News

It is Thursday night and the piercing beats of the metronome cut through the evening air. School has started and so has marching band.

The band season actually began two weeks before school even started, with nearly daily 11-hour rehearsals at school each day. With rigorous music and marching practices, the band has started the year on a good foot. The biggest difference this year is the size of the band, which currently counts 220 students.

The SHS ASB announced the official 2008 Homecoming theme today, September 8th, as “Around the World in 25 Days.” Its title was a spin off of the 50s movie, generalizing the sub-themes that were chosen based on best representation of different cultures.

Throughout the summer, commissioners debated over which cities across the globe would make the cut. Atlanta, Cairo, Rome and Tokyo ended up as the final four offered to the classes.

This year’s chess season will be different from past seasons due to the graduation of two students, David Chock, the highest-rated player in SHS history, and Marvin Shu, another top-seeded player. Coach Stayton Chock will still be heading the team.

Three talented freshmen, Sankash Shankar, Brian Wai and Evan Ye, on the bright side, have joined the team. Wai and Ye currently place within the top five of the team roster, which is determined by ratings. Shankar may also be added to the top seven.

Teaching has traditionally been viewed as a noble profession; however, in light of recent events it may soon be considered a dangerous one as well.

A string of educators, including history teachers Kim Anzalone and Jerry Sheehy, science teacher Lisa Cochrum, math teacher Julie Scola and French teacher Kim Bergkamp have suffered various accidents over the past month.

When some students think of California Standardized Tesing, or STAR tests, they immediately think it is an opportunity to kick back and bubble in random answers because these scores do not technically affect their college admissions. This year, however, the school aimed to change student attitudes.

Criminals and literary geniuses usually have nothing in common. These two entities, however, constitute the persona of 1998 alumnus Matt Hahn. Hahn has led a life of poor decisions and frequent law breaking, but he was also able to create a highly inspirational work on the American Idea that was published in Saratoga High’s 2007-2008 Soundings literary magazine.

“It was abnormal; it doesn’t fit the bill for usual stories,” said Soundings coordinator Mike Tyler.

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

Three 1993 alumni, Steve Adams, Zach Gill and Dan Lebowitz, formed Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) when they were students in Redwood Middle School. Since then, they have come as far as a record label and a Song of the Year nomination for their song Maria for the Jammy Awards, a play on the popular Grammy awards show.

While the Grammys recognize mainstream music artists, the Jammy Awards recognizes “jam bands,” or groups of artists associated with live, improvisational music.

In an effort to raise student awareness for the benefits of driving a hybrid car, the Events Commission held the annual Hybrid Faire in the quad on April 30. Head Commissioner Hayes Hyde, who organized the event last ear, worked with the rest of the Events Commission to bring the Hybrid Faire back for its second year. The Faire shows how students can maintain the environment’s health while also saving money on gas.

In recent weeks, Southeast Asia has been rocked by two calamitous natural disasters. A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province of China, on May 12, toppling buildings and schools throughout the province and even shaking buildings in Beijing 932 miles away. To date, experts estimate that the earthquake has killed 55,000 people. Meanwhile, just eight days before, a cyclone struck Myanmar, previously known as Burma. Reports have the death toll nearing 134,000.