Loma Linda Academy Mirror '09-'10 I1

The Mirror

Loma Linda Academy

Volume 77 Issue1 Oct. 2009

Havasu 2010 Senior class of 2010 annual trip to Lake Havasu Sept. 13-16

Table CONTENSTS THE MIRROR

OF

Cover- pictured Melissa Hordynski (12),

Aldrich Stanggang (12), Stephanie Javier-Tan (10), Danny Escobar (10), Jessica Bayer (9), Jon Debulgado (9)

Page 2- Havasu Collage Photos by Edelyn Kumendong Page 4 - Final Look Charnay Jones Page 5- Burn After Reading Nyoka Gilbert Page 6- Econo�ME�

Reyna Havery-Bell Page 7- Building Questions Building Jonathan Lee Page 8- Ask Peaches Page 9- Athlete of the Month & New Faces Kanelo Rakwena Page 10-He Shoots...He Skoretz!

Alexis Marca Page 12-Divorce & Teens: How We Cope With a Family Torn Apart Branden Lai-Lau Page 16-Student Leaders

Ashley Miller Page 18-iTech

Missy Murdoch Page 20-Meet the Mirror Staff Ashley Miller Page 22-Briefs Kanelo Rakwena Page 24-SA Picnic Collage Ashley Miller

The Mirror Volume 77 Issue 1 October Issue 2009 Loma Linda Academy

editor: photo editor: reporters:

sponsor: publisher: printer:

Charnay Jones Ashley Miller Nyoka Gilbert Reyna Harvey-Bell Branden Lai-Lau Jonathan Lee Alexis Marca Missy Murdoch Kanelo Rakwena Danelle Taylor Bob Dennis, principal

Loma Linda University Printing Services

address: Loma Linda Academy A Seventh-day Adventist School 10656 Anderson St.

Loma Linda, CA 92354

Mirror@lla.org

Notice

The Mirror is printed on 100% recycled paper. The Mirror staff welcomes signed letters to the editor. All uncredited photos by Ashley Miller.

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FINAL L A

new school year has just begun, for me it is my senior year, the final year. The big senior trip is Lake Havasu and it was the best high school experience.

As a Freshman I remember being extremely close to everyone in my class, but throughout the next three years we all grew apart. Cliques were made and people started hanging out with upperclassmen.

But now we are the upperclassmen. At Lake Havasu we were able to be reunited once again without any distractions. I realized as I look back how much we have grown as a class, and I have grown as a person.

My freshman year I wanted to be a part of school events to see how they were, but I gradually lost interest in them. I started to not care for SA activities.

My sophomore year, I was a part of a club and went on a snowboard trip to Colorado and now that I look back at it I had an amazing time. It brought me closer to God, because SDA schools from all over came. I met incredible people, who I still keep in contact with today. Now I wish I attended every club event and mission trip possible.

I recall as a junior I was too

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stressed out with my school work. I didn’t attend any school event except for SA banquet.

Lake Havasu made me look back and realize this. I became reunited with my graduating class through the best high school event. It made the senior class feel like we finally reached our year.

Everyone of us looked back at the past three years and talked about our high school experience.

My friends were talking about their favorite times at each school event, and I sadly didn’t attend half of these events.

My senior year has just started, and I plan on attending every school event available. I even plan on going on a mission trip this year. It’s my senior year and it’s the year I’ve been the most involved in.

Some say that high school is the best times of your lives, but you have to make it happen. Become involved in school, whether its being in a club, a class officer, or attending events like campout. It’s what makes your high school experience memorable.

—Charnay Jones

W

n

B U R N

P

hat is fire season? Is it related to the other four seasons; summer, fall, winter, and spring? According to the Healthy Forest and Rangelands website, fire season is a “period of the year during which wild fires are likely to occur, spread, and affect resource values sufficient to warrant organized fire management activities.”

7,198 fires have started between January 1, 2009 to September 26, 2009. These fires have burned approximately 54,109 acres of land; an improvement from last year with 5,007 fires that burned 357,903 acres of land (cdfdata.fire.ca.gov). Fire containment techniques have improved since last year, resulting is smaller fires and less damaged acreage. Despite the improvements in each department’s fire fighting techniques, some fires still manage to become large enough and dangerous enough to the point where evacuation is necessary.

Tim Giang (11), experienced the evacuation process firsthand. Giang, who has never been evacuated before, and his family were recently evacuated from their house for one day. Giang stayed at a friend’s house until he and his family were told that it was safe to return, but recalls being very worried about his house and all his belongings which were left behind. ho Vice Principal Robert Skoretz also experio to ol C enced the hardship of dealing with the dangers

by A n dre w of fires. Skoretz recalled a story of when he was a 14-year-old teenager living on a hill near Barton. Skoretz and his family were For constantly pestered by uprising flames more which were pushed their way by the information on Santa Ana winds. At one point, your area’s PPM the winds were so strong that the levels call the Smog flames were pushed over their adobe Hotline @ brick house. The house was terribly 1-800-288charred, but luckily did not catch on fire.

7664 The fire season in southern California this year has been contained well enough to the point that Loma Linda Academy and many other local schools will most likely not have to cancel school this year. According to the Smog Hotline, the PPM (parts per million) levels of particulate matter are moderate for the city of Loma Linda and should decrease over time.

A F T E R

R E A D I N G

-Nyoka Gilbert

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ECONO O

ne year has now passed since people around the world have felt the effects of the economy downturn. Loma Linda Academy (LLA) students have not been immune from its effects.

The economy does not discriminate who it effects. Dr Bob Dennis, LLA principal, said many cutbacks have been made and some teachers were let go. For example Dustin Aho, former assistant chaplain, Craig Hadley, former graphic arts teacher, among others, are no longer working on campus.

The financial cuts have also affected the teacher’s work load. This year teachers have had to pitch in and take up the attendance as well as maintain their classrooms, because most of the custodial hours have been cut. Teachers or their workers must vacuum their rooms, take out the trash and clean their white boards. The office has also had to add to its load since, Marie Nelson was let go and now many jobs in the office are split between Shevawn Tanner, Patty Day and Robert Skoretz.

Many students have also seen the effects of the economy on there school bill and home life. Kunal Patel (12), SA president, says student’s are having a hard time this year pay-

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ing for books, uniforms, and school activities.

Eurrice Lesure (9) said, “my mom now has to work two jobs, just to send me to this school.”

This year, to help ease the financial burden of SA events, the home and school decided to pay for SA beach vespers. They donated 4,500 dollars to try and insure that all the students who wanted to go would be able to go.

Cynthia Lopez (11th) said, “It’s affected the whole Junior class, because we really needed cash for class activities, like junior/senior banquet.”

Seniors are worried about applying for colleges. Nate Javier (12) writes, “The current economy disables me from the freedom of applying to many colleges I wanted to attend. I’ll now probably go to the one I can get the most money from.” This applies to many seniors going out into the world this spring.

—Reyna Havery-Bell

Building Questions Building

This year students were greeted upon their return to school with a huge flattened dirt ground East of the Science building. The pile includes part of the quad, several large trees, and a part of the faculty parking. It is not hard to miss this big project. Students have many questions about this flattened dirt.

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his project is going to be a student services building expected to be completed by possibly the fall of 2011. Principal Dr. Bob Dennis said, “It is being made due to lack of enough office and work space for the faculty. Having this building will make work space and organization much easier for the office workers.”

It will be a two-story building. “On the first floor, it will contain a conference room, business office, K-12 offices, faculty room, high school grading offices, attendance building, principal and vice principal offices, a career center, a tutoring center, and a student office. The 2nd floor will have seven major classrooms and two computer labs (PC & Mac computer labs), and is still being debated whether or not there will be an alumni building due to the lack of enough money. The classes on the 2nd floor will have math, history, and possible English classes [basically all the classes in West Hall].

The Cafeteria building can become a cafeteria again.”

The construction time for this project will take about two years to complete. It is for everyone’s convenience to have everything in one spot. It will be like Franz Hall all bunched up and stuck into one building.

So, what do the students say about this? One word in particular kept coming up, money. “It’s a waste of money!” Joe Ferronato (9) said.

“It’s not worth the money due to

economy,” said Daniella Hernandez (11).

“Not necessarily the wisest spending idea of resources,” Kyle Meyer (11) said.

“I think its great adding a new addition to the school, but we won’t be able to enjoy it,” Ruthy Lopez (12) said.

Out of all these opinions, one thing is certain. This building is going to cost a lot of money. Dennis, estimates that the cost of this project will be between $7-$8 million dollars in borrowed bonds/loans that have to be paid by the student bills within about 10 years.

What is happening with Franz Hall? Denis said, “It has been planned for about 50 years that this building [Franz Hall] should be torn down ever since the fire [in the 1940s] happened. Safety issues with earthquakes are another thing to consider.” The future plan for Franz Hall is to tear it down and build a performing arts building (band, choir, and chapel) said Dennis.

Dennis said, “This [building] will be the most radical change in the services of the school. I think the community will have more pride in the school. It is time to have more modern classrooms.” His message to all the students is that, “The millions of dollars being spent on the new buildings show how much Loma Linda loves young people.”

—Jonathan Lee

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Ask Peaches

{ I

So I just got into a relationship and I thought everything was going perfect but a couple days later I found out he is cheating on me and hooked up with another girl. What should I do?”

know that you know the obvious answer…but here is why you should break it off. First, a woman should never tolerate being disrespected by someone who wont keep a commitment to a relationship. If you don’t take a stand you will be miserable while he figures out whom he likes more … no one wants to go through that misery!

Second, it is part of the job of every woman on campus to form a sisterhood against men who treat them like they are objects and not valuable, beautiful, and unique people of God. If all women will agree to keep a high standard of faithfulness for the guys, they will get the picture that 8

}

if they want a date with Loma Linda Academy women, they better get their act together.

Lastly, when you break up with him, it may be helpful for you to ask if he was ever getting an unclear message from you that it was okay to cheat on you. Did he not realize this would hurt you?

I know there are PLENTY of brothers who will treat you with respect, love and truthfulness. You may have to look past some guys to find us, but we are there.

Drop your notes to Peaches in the “Ask peaches” box in the Library and look for responses in the next issue of the Mirror.

of the

ATHLETES Month T Micheals is a great asset to the team and is doing a great job in helping the team out wherever she can.

Chandler Rundle plays middle linebacker on the flag football team.

To pump himself up for the game he listens to music. He says as a senior he is never nervous when the game starts, but all the other years he was. He feels exhilarating when the game starts and is excited to beat the other teams or “destroy them,” he says. He chose to play football because that was the only guy sport to play in the fall.

He says, the bunkhouse rooms at tournament were the most memorable thing about football. He feels good about being the athlete of the month.

New Faces

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his Month Kelsey Michaels and Chandler Rundle, both seniors, have worked hard to lead there team in whatever way they needed to. There hard work has paid of and they were are the athletes of the month.

Michaels plays safety on the flag football team. She is outgoing and is excited about being athlete of the month. She describes herself as a weirdo, even though she is confident, enthusiastic, and encouraging. As one of the captains she brings her great characteristics to the field to help the team out. Her favorite thing to watch is the movie Lampoon National Vacation and the shows Nanny 911 and The Office.

She thinks beaches are overrated.

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He Shoots...

M

any students might know the really tall man who walks around the campus of Loma Linda Academy (LLA).

The man who wears the Lakers lanyard, loves Christ, and has been a teacher at LLA for ten years. This man is the one and only Pastor Robert Skoretz.

He has changed from being a religion teacher to being Loma Linda Academy’s (LLA) new viceprincipal.

There are many things about Skoretz that the average student attending LLA may not know about him. For example who knew that Skoretz likes playing basketball, and likes to cook? “Especially pasta!” Skoretz said. He has two children who are at this moment attending LLA. Skoretz was a pastor for more than 13 years. It was his dream ever since he graduated from LLA and then La Sierra University. He was a youth pastor at Azure Hills for three years and said it was “an absolute blast!”

For Skoretz, religious studies

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H

! z t e r e Sko have always been his passion. If he always wanted to be in the religious field, why did he take up the job as vice-principal? “The opportunity just came up,” Skoretz said. “Mrs. Schilt decided she wanted to pursue further studies and wanted the classroom experience.”

Not only does Skoretz love God, but he also loves this school and all of the people who are in it, which is another reason why he took up the job. His favorite part of LLA is, “The students body. [They’re] always different and they always have stories and [different] personalities.”

Skoretz describes his new job as “fun and challenging.”

Being the new vice-principal means that there is a lot to learn. It is quite a busy transition.

One thing that keeps Skoretz going is his love for the school and his love for being able to serve in this capacity. “[It] feels like I’m giving back to the school I went to,” he said. “[I will] do my best and serve my colleagues and friends, and help create a great school for [my] kids.”

Although, being the newest viceprincipal also has its hardships. “It’s important to be fair. We try to work with students and parents to create a really positive school. [My job] deals with discipline, rules,

“

[I will] do my best and serve my colleagues and friends, and help create a great school for [my] kids.

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will make LLA a special place. The regulations, [and it’s] important to teachers already take pride in LLA make a positive experience,” Skoretz and he would love the students to said. He admits that it is quite follow in their footsteps. He would overwhelming, but still very fun. also like the “campus culture to Dee Dee Schilt, the previous vicechange to emphasize living the principal and now freshmen health Christian life even more than we teacher, wishes Skoretz luck at his already do.” new job. She says that he is d e u n Skoretz really wants students a “very spiritual man,” a t s t s s to ant “ta to know, “They are loved by “great listener,” and w z God; that’s why this school is “committed to quality academics. exists—so they learn about God and can live a He is very good life. They are very methodical on important. I want them to [his] approach seize every opportunity to to implementing do [their] best in classes, to academics.” She get involved in activities, and understands his to take ownership of their own love for kids and life. Skoretz wants students to advises him to “set “take responsibility for being a person priorities.” She added, “You who helps others. If we do that, we can’t do it all!” “Be sure to take time can make a great campus.” for what brings you joy.”

With everything on his plate, Skoretz would like to see enrollment go up in the future and “see students —Alexis Marca take pride in their school. This is our school, our house.” To him, this

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Drawing by Nyoka Gilbert

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Divorce & Teens: How We Cope With a Family Torn Apart

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eens have a lot to worry about. It seems like the stress level is always rising because of school, relationship troubles, and the usual drama in their personal lives. One would think all of these problems would be enough to drive any high school student over the edge, but for many teens a new dilemma is arising, divorce.

What is divorce? Some may describe it as pain, suffering, heartbreak, or misery. Others might describe it as escape, or a new beginning. Webster’s Dictionary defines divorce as simply, “A complete separation.” But to those who have been affected by divorce, it is much more than separation.

Divorce is a complete sense of loss, a feeling of destruction. It digs down into people, and brings out either the best, or the worst in them. It can leave them vulnerable and afraid, not knowing what’s going to happen next.

One psychologist described it like this, “Divorce is like a Hail Mary pass in football, you don’t know if you’re going to come out on the other side alright. All you can do is

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set your feet, take the hit, and hope for the best.” Divorce is something that everyone wishes would just go away, but unfortunately that is not the case.

Divorce is rapidly becoming a more and more common trend.

According to CBS.nl.com, in the United States alone the divorce rate has quickly soared to a shocking 45.8%, with 6 out of 10 of them involving children. This means that a lot of teens are now being faced with their parents’ divorce. Divorce is an extremely painful experience

that can have long-term effects on their life. Fathersforlife.org says that teens who have to deal with divorce are more likely to develop behavioral and emotional problems, become involved in crime and drug abuse, and have higher rates of suicide.

In fact, more than 63% of suicides come from one-parent homes.

At LLA, a huge number of students are affected by divorce.

Results from a survey conducted on October 7, 2009, show that out of 151 students, 25 of their parents are divorced. That’s about 17% of the

student body. Pastor Jason Calvert, LLA religion teacher, says, “I don’t know if it’s the biggest influence on teens, but it’s one of the biggest.

Divorce is huge, monster huge, and has monster-huge effects.” He went on to say, “It makes everything hard.

It makes living hard, and going to school hard, because you think about this in the back of your mind.

And so it’s hard to sit in class, to concentrate, to do your homework, and take quizzes. Those things are all hard to do because it’s hard to focus on things like that when you know that when you get home, it’s going to be really nasty.”

What are some of the other effects of divorce? Stephanie Enriquez (10) said that for a while after she found out about her parents’ divorce, she blamed herself for it. “I just felt like they fought a lot because of me.” She said, “I started to lose self-confidence because a lot of other people had both parents, and I didn’t really have both. In a way I lost sleep too because I thought about it a lot before I’d go to bed.” She also said the divorce affected her daily routine.

“It [the divorce] didn’t really stop me, it just slowed me down a lot.

I was really sad during that time and feeling slower, and in a way, depressed.”

Even though all of these are pretty common effects, the one that people see in most every teen is self-fault. Calvert said teens feel this way “because they think that if they would have been a better kid, their parents wouldn’t have fought so much. But the thing is, when people get a divorce, their going to get one whether or not if the kid is amazing.

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The kid isn’t the issue, it’s much deeper than that.” He explains to teens that feel this way, “I guess the simplest I can put it is that it’s not. If you were to ask anyone who has ever been divorced, ‘Were your kids the reason you split?’ They will always say no.”

As can be imagined, the long process of divorce is very stressful for both the parents and children who are going through it. Naturally, teens would try to find a way to cope with the sudden destruction of their families, but how exactly do most teens do that?

And are they even coping with it in the right way?

Calvert says, “I think that there are two common things teens do. Escape, in other words they’re not dealing with it.

They’re just going to try to get away from it. Another one is to totally suppress it, to just ignore it, and try to say ‘I’m not effected at all, this is not going to affect my life, I’m OK and I don’t need to deal with it or even think about it.’ It’s almost like they’re in denial, so they’re just going to put up a façade that says, ‘Everything is OK, don’t worry about me, because I’m fine.’ So the two major things teens do is to try and escape by openly making unhealthy choices, or to just suppress it, try to hide it, and cover it up by not talking about it. But I think that both of these are extremely unhealthy.”

Calvert said the right way to

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handle tough situations is to, “find someone you can talk to, because ultimately you really need to deal with this, to wrestle with your thoughts and emotions, to try to get it out. So, find someone that you can trust who will really listen to you. That way you can vent and get your emotions and thought processes out.”

Although people are always saying that divorce is equally hard on both the parents, and the children; many psychologists believe that the kids seem to take the brunt of the blow. Not only do teens have to handle their parents’ constant feuding and the fact that their family has literally been torn apart, but they still have to go to school, take tests, and play sports, all the while being expected to perform to the best of their abilities. The problem is, what if the strength of their “abilities” have taken a blow? What if they just don’t have the willpower to, “keep on going”? When it seems like the entire world is against them, and they feel like giving up, who can they turn to? Friends? Family? God? Kids have always been given the usual words of wisdom, “No parent can match God, because he’ll never leave you.” But when it comes down to crunch time, do they have enough trust to put not only their well-being, but the well-being of their family in God’s hands? To trust anyone is a lot to ask considering these teens have been deserted by

“Divorce is huge, monster huge, and has monster huge effects.”

their parents, the most trusted people in their lives. Who knows?

Some might even be blaming God for what happened to them, or deciding that he doesn’t really exist.

Calvert explains it like this: “Divorce is a weapon that the devil uses to destroy, discourage, and mess up our lives and the lives of the people we love; ultimately attempting to draw us away from God. But Jesus is more powerful, and even though Satan uses sin to mess us up and confuse us. If we just trust God he will be there and he will defeat the evil and turn our lives around. But we have to make that choice to turn to God and say ‘OK, I’m ready.’ He doesn’t just bust in and make it happen.”

If you’re friends with anyone who is going through a tough divorce, there are things you can do to help them. You can ask them how they’re doing if you notice that they seem a little bit down, or you can always just keep them in your prayers. The biggest thing a friend can do to help them, Calvert says, is to “Be a really good, honest, trustworthy listener.

Which for some people is like an escape, but it’s a positive one. To be honest, it’s really hard to have the right words, or the right thought, but most of the time you don’t have to have the right words, because the best thing you can do to cheer them up is to just listen.”

Although there is a lot of divorce going on in the world, there are a lot of happy marriages as well. If people just work at it, every marriage can be a good one. However, it’s just a sad fact that some kids will never have the experience of growing up

in a home where the parents have a healthy marriage.

Enriquez said her parents’ divorce changed the way she viewed marriage as a whole, “Because now I know that sometimes, it just doesn’t last forever like you thought it would.”

Divorce is a part of teens lives, and the sooner we accept that, the sooner we’ll be able to deal with it. Enriquez said that her advice to teens who are going through divorce is, “To just get through it, because eventually, you will be able to overcome it.”

Being someone whose parents are going through a divorce, I know that sometimes, it feels like the only thing I have left of the past are my memories, and regrets about what could have been. However, although some people may think that it’s holding on that makes you strong; I like to believe that sometimes, it’s letting go.

—Branden Lai-Lau

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Student Senior Class Officers 2010

Junior Class Officers 2011

Top Row: Kevin Weathers,David Wuchenich, Michael Browning, Aldrich Sitanggang, Tony Hernandez Middle Row: Andrew Brooks, Justin Massey, Ruthy Lopez, Laura Robinson, Jaimie Rajcevich, Victoria Lowe Bottom Row: Jacob Peterson, Kristen Fabella, Kevin Loyola, Kirsten Manalo, Edelyn Kumendong Sponsors: Lynne Hattendorf, Sue Peterson, Nikki Gonzalez, Lori Holm, Robert Skortez, Mark Holm Not Pictured: Andrew Akamine

Top row: Luke Mattison, Jon Lee, Hannah Kwon, Lydia Kore, Bryanna Mercado,Vernee Norman, Marsha Weerawardana Bottom row: Vivian Wong, Michelle Ocampo, Elizabeth Yeo,Vivien Rodriguez Sponsors: Ted Bancarz, Jamey Cooper, Danelle Taylor, Warren Jarrard, Jessica Williams Not Pictured: Timothy Giang, Daniel Fukuda, Andy Oshiro

Sophomore Class Officers 2012

Freshman Class Officers 2013

Top Row: Ryan Nelson,Christopher Heinrich, Stephanie Javior-Tan, Kyle Ilio, Jonathon Hwang Middle Row: Samatha Hernado, Derik Hardesty, Keli Wright, Grace Pai, Josh Montang, Carrisa Belonio, Matt Lucrida Bottom Row: Wilson Lao Sponsors: Teresa Phillips, Jennifer Yapshing, Jason Calvert, Sergio Uribe Not Pictured: Lexi Elssman, Hannah Stange

Top Row: Candance Yamaanishi, Marie Del Aguila, Dillion Liang, Stephanie De Mel, Dakota Jordan, Yvonne Bui, Alexandra Stream, Amarylis Viera, Leisa Ong Bottom Row: Ainee Baraero, Darley Magno, Tyler Haase, Jonathan Mamora, Eric Guzman Sponsors: Beth Robertson, Lionel Ballou, Andy Sandiford, Sarah Henderson Not Pictured: Louidette Maling

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Leaders 1st Semester SA Officers

Top row: Jon Hall, Daniel Mamora, David Stone, Jayson Paw, Carly Holm, Kyle Meyer, Sharla Chang, Jacina Shultz, Zari Caradag, Chandler Rundle, Daniel Perez, Coach Bri Bottom row: Nathan Lee, Kunal Patel, Jay Linthicum Not Pictured: Grace Ballou, Lionel Ballou, Sarah Henderson, Jane Kwon, Ryan Beauchemin, Jane Kwon

Video Yearbook Staff

Top Row: Eric Juarez, Rafael Molina, Jonathan Hwang Bottom Row: Adam Becker, Danelle Taylor, C.B. Alaras, Edelyn Kumendong, Alex Shine

Yearbook Staff

Top Row: Nathaniel Morlock, Caroline Mooney, Rae Ann Varona, Tara Hattendorf, Diane Bradley, Michaela McGinnis, Loran Ong Middle Row: Alyssa Cheng, Reem Blaik, Darlene Sandhu, Milton Vega Bottom Row: Andrew Pang, Jannel Lamangan

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he use of electronics has revolutionized the way that we function from day to day.

GPS systems have made maps almost obsolete and e-mail has become so lightening fast that we now call anything with a postage stamp on it "snail mail." Palm sized iPods are capable of holding the equivalent of hundreds of CDs worth of music and computers have brought entire libraries worth of information to our desks. Now, smart phones are attempting to combine all of these things while still retaining the ability to make a basic phone call.

Cell phones decrease misunderstandings and increase safety. Before the age of cell phones, plans had to be set in stone before hand to avoid miscommunication.

They are not only used for practical purposes, but for entertainment as well. Some students spend much of their free time having conversations with their friends via texting. Hillary Sujo (11) says that she can hold conversations with as many as five people at one time while texting.

It is not uncommon to see students around school trying to text, walk, and carry on a conversation with the friend walking next to them. You can spot these

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iTech

texting addicts from across the hallway due to their zigzagging walk and tendency to run into stationary objects. Austin Roberts (11) is a prime example of a texting addict. He keeps in constant communication with friends throughout the day. Receiving texts helps Roberts know what is going on in their lives when he is not with them.

Drastic changes in the size of the cell phone have occurred within our lifetimes.

Hannah Stange (10) says "I remember what cell phones were like when I was little. They were practically the size of bricks and only came in really ugly colors." The first cell phones weighed around 28 ounces. They have shrunk in size so drastically over the years that the world's smallest cell phone, known as the Modu, weighs only 1.5 ounces.

Now, with the debut of the iPhone, competition between cell companies has sky rocketed. Every company is scrambling to come out with their own equivalent of the iPhone. This competition has led analysts to predict that one billion Smartphone handsets will be sold by 2011 (eCommerce Times).

Despite advances being made in the improvements of smartphones

and 3G networking, America is quite far behind other countries in the race for cutting-edge technology.

Japan, for example, has created a wrist video phone, phones that can be used in the place of credit cards, phones that can double as an LED light, and phones equipped with motion sensors so that Wii style video games can be played on them.

Nick DeLeon (11), who has lived in Japan, recalls that some phones were capable of live video chats and that phones were often programmed to be used instead of train passes because they were more convenient for daily commuters.

Who knows what the future holds for portable media and cell phones.

Perhaps longer battery life, larger screens, and faster service await us. According to Beth Robertson, computer teacher, the most important thing to remember is to, "Be open minded to the many uses technology has."

Mirror Survey on Cellphone Usage Responses of 153 students

Do you pay your own cellphone bill?

94% Yes

6%

3%

No

9% What features do you use the most?

14%

9% Movies/T.V.

9%

28%

Calling Te12ng

36%

Internet GPS Music

8% What grade did you get your first phone in?

1%

8% 50%

8% 33%

Grades 1‐3 Grades 4‐6 Grades 7‐8 Grade 9 Grade 10

—Missy Murdoch

Do you own a cell phone?

92% Yes

8%

No

Drawing by Missy Murdoch

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Meet the Mirror Staff Lee—rep

1.) Two Houses. Private beach house in Hawaii (Big Island) and private beach house in Cali.

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2.) “Play that Funky Music” -Wild Cherry.

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5.) Milk chocolate

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2.) “Hear Me Now”-Framing Hanley

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2.) Dark chocolate.

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1.) Northern California— They have big trees.

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n

Gilbert—repo a k

3.) Octopus

Taylor— elle s

ue

Questions Q ue ons i t sti s ue

ions Questio uest n Q s 1. If you could s Q on live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

2. What’s your favorite song of the moment?

3. What’s the weirdest thing you have eaten?

4. What is your signature dance move?

5. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

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akwena—re

rt po

er

Questions Q u est io

4.) The reject.

Kan e

on s s ti

3.) Chicken feet, it is really good.

ns

e st Qu

ions Questio ns Q

1.) Tie between New Zealand and South America.

2.) I think I’d have to say “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer because I just saw them live!

4.) The signature “Charnay” dance.

Jones— ed

Ch

ay arn

r ito

Miller—ph o ley

editor to

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2.)“Sleep Alone” -Bat for Lashes

2.) In Switzerland with my three pet goats.

5.) I love dark chocolate.

4.) Standing really still.

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o r te r rep

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1.) In a mansion along the beach in the Bahamas.

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Briefs Correction After last year’s Junior High Presidential Academic Awards ceremony it was brought to the attention of the Junior High that Abby Getahuh should have been awarded the Silver Presidential Academic Award Certificate for her 3.5 GPA in 8th grade.

Mission Trips This year LLA will be going on two mission trips. The first is to Hancock County, Mississippi November 18-23. Students will be building a youth camp for teens effected by Hurricane Katrina.

This trip will take 40 students and is now full. The second is to Portugal during Spring Break and can take 30 students. Students will join the building of a health and wellness center. Signs ups to be announced.

The contact people for the trips are Jessica Williams and Jason Calvert.

Organic chemistry is a new class taught by Dr. Darryl Benson. It is only one semester but is an introduction to organic and biochemistry.

This class is only offered for seniors who plans to major in chemistry.

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Is there Senior Parking this year?

There was never really senior parking. Senior parking is something that started as a culture thing and was passed down each year. “There was never a designated area for the seniors to park, and nobody wants conflict over parking in our school,” says Skoretz, vice principal. Cathy Kelly (12) does not really care for senior parking and said it is not a big deal. Seniors even claimed there own space with chalk at the beginning of the year, but after that, all the seniors let it go. There is officially no senior parking yet this year.

The Fall Friday night vespers, has been relocated to room 202 at the Loma Linda University Church.

The current pastor for the Fall is Rob Mohr. The new theme is focusing on the issues of life and how we can help the youth. For more information listen for chapel announcements.

Tech and Lead Ministry are now a combined class under Pastor Holm, because of budget cuts.

There are 27 kids in both tech and lead ministry so it was worth combining. Leadership ministry plans weekly chapels. Tech controls the computer in the back, lights, and sound.

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SA Picnic | annual class competition field games | Sept. 8