The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon
The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon
The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon
Cedric Chan

Cedric Chan, Editor-in-Chief

All content by Cedric Chan
Last week, LAHS distributed COVID tests, and they will continue to be available this week.

[Photo] LAHS distributes COVID tests for winter break

By Matthew Kim, News Editor
December 17, 2022
Next year, LAHS and MVHS will only offer on-site testing down on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

[Photo] MVLA to decrease on-site COVID-19 testing

By Matthew Kim, News Editor
December 14, 2022
Students evacuate to the baseball field following a bomb threat at LAHS.

Bomb threat at LAHS, school evacuated

By Cedric Chan and Kaavya Butaney
October 1, 2021
Los Altos High School’s notoriously volatile WiFi networks have largely faded from the limelight since last March when schools shuttered. But as the Mountain View–Los Altos School District plans to break the year-long stint of distance learning with an April hybrid return to campus, questions remain as to whether the networks will be able to handle the sudden influx of users.

WiFi concerns loom as April reopening approaches, ‘best practices’ may hinder teaching

By Navya Singhai and Cedric Chan
March 14, 2021
Draco Malfoy leans over a sign welcoming you to Hogwarts as you shift realities. Recently, people all over the internet have been claiming to shift realities, sharing their stories with the world.

[Photo] You’re a muggle, Harry!

By Anika Sikka
November 8, 2020
TikTok's huge platform and unhelpful algorithm feeds into the creation of eating disorder related content on the platform.

[Photo] Opinion: TikTok exacerbates the issue of eating disorders

By Emilie Enser, Staff Writer
October 13, 2020
During quarantine, senior writer Elli Lahdesmaki has discovered the benefits of meditation to help deal with stress.

[Photo] How meditation keeps me sane

By Elli Lahdesmaki, Senior Writer
October 8, 2020
covid graphic that i can never find

[Photo] Coronavirus Updates

By Talon Staff
March 13, 2020
Los Altos High School’s annual Diversity Week will take place Monday, April 26, to Friday, April 30, with daily activities modified to allow for both in-person and virtual student participation.

SROs and ethnic studies — a closer look

By Mira Sundar, Anika Sikka, and Cedric Chan
September 13, 2020
With canceled sports and art classes, parents have been scrambling to involve their children in enriching opportunities while they’re stuck at home. With a passion for everything marching band, senior Ella Freda-Eskenazi founded Rhythm In Place to give children of all ages the opportunity to find comfort in music through virtual tutoring sessions, free of charge.

Rhythm In Place makes virtuosos virtually

By Cedric Chan and Allan Feldman
August 30, 2020
A map of the current evacuation zones in Santa Clara County. This map is based off of the limited descriptions of evacuation zones provided by Cal Fire. If you believe you may fall into one of these areas, please consult local authorities.

[Photo] California Fire Updates

By Garv Virginkar and Rose Liu
August 19, 2020
This summer was full of grief, anger and disappointment. As we enter a new year, we’re focusing on making our newsroom more inclusive, but we need your help to make that happen.

Letter from The Talon’s managing staff

By Stella Huang, Navya Singhai, Cedric Chan, and Emily Zhu
August 17, 2020
The district board voted unanimously for a complete remote return in the fall.

[Photo] District board votes for complete remote return to school

By Olivia Hewang and Natalie Wei
July 16, 2020
On Saturday, June 13, The Talon published a news story exploring the controversial Twitter post of an LAHS graduate by the handle @NinjaTheSy and its implications. Given that this article covers a sensitive topic and The Talon received feedback from readers, we thought it would be helpful to share our research process and our decisions.

[Photo] Editorial: Making decisions in Twitter thread news article

July 4, 2020
On Monday, June 1, a Los Altos graduate posted a Twitter thread allegedly showing current and former Los Altos students demonstrating what some have called a racist culture at school.

Twitter thread sparks controversy about racism at Los Altos

By Tomoki Chien, Cedric Chan, and Isabella Borkovic
June 13, 2020
Mountain View residents call for city council to cut police budget

Mountain View residents call for city council to cut police budget

By Cedric Chan and Tomoki Chien
June 9, 2020
Protesters march on El Camino Real towards the intersection at San Antonio. Yesterday, protesters took to the streets of Mountain View and expressed outrage over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

“Say his name”: Mountain View protesters march for justice

By Nathaniel Joffe, Cedric Chan, Navya Singhai, and Tomoki Chien
June 4, 2020
The University of California system has suspended its standardized testing requirement.

UC suspends SAT/ACT requirement through 2024

By Tomoki Chien and Cedric Chan
May 21, 2020
Foothill College provides students a worthwhile alternative to achieve their dreams in high education.

[Photo] The Case for Community College

By Peter Coe and Negar Bagheri
April 29, 2020
Dr. Fauci listens to President Trump during a COVID-19 press briefing

[Photo] Trump’s response to COVID-19 is sickening

By Kate Stadler, Staff Writer
April 15, 2020
A pair of checkered yellow Vans. Staff Writer Katy Stadler writes about her experiences with being of mixed ethnicity.

[Photo] Half and half, but not the milk kind

By Kate Stadler
April 12, 2020
Many people know April Fools as the day of pranks. Although California is currently under shelter-in-place, this didn’t stop these Los Altos students from carrying on the tradition.

[Photo] April Fools Day is not a joke

By Marie Godderis and Kaavya Butaney
April 6, 2020
Varsity baseball head coach Gabriel Stewart discussed with students the implications of the Astros' famous "Trashcan-gate" scandal

[Photo] Astros throw sportsmanship away: Dealing with the aftermath of Trashcangate

By Elana Eisenberg
March 27, 2020
Sanjay Dave told the Los Altos Town Crier that he wanted to move the school year to align with the AP exams. Staff writers Vaishu Sirkay and Cedric Chan write about their opinions on the implications of Dave's statements.

OPINION: Sanjay Dave’s comment about AP classes is problematic

By Cedric Chan and Vaishu Sirkay
March 23, 2020
The Santa Clara County Health Department has issued a shelter-in-place order. Only "essential businesses" may operate.

Bay Area counties under “shelter in place” order

By Tomoki Chien, Cedric Chan, and Isabella Borkovic
March 16, 2020
The City of Los Altos is working on various projects to help increase pedestrian and biker safety in Los Altos.

Los Altos to improve bike safety and traffic

By Cedric Chan
March 14, 2020
Santa Clara County closed all public schools in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Classes will resume Monday, April 13 in the MVLA school district.

Santa Clara County closes all public schools

By Cedric Chan and Tomoki Chien
March 13, 2020
A gun threat was made on Reddit against Valley Fair Mall. The police have determined the threat to be non-credible.

Valley Fair Mall shooting threat found not credible

By Cedric Chan
March 11, 2020
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[Photo] Superintendent releases new bell schedule proposal

By Vaishu Sirkay
March 4, 2020
Mike Bloomberg's popularity has risen rapidly through February, going from 4.8 percent on January 1 to 15.4 percent on February 27 according to a FiveThirtyEight poll.

[Photo] Mike Bloomberg: A Critical Mistake

By Kaavya Butaney, Staff Writer
March 2, 2020
Courtesy CDC

No current plans to close Los Altos in light of coronavirus

By Tomoki Chien and Cedric Chan
March 2, 2020
final

[Photo] Call me by my name

By Cathy Wang, Copy/Content Editor
March 1, 2020
A closer look: Mountain View's housing crisis

A closer look: Mountain View’s housing crisis

By Cedric Chan
March 1, 2020
District suffers ransomware attack

District suffers ransomware attack

By Cedric Chan and Tomoki Chien
February 14, 2020
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[Photo] MVLA district to install stadium lights at Los Altos

By Parisa Larson and Cameron Cox
February 3, 2020
Cats: not as much of a cat-astrophe as expected (but still pretty bad)

Cats: not as much of a cat-astrophe as expected (but still pretty bad)

By Cedric Chan, Staff Writer
February 2, 2020
The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs will face off in the Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, February 2.

[Photo] San Francisco 49ers: Super bad team to Super Bowl team

By Kate Stadler
February 1, 2020
Anna, Elsa, Sven, Kristoff, and Olaf pause at the edge of the Enchanted Forest.

“Frozen II”: It’s got plenty of ice but no dice

By Cedric Chan and Vaishu Sirkay
December 17, 2019
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[Photo] Trump’s impeachment explained

By Kate Stadler and Rachel Rudyak
December 16, 2019
Breaking bubbles requires obliterating the idea of identity politics. That means we cannot continue to differentiate ourselves from others instead of connecting. 

[Photo] The trouble with political bubbles

By Kaavya Butaney, Staff Writer
December 14, 2019

[Photo] Shining a light on the Opioid Crisis

By Vivek Chudasama, Guest Writer
December 14, 2019
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[Photo] Los Altos welcomes new coaches to the team

December 13, 2019
Junior Ezra Tock is one of the only male dancers at Los Altos. Despite being looked down upon by those who believe masculinity and ballet do not mesh with one another, Ezra continues to dance proudly and master his craft.

Ezra Tock: dancing through the battlefield

By Cedric Chan, Staff Writer
December 7, 2019
Cedric Chan

[Photo] Administration identifies students responsible for graffiti

By Nina Crofts and Allison Bricca
November 19, 2019
The MVLA school district plans to restructure the bell schedule for next year, which may include changes to period length as well as start and end times. This comes in part due to recent California legislation requiring later start times in high schools.

School district to restructure bell schedule

By Cedric Chan
November 18, 2019
Los Altos is introducing a text-to-911 feature that can be used when calling 911 is not possible.

[Photo] Los Altos introduces text-to-911 feature

By Nina Crofts
November 8, 2019
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[Photo] 600-wing building to have gender-neutral bathrooms

By Kaavya Butaney and Tomoki Chien
November 4, 2019
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[Photo] Los Altos to pass tobacco ordinance

By Nina Crofts and Vaishu Sirkay
November 8, 2019
As we closed the books, we were not fulfilled with the bittersweet farewell to the epic saga; instead, we were furious at the vague epilogue, our treasured happily-ever-after between Daniel and June tantalizingly out of reach.

A decade later, Marie Lu closes Legend saga with “Rebel”

By Cedric Chan and Vaishu Sirkay
November 8, 2019
It’s immoral to force students to pay for their grade and use their own money to fund ASB and SCL.

Solving Los Altos’s unethical fundraising

By Vaishu Sirkay and Cedric Chan
November 8, 2019
With slight variation, ASB and SCL policies require that students sell a certain number of merchandise and tickets. If they are unable to meet this quota, their grades are negatively affected. To avoid this, some students end up paying for unsold goods themselves. 

ASB and SCL grading policies violate California Education Code

By Cedric Chan and Vaishu Sirkay
November 8, 2019
The 90-second grace period is downright disgraceful

The 90-second grace period is downright disgraceful

By Nina Crofts and Cedric Chan
November 7, 2019
Los Altos dancers leap into the Nutcracker season

Los Altos dancers leap into the Nutcracker season

By Cedric Chan, Vaishu Sirkay, and Katrina Arsky
November 7, 2019
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[Photo] ASB removes gender-based homecoming dress code

By Mia Scher
October 12, 2019
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[Photo] Happy National Coming Out Day!

By Tomoki Chien and Kaavya Butaney
October 11, 2019
Dora, now a teenager, hugs pet monkey Boots goodbye. "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" brings the original characters from the cartoon to the big screen with a new live-action look.

Rediscovering childhood in “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”

By Cedric Chan, Staff Writer
October 6, 2019
Junior Evan Fine is a fine man with many fine talents: he is known as the finest “speech god,” a fine mock attorney, a fine history nut, a fine violinist and a fine writer—talents that he channels into a love for creation, whether it be playing the violin or writing stories.

Performing his piece with great Fine(nesse)

By Kaavya Butaney and Cedric Chan
October 2, 2019
In second period Calculus BC class, math teacher Victor Nguyen teaches juniors Grady Hofmann and Egor Cherkashin how to compute and graph derivatives on their calculators.

Victor Nguyen: what’s on the Nguyen(side) counts the most

By Cedric Chan and Vaishu Sirkay
October 2, 2019
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