The Fourth Estate 2-026 November Issue

PLEASE RISE FOR OUR NATIONAL

ANATHEMA

LAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL SANTA BARBARA, CA

NOV. 4, 2016

VOL. XXII ISSUE 1

From the Editors Dear Readers, In our first 2016-17 issue the main element we have incorporated is a theme that will guide the cover and central section of each issue. For this November issue, the theme is the election, which takes place four days after our publishing date and has been particularly special. Along with the theme, we have added a photo or graphic to the cover and created a logo for our cover and website. The cover of this issue illustrates international and national students’ perspectives on Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s race to the White House. We also decided to add a staff editorial, the Stance of the Staff, to each issue, relating to the theme and representing our staff’s opinions on the topic. On another note, we have added minor changes such as a color coded folio to separate sections and new fonts.

Our staff of 21 has been working very hard on the magazine, created in only four weeks rather than the usual six to ten weeks, as well as the website and social media. We hope that you will enjoy this issue and all the new additions.

— the Editors-in-Chief

We hope to use this space to cover events, interviews, and topics of interest in greater depth. Our creative team of photographers, artists, and writers strive to capture the voice of the students and tell their stories in a compelling way.

The Fourth Estate is an open forum created for and by journalism students of Laguna Blanca Upper School.

Our staff seeks to be a platform for creative expression and to report on events and ideas of importance to our readers.

The Fourth Estate welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and must be no longer than 400 words.

Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and/or taste. Anonymous letters will not be published. The Fourth Estate reserves the right to reject advertising.

Opinions expressed in this publication reflect the perspectives of the staff.

The Fourth Estate publishes four issues per year with a senior insert in the last issue.

We mail issues to subscribers and advertisers and exchange papers with high school journalism classes across the country.

When factual errors occur, we will correct the error in the next issue.

The Fourth Estate accepts both print and online advertising in either black and white or color. Contact Trish McHale at tmchale@lagunablanca.org for advertising and/or subscriptions.

Visit our online paper for daily updates: www.thefourthestate.net. “Follow” us on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook.

the STAFF EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Aura Carlson Rose Houglet

MANAGING EDITOR Jack Stein BUSINESS EDITOR Amanda Skinner COPY EDITORS Mathew Goldsholl Jackson Hurley WEBSITE EDITOR Sydney Edgecomb PHOTOGRAPHERS Carina Tedesco Caylin Zimmerman CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sonya Kotler NEWS EDITOR Jack Stein FEATURE EDITORS Carina Tedesco Caylin Zimmerman A&E EDITOR Kendall White OP-ED EDITOR Kailea Hieshima SPORTS EDITOR Kelly Bickett LIFESTYLE EDITOR Fiona Flynn GUEST WRITERS Katherine Monroy Clay Rodgers

REPORTERS Jules Bernard Julia Fay Hunter Hawkins Natasha Heyer Clara Hillis Sydney Hlavaty Ava Morouse Luke Smillie Peter Smith

In This Issue NEWS 4-5 Bonding on the Road 6 John Morello’s “Dirt” 7 The Spirit of Laguna 8-9 Save Our Trails

THEME 25 Stance of the Staff 26 Why Hillary?

27 Why Trump?

28-29 Election Views

FEATURE 10 Summer Jobs 11 Road Trippin’ 12-13 Nature or Nurture?

14-15 Mr. Struck 16-17 Heroin Epidemic 18 Sierra Leone Interview 19 Illustrated Interview

OPINION-EDITORIAL 30-31 The Math Problem 32-33 Jail Break 34-35 Racial Violence 36 Sharks on Acid 37 Pokémon Gone

THE COVER (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) PHOTO: CARINA TEDESCO Sulaiman Bah, Jackson Hurley, Julia Fay, Camila Lemere, Cindy Shan & Abdul Fatta Koroma

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 20 Moves & Manuscripts 22 Main Stream(ing) 23 Classic Rock

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SPORTS 38 Beach Boys//Tennis 39 Football 40 Cross Country 41 Volleyball//Kujan 43 Equestrian

LIFESTYLE 44 Perfect Pastries 45 Managing Stress 46 Unique Eating

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40 07 14 20

NEWS

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Bonding on the Road

BY SYDNEY HLAVATY

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s per usual, after the kickoff week, middle and upper school New kids were able to find new friendships, feeling more at students packed their bags and hopped on buses. Wheels home than ever, even far away. turned in different directions, and then class trip week was Seventh grader Frances Carlson, when describing the class trip underway. However, not everything was exactly the same as the said, “It was an eye-opening experience that really bonded the years before. class while doing something that they normally wouldn’t do.”

Traditionally, all classes experience different three to five day Carlson, along with the rest of her seventh grade classmates, excursions to places either within or just outside California, ventured to the Channel Islands, camping for five days on Santa including beautiful locations like El Capitan, Santa Cruz Island, Cruz. The Santa Cruz trip, one of the traditional trips, was filled and Camp Whittier in the Santa Ynez Mountains. with days of hiking, kayaking and snorkeling. The fifth and This year saw a handful of trip locations flip-flop and some sixth grade classes traveled to Camp Whittier, a campsite in the newcomers step onto the stage.

Santa Ynez Mountains near Lake Cachuma.

Instead of venturing to Pali Mountain, the eighth grade class A trip that got an upgrade was the tenth grade trip to Cataventured to a campsite in Sequoia National Park. They went to lina. Kicked off by a day at Hope Ranch beach, followed with learn and explore the forest as well as the geological structures of a day in Los Angeles where the students explore The Broad the Sierras.

Museum. Later, they enjoyed a late night baseball game at Angel “I got to know my friends better, and I got to know the new Stadium. On the third day, the group headed out to Catalina people better,” eighth grader Emily Donelan said.

Island and spent the last three days enjoying camping on the Freshmen experienced a new excursion: a five-day campbeach and hiking. ing trip to Little Basin. Here, they were able to hike into and “It was really relaxing,” said sophomore Chloe Underwood, through the famous Redwood National State Park and explore looking back on her trip. “Sleeping outside was amazing.” the various types of nature around them.

Seniors and juniors got their fair share of fun too; after a few A popular phrase sprang up from this trip: “meet your natudays of either college touring or college prep, the two classes ralist” was heard in a loud, low voice which still sends a flutter of headed off. smiles and memories to the newest high schoolers.

Juniors visited Los Angeles colleges on the first day, and then “I really liked laughing over meals and bonding with my friends,” new freshman Rae Bernstein said.

“Just having the freedom to hang out together When asked what was her most memwas lovely. We had that soccer circle that segorable moment was, ninth grade English teacher Ashley Tidey said, “It was definiteued into a dance party that segued into hanging ly the free night, the ‘Party.’ Just having the out, you know with a huge group of kids. We freedom to hang out together was lovely.

We had that soccer circle that segued into a were alone, so we had the freedom to play, to dance party that segued into hanging out, be loud.” you know with a huge group of kids. We were alone, so we had the freedom to play, to be loud.”

Science and math instructor Erik Faust, described his experiwent to explore the Colorado River, while the seniors got to ence with the freshmen at Little Basin with three words: “Dopest spend three days at El Capitan Canyon Resort for their senior Trip Ever.” retreat.

Tidey said that she thought the trip was “hilarious,” “inspiraAfter cleaning plates in buckets of bleach and soap, or putting tional,” and full of “community building.” up tents, or pulling on wet suits, or laughing with new and old The point of the yearly class trips is to instill a sense of comfriends, middle and upper school students returned to campus munity and trust between old and new classmates, and many ready for school – that is, after a decent shower. students believe that they did just that.

PHOTO: SYDNEY HLAVATY

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NEWS

“[‘Dirt’] is kind of a therapy for me,” John Morello said. “When you tell your own story, you know, it helps you kind of organize it in your own head and gives you some objectivity on your life and kind of helps you make sense of your life when you know your own story.”

After his one-man show that kicked off the school year with drug raunch and death humor that gradually silenced its audience and brought them to tears, John Morello, the writer and star of “Dirt,” stated how important storytelling is for him and how he thinks it can help others.

He closed his show with telling us about the deaths of his two brothers, one who was hit by a drunk driver

BY MATHEW GOLDSHOLL and one who overdosed on PHOTO: LINDSEY DAVIS heroin. “I’m not telling you John Morello returns to speak to students in Spaulding Auditorium. this because I want you to feel About seven percent of high school students are reported to have bad for the guy who lost two brothers. I’m telling you this because it happened to me, and hopefully you’ll realize that if it happened to attempted suicide according to the CDC; the actual percentage might be higher due to the stigma associated with attempting to kill me, it can happen to anyone.” one’s self.

“I love how he like connected to our high school lives,” Suicide is responsible for 11 percent of youth deaths, making sophomore Kovid Mishra said, “like for example, about drugs – suicide youth death’s third leading cause after accidents and that’s a huge issue in high school.” homicide.

Drugs are a frequent topic at Laguna. From the assembly last “The stereotype is that people commit suicide because of other year discussing the dangers of prescription drug addiction, to the people,” junior Camila Lemere said, “so then, when someone reminders to not bring substances on class trips, to the possibility commits suicide, it’s almost like a lot of blame is put on the people in the near future of marijuana legalization in California if Prop 64 passes, the play’s initial hook and centerpiece definitely hit home for who were surrounding them, so I feel like people maybe don’t want to acknowledge that kind of guilt, and they don’t want to think many students. about it that much. They don’t want to admit they did something “[The show will] definitely make me think about the actions I wrong, or maybe in their life right now, they’re doing something take,” junior Laird Fowler said, “and like, I never wanna hurt my wrong.” family, or people that are close to me.”

Morello intended the show to be very authentic, stating that he In addition to under-the-counter drugs, Morello also brought wants to live a life and work in a profession in which he can be up the widespread-institutionalized drugging of students with organic. The consensus was that he succeeded. substances like Ritalin, which can also be (ab)used as a recreational “I thought the guy wasn’t really portraying any stereotypes. I drug by many of those to whom its prescribed. mean there were some stereotypes but nothing overboard, and I feel “I feel like [the line between medical and recreational drug use] like he knew what he was talking about,” junior Aidan O’Donnell gets blurred,” junior Mia Waters said, “and some people will fake being sick just to get the drugs; for example, Xanax or Adderall, but said.

Morello’s storytelling hit a nerve on campus that day. His use of it they don’t actually need it.”

However, the play covered more ground than just drugs, touching as a means of personal expression is a reminder of how powerful art can be for the creator and audience. on bullying (a term which a character in the show says has become “[Stories are] definitely a major influence on my life,” O’Donnell very vague), suicide (something NOT talked about at very much) added. “I’d have to say putting yourself in another’s world, there’s and aging (the wise old man, the character who closes the show and ties it together through a clear and connected philosophy on living). something really special about that.”

“Dirt” inspired the audience to strive to be conscientious and to A character in the show named Melissa feels like an invisible understand that other real humans reap the consequences of their ghost. She is lonely and depressed, and one day while people at own actions. “Hopefully I’ll feel like the old guy one of these days,” school are being mean to her, it seems she decides to kill herself Fowler said. before another student stands up for her.

John Morello’s “Dirt” Hits Home

NEWS

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The Spirit of Laguna HOMECOMING WEEK 2016 PHOTOS: CARINA TEDESCO & CAYLIN ZIMMERMAN

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NEWS

“Let My People — and Horses — Through”

BY HUNTER HAWKINS GRAPHIC: HUNTER HAWKINS

NEWS

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magine walking in one of your most cherished places, a place where you got to grow and share memories with your friends and family for years — but suddenly, a big, “no trespassing” sign obstructs your way.

Without any warning, Hope Ranch residents and visitors alike were denied access from the Laguna Blanca Trail recently.

Ever since one of Hope Ranch’s original visionaries, Harold Chase, created the community we know today as “one of the few of its kind left,” according to longtime Hope Ranch resident Vanessa Shotwell, the community has thrived, in part, because of its vastly needed and most appreciated trails.

When one trail’s closing turned into every trail’s closing, for the Montecito Trails, it was because individual residents thought that they could close the trails running through their properties without a fuss.

“Our trail system is what makes the Ranch so amazing…it connects its residents on a personal level. In fact, this problem has brought more and more residents together,” said Megan Blankenship, who grew up in Hope Ranch’s original Thomas Hope House, built in 1875.

The Hope Ranch trails are like a “lifeblood system,” each connection is crucial to the next, and that is exactly what makes it such a special place.

“So often you hear of wonderful and charming areas like it dissipating. We can’t let this happen,” she said. “If we lose this trail, I believe that it will be the beginning of the end for completely losing our trails.”

Hope Ranch trails are not only for the horse riders — they’re for pretty much anyone and everyone to enjoy, from families who have lived near and loved Hope Ranch’s trails for hiking and making memories, to Laguna’s cross country team, who use the trails for practice, to students who use the trails to walk to school every morning — these are the people who use our trails.

Laguna student body president, Grace MacNeil, is one of the many passionate, campaigning residents who sent a letter to the Hope Ranch Board of Directors to help sway the movement and bring back the trail. “[The Laguna Blanca trail] serves as an important multifaceted form of extracurricular education, quick transportation, and a source of relaxation for all of Laguna.…I am not only speaking for myself but for the many students I have been given the great opportunity to represent.”

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MacNeil thinks that if a passageway has been open to the public for so long a time, there should be no private claim over it.

The Laguna Blanca Trail has deep roots with Laguna Blanca School and many of its students and teachers, and that’s just one trail. If there is this much meaning behind one trail, one can only imagine how much history is packed into every one of Hope Ranch’s trails, which have been open for over 70 years.

MacNeil was not the only one to address the Hope Ranch Board by writing a letter.

Darcy Christal, a Laguna Blanca parent, wrote to share the great value of the trails to her and her four children, including sophomore Maxx Christal.

She mentions how Maxx would frequently walk the Laguna Blanca trail as a means of mobility exercise, but since it became closed, “our children are now being forced to walk along Estrella Drive when going to school. Walking or riding on Estrella Drive can be dangerous.”

She concluded that, “it seems to defy logic that instead of opening up more trails to keep our community safe, we’re closing them down.”

Christal also cited Hope Ranch’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), saying that “no where in the document does it allow for a property owner to terminate a common easement at Hope Ranch,” and that the CC&Rs “Bridal Trail Easements” states that “each lot is hereby declared to have an easement over the Common Area for the benefit of the Owner,” meaning that whoever closed off the LB Trail was not supposed to do so, and that it was an overall backwards decision to close the trail, since Ranch properties with access to trails actually have an increased real estate value — because of the trails’ immense benefits, not only to the homeowners, but also to the entire community.

This breach in CC&Rs, over a trail that has been in existence for at least 70 years, should not and is not being tolerated.

Thanks to Hope Ranch resident, Geri Bidwell, founder of “Save the Laguna Blanca Trail” campaign, there is definite action being taken.

The campaign’s Facebook page, “SAVE The Laguna Blanca Trail (and [sic] all other trails in Hope Ranch),” has 441 members and abounds with pictures of signs, letters to the HR Board, and stories of trail-rescuing campaign supporters — it is just one

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of the ways Bidwell has raised awareness.

She wants all users of the trails, students and faculty of Laguna Blanca, and the HR Board to understand how important this one little trail is in a practical, historical, and community-keeping way.

There are many potential consequences to consider because of this trail being shut down, one of which is the possibility of a lawsuit waiting to happen — as one of our student supporters of the campaign, Fiona Flynn, said, “If people have to start walking on Estrella Drive, a narrow road with a blind spot, eventually someone’s going to get hurt — possibly killed.”

Many agree, and have said so in the numerous public letters sent to the HR Board.

Driving on Estrella is dangerous, and it thus discourages trail goers from hiking on it side of Hope Ranch.

“If we can resolve this peacefully, everyone will save a lot of time, money, and an incredibly important place for the community,” Bidwell said.

The Board, however, has yet to address the injustice.

Those involved in this controversy — including many Laguna Blanca students — are concerned and invested in the outcome of this event. “The kids might be the ones to save the trail,” Bidwell said.

In recent developments, the Hope Ranch residents along with Geri Bidwell are working with new attorney Peter Umoff, of Seed Mackall LLP. Umoff, who replaced former attorney David Grockenberger, met with Land Use and Zoning attorney Kathleen Weinheimer on Oct. 17. According to the Facebook page, “FACT : THE TALKS CONTINUE ...”

NEWS

Students Get Summer Jobs

BY FIONA FLYNN & NATASHA HEYER

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GRAPHICS: FIONA FLYNN & NATASHA HEYER

lthough spending your summer at the beach and with your friends is a lot of fun, some industrious students took it upon themselves to get jobs. From working at Yogurtland to working on airplanes, these Owls spread their wings and graced the Santa Barbara community with their skill sets and work ethics. After interviewing students we discovered that working in the real world provides high school students with a unique perspective.

Junior Alex Furukawa

Senior Joan Curran

“I worked at Yogurtland over the summer, and basically, I worked behind the counter on the register and then in the back cutting fruit, filling up toppings and washing dishes. It was a good learning experience, but it wasn’t really fun.”

“I was a shopkeeper at an antique store in Summerland called Summerhill Antiques, where I would answer phone calls, help sell stuff and assist my boss. I learned a bunch of really cool facts about antiques and how to be a great salesperson.”

FEATURE

Senior Madison Nicolson “I worked at The Bikini Factory. I helped customers choose swimwear, rang up customers and helped out around the store. This experience taught me about customer service and gave me insight into the real world.”

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Junior Anton Homeniuk “I worked at a maintenance hangar at the airport. I cleaned a lot of things and I also got to work on some plane engines. It was interesting.”

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ROAD TRIPPIN’

olympia

SOME PEOPLE WATCH THE WORLD.

ARTURO FLORES EXPERIENCES IT.

BY JACK STEIN // GRAPHIC: JACK STEIN

eugene

P

the way. He enjoyed “feeling the wind and covering space and admiring the immense terrain.”

It would be hard to take these trips without seeing some amazing things. Flores has seen “plenty of wild life: bears, eagles, Salmon, wolves and buffalo,” over the years, and has “been through thunder and lightning storms.”

“Motorcycle riding can be very dangerous” Flores warns. “It is very important to concentrate and be well rested for long rides. As such, he made many stops along the way. On his way to Olympia, he rested in “Sacramento, Eugene, Oregon and finally Olympia on the third day.”

“I have been through thunAfter meeting up with his sacramento cousin in Olympia, the two der and lightning storms, made their way back down the scary but very exciting, coast. A much more stretched out especially on a motorcycle.” trip, they stopped frequently to see landmarks along the coast. For the next 11 days they traveled the 1,548 miles one of our nation’s great national parks. They have taken these voyages from Olympia to Crescent Coast, CA, planning to stop at “one lighthouse a day.” together for the past five years, each The pair visited eight lighthouses along the way, but time exploring a different facet of the a few particularly stood out.

American wilderness.

Cape Mares, in Oregon, is “a stunning lighthouse They’ve been to, “Arches, Bryce because it just stands out of the cape as a beacon of hope,” Canyon, Zion, Utah; Great Basin National Park, Nevada; Craters of the says Flores. Yaquina Head is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. Yaquina Head has what Flores calls an “imMoon, Priest Lake, the Snake River pressive interpretative center.” and others in Idaho; Grand Tetons, If he were to take another trip, he said that he has “been conYellow Stone, and others that escape templating going to Alaska or the opposite way, Cabo San Lucas, my mind in Wyoming; Glacier Park Mexico. I have also thought about going back to the Utah National in Montana and Glacier Park in Parks. Another thought has been to send the bikes to Cuba and ride Alberta, Canada,” Flores recounts. the entire island and get to know music and rhythms from Cuba along The summer of 2016, Flores the way.” boarded his Valkyrie Interstate in “I definitely would recommend [students take this trip], if students and Santa Barbara and cruised all the family like the National Parks, camping and lighthouses; it would be a way to Olympia, Washington and santa barbara very interesting time,” Flores said. “Lighthouses are a beacon of hope.” back. Making plenty of stops along eter Parker. Bruce Wayne. Matt Murdock. What do they have in common? They lead double lives.

They have secret identities. And they are not who they appear to be.

They are also all superheroes.

You may not know it, but at Laguna we have somebody who, like those heroes, has a secret identity.

During the school year, you may know Senior Flores as purely a mild-mannered Spanish teacher.

Every summer, however, Flores embodies a different persona, accompanied by his cousin, he embarks on an asphalt odyssey through

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FEATURE

LGBTQ+

Nature or Nurture?

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was born with blue eyes, and I have blue eyes today. I was born with fair skin, and other than the occasional summer tan, that has not changed to this day.

Through scientific research and common knowledge, I accept these facts to be true; the color of my natural hair and my shoe size were not determined by where I live nor how my parents raised me.

I was born quiet, stubborn and athletic, and according to research done at The University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, my surrounding environment only minimally affected these personality traits.

The line that determines if sexual orientation and gender identity are in direct correspondence to one’s genetics or if they are instead a byproduct of the environment in which one was raised is much more ill–defined than that of one’s physical appearance and personality traits.

As the LGBTQ+ community has recently become more accepted, scientists have dug into a question that many have: Is sexual orientation determined by one’s genetics, or is it a result of the environment in which one is raised?

Current scientific research on this topic is, for the most part, small-scaled and flawed. Because of the small scales due to limited test subjects, there are obvious problems.

Although this research is still minimal and nowhere close to perfect, there are at least seven professional studies of this nature done on twins.

FEATURE

BY CARINA TEDESCO

GRAPHICS: CARINA TEDESCO

This is a great enough number to identify a general trend.

The New York Times writer Nicholas D. Kristof explains the results of these studies, writing that, “If there is a genetic component to homosexuality, one would expect identical twins to share sexual orientation more than fraternal twins, and that is indeed the case.

An identical twin of a gay person is about twice as likely to be gay as a fraternal twin would be.”

The journal Personality and Individual Differences published a study which concluded that 50-60 percent of sexual orientation is determined by genetics. While most people accept that sexual orientation is in some part determined by one’s genetics, researcher at the University of London, Qazi Rahman, boldly states that “There is now very strong evidence from almost two decades of ‘biobehavioral’ research that human sexual orientation is predominantly biologically determined.”

Although it is proven that sexual orientation is somewhat affected by one’s genetics, genes do not have complete control over behavioral traits.

For example, there is a genetic element to alcoholism and addiction, but it is also in large part a result of one’s environment. If someone has a strong genetic history of ad-

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ing prove that their sexuality is part of who they are, rather than a choice they make.

Others feel as though these studies portray the LGBTQ+ community as “defective.”

Co-President of Laguna Blanca’s Queerly Beloved Club, Rae Bernstein, eloquently gave an opinion on this conflict.

“I think that if people are interested and want to devote their time to doing research, I think that is great for them. You can do whatever you want to do if that makes you happy, and if that is something you want to put effort into ... I encourage that. I think it’s just important for people to be open-minded, because gender and sexuality are very personal topics, and I think a lot of people try to generalize. But, I think that if you want to do research that is great.”

diction, but grows up in a community that discourages and forbids alcohol, it is rare that this person will develop alcoholism.

In cultures where homosexuality is more largely accepted, we see greater rates of homosexuals than in cultures where it is shunned.

Marcia Malory, a writer for The Scientific American, explains in her article “Is Homosexuality a Choice?” that “Most Americans would probably be nauseated if they learned that, when they thought they had been eating beef, they were, in fact, eating dog, even though there is nothing inherently unhealthy about dog meat. What you have learned about homosexuality as you were growing up will affect whether you consider engaging in homosexual acts to be desirable or disgusting.”

The LGBTQ+ community itself has shown split opinions on this research. Some appreciate the studies, as they feel that it is help-

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FEATURE

AN INTERVIEW WITH COLLEGE COUNSELOR MATT STRUCKMEYER

BY CLARA HILLIS / PHOTOS: CARINA TEDESCO

FEATURE

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THE THEFOURTH FOURTHESTATE ESTATE

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FEATURE FEATURE

BY CAYLIN ZIMMERMAN // PHOTO: CAYLIN ZIMMERMAN

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t one point, drug addiction was seemingly only affecting lower-class citizens from poor, non-white families located in cities like Detroit or Compton. Heroin used to be portrayed as a weak, homeless person’s drug hustled through the streets.

In reality, however, opioid abuse, is a disease that touches all communities, large or small, urban or rural, and devastates families.

An alarming statistic about drug abuse by race came from the usage in the white community.

According to data compiled by the CDC from 60 million death certificates, the rate of fatal heroin overdoses almost tripled between 2010 and 2013 among white people.

The deaths weren’t coming from any particular region, and users were both rich and poor, the vast majority of overdoses came from white people.

An analysis of this data by “Enough painkillers were The New York Times found prescribed by doctors to that the rising medicate every American death rates of around the clock for an enwhite adults between the tire month” ages of 25 and 34 made them, “the first generation since the Vietnam War years of the mid1960s to experience higher death rates in early adulthood than the generation that preceded it.”

This rise in heroin overdoses directly correlates with a rise in the number of individuals seeking treatment for addiction to opioids.

Between 1997 and 2011, the prescribing of pain medication increased by 900 percent.

In 2013, when the FDA imposed tighter regulations, Americans who were already abusing prescription pain medication turned to heroin.

The chemical tolerance that one builds with prescribed opioids, combined with the difficulty in obtaining a steady supply of these medications, could explain the transition to the abuse of heroin, which in many cases is cheaper and easier to obtain.

The heroin supplied by Mexican cartels also offers a cheap alternative to prescription painkillers.

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The abuse of prescription drugs is largely the fault of our health system.

During one month in 2010, enough painkillers were prescribed by doctors to medicate every American around the clock for an entire month.

When giving out prescriptions, only 85 percent of doctors screen for signs of prior narcotic painkiller abuse and just one-third ask about a family history of addiction.

When signs of abuse are uncovered, only five percent of doctors offer direct help and less than 40 percent refer such patients for treatment elsewhere.

The belief amongst patients that prescription drugs are okay to abuse because they are made in a lab and given out by doctors could also play a role in the increase in overdosing.

One theory about heroin addiction becoming an increasing problem among whites has to do with racism by doctors. A Medicare study showed that between 2007 and 2012, white patients were being prescribed opioids at a higher rate than minorities.

According to a study performed at Boston University, black patients were found to be about half as likely to be prescribed opioid medicines in the emergency department than white patients.

An assistant professor at Boston University claims that, “a black patient with the same level of pain and everything else being accounted for was much less likely to receive an opioid prescription than a white patient with the same characteristics.”

Today, 90 percent of new heroin users are white thus heroin addiction has taken on a new face, one that’s now deemed more important.

With this new face, heroin is getting more recognition and becoming more of a “problem” than ever before. It’s also starting to be treated with help instead of force.

Director of the CDC, Tom Frieden, and former White House advisor on drug policy Keith Humphreys explain how once they deliberately chose to start using the word “epidemic” around heroin abuse, it was quickly picked up by media.

Keith Humphreys points out that he believes politicians pay more attention to drugs when they begin to affect the white middle-class.

“It’s not fair, and it’s not right, but that’s the kind of country that we’re living in.”

And according to Public Health lawyer Scott Burris, “Stereotypes

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turn out to be so very important to people’s attitudes towards drug use, the war on drugs, and drug users.”

Mainstream white Americans and politicians across the nation are beginning to combat heroin abuse with programs of prevention, rehabilitation and education — a request made by black communities for decades.

Instead of throwing drug users in jail, white and now black users are starting to get the help that they need, and the theories about how drug addiction is caused are changing.

For example, in 1989, the Pittsburgh Mayor, Sophie Masloff, addressed crack-cocaine trafficking, “The parents of the young drug dealers in Homewood (Pittsburgh) do not know where their children are and irresponsible black parents are the root cause of the problem.”

This obviously is a Because 90 percent of new completely absurd reason heroin users are white, heroin that one may become addicted to drugs, and addiction has taken on a new now, in 2016, experts face, one that’s now deemed and doctors are starting more important. ” to correct some of the stigmas around those who suffer from drug addiction, as well as starting to treat patients.

The White House recognizes the heroin epidemic as a real and very serious problem.

On Sept. 16, the Obama administration named the week of the Sept. 16-23 forever as Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week.

Obama said he will be continuing to call on Congress to provide $1.1 billion in new funding so that everyone who wants treatment for an opioid use disorder can get the treatment they need.

In June, New York Governor Cuomo signed legislation to combat the heroin and opioid crisis in New York State. The comprehensive package of bills was passed as part of the 2016 Legislative Session and marks a major step forward in the fight to increase access to treatment, expand community prevention strategies and limit the over-prescription of opioids in New York, according to the Governor’s Press Office.

The U.S. heroin epidemic, whomever it affects, is a problem for everyone that continues to demand attention.

Through awareness, education, treatment and funding, this epidemic can be stopped, and many people are already taking great steps to alter the course of this problem and stop it in its tracks. Yet we still have a long way to go.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

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FEATURE

Sully and Fatta came to the U.S. through a soccer academy called the Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leone. This academy is for underprivileged boys and girls. It hopes to create a brighter future for the athletes through the sport. Thousands of kids go to tryouts held by the academy in different places in Sierra Leone. Only about 15-25 kids are able to continue into the academy, at which point a few kids are selected based on their academic and athletic skills to get schooled in the U.S.. Here are a few questions we asked Sully and Fatta about their transition and new country of residence.

Sulaiman Bah

BY JULIA FAY & CAYLIN ZIMMERMAN PHOTOS: CARINA TEDESCO // GRAPHICS: SONYA KOTLER

What are the main differences between Africa and America?

Sully: The food system, it is very different. The weather in Africa is very hot, so that is different too.

How are you liking America so far?

Fatta: It’s good. The most interesting thing is the people; everybody from America is so nice.

Sully: It’s good so far. School is fun, and American football is very fun.

What is your favorite American food?

Sully & Fatta: Burritos.

What places would you like to visit in the future?

Sully & Fatta: France and England.

FEATURE

Abdul Fatta Koroma What was life like growing up in Africa?

Fatta: It was difficult as a soccer player because we had to wake up very early to go to training. Also school was very far away. I had to walk two miles to get there.

How did your soccer academy work?

Fatta: Seven thousand soccer players originally came to the tryouts in order to get into the school. Sully and I were two of the 16 that were chosen.

Everyday we would wake up very early and go to two-hour morning training sessions. Then we would go to school, and after that, we would go back to training. Once that was over, we had a few hours to study.

How are the people here different than in Africa?

Sully: The people here are more friendly than in Africa, but it is harder to adapt to the people here.

Describe your favorite African food.

Sully & Fatta: Cassava sauce with rice.

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THE FOURTH ESTATE

THE ILLUSTRATED INTERVIEW ALBERTO ABREGO-HERNANDEZ — LAGUNA BUS DRIVER

Where were you born?

I was born in Mexico, in a little town of farmers

What’re your favorite ways to spend free time?

Playing piano, working on cars, housework and garden, and fixing computers.

What would you change about the world?

To promote love & peace toward each other in every nation and to protect the place where we live, Earth.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

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FEATURE

Moves and Manuscripts: The Origin of the Library Dances

BY PETER SMITH

S

ince 2014, Laguna Blanca has taken part in a program that has the literature (i.e.. Famous books, plays, etc.) they are reading that not only provided valuable learning material, but also has creyear. ated a fun way for students to interact with the ballet community.

Each dance is limited to one month of practice, with professional “[The Laguna Blanca library dances] are collaboration[s] that take dancers from the State Street Ballet coming in on a weekly basis. students, a famous book and dancers [in order to] put together a “It’s a very quick process. It doesn’t have a lot of rehearsal time, so program involv[ing] both dance and theater,” AP English Language the show has some rough edges sometimes, but it’s very exciting for teacher Charles Donelan said. the students to interact with professional performers,” Donelan said.

The Library Dances are a collaboration between Laguna Blanca “It’s one of the most interesting projects I’ve been able to get students and the State Street Ballet. going at Laguna Blanca.”

State Street Ballet was founded in 1994 by Rodney Gustafson, a Students seem to feel the same way about the performers. Grace former member of the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, Fitzpatrick, a ninth grader in the performance, said, “It’s really fun and has to be in because you get to have these dancers come in and they earned crit- teach you cool dances from the 1920s.”

“It’s a very quick process, it ical acclaim The “Great Gatsby” performance was a success. The auditorium doesn’t have a lot of rehearsal due to its had quite the turnout, about 90% full. Furthermore the play itself time, so the show has some tours of the “was a very clean run given the number of rehearsals we had,” said “NutDonelan. rough edges sometimes, but cracker,” The acting was spot on and the professional dancers blew the it’s very exciting for the stu“Romeo audience away. The choreography that the dancers and students credents to interact with profesand Juliet” ated was outstanding, and the mishaps that occurred were quickly and “Cincovered up in a skilled and efficient manner. sional performers.” derella.”

Overall the Gatsby was a huge success for both the performers The Baland the audience. let has a Library Dance outreach program, from which Laguna, San Following the performance, Head of School Rob Hereford said, Marcos and Santa Barbara High Schools, are currently benefiting.

“Kudos to Charles Donelan and Dana Caldwell for another wonThese dances were started by dancer Cecily Stewart. derful Library Dances performance last night. It was great to see so Stewart acquired the dancing itch after witnessing the State Street many of our kids on stage who had never had the courage to do so Ballet perform at her school, Washington Elementary. before. This program is a nice example of our faculty encouraging That moment’s beauty carried with Stewart, and after many years students to explore aspects of themselves that they may have never of hard work, she finally achieved the level it took to become a seen. I was also thrilled to see a packed house for the performance.” member of the State Street Ballet.

After joining the Ballet Stewart noted, “I realized that we didn’t do any outreach in our own community, even though we do a lot when we’re on tour.

So, I tried to think of what we could do within the local schools that would be inspiring and educational and also integrate dance.”

The Library Dances are a program that was started in 2014, (Clockwise left to right) Junior Laurel Kujan, Junior Roth Yin, Dancer Meridith Harrill, and their goal is to Junior Anton Homeniuk, Junior Brooklyn Kinsler and Junior Victor Liu. teach high schoolers PHOTO: CARINA TEDESCO to dance based on

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Main Stream(ing)

BY AVA MOROUSE

These days it seems like music is the backbone of our lives. Always present, sometimes intrusive and incorporated countless ways into everyday life. But with a multitude of streaming options, which one stands above the rest?

Google Music

Spotify

Price: $9.99 per month.

Free trial? 30-days.

Offline? Yes Perks? Add up to 50,000 songs to any device and download them for free. Subscribe to podcasts. YouTube Red included.

Price: $9.99/month for premium. $14.99/month family plan.

Offline? Yes, allows you to listen to anything while online as long as it’s on shuffle and includes ads.

Free trial? 30-days.

Perks? Pre-made playlists by Spotify and users.

YouTube Music

Amazon Prime Music

Price: YouTube Red (no ads) is $9.99/month.

Offline? Yes, ability to download videos.

Perks? Personalized playlists made depending on what you listen to. Music videos and music offered.

Free trial? Yes, but includes ads.

Price: Available with Amazon Prime account ($10.99/month or $99/year).

Offline? Yes Perks? Activity-themed playlists. # of songs: 35 million.

Tidal

Price: $9.99/$19.99 (HiFi) per month.

Offline? Yes, up to three devices.

Free trial? 30-days.

Perks? 40 million songs, 130,000 high-quality videos, celebrity and artist stations along with the newest R&B and hiphop.

Apple Music

GRAPHIC: AVA MOROUSE

SoundCloud

Price: $9.99/month, $14.99/ month family plan.

Free trial? Yes, 3 month.

Offline? Yes. Perks? Ability to follow artists, largest selection of music, and premade playlists. Connected to your phone – no separate apps needed.

Pandora

Price: $9.99/month for SoundCloud Go. SoundCloud Pro: $7/month $63/year. Pro Unlimited: uploads $15/month and $135/year Offline? Yes, with SoundCloud Go. Perks? The main difference is that users can upload original content. Ideal for music creators and producers because of more content space and faster/easier uploading.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“.. it ha s every single t classic hin music o al music to the g from ut now. newest Ev release d is rele ery single alb um ased on almost Tid as store.. It updated as th al - it’s every d ’s just super e e iTunes ay.” – S a ophomo sy to use r e Lex (on usin g Tidal) i Reyes

Price: $4.99/month & $0.99/day (no ads).

Free trial? Free version includes ads.

Perks? Personalize stations by liking or disliking them, and create stations around artists & tracks enjoyed by the listener.

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CLASSIC ROCK A BRIEF HISTORY OF AWESOME

BY JACK STEIN

T

here are bands that groove, there are bands that soothe, there are bands whose talent you just can’t deny. And then there are some bands that just ... rock. Be it ear-piercingly loud, unfathomably gentle, or emotionally riveting, there’s some music that you just can’t listen to without leaving just thinking, “wow.”

Music, over the years, touches more and more people, grows exponentially in fan base, and slowly embeds itself within the global consciousness, it may be given the honorable title of “Classic Rock.” The Holy Grail of genres, classic rock is reserved for the best of the best, artists that defined a generation, and managed to create some killer music while doing so.

But classic rock has slowly faded from the public ear. The current generation would rather listen to Major Lazer, Twenty One Pilots, or Rihanna than the true classics. And that’s ok.

Just because current pop music is new and different, doesn’t make it inherently worse — but it does have a very different sound. Songs today are faster and faker, trading in powerful lyrics and traditional instrumentation for club jams that are sung over tracks almost completely manufactured via computer. Not necessarily worse, just ... different.

In early October, Indio, California hosted a new kind of music celebration. Desert Trip was a music festival, very similar to Coachella or Bonnaroo, except for one key difference. Instead of featuring new, upcoming artists, Desert Trip, or “Oldchella,” was a venue for older performers.

Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, the Who and more graced the stage. It marked an important landmark in music festivals — and teenage music tastes in general — because it exposed the average music festival demographic (teenagers) to a different kind of music than many of them usually listen to.

The problem is, a lot of what is considered classic rock may not be accessible to many teenagers, who are already used to hearing things much faster and fuller than the slower ballads that spring to mind when people think of classic rock. What they may not realize is that a lot of classic rock was fast, furious and really just awesome.

So where has this awesome rock been all this time? Just take a trip back in time. Looking back to the most incendiary periods in recent history, all of the greatest world insanities are chronicled by a great album that reflects all of the passion, the anger, the angst, the outrage and the toxic disgust that was being broiled up by the decade’s youth. In short: They rock.

These are some of them.

THE STOOGES:

“THE STOOGES” (1969) WHY IT ROCKS: In the late 60’s, the biggest movement in rock music was psychedelic: gentle music preaching druggy peace.

The Stooges, in their debut album, decided to kick psychedelic on it’s face. Between Ron Asheton’s brash, heavy power-chord laden riffs and Iggy Pop’s in-your-face vocals, all I can say is: mission accomplished.

THE DOORS:

“THE DOORS”(1967)

WHY IT ROCKS: Jim Morrison wasn’t a singer.

Described as “shamanistic,” the Doors’ front man was an artist, a singer, a leader, and, above all, a poet. The Doors’ debut album is dark and brooding, full of charisma and a sinister charm. The Doors implemented their own twisted brand of psychedelia and changed the LA music scene.

THE WHO:

“QUADROPHENIA” (1973) WHY IT ROCKS: It’s rare that a band channels an entire generation of teenagers’ combined angst into a single record, but that’s what the Who did with “Quadrophenia.”

The ultimate anthem of disillusionment, alternating from hard, pure rock to slow, soulful ballads ... years after my first listen, the song “The Real Me” is still all I need to hear to know I’m not alone.

THE ROLLING STONES:

“BEGGARS BANQUET”(1968)

WHY IT ROCKS: “Beggars Banquet” seemed to bridge

the gap between a group of scrappy English street punks to one of the greatest rock and roll bands in history. An album of redemption, protest, and truly fantastic music, “Beggars Banquet” is the Stones at their grittiest, purest, and straight-up coolest.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ELECTION 2016

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Stance of the Staff

anathema: (n) a hated or repellent person or thing

T

here’s no denying it: this election is a disaster. We get to choose between a pumpkin with celery hair, and a former Secretary of State whose private email scandal raises a few questions about her credibility. And, yes, we skipped the third-party candidates because, let’s be honest: Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are not going to win. So why do people insist on voting for them? Voting for a third party candidate means that you don’t have to deal with the terribleness of the current main candidates, but, in the end, you have to ask yourself: who is worse?

Let’s start with good ol’ celery hair. First off, he’s not a politician. He’s a businessman. In other words, “the Donald” has absolutely no experience in politics. His presidency would likely be the fall of America. He’s had a difficult life though, so he’s got that going for him. I mean, having to start out with just a small loan of $1 million, that’s just terrible. Bet it was really hard for him. Oops, our bad. It was actually $14 million, although he still hasn’t publicly admitted it. But “the Donald” is always right, so let’s just pretend it’s $1 million for now. Actually though, if you think $1 million is a small loan, you need to spend some serious time in privilege camp.

Moving on from his super hard young adulthood, let’s talk about some of his greatest quotes. Trump obviously does not have a filter. Of all the numerous racist, sexist and downright scary things he has said, this is one of the worst (the worst is probably not safe for school): “you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

There’s been countless times when Trump has called specific women fat, ugly and disgusting, but in this comment about reporter Megyn Kelly, he somehow managed to insult the entire female population.

In addition, he has said that there “must be some kind of punishment” for abortion. Well, at least he’s making exceptions for “rape, incest, and life of the mother,” right? Probably because, recently, multiple women have spoken up, saying that they’ve been inappropriately touched by Trump. Well, at least he has Putin on his side. Oops — not anymore. After the allegations of rape, Putin, thinking of his daughters, decided that he could no longer support Trump. That, or he just doesn’t want to be associated with failure. In the end, though, the real question that needs to be answered is: if Donald Trump thinks that these things are OK now, what’s he going to do if he’s president?

Even though we barely even touched on all of Trump’s problems, let’s move on to our former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton, unlike Trump, is a politician and served as Secretary of State for four years. This might seem like an accomplishment, but, unfortunately for her, the term she served was underwhelming, and, at some points, like Benghazi, disastrous.

The main point here is going to be what everyone’s still talking about three years later — the email scandal.

In 2015, in the midst of her presidential campaign, it became known that, during her time as Secretary of State, Clinton repeatedly used a private email server for official communications. On a later date, many of these were marked as classified, but the use of a private server made it impossible for them to be redacted.

After many hearings, it was determined that what Clinton did was not punishable by law, but was incredibly irresponsible.

While she was not charged, the question was raised: can we trust this woman to be our president?

It’s possible that she could have been clueless and unaware of the repercussions of her actions, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. There is a very large chance that her emails could have gotten hacked by an enemy of the state, releasing classified information into the wrong hands. And how do we know that she won’t do the same thing when she’s president? We don’t.

Obviously, most high school students are under 18 and unable to vote, so why should we care about who wins this election? Since the future president will either be an orange blob fish who has no idea how to run the government, or an old sock who has no idea how to tell the truth, we should all be concerned about the mess we’ll have to clean up in the future.

PHOTO: CARINA TEDESCO

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ELECTION 2016

Why Hillary?

BY CLAY RODGERS

S

GRAPHICS: JACK STEIN

ELECTION 2016

ave us. We’re all going to die.

I’m moving to Canada. All popular phrases from this year, and for good reason. There is a legitimate chance that the most powerful country in the world is going to be led by an inexperienced “business” man who lies every few minutes (according to PolitiFact) and doesn’t quite seem to get how the government works.

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president this election, is also under investigation for fraud, claimed that President Obama was not born in the United States, has threatened to sue investigative journalists and has suggested that blowing up Iranian sailors of the coast of Iran would not start a war. This is also the man who could potentially be in charge of the most powerful military in global history in a few months.

Does that sound scary?

It should.

However, the Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, has done none of these things. She is a former secretary of state, senator, and first lady, so she has experience with how the government works. She isn’t exactly perfect, however. During her time as secretary of state, she used a private email server, which is less secure than the one provided by the government.

Even though use of a private server is not illegal, it does put top secret government information at a larger risk of being stolen.

In fact, various hackers have claimed to have hacked into Clinton’s server, but none of these claims have been verified.

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It would be a false equivalaency to say that her scandals match up with Trump’s fraud.

Hillary’s problems, although severe, are infinitely less significant than Trump’s, and her platform is very close to what most people support, whereas Trump has no policies, except for a ‘wall.’

Clinton is also seen as elitist and secretive, which leaves some former Bernie Sanders supporters disenfranchised with her campaign. Because of this, Clinton has had big problems appealing to the more liberal youth, a sizable part of the Democratic electorate. To make things worse, there is clear evidence that the DNC rigged the primary elections against Bernie, which doesn’t make Hillary’s appeal any better. This whole matter has given rise to third party candidates, such as Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party.

Since we live in California, a heavily Democratic state, there is little danger in voting third party. However, in battleground states like Ohio and Florida, the risk is too high to take.

If you’re like me and would be content with a capable, intelligent, experienced person in office, even if they don’t completely match your personal policy positions, Hillary is the obvious choice. Trump has shown signs of being an all-out psychopath, and brags about sexually assaulting women.

An unstable, delusional, lying con-artist is not who we need as our president. We need an experienced, motivated, professional-grade president. Hillary Clinton is that candidate.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Why Trump?

BY KATHERINE MONROY

I

t’s all in the hair. The United States Presidential Election is coming up on Nov. 8, and you must realize that the leader of this country is elected by the people.

You have the power to put your say into who runs this country.

I am a Trump supporter. I know that I am not yet able to vote, since I am a minor, but I definitely have my own thoughts on politics.

I believe that the best potential leader in our country out of the four candidates running is Trump.

Why? Isn’t he a “racist” and “unfit for the presidency?”

According to many Americans back in June 2015, Trump clearly said that “[all Mexicans] are rapists,” but he said no such thing. Instead, he said: “When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity … When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you; they’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting.”

Media has done an excellent job at taking what Trump said out of context, and because of that, people think that he is xenophobic.

This misinterpretation must be cleaned up.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Trump is the best fit for presidency. The media can say whatever they want about how bad of a person he is, but that won’t diminish my belief that he’s the best.

Trump gets it. He is committed to excellence in our country.

If our leader doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, then our efficiency will suffer.

He will be our best shot against terrorism. He does not appreciate what terrorists are doing.

He hopes not only to get rid of terrorists, but also to prevent them from coming into the States.

The media portrays him as anti-refugee but look at it this way: if we let Muslims into our country without a screening process, what do you expect?

Trump is the confident leader that we need in our country in order to establish a strong, united nation.

Trump may have the most funky-looking hairdo, but he is the most attractive candidate we’ve got.

Do not let the media fool you by demonizing Trump.

Instead, educate yourself on the true person he is, so that your vote can be educated.

You have the power to pick the best candidate for president, and I hope that my opinions on Trump have influenced your choice.

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ELECTION 2016

What Do U.S. Students Think of the Election?

ca lan B na ts gu den a L Stu

BY MATHEW GOLDSHOLL

The school mock election took place on Nov. 2, less than a week before the United States Presidential election.

A mock Hillary Clinton, mock Donald Trump and mock Gary Johnson, the last portrayed by senior Henry Farrell, will participate in a debate which was followed by students casting votes for their favorite candidates.

The debate was moderated by junior Clay Rodgers as part of the Young Liberals Club, of which he is Co-President with junior John Russo.

ts den u t S 46 Polled

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GRAPHICS: CLARA HILLIS

ELECTION 2016

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THE FOURTH ESTATE

Views from the Outside

BY SYDNEY HLAVATY & ROSE HOUGLET

To gain different points of view on this year’s unconventional election, we asked four international students — two who attend Laguna currently and two who previously attended Laguna and now live overseas — about their views on the current race for the White House. Under their names are three words they chose to describe this year’s political life.

Eric Chen “Interesting, absurd, funny”

Erik Qin “Crazy, entertaining, complicated”

When asked about the political process in his home country, senior Eric Chen, who moved from Maanshan, China, two years ago, said, “In China, we have one party dominance, [and] a small group of people hold the right to vote. No presidential election!”

In contrast, Chen described American democracy as “interesting,” noting that “citizens can actually choose the president the same way as they choose the champion of The Voice, America.”

However, on this year’s candidates and debates, Chen said, “I watch part of the debates. I don’t like Hillary or Trump.

They were turning the debate into personal attacks. I have no idea whether what they are saying is truthful or not.”

Even though he cannot vote in America, Chen said that he wished he could, and that it’s important “to let the government hear all citizens’ voices.”

Before moving to the U.S. two years ago, junior Erik Qin lived in Shandong, China, where he said that they “have representatives in the assembly to vote for [the] chairman.”

On the other hand, though his perspective on politics didn’t change too much once in the U.S., Qin did say that “every adult votes for president here, which is a totally different voting system from my country.”

While watching the debates, Qin said that what shocked him most were the facts used by the politicians.

When asked whether he would want to vote in the American elections if he could, Qin said, “Yes, I wish I could vote. Since different candidates have different opinions and plans, people can choose the one that can best fit America’s economy, military, politics, etc.”

Voting, Qin said, “will also help establish a more stable society.”

Mina Troise “Frightening, messy, unprofessional”

Emelie Markensten “Crazy, rivalry, emotional”

Born in America, freshman Mina Troise moved to Singapore after spending second through sixth grade at Laguna Blanca. When asked how politics are different in her new country of residence, Troise said, “the overall goal of governance and political standing in Singapore is to remain metropolitan and peaceful.”

Finding the debates disappointing, she explained: “While the jokes are funny, I feel like after the elections people will realize that all [the mess] was real, and [that] there’s kind of a problem.”

Sophomore Emelie Markensten moved from Växjö, Sweden, to Santa Barbara with her family for eighth grade. Her year spent in the U.S. shaped her views on both American and Swedish politics.

Though she doesn’t watch the U.S. debates and hasn’t seen much advertising regarding the race on social media, she said that she does know that “it’s pretty crazy; we have a bunch of pictures of Trump with his hair … you know.” If she were able to vote in the American elections, Markensten said that she would “read more than [she has] and then [she] would chose who [she] wants [to vote for].”

GRAPHIC: JACK STEIN

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ELECTION 2016

W

GRAPHIC: JACK STEIN

e have a problem — a math problem. This problem revolves around the difficult choice students need to make when choosing between Pre-Calculus Honors and Pre-Calculus Standard.

And the students who don’t enjoy math are not the only ones having a hard time trying to solve this problem, it’s everyone!

Consider these two sides. You are a left-brained person who thinks logically, learns through words and naturally understands math more than English. You are a right-brained person who thinks creatively, learns through visualization and naturally understands English more than math. Which side are you on?

Well, whatever side you may think you are on is a myth. One cannot strictly be left or right brained. AP Psychology instructor Meghan Roarty said that there are significant differences between the left and right brain hemispheres: “the truth is, our two hemispheres are fundamentally more similar than they are different. We need both hemispheres intact and in communication with each other to be able to complete most tasks, but especially more complex ones, such as solving an involved mathematical equation or composing a masterful symphony.”

Although the myth is false, people generally do lean toward either English, history and words or math, science and numbers.

I consider myself to be a little bit of both, but one thing is for sure — math is not my forte. Yes, after a while, I can figure it out, but it doesn’t come to me as easily as words and humanities-related things do. Putting my preferences aside, whether you consider your-

OPINION-EDITORIAL

self to be a math person, English person or even a blend of both, it’s usually hard to figure out course selections, specifically, whether to take honors or non-honors Pre-Calculus.

Both courses are very good, but they are also very different.

This difference creates a difficult choice for kids who desire to take honors courses but who are not necessarily math-or science-oriented people. It is even hard for kids who are math — or science-oriented people.

No one can deny that Daniel Ary’s Pre-Calculus Honors course is fast-paced and time-consuming, historically preparing its students for success in the AB and BC AP Calculus courses for years.

Doing well in those courses has led students to earning passing scores or above on the AP exam. Last year’s 2016 test yielded 100 percent of students in BC Calculus and 78 percent of students in AB Calculus earning a passing score or above.

When talking about his Pre-Calculus Honors students this year, Ary said, “[they] are working very diligently, [and although] they were initially a little overwhelmed by the homework, we have tried to get it more under control to 35 or 45 minutes per night.”

Ary went on to say that, although there are a few English-oriented people in his class who are “doing quite well,” the majority of people who take his honors course are generally, “people who you would say have kind of a ‘math head’ and believe math is important.”

Sully Israel, a sophomore currently taking Ary’s class, is one of the more math-oriented people.

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When explaining why he’s taking the class, he said, “I [would Although there was some hesitancy in bringing more students into rather] be in a more challenging class and get an ‘okay’ grade than the over-packed D period, the students who wanted to switch into be in an easier class and get a better grade. I want to be an engineer, Pre-Calculus, including those going into D period, were accommoso I need to have math skills that are on a higher level, so for me, it dated. makes more sense to take honors.”

This year there are 12 students in Pre-Calculus Honors (two Having just finished Pre-Calculus Honors and currently taking freshmen, eight sophomores and two juniors) and 30 students (four AP Calculus BC, junior Sophia Fay said, “[Ary] wants all of his stusophomores and 26 juniors) in standard. Last year, the ratios of each dents to succeed, but in order to succeed, his students need to put in class were more equal with 17 students in honors (11 sophomores, the time and effort to actually learn the information.” five juniors and one senior) and 18 students in standard (one sophoIn the regular Pre-Calculus course, the teacher changes from year more, nine juniors and eight seniors). to year depending on fluctuating class sizes and the circumstances of Based on the number of people from each grade in the honors vs. scheduling. This year’s teacher is Izabela Santos. non honors class, it is clear that the key to surviving in Ary’s class is Pre-Calculus prepares you well for AP Calculus AB or AP Statishaving enough time to do the work. Juniors and seniors generally tics, but the course moves at a slower pace, consumes less time and have less time than sophomores and freshmen do, so what ends up is less stressful. happening is more sophomores end up being able to take the honors Although the courses use different textbooks — with either Pre-Calculus’ $18 textbook or Pre-Calculus Honors’ $77 textbook “So many children take so many Advanced along with the $188 AP Calculus AB textbook — both courses cover the same Pre-Calculus Placement courses that when they take a strong material, but in the Pre-Calculus Honors course like Pre-Calculus Honors, they become course students cover a semester’s worth of AP overwhelmed by just not having enough time.”

Calculus AB during the fourth quarter.

After considering the time demanding factor of each course, there are two more calculations of the problem that need to be considered: one, the po- course and more juniors end up taking the standard class. tential to gain the .5 GPA bump of an honors course, and two, the Juniors take so many APs and are involved in so many extra curopportunity to show colleges that you are taking the ‘most challeng- riculars that, “[when] they take a strong honors course like Pre-Caling’ course load. culus Honors, they become overwhelmed by just not having enough Either you can choose to dedicate a larger portion of your hometime,” Ary said. work time to the honors course and enjoy the GPA bump, or you Junior Tiffany Yabsley, who didn’t have enough time for the honcan take the standard calculus course focusing your time on courses ors course, having had Santos last year for Algebra II/Trig Honors, important to you, extracurriculars, and, of course, this thing we said, “I like Ms. Santos’ teaching style. It makes a lot of sense to value called life. me.”

This year, the two honors and two standard Pre-Calculus classes Along with the “left” and “right” brain myth, there is another one — the idea that in order to get into a good college, one needs always to take the ‘hardest’ courses.

Yes, it does look good to have APs and honors on your transcript, but you don’t necessarily need all of your courses to be honors or AP. students in Although he acknowledges that, “the relative strengths students in of two transcripts can often make the difference when Pre-Calculus Pre-Calculus colleges are choosing between applicants,” college counHonors Standard selor Matt Struckmeyer does point out, “all other things are seldom equal — the students have a range of qualities about them that make them appealing to colleges in 2 freshmen 0 freshmen different ways.”

8 sophomores 4 sophomores He goes on to say that there are many students who 2 juniors 26 juniors take the hardest courses and still don’t get accepted into their “preferred colleges” because “the college decides that there was little that was compelling about the student other than the fact that he or she was committed to were strategically scheduled during the same periods (A and D) so working extremely hard, and there were other students with abilities that one could more easily switch courses if need-be. Because several or distinctions that were more eye-catching.” students decided during the summer that Pre-Calculus Honors As college gets closer students supposedly start to focus more on wasn’t for them, in the beginning of the school year, there wasn’t as what they care about and feel to be important. But this is hard to do massive an exodus as there was last year. when you feel the need to, at the same time, be taking the hardest Because of A period AP English Language, some people, at first, courses — even if they aren’t the classes you care about most. weren’t able to switch into the standard A period Pre-Calculus, “I wish kids had more time to relax and just be kids,” Ary said. creating an overcrowded D period Pre-Calculus and a more spacious Whichever of the two courses you have chosen or will choose to A period Pre-Calculus. take, have fun with your math problems!

HONORS

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STANDARD

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OPINION-EDITORIAL

Jail Break On the People v Brock Allen Turner Case

BY KAILEA HIESHIMA GRAPHIC: SONYA KOTLER

I

t is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman’s (or man’s) rape is her own fault.

That’s probably what the judge of the People v Brock Allen Turner, or, as it is more commonly recognized, the Stanford Rape Case, thinks anyway.

On Jan.18, 2015, two bikers spotted a white, male student sexually assaulting an unconscious, unnamed woman behind a dumpster. Both were intoxicated — the woman was too drunk to function, and the man was just drunk enough to rape her.

The man, Brock Turner, was a freshman

face on the wall, I could possibly be locked up longer than that.

Well, probably not, because I’m a minor, but that’s beside the point. Anyhow, according to Buzzfeed, the judge said that he feared that “a longer sentence would have a ‘severe impact’ on Turner.”

You know what else has a severe impact on people? Being sexually assaulted. Not knowing what happened to you until the morning after, when you’re being poked and prodded and photographed in the hospital.

Not knowing how it happened until you watch the news a week later.

Having to pretend “I was terrified of [my body], to be fine so that your sister, parents I didn’t know what had been and boyfriend don’t in it, if it had been contamihave to worry.

And the real icing nated, who had touched it.” on the cake? Turner was released after 3 months for “good and star swimmer at Stanford University, behavior.” Maybe that’s because there were and was projected to compete in the next no drunk girls to rape in prison.

Summer Olympic Games.

But wait, there’s more! He decided that Not anymore. he should blame his raping an unconscious He was punished very harshly (not woman on alcohol and the “campus drinkharshly at all), having been found guilty of ing culture.” three counts of sexual assault, and facing an Channeling my inner Trump here: upwards of 14 years of jail time.

WRONG. On June 2, Santa Clara County Superior The fact that you decided it was okay to Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner strip a drunk woman naked, take off her to six months confinement in the Santa underwear, remover her bra, invade her Clara County jail to be followed by three unconscious body, and then run away when years of probation. you were caught?

That is a not okay. If I went to a public That’s not alcohol. That’s all you. place right now and spray-painted a happy There is a difference between drinking too

OPINION-EDITORIAL

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much and sexual assault. As the victim put it, “We were both drunk, the difference is I did not take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately, and run away. That’s the difference.”

Turner has now returned home to Ohio to live with his parents who, reportedly, are afraid for their son’s safety. That’s funny.

I wonder who else is now constantly afraid for her safety?

Maybe his victim, who, according to her boyfriend, now habitually locks herself in the bathroom for hours on end to either hide or cry — sometimes both.

The Standford victim, who decided to remain anonymous, wrote an open letter, which she read in the trial to her attacker.

You know about the ‘shot heard ‘round the world?’ This was the modern day equivalent.

She describes the effect of the attack on herself and her family — most notably her sister, who, just before the attack, was approached

by Turner, who ignored her numerous attempts to decline his advances.

And then, Turner decided: kissing this one girl against her will isn’t enough; let me also sexually assault her too-drunk-to-form-a-coherent-sentence sister.

“I was terrified of [my body] I didn’t know what had been in it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it.”

She said this. Not about a monster. Not about a ransacked house. About her own body. This is what sexual assault did to her.

This is what Brock Turner did to her. And that’s not OK. That’s not something that gets forgotten. That’s not something that gets forgiven.

But apparently it is.

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OPINION-EDITORIAL

Red, White, Black & Blue

BY LUKE SMILLIE

W

ar is raging. 4,486 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq and 2,345 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2001.

That’s 6,831 dead soldiers in 15 years.

On the streets of America, in the last two years, close to 2,000 civilians have died. One might think a war is happening here in our country. And, in some ways, it is.

Almost everyday, you can turn on the TV and see a report for yet another shooting. Riots are breaking out in several states, and the issue is gaining some serious national attention. So, the question remains: what is wrong? What is causing this violence?

Here’s the truth: whenever the shooting of an unarmed, innocent civilian involves police, the victim is being harmed by our government, the very people who are sworn to protect. There is no doubt that this is a failure — in the system at hand and in government that needs to be addressed.

Today, cell phone videos of shootings instantly make the news, while official dashcam footage is sometimes not released until days later.

With the abundance of cell phone videos that are uploaded instantly, the media is able to identify the shooting and highlight the issue at hand.

Following George Zimmerman’s Trial, Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, MO, the Tamir Rice shooting in Cleveland, OH and many interracial conflicts, a movement known as Black Lives Matter has begun.

The movement primarily uses social media to make its points and attempts to stop the oppression that has plagued African Americans throughout history.

OPINION-EDITORIAL

To understand the movement one, must first understand why the movement is focused on race.

Why are more black people killed by police?

In America, there are nearly 160 million more white people than there are black people.

White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population, while African Americans make up around 13 percent of the population.

This is very important when looking at the killings of each race in proportional terms.

According to The Washington Post “Black Americans are 2.5 more times likely to be shot by and killed by police.”

This is why movements like BLM are starting all across the country, why riots are breaking out in every corner of our nation and why people have begun to accuse police of targeting certain races. The issue is growing each day, and things are only getting worse.

Recently, in Oakland, CA, four officers were shot and killed by a man named Lovell Mixon, the public had a very mixed reaction. Many people were shocked by the killing, but others saw the event as payback for the recent shootings.

The problem is, when people see cops being gunned down, they think about the lives that were taken by police shooting allegedly innocent people.

The thing is that in almost every state in America, an unarmed citizen has been gunned down and killed.

In Dallas, Texas, five police officers were killed by a lone gunman with a sniper rifle at a peaceful protest for Black Lives Matter. The shooter was upset about the recent killings and

wanted retribution. These sort of views and attitudes are dangerous for society. When Americans can rejoice in the killings of police officers, people who put their lives on the line to protect us, it is clear there is an issue.

Whether it be with the way we are conducting police training or with how we are educating the youth of America to act in society. We (as contributing people of this nation) need to find a solution to this before even more innocent people are murdered.

“Why is this important to us?”

Sure, we live in a privileged neighborhood.

But this doesn’t change the fact that this movement affects each and every one of us.

Firstly, many of you are getting ready to apply to college in lots of different states, and you may not even know that you are about to enter a city where riots and protests are occurring on a scale that hasn’t been seen since the Civil Rights Movement in the ‘60s. Milwaukee, North Carolina, Texas, San Diego and many other cities and states are experiencing full blown riots in their streets.

Secondly, we are all human beings capable of empathy for the abused, the oppressed and the dead on both sides. It is important that we stay educated about what’s happening around us in the world so that we can attempt to make a difference.

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To Kneel or Not to Kneel

BY CARINA TEDESCO

I

t would be extremely rare to hear someone say, “I can’t wait to go home and watch X play Y in the final week of NFL preseason… I’ve been waiting for this

National Anthem was played, as it is before every American athletic game or meet. However, unlike at most games, not every player on the field was standing and facing the flag, a gen-

GRAPHIC: JACK STEIN

game all year!”

Besides the perks of buying inexpensive NFL tickets, seeing your favorite NCAA graduates play for possibly the only time in years, and scouting potential candidates for your eternally cherished Fantasy Football lineup, the final NFL preseason games typically don’t bring much heat.

These games, for the most part, are not worthy of most people’s attention—let alone their excitement. With nothing on the line, including starters, (you gotta love football puns) these games are typically seen as warm-ups for the fall season, and are left at that.

When the San Francisco 49ers traveled south to San Diego on September 2nd for week four of the NFL exhibition games, most assumed that inexperienced 49ers players would compete against inexperienced Chargers players, and that would be that.

Not even the most knowledgeable football analyst could have predicted the attention that followed.

Before the game began, the

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actions, stating, “For me, it was something that I couldn’t see another ‘hashtag Sandra Bland, hashtag Tamir Rice, hashtag Walter Scott, hashtag Eric Garner,’ the list goes on and on and on… At what point do we do something about it?

At what point do we take a stand and as a people say this isn’t right? You have a badge, yes. You’re supposed to be protecting us, not murdering us, and that’s what the issue really is and we need to change that.”

Although his intentions were clearly noble, many still discour-

Colin Kaepernick is getting so much attention, although he is not the first athlete to make such a stand.

In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, many black athletes attempted to boycott the Olympics because of the prominent racial segregation in sports at the time. Few black athletes, including Tommie Smith and John Carlos, still competed.

After Smith won gold for the 200-meter dash and Carlos won bronze, they used the Olympic podium as their means of protest.

The athletes received their medals wearing nothing but

erally acknowledged symbol of respect in our country.

Quarterback “At what point do we take a stand and, for the 49ers, Colin Kaeperas a people, say this isn’t right? You have nick, dug his knee a badge, yes. You’re supposed to be prointo the turf as tecting us, not murdering us, and that’s the rest of the stadium stood to what the issue really is and we need to acknowledge the change that.” flag — a show of defiance and protest for some, and sacrilege in the eyes of the most age the way in which he chose black socks on their feet. patriotic. Although his actions to protest. When asking our Around Carlos’ neck hung a were shocking to many, being Laguna Blanca varsity football black beaded necklace, represeen as disrespectful and disloyal team their opinions on the issue, senting the many blacks who to our nation, his intentions many sided against Kaepernick. had been lynched by white racwere far more noble.

Although most supported his ists. Smith wore a black scarf as Kaepernick took a knee to cause for kneeling, the majority a representation of black pride. raise awareness for some of the disagreed with his actions.

If the world wasn’t shocked biggest issues that the United Junior Alex Furukawa comenough already, the two then States faces right now. By taking mented that, “Kneeling is the made one of the most signifia knee, he publicly announced wrong way to do it against the cant protests in athletic history. that something needs to be flag, but it has brought a lot of Similarly to Kaepernick, they changed in the way that African awareness.” illustrated their protest as the Americans have been treated in Junior Anton Homeniuk National Anthem blared. recent years. Kaepernick’s inten- quickly agreed following up Instead of kneeling, though, tion was not to disrespect the with, “I say do whatever it takes Smith and Carlos each bowed flag. It was, instead, attempting to get freedom.” their heads and raised a fist. to publicize that a large group of The dominance of social Whether we bend a knee or people in our country are being media in society today has draraise a fist, it is time for all of mistreated by the police. matically heightened discussions us to raise our consciousness on Kaepernick explained his on modern issues. This is why these issues.

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OPINION-EDITORIAL

Sharks On Acid

BY JULES BERNARD

PHOTO & GRAPHIC: JULES BERNARD

O

cean acidification will lead to increased shark attacks.

We have all heard about coral reefs being destroyed by rising ocean acidity, but one thing hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity: sharks will be significantly affected by increases in atmospheric carbon. The ocean absorbs 25-30 percent of carbon emissions.

In a study conducted by the Center for Shark Research to determine how the sensory receptors of sharks respond under conditions of high acidity, the results had serious implications for the future of coastal communities and of sharks.

Sharks rely on sensory receptors to interpret all stimuli in the water. They use these sensory receptors to detect and navigate in response to possible foods, predators, and mates.

The study proved that sharks in high CO2 conditions use attack strikes instead of feeding strikes and confuse prey stimuli.

Does this mean surfers and swimmers are at a higher risk of being attacked?

The study also found that sharks avoided food indicators all together when they were exposed to extremely high levels of CO2.

This suggests an ultimate species extinction as ocean acidity levels continue to arise.

AP Environmental Science teacher, Erik Faust points out that we have not only directly caused a rise in acidity leading to the deterioration of shark’s ability to properly assess prey, but we have also over fished and depleted sharks’ food sources.

If this weren’t enough, according to National Geographic, humans kill over 100 million sharks annually for fins, meat, or

OPINION-EDITORIAL

through trawling and longlining bycatch.

These conditions, when combined, have created effects we can already begin to see today. In cities all along the West Coast, shark sightings have increased because of rising ocean temperatures.

Juvenile sharks and their prey rely on warm temperatures for ocean habitats. According to The Tribune newspaper of San Luis Obispo, June was the fourteenth consecutive record-hot month.

This heat trend is a result of the rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere.

The otter mystery of Morro Bay clearly demonstrates the fate awaiting surfers and swimmers as confused sharks migrate up the warming coast and move in towards shore.

In Morro Bay, otters are being found washed up on shore with evidence of lethal shark bites. The curious thing about the nature of these attacks isn’t necessarily that sharks are attacking prey they formerly didn’t (that could be explained by the increase in juvenile shark populations), it’s that the otters aren’t eaten, they are just bitten. Most human shark attacks are in fact shark bites; deaths are mostly because of blood loss and not from sharks eating humans. Sharks explore possible prey by biting it — exactly what is happening to Morro Bay otters.

Could this be an example of sharks being confused with impaired receptors? Are we already seeing the effects of ocean acidification?

Escalating ocean acidity has ramifications far beyond what we can attempt to predict.

What implications will this have on the future of sharks, ocean food chains, tourism, local economies, and our coastal lifestyle?

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THE FOURTH ESTATE

BY KAILEA HIESHIMA PHOTO: KAILEA HIESHIMA

S

o I ran into a stop sign again. And, yes, I was looking at my phone, but this time it was for a good reason — I was about to catch a Pikachu. I didn’t end up catching it, but I did catch a bloody nose and a giant pole mark across my face. I was really excited about that Pokémon.

Anyway, if you haven’t guessed already, this article is about the infamous Pokémon GO. If you haven’t heard of it, then you probably live in a hole. Have you not been outside in the past three months? Have you not read the news?

Since you apparently don’t have any cell reception in that little hole of yours, I’ll tell you a little bit about the game.

Pokémon GO was created as an exercise initiative — something to get people out of the house and moving, but that backfired a little bit.

Now, you’ve got people who refuse to walk in a straight line, people who run around in the middle of the street trying to “catch ‘em all” and people who will literally push a 90-year-old lady and her tiny chihuahua in front of a dump truck just for a purple rat. Oh, my mistake: a Rattata.

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However, after a few weeks of constant gameplay, activity stopped and the app dropped from number 1 to number 56 on the Apple App Store.

The question is: why? Pokémon GO was created to make people who never leave the house actually want to go outside, and that’s the first problem.

Playing the game requires leaving the comfort and safety of your parents’ basement and actually going outside. And that’s all fine and dandy for the first week or two, until you realize that there are reasons why you never go outside. Let’s be honest here.

Outside is scary. I mean you’ve got the people, who always seem to be rushing and bumping into you. And then you’ve got the sun, which, when you don’t go outside ever, burns a lot after more than an hour.

And, last but definitely not least, going outside means partaking in a form of exercise — walking. I can’t even type the word without getting chills.

As soon as the game came out, it was obvious that there were some technical problems. Developers didn’t account for the sheer amount of people who would down-

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load and play the game, which resulted in huge problems for the servers. One second, you would be in the middle of catching a Squirtle, and, the next, your app would crash and you’d have to log in all over again and wait 20 minutes for the servers to come back up. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not that patient.

Pokémon GO completely drains battery and cellular data. I mean, how are you meant to continue playing if, after an hour of gameplay, your battery is suddenly at 27 percent? And then, because you can see that there’s a Flareon nearby, you have to keep playing until, eventually, your battery runs out completely. And then you miss seven calls from your mother, and all of a sudden your phone gets taken away. And if it’s not the battery, then it’s the data. Seriously, how are you supposed to play when you’ve already used up 90 percent of your data for the month in the first three days?

I guess the only good thing about the game right now is that I don’t have to spend time thinking about the election, because, forget about Clinton and Trump. This is the real problem. #makepokémongreatagain

OPINION-EDITORIAL

B

oys sand volleyball has been offered at Laguna for only three years. Sand volleyball is not an official CIF sport yet, so our team is considered a club team.

According to Coach Jon Roberts this means that, “it is an experimental sport that will probably become a CIF sport in the future.” This year’s boys sand volleyball team worked hard. The team is very young, consisting of four freshmen, seven sophomores, two juniors and one senior.

When sole senior Mathew Goldsholl was asked how he felt about having such a young team, he said, “They are all very good, and I appreciate that.”

Sophomore standouts Sam Stegall and Andrew Tolles were the number one duo competing on the sand volleyball team.

Junior Spencer Rycroft and sophomore Kyle Aitcheson made up the number two team and Goldsholl and sophomore Oliver Heyer were number three. The boys have an overall all record of 1-5. One of the team’s biggest highlights of its season was beating Santa Barbara High School 3-0 in a tournament in San Luis Obispo.

“We typically do not play Santa Barbara, Dos Pueblos, San Marcos, or any of the

big public schools number one, two and three teams. We play their four, five and six teams,” coach Roberts said.

However, despite our schools size, our boys play extremely competitive matches against these public high school teams.

This sport is also recognized by Laguna’s team as very enjoyable. Goldsholl stated he “really likes playing beach volleyball,” adding, “I like playing two man. I like how you get to touch the ball a lot, and I also think it’s great preparation for indoor season.”

As boys sand volleyball becomes more popular and soon gains its place as an official CIF high school sport, the future of Laguna Blanca’s sand volleyball team is bright.

With only one senior graduating there will be many returning players next year.

Roberts looks forward to the future of not only the development of boys sand volleyball at Laguna, but also the growth of boys sand volleyball across the nation and world.

“We’re getting better. The biggest positive and bigger picture is that now, finally, we have an area where men’s volleyball is thriving and I think its great to see these guys out here every day contributing to that,” Roberts said.

Senior captains Holly Tobias and Grace MacNeil are great role models for the younger girls trying to develop their game.

Freshman Katherine Monroy has proven to be a standout leader and role model herself. As the first seed singles player, Monroy sparked a competitive energy on the

BY KELLY BICKETT court.

She had a 19-set winning streak before losing 6-3 to Thacher’s first seed singles Libby Kern.

“Katherine has an amazing all-around game and is a great person to get pointers from,” said MacNeil.

Junior Mia Waters hits a The singles forehand on our home courts. players have

shown competitiveness and determination on the court, working on technique and stamina.

Senior Nicole Belton went undefeated at third seed during an overall 13-5 win over St. Bonaventure.

The lady Owls also had a 14-4 win over Nordhoff, dominating both on the doubles and singles courts.

Tobias and freshman Kiki Tolles have been controlling the doubles court this season. They are the first seed doubles team and have been working quite well together.

While talking about Tobias and Tolles, MacNeil said, “Kiki is so consistent on the baseline and Holly can put it away on the net.”

Although most of the girls are young and inexperienced, Coaches Rob Cowel and Candance have done an outstanding job at developing the girls tennis game.

“Our coaches are the best. Rob really knows how to make us love the sport all while balancing it with a drive to play well and succeed. Candace, the assistant, has been a great help too,” MacNeil said.

The new freshmen are proof of a promising future in tennis. The Lady Owls hope to stand strong and make it to the CIF playoffs this fall.

Junior Spencer Rycroft attacks the ball with ease.

The Beach Boys

BY KENDALL WHITE

T

he 2016-17 season of girls tennis has been going great. This year 30 girls hit the court for practice, doubling the numbers from last year; most of the new players are freshmen.

Game, Set, Match!

SPORTS

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THE FOURTH ESTATE

Owls Kick-Off the Season with 3-2 Record

BY JULIA FAY

PHOTOS: CARINA TEDESCO

Junior Javier Abgreo kicks the football to New Design in the first game of the season.

T

he Laguna Blanca Owls Football Team has drastically changed from years past.

Despite the loss of 12 seniors, this year’s version of the team is a cohesive, passionate group of young football players. What they lack in experience, they make up for in desire and determination.

The Owls came out strong in their first game, proving they had overcome the obstacles of having both a smaller and a younger team. They beat New Design with a resounding 74-26 victory. Freshman Wells Fowler showed no signs of intimidation, starting his high school career off with three touchdowns.

Teammates junior Javier Abrego, sophomore Josh Baron, and junior quarterback Aidan O’Donnell each contributed two touchdowns as well.

The next game proved a challenge for the Owls as they headed down to Los Angeles to compete against Animo Robinson.

Here they struggled to mount any offense and faced their first loss of the season with a score of 27-6. A few of the bright spots of the game came from Abrego, leading the offense with 74 yards on 6 carries, and Wells Fowler’s intercepting two passes; however, the boys still couldn’t convert for points.

When asked about a major moment of his season, senior captain Will Bartholomew

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said, “After our first loss against Animo, we rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown really came together as a team and respondon 13 carries. He also completed 16 of 34 ed well by crushing Coast Union the next passes but was intercepted 3 times. Unforgame. It was really a defining moment for tunately, this was not enough for the Owls, our season.”

The Owls quickly “After our first loss against Anibounced back from their mo, we really came together as loss the week before and returned to their winning a team and responded well by ways, defeating Coast crushing Coast Union the next Union 58-0. O’Donnell game. It was really a defining was a highlight for the offense, passing for 113 moment for our season.” yards and 3 touchdowns.

Bartholomew also had a big day with 9 tackles. who came up short, losing 50-18.

Most recently the Owls fought hard The next two games on the Owls’ schedagainst their long-time rival, Thacher. ule are tough ones. They played Orcutt Thacher got off to a large lead early on, Academy on the road and then Villanova scoring 34 points in the first quarter. Early Prep at home for their senior day. These two games were a great test for the Owls, and the in the second quarter, paramedics rushed young team surely gained game experience the field as Wells Fowler suffered an injury despite the losses. to the neck and was taken off on a stretchThey have overcome major challenges er. His absence from the game sparked the already, some of which include having a Owls into action as they scored another noticeably smaller and younger team as well touchdown right before halftime and ended as multiple injuries causing key players to the half with a score of 34-12. sit out. So far they are 3-2, and they hope The Owls then went on to score another to continue winning all the way through touchdown, but by then the game was too the CIF-SS Division 1 Playoffs by using far out of reach. O’Donnell was again an their dedication, chemistry, and talent to instrumental player for the Owl’s offense, persevere.

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SPORTS

Crossing the Finish Line

BY LUKE SMILLIE

PHOTOS: ROSE HOUGLET

Junior Clay Rodgers sprints through the Hope Ranch campus

Sophomore Sherlock Jian out on the Laguna track

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Freshman Ian Brown runs down the hill to the parking lot

(from left to right) Juniors Aura Carlson, Sonya Kotler and Isabelle Davenport, and freshmen Pisci Abrego and Beau Glazier smile before their home race

Junior Sonya Kotler races to the Laguna finish line

he Cross Country team had a great pre-season and are now doing well in their league meets. They started off with a Dos Pueblos invitational at Shoreline Park against several local schools.

Next the team faced off another invitational at Cate School and a league meet at Ojai Valley School. Most recently, Laguna hosted a very successful race with over 100 runners. Now with not long until league finals, the team will be putting in lots of work in hopes of succeeding in the post season.

Junior Clay Rodgers, who has been on the team since his freshman year, is looking very strong . Along with him, senior Henry Farrell, who just joined the team for his final year of high school, is doing exceedingly well. The team also gained a new sophomore, Sherlock Jian, and two new freshmen, Kai Nakamura and Ian Brown.

Farrell had this to say when asked about the upcoming league meets, “It will be interesting to see how we stack up against other schools in the Condor League.”

Our Owls will be racing alongside several strong schools this year: Besant Hill, Ojai Valley School, Providence High School, Dunn School, Garden Street Academy, Oak Grove and Midland.

SPORTS

(from left to right) Freshman Kai Nakamura, senior Henry Farrell and junior Clay Rodgers begin the race at Cate School

When asked about the upcoming league finals and how the team is prepping for the courses, head coach David Silverander said, “League finals is on a relatively flat course at Midland this year, which is similar to the flat course we will run if we qualify for CIF in Riverside. Since these will be fast races with no hills to break things up, we’re focusing on track workouts to develop running speed and refine our ability to pace ourselves. Half mile (800m) repeats are our go-to workout, because they help us develop both speed and endurance.”

On the girls side of things, junior Isabelle Davenport, who has been on the team since her freshman year, is looking very strong.

Junior Aura Carlson just joined the team for her first year and is also looking fast, coming second place in our home meet. Sonya Kotler, another junior, is returning for her second year on the team and is continuing to improve. The two freshmen girls on the team this year, Priscilla Abrego and Beau Glazier, respectively came in third and fourth place in the home race. Abrego also came in first place at the Ojai Valley School meet.

The Owl runners are frequently placing in the top positions for their Condor League meets and are working hard to qualify for CIF.

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THE FOURTH ESTATE

A

fter making Santa Barbara history as CIF champions, Southern Section State Champions and State finalists, the girls volleyball team has a lot of eyes on them this year. After losing three valuable offensive seniors, Coach Jason Donnelly had some spots to fill. The pressure was on. With last years successful run finishing with a record of 26-8, the girls awaited preseason anxiously.

The team acquired four new players, including junior Katherine Norris, sophomores Margaux Murphy and Maddy Walker, and freshman Natalie McCaffery.

The butterflies flew away after the Owls first preseason match against Pasadena Prep. The girls swept in 3 and gave the Owls the confidence they needed.

“When we come to practice, I want to feel confident that when we leave, we feel like we have improved as a team as well as individually,” Donnelly said.

The girls have proven this statement true as their winning streak continues.

The Owls have big wins over Division 2 public schools, Santa Barbara High and San Marcos, winning both 3-0.

Juniors Caylin Zimmerman, Laurel Kujan and Julia Fay are lighting up the court on the offensive end. All three are a necessity for the team’s success. Fay and Kujan have been adjusting well to their new positions of the right side and middle, respectively, and have created a wide offensive playbook for junior setter Kelly Bickett.

Even though the team is vertically challenged, they make up for this disadvantage with their outstanding defense and scrappiness. Both cover the court brilliantly and make Bickett’s job of setting much easier. “In order to win, we have to play defense first,” assistant coach, Kat said.

In the Cate tournament the Owls were tested by Oaks Christian in the finals and lost 15-13 in the third match.

“In order to want to win, you have to feel the pain of losing,” said Bickett on the loss.

The girls bounced back and beat Viewpoint in three close games and remain undefeated at home and in all non-league and league matches. The volleyball team is currently ranked as the number one seed in CIF Division 6. The girls are looking forward to the unofficial City Championship match against Dos Pueblos in the fall. The Owls are preparing for CIF in November and are hoping to duplicate last year’s success.

Volleyball Victories

BY KELLY BICKETT

PHOTO: CARINA TEDESCO

Junior Middle Blocker Laurel Kujan spikes the ball in a home game versus Cate.

Kujan Commits

BY ROSE HOUGLET

M

ost high school students who plan to play sports in college would agree on a common goal: getting committed to a college through their sport. That’s exactly what happened to junior Laurel Kujan this summer when she verbally committed to the University of Southern California for beach volleyball.

Having played beach volleyball in general since fourth grade and competitively for about five years, Kujan has spent the past couple of summers doing nothing but play beach volleyball.

When asked about the process of getting committed, Kujan said that it was “stressful and fairly tedious … the past two summers have been especially difficult because often while all of my friends were hanging out, I had to be training on the beach or going to a tournament.”

Kujan plays on a small club team as well as playing for the number one USA Volleyball Team for the past four years.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

She also competed in the USA Volleyball National Beach Championships this past summer, in which she placed fifth.

In addition to competing at major tournaments and championships, Kujan has been on six college tours in the past two years, been in communication with numerous coaches and been looking into other colleges such as the University of California, Los Angeles, Stanford University and Pepperdine University.

However, due to the NCAA rules, Kujan, like other high school athletes around the nation, was allowed to contact coaches, but they were not allowed to return any of her emails directly to her.

Instead, she mainly used her current beach coach to help stay in touch with the college coaches and attended a couple of beach volleyball camps this past summer run by the USC head coach. The assistant coach for the USC team was also one of Kujan’s first USA volleyball coaches.

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“USC was the perfect school for me,” Kujan said.

Looking forward to representing the best team in the nation, Kujan also said that, “The academic and overall support that comes with being a student-athlete [at USC] is unbelievable, which was a huge selling point.”

Kujan is already very good friends with current players on the team, as well as with most of the girls who will be attending USC in the upcoming years.

Beyond all of her accomplishments and medals, one thing Kujan said she learned from beach volleyball, and especially from her coach, is that “If you work really hard for what you want and stay persistent, you can achieve what you want.”

When reflecting on the whole process and on what is yet to come for her in beach volleyball, Kujan said, “It was hard, but I’m so happy I stuck with it, and I really can’t wait to continue playing beach for many more years!”

SPORTS

Independent Sports

BY CLARA HILLIS & NATASHA HEYER

H

PHOTO: AURA CARLSON

EQUESTRIAN

igh school sports are not for everyone – not every student enjoys tennis, volleyball or cross-country. Many choose to participate in activities outside of Laguna’s athletic program.

For example, there is a large group of students involved in horseback riding. For many, riding serves as both an individual and a team sport and is perfect for animal lovers.

Juniors Sydney Edgecomb and Annelle King have even started Laguna’s first-ever Riding Club for equestrian students to talk about their experiences and to volunteer at Hearts Therapeutic Riding Center. Below, students share why they chose and love their sport:

Junior Annelle King (above): “One of the greatest feelings is when you are going over a jump, and it is just you and gravity.”

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JULIA STONE

Sophomore Julia Stone (left): “You have to have a lot of humility, because you can have the best course around and win a class, and then the next one fall off – just because there is so much unpredictability.”

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SIERRA WILLARD

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Sophomore Sierra Willard (left): “For me I got into it because I loved being around animals, and it was a really cool experience and a different type of team sport.”

SPORTS

Perfect Pastries

BY SONYA KOTLER & AMANDA SKINNER PHOTO: SONYA KOTLER

Surprise! There are other places in town to get a tasty treat other than the infamous Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro and Jeannine’s Restaurant and Bakery. And yes, they are delicious! Let’s be honest, what treats aren’t delicious? Because truth be told, sugar is sugar, but the sugar from these fantastic bakeries somehow tastes a little bit better.

Lucky Penny

Lucky Penny is most popular for its great lunches, but many dismiss the restaurant’s amazing pastries. Their artisan baked goods, which are prepared daily, are both original and delicious; everything from savory scones to walnut-covered sticky buns is absolutely flawless. The cafe’s penny plated walls will make a great backdrop for a photo of your new favorite treat.

Crushcakes & Cafe

Yummy Cupcakes! Who doesn’t love a moist, fluffy and delicious treat every once in a while? If you do, then Crushcakes & Cafe is the perfect place to go. Their cupcakes are perfection: frosting that is not too sweet, and — get this — it’s actually made with real flavoring. So you can say “hasta la vista” to flavoring #6. In addition to a great natural flavor, the cupcakes don't cost an exorbitant amount.

So, if you’re in the hunt for the perfect cupcake, one that is neither too sweet nor costs you an arm and a leg, than Crushcakes should be your first stop.

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Pierre la Fond

Pierre la Fond is Montecito’s hidden gem. I have been eating breakfast at this deli at least three times a week and have ordered the same thing almost every time: a gluten free muffin and a small cappuccino with two percent milk. Eating the same breakfast over and over again might seem a bit monotonous, but anyone who has tried their muffins would surely understand my obsession.

Flagstone Bakery

If cupcakes aren't your thing, but you still want something good to eat, you can always try a more traditional bakery like Flagstone.

It serves a variety of sweets from savory to just sweet enough. Their pecan bar, with the perfect ratio of nuts to cookie, is a taste bud’s paradise. Honestly, who wouldn’t want a freshly baked scone in the morning — or pretty much any time of the day?

THE FOURTH ESTATE

How Do I Manage Stress?

BY FIONA FLYNN

GRAPHIC: SONYA KOTLER

A

s students, our biggest stress is school.

Whether it’s Mr. Faust’s AP Calculus test or Ms. Hill’s synthesis essay, there always seems to be an endless amount of work. Although our school frequently announces cutbacks in the workload, homework continues to be assigned in the same amounts by teachers, each one claiming that his or her own subject is the most important.

There’s obviously no getting around the fact that as high school students, we are going to have work. However, are there ways to ease the stress that comes with a huge workload? I asked school psychologist Megan Brown, AP Psychology instructor Meghan Roarty and students to find their tips and tricks to manage stress.

Megan Brown

Marriage and Family Counselor “It’s really important to make sure you’re sleeping regularly. One of the most important things to think about is how you manage your anxiety, because anxiety leads to stress. Sometimes you can think thoughts that make you more anxious rather than less anxious.

We call that ‘self-talk.’ For example, if I have a paper due tomorrow and I think, ‘I can never get this done, this is so overwhelming. I’m going to fail,’ than you’re going to feel worse and more stressed out.

It’s better if you say, ‘okay, I got a big paper, it’s going to be a lot of work, I can do this one step at a time. Where do I start?’ So be aware of what messages you tell yourself.

Make sure you’re eating a healthy, well-balanced diet as well.”

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Junior Students

Sophia Fay: “I try not to think what I’m really stressed about.”

Annabelle Finefrock: “Stress ball.”

Alex Furukawa: “I like to listen music and squeeze a stress ball or go into the hot tub.”

Tiffany Yabsley: “I go for a massage.”

Kelvin Chen: “Throw it away and play some games.”

Miles McGovern: “I don’t.”

Senior Students

Joan Curran: “I schedule out what I’m doing after school on my agenda.”

Henry Farrell: “I think that in a week, all my academic problems will be behind me.”

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Meghan Roarty AP Psychology Teacher

“Exercise is actually one of the best things, especially if you are sitting down working for long periods of time and you don’t really feel like you’re getting anywhere.

Being able to just go outside, whether it’s running or whether it’s just going for a walk, whatever you can do exercise-wise definitely reduces stress overall. It puts a lot of your chemicals in balance so you feel better, and it also clears your mind a bit and lets you refocus. Just the outdoors, like going on a nature walk, can reduce stress as well.

It’s also like a mental set. When you’re overwhelmed, things just kind of build, because you keep thinking about them over and over again. If you can retrain how you approach a situation and have a more positive outlook on it, that can actually reduce stress overall, because you feel like you have power of the situation.”

LIFESTYLE

Unique Eating

BY AVA MOROUSE

Beneath the colorful noise that fills the unique space we call the Public Market, there lie years of hard work, intertwining stories, and a hot-spot for culture.

With the air of an outdoor European farmer’s market, the Santa Barbara Public Market puts an urban spin on the traditional. Hidden subtly behind the well-known Arlington Theatre, the simple exterior juxtaposes the beautiful chaos within.

As one enters, shoes of all kinds can be heard scuffing against the sleek, industrial-looking glazed concrete floor.

A gray, stone walkway winds through a maze of booths, vendors, and a bustling crowd and is filled with all sorts: from teen artists to middle-aged farmer’s market-goers. Hand-painted signs announce locally-grown fruits, vegetables, and home-made eats.

Upon opening, the Public Market struggled to appeal to the community. But this July the owner, Marge Carafelli, proved that all could change. She created a one-of-a-kind establishment within the market ­­— a “beer garden,” which is a family-friendly, fresh, to-go style cafe — featuring the cuisine of Michael Blackwell, Montecito Country Club chef.

Not only has the new, bustling restaurant brought more families to the market, it has also created a venue for the night-time crowd.

The Santa Barbara Public Market is comprised of all local vendors, which is the main draw of this unique spot.

Established in 2012, this spot is unlike anything to ever come to Santa Barbara.

In addition to locally-sourced fare, the public market also hosts a series of events throughout the year, ranging from cooking classes, wine and beer tasting, seminars, and art workshops.

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VENDORS & BOOTHS: Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar Enjoy Cupcakes Flagstone Pantry Green Star Coffee I`a Fish Market & Café il Fustino, Oils and Vinegars Rori’s Artisanal Creamery Wine + Beer Corazon Cocina The Garden

PHOTOS: AVA MOROUSE

THE FOURTH ESTATE

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@fourthestatelbs Laguna Blanca School

GRAPHIC: LUISA CAMERON