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News in Brief World’s first voicemail unearthed The world’s first voicemail, an audio recording made by Alexander Graham Bell on April 15, 1885, is now available for the public to play. The recording, which was recently extracted by physicist Carl Haber at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was made using a mixture of cardboard and wax and stated: “In witness thereof--hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell.” Bell, the inventor of the telephone, made the recording in a former stable in an attempt to outmatch the quality of Thomas Edison’s audio recordings. Bell’s voicemail can be heard at www.smithsonianmag.com/ multimedia/audio/204505151.html.
The Smoke Signal
Speak, Lead, Influence By Arushi Atluri Staff Writer
speakleadinfluence.com
Alumnus Kylan Nieh aims to help students excel at public speaking. virginmedia.com
Bell’s original voicemail, which was first recorded on April 15, 1885, is now available for the public.
Speak, Lead, Influence (SLI) is a public speaking and leadership program for high school students who are interested in Former and current Presidents learning communication, leaderhonor George W. Bush ship, and effective public speakOn Thursday, April 25, five ing skills. Founded and taught by presidents, past and present, gath- MSJ Alumnus Kylan Nieh, the ered together in Dallas, Texas to program is aimed to help stuhonor Former President George dents get a head-start on develW. Bush at the dedication of the oping the skills and confidence George W. Bush Presidential Cen- needed to speak, lead, and influter. Former presidents Bill Clinton, ence in their personal and profesJimmy Carter, and George H.W. sional futures. Bush, along with President Barack After serving as the school’s Obama, were present as Bush con2009-10 ASB President, Nieh tinued his legacy by dedicating the library to the American people. This is the first time in many years for the five presidents to appear publicly together. By Irisa Lee Staff Writer
matriculated to UC Berkeley. During his second year at the school, Nieh founded SLI as a Public Speaking and Leadership DeCal course taught at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. “There were so many brilliant people around me at Berkeley, but they weren’t able to communicate their ideas effectively. I realized how communication, public speaking, and leadership skills are just so necessary for every career, which is why SLI was born,” says Nieh.The course has been popular among Berkeley students, and many praise both the course, for teaching valuable skills necessary for any future career, and Nieh, for being an inspiring, energetic, and insightful teacher. Now that he has taught five semesters of public speaking and leadership to college students and has witnessed the course’s success, Nieh plans to bring SLI to Fremont. “Teaching this course has been a huge passion of mine and I now want to reach out to teach high school students,” says Nieh, “Communication, public speaking, and leadership skills are just so necessary for them to start early on.” SLI will run from July 2 to August 10, and will consist of in-class activities, speaking exercises, pitches, and several speech assignments for the 30 students chosen to participate. Lectures will be held once a week, and smaller discussion sections will take place later in the week. During these discussion sections, students will individually practice
and perform speeches, as well as work on speaking and leadership exercises to develop confidence and skills. Nieh has already gotten a head-start with the promotion of SLI at MSJ; ASB President Monica Liu and ASB Secretary Grace Lee currently serve as Campus Representatives for the program. As Campus Representatives, the two spread awareness about the program and try to recruit people who may be interested in signing up. Lee says, “I really have a strong conviction for SLI and its vision. Many times, it boils down to connections and networking, and it is often more about who you know rather than what you know…this program really focuses on helping students attain well-refined social abilities and people skills.” So far, Liu and Lee have gotten a good number of people to sign up to receive more information about the SLI, and students who signed up were enthusiastic about the program. “I think this program has the potential to be a huge success,” says 2013-14 ASB President Tammy Tseng, “I hope students who go to SLI are really inspired and motivated to become better speakers and better leaders!” For more information about Nieh and SLI or enroll in the program, contact Nieh through email (sli@speakleadinfluence. com), by phone (510-449-8630), or visit www.speakleadinfluence. com. ▪
Friday, May 3, 2013
Campus Renovations By Nina Krishnan Staff Writer In the past month, MSJ students have seen a surge in campus beautification efforts. Currently, there are three major projects, including: the addition of new benches outside of the N Wing, a retaining wall along the teacher parking lot entrance, and a brick walkway along the B Wing. The campus improvements are due to the collaborative efforts of the L2 Campus Beautification Committee, ASB, and Mission Possible PFA. In regard to these improvements, Junior Shirin Purkayastha said, “It’s really nice seeing the school with all these renovations and better facilities. We attend one of the top public schools in the nation; it’s time our campus reflects that.” The retaining wall will prevent rain erosion along the sloping landscape. Along with its practical purpose, the wall also serves to increase the aesthetic appeal of the parking lot; students returning in the fall can expect to see flowers and new landscaping in the area surrounding the wall. This project is funded mainly by Mission Possible Parent Faculty Association (MPPFA) donations. “We felt that there was a big mismatch between our campus looks and the quality of education. A beautiful campus is important to boost morale and to improve the overall reputation
See CAMPUS, NEWS Page 3
Science competition teams return with a smash
nbcbayarea.com
(From left to right) George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.
Hopkins Student Earns STEM Accolades from White House Jessika Baral, a seventh grader at Hopkins Junior High School, was one of 100 students selected to display a novel scientific discovery at the White House. Baral noticed that her friends and family who wore glasses often strained to read the small text on iPads and iPhones, so she created a device that strengthens eye muscles and thus improves peripheral vision. In a group of 19 subjects aged 12-81, Baral discovered that after usage, their peripheral vision improved by as much as 87 percent. She hopes to produce 200 more machines and send them to high schools statewide.
broadcomfoundation.org
Baral’s project consists of a Styrofoam board equipped with LED lights that fits against the forehead; users follow the moving lights to exercise their eyes. COMPILED BY STAFF WRITERS TINGTING BI, LAURA CHEN, & TAMMY TSENG
and more to succeed in personal events where we were stronger.” Overall placement is based on a team’s cumulative rankings at each event. MSJ students ranked 11th overall, while first place went to Palo Alto High School.
MSJ resumed participation in science competitions after a year long hiatus. The Smoke Signal provides a brief overview of the recent science competitions and how well MSJ teams have done in each. National Science Bowl The National Science Bowl is a highly competitive event based on knowledge in all branches of science and math. MSJ’s National Science Bowl team, comprised of Seniors Audrey Huang, Raymond Liu, and Adi Jung, Junior Krishna Bharathala, Sophomore Kelvin Lu, and led by Physics Teacher Peter Geshke, advanced to nationals and flew to Washington DC on April 25 for the last round of competition. A total of 68 high schools competed in nationals. The teams go through a variety of tournaments at the event, such as a Round Robin-style tournament, a double-elimination round, and then a lab division, before a winner is announced. At nationals, the MSJ team was undefeated in the Round Robin matches in their division. In the double elimination, they won two games and lost two. Overall the team tied for fifth in the nation.
courtesy doe national science bowl
(From left to right) Kelvin Lu, 10, Krishna Bharathala, 11, Raymond Liu, 12, Audrey Huang, 12, and Adi Jung, 12 at the 2013 Regional Qualifiers for the National Science Bowl.
Science Olympiad The Science Olympiad team who proceeded to the State tournament in Tulare, CA on April 13, although not officially affiliated with MSJ, is comprised of 10 MSJ students: Senior Elbert Lin, Nicholas Ha, Juniors Kerrie Wu, Jennifer Mou, Priyanka Mahapatra, Darren Li, Sophomores Catherine Hou, Nathan Fong, Brian Mi, and Freshman Damon Pham.
staff writer irisa lee
Kerrie Wu, 11 and Darren Li, 11 won first place in Astronomy.
for the march 28, 2013 issue News page 2: The team name for TADD is Warriors for Change. Centerspread page 12-13: Staff Writer Kerrie Wu wrote for “Smokie Break.” Centerspread page 12-13: Anjali Kanthilal’s name was misspelled. Feature page 16: Meri Hambalek’s name was misspelled.
This event focused on a wide array of scientific subjects, from designer genes to water quality. The events fell into several different categories, including trials, engineering, labs, and pure knowledge tests. Trial events were based on building and testing a device. Engineering events included both building and question answering. Lab events had a question section and a practical test portion where students might, for example, perform titration tests while pure question-and-answer events focused on knowledge tests and required no hands-on work. The events were held throughout the day and MSJ students often ranked fourth or fifth among 24 total high schools at the Olympiad in personal events. Juniors Kerrie Wu and Darren Li won first place in Astronomy. Junior Jennifer Mou said, “It was a great experience! A lot of senior team members couldn’t make it to the states competition, but we did well nevertheless.” Li also said, “State competitions were later than usual so many of our seniors had scheduling conflicts with college orientations. So it was less of an attempt to do well as a team,
National Ocean Sciences Bowl The Ocean Sciences Bowl is a competition dedicated to the marine sciences. On February 9, the MSJ Varsity team, composed of Seniors Wesley Chou, Rachel Choi, Audrey Huang, Margaret Shen, and Sophomore Peter Qiu, and Junior Varsity team members Junior Youngjin Yun, Sophomores Tingting Bi, Bethany Hung, Kyle Liang, and Freshmen Jamin Chen went to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to compete in regionals. Both teams, comprised of 10 MSJ students in total, competed in Jeopardy-style question and answer events, buzzer rounds, and two-team-challenge questions in each round. They first competed in Round Robin-style and moved on to single and then double elimination. In the end, out of 24 high schools competing, the varsity team placed second (first place went to Albany High School) and the Junior Varsity placed first. Advancement is based on the varsity team’s performance and as second place, MSJ did not go on to nationals. Julie Raymond, the team’s coach, says, “They had a year off last year and made vast improvements in their teamwork and conduct this year. I hope they’ll be able to go to nationals next year.” ▪