MARCH 2022

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a&e 11

The Bull’s Eye

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MARCH 16, 2022 @dbbullseye

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Rehabilitating a positive mentality While TED talks will remain virtual, DB forum will be held in-person this year. sam jajieh feature editor Amidst the hurdles of second semester, such as preparing for exams and AP tests, Diamond Bar High School’s Wellness Center is working toward providing students with the space to unwind and speak out against important issues.

As a way to help students manage their stress, the group plans to host its annual DB Forum in the gym on April 6. Unlike previous years, the event will start with this year’s keynote speaker David Lopez, DBHS’ health and kinesiology teacher, motivating students to focus on their emotional well-being.

Afterward, students will be divided into three groups and rotate between activities that vary from making arts and crafts to doing physical activities such as yoga and meditation. To close off the event, participants will get the chance to interact with therapy dogs.

“Our main goal is to give our participants a day to detox from stress and rejuvenate themselves,”

Wellness consultant senior Rachel Mar said via Instagram. “We want to give students the tools they need to manage their stress in a healthy way so that they can finish the school year feeling confident and strong.”

According to Mar, the general format of the event has changed in order to adhere to CDC guidelines.

Aside from ensuring that everyone keeps their masks on throughout the event, participants will be dispersed throughout the gym, with some students participating virtually via Zoom in other areas of DBHS such as the library, fitness room and Wellness Center in order to minimize close contact between participants.

“I’ve been meeting with the school psychologist [Inger Turner] to plan questions for each activity,” Mar said. “All of these sessions will have a learning component and a hands-on component.”

While the wellness group has found DB Forum to function best as an in-person activity, one Wellness Center event that will remain virtual is the annual TED Talks.

According to Instructional Dean Julie Galindo, conducting the event virtually makes the talks more accessible to teachers and students

wellness ON P. 3

MARCUS HSIEH

New mandate cuts admits Students have attributed decreasing enrollment rates to the housing crisis. vash chen asst. photo editor After a battle in the California Supreme Court, thousands of high school applicants to the University of California, Berkeley may be cut from enrollment.

The decision, issued on Feb. 10

by the California Court of Appeals, forced UC Berkeley to freeze its acceptance numbers to 42,347 students, resulting in a decrease of 3,050 incoming undergraduate student enrollments.

This decline in admissions is one of the highest since 1999, when the school denied over 70 percent of its applicants, and could affect the major demographics applying to UC Berkeley.

In light of the new decision and the pre-existing 17 percent acceptance rate for the school, several Diamond Bar High School students

have voiced their thoughts on the issue.

“I understand why they’re [UCB] reducing their numbers but if they can get a few more buildings built, I don’t think they should be court-mandated to reduce the enrollments,” senior Rani Yeh said.

Amidst the controversial decision, students at UC Berkeley expressed their own gripes with the ruling, citing the university’s ongoing issues involving inadequate

berkeley ON P. 2

Brahmas succeed in virtual Write-Offs The Bull’s Eye received second place overall, with four awards of excellence. lauren cheng asst. news editor

Photo courtesy of DAWSON LAM The group of nine placed 14 out of a total of 42 competitors—a big improvement from their previous rank at the Beach Blitz.

Rewiring the team for victory Sprocket placed top 20 at Orange County’s Robotics Regionals competition. kyle hong staff writer After a rough start this school year during their Beach Blitz competition in November, Diamond Bar High School’s Team Sprocket has prepared to show their mettle going into the main season.

Having performed well below their expectations during the pre-season event, largely due to mechanical issues, the group has since reflected on their mistakes and taken preventive measures to ensure a more successful future.

Now entering their competitive season, Sprocket’s performance at the Orange County regional competition demonstrated the team’s improvement from November.

“At the competition we got 14 out of 42 competitors, way better than placing 33rd out of 34 at Beach Blitz,” junior William Li said. “I

think this has caused a big boost in team morale and there were very little issues, a good sign for upcoming competition.”

In the event, the brahmas were tasked with developing a robot that could transport balls into containers at varying heights in addition to climbing monkey bars.

An entirely different type of game than the one they played at Beach Blitz, Team Sprocket started from scratch when designing the bot.

Since Beach Blitz, the team has

sprocket ON P. 3

During this year’s annual Eastern Los Angeles Journalism Education Association write-offs competition, Diamond Bar High School’s student journalists managed to secure the second place title in the Super Sweeps—a cate gory determined by the participants’ overall achievements in the competition.

The contest included various categories including Novice News, News, Opinion, Editorial Cartoon, Sports, Feature, Critical Review, Photography, Yearbook Layout and

News Layout.

During the competition, students were introduced to a guest speaker and, following their presentation, were given the opportunity to ask the speaker questions about their specific topic.

After composing their submission, students turned in their work via Google Forms.

Participants in the Novice News, News, Opinion and Editorial Cartoon categories listened to a presentation about community garden regulations given by founder of the environmental initiative Puro Plants, Matthew Ramos.

Sophomore Jia n l a n Busteed secured her spot as the second place winner in the Opinion category, while junior MK Palaris earned second place for Editorial Cartoon.

Meanwhile, junior Nathan Chu also placed second in the Sports

write-offs on p. 3

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News

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

Preaching the legacy of a civil rights icon IB students put together an oratory of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Rachel Lee Asst. Opinion editor In celebration of Black History Month, Diamond Bar High School students in the International Baccalaureate program honored Black history with a presentation of Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on March 4.

The event took place during third and fourth periods in the gym and opened with an introduction to King’s work, orated by Principal Reuben Jones. Following live readings of the letter by the student body, junior Olivia James performed her winning speech from the Stand and Deliver Oratorical contest on biracial identity.

“Through the live readings I was able to see how great of a writer MLK was. Hearing his words aloud from my peers really emphasized the purpose of his writing and allowed me to reflect on the history,” junior Virginia Lee said.

Once the readings had concluded, several interactive activities relating to the reading were set up in the gym, including modified games of Jenga and Wheel of Fortune. “[They were] just a little bit interactive to make [sure] students

get a chance to participate in the meaning of the letter,” DBHS math and Theory of Knowledge teacher Dena Lordi said. “We have two students from art history that [set up] a little station to project works of art from the 1960s, the period of time when the letter was written, and talk about the art as it relates to the Civil Rights movement.”

A part of the Creativity, Activity and Service program that IB students partake in, the topic of the event was chosen by Lordi and based on her college experiences with outdoor readings during Shakespeare festivals.

“On any given day there would be a copy of the text set out with a microphone and a stand, and people would walk up and they would read part of the play aloud,” Lordi said. “I thought we could do something like that here.”

The event details and scheduling were handled by the IB students, who were organized into three teams: event organization, event themes and lunch time activities.

Junior Nichole Godfrey, who assisted in theme organization, said her group examined the letter for important ideas and came up with ways to accurately portray them.

“Currently, in Theory of Knowledge, we are learning how knowledge is something that many are hurt by or afraid to learn from,” Godfrey said via Instagram. “This relates really well to the letter, because it addresses the systematic

Editors-in-Chief

Reyna Wan, Niko Yatawara Marcus Hsieh, Steve Qu Lauren Cheng, Jeremiah Jung

Opinion Editor Asst. Opinion Editors

Reyna Wan Jianlan Busteed, Rachel Lee

Feature Editor Asst. Feature Editors

Sam Jajieh Natasha Chang, Maia Pak Niko Yatawara Taylor Joe, MK Palaris

A&E Editor Asst. A&E Editors Sports Editors Asst. Sports Editors

Charles Tam Nathan Chu

Photo Managers Asst. Photo Editors

Reyna Wan, Niko Yatawara Vash Chen, Claire Wu Edward Kim Ryan Kung

Business Manager Asst. Business Manager Web Editor Asst. Web Editors

racism that occurred because no one was willing to acknowledge the knowledge that all races are equal, and they were unwilling to open themselves to new knowledge.”

As part of the reader organization team, junior Joanna Jin said that her division worked with the Black Student Union and senior IB students to plan the order of the speeches and flow the reading.

“I think that the Open Letter Project covers a really important

part of our daily lives and I’m excited for it to start at our school and hopefully continue on after our IB class,” Jin said. “I’m really grateful that we were able to organize this with the help of Ms. Lordi, Dr. Jones, BSU and everyone else involved.”

Aside from the IB program and other student organizations, such as the DBHS Performing Arts programs, the BSU and USB, that collaborated to organize the event,

students from various classes, were invited to join the reading of the letter and explain what it meant to them.

“I hope that the students will be able to learn that MLK Day is not just a day off from school—rather it is a day to honor his legacy,” Lee said. “It would be a goal of mine for students to learn why a month is dedicated to black history and why we have a day off of school on MLK Day.”

Adversities for hopeful admitees

the staff News Editors Asst. News Editors

VASH CHEN IB staff and students came together to read iconic speeches during third and fourth periods in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s honor.

Reyna Wan Natasha Chang, Lauren Cheng

Staff Writers

Kyle Hong, Lyndon Kaneko, Ashley Park, Ethan Ro

Adviser

Connie Chen

contact us Diamond Bar High School, Room 717 21400 Pathfinder Road Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Phone: (909) 594- 1405x33459 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 717 or submit them online at dbbullseye.com.

BERKELEY FROM P. 1 housing for its undergraduates.

“The recent admission changes for UC Berkeley reflect the poor planning of the UC Berkeley faculty,” UC Berkeley freshman Virginia Sun said.

“Berkeley already has a history of running out of housing for students, so it’s clear to me that they chose to postpone fixing the problem until they couldn’t anymore.”

One of the most notable figures actively speaking out against this decision is Governor Gavin Newsom. He has argued that this decision would damage many eligible students’ chances of gaining a good education.

Newsom and other officials

worry this mandate could potentially influence other universities’ admission numbers considering UCB’s administration is offering to send their applicants to other UC schools, creating an influx of students.

“There are programs in community college that guarantee you [admission] into a UC school. And typically community college students are prioritized over high school students because they show more of a commitment.

There are many routes that can lead [students] to the same outcome,” GLC Morgan Galeener said.

Due to the rippling effects of the potential applicant spillover from UCB to other UCs, many of DBHS’ senior applicants to the school side with the opinion

against the new mandate that reduces enrollment.

“I think the recent changes to reduce admission by 3,000 students is unfair. They’re [UCB] is trading their comfort with thousands of students’ dreams and potential to reshape the world,” senior Alan Zhang said.

Despite this development, Bill 118 recently passed by the California Senate could pause the enrollment cap for up to 18 months by allowing UC Berkeley additional time to deal with the housing conflicts.

While this legislation only grants temp o rary r e lief t o issue that has been ongoing for a while, it has sparked some semblance of hope for UCB applicants.

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

News

3

Photo courtesy of JADEN ZHANG Senior Jaden Zhang, who also qualified for Semifinals last year, was the only DBHS student to qualify for USABO Semifinals.

Reaching for the finalist exam Biology club members recently competed in the world-renowned USABO Open examination.

Nathan Chu Asst. Sports Editor After countless hours spent studying biology concepts, over 20 Diamond Bar High School students completed the United States of America Biology Olympiad exam on Feb. 2, with one Brahma going to the semifinals.

Administered to around 10,000 students from the nation each year, the exam measures critical skills used by biologists. Those scoring within the top 10 percentile move onto the semifinals, with only 20 moving on to the national finals. Only four students

there will go on to represent the nation at the International Biology Olympiad.

At DBHS, the USABO test is administered as part of its club, which also gives lectures on the exam material to prepare students taking the test.

“The club helped me by holding bi-weekly lecture sessions and providing resources to help our study process,” junior Amy Wang said via Instagram.

Outside, students self-study through practice book, textbooks, and courses like AP Biology to help them prepare.

“Much of my studying involved doing past tests from previous years, which are all available online,” senior Alyssa Wu said via Instagram. “I also own a Campbell’s Biology textbook, which covers a large portion of the concepts and details the test questions ask about.”

Since its administration this year, senior co-president Jaden Zhang has qualified for the semi finals competition which will take place on March 31.

“Hard work and consistency were the qualities that helped me perform well on the test,” Zhang said. “Whether it was doing practice problems, or making flash cards, I always tried to do something daily in order to learn and retain the knowledge.”

Having been a member of DBHS’ USABO club for four years now, this will be Zhang’s second time taking the semifinal exam.

Despite this consistent success, he feels making the finals will be a tremendous challenge.

“Reaching the finalist level is extremely difficult because only the top 20 students in the nation make it,” Zhang said. “I’ll just continue studying and trying my best.”

Speaking out on peers’ wellbeing

Sprocket calibrates their gears for success Sprocket FROM P. 1

Wellness FROM P. 1 been working on the new design alongside relearning the fundamentals lost during a year of no practice.

“Since I’m the electrical lead, with the new robot, I got to design the whole electrical board myself this time,” junior Namky Eun said.

“Through a lot of hard work, commitment, and planning, we haven’t encountered any electrical problems, mistakes, or failures the entire build season.”

The team’s robot is more simplistic compared to those from previous years due to virtual learning.

According to Eun, the group has been dedicating more time to reviewing core concepts, therefore picking a less complex design.

Sprocket has experienced a more manageable workflow and team members now feel more confident in fundamental engineering concepts.

“During the first few weeks our team was only focused on crunching out ideas and calculations, and we didn’t really have opportunities to bond together as a whole,” junior Dawson Lam said. “Afterwards something just clicked and now it feels like we’re in the zone.

The mechanical subteam, the division I’m in, feels like a family, where everyday we make jokes and sing as we work.”

With this success giving the team more drive, their chances of future success are looking good as they head into their next competition, the Los Angeles Regional on April 2.

VASH CHEN Jianlan Busteed (left), MK Palaris, Nathan Chu and Edward Kim all moved on to the state level of the writing competition.

Showing off journalistic excellence write-offs FROM P. 1 category for his story about analyst and coordinator Nate Ngo’s experiences while working alongside the USA Men’s Volleyball team.

Juniors Rachel Lee and Edward Kim placed second and fourth respectively in the Feature category of the competition where author and activist Esther Lim not only shared details about her “How to Report a Hate Crime” booklets, but also raised awareness about recent hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

“This year’s Write-Offs had a lot less people competing than last year’s. I expected to do decently,”

Lee said. “The Feature presentation was on Esther Lim, who printed and distributed booklets used to assist those who have been victim to or have witnessed hate crime.”

“This year’s Write-Offs had a lot less people competing than last year’s. I expected to do decently.”

RACHEL LEE

For the Critical Review portion of the competition, junior Natasha Chang received first place for her story about artist Benson Boone’s

approach in rejecting the pop star lifestyle.

Additionally, seniors Niko Yatawara and Reyna Wan received first place for their first page News layout.

For their various high placements in the event, The Bull’s Eye took the second place title in the Newspaper Sweeps.

“As the new adviser, I did not have any expectations at all,” Connie Chen said. “I am pleased at how well they did.”

Award recipients were invited for the Digital State High School Journalism Media Contest on March 12, with Busteed placing fifth, Palaris and Kim placing seventh and Chu tenth.

alike.

Like last year, rather than having teachers taking classes to the theater to watch the presentations, participants will pre-record their speeches. This will allow teachers to stream the recordings directly from their classrooms or post the video links for their students to watch.

“I like [the event] virtual because I think that we could potentially meet a larger audience,” Galindo said. “In the event that a teacher doesn’t show it in their class, [students] have the ability to watch it at home.”

Despite her preference for the online format, Galindo said that feedback from the student body as well as the staff will ultimately determine whether or not the presentations remain virtual in the future.

Currently, the dean is collaborating with other GLCs and Inger Turner, in addition to wellness advisor Denise Mesdjian, to pick the different speakers for the event.

“Our students have amazing stories to tell,” Galindo said. “I love [hearing] each story and what the student has learned from it and how it can make a positive impact on others.”

With both events scheduled to take place sometime before spring break, the Wellness Center is currently focusing on the most effective ways to assist students in ending off the school year on a positive note.

4

Opinion

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

EYE editors OF THE

SMARTER plans to end the pandemic

- OPINION-

The school needs to be more specific when establishing their guidelines for internet security, since the current word-based website filter can often hinder students from accomplishing their necessary schoolwork.

I

n an age where the internet is accessible from almost anywhere, it’s become normalized for schools across the country to blacklist “non-educational” websites on their district wifi, which includes social media apps and platforms.

It is indisputable that these website blockers are a necessity for schools, especially with the amount of information circulating the internet that is inappropriate for a learning environment. However, there must be a balance between restricting students from harmful websites and providing them with access to educational resources.

Because there are too many websites for schools to manually filter, many schools, such as Diamond Bar High School, block them using a wordbased filter which is highly ineffective.

While the filter may hinder students from accessing social media websites and apps, such as Facebook, YouTube and Reddit under their school account, it also limits students’ learning capabilities in doing so.

Many apps are commonly used by students to communicate for educational and extracurricular purposes, such as Messenger or Facebook. Block-

ing these websites would effectively prevent students from communicating easily, which can become an obstacle in group projects, club settings and the like.

Equally as inefficient is the issue of banning specific websites while still allowing access to others with similar features. For instance, some websites, such as Quora, are banned, because they can be used to cheat on assignments, while other sites like Quizizz, which can easily be used for the same purpose, are still available.

For instance, in many of my English classes, we often read works of literature that contain trigger words, leading many students to use their own data to finish assignments. Of course, this introduces a variety of new obstacles to the classroom; many students might not have their own cellular data or even their own devices to access the internet, and they end up having to ask others to share their devices or share a wifi connection through a mobile hotspot.

Therefore, this system proves to be counterintuitive as nitpicking on certain sites— which can serve other purposes as well— does not stop students from finding other, similar sources and cheat-

ing off of them.

To address these issues, schools must establish more detailed parameters that prevent useful sites from being blocked. If they stay built around a system where keywords are what constitutes website bans, random sites that could be crucial to students’ learning would stay banned, such as a book for an English class that happened to be caught in the filter.

But aside from educational resources, there are potentially important websites that should not be banned. For instance, in the Katy Independent School District, several websites of organizations that assist the LGBTQ+ community ended up being restricted from students by word filters. This same filter blocked a suicide prevention hotline that was connected to one of the organizations due to it being flagged as a “trigger” word.

Evidently, blocking resources such as these from students can be extremely detrimental. Students who want to access these resources, upon seeing that they are blocked, may feel like they are shunned for trying to, and it would be beneficial for their safety and educational future to avoid this.

FROM THE BRAHMA PERSPECTIVE

“

Sometimes when we’re watching videos for English, they’ll be blocked on YouTube so we won’t be able to watch them.

PHILLIP MWATHI (9)

“ ”

I use Discord for some clubs, so I can’t access announcements and I end up missing meetings that I could have gone to.

“ ”

DANI DEL BARRIO (10)

It’s hard to get certain documents because the language will be more graphic because of what the subject is relating to.

NIKETT DALAL (11)

”

RACHEL LEE asst. OPINION editor

W

hile the COVID-19 pandemic has felt like an eternity, the era of masks and social distancing may soon come to an end in certain states.

Seeing recent increases in vaccinations and a sharp decrease in positive COVID-19 cases, California plans to lift indoor mask requirements in some public settings by Mar. 12. However, this is not the first time Americans have impulsively loosened restrictions in response to sudden declines in positive cases.

Although lifted restrictions are welcome news, previous failures to maintain low cases should serve as warnings; though the finish line may be approaching, there is no need to disregard all caution and set back all the advancements that have been made.

Recall that the first attempt to return to normalcy, at least for students, began with a return to in-person classes. During that three-month period of return, there were extreme spikes in positive tests, especially with the newer, more contagious Delta and Omicron variants.

While daily cases remained at an all-time low toward the end of 2021, the new variants caused daily cases to spike in January, reaching heights of over 200,000 positive tests per day.

In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has introduced the SMARTER initiative– an abbreviation for shots, masks, awareness, readiness, testing, education and Rx, or treatment,

‘Tis the season for slacking off

Niko yatawara editor-in-chief

I

t started with the tardies. As expected with any first or zero period class, some students would typically trickle in a few minutes after the bell. But, come second semester, what could initially be written off as casual lapses in time management among a few, soon turned into an eclectic chess board of empty desks. Within the span of a couple weeks, a whopping total of three of my classmates could be seen in their seats at the toll of the bell.

This peculiar aura manifested itself in other ways. It was during my second period English class specifically, that I first became aware of the impending gloom that had infiltrated a once amicable atmosphere.

Looking around the classroom, I realized that the familiar sparkle

in seniors’ eyes, incited by the freedom that had come with their final year of high school, was gone. In its place were mere shells of the diligent, eager Brahmas from the fall semester—all of them zombified.

In fact, it was this apparent dullness in my once lively peers that conjured warning signals in my mind. This lack of morale could only be attributed to one thing: the dreaded senioritis.

Previously believed to be a myth concocted by last year’s seniors, the virus is known to cause a variety of symptoms: sloth, tardiness, missing assignments, among other things. Late to become conscious of its severity among Diamond Bar High School’s seniors, I was quick to take precautionary action.

But it was far too late for most of my peers. Quietly, I observed as test curves increased drastically to accompany decreasing average scores. I even began to ponder the point in taking tests at all, considering their generosity. Teachers’ late bin baskets filled at first, only to eventually dry out completely as overdue assignments turned into missing ones. At this point, it was all too clear: the senioritis bug had spread from beneath our noses and its effects were snowballing at full

speed.

While I have taken it upon myself to properly equip myself in light of this epidemic, I know that it’s only a matter of time before I, too, fall victim to the wrath of senioritis. Already I’ve noticed small signs of infection: a sudden inclination to spend copious amounts of time on social media, and the red squares indicating missing assign-

ments that are now commonplace in my gradebook—the color slowly becoming soothing to me in some twisted way.

Not to mention, my sleep patterns have grown increasingly inconsistent, with random and involuntary naps consuming time that should be spent studying. And my attendance habits aren’t much better—mornings are an uphill battle

which hopes to move the state into an endemic phase with increased emphasis on implementing effective preventative measures against COVID-19.

The program’s entirety embodies the idea that, while the pandemic may be receding into the background, Californians must continue to stay cautious to maintain low case numbers.

The SMARTER plan hopes to combat future outbreaks by keeping up with current vaccination and testing practices. Newer practices, such as creating state stockpiles of ventilators and testing kits as well as increased wastewater monitoring for the virus remnants, have also been implemented.

However, while both the SMARTER plan and recent government actions have implied masks will no longer be required, Californians should still be encouraged to wear masks while COVID-19 precautions fade out.

Masks have already proven to be an effective measure against COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, mask mandates have shrunk COVID-19 case rates by about two points over five days.

Thus, while case numbers and hospitalization rates may be diminishing, COVID-19 is still a very present danger in day-to-day life and should be treated as such. Safety precautions should still be a concern a n d t h e health conscious b e h a v ior of the pandemic shouldn’t be cast aside.

SATIRICAL sluggishly

I almost always lose and, at this point, I dread the day my roster becomes so cluttered with tardies and absences that I’m incapable of graduating— just one of many names lost to the virus.

While I remain determined in my attempts to hinder the virus’ development, I’m aware of the reality of my situation–it won’t be long now.

MK PALARIS

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

Opinion 5

this harsh reality, skills like the near-imAdditionally, training at a young age possible quad, which strain athletes’ growgives athletes the largest window of time to ing bones, have only become an expectation perfect and showcase their sport, especially for younger figure skaters. while they are in peak shape considering Some argue that an age cap would be the agility and flexibility of their young detrimental for the careers of athletes who bodies. are in their prime, when the opposite is acEven if these younger athletes were to tually true. Once these athletes hit puberty, suffer injuries, their bodies would recover their once-thriving careers are cut short faster than older athletes, adding to their and, in turn, they are replaced by younger, competitive longevity. This, in turn, gives Jianlan busteed Ethan ro more agile skaters. younger athletes an extended athletic caAsst. opinon editor staff writer A minimum age requirement would leave reer and more opportunities to compete in a pool of older athletes, allowing athletes to the Olympics. rowds cheer while compete beyond just their teenage years. ith rising conFor example, swim legend Michael the young OlympiAnd with the slim, teenage body no longer cerns about Phelps began his Olympic career at 15 an cracks a broad the gold standard, other issues like eating the mental and years-old and though he returned home smile attheir first gold. However, behind disorders would become less commonplace, physical capabilities of young Olympians, from Sydney empty handed in 2000, he won the triumphant grin of this promising talcreating a healthier atmosphere for those both retired athletes and onlookers have six gold medals four years later in Athens. ent, there is a child inexperienced in life competing in these sports. called for a minimum age requirement to This early win sparked what would become outside the stadium.

Spectators aren’t the only ones calling compete in the games. one of the greatest Olympic careers in hisWhen surrounded by coaching staff with for an age cap. Olympic figure skater Karen However, considering the sheer amount tory. ‘win at all costs’ mindsets, young OlympiChen supported the requirement, recalling of time and effort these young athletes put Additionally, the success of young risans are especially suscephow she would often mindinto their training, adding a ing stars such as Chloe Kim, tible to being pushed past lessly follow her coaches’ minimum age requirement who won Olympic gold at 17 “...the pressure young “..adding a minimum their limits. Though not a every word when it came to to the Olympics would only years-old and Nathan Chen, complete solution, impleregulating her diet and trainprove counterintuitive to who made his Olympic debut athletes feel is much age requirement to the menting a minimum age reing—something she wouldn’t both the athlete and their at the age 18, further prove greater than their older Olympics would only quirement for the Olympics do now, as she is more aware respective country’s sucthat age should not be a depeers, who have had prove counterintuitive would be beneficial to the of her own limitations. cess in the games. fining factor to compete in more time to adjust...” to...success.” mental health of athletes.

As young Olympians cry The main reason why the Olympics.

Competing in events as out for help, we need to ask athletes start competing in Moreover, considering prestigious as the Olympics ourselves if it is really worth the Olympic Games at such that most countries particis an inevitable cause of stress. However, prioritizing gold over the well-being of the a young age is so that they can showcase ipate in the Olympics in hopes of winning the pressure young athletes feel is much person wearing it. It’s time to stop choking their athleticism while their bodies are in the most medals and earning internationgreater than their older peers’, who have our young Olympians with the weight of apt condition to handle the strenuous trainal recognition for their athletes, all talent had more time to adjust to the demands of medals around their neck and start giving ing that comes with international represenshould be represented, no matter their such a lifestyle. Such is the case of Russian them some room to breathe. tation. age. Especially for smaller countries with figure skater Kamila Valieva, who, before less opportunities to boost representation, her doping scandal, was a favored gold adding a minimum age requirement would medalist. However, immense pressure and only harm their potential for recognition. expectation from both her coach and the Although supporters of an Olympic age world, led the 15-year-old to underperform, requirement may say that younger athletes stepping off the rink in tears. have a weaker mentality and are more susWith a minimum age requirement, Olymceptible to developmental harm, age repians would compete with a more matured quirements would do very little to aid this mentality, potentially deterring them from cause, since they already compete in similar taking unnecessary risks. Without such atmospheres such as world championships. requirements, Valieva now lives with the Instead of having an age requirement, the consequences.

Olympic committee should be more underBut vulnerability to abuse and exploitastanding of their potential vulnerability to tion isn’t the only shocking aspect in the such issues. realm of young Olympians. Many young As concerning as it may sound to have athletes, especially in gymnastics and figyounger talent representing a country in ure skating—sports that favor the agility of the Olympics, these world class athletes prepubescent bodies—are more susceptible deserve all of the recognition that they to developing life-altering injuries. Despite Photo Courtesy of YAKIMA HERALD/REPUBLIC trained all day and night to receive.

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PRO

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Taking the road less travelled A wannabe Wolf

Reyna wan Editor-in-chief

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CON

rom the time you enter the American education system, you are told that there’s only one path to success: get into a fouryear university, graduate with a degree in a stable field and either get an immediate job offer or apply for higher education.

What this system has failed to acknowledge are the various other paths a student can take. Whether that’s entering a vocational school or attending a junior college, these options are not discussed until you’re well into high school, if ever. But, by that time, you’ve already spent a decade of your life spreading yourself thin to attain that dream of a college education.

As someone who’s graduating high school in two months, I’ve had a singular mindset since I was 10 years-old: to get into a top 50 university under a stable major, pref-

erably within the fields of STEM. As I grew older, finding that I valued my creativity over my lack of mathematical skills, I felt a loss of identity, grasping at straws that were never mine. When I did pursue my more creative passions, my peers never thought that I was chasing after a career I could see myself in the long-run, outside of the stereotypical college education.

Even though I ended up choosing the traditional route, s o m e thing I decided on my own, I can’t help but wonder, what if ? What if I decided to pursue my creative passions without a college degree? But, after working towards the same goal since middle school, any thought of those options was immediately pushed away.

And, what else could you expect? Any students who entertain the idea of venturing out of the established norms have limited means of doing so—mentally and physically. Seniors who want to attend a junior college or immediately enter the workforce may feel pressure from their peers to do otherwise, despite both being equally legitimate options.

At Diamond Bar High School,

there are various ROP classes, such as Forensics through Chemistry and Social Media Marketing, that can introduce students to a possible career path and groups them with like-minded peers to further explore their passions. While these programs serve as an introduction to different fields, they lack any sort of directive into these fields— additions that are entirely possible.

Take Germany’s VET system for example—a vocational education and training program that combines practical training with classroom instruction to push its participants directly into Germany’s workforce.

While a much smaller country than the U.S., such a program can still be implemented in the States on a much smaller scale, especially considering the less than five percent of young Americans currently training as apprentices, according to World Education News.

For a country that preaches its status as one of freedom and opportunities, there’s too many barriers for students to truly embody these values. To truly move into the 21st century, they should push a new narrative—one that is the antithesis of our current social construct.

of Wall Street

Cartoon Courtesy of CATHERINE HAN

6

The Bull’s Eye

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March 16, 2022

REDUCING CARBON CONSUMPTION In a world that revolves around convenience, we typically reach for whatever produce we see first at the supermarket, giving little to no thought as to where it came from. While food may seem to almost appear before us in privileged areas like the U.S., the journey it takes to get to your plate is not so simple, and more often than not, detrimental to the environment.

Even if you can't make it to a local market , a quick Google search can tell you what produce is in season. Currently, apples, bananas, avocados and cabbage, among other produce options, should make it to the top of your grocery list..

Afterall, not only is it significantly cheaper to purchase in season goods as the transportation of off season produce increases costs, but also, in-season produce often tastes much fresher and are more nutritious in contrast to their out of season counterparts.

To counteract the prevailing issues within the produce market, consider buying fruits and vegetables from local vendors . Often thought to be difficult especially in more suburban areas like Diamond Bar, small farms still exist even within less rural areas. For instance, Maggie's Strawberry Farm located in Chino in addition to Amy's Farm in Ontario both provide fresh, ethical produce and are within a reasonable distance.

Oftentimes, the usual produce available at your local grocer is grown on the other side of the world. Summer fruits, like blueberries, are primarily sourced from countries like Chile, where the Summer season takes place during the Western hemisphere's Winter. However, in order to keep these imported fruits and vegetables fresh, the produce is liberally sprayed with chemical pesticides and preservatives, which can negatively affect your health and local wildlife.

Purchasing produce out of season also yields harmful results for our atmosphere. These fruits and vegetables must make longer journeys in order to maintain the convenient grocery store experience for privileged regions. However, in doing so, this excessive transportation leads to an unnecessary spike in carbon dioxide emissions.

Story and design by Maia Pak

KICKFLIPS THROUGH CAMPUS MK PALARIS asst. A&E editor

Photo Courtesy of MEGAN LI USRA Awardee Megan Li with research advisor Karin Sandstrom (left) and Adam Burgasser (right), UC San Diego’s USRA representative.

Reinventing standards for women in STEM Vash Chen asst. Photo editor Winner of the USRA Scholarship Award, Diamond Bar High School alumna Megan Grace Li has become a shining role model for young girls in the scientific field.

Li, a class of 2018 graduate, is currently attending John Muir College of the University of California, San Diego.

It was due to her studies in physics with a specialization in astrophysics that Li felt inspired to pursue the Thomas R. McGetchin Memorial Scholarship Award, ultimately securing its $5,000 reward.

Applicants were graded on their solving problems relating to aerospace engineering, space science research and exploration in addition to demonstrating leadership and promoting diversity in science and engineering.

“When I won this award, I realized I was on track to becoming a successful astronomer and I knew that the goal of getting a Ph.D. in astronomy was within reach,” Li

said. “I had to push myself a little bit harder to actually win the award.”

One of the major factors to Li’s success was the start of her non-profit, Big Sister STEM, in May of 2020which focuses on promoting and developing a supportive community for young women in STEM Li’s goal was to help connect young girls to women STEM mentors— something she lacked growing up.

“The main goal of Big Sister STEM is not to convince all of our mentees that they should pursue STEM careers but to give them tangible evidence that girls like them can have STEM careers,” she said.

The non-profit does bi-monthly meetings where young girls can speak to and learn from experienced women in STEM. In January 2021, Big Sister STEM invited guest speaker Linda Crans, an expert in cancer research and microbiology.

Last December, the non-profit invited guest speaker Kelly Flanders, a marine biologist.

With Li’s successful non-profit, all she needed was recognition from renowned scientists in her

field to be fully indoctrinated as a scientist. Luckily, one of her main supporters was her professor and long-time friend, UCSD mathematics professor Angela J. Yu. “She [Professor Yu] really inspired me to pursue being a woman in physics. She often talked about her experience in physics both in undergrad and grad school,” Li said.

Li intends to continue her studies in astrophysics at UCLA’s planetarium science Ph.D. program as well as UCSD’s new doctoral program of astrology.

Li would then be the first individual to graduate with two astronomy degrees from UCSD. The alumna also hopes to dedicate her last days as an undergrad to expanding her organization to reach and service more girls.

“I want to find various people at different universities to run Big Sister STEM so that I can continue to be a director while there are people running it in smaller groups,” she said. “We give them what many of us didn’t have growing up--confidence and proof that they can have the future they want.”

Ramps and handrails aren’t the only obstacles that the students of the Diamond Bar High School skateboarding club face—members must also manage the “no skating rule” on campus.

The club was initially started as a shared interest among s e n i o r Gavin Han a n d his friends, with Han taking the initiative to create a full-fledged skateboarding club during the 2020-21 school year.

“We skated every day back in quarantine, and it just started as a common hobby between friends,” Han said. “Diamond Bar has never seen [a club] like that before, so we gave it a shot.”

It wasn’t until last semester that the group became recognized as an official club by DBHS, as hands-on activities couldn’t take place during quarantine.

Through paperwork and compromises with the school district, Han got the club set in motion.

“Dr. Jones used to skate, and he really liked our idea,” Han said. “We had fundraisers and we wanted to build skate rails and boxes in school, but it didn’t get passed [in] the district.”

The club tried to provide numerous compromises, but safety concerns at the district prevailed.

They even tried to work with

other school organizations, like the woodwork club, though it wasn’t approved as they were concerned with the skateboarding club’s safety.

“We tried to propose the idea that we can be allowed to skate on campus if everyone wears a helmet, but still, it didn’t get passed,” Han said. “[Another] proposal was to have one designated area to skate. We could work with woodwork to build ramps, but [the district] didn’t let that happen.”

However, being prohibited to do activities on school grounds didn’t deter club members from having fun. T h e skateboarding club meets up every Friday during lunch in English teache r Cage Morgan’s class, where skate culture is discussed, skating montages are shown, and skate activities are taught. “ M r .

Morgan, our a dv i s o r, has a deck chilling in his room, a n d we can use it anytime,” Han said. “He also has a balance board and we can do all sorts of skateboard activities in his room.”

Whenever the skaters feel like hanging out and practicing their skill—usually in the form of regular skate activities—the club meets up after school or during the weekends to practice their activities elsewhere around the Diamond Bar area.

Skate ON P. 12

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

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Sushi Showdown An expensive commodity, sushi enthusiasts can relate to that frustrating feeling of wasting money on bad-quality fish. In search of authentic and high-quality Japanese sushi, two Bull’s Eye staffers visited four restaurants, rating them on a five star scale.

Photo Courtesy of HENRY YU Senior turned entrepreneur Henry Yu is examining his newest batch of shoes, which curates and resells through his online shop, HenryKicks.

From online shares to perfect pairs steve qu news editor Accumulating a higher profit each year, Diamond Bar High School senior Henry Yu turned his hobby of selling old shoes into a successful business that has sold hundreds of pairs.

Over the last two years, Yu has grown his Instagram account, @ kinghenrykicks, to almost 5,000 followers. With 500 positive references on resale websites like StockX, GOAT, and Grailed, he’s established a strong and stable clientele—one that includes many DBHS students.

His newest products include the Nike SB Dunk Low StrangeLove Skateboards vvand a pair of Dunk Low Court Purple. He mostly sells brand new pairs but occasionally sells used ones as well, with merchandise typically coming from other sneaker resellers, retail stores or any available outlets.

“My target audience are my Instagram followers, people I meet and vvsome students as well,” Yu said. “I market by going to sneaker events and just every time someone brings up sneakers I tend to introduce myself.”

Since a bigger business entails more devotion, he had to set up stricter shippig and refund poli-

ciesto better manage both his business and schoolwork.

Aside from the effects on his personal life, the high-demand, low-supply market of limited sneakers produces a market of fakes that are often the biggest issues for sellers and buyers alike—a matter that Yu has had to deal with from time to time.

However, his experience in the business helps him to identify counterfeits by packaging, sticker placement and materials.

“Shoes have always been a passion of mine and being able to earn money having fun has been a dream come true” Yu said. “I hope to continue by opening up a store.”

Providing opportunities by means of engineering ethan ro staff writer Following their victory in the NASA TechRise Student Challenge earlier this year, six Diamond Bar High School students will be taking their engineering prowess to another level, hoping to improve the lives of the disabled with their designs.

Alongside 37 other teams across the United States, the team of six Diamond Bar’s winners included juniors Jeffrey Gong and William Li. Their design proposed the idea of orbital renewable bio-spheres that could improve the sustainability of space travel.

“On the day that the results came out, we felt really happy about our win since we did not know what to expect,” electrics and physics contributor Gong said via Instagram.

“We did not know how many other teams were competing and how

competitive our proposal was, so we were really ecstatic about the win.”

Regularly meeting with engineers and other experts from NASA and Future Engineers, the team is in the prototyping phase of their experiment, intending to have their full experiment ready for the test flight in early 2023.

“In between these meetings, we are diligently researching various things such as materials that we can test in our experiment, various electronics and sensors that we have to use, as well as looking into coding,” Gong said.

Gong and fellow team members Li , Jason Kim and Brian Hsu are currently participating in a separate engineering competition in hopes of improving the worklife of people with disabilities. The transition between the Techrise competition and the team’s second endeavor, the SourceAmerica IDEATE Competition, came with ease.

Photo Courtesy of JEFFREY GONG Brian Hsu explaining the functions of device to a employees at VIP, their partner company.

“Techrise was pretty similar [to the SourceAmerica Competition] as they were both real world engineering [contests], rather than a school thing,” Li said via Instagram. “We used similar strategies of the engineering design process in both, which helped a lot.”

The objective of this competition is to create assistive technologies that devise more inclusive and improved working opportunities for people with disabilities. Submissions must include a paper, digital model, animation, prototype, 3D CAD file or code and video of the invention.

The Diamond Bar team, it meant created a label remover and applicator for the Vocational Improvement Program (VIP) in Rancho Cucamonga after noticing how workers were struggling with efficiently placing labels on candy containers.

After recording results and receiving feedback from the workers and employees, the team created their final two-part prototype.

“The first part was a label remover that detached labels from the roll of labels, which was difficult due to limited dexterity,” Li said. “The second part was the label applicator, which when the [candy container] is secured, at the push of a button, the label can be rolled [onto] the container automatically.”

After a high placement in the Techrise Challenge and a top-five victory in the SourceAmerica Competition, the team is eager to compete in such endeavors in the future for the unique opportunities and learning experiences that they possess.

Kyala sushi and Japanese grill One of Diamond Bar’s oldest sushi restaurants, Kyala takes after traditional Japanese culture in both their food and decoration. The quality food and service made up for its more humble appearance, and as soon as I walked in, I was welcomed by both the hospitable staff and the promising smell of fresh fish.

Although it took a while for my Spider Roll ($13.00) and Shrimp Tempura Roll ($12.00) to arrive, they were well-worth the wait. Both rolls were of the highest quality rice, evidenced by their authentic vinegar flavor and fresh-tasting ingredients. Compared to other tempera rolls I’ve tried, Kyala’s is one of the best, with tender tempura and crisp cucumbers that burst with flavor. The Spider Roll, though a common menu item in sushi bars, had its own unique, smoky taste. Inside, the salty deep-fried soft-shell crab had a satisfying crunch that filled me up yet left me wanting more all the same.

With unique textures and fresh flavors I will definitely be coming back at the call of my next sushi craving.

ojiya sushi and dining Known for its long lines and lengthy wait times, Ojiya, located in Chino, definitely did not live up to the hype. I waited for an hour before getting seated, the dim lighting and cramped environment adding on to the claustrophobic vibe of the establishment.

When we got seated, I ordered the soft shell crab appetizer ($11.80) with the Nigiri Sushi Regular ($21.95.) The Nigiri included raw salmon, tuna, yellowtail, shrimp, tamago and four pieces of California rolls.

The food arrived quickly after the long wait, and when I tried the soft shell crab, I gagged. The taste was so overwhelmingly fishy that I couldn’t even finish the dish, so I immediately moved on to the nigiri.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t any less of a dissapointment. Combined with the gooey texture of the tamago sushi and the unfresh taste of the fish, this nigiri dish is probably one of the worst assortments I have ever tried.

The only saving grace of the meal was the small appetizer of salad that cleansed my palette, but it’s disappointing that the main dish wasn’t anywhere near as satisfying. With its long lines and less-than-mediocre sushi, I’ll opt to eat at another restaurant in the future.

kopan sushi and ramen Located in a small corner in Rowland Heights, Kopan Ramen has a selection of their classic Japanese sushi assortment with a pick of different ramens that met my high expectations.

I decided to give a go at some individual sashimi: salmon ($5.75), tuna ($5.95), yellowtail ($6.75), scallops ($6.95) and halibut ($6.95).

I was astonished when I tried each individual sushi. The fresh, quality flavor of the fish immediately stood out. The sweet, sticky Japanese rice with a hint of wasabi brought the flavor of the entire dish together. My favorite flavors in particular were the raw shrimp and salmon due to its raw, tender flavor. However, my only complaint would be the fact that there was way too much wasabi in the scallop sashimi that overpowered the fresh scallop taste.

Overall, due to the price and taste of these dishes, Kopan Ramen definitely warrants a return.

story by Taylor Joe and Jianlan Busteed design by Natasha Chang FOR MORE, CHECK OUT DBBULLSEYE.COM!

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story & design by Natasha Chang For more, check out dbbullseye.com!

In a society dominated by the patriarchy, women have had to tirelessly advocate to allow their present day successors to enjoy the essential rights they have today. As a tribute to their valorant efforts, here are some of the influential women of American history that fought to enjoy the same privileges as men in a male-dominated society.

M

8

a

Tharp e ri

Credited with the first map of the Atlantic floor, scientist Marie Tharp’s revolutionary career included trailblazing geological theories and cartography that changed the course of modern geology.

Tharp was introduced early on to field work, which was a largely male-dominated field. Due to WWII, however, precedents of suitable jobs for women were met with uncertainty—an opportunity which Tharp took full advantage of. Despite proposing many scientific profiles, including the idea of the existence of a rift valley within the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, research papers she was involved in did not accredit her. However, Tharp’s cartographic accomplishments cannot be denied. Her work paved a new path for women of her generation, securing a precedent and place for women in science.

Athletically adept from a young age, tennis player gender and race barriers that attempted to hinder her

n

Althea Gibson fought and thrived against critics of her

lthea Gib A so

success. While there were no racially motivated rules in the top-flight circuit, players were required to accumulate points prior to being allowed to compete in the US Open. These points were earned at tournaments sanctioned at white-only tennis clubs, which Gibson was not allowed to enter. With the help of tennis icon Alice Marble, Gibson was given an opportunity around these rules, which garnered her a victory that eventually led to her career peak–winning three out of four grand slams in the span of two years.

Radically ahead of her time, activist Angela Davis’ direct approach towards issues in America’s legal system and support of one

the Communist party has earned her both controversy and praise as

of the biggest names of the prison abolition movement. Born in Birmingham,

Alabama, Davis participated briefly in the Civil Rights Movement. After being fired for her political affiliations from the University of California, Los Angeles, Davis found purpose in the Soledad Brothers case. Inspired by the case in which three Black inmates at Soledad Prison were charged with the murder of a White prison guard, Davis joined the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee in support of the Black inmates. Charged for her assistance in aiding the Soledad inmates to acquire a gun, Davis was placed in jail for 18 months. After her release, Davis returned to teaching and eventually published several works where she advocated for a variety of issues.

Davi a l e g s An

March 16, 2022

Arts and Entertainment

The Bull’s Eye

9

Restricting the bounds of artistic expression

W

ith the various art styles that people choose to identify with, it can be hard to judge works of art objectively. To simplify this process, the College Board chooses to limit the scope in which students can express themselves, inadvertently invalidating the experience for some.

The AP Art Exam requires the submission of a portfolio of 15 works, with each relating to a personal theme chosen by the student. Like other AP exams, submissions are graded on a scale from one to five—a scoring system many have deemed far too simple for a subject as complex as art.

“To be honest, this is my biggest gripe with the course. I am not saying that I deserve a five at all; I can admit that my art is flawed and my work for this class has definite room for improvement,” an anonymous student said. “However, while there is definitely some objectivity with the skill of an artist, I feel that art is an extremely subjective concept, and assigning a set numerical value to it is extremely unproductive.”

AP Art student junior Tiffany Liu added that the College Board does not give students any feedback or criticism along with their scores.

This issue has been brought up with other exams, but it is most prevalent with the AP Art Exam due to the nature of the submission.

“The system is awful to be honest. I hate that all my hard work is being reduced to a number,” Liu said.

Despite its simplicity, others feel the rating system has helped them improve in their artistic journey.

“Though this may be an unpopular opinion and everyone’s experience with making a portfolio will vary, I think that bending the rules of the College Board to protect the ego of young artists is not an admissible idea,” junior Jodie Baek said.

However, the crux of the prob-

lem involves the course’s impact on artists who aim to pursue a career in fields that do not utilize realistic styles, such as animation and cartoons.

Due to its current guidelines, the College Board’s ratings are skewed in favor of those who have a more realistic artstyle. Even more so, the course description for AP Art and Design emphasizes general skills and fundamentals rather than mastery of a specific style—a confusing bias for a class catered to exploring creativity. Liu said that she believed all works should be judged with the fundamental skills of the artists as the highest priority.

“This bias of the College Board has made me feel more restricted,” the anonymous student said.

“To be honest, I completely feel like I’m not able to create my best work under these limitations.”

However, some students, like Baek, contested that the restriction can assist in improving the fundamental skills used regardless of the art style.

“Before taking AP Art I had an incredibly stylized art style and I found it difficult to adjust to the technically skilled standards of the College Board,” she said. “However, after I had time to adjust to it, I found that I had a greater understanding of anatomy and the jargon behind art through the constant pressure of self betterment in the class.”

Despite the possible benefits, more artists agree that portfolios should ultimately be graded on more than just the style used to draw. After all, they are intended to be a collection of personal pieces, not a test of realism.

“I don’t feel like the art I produce for AP art is the same as the art I produce for myself. I think if you showed a stranger the two of them side by side, they’d think it was two different people,” Liu said. “If I could, I’d ask for a refund on the AP test fee and drop back down to studio art.”

Story by Kyle Hong, Design by Mk Palaris

10 Arts and Entertainment

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

Music achieves new future ahead lyndon kaneko staff writer Despite the fierce competition and prestige at stake, juniors David Kwon and Kyle Yang have been accepted into the highly acclaimed National Youth Orchestra.

A free summer program for orchestral players ranging from ages 14 to 17, Kwon and Yang were accepted into NYO2 for their talents in oboe and violin, respectively.

The orchestra— created and hosted by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute— a c cepts 300 m u s i cians from across the nation each year, mak-

ing it highly competitive.

As a nationally recognized ensemble, NYO2 provides its musicians with opportunities not awarded to typical youth orchestras.

Along with the prestige that comes with playing under the NYO2 banner, young musicians accepted into the program have the chance to study under storied composers and musicians while also gaining experience playing abroad.

In 2022, NYO2 plans on performing in Carnegie Hall and the New World Center, playing Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 and Gershwin Piano Concerto in F Major.

“I can’t explain how happy I am.

For the past few months I’ve been working so hard to even get this opportunity. The pandemic was a great time for me to practice and I made sure to practice several hours a day,” Kwon said via Discord.

In order to be accepted, applicants were tasked with recording two orchestral excerpts and a three-minute solo piece of choice.

To prepare, Yang said he dedicated at least three hours to practice on weekdays and committing six to eight hours on weekends.

“I realized that I’ve never wanted anything more and that I would hate myself if I submitted anything other than my best.

I honestly went a little mad when

practicing for my audition tapes and it literally turned into an obsession,” he said.

“If I ever lost focus or got tired, I told myself to snap out of it and reminded myself of how much I wanted this.”

Yang’s passion for his instrument stems from a meaningful encounter he had with Joan Kwon—a music teacher at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts.

Kwon and her style of playing is credited as his main inspiration when it comes to playing violin.

“I always find myself in awe at the way she manages to express so much emotion playing her instrument,” Yang said.

“It’s what got me on my road down the violin and I try to emulate the spirit in which I see her play.”

Kwon, on the other hand, began playing the oboe on account of his dad liking the instrument.

His passion began to grow as he

participated in more music groups and ensembles, with the surrounding talent leaving a lasting impression on Kwon.

“I was really lucky to be in an environment where everyone was so dedicated to improving and I think that really motivated me to start trying harder.

The higher I went the more I wanted to improve and that’s where my passion began,” Kwon said.

While both plan on continuing their music careers in the future, Yang is considering either a minor or double major in music, and Kwon is aiming for a top music school to commit to as a music major.

“I can’t explain how amazing this is.

I’ve been working so hard for the past few months in order to just get this opportunity,” Kwon said.

“Even though I worked hard to get into NYO2, I’m not going to stop working hard until I reach my goal of becoming a fully fledged musician.”

Training for the

Stream it or skip it

eyes miles away taylor joe Asst. A&E Editor

jeremiah jung Asst. news Editor From Eternals to Wonder Woman 1984, generic superhero movies rock the box office every year, offering their audiences overused tropes masked behind flashy effects and costumes. By contrast, Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” provides a refreshing spin on the cliche vigilante and gives fans a deeper look into his true origins as a detective—leaving barely any room for traditional ‘superhero-ing.’

“The Batman’s” opening is reminiscent of a horror movie. Opera singers and shrill strings create a tense tone as the Riddler, the film’s primary villain, spies on the mayor of Gotham City, before a cut shows him inside the home.

This immediately set the movie apart for me. The last time I had been so intrigued by the opening of a superhero movie was when I first saw Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” which perfectly captured the essence of the late Heath Ledger’s Joker.

While the newest Batman installation does not reach that standard, the emotional high I felt from its opening comes closer than any recent superhero movie.

As is evident from simply reading the movie’s synopsis, “The Batman” is barely a superhero movie at all. There is no glory in Robert Pattinson’s interpretation. In stark contrast to Ben Affleck or Christian Bale’s Batmans, Pattinson depicts a young and unmolded, yet already desperate Bruce Wayne.

Even in combat, Batman does not appear behind the enemy or disappear from the room. Rather, we see the commonly stoic and composed hero running away from danger, emphasizing their novelty to a life of fighting crime.

Though superhero movies are rarely the most realistic of flicks, the newest Batman does not leave blatant plot holes or unexplained resolutions, and this—coupled with Pattinson’s humanizing portrayal of a superhero—is what makes it so riveting.

Another thing I appreciated was how the film begins in media res. Reeves spares us from seeing Thomas and Martha Wayne die in a lackluster, slow-motion scene for the tenth time, and, instead, places us in Bruce Wayne’s second year of fighting crime.

In fact, the story seems to span between where “Batman Begins” and other Batman films take place, serving as an origin story for those around the hero rather than the Dark Knight himself.

This pattern of character development continues throughout the movie, as well-known characters, such as Catwoman and the Penguin, are still coming into their personas.

Even Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which verges on the better side of cliche, suffered from this.

The film is placed in the perfect position: not too far forward or backward.

Letting the events play out through a course that is nowhere near linear lets one, well, not exactly sit back, but enjoy the seat-gripping ride all the way to the credits.

After matching motion with booming beats for two years, Diamond Bar High School senior Trenton Wu has been scouted across the world by SM Entertainment to be a trainee for the company.

One of the largest South Korean entertainment groups, SM Entertainment is known for assembling popular K-pop groups, such as Red Velvet, Girl’s Generation and EXO, and making them well-known worldwide.

In catering to an international audience, the company has been expanding beyond Korean trainees, scouting talent overseas to diversify their groups. Wu is one of them.

In his audition, Wu was asked to perform a freestyle dance for one minute of which he performed his favorite style: Hip Hop and Urban Dance.

“Since I’m not from Korea, they asked me to do [an] online audition,” Wu said. “ I really enjoyed how fun [the dancing] was.”

After taking an interest in Wu due to the dance videos posted on his personal Instagram, Yeonha Na—a manager at SM Entertainment—felt the senior had potential to be on set with the company.

“It wasn’t by chance, they reached out through social media to me. [Na] emailed me the whole entire application pro-

cess, so that I’d understand how to do it,” Wu said.“[I checked] her email [and] LinkedIn and it was under the proper management title for idols and trainees.”

Wu first became interested in dance when the fast-paced movements of idols and dancers caught his eye. To further his interest in this art, Wu joined the dance program at DBHS. “I was taking Kinesiology and found it boring, so, during my sophomore year, I decided to take dance,” Wu said.“[I] found it to be really fun and different from other exercises or sports.

It didn’t feel like I was exercising.”

Despite his success thus far, Wu expressed his insecurity in joining the world of dance so late, stating his age may impact him in the auditioning process.

“Most entertainment companies want to train trainees at a younger age,” Wu said. “My chances of becoming a trainee at my age are slim now.”

Even with his contentment with being scouted by a renowned company, Wu shared his concerns over the commitment of being a trainee.

“As much fun as being a K-Pop idol can be and it’s a dream to become one, I would have [to] pour so much energy into it for only a shot to succeed in the industry.

The industry is too competitive as K-pop keeps on growing,” he said.

Donda 2 erupts through shocking trouble ryan kung Asst. business manager Amidst his recent outpour of controversial Instagram posts, Ye has made his return just seven months after the release of his last album.

While the newest album’s predecessor, “Donda,’’ was made in honor of Ye’s mother, “Donda 2” takes on an entirely different tone. With production inspired from all spectrums of Ye’s discography. Fueled by his recent divorce from Kim Kardashian, The album has an overall eerie tone, reminiscent of Ye’s current headspace.

In the time of 16 songs, he provides listeners with a new take on heartbreak.

Something much darker than anything he has done before.

Controversially, Ye has made “Donda 2” an exclusive album for his stem player, excluding it from Spotify and other streaming platforms.

Created by Yeezy Tech, the stem player is an audio remix device that isolates various elements and reconstructs a song.

While the stem player itself is impressive, it comes with a price tag of $200, resorting fans to pirate the songs and upload them on YouTube and SoundCloud for free.

While some of its elements may sound awkward and poorly mixed, Ye has a tendency to revamp his songs through multiple listening sessions—leaving listeners in anticipation for what is to come.

Personally speaking, songs like “Broken Roads” and “Selfish” showed the most promise once the mixing and main verses were reworked.

Unsurprisingly, Ye collaborated with popular artists Travis Scott, Migos and Don Toliver yet again.

He even incorporated posthumous features from XXXTentacion, who passed away in 2018. It seems like Ye is trying to unite the rap industry to help him through this dark patch. A culmination of eclectic sound, Ye explores different aspects of his musical history by mixing more experimental tracks, like “Security” and “Get Lost.”

These songs feature an eerie production, incorporating distorted vocals and intimidating lyrics that are reminiscent of his “Yeezus” era.

Overall, the current status of “Donda 2” left something to be desired.

It is more so a collection of individual tracks rather than one cohesive album.

Unimpressed, I ultimately found myself yearning for the polished and mysterious feel that Ye brought with “Donda.”

March 16, 2022

Arts and Entertainment

The Bull’s Eye

11

DANCE STARTS SEASON STRONG ASHLEY PARK STAFF WRITER

edward kim business manager A massive door opens, revealing creative elements and a sight never seen before in any Souls’ genre games: an immersive, large open-world that is free for players to traverse through and conquer.

FromSoftware’s latest addition to the Souls series, Elden Ring, has risen to the top of its franchise, providing players with an entirely unique and fascinating experience.

The fantasy action RPG takes place in a desecrated place called “The Lands Between” with players being a part of a group of exiled people called the “Tarnished.”

They are tasked with journeying across “The Lands Between” to remove a mysterious curse and free the “Tarnished”--all in hopes of achieving the title of “Elden Lord.”

The game’s visuals—an initial concern with such a large open-world g ame—soared beyond all expecta-

tions. The game’s stunning graphics are meticulous, with even minor details, like shadows and reflections, being taken into account, creating an all-immersive experience. From mountains to swamps to caves and even dungeons, the constantly changing and action-packed environment helps to make the almost 100-hour playtime all the more enticing.

Similar to the Dark Souls’ trilogy, Elden Ring’s overall plot is difficult to interpret, especially for new players. Despite the excessive playthroughs and analysis needed to really digest the story, the game does have a certain charm; its variety of character builds, weapons, special skills and spells have players coming back to piece the game’s lore all together.

The gameplay itself uses the traditional combat sys t e m of ‘Dark Souls’

with a couple of new

mechanics to bring together the best of almost every Souls’ game into one magnificent fighting package. Each attack feels smooth and seamless, even compared to previous games.

This already flawless combat system is further amplified by the variety of weapons available to use.

Players can choose from swords, daggers, crossbows and even magic to fight their way through the massive world. Not to mention, the dual-wielding system, called “power-stancing,” opens up the game to more weapon combos, where players can use two weapons in both hands at the cost of less defense.

The game also introduces new interactive side quests, broadening the game’s potential audience.

They allow traditional completionists to feel satisfied racking up their achievements, while those who are less interested in the story and more interested in combat can still rush straight to the fighting.

Even if you have not touched a single game from the Souls’ genre, Elden Ring is a great starting point.

For those who previously complained about the initial difficulty of Souls games, FromSoftware allows players to sharpen their mechanics through easier bosses and enemies before challenging harder foes. While it doesn’t include a difficulty customizer, Elden Ring still manages to give players more leeway than before.

Following a two-year hiatus, Diamond Bar High School’s Dance Company has dominated the dance floor once more at the WCE Glendale Regional competition on Mar. 5.

Since July, the team has been preparing for the competition season, rehearsing at least two to three times a week. “[In addition to our scheduled rehearsals,] we typically have a rehearsal day the week before the competition, where the whole team is in full costume and we run through each dance in full detail inside of the school gym,” sophomore Derrick True said.

During the Mar. 5 event, a majority of the dance company’s five subdivisions— Medium co-ed Hip Hop All Male, Small Contemporary, Medium Contemporary and Large Contemporary—secured high placements, with the entire group placing third overall out of the top 20 high school dance teams in California.

“I felt confident in the amount of work we’ve put in because we’ve worked so hard at our practices,” senior co-captain Jenny Dunn said via Instagram. “It’s all muscle memory, and,

as the captain of the team, I’ve seen the team execute dances that are worthy of first place, so it was just a matter of trusting our bodies and staying focused.”

Whether it was their first time on stage for the company or their first in two years, the team was united in their eagerness to perform.

“I enjoy the rush I get when being on stage. I love sharing the floor with my teammates who share the same passion and drive to get first,” senior Brandon Giang said via Instagram. “I love entertaining the audience with my moves and facials in which we get feedback by the loud cheers.”

Following their Glendale competition, the company made minor changes to the dances according to the judges’ feedback and applied these critiques to the WCE Calabasas Regional on Mar. 12. With these small yet effective changes, the Brahmas placed first in four of the five subdivisions, and the company placed second overall at Grand Champions.

“As this year’s president I want all the dances to place 1st, however I [also] want the team to be proud of all the work they have put into their dances,” Giang said.

Projecting societal norms through cartoons Since their emergence in the early 1930s, the content of cartoons have distracted society from harsh reality through bright colors and animated voices. From projecting patriarchal family dynamics to promoting diversity, cartoons have managed to capture the beliefs and lifestyles of multiple generations.

C r e a t e d during a period in which segregation taunted the minds of American citizens, the Flintsones, as iconic as it was, subtly echoed the corrupt sentiment of its time. A pattern among most Western cartoons throughout history, the main characters of the Flintstones were White. Such a display of characters teaches its viewers—largely impressionable children—to suppress their ethnic roots and conform to a family lifestyle like those we see on the big screen, tainting self-image. Even more Story by Taylor Joe, Design by Mk Palaris

so, the Flintstones portrayed the classic nuclear family: Wilma stayed home to tend to household duties, while Fred worked to provide for her.

While earlier cartoons continued to promote whiteness and the bullet family ideal, later cartoons of the late 1990s to 2000s slowly began to increase their diversity, but this wasn’t always a positive shift.

The early integrations of people of color— and even some today— perpetrated racial assumptions that many communities continue to battle. This is best seen in the show “Total Drama Island” in which each character is molded to fit the stereotypes of their ethnicities. Leshawna gained her trademark for being sassy as a Black American woman, while Heather, representing Asian Americans, was depicted as more intelligent and ruthless—lightly teasing the “dragon lady trope” pinned to most Asian women in Western media.

Most of us are familiar with the innuendos made by the personality types we saw on the big screen. Growing up as a per-

son of color myself, it was discouraging to see my ethnic features being poked fun at, and I became more self conscious of who I was after seeing the way my ethnicity was being portrayed.

Though these early cartoons weren’t perfect when it came to portraying different ethnic groups, some still managed to instill positive expectations in what was to come in the future. For example, “The Jetsons,” erupting out of the 1960s Civil Right Movement, gave Americans a promise of bright futuristic technology. Although we still don’t have flying cars, jetpacks and robot maids, the light-hearted nature of the show offered an escape from the surrounding hardships and provided a sense of hope

CARTOONS ON PG. 12

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

12 Business

New skate club drops into DBHS Skate from p.6 Bar and really nice streets where you can skateboard. It doesn’t have to be on campus, we can always just go after school or on the weekends.”

Even though they can’t skate on school grounds, several club members express enthusiasm about the skating club. Such students include

junior Lorisa Sangco, who enjoys the shared bond she has with her peers.

“I enjoy the sense of community we create and everyone supporting each other without judgment,” Sangco said via Instagram. “We all have a common interest with skating and it’s really cool to hear people’s experiences and talent.”

Additionally, Han said that because of the negative stereotypes

associated with skaters, he didn’t expect much to come out of it, though he wishes to see progress soon. Despite the setbacks the club has faced so far, Han expresses hope toward the club’s future.

“I’m a senior right now so all I can do is watch where the club goes from now on,” Han said. “I just want to see more people skate. It’s a fun hobby to do and I just want to see it being more accepted.”

Animating social norms Cartoon from P. 11 for its audiences.

The reason cartoons are so effective in pushing out certain beliefs is because they aren’t actually real.

When we also see the way these cartoons try to promote the rules of behavior in society, we don’t bat an eye at the implications; instead, we are distracted by the care-free, satirical nature of these programs.

While past cartoons have harbored that exclusivity and conservatism,

newer animated shows have begun to embrace inclusivity in a positive way.

Recent cartoon films, such as Steven Universe and Craig of the Creek, are great examples of cartoons that have more inclusivity, and they bring attention to these minority communities. A primary way to continue to foster diversity more in media is working with filmmakers that are of different ethnicities. This way, there is diversity in daily life and on-screen.

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

Business

13

14 Sports

The Bull’s Eye

March 16, 2022

Staying on track with competitive goals Facing pandemic setbacks, the Brahma athletes were extremely successful at their first competition of the year.

Despite the lack of new recruits, the Diamond Bar High School’s track and field team started their season off on the right foot at their March 5 meet at Chino High School.

Head coach Malinalli Cooke says the team did well considering the fact that the pandemic has made it more challenging to find underclassmen willing to try out for the team.

Regardless of the team’s youth, the girls team took third place overall, ranking first in the 1600 meter sprint medley, and the boys team took second place in the 4x400, ranking first in the 1600 meter sprint medley as well.

Just as she predicted, both sprints teams did exceptionally well, placing fifth in the master records of all track and field teams since the beginning of DBHS. “I know o u r sprints team has always been strong, at least since I have been coaching.

I know that this year’s girls team is probably the best girls team we h ave had since I h av e

been here,” Cooke said. “We have some of our best athletes back from pre-pandemic times and a couple of new athletes that are pretty strong.”

However, what Cooke is concerned about is not the team’s sprint events; it is the obstacles that need to be overcome regarding field events.

“We do not have any field event coaches at the moment, and so it is very hard to recruit kids to do field when we do not have any coaches to actually coach them,” she said.

“Right now, our field events have been populated by the kids who have been on the team in the past, but we are not really getting a lot of fresh blood in there.”

Because of these hurdles, Cooke decided to focus on team-building more than anything this season.

“I feel like we are still in a building year. So, I think what I would really like to accomplish is just to have the kids do the best that they can do,” she said.

“Maybe get some people to get new personal records and potentially get our team out there and get recognized.”

Nonetheless, Cooke does know that the team has the ability to shine in the CIF Prelims as well as the League Prelims.

The team’s next event will be held at the Covina D i s trict Stadium, which is on March 19.

ing Union, International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency, the Court of Arbitration for Sports was requested to aid with the ruling.

However, CAS refused to suspend Valieva, on account of her status as a “protected person” under the World Anti-Doping Code, on the condition that no medal ceremony would take place should she place in the top three in any of her events. This decision, which concluded that, due to her age, Valieva may not have full control over what she voluntarily consumes, elicited uproar from competing countries and the public.

While it would be unfortunate if Valieva was forced to withdraw from her Olympic events, it would set a very dire but necessary warning for the athletic community about the consequences of using unfair and unsustainable means to get their athletes to medal. This sentiment is echoed in the opinions of many sport commentators, including Olympic champion and 2022 U.S. figure skating coach Adam Rippon’s Twitter statement that voiced his disappointment and anger towards the young Olympian’s doping ruling.

Though Valieva may not have had complete control over what drugs were administered into her body, this response from CAS has set an ominous precedent for fu-

ture athletes in similar conditions.

Due to this decision, athletes, especially younger individuals, are more susceptible to oppressive coaches that care more about accumulating accolades than the health of their athletes.

Not to mention, Valieva’s legal team’s concoction of a story that would allow her to continue competing, further showcases the problem that Russia has had in regards to doping and other tactics they have employed to skew competitions in their favor.

While it is heavily suspected that Tutberidze was responsible for Valieva’s failed drug test, this incident is far from Russia’s first Olympic scandal related to drug use. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, WADA reported more than 730 cancellations and declinations of drug tests by Russian athletes prior to the Olympic Games.

It was also reported that drug administrators and doping control officers were faced with threats of expulsion when attempting to carry out drug tests.

Protecting Valieva’s career and youth may have been the deciding factors, but this accommodation blatantly overlooks Russia’s history of drug use in sports. If anything, it’s only making it harder in the long run for the sports world in terms of fighting against the practice of doping.

Lauren Cheng ASST. News Editor

CLAIRE WU Junior Suraj Shah sprints forward to return a ball in the team’s home game against Claremont High School on Mar. 3.

Preparing further down the line By playing against several Division I schools in the preseason, the team hopes to improve their gameplay.

Maia Pak ASST. Feature Editor Intentionally outmatched by stellar teams during their preseason, the Diamond Bar High School boys tennis team is swinging into league strong, optimistic with their chances given the vast improvements they have already undergone.

Hoping to repeat as league champions, the athletes have been conditioning tirelessly these past couple of months, going up against teams in higher divisions than themselves. ​​“Our goal for this year’s preseason is leaned more towards learning than winning,” senior co-captain Han Lee said via Instagram.

“We can improve on small errors that occur during the game.”

Though the team is always looking to improve on basic skills, such as serves and returns, preseason is the time for implementing new tactics and increasing players’ overall game awareness.

“Now, we are working on developing what’s called ‘match toughness,’ which is mental toughness plus tennis intelligence,” coach Troy Wong said via email. “Match toughness is what separates us from similarly skilled opponents.”

This attitude of prioritizing growth can also be translated to the team’s frame of mind as they work on approaching each game individually, not focusing on previous errors and giving their all to the match at hand.

“I think the team did well on having confidence and not going into the game with a losing mindset,” junior Vishnu Siriam said. “We can definitely improve on our game as a whole as we were outmatched this game [against Claremont] on a skill level.”

So far, the team has participated in four preseason matches—the most recent being against Clare-

mont High School.

“Although we were unable to win [in the end], we were able to win six sets out of 18. The team did really well in never giving up until the very end,” Lee said. “Every set was played to the last point with the intent of winning.”

While DBHS is a Division 2 program, CHS is an Open Division program—a ranking higher than Division 1.

“We have no illusions of defeating Claremont. We schedule them in our preseason for our improvement,” Wong said.

The previous season ended with DBHS and their rivals, Walnut High School, tied for the first place in the Hacienda League. However, the preparations that are currently underway will prevent that situation from playing out again this season.

“For the league, we hope to dominate our opponents and hopefully be league champs once more like last year,” Lee said.

The Brahmas are next scheduled to play an away game against Wilson High School on March 17.

Fresh pitch to the season With a new roster and head coach this year, the boys strive to do well in league.

Jeremiah Jung ASST. News Editor While they finished last season with a 13-8 record and placed fourth in the Hacienda League, the Brahma boys baseball swung into this season at a slower pace than usual. Regardless, they remain positive and reach their goals of a league championship and CIF playoffs.

The new season brought in many first-time varsity players, as well as new head coach David Lopez, who had been an assistant coach to former head coach Jonathan Hurst for the past six years.

“We’re a little younger this year than last year,” Lopez said. “I did expect a little bit of a learning curve because of some of the changes that I’m making, and there has to be some growth.”

The team looks to strengthen their offense in upcoming games and throughout the rest of the season, particularly by focusing on batting during practices.

“Our hitting needs to improve in

order for us to have some more success,” Lopez said. “We are able to get our players on base, but we’ve struggled to get that big clutch hit that drives the runners in.”

Considering that the team consists of many newcomers, the boys are performing to the best of their ability, especially sophomore Jake Mestas as well as juniors Sean Gonzalez and Matthew Vargas that Lopez credits as stand-out players. “[Mestas] has been our leadoff hitter and shortstop and had a fantastic season,” Lopez said. “Matthew Vargas has really come on and done an amazing job offensively and defensively. Sean Gonzalez has been a great pitcher for us. All three of our wins, Sean was pitching.”

The Brahmas have a 3-7 record so far, reflecting a contrast from last year’s 7-3 start. Still, Lopez and the team strive to get past the struggles and return to winning more season games and hopefully qualifying for the CIF playoffs, which they were unable to make last year.

“Every day we work to get a little bit better and every day we’re working on yesterday’s mistakes,” Lopez said. “We don’t dwell on them too much, but we of course, we try to fix things that definitely could happen in the future.”

VASH CHEN Junior Max Buchanan pitches at a Murrieta Valley High School hitter on Mar. 11.

Controversy over a teenage Olympian’s medication use has spread internationally.

Natasha ChAng ASST. Feature Editor Amid this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, one of Russia’s expected golds became the talk of the ice-skating community following a doping scandal. It was announced that the 15-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva had tested positive for three different heart medications in a drug test prior to the Games, including one that is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Since 2018, Valieva has been under the guidance of Eteri Tutberidze—a coach infamously known in the figure skating community for her “one-and-done” Olympians.

Many of her world-class skaters, despite their immense talent, are forced into early retirement due to excess strain on serious injuries or eating disorders from Tutberidze’s despotic coaching.

Despite failing a drug test, however, the 15-year-old athlete was allowed to continue competing in the Olympics. Due to disagreements between the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, International Skat-

March 16, 2022

The Bull’s Eye

Sports 15

Smashing toward high hopes of redemption The Brahmas look to get back on track in the champion win-column.

Temporary solution for the MLB

F

ollowing 98 days of high tensions between the commissioner Rob Manfred’s office and the Major League Baseball Players Association, the MLB’s owner-imposed lockout comes to an end, with both sides arriving at a new collective bargaining agreement.

The lockout was first enacted by owners on Dec. 2 to expedite CBA negotiations, in which the player union and owners faced disagreement over concerns that compromised the regular season, with opening day being pushed back by two weeks.

Owners pushed for a playoff expansion, which would primarily benefit them through increased revenue, and prioritized the proposal of the largely player-opposed international draft.

One of the biggest goals of the players was a change in the compensation system, since players in the early stages of their career were previously guaranteed only the league minimum, despite how well their performances are. To put in perspective how unjust it was, you could be the best player in the league in the second year of your career, and you would earn just the league minimum.

In adjusting to the owners and players’ needs, the new five-year CBA—ratified by team owners with a 30-0 vote in favor—raises the league minimum by more than $100,000 and adds a bonus pool to boost the compensation for talented players who are underpaid relative to their performance.

Not only will there be a few rule changes effective starting in the 2023 season, but the postseason has also been expanded to 12 teams instead of the previous 10-team format.

However, not all issues have been solved; both sides will continue to talk about the international draft as the owners seek to establish such a draft in 2024, with the deadline being set to July 25.

The international draft has been long-discussed in the MLB, but the complexity behind it has prevented it from gaining any traction.

Part of the issue is players stating their concerns on how it harms the overseas countries since the players are signed professionally at a young age as low as 16. The majority of them that don’t actually have the chance to travel to the United States to play professionally are left helpless without an education or with no place to go—due to being unable to play back in high school or college as a “professional.”

As negotiations about the international draft continue between the MLB and MLBPA, it will be interesting to see how things play out.

Although it seems like the tensions are beginning to relax following the agreement, it is inevitable for conflict to arise once again. The middle class of the player union gained no benefits from the new CBA, as this current system solely rewards the young and veteran elite players.

marcus hsieh news Editor After suffering a devastating 13-8 defeat against Arcadia during the CIF Finals last year, the Diamond Bar High School badminton team flicked their way back to form this season.

The loss came hot off the heels of a dominating ten-season win streak. Last year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prevented a characteristically strong performance, splitting the team apart with a third of its members choosing not to participate.

“Last year, Arcadia was able to overlook it [COVID],” head coach Kemp Wells said. “Arcadia had their entire varsity team, and we were missing at least 4 to 5 players that would have probably been starters for us.”

This year, the Brahma badminton team started strong with an early win against Wilson High School, netting a 21-0 victory.

“We were able to beat the other school (Wilson High School) flawlessly, starting our season with a 1-0,” senior Aaron Sun said.

The team meets for in-person practice every day until 4:30 under the leadership of senior co-captains Ashley Huang, Kodi Lee and Codey Ma.

“All three of these players have won individual CIF championships in their career,” Wells said. “That’s how strong they are.”

Although the spring season has just begun, the Brahmas have already played in five games, including those against Wilson and Chino High School as well as a game in which the Brahmas played Redlands and Redlands East Valley simultaneously.

“I feel pretty confident that the team will do well. The two schools that may be a challenge are Arcadia High and Walnut High,” Sun said. “I hope that our team can win CIF champions again.”

Under Coach Wells’ guidance, players rotate through different events, with all members assigned to play in singles or doubles and optionally participating in mixed doubles as an additional event.

“Usually, when you have players this strong, it also comes with a kind of entitled attitude. We have some of the nicest, hardest working, most dedicated to the team players,” Wells said. “They are good ambassadors for the sport.

They really do wanna promote it.”

The DBHS badminton team will play in a round robin schedule every Tuesday and Thursday, rotating through each of its league opponents to determine placements.

“Our girls side of the lineup is unbelievably strong… it’s just amazingly talented,” Wells said.

“The only thing that’s beaten us the last two years has been COVID. We’ll make it to the championship for sure. I know how good we are.”

VASH CHEN Doubles players Leo Huang and Kevin Li matchup against Web High School.

Photo courtesy of BRAHMAS SOFTBALL

The softball team celebrates as freshman Natalie Kim hits her first home run.

Up to bat with a challenging schedule The girls are staying resilient through their struggles and are learning through losses.

Despite pitching in their best efforts, the Diamond Bar High School softball team has faced some challenges in starting the new season.

After suffering a discouraging loss of 4-0 to Don Lugo High School, the Lady Brahmas’ mentality was weakened, and they subsequently lost their next five games. It was only in their game against Sultana High School that they produced a victorious win of 8-0, putting the Brahmas in high spirits.

“We just need to work on getting better every day and every aspect [of softball]. Hitting, pitching, fielding— it all goes hand in hand,” head coach Kurt Davies said.

According to Davies, the issues brought forth stem from the schedule of schools the team is up against.

The Brahmas suffered a total of seven losses thus far, losing their next two games after the Sultana game.

“The caliber of teams we’re playing [is challenging],” Davies said.

“We’ve played four or five teams that are nationally ranked—we’re not to that level yet, but we’re planning

on being there eventually.”

But, even with these setbacks, Davies said the team is hoping that the difficulty of this beginning will be stepping stones to success against future teams.

“We’ve started off with a really tough schedule, but we’re hoping that the tough schedule will pay off in the long run,” Davies said.

According to Davies, the team is still relatively fresh in terms of experience, as the team consists of many freshmen and sophomores.

The team counts on these players to give it their all, and the team captains—seniors Sarah Ruhl, Tiffany Pope and Amanda Flores— are a source of inspiration to many.

“They not only lead by example, but they’re also great people that are great leaders for the team,” Davies said.

This season, the team is focusing their practice on their upcoming game against DBHS’ rival school, Walnut High School. Davies said that the Mustangs are the most exciting and eventful team to play against, so the Lady Brahmas are planning accordingly.

“Our number one goal is to beat Walnut everytime we play them.

And from there, it’s just to have the best season we can,” Davies said.

“If we can get better every day, we can make a run in the playoffs, and it’s always our goal to keep playing for as long as we can until May and hopefully into June.”

much experience as he can get on the field to develop his game.

Similarly, Vasquez was first introduced to playing soccer at around six years old. Following his brother’s footsteps, Vasquez started to play on the school soccer team in his freshman year as the right midfielder, and enjoyed learning from seeing others play.

Following the pandemic, Vasquez realized that he wanted to play soccer at a higher level and has been working towards that

ever since.

“I would say that my brother was pushing me because he wanted me to take it more seriously,” Vasquez said. “He didn’t take it seriously in high school and regretted it, so he wanted me to take it seriously.”

Despite committing to Fullerton College early, Vasquez has a better perspective in his plans for a future beyond Fullerton College.

“I would like to move to Spain and play for a lower team and work my way in,” Vasquez said.

mk palaris asst. a&e Editor

Teammates take on college soccer together Two Brahmas step into the collegiate athletics scene as a duo with similar aspirations for the future. claire wu ASST. photo EDITOR Diamond Bar High School seniors Thomas Gomez and David Vasquez’s commitment to their performance on the field has proved enough to score a goal into the Fullerton College soccer men’s team.

Having felt a strong connection the moment he started the sport, Gomez was first encouraged by his mother at the age of five to play soccer.

Throughout his soccer career as the striker on the DBHS team, the support of his parents and teammates were the driving force that inspired him to work towards improvement.

“I think my success stems from seeing my teammates succeed and strive to be better players,” Gomez said. “That really motivates me to work hard and put in the work necessary to play at a high level with them.”

For Gomez, the high of winning League and making CIF in his junior year was the most memorable moment of his soccer career.

Although his senior season didn’t go as well as the previous year, Gomez expressed gratitude toward the bonds that he made with his teammates in all four years of playing soccer.

“My coach’s belief in me and trust in me definitely helped me achieve the skill to play at the college level,” Gomez said. “It really helped me and made me confident in myself [to] play at a high level.”

At Fullerton College, Gomez is planning on prioritizing gaining as

Photo courtesy of THOMAS GOMEZ/DAVID VASQUEZ Seniors Thomas Gomez (left) and David Vasquez (right) are friends off the court, leading to their desire to play together.

The Bull’s Eye

SPORTS

Starting at a young age and now playing internationally, the senior plans to pursue badminton professionally.

Ashley Park Staff Writer With the time running short, senior Kodi Lee makes one final shot, smashing straight down the line to yet another victory.

Starting her badminton career at the age of seven, Lee was first introduced to the sport by watching her parents play in their free time.

After some time of playing with her parents, she started taking lessons at Global Badminton Academy—a training academy headed

by former Olympic medalist Tony Gunawan.

“I chose to continue the sport because I found true enjoyment and happiness through playing and the friendships I made through it,” Lee said.

Since then, Lee went from being a highly-ranked junior player to an international representee of Team USA. Most recently, her proudest achievement has been being a part of the first-place Women’s Team in the M&F Pan-Am Cup, which qualified them for the 2022 Uber Cup in Thailand—a team tournament in which USA competes against other countries around the world. However, getting gold was not an easy feat.

Made up of some of the best badminton players in the U.S.,Team USA dominated at this year’s M&F

Pan-Am Games, pulling through with a first place despite playing Canada in the finals—a team they have lost to several years in a row.

“Aside from winning, the atmosphere and group of people I was surrounded by made this competition unforgettable and by far one of my favorites,” Lee said.

Some of her feats include placing second at Adult Nationals and qualifying for the Junior International Trials since her U15 year.

Lee’s determination has led her to set high standards for herself, of-

tentimes making her feel as if she hit rock bottom through the downs.

However, her strong support team composed of teammates, coaches and family has always motivated Lee to keep going.

“As I have grown older, I have become more resilient and now know that minor setbacks are not the end of the world, it just means I need to get back up and push even harder,” Lee said.

Currently, Lee practices five to six times a week on court and goes to the gym for additional weight training three times a week.

As much as her mentality has

affected her past, Lee has learned self-reliance, self-control and determination from badminton, which has built her up to who she is today.

“Experiences from losing a match, to traveling overseas alone have broadened my perspectives and allowed me to grow and mature as an individual,” Lee said.

Besides skill and endurance, the one thing Lee anticipates improving on is control of her nerves. As she has just recently begun to compete at the adult level, Lee is not as accustomed to the nerves of the international stage.

“I 100% plan on continuing to compete in badminton in the future,” Lee said. “It has always been my dream to become a professional badminton athlete and go to the Olympics.”

Swinging toward new procedures Even with adjustments to practice, the team looks to continue league success.

Kyle Hong Staff Writer Photo courtesy of MATTHEW HSU Junior Kirsten Boyle swims the 100 yard breaststroke in a non-league meet.

Swim wins first meet by a small margin Despite lack of experience, the team received an early meet victory this season.

Lyndon Kaneko Staff Writer With their last competitive season taking place nearly a year ago, Diamond Bar High School’s swim team has found itself having to recover from an array of significant setbacks.

Practice began Feb. 14 with a tryout being held towards the end of the month. Anyone capable of swimming all four strokes—freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly—earned a spot on the team, with placement in varsity being relative to other swimmers.

The lax guidelines and barrier for entry are due to a mass exodus that the team experienced at the end of last season’s school year, with a majority of those seniors making up the team’s fastest swimmers.

This season, the team is led by head coach Melanie Gonzalez and senior co-captains Kai-Min Tsuei, Kate Li, Akash George and Charlie Lin. Gonzalez replaced former coaches Isabella Cheng and an assistant head coach, who were re-

moved earlier this year on account of their identities as non-DBHS teachers.

Along with the decreased staff population, members are returning to the sport after a prolonged break from swimming. The season found itself starting later than usual due to the pandemic, and last year’s season was also shortened because of COVID. “A lot of us haven’t swam in a long time, but we’re going to try and make up the time through even harder practice,” junior Joshua Jenkins said. “We’re going to be starting off slow and work on distance until we can swim short distances at fast speeds.”

The team began their season with a swim meet against Ayala last Thursday–claiming close victories in both varsity boys and girls. The final boys relay was won with the help of freshman Tyler Huey, sophomore Ethan Ro, senior Akash George and junior Joshua Jenkins, respectively.

They will have a home meet against Los Altos on Mar. 17 and compete at the Mt. Sac Winterfest Invitational over the weekend.

“I have high hopes for the team since everybody seems motivated to improve and get better. I’m not entirely sure how we’re going to do in meets but I bet we’ll do great,” Jenkins said.

Staying on par with expectations, Diamond Bar High School boys golf is stepping up to the tee with high hopes, despite changes to their customary seasons.

After girls golf completed their season in December, the initial tryouts for the team were held the same month, with their practice beginning in January.

However, due to the temporary closing of Diamond Bar Golf Course, they had to shift practices over to Mountain Meadows Golf Course as their primary training course.

On Mar. 8th, the team played

their first match at the Glendora High School Invitational, in which they placed eighth out of 38 teams.

The team was led by junior Henry Yang shooting three over par 75, freshman Samson Li’s 77 and senior David Cho’s 84. Coach Jason Tuck said that it was the strongest field they have seen in years and is

“We believe we are in a position to be one of the top teams [...], so our expectations are high.”

JASON TUCK

happy with the result.

“We have always been looking for areas of improvement, and in this event we could have been a little more accurate off the tee and hit more fairways,” Tuck said. “It is still early in the season and we still haven’t yet reached the mid season form. We have confidence

that the best is yet to come.”

Aside from their league game against Glendora, the team has also played three non-league matches, two against San Dimas High School and one against La Habra High School, winning all three.

Tuck said he thinks the team has a great mix of senior leadership and experience, with Henry Yang as the team captain and the co-captain undecided. While the team is considerably young, many of them are returners and talented underclassmen with competitive experience.

“We believe we are in a position to be one of the top teams in the league, so our expectations are high based on past experience,” Tuck said. “We also hope to make a great run in the postseason CIF and State competition both as a team and on the individual side.

We have the talent and experience to do great things this year.”

Honoring legendary Brahmas

VASH CHEN Class of 1992 Alumni Jared Janke (left) and Karl Thompson (right) are awarded “Rings of Honor” for baseball success.