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INDEPTH: True love ON THE COVER: Sophomore Samantha Vega poses with a photo of her younger self. Read her story on page 23.
CON TEN TS
Photos by Carly Cargill
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FEATURE: Teacher features—including Marcy Goodnow and Geof Land
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TOC 03.05.15
CENTER: Family and relationships
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NEWS: Black History Month
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SPORTS: Wrestling feature
BALLIN’ (background): Senior Quinn Parker runs out of the tunnel of teammates and cheerleaders at his last home game against Pioneer Valley. Parker was the point guard and a lead scorer of the varsity team this year.
News
Medaled for the future
RECOGNIZING THEIR SKILLS: Thirty of the 76 Bearcat medalists pose after the competitions are over. Bearcats made up 53 percent of the competitors. Photo by Mariela Villa
76 Bearcats win at Skills competition by Mariela Villa, Business Manager
Two hundred and forty six students from the California region 2 SkillsUSA, 146 of whom are Bearcats, came to PRHS for the regional competition; this is the first time Paso has ever held this event, on Feb. 6. Eight high schools and two community colleges participated in the event. Seventy-six Bearcats medaled, 42 got gold, 23 silver, and 11 bronze, with 101 Cats advancing to state. To advance, they must perform well on the knowledge test and material pertaining to their competition. “It was the most successful regional conference
that we've had in the last two or three years. We have an organized plan, close to no complaints, successful opening and closing ceremonies and full communication throughout the region,” senior Wes Harmon said, who is the California High School Reporter for SkillsUSA and has gone all the way to nationals in previous years. SkillsUSA gives students the opportunity to explore any career pathway filling the skills gap in today’s society, introducing them to real world industries, and give them the training needed.
“We have an organized plan, close to no complaints, successful opening and closing ceremonies and full communication throughout the region.” Wes Harmon, 12
Showing our colors in Black History Month by Emmaline Voorheis, Reporter
To honor Black History Month this February, PRHS is taking heartfelt and contemplative “In small ways or larger ways, emphasizing creative accomplishments of Africansteps to celebrate African-Americans and their role in U.S. society. Though PRHS has not Americans during Black History Month is really important. It’s important to whatever planned any events regarding Black History Month, teachers and students alike are taking literature we’re reading to place a greater emphasis on the literary contributions, but also the time to remember and honor their significant contributions to the nation and what they the political contributions and to look in how those are reflected in books, poems, and have brought to the culture of the U.S. as a whole. plays,” Pierce said. Junior Rachel Saconi believes that it is beneficial to remember black history and Principal Randy Nelson believes that the contributions made by African-Americans the things that have been accomplished by African-Americans. toward Civil Rights are significant and should be remembered. “It’s great that we’re going to celebrate it because there are “Celebrating the significant contributions of black Americans Black History Month began as “Negro History a lot of memorable African-Americans like Martin Luther King Week,” created by Carter G. Woodson, a every year with a month is a great idea and I support it noted African American historian, in 1926. completely,” Nelson said. and Malcolm X and many more. They taught us Civil Rights and It became a month-long celebration in if it weren't for them, we wouldn’t be this diverse, and separate Nelson is proud of the developments in the ethnic diversity 1976. The month of February was chosen races wouldn’t be able to be friends and be together as a to coexist with the birthdays of Frederick at PRHS. Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. community,” Saconi said. “I really pride myself on the fact that we do have a very Honors and AP English teacher Sean Pierce believes that diverse school, (with) a lot of different people from a lot of black history month is worth our attention, because through the abolition of slavery and different backgrounds, and I think that’s a great experience for students to be able to the Civil Rights movement, African-Americans have become a cornerstone in the nation’s understand that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, it’s you and your foundation. individual character and determination and what you can do to help yourself and others “It’s really important to dedicate a month to…the struggles and contributions of African- succeed,” Nelson said. Americans. [They] have formed the foundation of our country since slavery came into The city of Paso Robles celebrated Black History Month by creating a “Color of Unity” being…and continues to be an issue that we grapple with as a nation. Continuing to focus event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Flamson official attention on those issues is essential,” Pierce said. Middle School Auditorium. In his English classes, Pierce calls attention to African-American history by giving his Awareness for Black History Month is clearly visible amongst the Bearcats and students assignments relating to Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech and letter from teachers of PRHS this year. Support for African-American success is valuable and will Birmingham Jail, as well as watching scenes from “Finding Forrester.” continue throughout the month of Feb. 03.05.15 News 03
News
Apex program encourages excellence The grade recovery system offers redos for students by Sadie Mae Mace, Environment Editor
Students who do not pass a class during the course of their high school have a chance to push the redo button. Enter the Apex program, a credit recovery program that can replace an F on a transcript once a student passes an on-campus, online course in the subject. Since Aug. 20, 2014, about 100 students have recovered credits, according to computer teacher Bartt Frey. Apex has been in place at Paso Robles High School, replacing the CyberHigh system that spanned several years. Apex offers digital classes for students and helps them get back on track for graduation success, according to apexlearning.com “Keep working...the faster you get it done,... you can go to another class and get more credits,” one anonymous student said. To be eligible, a student must be a student who did not pass the class for personal reasons, a transfer from another district who must attain specific credits, or a student who did not have good teacher relations and therefore must default to Apex. Apex students are assigned a period in a computer lab and are coached by one of four teachers: John Rucker, Bartt Frey, Michael Delbar and Kelly Franks. Online, a student reads material, takes multiple quizzes, and clicks through a cumulative test that earns the student credits. If a student does not pass two quizzes, the teacher must
Full of adventure Connection between Young Life and Adventure Club by Alysia Kilcrease, Blind Date Editor and Nora Morini, Reporter
Being a teen searching for adventure in a small community can have its challenges, yet the Young Life club presents an opportunity to explore the world around you. Young Life is an evangelical Christian organization designed to help an adventurous heart thrive, and although it is a christian organization Young Life accepts members from all denominations. Young Life often corresponds with other clubs. One such club, Adventure Club, is a relatively new club founded at PRHS in 2012, by then senior Nick Stair, where students come up with weekly adventures that they would like to participate in. “High school can be hard so we want to create a safe place where students know that they can go and ask questions and have fun,” said Julia Core, one of the Young Life leaders who also participates in the Adventure Club meetings. There are around 700 Young Life chapters worldwide and over 1.7 million kids participate in a local Young Life. Paso alone has over 40 kids participating in major events put on by this organization. Paso Young Life has grown throughout the years with the help of the Adventure Club on campus that Jon-paul Ewing created. Before the club’s existence, leaders had to rome campus trying to build relationships with the students. Adventure Club created a place where teens could meet up and leaders can create lifelong memories with high schoolers. “The whole purpose of Young Life is carrying adults in high schoolers lives which goes beyond just doing fun things with the school. I still keep in touch with my young life leaders that I had when I was in high school and they are my friends now. Now they are in their 30s and we are still really close so for me that’s what is important about being a leader; I want to be able to build good memories and relationships with the students and remember these experiences,” Core said.
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News 03.05.15
For more on Young Life and Adventure Club, visit crimsonweb.net.
become involved. “It seems to be laid out pretty well… It’s more independent study that they have to get done,” Frey said. Frey teaches Electronics, ROP Computer Services and Repair, ROP Internetworking, ROP Web Design, and overviews his Apex class. Students that are interested and eligible for the Apex program should meet with their counselor.
CHASING CREDITS: Thirteen students participating in the Apex program work on their computers during second period. The four teachers hold Apex classes during periods 2, 3, 4, and 6. Photo by Sadie Mae Mace
#WeArePeer Students, parents rally to continue the Peer program by Amy Cantrell, Copy Editor
Students are rallying to keep what hundreds call a PRHS success story—Advanced Peer—alive and well without the woman who started the program. Teacher Jeanne Neely brought the Peer Communications class to PRHS 25 years ago but has informally announced her departure. The Peer students and parents were concerned that the program might be in danger of disappearing after a few rumors circulated that the class was in low demand and in danger of being cut. They started a campaign to make sure Peer came back with the same quality Neely maintained for 25 years. “We’re trying to get noticed everywhere: we made a Facebook page, we did a thing on KSBY, we’re getting it put around the school, we’re making posters, we’re making a video [through ROP Video Production],” said senior Alyssa Miller, an Advanced Peer student. Miller, along with seniors Katie Smiley and Carly Powell are leading the charge. A group of about 25 Advanced Peer students, including seniors Jessie Mondo and Riley Smith, and Sandy Troop, a member of the PRHS Site Council and a parent of a Peer student, met with Superintendent Chris Williams at the District Office at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 to air their concerns about the future of the Peer program. Williams assured
the concerned group that all is being done to keep the program and find an appropriate replacement. Williams has talked to the Ca Poly, San Luis Obispo and another university to gain advice and perspective on how to hire an appropriate adviser for this program. The district has a few candidates in mind and even a few local teachers, including a the middle schools. He is open to suggestions concerning the demeanor and approach tha a future adviser would bring to the program The Advanced Peer students are involved in the process of choosing what type of person would be a good fit to carry on the Peer legacy because they are able to make suggestions. “We were planning to choose someone or someone in Ms. Neely’s favor, because she knows who has the “it” factor for this class. You need to be an understanding and compassionate person because this is a socia class,” senior Jesus Sandoval said. Williams is in strong support of programs which encourage and mentor students success. “It’s something that I believe in, so I’m going to do anything I can [to help it],” Miller said. The Peer program will return next year and the Superintendent is very interested and invested into finding a suitable replacement with the help of the 30 Advanced Peer students
The right to do wrong
Editorial
When to shoot and when to stop
by Mariela Villa, Business Manager and Stephen Preston, Opinion Editor
W
e can acknowledge that none of us at points in time really pays atttention to what we say . We bluntly belt out inappropriate one liners and say something completely out of line and do not really notice how other people have taken it. Often people cry out with “First Amendment!” The beginning of this paragraph, that whole sentence is awkward and strangely worded. But there is fine line between expressing yourself and being inconsiderate. Where is the line between decency and expression? In related news, two terrorists stormed the offices of satirical cartoon magazine Charlie Hebdo were stormed on January 7. The resulting massacre led to the deaths of 12 journalists, a policewoman, and four hostages. The attackers were incensed by the magazine’s portrayal of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, blasphemy in the Islamic faith. Incidentally, 76% of Americans who have heard of the shooting, 60% have said it is okay to portray the prophet Muhammad according to Pew Research Center. After this event, people began to question,“Does free speech deserve violence?” Do we live in fear of brutal retaliation? What we say does matter. Seemingly insignificant or not, your words do leave a mark whether you want it to or not. The correct response to what someone says is never terrorism. It is never murder. It is never violence. It is never labeling an entire faith or people. Extreme actions of prejudice can and do come from both sides. The hashtag #killallmuslims on Twitter saw first use in 2013, and remained relatively quiet until it saw a sharp spike on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attacks to over 40,000 tweets in a span of a couple days, and another, smaller spike of less than 10,000 tweets after the release of the American Sniper movie. But this is freedom of speech, right? Wrong. Where in society do we draw the line between hate speech and freedom of speech? Paris asks us to think about it. Charlie Hebdo once depicted French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who is black, as a monkey. Along with countless other racist portrayals from Charlie Hebdo of Jews and Muslims, what are we willing to tolerate in society? Must we allow racist imagery waving the ‘freedom of speech’ flag and then martyr those who perpetuated the hate? Do not misunderstand the point presented. Terrorism is a great evil and a plague on the world, and the journalists with Charlie Hebdo did not deserve death or any physical harm but their work went on the far end of the spectrum where no one should go. Again, it must be emphasized that disagreeing with someone’s actions or words does not grant the right to hate or harm that individual, especially not under the banner of freedom of speech. “Freedom of speech in the western world, and our nation, is considered an essential right. To disagree does not give the right to harm or kill because they have a different view...obviously the extreme measures taken by the terrorist group would be unacceptable, even to most Muslims in the world,” says Mark
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Editors
Carly Cargill Center Rachel Cole Center/News Brandon Kearns Sci Tech
Mae App InDepth Jessica Cole InDepth Tegan Curren Health Marlee Drake Food Michelle McPherson Feature Eden Peterson Feature Mayer Pohlod World Stephen Preston Opinion Mila Robb-Hiteshew Fun & Games Matt Tyra Sports Lauren Wassam Fun & Games Alysia Kilcrese Blind Date
Amy Cantrell Blind Date Photography Director Maureen Pushea Sports Web Team Sam Mabry Clay Maggiore Nathan Rowley
level. When true freedom of speech, or any human right is threatened, we cannot submit to the wishes of terrorism. Bradford says, “When there’s shock or violence, its followed by horror or fear, which is followed by anger or hate, and then the desire for revenge, and then they target somebody...so the violence escalates,” and this cycle of violence perpetuates and breeds more hate. This cesspool of ignorance violence and hatred is where the terrorist feeds. As long as we stay afraid and vengeful, the terrorist wins. To stop this cycle there is one solution. Tolerance for racism must end. The line between freedom of speech and hate speech must be drawn. We must separate Muslims from terrorists as we seperate Christians from the Klu Klux Klan. We must stand up as a bastion against being bullied out of essential rights, and we must stand up to those who bully others as a form of comedy.
Mark Bradford, History
| Student Journalism | Paso Robles High School | 2014-2015
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Mark Bradford, World History
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rimson newsmagazine
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“Freedom of speech in the western world, and our nation, is considered an essential right.”
Bradford, World History teacher. These terror groups usually are not even formed for religious reasons, many other factors play into their formation and recruitment. “What causes people to join radical groups, whether it’s the KKK in America...or whether it is people who join Al-Qaeda or ISIS...it’s often times people who are marginalized. And they often times feel that their voice isn’t being heard, so they act out in terrible ways,“ Bradford said. It is misunderstood that the 1st Amendment(and its counterparts internationally) guarantees freedom of censorship from government, not others. If anyone were to walk into a theatre and shout “Fire!”, he/she is not protected by the 1st amendment. If anyone were to shout a racial slur at somebody on the street, he/she are not protected by the 1st amendment; they am guilty of hate speech. This is no different on the “professional satirist”
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Crimson, an open forum for the exchange of student ideas, is an independently funded newsmagazine of the journalism class at Paso Robles High School. Crimson reflects the majority opinion of the staff and does not necessarily reflect the views of Paso Robles High School, its faculty, administration, or students. All stories, graphics, typesetting, and layouts are completed by Paso Robles High School students. We are happy to talk with you further about our content, subscriptions in U.S. Mail, and advertising on our pages.
03.05.15 Editorial
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Opinion
Watch the media spotlight shift Media hyperactivity is a result of consumer psychology by Stephen Preston, Opinion Editorr Much like a cat is distracted by a laser pointer zipping across the room, people can find themselves disoriented and misled by the monogamy news outlets share with world events. A peculiar flaw in many news outlets is the speed with which they change focus and often fail to cover on-going issues in any depth or consistency. Modern examples exist today, when the conflict in Ukraine was peaking in March of 2014 with the controversial referendum and Russian soldiers blocking entry into Crimea, a Malaysian flight disappears suddenly and news outlets are all over it for the whole month of March. By the beginning of April of the same year, popular American news outlets such as CNN, FOX, and ABC have not produced a featured story on Russian movements in Ukraine. The commitment of news outlets is flaky at best. In addition to the aforementioned debacle with Ukraine and the missing Malaysian flight, Ebola did not fade from existence when it lost the spotlight, and police brutality demonstrations occur every day all over America. This problem with American journalism dates back to the late 1800s, and is even taught in PRHS U.S. History classes. When the U.S. Naval ship USS Maine mysteriously combusted and sunk in Havana Harbor, Cuba. Shortly after, sensationalist newspapers came out advertising the event as an attack from Spanish forces. This became a big business, a competition between these so-called “yellow journalists” to create the most exotic and abstract news stories; consumers ate it up, curious as to what would happen next in this imaginary war that would eventually develop into the very real Spanish-American. Newspaper titans like the familiar William Randolph Hearst profited greatly from this, and built great fortunes (and castles). Is this the shortness of the human attention span? Is this a result of cash hungry news outlets? The main cause of this appears to be human psychology. Pew Research Center reports that US-Linked War and Terrorism has been the most popular form of reported news since the mid-1980s, with around 40% popular throughout the decades, with bad weather not far behind at an average 39%. Pew found “Polarizing social issues involving family, sexuality, patriotism and God engender the highest levels of attention.” Humans have a tendency to seek out drama and negativity. Evolutionary psychologists say this relates to a human’s hunter-gatherer instinct to understand the threats and hazard of their enviroment, according to psycologytoday.com News outlets are businesses, despite any claim. The main goal of any business is to create profit for themselves. News outlets know man’s natural attraction to news of danger and destruction, and they fill this niche to maximize income. As mentioned, this is how Hearst built his fortune. 58% of Bearcats surveyed claimed they do not pay attention to world news at all, further justifying the industry’s need to grab your attention and keep your money in their wallet.
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Opinion 03.05.15
Private Displays of Affection
Administration and students share their opinion on the act of PDA Romance is in the air... But it’s also in the hallway, in front of your locker, by the snack bar and right in front of your car. PDA, (Public Displays of Affection), seems to be popular among students nowadays, but there’s a time and place to show your significant other that you love them.Showing your affection everywhere you go isn’t okay and makes people feel uncomfortable. There’s nothing wrong with holding hands, giving hugs and quick pecks on the cheek or lips, but when we’re trying to get to our lockers and there’s a couple making out right in front of it, we’re frustrated. The questions here are what is considered too much PDA and why shouldn’t students be allowed to show that at school? The answer if fairly simple: students aren’t allowed to bury their faces into one another because it’s disgusting and not appropriate for school. “PRHS does not allow inappropriate public displays of affection. To elaborate, holding hands, putting an arm around a friend, or a quick hug is not considered inappropriate. Kissing, sitting on laps, and other overt displays of affection couples may engage in is not condoned,” Vice Principal Dan Sharon said. At the moment there is currently no rule in the PRHS Student Handbook that reprimands PDA , but this is soon to change. “PRHS administration will work with [the] district staff to discuss inclusion of PDA policy for the 2015-2016 school year.” Sharon said. Despite the absence of a written rule on PDA, all staff respects the unwritten rule that students should act appropriately on school grounds. “School security and all school staff are expected to address and stop inappropriate public displays
of affection. If students persist, engaging in repeat violations, progressive discipline will follow: parent contact, letters of reflection, and suspension. Teachers are expected to report repeat offenders to [me]...” Sharon said. Although some couples find interruptions from the staff inconvenient or maybe even irritating, they still comply and respect the unwritten rule. Normally in awkward situations such as accidentally interrupting a couple, students tend to quease a little bit and continue on with their lives, but that shouldn’t have to be the case at school. We go to school to learn and make friends, not to get a case of mono. In general, PDA often makes people feel uncomfortable. But the most awkward part of it all is the unnecessary noise that seems to escape from somewhere inside the couple, who insists that they must eat each other’s faces off. Like I said before, there is nothing wrong with showing the world how much you care for your S.O. but there needs to be a line drawn between what too much affection is and what way too much affection is. If your grandmother wanted to stop by and drop off your lunch and she saw that your face was stuck to another human’s face, what would she say? Maybe we should keep that scenario in mind when locking lips at school. There are so many other ways to show someone your affection then the excessive touching. Keep in mind that the best way to get to know someone that you care about is by talking and listening to them. If you truly care about the person you’re with, take the time to listen to a story or two of theirs and spend time with your eyes open looking for new things to learn about them, instead of eyes closed and lips pressed.
“School security and all school staff are expected to address and stop inappropriate public displays of affection.” Dan Sharon, Assistant Principal
—Michelle McPherson, Feature Co-Editor
The unnecessary war on drugs The debate on decriminalizing narcotics isn’t just for cops and drug users by Eden Peterson, Feature Co-Editor
T
he discussion to legalize drugs is often seen as an argument for potheads and police officers, but decriminalizing drugs, even narcotics, could have nationwide benefits. Countries like Portugal and the Netherlands have decriminalized narcotics with positive results. Nearly 14 years after Portugal decriminalized possession of small amounts of narcotics and changed the judicial process by which they deal with drug-related cases, drug users dropped by 50,000. The U.S. loosened medicinal marijuana control in 22 states and 16 states having permit possession of small amounts of pot, making it no longer an uncrossable line. Now we need to agree with security guard Bob Mahoney, a former police officer of 30 years when he says that with completely legal narcotics, “our society would almost collapse.” It would be an extreme shift to go from current policies, to complete liberalization of drugs. But decriminalization removes the criminal penalties of possessing, selling, purchasing, and using drugs under certain restrictions. There could still be penalties for having certain amounts of narcotics, but drug users would be referred to public health programs rather than the judicial system.
This makes complete sense. While a government’s job is to protect and serve its citizens, and drugs definitely present a certain level of danger, is the government really protecting its citizens by indicting them for drug use? Arresting a drug user is dealing with a problem after it happens, and does nothing to prevent the user from using drugs again in the future. Instead of having a reactive approach to drug cases, there should be a proactive approach. By sending drug users to rehab facilities instead of jail, users can learn the skills to avoid doing drugs, preventing future drug related cases. Drug addiction is a disease and needs to be treated as such. If violent offenders can be sent to mental health institutions versus penitentiaries to help treat their mental illnesses, why can’t drug users be sent to rehab or public health programs to help treat their addiction? “I believe drugs should be illegal because there are so many problems that are caused by people using drugs. You can overdose and cause extreme family hardships... If drugs were decriminalized drug use would increase,” junior Vianette Mendoza said.
Opinion
“I feel that law enforcement looks at drug related incidents more than a lot of other things.” Natalie Duren, 11
Many like Mendoza argue that if narcotics were decriminalized, drug related cases would skyrocket. However, the results from the Netherlands and Portugal decriminalizing Sweden has a strict zero-tolerance drug policy; using and possessing drugs is illegal. narcotics seems to negate this belief as their drug rates actually decreased after they There are three degrees of drug offences: minor, ordinary, and serious. The penalty for began decriminalizing narcotics and treating drug use as a disease rather than a crime. minor use can result in a six month imprisonment, but typically only leads to a fine. An Besides, even with preventative laws and regulations in the U.S. 20 million people still ordinary drug offence can lead to imprisonment of up to three years, and a serious drug offense can lead to two to ten years of imprisonment. use drugs according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The decision to get involved with drugs comes from more of a moral standpoint than a legal one. “I believe people choose not to do drugs more from a moral standpoint. Out of respect for their parents and the society we live in,” said Mahoney, although he feels that if drugs were decriminalized, the U.S. would see an increase in drug use and drug related crimes. The possession of drugs is illegal in the Netherlands, but possessing small amounts A more guaranteed benefit is that if drugs were allowed to be sold of what they call “soft drugs” like cannabis is a minor offence and is typically not dealt legally, the government could tax them leading to a significant increase in revenue. with by law enforcement. Coffee shops are permitted to sell cannabis but are strictly In the 14 months that recreational marijuana has been legal in Colorado, it has regulated and can sell only five grams at most to one person per day. generated an additional $30 million in taxes. That money could be put towards education, fixing roads, health care and other worthy causes. Also if drugs were decriminalized, law enforcement would be able Possession of drugs is altogether illegal in India. Penalties vary based on amount of drugs possessed. For possessing a small amount of drugs is up to six months to dedicate more time and resources to non drug-related cases. The federal imprisonment and/or a maximum fine of 10,000 rupees (about 161 U.S. dollars). What government assigned $26 billion to the drug war budget for 2015 and an they consider small, large, and commercial quantities varies with the type of drug. extra $25 billion is forecasted to be spent on the war against drugs on the state levels, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. “I feel that law enforcement looks at drug related incidents more than a lot of other things. Yes, drug related incidents are important to investigate, but they are choosing to do that to themselves, and I feel as long as it’s not effecting others in a radical way then they shouldn’t be the sole focus. Especially if there are other incidents that are more fatal and life threatening to society,” junior Natalie Duren said. Portugal decriminalized the use of drugs and narcotics in 2000. Using drugs is no longer considered a crime, but it is still prohibited and regulated. Users If drugs were allowed to be sold legally in small quantities, the government are no longer sent through the court system, but are sent to the Commissions could also inspect and monitor the drugs under a program like the FDA to ensure for Drug Addiction Dissuasion, where users are educated and discouraged from using drugs. that the drugs aren’t being sold in fatal doses. They could require packaging that lists the health concerns related of the specific drug to deter use--like for cigarettes. Drugs are obviously a problem, and in no way should we encouraging the use of them. I’m just suggesting that current policies and systems in place are not the optimum way to handle and prevent drug use. Drug addiction is a disease, regardless of the fact that’s it’s self inflicted, and should be treated as such.
In Saudi Arabia, all drugs and alcohol are outlawed in coordinance with Muslim law. There are no bars or liquor stores. Individuals in pocession of illegal drugs face lengthly jail sentences, heavy fines, public flogging, and deportation.
03.05.15 Opinion
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Dressing to distract
Opinion
Suffocating individuality Although the dress code claims to be beneficial to the students, it is inconsistently enforced, therefore making it ineffective
Necessary dress code prevents unnecessary power in women
by Mae App, InDepth Co-Editor
Although the dress code was not formed without reason, it is of little use in the average school day, due to the fact that most teachers do not enforce the actual district dress code. This leaves students confused and hazy on the rules of what they can and cannot wear; it varies with each new teacher at the start of every school year. Every teacher has their own ‘rules’ about what is acceptable and what isn’t in ‘their’ classroom. However this could be changed very simply, write a reasonable dress code that each teacher is required to enforce that isn’t incompatible to the wardrobe of students. It’s that shirt with the open back and those shorts that got you sent to security, but you’ve worn them plenty of times before and it was that one inconsistency that makes you hesitant to walk out of the house. It was your solid blue or red colored t-shirt that your mom picked up from the local retail store. That was the reason that you had to walk to the office and don a new pair of grotesquely unflattering and uncomfortable shorts and the matching shirt. Which, luckily for the students, they’ve gathered from the lost and found or saved P.E. uniforms. But why can’t students dress how they want? An easy question for even the most unseasoned of students--or teachers: distraction. “No, the dress code is not consistent. Most of my teachers don’t waste time dress coding people...I think the guidelines are ridiculous. Showing a little bit of your thigh or wearing a halter top would not halt learning at our school,” junior Amber Burgh said. Stated within the first paragraph of the Paso Robles Public Schools District Dress Code, “Student dress must promote a healthy, safe, wholesome environment and not cause a distraction that would i n t e r f e re with the
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Opinion 03.05.15
by Jessica Cole, InDepth Co-Editor
educational process.” The district’s idea of modesty and maintaining a distraction-free learning environment include conforming to the dress code. Girls are required to maintain a modest neckline, along with a minimum one inch strap on the tank top; prohibiting strapless, one-shoulder, halter-neck and spaghetti strap tops. Any skirts, shorts, or dresses have to be longer than the level when the students closed fist strikes their thigh. Also, there is a rule prohibiting the affiliation any color or combination of colors or items which support their affiliation to a
“No, the dress code is not consistent. Most of my teachers don’t waste time dress coding people...I think the guidelines are ridiculous.” Amber Burgh, 11 known group or gang. The idea that by simply wearing a top with thin straps or an open back, or shorts that show your upper thigh, or articles of clothing that are solid in color which are associated with gangs are considered distractions to the learning environment is preposterous. If the district wants students to comply with their rules then they should be willing to promote a more realistic and consistently enforced dress code. “I think the dress code is sexist and stupid. There are so many restrictions on girls so they don’t ‘distract’ other students. We should
be teaching people how to be mature and respect others; instead we are teaching girls they have to cover up so boys aren’t distracted... Well, I personally have never been dress coded, and don’t really follow the dress code so yes I express my individuality. But if I did follow the dress code it would definitely hinder my self expression a bit. I probably couldn’t wear half the things in my closet if I followed those stupid rules,” Burgh said. However, the difference in dress code violations may not be purely due to the fact that females have to be responsible in two areas instead of one. But some take it a step farther and claim that the disproportionate number of dress codes are in fact girl’s faults because they dress less conservatively than males. The point has also been made that the female fashion industry has developed a broader spectrum and variety of clothing styles for women and young girls to wear, whereas men and young boys dress relatively simply. “...[The dresscode] kind of treads lightly on the guys, and really seems to focus more on how the girls should dress and what they can’t wear; then again, there is a bigger industry for female fashion because all guys really wear is jeans or shorts and a t-shirt,” junior Alex Younger said. It is without a doubt that a form of the dress code is required to maintain wholesomeness and selfrespect; however, the district’s current ideas of reasonable attire are unrealistic when compared to the average outfit for a teenager when the weather starts to heat up. The fashion industry does not produce shorts that are a bermuda style in length, at least not for girls in high school. Also. just because a male is sporting a solid blue or red t-shirt does not mean they are ‘gang-associated’, and if they are in fact involved that is probably a far bigger problem than the color of their t-shirt.
“I believe in dressing for the occasion. There’s a time for sweater, sneakers and Levis and a time for the full-dress jazz.” American actress Ginger Rogers said. And that’s the idea behind a dress code. There is a time for every outfit. There is a place for every top. There is an environment for every pair of shorts. And school is not the time, place, or environment for every outfit. Nor is the fact that the dress code based on women’s clothing choices something for women to fight. In fact in the past, women have used this power to their advantage. Throughout history it has been secured fact that women were the ones with power, as they used sex strikes to stop wars, prevent future slavery, ban nuclear weapons, enact nuclear weapons, get clean water, stop gang wars, and initiate interpolitical discussion. Major sex strikes have happened, at 17 clearly defined points throughout history and proving that the dress code is more than a simple set of rules. It is the truth. Women have 9 a historic power. And the dress code restricts that Which means that the dress code does exist to prevent distraction. But this isn’t something that should offend women. There is an appropriate time and place for dressing in different ways. And that shouldn’t offend women either. The dress code is more directed at girls, but mostly because girls are doubly responsible. And some students even think that girls take their freedoms too far, “I think it affects girls more because of the clothes they wear are sometimes a little revealing. The only thing guys can get dress coded for really is drug or sexual patterns on shirts,” senior Adam Robinson said. The dress code is a good thing. It not only enforces a stopping point to freedom of dress, but also shows clearly that women have a power, and therefore restricts their use of it, just like any other power at school. “Girls shouldn’t be able to wear whatever they want at school, because school is a place to learn not to distract.” freshman Maria Ramirez said. There is a time for short dresses, and cute shorts, and for putting power into place, but it isn’t at school.
PRO
“Girls shouldn’t be able to wear whatever they want at school, because school is a place to learn not to distract.” Maria Ramirez,
Teacher Features:
Feature
I bet you didn't know... Teachers currently work at PRHS is the average age of teachers teachers at PRHS are female Retired teachers since 2010:
40
18
47 GEOF LAND Celso Ortiz,
15, Sophomore: Who’s your favorite teacher? A: Mrs. Logan. She’s always trying to seize the moment for me.
MARCY GOODNOW Madison Anderson , 15, Freshman:
Who’s your favorite teacher?
A: Mrs. Johnson because she is extremely nice. She makes class fun and exciting and she creates a happy environment.
teachers at PRHS are male
The average number of years PRHS teachers have taught is
18
27
New teachers have been hired since 2010 The annual salary for PRHS teaching staff is
$63,407.81
Photos by Eden Peterson, Michelle McPherson, and Ana Mendoza 03.05.15 Feature
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Feature
Goodnow in the spotlight Drama teacher, Leadership teacher, Link Crew advisor, and mother to all by Maureen Pushea, Sports Co-Editor/ Photography Director
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illy, fun, energetic, dedicated, passionate, spunky, wonderful, quirky, flexible, understanding, creative, particular, visionary, hard working, empowering, mother figure , inspirational, life changing. When you ask students what words describe their teacher, you seldom see a list as admirable as this one. Marcy Goodnow has showed endless love and support to her students and continues to amaze them every day as not only a teacher, but a friend, cheerleader, and mom. “She helped me realize that high school is a lot less scary once you find your family...I’m very grateful that I met her and she cares and that she’s a part of my life. I genuinely appreciate everything she’s done,” said junior Bella Marziello, drama club co-president. She has her 140 students’ respect and utmost attention. She’s the star of her own show. She’s not afraid to look silly or do some crazy dance move to make a student feel comfortable and she always wants what’s best for them. She pushes them out of their comfort zone to discover themselves. “I was just another kid in beginning drama class last year, and she saw something in me and wouldn’t let me go. She gave me opportunities to jump out of my comfort zone... She helped me push myself and be confident on stage. She’s an awesome teacher and an even better friend,” said senior Grisey Castro, who was cast as the main character Harold Hill in ‘The Music Man’. If you have Ms. Goodnow, you know the story of how she became an actress. Freshman year of high school, she didn’t make the cheer squad. After that letdown, her mother Jill, put her in her very first acting class where she was given the opportunity to audition for ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Even after playing a boy, she fell in love with the art of acting. Goodnow went on to attend Sacramento State University where she majored in theatre arts with an emphasis in acting. After college, she traveled to New York City to
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ALL SMILES (left): Goodnow poses for a picture in the PAC. NYC FEVER (middle left): Goodnow captures the moment of her first time on a Broadway stage. GRANDMA FOR A DAY (upper right): Goodnow and Bedrosian show their school spirit for homecoming. TEACHER LOVE (lower left): Goodnow poses with her teacher of the year award Photos used with permission by Marcy Goodnow
try and make it on Broadway. It was harder than she had anticipated, however she received outstanding feedback and experiences that helped her in everyday life as a teacher. She began her teaching career in Sacramento at California Musical Theatre as a junior Company Choreographer and made her way to PRHS in 2010. Goodnow has received multiple awards throughout her life such as the Best Actress in a Musical award for her role as Winnifred in ‘Once Upon a Mattress’, but also the best Student Directed Show award at Sacramento State. However, her most prized award is the Teacher of the Year 2014 award.
“She saw something in me and wouldn’t let go...She’s an awesome teacher and an even better friend.” Grisey Castro, 12 “This was one of the most amazing moments of my career. I look up to the teachers here at PRHS and I was overwhelmed with the award...I am not much for accolades, I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world to do what I love every day...That is my award,” Goodnow said. However, former student Hailey Pietz is attempting to give Goodnow even more spotlight on the stage. Pietz is nominating Goodnow for the “Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award.” In order to be nominated her for this award, Pietz, with the help of alumni Logan Ferry, will be required to submit a video and three letters of reference to support Goodnow’s case. The award finalists will be announced in the spring and each will receive $1,000 for their schools, a flight for one to New
York City, hotel accommodations, and an invitation to an exclusive pre-Tony event. A single winner will be selected to receive the Excellence in Theatre Education Award on stage at Radio City Music Hall during the 69th annual Tony Awards on June 7 and will receive $10,000 cash prize for the teacher’s school, a flight for two to New York City, hotel accommodations, and a pair of tickets to the Tony Awards Ceremony and Gala. “The person who wins this award will be the first Theater Educator in history to receive a Tony Award and it would be the most amazing honor ever,” Goodnow said. Goodnow knew that she wanted to become a teacher because of the numerous choir, dance, and drama teachers that encouraged her to shine when she doubted herself. She strives to help students just like her, become a star. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing a students eyes light up when they see what they are capable of. “Ed Brazo was my college professor that changed my life. He gave me opportunities that made me take the chances and ultimately move to NYC and later become a teacher. He showed me that as a Theatre teacher you could be fun, sassy, challenging, and still be a performer even though you are a teacher,” Goodnow said about her role model. Goodnow is the Leadership and Link Crew co-advisor as well. “I love to be a part of the culture at our school... I love teaching with my best friend Jennifer Bedrosian and teaching students not just how to live, but to make a difference in the world,” Goodnow said. After stellar reviews of ‘A Christmas Carol’, Goodnow and the rest of the PRHS Theatre Company are now preparing for Meredith Wilson’s ‘The Music Man’ which will open on Friday May 1 and continue through May 10. Goodnow still hopes to someday cross ‘SHREK’, ‘Into The Woods’, ‘West Side Story’, and ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ off her long list of shows to someday direct. No matter what Goodnow does, she is proven to shine.
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Uncovering Mr. Land
The not-so-secret life of PRHS history teacher Geof Land by Marlee Drake, Food Editor
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rom teaching in a corner room of the William’s wing, to playing trumpet in a New Orleans style band, to scaling class five rope climbs in Yosemite, history teacher Geof Land does it all with a shining brass trumpet in hand and a passion for students in his heart. Land has been a teacher at PRHS for 15 years. Over the years he has taught many classes, like psychology and dual immersion history. He didn’t always plan on being a teacher, but in middle school, a career survey said he should go into teaching. However, he got his masters degree in international relations and believed he would be traveling and working in embassies. After college, Land was officially introduced to the world of teaching while volunteering with the Peace Corps. He had planned on going for the international experience, but found that he enjoyed the work. “I ended up having a good time in the Caribbean teaching in a developing country,” Land said. When he met his wife while studying abroad in Barcelona, he decided to settle down and become a teacher. Now, he is driven by a passion for helping students. “Being a teacher, like being a husband and father, has taught me to be a better person. I’ve learned about compassion, patience, and humility,” Land said. Senior Jennifer Mariscal has had Land for all four years of high school. To her, Land’s class speeds by because of his sense of humor. He’s a teacher she feels very comfortable with. “He inspires me to keep going in life no matter what struggles come,” Mariscal said. Land has made a difference in students’ lives and the
JAM SESSION (left): Land breaks into soulful trumpet. OVERCOMING MOUNTAINS (middle): Land tops out on Eichorn Pinnacle in Yosemite while son Seamus awaits. FAMILY ROCKS (upper right): The Land family rock climbed together in Cuba. HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE (bottom right): Land and his wife Nancy backpacked the John Muir Trail in 2013.
Photos used with permission by Geof Land
trust some students have for him transcends classroom walls. He once received a call from a student who told him she was depressed and considering suicide, and Land stayed on the line with her and was able to help her. His care for students goes beyond the call of duty. Senior Kassidy Rice, who had Land as a teacher for government this year, thinks he is an incredibly positive and accepting teacher who never gives up on his students. “Mr. Land teaches so much more than government. Sitting in that class I didn’t feel like I was in a government class. He’s just an amazing role model and an amazing person,” said Rice, who feels that Land helped her see the world in a new perspective. However, the classroom is not the only place where this multi-faceted man thrives. For Land, music has been a part of his life since first grade, where he picked up drums, and in the fourth grade where he started playing trumpet. He was a band kid through high school and college. A trumpet hangs on the wall for him to play for students on their birthdays. He is currently a part of a band called Rag Bone Saints, who play a New Orleans style of jazz. Along with his music, running is also part of Land’s outside life. He has run several marathons, and was there when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred. He finished just a short time before the bombs exploded at the finish line. “The heroism of the first responders made me realize that life goals, like running Boston, often pale in comparison with the things that really matter, like reaching out to those in need,” said Land, who still wears the lanyard he received that day. Land also takes the time to travel regularly. He has
traveled to Barcelona, Europe, Mexico, and North Africa, and has visited 35-40 U.S. states. He has even hitchhiked across the country, from Chicago to Portland. “One memory I have is being picked up in Montana by a young guy who had just come out as gay. He was at a major life crossroads, leaving his small town in South Dakota to live in Portland and start a new, openly gay life. This was in 1982, right in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. I sometimes wonder what became of him, if he’s still alive and how his life went,” Land said. Land has worked hard to provide students with education that works for all different types of students. Ten years ago, Land took a sabbatical to travel to Spain to learn how they teach their classes so he could start a dual-immersion class at PRHS. Jeanne Neely has been a teacher at PRHS for 29 years, and has known Land as long as he has been on staff. She feels he’s a positive presence on campus. “I truly believe he is one of the most life-changing teachers on our campus. He is always going to make life enjoyable and find the silver lining,” Neely said. During his 15 years at PRHS, Land has been a person that students can confide in, a beloved teacher, and a favorite colleague. He not only makes a difference in students’ lives in school, but lives a life full of adventure outside of classroom walls as well.
03.05.15 Feature 11
TRUE
InDepth
love
by Carly Cargill, Co-Editor-in-Chief with contributions from Grant Scheiffele, World Co-Editor
Hey Joey, this is Karen. I waited for you at the restaurant, and um, after two hours, I left. So, call me when you get this, okay? I love you. Bye. *Click*
announced First Chair for the County Honor Band. True love doesn’t come without hard work—no matter what age. There are fights, there are obstacles, there
t seems that the more a person asks about true love, the more he or she will hear that it does not exist. Modern day culture admires and even promotes cheating, lying, and betraying through music, television shows, movies and much more. There are an infinite amount of videos and songs about, “main chicks,” and “side chicks,” as opposed to songs and videos about, “the power of,” one, true, “love.” Unfortunately, people fall into this ideology thinking they have a person who is worth taking a risk on, and end up having their hearts broken as a result. Senior couple Alec Wingfield and Kera Bruce are artists, with passions for their talents and each other, and shared their experience and thoughts on true love. “Meeting Kera was like that stereotypical scene where you see her across the room, and there was something mysterious about her, and I wanted to get to know what that was,” said Wingfield, who was recently
“But proper care and love in these situations are what separate the lovely and the lusty.”
I
are people who try to break up relationships, there are betrayals, and there are moments when it feels like everything is falling apart. But proper care and love in these situations are what separate the lovely and the lusty. After holding a strong relationship for two years and nine months, Wingfield and Bruce said they hold their relationship together by being involved in separate
CRIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT
What is love to you? Four Bearcats describe what love is to them and what it means to be with someone. True love means something else to everyone, it just depends on your perspective.
things but being interested in each other’s activities. “We’re both artists in our own way;I do painting and he does music,” Bruce said. “I think that’s something we admire about each other; we have common interests that are not the same.” As a teen, this is all true, but to a much more extreme extent. As I heard once in Chemistry teacher, David Boicourt’s class, a high school relationship is so intense that it is similar to dog years. One month together would seem like seven months and two years would seem like 14 years. Teens swim in a campus of hormones, and even the smallest action can blow up into the most drama. And on top of it all—yes, it is true—the honeymoon period does not last forever. At some point in time, this person may not seem so drop-dead amazing as they did before. However, teens shouldn’t focus on, “forever after.” Enjoy the moment with your significant other, don’t stress over silly things, don’t take things too seriously, and most of all, have fun! And with that being said, Bruce wanted to ask Wingfield a very important question. “Alec, will you go to prom with me?” Bruce said.
Photos by Mariela Villa
Cassidy LeClair, 14, Freshman A: Love means finding someone that you like to hang out with and when you walk by them you get all excited and you just want to be with them everyday and every second. 03.05.15 InDepth
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InDepth
The art of third wheeling How to manage being the awkward included friend—and how to get out of it by Michelle McPherson, Feature Co-Editor and Mariela Villa, Business Manager
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hird-wheeling; almost everyone goes through it at some point in time, and it is an awkward situation when put there. But we just have to suck it up and deal with it to support a friend. Sometimes, when stuck as the third wheel for an extended amount of time, you may think that you are going to die alone with 93 cats and you’re scared to think about what is going to happen to them once you’re gone because they’re your pride and joy. Other times, we daydream about that wonderful day when you finally have someone of your own. But until that time comes, all we can do is become the best third wheel the world has ever seen. I think we can all agree the best (or most awkward) moments of third wheeling is trying to get out of seeing a couple eating each others’ faces. Instead of being the type of friend who mopes and groans about how much it sucks to be single, try to make the best of it! When your friend is out with their significant other that’s the perfect time to make inappropriate jokes and make the couple awkward rather than have yourself be the awkward one. Just because you are the lonesome wheel doesn’t mean you have to be pitiful and unamused. Plus, you don’t have to be the third wheel, just make your friends S.O. be the third wheel and go on a friend date, but that could just cause unnecessary drama that no one wants. “It helps when the couples aren’t too exclusive and the couples that I often hang around do a pretty good job at including people in things. But at the same time, I want to respect their coupleness and give them their space, “ junior Jeffrey Snowbarger said. How to avoid the awkward tension depends entirely on the situation. For example, if it’s a dinner date, avoid any to all conversation that could lead to “us” and “we’ terms. Don’t talk about the couple because in the process you may accidentally hurt either your friend’s feelings or your friends S.O.’s feelings, and always sit
Alfredo Rojas, 16, Junior: A: Belongingness.
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next to your friends to avoid the side chatter that will occur if you sit in front of them. If they invite you to a movie, make sure you have someone else with you, because some couples tend to spend most of the time not watching the movie. But really your phone is your
“It helps when the couples aren’t too exclusive and the couples that I often hang around do a pretty good job at including people in things.” Jeffrey Snowbarger, 11 best friend in these situations, to help zone out the couples when needed. If you find yourself becoming a third-wheel more and more, maybe it’s time to start using the word no. You may care about your friend and don’t mind hanging out with them and their significant other, but it is okay to decline to a few of their invitations and do your own thing. Take advantage of being a third wheel: you are getting all this relationship advice/experience without actually dealing with all the emotional ups and downs. There’s a reason why you have that friend who has always been single but gives the best relationship advice. They are the people watchers or in this case relationship watchers. They get to see how couples grow and how they get through fights. They’ve pretty much seen/heard it all even the nitty gritty details that no one wants to hear about.
But another plus to being the third wheel: you are given the opportunity to branch out and meet new people that you would have never met without being one. You get to really know your friend’s S.O., and maybe some of their friends. “Try to make friends with your friend’s new lover, and then it will no longer be awkward as long as everyone gets along and is laughing you know you did your friend a solid favor for being there and made a new friend in the process,” senior Cheyenne Longman said. It may seem like you will be a third wheel for all your life, but your time will come. It may be something you don’t want to hear but be patient. But you can’t just wait for your true love to come knocking at your door, that is way too easy, you have to put some effort also. Yet again, you don’t want to be talking to every other person of the opposite gender to see if they are the one. Rather if you have a crush on someone tell them, it may seem like a crazy idea but you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a scary thought but it might be the thing that you need if they say yes, then great, and if they say no its a chance for you to move on. But your time will come, eventually. Learn how to love yourself and appreciate being single before you add someone else to the equation.
Photos by Nathan Rowley and Dominique Rodriguez
Matt Dodds,18, Senior:
A: To me love means being able to trust somebody or something with all of your Amanda Schutz, 17, Junior: heart. A: Trust. You have to trust the other person.
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wo teachers at PRHS share more than just interactive notebooks, nerdy jokes, and an affinity for the hard sciences as they return to where they first became friends to teach. With only two percent of all marriages being to high school sweethearts, according to Brandongaille.com, Gaylene and JonPaul Ewing seem to have beat the odds. The two have slightly different stories of how they first met. They met during high school, while on a mission trip to Mexico with their separate churches. They met over the cement mixing and instantly became friends, according to Gaylene. “The truth is, the first time I actually got her name was at a Valentine’s thing at Centennial Park. That’s where I first heard her name was Gaylene. I said, ‘So like, you’re gay, and you’re leaning?’ She didn’t like me then, because apparently I was being mean, although I didn’t mean to. I first saw my wife in the brick circle area. She was with all the other freshmen, and I was walking from Fairbank’s physics class to my Econ class out in the portables, and I just so happened to follow someone that day, and I was like, ‘That’s a hot girl.’ Whatever, I wasn’t going to talk to her, because it’s October and I’m a senior; she’s a freshman. But I decided to change my route from then on. I used to always walk the bus lane. But I said, I might as well walk this way because I get to see this hot freshman everyday. It only took me four more months to get her name,” said Jon-Paul, who has known his wife for almost 16 years. One week after spring break, when both were at home again, Jon-Paul asked Gaylene to be his date to the senior prom. “So I took the hot freshman to prom. And then it was done. From then on out, I dated her for five more years and then I married her. I just remember that prom was the most amazing night, because she held my hand,” Jon-Paul said. They spent the next several months getting to know each other and became better friends over the summer. The two did not start dating until May 1, 1999, after their prom Photo by Maureen Pushea
Science
InDepth
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date. “I think that I was for sure realizing that this was going to be a long term thing my first quarter at Cal Poly. I was only thirty minutes away, and this girl was legit. I realized that she was a priority, and I’m going to keep driving home to see her twice a week. At that point I think I realized that sure, it would be good to
“So I took the hot freshman to prom. And then it was done. From then on out, I dated her for five more years, and then I married her.” Jon-Paul Ewing, Science wait until you’re thirty, but we were going through all of these life changes and I wanted to go through them with her,” Jon-Paul said, who asked her to marry him Decemeber 13, 2002. Gaylene and Jon Paul said “I do” almost five years later on Sept.6, 2003, and have now been married for 11 years. “The best thing is that I’m married to my best friend. Like, we’ll go on trips and for two months the only time I’ll be away from him is when I’m going to the bathroom, and that’s okay. I don’t feel like I even need to get away. We just have a great time,” said Gaylene, who travels with her husband every summer. Two summers ago the Ewings traveled to Africa, and the summer before, they traveled the Camino De Santiago across Spain.
Although both enjoy spending most of their time with each other, they have some favorite moments as well. “He does nice things for me every day, so it’s hard to pick just one. Once, when I had a different job where I traveled a lot, I came home, and I had just started getting into gardening and he had built me a box planter. He basically gave up his whole weekend to do that for me,” Gaylene said. “It was my 22 birthday, and we had either just gotten married, or were about to, and she organized this party for me. We were just walking down the beach and we walked down, and suddenly a whole bunch of friends and family were there, and she had a brand new surfboard for me that she had coordinated a bunch of people to buy. There was another time that she got me a trip to the manipedi, and she got really ticked because I never used it,” Jon-Paul said. Another favorite moment for Jon-Paul was another surprise. “One time, I came back from a week long trip, and she had thrown away every sock I owned, and bought me all new, matching ones. It sounds kind of bad, but actually I was so grateful, because she knew that it took me forever to find matching socks every morning, and now it was super easy,” Jon-Paul said. The couple complements each other in surprising ways. “I feel like I’m the guy that, she has the wonderful ideas, and I’m the guy that actually makes them happen. It’s like, she has wonderful ideas for the house, and I said, I would never have thought of these things. She’s great about it, so I said, I’ll jump on that,” said Jon-Paul, who once planned a special date where she followed clues and was led to Lake Atascadero, where he was waiting with dinner on a boat, in the lake. Although it’s been almost 17 years since Jon-Paul first saw Gaylene, 16 since he first got her name, under 16 since they started dating, and 11 since they got married, this couple of science sweethearts are still going strong, and are even planning to have children in a few years. —by Rachel Cole,Co-Editor-in-Chief 03.05.15 InDepth
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InDepth
9 tips on long term relationships from the people who know them best
2 mos
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Sophomore Matthew Rosas, Dating: Sophomore Isabella Hobbs
Their tip: I’ve learned that being in a long term relationship is difficult. You start off thinking everything is going to be perfect, you know there will up and downs but you don’t expect the downs to be as bad as they are. Some nights the downs leave you in tears and make you question whether or not you made the right choice. But as soon as you see her pretty face and her beautiful smile, once you get those butterflies in your stomach and feel special in only a way that she can make you feel, you realize that no matter what happens you know you made the right choice. That no one but her is worth the tears and laughs, the frowns and smiles, the pain and happiness that comes with loving her and feeling her love in return. Those little up times are what makes everything worth it, SHE is what makes everything worth it. Being in a long term relationship with Isabella I’ve learned that it can be hard, sometimes it can seem like a little too much for me to handle, but I know she’ll always be there to lift me up and make me feel like I’m actually worth something. She’s taught me that a long term relationship requires trust, strong communication, some pain, laughs, inside jokes, and even some tears. But most of all, it requires living in those breathtaking and uplifting moments and letting [them] flood through your body and thrive like a raging river of beauty and happiness. Most of all, it requires to people who love each other, and will never let each other go.
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Senior Natalya Suttmiller Dating: Alumnus Nickie Gurney Their tip: He’s only at Cal Poly so it’s not very far at all, but it was still hard for me at first because I was used to hanging out with him often. Even though it was very hard at first, it actually helped me become my own person and branch out and do my things. I think it’s just important that we are not overbearing and we aren’t constantly on our phones talking to each other, but we still communicate with each other on a daily basis.
Senior Kassidy Rice Dating: Alumnus Teryn Steffeans Their tip: The biggest thing that I’ve learned is how important it is that we’re best friends... We also know exactly what to do when the other one is breaking down. We help each other and we wake up in the middle of the night when the other is having a nightmare, then we’ll tease them about it in the morning. We take care of each other, we love each other, and we make it all fun. We’re best friends, and that’s the most important thing
Senior Kera Bruce Dating: Senior Alec Wingfield Their tip: I’d have to say that a long term relationship definitely relies on the basics like trust and communication. But I also think that it’s really important that, even after a long time, you still get butterflies when you see them, that you get excited when you know you get to hold your best friend’s hand. It’s the sweet simple things that are really important.
Senior Rudy Nunez Dating: Senior A.G. Villanueva Their tip: I really think that to maintain a strong relationship is not giving up on your partner and giving your all to one another and hoping for the best with each other.
Senior Sam Camou
Senior Blair Orlando
Dating: Junior Emily Elisarraraz
Dating: Senior Cooper Silva
Their tip: Something I have learned is that supposedly “your girlfriend is always right” but it’s really false hahaha. I have really learned that it takes a lot of patience and communication. Overall it is easy for me to maintain a relationship with her!
Their tip: Relationships are about being happy and wanting to spend time together and a big part of that is communication. High school is hard enough with school work, sports and the stress of everyday life and having a relationship can sometimes add to it. But, when you find someone you really care about and want to be with you will find a way to work it out.
Senior Sid Monge
Senior Abigail Venturini
Dating: Senior Kathryn Moreno
Dating: Alumnus Ryan Ramos
Their tip: The biggest thing to keep a long term relationship strong is communication. What makes it worth it is knowing that I have someone I can trust with my life and that no matter what happens we have each other for anything such as: a lending hand, a shoulder to cry on, and someone you can always rely on and be yourself with.
Their tip: Be spontaneous! You also need to have similar interests... I’ve learned that the “honeymoon phase” doesn’t stick around very long, but I’m sure glad it doesn’t. We’re both able to admit when we are wrong and are okay with compromising... But I’d have to say that the biggest thing I’ve learned is if you really love someone, it doesn’t matter if they’re 300 miles away, it still feels like they’re right there beside you.
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Photos by Mariela Villa and Maureen Pushea
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03.05.15 Ads 17
A&E
Drawing inspiration AP Art Students discuss their current art projects and their future plans in art by Eden Peterson, Feature Co-Editor and Emmaline Voorheis, Reporter
uch like an art project, the AP Art class started with passion and an idea. Kelly Clark, AP Art teacher developed an AP Art class in 2007, but for several years there weren’t enough students enrolled to allow a section and AP students were just added to other classes. This year Clark was thrilled to have enough talented and dedicated students to have the class. Currently, his 20 AP students are working on art projects that will be submitted in their portfolio to determine if their work is technically and creatively expressive enough to receive college credit.
Justin Stricklin, 10
I
‘ve been enrolled in Art Instruction Schools since I was 13. I want to pursue fashion illustration. Right now I’m working in fashion designs as well as other artwork from Art Instruction Schools. My favorite artist is Hayden Williams, a British fashion illustrator. His fashion designs are just amazing. What inspires me to do fashion designs is clothing trends, and different styles of clothing that I love. The most valuable skill I’ve learned in AP Art is not just judging my artwork, but judging others’ artwork as well, and also to enjoy art everyday.”
18 A&E
03.05.15
Gwen Cross, 12
A
rt is going to be my career. [I want to go into] game art and design. It’s where you design fields and characters for video games… My favorite type of art is watercolor and ink. Right now in AP Art I’m working on a piece about the way the Americans kicked all the Indians out of their home and murdered them...Hypocrisy and bad people inspire me. My favorite project I did in AP art was an independent project. I did mine on Frankenstein’s monster.’
Photos used with permission from Gwen Cross, Daniela Reyes and Justin Stricklin
Kelly Clark, AP Art Photo by Eden Peterson
Daniela Reyes, 11
I
’ve been taking art classes since eighth grade. Before then I wasn’t too interested in art because I didn’t realize that I liked it so much. Art is more of hobby for me. I don’t have a favorite project I’ve done in AP Art. I have a few that are good but I don’t think that any of them are better than any others. I’ve learned a couple of really valuable skills, being able to critique others and my own work, being able to figure out what I’m personally interested in because that’s something I haven’t been able to figure out. What I personally like to do. My favorite type of art is abstract dealing with lines, shape, and sometimes color. For the most part my art doesn’t have inspiration. I usually just draw random things that seem interesting to other people. Right now I’m working on an abstract ink drawing of different shapes corresponding with others.”
Your Academy Award guide
A&E
Flowchart your way to the best “Best Picture” for you! by Emily Ayer, Managing Editor and Rachel Cole, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Do you enjoy... Dramas
Overcoming obstacles
Comedies
Do you enjoy movies about... Stories that satirize breaking the law
Extraordinary stories of brilliant innovators
Action and a fight for freedom
Growth and development
Do you enjoy main characters that... Fight for their country
Live with broken families
American Boyhood Sniper The true story of a Navy Seal’s legendary fourtour overseas career.
The true story of a boy’s development into adulthood spanning 12 years.
Like to be superheroes
Are crazy
Believe in smart themselves Are and defy the law
Birdman The Grand Whiplash Budapest A strict mentor The life of a Hotel washed up pushes a actor trying desperately to recover his family and himself.
True stories
A concierge and lobby boy become friends in this hilarious film.
young man in order to make him realize his talent.
Fight against all odds to live and thrive Stand up for their rights
The The Imitation Theory of Game Everything A mathematic genius invents a machine to help defeat the Germans in World War Two.
Stephen Hawking’s relationship with his college love and wife and his descent into his disease.
Selma A story about Martin Luther King’s campaign for equal voting rights. 03.05.15 A&E 19
PLAYING HIS TUNE : Freshman Alexander Passegger playing his saxaphone. Passegger made it into the Senior Honor Band.
A&E
T
A SAX AND A TOP CHAIR
Photos by Mariela Villa
Freshman earns fourth chair in 2015 Senior County Honors Band by Ana Mendoza, Reporter
he curve of his smooth, golden sax as Freshman Alexander Passegger pushes down on the keys of the instrument in order to get the sound out and the way he puffs his cheeks out to get air in to blow out through his instrument are what you would see as he plays. Passegger taps his foot, tap, tap, tap as he plays during the short time he isn’t playing during a concert with a concentrated look on his face. His eyes do not move from the paper in front of him and the expression on his face does not change. That was during 2012 and that has not changed as Freshman Alexander Passegger, better known as Zander, strives in music with his saxophone earning fourth chair in the 2015 Senior County Honors Band. After auditions for the 2015 Senior Honor Band Passegger checked the Honors Band website and felt excited to find that he had made Honors Band once again, but this time into the Senior Honors band for a change. It all began as a suggestion of trying out for the Junior County Honor Band for middle schoolers his sixth grade year. Passegger earned second chair in the Junior County Honor band at age 11 and continued his second chair streak, meaning he held second chair in the honors band all throughout his middle school years. During that time he received a spot in a regional honors band. In preparation to audition for the Senior County Honors Band he did repetitive skill work and repetitive playing of the same piece in order to be able to get comfortable with the piece and add different things into it according to himself. “It was a good feeling, that all my hardwork paid off,” Passegger said. Playing the saxophone involves two main elements, learning to work the reed and learning how to move your fingers on the instrument. The keys make the saxophone appear complex but is it really ? “Yes because the embouchure and just fingering kind of getting complicated if you’re new to it but I don’t think it’s the hardest instrument to learn,” Passegger said. Passegger began to play the saxophone due to the fact it looked interesting and like a lot of fun. He said he could learn a lot from his instrument and looked like the saxophone would bring him a lot of good experiences. “It just feels really cool because it’s something different that not a lot of people know how to do and it’s just fun to play so,” said Passegger after being asked how playing the sax made him feel. 20 A&E 03.05.15 Passegger practices with his instrument roughly 45 minutes to an
hour every day compared to the half hour he would use up to practice in the beginning of his musical stage. In order to improve in his musical area, he obtained help from teachers such as the Ken Shmutz, who unfortunately passed away a couple years ago, Sonny Galvan, PRHS music teacher, and Larry Kim, Passegger’s two year private music instructor. Even after admitting that a negative side of playing his instrument is being called out for being weird because it’s different, Passeger said it has been one hundred percent worth learning how to play the saxophone and all the work that’s gone into the instrument itself. “Just work hard, and if you’re in a down spot just keep working harder at it,” said Passegger to aspiring musicians. His transition into the musical universe wasn’t a walk in the park either. “It kind of just felt awkward talking to people that had been playing an instrument for a long time because they knew how to play their instrument and they got really good at it. So it was just awkward to try to transition to that group of people that knew how to play,” Passegger said. But that too was overcome as well. Passegger enjoys the unity of the Senior Honors band. “It’s not really a class; it’s more of like a lot of people just working together, working hard to try and get a band together for a concert. We kind of go in, and we get music, and we work really hard at the music and try to get it really well done before the concert,” he said. Instruments played in the 2015 Senior Honor Band, or 2015 SHB for short, include percussion, tubas, trombones, french horns, trumpets, tenor saxophones, alto saxophones, clarinets, flutes, baritones, baritone saxophones, bass clarinets, and oboes. SHB consists of 58 students from SLO County schools: Mission College Prep High School, Arroyo Grande High School, Atascadero High School, Templeton High School, San Luis Obispo High School, and PRHS. As of 2015, 13 PRHS students auditioned and made it into this year’s Senior Honors Band for high school students. Three upperclassmen out of the overall 13 lower and upperclassmen in the band hold first chair in tenor saxophone, french horns, and percussion. A mix of five upper class and lowerclassmen of the 13 hold second through fourth chair in other instruments. Out of those 13 stands Alexander Passegger on the Alto Saxophone’s fourth chair. . Thanks to his saxophone Passegger is eligible for many scholarships.. He strives to be accepted into USC and earn a teaching credential to become a high music school.
“Just work hard, and if you’re in a down spot just keep working harder at it.” Alexander Passegger, 9
Center
table of contents
22
good and bad home lives
24 reality of military families
25 personal student story
Photo by Carly Cargill
BROKEN relationships 03.05.15 Center 21
Center
it’s a good life
Love is the glue that sticks a family together by Sadie Mae Mace, Environment Editor
A family of six, licking ice cream off sugar cones and watching the sinking sun on the beach, is the simple picture of a great family bond. Their conversations bounce between sports, of which swim, water polo, and soccer is preferred, and friendly sibling teasing. Josh, Jakob, Jonah, and Natalie, along with parents Kirsten and Geoff are the Dewhurst family, and their bond flows deeply. Despite their well put together family, sophomore Josh Dewhurst and freshman Jakob Dewhurst are aiding the battle against Breast Cancer with their mother, Kristen Dewhurst. Her last round of chemotherapy was January 27, 2015. Her battle was their battle; and the family’s bond is stronger than ever. Wa t c h i n g the sunset on the San Diego Beach with ice cream in their mouths a n d
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Center 03.05.15
dressing up in themes for Halloween are just some of their favorite family memories.Their traditions are so strong that the Dewhursts dressed us as Pirates of the Carribbean consecutively for five years. “Ever since I was little, my parents have been pushing me and pushing me to go above and beyond,” Josh said, who is taking three Advanced Placement classes this year. He earned straight A’s in his AP Chemistry, AP Literature, and AP Calculus classes in the first semester. Josh is also highly involved in competitive swimming, and he was the Yuma Sun and Yuma Rotary Club 2013 Boys Swimmer of the Year, according to yumasun.com . He was 2nd in Arizona in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:39 and awarded 4th place in the 200-yard freestyle. His self proclaimed fastest event is the 800 meter freestyle, which he has a time of 8:34.76. He currently swims with Paso Aquatic Club and trains at the Kennedy Club Fitness pool. “I feel like I have a good relationship with [my family], if I need help I ask them and they normally help me,” Jakob said. Jakob is on the JV water polo team, and hopes to make JV for the upcoming swim team season. His long term goal is to attain varsity in his sports next year. He has swam competitively since the age of six, and started water polo the summer of 2014. “When [your parents] support what you’re doing, it helps a lot,” Jakob said about what makes a good family life. “Someone who you can just fall back on,” Josh added about his opinion on what makes a strong family bond. The Dewhurst family has a unique relationship with one another, and their good family life represents happy people, which determines happiness throughout life.
Josh Dewhurst, 10
62% 81%
19% of PRHS parents are divorced
Photo by Amy Cantrell and Graphics by Carly Cargill
130 students surveyed
bad blood
of students believe a divorced family Student with troubled home life speaks is not necessarily about broken family broken t the end of the I had to grow up really quick,
A
of students live in households with at least 3 other people
42% of PRHS families are lower middle class
58% 88% of families fight a few times a week
associate family drama with work
school day, buses fill with students ready to go home and relax, but for at least one student, relaxing isn't what's on their mind. Approximately 3.3 million children are reported abused each year, according to americanhumane.com. One of these children goes to our high school. For sophomore Samantha Vega the current situation is bearable, but in the past anger, bitterness, drugs, and irresponsibility have played a large role in her life. "I feel as if, as an older sibling, I have an obligation to protect them. I really tried to shelter him, but he does still have the anger that he saw from his father and I'd like to help him work through that in the future,” said Vega, who is now living with her father, sister and other two brothers. Vega's grandmother and father each have half custody of her, and her grandmother has custody of her little brother Isaac. Her mother and stepfather both had drug problems, which led to them neglecting her and her brother. Because of this, Vega, in middle school, was forced to take care of her little brother, bathing him, feeding him, and making sure that he went to bed on time. "When I lived with my mother
but now that I live with my dad, I can be a teenager again," said Vega, who is fifteen years old. Last year Vega went through many uncomfortable times, becoming very angry at small things, and having a lot of undiscussed bitterness.
“Approximately 3.3 million children are reported abused each year.” americanhumane.com Vega is not the only student with an uncomfortable home life that has become better recently. Sophomore Sierra Hoyt has also dealt with unpleasant domestic situations. "I didn't like being home and [my father] didn't like me being home. I've been so happy living with my aunt and I feel like him kicking me out was supposed to make me realize how much I needed him but I don't. The only thing that sucks is not getting to see my sister enough," said Hoyt, who is unsure of her father’s motives for keeping her away from her sister.
Center
defining b r o k e n
Family, (n.) defined as a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. It seems strange that family is described as broken, like your family is a vase that was dropped, an old computer that's frozen. It seems odd to be defined in clinical terms when these are people, with emotions that charge the air, voices that can’t convey the truth; the whole truth of the situation, and hands that could drag you off the ground and tug you to safety or crush your security in equal measure. 17 out of 130 students call their families broken, but what does the term broken really mean? The Oxford Dictionary defines it simply as, “a family in which the parents are divorced or separated.” But PRHS students define it as something much more than that. “[A broken family happens when] they used to love each other and everything was good and then something happened…. like a divorce or one of the kids is really screwed up or one of the parents is really screwed up and then everything kind of falls apart,” junior Natalie Coletta said. The term broken families reaches far beyond a dictionary definition; it can be applied not only to divorced families but also to military families, abusive families, even families who don’t have strong enough bonds between them. “I think a broken family is a family that is split , has major issues occurring in a family, or even the loss of someone within
that family.” junior Samantha Garrett said. But the dictionary doesn’t have to define what your family is, and neither do the people in according to one student. “Well I think a whole family is one that makes an effort to have fun together, and that is really involved in each other's lives. I think that a broken family could really be a lot of things, and it definitely depends on the perspective of a person in that family. But a divorced or separated family could absolutely be whole. It's about the attitude of the family, not who's in it.” senior Kassidy Rice Smith said. “The traditional definition of a broken family is where one or both parental figures are not in the picture. My family consists of my brother and my mother, and although my father isn't in the picture, I would not call my family broken. Love and support makes a family whole. I obviously can't speak for other families, but mine is happy. If my parents were still together, I know for a fact that my house wouldn't be happy.” sophomore Sara Grinager said. Broken families come in many forms, and shapes and sizes. They aren’t always the typical American family, nor the parents whose messy divorce split their children’s lives in two. They exist in every sect of society, every faction, every type can be broken in some way.
RELA IONS IPS —Rachel Cole, Co-Editor-in-Chief
—Jessica Cole, InDepth Co-Editor
03.05.15 Center
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Center
Military Families Military families can be separate yet unbroken Whether it’s constantly moving from one state to another, or simply being separated from loved ones, families with involvement in the military are a distinct kind of setting. Living in one of these situations is a strain on all people involved, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s included in the ‘broken’ category for families. These families are in a unique kind of setting compared to other separated families. Sophomore Graham Farrell is in one of those situations almost exactly. Having previous family in the military as well, Farrell’s brother, Aiden Farrell, is a Paso High graduate who is currently in the Naval Academy. “We’re all proud of Aiden and his decision, and what he’s gone through to get to the academy” Farrell said. “I’m nervous for Aiden but I’m proud of him too.” Farrell also added how Aiden’s absence has affected his family as well, which includes senior Claire Farrell. “Christmas and Spring has been a time to look forward to especially because Aiden’s coming home, and he’s safe and with us. I think that Aiden being gone has definitely made us closer,” Graham said. Senior Hayley Cameron also has family in the military, although rather than a sibling, it’s her father, whose absence has directly influenced her experiences in her last year at Paso High. ”He’s definitely missing my 18th birthday, although he’s trying to get leave for graduation,” Cameron said. “In band we had senior night at one of the football games and it’s hard because the parents present us with a flower and it was only my mom there,” Cameron continued. “I wish he had been there but I understand.” Through their separation, the last eight of which her father has been stationed in Cuba, Cameron and her dad have stayed close throughout. “In all honesty he’s my stepdad but he adopted me, so that alone put us closer and now him being gone, I try to talk to him as much as I can, and when he gets back I’ll be able to spend a lot more time with him and get even closer with him,” Cameron said. Her father
returns from Cuba this July. Another Bearcat who also had another militaristic situation is senior Emmanuel Stringfield. Stringfield’s parents, while not directly serving, rather work for the military, which has had a direct effect on his life. “I lived in Germany, North Dakota, back to Germany, Virginia, Kansas, and [California],” Stringfield said, referring to himself having to move as his parents were assigned their jobs. Although Stringfield has never been out of contact with his parents, he’s met and been able to empathize with people who were in the same situation as Farrell and Cameron, as well as himself. “You get to meet people who are also in that situation,” Stringfield said. “You form a close bond with people who are experiencing the same thing.” As for myself, my dad was in the Army from my sixth grade year after my parents divorced up until my sophomore year. Personally, I can attest to being separated from my dad as not being detrimental to our relationship. In fact, I believe it made us closer than ever. Not being able to see my dad consistently really made me appreciate the time I did get to spend with him when he was on leave. I feel as though our relationship would not necessarily be worse if we didn’t experience that, but rather that it wouldn’t be as strong as it is today. Military families aren’t absolutely broken just because they’re separated; rather, it’s that separation that makes the bond of the family or relationship even stronger than before. Not being able to see loved ones makes the time we spend together all the more important and memorable, and that doesn’t change in a militaristic setting.
“I wish he had been there, but I understand.”
Hayley Cameron, 12
choose to make it a g o o d l i f e by Rachel Cole, Co-Editor-in-Chief
When a fight ensues, running to the bedroom and slamming the door might not be the best option; instead, reaching out and making sure to not go to bed angry can speed up the healing process. With a total of around 14 percent of Paso High students reporting that they feel that their home life is unstable, the truth is probably that we can all do something about brokenness in our own families. Students share their thoughts on improving home life. Read more tips about how to improve your own home life on crimsonweb.net.
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Center 03.05.15
—Mayer Pohlod, World Co-Editor
“Be kind to your parents and other family “Everyone “I think that members. Try to should spending more get along, and be appreciate time with your sure everyone is family and having family time more, because happy. If everyone more bonding you never know is happy, it’s a moments can lot easier to get improve anyone’s what’s going a long and it’s to happen home life.” easier to love tomorrow.” each other.” Karlee Ulrich, 12 Belyn Magdonal, 11 Jacob Bausch, 11
“I would say to try and make it better for themselves in any way that they have control of. For instance, if they have younger siblings, try to make it safer for them and set a good example for them.” Jennifer Lopez, 12
How to spot an
a b u s i v e
relationship
Many abusive relationships start off as innocent and delightful. However, it does not stay innocent and delightful. Check out these early warning signs. Understanding abusive relationships and knowing what to do when you find one is important. Not blaming yourself or the victim is also , leaving an abuser can be difficult and knowing how to help yourself or your family can make the process easier.
if another person...
if you... afraid of your family 1 feel member much of the time...
or yells at 1 humiliates you...
certain topics out of fear of 2 avoid angering your family member...
you and puts you 2 criticizes down...
that you can’t do anything 3 feel right for your family member...
you so badly that you’re 3 treats embarrassed for others to see...
that you deserve to be 4 believe hurt or mistreated...
or puts down your 4 ignores opinions or accomplishments...
if you’re the one who is 5 wonder crazy...
you for their own 5 blames abusive behavior...
a bad and unpredictable 6 have temper...
excessively jealous and 6 acts possessive... where you go or what 7 controls you do...
...then you should know that the cycle continues... abuse
guilt
setup
excuses
fantasy
normal behavior
...and if you know someone struggling with this, you can help by...
1 listening to them —Emily Ayer, Managing Editor
2 not judging them
unconditionally
3 loving them
Information from helpguide.org.
Photo by Maureen Pushea and Graphics by Carly Cargill
Center
Is a divorced family a broken family? Laying out the truth about a divorced family by Lauren Wassam, Fun & Games Co-Editor This is not some sob story about a divorced family with a “troubled t e e n a g e r .” No, this is a story about growing up and realizing the most important Lauren Wassam, 10 things and people in your life. However, this story does begin with divorce. The truth is that over 26.7 million people are divorced in the USA. The United States ranks as the top 49 percent worldwide in divorces, according to divorce.com. With divorce comes questions: Why? When? What happened? I’ve heard these questions almost a thousand times since April 2012. Why? They ask. My parents weren’t happy. When? They ask. It was a decision withheld from my siblings and I for months. What happened? They ask. It’s still a question that I don’t have the answer to. But as I’m growing up, I’ve started realized a few things that I’m going to keep with me for the rest of my life. With my parents’ divorce came anger; I was mad. How could they just drop the bomb like that? I was 13 and confused. I took my mismanaged anger out on my parents. We were a broken family. No longer was my father her husband, but now he was Will. No longer was my mother his wife, but now she was Sue. Sitting at the dinner table was not a family dinner anymore. Family movie nights didn’t exist. I asked myself, “Do I have a family, or am I alone?” Weeks passed, and I was still alone. I avoided my parents and didn’t speak to them for weeks. I locked myself in my room and felt like I couldn’t speak to anyone at all. I thought that people were bound to judge me, hate me, or worst, pity me. We are Catholic, and I’d been taught divorces
don’t happen in Catholic families, and thought we were bound to be disgraced, terrible, Catholics. My only saving grace was my brothers. It’s been nearly 1,451,520 minutes since I was sat down in a counselor’s office with whom I once considered my family and told the terrible news. Since then, my brothers and I have been closer than we’ve ever been. I’d even consider them my best friends, though they’d hate me if I ever told anyone that. I didn’t think of my parents as mom and dad for a long time. They didn’t know, but every time they called out “Lauren” my reply was ‘’Yes?’’ but my mind was ‘’What, Sue’’ or ‘’What do you want, Will?’’ It took what felt like forever, but I forgave them. Suddenly, one day I realized I felt guilty. I was being selfish. How could I be so mad at my mom and dad when all they were doing was trying to be happy? They were not happy with each other, so why should they have stayed together? The guilt ate me alive. So I made my choice: I sat the whole family down-Mom, Dad, Alex, and Tim-and I told them how I was feeling. The anger, sadness, and hostility---it all came out. I felt so relieved that I was honest. As always, my parents understood. In fact, they had known all along how angry I was, but they wanted to give me space to grasp the concept that they were not married anymore. Although legally we are not a family, we are. Sue is mom. Will is dad. We are the Wassam Family. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but what family does not? What this really comes down to is that times change, you as a person change, you start to perceive things differently, and you grow up. My family never was broken, nor is any other family. Families have problems, fights, and issues. There are things to be fixed and love to be shared. Whether your parents are divorced, you only have one parent, or you have same-sex parents, you have a family. Be grateful for the loved ones you have.
03.05.15 Center 25
Sci Tech
Blast from the past HOW CLOSE WAS BACK TO THE FUTURE IN ITS PREDICTION OF 2015? by Brandon Kearns, Co-Editor-in-Chief
For 30 years Back to the Future II has sustained hopes of an outlandish future. One where teenagers walk around wearing spandex, spiked bicycle helmets, and robotic implants. A future full of flying cars and flying, pink skateboards. The movies prediction served as a beacon of hope when many people had begun to cast a negative light on the future. Yet as 2015 approached, those very fans that had supported its predictions began to wonder-- just how far off was Back to the Future II ?
HOVER CARS
FUSION POWER
Director Robert Zemeckis predicted a lot of radical changes for 2015 in his 1989 blockbuster Back to the Future II, and one of the fan favorites was the idea of the flying car. Imagine a world where you could just fly around traffic jams, slow drivers, and roads in general. Unfortunately for the sci-fi geeks out there, none of us have flying deloreans yet, leaving Zemeckis’ vision a bit off the mark. Even though we won’t be lifting off in a 1980’s sports car anytime soon, there have been some steps towards developing a flying car. Terrafugia, a company determined to change the future of travel, is currently designing two vehicles that will be able to change between the streets to the skies in a matter of minutes. The Transition is a streetlegal plane capable of changing between driving and flight in under a minute, yet for now it isn’t as simple as flipping a switch and taking off, for Terrafugia is a pioneering company dealing with just as many FAA regulations as physics problems as they design their vehicles. Their prototype vehicle, the TF-X, is more of the car of the future as it will be able to take off and land almost vertically. So although flying cars are in the works, 2015 is far from the vertical society Zemeckis predicted
Fusion power today isn’t as simple as it was in the movie, where Doc Brown simply tossed a banana peel in his car for fuel. For those that don’t know what fusion power is, which is probably most people, fusion power is the process by which scientists fuse two lightweight atoms together to create a larger atom, and a lot of energy. But fusion reactors are no where near the size we see in the second Back to the Future movie. For now the closest thing to portable fusion power is a prototype being developed by Lockheed-Martin, yet even their “portable” version is the size of a semi-truck. So until fusion power becomes smaller, cheaper, and easier don’t expect to power your car with your daily trash.
Photos by Brandon Kearns
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Sci Tech 03.05.15
HOVER BOARDS Oh hoverboards... They’ve been every sci-fi fans dream since they were shown in Back to the Future II, yet here we are in 2015, and I’m noticing a lack of pink, floating skateboards. Fans everywhere were teased with a glimpse of the future early last year when a video featuring Tony Hawk riding a replica board from the movie hit the Internet. For a moment it seemed their prayers had been answered, that is until Hawk released another video that uncovered the first as a prank. Even after the disappointment of that prank video, dreams of hovering may yet be realized, as Hendo Hover, an industrial company that helps in warehouses, is still determined to build the first feasible hoverboard. It’s currently in preproduction, but hopefully we’ll start seeing them in the near future.
Michael Velasquez, 12 I’m glad we don’t have time travel because a lot of people would probably abuse that power, and probably mess up the past, present, and future.
Daniel Balson, 12 I’m personally a little upset that I don’t get to ride around on a pink hoverboard yet.
Jordan Dickey, 12 The outfits were really over the top, so I’m glad that I don’t have to wear anything like that.
Best of CES
Sci Tech
CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, is a place for tech companies to reveal upcoming, high tech gadgets to attracted journalists, enthusiasts, economic analysts, and consumers since its debut in 1967. Common things revealed at CES are latest TV technologies, new gaming systems, mobile devices, and all sorts of home appliances. This show has become famous for hosting some of the most innovative and most popular inventions of all time. Below are some of the best tech gadgets revealed at CES 2015.
RAZER FORGE
by Clay Maggiore, Web Team
COMPUTE STICK
by Nathan Rowley, Photographer
Popular gaming hardware company Razer has developed a Micro-Tv Gaming Console by the name of Razer Forge TV. Released at the 2015 CES, it’s suitably powerful with a quad-core CPU, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 16GB of storage.The Forge TV box alone is $100, or $150 bundled with the controller, which is inexpensive for the versatility offered by such a small device. The Forge Tv also boasts the compatibility to run any game on DirectX9 or higher, as well as being able to watch tv for only a $40 subscription fee. With upgraded peripherals and a new bluetooth, you can effectively stream at low-latency allowing you to showcase what you’re doing live, using their new software which is called: “Cortex: Stream”. Additionally it will run apps like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify, giving you remote control via an Android or iOS device to watch and listen to your favorite media. Razer’s focus on smaller,less graphic intensive apps, limits the games to the ones modern day android phones run; however this allows for crossover play, letting you leave off where you were from either device.
The new Intel Compute Stick can be a new step in the direction of portable PCs.Released at the 2015 International CES, Intel has released a real pc experience in a device no bigger than a Google Chrome Cast or about four inches in length. Using an HDMI port for display, the Compute Stick can plug in to about anything that has an HDMI. On the $149 model, Intel has modified the Compute Stick to have the abillity Windows 8.1 with Bing integration. Also, the Compute Stick is equipped with Bluetooth and WiFi compatible so that you can connect your device to keyboards, mice, and the internet. The device also has a USB port and a micro-USB cord for power to the device. With 32GB of storage and 2GB of ram, more room can be added on through the microSD card slot adding up to 128GB of more storage. Intel will start shipping and sales in March.
PLAYSTATION TV
THE W3D PHONE
by Clay Maggiore, Web Team
Trend setting Sony and Samsung are working together to create a TV that will allow you to play your Playstation console games without the Playstation. Using Sony’s program Playstation Plus, which will be integrated into Samsung’s Internet-connected TVs, you will be able to stream games directly off the cloud. Games will be played from an app installed on the TV, with the one requirement being a Sony Dualshock controller. Currently the service only offers about 200 PlayStation 3 titles, while Sony plans to offer PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4 titles soon. Everything is streamed from a cloud database, removing needs for downloading, however this will require an internet connection of at least 5 Mbps to achieve good performance. The cloud also uses an autosave function on both singleplayer and online multiplayer games allowing you to log off with all your progress saved and ready for you when you return. Neither company has revealed an exact release date but you can expect further information coming in the first half of the 2015 year.
by Stephen Preston, Opinion Editor
Snail Games, a popular Chinese game developer and China’s 5th biggest cell provider unveiled the W3D at CES 2015. The new Android smartphone is packed with some unexpected features, including a 5.5” Full HD screen. The W3D will have a 2.2 GHz octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a 13-megapixel camera, but that’s not what makes the W3D special. The device will feature dual joysticks, a control pad on the left side, and 4 lettered buttons on the right, a layout similar to the PS Vita. The device also boasts a glasses-less 3D screen, designed to track eye movement and adjust itself automatically so it can be played at nearly any viewing angle. Equipped for Android gaming, this device reportedly will have a massive 4,000 mAH battery, or enough power for up to 4 hours of continuous gaming. The market for Android games looks fairly bleak at this time, but the release of such a device will no doubt encourage developers, and the button layout makes the W3D ideal for mobile emulators as well. Snail Games confirmed a Chinese launch of the W3D this year and strongly hinted at a US release.
03.05.15 Sci Tech 27
Food
Cake in a jar Learn how to make a tasty treat in an on-the-go container Everyone loves cake but hates having to sit at a table to eat it. Make your cake in a jar and now you won’t have to!
Ingredients
—1 box Betty Crocker® Super Moist® white cake mix —1 container Betty Crocker® Whipped Ready to Spread white frosting, —3 egg whites (for cake mix), —1/3 cup vegetable oil (for cake mix), —1 1/4 cup water (for cake mix), —NEON Betty Crocker® food colors in neon pink, neon blue and neon purple in regular food colors yellow, green, red and blue, —3 wide-mouth glass canning jars (1-pint) —Non-stick cooking spray
Directions
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Food 03.05.15
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash canning jars and dry thoroughly. Set lids and rims aside. Spray inside of each glass jar with a generous amount of non-stick cooking spray. 2. Make cake batter according to directions on cake mix box. 3. For rainbow colored cake, divide batter evenly between 5 bowls (approximately 1 cup of batter in each bowl). 4. Add 15 drops of neon pink food coloring to the 1st bowl. Stir well. 5. Add 14 drops of regular yellow food coloring to the 2nd bowl. Stir well. 6. Add 24 drops of regular green food coloring to the 3rd bowl. Stir well. 7. Add 7 drops of neon blue food coloring to the 4th bowl. Stir well. 8. Add 8 drops of regular red + 7 drops of regular blue + 3 drops of neon purple food coloring
to the 5th bowl. Stir well. 9. Spoon about 1/4-cup of each color batter into each of the jars, layering the colors in this order: purple (first), blue, green, yellow, pink (last). Use a paper towel to wipe any spills or drips from the jars. 10. Place the jars in a glass baking dish. Add 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the dish surrounding the jars. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cake tops should spring back to the touch when done, but don’t bake so long that the cakes are brown. You can also use a long bamboo skewer to test doneness if you have one. —Emily Ayer, Managing Editor and Maureen Pushea, Sports Co-Editor
Photo by Maureen Pushea
by Nichole Landon, Graphic Designer
WHOLE GRAIN FOOD: Nature Valley Granola Bar SERVING SIZE: 2 Bars CALORIES: 100-190 FAT: 1-9 GRAMS SUGAR: 10-14 GRAMS
OVEN BAKED CHIPS FOOD: Lay’s Oven Baked Chips SERVING SIZE: 1 OZ CALORIES: 120 FAT: 3 GRAMS SUGAR: 3 GRAMS
FRUIT FOOD: Medium Bananas SERVING SIZE: 1 Banana CALORIES: 105 FAT: 0.4 GRAMS SUGAR: 14 GRAMS
VITAMIN WATER DRINK: Vitamin Water SERVING SIZE: 20 FL OZ CALORIES: 120 FAT: 0 GRAMS SUGAR: 29-31 GRAMS Photos by Nichole Landon
EAT THIS
NOT
HAT T CRIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT Amid slowly improving crime rates, the lurking presence of offences threatens safety and security of the campus.
Health SUGAR FOOD: Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts SERVING SIZE: 1 Pastry CALORIES: 180-210 FAT: 3-8 GRAMS SUGAR: 12-19 GRAMS
FRIED CHIPS FOOD: Lay’s Potato Chips SERVING SIZE: 1 OZ CALORIES: 160 FAT: 10 GRAMS SUGAR: LESS THAN 1 GRAMS
REFINED SUGAR FOOD: Hostess Donettes SERVING SIZE: 4 Donuts CALORIES: 240 FAT: 12 GRAMS SUGAR: 11 GRAMS
SOFT DRINK DRINK: Pepsi SERVING SIZE: 12 FL OZ CALORIES: 150 FAT: 0 GRAMS SUGAR: 41 GRAMS 03.05.15 Health 29
ROCKED IT (far left) : Sophomores Graham Farrell and Kasey Moffitt successfully rock climbed. They enjoyed free smoothies courtesy of Kennedy Club Fitness.
Blind Date
PICTURE PERFECT (upper right): Farrell and Moffitt pose for a picture outside Kennedy. This marks the beginning of the 23rd Crimson Blind Date. PICNIC IN THE PARK (lower right) : Moffitt and Farrell enjoy a lovely picnic in the park. They talk about their future lives and memories.
A date that rocks
V
alentine’s Day is meant to be spent with the ones you love. Whether the one you love is a family member or a significant other; however, this time the date was a mystery for two brave Bearcats. Valentine’s season deepens the common belief that everyone is overcome with love and involved with someone on that fateful day. This date helped to confirm the latter by providing sophomores Kasey Moffitt and Graham Farrell with a romantic coupling in the special season of love and romance. Moffitt and Farrells’ outing marked the 23rd Crimson blind date, an impressive achievement in a long line of successes. Excitement was high after they were picked up and on their way to the first activity. The car’s silence was quickly filled with bubbly conversation including their own hobbies. Farrell shared about his last drama production, ‘A Christmas Carol,’ in which he played Boy Scrooge and his excitement for the spring musical, ‘The Music Man,’ in which he is cast as Tommy Djilas. Moffitt’s animated personality informed Farrell on her swim career, spanning an impressive six years, while bright smiles sparkled all around. They had the same math class together last year and reminisced on amusing memories. At Kennedy Club Fitness, the daters were eager to try the impressive two-story rock climbing wall. After a quick instruction course they hooked into the harness, the daters
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took their moves up the wall. Both had rock climbed before, but not recently. As the wall could hold both at once, naturally competition ensued. Moffitt came prepared with athletic clothes, which assisted her quick start. Farrell’s khakis proved hard to climb in, and he was limited in flexibility. But he comically made light of the situation by posing as King Kong climbing skyscrapers of rock. Both daters made it up at least halfway on the wall before their forearms gave out. After a quick break for delicious chocolate peanut butter protein shakes provided by the club, they gave it another go before finally retiring. KCF provided both Moffitt and Farrell with complimentary passes so they could come back and try the wall again. The two spread a Christmas-red blanket on the lush green grass in Paso’s downtown park, a romantic picnic where they talked about their travels, future classes and comical stories of their childhood. Farrell shared some of his musical talent by playing “The Cup Song” from Pitch Perfect. His performance reminded Moffitt of funny memories of her cousins. As the orange watercolor sky fell on downtown Paso and oak trees arched over Carnegie Hall, it became time for the daters to say their farewells. Both thanked us for crafting the date as they got the opportunity to catch up and perfect their rock climbing technique. They exchanged hugs and then went their separate ways. —Amy Cantrell, Copy Editor and Alysia Kilcrease, Blind Date Co-Editor
Blind Date 03.05.15
Photos by Amy Cantrell
Sophomore Graham Farrell
Sophomore Kasey Moffitt
Rate: 9
Rate: 9
Would they go on another date?
Would they go on another date?
Yes, as friends
Yes
Favorite part?
Favorite part?
Rock climbing
Rock climbing
Scan this QR code to view the blind date video.
Satirical sass-off
Fun & Games
Take a satirical walk down Bearcat Lane by Mila Robb-Hiteshew and Lauren Wassam, Fun & Games Co-Editors
DISCLAIMER:
None of this content is factual. It is purely satire.
SCIENCE
THE ARTS
ENGLISH P.E.
Head Honcho
Fairbank
Goodnow
Arnette
Smith
Department Nickname
Earth, Wind, Fire and Air
The Colorful Bunch
The Grammar Nazis
The Gym Sock
Signature Look
Lab coats
Paint smudges
Khakis
Gym shorts
Sworn Enemy
English
Math
Science
Netflix
Kryptonite
Anti-vaxxers
Low budget
Boring essays
Rain
Secret Weapon
Knowing it all
The musically gifted
Mr. Cantrell’s dancing skills
Stopwatches
Greatest Fear
ATOMS AREN’T REAL
No creative kids
The difference between “lay’’ and “lie’’
Doctors’ notes
Training Ground
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Michael’s Craft Store
Of Mice and Men
Family Beauty
Overton
Bedrosian
Stover
The muddy field Macomber 03.05.15 Fun & Games 31
Ads
03.05.15 Ads 33
Carmesí
Superior del esteriotipo escrito por Mariela Villa, Business Manager
Al ser completamente honesta, estoy cansada de ser estereotipada. Estoy cansada de ir a lugares y la gente a pensar que saben mis límites y capacidades. Pensando que conocen mi trayectoria y mi historia de vida. Yo puedo hacer todo lo que tú puedes hacer. Los errores más comunes nos llaman perezosos, borrachos, incompetentes, estúpidos, ilegales, y afiliados en padillas. Pero eso no es el caso. Algunos de mis héroes en mi vida son algunos de las personas más trabajadoras que conozco. Harán cualquier cosa para hacer sus seres queridos feliz. Por ejemplo, mi abuelo dejó a su familia en Tamazula, Jalisco, y se fue a los EE.UU. en busca de trabajo. Él vino a los EE.UU. para dar mejores oportunidades a sus hijos. Perdió todo dos veces. Tenía que empezar de nuevo, no una sino dos veces e hizo su camino hacia arriba. Él trabajó como lavaplatos, nada lujoso, pero eso fue todo lo que pudo en el momento. Y muy pronto se hizo el dinero suficiente para toda la familia para venir a la zona de la bahía, donde residía. Mis tías y tíos, no sabían Inglés cuando llegaron a los estados sin embargo, se las arregló para llegar a donde están ahora. Mi tía Columba era mejor estudiante de su clase sin embargo, ella no sabía Inglés cuando llegó a los Estados. Mi padre tenía becas completo a lo largo de su carrera universitaria, recibiendo por lo que su maestría en ingeniería mecánica en UCSB. Para llegar a estos lugares, no sólo podían sentarse y esperar que algo bueno podía salir. Tuvieron que trabajar para llegar allí. Nada se les entregó en bandeja de plata. Ellos no engañan a su manera a través. Lo hicieron justamente. Pero, ¿por qué la gente todavía hacen estas suposiciones que no podemos hacer nada productivo? ¿Por qué la gente son sorprendidos cuando encuentran a alguien que no encaja en el estereotipo? "La gente me ve (una latina) y hacen suposiciones que no soy tan capaz como cualquier otra persona, pero puedo tomar clases de AP y de honores, estoy en el liderazgo, tengo un trabajo, estoy tomando una clase de la universidad, y yo 'm una animadora ", dijo junior Lizette Juárez. Sólo porque alguien creó un estereotipo no significa que todos bajo esa raza está regulado por dicha categoría. No debe haber una necesidad de etiquetar personas. No debe una necesidad de juzgar personas. Tiendo a morderme la lengua cuando escucho comentarios racistas cuando voy lugares como: "No es sorprendente que limpia casas, ella es hispano" o "No es sorprendente que viven en este parte del pueblo, son hispanos" Para llegar a donde estoy ahora, es trabajar duro y aprovechar las oportunidades que me han dado. Fui a través de todos los obstáculos que pude y cada vez que alguien me dijo que yo no podía hacer algo, me demostró que estaban equivocados.
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Carmesí 03.05.15
Entero o partido? La verdad acerca de una familia divorciada escrito por Lauren Wassam, Fun & Games Co-Editor y traducido por Mariela Villa, Business Manager
Esto no es un cuento triste sobre una familia divorciada con un "adolescente problemática." No, esta es un cuento sobre madurecimiento y darse cuenta de las cosas y las personas más importantes en su vida. Aunque, esta historia comienza con el divorcio. La verdad es que 26.7 millon de parejas han divorciados en E.E. U.U. por cuenta de divorce.com Con el divorcio viene preguntas: ¿Por qué? Cuándo? Que pasó? He escuchado estas preguntas casi mil veces desde abril de 2012. ¿Por qué? Preguntan. Mis padres no eran felices. Cuándo? Preguntan. Fue una decisión retenido de mis hermanos y yo por meses. Que pasó? Preguntan. Todavía es una pregunta que yo no tengo la respuesta. Pero como estoy creciendo, he comenzado de dar cuenta de algunas cosas que voy a mantener conmigo por el resto de mi vida. Con el divorcio de mis padres vino enojo. ¿Cómo podían simplemente soltar la bomba como esa? Yo tenía trece años y estaba confundida. Tomé mi malos pensamientos a mis padres. Éramos una familia rota. Ya no era mi padre, su marido, pero ahora era Will. Ya no era mi madre, su esposa, pero ahora ella era Sue. Sentado en la mesa de la cena no era una cena familiar más. No existían las noches de cine familiar. Me pregunté, "¿Tengo una familia o soy sola?" Pasaron las semanas, y yo todavía estaba sola. Evité mis padres y no hablé con ellos durante muchas semanas. Me encerré en mi cuarto y me sentía como si no pudiera hablar con nadie durante esas semanas. Pensé que las personas estaban obligadas a juzgarme, me odian, o peor aún, ten piedad de mí. Estábamos católica y me habían enseñado los divorcios no ocurren en las familias católicas y estábamos destinados a ser deshonrado, terribles católicos. Mis hermanos eran mi ancla. Han pasado casi 1,451,520 minuto desde que me
Graphics by Sam Mabry
senté en la oficina de un consejero con quien una vez consideréraba mi familia y le dije la terrible noticia. Desde entonces, mis hermanos y yo hemos estado más cerca que hemos estado. Incluso les consideraría mis mejores amigos, aunque ellos me odian si digo eso a alguien. Yo no pensé a mis padres como mamá y papá por mucho tiempo. No sabían, pero cada vez que llamaban a cabo "Lauren" mi respuesta fue '' ¿Sí? '', Pero mi mente estaba ''¿Qué Sue?'' o ''¿Qué quieres, Will? '' De repente, un día me di cuenta que me sentí culpable. Estaba siendo egoísta. ¿Cómo pude ser tan enojada con mi mamá y papá cuando lo único que hacían era tratar de ser feliz. Ellos no estaban contentos con el otro, así que ¿por qué han permanecido juntos? La culpa me comía vivo. Así que hice mi elección, me senté toda la familia abajomamá, papá, Alex, y Tim-Les dije cómo me sentía. La ira, la tristeza y la hostilidad --- todo salió. Me sentí tan aliviada que yo era honesta. Como siempre mis padres entendieron. De hecho habían sabido todo el tiempo lo enfadado que estaba, pero querían darme espacio para entender el concepto de que no se casaron nunca más. Aunque legalmente no somos una familia, somos. Sue es mamá. Will es papá. Somos la familia Wassam. Claro que tenemos nuestros altibajos, pero que familia no lo hace? Lo que esto realmente se reduce a es que los tiempos cambian, como un cambio de persona, se empieza a percibir las cosas de manera diferente, y crezcas. Mi familia nunca fue roto, ni cualquier otra familia. Las familias tienen problemas, peleas, y cuestiones. Hay cosas que se fija y el amor para compartir. Ya sea que sus padres están divorciados, sólo tiene un padre o padres del mismo sexo tiene una familia. Sean agradecido por los seres queridos que tenga.
Carmesí
Superior to the stereotype by Mariela Villa, Business Manager
Medallas para el futuro PRHS patrona la competacion regional de SkillsUSA escrito por Mariela Villa, Business Manager
274 estudiantes de la región de California 2 SkillsUSA, 146 quien son bearcats, vinieron a PRHS para la competencia regional y es la primera vez que hemos celebrado este evento aqui, el 6 de febrero. Ocho escuelas secundarias y dos colegios de la comunidad participaron en el evento. 76 recibieron conocimiento, 42 que eran de oro, 23 de plata, 11 de bronce, con 101 bearcats de avanzar a estado. Para avanzar deben cumplir bien en la prueba y el material de los conocimientos propios de su competencia. "Fue la conferencia regional de más exitoso
que hemos tenido en los últimos dos o tres años. Tenemos un plan organizado, cerca de ninguna queja, una exitosa entrada y cierre de ceremonias y la comunicación completa en toda la región," senior Wes Harmon dijo, que es el Reportero Escuela Secundaria de California para SkillsUSA y ha ido todo el camino a los nacionales en años anteriores SkillsUSA da a los estudiantes la oportunidad de explorar cualquier camino de carrera llenando la brecha de habilidades en la sociedad actual, la introducción a las industrias del mundo real, y darles la formación necesaria.
“Fue la conferencia regional mas exitoso que hemos tenido....” Wes Harmon, 12
Apex anima los estudiantes La sistema de recuperacion ofrece repitacion de clases falladas escrito por Sadie Mae Mace, Environment Editor
Los estudiantes que no aprueben una clase durante el curso de su escuela secundaria tendran la oportunidad de presionar el botón de rehacer; entrar en el programa Apex. Desde 20 de agosto 2014, Apex ha estado en PRHS. Cerca de 100 estudiantes han recuperado créditos. Apex ofrece clases digitales para los estudiantes y les ayuda a volver a la pista para el éxito de la graduación, de acuerdo con apexlearning.com "Sigue trabajando ... lo más rápido que lo haces, ... se puede ir a otra clase y obtener más créditos," un estudiante que desea permanecer en el anonimato dijo. Para ser elegible, el estudiante debe ser una transferencia de otro distrito, deben alcanzar los créditos específicos, un estudiante que no paso la clase por razones personales, o un estudiante que no tenían buenas relaciones de clase y debe por defecto a Apex. En Apex, un estudiante aprende el material, toma varias
pruebas, y luego toma una prueba cumlutative que gana los créditos estudiantiles. Si un estudiante no pasa dos pruebas, el profesor debe implicarse. "Parece que se determinen bastante bien ... Es un estudio más independiente que tienen que terminar," dijo Bartt Frey. Frey enseña Electrónica, ROP Servicios y reparación de computadoras, ROP Internetworking, ROP Diseño Web, y un panorama general de su clase Apex. Los estudiantes en el programa de Apex se les asigna un período para tomar el programa de ordenador y son entrenados por los profesores. John Rucker, Bartt Frey, Michael Delbar, y Kelly Francos son los profesores encargados del programa. Los estudiantes interesados y elegibles para el programa Apex deben reunirse con su consejero.
Being completely honest, I am tired of being stereotyped. I’m tired of going to places and people thinking they know my limits and capabilities. Thinking that they know my background and my life story. I can do as much as you can do. The common misconceptions are calling us lazy, drunks, incompetent, stupid, illegal, and gang-affiliated. But that isn’t the case. Some of my own heroes in life are some of the most hardworking people that I know. They will do anything to make their loved ones happy. For example, my grandfather he left his family in Tamazula, Jalisco, and went to the U.S. to find work. He came to the U.S. to give better opportunities to his kids. He lost everything twice. He had to start from rock bottom not once but twice and made his way up. He worked as a dishwasher, nothing fancy, but that was all that he could manage at the time. And soon enough he made enough money for the whole family to come to the bay area where he was residing. My aunts and uncles, knew no english when they came to the states yet they still managed to get where they are now. My aunt Columba was valedictorian of her class yet she knew no english when she came to the states. My dad had full ride scholarships throughout his college career, receiving as far as his masters in mechanical engineering at UCSB. To get to these places, they couldn’t just sit around and hope that something good could come. They had to work to get there. Nothing was handed to them on a silver platter. They didn’t cheat their way through. They made it in fair and square. But why do people still make these assumptions that we can’t do anything productive? Why are people surprised when they find someone who doesn’t fit the stereotype at all? “People see me (a Latina) and make assumptions that I'm not as capable as anyone else but I take AP and honors classes, I'm in leadership, I have a job, I'm taking a college class, and I'm a cheerleader,” junior Lizette Juarez said. Just because someone created a stereotype doesn’t mean everyone under that race falls under that category. There shouldn’t be a need to label people. There shouldn’t a need to judge people period. I tend to bite my tongue when I hear racist comments when I go places like, “Of course she’s a maid, she’s hispanic,” or “Of course they live in this side of town they’re hispanic” To get where I am now, is by working hard and taking the opportunities given to me. I went through every obstacle that I could and whenever someone told me that I couldn’t do something, I proved them wrong.
03.05.15 Carmesí 35
Ads
36
Ads 03.05.15
Environment
2014 breaks global heat record
11 trillion gallons of water needed to end the drought
204 CITIES are labeled “high fire risk”
Heat is an eye opener to environmentalists and skeptics alike By Grant Scheiffele, World Co-Editor
E
ven though winter’s chill is nipping at our noses, the blazing heat of the summer past in 2014 left a burning reminder of hot days to come. With the global temperature being 1.03 degrees Fahrenheit higher than 1961-1990s average, the increasing heat is making an ever increasing impact on our community, as well as our world. Main contributors to the warming are greenhouse gases growing evermore present in our atmosphere. The levels of CO2 climbed to 396 parts per million in 2013, the most current date recorded on atmospheric pollution, according to Scientific American. That’s 142% more CO2 pollution in the air than there was at the start of the industrial age in the 1800s. The impact of increasing heat on the world can be detrimental, and as shown in recent studies by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, record colds across the world are history. The last world record cold temperature was broken over 100 years ago in 1909. Global warming could lead to increased drought, ocean levels rising, more frequent wildfires, and more according to the National Resource Defense Council. “It’s crucial at this point, probably top on most peoples’ l i s t
Tahoe City saw only
0.03 inches this January
lowest The Sierra Nevadas holds the
amount of snow pack in its history
would be water and our supply here in Paso,” said Mark DiMaggio, a Paso High Global Environmental Options teacher. DiMaggio shared his view on the heated matter. Water is a necessity in central California, and the rising heat makes it all the more valuable. “Roughly two thirds of the water used by farmers in the central valley is water that comes off the Sierras as melted snow,” DiMaggio continued.“The snow pack is 88% below normal, so unless a bunch of snow lands in the mountains... Then farmers in the central valley are gonna be in a world of hurt. All the science is there, it’s humans adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere...Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, and there’s mountains of evidence that is the driving force behind the warming of our planet,” said Mark DiMaggio. The problem is literally all around us, and stems from our extreme use of fossil and energy. The air quality in Paso Robles is fair, and on a scale of 1-500 with 500 being dangerously polluted, held a 30 avg and poses minimal health risks. However, more populated areas like San Francisco are at an average of 50, and pose more of a health risk to the population, according to Airnow. gov. 2014’s record high was even achieved without an El Niño, a weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean. El Niño occurs irregularly in winter seasons according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration. Warm surface temperatures rise from near Peru and Central America in the Pacific Ocean through weakening of trade winds, allowing the ocean temperatures to increase immensely, which affects much of the western coast on both hemispheres. However this irregular temperature swing could lead to negative effects such as droughts in the Western
“Then farmers in the central valley are gonna be in a world of hurt.” Mark DiMaggio,
Global Environmental Options teacher
coast, fires, and crippling blows to the fishing economy, as El Niño causes fish to migrate.
Mark DiMaggio, GEO
Graphics by Sadie Mae Mace
03.05.15 Environment 37
World
Helping Hands Around the World
How Bearcats find time to improve the lives of others across the globe
CHALK FULL OF FUN (above) : Senior Riley Smith plays with chalk and children in Tijuana, Mexico in 2013. It was one of many mission trips that Smith has embarked on.
by Sadie Mae Mace, Environment Editor
Photo used with permission from Sheldon Smith
V
olunteering comes in a plethora of different packages. Maybe it’s helping at a nursing home, working at an animal shelter, or shelving books at the local library. One form of volunteerism rampant in Paso Robles High School is going on humanitarian missions. Senior Riley Smith volunteers his time across the world, along with about 62.6 million Americans from 2013, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. “I just help to help...It’s just nice knowing that you’re doing something to make one person’s life a little bit better,” senior Riley Smith said. He has embarked on humanitarian trips to inner city Los Angeles and Mexico four times in total, and is planning on working in Costa Rica this summer of 2015. In Los Angeles, Smith gained a realistic view of how life is in the inner cities. He also served breakfast to homeless people, repaired a broken fence for a new pastor, and painted halls in a new apartment building. In Mexico in 2013, he tore down walls and cleaned debris to then help construct a new building, and in 2014, he helped build patios at an orphanage. He volunteers because he likes working for God. For high school students, volunteering in any way, shape, or form is more important than ever. It is proven that colleges are more likely to accept applicants that are wellrounded, according to mycollegeguide.org. In other words, college bound students that volunteer and put it on their application are regarded highly in the eyes of colleges.
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World 03.05.15
Also, volunteering can peak interest in scholarship and grant organizations, all of whom fund students to attend college and keep volunteering. Another positive effect of volunteering in high school and continuing throughout college is the opening of many more open doors for job
“I just help to help...It’s just nice knowing that you’re doing something to make one person’s life a little bit better.” Riley Smith, 12 opportunities once graduated from college. Employers look for team players and independent workers, according to scholarships.com. “Focusing on others is very rewarding that gives a sense of fulfillment, satisfaction. Knowing you are part of what God is doing in an even bigger way with a bigger plan brings exhilaration to your spirit,” said Ron Smith, who is the Outreach and Connections pastor at the Atascadero Bible Church. Smith has traveled and done humanitarian work in
Mexico, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus, India, Czech Republic, Indonesia,Turkey, Hungary, Costa Rica, England, Tanzania, and the Philippines. “Over the years, I’ve seen many teenagers volunteer for many different reasons. “Because everyone of my friends are doing it... Because God has showed me so much love, forgiveness, that I want to pass on His goodness to others by what I do,” Smith said. He encourages every person to be part of a great activity that involve giving back to others. Syria was the largest recipient of humanitarian volunteers in 2012, closely followed by South Sudan and Somalia, according to the Global Humanitarian Assistance. The humanitarian work done in the Middle East, however, is becoming more dangerous by the years. In 2013 alone, over 155 volunteers were killed and 171 volunteers were severely injured, according to The Guardian. Some of the motivations for volunteering is developing connections with other countries, gaining worldly experiences, and receiving community service or volunteer hours for college. The humanitarian work will continue throughout the years, and lives will be made better.
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Settling Athletic Training Queries A brief summary about the athletic training department by Mila Robb-Hiteshew, Fun & Games Co-Editor
PRHS students may only spot student athletic trainers when they are driving their golf cart around the school, but athletes know that the young trainers put their skills to use to aid in a number of painful situations. The students that join the program are interested in in the prevention and care of physical injuries related to sports/exercise. Athletic Trainer, Kelly Franks, instructs them on principals in medicine and medical vocabulary, CPR/ AED/ First Aid skills, recognizing and managing injuries, fitness training, anatomy, and injuries of the body, just to name a few. The program has fixed approximately 2,200 injuries in the 2014-2015 season. Franks uses “the 6 domains of athletic training: injury evaluation, injury assessment, rehabilitation, prevention, immediate care, and scale arena” and has her students go by them as well. Athletic trainers tape up and assist injured varsity Bearcats at home games. They are assigned days/groups where they are either in the athletic training room and/
or certain games. “ I have only had to tape people if Miss Franks asks me to or if it is under precautionary circumstances,” said Syerra Peterson, a junior in athletic training. Taping is based on what Franks specifically instructs for the athlete/injury. She has the students practice in taping labs for the foot and ankle. The skill of taping is used in many of the careers athletic training holds. The most popular fields of work that can be pursued through athletic training are coaching youth, high school, and professional sports, along with hospice care, and therapeutic training. A professional athletic trainer can be paid $35,000 to $75,000 a year. Junior Valentina Castro-Linn joined the class to help others and test her ideals for the class. “I’m [definitely] considering training for one of my college majors. I actually kind of want to do what Ms. Franks is doing,” said Castro-Linn
along with the multiple handson experiences the program has, the class is also going to the Golden State Warriors Sports Medical Conference Kelly Franks in San Francisco early Athletic Training March. Here, they will go over taping techniques, medical information and injuries among several high schools Students of the program have described it as very close and welcoming. “We all work together to keep the program up and running.” said Peterson. The classroom is located on the first floor of the 1000 building and is a sixth period elective that currently has 22 students.
Floral frenzy A behind the scenes look on the Floral Department by Michelle McPherson, Feature Co-Editor Behind the doors of 1132 lies the world of the PRHS floral department. The bearcats who work there not only learn the different types of horticulture, but also get the experience to run the floral shop business with a design/delivery team assisted by the advisor Theresa Clark. “In this class, you learn managment, like how to run a buisness which will definetly help us after high school,” sophmore Bella Birmingham said. The opportunities that floral design offers varies for everyone who enrolls in the class. Not only do you learn how to work with others to complete a project, but students also learn how to communicate effectively with their customers. “Being in floral definitely teaches you a lot about not only the actual designing part but all the aspects of the floral industry,” junior Jessica Bejar said. Once a month, the FFA students in ROP Floral put on their design hats and make monthly arrangements for customers and personally deliver them to businesses, schools and homes that range from Templeton to Paso. The group believes that as a whole, the class is not only exciting and fun, but teaches techniques that other class can’t.
THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES: All four photos are Valentine’s Day flower arrangements. The floral program has been delivering holiday flowers for 15 years. Photos used with permission from Mahryka Miranda
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Congratulations to all the winter sports who made CIF
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PTOWN TAKE DOWN: Senior Lawrence Ray takes down a wrestler from Atascadero at the PAC-8 League tournament on Saturday Feb 14.
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Photos by Brandt Goodman & Maureen Pushea
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN—ONTO THE PODIUM Wrestling makes history by winning league tournament and moving on to CIF by Matt Tyra, Sports Co-Editor
After years of topping the competition and slamming CIF opponents to the mat, the wrestling team fought through one of its toughest stretches in years to win their third consecutive league title this year. For a team that finished undefeated in league two years ago and won the PAC-7 again last year, though, it was an oddity to see the team sitting at 3-3 in league. Wrestling is one of the most dominant sports Paso boasts year in and year out, so for the casual observer, a .500 winning percentage seemed to indicate something had changed. “We all work very hard, we may not be the best and (most) talented team, but we have heart!” said senior Trevor Torres, who holds a personal 26-5 record on the season. Then the team hit the league tournament, taking the PAC-8 by storm and finishing on top for the third year in a row. This sets the team up with a trip back to a familiar CIF platform just one year removed from losing major talent. Last year’s team was largely led by standout seniors Zak Holmes, Jimmy Pacheco, and Zach Wilson; a week before the tournament, their absence was not going unnoticed. “We need to improve a lot at certain weights before we go into the league tournament. Actually, everybody has something to improve on,” said Torres before the tournament. Torres’ words proved to be the mentality the team embraced; after a very strong week of practice, the results manifested themselves, leaving Torres impressed with the drive of the team. “We had a really good week of practice so I guess I had a feeling we might have a good showing! Kids just wanted to prove themselves and make a statement,” Torres said. Junior wrestler Blake Irysh, meanwhile, came away with confirmation of the toughness his teammates have shown all year.
“It reinforced my belief that we are a tough team, especially at tournaments,” said Irysh, whose record sits at 18-6. One of the main reservations about the team before their turnaround was the collective youth of the team. Senior Kameron Morones thought this could be a doubleedged sword, as their inexperience could hinder them but also gave them much room to grow. “We have a lot of freshmen and they don’t have that much experience. We have gotten a lot of experience (throughout the season) and it should really help at the tournament,” said Morones, whose record is 26-6. Now the team has their biggest challenge of the year in front of them: their success at the league tournament matches them up with only more difficult foes in CIF, and they recognize they still have much room to improve. Torres believes he needs to get better at wrestling on his feet and taking shots; Morones thinks he has room to improve in everything, but in particular shot defense and getting off bottom. Irysh recognized a few points the team could work on as a whole. “A lot of kids get turned on bottom and they end up in bad positions. (There are) a couple of ties they need to get more comfortable in, like underhooks,” said Irysh, who believes this team’s work ethic lines up with last year’s despite the loss of some talent. If the tournament was any indication, this is a team ready to take on whoever stands on the mat against them, despite their record. Torres is convinced that the team’s improvement and progression isn’t done, heading into the final stages of competition. “We are one of the better teams there, if everyone wrestles like we did last weekend then we will be just fine,” Torres said.
Senior Trevor Torres won first place in the league tournament on Saturday, Feb 14. He is 26-5 this season overall.
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WINTER SPORTS
by the numbers
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Take a look at the numbers that made up the winter season.
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by Maureen Pushea, Photography Director & Sports Co-Editor
seniors graduating. Seniors Jessica Reeves, Natalie Reeves, Lauren Reed, Lauren Sowerby, Megan Ford, Summer Botts, Chloe Walter, and Jenessa Norte will all
be moving on from Bearcat water polo, leaving seven returners for next year. Senior captain Lauren Reed led the team with 1.4 goals per game, with a season total of 33 goals in 24 games, ending with a 2-6 league record.
th place in league. Ending the season with a 8-3-3 league record, the varsity soccer team traveled to Thousand Oaks HS on Wednesday at 3:00 and lost 2-1. Along with girls soccer, the boys team also has a 22 player roster with 11 seniors, 4 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 3 freshmen.
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th place in league. Finishing the season with a 5-9 record, the Bearcats moved on to the CIF playoffs and fell 67-52 to Cabrillo HS in Lompoc on Wednesday at 7:00.
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players. With the smallest winter team on campus, the girls basketball team has ended the season at 3-11 in league. Junior guard Gwen Lundy lead the team with 8.1 points per game with a total of 178 points in 22 games.
place in league. After finishing the regular season at 3-3 in league, the team won the year-end league tournament, earning them a CIF spot. The team was led by seniors Kameron Morones and Trevor Torres, who finished 26-6 and 26-5, respectively. The Bearcat wrestlers will travel to Hunnington Beach for CIF on Thursday Feb 19.
players. As one of the largest winter teams, the varsity girls soccer team is stacked with three seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and three freshman. Ending the tough season at 1-12-1, the 19 returning players are looking forward to improvement next season.
Photos by Mariela Villa, Brandt Goodman, Carly Cargill, and Gary McLean
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Photo Essay
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LEGACY (below) : Biology and Ag teacher Carli Bradshaw shows her lamb in pee wee showmanship at five years old. Ag teacher Mark Clement has the judge talking to Bradshaw.
BACK Have you ever wondered what your favorite teachers at PRHS looked like as children and high schoolers? We have the photos! Teachers Cara Macomber, Carli Bradshaw, Marcy Goodnow, Aaron Cantrell, and Jeff Mount shared their glory days with us. Watch our website, Facebook, and Instagram for more teacher photos! Photos used with permission by Cara Macomber, Carli Bradshaw, Marcy Goodnow, Aaron Cantrell, and Jeff Mount. —Carly Cargill, Co-Editor-in-Chief
BACK IN THE DAY (above) : Honors and AP English teacher Aaron Cantrell poses for a photo at Vacaville High School. He graduated in 1987 before going to Cal Poly SLO and Stanford University.
DOLLED UP (above) : Physical Education teacher Cara Macomber smiles for a portrait. She graduated from W.F. West High School in 1981. Her high school mascot was the crimson and gray Bearcat.
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THEATER SWEETHEART (above) : Drama and Beginning Dance teacher Marcy Goodnow plays Chava in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Goodnow graduated in 1995 from Del Oro High School.
BABY FACE (above) : Honors English, Journalism, and Graphics teacher Jeff Mount smiles for his senior picture at San Marino High School in 1985. Mount swam and played water polo and went to college at Princeton University.