The Forge, Volume 103, Issue 5

THE FORGE Vol. 103 No. 5

SANTA BARBARA HIGH SCHOOL - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017 Winter Formal Video Cancelled The End of a Dons Tradition? | p. 3

Artist of the Month Cemre Wows Santa Barbara High with Powerful Art | p. 9

Est. 1914 Women March for Equal Rights A look into the global movment | p. 3

In The Year of Living Dangerously MOTN and Hamilton in the Year of Trump

SBHS Dominates 10-10-10 Six SBHS seniors chosen to participate in this years film festival competition | p. 7 Actors of Music of the Night perform Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton| Photo Courtesy of Lia Garcia

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FEBRUARY 3, 2017

SBHS Freshman Elections: A Tradition of Civic Education

THE FORGE STAFF

2016 - 2017

BY HANNAH ZIOUANI

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

The SBHS freshman student election has been a complicated road for a few students.

Competing for change, and hope, every single one of them has put up a good fight.

EDITORS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sarina Wasserman

The presidential candidates consisted of Zoe Solis, Coleman Mortensen, and Alisha Mergaliyeva.

While only one stood in the vice presidential run, Jacqueline Estrada, she still spoke some very inspirational words to the voters.

LAYOUT EDITORS Lily Cisek Quincy Ruggieri Chloe Shaar Sarina Wasserman

NEWS EDITOR Lily Cisek

Curious, I went out to interview all of the candidates. My first, Coleman. Coleman made it clear that he wanted to run in the first place due to his involvement in past school elections. Obviously confident, Coleman stated that he was not really nervous, because the whole thing to him is an overall fun experience. His goal is to make freshmen more involved and the school more noticed.

off the bat I noticed how persistent she was, starting off with saying “I’ve ran in the past, and I didn’t get it, so I was motivated to run again.” Estrada explained how she was feelin’ some nerves due to never really having experience in the position. Don’t be afraid to vote for Jacqueline, her goal is to make sure every student is comfortable in high school, no exceptions.

The second person I interviewed was the Vice President candidate, Jacqueline Estrada. Right

The next candidate I was lucky enough to talk to, was Alisha Mergaliyeva, from Russia. Having a lot on her mind, Alisha was my longest interview. Alisha had

lots to say about bringing more people together in our school life like having events including picnics, bonfires, and even parties.

Alisha was not nervous because she is aware that any candidate who wins, will run the freshman class in good hands. Her goal? To make sure every student becomes excited to come to school each morning.

her position in that would impact or kind of give her an advantage if she were to steal the president spot.

Zoe was nervous because she happened to be running against one of her best friends! In conclusion, Zoe wants all of the freshman to have more focus on them throughout all of the classman and to have more of a voice in ASB.

Last but definitely not least, I interviewed Zoe Solis. Seemingly in a rush, Zoe did not have much to say, but it sure got me excited. Zoe is a part of ASB, so she thought

All of the candidates had tons of words of wisdom to project and I guarantee the winner will not let us down.

Upcoming Events at SBHS

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Chloe Shaar

SPORTS EDITOR Quincy Ruggieri

OPINION EDITOR

SB vs SM Basketball Game: February 3

Lily Cisek

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

Winter Formal: February 25

ADVISOR

Pep Rally: March 3

Otto Layman

Talent Show: March 9 Comic by: Kieran Meaney

Medal of Freedom Awarded to Biden in Emotional Ceremony

BY THE FORGE STAFF

On Thursday, January 12 the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, awarded Joe Biden, former vice president of the United States, with the presidential medal of freedom. Although the ceremony was extremely emotional because we had to let go of, in our opinion one of the best vice presidents in our nation’s history, it was also a great moment because of the honor behind the award. Before becoming our

vice president, Biden served 36 years as a US senator from Delaware. Biden then was elected as our vice president for eight years alongside President Barack Obama. A few weeks ago, there were rumors that Biden would be running for president in 2020, but these rumors were quickly put down by Biden himself.

Of course we were all a bit disappointed to hear this, but Biden definitely needs some vacation time from running the country.

Joe Biden will

be greatly missed, but we have Instagram to thank for keeping his legacy alive. Many memes have been created revolving around Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s epic friendship. Thanks, Biden, we look forward to seeing what you do in the future.

ASB President Benny Z with the man himself, Joe Biden.

Green is the New White: Gown Colors Change at SBHS

BY BEN ZEVALLOS

There has been a large degree of controversy regarding the apparel all you seniors will be sporting on graduation day, and though it might seem like this upcoming policy involving gown colors is unnecessary, detrimental to our school’s values, and even harmful to our everlasting affinity to tradition, I’d like to assure all of you that creating a ceremony with a single gown robe color is not as damaging as you think, and only promotes unification in our community of Dons.

At Santa Barbara High School, we pride ourselves on our exceptional values and historical integrity.

Founded in 1875, this school holds an expansive history; a

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FEBRUARY 3, 2017

history and tradition that by no means should be sacrificed or compromised in any way.

With that being said, we all recognize that the times are changing. Our nation has undergone significant changes when it comes to the unalienable rights all should be granted, and the unconditional freedom of self-expression that everyone should be allowed.

Our awareness of individuals and demographics of people unjustifiably persecuted in our society by harmful institutions - alienating those who are “different” - has only grown.

Last year, with a wonderful display of inclusivity and acceptance, Santa Barbara High School elected a

Video X’d: No one’s Talking

transgender Prom King and Queen. By disregarding all predispositions of a cliche high school environment, SBHS and the students themselves stood above the accustomed norm, threw aside the archaic principles of strict gender interpretations, and rose to new heights.

BY SARINA WASSERMAN

Even though we are switching to a single gown color for graduation, it does not mean that a tradition is dying. Rather, a beautiful aspect of unity has once again arisen in our campus, and it is with the coalesced student body that so naturally exhibits Santa Barbara High’s definitive quality of togetherness that we will rise to new heights in social activism once more.

The legendary music videos, consistently filled with professionally recorded tracks, beautiful cinematography, and masterfully crafted lyrics publicizing school dances are an enduring and beloved tradition at Santa Barbara High School. The tradition that has existed for the past 10 ten years, continuing to bring joy students and faculty alike, has been stopped in its tracks this year! According to a source from ASB, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, the administration has put a halt on the production of this year’s Winter Formal video, deeming it unfit for public release for reasons not disclosed. As winter formal season rolls around each year, students from all grades

look forward to enjoying this iconic SBHS tradition.

2017 should not be labeled the year it ALL CAME CRASHING DOWN. A key quality that this school is known for is the inherent trust placed in each and every student to become the best they can be without the constant supervision and meddling of adults. Are we becoming San Marcos?

When did this intrinsic, trust-filled relationship between student/faculty and administration vanish, and what can we do to mend this broken bond? Shouldn’t we all come to the table and find a way through this? Perhaps just those that were behind causing this long standing tradition to vanish should be penalized and not the ENTIRE STUDENT BODY.

Mystery in Room 31: Forge Vandalized by Heartless Bandits

BY BRIAN CHRISTENSEN

It’s been a difficult winter for all of us. Several beloved celebrities have been lost to the expected misfortune of old age, and as you all know our new president has taken his seat in the oval office.

And you know… Trump. With all

this weighing on our minds, the Forge staff walks into room thirtyone on a cold winter’s morning to find an empty space on the wall where our television used to sit. We also discovered that our computers have all “mysteriously disappeared”.

So putting two and two together, I have come to the conclusion that

a criminal mastermind blinded by political rage broke in and stole the Forges expensive belongings. We have spoken to campus security as well as the law and they are supposedly “working on it”. So at the moment, we are without the technological resources in which we use to power Forge related

operations. So with all the being said, I bring you this; if our so called “Criminal Mastermind” is reading I ask that you find a way to return said items. Because believe it or not, stealing from an already underfunded program negatively affects hardworking people. So if any of you have leads on this mysterious

hyst come find me. Any information (or someone turning in the stolen items) would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any information please contact us at sbhsforge.2016@gmail. com

Tying Up Loose Ends: Senioritis Women Take to the Streets:

BY LILY CISEK

Although we’re barely through the first semester, the daily morning announcements have been constantly reminding our seniors about things such as ordering graduation gowns and finishing up college applications. I know what you’re thinking, isn’t it a little early for the seniors to be preparing for their escape into the real world? At first you might think it is, but when you think seriously about it, the end of the year is coming quickly for us SBHS students and it’s a huge deal for those Dons heading off to college. The end of senior year not only means the start of college but also the start of bigger responsibilities and bigger opportunities. And even slight mentions of yearbook sales and college application deadlines give seniors all the reason to be excited for their last hurrah at SBHS.

The biggest wakeup call for the seniors was the graduation cap and

gown purchases; buying the thing that symbolizes the end of your career at SBHS. I mean, yes, the seniors still have tons of tests to take and notes to do but is the mention of graduation sparking a feeling of senioritis within our students? Seniors are also reminded that their senior quotes (also known as the string of words you will be known for for the rest of eternity) are due and that yearbook prices are slowly going up as we speak. The seniors have already placed their Senior Poll votes on the school website, another way for Dons to share with their children how they may or may not have peaked in high school. It seems like the rush for yearbook finalizations are hitting us quickly.

But, the most important senior class predicament is the constant reminder to turn in those college applications. Teachers and other student leaders are constantly reminding students that their future depends on those three pages of your college essay, and which boxes you ticked when

filling out the “Background and Homelife” section of your application. Although most seniors have submitted their applications and have already started hearing back from colleges all over the U.S., some scholarships are still available, such as The Dons Pride scholarship.

The staff and faculty here at SBHS know that money can be tight for almost anyone and want to help pay for your well deserved secondary education, so go out and see if you apply for any available scholarships.

Seniors, although your time at SBHS is coming to an end, remember that you’ve still got a few months left to make more memories, meet new people and appreciate this amazing high school you got to attend. You still have projects to work on and homework to do, so don’t disappoint your teachers.

They still expect you to be the smart and talented group you are, even if you’re steadily dreading the sound of that 8:00 AM bell.

Don’t let that nasty case of senioritis get the best of you.

“We will not be Quiet”

BY MIRANDA ORTEGA

Women took center stage all over the world on January 21, galvanized by a grass roots movement, marching on Washingto n to express their concerns and solidarity, only one day after the inauguration of our new president. Similar marches sprang up all over the world, from Australia to England to France, and all across the United States, including Los Angeles, which alone drew an estimated 750,000 people. Add up all the marches all over the world, and more than three million people took to the streets.

Why did so many women march? I think there is a tremendous sense uncertainty, here in the US and around the world. Women are worried they will lose control over their bodies, and maybe fall further behind men when it comes to equal pay for equal work, or be deported, or separated from their children. The words and actions of the new US administration are definitely frightening for many women.

The video footage of the marches I watched on the Internet were inspiring examples, not only of people power, but of the human right of expression. After the inauguration I think people needed to express themselves, and to feel a sense

of connection and shared purpose. That was good, but I wonder if the marches will change anything. Can one march -- no matter how big -- really change the minds of our political leaders? I guess we will see if the march becomes a movement, if women can continue to be seen and heard.

Whatever happens, on January 21, I was proud of all the marchers, including my mom and dad who participated in the march down in LA. I am so happy to be a girl and watch this revolutionary movement happen. I feel that there is a sense of hope for the future since people my age will be able to vote in 2020. It may be a man’s world still, but when women stand together I have the feeling that a whole world of possibilities opens up.

Photo Courtesy: www.womensmarch.com

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New Semester: A Transfer Students’ Perspective

BY ANTONIA ALONSO It’s a new year, which means a new semester, which ALSO means that we are halfway through the school year, YAY! SBHS students should be grateful that we don’t have a whole new set of classes like San Marcos, it’s kind of a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because we still have a chance to improve ourselves and we do not have to get used to a different

semester of subjects, but a curse because we still have those classes we cannot wait to finish. Hopefully, by now we have all gotten used to our classes and know what we have to do in order to excel in them.

If you did not end this semester with the grades you had hoped for, you still have this whole new semester to get on track and show those colleges that you can improve and handle

your classes. Colleges love seeing improvement. If you ended this semester with great grades, keep it up and rock this second semester.

I know that quite a few of us got our schedules switched around, causing unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Hopefully you did not get switched out of the class you had with that cute guy/girl or put into the same class with the person you have been

trying to avoid. If you did, just look on the bright side and make the best out of it; the universe has a funny way of working things out.

Remember that you survived the first semester, so you can definitely manage the second one.

It is crazy how there are only five months left until the school year ends and five months until the seniors graduate and head off to

college. It’s months until the juniors become seniors, sophomores become juniors, and freshmen are no longer freshmen. It is bittersweet knowing that the next few months are going to fly by, but there are still many exciting events coming our way so let’s have a magnificent second semester.

Bigly Brother Is Watching You Tremendously

BY QUINN TUBIOLO

On January 20th, President-elect Trump officially became President Trump. Among the many other obligations and privileges that go hand in hand with being officially inaugurated into the Oval Office, Trump was granted control over the largest network of surveillance systems that the world has ever known. Not only is this sort of unsettling because we know President Trump well enough to know that he will inevitably misuse the power vested in him to target anyone he doesn’t like or sees as an obstacle to him achieving his goals (examples of people he doesn’t like and has already taken action against include Muslims and Mexicans), but he’ll do so without even thinking about it. Now would be a superb time for us to go over what this means for us and how it came to be this way.

Thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden, a former operative of the CIA and private contract-hacker, today we know a lot more about the government’s massive network of spyware than we did even five years ago.

Snowden went public about the NSA’s unconstitutional surveillance of the American people in 2013.

Unfortunately, because the United States government doesn’t like when people reveal their misdoings, Snowden is now an official fugitive.

Currently, Snowden resides in a

Moscow hotel room due to the fact that Russia is one of the only nations in the world willing to harbor such a high-profile American fugitive. Unfortunately, Trump has stated multiple times that under his administration he intends to “bring Snowden to justice” for his so-called treason.

Based on information that Snowden shared with the Guardian back in 2013, the vast growth of the NSA and CIA began immediately after 9/11. As the people of the United States sought to unite against a common enemy, the Bush Administration took advantage of their fear and hatred directed at terrorists in order to justify pushing new kinds of restrictions on travel and tighter security regulations in airports. At the time, Americans were too distracted by the looming threat posed by terrorism to pay attention as the US government began to establish laws that would later enable them to monitor everyone in the United States freely without warrants or cause for doing so. The most notable of these laws was the Patriot Act. Passed under Bush only a month after 9/11, the Patriot Act granted government agencies (mainly the CIA and NSA) new and unprecedented amounts of access to citizens’ electronic data and records. Over the course of the Bush presidency, their access grew and by the time Obama took office the US government had established countless databases and

watch-lists containing the names of thousands of normal Americans (whom the government had deemed somehow suspicious for a variety of unexplained and baseless reasons).

Under Obama, the NSA and the CIA continued to grow and gain more power to spy on citizens of the United States without restrictions.

Warrants are issued by secret, unregulated courts and therefore anyone suspected of involvement with any kind of anti-American organization or activities can be monitored and arrested without a fair trial as is promised by the Constitution. This includes people like journalists and family members of high-profile business-people (simply because they may have ties to people who may be involved with some maybe sketchy stuff).

The one redeeming factor that has prevented the rise of a fascist super state of Orwellian proportions thus far has been the fact that the whole thing has been under the control of a person capable of rational thought and who had some political awareness. Now, however, the whole system has found its way under the control of someone who can’t be trusted with a Twitter account. Your phone is tapped. Your church may be bugged. Everything you do is written down by a supercomputer so that if you ever become a threat to the status quo, those in power know everything about you. No matter who you are, you are being watched.

There is no escaping the cold, hard reality that our government cannot be trusted with the extensive power that it currently holds. While I may very well have my fingers crossed for a violent revolution, we need to focus on viable solutions that can be put into effect immediately.

In the long term, we (the American people) need to push for policies that limit Trump’s executive power. Without explicit laws that limit his capacity to unjustly and unconstitutionally monitor and take action against those that he sees as threats to his power. Terrorism kills less Americans per year than police officers. There is no reason to grant additional, fascist power to the government for the purpose of protecting us from an undefined, distant threat. The government’s “war on terror” is in reality a war on Americans’ rights to privacy.

In the meantime, we need to be more careful about what we use technology for. There is no reasonable way around owning a cell phone and a computer for most of us. However, that doesn’t mean that we should live out our entire lives through a screen. The fact is, we are much easier targets of surveillance when we are tied to technology.

Short of covering up every camera lens in our home and keeping our cell-phones in microwaves (prevents it from recording conversations and blocks tracking), we need to do whatever we can to make it more difficult for the

Book, Book, Books: A Book Review

BY ALISHA MERGALIYEVA

Flowers for Algernon is a psychological science fiction novel by Daniel Keyes. The book is about an intellectually disabled man who, through an experimental medical procedure, gains a genius level IQ. The plot may be considered a classic of science fiction, but I’ve never read anything so heartbreaking.

Flowers for Algernon is wide in the scope of its inquiry: mental disabilities, human nature, the measurement of intelligence, and love. It made me feel a range of emotions:

sad, angry, frustrated and ultimately hopeful. The book made me shake my head, but it also made me feel incredibly thankful for so many things: I know how cliche that sounds but it’s true.

When it comes to science fiction, I would hesitate before declaring myself a fan, simply because there’s only a certain amount of aliens and spaceships I can take before I am distracted.

However, I’m a huge fan of science fiction that doesn’t seem too far out there, something plausible that I could imagine happening in real life. That’s how I feel

about Flowers for Algernon. I can imagine it as a possibility and that makes it all more meaningful.

The narrative structure is a series of progress reports, written by the narrator, sharing his experiences throughout his period of experimental treatment meant to increase his mental aptitude. Therefore we have a simple but clever way of portraying the changes in his mental abilities which I don’t think would have been as effective had it been written in the third person.

Although the book shows a gloomy aspect

of the meaning of life, it’s somehow still uplifting and motivational. What else can make book more interesting and worthy of reading? An excellent ending. Flowers for Algernon has great endingit’s in some ways mysterious; it makes us think what happened to character next?

And all we can do is hope.

Hope that everything will be okay.

I would give this book 8 out of 10- it has everything: realistic characters, good writing, meaning and great ending.

This book is definitely one of the best ones I’ve ever read and it’s only 300 pages long.

Photo Courtesy: Prezi.com

NSA and CIA to collect data on us.

This mostly means that we need to be more careful about the things we photograph, the opinions we voice online (including within private texts, emails, and phone conversations), and the kind of items that we purchase through traceable means. Taking small steps to ensure that we can retain any degree of privacy will allow us a slight advantage in case we ever become targets of the government for any reason. This is an even bigger issue under Trump because he operates in ways that force normal people to take the kind of political action that could make them a target of this type of unconstitutional surveillance.

Regardless of whether or not you support Donald Trump or the US government’s Orwellian capacity for surveillance, there is no reason to compromise your privacy. If you care about your rights as an American, it is in your best interest to do whatever you can to protect your personal privacy. We can no longer afford to let the government or any other entity to collect information about us. The ban on Muslim travel into the United States is likely only the first of many fascist moves that Trump will make as the president. We need to be ready for the government to try to use the information they collect about us through technology against us and to combat the collection of this information.

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One New President, Three New Laws and a Whole Lot of Alternative Facts

BY CORRICK ESSELLIERNORTON

celebrate for struggling families all across our land.”

Our new president was sworn in on January 20th and according to him, they had record breaking crowds, although the aerial photographs showed that an estimated 160,000 people had attended. The 45th president of the United States speech had what some would describe as a very combative tone. Instead of a traditional speech about the peaceful shift from one administration to another, he referenced his election as a transfer of power from Washington to “you the people”.

As a sea of storied politicians watched, the new president said “For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and, while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to

The President also painted an apocalyptic picture of America, saying that the US was plagued by violence.

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

For too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities. Rustedout factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation. An education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. The crime, and the gangs, and the drugs have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealised potential.”

The day after the inauguration, more than three million people took to the streets to protest America’s newest president.

Cities like Washington, Los Angeles, Park City, Chicago, Denver, Miami, London, Paris and Melbourne were all part of the Women’s marches.

Women, men and children gathered everywhere to protest the inauguration and the administration’s controversial

intentions. Two days after these historical protests, the new administration signed an anti-abortion law that could put billions of dollars of US aid funding at risk. The Mexico City policy was revived, which was a Reagan-era rule forbidding groups that use US aid money from using any of their funds on abortion related services. In the past this law was applied to family planning funding but an executive order was given with the intentions of applying it to all US global health projects, affecting approximately 9.5 billion dollars in funding. This order applies to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, including the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids relief) program, gender based violence prevention programs, maternal and child health, nutrition, and infections diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases. It also includes foreign projects of the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and the world health organization.

This law could potentially lead to a rise in illegal and extremely dangerous abortions.

In 2000 when George W. Bush renewed the policy, there was

confusion on whether the USAID grant recipients could treat hemorrhaging pregnant woman because the hemorrhaging could have been caused by a self induced abortions. “Women were coming in bleeding and were turned away” said a clinic volunteer. In 2001 the president added an exception for post abortion care to the policy, however it is unclear if the new version of the regulation will honor that exception..

Between leaked documents containing information concerning Russian cyber-influences on the election, alleged videos of prostitutes meeting the president in hotel rooms, and historically massive political protests, one could say that this presidency will be like nothing we have ever seen before. But then again, that could just be an alternative fact.

A Fallen Hero, a Venerated Soul

Secretary of Mis-Education

BY MARIE LASSAIGNE

Betsy DeVos has been nominated to be our next Secretary of Education, which directly concerns us (for once). Now there are some well-founded arguments about whether or not her nomination would benefit our school system and particularly us, but firstly let me define what the function of Secretary of education is. The official government tells us this: “The mission of the Department of Education is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.” I personally like to describe it as “helping indigent and minority students meet their full potential” which is, in my opinion, quite more accurate and veridical.

Her accomplishments include: Margaret Spelling’s support; Margaret Spelling was the leader in the implementation of President Bush’s signature of the education achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act. She has served on the board of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education and has been praised by the former presidential candidate. She also received praise from Republicans, such as from the former Secretary of Education Senator Lamar Alexander.

Unfortunately except for the support of important enough politicians, Betsy DeVos’ nomination is darkened by her own opinion or the lack of results in her actions. She has never been to public school and she refused putting her children in public schools. DeVos is dedicated to charter schools (publicly funded, but privately run school) and desires to privatize public schools. Some might think that to be interesting, however in Michigan, where DeVos has concentrated many of her efforts, there are some of the worst-performing, least-regulated charter schools in the country.

Moreover DeVos has no professional experience working in a school or even a classroom.

This concerns many who fear she will be out-oftouch when making decisions.

Teachers’ unions have shown their discontentment about her nomination by protesting notably in Portland, Oregon. Although DeVos has acquired the support of some relatively important people, it seems her nomination isn’t the most reasonable idea: she doesn’t have the experience nor the results one would expect the Secretary of Education to have.

Will this concerns be addressed or is Betsy DeVos going to lower, the already quite frightening low efficacy of our new government?

Photo Courtesy: ABC News

BY CORRICK ESSELLIERNORTON

A woman refuses to stand on a bus, a girl walks through a crowd of hate, wanting only an education, a young boy is in the ground because of a BB gun, a man says “I can’t breathe” while in an illegal chokehold. A hero stands on a platforms and presents one of the most influential and famous speeches of all time.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist and civil rights activist.

Both he and his father were originally named Michael until they both changed their names after they travelled to Germany and were inspired by Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. King entered college at the age of 15 because he skipped freshman and senior year of highschool. He graduated from Morehouse college with a degree in sociology .

Martin almost didn’t become a minister because, unlike his father, grandfather and great

grandfather, he had his doubts in the Christian faith. King also received his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955.

He was set apart from other activists because of his practicing of peaceful protesting.

He was also an amazing public speaker and could inspire hope in the saddest of souls. His speech “I Have a Dream” is the most famous of his speeches which he gave during the 1963 march on Washington, which he helped organize. He also led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, the 1962 Albany Movement which was sadly unsuccessful.

He received the Nobel peace prize on October 14, 1964.

He was arrested 29 separate times for acts of “civil disobedience”. Martin Luther King Jr. actually survived a assassination attempt while in Harlem signing copies of his book “Stride Toward Freedom”.

Izola Ware Curry asked him if he was Martin Luther King Jr. when he said yes, she said “I’ve been looking for you for 5 years.”, she then stabbed him with a seven inch letter opener that barely missed his aorta.

Almost 10 years later, on April 4th, 1968 he was assassinated by a man named James Earl Ray. This tragedy shook our nation and the civil rights movement but it did not stop the fight for equality.

Santa Barbara celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day with a march down State street. The street was filled with a hundreds of people who were singing soulful songs in honor of the fallen hero. The celebration started off at del la guerra plaza where a blessing was given by the Chumash Indian tribe before the annual march to the Arlington. All schools had an extra day off so that the community could celebrate and reflect together.

Martin Luther King Jr.

spent his entire life spreading a message that was just and peaceful. He wanted unity in our communities, in our schools, in our lives and in our hearts, so this day of unity and peace was much needed seeing as last year was anything but peaceful. Between the presidential elections, mass shootings and the death of many amazing talents, 2016 was all over the place. I hope that 2017 will become about harmony and acceptance, that we will look at our opposite and choose to not judge them by who they voted for, the color of their skin, their religion, sexual orientation or anything else. I hope that in 2017 we, not just America but the entire world, learn to accept our differences, respect them and move forward together. “We must live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

6 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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COMING THIS SPRING TO

SANTA BARBARA HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE

Directed by OTTO LAYMAN Musical Direction by JON NATHAN

Choreography by CHRISTINA MCCARTHY

Costume Design by BONNIE THOR

www.sbhstheatre.com

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | 7

SBHS Students Dominate 10-10-10 Competition Emily Hay Emily Hay is a 12th grader in the MAD Academy. Her first year participating in the 10-10-10 competition, she is thrilled to be able to have this experience. Emily first became involved with film and the Multimedia arts freshman year when she took the Granada video workshop for the first time and she has been involved in this field ever since. Emily is the director of her film and she is

working with Claire Rossi, a middle college student, on their film entitled, “I Feel Fine.” If Emily wins the competition she hopes to use her prize money to invest in her own camera. If she were to win an Oscar, Emily would thank her parents, the MAD Academy, and the school she attends for University. Good Luck Emily.

Carlile Soldo

Tiana Lee Tiana Lee, a MAD Academy 12th grader, was first inspired by a short film she saw when she was young by Bernie Gilbert. Very impressed with Gilbert’s film, Tiana enrolled in some film classes at the Brooks Institute. Beginning her high school career at Dos Pueblos, Tiana transferred to SBHS specifically for the MAD Academy. Tiana is the director of her 10-10-10

film entitled “Alarm” and she is working with Andrew Tebbe. If she were to win this competition, she would use her prize money to invest in new film equipment. And after her first Oscar win, Tiana would thank her mom for supporting me, her friends for acting even when the didn’t want to, and 10-10-10 for kickstarting her career.

A senior in the MAD Academy, Carlile Soldo is writing and directing a film called “Close to Perfect” for this years 10-10-10 competition.

Carlile first became involved in film when she was young.

Growing up with a father in the industry, she was constantly around sets, screenings, and people from the industry starting at the

age of three. This sparked her interest in the field and she continued to develop it as she got older. If she wins, Carlile will use the prize money to purchase a nicer camera.

And lastly, when she wins her first Oscar, Carlile will thank her family, everyone who has supported her throughout the years, and her future husband and children.

Andrew Tebbe Senior, Andrew Tebbe, is not only the sole male out the SBHS 10-10-10 contestants but he is also the only one Grace Burford is a 12th grader in Another senior in MAD, Erica Boslego, that is not in MAD. Andrew the MAD academy and she is the is also in the 10-10-10 competition. has been interested in film screenwriter of her film “Out of The She is the director of the film “Out since his middle school days Woods.” She first became interested and of The Woods” and is working with when he took a class about started filming videos when she was Grace Burford. She first got into filming bad videos. He is also in the eleven, but just recently started writing around 3rd grade and then stopped for bulletin at SBHS so he gets last summer. Grace is very excited for the a while then she started taking pictures upcoming competition and if she wins with actual film around 6th grade. If she’ll put her money towards college or she wins she will also put her money to a camera. After her very first Oscar towards college and when she wins her win, Grace will thank her parents and the first Oscar she will thank her family.

MAD academy.

Grace Burford

Erica Boslego

to work with film everyday.

He is the screenwriter of his group and his film is entitled “Alarm.” If Andrew wins he will put his prize money towards college and in his first Oscar thank you speech he will thank The Forge for all the wonderful things it do

Congratulations to all the 10-10-10 nominees.

We at SBHS are very proud to see our school so well represented in this competition. Break a leg everyone!

8 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE FORGE

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

Music Of The Night Season Seventeen BY: LILY CISEK For the students of SBHS and the general population of Santa Barbara, a plane ticket to New York City in order to see your favorite musical live on Broadway might be a little out of reach.

But on Friday the 27th of January, many of us didn’t have to worry over the stress of travel, because we had the privilege to attend the opening night of SBHS Theater’s Music of the Night.

Music of the Night is a compilation of songs and numbers from Broadway’s most famous musicals, like Rent and Hamilton. It is a completely student run and directed show, and all of the proceeds made through MOTN go directly to supporting the annual spring production at SBHS.

MOTN has been going strong for seventeen years, and this year was not one to forget. This show was stacked with talented performers, with powerful voices, and an obvious passion for the theater. The cast of Music of the Night is separate from the usual theater company cast, although many of same actors and actresses from our Winter and Spring shows audition to be a part of this unique show. The numbers ranged from large dance numbers with most of the cast, to smaller duets or trios. Seeing these students come together and perform with one another brought a smile to every audience member’s face.

The directors, Hazel Brady,

Sarina Wasserman and Ben Zevallos (all seniors) not only auditioned all the cast members, chose the songs, put together the numbers and choreographed also performed with their classmates in quite a few numbers. The show was also made possible by musical directors Jon Nathan, Robert Johnson and Sio Tepper as well as costume coordinator Sophia Hurtado, who costumed the entire show. MOTN is a particular challenge for a designer, since it is a compilation of song from often radically different musicals. We must give a huge shout out to An Pham, Jonathan Mitchell and the student run tech crew who worked with lighting, set and general production management.

As for the music and entertainment of the evening, we owe it all to the talented cast of MOTN. Every number was accompanied by fun costumes and amazing choreography.

The multiplicity of diverse numbers of the show was really what kept the audience on the edge of their seats. We witnessed many different songs, some witty and light hearted like “Hello” from The Book of Mormon and “Raise Your Voice” from The Sister Act, to inspiring show stoppers such as “Seize the Day” from Newsies. A couple of obvious crowd favorites were “Candy Store” from Heathers: the Musical and “Alexander Hamilton” from Hamilton, both relativley new musicals which explains the buzz of excitement from the students in the audience when we heard those first few bars.

Gotta Dance!

BY MIRANDA ORTEGA

I had the pleasure of attending SBHS’ 14th Annual Dance Recital 2017 on January 5th. This was dance teacher and artistic director, Ms. Goldman’s first show after being gone on maternity leave. Bhavika Prajapati, who is a Bollywood dancer, filled in for Ms.Goldman while she was gone, and also choreographed some of the dances in this show.

This performance was a fundraiser for the annual full-scale Spring Show and is an opportunity for the students to perform in front of an audience in a supportive and safe environment. Because the dance department is committed to teaching students about different cultures through dance, this program offered many styles and genres of dance such as: ethnic, lyrical ballet, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, and hip hop.

The SBHS Dance Team kicked off the performance to a hip hop routine

to the song “Sorry & Why You Hating” by Beyonce & YG, and was choreographed by Ashley Ayers and Tamarr Paul. Dance Team has after school practice everyday and work very hard and diligently. These seventeen dancers moved around the stage in sharp syncopation with fresh moves. The Dance team was high energy all night in all three of their dances.

Dance Production, a class for advanced dancers, was busy as the class was featured in six performances, ranging from ethnic to ballet. My favorite performance of theirs was a lyrical dance to the song “Drive” by Halsey because it told a story and was choreographed

by Pablo Gatica with a message of the dangers of texting and driving.

Beside Dance Team and Dance Production, Periods 1, 2, and 3 which are for dancers who are just beginning their dance careers switched genres effortlessly as they performed throughout the program.

Period 1 danced a lyrical ballet

to “Youth” by Troye Sivan, a jazz dance to“That’s My Girl” by Fifth Harmony, and a hip-hop routine to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”. Period 3 performed a lyrical routine to “No Regrets” by Magic, a jazz dance to “Lush Life” by Zara Larsson, and Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”. Period 4 danced a lyrical ballet to “What Now” by Rihanna, a jazz to “Set It On Fire” by Chrissy DePauw, and a hip hop routine to “All the Way Up & Bruk Off Yuh Back” by Fat Joe and Remy Ma & Konshens. It is obvious that these students are working hard everyday in their dance class because they all looked so passionate and professional.

Besides the refreshing choreography and cohesiveness of the show, you can tell these students are learning the art of dance, gaining confidence, and are having fun because it was a joy to watch.

Mark your calendars now for the Spring Dance Concert on May 25 and 26 which will bigger and better, with costumes and more elaborate dances. Bravo to the dancers!

Music of the Night is obviously a very unique show each year, and is always amazing but this particular show had a few stand out aspects that I haven’t seen at other shows. Firstly, a video short was played part way through the show to accompany their number “Status Quo” from the 2006 Disney film High School Musical. Although some of the older parents in the audience may not have understood the reference, the students in the crowd found it both funny and exciting to see fellow students playing our favorite childhood characters even if it was only for a few minutes.

Secondly, their versatile set was an incredibly smart move for such a fast moving show. Since it’s only one song per musical, sets need to be changed quickly. They kept simple yet show stopping at the same time. Staircases turned into fire escapes and doorways turned into livingrooms in the blink of an eye.

The show was both inspiring and entertaining, truly one of the most unique productions I’ve seen. If you happened to miss Music of the Night this time around, you fortunately have the chance to see SBHS Theater’s production of Bullets Over Broadway this Spring! You can help support the arts and the theater community by attending all of our shows right here at Santa Barbara High School!

THE FORGE

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | 9

Artist of the Month: Cemre Koç BY: CHLOE SHAAR

This issue’s artist of the month is Cemre Koç! Cemre is a senior and has been in VADA since her Freshman year. They intend to study art, make art and be an art major in college but is not sure if they foresee themselves having a career as an artist.

Their favorite thing about art is that they have control over what they’re making. Most things that are around

them were already built for them by other people, but with art they can design their own world.

In terms of medium, Cemre doesn’t focus on one type of art and enjoys creating comics and drawing people but is also open to learning new things like animation. A lot of art they make tends to be either personal things like drawing friends or how they feel

about different things.

Their other art is for commissioned pieces, for example, they made a graphic piece for an international zine about the Ethnic Studies Now group.

Through Cemres art they want people to be able to communicate, and wants to show their opinion on different activism opinions.

Cemre likes the idea that people can have control over

their own bodies and is currently working on all of her friends monsters, which show an approach to art to see what kind of monster or person you feel you are.

They have also designed panels in the main hall including the hand with the skeleton exposed above room 110 and the owl above the ASB room.

MOBSTERS AND DANCERS NEEDED—DANCING MOBSTERS A PLUS!

BY THE FORGE STAFF Have you always wanted to be part of a Santa Barbara High School musical production, but the idea of singing in front of thousands of people is a little daunting? Feel like you can dance, but singing or speaking on stage is just not your thing? Then BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, the national high school premiere production opening April 28th,

Comic by Kieran Meaney

is just the show for you! Directed

by Otto Layman, now in his 21st year as the head of SBHS theatre, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY is a show about the theatre, overlaid with a mobster feud in 1929 New York City. We are looking for dancers (many of the scenes take place in the Cotton Club and other nightclubs of the period) who have strong background in dance. The show will be choreographed by Christina

McCarthy, a long-time collaborator at SBHS who is now the interim head of Dance at UCSB. Auditions are February 8 and 9 from 3:30 to 5:30pm in the SBHS theatre.

Singing auditions are required for those seeking speaking or singing roles, but there is plenty of room for non-singing young men to play mobsters and other roles. For dancers, Christina will ask you to

learn a piece the day of auditions, and then will work with all prospective dancers those two days.

Wear comfortable clothes you can move in. If you have tap experience, please bring tap shoes.

The show plays April 28th and 29th, and May 5, 6, and 7. Rehearsals begin February 12th after school.

We generally schedule somewhere between 3 and 6 pm (dance is 3

times a week), and the occasional Saturday, with the schedule posted the week before. We try to accommodate schedules and be as flexible as possible, but this is a major commitment and should be approached as such. It is a great opportunity to showcase your talents, work with an amazing group of artists and students, and be a part of an award-winning, nationally recognized theatre company. Come

10 | SPORTS

THE FORGE

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

Swinging into the New Semester:

BY ANTONIA ALONSO I got to interview Sabrina Loza (junior) and ask her questions on the upcoming season of girls lacrosse .

What is your favorite part of being on the lacrosse team?

“My favorite part about lacrosse is how exciting it is. With every draw there is a fifty fifty chance of getting the ball, and it’s cool to see how

determined everyone is to do their best.”

What kind of positions are there on the field in lacrosse?

Who are the toughest opponents in league?

“There are goalies, defense, midfield and offense. 12 players from each team on the field at a time.”

“I would say Cate school is the toughest, they are private and they are able to recruit players from all over, even the east coast. San Marcos and Dos Pueblos have always been about equal competition.”

Who won channel league last year for varsity and jv? Do you think you guys have a chance at winning this year?

“We are so new that I’m not sure

who is in our channel league. But the city champ was Dos Pueblos.

And this year I think we have a good chance, because I’m pretty sure the Sm and DP were senior heavy last year.”

What are the most exciting and difficult parts of going to tournaments as a team?

“The best thing about tournaments is that with every game, you get a

fresh start to prove yourself. And the competition is different, so you challenge yourself with other styles of play with each team. But what’s the most difficult can be staying positive, because if your team hasn’t been doing too well, you can go into another game with that mentality.

But that’s where encouragement comes in from teammates and coaches.”

BY SARINA WASSERMAN

BY GLORIA PEREZ

BY ALISHA MERGALIYEVA

Our SBHS Varsity boys Volleyball team is looking forward to a great season. After speaking with seniors Andrew Gallivan and Henry Hancock, we are reassured that all will be well. When we asked the boys what their goal for the season was they said, “definitely to win CIF and then hopefully league especially with the strong players we have this year.” As seniors, these boys are able to lead the team and guide the younger players. Both of them can agree that playing baseball has taught them a lot about leadership and the importance of teamwork and strong communication. Additionally, great friendships were forged throughout the years as their volleyball team has grown to be like a family.

Lastly, Henry Hancock was just recently recruited to play volleyball for UCSB next year, something he is very proud of.

The SBHS lacrosse team has been working extremely hard during their off season and can’t wait to get back on the field! In a recent interview, Coach Andrew White explained that the team has been training really hard during their off season, and brought in some strength and conditioning coaches to help prepare the team for their regular. There are 6 seniors on the team, including William Beightol, Kees Fedyk, and Max Kyle who are the captains of the lacrosse team.

This year Boys tennis team’s coach, Greg Tebbe, has a lofty goal to bring SBHS’s team to success! He plans to do that through a lot of practice; the team needs to work more on conditioning in order to beat Beverly Hills High School in their opening match on February 21st.

Senior Pierce Barnes said “Playing volleyball at SBHS has been such a formative experience for me. I’ve been able to bond with so mnay of my teammates and completely enhance all of my playing skills. Being on this team helped.”

Good luck boys, we can’t wait to see what this year has in store! Pictured below is senior, Henry Hancock, a key player on the SBHS Varsity Volleyball team.

Beightol’s goal for the season is to make playoffs; he also enjoys traveling to places with the team.

Although he hasn’t decided what college he will be attending to, he would like to continue playing lacrosse after high school.

Fedyk’s goal are to beat San Marcos and have a winning record. He would also like to be a good leader and help the team in any way possible. He is still not sure if he wants to continue to play the sport in college, but he is considering it. After finishing two years at SBCC, he would like to transfer to Cal Poly. “It’s made high school a lot better; I’ve made a lot more friends and it just made it all more fun,” said Kees about lacrosse.

Kyle’s goal for the season is to build a team that will last for the future, to win as many games as possible, to keep the foundation of lacrosse strong at SBHS and to have a winning and successful season.

Playing since his freshman year and being one of the three captains, his main goal is to win games and make sure the team can continue at a high level without them. He would like to attend college at either UCLA, UC Berkeley, or UCSB but he doesn’t think he’ll continue to play lacrosse in college. Being on the team has taught him leadership, discipline, and to motivate others. Kyle said, “ It has also taught me to be a bigger man, because when you lose, it’s not always fun. It’s not always easy to be, you know, happy or positive. You learn from that and you learn from mistakes as well.” The team’s overall goals are to have a winning record, beat San Marcos, and to make playoffs.

Coach White also said that they added more off season training and more weight training. In addition, they have more freshmen players coming in, and many more tried at from different grades. He hopes to have a stronger team this year. The first home game of the SBHS Boys lacrosse team is February 28th against Hart at 7 PM, so come out and support our boys at their first game of the season!

“Our top goal is to improve as a team and win Channel League” , says Mr. Tebbe. There are a lot of new players this year since last year’s team had a lot of seniors. This year’s team has three senior co-captains: Andrew Tebbe(12), Mike Kelly(12) and Isaac Kershner(12), and a squad made up of Noah Ostovany (11), Aman Atakeev (11), Dylan Brown (11), Aedan Garnand (11), Forest Dempsey (11), Drake Rabin (11), Jonas Juhl (11), Andrea (11), Kai Wilkinson (10), Mason Lender (10), Mike Chung (10), Taylor Kleine (10), Max Mendoza (10), Lucas Pollero (9), Hunter Gomersall (9)

They’ve put their goals straight: “Our goal is to develop as a team and just have a good season” says Mike Kelly. He even might play tennis in college; it all depends on where he goes. However, Andrew Tebbe is sure that at college he has more rigorous academics that he needs to concentrate on and sport doesn’t fit into his future plans. Andrew and Mike both agreed that participating in school sport affected their lives in so many good ways: they had opportunity to meet more people and develop new friendships. And it’s great way to stay in shape!

SBHS begins their season with non-league matches against Beverly Hills on February 21st and Cate School on February 22nd. Channel League begins in earnest on March 16th when SBHS takes at Buena. This year San Marcos is the preseason favorite to win the league, however SBHS won the league last year.

|

THE FORGE

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

SPORTS 11

Spring Sports Preview

The boys of baseball: Antonio Andrade, Bijan Palme, Joe Firestone, Alex Chicote

BY BELLA HOLLAND

BY CHLOE SHAAR

BY HANNAH ZIOUANI

SBHS girls softball will begin their season soon. They’ve been practicing every day after school running laps working out and practicing their batting skills. all the girls are really excited to play against other schools and possibly beat their rivals San Marcos. Their biggest goal of the season is to when all of their games and grow stronger as a team. The team did incredibly well last year so they hope to continue their hard work and stride.

The team did incredibly well last year so they hope to continue their hard work and stride. Softball is a very inclusive sport for female athletes. Since there’s only one team, the players get to bond, get to know one another and therefore play better as one rather than individuals. Softball isn’t only a team, but a family.

Although the excitement and anticipation of basketball season has just begun, however it’s not too soon to start thinking about the start of spring baseball. With this being his second year as head coach, but eleventh year coaching, Donny Warrecker intends for this season to be one for the books.

Track and Field has many upcoming events in the spring semester.

The coaches hope the team does as well as they did last year and can persevere through this season with many wins. Star athlete Brian Christensen said “I really loved track and field last year and wish the team the best.”

Sophomore Maya Castro said, “I’m really excited for the season to begin because I miss all of my teammates and look forward to playing against other schools. I had a great time last year making new friends and I hope I can make just as many this year. It’s hard to get people to come out to the game, so it would be super helpful if people could come out this year!”

Another team member said, “I feel at home with my team. I was never popular growing up and this team helped me get out of my comfort zone.

I’ve so many unforgettable friends and memories.

The coaches are so great and it’s nice because we all like playing softball together. The team had lots of fundraising and team dinners last year which made our bond tighter, so we hope to do the same this year.”

Look out for their upcoming games in the bulletin and announcements, go support the girls!

Hope you have a great season, ladies!

The difference between this year’s team and last year’s team is that there are nine seniors so there is good leadership from the senior core, but there are a lot of talented juniors as well so there is a more balanced team. With a lot of talent being spread out throughout all the grades, it bodes well for the future success of the baseball program.

Warrecker’s personal goals for the season are for the team to win Channel League, go as far as they can in the playoffs, and to get players to continue playing beyond high school- he believes all this can be achieved. Each year the team goes by the same motto: “practice is everything.” They believe that each day is the most important day, and this way of thinking usually helps them succeed in games. High school baseball season is much shorter than college or professional seasons, each game is more intense and important. It’s almost like league games are the playoffs and playoffs are the like the World Series so every player must always give it their all no matter what. After talking to senior Alex Chicote, he told us that he is also very excited for the upcoming season and his goal is to also Win Channel league.

This looks like it will be a very promising season for baseball, so when the season comes around make sure to show your fellow Dons a lot of support!

12 | SPORTS

THE FORGE

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

SB vs SM: The Basketball Rivalry Continues

Photo Courtesy: MrVicsPics.com

BY EMILY PETATAN The Santa Barbara High School boys basketball team find themselves having around the .500 mark at 13-10 ( 13 wins and 10 losses) as they approach the heart of their league season. On January 18th the boys basketball team had an away game at San Marcos.

When arriving at San Marcos high School the boys basketball team had high expectation of beating the San Marcos basketball team but were bitterly disappointed, as they were crushed 72 - 44.

After a long, hard battle in front of friends and family, our boys

basketball team took a tough loss.

They started off the first quarter pretty strong, but the San Marcos Royals were on fire. By the time the Dons looked up, they were down by 25 points. It didn’t help that their first string point guard Ben Brown having a bit of an off night, too. The crowd could sense the whole team felt the pressure of being at their rivals home ground, with a constant chant battle blaring in the background. By the end of the game, fatigue set in as the Royals ran our Dons up and down the court. After talking to head coach Bregante after the game, all that he had say regarding the loss

was that they got “killed, absolutely killed.” Hopefully our Dons can get their act together for the second half of the season, where they will meet their rivals once more at SBHS, defending their own home ground.

If you missed this game, don’t worry, there will be another one on February 3rd at 7 pm! Come support your fellow SBHS athletes Mak sure to come out tonight and support the boys at 7pm! Be there or be square!

Athlete of the Month: Ben Brown

BY QUINCY RUGGIERI Ben Brown is this month’s athlete of the month! Brown, a senior here at SBHS, plays a crucial role in our boy’s varsity basketball team. Not only is he a captain of the team, he also has played on the team for quite a while so he knows what it takes to win. Brown is hoping to build a team that can win after he leaves and to play as well as he can for this season.

Brown has been playing basketball for as long as he can remember, but began playing competitively in third grade. “Basketball has always been very important to me. I’ve spent countless hours in the gym trying to get better,” said Brown. Although basketball has always been important in his life, Brown says that he will not be playing basketball in college. Instead, Brown hopes to get a good education from Boise State University and focus on school. Outside of all the stress of school, graduating and basketball, Brown likes to go to the beach, hang out with friends, and watch movies.

Brown plays a pivotal role as a senior on the varsity boy’s basketball team. Even as a junior, Brown played for our California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) winning team and helped boost them to victory. “It has definitely been a completely different experience since last year. I have certainly had a bigger leadership role and I think a lot of the guys look at me to lead us and get us going. It has been different, but it has been a great time,” commented Brown on the differences from last year’s basketball season. Going from a junior

BY MARTI FORNELLS

Sadness is one word that comes to mind as I reflect back upon the SB/SM basketball game. But alas, sadness doesn’t quite cover it. Devastation, maybe? The fact is, we didn’t stand a chance at victory. They totally slaughtered us. Few would argue that we even had a shot. It happens. Even great teams will occasionally face a hard loss. San Marcos won after a long, difficult game by 30 points. It was a hard night to be a Don. And our Basketball team surely felt worse than any of us watching.

Girl’s Basketball

BY GIANNA GONZALEZ

to jumping into be a captain senior year must add a ton of stress that already comes with being a senior. He hopes that this year’s underclassmen will build a strong team in the following years, just like he and the other seniors have tried to do with them. “Our seniors just try to come in and work hard. We have some good seniors such as Austin Lind, Jeremiah Nicholson, Taylor Padilla, and Anthony Trujillo.

They all have huge rules and have been crucial to our success. We also have some really good young guys. Morgan Peus (Junior) has been huge this year and is a Co-Captain with me. He really helps out as a leader and is a big time scorer. We have a lot of sophomores on our team as well who I think all have bright futures and will lead a great team in a few years,” said Brown. Despite the tough blows that SBHS has already taken in their basketball season, such as losing against San Marcos, Brown hopes that the team has great success and pulls through till the end of the season.

There are still some remaining home basketball games, go out and support your fellow dons. Tonight, they will be playing San Marcos at 7, you don’t want to miss it! This is a high pressure game for Ben Brown and the entire basketball team, show your support and come cheer on SBHS.

But great teams also know how to stand up again and start winning once more. No sports team that has ever had a major Hollywood blockbuster made about them has just sat and wallowed in the despair of loss. Great teams persevere in the face of devastation and they get back out there and win.I’m sending a positive message to the team.

You are part of SBHS and each and every one of us knows that this is going to be a great season for the SBHS basketball team. San Marcos may have taken you for all you’re worth, but you are still a great team. And great teams power through when times get hard.

The SBHS girls basketball team is off to a great start this season. With only 6 more days away until the real games begin, the girls are pushing themselves to the limit. The first team Junior.

Varsity and Varsity play against is Buena. There are only 12 more days left until the Freshmen/Sophomore plays our rivals San Marcos to start off their season. Out of 14 games the Freshman/Sophomore team has only lost one. Varsity has lost 3, but won 11 games during pre-season.

However the battle carries on as Varsity fights to hold the title of Channel League champions which was won last year and 29 years before that. With some of the best coaches by their side there is no doubt that they will make a triumphant return even without their star player, Amber Melgoza. As the players are entering the season they are working on how to learn fromtheir mistakes in hopes to better themselves as players and teammates.

Things Overheard in the Hallway “Does Sal’s take reservations?”

“Why’re we size shaming this parabola?”

“I should be reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ but instead I’m watching Snooki and J-woww”

“MOTN IS ROTN”

“I ended my livestream because the only person watching was Katie’s dad”

“The one and only God is the hot-pocket in my stomach” Ben Brown and Jeremiah Nicholson shake hands at Homecoming 2016. Photo Courtesy: Ben’s IG @benbrown805