THE AZTEC VOLUME LXXVIV NUMBER VI
VIEWPOINT PG 3-4 From protests to refugee bans, changing times
News in Brief Paint the Night at Sadie's This year’s Sadies dance will be located in the new gym, themed “Paint the Night”. It will begin at 7:30 pm and end at 11:00 pm. Early Bird ticket prices are $10 with an ASB card and $12 without, while regular ticket prices are $10 with an ASB card and $12 without. Science Olympiad competes at Occidental College Led by captains Rachel Wang and Jason Xian, the Science Olympiad team earned a sixth place overall trophy and plaque at the Los Angeles County Science Olympiad at Occidental College. They also placed 20th in the Southern California Science Olympiad at Caltech. Eighth Annual Mandarin Airband The Chinese Entertainment Club will host its eighth Mandarin Airband in April celebrating Chinese music, dance, and comedy. Mr. Lien and president of the Chinese Culture Club Beulah Zhou will be organizing this event.
Your calendar 2/14-2/17- Valentine's Spirit Week 2/20-President's Day (No school) 2/21-2/24- Sadie's Spirit Week 2/22- MKHS Alliance Meeting (7-9 pm at cafeteria) 2/24- Sadie's 2/25- Math Field Day 2/28- ELAC Meeting #6 (6:30-7:30 pm at cafeteria)
February 16, 2017
VALENTINE'S ADS PG 5-8
FEATURES PG 9-10 The Oscar award goes to diversity
theaztecnews.com
SPORTS PG 11-12 Five winter sports enter CIF league
Second annual Keppel's Got Talent JASPER DUONG Staff Writer
The second annual Keppel’s Got Talent took place on February 3rd in the auditorium. The talent show is modeled after the television series America’s Got Talent, but with Keppel students and administrators. Ticket prices were $10, and the show lasted from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. There were a total of 25 student competitors. The talent show was separated into two divisions of vocalists and non-vocalists. Freshman Emily Au won first the first place prize of $30 by playing the ukulele and singing her original song, “If You Ever.” When asked about her achievement, she said, “I was initially in shock for about 5 seconds.” Sophomore Jeanine Luna came in second place with her vocal performance of “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, while junior Kyle Truong came in third place with his hip hop medley dance piece. “It was quite stressful, but I have to give most of the credits to [senior] Audrey
Fiona Yuen (12), Samson Truong (12), Justin Khuong (11) , Tristan Nguyen (12) , Calvin Nguyen (11) , and Cody Wong (11) hold up posters in support of friends. COURTESY OF SAMSON TRUONG
[Hong] for finding the judges and [creating] the poster and also to Tech [theater] for making the program,” said talent show coordinator and junior Evan Sakuma. “Audrey also came up with a brilliant idea to start it off like an Oscar [with a song].” Tech Theatre played an important part in
running Keppel’s Got Talent. “We communicated with the performers constantly in order to make a great show,” Sophomore Zoe Ng shared. “As [payment], the performers gave us a great show.” Interviews conducted by Kelly Yuan
Golden Dragon sweeps Chinatown streets JAMIE CHAU & BAILEY HUYNH Historian & Asst. Business Manager
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles held the 118th annual Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown on February 4th. The parade began on Hill Street, looped around the city twice, and lasted for two hours. The Golden Dragon parade is held annually to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which landed on January 28th this year. Since the 1980’s, this parade has grown to thousands of spectators each year, according to the LA Golden Dragon Parade website. With colorful floats, lion-dancers, beauty pageants winners, and important government officials, the parade has become an exciting way to ring in the new year. Mark Keppel Aztec Marching Band and Color Guard performed as well. Mark Keppel Alumni Lauren Chin said, “I think the Golden Dragon Parade has become not only a deeply ingrained annual tradition that many look forward to, but a way for the Asian Americans to also share their culture.” Some performing groups included the Api Equality LA, children who performed kung fu, and models representing different Asian countries that toured through the city on cars. Mark Keppel band parent Dolores Munoz said, “I think the parade is an excellent oppor-
Colorguard marches down North Broadway with the Aztec band.
tunity for the Asian community to showcase its rich culture traditions. As a newcomer to the event, I felt enveloped in the rich tradition that made me wonder about different cultures and made me want to learn more.” Senior Amy Huang said, “With performances from all sorts of Asian cultures (to me) the Golden Dragon Parade is a showcases ethnic diversity in the LA county.” She noted that the parade symbolizes “the traditions which are carried out in the countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year.” The band played “The Liberty Bell” by John
THE AZTEC/JAMIE CHAU
Philip Sousa and “On Wisconsin” while Color Guard coordinated with elaborate flag routines. Band director Mr. Lee stated, “I thought all of the participants did a phenomenal job, especially the Aztec Band and Color Guard. These students conducted themselves professionally and represented our school and cities with pride, and I couldn't have asked for a better performance.” Although the Lunar New year is celebrated mainly by Asian cultures, the Golden Dragon Parade left everyone in high spirits.