MRSA discovered;

school disinfected

Layne Gonsalves does a trick on his skateboard in the senior parking lot. INFECTION: Page 8

Some of the senior song girls show their support for the performers during the homecoming assembly.

Malena Bell / Editor-in-ChiEf

Runnerstrample

competition

By Lawrence HamStaff writer

Both Boys and Girls Win

Home sweet

Pg. 8 Pg. 6Pg. 7

A $180,000 software and hard-ware grant sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Castro Valley Unified School Disrict has recently received some money thanks to a lawsuit filed against Microsoft by Califor-nia’s businesses and consumers for overcharging customers. All this money isn’t going to one school since the district is decid-ing how much and where the money goes.

If you think the grant hasn’t been used at all, think again. The new library’s computers were paid for with some of the grant. Castro Valley Elementary, Castro Valley High School and Redwood High School qualified to receive some of the money for hardware and software.

Sadly, the district can’t save this kind of money for a rainy day

By Brandon LuiStaff writer

By Lisa CarmackStaff writer

School Resource Officer Timo-thy Vales revealed a widespread plan to crack down on reckless and un-helmeted skaters in the senior lot, the courtyard and around the stadium.

According to Vales, this care-less skating is not only a huge safety hazard, but also a distur-bance to those who reside close to the school.

“We don’t want to go and hand out a bunch of tickets,” Vales stressed during an interview. “We just want it to stop.”

Skaters have reportedly been weaving through traffic in the senior parking lot before school, after school, and during school

activities. There have been many complaints and testimonies of near hits that Vales described as unacceptable.

Riding a bike or skateboard without a helmet is a traffic cita-tion and is punishable by a $25 ticket.

The punishment for distur-bances in residential areas is decided by the court system.

“It’s preposterous,” said senior Ryan Kelder in response to the new serious attitude about skat-ing. “I don’t think that it’s dan-gerous; I mostly skate here when the parking lot is empty.”

When asked about the ways in which he plans to catch delin-quent skaters, Vales responded mischievously, “I’m going to be everywhere like the wind.”

Skater haters?

because the grant will expire by Sept. 25, 2012.

The district doesn’t directly get money, but it purchases ap-proved products, files a Microsoft K-12 voucher for the products, and then Microsoft pays back however much the products cost.

The money is divided half to software and the other half to hardware, technical services and professional development.

The Castro Valley Unified School District doesn’t often get an electronic grant like this. Lots of this money will go to replacing older, more out of date comput-ers. Many of the older computers at CVHS are from an old district program called “Digital High School.”

Economic Wish is Granted

liSa CarMaCk / Staff WritEr

CVHS receives a $180,000 grant for

new technology

Infection strikes CVHS

student

Art byCVHS

Teachers

Challenge to school

boardArtwork is displayed at CFAOpen forum is held at library

The administration confirmed that a member of the boys foot-ball team contracted a staph in-fection on Oct. 14. The next day, Oct. 15, a letter which informed CVHS students and their parents of the infection.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphy-lococcus Aureus (MRSA), the type of bacteria that leads to staph infections, can cause seri-ous skin infections.

Healthy people can carry MRSA on their skin or even in their noses, but the amount is not large enough to make them sick.

Some common symptoms of staph are red painful bumps un-derneath the skin, sores that feel and look like spider bites.

homecoming

Campus crackdown planned; $25 tickets possible

ELECTION ‘08

No on prop. 8: marriage is a basic right for all

By Malena BellEditor-in-ChiEf

Teen abortions:safety and

privacy first

Editorial:Although we at The Olympian

recognize the dangers of allow-ing the Supreme Court to make decisions without checks of power, we believe that protecting the rights of the people is more important. We believe everyone should have equal rights regard-less of their gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.

That is why we believe it would be unfair to bar homo-sexuals from getting married through voting for Prop. 8.

Prop. 8 would leave the civil rights of a minority in the hands of a majority, a majority that does not necessarily have

Editorial:We at The Olympian strongly

believe that Democratic Presi-dential candidate and current Illinois Senator Barack Obama should be the next President of the United States.

Obama is someone who cares about the middle class, or Main Street, as opposed to Wall Street. In addition, Obama advocates for providing the middle class a tax relief and closing corporate loopholes.

Furthermore, Obama supports increasing wages for teachers and reforming the No Child Left Behind Act by upgrading its ac-countability. This will be done by helping instead of punishing the schools that need improvement.

Since global warming becomes a greater concern each day, Obama is in favor of renewable energy and eliminating our de-pendence on oil from the Middle

East and Venezuela. While on the subject of the Middle East, the Senator believes that we should increase troop rotation and plan for a troop withdrawal from Iraq within 16 months, which is the one of the main issues of this election.

Above all, one of the greatest assets to Obama’s campaign is his vice-presidential pick, Sena-tor Joe Biden. Biden, the current Senator of Delaware, has more than 30 years of experience in Washington D.C. Biden is a strong advocate for the end of the genocide in Darfur and was one of the first to introduce legisla-tion that addresses our growing concern over global warming.

Although Obama supports offshore drilling and does not support gay marriage (though he supports gay rights), he is a better candidate for president than Republican John McCain.

Editorial:We at The Olympian say no to

Prop. 4. Prop. 4, the Abortion Waiting

Period and Parental Notification Initiative, also known to support-ers as Sarah’s Law, would require a pregnant minor’s doctor to no-tify the girl’s parents 48 hours before performing an abortion. It will be voted on during the 2008 elections to be added as an amendment to the California Constitution.

There are many things wrong with Prop. 4. Girls have the right to privacy. If they are getting an abortion, it should be strictly be-tween the doctor and the patient. Telling an abusive or intolerant parent can lead to girls getting kicked out of homes and going through child abuse. Girls who are scared of notifying their par-ents of their abortion will turn to unsafe procedures like back alley abortions, drinking bleach, going over the border, or even suicide.

If a girl needs an adult fig-ure for support and help with the abortion, there are many organizations they can turn to like Planned Parenthood or the National Abortion Federation Hotline.

Supporters of Prop. 4 argue that girls can receive a waiver from a judge during a court ses-sion to not notify parents if the judge finds her mature enough. But how can one court session determine if a girl is “mature” enough? This is definitely not an argument Prop. 4 lovers can make.

In the end, it’s not important that parents know what medical procedures their daughters have had, but that their daughters are safe. There are so many ways that girls could be in danger of because of Prop 4.

Leadership. Change. Experi-ence. Strength. Insight. Which candidate comes to mind? Sarah Palin, of course.

Palin is a true maverick. Who else can wave at Vladimir Putin when she wakes up every morn-ing? Now that’s impressive foreign policy experience. And Americans recognize that.

The election wasn’t even important until Palin was nomi-nated as vice president. The pri-maries? Nobody cared! But now everyone closely follows the campaigns. People care about

whether or not Palin is elected, because she is just so smart and witty. Americans like me just can’t get enough of her.

And who can blame us? Aside from her incredible cuteness, Pal-in has an astounding amount of intelligence and experience on so many topics. For example, she… well, one time… umm, I’ll have to get back to you on that one. But seriously, she has it. Just trust me.

And who better to lead the American people than an aver-age hockey mom? She can really connect with the American peo-ple. Even though it doesn’t snow here and I don’t know anyone who plays hockey, she certainly

connects with me. Not to men-tion, her experience in moose hunting and her pals at church that speak in tongues certainly help her connect with the wide majority of Americans.

But perhaps the main reason she has such a connection with the American people is that she reads all the newspapers in the country. That means that she reads The Olympian! So Sarah Palin, since you’re reading this, I just want to let you know how much I admire and support you.

Joe six-pack agrees with me and we are proud of her for standing up to interviewers and moderators that try to pressure

her to answer questions she doesn’t want to answer. In-stead of buckling under media pressure, she’ll talk straight to us about whatever she wants instead of answering those nosy questions. Good for her for standing up for herself!

I don’t want to know about her position on the Bush doctrine anyway. I just want to see that beautiful Miss Alaska runner-up’s smile.

Palin’s candidacy also rep-resents a huge revelation in women’s rights. She is living proof that it is not hard work and determination that move women forward. (Just look where that sort of crazy thing got Hillary

Hockey mom Palin shoots moose, scores countryClinton.) Instead, one must de-pend on a more powerful man to help one out. And that’s what feminism is about: depending on men.

I am proud for all these reasons to support Palin for veep. She is what Americans really want in a candidate.

You’re thinking it. I’m think-ing it. Palin might just make the best veep ever. But with all this experience and support, why should she stop there? She has what it takes to make a fabulous president. And I mean fabulous in every sense of the word.

So on Nov. 4, don’t forget to vote for Palin, our next Presi-dent!

the minority’s best interest at heart. Although religious be-liefs should be respected, the lines between church and state should not intermingle.

Furthermore, just as people’s views of what is acceptable should change and evolve with society, we must allow our laws to evolve as well. Although the laws will change, what is taught in schools does not necessarily have to. Regardless, kids will be exposed to homosexual-ity sometime in their life, and people who aren’t accepting of it will have to realize that it is now very much a part of our culture, whether they like it or not.

Another not-so-surprising endorsement for Main Street-focused Obama

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.......................................................................Irene LiangNews Editor......................................................................Tim WongOpinion Editor...............................................................Becky ChaoFeature Editor....................................................................Eva PoonSports Editor....................................................................Frank ChaoCopy Editors...................................................................Erin Mundy Joseph WanPhoto Editor..............................................................Howard WhangSystems Manager........................................................Maria GoulartBusiness Managers............................................................Isabel Chi Lindsay Oda

Staff Writers: Lisa Carmack, Sophiana Carrell, Moises Fonseca, Sarah Gilchriese, Alexandra Gomes, Lawrence Ham, Alicia Harger, Brandon Lui, James Rose, Trevin Smith, Tracy Tope, Elizabeth Tran

Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

The Olympian’s take on various state propositions on the ballot, as well views on the historical

presidential election

ELECTION '08ELECTION ‘08By James Rose

By Sarah GilchrieseStaff Writer

Varsity sports should count for P.E. credits

By Moises FonsecaStaff Writer

“

”

...it is mostly because of the lack of students representing other Latin countries.

PHOTOPiniOnsPHOTOPiniOns

“Prop 4. It isn’t fair for all those girls who don’t want their parents to

know they’re pregnant.”–Sydney Wong, freshman

“Although the propositions are important, I am more concerned about the presidential election.”- Jenny Liang, junior

“The war is an important issue.”-Alex Billings, sopho-

more

“Who’s gonna win.” - Aron Heredia, senior

What issue is most important to you in the upcoming election?

Compiled by Tracy Tope

I’ve been at CVHS since my freshman year and I always wanted to be in a club that rep-resents Latinos. Almost every single race has its own club and the Latinos should not be an ex-ception. Asociación Latina para la Hermandad y Amistad para la Juventud de Aztlán, more commonly known as ALHAJA, is the Latino club present on the CVHS campus.

But how Latino is this club? Most of the activities in this club

ALHAJA club needs

more cultural diversity

Perspective: Varsity athletes exercise more than P.E. students

are from the Mexican culture, and I’m glad there is a club trying to teach my peers about Mexican culture, but Mexico is only one of the many Latin American countries.

I think the ALHAJA club should start looking for a change and try to go beyond the Mexi-can culture by digging into oth-ers countries’ cultures. CVHS’s staff and students would like to know more about the cultures of the Latin American countries. For instance, Nicaragua, Hon-duras, Argentina, and Peru are some of the countries located in Latin America.

I don’t blame all this on the ALHAJA club. I think it is mostly because of the lack of students representing other Latin coun-tries. If a student from a certain country doesn’t show up at the club meetings, then that country is not represented. Therefore, the other Latinos’ voices cannot be heard and the club’s activities focus on the Mexican culture, which is the most well known Latin culture.

In fact, I talked to my friend who has been in this club since his freshman year and he told me that on an average day, the club will get about 17 people per meeting and about 15 of them are Mexican.

Thus, I want to invite every single Latino to join the ALHAJA club and represent their culture. Even if you’re not Latino, you should still come to the meet-ings and learn about the culture of the numerous Latin American countries. You can talk about your culture and you might re-alize that your culture is close to the Latinos’ culture.

The Olympian encour-ages letters to the editor from readers. They should be under 300 words and are subject to editing and verifica-tion. Letters can be sent to cvhsolympian@gmail.com or to Mr. Johanson in room 113.

Letters to the Editor

Varsity cross country runners run more in one day than a P.E. student runs in one month. Varsity football players practice harder in an hour than a week’s worth of P.E. classes. But the state law says that sports cannot count for P.E. credits, unless the coach is a P.E. teacher for the school, no matter how much harder a sports practice is than a P.E. class.

Students are required to take two years of P.E., despite how many sports they play. Ath-letes can achieve the Herculean award for playing seven or more seasons on any varsity team and still fail P.E.

This, to me, makes no sense. The state should look at the sport practices and P.E. classes, and compare both. The requirement for P.E. is to achieve a healthy lifestyle through exercise and education of nutrition.

A varsity cross country prac-tice consists of a one mile warm-up, stretching, one mile of strides (sprint 100 meters, jog 100 meters

Join our Happy Cult of Narcissism

You know what’s more annoy-ing than some $%!tard shouting out that he’s better than you pulling some pointless activity? A whole school of them. Narcis-sism is self-loving. What could be more self-loving than proclaim-ing your own name, creating floats dedicated to yourselves, buying t-shirts dedicated to yourselves, and then creating chants about how great you are? But you know what? Homecom-ing is more than just annoying narcissistic people; it’s a cult of self-love. A cult is defined as a group of people who band

together for a sense of belong-ing and purpose. The purpose here is to prove your class is the best. You get to do this proving through stupid activities with all of your self-loving peers, thus gaining a sense of belonging with your class.

I’d like to say this is a phe-nomenon that has appeared on its own, but it hasn’t. The school sponsors this cult of self-love. The school allows us to use the school to parade around chanting that we’re better than everyone else, use the school as a meeting place to build floats, and use the school intercom as recruitment. In fact, the ASB (aka the puppets of the school board) promotes this cult of narcissism. On top of everything mentioned already, the school actually gives us pointless activities to prove which class is the best at self-loving.

(By the way, I know that us-ing a very broad interpretation of the words narcissism and cult, and that almost anything can be considered a narcissistic cult. Also, if anything written here has offended you, please con-sider it all fiction. The last thing I want to do is to offend anyone or become politically incorrect. If despite this disclaimer, you are still offended, I’m surprised you can survive high school.)

- Eric Lowe, senior

repeatedly), a run to Canyon Middle School (1.5 miles), run a grass loop (0.5 mile), run three laps around the track (0.75 mile), a run of the canyon mile (1 mile), run the second level (0.5 miles), then a run back to the high school (1.5 miles). Without a cool down jog, this practice totals out to almost eight miles.

For P.E., students jog, at most, one mile every week, and only on block periods. As proven above, one cross country practice can easily be a more intense workout than an entire month of P.E. The class is meant to get your heart rate going and to keep you fit and healthy. School sports work you harder than any class has ever been and should count for P.E. credits.

“One workout in football for an hour is about the same as three weeks of running in P.E.,” says junior Eric Mason, who is also the starting center for the Varsity football team.

Two of the most famous fall sports have proven to be much harder than P.E., and therefore should be able to be used as cred-its for classes. No athletes want to have the opportunity to injure themselves before a big game in a class that is hardly even a work-out. By eliminating this class and the added stress to the body, the teams can thrive and win more games for their schools.

“So, Sophie. What are your plans after high school?” This horrifying question has lately plagued countless conversa-tions with family, friends, aunts, uncles and teachers. As I wait for the deadly question to arise, I wonder, “Do they expect me to have my entire life worked out at the mere age of 17?” Was there a certain moment I missed, a spe-cific epiphany, in which I magi-cally discovered my complete life’s plan?

of the rest of our lives is being determined.”

Then, of course, dwelling on this daunting thought, I became completely terrified and ended up not finishing that timed read-ing comprehension section.

Even after the stress of No-vember, seniors will be holding their breath until March, when acceptance letters are sent. It is in that moment that we realize if all our hard work paid off. For some, this could be the happi-est day of our lives. For others though, it will be the devastating moment in which we are forced to fall back on “Plan B.”

I used to want to go to an Ivy League college. For years, it was my main aspiration. I realized last year, knee-deep in the over-whelming stress of junior year, it wasn’t worth it. I would rather have a social life and preserve some amount of my happiness rather than spend what’s called “the best four years of your life” with my nose pressed in a book.

I feel like yelling at those adults who continually interro-gate me, “You know, it doesn’t matter where I go to college or what occupational decisions I make. All that matters is if I’m happy with what I decide to do with my life.”

Life is full of uncertainties. I can’t assume that I will get into my top college choice. I can’t assume my choice of career will work out, or that I will even be remotely successful in life. Who knows? I could very well end up begging for money on the street.

Nothing can be presumed.

By Sophiana CarrellStaff Writer

College choice doesn’t determine course of life

“

”

I realized last year, knee-deep in the over-whelming stress of junior year, it wasn’t worth it.

Throughout my years at CVHS, my peers constantly warned me, “It all rests upon your senior year. All the stress peaks then.”

As college application time is upon us, I feel this statement’s significance entirely. I feel so rushed. Like these past three years, I had no idea I would have to determine my entire life in just a short time.

Sitting in the SATs two weeks ago, I looked up from my test, looked at the students biting their pencils or tapping their feet nervously around me, and thought, “In these four hours that we take this test, a good amount

By Tracy TopeStaff Writer

By Alexandra GomesStaff Writer

Reviewing

Le Saigon

The art exhibition in the Cen-ter for the Arts (CFA) really is enjoyable and entertaining, but the unique thing about it is that all works in the exhibition were made by CVHS art teachers.

Our art teachers had the plea-sure of creating artwork of their choosing and presented them in this year’s exhibition. Many dif-ferent art teachers were involved. Jennifer Jervis and Barbara Sie-gel both made sculptures and pottery. Stephen Babuljak took photographs for the exhibition. Jo Sutton, Renee Clayson and Adrian Lopez all contributed-different types of paintings and drawings. The exhibition started at the very beginning of the school year and was open dur-ing the month of October.

“I was really excited to be a part of the exhibition,” said Clayson, a new art teacher here at CVHS.

One of the works of art that One of the artwork pieces displayed at the exhibition is Neon Roses by art teacher Renee Clayson in chalk and pastel.

HoWard WHang / Photo Editor

I really admired was The Finish Line by Lopez. What I really admired about that particular painting were the bright colors used in it. Another one that sparked my interest was Abbey Road by Clayton. I am a huge fan of the Beatles and this painting caught my eye when I walked by it.

This exhibition does not occur too often though. These certain exhibitions with masterpieces made by the teachers, sometimes called “faculty art shows,” only happen once every other year.

However, there will be other art shows with different types of art created by community artists and students here at CVHS. Ei-ther way, there is always art to be viewed and enjoyed over at the CFA.

“I totally enjoy making and creating artwork. It’s the pro-cess of making everything and watching it being completed that makes it something special,” said Lopez, another new art teacher here at CVHS.

Chillin’ at Le Saigon BistroWhile other people go swim-

ming in the summer, Anne Par-ris, head of the Global Rights, Activism, Education and Law (GRAEL) Academy and an Eng-lish teacher at CVHS, took a trip she called “a personal civil rights tour.” She visited fascinating civil rights locations on her tour.

“I drove across the country by myself,” said Parris.

Her main goal was to study Arabic literature in Pennsyl-vania. Along the way, she met “great people” and had the ex-perience of a lifetime. It took her two and a half weeks to drive to the East Coast, stopping in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi.

Parris visited many civil rights museums, like the site of the Rosa Parks bus incident, the sites of Cesar Chavez’s rallies and the sites where Martin Luther King

Jr. made speeches.Her other goal was to promote

ordinary people who do great things but are not recognized. She said that people like King had lots of support, but there are also many other people who do important things without any support. In Dallas, Texas, Parris met Juanita Craft, a voting or-ganizer in the 1950s and 1960s, who provided transporation and safety as she drove people to polling places.

Parris emphasized that the small things count yet they aren’t appreciated. “A reminder for us that we have a capacity to do something,” she said.

Throughout her trip, she wrote reflections on her experiences to document them for GRAEL stu-dents. She also filmed video clips and took pictures of astounding people. She hoped that students will find something beneficial in her trip through her footage.

By Elizabeth TranStaff Writer

Parris also shared her experi-ence with Dale Simmons, who grew up as an African American in a rough area in Birmingham, Alabama. Many of his friends became drug dealers, but he was different. Reading books gave him the ability to achieve something great: teaching at his own high school.

Now, back from her summer trip, Parris is filled with ideas for the new school year.

“I have a fabulous group of people. We just don’t have time [and] there’s lots I want to do,” Parris said about GRAEL plans.

She plans to go to San Francis-co’s African Diaspora, watch the film Call+Response, participate in the Global Affairs Challenge, and complete a community service project in the future.

It seems that the new academy is off to a great start. GRAEL is blessed to have such devotion from this inspiring teacher.

Teachers show off paintings, pottery, and photos

Imagine fancy tables, smiling faces and bottles of wine. Add a koi pond and you have Le Saigon Bistro. Le Saigon Bistro combines modern styles with cultural fa-vorites to create one attractive restaurant. The atmosphere was

brilliant and the food was the ic-ing on the cake.

The restaurant is located right down Castro Valley Boulevard. The location is ideal because it is easy to get to. It is also located next to lots of essentials like Star-bucks and Quizno’s. Strategically placed near many other points of interest, it is the perfect mini sit-down restaurant.

I highly enjoyed my dining experience there. After ordering chicken with vegetables and rice, I was pleasantly surprised when the food arrived within five min-utes after placing my order. The portions were large, so I didn’t worry about the semi-extrava-gant prices. The vegetables were perfectly steamed and softened. The rice was rice, but the chicken was quite full of flavor and zest, though it had a slight fish taste to it. To make sure it was not just me who liked it, I got my entire fam-ily of six to try it. It was unani-mous; everyone enjoyed it.

The staff was friendly and swiftly saw to our needs, like when getting us the check. Speaking of the check, the meals are generally priced around $10, though some are more and some are less. Don’t worry about the price though, because you defi-nitely get what you pay for.

Le Saigon Bistro has a little bit of everything for all different occasions. The restaurant has ev-erything from a great location to a pristine interior. This is definitely a restaurant you can suggest for special occasions, like birthdays perhaps. In addition, the restau-rant is quiet and serene, making it the perfect place for dinner and cram sessions. To sum it all up, Le Saigon Bistro is a wonderful place to eat.

Parris travels U.S. in the name of GRAEL

By Eva PoonFeature editor

By Eva PoonFeature editor

The Castro Valley varsity girls cross country team dominated the Castro Valley Invitational with every runner finishing in the top quarter of the three-mile race. The team won the meet with a score of 40 and a combined time of 1 hour 40 minutes and 51 seconds.

“The girls ran a fantastic race and they all had personal bests. For once, they ran in a pack clustered together,” said praised assistant coach Raoul Perez.

The race was one of the fastest in recent history as sophomore Kelsey Santisteban took third place with a time of 19:07. Casa Grande’s Jacque Taylor and California High’s Colleen Lillig had big leads but they were fol-lowed by a successful grouping of Castro Valley runners, who took the race early on. Junior Chelsea Schneider won fourth place with a time of 20:03.

“I think I did a pretty good job and I improved,” said San-

Castro Valley Runs Over Competition

tisteban. Sophomores Marissa Martines

and Gabbi White battled each other, with Martines eventu-ally getting 20:26 and White getting 20:29. Junior Nicole Yang brought up the lead with a 13th place finish and a time of

20:46. Yang said she tried hard but was not happy with her performance.

Senior Ayla Granados who ran a time of 21:23, said, “I did good and this is [my] first time running the three-mile course. I set a time goal and I got un-

der it. We got first overall so I’m happy.”

“As a whole team, they ran one of their greatest team times. I want to recognize the entire team for their work,” said Perez. “It was great to hear people say, ‘Dang, is that Castro Valley?’”

Four Trojan girls run toward victory in the Castro Valley Invitational. eva Poon / Feature editor

The Trojans volleyball team

bumped, set and spiked their way to a stunning victory over Arroyo High School on Oct. 21 at CVHS.

The varsity girls played a great game and showed off all of their skills.

Volleyball matches are played to twenty-five points, best of five games. CVHS won the first three 25-15, 25-6, and 25-13. Even though the scores seemed to lean heavily for CVHS, Arroyo put up a great struggle and never lost their

Trojans Spike Their Way to VictoryBy Alicia Harper

StaFF Writerfighting spirit.

The teams made many great plays and did a great job. Some extremely long rallies made the game exciting and well worth watching. Girls were hitting the floor to get the ball and jumping up to make incredible spikes.

Molly Ratto, a junior, made a powerful kill to win the first game. During the second game, Malina Keaton, a senior, started off serving and kept up a nine-point streak.

“Communication between play-ers, a positive attitude and being supportive” made the difference

The varsity boys cross country team battled against 40 schools on Oct. 11 at the Castro Valley Invitational to take home first place. This is the first home victory for Castro Valley’s var-sity boys in the history of this invitational.

Castro Valley scored 106 points and had a combined time of one hour and 25 minutes and 47 seconds, beating Santa Rosa and Grace Davis High.

“The boys looked...impressive. This is not a point-of-emphasis race and despite being tired, we did well,” said assistant coach Mike Spencer. “We had a nice grouping of runners in general.”

Sophomore Ben Eversole, who led the boys team, sprinted to fourth place with a time of 16:31. He finished just behind Rory McLeod of Santa Rosa and Wy-att Landrum from Liberty High School, who won the individual first prize with 15:51. Junior Tom Ashby was the second-fastest runner for Castro Valley with a time of 16:44. Sophomore Anthony Martore made a new personal record with his time of 17:04.

“I think I ran well. It’s a hard course but Coach Brewer makes it festive with all the flags,” said Martore.

Following Martore, sopho-more Will Weekes helped seal in the team victory with his finish in twenty-first place. Sophomore Greg Owyang ran the course in 18:19 and was the fifth scoring runner for CVHS.

“I don’t believe I did very well, but it’s the hardest course in California according to Brewer so I’m not worried. The team did an excellent job,” noted sopho-more C.J. Hamilton, who ran a time of 18:43.

“Castro Valley does a pretty good job making other teams welcome. The fact that the boys are the first team to win for us speaks volumes about how good they are,” said Spencer.

in the game, according to junior Elizabeth Hines.

The players were very support-ive of each other. They cheered after every play, whether they won the point or lost.

The volleyball team’s record is 8-1 in the league and 15-6 overall. The girls have some big games coming up against Moreau High School and the Trojans’ rival, Bishop O’Dowd. Volleyball also has HAAL playoffs soon, which the team is working hard to pre-pare for.

The JV team also did very well, winning a decisive victory 25-6

and 25-7. “We played as a team and served

really well,” said coach Shari Ro-driguez when asked what the girls did best. It was obvious that all the girls loved what they were doing and love the game of volleyball.

Hines especially loves “the competitiveness, that adrenaline rush you get when it [the score] is super close and when you have to serve. Also, meeting new people through club, it’s a whole other world.”

Everyone is especially hopeful for the rest of the season and cannot wait to see how the team does.

Serve It Up!By James Rose

StaFF Writer

The weather was in fantastic con-dition. On a day with not a cloud in the sky and only a slight breeze, the girls varsity tennis team served up another victory during the home contest against the Arroyo Dons.

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Castro Val-ley won seven games to nothing. Though the Dons played valiantly against their opposition, the Tro-jans dominated in the end. This was the tennis team’s second win against Arroyo this year.

“I played well. I got a lot of serves in,” said sophomore Jamie Pawid, who won her match 6-0, 6-1.

All of the other singles play-

ers, sophomore Sarah Lemp and juniors Allie Greaney and Ashley Sutedja, won their matches 6-0, 6-1 as well.

Towards the end, there was an en-ergetic doubles match. Teammates Kari Hill and Nicole Saunders, both seniors, won after playing three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

The team looks forward to upcoming matches. In fact, head coach David Roth-Rossi said that he “scheduled some out of league matches.” This is Roth-Rossi’s sec-ond year of coaching the team.

Last year, the girls won all their games. This year, it looks like it won’t be any different. The girls varsity tennis team remains unde-feated in the Hayward Area Athletic League.

Mike SpencerAssistant Coach

The boys looked... impressive.

“

”

Cross country boys cruise to

victory

Cross country girls rout

competition

By Trevin Smithstaff writer

New Student Union opens

Juan Berman is about to smash the ping-pong ball on his opponent.

some PhotograPher / Their TiTle

One of the brand new places for students at CVHS this year is the Student Union. The Student Union, which is located in the annex, is a place where students can go and just hang out with their friends, play some ping-pong, play on the computer, or meet up with people. Sometimes students fall asleep as well.

There are no requirements to be in student union, and it’s open from 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

The Student Union is becoming really popular. “I love it; meeting all students is becoming popular out here,” said Susan Ermitani, advisor of the student union.

The Student Union has more functions as well.

During class time, classes come and have tutorials, and it’s also the new place for the freshman tutoring.

“I come to do my homework and I come to play ping-pong,” said junior Bryan Black.

The Student Union is really unifying the whole school, and it has anything you need such as vending machines, tables, computers and sofas.

“It’s a good friendly environ-

By Moises Fonescastaff writer

School Board Forum Brings

Fresh Meat to the Table

Castro Village Bowl 32 Lanes Snack Bar 3501 Village Dr.Castro Valley, CA 94546 (510) 538-8100Castrovillagebowl.com

INFECTION: From Page 1

The current board members and candidates of the school board discussed and debated at the Alameda County Library on Oct. 21.

For two hours, the topics ranged from test results, budgets and classroom temperature, ex-cept for the most important word: student.

No topic discussed the lives of high school students.

On the other hand, the room was loaded with teachers, con-cerned parents and locals who all looked hungry for change.

The current CV board includes Kunio Okui, Jo Loss and John Barbieri.

All three members have been under fire with their decisions in issues such as testing, parent-teacher relationships and board spending.

The candidates running this year are Marc Crawford and Ju-dith Radousky. Both have raised children in Castro Valley.

The whole group was asked the same questions, but opin-ions differed. When asked about school overcrowding, Barbieri said, “We’re not overcrowded.”

Crawford argued with Barbieri and offered solutions to the prob-lem like turning Canyon back into a high school and buying

land from East Bay Mud for a new campus.

Eager teachers’ ears perked up when Radousky offered her solu-tion to overheated classrooms.

“The answer is air coolants,” said Radousky. She hoped to install air coolant units that are basically boxes made of Plexi-glas and a dryer hose that goes for around $300 a unit.

A former teacher, Radousky feels passionate about teaching and called it “one of the most gratifying things.”

Current board member Jo Loss believes that Castro Valley educa-tion is doing well.

Loss wants the teachers to feel comfortable with their working place as well as their salaries, stating, “I think every teacher should make a fortune; they have the most important job in the universe.”

Kunio Okui has been a Castro Valley resident for 33 years. He didn’t offer many solutions, but he loves the schools here and all they have to offer kids.

The meeting was a great op-portunity for all of the board members and candidates to get a real feel of what the public is really concerned about.

With arguments and solutions flying all over the room that night, it’s safe to say it will be very interesting to see the results of this race.

ment. The ping-pong and couch-es bring a lot of excitement,” said junior Amanda Chouinard.

“Come check out the Student Union,” said Ermitani enthusi-astically.

Chris Landon, Nick Redmond, Igor Breyman, Ricky Garcia, and Jordan Mackey (above) get into character for the upcoming play Tracers.

Lisa CarmaCk / sTaff wriTer

Staph infections may also ap-pear as red, warm and firm skin areas, usually around the legs, may be painful, and may appear to be getting larger.

According to the administra-tion, possible areas where the infection might have existed are the mat room, boys locker room and the weight room, all of which have been cleaned. The district

has also taken further precau-tions to stop the spread of the staph infection by cleaning the equipment stored in those rooms with a district approved cleaner called Citrus Dc.

This has been the first case of MRSA confirmed at Castro Valley High to the best of CVHS regis-tered nurse Sandee Velasquez’s knowledge, but, she says “We all need to be aware and informed about staph.”

Eric Fonnesbeck, Brenon Adams, Jordan Mackey, Igor Breyman, Chris Landon Ricky Garcia, and Bruce are warding off enemy forces.

Lisa CarmaCk / sTaff wriTer