Crimson Feb. 2012

Crimson Volume 71 / 02.15.11 / Issue 5

The Student Newsmagazine of Paso Robles High School

801 Niblick Rd. Paso Robles, California

Artist of the month: Lindsay Remigio— illustrator, trumpeter, and French hornist >>p. 19

Past, present and future­— where is America headed?

Death of modern chivalry— is it kindness or sexism?

>>p. 22-23

>>p. 15

The pros and cons of high school dating >> p. 12-13

Senior Sean Doran seeks a future with the U.S. Marines.

Crimson

February 15, 2012

Volume 71, Issue 5

health

25 Wrestling with weight Wrestlers face the heavy issue of dropping pounds on their way to the top of the heap.

ON THE COVER: Senior Sean Doran seeks a future with the U.S. Marines.

Learn more about where the class of 2012 is heading on pages 22-23.

Photo illustration by Kim Boswell

Best in show At three months old, senior Meredith Masch attended her first dog show with her parents. The hobby grew into her passion, and that passion, into her career.

feature

Love at first click Online relationships are not only popping up on TV, but on computer screens of Bearcat students and Paso Robles locals.

sci-tech

Under pressure Student atheletes’ bodies are forced to respond in a controlled, practiced way, regardless of emotions and distractions.

sports

online crimsonnews.org Check in for weekly blogs, sports coverage and an updated calendar of events. Click the “Your Idea” tab to submit suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered

02 | Crimson 12.14.11

Paso Robles High School

Photo by Nikianne Ochoa

web

www.crimsonnews.org

Losing the three percent

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Cinderella’s Closet

School district does not have enough money to finish year

by Analía Cabello, Reporter, with contributions from Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief

District budget reserves have been used up, and more pay cuts and layoffs are likely to reemerge as Paso Robles School District formally declared bankruptcy, or “negative certification,” amid losses of state revenues and declining enrollment.

“It’s completely new,” Paso Robles School Board Trustee Katrina Griffin said. “We will be the first school in the entire county [to declare insolvency]. It’s very rare. Out of the entire state of California, I believe there’s only 12 out of all the districts [who have declared it].”

The prospect of negative certification and the measures that may have to be taken in order to dig the district out of insolvency land Paso Robles in unexpected, unfamiliar, and unpleasant territory.

A proposed solution to the budget problem is a three percent pay cut taken retroactively from PRPS employees’ salaries for this year, and a subsequent six percent cut for the years to follow. This cut, which would last until the drained reserves are refilled, has caused wild controversy across the district, hitting close to home for employees who are already living a “humble lifestyle.”

A meeting held Tuesday, Feb. 7 was packed full of teachers protesting salary cuts and demanding a return to the negotiating table. Several gave testimony to the drastic effects a pay reduction would have on their lives, including AP English teacher Sean

Pierce, who held up a $100,000 check made out to his three-yearold daughter, Ella, and asked if he should rip it up.

With the district facing cuts up to $2 million and the possibility of being financially unable to finish out the school year, the current budget must be curtailed as quickly as possible; if the district can’t accomplish this, the only option will be to take a loan from the state, therefore handing all control over to the state as well.

However, “it would change [the school] drastically,” Griffin said.

She continued to elaborate, saying that a state takeover would result in Superintendent Kathleen McNamara losing her job, and the school board losing its authority.

“We would have suggestions,” Griffin added. “And then they could say, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen, this program’s working or not.’ It’s just not a good thing.”

State cutting funds, declining enrollment, and possible confusion concerning the budget are a few theories on why the district is in negative certification.

“You hear many different reasons,” Griffin said, going on to express that insolvency hadn’t been set into motion by any careless act committed by the district. “We had a budget. We were actually told that things were looking good. We had our reserves; we were qualified.”

Paso Robles School Board President Jay Packer hopes to use future February school board meetings to decide on a financial plan and choose a course of action by Mar.1, according to the SLO Tribune.

“We’re going to make every effort to make the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” Packer said. Graphic by Sydney Matteson

To trimester and back again Semester considered for 2012-2013

by Aidan Farrell, World Co- Editor

The trimester schedule has never been closer to being changed: this coming 2012-2013 year, students and teachers face a return to semesters, which would lead to fewer classes, yet more time to cover material.

Students and staff have adapted to the trimester system that they experience every day. The trimester schedule began three years ago, when today’s juniors entered the school as freshmen and today’s seniors experienced a shift from normality as they moved away from the semester system.

Everything that has become routine for PRHS will likely change, as the school board plans for a transition from trimester to semester this coming 2012-2013 school year.

At this point, Principal Randy Nelson is striving for the shift to semester.

“Professionally, I think the semester system would be in the best interest of our students,” said Nelson.

The new semester system next year will give students more time in classes, whereas the trimester system allows for less time in a class, condensing 18 weeks of material into 12 weeks, where teachers meet 140 new students at the beginning of each grading period. The semester system, providing for more class time will at the same time prevent students from taking some of the elective classes they desire. The way the system is looking now, Monday through Wednesday will include six class

periods, each 58 minutes long, with Thursday and Friday both block days—in which half the classes are on Thursday and half on Friday, each 116 minutes long. Though a seven period day has also been put on the table.

With the approach of a new style of learning, many students question. Will this new system be harder to handle? Will the change affect me in a negative way? And, for many soon-to-be seniors, will I have enough credits to graduate?

However, Nelson states that if students pass their courses, they’ll be able to take virtually any class they desire.

As for credits, the requirements to be met by all students will be adjusted to support the new system, just like the amount of credits changed from trimester to semester three years ago.

At this point, a lot is yet to be officially answered and there is still a great deal of information to finalize, but the intentions of Nelson and our school board remain the same. They do what they feel is best the students, Principal and wish to go about the change, as Nelson stated, “with the full intent of Randy Nelson making it the easiest transition possible for the students of PRHS.”

More on the schedule debate: Editorial, page 8 >> www.crimsonnews.org

Paso Robles High School

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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News Budget

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Borrower’s boutique

On-campus resource offers dresses for school dances

by Shanna Dowling, Managing Editor

The exterior of the blue cabinets lining the wall of room 209 may seem rather ordinary to the untrained eye, but blossoming within is a fashion lover’s Narnia.

Hanging inside is an untapped treasure trove of approximately 100 baby blue lace gowns, black and red polka dots, navy silk, and shimmering purples and pinks.

In a neighboring cabinet, rows of black and cream sandals and heels sit on a shelf, waiting to support the feet of an eager dancer.

This is Cinderella’s Closet, a program started in Northern Kentucky in 2007 by a member of the United Methodist Church, who overheard a young girl unable to afford a gently-used gown to attend her prom, and idea of the program took root.

The message was simple, and the effects were enormous.

Since its creation, 2,000 young Kentucky teens have been transformed into princesses for a night, and the program has spread to many other cities and schools, making it all the way to PRHS.

“You see it on their face when the girls find a dress that works,” Para Educator Cheri Hardesty said. “They have a good time and we have a good time.”

After taking on the program this year, English teacher Janet Lewis has seen only two or three uses of the resource for prom during the 2010-2011 school year and five for the Sadie Hawkins Semi-Formal.

“Not everyone is aware that we have it,” Lewis said.

“We get a lot of girls here who wouldn’t be able to dress up nice without it.”

Though the awareness is growing, Lewis hopes that the response will continue to cultivate and that donations will continue to pour in, whether it be dresses no longer needed, or hanging racks that would allow the array of gowns to travel out into the quad to be seen by the student body.

Lewis hopes that in the coming years, the closets will hold not only sparkling gowns for girls, but will “expand to boy’s clothing too.”

Honor band marches in PRHS students were admitted into the annual San Luis Obispo County Honor Band organized by high school band directors within the county. For over four decades, the county Honor Band has fostered musical growth and awareness within the community.

This year, 21 PRHS students were admitted into the 70 member Senior Honor Band, leaving PRHS to be the most represented school in the county thanks to the help of band director, Santino Galvan.

“I try to work with as many students as possible,” Galvan said, who is available for additional help during nutrition, lunch and after school.

High school band students within the county obtained applications from www.slocbda.org detailing the audition held on Jan. 21, which was judged by two judges who critiqued proficiency on eight major scales, a chromatic scale, and sight reading.

On audition day, every school director is present to help make cuts and create the final member list. A score out of 100 on the overall audition determines whether students are to perform Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center.

Guest conductors from Southern California include Richard Watson from El Dorado High School and Rita Watson who will conduct the junior honor band from Bernardo Yarbo Middle School.

—Brielle Silletti, Business Manager

“Spirited Away” inspires fans

SHIMMER AND SHINE: One student thumbs through the dresses in the room 209 cabinets and finds a baby blue gown that catches her eye.

Photo by Megan Rodrigues

Online registration off to slow start

—Angela Lorenzo, World Co-Editor

by Analia Cabello, Reporter

Merely 68 percent of the returning student body has registered for the 2012-2013 school year, leaving an estimated 400 students unaccounted for. Since the week of Jan. 23, when registration opened for next year’s students, only a little over a thousand currently enrolled teens have entered their course requests.

“As of Tuesday afternoon, we had 1,090 current ninth through eleventh grade students registered,” counselor Michael Moore said. “There were approximately 400 students who never turned in a registration form, but many have started to trickle in now. We are currently registering our incoming ninth graders from the middle

04 | Crimson 02.15.12

Originating in the 1900s, anime has grown to be a huge part of modern day pop culture. Lady Gaga found inspiration for her “anime eyes” in her 2009 video of her hit song, Bad Romance, from Japanese anime.

Anime first swept PRHS last year when students and former General Art teacher Mary Legleiter founded the anime club.

Their first fundraiser was held Friday, Jan. 27 in Bearcat Hall, with current advisor and art teacher Kelly Clark. Spirited Away, a Japanese anime film from 2001, was shown for free admission to anybody wanting to come. Direct donations were accepted and snacks were sold.

From 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., 23 students enjoyed the bubbly film.

Anime club members are raising money for travel fees for the three day San Jose FanimeCon, an anime and manga convention, and plan on doing more fundraisers, consisting of more movies and bake sales.

“People dress up in crazy costumes called cosplay and you immerse yourself in culture,” sophomore Jenni Vaughn, the club’s event organizer, said.

Club members are optimistic about the results of the fundraising.

schools.” He added that PRHS should be expecting about 560 freshmen next year.

Through registration, a course’s desirability and size are revealed; therefore, course sizes directly affect course offerings and teacher assignments—including teacher layoffs.

With the district saying it is $2 million short this year, and another $2 million after that, registration is one of the most watched factors right now.

And although the number of incoming students is not a meager one, the County Office is predicting 200 fewer PRHS attendees for next school year.

Paso Robles High School

For more Crimson updates, visit www. crimsonnews.org >Low turn-out for registration >San Miguel Charter School >Dodgeball tournament www.crimsonnews.org

Small-scale scientists

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Poetry Out Loud

Students volunteer at elementary school science fair

by Courtney Thompson, A&E Editor

Little hands were situated on schools asked us this year, I think the metal vandagraph generators it went pretty successfully,” said as elementary students crowded Mark Fairbank, AP Chemistry around and watched in amazement and Physics teacher. and amusement as their classmate’s PRHS students agree. hair slowly rose and stood on end.

“I am doing this to get the kids After letting go, a white spark turned interested in sciences. I remember into a static shock and resonated Macey Wilshusth, 3rd Grader as a kid, I always loved the between the two. experiments, so it feels like I am On Jan. 26, PRHS students, as giving back” said junior Lazouich well as a Cal Poly student and the SLO Astronomy Ford, a student in Fairbank’s Physics class.

Club, arrived at the Kermit King multi-purpose The elementary schoolers seemed to show the room to set up their demonstrations, including the interest intended. bed of nails and walking on glass, and awaited the Third grader Macey Wilshusth said that the elementary students and their wonder-filled eyes. vandagraph generators were her favorite.

PRHS students participated in one science fair “It is just so cool seeing everyone’s hair stand up at Virginia Peterson Elementary in 2011, but were and seeing the shocking lights. I love science and it is recently asked to go to five elementary schools to so much fun seeing all the [experiments] in real life,” demonstrate experiments. The other elementary she said. school science fairs are Virginia Peterson on Feb. Fifth grader Trevor Nerdrum had a different 16, Pat Butler on Feb. 23, and Bauer Speck on Apr. interest.

26. PRHS students were also asked to go to Trinity “I really like walking on the glass because it doesn’t Luthern, but had a scheduling conflict. really hurt like I expected. I thought it would hurt and “These presentations are supposed to get the I would get cut, but it doesn’t and I didn’t,” he said. children excited for science. We participated in the science fair last year at one school and since all the

Q

NAIL BITER: (top) Junior Tim Wassam demonstrates how to lie on a nail-filled board without getting hurt. GAINING MOMENTUM: (bottom left) Two Kermit King students sit on rolling boards and push off from each other to prove a principle of physics. HAIR RAISER: (bottom right) One student touches a vandagraph generator affectionately called “Negative Nancy” and watches as her hair stands up from the static. Photos by Courtney Thompson

Q Q Q QQ Q Q Q Q Q Q Street Talk Jessica Gage, 9

Adrian Rowe, 11

1

“I don’t think we’ll be here. It’s 2012 this year.”

2

“Fast food vendor will be common, [but] I think everyone is going to want to be a sign language translator.”

3

“I don’t spend any time, I’m not on Facebook. About an hour texting, though.”

4

“If a guy said something mean to a girl, another would beat him up and sweep her off her feet.”

1

“Very different. I’m not sure exactly how, but it will be very different than now.”

2

“Science based careers will become more popular.”

3

“A half hour at least. I’m not that into Facebook or Myspace.”

4

www.crimsonnews.org

“Just being polite to people, helping out and just being nice.”

Student

perspectives

on current topics 1 How will the world be different in ten years?

2 Which careers will be the most popular in the future?

3 Approximately how long do spend on social networking sites each night?

4 What does modern day chivalry look like?

Paso Robles High School

Madison Farrar, 12

1

“In ten years I think there’s going to be less paper; all school classes will do things on computers.”

2

“As long as you’re computer savvy, probably office work. If you could build anything, then engineering or construction.”

3

“I’m not on any social networking sites.”

4

“Old chivalry, opening doors, if someone falls not [to] laugh, help them up. If you see someone’s upset, ask if they are okay.”

1

“There will probably be a lot of wars and a lot more problems.”

2

“Computer technology and engineering.”

3

“An hour but it depends.”

Adam Friberg, 10 4

“I’m not sure. Chivalry then is so much different.”

—Angela Lorenzo and Analia Cabello, Reporters Photos by Angela Lorenzo

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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News Science Fair

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SIDEWAYS GLANCE: Principal Randy Nelson catches glimpses of his fellow judges while enjoying the presentations.

WINNER WINNER: Sophomore Ruan de Nysschen performs an inspirational poem by Edgar Albert Guest. de Nysschen was the school winner.

FEELING IT: Sophomore Teryn Steaffens gives a heartfelt recital of his chosen poem to the audience and panel of judges.

POETIC PONDERINGS: Senior Monty Renfrow pauses in his performance to give his captivated listeners a mischievious look.

Photos by Sarah Wilson

Poetry Out Loud brings a crowd

De Nysschen and Smith give first and second place performances

by Sarah Wilson, Feature Co-Editor

The sounds of hushed and anxious voices filled Bearcat Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 7 as 28 students to win,” said De Nysschen, who recited the 24 line poem “It Couldn’t Be Done” by Edgar Albert nervously waited for the clock to tell them it was 3:30 and time to perform. Fast forward one Guest. “I felt accomplished when they called my name for first place. I was not expecting it at all hundred and five minutes: judges announce sophomore Ruan De Nysschen the winner, and because I went against drama kids who know how to dramatize words.” De Nysschen practiced senior Trinity Smith runner-up of the 2012 Poetry Out Loud Contest for PRHS. 30-40 minutes a day for approximately 12 days, and received 158 points for his performance.

Rewind: after a brief opening speech from Psychology teacher Geof Land—the event “I’m taking this whole experience as a turning point in my life because I was always the coordinator—the contest officially began. Standing between a whiteboard proclaiming shy one who didn’t like to talk to and in front of others, but through this experience I’ve “Welcome to Poetry Out Loud Contest,” and approximately 130 watchful eyes, sophomore overcome my shyness,” De Nysschen said.

Stephanie Ellsworth walked confidently to the front of the room to recite the 35 line Smith performed second to last, reciting the 22 line poem, “The Cities Inside Us,” by poem, “Her Head,” by Joan Murray, which took her about one week to memorize.

Alberto Rios.

“It was nerve racking having to go first, but I had to suck it up “As I walked up I was feeling pretty good, a little nervous, but and do my best. It’s hard to describe the way I feel when I perform all around just wanted to get it out of my system. The more I sat I’m taking this whole experience as a turning point in something; the lines come to me without having to really even there watching everyone else, the more nervous I got, but then you my life because I was always the shy one who didn’t think about it. I feel like they’re my own words, and I’m saying them realize it’s one of those times where you just throw your nerves out like to talk to or be in front of others, but through this for the first time, as if I’m truly discovering the meaning behind the the window and do it,” Smith said. experience I’ve overcome my shyness. poem as I recite each line—which is something that only works if Poetry Out Loud first began in a classroom in 2005 with the —Ruan De Nysschen, Sophomore you actually memorize it well enough,” Ellsworth said. patronage of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Contestants were judged in six key areas: physical presence, voice, National Poetry Foundation. Since, it has grown into a national dramatic appropriateness, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, and overall contest in which high school students memorize and recite poetry. The winner and performance. The six judges seated at a long table in the middle of the room were Principal runner-up of the school-wide round move on to regionals to compete against other Randy Nelson, score keeper Aaron Cantrell, Vice Principal Christian Jones, schools in the area. From there, winners compete statewide and nationally for a $20,000 former PRHS AP English teacher Robert Simola, writer Jane Elsden, and accuracy judge prize. Last year, 250,000 high schoolers throughout the nation competed. This is the Angela Logan. English teacher Steven Arnette sat at the front of the room, holding a second year PRHS has participated in Poetry Out Loud, according to Land. PRHS’s last copy of the students’ poems to give hints when their memories escaped them. winner was Kelsey Garman in 2008.

Three forty-five, 4:20, 4:45—the competition continued. Students recited, audience members Land got involved in Poetry Out Loud after attending last year’s county competition. applauded, and judges scribbled away on their score sheets. Twenty-three people down the line, it “[I] was so impressed by the students and the poetry that I decided to help revive PRHS’s was De Nysschen’s turn. participation in the annual event. I really hope it continues because it’s clear that our students have “I was really nervous and worried about forgetting a line, but as I was reciting the poem I became the interest and the talent,” Land said. “All of the participants deserve recognition for spending the more at ease and the poem just started to flow. In some way I wasn’t thinking of anything as I was time to memorize and truly bring poetry alive with their performances. It was a great event, and performing. After finishing I was thinking and hoping that my performance was good enough the judges and I all left feeling extremely inspired by our amazing students!”

“

“

06 | Crimson 02.15.12

Paso Robles High School

www.crimsonnews.org

Republican primary race update The race for Obama’s challenger is on as primaries begin FACT NEXT

News

Semesters

by William Ford, Business Team

With the economy, the wars, and an 8.5 percent unemployment rate, people eagerly await Nov 6: election day. This year, President Barack Obama will be challenged by a Republican candidate, and the result may or may not be a new President. But before the actual elections, the Republican party holds primaries to determine who will be Obama’s challenger, and this year’s race looks close to wrapping up already. With students preparing to vote in this upcoming election, or at least follow the developments closely, this election means a lot with the next President set to lead us through four more years, hopefully into better times.

“I’ve been waiting for years for a chance to vote because I believe it is the best expression of our beliefs as citizens and to voice my beliefs,” said Senior Zach Mondo, adding that he is “very happy to be able to vote come this primary election.”

Junior Blake Campbell-Taylor, an avid follower of politics, weighed in on who he would like to see as President. Though Cambell-Taylor cannot vote this upcoming election, he still finds it important to follow the race.

“My endorsement for the republican primary goes to Rick Santorum, he has a strong record of both social and fiscal conservatism and his life is an American success story,” said Campbell-Taylor, who believes that if Santorum were to secure the nomination he could easily defeat Obama.

Senior Carson Lightfoot, who will be voting this November, has another candidate in mind.

“I’m planning on voting for Mitt Romney. I agree with his health care policy and I believe that Obamacare should be repealed. I also feel that his

tax reductions and his lenient policy towards regulation can help bolster the economy,” said Lightfoot, who is excited to vote but doesn’t feel much more adult.

Mondo, who has been a Romney supporter since 2008, plans on voting for Romney in the primaries.

Then again the conservative just wants a Republican in office, “I just think that the republicans have the right idea of smaller government, less taxes, and keeping us as the worlds economic and civil leader. I think Barack Obama is not supporting that, just growing government, spending more and more, and stifling the free market.”

The Obama re-election campaign has its challenges with only 22 percent of the nation strongly approving of Obama and 39 percent strongly opposed. The President has a huge advantage being an incumbent, of the 31 presidents that have run for re-election, 21 have won, making the percentage of re-election at 67.77 percent.

Campbell-Taylor disagrees, believing that Obama will be easily ousted.

“The destructive socialist policies of [Obama’s] administration have left it supremely vulnerable, now is the time to nominate a true Conservative like Rick Santorum rather than nominating a weak-kneed moderate like John Huntsman, ” said Campbell-Taylor, who hopes a new, conservative government can get the economy back on track.

With this election shaping up to be an exciting fight until the end, only polls will tell the outcome.

Meet the Candidates

Primary Results Jan. 3 Iowa Rick Santorum 24.6% of vote Jan. 10 New Hampshire Mitt Romney 39.3% of vote Jan. 21 South Carolina Newt Gingrich 40.4% of vote Jan. 31 Florida Mitt Romney 46.4% of vote

Mitt Romney

Age: 64

Former Position:

Governor of Massachusetts

Ron Paul

Newt Gingrich

Age: 68

Former Position:

Rep. Speaker of the House

Rick Santorum

Age: 76

Former Position:

U.S. Rep, Texas

Age: 53

Former Position:

U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

Buddy Roemer

Age: 68

Former Position:

Governor of Louisiana

Meet the Dropouts Rick Perry

Michelle Bachman

Jan. 19

Jan. 4 Jan. 16

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. www.crimsonnews.org

Thaddeus McCotter Sep. 22

Dec. 3

Herman Cain Paso Robles High School

Feb. 4 Nevada Mitt Romney 50.1% of vote June 5 California Winner undetermined

Aug. 14

Tim Pawlenty

Photos used with permission by Flickr Creative Commons

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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Editorial Republican

PREVIOUS

Semester success solves trimester turbulence Despite electives struggle, semester will erase rushed feeling

by Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief, and Nicolette Jolicoeur, Managing Editor

Mention the word “trimester” and you’ll get a plethora of reactions ranging from spitting upon the ground to complete apathy to emphatic statements of support. This three-year-old schedule system Should the has clearly been a hot topic since its implementation in 2009, and its schedule adapt to controversial spotlight shines now brighter than ever in the wake semesters over of potential shifts in the system for the 2012-2013 school year. trimesters?

In a Tuesday, Jan. 24th board meeting, the school board granted Yes: 19 administration permission to begin researching schedules to implement next year.

This step forward is a much needed one. Though the trimester has its positive attributes—namely the large number of open course No: 11 spaces—it’s rushed feel in the classroom experience has left students, teachers, and parents feeling short-changed. Though only 48.7 percent of students in a survey of 82 said they would overall prefer a semester system, 56.1 percent said they felt they would learn more effectively with semesters. It is this fact that has led Principal Randy Nelson to research a possible return to this schedule, which he feels will be in students’ best interest overall.

“You’re never going to please everybody,” Nelson said, regarding the possibility of an uproar against the transition similar to the trimester controversy. “So ultimately I have to focus on the students, and make sure they have the best opportunity to learn and acquire the basic skills they need to be successful citizens.”

Nelson believes that at this point, semesters are, in fact, the most effective option, and many students fully support this statement. The schedule won’t skimp out on the 64,000 instructional minutes required by the state or the approximately 40 student class maximum, but it will redistribute resources like time and teachers to make the most efficient and effective impact on PRHS education.

“I feel like semesters are better for the student and the teacher,” sophomore Kai Bedell said, who will have spent an equal amount of trimester years and semester years in his high school career if the semester returns. “I'd rather have more time to learn, and have the teachers able to do more hands-on than more electives.”

This year’s graduating class and veteran teachers are the only ones who know the feeling of walking onto campus on Aug. 25, 2008 and having 18 weeks to learn, instead of 12. But on Aug. 20, 2012 classes 2013-2016 may be able to experience this feeling also, and it’s one that will positively

Crimson Staff votes:

C

newsmagazine Student Journalism at Paso Robles High School

Kathryn Wingfield

Megan

Co-Editor-in-Chief Rodrigues In-Depth Co-Editor Co-Editor-in-Chief Web Team Center Co-Editor

Emily Cone

Managing Editor Photography Photo Essay Editor

Illustration by Jason Moscato

change the nature of their education one day at a time.

“The trimester system has its advantages, like more classes that are able to be taken, but the problem is the short amount of time it gives to learn a year’s worth of material,” said senior Gabby Corona, embodying the debate deeply rooted in the schedule question.

Some students will have to face the reality of having three fewer electives throughout the year; a depressing fact that may leave unmotivated students with even less desire to come to school. With the implementation of a policy requiring students who score below “basic” on the CST to take remedial courses in math and English, and those who read two grade levels below standard to participate in programs such as Read 180, the less-credits-available semester system gives little to no room for classes taken by choice.

However, Nelson assures skeptics that credits will be adjusted to accommodate students’ available course spaces.

“It is a concern,” Nelson said, hopeful that the new system will be decided on in time for implementation next year. “But students should know that if you come to school fully intent to do your best and not fail any classes, you’ll be able to take whatever classes you want to.”

The semester schedule proposes a sly trade-off: more classes (most likely six versus trimester’s five) that take a year to complete in place of more rushed classes that can be completed in two-thirds of a year. While students may have to sacrifice some electives to obtain a more relaxed and hands-on teaching schedule, the classroom experience will be more beneficial and educational for all involved.

Shanna Dowling Managing Editor Print News Editor

Amanda Hutchinson

Managing Editor Web Center Co-Editor

Nicolette Jolicoeur Managing Editor Staff Feature Co-Editor

Jeff Mount Advisor

Kim Boswell

Dakota Cleland

William Ford

Angela Lorenzo

Ryan Morrison

Josh Orcutt

Brielle Silletti

Sara Bourgault

Clarisse Dart

Ken Gurney

Megan Luth

Kelly Munns

Maria Petiy

Courtney Thompson

Analia Cabello

Nicola Davaz

Daniel Hipp

Sydney Matteson

Olivia Musial

Lindsay Reed

Summer Volle

Laura Callahan

Aidan Farrell

Jonathan Kisch

Carly McCall

Nikianne Ochoa

Sinéad Schouten

Sarah Wilson

Front Page Editor

Health Co-Editor

Reporter

Health Co-Editor

Reporter

Sci-Tech Co-Editor

Reporter

World Co-Editor

08 | Crimson 02.15.12

Business Team

Reporter

Sci-Tech Co-Editor

Opinion Editor

World Co-Editor

Food Editor

Graphic Designer

Photographer

Graphic Designer

Editorial Editor

In-Depth Co-Editor

Sci-Tech Co-Editor

Sports Co-Editor

Reporter

Reporter

Sports Co-Editor

Paso Robles High School

Business Team

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Blind Date Co-Editor

Feature Co-Editor

Crimson is an independently funded, monthly publication of the journalism class at Paso Robles High School. We publish monthly newsmagazines free to students and teachers. Subscriptions are available for US mail delivery for $18.

Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff and do not necessarily reflect the views of Paso Robles High School, its faculty, administration, or students.

Crimson is an open forum for the exchange of ideas. We welcome feedback in form of letters or e-mails. Letters must be signed but names can be withheld upon request. All stories, graphics, typesetting, and layouts are completed by Paso Robles High School students. The staff actively pursues advertisement accounts but reserves the right to refuse those deemed overly controversial or aimed at illegal behavior. Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service. Crimson is designed using Adobe In-Design and Photoshop and prints with Atascadero News Co. PRHS • 801 Niblick Rd., Paso Robles, CA 93446 www.crimsonnews.org prhsjournalism@pasoschools.org (805) 237-3315 ext. 5601

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Cowgirl Culture

Agility, acrobats, and adrenaline

FLYING HIGH: Junior Brandon Goddard performs a vault at the Centennial Gymnasium. Goddard works as a teacher after discovering a flier for the class three years ago. Photos by Emily Cone

Junior shares his passion for parkour at YMCA

by Laura Callahan, Health Co-Editor

Spiderman’s got nothing on Parkour practitioner and junior Brandon Goddard. Parkour, or got to three steps on the wall made me feel incredibly happy and I will never forget that class.

Free Running, does not require super-spidey senses or webs to launch one’s self from one building As a result, that has been the first thing I teach new students ever since, the shock and joy coupled to another. Instead, it requires using tricks and acrobatics such as various vaults, wall runs, and with an immense sense of pride and accomplishment are always clear when a student achieves multiple jumps to add flair to movement in order to achieve the main goal of “[moving] through their first 3-step wall run and I love it every time,” said Goddard, who teaches approximately 25 to the environment as quickly, smoothly, and efficiently as possible,” according to Goddard.

35 students a week with a developed sense of balance between encouragement and tough love in Parkour is known as the art of urban movement and originated in France in 1980; Free order to make the sport as safe as possible for inexperienced traceurs.

Running is the American take on the movement. Free Running provides more style to the graceful “Brandon has developed a keen eye for recognizing subtle movements in the midst of quick movement of Parkour through the use of acrobatics. actions, which along with his detailed understanding of the movements and patience Goddard happened upon a flyer at Centennial for a Free Running class three years ago. with students make for a very well rounded coach,” said Orion Dow, Goddard’s coach.

As a second degree black belt in Shorin Ryu Shorin Kan and with 12 years of experience Parkour and Free Running offer many risks to traceurs. For every 1000 hours of training in martial arts, Goddard signed up for the class thinking it fit his interests perfectly. He time, two injuries are likely to occur, according to www.americanparkour.com. Goddard was the only student in the newly offered class and “from day one knew [he] loved the has experienced injury due to extreme tricks such as gainered-frontflips (front flips while sport and set out to expand [his] knowledge and begin what [he] soon realized was a traveling backward). While performing the trick he kneed himself in the face, causing lifelong experience.” him to land on his forehead while his body snapped over the front With an intense passion Goddard began spending 15-20 hours and then back. After the injury he had to visit a chiropractor six a week training in the gym and two to three hours practicing times within two weeks, and then once a day for the next week in outdoors. In order to get tricks right, practitioners can’t let failure order to realign his neck without his spine compressing. Goddard keep them from trying a trick repeatedly. As a Traceur, Goddard’s sported a swollen lip for two weeks after, but “considering how Brandon Goddard, 11 key motto to keep motivated is “practice, practice, practice.” It hard [he] plays and how often, [he] comes out relatively clean.” takes approximately 100 attempts to begin landing an acrobatic trick, 1,000 attempts to Despite the various injuries Goddard has experienced, the overall satisfaction he land it frequently, and 10,000 attempts to master the trick, according to Goddard. Soon attains from nailing a wall flip with a full (run up a wall, perform a front flip with a full Goddard achieved what many traceurs refer to as “Parkour Vision.”

360 twist facing the wall) “is worth every bit.”

“When you begin to take your training seriously you get what many refer to as ‘Parkour “For the most part though when I’m free running I just feel confident. I feel great.

Vision,’ and you never see anything the same way. It changes everything, really, and this Endorphins and adrenaline start pumping relatively quickly and you just feel this applies to all aspects of your life: [increased] confidence, begin to orient yourself in space, amazing sense of being free. All the stress just flows out and you really just let your body and realize that there are really no obstacles, only opportunities,” said Goddard, who progressed do what you have trained it to do. I enjoy it because it’s incredibly fun and challenging. I love the at Parkour at an impressive rate. The head coach at the YMCA offered Goddard an assistant coach adrenaline, the elation, and the freedom,” said Goddard. position, and five months after that Goddard was promoted to a full time Parkour coach at the Goddard has since co-founded a free running team called “Slorunner Free Running” that has YMCA. three primary members while a couple of members rotate. They meet up approximately twice a “I loved the art and the lifestyle so when I was presented [the] opportunity to teach it to others I week at Centennial to train; otherwise they train on their own. immediately said yes. My first class I taught cemented it forever. I had all new students and the first With hopes of gaining a sponsorship that would entail doing videos, stunt work, and commercials thing I taught them was how to run horizontally on a wall. The pure joy on their faces when they in order to benefit financially from Parkour, Goddard will run, jump, and flip into his future.

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You never see anything the same way.

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Feature Parkour

PREVIOUS

Kara Kester

Carly Cargill

Cowgirl Culture

Anna Daou

Sage Massey

Freshman girls are rodeo stars

by Nicolette Jolicoeur, Managing Editor, with contributions from Sara Bourgault, Health Co-Editor

From left to right: Kara Kester, Carly Cargill, Sage Massey, and Anna Daou. Photos by Nikianne Ochoa and used with

permission of Kara Kester, Carly Cargill, Sage Massey, and Anna Daou

It’s urban hearsay that there is always one girl in every grade who is obsessed with horses. But the freshman class at PRHS has four different girls who have a love of the cowgirl culture.

Carly Cargill, Kara Kester, Anna Daou, and Sage Massey live and breathe horses. Seven days a week, almost every day of the year, their routine consists of horse related activites such as saddling up, walking, trotting, loping, training for an event, practice runs, a cool down and unsaddling.

“Rodeo is the only sport I do, so all the time I have goes towards practicing which is about two hours almost every day and about four on the weekends,” Massey said, who competes barrel racing, pole bending, team roping, breakaway roping, goat tying, and cutting.

But it’s not just all work and no reward for these cowgirls. At rodeos, winners are given everything from ribbons to money. Daou has received over 30 ribbons, free horse supplies and apparel, and over $430 dollars.

One might think that it’s just the rider that does all the work. But these freshmen attest that it’s the people behind the scenes who make it work: their parents and/or trainers have to pay the bills and train the horse and the rider.

(Their championship horses might have something to do with it, too).

FOLLOW THE PATTERN: The Kara Kester was 2010 Creston Class Junior Rodeo queen, which is when barrel racing competition pattern is demonstrated above. In a smaller pen, girls who are involved in the Creston community, participate in a competition times can be as fast as 12 seconds. of a combination of a score from a judge and ticket sales.“I have to say a big However, in a larger pen times can thank you to my family, especially my parents who still have to drive me be around 18 seconds, according to everywhere with a truck and trailer. Being in rodeo, you’re in a family itself. wildwoodranch.com.

Graphic illustration by Sydney Matteson I have met very few people that will say no if you ask them to teach or help you,” said Kester, who also thanks her counselor Michael Moore for being so supportive of her.

Carly Cargill has upcoming events in places like King City on Feb. 1012 and Clovis on Mar. second through fourth, and has won titles like 2011

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Paso Robles High School

All Around Cowgirl for the West Coast Junior Rodeo Association and 2011 Champion Barrel Racer. “Since rodeo isn't a school sponsored sport, [the people who participate in rodeo] don’t get the benefits like other athletes. We don't get excused absences when we have rodeos or anything like that. Rodeo is much more than showing up for practice at a certain time. It's paying for feed, watering, tack, supplements, gas, and all the other things. Because of all this, I don't have time to go out with my friends whenever I feel like it, or go shopping when I'm feeling needy. It's also hard to play different sports because of it. But, it definitely outweighs the negatives,” said Cargill, who competes on her quarter horse Echo.

“At times it is really frustrating and school is a pain, but just like any other sport, you have to have good grades to be able to compete, so I try to do my best in all my classes,” Kester said who obtained a 4.0 GPA in her first trimester of high school.

But when it comes down to it, all the practice, miles drove and loss of sleep, is worth for the senastion of riding.

Daou’s passion, along with all the other riders, is one that is strong and boundless.

“When I get ready to go into the arena and we’re just standing by the gate, I’m holding my reins tight and my legs tense up. I clear my head and just think ‘Okay, my trainer told me to sit up and GO, to sit deep around my barrels, and use my legs.’ As I sit there, I can feel [my horse] Tex's heart beat. Both of our hearts are beating fast and hard. When I finally get into the arena and [Tex] stops so I can get lined up, the second I move my leg just a little bit, its like I hit the ‘go’ button on a rocket! Your hair flies backwards, you’re kicking and he’s just really hauling butt. When you turn and you sit down around a barrel or pole [it] is the most calming part if every run… The way I feel while running an event is a feeling that makes my heart flutter, and I always get a smile on my face.” www.crimsonnews.org

Best in show

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Pro-Single

Ribbon-winning senior leads terriers to hound nobility

by Kim Boswell, Front Page Editor

In the 2012 yearbook, flipping through the crisp pages this June, you will find a picture of grinning senior Meredith Masch in a white blouse with a matching white terrier. Underneath will be the simple and unauthored quote: “My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.”

You have to wonder whether her dog knows she is soon to be a veterinary science major at Washington State University, 1,061 miles away. Quite a long dog walk. But it is certain her dog knows she is a champion dog showman.

Early Beginnings

At three months old, Masch attended her first dog show with her parents. Six years later, in June of 2000, she participated in her first dog show, the Great Western Terrier Show in Long Beach. Though Haley, the dog she showed that day, was lying in the grass and she sneaked glances at the other showmen for tips, and soon Masch received fourth place. It was then that her love for the droopy eyes and wet noses of canines was born.

This love grew to a passion and this passion, to a career.

Canine Competition

On the warm morning of Sat, January 14, Masch and her mother, Susan Masch, stood near a towering oak tree in the downtown Paso Robles sun. The breeze was cool and the grass fading, but their spirits were high.

Jack, Masch’s eight year-old, 18 pound West Highland White Terrier (who, Masch said, enjoys watching television) sat awaiting his master’s command. Susan, who had just returned from a show herself and received fourth place in the “Bred by Exhibitor” competition at the Palm Springs Kennel Club & Inland Empire Terrier Club shows at Indio (one of 3,600 entries), cheerily had Masch lead Jack in turns, stack him in a squared position, jumps, and runs.

These were the antics born from hours of training Jack for hundreds of competitions, according to Susan.

Masch spends 560 minutes a month preparing Jack for his next show. She hand-strips his brittle white coat, prepares his homemade meals of rice, vegetables and meat, and trains him to be obedient in the ring.

“I like to say I’m a dog whisperer, but it’s probably not true,” said a chuckling Masch, who has been showing dogs for 11 years.

Robert and Susan Masch have shown and bred a pedigree of “Westies” since April of 1990, before the birth of their daughter in April of 1994.

With $20 a month in food, $70 for every show suit, a $50 dollar average entrance fee for every show, and countless vet bills, showing is not only a hobby for Masch, but a lifestyle.

“It’s something I get to do with my best friend every day,” said Masch, baiting Jack along toward a jump with dried tuna treats.

But showing Jack is no simple task.

“The role of a handler is similar to that of a jockey who rides a horse around the track and, hopefully, into the winner’s circle,” said the American Kennel Club, one of the leading dog showing competition organizations, maintaining approximately 15,000 shows per year.

Hound Heritage

Terriers such as Jack were originally bred to rid property of vermin such as rats, but Jack has now won many competitions and has only attacked furry imitations of rats.

Some of the silver, purple, and gold-edged ribbons adorning the Maschs’ grooming shed include Best Showman at the 2009 California Mid-State Fair, High-in-Trial at the Mid-State Fair in 2010, and in April of 2011 they received both High-in-Trial and Best Showman at the Canyon Country 4-H Dog Show.

Since her childhood, Masch has helped her parents whelp puppies, administer shots, and keep track of the obedience and health of the dogs- skills she will use in her future.

Masch was accepted to her dream school, Washington State University in December of 2011, and dreams of an animal science pre-medicine major so that she will become an equine and cattle veterinarian on the Central Coast.

Though Masch will be 19 hours from home, her “woman’s best friend” will be close to her heart . After at least four years of college, she will hopefully open her own practice, walking Jack leash-in-hand.

And she will always be able to flip through her senior yearbook and see him smiling back at her. www.crimsonnews.org

PUPPY LOVE: Masch teaches her eightyear-old terrier, Jack, to jump over hurdles.

Masch has been showing dogs for 11 years.

Paso Robles High School

Photos by Kim Boswell

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Opinion PREVIOUS

Meredith Masch

Saving room in your heart for you Personal growth trumps that of infatuation

by Emily Grace Cone, Managing Editor

In a sea of high school stresses, a significant other should not be surfacing on the top of your “To-Do” list.

But many are caught by the undertow that is high school dating: believing, falsely, that their happiness and mental contentment somehow relates to their relationship status on Facebook. It should not be so.

This is not an attack on relationships, or the people in them. Many high school romances often lead to better understanding of and communication with the other sex, a valuable tool to have. However, one relationship should come before all others— the one you have with yourself.

“One of the key developmental tasks of adolescence is forming a sense of identity.

Young people are in the process of refining their personal values and determining future goals,” actforyouth.net claims. “Many youth in middle to late adolescence report spending more time with their romantic partner than with friends and family.”

Although we may think that the purest form of happiness can only manifest itself in “true love” with someone else, knowing who you are and what your passion in life is is much more important and beneficial.

“I’m not completely against high school relationships. I just feel that these are the years we are supposed to be figuring out who we are, what makes us happy. And when we are in a relationship, especially as underclassmen, we end up leaving high school not knowing what we as an individual wanted or where we are going in this world. I think love is beautiful, but first I personally believe that we have to love the individual we are,” said senior Noel Aschenbrener, who has abstained from dating in high school in fear of disrupting her academic and personal success.

Similarly, senior Andrew Chang has deemed relationships lowest on his priority list.

“Intimate relationships can be good if they lead to optimistic thinking in the person’s life, but they can also go the other way. I didn’t want to take that chance,” said Chang, who has a 4.4 GPA and will have taken 11 Advanced Placement tests by the end of his high school career. “And no matter what, a good relationship takes time, something that I definitely can’t afford.”

This is high school. It is a time for growing, but also a time to find out who you are, and how to properly love and care for yourself. If you spend all your energy on being the most attractive or the most desired being on campus, it is very likely that you’ll lose yourself in the process.

A person’s individuality is often what attracts a mate. And not having the opportunity to develop your own identity is not only unhealthy, but it is destructive towards your future adult relationships.

Prioritizing is a pivotal quality of maturing, and learning how to properly manage your relationships is an invaluable tool to have. It is the acquisition of such habits that leads to things like happy, life-long marriages and functioning romantic kinships.

Who doesn’t desire that?

Sacrificing your potential for personal growth for a high school relationship is not always an equal trade-off. If your relationship isn’t improving your character, it probably isn’t worth keeping.

Dating is not an evil entity in and of itself, but use caution when entering a relationship. Before diving head-first into a commitment, be sure you know, and love, who you are where you are headed.

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Paso Robles High School

STUDY LOVE: Senior Andrew Chang shows his passion for his studies in various subjects. Chang has a 4.4 G.P.A. Photo by Emily Cone www.crimsonnews.org

Ah, to be young and in love

Opinion NEXT

Moonstone Beach

Teen relationships offer invaluable experiences and growth

by Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief

YOUNG LOVE: Senior couple Kelsey Milbury and Alec Flynn show there affection for one another. They have been dating since Dec. 7, 2010. Photo by Megan Rodrigues

High school is more than just a period idolized by romantic comedy writers; it’s a beautifully unique time and place to experience the joys of being young. It’s a time full of opportunities to discover a talent, join a movement, conquer the social jungle, and, most importantly, try your hand at the infamous, immortal game of love.

Since middle school, students have been indoctrinated by the belief that hormones, evil and conniving, rule over their bodies and minds. But in the wonderful world of dating, they’re the keys to teens’ romantic success. Babytoteens.com states that “love hor­mones in teenagers can be syn­ony­mously called teenage hor­ mones as the two are almost insep­a­ra­ble.”

Although high school students face the curse of feeling heartbreak with a burning intensity, the famously emotional demographic is also blessed with the ability to feel love in a way no other age group quite can. Every little action or memory leaves an impression larger than life, and while this can and does lead to emotional scarring, it allows for invaluable memories to be made and teaches lessons that simply cannot be learned at any other time of life.

Yes, teen dating is undoubtedly a rollercoaster. But as romantic thrill seekers everywhere will agree, it’s a ride not to be missed.

Seniors Alec Flynn and Kelsey Milbury opted to take the risk Dec. 7, 2010, and have no regrets.

“My parents met at such a young age so it only encouraged me to go for a serious relationship once I found my girlfriend,” Flynn said, who considers himself an 8 out of 10 on the romantic scale.

“I'm happy l can have such a strong relationship with her even as a teenager.”

Milbury agreed, adding that she is “glad [she] found some one to share [her] high school experience with and have such a deep

connection with.”

These lovebirds aren’t the only ones who’ve experienced more heartthrob than heartache. In a survey of 54 students, 52 percent said their experiences with high school dating have been mostly positive, and 76 percent said they have grown through their dating ventures.

“My experience being in a relationship has so far been happy and very memorable. Some of the memories I will remember the most later in life have come from me being in a relationship,” sophomore Devin Corea said.

There’s something to be said not only for learning the skills of working through conflicts and speaking up for your needs, but also for gaining the ability to say you have survived being hurt in the end. Heartbreak is a right of passage; after all, who would Taylor Swift be without those fiery break-up lyrics fueling her career? Her album, Speak Now, which contains seven break-up songs, sold over a million copies in the first week, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Even freshmen have already begun the journey and are learning lessons along the way.

“There’s always been that girl that makes your stomach feel like you just did a hundred sit-ups, and you start to sweat like its hell week during the summer the second you see her,” stated an anonymous infatuated freshman. “The day she goes out with me pigs are going to fly… I’m completely lost on this whole ‘romantic’ thing.”

Picture that dashing gentleman as a bachelor out in the “real world,” still clueless on what romance really means. But if he plays his cards right and does win that lucky lady over, he could have the chance to try his hand at love, and, despite a guaranteed few mistakes, ultimately master “the whole ‘romantic’ thing”

after all.

Love shouldn’t be something desperately sought after for the sake of dating alone, but it shouldn’t be run away from either. If teens find their heart fluttering at the mention of a name or feel their hands start to sweat when that special somebody walks by, they certainly shouldn’t deny it. Wipe those sweaty hands off and reach one out; you won’t regret it.

Graphic illustration by Sydney Matteson

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In-Depth

Jewels of the Central Coast Pro-couple

PREVIOUS

Moonstone Beach

by Megan Rodrigues, Co- Editor in Chief and Amanda Hutchinson, Managing Editor

Of California’s 840 miles of shoreline, approximately 40 percent of the coastline is known as the Central Coast. Of these 350 miles, one very special mile is dedicated to the billions of polished stones collectively known as Moonstone Beach.

Located in Cambria, 30 miles from Paso Robles, Moonstone Beach is a tourist attraction, featuring restaurants and hotels along the whole of Moonstone Beach Drive. Opposite the line of fine dining and inns, there is a developed beach side boardwalk extending the whole length of the Moonstone property.

And this hidden mile of Central Coast coastline hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2009, Moonstone Beach was listed by the readers of Sunset Magazine as the ninth best beach on the West coast.

The boardwalk provides an opportunity for beach goers to get their daily exercise or take a romantic stroll while enjoying the view of the dark gray pebbles, smoothed by the tossing and white foaming waves as they crash onto the undersized beach. Visitors can access the hidden beach located below the 20-foot windswept bluff by the stairways provided, according to cambriainns.com Along with the quaint hometown peace that fills

the Cambria air, Moonstone Beach is a quiet, intimate piece of the Central Coast that lets visitors sit back and enjoy the dazzling view of the Pacific Ocean.

During the summer of 2011, senior Kalyn Taborski visited the picturesque Moonstone Beach with her family.

“Moonstone Beach is a gorgeous family beach.

You can go on a run or jog along the shore, read or picnic with the beautiful scenery or just simply look for moonstones,” she said, also describing the beach as quiet and peaceful.

A recurring visitor to Moonstone, junior Travis Broady also enjoyed what the beach has to offer. “[It is] one of the most beautiful beaches on the coast. I would go back as soon as possible,” he said.

The beach is known to be a Central Coast gem, with breathtaking views and opportunity due to the free admission, parking, and experience.

Moonstone Beach is a quiet, romantic piece of the beautiful Central Coast. You’ll fall in love with the beach, or who knows, maybe you’ll fall in love with someone there.

ach spend a at Moonstone be oothed stones le up co A : D N e sm E SA A WALK IN TH y taking pictures and collecting th gues and Amanda Hutchinson romantic, lazy da es of Moonstone. Photos by Megan Rodri or that line thetiosh son n by Sydney Matte Graphic illustra

BLOWI the beac N’ IN THE WIN are one oh, adding to the a D: Floral blosso m f the add e itional besthetic of the loc s decorate the are a auties fo und at M l hot spot. Seaso a around nal flowe oonstone rs .

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Paso Robles High School

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Calendar

Gender games Chivalry suffers sexist allegations

by Shanna Dowling, Managing Editor and Ken Gurney, Reporter

Common acts that the Psychology of Women Quarterly claim to be sexist Against Women: 1. Offering to help a woman carry shopping bags (implies she’s weak) 2. Insisting on driving her home (implies she can’t look after her own safety) 3. Assuming she wants help buying a laptop (implies she’s clueless with technology) 4. Complimenting a woman on her cooking (reinforces the idea that cooking is a woman’s job) Against Men: 1. Expecting a man to take out the garbage (implies it’s a man’s job) 2. Leaving car maintenance, such as oil changes, for a man to do (see above) 3. Ridiculing how a man dresses a child (implies a woman’s color coordination is superior) 4. Judging a man for being “cheap” when he wants to share the dinner bill (reinforces the idea that men should be earners) --The Globe and Mail

It is not uncommon on campus to witness a girl walking up to a door, grabbing the handle, and opening it unassisted and it is not uncommon to see lines and lines of male students crossing a threshold without the consideration of keeping the door ajar. In fact, it has become the routine.

But in past decades, this behavior would have been unheard of.

Chivalry began in the middle ages as a knightly code of conduct, but endured to become an unspoken moral code of male behavior.

However, it is more than knights in shining armor and a held door or two—it’s a system of respect and courtesy that seems to be ceasing to exist, gender aside.

As female liberties have grown to be relatively equal to that of their male counterparts, many females refuse the “special treatment” offered to them by carried books or pulled out chairs, and feel that chivalry is sexist, and threatening to their status as equal human beings.

“I’ve always thought that [it was sexist].

It’s polite, but it makes the girl seem weaker,” freshman Erik Hertler said.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some find it unfair that the expectation to uphold chivalrous values rests on the shoulders of the male population.

“We’re always expected to be chivalrous, so yeah I’d say it is [sexist],” junior Oscar Nevarrez said.

Not everyone falls for this modern interpretation, however. “[Chivalry is] rules of behavior that are not rooted in sexism, but in a belief that politeness is the oil that helps the wheels of society turn just that little bit more smoothly,” Harry Wallop said in the Telegraph newspaper in June 2011.

It takes no more than ten seconds to open a door for an approaching friend or stranger, and

it takes even less energy to pull out a chair or offer up a jacket when the weather turns frigid, though researchers from the feminist Society for the Psychology of Women in Washington D.C. have denounced t as “benevolent sexism,” stating that many of the acts males find to be polite, are actually sexist—helping women buy electronics, holding the door open, taking the driver’s seat, picking up the tab.

For most, however, the act of gallantry is not a calculated scheme to mark women as the weaker sex, but merely a custom that has been ingrained into the way they behave.

“Sometimes I don’t even think about it. I just hold the door open and wait until the girl behind me is in. I don’t even know who she is besides the fact that she’s in my class,” grade Matt Roberson said, one of many who carries out chivalrous acts without as much as a second thought.

So, what do girls really think about opened doors and occasional special treatment?

“We can pay our own way and put on our coats just fine by ourselves, thank you very much — but sometimes we’re still suckers for a dash of old-fashioned chivalry,” said Diana Vilibert in a January 2010 article for MSN Lifestyle, and Bearcats agree.

“It’s good! They should do that more!”senior Benacir Serrato said.

Nineteen out of 22 females voted against chivalry being sexist, evidence that cobwebs aren’t growing over courtliness just yet—some still appreciate the romantic acts of a male helping a female simply for the sake of being a gentleman.

“Too many girls are ‘feminists.’ If someone is going to help you, then let them,” one student said.

While the feminist frontier condemns chivalry as a threat to the progress made towards gender equality, the vast majority is just interested in turning the wheels of society a little more smoothly and allowing the torch of tradition to shine through modern times.

Illustration by Shanna Dowling

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Paso Robles High School

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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A&E Chivalry

PREVIOUS

A key to adventure Crimson gets ‘extremely loud and incredibly close’ to this

by Dakota Cleland, Reporter

When I first saw the trailer for “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” a couple of months ago, I thought it would be an adorable, innocent, feel-good movie. And I was partially correct. But boy, was I wrong for the most part. While one of the primary presences is the dark shadow of 9/11, this movie isn’t about that. Rather it is about one boy’s mission to keep his late father’s memory in his own. It’s a good concept, but it tells it in a way that it shouldn’t have been told.

The main character of this movie is 11-year-old Oskar Schell (played by newcomer Thomas Horn), who lost his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) when one of the Twin Towers collapsed. When his father was alive, he and Oskar would go on scavenger hunts in an effort to make Oskar a kid who was, for all intents and purposes, an “amateur explorer.” After his father’s death, Oskar becomes very distant from his mother (Sandra Bullock) and holds the memory of Thomas close to him. Oskar says that if the sun were

to explode, the earth would still feel its warmth for another eight minutes. Oskar wants to keep his eight minutes with his father going for as long as possible.

So when a year after his father’s death, Oskar finds an envelope entitled “Black” containing a key in his father’s closet, many questions arise in his mind. Using his intuitive mind, Oskar realizes that since the word “Black” was written on the envelope with a capital B, it means the surname rather than the color. In order to find where the key fits, Oskar makes it his mission to go visit all 472 people in New York City whose last name is Black to see if they knew his father, and if they have anything to do with the key. Sounds crazy, right? He does it all on foot (he’s paranoid about public transportation) with a tambourine (to ease his anxiety) and an elderly man who refuses to speak even though he isn’t mute (played by the best actor in this film by a country mile, Max von Sydow).

From a filmmaking standpoint, this film is very well made.

The film score and the cinematography are top notch. Everyone is well casted, and no one acts badly in this movie at all.

But with this movie, I smell grade-A Oscar bait. Let me explain my reasoning for this judgment.

As I said earlier, this movie has a novel concept. And on paper, it proved to be good, with the original book version becoming a

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New York Times Bestseller back when it was released as a book in 2005. But I believe this movie shouldn’t have been made. I can see how a lot of people could really love this movie, and to be honest, it had its moments. But at the same time, I can see how a lot of people could be extremely offended by it. There had to have been a better way to explain this story without relegating 9/11 to a plot device. This movie gets the majority of its drama off of this horrific tragedy. You can’t just make light of a tragedy like this and not disrespect all of the people who died and had to suffer through something as horrible as 9/11. This movie nearly tore my heart out, as I cried three times. But in retrospect, I feel dirty for shedding tears at this movie. I think that this movie, with such tools as the writer of Forrest Gump penning this flick and the 9/11 subject matter, was made just to get an Oscar and more DVD sales.

And guess what? “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” got nominated for Best Picture. Subject matter aside, the whole plot seems convoluted and absurd as a whole. Going all over New York City to find where a lone key goes to? Yeah, that fits.

This wasn’t a bad movie by any means, but it has too much going against it to be classified as good. Because of this, I believe the movie rates three out of five stars.

Art Exhibit "The Dancing Brush"

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Howlin' Rain Concert

Paso Robles High School

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Movies that speak to the heart

A&E NEXT

Auditions

Single? It’s Complicated? In a relationship? Just friends?

No matter what your relationship status is, a simple and inexpensive way to spend your Valentine’s Day is to cuddle up with a blanket, your significant other, friends , or family , and any one of these movies! Crimson recommends the top romantic movies to stir up the love that’s in the air.

The Perfect movie for the adventurous couple Date Night

OVERALL BEST CHOICE Crazy Stupid Love Valentine’s Day

#1

The Classic couple

Filling hearts with song

The Notebook

The unexpected couple The Proposal

Las Voces Celestiales sell singing grams for Valentine’s day

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by Clarisse Dart, Sci-Tech Co-Editor

According to Cards2 Make a Difference, around a billion Valentines are given each year. The after school advanced choir did their part in that statistic with a unique way of “spreading the love.” Valentine singing grams by Las Voces Celestiales were available for purchase the week prior to February 14 to those who wished to give a special sentiment to another student.

The singing grams, where members of the choir visited the classrooms of the students that recieved the Valentine grams and serenaded each recipient, has been a tradition at Paso High and was available this Valentine’s day.

Eight students from the sixth period advanced choir took part in this service, which cost three to five dollars. The three dollar grams bought the students a single singing gram, four dollars added chocolate, and five dollars included the addition of a card as well as the chocolate. “[My students] really have a lot of fun, they like seeing the reactions on the students’ faces,” said choir teacher Mary Heistand Schmutz, who has been putting on the sale for the past four years.

Junior Grace Stokes was very excited about organizing the event. As early as the Thursday before Valentine’s day she estimated 20-30 grams had been sold so far that week. After selling the special Valentine gifts in the quad during the week before the big day, Stokes and the other choir participants went to the students’ classrooms on Valentine’s day during the period chosen by the buyer.

Isabella Rokes of the choir went with Stokes to distribute the grams.

“My favorite part would have to be embarrassing the people we sing to,” junior Rokes laughed, who has been singing the grams since her freshman year.

Many times, the grams bring laughs as well as smiles to the faces of the students.

“There was a girl last year who bought a gram for her brother all five periods of his day. Soon everyone in his classes was just expecting it,” Stokes recalled.

When the beginning of February rolls around again next year, make use of the great way to surprise a friend or loved one at school with a personal Valentine’s day seranade.

For the guy that’s always chasing that special girl 50 First Dates

For the doomed lovers Titanic P.S. I Love You For the two that think they are “just friends” Made of Honor 500 Days of Summer —Kelly Munns, Editorial Editor, Laura Callahan, Health Co-Editor, and Megan Luth, Food Editor

Photo by Courtney Thompson

Graphic illustration by Sydney Matteson

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Paso Robles High School

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A&E Singing gramsPREVIOUS

Back to the fifties “Guys and Dolls” cast auditions

5Essential artists to know

by Courtney Thompson, A&E Editor

Kassidy Rice Freshman “When you get on stage, you are so nervous, but then you just have to try and turn into excitement and when you do that, it makes your auditions feel more emotional.”

Sydney Throop Sophomore “This was my first audition and I felt like I was going to pass out. I even asked Mrs. Goodnow if I would get extra points if it looked realistic, but she said no.”

Jenna Crawford Sophomore “When I am about to audition, I feel like my heart is pounding out of my chest.”

Nervous butterflies fluttered in the stomachs of the students auditioning at AWOLNATION Flamson Middle School. Sweat dripped down their brow as they handed their 32 Who: Aaron Bruno bars of sheet music to the accompanist, the florescent spotlights shining into their Genre: Indie, electro-rock eyes, and opened their mouth to sing the Broadway theatre song they had been Latest Album: Megalithic working on since Oct. 18, when the show title was announced.

Symphony Since Tuesday, Oct. 18, it has been the buzz among the drama students that the Like: Young the Giant, Middle spring musical is “Guys and Dolls,” which many had hoped to audition and compete Class Rut to land a lead role in the show.

On Dec. 14, the drama workshop was held in room LA3, where Marcy Goodnow explained the acceptable appearance and audition skills necessary to land a top spot.

“Everyone needs to dress nicely and to impress. When I was auditioning, it CLAMS CASINO was always a dress or skirt and heels for girls and slacks for boys, but recently at a Who: Mike Phelps convention, this question came up and was answered dress how you feel your best,” Genre:Hip Hop, Electronic Goodnow said at the Dec. audition workshop.

Latest ALbum: Rainforest So, on Jan. 24, the auditions began. Fifty-three students finished the audition Like: M83, ASAP Rocky process, which consisted of teacher recommendations and parent signatures. On Tuesday, students began their auditions starting with their one and a half minute monologue, a dance audition taught by Goodnow and Jennifer Bedrosian, and 32 bars of prepared music. Wednesday was also an audition night and Thursday was T. MILLS devoted to final auditions and callbacks for those students who might just be landing a lead role.

Who: Travis Mills On Wednesday, Jan. 25, people, who wished to be a hotbox dancer, auditioned Genre: Hip-Hop, Pop including Jenna Crawford and Sydney Throop.

Latest Album: Leaving “When I am about to audition, I feel like my heart is pounding out of my chest, but Home then when you are on stage and start saying your monologue or singing your song, Like: Breathe Carolina, you feel all of your nerves flow from your body. After, you just feel confident and Millionaires great,” said Crawford, a third play auditioner and sophomore.

Sophomore Throop agreed.

“This was my first audition and I felt like I was going to pass out. I even asked Mrs. Goodnow if I would get extra points if it looked realistic, but she said no.”

CHER LLOYD On Friday, Jan. 27, the final cast list was posted. Fourty-one students landed roles Who: Cher Lloyd in the musical, but only 39 accepted them.

Genre: Pop “I went through dozens of auditions like this in college and in New Latest Album: SticksYork, and it is still hard for me. I know how they feel,” explained Stones Goodnow.

Like: Dev, Nicole, Joe Though not every auditioner landed a role, Goodnow is very Jonas pleased with the professional auditions, “I treated like a professional audition with demands they would experience in college and the “real world”.

Vinyl Factory

Music Thread

Cher Lloyd

Karmin

Who: Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan Genre: Pop, Acoustic, Covers Latest Album: Karmin Covers Volume 1 Like: Covers/Remixes of Popular Songs

Hannah Fitzpatrick Sophomore “When I am about to audition, I feel like I’m going to jump off a cliff.”

18 | Crimson 02.15.12

The Coronet

Executive Music Company

— Sydney Matteson, Graphic designer Photos by Courtney Thompson Graphic illustration by Sydney Matteson

Paso Robles High School

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Realism with Remigio

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Blind date

From handiwork to hall rooms, PRHS student holds on to what she’s got: talent

by Ken Gurney, Reporter

As her pencil strokes develop over her canvas a resonating sense of shading and facial detail compatible to the likeness of her subject builds. Her superb work with the pencil is quickly shown in her work, which seems so realistic to some that they are baffled by the work itself. Then again, 18 year old senior Lindsay Remigio claims, “I’m still working on that one.”

To add to the illustrious illustrations that Remigio brings to the table, she too brings so much more. She is currently balancing her zero period Jazz band, alongside her marching/concert band class period two; acting as the third seat trumpet for Jazz band and the second chair for French horn.

“In seventh grade I took up the French horn,” Remigio said; elaborating that, “a new shipment of the instrument had come in,” and that she was alive with interest.

She soon took a break from band but had to get back.

“I just really like the band atmosphere,” she said, “Most of the time it is just the people in there that inspire me to do better; it is not a competition at all.”

Already she has six competitions under her belt from her freshman year Marching Band activities, and three in the more recent years. She too plans for participate in at least two more for Jazz Band this year, and her tour with Youth Symphony.

One competition, however, struck a chord with Remigio. Her freshman year she and her band went on an overnight trip to Hayward, California for what seemed like a normal WBA competition.

“It was the start of my growth, not only as a musician but as a person. A few people got me out of my shell that day; I can’t even tell you how thankful I am for those people.”

She is doing well,” and, “is a pleasure while playing in band,” said Santino Galvan, reminiscing on her work ethic.

Whether it is picking up a new instrument, or avidly asking Galvan to resume her practice, music is a constant passion of Remigio.

Remigio’s work doesn’t end here though. While balancing both Jazz Band and Marching Band, but she has just picked up another musical medium: singing. Since she had a missing period in her schedule, she decided to pick up another class; choir. Quickly she landed her spot as an alto voice and enjoys all her time in there.

However, choir isn’t the only thing Remigio has branched out to try. As of late she has joined the Youth Symphony orchestra in SLO (whom have preformed scores for such titles as: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Romeo and Juliet), and just recently made San Luis Obispo County Honor Band as third chair french horn.

She is a creative fountain of sorts; claiming to have more than four art forms under her belt: ceramics, drawing, instrumentals, and singing. For the most part though, Remigio is recognized for her work with the pencil. Crazy as it may seem, it’s crazy what she can do.

REALLY REMIGIO: (above) Senior Lindsay Remigio has been drawing since elementary school. Not only does she draw, but she plays the french horn in the school band. Music, ceramics, and drawing all are passions of Remigio’s.

Photo by Courtney Thompson

AVID ARTIST: (all left) Lindsay Remigio has drawn and painted dozens of pictures for contests and personal enjoyment. These are three of the artworks she has completed. The one on the right is a picture of Santino Galvan, who is also Remigio’s band director.

Graphic illustration by Ryan Morrison

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Paso Robles High School

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Winter Wonderland Dinner and dancing

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Blind Date Lindsay Remigio

PREVIOUS

by Summer Volle, Blind Date Editor, Clarisse Dart, Sci-Tech Co-Editor, and Kelly Munns, Editorial Editor

Juniors Vrij Patel and Jessica Zamudio had a “good time” as they enjoyed dinner and danced the night away at the Winter Formal.

Old friends reunited at Good Times Diner in downtown Paso at 7 p.m. to catch up with each other and sip on flavored milkshakes.

Patel, dressed in a blue button-up shirt with a striped black and grey tie, arrived first not knowing what to expect for the evening to come. Zamudio walked in approximately five minutes later, unintentionally matching Patel in a lacy black and grey strapless dress.

“Aww, Vrij and I go way back! I haven’t talked to this kid in forever!” Zamudio said, who wore her big smile the whole time they ate.

The two friends reunited and shared lots of laughs that came with countless funny stories.

While eating, they discussed what classes they signed up for next year and that led into them talking about their futures after high school. Zamudio excitedly told her date about how she aspires to help people through her planned career of being a plastic surgeon. Patel responded with his plans of going into accounting due to his interests in math.

“We go way back! You’re like my sister!” Patel smiled. They then shared laughs and more stories between sips of their vanilla and strawberry milkshakes.

Patel ordered onion rings with fries and Zamudio stayed light by ordering a salad, although she did steal a few fries and onion rings here and there. When they were done eating, the couple posed for pictures in the 52 degree weather at the park and hugged before scurrying to their cars to depart for the dance.

When they arrived at the Gil Asa Gymnasium, they were greeted by sparkly ornaments hanging in the trees and white lights around the dance. Zamudio and Patel were good sports as they were blinded by the constant flashes of the camera.

Once inside the dance they posed for one last professional picture with photographer Kathy Gritzfeld and parted their ways to dance the night away.

Rate The Date Patel Rate: 10 Favorite Part: “Catching up with her.”

Second date: “Probably not.”

Zamudio Rate: 8 Favorite Part: “Catching up with him.”

Second date: “As friends.”

SERVED WITH A SMILE: (above)The couple enjoyed their strawberry and vanilla milkshakes while eating dinner at “Good Times.”

DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY: (left) Patel and Zamudio get ready for a night full of fun as they pose for a picture where they unintentionally match. Photos by Kelly Munns and Summer Volle, Graphics by Kelly Munns and Ryan Morrison

20 | Crimson 02.15.12

Paso Robles High School

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k c a B g Lookin More c crimsoomparisons nnews on .org

Deep in the basement of Paso’s Carnegie Library, built downtown in 1908, dusty yearbooks hold tales of Bearcat life 100 years ago. Crimson turns the yellowing pages as they speak of how far the school and society have come over the course of a century, and takes a look at where they’ll be in years to come.

The unemployment rate was 8.5% at the end of 2011, with upwards of 311,800,000 people living in America.

Unemployment was at 4.6 percent, with a U.S. population of 95,335,000.

The graduating class of 2011 was made up of 419 seniors, with an appoxomately equal amount of boys and girls.

In 1912, there were 17 graduates: 12 girls and five boys. The girls outnumbered the boys due to the drafting at 18 for WWI.

Now approximately 500 freshmen are welcomed each year with their own orientation, designed to make them feel informed and at home.

The 15 incoming PRHS freshmen were met with a harsh initiation, described only by the yearbook as “a glorious event… during which the poor 15 stood open-mouthed and trembling.”

Environmental club BCASE encourages students to ride their bike to school and rewards them with pizza or muffins, especially on Earth Day, which fell on April 22, 2011.

April 18 was a school clean up day, wherein the school was divided up and each class cleaned away and celebrated with a picnic.

Senior Ralph Noreen was Associated Student Body President, and his senior quote was, ““I know his nature, devious as the wind, swift to change, gentle and yielding always,” from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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Senior Ashlee Juarez is Associated Student Body President. Her senior quote is, “Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary,” from “Dead Poets Society.”

—Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief, and Kelly Munns, Editorial Editor

Looking Forward Paso Robles High School

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THEFUTURE

The future of America depends on the current generation. There are specific jobs to make money in a down turned economy, jobs for those who want to live their passions or make a difference, and more. As many alumni are already on their way to becoming America’s adults, some current students share where they hope to go after graduation.

Answering his call

Senior enlists in the marines

by Olivia Musial, In-Depth Editor

Money making majors

PRHS alumni pursue degrees that most likely lead to prosperity

PRHS Alumni share their plans for the future that awaits them once they have a degree in hand

by Amanda Hutchinson, Managing Editor, with contributions from Nicola Davaz, Reporter The traditional American dream of prosperity and success rarely stems from a profession of selling cheeseburgers. In order to score a top-tier career, the right college degree is nearly always required. Depending on circumstance, many majors are guaranteed to make more money than others, almost assuring job security in a time of high unemployment. With a few exceptions, the future of PRHS’s students’ affluence will be determined by their major of choice.

Countless PRHS alumni are already on their way to raking in the cash and living their own dreams through the paths they have chosen.

PRHS valedictorian of 2010, Steven Plescia is studying geophysics, also known as geophysical engineering, a sub discipline of geology which mainly focuses on the Earth's mechanisms and subsystem such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Geophysical Engineering is a major with zero percent unemployment and median earning of $73,000 a year, according to the Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition.

“I briefly considered petroleum engineering, because it deals with rocks, and money. After a little time here, the major exploration day came [and] it turned out geophysics was a major that was better for what I wanted to do,” said Plescia, a second semester sophomore at the Colorado School of Mines, who is hoping for an eventual career as a seismologist to study earthquakes, wave properties, and the potential effects they could have on buildings.

In a January issue of Wall Street Journal, it is stated that from 2001-2009 the amount of college graduates has increased by 29%, while the number of those graduating with engineering degrees has only increased by 19%, and those graduating with computer and information science degrees has decreased by 14%.

Regardless of these national trends, PRHS alumni are still pursuing majors that will lead to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs that will pay off in the future; in spite of the increasing rigor of the fields they have chose.

Also making the list of top money making majors is Rebecca Horne, PRHS alumnus of 2009 and second semester junior At Fordham University in New York is a Business Administration major with a Finance concentration and Spanish minor. Finance is number eleven on worldwidelearn.com’s “Top 17 Degrees for Making Money,” as Horne can testify.

“I can already speak to the fact that it can definitely be a money maker, even while you're still in school,” she said.

Horne chose to major in finance after researching her options at Fordham and discovering her own passions lined up with what finance has to offer.

“I picked it because I wanted a career where each day brings new challenges and innovations, and especially given our current financial crisis, there's almost never been a more exciting time to explore this industry,” Horne said.

Currently pursuing a job at a global investment bank, Horne already has work lined up for the summer in the Emerging Markets group at J.P. Morgan, structuring financial products for clients in Latin America.

Business Administration career salaries can range from $46,000 to $150,000 depending on the specific field, according to allbusinessschools.com.

The success of the current generation of high school graduates will rest upon the choices made to change the future, consisting of majoring in a widespread variety of subjects, including, but not only, STEM fields.

Despite the money making possibilities, Sheridan Cook, PRHS graduate of 2011, advises not to choose a major for the sole reason of acquiring wealth.

“Don't limit yourself to what your friends are doing or which major will get you the most money, go with something you find interesting because it’s something you'll be doing for most of your life,” said Cook, a Spanish education major and second semester freshman at the University of Montana.

From a cash collecting perspective, majors that typically top the charts are any kind of engineering, business, computer sciences, and economics or finance. But as the pay increases, so does the difficulty, and as Cook advocated choosing a major of interest, Plescia and Horne agree.

“Financial stability is important, and I am glad that my major should lead to some nice compensation, but making tons of money can't really buy you happiness and true satisfaction in what you do,” Horne said.

Melissa Toler, Class of 2011 Major: Forensic Science, at Bay Path College in Massachusetts “I’m going to be a forensic anthropologist and figure out how people died, I plan to get my doctorate!”

Steven Plescia, Class of 2010 Colorado School of Mines Photo used with permission by Steven Plescia

Helene Zucker, Class of 2008 Major: Psychology, at UCSB “I'm still in the process of deciding if I want to pursue a career in Psychology, but I chose the major because it is a subject I'm very interested in. I would say that it is something I enjoy but it can also lead to a stable career if I pursue a graduate degree.”

Andrea Vega, Class of 2011 Major: Kinesiology exercise science, at Cal State Northridge “I want to become a pediatric physical therapist.”

Rebecca Horne, Class of 2009 Fordham University

Colby Thompson, Class of 2011 Major: Environmental Science with a minor in criminal justice, at Cal State Bakersfield “I want to be a fish and game warden.”

Photo used with permission by Rebecca Horne

Andria Posmoga, Class of 2011 Major: Business Administration “After I get my degree I should have the background in accounting, finance, marketing, economics, statistics and decision making. I plan on concentrating on marketing so hopefully after college I can take everything I learned and find a really awesome job!”

Sheridan Cook, Class of 2011 University of Montana Photo used with permission by Sheridan Cook

Nick Van Wiggeran, Class of 2011 Major: Computer Science, at University of Washington “It’s definitely one of the hardest majors at UW, but I find it incredibly rewarding and worthwhile when I turn my ideas into something a computer can understand.”

–Laura Callahan, Health Co-Editor and Carly McCall, Reporter

Photo by Kim Boswell

‘Generation Jobless’

It’s college season. With applications sent in, SAT’s taken, and essays written, high school seniors now wait with nervous anticipation for their acceptance letters. But for senior Sean Doran, acceptance came six months ago, when he enlisted in the military.

At only 17 years old, Doran has qualified to join the Marines after high school. By signing into the Delayed Entry Program (DEP), Doran has stated that he intends to join the Marine Corps. Doran spent 14 hours in San Jose on Aug 11. 2011 nervously waiting as he took his Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, filling out paper work, and getting medically tested.

He will be officially enlisted once he goes to boot camp in Pendleton, San Diego.

“I always wanted to join the military but I never thought that I could or that it was for me. When I got a call and found out I was qualified, I was interested so I set up a meeting with the recruiter and I found out that the marines is a perfect fit for me,” said Doran, who says that he was planning on going to trade school before he decided to join the marines.

As a part of the Delayed Entry Program, Doran meets regularly, about once a week, with his recruiter Sergeant Michael Espinoza and other recruits in San Luis Obispo County. Together, recruiters help recruits with physical training (PT). Recruits participate in long distance running, circuit training, hiking, combat conditioning, and mental preparation for the demands of boot camp.

“Sean will do very well. He is a strong, self motivated team player. He never complains and always gives 100 %. He will have no problems at boot camp,” said Espinoza, who was stationed in Afghanistan for six months last year before he became a recruiter.

Boot camp consists of three months of physical, mental, and emotional training. Such preparation includes a training exercise called “the crucible” where recruits have to stay up for 48 hours straight while performing physical tasks.

“[Boot camp] is the hardest thing to prepare yourself for,” said Doran, who has been training for boot camp by running, swimming, and lifting weights.

After boot camp, Doran will head off to Florida where he will be trained for his job in the field of avionics. Avionics includes installing, removing, inspecting, testing, and repairing all aviation weapons and electrical systems. Doran was able to choose this highly competitive job in the Marines because of his high score on the ASVAB. “I will have skills and control to handle many situations and my job will give me a lot of work experience with the highest equipment and training which will make me very competitive in the job market. My goals are to gain poise and confidence that will aid me in and out of the Marines,” said Doran, who chose avionics because he is in ROP auto.

While his decision is made, where he will end up is not yet decided. Doran can be deployed at anytime and he will be sent where ever he is needed. Doran is looking forward to the travel that is involved with joining the Marines, as he has never been outside of California.

“I can't express how proud his mother and I are of Sean for making this big commitment. I think it is a great decision. He based it on what would be the best route to learn a trade,” said Doran’s father and history teacher Michael Doran.

Whether it is on the front lines, or on a base, there is no doubt that Doran will live up to the Marine Corps motto “The Few. The Proud.” Students with courage and honor, like Doran, are what unite the future of the military.

“We actually change people's lives. It's a good feeling when new marines come back to visit after boot camp and they thank me for the opportunity that put them in the Marine Corps,” said Espinoza, and Doran will be no exception.

Is the ‘future’ having trouble finding a future?

by Nikianne Ochoa, Sci-Tech Co-Editor Adults aren’t the only ones worrying about the future and money now-a-days. Among the millions of adults in the United States out of work, or looking for work, teenagers are also feeling the pressure of money problems and stress. Could this be the generation jobless?

“These days, workers of all ages face economic struggles, but the weak job market of the past few years has taken its biggest toll on teens and young adults,” stated Conor Dougherty of the Wall Street Journal.

U.S labor figures show the 2011 unemployment rate nationwide averaged just below 9 percent, but for job-seekers ages 16 to 19, it was almost 25 percent. Participants who attended a forum on Jan. 3, 2012 in Hartford, Conn. Discussed that the trend is “alarming and that society suffers when an entire generation’s chance to learn valuable workplace skills are delayed or denied,” stated Stephanie Reitz of the Tribune.

And on a personal level, it’s also a growing concern to teens whose families depend on them, pocket money, or even job experience for their resumes in the future. But in small town Paso Robles, many teens seem to be stuck in the middle when finding a job position.

“I think that if you try hard enough, you’ll get hired,” stated a PRHS student in an anonymous survey of nine. For most teenagers in the 805, finding a job isn’t very challenging at all.

“I’ve been working at Alliance for a little over a month; I just think that most teenagers are too lazy to go find a job,” stated senior, Austin Draper.

But to others, it’s not the easiest task in the world.

“I think that teenage unemployment is at an extreme high. I mean, with the market the way it is, I am sure there is a lot more competition adults for jobs teenagers would normally get,” stated junior, Caroline Boddington. Amongst the millions of Americans finally glimpsing a light in the darkness of the recession, could the ‘future’ of America still be wandering blind?

AN EASY HIRE: Senior Austin Draper, found a job without much trouble. He doesn’t think that the economy is an effect of teen employemnt as much as simple motivation.

Photo by Courtney Thompson

a glimpse into our future Whether plans are tentative or solid, current students share their hopes for their own future post high school Kellie Reynolds, 12, softball scholarship to Stony Brook University Steven Grogan, 12, US Army Ashlee Juarez, 12, Nursing School Gunnar Griffin, 9, TCU to study Communications Christopher Kleinman, 12, MMI Motorcycle Tech School Megan Moerman, 12, Cuesta Community College and then transfer to Hawaii University Judy Thach, 12, Cuesta Community College then Nursing School Sidney Fraser, 12, US Marine Corps Leah Gibson, 12, UCSD Garrett Britton, 12, US Air Force Cheyenne Liddicote, 12, Travel Jenny Henry, 12, Cal Poly SLO to study Psychology Joe Lunt, 12, US Air Force Tiffany Tedeschi, 12, Cosmetology School Steve Coria, 11, UCSB to study Psychology

22 | 12.14.11 Crimson

Paso Robles High School

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Health

ARE YOU A PYROMANIAC? Future AmericaPREVIOUS

Answer these questions to uncover the burning truth 1. Your main motivation for starting a fire is: A) For warmth or cooking purposes B) Nothing: You hate fire C) It’s fun to watch D) It gives you extreme pleasure

6. You believe the most serious danger of fire is: A) Intensive damage, such as a house burning down B) Everything about it C) Accidentally burning yourself D) Not having enough of it

2. You are most commonly around fire: A) While camping or cooking B) In your nightmares C) While conducting small experiments D) Whenever possible

7. The first time you purposely played with fire: A) Never happened B) Must have happened in an alternate universe C) Was out of curiosity D) Was among peers or in a social setting

3. You extinguish a fire: A) As soon as it naturally dies out B) Before it has a chance to grow C) When you’ve had a moment to watch it burn D) After damage has been done 4. You love fire because it: A)Has valuable practical uses B) Scares the flaming daylights out of you C) Has an intriguing glow D) Has destructive power 5. A candle is on your desk. You: A) Let it burn as usual B) Cry C) Put the tip of your pen in the flame just to see what happens D) Knock it over and watch the desk burn

8. You have deliberately started a fire: A) Never B) [N/A, you just fainted] C) Once, during an experiment D) More than once 9. Your emotions leading up to and during your contact with fire are: A) Relatively calm B) Bleeping terrified C) Curious D) Tense and wound-up 10. The words that most closely describe your feelings toward fire are: A) Relatively cautious B) Highly phobic C) Vaguely interested D) Strongly fascinated

MOSTLY A’S: Fire Free You believe fire is nothing to be played with, and may even be fearful of flames due to their destructive ability, which caused 2,635 deaths nationwide in 2010, according to usfa.gov. You have respect for fire safety after hearing your parents -and Smoky the Bear- nag for years to never play with fire. Keep up your safety skills by not plugging too many appliances into an outlet and making sure combustible items are away from heaters or flames.

MOSTLY B’S: Borderline Arson phobic

You exercise extreme caution when dealing with fire, and may even avoid being near it. You’re versed in the likes of “stop, drop and roll” and have emergency exists marked in every area of your house. You take extreme pride in the 72-year-old motto stating that only you can prevent forest fires. But while you sure are safe, you may also be missing out on fire’s flaming glory.

MOSTLY C’S: Just Curious You fall into the category of a curious teen—nothing to be shocked about since most teens encounter a burning curiosity at some point. However, burnsurvivor. com reports that 50 percent of all burn accidents can be prevented, so if you absolutely feel inclined to play with fire, take every precaution possible to make sure it does not become threatening. Even the smallest of experiments can end in disaster, and your curiosity may literally kill the cat. Your cat.

MOSTLY D’S: PYROMANIAC

You may have the “irresistible compulsion to set fires,” according to helpingpsychology.com. You may have developed this habit of emotional release after an upsetting experience, such as the death of a loved one, as a way of expressing your anger or distraught feelings. You are most likely a male, as 90 percent of pyromaniacs are.

But not all hope is lost; you can recover from this disorder through therapy or counseling, which can help you learn to express your emotions in less destructive ways, such as through music or martial arts. But remember you pyros, arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures, wildland areas, cars, or other property.

Keep in mind the dangers that fire causes and that these acts could be charged as a violation of the arson law.

—Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief Crimson does not support tampering with fire in any fashion.

24 | Crimson 02.15.12

Paso Robles High School

www.crimsonnews.org

Wrestling with weight A look into wrestlers’ health

Health NEXT

Animal love

by Nicolette Jolicoeur, Managing Editor, and Nikianne Ochoa, Sci-Tech Co-Editor

WEIGHING IN: Wrestler and senior Davey Mills steps on the scale. Mills keeps an eye on his weight to compete in the varsity 120 weight class. Photo by Nikianne Ochoa

As 2012 began students pledged their New Year’s resolutions, leaving bad habits behind and beginning new. Unfortunately the percentage of people who actually fulfill their resolution is a very low number. Weight loss, one of the most common of resolutions seems to be the hardest one to keep.

Everyone has heard how to lose weight properly: less calories and exercise. But our PRHS wrestlers have a deadline to make.

One might see them up at the track before a match running three miles just to drop a half of a pound so they can wrestle in their assigned weight class.

Sophomore wrestler Zac Holmes needed to drop a half a pound in one day to make it into his weight class of 120. On the morning of a meet Holmes wakes up, weighs himself, and figures out how much weight he needs to drop throughout the day in order to make his weight class. Unlike the normal mornings, Holmes skips his breakfast for the day. By lunch time, Holmes has still not eaten a single crumb or refused the smallest drop of water.

“It’s hard [not eating or drinking], but the benefit of doing better because I wrestle smaller kids is worth it,” Holmes said.

When his numbers don’t drop, he puts on a pair of sweats and runs, sometimes for a half an hour, other times for longer. Once he finally weighs-in he feels, “relieved that hard work paid off.”

But when he doesn’t make weight, guilt sets in ever so quickly, “I feel like I disappoint my team and my coaches [when I don’t

make weight].”

If a wrestler doesn’t make weight, then they are obliged to not wrestle and have to sit the meet out. For this purpose, junior wrestler Robby Standley has lost up to ten pounds in one day.

“It helps to drop weight because you will go against smaller and weaker kids, which can give you an advantage on them,” Standley said, who wrestles in the 113 weight class.

The wrestling diet is a special circumstance. Wrestlers only do that for about one third of the year, and for the rest of the year they attempt to maintain a healthy routine of a normal diet and plenty of exercise.

“The way I lose the weight so quickly would be by eating small, healthy snacks throughout the day with little, to no, water,” Standley said, who doesn’t recommend this way to the average person wanting to lose weight.

The healthiest way to lose weight is slowly easing into it, according to http://www.netdoctor.co.uk. Using a simple reduction of calories and exercise would be enough to lose weight gradually. The body needs a simple change, like a change from whole milk to 2 percent.

But losing weight slowly isn’t an option for PRHS’s wrestling team. With a winning legacy to continue, our wrestlers will make sacrifices for love of the sport.

Food borne illness by the numbers

Have you had the 24-hour stomach “bug” and thought it was the stomach flu? Think again. It may be gastroenteritis, as they both cause similar symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and nausea. Learn more about this easily avoidable food borne illness below.

12

The amount of visits to Twin Cities Community Hospital’s Emergency Room each week due to food poisoning, according to local ER physician, Kenneth Starr, MD.

PRHS students who have reported having food poisoning.

2,440,000

How many cases of food born infections there are per year caused by Salmonella and the bacteria Campylobacter.

128,000 How many people are hospitalized due to Food borne illness in the U.S each year. There are approximately 3,000 deaths yearly.

www.crimsonnews.org

30

Salmonella may contaminate as many as one out of every ten thousand eggs.

Paso Robles High School

Symptoms of poisoning occur within 30 minutes or a few days after eating contaminated food, according to the Department of Health.

­­— Brielle Silletti, Business Manager and Angela Lorenzo, World Co-Editor Graphic illustration by Sydney Matteson

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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Environment PREVIOUS

Wrestlers’ Weight

The

On

SCOOP SPECIES

An update on endangered animals

Being claimed extinct in the wild in 2008, the Northern White Rhino is a subspecies of the White Rhino, and only seven are known to be alive still- all of which are in captivity. These Rhinos were killed for their horns by poachers.

Leatherback Sea Turtles have been in existence for over 100 million years and are the largest of all sea turtles, but are now on the endangered species list.

Their eggs are stolen from Costa Rican and other global beaches by people who believe the legend that the turtle egg has the effect of fertilizing men.

Giant Pandas are also on the endangered species list, and a prime concern for many environmentalists.

According to conservation.org, "there are fewer than 1,600 pandas left in the wild today and half of them live outside of protected areas."

The largest animal on earth, the Blue Whale, was on the brink of extinction due to the amount of whale-hunting for use in cosmetics and as a food source within the 20th century. In 2002, a study estimated between 5,000 and 12,000 blue whales swim in our oceans today.

Graphic illusrations by Kim Boswell

—Emily Cone, Managing Editor

26 | Crimson 02.15.12

Animal attraction

Roses are red, violets are blue, swans mate for life, and penguins do too

Romantic love letters from secret admirers, Valentine’s Day roses, shameless flirting—all are used as ways to gain fellow human’s affections. But would it be such a surprise to discover that animals vie for each other’s attention, too?

Penguins, swans, and wolves are among the animals that typically mate with the same partner throughout their lifespan.

Although each species of penguin has a unique variation of courtship rituals, they typically begin with three types of auditory and visual displays. These include the ecstatic display, when the male stretches his head and squawks in order to attract a female and establish possession of a nest; the mutual display, which features the same actions as the ecstatic display, but with the female participating as well; and the bowing display, used to decrease chances of aggression and increase familiarity between the two partners. Penguins usually stay with the same mate their whole life, though studies show that both males and females may have up to three partners per season.

Another animal that commonly mates for life is the mute swan. During mating season, the swans “display” by touching bill to bill and breast to breast; this creates the symbolic heart shape. Some swans do separate from their partner to find another, and when one partner dies, the other typically finds a new mate.

Wolves don’t just mate for life—they also live in family

by Analía Cabello, Reporter, and Angela Lorenzo, World Co-Editor

groups known as packs. Each pack consists of an alpha male and an alpha female, the only female in the pack permitted to have pups, and typically six to eight other wolves, although there can be up to 30. When a wolf leaves its pack to wander on its own, it transforms into a lone wolf, and will journey single until encountering its mate. Then, the lone wolf and its mate can have pups and create their own pack.

Domesticated farm animals, like cows, horses, pigs, and goats, are normally bred by their owners. “You want to know when they’re going to have a baby,” Carli Bradshaw, Ag Biology teacher at PRHS, said.

“A lot of it probably has to do with weather conditions or cycles of their bodies, like how humans have cycles,” senior Leah Gibson, an active FFA member, added. But in the wild they can smell when a female is in heat. Horses tend to flirt with each other by nudging and biting. Goats show they are in heat by “flagging,” or wagging their tail frequently.

Mating for life comes naturally to many animals, just like each species tricks to attracting a mate. From a peacock showing off magnificent feathers to a small cockatiel preening for its partner, it’s clear that even animals have to attract a mate through certain auditory and visual signals, just like humans do.

Graphic illustration by Ryan Morrison

Paso Robles High School

www.crimsonnews.org

3-2-1... Birds!

ROCKIN’ BIRDS (top): The Rock Wren perches on a rock in the middle of a field. This is a rare bird that is scarcely seen by bird-counters. Farrell counted two during his counting time.

New Years Eve at the Carrizo Plains Bird Count

Environment NEXT

Lester Lara

FARRELL IN THE FIELD (bottom left): Farrell and other bird-counters walk through a field in order to scare up birds.

He carries binoculars with him, ready to spot a winged creature at any moment.

by Aidan Farrel, World Co-Editor

BIRDS OF A FEATHER (bottom right): A barn owl sits within a cave in a rock wall. Generally, these owls sleep during the day and come out at night. Farrell spotted three of these birds while he was on the plains.

Photos used with permission by Brian Farrel, photo by Kim Boswell

On a bright, freezing morning, I drove with my grandpa, parents, brother and sister out to the barren Carrizo Plains. The Plains, 49 miles from Paso Robles, have been visited by my family the past two years­— on New Year’s Day— for the same reason: counting birds.

Each year, in over 2,000 locations all over the U.S., bird watchers come together to do an inventory of the bird species that are thriving and the species that are not. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is held nationwide—with tens of thousands of participants each year, since 1900, through the Audubon Society.

The findings of the participants “document what species are in decline if not in dire trouble, as well as how birds are responding to changing climatic conditions during the early winter period,” said Geoff LeBaron, Christmas Bird Count Director.

The importance of this count is tremendous as the “CBC provides critical data on population trends,” stated audubon.org.

Before the count began at 8:00 in the morning, all the participants gathered and were assigned a specific location on the Carrizo Plain. This year, my family was put in charge of a plot of several miles, an area of land that we would have five hours to cover.

As the day drew on, my family and I identified birds varying in size and shape: from hawks and falcons, to the smallest sparrows.

Counting birds can vary from counting out the window of your car, or walking through a field with the hopes of scaring up a flock or maybe even a rare owl. Once you see a bird, it is your duty to identify it as best you can and to mark it on a list. Say you were to come upon a massive group of birds flying: you would count the number of birds in a small area and estimate how many of that area would fit into the group as a whole.

We identified several special or rare species and overall, played a very significant role in the bird

count, as everyone involved did. The efforts of all the participants together —around 40 people —revealed the truth about birds in the area, some seen in abundance, while others seen scarcely or not at all.

The average common birds include various sparrows, red-tailed hawks, and mountain bluebirds.

Rarely-seen birds include the Merlin (a small bird of prey) and wrens and ducks. The populations fluctuate over the years at the hand of changing conditions in the environment. 2012 happened to be a fairly dry year and as a result, there was a decrease in water fowl (ducks, etc.).

Paso Robles English and AVID teacher Anne Spohnhauer is an ardent birdwatcher, largely from her backyard.

Spohnhauer’s love for birds began in Bigfork, Montana, and extended here to Paso Robles. She is an active member of an online bird count called eBirds, where you can watch birds from anywhere in the world and proceed immediately to report your sightings online.

Though Spohnhauer has never participated in the Audubon’s CBC, eBirds serves a similar purpose, doing an ongoing study on the status of species. “eBirds assists the scientists when they’re looking at a specific species of bird,” commented Spohnhauer.

These bird counts benefit not only science, but offer the participant a rare opportunity to be a part of a nationwide cause. By doing so, someone can gain an understanding of these small creatures and what causes them to thrive in the wild.

Though the results have not been officially posted on this year’s CBC, one can look them up at Audubon.org. This annual bird count is open to the entire public and I personally look forward to this coming year’s count out on the empty Carrizo Plains.

Wired in to a greenhouse globe Online map shows greenhouse gas emitters of the world

by Kim Boswell, Front Page Editor

Typing into a URL the address http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do, one can find the world, literally, and all the messy greenhouse emissions that come along with it. The Environmental Protection Agency has made public an online map of the world, broken into sections which allow readers to select their country, state, county or city and analyze the emissions of that area.

In the United States, 6,157 emitters are displayed. Emitters are defined as either power plants, refineries, chemicals, landfills, metals, minerals, pulp and paper, government and commercial, or other industrial materials. Seven percent of the country’s emitters are in California, with 482 listed and two of those are in San Luis Obispo County.

The towering stacks of the Morro Bay Power Plant emits a total of 51,778 MT CO2e of carbon dioxide, 20 methane, and 30 nitrous oxide, adding up to 51,828. Thirty-five miles south is the Conocophillips Santa Maria Refinery www.crimsonnews.org

Paso Robles High School

which emits 240,600 carbon dioxide, 422 methane, and 698 of nitrous oxide.

“This tool is designed to be user-friendly, so that businesses, industry and non profits can get a better understanding of where greenhouse gases are being generated and to build enthusiasm for greenhouse gas reductions,” Gina McCarthy, head of the E.P.A.’s office of air and radiation told the New York Times in a conference unveiling the site.

“It means that every high school student or local reporter can see who the biggest carbon polluters are in his or her own backyard,” David Doniger, the policy director for climate and clean air at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said.

“Carbon pollution and climate change are very abstract when you’re dealing with national or international data. This brings it home,” Doniger told the New York Times.

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LIVING YOUNG AND FREE: Lara died in an accident just a few hours into 2012. Lara was known for his carefree and simple life: living every moment like it was his last.

Lester Bird counting PREVIOUS

Lester Lara remembered by friends

Photo used with permission of Vanessa Stevens

PRHS alumnus’ death leaves an impact on many hearts

by Emily Cone, Managing Editor

Twenty rows of friends and family of Lester Klyne C. Lara filled the white pews of Keuhl-Nicolay’s memorial room on Saturday, Jan 7. Six fans quietly whirred above as hugs were exchanged and tears wiped away, and a community of people shared not only what Lara had meant to them, but what he had taught them.

But Lara’s undoubetedly tragic death has left in its shadow a community of friends who have made it apparent that he taught them much in his 19 years, proven by the near 200 memories, thoughts, and comments left on his Facebook since his death on New Year’s morning. And the biggest lesson Lara taught: a fierce loyalty and dedication to friends, and a simplistic outlook on life can leave a big impact.

In her remarks during his service, Lara’s mother, Tess Hernandez, recalled her last conversation with Lara, when she called him at 12:03 AM New Year’s Day and wished him a “Happy New Year’s!”

She told him “Be safe,” to which he replied, “I’m always safe, mom.”

Hernandez then urged the attendees of the service to think twice before drinking and driving.

“This ain’t so hard, keep it simple,” was Lara’s senior quote, and something that spoke volumes to who he was as a person. Friend after friend took the podium next to his casket and spoke of how Lara’s simplistic outlook on life translated into wisdom, wisdom that impacted their lives directly. They told of the devoted friend he was, always listening to others, and offering to do things for them. Stories ranged from good conversations with Lara, to skateboarding stories, to anecdotes about times that Lara had reminded them, “Don’t sweat it!”

Lara was studying Computer Science at Cuesta College when he passed away, but his friends say that he had recently shared his desire to “make a difference” and “help those around him.”

Lara was also well-known for being a dedicated and loyal friend.

Senior Jordan Ethridge recalled one night when he needed a place to stay and Lara volunteered his home.

“He was always down to help a friend,” Ethridge said, “He just had signature moves that were so Lester. I always had a good time with him, he was a really good friend to everyone.”

Similarly, senior Marco Gut told of a time when Lara was there for a friend who had recently been injured.

“I remember telling him how much I respected him for what he’d done. He just told me that he’d always wanted to be there like this for one of his friends, but this was the first time he’d had a chance to. That was just Lester,” Gut said.

In one of Covello’s final conversations with Lara, he told her that he’d finally found his calling in life. He asked Covello to go on a walk, and inquired about her aspirations, telling her that he was meant to help others.

“I thought he meant a doctor,” senior Jessica Covello says, “I told him I either wanted to be a cosmotologist or Environmental Scientist. He said, ‘Don’t do cosmotology Jess, that doesn’t help anyone!’ And ever since then, I’ve known what I’m going to do,” Covello said, as her plans now revolve around Environmental Science.

“Every time I picture him in my mind, I see him throwing up his arms and saying, ‘What’s up Jess?’” Covello said, “That’s how I remember him.”

Memories with Lester...

“My favorite memory would be at his warehouse when he asked about my night. It wasn’t as I really planned, and he understood exactly after my rant. He told me, ‘Dude, just stay here and have fun, seriously. No worries. I got you covered. Have your fun you’re with all the friends.” Nothing ever seemed to phase him, and he never stopped smiling.”

—Paige Stephenson, 12

“He was just an all around cool guy that everyone wanted to be with. Even when you were not that good of friends with Lester he made you feel like family. He had the smile that could make any day better.”

—Shelby Reneau, 12 “[Lester] came up with great ideas in our video production class and was always laid back. We would share the music we listened to, share our opinions and had conversations about life and such.

He was a good person to talk to if you had a bad day.”

—Daniel Flores, 12

Crimson02.15.12 02.15.12 28| |Crimson 28

PRHS alumni Caitlyn Curran first met Lara in sixth grade, and dated him from sophomore year through high school. She witnessed Lara’s crash as she sat in the car driven by alumniTanner Storsteen, which was passed by Eric Luth’s Ford Ranger.

“Lester is my best friend and my first love. He’s just such a beautiful person, and he means so much to me. There is no one out there like him; I took it for granted that he’d always be there for me.

He really appreciated nature. He loved to skate, hike, and go to the beach. He loved music and all of his friends. He would do anyone a favor at anytime. He was so generous, almost to a fault, but he’s taught me to be more giving. Everyone loved him, but I’m lucky because I got to tell him so many times,” Curran said.

Another testament of Lara’s fierce loyalty in friendship is Erin Joseph, another PRHS alumni and seven year friend of Lara’s. She recalls a time when she was a concert and Lara got protective over her after Joseph was being hassled by someone.

“That [protection] meant the world to me and he knew it. Things like that just show what a great person he is. He even took Caitlyn and me to junior prom. I had said I didn’t want to go because I didn’t have a date. Lester was not having that as an excuse, and he was nice enough to take us both,” said Joseph, who added that Lara was the first guy friend she introduced to her parents.

“My parents saw that Lester was a great friend to me and that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me,” she said, “He wanted his friends to feel loved and to know what great people they were. We are the blessed ones. I love him so much and I will continue to miss and love him everyday. He is my angel now.”

“I had Lester in my AP Lit class. I liked what someone said for The Tribune, how that he was “the realest kid in town.” He was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He wrote like an angel and had a passion. The world is less beautiful without him in it.”

—Aaron Cantrell, teacher “Me and a group of my friends the Saturday before Halloween decided to spend it in San Luis Obispo with some friends including Lester. We all went out and had a fun time and back at Lester’s place the guys started rapping in the middle of the kitchen. I joined in, being the only girl who wanted to, it was the funniest thing. Just the five of us rapping the wee hours of the morning in the middle of his kitchen.

[With] the biggest smiles on our faces [and] his face...I’ll never forget that.”

—Sydney Torres, 12 PasoRobles RoblesHigh HighSchool School Paso

IN LOVING MEMORY: Friends and family of Lara attended a memorial on Tuesday, Jan. 3, to remember Lara’s life and to make cards for the driver of the vehicle, Eric Luth, who was injured in the accident.

Photos by Kim Boswell and Nico Davaz

www.crimsonnews.org

‘I’m not sure there was anyone who didn’t like him’

Vince NEXT

Dictator Deaths

21-year-old PRHS alumnus Vincent Mack remembered by classmates

by Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief

2008 graduate Vincent Mack passed away in a car accident at 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day when his car drifted across Nacimiento Lake Drive and struck a large oak tree. His passing, the second life claimed in an accident that day, sparked memories among his family and former classmates, who look back on his life as one “not to be forgotten.”

During his high school career, Mack was involved in Advanced Peer, baseball, 4H, and numerous volunteer activities. Those involved with him remember him as a positive team player, always willing to lend a hand.

“When I was younger he was kind of my role model,” said senior Mac Stuart, who trained with Mack during athletic seasons. “I looked up to him because he always did the right thing, and he played the sports I liked so I started playing them. He helped me out with tips and what not, and he would always be happy, and had an amazing heart.”

Gina Alessi, class of 2008,

remembers many things about being a part of the PRHS drum line. She remembers the five different types of bass drums played, the 8:00 a.m. rehearsals and trips to Denny’s for breakfast beforehand, and how close the group was her freshman year when they traveled “all the way to Atlanta, GA” to compete and perform in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. But most importantly, she remembers Vince, her “kind, caring, and supportive” friend and fellow member, who she described as “full of life and joy.”

“It’s a real tragedy to lose someone like this, but I personally believe he’s in a much better place now,” Alessi said in an e-mail. “He touched many lives during his time here. He will be very, very much missed.”

Alessi recalls the drum line’s early breakfasts before marching season practices, and Mack’s peculiar and amusing appetite. While the rest of the group ordered pancakes and eggs, Mack would opt instead to order “practically the whole desert menu.”

“We warned him every time

that he was going to get sick. Sure enough, by noon he was feeling sick to his stomach,” Alessi said. “But he still stayed out there to practice, even in the summer heat! That guy was a really dedicated member of our team; always a goofball, always encouraging, and always there for his friends.”

Mack was training to be a firefighter with Cal Fire when he passed, a profession that perfectly fit his desire to serve, according to Jessie Basham, class of 2010, a close friend of Mack’s.

“Vincent was an amazing man. He lived to serve and love others,” said Basham, who spent several summers raising pigs and riding dirt bikes with Mack. “He was so funny and just had a pure light about him. He touched everyone around him in a special way.”

A memorial service held at 11 a.m.

Monday, Jan. 9, at Trinity Lutheran was heavily attended by Mack’s family and friends, who filled every seat.

A WELL-DRESSED MAN: Vincent Mack smiles for his senior picture.

Mack was “a great guy, funny, caring, honest, and giving,” according to fellow alumni Kenna Sauret. Photo used with permission of 2008 El Roble yearbook.

Lester continued...

Accident hits Paso

PRHS graduates are part of a car accident after a New Years celebration

by Maria Petiy, Reporter

While most of Paso Robles was either asleep or wrapping up their New Year’s celebrations, a car accident crashed into the beginning of 2012.

On Jan. 1, 3 a.m., graduate Eric Luth’s Ford Ranger, with graduates Lester Lara and Erin Chon as passengers, hit mailboxes on Linne Rd. in rural Paso Robles, over corrected, and struck an oak tree after trying to pass friend Tanner Storsteen and his carload of three other PRHS graduates.

Passenger Lara, 19 was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected out of the car. Lara was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Debris and crying teenagers were scattered along the road.

They were dazed and confused; wandering and wondering why,” said an eye witness observer of the crash.

Luth, suffered a broken neck, fractured spine, collapsed lung and internal injuries, and was rushed to Twin Cities Hospital. www.crimsonnews.org

After two surgeries, Luth recovery is gradually progressing, and it will be a long time before he can resume normal activities.

Luth had lost a considerable amount of weight, and he is “very weak and winded”. The Luth family said it is thankful for the doctors, nurse, and staff at Twin Cities Hospital and Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital in Santa Barbara where he spent a week.

“The overwhelming support and outpouring of thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way has had a positive effect on Eric and his recovery,” said the Luth family in a statement.

Luth was brought home on Jan. 25.

Another passenger in the car was Chon, 18 who was not harmed in the accident.

Alcohol was involved.

The two cars were coming from the same destination Paso Robles High School

when the accident happened, as confirmed by a passenger in Storsteen’s car. Storsteen was arrested on DUI charges at the San Luis Obispo County Jail. He was driving three PRHS graduates ages 18. The three teens were kept at the crash site until 7 a.m. when they were released to an adult.

The life of Vince Mack was taken due to car crash on the same day as Lara’s.

Car accidents are the leading cause for teenagers in America, one third of accidents are alcohol related. Annually 10,839 people die in drunk-driving crashes, “one every 50 minutes” according to MADD.org.

A park vigil was held by friends of Luth’s and Laras’s family and friends on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m., where close ones of the victims gathered to remember and pray for Lara’s family and for Luth’s recovery.

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World Vince Mack

PREVIOUS

NEW YEAR

Graphic illustration by Aidan Farrell

NEW REGIMES World anticipates new regimes after infamous dictators perish

by William Ford, Business Team

Kim Jong Il

A new year has brought new resolutions and goals, and this year, new regimes. With the deaths of Muammar Gaddafi, the 42-year ruler of the oil rich Libya, and Kim Jong Il, the infamous dictator of nuclear-strapped North Korea, the world nervously awaits the result of new regimes in both nations. These dramatic changes come just months after Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death and several North African nations are still in revolt.

It’s important for Americans and students to understand how these non-democratic regimes function, in the hope of preventing such governments. and understanding their political and economical repercussions.

In late 2010, a string of protests across the Arab world developed into what is now known as Arab Spring or the Arab Awakening, after years of discontent and suppression. This eventually lead to a violent, eight month civil war in Libya in which Colonel Gaddafi clashed with rebels wanting to oust him with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) support. Gaddafi, who seized control of Libya after a 1969 military coup, had been in power up to his violent October 20, 2011 death, when Libyan rebels captured him and killed him on the spot.

“Libya is just one example in many of the power the common person has within their grasp to shape not only the future of themselves, but their country. The protests seen across the world are testaments to that fact, and provide a powerful sense of hope to those who are still confined within harsh dictatorial governments,” said junior Noah Levine, who has followed the Libyan conflict from its humble beginnings.

Social studies teacher Stanley Cooper said it will be unpredictable what the oil rich Libyan government will become.

“The absence of authoritarianism is chaos, there shouldn’t be a need for this, but chaos ensues with this kind of change,” said Cooper.

“Be careful for what you wish for because your dreams might come true,” said Cooper, being careful to point out that the new government could possibly be a worse government for the people.

On December 17, 2011, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack at the age of 60. The supreme leader was known for his threats towards the U.S., South Korea, and allies, and his declared ownership of nuclear weapons. The country faced nationwide food shortages under Kim

News Analysis

Esteban Alvarado, of the AZ Alkmaar Dutch Soccer team, was dubbed the Kung Fu Goalie after aggressively kicking a fan who stormed onto the soccer pitch during the league cup final. Alvarado received a red card for his actions, causing his team to storm out of the cup match during the 36th minute of the game.

-Telegraph

New Zealand

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Muammar Gaddafi

Jong Il so it will be interesting to see if Kim Jong Un will be any different. Kim Jong Un is Kim Jong Il’s son, being groomed as the successor of North Korea’s autocratic government in recent years as his father’s health diminished, according to the BBC. The Swiss educated Kim Jong Un has been named the head of state, army, and party, but little has happened since his start, immediately following his father’s death. The tightly controlled state media recently warned western nations that the policies set forth by Kim Jong Il will be followed

by Kim Jong Un. “Unchecked power in the hands of few makes the situation very unpredictable,” said Cooper, adding that North Korea is the most dangerous and an unstable nation because of its nuclear capabilities.

Osama Bin Laden, who was born 1957 to a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia quickly became the world’s number one terrorist, infamously known as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.

Bin Laden, who started Al Qaeda, a radical Islamic terrorist group, began coordinating global terrorist attacks in an attempt to “right perceived wrongs under the accordance of pure, Islamic law,” according to Bio.com.

With the Afghanistan invasion, U.S. forces tried to locate and capture the elusive Bin Laden as he hid in Afghanistan, then Pakistan. Then on May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces after infiltrating his compound.

President Obama declared “The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda,” adding that “his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.”

Al Qaeda has since struggled to find a leader to replace the influential Bin Laden. Although President Obama commends the diminishment of Al Qaeda, he has warned that they are still a threat.

These three regime changes are just a few of the many that can happen. The North Koreans still struggle with economic problems with no apparent policy change in sight. This can become a bigger problem. The Libyans are under a de facto government, meaning a transitional government, and the people have been promised democratic elections by April 2012. The world still keeps an eye open as Al Qaeda continues to plan and threaten the world along with other developing terrorist groups. The world can be full of all different kinds of regimes, but in the end some topple.

Holland

Graphic illustration by Ryan Morrison

Osama Bin Laden

The New Zealand Farmers Federation is pushing to make sheep shearing an Olympic sport. Their spokesman, Jeanette Maxwell, says that the shearers are “athletes who take it to another level”. There are ten sheep for every one person in New Zealand; needless to say, the shearers are not sheepish about their athletic skills in shearing sheep.

-Telegraph Paso Robles High School

England A glue blob has generated bids over 2000 pounds on eBay for a 36-year-old man: Christopher Herbert. While cleaning out his stationary cupboard, Herbert found a rather interesting glob of dried glue, and upon further examination, the glob of glue had a eerily striking resemblance of Homer Simpson. Collectors of Simpson’s memorabilia have been bidding anxiously for the glob of glue; Christopher Herbert is definitely raking in the “D’oh!”

-Telegraph

Netherlands

Elephants don’t wear glasses, but they certainly wear contact lenses. In Amsterdam’s Artis Zoo, 45-year-old elephant Win Thida became the first elephant in Europe to be fitted with a contact lens. The lenses are designed to improve the elephant’s vision after its eyes were damaged in a scuffle with another elephant.

-Telegraph — Jonathan Kisch, Opinion Editor www.crimsonnews.org

World

Do the French french kiss?

NEXT

Siri

Valentines day: The day where it’s socially acceptable in America to give your boytoy a smooch in public or stare longingly into your girlfriend’s eyes. But how do other cultures show affection for their significant others?

Hide and seek Reminisces of a French childhood and transitioning to America

by Lindsay Reed, Reporter

On a blistering summer’s day at the meeting point of rivers Rhône and Saône, sits France’s third largest city, Lyon.

Within its bustling, industrial streets traipse its diverse 400,000 plus population while elementary-age, NOW junior Tony Noel and his cousins race to find the perfect hiding space for “Cache Cache,” the French version of Hide and Seek.

After living in a peaceful southeast corner of France where, from Noel’s perspective, “life is much easier and simpler,” transitioning to California at seven years old proved quite a challenge.

“It was hard trying to talk to people when I first moved to America,” Noel said. “They didn’t understand my accent.”

To help him cope, Washington Union Elementary School sent him to a speech class where his strong accent was classified as a “speech impediment.” A few weeks into the class, however, Noel was removed to make room for other students after teachers thought he was “good enough.”

Left to fend for himself, Noel did his best to breach the communication barriers and search for his niche among his new American peers.

“My accent has disappeared finally. But whenever I go back to visit France in the summertime, my accent always comes back somehow,” Noel said, reminiscing about the country of his childhood.

With the passing years, Noel admits he can only remember “the whole big picture of living there, no real specific memories.” However, the general impact of the architecture, gastronomy and diverse, rich culture of France’s people has left a definite impact since his big move.

Fondest of these memories is Bastille Day on Jul. 14 where all of France celebrates the French Revolution of 1789 with hype equivalent to that of the Fourth of July in America.

“That’s when all my family was together,” Noel said. “They were the happiest they’ve ever been.”

He recalled gathering at his uncle’s homemade house on a hill next to the Rhône River in Lyon. Built by hand, complete with wood beams and a grassy lawn, this humble abode was the ideal place for a familial celebration. After the www.crimsonnews.org

family had gathered, they headed to a restaurant on the river’s shoreline, where one of Noel’s favorite traditional dishes was served, local, two-inch long, fish, fried with the whole body intact. He recalls that the owner, in honor of the special holiday, fed all those who walked through his doors that couldn’t afford the food.

“Life just seems so much easier. Everyone is so much closer to each other and open,” Noel remarked. “Everything in France is so much simpler. All seems to work together in a more natural way.”

Staying true to their “natural” ways, the typical French cuisine is unlike the modern, industrialized American menu where one can pick and choose their food from every corner of the world.

“People eat what the earth gives them according to their region,” Noel said, remarking that, for example, when eating somewhere in a specific region such as the coast, one may only order seafood as opposed to imported steak or chicken because that is what is found in that area.

The people are not only true to their regional gastronomic roots but also their historical architecture as well. Though their ancient buildings and cobblestone streets may turn decrepit and worn, they are not forgotten.

“Buildings built in America are like, ‘what’s the next biggest, greatest thing possible’ whereas in France it’s more like, ‘let’s make the best of what we have, use our history, and keep adding to it,” Noel said.

As he continues to adjust to the American way of life whether it be through his growing recognition as a Dub Step artist or supporting his father, Luc Noel, as he travels the country winning car races, for Tony Noel, France will remain a large part of who he is, where he is going, and who he will become.

Belgium

Known for their similarities to America, Belgians celebrate the day of love on Feb. 14.

Typical to the American way of flirtation through buying gifts, dating, and writing notes or texts to your significant other, Belgians also celebrate the Westernized world of Hallmark Valentine gifts. “[Valentine’s Day is] always cheesy! People go out for dinner, buy sweet gifts like chocolates or heart candies; Guys buy roses to show how much they love their girlfriend,” Belgian foreign exchange student Valentine Vanleeuw said.

Japan

In Japan, teenagers are more conservative to who they hug, unlike America where hugging is celebrated, in fact it is recommended to receive a hug a day. In a study at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, scientists proved that hugging increases the level of oxytoxin, according to foxnews. com.

An increase in the level of oxytoxin protects humans from heart disease.

“In Japan, we hug our friends to show affection just like America...but it is only girls. Girls and boys don’t hug each other very much except couples. I was surprised that people hug a lot here,” Japanese foreign exchange student Kana Tei said.

But the one day where the personal bubble is popped is Valentine’s Day, only in this island nation, this holiday is like living in a mirror. Everything is the opposite: the girls give the boys the gifts.

The boys then have their chance at returning the favor a month later on March 14th, also known as “White Day”. Started in 1978 by confectionery companies, the boys give their Valentine chocolates or a little gift, according to ecenglish.com.

India

In America, it’s adorable to give your boyfriend or girlfriend a kiss hello—but in India, a little smooch can land you in jail. In the Indian Penal Code 294, “Whoever, to the annoyance of others, (a) does any obscene act in any public place, or (b) sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both,” according to indiankanoon.org. Instead of greeting their loved one with a kiss, it is proper Indian etiquette to greet another Indian by placing your palms together and bow while saying, “Namaste” which means “I bow to you.”

—Megan Rodrigues, Co-Editor-in-Chief Graphics illustration by Sydney Matteson Photos by Courtney Thompson and Lindsay Reed

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Sci-Tech World Piece

PREVIOUS

Siriously funny Feisty feature on iPhone

by Megan Rodrigues, Co-Editor-in -Chief

“I’m sorry Dave, I can’t let you do that,” HAL 9000 said to in the film “2001: Space Odyssey.” But the newest innovation on the iPhone, Apple’s sassy new product Siri, is quite the opposite of the computer possessed space ship. Siri obeys the owner’s every practical and whimsical question.

Apple released the iPhone 4S on Friday, Oct. 14 as “a force to be reckoned with,” according to Joshua Topolsky, the founding editor-in-chief of The Verge, in a Washington Post article.

Reportedly the preorders of the 4S exceeded 1 million within the first 24 hours, Apple reported to the Washington Post, leaving millions in America hopeful and curious of the various new features on Apple’s newest invention, such as its 8 megapixel camera, the iCloud (which stores your music, photos and documents wirelessly pushes them and saves them to all Apple devices) and iOS 5 (the newest system that has over 200 new features).

Of course, along with these other features, Siri is the most recognized. This feminine voice feature is a result of the DARPA-funded project CALO, according to quora.com. This feature allows the owner to get directions, call contacts, search the web and nearby restaurants and type out text messages. Of course she’ll answer the phone. And she does it all by just pressing a button and talking as they’re speaking to a BFF. Siri and the iPhone 4S use a dual-core A5 chip, 3G Wi-Fi networks to communicate quickly with Apple’s data centers to get the answer as fast as possible to the owner, according to apple.com.

These data centers are rooms of servers and computers processing the iPhone owner’s request or question. But the speed and comprehension of Siri allows 4S owners to hold a conversation, joke, and even insult this fine iPhone feature.

“Siri is a nice feature on the iPhone. You hold down the middle of button, and you have a gateway of opportunities. [You] can ask for almost anything, and [Siri] will take you to the most accurate connection to your question,” said junior Nichole Steingruber, an owner of the iPhone 4S since she preordered it in October.

Steingruber reportedly uses Siri the most to get around to different places. But she also jokes around.

“Tell her you need to go to the bathroom,” Steingruber encouraged.

Photo by Nikianne Ochoa

Fun things to ask Siri: 1 “Siri you are useless.”

Siri: “I don’t really like these arbitrary categories.”

2 “Who’s your daddy?”

Siri: “You are. Can we get back to work now?”

3 “I love you” Siri: “All you need is love and your iPhone”

iri a You ask S hat w , but question ns next? p a h pe

The dua iPhone l proc -core A 4s e que sses th 5 chip s off t tion an e o thro Apple d sends it WiF ugh eith i or e r 3G.

4 “Siri you suck.”

Siri: “I’m just trying to help you.”

5 “Will you marry me?”

Siri: “We hardly know each other.”

6 “You’re stupid.”

Siri: “I’m doing my best.”

7 “I wish to kill myself.”

Siri: “I couldn’t find any suicide prevention centers.”

8 “You’re sexy.”

Siri: “You say that to all virtual assistants.”

9 “Sing a song.”

Siri: “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…”

10 ”Who is Eliza?”

Siri: “Do you know Eliza? She was my first teacher.”

Y sent to Ap our question is ple’s data c enters in M where you aiden, North Caroli na r speech is an matched w ith the clo alyzed and sest possib interpretati le on.

11 “Are you human?”

Siri: “Close enough, I’d say.”

—Megan Rodrigues, Co-Editor-in -Chief, Sara Bourgault, Health Co- Editor and Nico Davaz, reporter

Silly rabbit, tricks are for Macs Star Wars Movie “Episode IV featuring computer text animation” 1. Open Terminal 2. Type code telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl Screen Shot “Take a picture of your entire screen” Command + shift + 3

32 | Crimson 02.15.12

Inverse Screen Color “All white turns black and vice versa” Control + option + command + 8 Ellipsis “No need to hit the period key 3 times” Control + semicolon

Computer Talk “Generate what your Mac will say to you” 1. Open Terminal 2. Type “say” followed by a phrase of your choice

back is sent one. e s n o sp iPh The re to your

Slow Minimizing “Analyze the slow moving window” Shift + click minus sign to minimize window Graphic illustration by Ryan Morrison Sleep mode “Instant black screen, undercover mode” Option + command + eject —Brielle Silletti, Business Manager, Ryan Morrison, Graphic Designer

Paso Robles High School

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Love at first click Dating goes digital

by Shanna Dowling, News Editor

You’ve all seen the commercials: scores of web-linked lovers parading across a white screen to Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be” surging in the background, pausing for a peck on the lips or an awkward anecdote or two, all under the orchestration of eHarmony site owner Dr. Neil Warren Clark. Chris and Lauren call their romance a “volcano of love” on par with a “high score in Pacman.” Joshua and Tanyalee reiterate to the camera the story of their lip-locked first meeting in an airport.

Online relationships are not only popping up on TV, but on computer screens of students and Paso Robles locals alike.

With the growing allure for things swift and tech-based, traditional societal routines are phasing out. There is less talking, more texting, fewer personal connections, more wifi connections.

These methods of diminished interaction are becoming the norm for the social scene.

Sophomore Delaney Drake and her boyfriend Travis have been dating for two months, but they’ve never met, not in person, anyway. The two hit it off on an online fan forum for the

Vlogbrothers and began seeing each other through Skype.

“He has the same sense of humor as me [and he’s] really smart. He’s also a great listener and someone I feel I can trust no matter what,” Drake said.

Despite the 205 miles between them, Drake and Travis find innovative ways to make their relationship “personal,” through the limitations of their screens, taking their own spin on the classic movie date by watching the “Doctor Who Christmas Special” together over Skype.

“In general, online dating really is just dating, it can be a bit harder due to distance, but it’s a real relationship all the same,” Drake said. “I actually think it’s more personal, seeing as online, personality triumphs over looks.”

For PRHS alum Veronica Rodin, online dating was a way to cope with the new surroundings and loss of high school friends as she left Paso Robles to pursue a college education at CSU Northridge in August 2010.

“I have never intended on dating online,” Rodin said. But little did she know, it was how she would come to meet Joseph McWilliam, now boyfriend of a year and two months.

Proceeding with extreme caution in the beginning, Rodin said she agreed to a face to face meeting after about four weeks of conversing online, leading to a tour of the town and a six hour conversation in a Hollywood café in which their present chemistry was realized.

“He is loving, honorable, a hard worker, a clown, and [he] puts me before anything else. We are polar opposites but together we become balanced,” she said.

Even having found success in the online field, Rodin, like many, recognizes the dangers of internet dating.

“It is hard to take it seriously because it is in the fantasy land we call the internet. That changes all the rules of the game. Sometimes I have wondered if everything he has shared with me has been a lie and he is leading a double life like in a movie, but then I remember this is real life.”

With as many as one-third and three-quarters of single people with

internet access having utilized Sci-Tech it for purposes of meeting a NEXT Cupcake Corner significant other, according to University College London researcher Jeremy Dean, and over 33 million registered eHarmony daters, some remain leery of its authenticity.

“I don’t believe in online dating because it, quite simply, isn’t real. It’s an excuse for determinedly introverted people and isolated video gamers that are too afraid to take a step outside his or her box,” said freshman Taylor Ellstrom, who also acknowledges the fact that internet dating sites that employ compatibility searches may help to prevent hasty marriages and rapid divorces, such as “Kim Kardashian’s 72 day catastrophe.”

Sophomore Hunter Burggraf sees the controversial social interaction as a wonderful opportunity.

“Online dating is an awesome idea . It allows people to broaden their search and find someone that they can bond with. There’s no reason to limit yourself to people you meet in person, because there are millions more people that could possibly be the one,” Burggraf said.

For daters like Drake, the answer is simple, “It’s a lot like dating offline, really. It works sometimes. Just like dating offline, if the SKYPE’S SWEETHEART: Sophomore two want Delaney Drake met her boyfriend online, to make it bonding over Vlogbrothers. The two work, they communicate through Skype. Photo by Nico Davaz. Graphic by Ryan Morrison will.”

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Food Dating online PREVIOUS

Love is in the air! What better way to show your feelings than with a cupcake?

by Megan Luth, Food Editor

This month, what better way to celebrate the gooey sappiness of romance than with a gooey frosting and sappy heart decoration from the Hearty Slice cupcakes? The flavor of this cupcake is vanilla, but it has an extra special heart center, literally. The frosting is a sticky cherry Laffy Taffy buttercream that keeps students silly and in love with this cake.

“I enjoyed the sweetness of this cupcake. It was the perfect amount of sugar to complete a scrumptious flavor to fall in love with,” said junior Rori Stout who was love struck by the first bite of the hearty slice cake.

The making of the cake caused no trouble because it was a box mix used this month, and simply following the directions from that. The heart center is simple as well. You make another cake mix and let it cool to cut out hearts. The key is to use a smaller heart cut out so it can actually fit into the cupcake liner and not poke out when baking. When cutting the hearts out of the sheet cake, it is better to slice the cake into thinner slabs, so cutting the sheet in half and thinning it out helped make the hearts fit better into the cupcake liners. The frosting is very interesting. While baking I personally was unhappy with the original flavor that came out and added more sugar and melted cherry taffy to keep it sweet and have less of a butter taste.

“I enjoyed how the cake was simple yet delicious, and the frosting wasn’t too overwhelming,” said Mason Keller, a junior who enjoyed munching on this cake.

In the end, these little bundles of love will get your sweetheart asking for more. And whenever making any cupcake, you can count on a great experience, much tastiness and many smiles! Happy baking!

Directions: 1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F) 2. Bake the first cake mix. Follow all the directions from the box and while mixing add enough red food coloring to get your preference of a good pink or red batter. Spray a sheet pan and pour the batter in. Then bake.

3. Once done baking allow to cool completely. When the sheet cake is cool, loosen the edges away from the pan with a knife and then invert the pan onto a cutting board. Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a dozen cake hearts that are small enough to fit into an average-sized cupcake pan.* *Note from Megan: My sheet cake was too thick so I sliced it in half to get smaller thinner hearts.

4. Spoon two heaping tablespoons of the remaining batter into paper-lined cupcake tins, so they’re about half-full. Put one heart into each tin and press it point down into the batter. Keep

all the hearts facing forward in the pan. Cover with another teaspoon of batter and bake for 24 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

5. Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Keep the cupcakes facing forward so you get the right cross-section of the heart when you cut or bite into the cupcake (to get the full heart effect). So keep all the cupcakes facing forward as you move them from the cupcake tin to a cookie sheet for cooling/frosting. After frosting, put heart candy on them (or some other decoration) that can also face forward so you know which way to cut the cupcake in order to see the heart shape inside (if you cut the heart in the wrong direction you just get a rectangle shape—not very romantic!).

6. For the butter cream, melt the taffy and the heavy cream together in a small bowl for one minute on high, stirring every 20 seconds. Stir the mixture together until it’s smooth, and then stick it in the fridge so it cools a bit (the cream will keep it from hardening).

7. In a mixing bowl, whip the butter for 30 seconds until its smooth.

Add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, whipping until fluffy.

Finally, with the mixer on medium-low, drizzle in the melted and cooled taffy mixture. When it’s all in, turn the mixer up to high and whip the frosting until it’s fluffy. If you’d like, add a little pink or red food coloring to get the desired shade. Then frost! Remember, while frosting, keep track of which direction the heart in the cupcake is facing.

Vanilla Cake: 2 boxes of Vanilla cake mix Red food coloring

Laffy Taffy buttercream: 10 pieces of cherry Laffy Taffy candy 2 T. heavy cream 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 2 c. powdered sugar

Photos by Emily Cone

34 | Crimson 02.15.12

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Sports NEXT

Technically Speaking

Girls polo ties for 4th in PAC-7

SMILING SENIORS: Girls Varsity water polo seniors (left to right) Sara Miller, Stephanie Smith, Sydney Torres, Tess Weber, Lauren Rodrigues, Emily Schoennauer and Megan McManus take a moment after their last game against the Righetti Warriors on Thursday, Feb. 9. To wrap up their near CIF achieving season, coach Duane McRoy wrote a poem to all the senior ladies which he recited before the game started.

The seniors all played together during the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter. Photo by Megan Rodrigues

What has been the key to your team’s success this season?

by Josh Orcutt, Sports Co-Editor, and William Ford, Business Team

We get along well and play our hearts out. The team is like a family, and we don’t let our sisters down.

We encourage each other, and together we create our success.

‘

‘

Anacaren Munoz senior, girls varsity soccer

‘

Girls varsity soccer in difficult season

Matthew Mihelic sophomore, boys varsity soccer

Deon Torio senior, boys varsity basketball

‘

‘

We play well when we have high spirits and don’t quit. Our team is very close and that helps us to work together. The most important thing is that no matter the outcome we learn from the game and improve on our mistakes.

Our team has young talent with a minimum number of seniors to lead, but executing basic skills and playing with intensity have been our leading force. Our success hasn’t been as good as past years, but our coach [Matt] Drake always says, ‘It’s just a game, have fun.’

MIDFIELD CONTROL: Sophomore Hannah Paul is dribbling through the Arroyo Grande defense during the last home game of the season on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. Paul has recorded over six assists in her 2012 campaign.

Photo by Josh Orcutt

Zoe Zepp sophomore, girls varsity water polo Even if the score is 10-0 we still go all out and try our best until the buzzer goes off. It’s better to play a good game and lose, than to play a bad game and win because you don’t feel like you deserved it. It teaches you what you need to bring the next time you play .

‘

www.crimsonnews.org

— Josh Orcutt, Sports Co-Editor

Senior standout Elias Stokes picks Cal Poly

‘

‘

Coming off a 13 win 2011-2012 campaign, the varsity girls Bearcat squad has been statistically disappointing compared to last year. They have played to a 6-102 record, going 3-6-1 in league. The Bearcats have returned nine starters out of 18 from the previous year, with this years captains being junior midfielder Danica Boggs, sophomore defender Michalann Mott, senior defender Jessica Mihelic, and junior defender Camelia Pacheco. With all the veteran leadership on the team, sophomore midfielder Emilee Brown has also taken somewhat of a leadership role on the team from the center of the field. Junior Carly McCall has stood out in goal, recording four shutouts.

“The key to the team’s success is [our] positive attitude and our ability to work hard together. Our team always does their best to encourage each other and not get frustrated because it [would] bring everybody else down. As long as we keep our heads up I know we can have a great season,” Junior defender Rori Stout said when asked about the key to her teams’ success. The best PRHS victory was a double overtime thriller played on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 vs Atascadero HS.

RUNNING INTO THE FUTURE: Stokes ran hard during the final game of his high school career versus the St. Joseph Knights. Stokes had 342 receiving yards, and three touchdowns in the year. Photo by Josh

When the football boys pull on their crimson jerseys in the Flamson locker rooms next fall, a familiar face won’t be among the Bearcats. Instead, senior Elias Stokes will be sixty miles away, wearing emerald in a stadium of 11,075 screaming fans.

The dynamic 2010-2011 PAC-7 Player of the Year has committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

His reason for denying schools like US Davis, San Jose State, and the Air Force is simple: “I love the town, I love this area and I’ve got people who love and care about me here. [Cal Poly is] full of traditions and positive vibes, and it has a great environment that I want to be around,” Stokes said.

This past 2011 season, Stokes adapted to positions other than wide receiver, taking on punting and sharing quarterback with junior Garrett Nelson. In his career, Stokes pulled in 118 receptions for a total of 1844 yards and 23 touchdowns. His junior year was his best statistically, recording 61 catches for 1001 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 817 return yards on kickoffs and punts.

He was named to the ESPN Rise first team as a multi-purpose player. “[There will be] even bigger and brighter things in his future,” head football coach Rich Schimke said, who has been coaching Stokes on varsity for three years.

Stokes, who plans to major in kinesiology, will be joining the ranks of a successful recruiting class, including players such as Folsom, CA quarterback Tanner Trosin, who threw for 5,000 yards, rushed for 1,000 and is rated as the third best passer in the nation.

Hopeful about the next four years, the star senior looks forward to joining the Mustangs.

Orcutt

Paso Robles High School

— Josh Orcutt, Sports Co-Editor Crimson 02.15.12 |

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Sports Elias Stokes

PREVIOUS

Technically Speaking: Senior Goalkeeper Jesus Gil

MENTAL INTENSITY: “Penalty kicks are primarily mental,” and reading the player before the kick is the keeper’s “shot” to stop it.

Angle of approach, shooting foot movement, and hips opening up: each clue can mislead, but combined they are reliable. There’s a saying that “You don’t have to block every shot. Intimidation is key. If you can scare the opponent so he misses the shot, then you’ve done your job,” an online source said.

PRACTICE GRABS: The fate of a PK is mostly left in the shooter’s feet - but the defense doesn’t want them to know that.

Keepers will often stretch their arms out wide and make practice grabs at the upper crossbar in order to both warm up and demonstrate their reach. By making the goal look smaller, they hope to get in the striker’s head.

YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS:

GUESS WORK:

In the penalty box, good hands are essential. They must be explosive, as even a fingertip can make a ball veer off target and miss.

The penalty is pretty much in the hands of the striker, as the keeper must make a decision on what to do to stopit before the ball is even struck. An educated guess, as unreliable as it sounds, is the only option.

Keepers guess correctly only 40 percent of the time, and in that 40 percent, they only stop 25 to 30 percent of the shots, according to online research. Staying alert is key.

DIVE BOMB: With a diving reflex, the keeper must have a strong core. Not only does the keeper have to have a strong dive reflex, he must use his core to get the maximum vertical leap he can get by working out and staying stretched out. Even a couple inches could be the difference between a goal and a save.

Trading Spots For senior goalkeeper Jesus Gil, sharing a goalkeeper position with another first year varsity player in Junior Rodrigues hasn’t hindered his statistical success this year. He has been playing soccer for approximately eight years, first playing defender. One day, he gave keeper a shot, and fell in love with it. Gil has played 760 minutes this season, only allowing goals and netting three shutouts. He has 49 saves, and has been allowing less than one goal a game, at .947 goals allowed average. Gil’s favorite moment so far this year was : ”During the Cats and Hounds Tournament, [I] saved a penalty kick that saved the tournament for the Bearcats.”

Gil enjoys sharing keeper and said “Who ever earns[the keeper spot], earns [the right to start].” Gil also was a member of the 2010 Salinas Chivas Club League Champions.

38 | Crimson 02.15.12

QUICK FEET: You may think quick feet are only important for field players, but during a penalty kick, the keeper must move his feet quickly as soon as the ball is kicked to have any chance at saving it. Saving the ball with your feet is very rare, but feet are important nonetheless.

Paso Robles High School

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Behind A Penalty Kick

Sports NEXT

Pressure

by Josh Orcutt, Sports Co-Editor

Senior Striker Angel Guevara

PINPOINT ACCURACY: According to statistics, it’s in the striker’s hands whether or not the goal is made. The shot is mainly the shooter’s to miss, not the keeper’s to block, so precision is key. The idea is to aim where the goalie has a hard time getting to the ball. Either go to the top corner or shoot low, where the goalie isn’t expecting the ball.

FOCUS UNDER PRESSURE: With the game potentially on the line, mental toughness in the face of adversity and the keeper is key. Shooters should focus and pretend like they are the only one on the pitch. Keep your head in the game and stay calm under pressure.

SWIVEL: As a striker, you do not want to open up your hips. It tips off the goalie as to which way you are shooting and reduces your kick power.

Big league dreams BEND AT THE KNEES: The knees of the striker determine part of the power used, and also the angle at which the shot is taken at.

The striker can either decide to keep the shot on the ground or up in one of the corners, which depends on the angle of the knees at contact.

TWIST: The ankles twist and can curve the ball in any given direction depending on the twist of the ankles at the impact moment.

EXPLOSIVE FORCE: Feet can propel a ball up to 64 miles per hour, and a shot can meet its target in under a quarter of a second.

PK shooters should not blast the ball, but aim with accuracy. Different parts of the feet can have different results: from a laces kick, which causes the ball to either rise or fall rapidly, to, an instep, which can cause the ball to spin rapidly and curve. www.crimsonnews.org

Paso Robles High School

From the age of six, playing in the “big leagues” has always been a dream of senior striker Angel Guevara. Guevara went from playing soccer in his backyard to the field of War Memorial Stadium where he starts at striker, wearing #23. His favorite moment of the year for him so far is the “great success [in] tournaments, [and the fact that] we are one of the top teams in league.” He is a three year varsity player, with this year being his last and so far most successful statistically. He has had 15 goals so far this season, on 38 shots. During the Cats and Hounds Tournament, held at Barney Schwartz Park, on Dec. 3 and 4, 2011, he tallied seven goals alone. Compared to 11 goals last season, and five goals on nine shots as a sophomore, he is improving as a striker. He has also been a part of the passing game, recording two assists. Guevara has been a team leader, voicing his opinion during halftime, and giving motivational speeches, with the help of his coach Evan Clark. Guevara was a part of the 2010 Salinas Chivas Club League Champions Squad, where he played striker.

Photos by Emily Cone, and Josh Orcutt

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Under pressure

Sports

PREVIOUS

Technically Speaking

Breaking the breakdown

How athletes can succeed when eyes are watching

by Sinéad Schouten, Sports Co-Editor

The free throw line is a lonely, untouchable place. Senior Katie Knupper knows this well on a rainy January evening, as she lines up at the top of the key for the fifth time that game.

Crimson Paso and purple Righetti line up on either side, the weight of their eyes on her shoulders. A silent second is followed by a shot, a swish.

Knupper cracks a smile as she gains a point – and some peace of mind.

“I don’t mind free throws for the most part,” the varsity center said, who went six for nine in her free throws that Jan. 20 night. “But you can ruin it for yourself if you let people get in your head. That’s when the trouble starts.”

This trouble is stress: our natural reaction to high intensity.

For as Knupper took her practice dribbles, her heart was naturally beginning to work overtime, pumping adrenaline into her blood stream and expanding her lungs, according to anatomy teacher Jon-Paul Ewing. This fight-or-flight reaction is meant to come out in life-threatening situations. And when bleachers full of students are watching your basket, the pressure of their stares can make or break a moment.

Competitors have to handle cheers and boos, coaches and parents, and expectations of victory. The free thrower’s wrists, the diver’s knees, and sprinter’s legs are all forced to respond in a controlled, practiced way, regardless of emotions and distractions.

There’s only one way to a win, and that’s a calm body and mind.

Most PRHS teams practice two to three hours a day, and there’s a reason for that. Much of sports success is found in repetition. The common adage of “practice makes perfect” is true. Repeating actions connects neurons in the brain, forming links that can be remembered and called back on, according to a BBC.com report. By practicing movements over and

over again, muscle memory is formed, giving an athlete the skills they need. Even under pressure, the body will naturally remember what it needs to do.

But while a practice start might be easy enough with only your teammates watching, junior Liam Hoagland finds the blocks a little different on race day.

“People joke around more at practice. It’s not as intense,” Hoagland said, who runs the 100 meter dash. “Once you’re in the blocks at a meet and the official yells ‘set,’ I can completely feel every muscle in my body tensing. My heart starts to pound in my ears.”

In the heat of the moment, a sprinter can forget to drive with their arms and come out low down the lane. But that’s when the after school hours pay off. Through muscle memory and a disciplined body, an athlete can act instead of think. Separating the anxiety of the starting gun from the start he’s practiced at least 20 times a week, Hoagland can leave the blocks at the head of the pack.

But there’s one thing fueling this explosion down the track: adrenaline.

“Your body devotes resources to the needed organ systems to either run away or stand and defend,” Ewing said. Stress causes heart rate and blood flow to increase. Nerve impulses make your skeletal muscles move, endocrine system flood your body with hormones. Adrenaline, one of these hormones, opens vessels and allows more oxygen into the brain, raising alertness.

“The stress response is how an athlete can perform to the best of their ability. Almost all athletes ‘get pumped-up’ a competition.” But Ewing admits that while adrenaline does “supplement and prolong” this natural high, an athlete’s success is as much mental as physical.

The trained body can be a fine tuned machine, but without

Poly sports psychologist gives advice TIPS FROM TROESCH Cal to PRHS athletes on competing their best

1

“Make sure every day you have a clear purpose and intention about what you are going to accomplish in your practice/training/ competition, and make sure you evaluate this at the end of every day. ‘Did I do what I said what I was going to do?’ Good feedback loops keep athletes progressing toward excellence, which is what it’s all about.”

40 | Crimson 02.15.12

2

“Athletes need to understand that achieving mastery in any sport is very, very difficult and it requires hard work. There are no shortcuts. I think many athletes are under the misconception that it comes easier than it does.”

3

“You better love the sport in order to put in the required time to be successful. If it feels too much like work and not enough like fun, then there is a high likelihood for burnout or drop out.”

Paso Robles High School

the brain to properly guide it, it’s a car without an engine. For Cal Poly sports psychologist Jeff Troesch, it’s his job to make sure that engine is running on all cylinders.

Troesch has been assisting Mustangs since 2004 in coping with the pressures of collegiate sports, not focusing on the stats and figures associated with sports success, but instead breaking down each day into a set of smaller, simpler goals.

Even if it’s only running one lap extra, the goal to get “one day better, every day” can show strong improvements.

“If they are looking for a magic potion or think they can just apply some ‘tips without doing to work to implement the suggested changes, then I guess I can ‘only do so much’,” Troesch said. Yet with hard work and taking his advice to heart, Troesch is assured a positive mind set and improve any competitor.

But just as practice is a physical key to performing under pressure, how an athlete does their practicing can make all the difference.

In the search for how to best prepare athletes for performing in the spotlight, in December 2002 researchers from Michigan State University challenged three groups of golfers. The test was to see which training circumstances produced the best results. The first group learned how to tee under normal conditions; the second had a tape making background noise; and the third was with a video camera in front of them recording their progress. Researchers hoped that the second and third groups would answer a critical question: which helped competitors more, learning to ignore the outside or focus on the inside?

All groups performed the same during a low-pressure, average putt test. But during the high pressure test when they were told that their performance could earn a monetary award, the results were different. The normal condition and the distraction groups, one and two, did much worse. But the third, video camera group didn’t choke when the stakes were high.

Conclusion? Learning under pressure helps performing under pressure.

So after hours of free throws, pushing out of the blocks countless times, and adapting the art of calm inner focus, athletes like Knupper and Hoagland can prove that practice does indeed make perfect. PRHS athletes no longer have to fear the heat of a moment, being carefully watched by parents and teammates.

Each person handles these stresses differently, but the key is learning to embrace what makes hearts race.

Photo by Josh Orcutt Graphic illustration by Ryan Morrison

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Odds&Ends NEXT

Winter Formal

Skillful students succeed

Skills USA competitors move on to state competition

by Kathryn Wingfield, Co-Editor-in-Chief, and Nico Davaz, Reporter

Twelve days ago,105 registered PRHS Skills USA competitors headed to Salinas for the 45th annual regional competition on Friday, Feb. 3, ready to show just how skillful they were in 35 different categories ranging from electrical construction wiring to child care. By the end of the weekend, 82 emerged victorious, continuing on to the state competition on April 12.

The regional program, which has witnessed a 33 percent increase in PRHS participation over the last two years, marked the first session of the season, preceding the state and national competitions. The gold medal winners will be sharpening their skills for the next three months as they prepare for a trip to San Diego and the experience of a lifetime.

But while those not continuing on didn’t take a medal home, all involved gained the opportunity to develop their talents in a nationally recognized setting, learning lessons that will “prepare them for leadership in the world of work,” according the Skills USA motto.

“It was definitely a great experience,” junior Emilee Nolan, who competed in a structured interview for teaching careers, said. “It gave me the chance to better understand how

to work with children.”

For coordinator Randy Canaday, the greatest reward was watching his students learn right before his eyes.

“For any advisor, seeing your students challenged and rising to the occasion is amazing,” he said. “Now it’s time to get ready for state.”

LEADING THE FUTURE: Advisor Randy Canaday speaks at last year’s banquet. Canaday encourages students to join Skills USA after witnessing an eight percent increase since last year.

Photo by Kim Boswell

Photo by Maddi Coons

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Events

formally invited PREVIOUS

[

The first winter dance in three years, the 2012 Sadie Hawkins themed Winter SemiFormal, came to PRHS on Jan. 28. Romance warmed up the cold January days, and ladies all over campus found creative ways to ask their favorite gentlemen.

MACKENZIE ERB TYLER ZEPP “Tyler loves snow boarding, his favorite sport is water polo, and he hates Calculus.

A friend helped me make three cookies: a snowboard that asked ‘Will you go to Winter Formal with me?’, a water polo ball that said ‘yes’, and a Calculus book that said ‘no’. He hates Calc so much I knew he’d have to say yes!”

– Mackenzie Erb, 12

[

Skills USA

CAMILLE ANDRUS MATT NOTTENKAMPER

SUMMER DE CANIO KEVAN GARCIA

“I decorated a fishbowl and filled it with goldfish crackers. Inside was a scroll that said, ‘There are lots of fish in the sea, but I think you’re a great catch! Will you go to formal with me?’

I left it on his desk in GEO, and he said yes.”

“Kevan is in wrestling, and he had a tournament one weekend. I surprised him by showing up with a sign that said “FORMAL?” and bag of Hershey kisses.

He had no idea that I was going to show up.

I waited outside with the sign as his friend Josh brought him outside of the gym, where he said yes.”

– Camille Andrus, 11

– Summer De Canio, 11 Photos by Josh Orcutt

42 | Crimson 02.15.12

— Sinéad Schouten, Sports Co-Editor, and Sarah Wilson, Feature Co-Editor Paso Robles High School

www.crimsonnews.org

Fun & Games Dodgeball

Those awkward giggles. The side hurting laughter. The polite chuckles.

All the outcomes of some teacher statements. But did you ever wish you could tell everyone of that hilarious thing your teacher said? Well now is the chance. As a staff, Crimson listened in classes and reported this teacher comedy.

”

“ ” ”“ ” Women get dropped all the time.

That’s just me living in my own private Idaho.

— Marcy Goodnow

Advanced Drama teacher explains the hazards of Contemporary Dance in a first period class. Goodnow stressed the difficulty of jumping backwards into a partner’s arms, and the trust it requires.

“

”

—Aaron Cantrell

AP Literature and Language Arts teacher discusses his big dream to his third period AP Lit. class: an AP class becoming a Glee episode, where the students “sing and dance their way to a 9.” Currently the students are preparing for their AP tests, with the AP Lit. test held at 8 a.m. at May 10 and the AP Lang. held at 8 a.m. on May 16.

“

Ahhhh! I turned on!

”

— Mark Fairbank

Let’s skin this mother.

— Jon- Paul Ewing

Ewing’s Anatomy B classes started their cat dissections on January 5. The beginning process included skinning the cat specimen. The class is scheduled to finish the dissections on February 10 and will be going to Cal Poly on February 24.

In Fairbank’s AP Physics class, the students were learning about different types of electrical apparatus. The students were doing a hands on activity where they locked arms and became a surge. The surge is very quick, and can turn it on in less than a second. Fairbank pretended to be the light bulb in the situation as he made this exclamation.

There’s something about breathing whale breath that really gets you.

— Brent Nixon

Naturalist Brent Nixon, who visited PRHS on Feb. 1 to talk about a variety of animals, describes his reaction to the field biology of Orca Whales. His presentations ranged from Humpback and Orca Whales to Sea Otters and Bald Eagles. Nixon was brought to PRHS by Bob and Susan Mahoney, in memory of their daugter Marisa Lewis, who passed in Dec. 2010 due to skin cancer.

— Quote//Unquote is compiled by the Crimson staff

Did you read?

Find the answers by reading the articles in the 44 pages!

ACROSS

1

3

4

1. The robot in your iPhone 4S. She has a personality, too!

4. Are you a pyromaniac? If you are, you must love this 5. The beach that is covered in billions of small decorative pebbles 7. The annual school dance that was incognito for a few years but returned on Jan. 28 8. The one horned endangered species featured in this month’s Scoop on 7 Species 9. The branch of the military senior Sean Doran has enlisted in 12. A proposed Olympic sport in New Zealand, due to the overpopulation of certain farm animals.

2 5

6 8

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11 10

DOWN

1. A possible option for PRHS 2012-2013 instead of trimesters 2. The subject of the school competition on Jan. 17, who’s winner will go on to compete at Cal Poly 3. The three word title of drama's upcoming play 6. Another term for parkour, as practiced by junior Brandon Goddard 10. Some may say it's dead, or sexist, but a few teenagers believe it should be taken seriously 11. What junior blind dater Jessica Zamudio ordered for dinner at Good Times

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12 — Amanda Hutchinson, Managing Editor Paso Robles High School

Crimson 02.15.12 |

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Photo Essay STORY

PREVIOUS

DODGEBALL 2012

While February brings to many high schoolers thoughts of candy hearts and romance films, it isn’t love that was in the air for one group of students: it was competition.

The PRHS dodge ball tournament took place Feb. 5 though 10 in the gym. Eighteen teams signed up to compete, with six players on each team.

“The V-Squad” comprised of varsity soccer players was pitted against “The Sexy Panthers” full of Mr. Steaffens and his AVID students on Friday’s final match.

“The V-Squad” who came in second place in 2011, swept The Panthers, winning two five minute games in a best out of three match. —Sarah Wilson, Feature Co-Editor

MUSCLE MAN: (above) Junior Stevie Stark aims a dodge ball at an opponent in Tuesday’s game. Stark’s team, I.J.L.S.A. (International Justice League of Acquaintances) was eliminated in the first round.

44 | Crimson 02.15.12

THE GREAT RACE: (top right) Dodgeball team members rush to the middle of the court, where six balls are placed. Games last a set amount of time. The team with the most remaining players wins the match and advances to the next round.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: (middle right) Players Danny Arevalo, Albert Echevarria, Brian Mercado, Adrian Padilla, Angel Guevara, and Daniel Jaimes pose after they emerge as 2012 dodgeball champions.

THE SCIENCE OF DODGEBALL: (top left) Anatomy teacher J.P. Ewing sports own unique take on a dodgeball uniform. Ewing’s team of teachers was eliminated by the “V-Squad” in the first round.

Paso Robles High School

SITTING DOWN ON THE JOB: “V-Squad” members Angel Guevara and Daniel Jaimes sit down during a game to taught the other team. The “V-Squad” was made up of the boy’s varsity soccer team. Photos by Josh Orcutt www.crimsonnews.org