DISASTER: Page 8

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 7 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008 CASTRO VALLEY, CA, 94546

No more muffinsBy Irene Liang

Staff Writer

HoWard WHang / Staff Writer

Skater Dave Flores attempts an "ollie" in the courtyard during lunchtime. Despite the school's rules and concerns, CVHS is a popular skating hangout. See story on page 8.

New disaster plan for CVHS

By Becky ChaoCopy editor

CVHS constitution altered By Andrew Huber

Staff Writer

The administration plans to take extreme measures on this year’s California High School Exit Exam, March 11 and March 12, with the hopes of avoiding last year’s conflicts at the test taken mainly by sophomores.

Many of the changes include separating students into the old and new gyms and prohibiting students from bringing any food.

The CAHSEE, which was de-veloped in 1999 after state law approved the exam, must be passed by all students enrolled in California state public schools in order for them receive a high school diplomas.

“The Exit Exam is and should be something that is taken with the utmost seriousness,” said As-sociate Principal Sue Goldman.

However, that was not the case last year when a fight over muffins and other various snacks resulted in a sophomore-filled

mosh pit. In addition, several students were found cheating during one of the breaks and talking during the last 20 min-utes of the test.

To prevent such difficulties from reoccurring, changes have been made to avoid the conflicts that occurred last year.

In order to reduce the chances of cheating, students will be split into two groups, with one group in the old and the other in the new gym. Students will only sit on one side of the tables, as opposed to on both sides, which was the layout of the testing sta-tions last year.

Furthermore, students are not to bring their personal be-longings or food into the gyms. However, books, magazines, and other reading materials are permitted to occupy the students when they are finished.

Some sophomores believe that not distributing food during the exam is a big change. Sopho-more Amanda Chouinard said, “I think the school should trust

us well enough to allow us to bring food.”

In addition, the administra-tion has bumped up security by having a ratio of one proctor for every 25 students.

An old rule that will be en-forced more strictly this year will be that all students must show their ID cards to enter the gyms. If students have misplaced or do not have their ID cards, they have until March 10 to replace them.

With all these changes, some still speculate whether this will help prevent mosh pits and cheating.

“Although this was a wonder-ful attempt to prevent cheating, some people will still find ways to break the rules,” said sopho-more Liana Chin.

With all of these changes made, Goldman believes that it will help prevent the mishaps that occurred last year. “We do not anticipate anything of what happened last year to occur this year,” said Goldman.

The United States had two tries at a constitution, and CVHS is going for a second try as well. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the As-sociated Student Body presented a new constitution to the House of Representatives after the lead-ership class decided that the old one was inadequate.

The ASB changed several items in the Constitution during its major overhaul: senate mem-bership, house of representatives membership, powers of the House of Representatives, clubs on campus, duties of the student body vice president, and duties of the school board representa-tive to name a few.

“One of the key changes was

to make the House more in-volved in providing feedback and suggestions rather than just disseminating information,” said student activities teacher Carme-lina Frasca.

In order to make the Consti-tution more student friendly, a committee of Leadership students, in charge of the new creation, removed many of the sophisticated legal terms spread throughout the document and replaced them with unadorned language. Some students saw the revisions as an opening of a new era. The improvements to the powers of the House of Representatives would allow members to submit topics of in-terest on index cards in order to establish a two-way connection. Various House members seemed mildly thrilled and optimistic

about the new constitution. “The new powers seem pretty

good because we can submit new ideas,” said freshman represen-tative Michael Small.

While some looked on with hope in their eyes, some failed to see a point to the new Consti-tution. Such skeptics questioned the real purpose of the Constitu-tion, as few knew of the previous one.

“I felt like it was a waste of time…we don’t really make laws anyway,” said senior representa-tive Monica Zhang.

After a month’s worth of as-sessment time, the House of Representatives will vote at the next meeting, March 19, on whether or not to ratify the new constitution. Hopefully, this lib-eral change will not cause a civil war among the students.

CVHS is getting a new plan for handling disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and more obscure situations. This is a welcome improvement, consid-ering last year’s disorganized lockdown.

“It’s something combining district expectations and our old plan,” said Assistant Princi-pal Jason Whiteman, who is in charge of the plan. He said the new plan would be based around last year’s responses to a sudden lockdown, but more information would be taken from a recent survey.

The school’s reaction to a ma-jor disaster could easily affect the community, according to teacher Richard Schneck, because the school is the main evacuation point in this part of Alameda County.

“[We need] a plan to help peo-ple think through an emergency. Better to think through it [first] instead of reacting and think-ing ‘oops, should have done the planning earlier,’” said Schneck, who created the aforementioned survey to illustrate how well CVHS would do in a disaster.

Schneck described the results of that survey as “grim.”

For instance, it is recommended that a three-day water supply be kept in each classroom. “You can look around [classrooms] and see no red bags, no water,” said Sch-neck, referring to the emergency bags that keep supplies such as band-aids. Very few classrooms

had water at all.The school would be expected

to keep several thousands kids and possibly displaced residents if a major crisis occurs. Schneck is especially concerned with earthquakes, the natural disaster California is famous for.

“We live in an area prone to earthquakes and two faults are within 20 miles of the school,” Schneck explained. He is hop-ing the high school will eventu-ally create a plan similar to the Oakland United School District’s, which instructs readers on what to do during airplane accidents and suspected bioterrorism at-tacks.

“It’s a different world, a differ-ent time from [before] 9/11,” said Schneck.

Some teachers aren’t so sure that another plan is needed.

“Obviously we need good plans and they constantly need to be updated,” conceded teacher Teresa Marshment, who was one of the few who kept students underneath their desks for the entirety of last year’s three-hour lockdown, which occurred when rumors of a gun forced adminis-tration to announce a campus-wide lockdown.

“There was a plan and I was just following the rules, the printed procedures we were given,” said Marshment. “I can’t take credit for just implementing a plan already set.”

This is not the first time CVHS has striven to improve disaster

Pie in her eye! Freshmen threw pies at Link Crew leaders like senior Michelle Ruiz at the recent Sock Hop. Senior Travis Saracco helps her wipe her face.

Malena Bell / editor-in-Chief

By Malena BellEditor-in-ChiEf

Guns should be difficult to buy and should not

be prevalent

LETTERSTo the Editor

Editorial:

No food, limited bathroom breaks, close supervision, no talking, and no moving sound like the rules for prisoners at “Ju-vie.” Actually, innocent students will experience these tough mea-sures at next month’s exit exam, and we at The Olympian feel that

At first, the irony of the situ-ation did not hit me. Someone had been shot in the hotel park-ing lot of JSA’s Winter Congress. It was sad, for sure, but ironic? And then someone clued me in. She said, “The theme of the convention is gun control.”

About 900 other junior states-men and I had spent the past day debating gun control. We voted on a resolution to end all gun control, which failed. The shooting that night then gave us a glimpse at the reasons we want to have restrictions on guns.

There is currently a debate over the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The way it is currently interpreted gives individuals the right to own guns. However, many people feel that it should be interpreted to mean that only militias can own guns.

The Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

I heavily favor gun restric-tions. Guns should be very difficult to get and individuals should need to show a good cause in order to own one. There is really no reason for most people to own guns.

In 2004, a bill expired that banned specific models of semi-automatic firearms. This bill should definitely be renewed, because that is the will of the people, but instead it was al-lowed to expire to due wealthy groups like the NRA that are able to influence legislation

I have lived around guns my entire life. My dad owns a gun, many of our family friends own guns, and I know how to fire them. I enjoy them and have lots of fun shooting at targets or soda cans. However, I am more than willing to give up my right to own and fire a gun in order for my country to be safer.

Malena'sMinute

these rules go too far.After last year’s CAHSEE led

to cheating, fighting and a muf-fin mosh pit, the school admin-istration has planned tougher rules to prevent more havoc. But it’s not fair to punish this year’s test-takers for the bad behavior of last year’s group.

Hungry students will be de-prived of food, not allowed to

bring any or given any by the school. Thinking requires nutri-tion. What normal person can go more than five hours without food and still test well?

Students will be released in groups for bathroom breaks at alloted times. How about kids who have to go before or after this time? Maybe that’s why the school won’t allow food.

The Olympian is a publication of the Journalism Class, Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546.©2008

Editor-in-Chief...............................................................Malena BellCity Editor................................................................Michelle MatsuiNews Editor.............................................................Sophiana CarrellOpinion Editor..............................................................Kevin HanleyFeature Editor...............................................................Hayden FolksSports Editor....................................................................Joseph WanCopy Editors...............................................................Kyle Friedrich Laura Mitchell Becky ChaoPhoto Editor......................................................Stephanie LombardoSystems Manager.........................................................Andrew QuanBusiness Managers.....................................................Candace Wong

Esther Lee

Staff Writers: Frank Chao, Ryan Flores, Andrew Huber, Irene Liang, Brandon Lui, Erin Mundy, Lindsay Oda, Taylor Pepsin, Eva Poon, Howard Whang, Tim Wong Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

Dear Editor,As a member of our great stu-

dent body, and also a member of the LGBTQ population at this school, I want to say thank you to Malena Bell for her article about homophobia. It’s about time someone finally made it clear that we’re equal to straight individuals.

I too have seen the signs around the campus, but also rarely hear my teachers stop people from saying, “That’s so gay,” or other derogatory com-ments. If no one actually does anything about it, why have the signs at all? Does a crummy piece of paper that says, “This classroom is a safe zone,” in a place where teachers don’t stop any of it, make ME feel safe? Not a chance.

Jazze Costa

The Olympian welcomes let-ters to the editor. Letters should be around 200 words, and can be delivered to room 113, Mr Johanson's mailbox, or emailed to cvhsolympian@yahoo.com. We reserve the right to edit let-ters for offensive content, libel, spelling, and grammar.

Ostrich The Olympian Octo-pus says, "Hey kids, write lots of letters to The Olympian, or I will eat your soul!"

New exit exam rules are totally bogus manAdministrators will monitor

students at all times. Students aren’t allowed to talk or get up during testing. and are forced to do vigorous math and reading problems for several hours.

The exit exam is supposed to prove students are ready to graduate and go out into the world. So why does the school treat us like kindergarteners?

Discovery that octopus is a liekills local young boy's dreams

The world is a web of lies. Generally you have to slog waist-deep through a sea of deceit, misinformation, and dis-tortions in order to discover the truth about something. Parents lie to their children constantly, but sooner or later kids have to

By Kevin Hanleyopinion Editor

learn the truth.Whether it is discovering that

there is no Santa Claus or how the toys in their McDonald’s Happy Meals were made by exploited workers in China, the unpleasant truth always comes out. But even in the face of all these bald-faced lies, there was one golden truth that kept me from going completely crazy, one unalienable fact that stood between me and madness.

Until now, that is. Just recently I discovered one final truth, the one that sent me over the edge. I found out that there is no such

thing as a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

I have always thought of the octopus as the most majestic creature on Earth, the very pin-nacle of awesome. There are many types octopi, from the deadly Blue Ringed Octopus, to the carefree Pacific Red Octopus, but by far my favorite has always been the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

Frolicking in the trees with the birds and squirrels, its eight legs hanging from a branch, swaying hypnotically in the breeze, yes, it was the greatest creature to

ever grace this planet, or so I thought.

I now know that the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is noth-ing but a lie, somebody’s idea of a sick joke. I am now a broken, hollow shell of a man, a shadow of my former self. I see that there is no truth or hope any-where. Though I move through the world, to me it feels like no more than a dream, a nightmare I can never wake up from. Yes, it’s true, discovering that there is no such thing as a Pacific North-west Tree Octopus has made me emo.

Boy now sits in the dark alone.

Malena Bell / Editor-in-ChiEf

esther lee/ BusinEss ManagEr

CandaCe Wong / BusinEss ManagEr

MiChelle Matsui / City Editor

A cartoon is worth a thousand words

erin Mundy/ staff WritEr

hayden Folks/ fEaturE Editor

laura MitChell/ Copy Editor

Joseph Wan/ sports Editor

Olympian students display their artistic talent by creating clever cartoons.

By Laura MitchellCopy Editor

Jamming on his guitar is senior Gary Lambiase, president of the Guitar Hero Club.

Howard wHang/ Staff Writer

Guitar Hero club jams You’ve probably heard of the

incredibly popular video game Guitar Hero, but you may not know that you can channel your inner rock star at school – at CVHS’s own Guitar Hero Club.

Founded this year by senior Gary Lambiase, the Guitar Hero Club is a place where students can come to hang out and en-joy the game and rock music. Lambiase says the club is “an excuse to get to play Guitar Hero at school.”

Lambiase created the club as something to do at lunch on Tuesdays, joking that Guitar Hero is “filling that emotional void for me,” since many of his friends graduated CVHS last year. However, he maintained that he “still has a life,” despite being an avid player.

Right now a “core group” of about 10 to 15 people regularly show up to play and watch all the guitar action. The club is open to all. Whether you’re new to Guitar Hero or whether you’ve mastered the expert level already and want to show off your skills on the big projector screen, the club plays onTuesdays at lunch in room 608.

“If you want to play Guitar Hero, then this is the club for you,” said Lambiase.

The room is silent and people are shuffling their fingers rapid-ly, with the only sound of words coming from the interpreters.

This is the American Sign Language Variety Show, where students from ASL Levels 3-4 and Honors ASL act and speak using their fingers. However, this year, the Variety Show is a musical with the theme being Identities or How I Got the Love of my Life.

The Variety Show is the op-posite of what a musical nor-mally does, because actors do not speak, but use their fingers to speak so that the deaf will be able to enjoy the show while using interpreters for the people who don’t understand ASL.

“I really have enjoyed the past three years. I think it has just added a new dimension to our program,” said Ovida De Julia, the ASL teacher and the head of the show.

“It shows the Castro Valley community that we’re more than just interpreters for a language. We’re actually quite diverse and the show is a place where our students can utilize their many talents,” De Julia said.

By three years, she means since the show has become a kind of silent musical and not really a variety show.

The show will play on Sat-urday, March 1 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Pops proved to be popular

By Frank ChaoStaff writEr

and size in the e-mail. DAYS OF DIVERSITY:

Days of Diversity is taking place from March 3 to March 7. Camp Darfur is an interac-tive traveling refugee camp that highlights the current genocide in Darfur, while also giving information about previous genocides. There are a total of five tents and each tent is dedicated to a specific genocide. Camp Darfur is visiting Castro Valley High School on the Monday and Tuesday of the first week of March. Students will be able to visit the tents (location to be announced) during lunch.

SUPER CLUB: The “Su-per Club” application has been posted on the website, and is available for clubs to review. The deadline will be announced shortly.

To reach the Student Activities web page, go to www.cvhs.cv.k12.ca.us, then click on “Students,” then click on “Activities.”

Coming soon: Camp Darfur, ASB elections

With a nearly sold out house even on a Thursday night, the 2008 Pops concert, “Seasons of Love,” was an absolute suc-cess.

The cast, composed of the CVHS choirs, not only enter-tained audiences with their beautiful vocal performances, but also impressed the crowd with their acting abilities. There were seven “principal charac-ters,” including Robby Abney, Brennon Adams, Dominic Balassone, Ricky Garcia, Andy McGeogh, as well as the show’s two leads, Kyle Shaw-Powell and Leah Sanginiti. The cast received constant laughs with their hilarious, original script on the night of Feb. 21.

The most impressive aspect of the Pops concert is that it is completely student-directed and produced. This year’s stu-dent directors, Megan Graney, Jen Israel and assistant direc-tors Carla DeVore, and Eric Fonnesbeck, did a beautiful job of constructing an entertaining show with an energetic cast.

“Directing this show, above all, helped me learn life expe-riences. It gave me an insight

By Sophiana CarrellnEwS Editor

to how to communicate with others, trust people, and chal-lenged me to step out of my comfort zone,” said Megan Graney.

The show’s plot is about a Canadian foreign exchange student (Kyle Shaw- Powell) that comes to Castro Valley and falls in love with a CVHS student (Leah Sanginiti). But he is shortly torn apart from his new Castro Valley friends when he is forced to return back to Canada.

The opening number, “Be True to your School,” includes the entire cast as they sing about the importance of school spirit.

Other numbers included, “Thriller,” “Come What May,” and, “Million Ways to Be Cruel,” made popular by the band OK GO.

“People thought that because last year’s show was so amaz-ing, this year we wouldn’t be able to surpass its excellence. But we definitely did,” said senior Robby Abney.

In its entirety, the Pops concert was a beautifully put together performance and, by the closing number “Seasons of Love,” audiences were left thoroughly entertained.

‘Many talents’ at ASL Variety show

By Erika SolankiSCHool Board rEprESEntativE

We have tons of exciting events and activities, and im-portant deadlines approach-ing fast!

ELECTIONS: During the week of March 10 to 14, elec-tion packets for ASB and class offices will be available on the stage during lunch.

SENIORS: Senior Pan-oramic pictures are selling right now for $10 in room 706 during lunch. Get them early before we run out! Se-nior clothing is going on sale starting Monday, Feb. 11. Senior shirts are selling for $10 and senior sweatpants are selling for $20, pre-sale only during lunch in room 706. The presale forms will be provided to all government and economics teachers.

JUNIORS: You can still order junior class sweats! E-mail JoungJulia@Yahoo.com to order, include your name

Please recycle your copy

of The Olympian.

Keep our school clean!

Atonement is comprised of a variety o f beaut i -fully artistic shots.

By Michelle MatsuiCity Editor

No atoning for missing Atonement

Heart-wrenchingly romantic and cinematically breathtaking, the Golden Globe winner for Best Picture, Atonement, is undeniably one of the best movies of the year and one of the most heart-break-ing romance films since Titanic.

Atonement, adapated from the novel by Ian McEwan, who helped produce the film, is the story of young lovers Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner who are cruelly separated by a jeal-ous lie about a crime told by the young, pretentious Briony Tallis. After only a few minutes of ex-pressed love in the library, Ceci-lia and Robbie are torn asunder when Briony’s lie sends Robbie to jail for a crime he never com-mitted and he goes into the army during the end of World War II as a slightly better alternative to imprisonment. Throughout his years away, Cecilia faithfully waits for Robbie’s return while

Briony tries endlessly to find a way to gain her sister’s forgive-ness.

Keira Knightley, who plays Cecilia Tallis, and James McA-voy, who plays Robbie Turner, perform brilliantly in this mov-ie, with moving performances. Knightley portrays each of

Cecilia’s emotions believably while McAvoy is hailed as one of the best new actors due to this recent high-profile role and his last largely successful role in The Last King of Scotland with For-rest Whitaker. Briony, played by Saoirse Ronan, is enchantingly creepy with her piercing stares and her naive childlike nature that questions how old a person

must be to truly know the differ-ence between right and wrong.

Atonement is comprised of a wide variety of beautifully ar-tistic shots and settings, from a distressing uninterrupted scene of Robbie walking around the battlefront and taking in the amount of destruction and suffering brought about by the war, to a passionate library scene where Robbie and Cecilia finally give into their feelings for each other that is so intense that it made me want my own personal library, ladder and all. Although the end of the movie seems to have been affected by Hollywood and their need to have a happy ending for every romantic movie, Atonement still stays true to the novel, ensured by McEwan’s producing.

Atonement definitely deserves its recognition at the Golden Globes Awards as the Best Pic-ture of the Year; it’s one of the few movies that leave you feeling a mixture of sorrow, happiness, remorse, anger, and fulfillment simultaneously after watching it. With such an outstandingly talented cast and poignant plot, anyone would be sorry to miss out on the opportunity to watch this critically acclaimed and highly praised film.

Every now and then I’m lucky enough to find an amazing book, a book that I can’t put down un-til each chapter stops ending in cliffhangers, or often until I just finish it. I just recently finished reading that exact kind of book: Smashed, by Koren Zailckas. Smashed is “the story of drunken girlhood,” the non-fictional tale of a girl who kicks off her often out-of-control drinking career at the age of 14. The author actually plays the main character in this eye-opening novel.

The preface begins with the attention-grabbing retelling of Zailckas’ first trip to the emergency room after a night of drinking (little of which she remembers) leads to alcohol poisoning at the tender age of 16. The story continues to tell of

By Erin MundyStaff WritEr

Smashed smashes sensational barrier

her first discovery of a cabinet full of alcohol at her best friend Nathalie’s summer cottage. Zailckas’ drinking continues throughout high school where experiences, like the night she found Nathalie beyond the point of drunk, belligerent and completely helpless, will haunt her forever. The tale follows her through college where drinking is not only common but it be-comes so ritual that she eventu-ally begins to become dependent of alcohol to get through her rela-tionships, school and sorority.

Zailckas doesn’t leave any de-tails to the imagination and lets nothing obscure the scary truth of girls, women and drinking. The book is written from real life experience and is rich in the dirty details that expose the hard truths of alcohol abuse. I would definitely recommend the book to those prepared to hear the “boozy” bio of a troubled teen. For some it may be a story to re-late to and for others an example of the lifestyle they hope never to lead.

Days of Diversity diversifies school

From March 3-7, CVHS will celebrate its annual Days of Diversity. Aside from the usual events that take place during the week, students will get to experience Camp Darfur and a “die-in.”

By Timothy WongStaff WritEr

On Monday and Tuesday, stu-dents will participate in Camp Darfur, a program that will introduce them to and educate

Students will learn facts

aboutgenocides

in Armenia, Cambodia, the Holo-

caust, Rwan-da, andDarfur.

them about the genocide taking place in eastern Sudan.

Students will learn facts about genocides in Armenia, Cambo-dia, the Holocaust, Rwanda, and Darfur. They will also see video segments about people living in refugee camps in Chad. The program aims to raise awareness of this atrocity and teach people about how they can make a dif-ference.

During lunch on Tuesday, stu-dents will be able to participate in “From America with Love,” which will allow students to make video letters for the refugees in Chad. These letters should show the refugees that there are people who care for their well-being, and the letters would also act as a political state-ment calling for the end of this genocide.

Also during lunch on Tues-day, there will be a “die-in.” A “die-in” is a form of protest in which the participants represent deceased people. “Die-ins” have been used to protest against vio-lent conflict (such as the war in Iraq), to raise awareness about an existing conflict and also to pro-test against deadly technology.

Finally, on Thursday and Friday, various speakers will visit students’ fourth period classrooms. These speakers will share their stories and enlighten students about their cultures and experiences.

There was never a chance of defeat for the Trojans at the HAAL championships on Feb. 16. All Castro Valley wrestlers placed either in first or second and none lost more than once. In fact, sophomore James Mata and senior Jason Herring both won three in a row.

Junior Brian Vierra also con-tributed to the Trojans’ grand total with his own pair of vic-tories.

“I don’t lose focus,” said Vi-erra after one such triumph. “It was hard to take the guy down because he was much taller than me, but I still pushed myself hard.”

Alongside their perfect season,

By Joseph WanSportS Editor

By Hayden FolksFEaturE Editor

the boys won the championships with a grand total of 258.50 points, beating runner up Arroyo’s score of 171.50 points by 87.

“A pretty good team that got better through the year,” com-mented Coach Joshua Wheeler who has been with the team for ten years.

Senior Ryden Ishida, a team member who is also ASB trea-surer, added, “At the beginning, I was a bit paranoid that we wouldn’t do as good. I really think that we did the best that we could with the team that we had.”

Judging by the results of the championship, it seemed there had been nothing to fear.

Some other winners were Dan Heka, Jonathan Dirnu, Ben Crosby, Shayne Bonsall, and Mikhail Hosain, who were all

undefeated. Christian Gascon, Michael

Busch, Russel Feagley, and An-drew Cathey also contributed to the Trojans’ large lead.

Looking over his team with pride, Wheeler explained his rea-son for coaching boys wrestling. He said, “I feel like I have a little bit of knowledge to impart.”

Ishida’s reason for becoming a wrestler at the high school level was a little bit different.

“I asked my dad, ‘How do you become more popular?’ He said to join a sport,” said Ishida, which is “kind of ironic because wrestling isn’t a glorious sport at all.”

Marking down their win, the boys wrestling team will return next year with the hope of claim-ing that one as as another Trojan victory.

It was a bittersweet sensation on Friday, February 8, when the varsity girls basketball team played their last home game of the season. Not only that, but it was also senior night for both the boys and girls teams. For the girls team, the seniors were Emily Wolfe, Jessica Fong, Paula Brown, Kara Wilkinson, and Marcie Barajas.

The CVHS girls made the first basket to start the night off by number 22, Brown. Junior Candace Christiansen made the first three-pointer of the night. By the end of the first quarter, Trojans took the lead 11-5.

Junior Lisa Petty took the sec-ond quarter by storm, scoring two three-pointers almost one after another. By the end of the second quarter, the Trojans kept their leading streak 33-12. The Trojan girls were not too shabby in the third quarter either, tak-ing the lead of 54-18 with a three-pointer made by Fong.

Finally, by the end of the fourth quarter, as the ambiance slowly died down, Fong made yet another three-pointer fol-lowed by another from Wolfe.

Three-pointers were being shot non-stop the entire night but the crowd seemed to get a

little louder for the one made by Wolfe.

When asked at the end of the game why she and her team-mates got so excited, Wolfe explained that if she made a three-pointer that night, then as-sistant coach John Sowell would have to shave his head.

“I made a bet with him [Sow-ell] that if I made a three-pointer then he will shave his head and he’s going to do it,” exclaimed Wolfe.

Ending the night off with a score of 66-27, the proud coach, Jim Lemmon, was exceptionally pleased with the turnout. Being a first-year coach for the varsity girls basketball team, Lemmon stated that “the girls were great.”

Coming in as a new coach, he felt at ease because he knew most of the girls beforehand and is ecstatic to work with the team next year.

Lemmon is also elated to make a change in the basket-ball community, stating that the expected condition is to have summer camp for incom-ing basketball players.

“It’s really sad that the season is ending but happy at the same time. You kind of get the best of both worlds because the crowd is always so into the game and so are we,” said Fong.

By Candace WongBuSinESS ManagEr

The look on the faces of the Trojan girls soccer team was one of shock, disbelief and grief, even agony. The Trojan girls winning streak was ended by the talons of the Foothill Fal-cons. Even though the Forum reported that our team was fifth in the nation, our girls lost.

Even before the game started, the crowd was ready for our vic-tory. It appeared to be obvious that we were going to win. The girls were full of confidence as they warmed up for the game. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Falcons taking on the best the Trojans have to offer, one of the best teams in the nation. With their season record of 15:0, it seemed that only luck could truly win this game for Foothill.

As the game started, the crowd cried with disbelief when the Falcons swooped in and made a goal in the first 30 seconds of the game. Immedi-ately after the ball was back in play, the Trojans got it onto the Falcon’s side of the field. The Falcons seemed to be a good match. Even with the epic kicks and lightning rushes across the field, the Falcons were able to

shut down the Trojan offense like a Communist dictator shuts down free trade.

In the first half, the Trojans were able to keep the play on the Falcon side of the field. Their defensive teamwork was in perfect unison. Unfortunately, a goal eluded the Trojans as they searched for an opening.

The Falcons managed to make another swoop towards the Tro-jan goal, but luckily it seemed that the goal post was on the Trojan side, after a Falcon goal attempt was deflected off of the post. Two impassioned players almost got into a fight after a foul, but the referee quickly broke it up.

The first half ended, and the second half seemed to promise a comeback, but it was not to be. The second half was mainly played on the Trojan side of the field. Unfortunately for the Falcons, field goals don’t count in soccer.

The second half was noth-ing but agonizing, with sev-eral close goal attempts for the Trojans. The game ended with disappointment as the Trojans charged the ball down the field, still scoreless.

“All good things must come to an end,” said Junior Nicole Peixoto.

CVHS’s new field is open to members of the public in the mornings and other times it is not in use by students, according to Assistant Principal Jason White-man. The school gives priority for the stadium to students, includ-ing P.E. classes and the school’s sports teams.

The school administration reaf-firms that the policy was made in order to preserve the security and cleanliness of the recently built $12 million stadium.

“The school doesn’t want people to not feel welcome. We built something that the whole community can be proud of,” said Whiteman, who is in charge of issues involving the stadium.

Local residents voiced their opinion about policies on public use of the stadium.

“We feel that as long as we don’t interfere with the stu-dents, we should be able to use the track. We’re taxpayers who

paid for it and also parents of an athlete here,” commented one couple who identified themselves as I. and D. The two, however, agreed with school policy that the public should not be there while students are using the fields.

Local resident Rigaag Hans

By Eva PoonStaFF WritEr

Brian Vierra overpowers his opponent on the mat during the championships on Feb. 16.JoSEph Wan / SportS Editor

Soccer champions retire early

Wrestlers dominate competition

Girls win bothgame and bet

The school, the public and the field

explained her appreciation for public access to the fields.

“It’s beautiful and looks like something at a college. Kids will work hard on this track,” said Hans, the parent of a student athlete in the Castro Valley track club.

The field is open from 6-7 a.m. on weekday mornings and other times during the weekend

Peter BrewerTrack and Field Coach

We want as many people as possible

to use the field.

“”

when events are not scheduled. Whiteman listed the many differ-ent groups that use the school’s facilities including local soccer and basketball clubs, parent or-ganizations, and musicians. The stadium, along with the Center for the Arts, is rented out to out-side groups who make prior ar-rangements with the school like local sports leagues who use it for tournaments.

“The policy is not well publi-cized. We want as many people as possible to use the field,” com-mented track and field coach Pe-ter Brewer, noting that the policy could be “kind of fuzzy” to some. “I don’t mind if people use the track. If they get in our way, we ask them to move and they very politely get out of the way.”

The school remains satisfied with the current policy on sta-dium use but emphasizes that public input is welcome.

“We’re staying flexible. We want to include people in the transition [to the new fields],” said Whiteman.

Sophomores Dorothy Ko and Jessica Feeney struggle for first place on Feb. 16.Joseph Wan / SportS Editor

By Joseph Wansports editor

The CVHS boys basketball team finished the season with an amazing ending, winning the HAAL league championship on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Mt. Eden. The final score was 69-60. The boys team has not won the championship in 20 years, so Coach Nick Jones and the rest of the team were excited about their victory.

“It was awesome, although we didn’t find out until the next day that we won,” Jones said. This is Jones’s first year coaching, and he feels it has gone extremely well.

“Sometimes it’s hard getting the kids to consistently work hard ev-eryday, but overall it’s going really well,” said Jones.

Their victory in the championship means that the boys moved on to the North Coast Section playoffs.

By Kyle FriedrichCopy editor

“They’ll get at least first or second.”

This prediction from the girls wrestling coach, Antonio Sem-

pronio, came true on Feb. 16, the day of the HAAL championships. Of the six out of 29 girls participat-ing in the championships, every Trojan girl finished in either first or second.

This outcome resulted from a mixture of skill and circum-stance.

Factoring in the matter of cir-cumstance, the girls wrestling team had no juniors or seniors this year on their team. All of their competing wrestlers were either freshmen or sophomores.

In addition, the girls team only had seven members on the team. Likewise, the other competitors were short on members resulting in a short, but still very intense tournament.

For example, sophomores Dorothy Ko and Jessica Feeney both won their opening matches pitting them against each other in the final round. At first, Feeney had the edge but Ko managed to turn the tables and defeated Fee-ney in a quick comeback.

“I fell in love with the sport,” said Ko after winning the champi-onship. “It feels great because I’ve never gotten first in any champi-onship. It’s a lot of fun.”

Unfortunately for the team over-all, the Trojans took second place scoring 88 points. They lost by 37 points to San Leandro’s 125 but led Arroyo’s 60 point score by 28.

Some other players that con-tributed to the Trojans’ score were sophomore Brittanny Gayle,

Castro Valley also had its regu-lar season finale at Hayward on February 15. It was an exciting 58-54 game that Hayward won in the fourth quarter. Senior Danny Teicher, one of the Trojans’ top players, suffered an ankle injury early in the game, which impact-ed the team’s performance.

“It was a wake-up call,” Jones said about the Hayward game, meaning that the players will have to work hard to win the NCS tournament. Jones felt that the team has been playing well, but they need to work on their set plays. “We just need to take this one game at a time,” said Jones.

‘Building’ year for girls wrestling

Nick JonesBoys Basketball Coach

It was awe-some, although we didn’t find out until the

next day that we won

“

”

Season ends in victory for boys basketballBoys’ first

championship win in 20 years

sophomore Annie Fite, and sophomore Julia Dirnu who all came in second in their weight classes.

Sophomore Kristin Feagley, the team captain, also scored points for her team in her uncontested victory. The op-posing teams did not have a wrestler in her weight class leaving her with no opponent and a free win.

“I wanted to wrestle, but whatever… I’m automatically champion,” said Feagley.

“I love it [wrestling] because it’s really intense,” said Feeney, the runner up in the champion-ships. Her goals for next year are “to place in state, to get league champion, and to keep the team on track and going. Going and growing.”

Her coach had the same idea and the same goals.

“I hope to have at least ten girls with four placing at state and at least six of them placing at regionals,” said Sempronio who, for the past two years, had been the team’s assistant coach but took up the position of head coach this year.

“If anybody is interested please come talk to me,” he said and can usually be found in room 306.

For the girls wrestling team, this year was “a building year,” according to Sempronio, but the next and from then on, will be for “going and growing.”

Please recycle your copy of The Olympian.

Keep our school clean!

Senior Karishma Riar receives a pie in the face during the Link Crew’s Freshman Sock Hop.

Skating on campus poses a

potential danger

‘Positive change’ at GRAEL

Malena Bell / Editor-in-ChiEf

By Brandon LuiStaff Writer

P

ea

ce

Love

Joy

awareness. Several years ago, parents and students roleplayed the deaths of a few students. Counselors were around to console the classmates of the “victims.” The parents of the vic-tims had been informed earlier, but the people who hadn’t been in on the secret received a shock, according to Schneck.

DISASTER: From page 1

Most people have seen some-one skating around the school before, or at least seen someone carrying a skateboard around school. Although some people can bust a few good moves around school, it doesn’t mean it’s all that good for the school. This can be dangerous for some students, both those skating and those around them.

It’s apparent that throughout the school, there is wear and tear to some of our schools benches. Skaters can wear down these benches, causing them to buckle and some of the plastic to be scraped off. This erosion of our benches can cost the school a lot of money. It’s not like the school isn’t enforcing rules on skating, though. Ever notice the little met-al studs on parts of the school? Those are for blocking skaters and anything else from sliding across the railings and surfaces of the school. Campus patrollers try to keep skateboarders off of the campus too.

Assistant Principal Jesse Woodward has concerns for the students here at CVHS. Wood-ward said some bad scenarios can come from students skating on campus.

“Well, what if a kid’s skating after school and the cheerlead-ers are out by the stage in the courtyard? The skater slips and

hurts himself and the skateboard rolls off and hurts a cheerlead-er.” Woodward explained how the school could have liability complications if things like this happened.

In response to what Wood-ward said, many of the skaters remain unconcerned. A lot of skaters confidently say that they themselves have never been in-jured on campus, nor have they ever injured another person while skating. If they ever did get hurt or had hurt someone, they would agree to handle any injuries themselves.

Why do skaters hang out at school, though? What’s the com-plex reason to why some benches must suffer a skateboards grind? One skater’s response was sim-ply: “Well, we’re here when school is over and I’m kind of fat and lazy.”

Woodward also said that it’s more familiar to some students to hang out and skate here then elsewhere.

“There really isn’t any where to go to skate, students know the school because they spend hours here everyday,” said Woodward.

It would be a good idea if skat-ers in CVHS could find a place to skate that wouldn’t cause the school to worry, but no place looks available at the time. Only time will tell if anyone gets hurt or if skaters decide to stop skat-ing at the school.

Sharpen your pencils and ready your fingers because it’s voting time. On Feb. 5, voters filled the polls to deny Proposition 92, a deal designed to increase state spending on education and reduce fees for community colleges, all without raising taxes.

“Increase in state spending on K–14 education from 2007–08 through 2009–10—averaging about $300 million per year, with unknown impacts annu-ally thereafter…Loss of student fee revenues to community colleges—potentially about $70 million annually,” summarized in the Voter Information Guide.

The proposition called for the separation of the California Community College fund and the K-12 education fund, which are currently, and will remain, combined. After the split, the community colleges would then lower college fees from $20 per unit to $15, reducing a full-time

student’s course load payment of $600 to $450. While this may have helped some students who are looking for easy supplemen-tal classes, those attending UC or CSU schools would not receive any benefit whatsoever, nor would the needy students who comprise about one fourth of the community college roster who can already waive their fees.

“It is great for some students but I don’t think it benefits ev-eryone,” said sophomore coun-selor Ninah Asuncion.

Many debated the need of such a cut for the amount of people that go to community colleges. From the CVHS class of 2007, only 35 percent of stu-dents went to community col-leges while 43 percent went to four year colleges. In addition, this dramatic boost in funds without a raise in taxes begs to question the hidden source of the community college funds.

“You can’t just take it out of nowhere…where does that money magically come from?” said Assistant Principal Sue

Goldman. It entailed a division of the

various funds supporting the education system; something that many saw as more of a false reallocation rather than more funding.

“I think it is unfortunate that community colleges don’t have the funding they need, but I think we need to change the system to provide the funding,” said teacher Anne Parris.

Various organizations took different sides on the proposition such as the Faculty Association of California Community Col-leges, which supported it, to the California Teachers Association, which argued against it. The proposition is still circulating through the various legal pro-cesses of the government, while being watched closely.

“Before we consider the effects of this proposition, we should first find out where the money is coming from that will supple-ment our present educational system funding,” said senior Michael Louie.

By Andrew HuberStaff Writer

Get ready to pay more at Chabot

New disaster plan prepared at CVHS

For some students, none of the academies seem to fit their career plans, making it hard to pick one. But now a new choice has come up called GRAEL.

GRAEL is the Global Rights, Activists, Education and Law Academy, in which students will learn how to get involved in ways to change the world. They will discuss various topics such as children’s rights in other coun-tries, immigration, war up rises, corporate accountability, etc.

“I like many things about GRAEL; it emphasizes positive change. For example, if I had to choose one aspect, I would say the global focus,” said academy leader Anne Parris.

If a student is interested in the academy, one electives should be a foreign language or an AP his-tory class. Students may pursue a career in multiple areas such as being a lawyer, negotiator, diplo-mat, or a social worker.

Students will also go on a field trip to the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.

There are already ten teachers who are very passionate about the academy. They are pretty much up and ready to go, like Parris and John Peterson. They have come up with topics to dis-cuss with each grade and how to incorporate them into their own classes.

“The reason I’m so excited about GRAEL is that it’s a built-in issue. Every class will be able to stay in stride with each other,” said Peterson.

GRAEL will not be available to

Schneck also stressed the need for community support, saying that parents are encouraged to help restock emergency supplies, such as water and band-aids.

“I think [the plan] will be so effective that it will further di-minish the chance for injury and provide a safe environment, but we need full support from ev-erybody. Everyone has a role,” agreed Whiteman

incoming freshmen or to incom-ing seniors, so juniors this year will not be able to choose this academy for next year. It will be available to seniors in the follow-

ing years, however.This new adition is a good

choice for students who really want to make a difference in the world today.

By Ryan FloresStaff Writer

Voters reject proposition to cap community college fees