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
{
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.