April 2017

INSIDE THE ISSUE

opinion 54 opinion

sports 15

feature 8

the bull’s eye NEWS

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OPINION

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FEATURE

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a&e 9

APRIL 26, 2017 VOLUME XXXV, ISSUE VIII ONLINE AT DBBULLSEYE.COM

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Push for ACCEPTING RECOGNITION DOC makes progress

Assistant Principal David Hong shares the campus' security policies.

ANGELA YANG ASST. NEWS EDITOR

ANGELA YANG ASST. NEWS EDITOR

DOC ON P. 2

ERIC HONG

DBHS photography teacher William Foley (right) accepts the Teacher of the Year award from Principal Reuben Jones.

A peek into the secret garden This year's garden-themed prom will be held at the California Science Center in Downtown L.A. AMY miyahara asst. A&E EDITOR While students danced among stars at Madame Tussauds last year, they will be swirling under the stars at this year’s prom.

The annual Diamond Bar High School event will be held at the Wallis Annenberg Building of the California Science Center in Exposition Park near the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles on May 13.

During the day, the Science Center is home to a variety of public exhibits, covering topics such as technology, ecology and astronomy. But the center also includes an expansive garden, thus the proms theme, “The Secret Garden.”

The title is a reference to the 1911 children’s book and the subsequent 1993 film of the same name, which tell the story of a young girl who discovers the entrance to a hidden garden.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a prom at this location before, so in that way it’s going to be different.

It’s going to be a new experience for everyone, and we’re going to make sure that everyone has a memorable time,” said Hampton Douglas, Class of 2018 president.

The California Science Center was founded in 1951 as the California Museum of Science and Industry. It includes a number of exhibits, one of the most famous being the Space Shuttle Endeavor, a retired NASA orbiter.

The Air and Aircraft exhibits also display fighter jets used throughout the 20th century, such as the 1929 Velie Monocoupe and the A-12 Blackbird, as well as a replica of the original 1902 glider created by the Wright brothers.

The Wallis Annenberg building of the Science Center was first built as the 160th Regiment State Armory in 1912. It was remodeled as the Wallis Annenberg Building for Science

PROM ON P. 2

Longtime Brahmas say goodbye Moran and Taylor share their thoughts at the end of their last year.

EMILY JACOBSSON A&E EDITOR For many, retirement is something to look forward to as soon as they begin working. However, for Diamond Bar High School English teacher Joe Moran and GLC Secretary Joanne Taylor, now that retirement will soon become a reality, it is greeted with bittersweet feelings.

Moran is retiring after 30 years working in the Walnut Valley Unified School District. Between his time teaching at DBHS, he participated in Peer Assistance and Review, a program which helped teachers transition between teaching different grade levels. He returned to teach at DBHS after the program ran out of funding and since then has taught every level

SPORTS

DBHS reviews student safety

Newman's DOC bill was joined in the Assembly by a similar bill introduced in January.

With just a few months left under the current law, the status of a new District of Choice bill continues to be discussed by California legislators.

State Sen. Josh Newman’s pro-DOC bill was introduced in December and another bill, Assembly Bill 185, was introduced just a month later.

Both have reached the appropriations committees in each chamber of the legislature.

If passed, Newman’s Senate Bill 52 would extend the District of Choice program until July 1, 2023, while AB185, the result of merging the two bills created by Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell and Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, would build upon Newman’s extension and expand the program, establishing a revised version of District of Choice.

“The AB185 [...] is set to go to Appropriations where the previous bill died last year,” DOC ac-

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ERIC HONG

CALVIN RU

DBHS English teacher Joe Moran (left) and secretary Joanne Taylor (right) will be retiring after this current school year. of English offered by the school.

Though he currently teaches English 1 Honors and AP Language and Composition, Moran has enjoyed teaching all his classes.

“They’re all good classes.

It depends on a year to year thing. You get the right chemistry and mix of students, and it seems to fit well,” Moran said.

Besides teaching, Moran has been very involved in the school as

a club adviser. During his time at DBHS, he has been the advisor of the Academic Decathlon, Journalism, Interact, Mock Trial, Ameri-

RETIREMENT ON P. 3

The school shooting that took the life of one teacher and a student and injured two others at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino this month, put a spotlight on the safety measures other public schools use to ensure that such incidents do not occur.

David Hong, Diamond Bar High School assistant principal said that procedures at this school were discussed after the San Bernardino shooting. According to Hong, every similar event that occurs in other areas around the country also stirs up discussion among the DBHS administration.

“We have conversations after everything, and just [last] week we’ve had two meetings with the GLCs. I’ve met with security twice, and we had a big administrative meeting to talk about whether or not we’re prepared for something like that,” Hong said.

Although no similar incidents have occurred on the DBHS campus before, the administration does have procedures in place in the event such an incident occurs.

After the school day begins, all gates are locked except for the main gate at the front of the school. Visitors are allowed on campus as long as they check in at the front office.

However, dropping off items to students is not permitted. A security guard is stationed by the front gate during school hours and others patrol the perimeter of the school.

If an incident to threaten students’ safety were to occur on campus, the school would be placed under lockdown until the threat was resolved. A minute long bell would be rung to signal the beginning of a lockdown and all students directed to the nearest classroom..

Once students are indoors, staff members would lock all doors turn off all lights. Students would be instructed to wait quietly for the duration of the incident. Any windows would be covered and students moved away from them. The lockdown would be officially over once a staff member unlocks the door.

This is a procedure most students should be familiar with, as it is occasionally practiced during school along with other emergency drills.

“We are very reflective and we make sure everybody is doing their job in the front,” Hong said. “Student safety is very important to us, of course.”

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NEWS

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

NEWSBITS Good luck comes to those who wait, as a Canadian man recently found out. The 68-year-old had stashed what amounts to over $75,000 in an oldLOUISIANA television and then forgotten aboutINDIA it. When the 30-year-old television was taken apart at atwist recycling center, theAmoney was discovered, In a real-world on Goldigirl was discovered along living with otherand documents that helped in workers to the money’s locks the Three Bears, clue among monkeys in Indiarightful in a owner. police are searching for a situation reminiscent of Edgar man who broke into a New Rice Burroughs’ fictional charOrleans preschool to grab a acter Tarzan. The girl, thought meal and spend the night. Seto be between 10 and 12 years curity cameras recorded footold, was naked and could not age of the man breaking into speak. When she was brought Clara's Little Lambs Preschool to a local hospital, she reportAcademy to devour snacks he edly ran on her arms and legs found in the staff break room. and ate food off the floor. AfAfterwards, the man gathered ter treatment, while she is still stuffed animals and spent not able to speak, she is able the night on a kid’s mat. He to understand speech, accordleft through the same wining to D.K. Singh, chief medical dow he used to enter before superintendent at the hospital. school began the next day.

CALVIN RU

DBHS junior Natalie Swartout was crowned Miss Diamond Bar 2017 at the annual pageant in the DBHS theater on April 2.

Robotics takes team to Texas Sprocket competed at world championships in Houston on April 22.

Emily kim sports EDITOR Team Sprocket, competing in the FIRST Robotics Championships in Houston last weekend for the first time since 2011, made it all the way to the quarterfinal rounds.

The team earned a spot in the world competition on a wild card.

The Brahmas had lost in the Or-

ange County regional tournament; however, one of the teams that won had already qualified and the team was able to move on to worlds.

The Brahmas qualified to make the worlds-level competition, ranking ninth in the Newton Subdivision level out of 68 other teams on April 21. The day after, the team progressed as alliance captains and were paired with two other teams from Washington.

“Every single team at worlds qualified at an earlier regional or district event, so the skill level at worlds was drastically increased from a regional,” senior Engineering captain Brian Song said.

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Sports Editors Asst. Sports Editor

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The goal of the round was to get the robot to place gears on a peg, shoot fuel into a boiler and climb up a rope for points. Song ran the secondary system, which was used to perform the tasks given for the round, while freshman Calvin Ung drove the robot itself. The Brahmas named the robot JMH, the initials of teacher Johnny Hwang’s late son.

The team lost the final round of three after losing the first and winning the second.

“Making it to championships was already exciting for me, but making it so far while competing with the best teams in the world was a whole other experience,” Song said.

ITALY In a race against gang members, Italian police conducted a raid to prevent the theft of famous automaker Enzo Ferrari’s body. Members of the infamous Anonima Sequestri, a gang known for orchestrating kidnappings in the Sardinia region of Italy, plotted to ransom Ferrari’s body for cash. Police were able to foil the scheme, arresting 34 gang members.

The drug trade in Myanmar has corrupted even Buddhist monks, one of whom was arrested after 400,000 methamphetamine pills were found in his car. A subsequent investigation discovered over four million more hidden in his monastery, along with ammunition and a grenade. Police had received a tip that the monk would be carrying the illegal pills and arrested him as he approached the Bangladesh border.

Two pro-DOC bills in legislation DOC FROM P. 1 tivist and parent Teruni Evans said via email. “Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher is again the Chair for Appropriations. We are hoping for a positive outcome and she decides to put it through to be voted on.”

According to Newman’s 29th District office representative Monica Schmalenberger, in cases where two similar bills are passed, the contents of both bills would be joined into one.

While Newman’s bill permits any district to declare themselves a district of choice, AB 185 requires schools to register with the

Superintendent of Public Instruction in order to obtain the status.

SB 52 requires a District of Choice school to determine its transfer students through a random and unbiased selection process, while AB185 gives priority to siblings of DOC students already in the program and then to students who are eligible for free or reduced meals.

Newman’s bill also allows a maximum of 10 percent of the district’s student population to consist of interdistrict transfers, but O’Donnell and Irwin’s bill decreases it to a six percent cap.

Currently, Walnut Unified School District has approximate-

ly 23 percent of its students enrolled under District of Choice.

SB52 allows districts to limit student transfers if they have a negative fiscal status.

In contrast, AB185 requires districts to accept transfers when students in the program graduate or leave the district unless the cap is met. However, students enrolled in the program before the 2018-19 school year may stay regardless of the six percent cap.

Both bills require districts to keep records of students transferring in as well as out and permit them to limit the number of transfers out under various conditions.

Students to spend prom night among roses and space shuttle PROM FROM P. 1 Learning and Innovation in 2004.

The prom committee, which consists of 27 juniors, chose the

venue in November 2015 after considering five different locations.

“What’s been exciting [in preparing for prom] is… the excitement building up for everyone, because

Diamond Bar High School, Room 563 21400 Pathfinder Road Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Phone: (909) 594-1405 x33563 Email: eye.editors@gmail.com Business Inquiries: thebullseyebusiness@gmail.com

editorial policy The Bull’s Eye is a public forum that welcomes the views of our readers. Letters to the Editor and Op-Ed pieces will be accepted only if they are signed. The author may, however, request anonymity. The staff reserves the right to edit letters without changing content. You may forward letters to Room 563 or submit them online at dbbullseye.com.

MYANMAR

Photo courtesy of PDSPECIALEVENTS.COM

This year's prom will be held at the California Science Center in downtown L.A.

it’s something new and Diamond Bar [High School] hasn’t ever experienced it before,” said Clarissa Hui, Class of 2018 historian.

Aside from dancing, additional activities will include pool tables, karaoke and a lounge area. There will also be bracelet and crown making stations to match the garden theme.

Tickets are $90 with an activities card and $95 without during pre-sale through April 28, and $95 with an activities card and $100 without during regular sale from May 1 through May 8.

For updates and information on the dance, students can follow @dbprom17 on Instagram.

On the Instagram page, students can also find updates and clues for the key hunt prom giveaway.

Students who find keys can redeem them to the USB room for front of the line passes for prom activities or free tickets, depending on the color of the key.

NEWS

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

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GLCs move system for registration signup online DBHS changes appointment process for the 2017-18 school year.

BRIAN CHANG NEWS EDITOR In an attempt to ease the transition from one school year to the next, Diamond Bar High School administrators are implementing a new process for class registration.

In past years, students were assigned Fall appointments with their GLCs through a raffle system.

Students were given colored cards and assigned dates based on the order in which the colors were called.

This year, students were able to register online through the SignUp Genius software, allowing students more flexibility when choosing their meeting appointments. For current juniors, signups began the week of April 3, followed by the other classes on a grade-by-grade basis.

“What we did before just seemed kind of crazy. We would get 800 people in the amphitheater, and we had a system for it, and it was organized, but this just seemed like eventually it would work better,” said Dave Desmond, one of the GLCs for the

Class of 2018. “Before, you were just given a time, and we would try to avoid vacation times, but basically you were just given a time.”

According to technology coordinator Randy Thomas, plans to implement a new system have been in the works for several years due to the complexity and perceived inefficiencies of the old one.

Marc Natividad and Sonja Burns, Class of 2020 GLCs, recently led the push for the new system.

“The individuals that were involved, we met quite a few times, from September to October, up until [the week of March 27] , trying to make sure everything was ready to roll out,” Natividad said.

“It was exhaustive, because we met a number of times on all of this.”

Despite minor problems, the system has not yet encountered major setbacks but will be fine-tuned for coming years.

“This was a way that we could open it up to everyone and say ‘here’s what is available, go ahead and try to choose your appointment,’ and you can change it online yourself. This is our first year doing it, so we’re ironing out some of the kinks, but I think it will work very well,” Thomas said.

SignUp Genius was chosen as the foundation for the new soft-

ware due to its ability to handle a large database of students.

However, a problem arose when the system began using parent email addresses as the primary identification for the site, preventing administrators from setting up accounts for younger siblings.

While older students will be registering their siblings for appointment dates in person in front of the LINC, Thomas says he plans to use district-issued student Google email addresses in the future to prevent similar situations.

In addition, some students failed to receive notices about signups, which Thomas hopes to rectify by using the district-issued Google accounts.

Though students were given two days to register for appointment times, the window was reopened for those who were not able to sign up in time, as well as for students transferring in from other school districts.

“I’m still a little nervous about it. I’m kind of an old-school fellow, and I don’t like something that I don’t have complete control of,” Desmond said. “I’m nervous about something going wrong, like some old-school parents not knowing how to log on, but we’ve been working that out.”

cheering From THE TOP

CALVIN RU

Members of "Seeds of Wellness" work together on the garden for their project.

Growing a greener environment Four APES classes are in the process of their annual campus projects.

INGRID CHAN STAFF WRITER Students of Diamond Bar High School’s AP Environmental Science classes have begun working on their annual “Your World Projects,” with the goal of making the campus more environmentally friendly.

Teachers Kylance Malveaux and Greg Valor have two APES classes each, with each period working on different projects.

The teachers have been acting as advisers, since the assignment is entirely student-run.

Each project is run by an executive board consisting of four managers and a president, all of whom were chosen by majority vote. The rest of the students organized themselves into four departments: art, research, marketing and public relations. Most of the funds needed for the projects are gained through donations, fundraising and sponsors.

Valor’s first period class, “Project Bluebird,” hopes to create a biome in which the declining population of western bluebirds can thrive in. However, the project is not limited to just bluebirds, as they intend to make DBHS more hospitable for birds in general. The class currently has one operating birdhouse at the back of the school, and they will be landscaping the area with plants.

Meanwhile, Valor’s fourth period class, “Operation Hydration,” plans to install a filtered hydration station accessible to students on campus in order to promote the usage of reusable water bottles.

They are also attempting to place recycling bins around campus to prevent the disposal of plastic water bottles that would otherwise

ERIC HONG

Seniors root for their class at the Spring Sports and Top 10 rally, the last rally of the school year, in the gym on April 7.

Retiring Brahmas share memories RETIREMENT FROM P. 1 can Cancer Society, Amnesty International and various other clubs.

Working so closely with his students has allowed Moran to develop good relationships with them, and he said that he will miss his students, along with his friends on the staff, when he leaves the school.

“It’s a fun job. The interaction you have with students and that kind of rapport you have with them is a really unique thing, and I don’t think you can find it in any other profession.”

As for the future, Moran has yet to make any specific plans, but is likely to completely dis-

connect from teaching, aside from the tutoring he currently does, and focus on relaxing.

After 20 years as the GLC Secretary, Taylor is also retiring as she approaches her 60th birthday.

Taylor’s main projects have been organizing the PSAT, College Night and Awards Night.

However, Taylor also redirects students with referrals and assists GLCs and Assistant Principal David Hong.

Taylor looks forward to the future and plans to move with her husband to San Clemente to be closer to family.

She and her husband are also planning to put the RV

they bought when her husband first retired to more use.

“Our plan is just to try to do a couple of long trips. Utah is one place we want to get to see, as well as Zion and Bryce. We want to do a little more traveling and to do a little more relaxing,” Taylor says.

However, it is with a heavy heart that she leaves the school, as the staff and students at DBHS have become like family to Taylor.

“I will miss the kids no doubt.

They’re what kept me on. They’re what kept me going. I think my favorite thing that I am in life is a mom,” Taylor said. “I only have one child, but I figure I come here and I’ve got over 3000.”

end up in landfills and oceans. The class has already gained the funds for their hydration system and are currently in the process of determining its location and design.

Malveaux’s second period class, “Spotlight,” is raising money to install solar powered lights around campus, since the school lights are on constantly. Each solar panel costs $300, and the class has already received one panel of the three that they are aiming for. Funds were raised from an ice-skating fundraiser and parent donations. The class is also asking around Diamond Bar for sponsors.

“We are reaching out to elementary and middle school students in an effort to educate them about solar energy and encourage them to be more concerned about conserving energy,” senior Grace Jean said.

Malveaux’s fourth period class, “Seeds of Wellness,” is promoting gardening as a source of stress relief for high school students.

An aromatherapeutic garden will be established on campus, since horticultural therapy is proven to have cognitive, social and emotional benefits.

They also plan to work together with DBHS Peer Counseling in the future to help maximize the benefits. The foundation of their garden was completed at the end of spring break. The students are also hoping to install a series of benches around trees near the garden. The installation of any other aesthetic enhancements will depend on approval from the school board.

“Ultimately, we hope that our garden can be a place of escape for DBHS students,” senior Jessica Au said.

At the very end of the school year, the classes will present their final projects to a panel of judges and receive a grade based on how they rank. This grade will make up 50 percent of their semester grade. Panel judges are administrators from environmental programs outside the school.

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4

OPINION

Airports: the new political battleground

cATHERINE zhang feature editor

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aptops, iPads and cameras.

These seemingly harmless devices are among the latest additions to the ever growing list of possessions passengers cannot take onto a plane.

However, this restriction serves as an act of discrimination against the Muslim majority countries the ban is placed on, rather than an attempt to lessen terrorist attacks.

Passed recently under the Trump administration, the insufficient ban affects passengers traveling from 10 airports in predominantly Muslim countries, majority of which are our allies, heading to the U.S., as commuters are prohibited from stowing devices bigger than a cellphone in their carry-on bags. Devices must undergo security checks and must be placed in checked-in luggages.

None of these countries are affiliated with any of the six countries under Trump’s controversial Executive Order temporarily suspending immigration. This inequality of merely banning electronics from our allies may lead to further strain with the countries.

If the threat of electronic bombings is as crucial as the government insists it is, why are only eight countries affected by the restriction? Why not all countries?

Previous regulations prohibited large amounts of liquids and gels from being carried onboard any international flights, which effectively lessened the instances of liquid explosive attacks. One of the main reasons why the liquid ban was sufficient lies in the fact that all international airports adhered to the regulation, not just a few countries.

Checking the devices in a limited range of airports renders the electronic ban utterly impotent.

According to the Independent, this drastic measure follows terrorist attacks using explosive-filled devices, such as when a laptop spiked with explosives detonated in the passengers’ cabin mid-flight.

The federal government should be focused on reinforcing their current policies rather than creating more ineffective ones. According to the Los Angeles Times, an internal investigation of TSA resulted in undercover agents under the Department of Homeland Security bypassing security checks, smuggling in guns and bombs in numerous trials throughout the case.

The TSA screening failed 95 percent of the time due to human and technological error, according to the investigation. If the airport security is already failing in terms of its rather lacking screening technology, pat-downs and baggage checks, enforcing an electronic ban will not be sufficient in fending off potential terrorist attacks.

This ban is immensely useless, as airline funds are wasted by hiring additional personnel to handle the increasing airport security check lines. The government needs to redirect their efforts to strengthening existing policies, instead of solely pushing the blame on eight countries as a bid to show American citizens the federal “attempt” at lessening terrorism.

THE BULL'S EYE

EYE EDITORS

APRIL 26, 2017

OF THE

AP CLASSES: Placement tests should be required to qualify for AP classes in order to keep them more competitive.

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dvanced Placement. What truly qualifies as “advanced?”

A look into a typical Diamond Bar High School AP classroom goes a short way into answering that: Are those classrooms with students sleeping the advanced ones?

What has become clear is that it is too easy for DBHS students to register for AP classes, and that ruins their purpose.

Failing and AP are not words that should ever be used in the same sentence. By definition, advanced classes are meant for students who have an innate drive to succeed and take certain classes not for the name, but for the challenge. Too many students bite off more than they can chew when signing up for

difficult classes; they become enamored with the distinction alone without regard for their ability to thrive in such a rigorous environment. It is disheartening to see the number of students who, try as they might, simply cannot grasp the material being taught.

The so-called Diamond Bar mentality is partly to blame; students feel pressured to take the most difficult classes offered in order to stay competitive, and those who fall behind feel like failures.

Yet, placing the guilt solely on mob mentality is irresponsible; students should be able to gauge their own ability. It should not be necessary for students to skip class on the day of their test because they

don’t feel prepared; that in itself is a glaring indication that, like it or not, that student simply isn’t cut out for such a difficult course.

Stricter requirements to enter AP classes must be implemented.

In the past, summer essays gated student entry into AP history classes; now, a placement test given at the end of the school year should do the same. Any student who truly has the ability to succeed in an AP class will prepare themself thoroughly It should not matter to a student determined to succeed whether or not they have learned the subject beforehand; they should be able to adequately prepare to pass the placement exam.

Combined with summer work,

the test will deter both the students who lack dedication and the ones who do not have the ability to succeed in an AP environment; neither will be able to face the daunting workload ahead of them if they aren’t willing or able to put in the effort to even enter a class.

The tests should be graded by teachers who could set a cut-off score or simply take the top percentage of students. The implementation of a placement exam to bar entrance into AP classes would reduce the number of unmotivated students, as well as increase the difficulty of said classes. After all, AP classes are meant to mirror a college-level courses, and it is time that they begin doing so.

From the Brahma Perspective...

Aditya Garg (12)

”I feel like [current AP requirements] are appropriate. Grades speak for themselves...But I think placement tests are a great idea.”

Jack Guo (12)

“I don’ think it’s too easy to get into AP classes, because you need to [have an A or B in a class before]. I think students should have the choice to take an AP class.”

Angela Jensvold (AP Physics) “It’s important to open up opportunity for as many kids as possible. As an AP Physics teacher, I don’t agree with placement tests. I think students will be intimidated even more.”

Emily Clark (AP Euro)

“When I first started teaching, we had placement tests. The problem is that it’s very difficult to have placement tests for history classes, especially when [the last time they’ve studied history was in eighth grade].”

DB BLACK MARKET Gap year — only for

the privileged few

bernard chen editor-in-chief

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Cartoon by INGRID CHAN

aking a year away from schoolwork to pursue personal interests, gain professional experience or travel? Sounds good in theory. With increasing popularity among high school graduates, taking a gap year before attending college has become somewhat commonplace, boasting that the opportunity develops maturity, focuses the student and provides meaningful memories.

Most notably, Malia Obama is one of many who decided to take a gap year in 2016. During this past year, Obama opted to work at The Weinstein Company office in New York before she enters Harvard University as part of the class of 2021.

As with Obama, there are undoubtedly opportunities to pursue during the year-long gap between high school and college. An increasing number of colleges and universities are beginning to offer gap year programs for admitted students. While Harvard’s website simply encourages taking a gap year in words, Princeton University enables students through their Bridge Year program, offering university-sponsored volunteering at preset locations. Each opportunity is unique and has the potential to benefit the student.

But therein lies the problem: po-

tential is only potential. Gap years are by no means a fail-safe road to success. Only a select few are able to take full advantage of offered opportunities, a select few like Obama, who have the name and exceptional stats to pursue such endeavors. For the vast majority of students, gap years only lead to a decay in goals and education.

Without clear access to guidance or counseling often provided to students directly entering college, students are more likely to lose sight of their goals. With the added distraction of traveling or a job with an income, the short-sighted benefits can often push higher education out of the picture.

And while opportunities like Obama’s internship with The Weinstein Company or other structured travel abroad programs do exist, most require a rigorous application process and take only the top percentile of students. What’s the point in delaying higher education for yet more applications?

These programs are also often costly to participate in. Considering that the most common explanation for taking a gap year is to alleviate the financial burden of university with a year of work, expending excessive money to go abroad in a foreign country, an opportunity that is already offered by institutions, is hardly a logical choice.

At the end of the day, taking a gap year is what you make of it. Unless you have a clear cut path through the year, land your dream job right out of high school or just have an undying passion to construct wells in rural Africa, go to college. The opportunities offered will probably be equivalent to any gap year opportunities and your efforts will have greater impact post-college.

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

OPINION

5

FINE ARTS Degrees: a worthy endeavor?

Generally viewed as less profitable compared to STEM majors, is it really worth the time and money to pursue a college degree in the fine arts?

PRO pauline villegas a&e editor

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ajoring in the arts has gained a bad reputation for producing lower incomes than other majors, and as such, artists are generally seen as the underdogs of society for choosing the “unconventional” path of life. However, when it comes to studying the arts in college, students will be receiving a comprehensive education well beyond the basic art arts courses in high school. This inaccurate reputation stigmatizes those who choose to study what they are most passionate about.

Claiming that these degrees are inherently unprofitable and hence useless harms our culture. Art is a reflection of who we are; to shy students away from art degrees is turning them away from self-expression and asking them to give up a part of themselves.

No one can fill in the large shoes of great American artists, such as Georgia O’Keefe and Andy Warhol, when society discourages the very profession. Although it is true that artists do not need degrees to be successful, art degrees are not just pieces of paper. Ca-

reers such as digital designers, stage managers and museum directors are more easily attainable with an arts degree in hand.

It is fair to say that art is seen as an “unlikely” career choice because of the low chances of being successful. However, these stereotypes are blown out of proportion and simply wrong. According to The Guardian, 56.8 percent of fine arts graduates directly enter employment. These degrees can also lead to further growth, as another 19 percent continued their training after receiving their degrees.

Realists will claim that an art degree will take you nowhere, but that is not the case.

For the student who is afraid of not making a living with an arts major, they shouldn’t be fooled by society. One doesn’t have to be a famous director to be considered successful in their field. Many behind the scenes, hands-on, technical jobs are available after graduation.

According to a survey by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, 92 percent of alumni who sought employment were employed. The study also found that a degree in fine arts can lead to entrepreneurial opportunities, as 14 percent of the employed had founded their own company. After graduating, careers in the field of arts can have a median yearly income of $150,000, according to the survey. Having a career in the arts can result in a more than livable salary.

If a college student dreams of one day performing in a prestigious concert hall or producing the next Oscar-winning film, no one should stop them from studying what they love. Even if students decide not to pursue a career in the arts, what they learn will add value to whatever career they decide.

CON emily jacobsson a&e editor

I

appreciate and enjoy the arts as much as anyone, and while I don’t want to sound like the parents who are only happy when their children pursue medicine or engineering, I am forced to recognize the fact that in our society, “I’m studying (insert art major here)” has become a euphemism for “I’m studying unemployment.”

The arts undoubtedly enrich our society and it would be an exaggeration to say that an arts degree is useless, but the fact of the matter is, life after college is cruel to art majors, as it favors those who have studied STEM related subjects and can readily contribute to a market that is driven by technological advancement.

The skills learned during years of education in the fine arts or performing arts are not seen as marketable job skills, leaving students who have chosen to pursue the arts at a disadvantage in the job market.

This risk of financial security is most often the largest deterrent to pursuing the arts in college, and rightfully so. An art de-

gree is just as expensive as any other, but the benefits of it do not outweigh the costs, literally.

According to a 2013 report published by Payscale, fine arts majors on average earn a starting salary of $31,800 per year, which is $18,756 less than the average annual income in the United States for someone with a college degree.

Additionally, a degree in the arts very rarely leads to an actual career in the arts.

An article published in The Atlantic stated that only 10 percent of those who graduate with an art degree continue on to earn their living as artists.

Because of the nature of the arts industry in regards to hiring, an arts degree may not even help when applying for jobs in your field of study as recruiters tend to favor candidates with relevant experience and a portfolio over those with art degrees, according to Kristen Harris, the owner of a staffing agency.

It would be wiser to place your time during college studying a field that may help you find a job later on, should the dream of using art as a source of income not work out.

While I applaud those who are brave enough to pursue their passion of the arts in college regardless of all the reasons not to, the bottom line is that a degree in the arts isn’t going to help you pay the rent or make car payments.

It is so easy to idealize a future of deviating from the traditional path and taking risks to follow a passion of art, but when reality hits, and it inevitably does for most, you’re left only with the realization of the truth behind the stereotype of a struggling artist.

Standing up for senioritis stuart kusdono asst. opinion editor

S

enior Tanya Slacker of Layback High School filed a suit against Tryhard College for discrimination against what she defines as “special-need” students.

More specifically, Slacker accuses the college of discriminating students suffering from senioritis—a well-known and contagious disease.

“It’s a form of bipolar disorder, I would say,” Slacker said during an interview before the court case.

“The disease is like a dark force that invades your brain, playing a game of tug-of-war with sanity. All your rational thinking is rendered useless. The force enslaves you to all whims of instant gratification.”

The suit was filed just days after Slacker was rescinded from Tryhard College for failure to main-

tain a 2.0 unweighted GPA. Slacker claims to have been infected by senioritis and argues that her disease crippled her, thereby preventing her from achieving anything over a “C” in any of her classes.

The college, Slacker reasons, is bigoted for rescinding students for simply being ill.

“Obviously, the college is afraid that the disease will hinder Slacker’s ability to perform well academically,” Slacker’s lawyer explained at the court hearing, “But if I were to be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, does that necessarily mean that I will fail in school? Stephen Hawking would beg to differ.”

In response to arguments against the existence of senioritis, Slacker’s lawyer cites the urban dictionary, which defines senioritis as “a crippling disease that strikes high school seniors,” symptoms including “laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts and sweatshirts.”

Slacker’s senior classmate, Jason, was called up to the stand and testified the existence of senioritis, saying how he has also been afflicted by it and how it can even be beneficial.

SLOTHFULLY SATIRICAL

Cartoon courtesy of MEGAN LEE “Tryhard College has one of the highest stress rates in the nation,” argued Jason. “Senioritis has a bad rep, but is perhaps the greatest cure to stress, which inevitably leads to many more serious diseases, including, but not limited to, cancer, diabetes and depression.”

The professor representing Try-

hard College repeatedly stated his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself when asked for a rebuttal. The court hearing lasted for fifteen minutes. The college was ultimately deemed “not guilty” by the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. Slacker was shocked upon hearing the decision.

“A world where people are unlawfully discriminated by schools and courts for suffering from diseases such as affluenza and now, senioritis, is a dark world indeed,” Slacker said. “But if anything, I am more inspired than ever to fight this war waged against the rights of my brethren seniors.”

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APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

Stirring up new skills

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FEATURE

Catherine Zhang Feature Editor Filleting a steak, baking Crème brûlée, stir frying Chinese-inspired noodles with the addition of fragrant spices, colorful herbs and crunchy vegetables: Diamond Bar High School senior Jeffrey Liao; juniors Logan Knight and Megan Wu have developed such skills after years of cooking and baking.

Both Liao and Knight developed their passion for cooking as children. Due to his mother’s insistence, Liao started off cooking simple Asian dishes, such as noodles, fried rice and dumplings.

After his initial reluctance, Liao soon enjoyed creating dishes in the kitchen.

“I thought it was annoying and I liked ordering food, but cooking taught me independence. I didn’t have to rely on my parents to cook for me anymore,” Liao said.

Unlike Liao, Knight was fascinated with cooking television

style competition, five contestants were randomly grouped into one team, and each team represented an assigned cuisine theme. Liao and Knight were allotted to the same group, and the team was given the American cuisine theme.

During the competition, the contestants prepared their meal live in front of the judges, and some had to wear microphones to explain their cooking process.

Two weeks prior to the contest, all of the competing six teams met up and practiced preparing their dishes. Liao and Knight’s group decided to serve a salad as the appetizer, steak with lamb sauce as the main entree and molten lava cake as the dessert.

Attributing their win to frequent practice sessions, Liao and Knight won movie tickets and a framed certificate. Through this competition, Liao gained new insight in preparing dishes pertaining to another cuisine.

“Before this competition, I mainly only knew how to cook Asian cuisine. Our theme was American

Photos courtesy of MIA YU

Members of Marine Conservation Society help clean up beaches while raising awareness on issues facing the ocean.

Club Corner

Ocean of possibilities Amelie Lee Asst. Feature Editor From cleaning beaches to spreading awareness of sea life issues, Diamond Bar High School’s Marine Conservation Society hopes to ensure that there will always be fish in the ocean.

Through monthly meetings and arranged cleanups, the members of the club aim to spread more awareness about sea life, water pollution and the various problems humans cause in water habitats.

Co-presidents juniors Mia Yu and Bryan Zhang formed the club in September 2015 to bring more attention to contemporary issues facing our ocean.

“I choose to be involved in this club because I know that we, as students, should understand how our actions result in the health of our environment, and by taking a few hours or a day each month,

students can help our Earth as a whole.” Yu said via Facebook.

The club meets at a different beach monthly to help clean up trash and litter, and to ensure that other people can enjoy their beach experience. So far, the club has visited Long Beach, Laguna, Newport, Seal Beach and Santa Monica to clean for roughly three to four hours in the water and by the shore.

Prior to the cleanup, members meet to discuss ocean life and the club’s upcoming events.

The club has also visited The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach this year to learn more about marine life and the ocean.

“After my experiences cleaning up beaches with the club, I recycle a lot more now. Seeing other people being wasteful has made me not want to litter. Picking up all that trash made me realize how annoying it is when people litter. The club has taught me not to do that to our environment,” sophomore club

member Davis Li said.

Advisors Kari Simonson, Margaret Ku and Malinalli Cooke spend time ensuring students are more aware of what is happening in the earth’s oceans.

Chemistry teacher Cooke has previously worked as an AP Environmental Science teacher and served as an advisor at this school and her previous school, for multiple clubs that attempt to lessen environmental issues.

Throughout her past experiences, Cooke has stressed the importance of bringing more attention to environmental issues that are usually ignored.

“We are all part of this planet.

Humans tend to think that we own it, and only our needs are important, and I think it’s important people know that we are just part of a system, and every part of it is integral to keeping a balance. We can’t keep living our lives thinking we’re the only species on this planet,” Cooke said.

Sean Sipagan, Senior “My advice for those who are taking their first AP test is to study, but not stress. Make sure you’re keeping a healthy sleep schedule, because not many people do that. You need to be physically up for it, as well as mentally.”

ERIC HONG

DBHS senior Jeffrey Liao and junior Logan Knight enjoy cooking and have even won a competition hosted in the Inland Empire area.

shows, such as “Masterchef” and cuisine, so I expanded my culture “Iron Chef,” which prompted him through this,” Liao said. to start cooking. Starting off with Both Liao and Knight aspire to simpler dishes like pancakes and enter more cooking competitions, salads, Knight gradually began although neither plans to pursue preparing more complex items, cooking professionally. such as pasta and various desserts.

After multiple years of baking However, Knight wasn’t the typical experience, Wu can successfully beginner, as he strayed from set create macarons, cupcakes, cakes, instructions, focusing on creating crème brûlée and muffins. Once his own recipes. or twice every two weeks, she sells “Every chef can make the same baked goods, including macarons, dish, but all the dishes can end up cupcakes and cakes, to clients, tasting completely different due to who request the flavors, colors, the way the chef cooks it. There’s amounts and designs of the desa lot of individuality in cooking,” serts.

Knight said.

Due to her passion for baking, However, Wu, who categorizshe considered branching into the es herself more of a baker than a field professionally by opening a chef, began baking on a whim after bakery; however, she realized the her household ran out of bread. At difficulties of pursuing baking as the age of twelve years old, Wu recareer, thus deciding to pursue the alized her passion for baking after goal after settling down. preparing home-made bread from “I talked about it with my mom. I scratch with the help of an online realized there might be unstability, recipe. so I’m putting it off until the fuAlthough the bread was ture when I’m middle aged undercooked and dense, the and create the bakery on junior considers the baking the side,” Wu said. experience vital, as she realLike other hobbies, ized the various benefits of cooking and baking rebaking. quire constant practice, “It’s relaxing for me. and Liao advises beI like making food for ginners to continue other people, and it cooking, despite makes me happy any initial misto give it to them,” takes they may Wu said. have made.

Last year, both “If you don’t Liao and Knight do well the first entered a local time, don’t give teenage cooking up because no contest in the Inone’s going to land Empire area have good cookAMELIE LEE to hone their ing the first cooking abilities. Junior Megan Wu has enjoyed baking time they cook,” In the “Iron Chef” desserts and even sells them to clients. Liao said.

James Lo, Senior “I’m taking five AP classes. My strategy to succeed at this point is just to pray. Since it’s senior year, I really don’t care anymore, and they’re really just to help with college fees. My friends just scream “FIVE” at each other for encouragement.”

ThOughts frOm DBHS AP Testers visit the humans of DBHS Facebook page for more

Anping Fong, Senior “My attitude this year has completely changed. I learned that it’s stupid to let the stress take over my life. Junior year, I was dissatisfied with my abilities and compared myself to smarter people in my grade, but this year I stopped stressing as much.”

Marc Louie, Junior “I need to review and have a fresh mind. Before I’m going to study, I’m going to hit the gym so my mind is fresh. It’s a new strategy.”

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

FEATURE

7

New pho worth a try catherine liu contributing writer Pho has always been my family’s favorite cuisine, as it blends sweet and sour flavors with the addition of fresh herbs that satisfy my family’s differing taste buds.

Excited at the prospect of eating Vietnamese-styled dishes, my family and I decided to dine at the new Pho Ha restaurant on Golden Springs Drive in Diamond Bar, replacing the previous burger restaurant, Bob’s Big Boy. Pho Ha was busy for a Monday night, but we did not have to wait to be seated, as a waiter briskly led us to a long table near the window.

While we waited for the food to arrive, I noticed that the restaurant had more than enough waiters and waitresses bustling around to meet the needs of the large number of customers that were packed in the restaurant.

As I looked around the new restaurant, I was struck by the Oriental-style paintings that hung on the walls of the spacious room, along with the bamboo partition, which seemed to add to the modern look and theme of the restaurant.

I decided to try the charbroiled

pork and egg roll rice vermicelli, which costs $9.45, while my younger sister ordered the House Special Pad Thai with shrimp and beef for $10.45. Meanwhile, my mom got the House Special Combo Beef noodle soup for $9.45, and my older sister got the Vietnamese cold cut sandwich for $4.75.

Served in a black bowl with sauce on the side, the rice vermicelli meal looked very appealing, as the colors of the ingredients contrasted beautifully with the rippled bowl.

Although I was worried about the sauce overpowering the dish, it brought the whole palate together. I enjoyed the contrast in texture of the crushed peanuts in the sauce provided along the hint of sweetness from the sweet and sour sauce. Even though I enjoyed the texture of the pad Thai noodles, I felt that there was a lack of flavor in the ingredients; I had to drizzle Sriracha on the noodles to make up for the blandness.

On the other hand, the beef noodle soup that my mom ordered did not disappoint. Like all other pho dishes, the special had a strong beef flavor with the perfect amount of heat and tang from the addition of lime and jalapenos that satisfied my taste buds.

DETAILS CUISINE: Vietnamese ADDRESS: 21090

Golden Springs Dr, Walnut, CA 91765 Although the store had a mix up with our sandwich order, the waiter immediately corrected it when we realized the issue and brought us the correct meal within minutes.

When taking a bite of the sandwich, I felt as though the texture of the cold cuts seemed quite mushy at first, but the crispness of the bread and freshness of the vegetables managed to pull the dish together.

Overall, the portions were definitely more than enough to be shared and the service was amazing. I definitely like Pho Ha more compared to other pho restaurants I have visited because of the welcoming atmosphere and modern interior. I am already planning more visits with my friends and family.

AMELIE LEE

Pho noodles and shrimp spring rolls with peanut sauce are served at the newly opened Pho Ha, located at the old Bob’s Big Boy location. The restaurant also offers various other types of Vietnamese food and drinks.

ALUMNI

AMELIE LEE

Office aide Mingie Han started working in registration in May 2016.

Helping students behind the scenes Cindy Liu Staff Writer Every morning, as teachers head to classrooms in preparation for a day of teaching, Mingie Han heads in a different direction: the office.

Rather than teaching in front of a classroom of students, Han’s job at Diamond Bar High School is behind the scenes, in her office corner surrounded by computer screens and stacks of papers.

From the moment Han arrives at school, she’s with transcripts, report cards, phone calls, communication with parents and students and providing GLCs with necessary documents— all as part of her hectic everyday schedule.

“I get bored very easily so I like that [my work at DBHS] is different,” Han said. “Every day is something new. I like [that] challenge; the challenge is what keeps me going” Since starting in Registration in May last year, Han has been settling into her chaotic routine.

After serving several temporary positions around the Walnut Valley School District, she brought her longtime experience with office work and dealing with people to DBHS, where she had her first experience working in registration.

“There were times when I thought maybe I wasn’t doing good enough of a job as I was supposed to or maybe even failing so maybe during my probation [I thought]

they would let me go,” Han said.

When she turned in her application and received the phone call asking for an interview for the position, she was convinced that it was a prank call or that someone had called the wrong number.

Even after she went through the interview and landed the job, she was still in disbelief, but was ecstatic about how the permanence of the job could potentially stabilize her life.

She faced her first challenge four days into the job when she had to do coordinate the report card process with little knowledge or experience on how to do it. Then, the machine for printing the report cards froze, and on top of that, Han wasn’t sure if she even had enough report cards.

“I don’t know when there’s a deadline, and with the admins being new and everybody being new… it sometimes comes to me last minute [and] I have to provide something for 3,000 plus students in two days. That could be frustrating sometimes,” Han said.

In the months after she began her job in registration, she appreciated the camaraderie of the staff and their willingness to help her on any difficulties she faced. Now, having gained more work experience, she looks forward to facing the challenges every day brings.

“As crazy as it sounds, my job is very crazy and demanding, but I can’t think of anything that I don’t like about it,” Han said. “It’s crazy, but I love it.”

Serving justice through teaching

MIchelle Ki Editor-in-Chief Justice: (n) the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness. Fighting for justice on the front lines is Diamond Bar High School alumnus Mushtaq Gunja, having served as the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, a criminal prosecutor in Maryland and now, as an assistant dean and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University.

In high school, he served as the news editor of The Bull’s Eye and an attorney in Mock Trial. He graduated from DBHS in 1996.

“I enjoyed the puzzle and the performing aspect [of Mock Trial]. It was really great training for becoming a lawyer and the rigor of DBHS education prepared me,” Gunja said.

Gunja graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and Diplomatic History from Brown University and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

He continued his passions at Harvard, as he was the articles ed-

itor for the Harvard Journal and vice in the development and implecoached the student Mock Trial mentation of policies across higher team. education, including improving acBefore moving to Washington, cess and affordability, encouraging Gunja served as an assistant U.S. increased innovation, improving Attorney in Baltimore, where he the experience for students with prosecuted a variety of crimes, federal loans and ensuring fair including racketeering offenses, treatment for all students of highdrug conspiracies and financial er education. fraud. wIn 2013, he was detailed to work Gunja was initially drawn to at the White House Counsel’s Ofpublic policy and fice, vetting law when he was Senate-conin high school and firmed pres“The Obama Admincontinued to work idential apistration was a really hard to achieve pointees. inspiring place to be his ultimate career “It was a in.” goals. fascinating “Lawyers solve e x p e r i e n c e.

Mushtaq Gunja problems for peoThe Obama ple--it is such an Administrainteresting and imtion was a reportant line of work of being able ally inspiring place to be in. The to help people navigate their lives. I amount of care that the president always believed that solving crime and his administration put in pickwas important. I had this dream ing the [cabinet] nominees, to make to be a prosecutor and I’m lucky sure that they were qualified and enough to do it now,” he explained. ethical, was of significance. It is exWorking under the Obama Adtremely contradictory, especially ministration for over five and a compared to today with President half years, Gunja served as the Trump’s vetting process,” Gunja chief of staff to the under secreexplained. tary of Education, in which he Currently, as an assistant dean provided strategic and policy adin JD Programs and a law profes-

Photo courtesy of US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

DBHS Alumnus Mushtaq Gunja worked under the Obama Administration under the Secretary of Education. sor at Georgetown University, Gunja mainly works in the academic department, helping develop curriculum with an emphasis in criminal law.

Prior to this, Gunja also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Law School and Washington Adventist University.

“I have always loved teaching-there is no other different satisfaction than being able to teach students. However, being a federal prosecutor was the most fulfilling job I could have asked for. When you’re a prosecutor, the word justice is very important. I took it very seriously--trying to figure out what was best and just was really emotionally taxing. I saw victims that each came from very different circumstances,” he stated.

Gunja advises high school students, especially current seniors, to identify what is actually important to them through extracurricular activities in college.

He was part of student leadership at Brown, along with being in mock trial and serving as a teaching assistant.

“I pretty much do all of those things now. Folks that don’t do well in the future is because they’re not passionate.”

Gunja currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.

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FEATURE

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

Spring Fashion Platforms step into the spotlight “Florals, for spring? Groundbreaking.” This iconic quote said by Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” should

Photo courtesy of REFINERY21

Photo courtesy of MACY’S

be ringing through the ears of anyone hoping to revamp their look before the sunny season.

This spring, raise your fashion game up a level by straying away from basic fashion trends such as lace and floral.

Perhaps try an edgy graphic tee to get your point across and lighten up the mood of your wardrobe. The shirts can be funny and sarcastic; or have the logo of a band or celebrity. If you want a more

Photo courtesy of POSHMARK

Photo courtesy of LYST

cutting edge look, you can purchase this piece two sizes larger and wear it as a T-shirt dress. Either way, have fun with the stylish trend, while making a statement with the statement tee.

Photo courtesy of H&M

Photo courtesy of COMPRESSPORT USA

For those who prefer a girlier look, throw a slip dress

low pair nicely with both light

your swimsuit underneath, as

gets chilly, pair a three-quar-

extra inches of height.

over your graphic tee or even

and dark denim. Either way, a

your overalls will make for a

ter dress with a long sleeve

When it comes to trending

a plain white crop top. Not

pop of yellow in your outfits

trendy before and after beach

tee and cute sneakers. If the

accessories this season, hand-

only will you look totally 90’s

will brighten up your closet

outfit while walking down the

sun peeks through the clouds,

kerchiefs and fanny packs are

chic, you will also be comfort-

and your mood.

pier with your friends.

you can wear this dress with a

all the rage, as festival season

pair of platform sandals.

is right around the corner. If

able. This look can easily be

An amazing unisex piece

One of my favorite trends

dressed up or down depend-

that has also made a major

this season is the three quar-

Speaking of platforms, they

you don’t feel like going over-

ing on the occasion.

comeback this season is over-

ter dress. These dresses fall

top the list of comebacks from

board with a fanny pack, a

As for colors, yellow is mak-

alls. Long, short or somewhere

just below your knee and

the 90’s and early 2000’s era.

mini backpack can be a cute

ing a major comeback this

in between, overalls can easily

are normally extremely light-

Whether the platforms are

alternative, and it will stay

season and can be seen in the

be paired with a cute top or

weight. This dress is uber

sandals or sneakers, it is an

out of the way while you are

shapes of skirts, denim jackets

an edgy long sleeved shirt. If

changeable and can be worn

easy way to make your look

dancing to the beat of your

and dresses. All shades of yel-

you’re hitting the beach, wear

a million different ways. If it

trendier and give you a couple

favorite songs.

Written by Pauline Villegas Design by Catherine Zhang

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A Blindingly White Industry An A&E Commentary

Hollywood has never been known for its accuracy in portraying of people of color.

The Asian community in particular has had a long history of misrepresentation, and Asian characters have time and time again been played by white actors.

CT UR E PI OU NT AM PA R ON SI VI LE TE FO X RY NT U CE TH

S RE CT U PI A BI LU M CO

audiences include Ki-Hong Lee (the “Maze Runner” series), Jamie Chung (“Once Upon a Time”) and Steven Yeun (“The Walking Dead”).

If so many competent Asian actors exist, why is Hollywood denying them the leading roles that they rightfully deserve? Perhaps it is because the industry feels that there is more of a market for white actors, and films starring white actors will do better at the box office. It is true that films featuring bigger stars tend to make more money, and even major Asian stars fail to match the popularity of the biggest white stars. But maybe this is because Hollywood has not given Asian actors the chance to become as big as white stars.

For an Asian actor, it is a continuous cycle of not being casted over a more famous white actor, and therefore not having the opportunity to rise in the industry.

Looking back at the 2015 Oscars, many criticized the awards for only nominating white actors. Among the advocates for more diversity were the event’s host, Chris Rock. Yet, despite claiming to want more diversity, one segment of his routine made a joke perpetuating Asian stereotypes.

This incident shows the extreme double standard in the media, where it is a problem for black actors to be underrepresented, and yet Asians can be made fun of. Rock’s failure to understand that diversity is more than just black and white was demonstrated by the hypocrisy of his joke.

The whitewashing of Asian characters is still a major problem in the film industry, but growing opposition to the practice brings hope that Asian actors will become more and more visible in mainstream media. Constance Wu, Daniel Dae Kim and Ming-Na Wen are among the many Asian actors to take to social media to criticize the practice of whitewashing. As more and more people, both actors and movie fans, voice their disapproval of whitewashing, hopefully the industry will be prompted to make a change.

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W

hen Disney announced nese accent, buck teeth and taped eyethat its live action relids is the epitome of racism. make of “Mulan” would Decades later, whitewashing is still a have an entirely Asian common practice. For example, Emma cast, it was a breath of fresh air from Stone was cast as Allison Ng in the the film industry’s long history of cast2015 rom-com “Aloha,” a character ing white actors in roles originally who is said to be a quarter Chinese written for people of color. The Asian and a quarter Hawaiian. Tilda Swinton community has been particularly subplayed the Ancient One in last year’s ject to whitewashing, as this practice is “Doctor Strange,” a character who was called, and, overall, have been poorly Asian in the comic strips. And currentrepresented in Hollywood. ly in theaters, the film adaptation of a While calls to stop the casting of Japanese manga, “Ghost in the Shell,” white actors in Asian roles have grown stars Scarlett Johansson as Major. in recent years, the practice is nothing Some have made the argument that new. Take, for example, the 1937 film whitewashing is justified because of “The Good Earth,” based on the 1931 the lack of star power among Asian acbook of the same name, which tells the tors, but this has never been the case, story of the struggles faced by a Chiespecially today. nese farmer and his wife. Despite being Even in 1937, when society was centered around Chinese characters, much more accepting of racism, comthe cast is primarily white. Germanpetent Asians were available to play born movie star Luise Rainer even won lead roles. Anna May Wong, who was an Academy Award for her portrayal the first Chinese American movie star, of O-Lan, the farmer’s wife. was suggested for the role of O-Lan in Unfortunately, the practice contin“The Good Earth,” but was not cast by ued. The film “Anna and the King of the studio. She was, however, offered Siam” (1946) and the musical “The King the smaller role of the farmer’s second and I” (1956), both based on the fictionalized 1944 novel “Anna and the King of Siam” about the reallife Anna Leonowens, cast white actors to play Siamese King Mongkut, although this was corrected A.M.P.A.S in the 1999 verDuring the 2015 Oscar ceremony in Feb. 2016, Chris Rock brought sion of “Anna three Asian-American children onstage before making a joke and the King,” acknowledging the stereotype that Asians are good at math. which featured wife, which she declined in protest of Chow Yun-Fat. Almost as problemthe fact that she was offered “the only atic as the casting was both film’s steunsympathetic role” in a cast full of reotypical and incorrect portrayal of white actors playing Chinese characAsians as savages in need of a white ters, according to a 1987 Los Angeles savior.

Times article.

Perhaps one of the most offensive There are a number of modern Asian cases of whitewashing was the castactors and actresses who could have ing of Mickey Rooney as landlord Mr. easily been cast in whitewashed roles.

Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Lucy Liu, George Takei and Sandra Oh (1961). The iconic Audrey Hepburn have all made a name for themselves movie has been beloved for decades, in the media, starring in films such as but the cultural misappropriation in “Charlie’s Angels” and “Star Trek,” the film cannot be denied. Rooney’s and TV shows such as “Grey’s Anatocharacter is mostly present for comic my.” Actors more familiar to younger relief, and his thick imitation of a Japa-

S

Amy Miyahara, Asst. A&E editor

Anna May Wong (1905-1961) (top) was the first ChineseAmerican movie star. Decades later, Constance Wu (middle) and Lucy Liu (bottom) have made names for themselves in the entertainment industry.

A History of Whitewashing Luise Rainer in “The Good Earth”

Photo courtesy of MGM

1937

Yul Brynner in “The King and I”

Photo courtesy 20TH CENTURY FOX

1956

Mickey Rooney in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

Photo courtesy of PARAMOUNT PICTURES

1961

Emma Stone in “Aloha”

Photo courtesy of COLUMBIA PICTURES

2015

10

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

No strings attached Cindy Liu Staff Writer Just two miles from each other, at the First Chinese Baptist Church Walnut and St. Gabriel Korean Catholic Church, senior Michael Xu and junior Susie Choi stepped up to the stage, each with a guitar in hand, as hundreds of their church members watched.

For both Xu and Choi, church was the starting point where they began playing the guitar.

Choi was first inspired to play the guitar when she watched the older church kids on stage performing music during worship and wanted to be up there with them.

Xu’s passion for guitar was sparked when his church leader encouraged him to play for his church’s worship service. Although he attended some guitar classes at DBHS taught by Eric Lin, he later used YouTube to teach himself.

After he got past the frustrations of his finger coordination on the strings, he fell in love with the way he could improvise with the flow of music.

“It’s really calming,” Xu said.

“Sometimes, I would get so mesmerized I would practice for three or four hours nonstop.”

Three years after he started, he has hundreds of followers on his social media channels, encouraging him to keep playing. He posts videos and photos on his Instagram account @shoesacoustics, which currently has about 3,000 followers. His YouTube channel,

shoesacoustic, has around 300 followers and is the main platform that Xu uses to share his song covers and originals.

Last year, he started composing his own songs, the first of which he wrote while playing the guitar by the beach. His recent composition, “Chapters,” was written for his upcoming high school graduation and posted on his YouTube channel a few months ago.

Photo courtesy of MICHAEL XU

She’s Dance Company co-captain and Marquis President

Taking on the roles of both Diamond Bar High School Dance Company’s co-captain and Marquis president, Allyson Cantimbuhan has no time to spare. From teaching choreography to coaching vocals, the senior has dedicated her time to help lead DBHS’ Performing Arts department throughout her high school years.

Cantimbuhan started singing at the age of four and joined choir in middle school. However, it wasn’t until high school that she learned how to sing professionally in a group. After years of hard work, she stepped up as the president and led her team during numerous competitions.

With the school choir director, Patty Breitag, gone for three quarters of this school year, Cantimbuhan felt the need to step up by taking role, invoicing discipline and becoming a role model for the group. Despite their lack of an official director beside them, they won third place at the Arcadia PowWow competition with Cantimbuhan in lead.

“It was very hard for us to get a good grip on things,” she said.

“Knowing that we got everything together and performed it and placed just makes me really proud of that accomplishment.”

Cantimbuhan attributes her success as the Marquis leader to her past involvement in the Women’s Honors Choir. Consisting of selectively chosen students across California, the Honors Choir taught her specific vocal skills, which she uses to help her team at school now.

“I hope that my experience in honor choir really helped [Mar-

“As I near my graduation, I’m preparing myself—physically, mentally, spiritually—to face the many mountains to climb through in college.” he wrote. “This is the end of the beginning, the end of my first chapter.”

After graduation, Xu plans on continuing to play guitar through college.

For Choi, church had also been the place where her passion for

Photo courtesy of SUSIE CHOI

Senior Michael Xu posts videos to his YouTube channel, shoesacoustic, while junior Susie Choi leads worship at her church.

Student Spotlight ALLySON CANTImBUHAN sophia kim Asst. Sports Editor

For DBHS senior Michael Xu and junior Susie Choi, playing guitar serves as a mean of stress relief and spiritual growth.

quis] with their discipline, how they learn their music and how they incorporate how to learn music with everything else because learning music is very difficult,” Cantimbuhan said.

With the amount of attention Cantimbuhan gained from her vocal abilities, her friends and family encouraged her to try out for singing competitions. During her sophomore year, she tried out for “The Voice” and made it through the first round. Although she didn’t make it pass the succeeding rounds, she recounts the audition as one of her most prideful and memorable moments.

Cantimbuhan began dancing as a hobby in elementary school but stopped until she was immersed into hip-hop her freshman year.

One year later, after hearing the news about DBHS Dance Company’s new f e m a l e hip-hop group, she decided to try out for the team. In addition to making the team, she took the spot as captain the following

year after countless hours of practice.

Although the dance company won many awards with her as captain, she believes that her greatest accomplishment was simply being able to perform with the girls as a new team. Cantimbuhan said that leading the dance team was an overwhelming opportunity, as she first joined the team with the goal of merely becoming a member.

“Being co-captain, you need to know how to clean dance moves and knowing choreography to the very last detail so that when you help clean, you’re not corrected all the time.”

With four AP classes this year, Cantimbuhan had a lot to manage.

Wanting to prioritize everything including academics, choir and dance, she had to learn to manage time wisely.

“If I’m going to do something, I’m going to go through with it full-force,” she said. “I think that’s partially why I’m president and co-captain because when I pursue something I go all the way, not just half way.”

Cantimbuhan hopes to join a local dance team or acapella group during the next few years.

She is considering attending San Diego State University.

guitar started. She had watched the older kids on stage performing music during worship and wanted to be up there with them.

At that time, her obsession with Ed Sheeran and John Mayer finally pushed her to buy her first guitar in the seventh grade, a pink guitar with butterfly designs from Toys “R” Us. With her toy guitar, she played around and eventually caught the attention of her church members, who asked her to play in her freshman year.

“At first, it was more of a hobby,” Choi said. “I never thought about serving the church by playing guitar so I had to take things more seriously […] to get better.”

She later bought a more professional guitar and started a praise band with some of the other church guitarists.

After investing much time into her guitar, Choi became the director of her church’s music group— the one she initially hoped to participate in.

“It played a really big role in my spiritual growth,” Choi said.

“Being able to serve the community […] allowed me to help other people, but it also helped me on my spiritual journey.”

DBHS Drama Reaches New Heights emily jacobsson A&E Editor In advertising for “In the Heights,” the Diamond Bar High School drama department emphasized that it was created by the beloved Lin-Manuel Miranda.

And while Miranda’s influence is strong in the musical, with the cleverly written raps that made “Hamilton” famous, drama’s performance made sure that that was not the only notable thing about the musical.

With a perfectly crafted set, infectious rhythmic music and a cast that could sing just as well as they could rap, “In the Heights” easily met the high expectations set by last year’s “Les Miserables.”

“In the Heights” tells the stories of the members of a close-knit community in the predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican Washington Heights. The show begins with Usnavi (Jaden Campbell), a store owner who dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic. The girl of his dreams, Vanessa (Chloe Reyes), is also busy trying to leave the small city for good. At the same time, Nina (Ariana Gonzalez) returns with news that she has dropped out of college, completely shocking her parents.

As usual for drama productions, the actors excelled in their roles and were able to recreate the col-

orful Caribbean culture through their dancing and Spanish-laced English. Gonzalez’s choir background shines through with her powerful solos, and she is impressive as the lead in her first DBHS drama production. Reyes, whose distinctive vocal talent has been present in recent drama productions, returns as the sassy, determined Vanessa. While Campbell stands out with his ability to recite the syntactically complicated raps without missing a beat.

The school-designed set looked professional, completely encapturing the feeling of Washington Heights. The use of different lighting to reflect different moods throughout also added an extra touch to the production.

The outstanding skill level of the school orchestra is common knowledge at DBHS, and their performance in the pit was no exception. Before the musical began, the musicians introduced the audience to the musical’s Hip Hop and Caribbean influences. Yet at points the music overpowered the singers. Especially during the fastpaced songs, much of the emotion being expressed through the lyrics was lost to the sound of trumpets blaring coming from the pit.

Fans of “Hamilton” will definitely be able to find similarities to enjoy in “In the Heights,” but the musical is impressive on its own.

The musical will continue April 27-30.

ERIC HONG

Jaden Campbell and Chloe Reyes shine in DBHS’s production of “In the Heights.”

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A Week Unplugged Five Bull’s Eye staff members attempt to survive a week without phones or social media.

Failed After: 4 days

As I went to bed Sunday evening with my social media accounts deactivated, I thought I was ready for the week to come. As others dropped out one by one until only two of us remained, I found myself on a journey of phoneless self-discovery -- at least that’s what I wish I could’ve said. In reality, the week passed by without being too remarkable.

Overall, not having my phone for the week did not afWhile I was lonelier than usual, the wonfect my daily life much. I wish that I could say that I was derful Slackbot, an online chatting bot, more productive, but this would be far from the truth. helped me through. The worst part of the Even without my phone as a distraction, my procrastiweek was not having access to my normal nation was as bad as ever. forms of entertainment, but in the end, I However, not having my phone did make simple tasks, wasn’t too bored, thanks to the pile of like texting my parents or checking my grades, more books I had been neglecting to read. difficult. I often instinctively reached into my bag for my phone when faced with a problem.

Brian Chang As for not having access to social media, I found that I did not miss it as much as I thought I would. I typically News Editor spend about two hours daily scrolling through social media, so I expected my withdraws to be more severe, but I realized that while I was gone, no one posted Being phone-deprived for four days can be anything particularly interesting. inconvenient. Although, I didn’t find the Unfortunately, my week was cut short because I left overwhelming need to use my phone during for Mexico on Saturday morning and would never be school, it became harder once I came home. able to give up my phone while in a foreign country.

I couldn’t exert my energy anywhere before studying. I had the preconceived notion that without my phone I wouldn’t waste my time Amy Miyahara and would start my homework earlier, however, that was Asst. A&E Editor not the case. I instead found myself getting more creative with ways to waste my time. By the third day, I had gotten used to it; however, usually simple tasks like texting my parents when to pick me up after school, proved the challenge impractical for a longer period. I later quit to Failed After: 5 days speak with family overseas. Overall, I didn’t feel that my phone was a necessity, just a tool for convenience when doing certain tasks and Waking up Monday morning to the harsh beeping of sometimes entertainment. my alarm clock, as opposed to the gentle tune played by my phone, was a cruel reminder of the phone-free week ahead of me. noor Naji I had this constant urge to pull my phone out, not for Asst. Opinion Editor the luxury aspect of it, like social media or games, but the necessities. I couldn’t text my dad about when I needed to be picked up from certain places and was The ending bell of second period signaled left to wander around the parking lot for a few minbrunch, and I immediately reached for my utes when I couldn’t find him. Because I couldn’t get phone. Nothing. I panicked, scared I had lost on Facebook, I was left completely out of the loop with my phone, until it slowly occurred to me club discussions or group projects. I eventually had that I had intentionally left it at home. It was to give up when I had to check on the person I tutor bad enough not having constant companwhen they didn’t show up. Some people may be into ion of my phone during school—and after, the idea of disconnecting, but for a busy high school my misery only compounded. This feeling student, it’s not as refreshing as it may seem. of emptiness eventually consumed me, and I ended up forfeiting the weeklong chalEmily Jacobsson lenge after but two days without that piece of technolA&E Editor ogy known as a smartphone. I walk out of the challenge startled at my dependency on such a device. I can only imagine what my life would be like ten years ago.

THE RULES:

Stuart Kusdono Asst. Opinion Editor

-No cell phones, at all.

-Desktop and laptop are only allowed for homework and email.

-No social media or YouTube.

Failed After: 4 days

Failed After: 2 days

Brahmas paint a future in fine arts Pauline villegas A&E Editor In a world full of college degrees, the choices may seem endless. However, for these Diamond Bar High School students, the choice was easy. Seniors Joyce Tsui, Kevin Tsao and Eden Chen have all decided to follow their dreams and pursue a career in the fine arts in the fall.

Tsui first began drawing before she could write, yet she didn’t take an actual class until her sophomore year. Ever since, she knew a career in art was up her alley.

“I first knew I wanted to be an artist when I realized that I couldn’t live without expressing myself through art. Without painting, I don’t think I could ever be truly happy,” Tsui said.

Instead of choosing an art school, Tsui plans on going to either UC Berkeley or UC Santa Barbara, so she can minor in computer science while majoring in studio art.

Throughout her art career, Tsui has found inspiration in re-

nowned artists such as Yuumei and Banksy.

“They not only change the public’s opinion, but they also shed a light on problems in creative ways, I want to open people’s eyes to different societal issues and make a difference,” Tsui said.

Much like Tsui, Tsao began his pursuit of his art at a very young age. Since the age of four, Tsao has been mastering the violin. In the fall, Tsao plans on taking this experience to the Thornton School of Music at USC.

“I knew I wanted to stay in Los Angeles because it is such a great place for music and art culture,” Tsao said.

At USC, Tsao is going to major in violin performance with an emphasis in string pedagogy, the art of teaching string instruments.

“I didn’t know I wanted to pursue music until this year, I had always wanted to do a double major.

I finally realized I want to only focus on music,” Tsao said.

DBHS band instructor Steve Acciani helped Tsao come to this

Photo courtesy of EDEN CHEN

Pianist Eden Chen has commited to the Columbia-Juilliard Joint Exchange Program.

decision and inspired him to continue his career in music.

In addition to Tsui and Tsao, Chen also plans on majoring in the fine arts. Chen was accepted into both Juilliard School and Columbia University, and he has decided to commit to the Columbia-Juilliard Joint Exchange Program that the schools offer. This program allows students to study at both New York City universities and reap the benefits of both an Ivy League and arts school.

Chen was in middle school when he realized that he only wanted to apply to art schools and conservatories.

“My dream job would be to work as a performer, but I am open to learning about other fields in the industry,” Chen said.

Although there is a huge stigma against those that choose a career in the arts, Chen believes every art career holds value in society.

“The purpose of the arts isn’t to cure cancer, the arts is for a completely different purpose. It is meant to find figurative meaning in life and to tell stories,” Chen said.

11

TAKE TWO

Teen TV can’t match its past Emily Jacobsson & Pauline villegas A&E Editors Most high school students will remember the golden days of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, ruled by shows like “The Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Drake & Josh.” Nowadays, a quick look at the current lineups warrants the questioning of whether the shows will ever live up to their predecessors.

The shows that we grew up with, but have since been canceled, perfectly delivered a valuable message without obviously shouting the lesson to be learned. Watching Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) navigate her double life was a reminder that everything in life needs balance. Seeing Raven obsess over her visions of the future in “That’s So Raven” taught us that it is best to let things run their course, even if it doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to. As kids, seeing characters on screen facing problems that reflected our own, even if those characters had super powers or were secretly a celebrity, was comforting.

This type of content does not seem to be available anymore. One of Disney Channel’s latest shows, “Bizzardvark,” follows two tweens and their adventures running an online comedy channel. The show lacks any real substance, with predictable characters and plotlines, and the acting is just flat out bad.

Shows on Nickelodeon, such as “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” and “iCarly” were genuinely funny, with wit and sarcasm that provided genuine laughs. If you tune in to the Nick now, you’ll find sad attempts at comedy. These cheesy shows, such as “The Thundermans,” which follows a family hiding their superpowers (a terribly overused idea in Hollywood), are the reason the industry is being forced to revive old classics such as “Fuller House” and “Girl Meets World.”

One of Nickelodeon’s last good shows, “Victorious,” was cancelled with no apparent reason and caused fan outrage. Instead of wrapping up the storyline, the show stopped abruptly and never developed the character’s futures.

The end of “Victorious” felt like the death of an entire generation’s childhood, a generation that was raised on real comedic quality such as “Zoey 101” and “Kenan & Kel.” Nickelodeon and Disney should strive to be like their competitor, Cartoon Network. Although nothing can beat Cartoon Network’s original shows, they have maintained their show quality, and continue to make shows that are truly entertaining. Cartoon Network also listens to their audience’s needs; when “Samurai Jack” was cancelled, fans demanded that the show be brought back, and after 13 years it was.

Making kids shows may seem like a piece of cake; however, these large networks seem to have lost their touch when it comes to appealing to their audience. Rather than creating shows solely for the economic benefit, entertainment networks need to return to their roots and care more about the quality of their shows.

12 BUSINESS

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

APRIL 26, 2017

SPORTS

A learning experience

SPORTS COLUMN

NBA Finals: Uncovered

SOFTBALL Due to the loss of seniors from injuries, the underclassmen are leading the Brahmas.

Justin Prakaiphetkul contributing writer

bernard chen editor-in-chief With a plague of injuries, the Diamond Bar High School softball team left 2-2 at the Arroyo Grande Tournament last weekend. Moving forward with a 3-7 league record and 7-11 overall, the young team is working to gain experience this season.

Only having two seniors in the starting lineup, the team is learning to play with underclassmen, especially with seniors Ruth Munoz and Becky Winder experiencing injuries. Catcher Munoz has dealt with knee problems while Winder is working through a hip flexor injury from last season. Senior Ariel Moreno was also out for some games due to a shoulder injury.

As the No. 1 pitcher for the team, Winder is determined to stay out on the field and has been fighting through her injury. Winder plays shortstop or second base when she’s not pitching.

“Right now it’s kind of a struggle because I am pitching a lot and last year I had an injury, my hip flexor, so that’s starting to bother me a little bit, but I think I can work through it and figure it out,” Winder said.

Because of the excess of injuries, the team has been spread thin this year, according to junior Ellen Lasko. Several games were close and went into extra innings.

“We just haven’t had our luck in terms of winning those close ball

E

Photos by ERIC HONG

Sophomore Kimberly Flores (left) and senior Ruth Munoz (right) during a game against South Hills losing 3-0. games but compared to what it was at the beginning of the season when we were getting [destroyed] at five innings, we’ve come a long way,” head coach Roberta Garcia said.

This season, the team is playing the other schools in league three times for more games than previous years.

“I think our biggest thing is keeping it going for seven innings... because we tend to get to the sixth

inning and kind of fall apart a little bit,” Ellen said.

Offensively, Munoz leads with a .450 batting average, followed by junior Elizabeth Wilson with a .448 average and freshman Emily Ruhl with a .444 average. Ruhl also leads the team with 15 runs batted in while Munoz leads with 20 hits followed by sophomore Kimberly Flores with 17 hits and Ruhl with 16 hits.

“It all comes down to hitting. If

you’re hitting, you’ll find your way in the lineup,” Garcia said.

The Lady Brahmas will face the Glendora Tartans today looking to recover from their losses over the weekend. On Friday, the team plays Ayala, going into the last two and a half weeks of league games.

“I’m just hoping we can keep everyone healthy and be ready to continue with the season and our pitchers can stand out,” Garcia said.

Cabe said.

Although earning nine straight league titles is a feat in itself, the team is not satisfied. With CIF individuals and teams coming up, the boys cannot rest.

McCabe expects significantly tougher competition at the state level, anticipating struggles eric hong against teams such as the Sunny opinion editor Hills Lancers, the Palm Desert Aztecs and the Great Oaks Wolfpack, Having overcome all teams in who have held the divisional chamthe Palomares League unblempionship for the past two years. ished, the Diamond Bar boys golf “It’s time to change gears. Los team is headed to CIF individual Serranos South is our new home playoffs with a league title clinch. course. We want to dominate there, The closest the Brahmas came and that’s how we’ll do best as into a loss was last month on their dividuals and as a team,” McCabe home court against Ontario Chrissaid. tian High School, where they have The team played at the Los Sernot lost in over 15 years, according ranos Country Club against Ayala to Coach Tony McCabe. A tie of 206and will return there for both indi206 was broken by a card off, giving viduals and divisionals. To maxithe win to the mize their readiBrahmas. ness, the boys will “Beating Glendora was a By also defocus on studying feating the Bothe course. sold team effort.” nita Bearcats The Brahmas TONY MCCABE 203-225 at continue to play home and 187with impressive 209 away and balance, McCabe the Glen A. Wilson Wildcats 206said, being able to cover one 276 at Royal Vista Golf Club another for shortcomings on and 222-285 at home, the boys sethe course. The freshmen, includcured a ninth consecutive league ing Lu and Thomas, also have not title. Currently with a 10-0 league fallen behind their older teamrecord, the Ayala Bulldogs are the mates and remain some of the best only competitors left. players on the team.

Against Bonita, junior captain “It’s almost automatic. Two Sam Cho led with a score of 37 at guys are going to play better than home and freshman Leo Lu with 36 normal, two guys are going to play in the away match. Against Wilson, normal, and two guys are going to Cho led again with 39 at home and have a tough day. And it’s almost Lu and junior captain Thomas Lee every day like that,” he said. “Beatwith 38 in the away match. ing Glendora twice was a solid “We’re in the driver’s seat. We team effort.” have a really good chance of winThe boys will be playing on an ning our ninth straight title,” Mcindividual basis outside of league,

however, and sophomore Bryan Chiu has risen to the top during the first half of league. Scoring a 35 at Glendora was a “league championship-winning round,” McCabe said. Chiu, who McCabe predicted would perform “somewhere in the middle” of the team, is currently the top golfer in the Palomares League.

The Brahmas will wrap up a crucial game against Ayala tomorrow at Los Serranos, which will determine whether or not they will share the league title with the Bulldogs. If the Brahmas take the away game, they are set to be the only league champions; if they lose, they will clinch, at worst, a tie for the title.

Shooting for the playoffs

BOYS GOLF With an undefeated season, the Brahmas have clinched their ninth league title and will be competing in CIF.

13

ERIC HONG

Junior Thomas Lee putts in a match against Wilson at Royal Vista golf course.

veryone marked the first week of June as Part Three of this ongoing NBA Finals feud between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.

The NBA’s best player, LeBron James. versus the resident, villain Kevin Durant; the point guard clash between Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry.

However, with the events that have transpired over the past two months, I believe there is a legitimate chance that neither of those teams will be playing in June.

Before I go on, if Durant returns at full health and does not re-injure himself, it’s not even a question that the Warriors will make the Finals. After all, the Warriors have four all-stars in Durant, the Warriors’ best scorer; Curry, one of the most skilled offensive guards in the league; Klay Thompson, a top twoway guard and Draymond Green, the team’s best all-around player.

But what if he doesn’t? What if Durant’s injury lingers into the postseason?

My pick to come out of the West would be the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs have possibly the best coach in NBA history in Gregg Popovich, a potential MVP and Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Kawhi Leonard, a fringe allstar in LaMarcus Aldridge, and a skilled offensive center in Pau Gasol to bring off the bench. For the year, the Spurs have the NBA’s best defense, boasting a defensive rating of 100.9 according to NBA.com.

Unlike the Warriors, who simply have to plug a healthy Durant back into the equation, the defending champion Cavaliers would have to fix their entire defense to have a realistic shot of repeating.

Last year, James had to tap into his inner “God Mode” to bring a championship to Cleveland. Even then, it took a historical choke job by the Warriors and seven games.

This year, that won’t be enough.

Post All-Star break, the Cavaliers rank 29th in defensive rating and for the season, they rank 22nd. The last team to win a championship with a defense in the bottom twenty was the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, but the Cavs don’t have Shaq to carry them. The Cavaliers should be able to reach the finals in their current state if James replicates his 2016 historic Finals performance, but it certainly won’t be enough to top the Warriors or Spurs.

So if not Cleveland, then who?

As much as it pains me to say as a die-hard Lakers fan, I lean towards the Boston Celtics to come out of the East. For half the season, the Celtics have played without their preferred starting lineup of allstar Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and Al Horford due to various injuries.

Yet, they finished first in the East.

The 5’9 Thomas has come a long way since he was drafted last in the 2011 NBA Draft. Thomas has transformed himself from an overlooked second round pick to an MVP candidate. The combination of Bradley, Crowder, Johnson and Horford complement Thomas well, offensively and defensively. The Celtics also have one of the NBA’s best defenders with Marcus Smart coming off the bench. Like the Warriors, the Celtics have their own “death line-up” that can wreak havoc on opposing small-ball teams.

If Durant is not at full health and the Cavaliers cannot fix their defense, I wholeheartedly expect the Spurs and Celtics to be the final two teams at the mountain top.

14

SPORTS

APRIL 26, 2017

THE BULL'S EYE

Sixth title in its sights BADMINTON At the top of the league, the Brahmas are strolling through the season with few challenges. emily KIM sports editor Already approaching a repeat of the last three undefeated seasons, the Diamond Bar High School badminton team has won by a margin of over 20 points in every match.

Head coach Kemp Wells predicts another easy season for the Brahmas, with enough players on the team to fill two full lineups. He does not foresee a challenging season as many players practice both in a club outside of school and with the school team.

“I think that the players that like it the most are the players that are new to high school badminton.

But the ones that have been playing for two or three years already on the varsity level still like to play and to win but I’m sure they would like a little stiffer challenge once in awhile,” Wells said.

The Brahmas have never lost more than three sets in any match this year, placing Diamond Bar at the top of the league.

“There have been no matches that have come close this year,” Wells said. “Last year it was close at one point, but it really wasn’t anything too close where we had to worry about the threat of losing.”

To give the Brahmas opportunities to try new tactics, many players are rotated on and off the starting lineup.

According to Wells, the top mixed doubles pair amongst the Brahmas includes senior captain Justin Lam and sophomore Mirabelle Huang. The pair placed first last year for mixed doubles and have not lost a single match this year. Lam also plays with sophomore Daniel Huang in men’s dou-

bles, winning both their sets 21-8 in play in one match on the varsity a league game against Wilson. level, the Brahmas usually have a Juniors Ambrose So and Joshua greater number of players particiLee have also been performing well pate by mixing who plays singles in men’s singles. On the women’s and who plays doubles as well as side, junior mixed doubles.

Ja s m i ne Wells also tries “There have been no Huang and to minimize the Mirabelle hours of practice matches that have are both unthe Brahmas do to come close this year.” defeated in keep their interest KEMP WELLS singles. Wells in the sport. also sees seWith a vast manior Gwen jority of them playWang and sophomore Angela ing for clubs already doing drills Zhang as strong players despite the outside of school practice, Wells few number of matches they have focuses more on practice matches played. more than running drills.

One of the few challenges for the “If we put our best players in the team is giving all the players on the match and they play close to their team time to compete in matches. level we should beat most teams Although six girls and boys can this year,” Wells said.

Junior Jairemy Pulido takes a lead in the South Hills game.

Brahmas still winless in league BASEBALL Sophomore Lombard is a bright spot in the frustrating season. calvin ru photo editor

CALVIN RU

Junior Hanson Gao competes in a match against Chino Hills High School.

ERIC HONG

Struggling to rebound from the Chino Tournament, the Diamond Bar High School baseball team continues to battle for wins, compiling a 6-16 record and 1-8 league record.

After suffering 11 consecutive losses, the Brahmas broke their losing streak with a win over the Arlington Lions 8-3 in the Santa Ana Elks Varsity Tournament, only to be followed by two more defeats, concluding the tournament with a 1-3 record. “[The win] gives them confidence and shows them that they can be successful, but they have to go about their business in a more professional manner in order to get them to the next level that will allow them to compete in the Palomares League,” Head Coach Jonathan Hurst said.

Over spring break, the team competed against the Glendora Tartans twice, losing both league games, 8-0 and 9-4. The Brahmas were dominated by the Ayala Bull-

dogs in a crushing 13-1 defeat last Wednesday, but were followed by a 5-4 win against the Bulldogs two days after.

“We’re a very young team, and we’re trying to compete in a very good league, so we’re trying to build a program from the ground floor,” Hurst said. “If there’s anything we need to get better at, we need to be more offensive as a whole.”

Although the majority of the team is comprised of upperclassmen, the coaches have been integrating the underclassmen, sophomore William Lombard and freshman Alonzo Fuller into the games.

Lombard has played well enough to be a potential MVP candidate, according to Hurst, along with co-captain senior Eric Winchester, who pitches and plays first base.

The two are also leading the team in batting, with Lombard hitting .302 and Winchester .304.

However, the team’s overall batting average remains at .260, below the national batting average for high school baseball.

Similarly, their on base percentage (.335) and earned run average (3.39) are also not near national levels. The Brahmas will be competing against South Hills Bearcats today at 3:30 in their 10th league game.

Brahma battles in the Big Apple Having started wrestling as a sophomore, DBHS’ alumnus Nathan Pike now stands as a NCAA champion. ingrid chan staff writer With no prior experience, Diamond Bar High School alumnus Nathan Kenji Pike first stepped foot on the wrestling mat as a high school sophomore and made it onto the varsity lineup in his first year.

Now, after only eight years, Pike has become New York University’s first ever NCAA Wrestling Champion.

Pike had more achievements during his time at NYU than just becoming the 2017 NCAA champion. In his three years there, he was a three time NCAA All-American, two time NCAA finalist, team MVP, and recipient of the 2016 Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Though no one else in Pike’s family wrestles, it was his father who first encouraged him to try out for the high school team. To this day, Pike’s dad is his biggest supporter and fan.

“My high school semi-finals match at Masters was the best because I beat a very high ranked guy and my dad ended up storming the mat and jumping over a railing while star-fishing in the air,” Pike said. “I have a video of that some-

where and it’s absolutely comical.”

But his dad isn’t the only one who encouraged Pike. DBHS coaches Scott Usher, Marcus Johnson and Jack Cooprider have had an impact on his success, teaching moves that Pike used in the NCAA Championship.

During his time at DBHS, Pike was one of the school’s most successful wrestlers, becoming a three-time league champion, placing second in both CIF and Masters and qualifying for state. He was also Rookie of the Year, team MVP, and Lower Weight MVP. “I loved everyone on my team at DBHS and I’d say the guy who pushed me in the room the most was Raymond Sierra. He and I were co-captains and we were always training partners in the room,” Pike said.

After graduating DBHS in 2012, Pike attended Mt. SAC, taking a redshirt year to allow himself to get acclimated to the new environment. Although he only attended for a year, Pike won the 2013 CCCAA Individual State Championship title and was named Rookie of the Year. Pike’s shining memory at Mt. SAC was his match at the State Finals.

Pike had never been in the State finals before and almost lost, but a last second takedown secured his victory. The win led to NYU’s recruitment.

Pike lost his first NCAA Finals match by four points in 2016, but it only motivated him to win it the next year. In the 2017 NCAA Finals,

he ended his collegiate career with a pin and became the first NCAA champion in NYU history.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. My friends and family all came out to watch me and everyone was so happy with the outcome,” Pike said. “My teammates hopped a fence about 10 feet high and stormed the match to congratulate me and everything was perfect.”

Pike has been involved in sports his entire life. Prior to wrestling, he played golf, tennis, soccer and basketball, practiced mixed martial arts and swam. Having experience in mixed martial arts gave him an edge over other high school wrestlers, explaining his rapid rise to varsity, according to Pike.

“The most enjoyable part about the sport is how competitive it is

and how anyone can beat anyone.

The feeling you get from winning in this sport is unparalleled,” Pike said. “The bonds you make in the room are unbreakable bonds that last a lifetime.”

He plans to coach in the future, but doesn’t expect to be a full time coach. Pike also hopes to visit California often to see old friends and coaches, though he plans to remain in New York.

Photo Courtesy of UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Nathan Pike was a three time league champion during his time at DBHS. He was Rookie of the Year in 2013 at Mt. SAC.

THE BULL'S EYE

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Senior Neil Tengbumroong started tennis at the age of six and has earned titles internationally. amelie lee asst. feature EDITOR For more than a decade, senior Neil Tengbumroong has been acing the game of tennis since finding his passion at the age of six. Playing in international tournaments and being chosen as San Gabriel Valley’s Player of the Year two years in a row, co-captain of the Diamond Bar High School varsity tennis team has established himself as one of the standout players in the area.

Tengbumroong began playing after observing people play tennis

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APRIL 26, 2017

across the street after swimming.

“I did a lot of different sports when I was younger, but when I was swimming one day, there were two older guys playing tennis across the street and we decided to try it, and I got really into it from there,” Tengbumroong said.

Despite his initial interest, Tengbumroong took a while to improve at the sport, practicing as much as possible. As he found his niche, the senior started to enjoy tennis more and was motivated to work harder.

“I don’t know why I continued it back then. I was so much slower than everyone else. I think I had a

YEARS PLAYED 11 YEARS ACHIEVEMENTs TEnnis player of the year (2015-16) to HEAD RANKING 68th (in california) according Recruiting Lists

20-game losing streak, and I didn’t win a match for sixth months. My mom thought I was crazy for continuing to ask her to sign me up,” Tengbumroong said.

As his game improved, Tengbumroong finally found himself competing and winning in tournaments, including a National Doubles title after playing in Sacramento where he won as a freshman against 31 other players selected in the nation. The senior also competed in the Easter Bowl at Indian Wells Tennis Garden and at an international tournament at the Stubhub Center in Carson.

“Playing for high school is completely different than playing outside of school, where there’s individual competition. Playing for school is a sense of school pride. I want to represent Diamond Bar to help our school win,” Tengbumroong said.

Tengbumroong plans to play at UC San Diego on their Division I tennis team next school year.

Through every step of the way, Tengbumroong has looked up to his mom for support and encouragement.

“As cliche as it sounds, my mom helped me a lot. She was the one who kept signing me up, even though I was losing really badly,

she kept encouraging me to keep going” Tengbumroong said. “She still loves to come out and see me and watch my matches.”

Tengbumroong continues to do well this season, remaining undefeated and states that he values all the new players on the team. Despite playing for so long, Tengbumroong still works on planning and strategies during the game.

“It’s a lot like chess. While it’s tough physically, there’s a lot of strategy involved that I think people aren’t really aware of. You have

to plan ahead to win.”

While bringing talent to the school’s tennis team, Tengbumroong has also brought a positive attitude that has earned the respect of his peers and coach, Carl Flint.

“Neil has contributed more to this team than anyone I’ve seen.

He’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached, but he’s very selfless .., and yet for someone with that kind of talent, he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve. He’s a humble player, and that’s not that common.”

Coach Flint said.

HANNAH LEE

Senior Neil Tengbumroong earned a National Doubles Title in Sacramento.

Continuing success

J

Killing the hype

ust a month ago, I found out that there was another Olympics beside the summer and winter events. Even more surprising, it occurs annually and at the same location, but it goes by another name: the NFL Scouting Combine. Just kidding; the Combine has no connection to the Olympics, but the way the media treats it, you would think it was just as important.

With the NFL Draft just a day away, war rooms in the league are using the Combine to scout the next player who may be their next franchise cornerstone. As a fan, the draft always excites me, as I wonder what prospect could change our team. However, the combine has become a cancer to the draft, turning my anticipation for the draft into a cry for mercy.

The coverage of the combine has become ridiculous as companies such as Adidas have over glorified the 40-yard dash, even offering an island to anyone who broke Chris Johnson’s record time of 4.24. If the combine is going to idolize one stat, then every other record should have the same coverage.

The combine has been transformed from a simple way to measure the athleticism of players into a media circus and a method to kill the careers of players before they even begin. Before, it would simply provide numbers on height, speed and strength, but now every little statistical measurement is being milked to create a story.

Recently, I was notified by Team Stream that Christian McCaffrey, the 5’11 running back from Stanford, could “only” do ten reps of 225 pounds at the bench press drill.

When I looked on a few more sports

outlets, there were multiple stories describing how McCaffrey’s stock was falling, disregarding the monster numbers he had at Stanford.

But that’s what the combine does to prospects-it hurts them. When a player runs a tenth of a decimal off compared to another, they suddenly plummet through the annoying number of mock drafts.

And speaking of mock drafts, the combine has given birth to excessive hoards of these leeches. Everyday, there seems to be a new mock draft whether it’s from Bleacher Report, ESPN or NFL.com. While these are enjoyable and provide a fun sneak preview at what some teams need, after a certain point they become the most annoying things in the world. If you release a mock draft after the start of free agency, end of the postseason, or after the combine, that’s great!

But when one is released every time a prospect has an interview, it becomes bothersome to the point where you silence all sports apps.

What irks me even more are Pro Days at various colleges, specifically superpower schools like Ohio State and Alabama. If there’s already going to be a combine for every single prospect, why is there the need for an extra day? All they really do is allow college teams to show off their “superiority” and “magnificence” to the rest of the world.

Honestly, I support the combine.

I think that it is a great and fair way to track prospects looking to make their way into the NFL. However, when you cover and advertise it as one of the biggest days of the entire year, the luster and joy for the NFL Draft slowly die away, one mock draft at a time.

SWIM With the boys undefeated, and the girls 2-3, many have qualified for CIF individuals. emily KIM sports editor

The Diamond Bar High School swim team is preparing for not only the CIF individual meets but also league championships.

Although the team has one more league meet, today against Bonita, senior Michael Ahn foresees numerous Brahmas performing well at CIF Individuals along with the team at the league championships.

“The boys came out on top last year as the undefeated league champions and I am confident we can repeat the same success from last year. I am also very confident in the girls and I know that they will be able to mock the success that the boys team has had and will

be able to win as league champions as well,” Ahn said via Facebook.

Several Brahmas are already being considered for CIF Individual spots with their times from previous meets. Sophomore Kevin Vargas automatically earned a spot for the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 1:57.80. Junior David Wang also automatically qualified but for the 100 meter free and the 100 meter butterfly with times of 47.52 and 52.49 respectively. Junior captain Kelsey Lloyd, although not an automatic qualifier for CIF, qualified for the All-American Swim competition with a time of 1:02.78 for the 100 meter breaststroke.

Head coach Darlys Ankeny said he expects many Brahmas placing in the top positions for CIF individuals. On the girls side, Ankeny stated that sophomore Caitlyn Kanemitsu, juniors Kelly Cheng and Lloyd and senior Kathleen Gani have been top swimmers this season.

At the Mt. SAC Invitational on

April 14-15, Lloyd placed first out of 78 girls for the 100 meter breaststroke and set a new meet record of 1:02.78. On the boys side, senior captain Preston Li, juniors Brian Lee, William Huang, Michael Lee, and Christian Park are just a few of the top swimmers.

“The underclassmen boys have played a huge role the past two years and I am confident that they are going to continue dominating next year. The girls are improving so much this season and I know that they are also going to dominate next year,” Gani said.

Although the boys have remained undefeated thus far, the girls are currently 2-3. Gani said that the team has done well this year with numerous swimmers qualifying for CIF and expects the team to end the season strong.

“I am really confident that both our boys and girls have a chance of winning league this year, which has been our goal since moving to the Palomares League,” Gani said via Facebook.

INGRID CHAN

Senior Sophia Brown competes in a meet against South Hills. The boys and girls won 133-25 and 124-42 respectively.

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THE BULL'S EYE

SEASON SCORES TRACK AND FIELD

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BOYS GIRLS

8-0 L @ claremont 7-0 l @ bonita 8-0 L vs @ glendora 9-4 L vs Glendora 13-1 L vs AYALA

6-5 L @ bonita 3-2 w @ bonita 6-5 L @ ayala 10-0 L vs Glendora 3-0 W vs South Hills 3-2 W vs Claremont

BOYS

45-90 96-40 L Vs AYALA 54-82 21-114 l vs GLENDORA 45-92 28-108 l vs CLAREMONT

GIRLS

123-47 W 94-76 L Vs glendora 133-25 W 124-42 w vs south hills 128-42 W 92-78 l vs Ayala 132-38 W 108-62 L @ claremont

BOYS GOLF

BADMINTON

206-206 w @ Ont. Christian 203-225 W vs bonita 187-209 @ bonita 206-276 W @ Wilson 222-285 W vs wilson

19-2 W @ webbs 19-2 W @ chino hills 17-4 w @ wilson 21-0 w vs chino hills

Training to reach expectations TRACK AND FIELD Winning their first home meet, the Brahmas are showing improvement. brian chang news editor Overcoming its first major hurdle of the season, the Diamond Bar High School track and field girls team placed first at the team’s only home meet this year.

The Lady Brahmas won by 12 points, grabbing a victory over South Hills, while the boys lost by 11.

“Part of it is we’re trying to keep our kids healthy; a lot of kids, they do other sports so they keep getting injured,” head coach Malinalli Cooke said. “For example, for the

distance team specifically, four of our top boys didn’t run...A lot of our top kids are pretty much in good shape already, it’s just trying to get them ready to compete.”

Teams are ranked by a point system, and points are awarded based both on athlete performance and overall performance relative to opponents. Meets generally only have two teams competing.

However the Brahmas had a trimeet on April 4 against the Ayala Bulldogs and Glendora Tartans, coming out with losses against both teams.

“We take the highest scores, and depending on how other the schools do against Ayala, and how we do against Ayala, it’s going to be compiled over time, so we won’t know basically until the end,” Cooke said. “This school got creamed by Ayala by so many points, and this school not that much, so they rank

them that way.”

The Claremont Wolfpack ran past the Brahmas on April 18, finishing 91.5-44.5 on the boys’ side and 107.66-28.33 on the girls’ side.

As for field events, Cooke says the team has been improving due to new coaching staff and more extensive training.

The long jump and triple jump events have suffered due to lack of a dedicated coach, but other events, such as throwing and pole vault, have seen marked improvement.

Cooke cites junior Sam Blazek and sophomore Kai Smith as one of the best throwers and high jumpers, respectively.

“As a team, we’re not as good as we were in past years, but we definitely have some star runners,” senior sprints captain Katrina He said. “As for me, I’ve had a lot more fun this year because I’m closer with my teammates.”

Surpassing last year TENNIS An eight-game streak at the beginning of the season set the Brahmas up for success. ryan chae sports editor

ERIC HONG

Los Altos Defensive Coordinator Kevin Argumosa takes over football program.

New coach on campus Ready to take charge of DB football, Kevin Argumosa has high hopes.

RYAN CHAE SPORTS editor Diamond Bar High School has found its new football coach. During spring break, Principal Reuben Jones announced that Los Altos defensive coordinator Kevin Argumosa as the new head coach of the Brahmas.

Argumosa’s staff will be made up of both members of former head coach Marcus Hughes’ staff and his own staff from Los Altos.

“Our coaching staff brings over 20 years of experiences. They bring the hard work, fundamentals and work ethic,” Argumosa said during a visit to DBHS last week.

Argumosa has been both a player and coach, playing at Montebello High School, where he graduated in 1996, and Whittier College.

As a lineman, he was named First Team All-San Gabriel Valley by the Los Angeles Times and All League

as both a defensive linemen and offensive linemen.

He has coached nearly every position and has tenures as a defensive coordinator at Montebello, Alhambra and Los Altos.

Hiring a defensive specialist was not surprising for the Brahmas as the team allowed 38.8 points a game last season.

The Conquerors dominated the Hacienda League last season with a 13-1 overall record. Argumosa’s defensive unit was outstanding in the league, holding teams to 6.8 points per game.

Argumosa is no stranger to the DBHS football program. As a player, Argumosa competed against the DB’s 1995 CIF Championship team, and as a coach, he’s had to prepare for potential matchups against DB former head coaches Ryan Maine and Hughes.

In his first season as a head coach, Argumosa wants to make sure the team is able to play from end to end for the entire game.

“We’re going to be disciplined.

We’re going to be fundamentally sound, and we’re going to play hard nosed football for four quarters,” Argumosa said.

HANNAH LEE

Junior Ana Figueroa competes in hurdles at the first home meet of the season.

Nine games into the season, the Diamond Bar High School boys tennis team is set to become the 2017 Palomares League Co-Champion.

With a win yesterday, the boys will have surpassed last year’s 8-2 record and second place in league.

The Brahmas started the league season hot with an eight-game win streak, dominating opponents by an average of 11.5 points a game and even shutting out South Hills twice, 18-0. The success of the

Brahmas came not from individual singles or doubles players, but through the teamwork of every player, specifically the upperclassmen, according to head coach Carl Flint.

“We’re a team, and one person doesn’t make a team. It’s the depth of the team that allows us to do so well. Even the seniors and juniors who are not starters, they’re ready to play at any moment, and I really admire their reserve and the spirit of our juniors and seniors and what our upperclassmen bring to our team,” Flint said.

This is Flint’s second year as head coach after replacing former DBHS art teacher Dave Hamels last season.

“Coach Flint is laid back, but he knows what to do at the right time.

He’s been having us do some pro-

INGRID CHAN

Freshman Akilan Arunachalam competed as a singles players for the Brahmas.

ductive drills and honestly, letting us hit is the best way for us to improve,” senior Vinay Bhupatiraju said.

In addition to drills, Flint worked the boys to peak shape, conditioning them with three-mile runs and different stretches.

The upperclassmen have been one of the team’s strongest areas as senior Neil Tengbumroong has been dominating as the No.1 singles player while juniors Nicholas Wong and Eric Peng, and Bhupatiraju have been a part of the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles team.

Bhupatiraju and Peng were crucial in securing a piece of the league title when the team defeated rivals Claremont in a 10-8 win. The Brahmas were up 9-8, but the pair were down in a crucial match that would have sent the game to a tiebreaker, which DB would have lost.

But, Peng and Bhupatiraju were able to mount a comeback and secure the victory.

However, the streak ended against Claremont on Thursday in an 11-7 loss. With the win, the Wolfpack tied with the Brahmas for the league title.

Although the boys are set to win their first Palomares League Title with a win on Tuesday against Bonita, they are far from satisfied.

With playoffs just on the horizon, the Brahmas are preparing themselves for not just the physical toll of the game, but also the mental aspect.

“We’ve done a good job thus far, but obviously we’re going to face tougher teams. We definitely need to work on our mental game. We have hold onto our leads and close out games because every game counts when it comes down to tiebreakers,” Bhupatiraju said.

Following their final league match on Tuesday, the Brahmas will participate in the annual Ojai Tournament this weekend and Preliminaries for League Finals on May 2. The Brahmas will play in League Finals just two days later.