Allison Chang

Allison: So ... how do we begin our story? Deepti: Once upon a time there was an old hag named Allison Chang ...

When students attended their class guidance meetings in early February, many were excited to find out that the administration had decided to add three new applied arts classes to the course selection.  

Two weeks, two class periods and about three hours of torture. OK, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I kid you not — when I first tried to teach Sara Tseng’s Chinese 1 class, I felt like I was going to die.  

Senior Sarah Kuo’s childhood pastime of backyard badminton matches turned out to be much more than a fun hobby when she joined the high school badminton team.

On Dec. 5, Nationwide Insurance issued a public notice on its website informing customers that a breach of security had occurred on Oct. 3, joining a whole host of companies that have been infiltrated by hackers.

The first time Sherlock Holmes appears in the latest CBS television series, “Elementary,” he is shirtless, walking toward Watson while spewing an ardent confession of love. Watson drops her purse in shock, while Holmes flips on the television and reveals that he is reciting the lines of a movie.  

When the audience first saw freshman Nina Nelson step up to the microphone at Saratoga Idol on Nov. 29, they thought she was just an average contestant waiting for her few minutes of fame.

Each school day, students drag themselves up from their comfortable, warm beds to face their first morning class.

I have two high schools. Aside from Saratoga High, I also attend Stanford Online High School (OHS). OHS is by no means a conventional school. All classes are taught online through video conferences and email correspondence between teachers and students.

On the night of Oct. 10, Facebook was inundated with posts from juniors calling for redemption. One day later, Facebook was once again covered with joyful status updates about the success junior quad day.

Regardless of grade level, all students can take a maximum of seven classes at the school. 

California’s Proposition 32, also known as the “Paycheck Protection” Initiative, has angered many public servants, such as teachers, as an attack against their livelihood.

Since fewer students signed up for the classes than needed, woodworking will not be offered in the course selection starting this fall.

“You look really tired, but why are you still smiling?” This was a question posed to Jonathan Pwu, the new music teacher, over dinner by one of his friends. His only reply was, “It is just easier to smile,” illustrating a defining feature of Pwu’s personality: his cheerfulness.

In one hour, less than the span of one block period, you can drive to Oakland, the sixth most dangerous city in the U.S according to 24/7 Wall Street. In a mere 25 minutes, the time it takes to drive to Chipotle and back, you reach East Palo Alto, which once had the highest homicide rate in the country. 

Trying to imagine the school without longtime assistant principal Karen Hyde seems almost impossible to most students and teachers. But a hiring committee recently decided to select English teacher Kerry Mohnike out of over 100 applicants to fill the job following Hyde’s retirement. 

As the Falcons reached the end of their season in May, each of the players left the team with a new hope in the team’s strength. This hope came from a winning streak that the team held the whole season, broken only by two losses.  

Several groups of physics students gathered at the upper field on April 30 to let loose their homemade catapults. 

School officials began searching for a new principal as soon as current principal Jeff Anderson announced in January that he would be taking a new position at the district office.   

Until now, the government has not taken any action against trollers, but trollers beware, continuing to annoy online forums may soon land you in jail anywhere from six months to 25 years.  

The Falcons came out of the 2011 season with just one win. Determined to turn around their history of losses, the Falcons thundered into the 2012 season.  

Each spring, the speech and debate team braces for the season’s close. With the end comes one of the first stepping stones to the most prestigious speech and debate tournaments a student can attend: States, where the best of the best in California gather in one area to compete non-stop for three days.

On March 14, the boys’ volleyball team played its first league game at Santa Clara High School and unlike last year, they started their season with a bang, winning their game in three sets.

Nature vs. nurture. Scientists have long debated which factor is most responsible for the persona, and most importantly, the intelligence of an individual. Was Einstein simply born brilliant? Or were there other factors, such as his schooling, that allowed him to become one of the most intelligent individuals in history? The results from the latest Intel Science Talent Search competition seem like a strong argument for the latter.

When, on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world was permanently persuaded that weapons of mass destruction should never be used again. Despite reservations about using nuclear weapons, not much has been done to neutralize the danger. With the increase in accessibility to nuclear weapons, the possibility of nuclear war is steadily increasing. North Korea: Problem or not?

All the finalists flew to Washington, D.C., to attend the awards gala held by the Society for Science and the Public which would determine the top 10 finalists. On March 13, she learned that she had finished in ninth place and won $20,000. There were 40 other finalists. The first-place winner was Nithin Tumma from Fort Gratiot, Mich., for his research on a more direct and targeted method of breast cancer treatment and won $100,000.

When speech captain, junior Sujay Khandekar and sophomore Jason Li began their first rounds at the second Coast Forensic League Spring Individual Events (IE) tournament on March 3, they had no idea that they would both walk away as finalists. Khandekar and Li placed first and fourth, respectively, in Oratorical Interpretation.

As members of the class of 2012 finished their final college applications in January, they prepared themselves for the wait, the grueling and nerve-wracking wait of wondering, “Will I be accepted? Will I be rejected?”

Last year, senior Alissa Zhang read an article about how 350 million people in the world had diabetes. Then, reflecting on how several of her friends and family had the same condition, she decided to do something about it.

Last year, senior Alissa Zhang read an article about how 350 million people in the world had diabetes. Then, reflecting on how several of her friends and family had the same condition, she decided to do something about it.

Sport Name: Boys’ Volleyball Coach name: Daniel Lopez LAST YEAR RECORD (results in league/CCS): 0-12 (De Anza League) Key losses to graduation: Garrett Huening, Brandon Pierce Key returning players: Brandon Pak, Paras Unadkat, Salmaan Javed Key additions: Justin Liu Star player: Brandon Pak Key statistic: 0 League Wins

Get the tape rolling and let the festivities begin. Each year, the Cinequest Institute, a Silicon Valley-based company, hosts a film festival lasting 13 days. For several years, sophomores and juniors from the Media Arts Program have made a day trip to visit the festival.

At the tournament at James Logan High during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, members of the SHS speech and debate team was beset with a number of problems. Especially hard hit was the public forum team.

One pint of blood. That’s all that it takes to save three lives and on Jan. 20 in the little Gym, 47 people stepped up to the challenge.

I was born on December 25th—a date more commonly known as Christmas. In 1995, I was supposed to be due a week or two afterwards, but my mother was already going into labor.

There are always certain freshmen each year who are able to skip ahead in math to Trigonometry/Precalculus, but jumping to AP Calculus BC or even AB is almost unheard of. Landon Chow is the rare exception who has managed to make the leap. In fact, he is the only freshman to take AP Calculus BC this year.

It’s 2 a.m. the night before that AP Bio test and you are starting to nod off, but there’s still have a few more hours of studying to be done. The thought of sleep is tempting, especially since the test is not until third period. You think, “Maybe if I skipped first and second period I could still get an A...”

As I walked into Westfield Valley Fair Mall on Nov. 16, I was filled with apprehension. My mission? To get the mall Santa to admit he isn’t actually Santa. Growing up, I did not believe in Santa for long, as I have extremely practical Chinese parents. As soon as I was 4, my parents made it clear to me that they were the ones giving me presents, not some magical trespasser with flying herd animals. As a result, I was never interested in taking pictures with the mall Santa and telling him my Christmas wishes.

The parliamentary and public forum debate teams had their first tournament on Oct. 14 at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. Despite the fact that none of the captains were able to attend the tournament, in addition to a lack of varsity teams attending due to the PSAT on the same day, the team gave a strong showing, with most teams getting a score of two wins and two losses.

As the curtains slowly opened on Oct. 20, audience members were faced with a sofa, dinner table and various chairs scattered around, which constituted the Orgon household. Then, senior Penny Burgess began the play, “Tartuffe,” with a long-winded speech about the failings of humanity, drawing the audience into the play for the next two hours.

Hidden away in the far left corner of the music quad is a largely-unknown room labeled “Robotics” in worn letters. Despite its abandoned-looking exterior, students may have heard loud music blasting from within, indicating that it is not as lifeless as it may seem. Lately, it has been filled with bustling students working power tools and writing code.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of Cupertino High School on the morning of Oct. 19 were five protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a group that has gained public scrutiny for their picketing at soldiers’ funerals, an act deemed inappropriate by many Americans. Opposite to them stood 50 counter-protesters. One called out through a megaphone, “If you hate America so much, then why don’t you go to Iraq?” The crowd cheered in support of his statement.

Fledgling Falcon reporter fumbles interview As a so-called chickadee, a newcomer, to the Falcon staff, I have had a myriad of new experiences this year. But by far, the most difficult and often awkward part of being on staff is interviewing. I cannot count how many times in just the first six weeks that I have walked into the wrong classroom or frozen in the middle of an interview.

The San Jose Mercury News was one of the first newspapers to publish on the Internet in 1993. The paper’s editors were among a few who saw that eventually, news distribution would transition from a paper-based medium to the Internet.

On Oct. 5, a 45-year-old cement plant worker Shareef Allman killed three and wounded six people in Cupertino. Allman was killed a day later, after police officers opened fire on him.

The speech and debate team placed fifth in the league last year, and this year, they are looking to become even stronger with the addition of new captains, members and an event.

In 1979, Charleen Chiang came to the very first time to the United States from Taiwan after graduating from the National Taiwan University. She had been able to come on account of her outstanding grades and was pursuing a degree in computer science.

When March rolled around last year and schedule preferences were made, senior Thomas Ishikawa requested a free sixth period because of conflicts with baseball. However, upon receiving his schedule this year, the school said that he had to take seven classes during his final year in high school.