Jonah Chang, Radhika Dharmapurikar, Suhana Mahabal, Asha Wojciechowski Entertainment Editors:
Meghna Dixit, Sana Karkhanis, Vaishnavi Katukam, Kate Yang
Sports Editors:
Leah Desai, Ananda Singh, Ethan Yang
Copy Editors:
Giljoon Lee, Ellie Wang
Staff Writers:
Shreejay Arja, Fiona Chen, Maahi Dev, Rafaella Fantine Vargas Machuca Vento, Nylah Gehani, Suryansh Gupta, Emmy Harimoto, Grishma Jain, Aletheia Ju, Rachel Kim, Anish Khinvasara, Lora Lee, Leo Lee, Juju Ling, Owen Liu, Lucas Liu, Emma Ma, Srinikaa Naveenraj, Sania Nadkarni, Alexandra Perrault, Alexandra Qiu, Divina Pandita-Raina, Ritik Shenoy, Raj Thapliyal, Kai Tsuchida, Leo Wei, Elizabeth Yang, Olivia Zhang Advisers:
Vennessa Nava, Julia Satterthwaite, MJE
Mission Statement:
El Estoque will accurately inform our community through well-researched, unbiased and in-depth accounts of stories of the student body and staff, local news and developments and taboo topics prevalent in and near the MVHS realm. By investigating a variety of voices and credible perspectives, we hope to foster active discussion, effect positive change and spread awareness of timely and relevant content. As a trustworthy, consistent and reliable source of information, we strive to be accountable, adaptable and ready to correct and address our mistakes. Constantly striving for improvement, we will uphold integrity and ethics to be respectful and empathetic to one another, our sources and our readers. We will exercise our press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and California Ed Code 48907 while maintaining a community of reporters with a strong passion for our work and journalism as a whole.
LETTER FROM THE
EDITORS
PHOTO | MELODY LIN
The start of a new school year brings students the opportunity to reinvent themselves. Three months of summer break means a new blank slate to fill — perhaps with a bleached buzz gone wrong, an internship turned personality trait or new brainrot in your lingo.
Or maybe it’s showing up in baggy denim and loafers, wired headphones blasting Clairo, with matcha in one hand and Sylvia Plath in the other. Our Arts & Entertainment section features the rise of performative men in our area, as well as other notable and scandalous events that happened over the summer.
But just as we perform identities, others attempt to erase them. A decade after Obergefell v.Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, SCOTUS has been formally asked to overturn the ruling. In “Untying the knot,” we explore the potential consequences of this attack on human rights, as well as LGBTQ+ teachers’ reactions to having their sexuality scrutinized.
While our identities have long been challenged by culture and politics, technology has entered the equation. Our Opinion section questions how we form our identities — through our connections and habits — with its dive into artificial intelligence, as well as what happens when AI takes on increasingly important roles in our daily lives.
So, to the freshmen stepping foot on this campus for the very first time, with unbridled ambitions and a desire to fit in, we know this is a difficult time to figure out who you are. You don’t have to cement your identity in the first week at this alien place, because your identity will certainly evolve as you grow into the new shoes you bought for high school. In the spirit of “Freshmen in Five F’s,” we wish you a fruitful, fascinating, fun and fulfilling future.
COVER | ISABELLE KOK
Liz Liu
Jillian Ju
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | ELLIE WANG
PHOTO | DIVINA PANDITA-RAINA
MEGHNA DIXIT
STEPPING DOWN WITH WILLIE BROWN
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | ELLIE WANG
part-time schedule.
STEPPING DOWN WITH WILLIE BROWN
How the Willie Brown Act impacts veteran teachers
BY GRISHMA JAIN AND ELLIE WANG
Chemistry teachers Supriya Moore and Elizabeth McCracken enrolled in the California Reduced Workload Program, colloquially referred to as “Willie Brown,” for the 20252026 school year. Willie Brown was enacted in 1982 as a retirement plan allowing veteran teachers to gradually scale back their workloads before retirement while still retaining full-time benefits. Under Willie Brown, teachers may reduce their schedule
to three or four periods compared to the full-time schedule of five periods. Some teachers use the program to step down gradually — from 100% workload to 80%, then 60% — before retiring entirely. The lowest reduction allowed under the program is 50%.
In order to qualify for Willie Brown, teachers in FUHSD must be at least 55 years old with more than 25 years of experience. They also need to have been employed full time in a certificated position for at least 10
years, including having worked full time during the five years preceding entry into the program. In return, the program allows teachers to have a relaxed schedule for up to 10 years, during which they receive district benefits from the California State Teachers’ Retirement System and have their healthcare premiums calculated as if they were still working full time.
Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, Moore reduced her
Willie Brown (left), Elizabeth McCracken (right). Teachers on Willie Brown, or the California Reduced Workload Program, can enjoy full-time benefits while working a
VOLUME 56
schedule to three periods and has continued this for the current school year. To help balance the chemistry classes, AP Biology and Chemistry Honors teacher Julie Choi has taken on three additional chemistry periods for the 2025-2026 school year. Moore says the lighter workload has been a welcome change, allowing her to enjoy teaching with more balance.
“With fewer students, the teacher can focus more on the individual students that they have,” Moore said. “From my perspective, the benefit I receive doesn’t change. Even though I’m only teaching 60% of what I used to as a full-time teacher, I still get fulltime benefits for health insurance and sick leave and all the other things. The only thing that changes, of course, is the salary, because it’s 60% of whatever you were making.”
McCracken says that although she didn’t have specific expectations going into Willie Brown, after hearing the positive feedback from her colleagues, she decided to join the program this school year. After one month in, she concedes to not having experienced any downsides.
“I have lots of passions, and it’s nice to have more time and space,” McCracken said. “Yesterday, I got up and went for a hike for two hours with a friend. That’s something that I would never have been able to do on a school day morning. I’ve been able to research some things that I’m interested in. My time has been focused more on other interests that I have, as well as people I want to spend more time with, including my dog.”
says the lower enrollment has made it easier for the district to accommodate teachers seeking reduced schedules, and that the district now even encourages participation in Willie Brown to help balance staffing needs.
“With my breast cancer diagnosis, I was very weak,” Onodera said. “I was out last year for the whole fall semester to deal with that, but now I have these little stretching classes that I take on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which work really well. It’s nice because I now have a pattern that I can follow that just worked out by being on Willie Brown. When I first started teaching, there were a huge number of teachers who were about the same age and wanted to work their way out using Willie Brown, so it has always been on my mind that that was what I wanted to do toward the end of my career.”
McCracken agrees with Onodera, appreciating the lighter workload Willie Brown offers, but asserts that teaching will still continue to be an integral part of her life. While at the moment, McCracken and Moore haven’t finalized their retirement plans or how long they will continue teaching under Willie Brown, McCracken assures that future arrangements will ultimately be beneficial for both the Chemistry department and the rest of MVHS.
“I will not make a decision on stopping teaching based on someone else’s decision — my decision would be solely for me,” McCracken said. “Right now, I’m very happy teaching. I’ve been at MVHS since 1996 and I cannot imagine stopping.”
Despite the two chemistry teachers now having reduced schedules, the department has been able to adjust. According to McCracken, with MVHS experiencing a decline in student enrollment in recent years, the number of classes in many subjects — including chemistry — has decreased. Math teacher Mia Onodera — who has been on Willie Brown for three years — Graphics | Ellie Wang
MVHS continues to experience declining enrollment
BY GILJOON LEE AND LUCAS LIU
IF YOU’VE GOT KIDS GOING TO COLLEGE AND HOUSES, RENT TO PAY, THEN MAKING 80% ISN’T IDEAL.
FRENCH TEACHER
FINCK
DOWNWARD SP
SARAH
SPI RAL
IN
AN IDEAL WORLD, YOU’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT’S BEST FOR STUDENTS, WHAT’S BEST FOR PROGRAMS AND THEN WHAT’S BEST FOR TEACHERS.
“As we get more and more expensive, fewer families can afford to live here,” Crutchfield said. “We’ve seen the entire Santa Clara County, the entire state of California declining enrollment from 2018 to 2019. The two most affordable areas to live, and that is affordable by Silicon Valley crazy standards, are our Homestead and Fremont areas, and those are also our two biggest schools.”
PRINCIPAL BEN CLAUSNITZER
Even as section numbers may decline, district policy prohibits laying off teachers due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Instead, the district may refrain from hiring more teachers after teachers retire or split teachers among sites, which can be inconvenient to drive from location to location per period, to compensate, according to
“In an ideal world, you’re trying to figure out what’s best for students, what’s best for programs and then what’s best for teachers,” Clausnitzer said. “All three of those things can be
42 students under projection for the 2025-2026 school year
*According to FUHSD’s Enrollment Update Presentation
THINKING
OUTS I THE BOX
BY YIXUAN (JOYCE) LI AND ANISH KHINVASARA
The room went dark as an overhead projector flickered to life in a full classroom. A cluster of teachers leaned forward in their chairs, trying to make sense of the outline — Mickey Mouse’s shadow. The task: Explain how astronomers identify asteroids that no one can actually see. Some traced the curve of the ears, others squinted at the negative space, all of them trying to infer its shape and where its components were located.
FUHSD centers Professional Development on critical thinking, inductive reasoning and the question formulation technique
This inductive reasoning activity — with teachers peering into the invisible — was one of the many activities teachers took part in at FUHSD’s newest professional development course. Just as astronomers piece together hidden objects from indirect evidence, students are encouraged by teachers who implement the PD’s teachings to explore beyond surfacelevel answers and learn to reason through critical thinking.
FUHSD teachers attended PD sessions on critical thinking at the district office, led by the district’s Curriculum Lead Team on Aug. 11, 26 and 27. The PD sessions focused on equipping teachers with the skills needed to develop students’ critical thinking skills with inductive reasoning and the question formulation technique — methods frequently used in physics teacher Jim Birdsong’s classes. Birdsong, who attended and
Science teachers participate in the critical thinking and inductive reasoning Professional Development session at the District Office.
gave a presentation at the PD, says the sessions were informative, adding that teachers were treated as experts and encouraged to build on existing knowledge.
“It’s a lot like a good class, in that there was some sort of direct instruction — someone at the front of the room talking about stuff and showing you stuff, and then time to discuss what you’re learning about with other people,” Birdsong said.
is one of the few skills that extend beyond high school.
92% of MVHS students
feel that critical thinking/inductive reasoning skills they practice in class will be useful beyond high school
*According to a survey of 123 people
Some of the district’s PD offerings change themes each year. Coordinator of Curriculum and Teacher Leadership Welton Kwong explains that the Curriculum Lead Team is focused on leading PD on 21st Century skills including communication, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and problem-solving. This year, the focus is on critical thinking.
“We decided to focus on critical thinking because we think that it remains an important skill that students in our high schools should be familiar with and practice to get good at,”
IDE
Kwong said.
“Now that we have so much technology, critical thinking remains crucial for students in high school and beyond — in college, work and life in general.”
Additionally, Kwong says teachers felt that these skills were especially relevant for students who are constantly on social media or using AI. As a result, staff felt it was urgent to teach them to not just absorb content but to evaluate and question it. Birdsong believes the ability to reason through unfamiliar material
“Students would just have this toolbox of ways to approach new information,” Birdsong said. “They can make sense of new material better if they can actively figure it out while the teacher teaches a lesson to provide further information. Therefore, inductive reasoning is an important skill. People being told what to think is an issue right now, so if you encourage people to criticize the information that they’re getting and think about it, that can help in all sorts of ways, not just in school.”
Sophomore Rohan Agarwal also noted the district’s push for critical thinking reflects how classes are already shifting away from rote work. Instead of rewarding memorization or formulaic answers, said Agarwal, teachers are increasingly designing assignments that require independent thought. Agarwal claims that the shift makes coursework more challenging but ultimately more meaningful.
just before the school year began, when most teachers already had their curriculum planned, making it difficult to implement learnings from the sessions.
Despite those challenges, the structure of the sessions fostered a level of collaboration rarely seen among teachers, according to Kwong. The Curriculum Leads who ran these workshops intentionally mixed staff from different subjects during sessions, hoping to create room for cross-disciplinary conversations and interactions between teachers from different schools and subjects. Kwong states that the shared focus on critical thinking gave teachers from different backgrounds a way to learn from one another.
SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE
“Something we really enjoyed was that in the morning, for several hours, teachers were mixing and mingling with teachers for different subjects, which isn’t very common,” Kwong said. “English teachers got to talk to math teachers, and science teachers got to talk to social studies teachers. So it feels like a common language that we build and teach, regardless of the school and across the subjects. That’s something we’re very excited about.”
“For example, in Java, it’s very easy as high school students to get sucked up into syntax, and mindlessly doing problems,” Agarwal said. “However, I think a lot of the teachers have structured their classes in ways where you cannot pass the class without having to think for yourself.”
While the workshops introduced new strategies for FUHSD teachers, they also affirmed some curriculum that already established such practices — for example, Birdsong’s AP Physics 1 and C classes. However, certain aspects of the rollout proved challenging. The training was held
Ten years after the Supreme Court expanded marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the future of marriage equality is once again uncertain
BY ISABELLE KOK
For the first time since its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to recognize same-sex marriages across the nation, the Supreme Court will decide this fall whether or not to consider a case that would specifically prompt it to overturn its previous ruling. This new case is a writ of certiorari filed in July by Kim Davis, a county clerk from Kentucky who refused on religious grounds to issue a marriage license to a gay couple. Davis argues that the First Amendment absolves her of liability for denying same-sex licenses, asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v.Hodges and no longer require states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Queer youth are especially vulnerable to mental health crises, with 39% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considering attempting suicide in 2024. Sukumar explains that the goal of providing support to youth motivates the outreach that their organization is implementing in local communities.
“ IT’S SCARY TO BE TOLD THAT YOU CAN’T HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS JUST BECAUSE YOU LOVE WHO YOU LOVE.
PEER SUPPORT COORDINATOR SUN SUKUMAR
Under Hollingsworth v. Perry, California residents’ rights to samesex marriage are protected regardless of whether or not the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell. However, despite relative insulation from discrimination at the federal level, local LGBTQ+ community leaders are wary, especially as anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and legislation have spiked in recent years under a nationwide shift to conservatism.
Sun Sukumar is the Peer Support Coordinator for Caminar’s LGBTQ Wellness, a program supporting the holistic wellness of LGBTQ+ residents in Santa Clara County. Sukumar believes that California’s protections, while effective at protecting citizens’ basic rights like marriage equality, don’t fully shield local queer people from being tangibly affected by nationwide homophobia.
“It’s scary to be scrutinized in this way,” Sukumar said. “It’s scary to be told that you don’t exist, to be told that you can’t have the same rights just because you love who you love. We’re going so many steps backwards.”
“Regardless of what’s happening on the federal level, we’re upping our efforts,” Sukumar said. “We’re not bowing down to fear. People get siloed when fear is inflicted, and so when we amplify our resources, what we’re saying is, ‘I know it’s hard for you to find us, but we’re going to try and come find you, because we’re going to be here no matter what happens.’”
However, Board President of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center Gabrielle Antolovich says that although they are disturbed and upset, they aren’t surprised by the recent news concerning Obergefell. Having been involved in activism since the 1960s, Antolovich recalls being present for the first significant push for marriage equality in the U.S., when victims of the AIDS crisis could not spend their last days with loved ones because they weren’t afforded the legal protections of married partnership. According to Antolovich, the new generation of young activists who haven’t been similarly inspired can be fragmented or disorganized.
“Marriage equality really is an interesting issue because all of those people from that time, except a few people like me, have died,” Antolovich said. “Now we have a whole new generation who hasn’t really suffered being the same way. It’s shocking to young people, but they don’t know where the burning desire for marriage equality came from. I worry that the fight back may not be as strong as it needs to be.”
The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, Antolovich’s organization in San Jose, coordinates events to connect local LGBTQ+ members. Antolovich urges queer youth to get involved in local politics, arguing that progress will only be made through consolidated efforts.
“Learn from history so you can be eloquent in fighting back,” Antolovich said. “Be in touch with your legislators, write to them, go to the rallies. Work with older queer people so that they can see this as a multigenerational fight back. Now, more than ever, we need to unite.”
89% of MVHS students
believe same-sex marriage should be a universal right
*According to a survey of 121 students
Antolovich explains that by emphasizing physical conformity, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and sentiment restricts not only the queer community, but the nation as a whole — for example, cisgender people have been discriminated against because of false transgender accusations. Thus, protecting LGBTQ+ rights is crucial to maintaining every citizen’s personal freedoms — a sentiment that Sukumar agrees with.
“Help us fight the good fight,” Sukumar said. “We need active allyship more than ever. People need to care, because you may see this as an attack on just the queer and trans community, but this is an attack on humanity and human rights.”
FRESHMEN in Five F’s
Average rating out of 5 for
FEARS FRIENDS
PLANS
of freshmen consider themselves part of a friend group
AT THE GRAMMYS BUT PROBABLY NOT.
of freshmen said academic concerns were their biggest fear for the upcoming school year
PUTTING THE FRIES IN THE BAG.
DRIVING DILEMMA
Teens reflect on balancing independence and freedom with safety
BY CORINNA KUO AND DIVINA PANDITA-RAINA
Filled with adrenaline, senior Gillie Ross stands at the DMV kiosk as she answers question after question on the computer in front of her, testing her knowledge of California’s driving laws. Then, another missed question flashes across the screen. Ross pauses, counting the number of mistakes she had already gotten wrong. Eight? Wasn’t she only allowed to get seven wrong? As she starts to panic, only one thought flashes through her mind: Did I just fail this test? But she keeps clicking to the end of the test, not missing any more questions. After the test, she stands in anticipation, waiting for the result, when the DMV worker congratulates her for passing, and she feels a sense of relief wash through her.
Ross’s behind-the-wheel test flew by soon after, and now that she is fully licensed, she’s enjoying the independence that comes from being able to drive. She also says her parents are happy because now they don’t have to drive her. Moreover, she also often helps them out by driving her two siblings.
85% of MVHS students
“Sometimes it’s a little frustrating, especially if I have plans, but in the end, I’m just grateful that my parents are letting me use their car and I’m able to drive around. So I’m grateful that I have the freedom and also the means to have this much freedom.”
want to get or already have gotten a license as a teenager
*According to a survey of 128 people
“I’m like a family Uber service now,” Ross said.
PHOTOILLUSTRATION |CORINNA KUO AND DIVINA PANDITA-RAINA
On the other hand, senior Sahasra Anand does not want to get a driver’s license because she doesn’t trust herself to drive. Like many
other teens across the country, Anand says her fears, like getting into an accident or being pulled over, keep her from driving. However, after her older sister had a hard time figuring out transportation when she went to college, her parents began urging her to get a license.
“I think they are really wanting to rush the process,” Anand said. “I feel like the roles are a little bit reversed — that I’m the one who’s being a little bit more precautious, and I’m the one who’s a little bit scared to let myself on the road, so sometimes I feel like they’re pushing me a little bit too much to do it.”
Raman Narwal, who co-owns Vitty Driving School with his mother, understands that parental pressure could be a large factor in teens getting their licenses, since they want their children to become familiar with driving before being on their own. However, as someone who wanted to get a license from a young age, he says that the decision to get a license lies with the teens.
“You’re taking a big responsibility when you’re getting that license, and I would say you have to feel ready and be careful,” Narwal said. “But you have to drive at some point when you turn 18. It’s OK to get a license early and get more comfortable, and over time, you will become a good and safe driver.”
“If anything, sometimes I’m in a little bit of disbelief that my friends have licenses — honestly, it just makes me laugh a little bit,” Anand said. “I just don’t feel like we’re at all old enough or mature enough to have a license. Obviously, I do think it’s great that they have a government ID in that way. I don’t have a government ID, so I am a little bit jealous about that. But I don’t really feel any hard feelings about it.”
In Ross’s case, she likes having the ability to plan her day around her own schedule, rather than her parents’. As the only person in her friend group with a license, she says it’s easier to hang out with her friends. For example, she spent a lot of time in her house the previous summers. On the other hand, this recent summer, she was able to hang out with her friends every day.
“ I’VE KIND OF EMBRACED THAT I’M THE SOCCER MOM OF MY FRIEND GROUP. I BRING EVERYONE EVERYWHERE, AND I KINDA LOVE THAT.
SENIOR GILLIE ROSS
“I’ve kind of embraced that I’m the soccer mom of my friend group,” Ross said. “I bring everyone everywhere, and I kind of love that. I’m their Uber service every lunch, ‘Oh, Gillie, where are we going for lunch today?’ I’m fine to go. I just make them pay for me — I’m shameless about that.”
pay for behind-thewheel practice, Narwal says they might be more likely to wait.
Anand says she feels like she will have to figure out her situation over the next few months, as she doesn’t want to stay too close to home for college and will not be able to rely on her parents for transport. Additionally, she is wary of public transport in major cities and sees driving as a slightly safer option.
“I always tell myself, ‘Next month, I’ll take the permit test,’ and then I don’t do it,” Anand said. “But I just don’t want it to be a worry right now. I mean, I’m obviously stressed about other things, and this is something that would stress me out a lot, and so I just don’t want to worry about it as of now.”
Ultimately, Ross says, as families in Cupertino often have more money, it could feel like everybody has cars, when that isn’t true. She feels this misconception could cause a lot of peer pressure for teens, because they feel like they need a car to be “included” or “popular,” when that isn’t necessary.
Because some teens obtain their licenses out of necessity, Anand recognizes how privileged she is to be able to rely on her parents for transportation, as they primarily work from home. Although her fun plans, like shopping trips, occasionally get cancelled, she says not having a license doesn’t affect her much because she mainly only needs transportation to and from school.
According to Narwal, only 30% of his customers are actually under 18. He says many customers decide to get their licenses as adults because those who move from out of state feel pressured to get cars due to the suburban setting or need a Californiaspecific license. Additionally, as prospective drivers over 18 have fewer requirements to get their licenses than teens, not having to take an online driver’s education course or
“It’s fun and useful to have a car, but it’s not the end of the world if teens don’t get a license before they go to college,” Ross said. “You can always figure something out, like public transport or getting rides with friends.”
QUEER IN QUESTION
Mahmoud v. Taylor has left teachers questioning how to balance inclusion and parental rights in the classroom
BY LIZ LIU AND SRINIKAA NAVEENRAJ
*For the purpose of maintaining their privacy, an educator mentioned in this story will be referred to as Source A. “Oh, crap.”
Literature teacher Jessica Kaufman recalled the moment she heard about the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mahmoud v.Taylor. Kaufman knew the decision, which allows parents to opt their children out of lessons with LGBTQ+ material if it presents an objection to
their religious teachings, could have a drastic impact on what she teaches, since some of her curriculum involves examining texts through critical lenses, including queer theory.
“There are just so many unknowns,” Kaufman said. “How’s the district going to handle it? How’s the school going to handle it? How is that going to affect me as a teacher? I myself am part of the LGBTQ+ community, and so for me, the anxiety doesn’t just come from parents opting out, but also as part of my identity. Will I have to censor my identity now? Will I have to censor my values, beliefs and who I am?” Kaufman believes the fundamental job of all high school teachers is to teach students to think critically and make their own decisions. Human rights groups worry that the Mahmoud
v.Taylor ruling will encourage censorship in schools, and Kaufman feels that censoring material would not teach students to question the material presented to them, but rather simply absorb the censored perspectives they are taught.
Literature teacher Mark Carpenter brings up another concern regarding the emotional health of students. They mention that they have had transphobic students in their classroom in the past, and fear that this ruling will “empower bigotry,” which can lead to an insensitive and unsafe classroom environment.
“ WILL I HAVE TO CENSOR MY IDENTITY NOW? WILL I HAVE TO CENSOR MY VALUES, BELIEFS AND WHO I AM?
“Topics are open to discussion until you come to a point where you’re dehumanizing people,” Carpenter said. “A person’s humanity, a person’s right to exist, is not something up for debate and not something I’m willing to entertain in my classroom. But I’ve very rarely had students who wanted to cross that line intentionally.”
Source A, an openly queer teacher at FUHSD, works to create a welcoming environment for all their students. They acknowledge that there are many misconceptions about the LGBTQ community, contributing to the rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment among young people.
“Supporting the LGBTQ community is not intended to turn straight kids gay,” Source A said. “It’s intended to keep gay kids alive. I have had some very, very sad experiences with some of my former students who are queer, where they did not make it. And I want to make sure that we are being proactive, especially as queer teachers, in being a model of success and happiness as an adult to let students know that you can have a
happy and successful life as a queer person.” Source A points out that left-handedness was once thought to be a sign of the devil and would be beaten out of children, but after people recognized that it wasn’t, the prevalence of left-handedness rose to roughly 10%. Source A believes the same pattern may occur as queerness becomes more societally acceptable.
LITERATURE TEACHER JESSICA
KAUFMAN
Carpenter says they prioritize that feeling of belonging in their classroom.
student who opts out of the curriculum just because it contains LGBTQ+ content could be challenging, given her personal beliefs and especially if there are LGBTQ+ students in her class. However, she says she will do her best to ensure every student is treated with respect.
Similarly, surveys show that since 2020, the percentage of U.S adults identifying as queer has increased by about 9%, suggesting that a feeling of greater acceptance allows more people to openly identify with their sexuality or gender.
“I think the way you create change is by listening,” Kaufman said. “Even when things are contradictory or hard, sharing perspectives and making people feel seen and heard, no matter what, is how you promote change. I would listen and foster that same kind of trust that I would with other kids, and then have a conversation with the rest of the class transparently. As difficult as that would be for me, I would try to create an environment that does not discriminate against the kids opting out and vice versa.”
“ SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IS NOT INTENDED TO TURN STRAIGHT KIDS GAY. IT’S INTENDED TO KEEP GAY KIDS ALIVE.
“I grew up questioning my gender identity and sexuality in a house where that was definitely not acceptable,” Carpenter said. “And it was hard. One of my main aims as an educator is for everybody to feel comfortable, to have a place where they can be who they are. Part of what I hope is that students who grow up in this environment go out into colleges and meet people who came from vastly different environments and help them.”
Kaufman believes working with a
Source A is concerned about how the ruling impacts LGBTQ+ students, especially those outside FUHSD with less access to community support. They believe the best way to support all their students is to continue being true to their own identity. Source A hopes to become a role model for their students, regardless of their identity or sexuality, to live their lives authentically, regardless of the ruling.
“I’m disappointed but also hopeful,” Source A said. “I think of the [Theodore Parker quote made famous by] Martin Luther King Jr., ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ I believe that this is a short-term kind of pushback to hopefully a long-term push for equity.”
SOURCE A
R E O
M THAN A MEAL
FUHSD Nutrition Services members share the behind-the-scenes of cafeteria food
BY GRACE LIN AND ANGELA POON
Upon stepping into the kitchen every morning, smiling student workers and the aromatic scent of fresh food greet Edgar Rodriguez. When he chats and shares laughs with the students, the momentarily lighthearted ambience of the kitchen is a stark juxtaposition to its normal hecticness, making the task of preparing the day’s food seem less of a chore. When the brunch bell rings, Rodriguez stations himself at the far right scanner, waiting to scan the IDs of the hundreds of students who file through the cafeteria every day.
As MVHS’ food services manager for four and a half years, Rodriguez ensures that the kitchen runs smoothly to produce a minimum of 900 meals every day. He’s a member of the FUHSD Nutrition Board, which aims to run a food service program that complies with regulations but also maximizes student enjoyment of cafeteria food. To prepare meals for students, he works closely with Divya Puri, the FUHSD nutrition services manager of five years, and other staff members. Together, they recently revised the menu and will continue adjusting it each semester to meet student needs.
“I wouldn’t say the Board itself was involved in making these changes,” Rodriguez said. “It’s more Divya herself wanting to make sure that
there’s choices for everybody. That includes people who have Celiac disease, so we have a lot of glutenfree, vegetarian and vegan items. We just make sure that there’s choices out there for everybody.”
Puri, a registered dietitian, drove this year’s menu changes in hopes of increasing student engagement with cafeteria food, especially those with dietary restrictions. But one challenge the Board faces is not knowing how many students will need these meals. This makes it difficult to prepare enough to feed everyone without wasting the excess.
“The last person may only get two choices, so that may not be the choice they want,” Puri said. “That’s a little frustrating, because there’s no winning. We can’t expect every child to be happy, and no matter how much we try, there’s always going to be some dissatisfaction.”
Puri has devoted herself to working with students to provide them with food that they will enjoy. To do this, she collaborates with districtwide representatives on the FUHSD Nutrition Services Student Committee, which conducts surveys and samplings to collect student feedback on
cafeteria food. Junior and MVHS representative to the NSSC Aadhya Gupta has vitiligo, which causes restrictions in her diet. She advocates heavily for allergen-free food and believes this year’s menu is a big improvement from last year’s in terms of inclusivity.
“It’s really cool that I have a voice in what goes on because the food is a really big part of the school that almost every student here eats,” Gupta said.
often each food is being selected by students. Based on this data, they will tweak the menu to fit the demands of the student body. This process can’t be completed overnight; for example, having the new menu ready by October means beginning to plan six months ahead in April. Part of the reason they plan so far in advance is attributed to the recent merging of the district’s vendors, Gold Star and Danielson.
“Those items that I used to order for the week, I now have to order three weeks ahead of time,” Rodriguez said. “I have to be very organized with my deliveries, or else I don’t get the food.”
ensuring that every student has access to food. Funding decreased following the change in federal administration, so the district has relied on state funding for support in recent years.
“ STUDENTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE DO WHAT WE CAN WITH THE PARAMETERS THAT ARE GIVEN TO US.
FOOD SERVICES MANAGER
“This year will be supported by the district funding,” Puri said. “Student participation has increased a whole lot, and in some ways, that’s helped academically, too, because students don’t have to leave campus for food or have to worry about where their meal is coming from. It’s changed a whole lot, but it’s a good change, as far as needing to feed the students goes.”
One such scenario has already occurred, and Puri stepped in to bring a truckload of 150 to 200 cases of chicken to FUHSD sites. Even though
EDGAR RODRIGUEZ BUTTER CHICKEN 24% KOREAN WINGS 23% BANH MI 9%
Ultimately, Rodriguez, Puri and Gupta all recognize the common perception that cafeteria food is unhealthy or unappetizing. Puri believes that students’ dissatisfaction with the program stems from a lack of awareness of the program’s efforts, as they may not realize how much effort the Board and NSSC put into providing healthy, organic and locally
“It’s not as easy as they think it is; it’s very complicated,” Rodriguez said. “Students need to understand that we do what we can with the parameters that are given to us. I understand that students want all this delicious food, but we are very tightly managed by the state, and we can’t give you guys everything that
MVHS students’ favorite lunch items from the new menu *According to a survey of 107 people FRIED RICE 4% RAMEN 9% NACHOS 31%
NO PROXY FOR POLITICS
The rise of superficial mockery on social media can’t be equated to political activism
In decades past, political criticism emerged through journalistic cartoons that criticized corruption, partisan newspapers that championed objectivity and televised presidential debates. Today, filtered through engagement-seeking platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok, political criticism has become thousands of daily posts.
The points that these posts try to prove have shifted as well, broadening to focus on superficial insults.
Social media is now home to memes that call Donald Trump orange, Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe” or imply that Elon Musk is shaped like his beloved Tesla Cybertrucks. Mainstream political coverage is now recreational, as memes undermine legitimate criticism.
ESPECIALLY WHEN TARGETING POLITICAL ACTORS RATHER THAN ISSUES, MOCKERY IS MORE LIKELY TO SERVE AS ENTERTAINMENT THAN EDUCATION.
ensures that news on the platforms travels quicker than nuanced claims from more reliable sources. Political takes become easier to digest for wider audiences, allowing for quicker agreement but not increased deliberation. Rather than consulting research, easily accessible beliefs may lead to people adopting stances they don’t understand. The relevancy of politics makes critically engaging essential, rather than jumping from take to take.
Mockery also falls flat as a learning tool. Satirical news, including sites like
The echo chambers social media enforces results in polarization, since mockery seeks to ridicule the other side. After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the left and right erupted, leading to charged language that painted one side as inhumane and the other fascist.
However, satire has long been a form of criticism, and can't be discounted because it’s “less serious.”
Political criticism has been a consistent way for citizens to point to governance issues and offer solutions. Using language that mocks appearances is a cheap deviation from the heart of criticism and a distraction from conversations we could be having about poor policy, resulting in weaker public understanding of government affairs. Unlike editorial cartoons that are designed to be thought-provoking, memes can be created by anyone and are designed for virality. They also allow politicians to skate under their actions — posting recreational insults rather than what public figures do fails to educate the masses on the consequences.
Social media’s ability to share
The Onion, along with mockery, even when as informative as “regular” news, doesn’t lead to more learning. Instead, regular news is better for grasping research. Especially when targeting political actors rather than issues, mockery is more likely to serve as entertainment than education.
Memes are understandable in ways nuanced takes might not be. Satire can lead to activism — when comedian John Oliver published a satirical piece on net neutrality on "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," the Federal Communications Commission saw thousands of comments supporting net neutrality laws after an announcement of their reconsideration. But once satire strays into hate, it loses its potential to inform. Rather than researched criticism, it falls into tropes that fail to address what criticism should.
Superficial memes feed into confirmation bias, where viewers choose content that fit their ideologies and validate party identity, reinforcing that their ideas alone are correct. Feeds amplify beliefs rather than offer alternatives. Opposing perspectives help avoid dehumanization. It also helps avoid misinformation, since a lack of fact-checking can cause virality of false content if it fits user algorithms.
Mockery cannot be a substitute for informed political criticism. If name-calling doesn’t fly on the playground, using bullying as a proxy for researched takes isn’t something to accept. When we criticize politicians, we need sources that don’t use someone’s features to discount their competence. Reposting these memes should not be considered activism when all they do is delegitimize issues. Rather than relying upon the memes we ingest on social media, when it comes to political criticism we need to push for informed sources that further education.
<ERRANT AI>
BY SHREEJAY
AI’s diverse web of usages presents both advantages and dangers
ARJA, SOPHIA D’SA, FIONA CHEN, LORA LEE, EMMA MA, SUHANA MAHABAL AND ASHA WOJCIECHOWSKI
<TECH SUPPORT>
AI
chatbots’ emergence as therapists brings up potential risks and rewards
BY LORA LEE AND SUHANA MAHABAL
With college deadlines approaching in the fall of her senior year, MVHS ‘25 alum Jami Lim was faced with a conundrum. Her mile-long checklist of tasks to complete — from supplemental essays to her challenging classes — continued to grow, and she sought an outlet to express her frustrations and receive constructive feedback.
To do so, she turned to ChatGPT. In order to implement the specific advice Lim received, she converted it into affirmational phrases she would repeatedly use throughout the day during especially hard moments. Lim’s therapeutic use of AI isn’t unique: according to a 2025 study published in the National Library of Medicine, 28% of AI users have reported using chatbots for mental health help.
With that, it was able to feed me back possible steps to work towards a better mental state.”
A 2025 STUDY BY MIT’S MEDIA LAB FOUND THAT CHATGPT USERS HAD LOWER BRAIN ENGAGEMENT AND UNDERPERFORMED ON LINGUISTIC AND NEURAL LEVELS, POINTING TO CHATGPT ERODING
NECESSARY
COGNITIVE SKILLS.
“When I struggle mentally, I want answers: like a solution or an action plan to combat how I’m feeling,” Lim said. “At that time, when I was struggling with a lot of self-doubt, anxiety and stress, I would just pour everything I was feeling and have ChatGPT explain the nuances of what I was experiencing and feeling.
According to Shawn Ma, an engineering manager at Google who works extensively with AI, many chatbots used for therapeutic purposes weren’t specifically designed for that. However, with the existence of models specific jfor therapy, like Wysa, Woebot or Earkick, it’s not impossible for general models to be retrained. Ma explains that AI models are based upon the entirety of human knowledge, allowing them to act as anything. However, Ma warns that using AI as a therapist could lead to isolation within communities, if avoiding human interaction in favor of a screen becomes more common. He also points to further isolation with the possibility of retraining AI models to replace therapists, doctors or lawyers. Doing so would introduce risks related to ethicality and human judgment in high-stakes scenarios. However, he elaborates that for some people, talking to a human therapist might be more daunting than an algorithm. Another possible benefit that Ma discusses is the diversity in
focuses on elementary schoolers with disabilities, can pinpoint some benefits of AI, but staunchly maintains her position that extreme reliance upon AI chatbots is against human nature, and friendly relationships with them shouldn’t be pursued. A 2025 study by MIT’s Media Lab found that ChatGPT users had lower brain engagement and underperformed on linguistic and neural levels, pointing to ChatGPT eroding necessary cognitive skills.
Yang also warns of the nonspecificity of the information AI provides. She warns that the information AI chatbots obtain from public sources can’t be personalized to a person’s needs, the way a trained psychologist would be able to. Yang explains that intervention for different people should take different approaches.
“Our human brain is the one who determines what goes on next, not AI,” Yang said. “That’s why I feel that when we use AI, we need to know that no matter how you use it, you need to monitor the content that AI provides and how you want it to support you.”
Despite Yang’s beliefs that AI
therapy can’t be personalized, Lim found that using ChatGPT’s advice targeted the exact things that made her feel anxious. It helped her move past her self-doubt and achieve her goals in high school. But as a college freshman, she feels more wary about the dangers that could come with using it too extensively.
“It’s really easily accessible at any given time, as opposed to therapy, which has scheduled events,” Lim said. “However, what I would advise is not to rely on it too much. It’s dangerous to think of ChatGPT as an actual entity that you’re talking to and find solace in the idea that it exists, that you’re talking to something real. I would suggest seeing it more as an application that can help you expand on what you already know about yourself.”
Ma believes that one should be careful with the information they put into chatbots. User prompts are stored in data centers hired by the companies running the bots. Though these centers are largely secured, it’s crucial to continue being careful to keep personal information private. In contrast, professional therapists are bound by law to keep conversations confidential. Ma also warns against reliance upon AI therapy due to the lack of extensive research and knowledge of its abilities.
Despite worries that AI might soon replace critical jobs, Yang feels confident that traditional therapy is safe for the time being due to the necessity for human-to-human communication and interaction. AI’s lack of certain skills ensures its inability to completely replace therapists.
“AI mental health therapists might be able to sound more empathetic in a more natural way than real humans, but the warmth among humans or any living creatures can’t be replaced by any machines,” Yang said. “The warmth among humans comes from our heart, blood flow, sensory and receptive nerves. Human service will be the last to be replaced by AI because ultimately, we are real living organisms, AI is not.”
I’VE BEEN FEELING REALLY STRESSED. CAN YOU TALK TO ME LIKE A THERAPIST? CHATGPT:
I’M NOT A LICENSED THERAPIST, BUT I CAN OFFER YOU SUPPORT AND A SAFE SPACE. IT’S OK TO NOT BE PERFECT. YOUR
GRAPHICS|GRACELIN , AMBERLYSUNANDASHAWOJCHOWSKI
AI: THE NEW <STRANGER DANGER>
Educating children on hidden threats in AI today will protect them from digital harm tomorrow
BY FIONA CHEN AND ASHA WOJCIECHOSWSKI
If you’ve opened YouTube recently, you may have stumbled across a sudden, intrusive geometric popup informing you that your settings have been changed, insisting that you must verify your age in order to avoid the automatic implementation of child safety settings. YouTube’s new policy for child safety comes amid a country — and even worldwide wave of child safety crackdowns driven by concerns about increasing accessibility to ageinappropriate content online, most recently from
follows when it attempts to deduce a user’s age compromises privacy.
MANY OF THESE COMPANIES HAVE TURNED TO USING AI SOFTWARE TO MODERATE AND MONITOR USER
ACTIVITY TO VERIFY
AGE.
A recent act passed by Congress monitors AI in terms of child safety, requiring “covered social media platforms” — including video games, messaging applications, video streaming services or any other platform likely to be used by individuals under 17 — to implement tools and safeguards to protect minors from exposure to age-inappropriate content. It encourages corporations to exercise care when designing features in order to mitigate the data mining of minors, such as including tools for parents, access to privacy settings and mechanisms where visitors could report concerns of harm towards minors. Through enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, these corporations would be prohibited from conducting market or product research on students under the age of 13 entirely and students between 13 to 17 without parental consent.
In California, minors are protected by the California Age-Appropriate
Design Code Act, requiring corporations to remain transparent with the public when promoting online products and services directed towards minors and to take into account “unique needs of different age ranges” to set up protections based on “developmental stages” in childhood listed in the Act. For example, ages 10 to 12 are categorized as “transition years,” ages 13 to 15 as “early teens” and 16 to 17 as “approaching adulthood.”
YouTube was accused of using
GRAPHICS |AMBERLYSUNANDGRACELIN
resulted in regulatory action and fines.
More recently, the company has once again come under scrutiny for similar practices. While YouTube claims its AI age verification systems are designed to ensure safer online environments, they have created new problems — these AI algorithms analyze user activity on YouTube, such as the video topics someone watches, to flag possible minors. One major concern is that AI often misidentifies users’ ages this way, as it is hard to broadly categorize a type of activity or content as specific to an age group.
Regulating companies through legislation is often ineffective, as corporations with vast resources consistently find ways to circumvent laws without having to face serious penalties. As mentioned,
Meta have faced fines for child privacy violations, yet all continue to operate similarly with little meaningful change. Financial penalties are simply treated as the cost of doing business, rather than an adequate punishment that would prevent companies from invading this privacy.
WE SHOULD SHIFT TOWARDS PREPARING CHILDREN TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS ONLINE BY EDUCATING THEM ON HOW AI ALGORITHMS WORK, WHY CERTAIN CONTENT IS PUSHED TO THEM AND WHAT DATA PRIVACY MEANS.
exclusively on what companies should block, we should shift towards preparing children to make informed decisions online by educating them on how AI algorithms work, why certain content is pushed to them and what data privacy means.
AI also cannot always be trusted to properly moderate users — many users have complained about being incorrectly identified as minors by imperfect algorithms, and are forced to either submit sensitive personal info to verify their age or give up the full accessibility they were entitled to before. This goes against one of the most fundamental guidelines of online privacy about not sharing sensitive information online, and it is thus reasonable to have concerns about whether large corporations like YouTube will handle such sensitive data responsibly considering their track record.
Given the limitations of legislation, unreliability of AI and the ease with which large corporations exploit loopholes, responsibility cannot rest on legal and corporate regulation alone. Parents and educators must take a proactive role in teaching children how to navigate platforms driven by AI systems that could possibly invade their privacy. Instead of focusing
While it is true that educating children on responsible usage of AI does not eliminate data collection, we must start with regulating access in the household by thoroughly reading terms and conditions and adjusting settings on platforms with AI on kids’ devices. As students, we should stay vigilant, making sure that we are being especially mindful of the data we are entering into the social media and video streaming apps we commonly use. Though the responsibility is on the companies to not misuse our data, there is no perfect solution to this yet, or maybe ever. There are always loopholes to avoid the consequences of the law, and to these huge corporations, the consequences are almost non-existent, and occur after data has already been collected and used for monetization.
Therefore, parents should inform their children on how to approach platforms that use AI to abuse data collection, and make sure to review terms and conditions to claim your right to privacy through regulating settings on devices to opt out of data collection wherever possible.
Students and local professionals weigh in on how AI is changing the software landscape
BY EMMA MA AND ASHA WOJCIECHOWSKI
When De Anza Middle College
CODING WITH THE <FLOW> 56%
senior Zhenhao Qi first encountered the term “vibe coding” from a technology news YouTube channel in February, he initially dismissed it as just another AI buzzword.
coding, and I learned a lot from it. I probably wrote less than 200 lines of code that entire time.”
of MVHS students
However, in May, Qi found himself warming up to vibe coding at a hackathon, using it almost exclusively for his project during the competition.
think people who want to work in CS should learn how to vibe code
*According to a survey of 119 people ANDAMBERLYSUN ILLUSTRATIONS|GRACELIN
“When something was broken, I would tell the AI to fix it,” Qi said. “When I wanted to add a feature, I would tell the AI to do it. That was
Vibe coding is one of the newest terms in a line of AI neologisms that have gained popularity within tech communities almost as fast as AI’s capability to develop code improves. Defined as a style of programming that relies on AI to generate code with minimal human inspection, the concept was first called “vibe coding” by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy in February. The idea of programmers doing nothing but prompting and guiding the AI is already causing speculation about how it will change the landscape of software engineering.
you can use it. It’s like a guiding hand.”
Ria Subramanium, a software engineer at data-storage company Snowflake in Los Altos, has been experimenting with using AI models to code since before ChatGPT’s official release. She has used vibe coding for personal projects and to test out ideas that the AI may be able to execute.
“It’s efficient, it’s easy to use and it lets people who are less experienced in CS do things that others spend a lot of time learning to do,” Qi said. “You type in whatever the heck you want, and it spews out what you need. Even if you don’t know how to code,
“If you’re building something only for yourself, it’s super nice because it takes five minutes,” Subramanium said. “You don’t have to spend too much time getting deep in the weeds with technology you’re not that familiar with. I might consider vibe coding to do something fairly small and straightforward, something that won’t necessarily affect other things that might be going on at work.”
Despite being useful for personal projects and everyday tasks, vibe coding has its limitations. As with other forms of AI, the response to a prompt will not always be perfect. With all
the complexities and logic of coding, there is plenty of room for mistakes.
Sophomore and Java teacher’s assistant Sam Heinonen believes that when working with AI to code, it’s best to go in with prior programming experience.
“If you ask AI to code, you’re probably going to have to help fix some of the bugs it comes up with,” Heinonen said.
“You’ll have to understand how to do that and what the code actually does. The point of the CS classes in school is to teach you the basics of computer science, so you’re going to struggle if you use AI as a crutch for everything.”
around with these things and see what they can do, just because they have to know what exists, what is available and what will be there in the future.”
“ VIBE CODING WILL BE LESS IMPACTFUL THAN YOU THINK IN A YEAR, AND WAY MORE IMPACTFUL IN 10 YEARS.
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
RIA SUBRAMANIAN
Qi agrees on the importance of foundational skills for students at MVHS planning to major in computer science. He believes that students should only start experimenting with vibe coding once they are proficient in computer science, or if they don’t intend to seriously learn coding.
“When you’re trying to actually learn how to code, I would say to abstain from AI completely,” Qi said. “It’s not really going to help you learn unless you’re truly stuck and have tried everything else. Maybe understanding how AI works is important for new CS majors, but using it actually takes away from the learning experience.”
While Subramanian highlights the value of having coding experience before working with AI, she says that it is also worth trying out vibe coding no matter the skill level. To her, as long as students have an interest in software engineering, experimenting with new technology will always be useful.
“To be honest, most of the knowledge about how to vibe code is in people’s brains,” Subramanian said. “It’s difficult to teach it. So it’s worthwhile for students just to mess
A common concern that people have raised about vibe coding is that it will replace the jobs of software engineers, or that questionablequality, AIgenerated code will be included in final customer products. However, Heinonen, Qi and Subramanian all agree that vibe coding will not successfully replace software engineers anytime soon. Rather, Subramanian describes AI as a junior engineer that she supervises, capable
of handling tedious tasks but not complex problems.
At the same time, Subramanian and Heinonen both say that it is important for future software engineers to be familiar with AI — not as job competition, but as a tool to complement their work — as it has applications that could greatly improve efficiency in certain areas, like working with datasets.
“My theory is that a lot of the uses of AI will be incredibly impactful in terms of how the things function, but it’s difficult to measure,” Subramanian said. “It’ll be less impactful than you think in a one year timeline, and way more impactful than you think in a 10 year timeline. The best thing you can do is to keep an eye out for things that look interesting, and try to learn as much as you can.”
vs
TRADITIONAL VIBE
Despite risks of misinformation, responsible use of generative AI empowers patients
BY SHREEJAY ARJA AND SOPHIA D’SA
I<DR. AI> 40%
n recent years, the volume of generative AI users — particularly with chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini — has skyrocketed, and with it, so has the prevalence of patients using generative AI to find health information. A survey by independent polling organization KFF found that as of 2024, 1 in 4 adults under the age of 30 use AI chatbots at least once a month for health-related advice, raising questions as to the safety of this usage and the validity of the chatbots’ outputs.
One major concern is medical misinformation, since according to the Journal of Clinical Oncology, this can cause delays in care and push patients to forgo critical treatment. Considering ChatGPT-4.0’s dismal 31% accuracy for medical information, using it as the only source of information presents a serious risk to patients of being led astray.
modifying the way they ask questions.
“If you really want a good, objective perspective that can help you achieve your health and wellness, try to go in with a little less bias and ask it to be tough and critical,” Chen said. “You’re more likely to get something
GRACE LIN AND AMBERLYSUN
of MVHS students have
used generative AI for health-related advice
*According to a survey of 129 people
Stanford Director for Medical Education in Artificial Intelligence Dr. Jonathan Chen warns against the sycophantic nature of AI, noting that many people ask leading questions, generating the assurance they want rather than critical advice. Instead of asking about long-term nutrition and exercise plans, a patient may ask how to lose weight quickly, inadvertently directing the chatbot to gloss over a more responsible course of action. However, Chen believes patients can sufficiently counteract this by
starting a conversation with an AI chatbot by asking it to play the part of an expert in a certain medical field raises the chatbot’s general accuracy, relevance and clarity. Chen says he uses this function in his practice to check that he’s considering all possible angles of a case, especially since he says a significant part of working in medicine is making educated guesses. This method of increasing accuracy can be useful to patients both before and after appointments.
Under the 21st Century Cures Act, medical providers are required to send patients their health records upon request, but their medical jargon often exacerbates patients’ stress and anxiety. Generative AI can help fix this problem by simplifying diagnoses into more
SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE GRAPHICS|
Advisory addressing responsible AI usage, it’s imperative that we students adopt the mindset of using AI as a tool rather than a substitute for medical professionals. Generative AI extends patients’ ability to self-advocate in the quickly changing and often confusing world of American healthcare. In Chen’s view, this is precisely why engaging responsibly with generative AI is essential to moving forward.
“If you just bury your head in the sand, then don’t be surprised when you get run over by it,” Chen said. “Let’s actively study what AI is capable of and what its credible limitations are so we don’t sell hype that’s fake and make claims that aren’t valid. If you understand what these guardrails are, you can do very useful things with it and figure out a governance and safety structure to do good things while mitigating predictable harms.”
DEFINED CURLS, DEFINED ME
How my
curly hair journey helped mend my broken confidence
BY MEGHNA DIXIT
ThenexthairstyleistheFrench
braid.Thefirstthingyouwant to do is…
I struggle to follow the directions of the YouTube tutorial, scolding my mom to stay still while I gather the hair tools I begged her to buy. Every night in elementary school, I would practice different hairstyles on my mom’s short, poofy, black hair. We have the same hair type, and for me, I did her hair so I could get better at doing my own. It was frustrating that I couldn’t manage the hair I had on my own head, and everyone around me had silky, pin straight hair that I envied.
The first thing people noticed about me was my hair, and my peers would pass comments about my appearance. “Your hair looks like a bird’s nest.” Or, “She looks like she just rolled out of bed. Does she even use conditioner?”
It wasn’t conditioner I lacked — it was confidence in my appearance. I begged my mom for more hair products, anything that would make my hair look tidy so I could feel beautiful. But nothing I did made the frizz and knots disappear.
Ashamed, I started to loathe my hair more, developing the same sentiment toward myself and my overall appearance. My hair became my biggest insecurity — I couldn’t look in the mirror without feeling the urge to buzz it all off.
I realized using a straightener would give me the same hair as my peers — my prayers were finally answered. I burned my hair to a crisp as I ran the tool over every strand. Receiving dozens of compliments at school, I had a lingering pit in my stomach. I didn’t understand why I felt this way — I finally fit in, but it wasn’t truly me. Burning my hair felt as though I was burning a piece of myself — the same piece I thought I
wanted to keep hidden.
Desperate, I revisited the YouTube tutorials from my childhood. As I frantically scrolled through the millions of videos, a thumbnail of a girl with frizzy hair — hair that looked exactly like mine — caught my eye. By the end, she had beautiful, bouncy spirals.
Longing to feel like myself again, I begged my mom for another round of hair products, this time specifically for curly hair. My arms hurt from the amount of scrunching I had to do, and I impatiently fiddled my thumbs as I waited for it to dry. I mustered up the courage to look in the mirror, and all I noticed were the imperfections. It was disappointing,
IT’S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU
At school, I received hundreds of compliments on my curls and this time I felt deserving of them. I was being my true, authentic self. I realized my confidence was never tied to fitting in — it was about strengthening my perception of myself and feeling proud of the hair I was born with.
My peers would come up to me to ask me to do their hair, confiding in me that they hated their frizz. So I invited them over, gathered my products, sat down behind them and did their hair too, leaving them feeling more beautiful and confident in themselves as my mom watched us with nothing but pride in her eyes.
notes from albert, ep. 1 BY
GRACE LIN
SANDALS
Exploring 2025’s problematic summer
KATE YANG
ANDGRAPHICS|VAISHNAVIKATUKAM
BY VAISHNAVI KATUKAM, MELODY LIN, ALEXANDRA PERRAULT, RAFAELLA VENTO, LEO WEI, KATE YANG AND BENJAMIN ZHANG
a performance
The MVHS community shares its critiques regarding the recent trend of performative men
BY RAFAELLA VENTO AND BENJAMIN ZHANG
This July, a new species of man came to the limelight — the “performative” male.
The performative male, a new social media trend and archetype, curates his image by appealing to feminine interests in an attempt to attract attention from women. They’re known for owning vinyl records, flaunting feminist literature and wearing washed jeans in coffee shops.
Senior Evan Hong believes a performative male refers to a man who owns Labubus and enjoys matcha. He believes a performative male is prevalent in more affluent areas, like the
GRAPHICS|BENJAMINZHANG
However, these seemingly niche interests, which were previously underground, have now exploded in popularity, and on Google Trends, interest in the word “performative” has risen to 100 in the past month. Many people now embrace the trends that come with the stereotype, like wearing washed jeans and carabiners. One selfidentified member of this community is junior Jake Tong, as he feels like he checks many of these boxes unintentionally.
“People say we’re performative, but we’re not even trying to be,” Tong said. “I don’t think I’m that performative. People just call everything I do performative so nowadays, I feel like that word kind of has lost its meaning. People just say it to say it — like a buzzword.”
Tong believes that people are judging so-called performative men simply because there are so many videos on social media stereotyping men with certain niche interests as inauthentic. Interests that align with the “starter-pack” are labeled “performative.”
English teacher Isabella Arndt, as part of Gen Z herself, notices the trends that develop on social media platforms. She finds it intriguing how this trend has brought along and popularized this notion that identity can be performed.
“It’s really funny and interesting
to see what people consider performative,” Arndt said. “For some people, it’s just their personality and who they are, and I like that. It questions the authenticity of who is a genuine person, or if they’re just pretending to do or enjoy
Hong ironically embraced this disingenuous identity after losing his Fantasy Football League. He took on the lighthearted punishment of becoming a performative male for 30 days, reposting performative reels for a month straight and writing a book report on feminist literature.
identity and as a result, feel restricted to conform to it.
“ It questions the authenticity of who is a genuine person.
Arndt somewhat agrees with Hong’s perspective. However, she believes men are penetrating spaces that women opened in an attempt to reestablish themselves in a culture they don’t necessarily belong. These spaces, which Arndt believes are focused on embracing femininity, were used to not only subvert the patriarchy, but also to subvert a more recent stereotype that feminist women reject
ENGLISH TEACHER ISABELLA ARNDT
However, Hong mentions that not attention is positive and that criticism of the performative male is just as, if not more, rampant than those who embrace the archetype. Certain people think being performative shows a lack of manliness, and it’s expected for men to hide their feelings and interests. Multiple men have found themselves stuck in the crossfire, such as Tong and Hong. Hong especially faced hate for his 30-day challenge, and believes that it is partially a result of what society believes about masculinity.
“People tend to believe that you aren’t at an equal level to whatever they think that a man should be,” Hong said. “Someone who’s into sports, someone who’s very manly, someone who stands up and suppresses their feelings and emotions and only thinks about surface-level opinions.”
Hong attributes some of the pushback against performative men to the history of gender roles in the United States. He believes that men tend to have a more widely accepted
back the feminist movement, as performative men are still focused on winning women over, just catering to their interests in the process.
Similar to Tong, Arndt believes that performativeness, while seemingly promoting positive ideals such as feminism and more progressive notions of male identity, is a manifestation of certain men who disingenuously involve themselves in an attempt to reclaim influence over women.
“Being a performative male is about having women be interested in you, who are interested in the same things as them,” Arndt said. “I can tell you right now that half the guys were probably laughing at Labubus at one point, and now that every girl wants a Labubu, they’re buying it. Why?”
G j s?
Despite widespread online outrage over the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” American Eagle’s campaign has flourished commercially
BY VAISHNAVI KATUKAM AND LEO WEI
The camera pans across Sydney Sweeney’s body as she lays on the floor buttoning up her jeans. She says, “genes are passed down from parents to o spring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,” ultimately landing on her face when she says, “My genes are blue.”
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” is part of American Eagle’s new campaign that dropped on July 23. In the week following the advertisement, American Eagle’s shares surged, initially by 10% on the day after the release. More recently, share prices increased by 33% on Sept. 4. Despite this commercial success, the advertisement received backlash on social media for being perceived as overtly sexual and promoting
GRAPHICS|VAISHNAVIKATUKAM
eugenics. The advertisement’s focus on Sweeney and her body over the jeans, seemingly bragging about the blonde, blue-eyed white woman’s “good genes,” rubs some people the wrong way. Following this, American Eagle has since taken down this video from their social media.
Scrolling on her phone, junior Amelia Rojas first stumbled upon an American Eagle advertisement on TikTok. Initially, she felt confused and uncomfortable with the wordplay on “genes” and
“jeans” and the camera framing Sydney Sweeney’s body instead of the product. Rojas questioned whether she was looking too deeply into the messaging of the advertisement because she couldn’t imagine why a company would put out a product that people would interpret negatively.
“The gene joke, to me, was just such a weird joke to make,
especially using her as an example,” Rojas said. “Just a couple of months before, she had that whole bathwater soap ad. Using her specifically to sexualize women definitely stood out to me. And then, while seeing the other ads, it was clear that they were portraying her in a way to appeal to a man’s gaze — specifically, probably older men.”
Rojas shares how she further explored and understood these advertisements in her Honors American Literature class, where the class analyzed them from di erent political lenses. By being further exposed to these topics and able to discuss them with her peers, Rojas a rmed her initial impressions on the campaign.
“Seeing other people’s opinions on it definitely shifted my view,” Rojas said. “I’m not saying their opinions are wrong, but after hearing some of the guys in my class talk about it, I could tell that their view was very di erent from how the women and girls felt about it.”
Rojas talked about the campaign with her dad, who, like her male peers, believed that there wasn’t anything political about it. Rojas mentions that her female classmates had agreed with her thoughts about the over-sexualization of women and the role Sweeney played in promoting that message, while her male peers didn’t focus on that aspect. Likewise, junior Aeshna Chatterji drew similar conclusions regarding this campaign.
“I was thinking that maybe it’s just a marketing tactic — they’re using a pretty blonde girl to get at other young girls and say, ‘This is who you can be like,’” Chatterji said. “But the part that really stuck out for me was the play on words of jeans to genes and the idea what an American should look like Sweeney. So that kind of irritated me.”
especially in the current political climate in which minority rights are threatened. Senior Aaryan Sharma thinks that people who didn’t see any issues with the advertisement believe that those who are uncomfortable with it are only upset because American Eagle collaborated with a conventionally attractive blonde woman.
However, he points out that the backlash was instead because of the lack of diversity and how the campaign felt like it was catering to a conservative audience.
responsibility to remain apolitical, and they are allowed to align themselves with people who reflect their market.
“Businesses aren’t stupid,” Schmidt said. “They aren’t going to do something that will irritate their customers. That would be foolish. Some would argue that it could be overtly racist — others will oppose it. If you think it’s racist, don’t buy the product. California is a very blue area, but in Texas and Idaho there will be completely di erent views about it.”
31% of MVHS students
disapprove of the advertisement and find it overly sexual and racist
“Beyond marketing and advertising clothing ads, our country is getting a lot more conservative,” Sharma said. “I think that has to do with who’s in power right now — people like our president and people in the Senate. It’s an indicator that we’re leaning more right, and a lot of that conservative propaganda and mindset is filling America and taking power.”
*According to a survey of 103 people
Both Chatterji and Rojas specifically focus on the portrayal of a white woman as the face of this campaign,
One aspect that both Schmidt and Chatterji touch on is how there will always be di ering views and interpretations of controversies like this. Similarly, Chatterji believes that any company has the right to represent their politics but must also accept the consequences, whether that be addressing backlash or reaping the rewards.
On the other hand, business teacher Carl Schmidt stresses that having Sweeney as the face of the campaign is important because she reflects the market American Eagle is selling to: Generation Z. Despite the controversies surrounding the advertisements, the brand proves to be successful in terms of getting people’s attention and selling their product. Whether people approve of the campaign or not, by engaging in discourse surrounding it, attention is brought to the brand and its product. Schmidt believes that companies do not have a
“In our area, most of the people here are minorities, and at Valley Fair, when I saw American Eagle’s ads, I looked inside the store and there was not a single person in there,” Chatterji said. “But, if you go somewhere that’s more white dominated, the store could be a lot more popular there. I think for people of color, it makes you look back and question and realize that that’s not for you.”
what is love?
How popular shows like “Love Island” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty” fuel parasocial relationships
BY ALEXANDRA PERRAULT AND KATE YANG
As senior Saanvi Doshi opens Instagram and begins scrolling through reels, she pauses on a video summarizing the latest drama in the “Love Island USA” villa. Doshi can’t help but grimace as she notices the fierce debates sprouting in the comments section over the events of the show, ranging from couples being paired to the drama and lies spreading in the villa.
Parasocialism is increasingly common communities centered around anything ranging from tv shows to video games. Fans tend to get attached to a certain aspect of the show or game, resulting heated arguments between the community, challenging others’ preferences and opinions. Parasocialism is especially seen in the community of “Love Island USA,” where viewers get attached to certain contestants and who they’re paired up with in the villa.
comments and posts on social media blur the lines between supportive behavior and attempts to insert themselves into the relationship. Doshi began watching season six of “Love Island USA” after seeing online discourse about the show. And with controversial islanders continuously shaking up the villa, she noticed the fans getting into heated arguments over couples. Doshi believes that these extreme attachments to Islanders are unhealthy, and that the show’s environment subtly directs fans to become attached to people that they don’t know.
“Love Island USA,” is a popular reality show (based on the show “Love Island UK”) originally launched in 2019 where contestants on the show, known as “Islanders,” live in a closed-off luxury home and are encouraged to find love in hopes of being the couple who wins the grand prize of $100,000. A popular component of “Love Island USA” is the fan culture prevalent on social media and the show’s official app, as viewers fight for their favorite couples to gain votes and make it to the finale.
“I don’t think fans being overly dedicated to the couples is healthy, and I don’t think the show is an adequate representation of what love should look like,” Doshi said. “You’re forced into something, and you have to make connections in order to stay in the villa. I don’t think that’s what love should look like — it should be free.”
The fights over romantic prospects in the villa translate into heated exchanges between viewers whose
Avid reality television watcher and English teacher Randy Holaday was “swooped” into the world of “Love Island UK” and attributes the parasocialism prevalent in the fan community to the
inherent toxicity in the show’s structure, for couples are paired up in hopes of being the best couple and winning the amount of money they were promised if they won. Holaday believes that “Love Island” expands its reach over audiences with the sensationalized nature of the show.
“‘Love Island” is constructed in
relationships,” Holaday said. “The way that producers can edit things gives the appearance that these people are characters in a way that’s almost like fanfiction. People have parasocial relationships where you attach to someone that’s fictional.”
Influencer Cierra Ortega underwent harsh criticism during the release of season seven, after one of her old Instagram stories compared her eyes to the c-slur. After another Islander, Yulissa Escobar, was removed from the villa after evidence surfaced of her saying the n-word, fans
campaigned for Ortega to be removed too — which she eventually was — in support of the Asian community. Doshi says that reactions leaned more towards drama instigation and not accountability as fans began to pit Ortega against other islanders, creating divisive fan discourse online.
“It was just performative, asking for the producers to kick her off the show,” Doshi said. “I’m sure some people meant it in the genuine activism form, but I think a lot of people just like to add fuel to the fire and create drama.”
This trend of being overly engaged with cast members’ personal issues for entertainment isn’t only evident in the “Love Island” community. Sophomore Charvi Indukuri noticed this trend with the release of season three of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” based on the novel by author Jenny Han. The release of the new season sparked debate as fans began reacting to character Belly’s love triangle between two brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad, taking opposing sides as part of “Team Jeremiah” or “Team Conrad.”
Indukuri believes some fan activity went too far as she took notice of this as the show incited discussion online.
wife looks like Belly. They’ve been getting into the actors’ personal lives, and it’s questionable.”
Doshi, who also watched “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” notes the similarities in parasocial activity relating to the actors in the “Love Island,” series, despite the different topics in each show.
Doshi believes that, like “Love Island USA,” fans have trouble isolating their real feelings from the narratives in the show.
“People tend to forget that they’re just actors, and hating on them is taking it too far, because it’s not like the actor made the script,” Doshi said. “Fans get a little too passionate sometimes, and forget that an actor is different from the character they portray. ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ is similar to ‘Love Island.’ It’s not healthy to have that kind of culture fostered where people aren’t able to disconnect from what’s on the show.”
Holaday notices that it is prevalent in not only “Love Island,” but in other popular shows. Holaday believes that this activity is favored, and fueled, by the people behind the screen.
“Production clearly has a heavy hand in ‘Love Island,’ and the conversations are very contrived,” Holaday said. “Showmance is a big deal, and the contestants on ‘Big Brother’ talk about how they’re led by production. It’s gonna lead to parasocialism, just like any celebrity like Taylor Swift. It’s very problematic, but from a corporate CEO standpoint: great for the show, gets people and keeps them watching.”
“The arguments have been getting way too personal,” Indukuri said.
“People have been dragging the most random stuff into arguments, like a real actor’s girlfriend, or how Gavin Casalegno’s
what’s hype?
the
MVHS students and staff discuss their takes on 2025’s popular summer media and trends
BY SIH YU (MELODY) LIN
Sydney Sweeney claims that she has ‘great jeans’ and that her jeans are blue, but there is a clear message behind that, be it intentional or not: white supremacy. It may seem like Sweeney is implying that her genes are superior, as she is white.
FRESHMAN AARUSHI UPADHYAYULA
OF mvhs STUDENTS
enjoy activities and products that are considered “performative”
*According to a survey of 102 students
Labubus, Dubai chocolate, wired earbuds, feminist literature, performing arts, drama and much more!
Love Island adds to the normalization of hookup culture and an unhealthy view of sex to a younger audience. I don’t think that the system of Love Island is healthy at all and it normalizes unhealthy relationships.
FRANCIS PAN
OF mvhs STUDENTS are Team Conrad (from the Netflix series “The Summer I Turned Pretty”)
*According to a survey of 62 students
BY SANIA NADKARNI AND RITIK SHENOY
After hosting a free open gym during the summer, Varsity Girls Volleyball coach Nadia Lan saw an influx of girls showing interest in the volleyball program. In order to accommodate the 12-player limit for the JV and Varsity teams, the program had to cut almost 24 highly-skilled girls. Since Lan noticed that there were enough players to make another team, she created a new freshmansophomore volleyball team.
This is the first time MVHS has three Girls Volleyball teams, leading the program to adapt to sharing practice spaces, game times and equipment. Freshman and captain Sophia Da Pont feels like the team was necessary to give freshmen a chance to compete.
“There were a lot of sophomores, so not a lot of freshmen had a spot on the team — which is understandable because sophomores just deserve more time,” Da Pont said. “I guess it’s kind of disappointing to be cut from JV, but I’m glad I have the opportunity to be on the freshman team.”
Although the Frosh team may be a new addition at MV, nearby schools like Homestead High School, Wilcox High School and Westmont High School already have similar programs. Having these teams in place at other schools makes organizing games and
tournaments much easier since there are plenty of other teams at similar skill levels to compete against.
“It’s not a new thing in the volleyball world,” Lan said. “I just didn’t expect a smaller school like us to be able to form a new team, which is a good problem to have. That means more girls are invested in volleyball, so I’m actually glad to see that.”
The MV Frosh team discusses team captains and logistics after practice.
environment, coaches and facilities.
The main roadblock in creating the team was finding a coach on such short notice. However, Lan eventually recruited MVHS ‘22 alum Brendan Tagawa as the Frosh team’s coach. Being an alumnus made Tagawa’s transition to his new job as coach much smoother. As a former student, he was familiar with the school’s
“I went here, so it’s easier to talk with the girls and relate to them,” Tagawa said. “MVHS is very college focused and I understand that everyone’s a little bit busy. Volleyball is not the main priority by any means here, but we’re just here to have fun, play volleyball and get better.”
Tagawa’s coaching style reflects his past experiences as a player. Based on what he has learned over the years about how to be successful
The Girls Volleyball program navigates changes with the introduction of the new Frosh team
PHOTO | RITIK SHENOY
as a volleyball player, he approaches coaching from a fresh perspective compared to traditional coaching styles. Instead of worrying about how well the girls are performing, Tagawa believes it’s just as important to see how they are interacting with each other as well.
“Everyone has their own learning style, and so if I were to come in and say ‘We’re doing what I want to do,’ it becomes more of a chore to come to practice,” Tagawa said. “It becomes more of this thing where it’s like, ‘I want to play volleyball, so I have to come to practice’ rather than, ‘I want to play volleyball, and I want to come to practice — I want to get better and I want to do better for the team.’”
With the new Frosh team, Tagawa wouldn’t be surprised to see noticeable improvements in players’ skills over the years. According to Tagawa, having a Frosh team means having another group of highly qualified players that are going to try out for the JV and Varsity teams the following year. Tagawa expects the JV and Varsity teams to become more competitive, bringing home more state and CCS Championships.
While the Frosh team is still required to attend practices and games, they don’t have the same priority as the JV or Varsity teams. Their games have to end earlier to give time for JV, regardless of where they are in the game. However,
despite the team facing limitations like unfavorable practice spaces and fewer games, team members are still grateful for the opportunity to play.
“We don’t have as many games as JV, but I think it’s a good opportunity,”
Da Pont said.
“JV, they have a lot more sophomores, and we have mostly freshmen. We have our practices three times a week instead of five times, and we have fewer games.”
“ IT’S KIND OF DISAPPOINTING TO BE CUT FROM JV, BUT I’M GLAD I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ON THE FRESHMAN TEAM.
Varsity and JV, Tagawa and the team still see this season as a great opportunity to improve their skills. As the team begins their first season, their focus isn’t necessarily on winning every game, but on getting more familiar with the program and getting better.
FRESHMAN
SOPHIA DA PONT
“The goal of the season for these players is to keep improving their skills,” Lan said. “Even though they are not on JV or Varsity and play as many matches, they’re still getting the team spirit together so they’re familiar with the program. Next year, when they have a chance to move up to JV, they will have a better understanding of the program.”
Even though they have less practice time and fewer resources than both
Freshman Seljan Ibrahimli blocks a shot during a practice game.
PHOTO | SANIA NADKARNI
ECCENTRIC EXERCISING
Working out how the community builds strength without weights REPORTING AND
GRAPHICS
BY STELLA PETZOVA
YOGA
Yoga, a physical, mental and spiritual practice originating in ancient India, has been part of UC Berkeley freshman and MVHS alum ‘25 Alyssa Yang’s life since middle school, when she discovered a yoga app she loved. As a former Dance Team captain and lifelong dancer, she is interested in yoga as it forms the building blocks for dance movements. Although she stopped taking classes during high school, she continued to integrate yoga into dance and her everyday life, and eventually rediscovered it through a hot yoga class she took her senior year. She said the hot yoga class, which she took at Yoga6 while on vacation, exceeded her expectations in terms of the activity itself and the supportive community she saw among participants. She felt she did well despite not having
specifically focused on yoga for several years.
“I was a little scared going into the hot yoga class, thinking ‘Oh my God, is it gonna be like a furnace of a room with a lot of chanting and stuff?’” Yang said.
“But I actually really liked it, because it’s not uncomfortably hot and it’s not gross, and you just feel like your muscles are more engaged due to the warmth. It was really nice to be in a room surrounded by other people all trying to do the same thing.”
Yang says even in college, where her time is more limited, she uses yoga as a reset button to wake up her body and her mind. She describes yoga movements, such as sun salutations, as being meditative and calming in a
beginners,
“Yoga is not necessarily for everyone, but I think that as long as someone enjoys being connected to their body, there are definitely aspects of it someone can enjoy,” Yang said. “Even if someone is not used to that kind of thing, yoga could be a good introduction. At the end of the day, you’re stretching, you’re working on alignment and you’re working on building strength.”
ROCK CLIMBING
Los Altos School for Independent Learners senior Aster Mandhro started doing top rope rock climbing and bouldering with his dad when he was 7 years old. Since then, it’s become a weekly activity and a chance for him to push himself and grow both inside and outside of the gym.
Mandhro prefers climbing because it is a one-person activity, which eliminates the fear of bringing down a team he’s experienced when playing team sports like volleyball. To him, there are no shortcuts to climbing, and its demands are both physical and mental.
“I like how rock climbing kind
of feels like a puzzle, having to go through different routes,” Mandhro said. “It lets me be able to feel strong, and while I’ve always found traditional gyms to be very intimidating, climbing is something that helps me build muscle without having to sit there and
Climbing has shown Mandhro that he has the ability to take on hardships, taking away the fear of failure that he once experienced. He recalls climbing a 5.11 (on a scale of 5.0 to 5.15) route at the age of 11, which was his first foray into challenging climbs and showed him that he had the strength to achieve more than
“I feel more capable,” Mandhro said. “It’s helped my self-efficacy, and it’s helped my mindset of knowing that I am capable and has given me the motivation to push myself even if it’s very uncomfortable, physically or mentally.”
the sheer height a climber will go to, Mandhro assures prospective climbers that the sport is incredibly safe, and recommends going with a friend to lessen fears.
“I wish that people had a better idea of the safety precautions in place, because a lot of people want to try it but are too scared,” Mandhro said. “I wish more people had someone to push them through that initial fear and try. If they hate it, they never have to do it again. But if they love it, they can keep going.”
“ IT’S GIVEN ME THE MOTIVATION TO PUSH MYSELF EVEN IF IT’S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE, PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY.
SIL SENIOR ASTER MANDHRO
Furthermore, Mandhro says the climbing community is incredibly supportive, with people being respectful to seasoned climbers and newcomers alike. However, Mandhro says he often compares himself to others, describing this as the biggest setback in his climbing career.
“There’s always someone who is going to be so much better than you, to a point where you will never get on their level,” Mandhro said. “I’m working on accepting that I don’t have to be perfect and I don’t have to be better than other people. I’m still allowed to take up space and use the facilities and be in the gym even if I’m not doing something that’s super advanced.”
Although he’s tried to encourage his friends to join, he says they’ve been too scared to try the sport or stick with it. While rock climbing has a reputation for being scary due to
CALISTHENICS
Just before freshman year, sophomore Jeffery Liu watched a video of someone doing calisthenics skills on YouTube, and became inspired to work out to achieve those skills and more. Calisthenics is a broad-ranging term that refers to bodyweight exercises, including anything from air squats to pull-ups, handstands or planches.
Liu mainly uses calisthenics to improve his core strength, saying it helps him as a tennis player. Furthermore, he emphasizes that no equipment or machines are needed, although he has bought parallettes — small parallel bars — for an easier grip when doing exercises. He says this versatility is part of the appeal of the sport to him.
P.E. Department Lead and Weight Training teacher Jeff Thomas agrees with Liu, and shares that when he was growing up, his P.E. classes were mainly comprised of calisthenics exercises like crunches and push-ups. He believes calisthenics is a good starting point for exercising.
“It’s a good way to work out, because you don’t need a whole lot of space and or any weights,” Thomas said. “It does have some limitations, but it’s a great way to start. If you’ve never been to a gym, you could start in your room tonight. No one’s looking, no one’s watching and you can start right away.”
Liu appreciates the way calisthenics makes him feel, especially with the emotions of unlocking a skill he had previously never thought he could achieve. For example, Liu’s current favorite skill, the elbow lever, is an exercise where the athlete balances their body horizontally on their elbows. He encourages beginners to start, saying that it’s helped him both mentally and physically.
“When I unlock a new skill after a workout, I feel proud of how far I’ve come,” Liu said. “Calisthenics gives me more stamina, and just makes me more active and energized throughout the day. I remember when I started I was struggling to do push ups, but now I can do them a lot more easily. I didn’t expect I could do a lot of cool moves, which I can do now.”
SCHEDULE SHAKEUP
Home football games are stacked at end of season due to upper field construction
BY KAI TSUCHIDA AND ETHAN YANG
The ongoing construction of the upper field and track, which began on June 7, has led to a change in the timing of home football games. The team will have a long stretch of away games until the Homecoming game on Oct. 10, after which four of the five scheduled games will be at home.
Football was not the only sport affected. Athletics director Nick Bonacorsi explains that Flag Football faced the biggest disruption, since uncertainty surrounding whether there would be both JV and Varsity teams this year impacted the scheduling of home games. Because MVHS plays each team twice due to their double-roundrobin schedule, these conflicts were combated by flipping the locations of games so that no team would be forced to cut a home game, and instead only play them later in the season. Bonacorsi said Field Hockey is unlikely to be affected by the change.
“ WE WERE PROACTIVE AND HAD OUR FIRST HALF OF THE FOOTBALL SEASON SCHEDULED AWAY, SO WE HAD THE LATER HALF AT HOME. THAT WORKED OUT PERFECTLY.
“We were proactive and had our first half of the football season scheduled away, so we had the later half at home,” Bonacorsi said. “That worked out perfectly. We’re being told construction will be done in time for Homecoming, and Flag Football can also move up there that week and play their games, so Field Hockey stays where they are.”
players and crowd, noting how, with earlier sunsets, the weather will be cooler during the game.
“It’s nicer to not play in our stadium in September,” White said. “It’s hot in our stadium, so I’m OK having home games later in the season. In October, we have to turn the lights on when it’s 5 or 6 p.m., so it feels like traditional football because it’s dark and it’s cooler.”
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR NICK BONACORSI
While Bonacorsi acknowledges that a long stretch of away games may impact the morale and performance of the football team, he believes the effect is minimal as the number of home games remains the same. Sophomore and Varsity football player Andrew Wang has also downplayed the impact, stating his enjoyment of playing football doesn’t rely on home field advantage.
“I enjoy being out there, being with my friends and being able to tackle,” Wang said. “We treat every game like it’s the same — it doesn’t really matter to us. We’re always locked in.”
ASB adviser Mike White says the later home games may benefit both
White added that construction should not interfere with Homecoming festivities as the field is already complete and the track is ahead of schedule, with surfacing expected to be completed by the game. The biggest uncertainty is the lining of the track, which still would not affect festivities. Even if the surfacing is unfinished, White says that only the Walk of Classes would be cut, while the Dance, Cheer and Homecoming Court ceremonies could still take place on the field.
However, White mentions that attendance may face headwinds due to the PSAT and SAT, which are held on Homecoming weekend. Still, he expects strong support from freshmen and seniors, who have been consistent at rallies thus far. Looking beyond Homecoming, both Bonacorsi and White anticipate a strong turnout throughout the season due to festivities like the Breast Cancer Awareness and Helmet Game. Furthermore, with three of the four home games scheduled for Friday
nights rather than Thursday, they believe that students will find games more convenient to attend.
“Because it’s our first game in the new stadium during Homecoming — and it’ll be the first time we’re all out there together — I’m hoping we get a surge in fan support,” Bonacorsi said.
everyone working to get more kids at events would be great.”
10% of ASB Revenue
was forecasted to come from ticket sales in the 2024-25 school year
“We have more Friday home games this year, and the Helmet Game is at home. With the Athletic Senate and ASB trying to hype it up,
*According to 2024-25 ASB budget projections
Even if attendance dips, both White and Bonacorsi said that football games make up only a small portion of ASB revenue. The budget forecast for the 20242025 school year projected booth sales from all sports combined to contribute less than 10% of total ASB revenue. White says that the real financial concern is ASB card sales, with 839 of 1,573
MVHS students purchasing cards as of Sept. 11. This could result in budget cuts for athletics and school events if sales don’t improve.
“We’re hoping that more kids continue to buy cards,” Bonacorsi said. “We’ll hopefully see a big surge in gate revenue once we get to Homecoming and have our home games. That’s my challenge to the school: to come out and support because it helps all sports and activities on campus.”
The track is visible with partially completed surfacing of the base layer. PHOTO | ETHAN YANG
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo runs the ball in a game against Gunn High School on Friday Sept. 12.
PHOTO| ANANDA SINGH
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo on playing Andrew Hill:
“We’ve already played Andrew Hill,” Ischo said. “They’re always a lot worse in the beginning of the season because a lot of their players aren’t able to maintain a GPA that’s required to play football, so they don’t get to play until later in the season.”
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo on playing Kathleen MacDonald:
“I think Kathleen MacDonald High School will be the toughest opponent because they’re a very new school,” Ischo said. “The last three years they’ve had no seniors, but this year their whole team is pretty much seniors, which is like us, but they have even more four year seniors, and I think they’re more athletic focused there.”
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo on playing Gunn:
“The year before last year, they were pretty similar to us,” Ishcho said. “Last year, they had a really good year. It looks like they’ve gotten worse, but we’re not sure how much worse. They lost to a team that’s historically not amazing, but watching the film, that team didn’t look as bad as we thought they did, so it might be around our level, but it’s hard to tell.”
Senior, strong safety and running back Rocco Ling on playing Saratoga:
“I know that they see us as their rivals right now because of what’s happened in the past, or at least for the last year and the year before last year because both games were very close,” Ling said. “Both games MVHS would come back, and entirely beat them in the end, so I think they have a chip on their shoulders.”
SCAN FOR MORE COVERAGE
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo on playing Cupertino:
Senior, running back and free safety Graham Ischo and Senior, strong safety and running back Rocco Ling on playing Homestead:
“This is the first year we will play Homestead in a long time,” Ishco said. “None of us have ever played them.”
“One of the advantages we do have is a lot of our coaching staff has come from Homestead,” Ling said. “So they know their plays, and they know their players pretty well, so that probably gonna give us an edge over them when we play them.”
“They had a lot of underclassmen on their team — half their team was made up of freshmen and sophomores, and they just had no experience,” Ischo said. “They just didn’t know what they were doing, which was unfortunate. It’s always bad when a team has to bring a freshman onto their varsity team, which we thought we were going to have to do, until a lot of new freshmen showed up.”
CROSSWORD @elestoque
BY JILLIAN JU
ACROSS
“Chopped” contestant
What 1A might add to a dish
Moe, Larry or Curly
Simpson who says “D’oh!”
___ Brown (nickname for California Reduced Workload Program) (pg. 4-5)
Black piano key material
Wriggler wrangler
Brand of yoga pants
Actress Longoria
Dilly dally
Eggy holiday drink
___ & Beans (dessert shop on Main Street)
Parched, to a poet
Summers on the Seine
___ kwon do
Trail mix morsel
Start of a complicated answer
Dept. of Justice heads
Roman god?
79, say
Work ___ (industrious trait)
You and me both!
New MVHS volleyball team (pg. 40-41)
Because Counterpart of butch Landform whose name means “table”
DOWN
The cover is an example of these
Zero-calorie part of a bagel
Some Gen Zers who spend a lot of time online
Ticketmaster charge ___ diaries (comic by Grace Lin) (pg. 30)
New Orleans sandwiches
“If u ask me ...”
100 yrs.
Suffix with mock or crock
Model in
jeans ad (pg. 34-35)
in the Senate, say “Barbie” character with a
One-up
Group most likely to say “skibidi” or “six seven”
Peppery salad green
Waits for the starter pistol to go off
Pleasure from inflicting pain
Epoch when mammals arose Something to carve out Things for catching or cooking lobsters
featured on pg. 12-13 Three, in Italian Opposite of heter-
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J. JU: Our first full crossword of the year has a few tricky fills, but the crosses should get you going! We recommend you enjoy this solve with a bagel and a copy of the magazine.
