2018-2019 Issue 4 (Dec. 7, 2018) by NPHS Panther Prowler

PANTHER

PROWLER Friday Dec. 7, 2018 • Issue !V • Newbury Park High School 456 N. Reino Rd., Newbury Park, CA 91320 • pantherprowler.org

Gun Show

8-9

NP Legacies

Borderline Tragedy

10-11

Pat Phelps

California Fires

Election Results Little Shop

Children’s TV

Cross Country

editorial Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Laissez-faire enforcement of the Second Amendment is a deadly mistake The idea that guns are untouchable because of the Second Amendment follows an aged dogmatism that makes no sense in 2018. While mental health issues and toxic masculinity are probable and well-founded causes of gun violence, it does not absolve guns from blame. Yes people kill people, but guns make it easy. If a violent person was armed with a knife instead of a gun, it would be impossible to kill masses of people in a matter of minutes. Can you direct me to any instances of a mass knifing? Just because something is made with good intentions, like the Second Amendment, does not mean we can excuse everything bad that happens as a result of it. We have more regulations on our right to speak than our rights to carry a gun. If I yell “BOMB” in an airport, I would be arrested because my words could cause a threat to public safety. But a domestic abuser can waltz into a Walmart and buy a gun. If we can regulate an amendment as vital as the First Amendment, regulating the right to bear arms should be a no-brainer. Yet after a mass shooting taking the lives of 12 people in our community, support for guns has not waivered. Ventura County Fair Board approved the Crossroads Gun Show for Dec. 15-16, along with several other dates throughout 2019. Unlike gun shops, gun shows are not subject to the California’s restriction on purchasing more than one handgun per month or the design safety standards for handguns. This grants the opportunity for dangerous people to obtain guns. Gun shows are notorious for loosely enforcing regulations and it is simply just not worth the risk. In a community where the effects of a mass shooting still feel like an open wound, the Ventura County Fair Board is rubbing in salt.

Emily Augustine/Prowler

E’

CROSSROADS OF THE WEST

Marli Davis/Prowler

Front Cover Caption:

Remembering- The Ventura County community comes together and mourns the deaths caused by the Borderline Shooting. By putting up crosses with the names of the victims, placing ﬂowers in front their names and presenting small gift around their images, this close knit community was able to ﬁght through the tragedy at Borderline. Hailey Washington/ Staff Writer

PANTHER PROWLER

2018-2019 staff

Editors-in-Chief Connor Keep Clare Wang

Entertainment Editor Daria Azizad Copy Editors Emily Augustine Kessa Chavez Marli Davis Kavita Rai Nidhi Satyagal Cover Editor Rahul D’Souza

Features Editor Kavita Rai

DPS Editor Kessa Chavez

Sports Editor Emily Nagamoto Jaycen Sussman Aditya Vunnum

Online Manager// Daria Azizad Maya Chari Kessa Chavez Rahul D’Souza Emily Nagamoto

Opinion Editor Nidhi Satyagal News Editor Emily Augustine Marli Davis Ad Manager Gianna Spiro

Staff Writers Christiana Borisoff Brian Fang Hannah Gross Manas Khatore Hailey Washington Jessica Zhou

Graphic Artist Emily Augustine Marli Davis Gianna Spiro

Photographers Chief// Emily Nagamoto Maya Chari Rahul D’Souza Sarah Lu Clarissa Shin Aditya Vunnum Jessica Zhou Adviser Michelle Saremi

The Panther Prowler is the official publication of Newbury Park High School, and is created and produced by the Advanced Journalism students. The newspaper is funded by advertisements from local companies. The Panther Prowler staff makes all final decisions on information published in its newspaper, its website and its publishing in other social medias. While Mrs. Michelle Saremi advises the Advanced Journalism students, the staff is solely responsible for what is printed. The Panther Prowler is published every four weeks throughout the school year by American Foothill Publishing Co. For advertisement information, visit www.pantherprowler.org. The Panther Prowler is accepting letters to the editor. To submit your feedback, please provide your full name, email and a letter about 300 words in length. Letters are subject to discretion and editing for taste, length and libel. Letters can be submitted to the email posted below. Newbury Park High School 456 North Reino Road, Newbury Park, California 91320 (805) 498-3676 x 1110 prowler.newspaper@gmail.com

news Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Faculty remembers George Hurley Gianna Spiro Ad Manager In the midst of the many tragedies and suffering in the community, NPHS lost a beloved coach. George Hurley, more commonly known as Coach Hurley, served over 40 years at NPHS as a teacher, coach and mentor. Hurley began his teaching career in 1972, before he coached the Panther football team for 37 years. After fighting cancer for 14 years, he passed away on Nov. 19, but his legacy and many memories will last forever. Ryan Hurley, campus supervisor and Varsity Football and Track coach, reminisced about his childhood and the popularity of his father in the small community. “My dad had a great sense of humor, he was very sarcastic and witty. I definitely grew up idolizing him, almost feeling like he’s a celebrity back then in Newbury Park. Wherever we went people knew him,” Hurley said. Kelly Welch, assistant principal, knew Hurley since 2006 when she began coaching girls’ soccer. Coaching at the high school level was a new experience for Welch but Hurley and a few other coaches that she considered her mentors helped her “address the whole student-athlete.” “Coach Hurley was always friendly, always had a smile, always had a word of encouragement or something positive to anyone he encountered. He was very impactful to me, and helped me become a better coach,” Welch said. When Jason Klein, athletic coordinator, first became the head coach of NPHS in 2007, he received two things from Coach Hurley. “He brought me a little small coaching handbook that he had for a long time, which emphasized that the safety and wellbeing of the kids came first. When we won our first game, he got me a little trophy. Those two things showed the thoughtfulness and how he always put others before himself,” Klein said. On campus, Hurley was well-known by many students and faculty for his caring personality. “He was passionate about working with students and being a positive influence in their life. He cared about them and their issues, whether it was inside or outside of the classroom, on or off of the field. (He was) just an all-around genuine person,” Welch said. “Coach Hurley was everything it means to be a Panther. We talk about NPHS standing for nobility, potential, humanity, scholarship, and

Coach Hurley embodied all of those characteristics and expected those things out of his student-athletes.That helped to create the culture here at this high school.” Gary Fabricius, teacher and former coach, always liked that “he was very family oriented.” “My wife was always grateful, because he put family first...but if we ever came to him and said ‘my wife needs this or that’ he would say ‘go, it’s ok,’” Fabricus said. “He would always allow family obligations to come first. He was big on not bringing the players in on Saturday...George was one of those that said, ‘Saturday is for you to be a kid.’ And that stuck with me as well -- it’s not a job, it’s supposed to be high school fun and he kept that in perspective.” When Hurley retired after the 2009-2010 school year, he continued to help out and make an everlasting impact on NPHS. “He always put others before himself. He’s really going to be missed. Even when he stopped coaching he still help(ed) coach our lower levels. He always helped out with study hall, or helped me out with wrestling...he’ll really be missed,” Klein said.

Giving direction (above)- George Hurley coached the NPHS football teams for 37 years, creating an encouraging atmosphere on the ﬁeld while emphasizing family and fun over competitiveness. He is also remembered for his thought-provoking quips. “He was very, very funny. He’d ﬁre off a joke really quick and you would have to think about it, and go ‘gosh that was really good,’” said Coach Jason Klein. “Just his humor really stands out.” Courtesy of Pawprint Yearbook Ear to ear (left)- In addition to football, George Hurley also coached wrestling. He poses with a grin for a picture in the yearbook. Courtesy of Pawprint Yearbook

Daniel Cravens leaves behind fond memories Manas Khatore Staff Writer Daniel Cravens, a student at Moorpark Community College, passed away on the morning of Nov. 17. An NPHS alumnus, the 20-year-old touched the hearts of many here on campus. Julie Cravens, senior, Daniel’s sister reminisces the memories that she made with him. “Honestly, I consider him my first best friend… Sometimes he would keep me up until 2 a.m. just talking to me about a story,” Julie Cravens said. She describes him as an introverted person who cherished the close relationships he made throughout his life. “As soon as (Daniel Cravens) got comfortable around anyone, he would be extroverted,” Julie Cravens said. Many of the relationships that Daniel Cravens formed at NPHS were with his teachers, where he had a reputation for being a standout student. Lucia Lemieux, English teacher, taught him in his 10th grade English class and remembers Daniel Cravens for his mature character. “He was very beyond his years in a lot of ways. He had this wit and wisdom that most people his age don’t have,” Lemieux said. In particular, Lemieux appreciated Daniel Cravens for his dry sense of humor. “He would come up with these one-liners ever so often, but he’d do it in such a dry, calm way… as you got to know him better, it was quite endearing.” Along with his sense of humor, Daniel Cravens had a knack for writing. Lemieux introduced Daniel to the Acorn’s Fiction in

a Nutshell contest, which he won in his senior year. In his senior year, Daniel served as a TA for Lemieux’s creative writing class and was an integral part of the learning process. “He’d always come up with really astute critiques and point out exactly what needed to be fixed in this piece… we really enjoyed having him there,” Lemieux said. One of Daniel Cravens’ greatest passions in high school was singing. “He was in every single choir you could be as a guy,” Julie Cravens said. John Sargent, choral music director, can attest to his talent for singing and his exceptional character. “He was one of our very best basses… a person of quality character and high values. I treasured him deeply,” Sargent said. During a choir festival in San Francisco, Daniel Cravens won the Maestro award, an accolade given to only one student at each festival for an outstanding performance. “He had a real artistic slant to him, artistic abilities that went beyond singing,” Sargent said. In his short life, Daniel Cravens was able to form close connections with many people. “It’s actually going to be my goal to publish and to finish his stories for him,” Julie Cravens said. When asked how she wanted Daniel to be remembered, Lemieux responded with the three facets of his personality that she cherished the most. “His smirk, his witty comments, and his glorious voice. All of those things,” Lemieux said.

Smiling seniorsenior Daniel Cravens poses in a tux and bowtie for his senior photo. He graduated from Newbury Park High School in 2016. Courtesy of Pawprint Yearbook

news Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Hands on Earth educates the community with staggering trash and recycling research Kessa Chavez DPS Editor “It’s estimated that the average individual creates around 4 pounds of trash per day, which adds up to nearly 1,500 pounds of trash per year,” according to recyclenation.com. On Oct. 20, the Hands on Earth club met at the high school in order to kick off their trash audit event. Katie Rose, senior, attended the event with her friends who are also in the club. “We wanted to collect data on the percentages of recyclables that go into the trash and vice versa and how much compostables are in the trash,” Rose said. Hands on Earth hosted the event in order to supply viable information for the grants that the club plans on applying for to create better trash and recycling programs at the school which would improve the environment and actually save the school some extra money. Suha Hussain, senior and club vice president, shared the eye-opening reality of the event’s results. “We basically went through 40 trash bags...and sorted it into paper, cardboard, compost ales, recyclables (like) glass, cans, plastic and trash,” Hussain said. Since the event was a bit short on people with an overall person turnout, the club reduced the sample size of their data to 15. “We weighed the contents of each category.

Good food wasted- Pounds of unopened, unexpired food were sorted at the Hands On Earth trash audit held on the morning of Oct. 20. Overall, 22 percent of items thrown away were compostable food waste and of this, 13 percent of the weight of waste was unopened food. Brian Fang/Prowler

Daria (Azizad) and Clare (Wang) ran some statistical tests on our data and found that around 60% of our trash (is improperly disposed),” Hussain said. By weight, about 41 percent of the trash was actually recyclable and nearly 9 percent was compostable. Tommy Joseph, senior and member of Hands on Earth, attended the trash audit to support his club in their endeavor to uncover where our waste truly goes. Joseph found that collecting data from the event was a tedious but necessary task. “I saw compost, a lot of uneaten food, a lot of waste from school lunches. The majority of the waste I saw could have been repurposed if we had the proper means of doing so. We just need to invest more money and resources,” Joseph said. Hands on Earth worked to recover 501.4 pounds of trash the day of the trash audit. They additionally found that a staggering 92 percent of waste in recycle bins was actually trash, leaving only 8 percent of the waste to actually be recyclable material. “We can use the data and its results to develop strategies to increase recycling which is better for the environment and will actually save our school money,” Rose said.

CVUSD moves to district-based elections Marli Davis News Editor The Conejo Valley Unified School District will move from at-large elections to district-based elections by 2020. The CVUSD school board voted 4-0 at their last meeting on November 21, 2018 to begin the transition to district-based elections by adopting Resolution 18/19-11. While an at-large system means that the people vote for the same number of candidates as seats available, a district-based election divides the area of people eligible for voting into specific districts, then the people only vote for the seats up for election in their district. “Conejo Valley Unified School District currently has an at-large election system, where voters of the entire city elect all members of the School Board. ‘By-district’ election systems carve the city into geographic districts. Voters in each geographic district then choose their School Board representative, who must also live in that geographic district,” Mark McLaughlin, CVUSD superintendent, said. The vote comes after the board received a letter from law firm

Shenkman & Hughes on June 8, 2018, demanding that board elections change from an at-large election to a district-based election. Shenkman & Hughes is a Malibu-based law firm representing the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), an organization founded in 1974 in order to ensure the voting rights of Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. The letter stated that “voting within the Conejo Valley Unified School District is racially polarized, resulting in the minority vote dilution, and, therefore, the District’s at-large elections violate the California Voting Rights Act of 2001(CVRA).” SVERP did not respond to attempts to contact them for this article. “The board was presented with information that lead me and my fellow board members to believe that not moving to district-based elections would result in a lawsuit against the district and that that lawsuit would cost many thousands of dollars and that we would lose and have to go to area elections anyway,”

Betsy Connolly, board member, said on why she chose to vote in favor of district-based elections. The board must now hold public hearings on the topic and draw the voting districts. According to Connolly, “geography, school clusters and concentrations of residents who share identifiers such as ethnicity, race or income” will affect how the voting districts are formed. “The map is created by a demographer using information collected during public hearings at five different board meetings, as well as a range of other factors including, but not limited to, equal population, communities of interest, compactness, contiguity of the districts, visible boundaries and respect for voters’ wishes and continuity in office,” said McLaughlin on how district lines will be drawn. All board members, including those recently elected on Nov. 6, will serve out their four-year terms. However, it is possible that the new system could create conflict during the next election cycle between any two current members who live in the same district. The system will be used

in a CVUSD election for the first time in the election of November 2020, in which board members Betsy Connolly and Sandee Everett will be up for re-election. Board members Mike Dunn, Pat Phelps and Sandee Everett did not respond to attempts to contact them for this article.

“As noted in Resolution 18/1911, the Board has always strived to listen to all voices in the community and represent all of our community. Whatever action is ultimately decided – the hope is for all of the diverse families we serve to continue to feel engaged, and well represented,” McLaughlin said.

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news Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Pat Phelps bids a tearful goodbye to CVUSD school board Maya Chari Photographer After serving as a trustee on the CVUSD school board for over 20 years, Pat Phelps sat at her final meeting on Dec. 4. A celebration of service ceremony was held in honor of all three members leaving the board: Pat Phelps, President John Andersen and Trustee Mike Dunn, although Dunn was not present for the festivities. Pat Phelps’ active participation in PTA and site council led her to follow the School Board Trustee career path. At the time, as a parent with kids in the district, Pat Phelps saw a board of retired teachers and felt that a parent would provide a fresh perspective. She uses three words to summarize her experience as a seasoned board member: interesting, rewarding and fun; “Sometimes a lot of fun, sometimes not so much fun.” She remembers a difficult period for school boards across the nation - the recession - as source one of the more memorable and impactful experiences she has had. The board had proposed budget after budget to combat the detriments of the time, and time after time were unable to please all walks of the district. Noticing increasing polarization and indecision within the district, Pat Phelps proposed the creation of a budget committee to tackle the task. “We got together representatives from all different factions and I think it proved to be what saved the district as we went through the recession,” Pat Phelps said. “Everybody sat at the table together, everybody felt they had a voice and I think it was one of the best things I did as a board member.”

It was Pat Phelps who, outside of Barnes and Noble one day, suggested that now ten-year Trustee Betsy Connolly run for the board. “She got me into this whole thing and she was always a source of kindness, always knowledgeable and caring and reassuring and never had to grab the attention but always there to help out,” Connolly said. “She’s served under a lot of different superintendents, she’s worked on hiring a lot of people and that ‘seen a lot’ makes for a steady leader.” At the ceremony, many community members and loved ones gathered to see the seasoned board members off. Amongst them was Pat Phelps’ husband, Barry Phelps, who claimed that being married to such a woman is “an honor and a privilege.” “She’s unflappable under pressure, very reasoned in her thinking. She’s someone who wants the data, the facts to understand, is capable of taking emotion out of a decision and thinks about what’s best for the students,” Barry Phelps said. Pat Phelps recognized the past couple of years as unordinary; “Having kids come (to board meetings) because they were really concerned about what was going on in their classrooms was a good example of what poor discord does for the district,” Pat Phelps said of the recent board polarity. Never before had she seen so many students attend meetings. She advises that the future board members have commitment and concern for all of the kids in the district.

Many thanks- Pat Phelps, former CVUSD school board member, accepts a gavel in honor of her service to the district. “I’m going to miss being able to count on her for good advice,” Betsy Connolly, board member, said of her friend and colleague. Phelps was dedicated to making rational decisions that were best for the students and is honored to have served CVUSD. “This district has a lot of capable, concerned, caring staff of people, and administrators all around the district are really concerned about the kids and I think that’s what’s made the district so good, and what’s made it so good to be on the board,” Phelps said. Maya Chari/Prowler

news Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Election Results Hailey Washington Staff Writer Marli Davis News Editor

School Board CVUSD

Senate CA Representative

Dianne Feinstein

Kevin de León

54.2%

45.8%

House of Representatives CA 26th Distrtict Representative

Julia Brownley

Antonio Sabato

61.9% 38.1%

Governor CA

Gavin Newsom

John Cox

61.9% 38.1%

Cindy Goldberg Jenny Fitzgerald Bill Gorback Amy Chen Angie Simpson Mike Dunn Marlon Williams Patrissha Booker

20% 19% 17% 16% 13% 12% <2% <2%

Propositions CA

Prop. 1

$4 billion in bonds can be given to existing affordable housing programs for low-income residents, veterans and farmworkers by the State of California.

Prop. 2

$2 Billion in bonds will be used for housing people in need of mental health services from funds in the Mental Health Services Act.

Prop. 3

The California State Government will not be issuing $8.877 billion dollars towards water infrastructure (repairing dams, groundwater supplies and storage, surface water storage).

Prop. 4

$1.4 Billion in bonds to build children’s hospitals in California.

Prop. 5

There will be not change on requirements for homeowner who are older than 55, disabled, or property those who have properties destroyed by disaster.

Prop. 6

There will no change in the fuel taxes and vehicle fees, including the Road Repair and Accountability Act.

Prop. 7

The California State Government now has the ability to create a permanent yearlong Daylight Saving Time.

Prop. 8

Kidney dialysis clinics do not have to refund, even if their revenue is above 115% of the cost of direct patient care and healthcare improvements.

Prop. 9

California Supreme Court removed Proposition 9 since it would split California into three parts.

Prop. 10

Local governments cannot now control how rent on residential properties are regulated.

Prop. 11

Ambulance Service Providers are now allowed to require their employees to remain “on call” while taking breaks.

Prop. 12

It is now banned to sell meat or eggs from animals that are kept in areas below a specified number of square feet.

Today’s children’s shows suck

opinion Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Sarah Lu/Prowler

Gianna Spiro/Prowler

Rahul D’Souza Front Cover Editor

Before 2010, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon were dropping some heat on their channels: “Tom and Jerry”, “Drake and Josh”, “Kim Possible” and “Danny Phantom”. Shows like these shaped our futures, from revealing subtle truths about life to giving us a few extra jokes to laugh at during school. Recently, the quality of children’s TV shows has began to deteriorate. “Spongebob Squarepants” was once the prime example of children’s television. It may still be running, but the episodes lack the same humor, sarcasm and references that would only be funny to an older audience. The only reason to keep the show going is to preserve the memories of teenagers who grew up watching the show, and for the legacy of the late Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the show. The list does not stop there, however. “Ben 10”, “Kim Possible” and “Teen Titans” have all been tainted by filth remakes. The absolute awesomeness of “Ben 10” that carried on for three different series cannot be found in the childish reboot series. Disney Channel has a live-action remake of “Kim Possible” in the works. We already know that’s going to suck. But don’t forget possibly the biggest glo-down of all time: “Teen Titans Go”. Although the show might be funny, the original was the epitome of DC cinema and should not have been defaced by such garbage. The original series, even during its short run time, displayed incredible character development, and intense plot, and compelling villains. In contrast, Batman rides a Bat-Scooter in the “Teen Titans Go” movie. Not all shows after 2010 were absolute rubbish, though. “Adventure Time” was a first tier show with psychedelic

Devil’s Advocate: Androids are better than iPhones Christina Borisoff Staff Writer One of the most common debates among tech users is the ageold Apple vs Android dispute. No one needs to know that they are talking about to have an opinion on this issue. In fact, people are so opinionated on the matter, that the debate has spawned millions of memes, countless forums and very angry basement dwellers that would be willing to fight about it at the drop of a fedora. So, which is truly the better phone? Well for starters, a knowledge bomb: For many, Apple may appear to be the more popular choice among our generation, but is only true in America, according to an Android vs. IOS market share released October 2018 by DeviceAtlas. For the rest of the world, Android is the more dominant of the two. Not to say that popularity equates to quality, but it gives us an idea of how powerful Android is. Android is an operating system, that much we know. But Android is also Samsung, Sony, Google Pixel, LG, HTC, and MOTO, but most importantly Android is Google, which is the global leader in technological innovation and creates new phones that are different, unlike Apple. In addition to variety, Android has a glaring advantage over

weirdness alongside an unbreakable friendship between the two beloved main characters. “Regular Show” was another top tier show of the 2010’s, along with “The Amazing World of Gumball”. Gumball contained a very dry sense of humor that was surprisingly intelligent for the concept of the show with most of the jokes being subtle criticisms on human nature and society. Thankfully, the definitive god-tier number one best show of all time, “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, was not defiled by a second-tier remake. Nickelodeon did make a follow up series focusing on the next Avatar, Korra, but it was actually quite a good continuation of the original. Not to say it was nearly as good as the original, though, Avatar Aang is the greatest of all time. At this point, one may be asking themselves, “Why does this matter?” Attention must be drawn to the atrocities that are shown to millions of developing children worldwide. These children are the future of our society. I once watched as a child was brought to tears because there was syrup on his plate and he couldn’t clean it. Such behavior is no fault of the child himself, but rather because of the bitch ass shows he watches at home. At this point, it’s practically hopeless to do anything about it, the only solution would be to cancel all children’s TV shows that are still running, or only run past episodes. If we want real change, we may even have to boycott all television programs until they start airing more reruns of “Drake and Josh”, or at least put it on Netflix. Apple: pricing. Apple notoriously has overpriced products, whereas Androids are much cheaper. For example, Samsung’s newest phone, the Galaxy S8 priced at 654 dollars and Apple’s newest phone, the iPhone X, priced at one thousand dollars, which is a very common complaint of users on both sides of the debate. And it’s not just the phones. Apple gets a large portion of its revenue from “accessories,” which might as well be called “essentials,” like their iconic phone charges that they change with each new model to make a profit. Or their required Bluetooth headphones, so you won’t be able to use those new headphones you bought unless you buy an adapter for twenty to forty dollars. But Apple has stooped to lower levels before. On December 22, 2017, Apple faced a lawsuit when it came out that the company purposely slowed down older models of phones to get people to buy newer, more expensive phones. Which is just cold and scummy of them. Aside from the ethics of it all, Android also has some apparent technical advantages over IOS. One of them being that Android is more versatile, and developer friendly, while still being easy to use for the mainstream consumer. Certain Android phones feature micro SD slots, cheap adapters, a micro USB port, which is universal. You don’t need a particular charger for a certain model and you can buy wireless from a third source party. Meanwhile, the iPhone X only has only a singular shared port. In addition to functionality, Android phones are more customizable than Apple phones. Android phones have custom widgets, skins, home screens, animations, and animated wallpapers. Apple’s interface features linear rows of apps. Overall, Android has an abundance of advantages over Apple in terms of variety, technicality, functionality, ethics, and customization.

You are exactly where you should be Hannah Gross Staff Writer Ah the holiday season. This is usually my favorite time of year. A perfect trinity of holidays all crammed into three months -- the Harry Potter movie marathon of holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, then my birthday, let’s not talk about new years) -- not to mention the colorful array of caffeinated holiday drinks. This year, however, is not quite as wonderful as the Andy Williams classic would lead one to believe. With college applications, my 18th birthday, which happens to fall on the day my applications are due, and grappling with the course of my future...it’s feeling a little more like “blue Christmas” right now. It’s been one identity crisis after another this year. What do I have to show for myself ? It seems like as I get older, stars keep getting younger. All of the sudden preteens are singers, Youtubers, members of Mensa… it can be a little disheartening to say the least. It has lead me to constantly question myself, ‘am I past my prime?’ or ‘over the hill?’ No, because that’s ridiculous. But even if it’s not realistic, it’s about the principle, the underlying connotation in all the success of young people. It can feel like I always need to be doing something extraordinary or somehow one-upping my past self or peers. Social media places a glaring spotlight on those amazing accomplishments, priming us to compare ourselves. That sense of competition and comparison isn’t necessarily evil. It can drive us to strive for our own goals, give us something to aspire to and become a source of mutual inspiration. However, it can also skew our perspective. It seems a little silly, but when I was younger I thought by now I would have accomplished so much more. While it’s great to have big plans and be doing big things, that’s not all there is to life. You don’t have to be a 14-year-old with charttopping songs to be admirable and successful. There is success in the ordinary. Doing well in school, being kind, drinking eight glasses of water everyday (maybe that’s not so ordinary)...these are all signs that you’re doing alright in life. I may not have written a novel yet, but I have years and years to do that. Everyone has a different path in life. In the grand scheme of things, I can take comfort in knowing that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. And so are you.

Borderline Shooting

Borderline Shooting Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Daria Azizad Entertainment Editor Maya Chari Photographer Kavita Rai Features Editor Nidhi Sataygal Opinion Editor

In loving memory- The community and the victims’ loved ones paid respect to the lives lost at the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting on Nov. 7 by leaving flowers and candles in front of the Civic Arts Plaza. Daria Azizad/Prowler

Ron Helus Justin Meek Mark Meza Jr. Alaina Housley

Kristina Morisette Sean Adler Daniel Manrique Telemachus Orfanos

Thousand Oaks, Calif., was left in a state of shock and horror after a fatal mass shooting on Nov. 7 at the Borderline Bar and Grill. A city that was once known for its position on the list of top 10 safest cities in the nation, is now a household name for the tragedy. At around 11:20 p.m., a shooter entered Borderline, throwing a smoke bomb in the center of the dance floor and then firing into a crowd of about 40 young adults and college students, stopping in between rounds to post about his act on social media. In less than 10 minutes, 13 people, including the shooter, were dead. Many of the victims were alumni of local high schools or attendees of local colleges, drawn by “College Country Night” at the nightclub. In a close-knit community where everyone seems to know everyone else -- where you cannot go to Trader Joe’s without running into a friend or a neighbor or an acquaintance from work -- the mass shooting had a impact that reverberated through the entire community. In the wake of the tragedy, Thousand Oaks locals have rallied together to support one another. From large, televised memorials to private, daily conversations, community members remember those lost and create an atmosphere of unity.

Blake Dingman Cody Coffman Noel Sparks Jake Dunham

A half-mile long line of community members stretched through the neighborhood surrounding La Reina High School, where a blood drive had been coincidentally scheduled for the morning after the shooting. Thousand Oaks locals flocked to the school in hopes of helping hospitalized victims of the shooting. The winding line was full of students from Cal Lutheran and Cal State Channel Islands, many who knew or were associated with the victims in some way. Dominic Zingale, alumnus of Westlake High School and frequenter of Borderline, was passing out boxes of donuts to the people in line. “I was supposed to (go to Borderline) last night but I decided not to, and a bunch of my friends go there all the time. I just wanted to show love and support to the victims,” Zingale said. The blood drive was overwhelmed with willing donors and had to turn many away because they had only one truck in anticipation for the usual 30-40 donors at their regular blood drives. Community members also amassed resources to give to a temporary recovery center at the Thousand Oaks Teen Center.

Many vigils and commemoration ceremonies were held, during which friends and relatives of the victims remembered the laughter, love and happiness felt during their lives. From the prayer services to billboards, Thousand Oaks continues to remember and honor the victims. Traffic signs, street corners and sidewalks proudly displayed #TOStrong, Borderline 12 and other statements of love and support. One NPHS student was very close to Noel Sparks, one of the Borderline 12, and was willing to talk to the Prowler about her friend. Alia Leavitt, senior, wants Noel to be remembered for her creativity, kindness and dedication to Calvary Community Church. Once Sparks started attending the church she knew that this was what she was meant to dedicate her life to. “She worked in every single sector of Calvary Church, from the babies all the way to high school and was in the young adults group,” Leavitt said. Sparks was one of the pioneering members involved in expanding the Young Adults’ worship group. “Young Adults used to be this little tiny group and now it’s like hundreds of people that go there and enjoy Thursday night. And she was one of those main influencers,” Leavitt said. Leavitt has been having a difficult time comprehending the loss. “The last thing I posted on Instagram was a picture with Noel,” she said. “It’s taking so much longer to process than I’d like (it) to because I still look at this (picture) and think everything was normal. I’m just thinking of being with her. I was standing next to her a month ago.” “We’re still talking about her. I think that’s a big way to preserve her memory,” Leavitt said. Members of the church are creating a book of memories for the Sparks’ family and she is committed to preserving the memories of the Borderline 12. “Know that they were human beings and be grateful that they did make an impact with their lives. That’s the important part,” Leavitt said. Former NPHS students who have moved out of state for college have also done their part to memorialize Borderline. Olivia Johnson, freshman at the University of Michigan, organized a gathering to “mourn and celebrate the lives that were so wrongly taken away.” The University of Virginia, which NPHS alumna Monroe Farris currently attends, recognized the Borderline shooting victims with 12 flags and posted a message from Farris. “After seeing the flags on the lawn today, it made me realize that while I may not be home right now during this difficult time, UVA is my home away from home and that the support that this community brings is unparalleled,” Farris wrote. Brian Hynes, owner of Borderline, has been working hard to support the victims’ families. On the Borderline Bar and Grill website, people can purchase apparel emblazoned

with “Thousand Oaks Strong - Rally Around Borderline” or donate directly through a Go Fund Me set up by the Rotary Club of Westlake Village (100% of the proceeds will go to victims and their families). Since the shooting, political leaders have reassured and supported the grieving community. On Nov. 8, Mayor Andy Fox told the Prowler, “You’ve been fortunate to be raised in a community nationally known as a very safe community. It was safe yesterday, and the fact is, it’s safe today.” Fox encouraged residents to do what they can for those affected, whether it be with prayers, donations or putting our arms around one another. “As we move forward over the next days, weeks, months we will heal as a community.” Fox also urges those who are able to donate to victims at VCCF.org. Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin and Senator Henry Stern both affirmed their solidarity with the community at Cody Coffman’s Memorial Vigil at Peppertree Park on Nov. 13. Irwin honored the victims with a heartfelt sentiment. “While we feel indescribable sadness we rise above this attempt to make us feel fear, instead offering love and support for one another. Thousand Oaks has proven that we are stronger California strong- On the corner of Rolling Oaks Dr. and Moorpark Rd., the photos of the lost are together and stronger when displayed on a California wooden structure. For the past four weeks since the mass shooting, community we stand to ensure that their members have been visiting the memorial site and remembering victims at vigils, keeping their memory alive. Emily Nagamoto/Prowler memories endure,” Irwin said. While Irwin’s speech focused more on remembrance, Stern’s not define Thousand Oaks and that together, we will heal. speech centered around gratitude. “I walked down the Brian Hynes, owner of Borderline, has been working hard street I grew up on today, and it all burned to the ground. to support the victims’ families. On the Borderline Bar and We lost many things in these fires, those were things, stuff, Grill website, people can purchase apparel emblazoned with it’s our home. But these people, our families that we lost “Thousand Oaks Strong - Rally Around Borderline” or donate here, should set us straight and understand the gravity of directly through a Go Fund Me set up by the Rotary Club of what these worldly lives are that we lead,” Stern said. Both Westlake Village (100% of the proceeds will go to victims and called upon the people to remember that the tragedy does their families).

Fallen hero- Community members honor the victims of Borderline by bringing flowers, candles, notes and more. Across Thousand Oaks, traffic signs have been displaying “TO Strong,” and signs have lined the freeway bridges with pictures of the lost as well as signs of encouragement and healing.. Emily Nagamoto/Prowler

Borderline Shooting

Borderline Shooting Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Daria Azizad Entertainment Editor Maya Chari Photographer Kavita Rai Features Editor Nidhi Sataygal Opinion Editor

Ron Helus Justin Meek Mark Meza Jr. Alaina Housley

Kristina Morisette Sean Adler Daniel Manrique Telemachus Orfanos

Blake Dingman Cody Coffman Noel Sparks Jake Dunham

fires Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Community stands strong in the face of wildfires

Hannah Gross Staff Writer

Jessica Zhou Photographer

Sarah Lu Photographer

Clarissa Shin Photographer

Fires threaten citizens’ safety

Emily Augustine/Prowler

Nobody had expected what was going to happen on Nov. 8, 2018. Still reeling from the Borderline shooting that had happened the night before, Ventura County was not ready. The afternoon of Nov. 8, the Hill fire broke out, which burned 4,531 acres before it was fully contained. The fire started in the Santa Rosa Valley and spread very quickly, jumping the 101 freeway and burning part of the Vallecito trailer park homes. Soon after, the Woolsey fire started near Simi Valley and quickly spread throughout Ventura and Los Angeles before it was put out after burning 96,949 acres and destroying 1500 structures. When the structures are rebuilt, “the new homes will be designed and built to comply with newer State building codes that have greater fire prevention aspects,” Peter

Gilli, deputy director of community development in Thousand Oaks, said. Many students in the Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks area had to be evacuated due to the fires’ close proximity to their homes. Deighan Valko, senior, lives in Santa Rosa Valley, close to where the Hill fire started. Valko is the owner of many animals that she had to bring to other houses when she was evacuated. The main issue for Valko was her horse, who was in Newbury Park. “The smoke in Newbury was really bad, and it was bad for (the horse’s) lungs to be exposed to that… so we had to take them away, try to get the smoke away for a while,” Valko said. “It’s stressful to transport them… It can almost make them sick when they get super stressed like that.” However, the community came together and helped move horses to safer places. “The people who weren’t being evacuated were helping the people who were being evacuated,” Valko said. Meagan Pruner, senior, lives behind the trailer park, where the fire got within 150 feet of her home. She first found out about the fire during fifth period. “At first it was just a cloud of smoke so I thought it wasn’t that big of a deal. But by the end of fifth period I could see the fire on the hill right by my house so I kind of panicked,” Pruner said. When Pruner saw her house for the first time after the fire, she was surprised at how close the fire had gotten. “It was kind of crazy. I don’t know how else to say it. We knew it got close but we didn’t know (it was) that close,” Pruner said. “Everything was super smoky. I left my window open so everything was covered in soot.” Unfortunately, others were not as lucky. The aftermath of the fires has left many people without their homes. One of these people is Nicholas Guerin, career education coordinator who had lived in the Seminole Springs mobile home park for five and a half years. After evacuating early Friday morning, the day after the Woolsey fire started, Guerin found out that his home had burned

down. “It was gut wrenching, it was a punch to the stomach, because that’s your home, it’s part of your identity. It feels almost like you lost a loved one,” Guerin said. “It’s not just about the building or the furniture, it’s about everything you created there, in that place, in that space, and that time you spent with your family and all of the experiences you had and all of the love are all, in a instant, gone.” “You are never prepared for this type of an event 100%, but I can say that we knew that we were in a “high fire” area and we even paid an annual tax for wildfire protection. But my wife and I have done some preparation, especially observing how devastating the Thomas fires were last year, knowing that it could have been us,” Guerin said. Despite knowing that this could happen, it was still hard to deal with it. However, Guerin did not have much time to grieve. His wife had just given birth to a third child, and they needed to find a place to stay. That was Saturday, Nov. 10. Two days later, Guerin found and rented a house in Oak Park. “It was unbelievable… I was very emotional watching all of the news coverage of the Borderline tragedy and so I was already in an emotional state.” Guerin said. After hearing about Guerin’s home, Steve Lepire, principal, and other teachers “put together a coordinated effort to ask if anyone had any items for donation or if anyone was able to provide any gift cards,” Guerin said. “So what happened was that we ending up taking an empty house into a fully functioning home in a record time. I think I was able to rent that house in Oak Park on Monday and by the end of the week the house was filled with furniture.” The community support has helped Guerin and others throughout this whole ordeal. “What has helped with the uncertainty is the students, teachers and the people showing their support. It makes it feel like everything is going to be okay.”

School closures impact students and faculty The entire school district of Conejo Valley made an impactful decision for school closures during the period in which the fires affected the surrounding communities. On Thursday, Nov. 8, the district released a notice that all CVUSD schools would be closed the next day. The district then decided to close all schools until after Thanksgiving break and resume on Nov. 26. Although staff members in the district and on the NPHS campus had to adjust to the school closure, they felt it was the best idea to help rebuild the community. Steve Lepire, principal, enforced the executive decision of closing the CVUSD schools, in order to keep the students, faculty and district safe while assessing the outcome of school campuses post fire. Lepire also wanted to respect the physical and emotional damage the community was enduring. “The difficult thing was determining the impact the fires had on our general community in terms of the amount of people that were evacuated and had not been able to get back in their homes, and the ability to assess the damages, what actual damage had taken place at specific schools,” Lepire said. The school faced the challenge of adjusting the curriculum based on the days missed due to the fire. Teachers on campus were encouraged not to assign any work due the first day back, and to have resources available for students to review any missed

material. Lepire acknowledged that block classes would be affected more than rotators, and students taking AP or IB level classes may miss a critical amount of information. “We tried to make it very clear with teachers, and communicating with parents, that the goal is not to try to catch and make up everything that was missed in between that time period. We are going to look and see exactly what the essential things we want to get covered by the end of the term are,” Lepire said. Although the fires have caused shifts in the curriculum, finals for students will remain the same, and will be taken the week of Jan. 14. “There was some conversation about moving the semester back a week, but the problem with that is we have that week blocked off, basically for no activities that week of finals. We build it around what we have,” Lepire said. The NPHS community had concerns about making up the days missed, however, the CVUSD campuses will most likely not have to make up the days and have applied for a waiver based on natural disaster. During the period in which the students were not at school, campuses were getting repaired and cleaned, in order for students to safely enter back into the school environment. Campus restoration workers dusted and cleaned every classroom

from floor to ceiling. Each classroom had its air filters replaced to ensure a healthy air quality. Lucia Lemieux, english teacher, had to make several changes in her curriculum for term one. Since Lemieux teaches block semester classes for 9th and 10th graders, the school closure has affected the timing of her assignments. “Unfortunately there’s going to be a gap between what we finish before break and what we finish after. I’ll try to come up with some innovative ways to help refresh their memories when they come back but I’ve looked at the schedule there’s just no way I can do it,” Lemieux said. Many teachers have to cram assignments in before the end of the semester in order to prepare each student for their IB tests in May. Debbie Dogancay, IB coordinator, has been planning the rest of her course accordingly. “We’ve been working together by teams to figure out where we can distill concepts to the essence in order to focus on what’s on essential to prepare students for the exam. We’re not doing double time, we’re just cutting out non-essential pieces so that the students are just as well prepared for the exam, but taking into account that we lost days,” Dogancay said.

fires Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Businesses unite to support fire victims Local businesses and corporations did not hesitate to reach out to the people of Thousand Oaks in a time of need. From donations for the firefighters to services for community members, the support received from businesses played a huge role in making TO a stronger community during this difficult time. Five 07 is a coffee bar and eatery located in TO. On the Saturday after the fires started, Five 07 donated coffee to first responders and evacuees. Sean Mccarthy, the owner of Five 07, sent out an Instagram post looking for volunteers to deliver the coffee. “We had 40 people respond within three hours, it was a beautiful, beautiful response,” Mccarthy said. Mccarthy was recovering from the loss of a friend in the Borderline shooting while also having to worry about the safety of his home. Yet, during this difficult time he was able to connect with the community and wanted to do something to help. “Living in the community, we saw we were part of all of the sorrow and the loss. Just trying to get through that made us realize how important community is. So for us it was important to open our shop to the people and try to raise some money,” Mccarthy said. On the Saturday of the following week, Mccarthy had a few bands and singers come to the coffee bar for a memorial event. The next day, Mccarthy held a fundraising event, with performances given by bands and artists. Five 07 raised near a total of $3500 through album sales, food and drink, and cash donations. All the money raised was donated to the victim relief fund and wildfire relief fund under VCCF and RAK life where they help families recover from the fire. With thousands of families needing to evacuate from their homes, finding a place to stay was a major concern for many people. Fortunately, several hotels in Southern California were providing free and discounted rooms to those who were under evacuation.

Jammin’ out- Lancer Roscoe performs at the Five07 Coffee Bar and Eatery on Nov. 18, 2018 for a fundraiser for the community. Other artists that performed included Abel, Paige Peel, Hailey Dorthalina, Omar the Great and Zach Valladon. Through Lancer Roscoe album sales, food and drink purchases and money donations, the event raised $1503. Cafe Five07/With Permission

Adding to the disruption of the fires, many people experienced internet outages. To help, AT&T “waived charges to provide unlimited talk, text and data access for our customers.” AT&T customers were able to start using this benefit starting from November 9 to November 30. AT&T also donated $150,000 to communities affected by the fires in Northern and Southern California. Also wanting to help the community, many businesses made donations and held benefits. Tavern 101 provided free meals for police, firefighters and first responders. The local Shake Shack in Westlake also provided free meals to police, firefighters and first responders for a week. In addition, they donated 100% of a day’s proceeds on November 13 to the Ventura County Community Foundation. With a lack of time, many families had to leave their possessions behind. The Pallet in Westlake served as an emergency pop-up store that

provided necessities to those evacuated from home. Kim Connelly-Cruz, the owner of the Pallet, wanted to help, and with the assistance of the community, she was able to start a clothing drive. Boxes of supplies were sent in from families and corporations. “Today I just received three packages of leggings and sports bras; they just keep coming and they come from all walks of life but mostly from the community,” ConnellyCruz said. “Everytime you looked around there was someone being generous or giving and it really shows how strong the community is.” The store served as a pop-up store for eight days and is still continuing to make care packages. While many businesses provided resources for people in need, there were also many others that wanted to help the animals. Kim Sill, the founder of Shelter Hope Pet Shop, provided shelter for evacuated animals in her shop at Janss Market. “(People) had nowhere to go; they’d been driving around; they’d been turned away by a couple of other shelters and evacuation centers because they had the animals so I let them come into my shop,” Sill said. The animal shelter filled quickly with people and their animals so Sill opened up another 4000 square feet of space from a vacant store. Within a couple of hours the shelter was filled with around 200 animals. “We needed to be there for people. Because our name is Shelter Hope, when people were looking things up online, we appealed to them,” Sill said. With the support from community members, businesses were able to gain all the resources needed to provide help for those in need. “People would come in by the minute; every time we would post something people would show up with what we needed; it was quite miraculous-- the generosity of the Thousand Oaks people in this horrific time,” Sill said.

Community comes together to help those in need

Help out- The boys soccer team gathered during break to make care packages for the ﬁreﬁghters and evacuees. With the support from American Red Cross, the soccer team was able to send out over 500 care packages to Westlake and Malibu. Randy Wright/With Permission

NPHS students were at the forefront of providing aid for those affected by the fires. Barely any time had passed after the fires broke out before students took the initiative to organize relief efforts for those in need. Through her job at the Borchard Community Center, Alexis Rumsey, senior, was able to help evacuees, while experiencing the same situation first hand. Rumsey was home alone with her two sisters when they were ordered to evacuate. “I just went to work, because I was scheduled to work anyways,” Rumsey said. “I worked at the evacuation center while I was being evacuated.” As the fires spread, hundreds of families took shelter in the

center. “The first night, Thursday night, we had over 400 families stay just in that center,” Rumsey said. The Borchard Community center served as an evacuation center until Monday, Nov. 26. Cots and supplies were provided by the American Red Cross. Employees worked through the night to help evacuees. “I know the first night I worked 12 hour shifts and it was crazy. I got to stay until 2 a.m.,” Rumsey said. Despite the stressful situation, Rumsey was glad to help. “I love helping people, so it was worth it.” Other students were quick to lend a hand. Maya Ghanem, senior, organized efforts to make care packages for firefighters after seeing the fires spread and reading about the reduced budget for fire relief. She learned about what was needed through lists on social media. Ghanem recruited 10 friends to help make the care packages through a social media post. The packages consisted of sunscreen, gold body powder, baby wipes, and food. Although there were some donations, Ghanem and her family bought most of the supplies themselves. “We were fortunate enough to not have to be evacuated, so my family thought we should definitely do something,” Ghanem said. With the help of her family and friends, Ghanem made around 40 care packages, which were donated to fire stations 30 and 34 in Thousand Oaks. The NPHS boys soccer team also created care packages, receiving funds from the American Red Cross to make them.

“Inside each care package was a bottle of hand sanitizer, a tarp, gloves, building materials and first aid kit,” Randy Wright, senior, said. The packages were delivered to Westlake and Malibu by certified truck drivers. The team made over 500 care packages for firefighters and victims of the fires. “It’s really just helping other people and making lives better,” Wright said. When school resumed, counselors worked together to provide support for students. While the counselors initially planned to offer resources for those affected by the events at Borderline, the fires led them to focus on creating a space for students to talk about any struggles they were experiencing. “We wanted to support the students since we knew that many of them had been affected whether it was knowing a friend who was there, or knowing a friend who was going to go. Then, once the fires hit, our game plan was to create a supportive environment for those affected,” Napora said. Counseling took place in the college and career center on Monday, Nov. 26. Five to ten counselors were available in the center throughout the day. Students had the option to talk in groups, or one on one with a psychologist. “Some of our students benefited from this since they’d maybe never witnessed a tragedy so close to home; they could emotionally get support from our resources,” Napora said. Others used the counselors as an opportunity to receive help with college applications. “Many of our students were coming to us because they were stressed about not being able to finish college applications on time due to the recent emotional trauma placed on them, so the counseling was good because it allowed them to kind of get closure and move forward,” Napora said.

entertainment

12 Theater lifts spirits with S h e o l p t oF t i L HORRORS Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Hannah Gross Staff Writer

After a rocky start and significant delays, Little Shop of Horrors opened at NPHS on Nov. 28. The musical, which ran until Dec. 2, centered around an unassuming plant shop on Skid Row that becomes home to a man eating plant. The show was an enjoyable experience for both the cast and audience. Celina Kott, senior, played Ronette in cast B. Kott has been involved in theater since her sophomore year. “This was probably one of my favorite shows,” Kott said. “It’s an amazing show and we worked tirelessly on it for months.” Stephanie Zager, sophomore, played Ronette in cast A. “I knew the show was going to be a lot of fun,” Zager said. “A lot of people can relate to it because it’s really funny and there’s a lot of great moments.” Although Cali Greenidge, senior, knew many people in the show, she attended the show to show her support of the department. “I think it is super important to support the arts programs at school. Everyone puts a lot of effort and time into it,” Greenidge said. “My favorite part was watching the puppet. It was so cool to see it come to life.” Anyone who has seen Little Shop can attest to the amazing puppet, Audrey 2 in the show. Creating Audrey 2 was a complicated task, with several moving parts.

Spooky- Kobe Burton, senior, sings in front of a packed audience as lead character, Seymour Krelborn, in theatre’s production Little Shop of Horrors. “This was probably one of my favorite shows, I’m so happy I was apart of it and I made so many lifelong friends and I love theater,” Celina Kott, senior, said. The Saturday community singa-long of the play donated all money raised from concessions and donations to the Ventura County Community Foundation to support victims of the recent ﬁres and Borderline tragedies. Aditya Vunnum/Prowler

“There are four puppets in total and the whole process took me about five months,” Melody Hellard, senior, said. Although Hellard has been making costumes and acting at NPHS since her freshman year, the Audrey 2 puppets were her most ambitious project.

“I took on the project and planned and created them myself, getting assistance along the way from my family, Mr. Atkins, who taught me about wood and power tools, and tech theater who was there when I needed to split up small tasks,” Hellard said. “It has always been something I wanted to do, but I never had

a reason to do them before now.” In addition to creating the puppets, Hellard also acted in the musical. “I play Chiffon in the show,” Hellard said. “It is a super fun role to play because there is a lot of singing involved and I get to be in almost every number and essentially watch the show from onstage.” Despite the delay, preparation for Little Shop of Horrors was underway long before opening night. “We start basically within the first week of school,” Craig Hastings, head of costumes for the department, senior, said. Originally opening night was set for Nov. 9. However, after the fires broke out, the show’s schedule underwent major shifts. The cast made the most of the situation, taking the opportunity to help the community. A portion of each night’s proceeds went towards providing aid to those affected by the fires and events at borderline. On Dec. 1, the cast held a free benefit night, and donated all proceeds generated by food sales to victims. The event included karaoke, a sing-along and photo opportunities with Audrey 2. “What really stands out to me with the show is how resilient everyone has been with everything that’s going on,” Craig Hastings, said. In these challenging times the show brought joy to audiences, while helping the community in the process.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” will rock you Christina Borisoff Staff Writer Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Because after watching the movie I’ve been floating around in ecstacy. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a foot-stomping tribute to Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer, Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), who defied all stereotypes and made Queen one of the most legendary bands of all time. The biopic is an incredible testimonial to the charming nostalgia of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Malek did an amazing job in capturing the flamboyant, eccentric side of Freddie Mercury, who we tearfully witness struggling with depression and AIDS, which eventually leads him to rejecting his band in pursuit of a solo career. During this time, he is fueled by partying, drugs, alcohol and sex. However, for many Queen connoisseurs like myself, the script

didn’t quite show audiences the tortured genius that Mercury truly was, and crucial details about Mercury’s life were changed in order to fit the format and dramatic elements for the movie. For instance, in the movie Mercury manages to track down his love interest, come out to his parents and perform in one of the most televised concerts all in one day, when in reality the sequence happened over a greater period of time. Nevertheless, real life events are often over-exaggerated in order to make movies more appealing and easier to follow to a mainstream audience. Something I commend the writers for is making the characters relatable, despite being literal rockstars. Freddy Mercury is lovably awkward, even as he rises up the ladders into stardom. Malek really makes his struggles seem genuine, while at the same time staying true to his rather quirky unrelatable personality.

The end of the movie leaves audiences teary-eyed when against all odds, Mercury managed to play with Queen again at one of the most famous concerts in history, Live Aid, with an estimated two billion people tuning in on television -- in a sense curbing the limitations of AIDS until he ultimately succumbed to the syndrome. Despite its meager flaws, like its timeline inaccuracies, the electrifying soundtrack transformed “Bohemian Rhapsody” from an average movie to a stand-out from other movies this year with its obvious flawless soundtrack. With audiences bobbing their heads, stomping their feet and screaming the lyrics to every song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a movie that “Will Rock You” everytime.

13 “The Hate U Give” movie is almost as good as the book entertainment

Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Emily Augustine/Prowler

Sarah Lu Photographer “The Hate U Give” delves into a hot topic in today’s day and age - police brutality. We often see this on social media, like police tackling someone to the ground or cases about police shooting unarmed people, but what we rarely see is the victim’s perspective. This book shows us. I started and finished the book in one day. I haven’t read like that since freshman year, because normally I don’t have enough time to, but this time I could not put the book down. The book focuses around the life of an African American high school girl, Starr Carter, who lives in the ‘ghettos’ but goes to a wealthy prep school. There is a distinct line between her life at school and her life at home. However, this all changes when her childhood best friend, Khalil Harris, is shot and killed by a police officer who mistook a hairbrush for a gun. As the only witness, Starr is encouraged to speak out. However, by doing this, she could be putting her and her family’s lives in danger. The characters were described in such a way that sometimes I would be pleased with them, but other times I would have to put the book down and take a break because I couldn’t handle how they acted. The characters’ decisions either made me want to jump up with joy or scream out in frustration. One page would have me congratulating Starr on her decision, and the next would have me asking, “Why would you do that?” It was quite an emotional roller coaster for me. I watched the movie after reading the book, so I knew much of what was going to happen throughout the movie. However, that didn’t stop me from being startled when hearing the sound of gunshots echoing through the speakers, or being angry when Starr denied knowing Khalil. I usually prefer books to movies, but there is only so much that your mind can make up. Having a visual interpretation of the book enhanced the whole story for me. I could imagine what it would look like when Khalil got shot, but to actually see it made everything seem so much more real. Watching Starr stand up to

her so-called friend made me feel very empowered and proud of the Starr’s decision. The speeches that Starr made during the movie and the book were both very emotional, but hearing it out loud made it much more so. However, there were a couple of problems I had with the movie. I felt like the movie in a way, justified the cop shooting Khalil. The reason why Khalil was shot in the movie was because there was a hairbrush in his hand and he was in the motion of combing his hair when the cop thought he saw a gun. On the contrary, in the book, Khalil is opening the door to check on Starr when he gets shot. There is no mention of a hairbrush until later. In addition, right after Khalil is shot, in the book the cop then turns his gun on Starr. This is one of the main points that Starr uses in her interview on television about what happened, but in the movie it is glanced over. This was a very important part of the book, because a cop kept his gun on an unarmed girl who’s best friend was just killed. The main message of the story goes back to the meaning of the title, “The Hate U Give.” In both the movie and the book, Tupac is referred to, especially his saying, “T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E.”The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everyone. And in the movie, the director really chose to show that. At the end of the movie, there is much conflict when a gang leader starts fighting with Starr’s dad. When he reaches for his gun, he finds out that his youngest son had pulled it out and is pointing it at the gang leader, showing that “T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E.” really is true. I definitely recommend reading both the book and watching the movie. There are some parts of the book that are not included in the movie, so it is nice to not miss some of the details, and the movie makes the story much more emotional. Reading the book and watching the movie opens people’s eyes to unreported situations in some communities. What’s more, is that something like this could happen in real life. This is not just a story.

Fun Box is not that fun Brian Fang Staff Writer The Fun Box is a collection of art installations that have a vibrant and youthful aesthetic. Open for just a short time in the Oaks Mall, many people have taken the opportunity to visit the establishment to add photos to their family albums by posing in front of sparkling backdrops or interacting with props. This is all while supporting local foster care charities, as a portion of the proceeds are donated. As such, the foundation has stirred up quite a buzz, with many members of our community reporting dazzling reviews and giving positive feedback. In the end, I thought I’d check it out myself. It’s too bad I can’t say I was nearly impressed. My experience did not start off strong. Upon arrival I was greeted by a lady at the front door asking for 17 dollars. I could only think about how the entry cost into some famous art museums, like LACMA, aren’t even that high. Of course, I’m not opposed to supporting charity, as I believe it is worthwhile to help foster care agencies, however, the consequence of the high price was a high expectation that I had for the installations. The first installation was full of pink, upright, human-sized crayons that carve a path towards the next installation. Along the sides of the path were objects such as a swing set clearly for small

children and a teeter totter bench (both of which were areas to take photographs). At first, I thought perhaps my unphotogenic face was the reason why I did not enjoy my experience, but over time I realized that the establishment simply wasn’t appropriate for my age group. This was opposed to the advertising on the foundation’s website, which stated that it makes “adults feel like they are five again.” Further installations continued to have the same effect. Attempting to create a hip and modern atmosphere, I can’t help but feel that they utterly failed. There was a level of tackiness in the installations, with scaled emojis, a Fortnite reference and a noodle tube tunnel. There was a rainbow throne, a balloon filled cage and a giant cereal ball pit. It just felt corny. The fact that many employees just conversed with each other or were on their phones did not help either. Overall, the Fun Box simply isn’t my type of fun. However, if you are extroverted and love taking photos to add to the memory books, the Fun Box might be worth seeing before it closes down on Dec. 31, but otherwise the only upside is supporting a good cause.

Fruit Loops- This art installation imitates a bowl of cereal scaled up to to act as a ball pit. After waiting for a couple minutes to enter this area, the next group is let in to interact with the foam loops. Generally meant for small children, some parents also dove into the bowl. Brian Fang/ Prowler

sports Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Fall sports end on a high note Brian Fang Staff Writer Jaycen Sussman Sports Editor After a successful 2018 season, the Girls’ Golf team placed fifth in the Marmonte League among their local competition. With several fresh faces on the team, and only two upperclassmen, a team highlight was a victory against Nordhoff High. Lindsey Muller, senior, recounted her path to CIF to end her last high school golf season. “I qualified for CIF individuals this year, making me a qualifier for all four years which was one of my goals for high school golf. Also, I made first team all-league in a very competitive league for girls golf.”

Focus- Lindsey Mueller, senior, swings her golf club during a golf tournament this fall season. Sally Lee/Pawprint

Whack Focused on doing her part for the Whackteam, Jillian White, senior, gears up to strike the volleyball. Paige Powers/Pawprint

Finishing fourth in Marmonte League, the Girls’ Tennis team can rest easy after a successful season this year. Owing much to the support of their coaching staff, Angelina Powers, senior, felt that they were a real driving force in their success. “Luckily for us, Newbury Park has two excellent coaches that provide guidance off and on the court,” Powers said. “Knowing that I had someone to support me not only when I was struggling during a match, but also when I was struggling to get life together was very helpful. Thank you, Coaches!” Overall, the team was thrilled to end their last game as victory against Thousand Oaks.

This season, Girls’ Cross Country ranked higher than they ever had before, placing 10th in the State for Division II girls and second in the Marmonte League. The team also had some great individual performances, such as, Archana Mohandas, junior, who placed first at the Marmonte League meet. After training very hard throughout the summer and the season as well, the results are no surprise. Coupled with a new mentality, the girls can look back at a hard-fought season. “Winning the Marmonte League Championships and seeing my teammates right there with me was a rewarding moment,” Mohandas said. “Our coaches have been unbelievably dedicated to helping us to perform to our full potential.”

Pace- Running at a cross country meet this fall season, Archana Mohandas, junior, and Fiona Hawkins, sophomore, represent the girl’s cross country team. Kaiden Pemberton/Pawprint

Splash Tobey Jomsky, junior, impressively Splashcontrols the ball, despite the pressure from the opposing team. Sally Lee/Pawprint

This year, the Girls’ Volleyball team was plagued with injuries, missing four of their six seniors and one of their juniors, but by the end of the season, many new team members stepped up into the lineup, allowing the team to place fourth in Marmonte League. “Our main driving factor was the good chemistry that we built on the court quickly since we had such a new team coming together,” Heather Kawaguchi, senior, said. “Our coaches helped a ton to help each player recieve extra reps.” Sadly, the team will be losing Simone Overbeck, senior, next year. She will be moving on to the University of Arizona to play Division I volleyball. However, as new young talent stepped up, the volleyball team still expects to have a strong future.

After making CIF for the first time last year, Boys’ Water Polo had big shoes to fill, and in the end they did just that. This season, the team placed second in the Marmonte League and made it to the second Round of CIF. Jarrod Norton, senior, attributes their success to the passion everyone on the team had and the coaching staff. “The whole team is full of super competitive dudes that love the game and love playing it at a high level. We left it all in the pool and executed well every time we played,” Norton said. “Coach Dave and Coach Graham were really insightful and know the game inside and out. Their knowledge of the game is unmatched.” In all, Norton felt that it has been special for the team to play high level water polo this year, with a win in CIF being a cherry on top.

Reach Jumping high in the air, Angelina Powers, senior, Reachgave her all in trying to hit the tennis ball during a match. David Sanchez/Pawprint

The NPHS football team lit up George Hurley stadium several times over the course of the season, ending in fifth place of the Marmonte League. Throughout the highs and lows that took place on the field, the team remained physical, picking up a win against Venice High School following a 21-point deficit. The team, which consisted of 26 seniors, wanted to fuel the crowd and put on a show every Friday night. According to MaxPreps, Quarterbacks Braden Handy, senior, and Ben Gulbranson, junior, accumulated a combined 1,472 passing yards. This was only possible because of a strong team dynamic, which was especially evident to David Webster, senior. “This year our team had a level of cohesiveness that we never really had before,” Webster said. “Being around my best buds and motivating coaches has been a real driving force for us.”

Spirit Braden Hutten, junior, runs alongside Spiritteammates Cage Bumbarger, senior, and Austin James, senior, showing their patriotism while heading into a game. Sally Lee/Pawprint

sports Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018

Boys’ Cross Country takes on nationals Emily Nagamoto Chief Photographer The road leading to the Nike Cross Nationals competition was not an easy one for the boys’ cross country team. It involved countless hours of training, miles of runs and, fundamental to their success, a strong team community. For the seven runners who attended the national race, Daniel Appleford and Colin Sahlman, freshmen, Nicholas Goldstein, sophomore, Jace Aschbrenner and Nico Young, juniors, and Kyndall Long and Ethan Ronk, seniors, last weekend in Oregon, Dec. 1, meant finally achieving their dream. Practice began like any other season, at the beginning of summer. Along with the girls’ cross country team, the runners could clock in around 60 miles a week the closer they got to their competitions. During the middle of their season, their long runs ranged from eight to twelve miles. “The entire mindset has been different for this season. We had big goals coming into the season and that came with a lot of hard work, but we pulled it off,” Ronk said. According to Ronk, these goals were to “defend our league title, win a CIF title, win a state championship and make it to nationals,” all of which they accomplished. As a senior on the team, he says he “couldn’t be more proud.” For Aschbrenner, making it to nationals was a surreal experience. With an injury earlier in the season that stopped him from racing for three weeks, he was able to come back and qualify for the competition. “It was an incredible experience… it was

Hands in- Huddling together before the race, Nico Young, junior, right, and the rest of his teammates give each other encouragement before the race at the Nike Cross National race. Young believes that it was the hard work that helped the team reach their goal of winning state and moving on to the next level. “It’s been a long season but it’s the farthest in the season our school has ever gotten to and I think our team is really excited and happy,” Young said. The team was the ﬁrst in school history to win the state championship and move on to nationals. Clay Nishi/ With Permission Face forward- On the campus of the Nike Cross National race, Nike’s van displays the face of Ethan Ronk, senior. Ronk, who has been on the NPHS cross country team for four years, has been dreaming since freshman year to go to nationals, crediting the team this year for helping get there. The team motto is written across his face, “Just doin’ it for the boys.” The nationals race was sponsored by Nike, and the team was able to visit the original Nike Headquarters. Clay Nishi/With Permission

just really crazy to take in, I was smiling the whole time,” Aschbrenner said. Out of the 204 racers at the national race, Aschbrenner placed 66th. Next year, Aschbrenner has set a higher goal. “I definitely want to be up there with Nico. It’d be awesome if two guys in the top 10 are from here. Essentially, my goals are to catch up with Nico,” Aschbrenner said. Young shares a similar sentiment. After breaking the school record with a 14:01 time, Young placed fourth at nationals; he’s not done yet. “I’m looking forward to us making nationals again and hopefully top ten as a team, and myself winning individually,” Young said. In addition to training physically, Young and the team have to train mentally. Young said that with all of the distractions at the Nike headquarters, he “had to definitely think about what I needed to do and focus.” With a national competition checked off their list, the cross country team is now gearing up for track season, but according to Ronk, “this team really is something special.” “The quality of guys on this team is incredible and I really do love them all like family,” Ronk said. “A message I have for the younger guys on the team is just appreciate every moment. Appreciate these guys, they’ll become a second family if they haven’t already. You can make a bigger impact than you know.”

Wrestling hosts successful home meet Aditya Vunnum Sports Editor Five days a week, the smell of bleached mats fill the air as the boys high school wrestling team grapples in the athletics room, locked in intense competition. The tight-knit group meets to bond as a team and take their game to the next level. The wrestling season started on Nov. 27 with a very successful away meet at Agoura which resulted in a 65-12 win. After months of practicing and conditioning, the team hosted the Newbury Park tournament. The team placed 11th out of 28 teams and four people placed in the top eight, with Kevin Kilbane, junior, placing fifth for 126 pounds. “Wrestling at the tournament was really challenging and I feel I could’ve done better, but I’m alright with where I ended up. It was really challenging you really have to fight for it and it helped me realize that you can’t win them all and you can’t let it get you down,” Kilbane said. Teams from all over the west coast showed up at the meet, such as Clovis and Poway from San Diego, and others coming as far as Nevada. Brett Philbrook, junior, loved the atmosphere

that the other schools brought. “In the morning we all got there at like 6 and everyone weighed in and then just sit back and watch the other schools come in. You get motivated by seeing all these strong teams and it’s really fun watching the excitement build up,” Philbrook said. High level teams such as Clovis, fifth in the state, and Poway brought an entirely new level of intensity to the tournament. “Going up against them is kind of different because it’s just higher level wrestling because these schools have their moves drilled in to perfection so it’s just a completely different competition all together,” Philbrook said. Although Newbury Park faced tough competition, Raaghuv Sompura, junior, saw the tournament as a powerful new learning experience and took a great deal away from the tournament. “Although we didn’t place, I would say we did pretty well overall as a team with so many newcomers,” Sompura said. “On top of that, we received money from teams coming to the tournament and sponsorships which was great

for the wrestling program.” Philbrook said. “The team is really tight and Sompura feels that wrestling has become a we’re working towards a league title for the large part of his high school experience since he second year in a row. I’m looking forward to first joined the team as a freshmen. seeing how it goes.” “I’ve met some of my best friends through wrestling and I’m really grateful for what it has given me. I know there are some stereotypes surrounding the sport but it shouldn’t stop people from giving it a try,” Sompura said. “Wrestling is Grapple- Struggling on the matts, Urias Molina Merlo, senior (left) and Kevin Kilbane, Grapple different from junior (right) practice the “referee’s position”. The wrestling team held its home meet on everything else saturday and placed 11th overall. “The whole atmosphere of the tournament was very because of the competitive. We had a lot of top tier schools and who went to state,” Kilbane said. The individuality team had 4 wrestlers place top seven in their weight at the tournament. Gianna Spiro/ it gives you,” Prowler

sports Panther Prowler • Dec. Dec c. 7,, 2018

s the march marching m rching band’s season comes mes to an end, en members are looking backk on n their season with pride pride. Winnin Winning ning two wo championships championships, the band has been very busy outside of performing at football games. At a competition in Las Vegas, they won every single award for their category. However, for most members, it was about more than the trophies they earned, their season was about their journey as a band, an idea that was the very theme of their performance. Let’s take a look at the highlights from their last show Friday, Nov. 30, at an impromptu Thousand Oaks showcase.

Mallots up - Jason Peters, senior, focuses intently on playing his marimba as he keeps time with the drum major and the rest of the rhythm instruments. As drum major, Dasha Manzhos, senior, conducted and led the band, standing on a high rise and acting as the rhythm, or time, keeper. “It was really cool to witness everyone's growth because as a marcher you only witness what what's going on in your vicinity, but as a drum major, you get to see the whole show unfold,” Manzhos said. Manzhos said she enjoyed watching the band improve throughout the season.. and compasses as props to emphasize their theme. Sarah Lu/Prowler

The Journey - As he blows into his trumpet, James McDonough, junior, side steps across the field in front of large of maps. Every year, the band chooses a theme for their performance, and this year’s theme was the journey. “That actually reflects our season perfectly, because our supposed destination was the championships but we didn't realize that the journey, our practices, our earlier competitions, are what actually made the season a lot of fun,” Manzhos said.Jessica Zhou/Prowler

Hitting the note - Although it is his first year in marching band, Jacob Flanery, freshman, confidently plays his trumpet, adding to the cohesiveness of the band’s performance. Sarah Lu/Prowlerw

Lined up - Marching in front of the whole band, James Bentley, freshman, struts across the field, a fresh new face among many of the seasoned marchers. This was the last season of four year careers for many marchers, and for Shannon King, senior, it was a good one to end on. “It was a great season and I couldn't ask for anything else senior year. I wish more people would do it; it's always more fun with more people,” King said. Sarah Lu/Prowler

Keeping time - Nathan Shadron, junior, blows into his tenor saxophone while marching to the left in tandem with the rhythm. Like any fall other sport, marching band has been preparing for their season since the summer. “This season, we would have rehearsals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then usually every Saturday we would go to a competition,” Steven Choi, junior, said. Jessica Zhou/Prowler

2018-2019 Issue 4 (Dec. 7, 2018)

Articles inside

NP Legacies

Children’s TV

Cross Country

11

Little Shop