THE
SBHS
FORGE
Volume 101, Issue 6
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March 27, 2015
SBHS welcomes AB540 bill makes the college dream a reality On Thursday, Edoardo Kaplan five new Managing Editor February 5th, a group of approximately members onto 150 undocumented students and parents from the Santa Barbara school district came to our cafeteria to learn about the AB Wall of Fame 540 bill. The AB540 bill allows students
Five new SBHS alumni joined the wall of fame on March 20th Photo courtesy of Tim Putz On Friday, March Emma Cisek Editor-in-Chief 20th, the SBHS Alumni Association held a ceremony for the Wall of Fame’s newest members. The four SBHS alumni included Holly Ford Emerson, Dr. Robert Sawyer, Nan Verkaik, Alonso King, and William Russell. The Wall of Fame honorees are chosen because of their embodiment of SBHS’s famous motto, “Once A Don Always A Don”. Holly Ford Emerson graduated as a member of the class of 1984. She made her mark as a two time MVP, 2 time Channel League MVP basketball player. Ford Emerson received a scholarship and went on to play at USC. Her jersey was retired in 2011 during a game against San Marcos. Dr. Robert Sawyer graduated as a member of the class of 1953. He went on to earn his BS and MS from Stanford and then earned his Ph.D. in aerospace science at Princeton. Sawyer has written over 350 technical publications,including two books, and taught at Berkeley for 30 years Nan Verkaik graduated as a member of the class of 1971. She was the athletic director at SBHS until 2012, and won the Coach of the Year award in 2000-2001 for the city of Santa Barbara. Alonzo King graduated in 1969 and is a renouned choreographer and artistic director who founded the LINES Ballet. William Russell graduated in 1931 and is also a member of the UCSB Gaucho Hall of Fame. He led the adoption of CIF rules for girls before they were adopted by Congress.
who live in California but do not have legal residency in the U.S. to pay in-state tuition, provided they have attended a high school in the state for three years and received a diploma or GED. Although the bill has undergone a few changes lately, its main goal has remained the same: to help deserving students in their journey to college. Those covered by the AB 540 can pay in-state tuition at around 13,860 dollars without being forced to pay up to three times the amount (36,738 dollars for non-Californians). AB 540 was signed into law in 2001. More recently two assembly bills for undocumented students, Assembly Bill 130 and Assembly Bill 131, have added to the benefits provided by AB 540 for undocumented students. Packaged under the California Dream Act, these two bills allow those who meet the AB 540 criteria to receive more financial aid. Students can now apply for grants and scholarships, both public and private, if they meet GPA requirements. According to the Adsum Education Foundation, a local group that offers scholarships specifically to those who are undocumented, the average GPA of their applicants is 3.7. They also report that the average family income of their scholarship recipients is 20,587 dollars a year, with an average household size of five. It is evident that several students in the Santa Barbara school district are both excellent
The AB540 bill allows undocumented students in California to pay in state tuition Photo courtesy of immigrationdirect.com academically and lack the resources to pay for college. There are 11 million undocumented persons in the U.S., 2.45 million of which are located in California, the state with the highest percentage. In Santa Barbara County, there is estimated to be a few thousand undocumented K-12 students. Many of them have hopes of entering college. The path to this goal, however, can be littered with numerous obstacles that those of us who live here legally do not have to face. The fear of deportation is a constant, nagging worry that haunts those undocumented and can prevent
them from searching for assistance or even applying for college. Organizations such as Adsum and Obama’s plans for a Dream Act are encouraging the undocumented students to pursue higher education if they have the will and the abilities. Adsum is currently planning to dole out 100,000 dollars to their applicants. As the organization states, “Our name Adsum, “I am here” in Latin, is meant to tell AB 540 students that they are not invisible – that we see them and recognize their struggle – and that they are not alone, for we, as supporters, are here too.”
52 seniors visit Oregon Shakespeare Festival Nick Blondell Entertainment Editor
There’s nothing as magical as live theater; it holds a mirror up to our lives and makes us question reality, teaching us the true meaning of humanity’s existence in the process. That is why the field trip to Ashland, Oregon (taken by seniors in AP English Literature) is a true blessing. Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, arguably the best regional theater company on the West Coast if not North America. I was lucky enough to make the cut for this year’s outing, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. The traveling itself was strenuous; after all, who really enjoys traveling fourteen hours on a bus through Northern
California? However, the outcome was definitely worth it. Upon our arrival, we checked in and slept, regaining a small amount of the sleep we lost on the aforementioned bus. After an expensive dinner, we attended the first play. That Friday night, at eight o’clock, we saw one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, Pericles. A tale of love, loss, and ultimately, redemption, it was deeply moving and was beautifully directed and conceived. On Saturday, we were able to tour the backstage areas of the festival’s three theatre’s, and received an in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes workings of the Elizabethan Theatre, a space built to resemble a theatre that would have been around in Shakespeare’s
What’s Inside? News: Party bus scandal
Centerspread: The Mystery of Edwin Drood Sports: dons sweep through Channel league
times. After two very good productions of Fingersmith (a new adaptation of Sarah Waters’ lesbian crime novel) and Guys and Dolls (the classic Broadway musical), we returned back to the hotel for some muchdeserved rest. On Sunday we had a nice chat with an actress from Guys and Dolls, and then attended a hilarious but heartwrenching production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which was one of the best plays I have ever seen. Overall, the trip was a beautiful excursion to one of the best communities of the arts in the country, and I’m glad for the wonderful opportunity that the senior class was offered.
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March 27, 2015
The Forge
Room 31, 700 E. Anapamu St. Santa Barbara, CA 93103 805.966.9101 ex. 5031
Staff Editors
Emma Cisek Tyler Greenwald Editors-in-Chief Edoardo Kaplan Managing Editor Website Editor Marianna Alevra News Editor Gabriel Reali Nick Blondell Entertainment Editors Blake DeVine Sports Editor Beau Lettieri Website Editor Chris Gulden Opinion Editor
Staff Reporters Emmanuel Gonzalez Mark Gross Alonso Martinez Alyssa Mendibles Lizzie Saunders Sarina Wasserman Mitzi De La Luz Evelin Cervantes Alexis Gaytan Anaeli Zarate
Freelance Writers David Zevallos Olivia Harris Pheobe Mullen
Cartoonists F.T. Kieran Meaney
Advisor Otto Layman
News Santa Barbara police investigate “party buses” after finding underage drinkers on board Sarina Wasserman Staff Reporter
On November 21st, a Santa Barbara police officer caught 62 junior high and high school students drinking and smoking marijuana on a party bus. This took place by at about 9pm when the bus pulled into the roundabout near the SBHS East Anapamu entrance. Officer Mark Corbett, a nightlife enforcement officer, was in the school’s office area waiting for the bus to arrive. He described walking onto the bus as if it was a “scene out of a Cheech and Chong movie.” Parents were called to pick
up their children- a dreadful process that took up to three hours. After further investigation, it turned out that the bus was booked by a 14-year-old girl who made the purchase on her parents credit card without telling them. Police said, “The girl could face criminal charges related to booking and promoting the bus on social media, such as contributing to the delinquency of minors.” No other minors on the scene were cited or investigated suggesting that the totality of the circumstance was less important than the larger issue of unsupervised kids and
their actions on the bus. This incident, and another in February with the same driver and company, was an incitement for the Police Department to start investigating bus companies, particularly for underage drinking. They are hoping to implement some type of local enforcement for situations like these. In the mean time, the Santa Barbara School District is trying to execute a class to educate students on substance abuse. SBSD’s goal is to to educate their youth rather than discipline them.
I saw Obama so I ran David Zevallos At a point in history Freelance Writer when the country has never been more harshly divided between the Democrats and the Republicans, during the last month that gap just got wider. There have been a number of instances of misconduct ever since the new Congress was sworn in giving control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to the Republican Party. Then, the day after the President’s State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. This was seen as an insult to President Obama as it is standard procedure for Congress to work closely with the President to arrange visits from any foreign heads of state. When Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived to Washington, DC, President Obama did not meet with him due to the fact that the Israeli elections were about to take place to avoid giving the impression that he is endorsing Netanyahu. This unprecedented move by Congress comes at a time when the U.S. is involved in delicate negotiations with Iran relating to the country’s nuclear arms. Many of the Republican members of Congress object to the President’s efforts to use diplomatic means with Iran and are doing everything they can to weaken his position.
Isreali Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to Congress by House Speaker John Boehner Photo courtesy of nbcnews.com In addition, on March 9th a freshman Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, drafted a letter to the Iranian government which was signed by 47 of the 54 Republican senators asserting that Obama does not have the authority to negotiate with Iran. In response, the Iranian Foreign Minister released a statement indicating that the letter had, in effect, weakened all international agreements in which the U.S.
has taken part in around the world. Both the invitation extended to Netanyahu as well as the letter to Iran served as insults to the President’s authority as the Commander in Chief and his own power to receive ambassadors from foreign countries, which has caused Obama to lose authority in the world and impact the United States’ power in the global arena.
Opinon: Classroom distractions in America Alexis Gaytan Classroom distractions, Staff Reporter many of which are easily avoidable, are far too common. Things like using cellphones or having unrelated discussions with classmates during lectures are not only rude and disrespectful, but are also not conducive to learning. The freedom that our school grants us to do all these things has amazed me since I came here. I am from another school in Guadalajara, Mexico, where there were different rules and where our liberties were more restricted. People think that it is easy to avoid doing their classwork by using their phones, which immediately distracts students. Where I come from, taking out your phone is one of the worst things
that you can do. That is nearly as bad as saying something negative about Jesus, as my previous school was strictly Catholic. Every student’s phone use is restricted. Checking your phone is not the best idea, because if one of the staff members saw you doing it, they would confiscate it until the next parents’ reunion in two months. Conversation amongst friends sitting nearby are another common distraction. At my old school, doing this at any moment when the teacher was around guaranteed a speech from the teacher about being respectful when the teacher is present. If you dare to challenge the teacher and keep talking, your decision would send you right to detention. My school was that extremist. Respect for the teachers and staff was the
foundation of a good relationship between students and teachers, even if the teachers were not of your liking. When I moved here, I saw some big differences. Here, you have the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, to start conversations, and to take out your phone in front of your teachers. To be honest, I was impressed and thought, “I have the responsibility to not screw up what this school has given me.” As Sydney J. Harris said, “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” Showing some more respect for teachers, as well as the entire school, would benefit everyone in the classroom by providing for a much more effective learning environment.
Look closely...here is an example of why phones are a huge classroom distraction Photo courtesy of Diego Figueroa
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March 27, 2015
Opinion Senior Pranks Chris Gulden Opinion Editor
Senior pranks have remained a long-established tradition amongst high school students. At the end of a high school career, students have the opportunity to think big and do something that can provide hours of entertainment for everyone on campus, with a reduced concern for ramifications such as disciplinary action. The 20142015 school year will be over before you know it, which begs the question: what prank will this year’s seniors pull? Last year’s senior prank was very memorable. Someone had hired a mariachi band to tail our principal, Mr. John Becchio, around campus while obnoxiously playing their songs at an intrusive volume. The band had been hired for roughly an hour and a half, and they did not cease even for short breaks. Naturally, this attracted a lot of attention. In addition to securing the focus of students and staff, a local televised news station visited Santa Barbara High School to broadcast a brief story about the prank. Other news sources, such as the LA Times, covered the events as well, and short clips of the band playing were posted on YouTube that quickly went viral. The event even appeared on the Today Show. Becchio responded to the prank in a very good-natured manner. In an interview with the LA Times, he said, “It was kind of a special send-off,” and judged it as “kind of clever”.
Last year’s seniors hired a mariachi band to follow Becchio around for hours Photo courtesy of trbimg..com Although the prank was not entirely original, as it had been pulled by students at other schools in the past, it was absolutely hilarious. Becchio certainly responded so well because of its humor. Another example of a successful prank was when a group of students blasted their classmates’ cars in on-campus lots with imitation spray paint. The paint they chose did no damage to any of the cars, and it washed off effortlessly with water. Those students who parked on campus were
Teachers take a stand! Throughout my three Anaeli Zarate Staff Reporter years here at Santa Barbara High School, there have been many things that have bothered me, but there is one thing in particular that leaves me angry, yet curious. I have noticed that on every classroom wall there is a “No bullying zone!” poster, yet many teachers do not say or do anything to enforce this policy. I have experienced bullying since I was in preschool, and not a single person or teacher did anything to stop it. This is supposed to be a high school where one should feel safe. We have three vice principals, a principal and a school full of staff members, yet I always see bullying. For example, in one of my classes, last semester I noticed a girl. This girl was always doing her work, minding her own business, and being very quiet. All the bullying occurred when we would watch films in class. I could hear what others would say about her, such as, “She was such a freak in junior high,” or “The way she dresses is weird, and she always smells!” They would say it very loudly on purpose, making sure that she heard them. I would look over to her and I could see the sadness and anger filling up in her eyes. One day, she just about had it. She started screaming at her classmates, asking why it was so amusing to say things like that about her. Eventually, she grabbed her stuff, and left. Oddly enough, there were two teachers in that classroom, and both of their desks were right by where she sat. The people who always made her feel like she was worth nothing sat nearby as
well. The day that she had had enough of everything was the day that only one of the teachers could say, “Hey! Stop, she isn’t doing anything to you. Leave her alone.” Meanwhile, the other teacher was simply standing there with a shocked and worried look on her face. I could easily tell that she wanted to yell at the teacher, but she did not. This truly does not make any sense to me. Ever since that day I have asked myself, “Why is it that the teachers can only say ‘stop’ or ‘leave them alone’?” I wonder if the teachers are actually scared of what could happen. Could it create more conflict if the teacher steps in? We need to start encouraging our staff members, as well as students, to take a stand. I hate to admit this, but maybe the administrators need to learn a thing or two. Some ways that bullying could be prevented is by telling an adult that you can trust about any issues you may be having, and by letting yourself have open ears when passing judgment. Sometimes asking for help will not always be the best way, but it is worth a try. Never give up. I do not attend Santa Barbara High School to witness or be the victim of bullying. I come here to learn. I come here so I know what to do with my future, and how I will be able to achieve these goals. Like most students here at Santa Barbara High School, I want to feel safe. If anyone here is a true Don, they would actually do something about this bullying issue, and not contribute to it. This includes staff members as well.
shocked to learn of the colorful slogans and miscellaneous marks that covered their cars. It was the reactions of students that made this prank so comical. What made it successful was that no damage was done, no laws were broken, a large number of students were affected, and it was both creative and clever. This is the type of prank that students should be pulling; painting a few tampons red and scattering them around campus or saran-wrapping cars is immature and far
less humorous. The graduating class of 2015 has their work set out for them if they are to rival last year’s senior prank. Senior pranks are one of the things that make a graduating class memorable, a tradition that has been upheld for countless years, and something that we should certainly continue to participate in. Just be sure to use your better judgement when considering whether or not, and what, pranks you might want to pull.
The plague of attention seeking individuals Emmanuel Gonzales Staff Reporter
It seems to me that every year, more and more students adopt “non-conformity” as a way of self-identification. For instance, within this past year, the population of Scene City (Dodson’s Meadow) has skyrocketed and has become a haven for the eclectic crowd. For those who do not know, Scene City is a place for students who shy away from other social groups to be different. The inhabitants of Scene City can be spotted having bad haircuts, dyed hair in neon colors, and a homeless fashion. When one steps within city limits, it can be hard to tell whether you are in a circus or a high school. I have done some research on this new trend and I discovered that teens learn things from their peers at school. Teenagers and young adults are led to embrace their “individuality”, and believe that it is okay to walk out of their houses looking like clowns every morning. This information startled me. I started wondering why on earth these students’ parents would let their precious gifts from heaven walk out of their homes looking like this. That is when I realized that it is the PARENTS who are the PROBLEM. Liberal parents are a new phenomenon in which parents are more lenient and try to be the “cool parents” that every hip young teen wants, but does not need. They let their children do what they please with no consequences. Make
no mistake, this leniency leads directly to a grim future. If you feel your child is on the dark side, or is in danger of being recruited to the dark side, you must act as soon as possible. If your student is mysterious, disappears without notice, or just acts different, he or she is displaying symptoms of A.D.S. (Attention Deficit Scenedrom). If your child is showing symptoms of A.D.S., then be sure to monitor who your children’s friends are and make sure to check what they are wearing before they leave the house. By working together we can suppress and eliminate the scourge of the alienated non-conformist. The Forge welcomes all rebuttals or comments.
Editorial/Opinion Policy: While we will do everything possible to grant the greatest range of free expression to our contributors, The Editorial Staff and Faculty reserve the right to edit for objectionable language and space constraints.
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March 27, 2015
Features Artists of the Month: Ian Alvarado
Mitzi De La Luz & Evelin Cervantes Staff Reporters Last week, we interviewed Ian Alvarado, a senior at Santa Barbara High School in the VADA program. We got to talk to him about his inspiration and his place in the art world, and here is what he had to say: How do you feel about being Artist of the Month? I’m excited. How has VADA helped you improve your art skills? Do you enjoy being in it? Yeah I do, it helped me with supplies and support and that means a lot. Do you plan to pursue a career in art when you finish high school? Most definitely. Is there someone or something that
inspires you to be in the art world? My family. Who’s your favorite artist? Why? Picasso because, I don’t know, I just like how he went through stages of emotions in his paintings and that’s like interesting to me because I have like a similar style. Do you have any other hobbies other that art? I surf and then I skate and that’s about it. Do you express your feelings when drawing? Yeah, I do a lot. What is your favorite thing to draw/ paint? How do you choose your colors? I like drawing people and stuff, like real things and like I don’t know, I like using like blues and stuff.
Above left: Ian shows off some of his recent artwork Above: A closer look at Ian’s painting Photo courtesy of Mitzi De La Luz & Evelin Cervantes
Staff Spotlight: Miss Greig
Caption Photos courtesy of Gabe Reali Gabe Reali Entertainment Editor
Ms. Greig is one of Santa Barbara High School’s newest and most buzz-worthy teachers. She considers herself a citizen of the universe due to how often she’s moved around in her life. Ms. Greig was born in Laguna Beach, CA and then went to the Bay area for college. She earned a BA in
International Relations at San Francisco State University, received a teaching degree at Berkeley, and then went on to get a masters from Cal-State East Bay. During her senior year of college she was a teacher’s assistant and got praise for explaining things well when the professor didn’t. She really enjoys helping other students, and it was at this point when she decided to be a teacher. As a single mother, it was the perfect
opportunity for a career considering teaching hours overlapped perfectly with her daughter’s school schedule when she was younger. After teaching for three years in Uganda, she moved to Santa Barbara this year for her daughter to go to college. Ms. Greig’s favorite subject to teach is Advanced English because she is able to have deep,
philosophical conversations with her students. She provides the perfect platform for students to expand their horizons and understanding of the world through an academic way. Ms. Greig’s attitude and mindset about education are among some of the things that her students applaude her for.
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March 27, 2015
Features Things overheard in the hallway
Staff Spotlight: The Custodial Staff
“Oh damn I have to show you these horse onesies!” “I saw hickeys on every single one of their necks and I was like what is going on.” “Men buying bigger shoes than they need is the equivalent of push up bras.” “Not heavy, just uncomfortable.” “Um, she has a boyfriend…” “Just because there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score!” “Yeah, peacocks make better guard dogs than dogs do.” “I literally just gave birth to one of them this morning” “Salad is a terrible thing to waste” “We have a huge sub?” “I got dead plant stuff in my eye” “He blocked me on Soundcloud today.” “I was charged with a hate crime in seventh grade for writing ‘what a jew’ in some kids notebook.” “Should my embarrassing?”
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Alonso Martinez Mark Gross Emmannuel Gonzales Staff Reporters
If you, in your daily nose-tothe-iphone walk around school, ever looked up and looked around, really looked, you know what you would see? An immaculately landscaped, historically beautiful 40 acre campus, one of the most beautiful in the world. Santa Barbara High School was recently named one of the ten most beautiful high school campuses in the world. How does it stay this way? Who is responsible for maintaining the campus? We spent some time recently introducing ourselves to the new campus head custodian, and his staff. This is what we discovered. There are two custodians working in the morning and the other nine work in the afternoon. The custodial staff arrive several hours before school and leave hours after the last student has left school grounds. The custodians not only clean up the messes that students leave, but are also responsible for making sure that the school is secure. They arm all the alarms and make sure no one defaces or damages the school. The custodians here aren’t just janitors. They serve also as the school’s security staff because they are the ones who set the alarms at night once all the students and staff are gone and at home. They stay late at night to make sure that the campus is ready for tomorrow. The custodial staff provides the vital service of both cleaning the school and providing security. They maintain the beauty of our campus and are an important part of our schools faculty.
Joe is in his first year as head custodian at SBHS Photo courtesy of Mark Gross
“APES isn’t a science its a hobby” “Starting this Friday the Spongebob movie is buy two tickets get two free so we’re going.”
Horoscopes Nick Blondell Entertainment Editor
Aries March 21 - April 20: Happy Birthday!!!!!! It’s either come or coming soon, so you deserve some advice. Here goes...PULL YOUR LIFE TOGETHER! I know you enjoy reading your Frozen fanfiction and making up excuses for why you saw 50 Shades of Grey for the 50th time, but you must take control of your destiny! Enjoy yourself, watch Fellini films, and start reading Big Hero 6 fan-fiction (come on, Frozen was two years ago.) Hope you got/get good presents. Your lucky numbers are: COME ON! You make your own luck, you don’t need any numbers!
Pictured above are just a few of the many custodians who keep our campus clean Photo courtesy of Mark Gross
the pitfalls of love. Recite Shakespeare’s sonnets, grow a rose bush in your mom’s favorite vase, steal (I mean obtain) a box of fine Italian chocolates. Prove that love conquers all by publicly announcing your love for your favorite swimsuit model on your favorite webzone. Just not Vimeo, that’s for hippies and nerds. Or hippy nerds.
Cancer June 22 - July 23: You know your unhealthy obsession with the film Shakespeare in Love? Well, it’s time to suit up in your favorite set of doublet and hose, for professional Ladies’ Garment hunter Blake Devine will be hosting a party to celebrate the work of female Taurus April 21 - May 21: You are the empowerment in Elizabethan times. Be bull. Thus you must become the bull. there. You can follow Blake on Instagram Brew your secret potions, and imbibe at @totalshakespeareloverfratmove. strange spirits that will transform you into Ferdinand. Be warned, though, for when Leo July 24 - August 22: When your transformation occurs, you will struggling with an important decision, become quite...horny. Because bulls have remember this: the best thing is to ignore horns. Duh. it completely. Therefore, instead of facing the different crises in your lifetime, Gemini May 22 - June 21: Let your simply binge-watch Netflix’s new show soulmate know you’re out there; conquer Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a hilarious
new comedy that takes the fish-out-of- manticore as a house pet, you have no water concept to a whole new level. It’s need to wonder that anymore. That’s definitely worth a gander. because they are no longer illegal!!! Yay!!! Now, we understand that you may Virgo August 23 - September 22: It’s need somewhere to celebrate, so just find always important to remember the smaller Spencer in the career center; he’s sure things in life. That’s why you must realize to be celebrating the legalization of his this: never forget the smaller people! The Sphinx-schnauzer hybrid. saying is, after all, “it’s a small world.” Capricorn December 22 - January 20: Libra September 23 - October 22: You Never forget this: Shrek is life, Shrek will become sick and disillusioned with is love. Or maybe it’s the other way the outside world’s consumerism, and around...I’m not sure. will thus leave your house to start an experimental commune at the Trout Club. Aquarius January 21 - February 19: Your nudist, post-modern version of Uncle Listen to the soundtrack of the seminal Vanya will be acclaimed by both critics Broadway musical Hair. You’ll understand and audiences, and you will be hailed as why after hearing the first song. the greatest director of the nudist, postmodern variety. Pisces February 20 - March 20: You know what you want? You want to have Scorpio October 23 - November 21: a tasty hamburger right now, so take a trip You, on the other hand, will just become down to the best burger joint in town. I sick. Sucks for you. don’t know the name, but it shouldn’t be difficult...just yelp it. Sagittarius November 22 - December 21: If you’ve ever wondered why it’s illegal to keep a domestic centaur or
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March 27, 2015
Arts & Entertainment Movie Review: Insurgent Nick Blondell Entertainment Editor
In this new film, our young heroine battles strange nightmares, it put through creatively difficult tests, and knowingly starts a civil war that puts her city in danger. No, I’m sorry, the last Hunger Games film has not arrived. Instead we have to sit through the lesser The Divergent Series: Insurgent (whatever the hell that means,) and while not completely awful, it’s still a stupid film. Like Divergent, this new film follows the journey of Tris Pryor (who thinks of these names?) who has to deal the ramifications of her…uh, I guess you would call it divergentness? Does that make sense? Honestly, who cares anyway? The movie was mostly boring, and it only livened up when Miles Teller was onscreen. Shailene Woodley, who plays Tris, is engaging enough, but can’t do anything with the spectacularly awful source material. I mean, come on! There are five factions, each who resembles a specific human trait. I won’t bore you by recounting the plot, but I’ll give you the gist of it. Tris must open some spooky box to help her fellow divergents (people who don’t fit into one separate faction; they’re apparently a menace to society) become well or something. She and her hunky boyfriend Four (Augh!!!!!! These names are so stupid it’s like Ted Cruz made them up) have to fight off the dauntless stooges to escape the clutches of the evil President Snow-oops. Sorry. Wrong movie/book series. I mean the evil…wait for it…Jeanine. Gasp! That
The second installment of the Divergent series hit theaters March 20th Photo courtesy of allinpicture.com is such a scary and altogether unsettling name of a tyrant that I don’t know if I should quiver in my boots or call the country club to see if Jeanine has played her round yet.
Basically, this film is boring and stupid attempt to be art at all. It is pure-blooded and has no purpose other than to make cash cow, and that’s why it is awful. It’s a money for Lionsgate, because obviously complete sell-out. The Hunger Games doesn’t make enough bank. This movie is not art, nor does it
Movie Review: Run All Night Nick Blondell Entertainment Editor
There is a reason that there is a rigid formula for Liam Neeson action films: it has a tendency to hit more than it misses. In Run All Night, the tropes are all present and accounted for with the variations that are permitted within the formula’s rules. Neeson is the everyman with, you will pardon me repeating the phrase, a specific set of skills that can save the day when nothing else can. He’s also reluctant to use them unless absolutely necessary, and, most importantly, he’s a man with emotional baggage that can’t be lifted without a blood price, literal or metaphorical. This time he’s Jimmy Conlon, former hit man and current derelict of a human being paying for the sins of his lifetime with estrangement from his son, upright citizen and exemplary family man, Michael (Joel Kinnaman), and contempt of his local Irish Mafia that he’s served his whole life. The only bright spot in his life is lifelong friend, Shawn McGuire (Ed Harris), who ran the criminal enterprise until he bowed to the changing times and became a legitimate businessman. All that changes when Shawn’s bad seed of a son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook) runs afoul of Albanian mobsters, and, in one of those twists of fate inherent in films like this, drags Jimmy’s son into the mess that he’s made. Danny dies. Jimmy is responsible.
Liam Neeson stars in a movie that is not a part of the Taken series Photo courtesy of finalreel.co.uk Shawn demands the Old Testament eye for an eye. And so begins a very long night as Jimmy’s criminal skills become the best hope of keeping Michael alive, as well Michael’s wife (Genesis Rodriguez) and his two cutie-pie daughters. It’s one long chase punctuated with showdowns between Jimmy and Shawn, belated bonding between Jimmy and Michael,
and a détente with the police detective seem completely reasonable. He believes (Vincent D’Onofrio) who has been it enough for all of us. dogging Jimmy for a quarter of a century. What is key here is the notion that an old drunk can suddenly pull himself together to save his son, and while it’s a stretch as an abstract idea, there is something about Neeson turning from shambling husk to fast-thinking killing machine that makes it
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Arts & Entertainment
March 27, 2015
Comic by F.T.
Comic by Kieran Meaney
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March 27, 2015
Sports
Rising Athlete: Natasha Feshbach Tyler Greenwald Editor-in-Chief
N a t a s h a Feshbach is a force to be reckoned with on the track this spring season. The junior hurdler finished 9th nationally in last years’ heptathlon and secured the No.4 spot in CIF individuals. Feshbach trains with her coach at Westmont along with a profusion of multi-event collegiate athletes preparing for the Olympics, both of which have immensely contributed to her significant individual success. However Feshbach’s prestige doesn’t end when practice does, she also prides herself in the academic realm as she is currently ranked No.1 in the entire junior class, holding down an accumulative 4.93 GPA. Feshbach’s aspirations as a studentathlete go far beyond the constraints of Santa Barbara High School as she intends to progress toward a Division 1 college experience, a desire that is seemingly attainable due to her impressive resume. Whether it’s in the classroom or on the track, be on the look out for a recordbreaking year from this versatile junior this Spring season. What is your favorite track event and why is this the event of your choosing? My favorite event is hurdles. I like it because it kind of adds another element to running, it’s very patterned out so there’s not a lot of room to do anything wrong.
pushups and they said “hey you should try the heptathlon” and so I just went for it. A heptathlon is a big meet that has seven events and takes place over a period of two days. What are your goals both individually and as a team as your progress further into the season? Individually I really hope to advance to the CIF masters meet, which is the third round of CIF, and hopefully state prelims and place at Arcadia, which is a big heptathlon. As a team I would really like to win a league meet which we have not done ever. Do you have a favorite professional track athlete? Well Usain Bolt of course but I also really like Ashton Eaton, he is the world record holder in the decathlon. He’s not really human so yeah he’s pretty cool. What are your plans beyond high school? Do you want to run track at the collegiate level and how are you going to balance that with your academic demands? Yes I plan to run Division 1 track in college and I hope I can find the perfect school with just the right combination of track and academics. I don’t have a dream school I’m kind of all over the place with possibilities at the moment.
At what age did you start running track and who or what inspired you to What is your favorite memory of pursue the sport? competing at Santa Barbara High I started my freshman year after cross School? country season and I starting getting into Well I’ve watched a lot of people eat it. Then somebody noticed that I could do it on hurdles but luckily that doesn’t
Caption Photo courtesy of happen to me too frequently. But my all anybody else only yourself so it’s nice. time favorite memory has to be last year at league finals, I had some big races, Which notable role models have hurdles, and long jump and anytime you contributed most to your individual get your personal best is a good day. success? I would have to say my coach who I What aspect of the sport do you enjoy work with at Westmont. There are also a the most? lot of post collegiate multi-event athletes It is very planned which I like. Things who are training for the Olympics and can happen at every meet but I usually train at Westmont so being with them is a know or at least try to know how it’s going really cool experience for me. to go for me and you don’t have to rely on
Dons losing streak continues in 4-2 loss to Buena Tyler Greenwald It all came down Editor-in-Chief to the final inning on Tuesday as the Santa Barbara High boys’ baseball suffered an excruciating 4-2 non-league defeat against Buena at the Dons’ own Eddie Mathews Field. The Dons were able to maintain a 2-1 deficit as the 6th inning came to a close, but Buena got on the board again with multiple consecutive base hits that resulted in two converted scoring opportunities which eventually proved to be the game-sealing run. “I think we really competed today, we came out aggressive and were swinging the bats,” said third baseman John Jensen. “Recently we’ve been struggling to drive in players in scoring position and today I think we really battled as a team. We’re just going to learn from this loss and I think we’ll be solid moving forward.” It was the fourth straight loss for the Dons (6-4). Oxnard, ranked 10th in the CIF Division 2 poll, improves to 11-1. “In the early innings we had some guys in scoring position that we didn’t get in and weren’t clutch early on,” said Dalton Schroeder. “Some things didn’t go our way but it was up to us to clutch up an if we did we would’ve scored more runs and they wouldn’t have been able to come back.” Subsequently, the Dons were unable
to capitalize on two consecutive singles hits from John Jensen and Carter Soto, respectively. Jensen was later thrown out at home plate and the game clouded to a conclusion on a controversial call made by the umpire after a jumping Soto was knocked down en route to his sprint from second to third base. “The runner does have to avoid a fielder,” said coach Donny Warrecker in speculation regarding the final play. “It looked to me as if our runner was trying to jump around the fielder and the fielder essentially did a football tackle on him and got him to the ground. I don’t think that’s the correct call, you cannot do that.” Santa Barbara’s ace Trevor Moropolous served as the offensive catalyst on the day, displaying a stellar performance from the mound. He gave up a run in the first inning and then impressively held Oxnard scoreless until the seventh. He struck out six, walked two and allowed two singles. “When I first came out I wasn’t feeling too good and was trying to aim the ball a little too much,” said Moropolous. “ My pitching coach was just getting me to reach back and throw as hard as I can. Once I got that down I was locating the fastball and getting the curve ball over and if I keep doing that I’ll be good.” The Yellowjackets got a good outing from Antonio Gaxiola. He allowed two
Cater Soto rips a single late in the 7th inning Photo courtesy of Tyler Greenwald runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking two. The win went to reliever Dalton Pagano who allowed the Dons four hits and a walk but no runs. The Dons scored both of their runs in the fourth on a two-out RBI triple by Dalton Schroeder and a single by catcher Cristian Loza. “I was just looking for a fastball down the middle,” said Schroeder. “My timing was alright and I squared up and was lucky enough to avoid hitting it directly at a fielder and that really got us sparked.”
Santa Barbara returns to Channel League play on Friday when they play Buena who currently holds the No.1 spot. Warrecker spoke of the upcoming matchup and his plans to snap this four game losing streak saying, “This is in the past now, and now we are in the present. We need to beat come out and beat Buena. If we practice hard the next two days, be aggressive, and play with confidence I know it’s achievable.”
11
March 27, 2015
Sports Boys tennis team falls to Peninsula Blake DeVine Sports Editor
Heading into this season, the Santa Barbara boys tennis team holds high expectations coming off of a year in which they won their 14th straight Channel League title and reached the second round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs. This was despite the fact that the Dons were forced to adapt last season by giving some younger players significant playing time. “This year, we start off not knowing what to expect since we have a lot of new players on the team,” said Santa Barbara head coach Greg Tebbe. “So far, our guys have came out prepared, in good shape, played very consistent, and competed with smart tennis.” Most recently, the Dons picked up a 17-1 road victory over Arroyo Grande in a non-league matchup on Wednesday afternoon. Santa Barbara was led by it’s singles tandem of Jackson Powell and Taggart Mills, who both went 3-0 on the day. The doubles teams of Jordan Rodnick matched Logan Lender and Miles Hale paired with Harry DeBoer each went 3-0 respectively. “Today, I thought we were really consistent in making our shots and were really focused on the court,” chipped in Powell. Before this, three doubles team went 2-0 for Santa Barbara during a season opening 11-7 victory over Cate at the SBHS tennis courts on Tuesday afternoon. In this match, the Dons won six out of nine doubles points and five out of nine points in singles. The doubles teams of Jordan Rodnick with Logan Lender, Harry deBoer
Santa Barbara’s Jackson Powell lunges for a forehand shot during a matchup earlier this season. Photo courtesy of Presidio Sports paired with Taggart Mills, and Jake Sutton matched with Tyler Greenwald all grabbed two wins. In singles play, Powell won both of his matches and Miles Hale went 2-1 for Santa Barbara. “One thing I try to do in these early matches is experiment with different doubles teams,” added coach Tebbe. “With these pairs, I not only look at their results but how they are doing on the court with each other. Although it takes a while to figure out, much of it is finding people who get along on the court.” When asked what he hopes to learn from these early matches, Powell responded: “Just how well we can fight out
on the court for every point. We have the talent but we have to prove it by battling hard out there.” In this match, the Dons got off to a fast start as they won their first 10 matches. This led to coach Tebbe putting in his subs, which allowed the Rams to close the gap in the final round. “In these early games, you get to see the players who may perform better in practice as opposed to a real match when they get nervous under pressure,” commented coach Tebbe. “For this purpose, I get to see who might be a better singles player versus who might play better with a doubles partner.”
Santa Barbara (2-0 overall) hosted Palos Verdes in a non-league matchup yesterday. This capped of a busy first week for the Dons, who played three consecutive matches versus Cate, Arroyo Grande, and Palos Verdes. Santa Barbara travels to Pepperdine to face Viewpoint on Tuesday. “Regardless of how good we are, my main goal every year is for the team to improve throughout the season. This year, our team goal is to win Channel League which is going to be tough because Dos Pueblos is really strong and San Marcos has got some good players,” concluded coach Tebbe.
Fast start key for Dons en route to victory over Chargers Blake DeVine Sports Editor
The Santa Barbara girls lacrosse team defeated Dos Pueblos 12-6 during a Channel League matchup on Thursday evening at Peabody Stadium. The Dons were led by the outstanding performances of Mia Barton and Bella Gniadek, who scored five goals apiece. “We really gained a lot of confidence from this victory and played a lot better as a team that we usually do,” said Gniadek. “Our team has grown a lot closer to one another, which has allowed us to have a lot more faith in each other.” Santa Barbara started off strong against the Chargers, with Barton scoring the first goal within the first thirty seconds. Her goal was closely followed by another from Gniadek. “Dos Pueblos is a pretty aggressive team so I really stepped up my level of play for this game. I played as hard as I could while running towards the ball and trying to get us possession as much as possible,” added the sophomore midfielder. During the first half, both squads had equal possession of the ball and midfielders from both sides had fast sprints down the field. “Our defense used great body positioning to block the opponents from
shooting, and our offensive players showed off their stick skills to get around the defense and go to goal,” commented Dons co-head coach Kristin Boehm. After falling behind early, the Chargers stepped up their intensity and kept the Santa Barbara’s defense on their feet with continuous passing and cutting on offense. “Overall, there were a lot of turnovers during this game for both teams,” shared coach Boehm. “The midfielders did an impressive job of running it down the field to the offense, defending, and slowing down their opponents.” Heading into the second half, Santa Barbara led by a score of 6-3. Although the Dons won the first draw control of the second half, Dos Pueblos had possession of the ball for a large portion of the half, and won most of the draw controls thereafter. When asked how the team was able to hold off the Chargers, midfielder Kate Mascari responded: “We just kept playing strong defense and played it clean while protecting our own net. They got a little desperate towards the end and started to attempt some dirty checks. However, we just kept to the rules and were able to hold them off.” Mascari won many of the ground
Santa Barbara High sophmore Bella Gniadek scored five goals for the Dons last Thursday. Photo courtesy of Presidio Sports balls, and was able to get a few steals for Santa Barbara. Defender Maggie Wilde also got a critical turnover that led to another goal for the Dons. Goalkeeper Rachyl Beksa finished with 9 saves on the day. “After beating Dos Pueblos in the Thatcher Invitational Tournament last weekend, our team was confident that we could beat them again, which helped lead us to a fast start,” chipped in Mascari. With the victory, Santa Barbara
improve it’s record to 5-7 overall, 3-1 league on the season. Yesterday, the Dons played Cate in a non-league matchup at home. The squad hits the road to face Royal on April 8th. “During the stretch run of the season our goals include beating San Marcos again and hopefully reaching the CIF playoffs. If we reach CIF, then we’ll try to make it as far as we can from there,” concluded Gniadek.
12
March 27, 2015
Sports
Santa Barbara’s offense erupts in sweep over Dos Pueblos Tyler Greenwald Editor-in-Chief
The dominant net play of power duo Blake Kelley and Hayden Millington facilitated a gratifying 26-24, 25-21, 27-25 Channel League sweep over Dos Pueblos at a thunderous J.R. Richards gymnasium on Thursday night. “You have to give to give DP a lot of credit,” said coach Chad Arneson. “They fought hard and they are known for their scrappy play so you have to give them credit. They lost a lot of players too but they made us earn those last couple of points.” Millington tallied a game high of 16 kills on the day while Kelley did his part in firing 9 kills off the bench and doing so with a .800 hitting percentage. Back-up middle JM Cage finished with 5 kills and 3 blocks. However the Dons ’offensive success would not of been possible without the contributions of setter Cord Pereira, who dished out an impressive 37 assists. “I’ve been working with Cord a lot on finding the sets around the court a little bit more and he did that this game and it worked perfectly,” said Millington. “We just have great chemistry, we are really good friends on and off the court so that really helps as well.” The match kicked off with a back-andforth affair in the first set that was capped off by a huge combined block from Cage and Jasper Rhodes, allowing Santa Barbara to eke it out 26-24.
“We started off a little rough in the opening set,” said Pereira. “But we were able to regroup and start to minimize our errors and pull it out.” Two well-placed feeds from Pereira connected with Kelley on the outside late in the second set to increase the deficit, thus leading to an eventual 25-21 decision. Arneson attributed Kelley with great praise, touching on the fact that he balances his effort between two different sports (Kelley plays varsity football as well as volleyball). “I want to shout out to anyone out there I will take any two-sport athlete over one specific sport athlete,” said Arneson. “That’s kind of the way I feel, no offense to my seniors that have played volleyball their whole life. It’s nice to have that luxury to share players and have them grow as individuals with different teammates and different sports. That’s really important in today’s culture.” Kyle Skinner put away a lofted ball in a clutch situation after Pereira set up a one-on-one situation, which erupted the crowd as that concluded a straight-set sweep for Santa Barbara. “Obviously, winning in three straight is nice,” Arneson said. “The way we did it showed how much depth we have and how many good athletes we have on our squad. I knew coming in we had a good team. We have a lot of weapons.” Most recently, the Dons swept past Ventura in straight sets during a Channel League matchup on Tuesday night. With
Hayden Millington (left) and Grant Galitzer (right) go up for a huge block against Dos Pueblos’ Eli Wopat late in the second set. Photo courtesy of Taylor Michelle Kessler the victory, Santa Barbara improves its record to 7-4 overall and 3-0 in league play. After the spring break, the squad heads to Hawaii to play in the Kamehameha Kapalama Tourney. Pereira added some remarks regarding the upcoming matchup
saying: “Heading into our game against Ventura we’re really going to just need to maintain our momentum. We’ve had a 2-0 start in league and hopefully we can sweep the whole thing.”
Sun sets on Santa Barbara High School softball Blake DeVine Sports Editor
Most recently, the SBHS Athletic D e p a r t m e n t announced that its softball team had canceled the entire regular season schedule and had withdrawn from the Channel League. This decision was made during a team meeting on March 2nd; a day before their season opener was supposed to take place versus Pacifica. “There was a major safety concern with putting some of these new players in a varsity Channel League match. The fact that the ball might be shot right at them and potentially injure them concerned us,” said Athletic Director Joe Chenoweth. “We made this decision for the benefit of the league and not the benefit of our program.” Many players were completely shocked by this resolution and were left pondering whether or not to continue playing on the team. In response to this ruling, nearly every senior girl on the squad dropped the sport. “We were all pumped up for the season and then all the sudden, it was really depressing,” commented outfielder Alyssa Mendibles. “The next day, we saw the baseball players in their uniforms and it was just hell.” According to Chenoweth, the season will not be going on due to “Safety Hazards.” This goes along with the fact that a majority of the girls on the squad
had never played softball before this year. Furthermore, the team was left without any pitchers on their roster. “If you are a kid who has only one year of experience and your playing against kids who have played the sport their entire life, it could be potentially dangerous,” added Principal John Becchio. This decision marks the end of a long downfall for this program. The team has consistently endured through countless losing seasons and finished last season with a record of 5-18 overall. Likewise, with the Goleta Valley Youth Softball Association run out of Dos Pueblos, the program has failed to recruit the local talent necessary to achieve success on the field. “The program struggled for years because we did not have any youth program that fed directly into SBHS,” said Becchio. “If you’re softball girl on this side of town, you have to go out to Goleta to play softball and you’re probably going to end up transferring to Dos Pueblos.” This is not to say that the squad has not had its fair share of talented individual over the past few years. For example, Jasmine Manson was named to the Presidio Sports All-City Softball team just last season. Similarly, Delaney Smith was the ace pitcher for Santa Barbara last season, consistently tossing solid performances for the Dons. When asked her initial response
to the decision, sophomore Mina Gonzales responded: “At first I was really mad and then I felt uninspired to play softball.” Furthermore, former head coach Vic Alvarez was forced to step down from his coaching position last season after being arrested for sexual misconduct. This left the team with a damaged reputation and desperately seeking a permanent head coach. As a result, many of the players from last year’s squad including Delaney Smith, did not return to play this season. “I’m currently in the works with trying to find a way to collaborate with the GVSA and pull that organization into Santa Barbara, which would help both San Marcos and our school itself,” shared Chenoweth. After many months of searching for a new head coach, the SBHS Athletic Department finally settled on Tori Shyrock. A major factor in Shyrock’s hiring was the fact that she was very close with the head coach for the SBCC softball team, Paula Congleton. For this reason, coach Shyrock has gotten the entire Vaqueros coaching staff to help develop players for the Dons. This translates to them teaching pitchers and many other players the proper mechanics for their positions. “I hope that we play Channel League next year and I think the progress is going pretty smooth,” added Gonzales.
“Everyone has progressed a lot this year, especially the new players.” This season, the team will only scrimmage against other smaller schools with similar problems to them if they show enough improvement. As far as playing again in Channel League next year, it may be a long process for full recovery. “At this moment in time, I want the girls to have a good experience while playing the sport. It’s not about winning or losing, but it is about the ability to have the skill development to go out and compete,” concluded Chenoweth.
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