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FEBRUARY 26, 2020
NEWS
Science Bowl Team bonds over challenging competitions
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ynbrook’s Science Bowl Team competed at a regional competition on Feb. 8; the team made it past the �irst round, but did not pass the double-elimination rounds, failing to qualify for the National Science Bowl competition. “I don’t think we reached our full potential during this competition, as Lynbrook usually �inishes around �irst or second, and this year we �inished around �ifth or sixth,” said Team A member William Huang. “I think we could have done better, but we choked on some parts.” Science Bowl is a Jeopardy-style competition in which participants press a buzzer to answer questions that each have a designated number of points. The regional competition is hosted annually by the Department of Energy’s Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory and covers a wide range of subjects within science, including physics, chemistry and biology. As such, each member of the team specializes in a topic along with general knowledge of all the subjects. During competitions, any team member can buzz in, but usually each member knows who is more likely to answer the question and leaves it to that person. “For me, Science Bowl is a way to show how much I love science,” said Team B
member Flora Huang. “I also like how the competitions are actually just games.” Team A member Jonathan Huang echoes the sentiment on how Science Bowl is different than most other science competitions. “I think that unlike other science competitions which are large written tests, Science Bowl feels more entertaining since it’s a live competition against another team; you can feel the joy of winning but also the pain of losing,” Jonathan Huang said. “The structure of Science Bowl is also very much like a sport.” In 2016, Lynbrook placed second at the National Science Bowl competition hosted in Washington, D.C. More recently, in 2019, Lynbrook won regionals after two years of staying in second, breaking The Harker School’s winning streak. In order to join one of Lynbrook’s two teams, participants
must pass three levels of testing — a general test, speci�ic testing for the subject in which they hope to specialize and a buzzer round simulating a real competition. Once the teams are chosen, the team members study by themselves using textbooks and online resources and meet once a week after school at captain Milan Ganai’s house or science teacher Lester Leung’s room to run practice rounds written by schools or sample questions from the Department of Energy. On Dec. 7, 2019, Lynbrook hosted the �irst Lynbrook Science Invitational, coordinating with SLAC. Since Lynbrook hosted this event, its Team A did not compete. This event encouraged schools from Santa Clara County that usually do not participate to come and promoted Science Bowl, bringing out around 20 schools. Through Science Bowl, the members have learned about more than
just science. “Science Bowl opened up my perspective since I realized that there are so many people out there that excel at so many things,” William Huang said. “I realized I should not be complacent about my own achievements.” As next year’s Team A Captain, Jonathan Huang will be implementing some new reforms that include more rigorous practice schedules and a modi�ied tryout system in an attempt to improve the teams' performance next year. “Regardless of their results, I hope that my teammates will continue the momentum that we have built and enjoy learning more science.” Ganai said.
CLAIRE CHIU — EPIC
BY SHARLENE CHEN
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SLOKA SURESH
In-state election policy changes BY DHRITI IYER
Letter from the Editors Dear readers, We hope you all had a great February break! To get back into the mood for school, read about the schoolwide tournament, Brain and Brawn, hosted by the Athletics Unlimited Club as well as a story featuring a staff member that deserves recognition for her hard work on this campus, Miko Otoshi. This issue, �ind out about DECA’s requirement for members to be currently enrolled in a Career and Technical Education (pg. 1). Also, read about Sports Analytics and Creative Game Design clubs, which were passed again after being disbanded. Head over to the opinion section to read about the spike of anti-East Asian sentiments accompanying the onset of the coronavirus epidemic (pg. 4). With the release of Justin Bieber’s new album, read about one of our staff member’s review on it (pg. 8). Don’t forget to take a look at a feature of Lynbrook student Katya Tsikina’s photography work, which has been featured on VSCO (pg. 7). Go in-depth on a journey on how different people cope with grief (pg. 10). As the California primary elections approach, discover each candidate’s stance on key issues (pg. 11). Explore how Lynbrook coaches are hired and the reasons for the shortage of coaches at Lynbrook (pg. 14), and dive deep into the controversy surrounding the popular Nike shoe, Alpha�ly (pg. 15). Lastly, make sure to visit our website lhsepic.com and follow our Instagram @lhs. epic for more stories. Your Editors-in-Chief, Nicole Ong & Aileen Xue
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ith the primary elections quickly approaching, California has made several efforts to increase voter participation by modernizing the election process. In accordance with the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) that was passed in 2016, Santa Clara County (SCC) is making efforts to ease the voting process, and diversify their voter demographics and increase participation. Now, each registered voter will receive a ballot in the mail that can be cast in any voting center in the country. They can also have the ballot printed at the center on demand, mail in the ballot or drop the ballot in a secure county ballot drop box. The process has already been set in motion in several other counties and has yielded positive results in improving voter participation. After passing the act in the Madera, Napa, Sacramento and San Mateo counties, California enjoyed a 12 average percent increase in average voter turnout. San Mateo County in particular boasted a 17 percent increase. Although the act increased the amount of time needed to total the votes, county of�icials decided to prioritize the growth in voter turnout and increase in Vote-by-Mail ballots; subsequently, the state decided to enact the new policies in 10 other counties across California, including SCC. Since voter turnout is often in�luenced by a variety of various other factors, other elementsaspects were taken into account when deciding whether or not the state would proceed with this new system. “Voter turnout rate is not an accurate measure of success as the contest on the ballot and the election type itself heavily in�luences the turnout rate,” said Election Specialist
and VCA and Outreach Coordinator at SCC Registrar of Voters Rachel Jung. “However, the number of provisional ballots in all 5 previously implemented counties have signi�icantly dropped and the usage of Voteby-Mail ballots also heavily increased.” The previous voting system paired every voter with a polling place and required them to use a provisional ballot if they did not go to their designated place; their eligibility had to be resolved before the vote is counted. However, despite ensuring the right of every registered voter to cast a ballot, provisional ballots generally complicate the counting process since the only way to verify the voter’s eligibility is to compare their signature on the provisional ballot envelope to their signature on their voter registration. In contrast, the VCA provides more opportunities for voters to cast ballots while reducing the work voters have to do in order to get their ballots in. In compliance with the VCA, SCC is also attempting to increase diversity of voters. They are enhancingincreasing outreach toward underrepresented populations by releasing multilingual advertisements and including interpreters at voting centers in order to cater, catering to SCC’s varied population. All counties implementing this new voting system are additionallyalso now required to hold education workshops to help
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION
different minority groups learn about the voting system and how to vote. The education workshops are being held through community groups or organizations that aim to help these groups of voters. “Minority and youth groups have the lowest registration and turnout rates of all voters,” said Jung. “They also have less interaction and access to voter education and information. It is critical that we build a healthier, more involved youth and minority community in terms of civic participation.” However, despite the state’s efforts to spur voter participation, some argue that California’s new policy is only addressing surface-level problems instead of dealing with the primary cause of low voter turnout. “I think the act will be moderately successful in regards to fringe voting circumstances, but I don’t think it properly addressed one of the main reasons of low turnout rates in principalities: voter apathy,” said Junior State of America President Kanav Tirumala. “The goal of the act is to increase voter accessibility, not inform voters and stress the importance of their civic duty, which is what is really lacking.” Regardless of the con�licting feedback from county citizens, the changes are being set in place as the California primary election approaches. “Although only 15 out of the 58 counties in the state are implementing the program, this year, 50 percent of registered voters in California will now be voting under this new model,” said Jung. With the goal of expandingvoting demographics and raising voter participation in mind, California is continuing to take steps toward catering to the needs of an increasingly diverse population as the election season swings into session.