Annie Lee

In a lone lit room at the corner of the house, the clock reads 3:42 a.m. Sprawled on the lamplit desk are several papers, an open textbook and an open capped pen. Ripped Tootsie pop and Hershey's kiss wrappers also scatter the surface of the desk. A teenage girl sits in front of her work. Her eyelids slowly begin to close. On the left side of her computer screen sits an almost blank Word Document that reads "Healthcare Bill Research Paper" across the top. On the right side of the screen, an intense game of Connect Four continues as the girl struggles to focus her eyes on the pieces. Wait a second, let's start at the beginning.

On the morning of Jan. 5, Shota Hasegawa, a 2007 graduate, a passed away in his sleep. The reasons for his death are still unknown and under investigation, but in the meantime, students, teachers and parents in the school's music community have been left to deal with a tragic loss.

“Bonjour! Qu’est-ce que vous avez fait ce week-end?” Every sixth period in room 408 starts calm and collectively with Madame Bergkamp leading a discussion of the past weekend or plans for the exciting weekend to come. However, what follows for the next 90 minutes in our French 4 Honors class can never be expected; sometimes we can be found reading magazines, singing French songs, playing vocabulary tag, doing yoga or eating lots and lots of food.

Hundreds of boxes of fundraising peanut butter cookie dough for the school’s music department have been recalled because of the possible risk of salmonella infection in late January. However, although the company offered to collect the boxes of cookie dough as a precaution, no boxes of cookie dough have been turned in, according to the music department.

Students can expect to go to all their classes on Mondays next year after teachers voted 42-27 last week to reject a proposal to make every day a block schedule, according to principal Jeff Anderson.

Not many students can brag that they have driven over 100 mph, but senior Nikola Radosavlijevich is no stranger to speed, having driven up to 160 mph on his motorcycle and 140 mph on his four wheel go-kart. Radosavlijevich started racing motorcycles at age 13 when his dad introduced him to the activity. “My dad bought a motorcycle and I started to watch racing on TV, and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” said Radosavlijevich. “The adrenaline and the speed is just awesome.”

After four years of hard work and singing her heart out on the McAfee Center stage, senior Juliana Lustenader was crowned the 2009 Saratoga Idol on Mar. 4. Lustenader has participated in the event for four years and after placing second freshman year, third sophomore year and not placing in junior year, it was her last chance at the crown. Lustenader was surprised to find out that she finally won, edging out junior Lauren Henderson, who placed second, and sophomore Amalie MacGowan, who placed third. “I was shocked and I thought that [the emcees] were joking,” said Lustenader about the moment the decision was announced.

At the end of each school year, every member of the symphonic bands receives an envelope from music teacher John Zarco. Inside every envelope is a hand-written letter filled with student-specific memories, wishes of good luck for the future and a heartfelt “thank you” for being in band. With so many students, not one of which is forgotten, the process undoubtedly takes hours and never fails to leave an impression on all those who receive a letter. However, Saratoga students will not be receiving these heart-warming letters from Zarco after this year. After three years of drilling the marching band, conducting the Jazz bands and teaching the two band periods, Zarco will be leaving Saratoga for Minneapolis to pursue a PhD in music education and conducting.

Have you heard of Ashley Preston? For those of you who haven’t figured it out, Ashley Preston is not a real person but instead a social experiment conducted by the Falcon staff. She had a fake profile on Facebook that stated that she was supposedly starting school here for second semester after moving to California from Hialeah, Fla.

This year, the Sadie Hawkins dance, themed "Opposites Attract," will be held in the Small Gym on Friday, Feb. 27. The dance has been separated from its traditional partner, Spring Fling week, which will be held April 13-17. Each weekend in March had already been booked for other events such as Bombay in the Bay, and because April is too late and too close to Junior and Senior prom, ASB was forced to put the dance in February.

The clock reads 12:30 a.m. The roads are empty, students are studying for an AP Biology test and English teacher Kerry Mohnike is still working by lamp at home. Currently on her 18th year of teaching at Saratoga High, Mohnike has taken on many leading roles this year within the school that often require her to stay up late in order to finish up work.

At 9:04 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan 20., most teachers were not lecturing or going over homework. Instead, they were streaming the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama in their classrooms to let students watch history in the making. However, a group of 52, including students, teachers and chaperones and a couple other individual students who traveled with different organizations had the spectacular opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and watch the inauguration in person. Another group from Saratoga also traveled to Washington—Redwood Middle School Marching Band and Auxiliary paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue as part of the inauguration parade.

My mom often jokes with me and asks, “Annie, do you eat to live, or live to eat?” I already know the answer, but do you? Step into my time machine and I’ll show you. Every night before I go to bed, I enjoy myself a little “Midnight snack.” I’m sorry, that was a typo. “Midnight feast.” When I first started this habit, my mom would try to discourage me from eating so late into the night because eating late supposedly makes you gain weight. But this didn’t stop me. I continued snacking on cereal, Cup Noodles and leftovers until finally my mom gave in. She now prepares food for my fourth meal of the day on a regular basis. The ironic thing is that most of the time I’m not even hungry when I eat at midnight. I just miss the feeling of having food in my mouth, so I go searching for a snack in my refrigerator.

A flock of students triggered serious traffic problems at the top of the quad steps Nov. 13, as French Club hosted their first school-wide event: National French Week Nov. 10-14. The students were there to get crepes being served by the club.

The Monta Vista Matadors were in for a surprise when they arrived at Saratoga on Oct. 21 to find junior Mika Padmanabhan dressed in uniform. The Falcons had released their secret weapon. The addition of Padmanabhan was all it took to push the team over the edge to victory. They lost 3-4 earlier this season to the Matadors, but with the addition of the talented junior they were able to turn the tables and come out on top 5-2.

The Tutorial Center, held last year after school in room 804, has been moved this year to the left half of the social studies office during lunch. The primary reason for this rearrangement was the lack of participation last year.

The sunlight began to wane and the temperature began to drop as the girls’ tennis team lined the fence, watching anxiously as two lone figures continued to do battle on Oct. 7. Back and forth the ball soared as the match between long-time rivals Saratoga and Monta Vista hovered at a 3-3 standstill. No. 4 singles player freshmen Crystal Yen finally lost 6-4 in the third set after several hours of nail-biting play, bringing the final score to a disappointing 4-3 loss.

The second dance of the year was a hit for many, gathering more than 700 students to celebrate the conclusion of the annual Homecoming week. As students lined up from the entrance of the gymnasium along the front sidewalk, the clock had already struck 8, and the doors had yet to open as promised. What many hadn’t realized was that up until hours prior to the event, coordinators were already facing conflicts that hindered the success of the dance.

“Join to find out how to get the old Facebook back,” advertises just one of the numerous anti-new-Facebook groups popping up. With the new Facebook now permanent and mandatory to use, countless people have been vocal about how much they absolutely hate it. But, what’s really wrong with this new layout?

Hundreds of students crowded around the cafeteria-faced end of the quad and waited for the long-anticipated freshman quad day to begin on Sept. 30. Some came looking for an opportunity to laugh at and mock the freshmen, and while many got what they came for, others found themselves impressed with parts of the show.

If the Wawona Peachtree Classic in Fresno is any indication, the girls’ varsity tennis team may just beat their long-time rival the Monta Vista Matadors this year. Despite several close matches, the Falcons have been unable to defeat the Matadors since ending their 72-match win streak three years ago. “I think this year we match up very well with Monta Vista and we have the opportunity to take the upper hand in this rivalry,” said Uyehara. “If everybody steps up to the plate and plays up to their best abilities, I think we will have no problem.”

This year in the freshman elections, the administration has improved the voting method by handing the responsibility over to the students. Unlike in past elections, freshmen voted during two lunch periods instead of having ballots passed out in class. Although the number of votes was not as great, the new system will provide a more realistic voting experience. “You have to make an effort if you want to vote,” said assistant principal Karen Hyde. “Nobody comes to your house, your place, or business to ask you to vote for real, so it’s not that far from what happens in the real world.”

After the recent republican nomination of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice presidential candidate, many Americans have questioned McCain’s choice. Palin’s views on abortion, education and gun rights, coupled with her inexperienced background, has led people to doubt her ability to lead the nation. Palin, however, has showed promise with her pro-life and equal opportunity beliefs. Her adamant adherence to these beliefs has proven her to be a better candidate than even Hillary Clinton.

Switching schools means leaving behind best friends and hoping to find a place to fit in, a difficult task with the presence of high school cliques. Moving to a different country presents its own problems of language, culture and a general uncertainty of a new place.

Switching schools means leaving behind best friends and hoping to find a place to fit in, a difficult task with the presence of high school cliques. Moving to a different country presents its own problems of language, culture and a general uncertainty of a new place. Yet for senior Kaisa Yli-nokri and sophomore Charles Main, this initial dilemma of a new school and a new continent evaporated quickly with the help of their fluent English. Coming from Finland and China, respectively, both were welcomed into SHS life.

For many students, attending a four-year college is the epitome of education. For alumnus Michael Nguyen, however, it just wasn’t enough. Nguyen, currently a freshman at UC San Diego, has decided to take on a greater project during his high school career in order to benefit orphans in Tanzania.

It’s three in the morning and a teenage girl is quietly reading a book on her bed. This teenage girl is me, Annie Lee. Seriously. I usually don’t have a knack for reading. Okay I’ll be honest. I don’t like to read at all, but this book really had me “edge of the seat” excited: My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

A police car pulls up outside a well-lit house. Inside, kids are yelling and dancing to loud music. When the cops are spotted, a frantic rush to hide beer bottles and escape the party begins. These days, however, such a scene is far less common. Saratoga teens have less to fear from sheriff’s, deputies, and local police, some of whom no longer penalize underage drinking at parties. Without the previous repercussions of breaking the law by consuming alcohol, students are often allowed to drive home intoxicated, jeopardizing their safety.

For many students, attending a four-year college is the epitome of education. For alumnus Michael Nguyen, however, it just wasn’t enough. Nguyen, currently a freshman at UC San Diego, has decided to take on a greater project during his high school career in order to benefit orphans in Tanzania.

Before spring break, the music department began the process of picking the 2008-2009 leadership team. Drum majors were decided the week after spring break, and the leadership team was announced last week. Seniors Julia Glausi and Paul Stavropoulos will join senior Mara Couch in leading the band at field show competitions as the new drum majors.

Even without a Sadie Hawkins dance, Spring Fling maintained its fun-filled reputation complete with boy cheerleaders, Powder Puff football games, a dunk tank and Battle of the Boom. Tradition has set its path for the defending champions, class of ’08, to win Powder Puff, and this year the senior girls did not disappoint.

When people think of student bands and orchestras performing, they might imagine an audience of parents falling asleep to a two-hour concerto. The music department’s Pancake Breakfast breaks the community mold. With a freshly made breakfast and 18 student groups performing lively music, the event is a community favorite. The breakfast is an annual gathering of community members on the first Sunday morning of May from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This year, the event happens Sunday when student groups from grades 5-12 will perform their well-practiced shows for the community.

Even without a Sadie Hawkins dance, due to the excessive drinking issue at the Holiday dance, Spring Fling maintained its fun-filled reputation complete with boy cheerleaders, Powder Puff football games, a dunk tank and Battle of the Boom. Tradition has set its path for the defending champions, class of ’08, to win Powder Puff, and this year the senior girls did not disappoint.