May 2016 Issue

FEATURE SPORTS

OPINION SENIORS

SPORTS IN-DEPTH Sex ed: what’s missing in the curriculum?

Spring sports end their successful seasons with a jump!

Seniors send letters to their freshmen selves

The Bruin Voice ­—Page 8

Volume 25, Issue 6

­—Page 11

­—Page 6-7

Bear Creek High School, Stockton, California

May 27, 2016

Atterberry praised for inclusive leadership Retiring principal brought ‘new sense of unity’ to staff

By NATALIA GEVARA ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

After three years, Principal Bill Atterberry will be heading into retirement after the conclusion of the 2015-2016 school year. The principal position will be filled by Hillary Harrell, who currently serves as vice principal of Franklin High School in Elk Grove.

In 2013, Bear Creek was looking for its third principal within a three-year period. Upon hearing about this opportunity, Atterberry, former principal of Lodi High School and Lincoln Tech, wasn’t hesitant to take on the job.

“When the position became available, it only took me about one day to decide to become to principal,” Atterberry said. “It has been everything and more.”

Coming to Bear Creek with a positive mindset, Atterberry aimed to work with the staff to improve the environment of the school.

“Coming in and trusting the staff and helping them create structures to be even more successful has been very good,” Atterberry said. “I think that

Goodbye Rally and Spirit Week

istration substantially, by assuring that everyone on staff is included in the school’s decision making process instead of calling all of the shots himself.

“Atterberry has structured the leadership at Bear Creek to be able to exist without him, which is a great quality as a leader,” LaRue said. “We will definitely miss him.“ ”I’m really proud of the structural leadership team that we formed to diffuse the leadership of the school so it’s not dependent on one person,” Atterberry said. “The proudest moment for me is going to the structural leadership team meetings and not having to say anything because it’s driving itself.”

Although Atterberry has only held his position for three years, he still feels that he has learned quite a bit. Atterberry believes that the diversity at Bear Creek is the most notable.

“I’ve learned that Bear Creek has the most diverse student body in the valley,”Atterberry said.

“I think that is the school’s biggest strength, to have a culture that embraces and supports it (diversity) was eye-opening to me; it was heartwarming to see that.”

we have done a lot for the students by working fore a kind of dismal Bear Creek,” English teachtogether.” er Laura LaRue said. “He has given the staff the Atterberry’s administration has proven to be opportunity to trust administration again, and that popular among Bear Creek’s staff, most citing a was definitely lacking in prior administrations.” new sense of unity with his rein as principal.

“He changed the attitude of the staff toward “He’s rethe administraally fair and he tion drasticaltries to listen to ly,” Spanish he proudest moment for the staff and inteacher Andres me is going to the structural corporate their Gil said. “I leadership team meetings ideas,” chemisthink we’re in and not having to say try and physics a really good anything because it’s driving teacher Jennifer relationship beitself.

Prins said. “So tween staff and anytime there’s admin; it finally -PRINCIPAL BILL ATTERBERRY change, it’s not seems like it’s a just him impleteam.” menting it, it’s all of us together deciding.”

Some of the other changes that the Bear Creek Atterberry was welcomed to Bear Creek staff cites include fewer tardies and fights on camduring the 2013-2014 school year, after the release pus, and an overall more welcoming atmosphere of Shirley McNichols. Within his three years as on campus. Additionally, Atterberry changed “Deprincipal, the community of Bear Creek has seen partment Head Meetings” to “Leadership Meetings.” improvements in many aspects.

Teachers agree that Atterberry has led admin“He has been a shining star in what was be-

“T

”

PHOTO BY COURTESY OF JULIANNE DANG TRAN

PHOTO BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

Goodbye rally: (left) Seniors reach for a tennis ball full of candy and celebrate their last rally at Bear Creek.

Spirit week: (above) Seniors Julianne Dang Tran and Alyssa Viduare dress up for My Big Fat Greek High School spirit day.

Limited grad tickets Election tie decided a hot commodity Fry wins junior class president

By BROOKE SHIMASAKI FEATURE EDITOR

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

After 12 years of lectures, projects, essays and tests, students are excited to celebrate their momentous feat of high school graduation. Walking across the stage, graduates proudly share their important achievement with family and friends cheering from the stands. But because each senior is given 10 graduation tickets, students with larger families are often disappointed when their loved ones cannot attend the graduation ceremony.

As the end of the school year approaches, seniors frantically take to Twitter, social media, and word-of-mouth looking for extra tickets that they can buy from classmates.

Senior Marvin Gromia recognized the demand for tickets and sold two of his tickets for $5 each.

“I don’t have a big family and not all of them will be able to attend graduation so I have tickets left over,” Gromia said. “Since we get all of the tickets for free, I was able to sell them for pure profit.

“Not to sound selfish, but I saw this as an opportunity to make money, so I took it,” Gromia said.

“S

By SOPHIE GILLILAND

ince we get all of the tickets for free, I was able to sell them for pure profit.

”

-SENIOR MARVIN GROMIA

Because they are in such high demand and there are no rules regulating their sales, students with extra tickets are able to inflate the prices as much as they’d like.

Senior Mercedes Poier comes from a divorced family and both of her parents are remarried. In additional to step-family, Poier also has siblings and grandparents with whom she is very close and would like to invite to the graduation ceremony. She is disappointed that many of her loved ones will not be able to see her receive her diploma simply due to a lack of tickets.

“Blended families are so much more common in today’s society,” Poier said.

“The school should find a better way to distribute the grad tickets among the graduating class so everyone is able to get a better amount to what is realistic to their family.”

Although Poier does have the option to try to buy tickets from other seniors, she worries that many students will sell the tickets for higher prices. “[Students] know that we’re desperate to buy tickets for our families,” Poier said. “We shouldn’t be taken advantage of for wanting to celebrate our achievements with our families.”

The school currently provides 10 tickets per graduate and will not be providing any more. Principal Bill Atterberry explains that in previous years — such as the graduation for the class of 2014 — graduates were given 12 tickets each.

Although attendance was closer to the Alex G Spanos Center’s maximum holding capacity, seating was uncomfortable and limited, causing some families and groups to be split up.

“We encourage students to prioritize their tickets and have a graduation party afterwards because not everyone [in their family] is going to be able to make it,” Atterberry said.

With all the talk of the contested election between both the Republican and Democratic candidates, Bear Creek had its own version: two candidates running for junior class president tied.

FRY GONZALEZ Typical of a contested election, the losnado said. er wasn’t happy.

The two candidates disagree over This year, the revisions in the whether or not the tie and the tiebreaker ASB constitution changed the number were fair. of points for each part of the election “It was probably the best way to process and made each aspect worth 25 go with the essay because it just goes points: applications, interviews, essays, to show what you’re gonna do and how and student votes. you’d be the better president,” Fry said, Sophomores Cristian Gonzalez and referring to himself.

Kyle Fry each received 75 points. Fry “I feel like the votes should received fewer points for the popular have spoken a little bit more to pervote, which he lost. Both Fry and Gonsuade Ms. LaRue to think that peozalez lost points in the other aspects of ple are wanting him as their leadthe election, but they both ended with 75 points. The tie caused some students to wonder whether or not the new prour votes count little to cess is fair. the actual election. It’s “We determined that the best like our voice doesn’t way to break the tie would be to have them plan out what their agenhave a say at all. da is for the following year,” LaRue -SOPHOMORE KAYLANIE SALDUA said.

The current junior assembly and president, next year’s junior assem- er,” Gonzalez said, also referring to bly, one ASB member, and the junior himself.

Some students agree with Gonzaclass advisor were brought together lez in wishing that their votes had more to look at these plans, written in essignificance in the election and feeling say format, with the names removed like the result wasn’t a representation so they wouldn’t know whose plan of what the class of 2018 wants. The they were looking at. They discussed prior constitution stipulated that the which plan seemed more suited for popular vote counted for 40 percent of the class and Fry was determined the the total instead of the current 25 perwinner. cent. “[Fry’s] was more about being a “Our votes count little to the actual president and having a united campus instead of just kind of having election,” sophomore Kaylanie Saldua events planned and Cristian’s plan said. “It’s like our voice doesn’t have was about a lot of specifics,” future a say at all.”

Many students made their voice junior assembly member Julian Ber-

“O

”

by essay

heard on social media, saying how unhappy they were with the new election process and the result of the tiebreaker.

“I think that Cristian is a very popular kid and Kyle is maybe not known as well,” LaRue said. “So I think the kids are more apt to support the kid that they see as being the most popular.”

Students voiced their opinions on Twitter and others responded, bringing current upperclassmen and people from student government into the debate. Some sophomores tweeted what seemed to be insults to Fry and supported Gonzalez, but some defended Fry and criticized the people who were angry with the result.

“I said a tweet on Twitter about Kyle being a ‘mini Donald Trump’ but the thing is that is who Kyle says he is,” Saldua said. “He supports Trump and there wasn’t any insult mentioned in there.”

“I don’t necessarily think that’s a negative thing,” Fry said in response to Saldua’s tweet. “But I think she did mean it in a negative way which isn’t how Donald Trump should be perceived.”

Despite many sophomores being initially disappointed with the election, most say they are willing to give Fry a chance as junior president and accept that the new process for elections determined him to be the best candidate.

“We made amends with Kyle and we will try to see what his plans are for junior year,” Saldua said.

Next year’s student government plans to eliminate the possibility of another tie in elections by making changes to the constitution or making a plan for ties at the beginning of the next school year.

2 NEWS Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo program pays for prom MAY 27, 2016

THE BRUIN VOICE

By BROOKE SHIMASAKI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Prom is an unforgettable experience, not necessarily because of the dinner or dancing or the beautiful dress, but because of the gaping hole left in one’s bank account afterwards.

According to a 2015 survey by Visa Inc., the average prom-goer in America forked over $919, including everything from attire, limo rental, prom bids, flowers and pictures.

Although prom is an extremely fun and memorable night, many students face concern in the months leading up to prom as they try to find ways to finance their magical night.

Senior Brooke Gushea, who works part time at the Creamery diner, found the perfect dress for prom but when she discovered that it cost almost $400, she

worked hard to pay for it.

“I asked my boss if I could work more hours to make money to pay for my dress,” Gushea said.

“Last year, I didn’t have a job so I had to borrow someone’s prom dress but this year, it felt good to be able to pay for my own dress.”

It is often difficult to find ways to pay for prom expenses in a short amount of time, especially when students don’t have jobs or financial support from their parents.

Fortunately, the Stockton-based Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo non-profit organization provides “prom scholarships” to some of the most deserving students in the area by working with school counselors and teachers. Students are provided with attire (dresses and tuxedos), salon appointments and dinner. This year, BBB reached students in the 14 high schools in the Stock-

ton area, including Bear Creek, Lincoln, McNair, and Edison.

The community comes together to help provide students of limited financial means with the full prom experience. The Academy of Cosmetology graciously pampers girls with salon make-overs, including hair, makeup, and manicures and pedicures. Additionally, girls attend the annual dress Adoption Day, where they can choose from hundreds of donated dresses.

For the boys, Formal Connection provides prom-goers with professionally fitted, high-quality tuxedos. Also, Papapavlo’s, a Mediterranean restaurant in Lincoln Center, provides boys with a dinner-for-two for a delicious meal on prom night.

Sophomore Catherine An-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ADJ2SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

A magical night: Sophomore Catherine Anaya, whose dress, hair, and nails were paid for by the Bibbido Bobbidi Boo program, and senior Rydell Donato, whose prom attire was funded by the program, enjoy their special night.

— See BIBBIDI BOBBIDI Page 3

Uber provides users with California auditor finds UCs favor convenient rides around cities out-of-state students in acceptance

By ASHLEY HOANG FEATURE EDITOR

Limited taxi services and high incidence of accidents from drunk driving at night lead many teenagers to avoid travelling throughout the city later in the night — until new online transportation system Uber came to town.

Uber, founded in San Francisco, was developed to have its consumers request rides from personal drivers through the use of their smartphone app. Payment is made through the app — which includes built-in fare splitting if a customer prefers to carpool — with a credit or debit card.

“I

used Uber over the summer whenever the BART system was down. It’s convenient; the drivers arrive within two minutes of your request.

”

- SENIOR JENNIFER GONZALEZ

For teenagers without a license, having an available driver practically at their fingertips is an inexpensive and accessible way to get from one place to another.

“I use Uber for emergency events like when I need to get somewhere important but don’t have a ride,” senior Dalondro Frazier said. “Once or twice I would use Uber to get to parties.”

Uber’s rising popularity is not only among teenagers, but families as well. Unlike taxi services where their location cannot be specifically tracked, Uber provides the ability to track its drivers; a notification via text is sent to the Uber account when a request is made. The account holder is then able to track the entire trip.

“I used Uber over the summer whenever the BART system was down,” senior Jennifer Gonzalez said.

“It’s convenient; the drivers arrive within two minutes of your request.”

Others use Uber as their safer alternative instead of driving after parties.

“My mom’s friends use Uber when they go out to drink at night,” senior Gabriella Gomez said. “It’s a safer alternative than driving home drunk.”

While many residents of larger cities such Los Angeles or San Francisco use Uber almost on a regular basis, smaller cities have yet to reach the transportation network’s full potential. Despite being released in Stockton since 2014, many people still have yet to discover and use this app.

In Stockton, there’s a base fee of $3.33 plus 24 cents per minute with $2.38 per mile and a $1 Safe Rides Fee. In a smaller city such as Stockton where traffic can be sparse, the cost for an Uber is almost 10 percent cheaper than using the average taxi service, according to Business Insider.

In spite of Uber’s cheaper fares, safe tracking system and protected payment services, users still need to take precaution when signing up.

Unlike most taxi services in Stockton, Uber does not require its drivers to submit a fingerprint scan for any offenses or incidents for its background check. Instead of using fingerprint-scanning service Live Scan, Uber insteads uses the services called Accurate and Checkr to check their drivers for vehicle and credit reports and driving violations.

Although Uber is popular with young adults and teenagers, minors under 18 are prohibited from opening accounts and are not permitted to use the service without their parent’s permission.

To register for an account, users must be at least 18 years of age with one valid payment method either by a credit card or an accepted payment partner. Ultimately though, it is up to the Uber driver to request ID verification; the responsibility of the transporter is placed on the account holder.

While there are only approximately 30 Uber drivers available around the Stockton area, Uber expects to add more drivers over the next couple of years, a potential game changer in the transportation system in Stockton.

By AIDAN BACKUS FEATURE EDITOR

Words — perhaps distorted by disgust, self-doubt, or tears — echo through the halls of Bear Creek in the spring. “I got rejected from my dream school,” they say, or, even worse: “I got in, but I can’t afford it.” According to California’s auditor, students who were trying to get into the University of California but didn’t might have someone to blame other than themselves.

According to the audit, between 2005-06 and 2015-16, the admission rate of resident (California) students fell by 19 percent while the nonresident admission rate increased by 16 percent. Meanwhile, tuition rates for resident students soared, from $6,141 in 2005-06 to $12,240 in 2015-16.

Accounting for student fees and other costs, residents should expect to pay $13,400 in tuition and fees. At comparable public schools in other states, the mean cost for residents is $10,579.

These values do not include housing and textbooks.

Because nonresidents pay significantly more in tuition and fees — as high as $35,928 — the auditor, Elaine M. Howle, alleges in her report that the University knowingly raised nonresident admissions rates at the cost of California students to increase revenue.

UC President Janet Napolitano has long maintained that rising fees and nonresident acceptance rates are needed to increase revenue, as the state of California’s funding for the UC system leveled off during the Great Recession even as university expenses rose. The state of California would have to expand its revenue (perhaps through a tax hike) to afford an increase in UC funding.

“I would rather take higher taxes,” senior Shaan Bhalaru said. “Tuition rates are already increasing and people can’t keep up.”

Napolitano replied to the audit in a letter to Howle, claiming that “to suggest … that UC has ‘disadvantaged’ California students is entirely unfound-

ed” and that while UC enrolls 15.5 percent nonresidents, many comparable state schools admit over 30 percent.

Prior to the recession, UC enrolled only five percent nonresidents.

A UC press release dated April 4 noted that the number of California students admitted increased by 14.7 percent for the 2016-17 school year and attributed this increase to the end of the recession.

According to the audit, $886 million (including $403 million from nonresident tuition) is spent on expenses that are not evenly distributed “per-student,” to which Napolitano responds that the UC system has a much larger purpose than undergraduate education, including research and professional training, which justifies these costs.

B

etween 2005-06 and 2015-16, the admission rate of resident (California) students fell by 19 percent while the nonresident admission rate increased by 16 percent.

The audit also criticizes administrators’ lavish salaries, including Napolitano’s $570,000 salary, over three times Gov. Jerry Brown’s salary.

Among other staffing expenses, UCLA pays its football coach, Jim Mora, $3.5 million.

“In that same year [as the budget cut], the University provides a general salary increase across the board that was $639 million,” Howle said at a hearing in the state Capitol. “Personally, as a taxpayer, I have a problem with that.”

Napolitano responded that UC uses “annual reviews of employee trends” to determine salaries, and such high pay is therefore justified.

Whether Howle’s allegations prove true or not, the falling acceptance rate has clear consequences at Bear Creek. Over the past 10 years, Bear Creek’s UC acceptance rate has dropped from 76 percent to 61 per-

cent, while California’s overall UC acceptance rate has dropped from 77 percent to 62 percent. The two values plummeted together; statistical analysis shows that 75 percent of the difference in Bear Creek’s acceptance rate can be explained by difference in California’s acceptance rate.

The top nine percent of Bear Creek students get some respite from increasing competition, at least: it is UC policy that if a student in the top nine percent of his year at school or in the state of California but was rejected from all campuses he applied to, that student will be given a spot at another campus (usually UCs Riverside or Merced) if there is space left over.

Of the top nine percent (41 students) of the Bear Creek Class of 2016, 28 of those students were accepted to at least one UC campus of their choice, 11 did not apply to any campuses, one was rejected from a top UC but offered admission at a lower-tiered campus and declined, and one was rejected from all campuses, apparently against UC policy, but did not appeal in time.

College and Career Center adviser Janet Hobart advises students who were offered admission at a lower-tiered UC than they’d hoped for to consider that option.

“Any UC would be a top choice,” Hobart said, “But it really depends on the individual student. Go visit [the alternate campus], and see how it feels.”

One bar to attendance that top Bear Creek students do not get respite from is the cost of attendance. One such student, senior Justin Layman, will likely attend UC Santa Barbara, but is unsure if he will receive sufficient grants and scholarships to afford the cost. If Layman attends UCSB, he will have to pay $18,000 per year outof-pocket.

“I’m trying to steer clear of loans because I’m not sure there is a way to pay them back after I graduate,” Layman said. “It’s just a dark cloud that looks over me: there’s no guarantee that I’ll get a high-paying job right away.

NEWS

THE BRUIN VOICE

MAY 27, 2016

3

Bear Creek says goodbye to retiring staff

Janet Hobart College and Career Center Advisor

David Collum Orchestra Teacher

Bob Rose Physical Education and Football Coach

Laura Brooke English Teacher

Janet Hobart has worked at Bear Creek for more than 17 of her nearly 21 years in the education field. She was born and raised in Stockton and graduated from Stagg High School before attending Delta. After earning a degree in accounting, she got a job at an accounting firm, where she worked for 17 years. Eventually she grew tired of it, and heard about the College and Career Center Advisor position through volunteering at Creekside Elementary in her son’s classroom. Hobart has two sons, Kyle and Kevin, who both attended Bear Creek. She is married to Steven Hobart and has four grandkids.

Her most memorable moment in her career was last year’s Senior Night, because it ran smoothly; she hopes this year’s will be even smoother. She has enjoyed helping students on their paths to college and is proud when she hears of their success. During her retirement she and her husband plan to organize their house and travel around the U.S., especially along Route 66, Louisiana, and New England; they may even travel in Europe or to Canada.

“I’ve really enjoyed working here at BC,” she said. “Everyone’s very friendly and helpful, always there when I need help!”

David Collum has been teaching for 30 years, and has been at Bear Creek for 10 years. Collum grew up in Stockton and has always had a passion for music, which he has studied relentlessly for most of his life. He is also a distinguished member of the Stockton Symphony.

Collum has a wife, three daughters, four stepsons and two grandchildren. He has studied at a wide variety of schools such as San Joaquin Delta College, UOP, Stanislaus State, Hayward State, and National University. After retirement he plans to compose music, cycle, hike, and garden.

“Watching students come alive while performing music and realizing their potential has been by far one of my favorite phenomenons to observe while teaching,” Collum said.

Bob Rose, born in 1955, has taught physical education at Bear Creek High School since it opened in 1991. Born in Oregon, Rose moved to California and attended the University of the Pacific to earn his master’s in special education. Although he earned a degree in the special education field, Rose always knew he wanted to be involved with coaching football. However, it was difficult to manage a full-time job and have a coaching position at the same time. So Rose chose a work environment that would be flexible enough to do both – high school education. Rose’s coaching career debuted at Tokay High School, then carried over to San Joaquin Delta College. At Delta, Rose served a 10 year tenure, then went on to coach at A.A. Stagg High School where he is the head coach for the junior varsity football program.

After retiring, Rose looks forward to spending more time with his 13-year-old daughter. Rose also looks forward to remodeling his house in Brookside, where he intends to spend a lot of time on his boat. With over 35 years of experience in education, the highlights in his career come from watching kids prosper and grow from children to adults.

“No matter what, he always cared about the kids,” said P.E. teacher Dave Magetti, Rose’s co-worker for 25 years.

tors. The city begins to panic and think that all predators will start acting that way.

“Even though the movie was made for children, it covers many adult themes,” senior Samantha Dix said. “It cleverly portrayed parallels between predator and prey versus white superiority and minorities. There are always going to be challenges and differences when it comes to race but the movie demonstrates that no matter where you are in life, if you try your best you can excel.”

Judy, who until this point was a voice of reason, accidentally blames the chaos on the predators during a press conference by suggesting there is a biological connection between the “savage” animals that the city is seeing and the basic nature of the predators.

Her statement causes even more panic in the city and causes Nick to isolate himself from her, as she was just beginning to convince him that he too could overcome his biology and become a police officer.

In the end, like all Disney movies, everything works out. The person who was truly behind the evil plot is revealed and brought to justice and Judy realizes the consequences of her mistake and seemingly fixes every problem in her life.

But even though the ending of the movie is tied up in a bow of happiness and rainbows, “Zootopia” makes a surprising impact on its audiences. Its themes concerning racial profiling and stereotyping make the film so much more than another cliché Disney flick.

“I thought [“Zootopia”] was a cute movie that teaches kids to be what they want to be,” senior Mckenzie Bacich said.

aya and her date, senior Rydell Donato, both took part in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo program.

Anaya got her hair, makeup and nails done the day of prom.

Additionally, she found an elegant velvet dress that was fitting for the Roaring ’20s Great Gatsby themed prom. Donato was fitted for a burgundy vest and black tuxedo, which complemented Anaya’s attire.

“I felt very lucky because [the organization] really helped me out financially since I wasn’t sure how I was going to afford the dress,” Anaya said. “I am very fortunate to have been a part of Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.”

Chris Morotti Counseling Secretary

Becky Octave Cafeteria Supervisor PHOTOS BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

Laura Brooke has been a part of the Bear Creek family since the beginning, maintaining a position as an English teacher for the past 25 years. Prior to teaching high school, Brooke was a preschool teacher for 11 years.

Brooke grew up in Stockton, graduating from Stagg High School. After getting married, Brooke lived overseas in Turkey for two years before returning to the States to complete her college education.

She graduated from Sacramento State, earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees.

She was inspired to become a teacher because of her mother, who was also a teacher.

Brooke specifically valued her time between 2000 and 2004. When BCHS was identified as an underperforming school. Brooke led teachers to create new, school-wide initiatives and, after their hard work, the school had excelled — having the greatest improvement not only in the district but also the county.

Brooke has two children who are now grown and living in Nevada and South Carolina.

Following her retirement from Bear Creek, Brooke looks forward to challenging herself and moving to Ireland for a year. “[Living overseas] will really push me out of my comfort zone,” Brooke said. “Although I eventually plan to move closer to my family, I want to try something different first.”

ZOOTOPIA: from page 10

BIBBIDI BOBBIDI: from page 2

Roger Crane Industrial Arts Teacher

Roger Crane has been an industrial arts teacher for the past 36.8 years, according to his retirement contract. He began his first year of teaching about two weeks into the year when the previous teacher transferred.

He studied at Long Beach State after attending San Bernardino Community College. Crane then got his master’s degree in education at United States International University.

“I was an industrial arts teacher,” Crane said. Then came the Jarvis-Gann Initiative, which reduced property taxes and that led to cuts in education. Crane was eventually hired as an engineering teacher at Bear Creek in 1997.

Crane said he loves that moment when students really start to learn and that one of the highlights of his career was when his students earned a gold medal for Career Pathways - Human Services in the SkillsUSA competition.

He has no set plans for retirement besides working at his house but says he might come back to substitute. He has a wife, one son and one daughter.

Chris Morotti has worked at Bear Creek for 18 years as the high school’s counseling secretary. Born in Redwood, California, Morotti moved first to San Jose and then to Stockton in 1982. After years of running an at-home daycare center, she heard about the secretarial job from former Principal Jeff Thompson while volunteering for the PTA and student store. All five of her kids attended Bear Creek. She was married to the late John Morotti, and has five grandkids, whom she is excited to spend time with during her retirement. Her most memorable moment in her career has been her kids’ graduations from Bear Creek, and she loves working with all of the students at Bear Creek and helping them, and is proud of each and every student. During her retirement she plans to sleep in, spend more time with her grandkids, watch shows, and travel on weekends.

“Being here has been the best 18 years of my life!” Morotti said.

Becky Octave has been the supervisor of the Cafeteria at Bear Creek for 13 years and has worked for Lodi Unified for 33 years.

When Octave chose this career, she was a stay-at-home mom with young children in elementary school, so working for a school only made sense. Octave started working only three hours a day but gradually worked her way up to better positions while she worked at Tokay, Wagner Holt, Delta Sierra and Bear Creek.

At Wagner Holt, Octave helped start the Breakfast for Success program; staff created games and creative contests to urge students to eat breakfast before tests. Test scores started rising and that proved the importance of breakfast.

“My favorite memory is watching students grow up, since I started at Wagner Holt the year it opened then moved to Bear Creek,” Octave said. “Also, feeding kids who would come to me hungry from not having food at home.”

In retirement, Octave will spend time with her 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, traveling and focusing on her business Curves, a women’s fitness program.

BC students and staff send support to recovering VP

By KATELYN BIDDLE STAFF WRITER

When hard times strike, the best medicine sometimes can be the support of friends and family, and the BCHS family is no different.

Since mid-January, Vice Principal Sera Baysinger has been on medical leave while she undergoes treatment for cancer. She is currently in recovery, resting and recuperating after surgery. Throughout her treatment and recovery, Bear Creek students and staff have shown their love and support in many ways: cards, baskets, jokes, even art projects and ceramics from BC ceramic classes.

“Every day since January 15th, someone from Bear Creek has checked up on me,” Baysinger said. “It’s been unbelievable; it’s really opened my eyes to the true meaning of the Bear Creek Community.”

Many students and staff wanted to help fill the free time during her recovery. Baysinger enjoys doing the unique puzzles sent from the departments and is saving them to display. The staff also purchased a Netflix account, which Baysinger watches every night before bed, mainly the stand-up comedy options to help keep up her spirits.

In addition, Link Crew compiled a get-well basket with blankets, tea, Chapstick, and other goodies; Baysinger said that her favorite part was the mixed CDs made by students that were included. She listened to them while being driven to treatments.

Baysinger is also appreciative of receiving a yearbook.

“It’s unbelievable to look at the pictures and see the students’ lives — it’s the next best thing to being there,” Baysinger said.

Baysinger will return to BC as Vice Principal at the start of the next school year. The marquee in front of the school parking lot sums up both student and staff sentiment: “We love you, Ms. Baysinger!”

4

NEWS

The Bruin Voice

May 27, 2016

Goodbye Rally Week 2016

PHOTO BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH FAY

PHOTO BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC SPIRIT

B-C-H-SENIORS!: (Clockwise) Bear Creek’s 2015-2016 Varsity Track Team is presented at the Goodbye Rally. Sophomores Kristen Phan, Spencer Fulgham, Jacob Fry, and Aryssa Tadena show off their Greek spirit. Players try to capture as many balls as possible in a copycat game of Hungry Hungry Hippos as their class cheers them on. Seniors Maribel Guevara, Justin Layman, and Hannah Fay show their class spirit in front of the rally backdrop.

Teachers on social media spark controversy

By ANDREA CASTRO STAFF WRITER

Teachers, like the billion other social media users in the world, have a right to post comments on their personal social media accounts. However, when it comes to posting their thoughts on controversial topics such as abortion, gay rights, or immigration, those rights are increasingly coming under greater scrutiny.

“I think anybody has the right to use social media, whether the post is controversial or not,” art teacher Jane Somers said. “I think what matters more is who you allow to see what you post on your account, but at the same time teachers should be intelligent enough to be able to moderate what they post. I know once I posted an article by a pastor and there was a parent of an old student who wasn’t of the same religion and they were upset and threatened to try to get me fired.”

According to the article “How Far Should

Public Agencies Go to Restrict Employees’ Social Media Posts?” by Terry L. Jones, a teacher in Louisiana was called into the principal’s office regarding a post she had uploaded to her Facebook account that criticized the Common Core curriculum being taught at schools. The principal then “ordered her to remove the post from her home computer early that morning in September 2014.” She was instructed to “no longer express her personal opinions regarding education on social media.” The teacher filed a lawsuit against the school district that is still working its way through the courts.

“Teachers have First Amendment rights, and controversy is in the eyes of the beholder,” Principal Bill Atterberry said. “In the three years I’ve been here, I can’t comment on any teacher or anything theoretical.”

To what extent teachers are protected by their First Amendment rights is a serious question that leaves many teachers wary of openly displaying

their opinions and ideas. In the article “Social Networking Nightmare” by Mike Simpson, he states, “teacher free speech rights are fairly limited: their speech is protected only if they speak out as citizens on ‘matters of public concern’ and their speech doesn’t disrupt the school.”

However, it is hard to determine whether or not someone aims a post at a specific person. For example, if teachers were to post opinions on an issue such as gay rights, could they be censured for posting ideas that others take offense to or would they be covered by the law because they were speaking as a citizen about a public concern?

According to the article “New Jersey Teacher Fired Over Anti-Gay Facebook Rant Scores Legal Victory to Get Job Back” by Thomas Zambito, New Jersey school teacher Jenye Knox was fired from her position for posting an anti-gay post on her Facebook page in 2011. The post concerned a billboard the school put up marking Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Month. Knox posted “I do

not have to tolerate anything others wish to do. I do have to love and speak and do what’s right.”

Within three months after posting her comment, Knox was suspended without pay. In 2013 Knox’s attorney helped her get her job back.

“I understand a teacher is an agent of the state but she’s also an individual,” said Knox’s lawyer Demetrios Stratis in Zambito’s article. “This is what this country was founded on. It’s not like she was a teacher standing up in the middle of class and saying I believe in ‘this, this and this.’”

“I think that teachers having social media is a personal decision,” chemistry teacher Jennifer Prins said. “Social media isn’t a part of a teacher’s job description, so as long as it doesn’t affect their job performance, I don’t see any reason why teachers shouldn’t have it.”

People argue that there is a fine line separating teachers personal lives and their work lives; however, when it comes to social media the line tends to get blurry.

Athletes struggle with after school “dead hour” policy

By CLAIRE GILLILAND

pus],” campus security guard Charie Pruitt said. “For the most part they comply [when asked to leave].”

Many students do have an extracurricular-related excuse to reFrequently students can be found laughing and talking in the main on campus, but the security personnel still try to clear everyone quad after school, waiting for their sports practice to begin — and out and students don’t understand why. they may receive detention for this.

“I don’t know their reason,” Le said. “Maybe they could tell me Ever since the administration has set mandatory tutorial sessions and then I’d be fine.” for student-athletes who have a C or lower in one or more of their class“I don’t see what’s wrong with hanging out in the quad after es, practices for sports have started later. Most sports begin practice at school hours ... these students participate in extracurriculars, it’s not 3:30 now, which leaves a significant time gap between school and prac- like they’re vandalizing the school with their presence,” Lagera said. tice. Many places are open across campus for students to go, including “If they’re not supervised things can happen and things have the library, Club Bruin, tutorial sessions, and teachers’ classrooms. happened in the past,” Pruitt said. “There could be a fight, some“I always go to the library so that way I have access to books body could walk on campus, there could be a lot of different things and I can get my homework done as quickly as possible,” sopho- that could happen, so it’s for the safety of the students.” more Vanessa Moraes said.

With the quad not open for students after school, students are “In hopes of avoiding detention my friends and I hang out in left wondering where they are supposed to go. Some coaches open the classroom because campus setheir classrooms to students but, as curity would practically interrogate Johnson said, these classrooms can us about our reasons for staying on ampus security never really specified what quickly fill up and teachers may campus after school (if we’re in the we’re supposed to do if we don’t have these plac- have meetings, so they can’t always quad),” sophomore Kate Lagera said. es to go to in between 2:10 and the beginning of be in their classrooms. Tutorial isn’t “It’s just a very tedious act to have to practice. I guess they just expect us to sit under every day of the week, so some stuexplain ourselves for doing nothing the solar panels in the parking lot until 3:15 and go dents don’t have a place to go. wrong.”’ “[Campus security] never really change for practice.

However, there are many student- SOPHOMORE KATE LAGERA specified what we’re supposed to do athletes and this problem raises a conif we don’t have these places to go to cern that there are too many to keep in between 2:10 and the beginning in one place. For track and field, a sport with approximately 170 of practice,” Lagera said. “I guess they just expect us to sit under the student-athletes, this issue is easier to see. solar panels in the parking lot until 3:15 and go change for practice.”

“There is simply not enough room for all of the student-ath“[They can go to] Club Bruin or the library,” Pruitt said. “Those letes in track and field to have a structured classroom to go to after are their two main options, or just outside the gates. If they leave school,” cross country and track and field coach Jason Johnson said. campus, they can go home and eat if their sport doesn’t start until a “In theory, the idea of being in a structured tutorial is awesome; but little later.” the reality is, we don’t have the space or resources to serve all of our Some have suggestions for even more places that could be track athletes, and further, all of the spring athletes in general.” available for student-athletes to go between school and their sports Often, when campus security personnel spot students in the practice. quad after school ends, they warn them to leave or risk detention.

“I think we need to have some open places on campus where “One time I was sitting [in the quad] with some friends and we athletes can gather to socialize, complete homework, or rest before were playing a game on our phones and then we got kicked out be- their practices,” Johnson said. “One idea of a place may be an open cause a guy was like, ‘You can’t be here,’” sophomore Helen Le said. gym (with adequate supervision), or allow the students to swim, or “We were like, ‘But we have practice!’ And he was like, ‘Get out.’” possibly a designated area outside to congregate and soak in some “I have not [given students detention for remaining on cam- sun and have a chance to simply be kids.”

NEWS EDITOR

“c

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PHOTO BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

Crammed Confusion: Track athletes flood into science teacher and women’s track head coach Lauren Fromm’s classroom before practice.

NEWS

THE BTRUIN OICEVOICE HE BV RUIN

5

AY 27, 2016 SM EPTEMBER 12, 2014

Punjabi immigrants seek better life in United States

By AIDAN BACKUS AND GRASCHELLE HIPOLITO EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

From the agrarian fields of Punjab, a world so far removed from our own, a pair of immigrants came to the United States seeking out better lives for themselves.

Gurinder Sangha and Sukhmanpreet Singh were the sons of farmworkers in India. Not unusual for teenage boys, they enjoyed sports, including soccer and volleyball. But their lives were turned upside down when their families sold some of their farmland, affording them passage to California. A few months ago, they arrived in Stockton, and are now sophomores at Bear Creek.

The two migrants have had to rapidly adapt to life in America and at Bear Creek. America and India are worlds apart: the two lived out in the country, though they were not farmworkers, in stark contrast to the suburbs of Stockton.

Moreover, the two are Sikhs — a religious minority in the US — and struggle to speak English, though fellow student Sukhraj Singh is helping them adjust to Bear Creek.

They do not want the language barrier to hold them back, and though they have only been in the United States a few months, are quickly becoming fluent in English. Small wonder why: both hope to go to college, as they have big ambitions for their life in America.

Sangha wants to become a software engineer, while Singh wants to become a mechanical engineer.

Along with their academic and career aspirations, both Sangha

and Singh said that they hope to be married and raise a family by the age of 25.

The whole Sangha family moved to the United States, but most of Singh’s family still lives in India; he lives with his uncle, a trucker, and his cousin, a college student.

Singh proudly wears a shirt depicting Toofan Singh, a freedom fighter for the Sikh people.

“If people do bad things, Toofan wants to stop them,” Singh said. “There’s a movie about him.”

Though the two note that they can’t get away with certain things — like unlicensed motorcycling — here in the United States, there have been certain benefits to moving here.

“America is a nice country and it’s clean,” Sangha said. “Everyone is equal and no one is different.”

More specifically, Sangha and Singh said that they hope to visit some of California’s popular attractions, such as Disneyland.

And though Californians are notorious for complaining about heat, drought, and dress codes, Indians have to deal with much worse.

“We don’t have to wear dresses in school [in America],” Singh said. “And the weather is nicer. Summers are too hot in India and winters are too cold.”

They also praised the religious liberties of America, which are lacking in the divided nations of South Asia.

“In India, it’s like they say ‘we are Hindu, and we are Muslim’,”

PHOTO BY GRASCHELLE HIPOLITO

The best of both worlds: Sophomores Gurinder Sangha (left) and Sukhmanpreet Singh immigrated from India to the United States a few months ago and have had to quickly adapt to life in a new country.

Sangha said. “Sikhs think we are not different than others; we say we are equal. That’s why the Hindus and Muslims fight, but we Sikhs don’t fight.”

Sukhraj Singh helped to translate for this article.

Italian students earn Honorable Juvenile hall inhibits students’ graduation Mention on national exam

rates, college dreams

By AIDAN BACKUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

When faced with competition from around the nation, one might think that Bear Creek students, who’ve struggled frequently because of changing Italian teachers over the last few years, wouldn’t be up to the challenge. But l’hanno fatto — they did it!

For the first time, Bear Creek Italian students took part in a competition known as the National Italian Exam. Eight students, including one in Italian 2 and one in Italian 3, passed with sufficiently high scores to earn National Honorable Mentions.

The test, designed by the American Association of Teachers of Italian and taken online, is broken into divisions for different levels of Italian, as well as divisions for students who speak Romance languages, such as Spanish, at home. The exam features multiple-choice questions comprised of grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, listening, and cultural questions with cash prizes for the winners, as well as for randomly selected Honorable Mentions.

The six Honorable Mentions include, from Italian 1, freshmen Liliana Chavez, Alejandra Iniguez Razon, Jailene Martinez Ramirez, and Even Sollie, as well as sophomores Sarai Hernandez and Katelyn Park; from Italian 2, junior Melissa Mendoza; and from Italian 3, senior Robbie Sollie.

“I’ve taught Italian year after year in other states, but this is the first time I’ve gotten so many Honorable Mentions,”

A single mistake can hinder students’ successes in school and life

By JESSICA RODRIGUES PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

PHOTO BY AIDAN BACKUS

Parla italiano?: Freshmen Jailene Martinez Ramirez and Alejandra Iniguez Razon, senior Robbie Sollie, freshman Even Sollie, and junior Melissa Aleman-Mendoza (left to right) earned Honorable Mention on the National Italian Exam.

Italian teacher Justin Ehrenberg said. “My group of students wanted to excel and achieve.”

Mendoza attributes her success in part to her fluency in Spanish.

“Everything was easy to me except the cultural stuff,” Mendoza said. “Some words are very similar between Spanish and Italian.”

To prepare for the exam, students took practice tests and reviewed their grammar skills.

However, Robbie Sollie suggested that the value of the test was that it allowed him to see what he’d accomplished during the school year, but wouldn’t recommend actively studying unless one thought he had a chance at winning a prize.

“You’re not really getting anything by getting a better score, so it’s better to use the time to study for classes that it actually matters in,” he said.

Even so, Robbie seemed

satisfied with his results, saying, “Relatively to everyone else, I did well, since I got the 91st percentile. But if I would look at the score on its own I’d be disappointed, since I got a D.” Others attribute their success to Ehrenberg’s teaching and their drive to become fluent in Italian for its own sake.

For instance, Robbie’s brother, Even Sollie, who considered the test “not really that hard,” and credited his success to “Mr. Ehrenberg’s teaching and my general enthusiasm to study a lot during the year. Mr. Ehrenberg was a good teacher for me and I like to learn.”

Though nobody won a cash prize this year, Ehrenberg hopes to improve the class for next year.

“One area we need to improve is cultural knowledge,” Ehrenberg said. “There’s a bank of questions so students can prepare in advance.”

as their daily life changes.

“I was only in there for a month, but I was still worried [that teachers’] perceptions of me would In 2015 sophomore Diego Laniohan made the change, and it did,” sophomore Diego Laniohan life-changing mistake of getting intoxicated on said. “I started getting in trouble more when they New Year’s Eve and throwing a chunk of cement realized I had the ankle bracelet.” at a firetruck. He was arrested and charged with This not only affected Laniohan’s confidence use of a deadly weapon and destruction of govbut also affected his grades. He had less time and ernment property. Sentenced to one month in the opportunity to catch up with the other students and French Camp juvenile detention center, Laniohan said his grades “went low and never got back up.” was removed from his school and life in Stockton. “[At the center] you get one hour of rec time, According to Frontline’s “Juvenile Vs Adult Justice,” juvenile justice systems are designed to go to school, and then you get to go out again,” meet the primary goals of rehabilitation and treat- Laniohan said. “But the teachers don’t care about anybody...and the ment, along students don’t with commuwas only in there for a month, but I was care about learnnity protecstill worried that teachers’ perceptions of ing.” tion. They act me would change, and it did. to not simply Not only does - SOPHOMORE DIEGO LANIOHAN deter the acjuvenile detention cused but to educate and reintegrate the youth to affect the teens’ educations but it also subsequentbe aware of moralities in society. ly continues to ruin their possibilities for jobs. The But statistics provided by economists Anna National Bureau of Economic Research states that Aizer and Joseph Doyle in “What Is the Long- “jailing youth (age 16-25) reduced work time over term Impact of Incarcerating Juveniles?” reveal the next decade by 25-30 percent.” that on average, those involved in the juvenile sysWith so many statistical disadvantages placed tem have their chances of graduating high school upon kids leaving the juvenile system and little endecreased by 13 percent. These are youth who couragement from the staff there, it appears as if have only been charged with a crime and not even all odds are against them. actually incarcerated. Those who were jailed had However, Laniohan currently has aspirations their graduation rate decrease by 39 percent. to go to college in Monterey and get a job as a foThis correlation is statistically significant not only proving the correlation between time in the rensic anthropologist. His grades did rise when on court system and graduation rate, but also leading probation but afterwards he had no real motivation to the assumption that the goals of the juvenile to do well.

“In the back of my mind I know I need to get system may not be as easy to carry out in reality.

The youth not only have the physical stresses my grades up to go to college and it encourages of handling the processes of the system but also me, but with the peers I’m with, it’s a battle bethe mental and psychological challenges that arise tween them and my grades,” Laniohan said.

“I

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Senior and one other wounded by shooting at party

By AIDAN BACKUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A party attended by many Bear Creek seniors turned bloody when a gunman arrived and opened fire.

Senior Tran Ngo decided to host the party the night of Friday, May 13 — it was merely meant to be a fun get-together. But around midnight, it was clear that the party was anything but fun: a man approached Ngo’s house and fired three warning shots.

“We first heard shots and we didn’t really know if they were gunshots or not,” Ngo said. “I walked two feet out of my bedroom door and ran back inside because I got scared.”

The attacker began firing on another victim,

who could not be identified, but was shot in the and I was dripping blood, but I felt fine,” she said. leg.

Ngo was hospitalized for her injuries, which “I’d seen the gun pointed at the dude and included a cracked skull. there was a However, her couple more physical injuries stayed at my friend’s house because I were not severe shots buckwas so scared and paranoid. My sister slept and she was reing right at him,” senior in my room while I was gone because the leased six hours Tevita Esau bullets went through hers and she was later. said. “So I “Everyone scared.

- SENIOR TRAN NGO, WOUNDED AT PARTY was surprised to moved out of the way and I see me smiling look over, and the guy was screaming because he and saying hi, even with blood running down my was shot.” face,” she said.

As partygoers scattered and fled, a bullet ricoAdministration and police began investigatcheted and struck Ngo in the ear. ing immediately after the incident. However, “We were going out the window calling 911, Asst. Principal Allen Dosty was unable to com-

“I

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O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

ment on the shooting.

Though nobody was killed, the partygoers were visibly shaken.

“I went into the house [during the shooting] and went into the nearest room with Marcelo and Amanda and Andrea, and Andrea was crying and Marcelo was by the door, and I was repeating, ‘be quiet, be quiet’ because I didn’t want [the attacker] to hear it,” senior Aaron Soto said.

Understandably, Ngo and her family were shaken by the incident.

“After it happened, I didn’t go home for a week,” Ngo said. “I stayed at my friend’s house because I was so scared and paranoid. My sister slept in my room while I was gone because the bullets went through hers and she was scared.”

Anissa Ypon contributed to this article.

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CONGRATS, CLASS OF 2016!

THE BRUIN VOICE

A letter to my freshman self

Dear Freshman Graschelle, You have quite a lot of learning to do in the next four years. Academically, don’t even try to rid yourself of the monster of procrastination; it will always be with you. Find a way to work around it. You’re a night owl by the way. Embrace that. Kick the habit of taking naps at 9 PM, only to wake up at 2 AM to study or finish up homework. “The clutch,” I’ve also learned, will come in handy, but it will only go so far until you realize that you actually have to kick your own butt and get it done.

Be loyal to Ms. Duffel and Ms. LaRue. You’ll learn that being on both of their good sides will be beneficial in so many ways and they will hands down be the best teachers to have ever graced your path. Also, don’t be afraid of knocking on, or just barging into, Mr. Tunnell’s office. They’ll believe in your capabilities a lot more than you do sometimes.

Find your passions and what you really enjoy doing. Understand that these might not come hand in hand in the future, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experience it. Try new things, even if you find yourself out of the realm of your comfort zone. Clubs might be a smart investment.

Don’t ever buy into the idea that you should only ever focus on the books; I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that high school is much more than your GPA. Make time for your family. You’ll miss singing in the car on the way to school every morning with your sister or those sometimes-dreadful Uno game nights. No matter who comes and goes — and trust me, there will be quite a lot of filtering — your family will always have your back. Never forget how blessed you are to have them.

Cherish your friends. You’ll have them to thank for some of your favorite high school memories and for never letting you live down the embarrassing ones. (Keep your best friend around. She’s little, but she packs a lot of spice to really balance you out throughout the years.)

Be open to meeting new people and exposing yourself to all the different things they have to teach you, but know that it’s okay to be selective with who you surround yourself with.

Put your own flair into everything you commit yourself to. Your clumsiness and bad jokes will stick with you, but you’ll find that those who truly matter will accept and love you, quirks and all, and most importantly, you’ll realize that you do too.

A few tough blows will surely come, both academically and emotionally, but trust that you’re building such a strong foundation. I assure you that you’ll look in the mirror in a few years’ time completely astounded at all you’ve allowed yourself to become and everything that has been unconsciously ingrained into the person you are. Good luck. I’ve got a lot riding on you; just don’t forget to root for yourself too.

Sincerely yours (literally), Senior Graschelle P.S. You might want to have a preference between Davis and San Diego… just a thought. ;-)

Dear Freshman Anissa, First off, I wish I could’ve told you sooner that your eyebrows were not looking good. I suppose as a freshman that it never really concerned you, but as the years pass I’m sure you’ll be thankful you let your eyebrow hair grow out and refrained from using the tweezers so often. By senior year, people will be asking you to do their brows for them. You’ll wish you considered charging your “clients” a few bucks.

Your family will continue to drive you crazy over the years, that’s inevitable. No matter how difficult times may be, remember that at the end of the day, they’re all you’ve got. Things will fall into place. Oh, and try being nicer to your little sister. Although you’re complete opposites, she’s not too bad to talk to. Kinda.

Although you might not be close with those you thought would be there forever, don’t let it faze you. You’re going to learn that not all good things last, but it’ll be okay. By the end of senior year, you’ll just be happy you and your group of friends stopped calling yourselves “tribe.” On another note, when the whole “tribe” thing does happen, just stay off Twitter.

You’ll become the epitome of what your best friend’s parents ask to stay away from, but you’ll kiss ass so well that they won’t even mind. Besides, you’ll care a ton for her and that’s what really counts. Note-to-self: Don’t lose touch with her. She might be a little too goofy for you, but she’s good for laughing with and someone to laugh at.

Don’t fret over the bad grades you receive. You’re going to push through and your efforts won’t go to waste. You’ll fall in love with the city of San Francisco and end up accepting your admission to SFSU — congratulations, you had it in you all along! Now that you know you’re college bound, learn to cook. You probably should’ve learned earlier on since you hate Cup of Noodles so much, but I guess that’s the typical meal for broke college students. Unfortunately, you’ll have to adjust. Oh, and your rent will be nearly $800. Awesome, just fabulous. You might want to consider a summer job or something.

I could tell you all that cheesy stuff about never taking your high school experience for granted, but the best way to learn that is by going through the motions. Just enjoy yourself and continue to strive for success like you always have.

Lastly, keep that positive mindset. I promise that it’ll take you far in life.

Sincerely, Senior Anissa P.S. Stop skipping school so much lol hehe Dear freshman Emma, It’s really sad that the main change between what we looked like freshman year and what we look like now is braces (especially since it’s senior me that has braces). But I guess there are worse changes that could happen to a person. I’m not really sure what to say to you, everything I try seems too contrived (wow that’s a pretentious word) and just wrong. So I made a list of things that I wish I knew when I was a freshman: Number 1: don’t take Italian. I’m telling you, it’s not worth it. Take Spanish. You’re a (white) Mexican in California for Christ’s sake! Sure, you’ll get to make pesto in Italian but it won’t be worth it. You’ll watch meaningless and off topic movies all freshman year and then your teacher will retire and leave you with a new teacher. The new teacher will be nice but bad at disciplining the class and will be way too buddy buddy with a girl who speaks like four languages. Believe me, Spanish is a much better use of your time. Just be mainstream, it’s okay.

Number 2: don’t volunteer for things you don’t want to do. I know you will feel some kind of twisted loyalty to Our Town and will want to “honor your commitment” but, come on, you’re going to have a gut feeling to just quit and you should honor that feeling. Don’t commit to the show in the first place. It will be a horrible experience that you will regret. Just think about it, will you ever want to watch Our Town in its entirety? Will you ever want to watch the whole show six times in two weekends? Yeah, I thought so.

Number 3: get involved in theater sooner. I know, this seems counterintuitive (another pretentious word), but when Mr. Harlow retires junior year you’ll get why. Working on Almost, Maine would have been worth more than working on Our Town ten times. I can tell you plenty of anecdotes about all the memories you’ll make in that theater but it’s impossible for me to do that without getting all mushy. So just trust me and we can both keep our dignities.

Number 4: don’t take the golf coaches too seriously. When you’re an underclassmen you’ll think that because they don’t like you that’s something against you but it’s not. By senior year you’ll have mastered the ability to make sarcastic comments without them knowing and the most important part of being able to do that is knowing that they don’t know what they’re talking about. The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be.

Number 5: remember to go to the bathroom before Ms. Vang’s class: she gets grumpy if you don’t. Sophomore year you’ll have her first period, but junior year you’ll have her sixth so you’re going to want to plan ahead. Or don’t, it’s up to you. Going during class does burn class time so I don’t judge you either way.

Number 6: when someone says “hey, do you just want me to send my answers to you?” when you ask for help with the homework, say no. Sure, you might have only passed the AP test because you watched Crash Course videos while on in-school suspension (sorry, “Behavior Intervention”), but in the end you could have watched those at home. It’s better to just do your own work (no matter how boring book work is). Oh, and appreciate Miss Blount. She is probably one of the few teachers who could give me/us a referral and still be a really cool person.

Number 7: keep track of how much time Mrs. Scott spends off topic, it’s a fun game. Right now the highest amount of time spent telling stories is 33 minutes. But be subtle about it and pay attention when she is lecturing; just because she tells stories doesn’t mean she won’t test you about the powers of Congress and the president.

Number 8: stay away from Tokay guys. And guys who are named Andrew (or have Andrew in any part of their name). I can’t really explain this, it just brings up bad memories and I just feel pissed off and gross for the rest of the day, but I promise that this is a very important part of my list, if not the most important.

Good Luck Dude (I’m glad I’m not you anymore), Senior Emma

CLASS OF 2016 SAYS GOODBYE, HIGH SCHOOL!

Should graduates follow their heart or follow the money?

By CODY EVANS STAFF WRITER

The vast network of choices and second guesses that eventually led to my choice of a college major — to say the least — was a rocky road of both self doubt and uncertainty.

At age 13 I began volunteer work at the Micke Grove Zoo in Lodi. From the keepers and education staff there I learned how to properly handle a multitude of different animals — mostly reptiles — red tailed boas, red eared sliders, African leopard tortoises, hissing cockroaches, hedgehogs, and even western screech owls. As a child I often went on day trips there with my grandmother. She’d read me the conservation status of all the animals. Endangered. Critically endangered. Extinct in wild. The nature of these statuses confused me. “How could we humans harm such beautiful creatures?” I thought.

From that point forward I was set on becoming a zoologist when I grew up, but that aspiration would soon be shattered. My mother told me that finding a job with a zoology degree is nearly impossible and the pay would be horrible. That simple sentence was so destructive I decided zoology wasn’t the right path for me.

Nature, animals, and the mechanics of environmental balance have always inspired a sense of ambitious heroism in my mind. I dreamed of being the person who made the world realize just how important a healthy global ecosystem was, but with that dream came a sneaking sense of dismal reality. To become an environmental scientist I needed to learn advanced math, a subject that made me feel absolutely miserable. How could I take pride in a job that made me partially miserable?

As my senior year came to a climax I thought of a way to combine two of my greatest passions: writing and environmental studies. Although an “environmental journalism” major

is almost unheard of, there are plenty of ways to combine the two; for example, both National Geographic and Sierra Club hire journalists to write “ecologically based news stories” for their websites.

The monetary aspect of having a job has faded.

I have adopted the philosophy that as long as I am attempting to effect positive changes, the amount I am paid to do so doesn’t matter. I’d do it for free if I didn’t starve to death as a result. When I tell people about my life plan they often ask, “What about the money?” I simply reply, “If I wanted to work solely for money I’d be a politician.”

Often students choose majors based on the average income of a professional in that field, but this capitalistic school of thought is flawed. Money can be useful for a wide variety of purposes, but achieving true employment satisfaction is an uncommon phenomenon. I follow my heart rather than my head on the topic of college majors, because I know as long as I’m pursuing the things I love, my head will undoubtedly follow.

Money ensures corruption and greed, and it can drive a corporation to put profit ahead of people, but when people are disregarded, disasters such as Hinkley, Love Canal, and Flint appear. This epidemic of uncaring is directly linked to the “profit over people” phenomenon, so before I selected a major I asked myself, “Would becoming a person in this profession make past versions of myself proud?” Would it have made my 13-year-old self eager to start such a profession? Would my 80-year-old self look back upon that time with a smile? If I know myself as well as I think I do, then the answer to all three of those questions will be an unwavering “yes.”

MAY 27, 2016

7

Dear freshman Natalia Gevara, “You’ve grown so much in these past few years. I’m really proud of you.” Those are the words of Hillary Nguyen-Pham, who will remain by your side for all of high school. This will probably come as a shock, but you’re going to hear those words often from your peers and mentors in the years to come.

But so far, freshman year has convinced you that the rest of high school is going to be miserable. You’re just the quiet, shy girl in every one of your classes. People don’t know how depressed you are, because you’re anxiety makes it too difficult to be outspoken or join clubs and sports. So you go home every single day right after school to nap, do homework, and repeat the next day. You’ve concluded that you’re just not meant to be happy.

You won’t believe me right now, but you are going to love life eventually. Your character development is a spectacular journey. Luckily you have Hillary, Minhsang, and Emma to be there for you through it all. The love you have for writing will be put to the test when you begin writing for “The Bruin Voice” sophomore year. I know the idea of the entire school reading your writing sounds terrifying, but this is where you will find your voice. You’ll make many, many mistakes, but you will learn so much. It’s the start of your transition from an introvert to an extrovert.

Brace yourself for this one. You’re going to do cross country and track. I’ll just say right now that the first time you walk out to practice will be terrifying. You will tremble with apprehension and feel so small because you don’t know anyone. You’re going to almost quit, not because distance running is too difficult, but because putting up with your anxiety every day is. You’ll be discouraged and think that you can’t fight your fears anymore. But Coach Johnson will see something in you, and he’ll make you come back. That’s how everything changes. Through this sport, you’ll have something to look forward to every day, and your teammates will help you feel genuinely happy again. I can’t name them all, but they know exactly who they are. You have so much to thank them for.

Eventually, life is going to become so busy that you’ll lose track of the days as you try to juggle sports, academics, and clubs. If you think you’re exhausted now, just wait until junior year where you’re going through 12 hour days on approximately two hours of sleep. I know that you think that you have the capacity to handle tons of school work along with extracurriculars, but please get a grip and realize that having so much on your plate is not always a good thing. Your GPA will thank you.

Also, I know how badly you want to join swing club. In the wise words of Shia Labeouf: Just do it.

You’ll have the time of your life every Friday, and you’ll eventually get a solo with your amazing partner. Quite the improvement for a girl who used to be afraid to give presentations in class, am I right?

You will soon learn that your struggles are not a reflection of your weaknesses, but a testament of your resilience. In the years to come, you’ll be thankful to fall into bed at the end of a completely draining week. But you won’t want to trade the experiences or people in your life for the entire world. It’s a beautiful thing to feel that way. You feel completely alone now, but you’re going to feel so loved eventually, as cheesy as it sounds. Most people won’t know of your story, but that doesn’t matter. Just don’t give up, because I promise that you’ll have everything you’ve ever hoped for and be the person you’ve always wanted to be. With that, I hope I have made you proud.

Sincerely, The still growing, 17-year-old Natalia Gevara.

Robotic little boy, If you’re reading this, time travel is possible and Einstein was wrong — but that cannot be, as physicists recently detected gravitational waves. How strange!

Stranger, though, are two pieces of advice you’ll receive shortly: don’t make friends in high school, and don’t allow yourself to become editor-in-chief of “The Bruin Voice.” The former comes from a Link Crew leader who you look up to, and who is trying to console you over your lack of social skills. His rationalization is that any friendships you form will end with graduation. But this is the twenty-first century, not the era of the Pony Express. If you truly care, you can stay in contact. Call this natural process of selecting comrades “social Darwinism” if you like.

And you will have camaraderie. Though you’re wracked by fears that you have Asperger’s syndrome, does it matter? I still don’t know why my brain functions the way it does, but that’s okay. Charisma will develop in time, and for that you’ll want to thank your teammates. They might seem like a ragtag crowd of harlequins right now, with an ironically-shaped coach and no purpose, but they will turn your life around even as they make history.

A few other things to consider: you should continue studying music, one of the most rewarding classes you’ll take, even though you might not want to; the Link Crew guy wasn’t entirely wrong about girlfriends; don’t give anyone permission to record you behaving questionably on Snapchat, an app you’ve never heard of; and you definitely shouldn’t drive to Lake Camanche on the wrong side of the road because you only got an hour of sleep!

But don’t forget about your true calling: mathematics. Manipulating the ethereal world of vector fields and hypothesis tests is not only profitable; you enjoy it and are quite good at it. To control the immutable beat that governs the Universe, to wield the blade with which you kill time, to follow the lighthouse that guides you to your future, one where you rule the world and can finally declare Caltech, the first college to reject you, an enemy of the State … … but Sam Park was right: “The Bruin Voice” is way too much work to be worth it! I almost feel sorry to pass off my duties to the Gilliland twins and leave them to suffer for two years, except that they will work more efficiently. They won’t be constantly distracted by gossip girls.

Life’s a game, friend, no different than chess, and all the world are your pawns.

Have fun playing!

Aidan Backus Dear freshman me, There’s a billion things I would tell you to change, such as your Asian-mullet hairstyle or your habit of saying “like” all the time. However, knowing how stubborn you are when it comes to taking orders from anyone, even yourself, I’ll give you some helpful tips instead to make high school a little more bearable (and, maybe, even fun).

First off, you will reach your breaking point not only once, but a couple of times. I’m not gonna lie, it’ll be super crappy. But you know what? I’m here as living proof that you will survive. You’re gonna learn how to stand up to your parents, say no when someone wants your test answers, and respect yourself more mentally and physically. I know there will be times where you just know for an absolute fact that you’re not gonna make it; it’s fine to cry yourself out and miss a day or two of school. The important thing is to pick yourself up afterwards and try even harder the next time. Keep this mindset and work hard and I promise you, in March of 2016, you will find yourself accepted into your dream school.

You always have had the habit of staying dead quiet during class, even in elementary school.

While it’s fine to be a little introverted here and there, I want to remind you to step out of your comfort zone and talk to some people. You’re gonna make some lifelong friendships from making small talk with your classmates and I don’t want you to miss out on all the sleepovers, trips, and dances with your future friends just because you were too shy to talk to them. Ask to sit by the new girl in your Human Geography class because the next thing you know, she’ll become one of those best friends I was talking about.

I know you came into high school thinking that you’re gonna be fine. Technically, I guess you will be. But what you didn’t expect is all of the twists and turns you’ll be facing. You will cry, you will laugh, you will lose, and you will win (sometimes). They say that high school will either make or break you. I disagree on both. For you, high school will be that stepping stone to becoming the person you have always aspired to be: brave, strong, confident, and happy. Even now I still deal with being too shut-off or irresponsible at times, so don’t expect to end the year 100% content. You still have so many years laid out before you, so until graduation keep it up because when you look back at yourself as I’m doing right now, you couldn’t be any more proud.

-Ashley Hoang Dear freshman Darius, The journey only gets more difficult, so take advantage of the resources available to you. When teachers tell you to study YOU BETTER STUDY, or else pre-calculus and chemistry with Vallecillo and Meredith will be hell.

Now that I’m done with the intimidating part, here’s the good stuff.

As for the inevitable drama cases that all high school students can’t seem to live without, stay out of it as much as possible and do not do it for the ratchets, you’ll get this reference about junior year. And don’t chase the girls because they’ll be chasing you, stud ;).

Senior year will literally be a rollercoaster. You’ll have the best time of your life and the worst time of your life. No matter what, remain optimistic about everything and PRAY because it all works out just fine in the end.

Stay up, keep up, bless up.

Your swagalicious senior self, Darius “D-Smooth” Livingston P.S Drink more milk so you have strong bones :)

8

IN-DEPTH: SEX

THE BRUIN VOICE

MAY 27, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 2014

Best sex ed practices missing in U.S. schools

By EMMA GARCIA ONLINE EDITOR

Every year, high schoolers in public schools across the world take some kind of health or sex-education class. Unfortunately, not all of these classes are created equal.

According to a 2005 clinical report by Jonathan D. Klein, M.D., of the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with the rest of the Committee on Adolescence, more than 45 percent of high school females and 48 percent of high school males have had sexual intercourse. The average age of intercourse is 17 for girls and 16 for boys.

The report states that although the number of teenagers who do use contraceptives when they engage in intercourse for the first time is growing, 50 percent of pregnancies occur within the first six months of a teenager’s first sexual experience.

The United States also has a higher birth rate among teenagers than a lot of first world countries, particularly countries in Europe.

“The reasons for this contrast are unclear, but European teenagers may have greater access to and acceptance of contraception,” Klein said in the report. “The contrast also may be related to universal sexuality education that exists in some European countries.”

The “universal sexuality education” Klein refers to is not dissimilar to the term “comprehensive sexuality education.”

In the Netherlands, sexuality education begins at age four and continues throughout a child’s education. According to an article by Saskia de Melker of PBS Newshour, all primary school students are required to have some form of sexuality education.

Sexuality education covers

more than just sex, which is why it’s not called sex education; instead, the subject covers all aspects of relationships. There is flexibility in how the subject is taught but all programs must address certain

that the Netherlands’ program is effective. On average, teenagers in the Netherlands have sex later than those in other countries. They are also more likely to enjoy their first sexual experience. More Dutch

core principles, including sexual diversity and assertiveness. Students learn about different aspects of their sexuality as they go through school.

The four-year-olds learn about crushes and intimacy. By age seven, students are expected to be able to name every body part including genitals. At age eight, students discuss self-image and gender stereotypes. And at age 11, students discuss sexual orientation and contraception.

One constant message throughout all primary school grades is that a student should strive to be comfortable with everything they do sexually. The schools do not shy away from topics such as sexual abuse and what it takes to sustain a happy sexual relationship.

Countless studies have shown

teenagers will use some form of contraception during their first sexual experience and the teen pregnancy rate in the Netherlands is five times lower than the United States.

In America, sex education programs vary state-by-state due to varying political views on what schools should be teaching students.

For instance, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ website, only 24 states require public schools to teach sex education. Twenty-one of those mandate that students be taught sex education and HIV education.

“Twenty states require that if provided, sex and/or HIV education must be medically, factually, or technically accurate,” the National Conference of State Legislatures

said. “State definitions of ‘medically accurate’ vary, from requiring that the department of health review curriculum for accuracy, to mandating that curriculum be based on information from ‘published authorities upon which medical professionals rely.’”

However, in February of this year, Obama removed all funding for abstinence only education in his proposed 2017 budget. The cut removed the $10 million per year grant from the Department of Health and Human Services that supports abstinence only education. President Obama’s proposed budget also gave a $4 million raise in much needed funding for the Teen Pregnancy Protection Program.

“I think that teaching abstinence is not necessarily the most effective method,” senior Megan Kirwan said. “Not all teens value sex and intimacy the same way, and the choice to be abstinent or not is a personal decision. The best way to teach sex education is to inform students how to have safe sex and prevent diseases.”

At Bear Creek, the health class (which is no longer required for graduation) is taught over a quarter and covers six main topics to give students a comprehensive health education. These topics are physical activity and nutrition, mental and emotional health, social health, information about the risks and effects of things like drugs, communicable diseases, and personal safety and first aid.

“Health is 9-10 weeks long; therefore, I do not cover the entire textbook,” Health teacher Cynthia Phipps said in an email. “If I had more time, I would spend more time on the topics [listed above] and perhaps put more lessons together for personal care, body systems, and growth and development.”

Underwhelmed and underperforming It takes two to tango: girls seek

Easy access to porn can alter teens’ expectations

By AIDAN BACKUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Eleven-year-old James is Googling the optimal moveset for his favorite Pokémon. His parents do not have SafeSearch on, and he clicks on a video entitled “Flinching Through Iron Head” — but the subject of the video is not an Aerodactyl. Intrigued, he continues to click around; he slowly develops a new guilty pleasure.

Situations like these are not at all uncommon, as pornography is as ubiquitous as memes and felines on the Internet. Though the most hardcore porn sites are gated behind payper-view subscriptions and lurk on the so-called “Dark Web,” inaccessible from conventional browsers and search engines, there are plenty of explicit videos, both amateur and professional, easily accessible to the masses.

PornHub, the largest adult video-sharing site, is the 66th most-viewed site on the Internet, and can be accessed easily, without verifying one’s age.

The site received 88 billion views in 2015, and that number is increasing linearly every year.

According to the Internet analytics service Alexa, PornHub users are overwhelmingly male and primarily view the site from home or school, suggesting that most regular porn viewers are young males. Quite a few are teens: A 2008 study from “CyberPsychology and Behavior” found 35 percent of boys have watched porn on at least 10 occasions.

“When I broke my hand I was depressed, so I was watching a lot of porn,” senior Antonio Lopez said.

“People get started because everyone talks about it. But porn is really bad for sex, because it makes the guy ex-

pect too much.”

There is insufficient evidence to claim that pornography is addictive, and it has at least one positive effect: a survey of 3,000 individuals found that many regular teenage viewers enjoy porn because it is safer than real sex. However, aside from that reason — and, perhaps, loneliness — another powerful impetus for teen porn use is simple curiosity.

“People watch porn to get an idea of what sex is like natural curiosity and exploration,” sophomore Lewis Catapang said.

“I

f [porn] is the only thing that arouses you, that’s really sad for you.

”

- SENIOR DEMARREA FRAZIER

According to Mary Clegg, the chair of the British Association of Sex Educators, speaking to “The Telegraph,” there is a shortfall of sex education in public schools, and teens turn to porn to learn more. Such behavior is likely to be no different in the United States.

“Young people are hungry for more explicit information,” Clegg said. “They’re curious and hormone driven.”

But there are some ugly consequences for such widespread underage porn use. A study presented to London University found that 88 percent of scenes in pornographic films depict physical aggression, usually directed at females, enforcing the view of teenage girls purely as sex objects. Aside from objectifying women, this can cause sex to be less pleasing or outright violent.

“Women who are in the [porn] industry are aware that they are being exploited and they consent to that, but viewers don’t know that it’s acting, not real life,” sophomore Kate Lagera said.

A recent issue of “TIME” magazine noted that frequent male porn users also report a psychological disorder that is commonly known as “porn-induced erectile dysfunction,” or PIED. These men claim to be unable to be aroused unless they are watching pornography, which is often unrealistic and heavily doctored.

“I got with a gorgeous girl and we went to have sex and my body had no response at all,” said Gabe Deem, a former porn user and founder of porn-quitting and PIED recovery site Reboot Nation, in “TIME.” “I was freaked because I was young and fit and I was super attracted to the girl.”

The “reboot” movement, comprised largely of 20-odd-year-old men looking to kick their porn habit and restore their sexual libido, has picked up steam in recent months — small wonder why.

“If [porn] is the only thing that arouses you, that’s really sad for you,” senior Demarrea Frazier said.

Regardless of concerns about the negative consequences of porn use, relatively few Americans, including only 20 percent of males, believe that porn should be banned.

“People are just going to find another way around filters,” Lagera said.

“They’re just another door that they have to pass to get to porn.”

What plays the biggest role in shaping teens’ expectations about sex?

Shawndra Ramjattan, junior

“Mass media since it’s something we’re constantly exposed to.”

Vanessa Mendoza, senior

“[P]orn, because most schools don’t require sex ed, porn tends to be a substitute; it promotes sexual violence and false expectations.”

Ivan Orozco, senior

“Friends are the big ones because they normally hype up sex.”

POLL BY GRASCHELLE HIPOLITO PHOTOS BY BROOKE SHIMASAKI

equal pleasure in the bedroom

By JESSICA MACHADO AND PATRICIA YADAO STAFF WRITER AND ARTISTIC EDITOR

What if girls learned that their sex drives mattered as much as boys’?

This is the question that Peggy Orenstein, author of “Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape,” asks females as Orenstein posits that the one-sided playing field is tilted toward boys. The double standards for male and female sexual behavior is one in which a high body count is praised with boys, but shamed with girls, yet girls are sent mixed messages that they’re supposed to be sexy and perform sexually for boys, but their sexual pleasure is often an afterthought—if it’s thought of at all.

“We’re just taught that that’s how things are supposed to be—like girls are supposed to be a certain way and they are supposed to sound a certain way and look a certain way and do certain things and the guys just go tell their friends about it and they’re cool,” junior Abel Montenegro said.

Orenstein says the cause of excessive pressure on young women to act and look sexy stems from the sexualized images found in pop culture and pornography. These pressures cause boys to want fully waxed girls who imitate those movie-perfect moans and arched backs and for girls to project those expectations on themselves.

Orenstein argues that the activities that girls engage in, from oral sex to sexting, tend to be “staged more for the boy’s entertainment rather than their own.”

The displacement of sexual pleasure occurs when boys receive the physical joy while girls receive too little pleasure, too much regret, and the perception that boys are in power.

“Boys don’t care,” Montenegro said. “Orgasms are like opinions; ‘mine is the one that matters and after that I don’t give a f***.’ So I think boys are just taught over a long period of time to be selfish and we think that is normal.”

Girls, Orenstein maintains, are taught to please their partners while putting their own desires on the back burner. Orenstein interviewed over 70 girls between the ages of 15 and 20 who answer the question why girls, who have come so far in equaling the playing field in education and employment, still lag far behind boys in the bedroom.

“I really like equality, like if I give you a b***j**, I expect something back; I’m not going to show off my body without you showing off yours,” senior Calieha Bravo said.

The struggle for balance in the bedroom is analogous to the inequality in the sexting realm. Many girls find themselves feeling as though they are objects to please males rather than seeing themselves as individuals with their own sexual desires.

While sitting in an advertising class in college, comedian Marcia Belsky noticed the trending depiction of women as headless or faceless beings in movie posters. Not only are these images normalized through movie posters, but also through other forms of advertising such as on television, at bars, on book covers, album covers, and movies.

“When you fragment a woman’s body to sexual parts, it not only takes away her individuality, it takes away from her humanness,” Belsky said on Buzzfeed.

The effect on women of this type of imagery is similar to that of sexting.

Removal of the woman’s head symbolizes the removal of her consent or pleasure.

Her sole purpose is to be looked at as a sexual object and only perpetuates how women underestimate their own value.

In Nancy Sales’ book “American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers,” Sales finds that one of the main uses of teenagers’ phones is to wield and circulate nude photos of females. While a male’s photo is practically worthless, a nude picture of a female can be used by the receiver to harass and humiliate her, a reality that is seen all too often in high school.

Whether it is the result of insecurities in general or not wanting to hurt their partner’s feelings, young women are increasingly having trouble with communicating their needs and desires. Communication is key when having sex with a partner and is a necessary step to insure both parties’ safety and enjoyment.

“Sometimes [communicating with your partner] is not the easiest because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or tell them they’re wrong, but it’s one of those things that has to be done,” Bravo said. “If you let them perceive that they’re going about it the right way, then they’re never going to learn.”

ENTERTAINMENT 9 ‘Danny Ray’ combines standup comedy and sports commentary THE BRUIN VOICE

MAY 27, 2016

structure.

“I love the format of it all: providing information to the viewer in a huIn today’s golden age of comedy morous way, appearing to look credible and technology, it can be daunting to and sounding professional but saying project material and gain a following. silly things,” Ray said.

Danny Ray, a Bear Creek class of 2006 In developing his own show, Ray alumnus, adds his own personal flare to interwove his sports fanatic side with his work with a satirical and comedic his comedic skills to create his own take on actual sports topics and com- character with his own storyline and mentary by his alter ego character in motivations for being a sports comhis new Youtube web show “The Ray- mentator. His on-screen personality bound.” mocks egotistical sports commentaRay has been performing stand tors who, as Ray claims, have never up and improv comedy to develop his played sports but think they know evcomedic skills, but his ultimate goal erything about them. is to host his own television show. “[Actual sports commentators] Instead of waiting years to be discov- tend to take sports very seriously and ered and showcase his talents on cam- fixate on issues that are pretty irrelera, Ray took matters into his own evant in modern day life,” Ray said. hands and created his own web show “So it's fun to mock that, to exaggerto gain experience and preparation for ate their concern on these mundane when a bigger opportunity presents it- topics.” self.

His character, who takes his ac“Thankfully, we live in an era where tual name “Danny Ray,” is the son all the tools you need to create a show of a legendary sports broadcaster are accessible and relatively cheap,” Ray named Al Ray; he grew up around said. “You can the sports medefinitely start dia elite in the your own show shadow of his ou can definitely start by yourself; your own show by yourself; famous father. you don’t have you don’t have to wait around He was hired to wait around anymore for someone to make by ESPN as a anymore for sideline reportsomeone to one for you. er at the age of make one for - DANNY RAY 11, but could you.” not handle the Ray grew fame and was up in Stockton and graduated from eventually fired because of his trouUniversity of the Pacific in 2010. In blemaker ego.

2014, he took up comedy in New OrRay’s character comes across as leans — stand up comedy, improv and narcissistic and self-serving; he tries to sketch. He currently lives in Chicago, be best friends with all the athletes in an performing stand up around town and attempt to put himself into the limelight taking comedy classes at comedy the- once again and “rebound” to his former aters Second City and the Annoyance glory with his new web show.

Theater.

Each episode ranges from 5-10 Having grown up watching com- minutes in length and covers the news edy news shows such as “The Daily in sports of that week, drawing ideas Show” and “The Colbert Report” from what actual sports commentators since elementary school, Ray took are complaining about during the week, inspiration from each of the show’s interpreted from Ray’s character’s

By GRASCHELLE HIPOLITO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“Y

”

Have you met TED?

By EMMA GARCIA ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ted was once just a name but thanks to Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks, it has become so much more. Now when someone says Ted, they most likely mean TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), a nonprofit that, according to its website, “is devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less).”

Ever since 1990, TED has put on an annual conference to showcase a variety of speakers. At the time of its creation, the TED conference was a private, invitation-only event, but now people anywhere can go online

and watch all the TED Talks from the conference and the many smaller conferences put on by groups that are sponsored by TED. The first TED Talks were put online in June 2006 and reached one million views a few months later. Their popularity would eventually convince the organization to relaunch their website around the idea of fans watching videos online. By 2012, TED Talks had reached one billion views.

There are now more than a thousand of TED Talks posted online and they have resonated with people of all backgrounds and ages. No matter who someone is, there’s a TED Talk that they can relate to.

INFOGRAPHIC BY EMMA GARCIA

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL RAY

Raybound for success: Bear Creek alumnus Daniel Ray has turned his love of comedy and sports into the YouTube web show “The Raybound.” point of view. There’s also a segment in each episode where Ray attends certain sporting events and conducts interviews. In the first episode, Ray ventures to an auto show; in later episodes, he will attend the Chicago Cubs opening day festivities and the NFL draft in Chicago.

“My main goal is to write and create something I’m proud of, and hope that the quality of it grows over time into something even better,” Ray said.

Ray said that he takes after his father, Alan Ray, who was a stand up comedian in his 20s and 30s and wrote jokes for radio DJs across the country for 30 years. In high school

and college, Ray’s love for attention translated into being hosts for events like talent shows and homecoming rallies. Never truly fulfilled by his corporate jobs after college, Ray quit his advertising job in San Francisco and travelled to New Orleans to perform stand up comedy.

“I loved it and knew immediately that this is what I wanted to do,” Ray said.

Although Ray mocks journalists in his show, his experience in the field — particularly as a former editor-in-chief for Bear Creek’s “Bruin Voice” and an intern writing articles on the Stockton Ports for an Oakland A’s scouting website — helped form

his show and character. He majored in communication with an emphasis in media production, where he learned how to produce and edit TV shows, and became the station manager for the campus’ radio and TV stations.

“At the time, I was just doing those things because I was interested in them, I never had an agenda for them,” Ray said. “I think that’s a good piece of advice for people trying to figure out what they want to do for a career: just start doing different things and see what sticks, you’ll filter out what you don’t want to do and seek more of the aspects you enjoyed.”

Readers do judge a book by its cover

By JESSICA DANG SPORTS EDITOR

Author of classic novel “Slaughterhouse-Five,” Kurt Vonnegut sums up a book as “an arrangement of twenty-six phonetic symbols, ten numerals, and about eight punctuation marks, and people can cast their eyes over these and envision the eruption of Mount Vesuvius or the Battle of Waterloo.”

However, publishers often fail to translate the journeys, adventures and emotions hidden within books onto covers.

The design of book covers is the first impression that causes a potential reader to open a novel. Likewise, people resonate and connect faster with images than words, so a poorly-designed or non-contemporary cover leads to no emotional connection, genre identification or depth.

“When a book cover looks unappealing to me, I naturally don’t have a desire to read it,” senior Samantha Tran said. “That’s why I have to look at the summary on the back of the book and read reviews or the book just loses my attention.”

Key elements that showcase the best covers on retail shelves include simplicity, a professional design with layers and smart use of color, legible text and appropriate targeting for the genre audience.

The art on the new editions of “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, “Jane

Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury are fitting to their respective themes. The new cover of “The Wizard of Oz” gives tribute to its 1930s poster version where the three original colors are used more vibrantly. “Fahrenheit 451” now offers a match in order to spread the book-burning message on its cover.

“Jane Eyre” captures its Gothic theme in an abstract, dark design.

“I read a lot,” Tran said. “Over time, I developed a personal preference for simple covers because it allows more room for imagination and I’m able to picture the characters the way my mind paints it out.”

Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. Consequently publishers are compelled to redesign flat, boring book covers to more aesthetically appealing styles to gain traction with readers of all audiences.

“I honestly love both the redesigned and original covers,” Tran said. “But the newer ones fit the story a lot better, especially the feel of it.”

According to “Smashwords” founder Mark Coker in an interview with the “Huffington Post,” “the image needs to make a promise to the reader that this is the book you’re looking for to experience: the feeling of first love for contemporary romance; fear for horror; edge of your seat suspense for thrillers; knowledge for a non-fiction

how-to; the liberating feeling of financial freedom for a personal finance book; an inspiring story of personal journey for a memoir, etc.”

Cassandra Clare’s “The Mortal Instruments” series and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series both underwent complete changes in cover art.

“I have great fondness for the old covers, but it was time for a change, and these feel fresh and new to me, cleanly designed, and with each character seeming frozen in a moment of story,” Clare said in a Tumblr post.

Movie and television studios use reimaginings of famous film posters, T.V. tiein art and distinctive art style to create iconic imagery with a twist whilst avoiding visual spoilers.

The original artwork of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” has gone from mysterious, dark female eyes hovering in the midnight blue above a fireworks display to a mysterious DiCaprio pictured center page (DiCaprio played Jay Gatsby in the most recent film adaptation). Upon seeing the original dust jacket, Fitzgerald wrote a note to editor Maxwell Perkins that he had written the cover into the novel, so it couldn’t be changed.

In a world where the number of readers is getting lower each year the saying “judging a book by its cover” has never been more relevant.

10

ENTERTAINMENT

THE BRUIN VOICE

Pop-culture in perspective

MAY 27, 2016

greased lightning strikes!

NATALIA GEVARA

Live action Disney films capture the magic We grew up with the classic Disney movies that captivated both children and adults.

Although Disney is without a doubt a powerhouse brand, the company has taken further steps to maximize the magic. Recently, Disney has remade many of these classics into live-action films to portray stories that are literally larger than life.

As children, most of us were terrified by the wicked ambience that radiated off of Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty.”

In 2014, Disney released the villain’s side of the story in the live-action “Maleficent.” Angelina Jolie brilliantly portrayed the antagonist, and the film offered an entirely new perspective of Maleficent, along with the allure of just seeing the story of “Sleeping Beauty” come to life.

“Maleficent” demonstrated the advantage of portraying classic Disney films in live-action: it offers another perspective of the stories for the viewers. Additionally, seeing the fantastical setting come to life has its own splendor that surmounts previous Disney achievements.

These fantastical settings can also be cited in the live-action “Cinderella.” Although “Cinderella” has had many live-action remakes in the past, the Disney version sets the bar high. Seeing the beloved characters come to life fulfills my childhood dreams of seeing them realistically, and the way the Fairy Godmother’s magic is portrayed is kind of mind-blowing. I mean, I think that this is the closest mankind will ever get to seeing a pumpkin be turned into a carriage.

Additionally, nearly every single film portrays magic of some sort, which gives movie-makers the chance to show off their special effect skills. The live-action “Alice in Wonderland” was a digital masterpiece, by illustrating Wonderland with magnificent effect sequences.

The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Special Effects, which goes to show that these live-action films have helped the art of movie making progress farther than it has in years.

Most recently, Disney released “The Jungle Book” in live-action mode. Audiences are able to see the beloved Mowgli in the flesh, interacting with the talking animals. Seeing the beloved Baloo befriend young Mowgli brings back childhood memories of watching the film for the first time. Additionally, King Louie is even more terrifying in live-action, as he kind of resembles King-Kong.

“The Jungle Book” is currently holding well in the box office, being the; third highest grossing film globally in theatres. The success is no surprise, as “Maleficent” made 758 million dollars in the US box office at the time of its release, and “Alice in Wonderland” is respectably the twenty-second highest grossing film of all time.

Noting the success of these films, Disney has released a list of future live-action films, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “Dumbo,” and “Cruella.” As someone who has enjoyed every single live-action film Disney has released, I’m not complaining about the line-up. If anything, it helps me relive my childhood, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC DRAMA

Those Summer Nights: Sophomore Serra Raquel (left) plays new girl Sandra Dumbrowski. In the beloved song “Summer Nights,” Sandra sings about her summer fling with bad boy Danny Zuko, played by junior Dalin Nelson (right). Raquel played Sandy for half of the performances, while junior Farrahlynn Bonocan played the other half.

By CLAIRE GILLILAND NEWS EDITOR

Bear Creek’s drama department headed by theater director Cassie Champeau and choreographer Ms. Nicole put on the long-awaited performance of “Grease” — a performance that was worth the wait.

“Grease” itself has a long history. The story was originally told as a musical written by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, and John Farrar in 1971. However, the movie adaptation, which premiered in 1978 and starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, is more well-known today. More recently, “Grease: Live” was televised January 31 of this year and received positive reviews.

With all of these showcases of “Grease,” Bear Creek’s play was expected to stand out and Champeau succeeded in carrying out this goal. Sophomore Serra Raquel and Farrahlynn Bonocan in a split cast starred as Sandy Dumbrowski and junior Dalin Nelson starred as Danny Zuko. Raquel and Nelson performed their roles true to form with Raquel playing Sandy as the classic new girl who is clueless about the workings of the greasers and the pink ladies.

Raquel was enthusiastic about

her role throughout the musical as she performed the songs and dances passionately.

Nelson played Danny as a greaser trying to win over Sandy throughout the musical. Nelson was a little less tough than Danny Zuko in the movie but it made room for a more honest portrayal.

Champeau decided to use the dual casting that she employed in “Our Town,” so each performance did not include every cast member as their roles.

Therefore, I didn’t see Bonocan’s performance. “Grease” also featured amazing performances from Erin Bacquiran as “Doody” Dudinelli and Aliyah Torres as Rizzo.

Bear Creek’s adaptation of “Grease” more closely followed the musical than the movie, though it did feature a combination of songs from both.

Champeau bought the rights to the catchy songs “You’re the One That I Want” and “Grease (Is the Word)” from Samuel French Company that were featured in the movie but not the musical.

However, the musical included solos like “Mooning” sung by Roger (played by Giancarlo Lizarraga), “Those Magic Changes” sung by “Doody” Dudinelli (played by Erin Bacquiran), and “Freddy, My

‘Zootopia’ conveys message for older audiences

PHOTO FROM GOOGLE IMAGES

By EMMA GARCIA ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

To a little kid, “Zootopia” might just seem like a fun movie. But to older audiences, it’s an important lesson about racism.

“I like that [the movie] teaches kids that even if the world is against them, if they really work for it their dreams can come true,” junior Daniel Johns said.

The movie depicts a bunny named Judy, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, who grows up in the small village of Bunnyburrow. Judy dreams for years about becoming a police officer in the city of Zootopia, a haven for mammals of all kinds. But because Judy is a bunny, therefore weaker than other animals, everyone in her life ― from her parents to a school bully ― tell her that she can’t do it.

But, and maybe just because “Zootopia” is a Disney movie, she does. Judy finds a way to use her small size to rise to the top of her class at the Academy. That’s where the movie begins to show that it’s more than just the usual “Disney underdog proves herself” kind of story.

“I think [“Zootopia”] was a cute movie,” junior Kirsten Weber said. “It sent a really great message to the younger generations on how to not discriminate against people based on how they were born.”

Judy is assigned to a precinct in Zootopia as its first ever bunny officer. She’s optimistic about her new life but soon finds that she is looked down on by the rest of the officers who believe she was only hired as a “token bunny.” The chief of her precinct, Chief Bogo, gives her parking duty instead of a place investigating the recent disappearances of different animals, as he doubts her potential.

After only a few days, Judy is able to break free from her “token bunny” role and start doing some good for the city. She finds the missing animals and implicates the mayor as the one responsible for their disappearance.

The mayor, Leodore Lionheart, is a lion and his actions are blamed on the fact that he is, biologically speaking, a predator.

In the process of this investigation, she meets and befriends local thief Nick Wilde, who is a fox and voiced by Jason Bateman. At first she is wary of Nick; she was beaten up by a fox when she was younger and has held a prejudice against foxes ever since, but she soon learns that it is unfair of her to judge him solely on his species.

This point in the film is where the themes of racial profiling and stereotyping really come into play. The animals who went missing are now acting “savage” and they all happen to be preda-

— See ZOOTOPIA Page 3

Love” sung by Marty (played the time that the cast was mov- if the audience believed that

by Kirsten Weber and Ky- ing props and changing — a Frenchy should return to school lie McLean) that were either nice touch that added a live mu- and it was their job to yell “Yes” not in “Grease” the movie or sical feeling to the performanc- as loud as they could.

The choreography during only played in the background. es. However, the time between “Those Magic Changes” espe- scenes seemed long even with some of the “Grease” songs also cially brought a fun moment to the music to distract. The band helped improve the experience the performance when it showed was often louder than the sing- of watching the musical. “Born Doody, the shy greaser, learn- ers, especially during the solos, to Hand Jive,” performed by the ing how to play the guitar and so it was hard to hear the words whole cast, included the cast imagining a future in which he to the songs at times. The solo jumping around in synchroniis famous. singers had their own micro- zation. Karissa Hudson as ChaSome of my favorite songs phones during their songs but Cha Digregorio danced sadly were “We Go Together,” sung they were still quieter than the alone on the stage after being by the whole cast, “Those Magic instruments of the jazz band, left on her own by the greasers Changes,” sung by Bacquiran as which was disappointing be- and Pink Ladies.

“Greased Lightning,” per“Doody,” and “There Are Worse cause for some songs the only formed by the Things greasers and I Could the company, D o , ” ear Creek’s adaptation of “Grease” more close- consisted of sung by ly followed the musical than the movie, though it choreography Torres as revolved around R i z z o . did feature a combination of songs from both. a car, complete Nelson’s with cartwheels rendition of “Alone at the Drive-In Mov- audible parts were when the and backflips across the stage. ie” was one of the crowd favor- company was singing along The car was real with an exposed engine and flames painted ites and the audience was filled with the soloist.

Champeau made sure that on the sides which allowed for with laughter. The scene at the drive-in theater was in general she made her audience feel in- the song and dance to be truly humorous, as the crowd watched cluded by addressing them as if centered on a car, as it is in other Danny and Sandy talk while they were alumni of Rydell High adaptations of “Grease.”

Most performances of watching a movie that the audi- School. Later, during “Beauty School Dropout,” sung by Tawa- “Grease” were sold out, and it’s ence got to see played out live.

All of the songs were un- janae’ Stevenson as “Teen An- easy to understand why. With fortunately hindered by some gel,” the audience is addressed the well choreographed dance and asked to help convince sequences and catchy songs, it microphone issues.

Between scenes, the Bear Frenchy (played by Adia Nelson was a pleasure having such a Creek jazz band played music and Chloé Romero) to go back beloved musical brought to the from the previous scene to fill to high school. Stevenson asked Bear Creek community.

B

SPORTS

ruin Voice TheTBhe Bruin Voice

November 9, 2016 2012 May 27,

11

SPRING SPORTS WRAP UP

By SOPHIE GILLILAND AND DARIUS LIVINGSTON ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR AND SPORTS EDITOR

DARIUS LIVINGSTON

More than pigskin with Livingston Most basketball analysts agree that the greatest team to ever touch the court is the ’96 Chicago Bulls led by superstar Michael Jordan.

Jordan and the Bulls set a NBA record for most wins in a regular season with an overall record of 72 wins and 10 losses.

The Bulls would finish that year as NBA Champions.

Fans, coaches and players thought that the tenacious record would stand for the rest of eternity. However, exactly two decades later, the ’16 Warriors completed the impossible.

Point guard Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have overthrown the Bulls’ regular season game record with a total of 73 wins and 9 losses.

Curry broke his own threepoint record in a regular season, surpassing his previous record of 286 with a mind-blowing record of 402.

Many look to credit Steve Kerr’s coaching style for vamping the Warriors success, although former Warrior coach Mark Jackson led the team to the playoffs with 50 wins during the regular season in 2014.

However a recent article in “The New York Times” credits the statistical analysis of Silicon Valley’s finest for the exponential success of the Golden State Warriors.

Joe Lacob, majority owner of the Warriors and venture capitalist, did what any techsavvy venture capitalist titan would do after taking over a new business: tear everything apart and start from scratch. Lacob needed to find a way to transform a disoriented franchise into a relevant, dynamic team, and against the odds, he predicted that the Warriors would be championship contenders within four short years after his acquisition of the team in 2011.

Lacob is not the first venture capitalist to acquire a franchise, but he is the first to integrate Silicon Valley’s principles into his ownership approach.

Instead of the conventional autocratic style of ownership most NBA CEO’s display, Lacob kept an open mind as he allowed the wisdom of fellow colleagues to influence his priorities.

In his first season as owner, Lacob hired Mark Jackson as head coach. The Warriors already drafted the one man show Stephen Curry, but it was not until Lacob complemented Curry with wingman Klay Thompson that the Warriors began to shine.

Equipped with two lethal three-point shooters, the Warriors were destined for glory in the high scoring offensive point scheme that Lacob envisioned.

Although Jackson drastically elevated the Warriors’ record and relevancy with a playoffs appearance for the second time in 18 years, Lacob felt the team needed to go in a different direction and hired Kerr, who ironically played on the historic ’96 Bulls team, led the Warriors to a championship in his first year as head coach in the 20142015 season.

The Warriors are currently battling against the Oklahoma City Thunder led by the relentless duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. OKC is currently ahead in the seven game series -1 after last night, however there is still a lot of ball left to play before Warriors are counted out.

The Warriors have had phenomenal success this year, but will their historic season be discredited if they can’t finish the season with a championship?

Softball The softball team won all 16 of its league games and went undefeated. This success earned them first place in league and sent the team to playoffs.

“Communication’s been difficult throughout the season,” junior Jordyn Miller said.

“When we’re on the field, it’s kind of hard to pick out what we’re supposed to do.”

The team played the River City Raiders in play-offs and lost 12-0, eliminating them from further games. “[Next year] will definitely be different because we’re losing a pitcher that we really needed,” Miller said.

Women’s Soccer The women’s soccer team won eight of their 10 games with their only two losses to McNair.

“The first McNair game caught us off guard because we had easily beaten everyone else,” sophomore Vanessa Moraes said. “I think we got cocky and overconfident sometimes, but only a little.”

The team earned second place in the league and went on to playoffs in Rocklin at Whitney High School, but they lost 3-0 and were eliminated.

Freshman Sara Ruiz was named for all-league best midfielder, freshman Alexis Brewah all-league best midfielder and freshman Elizabeth Gonzalez all-league best forward. Senior Sabrina Searles was named all-league best goalkeeper.

Badminton Girls badminton went 9-1 for the season and boys badminton was 0-10.

The boys team had all new players because in the 2014-2015 season, their whole varsity team was made up of seniors.

“I think the girls team will have to practice harder next year to keep our rank,” sophomore Angela Lu said. “Three seniors are leaving varsity so I think we can do it.”

Junior Jasmin Tran won first place for singles in the league.

Sophomores Angela Lu and Natalie Vang got fourth place for doubles in the league.

All three went to sections and Tran got first and the girls team got second in sectionals.

Track and Field The track and field team went undefeated in league this

Injuries

BY EMMA GARCIA

PHOTOS BY JESSICA RODRIGUES

Staying cool under pressure: (Clockwise from left) Senior Ryan Cordova watches the golfball during a putt. Sophomore Adrian Garcia attempts to clear the starting height.

Junior Danny Johns displays a butterfly stroke.

Senior Leo Manzo avoids being tagged.

year, earning first in league.

The varsity girls team was mainly made up of sophomores and freshmen, but that didn’t stop them from being successful.

This was Jason Johnson’s last year as distance and head coach. “[Next year] we all have to put in work,” sophomore Helen Le said. “Others will have to step up to fill in [the seniors’] shoes.”

Over 20 athletes advanced to sections and seniors Rydell Donato and Nick Kiel went to masters with the possibility of going to the state track meet.

Freshman Jailah Brice-Moore and sophomore Maya Price also went on to masters.

Swim After capping off last season with an undefeated record, this season the team repeated that impressive performance, putting up another league banner in the gym.

Senior swim captain Jack Stensland credits the team’s dominance not only to hard work but to recent league change as well.

“There is no one in our league that matches us in numbers,” Stensland said. “The ratio of our program to our opponents program is like 30:5.”

For the men, swimmers Mason Aguila, Austin Evans, Jack Stensland and Daniel Johns qualified for sections for the 200M medley relay where they

result

placed 3rd in consolation and 11th overall.

For the 400M freestyle relay, Dalin Nelson, Aguila, Stensland, and Johns represented Bear Creek. The boys placed 4th in consolation and 12th overall.

Stensland, Aguila, Johns, and Cade Campigli all competed for individual swim events.

For the ladies, Anna Knezovich, Jenna Collins, Megan Kirwan and Sidney Moreno qualified for the 200M medley relay, where the ladies set a Bear Creek swimming record of 2:00.17, but fell short of qualifying for masters.

Riley Richmond, Moreno, and Collins participated in individual events, but none qualified for section finals.

Tennis Under new head tennis coach Gayle Litz, the tennis program improved to 6-4 compared to a 4-6 record last year.

Even with the improvement, the boys fell to third place in league for the second year in a row.

Although the season fell below some expectations, the whole tennis team enjoyed their season under Litz.

“I like Coach Litz a lot,” senior Victor Lu said. “She pushes us to do our best and is there to support us both mentally and physically. Bear Creek is lucky to have her.”

on

Although falling to third place, the whole team made sections. After a disappointing first round knockout as a team, freshman Logan Sam and senior Rylan Ladion, the top two players in the SJAA, continued their season by competing at a section tournament this year in Sacramento, where they both fell short of surpassing the first round of singles.

Golf Bear Creek golf has surpassed school records this year. For the first time in history, the golf team had an undefeated league season, ending with a record of 15-0.

“I’m overall happy with the way the season went,” sophomore Jacob Sory said.

“Going undefeated and bringing home Bear Creek’s first golf title felt real good.”

The swim team is not the only sport that feels some of their success was assisted by the league change that occurred in 2013.

“Bear Creek is good for our league,” senior Ryan Cordova said. “If we were in TCAL we would place third or fourth.”

After going undefeated, the entire golf team qualified for sections, but no individuals qualified to move onto the next round.

Baseball With former St. Mary’s baseball head coach Peter Pijl

coming to Bear Creek, the Bruins have become a force to reckoned with throughout the county.

Last year, the varsity baseball team had a record of 12-3 going into playoffs.

During the first round of playoffs the Bruins lost to Turlock High School, a team that has not missed the playoffs in five years.

This year, the Bruins capped off an undefeated season in league going 12-0, recently defeating rival McNair High School in the last game of the regular season 5-4.

Many players credit the team’s success to Pijl’s emphasis on the little things.

“We’ve been able to hit the ball well, throw strikes and get outs,” junior Jacob Standridge said. “These are the things that win us games.”

Led by senior Zachary Mathis, who committed to the University of the Pacific, the Bruins won the first two rounds of playoffs, beating Lodi and Lincoln high schools.

Despite the early success in the beginning of playoffs, the Bruins suffered back to back playoff losses to St. Mary’s and Beyer by a total of 5 runs.

The Bruins still view the season as a success, as they won their first SJAA title and CIF playoff game in 15 years.

playing

fields

come from the field and took matters into his own hands. With his own money, Pijl bought a professional mower and now maintains both the JV and varsity baseball fields himself.

“I am aware of [Makayla Altheide’s] injury,” Athletic Director Anthony Sahyoun said. “It is unfortunate any time a student is injured. I am [also] aware that Coach Pijl takes a lot of responsibility in maintaining the field. He is working cooperatively with our maintenance department.”

Pijl’s ability to work with the maintenance department surprises some coaches, particularly Cross Country and Track coach Jason Johnson, who was told by

the current plant manager and administration that coaches were not allowed to work on their facilities.

“Four years ago, our football field was grossly overgrown,” Johnson said. “The grass was so dangerously high that I took it upon myself to mow the football field to an acceptable and safe level. I was reprimanded for cutting the lawn without proper permission. [However] I truly feel that with a recent transition in the Plant Supervisor, that many maintenance and grounds issues will be promptly addressed.”

Johnson is referring to the hiring of Head Custodian Eric Wise, who replaced Kim Woodruff earlier in the year.

ONLINE EDITOR

Even after all the good that came from the building of the new football and soccer stadium, there are still Bear Creek sports facilities that are giving athletes and parents concerns.

In March, senior Makayla Altheide broke her ankle while playing on Bear Creek’s varsity softball field. Altheide said she sustained her injury when her cleat got caught in one of the many potholes that are littered around the field. Altheide went through several procedures to repair her injury, including an hour-long surgery. “[After my injury] my season was over,” Altheide said.

“We were only three league games into the season and because of the injury I am done with high school ball and [the injury] could potentially affect my ability to play in college.

There were five colleges interested in my playing for them but now my choices are limited to Delta [College]. I may be able to play this summer to get back into it but it’s a wait and see kind of situation.”

Altheide’s injury does not come as a surprise to the softball coaches, who have expressed concern over their players’ safety for some time.

“Bear Creek probably has, out of all four of the high schools, the biggest landscaped facility that has to be taken

PHOTO BY SOPHIE GILLILAND

Dirt cheap: A mound of dirt intended for the soccer field sits unused while weeds sprout. Softball coaches used some of the dirt to fill in holes. care of,” Varsity coach Kirk Klucznik said. “And there’s only one person that is designated to take care of it.”

The “landscaped facility” Klucznik refers to is every piece of landscaping on Bear Creek’s campus, including all of the athletic fields.

“I think if they could just get another person, it would really help,” Klucznik said.

Many softball players also have concerns over the safety of their fields.

“There have been several injuries on both [the] JV and varsity fields so it gets really dangerous,” sophomore Jamie Wallis said. “When we play it distracts us from playing the game to our full potential due to being cautious about the goat heads that are in the dirt and all the holes in the outfield.”

Wallis’ “goat heads” reference is a type of sharp weed.

Freshman Ashley Honorio is also out for the season after she reaggravated an injury during tryouts this year by stepping in a pothole similarly to Altheide.

“If they were to do general maintenance on our fields with the spraying of weeds and things throughout the year, then [the fields] wouldn’t be such a big mess at the beginning of the season and we wouldn’t have to start from zero every year,” JV coach Darcy Altheide, and parent of Makayla, said.

The softball fields are maintained by the district, like a lot of the athletic fields in Lodi Unified. However Bear Creek is the only softball program in Lodi Unified that has to maintain their fields themselves for both games and practices.

Coach Peter Pijl, who is in his first season as Bear Creek’s varsity baseball coach, saw the possible dangers that might

12

The Bruin Voice

Voices

Students and staff must take responsibility for low AP scores Bear Creek is a successful school both academically and athletically, so why are some of our Advanced Placement exam pass rates so low?

Not to discredit the many successful AP teachers at the Creek, but it is disappointing that there are multiple teachers with pass rates that are consistently 25 percent or lower. AP classes are high-stakes; as the price of college units soars and the skill floor for entering a four-year school rises ever higher, students taking a year-long class reasonably expect to be taught at the college level, so that they can develop the skills they need for college and save potentially thousands of dollars on introductory college courses.

The administration should take charge and locate the root of the massive failures in the classroom. The policy that students who take the AP exam do not have to take a final should be done away with; it allows students to buy their way out of taking a final that they may fail. Tests and essays, especially in the second semester, should have difficulty comparable to the exam itself. Teachers who routinely have low pass rates should be given special training, or, if necessary, replaced by a more effective colleague. Teachers should avoid taking on too many “extracurriculars,” like club advising and coaching, lest they detract from their academic obligations.

That isn’t to say that students themselves aren’t at fault here: “taking the L” on one’s parents’ dime (or, even worse, with money from a fee waiver that could’ve gone to a hardworking student who would have passed) benefits nobody. It’s a shame that many students choose to take certain AP classes for the GPA boost, rather than to pass the exam and earn advantageous college credit — which holds substantially more long-term worth than breaking the 4.0 scale and is essentially the entire point of taking the course in the first place. Students overloading AP classes that they don’t intend to seek credit from, or at least develop critical-thinking skills in, strains teachers’ resources: an AP European History teacher cannot effectively grade 100 essays any more than an AP Biology teacher can afford lab supplies for 100 students.

None of this should discourage students from attempting AP classes and exams, but one should seriously consider his motives first.

Year-long maintenance needed on sports facilities

Bear Creek’s facilities have been improved and then damaged for many years and the issues with the sports fields are not limited to softball and baseball.

The school’s soccer field used to be very dangerous, as persistant holes in the field injured players. However, Bear Creek got a turf field after a long fight from parents when now-senior Mattie Mierkey broke her ankle. This is one of many injuries that occurred as a result of Bear Creek’s poor facilities, and this problem should be taken more seriously by the district.

This year the turf field replaced Bear Creek’s old football field and also became the home field for Bear Creek’s soccer teams. This turf field seemed like it would eliminate the risks of the grass fields. While it limits them, holes still form on the turf field, and it, too, needs maintenance to remain safe.

When the turf field is not usable, the grass soccer field is supposed to used by the soccer teams as a temporary replacement.

This is especially important because next year, Bear Creek’s men’s and women’s soccer teams will both be playing in the winter, and they will not have room to all practice on the turf.

Because the soccer field will still be used, it must be taken care of. The district had planned on dragging a large pile of dirt across the field to fill in the many holes. However, this pile of dirt was left untouched until it became covered in weeds and no longer usable.

This pile of dirt is just a symbol of the district’s neglect towards the school’s sports field. These facilities are important to keep in good condition because if they aren’t as safe as possible, injuries can and will occur. It is the district’s responsibility, not the coaches of Bear Creek’s sports teams, to make sure that the school’s sports fields are well-maintained and are safe for players.

The Bruin Voice

“The Voice shall not be silenced!”

Bear Creek High School, 10555 Thornton Road Stockton, CA 95209 (209)953-8369 Editors-in-Chief Graschelle Hipolito and Aidan Backus News Editor.............................Graschelle Hipolito

Claire Gilliland Feature Editor.........................Aidan Backus

Ashley Hoang

Brooke Shimasaki Entertainment Editor.............Natalia Gevara

Sophie Gililand Opinion Editors......................Jasmine Frando Sports Editors.........................Darius Livingston

Jessica Dang Artistic Editor.........................Patricia Yadao Photography Editor................Jessica Rodrigues Online Editor-in-Chief..........Emma Garcia Adviser.....................................Kathi Duffel The Bruin Voice is a public forum for student expression. Content is decided by student editors. Views expressed in opinion material do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper, its editors, adviser, Bear Creek High School, or Lodi Unified School District. All letters to the editor must have a valid signature, but names may be withheld upon request.

We reserve the right to edit material for publication.

OPINION

May 27, 2016

Should the UCs be required to admit more in-state residents?

When the University of California came out with its admissions decisions for the class of 2020, people were shocked to find so many out-ofstate students’ names on the list of accepted students.

In an audit termed “scathing,” the University of California is accused of “hurting local students by

By JESSICA MACHADO admitting too many out-of-state applicants to its campuses,” Teresa WataSTAFF WRITER nabe, reporter for the “LA Times,” said.

In fact, about 16 percent of all admitted students were not Californians, up almost five percent from last year. Many more-than-qualified California residents were rejected from the universities for one reason and one reason only: money.

Out-of-state or nonresident students pay more than residents—a little over $24,000 more. Due to recent budget cuts, the universities claim that they need more money, and admitting nonresident undergraduates is their answer.

“The university relaxed its academic standards for nonresidents, admitting 16,000 students whose scores fell below the median for admitted resident students,” Associated Press journalist Janie Har said in an article in “The Record.”

College admissions should be based upon academic excellence and extracurricular involvement, among other criteria, not the amount of revenue that a student will produce for the school. In fact, Californians pay taxes that fund the UC system. The public universities, which were created to educate California students, are not serving the students who have provided the financial and civic support for the universities.

The University of California is required to admit students in the top nine percent of their high school class to at least one of their campuses. For the 2016-17 year, however, those students did not receive the acceptance letters they thought they would. The spots that were supposed to be guaranteed to them were handed to nonresident students who had lower grades and lower test scores.

If the University of California needs more money, maybe it should look at cutting its employees’ salaries instead of cutting its admissions to residents.

The UC’s main argument for the decrease in resident acceptance is that state funds have decreased since 2008. The Board of Regents claims that the revenue earned from out-of-state tuition helps the system let in more resident students.

“UC officials failed to provide evidence for their key claims.

They have not shown, for instance, how they used the $728 million in nonresident tuition for more California students,” Watanabe said.

Fortunately, California assembly members, Kristen Olsen of Riverbank and Catharine Baker of San Ramon, are working on legislation that will limit the number of nonresidents admitted to the universities.

PRO

When faced with a rising deficit, the UC had the options of raising taxes, increasing in-state tuition, or admitting more out-of-state applicants.

In choosing the latter, the UC avoided a $2,500 tuition increase — a roughly 20% increase, according to UC President Janet Napolitano.

Admitting more out-of-state residents, who pay almost triple the apBy GRASCHELLE proximate $13,000 tuition cost of their HIPOLITO in-state counterparts, have contributed EDITOR-IN-CHIEF nearly $800 million to stabilizing the UC’s funds.

Considering that raising taxes would result in a major inconvenience for the entirety of the California working class, admitting more out-of-state applicants was the most practical choice.

The nearly $25,000 additional tuition dollars from nonresident students each year has efficiently allowed the UC to admit more California students that they otherwise would not has been able to afford.

If the UC decided to cap their out-of-state admissions and instead chose to raise tuition fees by a couple thousand dollars, many California residents may have turned away from applying to the UCs completely.

The decision was a matter of social economics and the potential of the UC jeopardizing its national standing because of higher tuition prices.

In the midst of the audit’s allegations, people failed to consider the fact that UC tuition prices have remained constant since 2008 and in-state applicants still hold the upper hand in the unwavering guarantee of being admitted into one of the nine UC campuses, an advantage not offered to nonresidents.

Out-of-state admissions grew in direct response to the $1 billion budget cut from the UC. Now, although the funds remain below pre-recession levels, the UC is regaining its financial footing and plans to keep the admission of California students in UCs as a top priority.

“The number of California resident freshmen admitted to UC for fall 2016 increased by 8,488 students for a total of 66,123 admissions offers – a 14.7 percent increase over 2015,” Napolitano said.

“The admission rate – the percentage of applicants admitted – [of all UC campuses] jumped to 62.7 percent, up almost seven percent from 2015.”

UC admission for the class of 2020 has already demonstrated improving rates and with continued state funding, the UC’s plan to admit even more students within the next two years looks promising.

It’s unfortunate that the audit, along with many people who defend its claims, ignore the fact that increasing non-resident students has allowed the UC to progressively admit more California residents and maintain world-renowned academic excellence in the face of massive budget cuts — an admirable feat.

CON

Letter home

Don’t take time with parents for granted They say your college years are your most formative. As this is often the first time any of us has ever been away from the comfort of our childhood homes for more than a long weekend, we often take this time to navigate through phases of being homesick, letting loose, and trying to find ourselves in this mess we called life. However, we often forget something crucial as we go about our lives. We forget that the very thing that we strive to define for ourselves — life — is so very frag-

would die 10 days before my 21st birthday.

My mother will not see me graduate from college; she will not be able to meet and sufficiently vet my first boyfriend; she will not be there to celebrate my first real job nor will she be there to help me plan my wedding.

I can honestly say no one in my family thought we would leave that hospital without her. Even three years ago when we found out she had stage 4 cancer, we didn’t truly believe we would lose her.

My mom was a fighter; she never gave in and she never gave up.

Even then, it wasn’t enough.

By TRISHNA We need to stop assuming we have more time than the present CHANDARANA because, as cliché as it sounds, we can lose it all in an instant.

CLASS OF 2013 For the first time in three years I truly regret not trying harder to GEORGIA TECH 2017 get into UC Berkeley, for not fighting harder to stay close to home all because I wanted to “have some ile. We forget that and by doing so freedom to be ‘independent.’” we take the time we have with our As young adults, we often like so many of us, believed there was fight our parents, believing they loved ones for granted.

I spent the majority of my still so much time left. I never thought my mom don’t understand us, that they just college career thus far assuming I would die 10 days before my 21st birthday. want to control us. Unfortunately, would have at least 20 more years though they may not be perfect, with both of my parents. I assumed our parents often know all too well I would be able to discuss possible Ph.D. programs with them and what we’re going through and how we feel more often than we may always come to them when I needed advice. I assumed I would get think. They may not be able to communicate it well — the language to legally drink alcohol in front of my mom and experience the sat- may have changed since they last tried to define who they are, the isfaction of her not being able to get mad at me. The mistake I made specifics a little hazy with all the years that they’ve spent learning to was that I assumed I had more time. be responsible and how to be a parent since then, but they know a lot I never thought the last time I would see my mom laughing or more than you may think. walking around would be right before I began the spring semester My advice to you is simple and something that I believe in the of my junior year. I never thought the last time I would talk to her core of my very being: don’t forget your parents while you’re out would be on an international phone call because I had decided to there in the big bad world trying to find yourself. As run of the mill spend spring break traipsing around Europe to visit some friends I’d as this sounds, it is probably the best advice I can give you after havmet two years ago instead of going home to spend the time with my ing spent three years at an amazing engineering-based school in the family. I never thought the last time I would see her even remotely heart of Atlanta and an entire semester in the middle of South Korea. conscious would be mere hours before they sedated and paralyzed So take heed, restless seniors. I know you are the most anxious to her on what would become her deathbed. I, like so many of us, flee the nest, but don’t turn your back on your parents the moment believed there was still so much time left. I never thought my mom you smell freedom.

I,