2016 January Issue

Volume 75 l Issue 3 1.14.16 l 801 Niblick Rd. Paso Robles, CA l Paso Robles High School

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OUTSIDE OF AMERICA Refugee vs. Immigrant

P.R.I.D.E.

School behavior report

CROSS COUNTRY Success at state

02 News

BRIEFS

SkillsUSA approaches Students prepare for February contests

by Camden Tucker, Reporter Shaking hands slide through the sleeves of iconic red jackets, these competitors prove that they are the best in their trade.

SkillsUSA competition are set to begin in areas that include child care, welding, and 30 other career trades.

A competitor who achieves one of the top ranks in the regionals round can compete at State in San Diego. The top competitors go to nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.

“The best part about Skills is watching other people work and learning from them and improving on your project,” said junior video student OB Bass, who has competed one year in this competition as a cinematographer. Over 200 students have signed up for contests held at PRHS Feb. 6, 2015.

Drug testing looms

School board announces new standard

by Mason Seden-Hansen, Opinion Editor A new drug testing program that will begin next year was approved by the School Board on Tuesday, Dec. 8 by an unanimous vote.

The new program requires students to fill out a form and, with parent approval, choose whether or not to be put in a pool of possible candidates for random drug testing at any time throughout the year. The goal of this program is to “help students make good choices and help families work together to help prevent drug abuse,” chief academic officer Babette Decou said. The new drug testing form will be included with student registration forms from sixth to 12th grade. The testing itself is voluntary and, provided a student has parent approval, they may choose not be placed in the pool of names for random testing. A student may “opt out” of the test, even if they enrolled in the program, should their name be selected from the pool.

Science classes evolve New NGSS standards approved and implemented

by Mason Seden-Hansen, Opinion Editor The Science Department recently approved significant changes to what science classes will be available for high school students. Rather than having four years of individual subjects, such as Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, there will be three years of college prep science that will include topics from all four subjects.

“I think students are going to really like the new program we are rolling out,” Marine Biology and Anatomy and Physiology teacher Jon-Paul Ewing said.

The new science program will focus more heavily on activities rather than memorization. The changes will be implemented during the next three years and current high school students will not be affected. The program aims to make science classes better reflect the Next Generation Science Standards.

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

The purpose of P.R.I.D.E. Program targets behavior; over 50 students

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by Emmaline Voorheis, Co-News Editor

e Prepared. Be Respectful. Have Integrity. Be Outside of class time, Sharon has reported seeing Determined. Be Engaged. This is this year’s new students demonstrate PRIDE in a variety of ways: supporting anthem of Bearcat P.R.I.D.E. set in an acronym distressed classmates and encouraging them to seek adult students are expected to know and help, cleaning up trash, turning in lost wallets and posted in most classrooms campus wide. cell phones, helping teachers, tutoring peers, and Surveys show the program is gaining traction. countless hours volunteering to organize events Four classes had the slogan memorized, and a and represent PRHS in a positive way. significant amount are familiar. A surprise tutorial The basic concept of PRIDE is tied to the announcement in December, nevertheless, philosophy of the PBIS, or Positive Behavior caught many students unaware of the concepts Intervention and Support framework on campus, behind the letters. which improves climate and culture at other There is little doubt the campus is gradually schools nation wide. Teachers are encouraged to learning of a district wide effort to ensure students’ awareness of PRIDE emulate established programs that expectations by modeling such articulate the habits for success of behavior and posting the slogan on students in their campus lives and class walls. Staff is to strive to be a beyond. good example for their students The program targets students by reminding, correcting, and Dan Sharon needing to meet the goals of celebrating the positive behavior of Assistant Principal P.R.I.D.E. on their own. Fifty-four their students until it becomes the students have been referred to “norm” campuswide. specialists Michael “The teacher often times teaches Ledesma, Megan the students ‘This is how you get Kremke, an A.’ Well, this is the exact same and P.R.I.D.E STATS thing, only with behavior,” he said.

Isabel DuqueLedesma works with four of the 54 Arevalo. Several 35 classes were asked if students referred to the intervention behavior contracts they knew the P.R.I.D.E and trainings have been formed program. slogan in a PBIS awareness to pursue PRIDE conduct.

Sharon sees great moral value survey.

Referred students develop goals in having schoolwide P.R.I.D.E.; so Four classes knew 100 percent of the and action plans, ideally exiting much so that he himself strives to slogan the program after four to six abide by it, with hopes that students weeks with newfound skills for will notice the example and see it’s Five classes knew 76-99 percent of the success. value as well. He claims that student slogan “The main goal in achieving P.R.I.D.E. is seen through students Six classes knew 51-75 percent of the PRIDE is summed up in the phrase, by him daily, and believes strongly slogan ‘Bearcats at their best,’ ” assistant that it’s effects have taken for the Eleven classes knew 26-50 percent of Principal Dan Sharon said. best. the slogan “This is a personal commitment “As a whole, Bearcats never to school-wide transformation. fail to impress; the positive habits Nine classes knew less than 25 percent When students and staff exercise encapsulated in P.R.I.D.E. are of the slogan the positive behaviors described frequently commented upon by in each letter of the acronym staff, parents, and community PRIDE they enjoy personal success and contribute to a members during classroom visits, Community Day events, positive campus climate and culture.” and extracurricular activities.” Sharon said.

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As a whole, Bearcats never fail to impress... ­

”

News 03

to Gaviola, because these are the main recipients of the new principal.

SAYING FAREWELL(upper left) : Students and staff With their input, Gaviola said, the hope is to build the vision of the ideal gather to bid farewell to Randy Nelson. He will now principal for everyone. teach at Independence.

“When we get that overall feeling from our big groups--students, community, parents and staff--,” Gaviola said, “then the HR department will screen the applicants when there are enough viable applicants who meet the standard.”

Interviewing will involve two to three total interviews consisting of a prompt and a presentation on the part of the applicants, under the judgment of the group of students and parents previously consulted, along with one to two teachers. Each applicant is given the same prompt, and their presentation is done in the presence of the other applicants.

After the first round, the top few candidates move on to a second interview session, where another prompt is given and the superintendent is included in the interview panel.

“The interview process can take anywhere from a month to six months depending on the pool of applicants,” said Gaviola, who has gone through the program herself. “If there was one person who applied they will

by Emmaline Voorheis, News Co-Editor, and Valeria Cisneros, Carmesi Editor expand the search, they’ll look at how to recruit more viable applicants, those type of things. ” Gaviola added, “they need to be able to fill some really big shoes” ears, laughs, memories, and gratitude flowed among teachers and administrators The desired applicant is then brought to the board for adoption. Applicants have just started visibly Dec. 16, 2015 at the “Independence Celebration” thrown for former principal to collect.

Randy Nelson, who announced his resignation prior to Finals Week for personal, Nelson’s made clear that his decision was not easy. “This was something that I had been family, and health reasons. thinking about for a while and had discussions with family members; I brought it to the district His startling news started both a multi-month search for a new chief and a resounding effort by [fairly recently]. ” said Nelson. “The job duties of a principal are many and challenging, and you teachers and students to celebrate a principal known to be deeply loyal to the campus. can only do it for so long.”

“Greatest,” “loved,” and “missed,” were all words spoken to or about Nelson in Bearcat Hall Nelson has just begun a new position as a teacher at Independence High School, going back prior to winter break. Tears from teachers, students, and staff fell as Nelson’s 19 years at PRHS to the roots of his career, where he taught for his first four years in the district. He looks forward to were celebrated. Students, teachers, and colleagues of Nelson spoke to him, a pink boa was working closer with students there; however, he will still remember all of his experiences at Paso draped over his shoulders, and an eight-teacher band performed “Free Bird” in honor of his Robles High School with fondness. requested move to Liberty HS. “I will treasure the memories for the rest of my life,” said Nelson, who reiterated how proud he In the audience were Interim Principal Jennifer Gaviola and several who will be a part of is of the students and staff he is leaving behind. the search for a new principal in the weeks ahead.

Gaviola, who has worked in administration for 10 years--compared to her 10 months in the Nelson’s position has been posted on EdJoin, a nation-wide educational employment search district--will be stepping in for Nelson until a new principal is hired. As the District Director of engine created to enlist serving administrators and teachers Each position entered - principal of Secondary Education, she oversees the curriculums of the middle and high schools.

PRHS, for instance - will list the desired qualifications of aspiring applicants for the position.The “Because I support the secondary schools it’s just a natural transition to step in and help the job is advertised via EdJoin and through the high school. team, ” said Gaviola, who herself graduated PRHS in 1992.

Groups of teachers, students recommended by leadership, and parents will be contacted to “As a principal who’s stepping away, I’m really proud… [I believe] the school will be in good discuss desired qualities of the upcoming principal. Community input is essential, according hands” Nelson said.

Passing the Baton

Nelson’s tenure honored as principal search begins

T

Final Reflection

Graphics by Nichole Landon, graphic designer

Dates To Know

May 2-13

End of Quarter

April 22-May1

April 16

—Spencer Anderson, 10

Spring Break

Dance Show SAT testing

March 21-April 1

“Obsess over chemistry”

SAT testing

March 18

“Make flash cards”

—Kiah Williams, 10

“I go over notes”

—Zachary Farrer, 10

March 10-12

—Riley Austin, 12

March 5

“I really don’t study”

January 23

Students on campus share their studying techniques by Madi Warren, Photographer

Spring Musical

Prom

AP Testing

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

04 Editorial

Co-Editors-in-Chief Emily Ayer Feature/Blind Date/ Web/PR Manager Jessica Cole Overview Editor Maureen Pushea Feature/ Blind Date/Art Director Mariela Villa Feature/Business Manager/PR Manager

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Managing Editors Mae App Feature/Art Director Sadie Mae Mace News

Business Team Valeria Cisneros Carmesí

Web Team

Kalyn Armstrong Health

Sam Mabry Graphic Designer Nathan Rowley SciTech

Editors Natalie Cole A&E Tegan Curren People

Photographers

Raegan Lomanto Sports

Emma Corippo Ana Mendoza Madison Warren Coleen Wiest

Madecyn Penn Sports Nicole Raithel Environment Morgan Rego Food Mason Seden-Hansen Opinion Grant Scheiffele World

Photography Director

Kathryn Varian Environment

Lauren Wassam People

Emmaline Voorheis News

Adviser

Cinematographer

Jeff Mount

Angelina Valencia

Facebook www.facebook.com/crimsonnewsmagazine Website www.crimsonnewsmagazine.org

Copy Editors Marlee Drake Annie Meeder

Email prhsjournalism@pasoschools.org Instagram @crimsonnewsmag

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

Is high school preparing students for the real world?

As the next semester starts and the joy, or shame, of finals overcomes us all, the question of “When are we ever actually going to use this?” rings through our campus.

The average high school student isn’t taught how to write a check, balance a bank account, or fill out a standard tax form. We are, however, taught everything from how to graph a quadratic equation to the structure of an atom, but some necessary tools for life don’t make the curriculum.

The typical teenager spends an average of 8 hours and 41 minutes on media devices a day, according to Daily Mail. Throughout those hours, teens see pictures pop up on their Tumblr feed about the problems with our school system. One of the most common being “Me: What are taxes and how do I pay them? School System: Worry not. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

It’s clearly time for a change when schools are the face of a joke.

On Dec. 10, 2015 President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act. This act is a step forward in the journey to meaningful education. It rids school systems of unnecessary testing and gives teachers more power over what tests they administer. Now individual states are in charge of their own education systems and it encourages states to create their own functioning systems.The best part is that instead of failing kids because they aren’t strong test takers, teachers are to find other resources to help the student succeed.

Still, there are many issues at hand. High schoolers are spoiled; teachers remind us daily of the next test and the next assignment. What they don’t remind us is that, when it comes to the real world, it’s every man for himself; there’s no helpful calendar or forgiveness when one “forgets” their project at home.

As a staff we ask for not only our peers, but also our school system to realize that we will be independent adults soon, prepared or not, and that now that we, as a state, are in charge of our own school systems, California should pave the way for other states and start teaching the common necessities for life. Also, we need to realize our side to this story, that if we would like to be taught things that we will need as adults, then we must remember to act like adults and be mature when schools decide to teach us the necessities.

—Crimson Newsmagazine Staff

Photo by Jessica Cole

Opinion 05

You can lead a horse to water... but students fail at changing their behavior

by Nicole Raithel, Enviroment Co-Editor would assume that all students who have an acronym fetish will likely carry P.R.I.D.E. to their graves. After all, it truly is the Holy Grail of school-derived acronyms. It deserves a Pulitzer Prize. It is the Yogi Bear of abbreviations.

I’m just being facetious. I hope you caught onto that. I’m not a slogan regurgitating disciple of “The Man.” I’m convinced that Raithel teens are the real issue here, even though PRIDE is not smarter than the average bear.

I do not disagree with the principles of PRIDE. A school should try to inspire students to think and act ethically. And I applaud PBIS, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support, for implementing this exceedingly necessary program.

But the ignorance in the belief that it will actually help this campus become a better place is beyond me. I disagree with the technique being used to make us “model students” because it’s an utterly incomprehensible idea. Teenagers can’t become little angels.

I

Here’s the plan: overseen at PRHS by Michael Ledesma, who declared PBIS “an expectation of how people should behave,” PBIS has distributed the PRIDE acronym to everyday student-life, trying to help both obedient and troubled kids—or, I believe the term used in Scooby-Doo is ‘meddling kids.’

At PRHS there are three intervention specialists. Ledesma has an intense caseload of four to five students per semester; the other two have a caseload of 25 students each. Students end up in these offices when they have been referred by the counselors and teachers following disruption, crime, and problems we see in teen behavior.

However, PBIS and PRIDE are “not disciplinary. They are here to say ‘Hey, this is what we’ve noticed you doing, and this is what we can do to help you,’ ” Ledesma said. The plan wants to help students who have strayed from the straight and narrow.

The meaning and purpose behind the plan is swell and all. I mean, if every student came ready for class, never badmouthed a teacher or student, had sturdy morals, was driven for success, and paid attention, I probably wouldn’t want to croak every time I thought of going to my next period.

However, teenagers suck.

Being one, I am fully prepared to share my findings and observations on my age group. As Ben from “Parks and Rec” said, “Here’s the thing about 18 year olds, though. They’re idiots.”

“Here’s the thing about 18 year olds, though. They’re idiots.”

— Ben Wyatt, “Parks and Recreaction” In early December tutorial teachers asked students to robotically pair-share their familiarity with the meaning of the PRIDE program, like it was another California State Learning Standard. The activity made me feel like I was being brainwashed.

Most students did not enjoy the activity.

The correct answer was the brilliant, witty “Prepared, Respectful, Integrity, Determined, and Engaged”-- if you couldn’t remember the posters in every single classroom, otherwise known as indoctrination.

Most students and teachers I’ve spoken to feel indifferent towards PRIDE because it is just another venture in uniformity.

One time, I was at a party—only once because my experience made me never want to return to a high school party again. Since it was my friend’s house, I stayed the night. I expected there would be hours worth of cleanup to do when the morning came, like the clean-up montages in movies, but times a thousand.

What I did not expect was every drunken, rideless person would also spend the night.

Furthermore, I did not expect to wake up at 5 a.m. to the sound of water hitting the carpet. But it wasn’t water. I opened my eyes.

To my utmost horror, a girl squatted over the carpet, pants down and all. Very much in shock, I asked her what the heck she was doing. “Peeing,” she said.

The other day a kid in my history class said that he missed Question #8 on the test because he “couldn’t remember what suffrage is.” Suffrage. I propose a new law that if you don’t know what suffrage means, you don’t get to vote.

Case in point, teenagers suck.

Of course not every aspect of teenagers is awful. Just the aspects where they think they are better than everyone else— which they hypocritically hate in adults. Or that they disregard

other’s feelings to make a joke such as, “You can’t sit with us.” Or that they are so sucked into their phones and social media that they are incapable of focusing on a subject that actually matters.

Perhaps the worst is the complete lack of civility for themselves, others, and this precious Earth.

Otherwise, teens are pretty okay. Mainly because if they aren’t partaking in those activities, they are sleeping.

At times, I plead guilty on all these offences, too.

It is in these terms of teenage attitude that makes the idea and simplicity of PRIDE so ridiculous. How can administration expect us to be these precious little flowers when we are the weeds of humanity? This isn’t an outcry against administration; I’m not suggesting some proletariat, “Communist Manifesto” revolution.

But I’m also not going to preach what they try to enforce because that would be lying. And lying doesn’t demonstrate “integrity.” On the contrary, I’m taking a different route mainly because if I blamed administration and ranted about them I would get in trouble.

PRIDE is just like everything else the school has tried to inscribe on our brains: Bearcat Bullies, Red Ribbon Week, Spirit Week. The minute any newfangled idea is released, the masses turn it into some joke. Remember in eighth grade when we learned the P.E.M.D.A.S. acronym to help us in algebra and within a span of two days we had figured out a new meaning?

I just wish that we didn’t have to be reminded of how we are supposed to act. I wish everyone would just grow up and act responsibly instead of peeing on carpets, knowing only 20 words, and acting like we’re the cat’s meow. There would be no need for nuisances like PRIDE. But for now, PRIDE is a necessary evil.

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

06 Opinion

Gun Control Saves Lives

How do I “do” life?

by Emily Ayer, Co-Editor-in-Chief

by Mason Seden-Hansen, Opinion Editor

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Graphic by Sabrina Hernandez

What do the five developed countries I’ve previously ass shootings have become commonplace in the U.S., most recently at Planned Parenthood and in San Bernardino. In mentioned all have in common? They have much stricter gun control 2015, 353 mass shootings had occurred by the time of the than we do. In Japan, all guns other than shotguns and air rifles are San Bernardino tragedy, more shootings than there had been days totally illegal, and to even have those one must go through various in the year, according to Mass Shooting Tracker. Gun violence in government and police inspections first to obtain the gun, and 2015 left 13,341 Americans killed and 26,922 wounded, according routinely after to keep it. In France and Britain, gun control is so tight to Gun Violence Archive. Gun deaths come in many different forms-- even the police are mostly unarmed. Of the 32 high-income countries domestic violence, gang violence, drug wars, (as designated by The World Bank), most tended to have more strict self-defense, and public shootings, but they gun control than the U.S., all had lower firearm-death rates and, in all all contribute but one, lower murder rates to show for it. to the same We do not need to get rid of all guns-- that notion For every 100 Americans problem-- too is a conservative fantasy of a liberal agenda-- only (per capita) lost to gun many people automatic guns. AK47’s, FN SCAR’s, HK416’s, ACR’s violence, these other are being shot and the like have no other purpose than to kill as countries lose... in America due many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. They are weapons solely of war and Iran — 30 people Seden-Hansen to guns being too available to mass murder. There is no legitimate reason why Palestine — 86 people anyone who wants to own them. a regular citizen needs an automatic weapon. For Pakistan — 80 people Comparing gun-related people who hunt, shoot for sport, or want to protect Somalia — 52 people deaths in the U.S. with those of other themselves, handguns, shotguns, and rifles should countries helps us see just how big suffice.

Syria — 21 people this problem really is. As the table at Moreover, the idea that “guns don’t kill people, DR Congo — 68 people right shows, U.S. deaths from guns people kill people” is preposterous, especially when Japan — 2 people are sometimes as much as 50 times applied to automatic weapons. Automatic weapons China — 4 people greater than other countries. U.S. gun have no other purpose than to kill people. It’s what deaths are almost more than twice they’re made for. Automatic weapons are as much Germany — 4 poeple that of Somalia, known for danger and of a threat to society as the people who wield them.

France — 13 people lawlessness.

Now I can hear the ammosexuals (this is a term UK — 3 people The U.S. has the highest for people who love guns) screaming “Second Data as of 2013. Source: World Health Center guns-per-capita in the world, with Amendment! Second Amendment!” But the .888 guns per person as of 2007 (the amendment clearly states “a well-regulated militia”. figure is even higher now). France had 0.343, Germany had 0.303, The American public is anything but a well-regulated militia.

China had 0.049, Japan had 0.06, and the UK had 0.062, according to

In addition, we must keep in mind what type of weapons The Washington Post. were available at the time of the Constitution’s writing. The best Regarding another gun related problems-- accidental gun weapons during the Revolutionary War period were massive rifles deaths-- the U.S. again is far worse than its developed counterparts. that held one shot and took 30 seconds to reload, and the only pistols During 2013, the U.S. had 0.22 accidental gun deaths per 100,000 were very inaccurate. Pulling off a mass shooting was simply not people, while France had 0.069, Japan had 0.035, China had 0.032, possible. While our founding fathers certainly had foresight, they were Germany had 0.022, and the U.K. had 0.02, according to the World not clairvoyant. They did not envision weapons that could fire over Health Center.

600 rounds per minute. We, as a nation, can do better. Rather than These numbers make it painfully evident that the U.S. is in fact arming the public as though America is a war zone, we should restrict having a gun problem. a weapon that has no place in a civilized society and that has killed And the solution is: gun control in the form of a ban on automatic thousands of innocent people and children. weapons.

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

Want to hear a funny story? Well that’s too bad, I don’t have one for you.

But I do have a question, a question that all of us are wondering but are too afraid to ask.

“How do I “do” life?

Now this may not quite apply to freshmen and sophomores as much as us seniors and even juniors, but as a teenager Ayer on the cusp of adulthood, it’s a real question, and a scary one, too.

That, and “how did you do on your test?” I hate that one.

With obstacles like going to college, moving away from home, paying the bills, and moving away from home--oh, and did I mention moving away from home?-- life seems to get pretty tough pretty fast.

I don’t know how to balance a checkbook or what clothes I’m supposed to hang, and what clothes I can throw in the dryer. I don’t know how to do taxes or the real difference between jam and jelly—does anyone really, though? I definitely do not know how to take out a loan.

Please, please, do not expect me to remember to not pick up the phone when I know a fax is coming through (if you don’t understand that then don’t even worry).

The good news to all of these cautionary questions is that, well, 97 percent of the other high schoolers we are competing with to get into college now and will be competing with to get jobs in the future don’t know the answers either.

So really, it’s okay. We can all cry about taxes together.

Graphics by Sabrina Hernandez

OUTSIDE OF AMERICA

America: The safehaven

by Jessica Cole, Co-Editor-in-Chief

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merica is wonderful because everyone has freedom here, regardless of how much the government approves of their thoughts.

Or do they?

Sometimes it can feel like the world has too many Donald Trumps. Somebody needs to tell them all to just shut up, shut down free speech, but only for them, only for the people who hate on gays or muslims. Just shut those people up, and we would have a great world, devoid of all hate.

Sometimes America can feel this way, but despite how much it seems like the country’s true potential is blocked by a mass of ignorant rednecks, it isn’t.

And that’s what makes America legendarily beautiful.

Anyone, regardless of education, class, race, gender, or sexual orientation, can voice an opinion. It doesn’t matter if the Democrats or Republicans are in charge, neither of them can stop anyone from saying what they want to say (as long as it isn’t proven to be dangerous to others).

And that is what makes us different from other countries.

In the TV show “The Americans,” they deal with the issue of codeswitching. Codeswitching, for anyone that doesn’t know, can mean simply switching between two languages, but it can also be expanded to mean a phrase that holds different connotations and meanings in various language and cultures.

For example, when, in 1981, John Hinckley Jr. tried to kill President Ronald Reagan, Secretary of State Alexander Haig repeatedly insisted that he was operationally in control, due to a confused order of succession. For the majority of the American people, Haig’s misunderstanding of our Government’s chain of command was a laughable error, but that only goes to show the extent of the luxury that we live in.

Many other countries would have focused on the fact that Haig, who was formerly a General of the Army, said he was taking over, because they have watched military Generals take over and formed a stratocracy, or military government. Where we felt no fear, other countries would have viewed it as the end to their security.

We are so lucky and we don’t even know it. We have a government that for the most part monitors itself and includes opposing viewpoints, which is a luxury that some countries can’t even dream of.

So when you think about refugees and immigrants who are running here, take a second to not only remember where they are fleeing from, but where they are fleeing to. We enjoy things they can’t even comprehend. So count your blessings, and be a little more merciful, because you were born into a great country.

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

Feature 07

Timeline of Terror

by Tegan Curren, People Co-Editor and Camden Tucker, Reporter Graphics by Nichole Landon

Terroism has been alive for many years, causing tension within and between countries. below are eight examples of terroism that have affected the world.

9/11/2001 10/12/2002 Suicide bombers from the Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah and a car bomb exploded in Kuta, Bali’s tourist district, resulting in the death of 202 people. A third bomb was located in the U.S. Embassy in Denpasar.

09/012004

An Islamic terrorist group took almost 1,200 hostages and left 330 people dead, almost half of which were children, after a three day hold up in Beslan, North Ossetia, a self governing Russian republic.

10/18/2007 The Karachi bombingBenazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after an eight year self-imposed exile to a warm welcoming from many people, but in the chaos of her homecoming celebrations, two bombs exploded, killing 139 people, including 20 police officers.

Nineteen Al-Qaeda members took over four planes, using two to crash into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, resulting in the burning of World Trade Four, Five, and Six. World Trade Seven, the cities command center, collapsed after burning for seven hours. The third plane crashed into the pentagon in Washington D.C. followed by a fourth plane that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

03/11/2004 The terrorist group Al-Qaeda is responsible for four coordinated bomb attacks on spanish commuter trains, leaving 191 dead as a result in Madrid, Spain.

7/7/2005 London’s transport system was attacked when four men carrying homemade bombs targeted three underground trains and one doubledecker bus. There was a total of 52 killed and at least 700 others were injured. Two weeks after the attacks, another was attempted with bombs in the same places: three underground trains and a bus. These four bombs failed and a fifth unexploded bomb was found in a park in London two days later.

11/26/2008 10/31/2015 A Russian operated plane crashed in Egypt in what appeared to have been a terrorist attack. Islamic state claimed responsibility shortly after. All 224 people were killed in the plane.

A 60 hour attack was lead by 10 Pakistani militants on Mumbai, India’s biggest city, targeting luxury hotels and a Jewish center. India believes the terrorists were affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba a Pakistani-based militia group.

1.14.16 // Crimson Newsmagazine

Steps to becoming a citizen 1 Preparing a Form N-400, the

08 Feature

OUTSIDE OF AMERICA

application for naturalization, is the first step. The form is made up of 17 parts and 21 pages regarding the applicant, the applicant’s parents, information about his or her eligibility, educational and employment history, and more. The applicant is instructed to only fill out the first 14 parts while the others should be filled out at the instruction of an USCIS Officer at his or her interview.

2 Two 2”x2” passport photos of the

BECOMING A US CITIZEN

Graphics by Sam Mabry

The process of gaining citesenship

by Ana Mendoza, Photographer

I

t takes over 17 pages of paperwork, official documents, and at least one interview to become a citizen. Needed are birth certificates of the candidate and birth certificates of parents, plus the ability to speak English.

U.S. history for English and Civics testing lies ahead. There are voting registrations, taxpayer forms. All of it can earn the certificate bordered in white, black, and gray with the words “The United States of America” handed to the individual at a naturalization ceremony. It’s the process to be part of the whole, to be part of the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Just five years ago, Theresa*, who graduated from PRHS in 2014, began this process for legal residence through her father. She had begun to apply for permanent residence around the time she was five, but she turned 15 before she got the green light and the green card.

“The [green card] process took about 10 years,” she said.

“It consisted of many trips to Los Angeles and about four court meetings with a lawyer.”

Like Theresa, over 20 PRHS students statistically hide out of fear and embarrassment the fact that they are undergoing the permanent residency process--which allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. but not vote or work in government jobs.

Statistics show that several Bearcats among the student body hide the fact they are undergoing another process in which they will not be granted legal residence above one that grants two benefits under the DACA program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Those students as young as 15 must have entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to receive a renewable two-year work permit and exemption from deportation.

Theresa is now 20 years old and plans to apply for

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

citizenship when she turns 21, and has already started to get informed.

Many others like Theresa this year will begin the naturalization process with filling out the naturalization Naturalization is the eligibility worksheet name of the process available on the in which legal or USCIS.gov website and other steps permanent residents described AT RIGHT. can become a For Theresa, the citizens of the U.S. process will have to start when she turns They gain rights to live 21. She is waiting and work here and until she the six granted the right to year eligibility mark is reached. She is vote as well as work ready for it, though. in government jobs.

She faced court A total of 8,385 lawyers five years citizens were to reach residency-they asked her how naturalized in 1820. residency would Fast forward 193 benefit her. She years to 2013: now explained then that she wanted to study the number stands and become more at 990,553. Most than she would have new citizens in 2013in Mexico.

-400,548--came from Asia. Another 315,660 came from North America.

same color with the applicant's name and alien-number on the applicant's green card on the back of each photograph.

3 A photocopy of the front and back applicant’s permanent resident card is also necessary.

4 He or she needs to also take with

them their permanent resident card, state issued ID such as a driver’s license, and all expired and active passports and traveled documents to their interview as well as an $85 biometrics fee. If the incorrect amount of money is sent, the application will be rejected.

5 It may be required that the candidate

go to a biometrics appointment for fingerprints and photos.

6 USCIS will schedule an interview.

7

USCIS will write the applicant a notice of decision in which they will grant naturalization, decide to work further on the case, or deny the applicant of naturalization.

OUTSIDE OF AMERICA

REFUGEE

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Feature 09

hirteen percent of America is made up of immigrants and in 2011, 1500 Syrian refugees were accepted into the United States. In September of next year, 10,000 refugees will be welcomed. New people enter America every year, some legal and some illegal immigrants, along with refugees seeking help from other countries. Yet, some people don’t know the difference between an immigrant and a refugee. So what sets the two apart?

There are a plethora of differences between being an immigrant and having refugee status. The main one is that refugees are fleeing something in their country temporarily, and often times plan on returning, and immigrants are seeking a permanent home in a new country where they can have a better life. By definition a refugee is “a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster,” and an immigrant is “a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.”

The differences of these two statuses is that one is to seek asylum and the other is to find a new home. In addition, immigrants leave by choice, while refugees flee in fear of their lives or their freedom.

IMMIGRANT

TAKING REFUGE vs.

FINDING A NEW HOME The difference between refugees and immigrants

by Natalie Cole, A&E Editor, and Valeria Cisneros, Carmesi Editor

Across the world there is a person, a refugee, hoping to go to America. However, their reasons differ from the immigrant’s. While the immigrant is seeking new opportunities in the country that they are entering, the refugee is simply trying to get away from their country at any cost, and will have to prove their refugee status by proving that they could not survive in their old country to get into a country.

Fear. Persecution. Chaos. Fleeing. The girl not yet seventeen escapes her home of Syria in the hope of finding sanctuary in another country like the United States of America. She has seen her brother beaten by soldiers and thrown in jail, along with countless other acts of violence committed to those she loves. Her night of escape with her family must happen as soon as possible, and so with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and hope in their hearts, they make their way to a refugee camp. Exhausted, they take in the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, not knowing if they can even survive living this way for very long, let alone make it to a country where they can be free and safe. They could be forced back to their country or stay at the camp for the remaining duration of their lives. She knows her chances are slim now that even more countries and states deny their entry and that she is not likely to survive her endeavor. Is the chnace of a better life worth it?

There have been 11.3 million immigrants from Mexico coming to America. The majority of them are middle aged women who have had to leave their children behind because of the danger and uncertainty that accompanies the other side of the border.

Mexicans make up 49 percent of undocumented immigrants in America, according to Pew Research Center. The immigrants are trying to better their lives and the lives of their families after having been forced to live a life of poverty. Across the globe, there are a total of 50 million refugees. Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia produce over half of the world’s refugees. Most of the refugees from Syria are girls younger than 17 years old. The refugees are forced to be in refugee camps until their country has fixed its problems, they get sent back, or a country accepts their entry.

graphics by Emma Corippo

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

C A R RW O L L

10 People

Carroll’s Inspirations in Life F O

STEVE ARNETTE, HIS OLD ENGLISH TEACHER

O

HIS PARENTS (John & Mariellen)

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Cheesin’ (above) : Freshman and Sophomore English teacher, football and track & field coach, Matt Carroll smiles while sitting at his desk in room 1024. Carrol graduated from PRHS in 2004 and returned in 2012 as a student teacher then officially in 2015 as a full time position teacher.

COACHING

L

Photo by Lauren Wassam

Always find a way back home Matt Carroll returns to Paso High to continue as a Bearcat

by Maureen Pushea, Co-Editor-in-Chief, and Nathan Rowley, Sci-Tech Editor riting books, coaching offensive linemen, and watching students’ dreams come to life is all part of an everyday routine for English teacher and Varsity assistant coach Matt Carroll.

Carroll is a freshman and sophomore English teacher whose playful and friendly attitude towards students entertains them as well as teaches them important concepts in preparation for their future high school and college careers. With his witty comments and sarcastic comebacks, students can’t help but pay attention in class.

Carroll is greeted by the chill of the morning air as he makes his way to PRHS at 6:30am for early morning films with the football team. Afterwards, he heads across campus to his second home at PRHS: room 1024. Carroll, who was a former Bearcat football player, feels honored that he is able to come back and coach the sport he once played.

After graduating from PRHS in 2005, Carroll continued his education and football career at Whittier College in Pasadena, California. Later suffering a concussion and a major shoulder injury, Carroll continued within the football program at Whittier, but as an undergraduate assistant to the offensive and defensive line coach while still going to school for the next five years. In 2010, Carroll became a Mustang at Cal Poly SLO, and worked on his Master’s Degree in Psychology and English and his teaching credential. After returning to PRHS

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

HARRY POTTER

BY J.K. ROWLING

for a short time, student teaching alongside Scott Harvey, he has now come home for good.

“I originally got my start when I was in ninth grade coaching basketball. It was the first coaching gig I ever had, and I’m a terrible basketball player, so I don’t know why I was a basketball coach,” said Carroll, who has been coaching varsity football since 2012 and track and field since 2010.

However, he is more than just a coach and English teacher. Carroll, an aspiring author and journalist, writes Fantasy and Football books for an average 1020 hours a week in the hopes to get published. His inspiration? His 165 students.

“I always planned on being a writer or a journalist, but it’s a tough world to be a journalist in, so I’m constantly writing on the side trying to get published, which is a tough thing to do because I write books... so I’m kind of making my way up there, but my students come first, and I focus more on my students now than my writing,” Carroll said.

Carroll often says that his students are his inspiration to continue writing in hopes to become a published writer someday. Although Carroll has never attempted to have a book published, he has submitted one short story, only for it to be rejected.

“A lot of [my students] don’t know their dreams or know what they want to do, and they shoot really high, and I think as you get older you kind of lose some of your dreams, so it’s kinda nice being around young people.. It kind of inspires me to think ’hey, when I go

HIS STUDENTS

THE ROAD BY CORMAC MCCARTHY

home, I better write tonight’ so it kind of inspires me being around young people who are so optimistic and have a lot of dreams, ” Carroll said.

Carroll finds inspiration and support from his 55 football players, and especially his 13 offensive lineman. “[Carroll} is very open to any question. Good or Bad, he always answers it in a friendly manner. Even if it’s the 100th time the offensive line has asked the same question, he’s always there to give help,” junior offensive lineman Joe Moscato said.

Not only is Carroll loved by his “kids” on the football team, but also by his past and present students.

“The best thing about him is no matter how bad of a day you are having he can put a smile on your face. He truly cares if you are successful, and will do anything he can to help you get there,” said senior Sabrina Scott, who was in Harvey’s English class when Carroll student taught her sophomore year.

Scott, a student athletic trainer, also gets to spend time with Carroll on the football field.

“Teaching he is very professional and very concerned about you getting the best education possible and coaching he is goofy and always checking in on how everyone is doing,” Scott said.

Whether he is teaching “The Call of the Wild” or calling plays on the football field, he is inspiring students, much like they inspire him.

THE

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Words have the power to inspire or destroy, and the students at PRHS have experienced both sides of the spectrum. Pages 11-14 tell these students stories, the good and the bad. Remember that all words have an impact, positive or negative, big or small.

InDepth 11

YOU’RE GOING PLACES Last month, she “managed” to read at least 36 books. Her adoration of the printed word began in the second grade, and flourished into authorship in the eighth. She loves music, but prefers musicals above all else, and her current fixation is Hamilton, a rap musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton’s life. She played the Queen of Heart’s First Lady in this year’s winter play Alice in Wonderland. She’s Junior Grace Roady; writer, actress, and believer of the empowerment of words.

As a freshman, Roady wrote a County Writing Contest first place poem, the piece she’d later excitedly give to her eighth grade English teacher Nora Dixon for revising. When Roady was a Sophomore, she wrote an essay about a true story, one that she had personally experienced one night during Fall with her father, entitled “An Autumn Night”, entered it into the same contest, and again won first place, securing two first prizes within her first two years of high school. But none of that, she deemed, would have been

achievable without the encouragement and praise of Dixon.

Roady recalled the first time she’d shown Dixon one of her works, her poem mentioned before, and how her words affected her. “I’ll never remember the entire words exactly,” Roady said, “but I had just finished writing my first story, and I handed it in to my teacher, and whatever she said, from that moment forward pushed me to continue writing.”

Dixon had been a driving force in Roady’s life ambitions, someone who helped give her the confidence to continue writing, and who still inspires her to pursue it as a career. “I can’t imagine doing anything else other than writing or acting.”

Roady explained.

“She helped me so much.”

Roady said. “She said, “You’re really going places, Grace, with your writing. You can go so far with it, that you probably can’t even be able to imagine where you’ll go with it.”

“

Whatever she said, from that moment forward pushed me to continue writing. — Grace Roady, 11

”

—Sabrina Hernandez, Graphic Designer

Photo by Maureen Pushea

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

W

Bearcats tell stories of past bullying experiences and share how they found the

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FOUR EYES

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alking down the hallway of her elementary school, six year-old Chanel Vega held herself weakly, her fear as noticeable as her cream-colored skin, trying to blend in and not be seen. Her female peers were what she feared the most. Images of past encounters swirled inside her brain, reflected clearly though her glasses. Next thing you know, they were on her again.

“These girls cornered me in the bathroom and pushed me and were like ‘why are you here?’” said Vega, who is now a senior at PRHS, recalling one of her most vivid memories. Since then, she has had to deal with episodes like this all the way through elementary and middle school.

“I almost got beat up one day just for walking and looking at this girl the wrong way,” Vega said, “and if I [hadn’t] known one of the girls in the group, I would have gotten beat up really bad that day.”

Situations like this have given Vega a deep-rooted mistrust of her female peers to this day, still haunted by the memories of cold angry voices threatening to beat her or jump her just because of her race or the glasses on her nose.

“I [have] really thick walls, and I can come off like I have everything together so that I can seem intimidating, just because of being bullied” Vega said. Her walls are built never to be broken, never to be climbed, never to be invaded by anyone or anything either mentally and physically.

Four-eyes, brace-face, nerd; these were only a few of the many names called out to her in cold blood. These words, though small in size, have managed to take on a big role in the way she lives her life and carries herself. To this day, these words

Six in every ten students have been bullied

­­—Emmaline Voorheis, News Co-Editor

50 40 30 20 10

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

have left a scar on her heart.

“With girls, I automatically feel threatened, and I sometimes come off as rude or sassy just because I don’t want people to feel like they can walk over me” Vega said.

Despite the lasting effects these words have on her, Vega has found an escape for both body and soul: church. She believes there is always a way out; a way of hope, truth, and freedom through Jesus Christ.

“I would rather go to church than go to the movies with my friends, because there was a point in time where I didn’t have any, so I would be at church all the time,” said Vega, who has been a regular church attendee since third grade, when the bullying really began to become a problem.

“My pastor has always told me He knows you can handle it, and yeah, it’s going to be hard, but you need to take something out of it; that’s what makes you a better person.” Her close companionship with her pastor was also a major factor in her learning to cope with bullying.

“He was like my best friend” Vega said.

Looking back, Vega is still wary of the words fired at her long ago by girls she had tried to befriend; but now, she has a way to fight back.

“I saw a lot of things, and I had to be an adult really fast” Vega said, “(but) I don’t really think about it that much anymore,” said Vega, who now sees her strength in Christ as a stronghold in her days to come.

“He always has a plan, and I feel like He gives His toughest battles to His strongest soldiers, no matter what is handed to me” Vega said.

0

13% of students were bullied in high school

35% of students were bullied in middle school

21% of students were bullied in elementary school

16%

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12 InDepth

IT REALLY ISN’T FUNNY

T

here is a reason junior Maycee Ham can cry on demand. And no, it isn’t because she is an actress.

Ham was in the fourth grade when her friends walked up to her and said, “Maycee, we realized that we don’t really like you anymore, we’re tired of you, and you are not allowed to hang out with us anymore.” Nine years old. She was only nine when her supposedly best friends first defriended her just as easy as defriending a stranger on Facebook. Her voice cracked when she recounted the moment on the playground when she was screaming and crying for someone to want her and to make her feel wanted.

She recalled shaking, the innocent tears of a nine year old plummeting from her lashes and into her lap. Her sniffling nose blocked out the scent of the hot rubber tiles coating the ground. The only thing that held her together was her frail arms wrapped around her knees.

Ham remembered thinking, “Why doesn’t anybody like me? Please, please just be my friend... I don’t know what I did wrong… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

All she has to do is recall the “hardest thing[s]” she had to endure, and the floodgates of emotion pour in.

“They weren’t good friends for me to begin with, and I wish I knew that then because they have ruined my whole entire life,” Ham said.

That was her first taste of the cruelty of words.

However, she was in store for a full-course meal.

Ham has persevered through elementary, middle, and now high school. Through all of the sleepovers, where she constantly got drawn on once she fell asleep, through all of the jokes about her appearance and personality, through the “we don’t like you(s),” Ham has persevered. But, clearly, it was not without its struggles.

“I’ve had a really hard time fitting in because… I’ve been bullied my whole entire life,” Ham said.

“For six years of my life, it was always my fault… I was always the butt of the joke, and the one that if they were tired of they wouldn’t be afraid to tell. So I’ve had a really hard time fitting in and feeling accepted.” said Ham, her red-rimmed eyes glossing over with days of her tormented past.

She did the only thing a girl could do when no one seemed to like her: change herself. “I remember changing who I was to be accepted… so I wouldn’t have to ever feel unwanted again. Looking back on it I think, ‘No Maycee, you do you man. It’s totally cool. It’s okay to be yourself.’ ” Ham said. But for the time being, she was lost, and felt “like crap everyday.”

The ghosts of her past still haunt her every

of students have considered suicide because of bullying

RDS

­­—Nicole Raithel, Environment Co-Editor

Students who have been bullied have experienced the following types YOU SUCK

50% verbal

W

chance they get. “Even going around them now, and seeing them on campus, I’ll still feel myself changing who I am to just feel accepted.” Ham said.

Eventually she got sick of constantly being bombarded with insults and lowered, dark glares. Ham decided it was time for truly nice friends. It was time to wash her plate. By mid-seventh grade, she finally severed all of the ties with her “stupid friends.” She had noticed that another group was actively nice to her and wanted her around.

Her next step was accepting who she truly was. But the feeling of not being wanted was always a little devil on her shoulder, constantly weighing her down like a shark pulling down it’s prey to the depths of the cold, dark ocean. Even with new, better friends, girls will be girls. And when push comes to shove, girls always rely on their capability to be rude, intentionally or not. But Ham kept a mantra close to her heart, “I just have to tell myself that people do love me, even when it doesn’t feel like it.”

Exposed to the cruelty called High school, Ham (along with the entire student body) experienced a new form of bullying: the type where someone says something completely rude and then simply adds a “Just Kidding” at the end. Sticking that to the end is apparently supposed to make it funny and socially acceptable. But when the bully gets called into the principal's office for verbal assault and being a #BearcatBully, they get off scot-free because you “couldn’t take a joke.”

“I’ve been told ‘we don’t like you, we don’t want you here.’ ” said Ham. “I was crying the other day because people were just making jokes about me; saying, “Oh, we don’t like you; don’t sit next to me.’ And it’s not funny.

It’s not funny when you have been told that your whole life. It’s really not funny. It builds up,” said Ham, holding back tears as her face went red and raw with emotion.

“I know it’s meant to be a joke but it’s not funny; you don’t get it… Even when I am accepted and I am loved, I always feel unwanted,” Ham said.

From the first “we are tired of you,” to the last “you can’t sit with us,” there is always the feeling of not being desired or wanted in Ham’s life, the feeling that she isn't important. “Somedays I have to find it in myself because there is nobody else that is going to show it for me. The big thing is finding self-worth and self love. It is a really hard thing for a lot of teenagers. And 90 percent of the time it’s the hardest thing, and I feel like I can’t do it. But it’s a constant battle; everyday I have to take it on.”

“I mean, it’s worth it.”

InDepth 13

24% social

14% cyber

72%

Photo by Maureen Pushea and Graphics by Nichole Landon

of students have seen or known about someone being bullied

&

56%

of that have taken action

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

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“Your iron is too low.”

These are among the worst words a runner can hear.

In the past few years running has become a passion of mine. Racing, and knowing I’ve given my team everything I have, is one of the most beautiful feelings that one can feel.

But at the beginning of this cross country season, it all was taken away from me.

I still remember the first race of the season. I wasn’t running to win, I was just trying to finish. In my first few races girls that I could normally beat were easily passing me and I could do nothing to stop it. My body ignored any of my commands to pick up the pace. My goal to make it to state again, disappeared. Dreams of running in college evaporated.

Not being able to be free in running began to affect who I was as a person. I could think of nothing else but about the dreadful feeling of concrete legs.

Schoolmates would ask me, “Do you think you’ll make it to state again?”

Before the answer would’ve been an immediate, “Yes,” but my answer had been reduced to a dejected, “I don’t think so.”

Despite this, my schoolmates still told me, “I know you can do it.”

However, their eternal optimism only served to exasperate me. Running had become a pain instead of a salvation. I asked my coach, Ivan Huff, what he thought was wrong. He blamed it on the lack of summer milage due to my shin splint injury, which wasn’t entirely wrong.

But after my race at Clovis, when I was a grand total of two minutes and 42 seconds behind my personal record, I knew something was really wrong.

“Your iron is too low.”

The words still ring in my ears. To the doctor, it didn’t mean much. He’d just have to tell me to put more iron in my diet with “red meat and leafy greens,” but for me, it was a death sentence. It can take months to recover from an iron problem. I would never recover in time to make it to state.

Despite these setbacks, there were still benevolent forces in my life. A day after the Clovis race, alumnus Maddi Moore called me to let me know that she’d help me get through this. Before every race, my teammate, freshman Tori Pugh, would look at me and tell me “you can do this” and there was complete confidence in her eyes. Confidence in me: the girl with shin splint problems and low iron.

It took me a while to get through my skull that I am strong. Part of me didn’t want to believe this because I didn’t want to let myself, or anyone else, down.

Eventually my races became a series of massive improvements. Each time the brick wall was held at

bay for longer. With every step I grew in strength.

I asked Coach Hallanan if he thought I could make it to state, he said “If the old Annie comes back, you may have a chance.”

Determination immediately grew roots within me. I was going to do this.

The team and I made it to CIF Prelims, and from there CIF Finals, where we qualify for state.

The night before, Coach Ewing read the team a race simulation that causes us to relax and imagine racing.

It ended with “you have completed your goal.” My blood rushed with determination at these words, I had to complete my goal.

Our race was the first that morning at the infamous Mount SAC. Pressure was heavy on my shoulders, but I shook it off. Coach Ewing’s words from the race simulation ran through my mind repeatedly. In order to qualify, I had to be in the top 20, but out of the top 20 I had to be in the top five individuals. I was ranked 29th before the race, and 9th among individuals.

The gun went off and 119 girls surged their way forward, all with the same goal: to qualify for state.

As I ran words became a mosaic in my head. Our team prayer, our team cheer, my teammates’ words of encouragement, Ewing’s simulation, everything, swirled in my head. Their words became much more than words; they were a mantra chanted in my head that pushed me on through the pain I felt going up those notorious hills.

I told myself that I was strong, that I deserved this, that nothing could hold me down. I felt free. My legs were my own, fueled by encouragement of others.

When I heard I took 18th I knew my chances were slim, but deep down something told me that I had qualified. I had worked for this.

After an excruciating 20 minutes of waiting for results, I found out that the team had taken 10th, three places shy of state, but my name was highlighted in a neon yellow with a ‘q’ next to it.

I qualified. I placed 18th and was fifth out of individuals.

It was freezing the morning of the state meet on the chalk starting line. To the left of me were 190 other girls, the best in the state. The gun went off, and I felt it in my bones, I was me again. I can’t say it wasn’t painful, but it was a race that freed me from all chains.

I beat my personal record from last year at the state meet by 20 seconds, and when compared to the last race at Clovis, I ran three minutes and two seconds faster.

Coach Huff looked at me afterwards and said, “You’re one tough cookie.”

And those four words meant everything. Though simple, they summed up my rollercoaster of a season.

—Annie Meeder, Copy Editor

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

Photo by Jessica Cole

Food for the depleted wallet

Food 15

BEARCAT PICK

by Kayln Armstrong, Health Editor , Emma Corripo, Photographer, and Madi Warren, Photographer

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an easy, quick and inexpensive way to get a meal when you’re low on cash or running late for work but still need to eat.

Whether you are just craving one of Taco Bell’s Beefy nacho loaded grillers, or the hungry stomach pain grows and you only have two dollars crumbled in your back pocket, Taco Bell is a very beneficial place to go for these kind of situations. While many people say this restaurant is not appealing or just plain unhealthy, there is a benefit of having an inexpensive fast food restaurant. Taco Bell’s dollar menu is the best way to go when you need a lot of food with a small amount of money. I ordered a Cheesy bean and rice burrito, cheesy roll-up, cinnamon twists, shredded chicken mini quesadilla, and triple-layer nachos all for just five dollars, and it was all very satisfying.

What we ordered: • Shredded chicken mini quesadilla • Cheesy bean and rice burrito • Cheesy roll-up • Cinnamon twists • Triple-layer nachos

Wendy’s I was surprised at how good of a deal this meal was. It was excellent, and you get decent quantity of food that will actually fill you up. I ordered the ‘4 for $4,’ and the combo consists of four chicken nuggets, a small fry, a small fountain drink and a jr. bacon cheeseburger. Wendy’s has a good burger compared to Mcdonald’s. The cheese on the burger is probably the best part. The chicken nuggets are decent; they aren’t the best I’ve had but they certainly aren’t the worst.

Also, the fries were pretty good, and I like how fresh they taste. For the price, I think this meal is worth buying.

24%

eat at Jack in the Box the most

What we spent: $4.32 What we ordered: •Jr. bacon cheeseburger •Small fountain drink •Small fries •Four chicken

McDonald’s The crunch of those familiar, salty, toasty fries were the epitome of childhood. McDonald’s fries were and still are one of the popular food items that we question how they’re so darn addicting. When there’s no food in the house, fast food seems to be the number one go-to for a quick bite. We all have our favorite meals at different fast food joints, but not everyone is aware that they could be enjoying more of their favorite foods for less. Being aware of available deals allows more food to be purchased for a cheap price and is very useful, especially for high school students. Deals like these can be found at McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and Wendy’s, as long as you study the menu. For $3.50 you can buy a large sweet tea, fries and a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s, compared to $4.59 for ONLY 10 chicken McNuggets.

54%

What we spent: $5.40

What we spent: $3.50 What we ordered: • Large sweet tea • Small fries •Double cheeseburger

eat at Taco Bell the most

12% eat at McDonald’s the most

10%

eat at Wendy’s the most What about In-N-Out? PRHS surveyed e w ut s A at In-N-O e clear th l m ta a c to e r b u it ever, yo students rite, how 5. o $ v n fa a t th a more is a Bearc e a little ut may b at In-N-O

*200 PRHS students surveyed

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

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Carmesi 17

NOTICIAS EN BREVE

Necesidades para la vida ¿Están las escuelas secundarias que preparan a los estudiantes para el mundo real? por Kathryn Varian, Enviroment Co-Editor

A

l inicio del nuevo semestre y la alegría, o la vergüenzas, de las pruebas finales del semestre pasado son superadas, la pregunta de “¿Cuándo vamos a usar información en la vida real?” Se preguntaron prácticamente todos los estudiantes en el campus.

Para un estudiante ordinario de secundaria, es probable que no va saber escribir un cheque, el balance de una cuenta bancaria, o hacer los impuestos. Se nos enseña todo, desde cómo representar gráficamente una ecuación de cuarto grado a la estructura de un átomo, pero algunas herramientas necesarias para la vida no son parte del plan de estudios.

Pasamos semanas estudiando y aprendiendo a continuación, realizamos una prueba y seguimos adelante. Pruebas finales llegan y empezamos a repasar materiales que aprendimos meses antes, tomamos las pruebas finales y luego nunca más recorrimos el material que aprendimos.

Los sistemas escolares desprecian cosas importantes como la forma de pago de una hipoteca, sin embargo, nos enteramos de cómo usar la cantidad correcta de cifras significativas en la química.

Fotos de Facebook salen constantemente sobre los problemas con nuestro sistema escolar; el más común “Yo: ¿Cuáles son los impuestos y cómo puedo pagar? Sistema Escolar: No se preocupe. Las mitocondrias es el centro neurálgico de la célula. “ Sin dudas es hora de un cambio cuando las escuelas son la cara de una broma.

El 10 de diciembre 2015 Obama firmó la ley de Cada Estudiantes Tiene Éxito. Esta ley es un paso adelante en el camino hacia una educación significativa. Este acto deshizo sistemas escolares de pruebas innecesarias y le dio a los maestros más poder sobre qué pruebas se administran. Ahora los estados individuales están a cargo de sus propios sistemas de educación, por lo tanto, el empoderamiento de los estados a crear sus propios sistemas de funcionamiento. La mejor parte: en vez de fallar los niños porque no son fuertes los examinados, los profesores han de encontrar otros recursos para ayudar al estudiante a tener éxito.

Aún así, hay muchos temas en cuestión. Estudiantes de secundaria están en mal estado; profesores nos recuerdan todos los días de la siguiente prueba y la siguiente tarea constantemente. Lo que no nos recuerdan es que, cuando se trata de la vida real, es sálvese quien pueda; no hay calendario de tareas útiles o perdón cuando uno “olvida” su proyecto en casa.

Así que, como el personal le pedimos que se den cuenta de que hay dos lados a esta historia. Si queremos ser enseñado como adultos y esperamos ser tratados como adultos, debemos recordar de comportarnos como adultos.

Todos hemos fallado por Emily Ayer, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Q

uieres oír una historia graciosa? Bueno eso es demasiado malo, no tengo uno de esos para usted. Pero tengo una pregunta. Una pregunta que todos nosotros queremos a saber pero también miedo de preguntar: ¿Cómo “hacer” vida?

Ahora, esto puede no absolutamente aplicar a estudiantes de primer año y segundo año tanto como nosotros seniors y juniors incluso, pero como un adolescente en el borde de la edad adulta, es una pregunta, una que nos da mucho miedo(eso y”¿Cómo te fue ese examen?”Odia esa).Con obstáculos como colegio, alejándose de la casa, facturas y alejarse de casa, oh, y ¿mencioné que el móvil fuera de casa?--vida parece bastante difícil bastante rápido.

No sé cómo conciliar una chequera o qué ropa debo

colgar y qué ropa puedo tirar en la secadora. No sé cómo hacer los impuestos o la diferencia entre mermelada y jalea real (¿alguien realmente, aunque?). Yo definitivamente no sé cómo sacar un préstamo y por favor, por favor, no esperas que me recuerda a no coger el teléfono cuando sé que está llegando un fax (si no entienden eso no te preocupes).

La buena noticia a todas estas preguntas preventivas es que, bueno, ni tampoco el 97% de los otros Bachilleres que están compitiendo con para entrar a la Universidad ahora y será conseguir puestos de trabajo en el futuro. Así que en realidad, está bien. Podemos todos lloramos sobre impuestos juntos.

Junta escolar por Mason-Sedan Hansen, Opinion Editor

Un nuevo programa de pruebas de drogas que comenzará el próximo año fue aprobado por el Consejo Escolar el martes, 8 de diciembre por votación unánime.

El nuevo programa requiere que los estudiantes llenar un formulario y, con la aprobación de los padres, elegir si o no a un grupo de posibles candidatos de la droga al azar prueba en cualquier momento durante todo el año.

El objetivo de este programa es “ayudar a los estudiantes tomar buenas decisiones y ayudar a familias trabajan juntos para ayudar a prevenir el abuso de drogas,” director académico Babette Decou dijo.

La nueva forma de pruebas de drogas se incluirá con formularios de inscripción de estudiantes de sexto a grado 12. La prueba sí mismo es voluntaria y, siempre que un estudiante tenga aprobación de padres, pueden elegir no estar en la piscina de nombres para pruebas al azar.

Skills USA por Camden Tucker, Reporter

Temblando se deslice las manos en las mangas de las chaquetas rojas icónico mientras competidores se preparan para demostrar que son lo mejor de su habilidad. SkillsUSA no es sólo un viaje divertido con algunos amigos de la escuela.

Está llena de horas de estrés y demostrando a sí mismo en una habilidad. La competencia de SkillsUSA tiene muchas áreas para competir, desde la guardería a la soldadura y muchos otros oficios únicas. La ronda regional de SkillsUSA competición tendrá lugar en Paso Robles el sexto de febrero.

En SkillsUSA, si consigues uno de los primeros lugares en las regionales ronda, el estudiantes tiene la oportunidad de competir en el estado de San Diego. Los mejores competidores ce van a los nacionales en Louisville, Kentucky para encontrar lo mejor en toda la nación. “La mejor parte acerca de las habilidades es viendo el trabajo de otras personas y aprender de ellos y mejorar en su proyecto”, dijo junior estudiante de video OB Bass, que ha competido en un año en esta competición como director de fotografía.

Esto no es sólo un concurso es un campo de entrenamiento para experiencia laboral.

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

18 A&E

“Hamilton” blows all away I simply can’t say no to this new musical

by Marlee Drake, Copy Editor

When I think of musicals, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not a rapping founding father. In fact, it doesn’t even make the list. But for playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is currently starring on Broadway as Alexander Hamilton, it’s the perfect medium through which to tell America’s story.

The new musical, inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton’s life, has hit the world of theatre like a hurricane. The cast Drake album, released Sept. 25, combines rap with jazz and pop tunes and features the original Broadway cast in 46 songs.

The musical is what is known as an operetta, which means the majority of story is told through song (or rap) with little spoken dialogue. The show tells the story of the nation’s first Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and how he rises from unknown immigrant to George Washington’s right hand man, his fall from grace and eventual death.

Even though the characters in this show have been dead for a couple hundred years, Miranda makes them relatable to people today.

Hamilton himself is rash and short tempered, but he’s also a fighter who never gives up on a cause he believes in. In contrast, Aaron Burr, former Vice President and the man who ultimately kills Hamilton, is typically viewed as a villain in history, but Miranda has written his character with an understanding of him as a human being, rather than a man defined by a singular action, and made him almost as much the star as the title character. Even the characters’ catchphrases foil each other. While Burr waits for it, Hamilton tells the world “just you wait” and see what he can do.

Miranda manages to find a beautiful balance between pure history and dramatic storytelling. One moment, you’re laughing about the sassiness of King George, and the next you’re smacked in the face with tragedy and reduced to a puddle of tears. Upon hearing the

REVIEW

topic of this show, I didn’t expect a non-stop odyssey of emotions, but Miranda had my heart breaking for a founding father, a feat I never would have believed possible.

Along with taking the title role, Miranda, the recipient of the Tony for Best Original Score for his musical “In The Heights,” also wrote all the music for the operetta. The harmonies he’s created between actors and songs themselves flows together so wonderfully. At the end of Act 1, several songs are blended together in “Non-Stop,” and though each is distinctly different, Miranda has made it so they sound like they belonged together from the start. In the most crucial moments of various songs, the rise and fall of the instrumentals punctuate the feelings of desperation or jubilation as well as dialogue could. The strength or strain of the actors voices as they hit their belt or drop into a whisper grips you almost as tightly as what is being said does and sends you into the same free fall of emotion that each character is experiencing. The journey leaves you helpless, almost gasping for breath, but loving every second of it.

There are some expletives dropped throughout the album, but let’s be real, it’s no worse than what you’d hear on a walk across campus any given lunch period. There are those who will object to this musical before hearing it simply because of the rap genre, but as a former skeptic, I would encourage you to open your ears and your heart to it before you make your final judgment. Personally, I can’t wait to see what comes next from the MacArthur Genius Grant winning playwright.

The 20 dollar price on this album may seem a bit steep, but I promise you it’s worth every penny, and after the first listen you’ll be back for more. This album has been on repeat on my iPod since I bought it, and I assure you it has left me entirely satisfied.

Bearcats Explain Hamilton in One Word

Ren Callahan, 10: Innovative

Crimson Newsmagazine // 1.14.16

Alex Bigelow, 12: Perfect

Maddie Whisler, 12: Satisfied

terrorism

Health 19

The mind of

Mental illness could be a leading cause to the huge shooting epidemic in America

by Angelina Valencia, Cinematographer

A

fter every calamity, Google places a different colored ribbon in honor of the victims and families; at this pace, we’re going to run out of colors. Shootings happen on a regular basis in America, to the point where it’s the norm to see them on the news. There has been an astonishing 351 mass shootings in 2015, according to shootingtracker. com. The reason why these terrorists do what they do is such an alien concept to us: how can someone put a gun to a first grader's head? The shooter could be affected from anything and everything: mental illness, their community, witnessing violence, or even things like race or sexuality.

A prime example of the mental illness factor is Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter. Lanza took a semiautomatic AR-15 assault rifle and killed 26 people, 20 children and six adults. Soon after the shooting, Lanza was diagnosed w i t h

Schizophrenia. He also was diagnosed with Asperger’s as a young child, along with autism spectrum disorder, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Lanza has always been preoccupied with mass murder.In fifth grade. Lanza and a classmate turned in an explicit creative writing project called “The Big Book of Granny” which featured graphic story of cannibalism, murdering children and taxidermy.

One of his teachers said, "If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically.” According to Psychology Today. Listening to the chilling 911 calls, we can tell that Lanza was not afraid to hurt others, especially children. He was unmerciful towards anyone he faced. He once kicked down a glass window at the entrance of the school as staff hurriedly tried to get someone down there fast enough.

Following reports to the school, there were no mental evaluations or even an intervention. Further on in his life, his anxiety and issues with socialization grew worse. In eighth grade he was taken out of school and was evaluated by New Haven-based Yale Child Study Center, who diagnosed him and referred him to regular therapy sessions and multiple medications for anxiety and autism.

Could all these mental issues be the reason for this terrorism?

Maybe he had so much pain physically and mentally that it caused him to have a psychological break and turn to mass shootings.

Jonathan M. Metzl from The U.S. National Library of Medicine says that four possible explanations frequently emerge after shootings: “(1) that mental illness causes gun violence, (2) that psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime, (3) that shootings represent the deranged acts of mentally ill loners, and (4) that gun control “won’t prevent” another Newtown (Connecticut school mass shooting.)”

Shootings like this are controversial and mental illness is merely a factor. When you see a killer you can only read them externally, and we will never know what is going on in their head. If there isn’t a heavier emphasis on making sure mental illnesses are diagnosed and treated, then we will have many more Lanza-esque shootings. There is no change after catastrophes like these, and there has been an unbelievable 142 shootings since Newtown, according to The Washington Times.

The reason as to why this keeps occurring is incomprehensible. So many factors come into the predicament that, depending on the situation, it always changes. Hopefully we will be able to gather some insight on the perpetrators of tragedies such as the San Bernardino shooting in order to figure out what could possibly be going on.

Illustration by Emma Corippo, photographer

AMERICAN SHOOTERS

Adam Lanza When: December 14, 2012 Where: Sandy Hook Elementary Number Dead: 28 Lanza was diagnosed with schizophrenia and asperger’s. The Sandy Hook shooting was declared the deadliest mass shooting at a high school or grade school level in US history. He killed himself to avoid arrest.

Dorothea Puente When: November 17, 1988 Where: Sacramento, California Number Dead: 9+ Puente received two life sentences after police found seven bodies in her home.

Theodore Kaczynski: Alias-“Unabomber” When: 1985-1995 Where:Evanston, Illinois Number Dead: 3 Kaczynski was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic after he was arrested for mailing bombs to airports and college campuses.

James Oliver Huberty When:July 18, 1984 Where: San Diego, California Number Dead: 21, 19 injured Huberty killed 21 people in his mass shooting at a McDonald’s in San Ysidro, a sub-city near San Diego.

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

20 Health

Kickin’ it

Impressive

Martial arts is essential self defense available in town

by Sadie Mae Mace, Managing Editor

January is a month full of new changes: new year, new semester, new resolutions- most of which are likely exercise resolutions. A unique and popular form of exercise to try as this year’s resolution is martial arts, composed of Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, and Karate, among dozens more.

Mark’s Combat Arts, located adjacent to Kennedy Club Adventure in Paso Robles, is a local studio that offers classes that focus on martial arts, self defense, and physical conditioning.

“Martial arts… they make you more aware of your surroundings and you are not as easy as a target,” said Cotton Marks, who teaches at Mark’s Combat Arts.

Marks has trained in martial arts for the past 18 years, and subsequently holds a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a fifth degree black belt in Dilman Karate. He has taught for the past 16 years, and his favorite part of teaching is watching the growth and development of his students, such as the timid ones becoming more confident.

“I’ve really found my inner peace within karate and I enjoy being able to not have anything on my mind while training...I’ve learned I can accomplish anything if I just put my mind to it,” said senior MacKenna Nesbitt, who, after 12 years at the Paso Dojo, is a black belt in Shorin-ryu Shorinkan. Nesbitt practices about two days a week for one to two hours since receiving her black belt.

Martial arts is beneficial to the body and mind, with improved confidence, reflexes, and muscle tone, according to the Health Fitness Revolution. It originated in the sixth century in China and spread throughout Asia but wasn’t introduced to the rest of the world until the 1960s. It gained popularity throughout the Western world after celebrities Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

About 18.1 million Americans practice martial arts, according to a 2011 study conducted

by Simmons Market Research.

“Karate has allowed me to become much healthier and much more graceful in my day to day life,” said senior Jonah McCaskill, who has practiced Goju for the past six months under fourth level black belt Renshi Loyd Nelson.

There is a deeper importance to learning these skills: self-defense.

The importance of self-defense is more vital than ever, with the release of CNN’s documentary, “The Hunting Ground”, which brought to light the reality of sexual assault on college campuses.

The film, premiering at the 2015 Sundance Festival on Feb. 27, 2015, and debuted on CNN on Nov. 22, 2015, gives real accounts of rape victims from colleges and the movement for awareness. One in five women are sexually assaulted in college, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center . The Department of Education released disturbing facts that show a 49 percent increase of sexual assault on college campuses between 2008 and 2012, and the number is steadily rising. This makes even learning the basics of martial arts, and using it in self defense, especially beneficial for young women attending college.

“From a tactical point of view, it is the fact that you have a better chance of survival should something bad ever happen... I believe it is a very good skill to have, period,” Marks said about the importance of self defense in today’s society.

Martial arts is a skill that is geared towards people of all ages.

“It’s better to start today then tomorrow, the next week, the next month, or the next year,” said Marks, who trains students from four to 60. Marks will travel to Quebec, Canada, in June 2016 to train in combat Systema, a Russian discipline.

Martial arts is a versatile sport that offers growth in confidence, self defense skills, and is easy to join. It can MacKenna Nesbitt, 12 bring a healthy start to the new year and be a resolution to maintain yearlong.

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

tools The Prymme Vessyl offers new features to stay hydrated

by Valeria Cisneros, Carmesi Editor

Features Indicator on the side of the device is designed to rise or fall based on water consumption Once blue light on top of the indicator turns on, hydration needs have been met Health App Compatible (on apple devices) Battery life: Up to two days Estimated cost: $99 Charge Time: Approximately 1.5 hours Weight: 12.6 oz.

Uses Pryme Vessyl App in app store

Graphics by Emma Corippo, photographer

D

rinking water is one of the simplest things we do.

Pretty much just drink some of that good ole’ H2O and done, hydration. We need it just as much as breathing, and yet most of the time we forget to do it. Water is essential to our health and is what gives us the energy to go on with our day by keeping us hydrated. Water helps speed up your metabolism and prevent urinary tract cancer and kidney stones, according to Prevea Health. If one is dehydrated, especially for those students during school, the low intake of water in the body shrinks and pressures the brain, and it will need twice as much time to accomplish a task. The life of a high schooler is busy and most of the time we are moving around from one side of the campus to the other. Water should be a routine habit and the simple eight cups a day does not apply to everyone.

Mark One has designed the smart cup to measure how much water you are drinking and how much more you need to drink to maintain hydration and stay focused as we go on with our daily routine. The cup is called the Prymme Vessyl.

This intelligent cup is still in development, although it can be per-ordered in the Apple Store for $99. It is made out of premium materials such as Tritan exterior, durable glass interior, and a polished nickel-plated base. The cup can be used for both hot and cold beverages and holds up to 16 ounces of liquid. The cup has sensors that measure how much water you drink and how quickly, which then in turn gives user-specific results of how much water is needed for the user. The cup paired with the app can give a sipping schedule for the user to stay hydrated.

Juli Anna Clover, writer for an article on the Prymme Vessyl, believes that the cup can be a useful tool for those who don't drink as much water as they should.

“No product is going to be suitable for everyone, but there are definitely people out there who can significantly benefit from a smart cup that reminds them to get enough liquids.”

Clover said.

The Prymme Vessyl factors in your weight, height, biological gender, and activity level to give you the precise amount of water you should be drinking throughout your day and if the needs for your hydration are met. The data that the cup collects from the user is compatable with Jawbone UP, the company that makes the Jawbone UP fitness tracker, and Apple’s Health app through Bluetooth.

When school and work is a constant in the lives of many, we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves and it slips our mind to take in the needed H2O, but this cup may be a solution to that problem.

Ads 21

1.14.16 / / Crimson Newsmagazine

22 Sports

Winter Sports Update As the Winter sports season opens, teams look forward to the success ahead in Bearcat Country.

KICKIN IT (above) : Sophomore Jesus Mendoza Alcantar passes the ball to a team mate. The Bearcats tied the Orcutt Spartans on Dec 1.

Photo by Mariela Villa

Boys Basketball

So far this season, the varsity boys basketball 4W-3L team has had four dominant wins but these are overlooked by their seven losses. The best game of the preseason was the 62-42 win against Montclair on Wednesday Dec. 30, at the Atascadero Christmas Tournament. This was the first game in which the team scored over 60 points, and Sophomore Sebastian Galsim led the scoring.“I’m looking forward to playing this season with a lot of young players and watching them mature throughout the season,” senior Ty Jones said.

Boys varsity soccer is almost an entirely new team with 13 new players.

W-L They acquired a score of 5-3-4 in the preseason games. They won first place in the Clovis tournament last month. “I’ll admit we struggled at the beginning of preseason. However, since then we have worked and pushed ourselves in training along with getting to know one another on and off the field,” said senior Josh Bustamante, who is a returner from last years squad, “We still have a long way to go. However, if we stay motivated and passionate we can make this year a great one.”

Boys Soccer

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

Girls Basketball

This season so far, the varsity girls basketball team 1W-9L has had one close game win but nine loss.

The best game of the preseason was the 33-31 win against Ocean View on Saturday, December 5, at the Atascadero Tournament. Seniors Grace Rosa and Kristen Thompson are the captians of the 15 player team.

Boys Wrestling

Varsity girls soccer team looks toward the beginning of their season with three wins 1W-5L and three loses acquired during preseason.

Although the team lost 1-5 against the Monache Marauder Indians, it was remembered as the most exciting game due to the high energy given by the bearcats and the action packed second half. “ I’m looking forward to just being with the team and all the memories we are going to make and playing with these girls because there is a lot of talent out there on the field,”Sophomore Kailee Vinnedge said.

Girls Waterpolo

Girls Soccer

The varsity wrestling team has gone 4-0 in dual 4W-0L meets so far this year. At their Varsity match in Clovis, senior Blake Irysh wrestled a sixth place ranking wrestler from Vacaville High School and beat him 7-1. “During duels, sometimes the guys go blank, and forget how to do some moves,” said Irysh about the beginning of their season. “Some highs have been during tournaments when me, Nathan Garcia, and John Cabral place because I feel when we do well, everyone feeds off our energy,” Irysh said.

The girls water polo season has started out 3W-1L with a huge splash, currently maintaining a 3-1 game record for both JV and Varsity.

Both teams are showing great potential as they continue to work hard, the fruits of their labor demonstrated in their games. “We’ve been working really hard” Pugh said, who’s most excited about playing side by side with her sister, senior Makenna Pugh, “You can tell that everyone’s been improving… you can tell that everyone’s been getting better and better.”

Sports 23

All day, every day Student athletes and the daily struggle

by Madecyn Penn, Sports Co- Editor

T

PUSHING THROUGH (above) : Senior Evan Espinoza pushes through the defense in the bearcat’s game against Arroyo Grande.

The day

Photo by Lauren Wassam

he loud croak of the 6:30 alarm breaks the lingering silence, and the smell of freshly cooked pancakes and eggs slowly starts to fill the air, carrying with it the soft coo of the new morning. The early riser rolls out of bed, meeting the enticing smell, and begins to think about the 150 minute basketball practice that awaits him after school. This is the normal school morning of senior student athlete Evan Espinoza.

Throughout his four years of high school, Espinoza has been involved in football, basketball, and baseball, and is a two time recipient of the Lion’s Club Award. Outside of sports he is enrolled in several AP classes, including AP Biology, AP Calculus, and AP Literature.

Being a student athlete can be a constant challenge. Espinoza finds it hard to juggle schoolwork, sports, and still find time to relax. It’s not uncommon among athletes to come home after a two and a half hour practice and find a pile of unfinished homework looming in the corner of their desk. Yet because athletes are required to have at least a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) to remain on the team, conquering the pile of assignments is a must, resulting in a 10 p.m. or later bedtime.

However, this busy schedule isn’t all doom and gloom. Studies show that 60 percent of high schoolers who are involved in sports and other extra curricular activities learn how to manage their time and seem to get more things done (The Global Post).

“Now I’m used to [my schedule]... I know how to manage everything,” Espinoza said.

On average, student athletes have a GPA of 3.25, compared to the average 3.01 GPA of non involved

students (Department of Educational Leadership).

On top of a higher grade point average, the lessons learned in time trying activities are lessons that are vital to everyday life.

“Sports definitely teach you [things] that are kind of important for life…[Sports] teach you that you aren’t going to win every battle life throws at you, but if you keep working at it someday you will,” sophomore Jadyn Steaffens, a varsity soccer player, said.

Although finding time to squeeze everything in is a constant battle fought by many student athletes, it isn’t the end of the world.

“You have to plan ahead and look at everything you’re doing… you have to be smart,” Espinoza said. “It can be really hard… but you have to get it done and do what you have to do.”

In the long haul, the struggle can produce the greatest of outcomes.

Looking back at all the many hours of practices and late nights of cramming, Espinoza believes, “It was worth it.” He reflects on the many friendships made and many lessons he learned. “Everyone has difficulties, and life just isn’t easy in general, but perseverance is the way to push through and achieve your goals; sports have taught me that,”said Espinoza.

Being involved and filling up the calendar isn’t something to fear, it’s something that can turn out to be the best thing. It can prove to teach valuable lessons and avoid the constant phrase of “I’m bored.” As long as the time is budgeted, and things are put into a healthy balance, it is possible to juggle school work, sports, and a social life smoothly.

of a student athlete

6:30 a.m - Wake up time

7:55 p.m - School starts

Basketball 2 p.m - practice starts

at 5:30 p.m - Arrives home

lifting 4:30 p.m - Weight starts

8 p.m - Freetime

on 6 p.m - Starts homework

10:30 p.m - Bed time

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

24 Sports

ountry Killed it this year

State Meet Boys - 3rd

STATE CHAMPS (above) : The Varisty Cross Country team placed 3rd at the State meet at Woodward Park in Clovis on Nov 28.

PAC 8 Finals

Photo used with permission by PRHS Track

Boys - 1st Girls - 3rd

CIF Prelims

Boys - 2nd Girls - 5th

Success at State

Cross Country strides, sweats, and makes history

by Nichole Raithel, Enviroment editor

On the brisk morning of Nov. 28, 2015, the PRHS Boys Cross Country team and two individual girls raced against 23 other Division 3 schools at the State Meet in Fresno, California and made school history. All 191 girls and 196 boys ran a 5K, 3.1 miles, at Fresno’s Woodward Park.

The girls were the first race of the day; the clouds hung low and ominous, slowly creeping along the hills, a stark contrast to the speed of the runners. Ashley Davis finished in 13th place, sprinting an exhilarating time of 18:08, just under six minutes a mile. And, sprinting a time of 18:26, her fastest time ever, Annie Meeder came in 23rd. These were the fastest times ever ran by a female Bearcat runner for the Woodward Park course.

Seven boys from PRHS’ Cross Country team raced in Fresno, going up against 189 other boys, but with excellent results. Placing in 14th and 15th, juniors Luis Armendariz and Trad Berti completed the race with times of 15:34and 15:37 respectively. Close behind were seniors Gannon Chamberlain and Josh Potter in 27th with a time of 15:53 and 39th in 16:03 respectively. Senior Taylor Bedrosian came in 100th at 16:44 with freshman Pablo Cortes 18 seconds back at 17:02 and Damien Navarro a mere two seconds from Cortes.

Altogether, the Boys Cross Country ranked third in the State; the best results since receiving seventh place in 2014.

Crimson Newsmagazine / / 1.14.16

CIF Finals Boys - 2nd Girls - 10th

Meet the team

Luis Armendariz Junior Place in state: 14

Taylor Bedrosian Senior Place in state: 100

Damien Navarro Junior Place in state: 128

Trad Berti Junior Place in state: 15

Pablo Cortes Freshman Place in state: 123

Josh Potter Senior Place in state: 39

Gannon Chamberlain Senior Place in state: 27