Stress is defined as a response to different events that makes our bodies feel threatened or throw us “off balance” in some way. Since every-one’s level of tolerance is different, the way we deal with the unexpected is different from person to person.

Psychology teacher Colleen Galloway explains the state our bodies’ head into when we are going through all of this.

“When we are “stressed” our bodies respond with a fight or flight reaction,” Galloway said.  “My psychology students will tell you this is the Sympathetic Division of the Autonomic Nervous System, that prepares our body to respond to a threat/being thrown off-balance, by increasing our heart rates; blood pressure; breathing and body temperatures.”

Numerous things and situations can lead us to be stressed out, but the best thing to do is to find ways to relieve or prevent that stress from occurring in the first place. One simple thing that everyone can do is just to be more organized. Math teacher Brittany Debrauwere talks about how writing things down helps her in the long run.

“I’m really good at keeping an organized planner. I color code things so I know based on the color what’s more significant,” Debrauwere said. “ If I know what to expect and I’m not surprised, it stresses me out less.”

Some of the most basic ways to lessen your tension levels is to take a step back and consider what is actually going on. Give time to yourself and if you can’t figure things out by yourself then try talking to someone close to you about it.

“It is also good to talk to others and just vent to them about the reasons that you are stressed, because usually we tend to blow things out of proportion and others can help us become grounded,” senior Michelle Popelka said.

Another simple thing like changing our perspective from time to time can make a huge difference.  “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one,” noted 20th-century psychologist Hans Selye said.

The pedestal that athletes are put on, gives them the ability to do something they love and get paid huge amounts of money for it.

“I feel like teachers are educating children while athletes such as  Kobe Bryant,  are only helping himself and his team.” Marbella Mejia.

The fact that these seven foot basketball players were born with natural raw talent and charm is getting them further than the hard work people put in at school.

I am not saying that the countless hours an athlete puts into being the best is wrong.  They still worked to get where they are, but do you think it is really beneficial to society other than just providing entertainment?

If a doctor messes up a surgery, he will regret that for the rest of his life. There are people’s lives on the line.  But if an athlete such as LeBron James has a bad game, yeah he might have to live with it for a day or two, but he will eventually get over it.  No lives were taken because he lost, just a little pride that he can win back in his next game.

Teachers have one of the most important jobs,  they have the ability to educate future leaders of tomorrow. I am sorry to say that the chances of a child becoming a successful professional athlete are very slim.

Sure athletes may be role models to the youth, but at the same time, there are athletes that portray a negative image.

“I don’t think it is fair for athletes to be paid large amounts of money for setting a bad example for children who look up to him,” Julian said.  “Look at Barry Bonds, so many children looked up to him for being an amazing baseball player, but the success he has had was determined by the steroids he took.”

Are athletes overpaid? Yes, they bring us entertainment but whether it is beneficial to us or not is the real question.

Barry Bonds is with a child, but should she really be looking up to him? Does she know that the does steroids?

But for most of us in the United States we can only imagine what if would be like for soldiers from another country to invade our homeland. It’s been a tactic used throughout history, from Spanish colonization to the war in Iraq. Although a brilliant means for nations to obtain what they want, the repercussions of military intervention are devastating.
“I think military force should only be used when it’s necessary,” senior Janessa Catipon said. “what good does it do to terrorize and put people in danger if there are already problems between two countries?”

“[The] consequences of using force are highly uncertain, and the conditions for successful prevention are rare,” said Martin B. Malin in Using Military Force to Prevent Proliferation.This form of foreign policy is normally used as a last resort, so countries refrain from it through diplomacy.

Diplomacy refers to international relations between countries’ ambassadors. If two countries were to dispute about an issue, these ambassadors would communicate the issue in order to come to a resolution.

It was used during the Cuban missile crisis – a period of time when the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Problems were resolved once the United States asked Russia to dismantle its weapons. In return, the United States promised not to invade Cuba.

Both a lack of violence and usage of communication can both be derived from this one incident, showing that verbal communication can result in a more peaceful outcome than outright war.

However, there are those who think that diplomacy while violence is occurring is a waste of time. “It is war that shapes peace, in armament that shapes war,” author and historian Thomas Fuller said.

Yet, the damage that can be exacted if a country were to attack without using any diplomatic relations would be devastating. The lost lives of soldiers and innocent civilians would be staggering, and deflated economies would result in the loss of resources and inability to produce non-war-related products.

All in all, while military force  can be a good result if all other plans fail, a country should not be without an army, navy, or air force as well. Those reserves of soldiers should not be their first resource when it comes to dealing with problems. In order for a country to be successful in resolving conflicts, it is always best to begin with diplomatic relations.

After all, as Benjamin Franklin said, “There never was a good war.”

With the end of high school nearing, many seniors have succumbed to the perils of senioritis – a “sickness” that prevents seniors from doing their schoolwork. It begins in the earliest stages of high school and continues to grow and manifest into a crippling disease. Simply put, senioritis is apathetic laziness.

“As seniors, we understand that seven semesters have past, and we’re at the homestretch. Colleges don’t expect as much from us as they have throughout our past years of high school, so we’re not willing to work as hard,” senior Samhita Nanduri said.

Senioritis, although centered around academics, also has the potential to affect the other aspects of seniors’ lives. The disease starts at the heart that is school and gradually works its way to the extremities in the form of athletics and social lives, shifting priorities and slowly draining the motivation out of the victim.

“Because we place less attention on schoolwork, social life has become one of my main priorities,” Nanduri said. “Social life has definitely become a higher priority than it ever has been in high school.”

This action, or in this case the lack thereof, can have detrimental consequences. Fun and games aside, the reality is that if senioritis gets too out of control, a senior could possibly have their college admission revoked. If a senior were to drop or fail a class during the second semester,  it could affect a college’s admission decision even after a senior has been accepted..

“At this point, since I haven’t gotten accepted yet, I’m trying to put academics first because I need the grades to get into the colleges I want to get into,” senior Amanda Ang said. “But I think once I do get accepted, my priorities are going to change, and they’re going to be more socially and athletically inclined.”

With this in mind, seniors are thinking twice before disregarding that worksheet or upcoming test. “Knowing that I might get rejected for slacking off a little too much is one of the only motivations I have as a second semester senior,” senior Krissy Segismundo said.

Ang shared how she plans to combat senioritis. “I’m just going to keep in constant communication with my teachers and counselors to make sure I stay on track,” she said.

To stay motivated, Segismundo urges seniors to keep all the incentives in mind. “College admission, scholarships, being exempt from certain finals are all things that motivate me to keep my grades up.”

Nanduri stresses the need to stay focused with college right around the corner. “For working as hard as we all have our entire high school careers, it’s definitely a priority to keep that up because we don’t want to waste everything  we’ve worked hard for,” she said.

“No matter what grade you’re in, stay motivated and stay on track. All your hard work will pay off in the end,” Ang said.

Luckily, it had a lot more substance than a repetitive drone of bell ringing and soft singing.

Saturday, August 27th, many people came out to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View to watch a mash-up of various hip hop artists perform some of their most popular songs. These artists are considered as underground hip-hop stars rather than mainstream ones.

The festival was about 12 hours long and was filled with different performances by the artists that were promised to be there.

A festival as long as this might cause people to think twice about attending a festival where it revolves only around a genre that people typically stereotype with violence or illegal activity. “If other genres of music are able to host festivals, such as Woodstock, then why wouldn’t hip-hop be able to do the same?” said the new math teacher Michael Tobler

However, there was more than just music there. There were many clothing booths set up to sell artist paraphernalia. “[Rock the Bells] was mostly filled with listening to music, but it also felt like you were at an outside shopping mall,” junior Kate Nguyen said.

The festival wasn’t only centered around the artists performing either. “There were three stages with artists and another one for Grindtime rap battles,” senior Aldric Constantino said.

Being a festival that was centered more on a sub-genre of hip-hop, this festival was probably not for everybody. “Only people who love real hip-hop would enjoy it. There weren’t really any mainstream performances, but it was packed with underground hip-hop and real, legit lyricism,” said Nguyen.

Overall, the day was extremely fun and a lot of people got their money’s worth of hip-hop performances. “The day was great, I’m definitely copping tickets for next year regardless who’s performing or not,” Senior Deryck Ylanan said.