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LARSEN| Award
The Smoke Signal
Thursday, March 24, 2016
MSJ Speech holds annual showcase
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MSJ performers display their talents through the spoken word
we’re done; there’s a lot of work still to do. I’m happy with the way things are progressing and I look forward to new challenges. SS: What are your goals now, and have your priorities changed? Larsen: My main focus continues to be what’s best for kids. With any policies that we create or decisions that we make, I’m thinking about how it impact kids . . . then the question has to be, “Why are we doing it?” [sic] We want to move from an adult-centered environment to one that looks at the needs of all learners and how the adults on campus support those needs. SS: What are some obstacles you’ve faced? Larsen: One of the obstacles is communication. By that, I mean a difficulty in encouraging the community and all stakeholders to come together with direct communication. Features such as MSJTalk, which is not affiliated with the school, enable people to share opinions, sometimes accurate but many times not accurate. With that comes a breakdown in trust from both staff and parents, whereas direct communication enables people to not operate on rumor or conjecture, but rather deal with the person and the facts directly. SS: What prompted you to pursue a job in education? Larsen: Both of my parents, combined, taught for 87 years, so growing up I saw that they were passionate about their jobs, and they loved their jobs. I knew I could have an impact on future generations. SS: Are your parents the biggest influences you’ve had on being a principal? Larsen: I would say they are the key influences, but also my grandfather was an English professor at the college level, and teachers that I had throughout my career at Chadbourne and Mission San Jose High School were really instrumental in helping me decide that this would be a career that I would enjoy. SS: What is one of your biggest motivations for coming to work every day? Larsen: The phenomenal kids. They amaze me. Every day, students here accomplish something that I either didn’t know about or didn’t think was possible. Knowing that I can be part of creating an environment for them to thrive in and hopefully go off and make the world a better place is what motivates me and makes me happy to come every day. SS: What are you most proud about? Larsen: It’s tough to say just one thing that I’m proud about. I think one of our biggest successes is the Mission Expo, and our conversion of the Open House of years past to the current format. Working with Mrs. Cohen as our lead with that, we really changed the tide of what Open House looks like and what the community sees in terms of what our high school offers. ▪
By Ishika Chawla & Andrew Chen Staff Writers The annual Speech Showcase was held Sunday, March 13, offering an evening of entertainment, drama, and fun. Held in C-120, the MSJ Speech’s Showcase exhibited nine performances that Speech members have been working on all year, featuring three out of the five Speech members who qualified to the state tournament in Santa Clara. The showcase brought in a crowd roughly half the size of C-120, and is one of the speech team’s biggest fundraiser events with profits from tickets and food used for funding the team the following Junior Anthony Chen and Senior Abhishek Singh perform a Duo Interpretation. Junior Ria Tomar performs an Oratorical Interpretation.
Sophomore Rohan Srinivasan performs a solo piece.
year. The event kicked off after a few words of introduction from the events’ hosts, Speech President Senior Anu Asokan and Speech Secretary Junior Angela Shalizi. Speech events are extremely diverse and can range from interpretations of certain pieces to original works, and even include impromptu speeches that can be given on a particular topic. Starting off, Freshman Samir Banerjee performed a Humorous Interpretation, presenting Pinnochiante by Allen Harris. Banerjee’s performance, which won 1st at the State Qualifier Tournament, incorporated peculiar sound effects and personal interpretation to tell the classic story of Pinocchio. Next, Junior Ria Tomar presented her Oratorical Interpretation of “How You Define Yourself ” by Lizzie Velasquez, which dealt with who we are. The composer, Velasquez, is a motivational speaker with a rare congenital syndrome and her speech dealt with perseverance and finding identity. Impromptu came next, changing the pace, and from the available topics of “college,” “purple,” or “creativity,” Senior Captain Christine Arnstad delivered a 5-minute speech about college and the definition and achievement of success, composed on the spot. After that, Senior Sahiti Vemula presented her original “The Flame of His Soul” as a spoken word piece, telling the story of struggle and perseverance in the Great Depression. Although not a specific speech event, spoken
word demonstrates the wider application of public speaking beyond competition events. Finally, wrapping up the first half with Original Prose and Poetry, Senior Abhishek Singh performed “Life at ‘The Kings,’” which dealt with a son’s reconciliation with his father’s abandonment. Despite the alcoholic nature of the protagonist’s uncle, the protagonist learns what true family and support are, finally coming to terms with his parents and taking the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions. The second half of the showcase began with Freshman Rahul Iyer, who performed an Original Oratory, which he titled “A New Dance Partner.” His persuasive speech discussed the flaws of having a mentality that is based upon the words, “if only,” describing how people should focus on making things possible rather than blaming external factors. This was followed by a Dramatic Interpretation, performed by Sophomore Rohan Srinivasan. Unlike a Humorous Interpretation, a Dramatic Interpretation provides students with the opportunity to explore more somber and powerful themes in order to make the audience feel extreme emotion. Srinivasan performed a piece by Tony Kushner titled “Angels in America” about a homosexual man dying from AIDS and the struggles that arose from his personal life and illness. The performance
was extremely passionate and left the audience in awe, and in some cases tears. The serious tone continued with another Oratorical Interpretation performed by Freshman Esha Nair. Her piece, “To This Day . . . for the bullied and the beautiful” by Shane Koyzcan, was based upon the concept of bullying and was intended to inspire the audience to not let negative comments get to them. The event ended on a light-hearted note with a Duo Interpretation by Junior Anthony Chen and Singh, who had previously performed. Chen and Singh went the humorous route, performing a condensed version of “Back to the Future” by Robert Zemeckis whose one-liners and plot twists left the audience roaring with laughter. After the conclusion of the speeches themselves, all the performers went on stage together for a bow and continued their annual tradition in which each performer dedicates a rose to someone who inspired them that year. In regards to the showcase, Asokan said, “We didn’t have the crowds we expected, but I am so thankful to every single person who performed or helped out or came to watch us. Our team has grown so close this year and we’re just getting stronger and stronger. The Showcase was a success because both the performers and the audience gained a little knowledge or experience or just had a good time.” ▪
Junior Angela Shalizi, Senior Sahiti Vemula, Junior Anthony Chen, Senior Abhishek Singh, Sophomore Rohan Srinivasan, Junior Ria Tomar, Senior Christine Arnstad, Freshman Esha Nair, Freshman Rahul Iyer, Freshman Samir Banerjee, and Senior Anu Asokan stand on stage for a final bow. photos by staff writer andrew chen
corrections
for the FEB. 26, 2016 issue News Pg. 1: Junior Kristie Chiang’s name is misspelled. One out of three adolescents is affected by teen dating violence. Edward Jiang is a past CEO of StudentRND. News Pg. 2: Funding from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act is
NEWS IN
brief
not exclusive to California high schools. National Newsbyte was by Staff Writer Mustafa Ahmed. Opinion Pg. 4: Sophomore Harshitha Arul Murugan’s name is misspelled. Centerspread Pg. 15: Peer Resource holds two events a month. Peer Resource does not fulfill A-G requirements. Arts & Entertainment Pg. 16: “Sk8er Boi” is misspelled.
Compiled by Staff Writers Carolyn Ge, Mallika Gupta & Anthony Chen
abc7news.com The ACE train derailed en route from San Jose to Stockton after hitting a tree.
nbcnews.com The NFL recognized a direct connection between playing football and later-life brain degeneration.
houstonchronicle.com Go master Lee Se-dol won against the AlphaGo program after suffering three losses.
ACE train derails into Alameda Creek An Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train derailed after hitting a fallen tree on March 7 during a heavy rainfall. According to authorities, four people were seriously injured, but no one was killed. The ACE train, with more than 200 passengers, was en route from San Jose to Stockton and hit the tree near Niles Canyon Road between Fremont and Pleasanton. The ACE train system closed in the area overnight, and announced the reopening of the tracks the next day.
NFL acknowledges link between football and brain disorders NFL’s executive vice president for health and safety policy, Jeff Miller, acknowledged a direct link between playing football and developing degenerative brain disease. Despite paying $765 million in compensation to thousands of families in a 2013 lawsuit, the league admitted that the former players’ injuries were caused by playing football. This is the first time any NFL official has affirmed a direct link between the sport and later-life brain degeneration.
Go master takes victory over Google’s AlphaGo After losing three straight Go matches to Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo, South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol took a game from AlphaGo on March 13. Google DeepMind Chief Executive Demis Hassabis said that Lee’s victory shows that AlphaGo can still undergo improvements. Lee pointed out in a press conference that AlphaGo performed better playing with white stones, and challenged it to play with white stones in the final game of their best-of-five series.