkamp

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The Impact of Drugs

Within the last twenty years, many organizations and health foundations have conducted research on the impact of drugs on adolescents. According to the NCBI, the human brain continues to develop until early adulthood, continuously creating chains of neurons that aid in complex decision-making. The results of an experiment conducted by Kashfia Rahman, a guest speaker on TED Salon, showed that during teen years, constant exposure to stress reduces the brain’s natural response such as fear, which makes them more likely to try drugs or alcohol with less consideration for the consequences.

Multiple studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) prove that vaping is the most common form of substance abuse among teenagers.

The use of opioids has dropped by 58 percent for eighth graders and a staggering 75 percent for high school seniors since the early 2000s. The percentage of students that smoke cigarettes has also dropped significantly for students from the eighth to twelfth grade over the past ten years. On the other hand, vaping, marijuana, and alcohol have become increasingly popular within high school students. A survey conducted by the NIDA showed about 60 percent of twelfth grade students revealed that they drink alcohol. Alcohol is a commonly-abused substance because it can be found in many homes and can easily be brought to parties.

High school students use drugs for numerous reasons, including: peer pressure, to relieve stress or anxiety, to be cool, or to do better at certain things. Students have increased levels of stress because their brain cells are in the process of being myelinated, being wrapped with a membrane, during their teen years. Neurons with a myelin sheath send a more intense message to other parts of the brain, so as a result, teens feel some emotions such as stress, anxiety, or happiness more intensely.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse informs that it takes less than ten minutes for alcohol to affect the body. The immediate effects include decreased stress and tension. Similar to alcohol, marijuana reduces stress and can induce a feeling of calmness. Adderall can increase energy and reduce appetite.

Substance abuse causes many short- and long-term effects. According to the American Addiction Center, prolonged use of marijuana can cause fatigue, damage the lungs, and causes breathing problems. Nicotine can cause cancer, such as lung or gum cancer, stain teeth, and respiratory issues. The effects of alcohol include: death, seizures, and liver or kidney problems.

According NIDA, it is difficult for people to stop using drugs because as time progresses they need to take even higher dosages for the euphoric feeling that drugs can give. As a result, people feel the need to continue taking drugs so that they can feel that high again.

Anonymous Student Dealer Testimony

y; gone are the days of being buddy-buddy with people for some drugs, it’s all just a business to make profit off you and gain the most buyers for

off the same, mild-frequent users who want to venture deeper into the lifestyle and see what’s in store. Their friends/company they surround m here “new people” are introduced and the ideas of “trapping” or “middle manning” come about. To the average user, these are pretty exciting ke some quick money or just to fit in and make a name for themselves, they try their hand at dealing. mongst high schoolers, and in today’s age is very accessible to pretty much anyone if you have a contact. Most if not all dealers in high schools are y purchase the drug (or get it by their means since they aren’t puny little teenagers) and then resell it for profit. Dealers usually begin doing their . A quick sale here and there can get them high for free, in most simplest terms. Doing this in a sort of rinse and repeat manner can snowball their point where they are making many sales to people, covering personal drug costs, and having profit money leftover. This is when their gig really ng full blown dealers. s, every area is different in terms of what drugs fly around. Most may think marijuana is the only one, but there are many more out there. Adderatients focus and be more productive, is very common in college students and high schoolers.”

Page 12

Friday, May 24, 2019

ENTERTAINMENT

Friday, May 24, 2019

Mr. IHS: 10 Years of Success

DIRECT FROM THE EDITOR:

Hey guys! Make sure to check out our reviews of The Sun is Also a Star and an analysis of Taylor Swift’s sale methods online at our website, ihsvoice.com

9:30pm, most of the audience remained in anticipation to hear the final winner. There were many categories for winners of small awards, such as “Best Costume,” “Mr. Talent,” or “Mr. Personality,” and then the top seven overall winners were announced after. Before announcing the final standings and the winner for 2019 Mr. IHS, another video was played with the very first 2009 winner of Mr. IHS saying words of congratulations for how far the contestants had made it so far.

Prior to the show, I had expected Mr. IHS to be just a popularity contest and a disorganized event. However, by the end of the show, the amount of planning and student-led cooperation that led to the final

event completely proved otherwise.

“I’m really proud of how we handled the last week because especially the few days leading up to it, we had practice basically every day and the two days before and the day of [performance], it was for five hours after school just to get everything ready for Thursday and Friday. Pretty much everyone showed up, too” says contestant Anikait Rao (12).

There were four months leading up to the show and practice for the event had started back in December of last year.

While the event was student-led, the dedication of organizers Catherine Cheng (12), Shanna Le (12), and Ami Shalabh (12) throughout the year allowed for the event to run smoothly.

“My biggest hope was that they had fun and they enjoyed it because it’s been a long year of planning and working out our dances and everything,” says event organizer Cheng .

At the end of the performance, Braxton Carlson was announced as the first place winner, with Bryan Tang coming in second, Kunj Shah in third, Jeremy Garcia in fourth, and Anikait Rao in fifth. While Mr. IHS 2019 has come to a close, Braxton Carlson has some advice for Mr. IHS 2020.

“Don’t be afraid to go all out and do what you normally think would be uncomfortable or embarrassing because everyone in the crowd is there to support you and there to see you, express yourself in the rawest form and Mr. IHS is the perfect platform for that. If you’re going to do this, do it like you mean it. It’s your senior year, so there’s nothing really left here,” said Carlson.

performances to “The Greatest” and “24k magic.” The pieces in these songs were a contrast from the previous category, and were more cheery and uplifting.

“Retro America,” the fourth category, was mainly focused on celebrating classic American culture. There were performances to “Grease”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and “Elvis Mix.”

They ended the show with a collective performance of “Party in The USA.” Through the four categories, the dancers wanted to send the audience an important message.

“I feel like we wanted to show our audience that despite our diverse ethnicities, we can all come together to make our communities a more welcoming/safe environment, as well as create something that we all can smile at and enjoy,” sadi Fransisco.

The dances were well-rehearsed and well-choreographed. The dancers spent the whole school year preparing for the show, both in-class and and in their free time.

“All of us had to spend extra time outside of class to make sure we had at least the basics of the choreography down, especially since we would eventually have to perform live. Certain dances were quick to learn, but we’d have to repolish the moves before performances,” said Francisco.

However, there were some complications with finding free time to practice before the show, especially with heavy school work.

“Another challenge was finding the motivation and determination to pull through and commit to more difficult dances, especially the contemporary pieces. Not all of us are highly skilled dancers, so learning and implementing new technique the way the choreography called for was hard,” said Francisco.

Despite these issues, the show was a major success this year.

“This year was definitely more organized than it had been in the past, so the show ran much smoother,” said music committee head Addy Arbis (12), who is also Ms. Lau’s TA.

Francisco said, “Everyone was amazing!! I know a lot of us were super nervous or anxious, especially the choreographers, but the dances were so much fun and I’m sure they all looked great!! I really feel like we somehow made a connection with each other through the production and we all sorta feel like a little family now. And a thank you to Ms.Lau, she is our queen.”

Arbis said, “Everyone’s energy was outstanding, even though the show had run so long, and I’m so happy to have watched everyone have fun in the end. Great job, and I’m so proud of them all!”

By Nancy Zuo Staff Writer

Since 2009, Mecha, a Latinx club advised by Mr. Ballado, has hosted the event Mr. IHS annually at Irvington High School. During the show this year, 27 contestants competed to be crowned the next Mr. IHS. In addition to entertaining a full audience in Valhalla with skits and videos, Mr. IHS also gives students a chance to earn scholarship money for college. The first place winner receives $500, and fifth to second place win fifty to two hundred dollars.

The price of tickets are $12 presale, and $15 at the door. While the performance started on Saturday, May 5th at 6:30pm, there was already a long line in front of Valhalla of supportive friends, parents, siblings, teachers, and alumni even before doors opened.

The first act of the performance started with an opening dance by all the contestants, who each dressed up as a different famous characters ot celebrity. This was followed by an introduction of each contestant, then the eleven skits performed by small groups of contestants. Skits displayed various levels of talent, ranging from the “All the Single Ladies Dance”, to singing the Wiggles’ “Fruit Salad” song, to an ASMR mukbang of two contestants eating carrots and watermelon. The variety of different talents in the first act helped the ten judges to score contestants.

“Mr. IHS represents people that want to put themselves out there and do things that they normally don’t do” says contestant Braxton Carlson (12).

Nancy Zuo | Staff Writer

After the intermission, the second act of the show started with a swimsuit walk, similar to that of a beauty pageant, with each contestant walking across the stage while the three MCs read off silly introductions. There were also several videos that were played on the projector that were made prior to the show. One of them was the service video, in which Mr. IHS partnered with the organization Health4Humanity, whose purpose was to raise money for women’s education. The contestants helped to promote a car wash fundraiser by waving posters at cars at an intersection and helped to wash cars.

While the performance ended over an hour late at 10:40pm instead of

“America To Me”: An Emotion-Evoking Production

By Megan Dhingra Staff Writer

Megan Dhingra| Staff Writer Dancers perform a piece about distracted driving, a reccurring problem in America.

They reenact the last few minutes of a person’s life after they get into an accident.

“America To Me”, a 3 hour production by Ms. Lau’s dance classes, took place on Friday, May 10. It followed the theme of “America” and had 52 acts split into 4 categories. The goal of this year’s show was to portray different perspectives of America, along with the negative aspects of society.

The first category was called “Diverse Nation.” This section featured many cultural performances including one with Bhangra, a dance style originating from Punjab. The upbeat music and the smiling faces of the performers created a very nice atmosphere inside the theatre. There was also a piece with the song “Waka Waka” to represent Africa, and a performance of “Love Never Felt So Good” to represent the Philippines. There was even a traditional Philippine Tinikling dance, where the dancers hopped over bamboo poles in a complex choreography. I really like how these performances represented the large amount of diversity we have in America, especially in California.

The second category was called “America at Its Finest” which confronted problems that have appeared in today’s world and in the past. Two pieces in particular, “In My Blood” choreographed by Hannah Ruelos and “Dear Mr. President”

choreographed by Ms. Lau, really encompassed this category. Hannah’s piece discussed emotional distress and depression, while Ms. Lau’s piece confronted the discrepancies in promises made by those who are leading our generation of people.

There was another piece called “This Is America,” choreographed by Ms. Lau. The start of the piece was lively but then transitioned into something dark.

“At the end [of “This Is America”] there is a super key scene.” says performer Remy Francisco (10). “One of the male dancers in the class is dragged into a mob of people and then the lights go out. It was supposed to represent how black males are often unjustly targeted in the US. It was really important to include this piece because many people want to turn away from the issue. It was a really defining dance for this section, in my perspective.”

The choreography for the pieces in this section emulated a lot of emotion, and had me, and everyone else, in tears.

The dancers were very into their performances and conveyed emotions like they were actually going through the experience.

These graceful contemporary dances were a breathtaking, brilliant work of art.

The third category was “Love and the American Dream,” which had upbeat

Page 13

Page 14

Friday, May 24, 2019

Staff Shenanigans Takes the Detective Pikachu is on the Case!

Stage

By Alice Shu

By Shivani Manivasagan Staff Writer

On May 17, Irvington hosted the first ever Staff Open Mic Night, also dubbed Staff Shenanigans.

After a full school year of various events and shows at Irvington, the informal atmosphere of Open Mic was refreshing.

ASG put on the show—it was hosted by Jasraj Singh (11), who organized it with Arnav Kamra (11). The lighting was beautiful, and the night itself spanned a range of musical acts, from Mr. Ballin’s impressive singing/guitar/harmonica song covers to Mr. Mintey’s keyboard jam session. Ms. Berbawy and Mr. Johnson surprised the crowd with their memorable cover of “Shallow”

by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and Mr. Fraser with his passionate version of the classic “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” sung to a teddy bear onstage that was standing in for his significant other. That evening, Mr. Chan also proved himself to be a singer, and Ms. Reddy performed her unique (and relatable) “Geek Anthem.” Mr. Ip and his team provided a break from the singing acts, energizing the stage with Kpop choreography.

Mr. Mintey in particular unleashed his musical side and participated in many acts: an adorable duet with his daughter, an epic lip-syncing rap battle with Ms. Mattingly, and two song covers with Mr. Anaya’s guitar accompaniment, as well as the closer for the night. Enthusiasm was high and the crowd cheered when Principal Melsby walked onstage to join Mr. Mintey in his performance of “Life is a Highway,” creating a special conclusion to the laughter and fun-filled evening.

Videos from previous years’ Faculty Follies were also shown between acts, including the staff’s hilarious renditions of “What Does the Fox Say” and “Do You Want to Build A Snowman.” These served as a throwback for teachers and older students, and a preview of next year for underclassmen.

Open Mic was held as a spinoff of Faculty Follies, a biennial Irvington tradition where Irvington staff create funny skits and videos, but less musical acts like the ones that made up Open Mic. The show was not able to happen this year due to teachers’ scheduling conflicts, though they plan to resume next year.

“I think next year, Faculty Follies will be combined with Open Mic Night,” said Rishabh Chowhan (11), next year’s ASG Vice President. “There would probably be more karaoke, and teachers could get out of their seats and participate if they wanted to.”

Despite some last-minute issues in setting up due to students getting sick, ASG was able to successfully pull off the event.

“Rishabh spent almost the entire day in Valhalla to take care of the tech work,” said Kaitlyn Kodama (11), who also helped with the show.

Interestingly, Open Mic is related to one of ASG’s current campus beautification projects. The profit made from this show will pool into the budget for repaving part of the pavilion, outside the cafeteria.

ASG’s goal is to get the pavilion paved this summer, before Maze Day.

Staff Shenanigans, Irvington’s premiere Open Mic Night, was overall a success, leaving us in anticipation of similar events to come next year.

Staff Writer

Detective Pikachu, the most recent major motion picture from the Pokémon universe, captured the hearts of Pokémon amateurs and Pikachu diehards alike. Stunning visuals, along with great acting and lines, complement the poignant, if a bit confusing, mystery story. The lively Pokémon star in the live-action adaptation of the video game “Detective Pikachu”, making it a film to be seen by any Pokémon enthusiast.

Instead of Pokémon battles, which are a famous aspect of the franchise, the movie takes a turn into a classic mystery. Tim (Justice Smith), is reluctant to have a Pokémon partner, but when a lively Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) offers to join him and help find his missing father, Tim and Pikachu venture across different Pokémon landscapes to piece together clues to find his father. The action itself was quite straightforward, with each clue leading to the next; however, the plot twists may make the resolution and climax confusing for those unfamiliar with the franchise.

The movie provides just enough context about the Pokémon universe, but unfamiliar viewers may be baffled with all the slang thrown around, like “water-type” and “evolution”.

Apart from the Pokémon themselves, the best part of this film is its visuals and graphics. They captured the hustleand-bustle of a modern-day city: Ryme city, filled with humans and Pokémon, as well as dazzling neon signs and towering skyscrapers. The lighting provided by the neon lights can be compared to that of La La Land. The combination of live-action and 3D-animated Pokémon was done extreme-

The Raw Mien of Yokohama Iekei Ramen Shop Elaine Chan Editor-in-Chief

Annika Yong| Photos Editor Mr. Ip and his team rock the stage with their Kpop dance cover.

Endgame: Love it 3000

By Emily Joe

Humor Editor The highly anticipated flick, Avengers: Endgame, the fourth Avengers movie and the twenty-second installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a shocking conclusion to an unprecedented world-building era. Despite its long but justified threehour runtime, Endgame is a movie that will continually serve fans as they will be able to reminisce over iconic Marvel content and discover new easter eggs with every watch.

While it is not necessary to have watched every one of the 21 previous MCU installments, perhaps the most nostalgic aspect of Endgame is its consistency in rewarding Marvel fans when movies-worth of inside jokes reappear throughout the movie, from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s downfall in Captain America: The Winter Soldier to the Avengers: Age of Ultron Mjolnor debate.

Given the tremendous and welldeserved credit to directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Endgame is short of what many would call a “perfect” movie due to unnecessarily long scenes, several missed opportunities for closure and comedic relief, and rushed ideas that simply needed more explanation. Additionally, Endgame provides redundant exposition on events, ideas, and characters that the audience is already well-acquainted with. Despite this, the misused screen time could have been better used to not only expand on scenes

Rating:

relating to returning characters and their relationship with others, but also scenes to give closure to the audience. That’s not to say there weren’t any scenes that undoubtedly aroused a reaction from the audience, such as the melancholic moment when Rocket and Nebula grieve together, hand in hand.

Yet, even with the very limited screen time certain supporting characters had, their lines were not wasted as each and every one of them outstandingly portrayed their character given the context of each actors. Karen Gillian, for example, did an astonishing job in her role as a conflicted, yet resolute Nebula. Other actors, such as Brie Larson, were impressive as they had to speak their lines without context or other actors in the room, despite what the actual movie may show. As always, the original Avenger cast, including Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr., were excellent in portraying how each character copes with the events of Infinity War and the following events of Endgame.

Avengers: Endgame heartrendingly completes the story arcs of the original Avengers and sufficiently sets the stage for future new Avengers, keeping in mind the after-effects of the events of Endgame.

The universe continues on in Spiderman: Far From Home, whose release date is July 2, 2019 and a small foresight as to what the upcoming MCU will look like.

ly well, especially the Pokémon: every detail, from the reflections on their eyes and each moving hair on Pikachu, was covered and amplified, creating some of the cutest and surreal imaginations of Pokémon to be seen.

Luckily, the Pokémon all had personalities that helped characterize them as individuals instead of mindless companions. Ryan Reynolds steals the show as Pikachu, with his ever-present one liners, adult jokes, and smart commentary. Even the Pokémon who can only repeat their name- which, surprisingly, isn’t annoyingvary across a spectrum, from shy and caring to manipulative and scary.

That’s not saying that the humans were lacking. Although only a handful of actors were featured, they all did great jobs in portraying Pokémon trainers. They all treated their Pokémon with respect and love, which is to be expected in a Pokémonbased society. The cast was also diverse, from the two main actors to the minor and background characters. The film made no efforts to disguise the human population as just as diverse as its Pokémon population.

Even though the plot is confusing at times, and the Pokémon usually overshadow their human counterparts, this movie has stunning visuals and enough personality to charm any Pokémon familiar. No matter how invested you were in Pokémon, whether you were there from the first episode of the series, or if you just own a plushie or two, it’s a must watch for anyone familiar with the series, as well as a great way to introduce the new generation to our childhood. And plus: Pikachu is just so darn cute! Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu may be better than Ryan Reynolds as Ryan Reynolds!

A cup of noodles purchased from 7-11 might be the typical Irvington lunch during the school week, but consider enhancing your ramen game at the recently opened Yokohama Iekei Ramen Shop in Union City. Although Yokohama Iekei is primarily known for their rich, traditional Japanese Tonkotsu ramen soup bases, they also serve a variety of other curries and entrees.

At the time I arrived on a Wednesday evening, the small restaurant was about halfway full. The inside of the restaurant was dimly lit, and the wooden tables and tiled floored were accented with traditional Japanese bamboo partitions, glowing red lanterns, and Japanese words. We were seated quickly, and after the waiter pointed out the chef specials and mentioned that customers could receive two quail eggs with a “check-in” on Yelp, we placed our order. I ordered the Black Garlic Ramen and Katsu Chicken curry.

In about 10 minutes, we had re-

Rating:

ceived our dishes. The Katsu Chicken curry was served over a small pat of slightly crispy white rice and was paired with large chunks of steamed potatoes and carrots.

The smooth texture of the steamy, savorily spiced curry complemented the chunky texture of the steamed vegetables and made for a warm, filling dish.

The Black Garlic Ramen was unlike any ramen I had tasted before. It had a unique black garlic, home-made soup base that was aromatic and savory but not overly-greasy. This soup was served with ramen noodles, bamboo shoots, nori, fatty pork, a soft-boiled egg, and been sprouts.

The combination of flavors, although subtle by themselves, create a pungent savoriness throughout the entire noodle soup.

Overall, I would recommend Yokohama Iekei Ramen to foodies in search of a traditional Japanese ramen destination; the flavor of the ramen soup base is quite different from commercialized, Americanized ramen soups. On the whole, the selection of dishes and quality of food and service was excellent and the waiters and servers were extremely efficient.

Friday, May 24, 2019 Page 15

Page 16

SPORTS

Friday, May 24, 2019

ON THE RECORD “There were definitely improvements” — Boys’ Varsity Golf captain Ian Riedel (11)

Congratulations to Continuing Athletes:

Provided by Nick Wilson (12)

Name: Nick Wilson Sport: Baseball College: Claremont McKenna College

Provided by Gabriella Funk (12)

Name: Gabriella Funk Sport: Soccer College: New York University

Provided by Darya Rasoli (12)

Name: Darya Rasoli Sport: Soccer College: California Lutheran University

Provided by Alexis Early (12)

Name: Alexis Early Sport: Volleyball College: Foothill College

Read more about these athletes on ihsvoice.com

Boys’ Volleyball Repeats As MVAL Champions

By Michael Zhu Staff Writer

Irvington’s boys’ volleyball finished the season with an overall record of 27-7, and a league record of 11-1. The Vikings repeated as Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL) champions, finishing first in league. After winning their first North Coast Section (NCS) playoff match against Liberty on Apr. 30 with a score of 3-1, the boys’ stellar season came to a close with a 1-3 loss against Heritage on May 2.

Although they were not able to win NCS as they did last year, this year’s team was able to reaffirm their dominance in the MVAL league.

“We’re not as strong as last year when we won NCS, but we have definitely grown a lot as a team compared to previous years,” Captain Edwin Louie (12) said, “This year was another stepping stone of a new chapter of Irvington volleyball that we started last year.”

The team faced adversity from the start of the season, as they lost 4 of their starting 7 players from last year. To overcome this, the boys focused on communication on and off the court, and awareness which allowed them to execute properly on offense and defense.

Another reason for the team’s suc-

cess this year was their team chemistry, as the boys had a familial relationship with each other.

“We were a close-knit group that were able to read each other on and off the court,” Captain Bilal Pandit (12) said.

Louie also attributed their team success to their coaching staff, Coaches Edgar Colocho and Arbie Estabillo, who helped the boys work together as a team and stay focused through their struggles.

Throughout the season, the team was able to achieve a handful of dominant victories, including winning 1st place in the Deer Valley tournament on Apr 6.

“Our best game we had was our away game against Mission, which was our final regular season game,” Pandit said, “It was a really special game as it was the last regular season game for our seniors and it allowed us to clinch the MVAL championship for back to back years.”

As the intense practices and thrilling games of the season come to a close, the seniors aim to pass on their experience and lessons learned to the underclassmen.

Although next year’s team will lose a handful of key senior players, the team remains hopeful.

Michael Zhu| Staff Writer Edwin Louie (12) jumps up for the spike during Senior Night.

“Next years team is very young but they have a lot of experience in high-pressure situations,” Castillo said, “I believe they can go far if they are willing to put the work in.”

As the players develop, the team plans to remain focused and practice harder than ever in pursuit of next year’s league championship.

Friday, May 24, 2019 Page 17

Track and Field Sprints Through Its Season

By Pia Parekh Features Editor

The Vikings track and field team ended with another strong season this month; JV girls went undefeated and won the MVAL championships, JV boys placed second, varsity girls placed second for the first time in 15 years, and the varsity boys placed third.

Reflecting on the past season, the coaches and team members were very pleased with their performance through the season and the championship races.

“The best part of the season is to see the kids shine. Throughout the practices, we’ve seen them putting in the effort, time, and hard work. We had 54 days of rain between the end of February and the end of April,” said Head Coach Stone. “We didn’t wait for time to stop, we just went through it. We persevered.”

In total, 15 Irvington athletes qualified from NCS to run in the Meet of Champions, including Bridget Daughtery (12) and Owen Schmitz (12).

“My first few years were great because I loved the seniors, but being a senior is a totally different experience,” said Daughtery.

“Leading the team and just bonding with people in the same hurdle [event group] as me were the best parts.”

Daughtery, who runs hurdle events, has participated in track and field all four years. Similarly, Schmitz has competed for four years as well.

“I’m going to remember track and field as somewhere I got to compete with close friends,” said Schmitz. “All of [the jumpers from Irvington] are pretty competitive, and the kids from other schools have become my friends through these competitions since we’ve been going against one another for four years.”

While the season ended on an overall strong note, Coach Stone emphasized how many student-athletes faced injuries.

“For me, this season was a bit rough. Early in the season, I injured my hip and, then, my hamstring,” said Schmitz. “I spent most of my season working on recovering.”

In spite of this, Schmitz jumped 6’2”, qualifying for the Meet of Champions.

In addition to the 6 other upperclassmen qualified for Meet of Champions, Coach Stone particularly applauded this season’s underclassmen and their dedication to the team.

“We competed at a high level throughout, and now these kids are peaking at the right time,” said Coach Stone.

“Especially the sophomore girls and boys, they’re going to be really fun to watch in the following years.”

Scores Boys’ Volleyball

Irvington Badminton Triumphs at MVALs and NCS Tournaments

By Srinidhi Sankar Opinions Editor

Irvington Badminton completed its most successful season in over forty years as the team became undefeated MVAL champions for the first time since 1977. Whether it was defeating rival Mission San Jose High School or sending 11 players to NCS, the badminton team has repeatedly proven its tenacity throughout the season.

“I knew we would be good, but the question is how good because there are always challenges such as seniors with QUEST, people in DECA, and doctor appointments,” said Coach Steve Strout.

“But we were able to pull through for every match and did enough to win MVALs.”

Although some players missed after school practices, they were able to adjust for their absence by playing in practice games during FLEX or training off campus.

The coaches emphasized the importance of conditioning and practicing, but also accommodated academic commitments.

“We stress positive communication in advance—if you’re not going to be here today, I need to know before,” said Coach Strout, “If I find out after the fact, you are not going to play in the next match.”

In order to ensure mobility in the team and recognize the various strengths of the team, Coach Strout formulated plans for junior varsity players such as Jaylan Mo (9) to transition into varsity.

“If you play varsity you get to ex-

Baseball Jaime Wang

The team ended the season on May 18, as thirteen players qualified for Norcal, at which six placed.

perience better players and you can understand more of your mistakes, rather than playing people with the same style,” said Mo, “I didn’t play varsity against Mission, but I got to play varsity when we went against other schools.”

Team leaders Henry Chang (12) and Emerson Chao (12) attributed the team’s immense dedication to team spirit and the increasing number of talented players at Irvington.

“We knew we had good players coming in [to the season] and a lot more camaraderie [than previous years], so we

were confident that we could beat Mission,” said Chang and Chao. “We bonded and cheered on each other really well this year, to the point where Coach Strout told us to calm down.”

The team hopes to maintain the skillset and rigor as seniors graduate and new players enter the program next season.

“You’re playing for not just yourself but also for the team, and you don’t want to let your teammate down,” said Coach Strout, “You can let yourself down, it’s no big deal, but when you have proper people pulling for you, [you work harder].”

The Boys’ Tennis Team Finishes an Outstanding Season

By Nikoo Alizadeh Staff Writer

The Irvington boys tennis team had a record-breaking season this year with an outstanding performance from all players. They won twelve games and lost only two games, which exceeded their expectations.

“I was expecting to come out on top because that gives me confidence, which improves my game.” says Jaden Wei (10). “Today they were fulfilled, and I think I did well on maintaining focus and overcoming obstacles such as the strong wind.”

Their exceptional playing was a result of countless hours of practices, diligent players, and dedication. Many players agreed that their spirit and motivation was one of their biggest strengths this season.

“In terms of strengths,” says Harshith Shah (9), “I think our biggest strength was our teamwork because we would always cheer each other on no matter if we were winning or losing.”

At the beginning of the season, there were a few issues with new players adjusting to the team and bonding with one another, but as they got closer to the MVAL championships and were able to spend more time with one another both on and off the court, they were able to form strong

friendships. Some of their weaknesses this season include their lack of motivation at the beginning of the season and commitment due to having other school priorities.

With time and the common goal of doing well, the team got closer.

“In the beginning, many of our players were not particularly motivated as practices were dull and boring,” says Brian Hoang (12) “but as we started playing actual matches then we felt more bonded and

motivated and by the time MVALS ended, we were all pretty sad it was over.”

Many of the players are planning on practicing during their offseason to improve their skills for next year.

“I plan on practicing a lot on my game and making sure that my tennis fundamentals are sound,” says Luc Pham (10).

Overall, the boys’ team had a remarkable season and plan to come back even better next year.

Softball

Page 18

HUMOR

ASG Merges Senior Ball

Post-Prom Depression

By Roxana Shahmohammadi Staff Writer

By Michael Zhu Staff Writer

On May 17, ASG fulfilled its promise to reschedule Sadies and announced their next innovative idea: a Sadies-Senior Ball merge. Inspired by the Sadies theme “The City That Never Sleeps,” ASG announced its Senior Ball theme as “The Class That Never Graduates.”

This new idea incorporates Sadies aspects to the dance as now females have to fulfill tasks typically expected from males, such as performing promposals and picking up their dates.

According to ASG, the new SadiesBall brings a wide variety of benefits to the school and students. This new idea aims to give the senior class a fun twist for their prom while helping the school financially.

“Our brand new Sadies-Ball brings the best of both dances!” said Prom Manager Bryan Miller (12). “Moreover, since we combined two dances together, this solves previous issues of low attendance as it guarantees more people!”

Student reactions to Sadies-Ball

Michael Zhu | Staff Writer are generally mixed. Boys around the school are jumping in joy, ecstatic that one of the most difficult and stress-inducing parts of the prom experience is taken out of their hands.

On the other hand, some of the girls in the senior class have expressed outrage over the new responsibilities.

“I can’t believe we have to do promposals now!” said Distraught Senior (12), “I never ask anyone to dances!”

Other senior girls, however, like the role reversals and think it is an important step to achieve the equality of sexes that has been missing from our society for the past millennia.

With the Sadies-Ball taking place on May 24, ASG expects a great turnout from all classes of students, hoping the event will pioneer change for increased spirit and attendance in future years.

Update: Despite ASG’s valiant efforts to create an outstanding event, due to lackluster publicity, students still thought the Sadies-Senior Ball was a senior-only prom, resulting in mediocre attendance.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Well, this is it. Everything has been leading up to this moment. This is the night you’ve been dreaming about since the moment you were capable of thought. The night that’s supposed to be one of the best of your life; your chance to look like royalty and finally make your “High School Musical” dreams a reality. Everything has been meticulously planned down to the minutest details. Your dress is made from the tears of a thousand children, your corsage picked from the royal gardenss, your shoes belonged to Coco Chanel herself, and the necklace was taken from Cleopatra’s tomb.

You’ve flown out to every one of the seven wonders just to take your pictures. Finally, you arrive to the greatest night of your life.

It’s here and it’s absolutely, fantastically, gloriously. . . mediocre. It’s just fine.

You had fun, you danced, you ate, whatever. But what now? This has been the single biggest milestone in your life, the thing everyone has been preparing you for the last eighteen years. And now it’s over and you don’t know what to do. What are you going to obsess about now? What will the next four years of your life revolve around? College? That doesn’t matter. Nothing matters in comparison to prom.

No, you refuse to accept that this is the end. Time for drastic measures.

There’s still a little bit of time left and if you try hard enough, you can still be held back.

Next year will be your year. You will finally own it then. And if not? Well, then there’s always the year after that. Or the one after that.

Cliché Movie Characters Based on Horoscope

By Akshita Nair Staff Writer

Aries (March 21-April 19): You love—and I mean love—to be the center of attention. And that’s precisely why you would be a perfect fit to play the guy who walks away from an explosion in the background. You won’t even need to wait for the fire to explode, you’ll just saunter away in the opposite direction of the blast and probably pull out sunglasses from nowhere and put them on as everything gets incinerated. Sure, you may be in danger of also getting hit by the shrapnel, considering you’re not that far from the blast.

Sure, there’s almost no way you won’t be blinded by the bright burn or deafened by the booming noise. Sure, there’s really no point in walking away cooly considering the fact that everyone in the nearest vicinity has been burned to death or are currently running for their lives… but you want to be the object of people’s adoration for once in your life, right?

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Known for your stubbornness, you almost never back down from a fight. It doesn’t even matter to you if you’re facing your death. Hence, you’re designated the role of the old time cowboy-sheriff who controls the town. When a newcomer comes into town to claim your rightful place as sheriff, you’re ready to defend your position.

There’s only one way to settle this: a gunfight! Of course, it is absolutely, positively necessary for you to say the line, “There’s only room for one sheriff in this town!” to cue the classic, western gunfight music. You and your foe put slowly move your hands towards the gun in slow-motion. Cue the random tumbleweed that came out of nowhere and seems to be the only one in the desert. You look to the frightened townspeople who don’t exactly know what’s going on and don’t care who the town sheriff is. With a cigar still in your mouth, you aim high and, in three, you take your aim.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): You. Are. Indecisive. As. Hell. You would play the perfect dumb girl in a horror movie who makes all the wrong decisions. Oh no! There’s a killer after me, just let me go upstairs where I’ll be trapped and at his mercy. Ominous sound coming from the bathroom? Let me go check it out just to be sure, of course. Need somewhere to hide? The dark, silent basement where I can’t see anything or call for help should be the perfect place. A Ouija Board just laying around? Let me use it immaturely while taunting the spirits in my house and finish without properly saying goodbye. Creepy

doll in a store full of normal things? Let me take it home, I’m sure it’s harmless.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): You are very shy, maybe a little too much, to be honest. So, why not be the nerdy girl in a high school movie? Don’t worry, you won’t stay that way forever because everyone knows that, under those glasses, you look like a completely different person. I mean, despite the fact that your eyes now seem smaller, you’re so pretty. Now it’s time for an unnecessary and expensive makeover in which only God knows where you got the money from. Apparently, you know all the high fashion despite your closed-off nerdlike personality. GUCCI GANG. Hopefully, there is a Genovia for you to claim yourself as the heir of..

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): You are energetic and dedicated to whatever you commit to, and you never back down.

You are the perfect fit for the kid in a karate movie who just happens to live upstairs from one of the greatest Kung Fu masters in the world who has been alive since 300 B.C. Through your hard perseverance, you make it to the finals and are ready to take down the cocky opponent who stole yo’ girl.

Okay, so maybe you trained for 3 weeks and your opponent has been a prodigy since in the womb and has been doing karate kicks since the age of a few months. Okay, maybe you’re 5’0 and a scrawny midget and your opponent’s a 6’9 macho man with more hair on his mustache than you have on your entire body. According to the rules of dramatic training scenes in the sunset and cool deep bows, you have to win. Right?

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You are a deep-rooted, intellectual individual who never seems to be fazed by anything.

After all, the dramatic backstory of your whole family being murdered right in front of you taught you to trust no one and to build your status with bloody hands—oh and with the help of your newly discovered, rich uncle. But you’re not the hero in this story. You’re the villain who is the head of a notorious liquor company who your uncle entrusted to you after he “mysteriously” died. Your go-to scene requires a dark, dim lit room with one armchair and a small lamp as the only light source. The hero stalks towards the light in a heedful manner before he realizes there’s someone sitting in the chair. (*surprised gasp*) It’s you! You give him a round of applause while stating, “I’ve been waiting for you,” and then give him a worthy villainous stare before you start revealing your bloody plans for him and start telling him how he dares to ask you for a favor on the day of your daughter’s wedding.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You

are calm and keen to reach perfection. You always manage to do things with grace and dignity, no matter how dirty the job is. This is why you would also be a great villain. You are the type to walk in on the hero while he’s conveniently trapped and clap slowly as you do so. For some odd reason, you just have to tell them your sad backstory and go on about how you must get revenge on the hero because he looked directly in your eyes for 4.56 seconds. And before you can enact your plan, you have the old torture tray come in with various weapons to torture the fallen hero.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are headstrong, secretive, and as strict as your AP Chemistry teacher. You need to be in control, telling people what to do at all times. You’re the perfect fit for a British TV cooking host who hurls insults at all the incompetent contestants who cannot cook for their dear lives. Why can’t it be a mean American host? What kind of question is that?! It doesn’t matter what country, what time period, what alternate universe; mean cooking show hosts will always be British.

“Ayyyy Governor, now take that golly horrendous steak away from me and throw that rubbish in the bin” is probably along the lines of what you would say. You don’t have time to hear your contestant’s personal issues at home or insecurities because, after all, they haven’t even tasted to see if the sauce is properly done or not!

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’re a free spirit, nothing can hold you down! You’ve got all the right vibes and the right advice. What else would be the perfect fit for you other than the great, old master that can see into time and space itself to aid the main character? You’ve always got a set of tarot cards on you at all times just in case someone needs their doomed fate told to them. You are in possession of the oldest book in the universe and every alternate universe for some reason and only you know how to cast the mind-boggling spells.

You trademark scene is taking the hand of the hero, directing your gaze far away in a dreamlike state, and remark on how the character looks are just like their parents (who you met in your youth and, for some reason, was the person who they entrusted all their deep and dark secrets to for you to convey to the hero).

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’re a loner. Yeah… sorry to be so direct, but you kinda are. It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know it since your weird tendencies tend to creep everyone out. The role of the obsessive, stalker ex-boyfriend is solely assigned to you. By some miracle you managed to get a girl to be in a relation-

ship with you, but she thought your weird fascination with smelling APUSH books was off-putting, so she decided to break up through text. Big. Mistake. Now you can’t, and won’t leave her alone. You stick by the one rule, “If I can’t have her, then no one can.” Why have all her recent boyfriends ended up dead or missing? Well, of course, you don’t know the answer, but you do send all your deepest condolences to their families. You‘ve already got it all figured out. In 10 years, you and her will be married, with 5 kids, 4 cats, 2 dogs, 3 hamsters, 0.1% of a parrot, and a big, beautiful mansion of which the original owners have mysteriously disappeared. You can’t give up on this dream. After all, you’ve already bought the life insurance for you five future kids.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You’re smart, brave, and never afraid to give your brain a challenge. You’re simply too bored to be bothered with the simplicity of normal life. No worries, because your role will constantly keep you on your feet and in an exciting bubble of mysteries.

That’s right, you’re the spunky, genius detective who, along with your seemingly normal partner, managed to pick up clues as easily as ladies. Even though most articulate serial killers are smart enough to clean up the crime scene and leave nothing of importance behind, you magically find something that all the other crime investigators couldn’t. Sometimes, you even manage to conveniently pull out a book from the victims bag which contains all the crimes the villain has committed and a confession to his evil deeds. Wow, you saved the day. All of this to hide your true identity: an alien from another planet. Yes, what a twist in the plot. This explains your superhuman powers of deduction and investigation.

This world is filled with too many naive and dumb people to survive on its own, so you take pity on them and decided to help their impoverished minds.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): You’re compassionate and kind, and never fail to do the right thing. Your sense of responsibility always take over in times of need, even if it leads to your ultimate doom.

Unfortunately, you’re role is to be the person who dies in the beginning of a movie which drives the main plot and ambition for the rest of the movie. Your death is necessary in order for the main character to learn the hurt of loss, and so he or she can move on to train arduously (almost unrealistically) to exact revenge on your killer.

Also, your ghost or spirit will sometimes reappear from time to time to make the hero feel even more guilty about the role they played in your death.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Irvington May Poem

By Felcia Mo Staff Writer

Page 19

Applying to College

May the First day be with you. Hang in there, you’re almost done.

May the Seconds tick by faster. You just can’t wait for summer fun.

May the Turd continue to fall from the seagulls in the sky.

May the Force be with you. (we all know that one is a lie) May the Fifth Amendment keep away, so don’t commit a crime.

May the Sith haunt your dreams. Join the Dark Side.

May the Heavens be in your favor as you grind through those APs. May the Faith in your grades stay solid. Try not to get a C. May the Nights you pulled all-nighters never go to waste.

May the Tense shoulders loosen, take your time and do not haste.

May the Eleven Deadly Sins fail to lead your soul astray.

May the Delve into your studies cease to celebrate Mother’s Day. May the Dirtynth bathroom stalls stay forever in your head.

May the Foreseen AP scores be in your reach, so don’t give in.

May the Heftynth burden on your back grow lighter as you go.

May the Sick Teens stay in bed, don’t come to school, go home.

May the Severity of your failures be put aside, it’s a Friday.

May the Hating and the worries and the crying fade away.

May the Mightynth, mighty Seniors stand tall for the final Quest.

May the Tentie Vikings watch the clock, only four weeks left at best.

May the Twenty First is hard to pun, I’ll leave it up to y’all.

May the Twenty Second is the start of testimonial.

May the Twenty Third wishes the Seniors luck on their finale.

May the Twenty Fourth is scheduled for our End of Year Rally.

May the Twenty Fifth see everyone dressed up for Senior Ball.

May the Twenty Sixth feels fresh and new, don’t have to wait too long.

May the Twenty Seventh commemorates Memorial Day. May the Twenty Eighth counts down to the end of May. May the Twenty Ninth sees summer right around the corner.

May the Thirtieth opens for the Choir Concert.

May the Thirty First is last in this journey through the month.

We really just can’t wait for the school year to be done.

Nancy Zuo | Staff Writer

Senioritis Mutates to Junioritis

Irvington’s Class of 2020 falls victim to new epidemic during AP testing

By Ashka Patel Staff Writer

The office reports students, particularly juniors, increasingingly missing in the past two weeks. Irvington’s attendance clerks have been overwhelmed with taking phone calls from parents and reviewing doctors’ notes, both forged and real. One attendance clerk reports as many as 300 of her students missing!

The disease seemingly came out of nowhere. This is not an environmental issue caused by a typical virus, but rather something specific to Irvington. FUSD reports this virus as “seasonal,” occurring around mid-May every year. As the school year comes to an end, many expect seniors to be the class that is missing school, and

many are surprised seeing that it is in fact juniors that are missing during this time.

Faye Ling Sik (9) said, “I knew the flu virus was mutating, but I did not think it would attack my older brother and his friends like this! I don’t know where it came from, and I know I’m not a junior, but I want to catch it. You didn’t come to math for a week, right? Could you, like, cough on me?”

While some have accepted that students are simply sick, others speculate what is really causing this sickness. Theories range from it being a mutated disease to radiation, but the most prominent one is that the virus’ breeding ground is in AP prep books, and it is so contagious that even a touch releases it.

Haidi Ache (11) exclaimed, “My

friend has been missing for three days! I think his AP Physics 1 book gave him a killer disease! She’s been burying her head in that thing for the past week!”

Like Ache, many students are speculating whether this disease can be contracted from AP prep books, such as Barron’s or Princeton Review.

“I think they put something in the pages. It doesn’t give you knowledge or powers or anything; it’s no ‘sleeping with the book under your pillow,’ it’s an infectious disease,” Ache explained.

However, debunkers of the theory again bring up how Irvington-specific the virus is.

Attendance Clerk Cot Yu explained, “If the disease was honestly in the pages of a prep book, we would see a rise

in numbers across FUSD, maybe the Bay Area, or even across the nation. The fact that this disease affects only Irvington students raises suspicions.”

The district continues to be both worried and stressed as numbers of students claiming to be sick skyrockets further, exceeding the number affected by last years’ virus. Failing to receive money for these students’ attendance can hurt the district and its functions. Regardless, the question remains, “What is this unknown disease that seems to have attacked the class of 2020?”

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