I hear gossip and mean comments about people every day at Mills. It’s always three particular topics people are rambling on about: who is doing drugs, who is in a relationship, and who is the least fashionable student in the entire school.

People who gossip need to learn to be mature and be the bigger person in life even when someone upsets you. It is not funny to see people getting their feelings
hurt over a false accusation or over something private that was leaked. Treat
others how you would like to be treated because being the cause of someone’s bad reputation at school is unreasonable and extreme. Gossiping about a person will not solve the problem or feud, but cause a bigger conflict.

“A rumor is like playing telephone, it gets passed on and you don’t know what the outcome will be,” says sophomore Priscilla Young.

The number one most common gossip would have to be about relationships and
breakups. Whenever a girl and a boy are talking, people automatically assume
that the couple is dating, which is definitely not always the case. The nosiness of teens lead to assumptions about people before the genuine truth is revealed. This is one common offset of rumors over untrue stories.

“Rumors are very hurtful and should be stopped. Unfortunately we can’t stop rumors because you can’t control what other people say,” says Young.

Gossiping has also led to the end of great friendships. Rumors should never destroy bonds between two people. Being a good friend includes not spreading rumors and having someone’s back when they are emotionally fragile.

Gossipers do not experience the pain that others feel when being accused of perpetrating or saying something. It hurts to come to school and see everyone give you the death stare and ignore you. Not only are Mills students stressed over challenging classes, but extra, unwanted drama can really hurt their self
esteem. Drama is an idiotic conflict that starts because of rumors being spread
around.

High school is not a place to talk about people; it is a place to develop your goals
for the future and meet new people while having the best four years of your
life. People should not be living through high school with peer pressure and
recalling high school as their worst four years. My advice for people suffering
from rumors is to stay calm and let out your feelings to close friends or the
counselors. Also, to remember that you will always be a better person at heart
than those who gossip.

“Have [rumors] come through one ear and out the other,” says Young.

The San Mateo Union High School District honored Mills’ very own Mr. David Jackson with the Golden Apple Award, recognizing him as a luminary among educators.

One day, Mr. Jackson attended a staff meeting, following his usual routine. On this particular afternoon, though, he noticed the Superintendent, Scott Laurence, and a photographer,

Mr. Jackson receiving the honorable Golden Apple Award.

yet he still remained calm. However, when the Superintendent listed off Mr. Jackson’s unique contributions and qualities, Mr. Jackson could hardly believe it.

The Superintendent affirmed Mr. Jackson’s esteem, emphasizing his excellent everyday efforts as an English educator. Quantifying such success is nigh impossible, but last year, 96% of Mr. Jackson’s AP English students scored a 3 or better (out of 5) on their AP exams. Nevertheless, the humble Mr. Jackson accepts this as just a modest triumph.

“For me, the AP is just a tool. When kids walk in here and enter the world of literature, they’re creating art,” says Mr. Jackson.

Mr. Jackson brings over twenty-five years of experience of working in the district to the classroom. Although he initially directed band and taught music, Mr. Jackson currently teaches both Sophomore Honors English and AP English at Mills. As an English teacher he is nonpareil. While helping students hone their communication abilities through collegiate-level reading and writing, Mr. Jackson helps build understanding and imparts experience-based wisdom.

For Mr. Jackson, literature is another vehicle to teach life lessons and nurture his students’ growth. In his classes, he equates himself to more than just an English teacher; in AP English, he even assumes the role of the “senior teacher.” As such, he connects his own life experiences to the novel or play at hand, whether it be Once and Future King or Hamlet.

“They’re called humanities for a reason: they teach you how to live. I try to expose my students to the unwritten but essential rules of life, ideas that students might not learn in their other classes,” notes Mr. Jackson.

The Golden Apple Award, then, simply reinforces the special distinction Mr. Jackson holds in students’ hearts as they journey into the future.

It is a common scenario. A student enters Mills his or her freshmen year, and he could care less about what goes on at school. Fast forward to senior year, and everyone jumps on the band wagon and starts attending events – only, it is three years too late. Then the regrets follow, the “Oh I wish..” statements, and the utter feeling of “Dang!”

Few people listen to Mrs. Lighty when she tells everyone to “say yes” to all their opportunities. It only starts in their senior year, when the thought of now being the “last chance” hits people. Juniors in general try to show up to more events, but the whole class does not become united until their final year.

There are many activities that any Mills student can participate in. Take, for example, the age old “Battle of the Strip” game – Mills’ equivalent to the Little Big Game between Burlingame High and San Mateo High, which is equivalent to the Big Game between Cal and Stanford. The Battle of the Strip is our epic football battle between Capuchino and Mills High School. It is a highly spirited game, as Capuchino is our rival after all, and Mills always tends to have the upper hand in this football game. This big game is actually an important tradition at Mills High. In fact, so important that it has its own parade before the game, the cheerleaders have their Guardian Angel’s event the Friday before the event, and Cap and Mills battle it out for the age-old trophy, the “strip.” However, few come to realize the significance of this school event. Based on the pre-game parade turn out, seniors always have the most participants, followed by the juniors, sophomores, and then freshmen. And in the end, all the first time parading seniors can say is, “Dang, I wish I did this earlier.”

Regretting is horrible, especially when this mistake is easily avoidable simply by showing up to events. Listen to the announcements, look at the posters and flyers around, and go to an event or two. Maybe you as a student might find Mills a little livelier than you expected.

Modern Warfare 3

The release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 by Activision on November 8, 2011, marks the third installment of the popular “Modern Warfare” series.  Each installment is packed with more action and intense new features that allow for more customization and destruction.

The game was released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and the Wii throughout the world as hundreds of thousands of fans waited anxiously at Best Buy and Gamestop for midnight releases.  Developers Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games forged a game greater than any of its predecessors, largely because it was able to take the best aspects from those games and combine them into one awesome game.

The game is loaded with tons of features, including a single-player campaign, spec ops (which also includes a new addition to the series-survival mode), as well as the most popular: online multiplayer.

The campaign, although not my principle reason for purchasing the game, is still great as it gives the game a great Hollywood action movie feel.  The game picks up from the end of the campaign of Modern Warfare 2 and continues the story that many anxiously await to hear the ending of.  You are given control of several different characters a few years into the future during World War III as you viciously fight against Russians to defend Europe and theUnited States.

The multiplayer is back and more addictive than ever with many new different guns and brand new perks.  The newest and most interesting future feature in multiplayer is the addition of “strike packages.”  These allow players to choose different types of “killstreaks” based on support, assault, and specialist lists that greatly alter the way a player performs in a game.

Overall, I feel that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a great addition to the series and that the developers really did a great job to make the game better than ever before.  The multiplayer feature literally sucks people in as they spend all of their free time waging war against their friends and people from around the world.  I highly recommend this game to anyone who thoroughly enjoys first-person shooters or really wants to try out something new.  This game is guaranteed to give you hundreds of hours of addicting entertainment that will certainly be worth the money for the game.

On November 21^st Vikings collectively donated over two gallons of blood during the CSF blood drive, which has been taking place twice a year for over twenty-five years. Many more Vikings would have shed blood for this good cause, but stringent age, height, and weight requirements barred many from doing so. Once approved, donors can give in a few different ways. They can give whole blood, or give certain parts of their blood such as platelets and plasma. Samples are sent to a lab in Arizona and once the blood is approved it goes to San Francisco hospitals where it is used to help people with diseases ranging from cancer to anemia.

Ms. Dove and Ms. Wagner’s senior Economics classes are actively participating in a Stock Market Game, based on the real-life circumstances of the stock market today. By reading articles every week, the students study previous trends in the stock market before investing their initial “$100,000” balance on a “stock.” This way, the students can put the class lectures into a rea-life context.

The classes compete against each other for the #1 spot in the game, in order to gain some extra credit. Some students from Ms. Dove’s class even joined Ms. Wagner’s game in order to confuse the other students and win this “competition.”

The true secret to “success” is to take the game seriously, and to strategically approach the game as if the students were given real US dollars.

Benjamin Constantino, a senior, says, “There aren’t any real tactics that I have been using other than simple common sense. To be successful in the game, you do have to do a lot of research, know what you are investing in, and listen to and read about current events; for example, the debt crisis in Greece had a negative effect in the stock market and reading about world events gave me somewhat of a competitive edge.”

Ultimately, Ms. Dove wants her students to “gain understanding of the risks that are inherent in the stock market and be well equipped when they go off into the real world after high school.” With these acquired skills, the students can explore the depths of becoming devious businessmen.

This stock market game is just one of the ways that Mills teachers attempt to impart real life insight to the Mills student body.

Fruits and vegetables are very important in a vegetarian's diet!

Vegetarianism is trending as society is changing. Whether the motive is religion, rising meat prices, concern for animal rights and the environment, or nutritional reasons, the world is becoming a more welcoming place to become a vegetarian, vegan, etc. Grocery stores have a variety of non-meat products, and stores sell non-animal based clothing. However, some people continue to criticize vegetarians for their diets.

Because of the lack of protein, vegetarians need to consume soy products, nuts, and oats.

Vegetarians constantly find themselves saying, “Sorry, I can’t eat that”. In response, they receive confused looks and dirty remarks. In spite of this global “trend”, non-vegetarians still do not understand what it means to be vegetarian. People need to be aware that vegetarians do not mean to be rude when declining an offer.

Tenth grader Valentina Duran says, “I think people need to understand [vegetarians] more. We don’t judge others for eating meat, so why judge us? This is how I live and I feel horrible when people discriminate [against] me for who I want to be.”

Often vegetarians buy products that do not test on animals, like shampoo and glass cleaner to support the cause against animal cruelty.

 

Vegans use non-dairy or raw foods such as Rice Pasta or Raw Crackers.

Answers will be posted on November 30.