Anika Jhalani

The Red Zone, spirit days and Falcon apparel are all projects the leadership team helps with to increase school spirit. Additionally, leadership is trying to extend their school spirit efforts at the varsity boys’ basketball game on Feb. 17 at Lynbrook High School.

Sometimes leadership can make or break a team’s successes. For this year’s varsity girls’ basketball team, the seniors have helped the team to a 9-0 record.  Seniors forward Talia Sisco, guard Taylor Jessen and center Campbell Oreglia have worked to propel the team to victory in each of its league games.

Sometimes leadership can make or break a team’s successes. For this year’s varsity girls’ basketball team, the seniors have helped the team to a 9-0 record.

The Red Zone, spirit days and Falcon apparel are all projects the leadership team helps with to increase school spirit. Additionally, leadership is trying to extend their school spirit efforts at the varsity boys’ basketball game on Feb. 17 at Lynbrook High School.

There has been debate among the faculty whether or not to adopt a rotating block schedule for the upcoming school year, and with it has come side arguments for other adjustments to the school schedule. Proposed changes have ranged from embedded tutorials to multiple late starts, but the issue that has most interested me is the potential for a shorter lunch period. A 35-minute lunch.

With the rise of popular dance video games, shows and equipment, dance has become an important part of being healthy. The Women’s Hospital at El Camino Hospital is planning a women’s health event called “Day of Dance” and has invited the cheer team to perform to raise awareness about staying active through fun exercise such as dance.

Every winter marks the beginning of a new season of basketball, which brings with it a new team and new challenges. This year’s varsity girls’ basketball team will be welcoming more underclassmen and juniors, one of whom is sophomore Dharini Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy will be starting as power forward for the varsity team, along with senior point guard Shriya Nagpal, junior power forward Hannah Johnson, sophomore power forward Tivoli Sisco and junior guard Kim Chou.

Because of their busy season, the football players often do not get the opportunity to interact with the whole cheer team. However, to thank the cheerleaders for their efforts, the football team organized a banquet on Nov. 4—the day of the Los Gatos football game— to show their gratitude. “I have looked forward to the banquet all year long,” cheerleader junior Nadya Shahin said. “It’s nice to spend time with the team we cheer for but don’t really get the chance to interact with.”

Mitt Romney Strengths: Most, including his opponent Newt Gingrich, predict that Romney will be one of the final two GOP candidates competing for the Republican nomination. Romney has name recognition, is the former governor of Massachusetts and is known for his success with business. In a time of economic hardship, many Republican voters feel Romney is their best bet; he is well known for turning the Salt Lake Olympics around after its $379 billion debt.

When putting on their goggles, swimming their warm-ups and getting ready for one of their final swims of the season, the 2009 boys’ varsity 4x100 freestyle team probably didn’t predict the enormity of what their next race would bring. But when then senior Matt Murray, senior Ben Hinshaw, sophomore Adam Hinshaw and freshman Ian Burns beat the National High School record for the race, they immortalized the race.

What outfit would you expect to gather catcalls in the hallways of our beloved school? Maybe a skimpy ensemble is too suggestive for our halls. Or perhaps an orange and black outfit that doesn’t quite say Halloween. Well, from my experience both are plausible but not nearly as effective at gaining attention as one of my most treasured shirts: my “Meg for California 2010” green tee.

There may be nothing more endearing than the sight of 4-year-olds trying to shake their pom poms and 9-year-olds practicing their cheers until they’re perfect. The cheer team got a chance to see some of the best elementary school talent from this year’s Pee Wee cheer camp.

The legendary Freddie Falcon. In the past, he’s encouraged spirit at football games and been revered by SHS students and fans and especially small children. But the beloved character that could once be seen dancing at games is no more. That’s right: the school needs a Freddie—and fast.

SHSTV, a branch of the Media Arts Program, has begun a new tradition with its weekly Friday broadcasts, a more interesting way for students to receive the often mundane announcements along with short news reports. “I think it’s great that we are putting out these weekly announcements,” said senior producer Talia Sisco. “But the stress level from last year has definitely increased.” In the previous year, the staff churned out video announcements every other month. They were longer broadcasts and often focused on topics on a more in-depth level.

The cheerleading team had tryouts for the 2011-2012 school year on June 13. Following deliberation, there will now be 12 girls on the varsity team, and 16 on the JV team.

When seniors Jay Lee and David Mandel first started directing the recent student productions “The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)” and “Black Comedy,” they never imagined the tough job in store for them.

Math teacher Laressa Ridge didn’t expect to start her morning on vacation with a call from school.

“Jekyll and Hyde” and Shakespeare. Both are famous and have been adapted into blockbuster hits. This year the drama department will be performing both in the spring musical and the student productions, respectively.

The thieves had left her house in such appalling disarray that the junior girl still cannot erase the memory from her mind two years later. All the drawers and closets were open and almost nothing was undisturbed. Some jewelry along with hundreds of dollars of electronics, were missing—leaving their house feeling empty.

“Pssst … hey Susie, what’s the answer to question 3?” reads a comic strip from Calvin and Hobbes. The comic brings back a “nostalgic” view of traditional cheating—whispered conversations and quick peeks at peers’ papers. However, the abundance of technology in and out of the classroom has led to a vast increase in cheating techniques in recent years, although “old-fashioned” approaches are still widespread. A survey of 517 students done by the Falcon suggests that cheating is most prevalent on homework.

When students around the nation hear the word “stock,” they might think about ingredients for soup or Facebook stalking; but not students at Saratoga. From the investment club to teacher Kim Anzalone’s economics class, some students are slowly becoming passionate about the economy and the stock market.

Fresh off performances of the fall play “Our Town” and the student production “Woman in Black,” students in the drama department are now showing off their talent for play writing.

A few days prior to the highly anticipated football game between Saratoga High and crosstown rival Los Gatos, seniors Tim Lycurgus and Kevin Darchuk created a page on Facebook for Saratoga and Los Gatos students alike to discuss their sentiments regarding the game. The initial comments were harmless—one-liners poking fun at the opposing team.

“Are you French?” “No.” “Are, you, like, a hermaphrodite?” “Nope.” “Well, then, what’s up with that forest growing on your legs?”

“Toot it and boot it.” “Take it and break it.” “Love it then shove it.” Clearly, everlasting love is mundane; Sinatra has been replaced with Soulja Boy, movies like “Borat” are rented over “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and engagement rings are now rare commodities.

"They wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other and it’s just a terrible thing," said Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino as he recently described gay pride parades.

The very first lines of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution read, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." This simple sentence has sparked a debate over the possible solutions and complications surrounding one of America's most controversial issues: illegal immigration. The 14th amendment, which introduces birthright citizenship, has encouraged some illegal immigrants to try to have children in the United States, which has created a host of problems for our nation.

As if the drama department hasn’t changed enough with a new teacher and new curriculum, a couple of ambitious students decided to take on a challenge that hasn’t been done for several years; a student production.

With water sloshing around the players, chlorine stinging their eyes and constant thrashing that makes voices hard to hear, teamwork is not only difficult to achieve but essential to a water polo team's success. This year's girls' water polo teams have an additional hurdle to face: an unusually low number of veteran players, resulting in time spent teaching the new, more inexperienced players the game from scratch.

When it comes to watching high level political races, many people are willing to TiVo their favorite soap and instead tune into a live news broadcast of opposing candidates in heated debate. The drama and gossip of such races have always been crowd pleasers, and the 2010 California gubernatorial race between Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown is no exception.

For many students, club day is often an exciting mark as the resumption of the school year, but for freshman, it is a whirlwind of action inviting them to the realms of high school. “I am so glad that we have a club day event,” said freshman Nikhil Goel. “I knew I wanted to join a couple clubs in high school but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Club day was the perfect way for me to see what each club offered and to help me pick which ones I would be interested in.”

With the recent rumors of the world ending in 2012, the new trend seems to be to party like there is no tomorrow. For some students, however, this prediction is merely looked upon as a mental speed bump on the road to reaching their dreams. For junior Varsha Ramesh, no distraction can keep her from her ambitious dream of being America’s first Indian-American First Lady. “I know it’s a little out there, but being First Lady would give me so much influence without the stress of being president,” she said with a laugh.