Volume 4 Issue 1

EXPLOSION: At the annual fall pep rally, seniors Millias Tang and Calvin Chan lead a group of fellow seniors in what might be called a piggy back rampage. Many in the group yelled in a wave of raving red, chanting “Senior Power!

Senior Power!” “I needed to show that seniors have more pride than other classes,” senior Anthony Hill said regarding the Class of 2012 being named the class with “the hottest temperature.”

“You already know how we’re doing it,” he added.

Renton High School 400 South 2nd Street Renton, WA 98057

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MEET THE ARROW STAFF

Word

Readers: You need a place to cry, look in the mirror, scream, look in the mirror some more, wash your hands of figurative and literal problems.

Personally, I think the bathroom is best because it’s where I can take a “break” from the public eye.

There, in that confinement of checkerboard tiles, heartbroken, and wailing teenagers slide down walls in slow motion.

In a world of porcelain and granite, the reflection is strong enough to boost confidence or tear one’s ego to shreds.

In front of medicine bottles, you haphazardly rummage for the syrup that will lull you to sleep.

In aisles of stalls, hiding in one yourself, you feel the line of people waiting outside for you to leave.

Under rows of fluorescent lights, you groom yourself, juggling bottles of gel, brushes for blushes, and plastic lint rollers.

Over parallel and perpendicular lines of rusty pipes, you gossip with friends about things you just can’t reveal in the hallway.

Under warm water, you belt your favorite song until you’re squeaky clean - which brings you here, holding this issue of ARROW and smelling good.

A bathroom can be a personal sanctuary for other uses. Half of this issue is devoted to the personal, scary, and weird experiences that happen in bathrooms.

Be sure to check Tristan Cawagas’ article about his experience with the infamous “Bloody Mary” on page 14. His chilling tale is one we wouldn’t want to go through.

And take a look at Queneshia Lee’s article about a girl who talks to herself in the bathroom on page10.

It brings a whole new meaning to pep talks in front of the mirror.

Vanessa Abenojar’s article about finding a makeshift bathroom on page 15 will be sure to make you pout with sympathy.

In a bathroom, you are free to drop the façade of the headstrong human your parents want you to be and you’re free to be yourself.

Even if it’s to fix yourself up to put on the mask once again.

Every issue, the editor-in-chief explains the magical and maniacal torture behind the ARROW scene. If it’s less than (or especially) magical for you, let her know at rhsarrow@ gmail.com

Complete this mind-fizzing crossword by using the hints to fill in the blanks with the first names of the 2011-12 ARROW staff. (These are the people who wrote the articles and

took the pictures in this

publication.) Answers are on

NUM83R5.

Across

1. NUM83R5 Editor – Sells footwear in the bathoom 4. NUM83R5 Staff – Had their left foot shoved into the girls’ bathroom by his friends 5. Photo Editor – Doesn’t like using the same bathroom right after someone else did because of the “atmosphere” they leave behind 6. Intro Staff – Was warned not to go to the school bathrooms in Syria by this person’s mom 9. Back Page Staff & Online Editor – Records musical covers in the bathroom because of acoustics 11. Portraits Editor – Uses different toothpastes; one in the morning and one at night 12. Faces Staff – Saw a hanging tampon on the knob of the girls’ bathroom window 14. Portraits Staff – Likes looking at her neighbor’s bunnies out her bathroom window 15. Art and Design Editor – Played PSP while using the toilet 16. Know More Staff – Plays portable game devices while doing their “business” 18. Play Hard Editor – Eats while peeing 19. Cover Editor & Ads and Business Manager – Creates choreography to hip-hop songs in the shower 20. Managing Editor – Was given a lesson on girls by a rejected overdressed boy while using the urinal FINE PRINT

Queenelle Gazmen

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ARROW is an open forum produced by candyguzzling, tree-climbing, business-stalking, amateur geese-like students. They love horror movies, and they just got engaged - the whole class, to each other! Awesomely enough, they all go to Renton High School at 400 S. 2nd St., Renton, WA, 98057, a great place for airplane watching. The editor-in-chief is Queenelle Gazmen. You can contact her at 206-554-1692, no text messages, please.

ARROW is printed eight times a year by Pacific Publishing Company in Seattle, Washington.

Word processing, graphics and layouts are created on Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe Creative Suite 3 programs. ARROW has a press run of 2,000.

The staff welcomes letters to the editor and will publish letters which meet our standards of good taste (as space permits). Letters must be signed. ARROW reserves the right to edit letters, though every attempt will be made to

Down

2. Intro Editor & Copy Editor – Watched a boy get pulled into a Honey Bucket and helplessly watched it get tipped over 3. Perspectives Staff – Wishes school bathrooms had a larger supply of soap 4. Perspectives Editor – Rarely goes to public restrooms because his mom lectured him on how dangerous and dirty they are 7. Know More Editor – Their sister used to turn the lights off when this person were taking a bath 8. Play Hard Staff – This person feels like someone is watching him the whole time he’s in the bathroom 10. Play Hard Staff – Ate lunch with her friends in the bathroom 13. Know More Staff – Trapped for five minutes in a locked stall 14. Editor-in-chief – Punched a bathroom wall on Valentine’s Day 17. Faces Editor – Switches between three different shampoos each time they shower

preserve original content. Unsigned editorials and editorial cartoons represent the majority view of ARROW editorial board and do not represent the views of the Renton School District or RHS. Opinions, commentaries, satires, and perspectives are the views of the writers and artists, not the Renton School District or ARROW editorial board.

ARROW is financed by advertising based on size-determined rates. These range from $20-$80.

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Know more

GRAVITY DEFYING TALENT SHOW CROUCHING TIGER: Seniors Johnathon Sundara and Anthony Hill, along with sophomore Andrew Saechao, were the trio known as “Insert Name Here.” They showed their dance moves and skills. “How do you put a title on something that is undefined?”

Sundara asked.

Jugglers and b-boys may have defied gravity, but the entire cast defied stereotypes with an eclectic collection of skills, styles, words and movements

SPITTIN’ RHYMES: Fall Talent Show winner Ron Roman and Janile Mundy, won the show. “My real inspiration is the audience because of their energy and support,” Roman said.

GOT TALENT: Freshmen Haben Abraham smiles after singing “Do It Like A Dude” at the show. Abraham and her two older sisters performed together as a trio, and made it all the way to the semi-finals of “America’s Got Talent” in the 2009 season. “I am happy! I love school talent shows,” Abraham said, “The song was British. It was weird and it was interesting and I just wanted to try it.”

DANCING QUEEN: Senior Brittany Schillinger performs a belly dance in the show. Schillinger was only the second act to perform that night. “I love to do it,” Schillinger said.

“Even if people don’t like it, I did.”

ANGELIC VOICE: Junior Angelica Chu performed “How Do I Live.” Before the show she caught an illness but was still able to perform. “I was sick a week before it started,” Chu said, “so I had to drink tea and chew a lot of cough drops.”

Katie Reynolds and Ksenia Ivanova photos

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SPEECH & DEBATE SENIORS For first time, competition will Dodgeball fundraiser coming, qualify Tourny of Champions with big trophy for the winner OUR TOWN Drama Club plans new production |Abigail Cetino |KnowMore Staff Stage Manager Brianna Stepper has an important role as the Stage Manager. She updates Director Matthew Milton about the actors and the show.

“My job is really hectic and stressful,” Stepper said. “I have to ignore what I want to do and just go with the flow. The job is really rewarding and it can be a lot of fun.”

This year’s play, “Our Town,” will be different because it is a minimalist play with little set and plain costumes. “[It] takes a lot of hard work and we want to get better every production,” Stepper said.

Stepper and Milton both believe it will be difficult but worthwhile.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Milton said. “The play is really deep emotionally and it’s going to rely on the performances of the actors to convey the message.”

The storyline will be relatable.

“The play will include everyday people living in a small town,” Milton said. “There’s a milk man, a journalist, a policeman and the leads are just a couple of high school students. It’s about life, love, and death.”

Performances begin in early Jan.

|Tristan Cawagas |Perspectives Editor The school will host a speech and debate tournament on Dec. 1.

“We have two months and we’re pretty good now,” Speech and Debate adviser Jessica Buchan said.

Students who do well in the tournament will have the chance to attend the Tournament of Champions.

Renton High School’s students have attended this tournament in the past.

“We had a reputation of doing well and we just want to live up to it,” Speech and Debate captain Millais Tsang said.

There is a lot of work to be done when hosting this event, so it means a lot when members help out.

“I feel like it’s a great opportunity for our members to participate, and hosting it is extraneous but it’s a lot of fun,” Tsang said.

|Vanessa Abenojar |Copy Editor Class of 2012 is hosting a dodgeball tournament on Nov. 18. In the main gym.

“We’re going to have groups of 5 to 8 with a roster and everything,” senior class president Hana Feseha said. “It’s going to be a community thing, so people from other schools like Hazen, Lindbergh can participate too.”

Admission is three dollars and five dollars to play.

Games will go on from 3pm-6pm.

“We ordered this big trophy and everything,” Feseha said.

Also there is an Applebees breakfast for the senior class coming up soon, sometime in November. It’s to be determined.

The class will be getting 50% of the profits from the breakfast.

YEARBOOK New ideas come from expert adviser, innovative students

DREAM PROJECT Upcoming workshop offers seniors application assistance

|Abigail Cetino |KnowMore Staff Normally students find out about the yearbook at the end of the year. This year is different.

“There’s going to be more transparency,” yearbook adviser Susan Johnson said. “It’s not going to be a secret; we’re opening this up to the entire school.”

Veteran yearbook editor Tyler Yorita approves of the change.

“I think what Ms. Johnson is doing is a step forward,” Yorita said. “The theme this year is ‘Community,’ so why not incorporate that with the new age of high school culture, where the students play a pivotal role.”

This is Yorita‘s second year in Yearbook. His roles are creating design spreads, helping other students, and checking the content as a whole.

Meetings are Fridays after school in Room 152 and usually last an hour and a half.

|Queenelle Gazmen |Editor-in-Chief Dream Project mentors are hosting an event at UW. “The Admission Workshop Weekend is a time where you can really focus on the college,” mentor Paige Suelzle said.

She will be present, along with professors, at the workshop.

“Seniors should bring all their college stuff to work on,” Suelzle said.

This event is scheduled at a time before some applications are due.

“You work independently and can ask questions. It’s like the final push for people that still need to start working towards applications and personal statements,” Suelzle said.

The Admission Workshop Weekend will be held on Nov. 29-20 at Mary Gates Hall at the University of Washington.

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PEP ASSEMBLY

The Beat

To raise school spirit, Leadership classes hosted a Fall Pep Assembly. Seniors and Juniors tied in a timed fashion show, the sophomores won a tissue box contest between classes, cheerleaders danced despite technical difficulties and teachers danced old school.

SWEEPING

|Ksenia Ivanova |Portraits Editor Custodian Tung Huynh walked into his office and saw a standard sized outdoor push broom with a round one inch handle, entirely spray painted with an incandescent golden tint.

The Leadership class had left it there as a symbol and sign.

“They take [time] off and the Leadership kids take all the trash from all the floors and the gym,” Leadership student Jhomarie Sadang said.

“We called it the Golden Broom,” Jordan Bowens added. “Whenever they see it in their office, they know we’re going to do this for them.”

This broom was not made for cleaning.

“It’s a symbol of their hard work,” Akinlana Sterling said.

The Leadership class worked hard so custodial staff could take some time off to relax.

The kindness of their actions evoked emotion in the janitors.

“The main janitor, Tung, just lit up and he was so excited when we told him to go ahead and take a break,” Bowens said. “It made me feel good to see that, to make him happy.”

In fact, there were lighthearted smiles all around.

“There were other janitors that weren’t in the office, that were walking around,” Bowens said. “We told them to go ahead and leave, that ‘we got this,’ and they all smiled.

“It was nice to see them feel appreciated for once.”

All custodial staff members were eager to point out their opinions and showed enthusiasm when mentioning the participation of students in our school.

“This year [is a] big change, big change,” custodian Thanh Ta Senior said.

The custodians personally asked to get a message out.

“All [the] custodians would like to say thank you to Leadership and Ms. Olson for helping [the] custodians keep the school clean,” Huynh said.

The Golden Broom, a standard sized outdoor push broom with a round one inch handle, entirely spray painted with an incandescent golden tint, still shines.

KING KONG: (Right) Leading students with his hand over his heart, ASB president Calvin Chan views the U.S. flag during the singing of the National Anthem. Chan wore a cape because of a tradition started by Tamthy Le (former ASB President 2009-10).

“It feels good to be king,” Chan said.

FRONT RUNNERS: (Bottom) Two junior teammates Jonathan Patterson and Justin Pienh help lead the Varsity basketball team through fall league. During the pep assembly Patterson and Pienh play front men (the two in the front) as they send “ayes” through the gym as a whole class.

Dauvee Keith photos

Every month, The Beat explores the latest news going around the school.

Everything from dress-code offenses to school-wide events. Breathe deep.

Clarification on school news has finally arrived.

Play Hard

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Fresh Meat Playas

Name

Angela Vu

Jaqueline Arreola

Elijah Clayton

Nalika Virachi

Sport/ Team

Girls Swim

Girls Soccer

Junior Varsity Football

Junior Varsity Cheer

Reason for Joining

“I wanted the exercise and wanted to continue my swimming.”

“I started playing in middle school and wanted to continue in high school because it’s more competitive.”

“I love the sport. I’ve played it since I was 6. I want to go professional someday.”

“My cousin was on the cheer team and she wanted me to join.”

Team Bonding Ritual

“We bond by talking in the van...

It’s really random and we make fun of each other.”

“While practicing we talk, and on the bus to games.”

“Before every game we have a chant we say. ‘By myself I am nothing but with my brothers I can do all things.’”

“We do Zumba.”

Memory

“One thing we talk about in the van is how silly the assistant coach’s driving is. He’s slow and his turns are wide. We tell him ‘You’re gonna kill us!’ and ‘We’re gonna die!’”

“On Wednesday the guy who opens the gate didn’t, so our coach had to climb over the gate. Then we found a gate that was open so our coach climbed over the gate for nothing.”

“When we went to Alaksa I fell asleep and woke up with toothpaste on my face. Yeah... it’s kinda what happens.”

Can’t think of a memory

GOLD

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RUSH Anthony Gold shines. |Queneshia Lee | Portraits Staff The final score: 43-40. Indians take the victory over Lindbergh.

“The win meant a lot to me,” running back Anthony Gold said. “We beat a league opponent which gives us a better shot at reaching the playoffs and going to state.”

All his life, Gold knew he wanted to play football. It was his chance to shine and he took that opportunity by joining the football team. Now, students hear his name on the announcements frequently, where his accomplishments are broadcasted for the student body.

“When someone mentions the name ‘Lindbergh’ the only thing that comes to mind is ‘league game,’” Gold said. “I never played them before, so not too much comes to mind.”

Right before every game Gold does the same thing to get ready.

“The night before a game, I ice my ankles and put my football bag together with all my gear,” he said. “I do a lot of thinking about the game and what plays I’m going to make.”

While reminiscing about the victory against Lindbergh, Gold

smiled a lot.

“My highlight moment of the game was when we were up 4340,” he said. “Lindbergh got the ball and was driving for the tie or win. Number 7 [on Lindbergh’s team] caught a pass and broke down the sideline and I ran him down to save the game.”

Gold doesn’t let anything cloud his mind on the field.

Performance is everything.

“My motivation is playing on the next level. It’s been one of my goals for a while. The whole day I was focused. I just sat in class and thought about the game.”

Gold gives it all he can; his fellow team members support him all the way.

“Anthony is my bro, I grew up with him,” full back and linebacker Jakari Armstrong said. “He is a great team player and he brings leadership to the team.”

That’s how Gold works. Boom! The clock reaches zero and someone – probably him – takes the victory.

UP TO PAR: FOR MAR, THERE MAY BE AN ‘I’ IN ‘TEAM’ AFTER ALL | Kevin Chung | NUM83R5 Editor “Yup, the only one,” Sophomore Mitchell Mar said.

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many type of club’s to hit balls into a series of holes.

Mar is the only player on Renton’s golf team, and although he is the only one on the team, he is still keeping our school in the rankings.

“Sharing is caring, I don’t really care if we share coaches,” Mar said.

Although he’s alone on his team of one, he gets to see other, larger teams when he competes.

“Like 20 kids, juniors and seniors mostly,” Mar said.

Most would believe that during the banquet Mar would receive all the awards for Renton, but in fact he share’s the banquet also with Lindbergh.

The only award received was his senior Varsity letter.

There’s also no bus to the game like most sport teams, he has to find his own way of transportation.

During his first match of the season by himself, he won first place against Hazen and

second against Lindbergh.

“I felt like a boss,” Mar said.

This might be strange for Mar, given that his coach is shared with Lindbergh.

He practices with the team. Golf practice is repetitive practicing their golf swings to perfection as to where the ball goes further and straighter.

Safe to say, Mar keeps his friends close but his enemies closer.

The

SiVOLLEYBALL delines | Katie Reynolds | Perspectives “HEADS!” Volleyball team manager senior Akinlana Sterling calls out, when a stray volleyball flies in the direction of people in the stands. Right now, it is warm up. Several people work to scrape gum from the floor of the court before the first match against Kennedy begins.

Over my right shoulder I hear gossiping from two girls behind me, and over my left shoulder I hear dings and beeps from a little girl playing an app. on her mother’s iphone.

The buzzer rings. As the game starts, fans shout sports terminology perhaps not understandable to the uninitiated.

The rest of the gym echoes with side conversations of spectators, cheers from teammates on the side lines and intermittent whistles from the refs.

The sounds mix with air, stale from sweat and overwhelms the senses except for the fact that the gym is neither too hot nor too cold.

The girls from Kennedy, though keeping a 10 point lead for most of the game, don’t seem to smile much at all.

Even when they cheer in celebration when getting a point, their facial expressions can’t be described as anything but filled with jaded pride and annoyance.

But maybe that’s just my bias.

I’m rooting for the home team.

Without looking at the score, you wouldn’t be able to tell if they were winning or losing the game. Even their coach keeps a serious demeanor about him. In fact, these players seem to express frustration and anger in their eyes, thick with eyeliner.

However, one of them was different.

A small girl from Kennedy dressed in red (the color was to mark her specific position on the team - called a “Libero”) with long black hair, dark eyes, and ebony skin, laughs and cheers excitedly.

Surrounded by her teammates in dark blue, most of whom look like they could maybe be related to each other (and wearing the same heavy makeup), she stands out most of all, a bright spot in the darkness. Like a princess in a world of dragons.

Can you tell who I’m rooting for?

The home team, of course, but maybe also that girl.

Every month, The Sidelines provides a first-hand account of a sporting event or activity with the sweaty, sticky details in tact. Relive the experience with the greatest glory, and maybe a few laughs.

INt

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I’ve always wanted a bathroom with a little something, something. -

Boys think more about relationships in “His seat was warm, and the warmth from his seat was spreading slow “Cleaning the mirror first.” - pg 10

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a couple of options. your belt, have a seat, turn Or, if there’s no bathroom rn the page anyway. The next about bathrooms.

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- pg 12

hidden faces

hiding spots

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insecurities

“I let it all out and sing dramatically to a sad song.” - pg 15 “Bubble bath” - pg 14 Spiral of flushes - pg 16

the shower than girls - pg 13 wly.” - pg 11 PHOTOS BY MONA OREJUDOS AND DESIGN BY VANESSA ABENOJAR

PORTRAITS

ARROW 91011

Spoken in Solitary

A sophomore’s daily restroom rehearsal

| Queneshia Lee | Portraits Staff Toilets flush as the faucets cut on.

The smell of perfume and unfamiliar odors mix in the air as girls talk about their day and relationship problems. Bodies enter and exit the bathroom stalls.

Do you use it for relieving yourself ? Or to check how you look? Or do you use it for all three reasons? Everybody has their own reasons why they use the bathroom. Some of us have surely even talked to ourselves while in the bathroom.

“I was looking in the mirror while thinking about some family problems that I was going through at the time,” sophomore Ranaizah Johnson said. “Then, before I knew it, I started speaking my thoughts out loud.”

So what was going through Johnson’s mind once she realized she was speaking out loud to herself ? Some would think a girl talking to herself would be crazy. As for Johnson’s friend sophomore Shaylyn Linear, she thinks differently.

“If she likes to talk to herself, then

Ksenia Ivanova graphic

Deep Meditating Revelations in the shower | Ksenia Ivanova | Portraits Editor Junior Roedah Mansour spends her time in the bathroom contemplating big ideas.

“Sometimes I don’t use the bathroom or anything and just sit there and think,” Mansour said. “Lately I’ve been sitting on the ledge of my shower.”

She is not one to waste her time.

“If I’m singing, I’ll think about music or whatever is associated with that,” Mansour said.

For example, she would think about music artists.

“When I’m in the shower and I’m not thinking deeply or anything I’ll think about artists and things that make artists really, really, really, really, really, really, really good to me. Like their dancing talents or their singing talents,” Mansour said.

A close friend sees potential in her peculiar thought process.

“It’s kinda scattered in a way, and she has lots of ideas,” junior Monique Inthasone said. “It’s out of the ordinary in a spectacular way that, it’s very innovative.

There’s just something about her thoughts that make you want to get to know her.”

Her thoughts may be random but they flow finding a relevant topic and gradually making her way until reaching oblivion.

“I have random trains of thoughts and can’t remember what I started [with],” Mansour said. “I think randomly. I usually think what I was just thinking about to get here.”

She recalls those silly moments.

“I tried dancing in the shower. That hurt a lot actually,” Mansour said. “I slipped and then I caught myself but still ended up with a bruised elbow for about 3 weeks.”

Eventually, introspection comes about.

“I came to realize I’m really dependent on people,” Mansour said. “I’m usually trying to help others, but I feed off of their positive energy; I feed off of being able to help them to be positive back in a sense.”

The biggest epiphany she has had in the shower came not long ago; a close friend has seen this all along.

“If you become her friend she will devote herself to you,” senior Christine David said. “You are called her friend for a reason.”

These rare occurrences when she is not texting, singing or dancing in which

such thoughts remain and create an unforgettable impact on her view towards her character as a person.

“I’d rather make them happy,” Mansour said. “I think about other people’s problems to distract myself from my own.”

Thoughts strike her with so much force they cause her to lament over misfortunes that have yet to create real grief.

“It made me figure out how it affected me if I lost my friends or family members,” Mansour said. “If I didn’t have other people to depend on, I would be overwhelmed by my own problems.”

The losses which could potentially transpire in her life create an undesirable distress.

“I’ve spent time crying in the shower,” Mansour said. “All the hot water ran out and then I screamed and ran because it was cold.”

The spectrum of Mansour’s attitude towards the purpose of the bathroom varies with several options for her to choose from; from quirky ways to spending a shower dancing, singing or texting (without a ziplock bag) to deep moments of reflection.

that’s fine. It is what it is,” Linear said.

Johnson admits it might be strange.

“The only thing I could think about to be honest was if this was even a little ounce of weird,” Johnson said with a big smirk on her face.

That smile. Was it because she thought the situation was funny? Or was it because of some other reason? Asked why she was smiling, Johnson said “Oh, nothing.”

“Maybe the situation was funny to her,” junior Sum Yee Lee said. “It makes a great story and I couldn’t help but laugh myself.”

Although no one was around at the time, Johnson did admit that people were around during previous experiences.

“My advice to anyone that has ever talked to them self is to just find someone to talk to. That way you can express yourself,” Johnson said. “You will feel better.”

Many can probably relate to Johnson’s experience. Everybody has their outlook on this situation.

But many like Johnson think that if caught talking to yourself then you are absolutely fine. It’s perfectly normal.

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FOUR COUNTRIES. FOUR RESTROOMS

[INTERNATIONAL TOUR BY ANDREA BUENBRAZO]

Viantiane Boxes Somewhere in a market in Viantiane, Laotian Monique Inthasone needs to relieve herself. The outdoor stalls available are like sheds. She shuts the dark blue curtain of the stall behind her and smells a mixture of compost and farm.

That was 7 years ago. Now Inthasone remembers the agony. “I don’t want to pee but I have to go,” she said, recalling.

She decided to rough it and go. The stall was dim but she could see the outlines of her surroundings. In the middle of the wooden floor was a stone basin with a hole draining into an abyss. At the sides of the makeshift toilet were textured stone squares where she placed your feet. There was no toilet paper; only a bucket of water and a sort of scoop resting near the “toilet.”

As she left the stall she thought, “Thank goodness it’s over.”

Not all toilets in Laos are little boxes, though. Inthasone’s grandparents’ bathroom had a standard toilet, sink, and the luxury of toilet paper.

Medium Flush In Nishiwaki, Japanese junior Jordan Bowens flicked the lights on at a friends’ house to reveal an average looking white and light green bathroom. The shower was on an entirely different level but even without the scents of shampoo and soap the room smelled of flowers.

He sat down on the light tan toilet.

Whoah?! What is this?! His seat was warm, and the warmth from the seat was spreading slowly throughout his body, warming even his toes.

“Oooh,” he verbalized.

“That toilet was God and I made sure just to take extra long just to enjoy it,” Bowens said remembering the experience.

Whirrrrr. The toilet paper dispensed itself next to him. There were multiple buttons; high flush, medium flush, and low flush. Today feels like a medium flush day, he thought, and pressed the middle button. He left the room, still smelling fresh after “the deed.”

Korean Dreams

Privacy Please

In Vietnam, a bright-eyed 8-year-old Hang Bui stood in her aunt’s backyard. She walked toward the dreaded brick room at the corner. Inside it was dark but she could see the single hole on the floor and the roll of toilet paper sitting next to it. She hurried along with her buisiness.

“I didn’t use it because it was gross,” Bui said.

She grew up knowing about the bathroom at her aunt’s house so she wasn’t the least bit surprised Five years later, Bui casually entered a cozy bathroom at a Seoul airport. The bathroom smelled faintly of toothpaste; people were brushing their teeth at the sinks.

She entered a stall with a clear plastic toilet cover already on the seat.

She pressed a button and the old wrap moved along the seat in a counterclockwise direction, bringing new wrap in its place, like a snake shedding its skin.

That was pretty cool, she thought, leaving the stalls.

Sophomore Trung Doan peered through a patterned transparent door. He stared at an angle and saw that he could see through it. He walked like a careful sleuth investigating his surroundings. The glass door shut behind him but there was no lock. Koreans must not care about privacy, Doan thought.

The bathroom was clean except...

“Where’s the toilet paper?”

The toilet had what seemed to be armrests on its sides. An array of buttons awaited. The temptation was too much to resist. He pressed a button and a metal snake emerged and angled itself, ready to strike.

What the freak is that?!

Water squirted at him and he dodged just in time. He pressed another and again a metal snake appeared but the snake hissed with air.

As he was about to press the third button, his brother Thien popped in.

“What are you doing?” he said. “I need to go pee.”

Language Arts teacher, Breanne Robirds

Donavon Saario, ’13

World History teacher, William Ruehle

Janessa Durden, ’13

Leah Feona, ’12

Savannah Smith, ’15

Drashea Bates, ’12

Jared Jenkins, ’13

Evan Saelee, ‘12

Government teacher, Jeff Wiser

Zack Lee, ’13

Kizztophe Asucion, ’12

Faces ARROW 111213

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SHOWER THOUGHTS The 200 students displayed on this page – 100 men and 100 women – is a visual display of student responses to the question “What do you think about while showering?” The column on the right is one reporter’s take on the statistics.

(Fine print: One hundred and forty six students were surveyed on Thursday, Oct. 6. Our margin of error is 7.6%. Each person represents one percentage.)

[

] = What I have to do: school, my job, etc.

[

] = Relationships: family, friends, romance

[

] = I mostly sing songs and lyrics

[

] = Other

MALES

FEMALES

Meaning Meaning

FLOW

| Queenelle Gazmen | Editor-in-Chief Free from society and free from clothes, students can let their mind wander like the water from the shower faucets: freely.

But do thought trains matter based on gender?

Out of 79 girls, 13% of them think about relationships, which can be about friendship, family, and/ or romance. Watch any cliché flick about slick pricks and tricked chicks and there is a guarantee that the heartbroken female lead bursts into tears because she feels like she’s all alone in the world.

Read Andrea Buenbrazo’s article on page 14. Go on, I’ll wait.

Buenbrazo represents 42% of female students. They mostly sing songs in the shower. Rather than thinking of relationships in the shower, they’re singing about relationships in the shower. with those ballads about love and break-ups.Clever cover-up, girls.

Males do not rank relationships and music to be the topmost priority of their thought train.

Only 6% of them think about their interactions with the people around them. It’s not that they don’t care, which has always been a sterotype held against them, but the shower is just not an ideal place for those kind of thoughts.

An estimate of 37% of 67 male students think deeply about what they have to do in their life which could be school, a job, or something else just as life-altering.

As high school is a pivotal point in a student’s life, more than one-third of males are taking their cleansing time to make sure they’re successful in their educational or vocational life.

About 37% of male students think of other things in the shower that have nothing to do with emotional connections, music, or their job. It could be about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 released on Nov. 8.

They use the rushing water to pretend they’re running through the rain in the Junkyard map, thinking about strategies and hiding spots, mimicking characters’ movements in the safety of their shower.

Walled in without fear of prejudice, it’s ok for your thoughts to just flow.

The Meaning offers the interpretation to the numbers you see to your left. The percentages you see are based off of surveys given out during advisories and have been mathematically calculated.

Across: 1. Kevin Chung 4. Tony Nguyen 5. Eli De Los Santos 6. Sura Alani 9. Andrea Buenbrazo 11. Ksenia Ivanova 12. Marisol Mora 14.

Queneshia Lee 15. Farid Ahmach 16. Joecon Tabasondra 18. Dauvee Keith 19. Brittney Nguyen 20. Joseph Varnadore Down: 2. Vanessa Abenojar 3. Derick Velacruz 4. Tristan Cawagas 7. Katie Reynolds 8. Fernando Perez 10. Naje Bryant 13. Abigail Cetino 14.

Queenelle Gazmen 17. VyVy Nguyen

perspectives

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A KILLER’S FAVORITE ROOM

Why bathroom murder scenes are super predictable |Tristan Cawagas |Perspectives Editor “Bloody Mary,” I said to my bathroom mirror.

Hours earlier, I had been watching the “Paranormal Activity 3” trailer.

Two little girls videotaped themselves in the bathroom while saying Bloody Mary three times, and afterwards there was a dark figure in the mirror behind them.

“Bloody Mary,” I repeated.

Full disclosure: I always chicken out on the third time, but after seeing the trailer, I don’t even want to mess with the rumor anymore.

Some of the bathrooms I use have no windows, all the more darker when I turn the lights off.

When I was in middle school, my sister Erika would turn off the lights while I was using the bathroom just to mess with me. I was scared because it was small, dark, and I didn’t know where to aim.

Most bathrooms have only one door, and that’s the only way in and

out. It’s like a dead end: because if a killer is standing between you and the door you’re screwed.

The bathroom is the perfect place for murder because no one is there to hear the victim scream.

Plus, most people are alone in bathrooms. Private bathrooms are built for only one person, and not everyone brings a security guard into public bathrooms. We usually go alone.

Thus, the danger.

In some bathrooms, lights flicker on and off. Usually, the lights are off just long enough for something to pop out of nowhere between flickers.

Another middle school flashback: sometimes I would sleep over at my cousin’s house and we would play with the strobe light. I realized that if someone is running toward you flickering lights, it’s kind of scary.

Mirrors are another horror scene giveaway because a reflection is one place where even though you think you can see behind yourself, you actually can’t - because you can’t see behind the

space in which you’re standing.

For a long time, mirrors freaked me out. I imagined myself brushing my teeth and suddenly the curtain of the bathroom would fly open and I’d see the Grudge or the Ring Girl standing right behind me.

“Bloo-” I stammered, starting the phrase for the third time.

Then I turned on the lights and opened the door and the light of the sun sparkled in the mirror and shined in.

Eli De Los Santos’s art

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RECORDING STUDIO

BATHROOM HEARTBREAK

The Heat

INDECISIVE

|Andrea Buenbrazo |Back Page Staff My own personal recording studio is special. I don’t need any mics or fancy equipment. My voice ricochets off the tile walls and the glass shower door, and that’s all I need. It’s silent for a moment but I hear the sound of constant rain in the background. Music floods the ears of my brain, takes me over completely, and urges me to sing. The rain starts condensing on the glass.

My mood usually determines what my recording session starts as. Sometimes I have a nice rap session. (But then again, I’ve only ever rapped to “Super Bass.”) Or maybe I’ll sing light tunes; a happy song.

Sometimes I just sing whatever gets stuck in my head. On days when I feel sort of down, I let it all out and sing dramatically to a sad song. Most days, however, I sing about love.

“I want a library… full of our stories and a ship to keep out memories afloat.” In my head, I picture bubbles; I feel warm. I grab a flowery smelling bar with a dove on it. “I wanna hit rewind/ Playback a thousand times/ The moment when our hearts aligned...”

I reach for the shampoo and suds begin to grow from my head.

In my studio, there are days when I remember songs from years ago. A line from a long lost song manages to find its way to my head.

The sound of slow rock starts and I head bang to the lead guitar.

“That’s what you get when you let your heart win.” I fall back in love with Paramore and Teddy Geiger.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! “Woah!” I snap back into reality for a moment. I look up to see the plastic white tiles of my shower.

“Open up!” my little sister yells. “We’re home!”

“I’ll be out in a minute!” I call after her.

Reaching for my towel, I smile. That was a pretty good recording session.

|Joesph Varnedore |Managing Editor So there I was, walking into the bathroom after arriving at seven the morning of Homecoming week. Eyes half closed, I wove my way through the hallways, the Commons, and into the bathroom.

I reach the urinal. I begin my morning routine. Until I notice a presence beside me. I look over and there is a skinny kid in a suit and tie with a bouquet of flowers. Instead of asking the obvious question, my sleep deprived brain could only think of one thing.

Why is he standing next to me?

Before I could even go for “Hi, could you not stand right there? It is a little awkward to be this…” he was already talking to me.

“Man, I hate that girl!”

Maybe he had gotten rejected by his Homecoming date? I began to form words out of my mouth, slow and confused, about what had happened.

“That girl, after what I did, says ‘No’ to me! That…”

I wanted to end this conversation. First it was the urinal, and then the talking. It was more then I could bother with at seven in the morning. So I asked my bladder what was happening down there.

Yo, bladder, you done yet?

Nah dog, I need more time So I finished up like a race runner, and remove myself from the urinal. I walked to the sink. The guy followed me with flawless precision.

We both start washing our hands.

“What should I do?”

I looked at him for a second. At first I wanted to tell him to go away.

He disturbed my peeing.

Then I had an idea, one that would only make things worse for him.

“Throw the flowers at her.”

By the end of the day, those flowers were ruined and in the garbage.

My First Bubble Bath |Sura Alani |Intro Staff I have never had a bubble bath. I didn’t even know what it was?

Because in my country the way that we take a bath is different. We have a steam bath then we use soup made from Laurels, that’s without bubbles.

Today, I had my first bubble bath in my life. My friend told me to put half the soup in the water. She didn’t know that mine was so big. I did what they said, the bathtub was full of bubbles! I was so excited to go in, but when I did, the water got out of the bathtub. The bathroom

was so wet. It was like a pool. It had the smell of fruits. I felt like I’m in a tub full of juice. The sound of the bubbles was like soft music. It taste like you eat cake for the first time in your life.

“Tuta get out now!” my brother said. “I want to take a shower.”

He was so angry because he just come from his job and he use to take a shower when he come.

So I get out the tub. I clean up very fast. Then I ware my clothes, and I get out.

That was so fun. Except when my brother came, and I had to clean up. And I will try it again.

| Vanessa Abenojar | Copy Editor My elementary choir sings every winter outside in front of this tree that they decorate with lights in Columbia City.

I had to pee really bad but there was no bathroom for another block and my friends were around so I didn’t want to leave them.

We were about to start. I didn’t want to be late, so I decided not to go pee even though I knew I should.

My music teacher had long ocean hair that flew everywhere during her conducting. It would be on one shoulder for a minute and then her back, then the opposite shoulder.

In the middle of the performance, I couldn’t hold it anymore. I had to go. I couldn’t leave though. I couldn’t just walk out of the choir.

I had to go.

I had to go right there.

The crowd was mostly senior citizens and the families of the students in my choir. There weren’t a ton, but the people covered the sidewalk and some of the road.

“Oh no... Oh no... I have to pee!” I told my friend William Zhou. He and I were always in the back because we were both tall.

I remember wearing boots because most of my pee leaked into them.

I made it drip into them on purpose because I didn’t want it to run all over the sidewalk for everyone to notice and step in it.

“I can smell it,” Zhou said.

There were girls around us giggling and making fun of me. I started crying.

“It’s alright,” Zhou said.

That made me mad because it wasn’t alright at all. It was so cold outside you could see steam coming from my warm urine.

I cried and ran to my mom who was in the audience.

She picked me up in her arms and sat me in the car’s back seat that had a towel waiting for me to sit on it.

Now I know that I must pee before I do things but that doesn’t mean I’m still not indecisive when it comes to going to the bathroom.

I know I should but it’s like procrastinating with homework. I do it when it’s almost too late.

This month, The Heat showcases the opinions and thoughts of a reporter willing to tell his personal truth. Or make your lower lip tremble. Enough reality to inspire action in you, our reader.

Flush

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We all have things we want to go away But not everyone has a way to. In this section, we’ll look at everything we could all do without, are cursed to keep, and wish would go away. Together, let’s look at things we have to use, abuse, and work with just to make it through the day.

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