Issue 1

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Fall Coaches devise workouts from Hell

Students Students weigh weigh in in on Gaga craze on the Gaga craze

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Student photographers captivate Facebook users pg. 10

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FOCUS:

The Mountain View High School

volume 29, issue 1

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Adjusting to $3,000,000 district deficit:

Outreach programs, SERVICES AMONG first to go

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Friday, October 8, 2010

MVHS PE Dept...almost gets the gold

BY BRENT WEYERS The Mountain View Los Altos School High School District was recently awarded the “Bay Area District of the Year Award” by the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

The finalists were announced in Sacramento on September 17th, our school district among them.

Of all the districts in California, 11 were chosen as “districts of the year” based on state physical

fitness requirements. In our district, 1,258 of the 1,381 students who participated last year successfully completed the governor’s challenge, which was to be active at least 30 to 60 minutes a day, three days a week for a month. Its purpose was to promote student physical activity and to improve students’ health in California. Students from the MVLA District recorded a total of 26,101 workout days from last year’s challenge. These awards were based on physical fitness testing done last school year, in addition to schools’ adherence to the new nutrition guidelines continued on back

Foothill PE closed to MVHS students

BY KELSEY CARLSON Starting with the 2010-2011 school year, high school students will not be allowed to enroll in classes at Foothill junior college offered at Mountain View High School, including PE and college prep classes. Also, Foothill now charges students the same tuition as out of state students, which means classes are now $119 instead of $17. These changes were enacted at the beginning of the fall quarter.

Due to state budget cuts, $10.6 million have been cut from the Foothill budget for the 20102011 school year. “We will be able to serve an expected 36,168 students by focusing on our core mission,” says the Foothill Board of Trustees. The mission being: “Foothill College commits itself to providing access to outstanding educational opportunities for all of our

photo by Kelly Magruder

The Student Improvement Program, which was cut significantly, funded such programs as ELD and the MVHS library.

BY ALEX FARRALES As of the 2010 – 2011 school year, the Mountain View Los Altos Board of Education reduced the district budget by a total of $3,275,141, including a reduction of $54,000 from the School Improvement Program (SIP), “designed to improve school services, organization, instruction and environment.

The funds support staff development, academic improvement, multicultural relations and awareness, student recognition, and provide students with supplementary materials,” according to the MVLA website. Efforts to adjust to the new budget also included around five part-time staff eliminations and cuts in music and art departments by $61,000.

The 2010-2011 budget continues $1.2 million in reductions that were made the previous year.

The cuts were decided upon by the

five-member Board of Education, elected by the Mountain View and Los Altos communities. The school principals decide on how the money is dispersed.

“We knew the state was in a bad position financially and that even our local tax revenues had dipped a bit,” said Joe Mitchner, President of the Board of Trustees. “Due to less revenue, the district would be forced to reduce its expense budget.” “[The money is] used at best while keeping student achievement in mind,” Assistant Principal Donna Peltz said.

“The guiding principal was to keep the reductions from affecting students and student programs,” said Mitchner.

One of the largest cuts was to SIP, an organization that allows parents to decide how the money given from the state is going to be distributed. SIP decides on ways to improve school environment, instruction and other programs of the MVLA district. The

English Language Development program was not affected because even though SIP’s grants to ELD had been reduced, the district continued to fund them. “We were one of the fortunate programs that were not affected by the reductions,” ELD Coordinator Patrick Hurley said.

However, some lack of funding from SIP affected other projects such as providing classroom aides to a few teachers that required bilingual help.

“ELD students should have aides in some of their classes, and many groups do not have an aide,” said math teach Sarah Good, who still has an aid. SIP funding for professional development was also cut.

SIP funding for the school library to buy audiobooks, computers, books and other services will be reduced.

“My fear is that it will really diminish the sercontinued on back vices provided,

students.”

Students will still be allowed to take summer “intensive” courses, which cover year-long classes in two weeks. Senior Miller Wrenn had planned on taking PE at Foothill to fulfill missing credit. “I was interested in taking classes at Foothill because my overloaded schedule would not allow me to take PE at Mountain View,” Wrenn said. “I opted to take it at Foothill because the time commitment is substantially smaller.”

“The decision to restrict physical education classes was made due to budget and college priorities,” Kurt Hueg, the Associate Vice President in charge of External Relations at Foothill, said. These changes will affect a small portion of MVHS students. “Probably no more than 10% of juniors and seniors take electives at Foothill or DeAnza,” Counselor Dave Marroquin said.

sunshine to power local education photo courtesy of lahstalon.org

Mountain View and Los Altos High Schools were recently approved for a $7.1-million-dollar solar canopy project to be built for both high schools. LAHS has already begun solar panel construction, and MVHS plans to begin by November.

The project is a part of the Measure A bond, voted and passed in June, which will cut the district’s power costs by $11.1 million dollars over 25

years. The solar canopies will total 95,000 square feet in the MVHS and LAHS parking lots.

The Measure A bond was created in order to accommodate the expected 25% increase in student enrollment in the next 10 years. The $41.3 million bond includes installing solar panels, adding new classrooms, fixing the MVHS pool, upgrading fire equipment, continued on back and enhancing student

Moffett Field draws Cell phone use while driving: Staff trains to address international headlines #1 cause of motor fatalities doubles in rate teen depression

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger picked Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA to be the host of the 2020 World Exposition in the Bureau of International Expositions on September 10, during the Shanghai World Expo. The Bay Area Council decided specifically to choose Moffett Field, a 77acre field that used to be a naval air station, to be the location of the prospective event. Most of the Moffett Field property belongs to the NASA Ames Research Center and the military.

“Having the World Expo here would really showcase one of the best things we have to offer in this whole state like our technology and our innovation, which comes from our people,” Mountain View High School librarian Benjamin Lundholm said.

The host is approved by continued on back the Bureau of International

According to a September 2010 study, cell phone use while driving is now the leading cause of motor vehicle accidents, in spite of the January 2009 texting ban. Researchers from the Auto Club of Southern California found that calling while driving led to 16,000 traffic fatalities from 2001 to 2007. The study further estimated that the number of drivers who use their phone while driving has nearly doubled over the same period.

“Last month California Highway patrol held a national campaign that targeted drivers that use cell phones. The continued on back crackdown

>26% of freshmen and 30% of juniors last year felt sad and hopeless within the past 12 months >18% of freshmen and 17% of juniors last year seriously considered attempting suicide within the past 12 months

photo by Casey Fabre

MV Police Department notices an increase in cell phone use while driving.

On August 13, 35 Mountain View-Los Altos staff members participated in a training session on adolescent suicide prevention, focusing on a suicide prevention protocol known as “Question, Persuade, Refer” at Foothill College. The training session coached MVLA authority figures in managing teenage depression and similar crises. continued on back The protocol entails asking

Table of

Contents News

1

Opinions

2-3

Features

4-5

People

6-7

Focus

8-9

Arts

10

Entertainment

11

Humor & Games

12-13

Sports

14-15

Opinions

Life after high school: benefits of a gap year

The first quarter at Mountain View High School is teeming with excitement, but with that comes stress stress. When students sign up for a lot of AP classes and realize they have taken on too many, it becomes difficult to work with the administration to drop them. The waiting period creates a stretch of time in which the student attempts to complete the AP work, and once they manage to drop, the stress builds up from having to catch up on more material. Inconsistencies have been noted where some students were able to drop early while others were made to wait.

Often students load up on AP classes after having no experience with them the previous year. They realize it is too much of a commitment, and instead of being able to leave, they are told by the administration to wait it out.

This creates a two fold stress increase in the student. Not only must they continue working to complete the assignments of the AP class, but if they drop, they face having to catch up on a large amount of material. “The class is very difficult and I’m super stressed about the test.

You should be able to drop right away instead of having to wait. In the end, I ended up keeping the class unfortunately. I’m trying to get good grades, but I currently have a D.” said an anonymous Sophomore MEHAP student.

Computers in the MVHS library: who will monitor the monitors?

Ida Milani, a junior at MVHS, agreed with Mr. Lundolm by saying, “Computers at our library Our library at Mountain View High School shouldn’t have filters because the administrators demonstrates great focus and cooperation. With should be able to trust students who use their students studying, librarians monitoring, and a computers.” However, Kamron Sarhadi, a jucomplete set of organized books, the library at nior at Mountain View High School disagrees: MVHS is near perfection. Although the “It’s frustrating sometimes when you library may appear to be a silent sancneed to use a library computer for tuary for those hard-core academic stuhomework and someone else is usdents, mischievous snickers can be heard ing it for something like facebook.” at the far end at the computers proving Although Milani makes a good point, our library has its faults. Computers in library computers are not meant for the library at MVHS do not have safety Facebook but for research and homefeatures, which means students can freework. It is unfair for a student who ly access any information on the internet needs to work to wait for a computer, in which they desire. So while libraries while another student is using it for are supposed to be a place for studying, non-educational purposes. So yes, many students abuse the privilege of while it is important that our adminfree access to the internet by looking at istrators trust our students, it is more inappropriate and irrelevant websites. important that students are able to acUpon asking the MVHS librarian, cess computers when they need them Mr. Lundholm, why the computers do for educational reasons. not have safety features, he explained, To better our library, and the study photo by Kelly Magruder “Filters actually block many things that Students vie for computers during busy times at the tutorial habits of our school’s students, the are useful and block a lot of useful in- center staff should put restrictions on their formation that you might need that you computers, disabling students from can’t get.” For example, if a student wanted to and cannot always be at the computer checking reaching inappropriate and irrelevant sites. It find a recipe for chicken breast, the filters would to see if students are misusing their computer is important that we research installing filters not allow that because it contains the word privileges. Mr. Lundholm further explains that that not only block students from certain sites ‘breast.’ Mr. Lundholm is correct in saying that if a student is caught looking at inappropriate but also recognize the difference between an infilters often block important material, so the material, it can be taken as a learning experience appropriate site and a normal site. Our library problem lies with the filters. If MVHS is able to and something that needs to be discussed with should be a place to study in silence, not a place get filters that will recognize an irrelevant site the student. to go on non-educational websites. If we can from a relevant site, then the computer dilemma Students at MVHS seem to be quite satis- manage to have safety features, we can achieve may be solved. Mr. Lundholm also stated that fied with the library’s free access to the internet. the best library experience possible.

BY KEVIN TROXELL

in his seven years as the librarian at MVHS, he can only count two instances where students have looked at inappropriate material on the internet. Although our librarian has a computer that can monitor what every student is seeing on their computer, Mr. Lundholm is very busy

Naomi Cohen, news editor William Beare opinions editor Elize Manoukian, features editor Brianne de la Ossa, people editor Nicky Lindley, focus editor Katherine Pantangco, arts editor Camille de la Vega, entertainment editor Ben Garber, humor & games editor Sophie Hanh Ho, sports editor

Kelly Magruder, graphics editor Nick Forell, web editor Nicholas Luther, web editor

Sheila Ahi Tara Ahi Ryan Baer Sam Caber Kelsey Carlson Nabilah Deen Casey Fabre Alexandra Farrales Noah Hoffman Bernadette Hsu Katie Inamori Claire Johnson Rachel Jue Daniel Kline Elan Merry

Naib Mian Kelly Nee Tyler Officer Gabriel Quintela Micke Ramirez Michelle Rubinstein Francis Sullivan Sonia Tagare Cloe Tarasch Jasmine Tekiyeh Kevin Troxell Brent Weyers Devon Zuegel Kate Uyeda

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Jenny Payne, editor-in-chief Maggie Gauthier, editor-in-chief Keerthi Venkat, business manager Einny Yu, business manager Viet Nguyen, business manager

O R A C L E

BY NAIB MIAN

drop. Unfortunately, students are often not encouraged, but forced to wait. Some counselors and administrators said there is no policy on delaying AP drops while other counselors told students they had to wait two weeks. According to Dave Marroquin, an MVHS counselor, the administration always leaves room in regular classes to allow for the students who wish to drop. Unfortunately for sophomores this year, CWI was not left enough room. “I understand that different counselors tell students different things about dropping classes, but when a student has shown that they feel utterly out of place in an AP class, we will aggressively remove them from that class. At the same time though, kids need to do a more realistic assessment of where they want to spend the majority of their time.” said Marroquin. Marroquin insisted, though, that open enrollment is a great policy. “Although problems with dropping will be a side effect of open enrollment, it is better than not allowing students to sign up for AP classes freely.” said Marroquin.

Although administration has the education of students in mind, they must grasp the fact that students often have their education and health in mind as well. When students take more AP classes than they can handle, the administration must provide a consistent and fair way for those to be dropped. This is our right under MVHS’ open enrollment policy.

idea of sustaining yourself in a foreign country is exhilarating,” Conville said.

A year or two off from the demands of school, allows an individual to apply for scholarships while making a reasonable salary. Often times a student is rushed into attending a college because they are following their peers blindly.

“I think it’s foolhardy to chase the goal of higher education simply because everyone else you know is doing it,” said Senior Andrew James. “At the tender age of 18, most students aren’t anywhere near ready for the responsibilities that come with college. Most students could benefit from a year or two of work, but the system is screwed up,” James said. Immature students can end up wasting their time and money at a university, binge drinking and partying through the first two years of college.

Life is full options, so it seems odd that a viable option like a gap year is shunned in the U.S.

graphic courtesy of Flickr

AP class drop policy unfair: inconsistent enforcement increase student stress Senior Bill Greenwald wanted to drop AP Composition and Literature and was told by his counselor that he had to wait at least two weeks before he could drop, meanwhile, another student took the last open spot in the Philosophy and Literature class that same period. “I was on overload from various other classes and college apps, plus I was more interested in the Philosophy and Literature curriculum. My counselor told me I wasn’t able to drop it because the school’s rule was that you cannot drop an AP in the first two weeks of school. I ended up doing homework for both AP [Composition and Literature] and the [Philosophy and Literature] class, but then my spot was filled so I switched into a different teacher’s Philosophy class so my work in both was wasted.” said Greenwald.

Sophomores Megan Joseph and Emily Keats tried to drop their history AP classes and were told there was no more space in CWI or Health, but in the past two weeks other sophomores were allowed to drop.

“The first few days of an AP class can be overwhelming; by giving it a go students might find that it is in fact something they can handle and be successful in.” said Jo-Anne Hogan, a World History AP teacher. The administration says they encourage students to wait to drop AP classes to give them some experience, but nonetheless, students know best whether they have taken on too much of a load and need to

oneself into different cultures becomes harder to do as one becomes tied down to college and later a job or family.

Many individuals aren’t ready for the commitment of college, and some just aren’t mature enough.

Either way, a gap year can be an enlightening experience for those who choose to defer from the path of academia immediately after high school.

“I think gap years before college are a wonderful opportunity for students who need a break from school, and want to experience something different. College isn’t going anywhere,” Senior Megan Conville said. Life long friends and connections aren’t just made in college, but around the world. EuroPasses are relatively cheap ( a one time fee of 300 euros) and allow the user to travel across on the Euro Rail system free of charge after the one time fee for a whole year. Youth hostels make travel relatively cheap for those who are low on cash. “The

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not there yet,” MVLA Personnel Director Steve Hope said. Even with our district’s conservative policy toward keeping new teachers, we can still end up with teachers who demonstrate less enthusiasm for their jobs. By this time, it’s too late – “releasing a tenured teacher is very time consuming and costly,” Hope added.

Ultimately, the goal of the administration should be to put students in an environment where learning can happen safely and effectively, and in some cases, giving teachers tenure might not accomplish these objectives. Upon receiving tenure, some teachers realize they might not have to work quite as hard as they initially did, just as some students stop working as much as they did in the first few weeks of school once they fall into the teacher’s good graces. “There are some teachers who use tenure as an excuse to not do their best,” U.S. History and MEHAP teacher Elizabeth Gabriel said.

There have been reports throughout the U.S. of tenured teachers who miss class on a regular basis, who refuse to administer tests or stay after school to help their students, even some cases of abuse of students, thus creating an intimidating learning environment.

Many alternatives to tenure do exist and are being practiced throughout the U.S. For example, some districts use a merit-based system, which determines teachers’ pay based on the quality of their work. The administration might also choose to utilize some a periodical tenure system, where teachers receive tenure for five to ten years and are then evaluated and reassessed to make sure they still comply with the school’s educational goals. Some alternatives are even simpler: “A potential improvement [for our district] would be to extend the probationary period,” Hope said when asked what improvements he would make to the system. Any of these options would help provide a healthy balance between effective teaching and job security.

Teaching is arguably one of the most difficult professions one can pursue. After all, who else can continue to build intelligent future generations? Teachers do deserve to be rewarded for their hard work, but a tenure-based system as is may not be the best way to accomplish this and guarantee that students will receive a quality education. “We need to care about our craft until the last year we teach,” Gabriel said. “When you’re affecting 150 kids a year, it’s a problem if you don’t like teaching.”

We spend a large portion of our lives in school, and still, after four years in high school, we are expected to rush into college. For many, the option of going off to college and becoming independent is appealing, but some individuals may not be ready to face college life. In Europe, it’s a common practice to take a gap year before heading off to a university. Yet, in the U.S. today, the idea of taking a breather from school or getting a job to help pay for college later on is looked down upon. Society’s fear is that individuals who take gap years will become enthralled with the newfound freedom from the bonds of school work and professors, and that they will eventually fall off the grid and into oblivion.

I believe that for some students, a gap year can be an extremely beneficial experience. Many students need a break to digest high school and to see the world. The world outside of California is massive and the opportunity to see it and immerse

tech

with Jenny Payne

staff writers

The Editorial When I think about teachers going through their first year of teaching, I remember my fourth-grade teacher.

She was, in short, the epitome of a new teacher: young, a little nervous and awkward, but hopeful about her future in her career and willing to do anything to accomplish her goals. She reached out to students, trying to accomplish the difficult task trying to engage ten-year-olds in the learning process. Many teachers start out with this “new teacher enthusiasm,” but not all of them carry it through their years as teachers, as they become more and more accustomed to the way the school works and the things they must do to still be considered “good teachers.”

As employees of one of the highest-ranked and highest-paying schools in the country, Mountain View High School teachers work with plenty of expectations. They can expect to encounter a wide variety of students, from perhaps overly overachieving students who don’t sleep a healthy amount to students who get plenty of sleep – in class and at home – but can’t seem to put pen to paper and finish their work. They can expect, for the most part, a healthy salary; some teachers at MVHS receive over $100,000 yearly. In exchange, they can expect to have to work hard to maintain an impressive reputation and an effective learning environment. But should they expect to be guaranteed job security? At MVHS we are fortunate to have an excellent and dedicated faculty who help us to achieve our standing as one of the nation’s best schools, but even here we can’t quite escape the fade of “new teacher enthusiasm.” Switching from a tenure system, in which teachers are virtually guaranteed job security, to a merit-based or periodical tenure system may help teachers to continue being the best they can be, benefitting teachers and students alike.

About 90% of teachers in the MVLA district currently have tenure. Teachers receive this through a thorough evaluation during the teacher’s first two years. Many administrators agree that this time period is too short to get a completely certain judgment of a teacher’s abilities. “In two years, it is not always possible to determine who will be a great teacher. This is particularly true of someone just starting out in the profession. In our district since granting tenure is a major decision, we err on the side of releasing folks at the end of the probationary period who might be great but are still learning and are

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William Blair & Amy Beare, advisers Send letters to the editor, story ideas, subscription requests, comments, concerns or compliments to: The Oracle Mountain View High School 3535 Truman Avenue Mountain View, CA 94040 or Visit us at: www.mvhsoracle.com The Oracle in no way represents the views of the MVLA Unified High School District.

The Mountain View High School Oracle is an independent, nonpartisan student newspaper that strives to serve the MVHS community with professional, well-rounded coverage, while adhering to the highest journalistic and ethical standards.

Our purpose is to critique, to entertain, and to provide a forum for discussion by giving students a clear and honest voice. Furthermore, we strive to represent MVHS diversity in our content and staff.

The Oracle believes in voicing opinions, raising questions, and provoking thought as we inquire on behalf of the student body. Lastly, we aspire to create unity in both the school and the surrounding community by recognizing achievements and raising awareness.

Oracle

Friday, October 8, 2010

We hear the whistle, not the cry

MVHS faces worrysome “healthy kids survey” results showing school-wide depression

BY MICHELLE RUBENSTEIN The brisk wind picks up momentum, slapping the rattling suicide hotline sign, appearing relatively new in comparison to the adjacent ads covered in illegible chicken scratch and smeared with sparse, dead bugs. A tattered Diet Coke can ricochets off the steel rail, barely escaping the wrath of the CalTrain, lingering in a fog of gaseous odor and the echo of a once trifling whistle.

Now it resonates deeply through the ears of the 24-hour watchman in the nearby plastic chair, the high school students of Palo Alto, and the rest of the idle, waiting community.

Waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for yet another student to bomb a Chemistry test, to get aggravated by her parents, to feel like the only human to be experiencing such anguish, to wonder why she even has friends and if they even like her, and to end up beside the Diet Coke can--wondering where she will tumble next?? We need to stop waiting.

According to John Pennick, Mountain View High School’s Educational Psychologist, stress is natural, but “how we deal with it is really the question.” Apparent since the beginning of time, the basic fight or flight response characterized by an escalated heart rate, an increased blood flow, and tightened muscles was standard among even cavemen.

After all, how would they have escaped vicious cave solicitors and erupting volcanoes next-door? However, stress in Mountain View has reached an entirely different, not as beneficial status with countless more triggers. The increased levels of cortisol, “a steroid hormone released in response to stress, make us more susceptible to problems in our immune system and contribute to cases of depression,” said psychiatrist Shahna Rogosin, MD. “Depression is caused by chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters becoming unbalanced, possibly including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.” These malfunctions of the neurotransmitters may be due to genetic loading and environmental factors. While the term covers a broad ex-

photo by William Beare

photo by William Beare

panse of disorders, including clinical and bipolar depression, common among teens is situational depression, provoked by environmental stressors and dealt with differently depending on the patient. According to Rogosin, 8.3% of adolescents have reported depressed feelings. Often, it becomes a cycle of procrastination, anger, self-doubt, shame, etc. causing “paralysis of the will and imagination,” as put by Pennick. “You’ve got to move,” he explains, “by physically getting up and allowing the secretion of your endorphins.”

In a survey of virtually 100% of MVHS’s students in May 2010, 57% reported experiencing unhealthy levels of stress due to homework. “It’s important to get an education, but not at the risk of your own health,” said Pennick. This unacceptable amount of stress felt by students should be significantly decreased for the sake of students’ health and for the lowering of the risk of depression.

By the end of the 2007-2008 school year, 91% of Palo Alto Unified students viewed student depression as an issue--soaring far above every other mentioned “problem” on the Healthy Kids Survey. Meanwhile, 93% of MVLA students felt the same way. After witnessing an unfortunately high number of suicides stemming from Gunn HS of PAU within the last year, our school district should be more concerned with the increased consideration of such activity and should work towards improving the stress and depression levels among MVHS students.

Stress and depression currently are provoked by mainly guilt or pressure from community: media, parents, peers, administration, and society as a whole. When discussing pressures from parents, Pennick described a scenario in which a successful student may end up in the college of his parents’ choice studying their preferred topic due to the values they instilled in him at a young age. “On the down side, he may realize he wanted to be a veterinarian and wonder why he listened,” said Pennick. Another common trend among teenagers has become cutting, due

to the increased awareness of such a coping mechanism and to the fact that trends spread like wildfire. The intensifying necessity for a way to deal with emotions has, again, become more prevalent. “Our idea of success as a culture is out of whack,” said Librarian Ben Lundholm. While statistics show the overall number of teen suicides has decreased in the United States since the introduction of antidepressants, reported cases of depression have climbed rapidly, and in the Bay Area, that depression has inflicted a gaping hole in those statistics. In response to the noticeable increase in stress and depression among teens, some members of the community have been aiming to improve the situation as it stands. The Challenge Success Team, consisting of parents and teachers, have met over the past couple of years to alleviate stress at MVHS. “I recommitted myself when I heard about the [Gunn] suicides...but I felt like more people should’ve been more shocked,” said Lundholm, a member of the group. This team, also called the Stressed Out Students Team (SOS), has compiled a list of new, relevant books in the school’s library, organized school-wide surveys related to homework and stress, brought in informational speakers, and continues to perform other helpful tasks. Additionally, a Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Program was held to train the MVHS community this summer. However, these programs, as helpful as they may be for some, are not offered to the entirety of the student body. Moreover, how many of these associations have you actually heard of? In order to have a significant, positive effect on these issues, sources must be more publicized and reachable. What’s the point of owning an inhaler if it’s not accessible during an asthma attack? Yes, we have a school psychologist, CHAC, counselors, books, and the SOS Team, but to what end?

Creating a forum for students is noble, but if those same students aren’t sought out and included, then the efforts go to waste. We need to be more proactive. We need to stop waiting.

photo by William Beare

3 C R O S S F I R E

Should we allow Iran to develop a nuclear program?

Hello friends, and welcome to the first 2010-11 monthly Oracle publication. This year, the Opinions section is undertaking a new venture, and the controversial column that has for several years been in this spot will now be home to a new forum of journalistic discussion. Each month we will present to you, our loyal readers, a topic that we find to be relevant, current, and engaging. Each of these topics will be discussed from two entirely different points of view, in order to accurately convey both sides of the issue.

In the following article, we will discuss the issue of whether or not the U.S. should allow the Iranian government to possess nuclear weapons. Nicky Lindley will write in support of disarmament, while William Beare will argue in favor of Iran’s right to a nuclear arms supply.

Nicky: With global terrorism on the rise

and militant groups operating securely under the noses of the American government, it gives me no comfort to know that nuclear weapons capable of destroying entire cities exist and continue to exist freely within the grasp of governments known to harbor hostile intentions toward the western world. It is my firm belief that nuclear weapons have no place in this fragile, unstable world of ours, much less in the hands of governments so clearly influenced by blatant ideological devotion. With its hostility to foreign influence and firm commitment to the institution of sharia law, Iran has displayed a complete lack of willingness to operate as a modern , stable government. Allowing such a society to obtain nuclear weapons would be a dire mistake not only on the part of the US government but the world as a whole.

William: Sure, the concept of countries having a nuclear arms supply can be worrisome, especially when the United States is on shaky terms with said country. However, who is to say that the United States should have the right to decide who gets to arm themselves and who does not? The United States alone has thousands more nuclear weapons than any other country-enough to destroy all life on Earth ten times over, and it is highly unlikely that we would give up that supply willingly.

And yet, we see it as our duty to act as world police, telling other countries what they can and cannot do. If we see it to be a threat, we should turn the debate over to

Religious holidays raise questions at MVHS graphic by Nabilah Deen

BY NABILAH DEEN Merry words and holiday greetings turned into snide comments and unhappy complaints last year during the Winter Break school spirit week that was setup by the ASB, leading into the start of Winter Break.

There was nothing unusual or demeaning about what the students had posted around the school— things like red and green streamers, words of holiday greetings, evergreen wreaths and candy canes—but their well-meant actions upset a number of individuals. In their happy wishes to all those celebrating the holidays, they had forgotten people celebrating other major religious holidays during that time.

The United States has developed from a nation of a small number of religious groups to countless societies of different faiths. Schools especially have tried to accommodate to the needs of students of different faiths, but this is a difficult task. The Supreme Court allowed a lower federal court decision to stand the practice of recognizing holidays as constitutional, proven that the purpose is only for secular instructions about religious traditions rather than promoting the particular religion.

Although this ruling allows for the recognition, there is no clarification whether schools— specifically a public school, such as Mountain View High School—should include the diverse religious holidays of all the student body. We see, however, Christian holidays— Christmas and Easter—practiced and applied throughout public schools and events as “secular” celebrations for

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one.

Jewish senior Josh Cohen stated, “Christmas and Easter are celebrated by way more people. [I wouldn’t want a holiday] because being Jewish is such a minority, especially statewide or nationally, that having holidays for us wouldn’t make sense.” But is it fair for students who are truly practicing their beliefs—their spirituality—compared to students who celebrate holidays due to the commercializing of the holiday? “I believe it’s entirely unfair,” states English teacher Hector Perez who teaches Society and Politics, “just like the other institutionalized practices are entirely unfair; the whole notion that our American culture is Christian is a false identification of the American culture of spirituality. I don’t believe that we’re doing these things because we are spiritual; I think we’re doing these things because it’s customary.”

Students have shared different views on this imbalance. “Personally, I’m not offended,” said Jewish senior Bill Greenwald, “but there have been other people who have been. They argue that if there’s a break for Christian holidays, shouldn’t there be one for us? We aren’t a Christian country, we’re a free country.” Over the past few years more schools across America have been open to including other faiths’ holiday into their academic holidays. But it is implausible for every religion to be taken into consideration— “Not if we want to still learn” states Cohen—for then there would be no days for school.

“The school should [ac- commodate for student religious observations]; they should have a way to make it easier on the students.

It would be nice to have a holiday for those days,” states Greenwald, “but to be honest, I don’t know how realistic that is.” “[Making up work] is just as difficult as missing school for being sick, so yes, it gets very annoying,” Cohen said. “The school does what it can…I think most of [the teachers] are happy to give leeway for us because they understand.”

Students ask not for school administrators to favor them or to promote their religion, but to, in essence, take into consideration the amount of time necessary for students to make up for all the missed class work and academics. “It wouldn’t be equal for everyone, and it’s not realistic, but it would be nice to have the luxury to celebrate a holiday without having to hang up on doing homework as well.” Greenwald states. Many know that if you give days off for one religion, then by default other faiths will make demands for days off, and the likelihood of that is impossible.

Depending on whether the holiday is a grand or ordinary occasion, students and teachers should work together to bring forth the most advantageous outcome for both parties. Better yet, if the school could give a break for the major holidays, it would make things easier.

photo by Miller Wrenn

the United Nations, and actively support the decision that is made there. After all, if we cannot respect the authority of the institution we as a country helped to create in order to preserve our global diplomacy, then we are truly in a dark place.

Nicky: Well, frankly, Mr. Beare, if it were up to me, the United States wouldn’t be allowed to have nuclear weapons either. As it is, we are working to diminish, not augment our supply, a process we and many other western nations have taken up voluntarily. While it may not necessarily be our place to infringe on the sovereignty of independent nations, we have a responsibility, as the most powerful nation in the world, to take a large role in helping maintain world peace.

William: Well that makes sense to me, but with an addition. I absolutely agree that with great power comes great responsibility, but at the same time we can’t assume that our power is indicative of our morality. We should defer to the United Nations to make the decisions, and then enforce those. Fundamentally though, I think that by evening out the playing field, we are actually creating a safer environment. Maybe in an ideal world we would all destroy our arms supplies, but with the state of diplomatic affairs, that isn’t going to happen. We have to be realistic, and realistically if everyone has a nuclear arms supply, we will effectively re-engage the fear of mutually assured destruction that kept the cold war frigid through the late 20th century.

Nicky: I doubt that the new, emerging world conflict will abide by the same rules. The attacks of September 11th showed that the new antagonists of US policy are not state leaders or governments bound by a commitment to their people but ideologically driven militants willing to utilize fear as a means of political negotiation. We cannot expect the fear of global destruction to bear the same weight on terrorists and suicide bombers as it did on politicians and state officials.

While it would be a mistake to equate the Iranian state with terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, it is clear that the democratic aspects of that government have become marginalised within the past year and we cannot assume that it will necessarily remain stable. Were a nuclear weapon to slip from between their fingers somewhere in the process, the world could find itself teetering on nuclear crisis.

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Features The Origins of a Beloved Tradition

BY SAMUEL CABER A cascade of steps pass over the thirty yard line, and then the forty yard line, and then the fifty yard line on the field. A few boys in expensive suits and a few girls in long dresses stop at the fifty yard line, and then face the crowd. They all wear big smiles on their faces as the crowd gives a standing ovation to each of them. The selected individuals stand in front of their school, knowing that they are honored by the community and their peers. These individuals are the members of Homecoming court.

The tradition of Homecoming began in the late 1800s in colleges, not high schools. The first recorded Homecoming was in 1911 at the University of Missouri. The university had an upcoming football game against their rival school, the University of Kansas. A new regulation required the schools to play their games at campus, so Missouri got to play a home game against Kansas. When the game was held at Missouri’s campus, many of the students attended it. There was a parade before the game and a bonfire after the game, to celebrate the football team “coming home.” A few years later, other colleges began having their own Homecoming games and celebrations. The ideas for celebration of the game expanded, and “Homecoming court” was soon founded in the early 1900s. Mountain View High School has followed the Homecoming tradition since the founding of the school.

To form our Homecoming court, Seniors and faculty members, write down on small slips of paper the names of students that can be recognized for their incredible involvement with the school and community. The slips are then acumulated and tallied by the Associated Student Body. The top eight written names for boys and the top eight written names for girls are chosen to be on the Homecoming court. Teacher’s votes count as four votes a piece.

Though our school is heading towards incorporating technology in the process of creating Homecoming court, Junior ASB officer Lila Modarresi,

who is in charge of the Homecoming nominations, would like to see the school continue the traditional way to form the court.

“I would like to see students do nominations at lunch in the future, without working in pairs, because students who work in pairs may not agree with each other on who they want to see on the court but they mostly put down the names that everyone else is putting down,” Modarresi said.

Having students make their votes at lunch will give more of a variety of nominations since people won’t have to agree on a common nomination.

The Homecoming king and queen are elected after the homecoming court is announced. Any student in the high school can vote for the king or queen. At the gym on Thursday, October 7th, all the court members will take a royal walk through the gym so students will know what they look like. The court members created their biographies themselves at a luncheon organized by ASB to honor this year’s court members. Family members were invited to the homecoming court luncheon also to honor their sons or daughters. The boy and girl with the most votes will become the king and queen of Homecoming court.

If you see yourself pacing down the football field on homecoming day in a beautiful dress or a finely tailored suit on the day of homecoming, being a member of homecoming court, with the whole school looking up to you, it is required that you work up to it. Leadership is seen in all Homecoming court member’s, and without it, you have little chance of being on the court. “A lot of people on the court will strive to do a specific thing, and be willing to help out their school. Some people go throughout high school passively, while the people on homecoming court go out of there way to help the school out,” Modarresi said. If you are bold enough to leave your comfort zone, be friendly and helpful to your community, and show leadership and dedication to your school, then you have the potential to be a future member of MVHS’s Homecoming court.

4

The Myths and Realities of College Scholarships COMPILED BY NABILAH DEEN, RACHEL JUE, KATE UYEDA Nowadays, no conversation about college will go without talk about how expensive it is to attend. In recent times, the decision about whether to go to college and where to attend is no longer based on preference, but on ability as well. However, many students are able to offset the high cost of higher education through various scholarships for art, sports, and academics. Although knowledge that these scholarships exist, there are myriads of myths regarding them. Ready for some myth busters?

Thousands of high school athletes across the nation envision playing their sport at the university level hoping to receive a full ride scholarship that will carry them through college. If this describes you, don’t be alarmed; many people are in the same situation.

Myth: If you’re good, college coaches will recruit you. Answer: FALSE. Skill alone will not get you into college. Coaches depend on you to tell them that you’re accomplished in a sport because they usually don’t have the time or luxury to look for every skilled athlete who wants a scholarship. It is the athlete’s responsibility to contact the schools and coaches if they want to participate in a college athletic program. However, the academic aspect of college cannot be completely ignored. “Even if you’re a top athlete, if you’re trying to get into a top school, and you don’t have the grades, there’s only so far coaches can go before the school says ‘No, I’m sorry. We have strict academic standards and even athletes have to meet them,’” said Marti McGuirk, a Mountain View High School counselor.

Are you artsy? Colleges also offer a variety of arts scholarships. However, just like sports scholarships,

many people are confused on how to get them. Here are some truths: Myth: Arts scholarships are just for the fine arts, like painting and drawing. Answer: FALSE.

This is a common misconception about arts scholarships, but the truth is that colleges will offer aid for many different artistic talents. Students excelling in voice, instrumental music, web design, photojournalism, dance, and even cosmetology have earned scholarships that help them to pay for their college education.

Myth: B or C students cannot win scholarships. Answer: FALSE.

Not all academic scholarships are awarded to students with 5.0 GPAs. While there are many scholarships for students at the top of their class, there are also plenty of opportunities for dedicated, well-rounded students with B or C averages. Highlighting extracurricular activities, including volunteer work and community service can give student’s résumés an added edge.

Myth: Scholarships pay for your entire education.

Answer: FALSE.

The majority of scholarships are in the hundreds—not the thousands college tuitions cost. With the average cost of one year’s tuition being $7,020 to $35,000 for four-year colleges, scholarships help to lower the cost of tuition, but aren’t likely to pay for one’s entire college education.

Myth: You can’t win a scholarship if you do not have financial aid. Answer: FALSE.

There are numerous scholarships based on merit, which are scholarships based on academic achievement. Students are not required to have financial aid to compete for merit scholarships, such as the National Merit Scholarship, based on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Colleges offer a variety of scholarships, for students of all backgrounds, skills, and interests.

Fall Fashion Delivers Classics

BY CHLOE TARRASCH The campus of Mountain View High School changes slightly each fall- the color of the trees, how people have aged, and how everyone is dressing. It’s different, edgier: it’s the fall fashion of 2010. Just a few of these trends on the large fashion spectrum are military-inspired attire, sheer blouses, lace, oxfords, and jeggings. Another largely occurring style is a simplistic and polished look that is easy to adhere to and entirely accessible at local stores.

The newest trends to hit the runway are practical and classic, rather than the more cutting-edge style of previous seasons. “We’re seeing more inspired collections that are much more wearable than years past,” CeCe Telesco, the manager of the boutique Crimson Mim, located in downtown Los Altos, said. This season, the general public has an influence of what appears on the runway. Accomplished designers are toning down their couture shows, which feature one-of-a-kind pieces, in favor of their Ready-to-Wear collections that will actually create revenue for their companies. The RTW collections mainly focus on more functional and reasonable pieces rather than crazy trends that no one

would wear on a day-to-day basis.

Moreover, this year we have a more androgynous take on women’s clothing.

“One particular trend we are loving is meninspired designs, many with a distinctly feminine waist,” Telesco said.

The male oxford shoes and textured fabrics, like tweed, are comfortable and extremely popular at every boutique or department store that shoppers patronize.

The textured fabrics are mainly featured on scarves and fitted blazers with chunky and rigid textures, contrasting with dainty sheer blouses. This asexual trend can be worn by everyone, which makes it more appealing; rather than staring at your closet every morning looking for the perfect combination, all one has to do now is pick up a simple blouse and a fitted tweed jacket to be prepared for the day. The jackets are fitted to show off feminine curves, not a baggy masculine style, and will pair with everything from work trousers to jeans.

Men’s fashion includes a selection of cardigans and the versatile striped t-shirt. For pants, we’re seeing a consistency of twill front fastening pants and the classic jeans photo by Chloe Tarrasch pants.

Models grace the runways at Stanford Shopping Center’s Fall Fashion Show.

At MVHS, however, the style this fall The styles featured embraced minimalistic is varied from ankle boots and floral-patdesigns.

photo by Chloe Tarrasch

Lace has proved to be one of this season’s most popular styles, predominantly in white, black, and pink hues and colors.

terned dresses to leather jackets and TOMS shoes. We’re slightly ahead of the curve when it comes to fashion trends, seeing as how we live so close to one of the main fashion districts in the world: Union Square in San Francisco.

“I’ve actually been seeing a lot of military jackets and boots, and it’s not even fall yet,” Paige Price, an English teacher at MVHS who was voted best dressed in the past, said. However, we are still at school, and we must balance fashion with practicality and appropriateness.

“Every time I buy something, I think of how it will work at school,” Price said.

Furthermore, other than the normal trends, people have taken it upon themselves of being the adventurous type and going out on a limb. Fashion styles like these are risqué and will probably not have the same desired impact as others, but at the same time, we have to applaud those for being so courageous in their fashion choices.

The fall fashion trends are in abundance this year- everything goes, even faux fur and below-the-knee skirts. The modern yet minimal take on fashion expressed this season is a breath of fresh air compared to the style from the previous years; it’s clean-cut and trimmed to perfection.

The Best Places to Get Your Television Fix Online

BY KATIE INAMORI

Oracle

Friday, October 8, 2010

5

[The Beat goes on: the original hipster]

BY DEVON ZUEGEL

“...and everything is going to the beat - It's the beat generation, it be-at, it's the beat to keep, it's the beat of the heart, it's being beat and down in the world and like old-time lowdown...” ~ Jack Kerouac Today when we think of a “hipster,” the first thing that pops into our mind is the image of a twenty-something year old sporting too-tight skinny jeans and a flamboyant v-neck, insecure in his looks, lacking an opinion, and conforming to the nonconformist trend. But the word hipster used to mean something very different.

The Beat Generation of the 1950’s was one of the first American subcultures, a cultural subdivision on social or political grounds rather than on any blatant disparity in ethnic or religious backgrounds. The Beatniks were characterized by young people in their twenties and thirties "far out of the mainstream of society,” as described by Herb Caen of San Francisco Chronicle in April 1958.

“It gave a sense of the possibilities of an alternative culture. And

Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg addressing the crowd at a rally.

it wasn't just poetry that moved people.

It was the sense of a community, of people with a vision,” said Gary Snyder, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. They produced great interest in lifestyle experimentation and in the questioning of authoity; the Beats encouraged rebellion.

The Beats were fearless revolutionaries who paved the way for future generations of young people. The hippie subculture and con

Photo courtesy of Deborah Bell Writer Jack Kerouac, a pioneer of the Beat Movement.

temporary hipsters are the successors of the social revolution led by the Beats, sharing similar values such as nonconformity, a lack of restrictions, freedom of expression, existentialism, and a passion for life and art. “World War II pulled the United States out of the Great Depression and magnified the affluence of America, creating a context for the Beats,” said Tim Farrell, a United States History teacher here at Mountain View High School.

The promise of collectivism and what could be achieved through common effort, particularly against the anti-Semitism of Adolf Hitler, contradicted the culture of the economically and racially divided American society of the 1940’s and 50’s. “The Beats served as the white vanguard of the soul of black society,” said Farrell. “Their skin privilege allowed them to bring this romanticized ‘soul’ of the Afro culture to the wealthy young people.”

According to Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, the “essential effects" of the Beat Generation were: freedom from censorship, spiritual, sexual, and civil liberation, demystification of cannabis and other drugs, the evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll, the spread of ecological consciousness, opposition to the military-industrial machine civilization, and a respect for land and indigenous peoples and creatures.

Allen Ginsberg's poem “Howl” and William Burroughs' Naked Lunch brought both writers to obscenity-trials for their explicit sexual language. These trials helped establish that a written work deemed to have literary value was not considered obscene if its graphicness had a purpose. Exploring and openly discussing sexuality, in particular homosexuality, was a trademark of the Beatniks.

Drug use, too, was a common theme in Beat culture. Alan Ginsberg, a leading figure of the Beat Generation, claimed that drugs and alcohol were a pathway to spiritual enlightenment. “It was part

of their creativity. Many didn’t see a high so much as pleasure in itself but more of a means to an end, as a way to express themselves artistically. And the illegality and negative stigma of drug experimentation in mainstream society only added to its attractiveness,” said Farrell. The wayward defiance that went with drug use helped the Beats identify with that ‘other side’ of dominant culture.

Ginsberg and his contemporary, Gary Snyder, were both very influenced by Zen Buddhism. Disgusted by the commercial, materialistic society of America, they incorporated the much older eastern culture into their lifestyle. Dadaism and surrealism, art movements which were both reactions to the shortcomings and emptiness of western materialism, also highly impacted the thinking of the Beat Generation. “According to its proponents, Dada was not art; it was ‘anti-art,” said David Graver, an art professor at University of Michigan. Dadaism attacked elite culture and celebrated spontaneity while surrealism transformed the Dadaist rebellion into positive social intentions and focused on the subconscious.

The word hip likely came from the Wolof, an African language word hipi, meaning "to open one's eyes,” and the Beatniks were very directly responsible for the opening of the eyes of the future. They carved the way to a more socially and politically conscious adolescent culture that remains to this day.

photo courtesy of Neal Cassady

Neal Cassady, an inspiration to Ginsberg’s Howl and Kerouac’s On the Road

Acupuncture: Oracle Explores

BY KATE UYEDA Imagine you wake up one morning and your lower back is in excruciating pain. You take some Tylenol and continue on with your day. The next day, the same thing occurs. You swallow some more pills. This continues for a week. Most people, when faced with this situation, would probably go see a doctor in a hospital or clinic. But how many would consider acupuncture? Acupuncture is the traditional Chinese practice that involves inserting thin, solid needles into specific points on the body for therapeutic reasons or pain relief. It is now being introduced and celebrated within

the Western world, spurring investigations into its effectiveness and possible role as an “alternative” style of medicine.

Chinese acupuncture was traditionally used to balance the patient’s qi (pronounced chi), the energy of the body. This energy flows through the body freely along pathways called “meridians”, and sometimes these pathways can become blocked or unbalanced.

According to Dr. Michael Wen at Michael Wen Acupuncture on Castro street, the needles are inserted at a meridian and this unblocks the qi.

The pressure from the needle will “direct the qi to a certain area to wake up the immune system,” he said.

According to the National Health Interview Survey, in 2007 there were roughly 3.1 million US adults using acupuncture for treatment of pain and other health conditions. The most common diseases they treat at the Natural Healing Center are “stress, allergy, and chronic body pain,” says Dr. Pan LAc of the Natural Healing Center, also on Castro Street.

There has been extensive research as to the effectiveness of acupuncture; however, the results have

been quite inconclusive. Despite these results, scientists from the US National Institutes of Health have discovered that acupuncture seems to be effective in treating neurological conditions and pain.

In spite of its growing popularity in the United States, many people are still greatly concerned and extremely put off by the idea of someone “jabbing needles randomly into their body”.

However, acupuncture is much more methodical and sanitary than what this common misconception infers.

The needles are solid, unlike the needles used for shots in Western medicine, and this allows them to be incredibly thin, only about the thickness of a single hair.

They are also inserted at very specific points that correspond to different organs (such as the stoma c h meridian, the large intest i n e meridian), so the insertion is Photo Courtesy of Megan Mallen not random at all. As for of sanitation, the law requires that all needles are sterile and that they have to follow very specific waste removal practices which are enforced by the city waste removal program.

“The only danger is the translation of disease...but law requires that we only use each needle once, [we] can’t even use a needle twice on the same person,” says Dr. Pan LAc. Many people are also under the impression that acupuncture is extremely painful. But because the needles are so thin, the pain is very limited, and you never bleed. At certain points, especially the hands and feet, acupuncture will leave some soreness.

However, in most areas, after the initial penetration acupuncture does not hurt at all. Dr. Pan LAc emphasizes the benefits of acupuncture. “It is all natural. [You] don’t rely on drug, rely on yourself,” he says. Rather than using drugs to cure your ailments, he encourages acupuncture because it “Stimulates your own body’s system against disease.” He believes that through acupuncture, “you can help people greatly improve their quality of life.”

graphics by Kelly Magruder

Living in the Silicon Valley during an age of technological advancement has taken a great effect on our teenage generation. One popular example of this is social networking. Technology surrounds everyone and is constantly evolving and reshaping itself to the characters of its users, an age group which is getting younger and younger. People are able to share any aspect of their life on the internet and can in turn see the pages of others. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are claiming fame for their phenomenal success, but one other social networking site is on the rise—Tumblr.

Tumblr is the next generation of social networking. With an easy user interface, users have more freedom to design a profile and uploading whatever their heart desires as opposed to what “traditional” sites typically allow. There are many forms of content that can be added to a user’s own “tumblelog.” The seven general categories for posts include texts, photos, quotes, links, chats, audio, and videos.

“I feel more comfortable posting more personal stuff on Tumblr than Facebook,” Sophomore Kaivon Sherkat said. To incorporate the trend of skimming the posts of others, Tumblr permits users to “follow” others, just like they can on Twitter. The “like” button is also an addition similar to the feature on Facebook, allowing people to share their opinion on a post.

by Tara Ahi

“You can post anything you want without having to worry that people are judging you or that someone you know will read it and get the wrong idea. It’s less about you, and more about the photos or quotes you upload,” Junior Erica Fischer-Colbrie said.

Founded by David Karp in 2007, Tumblr now has more than three million users and is expected to grow. It’s now available from Blackberry smart phones and has its own iPhone application. According to Karp, the site is now averaging 2,000,000 posts and 15,000 new users each day. This new form of blogging is growing and is taking the next step into the future.

What does this mean for the generations to come? There’s been much controversy over the “invasion” of social networking, how it can shorten attention spans and put youth in danger of developing shallower relationships as well as contributing to the death of the written language. However, it’s also seen as a new, modern way to express one’s self.

“It’s a good outlet and a way to express one’s self in so many different ways. You can blog about whatever you want just to get your feelings or interests out there and you’re not trying to impress anyone,” Junior Tenaya Ende said. What will this new innovative locus bring to the psyche of the future to come?

Only time will tell.

People

6

SHELBY FOR KENYA: SHELBY FOR CHANGE

by CAMILLE DE LA VEGA

Lynn poses with local youth in Kenya

photo courtesy of Shelby Lynn

Every day teens seem to accomplish the impossible, sometimes simply by getting through a day of school. Yet that doesn’t stop them from adding more to their plate, be it sports, music, volunteering, etc. Shelby Lynn for example, a senior attending De Anza Middle College, has taken on the impressive task of starting the youth activist movement Shelby For Kenya, aimed to raise money for individuals in Kenya.

Lynn was introduced to activism at a young age, explaining that she grew up in a very philanthropic household. “I have always held this very earnest and genuine desire to save or change the world in someway,” said Lynn. Recently, she teamed up with the Canadian-based Free the Children, a nonprofit organization that encourages youth to take action to improve the lives of fellow children overseas, and traveled to Kenya, Africa. There, Lynn was able to gain a cultural understanding of their unique way of life. She spent a month of her summer, immersed in this

unfamiliar culture and began to compare their way of living with that of the United States. “I came home with a better cultural awareness and a self-empowerment that I couldn’t have obtained in the Silicon Valley,” said Lynn. “When I went to Kenya, I got to experience what it’s like to work as a collective community, and I witnessed an unspoken and powerful bond between human beings where people would lend a hand even if it wasn’t needed.”

Moved by the sense of community present in the village, Shelby became further involved in the program by taking on an Adopt A Village Model, a campaign with the primary purpose to provide a sustainable lifestyle for the people of Kenya. In order to raise the funds for her Adopt A Village, Lynn created Shelby For Kenya, a community-wide distinguished movement set to get the community involved in her efforts. Her goal is to raise $25,000 in order to serve the four pillars of the Kenya community; clean water, education, basic medicine, and alternative income projects.

Organizing the movement has been no easy feat, and as

of right now there are two core groups which oversee three different committees of Shelby for Kenya; the “Socials,” “Reps,” and “Creatives.” The “Socials” are the members who manage the marketing aspect of the campaign, dealing with the media and advertising. The “Reps,” or representatives, work with different individuals to help publicize the movement. Finally, the “Creatives” are the minds behind all the design and visuals of the campaign such as shirts, flyers, and invites. These groups meet once a month with the goal of constructing their monthly fundraisers. As of right now, they are focusing on gathering their troops and bringing Shelby For Kenya to Mountain View High School as a club on campus. Our very own senior Melissa Bajka is helping to organize the club as Shelby For Kenya’s Director of Public Relations. “I always heard Shelby talk about it and I was semi-involved but then I realized I could do this for real. I'm actually helping to change the world now. It's not just a dream for where I want to be in ten years but it's something that I'm doing right now at this

very moment,” said Bajka. Both girls are very passionate about their cause and encourage anyone interested to join the new club at school. “I want people to utilize Shelby for Kenya to get their voice heard and take action.

Never underestimate a group of genuine and generous people who share this desire,” explained Lynn.

As for the future, Lynn hopes to continue her involvement in youth activism, encouraging others to join her. “I’m definitely not going to stop because I’m so driven and passionate and I love helping others. I won’t stop until I know enough youth’s voices, who hold this earnest desire to make this change, are heard,” said Lynn. She also encourages teens to follow the simple equation promoted by Free the Children; Passion + Issue = Change. Find something you’re good at, team it with an issue, and soon enough you will have change. Lynn expresses confidence in our generation, stating, “I do believe our generation is the one for activism and global change. We challenge society and everyone is gaining their own individual voice.”

Who inspires

you at MVHS?

by Sonia Tagare

Lou Rosen Freshman “Michael Jackson inspires me because he’s awesome. He has a lot of great songs, and he gave a lot of money to charity.”

Monica Pelayo Sophomore

“My parents because they work hard and have good morals. They have raised me to accept all people no matter what their race, gender, religion, or sexuality is.”

Jared Molas Junior

“I’m most inspired by people who have broken new ground and overcome barriers like Barack Obama. That inspires me to work hard so that maybe one day I can break new ground too.”

Marisa Hardwicke Senior

“I’m very inspired by my grandmother. She is a Spanish language professor at Stanford and I admire that because she is so good at it. I wish I spoke like her everyday.” photos by Sonia Tagare

Saluti Tutti di Roma

Pico Iyer, an essayist, wrote a piece lived overseas my entire life. I've lived in I moved to Greece just a few weeks later. called "Nowhere Man" where he describes Africa, India, Belgium, and now Rome." Moving every three years has allowed me an "entirely new breed of people" who –Sasha to live in Greece, DC, Mexico, Guatemala, don't live in a single place but instead "I've lived in Georgia my entire life un- Ecuador, Denmark, and now Rome. I love move from country to country. He writes til three months ago when I moved here." the opportunity to meet new people and about my students.

–Carli learn about different cultures." –Melissa I began teaching last week. We started "I am German/Japanese and lived in "I've lived in Rome my entire life. I off the week with a full high school as- Rome for seven years. Before that I trav- absolutely love my hometown because we sembly in our beautiful amphitheater that eled throughout the world, from Vietnam to are completely engulfed and surrounded looks over a lush valley. Our principal Lesotho to Ivory Coast. I therefore speak by ancient monuments." –Ginevra recognized the school's seniors and wel- five languages: English, German, Japanese, "P.S. You have the best haircut among comed the freshmen to high school. No and Italian fluently, and am in my sixth all the teachers I've ever met." –Raffaele one booed. He also introduced all of us year of studying French." –Dominic I teach a group of students that have new teachers. Shortly after, the students "I began speaking English when I was such diverse experiences, from speaking received their class schedules (yes, on the one and a half years old, along with Rus- one to five languages, from loving to hatfirst day of school). From there students sian, French, and Italian. The Russian part ing reading and writing, from living only in filed into the classrooms. Knowing how would probably be explained by my travels Rome to moving around the whole world. nervous many of them might be, eased overseas to places that when I'm back in AOSR unifies these experiences and brings some of my own nervousness. comfort to heterogeneity.

I've only known what teaching at And these students thrive Mountain View High School was like, because of it. Since many ‘‘But when I closed the door so coming into not just a new school of them are used to having but a new one overseas was frighten- and it was just the kids and to meet new friends and ing. After teaching at the same school me, everything fell into place.’’ teachers, they've develfor a few years, the kids begin to know oped great interpersonal you even if they haven't had you beskills. When I was standfore. However, none of the ethos I ing in the lunch line, for had developed at MVHS traveled with me. the States, people in general do not know: example, two young ladies began speaking I couldn't depend on that. I felt that in my Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and last to me asking me if I was the new English first few days, I had to establish an image but not least, Turkmenistan. The French teacher and what I liked about the school of someone whom they could respect and can be explain by my living in Belgium so far. On the tram, another student that trust to teach them. I worried that I would and going to preschool there, and finally, I don't teach recognized my face from the make the wrong impression on the first day, the Italian is due to the fact that my dad is opening assembly and began asking me that I wasn't the kind of teacher they were Italian." –Massimiliano about my perception of the school so far. used to, that I wasn't prepared to teach such "I'm kind of loud, so you might be anAfter the first day of school ended and a unique group of students. noyed by me in the future." –Jun my fears had been assuaged, I decided that But when I closed the door and it was "I was born in Santa Maria, California instead of taking the Metro home, I'd go just the kids and me, everything fell into but I moved to Aviano, Italy (an Air Force into the city for a few hours. I got off at place. I established objectives, discussed base near Venice) when I was two and Barbieri, a stop I hadn't taken before, and routines, set expectations, and throughout lived there for eight years. Then I moved wandered around. After 30 minutes, I it all we bonded. It was a feeling that was to Germany for three years and have been ended up at the Trevi Fountain. I sat on familiar despite the distance I've covered in Rome now for three years. My dad the steps and watched the tourists perform since the last time I've had that feeling. works with the Air Force and is currently their ritual coin toss over their left shoulder On the first day, I asked my students to deployed in Iraq for the next six month." ensuring that they would someday return write a letter to me that described their his- –Danielle to Rome. I pulled out my students' letters tory, their abilities, their moments of suc"My name is Luigi and I'm Chinese. I and learned about them. cess and failure. Here's a sampling of what have an Italian name because I was born in When I finally headed home, I turned they wrote: Rome." –Luigi the corner from the main street Via Cipro "I'm shy and timid yet confident. I hope "I believe I might be the definition of up my street Via della Meloria. About halffor A's this year and fear my parents' wrath. 'an international student.' When asked way up to my apartment, the barber, GianI expect a cheap yet filling lunch. My fa- where I'm from, I keep it simple and say luca, who cut my hair last week, stopped vorite class ever taken is yet to be found." Cape Cod, Massachusetts even though I've his discussion with the hardware store–Daniel never lived there. I was born there but with keeper and waved "ciao" to me. I waved "I'm from Washington, D.C., and I've my parents working in the foreign services, back and smiled the rest of the way home.

A letter from former MVHS faculty member, Josefino Rivera, recalling his first experiences teaching abroad in Rome

photo courtesy of Josefino Rivera

Pico Iyer discussed the benefits of being a "Nowhere Man": an unprecedented sense of freedom and mobility and never feeling estranged. But ultimately, Iyer's argument was pessimistic about this kind of life. People lack ties to any single place, he worries, and furthermore by not being tied to any society, the implication is that these individuals are accountable to no one.

Iyer makes a valid point but fails to recognize that a "nowhere man" is lost not as a function of moving from place to place, but rather because he lacks connections to people in those places. A "nowhere man" can

be transient but still develop relationships.

It's in those relationships, he is somewhere.

And that's what my students already know and what I'm beginning to learn.

So when the barista offered my morning caffè e cornetto without me asking, when Gianluca waved from across the street, when a student recognized I was a teacher at AOSR, and when the waiter at the restaurant under my apartment switched from the formal "Buonasera" to the informal "Ciao," I knew that I was no "nowhere man."

Tuo afettuosamente,

Josefino

Oracle

Friday, October 8, 2010

7

TTim Young: 6,000 miles away from home

photo courtesy of Timothy Yo graphic by Kelly Magruder

INTRO BY CLAIRE JOHNSONi

MMVHS student studies abroad in Germany Our own student from the class of 2013, Timothy Young, has left all he knows in Mountain View for an alien town called Bochum. Roughly 6,000 miles away in Germany, Young is tossed into an atmosphere where he barely understands the language, all by himself. He expected himself to be a blind rat in a maze, but once the plane landed he has realized how intimidating leaving home really is. He writes to us from his small laptop in his loft of a room of his experience so far in a foreign world: “Seven months ago when my friends and family would accuse me of being out of my mind for wanting to spend a whole year alone in a count r y on

the other side of the world, I would almost instantaneously explode with cleverly well recited comebacks.

Three weeks into my exchange, I no longer have anything else to defend myself with. As my friends know, I absolutely hate being wrong. This one time though I'm going to dismount my high horse, shove my pride away, and admit to the whole world that yes… My name is Timothy Young and you’re right... I really am crazy for wanting to be an exchange student.

The last three weeks here in Germany really have been a roller coaster for me. Being raised in Los Altos my whole life, I can testify that the three weeks that I've been here really have been the most exciting and daring endevour that I've ever undertaken. It might even beat stealing gum from Andronicos and climbing the Blach roof. I like to think that to be a successful exchange student you have to be willing to throw yourself out of your comfort zone and laugh at yourself. Student exchanges are about charting out the unknown and trying new things and that's exactly what I have and strive to do every single day.

I walked onto school the first day feeling like a celebrity. Kids somehow had spread the word that there was a new kid from California in town. My German is, to put it simply, horrible. I survived well enough with, ‘Ich bin ein Austauschuler von Kalifornieren.’

If you're ever in Germany and need some help or just want some extra attention, shout to them that and the Germans will be all over you, because it means that you are from California. As you can imagine though, it's certainly been really hard when it comes to academics to keep up with the other students. I truly try my best to pay attention but I almost always end up dozing off and daydreaming about American food. The stereotype that says Germans are cold and boring definitely is one that can be forgotten. Everybody here really has been so unbelievably nice to me. I somehow have managed to make friends with a wide majority of the school. Now the only thing I need to do is actually learn

New Clubs at MVHS

BY CASEY FABRE Each year at Mountain View High School new clubs arise from the minds of our school’s very own idealists. The number of new clubs only add on to the diverse selection of clubs already at our school, giving students more options that fit their own personal styles. This year clubs such as the Ultimate Frisbee Club, Save the Sharks Club, and the Board Games Club have joined the cast of clubs that give our school much variety.

Ultimate Frisbee Club: President- Jason Lu & KellyAnne Tang Club meeting- Fridays at lunch by the field What they do- Play Ultimate Frisbee and promote sportsmanship through the spirit of the game.

graphic by Bernadette Hsu

Save the Sharks Club:

President- Cary Spurrier Club meeting- Fridays at lunch in room 107/ Ms. Hellman’s class What they do- Beach Clean-ups, peaceful protests against restaurants that serve shark fin soup. graphic by Kate Uyeda

Board Games Club:

graphic by Chloe Tarasch

President- Christopher Schulz Club meetings- Tuesdays at lunch in room 508/ Ms. Rekoon’s class What they do- Bring together people who enjoy board games, playing games such as Clue, Scrabble, and many more.

Creative Writing Club:

President- Cara Zimmerman Club meetings- Wednesdays at lunch in room 311/ Mr. Perez’s class What they do- Write and enjoy short stories and poems. graphic by Bernadette Hsu

Longboarding and Gravity Sports Club:

graphic by Ryan Baer

President- Colin McGrath Club meetings- Fridays at lunch in room 517/518/Weichec’s class What they do: Unite the longboarding community of Mountain View High School.

their names.

Germany and America generally are fairly similar, it's really only the small things that are different. I constantly grapple with figuring out how to lock a door and ponder over why Germans put the light switches for rooms on the outside rather than on the inside. Besides that though there really aren't too many differences between the United States and Germany. People are people wherever they come from and when it comes down to it, they all hold the same traits.

The last three weeks here have been one of the best times of my life but it certainly doesn't come without it's drawbacks. Besides devoting many hours a day with learning the language, an exchange student has to deal with being independent literally 24/7. I definitely did not expect it to be as hard as it really is. I thought I was a heartless soul and that homesickness would never get to me. Again, I was wrong. Within the first two weeks, I was ready to jump on the next plane and go home. When you're by yourself, no matter how strong you think you are, the littlest things can tear you down in an instant. The luxury of crawling into your bed, calling your best friend, and talking all night long with them is taken away from you. Whoever said that you don't know what you have until it's gone was spot on. I have to admit that I miss my parents like crazy and I might've started longing to spend one day or even one period at Mountain View High School.

I used to imagine every night as a little kid before I went to sleep that I would one day wake up and find myself in a different place. It didn't matter where, just as long I was out of Los Altos. And the funniest part is, is that when it finally happened to me, when I finally woke up realizing that I was in Europe for a whole year, the only place I really wanted to wake up and be was home.

I know this is going to be one of the best years of

my life, and although homeflashes through

sickness m e

every day, I don‘t regret anything. I can‘t wait to take full grip upon the reins of this adventure and have the best ride of my life.” graphic by Kelly Magruder

Focus: The Middle East

8

‫طسوألا قرشلا‬

BY NOAH HOFFMAN Women of the Wall, founded in 1988 by feminist Orthodox Jews, aims to earn the rights for women to pray as they wish at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Kotel. The Kotel has been a place of controversy for many years due to its great significance in religious history. It is the last remaining wall of the second synagogue of Solomon, and is supposedly resting atop the Foundation Stone where Jews believe God created the earth. The Kotel is currently split into two sections, the men’s and the women’s, making it impossible to hold an organized service with both men and women beyond the plaza surrounding it. The organization’s hopes to obtain these rights and raise awareness of gender equality in Judaism.

The Kotel conflict rose primarily between the two subcategories of Judaism, the Orthodox and the Reform synagogues. The Orthodox maintains traditional beliefs that communication between God and the Jews did occur, and that the oral and written Jewish history is fact. On the other hand, the Reform movement, according to Ortho-

dox Rabbi Yitzchok Feldman, “rejects that God talked to Moses in a way that was intelligible and it also says that the oral laws are not binding.”

Rabbi Cartun, a Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist rabbi, is a strong supporter of Women of the Wall and is involved raising awareness of the issues in Jerusalem. The congregation is gathering pictures of women with Torah scrolls to send to Israeli government officials, protesting their laws prohibiting women from reading the Torah. On the other side of the issue, Rabbi Feldman and according to ancient law, only men can form a prayer group, called a Minyan. A Minyan is necessary in order for a man’s prayer to be heard by God. While men need a group, a woman’s voice is heard just as well by herself or as a group. The biggest distinction is the man’s obligation to form a group.

Judaism is a religion based off of obligations, and the people who have that obligation have precedence according to Rabbi Feldman. One clarification that needs to be made in order to solve this issue is whether or not the Kotel is a synagogue or not.

If the Kotel were to be considered a

synagogue, the rabbis and men would take precedence over women based on traditional Jewish teachings. However the Reform rabbis and followers claim that since they aren’t restricted directly by those regulations, they shouldn’t have to be mandated by a different belief system than their own. When both rabbis were asked if they saw a solution to the issue in the future, they both responded with no. When asked what Rabbi Cartun thought the organization is trying to accomplish with their photo project, he said, “They are mostly looking for worldwide attention, even though they know that nobody on the Orthodox side is going to budge.” Rabbi Feldman responded with a similar message when asked about his ideal solution to the conflict, “De-escalation.

De-escalation would result in people taking a step back and thinking about who has an obligation to be here and who is looking at it through the eyes and lenses of observation and who’s looking to make what seems to amount to a political statement.” No matter the motives of either side, each needs to realize that there won’t be a solution of any kind if violence continues.

MIDDLE EAST {snapshots}

by Jasmine Tekiyeh

Because any form of artistic expression is limited in the strict Islamic country of Saudi Arabia, there is a tradition to create music through the preparation and drinking of Arabian tea, called gahwa. At any party or gathering, the host rests four coffee pots, called dellas, over to a fire, pouring coffee beans onto an iron pan, called a mahmasa. After the beans are completely roasted, they are pounded in a mortar, or mahbash. Occasionally, in order to keep the coffee grounds from sticking together, the host strikes the side of the mortar, creating music that is considered a great form of art. photo courtesy of Jalalz

Right: A Jewish man praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

TURKEY

WOMEN of the WALL

photo courtesy of avociation of ingeniouses

Turkey is known for its Little Magic stones, or Boncuks, that are thought to protect people from the “evil eye.”

The concept of the evil eye originated among ancient Egyptians or Sumerians before spreading to Turkey. In Turkey, people place these stones all over their houses and wear them as jewelry in order to avoid being “jinxed.” They believe that jealous looks have the ability to cause the intended person harm of some kind. In Turkish life, the notion of the “evil eye,” or Nazar, is greatly feared.

‫ןוכיתה חרזמה‬ Left: Two Jewish men praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

photos courtesy of flickr

SAUDI ARABIA

Oil, Blood and Empire

Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian banished due to his extremist views. The attacks on 9/11 damaged the relationship between America and Saudi Arabia because most of the hijackers were Saudi Arabians. However,

the Saudi Arabian government denied any involvement in the attacks, and no blame was put on the government.

The year of these attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and two years later Iraq as well.

photos courtesy of flickr

Throughout the last century, the United States has had more and more involvement in the Middle East; from helping stage numerous coups, to funding fundamentalist groups and exploiting of the region's abundance of oil. The United States first incorporated itself into the Middle East in the 1930's and 40's. In the early 30's oil was discovered in the Persian Gulf. This was quickly divided up among European and American powers. In 1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt said to a British Ambassador, "Persian oil is yours. We share the oil of Iraq and Kuwait. As for Saudi Arabian oil, it's ours."

It was around this time when the American-Arabian relationship began to emerge. In 1933 the United States formed the California Arabian Standard Oil Company.

At first, American dependence on Saudi Arabian oil was very little, but after WWII America realized the potential of Saudi oil that has fueled the relations of the two countries since then.

The first intervention that the United States had in the Middle East came in 1948 with the creation of Israel. Israel was created by European powers at the end of WWII as a refuge for the Jewish people. The state of Palestine was split into two parts, one Arab and one Jewish. The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Israel as independent, and was soon followed by Europeans and the Soviet Union. This division of Palestine didn’t settle well with the rest of the Arab world, many who still have yet to recognize Israel.

After the end of WWII in 1944, the Middle East became involved in the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union. The Soviets, who where occupying Kurdistan and Azerbaijan in northern Iran, were threatened by the United States if they didn't leave the area.

During this time, the US also established a base in Turkey from which they could spy on Russia. Coups in Iran, Iraq and Syria were backed by the CIA in order to weaken the communists who were well established in Iraq, and to install more pro-American governments.

The new government installed in Iraq would later be controlled by Saddam Hussein.

The Americans became involved in the MIddle East again in 1978 with the Shah of Iran. The Shah of Iran reign started in 1941. During his reign, the Shah modernized Iran, extended rights to women, and distanced himself from the Shi’a clergy of Iran. As his rule became more and more westernized, the religious extremists became angered by the changes that he was bringing. In 1979, a coup took place to overthrow the Shah.

The CIA tried, unsuccessfully to save the Shah and keep him in place, but ultimately failed. The Shah was then replaced by a Shi-ite Islamic group, and forced into exile.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

America had considered Afghanistan to be a neutral territory, which led to the CIA sending more than $3 billion to Islamic fundamentalist rebels known as the Mujaheddin, a precursor to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Over the next ten years, the war in Afghanistan kills countless numbers of Afghanis and Soviet troops.

In 1990, Iraq, lead by Saddam Hussein, invades Kuwait. The United States saw this as an oppurtunity to assert more power in the Middle East and launched “Operation Desert Storm” also known as the First Gulf War. On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Centers in New York City were destroyed, killing 2,752, in a terrorist attack organized by al-Qaeda. 826 responders, including firemen and aid workers have since died as a result as well. Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group headed by

An American troop surveys the rocky Afghan landscape, scouting for militant activity.

BY MICKE RAMIREZ

Oil is a key dynamic within USSaudi relations

A history of the United States in the Middle East

EAST

Oracle

Friday, October 8, 2010

9

THE MIDDLE

TEN YEARS AFTER 9/11 How has your life changed?

“I kind of foresaw the racial profiling occurring for me…9/11 definitely impacted my life, not in a very serious way, but I started receiving a lot more comments regarding me as a ‘terrorist’ since I’m Middle Eastern. Also, I think that it really exposed the large issue of ignorance in this country...” –Sara Kianian

“There are crazy people of all races. You can be white, black, Asian, or Middle Eastern, and it doesn't matter because your brain is the problem, not your race...I’m still proud [of being Middle Eastern], but I don't go showing off and going crazy about it...” –Mirko Mostaghimi

photo courtesy of Melika Panbehchi

photo courtesy of esi915

Persian New Year, or Noroz, is a huge cultural celebration for many Persians around the world as they welcome the beginning of spring and the start of a brand new year. Junior Cameron Tekiyeh discussed one of the most interesting customs of the celebration that occurs on the Tuesday night before the New Year. “Everyone gathers together and jumps over fire in order to keep evil thoughts and ideas away from them,” Tekiyeh said. This tradition is called “Chaharshanbe Suri” or “Festival of Fire” and is designed to purify your soul as you enter the New Year. According to Tekiyeh, while jumping over the fire, people chant “my sickly yellow paleness is yours, your fiery red color is mine,” meaning that the fire takes all the sickness and bad omens away from the person.

(Interviews by Sheila Ahi)

“Before [9/11], I was perfectly fine with being Iranian. Afterward, I claimed I was Italian or Brazilian. I would get weird looks or get asked awkward questions if I said where I was really from...

[9/11] was about religious extremism and terrorism. Not all Muslims or Middle Eastern people are terrorists, and people should know that.” –Negin Shahiar

“Yes, I feel the way people see me has changed since. Even though I wasn’t living in the US before 9/11, I feel the way people think of me as a Middle Eastern is completely different than their idea of other ethnicities.” –Melika Panbehchi photo courtesy of Sara Kianian

photo courtesy of Negin Shahiar

IRAN

photo courtesy of Mirko Mostaghimi

How much does MVHS know about the Middle East?

middle eastern

(by Keerthi Venkat)

conflicts

In accordance with this month’s focus topic, the Oracle went undercover within Mountain View’s classrooms to find out how much, exactly, our campus knew about the Middle East. Printed here are the results to a short questionarre we distributed to 200 students and, in bold, the correct answers. (survey by Ben Garber) 1.Who is the supreme leader of Iran?

a. Ayatollah Khamenei: 24%

b. Mahmoud Ahmadunejad: 62%

c. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: 14%

3. What is the smallest country in the Middle East?

a. Kuwait: 26%

b. Yemen: 26%

c. Bahrain: 21%

d. Israel: 27%

5. Tehran is the capital of which country?

a. Bahrain: 18%

b. Syria: 18%

c. Iraq: 6%

d. Iran: 58%

2. What two ethnic groups/religions are dominant in Iraq?

a. Hindus: 21%

b. Kurds: 24%

c. Jews: 9%

d. Muslims: 46%

4. What two Middle Eastern Countries have peace treaties with Israel?

a. Egypt: 28%

b. Syria: 24%

c. Jordan: 24%

d. Lebanon: 24%

7. What country requires all adults to serve in the army for 2 years?

a. Iran: 24%

b. Israel: 54%

c. Yemen: 7%

d. Oman: 15%

Israel

In the beginning of the 20th century, Palestine was ruled by the Turks (Ottoman empire) and the majority of the population in that region were Arabs. After WWI, the secret Sykes-Picot agreement divided the region into the British, French, and Russian areas, despite British promises to Arab independence. Subsequently, in the British ruled Palestine, European Jewish immigration increased significantly. After WWII in 1948, under the U.N. mandate, the state of Israel was created. Many Arabs, bitter about being deceived, still lived in the areas under Jewish rule, which led to future tensions. The conflict about who truly deserved and owned the land, a more political and nationalist problem, has evolved into a more local problem.

A scene from the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Iraq Military checkpoints in dot the border between Israel and Palestine.

Iran

In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, during the Iranian Revolution. Ayatollah became the supreme leader of Iran, meaning that he became head of the government and of religion until his death. His rule was politically theocratic, with rules made by Islamic jurists that he appointed. The root cause to why Ayatollah overthrew the Shah is because the traditionalists felt that the Shah was dangerously Westernizing Iran. Shah’s “White Revolution” announced in 1963, included clauses such as the electoral changes to enfranchise women, mass literacy campaign, and provision enabling nonMuslims to hold office. Muslims priests like the Shah, were not satisfied with their attempts of bringing this new Islamic revolution to Iran, decided to also spread their efforts to Iran’s neighboring countries as well, like Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. One of the ways they want to enforce this traditionalist view is by becoming a nuclear power. This ambition of theirs deeply concerns the west, because the nuclear weapons could be misused.

This conflict, has been raging for more than a thousand years debating whether the head of the Muslim religion should be determined by the blood ties to the prophet or whether it should be given to the most competent person.

Saudi Arabia is mostly populated by Sunni Muslims and Iran is populated by mostly Shites. In Iraq, the majority of the population is Shite, but under Saddam Hussein the minority Sunnis had all the power. Saddam wanted to be the dominant power in the Middle East and thinking Iran was weak after their 1979 revolution, he attacked Iran thus starting the eight year battle from 1980-1988. The war was a stalemate, with hundreds of thousands casualties, and Iraq’s economy was in shambles. Neighboring Kuwait was tiny, rich, and by all measures, weak. Saddam therefore invaded Kuwait hoping to benefit from it’s riches, without realizing it would bring United Nations and U.S. involvement, resulting in a quick and total defeat. Even today there is a conflict on who is to run the country, and indirectly become extremely influential. Moussabi is the current prime minister in Iraq, and he is a moderate Shite, but he doesn’t have the absolute majority for the parliament. This because if he leans to the side of the Shites or to the side of the Sunnis, there is inevitable conflict. The new government in Iraq is unstable for these factors.

A n American helicopter patrols the skies over Baghdad.

photos courtesy of flickr

Arts

10

[dance spectrum]

Oracle reviews “Howl”: Literary criticism on film

Oracle looks at Homecoming dance through the eyes of Dance Spectrum choreographers

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,” Epstein and Friedman kept their work true to its indie label by creating a wrote famed American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in “Howl,” ini- experimental film that pushes the boundaries of its genres. In comparison to tiating what has often been heralded as one of the seminal works Howl’s mainstream counterparts, it is made of a patchwork collection of clips of the Beat Generation. Decades later, some of our generation’s and sequences. In some ways, this experimental format was a positive and in best minds have congregated to celebrate the Ginsberg’s life and others, a drawback, as some pieces clearly do not fit. his controversial masterpiece on the silver screen in a gorgeous Cinematically, the movie is a visual feat. The shots of Ginsberg, whether yet flawed film. reciting his work in a café or drinking tea in his apartment, are fantastically Ginsberg wrote “Howl” in 1955, intending it to be a perfor- constructed and a delight to observe. However, the content of the film solely mance piece. His dramatic readings of his poems caught the eye revolves around the creation of Howl and Ginsberg’s creative process. Acof bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who published it cording to the filmmakers, the intent was to convey “the generosity of spirit thereafter. Local authorities found the poem obscene, resulting in that was and is Allen Ginsberg”. While they were successful in painting him as Ferlinghetti’s arrest. However, the testimony of several literary the cultural icon he is today, they failed to explore Ginsberg as the man he was, experts convinced a judge to determine the poem of literary worth, a character that, if anything, the movie proved is worth diving into. and cemented it into history as an important precedent for the publication of other controversial books.

The trial, as well as the animation of the poem and a biopic of Ginsberg, surmises the plot of the film.

James Franco soulfully portrays the poet, conquering the screen with a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Ginsberg’s rhythm and intonation. Initially, Ginsberg’s reading “Howl” is depicted in black and white, enchanting both the audience in the café and the theater with the ode to drug and sex fueled hedonism. With the exception of a strangely unrealistic beard, Franco holds the character throughout the film, especially during the intense interview scenes. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman are documentarians by trade, and these documentary styled scenes are some of the strongest in the film. Eric Drooker, an artist who illustrated a book of Ginsberg’s other poems, designed the animation for the film.The power of the animated sequence came from its accessibility, which was accomplished by simplifying the poem’s complicated topics. The trial scene however, felt stiff and awkward (with the exception of a brilliant cameo by Jeff Daniels as a stuffy English teach), a stark An author comes alive: Franco plays poet Allen Ginsberg in “Howl.” photo courtesy of http://www.collider.com/ contrast to the liquid feel of the rest of the movie.

“Homecoming choreography is the first thing Dance Spectrum really works on to represent itself and introduce itself to the school.”

“We sleep, eat, and breathe the dance.”

“We spent 23/7 on this dance.”

Senior Tara Harte-Rodriguez

“This dance is different because we incorporate different styles— The choreo is hard and thug with the occasional bootypopping, a contrasting mix of thug and girly. In other dances, it’s mostly the same styles.”

“The first time choreographing was a struggle, but now it’s a lot faster and easier to be disciplined.”

“When I wake up to switch positions [in bed], I still have the song stuck in my head.”

“We’re really hard on the dancers especially with this dance since we’re so time crunched.”

Senior Chantelle Ram “To incorporate the Dance Spectrum theme of creative innovation, we interpret the songs in a unique way, using different things like props and suspenders.”

by Elize Manoukian

[fall play]

Arts Update at MVHS Photo by Layla Kovacevic Model: Megan Conville

by Naomi Cohen, Rachel Jue, and Einny Yu

Facebook users captivated by student photographers

by Kate Uyeda

Photo by Dani Grant Model: Layla Kovacevic

From auditions to rehearsals and set design, the drama department is preparing for the production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Although most of us are familiar with The Diary of Anne Frank, few of us realize the depth that goes in to retelling a story of such historical significance.

Two Jewish families during World War II hide together from the Nazis. Serving as the basis of the script is Anne Frank’s diary, who shares her feelings, fears, and relationships with others in a touching and inspirational manner. Director Ron Huizing said, “[Anne Frank] is such a spark in a tragic situation.” Re-telling the story “has to be spot on because of the subject.”

Junior Lauren Sohn, who will be playing Dussel, said, “[The audition process] is a love-hate relationship. Once you’ve auditioned, you can’t do anything, but it’s over. Pre and post cast list nerves are the worst.”

After casting, actors memorize lines and block scenes after school. Their hard work pays off when you can, “see everything coming together,” said Junior Laura Hofen, playing Anne Frank. Huizing believes the most important element of the play to Huzing is seeing students understand their characters. The cast even met senior Josh Cohen’s grandmother, a Jew who went into hiding during the Holocaust. “Hearing the stories of someone who lived through it helps us to understand the character better,” Hofen added.

Behind the scenes, Stagecraft plays a vital role during the production. Stage manager, Senior Jonathan Wilde, is responsible for the entire set. With 30 people in the Stagecraft class, Wilde said, “I organize people and delegate work [to others]... We’re the group that takes all of these ideas and turns them into reality.”

Watch The Diary of Anne Frank transform from novel to stage at the from November 18th-20th. “It will be an enlightening and powerful experience,” promises Huizing.

[band]

Photo by Diana Arreola Model: Maritza Arreola

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og

Go

It tes ur o is a T u e s d a y c oto ph and having just night, finished dinner, you turn to the usual means of procrastination—Facebook. After logging on and examining your news feed for someone interesting to stalk, you notice something quite unusual. There is a young man, shirtless against a black backdrop. Scroll down, and there are fairies, dancing through a forest under dappled sunlight. Your eyes inch closer to the screen as a teenage girl hauntedly stares right at you from a colorful graffiti wall. All of these images represent photos taken by Mountain View High School students. Each photo is part of a different photo shoot that student photographers designed, and later posted on Facebook. Although their photography backgrounds are an eclectic mix of Freestyle, photography classes, and trial and error photography, all of their photo collections are entirely student run and created.

Senior Layla Kovacevic is one such student. Kovacevic, a second year Freestyle Academy student, became incredibly passionate about photography since receiving her first camera there. She began photography because she “had way too much time on [her] hands.” However, her photos display no boredom at all, but rather meticulous attention to detail and a passionate sense of creativity that create what she feels is “art within art.” She feels that photography allows her to be “productive with [her] talent” and that she can use photography to break through the limitations of her academics.

For Kovacevic, a hobby has evolved into something much more significant, as she plans to major in photography in college.

Senior Diana Arreola has a very different style of photography, focusing on a sort of raw realism, where she concentrates on a single emotion. Most of her photos are portraits, and almost all are computer edited. This allows her to create an extremely dramatic photo out of ordinary moments.

Photography is a huge part of who Arreola is and how she lives her life. “It’s almost therapeutic,” she said, “If I’m having a really crappy day, I can just go outside and f yo

capture moments.”

Senior Dani Grant is another Freestyle student, but has had a slightly different experience with photography. Her mother is a professional photographer, and because of this, Grant used to distance herself from the idea of becoming a photographer herself. Yet, after experimenting in Freestyle, she was immediately drawn to the camera by all the promise it held. “There are just so many possibilities!” she said. She loves that photography is “dynamic and weird.

Bodies are so beautiful. It’s how they move that makes the photo interesting.” Although she does not want to make a career out of photography, she believes she will definitely continue with it as a hobby.

As far as photo shoots, Kovacevic, Arreola, and Grant, have completely different methods. Kovacevic “won’t start unless [she’s] completely prepared for it,” while Arreola always has a clear idea for what she is working towards but improvises along the way. Grant, on the other hand, tends to call up random people completely last minute.

Despite their contrasting methods, they all highlight the enjoyment of the shoots. “It is so much fun. And the best thing about it is that the model loves it,” said Kovacevic.

These models are the main reason why the photos are up on Facebook. It is impressive to see the people we see every day in jeans and T-shirts magically transform into fairies, mimes, and other creatures. When looking for a model, the photographers try to find someone who “will present themselves in front of camera,” said Kovacevic.

Sometimes they look for someone who “is” what they are trying to capture. Despite their love of their work and their models, the photographers are uncomfortable about their work being up on Facebook. They only upload photos if the models ask them to. All three struggle to find the balance between what feels like showing off and finding a way to have others see their work.

But, as Kovacevic said, “What’s the point of creating art if no one gets to see it?”

The photo albums of these creative students are incredibly awe-inspiring. Grant stresses the universal aspect of photography, “Photography isn’t a hard thing, but anyone can press a button,” encouraging anyone to just try it. As for the photo shoots of these promising photographers, even if they are simply hobbies, they certainly make stalking people on Facebook much more interesting. graphic by Kelly Magruder

a preview to the Diary of Anne Frank

parade competition cancelled due to SAT and ACT

By now, most people have accepted the feeling of budget cuts, but add our marching band competitions into that situation, and it’s unexpected. This year’s parade portion of the marching band competition has been cancelled due to tests that coincide with the College Board’s SAT on October 9th and the ACT on October 23rd. Parade competition entails playing different music and marching down a street in synchronization. “It [gives] the competition experience a different feeling because it was still a performance but in a different setting,” Drum Major Senior Jason Lu said.

Section leaders and music directors considered the pros and cons of participating in parade. “We all liked parade… but decided it was the right decision,” Section Leader Senior Helen Burns said, “It was an intense two-hour discussion.”

Competitions include the parade portion in the morning and a field show event during the evening. The absence of a quarter of the band “would only serve as a detriment to our sound and presence in the competition and on the street,” Drum Major Senior Rachel Wood said, “as well as to the excitement of performing together as one united group.” Wood says the new competition day layout will be difficult to assimilate to.

However, band will have more time to focus on the field show, which in the past has always been admired. “There are schools who only do parade, so it’s hard to win,” Burns said, “We don’t spend a lot of time [on parade] compared to the field show.” During on competition, the band would have more time to practice their show before the final competition, and the members would also have extra time to bond with their sections. This could lead to possible forming of new section or band traditions.

“Right now, we’re trying to come up with solutions to still keep that same all day competition feeling without doing parade,” Burns said, “[Freshmen and new participants] don’t really know what they’re missing.”

Entertainment Searching For Love(fest)

by Kevin Troxell

L A D Y G A G A

Sweat, body odor, tight spaces, blown out ears.

Where did my shoe go? Where is she? Where am I? I can’t walk. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. These were just a few thoughts of people during the Love Fest Parade in Duisburg, Germany on July 24, 2010. This festival was supposed to be a controlled concert featuring techno and electronic music.

However, order turned to mayhem when an unexpected 1.4 million people arrived to the Love Fest, which led to a massive muster of people, resulting in 21 deaths and 500 injuries. This disastrous event, however, was not the only reason this year’s Love Fest in San Francisco was cancelled.

The parade was to originally occur at the Civic

Center in the city, but with concerns about lack of space and the deaths at Duisburg, the Love Fest commissioners decided to change the location to the parking lot at Candlestick Park. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to arrange the parade at the new location, so the event had to be cancelled.

The Love Fest commissioner declined to answer when asked whether drug abuse and fake IDs was crucial in the cancelling of Love Fest.

Students at Mountain View High School also expressed disappointment about the cancellation.

Mountain View High School Junior Andrea Desgrousilliers went to Love Fest last year and had a great time; however, she admitted, “People there were crazy. There were people climbing on top of street lights and dancing on them,” Desgrousilliers also noted that she wouldn’t go to Love Fest unless there was

someone who could help keep her from getting trampled by the masses of people.

Despite the cancellation of the love parade, many people demanded that the tradition continue.

Rather than having the Love Fest parade in San Francisco, Love Fest fans have come together to organize an event at the Arata Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay on November 13, 2010. Students such as Desgrousilliers still plan on attending this alternative event called “Where is the Love?”

The lack of space and location led to the cancellation of Love Fest in San Francisco, and although many are upset, this could be seen as a blessing due to the constant dangers that occur at concerts. We should learn from the events at Duisburg and work on providing a better, safer, and more controlled environment at such events. photo courtesy of sflovevolution.org/home.php and graphic by Maggie Gauthier

Henri Boulanger: Putting Raw Emotions into Headphones Climbing the stars

BY CLAIRE JOHNSON Around the world people wonder who Lady Gaga is, and why she decides to be such an alien in the crowds. With all of the complex sides to her, we all want to know what makes her so special, besides just dressing up in crazy outfits. With the release of her debut album, “The Fame,” in August of 2008, nominations for 187 awards for her work, titles of “The Most Powerful Women of our Generation, “The Most Searched Woman on the Internet,” and “The Most Followers on Twitter,” our society craves to know every move that Lady Gaga makes, and she strives to never let her fans’ down. She is a woman on a mission to impact the world, “one sequin at a time,” inspiring everyone to love themselves and each other for who they are.

Gaga described high school as “very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined,” but also “a bit insecure,” as she told in an interview. She continued, “I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak.” After graduating, Germanotta attended the world-renowned Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. There, she studied music and honed her songwriting skills by composing literature on topics such as art, religion, social issues, and politics-topics that now pervade her chart-topping songs. Her sophomore year in college, Germanotta withdrew from NYU altogether to focus entirely on her musical career.

While many question Gaga’s role as an idol for youth, it’s undeniable that her success has been building up into a palace day-by-day. The foundation for her achievements is the message she hopes to portray to her audience. photo courtesy of Lauren Kato During her concert at Seniors Cindy Suddjian and Lauren Kato pose for the the HP Pavilion in San Jose camera at the Lady Gaga concert at the HP Pavilion. last August, she belted from her heart, “Jesus loves everybody!” Saying that no matter what sexual orientation one is, Jesus accepts who they are. Inspired by her Catholic background, Gaga wants her audience to feel like they are comfortable in their own skin, and to never be afraid of expressing who they are, expressing, “I want the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you that much.”

Through her partnership with Virgin Mobile, Lady Gaga founded The Regeneration, a charity dedicated to raise awareness about the consequences thousands of homosexual youths are faced with today. She paves the way for insecure people, too timid to expose who they really are. She serves as an example of how one can be successful while outrageously alienated from the rest of the world. Mother Monster, her common name of endearment, said, “if I could for a moment inspire you to love yourself, that would be worth everything.”

Many Mountain View High School students express an overall love for the music artist, agreeing that she is an inspiration to those who are uncomfortable coming out of their shells and a very influential advocate for gay rights. “I perceive Lady Gaga’s message to be to follow your heart and show the world who you really are, since we are meant to be a world of individuals.

In this end, she also promotes equalphoto courtesy of Sarah Benett ity,” said Junior Ryan Khalessi.

Senior Zoe Fisher and Junior Sarah Benett However, some students and par- model their Gaga attire for the grand concert. ents express concerns. Sophomore Caelan Conant admits, “I don’t want the world and its people to be weird. The way she dresses and expresses herself is a bit too much for me, but I admire her courage.” Fran Anderson, grandmother of Sophomore Shirley Bills, said, “I believe that Lady Gaga is not a good role model for teens because her clothes are revealing and she’s teaching young adults to dress as sluts.”

No matter where one goes, Lady Gaga has already stomped her footprint there in six inch stiletto heels. Lady Gaga has accomplished much in just the few years she’s been in the public eye, transforming pop culture. Already she is composing her third album entitled, “Born This Way,” relating to sexual orientation and personal being. At the 2010 Video Music Awards, Gaga won every award she was nomitated for. Lady Gaga is on top of the world, and at this rate, she’s going to continue climbing the stars. top photo courtesy of ladygaga.com

11

A magnifying corner for student artists and bands

ing others to “just relax and smile.” When comparing life to test taking, Boulanger explained that no matter how much you study Each day during passing period, you and stress, you may still receive a bad grade. weave through a sea of similarly dressed Take a few deep breathes and just let life haphigh school students on the same mission: pen. to reach their next classes and restrict their Currently, Boulanger performs in gigs heads from drooping for yet another 50 minsuch as Battle of the Bands and open mic utes. Little do you know, one of these seemevents at Red Rock ingly average teens seeks Cafe in downtown to fulfill a greater mission; Mountain View, often through his uniquely alteraccompanied by artists native and hip hop infused like MVHS Freshman compositions, Sophomore Elena Lambertson, Henri Boulanger hopes vocalist and guitarist. to paint a metaphoric ilTogether, the two won lustration for his listenthird place last May in ers. “It’s kind of like a Battle of the Bands at painting: there’s really Palo Alto High School no logical reason to make and since then have it,” he said. “But if you continued to write their put something out there own music. Even with for people to admire, they a couple years of entercan relate to it, or they can taining experience in find something in it that his back pocket, Bouthey’ve wanted to express langer admits that “no but didn’t have a way to.” matter how many times Raised in Ohio, Bouyou [perform in front langer picked up the guiphoto courtesy of Henri Boulanger of crowds,] you always tar in second grade simply Mountain View High School Sophmore Henri Boulanger singing at one of his local performances. get pretty scared right because “it looked like before...But you can the ‘cool’ instrument”. basically do whatever you want on stage and, After moving to the Bay Area in fifth grade School Sophomore Morgan Donahue and as long as you’re happy and smiling, people he began to write songs, and by the Holiday alumnus Albert Mikell. Typically, Boulanger will think it’s great.”

In addition to writing Fair in eighth grade, was selling CDs to his finds inspiration for songs through strange and performing for the enjoyment and interclassmates and the greater community. His everyday occurrences or from random sugest of others, he finds that music is the perfect distinctive style soon became popular among gestions from other people. “There’s no real way to “get [his] feelings out and…tell the his audience members, due to his creativ- formula,” said Boulanger. “Half the time all I world and not tell the world at the same time ity and relatability. “[My peers] have said I start out with is the title and a beat, and I just everything you’re going through…by putting sound like something between Jack Johnson kind of go from there.”

Aside from possibly pursuing a musical raw emotions into headphones.” and John Mayer,” he said. “But I don’t think To download free mp3’s of Boulanger’s music and I’m a tool like John Mayer, and I’m definitely career in the future, Boulanger strives to have it in your headphones, visit the “Henri Boulanger” not as good as Jack Johnson. So if they some- “just live life” and avoid stress, encourage- musician page on Facebook and click on the link.

BY MICHELLE RUBINSTEIN

how had a baby, I think that would be me.”

Boulanger combined a USB microphone and Garageband to create a bedroom recording studio. And by combining vocals, guitars, synthesizers, and other various instruments, he created songs that have led him to success, including his most noteworthy single, “Identical,” featuring Mountain View High

JUST A DREAM?

BY DANIEL KLINE In the movie “Inception” directed by Christopher Nolan, four characters enter a billionaire Robert Fischer’s dreams by using a high tech, futuristic machine. Doing this, they decide to perform “inception”, meaning the main character, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), will try to change Fischer’s view of his father from a sadistic, uncaring grouch into a proud, loving father, all to get Fischer to split up his father’s company. Though the twisting and turning plot is entertaining and diverges any viewer into a mixed state of awe, thrill, and confusion, the hidden themes behind the idea of “Inception” and controlling another’s dreams and aspirations aren’t so farfetched and unrealistic.

From the knowledge we’ve gained from past psychology experts and from Mountain View High School student and teacher perspectives, the idea of influencing one’s dreams and inner conflicts is more feasible than we think.

“We create the world of a dream.”

-Dom Cobb In the world of psychology, human functions and aspects of life can be analyzed scientifically and somewhat mathematically, as the functions and devices of our complex brain and our basic human instincts are studied and analyzed by experts. For example, the desire to kill increases when humans are exposed to murder and death, which mutates and expands the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (front part of the brain), proving how other people and actions can influence our stream of consciousness and desires. With this in mind, how do dreams relate to one’s stream of consciousness and desires? “Dreams do, in fact,reveal not only personality but one’s source of influence as well,” said authore Raymond Lloyd Richmond of Dream Interpretation. “When you try to describe your dreams all you’re doing is

putting your image of the dream into words. So in the end, to talk about the dream you really talk about your perspective of the dream, which reveals your psychological process.”

The notion of these images of a dream coming from all areas in one’s life is also shared by our very own MVHS students. “I think everyone’s thoughts are influenced by everyone else’s actions,” said Senior Zenia Kawas, who has been taking psychology classes at Foothill College since this summer. “Also, our thoughts influence other people’s thoughts, which can later change/alter their dreams.

So, yes, I think that people have influence on another’s dreams, meaning the idea of ‘inception’ is possible!”

Even students at MVHS without such a thorough background of psychology also have opinions and ideas of how the themes in inception are true. “I do believe that the concept of inception is possible, because when you dream and you remember it, it makes you think about reality, which can be related to déjà vu,” said Junior Makena Berchem. “As we gain a different point of view from the people and other sources around us, we gain a different understanding of these dreams and others’ influence on you, which can affect you later in reality.”

“I have to say inception is not possible, because you can’t put your consciousness into another’s consciousness. But there are forms of hypnotism, therapy, and drugs that can change one’s consciousness,” said Senior David Wallace. “This can be seen in the themes of ‘Inception’, as the main character is fighting to distinguish between reality and dreams the whole time. But in the end the influence of his family’s love and support end his obsession, as he no longer cares due to his new happiness.”

Through these interviews and expert analysis, we can see that dreams can reveal more than one thing about a person’s true self. They can

photo courtesy of http://www.traileraddict.com/poster/inception

reveal their fears, aspirations, outside influences, and many other aspects of that person, just as the dreams in “Inception” revealed many personality traits and past experiences of the main character.

In real life and the movie, one of the main goals in our life is to distinguish the difference between dreams and reality, what is realistic and what is completely unlikely, relevant to our personal skills and abilities. “The only difference between these dreams that expose us and reality is that we can control dreams, and we can’t control reality,” Berchem added, suggesting that one can monitor the influences that impact our dreams. “It’s your pure subconscious and that’s why outside influences sometimes appear in dreams, like Miley Cyrus,” Wallace stated.

Humor & Games

12

Bieber’s hair feared dead after fire at local amphitheater Genealogy of Awkward Fans scramble to find new ’do after damage to pop icon’s $20,000 haircut and perm

BY VIET NGUYEN Around 5:00 PM Thursday afternoon, a fire at a local amphitheater in Massachusetts injured 23 concert attendees with first degree burns. Of those 23 injured, a singer by the name of Justin Bieber reportedly suffered major burns to his head, after the fire caught onto his hair. President Barack Obama has declared the fire a national disaster, claiming that the loss of Bieber’s hair was a huge step back for mankind.

The fire broke out in the Armstrong Amphitheater in Mossy Rock, Massachusetts, where Bieber was preparing for a concert.

Fans were beginning to fill the stadium when the fire began at 4:57 PM. The cause of the fire has not yet been released by the Mossy Rock Fire Department, but many speculate that it was set by Canadian model Linda Evangelista, who is rumored to resent Bieber’s theft of her old style.

The origin of the haircut is unclear. Because of its popularity among young men and middle aged women, a myriad of people claim to have started the haircut. “Actually, this hairstyle came to me by accident,” said Bieber. “One day I was combing my hair straight graphic by Ben Garber down, and I didn’t realize my head was actuBIEBER LOSES HAIR: Fans fear for the life of pop star Justin Bieber’s hair after a fire in Mossy Rock, Massachusetts may have killed it. ally tilted, so my hair kinda just leaned that by the loss. “After having 4 kids, my life has been UPDATE: Fire marshal Ward Clay has just reway.” Reportedly, Bieber had more to say.

However after a confused reporter at the conference pretty dull,” said 36 year old Wilma Thurgood. “The leased the results of his investigation into the fire. asked, ‘Ellen Degeneres’ why she looked taller on one thing that kept me going every day was that hair. According to the twenty page report, the fire was a I loved that hair more than anything in the world, result of a can of hairspray coming into contact with TV, he refused to answer any more questions.

Bieber’s mom, however, recounted a different but now that its gone…” The rest of the quote was an industrial-grade hair straightener, both of which story. “We actually try to keep the story of his hair drowned out by the sound of her hysteric crying and allegedly belong to Bieber. Both Bieber and his attorney reportedly denied all charges saying, “this on what you youngsters would call, the ‘down low.’ her husband’s yelling.

After word had spread of Bieber’s loss, many fans right here [pointing to his hair], it’s all natural. There When Justin was 12 years old, he hopped outta his crib and tumbled down the stairs. His hair got stuck decided to remove their Bieber cuts as well. A 12 ain’t no chemicals in it. It’s organic.” in some wax and since then, it’s stayed that way. You year old Amanda Ryen reminisced on her experience when she shaved off her haircut. “Cutting Bieber’s UPDATE 2: I am happy to inform you that Justin know what I’m saying? Fosho.”

Culturally, the loss of Bieber’s hair has hit fans hair off my head was like, the hardest thing I ever had Bieber’s hair is safe. The person who we presumed hard. Young teenage boys are frantically searching to do and like I’ve done a lotta things… lol. But like to be Bieber was actually a 13 year old girl with the for a new cool hipster star to model their hair after. seriously, at the end of the day, it really opened up same haircut. She is recovering in a nearby hospital.

“My brother is so upset; he can’t think straight,” said my eyes to a lotta things.” When asked how cutting The dean of medicine has reportedly hired the girl a Freshman Hawk Ward. “I walked in on him while he her hair opened her eyes, she responded, “I mean, lawyer after thousands of fans filed lawsuits against was in the restroom, and he had a Snooki puff on.” seriously, before my hair would cover my eyes so her for causing them “mental distress.”

Middle aged people of both genders were also dazed like now that its gone, I can see lol.”

BY CHLOE TARRASCH The phrase “awkward turtle” is said during awkward moments in a conversation, but did it all begin with a turtle? The genealogy of the awkward animal kingdom began long before any of us could imagine, with a few cells mashed together in the form of the awkward sponge. Students at Mountain View High School have disregarded other animal kingdoms in favor of the awkward kingdom; it just seems to have more public appeal. As teenagers, we are undeniably awkward, therefore it’s easy for us to relate to the awkward kingdom.

The awkward animal kingdom began with sponges, the first animals in the sea. The pores in the sponges led to awkward pauses in conversations, which led to other evolved awkward animals devouring the entire population (nobody likes an animal that’s too awkward). Later, the awkward shrimp became the dominant species.

The shrimp swam around too closely to other animals, and made them feel uncomfortable within their personal bubbles. As a result, the shrimp never got along too well with other species. Fortunately, the awkward sea cucumbers got rid of the shrimp in an undocumented manner that the now dominant species, the awkward turtles, will never discuss with us humans. The sea cucumbers dominated the sea in a dictatorship-like manner, and they started up the Awkward Inquisition (if an animal didn’t conform to the awkwardness of their kingdom, they would be shipped off to the Arctic Ocean).

The turtles didn’t agree with the sea cucumbers’ way of ruling, and both species battled it out to see which one would become the official animal kingdom alphas. The awkward turtles barely won, using their speed and agility to triumph over the sea cucumbers.

Later on, other species, including the awkward salamanders, evolved, but none became as dominant as the awkward turtles.

The awkward salamanders died out very soon after they crawled onto land because the photo by Naib Mian species developed a mutation that made them awkwardness intolerant. The one great thing that came out of the awkward salamanders, however, is the fact that some populations of the species morphed into awkward dinosaurs, which had an unusually large body compared to its disturbingly small arms and legs that allowed them to merely waddle through the forest. The awkward hominids evolved after the awkward dinosaurs, and they happen to be in abundance at Los Altos High School and in Hollywood in the form of Michael Cera.

At MVHS, many people seem to be uneducated in the genealogy of awkward animals. However, some students, like the ones who continued in the awkward gray box on the next page

A Homecoming Story How well do you know the Court?

by Sheila Ahi

by Naib Mian

It’s finally homecoming! The parade was so ______________________! adjective

After the floats and homecoming court ____________________, my verb (past tense)

friends and I watched the __________________ game. The crowd was type of sport

________________ like crazy, and ___________________ Band was really verb ending in -ing

type of band

_________________. Afterwards, I went home to ___________________ adjective

verb

for the dance. I donned my _______________________ and checked piece of clothing

myself out in the __________________, making sure I was looking shiny object

_________________. I proceeded to drive to my date’s ________________ adjective

type of building

to pick her up. I arrived at her house, and was ______________________ verb (past tense)

by her parents. I saw her in her ____________________ dress; I knew adjective

she was gonna be a/an _______________ catcher tonight! part of body

Her aunt

____________________took pictures of us. We then left for the dance person in room

in my ___________________. Once we arrived, there were already type of vehicle

_______ people lining up to enter the _____________________. We had

large number

place on campus

our IDs and our __________________ ready to show. As we entered, plural noun

_______________________________ was playing; my favorite! We besong title

gan ____________________, as were _______ others. We often went outverb ending in -ing

number

side for some _________________________ air and during slow songs, adjective

we _____________________ and slowly danced. A lot of my friends were verb (past tense)

there and we _____________________. At ______________ the dance fiverb (past tense)

time

nally ended. I ______________ my date home, and we said goodbye. The verb (past tense)

next Monday was great; the school was ______________________, and we adjective

were all ____________________ about our homecoming experience. verb ending in -ing

ACROSS 4 He speaks English, French, Spanish, and Farsi. A big weakness of his is Chipotle and pen twirling irritates him. If he could, he would marry or become best friends with Lady Gaga.

6 He is deathly afraid of going downhill. His favorite class at Mountain View High School was either his Freshman World Studies class or Spanish 4. If he could be any man in the world, he would be Sam Bradford.

10 If she could be anybody in the world she would be Jack Johnson. She hates homework and her greatest weakness is procrastination. She speaks English and Spanish and she is on the Mountain View High School Water Polo Team.

11 Something that irritates her is when people smack their food. If she could be anyone in the world, she would be herself. She also participates in Madrigals and Dance Spectrum.

12 He dislikes it when people are jerks and is the Treasurer of the 6th Man Club. This cross country runner and soccer player’s greatest weakness is organization. If he could be any-

one in the world, he would be David Villa.

13 She dislikes drama queens and wants to attend Chapman University. One of her favorite classes at MVHS was Language and Composition AP with Mr. Blair, and one weakness of hers is also procrastination.

14 He wants to attend college at UCI, UCSB, USC, UCLA, or UCSD. One of his favorite classes at MVHS was Trig Honors and if he could be any one in the world, he would be a comedian. Also, he is on the Mountain View High School’s varsity football and basketball teams.

15 His favorite class at Mountain View was Chemistry AP and a college he would like to attend is Duke. If he could be anyone in the world, he would be Tupac Shakur. His greatest weakness is impatience.

16 Forks scraping against metal plates and scraping noises in general are some things she detests. A weakness of hers is whistling and she is on ASB. She would like to attend the University of Washington.

DOWN 1 Her greatest weakness is overworking and blowing bubbles with gum. Leaving the door in her room open is something that ticks her off and another language she speaks besides English is French. She has also been in ASB for three years.

2 She wants to attend Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She hates it when people put other people down to make themselves feel better and a weakness of hers is Sour Patch Kids candy.

3 He is an AVID Tutor, and speaks Spanish fluently. CalPoly and NYU are two colleges he would really like to attend, and dislikes reality television. If he could be anybody in the world, he would be MVHS Senior Larry Yang.

5 If she could be anyone in the world, she would be a Spice Girl. Her greatest weakness is taking tests or being tested in general. She grew up speaking Spanish and English, and is Vice President of the Random Acts of Kindness Club, President of Unidos, and the Secretary of Ambassadors.

7 A few favorite classes of hers are AP Literature with Ms. Price and Language and Composition AP and HAMLIT with Mr. Kahl. She loathes is peanut butter on bagels. Her greatest weakness is volleyball.

8 His favorite class at Mountain View was Biology with Mr. Miyano. A great weakness of his is food, thus he hates it when food is wasted. He would like to attend the Culinary Institute of America.

9 Surprisingly, his greatest weakness is shyness and is ticked off by slow-walking freshman. Some colleges he would like to attend are Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard. If he could be anyone in the world, he would be Superman.

Oracle

Friday, October 8, 2010

13

Humor & Games

Man Food: Manly eating for manly men, in order to grow manly man-muscles

BY MICKE RAMIREZ

Steak

What would be a list of the manliest foods without steak? A juicy, tender T-Bone steak that’s cooked to perfection is the very essence of manliness. Full of proteins and fats, it not only tastes as if God himself has blessed your taste buds, but beefs you up for that extra boost of manliness.

The Bacon Explosion

For those of you who have never heard of the Bacon Explosion, you have yet to live. It’s created from a weave of bacon, on top of which goes a layer of ground Italian sausage and then some more, this time precooked, bacon. All of this is rolled up into a large log, which is then slowly smoked before being drenched in a shower of BBQ sauce. Despite the fact that it may clog your arteries within hours of consuming it, the Bacon Explosion is undoubtedly the best thing since bacon and heartstoppingly good.

Ribs

Acting on a primal instinct to eat, utensils can often go ignored. This is the case with ribs. They are simply

too great to be enjoyed without getting your hands, face, plate, napkin, and everything within a one foot radius completely covered in BBQ sauce. An act of manliness needs no fork, nor knife.

A full rack of ribs can awaken the caveman that dwells inside, the one that says, “I am a man! And I need meat!”

fudge, not room temperature, but straight up hot. So hot that not even Vulcan himself would consider coming near it. There’s no better way to display an atmosphere of manliness than to devour a cream based desert covered in molten hot fudge. And for that extra boost of manliness, add some bacon.

Hot Fudge Sundae

Double-Double Animal Style

A simple burger isn’t enough Ice cream is for the manliest of good, I’ve nevmanly men. What er heard anyone they demand is a say otherwise.

Double-Double But it’s not very Animal Style.

Photo by Amy Beare manly; it’s cold, Not only are there Nothing is as manly as nails. The only part of this healthy, manly, and complete breakfast. soft, creamy, two delicious patand plain. But when you add manly chunks of fudge and ties, but there are two slices of cheese, double the lettuce hot fudge, it takes it to a whole new level. The manliest and pickles and whatever your manly heart may desire, aspect of this dish is the hot fudge. Hot fudge. Not cold plus the addition of the secret sauce and onions. This is

what makes it the manliest of burgers, it goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that you also enjoy a double helping of manliness as well.

Beef Jerky

Look at your food, now back at the paper, now back at your food, now back to the paper. Sadly, it isn’t beef jerky. But if you wanted a manly food it would be. Look down, back up. What’s this? Beef jerky. Meat conveniently dried and packaged for manliness on the go.

What’s in your hand? Now back at the paper. It still isn’t beef jerky. Look again. Still nothing? This means you need to obtain some for manliness anytime. Anything is possible with beef jerky. I’m in the newspaper.

Nails

What does Chuck Norris eat in the morning? Cereal?

Waffles? No. Nails. Without milk. Do you want to be like Chuck Norris? Of course you do. He’s more man than Superman. What’s his secret? Nails in the morning. He goes all natural, forgetting about the milk and eating only cold, hard nails. Try it some time, it’s what makes a truly manly man.

Fruit Salad

Mission Command

The Awkward Files | continued from page 12

are currently in science teacher Go Sasaki’s biology classes, have already delved into the kingdom of awkward animals. Sophomore Danny Awkstein recalls how “Mr. Sasaki gave the class a challenge to act like an awkward student for a day. It turns out that we just pretended to be like all the LAHS students.” Sasaki believes that the awkward turtles will die out and be taken over by a new species, such as the awkward cockroaches, which are much more radiation-resistant, but more research needs to be explored.

Nowadays, awkward turtles are remembered, but not as popular as they was before, which is a shame. “The awkward animal kingdom is my favorite right after the fungus kingdom!” said Sasaki.

A theory from top biologist Ock Wardman, who has been published in the Princeton Review, is that the awkward turtle references make people feel even more awkward, leading to the slow demise of the awkward turtle.

by Bernadette Hsu

Homecoming Diary, 2010

by Francis Sullivan

Dear Diary, 09/10/10

I went to the mall today, and after I got home from the trip and unloaded the U-haul of shoes, I started trying to find a suitable pair out of the lot. The black ones… or the other black ones? Which one goes best with my eyes? It’s too bad I can’t use those amazing $200 gold suede shoes from last year’s Winter Ball. They were so much fun to wear for the five minutes waiting outside and then take-off for the rest of the night to dance. Those shoes looked so good sitting there in the pile on the side. You know, I really wish there was some sort of shoe that I could wear to a dance and actually dance in. The way your shoes look is really important in the art of grinding, so tennis shoes just won’t cut it. I sent a picture text message to Donnie with me in each of my shoes and he replied and I quote “OMG. LOVE. This is so cuteeeeeeee!” to which I replied “ILY! Text me your outfit, silly!”

It was great to have an intellectual discussion with him, but it didn’t help with the process of deciding which pair of shoes I wanted to wear.

Dear Diary, 09/27/10

That idiot Jamal is wearing the same outfit as me. Black clothes are my thing! He had so many other socially acceptable colors to choose from such as… oh… But that’s not the point! How will anybody be able to tell me apart from Jamal at the dance? The only discernible difference between us is the fact that he weighs about 300 pounds more than I do, so my date might get us confused! I need to somehow tell him that I’m angry, and that it’s his job to change, without actually telling him that I’m angry. Maybe I’ll just stare intently at him from across the class during math tomorrow and hope he gets the picture.

Dear Diary, 09/30/10

I’m going to ask Eva to the dance, but first I need to figure out how to do it. Simply asking someone is just such a boring way to do it, and besides, everyone knows that it has to be a huge public event in front of all the people that judge her. If she’s not scared of looking like a bad person for saying no, how can I guarantee she will say “yes”?!

God forbid I go without a date. Going alone to Homecoming is an undeniable sign of loneliness, and going in a group of friends is simply a coalition of loners. If I paint “Homecoming?” on my car and invite her and her friends out to lunch, they’ll be right there giggling as she’s pressured into saying “yes”.

Dear Diary, 10/01/10

Oh no, no, no, no, she’s gone. Eva’s gone, along with all my hopes and dreams for this dance. How dare Adam ask her! I was going to do it first, never mind that he’s her boyfriend and all, but that’s just not fair. Backup plan: I’m going to have to ask Jessica.

I guess I’ll just have to repaint my car again…

Dear Diary, 10/04/10

I finally got my outfit picked out. I’m going to Homecoming 2010 in the black shirt I got from Macy’s Armani Collection in Valley Fair, the black slacks I found in Macy’s at the Great Mall, the red tie I found in Macy’s at Stanford Mall, and the Kenneth Cole black shoes I got at Bailey Park. I hope it isn’t too colorful. The importance of good looking clothing during a dance goes without saying; it’s necessary to have expensive and formal clothing while dancing in room with no light besides a few colored strobes.

I heard that last year Drake showed up in a T-shirt and shorts. Uh, trashy! Funnily enough, I spent the entire night right next to Drake and I never really noticed his outfit.

Oh well…

This year I’m also wearing a nice watch. I stole my Grandpa’s Rolex that he got for his 40th anniversary, and I plan to wear it. It’s going to look so good underneath my shirt sleeve, but that’s okay, it’s not like I can see enough to use the watch for timekeeping.

Dear Diary, 10/08/10

I’m just about to leave for the dance! Jessica’s outfit matches me perfectly, and she looks nice, too. I’m wearing a cologne mixture of Drakkar Noir, Old Spice, and Barbeque Sauce (that’s my secret!), and I spent an hour after getting home straightening, curling, and teasing my hair. It looks so pretty!

Real men eat fruit salad. Enough said.

Homecoming: Asking that perfect someone

BY NOAH HOFFMAN Have you ever been in a situation where the normal routine of asking someone out on a date or to a dance is TOO normal? Well, here is a list of some creative, funny, and hopefully successful ways to ask someone to Homecoming.

1.

Post notes on your potential date’s locker on the days leading up to the dance, giving them hints as to who you are. This idea requires multiple days, but not too much effort.

7. For those of you who happen to be artistic as well as smooth, this one is for you. Write a poem, riddle, or a love note, put it in the center of a paper crane, and you slip it to your date. And if your date is vegetarian, you can change the carrier to a flower.

8. A course of action for those romantics who like to know about every nook and cranny of their lover’s background, may be hiring a private investigator. You risk being creepy and it may result in a restraining order, but it’s your call. Maybe you’ll dig up the perfect nugget of information to kick off a promising relationship.

9. If you have friends who are willing to help you out, you can barricade your date’s car with signs reading, “Will you go to Homecoming with me?”

2. Create a scavenger hunt with clues posted across the campus until one final clue leads to you. Remember to bring some flowers to make up for the walking that they endured to find you.

10. Go to your date’s class holding a sign saying, “_______, will you go to Homecoming with me?”

3. Post your proposal on the announcement board in the quad. But who looks up there anyway?

11. Go to your date’s classroom and serenade them with a love song.

Note: the Oracle cannot advocate nudity on campus even if it’s amusing.

4. Use the daily video announceMake sure your voice is something ments to broadcast your question. that doesn’t negatively distract your Yes, they are finally up and running, but you never know when one of date from what you are actually doing. Because you are putting yourthose darn technical difficulties may occur. self out there and doing it in front of a crowd, you are very likely to 5. Tag their car with washable paint. Just hope they don’t return the receive a “Yes!” Photo by Kate Uyeda

favor with a big fat, “NO!” Hopefully that doesn’t happen though, but you’ve been warned.

6. If you’ve got some swagger, some acting skills, and a bit of self assurance, then the way to go is to record and send them an Old Spice style video saying, “Can your date smell like me? Yes. Can your date look like me? Yes. Well then, why can’t your date be me?”

Answer Key

Disclaimer: Aside from games, all articles on this page are fictitious. Except for celebrities and/or the faculty and administration of Mountain View High school, characters are not intended to resemble actual people.

12. Those of you that have culinary gifts can bake a cake with your proposal written on top in frosting. This endeavor solely depends on your baking prowess, and if you are capable it will hopefully result in a sweet success.

13. Buy an ad space in the Oracle. That way your date will surely read it!

Across: 4. Ryan Khalessi 6. Connor Nunley 10. Marisa Mulkey 11. Camille De La Vega 12. Jay Herington

13. Rachel Wood 14. Brett Hughes 15. David Wallace 16. Katie Kobashigawa Down: 1. Cailey Stuebner

2. Jesse Denny 3. Will Beare 5. Alexis Daniels 7. Carol Passarelli 8. Jonathan Ikinaga 9. Rylan Schaeffer

Sports

14

Varsity cross country

BY BERNADETTE HSU AND RYAN BAER

Senior Bryan Crook

graphics courtesy of Bernadette Hsu

Varsity water polo

super spartans

Years Played: 5 Zenas Lam Introduction: “I wanted to join Cross Country because a bunch of my friends were doing it, and I had some success in middle school.”

Traditions: “I wear my lucky socks, and go to the pasta party the night before [a race].”

Most rewarding part: “The most rewarding part was winning the state title last year, or just the elation that comes after you run a great race.”

Assistant Coach Go Sasaki: What sets Crook apart from the team is his “work ethic and leadership; he’s very fast, helps the team and sets a good example,” Junior Thomas Rutner: One of Bryan Crook’s best moments was “his determination at the state finals.”

Senior Sarah Magee

Varsity cross country

tive teams and you might be more scared to play, but on the freshmen After having freshmen teams for team you get enough exposure that ten years, our former athletic direcyou’ll be ready for JV”, said Sakutor, Dan Navarro, and our new one, ra Takahashi, a sophomore who John Payne, have decided to cut was on freshmen girls volleyball them from our sports department. last year.

Navarro started these teams when However it’s not worth having he first became athletic director in these teams when barely any fresh2000. His main goal behind this men tryout. Last year the freshmen idea was to “get more kids girl’s soccer team only had to participate.” Though “Freshmen teams are helpful because... about 12 players, some of freshmen teams have had you get enough exposure that you’ll be whom were injured, which positive impacts on our made it difficult to supready for JV.” sports department, it is the ply the standard 11 play– Sakura Takahashi right time to bring them to ers on the field for games. an end.

“The team was not a very VS. For the past ten years, good experience because there have only been “The team wasn’t taken very seriously, the team wasn’t taken very enough freshmen trying we didn’t play in an actual league, and our seriously, we didn’t play out to sustain a girls volleyin an actual league, and coaching was not very good.” ball team and soccer team. our coaching was not very – Maya Weigel There was briefly a girl’s good” said Maya Weigel, a freshmen basketball team, sophomore who was on the but there weren’t enough girls who to play, but it also helped out the team last year. tried out to keep it going. And now Varsity and Junior Varsity teams This sudden change from a due to budget cuts and a serious by developing freshmen into better good experience to a poor one due lack of freshmen out on the field athletes for their later high school to the lack of players, along with and court, the two teams are being years. Someone who could have the money that goes into coaching cut. increased their skills on a freshmen and transportation is not worth the What about the freshmen this team to become a star player for benefits which these teams have year who need a team to prepare their remaining high school years given us in the past. Plus, we don’t them for the more competitive may not get that chance because have much of a choice since budhigh school leagues? Having no they are currently not good enough get cuts have propelled this decifreshmen teams puts freshmen for either of those teams. “Fresh- sion. Freshmen teams have served who are unprepared for the varsity men teams are helpful because an admirable purpose, but their and junior varsity teams in a tough in JV you play in more competi- time has come to an end.

BY RYAN BAER

spot during try outs. “There are a lot of students that start their freshmen year who may not be ready,” Navarro said. “And the freshmen team gave them the ability to develop, and hopefully, by the time they were seniors, you had better competition and kids that were better athletically.” Not only did these teams allow more students

graphics courtesy of Bernadette Hsu

Years Played: 4 Introduction: “It's competitive, high-scoring, and combines other sports (basketball, soccer, and swimming) I loved to play previously.”

Traditions: She warms up her shooting arm.

Most rewarding part: “The most memorable rewarding part of being on the team is winning because your whole team played well together.”

Coach David Enlow: Magee “works harder than anybody else and swims the hardest.”

Junior Chelsea Ngo: “Sarah is one of the best players on Varsity polo, while being one of the nicest and most amiable. She’s truly a team player.”

Athletic Director in training: John Payne

BY TARA AHI

Cynthia Chiang Junior Allison Sturges

graphics courtesy of Ryan Baer

Years played: 5 Introduction:“I really enjoy both the training and the races. I always get nervous before races, but it's that ‘good nervousness’ caused by the adrenaline rush of the competition.”

Motivation: “Getting new personal records is a huge motivator.”

Memory: “Winning CCS my sophomore year at the Crystal Springs course (2.95 miles). It was my first CCS title.”

Traditions: “I have lucky running socks! I wear a pink one on my right foot and a blue one on my left. I also like to get my team into a huddle right before the race so that we all get focused and motivated to run hard for each other.”

Former Coach David Stiles:“She knows what it takes to advance from the beginning level to the elite level of running.”

Junior Emily Andrew: “Allison is a spunky team leader that motivates her team mates to perform to the best of their abilities by showing them a perfect example of a hardworking athlete that never gives up.”

Varsity water polo

Freshmen teams off the court

Q:What experience in this field did you have prior to coming to MVHS?

Q:What do you think should get the most immediate attention in our athletic department?

A: I was PE coordinator at Los Altos High School, and I coached football there for four years. I was also an Athletic Director and coach at a small private school in San Jose that doesn’t exist anymore. I also had an internship at San Jose State University, and I have a Master’s in Sports Management.

A: The major project is the remodeling of the pool. We’ll need new lane lines and water polo goals. The new pool will be bigger, and will be moved to a different location—something we’re figuring out. They can’t have competitions here for swimming and water polo because the pool doesn’t meet regulations, and the transport and arrangements eat up money. We’re very fortunate for our great facilities, and our grounds are maintained at a high level. We also want to move the weight room. I want a strength program for all the teams, and I’m in the process of finding a new location for it.

Q: What is/are your main goal(s) to accomplish by the end of this year? Any longer-term goals?

A: One of the main goals is to be more proficient in the tasks Mr. Navarro does daily like schedules, games, budget. I’m learning the duties of Mr. Navarro. My long-term athletic plans would be to get Varsity teams to be competitive in the De Anza Division, the highest one in our league. That will bring more visibility with schools and athletes, and will get us on a larger stage.

Q: Are you working on any projects now?

A: There aren’t really any projects right now, I’m just learning. You need to know basics and not overextend yourself in a new job. You need to know how to run an athletic department efficiently. We do want to put on a sports day camp in the summer, and we want coaches to work with the camp. It’ll be for upper elementary school children through high school kids. It would be for about four to six weeks long, focusing on improving skill. The camp will also be a good fundraiser for the athletic program.

Junior Aaron Lim graphics courtesy of Ryan Baer

Years played: 4 Introduction:“I played because my mom said I either have to choose between marching band or water polo, and since I already knew how to swim, I chose wopo.”

Motivation: “My team mates, my coach, my parents, my friends.”

Memory: “Scoring my first goal in a scrimmage.”

Traditions: “After our team cheer, ‘THIS IS SPARTA!’ I normally try to zone out other sounds in order to focus and imagine the pool, and how the game is going to turn out.”

Coach David Blockus: “Head to head, no other single individual that we have played against can stop him. He has excellent speed, shot and pool awareness that makes him a Super Spartan. He is a quiet team leader who leads the rest of the team by working hard and playing smart.”

Junior Oleg Koujikov: “Aaron is just a strong smart kid who knows when and where to shoot the ball, but more importantly how to make the team succeed.”

graphic courtesy of Tara Ahi

Q: What does the Parent Sports Booster club do?

How does it reshape itself to be involved with all of the school’s sports?

A: It is basically a group to raise money for the athletic department and teams. It will raise awareness and support, so we can spend on things like gear. At games we’ll be selling paraphernalia, like jackets and passes. I’m working with the president of the Booster club for getting the camp started.

They come up with fundraising ideas like the Christmas tree lot, the camp, and game passes. It meets monthly. Sports teams have wish lists and financial goals that the club tries to help with.

Q: What exactly is the role that Dan Navarro plays in the job?

A: We’re working side by side. Usually people come to me because I have the title. We’re sharing the responsibilities. It’s a partnership right now, and eventually he’ll phase himself out. It’s like an apprenticeship, much different from my other jobs—I’m learning a lot.

Q: How does your job as AD balance out with your PE classes?

A: Having prior knowledge when it comes to P.E. classes helps, I’ve been teaching it for twelve years. There are just slight differences to work on. As for balancing time, I’d say between the A.D. job and my P.E. classes, its at a 60/40 percent ratio of time since I’m learning so much with the A.D. job. As time goes the time ratio will probably shift.

Q: In your personal time, what are your favorite sports?

A: My main exercise is chasing my daughter around. I wake up at about 4:30 AM and leave home at 5:30 to get here for zero period, so there’s not much exercise time. I love to run and lift weights, though. I have two kids under the age of three, so right now I’m just balancing the things that are important.

Check out www.mvhsoracle.com for more Athletic Department updates! Click under “Sports” for more information.

15

Oracle

Mountain View Cupertino Varsity Girls Tennis

defeats

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cupertino High graphics courtesy of Sophie Ho

BY SAM CABER On Thursday, September 23rd at their home court, the Varsity girls tennis team defeated Cupertino High School, winning all seven of their matches in a solid shut-out. The win bumped up the team’s league record to four wins and zero losses, continuing an excellent season for the team.

With only ten players from Mountain View on the court for the match, the energy level was positive and flourishing coming into the game. The team played a few rallies against their opponent before the game to warm up. All players on both teams paid close attention to the playing style of their opponent during the warmups. Before the matches began, the teams had a chance to speak with their respective coaches for advice. “I al-

BY GABE QUINTELA On Saturday the 25th, Mountain View’s Varsity football team beat South San Francisco 20-12 in what was an exciting game.

MV improved to 3 wins and 0 losses on the season against a large and physical SSF team, to take an impressive leap in CCS (Central Coast Sectional) standings.

Right Tackle Sophomore James Tilton when asked about the game said, “I think it should be a pretty well fought out game.

They are a class A team, and if we win this game it will be crucial for CCS standings.

I think we will be victorious, as long as the offensive line gets the bigger push, and the defense is able to stop the run.” SSF is a big, physical team that plays an aggressive “smash mouth” style of football, and when asked before the game, Coach Dan Navarro said “I think it will be a difficult game because they are a tough and aggressive opponent but I promise my team will be ready to go.” Mountain View was able to succeed due to the following aspects.

The offensive line, lead by Sopho-

ways give the same advice coming into a game; focus on the intention of winning each and every point in every set,” Coach Frank Smyth said. As Mountain View was minutes away from the first serve, the team collectively chanted an empowering “This is Sparta!” cheer.

Sophomore Vivian Li of Mountain View played in the top-seeded singles tennis match against Cupertino’s Senior Alice Peng. “On the court I am going to play all out, and I will just adjust to how the opponent plays,” Li said. At the beginning of the official match, Li smashed low hits, causing Peng to hit the ball out of bounds a few times, giving Li an opening lead and a secured victory for game one. As the first set of the match continued, Li would change the momentum of the ball, from top spin to back spin after serves that Peng had to work hard to reach. Though Peng made talented athletic plays to volley hits back, she had to move around the court to

more James Tilton and Junior Malik Letatau, were able to establish an effective pass block with a physical push against a larger opponent. Runningback Sophomore Marcus Jones put the fans on the edge of their seat when he touched the ball, adding 100 yards and two touchdowns to his season total of 360+ yards and 7 touchdowns.

Quarterback Junior Mike Butler was able to strike again to his favorite target, veteran receiver Senior Brett Hughes, The defense, led by Junior Stefan Lemak, helped by the 2 and 3-year starters, stepped up to the large SSF offense and held them to a total of 12 points. When asked about what needed to be done to win, Junior Dylan Auerbach said, “Everyone needs to step up and play 110%.” That is exactly what happened– as seen in the defense’s good play calling and hard work .

Update: On October 1, Mountain View lost to Los Altos 14 to 28, bringing their overall record to three wins, one loss, and zero ties, and their league record to be zero wins, one loss, and zero ties. Junior Varsity’s overall standings is zero wins, one loss, and zero ties.

the point where she was getting tired out. With this successful strategy, Li was able to take hold of the first set without losing a single game within the set.

Before the second set began, Peng’s coach came over to give her some advice while the players had the opportunity to rest. As the second set began, Peng played strongly, and there was a deuce later on in the set. Li had a lead of three games to zero. She played more strategically while remaining calm. Li placed short shots followed by long hits that forced Peng to maneuver about the court, and was able to break away with a win in the deuce. The set soon ended with Li following her game technique throughout the match, and Li won the set six games to none. Li won both sets, six games to none in each of her sets, winning the game in a shut-out. Though Peng had opportunities to win games, Li stood her ground, adapted to changes made by her opponent, and

Mountain View Varsity Football

defeatsSouth San Francisco High graphic courtesy of Charles Lemak

Sports Workouts from Hell

BY FRANCIS SULLIVAN Football – “Dirty 300s” Football is the classic high school sport for boys. It’s only fitting then that the players have an equally testosterone fueled workout. Dirty 300’s are simple but brutal. Sprinting 100 yards is hard, doing that three times is tough, doing that while doing a bear crawl is ridiculous. Bear crawls involve running with both hands and feet. “It’s the hardest workout we’ve ever done,” said Junior Christian Grande. Doing this workout is known to increase the urge to grunt and yell.

Volleyball – “The Pyramid Liners” Nobody likes to run for miles and never actually go anywhere. The Mountain View High School volleyball team knows this better than almost anyone. In “The Pyramid,” athletes run liners on the basketball court.

For those who don’t know, liners involve starting from one line on the court, running to the closest line, returning to the start, then running the next line on the court and repeating. Volleyball girls do this for 30 minutes, and the repetition of the running shows. “It’s 4 liners, then 12, then 28, then 46, then 64, then 98, then 112,” said Sophomore Francesca Ciacchella.

Spirit Leading – “Ab Workouts” Weren’t cheer leaders supposed to be delicate? Cheer leaders at Mountain View High School work their abs every day at practice by alternating each minute between crunches and planks to the beat of dance music for half an hour. “The hardest part is holding the plank because you’re already tired from the crunches” said Sophomore Taylor Hall. Try this workout, football.

played a strong game throughout the day to get the win.

At the end of the day, Mountain View took home a win in all seven matches, even though scores were very close. Their focus on winning every single point got them their desired result. As Cupertino packed up to go home, Mountain View showed good sportsmanship with a “Good game Cupertino!” cheer, and soon after, Cupertino responded with a “Good Game Mountain View!” cheer.

The Varsity girls tennis team will continue to improve.

“Each match the girls are playing they are getting better and better. They realize that they are in the driver’s seat now, and they are having fun with their games, but it is a serious fun,” Smyth said. The team will have many more matches to come, and will play at league finals on November 2nd and 3rd.

Cross Country – “Hill Workouts” The difference between track endurance events and cross country is the varying terrain and elevation over which runners on cross country must overcome. Coach prepares his runners for elevation by having the down a 600 meter (about hill 5 times. “It was hard to Senior Jay Herington. The run two miles to get to this hill.”

Changes for MVXC

BY GABE QUINTELA

Bordoni the changes in athletes run up and two fifths of a mile) stay mentally tough,” said icing on the cake? “We had to

Water Polo – “Butterfly Sprints”

You can probably swim, maybe you can swim butterfly, but how long can you do it? Join water polo and be late to practice to find out! Butterfly is by far the most cumbersome and tiring stroke in swimming. Sophomore Brandon Beedle of boys Water Polo had to swim butterfly for 20 minutes after not getting in the pool on time, and it is not uncommon for the girls team to swim ten runs of 100 meter swims within 1:30. “The hardest part is not being able to stop the continuous motion of swimming and not being able to distract yourself when you swim. You just think about swimming and breathing,” said Junior Adelaide Hill. The MVHS Oracle does not encourage attempts to swim without thinking about breathing.

Tennis – “The Switch” Tennis is a non-stop barrage of sprints across a court in the boiling sun.

Small wonder that the Mountain View High School tennis team has an equally intense conditioning routine to match. Tennis players switch from jump rope, to ladders, to running back and forth over half the court. These different workouts are switched up in increments of 2 minutes, meaning athletes never have time to get comfortable in a certain workout. Add in the fact that we’re in California and the tennis courts are in the middle of the sun and you have an idea of what a desert feels like, only there’s more pain involved here. graphics byFrancis Sullivan

“Impressive” would be an understatement when it comes to describing Mountain View’s Cross Country season last year. After being crowned state champions last year, expectations were high for the next season, until dramatic changes occurred, the first being the unexpected departure of head coach Evan Smith. Smith’s replacement Coach David Stiles was fired after only three weeks of coaching due to “inappropriate conduct,” stemming from complaints by the parents. Current coach James Bordoni has been putting the team back on track, “moving past these coaching problems and not looking back,” as he puts it.

Last year, the cross country team won state championship with runners Ian and Aubrey Myjer, Garret Rowe, Chris Wells, and Alex McGuirk, the two returning runners being Seniors Crook and Schuh. After asking Crook how cross country was different after Coach Smith resigned, he responded: “The team captains are playing a larger role in decision making and are having to step up and take initiative in the interest of the team.” In general, the team agreed with the words of Sophomore Nick Van Osdol, “The coach doesn’t make or break a team, if hard work and determination is maintained coach or no coach the team can still compete at a high level.”

When Bordoni was asked if his

expectations for the team had changed after the recent events he said, “Not at all! I think we will still do very well; we still have a lot of work in front of us to repeat as CCS champs but it’s definitely within our grasp.”

Bordoni has competed and coached at every level, including running cross-country at Stanford and coaching 43 league champion athletes who, combined, set 18 league records. The team has faith that Bordoni can continue where they left off last year. Bordoni (an assistant under Smith and Stiles) says that the responsibilities of being a head coach versus an assistant include dealing with “ all the logistics and administrative work of meet entries, and travel.” Bordoni believes that his difference in personality will lead him to run workouts and meets differently than the previous coaches.

Looking forward, the team will continue to run the same meets as last year and to constantly improve under Bordoni.

A steady work ethic will drive this team to overcome these coaching difficulties. As we look ahead for the cross country team, keep an eye out for constant growth. Other schools, watch out; because MVXC will not back down.

Update: At the Stanford Invitational on September 25th, Varsity boys and girls placed 26th (out of 33 teams for the boys, and 29 for the girls). MVXC placed 8 of 12 at the Central Park Invitational on September 28th.

News

16

The reality of teen depression hits home:

MVLA district trains in response to findings (continued)

BY KATHERINE PANTANGCO questions to determine suicide risk, persuading the students to think about what is important to them, and referring them to helpful resources. The district hopes to see healthier results in students who show signs of depression with this protocol. “We care about our students, and their safety and wellbeing is our highest priority,” Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Brigitte Sarraf said.

Despite the reality of teen depression, the district is prepared to handle any situation of depression through alert staff and the Community Health Awareness Counseling program on campus. According to Susan Flatmo, a psychologist with the district, the MVLA staff is trained to assess at-risk students. “A long-standing part of classroom culture at each of the high school campuses includes teachers that care about the well-being of their students,” Flatmo said.

Finding depression early is crucial, especially before any thought of ideating suicide. “It is important to recognize ‘stressors’ in their lives and use strategies to relieve stress … [in a] positive and effective manner with the things that life presents us with,” Sarraf said. Nationwide, suicide is the third leading cause of teenage death, as well as the most preventable. “It seems that many students are living in environments that are both connected and disconnected,” Flatmo said. With the social media and networking in today’s generation, staying connected with students on a personal note is critical.

The district’s concern about students being at risk for suicide was heightened by the MVLA results on the Department of Education’s Healthy Kids Survey (2009-2010). Of the students surveyed, 26% of ninth graders and 30% of eleventh graders last year felt sad and hopeless within the past 12 months, approximating 100 freshmen and 120 juniors. 18% and 17% of last year’s freshman and junior class, respectively, seriously considered attempting suicide

Rate of cell phone use while driving increases (cont’d)

BY CASEY FABRE was advertised, but still hundreds of citations were given out,” Officer Lloyd Kerns of the Mountain View Police Traffic Unit said. The campaign Kerns mentioned was a zero-tolerance effort started by the CHP along with other law enforcement agencies that went throughout the Bay Area to catch drivers talking on their cell phones.

“I have written a lot of cell phone tickets, but I have written far fewer tickets to teens than to adults” Officer Kerns said. He added that 90 percent of tickets were written to adults and 10 percent for teens. A study released by the Pew Research Center shows in a September 2009 survey that 47 percent of adults admitted to “texting while driving” compared to 34 percent of teens ages 16-17.

According to a study showed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, having a wireless “handsfree” headset is not necessarily better than using a regular handset, as the biggest factor of having an accident is the driver’s attention being casted away from the road. As reported by a study conducted by State Farm Insurance, teens believe drunk driving is worse than texting while driving. This is not the case since the driver’s reaction time is decreased by an estimated 35 percent by texting, compared to DUI which reduces reaction time by an estimated 12 percent.

“An alternative to texting is voice-operated texting,” Kerns said. “Even after the ban people continue to do it, as long as they’re inconvenienced they’ll do whatever they want.”

within the past 12 months.

Junior Ida Milani isn’t surprised at these high suicidal rates. “Kids try to impress their friends so much and don’t ever want to look weak in front of them, but in reality they’re hurting inside and need help,” she said. Milani believes that our generation “worsens” when dealing with stress in school, friends, family, personally. “The stress on getting good grades and being pretty or in good shape has increased drastically, which puts unnecessary pressure on us,” she said.

The continuance of staying connected with students is vital. “The question of suicide is very real for some students, especially when [they feel] stressed and depressed,” Flatmo said, “However, being depressed does not necessarily make you suicidal.”

While depressed teens feel hopeless, have low energy, and find their problems unsolvable, suicide is preventable, and in the larger scheme of things, everything gets better. “We are all in this together, and we need to look out for each other,” Flatmo said.

District enacts drastic cuts (contINUEd)

and I have no idea if the money will come back next year… We’re shortchanging students if we don’t offer them the best that we can, ” said librarian Benjamin Lundholm. At the last minute, an anonymous donor stepped in to pay for the library aid hours that were reduced.

The Board also cut Exit Exam classes, a course to help students who have not passed their California high school Exit Exams in order to prepare them to pass in future test dates.

“Because both periods had a small amount of students, we had made it that the topics covered in the High School Exit Exams would be taught in standard English and math classes,” said Peltz. They were able to remove the two periods from the budget while making sure students would be able to take the Exit Exam prepared.

Other reductions involved eliminating approximately four to six district part-time positions and laying off a few employees. “Budget reductions are always difficult,” said Mitchner. “I hope that we were able to miniDistrict Managemize the effect on students, ment Reductions and to use a process which Program $233822 Eliminations was open and brought $479570 in many stakeholder Districtviewpoints.”

Wide “One thing we’re Services Faculty Reductions fortunate to have is Reductions $1039099 an MVLA founda$580715 tion which funds us programs such as the College and Student Services Career Center and the Reductions Tutorial Center,” said $1175847 Peltz. “They always make a huge contribution to help graphic courtesy support our programs.” of Kelly Magruder

Voters to elect governor, Senator, Polling stations open: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m Last day to register to vote: October 18th to allocate funds More info (Santa Clara Registrar of Voters):

BY DEVON ZUEGEL AND RYAN BAER

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BY BRENT WEYERS educational programs.

The board has contracted Cupertino Electric to install this 1.2 Mega Watt solar panel system for both high schools. These solar canopies are expected to provide around 45% of the district’s overall power needs, eliminating 43 million nitrous oxide and sulfur oxide particulates, which would save 1,300 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years. PG&E will also give the school a $1.6 million dollar rebate for the installation of these new solar panels. The entire project is expected to be completely finished by April 2010.

Construction will limit the parking available to students, giving priority to seniors. To minimize disruption, the solar panels will be installed in small sections of the parking lot.

Other local school districts including Fremont, San Jose, and Milpitas have also installed solar canopies. “We hope that our science classes can use the solar panels for information,” Superintendent Barry Groves said.

The panels are expected to last over 25 years, supplying much of the power the district needs for years to come.

Schwarzenegger bids Silicon Valley to be a host for World Expo (continued)

BY SOPHIE HO Expositions based on various criteria including a proposed pan-humanistic theme--for example, the Shanghai 2010 Expo theme was “exploring urban development.” For the 2020 World Expo, six countries in addition to the United States have offered 17 cities, including Mountain View and Los Angeles, which are in the running for the final decision in 2014.

The World Exposition, an international exhibition showcasing the wonders of the world’s industry, happens every five years.

Renowned landmarks like Paris’ Eiffel Tower and Seattle’s Space Needle made their first appearances at this event. The last time the World Expo was in the Bay Area was in 1940, at San Francisco’s Treasure Island. California has once again offered its state to be a host, pitching technological giant Silicon Valley against the entertainment culture of Los Angeles.

There have been mixed reactions to the

news. Some residents of Moffet field have expressed concerns over safety and inconvenience of having such a major even nearby.

Nonetheless, NASA Ames Research Center, the Bay Area Council, and the University Associates-Silicon Valley--created by the Regents of the University of California--are all in support of the proposition. The University of California also wishes to create an academic center on the property, according to the Mercury News. The academic center would capitalize on the state of the art buildings left behind by the World Expo.

The World Expo is a large event, one that has the capability of drawing nations from all over the world into one city. Hosting the World Expo would draw more attention the Silicon Valley, which is known for its diversity. It provides opportunities for jobs, revenue, and a chance to meet people from all around the world. “Wouldn’t it be sweet to have a platform to showcase technology that has helped people and our diversity?” librarian Ben Lundholm said.

MVHS accepts PE recognition in Sacramento (continued) and their encouragement of student health. Although MVTV, Mountain View High School’s television network, stated that our district had won the gold, we were not selected to receive the prize of $100,000. However, the MVLA school district ended as a finalist at the award ceremony. The grand prize winners this year were Franklin Elementary School, Charles W.

1-866-430-8683 ; www.sccvote.org.

The November 2, 2010 election in California will elect a new Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, state senators and members of the California Assembly, US senators and congressmen, and school board and other local elected officials. Local voters will also settle on statewide propositions and decide on several county measures. photos courtesy of photobucket Meg Whitman is the canBarbara Boxer is the inMeasure E proposes to Proposition 25 changes didate for the Republican Par- cumbent candidate of the Dem- “protect Foothill College/ the legislative vote requirety. She was eBay CEO from ocratic Party. She encourages De Anza College from State ment to pass budget-related 1998 to 2008 and promotes American companies to bring budget cuts, provide local legislation from two-thirds to corporate expansion. Whitman overseas profits to the US, thus funding that cannot be taken a simple majority but retains opposes the Arizona immigra- creating more jobs and stimu- by the State, and preserve af- two-thirds vote requirement tion law and supports the redi- lating the domestic economy. fordable, quality education for for taxes. Also, when the legrection of money towards the According to Boxer’s web- students” (Santa Clara County islature fails to send its budget classroom by collapsing the site, “Boxer is committed to Ballot, Nov. 2010) by levying bill to the governor by June 15 state’s grants into simplified ensuring that Americans have a $69 parcel annually for six of any year, this would forbid grants for special education. access to high-quality, afford- years. This would preserve the Legislature from collectShe also plans to invest $1 bil- able healthcare that they can class size and allow for more ing salary. This proposition lion in the California Univer- rely on… and is an advocate class options in fields such as was created to address the sity systems. for California businesses.” health care and engineering. state budget issue.

SOLAR CANOPY PLANS (CONT’)

Eliot Middle School, and Katella High School.

This money was awarded to supply students with new workout equipment as a reward for positively impacting student physical activity and health. Although we did not receive a monetary reward, the MVLA district was honored as the best Bay Area district, which is a great tribute.

Upcoming Events COMPILED BY KEVIN TROXELL

October 8: Homecoming Festivities

11:45-1:00 > Picnic: Bring money to buy sweets and drinks sold

by MVHS students.

1:30-2:30 > Parade: Come watch the amazing floats made by freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors!

3:15-5:15 > Football game: Come support our football team by watching them play Santa Clara High School in one of their biggest games of the season.

8:00-11:00 > Dance: Spartan Big Gym, Theme: The Fantastical World of Fantasy

October 11: Grad Night meeting

gubernatorial

race

senatorial

race

local state

measures

propositions

7:oo > A meeting for parents who would like to be involved in set ting up the senior Grad Night

October 12: Schedule B El Cafecito meeting October 13: College Awareness Day

8:05-10:20 > Sophomores and juniors take the pre-PSAT and the PSAT, while freshman and seniors participate in college related activities

7:00-9:00 > Come to the MVHS theatre for the Music Department’s first annual fall concert!

Fall Concert Jerry Brown is the candidate for the Democratic Party.

Brown has a 40-year long career as a politician: He served as California Governor from 1975 to 1983. Brown was the Oakland mayor from 1999 to 2006, and is now the California Attorney General. Brown supports environmental legislation, gun control, same-sex marriage, and the use of new technologies to promote online education, but opposes marijuana legalization.

Carly Fiorina is the candidate for the Republican Party.

She was the CEO of HewlettPackard from 1999 to 2005.

Fiorina’s main economic priority is job creation, which she believes will result in economic growth. She is against raising taxes and has signed the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge which ensures her supporters that she will not vote for any new taxes or increase in taxes as a US senator.

Measure A proposes “to protect and maintain children’s health… through regular medical checkups, immunizations, and early detection, to reduce costs from unnecessary emergency room use, and to prevent elimination of insurance coverage for low-income children of working families” (Santa Clara County Ballot, November 2010) by enacting a $29 dollar annual parcel tax limited to 10 years.

Proposition 19 legalizes marijuana under California but not federal law. If passed, this proposition would permit local governments to regulate and tax the commercial production, distribution, and sale of marijuana. People 21 and older would be able to possess, grow, or transport marijuana for personal use. All these changes would remain illegal under federal law. Currently, the sale of marijuana may result in a prison sentence.

October 15: End of First Quarter October 20: Schedule A October 21: Schedule E Parent/Teacher Conferences

3:00-7:00 > Parents meet with teachers to discuss student work.

November 2 & 3: CAHSEE make-ups

Junior and seniors can make-up the California High School Exit

Exam.