Hanford 15 2

16 October 2014|Cover |1

THE

ALTITUDE VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2

Hanford High School | Richland, Wash. 99354 | Oct.16.2014

ensemble

the different aspects of music appreciation, from pressing play to performance pages 6, 7 and 8

MEET TED Ted started playing piano at a young age. Unfortunately, it wasn’t his thing. “I had a lot of stage fright and so recitals really turned me off from playing instruments and so I quit,” Berger said. However, his love for music didn’t stop there.

In middle school, junior Ted Berger tried out the guitar. “I started out because I wanted something to do as a hobby that I could work on and see myself improve, but after a while, after I really started learning how to play – it kind of grew on me,” Berger said. “It was like something I couldn’t live without, and if I go for a week without playing my bass or even a few days, I don’t feel right. I’m like, oh man, I need to practice. I need to play.” continued on page 7 story by alisa chuang, mickey shin and naveena bontha photography by mickey shin

inside and duchess 2 duke Homecoming royalty lineup reintroduces crowns for special-needs students.

3

sports injuries

8

homecoming invitation

10

Athletes discuss the physical and emotional tolls of getting hurt on the field.

Junior Kyle Caldwell’s outlines his process of asking sophomore Kara Shibley.

‘super smash bros’

The popular Nintendo game’s release on a new console is reviewed.

2|News|16 October 2014

THE BUZ Z

Donning the pink for awareness

what have you heard in the news?

“

I heard that the guy who won the Nobel Prize found a new type of light microscopy where they can see the individual parts of the cell.”

LEYLA RESAT - 10TH

A trio of scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a new type of light microscopy that allowed humans to see the individual molecules inside a cell.

This is the first broken barrier in the task of enhancing microscopy resolution. For the first time, scientists can see how individual cells join together or trace the movement of proteins in the body.

“

Recently they’ve stopped searches for the plane crash in the Indian Ocean, but they’ve actually now got even more detailed photographs about the crash.”

REILLY SMITH - 11TH

New detailed photographs of the ocean seafloor reveal a dent where the plane is assumed to have crashed. This will be the guideline for the supposed second phase of the Malaysian flight search. Searchers plan to navigate around the sea floor now as opposed to just tracking for the air.

“

ISIS. I’ve heard that Isis is moving in.

ISIS is bad.”

HUNTER RODGERS - 11TH

Maxwell Weil|photographer

On Friday Oct. 3, fans decked out in pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. About 700 shirts were sold this year, but no profit was made off the shirts. “[The pink shirts] cost $5, and we sell them for $5,” said cheerleading coach Kim Mayer. This year they fundraised $525 in the stands during halftime. The money will go to the Kadlec Mammography Department, and extra pink shirts will also be donated to Kadlec. “I wish we had a month for every cancer, but it just so happens that October has been deemed Breast Cancer Awareness month,” Mayer said.

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) began as a branch of Al-Qaida, but after a violent falling-out they became their own terror organization. They have killed people, posting videos on the social media site YouTube.

As of one week ago, the United States has been conducting air strikes against the ISIS, but these air strikes are causing thousands of civilians to flee from Syria to Turkey in search of refuge.

“

Well, I heard about the guy that flew into Dallas and died of Ebola.

JACOB ANDERSON- 12TH

Thomas Eric Duncan died of Ebola on Oct. 8 in a Dallas hospital. After traveling from Liberia, he complained of feeling sick, but was sent home with antibiotics. Later, Duncan was found to have Ebola and was quarantined. Two workers in the same hospital contracted Ebola, though the means are unclear to officials. The Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.) is reviewing hospital protocol. Airports in the United States are also taking precautionary measures for people entering from West Africa.

UP & COMING OCTOBER 18 18 20 22 23 25 25 28 28 31 31

PSAT - 8:00 a.m.

Varietas, one-act plays - 7:30 p.m.

Homecoming Assembly - 7 p.m.

College and Career Night - 5 p.m.

International Mole Day - all day ACT - 8 a.m.

Homecoming @ Moore Mansion - 8 p.m.

Benton Franklin Bus Passes handed out Picture Retake Day End of First Quarter Senior Baby Ads Due

NOVEMBER 8 13 14 19 25 26 27 28

Marching Band Veterans Day Parade Conference Schedule - 11 a.m. dismissal High School Conferences - 11 a.m. dismissal NHS Induction Bus Passes Early Release @11 Thanksgiving No School

mickey shin|photographer

Sophomore Johnny Herrin, junior Megan Johnson, freshman Adam Pilger and freshman Aleah Nelson rehearse “Back to the Summer,” a one-act play directed by Amy Aiello and Shane Douglas The casts of the one-act plays meet daily after school to rehearse their plays.

One-act plays open tonight jourdanplante

staff writer

The beginning of the year is always exciting for seniors involved in the drama program. The department starts the season with the senior-directed oneact plays. Two of the seniors even chose to write and direct their own one-act play.

Varietas, this year’s collection, is different from the other productions because they are completely student run. The students direct the plays, cast and coach the students and choose their own script. Two students will be directing plays they wrote themselves: seniors Brian Murphy and Eliza Anderson.

But sometimes it’s not all fun and games. “It was super hard at first because I had to lay down the basics of what I wanted,” Anderson said. “To write a play, you have to include all the lines and stage directions,” something most actors don’t have experience with. “Taking the time to write it was the hardest part,” Anderson said.

Writing a play is a stressful experience, and the deadline didn’t help. “I totally procrastinated, [and] I ended up finishing the play the day before I had to

have it,” Anderson said. “My favorite part about writing my own [play] is that if I don’t like the line, or the blocking, I can change it,” she said.

Murphy has wanted to direct and produce since his freshman year. His main interest, though, is film and cinema. But he sees a connection between stage and film. “This gives me a great perspective of what a director should be like in any production,” he said.

The one-act play showcase the abilities and friendship of both the directors and the actors. They work hard onstage to get it all done right. “Most directors take time before and after school to coach their actors,” drama teacher Matt Leggett said.

Each director also has his or her own teaching style. “Some had very regimented rehearsals, while others were rather laid back,” Leggett said.

Sophomore Sydney Dunn performs in the one act written by Anderson. “Having another student direct us is great because there is a friendship, rather than a teacher-student relationship,” Dunn said. “She has grown to be a big sister to all of us.”

Varietas opens on Oct. 16 and closes Oct. 18.

New tradition for homecoming shelbyschumacher

staff writer This year’s homecoming royalty lineup is going to look a bit different. The Leadership Class has created a duke and duchess to add to the honors.

Two special-needs students will be crowned duke and duchess at the Homecoming Assembly on Oct. 20, in an effort to be more inclusive towards the whole student body. The celebration included these honors in the past, but they were discontinued several years ago.

Evan Foraker (11) and Lindsey Oldfield (12), proposed the idea

to the other leadership students.

“Everyone in the class was all for it, and people in the class were really excited!” Oldfield said.

After talking with Rick Manka, the Life Skills teacher, they decided to go through with their plan and choose two students to be crowned duke and duchess.

“I think it’s a really great way to include these kids in things other than the Buddy Club dances,” Manka said.

The Leadership Class didn’t want nominees to be chosen via vote, like regular homecoming royalty. Having multiple candidates would leave some students

upset that they did not win. “We didn’t want any feelings to be hurt,” Foraker said.

Manka selected two good friends, both upperclassmen, to receive the titles in order to avoid hurt feelings.

Having a duke and duchess special-needs royalty to be a part of the homecoming court is a tradition that will most likely continue after this year.

“It’s a really cool thing for the kids to be a part of, and I know the kids are excited about it,” Manka said.

16 October 2014|Sports|3

bryce logan

THE

BRYCE IS RIGHT “The Captain”

calvin carr |photographer

Senior Jaxin Erickson is assisted off the field after a knee injury during the first varsity home game against Hermiston. Athletic injuries occur in every sport, hurting both the athlete and their teammates.

Injuries affect players on and off the field Athletics become one of the statistics, leaving the field but not the team. seaneller & elliemendoza

staff writer & sports editor

Approximately 1.3 million adolescents that play a sport get injured every year, according to a 2012 survey by Safe Kids Worldwide. This may mean little to most, but for many athletes, this statistic hits close to home.

Senior Kayla Burnight experienced this statistic firsthand while on the swim and dive team this year. She injured her shoulder by way of a partial dislocation. Also known as subluxation, the shoulder pulls out of the joint, trying to dislocate, but the muscles surrounding the joint pulls it back to place. “I feel like I’m letting my team down because I’m not able to perform at my best.” Burnight said.

Many athletes can relate to Burnight’s injury, as it is devastating for both her and her

team.

Like Burnight, senior football captain Timmy Dinh has also been injured this season.

He experienced a hairline fracture in his right leg and has been working to continue being a great leader, while also recovering. “I feel like I contribute very well. Maybe as a captain, players look up to me, even though I’m in a rough time and can’t play,” Dinh said. This is his last high school season, so he is ready to give it his all. “I give it 110 percent on and off the field,” Dinh said.

Junior Vince Sliva also experienced a hairline fracture, but in his left leg. “I felt a sharp pain, and I couldn’t walk on my leg.” Silva said.

“I slapped the ground knowing I couldn’t play for the rest of the game.”

Like most other injured athletes, Silva felt

AGE IS BUT A # bencasas

staff writer Varsity consists of just seniors and juniors, right? Well, that’s not the case for the girls soccer program this year – and with a wide variety of grade levels, the girls seem to have found the way to win.

Senior captain Jacquie Deichman is one of the upperclassmen that has seen the slow change into a predominately underclassmen team. “Last year the team had 12 seniors, so this year is a huge change, but I really enjoy playing with all of them,” Deichman said.

Performance is key in any sport. Being an underclassmen, performance is everything, as there’s not room for any mistakes. Sophomore forward Tatum Nielsen said, “I always feel pressure to perform well in general, but being younger, I definitely feel more pressure to perform well to prove myself to the older girls.”

From 14 year-olds to 17 yearolds, the age difference could have broken the team. However, the team’s chemistry is stronger

than ever. “Everyone on the team gets along really well, Deichman said. “We all want the underclassmen to be able to look up to us for leadership, so we try to treat each other with the most respect possible, as if we were all in the same grade.”

Nielsen agrees. “We are honestly a family. No doubt about it. They don’t treat me any less because I’m younger. We are probably the closest team in all of the Tri-Cities. And we treat each other with respect.”

For underclassmen, you would expect the intimidation factor to be a big deal on the field. Yet neither Neilsen nor freshman Fanny Cossio is fazed by the fact that they’re playing against 17 year-olds.

“I can usually compete with all the other girls in Tri-Cities. When you’re on the field you don’t even realize or remember that they’re older than you,” Neilsen said. “You get so into the game.

Sometimes you can’t tell how old they even are.”

Cossio feels the same. “I don’t think age matters. All that matters is how hard you try.”

that because he got injured, he was letting his team down. “I felt left out a little bit because I’m the backup for starters on the field, I felt like I should be helping them on the field making a big win,” he said. Luckily, Silva still has his senior year to play.

Sports injuries may harm the body, but they also take an emotional toll on the athlete that experiences them. They take team members away from their teams and push them onto the bench, something that isn’t easy for anyone.

But by continuing to support their team wholeheartedly, the athletes maintain a strong attitude.

A prime example of this is senior football captain Timmy Dinh: “I still have a positive attitude and always am there supporting my team no matter what.”

qualities of a

F. O . T. G .

(FAN OF THE GAME)

• Get decked out in spirit wear • SCREAM for your team at the top of your lungs. You shouldn’t have a voice the next day!

• Be engaged in the game.

• Be EXTREMELY positive no matter what happens. Win or lose, never turn your back on your team.

• Don’t leave halfway through the game. Brace the cold and keep cheering!

• Be respectful of your team, the other team, and your stadium. A classy Falcon is the best Falcon!

• Most importantly,

HAVE PRIDE!

SHOW YOUR SPIRIT @ FOOTBALL

GIRLS SOCCER

VOLLEYBALL

CROSS COUNTRY

GIRLS SWIM & DIVE

10/17 @ Fran Rish 7:00 p.m.

10/18 @ Hanford 12:00 p.m.

10/21 @ Chiawana 7:00 p.m.

10/23 @ Leslie Groves 1:45 p.m.

10/24 @ CWU Pool 3:00 p.m.

E

ven if you are an avid New York Yankees hater like myself, there is no possible way one can hate Derek Jeter. When thinking about Jeter, respect is the first word that comes to mind. He’s what little kids strive to be like when they grow up – a legend. An icon.

He is among the elite in the world of baseball.

Just take a gander at his statistics. He has been with the same team for his entire 16-year career, an extremely remarkable achievement in this day and age, when elite players tend to have no loyalty to their team.

A team develops them up through the minors and then once their contract ends, they instantly begin looking for the team that will offer them the most money. Usually the Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox. Possibly the three most hated teams in the MLB. But Jeter is one of the few exceptions.

Sixteen years with the same team tells you a lot about a baseball player. Because of his loyalty, Jeter is pretty much respected by every baseball fan on planet Earth.

If you take another look at Jeter’s stats, you will see he stands alone in many prestigious categories in MLB history.

During Jeter’s career, he has played in 2,743 regular season games, every single one of them with the Yankees. This is by far the most games played by any player in Yankees history – and they have a lot of history.

When it comes to post-season stats, Jeter truly shines. He is the only person to ever collect 200 hits in a postseason career.

He also managed to rack up 20 home runs, 18 steals, a .308 batting average and a .374 on-base percentage. He played in a total of 158 games – pretty much a full season. So in a full season in extremely high pressure games against the best pitchers in the league, Jeter put up these immaculate numbers. Only five people in a regular season have ever put up these numbers. In a regular season. And it just so happens that Jeter is one of them.

Apart from his baseball career, Jeter’s dating career has also been quite successful. His past girlfriends include Scarlett Johansson, Adriana Lima, Minka Kelly and Jessica Alba.

All very attractive women, if you ask me. So Jeter definitely has my respect on and off the field.

After retirement, Jeter will be missed all across the majors by both fans and players alike.

He was a class act and represented the MLB well. You will be missed, Captain.

4|School&Career|16 October 2014

Getting down to business srinithi suresh

career editor

In our school, there are many internship opportunities for students, including PNNL and Kadlec’s work-based learning.

Another such opportunity is the Energy Northwest business internship. Seniors Mari Irvan and Trevor Shibley are currently interns for the organization.

They started their jobs in the summer – Shibley in July, Irvan in August – and they continue to work on a daily basis, five days a week. After attending four to five classes at school every day, they leave for work at around 12 p.m.

Shibley said, “I applied to Energy Northwest because I was ready to do something new for my senior year, the opportunity to work in a professional environment seemed exciting, and I knew it would be a great opportunity to save up some more money for college.”

Shibley did not initially intend on applying for the internship. “I

was actually going into [Dan Hansen’s] office to get some information about work-based learning at PNNL, and he asked if I wanted to apply at Energy Northwest also,” he said.

Shibley finally decided to apply because he found that the internship was precisely what he wanted, since he means to study Economics, Computer Science and Business in college.

His job is “mostly self-directed project management [;] right now I am working on designing a more efficient document storage system for the Asset Management group.”

Balancing his school work and job has not been too hard for him.

“I have always had a full schedule between school and music and clubs and golf,” Shibley said.

Mari Irvan works in the Vice President Administration department. Her job entails putting together credit card statements and making calendars, flyers, tickets and posters, “usually for the VP, Brad.”

Unlike Shibley, Irvan is not interested in pursuing business management in college. “I want to go into science – I want to be a neuroscientist with a minor in psychology,” she said.

Irvan believes that being an active member of DECA really helped mari irvan her prepare for the job interview. “So I guess I could say ‘join DECA.’” In addition, she suggests that prospective interns act and dress professionally during their interviews. “They’re basically looking for someone who’s mature […] it’s not really about your G.P.A. or anything. It’s more about the kind of person you are and how you present yourself,” she said.

COLLEGE PREP $

COMMONAPP.ORG

LETTERS

Ask teachers, coaches and counselors for letters of recommendation. Allow for at least two weeks for letters to be written.



Job Readiness Checklist

• Make sure to have a completed and proofread resume.

• Have a cover letter that accompanies your resume and talks about the job that you are applying for and what experiences and education you have that will be an asset to the company.

• Make sure to practice your interview and think of potential questions that the interviewer could ask.

• Dress appropriately for an interview.

• Make sure you know where the interview is located to avoid being late.

• Follow up with a note thanking them for their time. reporting by natalie schueddekopp

APPLICATIONS

TESTS

FINANCIAL AID

ESSAYS

Most deadlines are in January, but some schools vary, so make sure to check! Many schools use the Common App.

Most schools will take both ACT or SAT scores, but check to make sure.

Fill out your FAFSA starting Jan. 1, 2015, to receive federal aid.

Customize your essay for each school. Have somebody proofread your essay. mickey shin|photographer

Got more questions? Talk to your counselor for more details! graphic by elisa apra

Junior Shawn Baggett works on a computer in the new cybersecurity class. Most students are currently preparing for the PicoCTF competition.

securing their future valariemilbrath

staff writer

mickey shin|photographer

Senior Luis Nicacio buys a drink at the Falcon Fly Buy. Students purchase various foods from the store during lunch.

The Fly Buy changes to meet new guidelines ryanwang

opinion editor

If school lunch doesn’t do it for you and you’re not ready to commit the time, money and gas to drive somewhere for lunch, then you’re probably familiar with the Falcon Fly Buy, the student store.

But how does the Fly Buy operate? Did it just appear one day, fully staffed, stocked and ready to go? According to Teresa Shively, a new teacher here, School Store Management oversees the Fly Buy. “It’s a fourth hour class. You have to be in the class to partici-

pate in the store. Prior to when the school store opens for the year, we meet and go over things.

Once it opens, we have just 20 minutes in between first and second lunch where we meet and go over things,” Shively said.

The Falcon Fly Buy, unlike most classes in this school, actually makes money.

“All the profit that we make goes to DECA for when we go to conferences or make it to state or nationals. We use that money to help assist the kids with their travel expenses,” Shively said.

Most students have probably

noticed this year that healthier, low-calorie items have replaced the Fly Buy’s previous selection of indulgences. This is not due to a sudden change in the moral consciousness of the members of the Falcon Fly Buy, but it’s part of a change in the national guidelines for food and nutrition.

“New national guidelines have gone into effect for nutrition which limit — and this is something that’s good to know — sodium, sugar, calories, and fat,” Shively said. “We really have to look at everything we sell.”

Students huddle around computers in groups of three or four, discussing problems for a cybersecurity competition called PicoCTF, an online version of Capture the Flag.

Using the problem set from the previous year’s competition for practice, the students of the new cybersecurity class are preparing to compete in PicoCTF at the end of the month.

This brand new class is quite unlike standard computer classes. While most classes teach about programming languages, coding, and app creation, the students in cybersecurity learn to use programs and software for protection.

“We focus on the security aspect both at the computer level and the network level,” Mr. Klug said, the teacher of the

new cybersecurity class. “They learn about careers, they learn about internet safety, so even if they don’t intend on going into the field of cyber security, they come out of the class with the tools to make sure that their computers at home are safe.”

Junior Shawn Baggett seems to like this aspect about the new class. “It’s nice to get a hold on something other than just the parts of the computer,” Baggett said. “I really like being able to intertwine myself with the internet and find where signals come from between the different computers.”

In addition to software, the students in the cybersecurity class learn about viruses, bugs and some ways of protecting against them. This knowledge is being applied to the PicoCTF competition. Students

build defenses to protect their “flags” – files, in this case. At the same time, they attack other competing teams to capture other files.

However, there is more to the class than the competition. Cybersecurity is semester long, and both the teacher and the students want to see specific goals reached. Freshman Sidney Bachrach wants to learn how to be safe and what programs can be used to keep information secure. “I know so much about it, but at the same time I don’t know anything about it,” she said.

Klug intends to teach his students about more than just information security.

“I hope to teach them that technology has vulnerabilities, and that everything you do online can have consequences, both positive and negative,” he said.

16 October 2014|Music |5

6|Music|16 October 2014

Meet Ted continued from cover Berger picked up the bass after seeing his friend senior Lucas Berry play the guitar. “It just had a different feel as an instrument to me,” Berger said. Slowly, he taught himself by mimicking others, watching videos, making mistakes and learning from them.

Berger’s drive came from his desire to get better at his instrument. “I put time into it,” Berger said, “and that’s really all learning guitar, bass, drums or any instrument really is: the practice and effort you put into it.”

Improvement was a powerful factor on Berger’s progress.

“You start out really bad because no one starts out with an innate ability to play an instrument,” he said. “But over time you start to see yourself progress and when you look back on it and you reminisce, you think, wow, I was never able to do that and now I can do it fine and it sounds great.

It’s really uplifting.”

The band that junior Ted Berger plays in specializes in psychedelic blues-type music. The members include him, Berry and Southridge High School student Terell Edwards. “We play open mikes generally every Monday at the Emerald of Siam in The Uptown,” Berger said.

In addition to writing his own music, Berger has tried his hand at writing lyrics as well. “I’ve written a few things in the past and usually it starts to come out as bad poetry, but after a while, you know, you kind of look over a song, you start to pick out the good parts of it and you put them together with other ones and eventually it’ll start to turn out nice.”

Music has always been a

Part of the band part of his life. “When I was really young and my brother was learning to play guitar, he would always come home from school and he would go up to his room,” Berger said. “He would start playing and he would play for hours a day and it was really cool because as a kid I could hear how much better he got just over practicing and then when I actually started playing it was like, man, I could do just what my brother did and I could get just as good.”

In Berger’s future, he plans to focus on music. “I’d like to play either in a recording studio as a session musician or to tour with any band. It would just be a fun career to do,” Berger said.

Even though he would like to play as a professional, Berger describes music as playing for himself. “I don’t really play music to make – to like, fit what other people want to hear. I play what I want to hear and you know, some people like it and some people don’t and that’s just a fact of life.

Not everyone’s going to like what you do,” he said.

Berger’s philosophy on music revolves around equality and tolerance. “I think that music should be something that should be shared equally and that you shouldn’t bash other people for listening to certain types of music even if you don’t like them,” Berger said.

“Listen to what you want to because that’s what makes you happy. Music should not be something that should be criticized for listening to. Music should be something that should be generally accepted as a wonderful thing that just is beautiful.”

Berger’s bandmate, senior Lucas Berry, has been taking private guitar lessons for six years. Although he said he knows little about music theory, Berry is quick to learn. “If you hand me an instrument and tell me what notes to play, I could probably play a little tune on it,” Berry said.

However, Berry makes the point that hard work is key to learning an instrument. “You can’t just pick up a guitar and play. There’s no special secret.

You have to force yourself to practice.”

Interestingly enough, Berry’s band was formed even before he knew how to play. “I always wanted to play guitar because it’s what my dad played. Our first real practice was sometime last year, and we’ve changed names around seven times.”

Berry emphasizes that being in a band is about communicating with people on a personal level.

“Personality comes out in the music. You need to learn how to listen and learn how to respond,” he said.

With a preference for blues, Berry enjoys playing psychedelic rock for fun. “I’ll play anything besides country and reggae,” Berry said.

Berry has even been offered a job to play guitar. “The offer was that I was to move to Tennessee for three months. I would drop out of high school and I would not go to college. I would live with this band for three months that I had never met before.

After that, I would go with them to California for about a year and out of it, I would get about $50,000,” Berry said.

you can’t just pick up a guitar and play. there’s no special secret. you have to force yourself to practice. lucas berry

Weighing the circumstances, Berry decided not to take the job.

“About $30,000 would go to travel expenses. It wouldn’t have been actually all that great,” he said.

“The best experience that I’ve ever had was the worst show that I’ve ever played in my life,” Berry said. “Every musician needs to play a really crappy show in order to realize how to deal with playing a really crappy show to learn how to play a really great one.”

lucas berry

INDIE

R&B/SOUL

JAZZ

COUNTRY

CLASSICAL

HIP-HOP/RAP POP

OTHER ALTERNATIVE

ROCK

The data presented are from surveys collecting information from a total of 97 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. This data does not directly reflect the opinions of the whole student body, but solely the students that were interviewed.

The data visualization on the left is based on a survey of favorite genres of music. The larger the word, the more popularity it has – for example, hip-hop/rap was the most liked genre of music and therefore appears the largest.

Data visualization by Elisa Apra.

16 October 2014|Music|7

Old versus new

A bit of everything

Avoid the radio

A die-hard fan

Senior Clint Mucha’s favorite genre of music is glitch-hop.

“It’s got a hip-hop beat with elements that make it sound like your CD is skipping,” Mucha said. “They’re usually really great, funky tunes. It’s good vibes everywhere.”

When it comes to music, Mucha doesn’t limit himself to just glitch-hop. His favorite artists include CruciA, Anamanaguchi and Metallica. “CruciA stands out a lot. You could listen to a lot of things and they would all just blur together but this guy creates a whole bunch of random stuff and it’s all just really good,” he said.

Using a Pantech Pocket and a media player called TTPod, Mucha looks for a fast beat, keyboard or general rock instruments and limited vocals in his music. “If you hear a person sing, you want to hear them sing well,” Mucha said. “I haven’t been much into recent hip-hop. There hasn’t been any new innovation.”

Mucha’s parents have influenced his tastes in music – at least for rock. However, Mucha likes the music his grandfather plays as well. “My grandparents have vinyls and a turntable. My grandfather will play stuff and I like it. But I’ll listen to my own stuff too.”

Junior Julie Garber is a selfproclaimed lover of all music.

“I really love music and pretty much every single type of music imaginable,” Garber said. “I have a lot of favorites but on the top of my list are Memphis May Fire, Demi Lovato, Skrillex, Hollywood Undead and Avril Lavigne.”

Memphis May Fire, a Christian metalcore band, was a group that Garber found out about through a friend. “He would always rave about them and I was never really into that type of music,” she said. “One day I was kind of having a tough day and I listened to them and it was perfect.”

Garber’s other top choice, Skrillex, was introduced to her on the bus. “There was this guy who would sit next to me on the bus and we became really good friends and one day he was like ‘listen to this’ and I did and it was amazing. It’s my feel-good, upbeat music.”

Garber said her mood heavily influences her music. “A lot of my friends can tell what mood I’m in based on what music I’m listening to. It definitely reflects my mood,” she said.

Avoiding stereotypical pop music, sophomore Gabrielle Clegg spends her time listening to Lorde, Lana del Rey and Marina and the Diamonds. Clegg’s interest in these artists were sparked by fellow listeners.

“About a year ago at my dance studio, this girl was talking about Marina and the Diamonds. From there, it lead into Lorde and Lana,” she said.

The unique sound and lyrics are what drew Clegg to the artists. “It’s earthier than stereotypical radio music. They have more diverse lyrics choice and soul. It’s poetry when you look at their lyrics,” Clegg said.

When discussing the people behind the music, Clegg enjoys the personalities. “They’re a thousand times sassier than I am. They are really bitter and it’s hilarious,” she said.

Clegg someday hopes to attend a concert. “Of course I would go. I would even have tickets before the tours would be announced,” she said.

Clegg recommends “Hollywood” by Marina and the Diamonds, “Yellow Flicker Beat”

by Lorde and “Million Dollar Man” by Lana del Rey.

Senior McKaden Manderbach claims that “These Things Happen” by G-Eazy and “The Definition” by Jon Bellion are the two best albums ever created.

“They’re the only albums I can listen to all the way through over and over again without skipping songs or getting bored of them,” Manderbach said.

“Each song could be my favorite song. That’s how good they are.”

Manderbach enjoys G-Eazy’s album because “the stories that it tells are more personal than the songs I hear on the radio.”

As for Jon Bellion’s album, “’The Definition” is different because Jon Bellion has no genre. He produces all of his music and has a very different sound. “He can also rap and sing very well,” Manderbach said.

After finding out about the two through various music blogs, Manderbach became an avid listener. “I’m a fan of them because I can tell they love what they do. They work as hard (or harder) than all other artists and it’s apparent from the music and videos that they release.”

Manderbach recommends listening to “Far Alone,” “Remember You” and “I Mean It” by G-Eazy and “Jungle,” “Luxury” and “Simple and Sweet” by Jon Bellion.

Breaking language barriers As opposed to listening to music with English lyrics, senior Ryan Clark prefers Japanese songs. His genre of choice is Japanese rock. “I find it interesting, mostly due to the language difference. The Japanese language surprisingly has a nice flow to it, and the syllables coordinate well with the melodies,” Clark said.

Two bands that Clark enjoys are The Mirraz and The Oral Cigarettes. He mentions that the pace of the music in both artists fit the music and style well. For the latter band, “the rhythms can be simple at times, but the fluidity of the vocals provides a nice contrast,” he said.

Clark’s favorite band is Ling Tosite Sigure. “This band has an absolutely stunning lineup of albums. The main focus is the guitarist and the lead vocalist, who has a unique vocal style and outstanding talent at guitar,” Clark said. “The main male vocals transition well with the backup female vocals, providing a dynamic listening experience. Their most recent album, ‘I’mperfect,’ is well constructed from beginning to end.”

What do you prefer?

APPS

DEVICES COMPUTER

OTHER

MP3

OTHER RADIO PANDORA

SOUNDCLOUD LAST.FM 8TRACKS ITUNES

PHONE PHONE SPOTIFY SONGZA

8|Features|16 October 2014

CLUB SP OT L I G HT : G AMER S C LU B

Sophomore Hunter Elms, a Gamers Club officer, concentrates on his cards as he plays a game of Magic against a fellow gamer.

Gamers Club meets every Friday in room 2205 They enjoy food, friends and games. Junior Daniel Carls is the current president of the club.

mickey shin|photographer

carolinewaring

opinion editor

Every Friday in Tara Smith’s Spanish classroom, some twenty students can be seen milling about on laptops, TV consoles and Nintendo DS systems — Gamers Club has convened.

After taking a gap year, the Gamers Club has been revived under junior Daniel Carls, distinguishable in his bright green Gamers Club T-shirt, similar to the ones worn by the other two officers.

“The year before I got here, the president [of the club] had graduated, and there was never another president that got elected and so that year afterwards, I thought, ‘Well, I wanna be in a club like that,’ so I tried to get it

started up,” Carls said.

The club materials are mostly supplied by the members. “Last week I brought in a Wii, and then one of the other officers brought a Nintendo 64,” Carls said. “I plan on bringing in another console, and other members are talking of plans about bringing systems.”

“We just play video games. Or card games, or computer games, anything really,” sophomore Hunter Elms said, an officer of Gamers Club. “Usually we’ll have about three stations set up. We’ll have the Wii here, NES there, Xbox over there. And then there’ll be some people on their computers, us playing card games.”

With so many different things to do, the room fills with loud, unregulated conversation. Smith, the adviser,

allows the club to go on with lenient supervision, and the very nature of the club invites a more social milieu. Even so, it’s not that different from any other club — with some obvious qualifications.

“It’s different in the fact that it revolves around video games and gaming and sharing experiences of gaming, and then it’s not different because it’s still a place to gather and convene and share similar interests,” Carls said.

“You join French club if you have interest in the French language and French culture — and that’s why you join French Club. Same with Video Game Club. Except with video games.”

#WEREPPINHANFORD ‘Chopin’ down barriers

mickey shin|photographer

Senior Hinako Kawabe warms up her vocals in front of a music board in the choir room. Kawabe is to perform at the 2014 All-National Mixed Choir in Tennessee this October. sawyer henry|photographer

#wereppinhanford leader Brady Heid cheers at the Welcoming Assembly with the rest of the senior class. Senior Heid and Ryan Woodall co-run the student spirit Twitter and Instagram accounts.

alisachuang

copy editor

On the hall posters, online, and at school football games, school spirit is greater than ever. And one of the main causes is the #WRH (We’re Reppin’ Hanford) Twitter account, co-run by seniors Brady Heid and Ryan Woodall.

As a leader of school spirit, Heid’s own spirit has been going strong for a while.

The #WRH has been flourishing, ever since it was created by Kyle McMurrich, a 2014 graduate. “[We’re Reppin Hanford is] a saying that we students around the school have brought into our own, and it’s like Kamiakin’s #runkano or Richland’s #bombsquad,” Heid said. “It represents our student section, and it was brought to the school a couple years ago, and we’ve really embraced it now.”

Besides events, the #WRH account also tweets information. “[There’s] a lot of information about when the games are gonna be and what to wear,” Heid said.

His favorite tweets? “Every time when I tweet that we win something. Everyone loves those, and it’s just fun to let everyone know that we’ve won a good sporting event.”

Senior Ryan Woodall agrees. “It’s more like a student-section-based Twitter ac-

count,” he said. “‘We’re Reppin Hanford’ is more focused on the sports that have student sections for them, so we can tell the students when to go and where to be.”

Running the account has more than one upside. “I just like knowing that a lot of the Hanford school spirit starts with what I do and how I say things, and it’s just fun being the leader of this big, huge family that we have,” Heid said. “It means a lot because I like being able to know that what our students do, a part of it is what I advise and what I tweet on this account.”

Woodall has a similar point of view.

“Everyone would rather have people out there watching them in the stands than just their parents, and honestly, going to student sections and cheering on all the games has been way better than anything else I’ve done.”

But Heid and Woodall aren’t the only ones supporting the school spirit.

“There’re so many seniors and juniors that have been key figures in cheering on our sports and I can’t single out anyone because we’ve all been great in supporting our team sports here at Hanford,” Heid said.

“The whole thing in itself is a good memory because I like being able to lead our Hanford school spirit, and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the year.”

diana wang

staff writer Imagine moving to a new country and being thrown into a totally foreign lifestyle, all the while harboring a sense of adventure belied by vulnerability. This is exactly what senior Hinako Kawabe experienced when her family moved to the United States from Japan during her first grade year.

Kawabe discovered the joy of choral singing when she was in the fourth grade.

The students were required to attend a weekly choral class that taught the basics of music theory. It was in that classroom where she felt most comfortable. “The only English word my parents taught me was ‘bathroom’ and so I didn’t know any English to be able to communicate well. However, I found out singing-wise that everyone learns the same music, and language wasn’t a barrier anymore,” Kawabe said.

Settling herself in the new country was difficult, especially when talking with other people. Kawabe was able to overcome that obstacle by learning as much as she could in her choir class. “You can still communicate with other people with singing and music,” Kawabe said. “I also learned most of my English through singing, and so that’s also a big reason of why I like singing so much.”

All the years of persistent practice and constant participation in her schools’ choir programs has paid off. “As cliché as it sounds, my tip for other musicians or

just anyone with a goal is to just practice,” Kawabe said. “Practice will get you very far.”

During her sophomore year, Kawabe attended the Washington Music Educators Association 2013 All-State Choir. This was the first time she had been able to sing with students around the state that had the same passion for music. “From the first note that we sung together, I thought, ‘Wow. Where am I? Is this heaven?’” Kawabe said.

Qualifying for this prestigious program was not easy. Kawabe had only a month between when she found out about the opportunity to join and when the recording was due. “I wasn’t even sure if I was going to get in or not, but I decided that if I was going to audition I should try my best, so I went home, scrambled to find a solo piece, and practiced constantly.”

To her surprise, she was selected to be one of the few to participate. She couldn’t have been more excited. In October, Kawabe will travel to Tennessee along with other selected high school singers from across the nation to form the 2014 AllNational Mixed Choir, in the prestigious Grand Ole Opry House under the direction of the famed Edith Copley.

“I’m looking forward to working with all the talented musicians as well as meeting a lot of culturally diverse people,” Kawabe said. “It’s cool because through all our background differences, we can still come together to produce something beautiful.”

16 October 2014|Features|9

A hunter in the midst

trending @HHS #flannel

“I just chose to wear flannel today.

Pedro Betancourt junior

“It seemed like

a good shirt to wear. I like flannels; they’re cool.

Matt Williams senior

“Flannel is like my

courtesy of porter mcmichael

Junior Porter McMichael poses for a picture immediately after shooting down a duck. McMichael hunts regularly on the weekends for a multitude of wildlife, ranging from small animals like pheasants to larger beasts such as deer.

oliviacoppock

staff writer

The question “What do you do on your weekend?” calls to mind binge-watching Netflix and casually hanging out with friends. But junior Porter McMichael does something a bit different for his weekend.

He goes hunting.

Hunting has always been a big part of McMichael’s life. His dad is an avid hunter and has managed to pass that same love to his sons. His brother picked up the sport before him, but before long, McMichael was testing out his own waters. “My dad and brother both hunted before me,” McMichael said.

“I would tag along with them starting around the age eight. As soon as I was big enough to shoot. It wasn’t even a decision.”

“I took hunters ed and started hunting,” McMichael said. Hunter Education is a class hunters must take if they want to legally hunt and kill. “[The class] was two weeks long and four hours a day. There was a big test at the end of the day,” McMichael said. “We

favorite. I think I got it at H&M.

learned rules about hunting and what’s legal and what’s not and how not to shoot your friends.”

His search for different animals have taken him all around the state. “I hunt chukars and huns on McBee Grade by Prosser, pheasants near Dayton, deer in the wilderness areas, and ducks on the Columbia River upstream a few miles.”

Though exciting at times, hunting can also be a sad experience. One of McMichael’s more somber times hunting was when he shot a deer. “It didn’t die right away. It rolled down a cliff, and I had to shoot it again,” McMichael said. “I felt really bad because it went through a lot of pain.”

But, that feeling of successfully taking down an animal overcomes most of the pain. McMichael describes his most exciting moment out hunting: when he shot his first pheasant at the age of 12. “I was so excited because it was my first shot at a bird and I hit it,” McMichael said. “It fell in a cloud of feathers after my dad yelled, ‘Hen!’ but I was lucky, and it was just a young rooster!”

Morgan Robinett sophomore

“Flannels are

fancy. The color scheme worked.

Shane Morrow sophomore reported by natalie schueddekopp

how to ask a girl to homecoming

with Kyle Caldwell

1

3

2

You think it would be fun to go to with sophomore Kara Shibley, so you ask her to Homecoming.

Ask Kara Shibley’s parents if you can ask her to Homecoming and put a sign up on their house to ask her with.

With your parents’ help, make a huge poster that says, “Hay, would ewe like to go to homecoming?” and add decorations like a cotton ball sheep. Gather other things you think Kara Shibley would like.

7

6 You didn’t get to see Kara Shibley’s reaction, but her family told you that she really liked it and is very excited to be your date.

Kara Shibley said “yes” to Homecoming with you with a poster. She used various candy bars to spell out a message that said yes.

4 When Kara Shibley is taking her driver’s education test, you and your parents go to her house to set up the poster.

5 With the help of your parents and Kara Shibley’s brother Trevor Shibley, hang the poster over her front porch. Set up a hay bale near the porch with a sign that has her name on it, and bring some balloons and flowers to put around it.

8 Get pumped for Homecoming!

Reported by sonali matta

bookmark cafe 13 cookies for $4.62

955 northgate drive lobby of the richland library richland, wa 99352

Buy 2 large bubble teas, get 1 free

10|A&E|16 October 2014

THE MAZE RUNNER: O’Brien steals the show I f you were to look up in a dictionary the definition of suspense, you ellie mendoza would find a cute little picture of Dylan O’Brien with a reference to the movie “The Maze Runner.” This movie was action-packed, thrilling and an exemplary model of a movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time.

It starts out with protagonist Thomas, also known as teen heartthrob Dylan O’Brien, zooming up from the depths of some unknown underground location to the grassy green center of the maze. Thomas becomes one of dozens of other boys who are also trapped in the maze’s center, but unlike them, he is determined to get out.

Conflict arises as he breaks the rules of the group, rules that most of them see as the glue that holds them together. Thomas pushes the boundaries of what they thought they could ever accomplish during their escape from the maze.

Now, apart from O’Brien’s character already being aweinducing and attractive, he also embodies what it means to be truly badass.

He goes through the movie killing these horrifying monstermachine-like creatures (referred to as “Grievers,”) makes some extremely daring sprints through towering concrete blocks that

are closing in on him, and to top it off, becomes the first to ever make it through a night in the maze – just so he could save the leader of the group.

His character is cunning, witty and impossible not to adore. Even my boyfriend (who attended the movie with me) was crushing on him just as much as I was.

While Dylan O’Brien definitely takes the spotlight for this movie, the rest of the cast was equally impressive. The antagonist of the movie, Gally (played

by Will Poulter), has a dynamic and intriguing performance.

He starts off by making the audience think he’s just a bit of a jerk, but he still convinces us that he has good intentions.

As the movie progresses, he begins to lose his sanity and is completely unwilling to go with the coming changes as the group moves down the road to escaping.

He becomes crazier and more violent than anyone would’ve originally anticipated and causes a great divide in the group between those who never want to leave their safe haven in the middle of the maze and those who want to risk their life for a chance at freedom.

Overall, the movie is intriguing and definitely worth the $10 to view. Even if you’re not super into the whole thriller genre, go to see Dylan O’Brien show off his sexy muscular self and put on a better-than-expected performance.

“The Maze Runner” is a movie that both men and women of all ages will enjoy watching.

SUPER SMA SH BROS: A SUPER SMA SH HIT W

hen I was in fifth grade, Super Smash Bros.

Brawl came out zach pawlowski for the Nintendo Wii. For months, it was the hottest thing on the playground.

It seems like the recent release of the latest installment of the popular Super Smash Bros. series is no different. During lunch it’s common to see plenty of people on their 3DSs battling each other with their favorite Nintendo characters.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, not to be confused with the 1999 Super Smash Bros. or the yet to be released Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, is a new fighting game that brings together characters from a wide range of Nintendo games to battle for supremacy. A wide variety of characters are represented, from classics like Mario, Link, Kirby and Pikachu to newcomers like Wii Fit Trainer, Animal Crossing Villager, Water Pokémon Greninja and Fire Emblem’s Lucina. Even non-Nintendo characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man are present. Basically, it’s just a fun game to play with your friends and compete for bragging rights.

The first thing I noticed about the new game was that it was remarkably similar to its predecessor, despite being on a handheld

gaming console.

Although there are some noticeable technical limitations, it plays just like the home console version. Amazingly, the game keeps a crystal clear 60 frames per second even when in 3D mode, an accomplishment not all games for the 3DS have been able to match.

In my opinion however, it is difficult to play the game with 3D on, so I left it in 2D. The most important thing about this kind of game is the characters, and the developers really went the extra mile here.

Amazingly, the game keeps a crystal clear 60 frames per second even when in 3d mode, an accomplishment not all games for the 3ds have been able to match.

The roster of playable characters is huge; there are 51 characters now (not counting alternate costumes), up from the 39 characters that appeared in the previous installment of the series.

When I was first presented with the character- select screen, it was a little daunting choosing who to play as. Even now, with hours invested into the game, I have yet to try out all the possibilities.

Technically, everyone, even you, can be a playable character.

With the new feature to create a custom Mii Fighter available, you can add your own character to the game. Whether it’s yourself, Barack Obama, Jackie Chan or Darth Vader is up to you.

A slight downside to the roster

is that the characters are unlocked awfully quickly. In Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube it took 1,000 battles, or about 20 hours of gameplay, to unlock all characters. In the 3DS version, only 120 battles are needed, which really shortens the amount of time you spend getting new characters, for better or for worse.

A true Adventure Mode, like those in previous installments, is absent. Instead, there is a new game mode called Smash Run, where the player goes through a maze of computer controlled opponents to boost their character’s attributes before having a proper battle. Smash Run is fun with friends, but is pretty dull all by yourself.

All in all, I thought the game was a blast, and I definitely got my money’s worth out of it. The game is easy to pick up, fast-paced and most of all fun. Playing with friends is the most fun, but even if you’re all alone, you can still have a good time with the online multiplayer and numerous single player game modes. Occasionally the A.I. of computer opponents screws up with funny or frustrating results, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.

If you enjoyed previous games in the Smash Bros. series, this game is definitely for you. Even if you’ve never played a Smash Bros. game, it’s so easy to pick up and play that you’ll have still have fun. The game costs $40 and can be either downloaded onto your 3DS or purchased at a store. The Wii U version of the game will be released on November 21.

Upcoming Releases OCTOBER 17 “The Book of Life”

OCTOBER 21 “Paperwork” - T.I.

OCTOBER 27 “1989” Taylor Swift

NOVEMBER 4 “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare”

NOVEMBER 11 “Halo: The Master Chief Collection”

NOVEMBER 21 “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1”

NOVEMBER 7 “Big Hero 6” OCTOBER 28 “Tha Carter V” Lil Wayne

NOVEMBER 17 “Four” - One Direction

NOVEMBER 24 “The Pinkprint” Nicki Minaj

16 October 2014|Opinion|11

Music offers connection and joy Music surrounds us.

There are programs and classes specifically for music – classes with grades, performances and competitions and the subsequent school absences. And as with all classes, you get a number printed on your greyscale transcript, based on the typical 4.0 G.P.A. scale.

It’s true, in these classes, music is strongly connected with a grade.

But it doesn’t have to be.

More than just a grade, it can

be a future, a friend, a wish.

It could be the dream to play in a professional band and travel the country.

It could be the one thing you turn to when the world doesn’t understand you.

It could be the something you can share and smile about with the people you love.

After all, we are full of music, inside and out.

Music is everywhere, from the notes in your ears to the blaring radio in the car on the

way home. The rain pattering on your roof or the rhythm of your steps down a hallway.

The jingle of your favorite ad, or the song you sing, loud and off-key, in the shower.

Music can make you happy, music can give voice to your sadness. Music is there for you, and it is there with you, wherever you are in life.

Whether it’s background noise or the center of your world, music will stay with you. Even better, it can bring

you closer to others. If two people find they like the same kind of music, they bond over that common ground.

It’s one of the few things that can connect people, no matter what language, culture, social status or appearance. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how weird the song is.

Music connects; it unites.

As Hans Christian Andersen said, “Where words fail, music speaks.”

The staff editorial is the concensus of the Editorial Board.

UP & DOWN

Bring Your Own Device Policy:

A relatively recent change that Richland School District has allowed. This policy allows students to bring their own electronics to use for their school work.

THE

ALTITUDE 16 October 2014 issue 15.2

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF mickey shin

EDITORS

alisa chuang, copy ryan wang, business manager grant bender, business manager elisa apra, design naveena bontha, news ellie mendoza, sports srinithi suresh, career emily tan, features samuel mckinnon, features zach pawlowski, a&e caroline waring, opinion sonali matta, humor

PHOTOGRAPHER

sawyer henry, calvin carr, maxwell weil

STAFF

Healthier foods:

Pep assemblies:

The school food has been attempting to evolve into healthier cuisine over the past few years in accordance to new national guidelines, but until this year the vending machine foods have remained untouched.

Pep assemblies are one of the topics that raise the energy and hype of the school. Students love to reveal their true purple and gold spirit, but leaving can be a hassle.

ben casas, olivia coppock, shibani datta, sean eller, bryce logan, valarie milbrath, jourdan plante, natalie schueddekopp, shelby schumacher, diana wang, michelle wang, raelynn webb

ADVISER

nancy e. smith

I come from the Kennewick [School] District, and I remember that they [had] a lot of junk food.

Mae Leners (9)

I can do some of my homework on it, and before school starts I can play games and stuff on it.

Alex Burkos (9)

You should only be able to bring educational devices, not recreation, like Snapchat.

Allison Sijgers (10)

I like them, they are really fun and they get you going.

Karisa Luera (11)

Kids should just know and make their own choices about healthy food, not have it forced upon them.

Aspen Smith (10)

I like assemblies, but it’s hard to [get out].

Jacob Von Bargen (9)

reporting by raelynn webb

redefining reading I

t would be difficult to find a study that doesn’t report a drop valarie milbrath in the amount of time people spend reading.

Numbers say that pleasure reading among teens and young adults has plummeted, or even that one in three young adults do not read for their own enjoyment.

But people do read. They just don’t count a lot of it.

Most studies — and most people — count only physical, paper fiction books for pleasure reading. Other forms of reading are rarely asked for, much less reported.

That’s the problem.

Reading is reading, whether paperback or digital. Online news and periodicals are popular material, and essays about controversial topics spread through social media at the drop of a dime.

And it’s not only young people

who are reported to be reading less. Adults are also caught in the move to modern written media.

And that’s a good thing.

Online periodicals save paper and don’t guilt the audience into reading only for fear of waste.

The Internet can also be used to find several different articles and opinions on one thing all at once rather than searching through different physical sources.

Even further from the conventional idea of reading is social media. Though it’s written language, social media has a reputation for incorrect grammar, unchecked facts and high image usage that places it in a separate category from “reading books.”

However, because even social media allows people to think about what they’ve read, there is value in social media as reading material.

So, yes, people are reading fewer “books.”

However, the problem is not that people are reading less, but that the definition of reading is not up to date with how people spread information now.

Editorial Policy: The Altitude is an open public forum for the student community at Hanford High School. The paper is published by Hanford Student Media, informing and entertaining its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner.

The reporting and opinions published in the Altitude do not represent views of the Richland community, school board, administrators, faculty, or student body of Hanford High School.

Advertising Policy: The Altitude accepts advertising for most products and services available to the public. Advertising which promotes illegal products under Washington law, opposes any religion, is written in bad taste, or which includes false statements will not be accepted.

The Editorial Board has the right to refuse any such ad.

Letters to the Editor: Signed letters to the editor will be accepted and published. The staff reserves the right to edit the letters for poor taste, space, libel, and grammar.

Memberships: WJEA, JEA, SPLC Printing by the Daily Sun News, Sunnyside, Washington.

iApocalypse: an opinion on the nude celebrity pic leaks I

na society where hacked celebrities’ pictures are becoming common, naveena bontha we tend to see only black and white.

So when explicit pictures of nearly 100 celebrities surfaced, many people did what had always been done: blame the person in the photo.

We could sit for days and argue about how those pictures should have never been taken, and we could ask ourselves how these entitled people could be so foolish, but somewhere in that argument, we lose track of who the victims really are.

And guess what? They’re not the people viewing the leaked pictures.

This attitude doesn’t surface only with celebrities. It happens in towns and cities all over the United States, where young girls are condemned, sometimes for pictures that they hadn’t even

known were being taken.

If we look at this on a global scale, we see that this flawed reasoning is also used to justify tens of thousands of rape cases in many third world countries.

The person in the photos is not the criminal.

When I log on to my Twitter, advertisements automatically pop up, some offering links and sites to see the leaked explicit pictures.

If we look at this on a global scale, we see that this flawed reasoning is also used to justify tens of thousands of rape cases in many third world countries. naveena bontha

It’s amazing how we take these ads in stride; just thinking of it as another scandal, we get back to our work. But it’s not. It is a fullfledged felony.

Whoever leaked these pictures will be going to jail for a very long time, no doubt about it.

But it raises an even bigger concern. Most of the pictures that were leaked were known to have been deleted for a very long time.

Is anything private with recovery nets like iCloud and Gmail set in place? Information never truly disappears, which makes these gross invasions of privacy much easier to occur.

I don’t condone people taking nudes, but I won’t condemn them for a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s a part of life.

However, I will say this: nothing is private anymore.

With services like Snapchat and iCloud being provided, no piece of data ever really disappears. People who kid themselves that their pictures are safe by sending them through software like Snapchat are clearly delusional.

Besides, leaking pictures is a felony. So let’s not get overexcited when you stumble upon that one picture of that certain someone.

Technology has helped us in so many ways, but sometimes, it just pushes us back.

12|The Back Page|16 October 2014

THE BANTER: A PSA about PDA HOCO madness There is a unique type of disgust most of us feel when having the misfortune of seeing ellie mendoza two 14 year olds kissing in the hall.

It's different from the stomachturning feeling of dissecting a frog, yet it leaves the same icky aftertaste, somewhere along the lines of "what the hell."

This may come as a surprise, but as much as some of you hormone-laden teens out there may not want to believe, yes, there are people other than the teachers of the history wing that are disturbed by your blatant snogging in the hall.

It's gross.

You see, we are at a high school.

Not the set of "The Notebook," nor in a high school version of "The Titanic."

There are two versions of couples’ behavior I detest.

First, there are the hallway lovers.

They’re the two kids in the gaps of the hall who seem to have the mindset that they’re the only two deeply-in-love people in the

world and that they absolutely must show it.

Well, surprise kiddos, you’re not.

Appropriate hallway behavior falls along the lines of saying “hi” to a friend or two, checking out a few of the posters on the wall, or even doing a mental runoff of what you need to know before the test next period.

Not doing that thing where you and your significant other lean against a wall or the stairwell and gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes before trying for a quick before-class make-out sesh.

this may come as a surprise, but as much as some of you hormone-laden teens out there may not want to believe, yes, there are people other than the teachers of the history wing that are disturbed by your blatant snogging in the hall.

Don’t be that couple taking up precious walking space by having your arms around each other and foreheads touching as if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your beloved 10th grade girlfriend.

This is high school, not “Dear John.” I promise you will both live.

Next, even worse than the hallway lovers, are the dreaded

classroom romantics.

If you've never had a class with this type of couple, consider yourself lucky.

They're the two kids in the back of the class who find it necessary to hold hands and occasionally go for a peck when they think no one is looking, making everyone, including the teacher, unbearably uncomfortable.

You can hear their giggles from every corner of the room.

It’s as if they forget they’re surrounded by their peers and in a public classroom.

Now, I'm not one to ever promote bullying, but I encourage any of you who are currently in a class with a couple like this to give those two a nasty glare.

You could even give a little scoff and a frown, and let them know that you are offended.

I believe that as a school we should adapt that nifty method used when training unruly cats.

The one where you spray the culprits with a water bottle as a consequence of their bad behavior.

Students and teachers, arm yourselves with squirt guns and spray bottles.

Maybe even a water balloon or two.

It’s time for battle.

When I was in middle school, Homecoming was this big fantasy for every naveena bontha girl. The thought of having a valid reason to buy a bedazzled dress, the mere idea of buying that perfect pair of passion-berry pink 15-inch heels, the notion of going to a fancy restaurant and being oh-socool while ordering an entrée you could barely pronounce, thrilled every tween girl.

The guy didn’t matter much in middle school. The only criteria was that he had to be, ahem, attractive. And he had to make all the other girls jealous. I wish his job description had stayed that way.

Nowadays, Homecoming falls on the Stress-O-Meter right between finals and AP testing. And I don’t even have a date (winkwink, nudge-nudge). In anticipation for this event, girls undergo this transformation from regular girl to maniac Homecoming girl.

Suddenly, girls start purchasing their dresses in July. For the first three weeks of school, their only goal is to snag a date. In order for this to count as a date, they must be asked in the most sickeningly sweet way possible.

Coming to school with her favorite cookie and a poster? Sweet, but lame. Boys, the only way to do this is to take her for a ride in

your helicopter to a faraway land like Seattle. Private jet is also acceptable, but we ladies draw the line at commercial transportation.

There, a candlelit picnic will be awaiting, as she is serenaded by a 14-piece orchestra. Then, the music will abruptly cease when you pull out a blue Tiffany’s box with a heart-shaped locket from your pocket. Finally, the sky will erupt into glorious fireworks, which will spell out something incredibly cheesy like, “My head is in the clouds, and you’re the only person who can bring me down to Earth.”

That, my dear readers, is how we do.

Walking through the hallways is bad. But even worse is when I get home, and I pull up my Twitter, and every single girl has posted something ranging from, “I am a strong, independent woman and I don’t need no date,” to, “Why doesn’t anyone love me?” with all her friends posting long paragraphs stating how much they love her.

And the guys? Even worse. “I wish I was brave enough to ask the love of my life to Homecoming,” and, “My girl got asked to Homecoming, is there even a point to life anymore?”

It always astounds me how people have time for this drama, when all I can think of is my next math test.

I don’t know what that says about me, but all I can say is that the only angle I want in my life is the one with the vertex “O” and the endpoints “Y” and “U.”

PUMPKIN SPICE TAKES OVER

SAMUEL MCKINNON

Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice mochas, pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin grant bender spice butter, pumpkin spice shoes -- even pumpkin spice underwear?

What is so amazing about this obsessive endemic that is sweeping America? Maybe it’s the comfortable, autumn flavor. But there has to be something else to it for there to be pumpkin spice flavored butter -- or even pumpkin spice flavored lasagna.

Every time I walk by a coffee shop, I see people with these hot beverages, orange foam oozing out of the drink hole.

I have to say, I used to love pumpkin everything. I was just like the rest of you. Pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin.

Yeah, sure, it’s nice to enjoy a hot coffee during the autumn and winter, but daily during those seasons?

Don’t you ever get tired of those amber waves of pumpkin spice?

I most certainly do.

Pumpkin spice lattes really aren’t that good.

I just don’t get what some people see in them. Even the boys are going out and getting these abominable throw-up colored coffees.

Some of you out there can

barely pronounce the word “latte” or “frappe.” It makes me sick.

Case in point: A hipster couple walks in to Starbucks, and the girl orders a “pumpkin spice frappuccino with two extra pumps of pumpkin and three pumps of hazelnut with a caramel wall on the cup, with a chocolate drizzle, and don’t forget the chocolate whipped cream.” The girl walks over and sits down at the waiting table.

It is now the guy’s turn to order. “I would like a pumpkin spice frappoo-sino.” Do you see how stupid this sounds?

Come on, people!

I have to say, I used to love pumpkin everything. I was just like the rest of you. pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin. yeah, sure, it’s nice to enjoy a hot coffee during the autumn and winter, but daily during those seasons?

I honestly have no idea how some of you even like this stuff.

Yeah, I get it, it’s a seasonal coffee; I have my favorites, too. But y’all are way too obsessed with this stuff.

It’s hilarious.

Everywhere I look, there’s pumpkin spice in some way, shape or form.

It’s ridiculous!

Go out and get something else, people. A white mocha, white rocket, I don’t care!

Just not the pumpkin spice latte.