UNION THE
JUNE 2012 Volume XXIV Issue VI
EDITORIAL
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OPINIONS
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F E AT U R E S
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COLLEGES
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IN FOCUS
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E N T E R TA I N M E N T
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MHSTHEUNION.NET For the latest updates and more stories
LIFEST YLE
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SPORTS
21
STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL
Security bid process opens; guards ‘not up to standards’ BY LORDESA FOK AND MARISA LOUIE
The district will be taking bids from security guard companies for next year’s contract at MHS, according to Principal Kenneth Schlaff. This comes as a result of chronic reports of the security guards not performing up to school standards, Schlaff said. “We’re opening up the bid process to look at a pool of other companies and make a choice between those companies and the company that we presently have,” Schlaff said. “[The current company] can bid again, should they want.” Since the beginning of the year, two different groups of security guards from Universal Protection Services have patrolled the campus, according to Schlaff. The first group was replaced six weeks into the school year because it could not interact with students and was “completely nonfunctional,” he continued. “The second group of guards have a functionality to them, but it’s still not up to standards,” Schlaff said. “The problems with the current guards hit a peak maybe 6 weeks ago. [Problems] didn’t suddenly pop up; it was a compilation of be-
haviors.” A report presented to the school board by Schlaff at the April 17 Board of Education meeting listed the reasons as to why the bid is being reopened next year. The report makes the following claims: Security guards have been “rude and abrupt” to staff and “nonresponsive” to orders, fail to patrol the campus sufficiently, and “do not engage students.” There has been little change in the behavior of the security guards even after communication with company management, according to the report. According to Senior Vicky Tu, the security team is too lenient. Security guards do not check passes, which makes it easy for students to sneak off campus, Tu said. “I don’t feel like they’re doing their job,” Tu said. “I would be walking and they would drive by and say ‘Hi,’ and they wouldn’t even check to see if I had a tardy pass or not. They wouldn’t even stop; they would just keep driving.” However, regarding their interactions with students, Junior Deshawna Woods believes that they are performing as they should be. The guards should have a bond with SEE SECURITY ON PAGE 24
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Mike Mendizabal is a co-chair of the Community United for Excellent Milpitas Schools. He explains walking precincts to volunteers on June 2.
Voters approve Measure E BY LAURA COSGROVE
Measure E saw success on election day with 64 percent of Milpitas voters approving, nine percentage points over the required 55 for passage, according to the Santa Clara County website as of June 6. The measure proposed a general obligation bond that will provide $95 million for school facility repairs and upgrades in Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD), paid for by a property tax on Milpitas residents. The passage came after weeks of canvassing by the Community United for Excellent Milpitas Schools committee, organized to promote Measure E to Milpitas residents, according to Committee Co-chair Nancy Mendizabal. Mendizabal emphasized the significance of Measure E for MUSD. “We’re really excited,” Mendizabal said. “We didn’t have a ‘Plan B,’ so we really needed this to pass.” Superintendent Cary Matsuoka expressed relief that Measure E was successful. Among the projects
that would have been put to a halt had the measure had not passed are district-wide Wi-fi and rebuilding the swimming pool at MHS – as it is, these projects, along with some others, will move forward as early as this summer, Matsuoka said. “I would’ve been so depressed,” Matsuoka said. “It really would have stopped so many initiatives. We can catch up on our facility renovation needs, prepare to build the new elementary school, and begin upgrading technology around the district.” Eight projects are either already in design or will be by this summer: putting in a new swimming pool at MHS, doing facility repair at Rancho Middle School, building a multipurpose room at Pomeroy, getting new portables at Russell Middle School, and modernizing Weller, Burnett, Pomeroy, and Spangler with updates of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, roof repairs, and replacement of flooring SEE MEASURE E ON PAGE 2
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Lieutenant Cody Huber recieves a $180,000 NJROTC scholarship from navy of�cers at Senior Awards Night on May 23. Nearly half of the senior class was honored for its academic achievements and service hours.
Awards Night honors students’ success BY LUIS DESCANZO
Approximately half of the graduating senior class was invited to the Senior Awards Night Ceremony on May 23. The event served to publicly acknowledge students’ academic success, Associate Principal Brian McGarry said. Honored guests were invited, including Mayor Jose Esteves, Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant, Police Chief Dennis Graham, and School District Superintendent Cary Matsuoka. Scholarship donors and distinguished members of the community presented cords, stoles, and scholarships, McGarry said. “Several of these awards are awarded based on the student’s ability to maintain a high Grade Point Average, such as the Gold Cord, National Honor Society stole, and the
California Scholarship Federation Stole,” McGarry said. “The Maroon Cord distinguishes students who have completed at least 150 hours of community service over the past four years,” he added. Community Service Director John Ribovich, who compiled the list of seniors receiving the Maroon Cord, said that 110 seniors completed the 150 hour requirement. Last year, 70 seniors received the Maroon Cord, while only 32 seniors received it the year before. “This year, more seniors have been checking how close they are to 150 hours,” Ribovich said. “My sense is that people like being recognized for completing community service hours and that there will be even more Maroon Cord recipients next year.” The Minnis Scholarship includes
two $5,000 awards, two $10,000 awards, and one $20,000 award for college-bound seniors, according to Principal Kenneth Schlaff. It is funded by local community member Rita Minnis, he added. “All the scholarships that were given in previous years are continued today,” Schlaff said. “It’s very important that students who excelled academically get support from organizations and their community.” However, the grand prize of the ceremony was awarded to two ROTC members, Lieutenant Cody Huber and Master Chief Stephen Vu. Huber and Vu each received a $180,000 scholarship from the U.S. Navy and were presented with a large presentation check and received a standing ovation from the audience.
Teachers in discussion over future of SSR BY BENJAMIN GARDNER
Teachers and administration are discussing possible changes to Sustained Silent Reading for the upcoming year at MHS in an attempt to give teachers more flexibility, Principal Kenneth Schlaff said. The block in the schedule may be changed to an Extended Learning Time that gives teachers several options, including having students read, tutor other students, or perform lab assignments, Schlaff said. SSR is problematic for some teachers who have trouble making their students read, according to Science Teacher Eric Hentschke. Making SSR an Extended Learning Time would not solve these problems, Hentschke explained. “In my case I have a lot of freshmen who are too squirrely or boisterous to settle down and read for 20 minutes,” Hentschke said. “When you have 35 students in a classroom, and they are all coming in from lunch, they have a natural tendency to socialize.” Eliminating SSR and adding the minutes back into the class periods would be the fairest solution, Hentschke said. The extra class time would provide teachers with more control, according to Hentschke.
“I think it should be abolished and all the minutes from SSR should be put back into the classrooms,” Hentschke said. “It is only three minutes per class per day. If you tell them to read, they are not necessarily going to read. If they are quiet, they might just be sleeping or doing their homework, and that is not the intended use of SSR.” Math Teacher Elena Sherbakov
“I have a lot of freshmen who are too squirrely or boisterous to settle down and read for 20 minutes.” ���� ��������� said SSR helps her students calm down after lunch. Ideally teachers would have control over what to do during the time used for SSR, but it would need to be silent on campus, Sherbakov said. “SSR is already a learning time, and many teachers are already doing what they think is best for their students,” Sherbakov said. “With the population of this school, the class time of around 53 minutes is perfect, and more would be difficult for a certain part of the population of our kids.”
Administration needs to hold teachers accountable for creating an atmosphere where kids actually read, English Teacher Sanjit Roy said. Teachers may not be able to get everyone in the room to read, but the class needs to be silent so those that want to read can, according to Roy. “I think it is very important that they read silently, and I support SSR because I think a lot of kids do not read enough and struggle with their attention spans,” Roy said. “It is very important [to read], especially for preparing for college and expanding vocabulary.” Roy recognizes the difficulty that some teachers experience when trying to get some of their classes to read, he said. If teachers truly believe in SSR, then they should work hard to establish a good atmosphere, Roy said. “Teachers do complain, especially if they have a rowdy class, about having to monitor them, but I feel that if teachers set the expectations in the first week of school and explain that there will be consequences for not cooperating, then it is easy,” Roy said. “I do not have a problem because I stick to it that first week and for the rest of the semester, it is easier.”