January 15, 2010

Page 4: Helicopter parents: do they protect more than they annoy?

XC Number 6

High Tide

Redondo Union High School

Page 6: Teachers and students both feel the pressures and see the consequences of cheating.

631 Vincent Park, Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Friday

focus

general

s n o i t a t i m i L

Information The ASB Finance Office is open for student business at the following times only: before school, after school, snack, and lunch.

Club

Auto Club-10 California Scholarship Federation- 301 Chess Club- 64 fellowship of Christian Athletes- 823 French Club- 808

info for

Students

Remember that in order to park your car in the school parking lots, you must have a parking sticker for the current year for each vehicle you drive.

To get a parking sticker, please bring current and valid proof of vehicle registration, insurance, and driver’s license to room 202. Cost is $10.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution to be more organized? If so, Planners are now only $2.00 each while supplies last! Get one now and be organized for all those end-of-semester assignments and tests! Be ready for the new semester!

Purchase in room 202.

10th grade students and parents are invited to our 10th Grade Parent Night on Thursday, January 21st, at 6:00 p.m. in the 800 building. RUHS Counselors will be discussing RUHS graduation requirements, College Entrance Requirements, Naviance and Planning for Life After High School.

“Girls in Gear” Career Forum on Tuesday, Jan 19 at 7 p.m. at: Katy Geissert Civic Center Library Community Meeting Rm. 3301 Torrance Bl., Torrance The High Tide is now available online. See: www.hightideonline.org

by Christina Mehranbod

byCody Anderson and Alison Peet-Lukes

The Redondo Beach Unified School District (RBUSD) is in the process of creating and implementing a new directive regarding teacherstudent communication on social networking sights such as Facebook.

The issue emerged after a few club advisors and athletic teams wanted to start online groups, and more recently when AP European History teacher Julie Ferron was asked to shut down the AP European History Facebook group.

ports her daughter’s stance. in an email about their child, and they wanted “I would rather have my daughter commu- the school district to do something about it,” nicate with a teacher via a public forum rather DeSena said. than a private one,” she said.

Despite the history of issues resulting from Sophomore Jeremy Porr used the page fre- students abusing social networking groups, Dequently and believed it was very beneficial.

Sena understands the support for using these “Whenever I had questions or I was second groups. guessing myself on something, I went to the “I have a Facebook page. I understand that Euro page and received help and reassurance there could be some benefits from using Facefrom other students or Mrs. Ferron,” said Porr. book too, that there could be good communi“I don’t understand why teachers and students cation that can go back and forth, but there was utilizing the internet to contact each other some risk and some liability, which is why we’re “I don’t understa nd why is a bad thing. It’s 2010; administrators working on getting something in writing to teachers and stud to update their policies.” staff,” DeSena said. “I don’t think that we have ents utiliz- needThe request for the page to be been convinced yet that the benefits outweigh ing the internet to shut down came from the district. the liabilities. But this is something that could contact each other is a ba “This is kind of a new issue so change.” d thing, it’s there is no real policy on what can Students needing to communicate with 2010, administrato and cannot take place,” assistant teachers outside of school can do so through rs need to principal John Newman said. email or on the district moderated websites. update their polici es.”

“At this point the only definitive These options allow for the district to monianswer we have is don’t do it until tor and moderate content and provide teachers we come up with a way that it can be with protection against liability. done safely for the adults involved.”

“We’re not trying to eliminate or reduce Sophomore Madison Hall creFerron declined to comment. communication between staff or students,” Deated the Facebook group named “Ferron AP The district is working on a written direc- Sena said.

Euro 09-10.” It was designed for AP Euro stu- tive to offer a viable solution to the issue. The dents to get help from other students. issue came to Assistant Superintendent Frank e risk m o s s a “I figured if all of the AP Euro kids had DeSena’s attention after he was made aware “There w ility, which somewhere to convene, they would be able to of concerns regarding teachers having Faceliab focus on the task at hand instead of freaking book pages. nd some re working a out about things they didn’t understand,” Hall “We don’t have any specific policy cure’ is why w omething in said. rently,” said DeSena. “But I would not recs Ferron joined the group, and Hall immedi- ommend that teachers have Facebook pages getting n o staff.” o ately made her an administrator of the group, for the primary use at school.” This advice t g n i t i wr allowing Ferron to moderate discussions and was given after consulting with the district’s help run the page. attorneys.

“She became very active in the group, postFor now, the district requests that teachers ing on the wall where everyone could see what not communicate with students through social While no open meetings are scheduled on she had to say and what advice she had to give,” networking sites, citing liability as the main is- the topic, teachers, parents, and students are Hall said. sue. more than welcome to share their opinions with Immediately after The High Tide ran an ar“Students can post things on Facebook that the district in shaping the policy. ticle on the group, Hall was told that the ad- the school district might view as inappropriate,” “I don’t have a problem with getting feedministration had asked Ferron to delete all of said DeSena. “To put teachers at risk of being back from teachers and parents,” DeSena said. her student friends on Facebook and cease any directly connected to such posts is not a risk the “Parents can always have input. I will always interactions with them over the site.

District is willing to take.” listen to parents.”

“We were angry that our innovations had Issues have surfaced in the past that give the While the district is currently maintaining been immediately shot down,” Hall said. She is district reason to be concered over the student that teachers should not communicate with stunot taking down the group until she has proof activity on teacher-run pages. dents through sites such as Facebook, there is a that there is a rule that states students cannot “I’ve had situations where parents have good chance that this could change. interact with teachers through Facebook. called and complained about something that “I think policy will evolve, we’ll see where it Beckie Ferron-Hall, Madison’s mother, sup- a student had written on a Facebook page or goes,” DeSena said.

–– Jeremy Porr

eSena D k n a r –– F

weekend

weather

In March 2010, the school newspaper The High Tide and yearbook The Pilot will accept either a silver or gold Scholastic Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a prestigious membership-based organization that works to set standards and give awards to student-produced newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and online media.

Out of a total 1,558 newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks that were eligible for the 2010 Crown Award program, Redondo’s publications placed in the top 53 newspapers and 33 yearbooks in the country allowing them to receive either a Gold or Silver Crown Award.

The Pilot received an All-American rating by judge Kathy Craghead, 2003 Yearbook Adviser of the Year, because of the four marks of distinction received in concept/essentials, coverage, design, and writing/editing.

“The Pilot is a fine publication with trendy

“The High Tide staff has done a great job at mastering the journalistic elements in the large format.”

–– George Schell design, which makes it fun to look at and read.

[There is] a good development of the theme/ concept. Good job of carrying the concept throughout the book,” Craghead wrote.

Additionally, the High Tide placed in the All-American category because of the five marks of distinction in coverage and content, writing and editing, photography, layout and design, and leadership, given by George Schell because of the newspaper’s “well-chosen and research-themed articles.”

“The High Tide staff has done a great job at mastering the journalistic elements in the large format,” Schell wrote.

The nominations for the Crown Awards come as no surprise to yearbook and newspaper adviser, Mitch Ziegler, because of the many nominations in years past. “[The nomination] is because we have a culture at this school. There is a real culture where students train other students, so they keep passing on information. It also helps that I have standards and will tell a student if they are doing something wrong. It’s really simple,” Ziegler said.

Link Crew will help freshmen prep for finals

by Emily Sutton

Saturday: Partially Cloudy 66˚/50˚ Sunday: Mostly Cloudy 62˚/51˚ Source: www.weather.com

High Tide What’s Inside...

Pages 2......................News Page 3...................Opinion Page 4,5,6..............Features Pages 7,8..................Sports

The newspaper ranks within the top 53 papers in the country and the yearbook is ranked within the top 33.

A history teacher’s use of Facebook to communicate with her students has raised questions about liability and the internet’s place in education. Are social networking sites useful educational tools or potential dangers?

The College and Career Center student visit times are before and after school, at snack and at lunch. The center is closed during class hours except by appointment.

Information

Yearbook, newspaper nominated for Gold Crown Award

Communication

There will be a boys’ basketball game tonight at Penninsula. Go out and support your fellow Sea Hawks, and have a safe and restful three-day weekend.

January 15, 2010

PHOTO BY ERIKA GAVITT

Link Crew leaders participated in Freshman Orientation by giving campus tours and providing advice for the new students.

The study session is a continuation of their work with the freshmen.

Link Crew will be hosting student-provided tutoring for freshmen the week before finals.

The event, Cocoa and Cram, will be held in rooms 306-310 on the Jan. 19-21 after school from 3:15-4:30. Hot chocolate and marshmallows will be provided.

“It will help freshman get a better idea of what they should be studying, as well as give them tips of how to study that material,” Link Crew administrator Brooke Mata said.

Freshmen are encouraged to come if they’re struggling with ma-

terial or are feeling overwhelmed by the stress and pressure of their first high school finals.

“The Link Crew members have already been through freshman finals and this will give new freshmen helpful tools and insight for preparing for theirs,” Mata said.

Subjects including math, science, history, spanish, and english, with each Link Crew member tutoring the subject they feel they can provide the most help for.

Senior Alexis Lucio chose math, science, and spanish and is planning on sharing tips that

helped her study for tests in those subjects.

“I’m planning on just helping clarify the major concepts of math, and play word association games with the students studying for Spanish,” she said.

The freshmen can come and go from each subject and classroom as they please.

“As Link Crew members we just want the freshmen to know that someone is there for them and willing to help however we can,” Lucio said.

Page

News

2

New laws for the

New year

January 15, 2009

Law limits fat food in restauants

by Josh Hillsburg

Due in part to the food service management’s long-standing concern with student nutrition, the cafeteria has not been affected by the new legislation prohibiting restaurants from using oils, margarines, and shortenings containing over a half a gram of trans fat per serving.

“I don’t know anything about the [new legislation],” food service manager Ann Zimmerli said. “I think it’s probably more to do with fast food places.”

Over the past several years, the cafeteria has made efforts to provide more nutritious meals for students, according to Zimmerli.

“We make our own dressing, which

Tanning salon ages restricted

said. “In the past few years, we have switched to almost entirely whole-grain products, with the exception of the English muffins, which [the provider] only offers in white bread.”

Before the start of the school year, the cafeteria menu had been revised to accommodate new regulations concerning how much fat meals are allowed contain.

“We eliminated fatty snack items. That’s why we don’t serve chips anymore,” Zimmerli said. “We serve goldfish and pretzels now.”

For a while, the cafeteria has been making an earnest effort to meet students’ nutritional needs, according to Zimmerli.

“We have always tried to serve nutritious, low fat meals,” Zimmerli said.

Matthew Shepard law protects gays from hate crimes

by Camille Duong

by Bethany Kawa

State legislators passed a law regulating minors’ use of tanning devices, January 1.

For those under the age of 14, use of tanning beds is prohibited due to the ultraviolet (UV) A and B rays these devices emit.

For those under 18, parental permission in person is required, which is valid for 12 months.

The law requires the tanning salon to limit time to the manufacturer’s maximum exposure recommendation, and provide eye protection.

Although a newly passed law, U-CA-TAN has made clients sign a consent form stating, “Anyone under the age of 14 may not tan in a tanning salon in California” since the opening in 2004.

The law does not restrict the practice of spray tanning. According to an employee at U-CA-TAN, spray tanning is a harmless solution that is sprayed directly on the body.

She feels the law is appropriate and protects the health of children under 14.

“For adults, the use of tanning beds is fine in moderation. However, children under 14 are still developing their skin, and tanning beds can be very harmful because of the UV rays” she said.

Senior Kristin Walsh, an employee at Sunset Tan, agrees.

“Tanning beds can give you skin cancer because of the UV-A and B rays.,” she said.

doesn’t have any trans fats and we don’t fat fry anything.” Zimmerli said.

While the cafeteria prepares several menu items on its own, most of the meals it offers are shipped to the school pre-prepared.

“Almost everything we serve has been prepared already,” Zimmerli said. “I’m sure everything that is shipped to us has been prepared according to regulation.”

The cafeteria staff had been previously instructed to serve meals lower in fat. As a result, its meals would not violate the trans fat legislation even if the legislation had affected cafeterias.

“We were told by our director that nothing can have over 30 percent fat,” Zimmerli

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the use of tanning beds among young people is linked to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Risk factors for melanoma include sunburn, blistering sunburns during childhood or teenage years, fair skin, freckles, moles and a family history of melanoma.

To avoid these risks, American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends avoiding sunlight between 10 am and 4 pm, avoiding tanning devices and sun lamps, and using proper coverage of the skin and eyes when exposed to UV rays.

Senior Chelsey Iacopucci tans once a week and is not affected by the new law.

“The tanning salon just had my mom sign permission papers for me the first time I went, and it is valid for a year. I think the

law is appropriate because there are risks to tanning beds that kids under 14 should not be exposed to,” she said.

Exposure to UV rays increases the risk of developing skin cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Both UV-A and B rays damage the skin and can lead to skin cancer.

Limited exposure to UV-A rays causes the skin to tan. Tanning beds generally emit 93% to 99% UV-A radiation, increasing the benefits of a tan. The risk of skin cancer jumps by 75% when people use tanning beds before age 30.

Though Iacopucci is aware of these possible cancer risks, she will continue to tan.

“The risks are low, and I use the tanning bed that has the least amount of harmful UV rays. I tan in moderation which is fine for my health, so I will continue to tan,” she said.

Matthew Shepard was the victim of a hate crime in 1998, and he died from the injuries inflicted upon him. A new law has been enacted in his name and honor.

The Matthew Shepard Act is a response to the overlooked problem of hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender.

The current law only includes race, religion, and national origin. “ I think in the wake of what happened to Matthew Shepard it is completely necessary,” Gay-Straight Alliance president Claire Simon said.

Gay and Lesbian citizens finally have a law that protects their rights. “ It is a good thing because gay and lesbian citizens deserve protection under the law,” Cassette said.

This bill gives the federal authority the ability to pursue hate crimes local authorities choose not to pursue. The bill gave five million to the Justice Department to help local authorities investigate hate crimes. “ I think it helps the police and prosecutors because they can charge for hate crime,” Cassette said. “ There are more tools to enforce them.”

According to the Federal Bureau Investigation 16.6 percent of the hate crimes committed in 2007 were motivated by sexual orientation.

It is a good thing because gay and lesbian people are often the target of hate crimes and they deserve protection according to Cassette.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GINA VAN HOOF

Matthew Shepard

“You have to be sure that it is a hate crime motivated by homophobia in order to prevent any misuse of the law,” Simon said.

Although there has been much praise for this new bill, there are still some people opposed to this addition. “ I think that a lot of it is based on fear,” Simon said.

This bill is a step in the road to understanding gays and lesbians according to Simon.

“Sexual preference should not be condemned it should be celebrated,” said Simon.

Vandals steal twenty lobsters and seven halibut from the SEA Lab

by Kaitee Scheyer

The Redondo Beach SEA Lab was broken into on the night of December 19, 2009.

“I closed up on Saturday night, as normal everything was locked and ready for Sunday”, Public Program Supervisor Kris Perez said.

Perez works on weekends, and when he arrived at the SEA Lab on Sunday morn-

ing, something seemed “off”.

“I walked in and there was a lobster in the walkway, that was a big red flag,” Perez said.

Since the SEA Lab has had problems with bird attacks on the fish before, Perez thought that had explained the lobster on the ground.

Perez then checked the lobster tank and saw that the tank was emptier than it was

75-year-old alumnus dies from apparent heart attack

by Brittney Madera

Redondo alumnus John Stevenson, class of 1951, passed away this past Tuesday from an apparent heart attack. He was 75-years old.

After his student career as a catcher for the Sea Hawks, Stevenson continued to play baseball at El Camino College and UCLA. He began his coaching career of baseball and football at El Segundo High School in 1960.

Having over 1000 victories under his belt, Stevenson was ranked No. 1 in all-time career wins, according to CalHiSports.com State Record Book.

Of Stevenson's 50 years of coaching at El Segundo, six of his former players made it to Major League Baseball. They include Bobby Floyd, Billy Traber, Zak Shinall, Scott

McGregor, Ken Brett, and Hall of Famer George Brett.

Redondo baseball and football coach Tim Ammentorp has coached against Stevenson for thirty years, and his respect for him has grown over the years.

"I had a tremendous amount of respect for his teams and the way they played and the quality that they exhibited," Redondo baseball coach Tim Ammentorp said.

Ammentorp enjoyed talking about philosophy and the game of baseball with the legendary coach.

"Whatever the issue, he had a sound take on what should be done," he said.

Not only will Stevenson's death affect his family and El Segundo High school, but ultimately to the game itself.

"It's a great loss to high school baseball," Ammentorp said.

the day before.

“We do a lot of animal releases here and I thought it was a lobster release, I didn’t think much of it,” he said.

After being notified that the halibut tank was empty, Perez realized that the SEA Lab had been broken into. Three three foot halibut and twenty lobsters were stolen.

“After knowing about the halibut, it clicked that the lobsters were stolen too,”

Perez said.

Due to the construction being done on the SEA Lab, Perez said that someone could have entered through the construction entrances.

“We are still not 100 percent sure how they got in”, he said.

The halibut and lobster are not necessarily expensive fish according to Perez, but someone may have used them to sell

or eat.

To further prevent this from happening again, Perez said the SEA Lab installed security cameras and security managers are reinforcing construction gates.

According to Perez, the SEA Lab was broken into in 2000 as well, and the person who committed the crime was caught.

“As of right now, we’re not sure we will be as lucky to catch this guy,” Perez said.

Opinion

January 15, 2010

Page

High Tide Editor-in-Chief: Sonya Egan Managing Editors: Danielle Lew; Austin Pritzkat News Editors: Jackson Greer; Molly Simon Opinion Editors: Claire Simon Features Editors: Sophia Lykke, Jake Collins, Jonathan Martin; Dylan Futrell, Ashley Pournamdari; Julia Uriarte Sports Editors: Danielle Lew; Jessica Cascio Photo Editors: Daniel Fallon; Erika Gavitt Copy Editors: Joey Hoy; Brittney Madera; Christina Mehrenbod; Mark Rieth, Josh Hillsburg, Adam Ammentorp Cartoonist: Josh Hillsburg, Claire Simon Staff Writers: Vanessa Alarcon; Adam Ammentorp; Cody Anderson; Ramya Bhaskar; Gabe Bloise; Shannon Bowman; Claire Chiara; Kelsey Chung; Alexis Curtis-Olson; Michael Cross; Ciara Diaz; Kaelee Epstein; Daniel Garzon; Allie Goldberg; Ulises Gonzalez; Garrett Gutierrez; Josh Hillsburg; Meglyn Huber; Bethany Kawa; David Kawa; Steven King;Anthony Leong; Elisa Martinez; Cammille Mitchell; Asad Nazif; Alexandra O’Hagan; Joy Ohiomoba; Alison Peet-Lukes; Madeline Perrault; Alix Politanoff; Melissa Rosero; Allison Salazar; Derek Sarno; Katie Scheyer; Laura Shodall; Casey Smith; Shelby Stitch; Shayna Stuart; Emily Sutton; Emily Vavrek; Anneliese Wilson; Alyssa Wolf Adviser: Mitch Ziegler The High Tide dedicates itself to producing a high-quality publication that both informs and entertains the entire student body.

This newspaper 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, 631 Vincent Park, Redondo Beach, CA 90277.

Advertising is $7.50 per column inch, $6.00 if paid in advance. For information call (310)798-8665 ext. 2210.

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

3

around

Redondo

What are your thoughts on teachers using social networking sites to contact students?

“I find it to be unnecessary; there doesn’t have to be a close bond between students and teachers.”

–Charlene Vo, 9

Teachers should be able to use networking For the modern teacher virtually everything is a potential liability. Teachers are advised not to give rides, exchange calls or texts, or be alone in a classroom with a student to avoid possible charges of misconduct. With the advent of social networking sites like facebook, the problem of liability has escalated to a new, uncharted territory: cyberspace.

After reading “AP Euro student gets help through Facebook” in our Dec.18 issue, the administration asked AP Euro teacher Julie Ferron to take down her page, due to liability issues.

While there is potential for teachers and students alike to misuse sites like facebook, the truth is that online forums and social networking sites are the future of communication; and wherever communication goes, education will follow.

Teachers should be able to utilize social networking sites to communicate with their students online–but without crossing the line.

Editorial

Naturally, the administration had the students’ best interests in mind when they advised Ferron to shut down her facebook account, but their reactionary and rash approach to the situation is akin to that of an overbearing parent shutting down his daughter’s Myspace for fear of pedophiles.

Granted, since it is a relatively new issue, according to Assistant Principal John Newman, “there is no real policy on what can and cannot take place”–for now, the administration is strongly suggesting that teachers “don’t use it [facebook]” and urging them to use redondounion.org instead.

Yet, while the district and administration are doing their jobs in taking responsibility for student well-being, they have taken their role as the archetypal, overprotective parents a little too far, depriving students of the rich learning tool that facebook affords.

With social networking sites, teachers, students and even parents will have the opportunity to converse in real-time, creating greater efficiency for all parties involved.

Teachers can facilitate discussions of issues covered in class, answer any questions that

students may have, and even cover new material.

Simply using redondounion.org or email just isn’t the same as having a virtual conversation. With social networking sites, teachers can reach a larger audience and students can have broader mediums with which to learn.

Granted, with greater scopes of learning comes greater responsibility. The district is currently discussing possible policies in response to social networking sites’ place in school.

In order to remedy the looming problem of liability, the district should develop some type of contract, or “acceptable use policy,” for students and teachers to abide by when using social networking sites for educational purposes.

In this age of liability, it is important that both students and teachers know their limits when it comes to online conduct. Yet in this age of social networking, communication between people is becoming more important and even more efficient–it would simply be unwise for teachers and students not to take advantage of them.

“[It] is inappropriate because teachers and students are meant to keep contact limited to school hours.”

–Alina Vreeland, 12

“There should be a limit on what they can view on your profile. They shouldn’t be able to look at your pictures or other, more personal areas.”

–Tyler Ceja, 12

“I think [using Facebook] does cross the line, but email is ok for asking questions.”

–Katie Collins, 10

“I understand the importance and the familiarity of [it]. If there’s a group where I can respond to 175 students in 15 seconds, it would be impractical not to use it.”

–Matthew Mullen, teacher

Would a ban on trans fat improve health?

PRO

Due to California’s new regulations, restaurants and fast food chains are faced with strict limits on cooking with trans fat and other types of artery-clogging oils and shortenings. These new reductions will certainly help make an improvement towards the health of Americans and will help Alix Politanoff decrease the risk of getting a heart attack, stroke, or diabetes.

Many restaurants have already reduced or eliminated trans fats in their menus, which shows that people in America are making an effort to live healthier lives.

Yet, the whole purpose of the use of trans fats in the first place was to make the food in restaurants and fast food chains taste better.

Many Americans might be concerned that their food won’t taste as good because of the reduction of trans fats but many fast food places such as McDonalds have used healthier alternatives to trans fats.

McDonalds has found a trans-fat-free oil, which they now currently use on its french fries (McDonalds.com).

These new alternative formulas are healthier and are made from palm and canola blends (Bantransfats.com).

These trans-fat alternatives also taste exactly the same as trans fat; therefore, reducing trans fats and using an alternative formula is healthier and won’t change the taste of the food.

While some Americans won’t stop their current habits of eating junk food, at least the food that they will be eating at fast food restaurants will be healthier.

Obesity is a problem that is plaguing America; approximately 60 million people in the United States are obese according to the American Obesity Association.

Many critics argue that reducing trans fats won’t affect a person’s diet, but according to the FDA, Americans get about 2.6 percent of their total calories per day from trans fat.

Therefore reducing trans fats in fast food restaurants where many people and children tend to eat can help decrease obesity rates, especially in

children.

Limiting trans fats also helps decrease the risk of high blood pressure, heart diseases, and breast, colon, and prostrate cancer, since all these diseases comes directly from obesity (AOA).

The bottom line is trans fats are bad; the less American’s eat the healthier they will be. Trans fats cause many health complications such as elevating bad cholesterol and increasing the chances of blood clots.

Basically, if reducing trans fats is healthier and reduces the risk of heart attacks and other health complications, then hopefully this new law will eventually extend to completely banning trans fats in foods in restaurants and fast food chains.

Opponents state that Americans will still continue to eat badly no matter what, but either way reducing trans fats is a solid step to improvement in health.

This new law could be the gateway to new laws promoting healthier diets, and eventually could result in much healthier lives.

CON

Obesity is a growing problem in the country.

Waistlines are increasing, guts are drooping, people are dying. But the initiative taken by the California government through AB 97, a bill that lowers the amount of trans fat in restaurants, is the wrong way to combat this situation.

Asad Nazif Nutritionally, trans fat is a disaster, it lowers the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) and increases the amount of good cholesterol (LDL) making an individual prone to heart disease. However, the way that the government is trying to remove it is just a useless intervention. The government should stick to its laissez-faire handle on the people’s health.

What is the point in even creating this bill? If the people have not responded to their ever tightening pants, why would they respond to this bill? If any-

thing, the people will begin eating more because the government has deemed the food healthier.

Reducing the amount of trans fat in a Big Mac, or a double cheeseburger, or whatever vile, greasestained food it is people eat nowadays will not help create a healthier population.

Even with the removal of trans fat from the nation’s diet, the government will still have to deal with the obstacles of sodium, saturated fat, calories, and other gut-bolstering substances. When you get down to it, this bill barely does anything.

Some might argue that it is a nudge forward for the people, a start for them to help themselves. Unfortunately, this nudge forward causes the people to become dependant on the government’s regulations.

The nation will not regulate their own diet but rather rely on laws passed on.

So, in a best case scenario, the nation becomes healthier. Without trans fat, there is less of a problem with cholesterol and there is less coronary heart disease connected with the substance.

But, at this point in time, the people hit a wall.

After a certain point, trans fat has no more effect on people. Trans fat affects cholesterol, but if the cholesterol problems are solved, then the government needs to solve the problems of blood pressure associated with sodium, obesity with calories, and heart disease with saturated fat.

Now there are other dietary substances to regulate. Obviously, the people will not be regulating it themselves but rather will wait on the government to execute another bill.

The people have not learned to become healthier, rather, they believe that the food they eat is healthier, and subsequently rely on the government for their health-related needs. By the end of the day, this bill may have saved very few lives, but at the same time will have become desensitized to the dangerous foods they eat.

The government should care for its people, but this form of intervention is hindering rather than helping. Should not the government be focusing on something more important?

The people are just better off dealing with it themselves. If they consider the food to be healthier, they will probably eat the same amount or, perhaps, even more of it. Some may consider it an initiative for the obese in the state, but even they will not be affected because they eventually will hit a wall, in which trans fat will not be as dangerous as it originally was, and will subsequently need more government assistance for the other dietary substances.

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Features

4

January 15, 2010

Hovering Parents

Over-involved parents unaware of policies

by Anneliese Wilson

While every parent wants his or her child to succeed, especially in high school sports, sometimes parents cross the line and become over protective rather than concerned and involved.

“I understand the parental urge to want to have their child playing in games. From their side, they see their child going to practices and working really hard. Based on merit alone, most student athletes should get playing time” former water polo coach Stephanie Geil said.

Parents push Geil and other coaches to play their children, yet most are unaware of practice attendence policies, which often affect playing time.

“I think most parents, once they are made very aware of the policies realize why their child isn’t getting playing time.” Geil said.

Varsity football coach Gene Simon also knows parents who acknowledge the rules.

“My opinion is few football parents are that unrealistic to assume playing time is warranted when practice hasn’t been attended regularly. [The] bottom line is playing time is a coach’s decision that will normally not be addressed at parent. The coach knows who deserves to play for the team to have the best chance for success better than anyone. The parent can’t and doesn’t know this like the coach knows it.” Simon said.

Parents have been so concerned about their children, playing in games that they have made negative comments towards coaches.

“I have had a parent verbally threaten me and call me a ‘piss poor coach’. That was the worse situation, but I have had many parents come to speak with me with a general concern for why their child isn’t playing. ” Geil said.

Water polo coach Danielle Berger, along with Coach Geil, have explained to athletes about rules regarding playing time.

“If your clueless about the game, you get pulled. We made our expectations very clear.” Berger said. “JV players at least get one chance to play in a game, since it’s not that competitive.”

Berger said.

Most of the time, athletes know the reasons why they don’t play in a game, according to Geil.

“I think every athlete wants playing time, and they do care if they aren’t getting it. That being said, they also understand why someone else is earning more playing time because of better performances during practices.” Geil said.

Although coaches are stunned by some parents’ actions, they know why they complain.

“I understand why they push, but I would like them to be more aware of how the athletes earn playing time.”

Geil said.

Despite the issues with parents, Geil focuses on the problems as a whole.

“There is a lot of pressure when the game is very important and a star athlete can’t play because of missing practices or whatnot, to play that athlete. In the long run though, it’s more important to learn that life lesson of commitment to coming to practices, working hard, and helping to build up the team.” she said.

Despite position, Newman refrains from interfering

by Alyssa Wolf

The snack bell rings, she bolts out of class and heads towards her locker. Just then, dad pops up. ‘Hi’ she waves and continues on her way.

Most of the time, Junior Brianna Newman enjoys going to school with her father, Assistant Principal John Newman.

“I get to see him everyday but then sometimes it’s too much,” Brianna said.

Mr. Newman does not think his job affects the social lives of Brianna or her freshman sister, Hailey.

“I think most of Brianna’s friends or Hailey’s friends don’t think that I’m all that scary,” he said.

Mr. Newman talked to both of his daughters about how they felt before taking the job.

“At that point they said that they wanted me to work here, at the school where they went. I think that they still want that,” Mr. Newman said, “I don’t think that they would want me to leave and go to another school but of course I always worry that anything I do would negatively affect any of my children.”

Mr. Newman does not ask Brianna’s teachers’ how she is doing without talking to her about it first. Her teachers do not treat her differently than any other student.

“They are nice to me but when I’m in their class they don’t treat me differently.” Brianna said, “They are not like giving me special treatment or anything like that.”

Even if he knows his daughters’ friends have a spotty record he would never advise his daughters not to be friends with them.

“I’m very confidential with the students that I deal with.” he said, “I don’t break that confidence, even to my daughters, about the other students.”

Hailey thinks her dad will tell her when he knows they have been in trouble a lot.

“If he knows that someone gets into trouble a lot then he will tell me, ‘I don’t really want you to be friends with that person’,” Hailey said.

Brianna’s dad tells her what he thinks is best for her.

“Sometimes he tries to tell me what I should do but he doesn’t tell

me what I’m going to do and then I just have to do it,” Brianna said.

If Brianna wants a certain class or teacher her dad will try to help her get it.

“I will talk to other people about what teacher I want and tell him. He will try to get me into that class,” Brianna said.

Mr. Newman knows more about high school than most parents because he experiences it everyday. He does not let what he sees worry him.

“If I knew a lot of what I know that goes on and I wasn’t here to watch over it and I wasn’t a part of it then I might be worried but because I’m here it doesn’t worry me,” he said.

“I have great daughters. I love them, I love being around them, and I hope they are not embarrassed by who I am or what I do.”

— John Newman Though Mr. Newman knows where his daughters go during snack and lunch he does not go there to check on them “I try really hard to not hover around them periodically I will walk by and say ‘hi’. A lot of times I walked by and didn’t say anything to her because I don’t want to invade either of their space,” he said.

Brianna believes her dad is conscientious of her space.

“He says hi to me at lunch and stuff but I don’t think he ever tries to butt into conversations with my friends or anything like that.” she said, “he’s not the type of person who just like comes in and ruins my conversation with my group of friends.”

Even if Mr. Newman got offered a job somewhere else, Hailey wants him to keep working here, towards his goal.

“I think it would be cool if he continued [to work here],” Hailey said, “he wants to be principal one day.”

Hailey worries about what will happen when she gets a boyfriend.

“My friends aren’t really afraid of him. A lot of my friends knew my dad before he was assistant principal some guys [say] ‘oh, sucks for the guy who goes out with you’,” she said.

Hailey does not feel the need to tell her father when she hears of her classmates doing inappropriate things.

“I wouldn’t tell my dad,” Hailey said, “but if I heard something about someone selling drugs or something to that extreme, but anything other than that I wouldn’t.”

Mr. Newman hopes he can continue to do his job without it negatively affecting his daughters.

“I have great daughters.” he said, “I love them, I love being around them, and I hope that they are not embarrassed by who I am or what I do.”

Simon reflects on hovering and time spent in her father’s health class

by Claire Simon

Despite his invisible hand influencing and controlling every aspect of my academic career, the chance of actually running into my dad at school is a rare occasion; I can probably First Person count the number of times on one hand that such a bizarre event has occurred within my four years here.

But invisible or not, having a teacher for a dad is not like having a “helicopter parent;” it’s like having a helicopter parent plus a small fleet of drones that track your every move and can strike at any given moment.

Okay, perhaps I am being a bit dramatic, but having a parent work at school is both a blessing and a curse–a blessing in that I can get the inside scoop on selecting classes and which teacher is the better one (well, usually), and a curse in that my dad can (and often will) ask my teachers for a detailed description of how fantastic or awful a student I am

(it’s never the latter).

Teaching is practically a part of my father’s genetic makeup, and as a result he has always taken every opportunity possible to make sure that my siblings and I absorb as much knowledge as our brains can hold.

He helped me construct a diorama of ocean life for my science fair project in first grade. He coached my sister on a nightly basis with her times tables. And, most recently, he and my eleven year old brother have completed a two year long quest to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in its entirety.

My dad’s raison d’être is, without a doubt, education, and for better or for worse he has always been very involved in my life at school.

This became more convenient for him when I came to Redondo as a freshman; when I was in middle school he didn’t have the omniscience that he has now.

For three years, I lived on my toes, constantly checking behind my back

to be sure that an errant administrator wasn’t tracking my every move to report back to my father.

So when I ended up taking my dad’s health class over the summer, I was pretty

It was something niether of us had experienced before and, in the end, it gave me a better sense of why my dad has always been so concerned with my preformance in school. certain that the roles of Dad the Teacher and Dad the Hoverer would likely combine into one being, causing my both my work habits and blood pressure to rise. Surprisingly, though, such wasn’t

exactly the case.

While my dad was just as strict with me as with the rest of his students in the classroom, at home there was no outstanding “helicoptering” going on: my dad would still be sure that I had my homework done, my essays written, and the knowledge of the differences between ephedrin and pseudoephedrin as meth ingredients in my head.

When I would come home in the evening he rarely did so much as mutter a phrase or two about the day’s health class; if anything, he’d ask for a critique of his own teaching methods rather than quiz me on the function of the Fallopian tube.

Maybe he was tired from having to teach an extra class or all of his energy was spent on coaching football, but I think that the experience of my dad having me in his health class marked a turning point in the way that he saw me as a student and the way that I saw him as a teacher and parent.

Before, our respective interpretations of each other’s characters were guesstimates based on what we had experienced at home. In class, things were different.

My dad was able to see how I functioned as a student, and I, in turn, could see how my dad functioned as a teacher.

It was an something that neither of us had experienced before, and, in the end, it gave me a better sense of why my dad has always been so concerned with my performance in school.

He loves what he does, and his concern with my schoolwork reflects that.

And, okay, despite our higher plane of understanding between each other, my dad hasn’t softened up too much. He still does the occasional Infinite Campus check and chats with my teachers.

But now I can at least be reassured that he genuinely wants to help me and make sure that I work as hard as I can.

But please, Dad, don’t try to call my humanities professor next year.

Features

January 15, 2010

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5

Simun avidly volunteers at the SEA Laboratory

by Emily Vavrek

Sun shining down on her face, hands wet in salt water, and new animals coming in and out of the SEA Lab describes a typical day of volunteering for biology teacher Mary Simun.

Simun has been teaching biology for 20 years at numerous schools.

After she graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree, Simun’s first experience teaching was at an outdoor school where students came once a week to learn about nature.

Her love for teaching at the outdoor school was driven by her passion for biology.

After earning her teaching credential, Simun became a year-round teacher for middle and high school students.

“I fell in love with the idea of staying with the students for the entire year instead of a week,” she said.

It was when Simun was working at Parras that the Director of the SEA Lab approached her with the idea to help them start educational outreach programs.

The SEA Lab is part of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and provides educational programs for students K-12 that teach students about spreading awareness of ocean environments.

The lab operates to rehabilitate, release, and repopulate marine species that are native to California. It also raises plants that are native to California’s coastal dune habitat.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY SIMUN

Simun cleans the kelp forest tank at the SEA lab with a siphon. This tank contains several animals that are all native to California, including one of her favorite animals, the sea hare.

A few years later when her work with the educational outreach programs was completed, she decided to start volunteering there.

She has been volunteering at the SEA

Lab for the past six years.

Simun works during the school year on Saturdays for five hours and two to three days a week for six to eight hours during the summer.

She has since logged over 1000 hours of service at the SEA Lab. According to Simun, being a biology teacher didn’t have an impact on her volunteering at the Sea Lab, but rather her

Cottrill hopes to translate Japanese

Rotolante learns life lessons through hula

by Elisa Martinez

With beating drums, chants in an ancient language, and graceful movements meant to mimic waves, hula is about more than grass skirts and luaus for senior Maraia Rotolante.

It’s about family, emotion, and growth. “[Hula] makes you a better person,” Rotolante said. “It teaches you respect and how to have mana [power] and love.”

The element of love comes from the sense of family that is a major part of the Hawaiian culture.

In performance hula the dancers are part of a class called a halau. With the other dancers in their twenties and thirties, Rotolante is one of the youngest in her halau.

Despite the age gap she still feels a bond with the other women.

“Your halau becomes your second family. You get a lot closer through dancing,” she said.

The performances themselves also help show the sense of family. The dancers’ families and friends will come to watch, but the elder hula sisters and old dancers will also come to show their support.

“It’s like having all these ‘aunts’ who I know will always be there for me,” she said.

Part of the reason she began dancing hula was family. When she was six she be-

gan dancing hula because her cousins did.

Though previously she had ended up quitting when she had done Polynesian and Tahitian style dancing, she was excited about hula.

Now Rotolante is part of a halau that practices at Loyola University and is taught by her mother who has been dancing and teaching hula for years.

“It’s hard working under your mom, there’s a lot of pressure, [but] my mom has really helped guide me,” she said.

As a show of her growth a couple of years ago, Rotolante was able to have her hula graduation. For the ceremony she had to learn how to make the traditional adornments on her own: pa’u (skirt), lei po’o (head lei), lei a’i (neck lei), and kupe’e (wristlets and anklets made out of ti-leaf ).

During the ceremony there are traditional chants done in Hawaiian and a performance done by the graduating dancers. Then they recieve a “bowl of light” to remind them of a Hawaiian Parable.

The ceremony is the debut of a hula dancer and after they receive a certificate of achievement and move up a skill class. This is an achievement that Bernie Rotolante, as both her mother and teacher, is proud Maraia has reached.

“She has definitely come a long way,”

by Laura Shodall

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARAIA ROTOLANTE

Rotolante and her friend, Wendy, after their graduation. After a dancer graduates, they are considered to be skilled dancers.

Bernie said.

According to her, dancing never really came easy to Maraia but she has continued on and done well despite this.

“She has always carried the Spirit of Aloha within her and that is what I feel makes a dancer come alive,” Bernie said.

The experiences she’s had through hula have helped Maraia come closer to her Hawaiian roots.

“Growing up in it I didn’t realize how beautiful the culture was,” she said.

In hula, the dancers research the songs in order to properly portray the tone of the story.

This is one reason Rotolante chose a halau

that performs for entertainment and doesn’t take part in competition. “[Competition] is not what hula’s about,” she said. “It’s about sharing a story.”

Though Rotolante loves all the elements of hula, she also wants to try other styles of dance. She thinks styles like hip hop may help her become a more well rounded dancer because of it emphasis on upper body strength where hula does not.

In the future Maraia is looking forward to going to school to become a physical therapist. Even though she hasn’t chosen a hula based career, she knows that hula will remain a constant in her life.

Toyama travels to meet father for the first time

by Allie Goldberg

During her winter break, sophomore Anna Toyama flew half way around the world to meet her father. At the age of 15, Toyama was going to spend a week with the father that she had not seen since she was a baby.

“I was a little nervous, but he had emailed me and he seemed pretty nice,” Toyama said.

Armed with just a camera, a little shopping money, and her best friend Samantha Goldberg, Toyama took off on the 15 hour flight just after midnight on Dec. 23.

With the time change, she arrived in Hong Kong around 7:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve. According to Toyama, her father seemed genuinely interested in meeting her.

“We had exchanged e-mails, and he was willing to pay for both mine and my best friend’s ticket,” she said.

Although Toyama had previously visited Japan to see family on her mother’s side, meeting her dad in Hong Kong was something entirely new, and she wanted the support of her best friend.

“I really wanted Sammy to come with me. I wasn’t willing to go without her,” Toyama said.

Goldberg was excited to go to Hong

Kong with Toyama and meet her dad for the first time.

“I was really there for moral support and I also got a free trip to Hong Kong out of the deal,” Goldberg said.

Toyama was initially nervous to meet her father for the first time after spending her entire life without him.

“When we got to the airport, my father and stepmother were there to meet us. It made us feel a little more comfortable, because we were both a little nervous. Then they took us to Burger King,” Toyama said.

Toyama’s parents seperated because of problems and disaproval of the relationship

1.

love for public service.

“I am always on the lookout for nifty opportunities. The SEA lab is nice. It gets me outside, gets my hands in the water, and makes it easier for me to recruit my students,” she said.

Simun has been actively recruiting her Biology students to be volunteers since she began as one herself.

“About a third of their volunteers used to come from me,” she said.

While volunteering at the lab, she loves to work in the nursery with the native California coastal plants, as well as cleaning the sea hare and eel tanks. She also likes to feed the fish.

“I love plants, animals, and all living things,” she said.

Her favorite sea animals at the lab are sea hares, octopi, and nudibranch, a type of sea slug.

Since Simun loves spending her extra time at the Sea Lab conserving, growing, and rehabilitating California’s native species, she plans to volunteer there until she dies.

“I am helping the environment and the community. I learn skills and meet wonderful people,” she said.

Simun enjoys the gratification that she gets from being a volunteer.

“I am passionate about volunteering, always have been. I feel the need to try and make the world a better place for all living organisms. I feel valued, needed, indispensable and appreciated at my volunteer jobs,” Simun said.

from her mother’s parents.

Her mother, Rieko Toyama has worked a number of different jobs over the past 15 years to support her daughter, as well as to make sure that she was able to live here, and stay in school with all her friends.

“I know [my mom] has made a lot of sacrifices for me, and I really appreciate it,” Toyama said.

She believes that because her father lives in China, her day to day life won’t be changed now that she’s in contact with him.

“Growing up without a father has been difficult in a lot of ways, but it has allowed me and my mom to become very close,” she said.

2.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAMANTHA GOLDBERG

1. Toyama’s father dining with her in a restaurant. 2. Toyama (right) and Goldberg (left) in a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

According to Toyama, her mother did not really talk a lot about her father, so she did not know much about him.

“Then, all of a sudden, my mom got in touch with my dad, and I guess he wanted to meet me,” she said.

Toyama says that it took a few days before she was really comfortable with the word “Dad” being used to address this virtual stranger.

“It was hard at first, but he and my stepmom both tried so hard to make us feel at home, that eventually it just felt right,” she said.

Goldberg echoes this sentiment.

“They were both so nice to us, and wanted so much for us to have a good time. I could tell that after a few days, Anna began to feel like this man really was her father.”

Both girls agreed that the best part of Hong Kong apart from meeting Toyama’s father, was the shopping.

“We bought clothes, watches, and lots and lots of souvenirs for our friends,” Goldberg said. “But best of all, their apartment was right on top of a mall.”

For both girls, and for Toyama in more ways than one, this is a trip they will never forget. Toyama will continue the relationship she has established with her father.

“I definitely plan on going back to visit in the future,” Toyama said.

Junior Sydney Cottrill’s passion for the Japanese has now tranformed into a future career, and she now sets her eyes on becoming a translator for Japanese bands.

Cottrill deeply admires Japanese pop culture and language since she was exposed to it at a young age.

“I remember going to my neighbor’s house, and her parents were from Japan so they had a lot of Japanese music and video games,” she said. “I’d hear her parents speaking Japanese in the background and I think I decided the language was really nice on the ears and I wanted to learn it.”

At age 13, Cottrill began to listen to Japanese music, such as the band Dir en Grey, and would constantly look up the lyrics to the songs to see what they meant in English.

“One day I saw a video with the band and their translator Nora,” she said. “I thought, ‘Hey, I could do this one day.’ That’s when I decided I wanted to do translating.”

Though Cottrill only knows basic Japanese conversation, she plans on enrolling in Japanese language classes at El Camino in the spring or summer. For the time being, she gains practice from other sources.

“To get the idea of the way the language is spoken and the different nuances to it, I watch a lot of Japanese cinema and television,” she said. “Plus, out of around the 1500 songs on my iPod, more than half are in Japanese.”

Cottrill also wishes to study abroad in the Tōhoku, Kansai, or Kanto regions of Japan.

“I want to get a feel of the different dialects so I can get a better idea of what I’d be translating,” she said.

Cottrill plans to attend El Camino for two years then attend San Francisco State after she graduates high school.

“From what I’ve heard and read they supposedly have a very good Japanese language program,” she said. “I plan on majoring in Japanese Language and Literature and minoring in Communications.”

Cottrill’s dream band to translate for is The Gazette.

“I respect them as artists because they try to incorporate English into their songs as well and I think they have a unique sound to them,” she said. “Plus, I have the biggest celebrity crush on their lead singer, Ruki.”

Cottrill insists that though her intended career is out of the ordinary, it’s still her dream.

“I’m willing to do all the work to get there,” she said. “After all, it’s my dream.”

Page

Features

6

January 15, 2010

Administration deals with incidents of cheating nAssistant Principal John Newman and various other administrators reflect on the school’s cheating policy.

by Cammille Mitchell

Although the school is currently undergoing a revision of the discipline procedures, the policies on cheating remain intact and still apply.

Cases of cheating which are reported to the assistant principals by teachers, are handled through a consistent and appropriate process, according to Assistant Principal John Newman.

Principal Mary Little, along with the assistant principals have decided to revise the discipline matrix and improve any faulty procedures to ensure its effectiveness. “[The discipline matrix] is mildly effective because parts of it are somewhat vague and it’s not enforced by all staff.

It’s very extensive and we’d like to create some procedures that would be much more clear for all staff to understand and adhear to,” Newman said.

In order to make the discipline procedures more effective, Newman plans to maintain consistency in the enforcement of the policies.

“There’s not always a clear understanding who is responsible for administering consequences and what those consequences should be,” Newman said.

After a student is caught cheating, the teacher is responsible for administering action toward the incident and deciding what further actions should be taken to deal with the incident.

“For cheating, the teacher is to call home and have a discussion with the parent or guardian explaining what happened, what kind of assignment it was, in general having a discussion about the offense,” Newman said.

In regard to the student’s cheating they also receive a zero on the assignment even if it is the first time offense.

Counselor Linsey Gotanda believes the school should be more strict when dealing with incidents of cheating.

“I personally believe we’re too lenient,” Gotanda said.

If a student continues to have an issue with cheating, then the consequences become more serious and may possibly result in a five day suspension as well as failure of the course.

Following the event of a student cheating on an assignment, their teacher may send them to see their counselor to discuss the problem.

When teachers refer cheaters to the student’s counselor, they will go over different types of cheating as well as the academic honesty policy.

“I do this so that students realize the difference between right and wrong because often times they tell me they didn’t know it was wrong,” Counselor Linsey Gotanda said.

After a student is referred from their teacher to their counselor for cheating, the student is adverted to one of the three assistant principals, depending on their last name.

In the event that the assigned assistant principal is not available, then one of the remaining assistants principals will handle the matter.

“For the most part we try to break it up so one person isn’t doing all the discipline,” Newman said.

In disciplinary cases that have questionable violations, the assistant principals and Little consult each other and discuss the situation before deciding the consequence.

“We have spent considerable time discussing different behaviors and determining the consequences for each of the behaviors,” Newman said.

Even after a student who has cheated deals with all of the official repercussions, Newman believes they still have to face many other consequences with their own character. In the long run, cheaters are actually hurting themselves, according to Newman.

“They are cheating themselves with what they could have learned and from enhancing their education and future,” Newman said.

Cheating the system Teachers take precautions to prevent cheating

by Melissa Rosero

What compels a student to cheat? Is it the stress, the easy access to pre-written materials from web sites, or is it just plain laziness? Whatever the reason may be, teacher Philip Comito has had to reenforce his cheating policy due to an increase in academic dishonesty within his AP United States history classes.

“I have caught more students cheating

this year in the first semester than I have in any whole year in the past,” Comito said.

Most of the cheating in Comito’s class comes from the plagiarism of homework assignments.

“This year I did have ten students turn in the exact same homework and try to pass it off as their own. Some changed the font; others changed the format, ei-

PHOTO BY ERIKA GAVITT

Teacher Phillip Comito lectures his fifth period advanced placement United States history class on the consequences of cheating.

He decided to educate his students on the topic after a number of his students cheated on a homework assignment.

ther bullet pointing or writing in paragraphs, but word for word it was the exact same answers and they all made the exact same spelling and punctuation errors,” Comito said.

Last week, in response to this incident, Comito had to have a discussion in every class about the consequences of cheating.

“Mr. Comito took around 15 minutes asking students what they thought were appropriate consequences for cheating and followed by explaining the consequences and the seriousness of the issue, making it very clear that there was a difference between working together and using someone else’s work,” Comito’s student, Anna Barclay said.

Comito believes cheating also effects his relationship with students and the way he sees them.

“I hate catching students cheating and, I hate enforcing the consequences when I do,” Comito said. “I definitely lose trust in those students, and it’s hard for me to vouch for their character and integrity when other teachers, coaches, and college recruiters ask me about them.”

He hopes that his students realize that last week’s class discussion was meant as a warning to any future attempts to cheat in his class, and any class for that matter.

“He has made it clear that such large

scale incidents of cheating should never happen again and will not be tolerated again,” Barclay said.

He gave the discussion not only to prevent future instances of academic dishonesty, but to make students realize that cheating, whether it be on a homework assignment or on a test, is a serious offense that should never happen twice.

Contrary to Comito’s method for preventing academic dishonesty, chemistry teacher Anita Stoddard has taken precautions since the begining of her teaching career.

“I have different versions of each test and stagger them throughout the class,” Stoddard said. “This has proven to be very effective because I catch students cheating from form A to form B, making it easy to determine the culprits.”

Stoddard believes that the consequences of cheating need to make a clear statement that “cheating is inappropriate under any circumstances” because it isn’t just unfair to other students who have taken the time to learn the material.

She also believes that the students who cheat in school are ultimately cheating themselves.

“I believe that high school is a training ground for students and teachers have a huge responsibility in promoting good citizenship and I’ve always been a strong promoter of that,” Stoddard said.

Academic dishonesty affects student-teacher relationships

by Annica Stitch

It’s the beginning of class and all the students frantically shove their homework assignments into the bin, but later two students get their assignments back with zeros.

“Copying homework [gets students a] zero for the homework points, and I put a note on their homework paper that they copied and they get no points,” physiology teacher Dr. Steve Brown said.

Getting caught cheating not only affects a student’s grade, but it can also affect their relationship with their teacher.

“I tell [students] ‘If I catch you cheating, then you have demonstrated to me that you have a lack of respect for me and for the material that I’m presenting,’” Brown said.

Junior Nicole Resynoso, having cheated on a geometry test last year, believes that a

student getting caught cheating should not affect the student-teacher relaionship.

“I suppose some teachers could think that [cheating is disrespectful], but in my

“I tell [students] ‘If I catch you cheating, then you have demonstrated to me that you have a lack of respect for me and the material that I’m presenting.”

—Dr. Brown opinion, it doesn’t really have anything to do with them; it’s between the students and the material and whether they understand it

or not so [teachers] shouldn’t feel that way,” she said.

She explains what prompted her to cheat.

“The girl behind me seemed like she knew what she was doing, so I decide to copy her,” Reynoso said. “It was the next day in class and the student teacher waited until the end of class to pull both me and the other girl aside. She showed us our tests and how they were exactly the same,” Reynoso said.

The difficulty of material or lack of preparation leads some students to cheat, despite a teacher’s warnings, according to Reynoso. “[I cheated] on a test that I didn’t have time to study for,” Reynoso said. “The teacher and I were totally fine after...She clearly stated that it was unacceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated. On the other hand, she let us keep our grades that we got on the

test but fairly warned us that if it happened again, we would both get zeros.”

Brown reacts much differently when he catches a student cheating.

“My interaction with [students] becomes significantly modified [after I discover that they have cheated],” Brown said.

Junior Daniel Valencia was also caught cheating.

“My freshman year I got caught plagiarizing on a research project,” he said. “My teacher reported it to administration and I am on a contract with Redondo to this day.

If I get caught cheating again I can be suspended.”

Reysono understands how a teacher might be upset with a student.

“If the student continues to cheat then I could see a teacher maybe holding a permanent grudge upon the student,” Reynoso said.

Sports

January 15, 2010

Page

Basketball loses to PV, faces Peninsula

by Claire Chiara

The girls’ basketball team lost 52-38, against Palos Verdes on Tuesday.

According to coach Marcelo Enriquez, the team expected it to be a very tough game.

“We fought, and for the most part, it was a close game,” he said.

Throughout the first half, the team managed to keep up with PV, and even ended the half with a one point lead.

However, the team did not execute their plays as well in the second half, according to Enriquez. “[The team] was physically fatigued,” he said. “They just ran out of gas.”

“Our coach knows what we’re capable of, and we couldn’t come through. ” —Erica Hepperle The team also attributes its loss to mistakes it typically does not make. The players consistently missed their shots and had trouble gaining control over the ball.

“We definitely did a poor job of rebounding,” Enriquez said.

As the team made mistakes in its game, the girls became frustrated, causing their performance to continue to worsen.

“You could sense the frustration among everyone,” senior Alex Washington said.

“We wanted it so bad.”

According to senior Erica Hepperle, the team battled throughout the whole game, but wasn’t able to pull out the win.

PV took the upper hand in the game by

capitalizing on the girls’ mistakes.

“We got fatigued toward the end of the game,” Hepperle said. “And when we rested, they would score.”

Enriquez believes that PV had some advantages the girls’ did not expect.

“They were better skilled than us offensively,” he said.

The girls were disappointed with the outcome because they believed they were not playing up to their full potential.

“We were all pretty upset,” Hepperle said.

“We know we can beat Palos Verdes and we expected to win. We just need to all get on the same page and play as one.”

The team also felt that it let its coach down. Enriquez told the girls to hold Palos Verdes to 38 points, but they ended the game giving up many more.

“Our coach knows what we’re capable of, and we couldn’t come through,” Hepperle said.

The team’s next game will be tomorrow against Peninsula.

In order to prepare, coach Enriquez will subject the team to tougher practices.

“We need to focus on the fundamentals, improving our strengths, and fixing our weaknesses,” he said.

The girls’ ultimate goal is to improve after this loss and win Bay League.

“We focus on the goals coach Enriquez gives us,” Hepperle said. “And he told us we’re capable of winning [Bay League].”

The team acknowledges that the game tomorrow against Peninsula will be a difficult one.

“The Panthers play well at home,” Enriquez said. “They’re focused and mentally tough.”

Soccer is 4-6 in season

by David Kawa

PHOTO BY DANIEL FALLON

During a preseason game against Santa Monica, junior Rachel Scarlett drives to the basket.

Enriquez also believes there will be a lot of fan support for Peninsula that the team will have to withstand.

However, the girls are not discouraged.

“We have high expectations,” senior Jessyca Kamel said. “We’re just going to take [the game against PV] as a learning experience.”

our match against PV and work on those.”

When playing against such a “powerhouse,” it was difficult to get the girls motivated, according to team captain senior Kambria Diers.

“Going in we knew we were going to lose, but at the same time you don’t want to embarrass yourself,” Diers said.

Berger believes that a big factor in PV’s success is its strong club teams that feed into the high school.

have as much experience as they do.

The girls, however, are trying to put the game in the past.

“Basically the game turned into a good workout,” Diers said. “All we can do is focus on improving and finishing League strong.”

The girls face another challenge next Monday, playing rival Mira Costa for the first time this year.

“Although Mira Costa is a very competitive team, we always seem to get to the next level against them,” Diers said.

While the girls hope to beat their rivals, Costa has historically played at the same caliber as PV. “Frankly, Costa’s really good. It’s going to be a really tough game and we need to play way better than we did on Monday if we want to stand a chance,” Diers said.

Alumnus Mariah Obear, who has been practicing with the girls, has seen improvement with the team.

“If we keep up the hard work, and the girls consistently come to practice, they have a real good chance of making it to CIF,” she said.

The girls’ main focus is beating Peninsula and West, and qualifying for CIF. “At this point, we can only improve,” Diers said. “We need to step it up in practices and start competing for real.”

Water polo prepares for game against Costa

by Adam Ammentorp

After losing 21-0 to Palos Verdes on Monday, the girls’ water polo team is looking to improve before its game against Costa.

“Palos Verdes has an amazing water polo program and they have been Bay League Champs for the past couple of years,” coach Danielle Berger said. “We’re hoping to pinpoint mistakes we shouldn’t have made in

“Frankly, Costa’s really good. We need to play better if we want to stand a chance.”

—Kambria Diers

PHOTO BY DANIEL FALLON

Junior Emily Ewart attempts to steal the ball from an opposing player at the wing position in a game against Palos Verdes.

7

“PV has great feeder programs. They have a club team that is coached by the head water polo coach and is made up of almost all PV players,” Berger said. “They have experience playing together all year long and working with the same coach.”

Although many girls on the Redondo team play club, few have played before before high school.

“We have a major disadvantage against teams like PV,” Diers said. “We just don’t

Boys' soccer lost 3-0 to Palos Verdes on Tuesday. They are keeping their heads high in hopes of a victory against Peninsula today.

Senior Micheal Lunny feels the team started out with a positive attitude, but that it lost their morale.

“We came out with a lot more intensity [than our last game], but after they scored the first goal, we lost morale. We lost our motivation the more they scored,” he said.

Junior Nich Graham agrees with Lunny.

“We just lost intensity. The first 15 minutes we were playing a lot better, but then after [we fell behind] we just collapsed,” Graham said.

The team was hurt when goalkeeper junior Kevin Tom was slide-tackled and injured by an opposing player's cleats. This flagrant foul was overlooked and angered the team, according to Lunny.

“It was an obvious foul, and the referee didn't call it. It just shows how much of an impact referees have on the game,” Lunny said.

Graham was also frustrated by the missed call. “[The foul] should have at least been a yellow,” he said.

However, Tom sees that this misfortune had a positive effect on his teammates.

“I think the team did focus a little bit more because they wanted to get [Palos

“We lost motivation the more they scored. ” —Michael Lunny Verdes] back for [my injury],” he said.

According to junior Baron Abramowitz, the team needs to work on its communication.

“We keep our heads down and no one calls out for the ball. We're not on the same page,” he said.

Tom feels the team would benefit from an improved defense.

“We have to have more discipline on our defense and improve our first touch,” he said.

A change in attitude, according to Lunny, will aid the team in its second half mentality.

“We need better motivation to just come out with a win at the end of the game. We need to not give up; we need to respond by scoring,” he said.

Lunny believes that that if the team is motiviated, it will improve.

“As the game continues, we need to play with more intensity. We need to pick it up and not just stay at the same level,” Lunny said.

The team has been fixing its flaws and focusing on its next game.

“We will play a lot harder. We need to work on our finishing. We had a lot of opportunities [against PV], but didn't make the goals. If we work on that, we will have a lot more success,” Lunny said.

Despite the loss, Abramowitz feels the team stands a good chance against Peninsula later today.

“If we work hard for the whole game I think we can win. We just keep up the intensity," he said.

Wrestling loses to Mira Costa, 51-30

by Kaitee Scheyer

At last night’s match against Mira Costa, wrestling lost 51-30.

“Individually we had some pretty strong players. Devon Robinson and Blake Harris did great,” junior Brennan Abramowitz said.

Abramowitz, senior Blake Harris and junior Devon Robinson all won in their matches.

Although the team has many young players, Abramowitz believes that it is progressing and that it played well for its first match against Mira Costa.

“The match turned out better than I thought it would,” he said.

Haris also believes that the team did well at the match.

“I am really proud of our young wrestlers because they fought hard and didn’t give up,” Harris said.

Harris also thinks that the match provided wrestlers with more experience.

“I think this match is a start to a great season for this year and the next,” he said.

Last weekend, the team had a tournament

against 16 other schools.

“Due to the budget there were less teams than usual,” coach Arond Schonberg said.

According to Schonberg, the team started out “slow”.

“Regan got hit in the face and had his tooth knocked out,” he said.

Raymond Gandara took third place as a sophomore on varsity, and according to Schonberg, he played exceptionally well.

“The majority of the team tried their best, but we have to push harder if we want to try to beat Peninsula next week. ” —BrennanAbramowitz “He wrestled the best I’ve seen all year.

The whole team was in amazement,” Schonberg said.

Harris and Robinson took second in their weight classes and junior Matt Ulizio

took first in his. “[Matt] is improving tremendously, Brennan Abramowitz, Blake Haris and Devon Robinson are our go to guys. We can always count on them to win matches,” Schonberg said.

Overall the team scored ninety-one points which, according to Schonberg, is good for the team.

According to Senior Kendall Abramowitz, the smaller tournament on Saturday helped the team to focus better on their individual matches.

“The team did really well. We all came together and supported each other; we also has a lot of parents supporting us,” she said.

According to Schonberg, the team has young players. He believes, however, that if they all stick with it they will have a great program in the next couple of years.

As for last night’s tournament, Brennan Abramowitz believes the team did well.

“The majority of the team tried their best, but we have to push harder if we want to try to beat Peninsula next week,” he said.

PHOTO BY ERIKA GAVITT

Freshman Tyler Ingrim has a half nelson and goes for a pin in the match against Mira Costa last night.

Page

Sports

8

January 15, 2009

Basketball wins back-to-back tournaments n After winning two tou-

naments in a row, boys’ basketball continues the winning streak in league.

by Kaelee Epstein

After winning both the Maui Classic and the Sea Hawk Classic the basketball team won their first league game Tuesday night against Palos Verdes High School with a score of 60-42.

The team came out strong in the Maui Classic, not worrying about the competition according to junior Austin Moore.

“It didnt matter who we played in Hawaii, we came out focused for every game,” senior Brandon Trias said.

Despite the result of the Pacific Shores tournament the team knew they could come back strong. They planned to win by not repeating previous mistakes.

“We took the experience from the Pacific Shores Tournament and carried it on to the Hawaii tournament. I think that was the main reason for our improvements,” Trias said.

According to senior Jamar Cannon they have also seen an improvement in their defense going from one tournament to the next.

As a result of an improved defense and the extra confidence that resulted from being undefeated in the Maui Classic, the team won the Sea Hawk Classic.

“We came back from Hawaii really confident and wanted to deliver in the Sea hawk Classic because it was at home and we had something to prove since a lot of people said we only won the Maui Classic because the competition was weak,” Moore said.

The trip to Hawaii also strengthened the teams unity.

“Although winning was good for them, the whole purpose of the trip was to make the boys more bonded and a stronger team,”assistant coach Riggs said.

Although they lost games following the Sea Hawk Classic, the extra confidence from

2.

PHOTO BY CAMI WERNER-LONGO

1. Senior Brandon Trias shoots the ball over a defender during the Sea Hawk Classic tournament. 2. Junior Brandon Boyd shoots the ball over three defenders during the Sea Hawk Classic tournament.

1.

PHOTO BY DANIEL FALLON

the Maui Classic still gave the team a positive attitude entering their first league game.

“Coming into league after two tournament wins we knew we could be successful. The losses gave us the energy and inspiration to come out and play harder to get back on track. They didn’t discourage our confidence; instead the confidence raised our spirits allowing us to enter league with a positive attitude,” junior Brandon Boyd said.

The coaches were excited about the two tournament wins, however they don’t want

the players to get over confident and want them to keep improving.

“It was good that we went undefeated in Hawaii and won the Sea Hawk Classic, but knowing that we have season coming up and that we have a goal to win league my main focus was to keep the team focused on league play,” Riggs said.

At the Palos Verdes game Cannon and Boyd scored the majority of the points, proving to be key players.

“With Brandon’s driving and Jamar’s jump shots we were able to keep the pressure

on PV and win the game,” McMillan said.

The team feels confident about Friday night’s game against Peninsula.

“We should definitely be able to win if we continue to play how we have been the last few weeks. Winning our first two league games would be a great way to start the season,” Boyd said.

Riggs agrees with Boyd and thinks that Friday will be a close game, due to Peninsula’s strong point guard, and shooter.

He thinks that if they can contain those two players the team will win.

According to McMillan they should win friday night as long as they play smart.

“We are our own greatest opponent,” he said. “Our mistakes determine our success.

As long as week keep our mistakes at a low and play like we did in the two tournaments we’ll be pretty good.”

Throughout league the team thinks they have a chance at being successful.

“There are some good teams in league.

Leuzinger will be good, and Costa and Penn have around the same record that we have right now, but we’re looking for a first or second place finish,” Moore said.

The team has high expectations for the rest of the season. Riggs reminds the boys everyday that they need to work hard in order to win.

“It is time to focus and become champions.

It will take discipline, you are only as good as your last game,” Riggs said.

Girls’ soccer loses to PV 3-0

by Madeline Perrault

Girl’s varsity soccer will play against Peninsula tomorrow after losing to PV earlier this week.

“After the referee made an unfair call that was inside the box and there was nothing we could do about it. They just broke us down,” sophomore Samantha Witteman said.

Coach Shelly Marsden agreed that many of the referee’s calls were debatable.

“In our PV game, the ref could have easily called a PK in our favor on a break away but did not and the ref could have easily not called a strange obstruction in our box, but did. That is a 2 goal swing and that’s tough to overcome,” she said.

In addition to some questionable calls by the referees, the team had problems with a few players which led to the 3-0 lose to PV according to Marsden.

“We will need to get healthy,” she said It was the first game back for senior Daniela Mattuci who came back after having pneumonia, and sophomore Erinn Middo who returned after recovering from a concussion that she received earlier in the season.

Not only were the two players recuperating, but two others were also out

with injury.

“Losing [freshman Erin Guernsey] to a concussion in [the South] game and [junior] Patricia Gonzales to an ankle injury after the keeper took her out put us in a bad position,” Marsden said.

Guernsey was a big loss for the teams’ defense.

“It seemed like we were missing someone who could keep up with their main striker,” Marsden said. “She was very needed in the PV game as her speed matches up well against them.”

Guernsey is supposed to be back next week, but they need to take every precaution to remain healthy according to Marsden.

In addition to injury and illness, the girls could not get their shots in the goal, according to junior Katie Teshima.

“We did have a hard time finishing, and [PV’s] defense is really strong,” she said.

The team also lost 2-1 to South last Tuesday.

One of the major problems the team faced against South was their own tactical play.

“Our offense and defense weren’t connecting as well as they usually do, which made it harder to score and defend against them,” Teshima said.

Once South gained a lead for the second time, the team just couldn’t seem to recover according to Witteman.

“They got a cheap goal off a free kick and we couldn’t get back in it,” she said.

Although the team dominated both games, they didn’t get the outcome they wanted.

“That’s soccer. Sometimes you score and sometimes they do. I feel that the girls played well and we know we have what it takes to get in the top three,” Marsden said.

The team made slight adjustments which led to their 2-0 victory over Bishop last Friday.

“We passed and controlled the ball better,” said Wittemen.

Teshima agrees that the team played better against Bishop.

“Everyone just stepped up their game because no one wanted to lose to them,” Teshima said.

Although Witteman will not be playing against Peninsula on Friday because she is travelling to Arizona to play on her ODP [Olympic Development Program] team, she is confident that they can win.

“We need to just play hard and leave everything on the field,” she said.

PHOTO BY ERIKA GAVITT

Sophomore Samantha Whittiman jumps over the Palos Verdes keeper in Tuesday’s home game and dribbles toward the goal. Redondo lost 3-0.

Surf sends shortboarders to Final

by Alex O’Hagen

PHOTO BY ERIKA GAVITT

Shortboarder junior Grant Wessel carves down a wave in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Seven members of the surf team qualified for league finals in Tuesday’s Shortboard League Prelims.

“Seven guys moving on is great for us.”

Senior Whitman Bedwell said.

Coach Congelliere agrees and is happy with the teams outcome at prelims.

“To get seven out of the eight that competed to move on is one of the best showings for shortboard that we’ve had in a while,” Congelliere said.

The morning began with 72 surfers in the water, but later half the competition was eliminated.

This “successful” performance from the shortboard team means that one fifth of Redondo competitors are advancing to League finals.

Along with Bedwell, seniors Kyle Kelbe, Matt Bost, Rick Crammer, and Sky Nelson are also moving on to League Finals. Juniors Grant Wessel and Parker Baker, along with

sophomore Connor Beaty all qualified for the finals as well.

Due to Wednesday’s morning rain, the Prelim rounds for the girl’s, longboarder’s, and body-boarding teams had to be

“The only reason we didn’t take second place in the league was because we started the year with only one girl and it killed us” —Les Congelliere rescheduled.

They will now compete 7:00 am on Friday the 15th at the Hermosa Pier.

“The shortboard team is a pretty talented group of guys. They are experienced and will probably advance all their guys,” said Congelliere.

Despite coming in third in the league

behind Costa and Palos Verdes, the team is still providing some strong competition for their opponents.

They advanced more surfers to the finals than PV was able to. Only Mira Costa matched Redondo’s performance at Prelims.

“The only reason we didn’t take second place in the league was because we started the year with only one girl and it killed us,” Congelliere said.

The League Finals will take place on Saturday, January 23rd. The team will compete against eleven other teams during a series of three heats that will narrow down the competition until a champion is named.

“Mira Costa will be tough competition,” Sky Nelson predicted.

The seniors especially look forward to the challenge of League Finals.

“I just want to do my best,” Bedwell said.

“I’m a senior, so I’m really determined to go far in my last year.”

Features Magazine

Life Edge on the

Goldberg scales rock formations

by Shayna Stuart

She reaches up as the red sandstone slips beneath her.

Panicking she pushes her body up against the rocks to gain leverage. Pulling her body up, she clings to the edge of a boulder. The scenery and thrills of rock climbing have become part of sophomore, Samantha Goldberg’s life.

“I just sort of fell into rock climbing,” Goldberg explains of her hobby.

Goldberg was asked to join the rock climbing team and competed in rock climbing tournaments, after attending the Beach City Rocks’ summer camp.

“I went to a couple of birthday parties at Beach City Rocks, and thought it was kind of cool. I guess they liked what I had to offer them because they wanted me to compete for them,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg and her club team, the Stone Monkeys, climb indoor walls, as well as actual mountains or cliffs.

Goldberg and the Stone Monkeys have since traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, and different climbing locations throughout California.

In competitive climbing, the climbing centers rearrange the holds to create different difficulty levels, which the competitors then try to conquer within certain time limits.

“The hardest holds for me were always the 5.12,” Goldberg said.

Harnesses, special climbing shoes, chalk attached to the harness, and a belay device comprise the mandatory [continued on B8]

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Anchor

January 15, 2010 [High Tide]

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January 15, 2010

The Anchor

n

Entertainment

[Hallelujah, Hallelujah]

by Claire Simon

Rufus Wainwright is a musical jack-of-all-trades--sing- an enthusiastic fan, later joking that they were “distracting er, songwriter, opera composer (no, really)--but simply the audience from [him].” put, he is a performer.

His performance was packed with emotion as well: he His show Saturday at the Terrace Theater in Long made a spirited performance from beginning to end.

Beach confirms this; after releasing five studio albums and Wainwright performed each song with as much emoa smattering of compilations and soundtracks, Wainwright tion and feeling that he did with the last, keeping the is still at the top of his game. packed audience on the edge of their seats.

British duo The Webb Sisters opened up for WainOn his studio albums, Wainwright’s songs are lush, wright, playing a forty minute set of harp-infused folk. complex compositions, but his live renditions are stripped Coming off of a tour with Leonard Cohen recently, down to just the essentials: piano and guitar. While the their impressive musicianship and charming stage pres- studio versions of songs like “Grey Gardens” and “Cigaence left the audience feeling conrettes and Chocolate Milk” are tent, but still waiting in anticipa[Wainwright’s] performance was fantastical sonic adventures, tion for the main attraction. the stark live versions put a nothing less than glorious.

Upon entering the stage, Wainfocus on Wainwright’s inwright wasted no time jumping credible voice and musicianright into “Danny Boy,” off of his his self-titled debut al- ship. bum.

After a beautiful hour-and-a-half long set, WainWainwright represented his discography quite well wright began a three song encore of “Prima Donna,” throughout the show, playing a variety of songs spanning “Going to a Town,” a song off of his most recent his whole career. album.

He also premiered a more conceptual piece (a three part He closed with his most well known song, a composition based on Shakespeare’s sonnets) off of his up- cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” coming album, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, as well Wainwright’s performance was a treat for both as a song from his opera Prima Donna, which premiers old and new fans alike, playing both old favorites in London this spring. and new additions to his growing repertoire. His Wainwright was delightfully candid throughout the performance was nothing less than glorious; he will show; he was not afraid to let a more self-conscious and be back in LA later this year to promote his new alplayful side of him out. bum, and new listeners as well as veteran fans must He made double-entendres regarding beach balls and take the opportunity and see him. cracked Adam Lambert jokes, stopped in the middle of Wainwright’s newest album, All Days Are Nights: “Leaving for Paris No. 2” and replaying it from the begin- Songs For Lulu, is in the final stages of recording ning, and graciously accepted a bouquet of red roses from and is due to release sometime this year.

n Rufus Wainwright provides

an electrifying performance in Long Beach, captivating audiences with his emotional songs.

COURTESY OF RUFUSWAINWRIGHT.COM

Starr disappoints in newest, self-produced effort

by Steven King

Even with a little help from Paul McCartney and Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr‘s latest album, Y Not makes the listener feel like they are forever trapped on a torpedoed Yellow Submarine Ringo Starr has nothing to prove by releasing his new album. Since the start of his solo career in 1970, the iconic Beatles drummer has released countless of average records and guest starred on countless more.

However, Y Not is the first album ever to be completely produced by Starr himself. And it shows.

The album begins with the song “Fill in the Blanks” a heavy rock ballad, which includes back up vocals by Paul McCartney.

Though not spectacular by any means whatsoever, the song remains one of the better tracks of the entire album.

The second song, “Peace Dream” pays homage to the late John Lennon’s signature song “Imagine” by reiterating the hypothetical premise of world synchronicity over and over again.

Enter “Walk With You,” as the best song

of the album (though still not great), it has a catchy chorus, and also decent bass playing. This song successfully separated itself from the rest by adding a memorable set of lyrics.

Another note worthy song in the album was “Y Not”.

Solid vocal work by Starr coupled with good all around guitar work make “Y Not” one of the best songs of “Y Not” It is remarkable that a man at age 69 can still sing and right music as well as Ringo can.

Make no mistake, there are many Beatle like qualities noticeable on the album, however, the album has none of the charm that past albums did.

As a huge Beatles fan myself, I love the idea of loving “Y Not,” however, the fact remains, an average album combined with mediocre songwriting makes the entire production not worth the time. This one will have to remain in the Octopus’s Garden.-

Y- N o t , S t a r r ' s first attempt at self-producing, provides an all around mediocre experience, with a few shining gems, like the title track.

COURTESY OF RUFUSWAINWRIGHT.COM

The Anchor

n

Entertainment

Culture

S hoc k

by Alex Curtis

The hallway is crowded and filled with people of all sorts: ninjas, schoolgirls, mages. Their voices jumble in the small area and reverberate off the walls, making them all the more unintelligible. Everyone is heading in different directions but, like ants, they are sure of their destination.

There is music playing faintly beneath the rumbling, but from where would be impossible to determine.

Anime Los Angeles (ALA) is a convention at the LAX Marriot and focuses primarily on Japanese comics and animations.

The convention, which takes up the entire bottom floor of the hotel and a good portion of the rest, is relatively small for the city it’s in.

ALA has a couple thousand attendees compared to the larger local convention, Anime Expo, which had about 44,000 last year.

Because of the smaller amount of people, most of whom live in the area, it is the perfect place for new cosplay costumes.

“I always think of ALA as where I can test my cosplays,” Senior Alexis Lucio, who has been to nine other conventions, said.

Although it is a good environment to test costumes, doing too many in a single weekend can be stressful, according to Lauren Loo, junior.

“Don’t cram too many costumes at once because, if you do, you’ll crash and burn and die,” Loo, a veteran of seven other conventions, said.

Cosplayers take their costumes very seriously.

“I find cosplay sort of like a job, in a way,” Lucio said.

People in costume are everywhere. Finding someone dressed as a character they like helps attendees meet new people, gives them a reason to go up to someone they’ve never met.

“It’s a lot of fun to see things that are beautiful, funny, or your favorite character,” Loo said.

Junior John Ly, who has been to one other convention, turned heads with his eccentric costume.

He was dressed as a character named Lyrica PrismRiver from the game series Project Touhou, but the part of his costume that stood out was an added horse head.

“I wasn’t just wearing that for fun.” Ly explains, “The horse head is symbolic.”

A lot of the costumes people wear were made themselves or by close friends. Lucio makes all her own costumes and

COURTESY OF ALEX CURTIS

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COURTESY OF JOHN LY

4.

n

B3

n Anime Los Angeles, a local anime convention,

provides entertainment and a sense of community for cosplayers: people who enjoy dressing up as characters from Japanese cartoons.

some of her friends’.

“I always expect to do better with each cosplay I make,” Lucio said.

Loo made her first costume after taking Fashion Design 101 her freshman year.

“That was so helpful, I ended up teaching Alexis [Lucio] how to sew,” Loo said.

Another feature of the convention is the masquerade, a showcase of skits; some funny, some dramatic, some adorable.

“Everyone’s always so energetic,” Loo said.

Along with the masquerade, at every convention there is a dealer’s hall and an artist’s alley, a popular venue.

Ly spent his first convention at AX and was disappointed by what ALA had to offer.

“There wasn’t much for the collector; there weren’t many rare things.”

In the artist’s alley, artists can set up booths and sell drawings and crafts.

The artist’s alley provides a venue for aspiring artists to display and sell their works. “[The artists are] about our age and need the money, so instead of giving money to a big company, I can give it to an artist to help support their family or college tuition,” Lucio said.

Overall, ALA provides a cozy and friendly atmosphere.

“You can basically start up a conversation with anyone there because, for the most part, they’re very open people.”

Lucio wants to continue going to conventions and cosplaying through college, and possibly beyond.

“I’d like to do something like this with my kids,” she said.

Loo is aware that some people may find her hobby strange.

“As long as I’m having fun,” she said, “I don’t really care what everyone else thinks.”

However, to these people, Cosplaying is more than wearing a costume.

“Over the years, cosplay has made me realize who I am by making me realize who I’m not,” Lucio said.

3.

January 15 , 2010

2. Cosplayers gather in the bottom floor of the LAX Marriot. The small venue provided a sense of community. 3. Cosplayers brought props to adorn their outfits.

4. Ly put a horse head on top of his outfit as joke about the "grazing" system found in the game "Project Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View."

1.

1. Junior John Ly's eccentric costume, as Lyrica "Horseriver" from the Project Touhou game series, turned heads, but Ly doesn't think it's all that strange.

"Cosplaying is something that seems weird to our culture," he said. "But it's like any other hobby."

COURTESY OF JOHN

LY

The Anchor

B5

In-Depth

n

Volunteering in Fijian villages proved to be worthwhile experience for Cross

by Michael Cross

I stepped out of the plane and into a whole new part of the world. It was nothing like what I knew. It was a third world country, I didn’t speak the language, and I was with a group of people I just met. I was going to spend the next two weeks trekking through the Fijian hills, from village to village, embracing this new culture.

This summer I traveled with Adventures Cross Country, on a community service trip, and I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to a third world country, nor had I ever traveled without my family.

The experience was an eye opener to say the least. Here I was, a white boy from southern

First Person

California, and here were these indigenous villagers who grew up working the land.

While trekking around Fiji, we stayed in several villages. Each village was a new experience for me. We slept in cold, metal huts on the hard wood floor.

We ate cold food and drank dirty, iodized water. Our legs were cut up and sore from hiking through the jungle. I had never experienced this way of life, yet it never seemed to faze the villagers.

The villagers were missing teeth, rarely showered, and had very few changes of clothes.

They had hard, leathery hands and their feet had tough enough calluses to walk on fire, and they proved it. They ate just enough to survive.

Every night we would enter a new village.

We had just completed our hike through the

Fijian hills, pulling people out of mud two feet deep, walking through rivers with our backpacks above our heads, sliding down mountainsides grabbing onto eachother in desperation, and all we wanted to do was sleep.

But as soon as we started getting close to the village, little children would pop out of nowhere and start walking with us. Some would hold our hands, others would skip along next to us, but all of them had never been happier.

We got to spend the rest of the night playing with a whole village and we didn’t even feel tired.

Volunteering in this desolate place is an experience I will never forget. We taught English to the little kids, built a path to provide a safe walkway in times of flooding, and we got to spend our evenings with grateful Fijians.

Giving back to a group of people who truly

Shor and her family run charity to help Israelis in need

deserves it is something that words cannot describe.

The uplifting experience you get when you get to see the joy in the children’s face you’re helping is well worth the 14 hour flight, five days of trekking through the jungle, and getting food poisoning several times throughout the trip.

by Danny Garzon

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1. Senior Michael Cross traverses a river in Fiji.

2. Trekking through the Fijian mountains made Cross and the other volunteers dirty, as seen in their mud-covered boots. 3. While in the South Pacific, Cross was able to witness many Fijian ceremonies and observe the culture. Here a Fijian man stands on hot coals.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL CROSS

Even in these times of economic distress, people are still finding ways to give back.

Junior Odelya Shor gives back by volunteering in Israel with her family. Her family runs a non-profit organization called Exodus Ltd., which has adopted underprivileged children’s centers and army bases to care for in Israel.

“We buy toys, clothes and school supplies for the kids centers. Some of the children’s centers have really severe cases of child abuse and poverty and it”s heartbreaking,” she said.

At the children’s centers, needy children receive care and a safe place to be after school.

They also receive a hot meal, which for some is the only hot meal that they can get.

“Some of [the children’s] stories are so heart wrenching, but most of them are so sweet and so happy and have a real love for life. I think [that] they realize that life can throw hard knocks at you but they know that they still have hope. When I go I love to watch them embrace every minute and they’re so grateful and sweet,” Shor said.

Shor says that the gratitude goes both ways.

“They impact my life so much, because just the thought of these children whose lives have already given them obstacles gives me

HELPING WITH A

HUMANITARIAN HAND Students venture to all corners of the world to help those in need and make a difference.

Beck’s connection to Haiti and its people runs deep

by Ramya Bhaskar

Although many students are often ignorant to the damage wrought by global natural disasters, senior Lauren Beck has a unique connection to the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Through Child Hope International (CHI) and her church, Beck has been able to work at the Maison de Lumiere orphanage in Port au Prince three times over the past year, including a visit just a month ago.

“I didn’t realize how severe [the damage] was at first until I turned on CNN and saw the story,” Beck said. “I was in shock at first; it didn’t really register, and then it hit me and I felt sick to my stomach and couldn’t even

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1. Haitian children, dressed in uniforms, prepare for school.

2. A view down a street in Haiti. Although not pictured, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused massive damage to the country on Tuesday. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and the earhquake reduced most of the country’s buildings to rubble. 3. Senior Lauren Beck stands with schoolchildren at the Maison de Lumiere Orphanage in Haiti. 4-5.

Haitian children smile for the camera. 6. Haitian teens listen attentively to their teacher in the classroom. Beck has been to the orphange in Haiti three times in the past year to help care ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAUREN BECK for the children.

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eat dinner.”

Beck worked in a medical clinic while in Haiti. She cared for over 90 patients every sixhour shift she worked.

The Manassero family, who runs the Maison de Lumiere orphanage, also conducts a meal program for over 100 children, a program in which Beck also helped run.

“This is the only meal that many of these kids get because they live in such poverty,” Beck said.

Haiti was eye-opening for Beck. She was able to both explore the nursing field and help children– two things that she enjoys.

“The amount of hardship there really impacted me and made me thankful for everything that I have here, yet it was also amazing to see all the joy that the people have,” Beck said. “Even with basically nothing, many of them are friendlier and happier than many Americans are, who have so much.”

However, because much of Haiti is heavily underdeveloped, contacting and aiding the quake victims has been immensely difficult.

Beck has been attempting to contact the Manasseros, whom she knows very well, since Tuesday, the night of the quake.

“I’ve only been able to talk to one person there, and even he didn’t have very much information about the Manassero family who run the orphanage,” Beck said. “It was irritating trying to contact them– the long distance numbers are out of order and everyone is relying on me for status updates.”

Beck longs to go to Haiti to help rebuild and make a difference.

“I wish so much that I could be there right now to help out somehow, because the Haitian people are very important to me, and even when I am here, I want to be there,” Beck said.

Fortunately, the Manassero orphanage reported that despite serious damage to homes, none of the children in their care had been harmed, except for one whose leg was broken due to a wall that fell.

“Unfortunately, we are running seriously low on med supplies, food and other items to help care for the injured and their families.

We cannot even conceive how we will make the building repairs needed,” Bill Manassero said in a statement.

The orphanage will continue to operate even in light of the damage to the facilities.

“All our children are sleeping outside in ‘the bins’ (our sports center) because they are afraid of the aftershocks,” Manassero said.

Initially, Beck was hesitant of speaking about her experience in Haiti. However, the earthquake prompted her to speak.

She is grateful for the opportunity to shed light on the country’s impoverishment and spark more awareness in the community about the plight of the Haitian people.

“Everyone has this negative view of Haiti and I just want them to see past the voodoo, the history of violence, the poverty and even

the victims of an earthquake, and see [the Haitians as people] who are friendly and strong willed, and who love each other and have an amazing sense of community,” Beck said.

Beck stresses the need to assist the Haitian people, who are in desperate need of help.

“We should be wanting to help them out of [this] natural disaster and see them as real people– not as a lower caste.”

hope and makes me so grateful. I pray for the children, that their lives will be everything they dream to be and that they keep their smiles and their faith,” she said.

In addition to the children’s center, Exodus Ltd. has also adopted to care for army bases in Israel.

“We raise money to fund [the soldier’s] warm clothes like sweatshirts and thermals because it gets really cold in the winter and their living conditions are very minimal. We get to go into the army bases and talk to the soldiers and spend time with them as well,” Shor said.

Shor has been taken aback by how young the soldiers are and how much they’re forced to grow up once they enter the military.

“They may be soldiers but they are not much older than me, and [they] have already seen so much. Some of them are just out of school, and they have such responsibilty and have to experience so much,” she said.

On her last trip, Shor met soldiers in a tank unit and was shown around their barracks.

“They told me [that] they had been some of the soldiers that had last entered Gaza. They told me they had to stay in the tanks for days on end, three of them in a tiny confined area, eating packaged food like chips,” she said.

Shor reflects on the positive impact that giving back has brought for her.

“When I go to Israel, it’s always an eye opening experience to see the children that have had so much of a harder life than me and yet still can see the beauty in life and be happy with their blessings. And the soldiers, not much older than me, who have to see war, I have a real love for them and admire the pride to serve their country. Both the children and the soldiers have without a doubt changed my life,” Shor said.

GRAPHIC BY MOLLY SIMON

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The Anchor

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Entertainment

Vampire Weekend’s new album lacks unique sound

by Ulises Gonzalez

Its first, self-titled album made them one of the most popular bands in the indie music scene. With its latest album released, the question comes up: can Vampire Weekend live up to its reputation? Its latest album, Contra, might not be the answer some fans are hoping for.

In other words, fans are going to have to keep an open mind in order to like this album. The opening song on Contra, “Horchata,” has the same type of upbeat blend of guitar and keyboard for which Vampire Weekend is known.

“Horchata” essentially sums up the entire album: lots of pop, tropical sounding melodies and not very much lyrical substance.

Although it is one of the singles off the album, it does not really stand out from the rest of the album. At times it is hard to distinguish between the songs on the album since the majority of them sound so similar. In fact, the album in general sounds like an extension of the first album, only it is nowhere near as good.

Something on Contra that does differ from the first album is the use of more “synth” type sounds on most of the tracks, giving it a more new-age, electric sound.

“Giving Up The Gun,” for example, sounds much more like a song off of a New Order album rather than one by Vampire Weekend.

The mix of more electronicbased sounds with the “Vampire Weekend sound” makes for an in-

teresting sound on tracks such as “Diplomats Son,” and “I Think Ur a Contra.”

And now for the not-so-good side of Contra. For one, the lyrics for every song on the album are complete gibberish that make no sense at all, whether you analyze them or simply listen.

It seems as if Ezra Koenig, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, just decided to mash up words that rhymed and sang them along to the melody of each song. Where the album lacks in

substance of lyrics it makes up for in catchy melody.

Overall, Contra is not a bad album at all. It essentially has everything included in a good indie album, except for lyrics that make sense of course. Unfortunately, Contra does not show much improvement from the band’s first studio album.

There were twice as many singles on the first album as on their latest, and it was overall just a more memorable album. Contra seems more like background music rather than music to which you sit down and really enjoy.

Contra’s sound is very similar to that of Vampire Weekend’s previous album, although it lacks any stand-out songs that give the album an overall mood. The lack of identity will hold the album back from making it to the top of the charts.

Regardless, Contra is still an album worthy of a good listen. It has plenty of potential, even if it does exist in the very large shadow of Vampire Weekend’s remarkable first studio album.

WWW.VAMPIREWEEKEND.COM

Green rocks solo concert at Roxy Theatre

by Casey Smith

Silence fell over the audience while the first band clears off the stage. Too anxious not to make a sound, fans start to chant his name. As a head peaks around the corner, screams come from every direction and smiles spread across faces. Anthony Green steps out with his arms spread wide and a guitar hanging over his dingy colored vest. As he reaches center stage, the restless crowd budges forward with one last push before Green grabs the mic and sings the first song of the night.

Singer/songwriter Anthony Green played at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood on Dec. 30.

Green’s extraordinary voice sets him apart from other singers played on the radio these days. He reaches peaks with his high-pitched vocal range that most men could only dream of having and isn’t the least bit ashamed.

Green not only has the luxury of being a solo artist but is currently the lead singer of Circa Survive and a vocalist for the prog-rock band The Sound of Animals Fighting. He was also the ex-lead vocalist for the band Saosin, as well as many little obscure bands.

The genre of music Green is affiliated with is best

described as post-hardcore or progressive rock.

Throughout the show, Green would perform alone on stage with his guitar, then with his band, then alone again, giving the audience a good feel of what he’s really about, since he both plays a solo career and fronts Circa Survive.

Green also seemed to love the crowd participation when he sang. Many times he would ask the fans to sing out the lyrics, then would point the microphone towards them.

Song after song was pure intelligence and kept me wanting more. The audience quickly began singing louder and louder just to keep up with the people next to them.

Green was very animated in playing his music, moving about the stage in a frenzy. One second he would be front and center, and the next, Green was either stepping out into the audience or was being pulled in by groupies who wanted to be closer to the musician.

Anthony Green is currently on the brink of releasing a third studio album with his band Circa Survive. The untitled album should be coming out in spring of 2010, according to rumor, but Green and the band will release more information later this month.

WWW.ANTHONYGREENSCHILDREN.COM

Green balances his solo on-stage performances and Circus Survive play time.

The Anchor

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Entertainment

January 15, 2010

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// Lightning Reviews //

B7

Nine Daniel Day-Louis plays the lead role of Film Director Guido Contini, who is put under stress by his producer to begin production on his new film. However, Contini has yet to begin writing the script for his new movie, much less begin filming. Contini pressures himself to create a film worthy of praisein order to live up to the standards of his previous films. Contini struggles to re-evaluate and balance his relationships with the various women in his life.

Despite an A-class cast and first-rate acting, Nine is ultimately an empty movie, much like the character it is about. Nine lacks substance, but a has a whole lot of style. embodies the flamboyant lifestyle of a man plagued by his vices.

The musical numbers are empty and flashy, and occur in an out-of-place manner, giving the film a sense of surrealism that is amplified by the fact that Contini often engages in conversation with his deceased mother.

When one leaves the theatre, the question, “What’s the point?” comes to mind. The film fails to keep the attention of the audience, and although the plot was adequate and the acting was good, overall Nine still seemed hollow. Nine simply does not establish an adequate connection between the characters and the filmgoers. Two stars.

–Garrett Gutierrez

Of the Colour of the Blue Sky

Daybreakers

Leap Year

After hearing the first few songs on OK Go’s new album, Of the Colour of the Blue Sky, one will simply think, “Here it goes again.”

Nearly all of the songs sound exactly the same, but the classic pop-rock genre that is consistent in previous OK Go albums was nowhere to be found here. Instead, they shift to a tone that can be found in The Flaming Lips or Pink Floyd.

Songs such as “White Knuckles” and “End Love” are host to insipid lyrics and spacey music.

On a different note, the entire message of the album is optimistic as almost all of the tracks on the CD relate to peace and love.

The lead vocals of front man Damien Kulash are perhaps the only redeeming quality of the entire album. Overall, the album was a disappointment.

–Steven King

At last, a movie not about introverted, glittery teenage boys, lovesick werewolves or sparkle fairies.

Daybreakers, while giving the sane a vampire movie to get excited about, gives the public a much neededego boost.

In the year 2019, vampires have taken over much of earth, but the human blood supply is dwindling, causing mutations and worldwide blood famines across the world. However two human refugees have discovered a potential cure, and blood hematologist Edward Dalton [Ethan Hawke] is presented with the option of either curing vampirism or finding a blood substitute.

The movie is definitely a must-see for anyone who is exhausted by overplayed vampire plots and looking for something fresh.

–Ramya Bhaskar

Leap Year’s hackneyed plot and typical comedygenre characters make it a passable romantic comedy.

Anna (Amy Adams) flies to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on Feb. 29, the only day Irish folk tales say a woman may propose.

She enlists the help of the brooding Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her across Ireland. The two develop a fondness for each other, which poses problems for Anna’s plan.

The comedy routines that the two perform are overused, typical of most romantic comedies as there are only so many jokes on a subject.

The stunning Irish countryside and Adams’ cute personality is not enough to save the cliché script and almost-funny jokes. Save your money and watch a romantic comedy you already own.

–Shannon Bowman

Youth in Revolt

OKGO.NET

After playing Juno’s Paulie Bleaker and Superbad’s Evan, Michael Cera is a master of being an awkward adolescent male.

As Nick Twisp in Youth in Revolt, Cera’s performance is average. Nick Twisp is a typical Cera character which is quickly becoming overused.

It’s really not his fault, he just dominates the film.

Even with a mustache and tight pants as his suave alterego François, his awkward comedy falls flat.

Newcomer Portia Doubleday shines as Sheeni, Nick’s uninterested love interest. Supporting actors, such as Jean Smart, Justin Long, and Zach Galifianakis, attempt to bring some actual humor to the movie, but their minor roles do not amount to much.

Simply put, Youth in Revolt is a bad attempt at a pretentious hipster comedy.

–Shannon Bowman

B8 January 15, 2010

The Anchor n Features

[continued from B1]

gear required for climbing. According to Samantha’s mother, Cathie Goldberg, these things don’t run cheap.

“The climbing shoes were the most expensive because you want to get the best brand.

Plus, they have few sizes so they were hard to come by,” Mrs. Goldberg said.

Stephen Goldberg, Samantha’s father, is supportive of her sporting choice, no matter the cost, but has his worries.

“I’m afraid of heights, and it scares the you-know what out of me when she is up on those rocks. I don’t even like looking at the pictures,” Mr. Goldberg said.

Samantha admits that the sport can be a little dangerous, especially outdoors when the spotters can’t really do much for you.

“I just try not to think about that. I shift all my focus on finding the right rocks and finishing the climb,” Samantha said.

Indoor rock climbing and actual cliff climbing are very different according to Samantha.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAMANTHA GOLDBERG

Goldberg and teammate on top of a rock formation.

Indoors, there are different shapes and sizes of “holds” that climbers use to scale the wall. Outdoor climbing forces climbers to be aware of their surroundings and their selection of rocks.

“Indoors, you never have to worry about the stability of a rock. Plus, they are all really colorful,” Samantha said.

Stephen Goldberg prefers the indoor climbing because there is more control of the situation.

“The last thing you want to see is your daughter hanging off a mountain. At least this is a fake mountain with a nice big cushion underneath,” Mr. Goldberg said.

However, Samantha prefers outside climbing because “you have whatever you find. That, in addition to the great views, makes outdoor climbing an absolute blast.”

Climbing not only helps keep Goldberg in shape, but also has helped her make lots of new friends.

“They have their own way of doing things.

They have introduced me to some very creative but crazy things. I guess that’s the part that makes me fit in,” Samantha said.

Although Samantha has taken a break from competing in climbing, she still takes frequent trips to the rock gym.

“I even talked my parents into screwing some “holds” into my wall. So, if I get a little bored, I can climb my wall,” Samantha said.

Deucia continues caving tradition

by Kelsey Chung

Her heart beat loudly under her shirt as she stretched her body and hand out to the small foot hole in the wall.

In her mind she questioned herself, “can I seriously do this?”. Her dad was tiptoeing to hold his daughter’s foot while she reached for the hole.

It was obvious that it was too far of a reach when she grasped the little ledge.

Half dangling in midair and her body stretched out diagonally, her heart dropped when she lost her grasp on the wet, slippery rocks and started to slip down.

Without any harnesses to secure her or a helmet to protect her, she slid down four feet into the unknown and fell on her butt.

Unhurt, she laughed as she stood up from the wet and dirty rocks.

Although it may sound like a nightmare for some people, for Senior Daniella DeLucia, this was just one of her many trips to caves.

Spelunking, or caving, is exploring caves and the different rock formations and crystals that are made in the caves.

“It’s like walking into a mine but one that is made by nature,” DeLucia said.

After her parents married and became passionate about caving, caving has been part of DeLucia’s life even before her birth.

“I started caving basically before I was born.

My mom actually led an expedition when she was pregnant. Everyone told her that she was crazy but she still did it. I first went in when I was three weeks old,” DeLucia said.

Caving for DeLucia has become more than an unusual hobby.

“Once I started, I was like ‘Whoa! Cool!’ but now its more like when my parents talk about really hard caves, I want to go because it’s a challenge to do it and it feels pretty amazing when you come out of a challenging cave,” DeLucia said.

For DeLucia, caving offers her the chal-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANIEL DELUCIA

Delucia was born into a spelunking family with her first expedition taking place while she was in the womb.

lenge and excitement she needs in her life.

“I love the excitement and thrill of it.

And the mystery of not knowing what’s in each cave. Every cave is different. Some are just walk throughs but some have big drops and you have to crawl around,” DeLucia said.

“Most of the time, I’m excited but I do get nervous when there are drops.

Caving also shows the many natural wonders of the world.

“My favorite place is Church Cave because it’s really pretty. Inside, there’s a part called cathedral room. It’s like a big granite room. And in the middle of it, there is an alter looking thing that shines and sparkles. And it’s all nature made,” DeLucia said.

Although caving offers beautiful scenery, the nature made caves can also be a dangerous place.

“It’s definitely a hobby but it’s also one of those things that I’m serious about. You always have to think and you have to be serious about it because you could not come out from

a cave because of one bad move,” DeLucia said. “It’s dangerous because there are sharp rocks everywhere and if a rock from above fell, it could bring you down and you could fall. You always have to be alert and aware of your surroundings,” DeLucia said.

Because of the dangers, the buddy system is required when caving and communication is critical in case of an emergency.

“You have to respond to other people. My dad’s thumb was crushed one time because the person above him failed to warn him that a rock was falling,” DeLucia said.

DeLucia’s family try to plan at least 2-3 trips every year. Although it is possible to sleep overnight in some caves, their trips are mostly one day long.

“I hope that I continue to do this when I’m older. When I have a family someday, I would want them to be involved in it too,” DeLucia said. “The beauty and challenge of [caving] is just amazing, and also humbling knowing that nature created this stuff”

Hazeltine and Caracoza freedive

by Ciara Diaz

Diving into the smooth ocean surface, sophomores Andrew Hazeltine and Tyler Caracoza find themselves in a blue and green paradise, surrounded by kelp and marine life.

Without any underwater gear, Hazeltine and Caracoza freedive into the depths of the ocean, 20 to 60 feet off the Palos Verdes coast weekly, holding their breath, and pushing their bodies to extremes.

“If your body isn’t prepared, then you will pass out 30 feet underwater since you don’t have an air tank.”

According to Hazeltine, the best way to hold your breath for a long time is by relaxing at the surface before each dive for a few minutes to slow down your heart rate.

“My average dive if I don’t relax is about a minute, but if I spend time relaxing on the top I can get two to three minutes on a good day,” Hazeltine said. The same goes for Caracoza.

According to Caracoza, “It is like exploring an unknown world you can’t find anywhere else and it is completely breathtaking.”

It is because of this that Hazeltine and Caracoza fell in love with the sport, even though there are risks, like shallow water blackout which is when a lack of oxygen to the brain causes loss of consciousness toward the end of the dive in water shallower than 16 feet can occur.

Even with its dangers, freediving is very therapeutic experience.

“I freedive because it’s peaceful and it calms me down,” Hazeltine said.

“When you’re down really deep in the kelp, all of the wild life around you hardly knows you’re there,” Hazeltine said, and according to Caracoza, “You see a lot of amazing things when you are down at the bottom.”

According to Hazeltine, “When there are seals, dolphins, and sharks, it makes the experience more fun.”

When the water has little waves, no wind, and good visibility they both Caracoza and Hazeltine usually spearfish while freediving.

“Whenever I want some fish, all I have to do is put on my gear and get in the water,” Hazeltine said.

But according to Caracoza even spearfishing can be dangerous, because if the spear gun is reloaded wrong someone could get hurt.

Even with the dangers involved in freediving and spearfishing, Hazeltine has been freediving frequently since 6th grade, and has only taken one training class.

“There really isn’t any training involved unless you want to become really good,” Hazeltine said. “I’ve had some pretty great times in the water, so the risks are definitely worth it.”

Hazeltine is also aware of how difficult it is when you begin.

“It’s a little discouraging when you can’t really do anything when you start out, but you get better and better, so never give up,” Hazeltine said.