High Tide Feb. 20, 2014

HIGH

TIDE Redondo Beach, CA // Redondo Union High School Feb. 20, 2014 // Vol. XCIV // Edition 9

Insecurity

/insiˈkyo͝oriti/ (n.):

Uncertainty, lack of confidence or an issue that keeps us from truly being ourselves.

PHOTOS BY CEDRIC HYON AND JUSTIN LEE

great about generation Y? See the secrets behind Junior Connor Mowatt’s p. 8 // Do you have a case of selfie syndrome? p.12 // What’s What’s wrong with generation Y? p. 16 // Jump Style dance.

Photos of the Week Model United Nations

Club Sign-up Day

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They want you.

1. The student union courtyard hosted club sign-up day on Feb. 13th, where clubs like Marine Biology and Freshman Class Counsil attempted to attract members.

2. Drama advertises by showing pictures from plays and events, hoping to get students to sign up.

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PHOTOS BY JUSTIN LEE

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Master debaters. 1. Senior Matthew Moroko represents Minister of Justice Habibullah Ghaleb while debating the assasination of Afganistan President Karzai with his contemporaties. 2. (From left to right) Nicholas McCarthey, Winston Wong, Ilana Goleb, Luke Lezhansky, Giorgia Fugita, Chris Paludi, Yasmeen El-Hasan, Matthew Moroko, Yasmine Ghazvini and Justin Lee pose outside the Humanities building as UC Santa Barbra, dressed up for their conference.

2.

PHOTOS BY JUSTIN LEE

History Bowl competition provides team insight

by Cody Williams

Last Saturday, students from RUHS participated for the first time in History Bowl. In this event, teams from 18 different schools were put head to head on their knowledge of general history topics.

The competition was comprised of three events: the History B, geography quiz and the main history bowl event with four, 45 minute rounds.

According to Captain Christopher Eskilson, RUHS’s A team performance was a “success”.

“We did really well for our first time,” Eskilson said. “Our team has a lot of potential for future competitions.”

For Eskilson, the competition was a “valuable” experience in a comfortable environment.

“All the teams cooperated really well which made for a friendly competition,” Eskilson said. “We wanted to do well, but the point of it was to have fun.”

According to Eskilson, RUHS’s main competition came from Arcadia High’s experienced history bowl team, whom they faced twice during the competition, along with Palos Verdes and Whitmire.

“Facing Arcadia was really difficult,” Eskilson said. “That’s why they are advancing to the next competition.”

Senior Sam Pickup, a member of the B team, was intimidated by Arcadia’s performance.

“In one round they answered everything quickly. They were like robots,” Pickup said.

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NEWS

Although Arcadia proved difficult for RUHS’s six competitors, the team found success against Palos Verdes, beating them by about 50 points.

“We did really well against Palos Verdes,” Eskilson said. “It felt really good to beat them by that big of a margin.”

Along with the team event, Redondo’s six students competed in an individual event comprised of 10 competitors, answering questions in a Jeopardy style format.

“The individual event was a lot more difficult than the team event just because of the number of people involved,” Eskilson said.

Based on his performance in the individual event, Eskilson qualified to attend the National History B in which the top 500 scorers in the nation will compete in a round robin formatted event.

“I’m sure I will do fine,” Eskilson said.

“But it’s hard to tell because of the amount of talented competition that will be there.”

RUHS’s B team was unable to make it to the afternoon rounds, mainly due to a lack of preparation.

“If we prepared earlier we would’ve done a lot better. I kind of just came in and winged it. A lot of the kids from there were new and didn’t know what was going on,” Pickup said.

Saturday’s performance provided Eskilson and the team with valuable feedback, enabling adjustments to be made for next year’s competitions.

“The biggest obstacle was our unfamil-

iarity with the competition in general,” Eskilson said. “We are working on getting younger members with a wider range of knowledge on the team.”

Pickup would like more people to join History Bowl.

“More people need to join and prepare this time so that next year we actually have a chance to do well. This year we were just too unprepared to do anything. We need more kids to enjoy history and put more time in it so that we can go into nationals next year,” Pickup said.

Pickup enjoyed the experience of History Bowl overall, even with the loss.

“It didn’t feel good to lose every round, but we weren’t prepared because we did it for two days and went in to practice. I came in saying ‘Hey, I’ll help you out because no one came in,” Pickup said.

Pickup wishes he got into History Bowl sooner.

“I enjoyed hanging out with a bunch of my friends and learning some new material. I learned quite a bit from history. I was working on ancient Egypt mostly, so I learned about ancient Egyptian mythology and Middle Eastern history,” Pickup said.

After Saturday’s competition, the school’s new History Bowl team has high hopes for future competitions “We have a really good future with Mr. Wong,” Eskilson said. “The team is currently looking for new members, so we can get valuable practice time in now.”

PHOTO BY CEDRIC HYON

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTHONY BRIDI

A timely buzz. Senior Sam Pickup answers a toss up question for the round against Arcadia A. The Redondo B team lost the round against Arcadia B Team.

New hockey team to begin its season

by Caitlyn Catubig

Students and teachers have come together to form RUHS’ new ice hockey team, whose season starts in March.

“We have a lot of interest. We had about twenty students show up to our first practice with various levels of hockey skills and some of our better players couldn’t make it because they’re finishing up their club season,” team coach James Costello said.

The team ranges from “first-time players,” to players who have “played for their whole lives.”

“It’s a pretty diverse group but we have a lot of high talent students so we look to compete immediately in the league,” Costello said. “I hope that we’re able to fill two competitive teams, a varsity team and a junior varsity team. I always want to win when I can, so our goal is to win the league championship on both levels.”

The team is starting to prepare to reach their goal in their upcoming ice hockey season.

“Based on the league, there are going to be some tough teams we play, some teams that are traditionally strong. But based on what I saw at our first practice, we should be able to dominate some teams in the league,” Costello said. “I think we’re going to finish in first, or at least that’s my goal. You’ll never hear me say that we’ll finish anywhere except for in first place.”

PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

An ice new addition. The jersey for Redondo’s new ice hockey team.

Before Costello had even been hired as a teacher, he had plans for what he wanted for the team.

“I saw that the school didn’t have an ice hockey team and I knew that the school would have some ice hockey players. So I was already putting things in my head before I had even been hired,” Costello said.

“As soon as I got hired, it was my number one priority.”

Costello has provided the players with things such as “spirit packs” which carry their unique jerseys, and wants the best for

them.

“Obviously I hope the kids have a lot of fun and enjoyment out of the team. I also want them to start feeling some kind of pride in playing for the seahawks,” Costello said. “I think they already have a pride in joining the team, so that’s already been accomplished. I hope that they not only enjoy the program, but that they have the desire to make it stronger and stronger as they graduate, or keep playing the next year.”

Assistant coach, Nicholas Sklarenko, believes that the key to achieving the teams’

goals is to start “getting to know each other.”

“Some of our students have already played on the same teams before but we never really had a Redondo team before.

There’s going to be some needed familiarization at first, like getting to know each other’s playing styles, and putting that all together to make a cohesive team,” Sklarenko said.

“We just have to put forth 110% effort, every practice and every game.”

Although the team is new, Sklarenko feels that the team “had a great start” and is “going to go far.”

“We have some really solid players, we have the talent. We just have to realize that potential and play well,” Costello said. “We want to make a real impact on terms in our standings, have a good playoff run, and hopefully be the best team in the league in our first season.”

Costello and Sklarenko both wish the best for the ice hockey team in the year ahead.

“However we really do this season,we would really like the support of the Redondo students at games especially when we play Palos Verdes and Mira Costa. We want a lot of support so that we have a big home field advantage for us when we play those top schools,” Costello said. “There’s a lot to do and all we can do is our best.”

SCROC funding cut, leaving future educational concerns

by Chris Paludi

The Southern California Regional Occupational Center (SCROC) is losing funding. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), a new funding plan proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, gives California districts money in a giant block, allowing districts to spend the money however they want.

“The real issue boils down to the fact that the state is in charge of funding education.

There is only one SCROC, and it exists for our community alone, thus there is no statewide incentive for something like SCROC to be funded,” senior Eli Jarmel said. “Be-

cause of this, it’s hard to convince other areas of the state to get behind the cause.”

SCROC, for the past 40 years, has been viewed as its own small school district, and it has been funded accordingly, allowing it to stay open. However, under the LCFF, SCROC no longer qualifies as a school district, therefore it will lose its funding, closing it off to students.

“This causes the loss of amazing and free hands-on education that gets kids jobs right out of high school in the community, as many businesses in the Torrance area exclu-

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sively hire SoCal ROC graduates because of their great track-record. This makes the issue a big deal to the South Bay,” Jarmel said.

Four possible solutions are: to successfully argue that SCROC should be considered a school district again, to divide the assets of SCROC among the member districts and use any additional funding given due to those assets back to SCROC, to allow El Camino to take over the SCROC facilities and use them for students in college only, or to ultimately close it down.

“Right now we have in 129 kids in SCROC,” said Vice Principal Lindsey Corcoran. “If this happens and the money that comes from the state is put somewhere else, SCROC would be unavailable to students.”

Jarmel believes that this would be a “great” loss to many students.

“Anyone involved with SCROC is devastated, but the reality is the majority of Redondo students don’t really know what SCROC is,” Jarmel said. “To them, it’s kind of irrelevant. But you hear kids complain all the time about how boring school is because we just sit in desks taking notes and cramming for tests without learning any skills; SCROC is the solution to that issue.”

Jarmel believes the issue is not just with

the defunding of SCROC, but how it is indicative of a larger problem.

“If SCROC dies and other centers are discouraged, we are heading into an era of education being solely focused on scores, grades and sitting in desks for seven hours to learn concepts instead of skills,” Jarmel said.

With the very real threat of SCROC being defunded, Jarmel believes that support for the program must be shown in the communities that benefit from SCROC. “We have to convince the legislators in Sacramento that SCROC is something worth funding. Whether it comes in the form of an exception to the LCFF, a separate block of funding specific to our issue or another solution that comes from thinking outside of the box, something has to be done to save this program,” Jarmel said.

As legislators meet in Sacramento to discuss a wide variety of issues, there are a few local representatives already advocating for SCROC, according to Jarmel.

“Assembly member Al Muratsuchi has always been a supporter of SCROC and held a recent event at the program’s facility,” Jarmel said. “Maybe it will take a letter drive, a petition or a rally, but this community has to prove the point that we want this program to remain open.”

NEWS . 3

Generation of Discontent ELI JARMEL

“Why are so many students bored and angry? RUHS is one of the best schools in the South Bay and we have every reason to be grateful for it”

It’s been a long process, but our school is finally on the verge of being done with construction. Two new gyms, a new cafeteria, a new administration building, and a new science building. The list goes on. Students, teachers and administrators have dealt with years of transition.

Every program, team and campus group have had to make adjustments to make this sprawling project work. And it has. It really has.

Well, maybe it’s because I’ve gone soft or maybe it’s because I think people need some optimism every once in a while, but I’m taking a momentary leave from the mold I’ve established to write a positive column. An uplifting column. Because the reality is, we are ridiculously lucky to be at RUHS when we are.

As a student who came to Redondo Union at the height of the construction, I’ve seen the transformation first hand. From gray fences and lunch carts my freshman year, this school has blossomed into the most amazing high school campus I’ve ever seen.

I’ve been to Mira Costa, Peninsula, Palos Verdes and West, North and South Torrance ; none even remotely compare. No, this is not the part of this column where I start smashing public education for the quality of other high schools. All the other high schools I listed are openly considered to be excellent campuses with even better programs. These schools have a reputation for their quality. And yet, our school exceeds them all.

In my mind, the campus is just a microcosm for what is happening here at Redondo Union and in Redondo Beach education in general.

We are a school and a district on the rise.

As our administration has implemented their vision, we’ve seen the improvements.

We are improving everday. And as we move towards Common Core standards RUHS will only become more advanced.

A new S.T.E.M. program full of a variety of classes, a new Mock Trial team, a state championship in boys basketball, explosive success in Academic Decathlon competitions, continued excellence in countless sports, a larger selection of electives and extracurricular opportunities than ever offered before at RUHS and ultimately a progressive culture of improvement and success have all come in recent years.

It won’t be long before we are not just a premier South Bay high school but the most premier South Bay high school. Although there are many admirable schools that can give us a run for our money, RUHS is on quickly leaving them in the dust.

4 . OPINION

There will always be annoyances and problems that come up, regardless of how great a school is and I, of all people, recognize that. Even I have my complaints here and there.

I think most people do, but among the annoyances that are few and far between, I think we need to try to appreciate how lucky we have it. Our school will only be as good as we make it and while improvement is vital, we also need to have some perspective on what is great about RUHS. This column is about encouraging pride, appreciation and optimism when it’s so easy to focus on what could be better.

We all need a little bit of rainbow and butterflies sometimes. Nevertheless, next issue will definitely be a return to a mildly grumpy, inflamed call for change in some way.

Letter to the Editor In response to the article “Tat’ Facts” from the previous issue For a long time I have loved to read the school paper. The paper has been great all year but this week I was disapointed. When I turned to page 6 and saw the word “tattoo” I was happy to find the subject. I found a couple of inaccuries. The subject of tattoos is something I (literally) keep close to me.

I have two tattoos myself and I’m studying to become a professional tattoo artist so I was very happy you were doing an article on it. Then I started to read.

Page 6 (the page with Q&A) was for the most part accurate. The only problem there was when you asked Ms. Duran how a tattoo felt. She said that it felt like she was getting burned with a lighter but thats only half true.

The only time it would ever feel like that is if you went to an artist who didn’t know how to set up a machine. A burning sensation happens when the needle is too deep and is getting dragged in the skin instead of over it.

A tattoo needle should only go from a 16th to an 8th of an inch at its deepest point. Any deeper causes blowouts (irritation of the skin & uneven dispersion of ink).

The info on blowouts and irritation are my biggest problems with your article.

Page 7 listed “health risks” that are inaccurate in very many ways. There you said that tattoo dyes cause an allergic reaction.

Legitimate tattoos are done with a tattoo ink. A “tattoo dye” is an overly watered down pigment that is manufactured in china and some other countries sell on websites such as Ebay, and(sometimes) amazon as a cheaper and counterfeit tattoo ink.

This counterfeit ink is taken from pigments never meant to go into skin.

When the unsafe pigment gets put into the skin the body just filters most of it out.

Most unknowing artists would just keep going over the skin over and over, ripping up the skin to the point of small open wounds. That is what causes irritation, scarring, granulomas, and gives you the chance of infection.

Infections and bloodborne pathogens can only be transmitted when the tattoo is done with reused needles, tips, and doubledipped ink caps. Artists known as “scratchers” save money by reusing their equipment and often not even wearing gloves.

In the last 10 years with the advancement in production of plastic, most artists (including myself ) have started using pre sterilized disposable equipment that we open in front of each client.

Tattoos have become controversial and like anything controversial there’s bound to be common inaccuracies. Thank you for taking the time to read this and choosing such an interesting topic!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOSEPH BIESCHKE

- James Turner

Letters to the Editor If you have an opinion about one of the articles, emails can be sent to the editor at hightideonline@gmail.com.

We reserve the right to edit them for content, grammar, and space constraints. Letters must be signed and are not guaranteed to be printed.

HIGH TIDE

STAFF

Editors in Chief: Cedric Hyon; Allegra

Peelor Managing Editor: Alejandro Quevedo News Editor: Jason Rochlin Opinion Editor: Chance King Health Editor: Kayla Nicholls

Features Editors: Kira Bowen; Yas-

meen El-Hasan; Stella Gianoukakis; Shawn Mallen; Grace Zoerner Sports Editors: Ted Cavus; Micah Ezzes Photo Editors: Tyler Eisenhart; Justin Lee Copy Editors Deborah Chang; Lauren Diethelm; Angela Kim; Romy Moreno; Illustrators: Joseph Bieschke; Angela Kim; Luma Wegman Online Editors: Vivian Lam; Kayla Maanum Staff Writers: Lauryn Alejo; Joseph Blakely; Jennie Bao; Caitlyn Catubig; Jason Clebowicz; Caitlin Cochran; Shaw Coneybeare; Lauren Diethelm; Jason Fong; Vaidehi Gandhi; Nina Gomez; Kelly Harraka; Caterina Hyneman; Eli Jarmel; Roxanne Labat; Stephanie Lai; Sophie Maguy; Shaniya Markalanda; Marie Ona; Chris Paludi; Phoebe Reneau; Jené Price; Amanda Ross; Chandler Ross; Sophia Ruffo; Reema Saad; Amanda Shaw; Laura Smith; John Webb; Luma Wegman; Cody Williams The High Tide dedicates itself to producing a high-quality publication that both informs and entertains the entire student body.

This is a wholly student managed, designed, and written newspaper that focuses on school and community events.

The High Tide is published by the journalism class at Redondo Union High School, One Sea Hawk Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277.

Signed commentaries and editorial cartoons represent the opinions of the staff writer or cartoonist and in no way reflect the opinions of the other members of the High Tide staff.

EDITORIAL:

Social media has become a fixture of teen life, which has raised concerns about the effect it has on teens. Should teen social media use be regulated? Is social media harmful to teens’ health?

The internet is undoubtedly one of the greatest technological inventions in history, but what it is used for has been controversial since its inception. Recently, the biggest debate has been over social media and the thousands of teens worldwide that use it. Bullying on social media has led to humiliation, fear and even death in some cases. Although these seem like isolated and extreme incidents, social media exacerbates the problems that teens have with their insecurities and creates a caustic environment where acceptance is key, attention is desired above all and the power of education and self-discovery is diminished.

According to a recent study from the Pew American Internet Project, based on a large sample of both adults and teens, although teen use of Facebook has gone down in recent years, use of other websites such as Twitter and Instagram has increased dramatically (www.pewinternet.org). This shift away from Facebook has made social networking more rapid and has allowed teens to escape the supervision of adults, with whom the usage of Facebook has increased to 73% since 2010 (www.pewinternet.org).

No parental supervision means that teens can be free to post what they please, which in any case is a bad idea.

It cannot be determined whether a teen will use social media for malicious purposes, but as recent events have showed, social media has revealed teens’ propensity for violence, hatred and conflict. Because teen behavior is such a radical and unknowable variable, it is hard for parents and educators to find a solution to the problem. Social media, at it’s core, is completely open to everyone. But that comes at a price.

What is often forgotten by adults is that Facebook and the idea of social media as

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social media (pediatrics.aappublications. org).

It is clear that social media use, especially in teens, has an effect on development and emotion. Acceptance and acknowledgement of peers is a large part of teen development, and with the accessibility and speed of social media, teens are creating an accelerated and more sensitive version of what teen life is like in reality, online. This, as research is beginning to show, has unprecedented effects on the teen brain.

Social media has, however, proven valuable as a community and academic resource for students in recent years, allowing entire classes to seek help from their peers with the click of a button. And with schools shifting to more technology based teaching, it is clear that technology will play a large role in teens’ lives in the future. This does not mean, however, that social media will become more tame. Parents and educators need to be more strict about teens’ social media usage, and regulatory measures on a state or national level should not be out of the question.

By letting social media run its course as is, teens’ will build their lives on a foundation of digital sand. Being exposed to so much at such a young age can only be detrimental to teens’ mental health. If nothing is done, those tragic instances aforementioned will become the norm.

a popular commodity did not exist until 2004. Both parental and professional examination of the websites has been pretty relaxed. But all of the concerned parties are catching on quickly and starting to realize that these websites completely expose children to peers and advertisers and have potentially harmful effects on the developing brain.

According to doctor Gwenn O’Keeffe, in a study printed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, frequent teen usage of social media can lead to depression, insomnia, anxiety and other illnesses. The study also suggests that the use of social media facilitates behaviors such as clique forming and bullying (pediatrics.aappublications.org).

Although behavior like this is common in teens, it has never been seen on this scale and with such speed. Many researchers also believe social media affects teens in even deeper ways.

According to the UCLA medical center, studies have shown that use of social media significantly increases activity in Temporal Parietal Junction or TPJ, an operating center in the brain that is linked to the formation and sharing of ideas, making people more aware of how ideas and images will be received by others (newsroom.ucla.edu).

Although this may not biologically prove anything, it is not doubted that social media creates a hyper-awareness of how others perceive thought and action, especially in teens. This awareness creates something that researchers have named “selfie-syndrome”, a “disease” associated with an extreme desire to be accepted and acknowledged by peers on social media. This “syndrome” can also lead to what is now being called “Facebook depression”, caused by feelings of inadequacy and sadness as a result of experiences with

By the numbers

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ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH BIESCHKE

OPINION . 5

How’s the air up there? A head above the game Senior Sam Pickup has experienced difficulties with his height Senior Terrell Carter and junior Jeremiah Headley enjoy the advantages their heights bring while playing basketball

by Vadehi Gandhi

He awaits the impending question in the minds of those around him. As he is asked about his height, he responds automatically, exasperated. But this is nothing of a surprise to senior Sam Pickup; he stands at a height of 6’5”, and is still growing.

Pickup found himself struggle with growing pains when he “shot up” in seventh grade.

“I was pretty average before at 5’8”, but one year I just shot up to 6’2” and it was pretty painful,” Pickup said. “The growing pains are really bad, especially in the beginning.

It’s not pleasant.”

Pickup found himself exempt from physical activities for the pain, but got back to playing sports in his freshman year.

“Freshman year was the hardest—I played lacrosse and could definitely tell that there was a weird thing going on with my eye. I grew so fast, and I couldn’t get used to my coordination,” Pickup said.

Freshman year was also hard for him because he was getting used to a new school and because of his height, which roused the curiosity in those around him. “[Freshman year] was hard also because I was just coming to a new school and growing up, and I had to get used to my height. Everytime I met someone new they asked me how tall I was,” Pickup said.

Pickup finds that he stands out in many places and that it is “awkward.” Pickup would prefer a height of 6’0” rather than 6’5”.

“I visited a couple colleges over the summer. I couldn’t fit on the beds there and I was too big for the showers,” Pickup said.

Pickup believes that being his height is normal, but finds that people look at him differently.

“People always ask me if I play basketball or volleyball, but I don’t like those sports anymore,” Pickup said.

He hopes to stop growing soon, but is tired of being associated with certain sports for his height and being asked how tall he is.

“Hopefully I stop growing soon. If I was to offer any advice I’d say to stop asking me how tall I am,” Pickup said.

“I’m fed up with that question.”

How’s 6’ 5’ my 4’ height? 3’ Men Women 6

HEALTH

Height, athleticism, and determination are a powerful combination in basketball. Multiply that by two, and the result is 6’9” senior Terrell Carter and 6’5” junior Jeremiah Headley.

“My height has gotten me a lot of opportunities because I’m usually the biggest person on the floor when I play, so it’s a good thing,” Carter said.

Being taller than most other basketball players has given Headley an advantage from a young age.

“Being tall of course is this huge thing in basketball, and it has allowed me to dunk on a lot more people, in high school especially, since not that many people are 6’5”,” Headley said.

On the court, Carter’s height allows him to get places and complete actions without as much movement and energy expenditure.

“I’m taller than everybody, so I’m able to get the ball before other people do on a rebound,” Carter said.

While great height has its benefits, it also has its downfalls, both on and off the court.

“I’m not as mobile as everyone else because everyone is shorter,” Carter said.

Headley’s height even affects him in other situations out in the real world.

“I can’t get on rollercoasters. I feel like I’m gonna fly off since I can’t close the lap bar all the way,” Headley said.

Height can also be a major factor in the cause of sports-related knee injuries.

“If my knee was better I would probably be able to play better,” Carter said.

Carter, however, does not let any knee pain stand in the way of his basketball career.

“I just try to adjust it. I probably ice my knee or wear a knee brace or something like that,” Carter said.

Overall, Headley has confidence that his future will be injury-free.

“I’m not concerned about knee problems because I take good care of myself,” Headley said.

Average height in the US by race 5’10” 5’5”

5’7”

5’3”

5’11” 5’5”

5’8”

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5’4”

5’7” 5’0”

PHOTOS BY CEDRIC HYON

5’9” 5’2”

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2’ 1’ Black

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by Amanda Shaw

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compiled by Chris Paludi illustration by Joseph Bieschke

HEALTH

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SELFIE SYNDROME

Social media is making you narcissistic

The “Selfie Syndrome” can be defined as people who constantly post and update items on their social media to get attention and validation of themselves through comments and likes.

complied by Chandler Ross

Social Media: it’s everywhere and constantly being used by everyone across the world. Whether they’re posting updates on Facebook and Twitter, posting a picture on Instagram, or sending a quick selfie on Snapchat, social media has impacted society and culture in many ways, both good and bad.

However, the rise of social media has also brought up a new kind of syndrome, the “Selfie Syndrome.”

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Narcissists are people who obsesses with themselves and how they are perceived by their peers and others around them. They also want and need gratification and admiration of their intelligence and physical beauty.

e e t n

Signs of narcissism include: - Thinking one is above the rules

- Poor listening skills

- Being easily angered

- Inability to take criticism - Being preoccupied with oneself Those who spend a lot of time on Facebook and those who post a lot of tweets and updates on Twitter have shown to have very narcissistic personalities. The constant posting of items and the need for responses can be used as a way to boost one’s self-esteem by seeing the positive comments and feedback, to validate who that person is and how their friend perceives them to be.

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FEATURES

- Not taking on responsibility ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOSEPH BIESCHKE

#sarahannproblems Junior Sarah Ann Kano reflects on creating her own hashtag and her “selfie syndrome.”

by Stephanie Lai

Q: How do you feel about people’s reactions?

A:“They’re entitled to their own opinions”

Q: How do you feel about people doing the same thing you are?

A: “At first I was like ‘this is my thing,’ but

now it’s mellowed out.”

Q: What made you start your Q: How do you feel about having your own hashtag? own hashtag?

A: “My older brother had one, so I was A: “Pretty good. It’s mine. I can call it

like ‘I’m gonna do this,’ and that’s how #sar- mine. I see other people starting to do it, but it’s whatever.” ahannproblems started.”

Q: How do you feel about it Q: How do you think people now compared to when it react to your posts? first started?

A: “People have told me ‘Sarah Ann you A: “When I first started, I had a thing

take too many selfies’, but I really don’t care. where it was three selfies a day keeps the doctor away, but now me posting them has You can just think that” lessened. I haven’t been posting three a day Q: What do you think the anymore, I’ve been posting one, and sometimes I don’t post any that day.”

definition of a selfie is?

A:“To me, the definition of a selfie is you’re Q: When you first started, why did you decide to do taking a picture of yourself, whether it bethree selfies a day and why ing with another person in the picture that can still be a selfie, too, because you’re in did you stop doing that? the picture. Some people say a selfie is only A: “Well, really I just posted a selfie whenincluding yourself, but to me it can be with other people as long as you’re taking it yourself.”

Sarah Ann’s Selfies. Sarah Ann Kano has taken nearly 200 selfies with her friends.

Q: Why do you like to take selfies?

A: “It’s just something to do when you’re bored.”

ever I wanted, and my friends pointed out that I was doing three a day so making a joke I said ‘three selfies a day keeps the doctor away.’ I stopped that because I was just taking the same picture with no real good caption, so there was no point in taking three a day when nothing really interesting happened.”

Advanced photo selfie project

Selfie project. In the Advanced photo class, taught by Mitch Ziegler, students were assigned a project where they must take three different and unique selfies. According to Ziegler, the purpose of this project was to learn about their lives. “The selfie project is a modernization of the classic self-portrait with the ultimate aim of telling students about their lives,” Ziegler said. This selfie series was compiled by senior Zoe Disloquez. “I think that all three of these photos expose a different part of me in a different way. I tried to expose the different aspects of my own personal life in a portrait. My inspiration was only my own personality and hobbies,” Disloquez said.

FEATURES

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9

Marked since birth PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

Unique technique. Lewis demostrates how to find the number of moles in a certain volume of gas.

Learning experience As a 26-year-old chemistry teacher, Kelly Lewis often feels inferior when comparing his teaching style to that of older teachers

by Roxanne Labat

It’s his first time teaching chemistry and his first year at Redondo. Since he is young, chemistry teacher Kelly Lewis often feels insecure when comparing himself to more experienced teachers.

“Sometimes I get a little nervous because I think that other teachers are teaching the material better than I do,” Lewis said. “I want to be able to teach students the best that I can.”

Lewis believes that his teaching style stands out from other teaching styles.

“The more veteran teachers have different teaching styles, and a lot of the time, classes are lecture-based with a lot of note-taking,” Lewis said. “Being younger, I try to get more student interaction going.”

Although he is proud of his teaching techniques, Lewis feels that other teachers might not approve them.

“Some teachers might get nervous when they hear students talk a lot. It’s weird because my classroom is usually pretty loud, and I feel that other teachers judge me based off of how loud my class is,” Lewis said.

Lewis looks to his fellow colleagues as a way to learn.

“I compare myself to other teachers. I try my best and I try to get better. Everything is a learning experience,” Lewis said.

His insecurity has opened his eyes to the pros and cons of his teaching style.

“I probably have a more laid-back personality than I should have,” Lewis said. “I think classroom management is my main struggle.”

Lewis finds his age to be an important factor in the way he communicates with his students.

“I’m 26. I’m not that much older than students.

Sometimes students see me as a young teacher and try to befriend me. I try to be friendly without actually being the student’s friend,” Lewis said. “Maintaining the line between student and teacher can be difficult.”

Lewis hopes to put his insecurities aside to be the best teacher he can be.

“I want students to look up to me, learn from me and still respect me all at the same time. I want teachers to respect me as a fellow teacher and a peer,” Lewis said.

He also understands first-hand that one’s teen years can be difficult due to insecurities.

“We’ve all been there; adults have all been there. You might think we don’t understand, but we do,” Lewis said. “We’ve all made mistakes and had insecurities.

Just know that there are always people out there to help you and provide support.”

10 . FEATURES

IN SE CURE School is tough and the last thing we need is to be insecure. There are things all over the place that make us self-concious: magazines, TV, diseases. These students and teacher have learned how to keep their insecurities from controlling their lives.

Freshman Noelani Montas removed a mole on her back after being self-conscious about it for 14 years

by Lauryn Alejo

Freshman Noelani Montas had an enemy that was always on her back, literally.

For 14 years, Montas had a two-inch mole on the top of her back that she was “always conscious” of. According to Montas, the mole was one of her insecurities and it was “holding her back.”

“I was so insecure about it because there was nobody else I knew that had [a big mole] and I figured if it’s so easy to cover up, then I should just keep it hidden,” Montas said.

Montas’ mole caused her to worry about other activities that could potentially expose her mole.

“I didn’t like going to the beach with people because I didn’t want people to see it. I was also scared to do cheer because I was scared the uniform wouldn’t cover [the mole],” Montas said.

Not only was she anxious about people seeing it, but she was also worried that people would talk about her.

“I figured if people saw it, people would point at me and laugh. I was never called names though. I called myself names,” Montas said.

Her friend freshman Tori Santiago never understood why Montas was embarrassed about her mole.

“I have eczema and people made fun of me about it, so I would tell Noelani it’s okay because I don’t care about [my eczema] anymore, and no one made fun of her about [her mole] ever,” Santiago said.

The mole also caused Montas to be paranoid about the clothes she wore.

“When I would shop for clothes with my mom she would show me shirts and tell me they looked nice on me, but I would always say, ‘Well you can see [my mole] so I’m not going to get it’,” Montas said.

In fact, Montas wanted to get the mole removed since the age of nine.

“I figured [doctors] would never take it off because it was a petty thing, a little insecurity,” Montas said.

Montas’ mentality had caused her to be paranoid of people seeing her mole.

“When I was really little my mom would say, ‘You should worry about what people think of you. If a stranger sees you, you better acknowledge what they think of you.’ She would only say this to convince me to brush my hair or brush my teeth, but because I was younger, I took it literally,” she said.

Finally, after five years of wishing, Montas got her mole removed in Nov. of 2013.

“When I got the mole off, I was so relieved,” Montas said.

Now that the mole is gone, she has a scar on her back.

“I’m still a little insecure right now because my scar is really big and red, but I know as time goes on it’s going to fade in color, so I don’t care that much,” she said.

Having the mole on her back has caused Montas to realize a lot about people.

“Everyone has their own little thing that they are insecure about. We should be accepting of people, we should all be friends,” Montas said.

PHOTO BY TYLER EISENHART

PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

Implaque-able. Junior Ashley Cho suffers from plaque psoriasis, a disease that causes patches of skin to turn red and scaly. She is insecure about it and often opts out of activities that reveal her skin.

Cho has plaque psoriasis Junior Ashley Cho’s incurable skin disease has prevented her from doing everyday activities such as going to the beach, but she tries to not let it control her life

by Marie Ona

Red patches and covered with silvery-white bulges of dead skin cells. Junior Ashley Cho is self-conscious about her plaque psoriasis. She gets uncomfortable around classmates and strangers.

“It’s different. People don’t really have it,” Cho said. “It looks weird and people stare at it.”

Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis: a long lasting skin disease of the immune system. It affects the skin, causing red, scaly patches that appear on the body. There is no cure and it never goes away.

“Most people don’t really know what it is, so I say it’s like eczema but a lot worse,” she said.

Stress and a change in the weather cause her psoriasis to become worse.

“I get stressed from school and family,” Cho said. “It’s really bad during finals week and in the

summertime.”

Cho tries to hide her insecurity with a lot of clothes, but at times it can be difficult.

“I have it on my legs, so I can’t wear shorts. I can’t wear bathing suits because I have it on my stomach,” Cho said.

Knowing it is a permanent thing, Cho tries to overcome it.

“Sometimes I just think that people have worse cases of it, so I try to think that at least mine isn’t that bad,” she said.

She overcame her insecurity with friends.

“All my close friends know, but it took me a while to open up and be comfortable with them,” Cho said. “I feel like once someone knows what it is, they won’t care. They’ll just accept it.”

Her friend junior Chelsea Chin tries to help

Trust issues inhibit Weller’s social life

by Reema Saad

After years of people using her, senior Britney Weller has had enough, causing her to develop trust issues.

“This year, one of my friends only started hanging out with me because I had a car. It was just kind of a one-sided relationship and all throughout my life I’ve had that,” Weller said.

According to Weller this has affected her behavior towards classmates.

“I’ve never actually made and kept a friend longer than an assignment. I usually don’t even talk in class anymore. I don’t trust anybody,” Weller said.

She believes it all began with her great aunt and uncle pushing her to do things she did not want.

“It really started occuring when I looked inside my own family. My great aunt and uncle used to try and help me. In response, they would say that

I have to sign up for these clubs. They just wanted to boss me around,” Weller said.

According to Weller, another possible root to the problem are the kinds of people she befriends.

“I pick the wrong people to be friends with.

Usually people that the entire school hates, or random lonely kids, and people that don’t know how to be happy. I like to help people,” Weller said.

As a result, Weller looked down upon herself.

“I thought that I didn’t deserve to have friends.

I hated myself and I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I may be too willing to help, but it’s not okay for people to use me,” Weller said.

No matter what she does, Weller cannot find a solution to this problem.

“Lord knows I’ve tried making friends but whether or not I set myself up for it, it still happens,” she said.

FEATURES . 11

Meet GENERATION Y information complied by Yasmeen El-Hasan information from http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2010/10/18/why-does-gen-y-buy/?view=socialstudies, http://sorelevant.org/2012/06/23/generation-y-marketing-trends-and-profile-infographic/, http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/01/21/number-crunching-the-top-51-stats-for-generation-y-marketers/#!vDvEH

Generation Y is the generation born in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. It is composed primarily by the children of the baby boomers and are typically perceived as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology.

GEN. Y Gen-Y account for 21% of all online purchases.

21% of their products have a “throwback style�.

75% of teenagers send over 20 text messages per day.

Technology usage

Gen-Y:

Checks digital device every 10 minutes

38%

Spends > one hour on Facebook per day 76% Owns a laptop

89%

Uploads photos online

75%

Owns iPods

79%

Uses Pandora

40%

80% of teenagers have a gaming console such as a Wii, Xbox or Playstation.

Personality traits:

Gen-Y:

Most likely to return text over call

66%

Looks up online profile after meeting 40% Entrepreneurs

29%

Influenced most by friends

62%

Uses social media at work

9/10

own a personal electronic device

of 4 theouttop 5

of their daily activities involves the use of technology

illustration by Joseph Bieschke

12 . FEATURES

59%

Teachers on GEN-Y

complied by Jennie Bao and Lauren Diethelm

“

The competitiveness and pressure that students face getting into college is also crazy, and not even just getting into college but also to get into a good college. A lot of people in my generation were the first people in their families to go to college, but now it’s not even really an option.

“

“

– MICHAEL HENGES

I think this generation falls into apathy a little easier. My parents’ generation had hopes of a major revolution in the 60s with the flower-children and questioning the government more. They had their cause, and these days I think there are a lot of little causes and no one big cause to rally behind. It’s not necessarily a bad thing or a criticism, just a difference. This generation is not as hungry or ambitious as previous generations were because now we have everything we need. We have running water, we’ve got a fridge full of food and our iPhone, and we’re set.

“

“

– JOSHUA FRIEDRICH

I think the whole technology social media thing definitely has its benefits, but I don’t really get it. Personally I’m not fulfilled by texting away all day or being so involved in social media. I think people today are almost too content to communicate through those mediums rather than face to face ,and I think something valuable is being lost there. I guess that’s the new reality. I think there are some benefits, but I think we need to find a greater balance.

“

–NICHOLAS SKLARENKO

Older “

Students show excellent tolerance of others, but of course there is a point of which forbearance ceases to be a virtue as well. They are certainly exposed to a broader education than previous generations have. However they have a lack of connectedness to other human beings, a reliance on technology and a desire to get the answers easily.

–TIM AMMENTORP

“

I think that there is a lot of entitlement going on. I don’t think that some of the kids have strict boundaries set and they think that they can just do whatever they want. There are also some kids who have lack of respect for adults. I don’t think that some parents spend enough time with their kids, which results in lack of respect. There’s also a lot of knowledge about technology. I think people have a busier schedule and are able to multitask and do things.

“

–CONNIE SMITH

Everything boils down to technology. The young people absorb new technologies, they’re engaged by them, they look forward to them, they can’t wait for the next newest, latest, biggest, best thing. They rely so heavily on technology and are so engrossed by it that they tune out what’s going on in the real world. They have, in many cases, lost the ability to do things without technology to assist them. We’re seeing a collapse of civility and social discourse due to the technology. People have the idea that they can get answers instantly and that they don’t have to think and process and synthesize.

“

vs.

“

Newer

“

photos by Cedric Hyon

–MARY SIMUN FEATURES

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13

Relaxing the Mind

Kayla Santiago-Snyder used meditation to overcome social anxiety

by Shaniya Markalanda

Soft folk music fills the confined and “safe” space, putting her at ease. Kayla Santiago-Snyder comfortably meditates in her closet, calming herself and connecting to the rest of the universe.

According to Santiago-Snyder, meditation is a way to find ONE’S true self.

“It’s kind of one of those things where you should just relax and clear your mind, but I don’t really believe in that,” SantiagoSnyder said. “I don’t think it should be about clearing your mind, although I do encourage meditation. I think it’s more about connecting and finding yourself.”

During meditation, Santiago-Snyder likes to compare everyone’s mind to a star.

“The way I see things, it’s like everybody’s mind is like a star and it burns really bright. So when you meditate, you fume the air around you. You feel the weight of it and you feel the surface of your own skin,” Santiago-Snyder said. “It’s like you acknowledge all these things and you begin to erase those boundaries. You connect yourself with the rest of the universe.”

Santiago-Snyder reaches a state of peace by picturing an orb of light or herself on a chalkboard.

“I say this thing and everyone laughs at me--you breathe in the sunlight and you breathe out the ash. I just like to picture this orb of light and I inhale it then I exhale the ash through my body, and once it’s filled me, once I can picture it, I reach this state of being very tranquil,” Santiago-Snyder said.

“Another way I like to do it is I like to picture myself on a chalkboard and somebody just erasing that and then it’s like I’m just one.”

When Santiago-Snyder was diagnosed with social anxiety as a sophomore, meditation was introduced to her as a way to deal with things.

“Meditation has helped me cope with my anxiety a lot. It’s different for everyone, but for me, when I first experienced that sense of tranquility, I never felt more like

14 . FEATURES

myself,” Santiago-Snyder said. “When I do meditate I just feel like me. It reminds me of who I am and it reminds me that yes, I do have social anxiety and there are things that are wrong with me, but these flaws, everyone has them. We’re not beautiful in spite of them; we’re not beautiful because of them. We’re beautiful and they’re just there.”

According to Santiago-Snyder, meditation has helped her accept herself and understand that she is not alone.

“Meditation helped me cope with my social anxiety because it reassured me that I’m not wrong.

Usually when you get a mental illness, or in my case, you kind of feel alienated and isolated.

You feel like ‘oh my god, I’m the only one.’

But you’re not, and you’re not wrong;

you’re fine,” SantiagoSnyder said. “I understand that I’m not as alone as I felt because we’re all connected. We all have flaws and people aren’t going to knock you down for something you can’t help.”

Santiago-Snyder feels meditation has

helped her realize the “inherent good” in people.

“I always thought that people would think that I was a creep, but they’re just like, ‘oh, that’s all right.’ They’re very considerate about it. I never would have tried to meet people and go and take leaps if I hadn’t accepted the fact that we’re all one.

Because of meditation I’m more open to people and opportunities,” Santiago-Snyder said.

In addition to making her more open, Santiago-Snyder feels meditation has helped her control her temper.

“I don’t really get angry anymore, I just get irritated now. I used to get angry a lot and I think it’s because I was just unhappy. Now I never get angry, it’s just mild irritation with the world around me. Meditation has m a d e me a happier person,” Sa n t i a go-Snyder said.

R o chelle Santiago, SantiagoSnyder’s PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE mother, agrees that meditation helps Santiago-Snyder to deal with her anxiety.

“I’m not really involved in Kayla’s meditation, because we as a family believe that that is something more personal to her. But I

do believe her when she says that it helps her remember who she is and that it helps her cope with her anxiety,” Rochelle said.

Santiago-Snyder meditates according to how stressed she is.

“I usually meditate every morning. I wake up at four and sometimes I wake up more stressed than others,” Santiago-Snyder said. “When I’m really stressed out, I meditate for like an hour. It’s like I connect to everything around me or at least I try to, and it’s this feeling of utter completion, I just feel whole again.”

When Santiago-Snyder feels “whole again,” she then thinks about herself as a person.

“When you achieve that connection, you then can reflect in on yourself and you’re like ‘okay, why am I feeling so anxious today?’

And then you can help yourself,” SantiagoSnyder said. “That’s what I think meditation is supposed to do. It’s supposed to not only connect you to with everyone around you, but also anchor you to who you are, so you can begin trying to evolve as a person.”

Although Santiago-Snyder feels meditation can help evolve as a person, she believes it is not for everyone.

“I think it’s for specific people because a lot of people take meditation as a joke and I understand why they do. I would like to recommend it--ideally I think everyone should meditate--but I know that they won’t and I don’t think everyone should. If you’re open to meditation, go for it,” Santiago-Snyder said.

Since starting meditation, Santiago-Snyder has felt more at peace.

“Meditation is a very introspective thing, so I feel like it gives me a sense of calm,” Santiago-Snyder said. “I’m more at peace.

There’s so much more peace in my world and it allows my to take a step back. I know just breathe in and breathe out. It’s like how I like to say, ‘Breathe in the sunshine, breathe out the ash, and just continue your life.’”

ILLUSTRATION BY ANGELA KIM

Robb dances through migraines

by Reema Saad

Sophomore Serenity Robb can’t play her music loud, pay attention in class, or even wake up in the morning sometimes all because of her migraines that started in the eighth grade.

As the severity of the migraines progressed, she found herself struggling more.

“It was the type of thing where I’d have a constant headache that I would get accustomed to and sometimes it would fluctuate into this ridiculous, searing pain that felt like a train was hitting my face,” Robb said.

Sometimes, Robb’s migraines reach the point where she can’t take it anymore, but she goes on with activities, such as dance guard.

“Once I told my coach it was too much and she just told me to drink water. I just don’t want to be that person that’s sitting out. People don’t take it seriously or view it as a real thing,” Robb said.

Her passion and commitment to dance guard are also factors as to why she keeps dancing through the migraines.

“I feel like I have an obligation to my team to continue dancing for them and I really enjoy it a lot. It helps me express so much that I can’t otherwise put into words,” Robb said.

Her ability to work through these circumstances have helped along the way.

“In the beginning of the season I missed a lot, but I guess I just learned to cope with it. I just kind of push it aside, I ignore it,” Robb said.

Being a part of dance guard has been a challenge for Robb, especially with the expectations put in place.

“When we were doing field season for dance guard there would be practices where I’d have an insane migraine and I would have to be throwing flags and swords in the air while marching within huge brass instruments and it was awful,” Robb said.

Even though she has to go through external factors that affect her, Robb appreciates the hard work in the end. “”Dance makes me feel really light, happy, and of course, sore. But the pain I feel after is such a good one,” Robb said.

Eventually, regular tasks became difficult for her to carry out and caused more stress.

“I have to drag myself out of bed and get out that door and dance. Honestly, I’ve been in practices before where the music is so loud and repetitive and it goes over and over and over because you’re repping the routines and I just felt like I was going to pass out when I was dancing,” Robb said.

Doctor Natalie Diaz added that many people feel they can’t do anything when they have these kinds of headaches.

“When the headache actually comes on, some people describe these headaches as so disabling that they can’t do anything but lie in bed with the lights off and not move,” Diaz said.

Even simple things like being outside in the sun have effects on Robb. Diaz said that glare and sunlight can be a factor in what triggers these migraine headaches.

“When it’s really bright outside, I can’t leave the house without sunglasses, generally. People think I’m stupid for wearing sunglasses around, but it still helps with migraines,” Robb said.

Robb doesn’t let these people bother her though and said she will do anything for the sake of her health.

“I’m doing what’s best for me and my health and that’s all that matters,” Robb said.

Currently, Robb only takes Advil for medication, which is thought by Diaz to only bring the migraines back more often and even worse.

“A lot of people take over the counter medications like Advil or Tylenol and they take it pretty regularly for something else and that can also lead to headaches, that’s what we call medication overuse headaches. The body gets used to the medication and causes headaches,” Diaz said.

Because of these problems, Robb only comes to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for dance guard and Advanced Theater.

“I was doing really badly in the beginning of the year before I transferred into independent study. It was so debilitating.

Sometimes my brain is so ridiculous that my vision gets blurry and I just cannot do anything. I put everything down and go to sleep,” Robb said.

With independent study as an option, Robb has been able to get more work done.

“I started doing independent study in November. It helped a lot because I don’t have to worry about trying to make it to school everyday. I was missing more class than I was going to because of these migraines,” Robb said.

Jumping to his own style

PHOTO BY CHRIS PALUDI

Connor Mowatt uses jumpstyle dancing to express himself

by Mandy Ramos

He creates his own separate style adding tricks and combos to add flavor to his jumps. Junior Connor Mowatt expresses himself by jumping to metal music, a type of dance called jumpstyle.

“Jumpstyle is a dance to mainly electronic dance music and other metal music,” Mowatt said. “It’s called jumpstyle mainly because it’s your own separate dance, and you jump to separate moves and combos.” he said.

Combos are moves in jumpstyle that makes it “fluid and powerful.”

Mowatt enjoys expressing himself in any form of jumpstyle he wants to.

“Each separate jumpstyler has their own separate style that no one else can copy. It’s their own form of expression,” he said.

According to Mowatt, mastering jumpstyle requires endurance and the ability to create a unique style.

“It’s actually easy to learn but it’s harder

to master, mainly because of endurance. It gets really tiring and you have a solo for about twenty seconds,” he said “As you progress further, you have to make your own style, tricks, and combos completely from yourself.”

According to Mowatt, styles are completely individual for each person.

“Styles completely depend on how you jumpstyle, because there could be a style where someone who would look a lot more fluid or someone that has more power, some have aggression, and someone can also jumpstyle while they’re moving from one side of the stage to the next and then back and forth maybe and there is a style where you can just jump in one spot.” he said, “ It’s completely different; everyone has their own style, which makes it very unique.”

Jumpstyle has affected his life by allowing him to express himself.

“Before, I didn’t really know how to ex-

press myself, aside from art,” he said. “In jumpstyle, I get to express more because I can just let out all of that energy,” he said.

The energy in jumpstyle comes from kicking and spinning everywhere.

“For the most part, it’s pretty much just kicking everywhere. Kicking, spinning, doing all of these crazy tricks,” Mowat said.

School and family get in the way for Mowatt to jumpstyle as much as he would like. “ I practice about two or three times a week, usually whenever I get the chance,” he said. “The thing that gets in the way between me and jumpstyle is school and parents, mainly because it takes a lot of time out of my day and my parents would ground me and tell me not to do it anymore, so sometimes I just sneak out and practice,” he said.

“Its really no big deal for me, because my mom is a lot more strict. She says to do my homework before I do jump-style and then

PHOTO BY CEDRIC HYON

His Style. Mowatt creates dance moves that are personal to him while jumpstyling.

FEATURES

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15

High hopes for CIF Boys basketball hopes to find continued success in the CIF tournament after winning it all last year.

by Caitlin Cochran

The boys basketball team wrapped up did suffer from some mental lapses, but all Bay League play last Thursday, beating in all we competed at a high level.”

Leuzinger. They will head into playoffs toAlthough happy with winning Bay morrow against Compton at home, a game League, Carter is not as impressed, as he bethe hope will set the tone for the playoffs. lieves the team still has work to do.

The boys played a “pretty tough” game “We completed our goal of winning Bay on Thursday night, according to coach Reg- League, but we still need to work on some gie Morris. things,” Carter said.

“The Leuzinger game provided us with a The team will head into the postseason major challenge,” Morris said. “They came on Friday to play Compton which Morris out well prepared and fought all the way to believes will be a challenge. the end. We “Compton played well is one of the

I expect and will accept nothing most talented defensively but struggled less than a championship. teams in Calito put the ball fornia,” Morin the basris said. “There ket, which is is not another a problem we have to address moving for- team around that possesses the same blend ward.” of size, experience and athleticism. We have The leading scorer was senior Terell Cart- to execute at a high level and put our funer with 15 points, but sophomore Cameron damentals to use and win the battle of the Williams was right behind him with 14. little things.”

“Cameron is our unsung hero,” Morris Carter’s goals for the postseason are very said. “He does all the dirty work, and de- simple, he wants to win. spite his slim build, he plays huge in the “I expect and will accept nothing less paint. He does all the small things we need than a championship,” Carter said. “I am to do in order to win.” confident, focused and ready.”

According to Morris the team excelled in The strategy in playoffs, Morris believes, bay league, and their record shows it as they is to just stick with what they know and play did not lose one bay league game, becoming their best.

Bay League champions.

“As the playoffs approach, our goal is “I thought as a whole we performed well to keep attempting to play our best game, in Bay League. League play is always diffi- where we execute and compete the entire 32 cult because of the familiarity of both the minutes on both ends of the floor,” Morris players and the coaches,” Morris said. “We said.

“

“

–TERELL CARTER, center

PHOTO BY MATTHEW YONEMURA

Hoop dreams. The boys basketball team hopes to leave the CIF tournament with another championship.

Girls soccer misses CIF, finishes season

by Romy Moreno

PHOTO BY MATTHEW YONEMURA

Man on. Sophomore Katie Stein approaches a defender in a match earlier this season.

16 . SPORTS

Looking back on their season the girls reflect on their good times and bad.

“We had our ups and downs in the season based on the outcomes of the games,” sophomore Brittany Bravo said.

“But no matter what the score was we all as a team worked hard, persevered and encouraged each other.”

Junior Taylor Herm had similar thoughts.

“We were expecting to do a lot better, but we just could not score,” Herm said.

According to the girls, part of the reason they did not do so well this season was due to starter Shannon Simon obtaining an injury early in the season.

“We lost Shannon at the very beginning of the season,” Herm said. “So we lost a big impact player who scored a lot of our goals, and the freshmen that took her spot were really good but just lacked a bit of experience.”

Sophomore Katie Stein agrees.

“We did not have the best of luck this season especially with all the injuries holding us back,” Stein said.

Even with the amount of injuries endured throughout the season, the girls all agree that their game against Peninsula High School was the highlight of their season.

“We knew it was a huge game and that we needed to win,” Herm said.

“They were best in the league and really great competitors, and we played as a team and did not let down until the final whistle.”

The younger players expressed their appreciation towards the seniors throughout the season.

“Our seniors made the season even better by being role models for all of us and making our season enjoyable and memorable,” Bravo said.

Bravo was not the only one who showed gratitude towards the seniors.

“The seniors were able to give us all their experience and knowledge which was extremely helpful,” Stein said.

Even though they did not do as well as they hoped, the team believes that it was a great season filled with many different “great” things.

“The season was good and beneficial , bringing us closer as a team and creating great bonds,” Bravo said.

The rest of the team had the same ideas.

“The team chemistry was amazing on and off the field,” Herm said. “We really bonded as a whole; there was not one person who had an issue with another, and there was no drama either.”

All the girls concur that this season was incredibly meaningful.

“I will never forget all the memories we made together as a team and all the fun times that we had together,” Bravo said.

Surf team reflects on season’s success

by Amanda Shaw

PHOTO BY MATT MARDESICH

Strike a pose. The cheerleading team performs earlier this year. The team is working hard to perfect their routine in preparation for Las Vegas.

Cheer team prepares for next competition

by Jené Price

With their biggest competition of the season coming up this Friday in Las Vegas, the cheer team is both nervous and excited to compete.

“I obviously want to win to get the national championship jackets,” senior Jordan Dobler said. “We are in a huge division so it is pretty stressful but as long as we give it all we got we can win it.”

According to Dobler the team puts in a lot of effort in practice to get as far as they can get in the competition. The routine they have been working on is harder than last years according to the team.

“Our routine is definitely better and more difficult than last year. We have po-

tential to win with this routine, but it will just be hard to nail everything,” Dobler said.

At practice the team has different methods of watching themselves perform the routine in order to perfect it.

“To improve our performance for competition we watch a recording of our perform from last competition and our coaches tell us what we did excellently and what we need to work on,” senior Shadae Downey said.

Recently the team had a competition at Knott’s Berry Farm and according to Downey the team could have performed better but let their nerves take over, so they did not perform as well as they could have.

“We did not perform our best because we let nerves get to us but for this last competition we are hoping to fix our mistakes and perform with more energy,” Downey said.

The team had to make some last minute changes due to recent injuries on the team.

“We had to make a bunch of changes last week because of two injuries to major members of the team so we have been working very hard to get ready,” Dobler said.

Despite the injuries, the team is confident and ready to perform according to Downey.

“We are ready as we can possibly be and are confident that we will perform our best,” Downey said.

With an abundance of individual success in the Kickoff Classic, and several girls reaching the finals, the surf team was able to maintain a strong season.

“Overall, we were the third best team in the league. We have a lot of good balance and a lot of good surfers in the program right now,” Coach Duncan Avery said.

Despite the many victories this season, the team still has room for improvement.

“We weren’t working together to get a better score very well and we should have communicated better,” freshman Emma Waldinger said.

The team needs to work on their “depth issues” in order to be first in the league next season, says Avery.

“Our first eight shortboarders are phenomenal. Our surfers nine to twelve are really good but compared to the other teams we just lack a little depth that some of the others schools have,” Avery said.

The surf team is excited to grow together in preparation for next year, says Waldinger.

“We are definitely improving, so the team’s looking forward to growing as a whole. There are a lot of good freshmen coming in next year and we’re looking forward to that as well,” she said.

In general, the surf team is learning from the results of this season, as well as setting goals for next year.

“We are going to have a lot of returners on the team, so next year should be a pretty exciting year for us,” Avery said.

Dance Guard seeks to build upon strong first competition

by Shaniya Markalanda

After their first competition, dance guard hopes to improve their routines for their next competition.

Senior Jullianna Kadel believes the team did “well” in their first competition.

“We did well for being able to learn all the routines and just get the material out on the floor and compete,” Kadel said. “We didn’t have as much time to clean as the other teams, but what we’re doing now is we’re taking the time to clean. So for now, for where we were at, we did the best that we could have.”

Although she feels the team did their personal best, Kadel believes there is still room for improvement.

“We could have better prepared knowing the counts. I think it was just a lot of having to practice,” Kadel said. “We did the best we could have to just rep them as much as we could. Had we focused a little more, we would’ve done better.”

Sophomore Elena Bodkin believes the team needs to work on the way they perform.

“As a team, we mostly need to work on the performance aspect of our dances. This

PHOTO BY MATT MARDESICH

Work it. Members of dance guard work on their moves, anticipating their next competition.

includes convincingly portraying our emotions through our movement and our facial expressions, and then projecting that emotion straight towards the judges,” Bodkin said.

Kadel believes the main problems were individual problems, such as a single person being “off”, caused by a lack of confidence that could be fixed with individual practice.

“I think since it was our first competition of the season, we weren’t as confident.

We just had a short amount of time to learn a lot of material. Now, we have to go over each section so we can become more confident,” Kadel said.

Another member of the team, junior Sarah Lange, agrees that the team has to improve before their next competition.

“As a team we did our personal best. We executed all of our routines to the best of our abilities. We just need to review the routine more and work on our turns as a group,” Sarah said.

By their next competition, Sarah believes the team can do better.

“I think we can definitely fix our hip hop routine once everyone knows all the movements, counts, and how to hit sharply. I also think we can get the turns together. We have the potential to be really good,” Sarah said Elena hopes the team will do increasingly better in each future competition.

“With each competition, our goal is to continuously raise our scores for each of the routines we compete with,” Bodkin said.

“Even if the score is raised by just one point, it means we have improved, made progress, and have grown stronger as a team.”

“We scored pretty high for the competition that we were in. It was a smaller competition, so it was a personal high for us,” Kadel said. “We’re hoping to continuously move upwards with our scoring and have cleaner and sharper routines so you can tell we aren’t dancing as individuals; we’re dancing as a whole.”

SPORTS . 17

Working their way to the top Girls Basketball makes it to the CIF bracket through “hard work” and many victories throughout the season

by Sophie Maguy

The girls basketball team enters CIF playoffs this Saturday as the 4th seed in Div. 2AA. Their first round opponent is Kaiser.

RUHS will host the game this Saturday at 7 p.m.

“I feel that we’ve improved tremendously considering how we started in the beginning of the season. Overall, we have become a stronger unit,” senior Tati Maimot said.

The team believes that they have only become stronger throughout the season, including the losses they endured.

“Right now, I feel as if we are starting to come together. The losses we had against Mira Costa and West Torrance in league are only minor setbacks we have for a greater success that’s to come,” Senior Kourtney Noa said.

Throughout the course of the season, the team has learned from each game new ways to improve that they hope will aid them in upcoming CIF games.

“I think that the progress throughout the season has affected us a lot up to this

“

“We have to stick together as a team, and keep a high level of focus and intensity through out the game.”

– KOURTNEY

NOA, 12

“

point. We’ve learned many things that we are capable of working on and fixing that can help make us more than ready for the game Saturday,” Noa said.

The team has much excitement and anticipation leading up to their CIF games.

“I’m really excited for CIF because we are ranked number four and that means that we will have a lot of home games. Home games are always really good because we get a lot of good energy from the crowd,” senior Natalie Sisto said.

Noa believes that the preparation they have put into their games in CIF will pay off against Kaiser.

“We’re looking to do very well Saturday.

We’re focusing on each practice up until then to make sure we are very prepared for anything and everything,” she said.

She believes that the team has great potential in playoffs and that they could do extremely well.

“We have to stick together as a team, keep a high level of focus and intensity throughout the duration of the game, practice, and just continue to work on both our offensive and defensive game,” Noa said.

Throughout the season, she believes that the team has greatly improved their communication.

“As a team I feel as if we have gotten

18 . SPORTS

2.

Wrestling wrap-up

by Romy Moreno

1.

PHOTOS BY MATT YONEMURA

Work hard, play hard. 1. Junior Tori Lee goes for a lay up in last Tuesday’s game against PV 2. Junior Meghan Peneueta evades a defender while PV attempts to keep up

better at our communication. Although we still need work on applying it a little more in the games, we’ve come very far from before.”

Senior Kourtney Noa believes that their focus has been up as well.

“We also have been very focused on completing our goal of winning the battle on the boards, which is having to work for every rebound,” Noa said.

Being able to focus in on their goals for each game is ultimately the key to doing well in playoffs, according to Maimot.

“I think we will do well in our upcoming CIF games if we keep our minds in it. That is what its mostly about- being focused and staying focused,” Maimot said.

Maimot believes that honing in on cer-

tain aspects of the game will be vital to the team’s performance.

“I think our defense will be a main aspect and then it all comes down to putting the ball in the hoop for points,” Maimot said.

The team hopes to use their techniques and their losses to drive them in CIF. “I think that not winning Bay League is more motivation for us to do well in CIF,” Sisto said.

The team believes that they are “extremely ready for the playoffs” as they prepare to play on Saturday. The coaches of the team have their own nickname for CIF playoffs: “The Big Fight.” The team hopes to strive for a win in “The Big Fight” as they begin their first round of CIF.

According to the wrestlers, they did not have the season they wanted, but they have no regrets.

“We were doing very good in the beginning and just sort of fell apart at the end with injuries,” junior Gerald Nellum said.

Unanimously the boys agree that the highlight of their season was their match against Peninsula High School.

“We went undefeated at the tournament, and individually most of our line up got first place medals,” Nellum said.

The boys are hoping that they will be able to come back next year even stronger.

“I’m hoping we can get some of our freshmen to make some small adjustments because we have a lot of young wrestlers, and if they stay on it like they were this could be really good next year,” Nellum said.

Senior Kevin James agrees.

“I think in a couple years these young guys will be reaching their peaks, and I’m excited to see where they go because I think we’ll have some state qualifiers and even a champion,” James said.

Boys soccer underdogs in first round of CIF The boys are confident and prepared for future CIF games despite being underdogs against J.W. North today

by Allegra Peelor

After a “rough” beginning to the season, the boys soccer team placed third in Bay League and is going to play in the first round of CIF today at J.W. North in Riverside.

The boys have not played J.W. North in recent history, but they know that J.W. North is top-ranked and had an undefeated season.

According to senior Shane Staudle, the boys are not intimidated by the team’s status.

“I’m confident in our work ethic. Our good team camaraderie will help us get a win,” Staudle said.

Sophomore Trenton Klatte agrees with Staudle, asserting that in CIF, the rankings are not as important because it is hard to say who the opponent has competed with.

“J.W. North is ranked higher than us but at this point, ranks don’t matter,” Klatte said. “It’s whoever comes out and plays better that day.”

Staudle agrees that being the underdog does not matter in this particular game.

“In CIF it’s whatever team wants it more and whatever team comes out and plays better that day,” Staudle said.

According to Klatt the team has gotten better with time.

“We built chemistry as a team and our skill level overall has improved throughout

the season,” Klatte said.

The boys do say that there are some things they need to focus on in order to secure their spot in the second round of the CIF tournament.

“We need to make sure everybody has a strong mentality and good work ethic during the game,” Staudle said. “It’s going to be hot, so we need to play to the last minute and make sure to keep conditioning up.”

Staudle believes that one of the team’s strengths is its defense, a point proven by the fact that RUHS gave up the least amount of goals in all of Bay League this season.

“We have a really good keeper and good forwards who have been finishing recently and have good work ethic,” Staudle said.

According to Staudle, overall, the team has improved throughout the course of the season, and he hopes that it will continue to bring its best game in CIF. “We started off really strong in preseason, but we had a little rough spot at the beginning of regular season when we weren’t finishing chances. And we had a lot of injuries,” Staudle said. “But our style of soccer heightened, and we were better at finishing the games later at the end of the season.”

Staudle concedes that the team needs to be careful about a few things such as maintaining focus in order to win today.

“Our biggest issue is making sure we’re mentally prepared,” Staudle said. “We also need to make sure the conditioning shows in the games.”

Klatte affirms that mental strength and overall staying focused have been some of the team’s weaknesses this season.

“We need to work on staying focused throughout the whole game and making sure we play as a team throughout,”

Klatte said.

Both Staudle and Klatte, however, are still confident in their chances today.

“It’s nice being the underdog.

Nobody expects us to come out and win and when we do, it’s going to be a lot better,” Klatte said. “It’s going to be hardfought and not easy, but it’s going to be a good game.”

Kickin’ it. Sophomore Brian Natareno focuses in on the ball at the West Game

PHOTO BY PETER TRAN

Girls water polo made it to CIF but lost the first round The girls water polo team ended their season yesterday after losing to Ayala 18-11 in the first round of CIF

by Christopher Paludi

PHOTOS BY KAMILA AOURAGH

In deep waters. Freshman Alexandra Hickey tries to block at Tuesday’s game against Costa

Girls water polo lost to Ayala 18-11 in their first round of CIF playoffs, ending their season.

“I thought it was a really good game; we played really well together as a team. They were one of the toughest teams we’ve played this year, but when we got down in the score, we didn’t give up, and we’re proud of that,” freshman Maddie McCaw said.

Senior Jessica Horoschack thought the team played well.

“I think there was fire to win because this is the first time we made it to CIF in four years. We had a lot of spirit and throughout the game it would get down because the opposing team was aggressive, but we were played hard throughout the game,” Horoschack said.

Upon the ending of their season, the team looks back on what they consider to be a successful season.

“We’re disappointed because we think we could’ve had that win, and we had a good game but we’re proud of ourselves and our season. It started out roughly, and it took a while to get to know each other as a team, but once we did, we started playing really

well,” McCaw said.

The team looks ahead even as they reminisce about the finished season.

“I think that for next season, we want to work on playing as a team all together and working on our speed and our shot. And I think the chemistry will build up and it’ll keep getting better,” McCaw said. “I think if we keep working on what we were working on this year, and we’ll be in good shape.

We’ll win games, and our goal is to start winning more that we’re used to. We’ll just keep getting better.”

McCaw enjoyed her first water polo experience.

“I’ve been super happy as a freshman with this team,” McCaw said. “It was weird at first because I was used to high school sports, but now I love the team. We’re all friends, and it’s really fun not only because I made a bunch of friends but also we spend a lot of time together. I love it.

McCaw knows there is a future for the team.

“I’m glad I was a part of it and if we keep working hard I think we’ll be really strong over the next couple of years,” McCaw said.

SPORTS

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19

Athlete of the issue: Katrina Cohen

Bonding through a team effort interview by Jason Fong

Take ‘er down. Senior Katrina Cohen steals the ball in the last game against Leuzinger.

Q: What is it about soccer Q: What’s your mindset like that you enjoy? when you play?

A: “I like how the game is a team effort.

A: “My teammates tell me that I usually You rely on your teammates to do well in a game.”

Q: What’s your role on the team?

A: “I play center mid. When the ball’s Q: What got you hooked on soccer?

A: “It was the immediate friendship

bonds you get from joining a team. I just loved how we all got along through a sport.

Also, it’s a great feeling when you score a goal and work together to win a game.”

Q: What’s your game mode?

A: “When I go into a game, I forget

about everything else and just focus on what I have to do, which is to win the ball in the middle and distribute the ball to start up a play. Also, I need to settle the ball and control the speed of the game when things go wrong.”

20 . SPORTS

in the middle of the field, you distribute the ball to the other players. You start off plays; you’re like the playmaker.”

Q: What’s one of your best memories of playing soccer?

A: Being able to play with my friends on

soccer created a lot of great memories. One that stands out was when I got a hat trick (scoring 3 goals in one game) against Torrance High, and they’re in a division above us, so we expected it to be a really good, hard game.

I remember scoring once, someone else scoring, then, I looked up and saw my dad throw his hat on the ground and thought ‘Wow that’s so cool!’ It was really exciting because we usually lose to Torrance.”

run on the field with a smile on my face. I’m not really stressed out about the game. I’m just free-spirited and play my own game, knowing that things will work out. I play calmly and relaxed.”

Q: Do you do anything special before the start of the game?

A: “We have this new warm-up where

we throw the ball around with our hands.

We work on shooting, and I always have to score one. It’s one of my superstitions. I also have a handshake with the other two team captains, Sharon and Shannon. Sometimes, I’ll do a prayer in my head. And then, the game will start.”

field on Redondo with my friends and just kick the ball around and run. I probably spend 10 hours a week focusing on soccer, including games, which really add up.”

Q: What were your goals for this season, personally and for the team?

A: “Personally, I wanted to score a lot. I

don’t score that often. I generally just initiate plays. So, I set a goal that I would score 10 goals this season, which I got and amreally proud of. As a team, we were really determined to win this year. We had a really good group, but this year we had a really unlucky season. We had many injuries, and needed a deep bench, which we didn’t really have.”

Q: What effect does your extra soccer training have on your life?

Q: What kind of training do A: “I feel like I have a pretty balanced you do outside of high school life in general. If I didn’t have soccer, I don’t know what I would be doing. You can’t alpractices? ways be focused on school. You need someA: “I go to Velocity. I do extra train- thing to take your mind off of it. Soccer is ing with a personal trainer. I like to go run I work on some technical foot skills and shooting on my own free time. I’d go to the

a really good stress reliever, so that you can just let everything go and run and kick the ball around and have fun with it.”