February 2011

Volume LXXXVVII, No. 6 www.thebearcat.net Monday, February 28, 2011

An Award-Winning PublicationSANMATEOHI

The BEST NAME IN SCHOOL NEWS SINCE 1922

Pages 6 and 7

Revolution in Egypt

Girls Basketball

Pages 11 and 12

Page 8

See NYC, page 10

How would you ask someone to prom?

QUESTIONMAN

Christian Solorio, Class of 2014

Dylan Babbs, Class of 2013

Maveric Bennett, Class of 2012

Jordan Wong, Class of 2011

Mr. Mountain , Teacher

“Get fireworks to spell her name out in the sky.”

“First, I’d ask my lovely sister for advice. Then I’d decide. ”

“Skydive and ask, hopefully with Lightweight Pro.”

“Slide down a banner from the B building with flowers.”

“I would go straight up to her and ask her.”

Jeremy VenookOpinion Editor

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New York Fashion

StudentsCelebrateDiversity

Mateo’s immense diversity was celebrated dur-ing International Week which was jam-packed with our favorite foreign foods and outfits that trans-ported students to a different country every day. Amidst all the festivities, students got the chance to donate to the Ashoka Penny Fundraiser which provides small business owners in impoverished countries with the investment they need. The sophomores won the class competition for raising money, which actually means that they had the least amount of negative points in the convoluted contest. The Junior class came in last. Overall we raised over $300 for Ashoka. “It is a time where we get to enjoy and savor

Chandini RameshStaff Writer

Cami Mauricio and Tiara Fretty dance for the Poly Club during International Week.

Mateo meets Manhattan Decked out in customized orange and black scarves, over 100 Bearcats and parents took New York by storm with Ms. Tribuzi from Feb. 15 to Feb. 20 for the dance department’s biennial trip to Manhattan. In less than five days, 77 students from the Intermediate and Advanced Dance classes experienced just about everything New York City had to offer: a day devoted to dance classes of all conceivable styles at professional studios, master classes with cast members from Broadway musicals, and four of the most high-profile shows in town, plus tours of historical destinations like Ellis Island, Carnegie Hall, and the Apollo Theater. On Wednesday, we warded off jet lag with the explosive off-Broadway show Stomp, a percussive piece that has long been a staple on the fringe of the theater district. The next day, drum solos still ringing in our ears, we fanned out for classes at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center for tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, modern—you name it, somebody took a class in it. We saw what can only be described as a spectacular flop in the catastrophic Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark. Friday was Memphis day as we first learned a routine from and later saw for ourselves last year’s Tony winner for Best Musical; we even got an onstage shout out from a departing cast member. Saturday saw students learning routines from two recently closed shows, West Side Story and Promises, Promises, and getting schooled in the basics of Stomp. That night, we split up again to see either the glamorous La Cage Aux Folles or the ghastly The Addams Family Musical, then met cast members including Harvey Fierstein, the 4-time Tony winner who wrote and starred in La Cage. Sunday in-cluded a trip to Ground Zero and a stroll across the Brooklyn

See INTERNATIONAL, page 10

Chrissy Domingo and Alexis Quinney pose in front of the New York skyline. PH

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Monday, February 28, 2011 SANMATEOHIPage 2

SANMATEOHIThe Voice Of San Mateo High

A Publication

Founded in 1922

Advisor

Editors-in-Chief

P.C. Fergusson

Austin ChuaMorgan Babbs

Vikash MorarNews Editor


Jeremy GofmanFeatures Editor

Victoria AguilarEsquina Latina Editor

Aurora KastenArts and Entertainment Editor

Matt ErlickSports Editor

Jasmine Balsara Jordan Buschman Andrea Caceres

Karen Chee Alexander Chen Jean Fan

Darren Fong Jeffrey Ge Natalia Gurevich Tommy Imperial

Perry Liu Abbey Londa Zach Lorenzini

Bryan Okada Chandini Ramesh Ian Thompson

Rachael Wan Joey Wong Dewei Zheng

Diana BrewerPhoto Editor

Victoria XiaoWeb Editor

Francie CohenShan Zaidi

Business Managers

Staff Writers

Jean FanStaff Writer

PRo/con

opinionCatfight: do “tiger mom” tactics work? Since Amy Chua—more famously known as “Tiger Mom”—published her controversial parenting book in January, it has been the talk of millions of American parents, many of whom have written articles attacking her and her parenting techniques. To them I say: give it a chance. The ideology of many American parents seems to be to give your kids space, to let them flourish and develop unique talents, and to constantly reassure them that they are special in their own way, lest they rebel and become drug-using alcohol-drinking hippies. Relative to that approach, Chua’s means to raise smart and successful children is comparable to torture. But no one can challenge the fact that Louisa and Sophia, her daughters, have turned into extremely capable women. Sophia, her elder daughter, has performed in the prestigious Carnegie Hall, and has had perfect grades to boot. American parents feel intimidated by the superiority of Chua’s daughters. They look at their own children and wonder, “Have I brought up the failures Chua is talking about?” So, out of jealousy, they attack Chua’s methods with sharp, pointy words, labeling it “cruel” and “harsh.” But Chua never claims her technique is perfect; she herself even admits that there are things she wishes she could take back—the most well-known of which is calling her daughter “garbage.” However, her strictness and her belief that her daughters can accomplish anything if they work hard enough bolstered their confidence and encouraged them to reach for the sky. This ideology is much better that that of their American counterparts, who are scared to push their children too hard and who skirt around important topics that need to be confronted. Of course, there are many effective parenting techniques; Chua’s approach is just one of many. Her daughters have flourished under her guidance, but that does not mean her methods can work for everyone, nor should they. Each child has their own needs and their own temperament; each child is unique. And each child should be treated differently: firmly, but with a certain degree of respect. There is a fine line between being harsh and being helpful. Chua is extreme in her ways, but other parents may be too lax in theirs. A balance needs to be achieved—strictness is in style, but only in moderation. At the very least, her book should get you thinking: the American education system has fallen so behind in recent years—twenty-fifth in math to China’s first place in the international education rankings of PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment—that this stricter way of child-raising should be considered, if not fully implemented into American culture.

Ann ZengGuest Writer

StRict PaRenting iS in Style--and effective give MoRe coMPliMentS, get betteR ReSultS

The other day I finally got a chance to watch what many critics are calling one of last year’s best movies, The King’s Speech. I recognized immedi-ately what all the fuss was about—I thought it was a superb movie, and all of the actors gave performances that are definitely some of the best I’ve seen in a while. But as captivated as I was by such a fantastic movie, by the time I got home from the theater, there was one question running through my mind: how faithful was it to real life? Thanks to the power of Google, the answer was not very difficult to find: in a word, fairly. There are a few minor quibbles historians have made with

some of the plot points, but the script apparently hews extremely close to the real-life story of King George VI. By the time you read this, the Oscars will have been awarded, with Best Picture probably having gone to either The King’s Speech or another “true story” which has been hailed as our generation’s Citizen Kane—David Fincher’s “tell-all” about the found-ing of Facebook, The Social Network. When I saw that film, my Google results were remarkably different: no-body is quite sure what to believe, and those involved have understandably kept mum about the events. This was about what I had expected, what with the movie’s Rashomon-style narrative and its focus on a secretive group on the cutting edge of Internet culture.

For the record, Amy Chua is good at teaching. She’s good at pushing people to the limit and breaking their own little barriers to go beyond what they thought they could do. She’s just bad at teaching children. What can I say? Her teaching methods chronicled in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother can be a little strict, that’s undeniable. Calling her older daughter “garbage” in public is kind of a demoralizer. Forcing her

younger daughter to play piano for hours on end without bathroom breaks and meals makes you want to smash the piano in half rather than sit there and actually play. However, even if we have difficulty grappling with the idea, she is a mother. She does this because she has high hopes for her children and she wants them to be the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the bee’s knees – but do her children know that? As an elementary schooler, it seems very unlikely that Sophia would understand that by “garbage,” her mother meant that she could do so much better, and she wasn’t doing it yet. That by “garbage,” her mother meant disappointment and a hope that next time, Sophia would excel instead of embarrass. Even as a teenager, it’s hard to hear such a comment that way. Lulu as well – Mother Chua only wanted her to never give up on her piano and teach her that even if she thinks she can’t do it, she definitely had the potential to succeed.

Amy Chua’s mindset is geared too much towards adults to bring up her children well. She assumes that her children understand exactly what she’s doing, but 7-year-olds, 9-year-olds, even 13-year-olds find it hard to see the positive side of being equated with unwanted junk on the side of the street. She’s walking on a tightrope here; the right kind of strictness will build her children’s confidence and independence, but too much harshness and it just seems more like cruel complaints full of hatred than any sort of affection. Even if we forget about self esteem here – she “assumes strength, not fragility” in her children, so self esteem is just a moot point for her – her children would probably associate her criticisms with their activities, and they would grow to dislike said activities. Imagine someone always telling you you’re coloring outside the lines or singing off pitch in a crass manner; you’d probably just stop altogether to avoid hearing what you don’t like. So why does she think it will help her children? By now, Lulu and Sophia are all grown up. Who knows, maybe even now they’re having trouble accepting the idea that their mother appreciates them, if she does at all. They could look at the ever ferocious Mother Chua and see her as the shadow that makes all their accomplishments seem minis-cule. Motherly motivation? Better luck next time (plus a few more compliments, of course).

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What struck me was the response I saw in other venues: the number of people I heard vowing that they would shut down their Facebook profiles rather than support such unapologetic anti-social jerks was impressive. On the one hand, I could see their point; the portraits of Facebook’s founders made them out to be some of the very last people I would trust with all of my personal information. On the other hand, though, I couldn’t help but think of a quote from one of my favorite websites, Cracked.com, in an article about movies saved by the artistic license: “try ‘fixing’ some of those historical inaccuracies and you’ll quickly realize what Holly-wood screenwriters have known for years: History is lame” (their words,

not mine—I find the subject quite fascinating). I had trouble believing that Zuck-erberg is as much of a robot as the movie presented, a notion that was confirmed in interviews I read about the less glamorous parts of Facebook’s founding. Rose and Jack were not on the Titanic, and, if so, they most certainly did not look like Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Going back even further, Shakespeare did not have sufficient evidence to assert that Richard III’s titular monarch killed his way onto the throne. None of this is intended as disap-proval of films that play fast and loose with the historical facts—movies that hewed exactly to real life would not be nearly as exciting. In fact, I’m saying

the exact opposite: taking an artistic license with history is a welcome part of the business that has led to many of cinema’s great moments, includ-ing such nit-picks as the phrasing of “Houston, we have a problem.” Instead, the problem arises with the reception of such movies, when the director’s take on events somehow morphs into incontrovertible fact and the events onscreen are taken as gos-pel. Just as we’ve learned to maintain a healthy skepticism about what we’re told by the talking heads on the nightly news, to remember that 24 does not depict real procedures for covert operatives, we need to remember that real life is rarely depicted accurately in film. After all, that’s what history class is for.


Speaking for the King through cinemaenteRtainMent

Jean Fan, sophomore, and Ann Zeng, senior, fight over Amy Chua’s new book

Monday, February 28, 2011 SANMATEOHI Page 3

oPinion

Winter ‘11 - Begins January 22Spring ‘11 - Begins May 28

Welcome to another issue of “What Really Grinds My Gears!” Back by popular demand, I interviewed more people about what really grinds their gears and brought you the top four. Enjoy the anger!

When Microsoft Word says there is a grammatical error when there isn’t Don’t get me wrong, Word is a great application. I don’t know how I could type anything without it. That being said, it isn’t perfect. There are some things about Word that drive me insane (don’t even get me started with Clippy). One of the biggest gripes that I have with the application is when a phrase is underlined but not grammatically incorrect and the line keeps disappearing and reappear-ing. No matter how many times the line disappears and reappears, I can never be completely sure that the phrase is correct. I end up right clicking the phrase again and again, only to see the line disappear before my eyes.

When people tell me to be quiet in a bookstore Yes, libraries are there for people to read books, and one should be quiet to respect them. This is completely understandable. However, a bookstore, no matter how similar to a library, is not a library. People have to buy the book, so they should not be reading it in the library. I hate being told time after time by the owner of the bookstore to be quiet to respect others, even though those people should not be reading the books in the bookstore in the first place.

When people leave unopened milk cartons after lunch Every so often, I see someone’s random milk carton left on a bench or the staircase, ready for the stepping. Should I take it? Did you leave it as a peace offering to the seagulls? Is it poisoned? What is the meaning of this? First, if you’re not going to drink the milk, don’t take it. It’s a waste of food and ma-terials. Second, why leave it where someone’s going to trip over it? Is this the newest fad in practical jokes—leave cartons of milk around so people have a soggy step? If you take the carton of milk and suddenly realize that you’re not going to drink it, throw it away in trash cans reserved for such a purpose, or, better yet, give it to a friend.

Senior Rudy Saldana hates it when people shout in his ear.

Senior Armaan Talwaar is annoyed by people who change the station in the middle of a song.

Junior Patrick Tai detests people that stop to hug

California is beyond lucky, and as Katy Perry said, you can travel the world, but nothing comes close to the golden coast: sandy beaches, snowy mountains, hot surfers, “California gurls,” and the University of California system. Yet the amount of international and out of state students that now flock to UCs make us wonder if our popular-ity is a curse or a blessing. Brace yourselves, seniors, this year, the UC system received a re-cord amount of applicants—an 11% increase in out of state applicants, amounting to a total of 142, 235 appli-cants, a 6.1% increase from last year. This is a question of whether, in your opinion, you believe that California students are, if qualified, entitled to UCs. Nowadays, it’s a known fact that out of state students are given admis-sion priority if they’re equal with an in state student mostly because they pay a higher tuition and thus give more money to the UC system. Nonresident undergraduates pay more than $34,000 per year, compared to the resident tuition of $11,124. Senior Daphna Torbati comments that this increased competitiveness of the system “defeats the point of the University of California because the goal should be to educate California students to improve our state for the future.” “By now, the UCs are like private schools…they’re that competitive,” adds senior Elise Lim, who has applied to both UCs and private schools. Initially, I was extremely annoyed at the fact that UC aimed to accept more out of state students. I felt that I deserved priority when it comes to schools in my home state; but it’s impossible for me to deny that I had a fairly biased opinion. Mrs. Furgiele gave reason to the

UC system’s decision, looking at the bright side of it. “Unfortunately for California residents, standards have risen for kids to be accepted into UCs, so students need to really be eligible for UC requirements and anticipate a more selective process. But think of it this way: Don’t you want to go to a campus that’s diverse in population? I think that these new proclamations will diversify the UC selection pro-cess.” Well, do I? In theory, yes, but I do just really want to get into a top UC, too.Mrs. Furgiele made another very good point. Each year, San Mateo High School sends several kids to public schools in Arizona, Washington, and Michi-gan, among others. Do they think that we’re s t e a l i n g their uni-versity? H o w -ever sooth-ing it is to look at the bright side of things, I still can’t help but re-member that the UC system seems to be doing this for money, rather than to specifically diversify themselves. Our new governor Jerry Brown’s proposed state general fund budget will return the UC system to their 1998 funding levels when the system only enrolled 161,400 students, 73,600 fewer than today’s enrollment of 235,000 students. That doesn’t seem like a very logical game plan. Can we still call the UCs a public university system when the government only pays less than 14% of UC’s budget? It should come as no surprise, then,

that UCs plunge into opportunities to accept the higher-paying out of state students. “This is unfair for California students because we’re forced to look out of state for more options that, in turn, are unfortunately more expensive. It shows that UCs just want money from out of state and international kids,” comments senior Allison Khoe. And here’s the most frightening aspect of all: University of California President Mark Yudof estimates that 20,000 to 30,000 qualified students will be turned away because the system won’t have money to educate them. Yes, you read that correctly- qualified students. If you’re rejected from the

UC of your c h o i c e , don’t be d i s c o u r -aged. Col-l e g e a d -miss ions are such a n u m b e r s g a m e t o begin with, but even m o r e s o now with this change

in the UC system. The beginning starts at the end of March. When students receive their University of California admission decisions, we’ll know for sure how this year’s frightening prospects truly have turned out. This decision made by the revenue-hungry University of California has already proven to be highly contro-versial. Do we blame the state, which hasn’t supplied enough funds to the system? Or do we blame the Univer-sity of California, for neglecting their own California students of their right to an education?

Morgan BabbsEditor-in-Chief

college adMiSSionS

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University of California President Mark Yudof estimates that 20,000 to 30,000 qualified students will be turned away because the sys-tem won’t have money to educate them.

California skools, they’re undeniable

QUESTIONMAN

“It makes sense to admit out-of-state students, but it is a little unfair because out-of-state residents are benefiting from the educational system that Cali-fornia taxes have been paying for.”Malú Alegria, Class of 2011

“I think it is expected with all the money issues, but it seems kind of biased towards out-of-state stu-dents.”Bryant Chow, Class of 2011

“I support having more opportunity for in-state students than out-of-state because it keeps my education cheaper and the economy stronger, especially considering that it is far from cheap to live in California.”Sara Vidovic, Class of 2011

“I support whatever it is that al-lows more opportunity for in-state students.”Mr. Nels Johnson, Teacher

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What do you think of uc’s new admissions policies?

Fine, fresh, broke, they got it on lock. East coast represent, now put your money down. Woh oh oh- what??

Monday, February 28, 2011SANMATEOHIPage 4

Features I loved every moment of my fresh-man year, SMHS, and all the new friends I had made. In the next year, however, everything would crumble in what seemed like an instant. I felt ignored by all my friends, and blamed myself for it. I felt stressed from my first AP class. I felt growing pains after meeting the most immature adult I had ever met in my life. I felt so isolated that I wanted to commit suicide. Everything caved in, and I could not handle it; I was living a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Life was not worth living if I felt alone in everything I did or if I was going to constantly run into unbearably crude people when I grew up. “Only pain will kill the pain,” I told myself. For nearly six months I put on a happy face for everyone to mask what I felt inside. I was convinced at first that this was only a phase that would eventually pass, but as time went on all the feelings just lingered. When anyone asked me how I was, I would reply with “fine,” but internally I called myself a liar. I started to grow less social and even hesitant to talk to those I knew well, fearing that the conversation would result in the person thinking that I was boring. I wanted to skip my end-of-season team party and seeing the musical to avoid confrontation with anybody. I hated lunch. When the seagulls came, all my friends scattered and later ate in different places each day, forcing me to frustratingly hunt them down; they could care less about where I was. I perceived everyone else as having great, reliable friends, except for me. I began to see only the worst in people, believing that everyone was selfish and it didn’t matter if anyone was hurt. My life was taken over by these thoughts, which were difficult to sup-press. They distracted me at home, in

class and during tests. When I studied I would sometimes need to put the book down because I couldn’t con-centrate. If it really got to me I would be on the verge of tears at any time or place. Friendship got in my face everywhere I turned, and Facebook made things worse. Seeing postings of pictures of gatherings or of what my friends were doing without me made me miserable inside as I felt that I was unneeded, easily counted out, or that I was someone’s second choice, or the “back-up friend.” Doubting the true value of myself, I wondered if anybody would care if I just disap-peared. No. I always thought there would be one thing that would push me off the edge to kill myself, whether it was what someone said or did to me. I wrote suicide notes in my head, asking that my death be kept a secret to see if anyone noticed that I was dead. What frightened me the most was how I could picture myself sitting in a car breathing in gas or eyeing the knife drawer wondering “What if?” Seeking help was the only way I could start to recover, but I knew that it would never change my current situation or how people in my life acted toward me. Not only that, but I wondered about who I would go to and if that person would understand, realizing that I had no one to confide in like I used to and discouraging me more into loneliness. Up until eight days before my AP Euro exam, however, I thought the problem on my mind would interfere persistently with studying for the test. That morning I decided I was going to stop pretending and tell someone… Less than a week after I admitted what had been going on to a teacher, I logged on to Facebook to find grim statuses left by friends in Palo Alto.

After investigating more, I learned that a boy had stepped in front of a train. It was a disturbing coincidence: someone had taken the alternative to my decision and went through with what I imagined, but didn’t have the will of doing. Gunn High School would see three more suicides and one who attempted within the next several months after my confession. A com-munity was left in shock by tragedies that happened so close together. I thought about what was going through their minds, what caused them to end the lives so abruptly, and what help could have done for them. Unfortu-nately, I can only wonder. When I hear others talk about what happens when someone has these thoughts, they say, with a chuckle, you have to go to special counseling. I want people to understand that help is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of, not if your life is on the line. I have taken all AP classes and am involved in sports and music, yet I endured for almost a year from the unexpected. In my situation, suicide was the ultimate form of giving up. I found how emo-tionally courageous I could be after standing up to something as daunting as this. Talking to someone didn’t cure me; it instilled in me a stronger will to move forward and hold on. I continued to tell myself that there are things in my life that are worth expe-riencing, like living my senior year or going to college, and there are people who care. No one should ever have to choose between hiding a secret like mine and telling someone for being too uncomfortable; all should listen, and all should be willing to help. We may never know what lending an ear to a person or having a welcoming at-titude can lead to, but it may just save someone’s life.

AnonymousGuest Writer

Suicide: sometimes lightly takenIn light of recent events, a student at SMHS has come forth to give details about his or her experience with depression and suicide

Ah, airport security. Is there now, or honestly, has there ever been an institution so thoroughly indicative of the way we live as that meddlesome mess of minutiae we have to do before we can take a long-dis-tance trip? To me, the gradual growth of airport security is, more than any-thing, representative of what it means to live in a “post-9/11 world.” After all, we’ve only really be-gun with these bizarrely specific crackdowns, each intended to thwart whatever the last attempt was, in the last decade. Somebody hid a bomb in a shoe, and was luckily stopped before he could light his device; now, every traveler must shuffle through security in socks to avoid having an-other “shoe bomber.” Shampoo bottles

were filled with chemicals that, when mixed, would have proved volatile enough to bring down the plane; now, nobody is allowed more than three ounces of a particular liquid. Just last week, I was struck by a sign specifi-cally forbidding ink on planes after the most recent attack utilized a modified printer cartridge. I’m amazed we’re still allowed to wear underwear to the airport after the “underwear bomber” two Christmases ago. But just as we have accepted these security measures, there’s never been any doubt that there is a line in the sand. As you’ve probably already figured out, I’m speaking, of course, about those contentious devices that threatened to hold up holiday flights way, way back in 2010: the full body scanner. When you think about—and

I mean really think about it—it seems like a little bit of an arbitrary place to draw the line. Consider: we’ll tolerate ditching our shoes at the door and leaving our liquids at home, but the measure that could potentially render these irritants obsolete is too penetrating. The qualms aren’t without reason, of course; any level of radiation, no matter how minimal, is rightfully a scary notion to most Americans, and the prospect of a scanner that can map every crevice of my body certainly gave me pause as a bit Orwellian.The thing that most caught my atten-tion—and those of you in the JetBlue plane on the New York trip have likely already heard me expounding on this quandary—is that an airport is a place dedicated to making traveling absurdly

Have a beard? Get in the machine.Jeremy VenookOpinion Editor long distances unbelievably easy; and

yet, you can barely walk ten feet in the terminal without some inconvenience completely unique to the airport.I realize, of course, that this stands largely as a testament to just how difficult it can truly be securing some value of the word “safe” for such a complicated system of travel. There’s obviously not one simple way to en-sure that nothing potentially harmful is taken onto a plane, nor is there any metric to deduce whom exactly is a terrorist. Honestly, it sort of makes sense in a way that, in order to cope with such unconventional danger, we need unconventional strategies that prevent their last attack and attempt to preempt the next one.I definitely had a point at the beginning of this article, but it was lost some-

where along the way as I considered the various implications of life as seem through the airport window. It’s a bizarre combination of convenience and obfuscation as you pass through the terminal, one that show how every advance seems to be tempered as we figure out how to best utilize it. It’s a question begging to be asked about what we consider safe, and whether specific rules made in reaction to the latest crisis will ever be able to properly protect us. And most of all, it summarizes that quintessential de-bate in a world that has for years been described by the most memorable man-made calamity in recent history: in this “post-9/11 world,” it’s nearly impossible to ignore the trade-offs we face as we consider safety and speed, caution and convenience.

Help is available

Diana De Guzman is our School Safety Advocate. Anyone may visit her if they feel unsafe. Her office is located in the Student Services wing, room A136.

If you or someone you know is feeling depressed or suicidal, don’t ignore these dangerous feelings. Get help. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. As our anonymous author testifies, life will get better.

The first thing to do is tell a trusted adult. At home, this might be a parent or other relative. At school, you could tell a teacher, go to your counselor, or stop by the office of our School Safety Advocate, Ms. DeGuzman, in the Student Services wing, room A136.

If you are worried about a friend, drop a note in the Anonymous Tip Box in the main office. Don’t let strange or worrisome behavior go unremarked. Let someone know. No harm can come from offering a helping hand. The box is just to the right of the door as you enter the main office, clearly marked.

Crisis Hotlines650-579-03501-800-SUICIDE

Parent Support Line18882227575

WWW.ONYOURMIND.NETInformation, referrals, and live anonymous chatting with teen counselors.

SUICIDE IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO A TEMPORARY PROBLEM

San Francisco is a classic example of America’s melting pot of culture. Through food, art, music, and architecture one can see the different nations blending together. Architecture in San Francisco is as diverse as its people, ranging from art deco apartments to the Victorians to the Painted Ladies. I wish I could write about all the different styles, but I think I’ll narrow it down to four:

3. Art Deco is a very popular design that is associated with the 30’s and 40’s in San Francisco. Most of the Art

Deco buildings are apartment buildings, skyscrap-ers, and the streamlined schools that were built during the Great Depression. Art Deco style uses geometric shapes, hard lines, and minimal color. It was thought to be the modern style of that time, and many famous architects flourished. Famous examples of Art Deco in the Bay Area

are the Castro Theater, The San Francisco Ex-change Tower, and the Paramount Theater in Oakland.

1. Greco-Roman was also a major style back in the late 19th century. People liked the idea that they were like the Romans, that they had the same culture as they did. Great examples are the Sutro Baths and the Palace of Fine Arts (pictured here). The Sutro Baths was a privately owned swimming pool c o m p l e x , styled after the old bath-houses found i n a n -cient Rome. The Baths were ver y popular, but declined after the Great De- pression, and finally b u r n e d d o w n i n 1966. The ruins can s t i l l b e v i s i t e d today.

4. The Mission District is where one can find the old Spanish

styles of architecture, some build-ings have been there since Father

Junipero Serra traveled El Camino Real and established missions all throughout California. Mission San Francisco de Asis, next door to the

Mission Dolores basilica, is the old-est building in San Francisco.

2. The Victorians can be found all over the districts in San Francisco: in Pacific Heights, the outer Mission and the Haight. The remarkable and unique style of architecture was in-fluenced by England during Queen Victoria’s reign. Most of the Victorians were built between 1850 to 1915. Although they were influenced by England, one can see examples of different countries mixed in: French turrets, Turkish towers, and Italian moldings. Most of these houses are of fairly conservative colors, mostly earth tones, except for the “Painted Ladies” (pictured at right) which feature bright hues.

QUESTIONMAN What is your favorite piece of art?

In case you haven’t been to San Francisco lately...Talia GurevichStaff Writer

Trey Aviles. Class of 2014 Jeremy Pascual, Class of 2013 Tim Nipaulau Class of 2012 Blake Wilke, Class of 2011 Ms. Cleveland, Library Assistant

“My art is music, and my favorite artist is Andre Nickatina.”

“The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci”

“It’s a picture of Andy Warhol, called Scars.”

“The cover of The Numeber of the Beast by Iron Maiden.”

“I like sketches of the human body!”

Have a beard? Get in the machine.

Monday, February 28, 2011 Page 5

SANMATEOHI Monday, February 28, 2011Page 6

Victoria XiaoWeb Editor

PAST AND PRESENT

On Thursday, January 27, Egypt was plunged back into the Stone Age. With all electronic forms of communication gone, they were forced to turn back to the old-school method of distributing messages through pamphlets. Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak tried to crush the protests against him by cutting off their lines of communica-tion entirely. But what gave him the right to take away basic human rights from an entire country? In today’s Internet-driven society, the idea that we would no longer be able to access our Facebook ac-counts, Tumblr, and Twitter is un-thinkable. How-ever, the truth is, it could just as easily happen here, if we had that type of government, be-cause our Internet is run by a limited number of Internet service providers (ISPs), and those ties could easily be severed. Even though it is unthinkable here, it became a real-ity in Egypt, and in this blackout they communicated through old-fashioned means. The only Internet service pro-vider that was left was called Noor Group, and they only had access to 8% of the market. But the people of Egypt, with the help of a group called “We Rebuild”, were able to communicate with land-line phones, fax machines, and even ham radio. Some people even man-aged to connect to modems in other countries, including an activist group in Sweden who had been documenting the events in Egypt on a Wikipage that is still online. Not only was the Internet gone, all texting and instant-messaging services were gone as well. However, by im-posing these restrictions, Mubarak was effectively encouraging the protesters to fight back harder than before. By taking away their rights, he had raised the stakes. After the Internet was taken away, they had less to lose; thus they were fighting even more. Reports came in as conditions got worse,

one saying that police vehicles and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party headquarters were set on fire during a demonstration. Instead of pushing his people, Presi-dent Mubarak should’ve respected their rights to free speech and their right to hold demonstrations. The people of Egypt should be able to actively participate in any decisions that might impact their lives and to have more choices. However, since Mubarak remained obstinately silent, the people moved past their original desire for reform. Instead they just wanted Mubarak out of office, and

they got their wish. President M u b a r a k r e -signed from his presidency after two weeks of fighting, only to leave Egypt a smoldering ruin of what it once was. Some think that now is the

time for a leader to step forward and guide Egypt into a new era of peace. But I don’t share this optimism. Egypt is raw and vulnerable, susceptible to any anyone willing to take the reigns of their government, and turn it from a dictatorship-in-practice (after 30 years of emergency military rule, one might as well consider it a military dictator-ship) into a dictatorship. Another small victory for the protes-tors, however, is that the Internet has been restored in Egypt. Unfortunately, the protesters have also been angry for so long that this ending hasn’t satisfied them in the least. Now they’re directing their anger towards Israel, even though Egypt and Israel have been at peace for decades. There has also been anger di-rected towards the U.S., demonstrated many times when American journalists have been assaulted repeatedly when they attempted to cover protests. Egypt’s new beginning isn’t glori-ous; it is troublesome for the countries near it and to countries that have close ties to them. Hopefully, some semblance of a new, more stable order will arise from the ruins, one that will respect the rights of the citizens.

Talia GurevichStaff Writer

Egypt Unplugged, Protestors’ Rage Unleashed

Every day, San Mateo High School students log hundreds of hours on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social networking sites. We post statuses on the prosaic yet mildly entertaining: mountains of English homework, a mean cold keeping us down for a few days, or prestiging in Call of Duty: Black Ops for the fifteenth time. However, in Egypt half the world over, those very same sites have the ability to incite crowds into mass pro-test. Many factors led to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011; one of these was the creating of a Facebook page titled “We are all Khaled Said”, referring to an Egyptian man killed by police in 2010. Soon after its creation, it had become a hub of the protest movement in Egypt. The fact that the Egyptian govern-ment shut down the Internet on Janu-ary 27 is a good indicator of how big a role that social media played in the Revolution. Had the government not felt threatened by these sites and their potential to start protests and rebellion, they would not have shut down the Internet. If the Internet were not so ef-ficient at connecting people (especially people with the same sentiments about important stuff, like politics), then the Egyptian government would not have shut down the Internet. Apparently the Egyptian govern-ment is not the only one paranoid about the polarizing potential of the Internet. The Chinese government has blocked searches for “Egypt” in on the popular site Sina.com, perhaps for fear that the news of the Egyptian Revolution could rouse the Chinese people to rebellion as well. In his book Anatomy of a Revolu-tion, Crane Brinton, a twentieth-cen-tury historian, outlined the general course of events that a revolution fol-lows: first the fall of the old regime, then moderate rule, proceeding to rule by radicals, and finally a conservative reaction. However, sometimes revolu-tions will skip one or two steps in the process. This course of events can be found in England’s Glorious Revolution (1648-49), the French Revolution (1789-99), the American Revolution (c.1774-c.1791), and the 1917 Rus-sian Revolution. The current Egyptian Revolution is also adhering to this revolutionary timeline quite closely. Of course, each revolution has its own nuances and characteristics; even Brinton acknowledged in his book, “We must not expect our revolutions to be identical.” Nevertheless, the Egyptian Revo-lution does resemble the French

Revolution. For instance, during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI stepped down due to mass protests. Simi-larly, after 18 days of demonstrations, Mubarak stepped down as president. His son, who previously was expected to succeed Mubarak, also stepped down from his position. Additionally, during the French Revolution, one of the protesters’ main issues with the old regime was that the legislative body was unfair, so they lobbied for a new constitution. Simi-larly, after years of military emergency rule in Egypt, the constitution has been suspended while a committee—yet to be appointed—will propose changes to it. The public should be able to vote on the revised constitution. Perhaps the distinguishing charac-teristic of the Egyptian Revolution is the role of the Internet, which enables split-second mass communication. The very definition of the Internet—many different computers connected by one network—shows its potential to reach entire crowds of people in seconds. For instance, if one were to post, “Ugh… feeling a bit sick,” on Face-book, within seconds their friends will probably have replied with things like “OMG stomach flu?!?!” and “aww, hope you get better”. During the French, American, and Glorious Revolutions, the speediest method of mass communication would be pamphlets and newspapers. For in-stance, Jean-Paul Marat was a radical journalist during the French Revolu-tion, who published in his newspaper L’ami du Peuple (Friend of the People) inflammatory articles inciting people to revolt and rebellion. In a way, “We are all Khaled Said” could be considered the Friend of the People of the Egyptian Revolution, for its wall is populated with succinct up-dates about the happenings in Egypt.

Although it is not quite as radical as the words of Marat, who once called for the execution of Louis XVI, its posts are decidedly full of revolution-ary spirit: “Mubarak’s son, Gamal, was asked about our Facebook pages and youth movements like the April 6 movement, Kefaya, etc. He answered by laughing and making fun of the ‘Facebook kids’…. I wonder if he regrets that now?” was posted on its wall on February 15. “In the long run, though, social media can only be bad news for au-thoritarian regimes. ‘The free flow of information is the oxygen of democ-racy,’ and there’s no disputing that the Internet, smartphones, and social media have radically increased and ac-celerated that flow,” said Walter Isaac-son of Foreign Policy, as paraphrased in The Week, a weekly magazine. One of the caveats of having such fast-paced communication over the Internet is that events happen so much faster. As a result, it would appear that within the space of a few weeks, the Egyptian Revolution is nearing its end: the old regime has been deposed, and a new one is waiting in the wings. The current revolution has been much quicker than, say, the French Revolu-tion, which spanned ten years. Nevertheless, the new constitution has not been finalized yet, the Egyptian military is ruling in the interim, and those so-called “Facebook kids” have a powerful card in their hands, for the Internet has been restored in Egypt. As none of us are omniscient when it comes to the future, the revolution could still have life in it yet—in fact, revolutionary fever has even spread to Libya. Perhaps it has only reached the moderate phase of revolution, and the worst—the radical phase—is yet to come. Nothing is certain in this time of fast-paced change.

Anatomy of a Revolution in the Tech Age

OPINION: HUMAN RIGHTS

The people moved past their original desire for reform. Instead they just wanted Mubarak out of office, and they got their wish.”

Viva Revolution

SPECIAL

“WE ARE ALL KHALED SAID” WAS THE fINAL STRAW THAT bROKE THE CAMEL’S bACK.“

Page 7SANMATEOHIMonday, February 28, 2011

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

The revolts in Egypt can be consid-ered the antithesis of the Congress of Vienna. In 1815, Napoleon had just been thrown out of power and Europe was trying to figure out how to create a successful system of governments. There were many conservatives and liberals debating over how each coun-try should be run. The conservatives ultimately won the debate and created a system with many principles. One of these principles was the principle of intervention, which stated that coun-tries could invade other countries to

suppress rebellions. Presently, we live in a world that is not entirely conservative and these revolts are perfect examples of this. Instead of having a problem of coun-tries invading to suppress rebellions, the Egyptian government is having a problem of countries invading to assist the rebellion. Egypt blocked all of the Internet access in Egypt because they didn’t want the rebels revealing what was happening inside of the country. More importantly, however, the Egyptian government didn’t want the rebels to plot attacks with outside countries using the Internet.


Websites such as Facebook could connect the rebels to everyone in the world, which would create the potential threat of the rebels getting assistance from the rest of the world. The Internet would also connect the rebels with each other so they could create a more well-planned, intricate, dangerous attack. In 1815, the principle of intervention was meant to prevent the governments from being isolated, so they could maintain power. However, in present day, the opposite is true. Egypt is creat-ing isolation so that the rebels cannot obtain power and take over. The Congress of Vienna established

the principle of legitimacy as well. This principle stated that all of the monarchs in Europe were monarchs because they were meant to be. How-ever, this principle is being questioned in the Egypt with these revolts. The former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, had been ruling Egypt for 30 years. This reign definitely represented legitimacy because if he wasn’t able to be a successful monarch, he would’ve been dethroned earlier. However, the rebels are rejecting another principle of the Congress of Vienna because they refused to accept their monarch as true and legitimate. The rebels felt that even though he

had been ruling for 30 years, he was not right for Egypt and should be re-moved from office. In the Congress of Vienna, monarchies were established based on legitimacy, but currently, the Mubarak’s reign has destroyed with no regard for legitimacy. In the end, 30 years of Mubarak’s rule was just too long for the people of Egypt. Thus it can be concluded that the revolution in Egypt is the absolute opposite of the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Should Countries Invade to Assist Rebellion?

“ Protestors on the streets of Cairo, Tunis, and Tehran are united not only by a thirst for freedom and self-rule, but by a new awareness—brought about by new technology—of their ‘common humanity.’ Online, ‘the individual can be heard.’ And in a few key-strokes, ‘ ‘I’ easily grows to ‘we.’ “

-Jose Antonio Vargas of HuffingtonPost.com, as paraphrased in The Week

Viva RevolutionIN THE LAND OF THE PHAROAHS

PHOTOS COURTESY Of STOCK.XCHNG AND SWEDENbURG.bLOGSPOT.COM

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Friday, January 28, 2010Page 8

A&EFASHION: NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

Thursday, February 10 was, accord-ing to freshman Charlie Kruse, “a revolutionary day in improv at San Mateo.” And really, it was. As the person who worked to create the improv team at our school, I may be a little bit biased on how wonderful this is. But, as someone who ran the auditions and watched how students enthusiastically turned into various animals and outrageous characters, I can’t help but say how great it is to see people having so much fun doing what they love. Improv, short for “Improvisational Theatre,” is a form of theatre where the actors, called improvisers, per-form spontaneously on stage without a script. The television show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” is an example; their games and sketches were not

planned, but rather created on the spot based on suggestions from the audience. With twenty-three people audition-ing but a maximum of only ten spots available, not everyone could make the team. I had two lovely improvis-ers from Hillsdale’s esteemed H.I.T. Squad (“Hillsdale Improvisational Theatre Squad”), to help me play games and watch to see how people performed on stage. The three of us, with Mr. Friedman supervising, looked for people who could think on their feet, weren’t afraid to commit and look silly, and were capable of saying, “Yes, and…” to whatever happened on stage. Although everyone was amazing, there were some who, like in any crowd, managed to stand out. These particular people were chosen because they weren’t afraid to jump into a

scene, they built upon each others’ decisions, and, let’s face it, they have nice hair. The final team is of nine players: Felipe Afanador, Karen Chee, Elana Kalish, Charlie Kruse, Zach Lorenzini, Jenn McDonough, Amin Nilchian, Ben Visini, and Russell Zych. Upon hearing the news, freshman Russell Zych said, “I’m really excited. It’s definitely gonna be a lot of fun.” Jenn McDonough, sophomore, agrees, “I love improv and it’s so great that this is happening. Hopefully people will like our work!” The improv team will meet and rehearse biweekly, in hopes of com-peting against Hillsdale and Aragon’s improv teams next year, and put on shows for the school. What will the shows be like? Honestly, we have no idea. All we can guarantee is that we’re making it all up!

Karen CheeStaff Writer

New SMHS Improv Team forms

The kick-off episode to part two of season four, “The Kids Are Not All Right”, mostly brought to light the now tied-up ends of Lily’s screw-ups. Shocking, I know. Lily? Screw up? Those terms hardly seem reconcil-able. Lily has always been my least favorite character - I find her to be a vapid idiot, hardly anything close to what a good parent is. It cracked me up throughout the seasons when she would advise Rufus on how to handle Jenny, as if Lily had so much success raising Serena through her wild-girl times. Right. And while we’re at it, can she put down that glass of wine!? I find it hysterical that Lily always com-plains to be so stressed out because her life is so hard, yet at the beginning of every scene she is relaxing on the couch in her penthouse wearing her grandma glasses and either drinking tea or wine. Dair: I’m convinced that some make out sessions may have taken place in those dark movie theaters that Dan and Blair casually attended over break. I can only imagine an upcom-ing brawl between Blair and Serena if Serena finds out. In “While You Weren’t Sleeping,” Dan and Blair had viewers on edge, hoping for a kiss to close their classic-movie-viewing-on a laptop session in the loft. On another note, I’m irritated by Raina Thorpe. I don’t find the actress to be particularly appealing or be-lievable. However, based on her and Chuck’s recent breakup and her “day of firsts” spent with Nate, I think that we may see a Nate-Raina pair up in the future. At the beginning of Season Four, Pt. II, I thought Gossip Girl was losing it’s fire. However, the possibil-ity of “Dair,” and the weird moves Ben keeps making with Damien are the only things that keep the series strong. But, even if the storyline started lagging, I’d still watch it for the fashion.

Morgan BabbsEditor-in-Chief

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were not on par with its usually cultur-ally relevant acknowledgements this year, as many unknown artists stole the show from the popular stars. Christina Aguilera opened the show with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, accompanied by Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch, Martina McBride, and Yolanda Adams. Singing a com-pilation of Aretha’s hit songs from throughout her 50-year career, this five-diva performance packed a pow-erful punch vocally. Other than Chris-tina’s nonchalant trip on stage, the act was well done and set the bar high for the performances to come. As usual, Lady GaGa will be remembered most this year for her extravagant red carpet entrance carried inside an egg- shaped pod, which was mainly done to stress the message of her newest song, “Born This Way.” The song conveys an inspiring mes-sage about self-acceptance and self-empowerment. GaGa was expected to give another jaw dropping spectacle, however she let many of them down with a simply mediocre performance compared to her usual crazy acts. After multiple awards, and per-formances from Katy Perry, Cee-Lo Green, Mick Jagger, Mumford & Sons, Lady Antebellum, and many more, the night came to a close on an unexpected note, as album of the year was awarded to indie-rock band Arcade Fire for their latest album The Suburbs. This alternative Canadian band beat out many popular artists such as Lady GaGa, Eminem, Katy Perry, and Lady Antebellum. After they were awarded, they closed the show with their song “Ready To Start.” However, the show was really stolen by Lady Antebellum, as they left with 5 Grammy Awards, including record of the year and song of the year. Other major awards included best new artist (Esperanza Spalding), best electronic/dance album (La Roux), and best rock album (Muse.)

Zach LorenziniStaff Writer

Another scheme, please

GOSSIp GIRl

Lady A steals the night

GRAmmY’S

The newest styles for fall

2011 were showcased at Mercedes Benz Fashion

Week in New York City, which kicked off February 9. Over the

course of the week, New York’s hottest designers would display their

visions for fall. Badgley Mischka took inspiration from the 20’s, with

glitzy flapper gowns and 20’s hairstyles. Carolina Herrera returned with her

usual glamour, flaunting models’ femininity with dramatic structured gowns and

her signature cinched waists. A particularly breathtaking standout was a gray and

blue watercolor gown with a long train. Charlotte Ronson harked back to the grunge

era of the 90’s. Most of the models wore tights with rips and holes in them, with lace

up boots and comfy layers of sweaters and feminine dresses. Grecian gowns were

the standouts of Derek Lam’s fall collection, with interesting twists like leather

and silk pairings and flowing gowns with plaid prints. His more casual styles

featured bold primary colors, fur, and leather. Marc Jacobs went full-on

70’s mode with big sunglasses, floppy hats, and silk dresses. Annie

Hall was an inspiration for his many menswear-inspired suit

jackets and tailored shorts.

- Aurora Kasten, A&E Editor

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SANMATEOHI Pagina 9

La Esquina

PREGUNTADELMES ¿A cual maestro/a crees que te pareces mas?

LatinaEstudiAntEs

¡La semana Internacional fue en éxito! Celebramos la variedad de cul-turas que tenemos aquí en San Mateo High School. Se realizaron muchas actividades divertidas todos los días durante el almuerzo. Una de las ac-tividades que les gustó mucho a los estudiantes fue Show de Moda donde estudiantes estrenaron los vestidos culturales de su correspondido país. Los estudiantes también participaron en un juego donde un estudiante de cada grado tuvo que adivinar la comida típica que se le daba a probar. Claro, nosotros los estudiantes hispanos no nos quedamos atrás. El jueves durante el almuerzo, se vendi-eron muchas pupusas y otros platillos típicos de Centro América, Norte América, Asia y del Medio Oriente. Se notó que varios estudiantes que ni siquiera eran latinos estaban muy emocionados para comer su par de pupusas con curtido y salsa. “Todos los platillos típicos de nuestra América Latina estaban ¡deliciosos!”

nos comentó Maribel Cano. El último día de la Semana Interna-cional, La Raza Unida nos representó muy bien con su baile de salsa, meren-gue y cumbia. Estos géneros de música incluyeron la canción de Elvis Crespo, Bésame, también La Vaca de Mala Fe, entre otras. No solamente bailaron, sino tam-bién invitaron a un instructor de salsa que paso por paso enseñó a todos los estudiantes que bajaron al quad, a moverse fenomenalmente. Entre estos estudiantes estaban unos que nunca habían bailado salsa pero rápidamente encontraron una pareja y se reunieron en el quad ya listos para moverse. Al principio los pasos eran fáciles pero poco a poco aumentaron de nivel. “Me divertí bailando salsa aunque algunos pasos estaban un poco con-fusos. ¡Me gustaría hacerlo otra vez!” dijo Francesca Reyes Johnson. Somos muy afortunados de poder celebrar varias de las muchas culturas en nuestra escuela. Apreciemos la variedad de gente, comida y lenguas alrededor de nosotros.

“La señora Tribuzi porque bailar es su pasión y tiene un bueno sentido del humor pero al mismo tiempo puede ser seria, y así soy yo.”

“El señor Teague, porque ten-emos mucho en comun.”

“La señora Furguiele porque nosotras dos somos bajitas, lati-nas y consejeras. Las dos también somos Capricornio y vivimos en San Francisco.”

“La señora Torres, porque a ella le importan los demás, y a mí también.”

“La señora Abrams porque ella puede ser muy graciosa pero también seria igual a mi.“

Lunes, 28 de frebrero, 2011

Victoria AguilarEditora de La Esquina Latina

El día de San Valentín es un día muy especial para muchos de nosotros. Nos hace recordar que el amor y las buenas amistades si existen. También creo que no es necesario estar con un novio o una novia para pasarlo bien. El día de San Valentín es un día en que puedes expresar cuánto quieres a una persona. No necesariamente dán-doles regalos; puede ser dedicándole un poema o cantándoles una canción de amor. Durante el día de San Valentín recibí un regalo de la persona menos esperada. ¡Fue un día del amor! Un día para decir: “Lo mejor de mi vida eres tu.”

San Valentín es un día de amor, respeto y felicidad, donde cada uno demuestra el gran amor hasía las otras personas. Todos sabemos que la amis-tad y el amor no solo se demuestra en este día, pero a veces no tenemos la capacidad o el animo de mostrarles a nuestros amigos que los queremos y lo importante que son para nosotros. Yo creo que por eso existe este dia. para tener la oportunidad de abrazar a ese amigo que queremos mucho. En mi punto de vista este día es especial y sobre todo lleno de amor. La amistad no tiene precio ni fin. Vivamos en una armonía y solidaridad y sobre todo en paz.

Yo pienso que el día de San Valentín es un día muy especial para todos. Mu-chas parejas salen a comer, se regalan flores, chocolates, globos y osos de peluche. Para mucha gente es un día muy alegre pero para otros puede ser triste porque no tienen parejas, aunque terminan divirtiéndose con sus amigos o amigas. A mi en el día de San Valentín me dieron muchas flores. Mis amigos me regalaron chocolates. Ese día fue adorable e inolvidable. Espero que tanto para mi y todos ustedes lo fuese sido. Espero que se la hayan pasado muy bien a lado de la persona que mas aman.

Victor DelgadoEnvitado de La Esquina Latina

Will Amaya

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Kenia SalazarEnvitada de La Esquina Latina

Katherine GonzalesEnvitada de La Esquina Latina

El día de San Valentín se guarda en su corazón

Por la extravagante razón que somos latinos deberíamos explorar la cultura y la comida de otros países hispanos. Por eso, fui a un restaurante llamado “Cha Cha Cha Cuba” en el centro de San Mateo, en la calle B. Déjame decirles que nunca había probado la comida Cubana; la verdad es que estaba muy rica. El restaurante se mira un poco peque-ño desde afuera, pero en realidad tiene dos pisos y es muy espacioso. No tomó mucho tiempo para que nos dieran asientos, aunque sí estaba bastante lleno. Al caminar por el restaurante, no

me tardé a notar las pinturas culturales que decoraban muy bien el restaurante. Todos los detalles pequeños de las pinturas tomaron mi atención y no podía parar de observar. Habían opciones muy deliciosas y curiosas en el menú. Desde Ropa Vieja y Calamares Fritos a Arroz con Frijoles. Yo ordene los Calamares Fritos con una orden de tortillas. Para tomar ordenamos una limonada fresca y recien hecha. El servicio fue execelente. No se tardaron para tomar nuestra orden ni para entregarnos nuestra deliciosa comida. Cuando terminamos, retiraron

los platos y nos ofrecieron postre. Para mi, lo mejor del restaurante, aparte de la comida, fue la música salsa que rodeaba el restaurante. “Cha Cha Cha Cuba” sí describe el estado de ánimo del ambiente. En pounto de vista, la musica relajaba y dejaba disfrutar más el restaurante y la comida. La música daba ese sonido y sentimiento cultural de Cuba. Les recomiendo que visiten “Cha Cha Cha Cuba.” La experiencia de concocer la comida y cultura de otros paises hispanos es muy divertida y interesante. Les sorprenderán las cos-tumbres y el sabor de los demás.

La Semana Internacional deja mucho ritmo y sabor

noticiAs

!Cha Cha Cha Cuba tiene mucho sabor!Victoria AguilarEditora de La Esquina Latina

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Señora Booth

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Victoria PinedaRafael Cardenas

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Brigitte Bolanos y Angie Flores bailando al ritmo del merengue.

DATABRIEFSWhy the broadcasts? Why did so many television stars visit San Mateo and talk on our daily morning broadcast? To tell the student body about how important it is to do the best they can on STAR tests. Four years ago, San Mateo High School was in program improvement, and the teachers thought of Mateo Madness and were taken out of it. Now we are in program improvement once again and the staff doesn’t want that negative label to stick to our school. Mr. Apple-man and Mr. Teague came up with the characters and the dialogue with the goal of motivating students.

Middle College Open It’s the time of year where seniors anxiously await responses from their prospective colleges, but it’s also the time where sophomores and juniors can apply to attend Middle College. Middle College is a program at the College of San Mateo that is a viable option for high school students. It is available to students if they don’t wish to continue their education at high school. Middle College is an educational collaboration between San Mateo Union High School District and the College of San Mateo, and their ba-sic goal is to meet the needs of students who aren’t being properly helped in regular high schools. The deadline for applicants is Tuesday, March 29, and if you’re interested, a Middle College representative will be visiting SMHS on Friday, March 4 at 11 A.M. in the career center.

Pool Repair Soon The pool is broken. But the heater is not at fault. Ms. Gonzalez, the boiler specialist in the maintenance depart-ment of San Mateo High School, said that it’s the circulation system that is causing the problem. Repair was origi-nally scheduled for December. The circulation pump, which is responsible for circulating water through the pool, had been leaking, so it was taken to service. But when they took apart the pump for service, they discovered that it had basically been eaten through and beyond repair. They are ordering a new type of pump that is more suited to the pool we have, so this situation won’t happen again. The circulation pump is six years old now, and ran continu-ously for pretty much the entire time.

Blood Drive Success The blood drive in correlation with the Blood Centers of the Pacific was a success this year with 45 units donated. The Community Service Commission-er’s goal was 40 units, each a pint of blood. Seventy people showed up to donate, but twenty-five were turned away due to health reasons. The Blood Centers of the Pacific give the blood to local hospitals such as Mills to help improve the lives of their patients. Community service is essential to feel-ing good about yourself, and donating blood does count. Not all people are well enough to be donating for various reasons, but volunteering your time does help. A little blood can save one person’s life, so donate next year to make a difference in someone else’s life. Together we can work towards a healthy community. Thanks to senior Jesse Wong and Marissa Savoie, the coordinators.

Page 10 SANMATEOHI Monday, February 28, 2011

news

Preparing for takeover Every year, seniors are allowed to take over the school. This event is a very fun day for seniors, who get a day off from their classes so they can run one of their own. However, other students are forced to listen to the se-niors and their lesson plans. How fun is STD for the rest of the school? Well, many people are very support-ive of STD and think it’s a fun day of relaxation for everyone else. Instead of going through the usual routine of the teacher teaching the entire class, students can participate in review games run by the seniors. If students are friends with the se-niors, then they can have fun seeing one of their friends controlling the en-

NYC, from page 1


tire class. If not, students can even take the opportunity to become friends with the seniors before they graduate. One student, John Blake said that, “I’m looking forward to Senior Take-over Day. It prepares the seniors for teaching, while relieving everyone’s stress.” Many students agree with John, but some others are not as hopeful. Some students feel that Senior Take-over Day is a waste of a valuable day of potential education. These students feel that these senior-run review ses-sions are simply a waste of time. Another student, Aaron Millstein, says, “Senior Takeover Day is not suc-cessful because it is a waste of time in a ‘beneficial’ way. All it does is teach seniors how to be teachers.”

Prom proposals getting competitiveJoey WongStaff Writer

SMHS is looking for talentZach LorenziniStaff Writer

Prom. It’s that time of the year again. This year, Prom is March 19 and will be held at the Regacy Ballroom in San Francisco. Prom’s theme will be announced during the Fashion Show on March 1 at the quad when ticket sales start as well. Buy your prom tickets early because the first week it costs $70, second week $75, and the last week it costs $80. However if you have a PAL sticker, you can purchase your tickets anytime for $70. For the first time, the Prom commit-tee launched “Prom Proposal” which is the cutest way of asking someone to Prom competition. After asking some-

Do you have a hidden talent that you can no longer hold back? Maybe the San Mateo High School Third Annual Talent Show is for you. Auditions will be held on March 2 and 3 after school in the music and dance building. You can sign up outside of the journalism room, B102, and each person is al-lowed no more than one act. The show will be held on Thurs-day, March 31 in the PAC, and all proceeds from ticket purchases go to the Rebuilding Together foundation, a non-profit organization that works towards restoring and conserving communities. Make sure anything you prepare is school appropriate! Audition! If not, come out and sup-port your friends and school chums! ‘Twill be quite the shindig.

Dancers hit NYC Bridge before departing back for the Bay Area.For many, seeing Memphis was the highlight of the trip, especially when cast members, including one who has worked with Ms. Tribuzi in the past, answered questions and offered their advice to the aspiring artists in the audience. For others, the myriad dance classes taken throughout the week stood out; Ashmere Prasad, a senior, was particularly excited about her first ever ballet class, and said, “Taking the class with a professional teacher made the experience much more exciting because I felt just as advanced as any other person in the room,” adding that, “Ms. Tribuzi has really prepared me over the years, and I would love to take another ballet class any day.” Even Spider-Man was a great experi-ence for many dancers—senior Natalia Garcia bought memorabilia that she figures she can “sell to pay for college when the show closes and it becomes a novelty item,” and Lauren Mayer, a chaperone and mother of senior David Visini, commented that we “should be proud to have seen what will prob-ably be the biggest financial failure in

Broadway history.” Along with the theater experiences, we also got the chance to see firsthand many of the city’s historic landmarks. One of our first stops upon arrival was the legendary Apollo Theater, where we learned about the history of the New York theater scene through the eyes of a guide who had watched over it for nearly half of a century. The archivist at Carnegie Hall led special group tours in which he talked about how the city and the world evolved around the iconic building and the role the arts played in shaping the nation. Students visited the city’s museums and cultural hotpots in our free time, making the trip an educational experi-ence beyond our many dance classes. In the end, the five-day trip was an unforgettable experience for all in-volved, filled with memorable classes, people, and places. As junior Natalia Osipchuk said, “the trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The people we met were all so inspir-ing, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to dance along-side some of them. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, and I would never give it up.”

our diversity while having fun. By participating, I get to be a part of a rich community and teach others about my culture,” said freshman, Felipe Afanador. International week started off with a fashion show, in which all grades dressed up to represent the traditional clothing of their ethnicity. There was also a huge world map on which stu-dents got the chance to mark where they are from that lasted for the whole week. The second and third day con-sisted of ethnic dances performed by the Polynesian club and the Filipino club. Day four was probably the most pop-ular of all the International Week days in which ethnic foods from different countries were sold. Among the most popular were Quickly and Chow mein, both of which were sold out in the first fifteen minutes of lunch. Friday, the final day of the week, consisted of a dance performance and salsa dance lessons open to the whole school in the quad. The week was planned by Leadership’s ELD Commissioners, Adriana Fernandez and Peter Hu.

Diversity CelebratedINTL. from page 1

one to Prom, you write down your way of asking and turn it in. The Prom committee will judge and the win-ning couple will get two free tickets. Prom Proposal winners will also be announced during the F a s h i o n Show. Every year t ha t goes b y, P r o m becomes a bigger deal. Mr. Norman shares his Prom story, “I didn’t actually have to do the asking because I wasn’t originally going to go. A girl in my English class tapped

me on the shoulder and asked me.” “Be safe. Have the time of your life and if you don’t dance, dance that night,” Mr. Norman adds. Prom has

turned much more creative and important since our teach-ers went. Mr. Teague shares some of his Prom tips from his own exper iences ,

“Always get the wrist corsage, that’s what I learned at Prom, trying to pin the corsage in front of your date’s

father is just awkward,” he says. “The dude’s job for Prom is to be as smooth as you can, your model should be James Bond. You should iron your money, go to the bank before Prom. Don’t stop in middle of Prom to go to the ATM machine. Scout out the road in advance, she’ll think you’re cool,” Mr. Teague advises. Mr. Teague’s final words are “And ladies, always keep some mad money.” “Get excited and you should all go!” Rachael Monasch and Allison Khoe, members of the Prom Committee, said. Don’t forget to come out to the quad March 1 to see the Prom theme!

Still, it’s fun to see what the seniors come up with and how they parody their favorite teachers. Some students support it and some students don’t like it, but regardless, Senior Takeover Day is still an important tradition at SMHS.

Come to the quad tomorrow to find

out the theme of Prom!

Health Week Dance

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Advanced dancers Susan Lok, Kayla Rose, Natalia Garcia, Mara Hanmmond, and Nata-lia Osipchuk danced to “Let’s Get Physical” during lunch for Health Week with their towels in exercise outfits.

Monday, February 28, 2011 SANMATEOHISPORTS

Page 11

Solid season leads to CCS birth for Girls BasketballPerry LiuStaff Writer As winter sports draw to an end, play-ers from each team start celebrating in locker rooms, or feeling a bit melan-choly because they didn’t do so well; but either or, let’s not forget the way our girls varsity basketball team played their hearts out this 2010-2011 season! All and all, the girls did pretty well. With such a solid roster there’s no doubt that they had a nice record of 6-4. Our girls got third in the Peninsula - Bay league only trail-ing to Terra Nova (10-0) and Mills (7-3). “We did pretty well, and I still think we could have done better as a team. Coming in third place is nothing to be ashamed of, but we were so close to 2nd its sort of disap-pointing.” says Jane Hafoka, a junior at San Mateo high school who is look-ing forward to their Girls Basketball season next year. In the final game of the season, against Mills, players on each side played as hard as they could on the wooden floors of Millbrae, for this game represented who would come in second. With both teams at a record of 6-3 before the game, a match like this was hard fought. In the end, the score was 44-54 loss, San Mateo coming out

Golden State Warriors have eyes set on playoffsMatt ErlickSports Editor On July 16, 2010, the tide of the struggling Golden State Warriors franchise was supposed to finally turn towards success. Team owner, Chris Cohan, who had become notorious among Warrior fans, had sold the team for a record, 450 million dollars. The buyers were Boston Celtics minor-ity owner Joe Lacob, and Mandalay Enterprises CEO Peter Guber. Lacob will handle most of the basketball operations, while Guber will handle the entertainment and advertising side of the team. “Peter and I intend to do what we do best -- innovating and building. It is our passion to return the Warriors to greatness.” Don Nelson was also let go as head coach and replaced with top assistant Keith Smart. Warrior fans now had high hopes for the future and the 2010-2011 season, as the team seemed to now be in good hands, and heading in the right direction. The Golden State Warriors were expected to compete for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference. Although they have had some rough patches so far, they are still very much in playoff contention. As of February 24, their record stands at 26 and 30, only four games out of the last playoff spot in the conference. Their record at home is impressive at 16 and 11, but they must improve on the road, if they want to make to the playoffs, as they are 6 and 17 away from the Oracle Arena in Oakland. As of late, Golden State has started to catch fire winning 11 out of their last 18 games. This play must continue if they want to stay in the playoff conversation. Leading the way for the Warriors

has been emerging superstar guard, Monta Ellis. Ellis who is in his sixth NBA season, is averaging a team leading 25.3 points per game. Right behind Ellis, is guard Stephen Curry. In his second year out of Davidson, Curry is blossoming into a young star, averaging 19.1 points to go with six assists per game. Aside from the talented backcourt, the off-season additions of forward Dorrell Wright, and former all-star David Lee have been key. Wright is having a breakout year averaging 16. 8 points per game, and Lee is nearly averaging a double-double. Although Lee has played well, his production is expected to improve as his injured elbow continues to heal. Although the core players are playing well, the team’s inconsistent play caused the front office to think about making a change at the trade deadline. As the trade deadline came and gone, many fans expected the Warriors to make a trade, in order to shake things up. They traded forward Brandon Wright and center Dan Gadzuric to the New Jersey Nets for a second round pick and forward Troy Murphy (no other trades were completed before press time). Some believed that the talented, but small backcourt tandem of Ellis and Curry will not be success-ful in the long run. But neither player was moved in a deal. They also have many expiring contracts that will be useful in trade negotiations to sweeten up a deal. With a few months left in the season, the Golden State Warriors must catch fire. Trade or not, they have the pieces to make an exciting playoff run, and bring excitement to NBA fans in the Bay Area.

with a third place finish. “We should have played with our hearts and not our minds,” said Kan-dice Stephens, another junior this year on the Varsity team. Although San Mateo lost, we still need to look on the bright side of

things and learn from our mistakes in the past. Like Stephens tells us, a team who has the will to pull through and tries their best all the time proves to be more successful. Compared to last year’s season, we did considerably better this time around. Last year we also got in third, and had the same record of 6-4, but at that time they were in a lower division. As Grayce Ujihara, a senior this year at San Mateo high school accurately puts it,“It was almost like last year all over again, we got in third both years and lost again to the second place team by one game. But I still believe we got

better because we went up a division and got the same results.” As for the seniors, this was their last year to play as San Mateo Bearcats in their entire lives. When they fin-ished their last game many good-byes were said and the players will

always miss them. Stephanie Okimura, another senior this year explains,“It was a great experi-ence playing other teams with my team-mates and I’m defi-nitely going to miss them, it’s been like four years since we started playing with each other. Those years really went by fast.” So what are the girls thinking about next year? Defi-nitely some more games and tougher

practices than this year. And maybe they can even pull off a second place finish this time around. But even before the season starts the team sees some flaws, “We’re going to be losing Grayce next year. Someone’s going to have to step up and take her place,” said Ha-foka when asked about what she thinks will happen in the next season. The girls took on Saratoga in their first CCS playoff game February 24. They came out victorious, winning 50 to 39. Junior Jane Hafoka led the team with 16 points. Senior, and league MVP Grayce Ujihara scored 15 points. Good luck the rest of the way girls!

Sophomore guard Alana Simon takes the ball to the rack

Girls Soccer off to the CCS playoffsBryan OkadaStaff Writer The girls varsity soccer team finished their season winning nine games, los-ing four, and tying one. Our girls defi-nitely proved themselves to other local schools in our district as being a threat, as they ended up beating big schools like Aragon and Hillsdale, but were not able to beat our rival, Burlingame. Captain Page Roth-schild and Katleyn Turtletaub, Kat-leyn being an elite player throughout the whole league, having the most goals out of every-body in the league, led the team. The girls definitely had a fun time being out there on the field working hard and having it pay off with a successful season. They went to CCS, and came up short, but fought hard. Even though the girls varsity team was not able to beat Burlingame, they still were able to have fun out there and play hard, making it to CCS, which is a big accomplishment to all the girls and coaches that are a part of the team. We all hope that our girls will play hard and win CCS. “We’ve got a really good chance of winning CCS since we are in a D3 (division 3) school, but it won’t be easy because there are some very skilled and talented teams in our

division as well. But if we play hard we have a good chance of winning,” said senior and co-captain of the team Katleyn Turtletaub. “We just need to play as hard as we can and we should be alright,” said junior Karyn Jacobs. The girls had a lot of fun memo-

rable experiences out there on the f i e ld toge the r. They were able to bond as a team and make a team video which played at the winter sports rally. However they were still focused at the same time on win-ning and beating their opponents.

“I think mak-ing the rally video was the

most memorable experience for me throughout the season,” said junior Karyn Jacobs. “We are working really hard in the season. Although the last game of our season was disappointing we still have CCS to look forward to and we have more opportunities to be successful and win more games. The most memorable moment for me was first getting in the game and get-ting my first taste of what playing with varsity is and how much different it is playing with girls who are much bet-ter than you, but still having to go out there and compete knowing that they are older and stronger than you are,” said freshman Hayley Walker.

Junior Danielle Coyle strikes the ball with force

Warriors The Golden State Warriyas have caught fire and are playing very well as of late. As of February of 24, their

record stands at 26 and 30, including victories in six of their last eight games. Guard Monta Ellis currently ranks sixth in the league in scoring, averaging

25.2 points per game. Promising rookie forward Ekpe Udoh, has seen an increase in playing time, and has taken advantage of it by providing rebounding and defensive prowess off the bench. Guard Stephen Curry represented the Warriors well at NBA All-Star Weekend, by winning the Taco Bell Skills Challenge.

Cal/Stanford Basketball As of February 25, the Cal hoops team’s record stands at 15 and 13 overall, and

their attention to free agency and the NFL Draft. The Niners will especially look to address needs at quarterback, cornerback, and defensive end. Some potential first-round draft picks are cornerback Prince Amukamura from Nebraska, and defensive end Marcell Darius from Alabama. It is more likely the 49ers will address the need at quarterback later in the draft, or via free agency.

Raiders The Raiders have also filled all their coaching vacancies, and new Head

Coach Hue Jackson is ready to attack free agency, and the draft. They will need to fill needs at cornerback,

and the offensive line. With no picks in the first round, Oakland wont pick until the second round. Cornerback Rashad Carmichael, out of Virginia Tech, and offensive tackle Nate Pot-ter, from Boise State are possible draft selections.

Arizona Diamondbacks in Scottsdale. The Giants and their fans are excited that their title-defending season is underway!

A’s Oakland A’s players were ready for

the upcoming season when they reported to Spring Training in Phoenix, Arizona. The spring will be espe-cially important for the

Athletics, as nine players are coming back from surgery, including closer Andrew Bailey. The A’s opened up the spring season against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Arizona on February 27.

49ers With the hiring of Head Coach Jim Har-baugh, and the rest of the coaching positions filled, the San Francisco 49ers turn

Giants On February 14, San Francisco Gi-ants’ pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona. The rest of the squad reported on February 19. The mandatory date to report is February 26. Many eyes are on third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who reported to camp in much better shape, and is expected to re-gain his rookie-year form, and have a great season. San Francisco played their first Spring Tra in-ing game on February 25, against the

SANMATEOHI Friday, February 28, 2011Page 12

SportsSpring Training is here

8 and 8 in the Pac 10. Junior Jorge Gutierrez leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.9 points a game. Stanford’s re-cord stands at 13 and 14 overall, with a 6 and 10 record in conference play. Junior Jeremy Green leads the Cardinal in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game.

CSM/Cañada Baseball The CSM Bulldog baseball team is off to a good start, with a record of 5 and 4. Former Bearcat pitchers Mitch Labbie and Branson Precht are red shirting for the bulldogs this season, and will be valuable arms out of the ro-tation or bullpen in 2012. The Cañada Colts’ record is 3 and 3, as of February 16. Former Bearcat infielder Marcus Pollard is also red shirting this season, but is in line to start at third base for the Colts in 2012. All three Bearcat alums have been working hard, and look to excel at the collegiate level and beyond!

The most watched annual sports event in the U.S.A. kicked off on Sun-day February 6, in Dallas, Texas. The AFC champions, Pittsburgh Steelers faced the NFC champion Green Bay Packers. This game was highly antici-pated. Many people thought that the Steelers had the edge over the Packers because of their previous Super Bowl experience. As Super Bowl XLV started, Green Bay won the coin toss and choose to defend so Pittsburgh received. They couldn’t successfully convert and had to punt. On the Packers side, quarter-back Aaron Rodgers couldn’t get the team moving so they punted the ball back to Pittsburgh. This sequence went on for the first 3 drives of the game. As the Packers got the ball back for the second, Rodgers started to get into a rhythm. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson found the opening and Rodgers threw a 29-yard touchdown pass. The scoreless start changed and Packers went up during the next drive. Steel-ers quarterback Ben Rothlisberger got hit on the release and Green Bay safety Nick Collins got his hands on the bad pass and ran it back into the end zone putting the Packers up 14-0. The Steelers got into the red zone, but couldn’t finish it and had

to settle with a field goal. The score was 14-3; with the Steelers needing a momentum change on offense in order to get back in the game. But then as the Steelers defense needed a stop, Aaron Rodgers did what he does best. He threw to Greg Jennings for a 21-yard touchdown. The Steelers chance for victory was slowly slipping away from their hands. The score stood at 21-3. They desperately needed a score Rothlisberger hit Hines Ward for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Going into halftime the score was 21-10. Starting off the third quarter, the Packers reclaimed the ball looking to keep their lead, but they couldn’t. They punted back to the Steelers who got a quick score. Rashard Mendenhall got an eight-yard blast into the end zone. The Steelers finally got into the rhythm when previous Super Bowl experience started to kick in. They were on a trial of a comeback; the score was now 21-17. Then both teams couldn’t find their rhythm and the score stayed the same going into the fourth quarter. The Steelers needed their defense to stop Aaron Rodgers and the Pack-ers in order to take the lead in this game. But their defense couldn’t do that, Rodgers gunned an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jennings. The score

was now 28-17. As Steelers’ defense couldn’t hold, their offense needed to click and desperately needed a fast score. Rothlisberger threw a perfect pass caught by Mike Wallace for a 25-yard touchdown. Coach Mike Tomlin decided to keep the game close and go for a two-point conversion. If they were successful then it would only be a 3 point game. This would be a key point in the game, and the Steelers converted. The score was now 28-25 with 7:34 left on the game clock. The Steelers really needed their defense to be strong and not allow the Packers to score again. They didn’t let the Packers score a touchdown. But they got three points on the board. With 2:07 left on the clock, there was plenty of time for the Steelers to push the football up the field and get a score. The Packers had been playing good defense throughout the night and just needed a little bit more of that, and that’s what they got; Rothlisberger couldn’t move the ball up the field and could not score. The Super Bowl XLV wrapped up with the underdogs taking home the trophy. Rodgers was named the game’s MVP for his outstanding performance and leadership. The Packers had won the game 31 to 25, and took the Lom-bardi Trophy home to Green Bay.

Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews celebrate the victory

Boys’ Tennis ready to hit the courtAustin ChuaEditor-in-Chief

Rebuilding in 2011 is something the boy’s tennis team will have to do this season to play well to make CCS. The team lost a number of seniors last year, but a promising class of in-coming players consisting of mostly freshmen hope to learn the trade of high school tennis under coach John Daquioag. The task of finding players who can rise to the challenge of filling several prominent positions on the ladder may prove to be challenging to Daquioag. In addition to several top doubles positions, seniors have vacated the top two singles positions as well. The Bearcats have historically been a relatively strong team, having talent spread throughout the ladder and beyond, but this year many underclassmen look to challenge for ladder positions. Srinu Bhamidipati, a sophmore in his second year with the team, looks

to make the jump from the frosh-soph team to varsity. Srinu thinks “Tennis is a mind game; I need to get into my opponent’s head.” Srinu is just one of many talented underclassmen that not only look to make the varsity team stronger, but give long term options for the team in the future for Coach Daqui-oag. Setting his sights on a successful season, for Srinu, it’s about knowing that “winning isn’t about who’s better; it’s about who wants it more”. Eric Tsai, a four-year player, is “ter-ribly excited” for his final season of Bearcat tennis. He thinks his four years of tennis have been enjoyable, filled with hard hits and hard fought wins. Peter Lebo, another four-year player, self-proclaimed captain, thinks the team is looking quite strong this year. “The boys are out for blood this time around and they’ve got their sights set on Burlingame.” Lebo also feels pretty good about his game, telling us “I’m constantly improving, because ‘amaz-ing’ doesn’t always cut it.”

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Packers win Super Bowl XLV

Dewei ZhengStaff Writer

February 2011

Documents

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junior class

advanced dance classes

broadway dance center

master classes

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memphis day

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