Dec 18, 2014

“Most wonderful time of the year”We are born to seek the truth !December 18, 2014 www.cvhsolympian.comVolume 59, Issue 4

Ferguson: was justice

done?

Newest Big Hero

hits screen

Student ballet show on “pointe”

Students have been protesting in the Universities of California campuses due to recent tuition increases. The UC Board of Regents has constructed a plan to raise the tuition in UCs up to five percent each year for the next five years to increase their funding. The President of the UC, Janet Napolitano, and the Board of Regents stated that if they did not receive more state funding they would go forward with the plan to increase tuition, to the dismay of Governor Jerry Brown and prospective UC students.

With the tuition increase, the annual in-state tuition for students would increase to an estimated $15,563 in 2019-20 from the current $12,192. Out-of-state students would pay as much as $44,766 by 2019-20, compared to the current average of $21,706. This increase does not include additional fees, such as books, and room and board. Even though more than half of UC students pay nothing because of financial aid, this tuition increase could limit the amount of students that are able to attend these schools because of the larger need for aid.

California Governor Jerry Brown is opposed to the in-crease in tuition. Brown’s sug-gestion is to reduce spending, offer more online courses, and cut executive pay raises. In the past, Brown has turned down opportunities to give the UCs an increase in money with state funding, believing that if the tu-ition increased then the students would protest and put extra pressure onto the state.

The UC Board of Regents ap-proved the plan with the vote 14-7, and on Nov. 19 the Regents Long-Range Financial Plan Committee approved the plan on a 7-2 vote, with Brown and student regent Sadia Saifuddin voting against it. Before the meeting, student protesters linked arms in front of the en-trance, causing a slight delay. The outraged students believed that UC spent too much money

on executive pay. Student protests occurred

throughout different UC cam-puses. At UC Berkeley, hun-dreds of students occupied Wheeler Hall on campus after the board vote. In addition, the students also planned a walkout Nov. 24, where an estimated 1,000 students participated. Other schools like UC Irvine and UC San Diego began oc-cupations of their own.

Most of the senior class at CVHS has turned in college applications either during or before the tuition increase. The real question will be if prospec-tive students from the junior class will shy away from ap-plying to UCs because of the tuition plan.

“In my plan, I would like to go to UCLA because of its pho-tography program,” said junior Jes Smith. “I still plan on going even with tuition increases, but it does put fear in the back of my mind that I won’t be able to go.”

The increase in tuition could be an obstacle in many appli-cants, creating an even larger competition for scholarships and financial aid.

A lot of students at CVHS are unaware of the increases in tuition.

“It’s moronic,” said junior Maricela Corona. “Students already have to pay a lot of money, when they raise tuition it will be worse.”

CVHS college counselor Jen-nifer Kline isn’t happy about the tuition increase plan either. “I do not agree with the tuition hikes. I think that the state should increase funding,” she said.

Kline explained that the in-crease in tuition would raise the funding of the school, but the money won’t necessarily go toward the students. The money could go toward retirement, pay increases, and the hiring of teachers.

In addition 5,000 more Cali-fornia students would be ac-cepted into the school creating larger classes, and possibly less adequate room and board.

“Tell us what that money is going toward,” said Kline.

By Caitlin ForbesStaff Writer

CVHS gave out 98 detentions to students checking out books without their student IDs on Nov. 12. This has seemed to raise awareness of the problems caused by students not having their student IDs in their posses-sion, as well as question what punishment (if any) is appropri-ate for these forgetful students.

Even though these detentions were distributed, no students were obligated to serve them. If students brought their IDs in the following days their detentions were dismissed.

“The students couldn’t serve the detentions without their IDs regardless. So it was meant strictly as a fix-it ticket,” said Darrin Vanderpan, an instruc-tional assistant.

This is not the first time that detentions have been given out for students not possessing their

IDs. It is not school policy to receive a detention for this of-fense, however it is possible for it to become one in the future.

When students lack their stu-dent IDs during book checkouts, it can become very tiresome and stressful on the staff that has to perform these checkouts, not to mention the problems not having your student ID in your possession can cause.

Sue Hale, who works the bookroom, struggles with stu-dents forgetting their IDs every day.

“It gets very frustrating. It just takes a lot longer and I have to enter things in manually and it just makes a lot of room for er-ror because I am only human. I wish the kids would remember their IDs because the amount of kids that forget is ridiculous. Ninety-eight [students who forgot their IDs] is nothing compared to what I have to deal with when checking out English books. And there are always those repeat offenders too,” stated Hale.

Students forgetting their IDs directly make Hale’s job sub-stantially harder. However, Hale is against the detentions, and hopes that a new school policy concerning student IDs and detentions will not be put into action.

“I don’t think detentions are going to stop these kids from forgetting their IDs, it’s a responsibility thing, not a re-bellious thing. Maybe positive rewards would work better than punishments,” stated Hale.

Hale also brought up some very interesting reasons as to why student IDs are so im-portant. She explained that for most students, student IDs are the first form of personal identification that a person is re-sponsible for, therefore having it on hand is good practice for the real world. She also stated that student IDs are important when concerning safety, especially during fire drills or lockdowns, because they are valid proof of who you are and can benefit you in sticky situations. Also having your ID speeds up the process of checking out books and creates less errors in the school system.

J.C. Farr, the House One as-sistant principal, commented on the detentions.

“It’s more of a fix-it ticket rather than a punishment. We are just aiming to stress the importance of having your ID on you at all times,” said Farr.

When asked if administra-tion was considering making it a school policy Farr stated, “We haven’t discussed the long term yet.”

By Laniah LewisStaff Writer

UC tuition rates continue to climb

Detentions given for forgotten cardsStudents face pushishments

for not having ID

Madrigals spread holiday cheer as they carol around the community. aliSon Dhont/ Photo Editor

Page 3: Writer’s take on police shooting Page 5: Students take stage in The Nutcracker Page 6: Falling for Disney’s Baymax

PHOTOPiniOnsBy: Robbie Brandt What do you think about the

cost of college?

“I think the price is way too high, the government should pay for it because we shouldn’t have to pay to better so-ciety.”

Hannah Dias,freshman

“It’s too expensive and the price needs to go down so kids and families can af-ford it.”

Stephen Lau,sophomore

“It’s irrationally expensive. I think education should just be there for peo-ple who want it.”

Emily Ortzow, junior

“I think the price for college is okay the way it is de-pending on wheth-er or not it’s a UC or CSU.”

Anthony Chew,senior

PHOTOPiniOns

UC tuition climbs too high, Olympian says

Dear CVHS: clean up your act

Dying with dignity is your choice

Why can't those who wish to die, die? Death is inevitable for all living things, but hu-mans are trying to delay it as much as they can by making workplaces safer, the environ-ment cleaner, and medicine better. Just one person’s death, however, can change the entire country’s view on assisted suicide.

Suicide is still ultimately a choice made by an individual, but those with terminal medi-cal illnesses should be allowed to end their suffering at any time they please.

A recent case of physician-assisted suicide with Brittany

Maynard, who had to pack up her life in California and go to Oregon where euthanasia is legal, led many states to reconsider their ban of death with dignity.

Maynard decided to die the first weekend of November after much contemplation, but she held on to both hope and love until her death. She had love for her family for accept-ing her wish to die and she had hope that everyone she cared about could eventually find a way to be happy even without her.

All states should allow sickly patients to have the chance to end their lives if their diseases become unbearable. Death is not a light topic to discuss, but there can be a time where living in pain over an illness can be more painful than dying and leaving loved ones.

The four states that do cur-rently allow assisted suicide have strict regulations on what qualifies someone to die with the assistance of a physician. They do not allow anyone with depression or a curable illness to die; the candidate for assisted suicide must have at least two oral declarations of wishing to die at least 15

days apart along with a written declaration, and he or she must have the consent of two doctors who believe the candidates’ illnesses will kill them in less than six months.

Living in hospice to wait un-til your death with agonizing pain is not appealing. People around the patients will be torn up with grief as they watch people they care about slowly lose their minds and suffer the effects of their disease. There is the possibility of closure with death.

The 46 states that consider assisted suicide to be either manslaughter or a felony are not stopping anyone. Those who really want to end their lives can just move to another state where euthanasia is legal like Brittany Maynard did. Why shouldn’t people be al-lowed to die in the comforts of their home state? The laws just make physician-assisted suicide more inconvenient without actually stopping anything.

When the illness is severe enough, it shouldn’t matter where or when the death takes place; it’s just a matter of when and how much they suffer.

By Meiling ZhangStaff Writer

CVHS, don’t get me wrong, I like you. You have good school spirit. There are a huge amount of extracurriculars for people to get involved in. You recently got cinnamon rolls (hella good ones) for breakfast in the cafeteria. And yet, there’s something missing, and it took me a long time to realize what it was: maturity.

I’m tired of people screaming in the hallways, mouthing off to substitute teachers, leaving trash everywhere, not keeping the rest-rooms relatively clean, and acting rude during passing period. The list goes on and on.

Is it really so hard to take your earbuds out during class? Dur-ing a class someone is teaching?

Someone who makes a living off teaching? How rude is that? I’ll answer for you, it’s incredibly rude.

Why are you fighting with your significant other right in the MID-DLE of the hallway? Can’t you tell there’s other people around- who don’t want to see your melodra-matic angsty teen tears?

What gives you the right to cut the lunch line? Oh sorry, missed the memo where you became the chosen one with the right to do whatever you wanted, with no regards to anyone else.

Sorry to say it, but a lot of you need to clean up your act. If I ever see an UNEATEN pizza stuffed in a drinking fountain, covered in chocolate milk (disgusting!!!) again, I’m going to sue someone.

CVHS, I’m tired of thinking to myself “Oh jeez, only in public school,” three or more times a day just going through school. Clean up your act. Learn some respect. Stop getting all dramatic. You’re here to learn, you’re here to grow, you’re here to become a fully functioning adult citizen. If you don’t want to grow up, fine, be immature at home. Don’t make high school nasty for the rest of us.

By Lauren Jelksa&e editor

Neo dieSta/ Staff Writer

Editorial: University of Cali-fornia recently announced an increase in tuition, raising it about five percent each year for the next five years. Most of this money will go towards hiring new employ-ees, retirement, and pay increases.

Here at The Olympian, we are against raising the cost of UC tuition. Only about 30 percent of students now pay the full price, while the rest receive financial aid, meaning a tuition hike would cause an even heavier burden on their families. Many would even not consider applying. Students need the money more than the executives who will get pay raises out of this plan.

UC president Janet Napoli-tano, for instance, makes almost $600,000 a year, while the US president makes $400,000 and Governor Jerry Brown makes under $200,000. We at The Olym-pian believe that if students must pay more, the money should all go towards furthering their own education, not into the pockets of executives.

Without either tuition hikes or adequate state funding, however, UC may stop offering some of its courses, which will increase class sizes, and the high standards of its schools may diminish. UC will be able to offer more classes and hire better-qualified teachers with the extra money, but it will also be accepting 5,000 more un-dergraduates, which would make class sizes larger anyway.

Although the tuition increase sounds unreasonable, the alterna-tive is to increase state funding towards the UCs, which would raise taxes. A solution to the lack of funding towards the UC would be to cut employee salaries, as Brown has suggested, instead of making students’ families pay for their pay raises.

UC tuition should not be in-creased as it places a heavier burden on families that already cannot pay the full cost, it will increase class sizes, and much of the money won’t even go towards improving the quality of the edu-cation students receive.

The Olympian December 18, 2014 3

The Olympian encourages letters from our readers. Please note that letters must be signed and no longer than 200 words. They can be e-mailed to [email protected], delivered to Mr. Johanson’s box in the office, or dropped off at our Olympian office in room 113.

Letters to the Editor

Headline Styles:Three headline lengths:1)

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Click, copy, and paste boxes for use.

Change size of font as needed, but don’t mess around with font type. Some other generally approved fonts include: Times, Trebuchet, Helvetica

Note: Try not to do one column headlines unless necessary

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Tips: Try to have an interesting fact to go with the picture. Also, always write in present tense and in complete sentences. The caption is the responsibility of the photographer, but make sure to keep an eye out for errors.

Letter: sidewalks needed

The Olympian is a publication of the journalism class at Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2014

Editors-in-Chief...........................................................Stephanie Huerta Anna TalajkowskiCopy Editor......................................................................Rachel Du News Editor..............................................................Anna NguyenOpinion Editor............................................................Sally Liang Feature Editor.....................................................Callie Ross-Smith Sports Editor................................................................Adri VandiverArts and Entertainment Editor......................................Lauren JelksPhoto Editors........................................................Alison Dhont

Jes SmithBusiness Manager......................................................Robbie Brandt

Staff Writers: Martin Baez, Desiree Broome, Brittany Bracy, Neo Diesta, Caitlin Forbes, Laniah Lewis, Halley Lin-Jones, Laura Mac-chiavello, Alexander McIntosh, Jessica Mi, America Morales, Danika Newlin, Maia Samboy, Isaiah Siordia, Meiling Zhang Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

Ferguson decision raises doubts“I’m for the truth, no matter

who tells it. I’m for justice no matter who it’s for or against,” said Malcolm X.

On Aug. 9, 2014, an unarmed black man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Since then, a grand jury heard 70 hours of testimony from over 60 witnesses about the case. On Nov. 24, prosecutor Robert McCullough announced that Wilson would not be indicted for the shooting of Brown.

Following the announcement that Wilson would not be in-dicted, thousands of protesters took to the streets around the country. Most were outraged and claimed that justice was not served in the case. Protest-ers were irate and unfortu-nately channeled their anger into the destruction of their communities and property.

I honestly don’t know what people expected, and I don’t see how people can say that they didn’t this coming. There has been a build up going on for years. Similar cases such as the murder of Oscar Grant at BART, and the most recent case of Eric Garner who was

put into a fatal chokehold by a New York police officer, have been repeating and are going to keep repeating until change occurs.

The problem, and a reason why people resort to violence, is that not enough people care about how others feel when

incidents like this keep happen-ing. Not enough people care about others who are scared to leave their house without being followed by the police, or the people who fear losing their rights because the police will ultimately not be held account-able for their actions.

It seems unbelievable that those who are supposed to pro-tect us would abuse their pow-ers, take people for granted, and not be held accountable for their actions like the rest of the citizens are. But it was self defense, so it was okay, right?

There’s clearly a lack of clar-

ity in this case. Witnesses had contradicting statements, and evidence didn’t make much clear. The one thing that is clear is the fact that Brown died. He didn’t live to tell his side of the story. We will never know the entire truth.

The protesters are looking at what they do know. They know that a white police of-ficer shot an unarmed black male teenager, and didn’t go to jail. They’re looking at the fact that police officers have been known to lie, and black males tend to be the people who have lost their lives. They’re looking at the fact that history is repeat-ing itself and that isn’t right.

I would love to say that it’s not about race, but I don’t know that. I would love to say that Wilson is telling the truth, but I don’t know that. I would love to say that everything is black and white, right or wrong, but I can’t say that. I would like to hear Brown’s side of the story, but I can’t. I would love to say justice was served but I don’t think so.

I would love for history to stop repeating itself, people starting to be held accountable for their actions, and everyone to be treated equally. Perhaps that’s too much to ask for.

which gets them really mad and this can create arguments. How the conditions are now makes students trip and even fall and they could obviously get hurt.

The county should spend money for the benefit of stu-dents but also for the benefit for the people in the community by putting in a sidewalk. This will make better conditions for the community and also it will make it safer for everyone who passes by there.

Maria Cruz, junior

Editor, Coming to school every day

is a struggle since there is no sidewalk on part of Santa Ma-ria Avenue. On the rainy days, we don’t only have to deal with the rain and getting wet but also getting muddy since it’s impossible to walk on the sidewalk. Mud is everywhere which causes students to go onto the streets, where there are cars also. It’s dangerous for the students as it is for the drivers. Also there are drivers who honk their horns, scaring students

SOS, students need sleep

By Anna NguyenNews editor

I wake up at 5:50 a.m. every day, my alarm clock never fails to go off, and likewise, my hand never fails to reach for the snooze button in pur-suit of those extra nine min-utes of precious sleep. This routine, the only regularity of my sleep schedule, continues on a cycle regardless of the everchanging nature of my life. Whether I’m crawling into bed at 10 p.m., or crash-ing on the couch at 3 a.m., I’m always up at 5:50, ready to start the day.

But I wasn’t always like this. What started out as ten hours of sleep, fell to eight.

Then one all-nighter led to another, and soon a 3 a.m. bed-time became the norm.

Pediatricians widely recom-mend that high school students get around eight to nine hours of sleep per night in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Yet, in practice, many teenag-ers, including myself, find difficulty in reaching even half of that. Between school, work, extracurriculars, and a personal life, it becomes increasingly harder to make time for sleep, one of our most fundamental necessities.

The struggle to find sleep is especially prevalent in the upper decile ranks, in which students are encouraged to do as much as possible in order to remain competitive among their peers. To these students, sacrificing a few hours of sleep to take on one more AP class, join one more club, or enter one more competition, is a minor compromise to make if it can ensure their future success. What seems like only a tempo-rary inconvenience is a small price to pay for the guarantee of a seemingly better life.

Recent studies suggest lat-er start times in schools, but

rachel du / City Editor

By Brittany Bracy staff writer

frankly, this would provide and inefficient solution. Push-ing school off one or two hours in the morning may tempo-rarily ease students’ sleep schedules, but in the long run, how effective will its repara-tions be? Students will simply adjust to this new time frame, shifting their current sleep schedules by a few hours.

Sleep deprivation is a nor-mal part of high school cul-ture. Efforts may be made to combat it, but with the competitive system still in place, students will continue to sacrifice their sleep in order to stay on top of their class. The overwhelming pressure to succeed not only has psy-chological consequences, but pushes students to make deci-sions that affect their physical health as well.

While finishing that last minute lab report may seem like the most important thing, it is also crucial to remember that your health is the most important thing. If you don’t take care of yourself now, you’ll have less years in your life to enjoy the greatness that all of your hard work will bring.

The Olympian guide on how to deal, holiday edition

For the holiday season, try baking these easy-to-make cookies called Snowballs.

Ingredients:1 cup of butter½ cup of confectioners sugar1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 2 ¼ cups of sifted flour½ teaspoon of salt ¾ cup of finely chopped wal-

nuts (optional)

By Caitlin ForbesStaff Writer

Instructions: Cream the but-ter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir in the flour and salt sifted together. Add the walnuts. Form the dough into 1 inch balls. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet in a (400℉) heated oven. Bake for 14-17 minutes. After the cook-ies are out of the oven roll them into the confectioners’ sugar while hot. Allow the cookies to cool then roll them in the sugar a second time. Enjoy!

Holiday recipe for snow in your oven

Caitlin forbeS / Staff Writer

Jes Smith asks Greg Thomas to Winter Ball with a bouquet of potatoes. iSaiah Siorida / Staff Writer

Saying yes to a date

The holidays are wonder-ful, but along with brightly colored lights and Starbucks specialty drinks, this time of year can bring more than a few awkward situations, from impromptu Christmas karaoke to racist relatives. That’s why we have created some helpful tips to transform your “I can’t even,” into “Happy holidays!”

What to do when...

... every adult asks you about college:

While repeating your college list (again), search for nearby escape routes. At the next lull in conversation, smile, excuse yourself, then make a beeline for a new group. When in doubt, just say you’re going to get a soda and move along. This will all be over in a couple of months.

... all your relatives start get-ting drunk at a holiday party:

By Anna Talajkowskieditor-in-Chief

After all the adults try to tell you about the good ol’ days and everyone inevitably starts singing, try to find a silver lin-ing in the situation. In good spirit, offer to drive them home for a nominal fee. Spread the holiday cheer and make some extra money, a win-win!

...you have no money for presents:

Make a heart-felt card. Raid the dollar store and pull some DIYs. Write personalized so-liloquies. We’re all teenagers, and most of us don’t have cash flowing from our pockets, so don’t make it your excuse! We make it work. So can you.

...you don’t celebrate Christ-mas:

When you’re inevitably asked what you’re doing Dec. 25, explain what you do or do not celebrate. Cultural igno-rance is getting old. If you want to play it right, try to both edu-cate them and guilt people into still buying you presents. Score!

And it’s not just the Naga-land, India villagers that live in hunger. According to the World Food Programme, about one in every nine people on the planet are deprived of food.

During the course of the fast, several guest speakers came and talked to the students about serving less fortunate communi-ties around the world. Among

The curtains open, and the audience is greeted by the beloved Tchaikovsky score and a bustling, joyous party unfolds before their eyes. Clara receives her treasured nutcracker, and then is warmly greeted by CVHS senior Jaliya Wilkinson in a silvery dress and shiny pointe shoes for her role as snow queen.

This was the first act of the Con-servatory of Classical Ballet(CCB) annual production of The Nut-cracker, which featured several CVHS students, including Jaliya

Wilkinson, Taylor Lim, Halley Lin-Jones, Olivia Chan, and Isa-belle Maxwell. They performed various roles in the two-show run of their production on Dec. 6 and 7 at the San Leandro Performing Arts Center.

“This was CCB’s 13th annual Nutcracker. It started as a suite of dances primarily from Act 2, and as the school and students’ abilities grew, the production was extended to a full-length produc-tion,” said director Ann Fisher.

Watching the performances, people might not guess the amount of time and energy the dancers have spent the past few

months on refining their dancing.“Rehearsing in the studio makes

us focus on technique and nailing the steps, but when we get to the stage it’s more about performing and bringing out artistic quality,” said Lim.

Lim and Wilkinson have been training at the school since they were as young as four years old. As they developed more skill and strength, they began to take on more challenging roles in the productions. They’ve done it all, from little “peppermints” in red and white dresses, to the smooth, wispy Arabian “coffee,” and even to the technically demanding

Olivia Chan, Jaliya Wilkinson, Taylor Lim, and Halley Lin-Jones(from left to right) twirl to success in The Nutcracker.

By Halley Lin-JonesStaff Writer

dance of the “Sugarplum Fairy.”The various characters in Act

2 of The Nutcracker all represent types of sweet treats like Marzipan, peppermints, and chocolate.The choreography emulates the mood and style of each dessert as well as the specific culture it references.

“My favorite role is Spanish chocolate because it has a lot of exciting jumps in it, and it’s just really fun to perform,” said Lim.

For these girls, what started out as a recreational activity has become a serious life pursuit. Wilkinson hopes to turn her bal-let training into a career after she graduates next year.

“I’m planning to apply to col-leges with good dance programs. I hope to get into a company eventually but I’m trying to keep all of my options open, and maybe even explore new forms of dance,” she said.

All dancers are aware of the competitive nature of their profes-sion, and Wilkinson knows there will be challenges in pursuing her dance career.

Fisher encourages anyone with any interest in ballet, whether for recreational or vocational pur-poses, to take classes.

“There are so many benefits one can gain from training in ballet. Ballet uses the entire body, as well as a good deal of mental acuity,” she said.

Already, Fisher is looking for-ward to their spring showcase on June 6, which will feature dances by many guest choreographers. Every year, she tries to bring some-thing new to these performances.

“Our studio may not have a lot of people in our productions,” said Lim. “But we do work very hard to bring the best quality dance moves to the stage.”

Have you ever watched a movie about dancing and felt the sensation of dancing all day long? Well that’s the effect you will get when you see the CVHS dancing club, Urbanize, perform at the CFA, filling the crowd with joy.

Urbanize has been at CVHS for eight years. The dancers also per-form in the main gym, holding the annual Urban Games against students from the Bay Area. Lately the dancers have been do-ing about five performances each year, captivating the attention from students across the bay. The next performance Urbanize will have is the Winter Talent Show here at CVHS, which will be held Friday, Dec. 19, right before winter break. There will be all sorts of performances including singers, dancers, and jugglers.

“It was actually made eight years ago and I took over the reigns when the other people graduated,” said club president Andrew Chuong.

Not only does the club have eight years under its belt, it has 20 people dancing that are in the club and you can catch them dancing in the mat room doing their moves during break and sometimes during lunch.

“We have rehearsals during the weekend or after school, that’s what we usually do,” said club member Chris Tran.

The club wants to be ready and organized to make sure they give everyone their money's worth, and so they can compete with the other highly talented students around the Bay Area.

When Tran was asked about his experiences with the club, he said, “ I have a really good time especially because I got really close with everybody.”

Clubs are made for more than just competing and participat-ing in events, but to make close bonds with people that have the same interests as you.

Surely, after watching them break down some moves, you will want to start dancing out of your shoes all day long.

Club members of reSPONse take action in spreading the news about world hunger Halley lin-JoneS / Staff writer

“Hungry...fun...exciting...en-lightening…” These were some of the words that members of the CVHS reSPONse club used to describe their experiences at the club’s fourth annual “24-Hour Famine.”

Around 70 club members gathered at the New Life Chris-tian Fellowship on Redwood Road for a fast to raise money for the club, as well as to bring awareness to world hunger, on Nov. 24-25.

The club’s main goal since 2008 has been to fund a school in a remote village in north-eastern India, where most of the families there live in poverty with little access to the resources they need to run a school.

Fasting for 24 hours gave the members a glimpse at what many of the villagers experience on a weekly basis.

“It was harder than I thought to not eat for so long. It made me appreciate the constant supply of food that I have in my life, ” said club member Emma Metchette.

The 24 hours consisted of ice-breakers, tie-dying, skits, and

other fun activities to distract the students from the growing emptiness in their stomachs.

The club members also helped out at the local canned food drive sorting in Castro Valley.

“It seemed appropriate since the goal is to try and empa-thize with people who live in hunger,” said club president Elizabeth Bau.

By Halley Lin-JonesStaff Writer

By Martin BaezStaff Writer

Dancers break a leg in The Nutcracker

Just dance...to Urbanize them was Jonathan Zingkhai,

the man who founded the Jon Christian English School after struggling to receive a complete education in the Nagaland vil-lage.

“I feel so grateful for the people who supported my education, people I never even met,” Zingkhai said. “I will never forget their kindness.”

Martin Baez / Staff writer

CVHS Club reSPONds to world hunger

Senior Andrew Chuong shows off his dancing skill.

5

Big Hero 6 wins four star review

Banner heads should go to key, important stories

Taylor Swift is shattering molds and records with her new ultra-successful album, 1989. The glaringly country-free album sold over 1.2 million copies in its first week, making it the first this year to reach the million mark during its debut week. The last album to do this was Swift’s album re-leased in 2012, Red.

The album features fun dance beats and booming bass, along with synthesized drums layered with clever lyrics. While 1989 does have an overall lighter, fun vibe than previous albums, it does

Recently, I had the privilege to view a play which took place at the heart of the bay, San Francisco. The comical play was based off of the American television series I Love Lucy, which aired from 1951 to 1960. The play is a piece of comedic gold, and although I found it to be not as satisfactory as the original television show, it was entertaining nonetheless.

The play takes you back to the 1950s and the Desilu Studios to witness the filming

The Book of Life takes view-ers on a journey through three worlds. With a flavor of your typical love story, it can seem cliche. This movie, however, delivers an unprecedented twist.

Two best friends fall in love with the same girl, Maria (Zoe Saldana), who is sent away but comes back years later. It is then that the two best friends, Joaquin (Channing Tatum), and Manolo (Diego Luna), compete for the love of Maria.

The twist comes when La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), ruler of The Land of the Re-

“Hello. I am Baymax, your per-sonal health companion. I heard the sound of distress.

What is the problem?” says the huge marshmallow robot, Baymax, from the new movie Big Hero 6. The problem is not enough people have watched it.

It’s not just a movie for kids but for people of all ages, and has many relatable themes such as brotherhood and coping with grief. It’s a movie that doesn’t just give you action all at once, it’s gradual and almost soothing. In San Fransokyo, our main charac-

not lack Swift’s signature heartfelt and highly relatable lyrics.

The songs on 1989 are instantly catchy, but they still have a mean-ingful story behind them. This was one of Taylor Swift’s goals she set for the album back in Oc-tober, during an interview with Ryan Seacrest. All I can say is mission accomplished.

The new album is also serving as an outlet to address rumors about her in the media. In the hit songs “Blank Space,” and “Shake it Off,” Swift responds to the media’s portrayal of her as a man eater and serial dater. She embraces her complicated dat-ing history with lyrics such as “I go on too many dates, but I can’t make the them stay, at least that’s what people say,” from “Shake it Off,” and “Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane,” from “Blank Space.” Swift’s head-on confrontation of rumors and

By Alexander McIntoshStaff Writer

By Maia SamboyStaff Writer

her reputation give 1989 an edge lacking in other albums.

Although “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space” are the two most popular tracks on the album, other songs deserve recognition as well. The dance track, “Wel-come to New York” starts off the album. It depicts New York as a place full of acceptance and new possibilities. “Welcome to New York” features playful lyrics and fast a tempo that set an energetic, enthusiastic tone that carries throughout most of the album. In contrast, Swift slows it down with the song “Clean” to end the album. Here, she uses beautiful metaphor-filled lyrics to describe how difficult it can be to finally get over a failed romance. 1989 is tastefully composed from start to finish, and with its thunderous bass, cheeky lyrics, and memo-rable melodies, its no wonder it has earned a spot at number one.

Taylor’s “1989” album “swiftly” rises to top

ter Hero Hamada is a 14-year-old genius who knows how to use it to his advantage to build robots until later he creates something that ends up doing more harm than good. After a tragic accident he finds his brother’s invention, Baymax, a robot made for taking care of injured people, and in this case, Hero.

But Baymax isn’t the only one looking out of him, also his broth-er’s friends,

Gogo Tomago, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Fred, turning these geniuses into Big Hero Six. All to-gether the diverse characters not only fight Hero’s depression from the accident but also fight evil.

You should still bring tissues just in case. It is based off Marvel com-ics and like most Marvel movies, it has clips after the credits, so make sure to stay until the end.

Loving Lucy just got betterBy Isaiah Siordia

Staff Writer

of two episodes of the sitcom, but, of course, they did not stop there. The show also featured a television studio host, as well as vintage styled live musical advertisements. It truly was an experience like no other.

Not only did the classic com-edy take place in Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's apartment in New York, the show also takes place in the Tropicana Night-club, where The Ricky Ricardo Orchestra performs, and the scene has live music similar to the energetic Cuban entertain-ment that America has come to know and love.

Although the play is closely based on the CBS television series, I Love Lucy, it is not intended to copy the original program, but rather created to

celebrate the series and honor the longest-running, as well as most famous, television show in history.

With that being said, I feel as if the play could be so much more. I was somewhat disap-pointed that the play left out some minor details that made the overall experience just not feel like it should have. For instance, they left out Ricky Ricardo's famous line which was depicted in nearly every episode: "Oh Lucy, I’m home!"

The actors of the play, how-ever, were able to closely mim-ic the actors of the original show. They even got it down to Ricky's accent.

If you enjoy the television show, then I highly recom-mend watching this play.

The Book of Life inspires the living

By Stephanie Huertaeditor-in-Chief

membered, and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), ruler of The Land of the Forgotten, place a wager on the two young best friends who are in love with the same girl. If Joaquin marries Maria, Xibalba will get to rule both underworlds. If Manolo mar-ries Maria, La Muerte will get to rule both underworlds.

As the story unfolds, an un-fortunate event takes Manolo to The Land of the Remembered where he must conquer his fears and meet a challenge in order to go back to with the liv-ing and win the love of Maria. While Manolo is in The Land of the Remembered, Joaquin is by Maria’s side, defending the town and defending his love for her.

The movie shows The Land of the Remembered with vi-brant colors, floats of all sorts, fiestas on every corner, and

beautiful Mexican art. The Land of the Forgotten depicts what kind of world those who have passed on and aren’t re-membered on the Day of the Dead live in.

As the two best friends com-pete for the love of Maria, we follow an adventure through culture. The beliefs of Day of the Dead mark the journey of the two boys and shows view-ers the beauty in life and death.

The Book of Life has scenes that make us laugh and make us sad. The characters are ani-mated beautifully with aspects of Mexican culture. Luna’s courage, Tatum’s charm, and Saldana’s love make The Book of Life a must-see. Lessons of love, appreciation, and stand-ing up to your fears make a great story in which you can’t help but fall in love with the characters and the culture.

raChel du /City Editor

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Banner heads should go to key, important stories

Awe s o m e A g i l e At h l ete s

Brendan Brown, seniorSpencer Shaw, juniorNikki Jensen, sophomoreThe reason for the amazing hits

and kills on the CVHS JV girls volleyball team this year is setter Nikki Zing. Zing has been playing volleyball for four years and made the JV team at the high school as a freshman this year. She tried out for the first time in seventh grade. “Volleyball looked like fun, it’s so fast paced!” she said. In the past Zing has played all positions, but her favorite is opposite. She’s also been on the Canyon A team both seventh and eighth grade year, as well as the club teams Norcal Topgun, Core, and Altamont.

She spikes the ball into the opposing team’s court, straight down, winning the CVHS girls varsity volleyball team the point! Nikki Jensen made the JV team as a freshman and then the varsity team as a sophomore in only her fourth year of playing volleyball. She plays both right side and op-posite, but prefers outside because she is able to use more of her skills. Jensen has played on the Canyon A and B team, as well as club teams Club VIP, CV Shock, and East Bay Volleyball Academy. Her favorite part of the game is, “when you get in the moment and you and your team feel invincible,” said Jensen.

After miles of endless running, through heat, cramps and dust, Spencer Shaw can see the fin-ish line and uses the last of his strength to pull ahead of a few more opponents and gain some well earned points for the CVHS cross country team. Shaw has been running competitively since seventh grade when he joined Canyon’s track team and has been running both cross country and track ever since. This year he was on both the junior varsity and varsity team. He mainly runs to stay in shape, but he said that he really enjoys, “going on long runs at Lake Chabot during practice.”

“Hike!!” Senior Brendan Brown gets the ball, searching who to throw the pass to, and all you can hear is the colliding of bodies, all trying to capture or defend the football. Brendan has been playing football for 11 years, all in the position of quarterback. He has been on the CVHS varsity football team ju-nior and senior year, but played on varsity for playoffs his fresh-man and sophomore year. Before the CVHS team, he played for the San Leandro Crusaders. “I tried every sport as a kid, but football was by far my favorite and the one I was the best at,” said Brown.

The Castro Valley Trojans encountered rain and mud at the NCS cross country champi-onships on Nov. 22. Although the course was trampled and muddy by the time CVHS lined up to race, the runners still had their speed and de-termination.

The first race for the Trojans was for the varsity boys. Lead runner Carter Mackey ran a time of 16:25 in fifth place be-hind De La Salle and Amador Valley.

Even though the team land-ed in 13th place with a score of 330, Mackey qualified for the state championship on Nov. 29.

The racers did not enjoy running on a squishy, dirty course. Every runner was de-

termined though, and finished the race covered in mud.

“Imagine riding in a boat with no motor and trying to go upstream,” said Peter Nor-mann, who placed second for CVHS, explaining the difficulty of running on a wet course.

The girls varsity team placed

By Danika NewlinStaff Writer

After nine years coaching the CVHS swim team, Brian Berry has decided to move on and pursue a different career.

Berry’s passion for swim-ming and coaching is, and will always be, well-known and respected. Throughout his seven years as head coach, he strived to create a strong, co-hesive, and competitive team, and undoubtedly did so. With Berry as a head coach, the team has had 82 wins, only one loss, and one tie, in all the seasons’ dual meets.

After considering this dif-ficult decision for a few years, Berry has officially made up his mind. Swimming and coaching have been a big part of his life during these past nine years, but he feels that it is in his best interest to move forward in his career and search for a full-time job. Coaching two swim teams, CVHS and the Chabot Marlins, substituting at CVHS, teaching at the adult school, and work-ing as a property manager, all at the same time has become over-whelming in recent years. He hopes to find a permanent job in facilities management, or as an advisor at a private college.

Berry feels that his experience at CVHS was wonderful, and he very much enjoyed being a part of the community where he grew up.

His favorite part of coaching the CVHS swim team was the league championships. He’d look forward to seeing all his swimmers cheer each other on, win races, set and achieve goal times, but most importantly he loved being able to see the tre-mendous effort the team put in all season long pay off.

“I’d say the thing I’ll miss the most are the relationships and day to day interactions with the swimmers,” said Berry.

He had a strong bond with the entire team, and never favored any swimmer over another.

“Coach Brian is the best coach I’ve ever had. We had many fun times and many hard sets, but he was always there for us with a smile. I wish him the best of luck with the rest of his career,” stated senior Correll Maley.

Berry will be greatly missed by current and former swim-mers and families. He was always a dedicated, approach-able, passionate, and goofy swim coach.

Runners splash their way to success

better than the boys, ending up in sixth place with a score of 155, only two points more than Dougherty Valley.

Emma Armstrong, the lead runner, came in eighth with a time of 19:23, and Sarah Fung came in 24th at 20:33.

“I feel like I just got drowned in mud,” said freshman runner Hannah Meskienyar, the third CVHS runner to cross the fin-ish line.

Armstrong also qualified for state championships, and was

Swim coach will be Berry missedBy Laura Macchiavello

Staff Writer

Nikki Zing, freshman

Louie Tran streaks past a rival team at a cross country meet Nov. 22.

Danika neWlin / staff writer

very pleased that all of her dedication paid off.

Coach Bill Armstrong was very proud of Armstrong’s suc-cess of making it to state.

“She wanted it so bad and worked so hard all summer,” he said.

Mackey and Armstrong rep-resented Castro Valley in the CIF State Championships in Fresno on Nov. 29. Mackey finished 89th with a time of 16:32 and Armstrong finished 110th at 19:55.

Hannah MeskienyarFreshman Runner

I feel like I just got drowned

in mud.

“”

Adri VAndiVer/ sports editor

Brian Berry

The OlympianDecember 18, 2014 8

By Neo DiestaStaff Writer

Cyber safety will be intro-duced to CVHS in Deputy Priscilla Silva’s upcoming pre-sentation, which encourages youths to make smart decisions and consider their safety when using the Internet.

During the mixed presenta-tion of discussion, videos and lecture, Silva will touch on the important facts of media safety including privacy settings on social networks, sharing any information that includes lo-cation, and posting any infor-mation that may be harmful. In addition, she discusses the legal consequences of cyberbul-lying and “sexting,” which can lead to arrests.

“They are the only ones that have control over what they ‘publish.’ Once they publish something they have no con-trol over what happens to it, regardless if they delete it or

Latino group provides support

Keeping students safe onlineBy America Morales

Staff Writerremove it later,” said Silva.

Due to major issues between students at CVHS and the use of social media, the school believes that offering this op-portunity will better inform students on how to use the In-ternet responsibly and what the consequences may be if chosen to abuse it. Many of the previ-ous issues on campus were a result of not being aware of the outcomes that came from what they posted on social media.

Knowing that millions of today’s youth greatly use the media, Silva is not encouraging them to not use the Internet, but rather to continue using it but while also considering their safety and the safety of others.

Silva has been giving cyber safety presentations for two years. She is in the process of scheduling the presentations with all the schools in CVUSD from grades 5-12. She is work-ing with Principal Blaine Tor-pey to schedule a presentation

by the beginning of the second semester at CVHS.

“I believe that digital technol-ogy and its applications such as social media are powerful tools. As with any tool, one can build great things, but without train-ing or understanding of the tool, the use of it can become destructive,” stated Torpey.

Silva clearly pointed out that the Internet can be a very helpful tool if used properly. This includes publishing posi-tive things and knowing how to safely use the media and Internet. However, having ac-cess to the Internet can have many consequences for their reputation and their future use of media.

Silva hopes for all to attend the presentation and learn more about this very important topic. She hopes that all stu-dents can benefit from it.

“Once something is on the Internet, a public place, it can stay there forever,” said Silva.

After much chaos, CVHS it finally welcoming two new counselors to House 4. The new counselors are Jesus Ri-vera, who will be working with students with the last names “Ream-Tangi” and Puente students, and Allison Zucker-brow will work with students “Tanu-Z.”

CVHS has been understaffed after the loss of a few counsel-ors due to various reasons.

Rivera, who has served and is currently still in the military, is very excited to start working with students. After 14 years of jumping out of planes and

helicopters, he decided to turn his passion of helping kids into a career.

“I enjoy helping kids accom-plish things that they may have not been able to do on their own,” said Rivera.

He also hopes to be a person that any student can come to for anything that they need, and

would like to meet every student that falls under his category of the alphabet.

“I never want a student to be able to say that they have never met their counselor,'” he said. “I don't want people to think that since I've been in the military that I'm scary. I'm really a nice guy.”

Zuckerbrow is also excited to begin her work with students. Although she has worked in the college and career centers at both Hayward High and Tennyson High for three years, and even

spent time as a summer school counselor, it is her first year full-time counseling.

“I want to help students real-ize their full potential and I feel like I can do that with students of all grade levels now,” she said.

Outside of helping students, she enjoys traveling, ultimate frisbee, and indoor rock climb-ing.

With two new counselors, our school is destined for even more great improvements.

By Desiree BroomeStaff Writer

Long awaited counselors arrive

Being a high schooler is te-dious enough, but being a high schooler with parents who don’t speak English is extremely difficult for students and their parents. About 22 percent of the CVHS student body identifies as Latino or Hispanic. Many of these stu-dents have parents who speak only Spanish.

To remedy this, CVHS has

By Jessica MiStaff Writer

On Thanksgiving, people cozy up to stay warm on a cold, fall day and give thanks for everything they hold dear. People say they are thankful for the smallest things, from having a special toy to the priceless things like your life.

The signature of Thanksgiv-ing Day is of course giving thanks for what people have but also for the feast they are going to have during dinner. It is joyous to be at a table sur-rounded by family and friends ready to begin the holiday meal. Sadly, many families don’t have that special meal to be thankful for because they can’t afford to make a feast as many other families do.

Fortunately, that is where the good-hearted people come in to not only be thankful for what they have but to give to others. The art of giving on Thanksgiving makes this holiday like the Christmas of November. Many participate in food donations and drives giving families in their com-munities a special dinner to make their day full-bellied.

In the week before Turkey Day, Nov. 17 - 21, CVHS held its annual Canned Food Drive. Generous students all over campus brought all sorts of canned goods and many more things to put in donation boxes in their third period classes.

This year, CVHS was able to collect 4,646 cans to donate to our community. Nicholas Whitaker, history teacher and head of student activities, was in charge of collecting and counting the donated cans.

“Overall, I’m really glad we were able to donate this many cans. I just wish we could have donated more with our population of about 3,000,” Whitaker said.

As a friendly competition, CVHS stated that the third period class that donates the most cans would receive a pizza party. Ashley Green’s third period class donated the most cans with a total of 806 cans. Carmelina Frasca’s class finished second with 439 and Clare LePell’s class finished third with 233.

“It wasn’t me. It was the the class. I just reminded the class everyday. Many of the students just told their parents who reached out to neighbors and friends about the drive and most were generous to give cans to donate.” Green said.

Thanks to CVHS and the school district, about 140 fami-lies in our community had full bellies because of our generos-ity for this Thanksgiving meal.

formed a Latino Parent Group, led by Spanish teacher Thelma Mooney. The group is for all Latino parents who want to get more involved in their kids’ educations. The group aims to discuss important topics such as college readiness, homework help, teaching curriculum, and school policies with Spanish-speaking parents to help them better understand what is go-ing on in their children's aca-demics.

The group also hopes to put in place an after school tutoring program for Latino students who may struggle with English and fall behind in classes.

“The group is still a work in progress, we’ve only met once as a whole group,” Mooney

admitted.She has high hopes, however,

for the success of the group. Mooney’s goal is to enable better communication between students, parents, and teachers.

“We want to offer a bridge, to start the two-way communica-tion,” she said.

The group will benefit both parents and students.

“Where there is more com-munication between the par-ents and the school, the stu-dents do better in school,” Mooney said.

This group is a great repre-sentation of the cultural di-versity of CVHS and the great resources that are available to students with unique cultural backgrounds.

Mooney builds bridge for parents

Students give back for Thanksgiving

CVHS collects

over 4,000 cans

Jesus RiveRa allison ZuckeRbRow