CC Spin

December 2008

December 2008 Volume 2, Issue 2News & Views from Contra Costa County High Schools

'Trust but verify' advice to journalists

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Read us onlineat

www.ccjournalism.net

By Maanvi Singh

LasLomasHighSchool

'I think it is very cool that our school is providing resources to students to explore cur-rent political situations,' Mallory Craig-Karim, Acalanes HS

Mock election draws student interest

CC Spin

Photo courtesy CSJI

Woodward and Bernstein meet with county student journalists

See WOODWARD, BERNSTEIN page3

ELECTION '08

By Hannah Srumwasser

AcalanesHighSchool

See MOCK Page3

By Angelica Gerardo

RichmondHighSchool

'JOURNALEROS'Day laborers gather at Wall Mart looking for work

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein must be especially sensitive to the way politicians use rhetoric to obscure the truth. After all, they brought down President Richard Nixon, who masterfully hid behind his words. Ironically, however, Woodward’s advice for young journalists invoked another president who misused language: “Trust, but verify, as Reagan said.”

Thirty-five years ago, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two young, curious Washington Post reporters, shook the nation and brought down a presidency when they broke a series of scandals known as Watergate. For the high-school journalism students who came to see them speak at Walnut Creek’s Dean Lesher Center for the Arts on Nov. 17, they symbolized the importance of pursuing the truth even as powerful forces try to suppress it. The event was co-sponsored by the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative, which publishes CC Spin.

Woodward and Bernstein, now both in their mid-60s, are today more like celebrities than investigative reporters. At the pre-show reception for the high school journalism students, local dignitaries

and Woodward’s mother-in-law, everyone eagerly – even nervously – awaited Woodstein’s appearance. When Woodward and Bernstein finally walked in, everyone cleared the center of the floor, hardly be-lieving that the two legends were standing before them. The duo patiently listened to their fawning fans, signed copies of their book All the President’s Men, and posed for photographs.

Yet, the enthusiasm Woodward and Bernstein generated only indicates that their legacy. The curious young reporters of today, they have not forgotten the glory days of old-school journal-ism, even as the Internet and other multimedia platforms threaten to shred newspapers into the dust bin of history.

During their panel discussion, the duo remi-nisced about their experience covering Watergate. Woodward admitted that in the early stages of their investigation, he was a bit daunted. “The [Washing-ton Post’s] stock was in the toilet, the reputation of the paper was at the rim of the toilet,” Woodward said, and if he and Bernstein didn’t get the Watergate story right, it looked as if the Post would crash and burn with them.

On any given day there are several day laborers standing outside the El Cer-rito Home Depot, waiting for work. Most are immigrants who rely on pick up jobs to earn a living to feed themselves and their families.

Many misunderstandings come from community members driving by who don’t know the circumstances. In fact, in California there is a group called Save Our State that has held protests at many Home Depots, asserting that the company has aided illegal immigrants.

Frank Jorge, of the Antelope Valley In-dependent Minutemen, stated on the web site’s blog that, “Home Depot and others who aid and abet illegal aliens are also to blame in any murder or crime committed in the United States.”

Workers, commonly called day labor-ers, were interviewed outside the Home Depot in El Cerrito to learn their side of what it’s like to work as a day laborer. Many have little education and this limits their ability to work. Many of them are here il-legally and don’t speak English.

One laborer said he had done many jobs for people, but some of them don’t pay him what they should. He does it anyway because he needs the money for his family in Guatemala.

While millions of voters across the country swarmed the polls on November 4, the students and staff of Acalanes High School had the opportunity to voice their own views through a mock election called AHS Votes.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. students signed onto their Blackboard accounts to vote for the presidential candidates, as well as propo-sitions 2 through 12.

AHS Votes, created by Acalanes history instructor Cass Mul-holland, provided a way for students to get involved with politics and expand their knowledge about current issues.

“The AHS Votes organization is set up to help educate people about the different political parties, how many are out there, what they all stand for, what their platforms are, as well as learning about the candidates and the actual propositions,” said Mulholland.

Many Students viewed AHS Votes as another way to voice their opinions, and felt it was a great way to get students inter-ested in current issues.

“Kids feel as if maybe because we’re not of voting age, it’s not our obligation to be informed, or we shouldn’t have a voice, but I think that we have great influence, and I think it is very cool that our school is providing resources to students to explore current political situations,” said sophomore Mallory Craig-Karim.

The AHS Votes program Web site provided various links where students could find information about the propositions and candidates.

With propaganda and mudslinging at an all time high dur-ing this election, students were provided a place to discover the facts, and use them to form their own views.

Another day laborer said sometimes they go to a house to do work and when they finish, the person who picked them up doesn’t pay. He just tell them to leave and if they don’t, he threatens them. They say they will call immigration because the workers are undocumented.

“We don’t have an option but to leave,” he said.

Two of the laborers said there are not many other jobs or opportunities available to them. Many residents and business owners complain of the labor-ers hanging around the Home Depot parking lot. One business owner said he didn’t want him around because when a customer comes, they harass them and the costumers get scared and doesn’t want to come back.

The day laborers say they don’t want to scare people, they just stand outside Home depot because it is more popular than other stores and more contractors go there more often.

For most day laborers it doesn’t matter if it is hot or cold, they still stand outside Home Depot. One laborer said “When it rains we have to decide weather we stay or go because if we go home we don’t eat that day.”

Day laborers interviewed said they can earn $40 to $60 dollars a day, but if they are lucky enough, they can make at least $150.

Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Bernstein, known for his role in uncovering the Watergate scandals, examines the California High newspaper with editor in chief, Zhuchen Xu.

December 2008 CC Spin

News2

By ANCA ULEA

CaliforniaHigh

By IAN KERSTEN

AcalanesHighSchool

How many students sit in seventh period math class listen to a lecture on how to solve quadratic equations and wish that school were different? Superintendent Jim Negri thinks it is time we make some changes to the school system. He hates the term “traditional school.”

“When you say tradition [with respect to] schools, that often means doing things the same way we’ve done it for 200 years. I’m not a believer in that.”

The college track that students often feel wedded to is one of Negri’s greatest concerns. He feels that students who are not on this path are not being taught what they need to know. Negri would like to set up academies in addition to the regular high schools. Students would choose one of several academies based on the career they are hoping to pursue, and the classes they took would all be geared toward a specific career.

Students would still take subjects like science, English, and math, according to Negri, but teachers would focus on whatever the student’s specific ca-reer path was. Course content would be focused on advancing the student down a particular pathway. Upon graduation, students would be ready to go to college or start working right away.

One problem students now face is that there is a lot of outside pressure to get into college after high school.

“Too often the only definition of success in this district is that you’re accepted to a prestigious four year college,” said Negri.

Even if students were interested in going to one of Negri’s academies, many parents would undoubtedly still be concerned about the effects it would have on their child’s chances of getting into college. Parents would have to be convinced that their son or daughter could be successful going straight into a career. However, Negri argues, after an academy education, students would be prepared to go to college as well as joining the work force.

Another problem is money. Given the state’s deficit, which has soared into the billions of dollars, a change at this time could be too expensive. But it could prove to be feasible in the future. Among the reasons the new academies would be so expensive are that the curriculum would have to be changed, and teachers have to be provided with the proper training. They would have to be paid for teaching extra classes and you’d need a building with heat and electricity, and so on.

“If you don’t prepare teachers, it gets off the

To help prevent teen driving accidents and speeding, Ford Motor Co. will be releasing many 2010 models with a computer chip in the key that limits vehicles’ speed to 80 mph.

This new “MyKey” speed control feature will be included in all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models as they are updated, ac-cording to the San Ramon Valley Times.

This bold move has led to heated discussion between teens and parents.

Many teens are adamantly opposed to parental control of

New technology designed to keep students in slow lanespeed. Junior Geoff Holloway, who recently bought a used BMW, thinks the new feature is utterly ridiculous.

“I can’t believe that parents would have the audacity to invade their children’s privacy like that,” Holloway said of the new feature.

Holloway is not concerned with the speed limitation, but with the lack of trust exhibited through parental control of teen driving. “I enjoy knowing that my parents trust me and my good decision-making capabilities,” Holloway said.

But some teens think the “MyKey” feature is not a bad idea. Freshman Patrice Mardo thinks the speed-limiting feature offers

You walk into the gym and flick on the lights. It’s empty, yet you hear something scampering about. You look around, won-dering what the sound is. No sign anywhere. Pat pat . . . skitter skitter … there it is again! And then something gray and hairy runs across the floor. You freeze.

What could it be?A rat. That’s right, rats, cockroaches and other species of vermin

are invading Clayton Valley High School, and have been for the past several years.

“They’re everywhere,” said Mrs. Jennifer Arnold-Garcia, a physical education teacher at Clayton Valley, as she talks about her experiences with these little critters. There is rat poop in a gym closet, and mice running across the floor every now and then. A rat even made an appearance during Back To School Night!

“It’s gross,” commented. Kim Whitmore, another PE teacher at the school.

“There are two people to blame, said Derek Weinmann, a freshman, “the students for not throwing away trash, and the district for not paying for an exterminator.”

Now you may ask yourself, where are all the vermin com-ing from?

Nobody knows for sure why they have made Clayton Valley their home, but there are theories.

One is that because of the construction in Clayton through-out the years, the rats and cockroaches have gradually lost their homes and are in need of an easy, big, and accessible place to live. The school is large in size and has many crevices, pipes, and ceiling space to crawl into. They could live in there for several years without anybody knowing, if they didn’t have to come out for food every once in a while.

On the topic of food, that is another big factor in the vermin’s attraction to the school. People leave food everywhere – in-cluding wrappers and crumbs. The animals need food to live, so naturally the school is a good place for them to hang out. It has good places to hide and a variety of leftover food to choose from. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Now have no fear, fellow students, the rats do not mean any harm. They’ll make a quick appearance every now and then, but as long as you keep your cool, don’t scream, and ignore them, you will be fine.

Asked if the administration is aware of this infestation, Nancy Kahl, an office worker at Clayton Valley, said, “Yes, they are aware. The district is aware and they’ve sent out exterminators to help (fight) the problem. They’re coming back on a regular basis to check on it.” Has there been any progress? “Yes,” She replied, “There has been some progress.”

There doesn’t seem to be anything the students can do to help, except to try and clean up after brunch and lunch, and catch any wrappers or crumbs that can be thrown in the gar-bage. We’ll see a lot less of our little hairy friends if we clean up after ourselves.

CVHS’s secret (and disgusting) residents

By ALLIE ROBISON

ClaytonValleyHighSchool

Shaking up traditional schoolNegri proposes a radical change to education

ground poorly, and then it’s not that successful," Negri explained.

A final roadblock for his plan is time. To set up this kind of system would take a lot of it. It would take several years of working with the teachers, parents, and students. Negri estimated that it would take three to five years to get going.

Despite all this, students seem receptive to the idea. “I think that it would be really helpful, and I think that it would create a more accepting atmosphere towards alternative career paths,” said senior Jenny Reich.

The academies could take away some of the stigma associated with students who start working right out of high school because more students would be doing it and others would start to see it as a legitimate option.

One potential flaw with this plan is: How many high school students know exactly what they want to do with their lives?

“It could be a bad thing because a lot of kids don’t really know what they want to do when they grow up at this age,” said sophomore Erik Alsterlind.

Students could potentially go through this program and decide at the end that they don’t want to spend their lives at the career they’ve been preparing for. That is why it would be important to make sure that students going into these academies could still get in to college in case they change their mind.

Although the school board would ultimately make the decision on whether or not this change took place, the community would have some say in the matter. “You would never undertake this type of change without going out there and talking about it, and getting a lot of feedback” said Negri.

Current Acalanes students need not get too worried, or excited, about the academies. Students now in intermediate schools would be the first to have the potential opportunity to go to the new academies, so their parents would have to be educated on the system. Then, proposals would be sent for the governing board to look over, the board would study it, and the public would comment on it before it could be implemented.

Negri’s academies have the potential to make a very positive impact on our community. Students would be better trained in the skills of their chosen professions, and the academies could relieve stu-dents’ anxiety about having to get in to college.

Ultimately, the academies are intended to give students more than just one option. “We would have multiple paths so that a student can have any choice he or she wants at the end,” Negri said.

a good alternative to teens who wouldn’t get cars under any other circumstances.

“My parents really trust me to drive,” Mardo said. “But I think they’d feel reassured to know that I wouldn’t be speeding or driving recklessly.”

Complaints about the new feature getting in the way of safety in certain circumstances are also prevalent. Geoff’s father, Bruce Holloway, argued that in the case of an emergency, it could be necessary to exceed the speed limit for safety.

Behaviors that contribute to teen-related car accidents include inexperience, speeding, drinking and driving, not wear-ing seat belts, and driving while

distracted, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site.

By increasing parental in-volvement in teen driving, Ford hopes to reduce these behaviors and the number of accidents involving teens.

“Many accidents occur in city settings,” said school resource Of-ficer Rob Ransom. “I can’t think of any accidents I’ve seen that have had (speeds over 80 mph).”

In August, two Castro Val-ley graduates, Clark Wright and Sarah Streicher, died in a drag racing crash. Castro Valley High School sophomore Maja Harren, who was good friends with Clark, said he probably wouldn’t have crashed if he wasn’t speeding.

“Losing (Clark and Sarah) to this accident was tragic,” Harren said. “I think people should learn from this tragic event to drive safely in the speed limit.”

Drag racing generally in-volves two cars speeding along a straight road to a set finish line. It is especially dangerous at night because of reduced visibility. Some teens engage in drag rac-ing because they find it exciting without realizing the potential dangers.

“I think drag racing is OK when it’s on a track,” said senior Jenn Gee.

“But you need to be mature enough to handle yourself while driving. Racing on the streets is dangerous.”

MyKey

News 3December 2008CC Spin

Contra Costa teens meet journalism icons up close and personal

By ANDREW CHAPMAN

HeritageHighSchool Five Cal High girls were arrested last month after allegedly stealing more than $1,000 worth of iPods, cell phones, and cash from the girls’ locker room, police said.

The girls were arrested in the main office on Oct. 20, several hours after the second period theft was reported to school officials, according to campus resource officer Rob Ransom.

The incident is Cal High’s biggest theft this year and involved more than 10 victims, but it is not the only one reported since school began.

Freshman Molly Martin said she had her cell phone and $15 stolen from her backpack on Oct. 16.

Martin said she was working out in the weight room for soccer when the phone and cash were taken from her backpack, which was sitting outside her locker in the girls’ locker room.

“I was so mad that all of my money was taken and I thought I wasn’t going to get it back,” she said.

Martin said she had her money and cell phone returned on Oct. 20. Ransom could not confirm if that theft was related to the one that occurred four days later.

The thieves suspected in the Oct. 20 theft included girls from all grade levels, Assistant Principal Joy Brahmst said. The girls, many of whom had PE during second period, were identified after a stolen iPod from the locker room was used during class and confiscated by a teacher, school officials said.

The iPod was turned in to the front of-fice and identified by one of the victims, who had notified the school of the theft. The girl who was using the stolen iPod was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property, Ransom said.

The other four girls were eventually linked to the iPod theft and arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor petty theft, Ransom said.

This is the first arrest for all five girls, Ran-som said. Along with restitution to the victims, Ransom said the girls could receive probation and community service for their punishment if found guilty.

Brahmst said that some of the motive behind the thefts appears to be the desire to sell stolen items. She said students’ desire to cause disruption could possibly be another motive.

Thefts are a recurring problem at Cal, primarily in the locker rooms where items are commonly left in backpacks outside of lock-ers. Last year, major thefts of the band room and boys’ locker room were reported early in the school year.

In one of the thefts that occurred in September, about $700 in cash, iPods and cell phones were stolen from the band room during a home football game. The most com-mon items stolen in last year’s thefts were cell phones and iPods.

In February 2006, two girls were caught with more than $1,000 worth of iPods, cell phones, credit cards and wallets they had stolen from the locker room. The girls were not arrested but punished by the school.

Ransom urges students to avoid bringing valuable objects to school because there is too high of a risk of having them stolen.

“If expensive items are brought to school, make sure they are secured in a place that is safe,” said Ransom. “Keep them in your pocket or in a locked locker so other students can’t take them easily.”

Crucial to their successful coverage, Woodward and Bernstein said, were valiant editors, extensive fact checking, and Katharine Graham – the Post’s publisher – who unequivocally supported the two young reporters.

It’s not the same anymore, Bernstein lamented. Today, he said, “we cover what will make the 6 o’clock news and wreak all kinds of havoc instead of illuminating the truth, what’s important.”

But both Woodward and Bernstein are optimis-tic that hard-hitting journalism – in print, on TV, or on the Internet – will always have an important role in society. After all, Bernstein said, even as Congress turned a deaf ear, the press called out Bush for his deceptive statements concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina.

At the reception, Bernstein said that his advice for budding journalists, on dealing with deception, was: “Check it out.” He urged young reporters to be weary of deceitful language, especially in a time when people often do not mean what they say. “It’s not just politicians, it’s everybody,” Bernstein said. Everybody is hiding something, and it’s up to the new generation of reporters to dig up truth.

The up-and-comers have their work cut out for them, according to Woodward. During a din-ner with former Vice President Al Gore, Woodward said, he asked Gore to estimate how much of the government’s inner workings the media was able to uncover. “About one percent,” was the answer. Well, what if you wrote a tell-all book about the admin-istration, Woodward asked Gore, what would the percentage be? “Two percent,” was the answer.

On occasion, journalists like Woodward and Bernstein defy the percentages and strike to the heart of the truth. The mission remains the same today, Bernstein said.

You could almost hear dozens of young jour-

From WOODWARD, BERNSTEIN Page1

“It’s a very good way to give students a one-stop shopping place for information about the candidates and propositions, where they can then look at different choices for where to go with that informa-tion,” said Acalanes history instructor Joseph Schottland.

While all students and staff were allowed to vote, the senior government classes were particularly involved in the program be-cause of their classroom’s focus on the election.

“Not only did students use this, but a lot of teachers did as well. I know that a lot of teachers used it in the classroom and it sparked some really great discussions,” said Mulholland.

The results of the AHS Votes election were somewhat different from the actual results in California, but many students expected that.

“I wasn’t surprised that the results turned out a little different. I feel like we are a very liberal school and we live in a very liberal area of California, and the results of the election showed that,” said junior Shannon Schumacher.

Barack Obama won the presidential election in both AHS Votes and the nation. While 53 percent voted for him nationally, an astound-ing 77.4 percent of the AHS Votes participants preferred Obama.

The ballot consisted of many hot topics, including Proposition 8, which proposed a ban on same sex marriage. While it passed in California, 79.8 percent of voters participating in the AHS Votes program voted no on the proposition. Many Acalanes students strongly opposed this measure, including members of the school’s strong Gay Straight Alliance.

“The results show that we have a really tolerant campus, and it obviously shows that people want equality for everyone under the law. I hope it shows that the GSA really influenced the student body through their work campaigning for No on 8,” said senior Alannah Macintyre, president of Acalanes’ Gay Straight Alliance.

Acalanes voters agreed with the statewide electorate on Prop. 4, the proposal requiring parental notification before a minor could receive an abortion. It was approved neither at Acalanes nor in the state, although the margins of defeat differed greatly. Some 79 percent of Acalanes voters were against the proposition, while only 52.4 percent of California voters felt the same way. A total of 827 student and staff voted, approximately 58 percent of the school.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are two of the greatest icons in United States history. Despite this, many students probably don’t know them by name. We would be lucky if they knew them as “those Watergate guys.” Yet hope is not lost, for the power of journalism is bringing this knowledge to the youth.

I must admit I was one of those ignorant teenagers who, though he knew of the Water-gate scandal, knew little of the reporters who discovered it. I would have stayed in this state of complete obliviousness had it not been for my offhanded choice of journalism as an elec-tive. Being a senior, journalism seemed like the optional choice for a laid back elective where I could catch some shut eye. I was completely and pleasantly contradicted.

The class is a rigorous one where the small amount of assignments preached quality over quantity. Simply turning in homework was no guarantee of a perfect score. This worked to the class’s benefit as I had to learn to work harder and manage my time in my other classes to keep competitive grades for those colleges who stand outside, laughing at my feeble attempts to join their ranks.

In the midst of this class, we learned of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Through inves-tigative journalism, they revealed to America one of the biggest and most diabolical abuses of power ever recorded in our nation’s history. They discovered that men connected to Nixon had bugged the Democratic Party’s office. As a stu-dent, I was in awe at the power journalism had to change the world. Then I had the chance to meet the two people who put that power to good use.

At a rare event, both Woodward and Bernstein united together and spoke about Watergate, poli-tics and the media itself. I shook hands with them and joyously listened to them speak.

The most important thing I learned from them was not that they supported Obama or that the media concentrates too much on the bad rather

than the good. The most important thing I learned was that they were com-pletely normal people.

These were not superheroes with cleft chins and chiseled muscles who reported for the good of mankind. These were not superspies who wore all black and had fancy gadgets that let them catch the big scoop.

These were completely normal members of society who proved that as long as you are determined and stick to what you believe, you can accomplish any-thing. They demonstrated that anyone who does their job well can make a name for themselves.

Woodward, Bernstein

FAMED REPORTER Bob Woodward

Photo courtesy of CSJI

By JORDAN HUNG

CaliforniaHighSchool

Female theft ring busted at Cal High

From Page3

Obama sweeps mock vote

Got change?opinion

CC Spin is printed by the Contra Costa Times but all copy, photos, art and other con-tents are written, photographed, drawn or produced by students at twelve Contra Costa public high schools. Story development is supervised by the journalism advisers at the participating schools. Professional journalists coach the students and guide their reporting and writing. Staff members of the Contra Costa Times instruct participating students in professional journalism standards and practices.

CC Spin is a product of the collaboration of The Lesher Foundation, the Y & H Soda Foundation, the Contra Costa Times, the Contra Costa County Office of Education, and the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative.

All opinions expressed in CC Spin are the views of the student authors and do not rep-resent the opinion of the Contra Costa Times, any school, district or county educational authority, or the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative.

CC Spin is a product of student journalists and is guided by the strictures of The First Amendment, the ethics guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists and California Education Code sections 45907 and 48950.

Facilitators

Kevin Keane Executive Editor, Contra Costa Times Vice President, California Newspapers Partnership

Kathleen Odne Executive Director Lesher Foundation

Peggy Marshburn Chief Communications Officer Contra Costa County Office of Education

Steve O’Donoghue California Scholastic Journalism Initiative Coordinator

Carol Pogash Jim Finefrock Writing Coaches

CC SpinFaculty Advisers

Larry Freeman,Acalanes High School

Kaki LoganAlhambra High School

Brian BarrCalifornia High School

Hosay Jamili Clayton Valley High School

Diana CamachoHeritage High School

Natalie WojinskiHercules Middle High School

Sarah MosalliMonteVistaHS

December 2008 CC Spin

4

csji@comcast.net

Have an opinion?Want to contribute?Want to comment?

Great hopes for President-elect Obama

Emelie GunnisonLas Lomas High School

Becky BelliniMonte Vista High School

Karen JenkinsNorthgate High School

Rick PylePittsburg High School

Teresa BoardmanRichmond High School

Jason HaleyYgnacio Valley High School

Americans turned out in huge numbers on elec-tion day to vote for the next president of the United States of America. All across this nation, people ar-rived early at polling stations and continued to come until the polls closed.

In one of the most historic and important elec-tions in American history, Barack Obama defeated John McCain by an electoral vote of 365 to 173. For the first time ever, an African American is the presi-dent-elect of the United States. Although this is notable, the most important thing to come out of election night was the selection of a man who could end up becoming one of America’s greatest presi-dents.

The stage is set up perfectly for Obama, who will lead a nation facing a bevy of problems. The econo-my has fallen sharply, the war in Iraq continues and, possibly worst of all, many Americans have begun to distrust their own government. These problems have spiraled out of control, and this country is facing some of its most important months.

Enter Obama. This is a man whose plans are set. The president elect knows what he needs to do. After originally voting to keep U.S. troops out of Iraq, he now has plans to take all troops out of Iraq by the year 2010. He also plans to give tax cuts to

As a freshman journalist two years ago, I wrote a feature story about Illinois Senator Barack Obama and his pursuit of becoming the 44th President of the United States. People thought as early as then that Obama would become our president.

Then, on Nov. 4, 2008 at 8 p.m. PST, with a huge electoral margin, Obama was proclaimed the next President of the United States. People celebrated as close as Oakland and Los Angeles and as far away as New York and Kenya, where the day was proclaimed a national holiday.

“I’m pretty happy, because for the first time we do have a black President, and be-cause he can level with other minori-ties,” says Pittsburg High senior Anna Tiglao. One thing that was equally historic as Obama’s race for President was the speech he gave afterwards. “It really got me hyped up,” commented Pittsburg High junior Kyle Calica. “I can’t wait until I can tell younger generations where I was and how I felt when I heard Obama’s speech.”

Many people were in fact moved by Obama‘s speech, and a bit of class was shown when the heav-ily Democratic audience applauded at the mention

of McCain, instead of booing like a bunch of rowdy sports fans disagreeing with a referee’s penalty.

“It’s been a long time coming” said Pittsburg High art teacher Virginia Arellano, when asked how she felt about the change that is taking place in American politics. It has been a long time coming and it was also unexpected. Back when I wrote the article on the Illinois senator, it was rare that I would find a student who actually knew what I was talking about. Most of them had never heard of Obama. Others who did know of him felt that Democratic party wouldn’t nominate him over the experienced Hillary Clinton.

Nonetheless he was elected and as Annette Natt, Pittsburg High cheer leading coach, would say, “Now comes the time for America to re-ally support him.”

Obama will be the first Afri-can American President. “People tend to forget who the first Catho-lic President was (JFK) and how people believed because of his reli-

gious belief he wasn’t fit to run a country founded by Protestants” said Pittsburg High World History teacher Arthur Pryun.

By Demnlus Johnson III, Pittsburg High School

working class and middle class families and senior citizens, which would greatly help to shore up our economy.

Both of these actions should help America dig itself out of the ditch by providing extra help to many citizens. The older people of this nation will be able to live more comfortably because they feel more secure about their money, and the jobless will be able to get more financial help until they get back up on their feet.

Another important issue Americans face is a lack of inexpensive and effective health care. Well, Obama has a plan in place for that too.

Along with his Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Obama has proposed a plan that will give Ameri-cans a choice. If people like their current health care provider, they can stay with it while saving money. But if they don’t have health care, then they can take advantage of new, more inexpensive systems offered by the government.

If all of the above plans succeed, America will be at a new Golden Age. We will be at peace, have extra money, and be a healthier nation.

By Daniel Rubens , Las Lomas High School

From the day Monte Vista students become fresh meat at the school, they are bombarded with one certain piece

of news by their fellow upperclassmen: San Ramon Valley High is the arch-nemesis.

These freshmen are taught to live up to the title of a true Mustang, as San Ramon is taught to embrace their inner wolf. So forth come the over-the-top heated battles that forever hold the traditional rivalry, which must never be questioned. But is all this hoopla getting in the way of a sister school that Monte Vista could learn from and grow

with?Sure, friendly competition

is fun, as all MV students would agree that the rivalry football game against San Ramon is the most looked forward to sporting event of the year. Yet, the ten-dency of these games to become too chaotic and bloodthirsty is quite frequent. There is a fine

line between “all fun and games” and “downright dirty.”

“I think that we consider San Ramon our rival because they are in the same district as us and we want to be the ‘real’ team of the district,” senior Shivarni Patel said.

Although San Ramon is Monte Vista’s oppo-nent sport-wise, some students believe the rivalry outside of sports does not exist.

“Probably like 75 percent of students at Monte Vista are friends with people at San Ramon. It’s only an intense rivalry within the sports area,” senior Iris Wong said.

But there still is the typical buzz that floats around the campus of both schools that one school is cattier than the other. Monte Vista very frequently has been titled the “rich snobby school” by one too many. But is there really that much of a variation when it comes to the students’ personalities since the schools are 2.88 miles apart? If one school is characterized by a certain trait, then unquestion-ably the other one should be, too.

“There’s really no way we can be that different from each other, just like how we’re not that different from Cal (High) either.” Senior Katie Davison said. “People exaggerate these stereotypes too much.”

Neither San Ramon or Monte Vista has thought about having activities where students from both schools are joined together, such as having dances or sporting events where members are merged as one rather than pitted against one another. As hard as it may be to believe, this rivalry once never existed.

All this excessive enmity and negative energy needs to be put elsewhere. There’s no need for name-calling or resentment. After all, there’s no MV or SR in rivalry.

Rivalry

Viewpoints 5

Torching free speech in name of toleranceDecember 2008CC Spin

Jenna StelznerClaytonValley

Too much love

I’m tired of going to school dances only to see my peers having fun and, worst of all, dancing. Unfor-tunately, this is not about to change anytime soon.

According to the new school handbook, the dance policy now states, “Students must dance in a safe and appropriate manner. Demeaning or sexually explicit dancing, groping, fondling, bending over, lap dancing, floor break dancing, and moshing are not accept-able.”

Clearly, Cal High plans on continuing its lax policy on school dances for another year. The school needs to truly lay down the law at these “dances”. Stricter rules must be enforced to ensure that there is no inappropriate behavior whatsoever. Students shouldn’t be able to touch any of the other students. It always starts off with an innocent brush of the shoulder or an ac-

cidental rub of the hips. Then they’re all bending over and floor break dancing. Human touch is noth-ing but a catalyst for inappropriate behavior and therefore should be removed from dances entirely.

Teenagers can easily undress their peers with their eyes, so students also shouldn’t be allowed to look at each other. If two teens’ eyes are to meet, there’s a chance they will fall in love. That’s

Griffin LewisCaliforniaHS

Dances are a drag

csji@comcast.net

Want to support the First Amendment in the schools? E-mail us at:

I love you–those three little words that have seem to lost all meaning. As I walked down the hallway, a certain conversation drew my attention.

“I love you,” the girl said“I love you, too” replied the boy.But wait, haven’t they only been going out

for two weeks? How can someone possibly be “in love” after only being with someone for that long? Teenagers nowadays toss around the phrase “I love you” like they say hello or goodbye. Maybe they are just getting their feelings of “love” confused with infatuation. But what they don’t know is, to different people “I love you” means different things.

In relationships, saying “I love you” is a powerful thing. It can really change the whole dynamic of the relationship. Saying “I love you” too soon can cause the break-up to be a lot worse and a lot more dramatic. You will hear the common line, “I don’t get why he dumped me, he told me he loved me!” Or the

other way around. Some couples think saying “I love you” is necessary, and that without an “I love you” the other person won’t know how much you truly care about them. While others just say it because it sounds right when you hang up the phone, or when you have just had your first kiss with that person.

Sometimes when a guy says “I love you” and a girl says it, it could end up hav-ing two totally different mean-ings. Sometimes when a guy says I love you, he just says it because

he thinks it’s what the girl wants to hear. Or the guy says it because he thinks that if the

girl loves him back, he will be able to get some ac-tion from her. When asked, Floyd Williams, a ninth grader at Clayton Valley High School, said, “As long as the girl is putting out she can tell me she loves me or whatever.”

But for girls, having a guy say “I love you” has a very different effect. When a girl hears “I love you,” she thinks the guy really is in love with her and that now the relationship is much deeper. Girls never think of the negatives because they want to believe the guy.

So, when people say “I love you,” is there really strong meaning behind it, or is it just a phrase they use? “I love you” used to be said when people deeply cared about each other.

“Having love for someone and being in love with them are two very different things,” said Katiana Garcia a ninth grader at Clayton Valley.

Being “in love” isn’t something that just hap-pens; it is more of a long- term thing that builds up as two people grow together. Love can be something like a love for a sport, TV show, book, etc. If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend and you like each other, that’s good, but don’t be so quick to make things too serious. Your relationship will be just as loving and fun if you save those three little words.

So next time you have strong feelings toward someone think about how you really feel before you say something. Is it really love or just infatuation?

"Degrading, racial, ethnic, homophobic, sexist or other hateful remarks ARE NOT acceptable here"–from a sign posted in every Acalanes High School class-room.

Acalanes High School administration has de-clared the creation of a climate of tolerance to be one of its top priorities, and this sign is

only one of its many tools.To a large extent, the school seems to be achiev-

ing its goals. Although Acalanes certainly is not perfectly tolerant, the slew of tolerance workshops, diversity weeks and anti-hate regulations have gone a long way toward establishing a safe, pleasant and discrimination-free learning environment. Sadly, this has come at a high cost.

In attempts to create a climate of tolerance at Acalanes, we have promoted certain types of diversity at the expense of others, and in doing so, we have given up an essential component of educa-tion.

This commentary is not an attack on the pro-moters of tolerance. Their motives are noble, and the problems they address are real. Even at a liberal and accepting school such as Acalanes, intoler-ance deeply hurts many people. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination represent dangerous and highly undesirable tears in the moral fabric of any society (or any microcosm of society such as our high school).

Unfortunately, in the pursuit of a commendable goal, promoters have attempted to silence oppos-ing viewpoints and done much to stifle reasonable debate. Too many students at Acalanes have made it clear that they will respect all forms of diversity - except diversity of belief. They will tolerate all people - except those who disagree with them.

The controversy surrounding Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage on the November ballot, illustrates this perfectly. The results of the Acalanes High School Votes project revealed that 20 percent of Acalanes students and faculty - roughly 280 individuals - supported Prop. 8. Only a few of these people, however, publicly expressed their views.

Although certainly not all of these individuals shared the activist zeal of the Gay Straight Alliance

members, who plastered the school with No on 8 signs, there is no doubt that some refrained from stating their beliefs for the same reason that sev-eral school newspaper reporters agreed to write a Yes on 8 article only on condition of anonymity, lest they be branded as homophobes.

The writers were deterred not so much by the student planner's threat that any language construed as hateful would be "disciplined to the fullest extent of school policy " but by fear of social lynching by a rabidly "tolerant" faction of the student body.

Those who believe these fears are baseless should consider this anecdote: Before the election, a group of demonstrators held a Yes on Prop. 8 rally on a Highway 24 overpass. The fact that this group contained small children did not prevent a number of Acalanes students from screaming obscenities at them as the students traveled down the freeway. Some teenagers even drove onto the overpass to further verbally abuse the Prop. 8 sup-porters. It did not matter that these demonstrators had not said or displayed anything homophobic.

In our attempts to create a pleasant learning environment, we have veered from our drive for an educational environment in which beliefs are debated, assumptions questioned and original thoughts developed.

Dealing with challenges to one's belief system is undeniably stimulating and educational. For instance, I personally am offended by the assertion that same-sex marriage is the first step on a road that leads to people marrying animals. But it is in arguing against that view I am forced to actually consider and articulate the difference. It forces me to defend and re-evaluate my beliefs, and leaves me a better informed person.

Those who claim to champion tolerance and diversity need to hold themselves to a higher standard. They need to remember they hold no monopoly on the truth, and that indoctrination is never better than the free flow of ideas. Ultimately, those who preach tolerance need to lead by ex-ample.

David McDiarmid, Acalanes High School

something we must stop at all costs. Participants should be forced to look down at their feet the entire dance, or if they choose, wear a blindfold. Other dancing styles that should be prohibited include disco, jive, crumping, thizzing, opping, locking, belly dancing, Austrian folk dancing and flying men dancing. Any up, down, left, right, backwards or for-wards motion that a teen makes should be interpreted as demeaning and explicit.

Only dances from Jane Austen novels will be toler-ated.

Safety is another important issue. To prevent any potential dancing casualties, all students will be pro-vided mandatory, standard-issue helmets, knee pads and elbow pads. These will be sold at the door for $15 ($10 with Associated Student Body card).

Additionally, the dance floor should be constructed of Tempur-pedic mattresses and all sharp edges should be felted over. The dance should begin promptly at 7 p.m. and end at 7:30 p.m. That way, teens can be driven safely home by their parents, brush their teeth, and be in bed by 8 p.m.

With these simple rules, teenage shenanigans will be terminated and the sanctity of the high school dance will be preserved.

Griffin Lewis, California High School

When people say “I love you,” is there re-ally strong meaning behind it, or is it just a phrase they use?

FeaturesDecember 2008 CC Spin

6

Fencer targets OlympicsBy COLLEEN LILIG

CaliforniaHighSchool

The O.C., Gossip Girl, 90210, and Privileged: whether they’re guilty pleasures or open addictions, a majority of teenage girls (and

boys) are tuning into these shows. Despite having different themes and story lines, these shows are widely popular because of one universal theme: rich high school students.

They drive top of the line cars, wear designer clothes, have lavish parties on weekdays, and never seem to actually go to class. There is no homework or parental regulation, and everyone begins drinking martinis at age 14. They look perfectly put together, never repeat an outfit, and are accepted into Ivy League colleges with ease. The characters of these TV shows lead fantasy lives that the average teen-ager can enjoy being a part of once a week.

The appeal of watching TV shows about the wealthy is nothing new. The fad started in the early 1990's with Beverly Hills 90210; this generation, however, has become more money obsessed and interested in the rich than their predecessors. The love of watching teenagers lead luxurious lives has even carried over into reality TV with shows such as My Super Sweet Sixteen and The Hills.

Only a very small percentage of teenagers actu-ally have the kind of money portrayed on television. The reality for the average teenager is much more

The highly anticipated Twi-light movie is causing mass hysteria in teenage girls (and a few boys) who have become captivated by the story’s power-ful romance and genius plot. But frankly I’m more anxious than enthusiastic.

Most people (girls gener-ally) are in agreement that the Twilight novels are enchanting. Anyone who has read them can agree that it’s an addicting series that has turned countless teen-age girls into bookworms. And for that, above the page turning plot of the books, I respect Ste-phenie Meyer for creating a work of literature that unexpectedly led to a new form of pop culture and an influx of teenage read-ing.

However, with all the agreed upon praise for Meyer’s writing aside, when it comes to the up-coming movie, I have my doubts and fears as to how the cherished story will be translated into a film. For many fans, the images of the characters and situations, such as the parking lot, meadow, and ballet studio scenes, have been created in their minds; and many are reluctant to see a new view of the story that may differ from their past thoughts.

The book is told through Bella’s eyes, which gives the reader a detailed image of Ed-ward, Bella’s lover, and virtually no information about Bella’s ap-pearance. Many think that this was a device to make any girl picture herself as Bella.

“I’m not watching the Twi-

Cal High Senior Jarad Ringener is fighting his way to the top of his competition with only a sword and a narrow strip on which to battle. Ringener may have the potential to represent the United States of America in a future Olympic games through the art of fencing.

He has been fencing for seven years and com-petes all over California, working to master his form of weaponry, the saber.

There are three weapon forms with which fenc-ers can compete: foil, epee, and saber. Each has its unique structure, special rules and characteristics that need to be recognized.

The saber is the most aggressive type of fenc-ing. Saber swords have curved tips, unlike the other two types that have a balled point at the tip. Saber matches are quicker and fiercer than the other fencing types, which is why Ringener likes it so much.

“When I was a little kid I used to pick up sticks and beat up trees, so sword fighting definitely interested me right away,” said Ringener.

In saber, there is metal woven into the fenc-ing uniform. When the blade makes contact with the metal a circuit is opened sending a signal to a machine that flashes when there is a hit.

There are six skill levels in fencing, with A be-ing the highest level and U the lowest. Ringener is ranked C, but he competes against A and B ranked fencers in almost all of his tournaments.

It takes a lot of work to compete at such a high level in fencing. Ringener’s coach, Erick Momburgh, a former Olympic fencer, provides him with work-outs that not only train his sword technique, but his agility and endurance as well.

“My coach constantly pushes me to get in better shape no matter what level I’m at,” Ringener said. He runs 17 laps around the track at his fencing club before practice and then proceeds to do drills that work on his blocking, attacking and overall hand eye coordination. He works on his agility by doing sprints up and down the strip, the long narrow pad in which all fencing matches are held.

The training for fencing is difficult and time consuming, but Ringener is inspired by his coach and his father, James Ringener. “My coach is so good, I still can’t beat him,” Ringener said. “In a 15-touch

match he beats me 12-3.”It is this level of excellence Ringener strives

to reach through his hours of practice and com-peting. James Ringener used to participate in Middle Age war reenactments with 16-gage armor, wooden swords, and over 500 people in each war imitation. “My dad is a real knight,” Jared Ringener said. Through these reenactments he became familiar with archery and sword fighting.

“His fencing has had so much of an impact on me that I now coach,” said Ringener. “I even go to Olympic coaching sessions to learn more.”

Ringener also has a fan club, including his grandmother, Nora Ringener.

“Jarad loves the sport so much, he has the passion to take it as far as he can and succeed,” Nora Ringener said. “He has so many other obligations with school and be-coming an Eagle Scout that have held him back somewhat in fencing, but with his passion I k n o w he’ll get h i s

chance.”

Ringener’s support and willingness to work hard spill over into his academic life. He’s hoping to receive a scholarship to Stanford University, which has a great fencing program.

“He’s very good,” senior Kraig Whitney said. “I don’t know much about fencing, but I’ve seen him fence and can see he enjoys it a lot.”

Fantasy novel risks poor film translation

By CHRISTINA LAVINGIA

MonteVistaHighSchool

light movie because I have a distinct picture of Edward in my mind and I don’t want to see anyone else’s image and idea. I’m afraid that seeing the movie will change the way I’ve seen the books for all these years,” junior Taylor Butler said.

Technically, Twilight is a fantasy novel, but it’s so different from what we view as fantasy – Eragon, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, because of its heavy focus on romance (which mainly made girls fall for the series). Because of this, more than any other reason, fans are afraid that the Twilight movie will ruin their mental image of the story.

“I love the series immensely but when I see clips of the film it all just looks so awkward and weird to me. The way they portray the story seems so dif-ferent from the book,” said junior Corinne Cooper.

“It’s impossible to make a movie based on a book of as great a fan base as Twilight without having some dissent. Not ev-eryone will be happy about the outcome but I’m fairly optimistic that it will be done well,” junior Paige Peabody said.

I’m sure, despite my anx-ious anticipation, that I’ll end up seeing the film on opening night as so many fans around the world will. I’ll emerge from the theater happy about some scenes, pleased with the casting, annoyed by some mannerisms, and possibly thrown off by the dialogue.

I’m just hoping the movie doesn’t distort my long-held view of the story as well as my respect and admiration for it.

By LYNDA MANTLEMonteVistaHighSchool

Fabulous life of the American teenagerbleak. Endless amounts of homework, after school jobs and sports, curfews, and parental supervision are just a few stresses high school students deal with on a daily basis. Diving into a world where problems revolve around who’s hooking up with whom and who stole whose outfit is a necessary mindless distraction.

“I love watching shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 because I know even though they’re far-stretched, it’s still fun to get caught up in their scandal,” said senior Manny Razzouk.

Although these shows have an enormous fan base, there is also much dislike for them. Some teenagers don’t like the way their generation is portrayed as materialistic and self absorbed. Also, the actors playing these roles are often in their twenties and look older than the normal teenager. This unrealistic portrayal of teenage life has upset some Monte Vista students.

“These kinds of shows make it seem like we are all shallow and party all of the time, and gives us a bad reputation we don’t deserve,” senior Amanda Ransdell said.

Television shows are not taking responsibility for the affects they have on their viewers, who can blur the lines between reality and fiction. Some girls idolize and mimic characters like Marissa Cooper and Blair Waldorf. Wanting to be as thin as the characters some suffer from eating disorders, others who want to buy designer clothes have credit card debt and

some girls participate in vicious cat fights thinking that’s the social norm.

Watching shows about rich teenagers shop-ping, partying, and being driven around by personal drivers is an exciting separation from the dullness of everyday life. Partaking in the luxurious lives of characters of these shows is a good distraction, as long as fantasy and reality don’t mix. That is, leave the cat fights and constant drama on the TV screen at home.

The appeal of watching shows about the wealthy is not new. The fad started in the early '90's with Beverly Hills 90210

Gossip Girl: The Carlyles

Viewpoints 7December 2008CC Spin

'Doing school' may be doing you inBy HELEN WANG

AcalanesHighSchool

Natasha Marks came back from Germany last January with new friends, an unforgettable experience, and the tendency to mix up the order of her sentences. Marks, 17, spent sixth

months in Tubingen—a town in Southern Germany—through the AYUSA International foreign exchange program. In her place Radost Holler stayed with Marks’ family and attended Monte Vista, while Marks stayed with Holler’s family in Germany

“I didn’t speak any German when I got there,” Marks said, describing the difficulty of her first couple weeks.

Her only knowledge of the German language and culture came from German one and German two at Monte Vista, hardly enough to even carry on a conversation; but by the end of her stay in Tubingen, Marks was fluent in German.

With school all-year round in Tubingen, Marks was thrown quickly into her new high school. Not knowing anyone, Marks had to initiate conversation and introduce herself to classmates. Fortunately English was part of the curriculum, enabling her to communicate with the students and teachers at the high school—known in Germany as the Gymnasium—she attended.

Her school was one of three Gymnasiums in the area, all of which had a combined total of only 1,000 students. Marks biked or rode the bus to school, which was the norm among the students there.

“It’s nothing like all the cars parked around Monte Vista. You can’t even get your license there until you’re 18,” Marks said.

Classes were formatted to a very specific block schedule, where the length of each subject depended on its importance. Ranging from 45 minutes to 1-½ hours long, Marks took 12 classes on a regular basis including French, German, English, biology, chemistry, physics, religion and ethics.

Being an American in Germany posed some difficulty for Marks, who quickly learned the impression her American status would make in Europe. Telling people that she was from America earned her a quiet scoff, while introducing herself as a Californian got her a warm reception.

“If you said you were California, they imagined the sort of thing you see on the O.C.,” Marks said.

Afternoons and nights were filled with new social experiences for Marks. Unlike her home in Danville, the weekends were not the most popular days to go out with friends. Instead Tuesday, Thursdays, and Fridays were the busiest nights for her. The activi-ties undergone by teenagers in their free time greatly varied from those of teenagers in Danville. Although Marks continued to play soccer and take pictures in her spare time, the social scene was greatly varied.

“Instead of going to a friend’s house, or out to dinner, we’d go to a bar, or a club in the evenings,” Marks said.

In addition to the friendships and connections Marks made in Germany, she also learned important lessons about taking care of herself, and adapting to a new country. Marks refused to be visited by her parents, proclaiming that her time in Germany was a time for her to grow and learn about herself and her abili-ties. She needed to be by herself for that. Marks bought all of the groceries and other general necessities, purchasing a bus pass when the roads became too icy to bike on.

“The hardest part was getting sick without my parents,” said Marks. “It’s not something you’re used to when you live at home.”

Independence in a foreign country may have given Marks a bit of a head start on seniors soon to be attending university or college. Although she still has a lot to learn about living outside of parental control, the foreign exchange in Germany was a big stepping-stone. Marks plans to visit Germany again soon, and hopes she will be able to study abroad there during university.

Keeping one hand obstinately jammed in the back of the algebra book, you thank goodness the odd-numbered problems have solutions

in the back, and cross your fingers in hopes of a streak of odd numbers. After flicking your eyes at the clock once for kicks and twice for a reality check, you jot down some chicken scratch that miraculously leads you to x=2.3.

The wriggling common sense and vague unease lurking in the back of your mind tell you that you have yet to actually learn the material, but the dutiful clock informs you that you’re run-ning on five hours of sleep and have midnight oil to burn, possibly even three-quarters-of-the-night oil to burn.

You’ve hit the point where the practicality of devoting yourself to learning matches the likeli-hood of winning a Pulitzer Prize for the essay due tomorrow that you have yet to write. You’re “doing school”—doing what it takes to achieve a desirable grade but sacrificing the experience of learning in the process of excelling in every area possible.

As suggested by the title of her book (Doing School: How We Are creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students), Dr. Denise Clark Pope believes students’ habit of merely “doing school” is becoming more problematic as well as more prevalent. She is cofounder of Chal-lenge Success (an expanded version of the Stanford University Stressed-Out Students Project).

“Doing school is when instead of really en-gaging in the material, learning the material, or completely understanding the material, you are just going through the motions like a robot, page by page, to get it done,” Pope said. “Sometimes you copy, sometimes you cut corners, you’ll read the Cliffsnotes, or you’ll copy someone else’s notes. There’s really not this sense that you’re there (at school) to learn as much as to get the grade.”

Students who “do school” aren’t too difficult to spot.

They are students “who sell their soul, don’t enjoy any moment, don’t really engage in an activity, but just hit those benchmarks to build the resume to get into what they might see as a prestigious college,” said Acalanes Principal John Nickerson.

Parent Stephanie Bontemps cites parents and Lafayette’s competitive environment as causes for students to work themselves into the habit of doing school:

“One (cause) is parental pressure for sure. Parents are, particularly in this community, very keen to see their children do well in school so that they have the most opportunities available to them down the road. The second thing that contributes to (doing school) is that kids are well aware of how competitive it is (to get into a) better college, so some of them really do it to themselves. Those two forces together make it so that ‘doing school’ can come up.”

Junior Erika Winkler thinks parents believe that learning is secondary to the appearance of learn-ing displayed on her report card according to her

parents: “What I bring home on the report card (is more important to my parents), definitely.”

Students’ motivation to get into college and the increasing competition have affected students’ habits.

“It’s so much more competitive now to get into good universities. Students are much more focused and much more serious about their grades generally than when I was in school,” said Stepha-nie Bontemps, mother of Acalanes junior Andrew Bontemps.

We can’t forget that students are often to blame for their own loss of interest. Acalanes students especially feel they place the strain on themselves, doing as much as possible in order to achieve – or at least so that their transcript cries of accomplish-ment and achievement.

Junior Andrew Bontemps feels that the pres-sure he encounters is a hybrid of parent-induced and self-imposed stress: (There’s stress) from my parents, and some is also me wanting to get into a good college.”

Some find high school difficult to embrace while simultaneously supporting a course load that would make Atlas’ knees quiver.

Naranyan, enrolled in three honors or AP courses among seven college prep classes, doesn’t feel that school is a place to learn, but a place “to study.”

“I like learning. Then again, the grade is also really important. The grade takes precedence [over genuine interest]. Always,” said Naranyan.

“Doing school” has other consequences, too."People are cheating. You start to wonder

whether the idea is to get a good grade or to learn something,” said school librarian Karen Findlay and co-creator of the school district’s academic honesty tests.

In order to perform well on tests, students cram information like Lego blocks into their brains the night before a test. However, this could be one of the causes contributing to students’ mediocre learning habits.

“I taught U.S. history and I taught government. I could ask students in government questions about stuff we had talked about the year before, and it was totally gone because they learned it for the test,” said Acalanes Union High School District Superintendent Jim Negri.

That can have long-term effects. There are “employers complaining that they’re getting new employees that are not engaged workers, but are just trying to get the task done to get to the next level. I think it’s just kind of a social phenomenon,” said Nickerson.

One solution could simply be taking a step back and look at students’ genuine interests.

“He (my son) is so excited about the classes he’s taking this year, and he’s doing well in them. I really attribute his doing well to his excitement about the learning and really wanting to learn it rather than just doing it for a grade,” said Bontemps.

Perhaps it’s time to pull our hands out of math books’ answer keys and our eyes from our Cliffs-notes. We may be “doing school,” but what are we doing to ourselves?

A German lifestyle–High school in Tubingen

By SHAZIA MARJI

MonteVistaHighSchool

Thinking about numbersUniversity of California in-state tuition fees, 2008-9: $8932Per inmate prison spending, per year, 2005: $34,150K-12 school spending per pupil, 2005-6: $8,486Temporary assistance to the needy, monthly, family of 3: $704Correctional officers' annual wages, median: $65,890Elementary school teachers' annual wages, median: $57,220State high spending, per capita, 2006: $290.41California state tax collection, per capita, 2007: $3140.62

Extrapolated from The Sacramento Bee, A3, Dec. 8, 2008

Back Page8CC SpinDecember 2008

By CHRISTINA LAVINGIA

MonteVistaHighSchool

Monte Vista’s newest exchange student, junior Bon Jarikutan, is getting used to school here, and homework, something he never had at home in Thailand.

Jarikutan now resides with senior Dana Kilian through the more popular worldwide foreign exchange program known as AFS Intercultural Programs. Kilian explains how her family was very supportive in bringing a foreign student into their household. They embrace the diversities and multi-tudes of cultures as if it were a part of the family.

“My family thought it would be a unique and positive experience for everyone involved,” Kilian said. “Plus, this was my last chance to make

Bill Maher, known for his political commentary and satire, hits another one out of the park with his new documen-tary, Religulous which opened in select theaters on Oc-

tober 1. The comedian traveled to Israel, England, The Vatican, the Netherlands, and across America questioning people’s faith and religion.

Since its opening it has grossed $10,563,579, astounding for a relatively unknown film.

Maher does not hide the fact that he does not believe in god, and is a skeptic of all religion. In this politically incorrect documentary he spares no one. He confronts Christians, Jews, Muslims, Politician’s, Mormons, Priests, Rabbis, Scientists, and even a Jesus performer.

It may never be a wise thing to criticize people’s beliefs but Maher does not heed the warning. While talking to an “ex Jew for Jesus” he asks him a seemingly simple question. “Do you believe that when you die you will be in a better place?” He quickly replies, yes. Maher follows with the question, “Then why don’t you kill yourself?” Which seems to stump him.

The film is packed full of hilarious interviews like this, and with interesting clips such as televangelist telecasts, and religious cartoons. In one of the interviews MaHER gets a US senator to admit, “Luckily, you don’t have to take an IQ test to be a senator.”

Emmy winning director of Borat, Larry Charles has tri-umphed again with this hilarious must see film. Larry Charles adds Religiulous to his long resume including staff writer for Seinfeld, Entourage, and Curb your Enthusiasms. The title Religulous is a combination of the two words religion and ridiculous, and Maher does not fail to prove his point.

Maher and Charles make an amazing team, and their finished product provokes many thoughts. Some people in the audience walked out angry and upset for the blasphemy that came out of Maher’s Mouth. Some came out with a deeper understanding and others came out laughing. For those who are embedded in their beliefs this movie may not be for you, but to the open mind, and those with a humorous heart, this movie will not disappoint.

The term “everything was a blur” is often used to explain many athletic experiences, such as scoring a touchdown or turning a double

play.But for Cal High alumnus and Paralympics track

star Peter Gottwald, this phrase is a little more literal. Gottwald, 24, is afflicted with congenital motor nystagmus, which causes involuntary movement of the eye. In addition, he is considered legally blind with vision of 20/280, meaning he can’t see anything outside a 40- or 50-yard radius.

Despite this, Gottwald runs track events ranging from the 400 meter (quarter mile) to the 10,000-meter (six-and-a-quarter miles).

And he’s pretty darn good at it.Gottwald has competed in many Paralympics,

including those held in Athens and Brazil. Most re-cently, Gottwald competed with 44 other track and field athletes at the Beijing Paralympics in China.

Gottwald ran the men’s 800 meters, where he won the silver medal with a time of 1:55.49. Morocco’s Abdelillah Mame won the gold.

“Most people that have disabilities like mine are dreamers,” said Gottwald. “They sit there and dream, but never achieve them.”

Gottwald graduated from Cal in 2003, but his legacy lives on. Many teachers and former coaches remember him for his determination.

“Peter and my son would train together all the time, running anywhere from 10 to 20 miles a day,” said English teacher Arlene Addison. “He was like a swarm of locusts in my kitchen, and ate everything.”

In high school, Gottwald’s unofficial 5K record

Cal High alum earns Silver Medal at ParalympicsBy MAIAH HOLLANDER

CaliforniaHighSchool

of 15:08 would have placed him among the top three runners in school history. But because this time was run in an unofficial race, it didn’t count toward his high school record.

“He had phenomenal natural ability, and was very motivated,” said cross country coach Steve Armstrong. “He was a very funny kid, making it a joy to coach him”

“I wasn’t allowed to do P.E. at Cal, so I started running,” said Gottwald. “After I got better at it, I kind of liked it, and now I love it.”

His love for running paired with his visibility challenges eventually lead his father, Schuyler Gottwald, Sr., to call a local radio show asking how his son could get into college with his athletic abil-ity, despite his disability.

It was because of this call that his coach, Vince Touey, heard of Gottwald and took him under his wing. From there, Gottwald went on to college and continued his training.

Gottwald attended West Chester University in Pennsylvania, graduated with a 3.2 GPA, and earned a teaching degree in health and physical education. He stayed at West Chester to earn his masters of education degree in school health.

To prepare for the Paralympics, Gottwald had a rigorous training routine. This included running up to 10 miles every day using a technique called “interval training.” This process involves running 400 meters then jogging the second 400 meters. This process is repeated numerous times until the daily workout is completed.

When asked if he had considered Lasik surgery, Gottwald said no. His disease is inoperable, and the risks are too high, with only a five percent chance of success, Gottwald said.

“I’m just grateful for what I have,” Gottwald

said. “There are some people who can’t even see at all.”

Although his visibility is detrimental to a “normal” lifestyle, Gottwald hasn’t allowed it to hold him back.

“When he stood up on the podium and held his arms back, and took a deep breath, that was the proudest moment of my life,” said Schuyler Gottwald.

Silver in sight: Peter Gottwald rounds the curve on his way to Olympic Silver Medal.

Thai exchange student soaks up American life

By SARA MOSALLI

MonteVistaHighSchool

it happen before I left for college.” Although Jarikutan knew no one coming

to America, he still manages to make friends and get along with his classmates. He’s already found Monte Vista to be filled with many friendly faces and supportive teachers. Many of Kilian’s friends have also helped make this experience a smooth and easy transition for him.

In Thailand, he attends Piboonbumpen Dem-onstration School Burapha University, which is very different from schools here. Teachers in Thailand don’t give out homework.

“What I like about Monte Vista is that everyone focuses on studying for college and students have more freedom than in my school,” Jarikutan said.

Although Jarikutan loves Monte Vista’s originality, he somewhat favors his own school’s traditional and more organized routine. Rather than having different classmates in each one of his classes like most students in high school, Piboonbumpen Demonstration School makes the same schedule for them throughout the whole day – somewhat like elementary school.

Jarikutan likes all his teachers at Monte Vista, especially his US history teacher Mrs. Cummins. He enjoys the class itself but finds it to be the most difficult one he has.

“It’s really hard for me because my English isn’t good enough yet, and that class requires a good grasp of the language,” he said.

One of the benefits of Danville is the promis-ing weather that Jarikutan is particularly fond of. In Thailand, the climate usually ranges from 85 to 95 degrees on a typical day, unlike the moody and fluctuating weather in Danville.

Despite his appreciation for the area, Jariku-tan said, “I do miss my family but I call them about once or twice a week and I always send e-mails to my mother,” he said, “but she’s less worried that I’m in California than any other state because of the huge population of Thai people here.”

By LOGAN NEVEAU MonteVistaHighSchool

BRIDGING CULTURES Bon Jarikutan proudly stands tall next to the Golden Gate Bridge on a visit to San Francisco.

How Religulous are you?Maher challenges religious beliefs