M-SET receives grants galore January 16, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche Following last year’s groundbreaking trip to the FIRST robotics competition in Atlanta, the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET) has initiated the development of several new projects, including a robot for this year’s competition. read more » Banksy: The brilliant and enigmatic hit-and-run graffiti guru January 16, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche I had felt very avant garde the day I e-mailed Banksy, the graffiti artist who became an underground cult figure through his work in major metropoli and politically controversial areas. Droves of errant teenagers treat his anarchist graffitis more like shrines of congregation than vandalized walls. read more » The evolution of cheating January 12, 2011 — by Olivia Chock, Wiill Edman, Anoop Galivanche, Albert Gu, Anika Jhalani, Priya Nookala “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. read more » English teacher to become assistant principal; Cerbone will assume duties at NOVA January 12, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche Assistant principal Chris Cerbone has been transferred to the NOVA alternative education program, while current NOVA administrator and English teacher Kevin Mount will soon assume Cerbone’s position as assistant principal, principal Jeff Anderson said. read more » When the melting pot heats up… November 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche, Anika Jhalani, Kelly Liu, Anshu Siripurapu, and Elijah Yi 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. read more » History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Banksy: The brilliant and enigmatic hit-and-run graffiti guru January 16, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche I had felt very avant garde the day I e-mailed Banksy, the graffiti artist who became an underground cult figure through his work in major metropoli and politically controversial areas. Droves of errant teenagers treat his anarchist graffitis more like shrines of congregation than vandalized walls. read more » The evolution of cheating January 12, 2011 — by Olivia Chock, Wiill Edman, Anoop Galivanche, Albert Gu, Anika Jhalani, Priya Nookala “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. read more » English teacher to become assistant principal; Cerbone will assume duties at NOVA January 12, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche Assistant principal Chris Cerbone has been transferred to the NOVA alternative education program, while current NOVA administrator and English teacher Kevin Mount will soon assume Cerbone’s position as assistant principal, principal Jeff Anderson said. read more » When the melting pot heats up… November 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche, Anika Jhalani, Kelly Liu, Anshu Siripurapu, and Elijah Yi 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. read more » History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
The evolution of cheating January 12, 2011 — by Olivia Chock, Wiill Edman, Anoop Galivanche, Albert Gu, Anika Jhalani, Priya Nookala “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. read more » English teacher to become assistant principal; Cerbone will assume duties at NOVA January 12, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche Assistant principal Chris Cerbone has been transferred to the NOVA alternative education program, while current NOVA administrator and English teacher Kevin Mount will soon assume Cerbone’s position as assistant principal, principal Jeff Anderson said. read more » When the melting pot heats up… November 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche, Anika Jhalani, Kelly Liu, Anshu Siripurapu, and Elijah Yi 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. read more » History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
English teacher to become assistant principal; Cerbone will assume duties at NOVA January 12, 2011 — by Anoop Galivanche Assistant principal Chris Cerbone has been transferred to the NOVA alternative education program, while current NOVA administrator and English teacher Kevin Mount will soon assume Cerbone’s position as assistant principal, principal Jeff Anderson said. read more » When the melting pot heats up… November 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche, Anika Jhalani, Kelly Liu, Anshu Siripurapu, and Elijah Yi 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. read more » History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
When the melting pot heats up… November 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche, Anika Jhalani, Kelly Liu, Anshu Siripurapu, and Elijah Yi 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. read more » History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
History of Rivalry: The ups and downs of SHS football October 25, 2010 — by Tim Rollinson and Anoop Galivanche Let’s face it: It’s been a long 27 years for Saratoga football. As Saratoga students grew increasingly indifferent to the football program due to mediocre results, the program fell into a self-perpetuating slump that seemingly bogged down players, causing failures that only served to further alienate the fans. read more » Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Invisible Children showing leads to increased membership October 4, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Children who couldn't possibly be older than 7, thin and sickly, carry powerful machine guns that are almost as tall as themselves. Some have scars that span the length of their arms, while others' faces are horribly disfigured from wounds inflicted by machetes used to chop think forest brush. This is only one of many gut-wrenching images in a documentary that was shown by the Invisible Children club on Sept. 13 in the cafeteria. read more » Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Freshman wins big at science fair June 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Freshman David Zarrin wants to change the way people think about bicycles. With a first place prize in engineering from the International Science and Engineering Fair under his belt, he may very well do so. "I learned of the issues of today's bicycle through experiencing them myself as I rode my bike," Zarrin said. These problems, he said, primarily relate to limited gear ratios, no backwards pedaling capability, and inefficient gear shifts. read more » Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Don’t hate the player, hate the game June 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Less than a year ago, Lloyd Blankfein was the envy of every banker on Wall Street. At a time when most banks were struggling to remain solvent, his firm Goldman Sachs had reported the largest profits in its 140 year history. Employees gleefully made down payments on yachts and Ferraris as Blankfein announced the company would dole out at least $23 billion in bonuses—or $600,000 on average per employee. Blankfein himself made more than $140 million, telling The Sunday Times that he was "doing God's work." read more » Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Football star from SHS raps its up at Cal June 1, 2010 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche Alex "Loggy" Lagemann is not your typical Saratoga High graduate. The class of '07 grad may be a tremendous football player, playing for Cal as a wide receiver. But more unusual, Laggeman is an accomplished rapper—a feat that is unheard of for most former Falcons. Rhymes about calculators and B+'s in AP science classes are nowhere to be found on Loggy's impressive new mixtape "Up All Night." Rather, Loggy belts out snappy verses about late night parties and the effects of consuming inordinate amounts of alcohol. read more » Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Cochrum named Teacher of the Year May 21, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche When science teacher Lisa Cochrum received a call from principal Jeff Anderson at her home one night recently, she was alarmed. "Usually I only receive calls from Mr. Anderson at my home when something bad happens," Cochrum said. "I pulled up a chair and prepared myself for the worst news." The news she got was anything but bad: She had been named Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School district. "When he said I was named Teacher of the Year, I was totally surprised," she said. read more » Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Mining safety in China is inexcusable April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Girish Swaminath Luo Lin had never felt more relieved. As medical workers, soldiers and overzealous journalists stormed the countryside of Xianing County in the Chinese province of Shanxi, Lin, the head of China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) was at a loss for words. When reporters interviewed him about his sentiments regarding the state of SAWS and questioned his performance in the capacity, the man was noticeably less perceptive than similarly grueling press interviews he had participated in. read more » M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
M-SET performs at national robotics competition April 30, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche The school's Mechanical Science and Engineering Club (M-SET) placed 50th out of 86 teams in their event at the international robotics championships in Atlanta on April 15-16. The success, which came as a pleasant surprise for the team, was particularly impressive as it was the first time the club had ever qualified for the championship. read more » The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
The martyrs of Marjah April 6, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu The hot and humid climate of Marjah, Afghanistan, is not particularly hospitable to American soldiers. Unsurprisingly, neither are the people. NATO officials forthrightly stated that "civilian casualties are inevitable" and, with that, descended on Marjah with the explicit intent of wreaking as much havoc as possible. This would have caused political uproar anywhere else. In Helmand, the world's largest opium-producing region responsible for over 42 percent of the annual global output, this is life. read more » Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Cracking the code: the hiring process at SHS April 5, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Abhishek Venkataramana Principal Jeff Anderson is an investment banker—but of a different sort from the ones who deal in stocks and bonds. Anderson's decisions regarding which teachers to hire and when, if at all, to give tenure to existing teachers have lasting effects on current students and students who will have to learn from these teachers long after Anderson leaves his post. "A teacher I choose today will be there for years after I am gone, when there will be a new principal and new students," said Anderson. "That's a big deal." read more » Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Education crisis hurting teachers looking for jobs March 31, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Parul Singh A chain reaction involving the economic crisis and rapidly falling education budgets has hit the teachers entering the field hard. While teachers already with a job are mostly manging to hang on to them, it has become increasingly difficult for new teachers to enter the field since most schools are not hiring. read more » M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
M-SET heads to Atlanta for national Robotics competition after big win March 28, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche This time last year, the fate of Saratoga robotics remained uncertain. The Saratoga Robotics Team (SRT) was a casualty of the school's consolidation of clubs. Determined to continue the school's robotics tradition, Cordell Hollingsworth, now a junior, assembled a team of 20 SRT veterans and enthusiastic rookies to create the Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET), which encompasses all the robotics that SRT did while adding other engineering disciplines such as rocketry. read more » School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
School hosts Challenge Day; event breaks down barriers, changes lives March 23, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche and Grishma Athavale When junior Esha Roy received an enigmatic note in her third period AP U.S. History class regarding an event called Challenge Day, the only thing she knew about it was that she would miss an entire day of school if she chose to participate. "I was intrigued by the prospect of communicating on such an essential level with my peers," Roy said. read more » Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Staff editorial: Restrictions on viewing graded tests undermine learning February 24, 2010 — by Vijay Menon, Anoop Galivanche, Uttara Sivaram, Abhishek Venkataramana, and Jason Wu n the interest of reusing test questions in the future, some teachers do not allow students to look their graded tests. As much as this decision benefits these teachers, who are often swamped with tests, homework and projects to grade, it undermines a key component of a good education: self-learning and reflection. read more » Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Political finance reforms should be welcomed February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche Both Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann showed segments of President Obama's State of the Union speech lambasting the Supreme Court for its landmark decision regarding corporate political financing, heavily emphasizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head in disapproval and mouthing the words "Not true" in response to Obama's shortsighted criticisms of the ruling. The ubiquitous broadcasting of the clip was probably the most bipartisan thing to occur on Capitol Hill all year. read more » Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Progress and partisanship in peril February 10, 2010 — by Anoop Galivanche "We can do better!" Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Wentham) declared to an audience of supporters following his landmark victory. As much as disgruntled Democrats would like to believe he was referring to his election, Brown was instead alluding to the lack of tangible change made on Capitol Hill in the year since President Obama was sworn in. read more » Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Back parking accident and improvements December 18, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Olivia Chock Over Thanksgiving break, a driver crashed his or her car in the back parking lot. According to maintenance supervisor Brian Moran, the driver was parked next to the fence and hit it while backing out. read more » John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
John Mayer Preview: ‘Battle Studies’ November 4, 2009 — by Roy Bisht and Anoop Galivanche John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," is hitting the shelves soon and has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Mayer has hinted at yet another reinvention of his style—incorporating a new method of songwriting, and generally changing the approach that he took in his most recent success, "Continuum." Mayer said it involves advice, observations and lessons that he has learned over the years. Mayer has said he is attempting to experiment with the new approach he is using through this album and gauge the reaction that it gets. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Obama deserves Nobel Peace Prize October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, reactions ranged from anger to utter disbelief. Even the president himself admitted he did not feel he had done enough to deserve being awarded a prize given to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Conservatives have had a field day with the announcement, going as far as to demean the century-old prize that is among the most prestigious awards in existence. What the critics fail to realize, however, is that Obama was not awarded the prize for what he has done, but rather for what he will do. read more » Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Percussion teacher is musician by day, cage fighter by night October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu Ryan Masterson is a percussion teacher for the marching band, pianist, composer and ... a cage fighter? Smashing the stereotypical mold of the dainty musician, the tall, athletic-looking Masterson trains for cage fights in his spare time. read more » Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Teacher Troxell finds solace in sea October 30, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's a nudibranch! The nudibranch (pronounced noo-duh-brank), a type of sea slug, is one math teacher and avid scuba diver Debra Troxell's many favorite underwater organisms. Nudibranchs come in all shapes and sizes, which is why they are still considered a novelty to Troxell despite the fact that she inevitably sees one on every trip. "Nudibranchs are my favorite," she said, "but octopi are also pretty cool." Troxell first started diving in 1981 as a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University when she became certified in warm water diving. read more » Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Public option optional for health-care bill October 15, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart considered the public option component of President Obama's health care package so appealing that he believed Republicans disliked it only because of the way the Democrats described it. Surveys conducted by pollster Frank Luntz showed that the public disliked the plan when it was called the government option, but supported it when it was called the public option. "The Republicans would probably have less of a reason to oppose the plan if it was called AIDS—American Insurance Department Solutions,” he quipped. read more » Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »
Wikipedia: friend, not foe September 11, 2009 — by Anoop Galivanche and Jason Wu It is one of the greatest academic ironies that one of the most popular sources of information today is also one of the most controversial. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that contains 13 million articles in 200 languages, has been criticized by scholars who believe that the website's open editing system makes it unreliable and inaccurate. However, Wikipedia's popularity remains undiminished. It is the 7th most visited website on the web. read more »