Granger high school
Tri-Color Times An open forum for student opinion and expression
TRICOLORTIMES.COM
OCTOBER 2017 LX-II
New officer makes Lancers consider role of police at school By Mireya Ruiz THE NEW school year brought new things. While many students received new outfits, school supplies, and were enrolled in new classes; the school also added a new police officer. Last year, there were only two. Now, Granger has added just one new member to their team. Officer Parks has been working at Granger High School since the new school year started. He and his fellow coworkers have been noticed around campus during lunches and at school events. “There appears to be a lot more cops actually on campus. Last year, it didn’t seem like there were so many. Now, it’s like everywhere I look, there’s usually at least two in the area,” Milagros Cuevas (10) said. Others haven’t really noticed
that there are more officers on campus. It could be because they just don’t notice or the officers had not been in that specific area. “I didn’t notice any more officers than the ones that were here last year,” Kat Henry (10) said. Attentive students have been wondering why there are more officers than the previous year. Some have thought that a certain incident lead to it and others just thought that there was too much violence last year. “Students attending here need to have a great place to further their education while having a sense of safety,” Mr. Beck said. The officers feel the same way. “My main priority is having a safe school. If we don’t have a safe school, then I’m not doing my job right,” Officer Johnson said. Also, learning to work around
police officers can be beneficial for the future. Social media has tilted toward a specific image of officers, so interacting with them informally can help create a better sense of what connects citizens and students to police officers. “Having the cops here helps students work with them. It’s 95% about having cops here to building trust, so part of the reason for having them here helps structure the environment,” Officer Johnson said. In addition, officers help the environment in various ways. “By just having the cops on campus, it can make students not do certain things,” Mr. Beck said. Some Lancers agree with Mr. Beck. “Since Granger is a big school and different types of students go here, having cops visible can decrease the amount of bad
decisions. For example, someone could have an intention of doing something bad, but if they see the cops, then they’ll most likely not do it,” Henry said. That said, social media has impacted how others may think of authority figures. “Tons of people already think of cops a certain way. We’re not all the same. Get to know me— me as an individual. All of the officers aren’t all the same. Just get to know us before judging us,” Officer Parks said. Since police officers help maintain order at Granger, they’ll stay for the entire school year. “As far as we were informed, we’ll keep the same amount of cops here until at least the end of the school year. We don’t know if there will be more next year,” Officer Johnson said.
Officers Christensen and Parks keep Granger High safe while building relationships with students and faculty.
Admin claims lanyards promote safety and school spirit By Yesenia Leon THIS YEAR Granger High School has introduced a new way to identify students: IDs and Lanyards. ID lanyards are exactly what it sounds like, a lanyard with a ID on it. Students were given their IDs as soon as they took their picture on Picture Day, which was two weeks after school started. Some people love the idea of them, while others have very mixed feelings about them. One of the many people who loved the idea of them was the assistant principal, Mr. Beck. “I think it’s an amazing idea. It allows us, as administrators, to identify kids easier. In another respect, it shows a sense of school pride,” Mr. Beck said. Students weren’t so fond of the idea especially on the freshman and sophomores because the administration is enforcing it more upon them. “I feel like it’s really unfair. I feel like we are mature
and responsible as any junior or senior,” Angel Manriquez (9) said. Many students feel the same way as Manriquez. They feel like they don’t necessarily need an ID badge for them to be identified. On the other hand, some people believe that the administration should enforce it just on the freshman. They are fresh out of junior high and many of them still have the junior high mind-set. It will take them a couple months for them to shift their mind-set. “I feel like the freshman need it more than anyone because that’s who causes most of the trouble,” Solitude Moffit (10) said. Many people, including the administration, believe that the ID Lanyards will help take the school down a better and safer path. “I think the lanyards are a good idea. It helps us see who belongs here and who doesn’t. Last year, we had many people come in who didn’t belong here cause us some trouble like getting in-
volved in fights or coming in during lunch,” Steve Christiansen, a police officer, said. Many people would agree with Christiansen’s opinion. It makes it harder for outsiders to come into the school and cause trouble, which makes it a safer environment for students who won’t feel threatened by trespassers. Despite the controversy, the lanyards are supposed to be there to help and protect Lancers. Simple actions like these might make
a world of a difference, even though many people would disagree and find lanyards useless. Everyone has the right to be able to learn and get an education at the school and feel safe while doing so. Safety may not be the only positive thing about this policy. Many people would agree that it also shows a sense of school spirit. It gives students a chance to take pride in Granger and they should feel glad to be attending such a great school.
Solitude Moffit thinks that freshman need lanyards more than other classes.
OCR Time
By Andrew Tippetts ON CAMPUS Reassignment (OCR) is a new Freshman and Sophomore attendance policy. At the moment the policy is only in effect for freshman, but sophomores will soon be affected, too. According to many freshman students, they believe that this is doing a really good job by helping them get to class. Many people don’t agree that the school is picking on freshmen and actually think that it is a super idea. One freshman with amazing attendance agrees. “I think it’s going to have a good impact and help lots of kids get back on track with school and attendance,” Jacob Baird (9) said. As the year progresses, many students get comfortable about not showing up or messing up in classes, which makes it harder for the administration to crack down on bad behavior. OCR makes this a bit easier by helping the administration find students coming in late and punish them for doing so. Teachers are just as with it as the students are. With students missing from classes or coming in late, the policy with help them get to class, but student will miss an hour from class because they were sent to OCR. “I am hoping that it will stop the tardiness and absences by punishing students for not coming to class,” Ms. Neibaur said. Administrators and hall monitors agree that lunches and 1st periods are some prime pressure points for preventing tardiness, which turns this policy into a whole other story. “Freshman are often a testing ground for new things like this, then we move sophomores if its effective,” Mr. Anderson said. He also talked about the grace period that many students had to get to class even when Lancers are late. Working with students like this makes administrators happier and makes them feel like they are really making a difference. This new policy sends students who are late to the lecture hall as a consequence. The tracker in control of the students was Mr. Gaspar. He was sitting in the back watching the students making sure they were not playing on their phones, doing their work, talking, sleeping, or anything else along those lines. This is a quiet time for students to reflect on their behavior. He definitely enforced the rules and explained consequences. Students not learning that hour could cause a problem for grades as well as attendance, but teachers are not too upset. In the end, Mr. Anderson’s initial data suggested that freshmen tardies have gone down by 40% while attendance is better than last year.
Want more Granger High School news? Check articles at tricolortimes.com or add us on twitter.com/tricolortimes.
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
October 2017, page 2 | Student News
Slow Wi-Fi enrages students and teachers
By Aimal Esa STUDENTS are outraged over the quality of Granger’s Wi-Fi. There have been many complaints that range from site blocking to trouble printing papers. One would believe that with a relatively new building, the network would be set up well. Some faculty members have been having major problems with the quality of the WiFi. With the school Wi-Fi playing a big part in the lessons, it’s no wonder for their annoyance. “We’re asked to be more modern and quit doing old-fashioned things and stop lecturing. You know, when copy machines are down and you can’t access the internet and people can’t get their files, it’s challenging,” Mr. Fuller said. Students need these lessons to properly learn the subject. Without all the presentations, students have a harder time learning. These websites and videos keep the students intrigued and concentrated on learning. Not many students, or teachers, like listening to anyone talk for the entirety of a class period, and internet failures put teachers on the spot. “The school Wi-Fi sucks, I don’t like it, they need to
fix it,” Chentai Pham (12) said. A lot of students rely on the school Wi-Fi to complete their school work. When the Wi-Fi stops working on them, they’re not able keep up with their workload, so they try to find another resource. Many students stay in during lunch and stay after school just to get their work done, but without reliable connection, they
restricted. “I need to have communication with my fellow class officers, and the way we communicate is via Messenger,” Wilson Tran (12) said. He believes that it is unfair to even the student body because they can’t communicate with each other, even when they are at lunch or after school. A lot of people are saying to just switch to LTE, but many students don’t have access to that. Even if they did, most of the area inside the school gets terrible reception, so students rely on the Wi-Fi. Also, data costs money, extra sites on school Wi-Fi does not. Obviously, the school needs to block some sites as they are inappropriate for students. However, social medias don’t usually allow stuff like that to be presented on their websites. What’s interesting is that the one of the social media sites they left unblocked, twitter, does allow this kind of stuff. Knowing that the administration uses Twitter, so there may be a bias here. Blocking the social media sites won’t do much but make the student body less happy at school. It might stop the students from looking at it during class, but they will find other ways to not pay attention.
“When copy machines are down and you can’t access the internet and people can’t get their files, it’s challenging.” can’t do it. Another complaint from students is the blocking of their social media sites. The first thing many students had a problem with this year was that they couldn’t get onto their Facebooks and Snapchats. Most students believe that it is unfair. They also believe that it doesn’t help them focus better. “It just makes me more bored and want to fall asleep even more in class,” David Simon (12) said. Students are mad and believe that it’s not fair that they are this
Mr. Fuller prefers a reliable internet connection that supports curricular variety.
Passing minutes cut into Monday’s late start
Most students are happy to have an extra minute between classes.
By Ester Manriquez Marcia OVER THE past two months, the new Monday bell schedule has made an impact on the school. Students and administrators have different opinions on the new schedule. “It doesn’t bother me because I’m a morning person, but of course it bothers other students,” Jose Perez (10) said. Many other students feel differently. They feel like they have certainly been affected. “I have been late to my first period a couple of times since the school has started the new schedule,” Suiry Gregorio Garcia (10) said. Many others do have the same opinion. Others said that the change has been really helpful when getting to class. They think that the one extra minute has helped them get to class on time. “I have had no tardies since the new change because the one extra minute has been very helpful, since I leave campus for lunch time,” Fernanda Gutierrez (10) said. One of the teachers agrees. “I
Fresh Market reorganizes checkout experience By Molirae Afemata FRESH Market began a new policy that affects Granger students. They now have to go up one-byone to purchase their items at the self-checkout. It started on August 23, and since then, a majority of the people feel like this policy has made it easier for not just the workers and students but the outside shoppers as well. “I believe that our new policy has not just made it easier for us, but for students and regular shoppers, too,” Jammie, a Fresh Market head manager, said. “I like the new policy because I feel like it’s more organized. Before, I’d always get pushed
around or shoved,” Marti Surveyor (10) said. Students believe that because they now have to go up one-byone to the cashier, not only has it made it easier for them to purchase their items but they could do it without having to worry about peers hurting them. Jammie, Fresh Market’s head manager, and her staff had been thinking about doing this policy since the end of the 2016-17 school year. “Our main goal was to make it more efficient for everyone, easier for people to come in and out, and to hopefully reduce theft,” she said. Although they still have
problems with theft, they were able to achieve their goals for the most part. While many enjoy the new policy, there are some people who disagree with the new policy. Some thought that it has made things slower, “There are more people waiting now, and lines are ridiculously long. By the time I buy my stuff, lunch is already over,” Diego Sunbear (10) said. He also believes the reason they take so long to buy their items is because the worker takes too long to react. “The machines are always going to be annoying and make us wait for assistance,” Sunbear said.
like the idea of it, and I think they have come up with a good solution for the students,” Ms. Clark said. But, there’s at least one teacher who still thinks there’s room for improvement when it comes to bell schedules. “I think that they should’ve made the bell schedule at 8:30 every day so students can sleep in and still get enough time for school,” Mr. Sanada said. Although there still have been plenty of tardies, many still think that it’s good to have the one extra minute to get to class because there are so many people in the halls. But for seniors, it’s a very different opinion. “ No, I don’t like the idea of it, because it gives us less time to get ready and get to school on time,” Jonathan Manriquez (12) said. Allen Carrillo (12) doesn’t think that the schedule will change back. “The school board only makes these decisions when the SBOs get many complaints
and go to the administration about it, which I doubt they will do,” Carrillo said. He also stated that he wasn’t bothered by the new schedule, but some of his friends were bothered on why they changed it. Dr. Dunn explained why they did. “We suggested it for the best benefit and interest for our student’s education,” he said. Dr. Dunn said that they were to look over data in the tardies and absences and decide what to do after that. Although many students think they have been more tardy, both teachers and administrators think there has been fewer of them. Numerous people think that other students have been making too big of a deal about this change. In fact, a student said, “I think they keep making a big deal about it, but it’s still not going to change, because it has helped many students get to class on time,” Amairany Maldonado (10) said.
October 2017, page 3 | Opinion
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
buy that yearbook: jostensyearbooks.com Trump ends DACA, forces congress to act Opinion by Jonathan Manriquez THE NEWS came that President Trump ended DACA, but he had delayed the action for six months. The reason he delayed the action was because he is giving Congress a chance to save DACA. He believes that President Obama created the program through inappropriate use of executive authority. Trump wants Congress to act instead of standing by or being told what to do. He wanted it to wind down instead of having the court just end then and there. He wanted compassion for it, but also stand to his “America First” agenda. While doing it with compassion he wants it to be through lawful democratic processes by having immigration reform that benefits all the American citizens he was elected to serve. He also wants compassion for the forgotten, unemployed and struggling Americans. He knows how much it will affect everyone, but says that it will be the right choice in the long run. Even though they ended it, they are still renewing any permits that someone has that expires in the next
six months. He’s letting Congress have time to act on it before people who are currently protected lose their ability to have a job and being able to not live in fear from being deported from the U.S. Those who are in school or in College will not be able to finish when it is permanently gone. Trump’s administration thought that this was the least disruptive move because they were threatened by attorneys general to take it to court. U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions said the program would not make it through the challenge of court. He says that there is nothing wrong with enforcing the immigration laws because it can protect communities and taxpayers, prevent human suffering and save lives. Having failed to enforce the laws resulted in violence, risk of crime and even terrorism as stated by CNN. While supporters agree with Trump’s decision, Pope Francis didn’t like the fact that he removed it because he said that it is not “pro-life.” Pro-life usually means opposing abortion and euthanasia. While speaking to reporters he hopes that the decision
is re-thought somehow. He also said the decision has young people feeling like there is no hope at all. He stated that President Trump is a person who likes pro-life, so to be a good pro-lifer is to realize that family is the cradle of life and defending its unity is important. This isn’t the first time the Pope questioned Trump’s Christianity. The first time being when Trump said he will build a better wall for the US-Mexican border. Then Trump responded that questioning someone’s faith is disgraceful. Later their dispute they had was water under the bridge when Trump went to visit him in May as part of the foreign trip as stated by Fox News. With all this happening a girl at the Kentucky College was being bullied by some classmates. Her name is Paola Garcia and she so far was not helped by the school. The classmate that started it, Taylor Ragg, by saying, “Everyone go report this illegal at my school bragging about breaking the law.” After all that Paola said that she received numerous hateful comments from strangers as stated by CBSNews.com website.
Remove unnecessary skateboard restrictions
Opinion by Tiffany Nguy HAVE YOU ever used your longboard or skateboard on school grounds and got scolded by an administrator, or even seen that happen to another student? This happens a lot because of safety reasons and boarding on school campuses has been banned from many schools around the states. In my opinion, I think people should be able to use their boards on school campus, because that could be their only transportation to school. The University of Utah has banned long-boarding and skateboarding on their campus. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, there was once a professor at the university that had gotten injured on school grounds by a boarder. “A lot of the kids are not trying to hurt somebody, but they can’t stop, they’re out of control,” Chief Scott Folsom said. I personally agree with his statement about this, boarders are out of control especially when they’re going down hills. If you had any experience with going down hill you’d know that it’s hard to control yourself. I think we shouldn’t ban skateboards and longboards on school grounds. Like I said, a board could be their only transportation
to school. They may not have a car, bike or even money for a bus. They may be using their board to get across campus faster, you can’t argue that riding a non-motorized vehicle to your next class is faster than walking. Also, we all know that it’s not smart to be riding your board inside the school but what about during lunch outside? Here at Granger there are signs that say you can’t ride a non-motorized vehicle around the school. There are many skaters and longboarders and I sometimes see skateboarders by the tennis court during lunch, which is smart because not many people go that way for lunch, I actually go that way for lunch and a couple of other students do, too. The skaters usually stop what they’re doing and let us pass, sometimes they don’t stop but that’s only because no one is going their direction. In other words, students that longboard or skateboard aren’t causing any trouble, they’re actually minding their own business. I believe that the students are very cautious about their surroundings. To be fair, no one wants to collide with anyone at full speed—you’d end up with a broken nose or something worse. I feel like people are always cautious when they are around cars, skateboards, longboards, bikes, or even scooters. Sure there’s always that one person that never looks where they’re going, they don’t even look up from their phones or that person just doesn’t care about anything at all. Students that are distracted
are mostly the ones that get hurt, we shouldn’t blame the students for bumping into the distracted person and take something away from the student. If you ask me, we shouldn’t be banning skateboard and longboards because it’s recreational. Students just want to do something fun when they’re bored why else would they just ride their board around? Students are bored during lunch, sure they could do other things, however those other activities they could do doesn’t spark as much interest as longboarding and skating. In my opinion, skateboards and longboards are not the enemies here. We should allow students to ride their boards outside around campus and administrators shouldn’t confiscate the student’s item. Most of the students that ride these boards really do mind their own business. Why should we take away their fun when they aren’t bothering anyone? Also, this may be the student’s only transportation and why should we take away their only ride to school, they wouldn’t be late because they’re not waiting for anyone to take them the to school and by knowing that you’d go to school yourself you have this instinct of leaving early for school to get there on time. Schools should allow students to ride wherever they can outside on campus grounds and let the kids have fun and have them feel comfortable at school and let’s not have our students here at Granger feel restricted along with feeling imprisoned at school.
@TriColorTimes Ya follow?
Letter to the Editor
WE ALL can agree, technology is the new wave of the modern generation. Our life and our needs revolve around the source of that intimidatingly bright screen that can satisfy your needs in little to no time. The technology has not only progressed, but so has our culture. Technology, is now not only needed for education, now education relies on technology. However, one might state the claim that high schools are not progressing along with the amount of technology we need, receiving less than what the students and teachers need. Schools should be more attentive on the roots of educating students in the first place. There are countless times that I can recall where my education was interrupted because of the quality of Granger internet speed. Teachers are behind on tasks they need to proceed with their students and students are behind on learning, which leads to disruption in the curricular system. “The public and private sectors must increase their investments in training, infrastructure, hardware, and curriculum. Unfortunately progress in each of these areas is uneven,” as stated in a Brookings report. According to Education week, a school’s internet should have at
least 100 megabits per second. Unfortunately, most, if not all Granger students agree the Internet service in our school needs immense improvement. Our high school’s assignments and grades are known to rely on these internet websites, and because of the quality of the internet, we can no longer use said websites to our advantage in the school. It is limiting our full potential. I do indeed agree with the hundreds of other students complaining about this conflict. The school charges us class fees and tardy fees, and every year, the school tends to make even more enforced rules. However, we are not informed, educated, or told as to why and where this money proceeds to. If such actions were achieved, the students of Granger would not question the staff as we do now. We cannot be told that our argument of internet connection is incorrect, simply because, if the slow connection is justifiable, we are never informed of such statistics and information. Some of the complications also include those who do not have internet home-based Wi-Fi. The staff, in my opinion, needs to involve the decisions and information with the students as well. —Dailyn Brinas (10)
Tri-Color Times Staff Editor in Chief Skye Rouse
Photo+Online Editor Hayley Rigby
News Editor Gabriela Thompson Opinion Editor Taea Edwards Copy Editor Michael Gil Ceballos Social Media Editor Calissa Loomis Junior Editor Alexus Gillette
Lifestyle Editor Madison McCurdy Sports Editor Bryon Brinley Photographer KayLynn Gonzalez Scorekeeper Stephanie Gutierrez
Reporters Afemata Molirae Natalie Aiono Eric A. Antonio Kalesita Apele Zabanha Avila Edward Carrasco Allen Carrillo Aimal Esa Fine Finau Emily Francis Kristy Garcia Lorena Garcia Braxton Henrie Nathan Hernandez
Reporters Helen Hiley Yecenia Leon-Melendez Gwen Loloma Nyibol Makol Jonathan Manriquez Ester Manriquez Marcia Tiffany Nguy Stephanie Perez Ariana Rojas Mireya Ruiz Julliet Samano Jeramiah Snow Andrew Tippetts Hannah Wall
The Tri-Color Times serves as a student forum for student opinion and student expression. The views expressed herein reflect neither the opinions of Adviser John Carlisle and Granger High School, nor those of Granite School District. The Tri-Color Times invites and publishes letters to its editorial board; all letters will be edited for taste, length, and liability.
Granger High School 3580 South 3600 West West Valley, UT 84119 (385) 646-5320
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
October 2017, page 4 | Student Life
Having a full-time job affects school work
By Hannah Wall THERE are many students here at Granger High School have decided to take on the challenge of joining the workforce while also in school. Everyone knows that high school is a major stressor in teens lives, but what about the lancers who add to that stress? How does it affect their school life? How do they handle having a job and going to school full time? “I worked at a Freddy’s in Draper Utah for about four months while going to school as well, I found that it did seem to affect my grades and school life quite a bit. I sometimes wouldn’t get home until two A.M. and then have to get up at five the next morning. Sometimes I even missed school due to work,” Hailey Piper (12) said. “It started out as a way to gain experience, but then it quickly turned into me needing a job due to home life. Don’t get me wrong, I worked with amazing
people and had a lot of fun, but after awhile it became way more stressful rather than fun,” Piper added. While it may seem like a good idea to have a job in high school, a lot of the time it just creates more stress for the students, but sometimes it can actually be a really great opportunity. Why do students at granger have jobs? Is it because they want the experience? Or is it possibly because they are the income source for their household? Having a job will affect your school life. Maybe it’s just to get out of the house? No matter the reason, having a job will affect your school life. “I work at Fear Factory for about eighteen hours a week. I feel like my job has had both a positive and negative impact on my life. It has helped me create a better social life for myself, but it also has cut down in my sleep and homework time,” Solitude Moffitt (10) said.
Moffitt also gave a word of advice to anyone else who is thinking about balancing a job and school. “If you feel like you can handle a job, try it out,” Moffitt continued. Sometimes kids never know what they can handle until they try it out for themselves. Why do students at Granger have jobs? Is it because they want the experience? The money? Or is it possibly because they are the income source for their household? Maybe it’s just to get out of the house, but no matter what, having a job will affect school life. Having a job in high school is always going to be hard, but for some kids it’s worth it, but they also have to know when they have bitten off more than they can chew. The mix of a job and high school is not for everyone, but it’s worth a try. Just remember that above all, school comes first. At the end of the day, education determines the future careers of Granger’s students.
Obligations at work sometimes prevent Hailey Piper from attending school.
HOMECOMING week: SeiZE THE NIGHT
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
October 2017, page 5 | Student Life
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
October 2017, page 6 | Sports
Patrick overcomes struggles
Football is Will Lokotui’s base for leadership By Edward Carrasco WILL LOKOTUI (12) is Granger Football’s starting right guard (RG) and nose tackle (NT), but he’s more than just a football player. He has other hobbies like hanging out with his friends and family to playing rugby for the West Valley City Warriors. “I like to play rugby, I’m the starting hook for the West Valley City Warriors. It’s a team mixed with Hunter, Granger, and Kearns,” Lokotui said. Lokutui’s football and rugby teammate Elin Mortensen (12) compared his rugby performance and football performance. “Definitely, he brings same intensity as he does in football, he doesn’t stop, he will get the ball and run two or three guys over,” Mortensen said. Family can be the thing that pushes you to be better every day, whether it’s in sports or just in life. One of Lokotui’s motivation is his mother “The thing that motivates me to be better is from how hard my mom works, and I want her to have a better lifestyle,” Lokotui said. Everybody has someone they look up
to whether it’s family, coaches, or teammates. One of the role models that Lokotui looks up to is his head Coach Mike Morgan. “Somebody I look up to is coach Morgan, for all the hard work and efforts he puts in. I think it’s cool that he gives 100% effort, but I think it’s more amazing how he gives 100% effort every single day,” Lokotui said. Running back (RB) Ammon Tavai (10) and starting center Hector Magallanes (12) both have strong impressions of Lokotui’s personality. “He’s always smiling, always trying to make your day. He’s a really funny person,” Tavai said. “He’s a fun person, humble, and he knows when to be serious,” Magallanes said. Being a leader is a great quality to have for an athlete, and Lokotui’s leadership impacts the team on and off the field. “He’s always trying to be the leader he can be on and off the field, and he always does the right thing,” Magallanes said. “On the field he’s physical and plays mean, off the field, he’s like
a teddy bear, he’s soft,” Tavai said. “The way he acts and plays he just leads by example. He may not be the biggest or strongest, but he shows leadership with his actions. He’s one of the people I consider a brother, you can go to him for help and advice,” Mortensen said. At the beginning of the 2016 season in the 55-12 blowout win over Copper Hills, Lokotui broke his right foot during the game. Despite breaking his foot during the game, he showed toughness and grit by finishing out the game. For Lokotui, it was an eyeopening experience. “My turning point was when last year, I was injured, and it made me be more grateful, and it inspired me to play every down as if it was my last,” he said. It’s a new year and new beginning for Lokotui and the Granger Football team. As they try to carry the momentum from the 6-4 season from the 2016 season, the standards are high for Lokotui in the 2017 season. “One of my goals this season is to be region champions and reach the state championship,” Lokotui said.
By Braxton Henrie PATRICK Faumina (12) Football is Granger’s starting corner, and he has some pretty important goals for his life: he wants to graduate high school, go to college, and make a nice family for himself. Family is clearly important to him. “My mom is the biggest inspiration in my life,” he said. His grandma has had the biggest impact on his life and showed him a different perspective on life. He is most motivated by his family and friends pushing him to be better. “He can be the most talented player on the team if he uses his full potential,” David “Tiger” Mulitalo (12) said. Coach Mike Morgan showed him the reality of the sport and how the sport can help later in life. Faumina’s big reason for playing football was the fact that he loved the sport for its physicality and the durability needed for this sport. He also loves playing with his brothers on the field. Outside of football Faumina loves to play basketball, baseball, and chill with his friends. As a senior, this is his last year on the field. “I am excited to graduate from Granger, but I feel emotional to see that my senior season is coming to an end,” he said. His teammate Viliami Lanier (12) has noticed an improvement in Faumina. “I’ve noticed a change in him he goes to class and keeps his grades up,” he said.
Faumina agrees that football makes a difference. “Football has changed my mindset and given me a more positive outlook on life,” he said. He is sad to see that his high school football career is over, but football has taught him much about life and he hopes he can give back and show someone else the impact football can have on one’s life. The thing Faumina wants to improve on most is his dedication. When he gets into something he wants to be fully dedicated to that cause and do all he can do to make it succeed. His greatest strengths are meeting new people and hitting it off and adapting to any situation. His greatest weakness is focusing on something that is not fully interested in which can provide a challenge in a class he does not like. His first play on varsity football Faumina said that he was equally scared as he was nervous, but in the end he really enjoyed it. This will be his fifth year playing football. When this season ends, Faumina has plans to work so he can help his parents out, and to move out, and go to college. He also has plans to do rugby once the football season ends. Besides football Faumina also plays basketball and baseball for Granger and rugby for the West Valley City Warriors. Out of all those sports, Patrick enjoys playing basketball the most. The first sport he ever played was baseball.
Jessica Arellano helps earn a spot at playoffs By Ariana Rojas GIRLS soccer season is on right now they couldn’t be doing more excellent work than ever. “My name is Jessica and soccer is one of my favorite sports of all time, I enjoy it a lot,” There are a lot of Lancers that have passion for this sport. They all have respect and consider each other as one family. “Getting involved with a sport in school helps out a lot,” Jessica Arellano (10) said. Every Lancer should have a favorite activity. “What I like is that we have a lot of fun, and we like to push each other forward to get better,” Arellano said. Granger has been improving a lot this year, girls soccer have been winning some of the games but they’re still improving a lot but they would like to is inspire more girls to try out. Lancers have a feeling that they are going to do a really great job this year, but hope they can make it to the
Jessica is proud that her team took third place in region.
playoffs. Arellano’s cousin agrees. “I think my cousin Jessica is doing a really good job, but she still has a lot of more practice to work on. My advice to her is push herself forward to improve and become a better player. I personally love this sport too, but what I like to do is practice every single day to learn something new and get better at it.” Athletes are under a lot of pressure, so it’s important that they have support at home. “My family inspires me a lot, they give me all the motivation I need and I love it because it makes me feel really good whenever I’m in the field. Getting support is the best thing, it makes you think positive and not negative. Don’t know why, but getting the support from the people you mostly care about is an amazing feeling—makes you wanna try harder and be the best,” Cassan-
dra Dominguez (11) said. Soccer has a lot of rules like any other sport. Once season is on at school, players are not allowed to play soccer out of school for their safety, just in case if they get injured. “One of the reason why I tried out was because Mr. Eden encouraged me to, so I did and I’m really glad I tried out and made it on the team,” Arellano said. Sometime Lancers need support or encouragement to try out things such as activities and sports. Being involved in school helps out a lot and makes school so much more fun. “I love learning new tricks as much as I love learning new things at school,” she said. Arellano’s teammates become friends as the season progresses, and it’s the same for all sports and clubs at Granger. The common goals and hours of practice create powerful friendships.
Julia Taula takes on leadership role as team captain By Kalesita Apele THE VOLLEYBALL team is doing a fantastic job this year. The girls started their season strong with a record of three wins and zero losses. The volleyball team has improved significantly from their past seasons to now. The girls are very excited to have the wins they have earned. After winning the first set of games, the volleyball team feels more motivated and confident to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.. Everything the volleyball team has done from the start to get to where they are now has been very successful so far. “There is no
victory without sacrifice, that is the motto we follow to succeed,” Julia Taula (11) said. This sport is very important to the girls on the team. The captain should set a good example. A person who will push you to do better, someone who will help you. Taula is the captain of the Granger volleyball team. The girls love her as a their leader, they see her as a role model. The team looks up to her. “I see myself as a good leader. I love to help others. Everyone on the team has a purpose, we are not
a team of individuals.” Volleyball is one of the many things Taula enjoys. During her
“My team has passion, works together, and strives to do their best no matter what,” Taula said. “I started playing at a young age. I played club for five years.” Now that she is a Lancer playing for Granger, Taula is proud. “I love playing for this team,” she said. “I consider my fellow teammates as family, like my own sisters,” she said. Behind all the hard work that the team puts into the sport, they also love the wonderful coaches.
“My team has passion, works together, and strives to do their best no matter what.” free time she likes to spend time with her family. She also enjoys playing music instruments, singing, and baking.
The coaches are doing a great job mentoring the girls to become the championship team they strive to be. “I listen to the advice my coach gives me and it helps me,” Taula said. The team still has some improvement to work on. “The team needs a stronger mindset” Julia Taula said. Even though the volleyball team started their season strong the girls plan on ending it even stronger. Throughout the season the team will make mistakes but also learn from them. “Making mistakes is OK, because we will help each other get through it” she said.
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
October 2017, page 7 | Sports
HOMECOMING game: SeiZE THE ball
October 2017, page 8 | Reviews
Tri-Color Times VOL. LX Issue 2
Book Review : Three Dark Crowns Review by Taea Edwards “THREE dark sisters, All fair to be seen, Two to devour, And one to be Queen.” Three Dark Crowns is an amazingly written book by the astounding Kendare Blake. If you love YA books as much as I do, I highly recommend boosting this up on your book list. Triplets: Arsinoe the naturalist, Katharine the poisoner, and Mirabella the elementalist—this book follows all three of them through their journeys, starting from their 16th birthday to Beltane. “I want revenge.” She whispers, and her fingers trail bloody streaks down Natalia’s arms. “And then I want my crown.” This book is very enthralling, to start. Kendare Blake has spun an amazing story through an outstanding plot and characters. It always had me looking forward, questioning and thinking, what was to happen next? What could this mean? Why bring this up now? So much happens throughout this book, it had me stuck from the beginning. The foreshadowing is beautiful as well, and having read it twice, the second time through makes it much easier to point all of these little hints out. Foreshadowing is such an amazing tool to use for writing, and it really makes you think on it a second time through, and it’s one
of my favorite things about this book. Back to when I was reading the first time through, the emotions that surged through me were just endless, betrayal, love, heartbreak, hate, passion. It was all there, and I was not disappointed with how this book gripped me. “Her whole life they have thought her a failure, yet at the first hint of hope, they move to follow her, as if it is what they wanted all along. Perhaps it was,” One of the only things that had me at a loss was her naming of events throughout the book. There is Beltane, the ascension year, the quickening ceremony, all of these things and more got a bit confusing, and you don’t even really find out what each of them are until 156 pages in. That aspect have been written better, same with the way the island works. Along with this slight confusion, I did notice that some of her descriptions were a little weak, but she had some amazing ones, too. And I loved her dialogue. I was absolutely in love with the characters she created. Mirabella and her power, but her unfortunate and undying love. Katharine and her hidden charm, but her lack of strength. Arsinoe and her fire, but her lost power. All of these characters woven together throughout the story despite being ripped apart. And those are only the main three triplets.
The loyal characters, like Elizabeth and Bree, who both have their devout loyalty to their elementalist queen—same as Jules to Arsinoe and Pietyr to Katharine. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t all what they seem, but they would all do anything for their queens. You also have the characters such as Madrigal, Luca, Natalia, and the other, smaller characters. Even though I loved reading about their theories and low magic, some of them just got me so heated, which is another thing Blake definitely didn’t hold back on. One of the big things I found interesting was the use of the Goddess. Princesses stem from her, which made them not entirely human, not real people. The island breathes with her, and in certain places like the Breccia Domain, the triplets can feel the pulse in their bones. I really liked the different views of the Goddess from each different person, it really showed the fact that not everyone believes the same, even Arsinoe, one who stems directly from the Goddess, sees her as an evil thing. “I do not want her to hesitate. I want her to push me and push me until I hate her.” Overall, this story is one of my favorites. And the timing is perfect, as the second book was released on September 19.
Fresh clowning around in It
Review by Bryon Brinley IT HAS finally come, or shall I say ‘IT’ has finally come. This film has only gained hype and excitement since March when the first trailer was released. The excitement only got larger once the first look into the iconic floating boat scene was leaked. In the past there has been criticism of movie and T.V. adaptations of Stephen King books, but this time around the critics have mostly positive reviews of this movie, and I do, too. Of all the kids in the movie, my favorite was Richard played by Finn Wolfhard who also plays Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things. His character was the comic relief in the movie making mostly dirty jokes about the other kids in the group who in the movie are known as the losers, but I also enjoy his character because he acts like the macho of the group saying he is not scared of a monster until he finds out that the monster is Pennywise the Clown because Richard’s only fear is clowns. Bill Skarsğard did a very great job as Pennywise creating what I think Pennywise should be portrayed as rather than the Tim Curry version. Deceptive and cruel with a voice you would find from a real clown instead of a fear instilling voice depending on rough and intense voice lines to create fear. Skarsğard’s voice acting is what made his version stick more in my mind.
The main reason I loved this movie so much was the way the horror was brought out, it was not reliant on jumpscares and fancy camera work, but instead played on the fears of the characters to drive the story which also gave the viewers quite the scare because of the manner it was done and the uncomfortable feeling these scenes develop. And of course finally we get down to the story for this film. The setting and the way the characters take on Pennywise is very similar to that of Stranger Things because of the ‘80s feel from the town and dress of characters. Fear is what Pennywise feeds off of so he will use whatever each character is fearful of against them so that he can make them vulnerable. Ben is a lonely new kid, but who’s studying uncovered much of the mystery behind Pennywise. There is Eddie who has severe asthma and a controlling mother who forces him to take placebos insisting he has a blood disease, but he ends up one of the braver characters in the movie. Beverly has a sexually abusive father that made her fearless of anything even Pennywise. All these characters separate struggles and fears bringing them together to end this monster who has been terrorizing the town since it was built to make this more than a horror movie, but an epic film of redemption and friendship.
New Death Note movie disappoints Review by Allen Carrillo THE NEW Death Note movie based on the anime that premiered on Netflix this year was an utter disappointment to many of us weebs. How? Start off with the actors. Nat Wolff was chosen for the main role of Light “Turner” which was a decent choice, but there were better actors suited for the task. Lakeith Stanfield was chosen for the role of L which wasn’t a good choice. Lakeith was not a good choice, since we know L from the original anime to be your scrawny but agile guy who is extremely antisocial and awkward. However in the movie we see L being a bit more built and not as weird or antisocial. They didn’t even add in his bad habit of squatting on his chair which is the main thing we see L for. If you are going to play character that has already existed, you might as well find someone who
fits the image or that at least acts out that character’s habits. Now, the one character that I am pretty sure we all find decent was Ryuk. Ryuk was played by two actors, his voice was played by Willem Dafoe which did a fairly well job and the actor in the suit was Jason Liles. In all honesty those are the only characters that I really focused on when watching the movie. I mean, I was focusing on Amisa Amane but I did not notice until a little over to the end of the movie that they changed her name to Mia Sutton. Why would they even do that? Has the director ever seen the freaking anime at all or at least read the stinking manga to at least know how it should go? Oh yeah, the director of this sorry excuse for a movie was Adam Wingard. Yeah Wingard as in Wingardium Leviosa from the Harry Potter movie. They should
have just made him direct Harry Potter instead with a last name like that. The thing that really annoys me the most is that two of his producers have actually read and were actors in a few past anime. So my question is why the heck did they not say anything or try to make Mr. Wingardium Leviosa redo that piece of garbage. I mean, anyone who has even seen at least one episode of Death Note knows what was done wrong and how the opening was supposed to go at least. I believe all future directors of live action movies should either watch the anime or at least have employees that have seen it so that they can make the movie more accurate. There must be a way to avoid making such terrible live actions like Dragonball Evolution, Speed Racer, Ghost in the Shell, and now Death Note. That is all I have about this movie rant.
Salt lake Comic Con brings thousands of costumed fans together By Eric A. Antonio ON SEPTEMBER 21, Salt Lake Comic Con opened their doors to approximately 180,000 people from Utah and out of the state, according to the saltlakecomiccon. com website. Salt lake Comic Con included special events such as Cosplay Crossroads, where people dressed up in cosplay will participate in a parade around the building. Photo ops with celebrity guest ranged from $60-$200. This year, a gaming lounge was added for gamers, and some visitors were able to play demos for upcoming games. In order to get into Comic Con, visitors had to purchase
passes from a variety of options. Thursday’s entrance fee was $20 per person and raised more by each day. Two main passes were sold out, The VIP Pass starting at $250 which includes three days of Comic Con, express lines, a $30 Photo Op Voucher, and a Comic Con collectible. The Vendor Hall was packed with picture booths, Funko Pop figures, comic books, and a lot of Merchandise. I expected to see a lot more Wonder Woman accessories due to it being the
highest grossing female superhero film debuting on the silver screen this year.
which film they would prefer to watch if they were released on the same day and sixty percent of vendors said they would go watch Infinity War instead of Justice League. Many were dressed as Spiderman due its homecoming release. Comic Con was a blast this year, it was definitely one for the books. There was a lot of variety when it came to cosplays and merchandise. I have never seen so many Funko Pop figures in my life: expensive
“I have never seen so many Funko Pop figures in my life: expensive but so worth it.” This year at Comic Con, I expected a Justice League vs. Infinity War rivalry and I was not disappointed at all. I asked vendors
but so worth it. This year was the most diverse when it came to cosplay ideas. The gaming lounge added an extra spice to the convention. A good number of people went for the gaming section of the convention. Destiny 2 was played and it turned out to be a huge hit for the visitors. I rate this year’s Comic Con a 9.3 out of 10. I am convinced next year it will be a 10 out of 10 because it’ll be bigger, Being the fifth year. With more than 180,000 visitors, it’s one of the most popular events in the state. I recommend anyone interested to attend next year.