The Smoke Signal

By: Jason Chen
 

Cycling was dealt a major blow when one of the sport’s most iconic figures, Lance Armstrong, was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) charged him with using illegal performance-enhancing drugs starting from 1998. Armstrong’s ban from cycling has forever altered the public’s perception of cycling and the sport’s governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
 
Lance Armstrong started his career as a triathlete but soon switched to cycling in 1992. Even though Armstrong was weakened by his bout with testicular cancer from 1996-98, he came back with a…

The Smoke Signal received more submissions than we were able to accommodate in our print issue. Below are additional graphic opinions submitted by MSJ students. We hope you enjoy!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Krisis: Hey, so it’s been a while since our last election update. The past month hasn’t proved to be too eventful in terms of controversial news but the candidates have been campaigning all over the country.
Gopportunity: A topic that’s often brought up is Obama’s health care act, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He’s been promising healthcare reform since 2008 but I think if it’s successful, the late timing on this act could greatly benefit his re-election.
K: I think it certainly is a success. Supporters emphasize how it prevents insurance from denying coverage based on pre-existing…

Krisis: Looking at all the headlines, it seems the campaign trail has shifted from the GOP race for the nominee to the general election. Once again, the Democrats and Republicans will be dueling for the presidential seat this November in the 2012 election.
Gopportunity: Though the GOP has had a rough time selecting a clear nominee, it seems Romney has fared the best and will be the nominee for the election. Most of the other candidates have already dropped out of the race, including Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, and Rick Santorum. Even though Ron Paul is still in…

MSJ went “Green” this week with the help of the Service Learning Waste Reduction Project (SLWRP). We tried to follow a policy of “no trash” after lunch, and MSJ’s art student displayed art they made from recycled materials in the B wing cafeteria this week. On Friday make sure to come out to the “Trashy Fashion Show”  where representatives from clubs and organizations on campus will be walking down the ramp in recyclable materials. The Smoke Signal will definitely be strutting our stuff, so make sure to  check out our “trashy” outfit! But remember, we don’t need a reason to go “green.” Try to implement environmentally-friendly methods…

By: Catherine Ho

While school lunches may be something juniors and seniors shy away from, it remains a must for underclassmen. As freshmen enter high school, they may be hoping for better tasting and a greater variety of food than was sold at Hopkins Junior High. Indeed MSJ food is better, varying from Chinese to Mexican to traditional American food. Our school provides pizza, burgers, salads, burritos, Teriyaki chicken rice, pastas, and many other types of entrees. However, instead of buying a single item, most students choose to purchase a box lunch, which includes a fruit, drink, salad, potato wedges,…

The Opinion of the Smoke Signal  Editorial Board
Two years ago, the Smoke Signal conducted a front-page investigative report regarding MSJ’s “Ventilation Crisis”. The purpose of the report, featuring a school-wide survey as well as district involvement, was to raise a red flag about MSJ’s various general equipment failures. These malfunctions ranged from issues concerning classroom heating and air conditioning (AC), to broken clocks, intercoms, and doors. The most prominent concern was with the “temperature lockout,” or the implementation of district control of central heating and the AC. This seizure of control was to be seen as a “more efficient…

By: The Editorial Board

Following up on the closure of local Barnes and Noble at the end of last year, the Borders in the Fremont Hub, along with ten other Borders in the Bay Area, is shutting their doors in the coming weeks as part of a bankruptcy filing, leaving no major book stores in Fremont.

It’s another case of survival of the fittest. The mom and pop bookstores were displaced by superstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble, and now the superstores themselves are falling victim to the growing popularity of eBook readers and online retailers like Amazon. The…

Take a look at our graphic opinions on a congressman’s response to the Giffords Arizona shooting and recent changes to the Zodiac. Click on the image to enlarge.
By: Cassie Zhang
By: Tina Tseng…

By: Anthony Chen

We have often heard about being shielded from the “harsh realities” of the world outside MSJ by the bubble of relative affluence we live in, but one aspect that most people fail to point out is that we’re not the only ones sitting on this academic throne. There are many other high schools that are of equal or higher caliber, and there are countless individuals who are just like the students at MSJ.

The Mission Bubble has created a false sense of superiority and complacency. We continuously receive boosts to our collective ego in the form of…