The tardy policy is enforced in her classes, Math Teacher Annie Nguyen said. Attendance is part of her students’ participation grade, so every time they are late, they lose two points off of participation, but they can make it up by doing extra problems on the board, warmups, and homework problems, she con tinued.“Ithink for the kids who are al ways late, it’s an external situa tion,” Nguyen said. “It’s not the stu dent on campus not wanting to go to class and dragging their foot. So if they’re late and it’s habitual, I don’t think the consequences will change [their behavior].”
Intra-year credit recovery is a new way for students to earn credit in a course in which they received a D or F grade during first semes ter, MUSD Director of Secondary Education Gregory Barnes said. Courses, including Integrated Math I through III, English I through III, US History, and World History, are taken during second semester, he said.Credit recovery is two hours of class time before or after school, with an hour and a half of online learning or homework per week, Barnes said. Compared with the 90 hours of seat time in an on-campus course per semester and 75 hours during summer school, credit re covery includes roughly 30 hours of seat time, he said. Regular summer school will still be available as an option to students, he said.
Student homelessness issue intensifies “I had one family, their rent went from $1800 to $4200 that’sdollars--ridiculous.”
“Kids don’t have to be literally homeless to qualify. The point of McKinney-Vento is really to find any families that are struggling with housing and to try to get that support they need, so that they stay housed,” Steward said. “About 75 percent or 80 percent of our families are doubled up. If they are doubled up, a family is sharing housing with another family due to financial reasons. So there’s a one bedroom apart ment, but there’s eight people in there.”Homelessness is caused by a variety of reasons, including high cost of rent, untreated mental ill By Loan-Anh Pham Ryanna Lui ness, drug addiction, alcoholism, or a poor family environment, Li feMoves Annual Fund Manager Shelby Dobrenz said. LifeMoves is an organization that serve indi viduals and families across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, providing shelter to 750 clients every night, Dobrenz added. Those who are homeless have the option of reaching out to shel ters and other organizations for help, LifeMoves Vice President of Programs and Services Brian Greenberg said. Those who are waitlisted are left to find housing at relatives’ houses while others will live in their cars, Greenberg added.“Without organizations like us, there would be many more fam ilies living in their cars, many more families doubled up with two or three families in very small apartments,” Greenberg said. “There would be fewer exits from poverty and homelessness.” Housing crises occur year round, but are especially prom inent around Thanksgiving and
Renovating summer school has been a longtime concern Principal Francis Rojas said. Teachers found students who failed a class would attend summer school, and fail the during the next school year without
A suggestion she has to address chronic tardies is to have a later start time than the elementary and middle school, Nguyen said. Many of the kids that she has talked to about being late say that their par ents need to drop off their siblings first, she said. “There are so many obstacles so maybe we can alleviate some of them if everybody starts to under stand that it’s not just about tar dies,” Mach said. “Every kid needs something different so until we can figure out something and the resources that we need to put our money into, I don’t know when we will have a tardy policy that is 100 percent effective for everybody.”
MHS School Linked ServicesNicoleCoordinatorSteward
PAUL CHON | THE UNION Math Teacher Unyuong Yi lends a hand to Junior Jonah Lachica with an assignment as part of the new intra-year credit recovery program. Alternatives for tardy policy consequences are being discussed by the administration, Principal Francis Rojas said. The goal is to decrease the amount of chronic tar dies, he said. The current consequences are making more paperwork instead of solving the problem, Rojas said. The administration is trying to seek out ideas that will actually help those students who are chronically tardy, he continued. “We also know that for many of our students they do the detentions, but then for some they just skip them and, next thing you know, the detention turns into a longer one, and it’s just not working and doesn’t improve attendance,” Rojas said. “So we’re looking at not changing the actual policy of how we count the tardies, but more about how what are ways that we can actually work with students to improve [on attendance].”Itisunlikely that there will be any changes to the tardy policy this semester, Assistant Principal Jon athan Mach said. We need to meet with students to understand why they are not getting to class on time, he“Insteadsaid. of being punitive, we need to have more of a discussion,” Mach said. “We need to help them get to class, and get their grades up because that’s where it really needs By Ashley Chen Vivian Tsang to start Severalfrom.”suggestions that the ad ministration has pitched include enforcing a one minute bell and asking teachers to stand by their doors before class, Rojas said. The administration also wants to get a group of students together to come up with ideas as well, he added. “Other things we’ve explored are for chronic truants, [such as] meet ing with parents to talk about how to help your child be on time be cause we know that being on time is a skill that you need in your adult life,” Rojas said. “We want to make sure we build those habits here at the high school level.” Marking first period tardies is a necessity, Science Teacher Rita Burmanroy said. Students under stand that class starts at 8:00, so it’s pushing the limit to come more than five minutes late, Burmanroy said. “Tardies can be rough,” Burman roy said. “Sometimes I have really time-sensitive assignments that I do in the beginning of the period. If someone misses that, they miss something that is probably critical with what they’re going to learn.” She receives five to six tardies during first period and an average of two tardies each period through out the day, Burmaroy explained. She does not take off points for tar dies, Burmanroy said. “It’s something I was consider ing last year with the amount of first period tardies I was having, ” Burmanroy said. “However, I didn’t feel the need to implement it, be cause [the same students] ended up not performing better on tests or higher point assignments later on.”
Eye on Campus: Prepping Winter Formal
“If [you] wait six more months until summer, you’re going to fail second semester. So if you can get it again quickly, there’s more of a likelihood that you will be able to move on for ward with the class.”
Credit recovery introduced; New program aids students
STUDENT WINS BEAUTY PAGEANT (3) DO WE LOVE KOREAN POP CULTURE TOO MUCH? (4) VALENTINE’S(6,7)DEDICATIONS “thank u, next” ALBUM REVIEW (10) VALENTINE’S DAY PICKUP LINES (14)
MHS considers new tardy policy
SEE “REMEDIAL” ON PAGE 16
SEE “HOMELESS” ON PAGE 16
“We have gone out of our way to not exclude anybody,” Barnes said. “You don’t want a student who got a zero percent to feel they’re not good enough for this program. ”
Homelessness in Milpitas is a growing issue and a cause for concern, MHS School Linked Services Coordinator Nicole Steward said. There are current ly 224 students throughout the whole district that are known to qualify for the McKinney-Vento Act, and from that number, 71 are from MHS, Steward added. The McKinney-Vento Act ac knowledges that homelessness comes in many forms, including couch surfing, doubling up in small living spaces, and living in cars, RVs, or shelters, Steward said. Services the school directly offers includes free lunches and transportation, and the school can also refer families for medical services or counseling services, Steward commented.
The Associated Student Body enhances the large gym with decorations in preparation for the annual Winter Formal dance, held on Feb. 9.
“Those funds can be used at the discretion of districts with the ap proval of the superintendent around different ways. All of these options are for remediation and a college will see that on the transcript. We don’t delete things off transcripts because you take summer school.”
Since the classes are between five and 20 students, credit recovery al lows teachers to work in depth with students to fit their personal needs, English Teacher Annie Shine said. With the help of volunteer tutors, teachers are able to give individu
By Neval Mulaomerovic signs of improvement, he said. “It’s just this cycle,” Rojas said.
MELISSA NUNES | THE UNION
Christmas, Steward said. In 2018, 13 and 11 families respectively were evicted during those holi days, Steward continued. Evic tions are increasing in Milpitas due to a lack of rent control, be cause the city allows landlords to evict renters without reason, re gardless if they are paying rent on time and are good tenants, Stew ard added. “I had one family, their rent went from $1800 to $4200 dol lars--that’s ridiculous,” Stewart commented. “What’s happening is BART and Google are coming. A lot of the landlords are assuming that a tech person is going to pay that.”The school tries its best to pro vide stability for students who are currently enrolled, although it could use more assistance, Stew ard said. With all the burdens that stem from being homeless, Steward tries to communicate to students that school is as safe of a place as possible, she said. “I do have few families that I’ve referred to Bay Area legal aid to fight their evictions, but some families get exhausted and just leave the area,” Steward com mented. “We don’t want families to have to do that, we want kids to stay here, be able to finish school here.”There is not a defining charac teristic in terms of academic per formance among all the homeless students, Steward said. However,
Credit recovery allows students to earn A through G credits for Uni versity of California (UC) require ments, Rojas said. Though a college will see the remedial course on the transcript, the previous course that was failed will still appear on re cord, he “Districtssaid.throughout the state of California are provided what we call intervention funds,” Rojas said.
U NI N THE STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL MHSTHEUNION.COM FOR THE LATEST UPDATES FEBRUARY 2019 VOLUME XXX ISSUE IV
THE UNION ADVERTISEMENT FEBRUARY 20192
By Loan-Anh Pham
From Hal Eisner, a news re porter at the Fox News Station, Feraren learned about the As sociated Press Television and Radio Association (APTRA) film camp, where she participated in a news simulation, Feraren added. Feraren was introduced to pro fessional news anchors and re porters, she added. As a reporter, Feraren observed a scene and in terviewed actors, she continued.
I learned more about the qualities a news anchor excels in, such as Members of MHS’s GirlUp club went to participate in the Wom en’s March through the streets of Downtown San Jose, Senior Xenia Torres said. On Jan. 19, the members marched and chant ed, expressing their concerns for the state of the government and the injustices present within the administration, Torres said. The members also had a chance to lis ten to speakers at the march.
actually worried about going di abetic, too. Even though I’m lac tose intolerant, I substitute my boba cravings with White Ched dar Cheez-Its and honey lemon black tea mixed with water.” Sophomore Brandyn Huynh’s resolution is to become a pes catarian, so he consumes only fish meat every Tuesday, he stat ed. His main purpose is to be come healthier while saving the environment, he added. “My goal is to set meal plans so that I can become more organ ized when I eat,” Huynh said. “[I chose to go] pescatarian because being vegan is much harder to do, since you can’t have milk or cheese.”Making a resolution can help a person find out more about them selves, Freshman Hena Patel said. Her goal is to figure out what she wants to do in the future, Pa tel“Forcontinued.thewhole year, I want to decide on a job that I would en joy,” Patel stated. “Whenever a teacher asks us what we want to do when we grow up, I don’t real ly know how to respond. People should have resolutions related to their future so they can have a goal of what they want to be or think about what they need to ac complish the goal.” evening and traditional dress es, made sure I had a makeup artist and assistant the day of, and made sure I knew all my right angles for the camera,” Ly noted.Thepageant meant a 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. day for contestants, with the event lasting four hours. Ly was crowned first out of all the contestants, whom she called her “pageant sisters.”
By Kelly Nguyen By Charlene Yang VIVIAN TSANG | THE UNION
Feraren voices talent for news broadcasting
“The moment I stepped foot into the studio, I was in awe of the atmosphere and the attitude peo ple carried around me,” Feraren said. “I knew I belonged here, and for the first time it became evi dent that this was a career path I wanted to pursue.”
“I feel like people who floss have their lives together, and if you can think to do something so miniscule, you probably have other things together,” Lally said. “Doing something small like flossing makes me feel really pro ductive and motivated to do other things.”Thepoint of making a New Year’s resolution is to have a longtime commitment, Junior Jessica Yu said. Her resolution includes going on a boba diet in order to save money, she continued. “I will achieve [my goal] by re stricting myself from going to dif ferent boba places,” Yu said. “I’m a long time, though the partici pants also had their own reasons for going as well. Gadde, personally, wanted to march in solidarity with oth ers who supported women and women’s rights, she said. “I think there’s a lot of discrimination towards women that’s often overlooked in society, but these events address that kind of prej udice and I really appreciate that and want to be part of the protest against it.”
Ever since she was a child, Sen ior Allison Feraren has always been drawn to the world of news and media. Feraren grew up performing on stage, so having a platform to share her voice is important, Feraren said. Hoping to major in communications, Fer aren took the initiative and pur sued her passion for news broad casting, she added.
As for Senior Jahnavi Gupta, she decided to participate be cause she had never been to a march before, she said. Gupta wanted to get the chance to see the unity of like people getting their rights. “It was very good, it was very uplifting. It was nice to see every one getting their posters ready and to speak up for what they stand for,” Gupta said. Senior Tamrin Bains feels that the members joined the march to bring awareness for the issues that women have to deal with, she said. Bains also echoed Gup ta’s comments on the march. “It was pretty fun, and you kind of felt like unity, you know? Every body’s going for the same thing,” BainsTorres,said.who participated in the Women’s March last year, wanted to experience it with her group, she said. “It kind of just gave me more of a sense of unity, being there with more people. Because solidarity is sort of derived from a group,” Torres said. For the four GirlUp members, they all said that they would plan to participate in the Women’s March again in the future.
Feraren’s dream of becoming a news anchor became a reality when she was given the opportu nity to meet Marla Tellez, a news caster, at the Fox News Station, Feraren said. Feraren observed a day in the life of a news anchor and experienced how it felt to be on air, she
“Throughcontinued.ourconversations,
“Milpitas City Council Mem ber Karina Dominguez actually spoke too, which kind of drove home the fact that change is being made right here in our communi ty,” GirlUp Vice President Rohini GaddeAccordingsaid. to Gadde, the mem bers had been planning to par ticipate in the march as a club for
Many people make New Year’s resolutions to help them feel more excited and motivated to get things done, Senior Harpreet Lally stated. It is a way for peo ple to remind themselves of what they want their new year to look like, or to realize their strengths and weaknesses when reflecting back on their past years, she add ed.Lally has many resolutions, in cluding flossing her teeth more often, she said. Lally uses a vision board with printed pictures from Tumblr to remind herself of her resolutions daily, she continued.
adaptability and confidence,” Feraren said. “[These are] two characteristics I have been ex posed to through performing.”
Goals set for new year; students share stories
THE UNIONFEBRUARY 2019 3FEATURES
By Ginnie Lo
“It was a whirlwind of emo tions,” Ly said. “I was thinking about my family, my pageant sisters, and focusing on keep ing my eyes open so none of the photographers could catch me looking like I’m sleeping on stage.”Ly’sgoals for competing were to utilize the time she had left as a senior and to appreciate her culture as much as possible. “I knew that if I went to col lege far away, it’d be difficult to compete and attend events located in the Bay Area. So I decided to end high school with a crazy new experience I never thought I’d do,” Ly commented. In fact, Ly’s favorite memory throughout the pageant was the opportunity to bond with her pageant sisters. She felt at home and supported throughout the whole process, Ly added. As for future pageants? “We’ll see,” Ly said with a smile.
COURTESY OF JN PRODUCTIONS
Ly wins California pageant; awarded Miss Teen title
GirlUp joins Women’s March in solidar ity
“I constantly practiced my pag eant Q&A, went shopping for my
Throughout the day, Feraren was surprised by how fast the in dustry works, Feraren said. She observed newcasters write their script within a few minutes, she continued. Feraren became in trigued by the idea that news an chors are able to research their own topics and creatively express themselves, she added.
“At first, I was nervous because I had no idea of how to shoot a stand up, but all the mentors there helped prepare me,” Fer aren said. “While all of this was happening, we each had a cam eraman who recorded footage for us.”From both experiences, she re alized the importance of build ing connections and sharing her knowledge with others, she said. She knows that not everyone is interested in news, so she wants to make it enticing for others as a future reporter, she continued.
“They say you stand taller with a crown on your head,” Senior Maggie Ly said. “I can say from personal experience that that is true.”Lywas crowned Miss Teen Vi etnam for 2019 at the Miss Vi etnam California pageant, held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Jan. 26. Ly competed against 20 other hopefuls for the Miss Vietnam crown, and seven contestants in the pool were eli gible for the Miss Teen award. Ly began her pageant journey in December, submitting an appli cation that required her to be 1529 years old, single, and at least 10% Vietnamese. She was notified of her acceptance two weeks later via“Itemail.was surreal, but I was also nervous because my parents were on the fence about it. They thought I’d be too busy with col lege apps and everything else,” Ly said.Yet, Ly decided to participate, throwing herself into a storm of preparations, including numer ous rehearsals. The pageant was preceded by an interview session with the judges, which served as a way for judges to get to know con testants’ personality, story, and future plans.
2018 Miss Teen Vietnam California Cindy Tran places a crown on Ly. Ly plans to raise funds and gather resources for students in need.
MHS limited the number of com munity college courses a student is allowed to take for the second semester of the 2018-2019 school year. A similar decision in the past limited the number of classes from three to two; the decision made in 2019 limited the number from two toTheone. decision to limit the number of commu nity college courses a student is allowed to take, although some would argue otherwise, is absolutely beneficial to the overall mental health and success of students. The goal of the decision was to ultimately limit the amount of unneces sary stress and nonstan dardized education that a student may receive. When a student takes a class at MHS, the curriculum and teacher are both auditable by the admin istration at this school. Essential ly, we will be able to find out how much or how little the student was able to learn when taking an MHS class. However, when a student goes to a community college class, MHS has no jurisdiction over what the student is being educated on. The community college class, un der a different set of education and grading standards, may underpre pare the student for the next sub sequent class. Every year of math ematics builds on what the student has learned the year before; there fore, a weak understanding from one area of mathematics will affect the student’s success in a future class.
LOAN-ANHPHAM
CONPRO
Field trips are a crucial part of the educational experience, a cru cial part that’s missing from cur riculums today. Walk into a typical high school class and you’ll be un pleasantly greeted by a near-silent room accompanied by a droning lecture and a cloud of lethargy. Some classes may be characterized by an air of hustle and bustle, but underneath the surface, how many students are panicking as they scramble to finish the worksheet or figure out how to do the lab? Field trips will pique students’ interest, give them a chance to re lax from the busy routine of school, and provide motivation for both teachers and students to study in the aftermath. Take the traditional PowerPoint and Cornell notes and turn it into a day at the California Academy of Sciences or a research center. Instead of reading pages on end of Shakespeare, why not experience the bard’s work in its original setting, acted out in a the ater? To be surrounded by a certain subject for a day breathes life into
Of course, the hesita tion over field trips usu ally stems from lack of funding (what doesn’t?). It’s cer tainly not cheap: transportation fees and substitute teacher pay ments alone bulk up a hefty price
Field trips foster love for learning
Concurrent college classes inhibit student education Indulgence of Korean media unhealthy
RAMZANISHRAK
College course limitations limit student opportunity
FEBRUARY 2019OPINIONSTHE UNION4
This semester, MHS has re stricted the number of community college classes students are able to take, permitting one to take at most a single class during the se mester. This is not the first time the administration has lowered the cap on dual enrollment class es. A decision was made during the second se mester of the 2017-2018 school year that reduced the maximum from three classes to two. While some people would argue that this revision to school pol icy is beneficial to the student population, it is ultimately a detriment and disservice to them. This decision makes it more difficult for stu dents to be able to pursue diverse coursework and have options in their education. To start, dual enrolling in com munity college courses presents an unprecedented opportunity to pursue subjects that are not of fered in the curriculum at MHS. If you are curious about a niche field, or just want to dip your toes in it, you could sign up for an introduc tory level course. At the same time, these courses are also a great way to go further in a topic after taking a class in it. Maybe you took AP Psycholo gy during the school year and you found that it was really interesting. You could then, over the summer, enroll in more specific psychology classes on topics such as: human growth and development, addic tion and substance abuse, or hu man sexuality, just to name a few.
tag. Also, few programs will let in a horde of teenagers for free. There’s also the issue of paperwork, in cluding proposal forms that need School Board approval, medical and permission forms to be collect ed from students, forms to approve chaperones, and so forth. Yet, the issue of money can be curbed by asking students to fundraise or shifting money from other purposes (such as dances). Paperwork done early is a trip halfway there. Anything can be done if enough support comes along. I agree, field trips may seem a frivolous thought as our school has other expenses to attend to, such as old textbooks. Let me be frank: students can deal with cracked spines and dog-eared pages, but it’s a waste of time to come to school uninspired. Education is a gift, not a chore. It’s time to get out the door.
TRANKIRK LUKEREN
tainment? Is it such a crime? Is it an irredeemable sin? I’ll be the first one to say it’s all bunk, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoyingThere’sit.nothing wrong with a bit of trash in our lives in moderation. Sometimes we just have to unwind, and if a little bit of mindlesssness is the way we need to do it, then it’s the way we’ll have to do it. So long as one ensures that consumption does not define—and therefore confine—oneself, then there isn’t any big There’sissue.nothing wrong with watching a big load of K-Pop music videos if one wants inspiration for one’s own dances. There’s noth ing wrong with playing grindy K-games if one uses playtime as an opportunity to interact with friends. There’s nothing wrong with snuggling up with a lover or friend or any other close human be ing to watch some sappy K-drama. Consumption should be a means to an end, instead of an end in itself.
mentality packaged in an episodic format. Korean online computer games take about as much brain power as the average phone game and waste about as much time and money through daily quests and microtransactions.TheSouthKoreans have mas tered mass-produced entertain ment to an almost dysto pian degree. The spread of Korean popular cul ture is even given a name, Hallyu, in the country of origin. Ever-so-steadily, South Korea’s main ex port has become its pop culture, just as we Amer icans export our Holly wood movies and politi calTonews.putit simply, there’s a lot of disposable en tertainment flowing out from Korea. Is there anything wrong with enjoying what is more or less trash? All our lives we are told not to consume junk food, so is it so wrong to consume junk enter
lifeless bullet points. Arguably, field trips are the re prieve many students need from loaded schedules, and as a mat ter of fact, the announcement of one sends droves of students into cries of jubilation. “No school for a day!” students shout. And it’s true: the field trip is a break from school even if it technically is “school.” It reintroduc es fun into learning and relieves the pressure of learning simply for the next test. It’s a chance to partake in fun activities with friends and make memories. After a field trip, students will feel motivated to learn new things after such a stim ulating experience.
Community college should be an extension of one’s education, not a substitution. If you want to take a course that is not offered at our school simply because you want to further your learning, that is valu able for your self and your college portfolio. Being more active in extracurricular activi ties, doing more commu nity service, and simply socializing with your classmates are some of the obvious ways you can spend your time improv ing your college portfolio instead of taking classes. A more obscure option, that I consider more ben eficial, is simply to try new things. If you have never had the chance, I highly suggest you try being on stage, taking a coding les son, doing a crafts project, learning about a cool biology or astronomy concept, designing a cool graph ic, taking a portrait of someone, teaching a friend about something you enjoy, editing a video, and, for the more adventurous, starting a non-profit program. If these have not worked for you in the past, it does not hurt to try again. The limitation on the number of community college courses is less of a limitation, and more of an opening of opportunities for those intent on throwing themselves into unnecessary levels of anxi ety. I highly encourage you, even if you’re not considering taking a community college course, to take the opportunity to step up and de fine your future.
In 2011, PSY’s breakout hit “Gangnam Style” led the vanguard for K-Pop and other forms of Kore an popular culture. Traces of the victory of Korean culture can be seen all over our high school. The most obvious example, the talent ed Korean Dance Team, consis tently steals the show in organized school, well, shows, but you can see more lowkey examples of Korean dominance in the class room. If you take a good look at the students of any given class, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble at all spotting a boy with a crush on some Korean plastic doll or a girl blast ing made-in-Korea music into her K-Pop,ears.with its glitz and glam, pretty plastic faces, and musical staidness, of fers a uniquely accessible package that doesn’t really demand much thought to appreciate. K-Drama isn’t much different: cheap senti
Another reason to avoid restrict ing community college classes is that they are in fact, college class es. There are numerous courses that offer credit that transfers over to both the CSU and UC college systems, and, as a result, provide resourceful students the opportu nity to save both time and money in their future. Enrolling in these classes can be beneficial in high school as well. As the courses are weight ed, they can be used to help one get ahead of the competition. These class es are also useful in the sense that if one suffered an educational setback earlier in high school, or could not get into the advanced classes they wanted to, dual enrolling can help to patch one’s GPA. The ability to take community college classes and receive credit that can be used to waive require ments is especially useful. In doing so, you can free up class slots in your schedule, allowing you to take more classes that you are genuinely interested in. People in favor of this new policy might say that by limiting the num ber of community college cours es students are able to take, their mental health will be benefited. While there is some merit behind this, it’s also a catch-all that ig nores the fact that there are plenty of students who are more than ca pable of juggling multiple respon sibilities and efficiently dividing their time and resources as neces sary. A policy such as this serves to punish these types of people.
MICHELLE PHAM | CLASS OF 2020
havior stems from outside the classroom. Poor time manage ment, terrible sleeping habits, and slippery impulse control leads to the misbehavior out lined before. By taking control of our lives from without the classroom, we may take con trol of our lives within, thereby giving our maligned instruc tors the respect they so dearly deserve.Wecan pay our respects on other, bolder, more organized fronts: why shouldn’t a school spirit rally be themed around celebrating our teachers? Why shouldn’t a spirit day be themed around celebrating ourTeachers’teachers?Day, May 7, need not be the only day we appre ciate our teachers.
If it was Trump that said this, then there would be no doubt that the leftists would rally, calling him a totalitarian, nationalist Nazi.
NevalAlexanderAshleyAlanaGuzmanPennChenPhanWhitneyTranNathanThaiAndrewDinhKellyNguyenIshrakRamzanDevynNguyenJonathanTranCharleneYangMaansiMaskaiMulaomerovicMelissaNunesTheodoreDoMairaRamosVivianTsangPaulChonChrisHaRyannaLuiEdwardNguyenAdarshBurelaMaliyahFickFericaTingGenelleGogue
The views in The Union those do not those the or Milpitas Milpitas
What astonishes me is how leftists consider a single payment of 5 bil lion dollars on a border wall a waste of taxpayer money but not the 50100 billion dollars wasted annually on services for illegals, like educa tion, welfare, etc... You’re out of excuses Leftists. Any sensible person knows that you’re all emotionally opposed to the wall simply because you hate the feeling of supporting any of Trump’s policies.
Sorry to disappoint your ego left ists: this quote was from Obama, [one of] the leaders of the resis tance against Trump’s border wall. Quoting the Democrats from a few years ago, border security is “common sense” and something that a “majority of Americans sup port.”Ifyou think that the wall is a waste of tax money, then take a look at Ted Cruz’s “El Chapo Proposal”: Take a portion of the 14 billion dol lars confiscated from El Chapo’s criminal empire and use it to fund the wall. Not a single penny spent from the taxpayers’ dollars, and in a way Mexico is paying for the wall.
General Info: (408) 635-2800
of the writers and
Eric de
The Opinion of The Union New Year’s Resolutions encourage sloth With the arrival of a new year, the senseless tradition of New Year’s resolutions fol lows, and hopeful individuals try to change their lives for the better. It is the opinion of The Union that while posi tive change within one’s life is fantastic, it shouldn’t be em phasized so much during New Years.The concept of “new year, new me” plagues the minds of students and adults alike, lead ing to an abundance of New Year’s resolutions. Instead of waiting until Jan. 1 arrives, people should start change in themselves whenever they feel the desire to do so. Students could have a problem with pro crastination in December and continue to tell themselves that they’ll change for the new year and leave all of their bad habits behind. A thought pro cess like this is simply procras tination disguised under the veil of holiday cheer. The mentality associat ed with New Year’s reso lutions has other negative consequences as well. When students do not meet their res olution goals, they will often fall back into their bad habits for the remainder of the year. By limiting yourself to change after New Year’s, you limit your capability to change. A part of this stems from the tendency for New Year’s reso lutions to be grand, sweeping proclamations of one’s intent to change for the better. This leads to people forgetting about the smaller goals they can achieve. Instead of resolv ing to get a job and become self-sufficient, resolve to save more by using vending ma chines less often. Rather than declare to be more productive, set up a schedule for your ac tivities to better manage your time. The Union urges students to take action to better their lives, instead of waiting for an arbitrary date like New Year’s.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
EDITORIAL:
are
Edited for length. See the whole letter at mhstheunion.com.
MHS’ teachers should be appreciated
Student remarks on the current politics of immigration
DearOneEditor,prominent politician has said, “Our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it. Families who enter our country the right way and play by the rules watch others flout the rules. Busi ness owners who offer their wages good wages benefits see the compe tition exploit undocumented im migrants by paying them far less.
Unified School District. The Union is published by the Journalism class of
necessarily reflect
SaumyaVibhaIzmaMerilynRohiniDevikaRoshiniPranaviSincerely,ManchikantiGopalaKumarGaddeKuoZuberiSastryMutatkar
STAFF Yearly subscriptions to The Union are available for $25. Contact the Business Manager for more infor mation.
Those who would like to adver tise in The Union can contact the Ad Manager at (408) 913-0855. Ads are available in full page, half page, quarter page, and business card sizes. Inserts are also accept ed. Upon request, The Union staff will customize and design your ad vertisement. ADVERTISEMENTS Business Manager: (408) 859-3089 Ad Manager: (408) 913-0855
EDITORIAL:
TheThe Opinion of The Union News e ditor A sst . News e ditor o p e d e ditor A sst o p e d e ditor F e A tures e ditor A sst . F e A tures e ditor s ports e ditor A sst . s ports e ditor L i F esty L e e ditor A sst . L i F esty L e e ditor e N tertA i N me N t e ditor A sst e N tertA i N me N t e ditor s pre A d e ditor A sst . s pre A d e ditor C o -C opy e ditor C o -C opy e ditor A sst . C opy e ditor web e ditor A sst web e ditor p hoto e ditor A sst p hoto e ditor b usi N ess m ANAger A sst b usi N ess m ANAger A d m ANAger A sst . A d m ANAger r eporter r eporter r eporter A dvisor e ditor i N -C hie F e ditor i N -C hie F Loan-AnhLukePhamRen
In the Ford-Kavanaugh trial, many people immediately sided with and believed Dr. Ford as soon as she accused Kavanaugh. This garnered lots of criticism saying this was sexist and that sexual as sault cases have a bias against men. While we agree that there should be evidence before convicting anyone in a trial, we also believe that the public has the right to believe the victim. The mindset that women in sexual assault cases should always be believed has a reason - countless sexual assault cases aren’t taken seriously and are swept under the rug... The #MeToo movement has brought attention to this injustice, and the attitude towards sexual vi olence is finally changing. .. The trials are also incompara ble to the Salem Witch Trials. In the #MeToo trials, both sides get a lawyer and a fair chance to defend themselves (something that never happened in the Salem Witch Tri als). Evidence is looked at and no matter what the outcome is, no one is Thekilled...#MeToo trials have done so much good for society. It’s be come easier to come forward with a story of sexual assault, both for women and men alike, and it’s be come more likely that they will be believed. Sexual assault isn’t some thing to take lightly; it’s highly emotionally, physically, and psy chologically harmful. Knowing that there are others out there who have had the same experiences and survived, that there is a communi ty of support and help out there, is incredibly helpful to survivors. The #MeToo movement has accom plished this, and we are incredibly grateful for it.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
U NIO N KirkGinnieTranLo
Fax: (408) 635-2848 1285 Escuela Pkwy, Room E-17 Milpitas, CA 95035 Email: mhstheunion19@gmail.com CONTACT US
High School. HAVE AN OPINION? HAVE A GRIPE WITH THE SCHOOL? WANT TO PRAISE THE SCHOOL? WANT YOUR VOICE TO BE HEARD? THE UNION PUBLISHES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR EVERY ISSUE SUBMIT ALL LETTERS TO E17 DO NOT FORGET TO WRITE DOWN YOUR NAME AND GRADE FOR MORE STORIES, VISIT US AT MHSTHEUNION.COM
Nobody sane can deny the necessity of the teacher in an educational environment. A school can run without a nurse, without a librarian, perhaps even without security--but without the noble teacher, no educational institution could survive. This, of course, raises the obvious questions: is the role of teacher afforded the re spect it deserves? Or is it given disrespect it does not? Our educators don’t have it very easy at all. The instruc tors of MHS must brave long work days, comprehensive les son planning, tedious assign ment grading, pointless meet ings, and, perhaps worst of all, an inconsiderate student body. What does it mean to be an inconsiderate student? Aside from extreme hooliganry, like fighting, truculent or sur ly attitude, or blatant use of contraband such as cannibis, tobacco, or weaponry, incon siderate behavior is not at all uncommon among the student body of MHS. Anyone who has ever shown up to class late, popped out for an theeducationther,couldisSomehasconsiderateasdiabathroom-vaping-socialextendedmebreak,ortreatednaptimeclasstimehasbeenaninstudent.Weallknowsomeonewhobehavedinsuchways.ofusknowthatsomeoneus.We,asastudentbody,andshoulddobetter.Itwouldnotbetoohardeitocollectivelytakeourseriously.Usually,impetusforourbadbe
school, students, administration,
of
Jeff Colburn
Feminist clubs respond to recent events and #MeToo Dear Editor, We are the officers and mem bers of I Am That Girl, Girl UP, and She’s The First. We’re writing in response to recent events that denigrated feminist movements such as the #MeToo movement. As feminist clubs on campus, we strive to promote gender equity and empower women. Feminism is “a movement that seeks to address the needs of women in today’s so ciety” (Shine 2018). Unfortunately, the #MeToo movement has come under backlash recently. The most controversial #MeToo trial was the Ford-Kavanaugh trial. People criticized the Ford-Kavanaugh tri al and the MeToo trials saying that the public blindly believes wom en and that there is a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset and bias against men prevalent in these tri als. The trials have even been com pared to the Salem Witch Trials. In this letter, we hope to clear these up and defend the movement...
Edited for length. See the whole letter at mhstheunion.com.
THE UNION 5EDITORIALFEBRUARY 2019
STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH
Le
Nathan Levy Hey you refined glorious ly glazed duck. You may be a robust, muscular, tenacious mallard, but I’m a competent experienced efficient duck shepherd. But in all seriousness, you’re a good friend :) To: My cookieFrom: Your potatoYou’re my favorite loserin the whole world...I love you somuch <3 To: Kirk Tran From:JuniorsJournalism no more. please. A lot about you makes me smile... To:KirkTranFrom:AlexStop. IFrom:To:ThomasDinhTimmyTahopeyoustaywarm;)mychinguTo:Kashvi&AutumnFrom:MaliyahIdonedidabad.Butnotthis.Thisisagood.To:TiffiniTranFrom:TiffiniTranTiffiniTran To: #beast and Philip Alan poppyFrom:CrazymanbanditYang/(homeboy)Canniacleseedsinthe vc To: appreciateHiyaFrom:seonsaengnimajuseulpeoyoMs.Shin!!Ireallyyouforbeingsuchanamazinglykind,patient,andhelpfulteacher!Allyourstudentsloveandappreciateyousomuch!!<333To:Felisha,Kayla,andAndrewFrom:Genellemybffsily<3 To: Alex Phan From: Quoc Le does you namjachingu?havey is you so hot? To: Fashionista Ryan From: don’tYou’reInternalExistentialCrisissoZAZZY!Ilikeyoubutyoulikeme.IswearI’mnotdrunkthistime.Pleaseloveme! To: Adarsh Babingo From: Kow This dedication system is toomyrestrictive,love To: Julie DangerousFrom: A fellow writerJ is for Jewels, U is foruncanny, L is for Loving,I is for ingenius, Eis for extra To: Luke YouFrom:Loan-Anh&Ishraktwoaresome of the most incredible people I have ever met. Thanks for leading The Union so well! :) To: Amieeeeeee Trinh From:ChinguHyperactive Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin, Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin, Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin, Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin, Jin Jin Jin Jin Jin, I love you! Jin Jin. To: Other Ryan TranFrom: RKR Stan I lobe you lots fish boi.Blub Blub. Keep on swimmingon the stage <3 To: Michelle Omar From: Alana Penn Happy 18th birthday dude! I love you lots and wish you the best! To: Brandon “Bland” Le From: The Girl Whose’ Chair You Steal Hi, welcome to my ASMR channel! *tapping sounds* I just wanna say *various mouth sounds* I,,, lobe,, you,, r I’llpersonality.seeyousoon!
To: QuocFrom:
THE UNION VALENTINE’S DEDICATIONS FEBRUARY 20196 It’s a little cheesy but it’s true...
To: Ms. Miao From: Dinh Redman Gone but forgottennever
To: Alex Phan From: Kow Rawr XD snuggle wuggle, senpai notice me <3. You make my heart go Doki Doki and make me love you! Rawr xd.
To: Marple From: Hanna Fei yams are a staple in the diet yourTo:bubagumpFrom:bubbassmileradiates youmakemylifebeautifulyou’remysunfloweriloveyoualways<3
To: Dictator Lyn Lime LoiFrom: A memelord admirer Thank you for always being there for me and being the arms I can cry in. Live long and let the prospermemes
To: Ms. KangFrom: Dinh RedmanSorry for not payingattention in yourclass.
saranghaeyo.Angela.
To: Emily Yappers From: smol carrot Seventeen right here! Being with you is always Aju Nice. In the future, let’s always be together and stay friends. Oh my!
To: squirrel group From: Your peach You guys both drive me to the brink of insanity and keep me sane. Thank you for everything. Trust me when I say that no one in the world matters more to me than you all.
To: sorrylucky;w;From:Kyerun4rfimextremelytoknowyu..forstressingyououtnnotbeingtheperfectgirlfriendyuimaginedmetobe..iloveu..~
So I you
To: AngelaKim“PD-nin”
To: Abhi Gupta From: ThanksAnonymousforbeingagenerallylikeableandentertainingperson
From: Actual Maknae I’ll be there~ for you~ Ice bear loves
hope that
To: From:AmizsaNicolasHey.
To: Union Staff From: Ishrak You guys are truly amazing and it brngs me such joy to work with you all everyday I look forward to seeing where you all go in the future. :) To: RyannaFrom:Lui“Rockstar”DDD I have no cheesy lines/ pick up jokes so I’m going to say it bluntly. I love you and thank you for caring for me. I’ll be in your care.
FEBRUARY 2019 VALENTINE’S DEDICATIONS THE UNION I’ll never find someone quite like you
To: LightningDearFrom:JocelynBhavyagirlfriend,McQueenisbetterthanChickHicks.KACHOW
To: Rest of KDT From: fan of deaths I might not be able to write a dedication, but you all are my family. You guys hold my heart in your hands. I trust you with it. To: Thomas Dinh From: Sans YoureallyoutherelookinglikePapyrus
To: Devyn Nguyen From: Hot Anon What a sexy beast ;)
can stay a while
There is a significant lack of feedback or bass boosting with the QC35ii com pared to its competitors, and while it does lack a few wireless technologies its competitors have, the QC35ii are a good buy if you aren’t looking for any thing too fancy. As of now, they sit at a price of around 350 dollars. Well, both of those headphones sound great and all, but what is truly the best of the best for this year? Sony WH1000XM3 is what. This pair has become a favorite for those who use it with its sleek design, 30-hour battery life, and superb noise cancelling. The audio itself is crisp, clean, and feels rich as you listen. They stand to be one of the lightest pairs that has come out, with the only real downside being a bit more fragile than the rest on this list. What also makes it impressive is its starting price of $348 making it slight ly cheaper than the rest. If you’re looking for a relatively cheap pair that works with a few additional features sprinkled in, the Sony WH1000XM3 would be for you. 2019THE UNION8
Without too many big features and mainly focusing on the headphone aspects of comfort and sound quality, the QC35ii gets straight to the point.
Upgrading phones every year inadvisable By Kirk Tran These headphones are booming JONATHAN TRAN | THE UNION
SPREAD FEBRUARY
Burela NATHAN THAI | THE UNION
Everyone who spends money knows that every year, things cost more. This doesn’t mean that things increase in val ue; it’s just a symptom of inflation, which is not only inevitable, but also a sign of a good economy, if occuring at a reason able rate. The now-ubiquitous smart phone, of course, is no exception. In the good old days of the year two-ohoh-seven, you could get a cutting edge iPhone for the low, low price of $499. Then prices scooted up to $599 with the iPhone 3, and then $649 with the iPhone 4S, then $749 with the iPhone 6 Plus, then $799 with the iPhone 8 Plus, until finally leaping to the triple nines with the iPhone X. In the past, telecom com panies would subsidize your cellphone purchases, but because of the death of the two year contract, Apple has had to justify their prices more and more. Thus, the question of the year, and the question of every year: should you upgrade? Obviously, Apple wants your answer to be ‘yes,’ and it’s very good at making your answer ‘yes.’ Apple’s pushed marketing campaigns, tossed out upgrade plans and, obviously, cre ated quality products. It wouldn’t have become the United States’ first trillion dollar company otherwise. ‘Yes’ is what Apple wants, but I think your answer should be a resounding ‘no.’ I’m not going to pretend that each it eration of the iPhone doesn’t have some sort of noticeable technological im provement over the last. I’m not so dis ingenuous as to suggest that there is no blatant disparity in quality between the pictures my five-year-old iPhone 5 takes and the pictures the more recent iPhone X takes. I won’t ignore the X’s facial and fingerprint recognition, nor will I ignore the X’s upgraded firmware. That being said, noticeable and worth while have never been synonoms, and the iPhone X’s fancy new features are hardly worth the thousand dollar price tag. Facial and fingerprint recognition? What’s the point of donating your bio metrics to Apple when the tried-andtrue passcode system of yesteryear still works perfectly well and still is perfectly quick? Who needs newer firmware when the older UI is perfectly serviceabe and perfectly intuitive--sometimes moreso, if you’ve been using it for a while. And yeah, the picture quality improves with every release no matter how you slice it, but does graininess really degrade the value of your memories? So long as a comprehensible record exists, does it really need to be as crisp as can be--par ticularly if you need to give up hundreds of dollars per year for that crispness? I’m not advocating for some mass de struction of iPhone X’s a la the book burnings of Chinese antiquity or any thing so extreme. All I’m saying is that we all should think before we buy, espe cially in this era of rising gadget prices. By Adarsh
Its one-piece design makes it really difficult to break, and the band itself is a mix of metal, plastic, and silicon. As a downside, this does make them re ally hard to collapse, making the pair quite bulky. That, in addition to its ex pensive cost of $400, does drive most customers away, but the Nuraphones are still very good in terms of quality. Next on the list are the Bose Quiet Comfort 35ii or Bose QC35ii for short.
With the coming of another Lunar New Year comes a load of new options in the tech community. Headphones in 2019 seem to have made a huge leap from last years collection; in terms of their sound quality, comfort level, and weight. Here are the top three wire less headphones this year. One of the most interesting pair of headphones here in 2019 are the Nuraphone ANC Headphones. Their shape is like nothing I’ve seen before; the headset contains a nub on each side that act to comfort and func tion just like earbuds. That must feel weird, you must be saying yourself, and you would be right. However, the pair is very comfortable, and the ma terial covering your ears are very soft.
By Luke Ren
GINNIE LO | THE UNION
By Jonathan Tran Thin devices are flimsy in multiple ways
Virtual machines diverse and complex
Virtual machines and cloud computing have been prominent tools in the com puter science world since the dawn of Big Data; however, the processing power and availability of these services has evolved significantly in recent years. If you want to get into programming, virtual machines are a great way to learn more about coding and its many applications. Virtual machines are simply computers that can be remote controlled by other computers. Coders can deploy their code onto the virtual machine and have it run independently from their own computer. This is useful if you want to run an auton omous program that still functions when your own computer is turned off. Big technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft lend out virtual ma chines from their huge warehouses that you can access using your computer, each with their own free program. The obvious question then becomes, which virtual ma chine provider is the best? Let’s cut to the chase: if you are look ing for a free virtual machine with mini mal computing power just to deploy your prototype or light-weight server, Amazon Web Services is still the best option. Am azon Web Services is beginner-friendly, well documented, and customizable. That being said, there are still better options for otherRackspacecircumstances.Cloud, founded around the same time as Amazon Web Services, still remains the champion when it comes to good customer-service, scalable process ing options, and secure private servers. In fact, Rackspace partnered with other ma jor cloud providers in order to maximize computing scalability. The only downsides are that Rackspace is poorly documented and offers no free options. Google actually allows developers to ac cess their many cloud tools through Goo gle Cloud. If you are looking simply for a variety of tools, Google Cloud provides rather inexpensive and beginner-friendly services.Doyou know exactly which services and features you are planning on using for your server or application? IBM Cloud of fers some of the most customizable virtual machines that can tailor to your specific needs. IBM even offers a “Lite” version with no time limit, a rather uncommon feature in the cloud computing world. Most virtual machines run with the Li nux operating system; however, Microsoft Azure still provides the most accessible and scalable Windows virtual machine op tions on the market. Microsoft even offers $200 in credit for students who want to play around with virtual machines or oth er cloud services, which is an amazing of fer that can not be ignored. The only prob lem is that Microsoft’s virtual machines are rather expensive in general. Hopefully, you have gained some sort of new insight on what virtual machines are and which virtual machine provider to use. Virtual machines are still an evolv ing technology and will only become more prominent in the future.
CHARLENE YANG | THE UNION SPREADFEBRUARY 2019 THE UNION 9
Apple create too thin of a device, in creasing its flexibility, they failed to place a reinforcing piece of metal in side the tablet to act as a “backbone” to increase its structural integrity. Some people were even receiving iPad Pros that were bent out of the box, to which Apple shrugged and said, “It’s supposed to be like that.” Most people won’t be trying to bend their iPads in tentionally, but I’ve seen many people accidentally sit on a tablet without re alizing it or shove it in a bag haphazard ly. That’s a serious structural concern. Earlier that year, Apple shipped their flagship laptop, the Macbook Pro. One higher-end configuration of the device included a very pow erful i9 CPU (basically the brain of the laptop), but with that increased performance comes increased heat production. Well, Apple’s Macbook chassis was so thin that there wasn’t proper airflow for that heat to exit the device. As a result, the CPU failed to even perform at the advertised speed on the box. Tests showed that the lap top would reach the maximum safe temperature for a CPU (about 100° Celsius) but only be performing at a fraction of the advertised speed.
Apple is one of the best examples of what exactly goes wrong when a company tries to put style before substance. Take for example the iPad Pro from 2018. A YouTube video from JerryRigEverything, a popular video maker on the site, showed him eas ily snapping the gorgeous device in half with his bare hands. Not only did
Technological innovation in per sonal consumer devices has come to a screeching halt in the past couple years. Phone manufacturers fight to create the smallest screen bezels or best cameras. Laptop companies bat tle in an oversaturated market by also shrinking their bezels or trying to cre ate the prettiest laptop. But a move the technology industry as a whole has been moving towards is the design of thinner and thinner devices. Whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, an integral part of every company’s mar keting seems to be just how thin it is. I often see a quarter coin being placed next to the device just to demon strate its “impressive” thinness. Why? There are so many structural and physical downsides to creating a thin ner and thinner chassis on a device.
RATING: 1 out of 5 By Eric de Guzman cool but instead achieving a black hole of charisma. Foster’s friend and pushover sidekick Ed Whit tle (Thomas Middleditch) gives probably the best performance, which isn’t saying much, mind you, but he does a pretty good job of being an exasperated mor al compass. The worst offender, Jones (John Ortiz), head of Fos ter’s company, and villain of the film, gives a dull, bored perfor mance as Keanu Reeves’ boss and an unconvincing, hammy attempt at being the bad guy.
RATING KEY
THANK U, NEXTDNA by Backstreet Boys by Ariana Grande Genre: Pop Genre: Pop RATING: 2.5 out of 5 RATING: 5 out of 5
RATING: 2 out of 5 By Theodore Do lationship between father and son, this one centers around the connection between brother and sister. Outside the storyline, the film delivers a strong, satisfying message about developing toler ance and finding new perspectives in order to get along with others. It also references the underrepre sentation of female characters in plotlines. As the story continues, the audience discovers that the master builders behind the scenes aren’t the Lego characters, but are the siblings who are controlling the imaginative world of bricks.Overall, “The Lego Movie 2” was a well-made sequel in terms of production and script. Given the limita tion of using a physical set, its animation was outstanding, blurring the lines between stop motion animation and comput er-generated imagery (CGI). The movie also had its fair share of witty lines and referential gags that older ages would understand, making it a family-friendly movie forHowever,all. what made the mov ie fail immensely was its poor storyline. Like the city of Apoc alypseburg, the film felt chaotic, muddled, and unsystematically put together. There were many plot holes that made the movie hard to follow, and the ideas of the children’s imagination versus the character’s thoughts were errat ically intertwined. The plotline was relatively straightforward, losing most of its essential ele ments of surprise. In addition, the movie didn’t quite give the same contagious, energetic vibe as the first one. Unsurprisingly, the movie didn’t have any new or unique content— it simply felt like a rehash of the first movie because of its over done ideas. While the film tried to recreate the absurd humor in throwing in a catchy song, it didn’t have the same energy and annoy ance as in the previous film. Even with the lyrics blatantly stating, “This song’s gonna get stuck in side your head,” I left the movie unable to remember the suppos edly catchy tune. If you’re simply planning to watch the movie for its gags alone, don’t bother rushing into theaters—it won’t be worth it. If you’re looking to recreate the magic from the first movie, don’t raise your expectations too high.
MOVIE REVIEW
‘Replicas’ fails to clone John Wick’s success
It’s been five years since the release of the first film, and five fictional years since everything was awesome in the city of Bricks burg. “The Lego Movie 2: The Sec ond Part” was released on Feb. 8, building onto the plotline from its prequel. The story takes place in a real-world Lego set that belongs to a child, who is now a teen ager.Following the destruction of the city by the Duplo toy invaders from outer space, Bricksburg was left in a wrecked, dystopian state. The city, now named Apocalypseburg, metaphorically reflects the dark er, grown-up world, where cyni cism trumps hope and breaking trumps building. The only char acter that stands apart from the crowd with his glowing orange construction suit is the main pro tagonist Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt, who still sees the world in a positive light. At its core, the “Lego Movie” series portrays the different rela tionships within a family. Where as the first film depicted the re ‘Lego Movie 2’ tarnishes predecessor’s memory
Red
COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.
The worst part of “Rep licas” is the acting, but the most disappointing facet of the movie was its plot. In the first half, I was invest ed more than I thought I would in Dr. Foster’s mad scramble to clone his family; time constraints and the fear of being caught by his boss kept suspense at a decent level. When the fresh ly cloned family starts to suspect their true identities as clones of William Foster’s dead family, I was on the edge of my seat. I was let down, then, when the issue of their cloning became a mere domestic dispute over the dinner table. Mr. Boss then turns into Mr. Evil Bad Boss on a dime, and the film promptly turns from a sci-fi piece with a prom ising premise to a generic action C-movie.Ifyoulook in one of the more recent editions of the most ac claimed dictionary of our times, and find the term “half-baked,” you may find accompanying the definition a still from this ex traordinarily half-baked movie, likely featuring CGI Robot Keanu Reeves beating up some hench men with the power of very bad animation.Inanalternate universe, “Rep licas” might have been a science fiction classic, talked about for de cades to come for its masterful use of suspense, three-dimensional and relatable characters, its dia logue on the identity of man, and Keanu Reeves’ greatest theatrical performance as a tragic modern Dr. Frankenstein. No such uni verse actually exists, however; this reality is our reality, and the truth of this reality is that “Repli cas” is damned to that long list of movies that Keanu Reeves sucked in, and in the time it took to digest this flick I could have done just about anything else. If you want “just another dis appointing and cliche Hollywood movie,” “Replicas” is the film for you. But please, do not feel com pelled to spend more than your time to pay for it. Watch it on Net flix when it comes out there or something. Or, as I recommend, feel free not to watch it at all and do something more useful with an hour and thirty minutes of your fleeting and painful existence.
“Thank U, Next,” stylized in lowercase, marks singer Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album. Re leased on Feb. 8, the creative proj ect began immediately following “Sweetener,” her fourth album, which came out last August. The subject of much media coverage since the death of ex-boyfriend and rapper Mac Miller and the quick dissolution of her subse quent engagement to comedian Pete Davidson, Grande incorpo rates tales from her tumultuous personal life into the album’s twelve“Thanktracks.U, Next” is Grande’s most cohesive project to date, exhibiting lyrical and stylistic growth. Her experiences with re lationships and their challenges influence every word she coos over a mixture of trap and pop production. The album’s second track, “needy,” features dreamy doo-wops and vibrant string in strumentals as Grande grapples with the double-edged sword of searching for companionship. From smash hits like the titu lar track and trap hop miracle “7 rings,” to sultry R&B tracks like album opener “imagine” and the upbeat “make up,” “Thank U, Next” features Grande’s disserta tion on love and all of its stages. The album’s progression is both thematically and sonically con sistent. With each track, Grande hits new highs. The standout fourth track, “bloodline,” fea tures Grande chanting as an up lifting blend of thrilling horns and catchy 808 drum loops carry the beat. The album closes with a cheekily titled and upbeat an them, “break up with your girl friend, i’m bored,” where Grande embraces a confident, alluring persona and presses for someone to leave their relationship for her pleasure. This song acts as a fit ting conclusion to the project, representing Grande’s temporary break from relationships and the beginning of a new era focusing on“Thankherself.U, Next” is a rollercoast er from start to finish. Grande fills the album with stories about the highs and lows of her love life, making hits out of relatable themes. “Thank U, Next” is an al bum fit for any situation, whether it be cozying up for a night in or speeding down the freeway.
ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 2019THE UNION10 Music Reviews
familyfirecrackersEnvelopesricecakesliondancingkaraoke
By Eric de Guzman By Andrew Dinh
MOVIE REVIEW
Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt, panics as his spaceship is about to crash into an asteroid. Through his soli tary journey to save his friends, Emmet finds a new companion who will help him restore the Lego universe.
A sci-fi film starring Keanu Reeves as a scientist who loses his family in a car accident, and sub sequently clones them to bring them back from the dead, is bound to be a hit or miss — a Blade Run ner-esque cinematic experience dealing with the dangers of scien tific hubris, or some schlock flick that does barely anything fun with the premise, ending up as just post-holiday theater filler.Unfortunately, “Replicas” was a Withmiss.aterrible script, no shortage of plot holes, and a lack of creativity on the director’s part made evident through every step of the film, it actually looks to be a contender for the worst Holly wood movie this year. The most glaring issue with the movie by far was the actors’ subpar to horrible performances. Just when we thought Mr. Keanu cleaned up his act with the John Wick movies, as the prestigious biomedical research scientist William Foster, he goes off like he came out from his 90’s era: uncomfortably campy growls reminiscent of Christian Bale’s Batman, trying his best to sound
‘The Lego Movie 2’ may have been a satisfactory pass, but ultimately, it lost the charm and excitement that the first film had brought to the world of animation.
Backstreet Boys are back, again, with their latest album “DNA,” released on Jan. 25. Five mid dle-aged men singing sappy love songs may sound bad on paper, but this album proves that the Boys have still got it. Although the instrumentals and production of some of the songs have been gen trified to the tastes of today, the band’s classic sound always finds its way into their music, and when it does, you feel like you’re in the 90’s, back when these guys were still“Don’tyoung.Go Breaking My Heart” is a new Backstreet Boys classic, a duet of nostalgic synths and the band’s signature harmonies, with the occasional passionate vocal solo, making for some exception al contemporary pop. “Chateau” similarly harkens back to the old Backstreet Boys with its catchy chorus and familiar instrumen tals.“Breathe” is an acapella track that is bound to give Pentatonix, a band very similar in their five-vo cal harmonies, a run for its money. “New Love,” sporting a beefy bass riff, some wind instruments, and a beautiful bridge, explores anon ymous amorous relations; “Pas sionate” keeps up the bass, turns up the funk, and unsurprisingly features passionate vocals. Unfortunately, the other tracks are not too exceptional, mainly because they opt for a more main stream pop sound at the expense of the band’s harmonies and sig nature choruses. If you can find the bonus tracks for the Japanese Deluxe edition of “DNA,” “Said I Love You” is an in teresting track driven by a pump ing bass synth. ‘Do You Remem ber’ may or may not have samples of a person screaming in the back ground, and “Days” is another top track from this album. Overall, “DNA” has some solid hits that will have great staying power over time, but much of the album is drowned by an abun dance of that same modern pop sound we’ve been hearing for the last couple years, which ain’t nothing but a heartache, let me tell you. To improve their next album if they choose to contin ue their musical career, the band should either look back to their roots or experiment and give us a sound we’ve never heard before.
‘Bandersnatch’ unique and revolutionary, falls victim to an unintelligible storyline
“A Dog’s Way Home” does a good job at ap pealing to these groups through the simplicity of the plot, making it easy to follow along. Although the plot is simple, the movie is still interesting, as Bel la’s journey of returning home consists of several unexpected events. On her journey home, she goes through obstacles and also forms a lot of friendships with other beings. The audience is able to witness lessons and friendships that the dog learns in order to survive.Themessage the writers of the flim want to present to the audience is neat and sim ple: never give up and follow your heart. Bella’s journey home seemed impossible, but de termination paid off in the end. The camerawork is nicely done, considering there is a lot of move ment and action going on. Fur thermore, the main actor is a dog, and getting a dog to cooperate with the camera is surely not the easiest thing to do. It is amazing how the camera operators cap tured every scene perfectly.
If you’re in the mood for a life style change, then this series is for you. Watching a couple of these episodes is enough for you to get the gist of the KonMari method.
By Alana Penn “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” is a British interactive film released by Netflix on Dec. 28, 2018. It was directed by David Slade and pro duced by Russell McLean, and is an installment of the science fic tion series, “Black Mirror.” How ever, the film differs from tradi tional “Black Mirror” episodes by letting viewers make decisions for the film’s protagonist, a con cept used by choose-your-ownadventure video games. Upon its release, “Black Mirror: Band ersnatch” sparked interest for newcomers and “Black Mirror” fans alike. But was Netflix’s new film a hit, or just another overhyped release?
The MHS Thespian Society hosted the 2019 Variety Show on Thursday, Jan 24 and Friday, Jan. 25 in the MHS theater. Students displayed their prowess in an ar ray of diverse acts which included the presentation of various cul tural dance forms, original songs, and slam Dancerspoetry.RyanHo and Lyn Loi of the dance group “LcRc” opened the show on a elegant note with the first dance performance of the night. They performed a captivating fan dance to the tunes of “Breathin” by Ariana Grande, “Focus” by Allie X, and “Thank You So Much” by Yubin. The effortless switch that the dancers made between the smooth and peppy numbers was truly remark able to Livingsee.up to the high expec tations set by “LcRc,” the dance group “Ayana” presented a flawless routine to “Won’t Say I’m in Love” by Hercules and the “Barbie as Rapunzel” instrumen tal soundtrack, while “LJLR” enhanced the mood with their upbeat, high energy performance. However, the most noteworthy dance act of the night was pre sented by the dance group“Babi Crackr.” Grooving to melodies by artists such as Cardi B, Drake, Zac Efron, Zendaya, and others, the dancers skillfully incorporated energetic expressions with their crisp movements truly making it a treat for the audience. The display of talent was not solely limited to dance. It also included an assortment of vocal and instrumental performances. Seniors Alexis Ranger Dunbar and Amyiah Jamison dazzled the audience with their haunting rendition of “Stay” by Rihanna, followed by Senior CJChoates who sang the soothing melody “Blessed” by Daniel Caesar while playing the grand piano. Choosing to diverge from the crowd, Sophomore Nyla Choates and Senior Diana Huynh present ed original poems on relevant issues in society today such as police brutality and the usage of the “N -word.” Their innova tive thoughts certainly gave the audience much to consider and reflectAlthoughupon.the talented dancers, musicians, singers, and poets of MHS dazzled on stage, it is im possible to ignore the skillful yet smooth emcee by the members of the Thespian Society. Their per fect comic timing added the right amount of jest in the middle of acts to make the transition more enjoyable for the audience. Over all, the Variety Show was truly a memorable start to the new year for MHS performing arts.
COURTESY OF WHITNEY TRAN & CHRIS HA | THE UNION ‘A Dog’s Way Home’ wholesome; Bella embarks on ‘ruff’ journey
“Black Mirror: Bander snatch” revolves around a young programmer named Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) who starts to question his life as he develops a novel into a choose-your-own-ad venture video game. Other nota ble characters in the film include Colin Ritman (Will Poulter) a famous video game creator work ing under the company Tucker soft, run by Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry). Stefan lives with his father Peter (Craig Parkinson), with whom he has a strained rela tionship. Throughout the film Ste
Variety show entralls audience; students display diverse talents
Overall, my experience watch ing “A Dog’s Way Home” was pos itive. Despite a couple flaws. the film was delightful and charming , and I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.
COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES TV-SERIES REVIEW MOVIE REVIEW MOVIE REVIEW
RATING: 4 out of 5 By Ashley Chen Where do you envision yourself in the future? That question is what Marie Kondo asks her cli ents before they start their tidy ing journey through the KonMari Method.OnJan. 1, Netflix released TV series “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” starring the eponymous best-selling author and or ganizing consultant Marie Kondo. In the eight-episode series, Kondo visits vari ous households and teaches them how to spark joy in their homes through tidying. Each episode focuses on one household. It delves into their background and what prompted them to seek out help. Kondo then visits their home and guides them through the tidying process. The KonMari Method focuses on tidying up items by category, not by location. Kondo lists five categories: clothing, books, paper, komono, and sentimental items. Komono consists of the kitchen, bathroom, garage, and miscella neous items. Before the tidying process be gins, Kondo greets and thanks the house. She invites families to join her and envision the home they foresee themselves living in. For many, it’s the motivational push theyKondo’sneed.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 By Ferica Ting Directed by Charles Martin Smith, the movie “A Dog’s Way Home” showcases a heartwarm ing, sentimental story that begins in the suburbs of Denver. The movie is filmed from Bella’s (the dog) point of view, who is narrat ed by Bryce Dallas Howard. Bella takes the audience on a two year journey of finding her way home. Starting off as a stray dog who was raised by a cat, referred to as Mother Cat, Bella soon meets Lucas, and they instantly formed a close owner-pet relationship. Due to city regulations regard ing the ownership of pitbull dogs, Bella is sent away to a temporary home in New Mexico,meaning she would be away from Lucas. Home sick, Bella escapes and takes on the challenge of returning back to Denver, where Lucas and her home are located. The movie is family-friendly and mainly appeals to a younger demographic, since the narra tion leans towards using a child ish voice. The narration for Bella can be seen as cringy or even an noying, but after all, the movie is being filmed from a dog’s per spective. Regardless, the film is still well-suited for anyone that wants to indulge in a wholesome, rewarding adventure.
Bella (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Big Kitten spend one last time togeth er in the wild. The two part ways as Bella tries to find her way home.
ENTERTAINMENTFEBRUARY 2019 THE UNION 11
RATING: 4 out of 5 By Maansi Maskai
specific approach when deciding whether to discard or keep items is to ask if the item sparks joy. Items that do not spark joy for the owner should be dis carded and thanked for the hap piness it had once brought the owner. By thanking the item, the owner is less likely to feel guilt and is able to let go. I’ll admit that at times Kondo’s methods seem un conventional or even weird, but after seeing the impact of the KonMari Method on the households featured on the show, I can say that it does work. For example, I was bewil dered when Kondo asked owners to take every piece of clothing they owned and pile in into one mountain. This move is supposed to shock owners into realizing that they have an overwhelm ing amount of clothes and that a change needs to occur. Even if a home cleanup sounds impossible to pull off in a month, there are many tips in the show that are worth taking note of. Why should items that don’t bring hap piness or have sentimental mean ing for the owner be left to clutter up the home? It’s impractical. In addition, Kondo promotes folding clothes into thirds and placing them upright in the draw er, which saves plenty of space and allows owners to clearly see exactly how much clothingthey own. After finishing the series, I decided to test this method and refold all my clothes. I swear that my closet has never looked neater. By being mindful and introspec tive through tidying, the owner is able to focus on their future. Only objects that the owner sees as necessary for their future are kept. Having a tidy home brings joy to the owner in multiple ways. Being able to easily locate objects without having to dig through piles of clutter is an obvious plus, and the sense of accomplishment is another. Just knowing that all the hard work that has gone into tidying has paid off in the form of having a comfy and clean home is an amazing feeling.
KonMari method sparks joy for individuals
fan visits therapist Dr. R. Haynes (Alice Lowe) to cope with his own childhood“Bandersnatch”trauma. opens up with a brief tutorial explaining how to select between choices when they are presented on the screen. Viewers are given ten seconds to choose between options, and if neither option is selected, a choice is made for them. The plot of the story depends on the choic es made, and there are a multitude of endings that viewers can get. I went back and played through the film a few times, making different choices to get different endings. The film is set in July of 1984 in England. The opening scenes in troduce viewers to the film’s protagonist, Stefan, and his father Peter. Initially, view ers are given the chance to make seemingly mundane choices for Stefan, with one example being the cereal he chooses for breakfast. As the sto ry progresses the choices become increasingly harder to make, to the point where one wrong move can result in the death of a charac ter. Despite the stress I felt while playing through the movie, it was definitely interesting. If you’re a fan of the chooseyour-own-adventure video game style, you’ll love this movie. “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” used an interactive concept that I had never seen in films before. It al lowed viewers to dive into Stefan’s world and really engage them selves in the story. It’s difficult to label this episode as a movie or a game because it’s both. I also liked how the film had a lot of interest ing details. For example, in one route viewers are given the option to explain the concept of Netflix to Stefan, therefore breaking the fourth wall. “Black Mirror: Band ersnatch” definitely gets points for its creativity and interesting concept in my book. However, the plot of the film was staggered. It was hard to pay attention because the first ten to fifteen minutes were incredibly dull. I expected a lot more action in the film, considering the hype it garnered prior to its release. The buildup to some of the more intense scenes also felt rushed, and it was hard to follow the story because there were so many pos sible routes. “Black Mirror: Band ersnatch” is definitely made for people who are patient enough to sit through boring scenes to get to the few action packed ones. Overall, “Black Mirror: Band ersnatch” was an interesting watch. The video game concept it uses definitely appeals to video game and movie enthusiasts alike. While the concept could have been executed better, there were still some intense scenes that made it worth watching. If you’re looking to watch something dif ferent from the traditional movie, this is the right film for you.
COURTESY OF ASHLEY PANG
THE UNION FEBRUARY 201912 FEATURES
“In the sense where it’s your own channel, you have the free dom to do whatever you want and make any video that you want,” Rosario said. “In that way, it can be your own creativity.”
Creativity Month celebrated; students showcase talents
A new store has popped up in San Francisco, and its name can be a bit deceiving. Standard Store, located on 1071 Market Street, San Francisco is anything but standard: it’s cashier-less! In an email-based interview with General Manager Chintan Maniar, he shared just how this storeManiar’sworks.role is to oversee the guests to ensure that they get the best services, and he is on hand to help show and teach the guests how to use the technology.
Some students have been ded icated to their talent since a very young age. Sophomore Christian Andrade has been playing in struments, including guitar and piano, since he was five years old, he“Isaid.just enjoyed music in gener al,” Andrade said. “I wanted to be pretty good at it so I could im pressSomepeople.”students have discovered their passion for their art re cently. Sophomore Suhani Gupta started becoming more interest ed in theater arts in ninth grade, Gupta“[Thesaid.creativity month videos are] actually amazing because usually for me and my fami ly, people are more focused on studies,” Gupta said. “If you’re focused on creativity, usually it’s something people are passion ate about, so it’s nice to promote rather than just studies.” Soriano is also passionate about filmmaking, which inspired him to make the videos featuring oth er students’ talents, Soriano said. He has previously made video projects for classes, but he want ed to try something new, he said.
By Maansi Maskai
“I chose harp because not a lot of people play it, so then I don’t have a lot of people to compare myself to,” Pang said. “I don’t feel as bad about my playing.” It has been over two and a half years since she first started play ing the harp, Pang said. The harp and the piano are similar, but there are some notable differenc es, Pang clarified. “I think a lot of people would be surprised by the amount of genres you can play. You can basi cally play anything,” Pang noted. “There’s 47 strings, and then you have pedals for each of the notes. So you control whether it’s sharp, natural or flat. And so you not only use your hands, but you also use your feet, which is like piano, but on another level.” Her favorite memory of the harp was transitioning from the lever harp to the pedal harp, Pang said. The upgrade was so impor tant that she skipped a test for it, Pang“There’senthused.two main types of harps. There’s the pedal harp and lever harp,” Pang said. “The lever harp would be more lim ited because there’s a lever for each string, instead of pedals that control all of the notes. So when I got my pedal harp - I skipped the PSAT for this - we went down to San Diego and back in less than 24 hours. It was probably the hap piest moment of my life.”
“We spent about six hundred dollars on some different things that would help them spread the wealth amongst all the students on campus,” she continued. We really tried to fulfill some of the sentimental wishes, Belen stated. Some of the wishes that will be granted include AP tests and prom tickets, which will slightly alleviate the financial burden for some students, she continued.Beloware two anonymous ex cerpts of wish submissions: “He deserves it because of everything he does for other peo ple. He tends to always put other people before himself and tries his hardest to make everyone happy.”
By Maira Ramos MHS is filled with students who express their creativity through painting, singing, dancing, and more. The Associated Student Body (ASB) featured some of those students through videos in celebration of International Cre ativity Month in January. ASB Public Relations Director Paul Soriano produced the Cre ativity Month videos in hopes of inspiring students to try new art forms, Soriano said. He also wanted to highlight those who have a passion for the arts and show off their talents, he said. “I feel like in school, we’re al ways forced to think athletically or academically, but it’s not really encouraged to be artistic,” Sori ano said. “I just want people to tap into their artistic side.”
By Maliyah Fick
Pang performs for her church’s Thanksgiving service. She has played the harp for over two and a half years at churches and nursing homes.
By Ryanna Lui The mention of the harp brings up imagery of porcelain angels with fluffy white wings. At least, this is the stereotype. Although uncommon, it is still played by a handful of people, one of them being Junior Ashley Pang. Pang began playing the harp in Sept. 2016 after stopping piano lessons. Pang first got the inspi ration to pursue the harp from watching Lindsey Stirling per form a rendition of “River Flows in You,” in which the harp was present, she continued.
*** “In my times of self-doubt, lone liness, and darkness, I’ve reached out to this person, did not really expect a response, but the kind words from this person has slow ly made me realize that I’m worth the life I’ve been given.”
According to Activities Direc tor Joanna Butcher, it is impor tant to embrace what you enjoy doing. There are many talented students on campus, which can be seen at the art shows at the end of the year, but there are still many students who aren’t enrolled in art classes, she said. “We see creativity as somebody doing something new,” Butcher said. “But we have so many tal ented artists in so many different ways.”Senior Angeleen Rosario ex presses her creativity through her YouTube channel which she has been doing since 2015, Rosa rio said. She initially started her
Standard Store is anything but standard
Wishes granted to deserving students
For those wondering how harps are transported, a dolly is the de vice that is employed, Pang said. she“Thereadded.[have] been some really heartfelt responses that we real ly appreciate,” Butcher said. “A lot of the responses... submitted really talked about how amazing some of the students on our cam pus are,” Butcher added. The wish program received 80 wish submissions this year from the MHS community, according to Belen. Of those, 48 wishes will be granted with the funds raised, she“Wecontinued.hadalower amount of wish submissions this year than last year, [but] we [also] did grant wishes for Paradise High School,” Butcher said. “I reached out to the activities director at Paradise High School, Stacy Martin, and they put together a little wish list for things that would help them be a more successful school,” she added.“They like to do hot choco late competitions, so we bought them two coffee urns and and a Keurig machine,” Butcher said.
The Winter Wishes program has been running at MHS since the 2014-2015 school year, ac cording to Activities Director Joanna Butcher. This year, the program was funded by an Instagram auction in the fall semester, according to Winter Wishes Committee Chair Alfa Belen. Students, staff, and local businesses were able to donate many items towards the cause, she added. “We were very successful in raising money… over three thou sand dollars,” Butcher said. “We’ve only spent $1200 so far, [but] we want to be able to grant more [wishes],” she added. After the auction concluded, the second period Leadership class sent out a Google form for wish submissions to the MHS community, Belen stated. Sub missions were then reviewed for the amount of thought and senti ment they were submitted with,
Standard Store’s checkout is monitored by AI technology through Standard Cognition. Everything is done through the Standard Checkout App that is available on both the Google Play Store and iTunes Store. The store is enabling autonomous checkout for brick and mortar retailers us ing their AI-powered computer vision platform, Maniar said. “When you’re done shopping, just leave the store. There are no cashiers. You will get your receipt by email and also on the app with in a few minutes,” Maniar said. With the new technology that certainly makes their name con tradict their concept, they do carry the “standard” products you would expect. They have con sumer goods such as snacks, bev erages, and stationery supplies. The store hours are still chang ing as the store waits for per mits, Maniar said. However, they are currently open Wednesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. if you decide you want to check it out. With the location about a mile away from the Civic Center and three miles from Pier 39, you can make a day trip out of visiting. channel because she was bored but eventually realized that she enjoyed making videos, she said.
Pang plucks her harp out
THE UNIONADVERTISEMENTFEBRUARY 2019THE UNION ADVERTISEMENTS NOVEMBER 201814 13
LOAN-ANH PHAM | THE UNION
Spread the love with these pickup lines decor
3. Sketch two ears (hill-shaped) onto pink cardstock and cut them out. Attach onto the back of the
FEBRUARY 2019
Pictured above are examples of DIY medallions that take inspiration from seasonal and cultural influences. These crafts appear intricate but are easy to construct, making for a simple yet adorable wall decoration.
1. Sketch an oval with a diameter of 3 inches onto magenta glitter foam for the snout and cut it out. Attach the snout to the center of the fan with a stronger glue, either
2. Sketch two circles of 1.5 inch diameter onto black paper for the eyes and cut them out. Attach the
4. Using the same piece of pink cardstock (don’t waste paper!), draw two hooves (pennant banner shaped) and cut them out. Attach to the back of the fan. 5. Use a pencil or thumbtack to poke a hole at the top of the pig. Knot some string and hang it up! This project is easily adjusted to create other animals of the zodiac, including the rooster, ox, snake, or
Slurp delicious noodles at Ramen Nagi
I would confidently rate Ramen Nagi a 4.5 out of 5. The food itself is possibly some of the best ramen I’ve tasted (which isn’t an easy feat in the Bay Area), but the wait time is a definite detractor from the experience. I understand that it’s difficult to control lines, but the service, even once I got into the restaurant, was slower than I’dAlthoughexpect. the prices on each dish are, on average, five dollars higher than the competition, the portion sizes are large enough that I’ll give Nagi a pass. I would advise any interested diners to wait a few months until the hype dies down to try the food. I don’t anticipate the quality dipping in the coming months, and the wait times probably won’t be as
Do pick up lines ever actually work? No. But they can still be lots of fun if you want to have a laugh with your friends. I have done the work for you and looked through hundreds of pick up lines to bring you the ones I think are seems to be more of an offer than a request. Out of all of the lines here, this one might just be the most applicable. Showing that you are there for someone might be the best thing that can come out of a pick up line. “Do you know why my favorite something out of it. Although there is nothing particularly special about this pick up line, it might just be dumb enough to work. If you want to frantically search through your pockets as you are telling the pick up line, please do so. “You are so beautiful that you made me forget my pick up line.” feel like breaking the fourth wall, here is a way to do so. This might be the cheesiest pick up line of them all, but there is nothing like In the end, if you really want to connect with other people, just have a genuine conversation with them. There is no need to force out a laugh with a corny pick up
The Varsity Boys Basketball team poses with Coach Clarence “Champ” Wrencher after winning Cain Classic. They emerged the victors against Washington High School, Soledad High School, and Pioneer High School.
By Chris Ha Students serve up smashes at intramurals
By Chris TheodoreHa Do MHS intramurals offer students who are not part of a team a chance to participate in various sports. Leadership hosted a table tennis intramural throughout the first two months of this year. Sophomore Tejas Balebail and Freshman Aditya Iyer won the multi-week tournament, finalizing their championship on Feb. 7, the date of the finals. The set-up was organized to correspond with PE units so that the equipment would already be set up during lunch, Intramural Committee Chair An Kieu said. A facility request was turned in for the gym to be used at the needed dates, she continued. Many players decided to join the intramural because of their passion for the sport. The champions Balebail and Iyer had played together and competed at the India Community Center Table Tennis Center for over four years, Balebail said. “When a table tennis intramural was opened at this school, we eagerly joined,” Balebail said. “It was a valuable chance to play the sport we loved at this school.” Others found their interest simply through the PE units offered at school. “I played ping pong in the PE classes and I really enjoyed them, so when I found out there were intramurals, I had to join,” Junior Toan Tran explained. As expected, the tournaments became progressively harder as they continued, Iyer said. Iyer said he found the game particularly memorable during the finals match, when his team played against Juniors Sonia Kang and Soloman Kang. “My favorite memory of the tournament was during the finals when Solomon got an amazing point by blocking our smashes,” Iyer said. “It was a very skilled move and hard to execute. At that moment, the beauty of the game was fascinating and was very memorable.”TheduoBalebail and Iyer are looking forward to potentially competing next year, they said.
Q: What inspires or moti vates you to play?
A: I just really love the game. I’ve played for so long that I learned to love it from every aspect. Wheth er I’m a player, spectator, or coach. I’m always inspired to just be around basketball.
Q: What has been your most memorable experience about playing for the MHS basket ball team?
From left to right, Solomon Kang, Sonia Kang, Neel Thakkar, and Shiv Pandya compete against each other in a tournament hosted by Leadership. Sonia Kang is preparing to spike the ball against Thakkar and Pandya.
School spirit regarding sports among MHS students has been gradually declining over the past 40 years, Athletics Director Jeff Lamb said. Unlike the past, school sports now require proper marketing to attract an audience, heOnesaid.major reason for this trend is the growth of modern-day ac tivities that take time away from watching sports, Lamb said. The multitude of options increase exponentially with the urbaniza tion of the Bay Area, he contin
15SPORTSFEBRUARY 2019 THE UNION
A: My favorite part about play ing basketball is the joy and ex citement it gives me. It teaches me to set aside any troubles I had before and pushes me to always give my best effort no matter what the score is.
COURTESY OF JUSTIN BARNACHEA Cain Classic a slam dunk for Varsity boys
A: My most memorable experi ence playing at MHS is definitely all of the close relationships that I’ve made with my teammates and coaches. Every year, basket ball season was the thing I looked forward to the most, and I can’t imagine what I’d be doing if I nev er played.
Senior Allyson Hom is now in her fourth year on the varsity basketball team and starts as the shooting guard. Hom is an excel lent player and maintains great energy on the court. As one of the few returners this year, she has taken on a leadership role. Hom talks about her experience with basketball throughout her life.
The lack of student support can be discouraging to athletes, Varsity Girls Soccer Halfback Is abella Vieyra said. Unfortunately, this behavior is also expected, she continued.“Usually at our games, we have parents come, and then occasion ally, a few teachers. That’s about it.” Vieyra said. “Usually around 20The[parents].”basketball team occasion ally feels strong bursts of school spirit, as they did at the white shirt basketball game, where attendees wearing white shirts could obtain spirit points for their graduation class, Boys Bas ketball Point Guard Ryan Harp er said. Audience presence and cheers boost the sports teams’ morale, Harper continued.
Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach Clarence “Champ” Wren cher said. However, sports are expected to be more popular as the descendants of immigrants understand its contribution to school pride, Wrencher added. “This is a school with a high im migrant population. People com ing from that background, school activities just aren’t viral. School is for academics,” Wrencher said. “Nobody wants to see us play bas ketball because they haven’t been there that long. They don’t know it’s a big event, and that will have Spirit for sports on downward slope Ryanna Lui to change when the kids of the kids start going to school here.” Student unawareness may also be another factor for low audience turnout, Junior Varsity Wrestler Vivek Chotai said. The average spectator at any wrestling game is an ex-wrestler, a MHS alumni, or a parent, Chotai said. “I think a lot of people like watching [wrestling], but not so many people are really aware of the sport, or it’s not that popular,” Chotai said. “But if they did, then they probably would come.”
COURTESY OF AN KIEU
A: Basketball is different from other sports because it’s a combi nation of all your physical skills and also your mental. For exam ple, having hand-eye coordina tion while having good court vi sion. Q: How do you deal with not liking or getting along with a teammate or coach? A: When you walk into the gym, you just have to leave all your problems at the door. You’re not always going to like all of your
By Genelle Gogue teammates or your coach, but you definitely shouldn’t let that affect the way you play.
Q: If you could give a piece of advice to any students looking to play basketball, what would you say? A: It’s a sport that is not meant to be played perfectly. Mistakes are going to happen, but the best thing about basketball is that ev ery turnover or missed shot can almost always be made up for.
The Athlete of the Month: Shooting Guard Allyson Hom
Q: What makes basketball different from other sports?
“When I went to high school, so cial life revolved around school,” Lamb said. “Friday-night football games and basketball games were always a big thing. There were a lot of people who were never there to watch the game, [but] if they knew their friends were go ing, they would also go.”
The Varsity Boys Basketball team came out victorious at the 37th Annual Cain Classic this year, Varsity Boys Basketball Coach Clarence “Champ” Wren cher said. The tournament was held at MHS over two days start ing on Dec. 28, with four main matches and one consolation match, Wrencher said. The other schools that took part in the tournament were Wash ington High School, Soledad High School, and Pioneer High School, Wrencher added. The MHS team plans to participate again next year, he “Yeah,said.it’s kind of like a tradi tion here, and we’re just trying to keep the tradition going,” Wren cher said. “So it’s been going on for 37 years, and it’s also techni cally a fundraiser... we try to raise money for the basketball team by hosting.”Inthe first round, the MHS varsity team played against Pi oneer, whereas Soledad played against Washington, Wrencher said. MHS and Washington pro gressed to the final round while Pioneer and Soledad played out a consolation match, he added. The score for their game was 73-70, overtime, one of the best games he has seen all year, Wren cher said. There were also players whose performances stuck out in the final match, he said. “Justin Barnachea, he’s our team captain, and he was one of our better players during the tournament,” Wrencher said. “And then Aaron Tumber, he’s also a senior, and he was all-tour ney—both of them were—and they’re two of the better players on our Co-Captainteam.” Aaron Tumber is currently in his second year on the varsity basketball team, he said. This is his second time play ing the tournament, the first time being his junior year, he added.
“The crowd gets us hyped up whenever we start making our shots,” Harper said. “Whenev er you make a shot or something and then the crowd just goes wild, it just gives you a good feeling.”
“My position on the team is a point guard, [meaning] I have to be a leader on the court, make smart decisions, and score the ball,” Tumber said. “[In the championship final], anybody on the team could have been consid ered the MVP, because everybody performed well in order to con tribute to the team’s win.” Co-Captain Justin Barnachea is also in his second year of varsi ty and played in the same tourna ment last year as well, Barnachea said. On the court, Barnachea plays pretty much any position, depending on the lineup current ly on the floor, he said. “In the second half of the game, I hit crucial shots which sparked the comeback against Washing ton... including a game tying shot that allowed our team to make it to overtime, resulting in our vic tory,” Barnachea said. “Shoutout to Kenzo, who kept the bench live and excited despite being down by 20 something points.”
Q: What is your favorite part about playing basketball?
In a school as culturally diverse as MHS, academics are more like ly to be prioritized over sports,
Most school sports games, such as wrestling and soccer, are free to watch.
In the center, from left to right, Desi Union members Sandrine Amud han, Nilashree Canagaraj, and Saatchi Metrani dance in the large gym.
By Paul Chon
“If the school ever loses [NJROTC], they will never get it back.”
The Division of Drinking Water (DDD) and the California Depart ment of Education collaborated to test for lead in drinking water of all K-12 schools, the govern ment website waterboards.ca.gov said. All California public schools constructed before Jan. 1, 2010 are required to test their commu nity water system for lead by July 1, 2019, the government website waterboards.ca.gov added. As of Jan. 16, 2019, 193 sites out of 22,547 sites have a lead amount over 15 ppb (parts per billion), according to the government website waterboards.ca.gov. 4,429 public out of approximately 11,000 public schools are partic ipating in the lead sampling pro gram, the government website waterboards.ca.gov added. “Recent events in the United States have shown that lead in drinking water remains an on-go ing public health concern, par ticularly for children,” the gov ernment website waterboards. ca.gov said. “Lead rarely occurs naturally in California’s drink ing water sources, but may be come present when water passes through older plumbing fixtures or solder containing lead that connects plumbing. Schools that are served by a public water sys tem are not required to test their water for lead under the current Lead and Copper Rule.”
NEWS FEBRUARY 2019THE UNION16 VIVIAN TSANG | THE UNION
factor in making sure those with struggles feel safe and welcome at school, Steward said. If both students and teachers are aware, more students can be referred, allowing more help to reach those that need it, Steward added. “I think it’s really easy, being in high school, to pay attention to status and what people are wear ing, how people look,” Steward said. “Kids that are struggling then have to do a lot more to pretend they’re not struggling. I wish, in general, that our stu dent body would be a little more compassionate with each other. I think there’s a lot of that in our campus, but I would love for that to spread a lot more.”
Increasing enrollment numbers is a goal, but it’s unclear why the num bers have decreased, Jackson said. “100 students is just a drop in the bucket when you compare it to 3,000 students on campus,” Jack son said. “We have to report to the Navy on the first of October and the first of February our enrollment numbers, and if our enrollment falls below 100, we automatically go on probation.”
MargieLieutenantJackson to the right path, the correct way things should be run, such as our chain of command and our infra structure.”Current NJROTC staff members are writing new staff binders to pass down to the future cadets in each position, Le said. The staff binders are a written collection of everything the cadets are supposed to know, from the description of the job to entering information into the database, he said. “There are also examples of work from the past that the cadets can ref erence to,” Le said. “In addition to that, I’m really focusing on training because training people is an in vestment for the future.” Enrollment in NJROTC has stayed at around 100 students, Ro jas said. The goal should be to have about 150 students in the program, so they are trying to explore differ ent options to increase enrollment, especially at the freshman level, he said.“We can explore, for example, [allowing] ROTC classes to be used for PE credit,” Rojas said. “That’s something that I haven’t explored yet with the PE department, but that’s one opportunity because there’s a significant amount of phys ical activity for ROTC that allows students to actually open up their skills to make that choice.”
NJROTC program sees annual inspection
REMEDIAL: Credit recovery system FROM PAGE 1
debuts
HOMELESS: Population of homeless students at MHS on the rise FROM PAGE 1 one thing they share is the stigma of their housing conditions, she continued.“Someof the kids have behav ioral issues because being home less is a trauma; it’s really hard to navigate being homeless and then coming to school and pretending like everything’s great,” Steward explained. “So maybe they have attendance issues, behavioral issues, or grade issues, but I also have homeless kids who are liv ing in a car and getting straight ‘A’ grades and have perfect atten dance. It just depends, and a lot of times that improves after I’ve connected with them and told them, ‘We have support for your family.’”Nonetheless, students still tend to be negatively affected, more commonly regarding attendance, Greenberg said. Schools in poor neighborhoods should offer the same resources to its affluent counterparts, Greenberg contin ued. This expectation should ex tend into college, so that capable students are not hindered and can attend schools with proper rigor, Greenberg added. “People that are desperately poor tend to have in general less perfect attendance than people who are middle class or affluent,” Greenberg commented. “So while they go to school regularly, school attendance is positively correlat ed with income.”
MUSD awaits water test results
Eye on MulticulturalCampus:Assembly
The smaller class size makes it easier for students to ask for help and receive assistance from teach ers, Junior Christina Tuazon said. With only nine students in her Math III class, credit recovery allows for more personalized learning and less rushing, she said. “[Credit recovery] made math easier to understand,” Tuazon said. “It made my workload feel lighter, and made me more excited to learn. The program makes the class more intimate and motivates me to do my work. So far I’ve been getting better grades compared to when I hadn’t been in the program last se mester.”Dueto the shortened hours and reduced homework, credit recov ery may not give students sufficient instruction, English Teacher Sanjit Roy said. Compared with a regular English class where students read three books and write several es says, credit recovery would not be able to maintain the same level of commitment, he said. “The qualms that I have is that there is less time and work,” Roy said. “It’s still only about 30 hours. I think if you look at a kid who does that, the previous grade is still on the transcript. That way it’s more fair than it was. A lot of my qualms are academic integrity. I think they made the changes so it wasn’t going to be a system where kids can fail intentionally and do [credit recov ery] to get an A.” The program, if successful, would look to teacher and student feedback to improve in future years, Barnes said. A priority moving forward would be selecting teachers who are more flexible in their schedule to allow for a variety of morning and afternoon classes, he said. “If certain teachers can only do it in the afternoon, we’ve learned there are some students athletes who are caught in the middle,” Barnes said. “So what we can do next year is offer more morning classes so we don’t exclude students who have to work after school, are at practice, or have any family obligations.”
The Union reported on the prog ress of the lead levels in MUSD water in an article in its Novem ber 2018 Accordingissue.to the article, Shreve said water samples were taken around March through July of 2018. The article also said Shreve said the results of those water tests would be released by earlyto-mid November.
alized attention to students to help them understand lessons they may not have mastered before, she said. “You can get really in depth with each student to figure out what their needs are and give them a lot of in dividualized attention,” Shine said. “The idea of the program is that they sat through the first semester so they’ve at least gotten some of that material. This is not starting from scratch. It’s going back and filling the holes of what they could use a little more practice in.”
MHS’s Navy Junior Reserve Of ficers’ Training Corps (NJROTC) program had their annual military inspection in the MHS large gym on Jan. 11, Lieutenant Margie Jack son said. The Navy-run program was inspected to determine the fit ness of the unit, she said. The unit’s personnel, procedures, lessons, and cadets are examined to ensure that the Navy is investing well, Jackson said. If the inspector finds any discrepancies, then the program would be put on probation, she they would give us enough time to fix it and some times, if it’s egregious enough, they will just say ‘Okay, we need to take you out,’” Jackson said. “If the school ever loses this program, they will never get it back. There’s a waiting list for NJROTC and the Navy would just go to the next school on the list.” According to Jackson, the inspec tion went well. It was the first time that the guest inspector present for the annual military inspection had ever inspected a NJROTC unit, Jackson said. “I think that he’s going to give us a passing grade,” Jackson said. “We may not get perfect, but that’s fine as long as we get passing.” Jackson is the only instructor for the unit this year, and the previous Senior Chief and Senior Naval In structor left, both working at MHS for at least 20 years, Jackson said. “I have classes here with 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders all in one class,” Jackson said. “I can’t teach four different curriculums at one time and that’s a challenge, so I try to get the advanced cadets to help me out with that by having By Maira Ramos them be responsible for a couple cadets.”Nothaving a second instructor to separate the four grade levels makes teaching complicated, Cadet Chief Petty Officer Victor Le said. Before Jackson, the students would follow examples of the lessons from the textbooks, he said. “[Jackson] has been helping us put stuff back on track, and [she has taken] charge of academics,” Le said. “The way we’ve been hav ing students help teach is that the upperclassmen students learn the lessons, then teach it to the under classmen.”Administration has been continu ously trying to find an additional in structor to teach NJROTC, Princi pal Francis Rojas said. The program is lacking another teacher, he said. “[The job has] been posted since almost a year ago,” Rojas said. “But we haven’t been able to find the can didate for that.”
One of the biggest problems that the unit faced this year is that many of their procedures had not been written down, Le said. The les sons were previously being taught through word of mouth and even tually got distorted over the years, Le“Jacksonsaid. is helping our unit func tion the way it should after many years of incorrect procedures,” Le also said. “She’s leading us back COURTESY OF SHAUN KIM From left to right, Cadet Chief Petty Officer Sean Gabriel, Cadet Seaman Recruit Julian Escobar, Cadet Petty Officer 2nd Class Nolan Calara, and Cadet Chief Petty Officer Victor Le are in uniform during inspection.
As for what the community can do, kindness is crucial and a major
For MUSD, the results of the water samples have not come back yet, Maintenance, Opera tions, and Transportation Direc tor Brian Shreve said in an email. There is an estimated time of 4-6 weeks before results come back, Shreve said. However, it all de pends on the lab and their work load, Shreve said. The results are not back possibly because of a huge workload, Shreve said.
“Sometimessaid.
UPDATE: MHS WATER TESTING
“We are waiting for results from the samples taken,” Shreve said. “Inquiry has been made from the water company to lab. The lab has been slow to respond. We’re still hoping for all of the sampling re sults in the near future.”
