THE UNION NEWS JUNE 2012
24
SAT requirements change after widespread cheating BY YING LUO
College Board and Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced in late March that students will be required to upload or mail recent, recognizable photos of themselves during SAT registration starting in the 2012-2013 school year. The organizations will enforce new regulations in order to discourage students from cheating. High schools will automatically receive the scores of the test takers, College Board stated. Schools will be able to either confirm that students’ test scores amount to their academic capabilities or report suspicions if their test scores and academic aptitude do not match. Such measures were taken after the arrests of 20 students from Long Island last year, according to Wall Street Journal Staff Member Will James. Prosecutors alleged that these high school students paid college undergraduates between $500 and $3600 per test to take the SAT or American College Testing (ACT) in their place between 2008 and 2011, James continued. College Board also stated that students must now register before the testing day. Students will also not be allowed to switch tests or locations on testing day anymore, College Board continued.
“We believe these new enhancements will effectively eliminate the issue of test-taker impersonation,” College Board Spokeswoman Kathleen Steinberg said. Students must sign an updated certification statement acknowledging that impersonation could result in criminal charges as well, Steinberg added. Sophomore Brenda Su raised concern as to whether colleges and their admission officers will have access to identification photos as they do SAT scores. She stressed that they could potentially use these photos to judge applicants during the undergraduate admission process. “Admission officers are humans, and humans tend to form opinions based on first impressions and appearances,” Su affirmed. “This could damage their integrity if they were biased.” Su pointed out other flaws in the new registration system. She added that although College Board has good intentions, its new measures may not be completely effective in weeding out cheaters. “I think overall it would help catch cheaters, but there are a few exceptions. For example, people who do badly in school might score really well on the SAT,” Su commented. “It would be unfair if they were invalidated.”
C�������� F���//THE UNION
(Left to right) Junior Maggie Santellano, Senior Pooja Pal, Freshman Louisa Garcia, Seniors Rafael Venegas and Katalena Chavira, and Junior Kenia Perez dance during the recital. The event was held on June 5 and 6.
Dance class students perform in recital BY LILLIAN KAO
The ninth annual MHS dance recital took place on June 5 and 6 in the MHS Theater. The dance recital, which had performances by the dance class students, exhibited many different types of dances learned over the past year, according to Dance Teacher Mandy Cottengim. Practice for the recital, which had pieces choreographed by students as well as pieces choreographed by Cottengim, began approximately three months before the recital, Cottengim said. The theme of the dance recital was “Do Your Thing,” according to Cottengim. “The best thing about the dance recital is seeing the kids enjoy
themselves and perform,” Cottengim said. “A lot of the time, it’s their first major chance to perform on the stage. It’s also just seeing how hard they’ve been working all year to have it finally pay off.” When she first performed, she was nervous, Senior Abigayle Rosario said. However, after hearing the screaming, the nerves go away, according to Rosario. “I liked the entire dance recital,” Rosario said. “It was fun meeting the other dancers and hanging out with them.” Junior Thavisack Dorlybounxou said he took approximately 4.5 days to choreograph his student piece. He showed his routine to the class, and those that were interested in dancing the routine were included
in the routine, according to Dorlybounxou. “The best thing about the dance recital was hearing everybody cheer,” Dorlybounxou recalled. “The audience was very awake and upbeat. I hope that they had a good time seeing all the different styles of dance in the performances.” Senior Helen Dang attended the dance recital to support her friend, Senior Steffany Lingad, according to Dang. Though there were numerous hip-hop pieces, they were all executed extremely well so the show was interesting to watch, Dang added. “It was really good,” Dang said. “The second to last group of dancers that performed were really into it, which made the crowd go wild.”
SECURITY: Schlaff requests supervisor role FROM PAGE ONE
T������� P��� //THE UNION
Teachers Jesus Zamudio (left) and Danilo Escobar (right) receive food from a parent at the Staff Appreciation Lunch that was held on June 5.
Staff Appreciation Lunch held; community, parents help out BY THAOCHAU PHAN
Milpitas High School teachers and staff members gathered for the annual Staff Appreciation Lunch on June 5 in the MHS Career Center. Hosted by the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), the lunch honored approximately 150 to 200 staff members and teachers, according to PTSA Secretary Suzanne Williams. The lunch included a variety of dishes for teachers and staff members to choose from such as beef and vegetable rice, Kahlua pork, fried rice, shrimp salad, green beans, and much more, according to Williams. However, with an available budget of only $550, the PTSA relied heavily on the donations and cooperation of the parents and community in order to hold the event, Williams said. The purpose of the event is “to make staff feel loved and appreciated for all they do,” Williams said. For this year’s lunch, the PTSA received $520 in parent donations as well as various food, supplies, and support from organizations such as Peet’s Coffee, Nob Hill, and
Twin Royal Restaurant, according to Williams. Special Education Teacher Suzanne Moffett stated that she was especially grateful for the amount of work and trouble that the parents underwent to prepare the entire lunch. There was an abundance of food and dishes this year, Moffett noted.
the students, according to Woods. “They’re nice,” Woods said. “None of them are weird and the kids get along with them. It’s good that the kids can have a common ground with them.” The administration has held numerous meetings with Universal Protection Services to discuss the behavior of its security guards, according to Schlaff. Despite requests for a supervisor from the company to be on campus to oversee the necessary changes, no such supervisor has been provided, Schlaff said. “I am not their supervisor and
neither are the administrators,” Schlaff said. “Their supervisor is part of the company and they were not monitoring the particular behaviors that were to change.” In order to improve the performance of the security guards, it will be mandated that the supervisor of the company’s security guards be at MHS on a regular basis, Schlaff said. The supervisor would allow the administration and the company to collaborate in creating trainings specific to MHS, Schlaff explained. “That will be built into the contract, that a supervisor will be here on a regular basis to observe what they’re doing, and for the first three
weeks, they’d be here everyday,” Schlaff stated. “That supervisor is here to help get them off the ground.” Currently, the number of security guards on campus is not adequate, Schlaff said. “Three is a small number that makes it difficult to handle the myriad of things that are happening on campus,” Schlaff said. “There are just too many operational things and too many nooks and crannies on campus.” The current MHS security guards declined to comment for the article.
EYE ON CAMPUS
“It was nice to feel that we are appreciated.” ���� �������� “The whole thing looks real good,” Moffett said. “The fact that parents take time to appreciate us and make us meals is really great.” Out of the entire lunch, however, Science Teacher Lisa Brizuela stated that her favorite meal was the salad. According to Brizuela, she enjoyed being able to sit together with other teachers and eat lunch since teachers often lack the time to do so. “A lot of the time we feel that our profession is underappreciated,” Brizuela said. “However, it was nice to feel that we are appreciated.”
L��� D�������//THE UNION
Sophomores Casey Kitazumi (left) and Jennifer Jacobs leap skillfully as part of the senior dance during the Senior Rally. All classes had individual dances and incorporated themes from previous rallies.