The Californian April 2022 Issue

The

Californian

California High School

Read our take on

‘Turning Red’ in

our new A&E Pop

Culture Corner

column on page B7.

Volume XXXI, Issue VI 9870 Broadmoor Dr. San Ramon, CA 94583 Friday, April 29, 2022

Vaping on campus

not blowing away

Illustration by Arfa Saad

Fewer high schoolers are vaping, according to the CDC.

Vape, marijuana

use is declining,

but students say

it’s still a problem

Daphne So

Features Editor

How often do Cal High students

really do drugs?

From nicotine to weed, drugs

are often depicted as a large part

of high school culture in popular

media. Although heavily

dramatized, drugs in school

remain a reality.

According to a survey The

Californian conducted, twothirds

of the participants knew

at least one person who vaped,

and 17 percent knew 10 or more

Cal students who vaped.

The survey sampled 281

random students, or 10 percent

of the school’s 2,801 students.

A Google form survey was sent

to the students, of which 64 students

responded. Participants

were also given the option to

add other comments. Students’

responses were anonymous.

“Unfortunately, [drug use

is] a reality and luckily, I haven’t

seen anything happen,”

an anonymous freshman boy

wrote in response to The Californian’s

survey. “It seems

popular amongst this generation

of teens and is seen as cool, not

only at Cal High but across the

country.”

At Cal, social situations tend

to influence potential vapers the

most, according to the survey.

“Every once in a while I’d be

offered [a vape],” anonymous

senior boy A wrote. “It wasn’t

much of peer pressure but was

[more] like social behavior. I

vaped quite a bit, especially in

the past, and I’ve never owned

my own vape, so it’s definitely

like a social thing.”

The senior said students

usually acquire vapes from seniors

and Diablo Valley College

students. Another anonymous

Cal senior boy started vaping

because of their peers.

“I used to vape,” anonymous

senior boy B wrote. “I eventually

stopped. I vaped often,

it was a pretty big problem. I

probably vaped a few times a

See VAPE, page A2

DoorDash thefts

whisk away lunches

Thieves are dashing away with

many student food, drink orders

Sydney Cicchitto

Staff Writer

As junior Aneesha Reddy

watched someone stroll past her

with a familiar-looking bag of

food in their arms, she realized

they were stealing her Door-

Dash right in front of her eyes.

“I went up to him and I was

like ‘You have my order, can I

have it back?’ He was already

drinking one of the teas by the

time I got to him,” Reddy said.

“He ended up giving me the food

back. He was like ‘I am going

to just keep the other teas.’ And

I was like ‘No, no you are not.’

Then I took them both and did

not say anything.”

Outside the front doors of the

administration building, there

is a small table for all lunches,

ranging from forgotten school

lunches, snacks for after school,

to mobile food orders.

This school year, the table has

Cal High’s library will be

receiving upgrades, including

a chair with a charging outlet

become known as the ‘Door-

Dash table’ where most people

tell their DoorDash dasher to

drop off their meal.

“People didn’t DoorDash

things pre-pandemic the way

that they do now,” assistant

principal Jeffrey Osborn said.

“The amount of DoorDash has

increased significantly and there

is an opportunity for students to

make poor decisions when the

DoorDash is just sitting there.”

Another T4 order was stolen

a few days before Reddy’s, on

March 21. When junior Praneeta

Agrawal and her friends went to

and a seed library, after students

voted last month on how the

school should spend $1,300 in

library funds.

Students initially submitted

ideas for items the library could

News Lite Features A&E

Florida Man: Part 3

The trilogy of the legendary

Florida Man continues in the

latest installment

PAGE A8

Students desperately cling to a DoorDash order. Many have recently been stolen.

Earth Day

Local eco-friendly activities

are enough to make you turn

green with envy

PAGES B4-B5

Illustration by Carol Chen

Students vote on library additions with budgeting program

Abhinav Purohit

Staff Writer

“I fessed up about

[stealing] another

four or five meals,”

said an anonymous

sophomore boy.

pick up their boba order from

the table, their entire bag was

missing.

“It was just five minutes after

we ordered our T4, and it was

stolen,” Agrawal said.

Junior Akshara Chintarevula

also had her boba order swiped.

“You are always thinking that

someone may steal [your order],

but you never really think it will

happen to you,” Chintarevula

said. “But then when it actually

happens, you are like, ‘What in

the world?’”

The fear of getting school

lunch stolen is shared among

many Cal students.

“I get [to the DoorDash table]

as soon as possible,” sophomore

Mac Lunsford said. “I forgot to

check my phone once. I ran out

and [my food] was still there. I

was so happy.”

Many students, such as junior

Dylan Burlingame, try to schedule

their orders to make sure

that they get their food before

someone steals it.

“I have definitely worried

See DASH, page A3

purchase and then voted on

which proposals were best in

the second stage.

After the 271 students voted

from March 23-30, the winning

proposals and their cost distribution

included the following:

a chair with a charging outlet for

$650; archival boxes to preserve

copies of student publications

such as The Californian and The

Protagonist for $190; four new

locks for Makerspace boxes for

$80; a class set of 10 copies of

the book “Illuminae” for $200;

a seed library for $120; a collection

of student-written books

for $30; and a copy of the book

“Road to Wigan Pier” for $30.

The seed library wil feature

a small cabinet containing

California native plant seeds.

Although

See LIBRARY, page A5

Focusing on film,

digital photography

Picture yourself in these

creative classes

PAGE B8

A2 News

read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com friday, April 29, 2022

Parking permit system creates controversy

Many cars that

take spaces

do not have

required permits

Alice Oh

Staff Writer

After paying $100 for his

parking permit, senior Jeren

Cuenco pulled into Cal High’s

back parking lot in his Toyota

Camry, expecting to be greeted

by a stretch of empty parking

spaces.

But to his dismay, he was

faced with a completely packed

parking lot. Cuenco isn’t the

only student driver who has

faced a similar scenario.

The situation stems from dozens

of students parking without

the required permits to use the

campus lots.

The Californian staff counted

150 random cars in the back

parking lot on Feb. 28. Of those

150 cars, 31 lacked permits and

none were ticketed.

One month later, The Californian

staff counted another

150 random cars in the back

parking lot on March 31. 34 cars

lacked permits. Of those, three

had been issued a $35 ticket.

Students, including junior

Aarja Singh and Cuenco, have

noticed a handful of drivers who

park at school without permits.

Neither have noticed any cars

being ticketed by staff.

The lack of ticketed cars has

to do with a lack of staffing,

Principal Megan Keefer said.

“We have one campus monitor

today and they’re running

around doing all sorts of other

Photos by Ryan Syms

In Cal High’s back parking, a majority of cars display the required permit on the rearview

mirror. However, about 20 percent of cars from a random sample did not display permits.

Weed, vape used most at Cal

VAPE

From page A1

week. The first time [I vaped],

I was offered [it] by a friend.”

According to the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention,

vaping among high school students

nationwide have declined

by 1.8 percent from 2020 to

2021. Some Cal students believe

that vaping rates have declined

in the past few years as well.

“I’ve actually noticed less

people like vaping in class or

in the hallways [compared to

earlier years],” senior A wrote.

Cal’s campus supervisor Tim

Ford agreed, saying campus

monitors don’t find students

vaping on campus often.

“[The vaping problem is] not

as bad as people say,” he said.

But 64.1 percent of survey

participants rated the vaping

problem at Cal as a 5 or more

on a scale of 1 to 10, with a 1

things,” Keefer said. “We have

to prioritize student safety over

the parking permits. But when

we’re fully staffed, they’re out

there on a regular basis.”

Campus monitor Tim Ford

agrees that the number of staff is

insufficient to cover ticketing as

well as other current staff duties.

“Sometimes these days, we

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Fox on Flickr

A person holds a vaporizer pen device by NJOY.

don’t even have time,” Ford

said. “We’re running around the

school and checking classrooms

and helping the teachers that are

missing.”

All student parking spots

are filled almost every school

day. Some cars that arrive at a

packed parking lot are parked

horizontally behind parking

being not a problem at all and

10 being the biggest problem.

Ford said vapers are usually

found in bathrooms, but are

rarely discovered.

“Personally, I haven’t seen

many people do it,” freshman

Justina Aziz said. “[But] last

week I [saw] kids smoking in

the girls bathroom. It wasn’t just

girls. It was also boys.”

Although vaping has declined,

marijuana use has

become more popular at Cal,

according to students surveyed.

Marijuana is the most common

substance used with 3.2

percent of students surveyed

indicating they smoked it every

day, and 6.3 percent saying

they had smoked cannabis at

least once.

“[Marijuana] made me a

lot less anxious,” anonymous

senior boy C, who smokes the

drug on a regular basis, wrote.

“I used to have [a] ton of anxiety,

and it makes hanging out

with friends a lot of fun, helps

me sleep.”

The proportion of students

who have smoked marijuana

is larger than the proportion of

students who vape regularly

(1.6 percent). The vaping that

ex-vapers have observed coincides

with this statistic.

“This is my first year at

Cal,” senior B said. “I used to

go to San Ramon [Valley High

School] and I don’t notice

spaces, blocking cars from

exiting and creating hazards

for drivers.

“I purposefully get to school

earlier so I can find space to

park,” Cuenco said.

Administrators said that the

parking system is in need of

improvement. Keefer plans

to seek student feedback and

vaping here nearly as much. It

is not nearly as big of an issue

here as it was at SRV. It’s not

the same. It’s bad [at Cal], but

it could be worse.”

Added senior A, “When I was

a sophomore and I used to hang

out with juniors and seniors,

they did a lot more [drugs] than

the juniors and sophomores I

see as a senior,” senior A said.

“I don’t know if [it’s because]

people know the effects [of

drugs] more or just that the

discuss with Site Council.

“We’ll take that feedback of

improvement and then solidify

it toward the end of the year,”

Keefer said. “Some things

we’re discussing are assigning

parking spaces and giving

priority to carpool.”

Parking permits cost $100

per year for the larger back

parking lot and $150 annually

for the smaller lot by the tennis

courts and pool. Students have

to take a Smart Start driver

safety course, held in collaboration

with Street Smarts and

California Highway Patrol,

in order to purchase a permit.

Several students expressed

their frustration at the high cost

of parking in an overcrowded

parking lot.

“The permits should be less

expensive and more accessible

to people,” Singh said. “Parking

at Mangos Drive is a good

alternative. It’s about the same

distance from school and less

packed.”

Both Keefer and Ford said

vehicles parked on Mangos and

Broadmoor Drive, and other

areas off campus, are ticketed

by San Ramon police, not the

school. City parking tickets are

usually $125.

“I don’t think the permits

are worth it, since leaving the

parking lot after school takes

too long,” Cuenco said. “Parking

should be free.”

Other students are frustrated

with the parking lot.

“Parking is a scam, not only

do they overcharge for permits,

they don’t enforce it,” junior

Darren Murphy said. “They

don’t file the tickets correctly

so if you just don’t pay, there

are no real repercussions.”

Data by The Californian Paper

In The Californian’s survey of 281 students, 64 of whom responded, many students knew no

people who vaped or knew more than 10. The most used non-vape drug was marijuana.

demographic’s changing.”

Administrators are working

with students who use drugs to

help minimize the number of

drug users on campus.

““[We want] to help with

the underlying issues and help

[drug users] quit,” assistant

principal Tucker Farrar said.

Drug use doesn’t line up with

someone who’s trying to become

their best selves. I want

our students to be healthy and

safe.”

News

in Brief

Senior Ball

Cal High’s annual senior

ball will be on May 7 from

7-10 p.m. at the San Francisco

Regency Ballroom. The theme

of the dance is ‘Oceans 2022’.

Tickets are no longer available

for purchase.

New bell schedule

finalized

Cal High released a finalized

bell schedule for the 2022-23

school year on April 21. The

schedule includes a shorter

lunch and brunch and a school

day that ends at 2:35 p.m. except

for students taking B period,

which comes after fifth and

sixth periods every day except

Wednesdays.

Corrections

In the March opinion column,

“Are world language requirements

worth it?”, it was written

that two years of world language

is a graduation requirement for

high school students. This is

only a requirement for UC and

CSU admission. An updated

version of the column can be

found on our website at thecalifornianpaper.com.

The Californian strives to

cover the news accurately, fairly,

and honestly. It is our policy

to correct all significant errors.

Corrections should be emailed

to californianpaper@gmail.com

or bbarr@srvusd.net.

Connect

with The

Californian

online:

Twitter:

@_TheCalifornian

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@thecalifornianpaper

Website:

thecalifornianpaper.com

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Friday, April 29, 2022 read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com News A3

Students design new tutorial system

Online program

aims to reduce

absenteeism

Katya Vial

Staff Writer

A new system for student

support developed by students

stated on Monday to help minimize

students skipping classes

they’re supposed to attend.

The new system eliminates

the use of paper student support

passes, assistant principal Jeffrey

Osborn said. Instead, teachers

will have to input students

names into a digital spreadsheet

and take attendance every day

during student support just like

they would any other class.

In order to attend another

class during the 40-minute

support period after first and

second periods, students have

to check in with their teacher

in advance to sign up.

During student support this

year, many students have left

classes and roamed around or

left campus instead of meeting

with teachers who were expecting

them.

The decision behind the

changes to student support was

sparked by a need for accountability

and safety after administrators

and some teachers met to

discuss problems, Osborn said.

“I feel like [the new system]

is worth trying because I worry

for student safety, especially

when they are unaccounted

for,” Osborn said. “I doubt

these changes will affect the

vast majority of students at

Cal. However, it will change

the behavior of those who make

bad decisions.”

The new electronic sign-in

program for student support was

developed by two of computer

science teacher Sean Raser’s

students, sophomores Rohan

Ramakrishnan and Arnav Pandey,

according to an email sent

to Cal staff by librarian Jessica

Bailey.

“[The program] is very easy

to use,” Ramakrishnan said.

“We are actually going to make

a different system over the summer,

for next year. Right now,

we are mostly doing test runs,

[but] the entire program will

probably be established at the

beginning of next year.”

Ramakrishnan said the current

version should make student

support run more efficiently

and allow teachers to better

keep track of their students.

Teachers have mixed feelings

about the changes to student

support. While some think the

changes add to the workload,

many believe these changes

will benefit students and staff.

“The idea that I get to take

attendance helps because I

have students that sneak out

during student support,” social

studies teacher Sarah Eddings

said. “It benefits the students

because many students forget

about where they need to go at

student support, and now their

teacher can tell them.”

Social studies teacher Benjamin

Andersen disagrees,

pointing out that the new system

creates unnecessary extra

errands for teachers.

“I don’t think a lot of teachers

like it,” Andersen said. ”It’s another

added task that we have to

do every day, piled on top of the

work we already have. Different

teachers have a different vision

of what support is.”

Freshman Lily Tang feels

Photo by Ryan Syms

Students used to sign in to the library during student support, but the new system eliminated the need for paper sign-ins.

that the school should keep

student support as it is because

the online check-in process

could make things much more

complicated for teachers and

students.

DoorDash orders stolen from table

DASH

From page A1

about [my food getting stolen],”

Burlingame said. “Luckily, I

kind of get there as soon as it arrives.

It definitely is something

where if you are not sure where

your food is, you are like ‘Oh

shoot! Did someone steal it?’”

A few days later, on March

28, sophomore Abby Melin’s

Chick-fil-A order was stolen.

“I ordered cookies [from

Chick-fil-A] for me and all my

friends. I went out there during

lunch to go and get them and

they weren’t there,” Melin said.

“I was so frustrated because I

spent $30 on cookies.”

Shortly after that, on March

31, sophomore Rubin Jain’s

order was stolen.

“The DoorDash carrier took

a picture of it on the table and

when I went it was not there,”

Jain said, “I contacted Door-

Dash and they gave me my

money back.”

Students have been getting

their DoorDash orders stolen

for months. Senior Ella Hofer,

who had her order swiped two

months ago.

“People wait there [Door-

Dash table] before the bell

rings,” Hofer said. “[My order]

got stolen, which does not make

sense to me because they [the

thieves] cannot even pick the

food they want. Why would

you want to eat somebody’s

personalized Chipotle order?”

Like Hofer, a month ago,

sophomore Brennan Tom had

his food order stolen twice.

“I came down, maybe like

Food dropped off for students sits on the DoorDash table in front of the main entrance to the office. Many DoorDash orders

have been stolen from the table this school year, and at least one student confessed to swiping many orders from the table.

a minute later, and it was taken,”

Tom said. “I even saw my

coach, he was like ‘You order

DoorDash? I just saw some girl

walk off with it.’ and I am like

‘Huh.’”

Tom ran around the school

looking for his food afterwards.

When he ordered the next day,

his DoorDash was stolen again,

and this time he said it was for

more than $150 of food.

In fact, senior Dhriti Avala

said she has had her order stolen

during each in-person high

school year

On April 1, Osborn made an

announcement about someone

owning up to stealing someone’s

food over the loudspeaker

about DoorDash orders.

“I had a student get caught

taking someone else’s Door-

Dash,” Osborn said, “[The

student and I] brainstormed

ways to make it right. I didn’t

know all the victims who had

their DoorDash taken. So, I

made the announcement and

tried to identify who had their

DoorDash taken to make things

right.”

Osborn said this was the

first time the school made an

announcement about a stolen

DoorDash order.

“We [Cal administration]

do not take responsibility [for

stolen food],” Osborn said.

In fact, a sign taped to the

DoorDash table states that.

The sign reads: “This area is

not monitored. Administrators

assume no responsibility for

theft of food left here.”

This sign is not much of a

deterrent to one chronic Door-

Dash thief, who was caught by

the person whose order he was

stealing.

“Instead of asking me for [the

food] back, [the person I stole

from] went to Mr. Osborn and

described me and said ‘This

Photo by Ylin Zhu

kid took my food,’”said the

sophomore boy who stole the

DoorDash order. “I fessed up

about [stealing] another four

or five meals.”

The Californian is not naming

the student because he is a

minor who has violated school

policy. He said he stole the food

simply because he was hungry.

As punishment, he had to pick

up trash around campus.

When possible, administrators

said they try to have a

staff member regulate the table

during lunch.

The table is most frequently

used by students right before

lunch if they forgot to pack

something to eat, plan on staying

at Cal after school, or want to

treat themselves to a special

snack.

Some students try to avoid the

possibility of having anything

stolen from the table by having

food dropped off at different

locations on campus.

“I have had to kick Door

Dashers off campus,” Osborn

said. “People have arranged

for DoorDashers to drop off

between the main building and

world language. I am not having

random people drive through

campus where kids are hanging

out at lunch time.”

Despite the chance of orders

being stolen, students still appreciate

the table and the ability

to DoorDash food.

“It is a simple system and it

works if everyone does the right

thing,” attendance secretary

Marilyn McCarty said.

The option to have food delivered

to school has led to some

expensive addictions.

“I try not to spend that much,”

said Lunsford, who DoorDashes

regularly. “I am spending this

much on cheap food that is not

even good for me. It makes

me irrationally angry. It is a

never-ending struggle.”

Through ordering food students

have developed some

practices to ensure they acquire

their food before it is stolen.

“If you are going to Door-

Dash you have to be thorough,”

Lunsford said. “[I] tell [the

DoorDasher] what I am wearing,

and leave a note saying

please hand it off to me.”

A4 News

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com Friday, April 29, 2022

On the lookout for a summer job?

Cal students provide different

recommendations for summer

work opportunities in San Ramon

Trisha Sarkar

Staff Writer

With summer just around

the corner, Cal High students

are searching for jobs to keep

them occupied and to earn some

money during the months off

of school.

Grocery stores such as Safeway

and Trader Joe’s are among

the many businesses in the area

looking to hire summer help.

Safeway is looking for full

and part-time store employees

who are 16 years old or older.

Some positions they are offering

include cashier, deli clerk,

and cook.

Trader Joe’s is also looking

for crew members to help out

at their San Ramon location.

Employees perform tasks such

as operating the cash register,

stocking shelves, and helping

customers find products. Trader

Joe’s is offering this role for

$16-$19 per hour.

“I love the environment there

[at Trader Joe’s],” senior Nicky

McCune said. “It’s a very good

first job for high schoolers.”

McCune said when he works

the opening shift, he and other

employees unload the truck, talk

together, and then assist customers.

He also stocks shelves and

gathers carts.

Senior Lucy Pugh is a Starbucks

barista. Pugh applied

online, got a call to interview

at Starbucks, and was hired on

the spot.

“I like making drinks, it’s

a creative setting that I like

being in,” Pugh said. “I would

recommend this job if you are

looking for a busy job.”

Pugh organizes and cleans

items, makes drinks, and preps

food during her typical shift at

Starbucks.

Cal’s website has a job page

where students can find businesses

that are hiring 15 and

16-year-olds. Some jobs on the

site include Mountain Mike’s,

Cold Stone Creamery, Target,

and McDonald’s.

The San Ramon Recreation

Center is hiring lifeguards, recreation

leaders, cashiers, office

assistants, and assistant activity

managers. Hourly wages vary

from $15-$22. Teens can apply

and find more information on

the city’s website.

Becoming a certified lifeguard

is a popular job for teens,

but it requires a few steps. First,

individuals must register for

training and then apply online to

be a lifeguard. After completing

the training, they must pass an

interview. Lifeguarding can

pay anywhere from $15-$19.80

per hour depending on age and

experience.

Lifeguards must be at least

15- years-old, be able to swim

300 yards using both freestyle

and breaststroke techniques,

be able to retrieve a 10-pound

weight in 7-foot deep water, and

Photo by Dannika Shah

One of the job opportunities for high school students includes lifeguarding at the San Ramon Olympic Pool next to Cal

High. Lifeguards must be able to complete several tasks in the water, such as swimming 300 yards using both freestyle and

breastroke techniques, retrieving a 10-pound weight from 7-foot deep water, and treading water for two minutes.

tread water for two minutes.

“I would consider [lifeguarding]

if you want some

easy money and you want to

be outside,” said sophomore

Madeleine Hove, a lifeguard

at the San Ramon Olympic

Pool. “The people are cool and

everyone knows each other.”

Hove typically works morning

shifts and goes to school

directly after. Since Cal is close

to the pool, Hove can commute

easily.

Another local job that teens

can take on is working at an

ice cream shop. Cold Stone

Creamery, Baskin-Robbins, and

Salt & Straw are just a few of

many ice cream stores hiring in

San Ramon.

Cold Stone is offering $15-

$18 an hour to be a part-time

crew member. Salt & Straw offers

$16.32 per hour to be an ice

cream scooper. Baskin-Robbins

does not have their wages posted

online for their Dublin store.

“I usually work the night

shift,” said sophomore Mostafa

Khan, who works at

Baskin-Robbins. “I’ll just be

serving customers, cleaning.

Around nine o’clock, I will

start to clean up and get ready

for closing.”

Another Cal student who

works at Baskin-Robbins said

the job was a good entry-level

job for students new to working.

“You learn a lot of experience

on how to deal with customers

and it’s a great first job. [I would

recommend this job to] freshmen

and sophomores, people

who can dedicate a few hours

to working every week,” sophomore

Sahasra Veerapaneni said.

Another restaurant that is

hiring in San Ramon is Panera

Bread, which is looking for

cashiers and salad/sandwich

makers that are at least 16

years old.

Many jobs allow students to

apply online through websites

such as ZipRecruiter, Indeed.

com, and snagajob.com. A quick

Google Search of San Ramon

job opportunities provides teens

with a list of companies looking

for part-time hires. Teens can

also find age and prerequisite

requirements on these websites.

If you could go to

any concert, who

would you go see?

Photos by Lili Loney

“Bruno Mars. I think he

would put on a good show

and he’s a good dancer.”

“Drake because I like his

hair and I want his haircut.”

“Bruno Mars. I want to see

him so bad, but his tickets

are so expensive.”

“Morgan Wallen because I

like country and every other

show is sold out.”

“One Direction because I’ve

seen videos of their concerts

and they look fun.”

“Drake. He just seems

like his concerts would be

really hype.”

Alyssa Villarde

Junior

Ryan Giffins

Freshman

Kiana Camp

Sophomore

Maggie Marsh

Senior

Lauren Grgurina

Sophomore

Arianna Atta

Junior

Friday, April 29, 2022 Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

News A5

Vending machines

soon to be replaced

New machines

with prepared

foods are coming

in a few years

Ylin Zhu

Staff Writer

The vending machines that

have populated the school

campus for about a decade

were recently moved to storage

during spring break and

will eventually be replaced by

two new refrigerated ones that

provide side meals and drinks.

Students had not been able

to access the contents of the old

vending machines for several

years because the machines are

old and not maintained, assistant

principal Jeffrey Osborn said.

“[The vending machines

were] just taking up space

and it’s an eyesore,” campus

custodian Richard Galvao said.

The old vending machines

have not been working for at

least four years, according to

head custodian Roberto Manrique.

The vending machine

company, Bay Natural Vending,

was responsible for the machines,

but did not respond to

school requests to remove them

from Cal’s campus.

According to Zetta Reicker,

the district’s director of child

nutrition, other vendors are not

allowed to sell food to students

during school hours because it

violates the wellness policy.

“We have been trying to contact

[the Bay Natural Vending

technician] for the last three

years to take his machines but

he’s not responding,” Manrique

said. “I got no choice [but] to

Photo by Ylin Zhu

New vending machines from SRVUSD are kept in storage.

remove them by myself.”

Added Osborn, “We have

made so many contacts to ask

them to remove [the vending

machines] from campus.

They’re not maintained.

They’re not working. We want

them gone.”

Custodians finally moved the

machines to the back parking lot

storage area over spring break

to get them off campus.

The hope is the old machines

will be replaced by two new San

Ramon Valley Unified School

District refrigerated vending

machines. These have been kept

in storage since the pandemic.

The plan is to introduce them

within the next few years, said

Reicker.

The new vending machines

cost about $8,000 and $10,000

each. Cal is the only school

in the district that has them,

according to Reicker.

“The district had a really

good plan ready to execute

prior to March 2020,” Osborn

said. “The district ordered

multiple vending machines

that were meant to serve child

nutrition food and beverages to

students using their [student] ID

numbers.”

Since the United States

Department of Agriculture

(USDA) is providing free meals

for students this year, there

was no need to put the new

district machines on campus

yet, Osborn said. The side

meals and beverages available

would have cost money, which

would contradict the free lunch

program offered.

But if the vending machines

serve full meals, then students

will have free access to them

because those will be funded

by USDA, Reicker said.

“We hope to start using [the

new vending machines] sometime

next year,” Reicker said.

Photo courtesy of San Ramon Valley Unified School District Twitter

From left to right, Sriya Burra, Sasha Karelina, Safoora Nabi, Arpita Gupta, Paul Iancu,

Alex Siladie and Sebastian Sandru pose in their Odyssey of the Mind costumes.

Odyssey of the Mind

teams shine at state

Students compete

through creative

problem solving

Sophia DiGiovanni

Staff Writer

Two of Cal High’s Odyssey

of the Mind teams placed last

month at the state competition

and are heading to the world

finals at Iowa State May 25-28.

The teams won first and

second place in their respective

divisions and problem sets.

The Odyssey of the Mind program

is a creativity competition

where students develop skits

to solve one of five long-term

problems that they work on for

months before performing.

The teams do this by making

their own props, costumes and

scripts, supervised by volunteer

parent coaches. Members get

eight minutes to present their

skit and three to five minutes for

the spontaneous problem, said

junior Arpita Gupta. Gupta has

been a part of Odyssey of the

Mind since eighth grade.

The long term problems are

chosen early in the season and

the teams work on them at their

weekly meetings through script

writing and prop building.

“Around the fall time, you

get to choose one of five or six

problems from the organization,

and you spend a good six

months working on this problem

and coming up with your own

solution for this problem,”

Gupta said.

Gupta’s team, which placed

second, chose problem one

titled “Escape vroOM” that

tasks them with creating a performance

set in an escape room.

The team had to create one or

more vehicles to “assist” them in

getting out of the escape room.

The second Cal team placed

first solving the problem five

titled “Life is a Circus”. The

team had to produce a performance

about a character who

“realizes they are in a circus

world mid-act,” according to the

Odyssey of the Mind website.

The team’s unique spin on the

problem presented a “two year

COVID anniversary party.”

“Our team, thinking about

the past few years, decided that

a classic circus might be the

whole COVID party,” parent

coach Lori Dabaco said, “Their

‘circus’ kind of poked fun at a

lot of the things that happened

during COVID, like hand sanitizing

and wearing masks and

that sort of thing.”

Odyssey of the Mind also

presents teams with spontaneous

problems, which students

are given on the day of the

competition and teams have

to complete in a limited time

frame. These problems are either

a hands-on puzzle or a verbal

challenge.

“You’re basically given a

problem [with materials] or a

verbal question on the spot,

and you have to come up with

creative answers,” junior Sriya

Burra said.

The spontaneous problem

that Burra’s team was tasked

with at state was to build a

bridge from one end of the table

to the other without touching

the blocks that were placed on

the table.

Students involved

with budgeting

LIBRARY

From page A1

Although students voted to not

include any seeds in the seed

library, they will be able to recover

seeds from grown plants

to be added.

Most of the items purchased

were set to arrive on April 21,

though the chair and seed library

will take longer, librarian Nikki

Ogden said.

“Just for me to have a voice,

to be able to share my ideas,

really allowed me to [share my

voice] in the first place and be

able to get my voice heard,”

said junior Benjamin Lewis,

who submitted a proposal idea

and later voted.

The Student Senate, which

is the San Ramon Valley Unified

School District’s advisory

board of secondary students,

was involved in implementing

participatory budgeting in the

library for the first time.

“There [are] three representatives

from each high school, and

they all talk about what’s going

on in our respective school, and

we talk about ways we can fix

what’s going on,” sophomore

Elena Patro, a Student Senate

member representing Cal, said.

Senior Nicholas Harvey, who

is one of the Student Senate

members and editor in chief

of The Californian, initially

presented his idea for participatory

budgeting at a Site Council

meeting.

The Site Council is a group

of parents, students, admin, and

staff who meet monthly to discuss

ideas to improve the school.

Ogden was present at this

meeting and instantly gravitated

toward the idea. She said

she wanted to try participatory

budgeting on a smaller scale

with the library budget.

“I thought it was genius,

and for a long time I’ve been

wanting to find ways to incorporate

more student voice in the

library,” Ogden said.

With the initial support to

implement participatory budgeting,

the money wasn’t hard

to come by.

“A couple of months ago

we found out that we have

a surplus of $13,000 [in the

library budget],” junior Simi

Shetty, another member of the

Site Council, said.

After Ogden agreed to the

project, Harvey proposed to

use 10 percent of the library’s

budget, or $1,300. This money

primarily came from registration

donations, Ogden said.

During the planning process,

the Student Senate decided to

use the Stanford Crowdsourced

Democracy Team’s participatory

budgeting platform for the

online ballot.

Since the library has numerous

competing needs for

upgrades, the participatory

budgeting program let the library

pinpoint what was most

important to students.

Students first submitted a

budgeting proposal about their

ideas for the library before the

voting occurred. The proposals

were then reviewed and approved

if they were financially

viable and primarily benefited

Cal students, amongst other

rules.

Some proposals weren’t

approved, such as junior Paul

Iancu’s proposal for a mural

depicting the history of San

Photo courtesy of Nikki Ogden

Senior Nicholas Harvey, left, and librarian Jessica Bailey review student budgeting votes.

Ramon.

Once the items were finalized,

Cal students received

the URL for the online ballot

through email or QR code.

During voting, students could

allocate different amounts of

money to each item to buy

different quantities until they

reached the target of $1,300.

“On the website, you would

select which [item] you wanted,

and then you could actually

select multiple [items], as long

as it was within the $1,300

budget,” said Iancu, who voted.

“It was super easy. [The budget]

had really clear images for each

one of the options.”

The most popular option was

a charging chair, which received

218 votes.

“I voted for the chairs with

the charging outlets [...] and the

books by students at Cal,” said

sophomore Aarav Manjunath.

Annalise Wedewer, an eighth

grader representing Pine Valley

Middle School on the Student

Senate, said the senate wants to

expand participatory budget to

other schools if proven successful

at Cal.

“The idea was to start small

and then probably expand to

other high schools and then

maybe see how it works at the

middle school level as well,”

Wedewer said.

With Cal being the first

school in the district to implement

participatory budgeting,

the senate hopes to use this

initial trial to expand to more

schools.

A6 Opinions

STAFF EDITORIALS

The Voice of California High School

Communication will

hopefully improve

Many of us check school

emails regularly and oftentimes

only receive information about

school college visits or leadership-run

activities.

Most of us would be much

more attentive to subject headlines

relating to serious topics

that can affect students, such

as the fairly common racist incidents

that happen on campus.

In fact, one occurred last

week when racist graffiti was

found on campus. Students did

not receive an email about this.

But guess who did receive

an email? And spoiler alert, it’s

not who’d you would expect to

be affected by a racist incident

on campus.

Our parents were notified of

this incident just as they have

received emails about other

important issues in the past. As

important as it is to know what

happens on their students’ high

school campus, it is unlikely

that only sending these emails

to parents has as much of an

impact on students as it should.

How are we expected to have

a strong relationship with the

school if it fails to provide us

with info about vital school-related

incidents?

Luckily, this won’t stand for

much longer as the San Ramon

Valley Unified School District

is making changes to how it

communicates with students.

Wasteful use of plastic

at school must stop

The way school lunch is

packaged wastes an unnecessary

amount of plastic.

Almost every food item is

packaged in single use plastic

wrappers or containers. Packaging

that is soiled with food

cannot be recycled, according to

the US Environmental Protection

Agency. When thousands

of students eat school food on a

daily basis, it adds up to a large

amount of plastic in the trash,

set to destroy our environment.

But San Ramon Valley Unified

School District can mitigate

our enormous plastic footprint.

Truly reducing our plastic

waste will require a total overhaul

of the school lunch system

into one where we would utilize

fresh cooked food and reusable

crockery and utensils.

Unfortunately, this goal is

unrealistic in the short term for

a program that will not have a

kitchen or even sinks until next

year, and that has had to meet

a 300 percent demand increase

for food compared to previous

years, said Zetta Reicker, the

district’s director of child nutrition.

But there are many actions

the district can take to reduce its

plastic footprint in other ways

while it works toward that goal.

For instance, the district can

prioritize biodegradable and

compostable food packaging in

its bid specifications. The district

creates contracts with food

companies by setting criteria

for the food products it wants

and allowing the companies to

submit bids. The district then

evaluates those bids based on

price and how well the company

After input from the district’s

Student Senate, and in particular

student board member Ronit

Batra of Monte Vista High

School, the district said it will

directly communicate with

students about vital information

they want and must hear.

In early April, the district

unveiled a new Instagram account

under the username @

studentssrvusd, moderated by

both students and the district

staff. Direct communication

with students through social media

rather than communication

by emailing parents is a very

positive change in our school

community.

We as students look forward

to being notified whenever

pertinent issues arise at Cal and

elsewhere in the district.

But the question still remains:

Will this new Instagram account

replace previous emails sent to

parents and actually inform students

about important subjects

such as racist incidents and

threats of violence many schools

have experienced?

Hopefully after gaining more

followers than the 138 it had

as of Tuesday, April 26, the

district’s new Instagram account

will achieve this.

With the support of the

district attempting better connections

with students, we are

headed in the right direction.

fits the district’s needs.

Bid specifications for foods

are already particular. Pizza, for

example, is required to have at

least 51 percent whole-grain

flour. Implementing packaging

requirements for biodegradable

wrappers would be simple in

comparison.

The initial expenses for this

switch would be fruitful, especially

since the district lacks a

composting program. Creating

a district recycling program to

handle biodegradable waste will

serve benefits beyond handling

lunch waste. Moving toward

packaging that breaks down will

mean creating waste that only

lingers for a few years.

Some foods served also use

plastic needlessly. Individually

packaged baby carrots could

easily be scooped out in a

salad-bar fashion. The district

should look for produce bids

that follow more sustainable

models like this.

The cutlery is also wasteful.

Sporks are separately packaged

with napkins and tiny straws that

are so small they are usually disposed

of. The individual wrappers

are nonsensical. Sporks

and napkins could be provided

by separate dispensers that

could easily prevent additional

wasteful use of plastic.

Students can’t boycott wrappers

when we need to eat the

food inside them, and we don’t

have the power to change the

rules. But the district has a

chance to make a significant

difference in the amount of

plastic we waste by taking some

of these steps in the future.


Managing Editor

Shiphrah Moses

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Daphne So

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Wyatt Golla

Artists

Pavani Balaji, Shua Lee, Judy

Luo

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Friday, April 29, 2022

Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Opinions A7

Student Senate gives teens a voice

Nicholas Harvey

Editor in Chief

In the first year of the S an

Ramon Valley Unified School

District Student Senate, the

Student Voice Subcommittee

(SVS) has primarily led two

student voice efforts: pushing

for a student board member on

the county board of education,

and trialing a participatory budgeting

program in the district.

The SVS is currently leading

an effort to circulate a petition to

create a student position on the

county board of education. Assembly

Bill 824 requires county

boards of education to create at

least one student position starting

the 2023-24 school year if a

petition is submitted from 500

public high school students in

the county. We expect to have

500 signatures by the end of the

school year.

The subcommittee also led a

participatory budgeting trial at

Cal High, allowing students to

create proposals for spending

$1,300 of the library budget and

then vote on them.

The creation of the Student

Senate and a student board

member position last spring,

as well as our steps toward

increasing student voice this

year, is important, but there is

still much that can and needs

to be done.

1. Implementing a district-wide

participatory budgeting

program

Building on the trial the

Student Senate conducted this

year, the district should implement

participatory budgeting

district-wide, at all schools.

Yes, that includes elementary

schools.

In May 2017, Primary School

139 in New York City allowed

elementary students to vote

on how to spend $8,000 of the

school’s money. Parents were

allowed to vote yet most votes

came from students, potentially

serving as an example for participatory

budgeting in our elementary

schools, where parents

could have more involvement

than in middle or high schools.

The SVS has already contacted

the district to discuss scaling

up participatory budgeting and

we look forward to working

with the district on bringing this

innovative democratic policy

tool to our community.

2. Converting the Student

Senate into a democratically

elected body

In its current form, the senators

that make up the Student

Senate are appointed by their

principal. Although the presence

of students at the table is

important, it is also important

that students with a say in decision-making

represent the will

of their student body.

Each school site should hold

an election at the start of the

school year so students can vote

on who should represent them

in the Senate.

Additionally, the student

board member should be elected

by the students of the district.

It is too late to use an election

to choose the student board

member for next year, but the

district should switch to elections

starting in 2023-24.

The most common argument

I hear in opposition to a democratic

Student Senate is that

students would treat elections

as a popularity contest.

Assuming that the “popularity

contest” is a real trend,

it can be neutralized through

education. For Site Council,

ASB, and leadership elections

there is generally a lack of

information about the students

running, which can be fixed by

putting more candidate information

on the ballot and in other

communication channels that

students use.

Additionally, most students

don’t have strong views on

planning a dance or fundraisers,

leading to a lack of engagement

with ASB and leadership

elections. When students are

expected to vote for positions

that can influence the issues that

are relevant to them, like curriculum

or district facilities, they

have and will rise to the task.

Students in San Diego Unified

and other districts across the

state have successfully elected

their student board members.

Finally, the geographic influence

of any one school in

a district-wide student board

member election can be reduced

by allowing middle schoolers to

vote as well as high schoolers,

as is done in student board

member elections in Howard

County, MD.

Electing Student Senators

may not be perfect but it has

clear advantages compared

to a non-democratic system,

namely that it will improve civic

engagement and allow students

to have elected representation in

the district.

3. Creating a method for students

and community members

to suggest policy proposals to

the district

Each year, the California

Association of Student Councils

hosts a conference called

SABLE, where students from

across the state gather to draft

proposals for education bills to

be presented at the Capitol in

Sacramento.

Our district would be wise

to create a similar conference

where students work with

administrators to create policy

proposals to be considered.

The district can utilize the

Student Senate, as well as

CASC’s Region 4 cabinet,

which includes Contra Costa

County, to help design a

mini-SABLE. The Region 4

cabinet can also provide technical

assistance and knowledge

of SABLE as a foundation to

build a local equivalent.

4. Recognizing 16- and

Brown Jackson will go down in history

Melody Mulugeta

Staff Writer

The nation recently witnessed

Judge Ketanji Brown

Jackson fight for her seat with

the Supreme Court Justices.

We also witnessed the blatant

harassment and disrespect that

Brown Jackson received in the

midst of it all.

Since its creation in 1789,

the Supreme Court has been a

majority White body, with just

two Black men making it on

the bench: Thurgood Marshall

(1967) and Clarence Thomas

(1991). Aside from that, there

hasn’t been a single Black woman

on the nation’s highest court.

It’s obvious that having

a Black woman serve as a

Supreme Court Justice would

bring inclusivity and power to

the ultimate voices of America’s

society: older and White male

politicians. But Black female

representation in politics is a

topic that America has tussled

with for decades.

Brown Jackson’s confirmation

hearing with the Senate

Committee on March 21 took

social media by storm after clips

of her conversations with senators

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and

Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)

went viral. Although it was

obvious Brown Jackson was

being continuously pressed by a

handful of politicians, Cruz and

Blackburn’s comments were

stress-inducing in every way.

Blackburn confusingly asked

Brown Jackson for her definition

of a “woman” while debating

trans rights. She responded,

“I’m not a biologist.”

Brown Jackson continued

to juggle the topics of critical

race theory and gender identity

during the confirmation hearing.

During one of her many strange

discourses, Cruz asked her if she

believed “babies are racist,” and

Photo by Asher Thomas Riccardi-Holloway

From left to right, Nicholas Harvey, Evelyn Ramos and

Elena Patro are part of the Student Senate this year. Read

Patro and Ramos’ column about their experience with the

Equity Subcommittee at thecalifornianpaper.com.

compared gender transitioning

to “a Hispanic man deciding

[they were] an Asian man.”

Witnessing a Black woman

defend herself from powerful

White figures in our society

sent a very powerful message

to anyone who could catch it.

It has become a norm for Black

women to be demonized in the

media, just as Brown Jackson

has been these past few months.

It’s not common, nor normal,

to see a politician asking another

one extremely irrelevant questions,

especially when they are

being questioned for a seat with

the Supreme Court Justices.

Black women are constantly

held at a standard to be strong,

fierce, and demanding to anyone

who comes their way. That same

stereotype is held against them

to make them look aggressive,

loud and unprofessional. Surely

enough, it seemed like the

politicians who questioned

her intelligence took on these

characteristics instead.

With a 53-to-47 vote on April

7, Brown Jackson took her seat

on the nation’s highest court.

Not only is she the first Black

female Supreme Court Justice,

but she is also the fifth woman

on the court ever, making it more

than 40 years since Sandra Day

O’ Connor was the first female

Justice appointed in 1981.

Most importantly, Black girls

growing up in America are able

to see a reflection of themselves

at the forefront of American

politics and policy because of

Brown Jackson.

“Black women are the most

unprotected women in our society”

is a saying that still holds

true today. From police brutality

17-year-olds’ right to suffrage

in board elections

Acknowledging our right to

suffrage would follow in the

footsteps of Oakland Unified

School District, which allows

16-year-olds to vote in school

board elections after the passage

of Measure QQ in 2020.

Oakland granted the right to

suffrage by amending its City

Charter to allow 16-year-olds to

vote in school board elections.

San Ramon, as a charter city,

could theoretically do the same.

But the boundaries of the City of

Oakland and OUSD overlap exactly,

while our district includes

multiple cities, complicating the

mechanics of how our right to

suffrage would be fulfilled.

The district should start a

dialogue with San Ramon,

Danville, and the county to develop

a plan for recognizing our

right to suffrage in school board

elections. District Board Policy

1160 Community Relations

clearly states: “The Board’s

responsibility as an advocate

for the district may include

lobbying and outreach at the

state, national, and local levels.”

Hundreds of 16- and 17-yearolds

in our district pay taxes

while also having no representation

in government. Being able

to cast a vote for who represents

us on the school board is an

important step in fixing this

contradiction with our country’s

basic founding principle: no

taxation without representation.

None of the policies I am

advocating for are unrealistic.

They have all been done in

districts around the country.

You can help advocate for the

aforementioned policies by

writing emails to the district

and sharing this article to others.

The policies I’m proposing

are popular among students. In

a survey of 455 district students

the SVS conducted last year,

large pluralities supported

giving 16-year-olds suffrage

and electing the student board

member. We won’t have these

pro-student policies unless we

advocate for ourselves.

Photo courtesy of Committee on the Judiciary

Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the 116th Associate Justice

of the Supreme Court of the United States.

to hate crimes, America has

failed Black women countless

times. Although it has felt like

an endless wait to finally see a

Black female justice, history

has finally been made.

Having a Black woman as a

Supreme Court Justice is more

than a diversity number. It’s a

voice for the underrepresented

and silenced voices of Black

women in our society.

And with a leader like Brown

Jackson, Black women are

finally promised a say in America’s

endless eruption of White

supremacy.

Kira Sidhu

Staff Writer

New schedule

is problematic

Next year’s schedule has

been released, and Cal High

has definitely made changes,

many of which will make next

year’s scheduling complicated

and more difficult for everyone—all

a consequence of a

new state law.

As most Cal students now

know, A period (or B period in

the new schedule) in the morning

is to be removed and put

at the end of the day next year

as a result of Senate Bill 328,

which was signed into law by

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 13,

2019 and restricts instructional

minute classes before 8:30 a.m.

as part of a health initiative.

The law shows an effort to

look after the health of students

by supposedly delaying the

start of school so they can sleep

longer. There is no doubt that a

large number of high schoolers

struggle with sleep deprivation,

which has many negative short

and long term effects. In fact,

according to a national CDC

study, about 73 percent of high

schoolers don’t sleep enough on

school nights.

Although it means well, the

law’s real life implications and

logistics are far more messy than

intended. Additionally, it hasn’t

been proven that the law will be

effective in providing students

with more sleep.

The school day now starts at

8:30 a.m. for all students, and

ends at 2:35 p.m. for everyone

not taking B period. Students

taking the extra class will end

their school day at 3:41 p.m.

This decision will become a

difficult reality for those who

want to take seven classes but

also have extracurricular activities

scheduled right after school.

Additionally, if school ends

later for everyone choosing

to take seven classes, they

will simply end up delaying

after-school activities. Many

students will end up finishing

schoolwork at an even later time

than they do now. Although

sleep deprivation is a real issue

for many teens, there’s no guarantee

this schedule change will

allow students to sleep more.

For student athletes concerned

about the schedule

change, it has been decided that

athletics won’t start before 4

p.m. This won’t resolve issues

for anyone who plays a sport

outside of school.

Other after-school activities

also won’t be able to be held

right after a six-period school

day because some members

might be taking B period.

I know firsthand that the ability

to choose when to squeeze

that extra class into a schedule

is very liberating for many students

that are trying their best

to make the most of their time.

While having B period at the

end of the day may be optimal

for a select set of students, it

doesn’t work for everyone and

deeply disrupts the schedules

of those who have pre-planned

extracurriculars for next year.

A8 ews Lite The Californian’s time-honored humor section

Friday, April 29, 2022

Florida Man trilogy is now complete

Miami menace

is back to his

asinine antics

Wyatt Golla

Staff Writer

Harken back with me, to

the great trilogies of old. “The

Godfather”, “The Lord of The

Rings”, “Star Wars” (all three

of them), “The Dark Knight”,

“Indiana Jones” and many more.

What do these great trilogies

have in common? An enticing

plot? Good drama and skilled

actors? Jaw dropping action?

No, I posit that all of the great

trilogies that we are familiar

with all have a distinct amount

of chaotic energy that makes

them so enjoyable.

But a new trilogy is to be

added to the list that may just

top all the others with how much

chaos is rooted in the location

alone: The Florida Man Trilogy.

Who could possibly have the

gall to write such an ambitious

story? Who could possess the

lack of brain matter required

to even come up with the idea?

Well, maybe, just maybe the

man who wrote the previous

two entries in the trilogy could

manage such a thing. I hear

he is quite handsome, and his

schedule is wide open.

To be fair, Florida contains

more mayhem than any other

state in the US. Scientists are

still unsure as to why this is,

but my running theory is that

humans offered Florida to the

lizard people running the world

in exchange for our freedom and

world domination.

Lizard people or not, Florida

Man has not let up on his antics

during 2022. This year, one

audacious Florida Man “called

police to test the authenticity of

his methamphetamine”. I understand

the desire for a second

opinion about such a matter, but

maybe ask your friend for peer

review next time.

One highlight I found was

“Florida Man pleads guilty

to illegal sale of monkey to

‘celebrity client;”. See, I don’t

condone using illegal means to

acquire a monkey, but if anyone

knows a legal avenue for

acquiring one, tell me. Asking

for a friend, of course.

Another gem I saw was the

story of a Florida Man pulled

over during a routine traffic stop.

In his pickup truck they found

what one would usually find in

a car: weapons, narcotics and,

of course, a baby alligator. What

else could somebody expect?

What about one bold Florida

Man who was “accused of impersonating

a police officer to

get a discount at Wendy’s” Of

all things somebody could do

with the power vested in a police

officer uniform, all this man

might have wanted was a few

dollars off his burger and frosty.

My man could have gotten a

discount on nearly anything

if he tried hard enough, boba,

movies, a car wash, and yet he

chose Wendy’s.

Illustration by Pavani Balaji

Florida Man and his accomplice baby aligator return for the third entry of staff writer Wyatt Golla’s epic saga.

Surprisingly, the number of

Florida Men accused or arrested

for smuggling animals just this

month is more than one. As one

particular Florida Man was

accused of “stealing 18 turtles

worth $30,000.”

Lastly, have you ever had that

one movie that you just have

to watch over and over again?

Well one Florida Man certainly

did, as he chose to watch

“Spiderman: No Way Home”

a whopping 292 times. That’s

a nice total of 720 hours, or an

astounding 30 days.

I can’t help but wonder what

the cinema worker´s reaction

was to him walking into the

theater more than 290 times. Do

you think he got free popcorn?

So, as is often the case, Florida

Man has not slowed down

with his usual misadventures

this year. In fact, they may have

increased in their weirdness

and fervor lately. Whether this

is due to the pandemic, the

lizard people hiding among our

population, or some other factor

entirely, I’m not sure.

But I do know one thing.

Florida Man shows no signs of

stopping with his antics anytime

soon. Which is great for everyone

who isn’t living in Florida,

as we are hopefully safe from

any havoc the fabled Florida

Man might bring.

It’s great for me, as well. If

more of these stories keep coming

I might be looking forward

to “Florida Man: The Spinoff

Series” for my next story.

Students support skipping student support

Many spend extra study period

doing absolutely nothing

Jordan Vereen

Staff Writer

No other time of the school

day is as questionable as student

support.

Sure, the idea of meeting with

teachers or getting some time

in to do homework does sound

nice and dandy, but you really

have to wonder about what the

school is thinking when they

essentially leave 40 minutes to

the honor system.

Now, I mean no ill will to

the responsible among us, who

use their support time for good.

Sure, they’re massive nerds, but

at least I can commend them

for being able to concentrate

while half the class are having

conversations with veritably not

indoor voices.

Of course, not everyone

spends their student support

chatting. Maybe they sit on

their phone for the whole time,

contributing to the rise of eye

strain headaches as a prominent

issue among teens. Maybe they

stick to something a little more

old fashioned, and just throw

things around the classroom.

Maybe they enjoy the great

outdoors, and disappear for the

whole period.

Speaking of disappearing, the

system of checking out of the

class was…interesting. Some

teachers seemed just as confused

about it as I was. I was let out

of tutorial without a note on

Students spend support time doing last minute work on their phones and other activities.

multiple occasions, not because

the teacher let it slide, but simply

because they didn’t know what

was allowed and what wasn’t.

At least we can all take solace

in the fact that the intended

purpose of the system, to ensure

that students didn’t just walk

out and wander around campus,

completely failed.

Regardless of all this, we all

have stories of those who definitely

spend their time unwisely,

and I’m not just talking about

that one kid who saved studying

time for the period before next

class. So, children, let’s gather

’round the campfire, and hear

these riveting tales unfold.

I’ll start.

So, it was a long time ago, in

a time we’ve all forgotten when

our brains rotted from a mix of

4 a.m. bed times and questionably

healthy eating this spring

break: March of this year. I was

in AP European History teacher

Ryan Cook’s class, just straight

chillin’. But, those around me

weren’t exactly chillin’, more

like they were boiling hot.

Now, Mr. Cook is usually a

pretty cool dude. He’s funny,

diligent, relaxed, just overall

amazing (you know where that

gradebook is Mr. Cook, hint

hint, wink wink.) But I think

that this time, he was a bit too

lenient. It wasn’t like anyone

could concentrate on the night’s

reading when half of the class

was running around and screaming

like the room was on fire.

But it wasn’t until the stapler

was thrown at the window when

he finally put his foot down.

Too bad the glass didn’t shatter,

that would have been cool.

Anyway, Cook called the

class to attention like a drill sergeant,

and finally asked us what

our major malfunction was.

Well, more like he just called

out the ever-so-familiar kids

that aren’t even in the class but

come during support to cause

trouble. He then banished them

from his realm, and peace was

restored to the land.

But I am not the only one to

see a “quirky and crazy” thing

go down in that special 40 minutes

after 10:10 a.m. Obviously,

or this story wouldn’t have made

it past the drafting process. Another

riveting tale comes from

sophomore Wais Kandahari,

whose story of bravery, love,

betrayal, and drama you are

now blessed to hear.

It was just another student

support period in Jacob Martin’s

chemistry class for Kandahari.

Maybe he was thinking of the

upcoming spring break. Maybe

he was on his phone. Maybe

he was endlessly walking in

a circle. I don’t know, I didn’t

ask him. Point is, the door to

the room was open, and in flew

Big Bird.

No, Big Bird can’t fly. It was

Photo by Tyler Raymond

just a normal bird. Yawn, boring.

The bird decided that the best

thing to do was to fly around

the room in circles. For their

part, much of the class decided

that the appropriate thing to do

was to freak out, which, to be

fair, probably didn’t affect how

productive they would’ve been

that period anyway.

No matter what Kandahari

or his classmates did, the bird

would not leave the room.

They left all the windows and

doors open like there was a gas

leak, and, after Martin failed

to physically grab the bird

(if you’ve seen Mr. Martin’s

muscles, you’d probably share

my concern for the bird’s bone

structure), the students offered

to get a net to catch the poor

animal. That plan didn’t get off

the ground, though. Kandahari

said someone even tried to play

bird whisperer.

“Oh, there was this one chick

who climbed up on the table and

tried to be like Mulan and talk

to the bird,” Kandahari said.

For any of you Disney aficionados

seething at that sentence

now, rest easy that he was subsequently

told that the Disney

princess who talks to birds is

Cinderella, then again corrected

to Snow White. Not by me, I

forgot that those Disney princess

movies existed until then.

As someone who had Martin

for sixth period that day, I can

finish this tale with a happy

ending. The bird (who Martin

said was named “Jeffery,”) was

a big distraction for the first 30

minutes of the period, visiting

every part of the class. (He

really liked flying in a circle in

the corner and resting on the

American flag on the wall).

Then finally Jeffery flew out a

window into the great unknown.

Today, Jeffery has rejoined his

bird brethren, and lives like

them, feasting on the after-lunch

trash left by students in the quad.

And that’s all my time for

today. I hope you enjoyed these

tales. One might ask, “How

can stories about kids throwing

staplers and questionably intelligent

birds impact my life?”

Well, I would say to you,

maybe the value of the stories

were the friends we made along

the way.

Spring sports are in full swing. Read more about it on page B2.

Photos by Ryan Syms and

courtesy of Skylar Horder

B2 Sports


Cal women athletes stealing the show

There are many outstanding

athletes excelling on the field,

in the pool and on the track

this spring. The Californian is

shining a spotlight this issue on

one of the top female athletes

from each spring sport.

Alyssa Villarde

Junior softball player Alyssa

Villarde is the starting shortstop

and captain for the Cal High

Grizzlies softball team.

Villarde started playing

softball in third grade and loves

the game because of the team

atmosphere and being able to

compete with her teammates.

She’s an extremely hard worker

and loves the individual part

of the game in which she can

improve her craft.

“Personally, I’m trying to

work on my hitting and I’m

trying to get my stats up.” Villarde

said. “I also want to be a

better leader and team player.”

The varsity softball team is

on a roll at 12-5, 5-3 in EBAL

(third in league) and is 7-3 in

their last 10 games.

“We’re doing pretty good

this year, still jelling as a team,

but we’re feeling very good

at where we’re going to be,”

Villarde said.

The goal as a team is to win

the league first, and then try

for NCS.

One of her best assets she

brings to the field is her defense.

“She’s got one of the best

backhands I’ve ever seen,” head

coach Toni Bari said. “She does

a lot of things right and knows

all the right techniques. She’s

very smart, alert, and learns

things very quickly.”

Villarde is very well respected

across the team and is a great

leader on and off the field.

“Alyssa is a great teammate

because she picks me up

when I make mistakes and is

always there for me,” junior

third baseman Noelani Ching

said. The left side duo of the

infield complement each other

very well and have very good

chemistry.

Alyssa is talking with colleges

and is looking into playing

softball at the next level. But

for now, Cal has a great one for

another year to come.

– Michael Zarich

Evie McMahon

Captain and senior standout

Evie McMahon is on a tear for

the Grizzlies’ varsity lacrosse

team. The midfielder leads the

team with 46 goals in 15 games

so far (third in EBAL) and has

been a scoring machine. She

also has a dozen assists.

“Her aggressiveness, competitiveness,

and passion for the

game makes her an elite scorer,”

coach Shannon Geary said.

McMahon plays midfield

and has been playing lacrosse

for six years. She loves the

game of lacrosse because of

the running, physicality and

competitiveness. She also loves

being around her teammates.

“One of my favorite things

about lacrosse is the team

atmosphere,” McMahon said.

“I have a lot of great friends

on the team and some of my

most unforgettable moments

are from spending time with my

teammates off the field.”

McMahon has not only been

a scoring machine for Cal but

also a great leader of her team.

“Evie has natural leadership

qualities that make it easy for

her teammates to follow her,”

Shannon said.

Shannon added that McMahon

is a complete team player

who always puts the team ahead

of herself, is well respected, and

is focused on winning.

“She’s a great teammate

because of her compassion for

Photo by Lili Loney

Junior Alyssa Villarde is making her mark on the field.

everyone,” sophomore Abbey

Kunz said. “She’s always looking

out for the underclassmen

and is always looking for us

to improve both as a unit and

individually.”

– Michael Zarich

Mara Lampsas

Track season is off and running

as the team has welcomed

back many familiar faces, including

senior Mara Lampsas

who is making a big impact

in her fourth and final year on

the team.

When she was just 10 years

old, Lampsas began practicing

hurdling and high jumps. Now,

her personal record of high

jump stands at a staggering

5-foot-6 inches. On the team,

she is a sprinter, high jumper,

and hurdler.

“She’s incredibly talented

and being able to be on a team

with her is amazing,” junior

Ava Olguin, one of Lampsas’

teammates, said. “She works so

hard and it inspires a lot of us.”

Some of Lampsas’ favorite

memories on the team come

from their trip to Los Angeles

for the Maurice Greene Invita-

Senior Skyler Horder performed so well in high school that she will swim at the University of San Diego in the fall.

tional, which was attended by

12 varsity runners.

“The meet was fun, but the

hotel and drive down was far

better,” Lampsas said.

When asked who inspires her

in the world of sports, Lampsas

said Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,

who is a highly regarded sprinter

and an 18-time Olympic gold

medalist.

“She’s on the Jamaican team,

and she’s very humble whenever

she wins stuff,” Lampsas said.

Like Fraser-Pryce, Lampsas

is very humble in her achievements.

She’s committed to UC

Berkeley for track and field and

plans to attend in the fall.

“Mara has had a great track

and field career at Cal High,”

coach Mark Karbo said. “She’s

been among the best in the history

of the school in multiple

events. I’m glad she will be

competing in college and is going

to an excellent university.”

Despite having her eye on

college, Lampsas has high

aspirations for this year.

“[I want] to make it to state

for the high jump,” Lampsas

said. “And honestly just have

fun because it’s like senior year,

and sometimes you just forget

to do that.”

Added Olguin, “I couldn’t

have asked for a better teammate

to spend my seasons with.”

– Alison Cavanagh

Skyler Horder

Senior Skyler Horder, one of

Cal High’s swim team captains,

has worked hard to meet her

goals of this season. This will

be only her second full season

because of COVID-19 cutting

short both her sophomore and

junior seasons.

Since she was eight years old,

Horder has loved being in the

pool. It wasn’t until she was 13

that she joined club swimming

and loved it so much that she

just continued to do it.

Horder’s strength in the pool

is definitely sprinting rather than

long distances. Because of her

ability to swim fast and hard

for 50 to 100 meters, Horder

is proud to share her academic

and athletic commitment to

University of San Diego.

“It’s pretty cool, it has been

a dream of mine to be D1,”

Horder said.

Although her dreams did

come true, it was far from easy.

She shared how she needed to

reach out to a lot of different

schools.

“It’s a lot like dating,” Horder

said. “The process for D1 school

is that you can commit and then

they will let you into the school

whereas for D3 you have to get

into the school first and then you

can commit.”

This influenced her to choose

USD, a Division 1 school.

Senior Aine Keenan, another

captain of the swim team, has

witnessed how hard Horder has

worked to accomplish her goals.

“As Skyler has gone through

high school, she has gained

Photo by Lili Loney

Senior Evie McMahon is dominating EBAL with 46 goals.

Photo courtesy of Skyler Horder

strength and is able to train and

compete [in] incredibly hard

swim sets during practice,”

Keenan said.

Keenan shared about

Horder’s great sportsmanship

in the pool, as she is always

aware of her teammates’ accomplishments

too.

And those accomplishments

just keep growin.

For her last season of high

school, Horder said she hopes

to break her personal records

and finish strong.

“For my 50 free I want to go

a 24.0 [seconds] and for 100

free probably a 53.0, and for my

100 fly around a 57. I just want

to go at my best,” Horder said.

Horder is confident in her

speed, so to improve her season

she hopes to improve her distance

per stroke (DPS), or how

far she can swim per stroke. A

higher DPS is generally better

for sprinting.

As of now Horder feels her

junior year season was her best,

as even despite her class workloads

she was able to juggle

swim and school.

“Junior year is just hard and

I was taking a lot of APs, but

this year has been pretty easy

just because I’m committed

and I knew I was in the school

in June,” Horder said.

As her high school swimming

career is coming to an end and

her college swimming career is

approaching, Horder hopes to

keep with her all the life lessons

she’s learned as she moves on

to college and beyond.

– Samantha Contreras

Photo by Ryan Sims

Senior Mara Lampsas sprints during a track practice.

Friday, April 29, 2022 Read The Californian online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com Sports

B3

Max Hove stars on two of Cal’s spring teams

Senior leading

Grizzlies’ hockey,

lacrosse teams

Vishwas Balla

Staff Writer

Despite playing two sports in

one season, senior Max Hove

still finds a way to balance

playing both at the same time.

Hove is the starting goalie

for Cal High’s lacrosse team

and also plays for the school

hockey team. He also qualified

for the varsity golf team, but

ultimately decided he couldn’t

juggle playing three sports in

the same season.

Currently, he is the second

scoring player with 28 points

(22 goals, six assists) in the

Tri Valley Minor Hockey Association

Pure Hockey League,

which is the league in which Cal

and other EBAL schools play.

Although Hove loves to play

both hockey and lacrosse, he

has been playing hockey longer.

He began skating around age 2

and started playing hockey at 6.

“When the Sharks came

to California, my dad started

playing pickup with other guys

in San Jose where he worked,”

Hove said. “He would bring me

to those games and that is really

what inspired me to play. I wear

his number [14] that he wore in

those beer league games.”

Senior hockey player Ryan

Dawson has played alongside

Hove for two years.

“He’s a great type of player,

unselfish and great at assists,”

Dawson said.

Hove is not just considered a

good teammate on the ice.

“He is an overall outstanding

guy,” said sophomore lacrosse

and hockey teammate Jonathan

Wang. “He commits to the

sport.”

Wang got to know Hove

through hockey where they both

play on Cal’s team.

Hockey is Hove’s first love,

but he is also a key member of

the lacrosse team, which is on

Cal High’s hockey club gunning for another championship

Grizzlies shoot for

fifth title since 2014

Evan Heinz

Staff Writer

The Cal High hockey team

has gone undefeated against its

opponents this season, which

is framed as a seven-game

tournament.

“I am very confident in my

team winning this season and

so far we’ve gone undefeated,”

junior defenseman Eshaan

Shanbhag said.

In Cal’s first game of the

season on March 19 against

Amador, the team skated to an

8-4 victory. They also played

against the Grenada Matadors

on March 25, winning in an

easy fashion by a score of 9-0.

The games are usually played

at Dublin Iceland.

Another challenger was

EBAL, which includes players

from San Ramon Valley,

Dougherty Valley and Clayton

Valley high schools. EBAL

fought hard against the Grizzlies

but the Cal team struck back in

Photo courtesy of Veronica Starr

Cal’s Max Hove, Christian Starr, and Eshaan Shanbhag celebrate after scoring a goal.


Max Hove leads the hockey team in points scored with 22 goals and six assists, and is the main reason why the team has started off a scorching hot 5-0.

a roll at 12-3, 7-0 in EBAL, and

ranked 30th in state.

“Lacrosse was my second

sport and I [started] playing

after I quit baseball, which

was around second grade,”

said Hove, who also played

club lacrosse for the Bay Area

Dragons.

This year is Hove’s first year

as a starter on the lacrosse team

after the team’s previous goalie

graduated last season.

“The goalie prior to [Hove]

was probably the best player

in the history of the program,

so he has had big shoes to fill,”

head lacrosse coach Andrew

great fashion and beat EBAL

11-5 on March 26.

The Grizzlies have been

able to be dominant this year

because of the large amount of

experience they have over other

schools in their league.

This helps the Grizzlies have

a fluid offense with players like

senior Max Hove scoring at least

three goals in four of their five

games played thus far as well

Ertola said.

Despite these high expectations,

Hove has shined in the

first half of the season.

“He’s like a wall, no balls get

past him,” Wang said.

Ertola said he knew that

Hove had potential to be a great

player but not quite the extent

of his ability.

Hove was among the better

backup goalies in the Bay Area

last season and ended the season

with 23 saves in a game against

De La Salle.

“He exceeded all of our

expectations and it was kind

of a seamless transition,” Ertola

said.

When it comes to balancing

time management between the

two teams, Hove said that some

compromises have to be made

so he can make it work.

But Hove’s seasons have

been ultimately successful thus

far, as both of his teams are

rolling and building momentum

to prepare for playoff success.

Hove’s athletic ability has

garnered interest from colleges,

but Hove already has plans for

where he will take his talents.

“My plan is to play hockey

and lacrosse at Utah in the fall,”

Hove said.

as a lock down defense led by

seniors like William Wang and

Ryan Dawson.

Even with the issue of having

a different goalie every game

because there are no goalies at


Photo courtesy of Max Hove

Max prepares to block any shot that comes his way.

the school, the team has still

been able to win and in dominant

fashion so far this year. The

goalies have come from all over

Northern California.

“The final game is around the

corner and I’m excited to see

the team in action,” sophomore

forward Jonathan Wang said.

The hockey team is very

positive and confident in a

championship being won this

year. The championship game

will be played May 14, with

the semifinals coming the day

before.

Cal’s hockey team was created

back in 2011 and so far the

team has had four championship

wins in 2014, 2016, 2017 and

2019. The league has been inactive

the last couple of years

because of COVID-19.

The team’s passion for the

sport is visible and their recent

success has only boosted their

confidence. Despite this, they

say they just want to have a

good time in the rink.

“I would say we just try to

have fun and to get less experienced

players a chance to

score,” junior forward Jesse

Mount said.

The team is filled with players

passionate about the sport

since they were young. Joining

youth teams they got a feel for

the sport and are now aware of

how to play off each other in a

team setting.

The hockey team doesn’t

practice together, which is a

common theme throughout

most of the league. Instead, they

come to the rink as a team on

game days. Most of the team

members already have experience,

meaning they can quickly

react to a teammate’s play.

With four more games, the

season is looking good for Cal,

which have been ramping up

their preparations for the final.

“I have been very proud of

the team this season,” senior

forward Christian Starr said.

“I enjoy being on the rink and

can’t wait to win this season.”

Fans of the Cal hockey team

have not been disappointed this

year with these crushing victories.

And they hope to continue

seeing them all the way through

the season when Cal can win

their fifth championship.

B4 Features Read

The Californian online at

How did Earth Day originate?

Unpacking the history behind

the annual environmental day

Kaustav Pal

Staff Writer

Of the 365 days in a year (or

366 – looking at you leap year),

there is one day dedicated to

celebrating the big blue globe

we call home: Earth Day.

Meant to raise awareness

about the environmental and

pollution problems around

the world, Earth Day was first

celebrated on April 22, 1970.

People around the world

demonstrate their support for

the environment by volunteering

for different projects,

donating to environmental

relief foundations, and making

more environmentally-friendly

choices in your home like walking

and biking more; which all

can have a lasting impact on the

environment.

“I think it’s a good way to

celebrate the beauty of Earth

and also a good way to bring

attention to the climate crisis,”

sophomore Abhiraj Sharma

said.

The inspiration behind Earth

Day might be seen as unexpected.

The publication of

Rachel Carson’s New York

Times bestseller “Silent Spring”

in 1962 helped to spark interest

in the environment.

“The book raised public

awareness and concern for

living organisms, the environment

and the inextricable links

between pollution and public

health,” according to earthday.

org, Earth Day’s official site.

The book, along with the

Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969,

the largest oil spill to occur off

the Californian coast, inspired

the idea for a day where hundreds

of thousands of people

can participate in activities to

improve the environment.

Former Senator Gaylord Nelson

(D-Wisconsin) is credited

as the founder of Earth Day,

as he was the first to inspire

college campus teach-ins about

pollution and the enviroment.A

teach-in is a discussion where

students and faculty can talk

about social and political issues.

Nelson was inspired by the

teach-ins across the nation

that dealt with the Vietnam

war. Nelson believed hosting

teach-ins about the enviornment

would aid in the fight for

a better climate.

Nelson got the help of Denis

Hayes, a young activist fighting

for better environmental

policies. He dropped out of

Harvard’s Kennedy School

of Public Policy because he

thought the idea of Earth Daywas

revolutionary.

The first Earth Day went

national, and had 20 million

participants.

“Earth Day is a great day for

people to respect the Earth,”

sophomore Karan Urs said.

“People should help the Earth

and not increase global warming.”

By 1990, more than 200 million

people all over the world

showed their support for the

cause, after the celebration went

global for the first time. In the

year 2000, Hayes agreed to

spearhead more enviromentalcampaigns.

More than 20 years

later, it’s one of the largest observance

days in the world as more

people are becoming aware of

climate change and supporting

movements by volunteering or

urging the government to take

action for ecological benefit.

Some local events were

hosted in celebration of Earth

Day, including celebrations at

Stoneridge Shopping Center in

Pleasanton, the Oakland Zoo,

the San Damiano Retreat Center

and Gift Shop in Danville, and

the “Slow Streets” City Wide

Volunteer Cleanup Party in San

Francisco.

There has been a shift in

the way Earth Day has been

publicized to people. Increasing

numbers of online organizations

have come to the forefront of the

fight for a better planet.

Some Cal students have

decided to contribute to organizations

with the goal of helping

the environment.

One student has a specific

tradition.

“I donate to Team Trees,”

junior Neel Kulkarni said of

the collaborative fundraiser that

was launched in late 2019 by a

group of YouTubers, including

MrBeast, to combat deforestation

by matching every dollar

donated with a tree planted.

According to the Team Trees

website, the group has already

planted over 13 million trees.

Others believe that Earth Day

needs more recognition.

“It’s a very important day, but

hasn’t been implemented very

well,” sophomore Arthur Wang

said. “Because there is not much

incentive to celebrate it.”

Earth Day has been an

integral part in the education

of enviornmental issues. And

with the increased attention

the issues affecting the blue

planet people call home garner,

Earth Day becomes increasingly

popular.

Local organizations help the Earth

Saving the

world, one

weeded garden

box at a time

Anika Choudhary

Online Editor

Cal High students have

decided to take a stand and do

their part to help educate other

students and make a positive

impact on the Earth. Through

local organizations, students

are taking steps toward creating

a better environment through

several on-campus clubs, including

the Botanical Bears,

Green Team and Eco-Case.

Botanical Bears

Botanical Bears is greening

Cal’s look by adding more color

and life with the planting of

flowers around campus.

One of the main ideas behind

the club is to not only benefit

the campus, but also the student

body as well. Students may feel

stressed while on campus and

nature is a good way for them

to take a break.

“Nature is important for

mental health,” junior Devyani

Pathak, president of Botanical

Bears, said. “Seeing dull colors

is detrimental to health, so seeing

nature and colors are really

important.”

Botanical Bears strive to

spread positivity while getting

people involved outdoors and

in nature. They hope to help

people see the beauty of the

outdoors.

This year, the club has successfully

completed the task of

weeding the garden boxes near

the Fine Arts building, where

they intend to plant vegetables

and flowers.

They hope that the garden

adds to the scenery of campus,

while also helping the environment

since they will be planting

California native flowers in it.

“I think it’s important to do

our part,” Pathak said. “It’s

important to take small steps

From left to right, Bori Kim, Shruti Kale and Aastha Agrawal show off their sustainable products for Eco-Case.

and do good things for the

environment while doing what

we want to do.”

Green Team

Cal’s Green Team is on a mission

to educate students about

the environment while providing

volunteering opportunities

and other ways to help out.

“I joined because I wanted

to meet people who want to

improve the planet,” sophomore

Isabella Salvan said. “I also

wanted to meet people who

pursue selfless efforts relating

to the environment.”

The Green Team’s meetings

consist of board members reviewing

slides with information

about a specific environmental

issue and then the members of

the club discuss it.

“It’s really important to

spread the word,” junior Anshul

Chennavaram, president of

Green Team, said. “Educating

people is the least we can do.”

Along with educating members

at meetings, the club tries to

spread awareness and information

by taking action through

out-of-school activities. In

the past, the club has tended

to gardens and hosted beach

cleanups.

“I did one of the beach cleanups

and we learned about plastic

when we were there,” junior

Alexander Deweese said. “It

was pretty relaxed and fun.”

The club also plans to potentially

team up with Cal’s

Interact Club to restart Cal

High’s garden.

“The idea is to make compost

out of the unused fruits

and vegetables from lunch,”

Chennavaram said. “I feel like

it would be a good solution to

multiple problems.”

Eco-Case

Eco-Case is a small business

that was founded under the

Photo by Ryan Syms

Junior Achievement of NorCal

program and is run by Cal and

Dublin High School students.

It was created to combat the

increasing levels of plastic pollution

by spreading awareness

and making phone cases.

Plastic phone cases are a huge

contributor to plastic waste.

Phone cases are a common product

for people to have, so people

don’t immediately realize their

impact on the environment.

“We recognized that one big

contributor is plastic phone

cases because so many are

thrown out,” Dublin High junior

Samia Ahmer, the Chief Managing

Officer of Eco-Case, said.

“We would like to help people

find more sustainable options

that are also trendy.”

The business creates silicone-based

phone cases and

recyclable glass-beaded phone

chains that are eco-friendly.

They also strive to make their

phone cases visually appealing

so people can be sustainable

while still looking cool.

“We just want to reduce

the amount of plastic used in

everyday life,” Cal junior Bori

Kim, Eco-Case’s Chief Financial

Officer, said. “So in order

to reduce the amount of waste

going into landfills, we can use

eco-friendly options.”

Along with making phone

cases, the business also spreads

awareness about pollution and

eco-friendliness through their

frequently updated eco-newsletter.

Through this newsletter,

they promote ways to support

the movement in everyday life.

“It displays our favorite

books, music, media, and videos

about our planet and environment,”

Cal junior Shruthi Kale,

Eco-Case’s Chief Executive

Officer, said. “We are planning

to post more ways people can

be sustainable so they can still

contribute to the cause without

buying a product, showing our

true dedication to our planet.”

In honor of Earth Day, Eco-

Case hosted a 10 percent sale

on all products. Ten percent of

Eco-Case’s profits are donated

to environmental aid and betterment

charities. Currently,

they donate 5 percent of their

profits to Coral Gardeners,

an organization focused on

coral restoration. They donate

the other 5 percent to Ocean

Conservancy,which works to

create solutions for healthier

oceans and communities.

“Our goal is to help little by

little and get people to start using

eco-friendly materials,” Cal

junior Aditi Nanda, the Certified

Scrum Product Owner with

Eco-Case, said. “We just need to

start being aware of what we are

using and how that’s affecting

our planet.”

www.thecalifornianpaper.com

Features B5

Students study climate in eco classes

AP Environmental Science,

marine biology among courses

that address climate issues

Lexi Broughton

Staff Writer

The hot button issue of

climate change is being taught

in schools now more than ever

before.

Being one of the most talkedabout

topics, one which many

consider to be the most significant

issue of this generation, it

has become expected of many

classes to teach students about

the topic.

The subject of climate change

is introduced in Cal High

courses such as marine biology,

AP Environmental Science,

biology, and even chemistry.

Since it has become more of

an important and commonly

discussed topic, it has been

frequently discussed in a wider

variety of classes.

“It’s taken a long time for

people to come to realize, you

know, how important this topic

is, and how severe the consequences

are,” marine biology

teacher Douglas Mason said.

Mason covers topics such as

overfishing, population sizes of

different organisms and how

plankton are affected by the

change in their environment.

“We were focusing on all the

pollution and overfishing and

everything that we were doing

to deplete our oceans’ sources,”

senior Amarinah Correa said.

Since plankton play such an

important part in global warming,

it is addressed often in marine

biology. Plankton are one

of the most important organisms

on the planet by helping keep

ecosystems stable by regulating

carbon dioxide amounts in the

atmosphere, Mason said.

The problem of overfishing

is also addressed in the class.

“Overfishing makes marine

fisheries production more vulnerable

to ocean warming by

compromising the resilience of

many marine species to climate

change, and continued warming

will hinder efforts to rebuild

overfished populations,” according

to a peer-reviewed article

by Ibrahim Issifu from the

University of British Columbia.

Another class that is well

known for covering the issues

of climate change and the environment

is AP Environmental

Science (APES). The class is

focused on teaching students

more about the environment

around them, including the

issue of climate change, while

understanding small actions that

can be taken to help.

“I think it’s important because

we’re still at a point where

we can do something about it,”

APES teacher Sarah Gipson

said. “Even though it may seem

small, doing personal things

like turning out the lights when

you're not in the room and eating

less meat, every little bit helps.”

Over the past 20 years, addressing

the subject of climate

change has slowly become more

and more accepted and expected

of school districts.

”I don't remember covering

[the topic of climate change

when I was in high school], but

I also don't know that it was as

much of a big topic like it is

now,” Gipson said.

Other teachers share a similar

sentiment about the past.

“I think when I first started

teaching here, there were a lot

more, you know, climate change

deniers,” Mason said.

Regarding differing views

on the relevance of climate

change, little to no backlash

has been reported from either

of the classes.

“There’s some differing

views on maybe when we talk

Photo by Lili Loney

Marine Biology teacher Douglas Mason shows junior Kit Town a starfish from the aquarium tank in his classroom. Mason’s

class is one of several on campus that addresses the issue of climate change in the curriculum.

about solutions to issues and

stuff like that, but not aspects

that everyone agrees that like,

yes, climate change is a real

thing,” Correa said. “We’re

united on that front.”

Illustrations by Judy Luo

B6 A&E Read

The Californian Online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com Friday April 29, 2022

‘Clue’ in on Cal’s spring play

Theater wraps up

3-night run tonight

Shravya Salem Sathish

Online Editor

Most board games induce

thoughts of vacation nights,

childish arguments and the back

of a dusty closet that hasn’t been

touched since middle school.

But not Clue. A comical but

chilling mystery, it transcended

the table top to reach the silver

screen in 1985, and this spring

“Clue” set foot on Cal High’s

drama stage for a three-night

run that concludes tonight at 7

p.m. Tickets are $10.

“Clue” features six guests

attending a party in an obscure

mansion under given aliases:

Colonel Mustard, Professor

Plum, Mr. Green, Ms. Scarlet,

Mrs. Peacock, and Mrs. White.

They encounter various house

staff and, lastly, the host. But

murder is as close and as quick as

the flick of a nearby light switch.

On the stage, it’s anticipated

to be a 90-minute blast that

keeps the audience in fits of

laughter and in suspense. Drama

teacher Laura Woods describes

it as equally entertaining for

the actors.

“The most exciting aspect

is how stylized it is,” Woods

said. “It’s really great for my

actors. There’s a lot of gasps,

big moments, and really funny

stage business that happens.”

Many of the lead stars are

part of Cal’s improv team as

well, so it’s no surprise that the

stereotypical characters will be

portrayed with natural chemistry

and a flair of unique humor.

“Compared to other casts, I

feel like we have a really healthy

relationship with each other, like

everyone gets along,” senior

Maya Chakravarthi (French

maid Yvette) said.

Part of the rapport in this

tight-knit team stems from

experience.

“We’ve been working with

each other from freshman, [and]

sophomore year,” senior Lia

Roy (Ms. Peacock) said.

But one of the largest hurdles

when performing “Clue”

isn’t memorization or nailing

expressions, but the constantly

dynamic set.

“The play itself is a lot of

moving parts, actors moving

around for all lines, so we’re

Photo by Ryan Syms

From left to right, Miles Vetrovec, Maya Chakravarthi, Lia Roy, Devin Addiego, Madison Reedy, Saachi Sharma, and Kit

Town rehearse for their upcoming performance in “Clue”. The closing show is tonight at 7 p.m.

really trying to nail the blocking,”

senior Miles Vetrovec,

(Professor Plum) said.

Cal’s stage is a thrust stage,

meaning it extends into the auditorium.

All movement is and

must be visible to the audience

on all three sides. This presents

a more engaging experience but

also a challenge.

“There’s many different

locations, just like in the board

game, like the study, the hall,

the lounge, the kitchen,” Woods

said. “We can’t build walls because

they would block a quarter

of our audience. So we’ve had to

find ways to put everything on

wheels, and to turn things and

to have a really quick turnover.”

As the play continues to

move forward, some of the cast

is looking to close their drama

journey with the climatic closing

of the “Clue” murder case.

“It’s going to be really sad

because we’re leaving after

this year and it’s going to be

so much fun just to have this

experience with everyone,”

Chakravarthi said.

Woods agrees that this is

the perfect play, not only for

the seniors but for the school

continuing the momentum of

returning to in-person school

after a year stuck at home.

“Coming off of quarantine

time, I did not want to do something

heavy and dramatic, so all

our shows this year have been

light,” Woods said. “This is just

the right play for the right cast

and tech crew right now.”

Photo by Tyler Raymond

From left to right, Minseo Kim, Dylan Liujanto and

Raymond Chen were named to honor bands this year.

Trio named to

honors bands

Tanvi Pandya

Staff Writer

Cal High has been known

to have an extensive music

program, with multiple classes

offered and a series of performances

throughout the year.

So, it comes to no surprise that

many students participating in

the program go on to even higher

levels of music performance,

such as county and state bands.

Three students exceeding expectations

this year are juniors

Raymond Chen, Dylan Liujanto

and Minseo Kim, all of whom

were named to honors bands

earlier this year.

Chen and Liujanto, both

saxophone players for Cal’s jazz

ensemble, had the opportunity to

perform with the Contra Costa

Jazz Honor Band after going

through an audition process.

The county jazz honor band

is a collection of the best high

school band musicians in the

county and has been conducted

by legendary area jazz greats.

Chen and Lijuanto spent

about 10 hours with the honor

band, going through two auditions

and one concert.

While the honor band was

somewhat trying to get into, it

wasn’t as studious as Chen and

Liujanto originally expected.

“It was pretty chill,” Liujanto

said. “It was just like everyone

who liked playing music playing

together.”

Chen, a lifelong band student,

said the atmosphere was more

lax than expected and the “honor

aspect” wasn’t as high once he

was in the room. But he didn’t

really have a problem with that.

“I do think it made me a

better musician and student,”

Chen said.

Kim, who participated in the

All-State Chamber Orchestra,

had a different experience. She

stayed with other members of

the orchestra and experienced

a very different environment.

“It was really competitive,”

Kim said. “It was like everyone

was competing with each other

for the same spots because there

are a lot of people in orchestra.”

While that tough competition

may not be for everyone, Kim

said she wasn’t opposed to it

and actually came to enjoy it.

“You could tell that everyone

cared about music and wanted to

be a better musician, which was

nice to see,” Kim said.

Cal’s choir teacher Lori Willis,

who has all three students in

AP music theory, spoke highly

of the advanced bands.

“I think it’s great that they did

this,” Willis said. “It’s important

to take chances and show

passion and that’s what this is.”

New exhibit at SRV Museum

Her Side of the

Story celebrates

pioneer women

Hallie Chong

Staff Writer

At the former railroad station

in Danville lives the Museum of

the San Ramon Valley, which is

filled with preserved artifacts

scattered throughout the history

of the area.

The museum creates an

opportunity for long-term

residents to share their stories.

One of these stories is Her Side

of the Story, a new four-month

exhibit featured until May 22.

The exhibit shows excerpts

from different eras of pioneer

women. Placed in the middle

of the museum’s regular standing

exhibit, Her Side of the

Story features clothing, tools,

and dolls that tell the story of

women, mostly from the 1800s.

The exhibit was lent by the

Society of California Pioners.

“[The exhibit] was brought

here to show us what it was

like for women who traveled all

the way from the East Coast,”

museum docent Tom Day said.

“They are describing the difficulties

and struggles through

their stories.”

The exhibit displays authentic

quilts and leisure materials,

some donated by local residents

in hopes to preserve and share

their own history. Handmade

quilts are displayed on chairs

and hung up on the walls, giving

the exhibit an extra touch of

color. Antique dolls are placed

in various spots as well.

“A lot of people that do end

up going really like it and we

have a lot to relate to regarding

artifacts that their parents or

grandparents have used,” senior

Dhriti Avala, who previously

volunteered at the museum,

said. “For people our age, I

think it’s really cool to look at

objects and artifacts that we’ve

never seen before.”

In a separate room from the

exhibit, an interactive activity is

set up where visitors can write

their own stories and display

them for other visitors to read.

The activity prompts guide

visitors to reflect on their experience

moving to California.

Accompanying the artifacts

are writings that discuss the

Gold Rush.

“I enjoyed this museum

‘cause it perfectly captures the

rich and diverse history of pioneer

women in San Ramon and

coming here has helped expand

my interest,” sophomore Nikita

Mishra said.

Located on Railroad Avenue

near Lunardi’s Danville, the

museum is open from 1-4 p.m.

Tuesday to Friday, with alternate

hours Saturday and Sunday,

for all ages to visit and explore

the history of the beginning of

the San Ramon Valley.

“The station was originally

built for the railroad to bring

freight cars and passenger to the

valley,” Day said. The railroad

line that runs past the station

stopped being active in 1978 and

the station opened as a museum

on June 6, 1999.

“It’s a unique place, one of a

kind place. There’s really only

one museum that preserves our

local history,” curator Beverly

Lane said. “Visitors who visit

SRV come to the museum

because they wonder what

the history was before all the

Photo by Hallie Chong

Her Side of the Story is a new exhibit at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley. It opened in

February and will remain on display until May 22.

houses.”

The museum showcases

artifacts, specifically for the

Her Side of the Story exhibit,

in hopes to preserve the history

that lives in some residents’

memories and teaching visitors

how San Ramon came to be.

There are many attractions

the museum has to offer. The

one-room exhibit displays

paintings, signs and animals

across the walls with explanations

and narratives to show

how the San Ramon Valley

used to be before the modern

era that teenagers know today.

“The perimeter [of the museum]

tells a story of the history

starting with before history,

before people could write down

history all the way around to the

current time,” Day said.

Friday April 29, 2022

Read The Californian Online at www.thecalifornianpaper.com

A&E B7

Cal’s new club focuses

on making original films

Film club does

everything

from writing

scripts to

making final

movie edits

Samantha Contreras

A&E Editor

“I never really cared about not

being the same as those around

me. But that doesn’t mean I

don’t want to be the same.”

Junior Brianna Marbella

writes these lines in her first

screenplay for Cal High’s Film

Club, focusing on themes applicable

in every high schoolers

day to day life.

With this new club on campus,

students now have the

opportunity to gain experience

and knowledge about film making

and the production process.

Junior Aleeza Zakai, the

president and founder of the

film club, has great plans in

store for this year and the future.

“Film club is a place for

like-minded students to get together

and make productions,”

Zakai said.

Her goal was to create an

authentic crew, similar to what

could be found behind the

scenes of any big time production,

and make 100 percent

student-run films. The club

plans on creating multiple productions

all at once so that each

screenwriter has the opportunity

to have their scripts acted out

and on film.

Senior Ellie De Jesus, a

screenwriter and director for

their upcoming film, plans to

pursue acting and directing as

a career. Gaining experience

onstage as an actor through

Cal’s theater program, the Film

Club was a perfect way for her

to get familiar with what goes

on behind the scenes

“It’s cool in Film Club that I

get the opportunity to be behind

the scenes because it’s a different

perspective,” De Jesus said.

“I love doing both and it’s a nice

opportunity.”

The club’s screenwriters have

created a variety of unique story

lines. This includes mysteries,

dramas, and coming-of-age

stories. Each of the films share

important themes and express a

great deal of symbolism.

Marbella shares her excitement

about producing her story

into a film and can’t wait to

gain experience creating a film

to express important lessons.

“The lesson I want to be

taught through [this film] is

that if you seek happiness, you

won’t get it, it has to be natural,”

Marbella said.

After writing the scripts,

the club moves into the preproduction

stage which means

finalizing scripts and scenes and

having actors practice through

their lines. The next step is

the production stage, which

includes the actual filming and

recording. The last stage is

post-production, where editing

is used to add visual and sound

effects.

The club worked together

with De Jesus’ plot idea to execute

the perfect story. De Jesus

shared that the plot line follows a

girl who wrote disturbing stories

in a notebook that all resulted in

death. Years later, these stories

turn into reality as they begin

to happen in her life just weeks

before her 16th birthday. The

protagonist and her friends are

determined to stop these horror

stories from happening.

Freshman Sami Kuncharapu

is already eager to feed her passion

for film acting in this club

while also dipping her toes in

other aspects of film making to

Photo by Samantha Contreras

From left to right, Kit Town, Emma Kollo, Briana Farias, and Sean Martin attend the

auditions held on March 10th for an acting part in the club’s film.

Photo courtesy of Cal High Film Club Instagram

The film club holds their first shooting day on April 24.

gain perspective on the process

of it as a whole.

“With the film club you can

experience a little bit of screen

writing, acting, producing,”

Kuncharapu said.

Zakai hopes members will

leave having gained some

knowledge and experience

about how film production

works and what interaction

between colleagues feels like.

The club completed their

first day of shooting their short

film “Truly 16” last Sunday.

The actors and film crew met

on campus to use as their set

for the film.

This new club available to

Cal students has become a

gateway to new opportunities

in the film world. The club has

the possibility to open doors for

students to enter festivals and

receive national recognition,

Zakai said.

“A lot of our members are

planning on going into the industry

and really, there are not

a lot of opportunities in the area

we live in to get involved as a

student,” Zakai said. “If you’re

even slightly interested at all in

any component of film making,

this is the place you want to do it.

It’s flexible, student-run, and no

adults restricting your creativity”

and telling you what to do.”

‘Turning Red’ has

been turning heads

Hannah Shariff

Staff Writer

As time progresses the

need for representation

of different minorities is

increasing, and although

we’re on the right path,

there are many bumps on

this road.

Many different forms of

representation have been

executed poorly, resulting

in the harsh criticism that

comes with it. One of the

biggest offenders of this is

Disney.

Disney released its latest

animated film on Feb. 21

called “Turning Red.” The

film follows a young girl

named Mei Lee, a Chinese

Canadian who lives in

Toronto. The movie portrays

the conflict of many kids

who are descendants of ethnic

households and the often

overbearing and protective

parenting that follows.

Many people found this

representation in the film to

be of a positive execution.

The movie follows Mei’s

conflict with trying to uphold

her mother’s expectations

and incorporates many

Chinese traditions throughout

the film.

But, Disney had to add its

personal touch by incorporating

a key plot point: Anytime

the main character Mei

Lee feels a rush of excitement,

she turns into a red

panda. The movie explains

this as a hereditary trait that

Illustration by Judy Luo

has been carried on by her

ancestors. They explain how

turning into the red panda

was a way her ancestors

protected her family.

Although the writing

of turning Mei Lee into a

panda was viewed as heartwarming

by many viewers,

it can also be a reason to

refute the opinion of this

being a good representation.

It’s important to give credit

to Disney for including

this in a diverse character

catalog, but the pattern is

becoming more apparent

in turning these non-White

characters into animals.

“Turning Red” is not

the first example we see

when Disney portrays good

representation, but somehow

doesn’t simultaneously.

Examples include “Princess

and the Frog” and “Soul”.

Although both films feature

Black characters, they focus

on turning them into some

living form other than human

for a good 90 percent

of the plot, thus ruining the

representation.

Although “Turning Red”

focuses on important man

vs. self conflicts that ethnic

kids continue to experience

in a very kid-friendly way,

the side plot of having

Mei Lee as a red panda for

much of the film affects

the impact the movie could

have had.

This is the first Disney

movie to represent a modern-day

Chinese character,

and although this is a good

direction in featuring more

often ignored minorities,

there are still adjustments

that need to be made in the

future to provide true representation.

B8 A&E


SAY CHEESE!

Cal High’s film and digital

photography classes offer students

different looks behind the lens

Erica Dembrowicz

and Parwaan Virk

Staff Writers

Since the advent of digital

photography, photos shot on authentic

film have become much

less common over the years.

However, Cal High students

interested in photography have a

chance to experience the process

of developing film photos and

learning digital photography

software in the school’s yearlong

elective photo classes.

In teacher Paul Fortayon’s

traditional photo class, students

get to take their own creative

photos in a professional way

while getting the hands-on

experience of developing their

shots like those edgy, cool

kids in movies and TV shows,

standing in the school’s dark

room and looking mysterious.

Photo students tend to have

less experience shooting film

compared to taking digital

photos. As a result, a lot of first

year students don’t know as

much about film photography.

Students learn the process of

developing film in the class ‘s

darkroom, learning the factors

that result in a stronger quality

photo. Many students become

engaged in the class because

of the appeal of using an older

method that existed long before

digital photography did.

Sophomore Natalie Clark, a

first time photo student, thinks

the class may be intimidating

for some because developing

film is so foreign, but she said

it’s worth it when she sees the

final product of her shots.

“I like the fact that I get

to develop my own photos,”

Clark said. “It’s fun being in

the darkroom.”

Senior Kadence MacPherson

has taken the class since she was

a sophomore. She was hesitant

about taking the class at first,

but she has taken a real liking

to it and plans to continue the

passion in college.

“It’s just an amazing experience,”

said MacPherson, who

even paid her brother to act as

a model for one of her photo

shoots.

Some elements of photography

that students learn are

how to take a satisfying and

high quality photo, involve

composition, the rule of thirds,

and lighting. These lessons all

contribute to students creating

their best images possible, as

they end up developing their

three of their best photos out of

the two dozen they have taken

throughout the year.

Fortayon, who has taught

Cal’s photo class since 1999,

believes the main difference

between digital and film photography

is the processes of

taking the photos.

“Instead of thinking about

what you just shot, you are

thinking about what you’re

about to shoot,¨ said Fortayon,

who teaches four sections of

photography.

The introductory photo class

provides students with the

fundamentals and serves as a

prerequisite for those students

who want to enroll in the one

advanced photo class,also

taught by Fortayon.

In the advanced class, students

learn advanced techniques,

hear from guest speakers,

and get to display their work

in art galleries and shows. There

is a current show month-long

show on display at the Alcosta

Senior & Community Center

Art Gallery that concludes

today with a reception from

4-5:30 p.m.

“The best part of the whole

process is when students are

taking images of things that they

are passionate about,” Fortayon

said. “[They] produce it themselves

in the darkroom and they

come out with an amazing print

that they are proud of.”

Junior Daniel Choi likes

taking photos that capture

movement and are not forcibly

placed. He thinks that he can see

the movement in a film photo.

“It’s obvious to see if it’s

not,” Choi said.

Students get to take the

majority of their photos out

of school with class cameras

they’re allowed to take home.

It’s clear that students enjoy

their photos more when

they are inspired on the

spot.

“I went on vacation

and I took a bunch of

photos of my family

and the boat that we

were staying on and

those were probably

my favorites,”

Clark said.

Senior Samantha

James, who has

taken photo classes

since she was a sophomore,

said one of her

favorite photos is a self

portrait. James was able to

create a photo that she wanted

to be “messy but keeping it

together” by mixing a lot of

things up with her clothes, look

and background to complete a

prompt she made up and capture

it into a photo she enjoyed.

“It was my most unique,”

James said.

Digital Photography

Over the years, digital photography

has dominated the

photography, video, and art

industries.

Aside from serving the fundamental

purpose of recording

a scenic view or a humorous

Photo by Ryan Syms

Junior Kevin Goodman checks the negative images of some photos he took in Paul Fortayon’s photography class. Fortayon

teaches the photography and advanced photography classes that focus on film, while Jennifer Bible and Kathleen Seabury

teach Cal High’s digital photography classes.

video, digital cameras have

attracted more people to the

field, developing new

hobbies and professions

as well.

Cal’s

digital photography class has

been teaching students about the

basics of digital photography

and cameras, including editing

with Photoshop.

The digital photography

class falls under the Fine Arts

requirement for high school and

is articulated with Diablo Valley

College, providing students

with three free college units if

they meet certain requirements

in the class.

Jennifer Bible has taught

digital photography since 2013,

when the previous instructor,

Steve Dick, retired.

Bible said the basics of the

class are what makes a good

photo, how to make a good

photo, and then how to edit

their own photos and photos

online as well.

“That’s where the digital

aspect comes in utilizing digital

equipment, which is less

waste,” Bible said. “It allows us

to take a lot of photos in order

to get a few great photos and

then we can edit them as well

and make them even better.”

Bible usually teaches either

three or four sections of digital

photography, so about 125

students a year. She also

teaches the computer

graphic arts class.

Bible’s background

knowledge

on the subject

comes from

being a graphic

designer, where

she spent 15

years designing

professional

sports events

like the Super

Bowl, the MLB

All-Star Game,

NHL Winter Classic,

NBA All-Star

Game, [and] the NHL

All-Star Game.

“I had to edit and manipulate

photography for a

lot of the work that we would

do there, so that’s where the

Photoshop skills came in and

utilizing that,” said Bible, who

personally enjoys landscape

and still life photography.

Bible became a teacher

because she wanted a lifestyle

change. As she lived in Danville,

so it was easy transition

teaching at Cal.

Junior Aidan Auyeung is

taking digital photography this

year because it seemed like an

interesting class.

“It’s easy to learn, and the

projects are interesting,” said

Auyeung, who did not have

prior experience with digital

photography before enrolling

in the class.

Auyeung said he’s learned

to use Photoshop to edit his

photos. He says that his favorite

project of the class was “Cinema

graph”, where one part of an

image is moving, while another

part is still. Recently, students

were working on portrait photography.

Like Auyeung, junior Sinoe

Hingano did not have past

knowledge of digital photography

before taking the class.

“You are exposed to a lot of

forms of digital art, and you

have a lot of freedom to express

creativity,” Hingano said.

Hingano said his favorite

assignment this year was the

“Landscape in a Bottle” project

that allowed students to actually

Photoshop a landscape image

into a bottle.

Many of these bottles are

displayed on the second floor

of the Fine Arts building.

“[The class is] a great way to

explore a visual medium,” Bible

said. “Everything we look at is

visual these days. You know you

watch your phone all the time.

It’s all-around a digital medium.

“So understanding how digital

images work and how they

can convey a message I think

is important to all businesses,”

Bible continued. “So I really

think you can only help you

further in any career you choose

to go into.”

Illustrations by Ari Havey

The Californian April 2022 Issue

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