The Forge, Volume 103, Issue 1

THE FORGE Vol. 103 No. 1

SANTA BARBARA HIGH SCHOOL - FRIDAY, SEPTEMEBER 23, 2016

Jose’s Greenhouse Opens

Est. 1914

Dance Team Returns

Dons Net Cafe Gets a Facelift

The donnettes are ready to rumble! | P. 10

Mr. Holle brings a new perspective to SBHS | P. 7

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN: THE FORGE GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

SKY'S THE LIMIT: COMPUTER SCIENCE ACADEMY WELCOMES NEWEST TEACHER

2 | NEWS

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

THE FORGE STAFF

2016 - 2017 700 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 (805) 966-9101 ex. 5031 Room 31

EDITORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sarina Wasserman

LAYOUT EDITORS Chloe Shaar Lily Cisek Quincy Ruggieri Sarina Wasserman

STAFF REPORTERS Antonia Alonso Brian Chirstensen Corrick Essellier-Norton Marti Fornells Alisha Mergaliyeva Miranda Ortega Gloria Perez Emily Petatan Quinn Tubiolo Hannah Ziouani

ADVISOR Otto Layman

The Forge

A Message from the Editor-in-Chief

Hi my name is Sarina Wasserman, and I’m the Editor-In-Chief of The Forge.

The 2016-2017 school year marks the arrival of many exciting, upcoming events.

This year, I plan to modernize The Forge in order to make it more relevant to SBHS students and readers by producing issues that incorporate student life,

athletics and academics.

Our staff includes students from many different walks of life and social groups who bring diversity to the paper. The staff and I will work together to bring the face of The Forge to social media. We are currently working on updating our Facebook, and possibly making an Instagram and

Twitter account! So, be on the lookout for all of our upcoming issues and our jump into social media.

SARINA WASSERMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THE FORGE

Greetings from the Publisher Welcome to the 102nd year of the Forge, Santa Barbara High School’s student-produced newspaper—the second oldest school paper in California, and one of the last newspapers still printed on… paper. Newspapers are for the tactile among us, those of you who like the feel and weight of information in your hands.

Every volume of the Forge has its own identity, built on the reputation and legacy of the previous iterations; some years are more political, or whimsical, or investigative. Some are combative, some conciliatory and social—all are a product of dedicated student journalists who know that words matter—their words matter. This year we welcome the leadership of

Sarina Wasserman, and I am eager to see the growth and identity of this version of the Forge. It is my honor and great good fortune to be the advisor for this publication, and to take part every year in the creation of the newspaper family.

Hope you enjoy the year!

OTTO LAYMAN ADVISOR 2016-2017

Meet the 2016/2017

NEWS | 3

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

A Message from your Associated Student Body

Hey guys, I’m Joy Sanderlin, the logistics commissioner and I just wanted to tell everyone what ASB is up to. We’re super excited to share the year with you and hope everyone has a great year. ASB is hard at work making sure Homecoming is the best it can possibly be so make sure you cruise! Senior Sunrise

was absolutely fantastic, thank you to everyone who came out! If anyone wants to join ASB seminar and get more involved with the school, talk to Ms Roesch. If anyone wants to be in the first Pep Rally go to the ASB room and tell them you want to be involved. ASB is super excited for the rest of this year and all the upco-

ming events. We’re planning some sick Fundraisers and Quad Grubs so keep an eye out for those. Keep getting more and more involved with the school, make sure you come to all the home games and scream loud! Have an amazing year guys, GO DONS!

The Forge Cares: We interview the People

BY QUINN TUBIOLO There's something kind of disgusting about having to return to school after having a super rad summer partying with your friends or vacationing in Spain or engaging in whatever other epic debauchery you may engage in whilst on break.

CLUB “ROESCH” SEPTEMBER 23 IN THE QUAD AT LUNCH! CHECK OUT ALL THE CLUBS SBHS HAS TO OFFER!

Forge Staff

But there's also something kind of beautiful about it (we're stretching here, in the vain of new beginnings and all). In celebration of the new school year, we interviewed some of our fellow victims of the public school system about their summers (and also some other stuff). Here are some of the highlights from our interviews: Forge: What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you over summer vacation?

Anonymous Senior: I went into Starbucks wearing only my underwear, a pair of flip flops, and a helicopter hat for ten bucks.

Forge: Did you go anywhere exciting over the summer?

Forge: What has been the worst part of high school so far?

Anonymous Junior: I went to 7-11 a couple of times. Saw some crazy stuff happen outside of that place.

Anonymous Freshman: Getting pulled out class for this interview.

Forge: What was the best part of your summer?

Forge: What was your favorite summer movie?

Anonymous Alumnus, Class of 2016: Graduating.

Anonymous Junior: Ghostbusters. No, I'm kidding, I heard that was terrible. Did anyone actually go see that?

I'm guessing you've already had your fill of being welcomed back to school, so in the interest of keeping it short and sweet, I leave you with this: keep on keepin' on, fellow victims of the public school system.

Forge: What one piece of advice do you have for incoming Freshmen?

Anonymous Sophomore: Avoid the VADA bathrooms. And if you get school lunch, get it at the MAD Academy.

Say I do to the Boo Crew!

EARN COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS  BOO AT THE ZOO! Volunteers needed as scare-actors or friendly costumed characters. Distribute treats, staff spooky game booths, and direct guests, ghosts, and goblins.

Boo at the Zoo is October 21, 22, & 23. Volunteers are needed from approximately 3:30 to 9:30 p.m.

To sign up for an audition or orientation, please email volunteer@sbzoo.org or call (805) 962-5339.

Volunteers must be at least 13 years old.

Santa Barbara Zoo • (805) 962-5339 • Just off Cabrillo Blvd. at East Beach • sbzoo.org

4 | NEWS

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

We’re Here to Help You

BY ALISHA MERGALIYEVA Before coming to Santa Barbara High School, Mr. Razo worked at Goleta Valley Junior High School for almost 3 years and in Santa Barbara County Education Office for 10 years, where he was helping students that were expelled from their schools. Then he came to SBHS at the end of may this year. However, working at SBHS wasn’t new for him, because our “new” AP worked in SBHS before from 1993 to 2002. Where he had the honor to work with principal J.R. Richardson. Mr. Razo shared his experience about coming back after 14 years: “One unique thing about working here is that sometimes parents introduce themselves, and they tell me that they used to be students here. And now they have children in SBHS. That so awesome! They still remember me when I was working here 10z years ago. Sometimes I even see familiar faces in supermarkets or shops. I can forget names, but not faces.”

“SBHS is a great school with a great history. One of the finest schools in California. It’s very beautiful school with students and staff that are really proud to work and study here. It truly has that rich tradition, which can’t be compared to any other schools. It’s all about how people do their work here: students study with a

big pride to be a don and teachers are very respectful.” said Mr. Razo.

Mr. Razo is data person. He definitely will be looking at data

and their attendance is also very good. I will be targeting students, that are falling behind. We will be giving them the support and resources they need to catch up and succeed.”

According to Mr. Razo, the thing that makes our school different is the fantastic support, that we get. Also, as well known, SBHS is the oldest school in Santa Barbara and has its own traditions. “I never heard people saying ‘always a charger’ or ‘always a royal’. The thing that impresses me is when someone 90 years old says ‘always a don’. Even sometimes when someone is sitting on the phone with somebody and coordinating maybe a food event and they say ‘I am always a don and I will always help out this school’. That stuff is really genuine and that is what makes it much better.”

on students that are struggling and having some challenges. He wants to make them aware of where they are, put some support around them. ‘We have a lot of students that are high achieve, they work really really hard. Those students seem to be doing well

Mr.Razo is definitely very welcoming and happy to be here. It is apparent from this interview that he is happy and excited about helping students out and getting us to where we want to be in life.

Whether that be pushing you to be your best self or sharing some friendly words of wisdom, Mr. Razo is a pretty “chill” assistant principal.

New Year, New AP

BY CORRICK ESSELLIER-NORTON “If you never try, you’ll never know.” This is the quote that one of our new assistant principals, Anna Scharfeld, lives her life by.

Ms. Scharfeld originally started her career in education in San Francisco where she worked for SFUSD. She then moved to Santa Barbara where she worked in Goleta. Then Ms. Scharfeld took a huge leap and moved to Stockholm, Sweden to teach. When she returned she worked again in the Goleta Unified School District for six years before she came to Santa Barbara High School to become a Don again.

As a graduate of SBHS herself, Ms. Scharfeld is really excited to become a part of the community again. “So far all the students I have met have been great; they have all been super positive about being here to learn. The staff as well had been so supportive and welcoming. It’s overwhelmingly excited to work with a staff that is so dedicated and really wants to make this the best place for our students. “My personal goal for this year is to support teachers and students and having engaging learning opportunities. Opportunities that are rigorous but also really relevant to our students lives.”

In conclusion, Ms. Scharfeld is a super fun assistant principal.

She is excited to be here and is inspired to make our school

Vada

Mad An opportunity to get extra credit awaits for you...

The Multimedia and Arts Academy has a lot of new clubs going on this year which you could join. A new leadership class based on planning and organizing events, helping with the marketing, publicity and social media of the academy.

Other clubs like The Human Rights Club and The Female Rights club both hope to achieve the understanding of students on their rights by bringing guests speakers, promoting campaigns, etc. This year MAD students

better. We believe that Ms.Scharfeld will present the school with a new and unique voice that will improve the school and become an active part of the SBHS community.

will have the opportunity to work with a BBC journalist and a National documentarist to create a documentary based on Solitary Confinement.

Mad Academy is currently having AP prep track for MAD students to be prepared for future college classes.

There will be a Sophmore class trip coming up soon, as well as the Island trip where students get to explore and interact with the environment, the Mexico trip where MAD students make a big difference in people’s lives

will soon be happening as well. These trips always seem to be the highlight of the MAD xperience for they provide great life experience as well as bonding time amongst the class.

MAD Academy welcomes their new staff including Ms.Greig teaching English language AP, and Laura Garcia for part time office.

VADA is now on their second year of VADA’S 9th grade and welcomes every new student..An art class and an integrated English class, students do combined projects and collaborations between art and english. It used to be a 10th 11th and 12th program and now it’s all four years. Students will be going on field trips, doing team building and interact with each other.

There is a brand NEW advisory board. In order to get a head start on the students arts and design careers VADA’S industry

area is Arts Media and Entertainment, including community non profit organizations, the school district, who come together to support and advocate the program, helping the academy with curriculum developments so that students are truly getting ready for their projects and jobs that they’ll do after high school.

There is a new VADA student leadership council which is a way for VADA students to develop leadership, skills, etc.

After school workshops will be happening this fall on photography partener with the non-profit program called Arts For Humanity who have a network of artists so students learn from them, and make the most of it (5 to 6 weeks long).

VADA an MAD’s purpose is to bring art and design to the student’s classes so they feel in an environment of learning while doing what they like to do.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

NEWS | 5

THE FORGE

Computer Science Gets a Software Update

BY EMILY PETATAN AND GLORIA PEREZ

In 2011, a dedicated group of students in the Robotics club successfully lobbied for a full time, legitimate Computer Science Academy at SBHS. Following the success of MAD and VADA, SBHS principal Dr. John Beccio spearheaded such an academy, with Paul Muhl & Richard Johnston Computer science began with just three classes. When the program was first proposed, School board members voiced concerns about attractive enough girls to the program. Only 7% of the first three classes were female, so there was a pointed effort to “demystify software engineering,” said Paul Muhl, who was the first head of the Academy. Greater and greater numbers of young women are now taking computer science, and a club was even started for female programmers.

The new director of Computer Science, Richard Johnston, became the director in July of 2016. Mr. Johnston went to Ventura College then UCSB afterwards. Before becoming the Computer Science director, he taught exploring computer science, AP calculus, Pre-Cal with Python. He has been teaching since ’93. What Mr. Johnston likes about computer science is the creative aspect; you get the chance to create anything you want. If you have an idea you can sit down and develop it, taking your time to make the idea that you have, just right. As he said,” You may not get there right away, but you’ll get there eventually.” He also likes developing programs and putting them into practice. Some people like to be on the user side, where people tell them what they do and what they can’t do, he doesn’t like the confines of being told what he can do and what he can’t do. Mr. Johnston is, if you are interested in computer science, he recommends taking two of the classes the academy offers: exploring computer science and computational art. Keep on taking your math, language, and science, because if you can’t read, write, and math, it will be harder to understand computer science.

Joining Mr. Johnston in her first year at SBHS is Sky Adams is

a new teacher in the Computer Science Academy. Ms. Adams went to Brown University and received her major in computer science. She was a teacher’s assistant before and decided she wanted to be a teacher herself. She loves watching the students work together, socialize with one another, learn new things from each other.

From freshmen to seniors, it seems students really enjoy the Computer Science Academy. Not only do they like learning about computers, the students get to meet new people that have similar interest. Some of the things students learn are coding, the difference between software and hardware, and the difference between a website and a search engine. Computer Science offers many exciting opportunities due to the growing demand to fill computer and software engineering and design jobs.

The thing about computer science is the students can take control of their own education, which is a good aspect of computer science.

Students in Computer Science learn how the computer works,

the class is recommended if you want a job in some type of field in computer science. Each day students learn something new and interesting in computer science, like what makes the computer work and different types of computers. As one of the students said,“ Technology is getting advanced, it would be too complicated to work if we didn’t have the right tools.”

The percentage of females in the Computer Science Academy is 26% and they currently have 5 computer science courses and 8 periods of computer science. This Academy is for communication, teamwork, and finding people that share the same interest as you.

6 | NEWS

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

Meet This Years ASB Council Tatum Vestal

Brial Grivetti

Sam Johnson

Santa Barbara High School welcomes its new ASB second in command, Tatum Vestal. Tatum has been in ASB since her freshman year, and this year the ASB events she is most excited for are the end of the year senior activities such as: senior sunrise, prom, graduation, and grad night. Outside of ASB, Tatum participates in mock trial and is a captain for Varsity Cheer. As vice president she plans to take over if anything ever went wrong and get the job done.

Briel Grivetti has filled the position as this year’s ASB Secretary.

Briel has also been in ASB for three years, but she was also junior class secretary last year as well. Her activities outside of ASB include mock trial, psych counsel, and she fosters pugs. She is very excited for all the upcoming school events and expects the entire school to be very spirited and wants everyone to come out to our first varsity football home game on September 23 at seven o’clock.

Sam Johnson is Santa Barbara High School’s newest ASB Treasurer. This is Sam’s third year in ASB but this year he is ready to manage all our money. Besides ASB, he is also in cross country, track and field, psych counsel, and he is a boy scout.

Like Briel, he is very excited for all the football games but he is also eager for homecoming.

Tatum would like to tell SBHS: “I hope everyone has a great year!”

Sam would like to tell SBHS: “This school is pretty neat.”

Briel would like to tell SBHS: “I love Santa Barbara High School, and you should too.”

Tick Jellison & Emmett Rees

This years team of Pep and Rally is Tick Jellison and Emmett Rees.

Tick has been in ASB for three years, while Emmet has been an unoffical of ASB through his high school career. They both play on the football team, are in young republican club, and on lacrosse. However, Emmet also plays rugby, is on mock trial, and in JSA. They are excited for all the upcoming school events but especially for the rival basketball and football games against San Marcos, and expect to see everyone out there!

Tick and Emmett would like to tell SBHS: “Saturdays are for the boys.”

Things Overheard in the Hallway: “Shutup! Can you speak

Cant-

wonese? That’s what I thuoght. I am

“Did the Spaniard just correct my English?”

“I may be Phillipino but I know how to make guacamole”

ashamed to know you.”

“Are you saying that you never had belly “I often get the urge to bathe with my clothes on.”

“I dont know if my pants are cuffed to much or not nearly enough”

button lint? ”

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

THE FORGE

NEWS | 7

How Green Was my Valley A Conversation with Jose Caballero

BY MIRANDA ORTEGA Jose Caballero is the APES teacher here at SBHS and his greenhouse is now open! I asked him questions regarding him and his greenhouse.

MO: What interested you in Environmental Science?

JC: Whenever I would be outside with my grandfather he would always know the types of birds and the constellations. I used to notice life around me and I think if you spend a lot of time outside it’s all you really pick up on.

MO: Question 2: How are your garden and greenhouse doing this year?

JC: I have spent twelve years building a really functional but low budget system and I scabbed it all together with random donations and found materials and garbage, and hundreds of hours of student work. I now have this opportunity to start from zero and make it classy and long lasting but I’m underfunded. It’s not going really fast but it’s going to be really nice.

MO: Question 3: Has Your garden Changed from last year?

JC: Well, last year we had zero garden, last year it was a parking lot. This year it’s a parking lot with dirt. In the next few months we will add new dirt and we can start a winter garden.

MO: Question 4: Does anyone use your space?

JC: A lot of people use it, but just as a place to sit outside and that’s been really challenging. I want to share it but it really impacts me, it’s a working space. We keep things alive there, we raise seeds into plants. That’s really jeopardized when

other people don’t know how to participate in that process.

MO: Question 5: How has the drought affected your garden?

JC: Not at all. We’ve always been really conscious about our water use.

MO: Question 6: Has Your Program helped the school environment at all?

JC:We use very little water, we use drip irrigation, smart timers, our irrigation schedule is modified based on humidity, temperature, and rainfall.

MO: Question 6: What would you say to the students who want to join your zero period class?

JC: It’s important to know it’s not like any other classes, it’s just like a a big project we work on together. It takes a lot of personal initiative but it is very rewarding. I know the students who have taken it in the past remember it fondly and I have become friends with them.

Holle Leads Dons Net into a New Year

BY LILY CISEK One out of the many unique aspects of Santa Barbara High is the specialized academies and learning programs such as MAD, VADA and the computer sciences classes. However, one of our smaller programs is getting a slight facelift this year: Dons Net Café has hired a new teacher and adviser, Brandon Holle. I interviewed Mr. Holle to learn more about Dons Net Café and what he plans to add to our proud DNC program.

DNC is essentially a business school, or Virtual Enterprise program, within our high school where students get to learn about business, and how to run one. “Students are organized into different departments such as marketing, sales, accounting, HR, and design. Each student has a job title such as Payroll Manager, VP of Marketing, CEO, etc. The class is run like a business. Students get the hands-on experience to succeed in business in the real world and in college,” Mr. Holle says. Students have the chance to apply what they’ve learned into real world situations like the VITA Program. The VITA Program is when Dons Net Café students can do free taxes for mem-

bers of the community who can’t afford to pay a CPA (Certified Public Accountant.) Students walk into class everyday as if it is a real company with working employees. Mr. Holle explains, “We will hold department meetings to organize and delegate projects and participate in brainstorming sessions to create new business ideas.”

Mr. Holle himself was in a Virtual Enterprise program at his high school, so when he saw the job opening here at SBHS, he knew he had to take it. “Both of my parents are teachers and my grandparents were college professors, so you could say teaching is in my blood.” Being able to teach a specialized program like DNC is both a challenge and a privilege. Since the curriculum is so focused, and not all teens brains work the same way, there is a lot of explaining and changing the method of teaching. But Mr. Holle gets to know every student and how they learn on a deeper level, which makes the student-teacher bond strong and the teaching/learning easier on everyone.

Mr. Holle explains that his goal for the students is that they learn all the business skills they may need to be successful in the future. Although he is a new teacher, he plans to stay true to

the roots of Dons Net Café: doing well in their national competitions and creating business plans. “I want Santa Barbara to become one of the elite Virtual Enterprise programs in the state.”

Mr. Holle describes as another one of his goals for our humble program. DNC will also continue to run their personal businesses at school like Design N Cut, creating Dons spirit t-shirts and other Dons gear, and selling snacks to students from the Student Store during passing period.

Dons Net Café, as well as our other academies, is a place where students kind find their own passion and drive. Being in a smaller academy within a larger school can help students meet people who have the same interests and have a steady safe space with both friends and teachers who support you through your high school career. As our larger art academies grow and grow, Dons Net Café is also on an upward slope to being one of our most successful in-school programs to date.

8 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

Recently at the Santa Barbara County Bowl...

Journey

Jackson Browne

BY WILLIAM BLONDELL

BY HANNAH ZIOUANI

Last weekend on the 27th of August, I was lucky enough to attend the Jackson Browne concert at the Santa Barbara bowl. Although I was an outsider in a crowd of Middle-aged adults reliving their teenage years, I was glad to experience an entirely new crowd and feel different vibes than I’m used to. As Browne began to sing, the crowd slowly lit up with excitement and soon enough everyone was on their feet dancing and raising their hands as if they were in high school again. Browne sure has a way of creating a spark in any audience he performs to, according to multiple audience members that had quite a lot of questions to ask about my age & reason for being there. Overall it was an eye opening experience and I’d be glad to attend another one of his concerts.

On Thursday, September 10th I went to Journey at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

Journey is a band that was made popular in the 80’s, with hit songs such as “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Lights.” Going in to the concert I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t heard many of their songs besides “Don’t Stop Believing,” and I had never been a huge fan of that song to begin with. I was, however, pleasantly surprised when they played numerous hits that I had never thought were Journey. A concert that I thought would have been filled with nostalgic roadies and the real life Penny Lanes of the 80’s , turned out to have a vibrant young crowd. After a number of good songs and instrumentals from various band members, the night came to an end with enormous plumes of confetti blasted into the air. I am glad I went; my expectations were proven wrong, and I had a great night listening to a band that was never of much meaning to me, but is now featured on my Spotify playlist.

It's A Live (Performance)! The Halls Are Alive With The Sound of Rap Music

BY QUINN TUBUILO

The drama geeks are at it again (and I mean that in the most affectionate of ways). This autumn, the Santa Barbara High School Drama Department is putting Mel Brooks’ classic on the surprisingly large high school theater stage.

For those of you who didn’t know, Young Frankenstein is a 1974 comedy-horror film directed by Mel Brooks.

Mel Brooks is a guy who used to be really famous (ask your parents if you don’t know what I’m talking about). It’s kind of like Frankenstein, only instead of being frightening and demonstrative of the dangers of playing God, it

depicts a comical variation of Mary Shelley’s story with an intellectually impaired (that is the PC term now, right?) reanimated corpse.

Of course, the school’s version will probably be much more entertaining than my crappy description, so you should probably just go see the play, or at least watch the movie.

Young Frankenstein will be directed by, wait for it, Otto Layman. For those of you who don’t know, Otto Layman has worked at Santa Barbara High School for more than twenty years and the guy really knows what the hell he’s doing with all this play stuff.

ASB President Ben Zevallos is set to star as Fredrick

Frankenstein. Supporting cast members include William Blondell, Hazel Brady, Lily Linz, Tyler Dahneke, Drewes McFarling, Cai Norton, Dan Allen, and Sarina Wasserman.

Young Frankenstein opens on November 4 at 7:00 PM. Plays at this school are a pretty big freakin’ deal so there’s really no way you’ll miss it.

For more showtimes and information, go to sbhstheatre. com or do it the old-fashioned way and call (805)-9669101, extension 5209. Tickets go on sale October 15. This is the part where I’m supposed to include a really cheesy pun about Frankenstein, but I think I’ll skip that part. So just be there, or be square.

BY BRIAN CHRISTENSEN Okay gang, the time has come again for me to start a storm regarding something that bothers me and countless people I know. So board up your windows and prepare yourself.

This issue has been bothering me since my freshman year of highschool and I refuse to continue my highschool career with this un addressed. So what is this “problem” I am speaking of?

Well, It involves you kids and your fancy bluetooth speakers.

When I walk down the hallway subjected to blasting rap music chalked full of obscenities and abominations to the English language, I can feel

my brain cells slowly committing suicide one by one. And let me tell you here folks, brain cell seppuku is very painful.

What boggles my mind is that when SBHS staff walk by and hear songs filled with words that would get me expelled if I were to speak; they care not. We live in a world where if I slip up and say a PG13 rated word, I am crucified to the end of my life. But when a student walks past Becchio with a 200 dollar speaker from Brookstone spitting disgusting objectifications of women and drug references, no one bats an eye. Sure I listen to my fair share of annoying music, and I do in fact own a very loud Bluetooth speaker. But I do not subject everyone else

to thrash metal and post hardcore punk. I use headphones like a respectful human.

So the next time you want to bump it to some Yweezus, consider the people trying to enjoy their lunch in peace who all want to throw your bloody speaker into a wood chipper.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

THE FORGE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | 9

Coming To America

BY MARTI FORNELLS AND ALISHA MERGALIYEVA

Hi, everyone! My name is Alisha and I’m international student from Kazakhstan (located between China and Russia).

I came to California one month ago, but I still remember my first impression about it. First thing, I noticed was how modern and helpful LAX was compared to airports in Kazakhstan.

My name is Marti Fornells and I’m a Junior. I’m from Barcelona and I have a younger brother and my whole family lives there. I love playing sports and computer games.

In November of 2015 we contacted with a friends of my parents that live in Santa Barbara to ask them if I could come to the USA for the entire summer, and after a couple of weeks they said why don’t you come for the school year. After that we started all the process with ICES my exchange program.

Second thing, that I’ve noticed about America is how kind people are. Here I feel like I can always ask someone for help, but in Kazakhstan I’m never sure about that. In my opinion, the biggest problem in Kazakhstan are people. For example, in Kazakhstan we use two official languages: Russian and Kazakh. Russian language is an East Slavic language and Kazakh is Turkic language. And sometimes it gets hard for me to understand someone speaking Kazakh, so when I ask this person to speak Russian usually I get a rude answer, that accuses in not valuing our language and culture. But I do value us as a nation, sometimes it’s just hard for me to switch over from one language to another, because except kazakh I also speak 2 more languages.

After a lot of interviews and medical evaluations to make sure that I really wanted to come here, and that I don’t have any illness. I went to the American embassy in Madrid to apply for my VISA. The day before I left my family and my friends had a party for me.

After 16 hours in a plane I finally arrived at LAX and my host family was waiting for me at the airport, but before that I sad in a room for 6 hours getting asked questions. The day after I got here we went to the cinema and I fell asleep watching Jason Bourne new movie. The first two days in Santa Barbara I was in my room sleeping all the time. On Wednesday I went to the pools in UCSB. In the weekend I went to yogurt land, it tasted so good.

However, there is a lot of things that I am going to miss about Kazakhstan. For example, our national holidays, such as “Nauriz” (kazakh’s New Year; celebrated on 21st-22nd of March) or “Kozy Korpesh, Bayan Sulu” (it represents american’s Valentine’s day; celebrated on 15th of April). In Kazakhstan we have a national food, like beshbarmak ( plain dough cooked in onion water, topped with some horse meat and lamb), baursaki (plain dough fried in oil; it is considered to be our national bread) and zhent (millet groats mixed with some honey, butter and sugar; it’s one of our national desserts).

Going to school in Santa Barbara is very different from Spain, it is so much better here. My first day of school was great, I liked the teachers and the students, they are really nice.

Everything is great, but the sad thing is that I’ll not see my friends and my family for a year and that makes me sad.

I have learned so much in the short amount of time I have been here, and I know that I’ll never forget this experience that I’m living right now.

Coming to America is one of the biggest I’ve made so far.

Although sometimes I miss Kazakhstan, I am really happy about being here. When I came to USA I understood, that we are all able to make our own decisions on our own, USA is a country, that gives you opportunities and all you have to do is just try and use them.

Ladies’ View on Upcoming Election

BY LILY CISEK

With the 2016 presidential election looming just around the corner, many people at or above the age of 18 are urged to make a final decision on who they will vote for in November. And although many of us at SBHS aren’t eligible to vote, we are all aware that no matter who gets elected, history will be made.

One of the most exciting parts of this election for women across America is the female candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Feminism is a very large movement in our generation, as well as many other generations, so seeing a female candidate get this far in the presidential race is pleasing and satisfying to young women who have been standing up for themselves for years.

Breaking the glass ceiling and crushing gender roles have been just a few of the challenging tasks feminists have been working on for years. Us young women have many strong female role models like Malala Yousafzai or Beyonce but seeing America’s first female president could spark inspiration in women of all ages. But does everyone agree that Clinton is the ideal future president? We asked the students of SBHS for their opinions.

One female student said, “I support Hillary more because I

support women’s rights. I’m definitely more liberal and I think Hillary is more accepting of people than Trump. I don’t think the candidates are that great this year but if i had to choose it would be Clinton.”

Another said, “I support Clinton. Not by personal choice, but because there’s no way I’d vote for someone so hateful and just flat out uneducated like Trump. I hate the fact that I have to resort, in a sense, to Hillary even though I can’t vote.”

According to another, “I started as a Bernie supporter, but because that didn’t exactly work out, I’ve become a Hillary supporter. I favor her ideas over Trumps.

Of course I’m excited for some equality in jobs, but no one should be voting for her (Hillary) just based on the fact that she is a woman.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, another student says, “Personally I actually support Trump. I guess not ‘support’ but I would prefer him over Hillary because if we elect Trump, then we could veto his ideas and laws and essentially put him out of office.”

Bring on the Veggies

By LILY CISEK

Something in common with teens of all walks of life is diet. Teens tend to like junk food: burgers, fries, pizza or candy. Yet some teens adopt a more difficult diet to keep, like being a vegetarian or vegan. These diets are already expensive to maintain outside of school, so how do students maintain them AT school?

Going off campus for lunch is one thing, but some students at SBHS can only afford a cafeteria lunch. This is hard for vegetarian students seeing that there are little to no vegetarian lunch options in the cafeteria. Salads and burritos contain chicken and the sandwiches contain ham, turkey and salami. There could be ways to move around this, like picking the meat out of the food, but why should they have to? The Student Store and cafeterias fruit smoothies are one of the only vegetarian options around campus and even then, they’re not vegan. Veganism is a very compli-

cated and hard to keep diet; no animal product at all. This means no milk, eggs, cheese, or meat. We can safely say that there is nothing on campus that is completely vegan other than the fruit that they hand out at lunch.

One vegetarian student says, “I can pack my own lunch and bring it to school, so I don’t have it as hard as other people. But yes, it would be easier if I could just buy my lunch from school instead of packing one everyday.”

Another student says, “I know there are vegans at SBHS, so I think whoever is in control of what is served during breakfast, nutrition and lunch should try and at least serve some fresh, healthy fruits or veggies.” This also brings up the topic of general healthy eating in teens. Eating vegetables and fruit keep the mind sharp and awake, compared to things like pizza which makes students groggy and tired.

People have meat restrictive diets for many reasons, like taking care of their personal health or their idea of what is morally right and many people, including parents

Teens and young adults have become more and more open minded as time goes on but, most of us are educated enough to recognize what we believe in and support who we trust will be the right leader for our country. As most of the students can agree, neither Trump or Clinton are the ideal future president. People either think Trump is too extreme or want a female president but not Hillary. Our country is at a standstill in anticipation for this election and only time will tell how our opinions change and adapt as the election comes closer.

concerned for their child’s health, often don’t respect or support a meatless diet. Often a meatless diet means a lack of proper nutrition, people aren’t getting a sufficient amount of protein or daily vitamins but, it has its benefits as well. Eating less meat means lowering blood pressure and staying energized throughout the day. Some students are smart enough to know that if they have a sport fifth or sixth period to eat a healthy snack or lunch before hand so they don’t feel sick while working out. But others, who maybe lack self control, have more unhealthy options than healthy ones.

As our generation’s version of the new age hippy lifestyle continues to grow, organizations around us will have to adapt as well, possibly even schools. Who knows if or when this craze will blow over, but all in all we should support people’s chosen and mandatory diets as best we can.

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THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

The Donettes are Back!

Dancers Hope to Improve on Fourth Place Finish

BY QUINCY RUGGIERI After having the entire summer to relax potential dancers returned to SBHS for the 2016-2017. Last season dance team had some success at the Six Flags dance competition (where they placed 4th in their division), but the dancers hope to do even better this year. The returning coaches, Tamarr Paul and Ashley Ayers, are determined to win first place in all competitions this year. Given the obvious talent here at SBHS, with the right amount of dedication and determination the Dons Dance Team should be able to place higher in competitions and perform at more school events.

Dance Team, a seventh period elective requires students to audition. The process takes place over a two day period, where students first learn the dance, and then perform the piece they have learned. Dancers have to come up with their own 20 second freestyle piece, in addition to the choreography they learn from the team’s coaches. Auditions are extremely nerve-racking and competitive, but everyone is very supportive and positive. At the end of the initial audition, dancers must stay for callbacks, which take an additional hour on the last day of try-outs.

Last dance season the team travelled to Downey, CA to the “Street Dance USA” competition. This year, the coaches would like to travel to the same “Street Dance USA” competition, but this time it’s in Las Vegas, Nevada! Besides competitions, dance team performs numerous times at SBHS and locally. They perform their hip-hop routines at school events like football games, basketball games, and pep rallies.

Around Christmas, students can spot the dance

team in the Christmas Parade performing alongside the SBHS Marching Band. Dance Team also performs with Mrs. Goldman’s dance production class in the Winter Showcase and Spring Dance Concert. Dance production is a class for intermediate/advanced dancers who are trained in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and other genres.

Dance Team finished the 2015-2016 school year with 12 members, and this year they’re starting strong with 18 incredible dancers. This year’s SBHS Dons Dance Team includes: Dan-

iela Jimenez, Dalia Santana, Taylor Campbell, Emily Dennett, Martha Resendiz, Stephanie Lopez, Rebeca Adam, Alondra Gatica, Maria Reyes, Melissa Perez, Alyssa Pegueros, Wendy Macias, Judith Leon, Quincy Ruggieri, Vanessa Alfaro, Estefania Cruz, Joslyn Butcher, and Esperanza Gonzales. This year’s team captain is Daniela Jimenez (senior) and her co-captain is Melissa Perez (junior). Both girls are excited to build a bond with everyone on the team and to make Dance Team stronger than ever. Seniors Daniela Jimenez, Dalia Santana, Taylor Campbell, Emily Dennett, Martha Resendiz, Stephanie Lopez, Rebeca Adam, Alondra Gatica, and Maria Reyes are all sad to leave, but ready to go out with a bang.

“I’m excited for this year because it’s my senior year and I want to make an impact on this team.

Also I’m excited to bond with all my teammates and perform with them,” said senior Taylor Campbell.

“I’m excited since it’s my senior year and I get to have an unforgettable experience with my teammates who share the same love for dance as me. I’m also excited to participate and perform more in school activities,” Stephanie Lopez, also a senior.

“I’m excited to create a strong bond with the team and to be able to watch each other grow. As a senior, I’m very excited to leave a legacy for the younger generations. Here’s to the team, here’s to a year of excellence!” added Alondra Gatica.

Congratulations to those who made the team.

Good luck this season, girls! If you didn’t get in this year, don’t be discouraged and please try out again next year.

THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

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SPORTS 11

SBHS Goes Gold

BY CORRICK E. NOTON Every four years, towards the end of summer, 206 countries come together and compete against each other. Each country presents its best athletes who go on to become a source inspiration for the next generation of great athletes.

Here at Santa Barbara High we have a rich tradition of Olympic Athletes including Karach Kiraly, Kami Craig, and Vashti Cunnigham who have inspired the next generation talented Santa Barbara athletes.

Sofia Dipadova plays volleyball and is a part of track and field. She said Kelsey Robinson from the USA Olympic volleyball team was one of her inspirations because “She makes her teammates better with her positive and supportive attitude.” When asked how she thought volleyball was at the Olympic Games this summer she said, “I thought volleyball was played extremely well this year! All the teams had insane pride for their sport and hearing all the origin stories from the players made me form connections with them.”

Maile Is, a competitive gymnast, is freshman at SBHS. Simone Biles is one of her main inspirations. In case you didn’t know, Simone Biles is an American artistic gymnast, she is arguably one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, She won 5 gold medals at the Olympics including 4 individual medals, and has won a combined total of 19 Olympic and world championship medals. She’s 4’9 and took the title of most decorated American gymnast, a title that had been held

by Shannon Miller since 1996. She’s also the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and Olympic Games. So she’s definitely someone

to be inspired by.

“I thought gymnastics was amazing this year, our team won by five points so that was really exciting. I also loved how we had a girl on each event who was really strong and talented making the all-round the best it could be.” said Maile.

Most people love the Olympics. It’s a source of entertainment and inspiration. Margaret Light, an English teacher here at SBHS, has a very different opinion however. She decided to boycott the IOC (international Olympic committee) this summer by not watching the Olympics. I interviewed her to find out why. “Right before the Olympics started, my husband and I watched a segment on HBO. It was an investigative report done by three reporters who went into an IN depth investigation of the IOC. Their reports outlined corruption to level of blood on the IOC’s hands at the former Olympics in Russia and China, and the suffering and aftermath of those Olympic Games. The people who built the Olympic stadiums and the people who died building it just to appease the IOC’s demands was absolutely outrageous. I turned to my husband and said that I couldn’t, with good conscious, watch the Olympics knowing that there is blood on the podium where the award the medals. I don’t however insult the athletes, the athletes perform at many competitions all throughout the year. Those competitions should be elevated to greater value because the Olympics have really just be-

come a means by which the IOC and the heads of mainly dictatorial government make a lot of money. For example all the promises made to the Brazilian people at the start of the Rio Olympics and how none of the promises were fulfilled.

To me, to applaud the Olympics and what those podiums represent, I just couldn’t do it.”

As you can see there are a lot of different opinions on the Olympics, but we often forget that the Olympics is really a way to bring 206 countries together and watch amazing people perform amazing feats. The Olympics may now be associated with doping scandals, athletes lying, and corruption.

But at its core, the Olympics should be about unison, respect and sportsmanship.

Boys Water Polo Hopes to Make Big Splash Varsity Tournament Kicks off 2016 Season

BY ANTONIA ALONSO Boys varsity water polo took on Campolindo last week in their second game of the tournament. Senior, Sawyer Rhodes scored a five meter penalty in the first minute and a half of the first quarter to take a lead by one, but Campolindo High was able to score a goal right after. Yet, not even a minute later Rhodes took another five meter penalty, making it 2-1. Two minutes later, Junior Evan Blix stole the ball for a turnover and was able to get it to Rhodes who was at about half, he took the shot and made it, leading the game 3-1. Both teams were doing great on offense and defense but Campolindo was able to tie up the game 3-3. Only a minute was left in the quarter when the Dons were awarded a five meter, Rhodes took it and made it, leading the game 4-3. Amazingly, with only fourteen seconds left in the first quarter, Sawyer took his fourth five meter penalty and made it, changing the score to 5-3.

Two minutes into the second quarter, senior, Adam Gross, took a great shot and made it, helping the team lead 6-3.

One minutes later, senior, Jack Rottman scored his first goal of the game, making it 7-3. Both teams swam back and forth from offense to defense and Campolindo was able to get in some very difficult hard shots to block and manage to get ahead by one goal but Jack Rottman managed to tie the score 8-8, two minutes into the third quarter. A minute later Rottman got his third goal in, leading 9-8. Goalie blocked a very hard shot to the corner with 45 seconds left in the third quarter to keep the score 9-8. Right before the third quarter ended, Campolindo managed to get a shot in, tying the game.

A minute into the the fourth quarter, Rottman shot blocked a very strong shot, keeping the score 9-9.

With less than three minutes left in the game, Campolindo was ahead by two goals but Sawyer took his fifth five meter and made his sixth goal, making the score 11-10. The boys lost the very close game 11-10.

Come out and support our boys varsity waterpolo team! Walsh has worked vey hard to prepare his team to win channel league against San Marcos and Dos Pueblos-- two very strong oppossing teams. Those will be some of the last games the senior boys have together, so let’s make them count! Go SBHS!

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THE FORGE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016