1 Voice Spring 2011

San Jose Youth Advisory Council of District 1 Newsletter

May 2011 Volume 2, Issue 3

1 Voice

YAC so great, and to Sandeep for

succeeding me as Commissioner.

I hope that all of you

who are reading this newsletter

had a great year, and will have a

great year next year as well. And

once more:

Thanks.

Hi everyone, it's been a

great year, and I'd like to start my

last letter by saying that I would

like to thank you, the reader, for

going through this year with us and

supporting us by reading our news-

letter. I believe I speak for the

Youth Advisory Council when I say

that we've had a lot of fun making

this newsletter, and we‟re excited

continue it in the future.

I've enjoyed being

Youth Commissioner of San

Jose District 1 for this year. I

wish my term was longer, but

I‟m graduating and there are

others who deserve this chance

very much as well. That said, I'd

like to introduce to you the

new Youth Commissioner for

next year, Sandeep Peddada. I

have faith that he will do a great

job next year.

We've accomplished

so much this year, from the

homework centre, the Youth

Bill of Responsibilities, and so

much more. Looking back, I

have no regrets about my time

on the Youth Advisory Council

for the past three years. I've had an

amazing time, and I've learned so

much from everyone, and from

what I've done. This is really one of

my greatest accomplishments and

one of the best ways I've spent my

time in high school. Thank you to

all of my YAC members, to former

YAC members, to Kavya Shankar

for making my first two years on

Message from Youth Commissioner: Peter Tang

The Cupertino Parcel Tax: A Blessing or a Curse?

By: Achyuth Sriram

With the gover-nor planning to cut even

more from the education budget, the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD) is

looking for ways to ensure the same quality of service to their students and families.

On the most recent May 3rd ballot, they placed a parcel tax request. For obvious

reasons, the tax has seen an overwhelming amount of support, yet many people are

still vehemently opposed to it.

A parcel tax is a

common term for a school district “qualified special tax”, where taxpayers would pay

extra money that would go to benefit the schools. The pre-sent parcel tax is $125. This new

tax would add another $125 annually to the existing tax annually and would continue for another 6 years. The original

and new parcel tax are intended to fund training for new teach-ers, keep schools clean and safe,

Inside this issue:

Message from the Youth

Commissioner 1

Human Trafficking 2

San Jose Fiscal

Emergency 3

Faith in New

Technology 4

Putting Things Off Pays

Off 5

Opinion Articles 6

Youth Feature on Richard

Ang 7

Looking Back 8

Art and Poetry 9

Upcoming Events 10

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Peter Tang

Sandeep Peddada

Cindy Huang

Nina Kamath

MEMBERS

Christy Chao

Alisha Dua

Hansaa Gopalakrishnan

Virup Gubba

Tyler Koteskey

Kathy Li

Gloria Lin

Aditi Pradhan

Vishwaesh Rajiv

Roopa Shankar

Darren Shim

Achyuth Sriram

Lauren Tai

Kimberly Tan

Kevin Xie

Page 2 1 Voice

have smaller class sizes and to not cut music and art programs. Thus, we must ask, if

schools were able to use the money success-fully, why do they need a two-fold increase in

funds to maintain the same services? Another issue with this tax is its senior exemption:

mainly, that anyone 65 and over can opt out of paying the tax simply by filing some paper-

work to the Board of Trus-

tees. This is frustrating because they are voting on a tax that they themselves

do not carry the burden for. It‟s my personal belief that the senior exemption was added for the CUSD to

capture the senior vote.

Let us address now the

question of need.

There is no lack of money in this school

district. The CUSD will talk

about all the budget cuts in

Sacramento. However, Governor Brown is only

cutting 0.4% of the K-8

Budget. If it was a high

school district, where 22% of their budget is being

diminished, I would defi-

nitely support the parcel

tax. Unfortunately, the CUSD endows its staff with an extremely generous retirement pack-

age, in which they receive 80% of their salary

after retirement. No private sector job re-

tirement plan will ever be that generous or free with their money. But, school districts

who get their money from the state and

property taxes do not feel the need to cut

down these truly generous packages.

Lastly, the Cupertino Union

School District has promised that they will

not use the money for administrator salaries

but there is no guarantee. The law does not protect the taxpayers in this case because the

parcel tax may and can still be used in what-

ever way the District feels.

All in all, the increased parcel tax for the CUSD is not a good idea. Now that it

has passed, we shall see the repercussions,

especially if the legislature in Sacramento

approve the tax increases, causing Cupertino residents to pay taxes twice. I am sure that

the Cupertino Union School District will not

give the money from the parcel tax back but

we shall see.

The Cupertino Parcel Tax: A Blessing or a Curse? (Cont.)

ping. Morally this presents a problem because the current punish-

ments given to

human traffickers

truly do not fit the crime. Not only do

traffickers deny a

person of their

rightful liberties, but also gain a

profit while doing

so; 8 years in

prison just doesn‟t seem like a fit

punishment for

such a horrid act.

Yet, it still seems that this

bill would not

affect the District

1 community, but this statement is

significantly untrue.

One website—

slaverymap.org—

shows otherwise. Right here in San

Jose a human traf-

ficking investigation

took place in 2002. The case was one of sex and child trafficking

where a 15-year-old

girl, hired by pimps,

went to the Santa Clara Children‟s Shelter to

convince younger girls

to run away with her

and join the prostitu-tion business in San

Francisco and Los

Angeles. The 15-year-

old was captured and sentenced to juvenile

hall, while the younger

girls received care and

counseling. This case truly hits home when it

comes to this issue,

because, no matter that

many think otherwise, human trafficking IS in

our backyards. Thus,

Swanson‟s bill is truly

good legislation that

can work to better our own community and

many others through-

out California.

By: Alisha Dua

Human trafficking. When you think of human trafficking, you might think of

L.A. or New York, maybe San Francisco, but

never San Jose, right? Wrong. Even in our

own community human trafficking is an issue that must be dealt with, and that is exactly

what AB 90 is trying to do.

The bill, proposed by CA Assem-

bly member Sandre Swanson, would create

stricter guidelines to define the act of human

trafficking. Current legislation states that a

person or persons who intentionally limit

another‟s personal liberty with the intent to

“effect or maintain certain felonies, or to obtain forced labor or services”, can be

charged with human trafficking. These current

laws, however, do not provide guidelines for

all types of human trafficking, thus the pro-posed bill comes into play. AB 90, if passed,

would provide for laws against trafficking of

peoples under the age of 16 for vulgar acts or

minors for use in depictions of sexual materi-

als.

Also, human trafficking is a huge

moral issue in California. A human trafficker

can currently receive up to 8 years in prison, a sentence less than that of rape and kidnap-

Human Trafficking: Present and Prevalent

Page 3 Volume 2, Issue 3

the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatological

Surgery.

Teenag-ers currently make

up about 10% of the

tanning industry‟s

current customers, and about 1 million

American citizens,

including 700,000

women (mainly composed of 16-29

year olds), are regu-

lar users of tanning

beds, says Lieu. He adds that people,

namely youth, who

By: Gloria Lin

On May 13th, Mayor Chuck Reed

Earlier this month, a bill banning California

minors from using devices such as ultraviolet

(UV) tanning beds gained approval from the state Senate committee. This bill, which

would make California the first and only state

in the US to ban Americans under the age of

18, was sponsored by state senator Ted Lieu, who claims that too much exposure to UV

rays at a young age greatly raises the risk of

skin cancer.

Arguing that indoor tanning is a

leading cause of cancer-related deaths for

young adults, Lieu is sponsoring the bill on

behalf of health-related organizations such as

use tanning beds before they reach 35 years

By Tyler Kotesky

On May 13th, Mayor Chuck Reed unofficially issued a State of Fiscal Emergency

declaration for San José in light of the city‟s

increasing budget problems. San José has a

deficit of over $115 million this year, accord-ing to KTVU, and is increasing every year

primarily because of runaway retirement

costs for public employees, now over $250

million. The mayor recently developed a

proposal, signed by Vice Mayor Madison

Nguyen and Councilmembers Sam Liccardo

and Rose Herrera, to officially declare the

State of Fiscal Emergency for the city and to start moving towards more budget-cutting

legislation. Some of the proposals in the

document include capping retirement benefits

at 9%, raising the retirement age to 60 for police and firefighters and to 65 for other city

employees, and limiting cost-of-living adjust-

ments in public employee wages to one per-

cent per year instead of the current 3%. The proposal will seek approval from the City

Council on May 24th. Failing the necessary

votes within that body, Mayor Reed said that

he is prepared to gather signatures to intro-duce the proposals as a ballot initiative, giving

the budget reform choice directly to the city

residents in Nove mber.

The Municipal Employees Federation and Firefighter Unions have both already ex-

pressed their disapproval of the mayor‟s

proposal, and Councilmember Ash Kalra has

even gone so far as to call it “Wisconsin-style politics,” referring to the controversy in the

mid-western state over Governor Scott

Brown‟s decision to strip public employees of

the collective bargaining rights.

This proposed budget solution comes amid previous negotiations with the

firefighters and three other public unions, which already agreed to cut their compensa-

tion by 10% to avoid layoffs.

Yet Reed and other supporters

have already stated that they “are open to other solutions” and hope to meet with the

Unions to discuss the alternative solutions

they have yet to propose.

The biggest concern remains over whether or not the city can cut current em-

ployees‟ retirement benefits that have not

accrued yet. Public Unions argue that current

employees‟ benefits are Constitutionally-protected. Reed responds that changing the

retirement benefits for public employees is

essential to stabilizing costs, a widely ac-

cepted claim among city officials both in San José and elsewhere. Justifying this position,

Reed argues that, like private sector employ-

ees whose pensions are cut, only retirement

savings accumulated to a given date are pro-

tected. Reed‟s proposal, if approved,

would be one of the most stringent crack-

downs on employee pensions in the state,

putting “San Jose in the vanguard of efforts to confront the [budget] issue,” according to the

Mercury News. Reed says that, ultimately,

"We haven't been able to negotiate anything

near the savings that we need. As mayor, I have to lead and say this is what we have to

do to solve the problem."

Chuck Reed issues San Jose Fiscal Emergency

CA Senate committee bans minors from using tanning beds

Mayor Chuck

Reed discuss-

ing municipal

issues.

Page 4 1 Voice

of age are 75% more likely to get the skin cancer known as melanoma in their lifetime.

While tanning industry supporters

are claiming that teenagers are mature enough to tan safely and in moderation, Lieu

argued in front of the state Senate Business

and Professions Committee that teenagers

are not old or mature enough to do so. Cit-ing evidence from several scientific studies as

well as data from the World Health Organi-

zation, he made claims that there is a direct

relationship between indoor tanning beds and cancer, and that indoor tanning beds are on

the same level as cigarettes in terms of being

carcinogens.

He says, “We don‟t let parents

consent to have kids buy a pack of cigarettes

or a bottle of vodka. Tanning is „incredibly

dangerous.‟”

Cur-rently, Califor-

nia State laws

state that teen-

agers ages 14 to 18 must get

parental consent

before utilizing

UV facilities. In order for this

bill to go to the

full Senate for

approval, it must first pass

through another

committee.

CA Senate committee bans minors from using tanning beds (cont.)

Religious apps can also be useful tools for enhancing people‟s understanding of

the scripture. It is widely recommended by

pastors to study annotations and read differ-

ent translations of the Bible, and apps offer a

rich supply to choose from.

The Bible teaches that the Word

should be closely integrated in every aspect

of believers‟ lives. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “Man does not live on bread alone but on

every word that comes

from the mouth of the

Lord.” This means that

Scripture should al-

ways be at hand, and

the fact is that phones

happen to be exactly

what teens always have at hand. Many students

find encouragement

from the apps, even

during school hours, and they claim that it

helps them keep their

faith up throughout the

school day and on

weekends.

Junior Daniel Kao says, “[Having

the Bible on my smartphone] is convenient…

It allows me to read the Bible or encourage

By: Jane Jun

In the past several years, smart-

phone applications have become a major trend; it is common to see students walking

around campus, phone in hand, gaming rigor-

ously, checking their mail, or even watching a

movie. Recently a new branch of smartphone apps has sprouted forth: “faith” applications

such as the eBible or the TouchWord Lite,

which are downloadable Bibles. Though these

apps have been criticized for their informality, they are beneficial for many believers across

the school.

Some people claim that it is

“unholy” to have sacred religious text as an

app on a phone, arguing that Bibles should be kept purely in book-form out of respect.

However, the Bible was originally written on

scrolls, and it wasn‟t until many centuries

later that people started binding the scripture into books. Changing the methods of pre-

senting text does not make the words them-

selves less sacred in any way whatsoever.

Lynbrook high school senior Deb-

bie Kim says, “God wrote the Bible in ordi-nary man‟s tongue, and the Bible is supposed

to be easily accessible to people. Apps and

the Internet can be used to make it easier for

people to really connect with Scripture.”

people throughout the day. Before I had a smartphone, I carried a Gideon‟s Bible in my

pocket, but after a while it got beat up. My

phone won‟t wear out as easily as written

text.” As smartphones are becoming

more and more assimilated into people‟s

everyday lives, “faith” applications will truly

help people incorporate their faith into every

aspect of their lives.

(App)lying faith using new technology

Application

like Touch-

Word Lite

(icon to the

left) keep

teenagers con-

nected to

their faith

Page 5 Volume 2, Issue 3

By: Lauren Tai

The monster ventures into our

lives in consistent patterns. As much as

we try our best to avoid it, ultimately,

the creature makes us its victim. This

beast is a frenemy you and I both call

procrastination.

At Lynbrook High School, I constantly hear students discussing how

much they procrastinate every day.

Every morning, I come to school, ex-

pecting my peers to be as enthusiastic

and exuberant as I am. Instead, I am

faced with unhappy faces as they say the

usual, “Ah! I procrastinated so much.”

Why so pessimistic? Although most stu-

dents view procrastination as a harmful

monster that distracts them from the

task they should be doing, it can actually

benefit us in more than just one way.

Studies on procrastination

including the Longitudinal Test of Pro-

crastination by Dianne Tice and Roy

Baumeister of Case Western University

have tracked the levels of stress, per-

formance and health, among students

and concluded that those who do not

procrastinate stress in the beginning of

the process of a task, whereas procrasti-

nators freak out only as the deadline

approaches. While both parties may

stress, the amount of time procrastina-

tors spend stressing is less because it is

compressed into a shorter period of

time. When jumping back into the activ-

ity that you procrastinated on, you will

feel more efficient and motivated to

work harder in order to complete it. I

admit that procrastination is a problem

of mine, but I do not regret the time lost

to it. Those nights during which I stay up

late encourage me to get more done in a

restricted period of time. It brings me a

sense of power and intense capability

when I am able to accomplish so much in

Math, Chemistry, you name it, under pressured time. Don‟t be too hard on

yourself if you procrastinate.

It is not in our human nature

to be immensely productive for roughly

16 hours of the day, subtracting the

hours spent sleeping. Additionally, Chi-

nese philosophy, for example, focuses on

the correct timing of actions because it

is the “natural order of the universe.”

Indian philosophy also weighs the paths

of action and inaction. Procrasti-

nating acts as a breather period

and should be valued more. For

example, if we are all rubber bands

and we are stretched too tightly,

we will eventually snap. My experi-

ences with procrastination have

led me to categorize the various

forms of it into two categories:

doing nothing or doing something.

Idly wasting time such as staring

blankly at a wall is not the best.

Instead, a more clever approach to

maximizing your procrastination

time includes productive procrasti-

nation. Procrastination means put-

ting off an important assignment to

work on a smaller project. Those

who argue that procrastination makes

them accomplish less might not realize

the method of productive procrastina-

tion, which can include putting off one

assignment to fulfill another. The issue

that occurs is that we may not always

use productive procrastination.

The biggest mistake people

make is that they neglect the benefits of procrastinating. Procrastination time

should not be wasted by doing aimless

activities; rather, procrastination should

be done so that is at its maximum po-

tential when it is. If you procrastinate on

school work and talk to friends, bond

with family members or explore hobbies,

you are actually improving a whole addi-

tional set of skills that could not be ob-

tained by pure steady schoolwork.

Putting things off will pay off

By: Olivia Zhu

Summer: the perfect time for going to

the beach, forgetting about homework,

and working on a tan, right? Not neces-

sarily true. Long vacations can some-

times lead to boredom, especially if eve-

ryone else ends up being busy with jobs.

However, there are tons of activities

to fill up a summer—and potentially a

school year as well. June, July, and Au-gust are great times to get involved in

the local community. There is always the

option, for example, to volunteer or

work for a local campaign, politician, or

government office, and internship oppor-

tunities abound. All it takes is a simple

search online or, perhaps, a phone call.

Another great way to get involved is

through community service. There are a

variety of Bay Area organizations that

still need help over the summer: tutor-

ing, working at computer literacy cen-

ters, or volunteering elsewhere could all

be options.

Additionally, the summer is a great time to pursue individual projects—for

example, working on a business idea or

research project. Check out essay con-

tests online for ideas, and the library is

always a great resource as well.

Finally, there‟s always the option to

join YAC. Keep an eye out for our next

recruitment period!

500 Days of Summer Opportunities

Page 6 1 Voice

By: Christine Wang

“I failed the test!” “How badly?”

“B+!” Frustrating complaints such as these

constantly buzz in my ear. Whenever I feel

myself slipping into this “grade-obsessed stereotype”, I just take a step back and breathe.

To certain parents in our community, so

dubbed by Amy Chua as a Tiger Mother, our

schools are wonderful breeding grounds for

future leaders, but for the prisoners caught

inside this mentality, it‟s quite a different story.

Outside of our community, Rebecca Black is getting‟ down on Friday. But in our

community, I don‟t hear the repetitive “we we

we so excited.” When I hear that song, all I can

think of is “Where‟s my fun, fun, fun, fun? The

only fun I have is scribbling sin graphs and them turning them into doodles.” Although our

community is famous for its prestigious alumni,

is it really worth all the stress and sleepless

nights it takes for that achievement?

Then there is also the danger of

being pushed too far. When everyone expects

perfection, teenagers resort to drastic meas-ures such as drugs to erase the stress. This

only leads to more disasters.

Yet, one missing homework assign-ment, one failed test, or even one B on your

report card doesn‟t determine your future

college. Colleges choose their students based on

the student‟s quality and

potential, not on his or

her list of impressive classes. Besides, even if I

don‟t make it into one of

the best colleges in

America, who said that this is what will deter-

mine my success or

failure?

We are only

gifted with one life, and

more importantly, with

only one childhood. Why should we let the peer

pressure we experience

determine how we live

every precious second, how successful we will be

in the future? It is smart and reasonable to

want to be fully prepared for a successful adult-

hood, but these are our golden years. We need to realize that we deserve to be happy, and

that we have the power to be happy. We need

to stay positive and enjoy our fleeting child-

hood.

So, if you are like me, if you some-

times feel yourself slipping back into your study

-obsessed stereotype, just remember: your

hard work will always pay off, but you can‟t

sacrifice your childhood trying to be an adult.

Adults grow up craving their youthful years, and here we are squandering it, working it

away. You‟ll regret it. So work hard, but re-

member to stay positive, to take a step back,

and to occasionally just:

Breathe.

Exhale Stress. Inhale Positivity.

almost eight to nine kids in a neighboring park smoking and acting rather hysterical at

the picnic benches. Soon after, I heard ru-

mors that some of

them had actually been smoking

marijuana, which

took me entirely by

surprise as one of them had been a close friend of

mine in middle school. I‟ve never been able to

see him as the same person I knew ever

since. The high academic status of many

schools in the area causes parents (and many students as well) to incorrectly conclude that

By: Virup Gubba For many parents, teachers, and

even students, drug use by high school stu-

dents in our community is often shocking.

Most schools

have multiple groups of stu-

dents that en-

gage in under-

hand drug activ-ity and smoke in

public areas.

And yet, many of

those not di-rectly involved

in these activi-

ties are com-

pletely unaware that other stu-

dents, potentially even their friends, get

drunk on a regular basis and pass cigarettes

around right outside school campus.

For example, whenever I stayed

afterschool for club activities or events and

begin to walk home a couple hours after

school ends, I would always find a group of

drug use and other illegal activities is insignifi-cant in our community. Unfortunately, there

is more than a significant fraction of students

who need to realize that they need to stay

away from drugs, and it‟s the responsibility of the community to help them. Such help,

however, would be very limited when most

of the community isn‟t even aware that there

are students that get drunk every other night and come to school with drooping eyes in the

morning.

This is where you readers come in. These individuals need to be properly

informed of the drug-related harms; many of

them do drugs due to peer pressure, stress,

or pure addiction. They need to know in order to make an informed decision about

their health; you, as a community, have a

responsibility to other community members,

and thus have the obligation spread drug prevention and make the world a better

place!

Have a Drug Talk with Your Peers

Students

dealing

drugs near

their public

school.

Amy Chua, author of the best-selling novel Battle

Hymn of the Tiger Mother, discusses her views on

strict parenting.

Page 7 Volume 2, Issue 3

By: Darren Shim

In the face of pouring rain and frigid weather,

over 240 volunteers came out on Saturday, March 19th to John Mise Park for the annual

spring-cleaning of our community. It was an

honorable sight to see such a high spirited

and energetic group ready to make a differ-ence in their neighborhood. From students

attending various schools to San Jose council-

members, everyone covered themselves up

with ponchos, gloves and rubber boots and

set out to clean different parks and streets.

Overall, 97 bags of litter, 18 illegal signs, 2

shopping carts and over 700 square feet of

gang-related graffiti were cleaned up over the

course of just four hours. To draw the event to a

close, The Pasta Market

generously contributed

fresh-hot, yummy pizza for all of the event volun-

teers to enjoy. Despite

the difficult weather

conditions, this year‟s litter pick-up was a great

success, and it could not

have happened without

all of your support and personal drive to help

out a community in need.

Thanks for your hard

work!

Event Recap: The 2011 Great American Litter Pick-up

zations.

Treatment was not easy for

Ang, for his chemotherapy had many

complications which eventually led to a

three month stay in the Intensive Care

Unit. However, no matter how grim the

situation seemed to be, Ang kept a posi-

tive attitude with the support of those

around him.

“When I first found out about

the tumor, I was a young kid and did not

really understand the severity of my

medical problem,” says Ang, “However,

through the years, I began to better see

the difficulties I would have to overcome

and though it was never easy, I learned

to enjoy life for the things I have.

Through all of it, I have had a lot of

support from my parents as well as

the community, whom, have helped

me greatly in overcoming my obsta-

cles.”

Christa McAuliffe School,

which he attended from first to eighth

grade, supported Ang through car

washes, bake sales and other events,

including a Richardson Ang Day, in

order to provide financial aid to his

family and to bring hope into their

lives.

While Ang‟s medical condi-

tion has slowly stabilized, he still feels

some of its effects in his daily life.

Memorization and learning certain

concepts are difficult for Ang, yet

By: Jasmine Mireshghi with permission from

The Epic (Lynbrook High School’s school news-

paper)

It is a story of courage and

perseverance. A story that has affected

the life of senior student, Richardson

Ang, for the past 11 years of his life.

Every year, the Fremont Union High

School District Foundation asks high

school staff members to nominate stu-

dents such as Ang for their remarkable achievements both in academics and

their personal life. This year, the Foun-

dation presented Ang with the Most

Outstanding Student Award at the dis-

trict board meeting on March 15.

“We were very excited to give

Richie this award because he is such an

amazing person,” says Assistant to the

Principal Jan Broman, “And there is

something about his charm that just

knocks you flat. He looks at everything

in a positive way and lives life celebrating

his successes.”

At the district board meeting

where Lynbrook was recognized for its

successes and all of the year‟s staff and

student achievements were acknowl-

edged, School Psychologist Brittany Ste-

vens praised Ang for his academic

achievements and his successes in extra-

curricular activities.

At the age of six, Ang was

diagnosed with astrocytoma of the hypo-

thalamus, an inoperable brain tumor that

began the course for years of treatment

through surgeries and multiple hospitali-

through the national Individual Education

Plan (IEP), he has been able to success-

fully continue his education and excel in

his classes. Under the IEP, Ang is given

more assistance from teachers as well as

extended time periods for tests.

Despite the ups and downs he has faced

throughout his life, Ang feels stronger

than ever and hopes to be a source of

inspiration for those who are facing their own struggles, whether in academics or

life. “I want those that hear my story, to

think, if a six year old can do it, then so

can I.”

Richard Ang: Success Story

Richard Ang, pictured next

to his award

Volunteers receiving instructions

about their clean-up locations.

Page 8 1 Voice

Even though I was only in the Youth Advisory Coun-

cil for one year, I feel that I have learned a great deal

about the legislative process in our city and our abil-

ity as young adults to promote and bring about posi-

tive change in our society. YAC has taught me to

truly believe in the potential of youth everywhere.

But on a lighter note, YAC has given me great new

friends and worthwhile life experiences such as vol-

unteering time at the Starbird Youth Center, picking

up trash to make our community a brighter place to

live, and meeting and talking to local city councilmen

about the issues that face youth as a whole today.

The past few years in YAC have been full of

amazing experiences and amazing people. I

have great memories of playing water games

at the Murdock Picnic with neighborhood kids,

volunteering at an Easter egg hunt at Starbird,

and learning about what YAC does at training

events. The sense of community that YAC

fosters is indicative of how much it is involved

with the community: in legislation, awareness,

and service efforts. However, the best part of

the program is definitely the other members:

everyone in YAC does so much and with such passion

that it‟s hard not to feel inspired!

Looking Back

Graduating seniors from the Youth Advisory Council of San Jose District 1 reflect on their experiences in

YAC and the opportunities it’s offered them.

Page 9 Volume 2, Issue 3

Photography & Poetry by Roopa Shankar

Photographer: Kathy Dong

Kathy Dong is a sophomore at Lynbrook

High School. She‟s been interested in photography

ever since middle school. At Lynbrook, she was se-

lected to be Assistant Photography Editor for the

Valhalla Yearbook. She‟s involved in Future Business

Leaders of America. She is also an extremely dedi-

cated San Jose Sharks fan.

Photography by Kathy Dong

Art

Between Bones by Roopa Shankar

her skin has become a vapid prairie field,

the scent of indigo trees and rainwater

woven deep beneath her ribcage.

and she holds her breath like

leather storms overhead

as her fingers spool to clasp dandelions,

but their sinews have evaporated into

the skies and teardrops pour from her eyes

upon the hollowed florets in her parched palm.

a drowsy sunset curls around her ankles

and follows her into bed until the weeping

of the indiangrass between her bones is

inaudible.

The river surges on

wrapping around crevices

in the mountain‟s wilted neck

time a mere constant

in its ceaseless journey.

She visits these waters each year

and lays by its rocky shores,

for even as she hears the screams resonating

from the room next door each night,

and sees the glass shatter across the wooden floors—

she still gets that thrilling jolt of excitement

every time she plunges

her eager toes into the rushing waters.

Poetry by Kimberly Tan

By: Vishwaesh Rajiv

Britney Spears will be singing along with

special guest Nicki Minaj on her The

Femme Fatale tour! For those of you that

are Britney fans, or just like pop music,

this is a great way to experience the fun

at the tour right here in San Jose. Spears

is going to be here at the HP Pavilion on

Saturday, June 18 at 7:00 pm for a thrill-

ing show! Viewers can buy tickets di-

rectly from the HP Pavilion website.

Taylor Swift will be singing at her Speak

Now World Tour, where she will have

dazzling performances by various people

and of course, her famed country songs

that won her 2008‟s Favorite Female

Country Artist and a Choice Breakout

Artist at the 18th Teen Choice awards.

Fans and viewers alike can see

her perform at the HP Pavilion

on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7:00 pm.

All who are interested can buy

tickets from her website and the

HP Pavilion.

This year seems to be filled with

music stars in San Jose! On Aug.

12 at 7:30 pm, Katy Perry is go-

ing to perform live at the HP Pavilion on her The California

Dreams Tour. Katy Perry recently

made waves with her award-

winning album, Teenage Dream,

which garnered four 1st posi-

tions on the Billboard Hot 100

Chart!

Upcoming Events: The Femme Fatal Tour

Silly Simon presented by

Ballet San Jose SCHOOL

Ballet San Jose SCHOOL pre-

sents SILLY SIMON, Lise la

Cour's ballet version of Klod

Hans, a fairy tale by Hans

Christian Andersen.

Saturday, May 28

1:30p to 3:00p

California Theatre,

San Jose, CA

Glee Live! Tour 2011

Come see a concert by 13

members of the TV show

Glee!

Tuesday, May 24

7:30pm

HP Pavilion at San Jose,

San Jose, CA

Other Upcoming Events