This year, the members of the newspaper’s editorial staff have a hidden secret: They are all gods, and each of them has a unique kind of divine prowess. Although they have kept this a secret from their peers for several years, they have decided to finally reveal their powers to the student body in honor of this issue’s Ancient Greece theme.

Ancy Dow Opinions Editor
The editors call Ancy the Goddess of Kindness because of her cheerful attitude and eagerness to help, but everyone is pretty sure she’s secretly plotting an evil scheme. It’s only a matter of time until she reveals her true colors.

Kelly Wang In-Depth Editor
Kelly is the Goddess of Healthy Habits. Ever since doing an In-Depth spread on nutrition, she has refused to eat In-N-Out with her fellow gods and angrily brandishes her carrots at them to guilt them.

Gilberto Orozco, Jr. Business Manager
Gilberto is the God of Quickness because he is the fastest writer on The Talon. He generally starts writing his articles 10 minutes before a deadline, and it still manages to come out okay.

Trisha Nangia Content Editor
Trisha is the Goddess of Unsanctioned Field Trips During Sixth Period. When she returns from a 20-minute bathroom break, she has usually found a cup of coffee “just lying in the quad.”

Nicole Schreiber Features Editor
Nicole is the Goddess of Crazy Feet. She seems like a beautiful dancer, but that’s partly because she cannot control her feet, as evidenced when she makes any attempt to walk.

Mark Levin Entertainment Editor
Mark is the God of Highly Processed Meats. Raised solely on Taco Bell, he prefers not to eat dinner with the rest of the staff. When he wants higher quality meat, he opts for dog food.

Sandra Song News Editor
Sandra is the Goddess of Hipsters. She will deny that she is a hipster at all, but that’s just what a hipster would say.

Michael Moul Adviser
Michael Moul is a mere mortal, but the gods like to make him feel included, so they usually just play along.

Zia Rosenzweig Copy Editor
Zia is the Goddess of Nit-Picking. In her free time, she enjoys measuring hyphens to make sure they are all the same length.

Scott Stephens Managing Editor
Early on, Scott found he was the God of Good Looks and so decided to grace the student body with his beauty by sneaking his image into every issue. The rest of the gods, however, think he is really the God of Unjustified Vanity.

Jamie Eng Sports Editor
Jamie is the Goddess of Other Commitments. Although she was free at the start of the year, Jamie picked up six sports by November. She also scheduled her Foothill classes such that their finals (conveniently) fell during Late Nights.

Carolyn Huang Information Editor
Carolyn is the Goddess of Highly Awkward Situations. She usually announces her weekly crushes just as the room falls silent, and her comments about tapioca balls are often unintentionally inappropriate.

Sahil Luthra Editor-in-Chief
Sahil is the God of Puns. Though his jokes and rhymes are well-intentioned, he only succeeds in making the entire staff cringe when he refers to himself as “Sahi the Mahi Tuna.”

Shefali Luthra Website Editor
Shefali is the Mother Goddess of Talon. Like any good mother, she enjoys yelling at her children. At the same time, she loves Talon and has memorized the past 100 years of issues, even though The Talon is only 25 years old.

Jason Hu Copy Editor
Jason is the God of Pretentiousness. He enjoys bossing around Copy/ Content (despite being a copy editor himself) and waggles his finger at peers who use fonts that are not sophisticated enough.

Charlie Falconer Photography Editor
Charlie is the God Everyone Yells At. Usually he hasn’t done anything wrong, but it’s good to take extra precautions.

Ava Foudeh Managing Editor
Unfortunately, nobody remembers what Ava is the God of, since she never comes to school.

Justin Koehler Content Editor
Justin is the God of Style—but not just the styles and conventions of written English; he works hard to never repeat a hairstyle. He also enjoys jumping.

Michelle Madani Business Manager
Michelle is the Goddess of Opinions. Her hobbies include telling people that they’re wrong, telling people that she’s right, and telling people who think she’s wrong that they’re wrong and she’s actually right.

The arrival of “The Collective,” a school group that aims to promote unity, marks an effort to bolster school spirit and bridge the gap between communities. Funded by the Community Hope and Sober Events (CHASE) Coalition, The Collective officially revealed its message on Friday, April 9 at the Diversity Assembly.

But while The Collective’s actions are well-intentioned, its start relied on a strategy of secrecy that detracted from its purpose of promoting respect.

The Collective utilized “ninja marketing,” which uses suspense to generate interest. This strategy caused a buzz within the school and had students wondering what The Collective was. Rumors spread about The Collective being a band, cult or group discouraging illegal substances.

When students are not presented with the whole truth, they cannot make the best decisions for themselves. By pushing a message onto the student body without fully informing it, The Collective made the decision for the school, depriving students of the chance to make a choice. The Collective assumed that the students would make the wrong choice without outside encouragement.

The Collective became the center of attention and was well-received by those who were given gifts. This gave it the ability to easily sway students. But using material goods to entice students and gather support does not promote a healthy message. This method may not yield the long-term results that The Collective and the school aim to see.

Additionally, withholding the message and allowing the campaign to base itself on mystery prevented the student body from choosing whether it wanted to endorse respect. Though The Collective was publicized as a grassroots group, students were not informed that outside groups and the administration were facilitators as well.

While the element of mystery may have piqued interest and support for the campaign from students who shied away from the original message, the reveal would ultimately have led to the same results. It still wouldn’t matter to uninterested students when The Collective’s message was fully revealed.

Instead of employing the ninja marketing strategy, The Collective should have been upfront with the student body about its background and goals. Supporters would not be doing so for free goods, but rather they would genuinely believe in it. The students would be better prepared to decide for themselves if they wished to work with The Collective.

In the future, student groups should keep in mind that by being honest with students and giving them the respect they deserve, students will in turn be encouraged to respect the group’s goals and each other.

Despite the dire predictions of recent state budget deficits, students have seen relatively few changes to the school’s programs. For this, the student body is lucky.

The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District has worked hard to keep students from feeling the impacts that so many other schools have experienced.

But over the next 10 years, enrollment in the district will grow by 900 students, which exceeds the current capacity of the district. Overcrowding means that the student body could very well face the kinds of problems that the district has worked so hard to avoid, including increased class sizes and a reduction in the quality of school programs.

The district is working to introduce a bond measure that would solve the overcrowding problem as well as create long-term improvements for school facilities. The Board of Trustees met on Monday, March 8 to decide if the bond would be on the June ballot. As of press time, the Board was expected to vote in favor of putting the bond on the ballot.

The success of this bond measure—and thus the quality of education in the school district—will be dependent on receiving 55 percent approval from voters in June.

Every student at the school knows the importance of small class sizes, science labs and up-to-date safety systems—all things that might be sacrificed if the district were to become overcrowded. Even if not all students are yet able to vote, they must take it upon themselves to educate others as to why it is so important that the bond measure pass.

It is understandable that voters might be daunted by the prospect of paying more taxes during a recession. The wording of the bond measure, however, means that there is no increase for taxpayers; the bond simply extends the term of the current tax while leaving the annual rate unchanged.

Importantly, the measure addresses the huge influx of students that the district is expecting, specifically through the addition of several new classrooms. Also significant, however, is the fact that the bond would confer other long-term benefits to the school. Voters, for instance, strongly support allocation of funds to improvements in science labs and equipment.

The measure is also environmentally friendly in the long run. Renovations, which would likely begin next year, might include solar panels, improvements in lighting and other “green” options. Not only would the district save huge amounts of money in the long run, but it could also qualify for matching funds from the government, enhancing the long-term benefits conferred to the school.

An overcrowded district would put a huge strain on both LAHS and sister school Mountain View High. The bond measure is an effective strategy to solve the overcrowding problem while also encouraging long-term savings.

The school responded to the situation efficiently and effectively: Efforts to provide aid to Haiti began shortly after the earthquake struck and focused on helping students fully understand the situation there. This resulted both in impressive student contributions and in life-long lessons about the value of meaningful donations.

Student contributions went to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF), an organization in which staff members Seth Donnelly and Ryan Ikeda have both been involved. Because the effort involved working with a familiar organization, students could be confident that their money would go directly to relief rather than to administrative overhead.

As a way of encouraging students to contribute, the school also showed students a video of the conditions in Haiti during Tutorial on Tuesday, January 26. The video, created by Ikeda, added a human element to student donations, as did videos that followed. The way the Haiti relief effort was organized represented a shift from previous school drives. The drive lacked the typical element of class competition, and so students connected directly with the cause rather than with a desire for a pizza party. As a result, students donated on an impressive and inspiring level.

Uniquely, the efforts to raise money for Haiti were not efforts of the ASB or One Dollar for Life organizations alone, as some other fundraising efforts have been. The response to the Haitian crisis was an initiative of the entire student body, allowing students to feel a true sense of responsibility and involvement with the effort.

By organizing the drive in this way, the school clearly demonstrated to students the importance of getting involved with these efforts. Judging by their response, students seem to have truly absorbed this message. Several clubs— including Free the Children, Jew Crew and Students for Justice—came up with clever ways of fundraising for Haiti. Whether it be by collecting donations, selling food or hosting a benefit concert, students have employed diverse means to achieve the same goal.

The school’s fundraising efforts focused directly on empowering students, and the enthusiastic student response surpassed that of many previous drives. The school should continue to emphasize giving in such a meaningful way.

Anyone can tell that it is a privilege to be a part of the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) just by looking at the name: The word “honor” suggests that its members are principled and of good repute.

Generally speaking, this is the case—students must maintain a 3.5 GPA and participate in at least 14 hours of community service each semester. So it comes as a surprise that this year, NHS members can literally purchase all of their community service hours for a price tag of $140.

Students who buy toys to support the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation are rewarded rather generously for their efforts. Every $5 spent on a toy translates to half an hour of service. After they have bought their community service hours, students only need to maintain a high GPA and attend the group’s monthly meetings to remain NHS members.

The school must remember, however, that selling community service hours, in addition to being debatably dishonest, often serves to disadvantage a significant portion of the student body.

It is possible to stay in the organization without buying community service hours. Still, it is unfair to give only the wealthier students an effective exemption from their service requirement because doing so doesn’t treat all students the same way.

Unfortunately, this honors organization is not the only culprit. In the past, some teachers have offered extra credit to students who bring cans of food for the annual Second Harvest Food Drive— allowing those students with enough money to pay for a slight bump in their grades. Whether for grades or membership in an honors organization, students should not be able to buy their way through high school.

These are both good causes. But not everyone can afford to spend $140 to be part of NHS or to buy 5 cans of food for 5 points of extra credit.

And while it is arguable that donating money is as valuable donating time, the exchange rates—in the case of NHS, $10 per hour—are undoubtedly arbitrary. Who has the right to define the monetary value of community service?

Interact has a similar fundraiser—students who make pies for the Holiday Faire get one hour of community service, and the money raised from the pies goes to eradicate polio. Still, at least Interact gives supplies to those students who can’t buy their own, so every student is given the same opportunity to get community service hours for their pies.

Students might be split about what constitutes “true service” and whether donating their money is as valuable as donating their time. But when some students have a choice to donate either money or time— and others have only one option—what was once just a morally questionable action becomes undeniably wrong.

When third period ends on Monday, students will have an hour-long activity before their next class. But students cannot write it off as just another pointless Tutorial video. If they listen to it, students will hear their peers share heartfelt, honest stories about their lives.

After 500 hours of editing and many days of staff preparation, the Cultural Proficiency Team will present its film “Listening to Student Voices” to the school. Comprised of students opening up to the camera, the film will be followed by discussion-based activities to help students better understand each other.

If students can get nothing else out of the video next week, they must understand this: Nobody’s story is trivial. It is not about listening just to pacify the speaker—it is about understanding everyone’s perspective. Students cannot dismiss one another’s opinion; instead, they must treat the exercise as a way to expose themselves to new ideas.

The development of the film has already fostered better relations amongst staff members. When an earlier version of the film was shown to the staff last spring, the screening was postponed by a majority vote, as staff worried that the film might be too divisive. Rather than losing heart, the Cultural Proficiency Team took this opportunity to include more student voices in the film as well as to ask the students more questions.

However previously divided the staff has been, the Cultural Proficiency Team’s work brought the staff together when they viewed the edited film. The Team was able to achieve the goal for which both sides had originally striven— to create a film that would improve the communication between students. By ensuring that the staff members would feel comfortable with the activity, the Team also paved the way for more effective discussions.

Although only a dozen students shared their stories through the film, the subsequent discussions are even more important than the video. The activity should be a valuable step in building a stronger, more supportive campus community, but it can only be a start.

Students who take the activity seriously will send a clear message to the school: They value forums of open expression. Hopefully, this will encourage more of these forums as well as inspire more students to seek them out.

Three years ago, the impending visit from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) had the school in a state of anxiety. The visiting committee was to evaluate the school’s capabilities to educate, and the results of the review would determine the school’s accreditation.

Fortunately, the school passed with a six-year accreditation, the highest that WASC grants. WASC was impressed with the school’s self-review and plans for its continual self-improvement— including the implementation of the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI).

SLI seeks to teach students active ways of engaging with their schoolwork. For the past few summers, the school has sent teachers to be trained with SLI strategies. By introducing the SLI program to every department, the school is demonstrating an admirable commitment to its students.

SLI may not have been the sole contributor to the school’s improved performance in statewide testing. However, its introduction in the ELD Department last year, followed by the significant improvement in ELD scores, shows that further SLI training may be beneficial.

Teachers already spend a lot of time on their jobs, whether they are correcting papers or designing lesson plans. It is admirable that teachers in every department attended the October SLI training because they believed that it could, even if only by a slight margin, benefit their students.

At times, it can seem as if teachers only emphasize what students can do to become better learners. By going the extra mile to improve as well, teachers dispel the illusion that students are fully responsible for their own education and self-improvement.

This year, the school’s Academic Performance Index (API) increased, a score given to schools based partially on a school’s test scores. This increase may have had a correlation to the SLI training. But even if the API does not further increase as a result of this year’s training, it is doubtless that SLI strategies are beneficial. The skill of being able to decipher a dense textbook is one that is applicable in history class as well as in science class.

Years from now, students might not remember (or care about) things like logarithms. However, if teachers can help students discover how they learn, the students will be able to apply that knowledge to any endeavor. In teaching students how to engage with their reading, SLI strategies provide a valuable first step in student learning.

When marching band returned from its retreat earlier this month, most students were still thinking about the Skit Night jokes that had become so distasteful. Some were trying to keep the story hushed up, while others were unsure as to why the humor was so offensive in the first place.

However inappropriate the skits may have been, most students can relate to a situation when a joke inadvertently became offensive. The band camp incident serves as a reminder for the entire student body that from time to time, humor can quickly go from funny to inappropriate and that the line between the two territories is easy to miss.

Even though students often cross the line without malicious intent, those involved must have an open discussion when they do cross it.

Without addressing how the line was crossed and what specifically was offensive, it is impossible to move beyond that uncomfortable moment. Even if it might be uncomfortable to talk about, pretending that nothing wrong happened implicitly excuses the action, meaning that people will continue to act as they did. Those who cannot figure out what went wrong will not be able to act differently in the future.

Marching band has taken the right steps by bringing a motivational speaker to address the band students but needs to go farther in discussing the specific offenses of Skit Night. Moving on does not mean pretending that the issue never happened, although such pretense might be easier than tackling the underlying issues.

The school is the ideal environment to have safe conversations, and students and teachers need to work together and enable the involved parties to express their feelings and apologize if necessary.

Having open discussions about how certain words and humor might be offensive allows students to more clearly see the line that was crossed, even if it might be crossed again in the future. After all, the line is not always obvious. Rarely does it appear as an octagonal red sign with the word “STOP” printed across it.

As people, we all will offend others from time to time, even if we do so accidentally. Having a sense of where to stop can help ensure that we don’t cross the line. Discussing offensive humor is the only way to improve that sense for where to stop and subsequently minimize future offenses; simply ignoring it is not a viable option.