Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
All content by Jack Xu

Shuttling to the right place

By Jack Xu
May 22, 2022
TAKING THE SHOT: MacDonald said he is excited to continue next season.

Putting individually, succeeding as a team

By Leila Salam and Jack Xu
May 17, 2022

Screenshot the NFT

By Jack Xu
April 4, 2022

The future possibilities of AI industry

By Jack Xu
April 1, 2022
School Chromebooks repairs: Seon O’Hayer repairing multiple devices on a busy day of work.

Transition of Chromebook carts to individual devices

By Jack Xu
November 6, 2021
Robotics completion for scoring points by shooting ball to basket

HHS’s Robotics Team looks forward to a new year in-person

By Zeinab Rakhshandehroo and Jack Xu
October 1, 2021
FUHSD has implemented a variety of procedures for the grade conversion process.

FUHSD adapts learning recovery options for students

By Keshav Kumar, Madhavi Karthik, Nicole Pimenta Innecco, Nina Vasquez Cruz, Rajiv Venkatesh, Chloe Wong, and Jack Xu
October 1, 2021
The ping pong club was successfully founded by Alan Jian and Michael Xiong in 2019 to build upon their similar interest and bring attention to a lesser-known sport, ping pong club public relations officer Alan Jian said in a Zoom interview. “I often play ping pong with my family,” Jian said. “I just have some fun and some time away from my screen just to be moving a little bit, especially during quarantine.” Jian said the ping pong club is not a well-known club at HHS since it was only created a year ago, and is still in the process of expanding to the student community. “I was one of the founders of this club,” senior Michael Xiong, vice president of the ping pong club said in a Zoom interview. “We actually started applying to this club in our sophomore year. The first time, we failed, and the second time we succeeded.” Xiong also mentioned that although the strength of the club is the free play, quarantine has forced officers to focus more on media videos in relation to ping pong in order for more students to learn about the club. “I [have] met several people who play ping pong,” Senior James Jian, the ping pong club president said in a Zoom interview. “Many of them actually play really well, and play competitively. I just feel like the school lacks some kind of ping pong culture and there's literally no space for people who play ping pong.” In order to assemble and for more people to experience what ping pong is about, James Jiang said he found that he and other officers, along with his friends, contacted teachers to be advisors for the club and then had to gather different equipment. Xiong said he was surprised when James Jian told him he was going to create the club. “I know Monta Vista and a bunch of other schools nearby that all have this club,” Xiong said, “and apparently, we're missing this, which I think is a really important cultural element.” Xiong also said there isn’t much that can be done during this period of the pandemic except to educate members of the club through online meetings. In the future however, there will be more in-person activities. “For many discussions I had with different kinds of people, they don't really think of ping pong as as an actual sport, [but] more as a party game,” James Jian said. “Not many people understand that if you learn it competitively, and you try to understand how professionals play, you soon find out that it's much harder than many sports out there when it comes to physical abilities and reflexes.” James Jian said for right now, the club is recruiting junior officers, and for those who are interested, current officers will guide them before the official officer selection in order to train those who are enthusiastic and prepare them for the officer role. “Ping pong is not an extremely popular sport in America and around where we are now,” Alan Jian said. “However, if you were to foster a larger human community, such as some sort of inter-district league with all of the other schools … that would, increase the interest [and would] definitely gain the attention of more people and players.”

Creation of Ping Pong club: Ideas and progress

By Jack Xu
September 28, 2021

Lifting school spirit through the annual Welcome Back rally

By Jack Xu, Mae Richardson, Christine Kim, and Yukari E. Zapata
September 10, 2021

Process of finals adapts to hybrid learning

By Jack Xu
June 3, 2021

A different celebration during an unusual time

By Jack Xu
May 10, 2021
Students from nearby school districts joining the competition in 2019 at Oddfellow's Lounge.

Esports club: a community more than just video games

By Jack Xu
May 10, 2021

FBLA’s PwB project educates students through business partnerships

By Hope Saena and Jack Xu
April 25, 2021
After months of waiting, the COVID-19 vaccine has finally been authorized by the FDA and is being distributed across the country. 71% of Americans say they will "definitely or probably" get a Covid-19 vaccine and 39% said they would "wait and see" how initial vaccination goes before getting a vaccine themselves according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The release of the vaccine might placate many for the current moment, but it won’t make everything go back to normal. Currently, the most advanced vaccines use three different approaches: viral vectors — using a harmless virus which is altered to contain part of COVID-19’s genetic code — RNA, which contains a synthetic version of part of COVID-19’s genetic code and protein subunit, which uses pieces of the COVID-19 virus, according to CDC. The release of the COVID-19 vaccine is great news as once the majority of the public have taken the vaccine, the spread of COVID-19 will potentially reduce, according to BBC News. It will shorten the time needed for the country to go back to normal. However, I am skeptical about the workings of the vaccine and this is part of my concern when trying to decide if I will take the vaccine. As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States, misunderstanding of herd immunity has started to show up. Herd immunity is achieved when large percentages of a population become immune to a disease. Herd immunity against COVID-19 will be achieved by protecting people through vaccination, not by exposing them to the pathogen that causes the disease for developing immunity. In terms of COVID-19, the percentage of the population that needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity is estimated to be between 70% and 90%, according to David G. Hill, a member of the Lung Association's National Board of Directors. Although vaccines have helped the world get rid of deadly diseases such as fever and smallpox, the process always takes time and there are no guarantees ensuring the results of the COVID-19 vaccine will be positive. At this point, being vaccinated doesn't mean the full development of the immune system and one can still be exposed in crowded areas with no prevention, such as masks. The current coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective and has no serious side effects from the first set of complete results of a late-stage vaccine trial, according to Pfizer. This means out of 100 people, there would still be five people where the vaccine doesn't work. The vaccine should definitely be taken once the distribution has started, but just because the vaccine is here doesn't mean we shouldn't maintain precautionary measures. I hope the vaccines will eventually help bring the spreading of COVID-19 under control, but before that, the usage of masks in public areas and social distancing should be continued.

COVID-19 vaccine won’t take us to the past

By Jack Xu
March 19, 2021
New Apple Product: Apple’s iPhone 12 with brand new 5G cellular networking, square-off edge design, and more features is a winner.

Newest iPhone 12 is a winner

By Jack Xu
January 12, 2021
Imposters win after turning all crewmates into ghosts.

Among us: the right thing for the right time

By Jack Xu
November 2, 2020
Space to Create: a collection of inspirational home workspaces

Space to Create: a collection of inspirational home workspaces

By Raymond Ranbhise and Jack Xu
October 29, 2020
Virtual aloha rally 2020: student, leadership reactions

Virtual aloha rally 2020: student, leadership reactions

By Lia Klebanov, Miya Liu, Ariana Tejeda Moreno, Mae Richardson, and Jack Xu
September 29, 2020

The circle of life

By Jack Xu
September 26, 2019

Roundup more than ‘one stop shop’

By Jackson Faria, Karen Li, Sara Shohoud, Dexter Tatsukawa, and Jack Xu
September 9, 2019
“It seemed like a good idea to spend time with friends [at the movie night],” Saaketh Kanduri (9) said.

[Photo] Freshman, sophomore classes hold movie night

By Emily Chung
March 28, 2019
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