THE UNION NEWS JUNE 2012
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A.S.B. changes club chartering process BY RAMANDEEP TUMBER
A.S.B. has modified the chartering process for clubs and added a new point system, A.S.B. CLOG Commissioner Erin Yu said. The modified system is intended to help keep clubs structured and organized throughout the year, Yu added. Instead of being able to charter a club any month, club officers can only charter a club certain times of the year, Yu said. From now on clubs may only charter during the first two months of school, the first month of the second semester, or the last month of the school year, according to Yu. “Club officers must recharter a club to renew the club’s charter for the following year,” Yu continued. “This new process is very good; we have had no problems.” Congress meetings during lunch
SSR would often extend into fifth period since many students would try to recharter during each meeting, Student Board Representative Vicky Tu said. Limiting chartering to specific meetings minimizes this problem, according to Tu.
“The points system rewards clubs in a positive light.” ���� �� “This new process was emphasized during the beginning of second semester,” Tu said. “A.S.B. is always looking for ways to improve the school, so far the process is very organized and efficient. We will see the effects of the rechartering system next year.” A new point system was also added this year, according to Viet-
namese Student Association (VSA) and Friends for Change (FFC) President Claudia Nguyen. This point system ensures that club officers are efficient. Clubs can earn positive points for attending meetings and recording minutes, Yu said. Clubs can also earn negative points and be put on probation. “The point system rewards clubs in a positive light,” Yu said. “This system also spotlights the clubs with the most points.” Nguyen has not encountered any problems with the modified rechartering process. She continued to say that recharteringis simple and manageable. “I think rechartering a club is very easy to do,” Nguyen said. “Everything is self-explanatory, especially since we are given examples to follow.”
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Senior En-Ling Fu hands a ballot to a voter. Fu was one of 43 MHS students who worked as election of�cers at the polls on June 5.
Speech and Debate competes in Baltimore Students volunteer at polls BY MARISA LOUIE
Four members of the Speech and Debate team traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to compete in the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament from May 26-27, according to Speech and Debate Advisor Charles Schletzbaum. The two teams of two members each participated in the Public Forum debates, Schletzbaum said. Sophomores Jonathan Ngo and Vikram Sastry composed one team, while Sophomores Miranda Le and Valerio Scherini made up the other. MHS was able to send two teams to the tournament because it was the next top school in its diocese – similar to a district – that was available to attend. “Each diocese is allowed so many
spots,” according to Schletzbaum. “There are schools that are higher ranked, but they’re traveling to other tournaments. We were the next highest ranked team in our diocese.” At the tournament, both of the MHS teams went 3-2, Le said. Le and Scherini were satisfied with their performance, while Ngo and Sastry had hoped to win one more round than they actually did. “We expected to go 4-1 and [make it to the next round],” Ngo said. “But then this was our school’s first time competing in this, and some other schools have had their debate programs for 38 years.” Debating in a national tournament was helpful in that it exposed them to different styles of debating from other regions, according to Scherini. Specifically, teams from
the East Coast rely less on solid evidence to win, Scherini said. “On the West Coast, content is much more valued. It’s more about arguing facts and having evidence for your case,” Scherini said. “On the East Coast, content is less valued. It’s less about what you say and more about how you say it.” Now that the two teams know what the strengths of other debaters are, they plan to work to improve their techniques by combining their current methods with those of their competitors, Sastry said. It would be ideal to have the opportunity to return next year with their newfound debating skills, Sastry added. “I want to go back so I can exhibit the qualities I learned in the past tournaments,” Sastry said. “I’ll use them to progress to a state where I’m in first place.”
MEASURE E: District begins design process FROM PAGE 1
and carpet, according to Matsuoka. However, there will be no construction this summer, Matsuoka said. “We’re moving along with the design process so that we can start construction in the summer of
2013,” Matsuoka said. “I’m really excited for the students of the district because their school environment will improve.” The next step required by the measure for MUSD is to set up an oversight committee, according to Mendizabal. Milpitas citizens will
keep track of how MUSD spends the $95 million provided by the general obligation bonds in the committee. “[MUSD] will be ready to set up a community oversight committee,” Mendizabal said. “They’re going to make sure the money allocated goes to what the district promised.”
Orchestra, Jazz Band host musical concert BY CARYN TRAN
The MHS Orchestra and Jazz Band hosted a concert on Thursday, May 31 in the MHS Theater at 7 p.m. The event was free with an optional donation of $3 or $5 to the MHS Music Boosters. The theater was a little over half full with mostly family in the audience . The show featured a special dance performance by the MHS Color Guard in one song and featured Sophomore Andrea Melara with a vocal performance in another number. Some of the songs played in the show included: “Mission Impossible,” “Pick up the Pieces,” and “Take Five.” According to MHS Music Director Chris Kaldy, the students had prepared for this concert since April to showcase all their work this year. The year has been a good year for growth in the music program, Kaldy said. “It’s been mostly a building year, you know?” Kaldy said. “We started kind of just building up this year since we’ve had a lot of new students in jazz band and orchestra. We were all just working hard.” According to Kaldy, 28 seniors are graduating from the entire music program. He said that he was excited
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Junior Michele Grillo (left) and Sophomore Alex Besler play during the concert on May 31. The students had prepared since April for the event.
for next year because a lot students will be returning next year. “I’m pretty proud of the orchestra as well [as all the other band groups],” Kaldy said. “It’s been the first year all the groups have earned superior ratings [at competitions].” Senior Karen Lin has been in band for four years with three years of experience in orchestra and
three years in marching band, Lin said. As a percussionist and french horn player, she said that this year has been a great closure to her four years of high school. “Mr. Kaldy is definitely one of the great things about band here. He’s a really awesome teacher,” Lin said. “We really are our own community here in band.”
BY PRISCILLA PARK
Forty-three MHS students signed up to work as election officers on June 5 for the presidential primary elections, according to Social Sciences Teacher Carol Weiss. Each student was assigned to a polling station and had the option to work either full or half day. Each student working at the elections was required to fill out an application form and attend a training session held on May 23. Requirements were to be 16 years or older, have U.S. citizenship, reside within the Santa Clara County, and have at least a 2.5 Grade Point Average (GPA), according to Weiss. Students were also required to fill out a field trip waiver form to excuse them from school, according to Senior En-Ling Fu. As a senior finished with Advanced Placement (AP) testing, Fu said she did not have much work to make up. “There wasn’t much to do at the polls since there weren’t many people that showed up to vote,” Fu said. “Most of the work I did was just setting up the polls and cleaning everything up at the end of the day.” Fu said she enjoyed helping at the election polls and thought it was an
easy way to earn money. She added that she would not mind working at the polls in the following years after this year’s experience. “I was stationed at the same election poll as my friend, which made time pass quickly,” Fu said. “My precinct inspector was also really nice.” Senior Tejas Suthar also worked at the polls for his first time, and he worked for a full day, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Suthar was stationed at the district office, allowing for convenient transportation, but was unable to work alongside his friends. “The environment was positive even though it was kind of boring,” Suthar said. “I’m getting paid because I don’t really need community service anymore and I could use the few extra dollars this summer.” Senior Nancy Nguyen signed up and was stationed at Weller Elementary as a half day paid worker. Nguyen signed up mainly because her friends were planning to work at the polls, she said. “I wasn’t stationed at the same place as my friends, but it was cool,” Nguyen said. “The job was super easy, you get paid, and you get to miss school.”
Project-based learning planned BY LAURA COSGROVE
An educational program optional for sophomores called projectbased learning may be introduced during the 2013-2014 school year, according to Principal Kenneth Schlaff. Chemistry Teacher Letta Meyer and History Teacher Toby Anderson are pioneering this program and will plan the curriculum during the 2012-2013 school year. Project-based learning would consist of a single, three-hour block of time, which an English II, Chemistry, and World History teacher use to teach 90 sophomore students a curriculum centered on projects that would involve topics from each of the classes. The project ideas may be proposed by the students, and in that way the curriculum will be driven by the students’ interest – ideally, this would increase engagement, Schlaff said. “Basically [the program] would deal with higher-order thinking skills: synthesis, application, what’s required to function in a complex work environment,” Schlaff said. “The teacher, in this respect, would be more of a facilitator.” With this program, teachers would aim to get students more interested in school by applying classroom learning to issues that are current and relevant, according to Meyer. It’s an ambitious endeavor, and one that requires a
certain amount of ingenuity by the teachers, Meyer acknowledged. “There’s going to be some interesting things going on. It may not even work sometimes,” Meyer said. “But the idea is great and it is something that should be pursued.” Though Schlaff designed the program without any schools that serve as clear models, a public charter school in San Diego called High Tech High School implements a similar program. Project-based learning has a positive prognosis based on the success of similar programs at High Tech High School, Schlaff said. “In junior year, kids don’t go to school for a month – they do an internship,” Schlaff said. “It ties in all the elements of what it’s like in a real-world setting.” Meyer pointed out the main contrast between MHS and schools like High Tech High: MHS is a traditional public school while High Tech High is a charter school, a distinction that may involve different student-teacher dynamics. “There’s going to be some unique things we come up against,” Meyer said. “We’re going to do a whole year of planning for it.” No English teacher is yet involved with the program though a request has not been made, according to Schlaff. The school has not queried yet, but it might soon, he continued.