Fitness gym. They are like pea-nut butter and jelly, like milk and cookies, like Billy Blanks and Tae Bo. Together, they are a complete entity.

“I always felt by myself,” said Cler. “The minute that I met Dan-ny, I felt like I wasn’t.”

After a battle with cancer and a life-threatening blood clot in 2003, Cler decided that she was going to change her lifestyle and embark on the mo-mentous journey to lose weight. For the next five years, Cler

went to school and taught; she gave herself shots of blood thin-ning medication while watching bruises splatter over her anemic stomach, and she did hours and hours of cardio, abs, stretching, swimming, kickboxing, dieting,

Separated at birth

by Kanwalroop Singh

When the economy heads south, every cent counts

see COMPANIONS on page 3

by Jeremy Lee, with additional reporting by Serena Lee

opinion

Stacey Cler twittered around her desk. She ruf-fled papers, peeked under

them and over them, and since she could no lon-ger eat 100-calorie cookie packs, she opened her mouth wide and smacked and chewed and pulled apart her gum, sucking all the sweetness out of it. Then she paused.

She hunched over, her eyes flit-ting sideways to the door, and with her leather bag slung over her shoulder, she made her way out of the class-room, through the hallway, down the A-building stairs, and into her car. She wanted to see Danny Page.

Page is her personal trainer and the extension of her person-ality. Together, they are as ma-ture as one adult, and together they are conquering the 24 Hour

MVHS varsityfootball resoundly defeats Lynbrook• Page 15

Swank Farms disappoints in its labyrinth of mazes• Page 19

On May 8, 2008, the School Site Council came to its final decision: get rid of

Camp Everytown.This year, students and staff

alike were surprised to learn that Monta Vista will be replac-ing Camp Everytown with a new program called Challenge Day. Camp Everytown is geared to-ward breaking down stereotypes and learning about other people as well as oneself. Over a course of four days at a campsite in Santa Cruz, teens and adults learned the value of respect.

“Most of the kids I’ve spoken to said it was a life-changing ex-perience,” social studies teacher and Camp Everytown alumnus Ben Recktenwald said. “You really develop a sense of community [at Camp Everytown].”

Though a number of students and staff members agree with Recktenwald, going to Camp Ev-erytown is no longer an option. Instead, the school has decided to participate in Challenge Day, which only lasts for one day in-stead of four, and is held on cam-pus. Those who have participated in Camp Everytown in the past feel uneasy about this recent change.

Life-changing program Challenge Day arrives as a new experienceby Brittany Hopkins

see ON CAMPUS on page 6

carrying weight

This is part two of a series of articles discussing English teacher Stacey Cler’s decision to lose weight, her journey to become fit, and the impact her lifestyle change has had on her and her students.

the

Library checks out, students in disbeliefCler and trainer bond over fitness trials

see LIBRARY on page 4

New policy shuts out students on seven period days

CLOSED OFF The policy change leaves students in frustration during fourth period on Oct. 16.

Growing GreenTaking a look at the health trends • Page 11elestoque

Volume XXXX • Issue 2 • Monta Vista High School • Cupertino, CA October 22, 2008

Eleven students with unscheduled periods gathered around the whiteboard placed in front of the library entrance during fourth pe-

riod on Oct. 16. It was a simple sign that explained that the library will no longer be open for unsched-uled periods with the exception of block periods.

Frustrated students filtered into the academic court and sat on the benches along the library rail or on the library steps. Others trickled into the ral-ly court and the cafeteria. One student even tried getting into a French teacher’s classroom, but was

quickly denied. And some just stood in complete disbelief.

After eight weeks of discussion, Principal April Scott and Library Media Teacher Megan Birdsong made a compromise on Oct. 10 to open the library only during block periods, brunch, lunch, and tuto-rial, and before and after school. According to both Scott and Birdsong, students are calmer, focused, and less social during block periods; thus, there are usually less than 30 students in the library. During seven period days, however, it becomes a challenge for the librarians to manage the library, as it quickly becomes filled with noisy students.

“We would love for all students with unscheduled periods to use the library,” Scott said. “The problem is we still have to use it as an instructional space.”

According to both Scott and Birdsong, the pri-mary use of the library is to support instruction. For the past eight weeks, Birdsong and library technician Jodi Mitchell have had to focus on maintaining stu-dent behavior all day rather than other tasks such as ordering library materials, maintaining collection, and developing resource curriculum.

“We’ve been looking at the number of students in the library and in the previous years, it was more manageable to have unscheduled students in the li-brary because there were fewer,” Birdsong said. “Now we’re running at a minimum of 30 [students], aver-age of 50 [students], and high of 100 [students] in addition to classes, and it was disruptive to our work and disruptive to instruction.”

by Serena Lee

Serena Lee | El Estoque

entertainment

Reducing library hours inconveniences students• Page 7

Homecoming recap: Powderpuff audio slideshow and highlight reel• elestoque.org

online

Savingpennies

When Christmas arrives this year, sophomore Annie Lanter hopes that she won’t

find extravagant gifts wrapped for her by family members, or even a tree dec-orated with ornaments in her home. Worried about the financial health of her family, she would rather forego the usual gifting in exchange for more money in her family’s bank account.

The recent downturn in the U.S. economy, which began with the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and led to the recent instability and decline in the stock market, has resulted in in-creased stress in many families. While Cupertino may appear insulated from the worries due to its affluence, many people in the area are mindful of the economic woes.

“To see stores [such as Mervyn’s] closing and people struggling has just created an atmosphere of gloom ev-erywhere,” senior Harsha Gorti said. “But at the same time, even the slight-est hope creates a bundle of happiness if you look at it optimistically.”

Yet for others, it is difficult to find optimism in the current environment. Lanter’s family moved from Oakley,

Calif. to Cupertino 12 years ago in order for her two older broth-ers to attend MVHS, and she im-mediately noticed the increase in the rent of her family’s home. Her father, a construction worker for over 30 years, and her mother, a graphic de-signer for a similar amount of time, have had difficulty supporting their family for many years, and with the economy going into a recession, her situation has only become more taxing.

“I feel like I’m the one keep-ing them in Cupertino, and I’m the one putting pressure on them and myself,” Lanter said. Though the economy has added additional strain to her social life, it has only motivated her to work even harder to achieve academically.

Lanter’s father has an upcoming surgery which is only further stressing her family’s fi-nances. After years of overworking

see ECONOMY on page 6Jeremy Lee, Serena Lee, and Daniel Stenzel | El Estoque Photo illustration

sports

MVHS awarded Blue Ribbon Award in D.C.MVHS is one of the 55 high schools nation-wide

being recognized as a Blue Ribbon school. The Blue Ribbon is a federal recognition that honors schools that have dramatic student achievements or schools that have maintained excellence and performance. MVHS was recognized for the latter.

The award ceremo-ny took place in Wash-ington D.C. from Oct. 18 to Oct. 21, Principal April Scott and MVHS and District teacher of the year, Special Edu-cation teacher Nancy Sullivan, accepted the award— a plaque and a flag signifying MVHS’ Blue Ribbon school status. Senator Barbara Boxer, Congressman

M i k e Honda, and the FUHSD have each given MVHS certificates in recognition for being a Blue Ribbon School.

Last spring, MVHS, along with 462 other schools in the nation were nominated to apply to be a Blue Ribbon school. The criteria includes whether or not a school has met all their goals and the results of their Annual Yearly Progress (AYP). Over the summer, MVHS was conditionally approved for the blue ribbon. When AYP results came out in September, MVHS was immediately notified and recognized as a Blue Ribbon school. MVHS was also recognized as a Blue Ribbon school in 1998.

162Total number of shirts ordered by all four classes

Since today is Wednesday, Oct. 22, you hold an El Estoque miracle in your hands. I jest not.

I usually like to sleep in on my Sunday mornings. I wake up at around 10 a.m., laze around the house for a few hours, and spend the bulk of my morning sleepily reading a novel from English AP or wasting my time on the computer. Sunday, fun-day, lazy-day.

Not this Sunday, though. At 8 a.m. (an hour at which I am usually happily REM-ing away in dream land), I greeted section and head editors at our home away from home (my parents are seriously con-vinced I spend more time in A111 than I do at home).

Four days before the paper came out, only three pages were finalized on the computer. We were supposed to be 100% finished with all pages two days earlier by our second late night.

Putting a newspaper together may not appear to be the most difficult or time-consuming task at initial glance—after all, we in journalism report on and write stories,something everyone at MVHS does at least once in their four years of required literature classes at this school. We take photographs, something every camera owner knows how to do. We draw boxes and lines on some fancy computer program, and then insert our photographs and stories in. Simple copy and pasting, right?

No, not really. Each page’s layout, features, and content were decisions the page designer and editors all made specifically for that part of the paper. Senior Patty Chao experimented with the tablet drawing tool to create the

front page of the Entertainment section. Senior Sarah McKee and junior Sabrina Ghaus actually brought in fresh fruit and vegatables from the gro-cery store and yogurt toppings from Tartini to create their unique Center-spread design (which can also viewed as a pull-out section of the paper).

After spending the bulk of my Sunday with other editors finishing up on the remaining 21 pages of our now 24-page newspaper, I can firmly

attest to the fact that no, putting the pa-per together by deadline is not, to say the least... simple.

But why does publishing on time even matter?, you might ask. If we came out even a few days later a good third of our articles would most likely not hold as much timeliness and importance if they had been run on time.

Take a look at our Homecoming-based stories—the entire back page and the Powderpuff story Entertainment sec-tion, dedicated to Powderpuff; Opinion section’s thoughts on Homecoming court and class spirit; even Numbers on this page—these all wouldn’t have been a part of the festivities of spirit week itself but instead merely an out-dated sum-up of the week elapsed.

So I write this three hours before our final, originally unscheduled Sun-day work day comes to a close. I didn’t have my lazy Sunday—but I watched as 21 pages came together. As part of me resisted the urge to announce in a Tim Gunn-esque fashion: “Page designers, three hours left!”, the other half just died to know whether or not we would finish on time. And since the header on the top of this page does read “October 22, 2008,” then we did, as Gunn would say, “make it work.”

elestoqueEditor in ChiefAlice Lee

Managing EditorsJeremy LeeSerena LeeDaniel Stenzel

Layout and Design EditorStefan Ball

News EditorsLauren ParcelSamved Sangameswara

Opinion EditorBhargav Setlur

Centerspread EditorSarah McKee

Entertainment EditorPatty Chao

Sports EditorDipika Shrihari

Business EditorAileen Le

Online News EditorKai Kang

Online Sports EditorChristian Fatoohi

Online Entertainment EditorNatasha Desai

Print Staff WritersKunal BhanJonathan ChanChristine ChangVarshini CherukupalliAllie ChoySasha DegtyarSabrina GhausBrittany HopkinsJane KimMansi PathakSharanya ShankarKanwalroop SinghTammy SuVijeta TandonLaura WenusDerek WongKevin Wu

Online Staff WritersJackie BarrIngrid ChangAnthony ChenTom ChengJaime ChuVarada GavaskarTeressa JuDeepa KolliparaSelene RubinoShreya ShankarNatalie Wong

AdviserMichelle Balmeo

DisclaimerOpinions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and not of Monta Vista High School or the Fremont Union High School District.

CreditsSome images used in this publication have been taken from the royalty-free stock photography website sxc.hu

Mission StatementEl Estoque is an open forum created for and by students of Monta Vista High School. The staff of El Estoque seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas and bring news to the Monta Vista community in a manner that is professional, un-biased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our readers. We strive to report accurately and will correct any significant er-ror. If you believe such an error has been made, please contact us. Letters of any length should be submitted via e-mail or mail. They become the sole property of El Estoque and can be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at El Es-toque’s discretion. El Estoque also reserves the right to reject advertising due to space limita-tions or decision of the Editorial Board that content of the ad-vertisement conflicts with the mission of the publication.

Contact UsEl Estoque21840 McClellan Rd.Cupertino, CA 95014mv.el.estoque@gmail.com

Page designers: three hours left!by Alice Lee

recountin numbers

Length of the class of 2010’s cheer routine

2:57

Water bottles and granola bars given to players and cheerleaders as pregame gifts

140

newsflashin brief

56Total number of Powderpuff football players

2008-2009

POWDERPUFF Homecoming score percentages changedHomecoming scoring percentages have been al-

tered to reflect class participation. ASB officers pro-posed the idea of decreasing the lunchtime activ-ity percentage weight from 10 percent to 5 percent and increasing the dress-up day percentages from 10 percent to 15 percent to the leadership class and the idea passed.

“The idea is that more people will be involved in dress-up days than lunchtime activities because the idea is to represent the class as a whole,” ASB treasurer Ryan Satterlee said.

A new lunchtime game is a talent show that in-cludes four sections: group dance, group singing, solo singing, and group lip-synch. Results from the talent show will count toward the class score. The scoring breakdown is now 45 percent for the float, 10 percent for Powderpuff, 5 percent for lunchtime games, 15 percent for dress-up days, and 25 percent for the rally.

Peggy Kahn joins MVHS English departmentJust when the freshman class thought introduc-

tions were over, they were greeted with a new Lit-erature/Writing teacher.

On Oct. 6, Peggy Kahn became the new long-term substitute teacher for five English classes. Kahn is taking the place of English teacher Shih Kao for the next month. Kao is taking time off of teaching to become a full time student.

Although this is Kahn’s first time teaching at MVHS, she is no stranger to the Fremont Union High School District. Kahn has been with the dis-trict since 1969, taught at Sunnyvale High School from 1969 to 1979, and then at Cupertino High School through 2006.

Kahn will continue substituting as administra-tion seeks a full-time replacement.

CORRECTIONSfrom the October issue

Page 6: It was incorrectly stated that there are no recycling bins in the D building.

Page 12: The Class of 2010 won the DECA Challenge for having the highest API score.

Page 18: The corresponding picture for girls cross country was of boys.

Page 18: Vynnie Kong is actually a sophomore.

Page 18: Varsha Salunkhe is a junior on the JV cross country team.

Page 18: The names of freshmen Erik Fellom and Jordan Sheade were misspelled.

Page 19: Pranay Suri is actually a 15-year old sophomore.

editor’s letteroutlook

Sue Gunderson to retire in mid-December Sue Gunderson, Principal April Scott’s secre-

tary, will be retiring this December.While Gunderson has a variety of reasons for

retiring, her main reason is to spend time with her grandson, who she adores.

Gunderson also has two big trips planned for the upcoming year.

The first of the two trips, a two- week family vacation to Hawaii, is planned for March. She is going in celebration of her 38th wedding anniver-sary as well as her son’s 30th birthday.

The second trip is planned from late May to early June, in which she will be traveling to Italy, Greece, and all over Europe for two weeks.

Unfortunately, this second trip coincides with MVHS graduation, and Gunderson is sad to be missing it.

Gunderson plans to spend her new free time getting back into playing both tennis and golf, traveling, working in her backyard garden, and volunteering.

Other than spending time with her grandson, Gunderson is most looking forward to her retire-ment because there will be no more 6 a.m. alarms to wake up to.

National Blue Ribbon Award crest

FUHSD staff dodgeball tournament Nov. 25This year’s staff dodgeball tournament will take

place at Cupertino High School, carrying out the third consecutive year of district-wide dodgeball

tournaments. The idea to

play dodgeball started at MVHS, but Homestead expanded the idea into a tournament.

Each year, the FBLA club at the respective host

school organizes the entire event.

The proceeds made from the tournament always go to charity.

Two years ago, Homestead FBLA chose to donate to the library, and last year, MVHS FBLA chose to donate to the March of Dimes.

Nov. 25 is a Tuesday, and the game will start at 6:30 p.m.

MVHS staff dodgeball sticker found on staff members car

news October 22, 2008elestoque2

Politics have always been allotted very few slots in the Interests Department of my daily life. In fact, after I was told

the Latin roots for “politics” meant “many (poli) bloodsucking creatures (tics),” I eject-ed any political items that had managed to linger in my slots and replaced them with new interests. I became one of many re-mote spectators in the game of politics, fo-cusing on other things that seemed to bear more relevance to my life. The 2007-2008 presidential campaign was no exception.

But as September rolled into October, and the faces of John McCain and Barack Obama (and Sarah Palin) continued to beautify the issues of TIME magazine, I be-gan to realize it seemed absurd for a news columnist to dodge the dice of suspense be-ing tossed around in this election. Which is why, one morning at precisely 1 a.m., I found myself typing in “presidential de-bates” on the YouTube, determined to get a closer look at these “many bloodsucking creatures.”

In short, I fell asleep. There wasn’t a any blood involved, although maybe a shower of spit particles here and there. But from the political substance that I did observe in the debates, I arrived at a somewhat unex-pected conclusion.

Throughout each debate, there was a consistent advancement on both sides. McCain’s proposal of tax cuts for lower-income citizens, for example, was immedi-ately rebuked by Obama’s clarification that it contained loopholes and would add taxes to healthcare instead. Each side had strong standing points, legitimate evidence, and logical suggestions backed by reason.

Maybe it was my lack of experience, but after watching a few of these debates, I came to an ambidextrous conclusion: both par-ties seemed equally strong, equally compe-tent, and equally driven. The opinions were most certainly different, but with each can-didate’s level of preparation, reasoning, and support, it was near impossible to point out a superior. Frankly, this relatively balanced playing ground reminded me of gambling.

To many people, gambling is linked with a negative connotation. But after see-ing how competent both presidential can-didates were, I realized the campaign was largely a gamble that wagered upon the opinions of every voting citizen. Each play-er started out fair and square, each player had his share of advantages, and each play-er had to depend heavily on the capricious sway of America’s decision.

The fact is, McCain and Obama have laid their bets on America, and at this point in the game, much of what will result is only a matter of chance.

We might not realize it, but as students, make gambles from time to time as well, though less jeopardizing than running for president. Although it’s not necessarily a bad thing, decisions made with some level of uncertainty are inevitable. Decisions like which class to concentrate on for a final, which clubs to commit to, and even who to ask to Homecoming are all risks to some degree.

For Obama and McCain, engaging them-selves in an all-or-nothing race calls for real gamblers’ guts. There is more to running a campaign than the individual candidate’s strategy and ability. There is a considerable bit of risk involved, and a substantial pros-pect of luck.

So perhaps it is high time I took some chances and re-invest a few interest slots at the Political Casino. Because really, what’s life without knowing you just might hit the jackpot?

elestoque 3newsOctober 22, 2008

COMPANIONS: Cler finds new friend in trainercontinued from page 1

CHRISTINECHANG

BroadcastBoggling

Political casino

NO PAIN, NO GAIN Cler works out at 24-Hour Fitness in San Jose under the guidance of trainer and friend Danny Page. Cler and Page have been meeting on a daily basis for one year now.

walking, rowing, spinning, and training with Page.

No one said losing 189 pounds was easy.

Cler’s previous lifestyle caused complications that still remain: bad posture, tight muscles, crooked spi-nal alignment, and her right foot comes in as her left foot goes out when she walks. And as these problems are solved, others take shape. The struggle to become healthy is constant; it requires discipline and perseverance.

Along with losing weight, Cler has three irrational fit-ness goals: to have large tri-ceps, to have buff calves, and to run like Forrest Gump. She goes to the gym six days a week, spending a minimum of two hours every time.

Cler is very conscious of what she puts in her body, and her diet has changed of-ten—it is the key to her health. She began with a diet that re-quired her to eat five meals a day. Her diet changed as she began to eat 1,900 calories two days in a row and then 3,500 on the third. Now she eats only natural, raw foods. But Saturday is her cheat day. She indulges in the goodies that are bypassed the other six days of the week, and after eating french fries for the first time in one year, she spoke to Page on Aug 31:

“I ate french fries.” “Good, good.” “Why didn’t you ever tell

me how french fries are?”

“Trust me. I have ‘em on my cheat day too.”

Such is the cherished con-nection between Cler and Page. As Cler writes in her 33-page weight loss reflection,

“Nobody needs to say a word, but that silent feeling of support is palpable.”

This silent support sustains Cler when drinking muscle milk while teaching, when coming to school tired and sore, and when—although it’s the last thing she wants to do—lifting herself off the couch and dragging her feet to the car so

she can go to the gym…again. “We don’t get through life alone,” Cler said. “At MVHS, everybody thinks you have to do it alone and if you don’t, that means you’re weak in some way. Nobody gets through life alone. Everybody gets help.”

After their 50-minute ses-sion was over, Page and Cler sat at the desk. They were hunched over a container of raw turkey, shoving it slowly into their mouths as oth-ers in the gym looked on. Cler said she felt uncomfort-

able when everyone stared. But Page only smiled and said, “They’re just jealous.” Note to reader: The final piece of this three-part project on Engish teacher Stacey Cler will conclude in the Novem-ber issue of El Estoque. The third piece of this story will cover the changes in Cler’s life that took place afer her battle with weight. See “The dark before the dawn” in the Sept. 24 issue of El Estoque for part one of Cler’s story, “Carrying the Weight.”

New DECA chapter emergesSilicon Valley DECA forms identity separate from state organization

On Sept. 20, a Leadership Devel-opment Conference was held at MVHS. However this conference

was organized not by its traditional host, California DECA, but instead by club mem-bers from four local high schools.

Smaller parts of larger groups often get lost in the big picture. This year, though, MVHS DECA is pushing through and cre-ating a distinct name for itself, inside and outside of the main DECA community.

Like all organizations, DECA is orga-nized by a series of sections: local (indi-vidual schools), regional (sections within a state), and finally, state chapters. MVHS’ DECA chapter belongs to the Northern District, which in turn belongs to the overall California DECA chapter.

Levels of leadership aside, MVHS DECA, and the encompassing Sili-con Valley DECA are now creating clearer identi-ties for themselves.

Unlike MVHS DECA, SV DECA is nei-ther a local chapter nor a state district. It is an association of chapters from four high schools—MVHS, Fremont, Harker, and Lyn-brook—created to oversee events.

The concept of an independent confer-ence was formed when last year’s SV DECA officers were frustrated with the state-or-ganized conference, which they felt was inefficient. By organizing an event with fewer but more meaningful activities, and by planning for it to be completed in a day (thus eliminating hotel costs), the team

ultimately created a conference that, com-pared to the regular LDC, could be complet-ed in half the time and cost about $100 less for members.

DECA state officers that attended, Cali-fornia State President senior Julia Joung (Castro Valley) and Calif. Northern District President senior Mark Larik (Livermore), were both impressed.

“We thought [SV LDC] was run well—everything went very smoothly,” Larik said. “My favorite part was seeing all the students speak. I couldn’t believe that one chapter had so many great speakers.”

Despite the encouraging words, SV DECA President junior Diane Keng (MVHS) ad-mits that there have historically been ten-

sions between leadership levels within the organization. This year specifically, she ac-knowledges that the state LDC might have felt the loss of 123 DECA members who at-tended SV LDC instead. But overall, MVHS DECA President senior Jade Lipscomb maintains that the relationship hasn’t ex-perienced significant problems.

“On paper, [State DECA] is obligated to help us, and we’re obligated to support them,” Lipscomb said. “I mean, we’ve had our differences, but that’s normal. I don’t think they’ve ever been life shattering.”

Keng and Lipscomb do mention, however, activities that the local DECA chapters, especially MVHS DECA, par-ticipate in actively which are not intro-duced by the state. These events have helped the local chapters in creating a name known by the local community. For example, chapters were present at the Cupertino Fall Festival. he leadership they showed at the event impressed the event host, who has expressed wishes in potentially working with the chapter on future events.

On a larger scale, both MVHS DECA and SV DECA are new members of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. With this membership, the chapters estab-

lished a presence alongside established business companies.

“We are really breaking the barrier this year,” Keng said. “High school business has always been sepa-rate from the actual business community. This year, by entering

the Cupertino Rotary, we have created numerous contacts that we are able to use as speakers for our study sessions, providing more experience and material for our members.”

And at the core of it, that’s how DECA is able to create this identity—with the passion of each individual member.

“In DECA, all of us kind of push the envelope,” Lipscomb said. “And then, you always have some outliers, that push clear across the room and end up doing spectacular things for the club.”

“We are really breaking the barrier this year,” junior Diane Keng said. “High school business has always been separate from the actual business community.”

by Tammy Su

Kanwalroop Singh | El Estoque

elestoquenews October 22, 20084De Anza: Opening new doors

Many MVHS students seem to love school more than the average teenager. A shock-ing 84 percent of students out of 70 person

poll administered by El Estoque, spend their eve-nings or free periods studying university-level ma-terial in local community colleges such as De Anza, Foothill, San Jose, and Evergreen.

In recent years, guidance counselor Sylvia Lam says that the trend, especially for seniors, has been to take fewer classes at school and then take a quar-ter-year’s class at De Anza. Lam says that a quarter year class at community colleges is equivalent to a full year’s or a full semester’s worth of an advanced placement equivalent at MVHS. In short, students are getting more credits in less time.

However, every advantage has its shortcomings, and these quarter-year classes are no exception. While the difficulty of a class always depends on the student who takes it, many feel that De Anza classes are lenient compared to the classes offered at MVHS.

“[Community college classes are] obviously easier than their MVHS equivalent,” senior Michelle Yuen said. “[Students who take community college class-es] don’t care about the substance [of the class] as much as the image [to colleges] they present when they take it.”

Perhaps this lack of substance can explain exactly why 88 percent of students who have taken classes at a community college felt that college classes are, in general, easier than their MVHS AP class equivalent. Students also scramble to the De Anza registration centers in order to escape the stringent scheduling system that administration implemented this year. Students could not add any class after the start of the school year.

Senior Kiran Kanekal was one of many who signed up for a community college class to overcome the inflexible scheduling regulations. After dropping Physics at MVHS because it was too easy, he signed up for Physics at De Anza and is now getting AP cred-it for his work. Kanekal notes the varied difficulties

of classes from his previous C programming class to his current Physics class.

“Programming C was the easiest class I’ve ever taken in my life,” Kanekal said. “I barely did any studying. That would count as one of those BS classes.”

Furthermore, students who didn’t have a full set of classes re-ceived holes in their schedule instead of a free first or seventh.

For example, math teacher Colin Anderson’s seventh period Statistics class is half empty, but his second period Statistics class is jam-packed. Lam explains this imbalance of classes by say-ing that many seniors who take this class, unwilling to stay in school until 3 p.m. would rather take the class at De Anza twice a week and have their seventh periods at the end of the day.

Senior Deirdre Chen argues that people take De Anza classes not because it is easy, but because a variety of classes is offered.

“If you sign up for a class at De Anza, you really want to take it. You really want to be there,” Chen said.

So whether students really do love school enough to take extra classes or they are just looking for an easy grade, De Anza has become the popular choice.

More students chose to enroll in quarter-year classes at De Anza LIBRARY: Students lose free period hot spotcontinued from page 1

By Dipika Shrihari

With 50 to 100 students in the library, the noise level naturally increases and it became an unworkable situation for Birdsong and Mitchell. Instead of solely focusing on studying during open periods, many students would sit and socialize. Birdsong and Scott agreed that the socialization and working on projects could be in a different environment, like the cafeteria.

On the day the policy was implemented, Birdsong noted that it was “amazing to give instructions without having to yell over talking and to not have the management issue of quieting down everybody to teach the class.”

“I understand that it’s going to take some adjustment,“ Birdsong said. “ I think we have to look at who we’re serving, and we’re trying to do things that are serving all of MVHS students, not just a portion of students who have a free period.”

Students, however, were not pleased with the decision. The day the policy was put in place, the career center was closed. With no computer access and no textbook to borrow in sight, many students were frustrated. Some students

“What’s the point of the library if you can’t use it?” senior Stephanie Burward Hoy said.

“In my Government class, students were saying how it’s administration’s fault because they gave them these empty periods and that’s why there’s so many people in the library,” senior Il Le Kim, who has three unscheduled periods, said. “These are the consequences.”

To accommodate students with unscheduled periods, the layout of the cafeteria will be adjusted so round tables will be moved closer to the rally court and rectangular table are moved toward the bus circle side. If necessary, the temporary wall divider will be used to allow students to respectively study or socialize.

“We’ve done the best we can with the situation,” Birdsong said, “and we needed to make a decision. I would be open to getting student feedback and suggestions. I realize they weren’t involved [in the decision], but it really was not working and we had to do something.”

Technical WritingEnglish-Lit.Women in Lit.

Social StudiesMath

MVHS De Anza

AccountingTrigonometryLinear Algebra

SociologyPsychologyPolitical Science

British Lit.World Lit.Myth/Folk

Algebra IIPre-CalculusCalculus

US HistoryEconomicsGovernment

Language ArtsScienceNutritionMeteorologyNursing

BiologyChemistryPhysiology

sidebyside

MVHS

MVHS and De Anza course offerings: Many students prefer De Anza classes, not only because they feel the courses

are easier, but also because the community college offers a wider variety. This is a small sample of a few of the many classes MVHS

students can choose from, compared with MVHS classes.

De Anza

thevotenot just for grown-ups

elestoque newsOctober 22, 2008 5busting out

by Varshini Cherukupalli

The heat of the upcoming election is inspiring more and more students, of voting age or not, to get involved in politics

proposition perplexityWith so many commercials bombarding us daily, the 2008 California propositions can become a confusing jumble of numbers, yes’s and no’s. Here is a simple guide to the 12 propositions that will impact you, your parents, and our Golden State.

Nov. 4, 2008. The day that CNN politi-cal commentator Karen Hughes has declared will be “extraordinary.” The

day that will impact the nation for years to come. And the day that many MVHS stu-dents will be stepping up to make their voices heard, whether or not they qualify to vote.

This year’s presidential election, dubbed the “Young People’s Election,” will attract a record 87 percent of young voters in Cali-fornia itself. MVHS students are no excep-tion to this phenomenon. Many of the stu-dents at MVHS that are at least 18 years old will be voicing their support for a candidate pair in the form of a vote and are now real-izing this new level of responsibility.

“If you vote for the wrong person, then it won’t be the best thing for the next four years,” senior Steven Chien, a supporter of senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said. “But I believe that Obama will be able to bring our economy back to a surplus.”

Voting also brings an awareness of the many issues that are affecting America to-day. These issues, such as the unraveling financial crisis, war in Iraq, oil addiction, massive and growing deficit, infrastruc-ture rebuilding, foreign policy, and global warming have sparked the interest of MVHS students.

“I’m definitely paying more attention to what’s going on now,” senior Annie Shin said. “I don’t feel as provincial anymore.”

Senior Susan Oldfield is an Obama sup-porter, but she thinks that there is more to voting than just showing one’s support for a candidate or a party.

“Being able to vote inspires me to keep in touch with the issues,” Oldfield said.

“But also, now that I can vote, I think it’s time I actually took up accountability for such things. We’ve had such a humiliating government for so many years, but I really think Obama can up that image.”

This year is especially significant for Oldfield because, in addition to being able to vote, she will also gain her US citizen-ship. Oldfield is British and voting makes her feel proud of being an American.

“From [an international] standpoint, no-body respects the U.S. anymore. I’ve never been proud of being an American,” said Oldfield. “It’s something to be ashamed about right now. But if Obama is elected, then I will be able to say I’m an American even when I’m not in America.”

In contrast to these students, the major-ity of the students at MVHS will not have the opportunity to vote in this November’s election. Although not of voting age, senior Ayushi Samaddar follows the election like a hawk to understand the story behind these politics and candidates. Samaddar actively debates with Obama supporters in an effort to gain support for Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.

“I feel that Obama is a lot of talk and I don’t know if he can get anything through,” Samaddar said. “And I think it’s funny when the Democrats say that Palin doesn’t have any experience, when they themselves are putting an inexperienced candidate at the top of the ticket. At home, I discuss these kinds of politics with my dad, who’s a more conservative Republican, all the time. But he’s the person who influenced me.”

Also not of voting age, senior Devina Khanna voices her support for Obama by volunteering for the organization, advocat-ing to undecided voters over phone. This entails calling voters in states like Nevada to raise support for Obama. In addition, she has deep discussions about these issues with her family, and she even convinced her mother to vote on her behalf.

“I asked my mother if she was registered to vote, and she said, ‘Actually, I’m not,’” Khanna explained. “I was shocked; she’s been a citizen for two elections. So I reg-istered her, told her which candidate and propositions to vote for, and it was almost like my first time voting. I felt so proud.”

MVHS students are proactively and en-thusiasticly participating in this election, whether they are eligible to vote or not, and that only promises a brighter, better, and more politics-savvy future for the nation. After all, as Chien stated, “I feel great be-cause I know that I actually have the power to change something for the country.”

Proposition 1:

Proposition 2:

Proposition 3:

Proposition 4:

Proposition 5:

Proposition 6:

Proposition 7:

Proposition 8:

Proposition 9:

Proposition 10:

Proposition 11:

Proposition 12:

Adds a high-speed rail for commuters, as well as increasing funds and improving California’s rail network.Requires that calves, hens, and pigs live in places where they can lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs.

Prohibits abortion for minors until 48 hours after their parents or legal guardian have been notified.

Provides $980 million for the construction and improvment of children’s hospitals and illness care.

Allocates $460 million to improve and expand programs for rehabilitation of convicts of drug and non-violent crimes.

Requires at least $965 million a year to go towards police, attor-neys, adult probation, jails, and juvenile probation facilities.

Requires energy utilities to generate 20% of their power from renew-able sources by 2010.

Takes away the right of same-sex couples to marry, providing that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California.

Changes procedures and timelines for parole hearings and victim notification of opportunities.

Provides $3.425 billion to help consumers purchase alternative-fuel vehicles and $1.25 for research and development.

Changes redistricting and commision processes for Assembly, Senate, and the Board of Equalization.

Provides $900 million for veteran assistance.

Stefan Ball | El Estoque Photo Illustration

POLLINGPLACE

In past years, Prinz has had difficulty getting students to attend Camp Every-town. He and other staff members specu-late that some students refused to go be-cause being present would involve missing two days of school.

“Everyone is just so fixated on academ-ics that they lose everything else,” Reck-tenwald said. “Those two days are more important than any two days you are go-ing to spend in a classroom.”

In order to battle the resistance, Chal-lenge Day allows students to get a simi-lar experience, but miss only one day of school. This event will be held on campus twice this year, on Oct. 30 and March 5. Many of the same activities used at Camp Everytown will also appear on the agenda for Challenge Day. Even though it will be less intensive, Prinz strongly believes in the program.

“A huge part of being successful is rec-ognizing one's emotions and being able to express them without fear,” Prinz said. “There is no way that someone can engage academically if they’re in turmoil emo-tionally or socially.

Recktenwald agrees that this day is a great experience.

“So many kids on this campus are book smart but street stupid,” Recktenwald said. “Every student on campus should go to Challenge Day.”

Standardized tests, no standard result

Visitors to the MVHS webpage will find themselves greeted by a vari-ety of highlights in recent school

history. One of these highlights is a link to Academic Performance Index, a score that is calculated from standardized testing. For students, the next round of testing is the November SATs.

To senior Neta Assaf, the SATs are a waste of time and money.

“I just didn’t want to put on the extra stress for something I didn’t need,” Assaf said, who plans to go from MVHS to De Anza College and then transfer to a college when she is more decided on a major.

Junior Amritha Parthasarathy has a dif-ferent approach, telling of her plans to ap-ply to some of the Universities of California and an SAT class she has taken.

“[SAT subject tests] show colleges that you know the subjects and the strategy,” Parthasarathy said. Though important in college admissions, she described the SAT as mostly strategy involved.

“I get the school idea, how they can be useful in telling the school how well they are doing their job,” Assaf said of standard-ized tests like the CAHSEE and STAR exams, “but they aren’t an accurate measure of what we know.”

Though she says she isn't familiar with

the state and national use of standardized testing results, guidance counselor Sarah Freeman does find them helpful every now and then.

"[Tests can show] a background on a student's academic strong or weak points," Freeman said.

Students differ in their opinions on the merits and effectiveness of standardized testing by Laura Wenus

ON CAMPUS: Challenge Daycontinued from page 1

Standardized tests can award college credit—such as for AP exams. Sometimes, however, like with Assaf’s Biology test, problems arise from the system. Weeks af-ter other results had been mailed, Assaf’s results still have not been received. In fact, records of her registration and test seem to have been completely lost.

A large part of the motivation behind preparing for and taking tests is college ad-mittance. According to Freeman, the weight SATs carry in the decision process has di-minished somewhat. Lists of colleges that do not require SATs are growing, which she finds encouraging.

When asked whether the tests were ac-tually worth anything to her, Parthasara-thy’s response was a resounding, "no."

But Freeman still believes the SATs have some value.

“It's better for a student to take the SATs than to have colleges close a door in your face because a student didn't take them,” Freeman said.

As Assaf’s philosophy goes, “Suffer through them, live on.”

PSAT-URDAY Sophomores sit inside the Field House on Saturday Oct. 18, ready to take the PSAT.Samved Sangameswara | El Estoque

ECONOMY: Students adapt to a changing financial worldhis body as a construction worker, he has developed a spinal problem, which has also been excarbated by a family condition of spinal troubles. He will go on disability for one to two months, and will undergo an expensive surgery on his spi-nal discs.

“He’s our main source of in-come,” Lanter said. “We’re liv-ing off what my dad makes. We have to figure out how we’re go-ing to stay here in Cupertino.”

Even those that are relatively well off are feeling the effects of the economy. Students such as junior Michael Wu are increas-ingly burdened with an aware-ness to lead financially respon-sible lives. Wu has noticed that his parents, especially his fa-ther, seem to be more worried about the health of their stocks. Despite this, however, Wu feels that his parents have taken great steps to keep their money issues hidden from him.

When Wu’s family visited Sushi Zono in Campbell for din-ner earlier this school year, Wu learned that his dad lost over $500,000 in stock. Though his parents worry about how thier stocks are faring, Wu has not discerned a noticeable decrease in the amount of times that

his family dines out or the fre-quency of his shopping, mostly because he considers himself to still be fairly financially stable.

Unlike Wu’s family, Lanter’s family has had to make sharp cutbacks in their spending. They have reduced their expenses on areas which they used to take for granted, such as traveling to Napa to visit their family. Her dad has foregone his yearly hunting trip. Her brothers live out of state, one in New York and the other in Germany, and they will have to pay for their own travel expenses in order to visit Cupertino. It is likely that Lanter won’t see them until next year.

Lanter has pledged to bet-ter support herself, especially through baby-sitting jobs. She pays for her own cell phone bill, but usually texts, using her unlimited texting plan provided by her parents, in order to keep her payment low. She is skip-ping SAT classes to study on her own and postponing enroll-ment in driving lessons if she cannot earn enough money on her own to attend them.

In addition to trying to per-suade her parents to pass up the usual Christmas festivities, she is also asking her parents not to celebrate her Sweet 16.

continued from page 1

elestoquenews October 22, 20086

attends an out-of-state college with a high tuition.

From the current economic crisis, Wu has learned one im-portant lesson.

“I know not to invest in too much stock,” Wu said. “I just hope it’s not going to be anoth-er Great Depression and we’re living in one of those Hoover-villes.”

“If I don’t ab-solutely need or absolutely want [something], then it’s not worth it,” Lanter said. “It’s gotten to a point if my friends are like, ‘Do you want to do this?’ and I’m like, ‘Does it cost money?’ If it does, then I skip it.”

But she is quick to note that she considers herself financially self-sufficient.

“I’m not reach-ing out for help or anything,” Lanter said. “I don’t want people to look down at me. I don’t want people to think I want at-tention.”

Many students are actively monitoring their spending, performing simple tasks such as turning off the lights to save money on energy. For Wu, he plans also to take a job next semester, and his parents have urged him only to apply to in-state colleges. His brother, MVHS alumnus Calvin Wu, currently

CALLS ON HOLD Sophomore Annie Lanter texts as much as possible, taking advantage of her unlimited texting plan to save money.

Jeremy Lee | El Estoque

7

At most schools around the U.S., administrators have a hard time getting their students into the library. At our school, we seem to have another problem.

They want to keep us out.The recent decision to close the library to students with

unscheduled periods on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays is one that has led to a great deal of frustration. These days, it’s very easy to overhear one or more students complain-ing about not being able to stay in the library during their unscheduled periods. What’s the point of having a nice, renovated li-brary if students aren’t able to make full use of it?

However, it’s important to first ex-amine the reasons for implementing this new policy. It’s hard to dispute that students make a lot of noise in the library, from 7:15 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. And, many of these students come to the library to socialize rather than finish work. As a result, our librarians are forced to spend an im-measurable amount of time each day telling students not to eat, keeping the noise down, and kicking out those who just don’t listen.

Contrary to popular belief, the main job of the librarians is not to police the student body. Their real job is to of-fer their expertise in library research techniques to classes who come to the library to work on projects. Instead of do-ing that, however, librarians are forced to spend time on controlling students. This policy is simply a response to this long-standing problem.

Even so, this only explains why the policy was imple-mented. Unfortunately, it doesn’t completely justify it. This new policy essentially kicks students out of the best place

EditorialStaff

by Kunal Bhan

Library policy unreasonableRestrictions on library access leave students out in cold

to study on campus. The whole point of a well-funded li-brary like ours is to attract students to spend time inside. Teenagers will always want to socialize, so isn’t it better that they hang out in a safe and constructive place like the library as opposed to the back of the nearest convenience store? A library is not supposed to be kept empty. And let’s be clear: the cafeteria is nowhere as good a place to spend time as is the library. Minus the hard tables and strange odor, it’s not much better than the shipping containers on

the upper field. But why was there such a need

to drastically cut down on the num-ber of students in the library to be-gin with? The answer is that this year, a much larger number of stu-dents were given free periods. These students don’t just vanish when

they don’t have class; they have to spend time somewhere. The best place to work and talk with other students is the library. It’s ironic that the authority that gave students so many free periods is the same authority that denies those same students a place to spend time during those very free periods. How’s that for farsighted policy?

The librarians themselves have said that they under-stand that students are frustrated, and that they’re open to suggestions. Here’s one: why not create another place on campus where students have both computer access and a place to work? If administration intends for the library to be devoted to “instructional” purposes, that’s fine. Then, there must be another spot on campus that is devoted purely to study purposes. However, the one thing that absolutely cannot be done is to restrict students from the best study place on campus without providing an equivalent option.

An MVHS nobility? Fresh faces are a rare sight in Homecoming Court

It’s that time of year again – boys in miniskirts showing us how to “Pop, Lock and Drop It”, students congregat-ing in backyards on weekends with paper mâché and

pizza, and of course, one night where one boy and one girl are crowned king and queen. Yes – Homecoming 2008 has finally hit us at MVHS. And aside from win-ning Homecoming itself, the next big thing by far is winning the honor of being voted as king and queen.

Unnoticed to some, however, is that there ex-ists an unspoken rule which somehow seems to take effect each year around this time. It seems as if ASB officers and senior class officers are the ones who seem to almost always be on the ballots for Homecoming court, with a few non-officers in the race. ASB and senior class office have become synony-mous with Homecoming Court. If one looks at the court from just the past three years, there is an overwhelming majority of ASB and senior class officers on the ballot. This trend seems to be recurring as each year passes. Just last year, 10 out of the 12 students on Homecoming Court were either ASB or senior class officers. For Homecoming

2005 and 2006, there were seven out of twelve students on Homecoming Court who were either ASB or senior class officers, both times. This year as well, seven of the twelve students selected are either current ASB or class officers. Of the remaining five students, one has had experience as a class officer.

Okay, both ASB and the class officers should be giv-en credit because they do a lot for our school and senior class. They don’t have the easiest roles on campus, since they take up responsibility and spend time both during fifth period Leadership as well as outside of normal school hours to ensure MVHS’ cohesiveness and senior class spirit. However, there are many students who see that there are

other students in the senior class who may not be ASB or class officers, but have demonstrated the same qualities as those of officers. There are many other ways students can be respectful, driven, and dedicated, like giving ideas for class activities and spearheading plans for floats.

Some people start placing the blame on the selection process, yet the very process for voting on Homecoming Court is quite fair. The members are selected by the senior class on an online bal-lot, a change from voting in Government and Economics classes as was done in the previous years. After compiling these votes and choosing the six princes and princesses, the entire student body then casts their votes for the prince and princess they wish to make king and queen. Fi-nally, at the Homecoming Game’s halftime fol-

lowing the floats’ procession and band’s performance, the previous year’s king and queen come to crown the new year’s king and queen.

When seniors get the ballot, they’re asked to “nomi-nate people who should represent MVHS and have served the MVHS community in a positive way.

Instead of actually thinking about someone, seniors immediately pounce and choose ASB and class officers as these “model students.”

At the end of Home-coming there are three sad faces for

every elated one—give or take. One class won and all the others didn’t, even though (of course) they worked harder and cheered louder and cared more than the winners. The competi-tion between the classes, the need for secrecy about rally plans and float de-signs, the consuming desire to win seems to take over the school.

Please don’t get us wrong. We are all for the competi-tion aspect of Homecoming. We love to cheer at the rally, dress up in outfits we would normally be mortified of, and spend five or six weekends straight build-ing an incredible float that we will eventually de-stroy. Yet some-times we catch ourselves think-ing malicious thoughts about the other classes, sure that everyone else is out to get our poor, innocent class-mates.

By Friday we see math and science classes divided into colors, instead of work-ing together on that one last lab question. In Literature classes students plot and spread out materials in or-der to triumph. Grades split into those who go crazy and those who find the entire thing ridiculous.

We’re building up all this momentum, in this huge mass of students and cre-ating four enormous forces all hurtling at each other. Physics students know where this is going. If equal and opposite forces collide,

no work gets done and all that energy is conserved for future conflict. All that ef-fort for nothing.

Which is why we have a proposal. Instead of hav-ing the rally be the end of Homecoming, as it is for most people, let it be the time when our energy is converted from class to school spirit. This way the forces won’t cancel out, they’ll parallel and create some formidable power for Friday’s football game.

Remember football? The game that decides when Homecoming week is, that consists of players from more than one class. The game is when our alumni come back to root for the home team, to cheer on

Cheer and Dance, and to applaud Marching Band. All these orga-nizations show the true spirit of H o m e c o m i n g , one that many students have lost – the school spirit.

Band doesn’t play four different times, once for each class. Instead, the grades come together to cre-ate one sound. If the cheer team members don’t work together and trust each other, someone is likely to get hurt.

And no one class can win the Homecoming foot-ball game alone. A victory is a victory for all of MVHS, something everyone can and should be proud of. Take pride in your class, and take pride in your school. So let’s build up that energy, but instead of aim-ing at each other, focus on beating Fremont.

They won’t know what hit them.

Mean spirited?Class spirit detrimental if not it is not properly utilizedby Sasha Degtyar

Declaration of Student Rights1. If students are given free periods during the middle of the day, they must also be given an alternate place to stay.

2. If the library is intended to be an in-structional space, then there must be a des-ignated study space.

3. This study space must be conducive to student needs, offering computer access and a clean, welcoming workspace.

To promote diversity, classes should elect different people to Homecoming Court each year

see COURT on page 8

• Class competition vs. school unity 7 • Disrupting library atmosphere 8 • Sleep less, achieve more 9 • opinion

Students continue to ignore librarians by talking loudlyKeeping the decibels down: Impossible?

There seems to be an intellectual crisis at MVHS. Or perhaps it’s a plague of short-term memory

loss. We can’t seem to comprehend the very elementary idea that the library is a place for reading, for studying, for be-ing quiet. Each time we are told, “shh! This is a library...please keep it down,” we seem to do the exact opposite, push-ing the noise notch another decibel up.

Every day, hundreds of students stampede through the doors of the li-brary. They raid the textbook cart, grease the keyboards with sticky fingers, and transform the quiet study area into something like a mess hall. For library managers Megan Birdsong and Jody Mitchell, it’s rarely an easy task trying to maintain the calm and cultivating ef-fect libraries are reputed to have.

Strangely, the students who can whiz through instructions for complex chemistry labs and analyze literature down to every trifling root of a word, are often the same students who blab-ber away on cell phones despite a bright red sign demanding “Off/Away” taped at eye level, who sneak entire lunches

byChristine Chang

Some good qualities to look for are people who are respectful, dedicated, and driven.” However, when seniors encounter these lines, and they read the sam-ple qualities, two groups of people constantly pop to mind: six people in black jumpsuits on rally days; or five people in identical shirts, leading more than 600 seniors in the epic “OOH AAH! You wish you were a senior!” chant in the gym. Instead of actually think-ing about someone, seniors immediately pounce and choose ASB and class officers as these "model stu-dents." True, seniors have college applications and first semester grades to channel most of their atten-tion on. But in their busy schedules, they can make time to actually think for a few minutes as to who would accurately befit the title.

ASB officers and class officers have been given a platform already. Why not give the same opportunity to other seniors? The thing that more seniors could do is try to vote for such non-officers, therefore giving other people within their class the chance to “repre-sent” their class as members of that year’s Homecom-ing Court. With the multitude of respectful, dedicat-ed, and driven seniors, we won’t go wrong in selecting a non-ASB or non-class officer. By considering other seniors, we can see a more diverse selection to choose from, adding another hint of spice to an already fla-vorful Homecoming.

into their mouths from beneath the tables, who consider the library a con-venient locale for social powwows. But are library rules really that much more complicated than the heavy academic work we tolerate every day?

Common sense would agree that it does not make sense for a place of-ten synonymous with “sanctuary” and “paradise” to be degraded by unsophis-ticated etiquette exhibited by MV stu-dents. As outstandingly excellent our academic programs might be, failing to grasp the concept of peace and quiet in a library is undeniably a shameful blotch on MVHS students’ well-known record of intelligence and maturity.

In fact, much of the problem comes in the irony that MVHS students seem to bear a twisted connotation of “library”-an indoor area with comfy chairs and free Internet access where people hold club meetings, out-chant each other in SAT words, or make out behind book-shelves. More often than not, Birdsong and Mitchell have had to ask entire tables of students to leave due to their disruptive demeanor. Especially during common unscheduled periods such as

seventh, the growing bubble of noise becomes stubbornly difficult to deflate. As a result, Birdsong, as well as other teachers who work or hold class ses-sions in the library at that time find it increasingly difficult to give verbal in-structions to their students.

“There’s a certain level of conversa-tion that is okay, but beyond that there is a limit,” Birdsong said. “We’ve been trying to communicate our expectations for a while, but if it doesn’t seem to be getting across, it really comes down to closing the library when classes are in here to work.”

On the part of the student body, it is only fair that we cooperate with the standards set to create a truly effective library atmosphere. The librarians work hard to preserve the quality of our li-brary, and especially with so many rest-less high school students who barge in and out each day, it is not a hassle-free job. Having a school library is a privi-lege to respect, a privilege that requires good manners and civilized behavior.

Unless, of course, you don’t mind taking those dandy SAT flash cards out to the rally court.

The coolest new cell phone, a 4.0 GPA, stellar SAT scores, and the fewest hours of sleep each night. At first glance, these four things seem to have no relation

to each other whatsoever. According to the general buzz around campus, however, these are all qualities which stu-dents commonly compete against each other for.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the general belief in the minds of MVHS students seems to be that by getting, and even falsely proclaiming to be getting, fewer hours of sleep each night, students are somehow giving others the impression that they are busier and thus more competent than their peers. The main problem with this assumption is that it completely over-looks the concept of efficiency.

By unnecessarily multi-tasking and wasting time, students lower their overall productivity and work inefficiently. Inefficiency is a life skill that no one actually wants, yet MVHS students seem to cultivate it enthusiastically. Why do students choose to do so? For some reason, MVHS students think they look “cool” the next day when they brag to their friends about getting only three hours of sleep the previous night. The harsh truth is that students remain exhausted and are not able to fully concentrate on other aspects of their life. In most cases, this ultimately leads to serious personal and emotional conflicts.

The irony of the situation is that students continue to be proud of their inefficiency, by proclaiming how they

Inefficiency is a skill that no one actually wants, yet MVHS students seem to cultivate it enthusiastically.

Maximum pride with minimum hoursStudents equate higher levels of efficiency and achievement with fewer hours of sleep at nightby Vijeta Tandon pulled an all-nighter in order to finish studying for an up-

coming test and finish the piles of homework they have to do. Other participants in the conversation seem to ac-knowledge the fact with admiration, as though bags under eyes and body fatigue signal excellence in some mysteri-ous way. Is forced insomnia the epitome of academic excel-lence? MVHS students sure make it out to be.

When confronted about their inefficiency, some stu-dents respond defensively by proclaiming that they re-ally did stay up all night working sincerely. This seems extremely unlikely. Even if the student did stay up the

whole night studying, it is because they did not effectively utilize the time they had earlier in the day, or continued to waste time during the night when they were supposedly working. It is impossible for someone to have more than 10 hours of homework to do in a single day; instead, this is just a result of continued inefficiency over a long period of time.

On the other hand, when a student mentions how he or she gets at least eight hours of sleep every night, observers automatically assume that the student must be taking easy

COURT: No one new nominated to the topcontinued from page 8

classes, or must not be participating in any extracurricular activities. No one bothers to appreciate the student’s effi-ciency, or commend the student on his organizational and prioritizing skills. The general response to both of these two scenarios should actually be switched.

We as students should strive to become more skilled, and thus organized workers. This means doing one task at a time, and learning how to prioritize activities in order of importance. Instead of listening to music, eating dinner, chatting online, and doing homework at the same time, it would be a much wiser decision to do these things one by

one in a sensible order. Not only does this cut total time spent pouring over homework and studying, it also gives students a sense of accom-plishment and peace of mind while doing other activities afterwards.

Furthermore, knowing how to prioritize and learning how to focus on the task at hand are skills which will help students succeed through-out life in whatever we do. By not learning these

skills when we have the opportunity to do so without hav-ing to face any extremely dire consequences, we are mak-ing our own future harder for us.

By admiring those who are efficient and successful, we can gradually rectify this culture of sleep-deprivation. This will result in a higher productivity rate and will lead to a healthier and more energized student body.

So please, instead of reading this article at 1 a.m. while pretending to study for your Chemistry Honors test, go to sleep. Your mind and body will thank you.

Unwanted Halloween

How old is too old to go trick-or-treating?

by Daniel Stenzel

elestoqueopinion October 22, 20088

DEREKWONG

DayJudgment

elestoque opinionOctober 22, 2008 9

Inflexible regulations limit students’ options

by Jonathan Chan

Will students take the trouble to bring a can to Homecoming or pay the extra dollar?

MVerbatim

“We are very incentive based.”

Students have varied opinions of Community Leadership’s decision to provide a $1 discount to those who bring a can of food to the Homecoming Dance. El Estoque asked students a series of questions concerning the new idea. Below are some of their views, in their own words, drawn from the conversations that ensued.

What does this policy say about the attitude of MVHS students?

“We want to help the communityand give back.”

“People wouldn’t want to pay the $10 for Homecoming. They’d bring the can.” — Malcom Dia, sophomore

Do you think this is a valid way of getting students to participate in the food drive?

“I believe it is.” — Bertrand Cheng, senior

“It takes time.

I don’t think everyone will do it.”

“Extra dollar.” — Anisha Gaitonde, freshmen

— Shirley Chan, senior

It used to be that it was not difficult for students to take two classes in the same curriculum area. Then, it was

given out based on space availability. Now, it’s totally banned.

It is definitely important to create and maintain quality standards for gradua-tion, including required classes in a wide variety of subjects. But MVHS’ elimina-tion of double sciences is damaging to its student body.

Students should be allowed to select classes which they love. If they aren’t al-lowed to double up in a subject area, stu-dents won’t be able to pursue something they are really interested in. They can’t show colleges that they have taken class-es that they are interested in. They are forced into taking something they don’t care much about.

Consistency is needed. Last year, stu-dents were permitted to take two science classes. However, this year, the school is not allowing any students to take two classes in one subject area. This is un-fair because some members of the Class of 2009 have five science classes on their transcript, while others, who wanted to take two science classes this year, have only four.

However, there are still open seats in other science classes. During the last sta-tion at “Running of the Bulls,” I brought in a schedule change form complete with signatures to add Physics to my sched-ule, but I already had Chemistry on my

schedule. One of the deans told the Assistant Principal that they had six or seven seats open in seventh period Physics. But when I brought my schedule form, I was immedi-ately denied Physics because the school was not allowing any double sciences.

A limit to class size is set because it is important for teachers to give each student enough individual attention, but if there are open seats in any class, why not allow students to take it if they choose? It is true that not every student is going to add the class they want, but are all the open seats going to be wasted in an attempt to main-tain “fairness?” By denying this type of op-

portunity, MVHS students are being put at a disadvantage when compared to high schools that do allow students to double up in one curriculum area.

It’s understandable that only a certain number of classes can be opened with the amount of funding available. But, if fund-ing is such an issue, why were we able to construct a new, expensive office building that at best indirectly benefits students, while there still was not enough funding to open new classes? It is true that there might be separate funds for building and classes, but if that’s the case, we need to rethink our priorities.

— Emily P. Yang, senior

— John Chang, senior

You Go-Bama!

Deepa Kollipari | El Estoque

MVHS bans students from taking two classes in one subject area

It’s fair to say that I enjoy being inspired. I love listening to graduation speeches for the sole reason to achieve that splen-

did liquid sensation at the base of my spine culminating with every well-delivered line. As an independent supporter of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, I found myself immediatly engrossed in their campaign, seeing these Democratic candidates as the harbingers of desparately needed change. Thus, I began to take on a liberal bias against opposing Republicans John Mc-Cain and Sarah Palin. While watching the debates, it seemed that every time Obama commented on President Bush’s policies, I would immediately agree with the Demo-cratic point of view. Riding on the wave of Obama’s resound-ing oratory following his last debate, I was inspired to fully embrace “Oba-Mania.” At the Cupertino Fall Festival, I stunned the Democratic Party booth with my purchase of $15 worth of Obama propaganda. I at-tached the 10 shiny Obama campaign pins I bought on my backpack, put up an Obama poster on my otherwise pristine bedroom walls, and even stuck “Obama 08” bumper decals on my parents’ cars without their permission. Obama was my main man: the perfect politician, an honest everyday fa-ther trying to better our society. On the other hand, I expressed my dis-dain against McCain and Palin at every given opportunity. Afer every GOP press release, I instantly deemed their policies incorrect and against minority interests, judging every single aspect of the Republi-can platform with a negative verdict: Gross-ly misnamed “health insurance reforms” are actually steps towards free market competition with human lives as currency. McCain’s call for the escalation of military presence in Iraq is a written request for a repeated Vietnam War. Yet my blissful leftist behavior met its end when I stumbled upon www.liecount.com, a website that quantifies the slander spewed by politicians. I was violated. The political Gospel that I followed in Obama’s wake was indeed no different than the Mc-Cain campaign, filled with negative cam-paigning and libel. Apparently, my dear Obama was not the man of wax that I so imagined him to be, but rather, just anoth-er Capitol Hill politician. I believed Barack Obama to be a presidential candidate like no other, but after all, he is simply another master of public manipulation. My brief experience with presidential elections has left a foul-tasting puddle of political excretion upon my tongue. It ap-pears that no politician can tell the truth without losing their most important mea-sure of success, votes. However, I under-stand the difficulty that political icons face while campaigning as it is not a matter of whether or not they tell the truth, but what people want to hear. Politics is a vicious circle.Tell the ugly truth to the public, and political suicide ensues. Tell a lie, or rather a “fabricated fact,” and face the overwhelm-ing probability that your opponent catches you and your moral reputation is perma-nently compromised.

Sadly, there may never be a candidate that satisfies all my political, economic, and social demands while fulfilling, to some ex-tent, a noteworthy moral agenda. But until then, I have found the underlying reason for low voter turnout in the United States. After all, nobody tells the truth. Nobody can fix our financial crisis. Nobody will find the correct solution to our oil dependency and Nobody can solve global hunger. So vote for Nobody.

add:

welcome to running of the bulls!

AP Bio

Bio AP class list27.cindy28.brian29.susan30. EMPTY31. SPACE AVAILABLE

elestoqueadvertisement October 22, 200810

growing greenOrganic and healthy food trends gain popularity in Cupertino

Sharanya Shankar Jane Kimby and

7Number of frozen yogurt places in

Cupertino

2008Year the USDA created

MyPyramid, a personalized eating plan

2001Year “Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution” was published

anew green movement is in full

force, but it doesn’t deal with ex-pensive solar panels or recycled paper. Instead, it’s about the nu-tritional green found in spinach

and broccoli, and seeing vitamin A in place of seeing recycling signs. It’s

about organic foods. These growing health trends are turning Cupertino green.

The trend towards organic and nutri-tious foods has led to the opening of nu-merous frozen yogurt stores, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s in Cupertino.

In 1992, the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture encouraged Americans to eat accord-ing to a food pyramid, that advised people to minimize fat and eat a lot of carbohy-drates. However, the USDA came out with a brand new food pyramid encompassing a new healthier way of eating in 2008. My-Pyramid proposes a personalized eating plan which helps assess people’s own food needs. This new way addresses eating and

is tailored to different bodies and builds. It caters to personal needs while improving health with regard to protein, or building more body muscle.

Cupertino residents have joined this health craze through the popularity of health supermarkets and frozen yogurt stores. In Cupertino alone there are seven different types of these yogurt places, and many students of MVHS have noticed the rise in this popular trend.

“Frozen yogurt restaurants are becom-ing like Starbucks,” junior Tiffany Lau said. “You see one almost every block. Frozen yogurt has fewer calories than ice cream, which is probably why a lot of people think it’s healthy.” One of the newest frozen yo-gurt places, Red Mango, offers a natural and unsweetened yogurt. Unlike ice cream, it does not contain extra sugar unnecessary for the body.

Freshman Shannon Lin likes to eat fro-zen yogurt: “It’s not as heavy as ice cream,” Lin revealed, “and it’s yummier.”

Although some students follow and believe most health trends to be true and healthy, junior Steven Lee does not.

“These [health trends] are misleading because organic foods and frozen yogurt aren’t necessarily good,” Lee said. “People just want to believe that they’re healthy.”

Athletic Director, Lori Graham thinks that the health stores in Cupertino re-inspired health within her, “I think deep down we all want to be healthy and when new places open up- we want to be a part of it.”

Supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s offer health benefits that can’t be found in other stores. These health-cen-tric stores offer organic foods.

Despite growing popularity in frozen yo-gurt, organic foods and trends, real health is about maintaining a proper diet. Fresh Vegetables will always be a staple part of a healthy diet. Green beans, green bell pep-pers, brussel sprouts, zucchini, spinach, bok choy, cucumbers and peas, go green!

Pull—out section

acloserlook11for related content see elestoque.org

Daniel Stenzel | El Estoque

Yogurtland, Tartini, Red Mango, Froyo, I <3 Yo-gurt, DIY Yogurt, Yumi Yogurt, and Tutti Frutti. Cupertino is under siege of the frozen yogurts.

Recently, there has been a surge of frozen yogurt shops opening in Cupertino and surrounding ar-

eas. Starting with I <3 Yogurt in 2006, there has been a steady rise in popularity. So, why are

people choosing frozen yogurt?“I like frozen yogurt because it’s not too

sweet,” junior Jenna Valtanen said.Cupertino is a good target for frozen yo-

gurt due to its health-conscious citizens. This is one reason Susan Kuo decided to open Red Mango here. Kuo’s new store emphasizes healthy yogurt as well as a healthy lifestyle.

“Our yogurt is all natural, low-cal, low-sugar; we try to be as healthy as possible,”

Kuo said.Kuo thinks of yogurt as a healthy snack rather than a

dessert. With an unsweetened, natural base, and fresh fruit and granola additives, it is a snack that can be eaten any time of day.

In addition, Red Mango hopes to have a welcoming family atmosphere.

“I want it to be a place where students can come after school and study and just hang out,” Kuo said.

However, the health aspects of frozen yogurt are not the only reasons for its popularity.

“I like getting frozen yogurt for the whole experience,” senior Safa Lele said. “It’s cheap, you can serve yourself, and there are so many toppings to choose from.”

Whether it’s Red Mango or Yogurtland, frozen yogurt shops are beginning to offer “experience” students have been looking for. From their cute décor to healthy varieties, frozen yogurt is the latest trend.

The latest phenomenon, fro-yoFrozen yogurt emerges as a health trend

Lauren Parcelby

Living the healthy lifeStudent sees benefits of active lifestyle

Senior Hannah Wang would not be caught dead at McDonald’s with a complete set of fries, burgers, and soda. Wang is a trend set-

ter for what it means to be healthy and live life in moderation. Her daily routine is bread and milk for breakfast, a bike ride to school, and a balanced lunch and dinner.

Chewing on a Special K bar as she spoke, Wang explained the importance of eating healthy, but not being obsessive about it.

“When I feel like I’m eating too much, I stop,” Wang said. “[But] I don’t really look at the nutri-tion facts. It’s good to see how many calories you are eating but not to be, like, ‘Oh my god! 100 calories! I can’t eat that.’”

Wang also stressed the importance of eating healthy even when your body isn’t sending you signals to stop.

“Maybe you get really fat and then you see it,” Wang said. “[For] some people they can’t [see the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle] with their body. It doesn’t show, but it’s so bad for them.”

She does not spend every waking moment running laps on the track, but her mantra of moderation is carried out in her exercise sched-

ule. By biking to school every day, playing at badminton “open gym” on Fridays, and participating in teams on and out of school, Wang stays fit, yet maintains time to study and sleep.

When she comes home from school, she starts her homework right away and is able to get ready for bed at 10 p.m.

This cycle of health, exercise, and sleep may seem like a great feat to accomplish, but to Wang this has been the norm her whole life. Her parents have always influenced her to be healthy, and Wang has not lived any other way.

“We’ve always been aware that you have to eat healthy,” Wang said. “My [mom] would send me emails [saying], ‘If you eat too much you will have blood clots.’”

Though Wang adheres to a healthy life-style, she admitts to craving fast food oc-casionally, but actively controls the urge to indulge in this pleasure.

“I eat fast food, like, once in three to four months,” Wang said. “Instead of snacking on chips I will eat Cheerios, and I like dark chocolate. [Students] have to make their own effort to be healthy.”

Dipika Shrihariby

acloserlook14

*information taken from www.redmangousa.com *information taken from www.baskinrobbins.com

calories 90

total fat 0g

cholesterol 0mg

sodium 125mg

total carbohydrate 20g

sugars 18g

calories 260

total fat 16g

cholesterol 65mg

sodium 70mg

total carbohydrate 26g

sugars 26g

frozen yogurt* ice cream (vanilla)*

New designs for outdoor athletic facility are underway, with ideas, blueprint, and discussion

15

MVHS varsity football coach Jeff Mueller has a 35 players, a staff of nine coaches, and a quality shot at making CCS this year, but he’s still missing one thing: a field for his team. However, that is

about to change.Thanks to Bond Measure B, which was passed last June, MVHS along

with the other four schools in the district have received $40 million to be used to renovate all outdoor athletic facilities.

“Yes, we’ve always wanted [a football field],” Assistant Principal Brad Metheany said.”But you can’t just pull $34 million out of your budget.”

Mueller hopes that a large portion of that money will go to renovating the school’s currently inactive football field. As of right now, due to a lack of proper facilities, the varsity Matadors play all home football games at Cupertino High School. Mueller hopes that renovations will change that.“We want [students] to have the real high school experience of a home football game,” Mueller said.

The decision of MVHS’ athletic facilities fate is currently being debated amongst a committee that has been formed to discuss the renovations. The committee, comprising of Mueller and Metheany as well as several MVHS teachers, administrators and FUHSD representatives, has been meeting over the past few weeks to determine how money will be allocated.

Although the football field is in dire need of renovation, it is not the sole focus of this project. As of right now MVHS has plans on completely renovating the lower field. Plans include pushing the baseball backstop farther towards the tennis courts to create room for a larger playing space for soccer and field hockey and putting a receding wall on the grass hill between the baseball and football fields.

Shot put and discus area400 m trackFootball fieldSoccer fieldPole vault

high jump areascoreboard and flagpolebaseball dugoutsoftball batting cagesynthetic turf multi-use fields

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courtesy of Verde Design

FUHSD plans to renovate five facilitiesby Samved Sangameswara

Going into Lynbrook’s Homecoming game last Friday on Oct. 18, both MVHS players and spectators alike hoped to get revenge for the previous year.

For the seniors on varsity football, it was the close defeat by Lynbrook that kept them out of the CCS championships last year.

“Lynbrook has always played us tough,” football coach Jeff Mueller said before Friday night’s game. “Tonight, we’re going to go out and play tough. It’s always fun to play Homecoming games. It puts a target on them.”

For fans, it was being defeated at the Homecoming game last year that kept tensions running high on Fri-day night. “Everybody wants to win their Homecoming game,” said junior Kevin Nguyen. “Losing it was depress-

ing because that’s the epitome of school spirit right there, it’s what Homecoming week leads up to. If we win against Lynbrook, it’s gonna be pretty good.”

According to Mueller, Lynbrook leans towards being an offensive team while MVHS is stresses both offense and defense. Strategically, MVHS was well prepared to meet Lynbrook. “Lynbrook has many offensive and defensive tendencies in certain conditions,” said Mueller. “We’re go-ing to adapt to those tendencies.” Statistically, with an un-defeated 5-0 record in comparison with Lynbrook varsity’s 1-4, Monta Vista was favored to win.

And win they did, 49-7. Lynbrook kicked off to start the game, and was nearly scored upon by MVHS with a return touchdown in the first ten seconds, but was stopped by a flag. MVHS scored quickly in the subsequent plays, senior Justin Rahn with the 15-yard run, making the score 6-0.

MVHS started the second quarter with a 17-yard pass touchdown from Rahn to Senior Max Ratkovich for a touchdown. After a two-point conversion by senior Aaron Turner, the score was 14-0. A tight MVHS defensive forced a punt from Lynbrook on the fourth down. The punt from Lynbrook was caught by senior Jason Kearns for a 90-yard

punt return touchdown. Lynbrook was left trailing 21-0 with six minutes left in the second quarter.

Defensive plays on both sides stalled scoring in the second half of the second quarter until Lynbrook broke through the defense with two minutes left on the clock, bringing the score to 21-7. Turner returned matched Lyn-brook with a 16-yard run, making the score 28-7.

The game resumed after half-time, with strong defen-sive plays on both sides. Turner scored a four yard run, the sole score change in the third quarter. The last quarter of the game saw Turner’s third touchdown of the match up, a 9 yard run as well as Senior Nick Tong’s 19 yard run.

At the end of the game, Turner had seven carries for 52 yards and three touchdowns. Tong finished with five car-ries for 48 yards, and Rahn had six carries for 47 yards in addition to 10 for 17 completed passes for 202 yards.

“The offensive and defensive lines played great,” Mu-eller said after the game. “We ran the ball better than we thought.”

This friday, the Matadors, with their record of 6-0 will travel to Fremont to play against the Firebirds in their own Homecoming game.

HEAD ON HEAD Senior Jay Voigt, junior Kalon Zandbergs, and senior Nick Tong all put of a fierce offense against Lynbrook High School at Lynbrook’s Homecoming game on Oct.17.

Varsity football team finds victory in a decision making match against Lynbrook.by Kai Kang

Feud

see MEASURE B on page 17

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Settling the

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Kunal Bhan | El Estoque

tentative blueprint

sports

• In the Zone 16 • New track 17 • Dance team 18 • Super cyclist 17 •

FALLSNAPSHOT

“One time during a game against Los

Altos, [freshman] Katie [Walker] got hit in the head by an incoming shot, tripped herself,

and fell on her back.” —freshman Suruchi

Salgar, junior varsity girls tennis

“On our trip to Reno, we were in the

SkyTrain and we went in a corner to take a

picture. Suddenly, as we were about to click

the shutter, someone on the train passed

gas. The picture turned out really funny, espe-cially all our facial ex-pressions.” —senior Jamie Fung, varsity

girls volleyball

“One day, we had a water fight after

practice. During this fight, some of us de-

cided to douse senior Keaton Chiu while he was wearing a white

T-shirt.” —freshman Neil

Fernandes, junior varsity boys cross

country

“When I was leading the cross country cheer,

I forgot what to sayhalf-way through!”

—junior Alex Cheng, varsity boys

cross country

“I hit the ball and then it somehow hit my

forehead.”—junior Sonia

Kaushal, junior var-sity girls tennis

“I was doing a cheer at a football game. I stepped off the side

and fell off the box.” —junior Jessica

Gasperini, varsity cheerleading

“I was running and I was about to score

a touchdown, but I tripped over [junior]

Wesley Oberhelman’s foot and fell.”

—junior Nicho-las Utley, varsity

football

embARRASSIng

MOMENTS ZONEINTHE

JV girls volleyball

Kunal Bhanby

Kunal Bhan, Sasha Degtyar, Samved Sangameswara, Dipika Shrihari, Kanwalroop Singh, Tammy Su, Natalie Wong| El Estoque

2 3

54

Junior Zachary Carlsen can often be found in the locker room singing very loudly to various music. So far, his fa-vorite song is “barbie girl.”

Freshman Teresa Li is not only fierce on the dance floor, but is skilled in the art of karate. She has achieved a black belt in this self-defense technique.

The cheer team associates senior Jenny Zhang with min-nie mouse because she loves to wear bows in her hair and giggles a lot.

Varsity boys water polo

Tammy Suby

1 JV girls tennis

Kanwalroop Singhby

2 Varsity field hockey

Samved Sangameswaraby

3 4 Varsity girls Cross Country

Samved Sangameswaraby

5

Senior J.T. Peters is nicknamed ‘Tyrone’ because his team-mates, as a joke, gave him the name once when they were at Jambe Juice.

Senior Siva Udayamurthy has a tradition of getting less than six hours of rest before a track meet. He often has “carb fests” with his teammates before.

Senior Shandon Rovetta tapes over her friendship brace-lets during games and pretends her wrist is injured so she doesn’t have to take them off.

1

elestoquesports October 22, 200816

The boys cross country team put up a strong performance at the 36th annual Artichoke Invitational on Oct 4.

The team saw especially fierce races from the freshman and soph-omore boys at the meet which was held at Half moon bay High School.The freshman boys took first place in their division and the sopho-mores took second.

The matador sophomores were led by sophomore Jesse He.

He managed to fend off an op-ponent, who tried to pull him down during the last strech, completing the race in seventh place.The JV boys have their next meet on Oct. 30 at Lynbrook High School.

The JV girls tennis team won 5-2 against Los Altos High School on Oct. 14.

Freshman Suruchi Salgar de-feated her opponent in the first win of the day with unmatched forehands and aces, guarantee-ing not only a victory, but a com-plete sweep of 6-0, 6-0. Junior Doris Yeung, contrary to team expectations, didn’t get the win.

JV girls tennis has won against six schools in the season so far and lost against only one, Saratoga High School on Oct. 7. gunn High School, mVHS, and Saratoga High School are tied for first place in the league and have all qualified for CCS.

The varsity boys water polo team played fiercely but lost to mountain View High School on Oct. 16.

mVHS started strong, scoring the first goal of the night within two-and-a-half minutes. How-ever, mountain View’s offense came back hard, putting in goals and bringing the score of the first quarter to 1-6.

The mVHS offense attacked with more fluidity after the half-time mark, and three more goals were added to the score. The opposing team kept the game in their advantage. The resulting final score was 15-4, mountain View.

It was 30 minutes into the game, but none of the girls on JV volleyball looked tired as they came smiling into the timeout and with a confidence booming cheer “mVVb,” they set out to finish the game. In Sept. 18, the JV girls volleyball team defeated Saratoga High 2-0. From then onwards, momentum carried the JV girls to a 25-17 win.

Saratoga then took the lead until freshman Justine Ura-uchi delivered dish after dish of serves, widening the gap to an overwhelming 10 points. mVHS defeated Saratoga 25-1, securing the game with excellent offensive and defensive plays.

The varsity girls field hockey team tied Westmont High School on Oct. 9.

The defense managed to suppress the Westmont offense through the first half, and the of-fense broke away at the start of the second half.

After a scoreless second half, the game went into a seven on seven overtime. Sophomore Kris-ten Tatsuno almost scored when she managed to put one past the Westmont goalkeeper but the celebration was short-lived be-cause Tatsuno had a foot inside the inner circle during her shot. As time ran, out the teams sub-mitted to a well-played 0-0 tie.

by Sarah McKee

Junior Christina Ygelsias had no idea she would one day be training for

the Olympics. But, as a child she was already unintention-ally planning for her future. Yglesias had a habit of sav-ing her money for no reason, and she never knew that she would use her childhood sav-ings to fund her biking career.

As a competitive biker, Yglesias pays for the bikes she rides. Granted, she ends up with old models that have slight scratches in them.

“My road bike is the paint shop tester. They use leftover bikes when they want to see what the paint job is going to look like. So it says it’s made out of carbon fiber, when re-ally it’s not,” Yglesias said.

Just as she didn’t have plans for her savings, she never planned on becoming a competitive biker either. After suffering an injury as a run-ner, her decision to become a biker was influenced by her father. As a competitive biker, he always insisted that his daughter take up biking too.

“My dad’s friend, who owns Cupertino Bike Shop, [said I] should try some races,” Ygle-sias said. “I won my first race and that was pretty much it.”

Since she started biking, Yglesias has found a commu-nity. She met one of her best friends, senior Eddie Zhang from Saratoga, on an early morning bike ride.

“With biking you basically have this really big network,” Zhang said of the friends that he’s made, “and it’s really help-

ful to have this group.”Since Yglesias’ first race last

August, it wasn’t until this February when she decided to take up biking as a sport. Starting at the lowest level for female competitive bikers, at category four, she has moved up one category since last sea-son. She has three more up-grades until she reaches the top tier.

Now taking her biking seri-ously, Yglesias hopes to reach category two by next season. She has also hired a coach, Shelly Olds, a fellow team-mate of hers on her biking team, Pro-Man. Named after their German sponsor, Pro-Man is an internationally ac-credited team that Yglesias

never imagined she would bike for.

“I pretty much thought I had zero chance of getting on this team,” Yglesias said. “I thought they would laugh at my application.”

Except, at a race one day, she ended up competing against the Pro-Man team manager, and she won. Elated after her victory, Yglesias de-cided to hand in her applica-tion. Five minutes later she was accepted.

Yglesias hopes to one day travel with her team to Pennsylvania, Italy, France, Holland, and eventually the Olympic games.

Yglesias draws inspiration from her coach, Shelly Olds.

“We have pretty similar at-tributes,” Olds said of Yglesias. “She is feisty, and she’s an ag-gressive rider. She goes out and she races hard.”

And, just as Yglesias hopes to one day, Olds is working to-wards competing in the next Olympic Games.

Yglesias hopes to contin-ue biking after high school by joining teams at the col-lege level. She has already been unofficially approached by Berkeley, and her coach, Shelly Olds, is the co-coach of the Stanford women’s team.

“There were a lot of sac-rifices that came with [bik-ing], but once I made a lot of friends in cycling it didn’t feel like a sacrifice,” Yglesias said.

Flying high: A cheerleader’s life

Former runner finds her place in the ranks of professional cyclistsLiving life in the bike lane

Courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux

elestoque 17sportsOctober 22, 2008

Where is Michael Phelps when you need him? Well, he was too busy to save me from almost drown-

ing last Saturday.It all started with my Ramen, which

happily swam about in a bowl of soup while I pondered away about what fright-eningly extreme adventure to embark on this month. Inspiration struck me. I de-cided that if my friend Michael could win eight golds, it would be indecent to not try for one myself.

I had no access to a pool, so I figured that the 10K Open Water marathon would be my best bet. Swimming in the ocean would be easy, I thought to myself.

Arriving at Santa Cruz was a great dis-appointment. The warm sand and cool surf advertised in the Boardwalk ads were lies. Seaweed covered the murkey shores. The 2012 Olympics, in which I will definitely be winning a Gold, is in the luscious Hyde Park, London. This was a sad substitute.

So I stepped into the shallows. At touch I felt the chill of the water burn me. Im-ages of a hospital ward with hypothermic patients flooded me and as I shivered at the prospect of going any closer to these wretched waters.

By the time I was shoulder deep, the cold was replaced by feelings of terror. Looking around, I saw on the beach a grand total of seven people to rescue me if Idrowned in these murky depths. Michael had millions of spectators and I had seven.

I was at a point where my feet no longer touched the sand when it hit me that my swimming skills are poor at best. I was no Michael. I wasn’t even good enough to be the water boy for the MVHS swim team.

I’m not sure if it was because the numb-ness had affected my brain, but a sense of courage pervaded me and I decided to con-tinue on. Having never perfected my free-style (or any other stroke for that matter), I kicked my legs in the water, awkwardly propelling myself three-fourths mile into sea. Out of breath from my swim, I wad-dled my legs to stay afloat and surveyed my surroundings. Everything else seemed dead silent except the wind pounding against my ears. Although the water had only be-come browner, my isolation made me feel strangely comforted.

My moment of serenity came to a sud-den end as something tugged at my leg. In-stantly the Jaws music roared in my head and I felt a sense of terror. duh-nuh...duh-nuh... dah-nuh.... duhnuhduhnuhduhnuh. As I kicked rapidly, trying to escape my destiny of becoming a shark victim, I felt a wet sliminess brush against me. Stopping my kicking for a minute, I realized that it was just seaweed that had floated above the ocean floor. I felt a sense of relief and em-barrassment simultaneously, thankful that I would not be dinner that that night.

I had had enough. As I swam towards shore, I saw a huge wave following me. If I had had a surfboard and knew how to use it, this would have been the perfect oppor-tunity to impress the few beach-goers. But it was just me and my poor swimming abil-ities, so I closed my eyes and gaped at the surge of water sent to demolish me. Gaping at any salty body of water is a big mistake, since water engulfed my mouth and I was soon submerged.I had spent the last 20 minutes being bat-tered and abused by the cruel elements of nature, and yet, I had stuck it out. As I washed ashore, coughing saltwater and looking tattered, I felt my dream of seeing Gold at the Olympics slowly slip away from me. Michael can have all my Golds, I just want to go home.

GIVE ME A BRAKE At her first offical race, which took place on specially banked tracks, junior Christina Yglesias (right) was not allowed to use brakes in order to optimize speed.

Going for gold

by Patty Chao

DIPIKASHRIHARI

InsideOut

Cheerleaders continue strenuous stunts

Being on a sports team means trusting team-

mates, whether it is completing a pass, scoring a touchdown, or catching team members after they are hurled high into the air.

While all sports run the risk of injury, cheer performs the most heart-skipping stunts, pulling off flips in midair several times throughout a single routine. Lack of coordination and a single slip, and the fliers can plunge to-wards the floor.

“It’s scary at first, but we have really strong bases, so we trust them,” varsity cheerleader senior Breanna Adams said.

According to varsity cheerleader senior Jessica Hsu, the team’s fliers, who are the teammates thrown into the air, are chosen by coach Britanny Morales, and picked based on how strong they are compared to their teammates.

Out of the nationally certified cheer stunts, basket tosses are the hardest and most dangerous. However, none of them are considered dangerous by the team.

“Our fliers have to be really flexible and we know we can’t let them touch the ground,” Hsu said. “Personally, I don’t get that nervous.”

Other stunts performed by cheer in-clude extensions and cradles, both of which include cheerleaders being hoist-ed into the air. To prepare for these risky maneuvers, cheerleaders go through a series of conditioning activities, just like members of any other sports team.

“If you can hit the stunts at home, practicing, then you’ll be fine at the competitions,” Hsu said.

continued from page 15

Brittany Hopkins | El Estoque

MEASURE B: Plans to renovate facilities ensue

The possibility of an all turf field is also being looked into.

MVHS, as well as the other four schools in the district, are putting the job of designing the renovations in the hands of Verde Design, a design com-pany that has done work on the fields of San Jose State University and Santa Clara University. The five schools were given a floating budget of $40 million to share amongst themselves.

MVHS decided to form this com-mittee and make a list of desires for the new athletic structures. The list is then presented to Verde and they have the task of what Athletic Director Brian Sullivan calls “plotting the boxes.” This means they are finding a way to meet MVHS’ desires while working around the lack of space at our school.

Construction will begin the day after the graduation ceremonies.

Sullivan is excited for the new facili-ties, which hopefully will be done by February of 2010, provided that MVHS goes first, but hopes that these new fea-tures will move beyond just the MVHS community. Sullivan wants to see the future fields being used by the sur-rounding communities as well.

“The community payed for all of this through their taxes, “ Sullivan said. “We want to give them something they can be proud of.”

CHEER ON Cheer team members support the football players in their game against Lynbrook on Oct. 17.

Ten hours a week. Forty minutes of Pilates. Two hundred forty seconds of planks. Leaps across the floor, toes

pointed, arms poised. Though you may only see their three minute routines at rallies and football games, the Marquesas put in countless hours perfecting their routines.

Like many of the dance team girls, team captain and senior Christine Yee says she devotes her life solely to school and dance. She began dancing at age three and used to put in 12 hours a week at Dance Acad-emy USA. After joining dance team, how-ever, she can barely manage the occasional dance class at Studio 10 in San Jose.

As a freshman, Yee was only part of three routines, so practices were less time con-suming and Yee had time to participate in some of her other favorite activities. Now, with many more routines and a busy se-nior year, Yee definitely has her hands full.

"[As captain] there is so much to do behind the scenes," Yee said. "My [senior] year is basically taken up by dance practice and then coming home to study."

An average week as a Marquesa includes about one and two hours of dance practice every day, Monday through Thursday. Dur-ing busier times, like competition season, weekday practices increase to almost 16 hours a week and five to six hours of week-end rehearsal. The girls are also expected to review their routines, stretch, and improve their technique twice a day at home.

The long hours devoted to dance team practice often make it difficult to schedule other plans, both socially and academical-ly. Many of the Marquesas have had to put their extracurricular activities on hold.

elestoquesports October 22, 200818Marquesas’ drive for dance takes over Marquesas on team sacrifice other activities to make time for long hours of practiceby Mansi Pathak Sophomore Kelly Woodruff faced the

difficult decision as a freshman, deciding between competitive ice skating, which she had been doing for three years, or dance team. For a few months, Woodruff attempted to do both: morning ice skating classes in Redwood City and after school dance team practice. However, she was overworked and decided to quit ice skating lessons. When Woodruff was elected secre-tary for class of 2011, the time constraint caused her to give up her studio dance classes at East West Music and Dance, as well as slow down her piano lessons.

"I thought dance team would be more fun than ice skating, which it is. You get to make great friends and the competi-tions are so much less stressful as a team," Woodruff explained. "I feel like I made the right decision."

For sophomore Lauren Lee, juggling MVHS dance team and dance classes at East West Music and Dance has been strenuous, as the activities have collided many times. Last August, the dance team traveled to Santa Cruz for a dance boot camp. However, the previous week Lee's studio was taking a trip to New York.

"The last day [in New York] overlapped with the dance team camp. I caught an early plane at 7 a.m. The Santa Cruz camp started that day around 1 p.m.," Lee said. "I was extremely jet-lagged."

However, even the long tiring hours don't faze the Marquesas—they willingly make these sacrifices every day.

"Dance team practice is a great release from stress," junior Jackie Schadle said. "It is my time to forget about everything out-side of the dance room." PRE-PRACTICE Sophomore Lauren Lee prepares for the long practice ahead on Oct. 17.

Jaime Chu | El Estoque

19

Sabrina Ghausby

Make it yours

ChefTake a large piece of white construction paper and secure it into the shape of a cylinder to wear as a chef’s hat. Wear a white coat and slacks, and carry kitchen utensils.

SunflowerWrap a green pipe cleaner around a plastic sunflower and secure it to your head. Wear green clothes to rep-resent the stem and brown shoes to serve as “roots.”

PirateCut out an eyepiece from a piece of felt and sew it to an elastic band for an eye patch. Tie a bandana around your head and wear a striped T-shirt to com-plete the costume.

Fairy WingsTie two hangers together with string. Glue or tape tissue paper to the hanger frame and attach the wings to your costume.

How many princesses, witches, Grim Reapers, and Harry Potters roam the streets on the night of Oct. 31? Too many to count. A solution to

the numerous incidents of accidental costume twins, however, is possible. Making your own costume is a way to express your inner arts and crafts junkie and ensure that you’ll stand out on Halloween.

While the task may seem daunting, creating a costume is not, in fact, as difficult as it seems. Depending on the complexity of the design, the costume can be expensive, cheap, time-consuming, or quick. You control the price and how elaborate it is.

It is not necessary to spend an entire weekend in Michael’s or use all your sav-ings to obtain all the materials needed, ei-ther. Many small items commonly found around the house have the potential to become parts of or add the finishing touches to a costume. Construction pa-per, pipecleaners, and old clothes can be used for a DIY costume.

While it may seem easier to just go to a store and buy a costume or dust off a previous year’s, the time and effort put into making an original costume will make it worth it.

“Throwing of corn = assault and/or destruction of private property may result in arrest.” That is what visitors of Swank Farms in Hollister, Calif.

have to face as a side dish to their family fun. About an hour away, a dirt parking lot welcomes you into basically, nothing at all. The Swank Farms website and brochures show a massive grandeur, hype, and sheer amazing sites, but there was none of that. I felt like I was in a National Lampoon road trip movie and had found some sort of wax museum about dead bugs or something similarly displeas-ing. But either way, these places usually have a unique charm and character, the California weather was at its fin-est, so Swank Farms was mine.

Swank farms has been creating massive corn mazes for years. It also has an unexpectedly small pumpkin patch, as well as a haunted house type exhibit if you choose to make the trek at night. Judging from their website and its aerial-view pictures, the corn maze is absolutely massive. It is.

The fact that I parked, did a 360 degree swivel and still didn’t know where to walk first pretty much summed it up: there isn’t much there. There’s a bubble thing for kids to jump on trampoline-style, and some hay stacks, but there

are very few signs, nothing particularly eye-catching or ap-pealing and not even many people. I was promised family fun and I wasn’t seeing it. But still, out of the car climbed Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Grandfather, and Dog.

There’s a relentless feeling of trying a bit too hard, try-ing to be something it’s not. There are go karts, but they’re of the peddle variety. There is a goat walk and a petting zoo, but my Boston terrier attracted more attention, and the ghost-town feel inspired anxiousness and a seething desire to just get home. And, to top off the absolutely un-believably bursting family fun is a sign hammered into the ground just in front of the ticket office. “No hoodies, No foul language” followed by the flying corn warning.

I managed to get past the cringe-worthy attempts at Halloween fun and went straight for the maze. It turns out the maze isn’t much of a maze at all. You’re given a map to find words placed around the maze to fill out a paragraph about the maze’s history. What’s a maze if you don’t get lost? However, with enough time to trudge through the en-tire field (They estimate 1 hour) and a child young enough, it could definitely be a family-pleaser. The reality is, the entertainment definitely isn’t spoon-fed to you happiest-place-on-earth Disneyland style, but it’s there to be discov-

ered on your own. Next was a labyrinth (part of the $10 for a wrist band for entrance to the maze, packages were also available to include the other attractions) This was meant to be a therapeutic process – different stages along the path were meant for thinking through a situation in a differ-ent way. Unlike the depressing sites I’d seen to get there, it made sense. If I had a problem that was nagging away at the back of my brain, I’d welcome the process with an open mind, ready feet, and a resistance to throwing corn.

Many friends were jealous of the fact that I was going to such a corn maze, but they had no reason to be. There’s a lot to be said for the traditional. Gimmicks aren’t necessary. Give us just a maze, a normal maze, no map, the ability to get nerve-shatteringly lost, and we’ll be happy. Simple creatures, us humans.

Stefan Ballby

Halloween: Better luck trick-or-treatingTraditional corn maze themed farm fails to impress

Stefan Ball | El Estoque

Where: Black Box Theater

What: Haunted house walk-through

When: Lunchtime Oct. 29 - 31After school Oct. 31 until 3:30

Price: $2 at lunch, $3 after school

dark, dark room

Photo Illustration by Patty Chao

• Biology and tap dancing 20 •Trader Joe’s delights 21 •Comickers make paper children 22 •entertainment

Band plays at district-wide exhibitionMarching Band Extravaganza participants convey spirit of music with energy, enthusiasm

The many different clicks of teachers: biology and tap dancingBiology teachers Lani Giffin and Pam Chow share about their studio dancing experienceby Kevin Wu because even though it was called a “No-talent show,” ev-

eryone had talent except for us,” Chow said. Giffin, with Chow tagging along, has even traveled overseas to Ireland for specialized tap dancing classes.

“[Tap dancing] really puts us in a student’s perspective,” Chow said.Tap dancing is not only a hobby that allows them to disconnect from teaching, but also a chance for them to become students.

“If the teacher goes too fast, then we have a hard time following, and we see how the teacher breaks routines into smaller steps, making it easier for us.” Having experienced the difficulty in learning, Chow and Giffin have applied these methods of teaching to their own classroom.

“Usually it’s just repeating steps over and over again,” Giffin said. Like tap dancing, biology is a subject which requires students to memorize steps of various functions, where emphasis on each step is important.

Although tap dancing is something that they have grown to love over the years, teaching is their true passion. Hopefully, Chow and Giffin will be able to tap some biol-ogy into their students.

Every week, biology teachers Lani Giffin and Pam Chow walk into a different kind of classroom, one with no desks, no goggles, and no glowing bacteria.

A classroom in which they do not teach, but instead, learn to tap dance.

Venturing away from the rotten smell of the classroom to a fresh musical environment of dance class is one way Chow and Giffin tap away their stresses from work. Chow and Giffin escape to their secret refuge and learn tap danc-ing in an adult class at a dance studio in Palo Alto.

“It’s a place to go to outside of school, something to look forward to every week,” Giffin said.

They have been tap dancing since September of 2001 and have performed in various shows hosted by their dance studio, whose exact location they declined to reveal. “I like the noise it makes and the beat. It’s very stress reliev-ing,” Giffin said.

The duo also performed in a talent show hosted by a business class here. “This talent show was embarrassing

Allie Choyby

Sasha Degtyar | El Estoque

MVHS marching band’s drumline and trumpets proudly warm up for the Tournament of the Bands on Oct. 11 at Cupertino High School. PARADE MARCH

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elestoqueentertainment October 22, 200820

Daniel Stenzel | El Estoque

Brilliant patterns formed. Bright, sat-in flags of luminous hues stood out in the night air. The gold and sil-

ver of tubas and the metal on hats shone in stark contrast with the solid colors of uniforms and flags. A mixed ensemble of flutes, trombones, and various instruments matched in unison with the beats of the drums and swift hand motions of the drum majors. The audience cheered and roared when performers caught perfectly thrown flags and batons. This marvelous display of costumes, mu-sic, and visual effects was not the result of a Disneyland show parade. Rather, this magnificent show was the annual Fremont Union High School district Marching Band Extravaganza held on Oct. 4 at Fremont High School. The schools performing in-cluded Cupertino, Fremont, Homestead, Lynbrook, Monta Vista, and Los Gatos. Each band marched onto the football field, performing their songs once facing the bleachers where the other schools sat, and another time facing an audience of supporters including friends and family. On the spectators’ side, viewers were wrapped in layers of blankets, sipping hot chocolate, and huddling together for body heat. But they immediately forgot about the cold of the night when the bands started to chime and sound, marching and striding in vivid colors. All six bands put an enormous amount of effort into creating a lively atmosphere. They had practiced and perfected. They had gotten into full character through uniforms, face paint, and props. Their precision and

unison was flawless. This vivacity was also created through a healthy competitiveness in the atmosphere. “We got pumped to perform mostly by watching all of the other schools before us, but I also went around to almost ev-ery member of the band and personally pumped them up,” drum major senior Bri-an Miller said. The bands encouraged each other to per-form at a higher level. The pressure to excel contributed to the intensity and passion of the event. “I think it helped that the other bands were practicing around us, so that the flutes would learn from how professional they looked and sounded,” flutist senior Tiffany Hwang said. The excitement and spirit of the event could be seen not only through the tre-mendous amount of enthusiasm the bands had, but also through the cheering and support the audience gave. A few audience members that contributed to the liveliness of the event were Principal April Scott, who had attended the Extravaganza for the past four to five years. “I really like the fact that MVHS’s band brings energy and enthusiasm to football games and other school events,” Scott said. At the end of the night, on the specta-tor side, parents and friends filed off the stands, still chattering about the success of the event. On the band side of the football field, the members proudly held their flags and instruments as if they were prized pos-sessions. Satisfied with their performances, the bands marched off into the night.

Daniel Stenzel | El Estoque

Science teachers Lani Giffin and Pam Chow smile for the camera and dance around.TAPPING OUT A DANCE

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My favorite is Fresh Choice be-cause it has a great variety of food and everything that I like to eat. I like the pastas, pizza, and the vanilla ice cream there; they’re my favorite. I don’t like eating too much, so I don’t go there very often, only once every few months.

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I don’t know if you’re a big fan of the “It’s a small world” ride at Disney-land or not. Oh yes, that cheerful and

whimsical ride where kids at heart stand gushing happily in line with absolute bliss because they know that they can get a little glimpse of the whole world in 13 1/2 minutes flat. I’m not sure how you feel, but I’m quite fond of that ride. And I think that I may have found my very own “It’s a small world” in Cupertino.

Nestled at the corner of De Anza and Bollinger, the new Trader Joe’s might not be the same thing as colorful displays bursting out in song, but it does offer foods from all over the world and causes me to skip instead of walk. I’ve always been a fan of healthy foods, and although Whole Foods is great, its sky-high prices make it unapproachable. However, Trad-er Joe’s offers healthy, fresh, organic, and wholesome foods at relatively low prices. Others seem to agree.

“[Trader Joe’s is] cheaper than Whole Foods and less snobby,” freshman Puneeth Vijayendra said.

It seems like Whole Foods has its com-petition cut out for it.

When I arrived at approximately 6 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, Trader Joe’s was happily bustling. I was brimming with excitement as I entered the doors.

“It’s awesome. I mean, it’s more cheer-ful,” freshman Aneesh Simha said. “The staff is nicer [than Whole Foods] and

they really make the store.”Throughout the store, small price tags

with little pictures, bubbly lettering, tips for use, and key ingredients are scattered. Each section is headed by blackboards with hand drawn eye-catching chalk pic-tures to promote items. I feel like a little kid in there, walking around for hours just looking at those tags and chalk pictures.

The best part is that you get to taste a little bit of the whole world with the wide variety and exotic options offered. Items ranging from sushi to flatbread pizza to teriyaki fill the refrigerator. There’s a de-lectable display of cheeses and the bread area offers unique items such as tomato and olive focaccia and tandoori naan. The frozen segment is quite alluring, filled with items such as panini, stromboli, and empanadas. A cultural theme really is strong throughout this sunny store.

The variety offered is phenomenal. Visit the dried fruit section and you’ll see: dried dragon fruit, dried mangosteen, and eight ounces dark chocolate covered dried chile spiced mangos for $3.99. The entic-ing offering really appeals to your palate.

However, the baked good area seemed to wilt in comparison to the rest of the store. By 6 p.m. most of the fresh goods were gone, but the plentitude of cookies and frozen desserts made up for it. A va-riety of selections including black forest tortes, peppermint cheesecakes, and flan-parfait cakes from $2 to $8 are available.

Trader Joe’s offerings aren’t just lim-ited to food. They also offer detergents, pet

food, and recycled paper towels. If you want to get a laugh, be sure to visit the medicine section. I’m sure that you’ll appreciate the creative names. My personal favorite is a series of Trader Darwin’s “For the Survival of the Fittest” dietary supplements.

However, the quickness at which fresh food ran out was a huge disappointment. I overheard a customer asking for pita bread, to which an employee responded that there was none left because they liked to keep it fresh. Considering that 6 p.m. is a prime time for working customers to buy their groceries, this is highly inconvenient.

At checkout I was greeted by smiling employees in Hawaiian shirts. Above each cashier hung street signs of local streets such as Stevens Creek Blvd., adding a nice piece of neighborhood flair to the scene.

Coincidentally, my cashier was part of the first graduating class at MVHS. He en-joyed the pleasure of informing me that the painted mural running along the top portion of the wall around the store cap-tured the history of the area, including key locations such as the old Cupertino ware-house and Saratoga Orchids.

“It’s more community—oriented,” fresh-man Aumir Patel said. “It’s a nice local healthy place to go to, someplace to get organic food.”

Seeing that there is a strong sense of lo-cal pride in this store, it is really a small world after all. I think that Disneyland can wait a while. I’m happy here and I’m just going to keep skipping a little longer, even after I’ve left.

by Aileen Le

Trader Joe’s offers worldly selection of food in a warm atmosphere

Loud and clear

Where to stuff themselves full? From Hometown, Sweet Tomatoes, Korean BBQ to Todai, we want to know all about the buffet world, according to...

PUMPKIN PATCH A seasonal display of gourds is on sale oustide of the recently opened Trader Joe’s on De Anza Blvd. and Bollinger Rd.

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Aileen Le | El Estoque

Bagged with a little sunshineelestoqueOctober 22, 2008 entertainment21

My favorite is Sweet Tomatoes, because there’s a lot of differ-ent choices.I like how they have all the stuff that I like such as soups, sal-ads, and pasta.I don’t like Todai because it is mostly seafood, and there’s not much choice other than that. I’m a vegetarian, and it’s not a place that I would go to.

My favorite is Sweet Tomatoes because it’s like an upper-class Fresh Choice, and Fresh Choice has been raising its prices, so I might as well go to Sweet To-matoes. I like everything with chocolate. My favorite food to eat there is blueberry muffins. I don’t like how it can be a little boring sometimes because they always have the same food. I think they should add in a daily special.

The urban workzoneThe one-year license restrictions are com-pletely useless. Theoretically, it’s right-on-the-money logical, but in practice, it has just as much substance and weight as a marshmallow. At the end of the day, the kids who need it—the ones, who are going to smash my car in the parking lot only to run over my little sister on the crosswalk, aren’t going to follow it. They follow no rules; they are their own great elite people free of blood and a beating heart, grand immortals battling at the front line of our Cupertino war zone, pseudo-road network. The responsible drivers who can navigate a parking lot without testing the basic prin-ciples of physics and without murdering my little sister will follow the rules. So, suffering under the consequences of the painfully irresponsible paint-swapping, sister killing so-called “drivers,” those who deserve the privilege of late driving with friends and partners can’t have it. The crazy ones do it. The law punishes nobody.

Nearly headless juniorsJunior year is the collection of days lying between summer after sophomore year and before senior year. It’s school, and school is school, which, believe it or not, is just school—like it has been for the past 11 years. Yet still hundreds of juniors are run-ning around the rally court like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming about how the sky is falling; blood pouring out of their suffocated helpless little necks, con-stricted by the so-called stress of this par-ticular set of days. But the kids who do well are going to do well, the ones who aren’t, aren’t. It’s work all the same. It’s the same I-want-to-hang-myself-in-my-garage tor-turous pointless busy work we’ve been doing since nearly birth and will continue to do until death. Even then, the work we haven’t done will be passed on to our help-less little children. It’s no different than it’s ever been or will be. A small dosage of de-stressing would do all those beheaded chickens some quality good.

What’s up with my paintEvery brush stroke of a big fat blood-red

F at the top of a paper comes down to the brush holder, not the paint. The paint may be flawed. It may have chunks that need smoothing, it may be a few tints off, some may even contain lead and poison your baby sister. But that isn’t going to ruin the painting or say anything different about the skill of the painter. A bad artist makes a bad painting, regardless. A good artist makes a good painting, regardless. So when over half a class pours out of a classroom post-test hell, all to suffer sub-par grades, it is no longer entirely the student’s fault. It is the teacher’s as well. So those teachers who don’t see it, it’s not always the paint’s fault; sometimes it’s the painter’s.

Terrific teal & simple pleasuresI love teal. I love how it looks on black. I

love how it looks on sunglasses. I love how it looks on T-shirts. If my Biology binder was teal, I would probably have an A. If John McCain used teal as a campaign color, I would be tempted to vote for him. I like teal because it reminds me of yellow. I love yellow, too. Yellow is happiness. Yellow is the sun. This sounds like a poem, and I hate poems, but it’s not a poem. I hate po-ems. Poems are not fun. Poems are not teal. I love teal. I love teal. I love yellow. These colors make me happy. I am happy when something is teal. I am happy when some-thing is yellow. These are simple pleasures. Simple pleasures are all you need.

elestoqueentertainment October 22, 200822Drawings pop to life in artists’ hands

A blonde girl hangs onto an axe pick, her legs dan-gling helplessly in the air. A dark-haired samurai holds a sword in one hand as he is held by the waist

with rope. Another child spits a river out of his mouth as a blade cuts him—a scissor blade, that is.

These children who seem to be violent actually appear angelic with their anime style eyes glistening saintly. The children, officially known as paper children, are part of a two week tutorial activity held by Comickers club—a club that generally attracts students who read manga or com-

Comicker artists connect the 2 dimensional world with reality through little paper children

PLAYING WITH FOOD Junior Lulu Liu’s cat-eared paper child fights against a real life hand for his nutritious snack

ics and want to learn more about the comic book world. Weekly tutorials are held during club meetings that help members build their comic book techniques.

Paper children are widely popular in online art commu-nities, which is where officer senior Cat Bui found the idea to bring paper children to Comickers last year. The paper children are constructed by drawing a child on Bristol pa-per, a heavyweight paper for technical drawing. The child is colored in with Microns or Prismacolor makers and cut out with scissors. After the child is cut out, the artist holds the child by a part of the object the paper child is holding

or in the case of the dark-haired samurai, by the rope. “The mindset behind the paper child activity is to con-

nect the paper child to become part of the human hand,” Bui said. “They make for good photos to use later.”

Photos of the paper children are uploaded by Bui onto the club’s LiveJournal and Facebook group album. During tutorials, Comickers officer junior Lulu Liu assists mem-bers by teaching members how to draw in a comic book style. Liu, known by other officers as a professional at Pho-toshop and comic book drawing, is in charge of teaching and giving constructive critiques.

Members, like sophomore Amanda Hsu, who want to improve their art technique, appreciate the value from a constructive critique.

Although many of the members do take art class and most officers are planning to enroll in art school for col-lege, there are also a number of beginners who are learning basic comic book and art skills.

“This club isn’t for elitists,” club president senior Apra-jita Yadav said, as she ended her opening blurb at the be-ginning of a meeting. “It’s for everyone and we are here to help you [with art].”

With art materials like Prismacolor art markers, Bristol paper, and Micron pens brought to meetings, members are fully supplied to craft anything they can imagine. For some members, the only time they are able to use art materials like Micron pens, which are pens that professionals use for actual comic books, are at Comickers club meetings.

As of now, paper children is an activity that “doesn’t re-quire proportions,” a skill that is necessary for comic book-ing. However, later on in the year, the club will make comic books and officers Bui and Liu will teach members how to make a real comic book with proper Computer Graphics and layout.

“In previous years Comickers concentrated mostly on general anime,” Liu said. “This year we’re concentrating more on comics.”

Members and officers plan to attend Fanime Con, the largest Northern California convention, in May held in San Jose by fans of anime for fans of anime. With the success of a member last year who had her artwork sold during Fa-nime, club officers Liu and Bui plan to sell art and printouts this year as well.

“Maybe we’ll sell,” Liu said, “and we’ll get it out there to some [comic book] editors.”

by Serena Lee

Powderpuff cheerleaders attack rigorous routines to entertain and express class spiritTraining day: Cheer boys wave their testosterone goodbye

During Powderpuff cheerleading practice, sophomore Stefan Dao demonstrates the proper etiquette

for his teammates. “Don’t forget that ass shake!” Dao said. In the Powderpuff season, guys from

every grade make their way to the upper and lower fields for the official Powder-puff cheer team practice, whether to sup-port their class, or merely to act out of their comfort zones.

Weeks before the games, members of the cheer team from each class gather dur-ing practices to coach the eager boys, some newcomers, and some veterans. Routines are created by MVHS cheerleaders, and the powderpuff cheerleaders follow suit.

“There’s not much difference [coaching boys]. Girls are just more focused,” varsity cheerleader senior Jenny Zhang said, as the senior powderpuff cheerleaders attempt to form a piggyback tower.

In the beginning, coaching the ama-teurs can be a challenge. After all, most have no cheer or dance experience at all.

As the dancing becomes more synchro-nized, each team moves on to stunts. Dean of Students Denae Moore says they can be nerve-wrecking to watch.

“I try to not to look,” Moore said. “I figure if something happens, they’ll scream and come get me.”

However, the cheerleaders are not as worried, because safety precautions are taken, and the boys are able to catch each other relatively well. After an unsuccessful landing, senior Brad Chew can be heard yelling, “You’re tearing my armpits open!”

On the fields, energy level is high, as powderpuff cheerleaders occasionally dog-pile onto each other and dance to “I Kissed a Girl.” Amidst the laughter of the sopho-mores, comments such as “when we spin lets do it like th ballerinas” stand out.

“I’m glad they kept it tasteful this year,” Principal and powderpuff cheer judge April Scott said after the first halftime perfor-mance. She laughs, “Sometimes, they can be a little…suggestive.”

Of course, the more provocative acts are what roused the audience during the halftime shows. Although there were a few

rocky moments, each team was able to complete their rou-tine as the audience cheered them on.

“[Coaching] was a lot harder than I thought, but now we know what to expect for next year,” junior varsity cheerleader freshman Alyssa Gager said.

Cheer routines are judged by Scott and dance team coach Hilary Max-well on a rubric of six categories: cre-ativity, stunts and tumbles, enthusiasm, motion, jumps, and coordination.

“The whole concept is great,” Scott said. “The cheerleaders are amazingly creative.”

Not only is Powderpuff cheerleading an excuse for guys to pose Baywatch style on the lawn, but it is also a learning experi-

ence. For Powderpuff cheerleader junior Krish Rangarajan, the coaching is not much different from the sports he plays: volley-ball and basketball.

“Cheerleading is not a skill set anyone can have,” Ragarajan said. “It’s just harder for them to instill discipline.”

by Patty Chao

BRING IT ON Seniors Ethan Lin, Matt Irvin, Erik Romelfanger, and Thomas Lu cheer for the Powderpuff girls on Oct. 17.

Courtesy of Cat Bui

Natalie Wong | El Estoque

October 22, 2008 elestoque entertainment23

Thursday, Oct. 23: Homecoming theme (Spirit day)

JARROD BEISER juniorKATE KIM sophomore SE YOUNG KWON senior JAMES AN freshman

the lookbook

b&w

Friday, Oct. 24: Class colors (Spirit day)

Not necessarily class shirt but color must correspond to class2009: Purple2010: Lime green2011: Turquoise blue2012: Orange(Sophomores, blue jeans alone do not count)

Homecoming Rally and Game: Friday, Oct. 24

Look out for the 15 second opportunity to earn points for your class based on cheer volume.

MVHS plays Fremont at Cupertino High School. JV plays at 5 p.m. and varsity plays at 7 p.m. Halftime of the game will feature the floats built by each class and the presentation of Homecom-ing Court, including the naming of the Homecoming King and Queen.

Homecoming Dance: Saturday, Oct. 25

The annual semiformal dance will last from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. All students must present ID, and doors close at 9 p.m.

Guest passes, required for all non-MVHS students, are due by 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23. Guests must arrive together with their MVHS hosts and will present photo ID at the dance.

“The Incredibles” (2012): mask + cape; red “Incredibles” shirt“Ratatouille” (2011): chef hat, apron, tail, ears, whiskers“Monsters, Inc.” (2010): green shirt with eye; any monster (not necessarily in movie); Boo“Toy Story” (2009): any toy—cowboy/girl, astronaut, dinosaur, Bo Peep, army men (camoflouge okay)General: Any shirt with a representation of any of the above movies

This fall, black is back, complemented with shades of gray and white. Try pairing a black top with contrasting white jacket and pants, like senior Se Young Kwon’s look. A thick-striped gray and white sweater is best paired with a pair of dark denim, like junior Jarrod Beiser. Go simple with sophomore Kate Kim’s look, or follow freshman James An’s style with a striped hoodie.

homecoming to-do list

Floatbuilding, game prep underwayby Alice Lee and Serena Lee

Though their class officer election results were an-nounced the the day before floatbuilding officially began, the freshman class geared up for an Incredible Homecoming season with their theme, “The Incredi-bles.” “It was really stressful,” freshman Lisa Kim added, “because we needed to get money for food. Everyone was really hungry most of the time.” Freshman Amy Khang added, “The people who drew the characters were pretty good. We did a lot better than expected.”

2012: First try

2011: Sophomore spirit

2010: Upper classmenNow that juniors are upperclassmen, floatbuilding has been more exciting. “Freshman year I didn’t know what floatbuilding was, but as a sophomore I saw the final product,” junior Maayan Cogan said. Cogan, who helps out at Homecoming every weekend for an average of two to three hours, is excited to help her class and see the final product. The theme of the Class of 2010’s float, “Monsters Inc.,” is one of Cogan’s favorite movies.

2009: To infinity and beyond“Ooh Ahh, you wish you were a senior.” At the top of the class and the rulers of the school, the seniors are expected to win. Senior Adrienne Young, who helps out at floatbuilding, noted that the float is going well.“I like the end results of putting everything together in a huge float,” Young said. “I don’t realize that because of paint-ing a couple of things, and everyone pitches together, it becomes a huge float.” With the last time as a class to build their float, the seniors are hoping to leave their mark with a “Toy Story” themed float.

Coming out with a year of floatbuilding experience be-hind them, the Class of 2011 hit the ground running with an overall more efficient work ethic. “It was a lot smoother because we built off our problems from last year,” sophomore Lucia Lin said. This year the sopho-mores’ design is three-dimensional, compared to their two-dimensional float from last year. But the sopho-mores haven’t sacrificed quantity for quality. And if Lin had to comment to the upperclassmen and freshman class? “Let’s just say the sophomores are coming out a lot stronger.”

encore

Senior Vivek Jha has discovered the skirt.At last Friday’s semifinal Powderpuff game against the freshman team, the class of 2009 cheerleaders, including Jha, donned tie-front shirts and skirts.

Though meant to promote class spirit during Homecoming week, the very concept of Powderpuff—girls playing football, a traditionally male sport, and boys cheer-leading, a dominantly female activity—breaks away from gender stereotypes found at MVHS.

“I’ve never worn a skirt before today, but I wore one today,” Jha said. “I would advocate for the social acceptance of men being able to wear skirts.”

A survey of MVHS students found that 43 percent of students had considered trying out for their respective Powderpuff team; of that amount, only 12 percent actually did. Of those surveyed, 77 percent also believe that gender stereotypes do exist at MVHS. “Boys take weight training and girls take dance,” one survey taker said. “Girls also have nicer handwriting and don’t ask guys out.”

Although Powderpuff is simply a taste of cheerleading for the aforementioned males, junior Daniel Chang has to deal with the social stipulation associated with it at most competitions and at MVHS as the only male on the varsity cheer team.

“Walking around at games at other schools, sometimes you get weird stares,” said Chang. “But not from [students at] MVHS. I just think it’s because I’m from MVHS that it’s more personal and [people] know me.”

Chang, who is also a Powderpuff cheer coach, also found teaching other males how to cheer both fun and eye-opening.

“It was fun watching the boys kind of try to do it because a lot of them realized how hard it was,” Chang said. “A lot of the guys were like “Oh my god, Powderpuff is so intense, I can’t believe you do this everyday.”

“For people who are new to cheerleading it’s hard to pick up the beat and stay on the count, so it’s not that different between girls and guys,” senior Jessica Hsu, a varsity cheerleader and Powderpuff cheer team coach, said. ”When we practice, we feed off of each other; we coordinate.”

One of the dance moves the boys suggested, for example, was a thrust-like mo-tion, which the Class of 2009 coaches incorporated into their routine. For Powder-puff participants, it seems to be a playful case of gender reversal rather than one of serious gender stereotypes.

by Alice Lee, Daniel Stenzel and Natalie Wong

UP HIGH Sophomore Yeshar Hadi shouts out lyrics from Shania Twain’s classic “Man! I feel like a woman!” as part of the Class of 2011’s halftime routine on Oct. 16.

“I feel like awoman!

NO ROUGH HOUSING (right)Junior Cheryl Kute holds onto the ball as her flag is nearly yanked by sophomore Erin Chiu during the Oct. 16 semifinal game. Sophomores won the semifinal game, 16-14.

TEAM EFFORT (bottom)Freshman coaches Austin Burrow and Michael Whittaker congratulate their players after losing to the seniors 21-0 on Oct. 17.

TOXIC (top)Senior Ameya Ganpule dances to Britney Spears’ “Toxic”on Oct. 17. According to teammate Matthew Irvin, Ganpule “elected himself as the star of the team.”

SPIRIT FINGERS (left) Senior cheer coach Breanna Adams mirrors the boys’ motions during halftime on Oct. 17.

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