Karen Sung

Thirty-two seniors gathered in the library research center, called in for a mysterious reason by the guidance department on Wednesday, Sept. 4. However, they soon found out that they weren’t in trouble but instead had qualified as National Merit Semifinalists.

I’ll admit: I used to be that person who walked away and covered my ears every time “What Makes You Beautiful” started playing.

Students driving to school on April 12 found an unusual sight — news vans from ABC, CBS and Fox, parked just outside the school attempting to interview students. Just the night before, on April 11, Audrie Pott’s family went public with the circumstances surrounding Pott’s suicide last September. 

After practicing since October, the mock trial team finished its competition season on Feb. 19 with a record of 2-2.

Prior to become a junior, I had never encountered the wonderful (by wonderful, I really mean pretty terrible) world of “Document Based Questions” (DBQ’s) and “Free Response Questions” (FRQ’s).

While everyone around me was looking forward to this past Christmas for the presents and the celebration, I was eagerly awaiting the holiday for a different reason: the film release of “Les Misérables.” 

On Dec. 2, an Arizona principal punished two high school students who had fought in the courtyard Westwood High School.

“Always reach for the moon cuz if u slip u will still be a star! #JEAH,” reads one tweet from July 31. “Rock, paper, siccor........,” is another, written on July 24.

Nearby schools such as Prospect, Lynbrook and Monta Vista all share one feature that Saratoga conspicuously lacks: solar panels.

At intersection after intersection, glistening signs advertise higher and higher gas prices, much to the dismay of drivers across the state. Aware of these rising prices, upperclassmen who drive often try to limit their gas usage, with prices rising to as high as $4.59 per gallon.

Just a few years ago, junior Maya Srinivasan was on the track to becoming an Olympic gymnast, until a series of severe injuries ended her gymnastics career. 

When you’re flipping through the newspaper, we know you find yourself inexplicably mesmerized by pages 18 and 19 — a section that emanates beauty and wisdom.

When Amazon.com announced its decision to tax all items sold directly by the company, effective Sept. 15, dedicated Amazon customers everywhere bemoaned this new law. 

Running and I have never been on good terms. During tennis, I am “that girl” — the one who grovels and attempts bribery in futile efforts to avoid conditioning. 

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

Gay rights activists, politicians and even the Muppets have spoken out against Chick-Fil-A’s president Dan Cathy for his “prejudiced statements” against same sex marriage.

For the majority of her waking hours, chances are PE teacher and JV tennis coach Yuko Aoki is either in the weight room or on the tennis courts.

On campus, it’s not unusual to see upperclassmen arriving back from lunch with cups of pearl milk tea in their hands or to witness the mob of students on the steps during a pearl milk tea fundraiser. 

One of the most difficult parts of writing and creating poetry, according to senior Sanjana Chetia, is trying to think of the perfect word to illustrate her works but failing to find it. With time and effort, though, she managed to overcome the difficult process and create outstanding poetry. 

On polar ends of the nation lie perhaps two of the most famous American cities: New York City and Los Angeles, home to the worlds of Broadway and Hollywood.

He scored more points in his first five starts than any other player in NBA league history. More than Michael Jordan. More than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. More than Shaquille O’Neal.

“Dang it,” croaks a middle-aged man during break time, reacting to an unsuccessful attempt to hit a crushed water bottle with his makeshift baseball bat. He’s wearing a neon-orange construction vest, but he’s no campus renovator.

“SITS IN BORING CLASS... FIRE ALARM GOES OFF,” reads a caption above and beneath an image of a baby pumping his fist. Posted on the Saratoga Memes page on Facebook, this “Success Kid” image represents students’ enthusiastic reactions about the accidental twice-sounded fire alarm on Feb. 27. It received approximately 80 “likes” from Saratoga High students.

I’m not trying to toot my own horn (or maybe I am), but way back in first grade, I had pretty impressive skills when it came to Indian dancing.

When the first scheduled Word for the Heard dance was rescheduled last fall, some students were disappointed. Now the cancellation of the dance has disappointed many more students who were planning to attend.

Here’s a typical conversation between two students while at school: “So did you read the English book for homework?” “Nope, I just Sparknoted it.”

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 78 students spent three hours volunteering on campus for a variety of charity organizations.

When senior Lisa Asai comes home from school, one of the first things she always does is to log onto her Facebook account and check her newsfeed before starting homework. She often has the habit of also checking Facebook periodically on her iPhone whenever she’s bored, sometimes even while in the bathroom.

When sophomores Amanda Lee and Tivoli Sisco first met on the softball field playing for the Los Gatos-Saratoga Magic travel team back in elementary school, they never imagined that they would become close friends. Now, their friendship has been solidified after six years of bonding, both on and off the field.

Starting next year, AP Biology classes nationwide will undergo changes to improve students’ ability to absorb the sometimes overwhelming amount of material in the subject.

Reaching the finals of the NorCals tournament on Nov. 19, the girls’ tennis team lost for the fourth time this season to rival Monta Vista, but this time they were close—so close—to victory.

Junior Kian Anderson turns on the TV and sees yet another segment comparing various Republican candidates who are campaigning for the 2012 presidential election. Anderson, already 17, will be eligible to vote come election day next November.

After the partition wall dividing the cafeteria and the Thermond Center (formerly known as the Little Theater) was damaged by an unknown drama student, the administration has begun the process of constructing a new solid wall to replace it, which will take an estimated two weeks to finish completely.

Now a No. 2 singles player on the girls’ varsity tennis team, sophomore Kalyani Narayan is not an easy opponent to beat. After nine years and countless hours spent at clinics and private lessons, Narayan is a talented player with the potential to play at the college level. However, her tennis career did not exactly start that way.

Just over three weeks ago, a buzz of conversation concerning the sophomore class’s inappropriate quad day skit and subsequent Homecoming disqualification circulated the school. Almost immediately, students pointed fingers and spread rumors about who was responsible for the embarrassment.

Americans would like to think of themselves as a people who value equality. As of Sept. 20, the country is one leap closer toward that goal. The repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy shows that America is learning to accept differences in others and is working to eliminate discrimination in our country. The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy

When music department head Michael Boitz came to Saratoga High in 1997, there were only 11 students in the entire orchestra program. Fourteen years later, the department has expanded to hundreds of students. With the construction of the McAfee Center in 2005, music performances are no longer held in a gym decorated with blue tarp and poinsettias.

Walk into the office of room 202, and instead of the paintings students would typically expect in an art teacher’s office, one’s eyes immediately notice the photographs of Cher, an American pop music artist, all over the walls.

Although seemingly few people welcomed returning to school a week earlier than usual after an especially short summer, students will benefit from the new finals schedule later in the school year. The pre-winter break finals schedule allows students to properly relax over the holidays. This year will be the start of a new implemented schedule in which first semester finals begins the week before break and school ends a week earlier than previous years.

Coach: Tom Uyehara, entering sixth season as head coach 2010 record: 24-0; 12-0 in league 2010 recap: The girls’ varsity team experienced a tremendously successful season last year, going undefeated, winning at CCS and moving onto NorCal championships, where they placed first. This was the best season in the team’s history, and the girls were regarded as one of the best teams in California, if not in the nation. They were strong all around in both singles and doubles, and the players worked hard together as a team.

10 benefits of being a sophomore compared to freshman year: 1. You can finally start driving. You still can’t go off campus, though, so one more year of cookies and pizza from the cafeteria... 2. You don’t have to pull out a map in the middle of the hallway, blocking everyone’s path. Actually, where was Mr. Scott’s room again? 3. You don’t have to endure the chants of “Go home freshmen!” Just kidding, most upperclassmen can’t tell the underclassmen apart. 4. You can step on the falcon mural without worrying that you’ll completely ruin it for the football team.

10 benefits of being a sophomore compared to freshman year:

Forget about being part of Generation X, Y, or Z. What this generation of kids should really be called is the E-Generation. Look around while eating in a restaurant, and you’ll see that this is true. Instead of sharing stories about their day, which is how dinner should be, teenagers text their friends incessantly, toddlers play games on iTouches, and parents check their Blackberrys for new e-mails. With the wave of new technology and gadgets, people of all ages, one by one, have forgotten how life used to be before all the electronics. Remember when the word “text” meant the wording in a printed document, and iPods didn’t even exist? Most people my age can’t. With countless ways to communicate, kids these days have forgotten the most simple way to talk to each other: face to face. Even calling has become an ancient form of communication. When I want to discuss a difficult math problem or ask you a question that I believe would be too awkward in person, I’ll just shoot you a text or chat with you. Kids just a generation ago didn’t have this luxury, and for the better, I believe. In the long term, how will communicating solely through the argot of typing on a keypad benefit us?