The Union - Milpitas Highschool - April [2024]

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MUSD faces three lawsuits for alleged sexual misconduct by formal personnel

By

Savan Bollu to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) prior to the court case, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.

MUSD is currently facing three lawsuits related to previously employed personnel allegedly having inappropriate sexual interactions with students, according to the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara Public Portal.

One case involves Daniel McQuigg, a teacher formerly employed at MHS until 2018, who allegedly sexually harassed, molested, and abused an MHS student between 2016 and 2020, according to the Complaint for Damages in the court case “Jane Doe vs Milpitas Unified School District et al.” The second case involves former teacher William Martin, and the third pertains to former teacher Paula Chenoweth. Both cases are regarding alleged incidents with Samuel Ayer High School students in the 1970s, according to the portal.

With regards to the McQuigg case, the district investigated allegations and reported findings

McQuigg’s teaching license was revoked in November 2019, according to the CTC website.

“The school district did our due diligence in investigating, identifying an issue—what we could do to the furthest extent of the law as far as what the evidence was and what legal counsel could do,” Jordan said.

Regarding the 1970s cases, the district is currently locating past records related to those cases and identifying MUSD’s liability insurance carrier from that time, Jordan said. Although these cases involve alleged incidents from the 1970s, MUSD is currently facing a lawsuit because the statute of limitations in California was recently extended for individuals older than 40, she added.

Victims of childhood sexual assault can now seek recovery of damages until age 40 or up to five years after “the date the plaintiff

discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by the sexual assault”—whichever comes later, according to California Assembly Bill 218, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The age of majority in California is 18.

The McQuigg case was filed in 2023, while the Martin and Chenoweth cases were filed in 2022, according to the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara Public Portal.

“By opening the door on the statute of limitations for a few years, it allows people who were hurt in some way by those who were supposed to be looking out for their welfare to bring lawsuits against them as individuals and/ or the entities that those individuals work for,” Jordan said.

The timeline for resolution of these court cases is indeterminate as there are various factors that could delay a case, Interim

Palestinian flag in class brings up issue of teachers’ free speech rights

By Paarth Gupta

Due to a student complaint, MHS science teacher Glen Barrett spoke to administration about a Palestinian flag in his classroom, Barrett said in a written statement given to The Union. Barrett was happy with the way the administration handled the situation, he said.

“They came up and their focal point was my safety, which I really respect as a teacher, and they said, ‘We don’t want conflict to come to your room, but we’re aware it might happen.’ And I went, ‘Okay,’” Barrett said.

In terms of administrative action, Barrett does not believe the situation will escalate further than his conversation with administration, he said. “No one’s ordered me to take it down,” Barrett said. “I don’t think they will either. There are things that are far more controversial in other teachers’ classrooms right now. I think it would start a firestorm of unhappy teachers who are expressing themselves in a variety of ways – some I agree with and some I don’t.”

All teachers are bound by the contract negotiated with the school board, English teacher and Milpitas Teachers’ Association (MTA) Vice President of Secondary Brett Webber said.

“Academic freedom is enshrined in our contract with the district,” Webber said. “Teachers are bound by what is in the contract. They also have to follow board policy and state law.”

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between MUSD and MTA discusses the topic of controversial issues in the classroom.

“It’s Article 6.3, A and B, and part of that says that there should be an open discussion, an open exchange of controversial issues,” Webber said. “We are here to educate the students. Part of that also means that we need to face controversial issues. It is not a teacher’s job to proselytize or evangelize an issue.”

It is important for educators to raise these issues in their classrooms, Webber said.

“Can there be a flag in the classroom? Yes, there can,” Webber said. “Does it have to be equal representation? I don’t think so.

As long as we acknowledge that there is another side to it, and we prompt our students to do their research to make up their own minds.”

Barrett believes he has the same right to express himself that students have, he said.

“I mean, there’s so many times in history class when people ask, ‘Why didn’t people say something?’ World War I, World War II, you name it, any atrocity happens and somebody says, ‘Why didn’t someone say something?’ I need to say something,” Barrett said.

Barrett believes there is a genocide happening in the Middle East, he said.

“This has been demonstrated not just by Israel and by the actions of the Israeli government and military, but by their own words,” Barrett said. “They’ve stated this by simply saying, and I quote, ‘We will wipe them all out.’ Legally, historically, and ethically – that’s genocide.”

Barrett displayed the Palestinian flag in his classroom to sup-

Eye on Campus: Senior class wins on 25th anniversary of Trojan Olympics

Board delays NJROTC staffing cut, aims to boost program enrollment

By Erick Johnson

The MUSD board agreed to maintain the Navy Junior Reserve Oficers Training Corps (NJROTC) program despite expected budgetary cuts during the Feb. 13 board meeting.

The U.S. Navy has announced it will cease to fund MHS’s NJROTC program if the program fails to reach the 100 student enrollment threshold before the next school year begins, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said at the Feb. 13 MUSD board meeting.

To counteract the NAVY’s expected fund withdrawal, community organizations have stepped up to collect money to fund the program in the short term, MUSD Board President Minh Ngo said in

an email.

“However, for long term success, student enrollment in the program must increase,” Ngo said.

The program currently has 52 students enrolled, which means it must double its enrollment numbers before the school year begins in order to retain Navy funding, Jordan said at the board meeting.

“It is not fair to Lieutenant Jackson who has been there (at the program) for the last seven years by herself,” assistant superintendent Kelly-Yip Chuan said. “It is a pathway for our students.”

At the February board meeting, Jordan proposed removing one full-time equivalent (FTE) from

LGBTQ+ studies class to be offered as ethnic studies course next year

By Ruby Bui

MHS will begin offering a variety of ethnic studies courses next school year, one of these classes being ethnic studies LGBTQ+, Assistant Principal Jonathan Mach said.

However, starting with the class of 2030, all high school students in California will be required to take a one-semester ethnic studies course, according to EdSource.

According to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum by the California Department of Education, an ethnic studies course must be “addressing racialized experiences and ethnic differences as real and unique.”

Ethnic studies LGBTQ+ is meant to focus particularly on LGBTQ+ studies, while the ethnic studies class covers a broader range of topics relating to diversity, said English teacher Brett Webber, who will teach the ethnic studies LGBTQ+ class next year.

“Ethnicity is what makes up us, our diversity as humans, and for some people, LGBTQ is what makes them up,” Webber said.

“It is a part of their diversity and part of their identity. That’s how I see (the class) fitting into ethnic studies.”

According to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, “ethnic studies courses may take several forms. However, central to any ethnic studies course is the historic struggle of communities of color, taking into account the intersectionality of identity (gender, class, sexuality, among others), to challenge racism, discrimination, and oppression and interrogate the systems that continue to perpetuate inequality.”

Ethnic studies LGBTQ+ can be a great way for students to learn about and develop a greater understanding of the LGBTQ+ community’s history and experiences, Mach said.

“In every single culture, there is an understanding of the LGBTQ community,” Mach said. “That understanding is very long and rich in each one of the races or ethnicities, but the way they approach this versus where it came to be can be very similar and can

The seniors won Trojan Olympics (TO) on March 29 with a score of 710 points. The event took place inside the gym for the first time since 2019.

Courtesy of Sanjit Roy

Barrett teaches biology to his students. His classroom displays a Palestinian flag, as seen in the background.

Agna Soneji | THE UNION

Teachers deserve political free speech in class

From opinions on the upcoming elections to the Israel-Palestine conflict, many of us have strong beliefs we want to express at school. Teachers, however, face a challenge: they must strike the fine balance between creating an inclusive space in classrooms and retaining free speech. Both for teachers’ and students’ benefit, MHS should encourage teachers’ free speech on political topics in classrooms.

First and foremost, teachers are individuals who deserve First Amendment rights to express themselves at school, within legal guidelines. Their self-expression also benefits students by providing us with mature, nuanced ideas and examples of critical thinking, as opposed to the misinformed convictions we’re often exposed to online. How can we have meaningful discourse in schools if we prevent the conversations that make it possible?

curriculum.

Some argue that teachers sharing political opinions may alienate students with differing views. This is absolutely a risk, and we need a system for students to report discomfort. However, such instances can also help students learn how to handle differing opinions—an essential life skill.

Restricting teachers’ free speech may also create a “chilling effect’’ where teachers self-censor. According to the RAND Corporation, 65% of surveyed teachers reported they restricted lessons on political and social issues without prompting, amidst the rise of laws limiting classroom discussions on race, history, and gender. Similarly, if our school bans teachers’ free speech, teachers may be afraid to teach about political topics essential to the

Some also argue that teachers should remain apolitical to avoid impressing their views on students, but I believe the opposite. In our English classes, who leads discussions on gender and sexuality, despite some Republicans heavily contesting it? In social studies, who decides to teach about systemic racism in America, despite conservative advocacy groups challenging it? Our teachers. The very way teachers teach has become a political statement. Therefore, as long as teachers don’t attempt to indoctrinate students, they should share relevant political opinions so students can identify any bias in their schooling for themselves. In short, teachers must share their views to avoid inadvertently impressing them. According to the National Education Association, public school districts have significant authority to determine teachers’ capacity for free speech. Given this power, our district must choose to preserve teachers’ free speech and facilitate conversations that turn students into citizens.

CON

Teachers should limit political discussion

With the current state of the world, politics is almost inescapable, even between students and teachers. Even so much that political ideas have seeped into conversations and subtle displays within classroom environments. Teachers speaking about their political views may force students to suppress their own political views or even be presented biased information. Teachers should limit their political expression within a classroom setting.

Teachers often put subtle displays of their support for a certain cause on their walls, but when seeking inclusivity, these exhibits of support can force students to feel pressure to pick the same “side” as their teacher.

not the only ones susceptible to misinformation: several studies suggest that older adults are more likely to struggle to recognize fake news and are the most likely to share it.” Teachers may not be aware of their biases or may not recognize the fake news that they are exposed to, and could thus misinform their students.

Students may feel uncomfortable if they do not agree with the teacher’s political view and may not want to discuss their opinions in the classroom. Although students may be willing to engage in political conversations with a teacher, that should involve explicit consent between the student and teacher to speak about the issue.

In a place where students are there to learn and many students take a teacher’s word as fact, if a teacher were to say something wrong, students may not question the teacher. In the article “When Teens Find Misinformation, These Teachers Are Ready,” Tiffany Hsu wrote, “Children and teenagers are

District must follow composting law by educating staff, students

California’s Senate Bill (SB) 1383 on composting represents a crucial responsibility to our environment that our community must uphold. Put in place by former Governor Edmund Brown Jr. in September 2016, SB 1383 aims to reduce 75% of organic waste disposal and recover 20% of currently disposed food by 2025 through two mandates for 2022 and 2024, according to CalRecycle. As of March 25, 2024, MUSD is mostly in compliance with the composting mandate from 2022, as composting bins were recently instituted around MHS, albeit late. However, we still need to educate our staff and students on organic waste prevention, as per the state law.

For background, SB 1383 targets more than 10,000 K-12 schools in California by requiring both commercial and organic recycling. Commercial recycling is the recycling of business and trade waste, like paper, plastic, cardboard, metal, and glass, according to Great Western Recycling. Organic recycling is defined as the composting of organic materials like food peels, wood, and yard trimmings, according to Dakota Valley Recycling.

The actual implementation of SB 1383 entails that school districts subscribe to a collection service or self-haul the organic waste to a specific composting facility, according to CalRecycle. Thankfully, we’ve met this requirement. MHS has a composting bin in the student parking lot for the collection of organic waste, and the district is directly partnered with Republic Services to collect and process the waste, according to Director of Maintenance, Operation, & Transportation (MOT) Van Nguyen. However, this bill also requires that our schools educate staff and students on organic waste prevention, inspect organic waste containers, and properly label the organic waste containers to prevent confusion. Although MHS has properly labeled composting bins around campus, students are often either confused about or totally ignoring the plastered directions on the composting bins, leading the bins to be filled with plastic products instead of organic waste. It’s not enough to make these bins available; we need to set up a system of edu -

cation and enforcement so students use them in the right way.

On a positive note, our district has complied with the composting mandate for 2024: the Edible Food Recovery Program. Through our district’s recent Food Recovery Program, students can bring home extra food that would have been thrown away, and local food banks and nonprofit organizations can collect the nonperishable products for their own services.

Ultimately, 53% of all our waste—about 136 million tons in 2014—ends up in landfills, according to Addison County Solid Waste Management; 22% of that waste is food scraps. Clearly, composting matters, and education is key; thankfully, MOT Director Nguyen voiced the district’s commitment to educating students and staff in an email.

Now, our district needs to act as soon as possible and be more vigilant on following deadlines to educate our students and staff on how to recycle and compost—we need to take accountability for our commercial and organic waste.

Death by nitrogen is inhumane, should be banned

The state of Alabama became the first government in the world to administer the death penalty via nitrogen hypoxia on Jan. 25, while executing Kenneth Smith, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Abbie VanSickle reported in the New York Times article “Alabama Carries Out

First U.S. Execution by Nitrogen.”

Nitrogen hypoxia, a medical term for execution via the inhalation of nitrogen gas, should be outlawed due to the painful and inhumane way it causes death. Alabama state lawyers suggested this method because the victim would supposedly lose consciousness seconds after inhaling the gas and die peacefully while they are unconscious, Bogel-Burroughs reported.

Social science and English teachers often speak of political issues in their classrooms, but this usually occurs within the context of the curriculum. Inserting a teacher’s own views alongside a given curriculum can make students feel unsafe in their classroom. According to the article, “Is Political Speech Free Speech in the School Setting?” offensive stances taken by a teacher can be disruptive to the student-teacher relationship. If a teacher expresses an opposition to the Black Lives Matter to a black student or anti-immigration speech towards an immigrant student, it can make the student view their teacher differently. If students don’t feel comfortable near a teacher, it may hinder the students’ learning, the primary role of what a teacher is supposed to accomplish.

As teachers continue to educate, political views should be kept separate from the classroom environment so students can safely learn without feeling uncomfortable.

When the state performed this type of execution for the first time on, the victim reportedly stayed conscious throughout most of the process and “‘shook and writhed’ for at least two minutes before beginning to breathe heavily for several minutes,”

Bogel-Burroughs said. If what witnesses to the execution said is true, Smith died a prolonged and painful death. His body fought back as he was strapped to a chair, full of agony in his final seconds. The eighth amendment of the Constitution explicitly prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” Nitrogen hypoxia should undoubtedly classify as cruel punishment because it causes the victim to suffer for several minutes. Any procedure that inflicts prolonged pain and suffering as a from of punishment is classified as torture, yet nitrogen hypoxia, which does the same thing, is not. This is not right.

anything, which is what nitrogen hypoxia is meant to do. The only reason that lethal injections are becoming obsolete is because multiple states have reported difficulty in obtaining the drugs necessary for injections, encouraging the shift to the new nitrogen executions, according to a CNN article “An Alabama inmate was executed with nitrogen gas. How does it work?” by Lauren Mascarenhas.

Nitrogen hypoxia is in no way more humane than lethal injection, the standard in death penalty execution for the past four decades. Lethal injections make the victim unconscious as they die, so they can’t feel

“Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote after the Supreme Court refused to stop Smith’s execution. “The world is watching.”

Sotomayor was right. Nitrogen hypoxia is an inhumane way of administering the death penalty, and thus, it should be outlawed.

SAT should be required for college admissions, promotes equity

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) has remained optional for most colleges in the nation ever since COVID-19, which largely impaired students’ ability to take the test. However, the past year has revealed a new trend in both private institutions like Yale University and even public schools, like University of Texas at Austin, which have both begun to reinstate the SAT as mandatory for all applicants. The reinstatement of the SAT will ultimately still end up not benefiting students of all backgrounds, as it is a valuable predictor of future academic success in college and can help differentiate students in a competitive applicant pool.

Recent data from institutions such as Dartmouth College has revealed an im -

portant trend: standardized test scores are actually quite correlative of a student’s performance in college, regardless of their background, according to president.dartmouth.edu. Additionally, students who did not provide a standardized test score in the first place generally performed worse in college, according to the same data. In fact, standardized testing is even more indicative than high school GPA towards both college GPA and college graduation rates. Of course, if standardized testing were the sole factor in determining a student’s success, there would be inequali -

ties evident in the admissions process. But that is hardly the case for most top institutions within the nation, as they utilize a much more intricate process to evaluate students, with standardized test scores only contributing to part of the process. As a matter of fact, with an increased abundance of fantastic high school GPAs in applicants, standardized testing remains a relatively important differentiating factor among applicants.

In the end, the issue simply doesn’t lie with just standardized testing, but the American

MARYAM MOHAMED

KEVIN TING

AGNA SONEJI

ERICK JOHNSON

SAVAN BOLLU

college admissions process as a whole. As top institutions in the nation become increasingly competitive, other aspects of a student’s application become more important as well.

Students from higher income families have greater access to resources such as sports coach -

ing, participation in prestigious competitions, and college consultants, all of which can just be as important to college admissions as standardized testing scores are.

Despite a brief period of being test-optional, it is clear that many universities have changed their stance on the matter of standardized testing, which

has been used as a scapegoat for the overall inequality in the entire college admissions process. While it is true that standardized testing isn’t perfect, it can still be a valuable tool in determining student success and offers a more equalized field for students to distinguish themselves, regardless of their background.

EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union

Board, community come together to reach resolution on proposed staffing cuts, demonstrate democracy

During the Feb. 13 MUSD board meeting, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan proposed that MUSD should cut spending by approximately $2.1 million for the 2024-25 school year to reduce deficit spending and perform cost management. Recommended programs to be cut included one full-time equivalent (FTE) employee in the MHS Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program and 3.75 FTE district health clerks. In response, our community rose up, making public comments at multiple board meetings about the importance of NJROTC and health clerks in our district— and our board listened. Ultimately, MUSD will not make staffing cuts from either program right now, Jordan said in an interview.

We, The Union, commend this democratic exchange. Our community made its voice heard, from concerned citizens submitting a remarkable 48 written public comments about the value of health clerks at the March 12 board meeting to multiple NJROTC students speaking at the Feb. 13 board meeting about the importance of having a second NJROTC instructor.

We believe our district is heading in a positive direction, with individuals passionately speaking out about issues that matter to them. Time and time again, we have seen how public comments introduce valuable

perspectives and inspire further discussion among the board. We encourage community members to continue watching board meetings and weighing in on important decisions because they have very real consequences in our district.

At the same time, we’d also like to commend our school board for acting on the community’s input by delaying these funding cuts. Our NJROTC program, though it currently only has 52 enrolled students, has always been a loud voice on campus, both literally and figuratively; from partaking in military drills to developing leadership skills, enrolled students often spend all four years of high school in NJROTC, cultivating a sense of community, discipline, and patriotism. Especially considering that MHS’s NJROTC program is the only one in the South Bay, such a program at least warrants further discussion on how a staffing cut may negatively impact students and the future of the program itself.

Similarly, as multiple public commenters expressed, limiting the number of health clerks and making them work parttime between multiple school sites may compromise safety and quality of care for students, which must be evaluated before making a decision. The board acknowledged these potential consequences and made what we believe was the right decision: to gather more informa -

tion before taking action.

We’d also like to recognize the complexity of the situation: in light of MUSD’s ongoing deficit spending, an unexpectedly low Cost-of-Living Adjustment of 0.76% from the state projected for next year, and suboptimal district-wide attendance rates, we understand that the board must remain fiscally responsible while also keeping the community’s priorities in mind. We applaud the board for being flexible and willing to compromise on reaching our $2.1 million budget cut goal, at least for the time being, to preserve programs important to our community. Through its actions, the board has not only established the district’s commitment to student safety and various occupational and lifestyle avenues, but it has also established that it prioritizes students’ and families’ opinions and is truly representative of the people it serves.

Meanwhile, we hope the board remains open-minded by exploring other avenues of funding, like grants, for these programs. These past few board meetings have illustrated how important it is for the board to hear about the grassroots impact of their decisions from those affected firsthand, and we hope the board will continue to invite input—and the community will continue to provide it—as we determine how to meet future goals in spending cuts.

EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union

School needs second gym for well-being of student-athletes

With many indoor school sports seasons taking place at the same time, along with other extracurriculars, MHS is in need of better facilities—more specifically, a second gym.

The large gym serves many different sports teams. The basketball, badminton, and wrestling teams use it for practice and for home games. Since many sports seasons overlap, especially due to extended seasons, if teams advance into the playoffs, teams have to sort out when they get to practice in the gym, which often results in outrageous practice times for student-athletes. For instance, badminton practices have gone as late as 10:30 pm in order to accomodate for other sports teams in the gym, and boys basketball had to hold morning practices early before school. Additionally, the boys volleyball must hold practices off-campus at Thomas Russell Middle School and Robert Randall Elementary School.

Practicing in middle school and elementary school gyms isn’t the same as practicing in our regular gym where home games happen, which could have adverse effects on players on game days. Getting home late and consequently going to bed later due to later practices leaves students tired and

struggling through unhealthy schedules, especially burdened by large workloads and other commitments.

Despite the struggles that students are having, MUSD is allocating a substantial amount of funding to facilities outside of MHS’s main campus, such as the Innovation Campus, taking away funding for other projects, such as a second gym. The grant that is funding the Innovation Campus and other school projects such as the Performing Arts Center is Bond Measure AA, according to the MUSD website. Bond measure AA was initially supposed to fund the second gym. However, due to increased construction costs on other projects, there was not enough funding for the second gym, said Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Wendy Zhang at the Feb. 12 MUSD board meeting. There is currently $6 million available for the second gym, but the total project requires $1015 million, Zhang added.

We highly encourage the district to look into solutions such as grants to fund construction of a second gym. Similar to how the district is reaching out to government officials for funding for the Innovation Campus, the district should also reach out to other officials that

would be willing to support our student-athletes and contribute to a second gym. With a second gym, practice times for sports would be more reasonable, and there would be overall better accommodations for our students.

While we understand that making funding allocation decisions is difficult and that plans for funding allocation were disrupted by COVID-19, the district needs to seek more community input on what the grant money is being used for. Due to money being directed towards the campus extension, essential facilities like a second gym are being sacrificed, which is harming students and athletes alike since the lack of availability is leading to unhealthy schedules for practices.

We understand that building a second gym would not be a quick project; however, it is imperative that the district communicates what grants are being used for so that students and staff can provide input on what is most important for our schools to spend money on. A second gym is important for the well-being of MHS’ student athletes and would benefit the entire student population, by providing another venue for the various events that take place on our own campus.

School-Linked Services enables students to overcome barriers, facilitates success

By Maryam Mohamed

School-Linked Services (SLS) is a county-wide program that connects students and families to services outside of school to foster academic, social, and emotional well-being within school, SLS coordinator Nicole Steward said at the MUSD board meeting on Jan. 23. Steward and SLS supervisor Norma Morales, the sole SLS employees, mainly work by either referring families to helpful resources or engaging families with informative events, she added.

The Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services instituted SLS in the 2018-19 school year through a grant facilitated by former Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.

“Santa Clara County has a ton of support,” Steward said. “(SLS) is really just making sure our families know what those supports are.”

SLS links students with services at the school, city, county, state, and federal level. Steward, who is also the McKinney-Vento and Foster Youth Liaison, provides support for students growing up in the foster system, experiencing homelessness, or recovering from trauma, while SLS supervisor Norma Morales, who is also the Latino Liaison, provides support for immigrant and refugee families, Jordan said.

“The role of teachers and ed-

ucators on campus is to educate you and make sure that you graduate as wonderful citizens of the world,” Steward said. “My job is to see if there’s any barriers to your education.”

Steward and Morales connect families to services through referrals. From August to December 2023, Steward and Morales issued 527 referrals for 274 students across the 19 MUSD school sites, according to the Jan. 23 board meeting presentation. The need is highest at the high-school level due to the size of MHS and the students’ louder requests for help, Steward said.

“Each agency does referrals differently,” Steward said. “Sometimes it’s just giving the family the resource.”

Students and families are referred to SLS through Student Success Teams (SSTs) made of teachers and staff, through referrals by judges and the district attorney, through probation and teacher inquiry, and largely through the enrollment process, Steward said. Enrollment secretaries and registrars are trained to flag students who can’t provide the necessary documents for registration, who subsequently meet with Steward or Morales to receive the support they need, she added.

“Because of (the decreasing) budget, as always, and the ton of work that it is, I had to figure out many different ways to support our various kids,” Morales said.

Security guards reflect on work experiences, bonds with students

By Yunxi Fang

Although often unrecognized, the work of campus safety supervisors around the school contributes significantly to the safety and comfort of both students and staff. They ensure that students feel safe on campus and that everything operates as smoothly as possible.

According to campus safety supervisor and MHS alumni Pulefano Afuola, the security guards begin each day with a brief meeting at 7:30 a.m.

“By 7:50, we’ll all be outside the office roaming campus making sure kids are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Afuola said.

McKinney-Vento families, who are typically introduced to SLS at enrollment, include all types of families experiencing homelessness, Steward said. This includes families living in doubled-up homes, hotels, motels, and transitional housing, she added.

“Last school year we had about 640 students (in the district) who qualified under the homeless program,” Steward said. “It’s quite a bit of doubled up (housing) mostly, but we also have quite a few families that are moving in hotels and sometimes in vehicles as well.”

In a standard referral sheet for homeless families in the McKinney-Vento program, families can check off a number of services to help fulfill their needs, Steward said. This includes referrals for transportation through Valley Transportation Association (VTA) passes, Kango Rides, and Milpitas SMART rides; referrals for free breakfast and lunch at school and groceries through CalFresh; referrals for healthcare services through MediCal Insurance services; and referrals for counseling and school supplies, she added.

“Sometimes, the family might need help finding a birth certificate or an immunization document, and that’s also something we can refer to,” Steward said. “A lot of the work I do is referrals.”

The workload for Steward and Morales is enormous in a district of 10,000 students, considering the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) recommendation of one social worker per school site or per 300 students, Steward said.

“That’s the challenge,” Steward said. “I do often feel like I’m failing because I know I’m not meeting the needs of all the families in this district.”

Morales provides support for immigrants and refugees through various family engagement programs, she said. Noche Latino at Rancho Milpitas middle school and Cafe & Learning at MHS are geared towards familiarizing parents with the American school system, and the Newcomer academy and Horizontes afterschool program is geared towards helping students feel at home and succeed in school, she added.

“There’s a lot of kids that don’t have anybody at home that can help them with the language,” Morales said. “Most of them are just a single mom or even a single dad. Most of them have to work two or three jobs.”

Ultimately, Steward and Morales are motivated to take on the enormous workload out of their love for helping people, Morales said.

“I personally invite them,” Morales said. “I personally meet with them. I personally get to know their story and talk to them. And we get to build that trust between each other.”

Students discuss Ramadan, fasting

By Ruby Bui

From the evening of March 10 to April 9, Muslims worldwide fast from dawn to sunset in observance of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. MHS has many Muslim students, and some students like senior Wajeeh Jafri are fasting during Ramadan, he said.

Fasting can also have health benefits such as helping lower blood cholesterol, junior Maryam Nasibi said.

“After the sunset, we start eating, and it’s a really enjoyable time for families to get out there and celebrate with their families every day,” Nasibi said.

Senior Rida Tareen and her family participate in Ramadan by waking up at 5 a.m., eating a predawn meal together, and gathering after sunset to eat again, she said.

“The Muslim religion is about self discipline,” Tareen said. “We pray five times a day and you’re constantly reminded of (being a Muslim), especially with the hijab. It’s like your constant remembrance that you are a Muslim.”

Although Jafri’s first time fasting at age 14 was difficult, he eventually adjusted after a few days, Jafri said.

“Sometimes, I might throw up in the first week, but other than that, no major differences happened this year,” Jafri said.

Nasibi doesn’t feel that fasting is difficult because she believes that

God makes it easy, she added.

“During the day, we crave food, and it really serves the purpose of fasting, of how we get to feel how others who don’t have food feel,” Nasibi said.

Islam follows the teachings of Jesus, Moses, and primarily, the Prophet Muhammad, Jafri said. Muslims follow the five pillars in their religion, including fasting, donations, and praying, Jafri added.

Muslims fast “based on a moon sighting, and since the religion goes off of a lunar calendar, we’re able to tell if we’ll see the moon when the first day starts and when Ramadan ends,” Jafri said.

During Ramadan, Muslims tend to read the Quran more frequently and do good deeds, such as donating to charity, Nasibi said.

“We have a celebration after this month, which is for two or three days, and during those days, we give out gifts,” Nasibi said. “We wear new clothes and everything, and then we go to the mosque to pray.”

Tareen avoids listening to music during Ramadan as it can be a distraction from her religion, she said. The most challenging aspect of fasting is not drinking water, making it hard to focus in school, she added.

“Our religion, we practice daily wherever we are, for example, by smiling at someone to make them happy,” Nasibi said. “That’s a random act of kindness that we do for good deeds.”

When they’re patrolling, they look to see if students have bathroom passes and monitor for students who have been out for longer than they should be, campus safety supervisor Jennifer Kioa said.

“We also look for any visitors that have come on campus and make sure they have a visitor’s badge, that they check in in the office,” Kioa said. “We look out for any suspicious activity from anyone from the outside coming (to MHS).”

A lot of their job also consists of helping teachers out, Kioa said. They open doors when teachers don’t have keys or when students leave things in the classroom, she added.

“We transport injured students to and from class when they aren’t physically able to,” Kioa said. “We help out with the people in the office like our principals or admin. (We’re) basically open to anything anyone needs help with.”

Campus safety supervisors often talk with students, campus safety supervisor Aaron Faagau said. A part of their job is to establish cordial relationships with staff and students, he added.

“We have to be approachable,” Aaron said. “We try to build good relationships with many of the students.”

Afoula loves his job and working around students, he said.

“I don’t say that just to sell you a dream,” Afoula said. “I never thought that I would ever come back here and be able to work in a school setting like this, but I love my job. I have no regrets at all.”

Maryam Mohamed | THE UNION Steward holds McKinney-Vento program referral forms in her binders. The McKinney-Vento program helps those experiencing homelessness.

Muslim Community Association (MCA) mosque attendees pray their nightly Ramadan prayers at around 10 p.m. after breaking their fast.

Security guard Afuola patrols

Yunxi Fang | THE UNION

Maryam Mohamed | THE UNION

Students share opinions on election issues, candidates

By Sanvi Parvatikar

Election season is in full swing, and many students are or soon will be eligible to vote in the general elections in November.

Senior Isabelle Cho, who is registered to vote, voted in the primary election on the presidential and Senate ballot, she said. She voted for President Joseph Biden, and would ultimately prefer him over former President Donald Trump, she added.

“I think Trump’s agenda is not really aligned with what I stand for,” Cho said. “I would not want someone who openly calls immigrants drug dealers or someone who openly disrespects women (as president). I don’t really agree with the majority of his policies as well.”

Even though Cho will vote for Biden in the general election, she would prefer having a new candidate altogether, she said.

“Biden is very moderate for a democratic candidate,” Cho said. “I think he is passing a lot more climate policies, whether it be enforcing plastic bans or reducing emissions or investing in green technology and investing in infrastructure, which I think is important because oil has finite resources that we can’t constantly be relying on. But I don’t think he’s perfect by any means at all.”

For the U.S. Senate ballot, Cho voted for Katie Porter because she felt her vote would make a larger impact, she said. While she would have preferred to vote for Barbara Lee, Lee had the smallest percentage of votes, she added.

“I think it’s a huge misconception when people believe that, just because you live in a blue state or a red state, your vote doesn’t count,” Cho said. “They don’t come out to vote, which is extremely frustrating because if enough people pull together, they could make a difference rather than accepting (that’s) how it’s always going to be.”

Cho’s family has different views when it comes to politics, so her ideas are often challenged when she engages in discussions with them, she said. She also talks about politics with her friends and has learned from the discussions, she added.

“We don’t agree on everything,” Cho said. “I think that’s also a beauty in itself. I would encourage everyone to vote in the upcoming election, even if they think their vote doesn’t count, and also to make sure to vote in the local elections as well.”

Junior Harish Manukonda can’t vote as an immigrant who is under his parents’ visa, and feels passionate about the green card system, he said.

“The visa system for getting a visa and then getting a green card in America is pretty flawed,” Manukonda said. “It’s just bad for me specifically. And there’s a per-country cap, so it’s separated based on your country of birth. It’s a lot harder for someone from India to get a visa from an employee employment-based visa.”

Senior Sean Sevilla, who is not yet of voting age, would prefer to vote for Biden, given how he is a Democrat and his views align with Biden’s policies, he said.

“Considering how I took (government) last year, I know how unfair voting is, especially with the electoral college because I know that votes from us only count towards other things on the ballot like senators,” Sevilla said.

Sevilla feels passionate about issues such as immigration and student debt, he said.

“As a senior, and knowing how much people have to pay just to go to college then taking student loans, and having to pay interest over the years and that just keeps piling on,” Sevilla said. “There are countries (where students) don’t even have to pay for college. I don’t understand why we have to pay so much money.”

D’Souza publishes debut book on domestic violence, shares passion

By Paarth Gupta

Sophomore Candria D’Souza published her book, “Break the Silence: Understanding and Addressing Domestic Violence,” at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, she said.

D’Souza, who is president of Dragon Flower Union, a club on campus that aims to spread awareness about domestic violence, hoped to bring light to an issue that she feels is largely misunderstood, she said.

“The book is about many different topics concerning domestic violence,” D’Souza said. “The book covers topics such as causes of domestic violence, legal policies, impacts of the issue on different types of people, etc. I wanted to try to write about different topics in regards to domestic violence since it is a multifaceted issue.”

D’Souza wanted to spread awareness about domestic vio-

Castleman ventures into worlds of math, law, computer science

By Akshaj Kashyap

Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science teacher Charles Castleman has been working at MHS since 2015 and considers it one of the best places he has ever worked at, he said. Castleman transitioned from teaching regular math to teaching AP Computer Science A (AP CSA) starting in 2019, he added.

Castleman earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of California (UC) Davis, a law degree from Washington and Lee University Law in Virginia, and his teaching credentials from the University of San Francisco when he decided to become a teacher, he said. Castleman believes that some of his favorite memories came from college, he continued.

“I would make a drive over to Sacramento, about 30 minutes away, to a comic book store there where I was part of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) gaming group that met for six hours from 12 to 6,” Castleman said. “Then I would drive back to UC Davis for a club I was in (…) gaming from 6 to 12 with college friends.”

Castleman would not limit himself to just D&D and also played Role-Player Games (RPG) on the computer, he said.

“We usually played tabletop D&D which is always fun, be-

cause I’ve played a lot of computer games and they’re fun, but it definitely doesn’t beat the experience of people sitting around a table telling jokes and being sarcastic,” Castleman said. “To be honest, a six-hour gaming session is really three hours of gaming and three hours of people fooling around.”

After spending more than half the day on Fridays gaming, Castleman would then go out to an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet the following day for roughly $13, he said. Castleman believes that his time in college and high school led to some of his best memories, he added.

“I think I had a fairly similar childhood to what a lot of my students have, although I would say back in the 1990s the high school environment was much less stressful for students than it is now,” Castleman said.

Castleman believes that he was a little lazy in high school, which prevented him from getting into a four-year university directly, he said. He went to San Diego City College for two years and, after receiving good grades and getting tired of living at home, transferred to UC Davis, he added.

“If I had to do it over again, I would have double majored in math and computer science,” Castleman said.

Castleman enjoys hiking with his wife, and hiked at places like

Castle Rock bi-weekly before before his child was born, he said.

“However once he (my 2-year old son) starts turning old enough to be able to hike with us, then it’ll be back to hiking all the time,” Castleman said.

Like hiking, Castleman’s gaming interests have been put on the back burner so he can spend time with his child in his free time, he said.

“The first thing I do when I get home is what I call seventh period,” Castleman said. “I do (general) lessons with him, which my wife helps prepare with me and so I can teach him different things.”

Castleman is a big believer in having a balanced education and makes sure his son stays active, he said. For example, Castleman is currently teaching his son how to ride a bike in the evenings when the weather is good, he added.

“I showed some of my Math 1 students (…) how to draw MHS with some programming tools on Khan Academy, and that’s what I showed (former Principal Francis Rojas),” Castleman said.

After learning that Castleman was using programming tools to help teach his students about math, Rojas asked if he was interested in teaching AP CSA since there hadn’t been a teacher for that class at MHS for over a decade, Castleman said. After completing the required training for the class and brushing up on his fundamentals of Java, a programming language that AP CSA is based on, Castleman began teaching his first two classes in the 2019-20 school year, he added. AP CSA’s popularity has steadily grown since then and he currently teaches five sections of the class, he continued.

“I thought he (Castleman) was almost as big of a geek as I am,” physics teacher Charles Schletzbaum said.

Schletzbaum realized early on from the short conversations they had during passing periods that they held similar interests over certain games and that Castleman understood obscure tidbits of information, he said.

“He’s really passionate about CS (Computer Science) and he really cares and makes sure that all the students understand what’s going on,” AP CSA student Ved Vyas said.

Vyas believes that he can approach Castleman and talk about random topics besides CS, from other subjects to general life tips, he said.

“I feel like, at the end of the day, leading a balanced life, getting enough sleep, being able to have time to cool off, and things like that are very important,” Castleman said.

lence in an easy and accessible format so she could reach a wider audience, and a book seemed to be the best medium to pursue, she said.

“I did some extensive research on domestic violence, and I thought to myself, why not compile all the research I’m doing into a book, because there are so many aspects to this problem?”

D’Souza said. “If I wrote a book, I could cover a little bit of each aspect that I want to talk about, into just one book that I could read in one sitting.”

D’Souza had never really taken an interest in the issue of domestic violence until she joined Dragon Flower Union, a club that hopes to spread awareness about domestic violence among students, she said.

“I joined the club because I wanted to learn more about domestic violence and understand how I could help and just expand my knowledge about the subject,”

D’Souza said. Dragon Flower Union’s members, officers, and advisor were also a huge support for D’Souza after the book was published, she said.

“After I actually published the book, I told the club and, since then, our advisor Mrs. Roy became really important to me,” D’Souza said. “She told everyone about the book and she shared it with a lot of her friends and colleagues.”

English teacher and Dragon Flower Union advisor Ginger Roy knew D’Souza was an intelligent student since she taught her in English 1A during D’Souza’s freshman year, Roy said. However, it was after she told her about the book that Roy truly understood D’Souza’s full potential, she added.

“I ordered a dozen of them (copies of the book) on Amazon and gave them as gifts and had her autograph them and she is just truly amazing and passionate,” Roy said. “She’s the kind of student who gives me hope because she’s the kind of person who leads to

real change in the world.”

Roy believes that the book was intelligent and thorough, especially seeing as it was written by such a young author, she said.

“She approaches the subject with a lot of sensitivity and tenderness,” Roy said. “Even though she’s very young, she clearly realizes the trauma that this topic can bring for a lot of people. I think that she does it with just a lot of care and thought.”

D’Souza is extremely passionate and takes a lot of initiative when it comes to bringing awareness to this topic, senior and Dragon Flower Union’s secretary Andrew Zhu said.

“We all thought it was good, of course,” Zhu said. “It’s such a great, great book, and it does a great job in helping bring light to DV (domestic violence),” Zhu said.

D’Souza looks back fondly on the impact the club has had on her life, she said. D’Souza is also delighted with the way the book has been performing, she added.

“I was surprised by how much it spread,” D’Souza said. “I’ve even

been recognized in the hallways, and that was really surprising. So I’m very grateful for our advisor and our club members and my fellow officers.”

Akshaj Kashyap | THE UNION Castleman explains multiple concepts to computer science students.

Courtesy of Goodreads

Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Voting stickers are often given to those who cast their election ballots.

Colosseum New York Pizza brings underrated, fresh, delicious pizzas

By Paarth Gupta

When I told my girlfriend that I had never been to Trader Joe’s, she freaked out. Within the next couple of days, I had made my first trip and I was delighted by the creativity and relatively mod erate pricing. After our trip to Trader Joe’s, my girlfriend and I were starving, so we searched for plac es to eat within a five minute drive and, low and behold, we stumbled upon gold.

Colosseum New York Pizza has to be the best, unknown food spot I have ever eaten at in Milpitas. It was getting late and there was no one there aside from us, a guy mak ing pizzas, and a woman taking orders. The minute I walked in, I was skeptical of the quality of the restau rant as it had only one table with a couple chairs. I went up to the register and was given a menu which was a good size, not too elaborate, but it had enough options. I ordered a slice of pizza with sausage, jalapeño, and onion while my girlfriend ordered a slice of pizza with just olives. We also ordered a side of garlic knots to share.

The first thing I noticed when the pizza came out was the sheer size of the slices. Each slice was huge and one slice was definitely enough to fill a person up fully. The size of the slice also justified the price, which is $10-20 per person, depending on the amount of toppings on the slice. The price is pretty standard for most restaurants of its style and the quality of the pizza was definitely worth the price.

I took a bite of the slice and immediately it felt like I was transported to the streets of New York. The slice was extremely cheesy but still maintained its crispy crust on the bottom. The ingredients were fresh, the pizza was hot, and the taste was immaculate. Unfortunately, while they tasted good, the garlic knots were a bit too oily for my taste. However, the pizza and the vibe truly made for a wonderful experience.

Fantasy sports offers excitement, new passion

By Sidhant Burela

The last time I properly followed the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Golden State Warriors had won the championship in the 2018-19 season. Since then, although I have been aware of major trades between teams and which teams were doing well through social media, I stopped paying much attention to the sport as a whole, until my friends invited me to play in a fantasy basketball league this year.

Fantasy sports are described as online games where participants draft real-life players of a sport and play against each other with said teams, according to Philanthropic Fantasy Sports. After drafting players, participants play against one other participant each week, and can “lock in” players, securing that player’s points for that game if they believe that will be the player’s best performance that week. At the end of the week, the participant with the most fantasy points, points awarded based on the statistics of your player in their real-life games, wins that week and improves their overall record. In the app I used, Sleeper, you could also bet on certain players’ performances as well as teams.

The history of fantasy sports goes back to the 1960s; baseball was the first sport to gain a fantasy community, according to The Miami Student. The first versions of

fantasy included table-top score tracking based on the athletes’ real-life performances, unlike the many online sites and phone applications nowadays.

Although hesitant at first, I joined the league by paying $20, which would later be added to the joined prize pool of all the players, and started my draft. With nine other players who also paid $20, there was a weighted prize pool split between the first, second, and third place finishers.

Since I had not followed basketball for a while, the majority of the players I drafted were players who were good in 2019 and who I still knew to be good, such as Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant and Los Ange les Clippers small forward Paul George. As I began the drafting process, I quickly realized that I was out of touch with the current state of the NBA, and simply started choosing the players whose names I recognized. As expected of someone without current NBA knowledge, I started the season with three straight losses. Although this start was discouraging, I slowly began to get the hang of what was going on. Through checking Sleeper, I noticed which players performed well consistently compared to those with unreliable performances. With the hope of getting

into the top three and making money, I was motivated to actually try and win, despite being the least knowledgeable participant in the group. Playing fantasy with my friends also gave our group friendly competition and gave us something extra to talk about in our day-to-day conversations.

Checking the Sleeper app every day has almost become part of my daily routine. Due to being involved in fantasy, I also began to watch the NBA again and watch the players I had drafted live, which added an extra layer of excitement when a player on my team was having a good game.

Through playing fantasy basketball, I have gotten back into the NBA as well as given myself something to look forward to when a game is on. Watching my players rack up fantasy points as well as watching them not have good performances all add to the experience, and make it a game different from any other I have played.

For those of you who are thinking about getting into fantasy sports, there are many online leagues that you can join, as well as apps that allow you to create a league of your own to play with your friends. If you are involved in sports, I highly recommend diving into fantasy leagues, but do your research before your draft!

75 hard, 75 soft challenges promotes self improvement

By Dhara Mehta

Out of many self-improvement challenges and regimes, the most popular and trending are the 75 Hard and 75 Soft challenges, which I came across via TikTok. Through considering each challenge’s advantages and disadvantages, you can explore which one is more suitable for your well-being.

First, the 75 Hard challenge will last 75 days. It consists of two workouts daily (one workout must be done outdoors), any diet you want to follow, no alcohol or cheat meals, a gallon of water every day, and reading ten pages of a nonfiction book every day.

spending time with your friends and family. However, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The creator’s challenge said it increases, not only your physical strength, but also your mental strength, as it trains one to be diligent, hardworking, and dedicated. These traits, translated into your daily life, will make it easier to sustain and develop new habits.

Because this challenge is a lot less rigorous and is more flexible than the 75 Hard, it’s a more suitable option for those who have busy schedules and can’t find the time to keep up with the 75 Hard’s stringent requirements.

The food took about twenty minutes to be ready, which was pretty decent, considering there was only one person making the pizzas in a traditional pizza oven.

Based on the foot traffic I noticed and the lack of reviews online, it seems to me that this place just suffers from poor marketing, as the food is amazing. Although I wish there was better seating and more interaction with customers, I would definitely recommend Colosseum New York Pizza to everyone in the mood for an exceptional slice of pizza.

Not only is this challenge extremely rigorous, but it is also time-consuming and may not be suitable for those who have multiple extracurricular activities or arduous coursework. Because of the strict rules to follow a diet and not have cheat meals, going out with friends to eat may not be as enjoyable and this regimen may even take away from the joy in

According to those who followed this regime, this challenge was too demanding and time-consuming. If you miss one of the criteria on a particular day, you have to restart the challenge from day 1, making it hard for those who have busy lifestyles. The 75 Soft challenge is also 75 days but is a lot less rigorous and therefore may be easier to implement. This challenge consists of eating well, avoiding alcohol except for social occasions, exercising once a day inside or outside, drinking three liters of water daily, and reading ten pages of any genre of book every day.

Even though the challenge is less toiling, it still emphasizes consistency and diligence in participants, not taking away from the main goal of the 75 Hard. However, because it is so much easier to implement into your daily routine, it could make you more lax: the challenge may start to seem like a suggestion rather than a lifestyle.

Just because you are a student with a busy schedule doesn’t mean you can’t participate in the 75 Hard Challenge. Each of these regimes is for personal growth and benefit, so choose whichever one would suit your lifestyle. The goal is not to be able to boast about a better physical appearance or healthier lifestyle, but to plant seeds of diligence and dedication into your life and make you a better person both physically and mentally.

‘Manifesting’ may help achieve goals, create positive mindset

By Sanvi Parvatikar

With TikToks constantly being made about “manifesting” (2.2M posts tagged with “#manifest” alone) and phrases like “just manifest it” trending, the concept of manifesting has risen in popularity among self-help circles, but what exactly is manifesting?

Manifestation is the idea that thoughts can shape reality, with origins as far back as Hinduism and Buddhism, according to the Hindu American Forum. Manifesting can also be traced back to the 19th-century spiritual movement known as “New Thought,” or the belief in mind healing, according to a Vox article. Neville Goddard, an English writer, taught the principles of manifesting, popularizing the term “Law of Attraction” during the 1950s.

The Law of Attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thinking can attract positive results, whereas negative thinking attracts negative results. Other manifesting teachers include Dr. Joseph Murphy, whose main teaching was the Law of Belief, the idea that the more intensely you believe something, it will become your reality, and Thomas Troward, whose teachings inspired Neville Goddard.

Surprisingly, manifesting may have a scientific basis. Through a process called neuroplasticity, manifestation works by connecting our desires to our actions by reworking our minds to align with our desires. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to grow, change, and adapt, helping develop life skills. Despite the belief that neuroplasticity occurs from birth to 25 years old, some med-

ical doctors believe that we can train our brains to grow throughout our whole lives, according to HealthNews.

The process of manifestation relies on having precise goals and implementing steps to achieve those goals each day using a positive mindset.

So how do you manifest to achieve your goals and desires? There are many methods a person can reference, including those popularized through platforms such as TikTok or even through the teachings of Goddard. One popular method for manifesting, promoted on TikTok, is the 55x5 method, which is rooted in the principles of the Law of Attraction. The actual method involves writing down specific affirmations 55 times for 5 consecutive days, with the “magic” lying behind the repetition of the method.

One popular method created by Neville Goddard is the Resonance Repatterning Technique. This method involves identifying a core belief that holds you back, and then working on changing that through imagination and visualization. The more you feel positive emotions, the more effective this method will be. One scientific method of manifesting, according to HealthNews, includes being specific, visualizing, talking your goals into existence, and believing in your goals. One of the most essential steps to manifesting is believing in your dreams and goals.

Despite its popularity, manifesting still has pitfalls. One common trap is the tendency to overlook the importance of actually taking action toward your goals. Merely visualizing or affirming without actively working

towards them can lead to a false sense of progress. Additionally, unrealistic expectations or a lack of patience can hinder you from persisting in your manifesting efforts. It’s important to strike a balance between belief in manifestation and a realistic understanding of the effort required. While the concept of manifesting has gained popularity among pop culture, it can technically fall under the realm of pseudoscience. While there may be psychological benefits to positive thinking and visualization, the idea that thoughts alone can directly shape reality lacks empirical evidence. It’s important to approach manifesting with a critical eye, recognize its limitations and to understand that achieving goals often requires a combination of an optimistic outlook and determination.

Paarth Gupta | THE UNION

While the garlic knots were oily, the New-York-style pizza was amazing.

E-sports dominate, derive profit

By Akshaj Kashyap

Video games are one of the quintessential high school pastimes. Whether playing a couple of matches after school or working towards specific in-game rewards, students love video games. However, when that passion is turned professional, it turns into esports. For just about every single video game, there is a competitive scene around it with millions of dollars on the line and dozens of professional players.

Although esports has been around for multiple decades, for as long as the games themselves, they’ve only become mainstream in the past decade. Before that, competitive esports weren’t much more than a glorified gaming session. Now, there are multiple tournaments with many prize pools exceeding $2 million. League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Valorant are some of the most popular esports.

For example, Valorant, released in 2020, is the fourth most popular esport according to Esports Charts. Valorant has only been around since 2020 when it immediately became popular as a Riot-Games-made, first-person shooter (FPS) game. Valorant’s peak viewership was over 1.5 million viewers in Champions 2022,

a Valorant tournament, according to Esports Charts. Valorant holds multiple events throughout the year, including tournaments and season formats with weekly matches.

There is also much to be said about the global appeal of esports.

Gaming is a fairly universal hobby that exists across continents, and esports reflect that.

For example, the Valo rant Champions Tour (VCT) holds leagues for Valorant in Asia Pacific (APAC), China, Europe, and Middle East Africa (EMEA), alongside the Americas league.

The Americas league is far more diverse than just North America, including Brazilian, Argentine, and Chilean organizations according to Valorant Esports.

The diversity within esports is quite impressive, both in terms of ethnicities and marginalized communities. Valorant, for example, has a Game Changers scene specific to women and marginalized genders. Neurodivergent gamers also find esports to be a welcoming environment.

With an esports downturn in recent years due to fears of a recession, esports organizations have been scrambling to maximize

profits. There have been criticisms of esports, including that they have become too corporate and out of touch with their roots. Various corporate investors have taken over esports organizations, making them overly money-oriented. With major investors such as Stan Kroenke, Shaquille O’Neal, and even Lionel Messi, people argue that money is running the scene.

Profit is necessary for long-term sustainability, but these investors are seen as depriving the industry of the original passion with which they were created. For example, many clothing drops are seen as cash grabs, as organizations charge exorbitant prices for low-quality merchandise.

Although esports are nowhere near the size of mainstream sports, they bring gamers worldwide together. The amount of continued support behind esports shows the potential for esports as a growth industry. Currently, esports as a general industry supports thousands of jobs according to Hitmarker. Perhaps in a few decades, your favorite video games might have esports able to rival the popularity of physical sports.

Hula hooping provides health benefits, reduces boredom

By Tiffany Ng

Hula hooping is a common activity everyone has likely done or seen people doing at a young age. You move your hips in a circular motion while keeping a thin, wide hoop circling your torso for as long as you can until it falls.

I have fond memories of hula hooping in elementary school. In fact, it was a vital part of my childhood. Whenever I look back on my childhood, one of the first memories that comes to mind is grabbing a hula hoop from a cart loaded with playground equipment and trying different techniques with it. I would stand still or walk around with it circling my torso, circle it around other parts of my body such as my arm or leg, or throw it vertically in a way that made it come back to me; which it never did. All these techniques made me think about the ways that a hula hoop can be used for exercise, since it prompts so much activity.

Although hula hooping may be seen as childish, it is inclusive to people of all ages for its plentiful fitness and health benefits. Hula hoops are also affordable and can be used anywhere at any time. In comparison to the usual cardio or weight training, hula hooping is a different and more unique way to exercise. Consistently

hula hooping brings benefits such as burning body fat, boosting cardiovascular fitness, challenging your core muscles, and improving your balance, according to a Healthline article titled “Want a Fun Workout? 8 Reasons to Give Hula Hooping a Try.”

Weighted hula hoops are a common exercise tool and could be greatly effective in help ing with weight loss, especially if you cir cle the hoop near your waistline. They are heavier than the traditional hula hoop, weighing between one and four pounds, allowing for a more full-body workout, according to a WebMD article titled “What to Know About Hula Hoops for Exercise.”

Studies have shown that women using a weighted hula hoop lost about 3.4 centimeters from their waist and 1.4 centimeters from their hips in just six weeks, according to a MedicineNet article titled “Can Hula Hooping Slim Your Waist?” Hula hooping for 30 minutes can burn up to seven calories per minute, according to a WebMD article titled “What to Know About Hula Hoops for Exercise.” There are also benefits for men, such as combining resistance (training for muscle strength-

ening) and aerobic movement, which are effective in boosting testosterone levels, according to an In2Hula article titled “5 Benefits of Hooping For Men.” Although hula hooping may be seen as a more feminine activity, the concept of exercise and weight loss is universal; in other words, everyone should be encouraged to try hula hooping, regardless of their gender.

For those wishing to try hula hooping, an article by the Women’s Best Fitness Team titled “Hula Hoop: Everything you need to know about hooping!” recommends larger hoops for beginners, as they have a larger diameter and require less hip movement. In the beginning, you should hula hoop for only a few minutes a day to avoid exhaustion. As the training progresses, however, you can do it for longer.

Aside from the fitness aspect, hula hooping is simply a fun activity that can be enjoyed by yourself or with others. Compared to running, walking, or lifting weights, the action of moving your hips in a circular motion to keep a hula hoop around your torso is a great way to not only get exercise, but also have fun.

Courtesy of Adobe Stock

Popular esports include League of Legends and Counter-Strike, and are increasingly being monetized.

Students become viral on social media, share stories

By Sanvi Parvatikar

With the rise of content creators on many digital platforms including Instagram and TikTok, fame is no longer reserved for Hollywood stars. Even so, it is rare to come across students who have achieved that level of popularity.

Senior Jesus Ochoa has a TikTok account where he posts acting videos, which went viral during the quarantine, he said.

“(Going viral) was very spontaneous,” Ochoa said. “I liked posting about Harry Potter because it was very big at the time, and it just kind of took off on its own with a video I posted.”

Due to the decline in popularity of Harry Potter, Ochoa leaned more into posting about something else he liked: acting, he said.

“I think (posting about acting) has put a new perspective into what I envisioned for myself and what I want to try and do,” Ochoa said. “Before, I hadn’t really thought about acting, and I think now, (my skills have) definitely developed and I want to explore that world more.”

Ochoa keeps his online life separate from his academic and social life, he said.

“When my family first found out, they were very surprised and I was kind of hesitant on telling them about it,” Ochoa said. “It took a year for them to find out (...) My best friend has known (about my social media presence) since the start and she helps me come up with ideas. We actually started a (video) se-

Social media feeds consumerism

By Akshaj Kashyap

In an increasingly fast-paced world, social media reigns supreme when it comes to product marketing. Consumerism is commonly defined as the ever-increasing focus on buying goods and services, specifically as a measure of success. In other words, the more you have, the better you are. Social media and consumerism exist in a symbiotic relationship where they both promote each other.

Social media’s inherent nature lends itself to rapid consumerism with how quickly different trends rise and fall. Fast fashion is a great example of this phenomenon, where new fashion trends appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly.

Increasing amounts of consumption encourage increased production, oftentimes done in environmentally damaging ways. Overconsumption, therefore, indirectly leads to excess resource extraction, pollution, and other waste issues.

There are also many ethical concerns surrounding consumerism. Social media companies have gained a bad reputation in the last decade for data leaks. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok utilize user data without explicit consent to recommend hyper-personalized ads according to Wired. Some people consider this data use to be an invasion of privacy. These hyper-targeted advertisements tend to be more effective than regular advertisements but can creep out consumers. Thankfully, companies like Apple have begun to offer options to opt out of personalized ads.

While consumerism tends to get a bad reputation, some argue that targeted advertising on social media is a good thing. For one, it is far more convenient

ries at one point on our TikTok.” Ochoa’s best friend, senior Megan Zamora, is incredibly proud of his journey, she said.

“It made him more social and more confident in himself, which was really nice to see,” Zamora said.

Senior Ashika Subramanian’s journey to social media, along with selling her artwork, started when a friend encouraged her to start posting her artwork on social media, she said. While she initially posted traditional art at the start of the pandemic, she started posting digital art and became viral through an Instagram reel, she added.

“I feel like, not to put a feather in my head, I’m really good at what I do,” Subramanian said. “I have people who inspire me online. There’s one artist who’s kind of in the same field, realism art of K-Pop idols, and she just does a wonderful job.”

One of her favorite pieces that she drew that went viral was a hyper-realistic image of Jin, an artist from the Korean boy band BTS (Bangtan Boys), with blue hair, Subramanian said.

“That’s my Mona Lisa,” Subramanian said. “I don’t think I’m ever going to do something as pretty as that again.” Subramanian was able to meet many other digital artists and form collaborations with them, she said. She was also able to make friends online, she added.

“I have a lot of fun (creating art), in general,” Subramanian said. “I think it’s different, I go to school and nobody knows who I am. But online, it’s like, I know that person.”

to buy products through social media. Also, many products and brands would struggle for recognition without the help of platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Consumerism defenders argue that, although advertising is changing, the change is not necessarily negative. The problem, however, is that for every positive interaction, there are far more negative ones such as online bullying. In general, social media fosters mindless consumption and the vast majority of people would be better off without it. There are more trustworthy alternatives to using social media as shopping platforms such as directly buying from a company’s website. False advertising and scams are another unfortunate side effect of using social media as a shopping platform.

Much has been said about the negativity surrounding social media and how constant comparison leads to selfworth problems. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, apologized to the victims of families of online abuse in an emotionally charged Senate hearing this past January according to the Washington Post. There have unfortunately been many victims of online abuse since the start of social media which only adds to self-worth problems.The more people scroll social media, the more they see an idealized version of reality to compare their lives to. An unfortunate solution to this problem is spending more, oftentimes on products advertised directly by businesses or indirectly by influencers. Users are subconsciously led to believe that buying the promoted product will somehow benefit them. Instead, it leaves them with a lighter wallet and regret. We must recognize when enough is enough and remain more conscious while scrolling through social media to avoid feeding into consumerism.

While her social media account gave her a taste of what the life of an artist would look like, Subramanian isn’t interested in pursuing art professionally, she said. Given her niche of drawing K-Pop idols in hyper-realism, her content would’ve been catered to a very small audience, she added.

“The moment a passion becomes a job, it becomes a chore,” she said. “So when I did feel like I had to keep posting, keep posting, keep posting, it was like, ‘I can’t do it.’ I don’t want to work to be an artist; burnout comes easy if you’re not careful.”

Subramanian’s family has known about her art account from the start, and has been very supportive, she said.

“They’re the ones who invested in my shop,” Subramanian said. “They’re the ones who got me my new iPad when I realized I really liked (digital art). They’re the ones who encouraged me to draw what I was drawing and they have supported me since I started as a very small (creator).”

The more she continued to create digital artworks, the more her content grew, Subramanian said. She learned how to properly format and stay more consistent with her art, she added.

“I struggled drawing eyelashes for a very long time,” Subramanian said. “If you look at my art before the 2020 summer, or before the 2021 summer, my eyelashes were not good. One day I was looking at another art piece and something clicked. As you see more of other content, you start to realize how to make your content a lot better.”

Being chronically online worsens quality of life

By An Nguyen

Gen Z is the first generation to be raised in the rapidly developing online world. With the internet at their fingertips, many have developed unhealthy habits using social media apps like X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and more.

Social media apps can become almost addictive, according to Christine Stabler, the Medical Director of Women’s Health for Lancaster General Health. Since people won’t know what content an app may have until they open it, the sudden, rapid influx of content creates a feeling of reward by releasing dopamine. The rush of dopamine encourages people to keep scrolling through, feeding into the addictive nature of social media, according to Stabler. Problems may also arise when people feel disappointed or invalidated when their content doesn’t get the feedback they desire, according to Stabler. Combined with feelings of disappointment when comparing their content like photos to others’, social media can cause low self-esteem, distractions, and even feelings of depression or anxiety.

In an experiment by the University of Pennsylvania, research participants who were told to stop using social media for three weeks had a drastic reduction in depression and anxiety. They also found that participants had a reduced fear of missing out (FOMO).

FOMO is another reason why people can be so attached to social media, according to Stabler. People may worry about missing a message, inside joke, or information that connects them to their peers. However, constant checking and scrolling can lead to procrastination, reduced retention of information, and higher levels of stress, which can have a detrimental effect on schoolwork. People may also feel loneliness, exclusion, or anxiety when they see other people having fun without them.

Recently, 22% of 10th-grade girls were found to spend seven or more hours a day on social media, meaning teenage girls spend less time sleeping or going to school, according to psychologist Jean Twenge in her new book “Generations.” Between 2010-21, the percentage of students in 10th and 12th grade who slept seven or fewer hours each night increased from one-third to nearly one-half. Twenge attributed this to rising screen time usage.

As technology becomes more integrated in people’s lives, it is more important than ever to use technology and social media in a responsible and healthy manner. Social media has allowed people from all over the world to connect to each other by sharing culture, art, knowledge, history, and so much more across geographic, political, and cultural borders. People should use it as a way of sharing and communication instead of mindlessly scrolling out of boredom or other superficial reasons.

Subramanian’s realistic art on Instagram includes digital art pieces of Bangtan Boys (BTS) members Jimin (left) and Jungkook (middle), and Jinx (right) from Arcane.

Jesus Ochoa’s TikTok account features many costume play and acting TikToks.

Social media transforms politics, public opinion

By Maryam Mohamed

Have you ever seen a video of president Biden stuttering? Or a meme of former president Trump’s mugshot? Whether we like it or not, social media has become a force to be reckoned with in the political realm—here’s why. As our world becomes increasingly enveloped by technology, social media has become more and more influential in inspiring and reinforcing political views. The influx of instantaneous information, the rapid political organization, the circulated misinformation, and the deeply polarized views are all part of the reason why these politicized platforms should be taken more seriously.

Political socialization is defined by the Oxford Reference as the “process by which people come to acquire political attitudes and values.” According to ThoughtCo, family is the earliest and most impactful factor in shaping one’s beliefs; however, other factors like school, peers, and social media also play a significant role.

Over the years, social media’s role in political socialization has exploded as it completely revolutionized the steady, monitored flow of information that came from mainstream media. For example, the numerous videos and live streams from Gaza and the West Bank

these past five months have shown a reality on the ground that dispels the carefully curated message coming from TV anchors, and this isn’t the first occurrence.

During the Vietnam War, videotapes capturing death and destruction completely undermined the sugar-coated message of news anchors and Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, sparking disbelief and outrage across the country. Clearly, social media brings a significant benefit to the table—it allows freedom of the press beyond what is afforded to mainstream media journalists.

In addition, like-minded, passionate individuals have found social media to be fertile ground for strong political organization—but it’s not always a good thing. While some have used social media platforms to support survivors of sexual violence through the MeToo movement, others have used it to rally bloodthirsty hatred against ethnic minorities. According to an Amnesty International news report, the Burmese military used Facebook to “supercharge” what became the Rohingyan genocide; Meta is now under fire for the “systematic murder, rape and burning of homes” that it did nothing to stop. Clearly, social media can be a vehicle for good but also for horrific evil.

Moreover, social media can be an ef-

Social Media

fective echo chamber for those on extreme ends of the political spectrum, regardless of whether their feed is accurate or inaccurate. In a way unique to social media, this barrage of unfiltered information is tailored to our political ideology; whatever you’re listening to or watching is different from what someone on the other side of the political spectrum is listening to or watching. Recommended videos, advertisements, and “for you” pages all contribute to this, effectively locking our political values in place—hook, line, and sinker.

While this doesn’t affect those who go out of their way to be objective and informed, the majority of people tend to choose the easy way out and consume whatever the algorithm shows them on social media. For many, work or school is exhausting enough. Being politically well-rounded is an uphill battle that doesn’t seem as important to them as getting a quick dose of the news—but we should be better than that.

We should consider the power our country wields on international affairs, use our voice and influence in this democracy, and take great care to be properly informed. Our support for or against politicians and their policies has a direct effect on the lives of human beings next door and around the world—our political opinions aren’t abstract; they matter.

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Social media slang lowkey transforms modern-day vocabulary, conventions

One of the most prevalent forms of human interaction in modern times is through social media. No matter our age, apps like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have permeated our daily lives in more ways than we can count, especially in terms of communication and language today. Social media not only impacts vocabulary but has influenced our understanding of grammar, specifically sentence structure because of the extensive use of abbreviations and grammatically incorrect slang online. Many people fear that spelling and grammar will continue to get worse. Social media breaks standard rules of grammar and spelling, in turn creating words and rules that may have never existed before.

The deep integration of social media apps in our lives has created words like “rizz”. This word was created by TikTok trends and creators but has become so deeply ingrained into our society today that it was published in the Oxford Dictionary.

New words and phrases are constantly being created by trends and creators across social media platforms, but only some manage to make it out into the real world and are used by people in their day-to-day lives. Recently, “mogging” and “looksmaxxing” have emerged across the globe. While both of these are not real words, people on these social platforms created these words to start a trend only understood

by active users of social media. “Mogging” means one-upping someone in terms of physical attractiveness and “looksmaxxing” is putting more effort into physical appearance, or practicing self-care.

This is just one example of the millions of trends and words that are constantly used on social media apps. Social media influencers and content creators give new meanings to words constantly. Most popularly, “cooked” has been used in numerous ways to describe things unrelated to food. It can mean someone is doomed for something about to happen in sentences like “I’m cooked for this test.” Someone may be “cooking up” something exceptional, in which case you’d say, “You cooked on that essay.”

A lot of slang adopted on social media platforms has come from African American Vernacular English (AAVE), but because these words are used by everyone, the origin is lost in the exchange of the words. Some of the most popular slang words on social media have come from AAVE: “bet” (which means either “yes” or “it’s on”) “lowkey” (something done secretly or modestly), “highkey” (something done obviously), “ate” (doing something exceptionally), “cap” (to lie), “finna” (going to), and many more.

Overall, social media consistently impacts our understanding of the world and the way we use language and is a way for people across the globe to connect through a universal understanding of such words and phrases.

By Dhara Mehta

‘Kung Fu Panda 4' falls short of nostaglic franchise

RATING: 1.5

Growing up in the 2000s, the “Kung Fu Panda” trilogy of movies were a pillar of my childhood and many others. They taught me many important life lessons, such as not judging someone by their appearance or the value of dreaming big. However, the newest installment, “Kung Fu Panda 4,” falls remarkably short of the expectations set by its prequels, both in terms of characters and overall plot.

Released on March 8 and directed by Mike Mitchell, the story follows Po (Jack Black) and his quest to defeat the emerging shapeshifting sorceress, The Chameleon (Viola Davis). The plot is also driven by Po trying to find his successor to be the next Dragon Warrior, which introduces the new character of Zhen (Awkwafina) to the Kung Fu Panda universe.

While I was originally interested in the concept of having a Po solo movie without the group members of the Furious Five, the kung fu group Po grew up idolizing and fought alongside, I soon realized how boring the movie was without them. In the prior movies, the Furious Five, along with Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), pushed Po to develop as a character and defeat his opponents.

The only replacement for these characters is the newly introduced Zhen, who seems just thrown in. Her connection with Po feels too artificial, and their friendship at the end of the movie seems rushed and unpolished. In

the duration of 94 minutes, Zhen goes from trying to steal from Po to leading him to The Chameleon, and then becomes his friend at the end of the movie. There are no critical moments where they bond, and they seem forced into connection for the sake of driving the plot along.

By far the biggest flaw of this movie is the main villain, The Chameleon. Whereas the other movies have some iconic and fleshed out villains such as Tai Lung (Ian McShane) in the original movie and Kai (J.K. Simmons) in the third movie, The Chameleon lacks the motivation to become a villain in the first place. In the original movie, Tai Lung’s motivation to cause destruction leads him to train his whole life to become the Dragon Warrior only to be denied the right, thus going after Po. Meanwhile, The Chameleon becomes a villain because she was not taught kung fu due to being too short. This motivation for becoming a villain is idiotic on so many levels, especially considering that members of the Furious Five include characters smaller than The Chameleon, like Viper (Lucy Liu) and Mantis (Seth Rogan). Not to mention, The Chameleon isn’t even intimidating as a villain. In the second movie, Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), the antagonist, causes genocide of the entire panda race just to stop a prophecy from coming true. In this new installment, the most evil thing The Chameleon does is push someone down a long flight of stairs.

To counteract her lack of kung fu, The Chameleon summons vil-

lains from the prior movies and steals their kung fu skills. While the call back to some of my favorite villains is nice, it doesn’t take away from the fact that instead of the much better villains present, The Chameleon is the primary antagonist in this movie.

Another strange aspect of the plot is that to steal the other masters’ kung fu, The Chameleon simply touches them to steal their strength in a matter of seconds, defeating characters Po spent an entire movie fighting. This basis for obtaining strength goes against all of the other prior villains, who actually train and are legendary warriors before they become evil, compared to The Chameleon who is just a simple crime boss.

The only redeeming factor of this movie is Po himself. Similar to all of the other movies, Black does an incredible job voice-acting for the character and capturing his kiddish tendencies. Po still has his humor, morals, and kung fu, which, along with interesting villains and world expansion, make the Kung Fu Panda universe what it is. By adding a lackluster villain and side character, this movie dilutes the standard that the other movies formed.

Watching this movie made me realize just how perfect the original trilogy of the “Kung Fu Panda” movies is, and how there was no need for another addition. I only recommend this movie if you just want to see Po on the big screen again, and even then, I warn you that the film doesn’t even really focus on Po, but instead the relationship between Po and Zhen.

'Imaginary' presents unimaginative horror

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

By An Nguyen

“Imaginary” (2024) is a supernatural horror film released in theaters directed by Jeff Wadlow, telling the troubling story of Jessica (DeWanda Wise) returning to her childhood home, which she left at a young age and has no memory of, with her new husband Max (Tom Payne) and his two daughters Taylor (Taegen Burns) and Alice (Pyper Braun). Jessica struggles to be a mother to her two new stepdaughters. While Taylor basically rejects Jessica as her mother, Alice finds a teddy bear named Chaucer in the basement. Everyone except Alice believes Alice’s new imaginary friend to be only that. But Alice, under the guidance of Chaucer, pushes herself to do more and more extreme things that hurt others and herself. While trying to

figure out what is happening to Alice, Jessica gets a rude awakening to what Chaucer is and what really happened when she was younger.

The writing of “Imaginary” is impeccable. Every scene is suspenseful and draws the viewer deeper into the story of what happened in Jessica’s past and what exactly Chaucer is. The mystery is introduced early in a very alluring manner. Each scene with Chaucer is very captivating as the audience and characters learn more about the creature. Although the movie does well to keep the audience interested with action and mystery, it’s just not scary. The movie doesn’t have many jump scares or creepy scenes, and in the few that it had, none of them felt horrifying. The film relies on a not-so-imaginary friend and does little to develop any sense of horror.

The bear is treated like any simple single-minded creature and doesn’t have many supernatural

'The Prisoner's Throne' overdoes angst, holds readers prisoner with slow pacing

RATING: 3 out of 5

Holly Black’s newest book, "The Prisoner’s Throne", the sequel to "The Stolen Heir", continues the story of its two main characters, Oak and Wren, as they navigate the political tensions of the Faerie realm. Although the novel is an improvement from the first book in the series, "The Prisoner’s Throne" is still far from perfect, with pacing issues and certain character portrayals that I was not a fan of. Having not particularly enjoyed the first book in the series, "The Prisoner’s Throne" changes things by taking the story from Oak’s perspective, rather than Wren’s. It’s a welcome change, as it allows Black to explore Oak’s character more in-depth, which I felt had been lacking in the prequel. This perspective shift is fully utilized to cast some mystique on Wren this time, allowing her true intentions to be more vague and unpredictable. However, the rather slow pacing of the first book is an issue that isn't fixed in this book either, which results in certain stretches of the book overstaying their welcome before more interesting plot points and developments arrive.

Another main plotline of the story is the developing relationship between Oak and Wren, which is oddly heartwarming at times, considering that both characters have gone through far too

much suffering, whether it be at the hands of others or each other. While there is a certain brutality and messiness to their romance, Black creates scenes where they seem to form a genuine, powerful bond. Especially considering how the book is framed around not only the politics and battles surrounding the Faerie realm but also these characters’ internal struggles, the relationship between these two characters never felt too contrived either.

But the series as a whole ultimately feels too angsty and oftentimes, far too edgy. One of the main focuses of the book is how Oak and Wren struggle to find their identity in the magical world. Oak struggles with doubt about the love that others have for him, while Wren harbors doubt about her own humanity. It serves as a driving force within the narrative as both characters are emotionally stunted in a way where they have a hard time accepting and trusting others. Their hardship is almost to the point of excessiveness at times, as certain plot points feel specifically designed to make these characters suffer more.

Ultimately, I understand the popularity of Holly Black’s writing, and by extension, the popularity of "The Stolen Heir" and "The Prisoner’s Throne". There is a certain appeal to the series, with angsty romances, disastrously complicated political and familial relations, and clear-cut writing. But overall, I just couldn’t find myself to enjoy it.

'12 Angry Men' movie classic explores contrasting morality

RATING: 4 out of 5

elements beyond being supposedly imaginary. And it doesn't have an animalistic-bloodthirsty-creature-from-another-world angle either. So in the end, there’s no clear direction on how exactly the creature is supposed to be scary. It relies on viewers to just find a moving teddy bear inherently scary and does not cultivate any further sense of fear.

The biggest problem in this movie is that it doesn’t explore the premise of an imaginary friend very well. There’s no twist or anything that would set it apart from literally any children's horror story about the concept. It would be much more effective if the teddy bear plays on the fears of its victims or builds dread through relentless nightmares.

“Imaginary” is a great movie to watch for fun and then forget about. It's an unoriginal horror trope, and its lack of deeper exploration of the monster prevents the movie from having any value besides being simple entertainment.

“12 Angry Men” is a 1957 crime-thriller film following a jury of 12 men discussing the trial of an accused 18-year-old (John Savoca), who supposedly murdered his father. While the other jurors think the boy is guilty, Juror Eight (Henry Fonda) must convince them otherwise because he believes they shouldn’t be so quick to make such a crucial decision.

The film starts off in the courthouse where the trial is taking place. A judge (Rudy Bond) discusses the charges and tells the jury that they must all come to a unanimous decision on whether or not the boy is guilty.

The acting in this film is impeccable. Each actor does a great job of expressing the emotions their characters are supposed to show during certain scenes. Through their acting, the audience is allowed a glimpse into the different personalities of each character. Oftentimes, the discussion between the 12 jurors gets pretty heated as they disagree with each other on certain ideas, making the film more engaging and entertaining for the audience.

For example, there is a scene in which the jurors take turns demonstrating how the boy

could’ve held the knife to stab his father. When it is Juror Three’s turn, he suddenly gets the urge to stab Juror Eight--the one who suggested that they demonstrate-in the chest, eliciting a sense of panic in the other jurors. The acting in this scene adds to the “thriller” aspect of the movie, putting the audience at suspense, thinking that another murder is about to happen in the movie.

Something that would’ve made the film more engaging is if it included scenes showing the events that the jurors referred to during their discussion. The jurors referred to the trial and events prior to the trial, but the only time the audience sees the trial is at the beginning, when the judge is discussing the charges.

The plot revolves around the 12 jurors discussing the fate of the accused, but showing even a short clip of these events would allow the audience to form a better connection to what they are watching. Instead, it feels like a sequel to another film in which the events actually happened.

Overall, this movie was an interesting watch. It’s great for those who enjoy crime and thriller films, which are the categories this movie falls under. Although there are a lack of scenes that would’ve made the film more engaging, the acting makes up for it. I definitely recommend watching this movie, especially if you’re into older films.

12 jurors take a vote on whether they think the accused is guilty.

Courtesy of United Artists

Courtesy of Dreamworks Studios

MOVIE REVIEW 

MOVIE REVIEW

MOVIE REVIEW

Po (left) holds the Staff of Wisdom and works with Zhen (right) as they face the Chameleon (not pictured).

'Dune:

RATING: 5 out of 5

By Erick Johnson

Part 2' surpasses expectations, becomes timeless spectacle

“Dune: Part Two,” released March 1, continues the story of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), a man who seeks to understand the foreign planet of Arrakis, its people, and their culture as he fights for the survival of his bloodline against fearsome political enemies. It features many other stars such as Zendaya, Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, and Dave Bautista.

The film is a pleasure to watch from beginning to end. The story is a delight to follow along, the characters are interesting, and the directing is outstanding.

The script is well-crafted; gradually setting up the plot at a pace the audience can easily follow. The slow pacing allows director Denis Villeneuve to beautifully illustrate the culture of the Fremen people whose planet is under the threat of colonization. Audiences feel as though they are adventuring into Arrakis alongside Paul. The slow pacing at the beginning of the movie also allows the audience to understand the setting of the story, the religion of the natives and the struggles of their civilization. If the movie were to move at a faster pace at this point of the story, many little details like the cultural significance of Paul to the planet’s inhabitants

would be lost in between all the movie’s bigger moments. The movie then picks up the pace and transforms into a story about the war between the conquering Harkonnen and the Fremen people. The action scenes are visually and audibly amazing. Throughout the film, characters use their surrounding environment as a weapon, using the terrain to hide, ambush and destroy their enemies. By using

'Everything I Thought It Was' falls short of expectations, presents uninspired songs

RATING: 2 out of 5

Justin Timberlake has returned to the music industry after a sixyear hiatus with his pop and R&B album “Everything I Thought It Was.”

With tracks that remind listeners of his original NSYNC roots along with a new R&B sound for Timberlake, the album is an experimentation of original pop style, along with a more funky style.

Though Timberlake experiments with new sounds such as electronic funk beats and synth music, some of the tracks feel forced and incohesive.

For instance, “Technicolor” and “Play” feel awkward with poorly executed electronic beats and slow drums that make the songs definitely skippable.

There seems to be no deeper meaning, and the lyrics and music don’t complement each other and are not enjoyable to listen to.

On the other hand, tracks such as “Liar” are catchy and execute a new, almost Afro-Beat style with a memorable chorus that compliments Timberlake’s upbeat style of music.

Similarly, “Imagination” is an upbeat, fun song with electronic instrumentals that make sense in the context of the song.

The lyrics are cliché and basic, but the catchy nature of the song makes up for its lack of meaningfulness.

However, despite the upbeat tune and beats, I don’t find myself emotionally affected by the music compared to how other Timberlake songs evoke more of an energetic response.

Whereas previous songs of Timberlake such as “Can’t Stop the Feeling” make me want to get up and dance, the songs on this album feel more hollow and not as impactful.

“Selfish,” is the lead single for a reason. The entire song has a ro-

mantic and soothing melody with lyrics that showcase Timberlake’s vulnerability.

The chorus is catchy and spotlights Timberlake’s harmonies, which shine through the catchy electronic beats throughout the song.

The bridge of the song, with Timberlake’s falsetto vocals, communicates the vulnerability of the song and has a memorable melody.

Breaking away from the upbeat theme of the entire album, “Alone” features piano instrumentals with Timberlake’s lead vocals stealing the show. The violin instrumentals halfway through the song add to the emotion of the song. This track feels a bit out of place on the album, as it portrays a sudden shift to a more sad place in Timberlake’s discography.

Continuing with the sadder songs, “Paradise,” featuring Timberlake’s previous band, NSYNC, elaborates on the sad note “Alone” begins. This track features more meaningful lyrics about working through a difficult relationship with a lover.

Although the song is pleasant to listen to, it doesn’t offer anything revolutionary to the album. Considering NSYNC is featured, I was expecting something more original that would make listeners reminisce on the band’s earlier pop hits.

Overall, the album disappointed me, as I was expecting more of the original pop tracks that Timberlake is famous for.

The entire album was not great but not terrible, just an in-between that does not do much for Timberlake’s career.

He did not have much to lose with this album, especially since his return was unexpected.

Thus, I think he could have made more bold choices instead of producing, at best, some temporary radio songs that will quickly be forgotten.

the desert terrain to enhance the combat, the movie’s action sequences are very different from that of a standard action movie, which does not have the same elements to work with.

While all this is happening, the movie explores the effects of power in those who wield it. The events of the story demand the characters to change their core beliefs in order to survive, and we follow them as they do everything possible to gain control of Ar-

rakis. It is fascinating to watch the characters evolve and understand how their external environment changes them within. The movie also explores religious fanaticism, and how societies and people can be influenced by religious figures who may have other motives. The religious messaging in the film is also a reflection of powerful figures in our modern time, and forces the audience to think about the idolization of political figures. The soundtrack is spectacular.

Hans Zimmer, who composed soundtracks to “Interstellar,” “Inception,” “The Lion King,” and many other acclaimed movies, has once again created a soundtrack that enhances the movie watching experience. He perfectly captures the feeling of an expansive desert, the dread of war, and the passion of love in the score. My personal favorite track is the character introduction of Feyd-Rautha to the track “Harkonnen Arena,” as that was the first time I got chills watching a movie. Without Zimmer’s soundtrack, this movie would not be able to capture the multiple tones it portrays.

The cinematography is perfect. Every scene is visually stunning. The desert feels alive, and is just as much a character in the story as the protagonist. The costume design makes each piece of clothing appear as though it has thousands of years of history. I often found myself looking away from the action for a second to admire the breathtaking outfit of each person on the screen.

Frankly, “Dune: Part Two” may have just ruined all other movies for me, as nothing can compare to it. It perfectly encapsulated what the movie-going experience should feel like: It engages audiences and makes them fall in love with a story and its’ characters, makes viewers emotional and, above all, teaches a valuable lesson that can be applied to our won world. The film is spectacular, and is worthy of a five-star review.

'Mean Girls' musical stuns viewers with masterful production, talented actors

RATING: 4 out of 5

The Mean Girls musical production by the Milpitas Community Theater was a flawlessly executed play with surprisingly professional quality production. Lasting about two and a half hours long, the musical was an amazing rendition of the movie. The musical was written by Tina Fey and directed by Salim Razawi.

I attended their last showing, on March 10th, at the Milpitas Community Center. There was a large cast with students ranging from 12 to 18 years old, including many students from our school.

The story followed the plotline of the original movie, with many iconic lines included in the musical although the writers took some creative liberties which enhanced the experience of the production as a musical.

There were also many important messages made clear through-

out the play, like the detrimental effects of social media. The play also included relevant pop culture references throughout the production, making it that much more enjoyable for the audience. The actors all demonstrated strong voices throughout the entire two hours. The main characters all performed two to five songs with supporting acappella from background characters. The adaptation of the scenes in the movie into song form was seamlessly done, and it was very well-written. All the actors were excellent, but some mentionable actors were Rachelle Liezel (Gretchen Wieners), Hayden Torres (Cady), and Camille Fuqua (Janis). Their perfor+mances were all incredible, and they really embodied their characters well.

dress with a corset top and a billowy bottom, representative of the character throughout the musical. Cady’s costume design was also very thought-out, as it was a representation of her development throughout the story.

At the beginning, she had two braids which were tied up in the back, and as she became more influenced by the plastics, she started to care for her appearance more, letting her braids out.

From the lights to the acting, the play was strong all around and had a masterful production, exceeding my expectations. The other viewers also shared the same sentiment as there was a standing ovation at the end of the musical.

The costume design was also ingenious, with multiple costume changes throughout the play. A costume design that stood out to me was Janis’s dress at the end of the musical. It was a handmade

There definitely needs to be more community support for the Milpitas Community Theater prod uctions, because this play was very well done, and there were not nearly enough people in the audience as there should have been for such a well crafted play.

By Agna Soneji

Students Rachelle Liezel, Aliyah Onalfo, and Hailey Young play Gretchen, Regina and Karen in the play.

By Tanisha Varma

Agna Soneji | THE UNION MOVIE REVIEW

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) share an intimate moment on the dunes.

Courtesy of Warner Brother Pictures

Soccer team reflects on successful season, makes semi-finals for first time in 14 years

This year’s boys soccer season was a historic one, with 12 wins and seven losses in the regular season, which led the team to Central Coastal Section (CCS) semifinals for the first time in 14 years, according to head coach James Williams.

The team fell short at the semi-final game, but still accomplished their original goal of making it to the playoffs, Williams said.

“Overall, the season was a success,” Williams said. “We had a couple low moments, but the guys were able to fight through those. We think we should have done better in the semi-finals, but it still was a good run.”

The team resonated with the idea that every season is a journey and a story, Williams said. He started by asking the team how they wanted their story to end, and reminded them that they were in control of writing it, he added.

“At the start of the year, the team consisted of groups or individuals,” Williams said. “We were talented, but it wasn’t necessarily a team. By the end of the year, they really became a team by hanging out together, playing together, and training together.”

Making it to the CCS playoffs felt really good, Williams said. Last year, the team missed it by a few points, so there was some bitterness involved as the juniors

from last year, the seniors now, believed they could have made playoffs last year as well, he added.

“I think that’s part of the reason why, when this season started going in the opposite direction, they were able to really focus because they didn’t want to feel that again,” Williams said.

Senior Vivan Iyer has been on the team since his freshman year and felt the relief of finally making it to CCS playoffs at the end of his high school career, Iyer said.

“It was really good to see because freshman year we had a really bad record,” Iyer said. “And then sophomore year, we improved a little, and then junior year we barely missed out. The relief of finally making it senior year felt really good, since midway through the season it seemed like we wouldn’t make it.”

Iyer’s favorite memory from this season was when MHS scored a goal against Latino College Preparatory during the quarterfinal game, he said.

“There was a basketball game happening at the same time and their game ended so all the fans came over to our game,” Iyer said. “We went to overtime and somehow scored, and it was a really big celebration.”

Senior and co-team captain Andre Bahena, who has been playing on the team since his sophomore year, came into the season knowing that making playoffs was a must this year, he said.

“I think we all had that mindset

throughout the whole season,” Bahena said.

As for playing style, the team adapts to however the other team plays, Bahena said.

“Of course, we already knew what we were going to do and how we were going to play; we just adapted depending on the team,” Bahena said. “We mainly focus on possessing the ball and then finding the striker’s feet.”

Making it to CCS playoffs felt like a work in progress throughout the years, Bahena said.

“It’s been in the making with getting a new coach a couple years ago and just restarting the program with new kids,” Bahena said. “(Making it to playoffs) was a big weight off our shoulders.”

Bahena believes MHS should have won the semi-final game since MHS was the better team that day, he said.

“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities that day,” Bahena said. “I wouldn’t say the better team won that day and I truly think that, but that’s just how soccer works.”

The team has worked to transform their identity over the past few years, Bahena said. His sophomore year, there were a lot of new guys off task with an unserious mindset and there was the reputation of MHS not being a playoff team, he added.

“The coaches knew that we had the players to become a playoff team,” Bahena said. “It started from there, by just believing in it.”

Boys’ golf takes a swing at challenges

By Tiffany Ng

The golf team at MHS is a tightly-knit group of students who are passionate about the sport they play, senior and boys golf team captain Thomas Woneis said.

The team has won several tournaments, and it is a frequent topic in their conversations, Woneis said.

“We’ll talk about winning matches weeks later after winning it,” Woneis said. “We still talk about our last year’s season, we won 12 to 0, won our league, and we still talk about it every day during practice just because it’s really difficult to do.”

The equipment required for golf is pretty expensive, and because golf isn’t a very popular sport, there is a lack of funding from the school, Woneis said. “I have a medium (size) blue

uniform, and I have an extra large yellow uniform, so in the small things like not even having the right size uniforms, they add up and we have to fund all our own practice balls and tee times for going out on the course,” Woneis said. “I don’t think other sports should have to pay for our stuff, but if there was a way that the school could raise funds for golf, it would definitely help us out.”

Sophomore Ian Choi got into golf during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Choi’s dad suggested he should try the sport, he added.

“(The pandemic) gave me a lot more time to play because I wasn’t focused on anything else,” Choi said. “Because there were not many people going out, I had more opportunities to play.”

Choi prefers to play at the Ruby Hills Golf Course, he said.

Boys volleyball team starts off season, aims for improvement

By Agna Soneji

Creating something from the ground up is never easy, and that is especially true for the boys volleyball team, boys volleyball head coach Marissa Canez said. The team’s current record is 6-10, but the team has much potential to grow throughout the season, Canez said.

The team has been dealing with challenging circumstances as they are a brand new team and lack school funding, Canez said.

“Most of our practices are at Randall Elementary School and we have two practices scheduled at Russell and then a few practices scheduled at MHS,” Canez said. “So that was also part of the planning--I have this whole spreadsheet master calendar, and it shows me where we’re at every day of the week for each month.”

The practicing schedule makes it hard, but everyone on the team is committed and determined, senior Alexander Lu said. Though there are many areas of improvement for the team, slowly but everyone on the team is motivated to keep going, he added

“We have a lot of smaller mistakes that we’re making and, as the season goes by, every game that we play, we’re slowly starting to fill in those little gaps that we have in our game,” Lu said.

They’ve gotten much better at passing and scoring but the chemistry between players still isn’t as strong as other already established teams, senior Atif Muhammed said.

“We have a lot of good individual players, but we can’t connect on a level where other teams have because they have played for four years, and we’re a first-year team,” Muhammed said. “As the season goes on, we’ll be better in

the long run.”

Some students have experience playing on club teams, while others have only played for fun Lu said. The biggest area of progress is to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so they can work well as a group, he added.

“When we start getting points racked against us, that obviously means everybody’s making their own mistakes,” Lu said. “Sometimes people get snippy at each other. I think we need to realize when we start losing points, it’s us all losing points as a whole and not just that person’s fault.”

Having to practice at multiple schools has made it difficult for the team, but they have managed to maintained their morale, Canez said.

“They don’t mind,” Canez said. “They’re just happy to be there. They’re just happy to be playing volleyball at this point.”

This is the team’s first year, but there has been demand for a boys volleyball team for a long time, Canez said. With the Milpitas team, the number of teams in the league evened out so Athletics Director Joanna Butcher brought the request to Canez herself, Canez said.

“It (the request for a boys volleyball team) started all the way up with CCS,” Canez said. “She (Ms. Butcher) had mentioned the higher-up person wanted Milpitas to have a team because of the number of teams within our league.”

Starting anything from the ground up is bound to be difficult, especially a sports team, but the boys volleyball team has enthusiasm, determination, and potential, Muhammed said.

“Our highs are really high, but our lows are really low,” Muhammed said.

“I mainly go to Bayview, which is the closest course; I think it’s barely a mile away,” Choi said. “(However) Ruby Hills is where I hit the best.”

Freshman Larry Xie isn’t stressed when playing in tournaments, he said.

“The thing with high school tournaments is they’re not as stressful as outside tournaments, so I feel pretty calm and chill,” Xie said.

One of the team’s strengths is their superior communication skills compared to teams from other schools, allowing them to form a closer connection with each other, Xie said. However, one of their weaknesses is that they only play during the season, he added.

“In other schools, they don’t play just during the season,” Xie said. “They also play by them-

selves outside of the season a lot more, so I think that gives them more experience and they’ll get a better score.”

Xie is confident in the team’s skills, he said.

“Last year, I think they went undefeated, and that was without me, too,” Xie said. “This year, there’s some other teams that also (have) some good players, so I think it’ll be a lot tougher, but we still have a chance.”

Woneis feels very close with his teammates, which has allowed him to make long-lasting friendships, he said.

“I still know a few of the seniors

who graduated last year from the team; I still talk with them and play with them,” Woneis said. “So even though it’s kind of an individual sport, we really come together because it’s such a small team.”

Woneis plans to play golf for a long time, even after high school, he said.

“I don’t see myself joining any college golf; it would just be recreational,” Woneis said. “The great thing about golf, too, is you can play it till you’re 80. I mean, my grandpa’s 75, and he still plays golf every week, so I see no reason why I would stop.”

By Tanisha Varma Erick Johnson | THE UNION

Erick Johnson | THE UNION

Alexander Lu leaps in the air to block a spike against MacDonald High.

Milpitas Trojans triumph 1-0 versus Lynbrook High on Feb. 9 thanks to a first-minute goal by Andre Bahena.

Baseball team holds high hopes, aims to join next highest league

By Sidhant Burela

With varsity baseball now in midseason, the Trojans have totalled a record of 6 wins and 5 losses overall, but 5 wins and 0 losses in their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) games as of Mar. 26, varsity head coach Zach Canez said. The team is positioned first in the El Camino League division and is focused on winning their league and moving up to the higher De Anza League division next year, Canez added.

This is the first group of players that has been with Canez consecutive years, Canez said. Canez was the assistant coach for six years before making the transition to head coach last year, he added.

“We’ve just never been able to get to that point (winning division), but with a lot of returners and the team working together, I think this, out of all the years, is our best shot to do that and move our program up to the next division,” Canez said.

The two biggest strengths of the team are their pitching ability and how tight-knit the players are, senior and center fielder Benson Foy said.

“We’re a pretty close couple of guys,” Foy said. “We pick each other up if someone makes a bad play or error (…) We all step up and help them out, and then get everybody right back on track.”

The Trojans opened their season with the Michael De Jesus Baseball Classic tournament, in which they faced many higher league teams and learned many valuable lessons, senior and second baseman Harry Westfall said.

“We’ve been trying out different people at different positions and there’s some new people in new

places,” Westfall said. “It’s been a learning curve because we have a good amount of underclassmen (...) It’s really just adjusting to new players at different positions.”

Over the games, some players that have stepped up have been pitchers Hugo Garay, Sanjith Pragasam, and Adrian Chavez, Foy said.

“They all stepped up as pitchers, but it’s still not like there’s just one person that stands out,” Foy said. “We’re just a whole core that has helped each other out.”

One of the most unusual but memorable moments so far in the season is when Westfall collided with a teammate, resulting in Westfall breaking his nose, Canez said.

“It (injury) shows that we need to communicate more,” Westfall said. “It was just an unfortunate event that could have been avoided, but we should be okay and able to play through it.”

The team maintains their chemistry by keeping high energy throughout their games, regardless of whether or not they are on the field, Westfall said.

“If someone earns a run, we start chanting, and if someone gets a hit, we try to keep a lot of energy in the dugouts,” Westfall said. “Even if you are on the bench and even if you’re on the field, everyone has to take a captain role and talk as much as they can.”

Although his last year of playing baseball at MHS is bittersweet, Foy is confident it will be his best season yet, he said.

“It’s nice because I know we are really strong,” Foy said. “I feel really confident about this team and it would be really nice to go out on top, and that’s what I think we’re going to do.”

Softball team strikes down competition, learns valuable life lessons

By An

As of March 30, the MHS varsity softball team has a record of 8-6.

Junior April Price began playing softball in middle school, and she quickly clicked with the sport because she knew she was good at it due to her speed and athletic ability, she said. She joined the high school softball team in her freshman year after her parents encouraged her to, she added. Currently, she plays centerfield for the team, she said.

“I feel like I’m growing as a person as an individual,” Price said.

“I had a lot of memories I’ve made and I am excited to continue making memories.”

One of those fond memories was a practice that the sophomore team did in the rain, Price said. “We have a good bond with each other,” Price said. “We have so much more to come through. And we’re going to learn as a team and get better.”

Despite how rewarding softball can be, there can also be challenges, Price said. When Price’s hits didn’t go as she planned, it left her feeling down, she said.

“I was in a big slump,” Price

said. “But I had faith in myself. I built the confidence to know that I am a great player and I have so much to exceed in. I was excited when I started getting back into hitting and I’m planning on being consistent with it.”

Sophomore Kaelyn Cunanan has been playing softball since she was five years old, she said. Now, she plays second base for the team, she added.

“As I was growing up, I developed a passion for it,” Cunanan said. “I wanted to see how far I could get with it.”

Cunanan had also participated

in Travel Ball, where she travels to compete against other teams, she said.

“I’ve been to (Southern California) many times,” Cunanan said “I also have gone to Colorado, and I’m going to Indiana this summer.”

However, softball can be a very mentally draining sport, Cunanan said.

“Building up to love (softball) again was very challenging,” Cunanan said.

Similarly, senior and pitcher Priyah Quinon began playing softball at a young age, and has a

strong passion for it, she said.

Softball “builds your confidence (and) your loyalty, it shows you mentally to be strong, and to actually go through with something you committed to,” Quinon said.

Softball builds those qualities by helping a person to overcome challenges, fear, and mental blocks, Quinon added.

“If you could face softball for this amount of years and go through those mentally challenging parts and get through them, I honestly think you could overcome mostly anything in the world,” Quinon said.

Nguyen

Hugo Garay pitches against Lynbrook High on March 21. The Trojan team defeated their opponents 10-2.

Erick Johnson | THE UNION

Erick Johnson | THE UNION

Junior April Price takes a swing against Valley Christian High School. The Trojans lost to their opponents 6-7 on March 5, by allowing five runs during the ballgame’s penultimate inning.

FAFSA delays, technical issues cause challenges for college-bound seniors

By Dhara Mehta

With many seniors applying to college and waiting to hear back for final decisions during this time, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) plays a critical role in decision making in this process. However this year, because of new revisions being made to the form, it caused a huge delay in the rollout of financial aid packages from FAFSA, school counselor Adrian Hernandez said.

With the redesigning of the form, mostly to make it simpler, they released the form a lot later than previous years, Hernandez said. Previously, the FAFSA was sent out in October, but this year they changed it to December, he added.

“In late December, they were supposed to do a soft launch, but it had so many technician issues and it had so many glitches, which made it even further complicated,” Hernandez said. “There was not only initially the three month delay for its opening, but students had issues with it in the month of January.”

The hardest part of the form wasn’t only the technical issues, but the amount of information that his dad had to put in, senior

Terence Moncada said.

“It’s pretty quick for me, but for the parents, my dad having to fill out his personal information, that’s what took me the longest and why we couldn’t submit it faster,” Moncada said.

The delayed rollout of the FAFSA did not only impact students’ choices in college, but also impacted when colleges would send out financial aid packages to students and delayed the date to make decisions, Hernandez said.

“Typically, CSU (California State University) campuses would determinate offers by March and then ask students to declare their interest to a campus by May 1,” Hernandez said. “Most campuses are moving away from the popular May 1 deadline.”

The amount of technical issues in the form has led to decreased confidence in submitting the form, Hernandez said. Especially with vulnerable populations, like those whose parents are undocumented, submitting financial information is difficult, he added.

“In addition to everything being delayed and having to stay on top of (submitting personal information), some students may end up turning to community college just because of all the delays and lack of confidence in the system,”

Hernandez said.

While many students have been able to complete the form, some of the issues are actually in terms of submitting the form, Hernandez said.

“What I’ve been seeing from students is that they’re so frustrated,” Hernandez said. “They’ve submitted applications, three, four times in the very beginning just to actually get onto the system with oftentimes not being able to actually get any confirmation that they did (submit an application),” he added.

However, this form is not one of the major factors he is relying on to make college decisions, senior Sukhad Mutatkar said.

“Even though the FAFSA was late, I think due to being a younger sibling, it was a streamlined and easier process,” Mutatkar said. “I am not relying on it for my college education, since I am most likely staying in state.”

Overall this delay has caused a lot of panic within households, schools, and even at colleges, Hernandez said.

“It’s a complicated process of applying for families,” Hernandez said. “Students are left in limbo and they’re frustrated and overwhelmed, we just have to support them the best we can.”

Schedule limitations cause disparity in A-G credit completion rates among English language learners, LCAP update shows

By Ruby Bui

English language learner (ELL) students at MHS were found to have a 2.4% completion rate of A-G credit requirements compared to the general 55.8% in August 2023, Executive Director of Learning and Innovation Priti Johari said at the Feb. 13 MUSD board meeting.

ELL students struggle with completing A-G credits not because they are incapable, but because of a structural issue with scheduling, Johari said.

“If you are an English language learner, sometimes there’s also requirements for the state on the amount of time that you might need to be in an English class, and so that could look like a double block of English classes,” Johari said. “If you have two periods of English, you have less room in your schedule to have an elective class. That’s where students might not be meeting criteria under world languages or fine arts.”

MHS aims to open different pathways to all students by ensuring that they are eligible to apply to University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) schools, Johari said. This school year, administrators and staff are reevaluating which programs and solutions benefit ELL students the most, she added.

“Not all of our graduates are UC-CSU eligible,” Johari said. Completing “A-G correlates with your CSU-UC eligibility, and that’s an area that we can grow, and the area for greatest growth is really in supporting our English language learners.”

MHS has been focusing on solutions that support English-learning students, Assistant Principal Andrew Dinh said. These solutions include the Newcomer Welcome Academy, after-school tutoring, and the hiring of ELL counselor Yolanda Rodriguez, Dinh said. Rodriguez assists ELL students with understanding the A-G process, analyzes the students’ transcripts, and ensures their credit stability, he added.

For the Newcomer Welcome Academy, “newcomers are students who were (at MHS) for less than two to three years, and we focus on students who have very little English language development,” Dinh said. “That means listening, speaking, and writing at near zero level.”

MUSD is also examining MHS’s current courses to see which ones qualify for A-G credit, and is increasing collaboration between teachers and administrators, Coordinator II of English Learners and Math/Literacy Interventions Shannon Soza said.

“We really want all students, but especially our English learners, to be able to have a strong sense of the English language so they’re able to have a job, apply to college, (and) be successful,” Soza said. “That does not mean we want them to lose their home language, so that’s why we have our different pathways to biliteracy for grades three, six and eight, and then our State Seal of Biliteracy for seniors. We really want to emphasize that being multilingual in this world is very important.”

MHS’s ELL student popula-

District makes multiple staffing, budget cuts for cost management

By Yunxi Fang

MUSD is looking to reduce around $2 million to the 2024-25 district budget, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.

One of the main reasons why MUSD is not receiving as much state funding is because of the California 2024-2025 state deficit, MUSD Board Trustee Chris Norwood said.

AnEducatEveryWhere full-time-equivalent (FTE), 1-2 Learning & Development (L&D) FTE, and an L&D administrator are confirmed to be cut and vacant positions including a graphics organizer, payroll analyst, and MHS staff secretary will be unfilled, Jordan said.

“I will note that the Board did not go with the recommendation to reduce the NJROTC (program) by one teacher,” Jordan said. “And (during the March 13 MUSD board meeting), the Board did not go forward with the layoff of three health clerks.”

“The positions such as EducatEveryWhere, Learning and Development Teacher on Special Assignment, and Learning and Development did not result in any current staff members losing their positions,” Interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations Damon James said.

“As a result of resignations, reassignments, and/or transfers, this had no real effect on our current employee workforce. Some positions were based on student enrollment as well as the service model being rendered, so the decisions to restructure were both cost-effective as well as beneficial to next year’s student program.”

Most of MUSD’s funding comes from the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Jordan said. The state uses the LCFF to calculate funding based on a district’s average daily attendance, Jordan said.

tion has increased by 3% since 2017, and there had been a spike in that population following the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinh said.

“Supporting ELLs is difficult, because we need to understand where they’re coming from, making sure that we have someone who can communicate with them,” Dinh said. “Communication is always key. (...) If a kid just came here from another country and they don’t speak any English, they’ve never heard of A-G requirements and high school graduation rates. Our first job is making sure they’re placed in a class and then figuring out how to support them after.”

For students who arrive late, MHS sometimes allows them to complete a fifth year in high school or require less credit completion, Dinh said.

“We need to set some kind of benchmark about what we expect (from) our high schoolers, and I think (A-G requirements) are there for a reason,” Dinh said. “I don’t think they’re too strict, but I do think there could be leeway given depending on the needs of the student. People come from all different backgrounds before they come here, and putting one broad requirement is difficult.”

It is important to hear and understand the perspectives of ELL students who are struggling to complete A-G requirements, and to know what barriers they are facing, Soza said.

“I think one of our strongest parts of Milpitas High School is we embrace people,” Dinh said. “We make them feel included, and we make them feel attached.”

(MUSD) will have to be super careful over the next couple of years,” Norwood said.

“Another reason for a decrease (to the budget) is the decrease in our average daily attendance,” Jordan said. “We used to be close to 97% before COVID; now we’re at about 95%. For every (additional) one percent of average daily attendance that we hit, that’s $1.4 million.”

MUSD cannot necessarily control how long it will have to cost-manage in the sense that each year, the revenue of the state determines how much money school districts will receive, Norwood said.

“For example, if next year, the governor says that the budget has a surplus, then schools won’t go into cost management; (the schools) will keep what (they) have, and maybe even be able to add something,” Norwood said. “But if the governor comes back next year and says we’re in a deficit again, then everybody gets less money and has to make decisions on how to stay fiscally sound. The school district never decides, ‘Oh, we’re going to run a budget cut.’” MUSD projects will not be affected by the cost management plan, Norwood said.

“A part of cost management is, how do you reorganize the duties of the folks where there is going to be change?” Norwood said. “So you do a reorganization so that all the projects that were running really well continue.”

Regarding the multiple attempts to raise funding for the future, there have been local community-based organizations that make donations to schools, Norwood said. The MUSD Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is fundraising for school sites, he added.

“The primary (area of decreased funding) is the Local Control Funding Formula,” Jordan said. The LCFF “is dependent upon what’s called the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), which the federal government sets and the state modifies.”

During the past few years, the COLA was really high, Jordan said. This year, it is around 8%, but for next year, Governor Gavin Newsom is projecting that it will be 0.76%, she added.

The governor is saying, based on what the COLA is going to be, MUSD will have to go into its savings, Norwood said.

“And if (MUSD) is deficit spending, meaning spending more money than they are getting in,

“There’s also this thing which we did a while ago called a parcel tax,” Norwood said. “(It’s) where the community rallies around and says, ‘We’re going to support education even more and help fund additional teachers and staff.’”

There is also the possibility of reaching out to elected officials to ask where the budget line items are that are associated with education, Norwood said.

MUSD also frequently writes grants, Norwood said.

Writing grants “is a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it because we get to make sure that our kids in Milpitas get the best that we can possibly provide,” Norwood said. “Is it perfect? No. I think public education could be funded in a different way that’s more productive, but that’s a long way away.”

The FAQ page addresses the technical issues with the FAFSA and what to do because of the delayed rollout. Courtesy of the Federal Student Aid website

NJROTC funding cut delayed with hopes to improve enrollment

FROM PAGE 1

the program, saving the district approximately $100,000. The proposed cut in spending is a result of recent cost management measures by the board in regards to the district’s deficit spending, Jordan announced at the meeting.

After deliberation, the board agreed to “defer any action on the NJROTC department for a year to allow the program to raise its enrollment and to give time to the district to explore other funding opportunities,” Ngo said at the meeting.

For the past few years, enrollment numbers have remained stagnant at the program, assistant principal Damon James said at the meeting.

“Before the pandemic, there never was a recruitment problem,” Lieutenant Margie Jackson said.

The recruitment process in the NJROTC program is student-led, Jackson said. Students go out and try to recruit students utilizing communication skills they learned within the program, she added.

Students “learned from watching each other year after year,”

Jackson said. “Usually, we had 17 or 18 seniors who graduated and had stayed the whole four years, so they were masters at it.”

However, once the pandemic began, recruitment numbers were impacted due to online learning, Jackson said. Once students came back, the few who were in the program did not have the example of experienced students who could guide them, which was something the program had relied on for years, she said.

“All that we had was the students that the counselor put in the program,” Jackson said.

The NJROTC program needs both instructors to operate smoothly, Master Chief Jimmy Whitney said. Jackson has been “living in her office” the last couple of years in order to run the program, he said.

“If we get it to 100, we will definitely need both instructors to teach just the curriculum,” Whitney said.

“Ever since Master Chief Whitney got here, we’ve noticed a significant load off of Lieutenant’s (Jackson’s) back because she has a second instructor there to help her out,” junior cadet Akshat Paliwal said.

Whitney is also capable of helping students further their prospects due to his connections with members of the Naval Academy, Paliwal said.

“Without him, there’s no way we can get back to those greater numbers that we’re trying to look for,” sophomore cadet Isaac Garcia said. “He’s made a very big difference even in the short time he’s been here.”

The program is demanding for both students and instructors, Whitney said. It involves students completing 1300 hours of community service hours a year, and requires the instructors’ attention throughout the week, he said.

Students “learn how to work in teams; they understand collaboration, decision making, and all those things that are important for something to be successful,” Jackson said.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee pledged his support for the program, according to Jordan’s statement at the board meeting.

“I think, with the support of the school, and people getting behind this program, we will get it back to 100 (students enrolled),” Whitney said.

MUSD sued over allegations of sexual misconduct by former teachers

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Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Damon James said. If the district is handling a case related to personnel discipline that they already addressed in the past, they demonstrate to the court that they had attempted to rectify the situation, he added. With allegations related to personnel, the goal is to ensure student safety while reducing district liability, James said.

“The district’s responsibility is to do what’s in the best interest of the students and the district, so our strategies are always to protect the student,” James said.

The board determines how to proceed with a court case during the closed session of board meetings and consults with legal counsel, James said. While making a decision, they consider ways to reduce liability, or the amount of money the district has to pay out, as well as how to reduce stress on victims and witnesses, he added.

“We’re also looking at those types of things—if we can prove our case, but we can also ensure that there isn’t any further damage to students,” James said.

The district uses its general liability insurance to cover costs related to litigation, Purchasing/ Contracts/Bond Budget Manager Kelly Ng said. Each claim has coverage up to $55 million, she added.

MUSD is currently in a Joint Power Agency (JPA) with multiple school districts to split the

cost of liability insurance proportionally, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Wendy Zhang said. MUSD’s insurance premium is currently $1.4 million per year, with a deductible of $10,000, she added. The money to pay for insurance comes from MUSD’s general funds, Zhang said.

The more the district uses the liability insurance, the higher MUSD’s “experience rating” becomes, resulting in higher costs of insurance, Jordan said.

“If the insurance is tapped a number of times, the rates are going to go up,” Jordan said. “If the rates go up, then that means less funding for us to use in some other area, whether it’s fixing facilities, getting materials, (or) providing services.”

In 2000, MUSD’s insurance coverage cost was $706,000 annually, but it’s currently $1.4 million annually, Ng said.

“It did go up, but as we mentioned, we are part of this JPA, so it’s just like our group health insurance plan: if there are expenses, then as a whole, our insurance goes up,” Ng said. “So that, plus inflation, has increased our premium price over the years.”

MUSD is currently being sued in nine active court cases, according to the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara Public Portal.

Of these cases, the district has only tapped into the liability insurance for the three personnel-related cases, Jordan said.

Palestinian flag in classroom

port the students who are going through difficult times due to the ongoing conflict, he said.

“I’m not going to soapbox to them,” Barrett said. “I’m not going to try to push it too much. It’s more or less my equivalent of a comfy couch for students who are impacted by this.’”

Although it would have been nice for Barrett to have a conversation about the flag, it was a nice gesture from him, said junior Aditi Gupta, a student in Barrett’s AP Environmental Science class.

“I think teachers discussing political issues should be encouraged, in a sense, just because we are high school students; we don’t live in a bubble,” Gupta said. “We have knowledge about current events, and I think just trying to pretend that none of it affects anyone doesn’t do anything.”

Gupta believes that Barrett has the right to express his opinions in his classroom, she said.

“Even if some of the students don’t agree with his political opinions, he has the right to share them in his own classroom,” Gupta said. “It’s not like he’s telling us anything about them. It’s like a quiet show of support.”

Barrett believes that it is his job to present both sides of the conflict in order to counter the power of propaganda, he said.

“Are students impressionable? Yes, absolutely,” Barrett said. “That’s the whole point of being

a student. From learning history to learning math to learning chemistry, of course, they’re impressionable; we all are,” he added. “Propaganda is incredibly powerful, and I feel like pushing against propaganda that’s actively killing people is super important, whether it’s Flint, Michigan, or whether it’s Palestine.”

There may be students that disagree with teachers’ views, and when this happens, teachers should be fully open to respectful discourse around the subject, Barret said. However, it is the job of an education system to make students feel uncomfortable, to a certain extent, to promote certain conversations, he added.

“I feel like, if they’re uncomfortable, then they have a right to be uncomfortable, but I have a right to work against that, and hopefully give them education if they’ve been misinformed,” Barrett said.

If a flag was generally accepted in the local area to be hate speech, then the teachers’ union would be having a different conversation, Webber said. However, this is a class with a civic-minded teacher who is aware about many issues and is simply comforting a part of his class, Webber said.

“I don’t think it’s fair to expect teachers to become inhuman in the classroom,” Webber said. “We cannot leave our personalities, our thoughts, our beliefs at the door. (...) We are complete humans. We are not robots.”

Ethnic studies LGBTQ+ to be offered

be very different. So, if all of us are facing it, wouldn’t it be an ethnic studies discussion?”

The course will consist of LGBTQ+ literature, the contributions of LGBTQ+ people to history, and the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights both in the U.S. and internationally, Webber said. Hopefully, students will be able to become more open-minded after taking this course, he added.

Costs covered by insurance include payment for legal counsel, she added.

Next year’s insurance premium will increase by approximately 5%, which is a normal amount, Zhang said. MUSD’s experience rating is average compared to the other school districts in the JPA, she added.

The impact of the ongoing court cases on experience rating and insurance costs may reflect later on, Ng said.

To prevent future personnel misconduct, James has worked to initiate a new training program on preventing child abuse for administrators in June, after noticing that past staff trainings weren’t in-depth enough, James said.

The district also currently has annual mandated training for all educators on harassment, sexual harrassment, child abuse, and appropriate ways for educators to discipline students, Jordan said.

“We are really focused on making sure that we have a safe and secure learning and working environment, and it really is important for all of our team members (...) to make sure that we’re paying attention to our annual training so we can recognize signs in case we see something that doesn’t look right,” Jordan said. “For our learners, our students, if you see something or feel something that doesn’t seem right, speak up—because when we speak up, that’s how we prevent things from happening.”

“The overall purpose is education—understanding the world, understanding the culture in which we live,” Webber said. “The more we can reach an understanding of each other, how the world operates, how we all operate with different cultures, (and) different ways of thinking, (the more) that helps us in education.”

Sophomore Edwin Rivera, who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, believes that the course should teach students about how that community gained prominence in society, he said.

“The addition of this class makes me feel more respected knowing that the community I’m in is getting fair treatment,” Rivera said.

Because ethnic studies LGBTQ+ is an elective class, Webber believes it should be both interesting and fun with minimal homework, he said.

“There are three six-weeks (in a semester), and the first six weeks is going to be studying the history,” Webber said. “The second six weeks is going to be project-based, where we’re going to research an event or a person

from history who is LGBTQ or an event in the LGBTQ rights, so it could be evolution of gay marriage, Stonewall riots, anything that could be interesting. And then in the third six weeks, we’re going to read a novel.”

Although Rivera didn’t sign up to take ethnic studies LGBTQ+, the addition of this class promotes inclusivity and would benefit students who aren’t educated on these matters, he said.

“I feel like I’m not really suited to put myself out there too much because I’m happy for who I am, and some people might bring that down,” Rivera said. “But that doesn’t stop me from being who I am.”

The ethnic studies LGBTQ+ course was proposed by Webber in November 2023 and quickly got the Curriculum Policy Council’s approval to fulfill G credits for A-G requirements, Mach said.

“I had been thinking about it for four or five years,” Webber said. “I didn’t really verbalize it until admin called for what they call passion projects—things that make us excited, things that would make us want to teach something.”

Hopefully, even more ethnic studies classes will be added within the next few years, Webber said.

“I think everything is an important part of history in education,” Webber said. “There are so many things that you could study. I chose to study English, and I chose to study literature. Other people can choose to study engineering or thermodynamics. Everything deserves to be studied.”

Brett Webber will be teaching the

Courtesy of MUSD

Assemblymember Alex Lee (right) visits NJROTC to speak on leadership, service, and community involvement. Courtesy of Jimmy Whitney