March 2016

inside the issue

PRO/CON:

feature 6

opinion 5

RAMEN SHOWDOWN

ALBUM REVIEW:

THE 1975

the bull’s eye NEWS

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OPINION

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F E AT U RE

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a&e 10

March 16, 2016 Volume XXXIV, Issue VII ONLINE at dbbullseye.com

ART S & E N TE RTA I N ME N T

the easy way out?

Students, teachers, and experts discuss this growing trend. See pages 8-9.

S P O RT S

APES classes plan for future improvements to the school’s environmental health. calvin ru asst. photo editor

in LAUSD compared to that of DBHS. “Districts differ as far as how they handle certain things, so for example, I think in LA

While most STEM classes urge students to focus on technological advances, at Diamond Bar High School, the AP Environmental Science classes aspire to change a part of the campus every year and create a more ecologically friendly world.

Once again, DBHS’ five APES classes, led by teachers Angela Jensvold, Greg Valor and Teresa Herbert, will organize and execute a project that will last for the duration of second semester and will be evaluated in a competition near the end of the school year.

DBHS Lightsavers, Jensvold’s first period class, is focused on making energy efficient changes, such as swapping fluorescent light bulbs with LED lights and installing motion sensors inside classrooms. Due to the fact that the Lightsavers will most likely not accumulate enough money for the every classroom to make these changes, the group plans to focus on classrooms where teachers and electricians state that changes will be the most energy efficient.

“Most people aren’t aware of the issue with energy efficiency and we hope that by introducing this change at DBHS, and us informing and reaching out to the public, it will prompt other schools, businesses, and the community to be-

suspension on p.3

APES on p.3

Graphic by LILLY BALL

Suspension rates on a steady decline DBHS numbers are decreasing every year, although percentages are still higher than LAUSD’s. brian chang asst. news editor

Graphic by FRANCES WU

the suspension rate at DBHS decreasing year after year, LAUSD’s suspension rate seems to be dropping even faster. Assistant principal John Terry said that the number may be a result of different policies regarding suspensions

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Making the DB campus greener

C HE A TIN G :

All actions have consequences, and whether they are good or bad depends on the action. At the high school level, suspensions and expulsions are usually the forms of punishment reserved for the most severe transgressions. At Diamond Bar High School, the overall suspension rate is decreasing, according to data from the California Department of Education.

From 2011 to 2014, DBHS has had a total of zero expulsions and 333 suspensions. In 2011, the suspension rate was 3.9 percent, a number which dropped to 3.8 percent in 2012, 3.7 percent in 2013, and eventually to 3.2 percent in 2014.

However, starting from the 2012-2013 school year, DBHS’ average suspension rate was higher than the Los Angeles Unified School District’s 3.5 percent suspension rate. Despite

sports 14

Working to influence change at the district Students work with the superintendent in hopes of creating a better school atmosphere. sophia kim staff writer Although many students complain about school, they usually don’t have the opportunity to take action and influence changes. For the first time, on Feb. 11, 25 students from elementary, middle, and high schools in the Walnut Valley Unified School District attended superintendent Robert Taylor’s

student advisory council to help make changes within their school.

The principals and superintendent of WVUSD wanted to know the students’ perspective on the changes they wanted on campus.

Diamond Bar High School sophomores Hampton Douglas and Carissa Martinez, juniors Morgan Pak and Monica Lin, and senior Samuel Chiang attended the meeting. It began with students introducing themselves and writing down someone that they looked up to as a mentor, and why.

Then, they were split into random groups and discussed the problems with the superintendent.

Towards the end, the principals from each of the schools came in

and the students presented their ideas to them.

Students agreed that drugs are an on-going problem in schools due to the lack of knowledge students had about them.

They mentioned that strengthening student-teacher relationships would lead to improvement on work.

Administrators are discussing the problems and are trying to find solutions. The student advisory council meeting will continue to take place every five to six weeks. “[I hope] that our problems that we’re telling the superintendent would have a solution to them and something would actually change,” Douglas said.

Photo courtesy of WVUSD

DBHS students discuss possible improvements for the campus with district Superintendent Robert Taylor as part of a new program.

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NEWS

MARCH 16, 2016

THE BULL'S EYE

spreading tolerance

NEWSBITS ENGLAND

LOS ANGELES

While “Tom & Jerry” has been a beloved children’s show for years, several children playing at a London playground were in for the surprise of their lives when a four-foot long rat was discovered hiding in bushes alongside a playground in Hackney. After an investigation, experts say more might be breeding in London sewers.

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you can definitely teach an old convict new talents. Jeremy Meeks, whose mugshot from a June 2014 arrest went viral, recently signed a contract with White Cross Management, a talent management company based in Los Angeles and New York City.

BALTIMORE

QATAR

Cat fights may be popular in movies, but rarely does anyone except to see one—especially on a plane. Two drunk women reportedly blasted music from a boombox on a Spirit Airlines flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles and were attacked by three other annoyed women.

However, according to law enforcement authorities, no has had to face the music for the brawl.

Traffic jams are a major part of life for many commuters, but for drivers in Qatar, being stuck in rush hour wasn’t their only concern. Apparently, a tiger had escaped from the back of its owner’s truck and was seen weaving its way among cars on the highway. Eventually, the tiger was identified and its owner taken to court for owning an illegal pet.

TEXAS

SAN DIEGO

What does Captain America do when he isn’t busy saving the world alongside the Avengers? Rob stores, apparently.

Recently, a man dressed up in a Captain America costume and his sidekick, dressed in a black hoodie were caught on tape stealing from a popular cosmetics store in Texas. The police have yet to identify the two men.

A turtle may seem like an inefficient mode of transportation, but not for Sunshine, a Golden Retriever from San Diego. In the video owner Christina Robles posted on YouTube, Nicholas the tortoise is seen carrying Sunshine around the backyard. Nicholas is also known for carrying around a variety of other things on his back, like a sombrero.

CALVIN RU

Junior Younga Kim and senior Dylan Crowell participate in the Best Buddies event, “Spread the word to end the word.”

Open house delayed by WASC The event was pushed back to an unspecified date in April. calvin ru asst. photo editor While last year’s Open House was a major success, revived by former Principal Catherine Real,

this year, the event conflicted with the scheduling of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges visit. Because of that, Open House, originally scheduled for March 17, has been postponed to a later date.

“What I realized is that the two activities were so close together, I didn’t feel comfortable that with all the preparations for the teachers that we had to do for the WASC and that we could prepare for Open

House,” Interim Principal Guy Roubian said.

The administration is planning a date for the event and hopes to hold it sometime in April so that the event will not conflict with any AP tests occurring during May. “Teachers do put a lot of work into preparing for Open House and at the same time we’ve been preparing for the events and it was just too much to do,” Roubian said.

db’S NEW QUEEN BEE

the staff Editors-in-Chief News Editors Asst. News Editors

Lilly Ball, Yusheng Xia Frances Wu, Yusheng Xia Brian Chang, Hannah Lee

Opinion Editor Asst. Opinion Editor

Eric Hong Sarah Markiewicz

Feature Editor Asst. Feature Editors

Michelle Ki Vrinda Chauhan, Catherine Zhang

A&E Editor Asst. A&E Editors Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editors Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Business Manager Asst. Business Manager Web Editor Asst. Web Editor Staff Writers Advisor

Lilly Ball Emily Jacobsson, Pauline Villegas Bernard Chen Ryan Chae, Emily Kim Eric Hong Calvin Ru Vrinda Chauhan Emily Jacobsson Gaby Dinh Tess Guan Ingrid Chan, Sophia Kim Doug List

contact us 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.

Photo courtesy of JOELLE LEDER

Ashley Chen (center), stands with the rest of the Miss DIamond Bar Court, after the competition on March 13.

Illuminating the path ahead

The Pathways Academy will be holding an alumni event to help students with their career paths. catherine zhang asst. feature editor

With hopes of helping students gain a better perspective about career paths and obtain advice from alumni who have been through the process, Diamond Bar High School Pathways Academy teacher Eleanor Boruah will be hosting an Alumni Fair for the academy’s juniors and seniors on March 24 in the LINC. At the event, two alumni will be seated at every table and the students will have a set amount of time to ask questions and discuss each alumni’s career and college experiences. Then, the students will switch tables until students have had a chance to converse with all the various alumni.

“We’re hoping for the alumni to develop a rapport with our current students so they can feel comfortable asking our alumni questions about their journeys after high school,” Boruah said.

Although this is the first year the event is taking place, Boruah, a technology teacher who is in charge of the fair, hopes to continue the event on an annual basis.

The alumni, about 25 individuals in their twenties or early 30s, work in a wide range of careers, including project management at Boeing, law enforcement, marketing managing, and geographic surveying.

The alumni are thrilled to return to campus to give advice to students, in hopes of helping the students prepare for the future.

“If you’re not prepared for real life, it can be very challenging. I’m excited to meet with my old teacher and talk with the students. I want to give the students ideas on how better prepare for their future,” class of 2003 alumni Russell Salinas, a police officer, said via Facebook.

Boruah has been in the Pathways Academy since its second year at DBHS. Having taught for 17 years in the Academy, Boruah knows the alumni who are returning, since many are her former students.

“It’ll be fun to see them in a different light and how much they changed,” Boruah said.

According to Boruah, the academy has had guest speakers in the past, such as Fox 11 news anchor

Christine Devine who has visited DBHS on Jan. 8 and actor Kevin Porter who visited on Mar. 4, but it has never been on such a large scale. She hopes at least 20 alumni will visit and retell their experiences concerning their career, while answering students’ questions.

“Some are very excited, especially when I emphasize that this is a first time event, and some are very proud of their profession,” Boruah said.

In addition, many students are looking forward to the event, as they have various questions to ask the alumni and learn about the alumni’s experiences from college and their career.

“I’m pretty excited to see what the alumni have been doing since they graduated,” senior Jude Lopez said via Facebook.

The event will be beneficial for students who need help finalizing on career paths or colleges, as they receive a deeper insight on their preferred professions. For those who already decided on a career path, it may inspire those students.

“I already have my mind set on a career path, but [the event] will probably inspire me to really work for my goal seeing previous DB students striving to become something,” Lopez said.

NEWS

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

3

Top students announced Ten Brahmas from each grade were chosen for their academic accomplishments. michelle ki feature editor Every year, out of a sea of students at Diamond Bar High School, USB chooses 10 from each class to recognize for their outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. Those selected will be honored during Academic Week, April 11-15.

“The Top 10 students were chosen based on how well rounded they are. Not only are they aca-

demically setting the bar for their grade, they are also highly involved extracurriculars inside and outside of school,” Taylor Lee, United Student Body Commissioner of Academics, said via Facebook.

USB will provide a special lunchtime activity and a Top 10 shirt during Academic Week for the selected students. They will be featured at the Spring Sports Rally on April 15.

All Top 10 hopefuls were required to fill out a nine-question application, which included their class schedule, first semester transcript, a minimum of one teacher recommendation, and a list of their current extracurricular activities.

“The Top 10 are the [students] who can juggle their academic responsibilities along with club leadership responsibilities,” Lee wrote

on Facebook.

Amidst the application process, USB commissioners ran into a problem, as there were not enough senior applicants to fill out the list.

“By the due date, we needed one more senior because originally only nine applied. So what I decided was to extend the due date to turn in Top 10 apps for seniors.

In the end, there was a sufficient amount of senior applicants,” Lee said.

For some, being in Top 10 is a representation of years of work.

“I wanted to apply for Top 10 because I was the academics commissioner last year. Even though I’m no longer in USB, I thought it would be an honor to carry on the Top 10 tradition at DBHS,” senior Kylie Choi said.

Graphic by BRIAN CHANG

Suspension rates declining yearly

Five APES classes fundraising for projects APEs from p.1 gin this transition from fluorescent and incandescent lights to LED lights,” senior Lightsavers member Carol Lai said.

On the other hand, Jensvold’s second period class, Electric Motive, is focused on the exterior of DBHS rather than the interior. The students’ goal is to raise money to add one solar panel car-charging station in the parking lot.

The charging station is aimed toward the environment as a whole, allowing students and faculty members to charge their electric vehicles during school hours to push people to start moving away from the diesel and gasoline automobiles.

“It will positively benefit the community because there are not a lot of electric charging stations available in the city of Diamond Bar...” junior Kaitlyn Chao said via Facebook.

Another ecological problem is the enormous waste of water. No Flush Zone, or Valor’s first period class, plans to install waterless urinals to reduce water waste. The goal of their project is to start replacing half of the boys’ restroom urinals to be waterless.

Unlike the other classes’ projects, No Flush Zone will not require funding since they plan on having sponsors donate the urinals. They simply need to get approval from the school district, and the urinals will be installed near the lower lunch quad over the summer.

“Hopefully as the school sees how much money they are saving, they will convert more of the current urinals to waterless urinals,” senior Austin Niu said.

Similarly, Switch it Up, Valor’s fourth period class, aims to reduce

suspension from p.1

CALVIN RU

Seniors Karina Kuo (left) and Jessica Gomez work on their project, D-Bees Trees, meant to help honeybees in the area. water waste and carbon emissions cated to raising awareness of by replacing grass with switch the plight of honey bees in the grass, a plant that consumes greatU.S. This unexpected bee crisis is er amounts of carbon dioxide than thought to have occurred because normal grass, therefore decreasing of the Colony Collapse Disorder, the carbon footprint of Diamond an unexplained event that occurs Bar High School. where a swarm of bees randomly Switchgrass reduces water exdisappear from its hive. cessive water D-Bees Trees run-off and preaims to provide “Our APES project is vents water from multiple oases contributing...to DBHS drying up during by planting fruit warmer days. trees between the by changing the mindset By cultivating 400 building and of...everyone in the switchg rass, the baseball field. community,” the class hopes “Our APES projKYLIE CHOI to do its part in ect is contributing combating the and benefiting to growing issue of global warmDBHS by changing the mindset of ing. The group would like to plant not just students, but of everyone switchgrass seeds at the front of in the community,” senior Kylie the school and the plot of land near Choi, president of D-Bees Trees, the tennis courts. said via Facebook.

Last is D-Bees Trees, Hebert’s For most of the classes, fundraisthird period class, a project dediing is essential to their projects.

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1st place

3rd place

4th place

1st place

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woodbridge high competition 2/27

2nd place

6th place

state championships 3/11-3/12

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The new version of the SAT, after having been announced in March of 2014, debuted on March 5.

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The staff of “The Bull’s Eye” competed twice in the last month and clinched several awards.

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Many APES classes fundraised through a PearUp fundraiser, through which students can log in with their Facebook account and complete a series of tasks that only take a couple of minutes, each to raise money for the group. Another common fundraising method was selling tickets at the Anaheim Ice Skating Rinks.

Additionally, D-Bees Trees will be hosting a faculty versus students dodgeball tournament in the gym on Thursday, Mar. 24.

The admission price for entering in the tournament will be three dollars, but watching the game will free. Refreshments will be sold separately.

Having had a year to plan, fundraise, and execute the project, they will enter their programs in a competition near the end of May, which will evaluate the effectiveness and validity of each project.

Unified you can only suspend for certain things and other things you can’t...but I would have to take a look at [the data],” Terry said.

Terry is the administrator at DBHS who handles punishments for students. After an incident, Grade Level Coordinators investigate the situation. Then, the GLC summarizes the information they found and present it to Terry, who listens to the student’s perspective.

Parents are only informed of the final decision, not the whole process.

“Because of the good relationships between our GLCs and students, nine times out of ten the stories match,” Terry said. “‘Okay, I agree,’ or ‘I believe this number of days can give the outcome that we want.’ At that point, parents are contacted.”

Some infringements of the school’s safety policy warrant an automatic suspension, such as bringing weapons to school, engaging in fights, or selling drugs or alcohol on campus. Despite this, Terry still goes through the process before coming to a final decision.

“Nobody is automatically suspended. Everybody has their ability to have due process,” Terry said. “Obviously the end goal is for the students to cease the behavior.

If it’s a suspension, the GLC works with the teachers so students don’t get so far behind; that’s important to us.”

state championships 3/11-3/12

scpa tournament 2/6

2nd place

spca tournament 3/12

best of the west championships 3/5

upcoming

scpa competition 3/18-3/20

choir

tsa

color guard

robotics

2nd place

upcoming

6th place

16th place

2nd place

upcoming

brea olinda california classic 3/5

4th place

hart encore 3/30-4/2

state conference 3/18-3/19

bakersfield regionals 2/13

lynwood high school competition 3/12

san diego regional 3/2-3/5 orange county regional 3/30-4/2 Graphic by HANNAH LEE

4 OPINION

MARCH 16, 2016

THE BULL'S EYE

EYE EDITORS OF THE

CHEATING: Too often, copying answers is seen as only a student problem, when teachers could be doing more in the classroom to make it more difficult.

W

hen it comes to cheating, most would automatically think to put the blame on students.

However, teachers in many cases ought to share the blame, for they let the cheating happen right under their noses. Rather than showing trust in students, teachers must come to realize that without enforcing punishment upon students, cheating will continue to run rampant across campus.

Although teachers are fully aware of what occurs among students, many do not pursue consequences unless confronted with it. Instead, cheating exists because of the benefits offered: high test and home-

work grades, little work, and practically zero consequences.

While the overall message at Diamond Bar High School seems to be an intolerance of cheating, nothing is done to fix the problem, creating a mutiny of silence.

Many examples exist that show how easy it is to cheat in class. One of the most alarming truths is that some teachers don’t make new versions of tests even with full knowledge that their tests are obtainable online or through other sources. This results in many students finding the questions and answers and receiving a high grade unethically. As soon as students catch on to the grading system, they

take advantage of it.

In addition, some teachers turn their backs on students or even leave their rooms during a test. Over time, these instructors are sending out a message that cheating is the easiest way to achieve success.

Right-minded students and frustrated parents need to come together, complain and refuse to tolerate any situation that clearly shows a lack of academic integrity.

The bottom line is that teachers must change the way they handle all aspects of testing in the classrooms. Of course to eliminate all cheating is impossible. However teachers must stop ignore the problem and start dealing with cheaters.

Affordable doesn’t mean free

P

yusheng xia editor-in-chief

residential candidate Bernie Sanders is not wrong when he states that our country’s college education system has problems. College costs have been skyrocketing throughout the past few decades and the average public college student now graduates with almost $30,000 in debt. However, as my mother always told me, in this world there is no such thing as a free lunch…or in this case, school.

Nothing of value should ever be free. For young adults, getting a college degree is an investment to help students get the tools necessary for obtaining a good job and stable life. College is not mandatory in this country, as students willingly attend because they want a shot at improving their future. The sacrifices they put in is motivation to fuel their efforts; it is what drives them to study hard and receive all that college education has to offer.

For many, money is a sacrifice.

Sander’s idea of making college free to all students of America does not solve the country’s lagging education system; instead, it makes it worse. Children from lower income families will no longer feel the pressures of having to work hard to earn financial assistance and those from middle class families will no longer see college as something they need to succeed

in since their parents aren’t paying for their tuition.

Construction-wise, taking away the costs of public college tuition has drastic consequences. Private colleges will no longer be able to compete and must lower their costs as well, thus bringing down the availability of funds needed to provide quality education. In addition, making public college free does not mean the costs of colleges won’t continue to rise.

Instead, it means that the problem will now be passed on to states, thus providing the possibility that states cut education costs during times of recession. When there are plenty of people who are able to pay for tuition, it makes little sense to completely disregard their funds.

But that brings up the main issue that Sanders highlights very well. There are many people in the country that can’t afford the costs of public college tuition and the solution should be to make it affordable. Yet, affordable is not the same as free. There are ways we can make the cost of college more affordable to students. We can reduce the interest rates on student loans so that those who need to borrow money for college aren’t faced with increasingly high debts.

We can offer more merit-based scholarships to poorer students or lower tuition costs for the first two years of public colleges so that those who drop out of colleges don’t face too bad of a financial loss.

As appealing as free public tuition seems, the reality is it is neither realistically possible nor beneficial. In the end, just because the solution exists doesn’t mean it is the right solution. Sorry Sanders, I don’t feel the burn.

BENJAMIN HU (12)

KYLENE ALLEN (11)

“People cheat on something, but the teacher doesn’t know who the person is, so she just assumes it’s the group which may be innocent.”

“Cheating can be prevented by having different version tests and maybe by just taking away the stress from students, by giving them other options or other help.”

ANAAYA SHAH (9)

ERIKA WANG (11)

“The teachers could check over their kids more. They could walk around the class more or backpacks could be against the wall while taking a test.”

“If people from the beginning periods help the people in the last period, I think that’s still bad but not as bad as if you sit next to the person and pass notes.”

SERIOUSLY

SATIRICAL

brian chang asst. news editor

I

’m a 35-year-old white liberal woman, and as more and more candidates drop out of the race to become the most powerful leader in the world, I find myself ardently hoping for the one and only female still standing to win. Hillary Clinton is looking to return to the house on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the public should be looking to get her there. Why? Because she’s a woman.

So what if I’m only voting for Hillary because she’s a woman like me? If it wasn’t obvious at the start, Hillary is a woman, and she is the only woman running for president, facts that her wonderful campaign team have made sure to remind us of every time she stands up at the podium.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love hearing about how proud of a grandmother Hillary is, and it’s obvious to me that any grandmother as loving as her deserves to be crowned Commander in Chief.

I mean, sure, I care that she was Secretary of State for four years and she helped locate and take down Osama bin Laden, but

isn’t it so much more interesting that she has one, soon to be two grandchildren? Anyone can be Secretary of State, and anyone can help stop a terrorist, but can just about anyone be a grandmother, much less such a loving one as Hillary? Sorry, I don’t think so.

If that wasn’t enough to convince you, her witty remarks on racism will certainly serve to persuade you to join her cause.

Only Hillary is brave enough to say what the public knew all along: public education is racist.

She’s the only candidate who has been confident enough to argue for the truth and denounce such blatant discrimination. Why? Because she’s a woman, Her rival Bernie Sanders obviously has not been so fair with his calls for free college tuition. Donald Trump, you say?

I don’t even know if he’s thought about education yet. Hillary, on the other hand, has, in my mind, the ultimate solution: her femininity. Nothing else has ever been so obvious: the only real

solution to America’s education woes is womanhood.

Those political scientists and columnists calling Hillary a hypocrite have no idea what they’re talking about. So what if Hillary is asking for votes from the impoverished while supporting their historical oppressors, the Wall Street bureaucrats? Hillary is simply trying to show everyone the depth and breadth of her truth, and those who fail to see her prowess must be fools. None of the other candidates can boast that they have come up with a single solution for everything, while Hillary has got all of the misfortunes and blunders of elections past covered with her womanliness. She’s a woman!

She has grandchildren!

People just don’t seem to get it; no one else is able to claim that they can make America great again by simply being female.

Sanders had better be prepared, as Hillary is clearly about to Bern his campaign to the ground with her pheromones!

Photo courtesy of ODT.CO.NZ

OPINION

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

5

PRO/CON: Is Apple right to say no? yusheng xia editor-in-chief

T

here exists a fine line between individual privacy and national security.

However, one thing is clear. The federal court order requiring Apple to create a new software feature that will be able to bypass the iPhone’s security features is something that has driven straight through that line and poses a threat to American rights.

Apple is under no obligation to help federal investigators unlock the iPhone used by the attacker who killed 14 people in San Bernardino. Yes, what happened was truly tragic and yes the government needs all the information it can get in order to prevent another incident from happening. However, the company is a third party group that is not involved in any way with the crime. They should not be forced to invent new software that aids the government just because federal investigators find it convenient for their case. Doing so would harm the company’s reputation; they would be sending out the message to their customers that their product no longer

provides the privacy it once offered.

Many argue that the information in the iPhone related to the San Bernardino incident is crucial to learning more about the case. However, investigators should already be able to access information regarding the killer through the iPhone’s data linkage to iCloud or other social media platforms linked to the phone. There is no need to risk the security of many other iPhones just so that investigators gain a minor chance in obtaining relevant information.

And if such a court order would actually come to fruition, what would that mean in the future? Does that mean that whenever the government wants, it can just ask any random company to invent whatever they desire? Where would you draw the line between what crimes are important enough for such an order to take place? It is obvious that human rights are threatened. The success of a single order can be crucial in allowing the government to continue pushing its control over people’s daily lives all in the name of national security. Therefore, it is only right that Apple refuses now and serves as a model for all other companies and individuals to follow.

While security is indeed important to our lives, we should not have to forfeit our privacy and our rights for it.

Apple is right in refusing to invent the software that will be able to unlock any iPhone. Such technology would be devastating once reaching the wrong hands. And despite the government’s insistence that it would be used for a single case, if they ask for it once they will ask for it again. Make no mistake about it.

eric hong opinion editor

W

hile privacy has always been a major tenet of the American belief system, it has no place in the Apple-FBI court battle. Somehow, a case that should only have been about password access to a single phone used by a San Bernardino terrorist took a turn to the fictitious and became engulfed in all sorts of fallacies. No one’s privacy is in jeopardy because of the mandate that Apple is refusing to comply with, and no one’s privacy will be so in the future.

The issue has been grossly overblown by media outlets and Apple supporters. While no one knows if any key information on ISIS is actually stored on the phone (there may not be anything of use), but developing the technology needed to gain access is also no dramatic endeavor. Apple openly admits it can write this software, and this is not the first time the government is compelling a tech company to provide software that has not been written. In Tuesday’s congressional hearing, prosecutors cited a case in which an unnamed company was mandated to produce an unencrypted version of encrypted information on a defendant’s computer.

The only thing the government is after is getting past the phone’s passcode barrier— no more, no less. Apple PR and inaccurate reporting are to thank for this distortion. The case has nothing to do with encryption, whatever Apple supporters think that means; encryption, the converting of information to a

Move aside, Hamlet ; it’s time for new books

frances wu news editor

by their marriageability, and the days of mourning one’s love from across the bay are long gone.

Teachers constantly complain about the lack of participation from students in class discussions, but how can students discuss topics they don’t understand or are apathetic about? Some students actually like to read—there are students at DBHS who read

sk any student what they have read in the past year for English class, and you’ll notice a startling lack of diversity: “Hamlet,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “The Great Gatsby;” students have “read” them all. These books have been read by high schoolers for seemingly millions of years, which begs the question: are these books still relevant?

One of the main reasons why these works are so popular among teachers is because they are classics, which means that they are chock-full of flowing rhetoric and breathtaking plot devices. But these books are also outdated, boring, and beyond tedious. How many times can one read about the tragic hero, doomed from the beginning, blinded by his own insecurities and philosophical brooding?

Teachers are determined to stick with these “timeless” novels that “all generations” can appreciate, all the while either turning a blind eye to the rampant corner-cutting that students resort to or causing them to spend hours wading through a chapter or two of these novels in hopes of passing a pop quiz the next day. However, these works have very little to contribute to a modern adolescent’s life: no longer does society judge women

dozens of books every year, but shudder to a halt the second they are handed a Perma-Bound copy of “Lord of the Flies.”

Dystopian and science fiction also seem to be a dominant trend in “educational” literature. From George Orwell’s “1984” to Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” students constantly read about

A

universes in which essential personal freedoms don’t exist.

However, students don’t even recognize problems in our actual society, in which anyone can buy a gun and people are discriminated against by the amount of melanin in their skin.

There are countless novels in the world that serve more respectable purposes than to teach teenagers about proper rhythm in iambic pentameter—novels that go beyond the classic dystopian format and instead focus on current, existing issues, like Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography, which describes her struggles as an advocate for girls’ education.

Even when teachers stray from their favored classics for, perhaps, a poetry unit, they tend to go with the benign. How many times are students going to have to think about how heroic couplets influence the reader’s perception of the poet’s intended meaning?

Even poetry can have its radical thinkers—poets who address current issues while remaining both interesting and relatable, one of the most prominent examples being Button Poetry on Youtube.

A Google search for “best books of 2015” yields a comprehensive list of books from a wide variety of genres, from young adult fiction to historical nonfiction. According to Forbes, between 600,000 and 1 million books are published annually—surely teachers can find something that ventures beyond the usual to, perhaps, encourage some actual discussion of important matters.

coded format, is mentioned over and over in Tim Cook’s open letter to consumers but is not even introduced in the mandate written

by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym. This fight is about the simple act of getting past the lockscreen on a single phone, not about giving the government unprecedented degrees of large-scale access to personal data.

But, more importantly, people need to understand that granting access to the dead terrorist’s phone does not compromise the security of anyone else’s private information. The FBI has made it clear that the intellectual property that goes into creating a “backdoor” into the terrorist’s phone is Apple’s and Apple’s alone; law-enforcement doesn’t want to see the software and will have nothing to do with it. Yes, this is not the only phone that the FBI wants to break into, and, yes, a victory in court would probably set a precedent in favor of the government for other similar cases in the future, but, really, who cares?

The hassle lies with the government and Apple in having to deal with additional investigations, search warrants, and court orders—not with the American people. Unless you also gun down 14 people in the name of ISIS and land yourself in a criminal investigation, you have no reason to fret, because the FBI is not after your phone. The bottom line? It is foolish to conclude that American citizens’ phones—your phone—will somehow be torn apart, their contents exposed, as a result of a pro-government ruling.

Only after considering these facts can we see that there really is no sacrifice that goes into unlocking the terrorist’s iPhone; the ‘surrender-your-privacy-in-exchange-fornational-security’ line is thus obsolete and wholly misleading. With this said, Apple’s refusal to lend a helping hand to the FBI really has no basis other than, of course, that it doesn’t want to. If the tech company is as much an advocate of American values as it purports itself to be, it will heed the court’s mandate. Otherwise, it makes itself a champion of terrorists.

President trump?

Cartoon courtesy of DUSTIN PARK

6

FEATURE

MARCH 16, 2016

THE BULL'S EYE

RAMEN SHOWDOWN frances wu news editor While college students are notorious for surviving on prepackaged Top Ramen for months at a time, for the rest of us, ramen is an occasional indulgence that consists of a steaming bowl of delicious noodles in savory broth.

Luckily for the citizens living in Diamond Bar, there are several ramen restaurants nearby to choose from, each with its own distinctive flavor.

For a variety of toppings and soup flavors, check out Ajisen Ramen, which is located in Rowland Heights. I decided to ordered the Premium Pork ramen, and while the pork was plentiful, it definitely wasn’t “premium.”

Parts of the pork slices were hard to chew, and I ended up having to pick out almost a third of the meat. The noodles were thin and chewy, a rare yet wonderful combination, and the soup was delicious, if a little too salty.

Additionally, the ramen shop

ALUMNI

offers a variety of other Japanese dishes, like sushi and gyoza, as well as traditional fruit-flavored slushies.

My friend and I decided to order the overpriced California Roll for $6 to go with our ramen.

We found it immensely disappointing; the outer rice was completely covered with chunks of fish roe, the avocado being almost non-existent, and the imitation crab meat was nearunpalatable.

In addition, the ramen restaurant is brightly lit and welcoming, filled to the brim with tables awaiting eager customers visiting.

Conveniently next to the restaurant is desert shop, Yogurtland, so customers can have an icy dessert to counter the hot soup afterwards.

However, for almost $10 a bowl, a 30 to 40 minute wait during peak times, and a lack of parking spots, ramen enthusiasts can probably find a similarly delicious bowl of ramen somewhere else.

18253 Colima Rd Rowland Heights, CA

Kopan Ramen, also in Rowland Heights, offers a more traditional version of ramen, with a simple menu consisting of one pork-based broth, a vegetarian alternative, and a couple of options for toppings.

I ordered the Chashu Pork ramen with beef gyoza on the side for $10, and found that the noodles themselves are similar to those of Ajisen, although a little thinner and “crunchier,” and the broth is definitely a lot richer.

However, one problem I discovered is that the soup is almost too salty, and I found myself gulping down an entire glass of water after the meal.

The chashu pork, also known as braised pork belly, was tender and

delicious, and the layers of meat melted in my mouth.

Kopan offers a variety of sides to go with the noodles, as well as a sushi menu. The beef gyoza that I ordered was pan-fried to perfection, resulting in a texture that was crispy on the outside, with a flavorful, juicy inside.

The restaurant is a little small, and during peak times customers may have to endure a short wait, but the cheery atmosphere, peppy music, and fun decor more than make up for it. For $7 per bowl, the meal is definitely worth it.

One of the lesser-known but older ramen restaurants in the area is Tamaya, located in Hacienda Heights. It is the most comprehensive of the three by far in the range of toppings and soup bases that the menu includes, and the noodles, in my opinion, are the best as well.

Ramen bowls range from lighter offerings with a Shoyu base, to ultra-rich bowls with curry soup.

The menu also contains other traditional Japanese dishes like pork katsu with curry, in both rice and ramen form.

I ordered the Kotteri Tonkotsu ramen for around $9, which has a “richer and thicker” soup base, and unlike the soup from the other

two restaurants, I didn’t find the it too salty or rich. The noodles were more like those of Chinese dishes, but I definitely preferred that more.

While the bowl included a generous portion of pork, certain parts of the pork were a little too hard, but overall, the dish was still enjoyable. The restaurant itself is the smallest of the three, so there may be a short wait during peak hours, and the decor is simplistic, with brush paintings hanging on the dark walls.

19705 E Colima Rd Rowland Heights, CA

17142 Colima Rd, Hacienda Heights, CA

Golden scores from Goldenberg

brian chang asst. news editor Despite only spending two years at Diamond Bar High School, alumni David Goldenberg was inspired sufficiently to pursue a career in teaching, and eventually become an award-winning educator.

In 2013, Goldenberg, along with four other California teachers, was recognized as one of the state’s best educators.

Goldenberg teaches AP U.S. History, as well as AP World History, at Arnold O. Beckman High School in Irvine, and boasts an incredible 81 percent student passing rate on AP exams, according to the Orange County Register.

The DBHS alumnus likes to introduce difficult concepts through simple games, such as Simon Says, and believes that encouraging discussions among students is crucial to the learning process.

During his time at DBHS, Goldenberg was on the football team and was also part of the Yearbook staff.

Transferring to the school during his junior year, Goldenberg said he regrets not being able to study at DB earlier.

“I really loved DBHS. I was struck by the strong campus culture. Back then, we went to an amusement park on the first day of school– what an amazingly positive way to begin the school year,” Goldenberg said via email. “I would say that DBHS had more school spirit and that showed in how it supported the various athletic activities.”

After graduating in 1988, Beckman went on to Cal State Fullerton, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1993,

Photo courtesy of CAL STATE FULLERTON

DBHS 1988 alumni David Goldenberg teaches at Arnold O. Beckman High School and was nominated as one of California’s best educators in 2013. followed by a master’s in science in education-educational administration in 2001.

However, Goldenberg initially had interest in joining the Air Force, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

He had received a commission from the Air Force, but reapplied in order to try for a position in intelligence.

“As I was waiting for my application to be processed for a second time, I watched a friend of mine coach and teach at a middle school and I was hooked,” Goldenberg said. “After 9/11, I had an opportunity to go into the Air Force and my dad convinced me to remain a teacher.”

Goldenberg said his favorite memories of DBHS consist of playing football because of all the support the team had received from the school.

“The student body and community really supported the team. My senior year I remember the students making a corridor as we went to get onto the bus to play Charter Oak. The moment that I exited the locker room and saw the students continues to resonate with me,” Goldenberg said.

Among the staff at DBHS, Goldenberg recalls mathematics teacher Dorinda Hewitt, and retired history teacher Kim Cleveland as his favorites, along with peer counseling director Sandy Davis.

“I had a goofy group of friends.

During our senior year, for a week we sat at our bench overlooking the main stairwell and we rated people as they walked up or down the stairs. My favorite moment was giving [Davis] a 10 and telling her how much we loved her.”

The distinguished teacher was previously a manager trainee for World Savings and Loan, and served as the administrative assistant to Fountain Valley’s city Finance Officer.

However, no job is more enjoyable than teaching. Goldenberg’s favorite part of the job is helping his students.

“Teaching provides me with the opportunity to have job where every day is important,” Goldenberg said.

“My students have made me a better person, better husband and better father. I am blessed to have an opportunity to play a part in their lives and I hope that in some small way that I can help them become the best versions of themselves.”

The staff polled 100 DBHS students on what their spring break plans consist of.

Students spring into break stuart kusdono noor naji contributing writers From visiting an albino redwood tree to watching the critically acclaimed “Hamilton,” both Diamond Bar High School teachers and students plan on enjoying the upcoming Spring break after months of rigorous work.

Heading out to Big Sur with her friend, Spanish teacher Katie Swetnam plans on camping, except with one catch—there will be no cellphones.

“We’re planning on disconnecting, we’re going to bring books, go off the grid for a little bit—just be in nature,” Swetnam said.

During her trip, Swetnam plans on exploring the redwood forest, which contains a rare albino tree.

For AP US History teacher Lindsey Arnold, witnessing cherry blossoms blooming in Japan will be quite the romantic experience.

“My fingers are crossed that the [blossoms] will happen while I’m there because the blossoms only bloom for a week-long period,” Arnold said.

The trip will also bring Arnold closer to her life goal of visiting all continents.

“I’m really looking forward to experiencing the culture in Japan, trying all the food and seeing all the architecture,” Arnold said.

Meanwhile, junior Alan Chang, along with the entire wind assemble, plans on visiting New York as he prepares to compete at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.

In addition, during his stay at New York, Chang hopes to watch the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” which will be held conveniently next to the place he will stay at.

“To actually see the musical live will be an amazing and exciting experience,” Chang said.

Freshman Danny Mansour plans to visit his relatives in Zahle, Lebanon with his father and cousin.

“I am definitely looking forward to seeing the culture and the different people of Lebanon since the country has a rich and extensive history,” Mansour said.

On the other hand, 12 DBHS French students plan to visit France with French teacher Anthony Tietz. For the annual trip, Tietz has planned on eating at a restaurant in which diners are seated in the dark and served by visually impaired waiters and waitresses.

“I hope being in darkness brings out unexpected things in the people that are there.” Tietz said.

FEATURE

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

Club Corner: Quizbowl

A sophomore’s first experience at the Sadie Hawkins Dance turned out to be one she rather forget.

Beating the buzzer vrinda chauhan business editor

I never understood why the Sadie Hawkins Dance received so many bad reviews until I experienced it firsthand last Friday. With its blaring music and lack of activities, the event had me bored to death.

As my date and I approached the gym, the raucous sound of rap and hip hop hit me, even when I was a few feet away from the entrance.

After entering the gym, I was greeted with its austere design and interior. The gym was dark and gloomy, lit only by the small desk lamps, phones being used by bored students, and glaring lights beaming from the DJ station. It was hard to see, and I found myself tripping over numerous cords, which were carelessly strewn all over the floor.

As for activities, two photo booths, seating areas, and temporary tattoo stations were placed on opposite sides of the room. How-

ever, only one side was fully decorated and had people lined up for the activities, leaving the other side quite neglected and empty.

Although there were two separate photo booths, they both lacked proper lighting. One machine printed photos that were too dark, and the other printed photos were too bright. However, since there was an insufficient amount of light, it was hard to see how the photos came out anyway.

Furthermore, carnival games, such as High Striker, the unusual Snake Pit, Leaping Lizards, Ring Toss, and Can Smash games were used in an attempt to entertain the attending students. However, since most of the games were unfamiliar, most students did not even bother lining up to play them.

Adding to my disappointment, I was annoyed to find that the activities were limited to the inside of the gym. The DJ also chose to play deafening hip hop songs, including “Crank That” by Soulja Boy Tell’em, and other old hits, and

CORRECTIONS In last issue’s Humans of Diamond Bar High School, the name of Tyler Liebe was misspelled.

Scan the QR code to view more portraits on Humans of DBHS Facebook page.

avoided playing current trendy pop music. Due to this, most students strayed away from dancing at first, and only the adults in charge of the photo booths seemed to be enjoying the playlist. Furthermore, students had to pay for refreshments.

However, as the long night continued, the DJ decided to switch from selecting censored songs to uncensored songs, which clearly grabbed the students’ attention.

With the addition of explicit songs, students began dancing actively, as if they were at a rave.

With their hands in the air, students, who were clearly enjoying their evening more than my date and I were, began to flood the dance floor. Despite the theme, “Zoo Lights,” the event lacked anything zoo-like or light-like. The only resemblances shown to reflect the theme were the USB members, who dressed up as animals or zookeepers.

Overall, the event seemed to lack the student body’s attention. By my estimate, about 100 students, including USB members, attended the dance. The gym itself remained empty for most of the night, as many left early.

For $20, I paid to spend three long hours in the gym, take terrible photos and pay for refreshments.

As for my date and me, we would have preferred to have gone to the movies or any “anti-Sadies” date.

Te s t Yo u r K n o w l e d g e This actor voiced the title character in Rio, and played a pizza guy who is forced to rob a bank in 30 Minutes or Less.

He played Columbus, who joins forces with Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee, in Zombieland. For 10 points—what actor played Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network?

A: Jesse Eisenberg

It’s a jungle out there

Diamond Bar High School’s newly founded Quizbowl Club takes Triviacrack to an entirely new level, engaging students in a eclectic variety of academic topics. Club members recently tested out their knowledge through a series of intense competitions.

Junior Peyrin Kao started the club because he believed DBHS AP students would be well-versed in the topics covered by Quizbowl, which include history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, sports, and popular culture. The group participated in their first competition last month.

During Quizbowl competitions, two teams of students from different schools compete using buzzers to answer questions based on academic subjects. A typical question may be structured as such: Identify this American author of “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” Students that know the answer will tap the buzzer, and state their answer (in this case, Ernest Hemingway). If the answer is correct, the student will obtain the points.

“We recently got a hold of a buzzer system, so we have been practicing with that to get familiar with [the] competition format. We also

used some online resources to read over old question sets and study guides,” Kao said.

The DBHS team competed in the Southern California Quizbowl, and placed ninth out of 11 teams, while Kao individually placed eighth. The competition, held at Arcadia High School, included local high schools such as North Hollywood High School, Westview High School, and Torrey Pines High School. The DBHS team consisted of juniors Derrick Li, Peter Thompson, Paul Abdo, Kevin Jiang, and Jason Chang.

“I first found out about Quizbowl through a multiplayer website that ran questions online. I realized that because a lot of topics covered in Quizbowl are also covered in AP classes, Diamond Bar could do really well in competitions like this,” Kao said.

They plan to compete again on March 26.

To train for competitions, the competing group meets for two to three hours every week, using old questions and buzzers to practice.

The club members are open to attend these practices, and are able to sign up for competitions. If too many members sign up for competition, competing members are selected through their performance at the practices.

“It’s a great learning experience for the future,” Thompson said.

In 1941, this designer attempted to undo an earlier agreement with the brothers Paul and Pierre Wertheimer by citing Nazi laws against the Jewish ownership of businesses. A perfume sold in a rectangular glass bottle is known as this designer’s “No. 5.” For 10 points—identify this French designer nicknamed “Coco.”

A: Coco Chanel

EMILY KIM

DBHS students participate in the limited activities at the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

tess guan asst. web editor

7

Eagle scouts soar to new heights tess guan asst. web editor While most voluntary work rewards people with gratitude and appreciation, the Boy Scouts of America organization rewards its members with the title of Eagle Scout for their dedication and commitment to community service.

Diamond Bar high school students Timothy Huang, William Loo, James Lo, Matthew Matsumoto, and Spencer Hung have achieved this rank of achievement.

The Eagle Scout, the highest rank of achievement in the Boy Scouts program, is granted to members who have devoted their time to the betterment of their community. Requirements for the title include earning at least 21 merit badges, and demonstrating Scout Spirit, an attitude which reflects the Scout Oath and Law, leadership, and service.

“Being a Boy Scout is, essentially, going through a stage where you are growing up and transitioning from boyhood to manhood,” Loo said. “It’s a very difficult process; you have to learn new skills to become a more successful person in society.” Loo painted Pathfinder’s curbs and gates for his Eagle Scout Project.

Photos courtesy of Spencer Hung and James Lo

DBHS senior Spencer Hung (pictured on left), after receiving his Eagle Scout award, and junior James Lo, working on his service project of building cabinets for drumline (pictured on right), are Eagle Scouts attending DBHS. Members are also required to plan, manage, and lead their own service projects. Eagle Scout Service projects, which are performed to benefit their communities, include helping the homeless, constructing water fountains, and refurbishing public buildings. After meeting the qualifications, Eagle Scouts are rewarded with a medal and a badge, recognizing their accomplishments.

Huang, a junior at Diamond Bar High School, has been participating in the Boy Scouts program since sixth grade. He joined the organization after being inspired by

his friend, junior Loo, who was a member of the program.

Initially, Huang participated in Boy Scouts for fun, but after a couple of years, he decided that the Eagle Scout title was a rank that he wanted for himself. Huang is currently a member of Troop 730.

“Every year during the summer, we have a summer camp. For a whole week, you do merit badges and activities like swimming and hiking,” Huang said. “Many of the memories I made [while in the program] were at the summer camps I went to.”

By showcasing his leadership

skills for six months, working through the 7 ranks in the program, holding an officer position in his troop, and building rifle racks for the DBHS Color guard team as his Eagle Scout Project, Huang was awarded the Eagle Scout title at the end of last year.

Also a member of Troop 370, Lo, a junior, received the Eagle Scout rank after years of commitment to the Boy Scouts program. He joined the organization five years ago, after his friends recommended the program to his mother.

“Everyone walks into it because it looks good on college apps,” Lo

said. “At first, I didn’t want to go because I thought it was really nerdy.”

However, after joining the organization, Lo found that he enjoyed being a Boy Scout, as it has allowed him to visit several attractions due to his involvement in the program.

He has been to the Catalina Islands and New Mexico, where he accomplished an 80 mile hike.

“There was one outing in the mountains where someone almost died. I went three days without sleep,” he said, referring to his most memorable Boy Scouts trip.

“We got a helicopter, airlifted him, and pulled him out of the mountains at three a.m.”

Working towards the title of Eagle Scout wasn’t easy as Lo spent most of his time last year planning and coordinating fundraisers for his community service project.

Regardless, he was able to successfully build cabinets for the DBHS drumline as his Eagle Scout project.

“Last year I only had one AP, and planning that project was worse than this year, with four AP’s,” Lo said.

Also a member of the same troop, junior Matsumoto became an Eagle Scout after extensive

boy scouts on p.12

8

NEWS

s y t h n t W de a e u t h S C

By: Brian Chang, Hannah Lee,

Frances Wu

&

..... DBHS LTE

1:36 PM

Chris from calc

Hey! Did you do the calc hw ?

Yeah, give me a sec.

Thanks so much!! :)

We a s ke d 3 9 5 D B H S s t u d e n t s a s e t o f f i v e q u e s t i o n s, t o v i e w a l l o f t h e i r a n s w e r s, s c a n t h e c o d e a b o v e.

Pa g e d e s i g n b y L i l l y B a l l

THE BULL'S EYE

A

fter feeling the pressure from her first exposure to final exams as a Diamond Bar High School freshman and realizing that she was seated near a bright classmate, one DBHS student decided that spending the majority of the test copying off of her deskmate was the best choice to ensure a good grade on her English final.

She received an A on the test.

As college acceptance rates continue to decline and competition increases, many students, believing they have no alternative, resort to cheating. As cheating has become more common, more students, including those at DBHS, have grown to accept it.

Many students argue that cheating is appropriate in certain situations, such as copying answers on small assignments, as opposed to cheating on important exams.

While cheating on major tests may seem unethical to students, they have no problem doing it on smaller assignments, regarded as simply being burdens.

To obtain feedback for this article, the reporters granted anonymity to the students.

“I really don’t see a problem in cheating if it doesn’t affect your grade that much. Cheating on finals or big tests, that’s a no. But cheating on small quizzes, homework, I don’t see a point, just let us.

If we didn’t have cheating school would be so much more stressful,” one DBHS sophomore said.

March 16, 2016

Another student also felt that sometimes cheating is necessary in order to help students understand the assignment, rather than doing it completely wrong.

“It’s seems OK to cheat on homework because a lot of homework is just tedious. I know there is value in homework ... but if I’m not going to get credit because I don’t know how to do it, I’m going to ask for help. Nothing would get rid of cheating, other than no competition. Pressure drives students to cheat,” another sophomore said.

Technology has also become a common tool for cheating; students are able to take pictures of tests and send them to their friends, allowing those students to gain an edge over other classmates. Others use their smartphones to send screenshots of homework solutions or look up answers during tests while teachers look on, oblivious.

“In class I’ve seen people wear sweaters during tests and pull out their phones from their sleeves to look up an answer on a test. Or they have a paper with the answers below their desk so they can casually just look down at it,” one student said.

Students often fall into a cycle— cheating on homework or in class

assignments leads to not being able to understand the material, which leads to cheating on tests.

“I had students tell me, ‘Well, I’m taking the picture so I know how to do it later’ but technically, you’re cheating because you’re taking a photo of someone else’s work [and] you’re going to copy from that person,” DB chemistry teacher Jose Marquez said.

A cause for the rise in cheating in high school may be due to more cheating cases in society as a whole. Students in modern society have a remarkably blasé attitude regarding cheating.

“Sometimes you got to do what you got to do,” one sophomore said.

In 2015, for four consecutive months, SAT scores were cancelled in China and Korea due to cases of cheating, according to the

9

Washington Post, while in New York, students have hired others to take the tests for them, resulting in criminal trials.

Furthermore, on a 2012 episode of “60 Minutes,” reporter Alison Stewart interviewed serial testtaker and college student Sam Eshaghoff, who had been hired by at least six high school students to take the SAT for them. Eshaghoff admitted to taking sums of up to $25,000 to take a test that is “inRead more on page 12

We asked DBHS students:

395 total DBHS students were polled.

42.35% of Seniors said yes 55.3% of Juniors said yes 29.5% of Sophomores said yes 12.7% of Freshmen said yes

64.71% of Seniors said yes 70.6% of Juniors said yes 72.4% of Sophomores said yes

55.6% of Freshmen said yes

Do you think teachers are ineffective in preventing cheating/catching cheaters in the classroom?

Have you cheated on a test this school year?

8

NEWS

s y t h n t W de a e u t h S C

By: Brian Chang, Hannah Lee,

Frances Wu

&

..... DBHS LTE

1:36 PM

Chris from calc

Hey! Did you do the calc hw ?

Yeah, give me a sec.

Thanks so much!! :)

We a s ke d 3 9 5 D B H S s t u d e n t s a s e t o f f i v e q u e s t i o n s, t o v i e w a l l o f t h e i r a n s w e r s, s c a n t h e c o d e a b o v e.

Pa g e d e s i g n b y L i l l y B a l l

THE BULL'S EYE

A

fter feeling the pressure from her first exposure to final exams as a Diamond Bar High School freshman and realizing that she was seated near a bright classmate, one DBHS student decided that spending the majority of the test copying off of her deskmate was the best choice to ensure a good grade on her English final.

She received an A on the test.

As college acceptance rates continue to decline and competition increases, many students, believing they have no alternative, resort to cheating. As cheating has become more common, more students, including those at DBHS, have grown to accept it.

Many students argue that cheating is appropriate in certain situations, such as copying answers on small assignments, as opposed to cheating on important exams.

While cheating on major tests may seem unethical to students, they have no problem doing it on smaller assignments, regarded as simply being burdens.

To obtain feedback for this article, the reporters granted anonymity to the students.

“I really don’t see a problem in cheating if it doesn’t affect your grade that much. Cheating on finals or big tests, that’s a no. But cheating on small quizzes, homework, I don’t see a point, just let us.

If we didn’t have cheating school would be so much more stressful,” one DBHS sophomore said.

March 16, 2016

Another student also felt that sometimes cheating is necessary in order to help students understand the assignment, rather than doing it completely wrong.

“It’s seems OK to cheat on homework because a lot of homework is just tedious. I know there is value in homework ... but if I’m not going to get credit because I don’t know how to do it, I’m going to ask for help. Nothing would get rid of cheating, other than no competition. Pressure drives students to cheat,” another sophomore said.

Technology has also become a common tool for cheating; students are able to take pictures of tests and send them to their friends, allowing those students to gain an edge over other classmates. Others use their smartphones to send screenshots of homework solutions or look up answers during tests while teachers look on, oblivious.

“In class I’ve seen people wear sweaters during tests and pull out their phones from their sleeves to look up an answer on a test. Or they have a paper with the answers below their desk so they can casually just look down at it,” one student said.

Students often fall into a cycle— cheating on homework or in class

assignments leads to not being able to understand the material, which leads to cheating on tests.

“I had students tell me, ‘Well, I’m taking the picture so I know how to do it later’ but technically, you’re cheating because you’re taking a photo of someone else’s work [and] you’re going to copy from that person,” DB chemistry teacher Jose Marquez said.

A cause for the rise in cheating in high school may be due to more cheating cases in society as a whole. Students in modern society have a remarkably blasé attitude regarding cheating.

“Sometimes you got to do what you got to do,” one sophomore said.

In 2015, for four consecutive months, SAT scores were cancelled in China and Korea due to cases of cheating, according to the

9

Washington Post, while in New York, students have hired others to take the tests for them, resulting in criminal trials.

Furthermore, on a 2012 episode of “60 Minutes,” reporter Alison Stewart interviewed serial testtaker and college student Sam Eshaghoff, who had been hired by at least six high school students to take the SAT for them. Eshaghoff admitted to taking sums of up to $25,000 to take a test that is “inRead more on page 12

We asked DBHS students:

395 total DBHS students were polled.

42.35% of Seniors said yes 55.3% of Juniors said yes 29.5% of Sophomores said yes 12.7% of Freshmen said yes

64.71% of Seniors said yes 70.6% of Juniors said yes 72.4% of Sophomores said yes

55.6% of Freshmen said yes

Do you think teachers are ineffective in preventing cheating/catching cheaters in the classroom?

Have you cheated on a test this school year?

10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Student Spotlight Sheizan Bawa emily jacobsson asst. a&e editor Every big name in the music industry had to start their climb to fame from the bottom. For Diamond Bar High School senior Sheizan Bawa, his path started at Hollywood and Highland, where he performs for tourists on the street.

Singing became a serious hobby for Bawa in sixth grade when he auditioned for the role of Lumiere in his middle school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” While he was given the understudy role, this opened the door to music as a prominent interest in his life.

Bawa was first introduced to street performing by his father, who encouraged him to show his talent publicly.

However, he didn’t act on the idea until the summer before his junior year, when he made a spur of the moment decision to go to Hollywood with his family to perform.

By the e n d of his first

performance on the street, Bawa made enough money to purchase a guitar.

“Doing shows and street performing, when I see people give back to me when I give to them, it means a lot to me as a singer,” Bawa said.

Every two or three months, Bawa finds the time to go to popular locations in Los Angeles or Glendale to entertain on the streets.

Though not in the DBHS choir, Bawa has chosen to connect with music through playing double bass in the school orchestra for five years. He also works with the Wind Ensemble, and is one of three orchestra members accompanying them on their upcoming trip to New York.

Bawa takes opportunities to perform at school every chance he gets.

Last month, he performed at Apollo Night, and he is also set to sing the National Anthem at Awards Night at the end of the school year. Bawa’s primary outlets f o r singing are posti n g occasional

MARCH 16, 2016

THE BULL'S EYE

YouTube videos and street performing.

As yet another spontaneous decision, Bawa auditioned for NBC’s “The Voice” last January, singing “Tomorrow” by Chris Young. After preliminary auditions, Bawa was grouped with nine other singers, two of whom moved on to the next stage.

Even though his time on “The Voice” was short, Bawa still enjoyed the experience and entertains the idea of returning in the future and hopefully getting further on the show.

“I just took my audition as motivation to work on my singing and immerse myself even more into my form of expression,” Bawa said.

Even with all his experience performing in front of audiences, Bawa still admits to getting stage fright prior to performance. His secret to overcoming any fear and giving his best performance each time is simple: focus on the moment.

“Just feel the thing you’re doing or performing. If you’re singing a really deep song, or are just really into the music, just be in it by yourself and not with the people watching,” Bawa said.

In the future, Bawa sees singing as a career as more of a fantasy than reality, acknowledging the difficulty to find a place in the music industry. However, while he hopes to practice law, music will always be hobby for him to enjoy and share with others.

Tune In

hannah lee asst. news editor On May 31, 2015, The 1975 broke the hearts of nearly a million fans by deleting all their social media accounts, and later posting one ambiguous comic strip that seemed to imply that the band was splitting up. Fortunately, this chaos lasted only a few days, before vocalist Matty Healy posted a letter announcing a new start to the British band that would become simultaneously “a more colorful world” and “a less colorful world.” The band broke from their signature black and white theme, and debuted the new unexpectedly all-pink one with their sophomore album “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.”

The strikingly titled album reaches far beyond their usual blend of 80s funk and modern electronically based sound, somehow managing to keep their incomparable eccentric sound. Because it lacks a consistent genre, the album is cleverly sequenced to ease into the songs that stray away from their usual style. Healy’s wide vocal range allows flexibility for the band.

Many of the songs that sit with The 1975’s signature sharp, vintage sound were released as singles prior to the album’s release, such as “Love Me.” For the first time, the band branches out to expose a more

tender, serious side with the last two tracks, “Nana” and “She Lays Down.” These songs are complete inverses of their previous work, sounding much more like Ed Sheeran than the classic The 1975. Healy puts more of his heart into the two acoustic-style songs, “Nana,” being a tribute to his late grandmother, and “She Lays Down,” a song on his experience with his mother’s postpartum depression.

Healy once again proves himself to be a lyrical genius. Though he’s always had special knack for writing in the band’s previous work, “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” is the winner by far.

His lyrics defy standard radio music, he writes audaciously and gets lost in his words. He especially shows this boldness through “If I Believe You,” a beautiful track on his growing lack of faith.

However, Healy’s vocals are not the only thing carrying the band’s success. The album featured one of their first instrumental pieces, “Please Be Naked.” Despite the absence of words, the soft electric rhythms of the gorgeous track speak for itself.

No other band or artist can truly replicate what The 1975 does.

Their style is so unique, and every bit of their work is done brilliantly. “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” goes in all directions but it all manages to be indescribably captivating.

A P P S T O A P P R E C I AT E emily jacobsson asst. a&e editor At any given moment of the day, your phone is likely to be less than five feet away from you.

Given our generations dependency on our phones, it’s only logical that we make the most out of these devices through the multitude of free applications they offer.

True to its name, 1 Second Everyday (1SE) sends users notifications to remind them to take videos throughout their day and crop them each to one second. The main purpose of the app, also called a minimalist diary, is to encourage users to look for special moments, even in the most ordinary of days, and collect these moments to view at the end of the year as a chronological personal movie.

Users are also encouraged to get creative and make movies consisting of one-second clips about certain holidays, life events, or special places to share with the 1SE community. Any video clips imported onto 1SE can be saved as a gif. 1SE is available on the App Store and on Google Play.

Rather than looking into the past, Sunrise is an app that helps you remember the upcoming events of your life. It allows users to sync their events from emails and other services such as Twitter, Facebook, iCloud and Google Tasks in a simple and aesthetically pleasing way.

The app also enables you to customize your calendar with the schedule for a favorite basketball team, holidays from other countries, and many more events preinstalled on the app.

Sunrise features its very own keyboard, Meet, which can be downloaded on both Apple and Android products, allowing users to easily check their schedule and add events to their calendar when making plans over text. After the user selects possible times for the event, they can send the link to other users who can vote on the best time.

If a trip to outer space is on your calendar, Walkr is the app for you. With Walkr, an innovative take on the classic pedometer, it only takes a few hundred steps a day to become an outer space explorer. Walkr encourages exercise by

turning the user’s steps into “walking energy” that fuels a space ship used to explore the app’s virtual galaxy. Found on the App Store and on Google Play, the app also calculates daily calorie burn and recommends a daily goal for the amount of steps walked.

With over 50 intricately designed planets, and many more being frequently added, Walkr makes users the promise that they will get in shape and have fun at the same time.

Similar to Walkr, Plant Nanny incorporates ideas of personal well being into a fun game.

The user begins with a seed that they must take care of until it becomes a fully-grown plant. When the user drinks water, they water their plants with the respective amounts, helping the plant grow.

Alternatively, if the user does not drink the daily recommended amount of water, their plant is at risk of dying. Simply by staying hydrated and taking care of themselves, users are able to grow a garden of healthy and cute animated plants.

Leaving the garden behind, you might want to head out on a treasure hunt. Geocaching Intro is the free version of the $10 Geocaching app, created by a community of people around the world who hide containers with small gifts (geocaches) in cleverly concealed locations for each other to find.

When the user opens the app, they are shown a map with all the geocaches in their vicinity.

Once they chose their geocache, they are left to begin their adventure, guided by tips and hints left by the owner. Geocaching provides users with a way to explore new places through a different perspective.

If finding out about the news is your thing, an award winning app, BriefMe, offers users an easy way to stay informed. The app ranks each article with a BriefMe Score, which takes into account the veracity and timeliness of the article, providing users with the top ten articles of the moment, continually updated.

While reading an article in BriefMe view, the app removes any unnecessary distractions from the page, leaving clean text. The app also sends users daily notifications with the three top stories of the day.

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

11

The Lilly Pad

A Colorless Industry lilly ball editor-in-chief

Photo coutesy of WALT DISNEY PICTURES

Disney’s deviation from classic princess films toward film noir comes ripe with heartfelt themes. bernard chen sports editor Disney has done it yet again.

With state-of-the-art animation, “Zootopia” has hopped into theaters and the hearts of millions, hitting a record breaking $70.5 million opening weekend and beating out Disney’s popular film “Frozen” from 2013. Directed by Disney Animation veterans, Byron Howard and Rich Moore, the animated film presents genuinely flawed, yet lovable characters, in an urban world that closely mimics our own, with a heartfelt underlying subtext.

Set in the “urban jungle” of Zootopia, where anthropomorphi mammals live together in civilized harmony, predator and prey seemingly come to term with their differences. Bright eyed and bushy tailed Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is an aspiring police officer,

despite being a rabbit, as opposed to the much larger mammals of the Zootopia Police Department.

Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a sly and cunning fox, soon joins Hopps to solve an epidemic of missing mammal cases, leading to a family-friendly interpretation of a Hollywood film noir.

I have to say, the plot was masterfully put together, ripe with genuine twists and turns. The film had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the 108 minute runtime, leaving me to wonder who was behind the missing mammals.

It’s a well-paced blend of suspense with comedic lines strewn in the perfect places and I found it increasingly similar to popular crime dramas like “L.A. Confidential” as the story progressed.

While Disney has gone down this path before, with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in 1988, “Zootopia” strays from the classic princess movies that consist only

of mushy emotions and catchy soundtracks, building a surprisingly clever piece of ingenuity.

And while the plot was well thought out, the imagination behind Zootopia took the movie to new heights. Starting with the technique itself, the work put into animating each individual hair of the nine million on the giraffe –and more on every other animal– creates an unprecedented crisp experience. The very idea of the city, split into sectors where a range of animals can survive, from the frigid Tundratown to the gritty Sahara Square, paints a fun world teeming with creativity.

Don’t forget the unique main character development either.

From small town farming to big city police officer, Hopps’ character matures throughout the entirety of the film and though Wilde and Hopps are hugely flawed on their own, “Zootopia” builds them into the loveable and ever-so-relat-

able personalities.

However, the supporting characters do leave a little something to be desired. As most of the film is focused on Hopps and Wilde, we see little development in supporting characters like Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) of the ZPD or even Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons), and most are there only to add a few lines of comedic relief.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film is its timely underlying theme, perfect in an uncomfortable reality of stereotypes and injustice. Hopps, armed with fox repellent, is forced to reevaluate her view of predators as Wilde initially conforms to the shifty and deceitful stereotype of foxes.

The film provides just enough of everything for people of all ages, tackling tough issues in a familyfriendly way. It’s difficult to dislike a Disney film and “Zootopia” is no exception, as it is sure to leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

A&E Calendar PAST

March 8

Orchestra Concert @ DBHS Theater

UPCOMING

March 17

Thursday Night Live @ DBHS Theater 7 pm.

CALVIN RU

Nicolas Zhou and Crystal Ng sing “All I Ask” by Adele at the choir showcase.

A Look Into Choir’s Competition Season tess guan asst. web editor

March 18

March 9

Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra Concert @ DBHS Theater

March 11 Sadies @ DBHS Gym

Doppleganger Film Festival @ DBHS Theater TBA

April 21

Les Miserables Opening Night @ DBHS Theater TBA.

With choir festivals and judging approaching, the Diamond Bar High School Choir Department gave audiences a sneak peek of their competition sets. The showcase, held last week, was the only performance this year during which the audience became the judges of the department’s competition set.

On March 4, the Diamond Tones, Solitaire, Marquis, and selected soloists from the program performed at the 2016 Choir Showcase in the theater. The show was divided into four sections, which included solos, duets, and trios, along with several performances by the three choir groups.

To start off the show, Mary Thomas gave an enthusiastic performance of “A Summer in Ohio,” which settled down the audience.

Wayland Wang and Robert La Bella then performed an exciting number together in “Ain’t No Love,” their act was followed by three more soloists, and a trio singing “Count on Me.” After the first soloist section, the Solitaire performed “Keys!”

The piece was directed by DBHS choir teacher, Patty Breitag.

The second section began with Larry Chen and Danielle Sy sing-

ing “Missing You Like Crazy.” The duet was a huge crowd pleaser, leaving the audience members smiling. In a unique twist, Jenna Duran sang the Spanish song “Tú Sólo Tú.”

After additional solo performances, the trio of Megan Li, Vince Nguyen, and Pauline Yang sang “Riptide” to end the first half of the show.

Transitioning into the second part of the showcase, the Diamond Tones performed five songs, “Twist and Shout,” “Blackbird,” “Imagine,” “Don’t Stop Believin,” and “The House is Rockin.”

The third section began with three soloists, followed by two trios. The crowd enjoyed when Jillian Aluning, Lina Jung, and Chloe Lee harmonized together in their performance of “Warrior.”

Another favorite, Marquis, performed using their competition stage prop, a big wooden elevator decorated with a clock design.The singers dressed as bellhops, complementing the prop.

Ending the showcase, the final section consisted of four soloists and two duets. Kassie Craft and Gabby Thornock brought the showcase to an end with their performance of “I’m Never Gonna Give You Up,” a zealous presentation that had the rest of the choir department joining the duet onstage, cheering and singing along.

The 2015 Academy Awards succeeded in bringing to light a topic much more important than the nominee’s fashion choices, one that in fact, has bothered me for a long time. While the discussion on the lack of diversity in the entertainment industry may have reached its acme with the awards show, it is far from over.

From my point of view, as someone who has dedicated a ridiculous amount of time to watching and blogging about movies, the most famous members of the film industry are unreasonably white.

Some of the most interesting films that I have ever had the privilege to witness were the creations of Asian directors, yet they receive less recognition than others by white men. Directed by Kar-Wai Wong, the 1995 film “Fallen Angels” is quite similar to “Pulp Fiction,” but no one seems to have heard of it. I only stumbled upon it by chance, and such an amazing film deserves more recognition, regardless of the ethnicities of its leading actors and production team.

Once I came to the realization that every time I walked into a theater I was only seeing white actors, I started counting the number of minority actors in every film, television show, and commercial. Many of them featured POC as only extras, while the others seemed to have placed them in roles specifically written for nonwhites.

During my “Glee” phase, circa 2009, I was constantly irritated with the fact that Tina, played by Jenna Ushkowitz, was defined primarily by her Asian heritage. It took a few seasons before she was given a full solo, and she seemed to only be a member of the cast to fill the Asian character requirement.

Even in a TV show that has been praised for its diverse cast, Tina still was still pushed out of the spotlight by white characters who were able to showcase their talent within every episode.

Though the industry has come a long way from the shamelessly inaccurate interpretations of minority cultures of the 1980’s, such as with the character Long Duk Dong from “Sixteen Candles,” minority performers are still recognized more for their ethnicity than their talent. They have become a novelty, with “progressive” directors and producers featuring a handful of minorities per film, just for the sake of diversity. We may be on our way, but true racial equality in Hollywood will not be reached until roles that do not require a certain ethnicity are awarded to minority actors.

Photo courtesy of FOX

Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) was a main character on the popular hit tv show “Glee.”

March 16, 2016

NEWS

THE BULL'S EYE

12

Academic Cheating Causes Teacher Action CHEATING from p.9 credibly easy” to cheat on. While he knew it was wrong, he equated his work with saving the lives of the students who hired him.

In the episode, an ETS official remarked that in 2011, 150 students had been caught impersonating others, but that there was no real way to enforce identity in the test process while continuing to make the SAT accessible to all students.

“A kid who has a horrible grade point average, who no matter how much he studies, is gonna totally bomb this test; by giving him an amazing score, I totally give him a new lease on life. He’s gonna go to a totally new college, he’s gonna be bound for a totally new career and a totally new path in life,” Eshaghoff said on the show.

With competition for entry into good schools ramping up every year, students are growing increasingly desperate for perfect test scores and high GPAs. Additionally, according to Kurt Landgraf, the current president of the Educational Testing Service, College Board does not report cases of cheating on the SAT to colleges, lowering the stakes and allowing students to submit false SAT scores.

At DBHS, GLCs generally do not report instances of cheating to colleges, though teachers may mention in letters of recommendation if they have reason to doubt the student’s academic integrity.

“We don’t go and disclose a student’s history to colleges unless it’s habitual. If it’s something that’s habitual and the student has asked me for a letter of recommendation, that is something that could factor into that,” GLC Marc Natividad said.

“As long as a student is learning from the event and we can see that it is no longer happening, we’re not reporting it.”

In a high pressure environment, such as at DBHS, students are driven to succeed by the competitive environment, often taking the maximum number of AP classes, extracurriculars, sports, and other activities that their schedule can hold, making cheating an easy shortcut in a oft-difficult situ-

ation. According to Niche, a school rankstill trying to get a good night of sleep, ing website, the majority of Brahma GPAs it’s so tempting to cheat,” Marquez said. range from 3.33 to 3.88, a far cry from the Marquez has had to change his grading nation’s comparatively low average of 3.0. system so that each assignment more acMany teachers have developed ways to decurately mirrors each student’s efforts and ter cheating, the most common being putting abilities. Homework assignments, where up folders as a barrier between students. cheating is more accessible to students, Others have came up with other ways to only minutely impact the overall grade, take even further precaution, like DB Ecowhile tests make a much larger impact benomics teacher Mary Gaxiola and U.S. Hiscause they are taken in a more controlled tory teacher Lindsey Arnold, who provide environment, and can more accurately ziplock bags with all essential supplies that reflect the students’ learned knowledge. students may need during a test, such as “It’s almost a waste of your time because pencils, erasers, and highlighters, where anyou get ten points for homework and you swers and formulas are sometimes hidden. cheated, but you don’t understand the lesson.

The students are also assigned random seatIt makes it harder to trust students so you ing on the day of the test in order to prevent have to unfortunately question the authenstudents from predicting who they will be ticity of everything turned in… I try to trust around and potentially cheating off of them. my students, but I do know that cheating “There’s a couple will occur,” Marquez said. exceptions to [using However, many teach“It’s almost a waste of their own supplies] ers do not notice when stulike a straight-edge. dents cheat, as they are sittime because you get ten I always peruse the ting at their desks during points... and you cheated, classroom and actutests instead of walking but you don’t understand ally flip over both around the room. Such bethe lesson.” sides and make sure havior from teachers may JOSE MARQUEZ nothing else is writencourage some students ten on there. So to cheat, since they befar we haven’t had lieve they won’t be caught. anyone sneak something in.

It’d Internet access has also changed be a lot of work,” Gaxiola said. students’ studying habits greatly—inHowever, even with preventative meastead of opening a textbook, many insures like Turnitin, students in Gaxiola’s stead look for test questions online. classes have still been found to cheat on “I think some teachers inadvertently enhomework. As a result, the students will courage cheating by using tests that they no longer receive points for homework this don’t make themselves and that are often semester, and most future extra credit oponline already rather than creating origiportunities have been eliminated. Morenal test material,” one junior remarked. over, Gaxiola will have to revamp all of her In a poll taken by 85 seniors, 85 juniors, coursework for the upcoming years in order 127 sophomores, and 98 freshmen, reto compensate for such student behavior. sults revealed that at least 60 percent of “At DBHS, everyone is in the same rat students from every grade have cheated race, and everyone is trying so hard to on homework during this school year. do well academically. You’re thinking to Additionally, over 50 percent of juniors the bottom line, you just want the points and over 40 percent of seniors polled admitand the grade. They’re so busy that when ted to having cheated on a test sometime in they actually sit down to do work, you’re the year, while less than 30 percent of sopho-

mores and only about 10 percent of freshmen have. The majority of students polled answered that they believed teachers were ineffective in trying to prevent cases of cheating.

However, comparatively few students replied that they would cheat if they had little or no time to study, a statement supported by the fact that less than 10 percent of juniors and seniors and less than 5 percent of sophomores admitted to actually cheating on a standardized test.

“Cheating sounds a lot better than failing. Although cheating seems bad, it is just a way of showing effort,” a senior said in a journal entry for his English class.

According to a 2012 New York Times article, studies show that top students may be even more likely to cheat than their peers.

According to Howard Gardner, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, students at the top schools in the nation are just as likely to cheat as their counterparts in lesser-known schools in the nation.

“We want to be famous and successful, we think our colleagues are cutting corners, we’ll be damned if we’ll lose out to them, and some day, when we’ve made it, we’ll be role models. But until then, give us a pass,” Gardner said from a student’s point of view in the interview.

Donald McCabe is a leading expert on cheating and works as a professor at the Rutgers University Business School.

Due to technological advances, students are finding it easier to cheat, and as a result of more stress from school, are resorting to cheating more often.

“I don’t think there’s any question that students have become more competitive, under more pressure, and, as a result, tend to excuse more from themselves and other students, and that’s abetted by the adults around them,” McCabe said in an interview with the NY Times.

“There have always been struggling students who cheat to survive, but more and more, there are students at the top who cheat to thrive.”

DBHS Boy Scouts Earn Eagle Scout Ranking Boy Scout from p.6 voluntary work for the community. He joined after his mother signed him up, and has been participating for six years since then.

Matsumoto’s initial intention of joining the program was to achieve the Eagle Scout ranking, and he started the procedures during the middle of his sophomore year. For his project, he renovated his church’s garden.

“It’s been a bit challenging, because I have a lot of school work to deal with and the eagle stuff that I’ve been doing,” Matsumoto said. “I wouldn’t say it’s that bad though, because I have pretty good time management, so I learned how to handle everything at once.”

In addition, Hung, a senior, also joined Boy Scouts six years ago, but began first in Cub Scouts. Despite his early start, Hung didn’t begin preparations for the Eagle Scout rank until his sophomore

year. For his Eagle Scout project, Hung painted rooms for a church in Fullerton, painted a rug design on the church’s floor, and repainted a parking lot.

Hung’s involvement in Boy Scouts has allowed him to experience and travel to different places around the world.

Last summer, along with other members, he visited Japan on trip planned by the program.

“It was something new, since I was able to see a bunch of different cultures and different people from around the world,” Hung said.

“It was kind of difficult to interact with them since language was a barrier, so we ended up using a lot of gestures. I ended up making a couple friends even though we didn’t speak the same language, we just got along well and it was an extremely unique and touching experience.”

SPORTS

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

13

IN HER GLORY DAYS

KATIE CONLEY ingrid chan staff writer

ERIC HONG

Sophomore Michael Tran practices in a preseason game under new coaches.

New staff, same returns

BOYS TENNIS Coaches Carl Flint and Troy Wong have replaced David Hamel, who led the Brahmas to an undefeated league record last year. pauline villegas asst. a&e editor Recently, Diamond Bar High School welcomed new head coach Carl Flint and new assistant coach Troy Wong as additions to the varsity boys tennis team.

Flint attended Valencia High School and UC Davis where he played tennis all throughout high school and one year of college. His passion for tennis never subsided and he found he enjoyed coaching.

“Every coach has their own coaching style. Coach Flint has definitely brought his own ideas and methods to the team and we, as a team, look to use the new styles brought to the table to win league,” senior captain Garrett Masuda said via Facebook.

Last season, Flint helped out the JV team as a favor to previous head coach Dave Hamel. When Hamel retired, Flint was offered the position. As new head coach, he hopes to build on the talent of each individual player.

“The team has a lot of talent, they’ve got really good players. I’m

not looking to revolutionize anything that we’ve done,” Flint said.

Wong attended Alhambra High School and played on the tennis team there.

His son, sophomore Nicholas Wong began playing on varsity as a freshman. When the team started its search for a new assistant coach earlier this year, Wong saw the perfect opportunity to join the coaching staff.

“It was kind of a need at the time, they could use another person here to be here so the boys could practice. When the opportunity came I decided to take it,” Wong said.

Wong enjoys coaching doubles because of his experience.

“I’m trying to help here and there with strategy and helping the players think ahead of their opponent. I really want to focus on helping the kids learn how to play the game,” Wong said.

Flint is looking forward to this season alongside Wong.

“Coach Wong is a fantastic addition. Having high caliber coaches like him will give us more strategic options during practice and matches,” Flint said.

Math teacher Katie Conley’s future in competitive tennis was determined the moment her uncle introduced the sport to her parents.

Starting at the age of four, Conley would go on to join her high school team, compete in college, and plays the sport even now.

Coached by her uncle, Conley played actively throughout her elementary and middle school years.

She stated that she had practiced for the enjoyment more than anything else, and has never once found it tedious or considered quitting.

In the eighth grade, Conley decided she wanted to take the sport seriously, joining the high school team the following year. Full of competitive spirit, she became involved in events such as United States Tennis Association tournaments where she participated in the junior category.

At Bonita High School, Conley joined the tennis team. She was on the varsity team all four years, and held the position of captain for two

years before graduating.

But tennis wasn’t the only sport Conley was enthusiastic about during her time in high school. She was just as dedicated to basketball as she was to tennis, having played basketball from seventh to 12th grade.

Though she began in junior varsity as a freshman, she became a part of the varsity team during her junior and senior years, as a shooting guard.

Besides basketball and tennis, Conley did dabble in other sports like track, but they never lasted as

long as her two favorites.

“I only ran track for one year. I really enjoyed it, but it was taking practice time away from tennis, so I decided to stop after my freshman year to play tennis,” Conley said. “I had a pretty good idea at that point that I wanted to continue playing tennis in college.”

Conley majored in math during her time at UC Santa Cruz, but continued to play competitive tennis.

Though Conley knew that she wouldn’t pursue a professional athletic career from the very start, stating that academics had always been number one, she went on to play as a Division III player, normally practicing around four to five hours a day during her time at the university.

“As a Division III player, I could play tennis and still get to travel, doing all kinds of things,” Conley said.

Nowadays, she still occasionally competes in USTA tournaments for adults and also intends to introduce her son to the sport in the future.

“If he enjoys it like I did, I’m all for encouraging him to play tennis, or any other sport,” Conley said.

Photos courtesy of KATIE CONLEY

Katie Conley played Division III tennis at UC Santa Cruz (left) after playing as shooting guard for Bonita High School (right).

Lady Brahmas take the offensive SOFTBALL The team looks to improve upon last year’s fourth place finish, opening the season with a 4-1 win over the Glendora Tartans. sarah markiewicz asst. opinion editor It takes stamina to make it to a higher level, but now that the Diamond Bar varsity softball team is beginning its second year in a new league, the Lady Brahmas are looking to hit the dirt running in the regular season.

“We are competing in the tough Palomares League,” Coach Roberta Garcia-Uyemura said via email.

“We hope that the tough schedule that we are competing against in our pre-season will help us in league.”

The team finished the Brea Olinda Tournament at El Dorado High School on March 5. The Brahmas suffered two losses against St. Paul and Orange Lutheran, but captured a 10-2 win against the Ontario Jaguars.

The Lady Brahmas also won against Glendora at home in their first league game, dominating against the Tartans with a final score of 4-1 on March 9. Good hits by players such as senior Summer

chosen yet, but there are several seniors on the team including Casey Tamanaha, Summer Anderson, Andrea Gonzalez, Pamela Wang, and Brenna Harold, who can use Anderson and freshman Mikayla their experience to lead the other Malatka gave the team members members of the team. Three of the an advantage. current team members are freshIn comparison, the Tartans only men, replacing one starter who scored one point after a home run graduated last year. hit by one of their players in the Last year, the Lady Brahmas fourth inning. However, the work had a 3-6 record in the Palomares of junior pitcher Becky Winder League. Despite a rocky progresand the rest of the team kept the sion through the season, the team Tartans stuck placed fourth overwith only one all.

“We are trying to keep a fast point through “We would like to the remainder tempo type of practice... They improve on teamare expected to hustle once of the seven inwork and working their feet hit the dirt” nings. together and comWhile the pete in league to COACH ROBERTA first game of be able to make the GARCIA-UYEMURA the season was playoffs at the end in late Februof the season,” Garary, members from last year’s team cia said of the team’s goals for its had been anticipating the new 2016 endeavors. season since the beginning of fall, The next game will be part of practicing for try-outs and building this week’s Mark Takkinen Memofitness. The team was announced rial Classic tournament against the in January.

Fullerton Union High School Indi“We are trying to keep a fast ans tomorrow. tempo type of practice to get the “The Palomares League is a most out of the players. They are very tough league that we comexpected to hustle once their feet pete in, every game on our schedhit the dirt,” Garcia said. ule gets us ready to compete Team captains have not been for the next one,” Garcia said.

ERIC HONG

Junior Becky Winder winds up a pitch during a league win over Glendora.

14 SPORTS SPORTS COLUMN

Goodbye to the Mamba ryan chae asst. sports editor

I

n less than a month, Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, league MVP, and the third most prolific scorer in league history, is retiring. This isn’t just the end of a great basketball player’s career, but it marks the end of a generation.

I was never a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers or Bryant, but I do know the impact that Bryant has had on the game of basketball as a whole. For fans who were not old enough to have witnessed the greatness that was Michael Jordan, we were lucky enough to see an encore of such a performance in Kobe. Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant said it best, “He was our Michael Jordan.”

Kobe is leaving behind a legacy that no one in the next 20 years can reach. From his insane scoring streaks to the influence he brought to the world as a player, Bryant will always be ingrained into the minds of not just basketball fans, but millions around the globe.

Now, it should come to no surprise that Bryant is retiring this year. The man is 37 years old and has been in the league for 19 seasons. In NBA history, only Kevin Willis, legends Robert Parish and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, and active Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett have played more seasons than Bryant. In the past three years, Bryant has also faced three season ending injuries with an Achilles tear in 2013, a fractured left knee in 2014, and a rotator cuff tear in 2015.

Yet, fans won’t be remembering the Kobe that struggled through the injuries. We will be remembering the Black Mamba that scored 81 points in one game and brought five titles to the Lakers. We’ll be telling our kids of how a man with a torn Achilles stood up and finished off two free throws. We’ll be thinking about that cocky 17-year old from Lower Merion High School who matured into the second greatest shooting guard of all time.

With Bryant on his way out, other players of this magnificent generation are on the brink of retiring as well. San Antonio Spurs legend and fountain of youth drinker Tim Duncan is still finding ways to compete at the highest level possible.

Duncan is in his eighteenth season and he is averaging career lows of eight points and seven rebounds, but he has also led his team to second place in the NBA with a record of 57-10.

The other two members of Duncan and Kobe’s group are Dirk Nowitzki and Garnett.

Nowitzki has been renowned as the greatest European player in the history of the league and is number six on the all-time scoring list.

At 37, Dirk seems to have taken the Tim Duncan route as he leads the Dallas Mavericks in points and perhaps another playoff berth.

Garnett has become least active of these four, not even starting for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But, the T-Wolves are not using Garnett for his physical gifts. They are actually using him for his leadership and wisdom to lead the younger players on the team, which has proven to be successful. Just take a look at rookie power forward KarlAnthony Towns, who is averaging a double-double already.

While Kobe may be the only one to retire this year, Duncan, Nowitzki, and Garnett will retire in the next year or two. With the loss of these four legends, the NBA will never be the same.

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

Badminton to defend title ing the team to create different combinations of players depending on the situation.

On the boy’s side, captains junior Justin Lam and senior Jonah Perea are two of the strongest boys on the team, performing well when playing as a pair but also talented in mixed and singles matches.

One of the best female returners, sophomore Jasmine Huang, will also be a great asset to the team according to Wells. Several freshman players have also made their debut including Mirabelle Huang, Angela Zhang, and Daniel Huang.

“Our guys side of the lineup is about as strong as it could possibly be, except for maybe our guys’ lineup two years ago,” Wells said. “We only need six [girls] to play in any match and we actually have about eight or nine girls that are really strong.”

One of the biggest challengers will be Long Beach Polytechnic, according to Wells. Last season, the Brahmas started their championERIC HONG ship game with a large lead against Seniors Mirium Sun and Brenton Hwee played in mixed doubles during a win over Redlands East Valley. the school and won the game 16-5, securing their fourth CIF title and BADMINTON After winning their fourth consecutive CIF Finals last year, the an undefeated season.

Brahmas will begin their new season in the San Joaquin League.

Other schools that the Brahmas are prepared to face off against are League, the Brahmas went for a season with a 21-0 win against Ca- San Marino and Cerritos as they emily kim year without a league, which is brillo. The Brahmas next game was both have several excellent players asst. sports editor one of the main reasons the team a 19-2 win against Redlands East that may prove to be a challenge. played fewer matches last year.

Valley.

“I don’t think we will lose to This season, the Brahmas were According to a number two This season the Diamond Bar able to join the San Joaquin League Wells, the team team all year High School varsity badminton “We have such a strong core unless someone team will be entering a new league, of the California Interscholastic boasts a capable that we should still be very Federation and hope to schedule boys and girls just has a really but that isn’t stopping the Brahmas good again.” more games. side, with numerbad game,” Wells from their plans to remain at the “We lost some good players from ous players that said. top and secure their fifth consecuCOACH KEMP WELLS last season and we lost a couple of contribute to the The Brahmas tive CIF title. will compete The Brahmas left the Hacienda players due to transfers, but we overall strength have such a very strong core that of the team. against Arcadia tomorrow and League two years ago while all The lineup this year has many March 27 and participate in the other sport moved into the Palo- we should still be very good again,” players who can compete in either Azusa Tournament at the beginmares League. However, with no head coach Kemp Wells said.

The team started off its presingles, doubles, and mixed, allowning of April. badminton teams in the Palomares

Handing over the baton TRACK & FIELD As the Brahmas enter the season with the 4x100 title under their belts, the team hopes to maintain their record with larger roster. sophia kim staff writer With only 10 of its 150 student members going to CIF last season, Diamond Bar High School varsity track and field is arduously preparing to break last year’s record. The coaches hope to see more Brahmas attend the prelims as well as the team score higher overall.

“I’d like to double the amount of kids that we have advance to CIF,” head coach Sally Jarvis said.

With an increase in athletes since last season, from 150 to 202, the team is training and adapting to the larger group. The Brahmas practice daily for two and a half hours on hills, sprints, distance, and throwing.

“The bigger goal is to have many athletes win the individual events,” coach Joseph Beaudion said. “Winning league as a team will come together.”

Last season, the 4x100 team was undefeated in league, and the team hopes to defend that title. The coaches believe that being physically prepared is the best way to start off the team’s goal for the season.

“We’re trying to do something special with our 4x400 as well and I’m pretty confident in all of our events,” coach Camara Rose said.

According to Rose, seniors Papa Midley and Sophia Arnold, as well as junior Ahmad Abu Nasra, will be a few of the outstanding runners this season. While many up-

perclassmen will be leading the team, a large group of freshmen have also joined in this season.

Freshmen Jeremiah Chukwudobe and Dylan Ang have proven to be great additions to the team, Rose said.

“We’ve got freshmen that have the gusto to challenge some of our upperclassmen, and if they continue to work as hard, I think there will be some surprises,” Rose said.

The distance team has been preparing with speed workouts in order to improve its long-distance runs. These drills consist of fast, short distance runs that work up to longer distances. In order to maintain a strong core and upper body, the team has also been working in the weight room to help keep the athletes strong.

While the rest of team continues to build its stamina, the sprint team has been focusing on new techniques to implement in the upcoming season. Coach Rose has been helping the Brahmas with their posture when running, and is helping them learn proper arm action and knee lift.

“We’ll focus on speed, focus on technique, and hopefully by the time league finals come around, the athletes will be able to put everything together,” Rose said.

Aside from the running, senior Chris Geere has been leading for the pole vault, while junior Bethany Cho has been representing long jump, according to field coach Connor Birtwhistle. The team’s first meet was held yesterday at Ayala.

Photos by ERIC HONG

Junior Justin Ofori jumps a hurdle (top) and senior Nicholas Navarette trains for the shot put event during practice at Diamond Bar High School.

SPORTS

THE BULL'S EYE

MARCH 16, 2016

15

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

Jonah Perea

emily kim asst. sports editor As captain of one of the fastest racket sports, senior Jonah Perea has made his mark on both the badminton team and All-Male.

Perea started playing badminton five years ago after his parents discovered the sport and encouraged him to try it since he dropped golf.

Since then, Perea has trained with an outside badminton club, the Global Badminton Academy, and it was the members there that motivated him to progress in the sport.

“One of our key players is Jonah Perea. He’s been on varsity for four years and he can play any of the three events open to him,” head coach Kemp Wells said.

Perea earned his spot on the varsity team during his freshman year and continued to prove himself game after game. He was co-

captain alongside alumni Ivorine Do and Tim Chiu during his junior year and now shares the title of captain with junior Justin Lam. According to Perea, one of his greatest accomplishments was making it to the semifinal rounds at the USA Badminton Junior Nationals, where he played one of his first singles matches.

“It’s not just some dumb sport that you play in the backyard with your friends or at a picnic or anything like that because badminton is one of the fastest racket sports in the world. It’s harder than you would think,” Perea said.

However, Perea not only proves himself on the court but on the dance floor as well. Perea has been dancing for three years and is a lieutenant of All-Male.

Although both badminton and dance take up a lot of his time, he is able to balance the two activities because of scheduling. As the badminton team approaches its more difficult matches, the dance season is coming to a close.

Perea’s skill in badmin-

CALVIN RU

Senior Jonah Perea has competed in numerous badminton tournaments, but also competes with the Dance Company. ton has crossed over to his dancing and helped him improve as a dancer as well.

He has more stamina, which helps him dance for longer periods of time. With footwork, Perea uses his knowledge of moving around a court whenever he danced, giving him more mobility on the dance floor.

Perea considered dropping the

sport since he felt as though he played for his parents rather than for his own benefit. It was through finding other athletes who also enjoyed playing badminton that encouraged him to continue developing his skills in the sport.

Although Perea plans on participating in local tournaments, he intends to place more emphasis on improving in dance rather than

badminton next year.

“Playing with them [others who enjoyed badminton] really boosted my ego, not in a cocky way but more of in a sportsmanship kind of way,” Perea said. “I feel like I got found more in badminton because other people were doing it and they were doing so much with it that I felt I could do that much with it as well.”

Team on par with expectations BOYS GOLF This season, the young team hopes to keep its Palomares League title. ryan chae asst. sports editor ERIC HONG

Sophomore Nicholas Wong and senior Austin Chiang prepare to return their opponents’ attack during a pregame match.

Looking to repeat success BOYS TENNIS With a pair of new coaches leading the team, the Brahmas look forward to defending their league title after going undefeated last season. catherine zhang asst. feature editor Under the guidance of new head coach Carl Flint and new assistant coach Troy Wong, the Diamond Bar High School varsity boys tennis team looks to maintain last season’s undefeated Palomares League record.

Last season, the Brahmas ended with a 10-0 league mark and overall record of 16-2. Despite moving into the more competitive league, the team was able to triumph over its new opponents. In addition, the team won two games in the CIF Playoffs.

This season, the Brahmas are focusing on finding the perfect combinations for their doubles matches. Last year’s seniors were key double players, and finding new combinations will play a fundamental role in the team’s success.

“In high school tennis, doubles is

what carries you. We need to focus on doubles. If it doesn’t work out, we aren’t going to do well this season,” head coach Flint said.

The team’s practices consist of doing rallies back and forth, drills where players play offense and defense, and drills to see who can rally the longest. However, not only has the team been preparing physically, but they have also been learning new strategies.

“We’ve been practicing and conditioning rigorously, preparing physically for our long season. But we have also been getting ready mentally, focusing on strategies and how to fight to the last point,” junior Neil Tengbumroong said via Facebook.

Also, by gaining valuable experience from competing in non-league matches, the team hopes to do well in its more important league matches, according to junior Vinay Bhupathiraju.

Flint cites Tengbumroong, a na-

tionally ranked tennis player, as a key to the team’s success this year.

For his efforts last year, Tengbumroong was named Player of the Year by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for tennis. In addition, he was the only East San Gabriel Valley player who made it to the Regional finals for the CIF tournament, and Flint said he finds it difficult to find an opponent to rally with him.

“Everyone on the varsity team is incredibly talented, but he’s definitely head and shoulders above everyone else. We actually have trouble finding people to hit with him, because he’s better than the rest of our players, myself included, I can’t hit with him,” Flint said.

To advance deeper into the CIF playoffs, Flint knows it will require hard work and dedication from the coaches and the talented players.

“Diamond Bar has had lots of years of success, so it is a bit of pressure. It’s not all up to me though; we have an amazing team of three coaches and an enormous amount of talent. It’s just a matter of us gelling at the right time in the next few weeks to be able to play as well as our successors,” Flint said.

When a team loses four seniors, including a league MVP, it usually causes a stir but, head coach Tony McCabe doesn’t see this as a setback. Instead, he sees it as a positive development for this year’s boys varsity golf.

This year is McCabe’s second year as the boys’ coach, returning to the position he once held when the school had first opened.

The team started its season with a 202-244 win over the Claremont Wolfpack last Tuesday. The team was led by senior captain Joshua Song and sophomore Thomas Lee, who shot par and 39 on a nine-hole match, respectively.

On Thursday, the Brahmas once again beat the Wolfpack, 196-223.

Song and Lee led the team with both of them shooting 37. Freshmen Sam Cho and Brian Chiu both earned a score of 41. Senior Christian Kim shot for 40.

While the Brahmas are out to a successful start, McCabe initially believed the team wasn’t ready for matches due to the inexperience of new varsity players.

“This year, I didn’t set a lot of [preseason] matches. I needed to have them ready for the league matches. Sometimes you have these big experienced teams that just go out and play everyone, but this season we have a lot of freshmen,” McCabe said.

However, the Brahmas gained

more of McCabe’s trust during their preseason. The team has only participated in the Ayala Tournament thus far, where the Brahmas placed fourth and shot 380.

“Four hundred is a really good score. Under that is the elite teams.

We haven’t been putting up those numbers. [The boys] just got ready and played a good day,” McCabe said.

The Brahmas were led by Song, who shot par and birdied three of his last four holes, and fellow senior captain Dylan Stone, who shot 74. Cho and Chiu went for 77 and 80, respectively, and Lee earned a score of 77.

Palm Desert took the tourney with a score of 367, while Sunny Hills and Palos Verdes were just a few strokes ahead of DB with scores of 375 and 379.

According to McCabe, Palm Desert, Sunny Hills, and Palos Verdes are three of the best teams in the state. However, Palm Desert managed to top the Brahmas in the CIF playoffs last year by only a single stroke.

The only other preseason match the Brahmas competed in was against Diamond Ranch. DB won the match, but it was not counted as an official match due to a lack of players.

Now, McCabe believes that the Brahmas have a good chance to repeat as Palomares League champs, even with a younger squad.

“Everybody got a little better this year and we lost four college golfers. A college golf team left and now we have a high school golf team. They’re a little young.

We’re just a younger team and they have glitches some time.

We’re still a team to beat,” McCabe said.

16 SPORTS

MARCH 16, 2016

THE BULL'S EYE

warming up ... baseball 3/18 @ South Hills 3/23 Claremont 3/25 Bonita 4/06 @ Ayala 4/08 @ Glendora

badminton 3/17 @ Arcadia 3/22 Arcadia

boys golf 3/22 Bonita 3/24 @Bonita 4/05 @South Hills

softball 3/24 El Dorado 4/06 Nogales 4/13 Ayala

boys tennis 3/29 @ Ayala 3/31 South Hills 4/04 El Dorado 4/07 @ Bonita

track & field 3/31 @Ayala 4/07 @ South Hills 4/14 @ Claremont

swim 4/06 @ South Hills 4/13 Claremont

SPORTS

Swimmers dive into new year SWIM A larger team made of mostly freshman sets goals to go above and beyond what the previous year’s lineup achieved in league, state. ingrid chan staff writer The sound of swimmers gliding through the pool lanes were present after school, as members of Diamond Bar High School’s swim team worked through practice in preparation for the upcoming sea-

son.

This year, head coach Darlys Ankeny is confident in the ability of her students, especially with another group of skilled freshmen added to the team. She is hoping for the boys team to achieve first in league once again, and for the girls to improve upon last year’s third place finish.

Sophomore Maria Zhu competes in the 200 individual medley for butterfly.

The team’s first meet was on March 5 in which all the schools in the Palomares League competed with league relays. Afterwards, the Brahmas had their first dual meet on March 10 against Walnut High School. While boy’s varsity tied its match, girls varsity and the frosh team were able to secure solid wins.

“Once again we are blessed with some really fast, hard working and talented freshman. This will make our team stronger this year. We will be working a lot on speed and technique,” Ankeny said via email.

This season, an additional coach, Amy Patrick, has joined the Brahmas, offering another watchful eye to help instruct the swimmers.

According to Ankeny, because the team consists of a considerably larger group than last year, the addition will make things easier and more efficient for both students and staff.

Ankeny aims to win league again for boys and also hopes for multiple wins from the girls this season. For the girls, Ankeny believes Glendora High School to be the team’s toughest competitor.

Making things even more interesting is the new “suit fittings” the

Photos by CALVIN RU

Sophomore Christian Park jumps off the starting block, ready to beat Walnut.

The boys tied with the school 85-85, and the girls won 97-73. swim team members have been trying.

Senior swim members collaborated to come up with two designs for the team swim suits. Then Turbo Swimwear brought them to life and the seniors voted on which one will be the official team suit. They intend to continue this tradition for the Diamond Bar swim team in future years.

Many team members swim for

clubs outside of school, such as the El Monte Swim Team, Brea Aquatics, Chino Hills Aquatics, and Trident Swim Club.

“Everyone is really working hard so far and stepping up. I am looking forward to some fast times and a strong finale. Last year, we had several qualify for the state meet, but only one of them went. This year we want to have more and qualify a relay or two,” Ankeny said.

Pitching success in early season BASEBALL New head coach Hurst plans on helping the team develop a championship level mentality. yusheng xia editor-in-chief Pitching and hitting its way to an 6-2 record to start off its preseason, the Diamond Bar High School boys baseball team looks to improve upon last year’s performance in the Palomares League.

The team has started off their season well, with only two losses coming from a 7-2 defeat against Don Lugo High School and a 6-1 loss against Walnut High School.

Led by new head coach Jon Hurst, this year’s roster will see the addition of ten first time varsity members after losing nine seniors. According to Hurst, the Brahmas will be more team-oriented in their approach to games with no one member dominating.

“We are team that is going to rely on everyone. We have a lot of talented guys but our league is full of teams that have one or two guys that have been playing baseball for a long time and probably play professional baseball. We have to find different ways to beat them and so we have to be a little bit more strategic,” Hurst said.

Based off the first few games of the season, Hurst sees the team as more of a small ball club that executes well in terms of getting on base and running the bases. He finds the players very coachable and sees Keola Viloria, who is the team’s lead off hitter and center fielder, as one of the leaders of the team.

“He is incredibly fast. He is very good hitter he is a very talented baseball player and he is also a very good pitcher and so we are going to rely on him very heavily,” Hurst said.

Last year, the Brahmas placed last in the Palomares League despite starting well in the preseason.

The team’s main competition this year will come from teams like South Hills, Glendora, and Bonita.

“Our major goal for this season is that we take our scrappiness into league games being known as the underdog and come out ready to play and fight,” Viloria said.

Formerly a professional baseball player, Hurst plans on using his experience to change the culture of the team so that members have more of a championship-mentality. While he states that the team

Junior Eric Winchester pitches the ball during a game against Walnut, in which the Brahmas lost 6-1. has a very high potential based on talent, it is the change in mindset that will take the group one step further during the season.

“There’s not really a championship feel around the program yet.

I feel like many of them are confi-

dent but there are programs that are successful and the programs that are successful, they know they are winners. That is what I am trying to develop right now,” Hurst said.

Despite this, Hurst hopes the

ERIC HONG

players go into each game enjoying the sport and having fun.

“While we are serious and we take what we do out there very seriously, I want them to know that I want them to have fun out there while they are doing it,” Hurst said.