After receiving the results of a prenatal diagnostic test, senior Elyssa Hum-feld’s family was stunned to discover

that Humfeld’s younger brother would be born with Down Syndrome.

Down Syndrome, a genetic condition that occurs when an individual has a full or par-tial extra copy of chromosome trisomy 21, frequently manifests itself in attributes like low muscle tone, small stature and slower motor skills. In the U.S., approximately 6,000 babies are born with Down Syndrome every year, making it the most common genetic dis-order among American citizens.

“There is no treatment for Down Syn-drome,” said Dr. Ranjani Chandramouli. “But there are early intervention programs that will help Down Syndrome babies acclimate.” see DOWN SYNDROME page 11

BY AMANDA CHANG AND SHEFALI VIJAY

On March 11, 483 high school students competed in the annual Synopsys Championship. Held in the San Jose

Convention Center, this year’s championship included participants from more than fifty middle and high schools in the Santa Clara area. Lynbrook’s 83 participants alone rep-resented a record high of 17 percent of the total number of projects and 20 percent of the total number of awards.

The applicants who did not utilize their summer project or continue work from an outside lab began planning in August, choos-ing a topic from over a dozen categories in-cluding biochemistry, engineering and phys-ics. After gaining approval from the Scientific Review Committee, students started experi-

menting and collecting data. “[The science fair] allows students to tap

into fields they typically can’t tap into in a traditional high school classroom,” said sci-ence teacher Jason Lee. “It gives them free-dom to control what variable they want to control and analyze the results leading into what they’re interested in.”

After experiments were completed, stu-dents organized all collected information onto a poster board that was used to show-case their project.

At Lynbrook, many experiments were conducted in labs in the science rooms, where Lee could supervise. While students went through the process of creating proj-ects, Lee guided students and offered help-ful advice. As his first year involved in the competition, Lee mentored 71 of the 73 proj-

ects from Lynbrook. For students enrolled in the STEM independent research class, all of whom were required to participate in the science fair, Lee set soft deadlines to enable students to finish their project on time.

“One big thing, however, is never giving the answer,” said Lee. “Most of the time, I don’t know the answer. I shouldn’t know the answer. I want students to come to their own conclusions based on the research they’re doing.”

Several students encountered difficul-ties in the process of creating their project. Freshman Nikhil Ajjarapu, who designed a program to censor audio, came from a back-ground of computer scientists, but still strug-gled when he realized he had much to learn.

Record turnout at Synopsys science fair

Down Syndrome affects not only people with the genetic condition, however, but also their families. Some people with Down Syn-drome are almost independent, while others require adult supervision to perform simple actions such as showering and eating.

Humfeld and her parents had three op-tions after receiving the diagnosis--terminate the pregnancy, give the child up for adop-tion or keep the baby. Because every case of Down Syndrome is different, the Humfelds did not know what the exact effect would be.

“It was a difficult decision for my mom,” said Humfeld. “But after doing research, she saw that babies with Down Syndrome could be happy, so we took termination off the list.”

At first, Humfeld and her parents leaned toward adoption because they worried about having to care for a child with Down Syn-drome.

After discovering that they could poten-tially develop their own network of support-ive professionals and families to give them guidance, they decided to keep the baby.

“My parents weren’t sure if they could take care of him, because you need to pay constant attention,” said Humfeld.

Humfeld’s brother was born on Feb. 15, and the family quickly found that he behaved normally and had good muscle tone, which is unusual for a Down Syndrome baby. The family foresaw him needing physical therapy later on, because it takes longer for children with Down Syndrome to learn how to refine their motor skills. They also anticipated him learning sign language as he develops his speech to ensure he is not limited by commu-nication issues.

BY JESSICA LUO

see SCIENCE FAIR page 2

THE THIRD CHROMOSOMEExamining how various families and communities are influenced by children with Down Syndrome

GRA

PHIC ILLU

STRATION

BY KATHLEEN

CUI A

ND

JESSICA LU

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“There wasn’t much research done on [machine learning], and no one had applied the techniques I was using to this field of censoring illicit content,” said Ajjarapu, who received an honor-able mention for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Intel-ligent Systems Award. “So I had to start my project by learning what algorithm to use, how I should use it, and how to clas-sify words. All these things were hard-ships because I had never known about them before.”

As for materials, students either used what could be found or ordered what they needed online.

“I was lucky enough to find everything I needed on a single online site, so it was really convenient,” said sophomore Cas-sandra Overney, who won the first award for her experimentation with the geno-toxicity of certain metals on garlic bulbs in the biochemistry/microbiology cat-egory. “That was one of the less difficult parts [of my project].”

On the day of the science fair, students

Dear Readers,

For the sixth issue of the Epic, we explore topics usually overlooked, including our sto-ry on Down Syndrome and in-depth on touch (pg. 11). Yet we still explore effects of contro-versial topics, including the American flag on the UC Irvine campus (pg. 4).

On a lighter note, be sure to read our fea-tures stories on Spring Break (pg. 8) and our review of the Netflix show “House of Cards” (pg. 8). For sports, check out our staffers’ take on the Blogilates exercise fad (pg. 13).

Stay golden,James Wilhelmi and Khaya Bhatia

Letter from the Editors

SCIENCE FAIR| Record participationwere interviewed by judges of specific cat-egories from the hours of two to six. After-ward, they were free to look at other projects and listen to other various presentations by other students.

“The judges just started coming along to our boards and asking us to present our experiments or projects,” said sophomore Marilyn Zhang, who was awarded the hon-orable mention in the category of bioinfor-matics. “After presenting, we walked around and looked at everyone else’s projects, which

was really cool.”Many awards were available to those who

participated in the Synopsys Science Fair. Select grand prize winners were chosen to compete in the International Science & En-gineering Fair in Pittsburgh, PA, and junior and senior winners are eligible to compete in the California State Science Fair in Los Angeles. Over 60 companies and private or-ganizations also presented separate awards. Furthermore, several students were open to many other opportunities through compet-ing in the science fair.

“I’m actually looking at an undergraduate journal that I could possibly submit a paper to and get published for my research,” said junior Jeffrey Chang, who examined phono-logical language change in the Bay Area and won the first award in the behavioral and so-cial category.

Synopsys provided students with an op-portunity to fully design their own experi-ments and delve deeper into different topics of their choice.

“[Students] look at the world from a sci-entific lens and think ‘How am I going to make this world better?’” said Lee. “That’s what the science fair really is about.”

BY MEERA KRISHNAMOORTHY

Lynbrook’s first color dance was held on Mar. 20 in the quad from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. A color dance can be described as a

hybrid of a dance and Holi, the Indian festival of color. At the beginning of the dance, attend-ees purchased packets of colored powder. Students with an ASB card got a free packet of colored powder upon arrival and all could purchase additional ones for $1. After receiv-ing their colored packets, students began throwing the colored powder at one another, and, around the halfway mark, started danc-ing and throwing the powder in the air.

When planning this event, the ASB Social Commission drew inspiration from Holi and the Color Run, a 5-kilometer race in which runners are doused in colored powder.

“It is Holi season now, and the Color Run is held in March, so we wanted to cater to peo-ple who enjoy those events or haven’t had the chance to experience them,” said ASB Social Commissioner sophomore Mira Thekdi.

Student attendees estimated that the dance attendance, at its peak, was around 100 students. Though turnout at this dance was less than that at dances occurring during other times of the year, the ASB Social Com-missioners were happy with its performance.

“There was a slightly lower turnout than we would have hoped, which can be attribut-ed to the ‘new’ aspect of the dance,” said ASB Social Commissioner junior Ken Yanagisawa. “We believe that the color dance did well, in spite of the fact that we have never held a dance like this before.”

The color dance was held instead of the “Livin’ the Night” black light mixer held last year, and the Sadie Hawkins dance held in previous years. ASB ruled out the possibility of holding a Sadies due to poor student atten-dance in prior years and a lack of a desire for a Sadies from current students, gathered from an online survey. Additionally, ASB catered to a desire among some students for a non-date dance this time of the year.

Lynbrook holds first color dance

continued from SCIENCE FAIR page 1

“The want for an informal dance is some-what higher than a date dance,” said Thekdi. “This is the last [ASB-run] dance of the year, and a lot of underclassmen who don’t have prom want to go to an informal dance like this where they can hang out with their friends.”

The “Livin’ the Night” mixer, while being a no-date dance, did not boast a great turnout when held last year, and most students were not interested in attending a mixer-style dance.

“A school-held mixer can be a turnoff, be-cause school supervisors have to be present,” said Yanagisawa. “Local news about other mix-

ers can also be a turnoff--because of the Winter Beats scandal, a lot of current students were discouraged by the idea of another mixer.”

In preparation for the dance, the Social Commission ordered bags of colored powder, making sure that the powder was nontoxic and would not affect those with asthma. They then separated the bags into 600-700 smaller packs, each with a single colored powder.

Apart from precautions taken with colored powder, the ASB Social Commission had to protect the facilities, especially the bathrooms.

“The color dance is inherently messy, and if the bathrooms got dirty, we would have to pay more,” said Yanagisawa. “The administration asked us to order portable toilets and sinks. People weren’t excited about seeing portable toilets in the quad, but it was necessary.”

People may not have been happy with the

portable toilets, but most color dance attend-ees spoke positively about their experience.

“I liked the fact that [the dance] was a lot like Holi, because I hadn’t played Holi in a while,” said junior Omkar Shanbhag. “I also liked the way ASB added dancing to the event, so that it was not exactly like Holi.”

Some saw the color dance as a suitable al-ternative to existing Holi celebrations.

“The ticket prices for the color dance were cheaper than going to Stanford Holi, or Holi events,” said senior Sharon Ray. “It’s a good way to experience Holi, especially for those

who have never participated in the festival.“

While most people enjoyed the color dance, they had suggestions, mainly related to other activities that could take place.

“Three hours is a long time to just dance and throw colored powder,”

said Ray. “At [the Homecoming dance], there’s a photo booth and other activities for people--maybe something like that would make the color dance more fun and appealing.”

“I would have enjoyed the incorporation of water,” said Shanbhag. “Holi celebrations with water along with colored powder are really fun, so maybe including water in some way in a future dance would be fun.”

Despite the success of the color dance, the ASB Social Commissioners state that they may try to plan a different dance next year, lis-tening closely to the student body’s opinions.

“We’re going to try to tailor this dance whatever people are into, be it a color dance or potentially something else,” said Yanagi-sawa. “We’re really trying to listen to the stu-dents’ feedback and have these dances sup-port and benefit the students.”

ART ILLUSTRATION BY MEERA KRISHNAMOORTHY

Junior PromThis year’s Junior Prom will be held on April 25, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Pavil-ion Event Center at Boulder Ridge. Bid sales will rise to $60 on April 6. For more infor-mation, check out tinyurl.com/lhsjprom.

Band ConcertLynbrook High’s band will be performing on April 8 in the auditorium from 6 to 9 p.m. Students from all levels of band will be performing, and this event is cost-free and open to all.

CAASPP TestingThe California Assessment Student Perfor-mance and Progress will be adminisered from April 20-23. Juniors will test for math-ematics and English, and sophomores will test for life science. It will be based on Com-mon Core Standards.

Valkyries Workshop AuditionThe Lynbrook Valkyries Dance Team will be holding workshops and auditions for the 2015-2016 team on April 28, 29 and 30. For more information, pick up a packet in the office, download the audition packet on the Lynbrook website.

NASA Exhibit Manager Guest SpeakerNASA Exhibit Manager Horacio Chavez will share his current projects in space admin-istration. This event is open to all Lynbrook students. On Wednesday, April 8 come to room 603 at lunch.

By Renuka Belwalkar

News in Brief

LYNBROOK AISA HOSTS THIS YEAR’S SISILAY BY DHIRAJ NALLAPOTHULA

On March 21, Lynbrook American Indian Student Association (AISA) hosted its annual Indian food and

dance festival, Silsilay. The event, held in the Lynbrook auditorium, brought together 13 high schools from across the Bay Area to showcase their Indian dance teams.

Despite a smoother organization pro-cess due to beginning preparations in Au-gust 2014. the officer team under AISA President senior Anshul Shah and Vice President junior Vaidehi Duraphe faced its fair share of challenges--primarily schedul-ing conflicts with other school-sponsored events.

For this year’s event, Shah and Duraphe wanted to make Silsilay bigger than it has ever been in the past by having two shows and including more types of performances and more schools in the shows.

“Our main goal was to really expand the scope of this year’s show,” said Duraphe.

At the end of Silsilay, both Shah and Du-raphe felt that things could not have gone any better, as the shows earned $5,060 in ticket sales.

Lynbrook was well-represented at the event with LHS Bhangra, LHS Jalwa and LHS Bollywood. In the months leading up to the event, each team developed camarade-rie and faced their fair share of challenges.

For LHS Bhangra, the team’s chemistry stemmed from friendship. “The team is re-ally like my second family,” said senior Sahil Hasan. “We do more than just practice to-gether, we’re friends in real life.”

But Hasan feels that the team’s real strength comes from their love of the dance form.

“We do Bhangra not because it’s meant to help make us look cool, but because we enjoy what we do,” said Hasan.

The LHS Bollywood squad, on the other

hand, faced the challenge of inexperience, as many dancers were first-time competitors. At the same time, the team saw this as a boon as they were willing to dedicate themselves to a new activity.

“I think one of the... strengths of our squad was a unified passion to learn dance and have fun,” said senior Sahil Sancheti.

Despite the challenges, the team felt that they accomplished what they wanted to as the time and effort they put into their prepa-ration paid dividends at the end.

The final team to represent Lynbrook at the event was LHS Jalwa. The squad did not begin preparation until late December but pulled off their performance through effec-tive communication and experience. The squad’s main challenge was maintaining fo-cus throughout the preparation process.

“We’re not just a team of dancers, but also a team of friends,” said junior Shreya Kumar. “That makes it hard to be critical of them about [the choreography].”

Despite the challenges, the team felt the time they spent together practicing, prepar-ing and performing was well worth it.

“I’m just really grateful for the experi-ence,” said Kumar. “It was really a great expe-rience... we became a family in the end.”

HANDS UP| Co-captains Zoish Pithawala and Shail Trivedi lead Monta Vista’s Bollywood dance team.

ALL DRESSED UP| Attendees and officers of Lyn-brook AISA wear Indian formalwear for the show.

GRAND FINALE| Seniors and juniors from LHS Bollywood pose as the show’s final act. Lynbrook had four home groups perform in its show: Lynbrook Bhangra, LHS Jalwa, Lynbrook Awaaz and LHS Bollywood.

USED WITH THE PERMISSIION OF SD PHOTOGRAPHY

In March, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made headlines by announcing the com-pany’s “Race Together” campaign. Essen-tially, the plan called for baristas at the coffee seller’s thousands of locations to write the phrase “Race Together” on customers’ cups, in hopes of stoking a conversation about the topic. Almost immediately, Schultz and his

company were lambasted by critics via social media and the idea never got off the ground.

When I first heard about the fiasco, I found it quite funny--yet another ignorant corporate buffoon getting rightfully put in his place by the rather harsh, but extremely funny Twitter army. As I spent more time reflecting on things, however, my feelings about the campaign changed. As of Tuesday, March 31, I still see “Race Together” as a poorly thought-out and clumsy effort, but at its core something that should be considered legitimate and even perceptive.

Look, I agree with the many people who have snidely remarked that Americans know that racism is still an issue and that we don’t need a billionaire white man to make us aware of it. That does not, however, mean that the privileged rich guy--the aforemen-tioned Schultz--is wrong. The fact that Schul-tz arguably enjoys some of the advantages of societal inequality does not preclude him

from bringing the topic to light. Those who base their criticisms of “Race Together” on this alone are missing the point.

Race and how it divides us has been a prevalent theme throughout American his-tory. This problem has been compounded by a lack of open discussion. From the “gag rule” that Congress passed preventing itself from talking about slavery in the 1830s to the cul-ture of silence that allowed Jim Crow laws to reign in the southern U.S. well into the 20th century, we as a nation often deal with race-related controversy by sweeping it under the rug. I’m not saying that the American racial climate today is anything close to that of the antebellum era--of course things have progressed. Nevertheless, I fail to see how constructive dialogue regarding race will do irreparable harm. Will a back-and-forth in a coffee shop give rise to sweeping changes? Probably not, but it’s something to explore.

Finally, I don’t put stock in the argument

that it is not Starbucks’ place to do this. Star-bucks is a company, made up of people with opinions. If it wants to try something like this, it is legally allowed to do so. Patrons who feel offended by the campaign should take a page out of the Civil Rights Movement leaders’ group and organize a boycott.

Although I agree with the logic behind “Race Together,” I will be the first to agree that the execution was shoddy. Writing hashtags on frappuccino cups is not exactly the best way to bring forth a discussion, let alone an intelligent one about a complicated issue, and it definitely seemed like Starbucks was a bit pompous when rolling out its idea.

Again, I won’t defend everything Schultz and his company did last month. When I go to Starbucks I want my mocha and a friendly smile, not guidance on what to talk about. Amidst all the fuss about that, however, let’s not forget that “Race Together” is a conversa-tion worth having.

Starbucks has a point JAMES WILHEMI //AS I SEE IT

While replying to a harsh review of his 1968 Vietnam War mov-ie The Green Berets due to its

unabashedly patriotic nature, actor John Wayne famously responded, “Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.”

Although Wayne’s comments were controversial back then, 50 years later many Americans identify with the ideals Wayne mentions. The American flag has long been a national symbol for proud Americans, representing the qualities we hold dear, from patriotism to liberty.

This statement, however, seems to hold little sway among a few college stu-dents at UC Irvine (UCI), where a legisla-tive council voted to ban the flag from the council lobby. The motion, brought forth by student Matthew Guevara, was passed by the organization, creating a cacopho-ny of protests around the school.

Guevara’s rationale of banning the flag

due to “hate speech,” was widely scorned. In spite of a recent veto of the motion, the de-bate has raged on, with the students getting criticism from all over the country. Rightfully so--these students made a big mistake in trying to b r i n g down the flag.

Part of America’s backbone is the de-fense of the ethni-cally di-verse. The c o l o n i e s were the results of the resettlement of many religious refugees. Having gone through sporadic in-stances of social and political issues yet still standing strong is testament to the strength of the United States, and this strength is rep-resented in the flag. At Lynbrook, students feel similarly about the ideals the flag depicts.

“The flag represents democracy and civic

responsibility,” said freshman Ashwin Na-than. “Also, the flag represents all of the vet-erans that have fought for the country, and taking [the flag] down is a sign of disrespect.”

Nathan’s belief in the ideals of freedom r e i t e r -ates the core be-lief that the flag is more than just a piece of cloth and by r e m o v -ing the flag from campus-

es, Guevara and his associates disregard the contributions of the thousands of veterans that have laid their lives on the line for the very safety that is afforded to them.

Freshman Myra Cheng questions Gue-vara’s justifications.

“Banning the flag simply doesn’t seem like ‘cultural inclusion’ to me, as it blatantly elim-

Pulling away from traditioninates a symbol of what can be deemed culture,” said Cheng.

On the other side, however, are those that believe that the flag ban was justi-fied. Sophomore Kartik Rathi mentions how America’s embattled history could give sufficient basis for the ban.

“I can understand how victims of American power used in the wrong way would have negative feelings towards the flag,” said Rathi. “The decision to ban the flag was a good one because UCI takes its students from a lot of countries that were affected by American imperialism. I can understand their reactions.”

Rathi’s reasons, however, are invalid. The flag, which years ago might have de-picted oppression has emerged from an arguably dark past to represent change. Considered not the tormentor but rather the leader of the free world, the United States has had a diverse past, full of not just suffering but of prosperity as well.

John Wayne’s rhetoric ought not to be argued with, but agreed upon. It is time for the contemptuous to come around and show the flag the respect it deserves.

BY SHREYAS IYER

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE LU

UC Irvine’s American flag ban separating school from state

Looking at a playlist filled with popu-lar music, one would be surprised at how many of those songs were

inspired by other songs. If a Lynbrook student has “Don’t Wanna Go Home” by Jason Derulo in his or her playlist, they should take a look at “Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte. There are many more songs that are similar to one another be-cause music inspires more music, like a living organism that evolves over time. Therefore, it is difficult to determine if a claim of copyright infringement is le-gitimate because it is hard to distinguish originality from inspiration. Because of tehse facts, the jury’s decision to indict Robin Thicke for copyright infringement on Marvin Gaye seems unreasonable.

The jury made their judgement that “Blurred Lines” copied “Got to Give it Up” by solely looking at the sheet music of both songs, claiming that the chord pro-gressions were too similar. Sheet music, however, can only portray the notes of the music, leaving out other important aspects of songs, such as the lyrics and message. The sheet music lists out all the instruments that make the music, but in-struments are capable of making differ-ent sounds, even if some of the notes are the same. Therefore, the sheet music can-not perfectly describe the sound the song produces. By listening to the actual songs, one can easily tell that the songs differ significantly in tone and message.

Copyright infringement is a claim made against an artist for using copyrighted material, such as lyrics or music, without the consent of the copyright holder. Many of the recent cases of copyright infringe-ment are about using similar chords in a particular order. A claim made for using the same chord progression may seem le-gitimate, but many claims of copyright in-fringement cases were not made for hav-ing the same exact chord progression, but rather, for having a similar one with two

At Lynbrook, a good number of us say that we “love” Starbucks, the coffee of which keeps us awake through our

studies. Many of us “like” another person, and most can probably name one class that they “hate”.

But no. You don’t “love” Starbucks, nor do you “like” your crush or “hate” that class. Nowadays, we tend to misuse certain words when they’re not needed, leading the depre-ciation of their meaning.

A long, long time ago, family members, devoted couples and close friends called the deep, special affection they had for each other “love.” Now, the word is used on a daily basis, often by people who like download-ing music on Spotify or getting caffeine from their favorite coffee shop. The word “like,” which used to describe a person, place or thing that one found enjoyable and pleasant, now usually refers to the secret, often super-ficial, sentimental feelings you have for that cute guy or girl in your chemistry class. And “hate” has downgraded from intense dislike for someone or something to mere day-to-day annoyance with an aggravating activity or individual.

The meanings of words such as love and hate have been watered down to such an extreme extent that they can be used casu-ally, meaninglessly, thrown around without any thought. Essentially, they’ve lost their power and identity. To make matters worse, there aren’t really any other words that can substitute what love and hate used to mean. Flip through a thesaurus if you’re not con-vinced--although there are some words that are pretty similar, nothing has quite the same connotation. We still use “love” and “hate” to describe truly powerful emotions, but the words seem meaningless alone and need elaboration.

Some other languages don’t appear to have this problem. Spanish has a separate verb specifically for describing strong posi-tive feelings for places or things--encantar. And in Japanese, the word for love is rarely used even among couples. Instead, native speakers use the phrase “suki desu,” which literally translates into “I like [insert noun].” Unfortunately, English doesn’t have these conveniences.

The word “like,” on the other hand, now means a lot more than it used to, making communication more difficult. For example, how do I say that I enjoy spending time with my friends who happen to be members of the opposite gender without sounding wordy or making it seem like I want to be more than friends? I have to fumble for other words, and if I do chose to say “like,” I have to follow it up with the awkward, cumbersome phrase “...as a friend.”

As people continue to misuse these words, they blur the line between truth and exaggeration. Do you really hate SAT class so much that you would rather kill yourself than attend class? Do you love frappuccinos so much that you would run into a burning building to get one? Or are you simply mis-using a loaded word to describe a relatively mundane thought?

I’m not going to deny that I misuse word such as love, hate and like all the time. And when I do, I sometimes find myself wonder-ing if I really love or hate whatever I was talk-ing about, or if I was just exaggerating. Mis-using these words has become so prevalent that it blurs truth itself.

Of course, completely revamping our speaking habits to put words back in their originally assigned places would be imprac-tical and unnecessary. But we can limit and regulate the times we use these words. So before you use words like love, like and hate, think about what you’re really trying to say.

The Power of WordsALLISON YUAN//IN MY OPINION

or three different chords. Chord progressions are specific, unique musical pieces created by any artist, so it is unreasonable for artists to claim copyright infringement over similar chord progressions as their own.

The style of music that Thicke and Gaye use somewhat resemble each other, but that proves no basis for copyright infringement. The resemblance that both songs share is a cowbell and a background singer going, “Hey!” If that was an acceptable reason to be sued for infringement, then the music indus-try is in trouble. An example could be a case of X Ambassadors suing Kanye West for his song, “No Church in the Wild” being too simi-lar to their song, “Jungle”.

With insufficient reasons being legitimate for claiming infringement, artists will end up paying off the accuser to avoid going into trial and a lot more people will sue artists to get their money. All the money used to pay off accusers will take its toll on artists and ruin the music industry.

Furthermore, the jury has to realize that music inspires more music. Good music in-spires a change in other artists that makes them want to adapt their style. Thicke said that he wrote the song “Blurred Lines” by be-ing inspired from “Got to Give it Up”, rather than completely copying the song. In a sense, the Gaye family basically sued Thicke for be-ing inspired by their father’s music.

“I think that it was blown out of propor-tion,” said sophomore John Um. “Music has been around for a long time so it is inevitable that the same beats or rhythm will show up. The past music also influences the music in the present, so it doesn’t make sense that they should have been penalized so heavily for being inspired.”

The problem was not even about “Got to Give it Up” losing popularity because of “Blurred Lines”. In fact, during the height of “Blurred Lines”, the number of people who listened to Gaye’s song doubled.

The reasoning behind the jury’s decision is based on little reason and does not take into consideration that music can have a tone, message, or be inspirational. Music in-

The blurred lines of music copyright

BY SHIVATEJA VEMIREDDY spires more music, and if other artists get sued for being inspired, then fewer artists will want to produce new music in fear of being sued. If inspiration led to copyright infringement then a playl-ist full of music would be cut in half.

Artists finding new sources of inspiration from the old

Uncovering hidden gender discrimination in the workplace

The problem with lawsuits centered around gender discrimination is that workplace sexism appears to be a highly

subjective matter. It’s difficult--maybe even impossible--for a female employee to say for sure that her manager is singling her out be-cause of her gender.

That does not, however, mean that workplace dis-crimination does not ex-ist. Recently, a judge struck down accusations against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins that management regularly discriminated against then-employee El-len Pao on basis of gender. If there were indeed specific personality traits that kept Pao from being promoted, one still has to ask if those traits would have still held her back had Pao been male. Venture capital firm partners must be assertive and willing to speak their minds in order to succeed in both their work and on the corporate ladder, but women have historically been discouraged from showing those traits. At the same time, if women display too many “feminine” traits, they’re seen as not being ag-gressive enough, placing them into a no-win “double bind.”

Lynbrook registrar Diane Hendrickson,

whose time at Intel and Sun Microsystems spanned over thirty years, called Pao’s case “tricky,” saying that “because a lot of job performance is very subjective, in order to prove that [Pao had been discriminated against] you’d have to look only at the num-bers, and see what she was producing for the company,” adding that perhaps com-paring Pao’s fund performance to her male

peers’ would have been better than rely-ing solely on subjec-tive personal events or remarks to Pao.

There’s no deny-ing that workplace discrimination exists. Even Hendrickson, who did not recall any firsthand experiences with sexism at Sun, recalls that Sun’s se-nior finance team was “maybe seventh-five

to eighty percent women,” but “the higher you went the more men there would be--the directors would be ninety, ninety-five percent men. I saw women who wanted to be directors get passed over time and time again.”

Hendrickson, who had access to law-suits filed by Sun employees against the company itself, noted that Sun tended to settle these cases in the plaintiffs’ favor, even in cases when the plaintiff was clearly

in the wrong, both because going to court would be much more expensive, and to avoid potential bad publicity.

Kleiner Perkins’ legal team likely had the same mindset, but instead of qui-etly taking whatever settlement may have been offered to her, Pao chose to put her case directly in the spotlight.

Cynics might pos-it that she did so in the hopes of receiv-ing a larger settle-ment, but that seems doubtful; as the cur-rent interim CEO of Reddit, Pao likely al-ready earns a hefty salary, plus whatever benefits and bonuses come along with her position. Pao lost in Pao v. Kleiner Per-kins, but the case spurred the much-needed discussion about workplace equality.

BY STEPHANIE LU

Science fair was once the highlight of sev-eral students’ high school years. The pros-pect of explaining their yearlong projects

to judges and seeing their peers’ work on dis-play enticed science students across the na-tion. Over time, however, this honorable has devolved into a competition of connections rather than an exhibition of students’ work.

Many students, especially upperclassmen, perform scientific research at highly regarded research institutions, such as Stanford Uni-versity and UC San Francisco. This research is usually performed within the confines of a re-search lab possessing a large budget, cutting-edge technology and high-powered software. The advantage that these labs present sepa-rates science fair participants into two tiers.

“There is a huge range of what resources different students are able to get, and there has never really been a way to fix that,” said STEM teacher Jason Lee. “How can a kid who was working in his school classroom where the science teachers don’t really have the time to mentor him get the same amount of support as a kid who was working in a Stanford lab with all these great resources? It’s very difficult.”

To combat this issue, Synopsys Science Fair introduced Regulated Research Institution cat-egories, which separate participants in labs from entrants without access to them. By judg-ing these students separately, the Synopsys Science Fair has taken a positive step toward leveling the playing field. Nevertheless, other competitions need to take similar measures.

Another fundamental problem with sci-ence fairs is that many students present work that is not entirely their own without prop-erly acknowledging others involved. Due to disparity in materials that students are able to obtain, those who cannot access extensive lab resources are limited to presenting less-developed work. Professors and graduate stu-dents frequently mentor students, providing them with invaluable advice. Likewise, stu-dents with enough resources to receive proper coaching on presentations also have a leg up in the entire process.

“As a mentor and as a teacher, all I can do is equip students with the best tools, and we do spend a good amount of time talking about eth-

ics,” said Lee. “There are issues with giv-ing proper credit for work done on these projects, but if students ignore this aspect in any line of work they will eventually meet consequences.”

Given their ex-pertise, one would imagine that sci-ence fair judges would see through students’ elaborate presentations. Judg-es, however, have little time to review participants’ proj-ects and are largely forced to take proj-ects at face value.

“At the high school level, there’s only so much fact-checking that judg-es can do,” said Lee. “And if some partici-pants end up taking up these bad habits instead of listening to our advice, they’re going to learn their les-son at some point or another.”

By rewarding students with unfair ad-vantages, the system sets up not only un-realistic portrayals of teenagers’ scientific research abilities, but also unreasonable expectations for future efforts. It is clear, for example, that students use overly com-plex and serious titles to entice judges to hear their well-rehearsed, two-minute el-evator speeches. With more complex proj-ects geared toward buzz words like “curing cancer” and “algorithms,” participants feel pressured to develop similar projects.

“I think people in general feel this need to do projects that are so groundbreaking because that’s the vision that they see of science. People seem to have this idea that everything you do in science is for a cure,”

Science Fair a competition of connections

Staff EditorialThe Voice of the Epic

said senior Somya Khare, who has participat-ed in numerous science fairs. “People don’t really think of the fundamental sciences that you need to have as a foundation to build on for other projects.”

Although these projects are impressive and potentially beneficial to society as a whole, allowing them to become the model for all science fair projects limits the scope of research students choose to pursue.

“It’s also the media’s fault because they pay more attention to cool applications. If your work doesn’t sound flashy, they will not call you because of publicity,” said Khare. While Khare recognizes these problems, the benefits of science fair weighed into her deci-sion to continue science fair.

The original purpose of science fairs, as described in an article from The Atlantic, was to “...give overly urbanized kids a chance

to get in touch with nature so that they can learn scientific truths and develop an appre-ciation of that world.” But now, in the eyes of many students and parents, science fair has become a path to gain internships and ad-mission to top-tier universities. This mindset begets participants who are willing to take any advantage they can get in their science fair work. For those who do stay true to the idea of participating in science fair, however, the process can still provide useful research experience.

“While I do agree that there are issues with the process and intentions, I believe there is more good than harm that comes from science fair,” said Lee.

Sciwence fair, once a noble concept that excited students to learn more about the nat-ural world, has now devolved into a game of who you know, not what you know.

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In March 2014, a group of students from across FUHSD was united by one common passion--an interest in de-sign and aesthetics. Starting out as a modest group of

three or four student designers, the organization has blos-somed into an official non-profit run by high school stu-dents from various schools across the Bay Area.

Junior May Cui and senior Stephanie Shi, students at Monta Vista High School, saw promotions from Cuper-tino High School’s established Design It chapter and approached the officers there about expanding the organization. From this meeting, Silicon Valley Design It was created. After inviting graphic designers they knew from surrounding schools, an officer team was established. Shi and Homestead High senior Erik Yang now function as the co-presidents.

“At the beginning, we were just a group of high school students that enjoyed design,” said Shi and Yang. “This passion helped us immensely in creating a strong and innovative organization that provides students a place to develop their graphic design skills.”

Lynbrook senior Eric Chiu became a part of Design It to develop his passion for design.

“I got involved last summer, when I want-ed to look into different types of art to see what type I want to pursue in the future,” said Chiu. “Once I started Design It, I got hooked in design.” Chiu now is secretary and treasurer of the club.

Since its beginning, the mission of Design It has been to promote graphic design in the local community, which it aims to do through four key actions-

-cultivating individual design talent, aiding members in pur-suing design-related careers, emphasizing the impact of the graphic design industry and helping individuals understand its real-life applications.

The team hosts open workshops at local libraries to teach design concepts and tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, during school breaks. Along with workshops, Design It has hosted competitions and showcases.

“Each school has its own ‘go-to designers,’ graphic de-signers who everyone goes to when they need help with design, be it campaign posters or profile pictures or fly-ers or websites, and our organization makes it easier for everyone to access them,” said junior Kenny Yuan.

Yuan, currently the Director of Events, became in-volved with Design It when three of the officers who knew about his graphic design skills approached him, hoping for increased representation from Lynbrook. Since Yuan’s joining, the organization has expanded rapidly, both within and beyond the school district.

Each local chapter of Design It operates in-dependently and is responsible for maintaining separate funds, events and activities. At the head of each chapter is a team of five officers, two or three of whom are officers on the Silicon Valley team. As a result of this structure, each chapter is responsible for itself, the organization as a whole is connected and the Silicon Valley team can effectively manage the organization. Re-cently, the organization hosted a successful Indiegogo campaign and established them-selves as a legal non-profit organization. The team hopes that Design It will be wide-ly recognized as a prestigious and philan-thropic design organization in not only Silicon Valley, but throughout California.

How to alleviate allergies with home remedies

Spicy FoodContrary to popular belief, spices such as chili peppers, was-

abi and garlic can actually alleviate a stuffy nose. Compounds in wasabi have temporary decongestant effects. If you have ever eaten something spicy and then had a runny nose, then you have experienced the decongestant effects of spicy food. Of course, spices may not be the answer if your allergy symptoms include a runny nose, but they do make breathing a little easier.

Peppermint TeaWhile the soothing aroma and heat of teas can alleviate allergy symp-

toms, peppermint tea’s benefits extend beyond these qualities. With an-tibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, the essential oils of pep-permint serve as decongestants. Furthermore, soaking a peppermint tea bag in water and placing it over your eyelids can alleviate itchy, irritated eyes. Peppermint tea can either be made at home or obtained from most department stores, and it refreshes the palate along with the sinuses.

MagnesiumFound in foods such as nuts

and seeds, fish, avocados, bananas and even chocolate, magnesium is a bronchodilator--that is, an agent that dilates the bronchial tubes, thus facilitating airflow. Furthermore, it works as an antihistamine. Histamine is a neurotransmitter that is released during allergic reactions and contrib-utes to the unpleasant symptoms, and antihistamines inhibit the body’s reaction to allergens by blocking the body’s histamine receptors.

Neti PotsA neti pot is a small vessel with

a spout that clears your nose by de-positing a stream of salt water in one nostril and out the other. The water flushes out allergens and loosens up mucus, relieving clogged sinuses. Although they seem strange, neti pots are quickly gaining popularity and are available to purchase for less than $20 at drugstores.

BY KASTURI PANTAVAIDYA

BY ALLISON YUAN As spring arrives, the days lengthen, foliage dons a new, tender green and flowers blossom. And, of course, you

start sneezing explosively as a raging river of mucus bursts from your nose. Obtaining and taking allergy medicine can be tedious and unpleasant, making the ordeal worse. In-stead, try these easy remedies for hay fever.

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Buzzfeed. We’ve all seen the links to its articles on our Facebook feeds, all found ourselves scrolling down

through the streams of GIF images mindless-ly. It’s the website that is everyone’s guilty pleasure, and that shouldn’t come as a sur-prise, given that Buzzfeed is in fact one of the most well-conceived and well-executed insti-tutions of journalism that the modern world has seen.

Maybe it has to do with the impactful headlines of its articles, which infallibly pre-dict exactly what your reaction will be upon viewing them (I’m not joking here: my cousin Shin, bless his soul, was placed into inten-sive care for a month after reading an article titled “23 Pictures of Dachshunds that will Melt Your Heart.”) Maybe it has to do with the sheer amount of work that goes into each piece--you can really tell that the Buzzfeed staff pour their souls into each article, or maybe it’s just the number of cats present. No matter the reason, however, there’s no doubt that Buzzfeed is the pinnacle of jour-nalism, producing content that manages to be both informing and entertaining.

So in honor of this great institution, I’m taking a page out of Buzzfeed’s book and pro-viding you with a list of my own: the absolute best articles of Buzzfeed’s history. So here it goes.

1. 35 People Who Just Realized That Seth MacFarlane is Actually Hot

A personal favorite of mine penned by Buzzfeed Staff Writer Summer Anne Burton, this article truly pushes the boundaries of what we consider as news. This gem is com-prised entirely of Twitter posts documenting the reactions of various people upon notic-ing MacFarlane’s attractive traits. And in case you wanted a lot, there is, in fact, a grand total of 35 posts to satisfy your cravings. It doesn’t get much better than this, people.

2. 12 Reasons Why Sam, The Cat With Eyebrows, Should Be Your New Favorite Cat

To be honest, I didn’t think much of this feature piece when I first laid my eyes upon it. I thought it was just one of the many Buzzfeed articles colored by the website’s strange obsession with felines--until I real-ized that Sam the cat had eyebrows. How cool is that? Without Buzzfeed, I, along with the rest of the free world, might have never known that cats could have eyebrows.

Coincidentally, Sam is now my favorite cat.

4. 20 Things That Will Make You Say NOOOOOOO!

Simplicity at its finest. A series of GIFs detailing terrible things happening to unfor-tunate people, each captioned with a “NO!” consisting of an increasing amount of O’s. This is unquestionably a must-read for any-one who wants to feel better about their own miserable lives. Buzzfeed sure knows their audience well.

5. 17 Delightful Zayn Malik Moments To Cheer Up Directioners Everywhere

I don’t think this one needs any explana-tion.

6. Which Kardashian Significant Other Are You?

We all have burning questions that eat us up inside, day to day. And fortunately, Buzzfeed gives us the answers. With this text-book example of the quiz article, Buzzfeed once again delivers. Now that I know I would be Tyga, who apparently exhibits “incredible self-confidence” and is “extremely self-driv-en and destined to succeed,” I can now sleep easy.

Buzzfeed: The fin-est in journalism

During the opening scene of the third season’s first episode, Frank Underwood utters another one of

those indelible quotes, only this time it’s different. “You have to be a little human when you’re president,” asserts the man who built his brand on an utter disregard for social convention, right before non-chalantly lowering his pants and urinat-ing on his father’s gravestone. Well, Frank was certainly back, but I could tell by the fleeting display of humanity that the third installment of “House of Cards” wasn’t go-ing to resemble the first two.

Frank continues to wheel and deal behind the scenes the way only he can, double-crossing foes to the tune of his trademark southern drawl, but is largely staving off challengers as opposed to striving for power. It makes Frank a less interesting character, but the added pres-sures of the Presidency--he must focus on policy, not just people--along with inces-sant media coverage, naturally limit the extent of his shenanigans.

With the Underwoods constantly in the public eye, writer Beau Willimon chooses to shift the spotlight toward character exploration. Throughout the season, he educes virtually every main character’s true colors by showing them

A presidential slight of hand

Four Days, Four Places

BY YONATAN ZEMLYAK

Friends, beach, restaurants, shop-ping, art galleries, spas and salons. This is the place to throw your wor-ries away. It is a lively tourist location, full of activities and tours to book. On foot or by car, Carmel allows you to immerse yourself in culture, historic sites and theater.

CarmelKnown for its beauty, head

out to the Ritz-Carlton on a

magical walk to experience a

magnificent view. The grand

hotel has a reputation for be-

ing luxurious and fulfilling.

Although the prices are quite

expensive, feel free to spend a

day along the shoreline of the

Pacific Ocean with your food,

friends and family while soak-

ing up the calm aura of the eve-

ning sunset.

This area is filled with plac-es to wander. Start your day with nitrogen ice cream fresh-ly made at Smitten Ice Cream. Next, head to Lafayette Reser-voir to experience the serene atmosphere and a break from studying. After you get lunch from one of the numerous restaurants nearby, immerse yourself into the art, music and drama events frequently occurring in town.

Lafayette

Mount Tamalpais State ParkKeep walking, walking and walk-

ing. With many trails to choose from, you will feel like you are on top of the world with the vast view of the valley. Depending on your preference, the hikes can be steep and challenging or simple and flat. Here, allow yourself to go all the way and come back to Lyn-brook feeling proud of yourself and ready for more challenges.

at their most vulnerable. Frank, for one, col-lapses after a string of unsuccessful fundrais-ing calls and must rely on Claire to restore his confidence. Willimon does an excellent job of detailing Frank’s growth in this respect--from there, Frank consciously conceals his emotions, and is never again seen so frag-ile. Doug, an ostensible reflection of Frank’s moral baseness, is both physically vulnerable and lost, clueless until the end as to how to deal with Rachel and whether to continue his loyalty toward Frank.

The season heavily emphasizes Frank and Claire’s interdependence. Claire is regu-larly forced to rely on Frank’s connections and presidential power to achieve her goals, securing the UN Ambassador post after he grants her a recess appointment, among other things. Claire’s dependence is her particular brand of vulnerability--she is broken when Frank finds himself forced to relieve her of the post. Para-doxically, it is her dependence that ultimately drives her away from Frank, but no one is surprised. The building tension was the best storyline from the season, and the intrigue of marital and politi-cal isolation-- when the stakes are highest--serve as a flaw-less segway into an inevitable fourth season.

Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

BY RENUKA BELWALKAR

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FEATURES SECTION

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Whether you are looking for an escape or want to plunge your-self into a fresh atmosphere, here is a complete package of spring break destinations to visit for four different days.

A review of House of Cards, season three

While English teacher Andrew Seike was a college student, he was also an undercover agent.

When he started college, Seike got a job in loss pre-vention for Macy’s, preventing people from shoplifting and tracking down those who managed to escape.

Seike originally took the job because of the money it offered as he was working through college. He did, how-ever, gain valuable experience while on the job, learning things such as multitasking, working with others and withstanding pressure.

“It was important to not let your team down,” said Seike. “[The job] reaffirmed this idea of trust in a person, , that you can’t leave someone when they’re in trouble.”

On many occasions, Seike had to deal with situations that called for courage and quick thinking. Once, he re-ceived an urgent call from his partner notifying him that a suspect was getting away and that Seike needed to be there now. Seike ran out as fast as he could, and saw his partner in front of him chasing the suspect, who was running toward the top of a hill.

“We can’t do a takedown alone--I knew I had to be there,” said Seike. “I was afraid he might get into a physi-cal situation over stolen clothing, which is pointless.”

All of a sudden, at the top of the hill he saw his part-

Chemistry teacher Jon Penner’s first job fresh out of college came to him through a stroke of luck. After Penner graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in biol-ogy, his mother told him to get a job. Penner had asked his friends if they wanted to go to the beach. One of them, however, couldn’t go due to an interview. Penner switched places with that friend and got the job as a waiter at the Rusty Scupper.

He was eventually promoted to assistant manager, yet there was something else he wanted to do.

“I wanted to do something that meant something, that had an impact on somebody’s life and not just make mon-ey and give somebody a good steak,” said Penner.

Despite his passion for teaching, Penner does not feel as though his time was wasted. In his early years of teach-ing, the restaurant job to supported his starting salary.

Teaching and working at a restaurant at the same time sometimes led to interesting situations. Once, when Penner was bartending, he wa notified that there were girls in prom dresses trying to buy drinks with fake IDs. He realized that they were students from his biology class. He went over to the table to ask the girls about the IDs.

“They said, ‘Yeah, the IDs are real--oh my god, it’s Mr. Penner!’” he said. “I said ‘You sure? I know you well!’”

He also values the lessons he learned.“I gained confidence dealing with a lot of different peo-

ple and working my way into management,” said Penner.

During the 1960s, the hippie movement took hold of the nation and English teacher Fritz Torp was no excep-tion. Though he graduated from Claremont McKenna Col-lege with a degree in political science, Torp realized that becoming a lawyer was not what he really wanted to do.

“It was a time of peace and love and freedom,” said Torp. “And I was kind of a hippie.”

Instead, Torp became a roadie for a rock band called Felix, living with them and setting up the equipment for their gigs. By chance, he happened to become the lead

Before they were teachers:BY URMILA VENKATARAMANI

Three teachers and their unconventional occupations

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singer for the band and toured with them for a couple of years, doing what he had only dreamed of as a kid.

“Everybody wanted to be in a rock band back then, and I got to live that dream,” said Torp.

The fun could not last forever, though. The band was not lucrative, and Torp also came to the realization that he could not make a career out of rock and roll, no matter how much he loved it. Even though his rock career did not last, Torp looks back fondly on that time.

“I liked everything about being in a band,” said Torp. “I liked the excitement of playing music--I love rock and roll--I loved watching people get up and dance and I loved the applause.”

One of Torp’s most memorable experiences was opening for the British rock band The Who. After Felix performed, the speakers announced The Who as the next act. Lead singer Roger Daltrey, who was walking through the room they were waiting in, handed his drink to Torp before leaving to get on stage.

“I treated it like the holy grail,” said Torp. “‘Roger Daltrey gave this to me.’ I said. ‘Take a sip, take a sip!’”

After leaving the band, Torp had various jobs, rang-ing from managing a record warehouse to being a real estate agent to selling mutual bonds and life insurance. He still didn’t feel satisfied, however, with what he was doing with his life. After thinking about his retirement plans and discussing options with his wife, Torp began to seriously consider becoming a teacher.

Torp worked by day and went back to school to get his teaching credential by night. After working for over a decade at schools in Santa Cruz, he looked toward the FUHSD area for better opportunities. For the past 12 years, Torp has been teaching at Lynbrook.

He said, “I felt like with teaching I could [make a dif-ference], which is something I thought was important.”

ner jump to the left and roll down the hill. Still running at full speed, Seike looked back and saw the suspect pointing a gun at him. Just 10 feet away from the criminal, Seike followed his partner’s lead, dodged to the side and rolled down the hill.

When they got back, his boss demanded an explanation.“We told her, ‘We’re not dying for underwear,’” said Seike.Although the job was often difficult, Seike still managed to

enjoy himself. There was always something to do.“I would work over eight hours a day at times, and it felt like

three,” said Seike. “It was that eventful.”While still in school but years after his loss prevention job,

Seike also worked with computers as a technician. He debated switching paths, but his real passion was always literature.

“I didn’t think that I’d be a millionaire, but I knew that there was big money in [computers]--safe money,” said Seike. “But can you imagine me sitting in a cubicle all day?”

Discovering the psychology behind panic attacks and how to combat themWhen panic and anxiety attackBY MEERA KRISHNAMOORTHY & FREYA LIU

It was two weeks before swim season started. Freshman Serena Zheng* had been nervously anticipating the first practice for months, steadily becoming more stressed

with each passing day.Usually, when Zheng begins to feel stress, she is able to

calm down quickly. In this instance, however, the stress was too much for Zheng to handle. Her heart started beating quickly, her head began to pound, and she felt “everything closing in around [her].” The feeling was not foreign to Zheng; she knew that she was experiencing a panic attack.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) defines a panic attack as “an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, and during which time four (or more) of the following symptoms occur: accelerated heart rate, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, nausea, feeling light-headed, numbness, fear of losing control, and fear of dying.”

Panic attacks occur when a section of the brain known as the periaqueductal gray, which regulates defense mecha-nisms, malfunctions. This results in an over-exaggeration of the threat, leading to dramatically increased anxiety and, in extreme cases, a panic attack. During a panic attack, several stress hormones, including adrenaline, are released in great-er degrees to respond to the threat.

The causes of panic attacks can be traced back to physio-logical or mental conditions. In terms of the body, it has been hypothesized that some panic attacks are caused by a genetic mutation. Panic attacks can also be caused by external trig-gers, like stressful life events.

“Lynbrook is a campus with elevated stress factors, which contributes to panic attacks,” said psychologist Jack Neudorf.

The kind of stress that makes Zheng experience panic attacks is the kind of stress she can’t control. When Zheng

decided to join the swim team, she did not know how to pre-pare for the first practice. She was daunted by the lack of con-trol over her performance.

“I don’t get panic attacks from school or grades because I know that grades are the outcome of whatever I put in,” said Zheng. “But not knowing how to combat the stress of starting something new led to my first panic attack.”

Generally, the trigger does not instantly result in a panic attack; it can take much longer for the trigger to cause one. The pervasiveness of everyday stress at school and in life can disguise the triggers nec-essary to push someone into a panic attack, accord-ing to psychologist Laurie Ferguson.

A few days usually pass from when Zheng is trig-gered to when she experi-ences the attack. She ex-plained the chronology of this by describing a weekend in which her stress built up until she experienced a panic attack.

“The whole weekend I was feeling stressed out and mis-erable,” said Zheng. “Sometimes, I manage to calm myself down, and the stressful feelings subside. In this instance, I was unable to calm myself down, and on the last day of the weekend, I snapped and experienced a panic attack.”

The build up can be a couple of days, but the actual panic attack lasts from 15 seconds to three minutes. Those who ex-perience panic attacks, like Zheng, can feel as though the ex-perience lasts for much longer because such attacks release stress hormones that takes the body a while to burn off. The hormones adrenaline and cortisone, in particular, remain in the body for a long time, leading to a lengthened experience.

“If a person experiencing a panic attack feels as though they do not need medical attention during the panic attack,

they should try try to burn out those stress hormones by fo-cusing their attention on another activity,” said Ferguson.

Zheng always immediately tries to calm herself down as soon as her panic attacks start. She finds that distracting herself by talking to other people about anything other than what triggered her attack is the most effective way to stop her panic attacks.

“I don’t want to talk about what I’m feeling because I can’t really think straight in that moment,” said Zheng. “It’s easier to calm down when you’re distracted; that’s why I ask my

family or friends to talk about their day to distract me from my own feelings so I can calm down.”

Purposefully distracting oneself is only one of the many approaches to treating panic attacks. Neudorf’s personal ap-proach to treating experiencing a panic attack is to “get the patient to remember that it’s not a dangerous thing,” though initially, the attack may “feel like death.” He does this by help-ing his patients visualize a time when they felt peaceful.

Frequent panic attacks can potentially indicate the great-er problem of a panic disorder, which can be treated with professional help.

“Panic attacks are very treatable,” said Neudorf. “Therapy can provide a lot of insight into the thought patterns that may trigger attacks. A willingness to seek treatment is the best way to stop panic attacks.”

*Name has been changed for student privacy.

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DOWN SYNDROME| Students share their stories

A look into the physiological benefits of human touchBY KATHLEEN CUI

continued from DOWN SYNDROME pg 1

Junior Anh Tran found herself in a similar situation when her younger sister, Kim, was born with Down Syndrome. Unlike the Humfelds, Tran’s mother did not have prenatal screening prior to the baby’s birth. Kim was imme-diately accepted into their family, but Tran understands why parents have concerns about having a child with Down Syn-drome.

“It’s a personal choice if the parents are able to actual-ly support a child with Down Syndrome and love them the same way,” said Tran.

Tran’s sister also has weaker muscles, slower motor skills and regularly sees a speech pathologist.

While the Tran family continues to treat Kim in the same manner as they would any other child, Tran has experienced how people can judge others for being different.

“Sometimes when we take Kim to the store, there are some people that don’t understand, and they give us dirty looks if she randomly starts singing,” said Tran. “It’s hard because not everyone is aware of the problems that people with Down Syndrome face.”

Similarly, the Humfelds are concerned that in the future, their son will be mistreated for his disability.

“I’m worried that he’ll get treated poorly in the future,” said Humfeld. “I’ve heard that people with Down Syndrome can be happy, so we’re hopeful.”

After her experiences with her sister, Tran has reached the same conclusion.

“Children with Down Syndrome are usually really hap-py, and they tend to have an unconditional love,” said Tran. “They don’t really have the more negative traits of normally functioning people, who are usually more calculating.”

One of Tran’s most vivid memories is of the time her sister had to go in for blood testing when she was four or five years old. Her sister was terrified of going into the lab, so when it was Tran’s turn to be tested, her sister ran in after her and tried to pull her out.

“I was really moved,” said Tran. “Even though she was ter-

rified of the place, she was still trying to protect me.”Furthermore, the Humfelds recognize that therapy and

support for children with Down Syndrome has greatly im-proved, and people with Down Syndrome are able to live lon-ger, healthier and more productive lives.

Viking Buddies is an organization at Lynbrook that helps special needs students. The club hopes that an increased un-derstanding of special education students will lead to more acceptance and a better campus dynamic.

“We played a movie to try to raise awareness for students

with special needs, which is something that we’re trying to work on,” said sophomore Pratibha Sriram, a member of Vi-king Buddies.

Sriram also acknowledged the difficulties that students with special needs experience at Lynbrook. One of the biggest obstacles is a lack of communication. For special education children, it is often difficult to convey their feelings and ideas.

Other barriers include picking up on social cues and not being able to relate to what other kids their age are feeling.

Despite the challenges, many people find inspiration through dealing with people with Down Syndrome. Tran’s family is part of the Silicon Valley Down Syndrome Network, which hosts walkathons and events for different holidays.

Additionally, after realizing that there are few organiza-tions that allow people with special needs to participate in volunteer work, Tran started a volunteer program for stu-dents with special needs.

Currently, there are more than 30 students registered, and Tran has reached out to various parents, museums, libraries and non-profit organizations. She is hopeful that these orga-nizations will allow students with special needs to volunteer.

Tran’s mother was positively impacted by raising a daugh-ter with Down Syndrome. After the birth of her daughter, she became a speech pathologist in order to help students and families who were in similar situations to theirs.

Interestingly, the adoption wait list for kids with Down Syndrome is quite long. Many prospective parents are at-tracted to the feelings of positivity and kindness that these children bring to their families.

“One important thing to know is that children with Down Syndrome are very special and endearing,” said Chan-dramouli. “They have a special touch that normal children don’t have.”

Growing up in a comfortable but platonic culture, a high five or hug come natu-rally to many Americans. Yet recently

discovered physical and mental benefits re-veal that touch has a function more compre-hensive than ever before imagined; not only does human touch alone have the power to communicate compassion, gratitude, love and fear, but it is also necessary for other fac-ets of life, including developmental infantil stages with effects spanning into adulthood.

Even before childbirth, touch plays a sig-nificant role in maternal and filial relation-ships. The mother’s heartbeat is amplified by the amniotic fluid encasing the unborn child, creating “an essential channel of communi-cation with caregivers for a child,” accord-ing to Peter Andersen in his book Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions.

Following the child’s birth, physical touch is monumental in his/her development. Tiffa-ny Field, director of the Touch Research Insti-tute, discovered that newborns who received 45 minutes of touch therapy for 5 to 10 days gained 47 percent more weight than infants who did not.

Going along the same methodology, the long-lasting influences of touch are shown in research by Darlene Francis and Michael

Meaney, who discovered that rats which are groomed often as infants grow to be calmer with better stress management, along with stronger immune systems.

The benefits of touch are comprehensive and applicable to nearly everyone. Not only is it physically beneficial, but sessions of touch therapy--or even routine massages--have been shown to help people going through emotional trauma to overcome hardships such as grieving over a relative’s death.

The benefits reach even to the academic classroom. French psychologist Nicolas Gueguen found that students contacted in a friendly manner by teachers are thrice as likely to participate during class. Outside the classroom, psychologist Michael Kraus not-ed that physical contact between teammates during NBA games--such as chest bumps, high fives, and backslaps--resulted in more successful teams and players.

“In the football team, we aim to become a family, because out on the field we need to trust and rely on each other,” sophomore football player Kevin Huang said. “When we huddle, we motivate and support each other, reinforcing this family ideal. All this physical contact brings us together and expresses our trust for each other, additionally helping us celebrate or display emotions.”

Similar to boys football, field hockey var-

sity player Lillian Wu agrees that touch is beneficial to the team as a whole.

“During games and practice, we often give each other high fives and hugs,” said Wu. “The physical touch conveys encouragement, even though a lot of it is subconscious. It makes us closer as a cohesive team, and this bonding helps us perform better in games.”

According to Psychology Today, people tend to engage in touch more often in warm-er climates, explaining common stereotypes such as Southern hospitality or even the friendliness of the Greeks. Explanations draw from peoples’ tendency to reveal more skin in warmer climates, or even the salubrious ef-fects of increased sunlight on peoples’ moods.

Whether it is a chest bump during an NBA game or the thump of a mother’s heartbeat, physical contact is an overlooked necessity in modern society. A study dating back to the 1960’s by Sidney Jourard noted that while Americans do touch occasionally, other coun-tries such as France and Puerto Rico engage in such touch nearly 90 times as much in a single conversation. Given the physical and mental benefits of touch, such a statistical gap indicates possible room for improvement. So the next time the stress becomes particularly difficult to bear or the football team needs an extra push, consider the possibilities offered by touch and its benefits.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SHEFALI VIJAY

SHEFALI VIJAY—EPIC

STATISTICS FROM THE NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY

BY AUDREY ZHENG

In the eye of the beholder: the psychology of colorInvestigating the meaning and application of color in marketing and art

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Whether it’s in looking for the perfect prom outfit or purchasing a new car, choice of color greatly influ-

ences one’s decisions. Color’s various hues, shades and tints influence everyone capable of perceiving it. Although its conclusivity is largely debated, color psychology, the study of color and their meanings, is one of today’s most popular and debated fields that deals with human feeling and behavior.

Color Psychology in MarketingMcDonald’s brand identity consists pri-

marily of red and yellow because research has suggested that seeing those colors can make you hungry. By choosing these specific colors for its franchise, McDonald’s takes advantage of what marketers call color branding. Ac-cording to a study titled the Impact of Color in Marketing, approximately 90 percent of decisions made about products are based on color alone. This is in part because our brains prefer recognizable brands, as discovered by another study called the Interactive Effects of Colors. Since these companies consistently use certain colors with their brands, colors become associated with certain brands. By color branding, companies differentiate their products from competitors to boost sales.

Universal or not?While color psychology plays an impor-

tant role in buyer persuasion, there is little evidence to support the idea that a color such as green is able to evoke the same feeling for everyone. As Sally Augustin, professor of en-vironmental psychology, stated, there is no clear-cut guide to which color conveys which

emotion. Although research has shown that colors do broadly align with certain feelings, cultural differences, personal taste, environ-ment and upbringing make it impossible to create a universal color guide assigning each color to a specific emotion.

“I think color affects everyone in differ-ent ways,” said senior Tanvi Tendolkar, who studies color in fashion. “For example, when everyone was debating the color of a dress, I saw white and gold. Others saw black and

blue. Therefore, if people see colors differ-ently, one color shouldn’t have the same ef-fect on everyone, psychologically speaking.”

Like Tendolkar, junior Jimmy Zhi believes that an individual’s unique experiences af-fect his or her emotional responses to color.

“As an art student, I use color to convey emotion,” said Zhi. “For example, warm col-ors like yellow and orange can arouse posi-tive and excited emotions. This is because the concept of colors can be trained. Color

stereotypes aren’t intrinsic; they’re taught.”

Color Psychology in ArtArguably, one of color psychology’s most

important applications is in art. Art teachers Lee Akamichi and Paul Willson have often observed their students utilize color psy-chology to add another layer of meaning to their artworks.

“One does not just grab any color and slap it down,” said Willson. “It is thought-fully selected and consciously applied to the point where, if it is not quite right, it will be changed, softened or intensified until it is clearly correct. Colors should be taken quite seriously. They are quite meaningful. Ask any bee on his hunt for honey or any snake slithering through the forest. Colors have the power to attract or repel, sooth or startle.”

Akamichi also contends that his students planning to pursue art degrees have a solid grip on color.

“Lynbrook students, in general, are famil-iar with facets like warm and colors and the effects certain colors have on the viewer, said Lee. “For the students headed for art majors and art colleges, the component of color is dealt with emphasis within the first two years of art school.”

In both art and marketing, color psycholo-gy’s proponents and opponents have argued over its efficacy and legitimacy. To an art in-structor like Willson, psychological percep-tion of color “is a fine blend of both upbring-ing and science.” To students like Tendolkar and Zhi, an individual’s response to color depends on his or her experiences.

“The right colors can’t work miracles, but they’re a beautiful touch to any artwork, de-sign, or clothing,” said Tendolkar.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FRINA REDOLOZA

Cassey Ho is the devil incarnate. There, I said it. This month I tried a Blogilates routine and it may have been the worst

experience of my life. Let me start at the very beginning. Hopefully all of you remember my “How to Impress Me on a Date” column. I prefaced that with the statement “To be hon-est, I’ve never been on a real date.” One of the many reasons that I have not been on a real date is because I have absolutely no muscle or stamina or anything related to fitness. I am a stringbean.

To change that, I decided to follow the guidance of Cassey Ho. Little did I know that

Cassey Ho was going to drag me to hell and back. Sports Editor Sabrina Jen and Features Section Editor Freya Liu chose two different routines for me to attempt: the “What Makes You Bootyful Butt Challenge” and the “Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge.” I would like to say here that I had no choice in which chal-lenges were chosen and if it were up to me I would not have attempted to, as Satan Ho says, “Get Round.”

The first challenge was set to One Direc-tion, hence the name, and from what I can tell it was just supposed to be a butt workout but all I could understand of it was a lot of pel-vic thrusting. It didn’t hurt anything but my thighs so I assume I did it wrong but it looked

fairly inappropriate. While attempting it I cringed for all the girls (and guys) that were performing this exercise when their parents walked into the room. I wasn’t too tired by the end of this but the next one destroyed me.

The second challenge was the “Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge” and I always thought I had decent thigh muscles because of my experience as a swimmer. Cassey “Lu-cifer” Ho made me reconsider my stance on all thighs ever. This challenge began pretty easily, just normal squatting. However, as it progressed, Cassey had me hold the squat and then perform her pulsing movement. Everytime she said to pulse, I could feel part of my soul being sucked away. The pain was

BY ANAND CHUKKA

BY FREYA LIU

My failed attempt at working out with Cassey

“Train insane or remain the same”

ridiculous and I would wish that pain unto no one. She had us go lower and lower and I felt as I was descending within the nine circles of hell everytime. To make it all the worse, she would yell “Do you want a big butt?!” every once in a while and I felt obligated to yell “Yes!” in return, followed by a chain of exple-tives. To sum it all up, it may have been the worst experience of my life.

I performed the exercise at 5:43 PM on Thursday afternoon. It is currently 12:19 AM on Sunday morning and my thighs are not feeling any better. I can only hope that Cassey Ho decides to return my thighs to me soon in exchange for my daily sacrifice. Please never attempt Blogilates.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ALLISON YUAN

ART ILLUSTRATION BY ALLISON YUAN

With summer just around the corner, many feel the need to be more active and exercise. Some people associate working out with costly gym

memberships and the dreaded stares from strangers in impossibly good shape. One alternative to this is Blogi-lates, an interactive fitness website that provides work-outs doable within the comfort of one’s own home.

Blogilates is run by Cassey Ho, a certified fitness instruc-tor based in Los Angeles. In 2012 she began teaching Pilates, a system of exercises designed to improve personal strength and flexibility, but she felt as though she could make the whole workout experience more fun for her students. Ho created POP Pilates, a more “upbeat style” of Pilates that in-corporates pop music into workout routines, and she posts weekly workouts as well as a monthly calendar with outlin-ing specific workouts to do everyday on her website blogi-

lates.com, along with healthy recipes and motivational activewear. Ho’s calendar consists of an hour’s worth of workouts every day, focused on a different part of the body according to the different days of the week. In order to avoid “plateauing,” a period of time in which the body no longer responds to fitness or diet routines, Ho ensures that no two days have the same set of videos.

Via her online workouts, Ho has established a loyal group of fans--including Lynbrook students.

Fellow senior Hima Rajana first looked up Blogilates three years ago when a friend mentioned a Blogilates workout that in-volved paper plates. Since then, she has av-idly followed Ho’s workouts.

“I wanted to see if I could complete the challenges, so I kept doing them,” said Ra-jana. “I really fell in love with it.”

In the intervening time, Rajana has slowly built up her physical endurance and is now able to complete the most intense versions of

A year ago, when freshman Hannah Faris was catching up on beauty trends with bubz-beauty, a YouTuber who specializes in beau-ty, she noticed the host doing Blogilates. The very next day, Faris saw a Blogilates video pop up on her list of “suggested” videos, so she decided to give it a shot.

Though Faris follows the calendar, she occasionally swaps out videos she does not like with something relatively similar. And even if she lacks the time to finish the entire

Senior Grace Ling runs on a sleep sched-ule different than that of most Lynbrook stu-dents--she often goes to bed as early as 10:30 p.m. and rises before dawn.

“Blogilates is something that helps me wake up because I look forward to it,” said Ling. “I think it’s really fun.”

An injured runner, Ling had to stop run-ning to let her foot heal. She makes up for the loss in cardio with 30 to 50 minutes of Blogi-lates daily, a lot more than she was able to do when she first started two years ago. Ling

Ho’s many workout challenges. “I love that you can change it to any in-

tensity level that’s fit for you,” said Rajana. Though she does not follow Ho’s month-

ly calendar, Rajana strives to fit in at least three of the most challenging videos three to five times a week. Ho suggests that peo-ple who do her videos supplement their workout routines with other physical activ-ity and following this advice, Rajana also runs and lifts weights.

also does not follow the monthly calendar, but she tries to do all her favorite workouts throughout the week.

One of the drawbacks to most forms of exercise is that they involve external equip-ment and are therefore harder to complete away from a gym. With Blogilates, Ling rarely has to use any extra equipment.

“Even though I can’t run right now, Blogi-lates is so effective that I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to start running again without any trouble,” said Ling.

hour, the exercises are “...short and really impactful, so they don’t seem like a waste of time.”

Unlike people who just go to the gym and lift weights, Faris prefers Blogilates because not only do Ho’s videos help build muscle, they emphasize cardio as well.

“I think that Blogilates builds up a more important kind of muscle--practical mus-cles that can help one function in daily life,” said Faris.

Behind the Blogilates fad—that’s blog and pilates

ALL PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE L U

Tight-knit track team aims for CCS

Off to a rough start at their previous meets, the track and field team hopes to capitalize on new freshmen and improving seniors to better its performance at

meets. Their first meet against Los Gatos High School left the

team seeking more. As a member of the highly competitive De Anza League, the Lynbrook team faced strong opposition, particularly against a girls varsity group that had remained largely unchanged since winning second place in CCS last year. Their loss against Los Gatos set the mood for the season.

“We want against a really hard team for our first meet, so we had pretty low self-esteem and that carried forward into our last meet [against Los Altos],” said senior Gianna Wu.

Facing Los Altos proved less of a challenge, with Head Coach Jake White placing a greater emphasis on field events. Nevertheless, the team faltered, with Lynbrook losing in all groups except junior varsity girls.

“It’s a question of balance: we always have good distance runners and good sprinters but we need triple jumpers, high jumpers, because all those events score,” said White.

Shifting focus to the rest of the season, however, White re-mains optimistic, keeping in mind the tough competition in the league. The addition of talented freshmen, carried over from the cross-country team, supports White’s viewpoint.

“We have a strong freshmen class, a lot of good freshmen boys,” said White.

Increasing camaraderie among team members has also aided the transition for the freshmen into the team.

“We don’t see the seniors as mentors, at this point,” said freshman Kevin Chacko. “We see them as just friends.”

Returning seniors have also strength-ened the team, particularly in distance and sprint events. Not one to go down without a fight, Wu, for example, looks forward to the coming meets with an-ticipation.

“[The seniors] have this mindset that this is our last year, so we’ve been run-ning our ‘A’ game, better than previous years definitely,” said Wu.

New senior Keertana Sureshbabu has also contributed points toward the dis-tance events, though lacking in the years of experience of the other seniors.

“I’m just proud of myself for never doing track, showing up my senior year and being in the range [of the varsity girls],” said Sureshbabu. “I’m not as fast as them, but I’m in their ballpark.”

White’s focus on increased participation in invitational meets for selected students for the past three years has also

led to improved times and distances. In contrast to dual meets in which only two schools participate directly against each other, invitational meets can include students from a number of schools, increasing competition. White, however, believes that such greater pressure leads to better performance.

“When you can go to sleep at night and get up in the morn-ing, wander out to the track and line up against the best people, that’s how you get personal records,” said White.

With three meets behind them, the team looks forward to the highly-ranked Arcadia Invitational and CCS with eager anticipation.

“The varsity boys broke a meet record at St. Francis [Invitational] with [the distance medley relay] and they’re trying to go to Arcadia seeded as invitational,” said Wu.

White, too, hopes to move away from their past performance this sea-son to reach CCS.

“We’re a very respectable team and will be ranked in CCS probably in the top 15,” said White. “Our distance medley re-lay, 4xMile relay, 4x100 girls varsity, and 4x400 [events] are all very strong.”

BY PRASANN RANADE

KASTURI PANTVAIDYA —EPIC

STEPHANIE LU —EPIC

STEPHANIE LU —EPIC

STEPHANIE LU —EPIC

PRASANN RANADE —EPIC

We have all sorts of uses for money, but as many of us know, money does not need us enough to sprint into our wal-

lets. Be that is it may, students still need to buy life essentials (food, crayons, bikinis, etc.) and some have found some fairly unique ways of earning money —that is to say, not every Lyn-brook student works as a private SAT tutor or at your local Kumon. In this issue of the Epic, four students share a glimpse into their work-ing life, whether that may be working tables at a local Chinese restaurant, or selling merchandise based on their popular online comics.

As a waiter at Shanghai Dumpling, senior Ben Wu buses tables and brings dishes to custom-ers, occasionally also writing down orders from the restaurants’ patrons. Junior Radha Shah hand-letters different signs for Trader Joe’s,

Cold hard cashBY STEPHANIE LU ranging from the small price signs on the shelves

to large signs made for hanging above tall prod-uct displays. Senior Anshul Shah works at Mod Pizza, doing a variety of tasks mainly behind-the-scenes: preparing the dough, washing the dishes, busing tables, and pressing the dough for the pizzas. Senior Alison Zai sells clothing and bags screenprinted with characters from her online comics; her clients live anywhere from Truckee to Canada.

Clockwise from top left: Wu uncovers a bamboo basket full of xiao long bao (a type of steamed bun filled with soup, originating from Northern China) at Shanghai Dumpling; Radha Shah hand-letters a price sign for grape seed extract in the back room of Trader Joe’s; Anshul Shah slides a disk of dough on the dough press behind the counter at Mod; Zai screenprints a character from her comics onto a tote bag, which will then be wrapped and shipped out.