It’s 2 a.m. on a Monday morning, and everyone in the house is sound asleep—except for junior Aneesa Mazumdar who is frantically scrawling down her AP U.S History notes. Finally at 3 a.m., she collapses onto her bed.

As of mid 2011, the federal government has been shutting down dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries in California due to the widespread usage of the drug for recreational purposes. However, the problem shouldn’t be addressed by shutting down dispensaries. The problem lies in the corruption surrounding the process by which Californians can obtain medical marijuana cards.

With memories of winter break and first semester finals fading fast, many students have forgotten the stress that plagued them as they crammed before each day of finals. The break was not as stress-free as it was purported to be, and added an even more frantic week before it. Even though many teachers had been forced to cut down the material taught, there was still little time to study.

A deadly pileup of two school buses, a pickup truck and a tractor truck, along with two dead and 38 injured. All caused by one reckless driver texting while driving.

In society today, one of the earliest lessons taught to children is the importance of conservation.

During winter break in the 2010-2011 school year, senior Vivian Tsai and her family visited her grandparents in Taiwan. On her trip, she had to bring along her calculus textbook, her Barron’s AP Chemistry prep book and the AP History textbook to study for finals in January.

In 2007, U.S. News and World Report magazine released its first annual high school rankings. Saratoga High ranked No. 72.

An average student spends 5,320 hours in high school with roughly 28 teachers. Clearly teachers play a large role in a teenager’s life and affect how students view the world.

In the nationality section of the Common App and other college application forms, students are asked to check the boxes that apply most to their ethnicity. According to a recent article from the Associated Press, Asians have a disadvantage at getting into elite colleges, and students who are half Asian, half Caucasian are advised to only check the Caucasian box.

Walking through the halls at Saratoga High, one can’t help but see students talking about the last impossibly hard AP Biology test or stressing over an upcoming in-class essay. With an average of 98 percent of its students bound for college, the school is a breeding ground for academic stress. The last thing students need is additional pressure.