Features

Although senior Drew Hsieh has never been to a rave, he is well learned in the art of light shows, a type of entertainment common at raves where performers use a special type of gloves with colorful lights to dance with their hands, creating a brilliant spectacle for their audience.

"People usually do them at raves," said Hsieh, "but I just do it for fun just because I liked the experience of receiving a light show."

Since 1995, one summer tour has remained the place to be for upcoming and underground rock bands: the Warped Tour.

Starting every June, a tour of about 100 bands travel across the United States and Canada to showcase their talent. The event, sponsored by the skateboarding shoe brand Vans, was originally founded to feature only punk rock bands but has since included a wider genre of music such as reggae, hip hop and alternative rock. The tour ends in late August and is a popular summer event at every tour location.

Transitioning from middle school to high school itself can be a huge ordeal. Then add in the stress of moving to a completely different country. Junior Ramiz Sheikh has experienced this situation when he moved from Germany to California before he started high school.

Sheikh compares both cultural atmospheres and notices several fundamental differences between the two places.

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."

The music department can finally heave a sigh of relief as soon as April is here.

The entire month of March was filled with concerts and competitions such as the California Music Ensemble Association for all departments, after preparing the pieces since January.

In the week of March 15, Symphonic Bands and Orchestras held concerts on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Wind Ensemble played a complicated yet fun piece by a contemporary composer, Mazlanka.

Among the countless presents that sophomore Kellie Chiou receives on her 16th birthday, the one that stands out the most is from sophomore Connie Wang. The present is a topsy-turvy, three-tiered cake made from scratch, each layer embellished in different pink and purple patterns—stripes and polka dots—and completed with a purple "16" and a large bow at the top.

When I was asked to do a "Can You..." story relating to prom, I gladly accepted. I had already been planning to ask someone and I was trying to think of a creative twist. I had a basic idea of sitting atop my friend's legendary 1990 Previa on a clear night surrounded by candles and blasting music, but I was still struggling with how I would transport my date from her house to the parking lot where we would set everything up.

Stepping out of our car and onto the front steps of Foothill Elementary School overwhelmed us with a rush of nostalgia. The easy, carefree memories of being a child, now long gone, still permeated from the neatly trimmed lawns and welcoming classrooms of an elementary school. As we walked through a corridor toward the office, we couldn't help but wish to be become kids again. The peeling handball courts, which were new when we were there, are now being used by kids half our height, and the tether ball poles are barely in use anymore. These small things brought back so many good times.

Freshman Cody Cai discovered the art of CWalking, which is short for Crip Walk, in 2008 after coming across a video of it on popular video sharing website YouTube. Cai has been Cwalking for over a year and three months now and is still motivated and inspired by the numerous Cwalkers that create and post videos on YouTube. Cwalking can be best described as a dance that involves mostly the heels and balls of one's feet where the dancer moves from side to side.