Minu Palaniappan

With a 18-15 loss against Woodside, a 15-12 loss against Los Altos and a 11-9 win against Carlmont, the Falcons are going strong with a 5-3 overall record and a 1-2 league score, earning them fifth place in the El Camino Lacrosse League. Lead scorers include senior Tony Capek and Clark Rothenburg. Seniors Billy Hanford and Tim Fisher and junior Gino Caloiaro are leading the defensive side of the field.

Roshan Bal is one of many Saratoga athletes who chose not to attend Saratoga High.

Recent news stories have focused on grade inflation at prestigious colleges. For example, Harvard University revealed that its median grade was an A-, prompting outrage from those  who think grade inflation is destroying the integrity of grades. 

During the last 10 minutes of the game against Silver Creek High School on Dec. 2, the boys’ varsity soccer team was down 1-0. When the ball seemingly went out of bounds, a Silver Creek forward brought it back to play and put the ball past senior goalie Bobak Tooyserkani and into the back of the net. The goal was awarded, and Tooyserkani was furious.

This year, the boys' lacrosse team wishes to beat Gunn and make CCS.

Apple’s sense of innovation has never been questioned since it began releasing products that not only dominated electronic platforms but also trail-blazed new product lines that would reinvent mobile and desktop computing.

This spring, Paypal's San Jose Headquarters will be packed with high school developers programming in languages like HTML5 and Java. Sophomore Spencer Yen has been recruited by the hackathon to raise interest among other students.

Senior Nina Jayashankar has long held a deep love for singing and musical theatre; however, this passion only surfaced at age 7 during an moment that changed her life forever. On that fateful day after her routine piano lesson, she heard a 13-year-old fellow piano student named Jessica sing a rendition of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Summertime.”

One of Facebook's latest features is sticker-messaging. In every chatbox is a selection tool in the lower-right hand corner that houses emoticons, animations and stickers of well-known characters.

On Sept. 23, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed an “eraser bill” that gives California minors the right to delete online postings on social media sites. This is the first legislation of its kind, and it will require social media sites to allow minors to clear their data from Facebook’s servers starting in 2015.

Imagine being inside of a large building with hundreds of strangers for 24 hours straight. Some people have their headphones wired in while intensely staring at their computer screen, others are participating in a nerf-gun war and many are scattered around sleeping on the floor. 

For being such a smart company, it’s hard to believe Google could be so dumb. Google is looking to build computerized eyewear as its next platform product.  Termed the “Google Glass,” Google’s headwear is not a consumer-worthy product since its functionalities are incredibly intrusive when it comes to user privacy. 

Facebook has evolved into dual platform giant, dominating the mobile and desktop world. Now hosting 1.1 billion users, Facebook has undergone major changes in the way users interact, share and message stories with others. Among these changes, is the Facebook graph feature: a search engine that can pull massive amounts of data sentence search.  

Fueled by last year’s release of the SHS app, which allowed students easy access to the school websites from their phones, the SHS Application Developers’ Club is working on an online goldenrod system.

The 5-2 boys’ tennis team recently defeated Cupertino 4-3 on March 28. All three doubles teams and No. 1 singles Neel Bedekar won their matches.

At this year’s county tournament held on Feb. 2 at Monta Vista High, Saratoga was represented by an unusually small group of three players

With great challenges come great costs. Before tackling any challenge posed by FIRST, an organization that runs the FRC robotics challenge annually, MSET must first fundraise thousands of dollars to pay for the numerous costs of sustaining the program, typically through sponsorships.  

AP U.S. History (APUSH) is a fast-paced, intense course known for its consistent homework notes.

The Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (MSET) will be sending their newly founded First Tech Challenge (FTC) team to the Northern California Championship held in Newark on Feb. 24.

With the 2013 tennis season starting soon, many members on the varsity squad want to regain their place as the one of the top tennis teams in the state.

History Bowl requires a vast knowledge and exceedingly quick thinking. Few students possess as great knowledge and love for history as senior Spencer Goldman.

Last year, using private grant money, Los Gatos High implemented an advanced science research class that gave students an avenue to have a hands-on approach to science.

The chess team ended its league play with a tie against Leigh High on Nov. 13 and placed fourth overall, after narrowly missing third to Menlo Park High.

Historians consider the D-Day invasion along the coast of France during World War ll to be one of the most important events in U.S. history.

When alumni Angel Hernandez left for San Jose State University in 2011, one goal was on his mind: to fulfill his passion for robotics and computer science.

Along with a national drop in SAT scores, California’s average SAT scores have dropped three to four points since last year.

Not long ago, the school's chess team was the best in the state. For six straight years from 2004-2010, the team won consecutive state titles.

Ever wanted to pull up a teacher’s website right from your phone or read the latest school announcements on the go? This year, the Application Developers club built its first free iPhone application, called “The SHS App,” that does just that and more. 

Many recognize Lance Armstrong as one of the most inspirational U.S. athletes to ever compete in a professional sport. 

Shouts of excitement echoed across the quad as club officers promoted their respective clubs during lunchtime on Sept. 19 for the long-awaited annual Club Day event .

Best off campus lunches

Fred Feyzi and Shahab Moghadam are two seniors who decided to experiment in a field of political journalism. In eight months, they have built a functional news engine and created a new way to read news. 

A couple of years ago, the school’s MSET (Mechanical Science and Engineering Team), went to the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) nationals in St. Louis, Mo. This year, the team hoped for another great season where they would move on to the national competition. The team came close, placing sixth overall in the Silicon and Central Valley regionals.

A couple of years ago, the school’s MSET (Mechanical Science and Engineering Team), went to the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) nationals in St. Louis, Mo. This year, the team hoped for another great season where they would move on to the national competition.

During Wednesday lunchtimes, a handful of students toil over intricate programs in teacher Debra Troxell’s classroom. These students are members of the Application Developers Club, which started earlier this school year.  

Runners gasp for air sprint as fast as they can toward the finish. Sophomore Drew Bryan is among those using their last bit of energy to finish the two-mile race, but when he finishes, he feels the sense of pride and accomplishment.

It’s pitch-black and quiet outside. Suddenly, a trio of students dive frantically toward a curb concealed by a large pine trees and shrubbery. As they anticipated, a white car screeches around the corner; inside, a “cop” scans the bushes for his missing “fugitives.” After a few moments of looking, the “cop” backs out of the cul-de-sac and heads the other way.

It is 9 p.m., and the campus seems empty, minus one room with light filtering through the window shafts. In a small room off of the music quad, diligent members of MSET (Mechanical Science and Engineering Team) tighten bolts, drill holes and cut metal. At the peak of their build season, robotics members regularly work with machine-oil grease coating their hands and sawdust clinging to their sleeves.

Building a mobile application requires two things: an idea and a means to execute that idea. At the Application Developers Club’s first few meetings in October, ideas were aplenty. However, when these ideas were ready for implementation, club members with little programming experience had little to contribute.

The dynasty is collapsing.

Members of the Mechanical Science and Engineering team (MSET) found out recently that the robot they will build this year needs to be able to shoot basketballs and balance on bridges.

Life in Bhutan is difficult right now. Malaria has claimed thousands of lives. The infant mortality rate is at 47.3 out of every 1000 kids and is still increasing while life expectancy is at 66.5 and rapidly decreasing, according to World Bank, World Development Indicators. Besides all the problems humans face there, Bengal tigers are having trouble surviving.

When sophomore Jason Li acquired his 4th generation iPod Touch from an Apple Store in November of 2010, he no longer had use for his previous one. Li tried to auction his old iPod Touch on eBay to salvage value in his old device, but no one showed interest. Li soon gave it to his sister, who was eager to get her hands on her first Apple product. Li was disappointed that Ebay wasn’t attracting any attention to an iPod Touch. And so began the idea for iReTron.

Following a season in which they finished third place in the Bay Area, the Falcon chess team is looking forward to how it can keep its strong program in good shape. With seniors Evan Ye, Brian Wai and Sankash Shankar departing, maintaining their success will be difficult.

For members of the MSET robotics team, Jan. 7 is a date marked on their calendars. On that day, all of the teams in the area will learn what type of robot they need to build in order to complete the given task. The FIRST Organization (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) allows for teams to complete their robot in six weeks.

With a solid group of freshmen who have had great success filling the roles of last year’s seniors, the boys’ cross country team found success this season along with great results at CCS and a berth in state competition.

The boys’ cross country team successfully qualified for the state race after placing third at CCS on Nov. 12.

Apart from Media Arts Program, many teachers offer video projects for their classes. World history teacher Jerry Sheehy has been assigning video projects for over a decade now, in an effort to help students bring long-ago historical events to life.

Students pick up folds of purple, green, orange, pink, and yellow tissue paper and craft their blossoms with scissors, pipe-cleaners, and help from Spanish Club officers. Soon, bright, vivid flowers bloom in the crowded classroom of Arnaldo Rodriguex.

Having already finished in one major competition, the M-SET robotics team has learned lessons it hopes to apply later in the year.

High hopes entering Crystal Spring League race on Nov. 3 ended in disappointment for the boys’ cross country team, who placed last by nine points.

Last year, the school chess team played strong against top area schools Gunn, Monta Vista, Lynbrook and Palo Alto, finishing in the top 10 of the online league matches.

Last year, M-SET endured a rough season at the Seattle and Silicon Valley Regional, as failures in the electronics of their robot came at the worst time possible.

Students rush out of their classrooms as the school bell rings, junior Sujay Khandekar pulls out his smartphone, checking the latest updates on Facebook.

Abe “It’s one of those moments you never forget,” World History and U.S. Government teacher Kirk Abe said. ”I don’t know what I was doing the day before or the day after, but I will always remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.” Abe was getting ready to leave to teach his class, on Sept. 11, 2001, when he turned on the television. “The first thing I saw was the first twin tower being hit,” Abe said. “Every channel was filled with scenes of the incident.”