Laws introduced with the new year A guide to California legislation that affects staff and students’ daily lives BY JACOB ANTONY
California Gay History Law
Internet Sales Tax
The California Gay History law aims to integrate a more widespread appreciation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual contributions and accomplishments to American society. “I’m all for it,” says government and history teacher Mike Williams, “I think that history books and what’s written [in them] has changed… as a reflection of the [country’s history].” Many opponents of this law protesting by calling for parents to pull their kids out of school permanently in the face of “sexual indoctrination.”
Buying from online retailers is now more expensive—after a fight about the Internet sales tax from last June between online department stores and legislators, the law is looking to be debated again. If the lawsuit fails, online retailers will continue to place taxes upon online orders. Most people don’t seem to be very worried, however. “If paying a little more when I shop online can help California’s financial situation out, I don’t see the problem with it,” explains junior Steve Hahn. English teacher Rick Hanford agrees, saying, “I think [the state of California] needs tax revenue. I’m willing to pay a little extra to fund civilization. I’m a big fan of civilization.”
Plastic Bag Ban Paper or plastic? It’s an issue no more now that San Jose’s plastic bag ban has taken effect. Stores now ask shoppers to bring their own reusable bags from home or pay 10 cents for paper. “It bugged me at first,” says Williams, “But now that [plastic bags] are gone, I see a benefit in that. My problem with this is that the government tells us what we can or can’t use.” Howden adds, “At some point you’ll be legislating someone to the point where they can’t choose what they want,” he says. Although it is an inconvenience for many, it is necessary due to “excessive litter dangers.” GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM)
Despite President Barack Obama’s concerns over certain provisions of this bill, he signed it into law, granting the defense budget another $662 billion for the fiscal year. NDAA critics claim that it reinforces the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), allowing the President to indefinitely detain persons suspected of terrorist activity without trial. Opponents claim the NDAA gives AUMF freedom to potentially abuse laws. History teacher Kyle Howden says, “People have a problem with [the NDAA] because in theory it allows the government to detain citizens without due process, which is where it becomes a military issue as opposed to your standard civil courts.”
For many viewers, it’s annoying when ads scream out at you from a television with the volume turned down. The FCC seems to agree. Effective in Dec. 2012, the CALM Act will ensure that the average volume of commercials can be no louder than the average volume of the programming carried by the network. Acting on 6,000 complaints received since 2008, the FCC aims to improve the quality of the TV experience without detracting from TV’s prime source of revenue. “It’s kind of a pointless law, but at least I can study and watch TV at the same time without being blasted by a louder commercial for something I don’t want to buy,” says junior Kimberly Tan.
sure that all of our seniors are offered a wide range of texts that expose them to great ideas and prepares them for the kind of complex reading material they will be exposed to in college.” Some students, however are still getting used to the idea. “Before, when I thought about my senior year, I’d be like ‘Oh look there are choices’, and now there’s only one class and I don’t want to take AP so it’s kind of limiting,” says junior Yin Liang. In contrast, Junior Jerry Wang looks forward to the change, saying, “It’s definitely something I did not expect, but it will make life easier during course selections.” Students are not the only ones who will
have to adjust to the new class format; teachers are doing their best to adapt to the curriculum as well. Richmond explains, “For many of us, we’ve taught these things already, just not in this particular course… It is going to require meeting as a team to develop so it’s not just a collection of titles and there is some coherence.” However difficult the change may be at the moment, Richmond reflects that the hard work is worth it, as it “keeps us fresh and learning new ideas.” Whatever the outcome may be, students and staff will have to wait for fall to see if European Literature can achieve Richmond’s goal of becoming a class “that any student at Lynbrook can come into and benefit from.”
Senior literature course offerings to be modified BY DANIELLE LERNER
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ecisions, decisions, decisions. High school is full of choices, but starting next school year, seniors won’t need to decide between British Literature and Contemporary Literature. In a fairly recent district–wide consolidation, both classes will be replaced by an upcoming course called European Literature All of the current senior literature teachers are currently working to establish the curriculum of the new course. Leading the change is current British Literature teacher Robert Richmond. He explains that both the British and Contemporary courses are “very
good, but limited to geographic location [for British] and time period [for Contemporary]. Why not put them together rather than forcing [students] to choose?” European Literature will thus attempt to combine aspects of both classes, allowing students to focus on other famous works such as French play Cyrano de Bergerac, epic poem Dante’s Inferno and many German productions in “an effort on our part to broaden [students’] horizons” after American literature in junior year,” says Richmond. Department chair and AP English Literature teacher Nelda Clark is an advocate of this change, saying, “[Making changes to the senior curriculum is] a positive step to en-
Students achieve high honors BY EESHA KHARE & VICKY RO Senior Cynthia Day; Intel semifinalist As soon as Intel Science Talent Search representative Julie Dunkle announced that the winner was from the math category, most of the students turned to senior Cynthia Day. After working for more than 200 hours on her project, both at home and at San Jose State University, she was barely able to suppress her excitement in becoming a semifinalist. Her project, “Time complexity and algorithms for blue-red chomp and its subgames,” is aimed at helping companies develop artificial intelligence for popular games or practical simulations—like computer-modeled simulations used in economics and biology. Because
Time Complexity is about how long it takes to perform a system, Day says her project “can help with real-world issues from optimization to protein structure prediction.”
Senior Nina Kamath; Senate Youth Program
Kamath was selected as a delegate from the state of California for the competitive United States Senate Youth Program in early December. She will travel to Washington D.C. from Mar. 3 to 10 to hear policy addresses by officials and participate in meetings with President Obama, Supreme Court justices and state senators. Kamath was selected based on the quality of her application, academic achievement, knowledge of U.S. government and community leadership service. She is the first to be selected in Lynbrook history. Kamath partakes in the program because
Nina Kamath
“it would be an excellent culmination of my high school experience.” She encourages others to apply for the program by “volunteering in a political campaign, interning for an elected official or engaging in service hosted by... community organizations.” Sophomore Julia Huang; MIT Math Prize
The time Huang spent preparing for math contests last year exceeds a thousand minutes by far. In order to win one gold medal last year on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, Huang spent 465 minutes doing 49 math problems in three different math contests at two different locations. First, she scored within the top 270 of all females who took the AMC 10 or 12 in February. As a result, she was qualified to attend the Math Prize for Girls Contest at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September. To mentally prepare herself, Huang adjusted her schedule to East Coast Time early. This helped
Julia Huang
Cynthia Day
her place third, winning $7,500. Because she placed within the top 41 of the contest, she qualified for the Math Prize for Girls Olympiad, which she took in November 2011. The Olympiad is a four-hour proof-based test with four questions. In order to win a gold medal, which is the highest honor, competitors had to score more than 22 points. Huang was one out of four girls in North America to achieve this honor. Senior Eric Shen; Intel semifinalist
Shen was the second 2012 Intel Semifinalist. His project, titled “Design of MagnetoNanosensors to Detect Radiation Exposure through Biomarkers,” is based on synthesizing medical nanosensors, which can detect concentration of substances in a blood sample. His parents work in hard drive, which uses concepts of materials science, so Shen decided to work for a Stanford professor this past summer to better understand his parents’ field and gain experience. Shen says, “It was my first time doing research. I did it for the fun, and when I analyzed my results, I considered entering the project into the competition.” Shen underwent a long process of working over 350 hours on the project. He encourages other to research and “when the results come out, you can decide to submit it to the competition.”
Eric Shen
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NOORSHER AHMED, JANE JUN & JOEY LI
VIKES WIN AWARDS| (left to right) Senior Cynthia Day’s project called, “Time complexity and algorithms for blue-red comp and its subgames,” places her as semi-finalist; senior Nina Kamath is selected as delegate from the state of California for the highly competitive United States Senate Program; sophomore Julia Huang wins third in the Math Prize for Girls Contest; senior Eric Shen, the second Intel semi-finalist, studies nanosensors.
Field noise impact reevaluated CANDY CHANG & NAMRATA SINGH
Letter from the editors Lynbrook really doesn’t take a break— we’re only a month into the new year and the campus is already up and bustling. Students mobilized for IDC Fantastics (pg. 7) in an impressive show of spirit, while others are finding solace through relaxing games of ultimate frisbee (pg. 14). Summer program application time (pg. 10) has started up on the tail of college application season, and there are more options than ever for people who want to explore their interests. We’re doing a lot of exploring this issue too. Opinion’s offering an all-new pro/con feature (pg. 4), so check it out for hard facts and opposing viewpoints on the plastic bag ban. Photoessay has also taken a completely new approach; turn to the last page for your peers’ thoughts on 2011. On behalf of our staff, we hope we have covered the issues deemed important to the students, teachers, and parents of the Lynbrook community. Don’t forget that you can write us letters at enc_epic@yahoo.com! Cheers,
Candy Chang and Namrata Singh
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he baton has been passed to the second leg of the race to complete the new track and field. Since last September, construction at the dirt track and grass field has progressed quickly. Construction has been so efficient that phase two, the renovation of Stober Field, may begin as early as Feb. 6, which is much earlier than what School Facilities Manager Steve Chamberlain expected. He says, “Construction has been going a lot faster than I predicted, since I thought that there would be at least a few weeks of delay because of rain.” Chamberlain also says that the dry weather has contributed to the work getting done faster. However, in order for phase two to begin, the field must be fully approved. When the Lynbrook-Monta Vista Union (LMU) challenged the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in early 2011 for probable light and noise pollution, further research was conducted to find ways to reduce the sound and light production. Once the research was completed, Judge Joseph Huber, the judge in charge of the lawsuit case, looked over the report. Although he approved the new report, he still felt that more research could be done. Since then, a new EIR has been circulated, which includes new research that examines all of the possible mitigations, including sound insulation and noise barriers
behind the bleachers. This most recent report concluded that while there are not any mitigation measures that would completely eliminate the noise impact, they would still reduce the unavoidable impact that would occur under the previous draft of the report.
The report has to be circulated around the community for 45 days, upon which approvals from the school board and Judge Huber will be required. Davidson says that “phase one might get done as early as fall, while phase two may be c o m p l e te d by next spring.”
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NOORSHER AHMED
BY VIK WAGHRAY
News in Brief
Drama room turned into theater
BY NOORSHER AHMED
Assassins This year’s annual senior game of Assassins will begin on Friday, Feb. 3, and continue until one assassin is left standing. Monetary prizes will be awarded for the three categories of first kill, most kills and longest survival time. Signups will continue during brunch and lunch at the top of the quad until Wednesday, Feb. 1. All seniors interested in playing must bring $5 in an unsealed envelope with their name and third period teacher written on the front. Rules and regulations can be found on the Facebook group titled “Assassin 2012 Sign Ups.”
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n one month, the drama department will finish changing the drama classroom into a blackbox theater. The changes include new raised seating, a larger stage, dimmers, solid doors and new lighting. These changes have been much anticipated because it will allow the drama department to increase the number of times each production is performed and allow more technicians to be trained at one time. “Currently I am only able to train a couple of light and sound technicians using the audi-
torium, but with the new theater I can train a lot more students to be technicians,” says Drama department chair Laurel Cohen. Currently, the drama department can only utilize the larger auditorium for a limited time because it is booked for other showcases and events. The new blackbox theater will provide an independent facility in which smaller, more intimate productions can be performed much more frequently. The drama department funded the improvements through fundraisers, sales of tickets to productions and grants. With all the planning and effort that went into get-
ting the new theater, Cohen wishes to name the theater to give it more respect. “I want to name the theater because I don’t want students to simply refer to it as ‘the little theater’,” says Cohen. “[The theater] has always been a dream of mine and Ms. Davidson has made the dream come true,” says Cohen. Many students also share this feeling. “Everyone was really looking forward to it since last year. Our performances will be lighted a lot better, we will have better sound and we can run more productions in [the new theater],” says sophomore Melanie Brouillette.
Sadie Hawkins Dance
This year’s Sadies Hawkins dance will take place on Friday, Feb. 3 from 7:3010:30 p.m. in the Lynbrook gymnasium. The theme is “Be My Hero.” Students are encouraged to dress up according to the theme with their dates or friends. Tickets will be sold for $10 with ASB and $12 without during brunch and lunch at the top of the quad until the day of, and at the door for $12. AISA Showcase
The first Lynbrook American Indo Student Association (AISA) Showcase is taking place on Feb. 18 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in the auditorium. The name of the Indian showcase is Silsilay, which means “stories” in Hindi. The AISA showcase will incorporate a variety of cultural Indian dances including Bhangra and Jalwa, skits, a fashion show and a performance from select members of the Lynbrook choir. Tickets will go on sale at the beginning of February. All of the proceeds made from this showcase will be put towards Project Rishi, which is an organization working to implement mobile clinic programs providing healthcare to people in rural villages of Southern India. Interact Dance
Interact Club will be holding a dance on Feb. 24 in the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino from 7:30-10:30 p.m. to raise money for their 2011-2012 International Project, Free the Youth. Money raised will go to the organizations Mary’s Meals and Firelight, both of which support the youth of third-world countries who suffer from malnutrition, lack of education, poverty and disease. Tickets cost $10 pre-sale, $12 the week of the dance,and $15 at the door; students must bring an ID to enter.
By Joey Li & Alice Zhang
AUSTIN YU—EPIC
A NEW PLACE TO PERFORM| The drama room is currently in the process of being converted into a blackbox theater. The final construction should be finished in about one month. So far, changes include raised seating, an enlarged stage, improved lighting, new walls, a bigger door, a black paint job and new drapery. In the future, a new projector will also be installed. The theater will be used by the entire drama department, including all drama classes and the Thespian Society.
Winterguard starts season BY JANE JUN
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ith a flurry of tossing flags and rifles, Winterguard is starting its official competitive season this week. The team is attending its first official showcase on Jan. 28 at James Logan High School, in Union City. They will be competing against other Winterguard teams from high schools such as Amador Valley, Monta Vista, Mountain View, San Benito, Saratoga and Granite Bay. Several large changes make this year’s team more unique than teams from previous years. For example, this is the team’s first season with only one returning Winterguard instructor on the staff. Guard member junior Tiffany Chien says, “We recently changed instructors, so the preparation is way different than what most of us are used to, but we’re just getting used to it and it’s going well.” Also, the team currently has 25 members, compared to last year’s roster of 15; the number of players have nearly doubled. This addition of ten members makes the team one of the larger teams in their circuit, according to the rules of the competitive circuit cap unit of Winterguard competitions. The maximum amount of members on a Winterguard team is 30. “We’re excited to have all of the new additions this year,” says Guard Director Monalisa Schlieper. “The major portion of them are freshmen, which is great when you want to build and establish a strong performance
group. This gives them time to be trained under our system, and to bond as performers… the new staff has performed in various dance, drum corps and guard ensembles on a worldwide stage, and we’re bringing that experience to the floor this season with Lynbrook.” To those who dismiss Winterguard as not being a legitimate sport, members say that the Winterguard is just as intensive as any other sport. It is also special and unique in that it combines dance routines with equipment. Schlieper also describes the team’s particular style as a blend of jazz, lyrical dance and hiphop. This year’s show, called “Ready Player One,” features different versions of “Live and Let Die,” a song originally performed by famous rock artist Paul McCartney. Other music styles, such as jazz, classical music and dubstep are also implemented in the program. The team practices three to four times a week for three to seven-hour rehearsals, in the gym, field house and the Cove. Although the team is also very driven and anticipates to win many awards, the staff, in the end, values individual growth and gratification from working hard and having fun. Guard choreographer Mikey Akiyama says, “My hopes and goals this year are for the performers to ultimately have fun and to take with them experiences and memories that they will have fun looking back on after the season is over.”
Speed limit around schools to be 15 mph BY JESSICA CAO
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ave the kids! On Nov. 15, 2011, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously in favor of a program that will lower speed limits around schools to 15 mph, making it safer for school-aged pedestrians. This new program is in accordance with a 2008 state law that allows cities to both lower speed limits around schools and expand school zones to 1,000 feet. Councilmember Pete Constant says in his January 2012 newsletter, “The council also accepted my amendment to the proposal, which requires that data be collected from the three new school zones… I think it’s important that we analyze this policy based on verified data rather than simply assuming lower speeds equals improved safety.” The councilmember cites recent reductions in the City police force, as well as the major illegal activity around schools being illegal Uturns and parking rather than speeding, as reasons to remain skeptical. The City only has the funding to expand these new speed limit zones to three schools; Council offices were required to submit at most one school from their respective Districts to be considered by city staff in the Department of Transportation (DOT). Streets eligible for the program must be residential streets, have no more than two lanes and have a maximum speed limit of 30 mph. The DOT is expected to determine their final list in February with the approval of the City Council and anticipate having the signs installed in March. According to a memorandum from Oct. 24, 2011, “the evaluation of the effectiveness of the 15 mph school zone as a school access safety tool will occur in the spring of 2012, with follow-up reporting to Council in the summer of 2012.”
BY MICHAEL PARK
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he first of January is an important date: a fresh start when changes are welcome. Although Obama didn’t come through, our San Jose legislators have: finally, they’ve implemented “Ordinance No. 28877”, the Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance, which bans plastic bags in San Jose. With this ordinance in effect, we can change the world one city at a time. You may be thinking, “Wow, it’s so annoying that I have to carry my own reusable bags.” But do you hear yourself? Approximately 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year. You yourself use 1,200 bags a year and out of those, only 1 percent are recycled. Yo u
should be ashamed of how much you are wasting. Because of you and your plastic bags, thousands of cute sea turtles and dolphins are killed every year. And it’s our fault that approximately every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic bags are also extremely toxic, and when burned, can spread everywhere from your water to the air you breathe. Some creatures end up surviving even after eating plastic bags and will end up in your food. I dare you to sit at Red Lobster and enjoy your meal while thinking about all the toxins from the plastic bags. Other than filling up our landfills, plastic bags don’t do anything to benefit us. Scientists don’t even know how long they take to decompose, so why do we even use them? If you are worried about losing a source of garbage bags, go to Costco and buy 200 for $20 (that’s 10 cents apiece, which isn’t bad at all). We Americans are known to be lazy, but if you can’t even bother to support Bring Your Own Bag, then you’ve crossed the line. Honestly, it’s not that hard to bring a reusable bag to the store. Stop whining and bring your own bags! California taxpayers pay about $25 million yearly just to dispose of plastic bags. If other cities follow suit in getting rid of plastic bags, we will lower the price of other plastic goods and ultimately save money due to the surplus of plastic. Now stop and think to yourselves, “What is a good reason to keep plastic bags?” Your answer should be, “Michael, there are none!” We should embrace this change and make a difference for the future of this planet.
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hat better way to start the new year than by resolving to ban plastic bags, right? Wrong. The biggest downside is that an increase in trash bag purchases will lead to an increase in sales, which will lead to an increase in production. The goal of the law was to lower the dependency on plastic, but we will be creating more plastic bags to meet the demand. “But Clay! Plastic requires so much oil to produce! We’re blasting holes the size of Australia into the ozone! ” Calm down. Only five percent of oil consumption goes to plastic production and only two of that five percent is used for plastic bags. You might argue that it is the little things that count, but it’s not enough to make a strong impact. If you’re so caught up about saving the environment, why don’t you use public transportation instead of a car? A better alternative is to find ways to limit all plastics instead of just a small fraction of the industry. Banning plastic bags might also lead to an increase in the use of paper bags. The problem here, however, is the fact that paper bags are much more harmful to the environment than you think. Although they are biodegradable, their production generates more pollution and it takes more energy to produce-
and r e cycle them. And it‘s not like plastic bags grow on trees. Someone has to make them. Remove plastic bags and you’ll displace hundreds of people from their jobs. And finally, let’s address the problem that I’m sure you have been so concerned over this entire time: all the cute little animals that are being wiped out by plastic bags. This is propaganda. Heal the Bay president Mark Gold has rebutted the argument that plastic bags do not kill a large number of marine life, pointing out that the bags break down in the ocean naturally. We’re treating a symptom, but we still haven’t found the cure for the disease. Banning plastic bags won’t get us far. It just makes life less convenient while failing to solve any imposing threat.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY OPINION SECTION
BY CLAY SONG
New European Literature course will offer a more stimulating education
W
hen a choice that students have been waiting three years to make suddenly doesn’t exist anymore, a lot of worrying is expected. Such is the case with the changes that the English department has made to senior literature course offerings; people have balked at the fact that next year, Contemporary and British Literature will be replaced with a new class called European Literature. However, there is no need for panic. What students should realize is that the idea for a new literature course was designed to cater more directly to the Lynbrook population. The Contemporary Literature course was designed for struggling students and since its establishment, the Lynbrook population has changed. Now over 90 percent of students go to college, so it is more important that students learn the material that will prepare them most for college. European Literature will cover classics included primarily to accomplish this; as English teacher Robert Richmond explains, “While there were great strengths to both [old senior lit classes], we wanted to take the best aspects of both and make an even better class. So we thought, how can we offer a course that will let us teach the greats so students will no longer be forced to choose between the two?” People fear that the course will be difficult, especially in comparison to Contemporary Literature. Difficulty is by no means an issue. Richmond asserts that the course will not be “any harder than American Literature, or the reality of British Lit and Contemporary Lit. Expect to be inspired, challenged and entertained, but not overwhelmed.” Even if the class is difficult, it should be judged on how well it prepares students for the future. Even if European Literature is more difficult, it is the struggle that makes the course interesting, giving students opportunities to explore and push boundaries. Some, like junior Zoe Pennington are “disappointed” about the changes because they were “looking forward to Contemp Lit and reading [books] like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Kite Runner, but now don’t get to read them.” However, many of these titles, including the aforementioned novels and A Raisin in the Sun, will instead be added to the junior year literature courses, as “a weakness of the junior year curriculum is that [we] often run out of books after [reading The Great Gatsby]. These titles could very easily [become staples of] junior lit,” says Richmond. As for
NDAA violates rights!
other titles, many of the books discussed in Contemporary Literature can be read by oneself; books in European and AP Literature, on the other hand, are chosen because they can discussed to an extent at which students get something out of the class settings that they simply will not get out of reading alone. Junior Quinn Winters adds European Literature will “offer a wide variety of fun books like Contemp Lit did, but from what I heard, it will also be a [more] informative class.” Students will both have their fun and meaningful discussion. The denser material covered in AP Literature and European Literature, on the other hand, is truly worth investing in; any student can see that Crime and Punishment is much more difficult to decipher by oneself than Kite Runner ever will be. For those uninspired by classic reads, being knowledgable and familiar with notable literarure is still a must. “I am absolutely convinced that if you understand great literature, you will be a better person. The ability... to understand literature and to have contact with cornerstone pieces of literature can change a person’s life,” says Richmond. This also applies to those who are more taken by non-literary subjects. Even in college, the value of a liberal arts education, which emphasizes a strong background in English, is encouraged. The fact that students will be exposed to European literature encourages this: students will be exposed to a wider variety of cultures and philosophy beyond any literature they learned before. The course ensures that students are well-rounded and can cure cancer whilst holding an intellectual conversation on the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the end, the true purpose behind being a student is to learn. Schools do not want graduates to simply pass, but to educate and teach the value of learning. The fact may be hard to accept now, but in retrospect, most students will surely find that a more challenging literature course is grueling in the present, but rewarding in the end. As alumnus Peter Tang says, “Your harder class won’t be harder when it’s time to play, and it’ll be useful when it’s time to work.”
ART ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA CAO
When Obama signed the National Authorization Act (NDAA), he went against the promise he made during his campaign: the promise that he would protect civil rights. The NDAA is an obvious violation of and can and will be used to further the U.S. government’s attack on certain minority groups, especially Muslims. The provision in question authorizes the President to order the arrest of anyone who is suspected of engaging in terrorist acts for an indefinite amount of time and without a right to a lawyer. The danger lies in that NDAA can be loosely interpreted and allow the President to arrest anyone he wants indefinitely without a formal charge. Since fourth grade, my classmates and I have known about something called Habeas Corpus that allows detainees to seek a swift trial, so that those unjustly arrested can seek justice and be freed. The NDAA violates Habeas Corpus by allowing indefinite detention. Since Habeas Corpus can only be suspended in time of war, the NDAA is either unconstitutional, or we are fighting a war on our own soil against an intangible enemy--terrorism. If a person was to scare their friend so that they screamed for their mommy, they are technically engaging in an act of terror. We are obviously not fighting such a thing. The NDAA is also a blatant offense against American values. I believe that as Americans, we have created a tradition where government has always come under scrutiny and been kept away from such tremendous power by the people ever since the birth of this nation. The NDAA gives the President the ability to order the arrest of anyone in opposition to him or her and lay false claims of suspicious terrorist activities. Since the apprehended suspects do not have the right to Habeas Corpus or to a lawyer, such false claims would never be exposed. Such power can be used to suppress citizens and crush opposition and is analogous to dictatorship. The problem is many people don’t realize the implications of the NDAA because they think that the it does not affect them. After all, the law was created to combat terrorists. Stereotypically, a person might view a terrorist as a Muslim fellow with a beard, turban and brown skin. This in itself shows the already-existent bias against Muslims, which is obviously also felt by the government officials in charge of securing the country. For example, the name “Ahmed” is the last name of millions of people world-wide. Just because one person blew himself up does not mean that every Muslim will do the same. However, I still require a passport to travel domestically while other “not-terrorist-looking/not-Muslim-name” citizens can travel without one. The NDAA can be used by the government to further the targeting of Muslim Americans like me. I know I am not the only one who worries about profiling; there have been numerous protests and articles written against the NDAA. Fortunately for everyone, one lawsuit concerning the NDAA can easily topple it by deeming it unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU), one of the largest civil rights law and lobby groups in the U.S., has already pledged to fight the NDAA in court, Congress, and internationally. As a high school student, the best way for me to help fight the NDAA is to sign a pledge of support with the ACLU for the Congressional leaders. And I suggest that you do the same if you want to preserve your civil rights. We must help fight the NDAA. Standing on the sidelines will mean turning a blind eye to the U.S. government’s attempt to gain more power. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Domestic passports should be required for all passengers for improved security
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BY DANIELLE LERNER
odern air travel technology has advanced from the days of wooden propellers and two-person planes. However, even with the new body scanners and carry-on restrictions implemented, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has undermined their security efforts with surprisingly lenient passport requirements. Due to poor security and discrimination in airports, passports should be required on all domestic flights as well as international flights. Currently, only adult U.S. citizens 18 and over are required to show a photo ID when boarding a domestic flight and passports are only required as verification tools for international flights. Even non-U.S. citizens are not mandated to carry a passport; a permanent resident card issued by the government is acceptable for domestic flights. This inconsistency allows for greater security risks while simultaneously discriminating against green card holders and minorities. Passports should be required for all domestic flights inside the U.S., regardless of people’s age or nationality, this includes underage passengers such as high school students. Passport requirements should not be limited based on citizenship credentials. Any person, regardless of nationality, has the ability to pose a security threat. A standardized,
accepted form of identification in the form of passports will eliminate any doubts of identification. Furthermore, senior Hamza Khan says that for unknown reasons, he and his family have been detained and required to show their passport before boarding domestic flights despite their statuses as U.S. citizens. Khan says, “[My family and I] always have to stand on the side and wait in some customs room for two hours. I once had to wait around four hours. It’s quite a hassle.” The blatant discrimination shown here, even against minors, borders on the edge of racism. This kind of profiling would be nonexistent if everyone were required to carry a passport in the first place. Additionally, both minors and adults should carry passports. While minors (children under the age of 18) are viewed as too young to pose a major threat, and are thus not required to carry a photo ID, this discrepancy is indeed a security oversight. Adults traveling with infants and young children should still have to show official identification for their kids, because children can easily be persuaded to carry out dangerous tasks. Case in point: Mexican drug cartels have preyed on Texas schoolchildren. Children are vulnerable, i m p re s sionable and easy tools for manipu-
lation for people with less-than-noble intentions. Therefore, it is not just the teenagers but also the younger children who could be a threat to domestic security. “I actually think [carrying a passport] would be a little much of a hassle for domestic flights, because your driver’s license is already a legal form of identification,” says senior AJ Zavala. However secure a driver’s license may seem, use of fake IDs is on the rise, and their prevalence extends past SAT tests and bars. The only identification that would ever come close to fail-proof is the passport. While fake IDs may be presented using a driver’s license, a passport is extremely difficult to falsify and is probably the most secure way to guarantee authenticity. For everyone’s physical safety, as well as for a peace of mind, passports must be made the standardized airport identification for everyone regardless of age, religion or race. The passport is a tool that is readily available for most citizens, a simple solution.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA CAO & VIK WAGHRAY
New and improved: the randomized and computerized Job Shadow program is more efficient BY IRENE HSU
W
ith major change comes major dissent—the same can be said about the new registration process that Job Shadow has recently adopted. An annual event for students to shadow the careers of their choice, Lynbrook’s Job Shadow program recently upgraded their sign-up process, and while it has been met with considerable dissatisfaction among students and parents, this reaction is only due to the novelty of the system. In fact, the revamped computerizing the sign-up process is probably one of the program’s smartest moves. The new process begins when interested students turn in their registration forms, which ask for personal contact and health information; this first step ended on Jan. 10. The sooner that students turn in their forms, the likelier they are going to get an earlier time slot to sign up for their job shadowing choices. In previous years, this first step did not exist. The first-comefirst-serve policy was exercised online instead. This meant that near 10 pm everyone’s mouse pointers hovered over the “submit” button. This resulted, almost unfailingly, in a disastrous server crash. Students then submit their job selection forms online on Jan. 30; the new process has continued to preserve priority to juniors. This year, each day’s sign-up times are broken up into five one-hour time slots, in which students are permitted to sign up throughout the hour. Also, as a new improvement to the Job Shadow sign-ups, students are able to list as many career choices as they would like in order of preference, whereas last year they had only a few choices. Says sophomore
Susmitha Bhat, “Last year, I ended up not doing Job Shadow because there were so many choices, so I couldn’t narrow it down. But with the unlimited options we can put down this year, I think it’ll be much easier to decide on what I want. And it’s not so bad if I don’t get the exact job I want, because in the process of [choosing the jobs], I will have done enough research to get an idea of what each job entails.” The process is fairer for students who may have slower Internet connection, because it eliminates competition between students to submit. Also, a server crash is less likely to occur because students have the whole hour to turn in the job selection
representative Jennifer Cousins explains that “they can take their time with the form and selection instead of rushing through it as they did in the previous years.” The computer program assigns the jobs randomly at the end of the one-hour time slots, and updates job availabilities online at the same time. Before, volunteers painstakingly had to assign the jobs to students manually; with the computerized system, the job availabilities are updated much more frequently, so, as Cousins says, students can “take into what is available into account.” Junior Clarence Tan says, “Last year, I signed up for the medical careers, which
forms; participants are less likely to cause an overload on the server. Since students who sign up during their allotted time frame recieve the same priority,
were more popular and filled up faster; I ended up not getting a career at all [for Job Shadow], because I was not able to make my decision as to which careers to choose of the
ones that were left.” Another complaint from students is that Job Shadow day is on a school day, rather than a staff learning day. This is because there isn’t a staff learning day on the day that usually hosts Job Shadow day. Representative Miko Otoshi says, “We’ve been suspecting that [some students] don’t sign up for Job Shadow because they want the day free; this year, we’re hoping that since it’s not on a non-school day, students will be more willing to sign up.” Cousins also adds, “Even though students have to miss school, teachers have been advised not to have any major tests or projects on that day. Students should really consider Job Shadow because it’s something so different but worthwhile.” For confused students and parents, the procedures are listed on the job shadow website. Bhat says, “I looked through the procedures on the website, and they were really helpful. I didn’t find the process confusing at all; everything was spelled out clearly.” Just because the process is new does not mean that it is bad; all new things can be confusing, and it only takes time. The changes to the program have helped reduce server crashes and helped make Job Shadow sign-ups less of a late-night dash to the site. This new registration process is more just, its results sent faster, its outcomes more accurate and the manpower saved. What isn’t to like about it?
BY YASMINE MORTAZAVI
O
n Friday, January 13th, students from all five schools of the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) gathered in Fremont’s gym to participate in the first intradistrict Fantastics rally. With an Olympic theme, “athletes” from each school had to play games like Jalapeno Dash (top right, junior Silvia Signore), Skin the Snake (bottom left, junior Anthony Huang and senior AJ Zavala) and Orange Necking (bottom center left, sophomores Helen Li and Tiffany Lin). Chances are, no one standing in the gym at 4:30 would have predicted that Lynbrook High School would emerge as the victor of Fantastics. For the Lynbrook athletes totally unfamiliar to the games and the small Lynbrook crowd, chances of winning looked bleak. Junior Paul Kim says, “We didn’t expect to win, we just wanted to get fourth place and beat Cupertino.” The Fremont students were familiar with the games, as the idea for Fantastics had come from Fremont IDC Representatives. They also had a very large crowd. Monta Vista was also expected to do well; Matador athletes held practices before hand, and a large number of MV students were loudly cheering “I believe that we will win.” Other schools came out strong, but in the end it was Lynbrook that went home champions. The Vikings won the first game, mascot pulling, giving them extra momentum. (Top left, junior Steve Hahn pulls the mascot, sophomore Divya Saha). Junior IDC Representative Shirley Kiang says, “Divya wrapped herself in the bed sheet the entire time and looked as if she were hanging on for her dear life, [while] the other schools’ mascots would barely be on the sheets at all.” Some competitions were difficult. Even Lynbrook math whizzes had trouble with a trivia game in which athletes were asked to calculate the number of Wea-
sley children plus the number of Harry Potter movies plus the number of books Dobby appears in plus the number of houses at Hogwarts plus the number of goals on a standard quidditch pitch. Junior Silvia Signore was sore for days after competing in the human table game (bottom center right). She says, “The human table was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done, but it was really fun because it was the last event so everyone was counting on us.” In an especially intense game, Paul Kim and his sister, freshman Sarah Kim, dominated the Jump Rope competition (bottom right). While other schools’ athletes were tripping over their ropes, the siblings swiftly jumped across the gym. Says Paul Kim, “We practiced when we were little, and when people saw us jumping rope before the rally they told us to play the game. We were surprised that we were so good.” To the delight of Lynbrook’s small but spirited crowd, the Vikings emerged victorious. Says IDC Representative senior Darren Shim, “My favorite moment of the rally was when we won first place. I look back at the happy Lynbrook crowd; it was a sight to see.” (Top center,). All the Lynbrook fans left filled with Viking pride. However, the rally was far from what IDC Representatives had envisioned. Says Kiang, “[We] had imagined that this type of event would be unimaginably popular. In reality, schools had trouble selling tickets.” But those who attended Fantastics felt that it was, as freshman Sneha Padmanabha says, “a successful event.” “The games looked really fun. I think I might be an athlete in the future,” says freshman Varshaa Thorali. Perhaps the best part of Fantastics was that it brought Vikings together in a way not typically seen at school rallies. Class rivalry was nonexistant as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors alike stood side by side to cheer for Lynbrook. Says Signore, “It’s nice that the district put together an event to unify all classes.”
ALL PHOTOS JOEY LI—EPIC
Survival of the sexiest
A
s I watched Ben, the new star of The Bachelor, pass out roses and embark on his world-wide adventures, my own humble life here in San Jose clicked together its motherboards and reminded me of
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ALICE ZHANG
reality. Who needs Ben with his financiallyunwise world travels anyway when I have both Ben and Jerry’s? I’ll attract some of the fish in the sea with Phish Food flavor, considering my red hair Ariel impersonation didn’t ink out so hot post-Homecoming. Leaving behind my rebellious hair dyes and following one of my New Years resolutions to be less heart over head, here’s the economical threestep test I’ve created to narrow down my 25-applicant pool if I were the bachelorette: The Shakespeare Test There is no question of whether to pun or not to pun. A man who can throw in Shakespeare lines in everyday conversation is enough to make a girl swoon. Too bad the only thing Shakespeare can’t do is get a drink (strawberry banana smoothie please?) at a bar because he’s bard. The Marshmallow Test Finding a fian-
cée to be married to for more than a Kim Kardashian of time, test your bachelor’s ability of delayed gratification based on the experiment carried out by Stanford professors. Each kid was given one marshmallow and told he had two options: eat it now and forever hold his peace, or wait a couple minutes and get a second marshmallow. Results showed the children who ended up waiting had less behavioral problems, better friends and higher SAT scores later on. Modernize and replace the sugary whip with a copy of the newest video game signed by a Victoria’s Secret Angel and collect your results! The Mullet Test Since beauty is more than what meets the eye, put on your Hannah Montana alter-ego: mullet style. Nothing screams “come and get me boyz” more than this eye-catching hairstyle of the 70s,
when “sweet Caroline, the times have never been so good.” Unless your bachelor’s name is Flynn Rider and has access to Rapunzel’s anti-aging flower power, a bachelor who will be able to stick through your what-was-Ithinking stages of experimentation proves he knows beauty is more than what meets the eye. When he shows up in blue tights and a yellow speedo to be your hero on Feb. 3, try to keep in the horror and hold on to your assassins spoon as you sweat a sweet smile. By now if you haven’t secured a top-notch bachelor, you’ve at least found a few willing guinea pigs. If you’re already in a relationship, remember what drew you to your lover in the first place, don’t regret—and ask him if he’d like a marshmallow. Cheerio & Adieu, Alice
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY LI & AUSTIN YU GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONBY JOEY LI & AUSTIN YU
On technology: the Epic reporters experience a tech-feast and a tech-fast BY KELSEY HURWITZ
BY YUNQING CHEN
1.9.12 8:25 p.m. Today I expanded my electronic horizons. I Facebooked, Tumblr-ed and texted like a fiend. I’ve got to admit, my fingers are beginning to hurt. It’s 8:30 and I haven’t even started my homework yet. Now I realize why the people who are on Facebook always “forget” their homework. There’s no time to work when there’s always new pictures to view or statuses to read. Really, just having the page open is enough to distract me. 1.10.12 8:43 p.m. It’s so crazy. I logged on at 8:07 and now it’s 8:43. I could’ve sworn I told myself I’d only be on for five minutes... maybe facebook is like Narnia, and there’s some sort of weird time thing going on between the online world and the real world.
1.10.12 9:17 p.m. I’m finally starting to be awesome at wasting time on Facebook. I can make time disappear faster than you can type ‘hulu’ into a search engine. I’d like to think of it as a skill I’ve aquired from spending so much time here recently. Someone even chatted me and said “stop spamming my newsfeed with all your likes”. Secretly, I’m kinda proud. I guess that means I’m doing my job.
1.8.12 11:49 a.m. I have given up social networking sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, 9gag and the like until 11:49 on Jan. 17, unless circumstances dictate that I must go on them for academic reasons. It wasn’t until around noon that I started to get really bored. And by bored, I mean un-updated with what was going on. I decided to try to do homework, but that was for after midnight. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do with all this extra time.
1.9.12 11:15 p.m. I hate life. Also, I kinda broke the rules today by going on Facebook for Bio help, and I looked at Kelsey’s mundane Tumblr for a second. Sorry, but not really. I’ve started reading books that I’d promised to read but never got around to doing.
For nine days, two reporters were forced out of their comfort zones as they each embarked on a technological challenge. These individuals each had a task: tasks stark opposite of the other. Kelsey Hurwitz transformed into a tech-dependent geek, Yunqing Chen into a tech-deprived hermit. Excerpts from their journals are transcribed here. GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY KATHY LI
1.15.12 11:29 p.m. It’s the end of my last tech-addicted day. It’s been kinda fun becoming the people that always clutter my news feed. All I can say is thank goodness for unlimited texting or my parents would probably be having a fit right now. Goodbye for now cyber world. I’ll miss your constant updates, but I’ll visit you next time I’m not in the mood to do homework.
1.13.12 11:16 p.m. Life outside of school has gotten incredibly mundane. Once I come home, I am locked in my room and enslaved by homework. The only thing I do to stave off loneliness is blast Adele and James Blunt until even my baby brother knows the lyrics. I don’t like having all this extra time to work. What anyone did before the Internet is beyond me. 4 more days. I can do it!
1.17.12 11:16 p.m. It’s the last day. Though I have been more productive these past few days, I don’t like having to sacrifice communication for textbook memorization time. I think I should control the amount of time I spend online, but I won’t. This was fun, though. I now know that it’s possible to give up internet, just really really hard.
A trip through time: Teachers show off past trends ROBERT RICHMOND
It’s all about the brands When 3D design teacher Charlotte Kruk started high school, having an asymmetrical haircut was all the rage. So was wearing a sweatshirt around the waist, aside from the so-called preps who wore them around the neck. Must-have brands included Guess, Polo, Levi’s, Vans and especially Esprit. “Banana Republic had just come on the scene as well,” says Kruk, “although it was more of a rouge safari look and far cooler in the 80s.” MC Hammer pants, which are wide at the top and fitted at the bottom, were extremely popular, as well as Z Cavaricci, the exact opposite style that sits snug around the waist and has baggy legs.
Flower power English teacher Robert Richmond experienced a variety of fashion trends going to school in the 70s. Flared pants in plaid and psychedelic colors, clunky clogs and clothes with flowers all over were popular. “People had maroon pants to make a statement with their clothes,” says Richmond. “I knew it was terrible at the time.” The flashiness extended to formal wear, too: guys wore polyester “leisure suits” in pastel colors, complete with wide lapels and flared bottoms. “I wore a white tux with red trim to a Christmas dance, and that was conservative,” says Richmond. “Others wore green and baby blue tuxes, but no one wore black—that was out of the question.”
BY KATHY LI
CHARLOTTE KRUK
USED WITH PERMISSION OF CHARLOTTE KRUK
DAVID TAYLOR
As Heidi Klum used to say on Project Runway, “One day you’re in, and the next day you’re out.” Fashion trends are constantly changing, so even though what people wore in the 1970s and 80s may appear ridiculous today, those seemingly outdated articles of clothing were once fashion staples. Here is a look into what was in style when a few of our teachers were students. And who knows, maybe in the future our kids will be laughing at the floral prints, skinny jeans and boat shoes that our generation wore.
USED WITH PERMISSION OF ROBERT RICHMOND
MIKE WILLIAMS
Whales and the 80s
West coast flare
Growing up in New York during the early 80s, there were many different fashion styles one could follow. “Just like today, different groups of kids wore different kinds of clothing,” recalls physics teacher David Taylor. “One group was known as the ‘Preppies.’” People in this group usually wore button-down shirts with their collars popped up. They wore wide corduroy pants and Docksiders, which are laced-up leather or canvas boat shoes. Whales, which were also quite popular at the time, were printed on various articles of clothing. Other trends were rock shirts and jeans complemented by long hair.
Slip-on Vans were a big hit on the West Coast in the 80s. “What was cool was that you could order them with custom colors and designs,” recalls US History and Government teacher Mike Williams (pictured, left). During the summer, people wore corduroy Ocean Pacific shorts and cut-off jeans. Another popular trend was the tank top, or its alternative, the half shirt, a T-shirt cut off at the middle of the abdomen.
USED WITH PERMISSION OF DAVID TAYLOR
USED WITH PERMISSION OF MIKE WILLIAMS
BY SUCHETA KORWAR
S
enior Kaushika Soundararajan thought that comedian Stephen Colbert’s recent almost-entrance into the GOP race was an entertaining but also educational move. “It’s funny to think of him as running for president, but you know it’s not real. I think [Colbert] is making good points about the attention given to fake-candidates such as Trump, and his hand-off of his super political action committee (PAC) to Jon Stewart proved how closely candidates actually are tied to their PACs,” she says. Soundararajan considers The Colbert Report and The Daily Show some of her favorite sources for news because they combine entertainment and news. However, she does get news from more conventional sources such as New
York Times, Huffington Post and Washington Post. Other Lynbrook students also try to get a laugh in while they get their news. Freshman Dhruv Walia considers The Daily Show a major source of his news. He watches the show often because “it is entertaining to watch [Stewart] present the irony of politics.” In addition to The Daily Show, Walia watches CNN and BBC world news to learn about current events. “CNN is an informative network though I am aware of its sometimes liberal bias--though I believe in their ideology. BBC is another informative news source that helps keep me informed about events in the world,” he says. Junior Elif Erturk, secretary of the Amnesty International club at Lynbrook, finds it important to stay up-to-date with current events so that she can fully understand the goals of the parent organization. Although Erturk does have to pay attention to serious events happening in the world, she appreciates entertainment mixed in with her news. Erturk says, “My favorite source is Yahoo! news on the Yahoo! homepage because
I feel it gives a nice overview of events of all types, such as natural disasters, political occasions, and sports. I also like the way news is presented on Yahoo.com. I enjoy surfing through the slides and educating myself about what is happening in the world.” CNN and the Amnesty International website constitute Erturk’s more serious sources of information. She uses the Amnesty International website to get information that is solely educational and “more focused on human rights violations and events like that.” While the increasing number of unconventional sources of news has some worried that these sources may not be as reliable, Soundararajan thinks that humorous and lighter forms of news encourage more people to keep themselves informed about current events. “These sources of news get people interested in the news but also represent a serious source of information. I think people recognize that it is more satisfying to enjoy being informed about current events,” she says.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CLAY SONG
Students turn to unconventional news sources
SUMMER PROGRAMS BY JESSICA CAO & NIKITA DHESIKAN
A
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUSTIN YU
s seniors end their college application process, the rest of the school begins to apply for summer activities since the lengthy break may be the best time for students to explore their true interests. Summer programs cater to a variety of interests and give students experience with admissions, pressure while also gaining benefits and building relationships. Most admission processes for summer programs start early February to mid-April. Getting past admissions, which include essays, test scores, teacher recommendations, interviews and a basic applicant profile is the first step to taking part in a summer program. More specialized programs like art camps often require art pieces and something relevant to the specific course, such as a flip book for animation.
Like colleges, summer programs also look for passion in their applicants. Senior Virup Gubba says of his summer program, “There were people at varying levels of math at the camp, but all the people there were still really passionate about the subject. People should definitely show their interest through their applications; I drew a comic about my love for math for SUMaC (Stanford University Mathematics Camp).”
Students who participate in summer camps are often challenged with a concentrated focus on their subject of choice, similar to the structure of a college course. Senior Sun Shin, who participated in a Digital Media Academy program at Stanford University, says, “It was a pretty deadly five days, because we had around 12 hours of classes each day.” Sometimes, the programs can put an extreme amount of pressure on the students. “It’s common for people to have nervous breakdowns,” says junior Kimberly Tan, “At Yale Ivy Scholars, one day my roommate just freaked out and kept saying she was going to die and wanted to go home, but didn’t remember it at all the next morning. We had to do a lot of research for our 15-20 page paper on a focused thesis.” Unlike during the school year when attention is split between school and extracurriculars, students can focus on one area of interest at a time.
Although there is intense pressure at many programs, it stems not from competition, but from the course itinerary. Tan also attended the National Symposium of Debate at Colorado Springs University, and received four hours of sleep each day for two weeks. She describes, “Unlike at Lynbrook, which is really cutthroat, it was really cooperative at both camps; nobody felt like they had to compete. We were too busy fighting for our survival!” Not all programs are intense. Some camps are located in urban settings and time is taken out for recreation and exploration of the local area, like college students might do. Gubba, who participated in the Summer Science Program (SSP) at Westmont College adds, “At camp, there was no curfew and we would do things like play Frisbee and just talk, then go hiking with a 24-inch telescope at 3 a.m. and come back at 5 a.m. with pictures of asteroids.”
Students accomplish a lot through their focus at these programs. At SSP, Gubba predicted the orbit of asteroids and submitted it to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He also did two semesters’ worth of undergraduate-level math at SUMaC. Participants also get to live at college, do projects with professors’ help and may even get paid to do research as interns. Senior Ashley Wu, for one, spent six weeks camping in Lassen National Forest visiting different bogs and collecting dragonflies for analysis.
Summer programs also benefit students both during the college application process and in college. For example, senior Frances Guo, who applied to Stanford University, turned in her college application along with a recommendation letter from the Stanford professor she worked for during the summer. Summer programs also help students get invaluable handson experience that helps them determine the career path they are interested in following in the future.
“There are people from New York, Texas, England and India who go to these camps, and I chat with at least one of them on a daily basis,” says Tan. Students have made lasting relationships with others all over the world, even though they tend to go in expecting to learn a lot and pay little attention to the possible friendships formed at these programs.
Wu says, “Participating in a biology internship at Santa Clara University definitely exceeded my expectations because of the friends I made. I thought it would be very impersonal, but while camping the other interns and I got to be pretty good friends, and we’d talk about things like the Ultimate Dog Tease on YouTube.”
As students begin the summer application process, guidance counselor Malissa Goldstein reminds students, “It’s important keep an open mind about exploring different fields. However, summer programs may not be the best thing for everyone. It is just important to spend your summer doing something you are interested in.”
Explaining the absent student
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN TAI
BY GLORIA LIN & LAUREN TAI
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rom time to time, school may feel a bit emptier, but what usually causes it isn’t an epidemic. This feeling seems to occur especially during major test days, before an SAT and in times of extreme stress. For some students, life feels like an endless cycle of work and no sleep. The stressed tend to stress more, and some choose to opt out of attending school in order to take a break from the feeling of overwhelming pressure. Ironically, students are skipping work at school to do work at home. Junior Wayne Liou* is one student who has weighed the consequences of a lot of work in pressed time. He reflects, “I’ve only missed school twice, once to avoid an APUSH test and once to have more time to prepare for FBLA. For the APUSH test, I had studied the night before, but I knew I couldn’t focus the next day.” However, even though he studied, he reasons that “It’s not just about studying, it’s about taking the test when you’re not worn out.” Senior Linda Shin* has also skipped school for work, but not to do homework. Every Friday before an SAT testing day, she has been known to stay at home to study for the upcoming exam. Shin has done this four times with parental consent and does not see it as an issue. She says, “I would rather
study for the whole day rather than sit through boring classes where I do nothing anyway. On those days I skipped school, I also slept in until 10, so I caught up on sleep,” she says. Shin is careful not to miss classes when important tests are scheduled, and for the most part, there have been no consequences, though “I heard that one day last year five people ditched an AP test for the SATs, and the teacher called everyone’s home” she adds. Senior Andrew Wong believes that students who do this are hurting themselves. A believer that it is not right to skip school no matter how stressed one may be, he says, “I find skipping class to have, more often than not, a negative effect on the overall learning experience. Furthermore, many of my teachers are understanding and willing to extend deadlines if they are approached prior to the due date.” Not all students, however, are forced into receiving enough absences and tardies to risk a call from Lamb due to work overload. For junior James Otani, perfect attendance is unattainable due to his religious duties. Otani is expected to attend morning seminaries right before school; the time scheduling makes it difficult for him to come to first period on time as well. “Last year, I didn’t have a first period, so I would take that opportunity to get some sleep because I would often stay up
late doing homework due to wrestling and track,” says Otani. “I have a first period this year though, so I go right from seminary to school.” Unfortunately, the school attendance system cannot reflect such personal issues and accomodate each student. Otani is trying hard; now, he says he gets “fewer tardies, but [he] also sleeps less.” Conversely, biology teacher Nicole Della Santina is understanding of how students may feel over pressured. She does not notice a trend of students skipping but still structures her test system in a way that reduces the motivation for intentional absences. She says, “If students miss a test, they can retake it, but only at the end of the semester. The grade for that test remains a 0 until test is taken.” She usually offers test corrections in which students can earn back a quarter point for each problem. However, if a test is taken as a makeup at the end of the semester, there is no test correction opportunity. Though it is difficult to say whether it is truly worth it to skip school, it is clear that for the most part, students do so as a result of pure stress. By suffering frommigranes which may make it hard to focus, senior Vaijayanti Duraphe says, “I get head- aches for long periods of time if I have a large workload which interferes with school.” Even if students are pretending to be bedridden to get away from school, many are genuinely stuck to their bedposts from feeling so overwhelmed in the end anyway, the greatest irony of them all. *Names have been changed
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NIKITA DHESIKAN, MICHAEL PARK & SABRINA SHIE
BY SAMUEL CHANG & SABRINA SHIE
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or years, Lynbrook has been heralded as one of the more spirited schools within the Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD). Yet, according to common stereotypes given to Lynbrook students from other FUHSD schools, Lynbrook is more than often described as “extremely academic,” a place where “everyone’s a genius.” This observation was put forth by senior Darren Shim, one of the two Intra-District Council (IDC) Representatives at Lynbrook, as well as one of the organizers of last week’s district wide Fantastics event. IDC’s goal, according to junior IDC representative Shirley Kiang, is to “provide fun events that students would be interested in attending. That way, the schools will have a chance to mingle and therefore, grow better relationships.” Events such as the upcoming Lynbrook IDC exchange and last week’s IDC Fantastics are held in order to promote these goals. History teacher Jeffrey Bale, who previously taught at Fremont High School, is not a stranger to the student atmospheres of both schools. Bale believes that the purpose of these events help accomplish bringing everybody in the district together, and “create more of a respect for the entire community.” Yet as a teacher who once taught at another high school, he also hopes that new IDC events will help dispel common stereotypes associated with different schools, such as Lynbrook’s label as a school of “onedimensional, academic diehards.” Bale’s teaching experiences help to give him a broader outlook on the stereotypes and misconceptions associated with both schools. “I feel that a lot of students have extreme stereotypes of each other. It’s almost as if they treat each other like they’re from different universes. But the reality is,
we’re all pretty much the same; it’s just that we’re separated by about 10 or 15 miles,” says Bale. Shim also points out that strong inter-school relations can “open up new ideas and events that can be implemented onto our campus.” One prominent example of this was Lynbrook’s first ever PowderPuff tournament during the last school year. This competition, featuring female football players and male cheerleaders, was ultimately inspired by Monta Vista High School’s own longtime PowderPuff traditions. In the same way, Lynbrook’s original Blue Pearl jazz dance has been replicated by other nearby schools. Though some students regard IDC events as a chance to expose themselves to new environments and to meet new people, other students attend IDC events in order to meet up with old friends from other schools. In fact, a majority of the IDC exchange applications are received with requests to be paired up with specific a specific host in mind. Sophomore Sandra Chang attended last year’s IDC exchange at Cupertino High School for this reason. Even so, she was still able to take much from this experience. “Before, I had assumptions that Cupertino High School was ‘easier’ based on what I heard as well as statistics. But after partaking in this exchange, I learned that the curriculum was exactly the same as ours, and the level of difficulty on tests were around the same as well,” says Chang. Students and their schools have emerged from IDC events with wider perspectives, whether or not they choose to participate for friends, for new experiences, or for both.
JOEY LI—EPIC
UP IN THE AIR| Sophomore Yoshi Wang fights for possession of an airborne ball. The team has seen a big loss of its older players due to injuries. JOEY LI—EPIC
LOOKING ON| Sophomore Tatsu Otani, injured, watches his team play.
Boys’ soccer improvising after injuries to team BY CHARU MEHRA
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JOEY LI—EPIC
FAKE OUT| Sophomore Alex Wong battles a Fremont opponent Jan.11.
ith a string of losses early on this season, boys’ varsity soccer has definitely taken a hit. But the hard start cannot be blamed entirely on one factor. A high number of new players, low morale and an oddly large amount of injuries have all crippled the team and made things difficult. With two of the four captains injured for a period of time, and many of the key starters somewhat hurt, sick, or red-carded, the weight of the team has been placed mostly on the backs of newer, less-experienced players. As co-captain senior Kazu Otani puts it, “The injuries are bad because they are happening to our best players. We have to work with what we have, but it is depressing watching from the bench and knowing that we are losing to a team that we could easily beat.” He adds, “When we have all of our players, we’re a lot better than last year. But it’s hard for players who came up from junior varsity to get used to the play speed of the varsity team.” With an opposing perspective, junior Rishi Debnath, a first year varsity player, comments on the dynamic, saying that “[because] they lost more than half the players from last year, the team struggled to find a perfect lineup for this season. But I think we’ve now determined a lineup that works, even though we constantly have to adjust to maintain a solid game.”
Yet, even with the unusual and unfortunate circumstances, the team’s leadership is determined to keep their heads up and give it their best. Says co-captain senior Trishant Kohli, “At the beginning of the season, the captains got together, and we decided to keep everything positive. So far it’s going okay.” With this optimistic mindset, it appears that things are starting to look up for the team. Senior co-captains Otani and A.J. McDowell recovered from their injuries, adding two more experienced players to the lineup. The team recently played a scoreless tie against Santa Clara, putting an end to their losing streak. Continuing on a positive path, they beat Wilcox at home, 2-1, scoring the first two goals of the season. However, in a difficult game against Cupertino on Friday, the team lost 1-0 to a school they had hoped to defeat. Last year they tied once and lost once in their games against Cupertino, but had high hopes of winning this year because of Cupertino’s low standing in the league. Even though it seems the varsity boys’ soccer team will have to work harder to regain their momentum, Otani sums it up the boys’ positive attitude by quoting the team’s motto: “Always remember, the windshield is wider than the rear view mirror.” The team’s next home game is this Friday against Monta Vista at 3:30 p.m.
Wrestling team struggles with lack of experience, disadvantaged by little weight class variation BY YASMINE MORTAZAVI
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any upperclassmen wrestlers quit this year, and this is causing the wrestling team to struggle. Nevertheless, the season is proving to be one of improvement and growth for all members. There is an extremely small turnout of older wrestlers, and the lack of experience is definitely taking a toll. Says junior James Otani, “The weakness of our team right now is experience.” There are only four upperclassmen, so many less experienced team members are on varsity this year. This is an issue since varsity wrestlers get practice by wrestling each other. Says sophomore Jared Jacoby, “A lot of people lack experience on varsity, so its kind of hard to gauge how they’re doing compared to everyone else because they don’t know how good they need to be.” Additionally, younger players don’t have older teammates to look up to. Says Otani, “The lack of [upperclassmen] results sometimes in a lack of discipline with the younger guys. I remember when I was a freshman we had a bunch of seniors on the team who put everybody in line.” However, having a large number of underclassmen is beneficial in many
ways. Jacoby says, “It’s good in some ways because it allows [younger players] not to be intimidated by upperclassmen and gives them the feeling that they are just as important as everyone else.” Another issue the team faces has to do with weight. At dual meets against other teams, there are seven weight brackets in which schools compete (wrestlers compete against other wrestlers in the same bracket). Because many Lynbrook wrestlers are in the same weight class, the team has had to forfeit competitions of weight brackets in which they have nobody in. For example, there is no Lynbrook wrestler in the 217-267 lbs. bracket. However, coaches do not encourage team members to lose or gain weight to fit inside of brackets. Says Jacoby, “You want to get to your own optimal weight. That means 7 to 8 percent body fat.” Despite their difficulties, the team is greatly improving. Says junior Anna Naylor, “Our team is doing pretty well.” “A lot of [wrestlers] are really good, the underclassmen, they’re doing a really good job getting better,” says Jacoby. The younger wrestlers hold great promise for the future. As Otani says, “If they stick with it next season we will have a much tougher team.”
SAM CHANG—EPIC
DEFENDING THE SHOT| Junior James Otani fends off his Milpitas opponent in the meet on Jan. 12. The team’s league record is 3-1.
NFL draft: Choosing between education and their dreams BY SARAH TARTER
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ith the college football season over and the professional football season coming to an end, coaches and prospective players are starting to think about the 2012 season and which new names will appear on team rosters. There is a lot of pressure on college athletes during this time of year because the decisions they make regarding professional football will affect them for the rest of their career. All this pressure and stress is based around on single event: the 2012 National Football League (NFL) draft. The NFL draft is an annual event during which professional football teams recruit eligible college players to participate in future seasons. Each team’s position in the drafting order is a reverse reflection of its performance in the past season, so the team with the worst record gets first pick. It’s incredibly crucial because the decisions made
will have a long lasting effect on the individual players, as well as the team as a whole. Most players don’t enter the draft until their senior year of college, but there are some rare cases where talented players decide to sacrifice a college diploma for the opportunity to go pro. University of Southern California’s Matt Kalil is only a junior, but he’s already predicted to be the number two pick in this year’s draft. It’s a daring decision, because graduating from college would obviously be a more secure option. However, considering the best players in the league get paid about $7 million each year (according to nflplayers. com), it seems that the risk would pay off. It’s rare for players to skip out on their senior year of college, but this year, Kalil isn’t the only one making the bold leap. Robert Griffin III, a junior at Baylor University, is also expected to be a top 10 pick for this year’s draft. In 2011, Griffin won the Heis-
man Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding player in collegiate football. His past success and promising future make it easy to see why he would choose to forgo his senior year and enter the draft. However, not all players would agree with Kalil and Griffin’s decisions. Stanford’s Andrew Luck is one of the most promising quarterbacks in America, and easily could have entered the NFL as a junior. Nevertheless, Luck continued his education, and decided to graduate from college before going professional. Choosing to go into the NFL without a college degree has its advantages and its setbacks. By waiting, a player’s value could go down and he could miss out on a season’s worth of pay, but by entering as a junior, he could end up not getting much play time, and he wouldn’t have a degree to fall back on. This is the choice that athletes have to make. For some, it is simple, but for others, it is an incredibly difficult one.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SONIKA SUBRAMANIAN
Girls’ soccer getting back on its feet after a slow start
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up and taken leadership roles, in addition to assisting younger players in formations and game tactics. The team has kept team traditions as well, such as pasta parties and secret sisters.” Senior co-captain Delaney Nicholas agrees, maintaining that the team’s strongest quality “is that we all get along very well, even with all the different personalities. Even though [the changes] were tough at times, we worked through them. We’re always trying to find ways to have fun, bringing smiles and laughter throughout the team. “ Currently, the girls’ in-season record is 1-1-3. Junior forward Charlene Chen says, “We had a variety of players, but we couldn’t connect that well. We got lucky in a way with the mixed lineup.” Still, following the success of pre-season and the team’s constant efforts to progress, Chen says, “We have room to improve, and we’re beginning to recover after a slow start.”
AUSTIN YU—EPIC
ew equipment, new practice locations, and a new lineup are just some of the changes the girls’ soccer team has made since the start of the season. Even so, the greatest change yet to the team is the brand new coaching staff, which consists of Varsity coach Julie Williams and Assistant Coach Raylene Zatz, who both formerly coached the JV team. “This year, it’s a big transition year from JV to Varsity. Still, the pre-season started out very strong. We had quite a different pre-season schedule this year including games against Mercy
High School and Presentation High School.” said Williams of her thoughts regarding the girls’ soccer team’s pre-season. The team ended their preseason with a record of 4-2. However, Williams credits much of the team’s earlier success to their abilities to adapt to many changes including conditioning days and a whole new set of drills during practice. Several practices have taken place in Rainbow Park, due to track construction. Three other teams must also share these fields at the same time. Despite all of this, Williams notes that “in the team, seniors have really stepped
JOEY LI—EPIC
INCOMING| Sophomore Paige Song fights through the defense and takes a shot against Los Gatos Jan. 6th. The game culminated in a 52-45 win for the girls, leaving the team’s current league record at 3-2.
DANIELLE LERNER—EPIC
DANIELLE LERNER—EPIC
“We had some ups and downs but after that game we definitely knew where we were headed and our goals for the rest of the season,” says Paige Song (10) of the Los Gatos game.
“We are definitely learning to play to each other’s strengths, and that showed today on the field,”says Sonja Summerfield (10) of the girls’ resounding 4-1 win over Cupertino on Jan. 20.
LOOKING FOR A PASS| Sophomore midfielder Sonja Summerfield dribbles away from a Cupertino defender during the girls’ Jan. 20 win. The team’s league record is now 2-1-3.
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orgive me father, for I have Tebow’ed. Tim Tebow has swept the nation, ladies and gentlemen, and I’m proud to say that I’ve allowed myself to be swept up in the hysteria. Actually I haven’t, but last week I took a closer look at what was so special about the Broncos Quarterback that made men cheer for him, ladies flock to him and haters do what they do best. Homeschooled Tebow was brought up with two faiths, Jesus and football. Not only is he being recognized for his skills, but his faith is also under the spotlight. The question is, what’s the big deal? Who cares if Tebow is tattooing Bible verses on himself? Does it really matter if he’s published a book on his faith? Apparently the Media does, because instead of focusing on Tebow’s stats, all they can talk about are his miracle plays and the Tebow Rule. Naturally, Tebow’s overenthusiastic expression of religion going to stir up a little backlash. For every messiah, there has to be an anti-Christ, after all. Critics of Tebow claim that religion has no place in football, especially in Tebow’s image as a quarterback. My limited knowledge of Football (mostly accumulated through marathons of Friday Night Lights) has taught me that religion is apart of Football. Some teams pray before and after games, but they pray in the privacy of their locker rooms. Freedom of religious expression is one of the rights guaranteed by the first amendment, and as far as I’m concerned, there is no exception for sports. Tebow is protected by the first amendment, and sitting around and complaining about it isn’t productive. It’s time to focus back on Tebow’s playing ability. Tebow, who led the Broncos to their first play off game in six years, broke the team record for running the most yards by a Quarterback, a stat that was eclipsed by the news that Tebow’s fans are losing sight of the Christian message. Do I think Tebow’s religion is over the top? Maybe, I’m not Christian, but as someone of religious beliefs, I understand that faith is something personal. I may not agree with everything Tebow preaches, but I know that I wouldn’t want to be the person to deny him his religion. And neither should anyone else. So yes, maybe I’ve Tebow’ed, but I don’t think it’s any one’s business, not even Tebow’s.
“We started off kind of slow but we’re hoping to finish off the season strong,” says Gary Chen (10) of the boys’ first three games which ended in losses. However, the team is beginning to recover with a 54-50 win over Los Altos on Jan. 18.
JOEY LI—EPIC
BY SABRINA SHIE
Everyday I’m Tebowing
JOEY LI—EPIC
JUMP, JUMP| Sophomore forward Gary Chen evades two Monta Vista defenders and leaps up for a shot. The boys lost the game 32-34. Their current league record is 1-3 as of Jan. 19.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SONIKA SUBRAMANIAN AND AUSTIN YU
BY ALICE ZHANG The winds have changed, and the blossoming popularity of ultimate frisbee has finally hit the Bay Area. “It’s interesting that it’s not really a big thing here. Maybe it’s just me but I sort of have an image of it as a college sport, where all the college people go out during breaks and find a sunny field and play,” says senior Marcus Schorow. It’s not just him. “I don’t even know how many blank stares I’ve gotten when I say that I play frisbee as a sport. Honestly, it’s just not that well known yet,” adds senior Kunal Rathi. Although commonly mistaken as solely a collegiate sport, ultimate frisbee is played in high schools across the nation, with fans as devoted as Lynbrook’s basketball ones. As for Lynbrook’s own frisbee fanatics, the immersion into this community occurred largely after
s
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SUCHETA KORWAR AND DANIELLE LERNER
s in Califo ation r n niz ia ga Or e frisbee t giat e a lle m co
15 Ultimate Frisb ee t h e a r n 70 Mo 0
exposure to the sport at a myriad of summer camps. Most took camps took place in the East Coast, where the sport originated and has a much larger following. Senior Marcus Schorow reminisces on the summer math camp he attended where he was introduced to the sport, endearingly abbreviated “ultimate.” After being taught how to throw by a couple college students, Schorow was hooked. “I got pretty good at it so I came back, started bringing a frisbee to Miller and lots of people came out to play,” he says. As time elapsed, their close-knit group of friends invited extended friends, and the games became open invitations to all as the interest grew. “It turned into something we would play on holidays or whenever we had a day off. We would get everyone together and that tradition carried on all the way to Lynbrook,” says Schorow. The group has consistently begun to play every Thursday after school at Rainbow Park. Fellow frisbee fanatic senior Dennis Cui (pictured top) approximates that over time, about 40 or 50 students have dropped by at the games, as all interested students are encouraged to come play. While many students recall childhood memories of tossing a plastic disc around in the backyard, the legitimized version of the sport includes teams of seven, but allowing up to 20 or 30 players. Teams try to be the first to score 15 points by passing the disc down the field to reach the opposing end zone, similar to the objective in football.
A majority of the appeal in frisbee, in fact, is that it is a non-contact sport.. “Frisbee takes skill, it takes endurance, but it doesn’t necessarily take just raw strength. I feel like it’s something where if you practice at it, you can get better and you don’t necessarily need to use muscle. It’s a lot of finesse trying to fit the throw in just right,” says Schorow. Typically ultimate frisbee has been a relatively underrated sport, but both Cui and Schorow agree that the game is very fast-paced and requires a greater focus on strategy and running creative plays. Cui comments that it takes “hand-eye coordination that other sports don’t match.” Even with the fanaticism of students such as Cui, Rathi and Schorow, frisbee is still relatively an underground sport, emerging in small pick-up games around the area. Although in its budding stage, Schorow believes that “there’s actually a lot more interest in frisbee at Lynbrook than you might realize, but people don’t always know where to go to play frisbee.” In the past, Schorow has tried to start an ultimate club on campus, but was discouraged by the school administration. They were particulary concerned about liability and the necessitated presence of a physical trainer at every game. Nevertheless, Rathi is optimistic for aspiring frisbee athletes. “As soon as people see games, the response should be a lot more positive when they see all the stamina, cooperation and intensity that the game is characterized by. There are all kinds of different skills, strategies and throws,” he says. Schorow maintains the same hopeful outlook. “Once people take the time and learn how to throw, it can be a really fun game. It’s very much a team sport, and especially when you go out and do it with your friends, you can talk about it and you can have fun playing together. It’s also nice because you can do it anywhere; all you need is a disc and a field and you’re good to go.”
JOEY LI —EPIC
SNAP IT| Senior Marcus Schorow executes a throw.
AUSTIN YU —EPIC
THE BLADE| Senior Kunal Rathi slices a steady pass.
DISNEY DISASTER BY KATHY LI & CLAY SONG
SOAPA OR SOPA? BY ALICE ZHANG
HIS KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR BY CLAY SONG
Students and staff use three words to describe 2011 BY AUSTIN YU
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ne month into the new year of 2012, the Epic decided to try something new. Students and staff around campus were asked to use three words to describe
2011. Some responded quickly, while others took their time to reflect. The responses varied greatly: a few could not be happier for a new year, while others only hope that 2012 will be as good to them as 2011 was.