LIBRARY: Page 8

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 8 FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008 CASTRO VALLEY, CA, 94546

CVHS students participate in the "Die-in" during the week of Days of Diversity. See more on Days of Diversity on pages 3 and 5.

By Eva PoonStaff Writer

Talking politics are House Rep. Barbara Lee and CVHS seniors Courtney Morrison, Amanda Artru, and Mina Masoudi during a Close Up trip to Washington, D.C. See page 4.

Days of Diversity ‘Die-In’ inspires CVHS students

Silence descended on rows of bodies lying on the floor as breathing could barely be heard. This scene took place on March 4 as part of Days of Diversity week with the main focus on the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. The Stop Genocide Now program organized a "die-in" and set up tents in the gym for Camp Darfur where students viewed photographs of past and current atrocities.

Gabriel Stauring, director of Stop Genocide Now, described the organization’s goals with Camp Darfur. “The first mission is awareness, using past geno-cides to relate what is happening now in Darfur. Awareness gives people the power to hopefully affect immediate action.”

The five tents in Camp Darfur featured informational sheets and graphic photographs of the consequences of genocide in the world. Each of the tents had a specific focus on a past genocide: Armenians, the Holocaust, Cam-bodia, Rwanda, and Darfur.

Upon entering the tents, stu-dents saw horrifying statistics of deaths from genocide, num-bering from the hundred thou-

sands to the millions. Messages were scrawled on the sides of the canvas tents, including one that read, “You be the change you wish to see in the world.”

“I didn’t realize the extent of what’s happening in Darfur,” commented junior Katelin La-bat, who called Camp Darfur a “good idea because it inspires people to help.”

Pictures of the gruesome abuse and discrimination showed piles of bones and torturous condi-tions. The tent on Cambodia showed photos of prisoners un-der the Khmer Rouge. Students read quotes inside the tents from real-life survivors of geno-cide who recalled the gruesome treatment and sickening abuse they underwent.

“Now I’m more aware and it makes me want to do something about it,” remarked junior Bran-don Azevedo.

Signs posted outside of tents questioned students about how they would act under the same conditions. The sign outside the tent on the Armenian geno-cide asked, “Would you give a blanket to a family on the death march?”

The final tent featured pic-tures from the genocide in Darfur by the government-sup-ported Janjaweed militias, who

have killed and displaced over 400,000 people. Students read a testimony by Salah, a survivor from Darfur, about the Janja-weed soldiers seizing women from her bombed village. The Camp Darfur program asked students to sign a petition calling on politicians to use their power to stop genocide.

“My visits to refugee camps were definitely life-changing,” recalled Stauring. “Going out to the survivors, I realized that they’re just like us and really started to feel for them and their families. If others can connect to

them on a personal level, it will compel them to act.”

Fifty students laid down in the gym as part of CVHS’s first ever die-in, representing the silence and death in Darfur. Student volunteers read testimonies from Darfur survivors and per-formed a rap on the effects of violence. They observed a five-minute moment of silence in the memory of the victims. Students also recorded messages for refu-gee camp residents that Stauring plans to bring to Darfur in May.

“It was really beautiful, espe-cially in a school that is so igno-

rant,” said junior Ariel Navarro, a participant. “It was a big step for us as a community.”

Stauring talked about the im-pact of the program on students, noting that only about half of the students who visited Camp Darfur knew anything about it beforehand. “Still not enough Americans know about Darfur. Americans should be leading the way. We haven’t crossed that line to make a difference with leaders,” he said. “Most of the school population have walked through and seen that small steps can make a difference.”

The new Castro Valley library is scheduled to open to the com-munity in fall 2009 and will be located at 3600 Norbridge Ave. It will be two blocks away from BART and six blocks away from the current library location.

Even though it is farther away,

By Esther LeeBuSineSS Manager

it will have more advanced fa-cilities than the current one, such as a multipurpose education center and an amphitheater. The amphitheater and a park will be situated right next to the recently restored creek. Art and sculptures by local artists will adorn the walls and the entrance. If the need arises for food strikes, the cafe can easily be found near

the entrance.More resources will be avail-

able in the new library as well. It will feature five times as many computers, which will all be up-to-date, and all have wireless Internet access. There will be 60 percent more books as well.

The new library is also being touted as a great place for teens.

New library to open in CV

By Joseph WanStaff Writer

RWANDA: Page 8

Field trip sheds light on Rwandan

genocide“We see what we believe

more than we believe what we see,” said Carl Wilkens during an Arts and Communication Academy field trip to James Logan High School. Wilkens is the only American who stayed in Rwanda for the duration of the Rwandan Genocide. At the field trip on March 10, he told a tragic story about his experiences in Rwanda.

Rwanda was once a Belgian colony. The country’s two native ethnic groups were the Tutsis and Hutus. When the Belgians ar-rived, the colonists preferred the Tutsis over the Hutus and gave them the power to oppress their neighbors. When Belgium pow-ers left the country, the Hutus immediately turned on the Tutsis and armed conflicts began.

Starting around April 1994, and over the course of only 100 days, around 800,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsis were murdered.

Wilkens, during the duration of his stay, hid Tutsis in his house, protected an orphanage from the militias, and witnessed the acts of many other people who felt as he did, some of whom died.

English teacher Gabrielle

Hedlund and Stephanie Papas, also a teacher, from Logan High had recently been awarded a grant which would allow them to fund events in which the stu-dents from both Castro Valley and Logan High could meet and discuss matters of importance that were happening in the present day world. Taking this opportunity to provide students with more experience on the matters of genocide, Hedlund organized a field trip for the ACA sophomores.

At the assembly, CVHS stu-dents sat in theater chairs, which formed a semi-circle around the stage. Soon, students from Lo-gan High joined them, mingling among the crowd as they found chairs to hear Wilkens speak.

He spoke about how thinking that “my world will be better without you” is one of the main reasons behind discrimination and murder. People mistakenly think that if a certain group of people is gone from their lives, they will be happy.

He also spoke about heroes. A hero is usually thought as only one person, but according to Wilkens, no one person ever does anything of merit by his

Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

howard whang / Staff WritEr

Correction: A Feb. 29 Olympian article titled “New disaster plan for CVHS” made a reference to a 2006 lockdown at CVHS. This event was caused by rumors of a gun on campus, not by an actual gunman. The Olympian regrets the error.

By Malena BellEditor-in-ChiEf

LETTERSTo the Editor

“

”

I used to be an atheist, living obliviously to the eternal truth of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I was content to believe in the strict realities of science and omit the possibility of a divine creator. But now I have discov-ered the truth and converted to Pastafarianism.

The Church of the Flying Spa-ghetti Monster explains many of the phenomena that science has failed to prove. For example, it proves incontrovertibly the true cause of global warming, which scientists have failed to recog-nize. Data clearly shows that the number of pirates in the world is inversely related to global average temperature. Therefore, global warming is not due to the scientific theories of greenhouse gasses, but due to a decline of pirates in the world.

Not only does Pastafarianism provide noodly answers to many questions that stump scientists, but it is also the most peaceful re-

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the one true god

Kids shouldn't be rewarded for screwing up By Andrew Huber

Staff WritEr

OK, son, here’s the plan. You need to get a girlfriend, and get her pregnant.

Marry the girl and both of you will get free rides to some of the best universities around the country. As a young unem-ployed mother, she will be given free money for aid. You can even secretly give the child away to a couple with the promise that you’ll sign the adoption papers later. After four years, you can divorce and go your separate ways; rich, independent, and educated.

My dad told me these words in a satirical mood after attending a government sponsored finan-cial aid information assembly. Apparently, the government rewards teens for morally ruin-ing their lives or sometimes for criminal activities by paying for college.

After marriage, the govern-ment lists young couples as in-dependent, therefore separating their income from that of their parents. Assuming a very low income, a young mother will receive financial aid from the government to feed the child. The concern of programs such as FAFSA, TANF, WIC, SSI, FSEOG, and CSAC in taking care of often irresponsible teens paves

the way for the best loopholes in the world. FAFSA directly asks income and marriage status as it computes the amount a family or individual can afford to pay for college. Although TANF is sup-posed to wean people off gov-ernment money, many states use the funding for income supple-

Where's the positive reinforce-ment when that much

money goes to kids that

make messes of their lives

and... the lives of other

teens?ments for single mothers. WIC’s goal can be inferred from its title; Women, Infants and Children.

Certainly some responsible teens come from low-income families that struggle day by day to pay off insurmountable bills from hospitals or other circumstances. Sure some re-sponsible young adults actually plan out their lives and plan a life together. We need funds to help those people out: but I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about people that intentionally screw up their lives and get re-warded for it.

The world is far narrower for teens from middle-income fami-lies who have no desire to take advantage of taxpayers’ money but instead attempt to make responsible choices and accept the consequences afterward. For what other reason made Stan-ford University suddenly start providing aid for families with incomes less than $100,000?

Don’t the financial analysts instruct families to save their money in preparation for retire-ment? If that’s the case, why does the government give more scholarships to a family that spends every dollar they take in versus a family that conserves money even if the families have the same income?

What happened to incentives for doing good things? Where’s the positive reinforcement when that much money goes to kids that make messes of their lives

and often the lives of other teens?

I am not asking for candy like a little kid after answering a question in class. I’m asking for equal opportunity to avoid go-ing into scores of thousands of dollars of debt after college and still receive a high acclaimed

ligion on Earth. Check its record against any of the world’s major religions, and FSMism comes out on top.

The Eight “I’d Rather You Didn’ts” of Pastafarianism not only promote world peace and acceptance, but also cheaper cable television. The FSM is for all that is good, and is against all that isn’t good. How can you argue with that?

Clearly, Pastafarianism is the best religion on Earth.

That’s why FSM theory should be taught in school alongside in-telligent design and evolution. We must allow room in schools for alternative theories to evolu-tion. Pastafarianism just makes sense.

Evolution cannot be proven without a doubt, and neither can the FSM. However, they both hold equal weight and should both be taught in school.

I do not want to force anyone to convert to Pastafarianism. If you would like to keep your sys-tem of beliefs, it is perfectly fine with me and with the Church of the FSM. However, we must have equality.

So if you, like I, have found the truth of the FSM, then I invite you to join me in our effort for all that is good and noodly.

RAmen.

education. Frankly speaking, college acceptances should only come from the sweat of academic and other merit-based qualities and not by how irresponsible a person is.

Make sleazy choices and you’ll go far. So is this the “Great Amer-ican Dream?”

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

Ostrich the Olympian Oc-topus has been extremely disappointed with the lack of letters sent to The Olympian this year, and he demands at least two let-ters be sent by next issue. If his demands are not met, then he will be forced to become very angry. And

just to give you some incen-tive to write an angry letter or two to The Olympian, Ostrich the Olympian Octo-pus will utter the following controversial phrases: Cats suck. Chocolate chip cookie dough is the best ice cream flavor ever. The Giants are so much better than The A's at everything that it is not even funny. Send letters or feel Ostrich's wrath!

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

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

Esther Lee

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

By Kevin HanleyOpiniOn EditOr

If you were to kill someone how can you live with yourself? To detain, torture, rape, and kill innocent people because they are only remotely possibly con-nected to the rebels who are try-ing to overthrow your country, how would you feel?

The Janjaweed, the govern-ment militia in Sudan, is com-mitting these atrocious acts in Darfur, a western region in Su-dan. Janjaweed soldiers justify these disgusting acts by claim-

ing their victims are supporters of the rebels trying to overthrow the government, but that is a lie. They’re not killing just the tribes-men who support the rebels, but detaining, torturing, raping, and killing all tribesmen, whether or not they have evidence against them.They also destroy evidence of their actions.

Currently, U.S. government officials are sitting on their lazy butts watching this genocide from afar. It’s not entirely their fault, due to threats from China to get involved on the opposite

side if the U.S. were to act in Darfur, but it just isn’t morally right to do nothing when such acts are being committed right now. How can you live with yourself if you let thousands of people die and do nothing to attempt to stop it just because someone’s threatening you? The government shouldn’t just sit and watch this but instead take action in Darfur, no matter what the future consequences are.

During the Days of Diversity, all the social studies classes gathered in the gym to learn

more about the genocides that have occurred in history, including Darfur. During that time, we learned about the hor-rible things that are happening over there with graphic visuals. These visuals helped students understand how bad the situa-tion is and make them want to help in any way they can. Some ways students are helping are by donating money and signing the petition urging President George W. Bush to send aid to Darfur. We must do all we can to avoid another Holocaust.

It ain’t easy to be a sober teenage girl these days

PHOTOPiniOnsPHOTOPiniOnsPHOTOPiniOns

“I got to experience different cultures and I became more aware of the hardships people are facing around the

world.” – Andrew Brown, senior

“It was awsome be-cause w got to experi-ence different cultures and what people have

to go through. ” – Kevin Tomas, freshman

“Last year’s was better because we had an as-sembly and did stuff.”

– Grace Tomaki, sophomore

“I liked the presenta-tion about Palestine

and how informative it was.” – Natalie Del

Favero, junior

What did you think about Days of Diversity?

Hillary Clinton should drop out of the Democratic primary. Even after her victories in Ohio and Texas, it is still almost im-possible for her to get enough delegates to surpass Barack Obama, who is currently lead-ing by over 100 delegates. The only possible way for her to get the nomination is to get enough superdelegates to vote for her to overturn the will of the people, which will almost guarantee John McCain a victory in the general election.

After facing 12 straight losses to Obama after Super Tuesday, Clinton started to go extremely negative in her rhetoric and commercials. She has said that Barack Obama’s foreign policy experience amounts to “a speech he made in 2002,” a reference to the 2002 speech he made opposing the Iraq war. She put out an ad that suggests that Obama wouldn’t be able to defend America in the event of a crisis, using fear tactics that would make Karl Rove proud, and has delivered numerous other low blows that McCain will be able to use in the general election. I wouldn’t really mind her staying in the race if she didn’t resort to mud slinging tactics whenever she is behind in the polls.

While McCain is free to cam-paign and raise money for the general election, Clinton and Obama will have to keep fight-ing it out. Clinton staying in the race even though she has vir-tually no chance of winning is dividing the Democratic Party and making it more difficult for either candidate to beat McCain in the general election.

Even though many demo-crats such as Nancy Pelosi, Bill Richardson, and John Kerry have voiced these concerns, Clinton shows no sign of drop-ping out of the race. She has even made suggestions that she and Obama should run together in a “dream ticket,” with her as president and him as vice-president, which is an absurd and extreemly arrogant notion considering she is in second place and he is in first place.

Hillary Clinton is hurting the

Democratic party and should drop

out of the primary

Clinton must go

The opportunity for a normal American girl to dabble in the debauchery that is underage drinking seems nearly inevi-table these days. The availabil-ity of alcohol to the underage is almost comical, and I’m certain most kids don’t find that to be a bad thing if it means easy access. Not only is it easy to obtain, but as girls, it’s constantly pushed in

The genocide in Darfur needs to end

By Erin MundyStaff WritEr

our faces by boys who’ve heard songs like “tequila make her clothes fall off,” boys who know that all it takes is a bit of Captain and a few Coors to get in those jeans. Not to say that every guys’ goal this weekend is to score with the drunk chick, but I’ve seen too many girls victimized this way.

Unfortunately it seems like the odds are against us, espe-cially here in high school. These years are ridden with alcohol-fueled parties, a silly little thing

called peer pressure, and we’re surrounded by a media show-ing glamorized ads of beauti-ful people drinking only the smoothest liquors.

Not to mention the plethora of teenage girls keeping up with every episode of Entertainment Tonight and reading headlines on the front page of tabloids deco-rating the checkout aisles. Good role models in the limelight of to-day’s celebrity scene are few and far between. With young women like Lindsay Lohan being spot-ted in L.A.’s nightclub hot spots long before they are of legal age, how can teens not think drinking underage is in the norm?

There are unfortunate lifelong

consequences to be paid for be-coming an avid drinker. When people start slipping into oblivi-on and let themselves become far too dependant on their alcohol, which seems all too easy to oc-cur with young inexperienced girls, their drinking will show them things they never should have to see.

Too many girls will experi-ence that haunting feeling of not knowing what the hell happened last night. Too many will wake up in a strange bed, wondering how they could have gotten here. And sadly, far too many girls will take that gurney ride through the hospital corridors dead drunk on their way to a stomach pump.

COMPILED BY Candace Wong

Editorial:

How can you go wrong with a guy pulling the heart out of a dragon?

“

”

By Ryan FloresStaff Writer

CVHS students gathered at the Close Up event in Washington D.C.Stephanie Lombardo / Photo Editor

Cisco is a unique learning experience

The Cisco Networking class program offered at CVHS in-troduces students to the many essential Internet technology skills needed in today’s global economy. It teaches students how to set up and maintain networks through Web-based instruction and assessments.

The program is run through Cisco Systems, Inc., which is the worldwide leader in network-ing for Internet programs. The company makes networking equipment to create Internet solutions that help individuals, companies, and countries raise productivity rates.

The class used to be taught through books but now it’s taught through a variety of online resources, all self-paced. Students review chapters, com-plete puzzles, and take tests and quizzes all online. They complete hands-on labs such as making networks, making differ-ent types of cables and setting up Wide Area Networks (WAN) and Local Area Networks (LAN)

“It’s a combination of an online and hands-on experience and it’s a stepping stone for people going into the computer field or college prep,” said Cisco teacher Chris Burns.

Semesters one and two of the classes are offered at CVHS, and students are allowed to repeat the class online and get up to four semesters of credit and re-ceive college credit by moving on to courses three and four. Also, there are various scholarships available for students interested in networking.

“Cisco provides students with a unique learning experience in one of the fastest growing careers today,” said junior Jeff Stevens.

This class prepares students for industry-recognized certi-fication, which looks good on many resumes. It can be an ex-cellent foundation to careers in engineering, computer science, and management information systems.

The hands-on learning and troubleshooting skills can also help students in many future college classes and job oppor-tunities.

Reading about the presiden-tial race in the newspaper is one thing, but seeing the candidates up close is something else, like when I got to see Ron Paul in person.

The Close Up trip to Washing-ton D.C. gave me opportunities to do things and meet people I wouldn’t normally have been able to. Although I was nervous about the trip and wondered whether or not I would have a good time, it ended up being one of the best trips I have ever been on. And no, it’s not just a bunch of boring government stuff like most people think it will be. Not only did we get to see a lot of amazing places, we also met some great people along the way. To anyone who has wondered how our government works or the about the people who are in-volved in it, Close Up lets you ex-perience it first-hand. Our busy week included a trip to the Capi-tol Building, the White House, and the Pentagon (for those of us who didn’t sleep in too long). We also had the opportunity to meet with Senator Barbara Boxer

By Stephanie Lombardo photo editor

and Representative Barbara Lee, not to mention getting in a few celebrity sightings like Ron Paul and John Kerry.

Not only did we get to visit these places, but we also got an inside look on how they work. Watching a meeting of the House of Representatives showed us how a bill becomes a law, and talking with Barbra Lee helped us better understand the views of our representatives.

Okay, so the museums may have gotten somewhat repeti-tive after awhile, but I definitely learned a lot from them. Visit-ing the Holocaust Museum is an experience I will never forget and to anyone who hasn’t been there: it’s definitely worth it. It is important to remember mistakes that have happened in our past in order to prevent them in the future.

Another museum we vis-ited, called the Newseum, isn’t even open to the public yet. It explores government through the art of journalism. Not only did we get to see hundreds of groundbreaking news stories, but we also got to see a piece of the World Trade Center.When we weren’t off visiting memorials or

museums, we got to meet other teenagers from all over the U.S. There were schools from South-ern California, Florida, Pennsyl-vania, Oregon, and New Orleans there, and they were all eager to meet new people.

Having the opportunity to room with two students from an-other school gave us the chance to develop strong new friend-ships. Although our workshops and sight seeing took up most of our time, we were given time at the end of the day to just hang out and get to know everyone. Discovering the diversity of these students from other states made the trip even more excit-ing. Also, I got to know the kids from our school a lot better and made friends with the people in our group that I would have never gotten the chance to talk to before.

At the end of the week we had a farewell banquet in which students gave speeches talking about the week and how much fun they had. Afterwards, there was a big dance with all the students, followed by some very sad goodbyes. Overall, the trip was definitely a memorable experience.

Close Up trip worth the trip

Leadership HappeningsUpcoming Activities & Events

at Castro Valley High School

By Erika Solanki, ASB School Board Representative

We have tons of exciting events and activities, and important deadlines approaching fast! ELECTIONS:

Election packets are due to room 607 to Ms. Frasca no later than 4:00 p.m. on April 8. There are no exceptions. SENIORS:

Senior Panoramic pictures are still selling for $10. There are only a few left. Sweatpants and shirts are in! If you pre-ordered sweatpants and shirts, come pick them up on the stage dur-ing lunch. Make sure to attend all your classes and to show up on time. You need good attendance for Senior Ball! JUNIORS:

Bids for Junior Prom go on sale starting Monday after Spring

Break. Bids start at $86 for the week of March, go up to $90 for the week of April 7, and go up to $96 during the week of April 14. The bid price is the price for two people. Singles bids are sold for half the price depending on the week you choose to purchase them. The bid prices include din-ner and dessert. Attendance re-cords began Monday, March 3. DODGEBALL:

Come watch the Dodgeball teams in the cafeteria during lunch the week of April 7 to April 11. SUPER CLUB:

The “Super Club” application has been posted on the website, and is available for clubs to review. The deadline will be an-nounced shortly.

To reach the Student Activi-ties web page, go to CVHS’s website, www.cvhs.cv.k12.ca.us, then click on “Students,” then click on “Activities.”

One of the best stories ever has been around since the seventh century, but this year for the first time the story is told in IMAX 3-D movie format. The movie is Beowulf, the story of a hero who hunts and kills monsters and takes a fall when he sells his soul

Beowulf bays you to watch its awsomeness

By Hayden Folksfeature editor

to a demon to gain a kingdom. It is full of drama, action, violence and sex. What more can you ask for? Nothing.

One of the big things that make Beowulf cool is the CGI computer generated graphics. At first it is a little annoying, but you get used to it. After a while it probably even makes the movie better. Since it helps ease the production of action sequences, the sequences look really cool. Plus, how can you go wrong with a guy pulling the heart out

of a dragon while it is trying to

eat his wife? It doesn’t get much better than that.

The story is compel-ling and it is also educational. It gives you an insight into western culture. As the first fiction story written in Northern Europe, it has influenced much of Europe-an culture. Many great writings of our time make references to it, such as The Lord of The Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and almost every fantasy book. It also has good morals like don’t lie, stay true to your wife, witches are bad, and if there is something you’re afraid of or just don’t

understand, the best course of action is to hunt it down and kill it and better yet take off all of your clothes and kill it with your bare hands.

One drawback is the computer animation. Although it was really well done, I could never quite get over it, but that seems to be an opinion only I hold. It also gets pretty repetitive with him yell-ing, “I am Beowulf!” constantly. Neither of those matter much since it was a good movie and I recommend it to anybody.

A member of the CVHS Breakdancing Club busts a move during lunch.

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Days of Diversity

Interested in fun, friends, college admission, inner peace and happiness? Take journalism! Come to room 113 for more information.

Brazilian Capoeira dancers show off a martial arts in style. Daren Wilkerson and Megan Marieiro

take to the dance floor

A message on the wall of a tent offers hope to those in Darfur.Taiko drumers lay down a beat at lunch.

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Zhen Huang, above, winds up for a wicked forehand shot while Michael Chow, right, smashes a tennis ball down his court.

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

S u p e r S a v v y Sp o r ts St a rs

Jason Liu, freshman Kandice Douglas, seniorLisa Kim, juniorTom Ashby, sophomore

Brandon Lui / Staff writer

Tom Ashby is a revered runner among his teammates, and a very fast runner at that. He’s only been in track and field for two years but Ashby has already won first in the HAAL freshman two-mile run. Most teenagers would say they hate running the mile, but not Ashby. It’s even his favorite event. His best mile time was 4:47 minutes. Ashby likes track as well because of Brewer’s outrageous coaching. Ashby enjoys most science classes like biology and this year he hopes to get under 4:50 for the mile.

Lisa Kim is a skilled member of the golf team. She has been on the Varsity golf team since her freshman year, not to mention that she’s been a golfer since seventh grade back at Creekside Middle School. She says that what most people do not know about golf is that the golfers walk for five or six hours every match, with golf clubs on their backs. Kim has also done Kendo and Tai Kwan Do for several years. Talk about a lot of talent.

Kandice Douglas is a four-year veteran for track. An event she will never forget was during the first day of the HAAL finals at the 100-meter dash. Douglas had pulled up into first place but she thought she saw the second place runner catching up to her rapidly. Anxiously, she leaned back too far as she got to the finish line and fell back on her side, scrap-ing up her shoulder and the side of her arm. To her surprise, she got first place while the second place runner was still far behind.

Jason Liu has been a tennis player for seven years. His parents were the first to get him interested in ten-nis and he has practiced ever since. This is only his first year trying out for the CVHS tennis team, but he aspires to go all the way to Varsity. For the last three years he played tennis for Canyon Middle School, where he reached number one on the team and then broke his arm the next day. He is like most teenagers and enjoys things besides tennis like reading and playing video games. Liu also said that he would enjoy any class besides math.

C a st ro Va l l ey ’s

In a game in which you have to be quick on your feet and ten-sion runs high, the members of the boys tennis team are bringing their game faces to their matches as one of the favorites for win-ning both HAAL and NCS.

The Trojans have had a suc-cessful season thus far, beating the likes of Arroyo (4-3) and Bishop O’Dowd (6-1), to name a few. Returning members include the number one player senior Jake Pawid and team captain senior Kevin Oda, who is part of the number one doubles team.

However, it is the freshmen who are dominating the league with their number two player Dan-iel Cheung and number three doubles team of David Carter and Derek Wong.

“The team definitely has a lot of depth. There are a lot of solid players. But we have a lot of talent at the lower levels as well, which is good for the future,” said head coach David Roth-Rossi, who also coaches the CVHS girls Varsity tennis team and freshman boys basketball team.

Oda couldn’t agree more. “Our number one and two singles players, Jake Pawid and Daniel

Cheung, are pretty solid. Our doubles teams are our biggest strength… We’re fairly close in skill to each other, which makes our number two and three dou-

For the glory of the Trojans boys tennis teamBy Irene Liang

Staff writer

bles much stronger than other teams.”

Fresh off of his undefeated season with the girls Varsity tennis team, Roth-Rossi noticed

certain differences between the two teams.

“With the girls, there wasn’t much competition. The top 10 was the top 10, so the ladder was pre-set. But with the boys, you have to win every day to keep your spot. It is a lot more com-petitive for spots on the ladder and there is definitely a lot of pressure,” said Roth-Rossi.

With so much tension, the team loves to goof off through-out the practices and matches.

“Kevin Oda may be 2-0,but he’s 0-2 in the nickname battle,” joked Roth-Rossi.

Despite all the hard work, everyone seems to have one

goal in mind and that is to make it to NCS.

“Our goal is to make it to NCS. We’ve come in second place for the last three years and we’re hoping to finally break through. But we’re interested in playing against Moreau. They’re current-ly the number one ranked team in our league and most likely our biggest competition for making it to NCS,” said Oda.

Coach Roth-Rossi seconds, “Making it to NCS is something that I’m striving for. If we don’t make it, I’m not going to be dis-appointed. As long as the boys grow better friendships and have a good season, that’s fine.”

Boys attend first NCS semis

By Sophiana CarrellNews editor

If you followed the Varsity boys basketball team this year, then you witnessed school his-tory in the making. The Trojans made it to the NCS semifinals game on Feb. 27 at Newark High, which is an all time record.

Although they lost 70-74, they finished an amazing season with an exciting game, as well as inspired hope for a bright future of CVHS basketball.

First-year coach Nick Jones has a lot to be proud of, but he feels that the players deserve credit.

“The kids did a great job this year leading [up to] the league title,” Jones said. “Every player on the team helped us to the playoff game.”

The boys’ victory at Mount Eden on Feb. 13 ensured them a spot in the NCS tournament, and due to their performance, they were ex-empt from the first round.

While the Trojan boys bas-ketball squad was on its way to a big NCS victory at home against Pittsburg in late Febru-ary, a thief was busy scoring big on the players’ electronics in the locker room.

By Brandon Luistaff writer

By Kyle FriedrichCopy editor

During halftime, when the team went to their locker room, the crowd was cheering and having a good time, and nothing seemed wrong. Only after the game did the triumphant players discover that their iPods and cell phones were missing from their gym bags. They summoned sheriff’s officers to the scene.

During the game, most of their belongings lay in duffle bags on the floor, and not in locked lock-ers. However, someone apparently jammed something undetected in the locker room door so that it could be opened by anyone.

According to Deputy Tim Vales, the theft took place between 7:30

The first time I learned the term “poor sport” was the day my mother scolded me for pout-ing after losing a game of Sorry! I started the game off with my heart set on winning and wouldn’t settle for less than the victorious defeat of my friend. Because I played no sports at the age of seven, I had no outlet in which to channel my competitive tendencies. So, my extreme disappointment was un-derstandable when I severely lost this game of Sorry!

Afterwards, my mother sat me down and told me that it was a waste of time to dwell on my failure when I could instead be congratulating the winner and bettering myself as a person. At that young age, this concept of selflessness was quite difficult to grasp. But now, at the age of 17, I have come to appreciate my mother’s advice. I now wonder how this lesson has managed to pass up my fellow students.

I don’t usually attend basket-ball games, or any sports games for that matter. But about three weeks ago, my friends managed to convince me to attend the Tro-jans’ final NCS game in Newark. Upon arriving, I prepared myself to endure a grueling two hours of a sport that I did not under-stand, nor had any desire to. I’m not quite sure if it was the sur-rounding atmosphere, or the rare opportunity for me to scream as loud as I wanted, but I somehow became engrossed in the exciting, fast-paced game.

However, during the last quarter, the interaction between Assistant Principal Marcie Plum-mer and some members of the Trojan Den managed to tear my eyes from the thrilling game.

CVHS had been leading by quite a few points. During this period, the members of the Tro-jan Den seemed obviously very pleased but also had a sense of positive team spirit, cheering on their team while also being kind

to the Newark supporters. However, when the scoreboard began to change for the worse, the Den’s well meant senti-ments evolved into feelings of anger and hatred towards the opposing team.

As I heard angry yelling coming from the direction of the Trojan den, I looked over and saw Plummer struggle to hold back some of the CVHS students standing in the front row. Surprised by this rapid change in manner, I kept my eyes on the area and then saw two policemen come over to patrol the Trojan Den.

After CVHS lost the game, my depressed friends and I walked through the park-ing lot to get to our car. The disappointment and anger of the Castro Valley students was even apparent through the er-ratic driving and the honking of car horns. Even driving to-wards the freeway entrance, we were surrounded by cars with students yelling swear words directed at “Newark” out of their windows.

Though I as well found myself getting into the game, I never knew people took bas-ketball so seriously. I was upset because of our defeat, but I had no desire to yell at any of the Newark students or partake in a fight, which was rumored to occur that evening. Do young adults not possess the capabil-ity of handling defeat? Or does our immaturity create strong, irrational emotions with which we do not know how to act ap-propriately?

I felt like rolling down my own window and yelling back, “Yeah, we lost. It’s sad, but you’ll get over it.” It seemed to some that the world would end, that nothing else mattered but this one basketball game.

Though it is exciting to see students cheering on their classmates and rooting for their success, we also need to learn how to accept failure. Losing with dignity is just as important as supporting your own team. Once this lesson is learned, we, as a school, will be viewed as a mature student body, demanding and receiving respect from all.

Trojan Den lacked sportsmanshipat NCS game

The quarterfinals game against Pittsburg was the first NCS game

Basketball team burglarizedand 8:30 p.m., after the team had taken its halftime break in the locker room. Six iPods and two cell phones were reported missing. Sheriff’s officers cur-rently have no suspects and no recent or related crimes to help them out.

“Usually they try to sell it around school. Hopefully they try to sell it to the wrong per-son,” said Vales.

The team isn’t happy at all. It’s rare for items to get stolen from locker rooms during games or practice. Sheriff’s offi-cers and the players are hoping to recover the items, but with no leads it looks unlikely.

CVHS’ Varsity badminton team has started the season off with an okay start with one win and one loss, defeating

Badminton promises smashing season

By Lindsay Odastaff writer

Moreau and losing to Tennyson by one game.

New coach Xi Lin, a former bad-minton player for CVHS, has high hopes for his team. “I hope that we can stay at just one loss. I want to make it to NCS. Last season, the team went, and this year I want us to win it.”

The players’ other goal is to beat their long-time rivals, Mt. Eden.

“It hasn’t been done in 50 years, but if they win [against Mt. Eden], I’ll buy them dinner,” says Lin.

Even though Lin has so many

expectations, the 77 players match up to every one. Captain Chanel Darosa agrees.

“I’m confident that our team can do better than last season. We came in third in the league, and I think we can come in the top three again, “ says Darosa.

Even with so many players, the team stays close and sup-ports one another. “Its great how everyone encourages oth-ers to do better every game,” tells sophomore Kristal Lam.

“We don’t have many fans or spectators, so we become fans of each other,” adds senior Monica Zhang.

Close game inspires hope for the future

“

Nick JonesBoys Basketball Coach

Every player on the team helped us to the playoff

game. ”

the Trojans had won in 30 years, and their 57-46 victory marked the best season in school his-tory. It was an exciting game, with CVHS leading since the beginning, and it had the Pittsburg coach working up a bigger sweat than the players. Senior Jourdan DeMuynck, senior DJ Broome, and junior Rashad Parker especially shined, scoring 19, 12 and 18 points respectively.

Castro Valley advanced to the semifinals, which took place at Newark Memorial High. It was very close with the Trojans leading until the last minute.

There was much controversy about the referee stopping the clock more than necessary, which might have cost the Trojans the game.

Despite the loss, it was an amazing season for both the players and fans, and left a steep precedent for next year. Good job boys!

Players win points, burglars score prizes

Friendly puppy dog up for adoption. About 18 inches off ground and house broken.

For more information, (650) 491-4925;

ryanflores78@yahoo.com

Field trip sheds light on Rwanda

genocide

Freshmen survey given to improve their transitionBy Laura Mitchell

Copy Editor

LIBRARY: From page 1

own power. There is always a group of people whose com-bined actions become heroic. Most students enjoyed the presentation very much and took it very seriously. Tak-ing the opportunity to help the effort, students purchased necklaces on sale at the assem-bly. The necklaces depicted the word “peace” in many different languages such as French, Chi-nese, two-fingered symbol of peace, and of course, English. A few students even got Wilkens’ autograph. Furthermore, Wilkens told students about why he made the choice of staying in Rwanda to help the genocide victims. “I couldn’t say to them, ‘Look guys, I’m going to pray for you, but I’m leaving,’” said Wilkens.

There will be a teen room, a mini-library where teens can do homework or work on projects. The meeting room will be acces-sible for teen use as well. The new library will also have career nights, where students can talk to college representatives. SAT tutoring will also be available. “It will be worth walking to,” said library manager Carolyn Moskovitz. Some students, however, dis-agree. “I can’t come after school,” said sophomore Tracy Lau. The longer distance poses as an obstacle for some students. Some are looking at the location change optimisti-cally. “Although it will be incon-venient for CVHS students to do their homework or go to, it will be a building of culture and knowledge,” said senior Michael Louie. The current library will close for a period of one to two months when the books have to be trans-ferred.

In hopes of better understand-ing and assisting this year ’s freshman class, an “all-new” survey was recently given to all freshman students. Primarily organized by Assistant Princi-pal Jesse Woodward and social studies and TOPS teacher John Green, the survey was given out by freshman English teachers.

The survey was made up of six different sections covering a wide array of topics such as studying, drug use, technology, teachers, safety, and CVHS in general. Green said that the purpose of the survey was to “see where we are making improvements, and where we’re falling behind in meeting students’ needs.”

For the most part, the results of the survey have been both helpful and heartening for staff. For example, most freshmen surveyed stated that attending CVHS has been a mainly positive experience, and many also said that they felt like their teachers and counselors were helpful.

“I felt it was encouraging that

75 percent of students felt that there is an adult on campus they can talk to. I think that the survey was a helpful tool to address and figure out how to support the students better,” commented freshman counselor Karena Doan.

Another part of the survey that encouraged and interested staff was the fact that nearly 96 per-cent of freshmen surveyed said that they plan to attend college or some other post-high school training program.

“We were really happy to see that so many students want to continue their education be-yond high school,” said Green, who also emphasized the fact that now the staff are looking to support all of these students

reach their goal of going to col-lege and help get students on track to be eligible for college in the first place.

Some of the more concern-ing information gleaned from the survey had to do with the abundance of hateful speech on campus, with 61 percent of freshmen surveyed saying that they hear racist, homophobic, or other derogatory words very often. Green said that this statis-tic about hateful language was a “huge concern” for the staff. “We recognize that we need to pay more attention to ‘hate speech’ on campus; we want the school environment to be safe and welcoming for everyone,” he said.

The freshman survey has been described as “very positive over-all,” and the staff feels that the findings of the survey are an “ac-curate reflection of the freshman environment.”

“We have identified the areas we want to work on, and we hope that next year’s findings will be even more positive,” said Green. “We want to be able to help, and we don’t want anyone to slip through the cracks.”

I think the survey was a helpful tool.

Karena DoanFreshman Counselor

“”

RWANDA: From page 1

Howard wHang / Staff Writer

Carl Wilkens speaks about his experiance in Rwanda during an Arts and Communications Academy field trip.