High Tide Sept. 21, 2012 Edition

HIGH

TIDE Redondo Beach, CA // Redondo Union High School Sept. 21, 2012 // Vol. LMXXV // Edition 2

[Hightideonline.org]

OF SOUND THE

by Julie Tran

MUZIK

Eleven hours pass and hunger bites, but he doesn’t eat.

Fatigue takes over, but he doesn’t sleep. For senior Xavier Muzik, there is only thing on his mind. Sitting in the choir room, he and a fellow musician play to the sound of a ticking metronome.

“Think about Monet, his Water Lilies painting,” Muzik tells junior Adam Betancourt as they go over a score he composed.

They are working on a duet together with Muzik at the piano and Betancourt at the contra-alto clarinet, which, by the way, Muzik considers a very beautiful instrument. [story continued on back page]

p2-3//

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is reviewed.

p10-11//

Students break down the best sandwiches of the South Bay.

p12-13//

Junior Sarah Curren is passionate about surfing.

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NEWS // SEPT. 21, 2012

the week in photos.

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Get Involved. 1. (From left to right) Austin Stark, Paolo Ragusa and Chris Ward perform The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). 2. Senior Tyler Takemoto watches as a student signs up for his club, Aspiring Authors. 3. Drama teacher, Justin Baldridge, shows Chris Ward how to put on makeup for the play. 4. Seniors Ethan Pezzolo and Paige Metcalfe throw away trash for Ecology Club’s Coastal Cleanup Day. Photos 1, 2, and 4 by Jenny Oetzell. Photo 2 by Diana Luna

AP Econ will not be taught until next year

By Shivaani Gandhi

All the frazzled parent phone calls, determined student petitions, and unyielding arguments in the world will not change the facts: AP Economics will not be offered to this year’s seniors.

Karen Morris, the former College and Career Center supervisor, retired in June, so administration considered Shannon Rodriguez, former AP Government and AP Economics teacher, as a replacement. “[Rodriguez] has a lot of passion for teaching, so making the decision took a while, but in August she said she believes she will make a greater impact in the College and Career Center,” principal Nicole Wesley said.

AP Government was given to teacher Michael Henges, but there still was no AP

Economics teacher. They advertised the position outside of the district, carefully reviewed the applications, and interviewed 10 people out of the 60 applicants.

“We wanted to hire someone with experience. Out of all the applicants, only one had experience teaching AP, but after [conducting] the interviews, he was not our strongest candidate,” Wesley said.

The strongest candidate was Stephanie Manion, who applied before school started as a substitute teacher. Upon calling references in Long Beach where Manion used to work, Wesley thought she looked “very promising.”

“Having her [as a substitute teacher] is a good way to see how great of a teacher she is,” Wesley said. “It would give us a chance to go into the classroom to see how she’s

doing and how the students relate to her.”

While Manion did not have experience teaching AP, administration decided their first priority was to hire the best teacher possible, even if that meant foregoing the AP course for a year.

“It was a hard decision, and we realized we had to do [the thing] that was going to have the least negative impact on students,” Wesley said.

Taking into consideration the uproar among students about AP Economics, administration wants to emphasize that they did what they felt was best for the majority of the students.

“I don’t want any [students] to think that we made this decision without them in mind. You guys are always the first and foremost factor [for us],” Genovese said.

NEWS // SEPT. 21, 2012

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Link Crew plans to increase activity

By LeAnn Maanum

Panic, fear, desperation--these are just a few of the emotions freshmen go through the first weeks of school. Luckily for them, Link Crew is there to help out. “[Our goal is] to be very helpful to those needing help,” junior Kourtney Noa said about the Link Crew’s role in the student body.

Link Crew’s main focus is to help create an environment where freshmen can adapt to high school. “[If ] certain freshmen do not know where certain classes are or who their counselors are, we help them,” she said, “[We want to] make the freshmen feel comfortable and included in high school.”

One of Link Crew’s new goals this year is to keep in touch with the freshmen throughout the year.

“There was some ongoing connection between the leaders and freshmen last year, but not as much as we would have liked,” sponsor Holly Frame said.

Frame wants Link Crew to be a yearlong program. The goal is to keep leaders and freshmen connected through social and academic activities.

One of these social activities is “Fun Fridays,” which takes place on the last Friday of every month during lunch on the auditorium lawn.

“It just gives us a chance to be able to

Linked In 1. Senior Emil Shallon throws a frisbee during Link Crew’s “Fun Friday.” 2.

Link Crew sponsor Jennifer Wimer and seniors Moiz Ansari and Ashley Bergado show how to lead an “interactive tour.” Photos by Jenny Oetzell.

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have fun at lunch and to just be able to get away from stress,” Noa said.

In addition to leader-freshmen events, there will also be leader-only events.

“These events will build team unity and promote a fun and cohesive spirit among the leaders,” sponsor Sandra Fowles said.

Also new to Link Crew are checklists that leaders have to fill out on the first day of school. These checklists help Link Crew leaders help new students more effectively.

“We wanted to check in with the freshmen right away and set the tone for the year,” Frame said.

Frame also thinks that Link Crew’s

members’ positive attitudes will help freshmen be more comfortable.

“This year’s leaders are enthusiastic and always willing to help out on campus,” Frame said.

Junior and leader Natalie Sisto agrees and believes leaders this year are more motivated.

“It seems like almost everyone in Link Crew this year looks forward to participating in events and helping out,” Sisto said.

With the newly implemented activities and events, Frame hopes to keep Link Crew’s presence on campus well known throughout the entire school year.

Drama performs The Complete Works of Willam Shakespeare (Abridged)

By Jason Rochlin

The lights dim as the costume crew scrambles to get the last bits of clothing onto the actors while the sound cues are being prepared backstage. Now all Justin Baldridge, head of drama, has to do is sit back and watch as the production unfolds.

The fall drama production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) ran four nights starting Sept.

12 and featured junior Paolo Ragusa, senior Austin Stark, and junior Chris Ward.

The trio spent an hour and a half reenact-

ing scenes from all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays.

“I think the fun of the show is that there are only three people and they’re doing all the roles, and these three definitely stepped up to the plate and did a great job in the play, and I’m so proud of them,” said Baldridge.

Both Baldridge and Ward agree that having three actors who are friends made the long rehearsals easier.

“They all get along really well. Paolo, Chris, and Austin were already great friends, so casting them was really a ben-

efit in that perspective. They joke around already, so that helped,” said Baldridge.

In addition to his friends, Ward also credits Baldridge for making the play enjoyable to rehearse for.

“I had an amazing time [working] with [my friends] and a great director, Mr. Baldridge,” Ward said.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was the beginning of the season of theatre for RUHS Theatre Arts.

Look for A Midsummer Night’s Dream coming in November 2012 and Grease coming in March 2013.

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OPINION // SEPT. 21, 2012

Emma’s

Expressions

by Emma Uriarte

Clubs need stricter community service regulations

Walking past students on Club Sign-Up Day is a mess. I practically have to fight my way through a sea of people just to cross the twenty-something feet to the Ecology Club booth.

Every year by the end of lunch, my club has over 100 people signed up. But come Tuesdays, when we meet, there’s about half that number of people who actually show up. Sometimes I wonder if these people got caught up in the madness of Club Sign-Up Day, signing every sheet that is within reach but are too shy to appear at meetings, or if they really don’t care at all and just signed up because their friends convinced them to.

It only gets worse as the year progresses: people drop out until we only have about twenty solid members, and only ten of whom actually perform the necessary community service. It is sad to see so many people lose interest in the club. I know cleaning up beaches when you could be working on a tan is not everyone’s ideal weekend. But even if Ecology Club isn’t for everyone, I hope the students who really do want to help out in the community find a club that allows them to do that.

Even worse than people dropping out of clubs are the people who establish clubs just to say they were a club president on their resumes. People sign up for these clubs, expecting to help the community and get involved, only to find out that the club really doesn’t do much outside of holding meetings for five minutes at lunch. Club members who look forward to volunteering with a club are met with apathy. They become disheartened, losing faith in Redondo’s club system when these “fake” clubs are actually an exception.

ASB spends time and money to facilitate clubs and make them appealing to students, and “fake” clubs compromise their hard work. These “fake” clubs ruin the reputation of clubs that are actually trying to improve the community through providing service.

The regulation of clubs at this school needs to be stricter. Maybe random checkups on meetings are necessary. Maybe the paperwork to start a club needs to be more detailed. Something needs to change.

Students, go to that meeting for the club you signed up for. If that club doesn’t do anything, or even if it just isn’t for you, don’t lose hope. Find a new one or start your own. With so many options here– from B-boy to drama to Halo–there’s bound to be something that fits your interests.

Pro: Enforce clubs to serve the community With today’s high school student focusing solely on performance and achievements, students are increasingly sacrificing their integrity and principles in pursuit of the college of their dreams. How many students become members of clubs that are only facades? The clubs that look “good” on college applications, but have no meaning or relevancy in their Andrew member’s lives. Part of the problem is a lack of acaCzuzack demic integrity, but another part that administration can fix is the lack of meaningful regulations on the club.

The first part of the problem is that students are so concerned with the material, short-term reward, that many of us lose sight of what is truly important. Simply put, character and virtue seems to be less and less important to students than slips of paper. I would rather know that I got into a college based off of my own merits rather than by cheating my way in. Do athlete’s brag when they use steroids to beat other player’s unfairly? Do student’s share with their parents how well they cheated on their test to get a good grade?

Sure, there may be no consequences for putting a club on an application that one wasn’t actually a part of, but if that student feels guilt or shame, it should bother them. They’re cheapening themselves and hurting Redondo’s reputation. Sadly, my condemnation of this

behavior will probably do little our nothing to stop the flow of this behavior at Redondo or anywhere in the country at Redondo. So the best way to end the problem is to tighten up club regulations.

When a club needs only to perform 10 hours of community service and do two fundraisers, the clubs that are duplicitous will thrive. The members will leech off their president and vice president who will complete these requirements quickly and easily. To stop this ASB must require all members of the group to perform a set of tasks, rather than just the club as a whole. The more ASB requires of students, the more who truly dedicate themselves to their causes will shine. Student’s who simply attach themselves to the group for its prestige will soon find themselves facing a situation where they must actually work for their accolades. Only the clubs that truly cared would survive these changes.

As much as I wish I could effortlessly change others behavior for good, I cannot and neither can the administration at this school. Unless we shift away from our college obsessed culture at this school and around America, tighter rules and restrictions are the only way to keep student’s honesty and integrity intact.

Con: Clubs should serve members’ enjoyment Many responsibilities come with being an officer at one of Redondo Union’s many clubs. From creating flyers and setting up a booth for Club Sign-Up Day to keeping track of everything that happens at every meeting, the job can be stressful. In addition, however, to keeping track of the simple things that happen in a club, each club is required to complete Allegra ten hours of community service and two fundraisers Peelor each semester. Since some clubs do not have a topic that lends itself to community service, these regulations are too strict for the modern-day student to abide by.

Clubs including Creative Writing and Peer-Edit are not exactly centered around community service; they are for helping the students at Redondo become better writers and editors, not for helping the community surrounding it. These clubs, however, still must complete ten hours of community service each semester.

The main reason, however, that club regulations should be loosened

is because Redondo students do not have the time to think of, organize, and carry out ten hours of community service and two fundraisers each semester. Chances are, if a student is a president or other officer of a club, he or she is a relatively good student that likes to get involved in several school affairs. It is very difficult for these students to take time out of their busy schedule, which probably includes a sport and a few AP classes, to lead a club.

Although club regulations are important in keeping clubs on track with their goals, why should this matter anyways? The point of having student-run clubs is for the students’ enjoyment, not to benefit the school or to get into a good college.

They serve the students in them, not ASB, and should therefore not be controlled by ASB. The clubs should be run the way the students want them run, not the way faculty thinks they should be run.

OPINION // SEPT. 21, 2012

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AROUND REDONDO Seniors react to administration’s decision to cut AP Economics for second semester of 2013.

“I wanted the credit, but I’m relieved because I think the class will now be easier.”

SHAILA HOMAN “I’m excited because I now have one less AP, which definitely lightens my load.”

HIGH TIDE

STAFF

Editor-in-Chief: Julie Tran Managing Editor: Emma Uriarte News Editor: Andrew Czuzak Opinion Editor: Haley Meyers Features Editors: Taylor Brightwell; Shivaani Gandhi; Hana Ghanim; Anacristina Gonzalez; Mannal Haddad; Cedric Hyon; Kylie Martin Sports Editors: Tatiana Celentano; Allegra Peelor Photo Editors:Vitoria Magno-Baptista; Diana Luna Cartoonist: Cooper Lovano Online Editors: Vivian Lam; Kayla Maanum; LeAnn Maanum Staff Writers: Victoria Artaza; Ilan Avineri; Alina Bieschke; Joseph Bieschke; Jewell Black; Kenneth Bowen; Kira Bowen; Kolbie Brightwell; Ted Cavus; Deborah Chang; Edwin Chavez; Caitlin Cochran; Navikka Dasz; Yasmeen El-Hasan; Micah Ezzes; Zoe Ezzes; Anna Fauver; Stella Gianoukakis; Nageena Hamraz; Natalie Hardiman; Katie Hill; Haris Khan; Chance King; Angela Kim; Ilana LaGraff; Justin Lee; Daniel Loveland; Shawn Mallen; Nicholas McCarthy; Romy Moreno; Alida Newson; Kayla Nicholls; Susan Nieves; Rachel Orford; Lindsey Pannor; Cameron Paulson; Jene Price; Alejandro Quevedo; Jason Rochlin; Molly Rood; Shelby Salerno; Beth Shallon; Laura Smith; Cole Stecyk; Savannah Stern; Karissa Taylor; Claire Tisius; Grace Zoerner Adviser: Mitch Ziegler The High Tide dedicates itself to producing a high-quality publication that both informs and entertains the entire student body.

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

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

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

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

Empathizing with administration Editorial

The world is not ending. Schedules are not scrambled and college plans are not destroyed, but you wouldn’t know it judging by the reactions of some students.

The incensed criticism that has followed last week’s announcement that AP Economics will not be offered second semester was largely a misguided overreaction.

The school was placed in a very difficult situation; the teacher who was originally going to teach the class backed out less than a week before school started, leaving the administration almost no time to find a replacement.

Nonetheless, a perfectly qualified economics teacher was found. The only problem was that this teacher had never taught AP, so the decision was made to not offer the class until next year in order to give the teacher more time to prepare.

Students have the right to be disappointed with the change, but they should stop pouting and placing blame. Everyone needs to realize that it really was the best option.

Even with an experienced teacher, cramming a 20-week college economics course into the 11 school weeks in second semester before this year’s test would be a struggle. Redondo’s former system of teaching both AP Government and AP Economics in a year is actually fairly uncommon. For example, Palos Verdes High School allows students to take only one of the classes at the AP level.

Placing students in a class with an unprepared teacher and an especially small

amount of time is a recipe for disaster. It might not look great for a school to cut an AP class, but it is certainly worth preserving Redondo’s reputation for quality classes and high AP pass rates.

Some students might say that we should be free to chose whether or not we take what might turn out to be an inadequate class. While a few people really might not care about their AP scores, the reality is that the school is responsible for ensuring that all classes are what they claim to be. Therefore, it would be negligent for the administration to simply bow to the pressure, ignore their concerns, and hope for the best.

It makes even less sense for students to be angry about the decision given that it will not negatively affect their college acceptances.

The school doesn’t offer AP Economics, so students won’t be penalized for not taking it. Some have argued that having one more AP on their transcripts might give them the final bump they need, but the bottom line is that no one can blame rejection letters on such a miniscule detail.

In any case, people who are truly desperate to get their college economics requirement fulfilled ahead of time still have other options. Anyone can take AP tests, so students can study economics independently and take the test.

While it is unfortunate that the class of 2013 had to be caught in this awkward transition period between teachers, even the students who are upset now will probably agree that it isn’t the end of the world when they have one less AP test to study for come May.

COLIN WELCH “Since they do not offer the class, the cut can’t hurt us in the long run.”

BROOKE BLANN “I realize that a new teacher combined with AP Econ’s time crunch is not ideal.”

CRAIG IVES

“I am happy not to have to take the exam this spring!”

DAGMAY DEMSAS QUOTES COMPILED BY HALEY MEYERS PHOTOS BY DIANA LUNA

Letters to the

Editor If you have an opinion about one of the articles published in the High Tide, we welcome letters to the editor. we reserve the right to edit them for content, grammar, and space contraints. Letters must be signed, and are not guarenteed to be printed.

Please bring signed letters to room 209.

HEALTH // SEPT. 21, 2012

EYE MYTHS

DEBUNKED

MYTH. Sitting too close to the TV

is bad for the eyes.

FACT. Although parents have been saying this ever since TV’s debut, there’s no evidence that plunking down right in front of the TV set damages someone’s eyes. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) says that kids can actually focus up close without eyestrain better than adults. However, sitting close to a TV may be a sign of nearsightedness.

MYTH. Computer use can dam-

age the eyes.

FACT. Computer use won’t harm the eyes. However, when using a computer for long periods of time, the eyes blink less than normal (like they do when reading or performing other close work).

This makes the eyes dry, which may lead to a feeling of eyestrain or fatigue. Frequent breaks are recommended during use. http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/eyes/vision_facts_myths.html

Betancourt and Theodorou handle living with color blindness

by Jason Rochlin

Chorus and Music Teacher Dr. Philemon Theodorou gets up in the morning and searches through his closet for something to wear. Once his outfit is picked out, he goes to his wife to make sure it looks nice, not just as an opinion, but to make sure he didn’t put on anything that clashes without realizing it.

Theodorou is one of 7 percent of the male population with the eye deficiency, color blindness.

“For me, it’s almost like being dyslexic. I see color, but I can’t quite identify what color it is, unless someone tells me what color it is. That’s when it’s usually clear to me,” Theodorou said.

Theodorou and many other people are born with this genetic fault that affects the retina’s ability to detect certain color wavelengths, which causes some colors to appear the same.

“I’ve never really seen it as a disability. It has proved to be somewhat comical at times, for instance, when I try to choose my own clothing,” Theodorou said. “My students tend to help me in a backhanded way. They aren’t hesitant to tell me if I wear something that makes me look silly.”

Junior Adam Betancourt doesn’t perceive his color blindness as a life-changing condition.

“I’ve never really needed to know the differences between colors very well, since I skipped kindergarten, so I guess I moved

over the stage where colors were really important,” Betancourt said.

The color blind have a narrowed color perception. Green and red stay most of the time, but it is not as bright or vibrant as a non-color blind would see it. Colors lie closer to each other, especially shades of colors.

“I don’t have very severe color blindness,” Betancourt said. “It’s mainly between red and green, but also a little between colors like blue and purple and yellow and light green.”

While most people would think daily activities such as driving would be difficult with color blindness, Theodorou disagrees.

“I’ve never had problems with driving, because most of that is common knowledge

Color Blindness

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for like what lights mean what,” Theodorou said, “I don’t have much of a problem with primary colors.”

Betancourt agrees with Theodorou on the subject of driving.

“I don’t think [driving] should be that much of a problem. I can tell the difference between red, green, and yellow fairly well,” Betancourt said.

It is clear that this is one disability that is not disabling, according to Theodorou.

“It has nothing to do with the health of your eyes, it has to do with the receptors in your eyes and how they work. There’s nothing wrong with my eyes, I can still see fine, but I do have them checked every year, and my optometrist knows I’m color blind,” Theodorou said.

Color blind people may only be able to tell about 20 hues apart from each other. With normal color vision, this number raises to more than 100 different hues.

Color blindness is more prevalent among males than females because the most common form of color vision deficiency is encoded on the X sex chromosome. Thus, if a woman is red-green color blind, all her sons will be colorblind. http://www.colblindor.com/2009/01/06/50-facts-about-color-blindness/

39% of students polled have vision problems.

Out of 115 students polled...

22%

wear only glasses

61%

do not have vision problems

PHOTO BY JENNY OETZELL

13% wear only

4%

contacts

we gla ar co sse nta s cts

an d

HEALTH // SEPT. 21, 2012

James’s mother’s blindness cured

by Cedric Hyon

With the eye disorder Keratoconos, vision slowly degenerates starting at age sixteen and becomes nothing but blackness by age thirty. Kevin James’s mother, Ingrid James, was blind for two years from this disorder before regaining her vision through cornea transplants.

“It’s a god send to have my vision back.

You appreciate everything a lot more; you don’t realize how much you miss something until it’s gone,” Ingrid said. “It’s life changing and wonderful. It’s almost like I got a second chance.”

While she was blind, Mrs. James could not do everyday tasks that she had once taken for granted.

“It was difficult because it wasn’t always that way. It started with eye infections and progressively got worse, so I had to rearrange my whole life: little things like brushing your hair to make sure you look good or picking out your clothes or grocery shopping. Every day activities became difficult,” Mrs. James said.

Mrs. James feels blessed to have a second chance.

“Before when I had my eyesight I wore contacts and glasses because I had to. When it came to the point where they didn’t work, I stopped doing a lot of things I used to do, like painting, or singing, and all the things I enjoyed in my life,” Ingrid said.

James and his siblings had to learn to live with a blind mother.

“It was hard because their life doesn’t change. They still had homework and they still had school. They had to have their needs met, but I couldn’t see their homework so I couldn’t do much,” Mrs. James said. “I had a really big family so my sister and sisterin-law and my husband took care of these things.”

James had difficulties in school because he could not rely on his mother for many tasks.

“I had to walk to school everyday. I had to take care of myself a lot. It was just really difficult even though she was still there. [If ] I needed to get school supplies or go to Back to School Night, no one could take me or go with me and support me,” James said.

These difficulties, however, made James work even harder at accomplishing more work.

“I wanted to work harder to make her more proud. I just felt a feeling of accomplishment that I could get stuff for projects or get to school in the morning by myself, since I know some kids wouldn’t have the will to go if they were in my case,” James said.

Despite the surgery, there are still some risk factors. Finding a correct donor is difficult, and the body can still reject the transplant, so medication and steroids need to be taken every day.

“After the transplant, the recovery takes about a year and a half for each eye. It took me three years to regain my eyesight. There were about 24 stitches to hold the cornea in

Eye exercises:

place, and every month or two I would have a stitch removed,” Mrs. James said.

Labor is not allowed during recovery since there is a danger of stitches popping.

“I wasn’t allowed to bend or lift anything heavy, but being a mom I couldn’t avoid it.

Some of stitches would pop and get infected so I would have to take antibiotics,” Mrs. James said.

Now that the recovery is complete, Mrs. James feels like a better human being because of it.

“I’m more motivated to try new things and to do the things that I love. I also want to help someone in need whenever I can.

Overall, I’m just a better human being,” Mrs. James said.

Now that her eyesight has returned, James feels better knowing that his mom is there for him whenever he needs her.

“It feels a lot better knowing there’s someone there to help me. I’m a bit more independent as a junior in high school, but it feels a lot better that she can make dinner while my dad is at work, or go to my wrestling matches, or take me to practice, or take me home from practice,” James said.

James also feels that his family is blessed to be fortunate enough for their mother to have her eyesight returned.

“I’m very happy and I believe that my family is blessed. Most families who have someone go blind usually aren’t as fortunate to have the money to pay for two cornea transplants,” James said. “We’re very fortunate that our mother has her eyesight back.”

It's a good idea to exercise your eyes daily and have your eyes checked every two years.

PHOTOS BY VITORIA MAGNO

The 20/20/20 Rule: For every 20 minutes spent reading or looking at a screen, look at an object 20 feet away for twenty seconds to relax your eyes. It prevents overworking the muscles and relaxes the eyes.

The Pencil Pushup: An eye exercise for people whose eyes tend to turn. Take a pencil, and place it far away and move it in slowly to get the image clear. If you see double make the image one. Do this for about 30 minutes a day.

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Avery battles with Surfer’s Eye constantly

by Cedric Hyon

Sun, sand, water-- these are what make a surfer’s life complete. They are also the causes of Surfer’s Eye. Surfer’s Eye, or pyterygium, is a growth that develops on the inner side of the eye, causing redness and inflammation. Surf coach Duncan Avery has suffered from it before, redness and pain complete.

“If you looked at my eye you could tell that there was something wrong with it, but you wouldn’t think ‘That looks painful.’

Imagine just complete redness on the inner white of your eyes,” Avery said.

Avery experienced his first flare up from his eyes two summers ago after his trip to El Salvador.

“When I was in El Salvador two summers ago my eyes flared. I’ve traveled to eight or nine countries surfing, and the UV rays definitely made them more agitated, so it seems when I go on my prolonged surf trips it flares up,” Avery said.

Whenever Avery takes long trips to surf, he almost always returns home with Surfer’s Eye, both mild and severe.

“This summer I came back from Nicaragua. I was there for six days, and on the sixth day both of my eyes flared up,” Avery said. “It felt like there was a piece of sand in my eye.”

Surfer’s Eye, even though there is much inflammation and redness, is just an irritation and can be treated with eye drops over a period of time.

“It’s more of an irritation than pain. I put drops in my eye probably every 90 minutes to try and soothe them to make the irritation go away,” Avery said.

According to Avery, he does have sensitive eyes, which may be a contributing factor to his frequent attacks.

“It just seems that my eyes have been sensitive to chlorine when I swim or sensitive to the sun when I don’t wear sunglasses.

My eyes are just a bit more sensitive than other eyes. It’s probably not a coincidence that that’s what causes my Surfer’s Eye,” Avery said.

On the beach, there are some precautions one can take to avoid Surfer’s Eye, but in the water there’s not much one can do.

“When I play Beach Volleyball I always wear sunglasses, but if you’re in the water there’s not much you can do. You’re just catching waves and it is what is, so you just have to deal with it,” Avery said.

Avery thinks that the constant risk of Surfer’s Eye is worth it and still continues surfing enthusiastically.

“I want to be in the water, so I think it’s worth it to surf at risk of Surfer’s Eye,” Avery said. “I just want to surf for the rest of my life.”

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FEATURES // SEP. 21, 2012

Fresh faces.

Redondo welcomes new teachers for the 2012-2013 school year.

Sergio Navarro

Sarah Sanchez

by Navikka Dasz

by Andrew Czuzak

He hears the crashing of waves nearby as Mariachi music plays in his classroom. The ocean is the same, but the language he is teaching has changed.

New Spanish teacher Sergio Navarro turns to his Mexican heritage and fun personality to help his students learn and “live the language.” Before becoming a

teacher, Navarro worked in Corporate America and in healthcare.

“I didn’t like it. I just wanted a change,” he said, “So, I got a job teaching, and I just said, ‘This is awesome. I love it.’”

By sharing his personal experiences, he wants students to enjoy learning Spanish.

“I don’t want Spanish speaking to be limited to the Spanish classroom,” he said.

“I want [my students] to live the language, take it outside, talk to their friends, and use it with other people.”

Jenna Oelrich

by Cedric Hyon

New Chemistry teacher Jenna Oelrich came to Redondo anticipating the beautiful campus and inviting staff.

Oelrich taught honors chemistry last year at Centennial High School. Despite the lack of continuing honors chemistry teachers, Oelrich is confidant in her teaching.

“I taught honors last year so I’m not so nervous about teaching it. I like the class [because] it’s faster paced,” she said.

According to Oelrich, the staff and administration have all been kind to her which gives her a confidence boost at school.

“The other Chemistry teachers, administration, and all of the other teachers have all been nice and helpful,” she said. “I feel pretty confident. If I need anything there’s always somebody there to help or lend a hand.”

New Spanish teacher Sarah Sanchez has faced challenges due to her young age. “[When I started teaching] I was four years apart from some of the students.

Students [see] that you’re young and assume you’re chill and [try to take advantage],” Sanchez said.

According to Sanchez, who used to teach in Inglewood at Ánimo Leadership

Charter High School, the problems that she faces at RUHS are the same ones she faced at Ánimo.

“At first, I thought it would be a different demographic location-wise, but now I realize students are just students, no matter where you are,” she said.

Sanchez came to RUHS due its strong foreign language department and its strong teachers.

“I just saw Redondo had an opening and that it was a really good fit for me here,” Sanchez said. “Everyone was really nice and the campus was amazing.”

Stephanie Manion

by Anacristina Gonzalez

After six years of teaching at multiple schools in Long Beach, new Government and Economics teacher Stephanie Manion is growing fond of her new place at RUHS. Manion has taught several social science and humanities classes, but espe-

cially enjoys Government and Economics because she can work with seniors.

“I’ve always liked seniors. They’re the best; they know what they’re doing, and they have motivation,” Manion said.

Manion is looking forward to this year because of a combination of the students, the teachers, and the new facilities.

“I’m honored. [RUHS] is a beautiful campus, all of my students are excellent, and the staff is wonderful,” Manion said.

Blann sisters move from Wyoming

by Mannal Haddad

Leaving the snowy white mountains of Jackson, Wyo. behind them, sisters Brooke and Katie Blann look ahead to the warm sand and green-blue sea of Redondo Beach.

Senior Brooke Blann and her sister, sophomore Katie Blann, made the move from Wyoming to California this past summer, and although the decision was their mothers’s, the sisters were excited about the new atmosphere.

“I grew up with all the same kids, so meeting new people is kind of exciting,” Brooke said.

Although the new environment was something they looked forward to, both were nervous about going someplace so drastically different.

“It’s just two completely different atmospheres,” Katie said. “Here is the beach and sun. In Jackson it was all snow and mountains.”

Brooke agrees that Jackson is a “nature place” and is very different from Redondo’s

“beach-y vibe”.

“In Jackson you went hiking or camping; it’s so different. Here you go to the beach or the mall or Disneyland. They’re completely different places,” she said.

The greatest transition was going from a small private school with eight people in Brooke’s graduating class to the huge student population at RUHS. “The school is closer knit in Jackson.

There were only 88 kids in the whole school, and you called the teachers by their first name,” Katie said. “Everyone here is nice, but you can’t really get as close.”

The change from such a small, close-knit school to one as large as RUHS proved to be intimidating at first and is “like going to university a year early.”

“My first thought was that it was huge, and I wouldn’t be able to find my classes.

But I feel like once you know where everything is, it seems smaller, and you start to see familiar faces,” Brooke said.

For Katie, it was being a new student at a school where the students aren’t as close that

PHOTO BY DIANA LUNA

Fresh start. Sisters Katie and Brooke Blann made the move from Jackson, Wyoming to Redondo Beach this summer to be closer to family. According to them, the atmospheres are completely different.

was daunting.

“It’s harder because in Jackson since everyone knows everyone, they know you’re new and they’ll take care of you,” she said.

“Here there are so many people that nobody knows you’re new.”

However, the friendliness of the “really sweet” students was a big help in making the Blanns’ transition successful.

“Everybody has been so nice and is so welcoming,” Brooke said. “It was really helpful.”

FEATURES // SEP. 21, 2012

9

1.

PHOTOS BY VITORIA MAGNO

The gun show. 1. Freshman Dominic Soufl has been making weapons for five years. He has gone from water and nerf guns to more powerful airsoft guns. 2. Soufl converted his garage into a workshop. He spends hours at a time working on his latest invention.

2.

ILL US TRA TIO NB YC OO PER

LO VAN O

HOT SHOT

by Hana Ghanim

He gets home from a long day of school and soccer practice, throwing his backpack and cleats on top of his wrestling equipment. He goes down to his garage, takes out his pipes and blades and goes right to work.

It is a typical Wednesday night for freshman Dominic Soufl.

Soufl makes knives, modifies and upgrades airsoft guns, and builds guns that shoot different projectiles.

“I started [working] with water guns and nerf guns, but they simply weren’t powerful enough,” Soufl said. “[I] progressively got better until now, where I work on high-end airsoft brand guns successfully and produce knives that are very sharp with consistent angles.”

Soufl sells his creations and reparations, mainly to his friends and family.

“I like the guns I make because they shoot very far, but they’re safe enough to use

Freshman Dominic Soufl designs his own knives and guns. [in public places], and people won’t think you’re carrying around a real gun,” he said.

Although Soufl is limited in his designing by his incomplete understanding of physics and engineering, he plans on finishing his models when he gains more knowledge.

“I have a notebook and I draw different designs for guns,” Soufl said. “I try to make them, but they’re expensive to make as a prototype, so I try to perfect the designs and ideas on paper before I make them.”

Soufl makes his guns mainly out of pipes, metal, and plastic. Although knives and guns are his specialty, he has other designs as well, but difficulties lie in the way of building them.

“I have many designs that aren’t for weapons: they are for generators, motors, breathing apparatuses and proving laws of Physics again in different manners, but I do not have enough money to buy parts for these, as they become extremely expensive,” he said.

Freshman Shane Conley believes Soufl is successful as an inventor. He often advises and assists his friend.

“He is the smartest engineer that I know,” Conley said. “We had a joint project to try and build a Perpetual Motion Machine before we realized it was beyond the laws of

physics.”

Soufl plans to advance his designs and begin working with more three-dimensional designs. He usually seeks advice from his friends on new designs.

“If I’m stuck on something and I can’t see the problem, I’ll confirm it with someone else who is impartial and who is able to see the problem because they aren’t as attached to [the design] as I would be,” he said. “I have a group of friends who are all really smart, so I go to them and they give me their input a lot of the time.”

Soufl began about five years ago.

Through it all, he has seen a lot of progress and development in his ideas.

“Building

and designing the things I do is important to me because I really enjoy it, and I love seeing the final project next to the initial design to see the different advancements.

”

His father Paul Soufl supports his career choice, although he hopes his son will branch out to other forms of engineering.

“He’s very talented, and he is leaning towards engineering, which I guess is tangentially related, so hopefully he makes things besides weapons when he grows up,” Mr. Soufl said.

According to Soufl, his motivation to pursue his hobby stems from his love for math and physics. He applies various principles of both subjects in order to perfect his designs.

“The thing about physics and engineering that draws me to them the most is my lack of knowledge,” Soufl said. “As much as I may learn, something will branch out of a principle that will explode into a whole other realm of physics that is not related to the first one I had initially been studying.”

Determined to follow his dreams, he is currently taking Introduction to Engineering and plans to double major in mechanical and electric engineering.

“Ultimately, no one really brought me into [engineering]. The motivation to study textbooks and designs envelopes my spare time,” Soufl said. “I simply crave the understanding of how everything works mechanically or electrically, and it drives me.”

10

REVIEWS

SEPT. 21, 2012

IT’S WHAT’S ON

THE INSIDE

THAT COUNTS We decided to take a closer look at some of our favorite sandwich shops in the South Bay. We weighed our options through careful deliberation, breaking down each of the most popular sandwiches from Mickey’s, Eat This Sandwiches, Ham Supreme, and Big Mike’s Philly Steaks and Subs from top to bottom and taking into consideration the atmosphere of each establishment. Although all the other sandwiches were good contenders, here’s the sandwich that we think reigns supreme: Mickey’s Deli’s Hermosa Chicken. One bite of the Hermosa Chicken sandwich, and it is easy to see why it is our favorite.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Oven toasted white french roll.

Melted Stella brand Swiss cheese.

Fresh California Hass avacados.

Juicy beefsteak tomatoes.

California-grown Alfalfa sprouts.

Crisp iceberg and green leaf lettuce.

Whole grilled chicken breast smothered in hot mayonnaise.

Oven-toasted white french roll.

11

EAT THIS SANDWICHES

1

Eat This is Redondo’s best kept secret for where to grab a bite in the afternoon--or anytime for that matter--because these sandwiches are that good.

It is owned and operated by senior Michele Chunn’s family. Chunn has been helping with the shop since it opened. The Chunns, always greeting their customers with a smile, are very happy with what they get to do everyday.

The California Sandwich, which is Eat This’ most popular sandwich, is an avocado, chicken, turkey, and vegetable sandwich. The chicken, turkey, and vegetables make the sandwich satisfying without being overly filling, and the avocado gives the sandwich an extra kick of flavor. It is a perfect choice to eat alone, or even to split with a friend.

But on the off chance that you are not in the mood for a sandwich, the shop serves donuts and boba as well. It could be this variety of food that keeps the shop bustling with Redondo locals from early morning to late afternoon.

Considering the quality of the shop’s food, one may assume that the shop would have high prices. However, Eat This is surprisingly affordable.

Whether for the great prices, the friendly employees, or the delicious sandwiches, Eat This Sandwiches is definitely worth the visit.

2

3

HAM SUPREME

4

WHAT MAKES MICKEY’S HERMOSA CHICKEN?

SEPT. 21, 2012

Flowers. Paintings. Christmas lights. These are the items decorating Ham Supreme that give the shop the cozy and family-friendly vibe that make many customers feel at home.

Owners Sergio Jimenez and his wife Eliota Jimenez achieve a friendly atmosphere through not only vibrant tablecloths, tall green vases, and colorful glass plates, but also through the friendly customer service they provide.

Not only is the customer service good, but the food is good as well. The shop offers a wide range of sandwiches from a simple peanut butter and jelly to a chicken caesar wrap that keep customers coming back to this hidden gem.

As their name would suggest, Ham Supreme’s most popular sandwich is in fact their ham sandwich. With tomatoes, lettuce, various breads to choose from—white, wheat, sourdough and more—and a heaping pile of ham, this simple, yet extremely delicious sandwich is a regular favorite.

The large sandwich is cut into two pieces, which is perfect for eating half and taking the rest home for later. The chunks of ham are flavorful, and the vegetables are fresh. One can even top off the sandwich with one of the many refreshing drinks that Ham Supreme has to offer.

5

6 BIG MIKE’S PHILLY STEAKS & SUBS The sub has been bitten. The aroma from the melted cheese and the well-done steak are over-poweringly present. This smell is coming from Big Mike’s Philly Steaks and Subs’s oneof-a-kind philly cheese steak sandwich, a regular favorite.

Big Mike’s most popular sandwich, the philly cheese steak, is a monstrous sub that consists of white bread, layers and layers of steak, and thick melted cheese. One of the reasons that the philly cheese steak is a customer favorite is because of its authenticity. People keep on coming back to the sub shop not only because it is local, but also because the food there cannot be found anywhere else.

Big Mike’s Philly Steaks and Subs is also a notable sandwich shop because of its customer service. Customers are always welcomed by the friendly staff and are sometimes even greeted by owner Mike Neimark himself.

In addition to the food quality and amiable employees, there are also other aspects that give Big Mike’s Philly Steaks and Subs a four-star rating and make it a great place to grab a bite in: the service, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the countless pictures of famous athletes and other celebrity customers hanging in the shop that give it its hole-in-the-wall feel.

7

8 PHOTOS BY DIANA LUNA

PHOTOS BY VITORIA MAGNO

STAR RATINGS PROVIDED BY YELP

12

FEATURES // SEPT. 21, 2011

SOUL SURFER “SURFING

is riding a wave for pure enjoyment and love for the sport.

story by Haley Meyers

”

1.

PHOTOS BY JENNY OETZELL

Surf’s up. 1. “Surfing is not what I live for but it is a lifestyle and something that influences a lot of my life. 2. Curren takes time out from catching waves to enjoy the sun. 3.

Curren waxes her board with care before catching waves.

2.

She whips through the waves, moves with the wind, and plays on the sand. She smiles because the beach is her playground.

From the time she was a toddler clinging to the back of her father’s long board, “fearless” junior Sara Curren knew she found her soul’s passion—surfing—and from then on she knew there was no other place she would rather be and nothing else she would rather be doing than surfing the shoreline.

“We surf as a family, which I think is key [to supporting Sara’s passion for surfing],” Sara’s dad, Anthony Curren said.

According to Mr. Curren, Sara is fortunate enough to live on the beach and with a family of beach enthusiasts. Two of her cousins, Nathaniel Curren and Timmy Curren, are professional surfers. Nathaniel Curren recently defeated Kelly Slater at the US Open in Huntington Beach. It may be

3.

an understatement to say they are an active waterman family.

Her family dedicates their vacations to famous surf spots including San Onofre, Big Sur, Carlsbad, and the South Shore of Hawaii. This beach bunch even spends their weekends exploring local surf spots including Manhattan Beach, and Malibu followed by coastal hikes the. Curren’s family feeds her fixation for surfing.

“Instead of a fantasy football league, my brother and I have a fantasy surf league. We have a lot of fun learning all of the surfers’ names, what board they ride, and what backgrounds they come from,” Sara Curren said.

Sara, alongside her fellow water-loving family and friends, is always seeking to learn more about the surfing, and become a better “all-around waterman” according to

Mr. Curren.

“A lot of my life revolves around surfing and in order to be that good you have to be in the water 24/7, no matter how good the waves are,” Sara said.

As an independent studies student, Sara puts in at least three to four days of surfing a week, in addition to dedicating herself to Redondo’s intermural Surf, Water Polo, and Swim team. Despite placing third in short boarding and fourth in long boarding last year in the Bay League Finals, Curren has been training hard all summer to become even more of a competitor.

“Costa’s team is really good on the girl’s side. [This year] I would like to be considered a competitor with them and give them a run for their money,” Sara said.

Mr. Curren believes her competitive drive, and positivity will push her to be the

competitor she aims to be.

“Sara is one of the only people that cheers during the heats and it is actually encouraging,” Redondo’s Surf team Captain Ethan Pezzolo said.

According to Pezzolo, this consistent encouragement and positivity in and out of the water shows Curren’s real commitment to surfing.

“Now I play a lot of sports, but after surfing with my 3 year old sister and 90 year old grandfather, I know that surfing will stay with me forever,” Sara said.

For Sara and her family, surfing is a testament to their religion and family tradition.

“We just want to cherish God’s gift of the ocean, share it with our children, and hope that they pass it on to their families,” Mr. Curren said.

FEATURES // SEPT. 21, 2012

13

2.

PHOTOS BY KENNETH BOWEN

Getting air. 1.Freshman Julian Zamora performs a tre flip. 2. Freshman Julian Zamora performs a kick flip.

1.

Friends push their skating limits

by Taylor Brightwell

Run-ins with security, injuries, and landing crazy tricks are all in a day’s work for freshman skateboarders Cole Hodges and Julian Zamora. Although they have only been skating a year, they both have suffered several injuries and had many close calls with security guards.

“Skate parks are fine but we prefer street skating,” Zamora said, “Street skating is more challenging and unpredictable.”

One of their favorite spots to skate is the RUHS campus. The combination of ledges and stairs makes RUHS a street sk-

Malott has two different soles

by Emma Uriarte

Senior Jared Malott has two pairs of boots.

One pair is army green; the other pair is made out of black rubber and smells like the sea. The first is for marching and drilling in ROTC; the second, for casting and reeling on a fishing boat.

“I got [my job fishing] freshman year. My [dad’s friend] runs a fishing boat, so he got me the job,” Malott said.

Part of what keeps Malott from becoming bored with fishing is the excitement of hooking a big catch.

ater’s paradise. However, they have to get around the security guards.

“One time my friends and I got kicked out of Redondo seven times in one day,” Hodges said. “They were screaming and chasing us. When security shows up, it’s really every man for himself; you can’t go back to help a friend.”

Street skating is risky when it comes to dealing with security, but it is also dangerous if a trick is landed the wrong way.

Zamora has dislocated his elbow three times and sprained his ankle. Hodges has torn three ligaments in his ankle, broken his wrist, his wrist, and chipped his gro-

wth plate.

“I put my life on the line every time I step on a board and it’s the risk that makes it fun,” Zamora said.

Zamora and Hodges look past their injuries and still get back on a board because the feeling of landing a trick after attempting it over and over is “unreal”.

“It pumps you up when you’re skating with a group and you nail a trick and everyone cheers for you,” Hodges said, “After you land something it makes you want to attempt something even harder.”

The trick Zamora wants to land right now is a Hard Flip down ten stairs.

To him the most terrifying aspect of the trick is not the stairs; it’s the fact that he sprained his ankle attempting it before.

“I still get scared. Every time I roll up to a trick I’m thinking of all the things that could go wrong, but I’ve learned that you have to clear your mind of all that,” Zamora said.

For them it is more than just a hobby or a sport; it’s a passion and way of life.

“Skating takes away all your stress; it’s almost therapeutic except for the part were you hurt yourself,” Hodges said, “I do it because its something I’m proud of and passionate about.”

“I love the thrill of hooking into something that could put up a fight,” he said. “[I like how] it’s something most people don’t do.”

This summer Malott worked on a commercial fishing boat, catching sardines and squid and selling them at the fish market. Malott was at sea for weeks at a time, and his mother and father Tina Hamelau and Rich Malott had to deal with seeing their son three times over the summer.

“As a parent, it’s hard to let your kids do things like [leave for weeks at a time]. You worry about their safety, the weather conditions, and what would happen if there was an emergency,” Hamelau said.

During school however, Malott spends more time on dry land, practicing for ROTC. He doesn’t mind the time away from the water though, because he enjoys being around the

people in ROTC. “My favorite part [of ROTC] is the people in it. I’ve grown close to everyone in it, and it’s become like a family,” he said.

Malott’s experiences in ROTC actually help him when he’s on the water.

“The discipline from ROTC carries overto fishing, and there is also patience involved [in both activities],” Malott said.

Malott’s mother and father will support him in whatever he does.

“I have always told Jared to do what he loves, especially as a career. I am willing to sacrifice my time, finances—whatever is needed to make sure he chooses something he has a passion for, whether it be the military or fishing,” Hamelau said.

Mallot is himself in every pair of boots.

“I act exactly the same and enjoy my-

self wherever I go, whether I’m working, in ROTC, or just around school,” Malott said.

PHOTO BY VITORIA MAGNO

Bottoms up. Mallot wears both of his boots with pride.

14

FEATURES // SEPT. 21, 2012

Simon backpacks through Europe

by Cameron Paulson

From a teaching profession to a monumental decision that changed his life forever, health teacher Gene Simon left his life behind to backpack throughout Europe for one year.

“I was 25 years old and with no wife and no ties; I made the decision to travel to places I had always wanted to go.” Simon said.

From 1982 to 1983, Simon traveled to 18 different countries and met many people, but the time prior to his adventures, Simon was inspired by his students to pursue his dreams.

“I was teaching English as a second language for adults in San Pedro,” Simon said. “As I met many different people from all over the world, they encouraged me to travel to their home countries.”

After a very short period of time, Simon made his decision to quit his teach-

ing job and backpack throughout Europe, but he was not doing this alone.

“I called my best friend, Jim O’Grady who was also a teacher at the time,” Si-

“ Whether

it was people we knew from America or people we had just met, each and every one of them impacted our lives, even in the slightest ways.

- Jim O’Grady

”

After packing three pairs of pants, a few shirts, a few pairs of socks, a tooth brush and a big bar of soap, both Simon and O’Grady were off.

“It completely changed who I was and my view on life,” Simon said. “It was absolutely the right decision to go.”

Although traveling the world seemed like the best idea to pursue, the cost was not always cheap.

“We basically had about three dollars to spend a day–if that.” O’Grady said, “Gene got pretty good at juggling, and I was pretty good at accordion so we would put on shows for the people in the streets to earn some extra cash.”

Both Simon and O’Grady believe that the people they met played a huge factor in their enjoyment of their travels.

“Whether it was people we knew from America or people we had just met, each and every one of them impacted our lives

,even in the slightest ways,” O’Grady said.

By leaving their lives behind and going to a foreign country, they learned about themselves as well.

“It’s so surreal to actually see the things you hear about in the news or read about in books actually be right in front of you,” Simon said. “Whether it be socially, economically, or intellectually eye opening, every event that happened was important to us.”

Simon recommends traveling Europe, or the world in general, because it is an indescribable experience that everyone should have.

“By seeing what I saw I realized to never take anything I have for granted and enjoy every moment in life,” Simon said. “Many people just go for the adventure but try to stay out of trouble because I guarantee the adventure will simply find you.”

FOREIGNAFFAIRS mon said. “Thankfully he agreed to come, so we were soon on our way to Europe.”

Teachers and foreign exchange students experience life abroad.

Sklarenko hijacked by pirates in Guatemala

by Alejandro Quevedo

When AP European History teacher Nicholas Sklarenko went on a vacation to Guatemala in 2008, he didn’t expect to get his tour bus hijacked. Then again, not many people do.

Sklarenko’s bus was hijacked while visiting the Mayan Pyramids of Tikal. While riding a tour bus down the main highway, masked men jumped out of the jungle onto and in front of the bus, stopping it. They proceeded to board it and rob the passengers.

“When it happened, I thought to myself, ‘This can’t be happening,’” Sklarenko said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

After taking the keys to the van, the thieves drove the group down a dirt road into the middle of the jungle.

“At that point I thought I might die,” Sklarenko said. “I didn’t know where we were going or if I was going to make it

back. For all I knew they were going to take us somewhere where there was no way to ever get back. The uncertainty was unnerving.”

According to Sklarenko, the thieves stopped the bus after ten minutes of driving and took all of the passengers’ valuables and some cameras, but luckily none of their passports, ATM cards, or ID’s.

“A funny thing was that they took my brand new LA Kings hat,” Sklarenko said.

“One of the guys took it right off my head, put it on his, and ran off with it. I told police afterwards to look out for a guy wearing a hat like that, because it would probably be the only one like it in all of Guatemala.”

The robbers left with the keys to the van immediately after, so the passengers ended up walking through the jungle back to the road.

“There was still uncertainty in the back of my mind, but I was relieved when they

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICHOLAS SKLARENKO

Taken hostage. AP European History teacher Nicholas Sklarenko’s tour bus was hijacked by pirates during his visit to Guatemala in 2008. Despite this shaking experience, Sklarenko hopes to visit the country again.

started running away,” Sklarenko said.

This experience has become an interesting story for Sklarenko to tell his students.

“It was all part of the experience,”

Sklarenko said. “I would go back under different circumstances. The country is beautiful, and I would love to see more of it.”

FEATURES // SEPT. 21, 2012

15

Lochbaum adapts to US

by Rachael Orford

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VANESSA LOCHBAUM

Foreign exchange. Junior Vanessa Lochbaum is getting acquainted with her new surroundings as a Swiss exchange student at RUHS.

A new mom, a new home, and a new country. Coming to America was a dream for junior Vanessa Lochbaum, an exchange student from Switzerland.

Lochbaum had been planning for her year-long stay in Redondo Beach since 2011. Vanessa currently lives with a host mom.

Lochbaum had to prepare a long time for this trip, “I had to go through interviews to get my visa, go to Munich for my exchange program, and then do even more paperwork to go to Redondo,” she said.

Lochbaum was extremely nervous about coming to America by herself, she said she was scared of, “meeting people and becoming friends with people.”

Lochbaum’s aunt, Sandra Young, made her transition a little bit easier.

“I’ve known her since I was born, and I love her,” Lochbaum said, “I see her often and she helps me with all problems.”

The first day of school was especially intimidating for Lochbaum.

“I felt uncomfortable because everything was new and so big, I was a little bit stressed,” Lochbaum said.

Lochbaum instantly clicked with her host mom, Sherrill Perryman, who made her feel welcome.

“We’re on the same level. She’s so

friendly, and she takes care of me, and she takes me out to Hollywood and places like that. She just gives her best to take care of me like my mom would,” Lochbaum said.

She has had a great time so far here but struggles with homesickness. She misses everything from the fresh food to her family and boyfriend.

“I miss my friends, my family, my boyfriend, everything,” she said.

Lochbaum’s boyfriend will be visiting her for a couple weeks while she’s in Redondo and has a couple of trips planned in the states like going to Las Vegas and New York with her boyfriend.

Redondo Union is extremely different from Lochbaum’s school in Switzerland.

“My school is smaller; there are only 600 people. I had a lot more classes, and my school day was from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or 8 a.m.-6 p.m..”

Lochbaum considers classes here easier, but she has a harder time with them because everything is in a foreign language. Her English is improving as she becomes more accustomed to America.

According to Lochbaum, Redondo students help her feel welcome.

“The people here are so open and friendly,” Lochbaum said.

Lochbaum loves the lifestyle here and thinks she will have a great year.

Nair embraces new culture

by Claire Tisius

Life is different for everyone: struggling with getting good grades, friendships, and dealing with family issues. Senior Ashwin Nair not only struggles with these issues, but with being an Indian exchange student as well.

Even though Nair is an exchange student, it is not his first time in the States. Nair lived in America from second to eleventh grade. He has been to many different schools including Claremont High.

According to Nair, schools in America are very different from those in Kochi, Kerela where he is from.

Schools in Kochi have strict rules: boys and girls are segregated, both inside and outside the classroom. There

is no “color dress”, meaning everyone has to wear a uniform. Even outside of school no one is allowed to wear anything above the knee.

“Because we guys are not allowed to associate with girls, we did a lot of crazy stuff,” said Nair.

Even with strict rules, it was still hard for Nair to stand out from his class of 90 students. According to Nair, standing out from 90 students is harder considering that there are no such things as grades and the final “grade” is what you get on the final exam at the end of the year. To prepare for the exam students in Kochi are given a month off to study. “[In India] grade marks are worthless. Only the final board exam deter-

mines the entire grade and your ranking in the school,” said Nair.

Despite the differences in the schools, Nair admits that India itself is very different from California. In India, the culture itself is very strict.

Sports are looked down upon and religion is very important. The three main religions practiced in India are Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. Students ranking in school is important to families. The differences are why Nair prefers California over India.

“In California, the value of life is much bigger here, whereas in India, if you crossed the street, no one stops for you and no one cares if they run over you. [California] is a much more gentle society,” Nair said.

PHOTO BY CLAIRE TISIUS

Coming back. Senior Ashwin Nair returned to the United States as an exchange student from India. Nair had previously gone to school in Texas.

16

SPORTS // SEPT. 21, 2012 Young success. Dykstra practices with the Redondo team to better prepare her for the UCLA team she will be competing with.

ATHLETE OF THE ISSUE

PHOTO BY DIANA LUNA

FROM SEA HAWK TO BRUIN SKYLAR DYKSTRA Senior Skylar Dykstra commits to UCLA at the price of graduating a semester earlier than her class.

by Andrew Czuzak

While some seniors are puzzling over which school to attend next fall, senior Skylar Dykstra’s dedication and commitment to volleyball has set her up to play at UCLA. After ten years of playing club volleyball and countless hours of practice, Dykstra was contacted last year by UCLA’s volleyball coach.

“Both the club and school team got me ready physically to play, but club is where I and most people get noticed because the coaches aren’t worried about coaching their team,” Dykstra said.

Although she received scholarships from other schools, Dykstra turned them down and instead chose to walk-on to UCLA rather than attend other schools.

“I received scholarship(s) from Penn State and Nebraska, but I liked UCLA. I loved the campus and environment at UCLA and my sister, who used to play on the team, goes there as well,” Dykstra said.

In addition, Lara Dykstra, Skylar’s older sister, plays at Nebraska, the current number one women’s volleyball team in the nation and plays the same position that Dykstra does.

“I was inspired by her and the rest of my family to play volleyball. I don’t want to create unneeded tension between us because we would be fighting for one spot,” Dykstra said.

Coach Tommy Chaffins has coached both sisters and believes it is hard to compare them.

“I really dislike comparing all of the sis-

ters, but one thing that is inarguable is that Skylar definitely hits the ball hardest in terms of miles per hour,” he said.

According to Chaffins, Dykstra intends to graduate high school a semester early to study and more importantly, to practice with UCLA during the spring semester.

“I think Skylar wants to go early so she can really acclimate herself and get up to the college speed,” Chaffins said. “I can only remember two other players who did that in Redondo history.”

Chaffins, who praised Dykstra’s speed, strength, skill and intelligence, also has noticed the growth in her game over the years.

“Skylar’s leadership has notably improved over the years, and I can see how her leader-

THE HEART BEHIND THE TEAM

by Kylie Martin

After the disappointing score of the first home football game, the cheerleading team still keeps their spirits high for upcoming games.

“Even though we lost, I think we helped the players keep their heads held high during the game,” senior Courtney Bowen said.

“We always try to yell encouraging words and keep their spirits up when the score is down.”

According to senior Suzie Benoit, the football players rely on the cheerleaders to keep the crowd pumped up and to give the football team an upbeat mentality.

“Cheerleading keeps both the crowd’s and the players’ spirits up, and it brings a lot more fun to the game as a whole,” Benoit said.

According to Bowen, one of the cheerleaders’ goals is to make sure the student body is more spirited than past years. She believes that it makes the experience of going to football games much more fun when

ship is affecting our team in a super positive way,” Chaffins said. “She’s in the top 10 best players I coached, if not top 5.”

Despite her excellence in Redondo’s volley program, Dykstra must now fight for playing time at UCLA. “Just because there are other people on the team with scholarships doesn’t guarantee them time. If I can show up and outwork them then I can take their position,” Dykstra said.

In fact, Dykstra’s main competition is a past opponent from the club level of volleyball.

“I know she is a good player, but I have confidence and believe in myself that I can beat her,” she said. “I just think of the verse ‘I can do all things through He who strengthens me.”

The cheerleaders work to pump up the football players and crowd.

everyone is spirited.

“I think it’s great that more students from every grade level are down cheering with the flock than previous years when it was mostly only seniors shouting and dressing up in head-to-toe red outfits,” Bowen said. “It really brings all of us together as one.”

The cheerleaders, however, are still looking for ways to make the games more exciting through various cheers, stunts, and song choices.

“I think everyone liked the music, but

there are a lot more songs we didn’t get a chance to play and dances we didn’t get to do, so I think next game we will have a lot more to show the crowd,” Benoit said.

Bowen believes that there is always room for improvement on the cheer team. She expects a lot more stunts and sticks and a lot less falls as the season progresses.

“Our goals this season would be to go to competition, to keep energy up in the crowds at every game, and to never have a dull moment,” Bowen said.

SPORTS // SEPT. 21, 2012

GOING FOR THE GLORY

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by Tatiana Celentano

Going into last Friday’s Culver game, the football team didn’t expect to bring their record down to 2-2. The team went out too confident and came out 27-32.

“We had a lot of mental mistakes, like not doing punt assignments and giving up touchdowns-- simple things that we can quickly fix,” senior Christian Fernandez said.

The team is taking advantage of these more difficult non-league games to better prepare them to dominate in League.

“Our most difficult opponents will be West [Torrance] and Mira Costa.

The play level in those games won’t even compare to Orange Lutheran so this upcoming game will really get us ready emotionally, physically, and mentally,” Fernandez said.

Heading into the Orange Lutheran game, the team is prepared to face their toughest game of the season.

“They’re most definitely a tough opponent, but we’ve had a good week at practice to prepare for it. It’s most important that we execute our offense,” Faecher said.

The team is relying on the seniors to step up their leadership in this game to help the underclassmen become more committed and start treating this season as if it were their last, according to senior

Freddy Smith. “[Galbasin] didn’t play last year because he was injured, and now he is making huge plays that contribute to our scores,” Faecher said. “Freddy is a first time player for Redondo, and he has brought some explosiveness to the team.”

The team’s main issue that they will be fighting to improve on, in not only their upcoming games, but through the rest of the season, is coming together as a team.

“We need to play more as a team and instead of trying to be spotlight players we need everyone to step up and become a spotlight team,” Faecher said. “When we can actually come together we become an unstoppable unit, but it takes a lot to get everyone focused and determined to work together.”

The coaches assigned for every position have created a close team dynamic and fostered bonds between coaches and players, relationships that weren’t there before, according to Smith.

After a week full of intense practice and determination to do well, the team believes they can put up a good fight. “[Orange Lutheran] will be a game to watch. It’s going to be the hardest game of the season and it will show who can actually play,” Shojima said.

Taken down. In last Friday’s game, senior Freddy Smith is tugged down by a Culver City player in an attempt to connect the ball.

The win was unexpectedly stolen by Culver City, due to the team’s high confidence to dominate the field.

PHOTO BY MATT MARDESICH

MEETING THE GOALS

Dance Guard sets long and short term goals to perform their best as a team and indviduals.

by Cedric Hyon

PHOTO BY JENNY OETZELL

Dance your flag off. Senior Kiana Sakamoto performs for last Friday night’s football game.

The lights were shining down on Dance Guard and intensity built as they performed three minutes of choreography using air blades and silk with flame designs. Senior and Cocaptain Kiana Sakamoto says the performance went well.

“It was a good start to the season, and it was a good opportunity for the girls to perform in front of the whole school,” Sakamoto said. ​Dance Guard advisor Sarah Slemmons says that it was a good start to the season and was a good experience for the team.

“I think that it was a great start to our season, and it changed from performing to each other in practice to performing for a crowd. It was a good awakening for everyone to realize that we put in a lot of hard work, and it pays off when performances go well,” Slemmons said. “I would say that all the students that I talked to were pleased that they got through the performance and knew what they needed to work on.”

​ uettgenbach says the goal for the year is B to keep the standard that they set.

“Our goal is to keep up with the name we’ve made for ourselves. Now we’re in returning State Championships, and we’d like to get to that point again while still having a good time,” Buettgenbach.

Sakamoto wants the goal to be to keep a constant stride in competition. “[Our goal] is to increase our competitive edge every year, not just one year, and to make every year count.” ​Slemmons has multiple goals for the year from making improvements on skills or performing their personal best at every competition.

“We do a lot of goal setting in Dance Guard, and I try to keep them thinking short term for upcoming performances and then long term for the whole season,” Slemmons said. “For me, it’s for them to do their personal best at every competition and every performance so they can say that they have improved from the start to the end of the season.”

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SPORTS // SEPT. 21, 2012

Going in for the KILL

Based on their victory against Orange Lutheran, the girls’ volleyball team plans for a good season with similar victories.

by Alejandro Quevedo

Fueled by their high placement in the Durango Tournament over the weekend, the girls’ volleyball team beat Orange Lutheran in three sets this Tuesday, 25-23, 2521, 25-22.

According to coach Tommy Chaffins, each set was very close, but what allowed them to climb to the top was the team’s defense.

“They would make a good play, but then we would make a better play,” Chaffins said.

“We dug a tremendous amount of balls, and I thought we played outstanding defense.”

In addition to their defense, senior and captain Skylar Dykstra led with 13 kills, junior Brianna Lanktree had 8 kills as well as 4 aces, and freshman Norene Iosia had 24 assists. Though they were recovering from a tournament over the weekend, the team maintained their focus throughout the game.

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“We were a little tired after playing all weekend in Vegas but we played as a team and did really well,” Lanktree said. “I think I had great serving and good defense, and Norene was an amazing setter and moved the ball around.”

Dykstra agrees that the team played well despite the tough weekend.

“I think we played very well considering we were just at a big exciting tournament,” Dykstra said. “We had tough mental focus, great next play focus, and good energy.”

The main issue for the team during the

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PHOTOSBY BYDIANA DIANA LUNA LUNA PHOTOS

The victors’ circle. 1. The girls’ volleyball team comes together to recuperate after a point in match against Bishop Montgomery. 2. Senior Skylar Dykstra and teammate block a ball tipped over by a Bishop player.

match was service errors, with 12 occurring over the course of all three sets.

“We recognize that’s too many, but we don’t want to be non-aggressive,” Chaffins said. “There’s a fine line but we need to balance it out a little bit.”

The match was close, with Orange Lutheran pulling ahead half the time only to have Redondo make a few extra kills to inch into the lead. The team, however, kept their attitude and confidence up throughout the game.

“We are great at working together and

Net Gains

ALYSSA GRIJALVA

by Kayla Maanum

PHOTO BY JENNY OETZELL

Serving up wins. Freshman Alyssa Grijalva has proved an important addition to the tennis team. She believes the team will do well in their match against Bishop Montgomery on Monday because of their strong work ethic. “We are a hardworking team and we never give up; we always fight,” she said.

Girls’ tennis extended their undefeated preseason record to 6-0 after an 11-7 win over Torrance High School last Tuesday.

The team’s early success is largely due to freshman Alyssa Grijalva, who swept at love against Torrance and has not lost a match yet. Coach Jessica Seibert believes Grijalva is a valuable addition to the team because of her experience. “[Grijalva is] a strong singles player.

She plays tournaments, and she knows how to play matches,” Seibert said.

Junior Jenn Duong also praises Grijalva’s addition to the team.

“She’s been a vital asset because she sweeps everytime we play. She’s really solid and consistent and hits with a lot of power,” Duong said.

Not only is Grijalva a solid player, but she also increases spirit on the sideline.

staying together through the ups and downs during the matches,” Dykstra said. “Coach keeps stressing the importance of ‘next play focus’, and I think we are doing great applying that to our game.”

The team is playing Mater Dei on Thursday, and expects a good fight from them.

“We just talk about the next play,” Chaffins said. “We have hardworking, talented, and selfless individuals who try to beat each other up in practice and support each other during the games. I’m really pumped for the year.”

“[Grijalva] not only wins all of her matches, but she also cheers on the team and gives us all advice on what we’re doing wrong in our matches,” teammate and freshman Emily Zargham said.

Seibert also recognizes Grijalva’s contributions to team morale. “[Grijalva] pushes the girls to perform a little bit better. She kind of elevates the whole team,” Seibert said.

Seibert hopes the addition of Grijalva and two other starting freshmen will elevate their placement in Bay League. “[Grijalva] has huge potential to do well in league, that’s what I’m really interested in. Bay League is very tough so she’s going to have a lot of strong competition, and I think she’ll do really well against some of the top competitors in Palos Verdes and Mira Costa,” Seibert said.

Even though she has won all of her matches thus far, Grijalva believes there

are still aspects of her game she needs to improve to beat Bishop next Monday and to meet her ultimate goal of making CIF. “[I need to improve on] footwork, moving more, exercising, and getting healthy because as the divisions go up [competition] gets harder,” Grijalva said.

Even though competition will become harder, Grijalva still holds high expectations.

“I expect to win almost all of my matches or when I play hard teams, to at least give a challenge to them,” Grijalva said.

In order to pose a challenge to Bishop and in league, Seibert thinks Grijalva should keep playing her own game.

“I just think [Grijalva] needs to keep playing the game she’s been playing.

Alyssa consistently comes ready to play and I am completely confident in her abilities to just go out and fight,” Seibert said.

SPORTS // SEPT. 21, 2012

Picking up where they left off

by Justin Lee

As the runners settled down after a three- mile-long run, the announcer announced the results of the girls’ varsity race. The girls finished with 42 points, taking first place in the first Bay League meet of the season. Boys’ varsity came close, but finished second with 56 points, coming in behind Palos Verdes High School.

“The boys ran tight today. They didn’t have a great race,” coach Bob Leetch said.

“I think collectively they ran fine, but not good enough.”

Leetch believes that he may have put too much pressure on the boys to run well on the home course, but says that they are going to move on and forget about it.

“For the boys’ varsity, this is their second race, so most of these kids haven’t re-

ally raced very much, and that’s by design.

Our plan is to peak at the end of the year,” Leetch said.

Coach Julie Ferron believes that the boys did well, but still thinks they can do better.

“I think with second place we still have a chance at winning Bay League. They are talented enough to win it. They just need to believe in themselves,” Ferron said.

The top runner for this meet, senior Garrett Klatte, thinks that the team still did well even though they finished in second place.

“My personal goal was to finish in the top ten in the race, and I did, so I was really pleased with that. As far as our team goes, we wanted to win, but it’s not a huge

setback getting second. We were racing really good teams, but we could do better,” Klatte said.

As for the girls, sophomore Anevay Hiehle thinks that getting first place will translate to a win in the League as a whole.

“I think we’re going to do well in Bay League-- we’re going to to the best we can,” Hiehle said.

Next week the teams will be in Minnesota to compete in the Griak Invitational that takes place at the University of Minnesota, Gopher Campus. Ferron believes that the outcome of the meet will be favorable.

“For Minnesota, we’re going to go out there and show the Midwest what Redondo is all about, and I think that both teams are going to do extremely well,” Ferron said.

PHOTOS BY JENNY OETZELL

Run, Redondo, run. The girls’ and boys’ cross country teams placed first and second, respectively, in their first Bay League meet of the season.

Boys’ water polo defeats El Dorado in nonleague match

by Tatiana Celentano

PHOTO BY JENNY OETZELL

I’ll pass. Junior Lucas Duffy passes ball with 25 seconds on the clock in nonleague game against El Segundo. According to junior Nick Gutierrez, the boys’ friendship translates into their performance in the pool. “We work very well as a team and we communicate well,” Gutierrez said.

The boys’ water polo team’s reoccurring theme of their preseason seems to be to cohesion, working well together as a team, but also being selfreliant, working harder and improving individually.

Junior Jonathan Ortiz reflects on the past games and hopes to pick up where he left off condition-wise, as of his club season.

“I’ve been playing alright. I use to play better in the summer, but after a break I got out of it and I need to work on conditioning,” Ortiz said.

The team practices six days a week, including Saturdays. On Saturday they mainly prepare for the upcoming week and go over ways in which the other teams will play and how to prepare to defeat them. The boys also work on conditioning to keep up with the faster teams who have bigger benches, according to junior Lucas Duffy.

“We are forced to stay in shape to make up for our disadvantages.

There are only three returning players to Varsity, but we make up for it by playing together in club. The pool attracted a lot of people to join the team and hopefully by next year they will be prepared to play on varsity and therefore fill up our bench,” Duffy said.

The team beat El Dorado yesterday in a blowout 15-2 game, and look forward to their home game against Torrance on Tuesday.

“We worked together as a team and destroyed them by pressing them really well and scoring on the counter attack,” senior Michael Chang said.

According to Duffy, the showing in supporters was especiallly helpful for the team.

“We really appreciate the turn out of people who come to support us at our home games. It really gets the team pumped up, and we could use the support against Torrance, which could potentially be a tough game,” Duffy said.

19

Girls’ golf loses to Peninsula

by Kylie Martin

After beating Peninsula Wednesday by six points, the girls’ golf team was disappointed when they lost to them 230 to 237 yesterday.

“We went into the match thinking that we would win since we beat Peninsula on Wednesday and that over-confidence really hurt our game today,” sophomore Mackenzie Jeffery said.

Coach John Burke believes that one reason for the team’s loss was that the girls were too comfortable on their own course and that beating Peninsula on their home course Wednesday convinced them that they had another guaranteed win.

“It was a tough loss since we had some momentum going when we beat them Wednesday,” Burke said. “It was a reality check.”

According to senior Brittany Shankar, the girls were lacking their usual focus and determination, which affected the result of the match.

“We are very surprised and disappointed with the outcome of the match, but we all know that we can work and practice much harder to come out with scores that we are proud of,” Shankar said.

According to Burke, the team needs to practice on their short game.

“We missed a lot of shots on the green and that is where Peninsula beat us,” Burke said.

Shankar also believes that the girls need to work on putting and chipping.

“For the rest if the season I expect all of my teammates, including myself, to improve,” Shankar said. “As a team, I think we should all have more confidence in ourselves and in each other.”

The girls’ next match is against West next Tuesday. Since West and Redondo share the same course, there will be no home-court advantage and the result of the match will rely entirely on the girls’ performance.

“It will be a close match against West, South, and Chadwick after they all lost a lot of good players,” Burke said. “Our toughest opponent is Costa, and we have already lost to them, so our most difficult game of the season is past us.”

However, the team is still staying positive.

The girls are looking forward to two upcoming tournaments: a Burbank tournament on Oct. 4 and the Kanabe Long Beach tournament on Oct. 10.

According to Burke, the girls have been working hard to fundraise for a tournament in Lakewood and they are very proud of pulling people together to play.

“I really like the way that the girls are coming together so far this season not only as individual players, but also as a team,” Burke said.

20 FEATURES // SEPT. 21, 2012

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PHOTOS BY VITORIA MAGNO

Muzikally-inclined. 1. Senior Xavier Muzik plays the piano part of his duet “The Bridge.” Although the piano is the only instrument he plays, its range and versatility allow him to compose for a wide variety of instruments. 2. Muzik and junior Adam Betancourt play the duet together.

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[story continued from front page] Muzik is the first and only student, at present, who composes scores for band’s wind ensemble.

Impressed by Muzik’s high level of understanding and expertise of compositional techniques for such large ensembles, music theory teacher Philemon Theodorou introduced Muzik to band director Mark Aguero.

“I knew we had a really great wind ensemble,” Theodorou said. “I always think it’s neat for an institution like a school to have performers and do something that’s all-inclusive of the school, so having a Redondo students compose something for a band of Redondo students is a really neat idea.”

According to Muzik, one of the hardest problems composers face is getting someone to play their music.

“It was an opportunity which I could not pass up,” he said. “Without the wind ensemble and this opportunity, I might’ve just had to hire someone to play my music and, well, I’m not what you would call a rich man. It is because of Mr. Aguero, Mr. Theodorou, and the wind ensemble that I can do this. I mean, not many people get this kind of opportunity. I owe them my sincerest gratitude.”

Having a young composer like Muzik was an opportunity Aguero could not pass up.

“Band gets to play something no one has ever seen or heard before and have an open dialogue with the composer,” he said. “They get to talk about what they saw and heard, what worked and what didn’t. The instant feedback made it a great opportunity for both parties.”

Aguero was first drawn to Muzick’s innate understanding of structure and form.

“He doesn’t just put together a string of notes. His scores have meat,” Aguero said.

“When we first met, I told him, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ because Xavier is a big guy, the athlete-looking type. Talking to him made it clear to me that he was super mature and incredibly passionate about what he does. I was impressed most by his dedication.”

In fact, because Muzik plays only the piano and no wind instruments, he allots a significant amount of time for researching and studying scores from other composers.

“Piano is best for composing because of its range and versatility, but [composing] isn’t easy, especially when a piece gets complicated and you have to transpose for certain instruments,” he said. “I pay close attention to my director when he is speaking and the feedback from band. You’d be surprised by how much you can learn by just listening.”

Muzik often draws inspiration from his life experiences or other artists. His most recent piece is actually inspired by Claude Monet’s painting Water Lilies.

“Inspirational is kind of a tricky word because it’s more of a situational-type of thing,” he said. “Depending on the style I wish to compose, I’ll listen to certain composers who are known for composing in that style. For example, if I want to compose a piece that’s modern and about some aspect of nature, I’ll listen to Arron Copeland. If I want to compose a very thematic and Hollywood piece, I’ll listen to John Williams, maybe Michael Giacchino.”

Because it is difficult for new composers to break into the music scene, and just get someone to play their pieces, Muzik’s advice for new composers is to be patient.

“Be patient, be disciplined, and [compose] all the time. Listen to music constantly and learn from past composers,” he said.

“And play the piano.”

PLAYLIST: INSPIRATION “Main Theme” -Star Wars, John Williams “Adventures on Earth” - E.T., John Williams “Oceanic Six” -Michael Giacchino “Super 8 Suite” -Michael Giacchino “The Married Life” -UP, Michael Giacchino “Spiderman Theme” -Danny Elfman

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“Prelude No. 15 in D-flat Major” -Chopin “Johannes Passion (1)” -J.S. Bach “La Mer” -Claude Debussy “Appalachian Spring” -Arron Copeland “Gymnopedies” -Erik Satie “Pyscho” -Elmer Bernstein

BAND UPDATE

I want more consistency than last year. Last year we would have a good week and then the next week we would move back two steps. If I see growth from week to week in their marching and playing, I’ll be happy.

-Mark Aguero

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