FEATURE
THE BULL’S EYE
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Black Friday
Deals and Steals
by Michelle Ki
Best Buy is a favorite for many on this seasonal occasion. One of their best deals this year is for their 15” ASUS Touchscreen Laptop. The ASUS laptop will be sold for $249, the lowest price that Best Buy has ever sold for a touchscreen laptop. If you’re looking to invest in a new TV, try the 39” Insignia HDTV, for less than half of its original price. Or, if you are searching for something on the higher end of the spectrum, take a look at the 55” LG HDTV, which is being sold for an eye-popping price of just $499. Don’t miss out on your chance to spend the post-Thanksgiving era buying a new TV.
TARGET
Target has now revealed that its stores will start the kick-off of Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving night. Dedicated online shoppers now have an option of in-store pickup on Target’s online website. Numerous amounts of items ordered online can be picked up from the shopper’s nearest Target location. Shoppers can anticipate as much as 30-50 percent off select items. Some noteworthy deals include Beats headphones for $119 (retail $179), a Cannon 3 DSLR bundle will run for $499.99, or the Samsung 40” HDTV for $397.99 (retail $499.99). Maybe you want to treat yourself with a bit of an educational gift? Why not buy the NOOK HD Smoke 8GB for $129? Macy’s will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night and will include a $10 off a $25 purchase coupon in its upcoming ads. This coupon can be used on “all sale and clearance apparel and selected home items.” Brand names like Coach, Juicy Couture, and Michael Kors will also be included in this year’s deals. School can be extremely stressful at times, so relax with the Homedics MCS-370H Cushion Massager w/ Dual Shiatsu. This relaxing device is going to be sold for $99.99, marked down 50 percent from its original price of $199.99. Next up is Sam’s Club—technology! If a member of the popular warehouse, you can benefit on deals on a variety of items from Oct. 30 through Nov. 27 including more than $4,100 in savings. Some of the highlight items include the $100 off HP Envy 15.6” notebook, and a $100 off Hisense 55” D-LED TV. For all those papers that us students have to print, Black Friday is the perfect time to purchase a new printer. The HP OfficeJet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One Printer is being sold for only $119.87 on this special day.
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No One Likes Leftover Turkey BY EMILY LEUNG ASST. FEATURE EDITOR
When Thanksgiving rolls around, everyone thinks about the settlers, the Native Americans, and the turkey, but don’t forget family. Enjoying the presence of family and being thankful for them is one of the best parts of this national holiday. One teacher in particular, Michelle Hansen, has the company of her family, and one extra addition to this year’s annual Thanksgiving feast. Michelle Hansen, a Calculus teacher here at DBHS, for the most part, celebrates Thanksgiving like any typical American. She shops the weekend before for all the necessary ingredients for the big day and makes some dishes the night be-
fore. Cooking is a family event that consists of her husband making the turkey and two of her daughters helping out with the pumpkin pies. A full meal of turkey (even though her children hate it) homemade cranberry sauce, cream corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet po-
tatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, anything you can you think of, they make it. However, for the Hansens, they just don’t feel complete without extending out
Overheard in DB “My talents: speed texting, procrastinating, sarcasm, and eating.”
“The best part about being a procrastinator is that you always have something to do tomorrow.” “I never choose a book without Sparknotes.”
this lovely feast to those who may not have any one to share the festivities of this time of year with. Whether it’s family or friends, the Hansens always “open [their] house up to anyone who doesn’t have a place to go.” Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it. The Hansens have a family friend who doesn’t really have a place to go during the holidays, so they have always welcomed her with open arms to their house so she can feel like a part of the family. No one should have to sit in a room by themselves during the happiest days of the year. Extending that warm welcome can really make all the difference. Whether it’s visiting senior citizens at the nursing home or inviting a lonely neighbor for a holiday meal, utilize this time to show genuine kindness and hospitality.
Every month, we will bring you some of the most ridiculous, hilarious, flatout idiotic, and sometimes insightful things we hear around campus. So beware—we’ll be listening.
“If there’s a watermelon, why isn’t there airmelon, earthmelon, or firemelon? They’d all be called elemelons.
“I tried to catch some fog the other day, I mist.”
“You could give me 45 years to do homework, and I still wouldn’t do it until the night before.”
“My career plan is so bright: I can’t even see it.”
“You must be a banana because I find you appealing.”
America’s New Gloria-fied Citizen BY GLORIA KIM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
On October 24, 2013, I officially became a citizen of the United States of America. I am certain most native-born Americans don’t think twice about their legal status, but after going through the naturalization process, I have to confess it is quite a grand feeling to belong to the greatest country in the world. On a rather grey and chilly Thursday morning, I arrived at 7:45 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center, an eminent structure with walls of green glass located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Because I had only recently turned 18 and the rest of my family had already been naturalized earlier in the year, I was to go through the Naturalization Oath Ceremony on my own. Uncertain of what exactly I was supposed to be doing, I simply followed the crowd up a flight of stairs and took my place in line behind hundreds of people of various ethnicities to submit my documents. Then, I received a small American flag and a large envelope filled with brochures detailing how to vote and other citizen-related material. Among all the adults and the gravi-
Photo courtesy of blogs.cfr.org
PAMPHLET OF PRIDE - One of the many documents given to all new citizens. ty of the procession, I found myself feeling more mature than usual. Throughout the process, vigorous patriotic music resonated throughout the large hall, and I felt like I was at the largest Fourth of July celebration. Once everyone had filed into the hall, the U.S. District Court’s official swearing of oath was finally in session; those present were asked not to take any pictures, remove our hats (unless it was a religious headwear), and to turn off all cell phones. Led by Judge Patrick Walsh, we repeated the oath verbatim. After uttering the final word of the oath, Judge Walsh proudly pronounced, “Congratulations, you are now American citizens!” and the auditorium exploded with the celebratory cheers, whistles and screams of a thousand newly minted American citizens burst.
I found myself joining everyone in the permeating surge of excitement by also waving my small flag in the air. I was now an American citizen! As the presiding judge shared his personal story of his grandparents’ immigration from Ireland– their immense struggle, yet infinite happiness adjusting to America, I joined the others in the crowd who were probably recollecting stories of joys and trials that followed their own immigration. Memorable scenes throughout the eleven years since my emigration from South Korea rapidly passed before my eyes in a long, familiar filmstrip. The ceremony closed with a clip of President Barack Obama personally congratulating the new citizens, challenging us not to remain idle, but to take active part in our civil duties and in making America great. A music video of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” was played, and I felt my heart melt as I was flooded with memories of a childhood growing up in the foreign, yet all-too-familiar America. I had heard this song every year in elementary school, and recalled, even at such a young age, feeling strangely patriotic for a country I wasn’t even legally recognized as being a part of. I still remember loved the sensation of being a part of this marvelous nation and
EMILY LEUNG
A NEW CHAPTER - Senior Gloria Kim begins a new period of her life as an American citizen. wholeheartedly professing, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” Interestingly enough, after all that, nothing too significant happened. We waited some more in our seats, submitted our voting applications, and exited the building. On the other side, Republican and Democratic Party members asked new voters to join their respective parties, and various stands took photos or sold $10 frames for our Naturalization certificates. I found my mom, took several pictures on my phone, got in the car and headed home. In the weeks that followed, I began to see in myself a stark shift in mindset and attitude. What I had considered a privilege in this country was now—every bit—my right.
I began to realize that my newfound ideals are shared more by other immigrants who have gone through the entire naturalization process, than by those who were born American citizens. There is something to be said about receiving something you did not once have before, something others around the world envy. Being an American citizen means more than just having the rights written in our Constitution–those rights which are taken for granted every day by our citizens. With rights come responsibilities. As a legal American citizen, I cannot wait to take part in shaping its history, alongside our courageous forefathers who fought to make this land the proud and free nation it is today.