12 Feature
www.thesmokesignal.org
The Smoke Signal
Friday, April 29, 2016
alumnus spotlight
ALVIN ZHOU
Buzzfeed & Tasty Video Producer By Andrew Choi Staff Writer
linkedin.com
MSJ alumnus Alvin Zhou (Class of 2013) has become a culinary viral sensation, creating short food videos for BuzzFeed, as well as appearing on the cooking competition show Chopped. Zhou, who is currently a junior studying operations research at Columbia University, cooks, shoots, produces, and edits shortform food videos for Tasty and BuzzFeed Food, and has earned over 3.3 billion views and 63 million shares on Facebook. Zhou said that he started cooking in earnest after a botched attempt at baking cookies during his years at MSJ, and started making food videos when a friend at Columbia lent him a camera to play with. Before moving to BuzzFeed in May 2015, Zhou worked for a number of different video media companies including Spoon University and Eko Communications, Inc. Since his move, Zhou has made videos on everything from BBQ Chicken Pizza Dippers to Magic Chocolate Balls for his
huge online audience. Zhou’s work at BuzzFeed has taken its Facebook-only cooking channel, Tasty, to a whole new level. According to Tubular Labs, Tasty set the record for the most video views in a single month ever, generating three billion total video views in January of this year. Although the channel is less than a year old, it has since amassed 50 million Facebook followers, and some of its videos have surpassed 130 million views. Many of Zhou’s videos have also been featured on websites such as Cosmopolitan and Fox News. In addition to his work at BuzzFeed, Zhou also recently competed in an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. In an episode that aired on March 15, Zhou faced off against three other college students to cook appetizers, entrées, and desserts with a basket of various ingredients that include some kind of unorthodox component. After each round of just 60 minutes, a contestant is “chopped” from the competition. In the first round, contestants were tasked with creating a mouthwatering appetizer with chicken breast, pre-cooked rice and beans, tomato sauce, and an energy drink. Zhou survived the appetizer round with his open-faced chicken slider, blending the rice and beans with egg for a makeshift bun and integrating the energy drink into a zesty sauce. In the second round, Zhou and the remaining two competitors were challenged to make entrées out of skirt steak, frozen macaro-
Off Campus:
buzzfeed.com From left to right, going down: strawberry nutella french toast roll-ups, garlic bread meatball sliders, one-pan teriyaki salmon dinner, red velvet churros, bacon-wrapped grilled cheese sandwich, rosemary steak, and garlic parmesan stuffed mushrooms.
ni and cheese, coffee, and Brussels sprouts. Zhou made a traditional garlic and rosemary skirt steak with glazed Brussels sprouts and bacon. Unfortunately for Zhou, the two other contestants’ dishes proved to be superior to his, and he was “chopped” from the competition before the third and final dessert round. Despite being “chopped” during his television appearance, Zhou’s love for cooking has not wavered. When asked what his favorite part of his job was, Zhou said, “I get to virtually feed hundreds of millions of people.”
photo by graphics editor monica tang
When you are driving a vehicle off campus, always anticipate the other driver will do something stupid. They will turn right in front of you, cutting you off, or change lanes when you’re right beside them. Pay attention to the drivers around you! I can’t tell you how many traffic accidents I have investigated where the collision could have been avoided if the driver of either vehicle had just been driving slower and anticipating other drivers. Another thing to consider when driving a vehicle is the pedestrian or bicyclist. A bicyclist is supposed to be riding his bike on the side of the street and in the same direction vehicles are driving, but they don’t always do that. Be sure to look both directions when turning right. This is one of the most common collisions near schools. When you come to a stop sign, your normal reaction is to look to your left to see if a car is coming from that direction and then just turn right. You don’t expect to have a bicyclist or pedestrian just to your right. Always come to a complete stop and look both ways.
Loud Music:
Playing your stereo or car radio too loud is against the law. The law says you are playing your music too loud if someone 50 feet away from your vehicle can hear your music. The reasoning behind this is as a driver you not only have to be able to see around you, you must be able to hear other vehicles or sirens of emergency vehicles. The law also says you cannot wear two earbuds or earphones at the same time while driving a vehicle for the same reason as before.
Cellular Phone: Drivers under the age of 18 cannot use a cellular telephone, even if it is hands free, at all while driving. Once you turn 18, you can use a cellular phone if it is hands free only. But if you are answering the phone and then turning the speaker on, you have already violated the code by answering the phone. And texting is even more dangerous, don’t do it!
Have fun but be safe.
MISSION HIGHLANDS SWIM CLUB
Dr. Jeffrey Wong
Memberships available for $800. This price includes 2016 annual fees.
5 lane, 25 yard pool lifeguards always on duty swim lessons volleyball court, table tennis, tether ball covered BBQ area monthly socials Sharks swim team discount for members
Mention this ad when purchasing a membership and receive 20 guests passes— $100 value. 41900 Palm Ave—Across from MSJHS. For information send email to memberships@highlandsswimclub.org. Website: www.highlandsswimclub.org
Orthodontist
200 Brown Rd. Ste. 202 Fremont, CA 94539
510-490-0591 510-490-0591