The Talon | Issue 1 | September 30, 2014

Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA ■ September 30, 2014 ■ Volume XXX, Issue 1

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lahstalon.org

FACILITIES

CURRICULUM

School launches pilot reading class AP U.S.

History curriculum changes

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

SITARA SRIRAM Senior Writer

FIELD HOCKEY STARTS SEASON WITH BIG TEAM

With more people trying out for the team than in past years, field hockey has high hopes for the fall season. Take a look at their record so far, and their expectations going forward.

Sports, 18

MVLA Board elections bring more candidates to the mix Seven candidates are running for three contested seats on the MVLA Board in the Board’s first contested election in six years.

News, 3

Intro to Engineering class kicks off its first year Math teacher Teresa Dunlap began teaching a new engineering class this fall.

Students in the class learn design skills, engineering software basics and more.

News, 2

NFL’s new domestic violence policy step in right direction, but needs clarity The NFL’s new domestic violence policy has come under scrutiny. Read one writer’s opinion on the policy.

Opinions, 6

Fall series premiers Learn more about some of this season’s series premiers and how they’re doing so far.

Entertainment, 15

Rockabilly inspiration English teacher Arantxa Arriada’s fashion is inspired by the rockabilly culture of the 1950s.

Features, 9

UPCOMING EVENTS September 30 @ 6 p.m.

Private college/UC Application Night

October 1 @ 6:30 p.m.

CSU Application Night October 8 @ 6 p.m.

College Fair @ MVHS October 9 & 10 @ 7 p.m.

Band and Orchestra Concerts October 15

Post Secondary Awareness/PSAT Day October 20-25

Homecoming Week, Game and Dance

News Editorial Opinions

2 5 6

Features 9, 12 In-Depth 10 Entertainment 14 Sports 18

CARL FAUST

From left to right: sophomores Natalie Moreno, Katherine Figueroa, Angelica Salvidar Otero and Julia Figueroa participate in the new reading class in the Reading Zone. In addition to serving as the classroom for the pilot class, the Reading Zone is a quiet recreational reading space for all students.

JESSICA KING Staff Writer

Last year in May, principal Wynne Satterwhite approved a pilot reading class led by librarian Gordon Jack and teacher aid Ann Battle. The pilot reading class began this year and takes place during first period in a room next to the College and Career Center called the Reading Zone.

Using money from an anonymous educational grant and a private donation, Jack and Battle painted

and furnished the former conference room over the summer, converting it into the Reading Zone.

“We just thought this is the best room,” Jack said. “It’s one of the nicest rooms on campus because it looks out onto the quad, it’s got a lot of natural light, and so we just thought kids should be able to be in this room more.”

The room was created with the idea that it would become the location of the new reading class, in which students who are struggling in their English classes read books of their own choice for credit and a grade in addition to assigned reading from regular English classes.

Jack and Battle believe the class will encourage students to read for pleasure more frequently as well as make reading required material easier.

“It allows them to become better readers, to be more f luent in their reading, [to] sustain focus longer. Their vocabulary will increase, their interest in subjects will increase [and] they’ll learn about a broad range of whatever they’re interested in,” Battle said. “I think it helps raise the foundational knowledge when they come into a class.”

“Read” continues on page 2

This May, juniors at Los Altos High School will take a re-designed version of the AP United States history (USHAP) exam, one that serves to emphasize analytical and critical reasoning skills. The change to the test is part of a growing national effort to align schools to the Common Core standards.

“The Common Core asks students to think more on an analytical level rather than a rote memorization level,” USHAP teacher Gabriel Stewart said.

Additionally, feedback from USHAP teachers played a significant role in having the College Board make these changes.

“The College Board was hearing from all sorts of USHAP teachers that the course was a mile long and an inch deep,” USHAP teacher Michael Messner said. “We had all sorts of material to cover, and we didn’t go into depth about hardly anything at all. I think the redesign was really with the idea of allowing people to move deeper into the curriculum because we went wicked fast through all the curriculum.”

The new exam has been revised based on this feedback and to meet these changes in the way students are now learning. It now includes less emphasis on the multiple choice and a series of short answer questions replace one of the free response questions. The free response questions are now called “long answer questions.”

“USHAP” continues on page 2

STUDENT BODY

Foreign exchange student comes to the school OLIVIA JERRAM Staff Writer

Editor’s note: Interviews done with Chloe were translated from French into English. The Talon apologizes for any errors or loss of meaning that occurred during translation.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Los Altos High School library, squished into the aisle between the fiction novels and the encyclopedias, sophomore Chloe Bocek is bent over a piece of white printer paper lying on the ground, carefully shading one of her new works of art.

She has her Chromebook open and her earbuds in. At first glance, she could be just another Los Al-

tos High School art student. It’s only when you discover her back story behind that you realize she’s not.

Chloe is from the south of France in a town called Brignoles and has been enrolled at LAHS for the year in order to improve her English through immersion. However, her first few weeks of classes haven’t exactly been a piece of cake.

“Google Translate is my friend,” Chloe said. “I have my computer in all my classes, but it’s very hard.

[I miss] the people [back in France and] my friends because here, there’s no one that I know and I’m a little afraid of all the [new] people.

Here, nobody understands me, but in France everyone can talk to me.

And yes, it’s that that I miss.”

“Exchange” continues on page 13

Bridging the Gender Gap

Analyzing the importance of role models

BRANDON HONG

Sophomore Chloe Bocek is spending the year at the school to improve her English. She is from Brignoles, France.

Investigating the workforce gender imbalances

IN-DEPTH | PAGES 10 AND 11

The Talon checks out the new iPhone 6 ENTERTAINMENT | PAGE 14

The Talon September 30, 2014

Get daily LAHS updates and read the news archives at lahstalon.org/news

School begins Introduction to Engineering class STEVEN CUI ERIC THIEM

Opinions Editor Staff Writer

Beginning this fall, the school will be offering a new Introduction to Engineering Design class, taught by math teacher Teresa Dunlap. In this class, students learn the basics of engineering and become eligible to enroll in the advanced classes planned to be offered next year.

“The class is the foundation course for a larger program of engineering classes,” Dunlap said.

“This is the prerequisite for all the other engineering classes that we are going to begin to offer in the future. The program we’re offering is offered through a bigger nationwide program called Project Lead the Way.” Project Lead the Way is a program designed to bring more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes to schools.

This organization teaches students between kindergarten and 12th grade and offers courses such as Introduction to Computer Science, Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Aerospace Engineering.

NOAH TSAO

Juniors Donna Blockhus (left) and Sara Friend (right) present a project to their class. The class is supported by Project Lead the Way, which aims to encourage more girls and underrepresented students to take more STEM classes.

The long term goal of Project Lead they must design, draw and virtuthe Way is to prepare American ally create a 3-D model of their middle school and high school design in order to satisfy the given students for success in the ever in- problem. creasing high-tech economy.

“The first year everybody takes This new engineering class fo- the same class, which is Intro to cuses on the designing and plan- Engineering Design,” Dunlap said. ning aspects of engineering rather “The idea of it is that it’s based on than the building process. The the design process, so everybody students are given a task for which learns the engineering design pro-

cess as well as basic 3-D modeling skills...we’re going to be using AutoDesk Inventor to do that.”

The goals of this class are both to prepare the students for the advanced classes as well as teach them the basics of what being an engineer in the Silicon Valley would consist of.

“Later on in the year, if we can organize it, we’re going to do a virtual team design project where they have to communicate with somebody who’s not in the room with them,” Dunlap said. “So they kind of get used to thinking in terms of how would you do this if you were an engineer working in Silicon Valley and you had to communicate with somebody in India. There are certain types of challenges that come with designing something with a group that’s not right in front of you.”

Another goal of Project Lead the Way is to encourage more girls and underrepresented students to take more classes in STEM fields.

“There are definitely more boys than girls [in the class], but it’s probably not as disproportionate as you might have seen in a stan-

USHAP

Read

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

“If you look at the scores, on average, most students do not pass this test,” Stewart said. “[Expanding] the short answer section gives students a way to express themselves in more [ways than one]. The idea is that it will enable students to demonstrate more accurately what they know versus what they do not know.”

The structure of the multiple choice section itself has also changed.

“Before, with the multiple choice questions you either knew it or you didn’t,” Messner said. “But now, every single question is based on the idea that you have some sort of prompt or stimulus, meaning a cartoon, a photo, a map something like that. And the multiple choice questions are in groups of two to six. Meaning maybe you’ll have a stimulus, and then two questions on that same stimulus. So it’s no longer as isolated and [fact based].”

College Board’s U.S. History redesign committee also released a new framework for the course. The redesigned course will emphasize four key historical thinking skills, including chronological reasoning, patterns of continuity and change over time, periodization (organizing history into eras), comparison and contextualization.

“The way [USHAP teachers] have approached the curriculum has changed,” Stewart said. “These guidelines have students analyze themes. [The College Board] really wants to

This year, the class consists of students from sophomore English skills classes recruited for the pilot, but will be open to all students next year. As Satterwhite, Jack, Battle and multiple students all agree, in high school it is difficult for students to find time to read outside of required reading. The reading class allows students who are signed up time to read the books they want to read.

“I love the class,” sophomore Odalis Rojas said, “I love reading, so when I got in I was really excited. I usually don’t have much time after school to read because of homework and other things I do, so I’m really glad I got in because I got time to read. It’s a silent class, so when you read you don’t have any distractions and that’s a major plus. Plus, Jack and Battle are amazing teachers.”

In addition to being a classroom during first period, the Reading Zone is available for use by all stu-

MENSON LI

History teacher Mike Messner’s sixth period USHAP class listens to one of his lectures. Messner’s USHAP classes are just some of the classes that will be affected by the College Board changes in the exam and curriculm. focus on the ideas of change and continuity. Can students make the connection between one era and the next? Can they say, ‘Ah, First Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening—what are the common connections? Why are they intertwined?’”

Additionally, the content covered by the curriculum has expanded as well.

“In line with college and university U.S. history survey courses’ increased focus on early and recent American history and decreased emphasis on other areas, the AP U.S. History course expands on the history of the Americas from 1491 to 1607 and from 1980 to the present,” the College Board states.

The changes to both the curriculum and the test have been controversial with certain groups, notably the Republican National Committee. “[The new curriculum] reflects a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects,” the Republican National Committee stated in a resolution.

However, the College Board has consistently emphasized that this was not their intention. “[College Board] believes [the new curriculum] strikes a careful balance between teaching factual knowledge and critical analysis,” they stated.

Messner believes that some people may be misinterpreting the changes.

“My attitude on [the changes] is that you cannot ignore the tragedies, the misdeeds the crimes against people, even if that means you don’t do as much celebration,” Messner said. “The way we learn is through mistakes. If all you had was a curriculum where you just talked about the victories, the implication would be we have arrived [and] we cannot get any better.”

At the end of September, College Board released example tests for the exam, which will allow students and teachers to prepare themselves before taking the modified test.

dard engineering class 20 years ago,” Dunlap said.

In the school’s two Intro to Engineering Design classes, about 70 percent of the students are male. Project Lead the Way hopes to continue to increase girls’ interest in engineering fields and create a better balance between male and female students in the class.

Dunlap hopes that over the course of the next few years, the number of students in the course will continue to grow as more and more people become interested in the field of engineering.

“Right now there are two [classes] and we’re hoping that [the number of classes] will continue to grow and the students from this year’s classes will go on and become our second-year students,” Dunlap said. “Then, we’ll hopefully get an influx of people taking the first-year class.”

To read more about gender gaps in STEM, flip to the In-Depth section on page 10.

dents. If someone wants to use the room for reading purposes, he or she must first inform librarian Christine Bridges and leave electronic devices such as laptops with her. The room has a strict no-electronics policy in order to maintain the quiet, serene environment.

Satterwhite approved the reading room and class because the room costs no money from the school and does not impact the staffing (Jack and Battle volunteer their services in supervising the class). Not only was creating the room devoid of obstacles, but Satterwhite believes that it will become a valuable resource.

“One of the things that I believe I’ve seen research on was that students who don’t read have more difficulty academically,” Satterwhite said.

“You don’t have the same vocabulary, you don’t have the same ability to analyze and synthesize, and so it made a lot of sense for me to take some of our students who are pretty much non-readers—not that they can’t read, but that they don’t read—and provide space and provide the books and provide the resources to try it.”

Jack and Battle hope to expand the reading class to more periods once they can find a teacher to facilitate the class full-time.

CARL FAUST

Sophomores in the first period pilot reading class listen to librarian Gordon Jack read. The class was approved last May as a course for students struggling in their English classes to read books of their own choice instead of completing assigned reading.

The Talon September 30, 2014

Candidates vie for spots on MVLA school board ROBERT CHIN SPENCER DEMBNER ANNELIESE GALLAGHER Senior Writer Staff Writers

This November, The Mountain View Los Altos High School District Board of Trustees will hold its first contested election in six years. Three seats are up for re-election, and seven candidates are running, including two incumbents, Joe Mitchner and Debbie Torok. The third, Judy Hannemann, is retiring.

The School Board is a group of five people that holds ultimate authority in the district. Their responsibilities include approving the district’s budget and overseeing the superintendent, who runs the district on a dayto-day basis.

For this issue, The Talon explains each candidate’s positions and background.

Dana Bunnett

Dana Bunnett is the director of Kids in Common, a nonprofit that provides for the basic needs of schoolchildren in Santa Clara County. She was drawn into the race when the district chose to close the Young Parents Program, citing the experience of a teen she mentored who relied on the program.

Bunnett’s focus is on being an advocate for disadvantaged students.

She wants to consider ideas such as vocational education and hopes to increase Latino involvement with the board. She is also concerned about ensuring that the board is accountable to parents. She argues that decisions such as the choice to implement the Bring Your Own Device program at Los Altos should have more input from the community. Like others in the race, she says that she will only serve for one to two terms.

Sanjay Dave

Sanjay Dave has worked in technology since 1988, and is the father of a Mountain View High School (MVHS) freshman and a Huff Elementary fourth grader. He says that his role as a parent and his personal connection to fields in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) have made him a strong advocate of the expansion of high school level programs in computer science, bioengineering, and environmental science. In an interview with the Mountain View Voice, Dave noted that there were courses to be added to keep students competetive.

According to the Mountain View Voice, Dave thinks that the district needs to find new ways to support low-income students, doing so in a way that brings together high achieving and low achieving students.

Dave believes that having high and low achievers work together will give students a better understanding of the real world.

Kevin Kramer

Kevin Kramer is a district parent and a lawyer for Yahoo. He states that he wants a board with more parent representation because trustees with children in the district are more accountable for their decisions. He also states that his prior experience with managing money and people qualifies him well for the position.

Kramer was drawn into the race by the controversy over a ninth grade P.E. exemption. He argues that having an exemption for freshman athletes involved in multiple sports would give them flexibility and says that the board’s choice not to offer an exemption this year has limited his son’s class choices. He also wants to consider other ways of expanding class offerings and giving students flexibility.

Joe Mitchner

Joe Mitchner is the current board president. He was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2007 and gained another term in 2010 with no opposition. He has a background in finance which he says allows him to understand and evaluate the district’s expenditures more effectively, and is the only current board member with children in the district.

He says he is proud of the board’s recent accomplishments, including the narrowing of the achievement gap for disadvantaged students, as well as a large expansion of course offerings at both schools. In addition, he feels that the current board has a good working dynamic and wants to continue with their past successes.

Doug Moore

Doug Moore is a former CEO with a background in finance and business and has served on a board of company directors. He is the father of a MVHS freshman, and he believes that it is essential for board members to have their own children in the district system. This would mean that the board members would be closer to the issues and decisions that would affect all students in the district.

As the parent of a freshman, Moore believes that ninth graders should have the option to be exempt from P.E. The effort for this cause has been spearheaded by several parents districtwide. Moore’s main goal is to lead change from a high level and to make decisions on issues that affect any parent in the district. Due to his belief of needing to have children in the district in order to serve as a school board member, Moore plans to step down once his children are out of the district and to only run for one term.

Debbie Torok

Debbie Torok is the mother of three high school graduates, and just finished her first term on the school board. She has lived in Los Altos for 18 years and has been involved in volunteer work since 1993. Torok made efforts to close the achievement gap and reach out to low-income students, encouraging them to take difficult classes.

Though she thinks the district has already made great strides in supporting minorities and struggling students, she believes that it is a volatile issue, and therefore continues to warrant school board attention. According to the Mountain View Voice, Torok also hopes to see through the implementation of new techniques and resources, including Common Core Curriculum and technology upgrades.

Fiona Walter

Fiona Walter is a Los Altos resident and a parent of children in the district. From 2004 to 2012 she served on the board of Mountain View Whisman School District and was last year’s PTSA president at MVHS, which she says would allow her to join the board without a learning curve. She has a background in aeronautics and engineering, which she says gives her a useful analytical mindset.

Walter’s focus is on boosting communication between parents and the board. Like Bunnett, she believes that parents deserved more notice of the Bring Your Own Device program, and that the district needs to do a better job of keeping them in the loop on news.

With two children at MVHS, she feels that she would be more accountable for her decisions because they directly impact her.

To read more about The Talon’s choice of candidates, flip to the editorial on page 5.

BRANDON HONG

Left to right: Bunnett, Dave, Kramer, Mitchner, Moore, Torok and Walter speak about their goals at a forum held at the school on September 9.

The board has not had a contested election for six years.

MVHS sucessfully closes AP enrollment gap SPENCER DEMBNER Staff Writer

During the 2013-2014 school year, Mountain View High School (MVHS) partnered with Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS), a nonprofit that helps districts recruit disadvantaged students into Advanced Placement classes. With EOS’s help, MVHS has completely closed the gap in AP enrollment between wealthier, more privileged students and underrepresented groups, as of the start of this school year. In other words, the same number of Latino and African American students took AP classes as Asian and Caucasian students. After a gap year, the program will consider returning, this time to work with Los Altos High School.

Associate Superintendent Brigitte Sarraf first arranged the district’s partnership with EOS after hearing about it from her colleagues. She states that EOS chose to work with MVHS before Los Altos, based on a comparison of data between the two schools.

“EOS made the determination as to which school could benefit most and should be considered for starting the process, and it was Mountain View,” Sarraf said. “The size of the gap [was larger], and also there was quite a bit of energy already at Mountain View to recruit more students into Honors and AP classes.”

In the 2015-2016 school year, Los Altos will be considered for the program, but Principal Wynne Satterwhite explains that no planning has

NOY ANISMAN

occurred yet.

“A lot of the work that [EOS] does is to come in and look at your data, so there’s not a lot that you do ahead of time,” Satterwhite said. “They try to give you ways how to go out and recruit kids and how to keep kids in [AP classes].”

According to its mission statement and website, EOS targets “missing students,” which is EOS’s term for underrepresented students who are ready for more challenging courses but are not taking them.

This reduces their readiness for college and reinforces the achievement gap between privileged groups and the underrepresented.

“Because a student does poorly in a class, say a regular English class, does not in itself mean that they could not perform well in an AP course,” Mountain View High School principal Dave Grissom

said. “They could be bored with their regular English class...If all of your represented students...are taking AP, and your other students are not gaining that access, then you’re creating an achievement gap.”

The organization partners with districts for one year, using data to determine strategies and recruiting individual students to enroll in AP classes. Its first initiative was a large survey in October 2013.

“EOS allowed us to get a survey of every student on campus,” Grissom said. “It allowed us to have some traits of our students [measured], so we were able to compare the traits of each individual student to possibly GPA.” EOS’s method is highly individualized, intended to recruit specific students to take AP classes based on grades, academic background, or the recommendation of a coun-

selor or teacher.

“We would sit down for two or three hours [with EOS] and go through each of the kids,” Grissom said. “We would go over student’s names and [ask ourselves]: ‘where are we with this child?’”

The goal of the organization is to reach parity in AP enrollment by matching the enrollment levels of mid-to-high income white and Asian students with that of underrepresented groups. MVHS reached that goal, which few schools have done nationwide.

Reaching parity became increasingly difficult because the dominant students also enrolled in more AP classes, meaning that more underrepresented students had to be recruited to reach parity than they had originally expected. “[The percentage of dominant students enrolled in one or more

AP classes] went from around 70 percent to above 80 percent in our dominant group,” Grissom said. “It then meant that we needed to reach not 70 percent [AP enrollment], but 81 or 82 percent to create equity amongst all of our subgroups.”

Although the program itself is complete at MVHS, there still remains work ahead to support first time AP students and keep them from dropping the courses so that the school can maintain AP parity.

“Our challenge at the beginning of this year has been to retain students in AP courses,” Grissom said. “It’s creating a mindset where ‘I can prosper, and I can persevere, and I can do well in [AP] courses.’ We need to support our more struggling students who are taking an AP or Honors course for the first time, and frankly when you’re doing that for the first time, it’s a little bit scary.”

Elizabeth Gabriel teaches AP Psychology at MVHS, one of the most popular courses for students recruited by the program. She is working with students taking their first AP classes, and says that adapting to students’ situations has allowed her to avoid any drops so far.

“I’ve had three students come to me with drop forms...and all three of them have not dropped,” Gabriel said. “[One student] said ‘I like the class, but I work a lot...I’m feeling really stressed, I don’t have time’...I [replied], ‘Let’s sign a contract, and we’ll do it pass/fail...I want you to enjoy an AP experience for the first time, and you will grow from that.’”

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The Talon September 30, 2014

World news update: North Korea, ISIS, Ebola, Gaza EMILY AOKI, CLAIRE BAI, HANNA KHOSRAVI, ELAINE LEE Staff Writers

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North Korea

On Labor Day, North Korean officials brought CNN reporters in a van to interview three American detainees in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Because the nation is known to conceal its activities and internal workings very closely, North Korea’s public allowance of American media caused many foreign policy experts to hypothesize what North Korea wanted this time. Some believe that it is using the detainees as pawns to persuade the United States to lift unilateral sanctions, a punishment for violating international law multiple times and conducting nuclear tests. “[North Korea’s] negotiating ploy with the United States is to try to get us to agree to nuclear arms control, to sort of accept them as a nuclear weapons state -- which we can’t do,” senior vice president for Asia and Japan chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Michael Green said in an interview with CNN. Regardless of what North Korea’s real intents were this time, the fact remains that three Americans’ fu-

tures were at hand. The detainees were Kenneth Bae, Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle, all who have been held in North Korea for different reasons. Bae, a Christian missionary, was accused of plotting a Christian plan to undermine the government, Miller tore up his visa and sought asylum in North Korea, only to now want exit permission, and Fowle confessed to leaving a Bible behind during a tourist trip, considered unacceptable by the North Korean government. On September 14, Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labor and convicted of trying to commit espionage.

As of the press deadline, the result of Fowle’s trials are not yet known, while Bae continues to serve his fifteen-year sentence of hard labor issued in 2013. Though CNN’s five-minute interviews with each of the Americans are minor events, they are part of an ongoing conflict between the United States and North Korea. Ever since 1950, when UN troops entered South Korea to defend against Communist North Korean invaders, the United States has dedicated itself to helping protect South Korean sovereignty, which includes dealing with North Korea.

Ebola Outbreak in Africa

In summer 2014, a serious outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) began rapidly infecting those in Central and West Africa. In order to try to control the outbreak, many African governments, such as those in Senegal and the Ivory Coast, have closed their borders, ports and airports. The U.S. has already spent over $100 million trying to aid Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the countries that have suffered most severely from the epidemic. As of September 25, nearly 3,000 people in Africa have died from the disease, and the death toll is still climbing.

The World Health Organization states that Ebola has an average fatality rate of 50 percent. Symptoms begin with fever and intense weakness, which later graduates to vomiting and possible internal bleeding. The virus is transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of the infected.

Despite the significantly low odds of survival, a cure through blood transfusion has been shown to be successful. According to USA Today, the first American Ebola patient, Dr. Kent Brantly, received a blood donation from a teenage survivor of Ebola in Liberia and was released from the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta in August.

In addition to blood transfusions for a cure, a report by National Public Radio on September 7 stated that researchers have also begun testing of an EVD vaccine.

The vaccine was injected into rhesus monkeys by researchers, who discovered that the vaccine protected the monkeys from the virus for up to 10 months. After succeeding with the monkeys, they commenced human testing. The trial, which is being conducted at NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, consists of 20 adults being administered different doses of the vaccine. Results will likely surface by the end of the year.

REUTERS, WONG MAYE-YE/AP, CNN

American detainees in North Korea Fowle (left), Bae (center) and Miller (right) were interviewed by CNN on Labor Day. Experts speculate that North Korea wants the US to lift unilateral sanctions from the communist country.

ISIS in Iraq

In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al-Qaida spin-off group, moved into Iraq, dissolving borders and persecuting religious minorities.

The group continues to commit mass executions, beheadings and rapes in the regions it controls. ISIS has driven millions of people out of their homes in its effort to take over the region and create a state based on radical Islamism. They currently control many cities throughout Iraq and Syria and are attempting to seize others.

In response to ISIS’s advances in Iraq, groups have come forward to defend the country. Kurdistan, a cultural region spanning Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, has gained attention in its battle against ISIS. Kurdish “Peshmerga” fighters have been slowing ISIS’s advances through the country in coordination with US airstrikes, using arms given by the United States, Germany and Iran.

ISIS has used propaganda to influence civilians and has employed social media to influence the rest of the world through online videos of exploding buildings and groups of civilians being mass executed. ISIS has disseminated videos showing the beheading of two American journalists this year: James Foley on August 19 and Steven Sotloff

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Obama speaks to the United Nations calling for countries to join forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on September 24. As of the press deadline, 40 countries have joined the effort. on September 2. On September 13, a video surfaced of British journalist David Haines’ execution. ISIS labeled the killing of Haines as a “message to the allies of America.”

President Barack Obama has vowed to avoid putting boots on the ground, and the United States has not deployed land forces to Iraq. However, the United States did send a rescue mission on August 11 to Iraq’s Mount Sinjar to air-lift Yazidi refugees and help them flee from ISIS’s advances.

The Yazidi people practice Zoroastrianism, causing them to be a target of ISIS’s religious persecution tactics.

In a speech on September 10, Obama authorized airstrikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq, which began on September 22.

On September 24, Obama gave a speech at the United Nations declaring, “No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning – no negotiation – with this brand of evil.”

As of the press deadline, 40 nations have joined in sending the airstrikes to destroy ISIS. Although it is disputed, many people consider the US to currently be at war.

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Ceasefire in Gaza

The 50-days’ war in the Gaza strip between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Israeli military ended in a ceasefire on the evening of August 26, 2014.

This has been the third war over the past six years that has taken place in the Gaza Strip, a region of Palestine bordering the Mediterranean.

According to The Guardian, more than 2,100 Gaza residents have been killed as of the commencement of the ceasefire. Injuries amounted to 11,000, and 17,000 homes were destroyed.

The conflict first began on July 8, 2014 after the murder of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinians followed by the revenge killing of a Palestinian child, supposedly by Israelis. Israel retaliated by arresting members of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic group currently in control of the city

of Gaza. In response, the Gaza military began to fire rockets into Israel.

After 50 days of war, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas announced the ceasefire, and the people of Palestine responded with celebration in the streets.

However, neither side gained anything substantial from the truce.

According to Ehab Zahriyeh of Al Jazeera America, Israel will allow the transport of all reconstruction materials across its borders into Gaza on the condition that Israel can check for weapons or any materials that could be used for weaponry.

However, tensions are still high as Israel and Palestine have not settled on other key issues. As of the press deadline, Hamas’ demands for an airport and a seaport in Gaza have not been met. Gaza is still under blockade and siege. These matters are being discussed at a meeting in Cairo, Egypt to settle further terms.

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Israeli soldiers work together on a tank near the Gaza border. Leaders of Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating in Cairo, Egypt.

The Talon September 30, 2014

Please send letters to the editor to talon.lahs@gmail.com Los Altos High School

201 Almond Ave., Los Altos, CA September 30, 2014 Volume XXX, Issue 1

T

The Talon Ballot

After much consideration, The Talon has decided to endorse...

Joe Mitchner • Experienced incumbent • Knowledgable about handling budget

Dana Bunnett • Past director of educational organization • Passionate about closing achievment gap

Fiona Walter • Whisman Board experience • Broadening academic opportunities

Debbie Torok Sanjay Dave Kevin Kramer Doug Moore

Dana Bunnett, Joe Mitchner and Fiona Walter represent the best of the potential candidates running for the school board. The Talon endorses them based on their outstanding credentials and plans for the district.

POLICIES Los Altos High School’s Compositional Journalism class is solely responsible for The Talon, which is published eight times a year. The Talon also updates its website, www.lahstalon.org, with full-time coverage.

The Editorial Board sets the policies of The Talon and crafts its editorials and thumbs. Its members are Maya Acharya, Noy Anisman, Amelia Baum, Zach Cohen, Spencer Dembner and Perla Luna.

ADVERTISE & SUBSCRIBE Send advertisement and subscription inquiries to Johnny Scher and Leonardo Wai at talon.lahs@gmail.com.

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The Talon September 30, 2014

Read more opinions articles at lahstalon.org/opinions

Wi-Fi still needs improvement despite progress SPENCER DEMBNER Staff Writer

After months of work last year and over the summer and at a total cost of $276,201, the school Wi-Fi network is far faster and more reliable than it was last year in most cases. However, this only increases the urgency of the problems that remain, including interference with other communications and continuing connectivity issues. With the increasing integration of technology into the classroom under the Bring Your Own Device program, no classroom can afford unreliable internet, and it’s essential to prioritize the remaining fixes so that students can focus on the material, not on their internet connection.

In the past few years, Los Altos has found its Wi-Fi overloaded with a large increase in the number of devices, driven by students bringing phones, laptops and tablets to school.

Last August, the school decided to upgrade its network, but frustrating Wi-Fi difficulties continued throughout the year, and worsened in February when the old Wi-Fi network was shut down to test the new one, forc-

ing students to use a network still need to be resolved. For the that was not fully ready for the robotics team, for example, the traffic.

Wi-Fi’s configuration means freIt is important to recognize quent difficulties connecting to what the administration has the robot. done so far, as providing reliable “The robot computer connects internet on a large scale is never via a local network to a wireless as simple as it seems. bridge,” Robotics Club member “The technology [for Wi-Fi] sophomore Cole Brinsfield said. is not to a point where it’s just “That puts out a a no brainer to Wi-Fi hotspot that serve the needs of our driver station many devices si- Despite the progconnects to. Our multaneously,” Asrobot will rapidly sistant Principal ress, no one will connect and disGalen Rosenberg claim that the connect due to said. “It’s not easy network is perfect, communication to make this work and significant errors caused by great.” the school Wi-Fi.” issues still need to Last year, math In addition, certeacher Michael be resolved. tain areas continRichardson was so ue to lack reliable frustrated with the connectivity. For Wi-Fi that he often ran a sepa- example, using the network in rate network for his students the 900 wing is often difficult called Diagon Alley. This year, while connections drop out ochowever, he has found that the casionally and outdoor spaces school’s network is at least us- such as the quad have very limable. ited connectivity.

“Every day we would try on the “There are a couple of places student network and students on campus that we’re aware of would complain, and I would where the Wi-Fi signal’s not plug [Diagon Alley] in, and we strong enough,” Rosenberg said. would just use that instead,” “Occasionally the strength of Richardson said. “I haven’t had the signal diminishes or goes anyone ask me to turn on the away.” router, so they seem to be fine Continuing to fix problems on the Wi-Fi now.” with the Wi-Fi is about followDespite the progress, no one ing through on the Bring Your will claim that the network is Own Device program. By creating perfect, and significant issues the policy, the school sent a clear

Wi-Fi Improvement Checklist Upgrade bandwidth Upgrade switches Accommodate interference Improve reliability Improve connectivity in 900 wing Improve connectivity in quad

NOY ANISMAN

signal that it views technology as essential to modern learning. But such a focus on cloud learning and computers means nothing unless it is backed by an ongoing commitment to address the significantly less glamorous technical issues that can get in the way.

Now that the biggest issues with insufficient capacity and network overload are resolved, it is all too easy to declare victory and move on, but the school needs to remain committed to Wi-Fi that works for everyone.

Clarity needed for new NFL domestic violence policy ALEXANDRA MILKEY Staff Writer

Of the four major sports leagues in the United States, the National Football League (NFL) now has the harshest punishment for first-time domestic violence offenders. The changes to the policy bring the NFL into

a more progressive phase, one where such a conviction cannot be dismissed lightly. On August 28, Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL, announced via a publicly-released letter to team owners that after a first offense, a player will be suspended for six games without pay. A second offense results in an indefinite but at least year-long suspension.

The changes are a step in the right direction, but more clarity is needed on their application.

Though Goodell’s letter provides explicit direction for pun-

ishment after a player has been convicted of domestic violence, it does not mention what to do after an arrest but before a conviction, leaving NFL teams to act however they choose and creating discrepancies within the league.

On August 31, Ray McDonald, a defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, was arrested on charges of felony domestic violence. Yet head coach Jim Harbaugh made the choice to start McDonald in a game days afterward, citing due process of law.

Because McDonald has not been

VANESSA MARK

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formally convicted of the felony, policies outlined in Goodell’s letthe 49ers say they will believe ter speak of the NFL working as McDonald’s claims of innocence a singular unit against domestic until the law violence, but proves otherwords are not wise, though enough.

The The new policies outoverwhelmNFL’s actions ing evidence lined in Goodell’s letmust reflect points against ter speak of the NFL this philosophy M c D o n a l d . working as a singular and its actions Other teams unit against domestic must be consishave chosen to tent. violence, but words are act differently.

Neither McGreg Hardy, not enough. The NFL’s Donald nor a defensive end actions must reflect this Hardy has been for the Caro- philosophy and its acformally conlina Panthers, of the tions must be consistent. victed was arrested on felony in the May 13 for aseyes of the law. saulting a womAnd allegations an and found guilty by a judge on are just allegations; they do not July 15. To appeal the decision, he equate a conviction. However, requested a jury trial, which be- consistency is needed, especialgins November 17. The Panthers ly if evidence overwhelmingly allowed Hardy to play in a Week suggests that a crime has been 1 game, saying that his case was committed. Goodell’s letter does still open under the law. After not address this situation and it pressure from fans, Hardy was must. deactivated before the season’s “Since becoming Commissionsecond game. On September 17, er, my focus has been on ensurHardy was placed on the Exempt/ ing that the NFL is held in the Commissioner’s Permission List, highest regard by our fans, playwhich bars him from all team ac- ers, business partners, and pubtivity, a far cry from the way Mc- lic authorities,” Goodell wrote.

Donald’s situation was handled.

The new policy on domestic Though both cases are open un- violence is a step toward reachder the law, the Panthers listened ing this regard, but it remains to fan outrage over Hardy’s being to be seen if the NFL can acallowed to play and responded complish the more difficult and in kind. Though there has been more necessary task: enforcing outcry over the 49ers’ inaction, the changes and enforcing them nothing has been done. The new consistently.

If you would like to write about your stance on an issue that’s affecting students at our school, email Opinions Editor Steven Cui at opinions.lahstalon@gmail.com with a summary of your idea.

The Talon September 30, 2014

New cell phone policy is ineffective, should be eliminated the school, these occasional uses of the network start to add up, using a great deal of the bandwidth ERIC THIEM and slowing the download speed Staff Writer for everyone connected. Because of this impending Wi-Fi congestion, the school administration now states that all students must Implemented this year in the have their the Wi-Fi capability week of August 25, the new cell on their phones off during class phone policy mandates that all time. The administration believes students on campus must have this will improve Wi-Fi speeds. the Wi-Fi capacilities of their However, this new policy will cell phones turned off from 7:15 prove ineffective at keeping the a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This change was Wi-Fi clear of phones clogging brought about because of the new the bandwidth. Many students are Bring Your Own Device program, unaware that this also implementchange in policy ed this year, in even occurred hopes of preserv- “I had no idea and still keep ing the Wi-Fi their phones on bandwidth for this change even during class. The students work- occurred...I still keep only notifications ing on comput- my phone on in class the students reers. While in and I know a lot of ceived were a theory, this new single mention the other kids do too, policy could help on the announceimprove the Wi- whether they admit to ments and on Fi, in reality, it is it or not.” the Student impractical and Code of Conduct — junior Ryan Norton will not help to form that was improve the netsent home to be work’s speed or reliability. signed. Although all students are With the largest freshman class supposed to read the form at the in the history of Los Altos High beginning of each new school School coinciding with the new year, many students simply choose Bring Your Own Device program, to ignore it because they assume there are more devices on campus that it remained unchanged from than ever before. Many of these the previous year. This is ultinew devices, including the stu- mately the fault of the students; dents’ smartphones, connect to however, this issue just leads more the school’s Wi-Fi even when not students to be uninformed about in use by periodically reaching out the change in policy. and checking for updates. And “I had no idea this change even with over 1700 smartphones in occurred,” junior Ryan Norton

BRANDON HONG

A student follows the new cell phone policy and turns off his phone in class to conserve Wi-Fi bandwidth.

However, many students are unaware of this change and do not turn off their phones or switch them to airplane mode. said. “I still keep my phone on in class and I know a lot of the other kids do too, whether they admit to it or not.”

Another problem that arises is the students’ willingness to shut their phones off during class time.

Whether they know about the new policy or not, most students would be less than enthusiastic about turning their phones’ WiFi off during class, believing the new rule unnecessary and simply ignoring it. Unfortunately for ad-

ministration, there is almost no way to enforce this policy besides the occasional, “Turn your WiFi off,” at the beginning of class, which is not effective.

Finally, the school is located in the epicenter of the Silicon Valley, one of the most technologically advanced areas in the entire world. The school Wi-Fi should be able to accommodate all of the student’s devices while maintaining a fast and reliable download speed. The students should not

be forced to turn off their Wi-Fi on their phones in order to have properly functioning Wi-Fi, a service that can and should be offered with no limitations.

The new cell phone policy is illogical and should not be required for the reliable functioning of the Wi-Fi. The school administration and computer technicians should begin searching for other solutions to improve the Wi-Fi because this new policy will not prove successful.

Change in cafeteria policy is a misunderstood benefit JESSICA KING Staff Writer

Over the summer, the Mountain View-Los Altos school district implemented a new cafeteria policy which states that only full meals can be bought in the cafeteria. The focus of the plan is on shortening the extensive lines that have plagued the small cafeteria. Additionally, new and healthy food options are offered, and foods deemed unhealthy

were taken out. This new policy has proven to be helpful and mostly effective, but a student misunderstanding has caused unnecessary waste.

So far, the district’s attempt to shorten the lines has proved to be beneficial.

“The inside of the cafeteria they’ve made to be more meal-oriented; you used to be able to go inside and buy different things, and they’ve now moved that out to the snack lines and the pizza cart,” principal Wynne Satterwhite said.

This has improved long lines immensely because it cuts down the traffic in the cafeteria caused by

people only seeking to buy a bag of chips. However, this is not the only change that is reducing the extensive lunch lines.

“The other thing...I think is helpful is really making a big push for students to pre-load money onto their accounts so that you don’t have to have the money issue that slows down the line. You just type in your student number and off you go,” Satterwhite said.

The shortened lines have been proven to move much faster and more efficiently, greatly improving the cafeteria lunch experience.

Another focus is on providing more entree options that are healthy

ELVIS LI

A student buys food at the snack window right outside the cafeteria. The school has enacted a new policy that requires students who aren’t buying a full meal to purchase their food at the snack line.

AMANDA MELL

and tasty, along with making the overall meal healthier as a whole.

Students agree that it is effective.

“I like it because it promotes good health and encourages students to eat a lot healthier,” sophomore Devika Kumar said.

There are five available components to a meal: an entree, a drink, a bag of chips, a fruit and a vegetable.

Students are required to purchase at least three of the five components.

Because of this, meals will not only be delicious but healthy as well, which is a tremendous improvement.

“I think the kids are getting the full lunch versus buying off-cart, and with the full lunch, you’re getting more for your money,” Nutrition Services Coordinator Debra Godfrey said. “We don’t have cup noodles [and] hot Cheetos have changed…

We’ve come up with more options, so they’re getting more choices for their hot lunch.”

However, there are some issues with this plan. Students take the fruit that is offered but decline to eat it, instead opting to toss it out. Since they do not want to eat the fruit but feel obligated to take it, the fruit or vegetable or even both often end up in

a trash can.

“Personally, I think that the efforts are going a bit to waste,” sophomore Anastasia Arsky said. “People are required to take fruits or veggies, but aren’t actually eating them. I’ve seen them thrown away, which is really wasteful.”

One key piece of information is causing a great deal of misunderstanding—the fruit or vegetable component is not actually required.

The district only requires that the cafeteria at least offers the healthy items. Students are only required to buy at least three of the five offered components of a meal, and a fruit or vegetable does not have to be one of them.

In the end, the choice to allow this policy to be effective resides in the students. Without understanding and compliance from the students, the policy will simply contribute to the school’s waste.

Students do not have to take a fruit or vegetable, resolving the single issue that resided within the policy.

Eating healthy is not a choice that can be forced upon you, but understanding the policy will definitely help reduce the school’s waste.

The Talon September 30, 2014

Just Maya Thoughts

By Maya Varghese

Answer Needed on Immigration Reform According to the Cable News Network, between 60,000 and 80,000 children will cross the United States’ southern border this year. Many of these children are from regions torn by violence and are facing deportation back home. Immigration reform is crucial, but President Barack Obama is delaying it at least until after November. Why? Midterm elections are coming up.

The children pouring over the border are mostly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, countries with areas of violence and disorder. According to The Guardian, many of the children are fleeing from street gangs as well as domestic abuse, and many are also seeking to be reunited with parents in the United States.

The number of unaccompanied children traveling to the United States has increased over the past few years as a result of rumors about supposed imminent immigration reform. This includes the possibility of the passage of a national DREAM Act, which would allow some of the undocumented children currently in the United States to remain in the country.

This issue is not yet resolved.

However, it’s not going to be resolved soon, because midterm elections seem to be a bigger priority than the immigration crisis.

In November, elections will be held for positions in the Senate and House of Representatives, and the Democratic party needs to win seats to avoid stalemates between a Republican Congress and a Democratic president. The New York Times states that, “As Election Day [draws] closer, nervous Democratic senators...told White House officials that Mr. Obama’s actions could cost them victory. Those conversations culminated in the decision to delay immigration action.”

However, while Obama puts discussions on pause, children continue to pour into the country in hopes of being allowed to stay. I won’t take a side here on whether reforms should allow the children to stay or send them home; that’s a different debate.

But there needs to be a definitive answer even if the decision is that the children must be sent home.

It’s not fair for hopeful children to continue to cross the border only to be housed indefinitely until they are sent home.

Certainly midterms are important. The Democrats need to look at the big picture, and for Obama and Congress, it’s just a matter of postponing the reforms until a more convenient time. However, meanwhile detained children are waiting to hear their fates.

Whether the answer is yes or no, these children deserve an answer.

So yes, you can put politics on pause. But you can’t put people’s lives on pause, and that’s important to remember.

Obama’s stance on ISIS is in the US’ best interests with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond JOHNNY SCHER protecting our own people and Business Manager humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIS targets as Iraqi forces go on offense.”

Both Iraq and the United On Sunday, December 18, States will benefit from this 2011, Obama brought home the strategy. Iraqi civilians will relast American troop stationed ceive aid while Iraqi soldiers in Iraq. Following the removal fight for their country. This is a of all US troops, the expecta- relatively low-risk military option was that Iraq eration, since Amerwould form a stable ican troops won’t representative govbe fighting on the ISIS is growing ernment. However, ground, but rather minority groups in in power and they will be carryIraq were treated as influence and ing out airstrikes. lower class citizens, needs to be Although US troops and were not repwill be in a war zone stopped before resented in governwhere casualties are ment. Some of these more people are unavoidable, the minority groups, harmed. choice to operate including radionly through aircal Sunni jihadists, strikes will reduce formed a terrorist organization casualties for American soldiers. which now calls itself ISIS or Another part of Obama’s Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. counterterrorism strategy is ISIS is known for its barbarity. having US troops in Iraq “to They have killed many civilians, train and equip [Iraqi and Kurdreleased videotaped beheadings ish] fighters.” to threaten the United States The problem with this strategy and used punishments includ- begins with the word “equip.” If ing crucifixion to enforce their the United States ends up allying beliefs. with Iraq, it needs to be guaranThe day before 9/11 this year, teed that it can trust the Iraqi President Barack Obama gave army to use the weapons and inan address to the nation that he telligence it provides to them to was going to deal with this ter- fight terrorism. Given the shaky rorist threat “through a compre- history between Iraq and the hensive and sustained counter- United States, it is a definite risk terrorism strategy… Working to provide weapons to Iraq, but

allowing ISIS to continue to grow is an even greater risk.

In the early 1990s, the United States backed Kuwait against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and from 2003 to 2011 the United States was at war with Iraq. Although US relations with Iraq have become stronger since the end of the Iraq war, relations are still not ideal.

ISIS is growing in power and inf luence and needs to be stopped before more people are harmed. Supporting Iraq is necessary to stop ISIS. However, providing Iraqi troops with guns and ammunition is not wise. If the Unites States ends up giving Iraqi troops firepower, it would

be trusting those troops not to misuse them. Instead, Obama should send troops to Iraq to train the Iraqi army, but not provide the army weapons.

Currently, the House of Representatives has approved of Obama’s proposal to arm and train Syrian rebels to defeat ISIS. The proposal will be sent to the Senate for approval.

This counterterrorism strategy is a gamble, but it is necessary. ISIS plans to continue its destruction and violence and will not stop until opposing forces defeat it. Obama is taking a risk involving the United States in this conf lict, but it is a risk worth taking.

WIKIMEDIA USER CHUCK KENNEDY

President Barack Obama delivers a speech before the UN General Assembly regarding ISIS. In this speech a few weeks ago, he called for the world to help combat ISIS.

Focus of feminism: equality, not extremity CLAIRE BAI Staff Writer

The word “feminism” evokes a wide variety of reactions today, ranging from passion to surprise and even to the extreme, disgust. The most extreme reactions are often caused by the imagery of the extreme feminist.

At the same time, though, people should not stick all feminists (and the feminist movement itself ) into the same boat of radicalism.

“I think the problem with the trope of the ‘radical feminist’ is that by simply calling your-

self a feminist, you’re suddenly pushed into the ‘extreme’ category,” junior class president Julia Khan said. “I believe that we can’t trivialize microaggressions, not because they are themselves horrible, but because of the bigger issues that they lead to.”

While these disgusted reactions are a minority, they have continued to create the vivid and sometimes harsh responses to the feminist movement for almost a century. One such misguided response is the “ Women Against Feminism” Tumblr/ Facebook campaign, which began to gain increasing attention back in July.

The “WAF” page and its rival, “Who Needs Feminism,” are similar in that they feature

women who take selfies next to because of misinformation,” Jusigns with their opinions. How- lia said. “A lot of the women who ever, “Who Needs Feminism” support the campaign do so bewas started cause they beto encourage lieve that femiand promote nism will limit feminism in a “Feminism has become their ability to positive light. be feminine.”

“WAF,” on the a complicated, messy The sources other hand, and personal quest that of the misinis filled with women define and expeformation and firm, anti-fem- rience differently...Your of the “WAF” inist messages campaign all feminism is not always ranging from relate back to “I don’t need a my feminism, and someone question: label defining times nuance gets lost What does it me” to “I am an in the mix.” mean to be a abomination true feminist?

— Canadian National Post to feminism “Feminism writer Sarah Boesveld because I want has become a to be a stay-atcomplicated, home mom.” messy and personal quest that “I think [it] was created simply women define and experience differently,” Canadian National Post writer Sarah Boesveld said in her article, “Not All Feminists.” “Your feminism is not always my feminism, and sometimes nuance gets lost in the mix.”

Because many people see feminism only in its most radical (and terrorizing) form, they are often reluctant to accept the movement as an important benefit to society. Yet it is important to realize that feminism is, generally speaking, the belief in equality, not sameness, between genders.

We do not need to all agree on a single lucid and irrefutable definition of feminism.

Even though there are so many different levels and shades of the extremity of the feminist, by directing feminism to the most radical degree, we are continuously self-creating the anticampaigns that warp what femiVANESSA MARK nism really is about.

9

The Talon September 30, 2014

Read more features articles at lahstalon.org/features

Arantxa Arriada: Flashback to the ‘50s OLIVIA JERRAM Staff Writer

AVID teacher Arantxa Arriada has a knack for standing out in a crowd. Whether it’s due to her neon pink hair bow, 1950s hair styling, vintage black and white polka dot dress or bubbly personality, she’s instantly noticeable. Far from your average high school English teacher, Arriada has undergone a rockabilly-style reinvention and looks as if she belongs in a different era.

From a young age, Arriada loved rockabilly culture, which is everything having to do with music, media and fashion from the 1950s and ‘60s. It all started with her mom and the music playing on the KFRC radio station.

“I’ve always been interested in all kinds of music and I always really liked the oldies, the music from the ‘50s,” Arriada said. “I love the lyrics in older music… It’s just different. It’s not about twerking and all that. It means more… So I just love it.”

Rockabilly music was just the beginning of Arriada’s love for the ‘50s and ‘60s. Her love soon spread to film when her high school film teacher introduced her to all the old movies.

“There’s this one [movie] called ‘Cry Baby,’ which is so bad that it’s good,” Arriada said. “Johnny Depp is in it, a young Johnny Depp [who] is ‘Cry Baby’...[I also love] anything with James Dean in it. He’s totally

GINA KERMODE

AVID teacher Arantxa Arriada often dresses in rockabilly (1950s and 60s era) fashion. She traces her love for rockabilly culture back to her childhood and credits it as an outlet of self-expression. got the pompadour style that all the guys mimic.”

In spite of her prolific love for unconventional music and films, Arriada was a typical adolescent who just wanted to fit in and not be considered a “weirdo.” Despite her efforts to blend in, her love for rockabilly culture showed through nonetheless.

“I remember the day that Frank Sinatra died,” Arriada said. “I was a junior in high school and [when] I came to school...I was incredibly sad. I think I cried...and all my friends thought I was totally weird.

My teachers were like, ‘I know—Old Blue Eyes.’ And I was like, ‘I know!’”

Until recently, she never completely showed the full extent of her love for rockabilly culture. Last year, Arriada fell sick and had to undergo several surgeries. As a result of her operations, she lost a lot of weight and found herself not only with a different body, but also with a transformed body image.

“I was finally feeling better about the way I looked,” Arriada said. “And so then I was more inclined to put more of an effort into how I looked.”

Because she had loved 1950s fashion, she decided she was just going to go for it and start styling herself the way she had always wanted to.

“I think [my friends and family] awesome role model, not just for were a little surprised,” Arriada said. young people, but for all people. I re“They always knew I liked [the fash- ally connect to her.” ion], but they were surprised that I Using Cherry Dollface as her intotally went for it.” spiration, Arriada returned to school Her sudden stylistic transforma- decked head to toe in rockabilly tion has earned her numerous com- fashion. She continues to shop ocpliments and has garnered some cu- casionally for vintage pieces to add to rious attention. her closet. Currently, her favorite and “When I’m fully done, I’ve had most prized piece of vintage clothing people stop and be like, ‘Are you is a dress she found at a vintage fair in going to a costume San Francisco. party?’ Arriada said.

“The dress is really “And it’s like, ‘Well cute,” Arriada said. “It’s no, this is just what Sometimes you pale blue and white I’m wearing.’” gingham…and had realize you were However, Arriada is never been worn. It still ignoring an asnow more confident had the original tags on about the way she pect of who you it… it was like a perfect looks. No longer both- are...But you can fit [and] it’s totally cute.” ered by the attention, always reinvent Although today Arshe is “finally feeling riada is very open and yourself and like it [is] okay.” talkative about her Arriada’s newly- realize what you passion for ‘50s and gained confidence was want to do...and ‘60s culture, it took due to her newfound then go out and her many years to fully role model—YouTu- get it. express her love for ber, blogger and modrockabilly fashion. This — AVID teacher ern-day pinup model gradual transformation Arantxa Arriada Cherry Dollface, who of self-acceptance is extakes part in 1950s and actly what’s important ‘60s styled modeling shoots. Ar- to Arriada. riada found Cherry Dollface while “Sometimes [you] realize you were surfing the internet for rockabilly ignoring an aspect of who you are,” styling tutorials.

Arriada said. “You were ignoring a “She’s super accepting of all types passion or something you believed and she’s also an ambassador for in. [But you can always] reinvent body positivity and body acceptance yourself and just realize what you and she’s very much anti-bullying,” want to do, what was missing, and Arriada said. “I just think she’s an then go out and get it.”

ODFL expands with Key Club partnership HANNAH CRAFORD Staff Writer

Two of the school’s most popular clubs have joined forces in order to take on a world changing project. This school year, One Dollar for Life (ODFL) and Key Club have partnered to tackle the Eliminate Project spearheaded by the global organization UNICEF. Starting Monday, October 6, ODFL and Key Club will distribute fundraising boxes to all classes. Collection will run through Friday, October 10.

Since ODFL’s beginning at the school in 2007, the club has completed 54 different structural projects in communities throughout the developing world. While ODFL works on smaller projects, Key Club International and Kiwanis (Key Club’s parent organization) usually partner with other organizations to collaborate on larger projects. These

partner organizations include March of Dimes, Children’s Miracle and UNICEF. UNICEF’s main focus is on helping children in the developing world. Key Clubs donate their time and money to assist in fundraising for these organizations’ causes.

This new project on which ODFL, Key Club and UNICEF are working together is called the Eliminate Project. The goal of the Eliminate Project, Kiwanis’ global campaign for children, is to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) from the world by 2015 by raising 110 million dollars. The money raised by both clubs from the drive in October will go to UNICEF in order to help eliminate MNT. Earlier this month, on Wednesday, September 17, Key Club International announced that ODFL’s tool kit for fundraising was available to all 5,000

Key Clubs across the country. The tool kit includes instructions for creating a fundraiser just like ODFL’s. This money will go to UNICEF, which will put the money raised by the clubs towards the cost of immunizations.

“Since 2000, we have completely eradicated this disease from 34 countries in the world, the most recent being Madagascar during June of 2014,” Key Club president senior Sean Nguyen said. “There are 24 more countries left and we need the entire school’s help to make this drive more successful than any other.”

Together, the three organizations hope to eliminate this disease from these last 24 countries. The only way to do this is to get the MNT immunization shots, which cost $1.80 each, to the people in these third world countries.

ODFL’s role in all of this is helping with the fundraising.The difference

VANESSA MARK

ELVIS LI

ODFL co-presidents seniors Chelsea Nivison and Victoria Santiago and Key Club president and vice president seniors Sean Nguyen and David Wu (left to right) introduce the Key Club and ODFL partnership. 5,000 Key Clubs across the country will use ODFL’s fundraising method to raise money for UNICEF’s Eliminate Project. between a Key Club fundraiser and an ODFL fundraiser is the size of the audience. Usually, Key Clubs do not extend outside of their own members to obtain money, while ODFL tries to reach out to as many people as possible.

“Our method is [that] the Key Club becomes the agent within the school that offers fundraisers to the whole school,” ODFL founder Robert Freeman said. “So instead of them having 40 people contributing, they have 1,900. That’s the magic.”

During the spring of 2014, Key Club International did a trial run using the ODFL method and were blown away by the results that they received.

“Schools that were using the ODFL method were raising 70 times the amount of money over schools that weren’t,” Freeman said. “It’s a pretty eye-opening event.’”

Together, ODFL and Key Club at Los Altos have pledged to raise $5,000 for the cause.

“I think that if Los Altos is able to make their goal of $5,000, that’s go-

ing to make an incredible example for other Key Clubs [who are running] the fundraiser this year,” science teacher and ODFL advisor Lisa Cardellini said.

The goal for the organizations is that by the end of 2015, they will have raised the target amount of $110 million. However, the collaboration between Key Club and ODFL will not end there.

“We expect that Key Club will convert into helping ODFL with their traditional projects,” Freeman said.

“We will then have 5,000 high schools raising money to build schools in the developing world. That’s the vision.”

The Eliminate Project is larger than any other project ODFL and Key Club has undertaken before. However, Freeman is sure that they will succeed.

“It’s just one dollar,” Freeman said.

“Our belief is that anybody can afford a dollar. If we do [the smallest bit] then...we are going to eliminate a terrible scourge that has been with mankind since Adam and Eve.”

The Talon September 30, 2014

Bridging the Gender Gap Analyzing the gender breakdowns in various careers and the roots and implications of barriers against women in STEM careers WRITTEN BY: CHRISTOPHER DADOK | STAFF WRITER, ANNELIESE GALLAGHER | STAFF WRITER, HANNA KHOSRAVI |STAFF WRITER, JOSH KIRSHENBAUM | STAFF WRITER, SITARA SRIRAM | SENIOR WRITER, KATHERINE YEN | FEATURES EDITOR

Work force demographics reflect stigma of girls in STEM The Talon examined work force demographics and compared them to those of the school’s classes. Here’s what we found...

Only seventeen percent

of Google’s employees are female. Other Silicon Valley technology companies have even lower percentages of female employees— only around 6 percent of Dropbox’s engineering team is female, while female engineers make up approximately eight percent of Yelp’s engineering staff, according to the Washington Post.

Tradition in all forms—stereotypes, mindsets and prejudices—is a difficult thing to break, and this can be seen acutely in the ongoing gap between male and female participation in STEM-related fields.

At the high school level, there also exists “I genuinely think it’s a gap in male particiabout representation. If pation in humaniyou’re not like the people ties, but this gap bearound you, you feel ostracized and uncomfort- gins to close at higher professional levels. able.”

In comparison, the

-junior Julia Khan gap in female participation in STEM increases at higher levels.

Meg Urry, a pioneer in the field of astrophysics who earned her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, attributes this gap to the difficulty of success for women in science and math from a professional standpoint. The effects of this discouraging environment can be seen in its influence on women’s academic choices in high school and college. “[I came to the] gradual realization that women were leaving [STEM] professions not because they weren’t gifted but because of the slow drumbeat of being underappre-

Male

High School Enrollement AP Computer Science

ciated, feeling uncomfortable and encountering roadblocks along the path to success,” Urry wrote in an essay for the Washington Post.

One of the biggest roadblocks women in STEM fields face is the wage gap between men and women. Claudia Goldin, a Harvard University labor economist and a leading scholar on women and the economy, collected data illustrating that the majority of the pay gap between men and women comes from wage discrepancies within different occupations.

Take doctors and surgeons, for example.

Women working as one of these two professions earn 71 percent of men’s wages. Women working as computer hardware engineers earn 84 percent of what men working in the same occupation earn, while female software engineers earn 88 percent of what their male counterparts earn.

Whether from gender discrimination or a lack of women in higher career positions, the wage disparity is a symptom of the larger issue of representation and gender balance plaguing our society.

However, gender breakdowns of LAHS classes show a divide, but not one near the same magnitude that is reflected nationally.

Though the gap between men and women in the national workforce is starker, the gender imbalance at LAHS is still significant.

“I genuinely think it’s about representation,” junior Julia Khan said. “It’s about, to quote Alice Walker, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ And if there aren’t equal amounts of men and women in these classes, then

Female

Bachelor Degrees

Doctorate Degrees

Computer Science and Information Sciences

you think that’s the norm that you just have to go with...And maybe you don’t physically realize it, but it comes through... if you’re not like the people around you, you feel ostracized and uncomfortable.”

For example, certain advanced math Women working as comand science classes puter hardware engineers such as AP Computearn 84 percent of what er Science and Mulmen working in the same tivariable Calculus occupation earn, while fehave overwhelmingmale software engineers ly male enrollment. earn 88 percent of what The robotics class their male counterparts this year has 26 boys earn. and only four girls.

However, robotics student sophomore Ginger Schmidt is unfazed by the number of boys in her robotics class.

“I’ve never felt held back by gender imbalances,” Ginger said. “Instead, I believe it has encouraged me to work harder so I can prove that girls can be equally successful as a boys, if not more.”

Students like Ginger show the potential for gender equality in all fields of study at the school level, but this hope is not similarly reflected at the professional level.

Though efforts are being taken to close the gap at all levels, the rate of change in schools is much higher than that of the professional workplace. There is still a lot of work to be done before the gender ratio in the workforce can even vaguely resembles the population.

With higher education levels, the gap between men and women in STEM fields increases. This is not true for the humanities.

Male

High School Enrollement AP Calculus BC

Mathematics and Statistics

Female

Bachelors Degrees

AP Language and Composition

Communications

42.7%

37.8% 7

AP Physics C

57.3%

62.2%

All Physical Sciences

AP Literature and Composition

English Language and Literature

31.6%

38.4% 68.4%

CLASS DATA IS FROM THE SCHOOL AND REFERS TO THE 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR.

Doctorates

DATA FOR PROFESSIONAL DEGREES IS FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS AND REFERS TO DEGREES RECEIVED IN 2012.

61.6%

The Talon September 30, 2014

Why role models matter

How does LAHS compare?

Let’s face it:

number of ways, and sometimes, it’s just females are underhaving the opportunity to meet them represented in STEM fields, and like in person. In a discussion about getmany other deeply ingrained social isting more girls involved in STEM subsues, this problem is difficult to remedy. jects, physics teacher Karen Davis spoke However, according to several teachers about an employee at Google who came and students, successful role models can to LAHS for STEM week. be the key to showing women that they “[She was] one of are just as capable the best speakers... of success in these [She was] one of the best she was a new grad, fields as men and speakers...she was a new female engineer. encouraging more grad, female engineer. That’s That’s a great role female students to a great role model for my model for my girls pursue these fields. girls to look up to and go, to look up to and LAHS Alum ‘14 ‘Oh, ok here’s somebody go, ‘Oh, ok here’s and current Stanwho’s just a few years older Male Male Male Female Female Female somebody who’s ford University than me.’ just a few years freshman Kath-physics teacher Karen Davis older than me.’

APLanguage Languageand and AP APLiterature Literature Literatureand and and AP AP APComputer Computer Computer AP AP Language and AP erine Liu, who is AP AP APCalculus Calculus CalculusBC BC BC AP AP APPhysics Physics PhysicsCCC Then she talked Composition Composition Composition Science Science Science Composition Composition Composition well-known in the Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment about her experience in college and workEnrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Los Altos community for her accomplishing in a place like Google,” Davis said. ments in STEM fields throughout high Students themselves can have personschool, attributes much of her success to 13% 13% 13% 16% 16% 16% al interactions with role models, making the influence of her own role models.

19% 19% 19% 87% 87% 87% 23% 23% 23% 84% 84% 84% the inspiration even stronger.

Senior Na“[My role models are] all extremely 81% 81% 81% 28% 28% 28% 77% 77% 77%to talia Izaguirre first became exposed involved in their fields, and they’re all 72% 72% 72% STEM41% fields through the school’s AVID working toward solving these incredibly 41% 41% program, where she had the opportunihard problems, whether it’s kickstarting 59% 59% 59% ty to spend a day with Stanford Women a biotech competition at the university 60% 60% 60% in Science members. That experience level or rethinking our education system,” 63% 63% 63% 63% 63% 63% caused her to begin searching for opKatherine said. “And they’re outspoken 40% 40% 40% 37% 37% 37% 37% 37% 37% portunities related to computer science. about what they’re trying to achieve— 75% 75% 75% Online research led her to discover the they’re known for what they do. I really 25% 25% 25% trove of resources offered by the Girls admire the deep-seated passion they have Who Code Summer Program. There, for their causes.” she met many inFrom a teacher’s LAHS LAHS LAHS USA USA USA LAHS LAHS LAHS USA USA USA USA USA LAHS LAHS LAHS USA USA USA LAHS LAHS LAHS USA USA USA LAHS LAHS LAHS spiring womenUSA such As more and more feperspective, the Male Female as Facebook CEO, males enter all of these importance of role Sheryl Sandberg. fields, it’s going to make models is equally AP and APAP Literature an “Hearing Sheryl the growing generation emphasized.

Math AP Calculus BC AP Physics C APLanguage Calculus BC Physics C Composition Composition made me realize realize [that they] could teacher Michael Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment Enrollment that the skills we do that too.

Richardson teaches -math teacher Michael learned during the Multivariable CalcuRichardson 13% 13% past seven weeks lus and AP Computer were essential and Science, two classes 87% 87% 23% 23% that women need 28% to 28% at the school with 77% 77% understand it is time to show the man the widest gap between female and male 72% 72% 41% 41% we can do great things or even better,” students. Though he acknowledges the Natalia said.

59% 59% gender gap in his classes, he remembers Girls Who Code, STEM week, and even seeing a much wider divide when he used 60% the AVID Program are the real mediums 63% 63% to teach in Utah.

40% through which girls meet inspiring figRichardson attributes the difference to 37% 37% 75% ures and learn about new opportunities the large number of local role models fe25% to pursue male-dominated fields. In ormale students at the school have available. der to see a decrease in gender dispar“Because so many females are in tech ity, our community should work toward jobs all around [the Bay Area], there is valuing and promoting these entities. a higher visibility [for women in STEM LAHS USA LAHS USA LAHS USA USA LAHS LAHS USA USA LAHS Optimism and individual effort is just fields].” Richardson said. “As more and one key to success—sometimes an exmore females enter all of these fields, it’s tra boost of encouragement from a role going to make the growing generation remodel is what it takes to pave a path toalize [that they] could do that too.”

ALL GRAPHICS BY NOY ANISMAN ward greater achievement.

Role models can be influential in a

Compare the gender distribution breakdowns of STEM and humanities classes at school to the national averages to see how Los Altos High School measures up.

How How does does LAHS LAHS compare? compare?

How does LAHS compare?

The psychology behind gender imbalances Despite historical assumptions, studies show no biological link to unbalanced participation in STEM Nine years ago,

Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University, asserted that only a few women held top science positions at universities because of “innate” differences. These comments led to an immense backlash, with many people interpreting his comments as suggesting that women are biologically unsuitable for jobs in science and mathematics.

Even in the open-minded climate of the Silicon Valley, misconceptions about the biological aspect of the gender gap in STEM remain.

“There’s no research that says that it’s biology,” Los Altos High School psychologist Chad Ablang said. “[And] there’s no research that says that males perform higher than females in math or in math professions.”

Despite this, it was only recently that researchers began to shed the idea of these innate biological differences and seriously study the cultural causes of this gender divide. One such study was conducted at the University of Michigan in 1999, by a group

of students attempting to study the impact achievements. Rossiter discovered this of preconceived ideas about gender-specif- trend by studying the lives and careers of prominent female mathematicians and sciic achievement in math.

The students were divided into two entists in history. In studying the “Matilda groups and given a mathematics exam. effect” she also put forth the idea of “territorial segregation,” in The first group which women cluster in was told that men There’s no research that fields of humanities beperform better in says that it’s biology, [and] cause there is a lack of math, while the secthere’s no research that support for them in the ond group was not. says that males perform STEM field.

The results of the higher than females in math However, at Los Altos exam performances or in math professions. this issue is doubleshowed a discrepsided: class enrollment ancy in scores be-psycologist Chad Ablang trends show that while tween the genders, fewer girls pursue adwith men scoring vanced math and scinearly twenty points ence, fewer boys pursue humanities. higher than women in the first group. This 38 percent of AP English Language and Margaret Rossiter, a historian and women’s scientist, is famous for her theory Composition students are male, and males known as the “Matilda effect,” which she make up less than one third of AP Literadefined as a phenomenon that discourages ture students. English teacher April Oliver women from participating in scientific re- says she does not even know what it’s like search by systematically undermining their to teach in a class that has equal gender

proportions, because her English classes have always been uneven.

“There are always fewer boys,” Oliver said. “But I don’t notice it because the boys tend to be more vocal in class.”

There is undoubtedly an imbalance in humanities participation among boys, but it has not been researched to the extent that the STEM gap has. As more research is conducted, it is becoming even clearer that historic notions about women’s lack of abilities to participate in mathematical and scientific fields are not only unfounded, but systematically harmful. Research is only a start to remedying a deeply ingrained cultural mindset, but it is the first step towards closing the gap.

“As time goes on, you have more and more talented females going into the workforce, and academia, and research,” math teacher Michael Richardson said.

“The only conclusion is that it was just silliness, [men] assuming that [women] couldn’t do it when they could.”

Ho

12

The Talon September 30, 2014

Dear freshmen, some words of advice Welcome, Class of 2018! Freshman year can be confusing and overwhelming without some guidance. After all, the campus is huge, the upperclassmen even more so and for the first time, you can leave campus for lunch!

With this in mind, The Talon interviewed some upperclassmen to find out their regrets and advice about freshman year. BY EMILY AOKI AND OLIVIA JERRAM | STAFF WRITERS

I wish I had tried more clu bs and gone to lots of meetings in the beginning and then narrow ed down what clubs I wanted to be in...You definitely want to try a bun ch of different things. But once you go to a few meetings, find out wh at you’re really interested in and pas sionate about. And focus on that.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to try som ething different, and new.

Don’t trust your teachers to teach you everything. Learn it by yourself at home.

— junior Shashwath Koppisetty

My second day of school was more embarrassing than the first day because I actually got lost.

Like “Oh, no! Where am I going?” kind of lost. Someone helped me out—I don’t know who—and what I learned from that day wa s, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask.’ That would be one good piece of advice . Don’t be afraid to ask anybody.

— senior Ignacio Seni

— senior Meredith Soward

Make sure you’re not letting one thing completely run your life. Make sure there is a balance. You have to make sure if you’re doing sports, that’s not completely what your life is centered around, grades are still important. If you’re completely grade-focused, you need more than just that too.

— senior Gabi Shab

PHOTOS BY EMILY AOKI AND OLIVIA JERRAM

Alta Vista teachers inspire through art AMELIA BAUM In-Depth Editor

Every morning just as the third period bell rings, a dozen or so students file into Wendy Dowling’s art class at Alta Vista Continuation High School. At first glance, the class appears similar to a morning class at any morning high school, with some students alert and talkative and others who look like they could use a few more hours of sleep.

Scores of past projects cover the walls of the classroom and a variety of craft supplies litter the front table, waiting to be used for new creations. And yet, there’s something about this class that makes it entirely unique. In a chair at the front of the room, amidst the paint and construction paper sits Joan Dunkle, Dowling’s mother and a mentor in the class, as she has done nearly every school day for the last three years.

Since Dunkle first started helping out, the two have been an iconic mother-daughter duo in

the Alta Vista art program. Dowling started working at the school in 2005 and Dunkle began volunteering regularly in 2012.

From the beginning of her teaching career, Dowling said that she hoped to have the opportunity to work at an alternative high school because of the intimacy a small school setting could provide. Located within walking distance of her home in Mountain View, Alta Vista was the perfect choice.

Two years after Dowling began working at Alta Vista, she took over the art program at the school and has since found her niche amid slabs of canvas and tubs of washable paint. She often spends her weekends organizing supplies or collecting materials from art stores around the area.

On a given day at work, Dowling’s role changes dramatically by the hour.

In addition to art, she also teaches math and health classes and holds teaching credentials in all three subjects. Since many of her students take

all three classes, it is not uncommon for her to teach the same student several times per day. Dowling treasures the close relationships this setup allows her to have with students, whom she describes as uniquely compassionate and incredibly resilient.

“There are seasons in your life for different kinds of teachers,” Dowling said. “I tell the kids at Alta Vista that I am not the smartest math teacher they will ever have. They will have opportunities to be educated by math teachers who know and understand a whole lot more math than me. But they will not be taught by anyone who knows them or loves them more than I do.”

Students benefit from the instruction and guidance of Dowling’s mother Joan Dunkle, as well, because for many students at the school, art class would not be the same without Dunkle. As an artist herself, it seemed only natural for Dunkle to get involved with Alta Vista when she moved from Florida to California to live with her daughter after her husband died.

The school’s principal, Bill Pierce, welcomed her into the school and since then she has become a fixture at Alta Vista, providing art instruction and mentorship to students both inside and outside of the classroom.

Joan Dunkle contributes to the class in her own way, working in her daughter’s class alongside her as a volunteer mentor.

“There are some students who I can work with on a daily basis,” Dunkle said. “Usually [it is] through the arts, helping them to create whatever they want to create. It’s a great way for them to express themselves.”

The goal of the art program at Alta

PHOTOS BY ALLEGRA MAESO

Above: Wendy Dowling (left) and her mother Joan Dunkle (right) are two Alta Vista art teachers dedicated to supporting and guiding their art students. Below: As part of her volunteer work, Dunkle helps out an Alta Vista student with his artwork. The pair have become an iconic motherdaughter duo at Alta Vista.

Vista is composite; it serves both to academically prepare students for college by fostering the academic language of art, as well as encouraging creative expression. Although the class is an Art History and Art Appreciation class, students still have many opportunities to work on their own hands-on projects.

“A lot of kids [who go to alternative schools] are really talented in art,” she said. “That makes art really fun to teach at Alta Vista.”

To encourage self-expression, Dowling and Dunkle guide students to create their own piece of art by planning out lessons carefully to encourage students to express themselves through the various mediums. In each unit, students create their own piece of art in the style of the artist they are studying.

Dowling says that seeing what the

students come up with is one of the most interesting parts of her job.

One of Dunkle’s favorite projects is the Frida Kahlo journal, a project that she does with her students every year.

“We [as a class] study Frida Kahlo and the purpose of her artwork and then we create journals that serve the same purpose in our lives,” Dunkle said.

Together, mother and daughter make art class a unique and memorable experience for the students at Alta Vista.

“When I see the kids walk [at graduation] I’m thrilled for them,” Dunkle said. “Our goal is to get them through college and on their way to a decent life so that they have something to look back on and think ‘I got help here. Someone cared about me.’”

The Talon September 30, 2014

This Side of Lunadise

LAHS juniors complete 55 mile hike COLE HANSON Staff Writer

By Perla Luna

Wait, you’re Mexican?

Throughout random points in the year, but more so at the beginning of the school year when I meet new people, I am inevitably confronted with the dreadful, tactless question: “Wait you’re Mexican? I totally thought you were Indian.” I have to then convey that I am not offended—though I am.

But not because of the reason one might think.

The problem here isn’t the mislabeling itself because it’s not a negative comparison.

So I don’t get upset because I hold any ill feelings for the race people incorrectly assume I am. I get upset for the same reason other Latinos hate being defaulted to Mexican. I get upset for the same reason the Asian population is probably tired of people automatically assuming they’re Chinese. I get upset because they are taking away a part of me that is central to my identity.

I share and connect to the struggles, achievements and heritage of my culture. It is a part of me. It’s mine. And, although there have been and undoubtedly will be times when I can’t hold my head up high because of my race, I am proud to be part of the Latino culture. It’s a rich, communityoriented culture that has honestly taught me more about supporting my fellow peers than anything else has. I want people to recognize that.

While studies may show that people mistaking me for a different, more positively associated race might give me a leg up in this competitive (and not post-racism) world, I don’t care. I’d rather not have the advantage but be satisfied with knowing that people understand where I come from because even the negative aspects of it, the stereotypes and inherent misconceptions against my race, are important to who I am. It has shaped me just as much as the good parts have.

I want to make it clear that my race isn’t all of what I am.

That’s not true of anybody, ever. But race is an important fraction of my sum and though people might not intend to hurt or offend me when they mislabel me, it still stings. It still feels like they’re trying (if unknowingly) to strip me of my identity. Or worse, like they’re assuming I’m something else because I don’t fit their idea of what being Latino is.

Unfortunately, like most things, this isn’t an easy problem to solve. I’m guilty of it too, I admit it. I do, however, try to be sensitive to it and really, that’s all I’m asking for. Reword the statement of shock.

Change it to “Oh, I didn’t know you were Mexican.”

13

When asked about their Scout Troop’s trek from Los Altos to Half Moon Bay, juniors Zachary Ottoes and Cole Cummins will respond exactly how one would expect—modestly, sharing only bits and pieces of their immense undertaking. The journey spanned five days and 55 miles. By the end, the hikers had traveled from the corner of El Monte Avenue and Springer Road in Los Altos all the way to Half Moon Bay. Zachary’s and Cole’s group consisted of seven Boy Scouts, ranging from ages 13 to 17 and three leaders from their troop, Troop 33. Zachary acted as the crew leader for the expedition.

Throughout the trip, the hikers ate dehydrated meals, filtered their own water and had to survive waking up at 6 a.m. from much-needed slumber. The troop would finish hiking each 11 mile segment by 3 p.m. and spend the rest of the time preparing their camp and relaxing.

“The biggest mistake I made on that hike was [bringing] the same exact meal for the entire trip,” Cole said. “I really didn’t think that one out.”

To ensure that everyone could com-

plete the hike in a reasonable amount of time, shakedowns were used to gauge who would actually be able to keep up with the pack. A shakedown is essentially hiking conditioning. The boys would take their packs up to local trails on the weekends and do day hikes with their troop to build stamina.

“As a Scout Troop, we did shakedowns, which really helped increase our strength and made the hikes more bearable,” Cole said.

Throughout the staggering journey, neither of the boys felt that the hike was physically challenging for them due to their previous extensive experience.

“We both have done two 60 milers and one 76 miler so this one, with regards to length, wasn’t so bad,” Cole said.

However, both agreed that the close proximity to roads and buildings on this particular hike was the largest mental obstacle. Although the troop had meticulously strategized their food rations, stopping points and distance, they failed to consider the latent effect of being so close to civilization and how it distracts from the solitude that hiking normally entails.

“Seeing roads was discouraging because we had been hiking for so long

PHOTOS COURTESY ZACHARY OTTOES

Above: Boy Scouts celebrate upon reaching their destination, Half Moon Bay. Below: Three Boy Scouts pore over a map as they determine their route. Juniors Zachary Ottoes and Cole Cummins were two of these hikers who took part in a five day, 55 mile Boy Scout trek from Los Altos to Half Moon Bay. and we still weren’t away from civilization,” Zachary said. “At one of the campsites I heard a motorcycle go by, even though we had been hiking for days by that point.”

Despite the training, physical difficulty and pressing reminders of the outside world, Zachary and Cole believe that the benefits from this particular trip certainly outweigh the obstacles they faced.

“I enjoyed hiking [on this trip] because it [gave] me time to think and to get away from all the stresses of high school life,” Zachary said. “It also let me hang out with friends who I don’t see often.”

Most of the outing was spent walking quietly along trails, giving hikers a substantial amount of time to reflect and separate from the normal routine back at home.

“When I am hiking, I usually plan what we will be doing the next day, play games with the others ... or [sing] songs,” Zachary said. “I can also use this time to reflect on the past few days or plan ahead for what I am going to do when we get to camp or home. My

friends and I usually talk, about anything and everything.”

For both students, hiking is a refuge from the constant stream of technology and offers them a chance to connect on a more personal level by sharing the experience.

“Without distractions, you and your friends really grow a connection,” Zachary said. ‘The main difference between home and backpacking is the lack of distractions like our smartphones to take away from conversations; we actually have to talk when together.”

The boys recommend hiking to anyone interested in the outdoors and especially to those who find everyday life and the pressures of school stressful.

“People hike to get away from all the stresses of life at home, the money, the social expectations or the work,” Zachary said. “When they are away from home, they have a chance to think and relax, without the distractions [found at] home.”

Ultimately, Cole and Zachary consider the hike a success and look forward to the next upcoming scouting event.

Exchange CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE For the first three weeks of school, Chloe spent lunches alone in the library after finding it too difficult to communicate with other students.

However, upon meeting some new friends, Chloe has become much happier at school and now spends lunches speaking rapid French and gesturing animatedly.

Not only did her friends speak French, but they also shared her love of Japanese culture. Chloe and her new friends all signed up for the Japanese Culture Club (JCC) at Club Day, where they were able to further explore their passion.

Chloe loved the JCC’s first meeting, yet the whole experience of signing up for the club was new to Chloe.

“At French schools, there are no clubs like here,” Chloe said. “There are no activities apart from sports, music and art, which are… courses [at school]. There are no activities, so you simply go to school.”

Because of this lack of extracurricular activities, Chloe spent time exploring interests on her own, outside of class. Her passion for Japanese culture originated after she watched her first anime, “Black Butler,” on television at the age of 11. This soon led her to read the manga series for the TV anime. “[The] manga art was beautiful and the story was magnificent,”

COURTESY CHLOE BOCEK OLIVIA JERRAM

Above: Sophomore Chloe Bocek draws in the library. Right: Chloe’s drawings are often inspired by Japanese animes and mangas. Chloe recently moved from France to the United States for a year to improve her English and is comfortably settling into her new community.

Chloe said. “It’s the dresses, the jackets, everything was really beautiful. And ever since I [started reading] manga, I [became] a fan of manga and Japanese culture, and that’s it!”

For young Chloe, the next step after seeing manga art was attempting it herself.

“I started with shapes: the circle for the head, the cross for centering the eyes [and] the figure-eight for the bust,” Chloe said.

Now, four years later, she still starts her drawings with those basic shapes despite her increased skill as an artist.

Throughout her progression as an artist, Chloe has found comfort in her love for the creative

outlet that art provides.

“I love drawing [manga] because one can express one’s emotions through the colors,” Chloe said.

“All that is in our heads, our imaginations, our dreams… can be put on a piece of paper… I can visualize anything and then draw it. It’s often people, girls or characters doing actions.”

Chloe’s passion for manga art led her to unusual success in her high school art class in France. “[In art class] in France, I drew on the walls,” Chloe said. “I drew on the walls of the classroom because the teacher saw my art and said, ‘Whoa, you draw so well…

Draw on the walls.’ And I said, ‘Really?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, draw

on the walls.’”

Surprised, Chloe hesitated at first. Seeing her reaction, her teacher handed her a pen and pencil as encouragement. And so, she began.

“There were all the other students drawing on paper,” Chloe said. “[And] me, I drew on the walls as if it was normal.”

Although her art mediums may be unconventional, Chloe is not deterred by the constraints of “normality.” She sets her own definition for that. And, throughout the year, she hopes to continue learning, not only to improve her drawing and English skills, but also to become a part of our community.

To read more stories on exchange students, visit lahstalon.org/features

The Talon September 30, 2014

Catch reviews of new movies, music and more, plus read the entertainment archives at lahstalon.org/entertainment

GAMES & TECH

Apple wins again Get ready to take another bite LEONARDO WAI Business Manager

L

ast year’s paramount sales of the iPhone 5S were rendered insignificant by a record ten million purchases made on the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus during its opening weekend. The latest lineup of iPhone devices was released by Apple on Friday, September 19. Many people in the Silicon Valley (and arguably across the world) are eager to get their hands on these new smartphones.

Once again, Apple has revolutionized the smartphone industry with the upgrades, addons and facelifts of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

The first thing you will notice about the phones is the dramatic aesthetic changes; both phones have enlarged screen sizes compared to the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus now measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches diagonally, respectively, which is significantly larger than the the previous 4.4 inch models. This improvement puts the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on par with the Samsung Galaxy series smartphones in terms of screen size and is sure to win back customers who have long waited for the size increase. Although some users report that the new dimensions are too large for those with smaller hands, there is a double tap feature on the home

APPLE INC.

button that lowers the screen and accommodates the phone’s new size.

In general, these improvements in screen size are a strong selling point for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Typical of Apple progress, the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are slimmer and possibly even more minimalist than previous versions. Both phones are around 0.7 centimeters thin and feature rounded outer edges and a side power button (for those who can’t reach the top with the increased dimensions), making the new phones aesthetically beautiful, practical and more approachable than the sharp, edgy contours and smaller size of the iPhone 5S. In addition, Apple has employed the use of anodized aluminum in the framework and anodized glass and sapphire crystal in the HD retina display in order to prolong the durability of the phone. These improvements in appearance make the

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus a lot more pleasant to hold relative to the iPhone 5S. As for the improvements on screen imaging, both iPhones now include superior viewing experiences, such as more defined contrast and better screen visibility at wider angles and with sunglasses. Apple has also introduced the Display Zoom option, which allows users to freely zoom anywhere on the screen in both the apps and the home page. While these features are an added bonus, they are not noticeably different from the iPhone 5S. The camera quality is one of the most significantly improved and exciting feature of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Both the front and back cameras have advanced, including a brand new sensory system that allows for faster autofocusing.

At the same time, special editing features have also evolved: time lapse easily speeds up captured

video footage while slow motion video now operates on 240 frames per second (twice as much as the previous frame rate). In addition, the new burst mode operates at 10 pictures per second. Users will be pleasantly surprised by the new sensory system and will see very few faults if any in your pictures and videos. The new burst mode will also be useful when taking pictures of rapidly moving objects. In general, the time lapse video feature and the improved slow motion video capture will not be needed on a regular basis, but these additions are still nice to have in special circumstances or just for fun.

Battery life is an extremely important aspect when considering phone quality. While professional critics have come to a general consensus that the iPhone 6 has a battery life

equivalent to that of the iPhone 5S (under prolonged use, these iPhone models will run dry in less than a day), the iPhone 6 Plus is said to be a completely different story. Under prolonged use, the iPhone 6 Plus’ battery is able to function for 1.5 days before running dry. This means that not only does the battery have to be charged less, but it also is more durable through long-term wear.

For those tech-absorbed users, the improved battery is a clear plus.

The extensive list of iPhone 6 and 6 plus upgrades makes these latest Apple products considerably different than previous versions and well worth a shot. However, experiencing the iPhone 6 comes with a considerably hefty price tag. The iPhone 6 and 6 plus starting prices for 16 gigabyte memory is $199 and $299, respectively. While this is a drawback, for those who are willing to pay, it is not too late to invest in an iPhone 6 and ride the tide of Apple’s latest hype.

Technical information sources: apple.com | The Wall Street Journal PC World | Washington Post | NY Times | cnet.com | theweek.co.uk | theverge.com | techradar.com

LOCAL

West Wind Drive-In: A taste of the ’30s ELVIS LI

ANNIE GAFFNEY Staff Writer

A one-way road opens to face a f luorescent marquis, leading to three ticket booths and lines of cars waiting to be admitted.

Behind the booths lie six outdoor movie screens, playing today’s latest hits. Welcome to the West Wind Drive-In of San Jose, which has brought a vintage f lare to the movie business since 1971.

In the 1930s and 1940s, driveins let consumers combine

their love for automobiles with that of the up-and-coming film business. Drive-in theaters, pioneered by Richard Hollingshead in Camden, New Jersey, presented their films to viewers through outdoor projections and in-car radios. Hollingshead’s innovation also extended to a new viewing platform.

This ramp system, composed of tilted parking spaces in the viewing lot, set cars at different heights to allow for visibility regardless of location— a technique still implemented

at drive-ins today. West Wind recreates Hollingshead’s vision and offers a fun alternative in which viewers can kick back and pig out (made easy by the ability to bring your own snacks) in the comfort of their own cars.

Along with the outdoor setting, viewers enjoy luxuries not present at the conventional theater. With an admission rate of only $7.50 per person, the one-size-fits-all bucket of popcorn offered by the ticketmaster only adds to the bargain.

Once they are directed to the appropriate viewing lot, viewers are surrounded by the social atmosphere allowed by the ample space and all-accommodating atmosphere at West Wind.

Across the lot, you’ll find families in lawn chairs, tailgatestyle barbecues and teenagers enjoying the view from the back of their trunk.

Unlike a conventional theater, West Wind encourages interaction and conversation between those who choose to share the experience. In the

privacy of their own cars, movie-goers are allowed to personalize their viewing. At West Wind, it’s not the movie that makes the night, but who you watch it with.

Though the West Wind DriveIn has revived the classical aspects of the 20th century movie industry, it feels anything but outdated. Viewers get a taste of the vintage feel while keeping up with the times. With this blend of the old and the new, West Wind has something to offer for all ages.

The Talon September 30, 2014

TELEVISION

The self absorbed: “Selfie”

ABC

ABC: Premieres Sept. 30 @ 8|7c

Final Verdict: Irritatingly charming

In this loose modernization of “My Fair Lady,” self-obsessed Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) decides it’s time for her to rebrand her image with the help of an image guru (John Cho) after an airplane mishap goes viral. However indicative the title is of the rampant superficiality of this new ABC show, whoever came up with the title should still be ashamed of themselves. The title alone will be enough to turn off viewers who (correctly) assume it’ll be a hollow comedy based on lazy referential humor.

However, all is not lost in this pilot.

Between the irritating jokes and caricature-like characters, there are glimpses of the satirical, self-aware humor one can expect from former “Suburgatory” creator Emily Kapnek. Plus, despite what their characters may be lacking, Gillan and Cho might just be able to make the show charming through sheer force of will. If the ratings don’t tank before they are given a chance to grow, that is.

This fall in series premieres Every fall brings with it a slew of new shows promising to be the best thing to hit your television screens since “Friends.” This year, networks are touting out tales of superheroes, superheroes before they were superheroes, dysfunctional families and couples who let love bloom. Take a look at one Talon writer’s thoughts on a few of this fall’s upcoming series.

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The dramedy: “Red Band Society”

FOX

FOX: Wednesdays@ 9|8c

Final Verdict: Prepare yourself for this teenage tear-jerker

This new FOX dramedy promises to give an honest, if not heartwarming, look into the lives of a group of teenagers bound together by the hardship of illness. It has a hospital setting, an Academy Award, the tone and humor of “Glee’s” better seasons and characters both teens and adults will like. The show has all the right elements to make itself work.

However, as with many of this fall’s pilots, the premise of the show itself doesn’t seem like it will be able to sustain itself. Perhaps more critically, the show is in danger of falling to the same traps “Glee” did - teenage angst with no purpose behind it, the adults getting buried in tired background plots and episodes that feel like after school specials. The pilot is amiable enough and the show is worth sticking around for at least a couple of episodes, but the future of this show depends entirely on how the writers and cast choose to expand the premise that so far only conveys a limited future for this show.

The romcom: “A to Z”

NBC

NBC: Premieres Oct. 2 @ 9:30|8:30c

Final Verdict: An amusing mixture of romance and humor

“Let me tell you the story of a couple, one of the greats,” the pilot begins and just like that the narrator (Katey Sagal) introduces viewers into the world of Andrew and Zelda. The show promises to present the entire romantic relationship of the likable leads played by Cristin Milioti (The Mother on “How I Met Your Mother”) and Ben Feldman (“Mad Men”). While laughs are noticeably few for a comedy and the quirk the show is going for falls short of success (especially in regards to the pair’s “zany” best friends), the chemistry between Milioti and Feldman so far is proving to be enough to carry the script. Of course, the romantic theme alone is something that will appeal to many viewers, especially fans of the recently finished “How I Met Your Mother,” so this new show will be sure to stick around for a while.

The superhero thriller: “Gotham”

The family-friendly: “Black-ish” ABC: Wednesdays @ 9:30|8:30c Final Verdict: Funny-ish

ABC

As another ABC comedy with an unfortunate title, “Black-ish” centers on an African American upper-middle class family attempting to maintain their cultural identity while living in a predominantly white neighborhood. “Black-ish” inundates viewers with the voice over provided by the father of the family (Anthony Anderson) and seems to think its viewers aren’t clever enough to understand their more nuanced points. The interesting and mildly funny observations are noticeably drowned out throughout the pilot by the narration, easy jokes and the subplot about the eldest son wanting a bar mitzvah. However, once the characters are more fully fleshed out and the show settles into its audience without trying to grab the fans of lead-in “Modern Family,” the show does have potential to be one of the few comedies this season not to get an early cancellation.

FOX

FOX: Mondays @ 8|7c

Final Verdict: A chilling new series about the dark days of pre-Batman Gotham

Perhaps the most anticipated new show of the fall, “Gotham” bills itself as a serious, gritty drama telling the origin stories of key players in the city of Gotham before Batman. Origin stories, easter eggs and general fan service are part of the fun, so fans of the Batman universe will no doubt appreciate the many (and not so subtle) references to the future of the characters.

However, there is a fine line writers have to walk with these stories, especially with a show like “Gotham” where the main attraction is a still-young Bruce Wayne and instead of the Dark Knight.

As of now, the show feels less on par with the tone of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and feels too similar to the plethora of crime dramas already dominating the television industry.

The challenge “Gotham” will face going forward will be to stay loyal to the source material while taking the stories in creative directions to cultivate a devoted fanbase. On top of this, it must show the power struggle for Gotham’s criminal underworld. Once “Gotham” fleshes out its characters and builds a riveting world bursting with moral ambiguity, expect “Gotham” to become a permanent favorite.

The Talon September 30, 2014

FOOD

Nékter sells taste and health in a cup Nékter Juice Bar

Smoothies & Juices 685 San Antonio Road Mountain View, CA Price Range: $$$

★★★★☆ ERIC KOPPS Staff Writer

It’s sweet, tangy, delicious and healthy. Welcome to Nékter Juice Bar, a new establishment that takes a modern twist to healthy eating. Nékter offers an assortment of freshly squeezed juices, blended smoothies and unique Açai Bowls that satisfy the sweet tooth without the guilt. Nékter is one of the very few places that can back up its claims to be genuinely healthy. Although the drinks are more expensive, the quality is hard to beat.

As soon as you walk into the juice bar, vibrant faux fruits line the walls while juicers take your order. Nékter is located on the corner of San Antonio road and El Camino, on the outskirts of the recently renovated San Antonio Shopping Center. Although indoor seating is sparse, Nékter’s outside patio is spacious and comfortable. There are couches, lounge chairs, umbrellas and tables, making it a perfect place to enjoy a refreshing snack on a sunny day.

Nékter offers an extensive vari-

ety of juices, smoothies and Açai Bowls to satisfy the athlete to the foodie. All drinks are made with a range of fresh fruits and vegetables, from apples and oranges to kale, parsley, ginger, carrots and celery. The most well received drinks like “The Cure," “The Buzz” and “The Sublime” tend to veer on the sweeter side because they are primarily composed of fruits rather than greens. There are also many flavors with mostly vegetables such as “The Greenie” and “The Toxin Flush” which are consistent with the current “green smoothie” trend.

If you don’t feel like having a juice or a smoothie, Nékter carries a more filling treat known as the Açai Bowl. With four unique flavors consisting of fresh fruit, granola and most notably cashew nut milk (a healthy alternative to cow’s milk), the first bite will have you hooked. Although these bowls are $6.95, ingredients like granola and nuts add an extra crunch for a more interesting option at Nékter.

Although the Nékter’s products are tasty, the pricing is higher than that of Jamba Juice. The smallest drink is 16 ounces, and at $4.95, it’s a considerable expense.

On top of the steep prices, the wait time at Nékter is longer than expected. The staff have effervescent attitudes, but the amount of time they take to fulfill the order is a definite drawback. Most stu-

PHOTOS BY GINA KERMODE

Left: Nékter is a modern juice and smoothie bar that emphasizes quality and delicious products. The shop offers an assortment of smoothies. Middle: A Nékter juicer prepares a drink. Right: The relaxing atmosphere of the establishment also adds to Nékter’s overall appeal. dents hoping to stop by during their lunch break just don’t have the time. Typically, it takes 15 to 20 minutes for the juicers to make your order. And, because there is only one register, waiting in line during busy hours could take up most of lunch. While this is a handicap, Nékter’s drinks are still worth the wait.

For those who want to beat rush hour lines, Nékter also offers take-home juice cleansing plans.

The recommended three day plan consists of six drinks jam packed with roughly 15 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. The cleanse is designed to clean the body by incorporating detoxifying ingredients like cucumbers and coco-

nut water into the everyday diet.

Nékter is a fun place to try something new despite minor inconveniences. The relaxing ambience and sheer healthiness of its juices and smoothies make up for higher prices and longer wait times. Enjoy your wholesome drink at Nektar, but make sure to bring extra cash and be cautious of lines.

Oren’s new Hummus Shop falls short of parent location Oren’s Hummus Shop

Traditional Israeli 126 Castro Street Mountain View, CA Price Range: $$

MAYA VARGHESE

PHOTOS BY GINA KERMODE

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made the transfer to the new restaurant. In an attempt to streamline their menu, Oren’s started with a shortened selection in its Mountain View location. Omitted items included most of the salads and the Israeli favorites, which was a disappointment. After receiving numerous requests for omitted dishes, Oren’s briefly implemented a policy of adding dishes upon request, and they are now planning on making the full menu available beginning early October.

The service at the new loca-

tion is friendly but can be on the slow side. However, this can be attributed to the fact that the restaurant has been open for less than two months, and this may change in the coming months. The biggest advantage of the Mountain View branch is the design of the restaurant. The Palo Alto location is crammed with tables, so customers have to squeeze themselves into their seats. There is no outdoor eating area and not much space inside.

By contrast, the Mountain View location is far more spacious Album: “JHUD” Jennifer Hudson

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large and the store can boast of quality other hummus brands may not have: the chickpeas, spices and tahini are all imported directly from Israel. However, one important difference is that at the Mountain View location it costs $0.75 per extra pita bread (two are included in the price of a hummus bowl) and at Palo Alto extras are completely free.

For some it may not make much difference, but for those who like to order extra, it can add up.

In addition, many dishes from the Palo Alto menu have not

STUPIDDOPE

In a place as diverse as the Silicon Valley, it seems that it should be easy to find food from virtually anywhere. However, despite the number of restaurants, it is still common to hear people insist that nothing they find is like the “real thing.” For fans of Israeli food, Oren’s Hummus Shop claims it can solve that.

Oren’s started in Palo Alto to fill the niche of an authentic Israeli restaurant. Their main attraction is the hummus bowl with pita, from which the restaurant gets both its name and its motto: “Rip, scoop, eat!” The Palo Alto restaurant is known for long lines and crowding, but in August, Oren’s opened a second, more spacious restaurant in Mountain View.

The new branch has many things in common with its partner in Palo Alto, most notably the authenticity of the food.

Ranging from $8.95 to $10.50, the hummus bowls are expensive, but the portion sizes are

Above: Oren’s Hummus Shop has expanded, and the shop’s second location is located on Castro Street, Mountain View. Below: Oren’s housemade hummus bowls and pita bread are very popular, and the shop even features a sauce station (left) for those who want to add extra spice to their dishes.

than the average restaurant. The restaurant has a counter-order system which allows ordering to move faster and an outdoor patio which allows more customers to be seated.

Overall, the food is still good but the restaurant is in the process of adjusting to the new location. If you’re craving an Oren’s hummus bowl, the Mountain View location may be closer than Palo Alto and more spacious, but for a full menu and a quick service, wait a month or two before visiting.

Album: “Cheek to Cheek” Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett

The Talon September 30, 2014

BOOKS

“100 Sideways Miles” is a true coming of age story Although humor plays a prominent role in the book, it also subtly deals with sensitive topics like illness and loss. Smith’s narrative is filled with sarcastic monologue, but Finn’s struggles to fit in and overcome the inconveniences of his illness are what make the book a heartfelt comingof-age story.

Similar to John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars,” Smith’s book presents illness in a re-

wants the reader to see life through the character’s eyes.

Andrew Smith, Sept. 2, 2014 For instance, Finn views time ★★★★☆ passing in miles rather than minutes. While these nuances are overdone and dramatic at EMILY TERADA times, they ultimately add to Staff Writer the insights in the novel.

Smith’s powerful and effecAndrew Smith’s long antive voice is exhibited throughticipated book “100 Sideways out the pages as he describes Miles” hit the shelves in early the complexity of Finn’s September. The book focuses world. He pushes the reader to on Finn Easton, a baseballfeel a range of emotions as we playing, epileptic are allowed a firstteen whose life is hand glimpse into dominated by his Finn’s unbreakable uncontrollable and "100 Sideways Miles" is an exhilarating, spirit. The book is aggravating illness. thought-provoking and inspirational book by no means a calm Smith takes the ride; it manages reader on a hilari- that sends readers on an unforgettable life to make the reader ous journey into lesson. laugh, cry and emFinn’s life and the pathize with Finn at sprinkles of humor and drama freshing way that allows read- every turn. Through this story, throughout are reminiscent ers to both sympathize and Finn learns that his condition of Smith’s witty and insightful laugh with Finn. The hardships cannot and will not be what writing style. that Finn endures, both physi- people will remember him by.

Smith is a well-known young cally and mentally, make it im- His determination to live as if adult author. Some of his most possible not to root for him as it were the last seconds of his popular books like “Winger” he goes along his journey to- life is admirable and “Grasshopper Jungle” have wards self-discovery.

“100 Sideways Miles” is an exreceived starred reviews in acUsing a fast-paced writ- hilarating, thought-provoking claimed review publications ing style, Smith does an ex- and inspirational book that like Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus ceptional job at depicting sends readers on an unforgetReviews and Booklist. On Sep- his characters’ thoughts. He table life lesson that creates a tember 15, “100 Sideways Miles” captures raw adolescent emo- truly interesting and absorbwas recognized on the 2014 tions and shows an oftentimes ing read. Smith’s masterful Longlist for the National Book hidden teenage perseverance storytelling and expert teenage Award for Young People’s Liter- which many readers can relate mind reading abilities make ature. So far the book has been to and admire. every last page in “100 Sideways well-received by many readers.

Throughout the story, Smith Miles” worth traveling for.

100 Sideways Miles

BRANDON HONG

Andrew Smith’s latest novel, “100 Sideways Miles,” is a hearfelt account of protagonist Finn Easton’s coming-of-age story. Smith’s writing style is sure to appeal to a wide range of readers.

GAMES & TECH

“Destiny” surpasses expectations, attempts to pioneer a genre Destiny

First Person Shooter (Teen) Sept. 9, 2014 Bungie Inc. PS4, PS3, XBox One, XBox 360

★★★★☆ TEDDY CHMYZ DAVID LISBONNE Staff Writers

MENSON LI & ELVIS LI

The latest game by Bungie Inc., “Destiny” is an exhilirating mix of First Person Shooter and Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game. Although there are some flaws in the game, players will be impressed by the unbeatable graphics and fast-paced missions.

“747” Lady Antebellum

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simply to kill the enemy. There are also unsatisfactory aspects of the game’s multiplayer element; there is no way to communicate with other players inside the game. Players work together to fight enemies and achieve objectives, but they cannot actually communicate directly with each other. This lack of communication ability Single: “All About That Bass” Meghan Trainor

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Playing Game (MMORPG) together. However, it does not, live up to its expectations of creating a new, hybrid genre.

The FPS action is nothing new and is very reminiscent of Halo. Although MMORPGs are known for intricate story lines, “Destiny” has a shallow story mode and the objectives of all the single player side quests are MODCITY MAGAZINE

with objects and props, yet they’re not so overcrowded as to make the scene seem unrealistic. Cutscenes and pre-animated clips are also stunning to watch.

While the scenery is extremely sharp, it is not enough to overlook one of the f laws in the game: “Destiny” tries to fuse a First Person Shooter (FPS) and a Massively Multiplayer Role FLOW910

NYCCOUNTRYMUSICLOVERS

“Destiny” by Bungie Inc. is one of the most hyped video games of the year, standing as the best selling franchise debut in history. It garnered $500 million within its first 24 hours of release. Although the game attempts to pioneer a new genre, it falls slightly short of this goal; “Destiny” does not have the complexity and depth looked for in a game of this caliber. Despite f laws throughout, “Destiny” still delivers a revolutionary experience to video gaming.

“Destiny” runs smoothly at 60 frames per second in full 1080p HD and the graphics are crisp on any gaming console. From Mars to the moon, the scenery is immaculately detailed and constantly alive with movement. The landscape is filled

is a small feature, yet all players will recognize its inconvenience at some point along their journey. “Destiny” falls short of combining the trademark features of both genres and leaves out aspects that make each genre great individually.

The game’s random multiplayer missions, however, are still exciting and provide a break from the periodically monotonous campaign missions. The “Destiny” universe is alive, and no second can be spared standing still. Immense enemy ships appear from a warp hole, launching alien drills into the surface, releasing hordes of enemies. This is labeled a public event and all players in the vicinity are tasked with teaming up to defeat the enemy.

Overall, while “Destiny” is not the groundbreaking, genrechanging game many players had hoped for, it is still a very fast-paced and exciting game well worth buying. Save for a few minor glitches, sharp graphics and appealing game features set the framework for “Destiny” to become the next huge video game series.

Single: “Yellow Flicker Beat” Lorde

The Talon September 30,2014

Get daily updates on Eagle athletics and read the sports archives at lahstalon.org/sports

Field hockey starts off strong with an influx of new players ALEXANDRA MILKEY Staff Writer

Looking to recover from a rocky 2013 season, the field hockey team faces this year with strong hopes.

Even before the season had started, tryouts cast a bright air: the team began with the knowledge that the number of players who tried out—over fifty—was larger than it had been in many years.

This led to high expectations for the season.

Tryouts were extended to determine who was serious about the sport. In the end, no cuts were made on the varsity team, which is now composed of 22 players, ten of them seniors, instead of the sixteen players from the previous year. Because of this, players are anticipating a different style of rotation this season, saying that playing time will be based mostly on level of skill.

“I think that being able to play with more of a variety of kids… [helps] you for future playings, so you understand the different

styles,” senior Emily Webb said. “[Also] on really hot days, it gives you time to breathe and get yourself together.”

The deep roster brings with it both benefits and challenges, but ultimately, the team sees the change as a positive one.

“Sometimes the constant subbing [can] disrupt the flow of play, but it [is] nice to sub some of the players who [get] tired,” co-captain senior Nicole Atkins said.

One aspect of the larger team is the number of substitutes and how it affects the team’s play by allowing the starters more breaks and a change to sub in fresh players.

“Last year we had only three substitutes and that definitely contributed to the rough season,” senior Mehr Singh said.

This ability to mesh playing styles together and work as one unit is a strength of the team.

Many of the varsity players have been teammates for three or four years and know how to work with

each other well. This is essential for a winning team.

“We as teammates…know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we’re able to build off of each other and help each other out,” Nicole said.

One task for the season will be to mesh the existing players with the ones who have newly moved up from the junior varsity team. Though the team has ten seniors who are accustomed to each other’s style of play, it is key that everyone has a part in the game strategy.

Though the season has barely started, field hockey had a 1-3 record in the preseason, as well as finishing third in the Leigh Round Up Tournament, where they went 2-1-1. They have started their league play with a loss against Monta Vista on September 24 by a 2-1 score.

“We are all playing really well together and I think we should just keep that synergy up!”

Mehr said.

PHOTO BY NOAH TSAO

The field hockey team, now with a roster of 22, saw a greater number of girls tryout. The increase of players has also increased the level of play, by creating more competition and better rotations.

Club sports are all-consuming ANNIE GAFFNEY Staff Writer

A De Anza Force soccer player devotes ten hours to practices on weekdays alone, while a Vision volleyball player devotes nine.

Hardtke Baseball Academy and San Jose Lady Sharks Softball players each commit twelve hours per weekend.

Club sports have overstepped in their expectations for time commitment. Though meant for recreation and exposure to recruitment opportunities, they have become all-consuming, encroaching upon academics and family life. Club coaches and administrators need to recognize how detrimental their expectations are to their players and either lessen the time commitment or be flexible with the schedules of the athletes.

For recruitment purposes, high commitment club coaches emphasize an academics-first mentality to encourage good grades. Often, grades factor into the commitment process. However, this order of priorities is more in theory than in practice.

Senior Carmen Annevelink, a Vision Volleyball player, details the coach’s rationale behind their inflexibility. “[You can’t miss practice for] too much homework because you should be expected to manage your time,” Carmen said.

“They know that your teachers aren’t going to give you too much homework [and] it’s your fault if you have too much.”

Club coaches, more removed from academic pursuits than high school coaches, are more subject to assuming that the struggle to balance time between sports and school is the fault of the players.

This causes club coaches to be apathetic towards the grievances of their players and ignorant towards the ramifications that come with the increasing the level of commitment. As club sports remain unregulated, coaches are

free to exploit the devotion of the players.

Conflict between schoolwork and club sports does not end at practices. Tournaments also clash with the academics of athletes by forcing players to miss days of school. Clubs, often the sponsors of such tournaments, need to be regulated in their scheduling as currently they cause unnecessary difficulty in keeping up academically.

“The amount of work and lectures I miss gets me off track and behind on the lessons,” junior Carrie Wendelkin said. “It can be hard to catch up especially if the lesson is really important.”

Demanding tournament schedules can also have a negative impact on family life. Senior Kaitlyn Schiffhauer, a player for San Jose Lady Sharks Softball, has weekly tournaments throughout the months of September and October. Kaitlyn also travels for softball tournaments every weekend from Memorial Day to the second weekend of July.

“It’s definitely hard on our family, living in hotels for two months out of the year and that’s just in the fall, not even mentioning summer,” Kaitlyn said.

The amount of travelling tournaments expected of club athletes is worsened by their conflict with holidays. “[Tournaments over holidays] either become family vacations, which I don’t think they should be, or you’re missing out on family events,” senior Patrick McColl said. “Over summer I was gone for three weeks so I didn’t see my family [or friends] for three weeks.”

Unlike high school sports, club sports have no regulations on practice times, tournament schedules or season duration.

For club athletes to have better relationships with their sport, club administrators should lessen the expectation of commitment so that athletes are no longer forced to compromise their academics and family life for the sake of athletics.

Cross country looks past a coaching switch for a great season JOHNNY SCHER TEDDY CHYMZ Business Manager Staff Writer

Huffing and puffing through the afternoon sun, the cross country team has been training through the heat to increase their speed during practice.

This year, the team is welcoming a new head coach, Pam Harris. She is replacing the previous head coach, Dan Oren, who resigned over the summer due to unmentioned reasons. This unexpected transition between coaches has been hard on the players and other coaches, but the team is training just as hard.

“We are moving forward, and I think everyone’s really excited about [the upcoming season],” Harris said.

Although the team lost some skill when several seniors graduated, the team is working hard to replace the

seniors who have left.

“Last year our team was really good,” junior Lauren Jacobs said. “We had some older runners [and] this year we lost a bit of talent with the loss of our seniors. We have some work to do this year to catch up, but it’s pretty manageable because we have some good lower classmen that can slip up and the girls are looking much better.”

Building off of this optimism, they have started its season strong. The team competed at its first two invitational meets of the year at Toro Park and Golden Gate Park.

“The big news of the day was our sophomore girls team won their race [at Toro Park],” Assistant Coach Andrew Zaeske said in his newsletter to the team. “Last year they scored third [at Toro], but this year they pushed harder and got the trophy.”

There were also many strong in-

dividual performances, including juniors Ben Zaeske and Andreas Godderis placing second and fourth, respectively. They, like many of the team’s other athletes, hope to continue this momentum throughout the rest of the season and think they will continue to do well.

The first league match was September 23 at Crystal Springs where the team placed ninth. The team was missing their top seven runners who were resting for the Stanford Invitational meet on September 27. Results were unavailable at the press deadline. The team hopes to do much better in its next meet, since they will have all of their runners participating.

“We have a really awesome team that’s got a lot of potential,” Andreas said. “And we’re going to have a lot of success in the next few seasons.”

PHOTO BY DAVE BEYER

The girls cross country team takes a picture celebrating their win at the Golden Gate Park meet on September 20. They made state last year and are looking for a repeat, behind new head coach Pam Harris.

The Talon September 30, 2014

Bay Area Sports Round-Up

By Josh Kirshenbaum

Giants Look to Keep Charge Going into the Postseason Going into the summer, the San Francisco Giants were the best team in baseball. They were the first to 40 wins, they were 21 games over .500 (42-21) and they had a healthy lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

The bats were loud, the pitching efficient, the bullpen lights-out, and owner Brian Sabean looked like a genius: offseason acquisitions Tim Hudson and Michael Morse were key contributors.

Then the Giants turned around a full 180 degrees, losing players to injuries, going into serious slumps, and eventually finding themselves trailing the Dodgers.

However, in the past few weeks, San Francisco seems to have gotten back on track.

Much of the success can be summarized as new players building off of a strong foundation. Veterans such as catcher Buster Posey and right fielder Hunter Pence have been the core of the lineup the entire year, and pitcher Madison Bumgarner has proved himself to be one of the best pitchers in the game.

The Giants have solidified their success by filling in the gaps in their lineup. Rookie second baseman Joe Panik is filling the hole that the Giants have had at second for the entire season with the injury to Marco Scutaro and the backfiring acquisition of Dan Uggla. Andrew Susac has been the other rookie making noise this season, filling in the role of backup catcher. The Giants also filled the hole left by Brandon Belt, who suffered a series of concussions at first base with a rotation of midseason pickup Travis Ishikawa, rookie Adam Duvall and utility infielder Joaquin Arias.

The Giants have found offensive success from the “Killer P’s,” with Panik, Posey, Pence and Pablo Sandoval all making contributions. You can throw in Yusmiero Petit and Jake Peavy in there too to get some pitching.

As of press deadline, San Francisco has clinched a postseason spot. Though they lost the NL West race to Los Angeles, they clinched a place in the Wild Card round with four games remaining. They will play in a one game playoff tomorrow, October 1, against either the Pittsburgh Pirates or St. Louis Cardinals. The winner of the game will move on to play the Washington Nationals in the divisional series.

Overall, the Giants are excited for the postseason.

“This is why you grind it out all year—to play for October and play to get into the postseason, and this is what makes your year,” Bumgarner said in an interview with reporter Amy Gutierrez. “It’s so much fun playing in this atmosphere, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Girls water polo hopes for playoff run JAMES SUN

Copy/Content Editor

This year’s new girls varsity water polo head coach Katie Buzzetta has the team training harder than ever to advance further in the CCS championships than last year, where the team was defeated in the first round.

“I’m hoping to...improve what we did last year,” Buzzetta said. “I think we [have] potential to take it all the way to the end.”

Throughout the beginning of their season, the girls team has been working mostly on their speed in the water and their ability to move the ball around the pool effectively.

“For the first few weeks, we have really tried to focus on swimming, conditioning and skill work,” team captain junior Christina Pao said.

“Coming off of last year, something we really wanted to do was build a strong foundation to go into games.

A lot of our girls have played together before either in club or in high school season so we really tried focusing on getting stronger and faster rather than going straight into plays and scrimmages.”

On the defensive side, the team bases its core strategy on preventing other teams from scoring and on using their extensive swimming conditioning to outswim other teams on the counterattack. “[We have been] focusing on defense to make sure that we are able to stop teams and make sure that they don’t get up on us too big,” Buzzetta said.

With more of their league games coming up soon, the girls’ first game this season was against Gunn High School on September 16.

Although the girls lost with a final score of 4-3, they rebounded in their next game and beat Homestead 9-3.

The girls were losing 2-1 in the first

PHOTO BY ELVIS LI

Freshman Jessica Suh makes a pass during practice. The team has been working hard during practice to improve their speed and stamina. quarter of their game against Home- against Saratoga on September 25, stead, but they managed to pull back their league record stands at 1-3. the lead during the third quarter and With the beginning of their season stay ahead. However, the team suf- quickly passing by, the team looks to fered another loss to Los Gatos last improve more to extend their CCS week on Tuesday. After their loss run further than last year’s.

A day in the life of water polo goalie, Romy Aboudarham

by Olivia Jerram

GRAPHIC BY NOY ANISMAN AND BONAVENTURE DUPRAT

Levi’s Stadium: an arena fit for Silicon Valley COLE HANSON Staff Writer

Built in the shadow of Silicon Valley, it only makes sense that the San Francisco 49ers football team be outfitted with state-of-the-art technology, developed and integrated by the local companies that have made this region renowned for innovation. The 49ers’ old Candlestick Park is a far cry from the newly constructed and highly advanced arena standing in Santa Clara today.

Firms like Brocade Communication Systems created a Wi-Fi and IT network for the stadium that is capable of providing a stable connection to over 70,000 fans. Currently, the Wi-Fi capacity installed has four times the NFL stadium standard, which means more fans will have a fast and reliable experience while they are within the stadium.

The expanded wireless capacity gives fans opportunities to utilize mobile applications like the ones created by Adept Technologies. Such mobile apps allow fans to order food directly to their seats, manage their tickets and parking spots and even control the camera angle of the game on their device, making the user experience in Levi Stadium more efficient and convenient.

Junior Cole Botsford has already experienced three games in Levi’s Stadium and commented on many facets of the stadium that he enjoyed.

“The app works great,” Cole said. “[It’s] easy-to use and I liked it. I didn’t order food but the instant replay [feature] was cool.”

Also included in the stadium app is a new way of watching the game, which features options such as instant replay and adjustable camera angle of the game on your device.

In addition to the many advances to mobile technology, Levi’s Stadium was built with sustainability and the environment in mind. Equipped with over 1,000 solar panels and the first green roof in NFL history, Levi Stadium is predicted to be completely self-sustainable.

The designers of the stadium have even integrated grass that is 50 percent more water-efficient and have furnished the suites with reclaimed wood from Moffett field, just down the road. With its 27,000 square feet of green energy space, it is no wonder that this $1.2 billion behemoth has been dubbed the “smartest” stadium in the NFL by Associated Press.

Levi’s Stadium has also constructed many perks for the average fan to enjoy. The colossal arena includes an extensive 49ers museum, gluten-free con-

cession options and an open design fabricated to optimize crowd noise. There is a noticeable amount of thought that has been put into the stadium’s minute details which goes beyond expectation, ref lecting positively in fans’ impressions.

“It’s the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in,” Cole said. “The food is great, the fans are loud and the stadium is amazing.”

Of course, the impressive mobile and green technology within Levi Stadium are important factors contributing to the experience, but pale in comparison to the crowd’s reactions to the game and their enthusiasm for their team. The stadium is very young and hopefully all of the hard work and ingenuity has paid off to create the perfect environment to foster its fans’ energy.

FLICKR USER MATTHEW ROTH

The San Francsico 49ers had their home opener at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, September 14. The stadium itself is a brand-new modern marvel, including an app for those in attendance and an unmatched Wi-Fi system.

The Talon September 30, 2014

Fall Sports Updates WILLIAM JOW, DAVID LISBONNE Copy/Content Editor, Staff Writer

Girls tennis gears up for tough season

MENSON LI

Top left: The volleyball team discusses strategy in a huddle while playing against Presentation High School. Bottom middle : Senior Madi Bourquin hits a serve. Top right: Freshman Nadia Ghaffari displays her powerful forehand.

Girls volleyball looks to repeat last year’s successful season The Los Altos varsity girls volleyball team last year may have been the best team in the past thirty years with their extensive postseason run posting them as second place in Nor-Cals, setting up quite the act to follow this year. As the new season dawns, the team faces the challenge of filling in the gaps that last year’s lady eagles left behind when they graduated.

“We lost four starting seniors so we have a new set of starters,” senior co-captain Joyce Christiansen-Salameh said. “We need to integrate the new players into our playing style.”

Due to the new faces on the team, varsity Head Coach Peter Kim is emphasizing the importance of chemistry within the team.

“Last year the team really played as one and it showed—we got second,“ Kim said. “As a team this year, we need to work on playing as a team and being cohesive.”

Despite the hole left by the seniors, Los Altos has managed to inspire confidence with three commanding pre-season victories. The squad has won their first two games by large margins, led by senior co-captain Carmen Annevelink, who is averaging 5.1 kills per set. The team is off to a 10-3 start and a tournament championship with a semifinal win against rival Mountain View and a vicotry over Saint Francis in the finals.

“It was awesome to beat Mountain View and

Saint Francis especially by how much we beat them,” Carmen said. “It’s always nice to beat the local schools, public and private, and to win our own tournament was just icing on the cake.”

The home opener had Los Altos facing off against Burlingame, and a sense of déjà vu settled in the gym as the lady eagles won in straight sets without giving up the lead once, their success reminiscent of last year.

“Our serve returns and defense were really good… and that meant we could get aggressive swings at serve returns,” Carmen said. “We also weren’t scrambling and that translated into running a fast paced offense.”

However as the season continues, the level of competition rises. On September 17, the lady eagles took on Valley Christian, their first game against a private school team. Los Altos went five sets with Valley Christian, eventually clinching a victory in the fifth, 15-6.

“I think the fact that we went five games with [Valley Christian] and beat them in the fifth set was a true test of our teamwork and we did well,” Kim said.

“So [against Valley Christian] what we really focused on was like staying loose and ready and aggressive,” Carmen said. “just going for every ball.”

The next home game is today, Tuesday, September 30, against Monta Vista.

Although varsity girls tennis has stumbled coming out of the gate into the season, the team still shows promise after managing a fair record against some of the top teams in the state. On September 4, the team traveled to Fresno to compete in the annual California Tennis Classic. The team finished with a record of 3-2, earning them seventh place out of sixteen division two teams.

“It was fair result,” junior Carina Burdick said.

“We were hoping for a bit higher, but we’re still happy with the result.”

Every year, the team attends the Fresno tournament for the opportunity to play strong teams in preparation for their upcoming season.

“We go [to Fresno] not only for the bonding, but for the experience the girls get in the tournament,” varsity girls coach Hung Nguyen said.

“Most teams we play are good and we get to play some different teams that we don’t normally see. They’re all good competition, so those are the reasons why we go every year and why a lot of teams go every year.”

The team placed similarly to last year’s 2-2 record and sixth place; however this year the team won against three highly-seeded teams, which earns extra points for the end of the season CCS tournament.

“Even though we lost two matches, we got two extra points for beating a league-winning team, so we did really well,” Nguyen said.

“That’s a really big factor toward the end of the year when we apply for CCS. Even though we

PHOTOS BY NOAH TSAO

went 3-2, to me it was a successful trip. It’s almost like going 4-1 or 5-0.”

The team harbors only two seniors, both of whom are playing singles. The seven seniors who graduated last year were mostly doubles players, so this season’s doubles team is composed entirely of underclassmen.

“I think that, as a new team, we’re developing pretty rapidly,” junior Niki Mohajer said. “But there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. We all have a long time to get better—we have this season and next season, and you really only get everything together in the middle of the season. I think the record that we have right now is pretty good going into the season.”

Now that league play has started, the team has gotten off to a slow start, losing to Saratoga and Los Gatos in their first and second matches, respectively.

“Obviously we’re disappointed about [our match against Los Gatos] because we could have come out with a win,” Carina said. “All of the matches were close, so we’d like to beat them next time...because we will probably not make CCS unless we win against them.”

Yesterday, the team played an additional match against Milipitas, but the results were unavailable as of the press deadline. Later today, the Eagles will be at Gunn, facing off with the Palo Alto team.

“In the past years Gunn has not had a strong team, so hopefully that’s still true and we can defeat them,” Carina said.

ATHLETES: OFF THE FIELD

the athlete Sarah Tritschler

junior: volleyball

Sean Nguyen senior: water polo and swimming

Katie Klein

sophomore: track and cross country

Carina Burdick

junior: tennis

Favorite type of sandwich grilled cheese with bacon

Most used app on my phone definitely Candy Crush, I’m at level 655!

hot pastrami on a Dutch crunch roll

Reddit

swiss cheese and salami

Instagram

roast beef

Pinterest and Instagram

Best way to spend a Saturday

Most embarrassing song on my iPod

I couldn’t do sports without my . . .

“He Could Be The One” by Hannah Montana

kneepads

sleepin, duh

“Glamorous”

by Fergie

my speedo, for obvious reasons

not at a cross country meet!

“Bromance” by Ryan Higa

beach

go kart racing!

“Carina’s Awesome Rock Song”

my running shoes

definitely my Under Armour headband

FLAG: THARRIN/FLICKR, SANDWHICH: MICHAEL MARTINE/FLICKR, UMBRELLA: JOHNTEX/WIKIMEDIA, SHOES: LONGSHOTTER/WIKIMEDIA

“With lettuce, banana peppers, tomatoes, mayo, garlic spread and melted swiss...mmmmm yummy.”

“I made it in sixth grade!”

“Otherwise I would not have knees”