November 2020

INSIDE THE ISSUE

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opinion 4

a&e 11

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NOVEMBER 11, 2020 VOLUME XXXVIV ISSUE III ONLINE AT DBBULLSEYE.COM

arts&entertainment

sports

Mail-in votes elect Joe Biden

SPOOKY DRIVE-THRU

President Trump has yet to concede presidency, seeks recount.

JOSH CHOu EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

KELSEY WU The Drive-Thru Spooktacular was hosted in the DBHS parking lot. in celebration of Halloween. Students stayed in their vehicles to practice social distancing and drove past decorated tents to receive candy that was passed out by staff members.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will become the 46th president of the United States after earning 290 electoral votes and 50.7 percent of the popular vote. The Associated Press called the race for Biden on Sunday after its projections showed that he would win Pennsylvania, whose 20 electoral votes put him over the 270-electoral vote threshold.

At press time, the Associated Press has not called the races in North Carolina, Georgia or Alaska.

The President himself has yet to concede this election and the Trump campaign has filed a variety of lawsuits in six states, all of which contest the ballot counting

methodology in some form. The cases in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia are only set to dispute a small percentage of ballots in comparison to Biden’s lead, with most of them only challenging the legitimacy of fewer than 100 votes for the entire state.

The sole exception is one lawsuit in Nevada concerning 3,000 ballots from out-of-state voters, which are unlikely to make a dent in Biden’s 22,000-vote lead. Recounts will be held in Wisconsin and Georgia.

On Sunday night, Biden and his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, made their first appearances as president-elect and vice-president-elect to supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden’s hometown. Harris will be the first female, Black and South Asian vice president in U.S. history.

This is the seventh time in the last eight presidential elections that the GOP has failed to secure

election on p.3

English learners return to class

Justice for WVUSD loses its momentum The organization has been disappointed with the response by the district.

stated that the district only investigated the teachers in the reported incidents, instead of reevaluating policies as they had hoped, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the district handled RACHEL LEE the situation in an Instagram post.

ASST. OPINION EDITOR “Other than the meeting, our personal accounts have been blocked by WVUSD’s InstaThis July, a group known as gram account, @walnutvalleyusd.

Justice for WVUSD penned a Overall, we found the communi32-page booklet and formal letter cation we have had so far with addressing instances of discrimWVUSD disappointing and disreination toward students in the spectful,” the group said in a statedistrict, catchment. ing the attention Attempts to “We found the of the entire reach the district communication we have district commufor a response nity. to Justice for had so far with WVUSD Following the WVUSD’s statedisappointing and release of the ment have gone disrespectful” statements, the unanswered.

JUSTICE FOR WVUSD group stalled After the activity for a Walnut Valley few months, Unified School eventually leaving the public eye.

District failed to respond Recently, however, they resurto their requests, the Diamond Bar faced with statements describing High School alumni who created their interactions with the district the group issued an appeal to the during their months of silence, and California Department of Educathe other actions they have taken tion. to promote their cause.

When asked for more details on In their statements, the members the appeal, the group declined to of Justice for WVUSD said they comment. were able to meet with Diane They also attempted to organize Perez, assistant superintendent a webinar in late July to provide of Human Resources for Walnut more information on the situation, Valley Unified School District, as but ended up cancelling it due to well as other district officials, to reasons that were not disclosed by discuss the original reforms the the group. group had pushed for. petition on p.2 However, the organization

sports 13

Photo courtesy of EILEEN ZU Senior pre-trial attorney Emily Chen presents her case to retired judge Ron Rose.

Mock Trial enters competitive season The team is pleased with its performance during the virtual event. anika yatawara news EDITOR After months of practice, Diamond Bar High School’s Mock Trial team participated in their first competition of the season last week.

The team has a rigorous practice schedule, meeting via Zoom after school Monday through Thursday for an hour and a half.

Although many clubs have faced issues surrounding technical difficulties, Mock Trial members say that they have experienced few to no issues since making the transi-

DBHS students participate in Saturday program held at South Pointe. steve qu ASST. NEWS EDITOR

tion.

“After school we’d all go on a Zoom call together to work on our questions and put together our case and it’s working pretty well since we use a lot of breakout rooms this year,” junior Eileen Zu said via text.

Overall, members of the group say that they felt the event went fairly well, though most still prefer in-person events to online ones.

“There were some weird audio issues because [the] internet is like that but it [the competition] was still pretty fun, although, it would’ve been more exciting if it were in-person,” Zu said. “But for the first run virtually it went relatively smoothly and it was very, very entertaining as well.”

Retired Los Angeles County

Fifty English language learners, including some from Diamond Bar High School, were welcomed back to classrooms through the Saturday English Language Learner Academy held at South Pointe Middle School.

Walnut Valley Unified School District put the program together to help English learning students improve their communication and comprehension skills beyond the regular Monday through Friday schedule. The adviser for the program is Walnut High School administrator Marta Dibell.

“It was voluntary. [They] are all English Learners, so they need more practice speaking and writing English,” DBHS English teacher Kemp Wells said via email. “The district reached out to all students that were in that category and asked them if they wanted to

mock trial on p.2

campus on p.3

2

NEWS

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

Math team consistently tops bracket placements The club secures an early lead against competing schools across the nation.

time limit, however.

Despite these and other changes, the Brahmas opened the season with a win, defeating Hononegah High from Illinois with a score of 39-26.

Reyna wan They then entered the first colopinion EDITOR laborative round, where students work in groups of two to answer the set of questions, securing a win on Oct 14 against Moravian After ending its most recent Academy, 40-28. season with a national rank of 17, The Brahmas steadily gained the Diamond Bar High School Math wins throughout the initial rounds Team is off to a strong start as they despite a close 27-20 finish the prelimagainst Rochelle inary rounds of “Our greatest strength Zell Jewish High the annual Math is that we are a team...

School on Oct. 21.

Madness competiit’s a very positive Entering the tion. ranked competiWith over 10,000 environment“ tion rounds on Oct participants DENA LORDI 28, the Brahmas from 700 schools, won a tight comMath Madness petition against is a national Glenbrook South team-based compet- itive event H i g h School of Illinis 37-34, in which students are given putting them at 30th in the nation.

30 minutes to answer six to eight Leading the Brahmas to their questions. first round victory are senior The top five scores from the team president Warrick He and team are added together, becoming sophomore Jason Kim, scoring a the final score that determines the perfect 8. Like many other extravictor of that round. curriculars and academic events, This year, matches are asynthis year’s competition is being chronous, meaning that teams do conducted over Zoom, which has not have to answer their questions been filled with technical issues. at the same time.

Advisers Jeff Brose and Dena They do have to abide by the

Photo courtesy of EMMA FU Team members work collaboratively on math problems on Zoom to prepare for upcoming Math Madness tournaments.

Lordi, however, see these complications as only a minor setback.

“We really benefit from having a lot of team members, so if we lost someone due to a technical problem, we have people to step up,” Lordi said via email.

Technological issues aside, one aspect that the team has struggled with-especially in the past two rounds of collaborative competition is maintaining effective communication under virtual circumstances.

“For team competitions, it’s harder since there’s a lot that can’t

the staff Editors-in-Chief

Anika Yatawara Marcus Hsieh, Steve Qu

Opinion Editors Asst. Opinion Editor

Camille McCurry, Reyna Wan Rachel Lee

Feature Editor Asst. Feature Editors

Emily Koh Somiya Jajieh, Kelsey Wu

A&E Editor Asst. News Editors

GLOBAL REPORT

Josh Chou, Camille McCurry

News Editor Asst. News Editors

Josh Chou Natasha Chang, Marykate Palaris

Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editors

Victoria Artale Deesha Pathak, Charles Tam

Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editors

Victoria Artale Tiffany Lee, Kelsey Wu Ryan Chan Connor Cho

Business Manager Asst. Business Manager Wed Editor Asst. Web Editor Staff Writers

GUATEMALAN LANDSLIDE CAUSES 100 DEATHS

THE MERCURY NEWS

School teacher Samuel Paty was killed after showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed depicted in popular French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Investigators suspect the murder was tied to a terrorist attack, marking the second terrorism-related incident since the opening of the ongoing trial on the newsroom massacre at Charlie Hebdo after releasing the aforementioned cartoons in 2015. This event stirred controversey as many believe such cartoons express freedom of speech.

Doug List CNN

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DW

SOUTH KOREA DRAFTS NEW ABORTION LEGISLATION

Kyle Hong, Lyndon Kaneko Edward Kim, Vera Wang

contact us

Heavy rains produced by Hurricane Eta hit Guatemala last week creating a massive mudslide. The incident is believed to have buried around 150 homes, resulting in around 100 deaths. The hurricane, now a tropical depression, has continued its path across Caribbean waters where it continues to generate casualties from Mexico to Panama. Analysts suspect the damage caused

by Eta will drive mnay to migrate to other countries.

FRENCH PROTESTESTERS TAKE TO STREETS FOLLOWING MURDER OF MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR

Reyna Wan Natasha Chang

Adviser

be communicated easily with just words,” team president, senior Warrick He, said.

Nevertheless, the team has remained consistent in its efforts as students prepare themselves just as they did in previous years.

Team officers have also dedicated themselves to promoting team spirit among new and old members.

“Our greatest strength is that we are a team,” Lordi said. “Our students enjoy working together; it’s a very positive environment.”

Though the season has just

The South Korean government recently announced plans to reconstruct abortion bans. The bill, if passed, will permit abortions within 14 weeks into a pregnancy or up to 24 weeks under certain conditions. Although the proposed law is a step forward for women’s reproductive rights in the country, it still falls short of total decriminalization. The Constituitonal Court has asked fora decision to be made by December 2020.

Strengths shown in courtroom proceedings Mock Trial from p. 1 Superior Court judge Ron Rose adjudicated the competition.

Rose had also judged for the team in their final competitions for the last two years.

Although the team ultimately lost the verdict, they are still confident in their performance as a whole.

“Our witnesses didn’t crumble under cross examination and both our opening and closing were much more developed. Our pretrial was also a lot better [and] our attorney could actually answer ques-

tions from the judge in a coherent manner,” Senior Aaron Hao said via Messenger.

In the following week, the group will go on to compete in the second round of the competition.

They are now focusing their attention on perfecting their prosecution and creating an overall more cohesive theme. “[I’m] looking forward to future rounds but it’s only going to get harder from here because teams improve after each round,” Zhu said. “[I’m] a little nervous but mostly excited for more competitions.”

started, Lordi has high hopes for the Math Team as well as its future competitions.

She plans to use this time to strengthen the team in terms of quality and representation.

“My hope is that more students from all sorts of backgrounds embrace the idea that challenge is good and fun,” Lordi said. “And that they can still be successful with a little teamwork and a lot of practice.”

The team’s next competition is going to be held on November 11.

Alumni petition for equity stalls Petition from p. 1 The statement on their social media released in late August also mentioned a Uniform Complaint Procedures Form to the district that they expected to receive a response to by September.

When prompted, they declined to reveal anything about the status of the response and only stated they were planning one final item for 2020.

“We are all currently transitioning out of a continuous role at Justice for WVUSD and will instead be moving into a yearly event role,” class of 2020 alumnus Matthew Lioe said on behalf of Justice for WVUSD in an email. “As we are all college students, it is not possible for us to continuously create educational content and do research at this time.”

Although this will hinder the group from taking any further action at the moment, they are planning to collaborate with the local community organization known as Mama Bears For Change, which aimes to promote activism on a broad range of issues, in order to continue to raise awareness about inequity in schools.

“We have partnered with Mama Bears For Change to facilitate change at both the local and state level to ensure student safety, while promoting staff and administration accountability and transparency,” they said in a social media post.

In their most recent statement, the group said they encourage students of the WVUSD district to speak out against community issues.

“Students deserve to feel empowered and represented in their communities and entitled to a voice. Do not be afraid to make waves--this is how we can finally make a change.”

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

NEWS

Homecoming court crowned USB alters the traditional event to follow social distancing guidelines. kyle hong Staff writer In an effort to make up for the absence of a physical Homecoming dance this September, USB organized the Homecoming court crowning late this October.

“I had just gotten out of a club meeting and sat down to play video games with my friends. My mom came into my room in the middle of a game, confused and saying there was someone at the door for me,” senior Zayn Siddique, who was chosen as homecoming king, said via Instagram. “I hadn’t really connected the dots until I saw Mrs. Van Horn at the door, and she told me I’d won.”

Voting was held online via Google Forms, as usual.

USB event coordinators drove to the winners’ homes to reward and crown them, after which they took pictures that were then posted on the USB Instagram to make the official announcement to the student body.

USB began planning this year’s Homecoming long ago, evidenced by the fact that the venue and theme had already been picked.

“At first we weren’t thinking about all the precautions we needed to take to approach [Homecoming],” Garcia said. “Once reality struck the planning slowed down because we realized it wouldn’t be that big of an event.”

Quarantine has proven to be a near-insurmountable obstacle for USB in this regard, causing event planning to be much harder than it’s been in the past.

“We couldn’t actually plan anything but rather give out information in the hopes of the student body taking the information into consideration,” said Gabriel Martinez, a USB event coordinator. “We have been unable to affiliate Diamond Bar USB with any planned activities due to district guidelines.”

To make up for a lack of Homecoming festivities, USB created a dinner event, suggesting that students who wanted to celebrate Homecoming go and eat with their friends at one of many suggested restaurants in lieu of a dance.

“We advertised it on the Diamond Bar USB Instagram and we also gave [students] a list of dine-in restaurants,” Martinez said. “Due to our district rules we were not

3

able to properly advertise it and all we were able to do is give students the information. Our planning process was very different this year because we weren’t able to have an actual homecoming” Martinez said that the organization has not made plans for future dances, however they may potentially look into hosting a virtual dance if students are interested.

“I think that this has been a little bit of a learning curve for all of USB and even planning. This was my last event that I will plan because my USB term will end,” Martinez said. “One thing we need to keep working on is engaging the student body to the best of our ability. I would say that when we get new USB members I am sure they will do a great job.”

It is unknown whether USB will be able to hold any in-person events, since decisions relating to in-person gatherings and events are up to the district.

DBHSORG Senior Zayn Siddique is crowned this year’s Homecoming King at his home.

Democrats secure win in 2020 U.S. election election from p.1 the popular vote, despite having won three of them. So far, Biden has flipped Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania from the 2016 presidential election and is on track to flip Georgia as well, which has voted red since 1992.

Democrats are very likely to hold on to their majority in the House of Representatives, but the Republican Party has gained a net total of five seats in the House so far, weakening the Democrats. However, the GOP lost a net total of one seat in the Senate, placing them at a 48, but are expected to win the Senate races for North Carolina and Alaska. Although this constitutes a loss for the Republican party, polls predicted that they would lose more seats than they have so far.

Control of the Senate will be determined by two runoff elections in Georgia; Democrats will need to win both to match the GOP’s predicted 50 seats. If they do, Harris would be able to cast the tie-breaking vote and the Democratic party will be able to end the long-standing gridlock in Congress.

Biden’s campaign team assembled a wide variety of political factions in his coalition, with cooperation from progressives, like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to Trump-skeptic Republicans, including former Ohio Governor John Kasich.

However, a leaked call on Thursday from the Democratic House caucus showed the party’s moderate and progressive wing blaming each other for unexpected losses, both in the House and with key groups of voters.

Although House Democrats had expected to strengthen their majority, many freshman legislators lost their seats to Republicans.

Although many polls had predicted a Biden victory, the week following Election Day left many on edge because the lack of mail-in and absentee ballots being counted initially created the illusion of a second Trump term. Biden won in the end with the aforementioned mail-in and absentee ballots being heavily Democratic in a number of key states, but by a much smaller margin than the polls indicated.

SYRACUSE.COM

DBHSORG Teacher Kemp Wells helps instruct small crop of students once a week while following strict social distancing guidelines.

Program starts for English Learners Campus from p. 1 participate. Approximately, 50 students volunteered.”

The students are taught grammar lessons through hands-on activities like song games.

However, each teacher has a different approach to learning English.

Both teachers and students have to follow strict social distancing regulations on campus. Everyone is required to remain six feet apart from each other at all times.

Students and staff perform health checks, including thermometer scanning and questionnaires, every Saturday morning upon entering the campus. Strict masks and cleaning rules also apply.

To eliminate any unnecessary contact with others, each student is assigned one desk with their personal supplies.

Those supplies do not leave the classroom, and each desk is separated by plastic shields.

To ensure class sizes are small

enough to accommodate social distancing protocols in the classroom, each teacher is assigned 12 students.

There are four classes in total, with plans to add more if English

“I am not worried about... becoming sick, we have a great group of students participating“ PAT WAKEFIELD language learning students continue to volunteer.

Teachers create their own curriculums for these Saturday lessons. Each class takes one ten-minute break, and only one class is on break at a time; therefore, no teaching cohorts can interact with each other. The class runs from 9 a.m. to noon.

“I am not worried about some-

one or myself becoming sick, we have a great group of students participating,” science teacher Pat Wakefield said via email. “I know that our students thoroughly understand about wearing masks and social distancing. As long as they practice this during the week when we are not in session then we should be fine.”

Wakefield said the only issue with this kind of classroom is having to continually remind students about regulations. Other teachers also expressed concerns regarding teaching under firm safety guidelines.

“The only part that is bothersome is wearing a mask the entire time. Carbon dioxide may be good for plants, but it is harmful to humans,” Wells said. “It also makes understanding speech more difficult. The voice is muffled. Also, a great deal of interpreting spoken words is seeing the mouth move.

This is important for English Learners. It is eliminated with “in-person” teaching.”

4 OPINION

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

- OPINIONThe tutorial period doesn’t make good use of teachers’ nor students’ time.

With forty minute classes, it’s no surprise that Diamond Bar High School implemented an extra period, known as tutorial, for students to meet with teachers after class as part of their virtual learning plans.

Designed for distance learning, tutorial time is an allotted period from 1:10 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. that can be used for a variety of purposes, most common of which are extra instruction, teacher prep time, meetings, make-up exams and social-emotional support.

When directed by teachers and staff, students are expected to attend such meetings, per the school’s regulations.

However, this rarely happens, so students are often left to make their own decision whether or not they’d like to

attend tutorial. Outside of instructional purposes, tutorial time is also used for staff meetings.

While its original purpose sounds great, tutorial time at DBHS is not being used to its full potential. While a select few teachers consistently utilize tutorial time, the rest let it go to waste, using it only for students to make up tests.

The concept of struggling students receiving help during tutorial time itself, while ideal, is unrealistic due to online circumstances. Unlike a normal school environment, where students can easily approach teachers for extra help, an online environment makes it more difficult for both parties to find time for the other.

To resolve this problem, both teachers and students need to start taking more initiative. Just as students should feel more comfortable asking teachers for help, teachers should also be asking students to attend tutorials if the student is struggling. For example, some students might feel more comfortable emailing a teacher to meet up during tutorial time than directly asking them in the middle of class.

If tutorial time does continue to be utilized poorly, the school should consider lengthening classes so that a tutorial time is not necessary, or shortening tutorial to 30 minute sessions. Lengthening online classes would ensure that students are getting more time to learn the material, especially honors and AP

students who need that extra time for their rigorous courses.

Students would also be more likely to attend a shorter tutorial time as it requires less of a time commitment from both the teacher and the student.

These shorter sessions would be easier to schedule and be on a more frequent basis.

As there is no end in sight for a virtual school year, tutorial time needs to be used more effectively since so few students are now taking advantage of it. Either lengthening class time while shortening tutorial time or creating a revised tutorial time system would improve the distance learning schedule, making it more useful for both the teachers and the students.

FROM THE BRAHMA PERSPECTIVE

“

I don’t use tutorial all that much. I much prefer longer class times than tutorial. Attending tutorial feels like too much of an extra step.

HEATHER MA (10)

“ ”

AERON MCCOY (10)

Isolation from health

Connor Cho Asst. Business Manager

L

ife has just been so tough lately, especially with quarantine keeping us at home.

Staying isolated from the outside world for the past few months has really changed my priorities.

Recently, my mother told me to go take a walk outside and get some sunlight for once, which is absolutely ridiculous. It’s like she doesn’t care at all about my safety.

Tutorial time has been quite helpful to me... I’m able to converse better with my teachers to help me understand my subjects better.

”

SATIRICAL

What if I get COVID-19 from some- to learn if every class is online? I’ll one on the other side of the street? just wait until we go back to in-perRather than going out to get some son school; everything will defiexercise, it’s definitely best to just nitely make sense then. stay here in the safety of my home.

And after class, can’t go eat Since it’s dangerous to be out- with my friends like I usually do, side, I hope we can find a way to so instead I have to eat at home. leave our homes safely again. But What better way is there to do my until then, I’ll be spending all this part in stopping the spread of the free time playing disease? I’ve also some video games been keeping that I didn’t have the away from fruits “Staying isolated time to try out beand vegetables befrom the outside fore the pandemic. cause they sit exworld for the past Even though I spend posed in markets. few months has seven hours playWhile the CDC really changed my ing “League of Leghas no evidence of ends” every day, it’s COVID-19 transpriorities.” not like there’s anymission being thing better to do. associated with I also have some homework that food, there’s no harm in avoiding was assigned last week but I’ll get produce anyways. I’d rather be safe to it later. I have enough time to than sorry. When I don’t feel like do it all tomorrow so, honestly, it’s taking the trouble of microwaving fine.What’s the point of even trying a meal, I just order fast food deliv-

sedentarily

ery to my house. It’s more convenient for me anyways.

Overall, quarantine has given me a lot of time to reflect on myself and spend more time doing the things that I want to do. It’s now midnight and I’ve decided to get started on the homework I mentioned. I guess I’ll be spending the rest of tonight working on all the homework I procrastinated on.

Though I’ve been going to sleep at bizarre times like 3 a.m., it’s not like it’s my fault. How is time supposed to matter when I never have anywhere to go? Because of this schedule, I’ve been oversleeping and missing my online classes but that’s OK, these classes are really just a formality. Meanwhile, I can just make up for the loss of sleep with a long, six-hour nap.

I’m sure that once this pandemic is over, I’ll effortlessly return to my normal lifestyle.

Leaders diversify global politics

Camille McCurry editor-In-Chief

I

n a nation full of corrupt leadership and dirty politics, where one hesitates to look at the news out of fear for seeing a new disaster, it’s hard not to have a bleak outlook on the future of the United States. After all, power has consistently stayed in the hands of rich white men who don’t care about, nor represent, the people.

However, there is hope for us. An emerging subset of young, female world leaders is paving the way for a generation of progressive, diverse leadership.

At the present moment, white Americans are overrepresented

in government, making up only 61 percent of the U.S. population compared to the 78 percent they hold in Congress. Meanwhile, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections, a majority of Americans will be nonwhite by 2050. Furthermore, the U.S. has never had a female president. Few consider how underrepresented women are in our government, which is especially concerning considering that women are much more likely to identify as Democrats, meaning our underrepresentation indirectly tips the balance of power between parties.

While some may think that diversity doesn’t matter, the fact is that modern Republicanism correlates with being a white, Christian man. The lack of diversity in our government has left the U.S. behind the quality of life of other, happier nations like New Zealand, Finland, Iceland and Denmark.

The common denominator between these countries, which rank in the top 10 happiest in the world, is their prime ministers, all of whom are women under the age of 45 who run on the social-democrat-

ic platforms that our generation so vehemently believes in. More importantly is that they have all successfully implemented progressive policies to their nations’ benefit.

These world leaders—prime ministers Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Sanna Marin of Finland and Mette Frederiksen of Denmark—have created a precedent for the successful implementation of these “radical” left policies. Finland aims to be carbon-neutral by 2035, New Zealand gives 26 weeks of paid leave to new mothers, Denmark has high-quality universal

health care and Iceland has strict gun safety laws while maintaining high rates of gun ownership.

All of these nation’s policies stand as proof that it’s possible for a country’s leader to follow a left-wing path to a successful, happy nation. Given this precedent, it isn’t unthinkable that America could be similarly successful should we elect more Democrats to our government. After all, our overwhelmingly left-leaning generation is soon to reach voting age; maybe then we’ll be able to turn a progressive new leaf in America.

New accounts facilitate bullying

EDWARD KIM Staff Writer

I

nfluenced by the popular Facebook confession group, Diamond Bar High School “confession pages” are starting to appear on Instagram, featuring confessions anonymously posted. The problem with these new accounts lies in them being completely unmonitored and their toxicity.

These accounts hold a similar level of anonimity to the DBHS Confessions Facebook page, but lack the restrictions it imposes on submissions. Students can choose to submit their confessions anonymously, allowing them to talk freely about whatever they wish without worrying about their reputation being damaged or facing any consequences.

This has led to issues with the accounts; although there are a fair amount of harmless confessions, such as confessing a crush or teasing someone, there are others that can only be described as bullying.

During school election week, there was an outpour of demeaning posts that seemed to have the sole purpose of calling out almost every candidate and winner for running under superficial reasons, such as “clout” or popularity.Others called them out for spamming social media with campaigns.

These confessions took a turn for the worse once election week ended. There were numerous reports of sexual harassment, but were quickly removed as they were met with a barrage of negativity. Nevertheless, the fact that they were even posted led to rumors.

As much as the blame can be put on the people who submitted the comments, the site’s anonymous owners are equally responsible for advocating that type of behavior by actively posting these confessions.

Compared to the filtering of the Facebook group, the Instagram accounts have no qualms about posting cruel commentary.

Yet, anonymous or not, there must be something done to fix the increasing toxicity of every post.

The Instagram confession pages should still be allowed to stay up as long as harmful subjects, such as bullying and slander, are avoided.

If not, the best solution to this problem is for everyone to boycott the accounts and for DBHS students to unfollow them.

This would be an ideal solution even if the deletion of the accounts was available, as the sudden removal of these confession accounts would only highlight them further, creating unnecessary gossip and rumors. Taking down the accounts would not solve the problem.

However, this solution would only work if the majority of the people interacting with the accounts ignored them. If this happens and the confessions continue to cross the line, it may be possible to appeal to Instagram, as their company policy states that accounts with intent to bully or harass should be reported and removed.

OPINION

THE BULL'S EYE

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

5

Education prevents religious prejudice

STEVE QU ASST. News editor

A

midst the countless protests on abortion rights and police shootings, one topic remains untouched, a right that is considered one of America’s greatest freedoms yet goes consistently ignored: religion.

Religious discrimination in-

PRO

volves treating a person differently because of their religious affiliation. Commonly taking the form of verbal harassment and improper employee accommodation, it is much like racism in that it will continue to divide this country unless a change is made. In order to do so, it is essential that schools provide unbiased religious education.

A 2017 study reported that about one percent of Americans considered themselves Muslim, while the Christian population dropped from 77 percent to 65 percent in a decade.

In spite of this, Christianity is seen as the default religion in this country, and those of other religions are negatively affected by this notion. English classes have long assumed students’ knowledge of the Bible when covering Biblical allusions in literature. While Chris-

tian students benefit from these analyses, schools are less eager to incorporate other religions into their lessons. Beyond Christianity, schools should motivate teachers to explore various religions in both historical and literary contexts, which is entirely legal.

Without an honest and balanced education about religion, students will likely consume misleading information thrown to them by the media, leading to prejudice.

Under the Bush and Obama administration, FBI engaged in religious profiling, agents were instructed that Muslims were likely terrorist sympathesizers and that the Prophet Muhammad was a cult leader, according to a report in Wired magazine. And now, during the pandemic, Hindu nationalists in India have bashed religious mi-

norities openly, blaming the Muslims for carrying the virus.

By giving mention to more religions outside of Christianity, students will be more comfortable with differentiating between reliable and fake news. However, we must also consider all aspects of a person’s identity, which entails differing disadvantages. An education that contains intersectionality can allow issues, like racism or sexism, to be taught together with religion.

Social movements like the #MeToo have also been used to combat issues in regards to sexual abuse and other social justice issues.

With the platform that the #MeToo movement provided, women that were silenced because of fear were able to speak up. Unlike other minority groups, religious minorities don’t have access to the programs

RETURNING TO CAMPUS

and platforms that the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities have.

Last year, Masarat, a non-profit organization in Iraq, established an educational program for Muslim students and clerics to educate them on different religions. Implementing programs like this in the United States would help promote equitable opportunities, spread accurate information and aid religious minorities in combating the persecutions they face.

We need to eliminate society’s problems by the roots, and there is no better way to do this than educating future generations. By changing the system internally, they will understand more about religious discrimination, allowing more people to have a stronger foundation about the facets of unjustified distinctions and prejudice.

Should small groups be allowed back to DBHS for in-school practice?

CON

distance learning format we now use in school, which prevents us from forming or Six-foot social distancing rules would make maintaining relationships with our peers. practice near impossible, and this change, By being allowed to return to campus, even useless. the small amount of interaction allowed Sports such as football and wrestling may go a long way. involve athletes to make physical contact I know for one, that being away from my with one another. And if they were to focus peers has definitely made school life more on aspects of training that don’t require of a bore. Not being in Diamond Bar’s contact, then they could have simply trained notorious competitive atmosphere that I at home, which is much safer. Seeing as used to fuel me with passion and motivation students will not even be allowed to be to do well in school, has left me the most within an arm’s length of one other, there’s Kelsey Wu Natasha Chang unmotivated and detached I have ever been. no advantage to having on-campus practice.

Asst. Feature editor Asst. a&e editor Some may argue that Zoom calls Performing arts ensembles like orchestra hile many school districts in are a passable substitute for in-class fter months of delay, the and band will require students to wear Southern California have already collaboration, but doing things over Zoom is implementation of rules for in- masks--it’s unclear whether they’d be begun reopening schools and almost entirely incomparabile to completing person learning have begun. Los allowed to take these off while playingbringing students back into classrooms, them in person. Things are so much more Angeles County Department of Public -and put preventive material on their Diamond Bar High School efficient and timely when Health has approved a instruments. This material is taking a moderate they’re worked on by a group staged approach for schools goes over the end of an approach and only that’s physically present. in the area to open their instrument, where air flows “..students will be able “There’s no signifipermitting athletics Take the Dance Company, doors for a limited subset out, to keep the player’s to yet again experience cant advantage to and performing arts for example. It’s incredibly of students. This process breath from spreading the immense advanpracticing on campus organizations to return to hard to choreograph a dance has already begun for many significantly. However, at tages of in-person compared to online school in small groups. and teach it to a group of schools, with Diamond Bar the same time, it also alters practice and interacWith this development, students over a Zoom call, High School joining them. the sound of the instrument rehearsals and pracsports and performing especially without them being The current plan permits so that it is comparably poor arts groups will be able around to help one another athletes and performing arts to the quality in Zoom calls. to return to their previous, more efficient as they normally would. Technique and students to return to campus for rehearsals Not to mention that in order to keep routines, which are more productive than quality of the performance is jeopardized and practice. However, the change is hardly socially distanced, the amount of students training via Zoom, and begin refining their when conducting routines and rehearsals necessary, if not useless all around. that can attend on-campus practice at a time condition for competitions. over a Zoom call, which is why student For these groups, practice now involves will be significantly less than that of virtual One of the main concerns surrounding organizations need to be able to meet one gatherings of more than 12 people, which rehearsals. Although the sound quality the return of these groups is the safety another in person to practice efficiently and already presents a risk of spreading the will be marginally better, this method of hazard that could lead to outbreaks among hone their skills. virus. Wearing during practice would rehearsing will slow down the learning students. But with proper protection This is why it is crucial that student present yet another obstacle for the students. process quite a bit compared to Zoom meeting measures applied, which the school will, the organizations will be allowed to return to Even the sports that one may not expect practices. With such drawbacks as these, it possibility of this happening is low. In fact, school in small groups. Doing so, students to have trouble with distance guidelines will seems that there’s no significant advantage a study done by the CDC stated that schools will be able to yet again experience the face barriers. For instance, during cross to practicing on campus compared to online reopening in other countries found low rates immense advantages of in-person practice country practice, runners are close to one rehearsals and practices. of transmission amongst students and staff and interaction. another as they pass each other on the track.

For some students, the option to return to when the correct safety procedures were in campus may even mean putting their health effect. at risk for fear of losing out on advantageous Being at school will also allow students opportunities. Student leaders who don’t to experience being on campus after having feel safe returning to campus for practice attended school from home since March. Not may be at risk of losing their position to being able to learn on campus has taken an someone who is willing to attend. immense toll on students’ education, not to Even with a risk like contracting the mention the impact on their mental health. deadly virus that has taken over the world Being in quarantine has been proven to in the past year, there is no guarantee increase stress and anxiety levels due to that everyone will keep their masks on, the dull environment and lack of social stay six feet apart, and follow other safety interaction. With the ability to go back, a precautions set in place all the time. This few students may be able to experience some guarantee is even more nonexistent when semblance of normality once again. it comes to high school students, most of Returning in small groups will also allow which haven’t seen their fellow classmates students to interact with their peers again in person for a better part of the year. to some degree. One of the main benefits of Thus, this major academic change will high school is the social aspect; learning how only result in more setbacks for both to work and interact with others. It is these organizations and students alike. Most interactions that guide our development and students have already adjusted themselves prepare us for collaborative work outside of to learning at home to some extent. For school. these groups to return to campus is not only Photo courtesy of DBHS ORG This crucial element of the educational costly and ineffective, but will also cause experience has been crippled by the Student athletes returned to conditioning on the field earlier this month, albeit with new guidelines. more problems for students in the long run.

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FEATURE

Wellness

by Wu Health benefits of celery juice

Making every vote count kyle hong staff writer While most high school students were too young to vote in the presidential election, this year they still had a chance to get involved.

A program sponsored by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder offered students who will be 16 years old by Election Day a chance to work at poll centers for 43 hours

and receive $380. Shifts were split into two 11-hour weekend days and 15 hours on Election Day at Armstrong Elementary School, Diamond Bar High School and Chaparral Middle School for students in this area.

Junior Isaac Miao said that the pay was not a factor in his decision to sign up, as it was less than $10 per hour. Conversely, juniors Emma Fu and Kelly Reyes stated that the pay did have a small influ-

kelsey wu ASST. FEATURE EDITOR Since the beginning of our self-isolation period, the topic of maintaining both health and wellbeing has been discussed endlessly.

What follows, here and in future columns, is what I hope will be a helpful source for maintaining a more wholesome and healthy lifestyle.

Celery juicing has become an incredibly popular self-care practice across social media with health experts such as medical medium Anthony William and holistic health coach Emily Ryu preaching about its outcomes. Juicing celery is an easy way to get the nutrients of the plant without having to consume its pulp. Many have claimed that some of the benefits of drinking the freshly extracted liquid include optimal digestion, high doses of micronutrients and phytochemicals, a boost in your immune system, weight loss, reduced risk of cancer, reduced inflammation and clear, glowing skin. Celery juice has also been used by people with cases of psoriasis, a severe skin condition where skin cells build up and form dry scaly patches, to clear those breakouts and treat the red inflamed skin.

I started juicing a month ago out of desperation to clear my acne-ridden skin in time for a small family gathering I would have to attend in two weeks. Celery juice is available cold pressed in juice shops such as Sustain and Nekter Juice Bar, however if you want to incorporate juicing into your lifestyle, it is much cheaper to buy a $40 juicer and make the drink at home, which is what I do. At first, I was incredibly repulsed by the idea of drinking a full glass of celery juice, so to ease myself into the habit I started out by drinking only a mere 5 ounces. After about two days of this and familiarizing my taste buds with the eccentric smell and taste, I increased my daily consumption to 10 ounces.

By the end of the week, I had gotten into the flow of things and was chugging down 20 ounces with perpetual ease. Celery juice became something of a daily medicine that I took every day to cleanse my body of toxins and to rid myself of fatigue.Besides feeling energized and purified, I found my skin was noticeably glowing and clear. In only a matter of a week, I was able to alleviate my drowsiness, stop feeling nasty and gross and also cleared the stubborn pimples on my face.

By maintaining this routine, I found that all of these benefits I was experiencing never faded, even three weeks after I had begun.

Now, my body still feels cleansed, healthy, lively and my skin still radiates that clear glow.

While I cannot guarantee that every participant will receive the same outcomes that I did, I do know that celery juice has lifted some of the biggest insecurities and burdens of my life, as it has for thousands of other people. So don’t be afraid to try it out, you can thank me later.

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

Photo courtesy of ISAAC MIAO Junior Isaac Miao worked at the DBHS polls, where he gave “I Voted” stickers to the voters.

ence on their choice. For all three students, however, the main driving factor was getting a new experience.

Miao and Fu both found out about this program through the Google Classroom of Diamond Bar High School physics teacher Angela Jensvold. However, other students like Reyes learned from a friend who recommended they sign up together.

In preparation, students also had to undergo training; these sessions were made up of three hours of online training and two hours in-person. These courses taught them how to work with the iPads used to allow people to vote.

“The training was prepping us for the worst-case scenario,” Miao said via Instagram. “A lot of the info they trained us on was not used.”

There were also many protocols in place to ensure workers and voters were in a clean and safe environment. Miao stated that everything was sanitized after every use and students were also expected to follow CDC guidelines. In addition, electioneering, or the promotion of certain candidates, was not allowed.

“I would definitely recommend this because it was honestly so fun just socializing with new people.

I learned how the voting process worked and how measures were taken to ensure the safety of people’s votes” Miao said. “You get to know these people within the span of 3 days and form connections that you wouldn’t have been able to

without being there.”

The interior of the poll centers had voting stations lined up in rows so that people could enter and vote.

Students were given certain jobs to do, such as searching for voters and printing their ballots, sanitizing the area after each person voted and sitting outside the school to guide people to the voting area.

“We need to open up polls, set up and check people in to vote,” Fu said. “At the end of the day, we need to make sure the number of ballots was counted correctly by the machines.”

Both Fu and Miao said that there were not many people who came to the poll center that they worked at. Despite this, they learned more from the people they talked to than the actual work they did.

“I got to see people who supported Trump or Biden and hear about why they did. It was really interesting to learn about both sides,” Miao said. “Since we were just checking in people on an iPad I did not learn much about the election itself, but talking to adults for two days solidified my confidence in talking to them.”

Reyes said that the most rewarding part of her experience working at the polls included the fact that she was able to see how excited voters got when they cast their ballots and left with their “I Voted” stickers.

“It intrigued me because it is something that is important in history and being able to help with the election made me excited,” Reyes said.

Cakepops for a cause emily koh FEATURE EDITOR While many charitable groups donate food and clothes to those in need, Diamond Bar High School senior Phoebe Chu has chosen a different commodity to give: period products. While these are unconventional items to donate, they are greatly needed by women who cannot afford them.

Chu began selling cake pops in August 2020 to raise money for purchasing period products, such as tampons and pads, and then donate them to local homeless shelters. According to Chu, cake pops seemed like an appealing product, and something many people would want to purchase.

The inspiration for the project came from a YouTube video from the channel Jubilee, which discussed the issue of “Period Poverty.” This term is used to define the lack of menstrual products for women who cannot afford them or are unable to obtain them.

“Period poverty is an important issue because periods are such a taboo and there’s a negative stigma that surrounds it,” Chu said.

“I want to be a part of the change in normalizing conversation about periods because it is such an amazing thing that women have to go through.”

This problem inspired Chu to create an Instagram, @endingperiodpoverty, where she makes posts informing people about period poverty and promotes fundraisers as well as petitions for the cause.

Chu recently held a Machi Tea Bar fundraiser with the DBHS club Girl Up in late October, and 15 percent of all of the proceeds were used to purchase menstrual products to donate.

This social media platform is also where she receives orders for her cake pops which she sells at the price of two for $5.

“I want to bring awareness to this issue because people don’t realize how expensive these products actually are, and how in some states they’re actually taxed as “luxury products,” Chu said. “They’re really not a luxury but a necessity.”

The process of making the cake pops consists of making cake batter and pouring the mixture into a cake pop maker. Then Chu places the cakes on sticks and coats them with melted candy melts, putting sprinkles on afterward.

The final step is to package each

cake pop individually. Chu sells three different flavors: chocolate, vanilla and red velvet. She also coated them in a variety of candy melt colors: pink, green, white, yellow and orange.

“The most challenging part was baking the cake pops,” Chu said.

“It was very time consuming and took many hours each weekend.”

All of the proceeds from the sale of cake pops are used to buy period products. So far, Chu has raised over $650 selling the baked goods to family, friends and Instagram customers.

The products were then donated to the Foothill Family Shelter, a transitional facility that helps

homeless adults and children.

“My favorite part was donating the products in the end at the family shelter, it was super rewarding and I felt glad I could help those around,” Chu said.

In the future, Chu sees herself continuing this project and hopes to donate to the New Hope Shelters along with the Foothill Family Shelter.

She said she also plans to have a holiday cookie sale to raise even more money for the cause.

As of now, Chu doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to fundraisers due to COVID, but wants to hold drop-off drives and additional bake sales soon.

Photo courtesy of PHOEBE CHU Senior Phoebe Chu made cakepops in order to raise the funds necessary to donate menstrual products like pads to local homeless shelters.

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FEATURE

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

Offering up early sales

Black Friday customers no longer have to wait until late November to commence shopping. Due to the pandemic, a variety of stores have begun their Black Friday sales earlier; let’s see what they have to of fer:

From earphones to television sets, Target started its Black Friday sales on Oct. 29, where customers had the option to purchase items online as well as in person. The company also plans on offering more Black Friday deals on items such as clothing and accessories throughout the month prior to Nov. 27. It has even extended its 14-day price match guarantee from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 in order for shoppers to have more time to ask for a price adjustment on a Black Friday product.

The lower prices on the electronics seem reasonable, but one item that caught my eye on Target’s website was Bose’s noise-canceling earbuds being sold at $39.99 as opposed to the original price of $69.99. However, since the only available sales are on electronics, I would recommend shopping at Target for its Black Friday deals later in the month when more items such as clothing are also available for purchase.

As opposed to other retailers, Best Buy has a schedule outlining their deals on their electronics. It started its Black Friday on Oct. 13, and although only Best Buy Members can start purchasing more Black Friday products on Nov. 16, nearly all Black Friday sales are going to be available to customers on Nov. 22.

On its website, Best Buy has featured Black Friday deals, where items are sold at a considerably cheaper price. For example, a video game for Nintendo Switch– Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle–is selling for $14.99 instead of the original price of $59.99.

For those who choose to shop online, Best Buy will have the products ready for curbside pickup within an hour. They also offer in-store shopping, with face masks required while maintaining social distancing. After Black Friday, they have a cyber deal kickoff on Nov. 28, which will also offer deals on their products the Monday after Thanksgiving.

If you don’t want to give your money to big corporations, this ethical and sustainable brand is perfect for you. Although Christy Dawn offers clothing, only their masks are on sale for 50 percent off their original price.

The sale started on Oct. 13, and even though the website doesn’t specify when it will end, some shops are ending their sales on Nov. 28 at the earliest.

A five-pack of Christy Dawn’s deadstock cotton masks are available for $25 dollars, with its original price being $50. The masks come in a variety of colors and patterns. Christy Dawn only accepts online orders.

While I normally wouldn’t recommend shopping at a store that only offers deals for a small fraction of their products, paying a cheap price for a sustainable and ethically-made product is definitely a better way to spend your money.

This brand is known for its vegan and cruelty-free formulas, and in light of Black Friday, they’re having sales up to 50 percent off on beauty products. Boscia’s Black Friday discounts started in late October and will most likely end on the first day of December as that’s what the company did last year.

On their website, there is a charcoal mask for $4, marked down from $8, and a jelly ball cleanser for $7 instead of the original price of $20, which I would say are both really good deals. Similarly to Christy Dawn, they aren’t accepting in-store purchases. While boscia’s Black Friday products are available on Macy’s and Nordstrom websites, better deals are available on boscia’s actual site. Not only would you be receiving better deals, but directly supporting boscia’s company, which are both definite benefits. Due to its inexpensive prices and ethical beauty formulas, I’d definitely recommend taking a look at boscia for its Black Friday deals.

As a UK clothing brand, Nasty Gal’s pre-Black Friday sales are only available for purchase online. Everything but its boots, jackets and coats are 50 percent off, and its sales will continue until Cyber Monday. Although some items still may seem a little pricey, I’d recommend looking for bolder pieces that you’d have a harder time finding somewhere else in order to maximize the number of trendy pieces you purchase.

For example, NastyGal offers a two-piece set for the discounted price of $22.50 on its site, which I’d say is worth it since you’d get to style the two pieces separately with a lot of outfits. A $7 crocodile patterned belt is also available for purchase. As of early November, NastyGal has increased their 50 percent sales to 60 percent off on every piece of apparel. As their Black Friday sales continue, NastyGal is a brand that I’d recommend glancing through for its colorful and bold clothing.

By: Somiya Jajieh

Girls Give To Community Charles Tam Asst. Sports Editor

TIFFANY LEE

Gingo Katsu opened this summer to cater to the Japanese food lovers by providing authentic flavors to Diamond Bar.

Basic Japanese Cuisine Lyndon Kaneko Staff writer A new Diamond Bar Japanese restaurant, located in the Hannam Chain plaza on Brea Canyon Road, Japanese restaurant Gingko Katsu, which opened this summer, doesn’t add much to the area restaurant scene. Its menu is simple, only consisting of four main dishes, and is more focused on serving drinks than a sizable meal; a good alternative if you’re on a budget.

Walking in, I was greeted with the absence of a line and a plexiglass screen with several six-feet markers lining the floors. A television hung off the wall, but wasn’t easily

visible from anywhere else except the front of the counter. Like most restaurants, dining in was prohibited but the small store did have an area outside reserved for customers.

Food only took 11 minutes to arrive, packed into a neat bag. It came out surprisingly fast for the volume of food I ordered.

I ordered a tonkatsu ($11), which is a breaded, deep fried pork cutlet, which came with rice, cabbage and sauce. The dish lacked much meat, despite it being such a large portion, and each bite had a disappointedly considerable amount of fried bits. Its overall flavor wasn’t very enjoyable and the sauce, while flavorful, didn’t make it better;

it was just a slight distraction to the lackluster taste. The rice and minced cabbage, that came on the side, made the meal more tolerable, providing a nice contrast to the naturally-greasy pork.

I also ordered the ten-piece fried gyoza ($7.50) filled with vegetables and pork. Unexpectedly, this was the highlight of my meal, despite it only being a side dish. The outside of the gyozas was crispy and the inside tasted great. Unlike the tonkatsu, the gyoza’s balance of content to fried exterior was perfect, making it more tasteful.

Each bite was a treat, being rewarded with the abundance of

Gingo Katsu on p. 12

As one the first clubs to be formed when Diamond Bar High School opened, Girls’ League has been giving back to the local community and promoting female friendships for the last 38 years.

“We passionately work to make the world a better place one charitable and kind act at a time,” president Hannah Zhou said via iMessages. “We also want our members to have fun and be able to enjoy themselves, which is why we have holiday parties to promote club unity.”

Due to COVID, Girls’ League was unable to raise money from selling items at school. Despite this inconvenience, the club instead hosted a 5k fundraiser throughout October to raise money for breast cancer research. “[Our advisor] Mrs. [Lisa] Pacheco, who is in a couple of other service clubs, mentioned how one of her clubs had hosted a 5k fundraiser,” Zhou said. “Her positive experience inspired us to hold our own.”

There was a minimum $10 donation registration for the event; the proceeds were directly donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Those who donated were also entered into a raffle, with a chance of winning a Halloween

basket with candy, toys and other treats. With 84 donors, they managed to exceed expectations and raise $2,700 using GoFundMe. In previous years, they have raised money to help abused children by donating their funds to Orangewood Children’s Home in Santa Ana, raised money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and donated dog toys and dog beds to an animal shelter in Ontario.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting too much engagement since our numbers have dropped, but I was pleasantly surprised by everyone who participated in our events,” Zhou said.

In their upcoming event, Girls’ League plans on donating food to help families enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. Members will donate foods such as canned corn or gravy to feed families in need on Thanksgiving Day. They also plan on collaborating with other clubs including Interact Club in future events.

During distance learning, they have been communicating with their 40 members through monthly general meetings over Zoom and by using Remind.

“I think our club this year will try to interact with all the members and collect donations for various people,” vice president Haley Kim said via Instagram. “The goal for this year is to help people as much as possible.”

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FEATURE

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

If you want to dress up any outfit this season, wear a blazer. You can find your go-to blazer in the men’s section of your local thrift store or shops such as Zara or H&M. For a night look, wear an oversized blazer over a basic black dress or mock neck tee and pair with some boots and jewelry. For a more casual look, pair a patterned blazer with a nice pair of jeans and sneakers.

If you want to learn more about styling blazers, the YouTube channel Best Dressed is known for teaching others how to style blazers while also giving you tips on how to find them.

blazers

Leather is poised to make another comeback this fall, and not just with pants. Leather boots, jackets and bags are bringing a chic look to this season’s fashion while also coming in different colors from light brown and burnt orange. The range of different hues allows for your leather item to be either an everyday go-to or an eye-catching piece to add a pop of color to your outfit. For a casual but stylish look, pair a leather jacket with your favorite mock neck or turtleneck sweater underneath. If you’re looking for a more puttogether look, wear a pair of leather pants with a button-up shirt.

sweater vests

leather

Like Harry Styles, many find comfort while rocking a sweater vest.

If you are looking for a more muted look, go for a solid color. A nice beige or gray oversized sweater vest would complement your closet basics while also having the potential to be dressed up or down. If you want a statement piece, stores like Zara and ASOS have more colorful and patterned pieces. The most popular patterns, according to what many stores are carrying, are the bolder argyle design and the minimal houndstooth pattern. If you are looking for a fast and affordable option, try purchasing a sweater vest from Amazon by looking in the men’s section.

If I had to pick a color to represent this fall, it would have to be sage green. While it is striking, it’s versatile and matches well with many other colors. It also complements silver jewelry and white shoes. Overall, it adds a unique, cooler tone to fall’s stereotypical warm-toned color palette.

From online thrift stores to Motel Rocks, I have seen many Tik Toks hyping-up

sage

green

trousers. These

pants

are

flattering

especially

when worn with platform white sneakers or Doc Martin boots which adds length to the legs. Sage green has already been styled by Instagram fashion influencers such as Barbara Kristoffersen and Amanda Nielsen.

sage pants Story by Tori Artale Design by Somiya Jajieh and Kelsey Wu

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

9

MUSEUMS BEHIND A SCREEN story by Natasha Chang, design by Marykate Palaris

While some public art galleries have begun opening their doors to the general public, the risks of COVID-19 are still prevalent in the minds of many. Fortunately, many major art museums have opened up their collections virtually, using a variety of methods from online tours to immersive videos.

Louv r e Museum of Moder n Ar t

The Louvre is known around the globe as one of the world’s largest museums, as well as an iconic Parisian historical icon. The famous pyramid art gallery has made a free, interactive version of the museum, accessible on their website. The virtual tour allows for a 360-degree view of various museum floors and exhibits, with brief descriptions for every piece. Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is also available to enjoy through virtual reality on the museum’s mobile application, “Mona Lisa: Beyond The Museum of Modern Art, also known by its acronym MoMA, is the Glass,” which is available on both Google Play and the App store. completely devoted to art of the modern and contemporary eras.

Thanks to Google Arts & Culture, an online platform with artworks and artifacts from some of the world’s most renowned museums, you can now “walk” the various exhibits and floors of this extraordinary gallery on any device, free of charge. The gallery boasts pieces from some of modern art’s most famous names, from Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” to Henri Rousseau’s “The Dream” and Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”. The museum is also hosting Virtual Views, which are free Youtube live streams on select Thursdays where curators take the best of MoMA’s collections and share them to the public.

J. Paul Getty Museum

Hammer Museum

Boasting of works from the Ancient Greek times to the art of the 21st Century, the J. Paul Getty Museum north of Los Angeles is less than an hour drive away from Diamond Bar. While the museum remains closed, select categories and exhibits, such as European Sculptures and Decorative Arts, French Tapestries and European Paintings, are now available on Google Arts & Culture. Also, included on the Getty website are online versions of various art collections and behindthe-scenes content such as a virtual model of the luxurious Villa dei Papiri, with interactive three-dimensional designs and explanations The Hammer Museum, located just down the street from UCLA, is and history of the villa. home to impressive collections of art of a variety of styles. Some famous pieces currently in the museum’s possession include Picasso’s “Le repas frugal,” van Gogh’s “Hospital at Saint-Rémy” and Redon’s “Profile of Light.” The art gallery offers virtual resources like digital archives, Youtube livestream Q&As, and virtual meditation sessions via a video-communication service. Most programs are free, but all require a reservation, which can be made on the museum’s website.

Metr opolitan Museum of Ar t

Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museum, located in Vatican City, has exhibits containing various collections and works acquired by the Catholic Church over centuries-long history. On its website, the museum offers seven different immersive virtual tours, which include some of their most sought out and famous attractions like Raphael’s Rooms and the Sistine Chapel. The free virtual tours are also available in VR mode.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as the Met, home of a collection of more than two million works of art, is now available to be visited online through a virtual group tour package. For the youth group tours, the Met is charging a flat group fee of $75 for a 45-minute online tour of their collection, limited to 40 people per reservation. Here, one can see some of the Met’s most iconic artworks such as “The Harvesters” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and “The Unicorn is Attacked,” part of the Unicorn Tapestries in the Cloisters collection, where the Met’s medieval art is displayed. There are also free virtual Zoom classes, led by museum professionals, offered to high school students looking to explore artistic outlets, with everything from career workshops to virtual introduction to fashion design lessons.

Anyone who is interested can access the classes by registering for a Zoom link via the Met’s website.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

Artistic clubs find new solutions A&E Commentary

Disney and Orientalism Josh Chou editor-in-chief

W

hile it appeared that Disney had learned how to properly implement ethnic representation into its films after the release of “Coco” and “Moana”—neither of which were perfect, but a step in the right direction—more recent movies like the live-action “Aladdin” and “Mulan” proved otherwise, leaving me wary of the media giant’s latest announcement: “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

The film is set in a fictional land called Kamundra, which is said to draw inspiration from countries all across Southeast Asia. Clumping together different cultures from within a region, while not ideal, is excusable when done well. “Moana” and “Coco” are examples of this, although they blended few cultures .

However, the last time Disney grouped countries together to the same extent as “Raya” is expected to, we got “Aladdin,” which was, to put it simply, a racist movie.

Both the animated and live-action versions of “Aladdin” are soaked with antiquated Orientalism, exoticism and racist stereotypes.

Worst of all, the film brazenly amalgamates Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, which distinctly constitute two separate cultural realms: Islamic and Indic.

Then again, Orientalism has survived—thrived, even—so long because of its reliance on revisionist history that blurs a vast spectrum of ethnicities, languages and cultures into a simple, easily-digestible blob. Centuries of Orientalism have continued to push this narrative to the point where Asia is now an enigma to the majority of white Americans. When it comes to Southeast and East Asia, the distinct cultural realms that “Raya” could potentially and mistakenly blend, current mainstream American media represents the same ignorance, in no small part due to the same Orientalism that plagued “Aladdin.” The sad truth is that unless minority groups settle for a narrative that they often have no control over, they run the risk of losing what little progress they’ve made in media representation.

This is both insulting and troubling; when we allow ourselves to be represented through this imperialist-era lens, we open the door to real-world marginalization. Southeast Asia’s own history with colonialism is particularly bitter; all the more reason to tread carefully.

Despite all my misgivings, I am uncharacteristically hopeful.

Unlike “Aladdin” and “Mulan,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” is set to have Southeast Asian talent in the directing, writing and producing chairs, beyond just an ethnic cast for Disney to hide behind.

Should the film stick purely to its Southeast Asian inspiration and not insensitively blur it with East Asian culture, which is already exploited far too much in America, and respect the individual cultures it draws from, there’s a chance that it won’t be particularly problematic. It’s only disappointing how low the bar is for Disney, who has no excuse to continue making these kinds of mistakes.

lyndon kaneko staff writer While most students are equipped with the necessary supplies to attend classes and take notes from home, the same can’t be said about club activities. After all, while it may be a simple task to purchase an expensive device— like a 3D printer—for club use, getting one installed in members’ homes would prove a difficult task.

With online learning keeping club from meeting face to face, some artistically driven clubs have had to make drastic changes to their work environment, while also trying not to sacrifice productivity.

Print3d Works, a STEM club bridging business and design, has decided to continue manufacturing commissions and club projects, but has moved its production center to one of its club advisor’s workshops instead. With such a large space, they are able to continue working and doing what they love while following appro-

priate COVID-19 safety protocols.

“We are dealing with the current situation by continuing to take orders and moving production to Mr. Bloomfield’s shop. Because the work area is so large, we are able to keep production going in this time,” co-president and senior Caitlin Lee said via email.

What has allowed the club to continue expansion during quarantine has been through the aid of Joe Bloomfield, the owner of a business called Spyder3D. “He reached out to our club and essentially offered to be our source… we get our machinery and materials from him,” co-president and senior Gracel Mutuc said via direct message.

The club maintains social distancing, when possible, along with using a sensor-activated thermometer, face coverings and hand sanitizer stations. With these safety precautions, club members are able to go to the workshop on their own time and help with assembly and design.

Print3d Works has taken up

Photo courtesy of GRACEL MUTUC

Print3d Works members work to remove excess vinly from heat transfer sheet.

Club members work diligently to put up wall decals in the new building. many new projects, including the drawn art and have been promoton-campus floor decals, among ing the club using social media other goods. These decals are flyers. Like many other clubs spaced six feet apart to help mainthis school year, the Art Society tain social distancing, and have uses the Remind app and Facemade events like taking yearbook to keep members up to date. book photos safe for students.

“It’s harder to schedule “Even though things are tough things with people you don’t due to the school’s extended closee face to face,” club presisure, we have been keeping ourdent and senior Nicole Zhu said. selves busy by making social In order to combat this, club distancing sigofficers have nage and inbegun organiztroducing new ing an online “We are dealing with customizable schedule to the current situation by products like help keep memcontinuing to take orders embroidered bers up to date and moving production to face masks,” and accountMr. Bloomfield’s shop.”

Lee said. able regarding CAITLIN LEE On the othclub activities. er hand, clubs “Meetings like the Art are hosted on Society haven’t had to change Zoom and we are looking much to accommodate distance to incorporate more online art learning protocols. With their games like skribbl.io to keep club activities revolving around members engaged,” Zhu said. drawing workshops, contests The adaptations these clubs have and discussion of members’ fumade allow them and their memtures involving art, its activities bers to continue pursuing their have remained mostly the same. passions regardless of hardships.

Even without seeing each othA mix of activities and meetings er face to face, the club has taken help maintain the close, friendly atthis opportunity to begin pursuing mosphere of each club, even as the workshops focused on digitally pandemic keeps members apart.

The Mandalorian marcus hsieh asst. news editor Populated by frenetic action scenes and packed with canon information, season 2 of “The Mandalorian,” a “Star Wars” spinoff created by Hollywood filmmaker John Favreau, hopes to continue the current momentum of the series and Disney+.

The titular bounty hunter, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), is tasked with returning “The Child,” known to the internet world as Baby Yoda, to Yoda’s species. Also known as Din Djarin, the Mandalorian is a member of the warrior Mandalorian Clan, which was forced into hiding by the Empire during the genocide “The Great Purge”.

He first encounters The Child on a bounty hunting job, but decides to care for rather than eliminate him. With the Empire in hot pursuit of the “asset,” the Mandalorian is forced to stay on the run with The Child while searching for his species’ home planet.

Episode 1 of “The Mandalorian’s” second season picks up right where season 1 left off, with the Mandalorian searching for another member of his clan to help him return The Child. After receiving a tip, he journeys to the oft-visited planet of Tatooine seeking another Mandalorian, but instead finds himself forced to cooperate with an unlikely ally to take down a monstrous enemy.

The Mandalorian continues his ill-fated search for another of his kind in the second episode, following a lead in exchange for ferrying a humanoid Frog Lady and her eggs across a sector to hatch.

However, his quarry forces him to travel without hyperspeed, leading to further monster encounters and improbable sources of assistance. The episode also caters to Baby Yoda lovers, giving The Child more screen time and a larger role.

A cursory viewing of the show confirms its signature Disney-caliber production quality.

The show features impressive CGI and special effects, which stand out spectacularly in fastpaced shootout scenes and drawnout skirmishes. In addition, the animatronics are state-of-the-art, evidently shown in the breakaway success of Baby Yoda as well as various accompanying droids.

The dialogue in the first few

episodes follow in the footsteps of the first season, offering terse conversational exchanges and instead prioritizing screen time for more exciting action scenes. Nonetheless, the thought is evident in the memorable, carefully-worded lines that each pack a punch.

However, the writing as a whole could be improved on, as it features easily-predictable sequences and a litany of disposable characters. This leads to what little tension there is for young viewers being paper-thin, and nearly non-existent for anyone seriously considering the plot. Nonetheless, it remains understandable that Disney+ would strive to keep their tentpole show easily accessible to all viewers, regardless of age.

Ludwig Göransson also returns as the composer for “The Mandalorian’s” second season, creating a simple soundtrack that develops over the course of each episode and season. Despite receiving criticism from some viewers, his layered compositions help to tide over aweing desert speedbike scenes and pensive, thoughtful moments.

Each of the eight episodes in season 2 are expected to run 30 to 40 minutes, making season 2 a roughly four to five hour watch once it is released in its entirety. Episodes are slated to release weekly every Friday, beginning on Oct. 30 and ending on Dec. 18.

FINAL VERDICT: s t r e a m i t

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE BULL'S EYE

11

Scoring big with fanart Edward Kim staff writer In July, after posting her first fan art for Haikyuu, a popular anime about a high school boy’s volleyball team, Diamond Bar High School senior Caitlin Lee has faced unexpected popularity on her Instagram art account, @cateeyyyy.

She now has an active community of over 68,000 followers that continues to grow at an explosive rate.

Despite her success in the medium, Lee said that when she was very young, she did not have a strong interest in art.

“I took art classes in first grade briefly,” Lee said. “But I didn’t start drawing seriously until like the eighth grade.”

During that time, she enjoyed drawing only as a hobby and did not take art classes consistently.

However, in eighth grade, her interest in art grew more thoughtful, and around the same time, she also started watching Haikyuu.

“I liked the level of character development in the show and the amount of detail that the creator put into character relationships,” Lee said.

She said that even though she started watching the anime four years ago, her interest grew during the quarantine, which is when she began to center her account around the show.

Although her art account has only recently grown in popularity, Lee actually made the account about three years ago, but did not

tune in: Grande On her third studio album in two years, the singer opens up to a more vulnerable and personal side of herself.

Tiffany Lee Asst. Photo Editor Pop singer Ariana Grande’s last two albums, “Sweetener” and “Thank U, Next,” were both written during her darkest times: after the terrorist attack at a concert in Manchester, the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and a breakup with her ex-fiance Pete Davidson. However, Grande’s newest album, “Positions,” introduces a greater sense of comfort in her vulnerability and shares a new chapter in her life in which she finds her individuality.

The opening track, “Shut Up,” relays the buildup of pressure under scrutiny she faces in public in the form of a direct address to her haters. Her lyrics, “how you be using your time?... you know you sound so dumb, so maybe you should shut up,” blatantly tell them to “shut up” and mind their own business. This attitude is gracefully embodied by the use of orchestra strings alongside an R&B beat in the track.

This album moves away from Grande’s usual pop toward R&B and musical theater with her songs “Six Thirty” and “Obvious,” but they fall short; they made me miss her trademark vocals and lyrical persona. Grande also combined some late 1990s-style R&B with her signature falsettos in “My Hair” and “Shut Up.” On her song “Safety Net,” Grande collaborates with rapper Ty Dolla $ign as she embraces her vulnerability and uncertainty toward her new relationship with real estate agent Dalton Gomez.

Contrary to previous songs like “Love Me Harder,” she sings about easing her way into love rather than rushing into things. With her lyrics, “I’ve never been this scared

post on it frequently.

“I made the art account in November of 2017, but I wasn’t super active until late June 2020,” Lee said.

Within a few weeks of posting her first artwork about Haikyuu, Lee said that her account started blowing up and she started to gather a small fan base.

The majority of posts consist of short comic strips in goofy interactions and situations that focus on characters’ lives outside of volleyball, such as being pulled over by cops or shopping at the store, a stark contrast to the sports-action anime. Lee uses her fan art to bring the characters’ personalities to life, rather than reiterating highlights of the anime and its storyline.

“I’m primarily known for my comic shorts,” Lee said via Instagram. “However, I do have a second, semi-realistic style for ship art [the romantic pairing of fictional characters], AUs [alternative universes], etc.”

This other style is more realistic, in contrast to her comic shorts which usually have them drawn in a cute, chibi-like style. Her secondary style usually features characters posed and dressed in everyday clothing rather than in volleyball gear. In addition to her posts on

Photos courtesy of CAITLIN LEE Among senior Caitlin Lee’s fanart are the Haikyuu characters Bokuto and Hinata, at left.

Instagram, Lee said that she has been gaining a following on other social media platforms as well.

“I’ve also started trying to expand to other platforms, and I’ve seen success on Tik Tok,” Lee said.

At the moment, Lee has 50,000 followers on Tik Tok (@cateeyyyy).

She said that due to her art’s newfound popularity, she has also received many business-related offers and has been able to profit off some of her work. So far she has done several paid partnerships and almost 50 commission orders for her fans.

switches positions

before, feelings I just can’t ignore,” she sings about her fear that she will repeat her past breakups.

The album’s title track, “Positions,” was released on Oct. 21, though it’s not quite on par with the other songs in the collection.

The music has a medium tempo accompanied by instrumental strings and has a similar persona to “God is a Woman,” but without the gradual upbeat music.

The last track on this album, “pov,” stands out to me the most.

The music highlights instruments such as the cello and viola, which resembled her slight shift to musical theater. In her lyrics she mentions “I wanna love me the way that you love me, I’d love to see me from your point of view,” as she starts to find her individuality.

The lyrics were a breath of fresh air as she sings about her desire to love herself as much as her partner does. The song ends off with a gradually growing silence,

closing the album.

Compared to her previous albums, the newest release falls short of her usual belting and upbeat songs. In her 2018 release “Sweetener,” there was a range of ballads and bursts of energetic songs, from slower songs like “pete davidson,” to pop tracks like “God is a woman” and “no tears left to cry” which had people dancing to its dynamic beat as soon as it released.

In “Positions,” however, there was no dramatic contrast in her vocal range nor the music itself, and almost the entire tracklist had a similar chill, upbeat tone. Her title track “Positions” and her closing track “pov” were the only ones that had the dramatic flare of Grande’s signature vocals.

With her newest release, Grande experiments with different genres of music and shows a better side of herself. But I preferred the Grande of her previous album “Dangerous Woman” much more.

Photos courtesy of REPUBLIC Ariana Grande performing her hit track “7 rings” at the 2020 Grammy Awards on January 26.

Photo courtesy of DBHS CHOIR Choir department members coordinating their group choreography from indivual screens.

Choir concert streams online kyle hong staff writer Due to social distancing guidelines, the Diamond Bar High School choir department had to take a virtual approach to their most recent performance, appropriately titled “Social Distance.” The show was a Twitch-broadcasted mix of live and pre-recorded performances.

My biggest gripe with the performance was the technical issues I faced throughout; the show was supposed to start at 7 p.m. but was pushed to 7:30 p.m. due to microphone issues. There were also short periods of time where the audio would cut out, both during solos and announcements between performances. While these did not ruin the experience, they did take away from the overall immersion of the performance.

Despite these technical issues, the performances themselves were quite impressive: the audio quality was high so it sounded very similar to an in-person concert. The group performances were pre-recorded and included plenty of unique choreography.

There was much creativity in the layouts of the performers’ individual cameras that mimicked positioning in a traditional perfor-

mance.

In order to make sure that all performers were shown, there were multiple screens with different sets of performers. The switching between screens was fast and well-integrated into the songs and performances, making them dynamic and interesting.

One performance that really embraced these dynamic screen switches was “Africa” by Toto, which felt almost as if all the dancers were performing together on one stage. With interesting choreography and polished vocals, it was my favorite performance.

The solos were also excellent, with some soloists even dressing up for their performances. “Fly Me To The Moon,” sung by soloist Aeron McCoy, especially stood out.

McCoy’s voice fit the song perfectly, and she wore an outfit to fit the theme. Unfortunately, some soloists did have short microphone cuts during their solos, which interrupted their performances.

The first virtual performance at DBHS may have had some technical difficulties, but despite these issues, much of what was done, despite these limitations, was impressive. The show had a lot of charm in the workarounds that were used to make it feel closer to an in-person performance.

12 BUSINESS

THE BULL'S EYE

Gingko Katsu offers very good pricing despite average taste KATSU FROM P.7 juices exploding with flavor. Compared to gyoza I’ve had in the past, it’s above average and I would recommend this side dish over others offered on the menu.

For my beverage, I ordered a Thai Iced Tea ($4.50). The price

seemed reasonable in comparison with the amount I received, but it was too sweet for me. I do wish I had purchased another drink from their menu, especially since they had various types of coffee and juices like Dalgona Coffee (Whipped Coffee), Chamango, Mojitos, Matcha Lattes and Black

Sugar Tea. For its price, Gingko Katsu is very reasonable, especially for the amount of food you can get. Compared to Tofu House, located in the H-Mart plaza, the taste doesn’t compare but the cheaper prices make it a excellent place for a quick, cheap bite.

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

SPORTS

13

Return of campus training DBHS student athletes have began on-campus workouts for the first time since school closure.

Victoria Artale Sports Editor On Oct. 26, Diamond Bar High School athletes closed their laptops to begin practicing on campus.

For many of the athletes, this was their first time training with their teams since the school shut down in March.

“I’m excited to return to campus training because I’m excited to start my senior cheer season,” senior cheerleader Madeline Hernandez said through text. “Even though practices look very different from how they used to be, they are actually really fun.”

Although athletes were eager to begin on-campus training, they had to make sure they submitted forms to qualify for the Return to Practice initiative. This included having a parent fill out a Google Form that proved they watched a video put out by Athletic Director Albert Lim, athletic trainer Chase Paulson and Principal Rueben Jones. The video offers safety precautions, pick-up and drop-off points, a screening form that needs to be filled out daily by athletes and other important information for athletes to be able to return to campus safely.

Athletes and parents were told that teams will be working out together in pods of 12 with one to two coaches leading the group. Along

with not being allowed to go over a certain limit of people in a group, the athletes will no longer be able to use equipment on campus. This includes balls and all the equipment that is normally used in the weight rooms.

“I’m excited to be having this conversation and we are ready to get started and have a safe experience,” Lim said at the beginning of the RTP informational video.

The video also mentioned the Assumption of the Risk and Waiver of Liability Relating to Coronavirus/ COVID-19 for students who were planning to participate needed to be considered “cleared.” For many this became a hassle because there was confusion regarding clearance forms previously submitted by athletes. This waiver added another thing to a DBHS athletes’ to-do list.

Coaches and athletes must fill out a Covid Health Screen form every day before attending practice. The screening asks questions regarding whether or not the athlete or coach shows symptoms of COVID-19, and the responses are later sent to coaches. Lim also said on the video that athletes must fill out the form before noon to give the athletic department enough time to process responses.

“I think having to do the Covid screening everyday will get annoying because it is going to be very repetitive,” sophomore cross-country runner Natasia Mannix said through text. “As students, we know better than to go to practice if we aren’t feeling good, so I think it is unnecessary.”

While at DBHS facilities, athletes are to remain six feet apart while wearing a mask. If the athletes are doing activity that is too strenuous

to wear a mask, like running, the athletes must be eight feet away from each other. For the most part, this has not become a problem among coaches and athletes, according to those who are currently practicing on-campus.

The school has made an effort to clarify these limitations by putting up signs at different entrances, which share things like “wear a mask” and “stay 6-feet apart.”

Just like the actual teams, the athletic training department is also being limited. Athletes are no longer allowed to get the training or help that they used to. Athletes are no longer able to get water jugs from the athletic training department and are now required to bring their own water bottle that preferably has their name on it.

Because of the restrictions due to COVID-19, the athletes don’t

have the usual access to injury assistance. Some have already started experiencing pain while working out.

“It was hard coming back to an intense practice after taking it easy for the past few months and that resulted in a muscle spasm that was hard to deal with because I could not go see Chase [Paulson] to help with the problem,” junior soccer player and cross-country runner Jacob Moskovitz said via Snapchat.

Meanwhile, some athletes decided that they would rather remain practicing virtually during this time because of a recent increase in COVID-19 cases.

Even though the future of sports still remains uncertain, athletes returning to campus are one step closer to athletic competition eventually returning and being able to take place.

VICTORIA ARTALE

Signs at entrances help remind athletes to remain apart and wear face masks.

Skating their COVID worries away Many Brahmas have picked up skateboarding as their outdoor hobby during quarantine. tiffany lee Asst. Photo Editor In the initial stages of quarantine, many students filled days with indoor activities like puzzles, DIY projects, gaming and art. Although enjoyable, as months pass, even the most engaging activities grow boring in the same, stale environment of one’s home.

Several Diamond Bar High

School students looked to the outdoors for an activity that could alleviate their boredom while keeping safe from COVID-19, and settled on skateboarding.

Junior Abigail Hong started longboarding--an activity similar in practice to skateboarding, but using a different board--in August after her sister bought a longboard, inspiring her to buy one herself.

She had learned how to skateboard in elementary school, and transitioned back into this hobby.

“The hardest part of skating is learning to just let go and not be afraid of getting hurt, but it’s also the best part as you get a rush of adrenaline once you do let go,” Hong said. “It’s a time for myself to

see that life is actually more than stress.”

Unlike Hong, who is more experienced, junior Theo Chen just started skateboarding two months ago. He said that he is taking it slow, and his current goal is to become more comfortable on the board before he tries to learn any tricks.

“I think skateboarding is fun because it is more about conquering your fear and anxiety and to keep going forward if you are going to fall or get hurt,” Chen said.

Senior Carl Hong started skateboarding after seeing his friends with skateboards and RipStiks in middle school and it has been a passion of his for five years. Al-

though he took a short break from the activity during high school, COVID-19 gave him the time to take the board back up.

He bought a longboard in July, and often rides it in Pantera Park with friends Hong also learned how to “walk” on his longboard using TikTok and YouTube videos to guide him through the trick. He said the trick didn’t take a long time to learn, as he already had good balance on his board.

“I can just ride along the sidewalks without anyone telling me what to do and not care about a lot of things and I can be alone, listen to my own music, and go along my own course,” Hong said.

Photo courtesy of ABIGAIL HONG

Photo courtesy of CARL HONG

Junior Abigail Hong and senior Carl Hong have been skateboarding to enjoy themselves outside, instead of being cooped up indoors all day during the pandemic.

Legitimacy of mental health issues

M

ental health isn’t just an issue for the general population; countless professional athletes from all sports have spoken out axbout their depression and anxiety. Success and wealth do not always equate to happiness.

In the professional sports world, there is immense pressure that surrounds athletes regarding their performances, especially in the era of social media, where cyber-bullying is prevalent. These pressures can cause or contribute to anxiety and depression.

During this year’s NBA playoffs, many players including Clippers’ Paul George and Lakers’ Danny Green have spoken out about dealing with anxiety and depression from underperforming while being closed up in the bubble. Both players struggled throughout the playoffs and received hate on social media. Green and his fiancée even received death threats after he missed a crucial 3-point shot in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Aside from performance, many athletes also face mental health issues from injuries. Injuries are a part of every sport and athletes usually overcome them to be back in their best shape. However, depending on the severity and the frequency of injuries that occur to an individual, it can be overwhelming for them.

In a similar situation last year, former Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck shocked the NFL world when he announced his retirement at age 29, after only six years in the league. His reason for retiring: injuries, which has taken a mental and physical toll on him in his relatively short career. The injuries he faced through six seasons in the NFL were enough for a lifetime, causing him to constantly be in rehab and play in pain. His decision was for the betterment of his mental health and to be able to enjoy life.

Off-court issues are also a major factor to athletes dealing with mental health problems. Many professional athletes experience issues in their personal lives that are behind the curtains. The only way to know if someone is suffering from poor mental health is if they speak up about it.

In 2018, Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan opened up about his struggles with depression and anxiety and how he has dealt with mental health issues since he was a child growing up in Compton. A month later, Cavaliers’ Kevin Love also revealed his issues with mental health and his panic attack experience during a game, which was caused by stress from family issues. Both basketball stars are now advocating for the importance of mental health.

Despite being the most decorated Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps admitted to contemplating suicide after the 2012 Olympics before he received the help he needed from therapists.

He has said that his struggles with depression and anxiety will remain for the rest of his life, likely caused by his ADHD. Athlete or non-athlete, everyone is going through something we can’t see. As DeRozan said, “We’re all human, at the end of the day.”

14

SPORTS

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

THE BULL'S EYE

Coaches guide this prodigy DBHS sophomore basketball player now plays with travelling team.

Deesha Pathak Asst. Sports editor

Malcolm Bell has been playing basketball since he was seven years old and to this day he still works with the same coach, Mike Clue.

“As a child I was part of Campus Basketball Elite which was coached and ran by Coach Mike and it was honestly amazing being a part of a team like that,” Bell said via Instagram.

The sophomore basketball player has recently enlisted in the Prodigy athletics team, which spe-

cializes in matching promising athletes to coaching scouts.

Prodigy is an Amateur Athletic Union team that travels the country to play in high level tournaments that are constantly being seen by college coaches and scouts.

Its mission is to prepare athletes for the next level of basketball, whether it be college-level or NBA. Training at Prodigy differs from training at school in the sense that all the athletes on the team were handpicked, allowing the coaches to give workouts at a higher intensity.

Bell says that he attributes most of his success in basketball to all of his coaches at Diamond Bar High school.

“Honestly all my coaches that I’ve had since I’ve started playing like Coach Mike Clue which is the freshman coach and Coach Henry

Photo courtesy of MALCOLM BELL

Bell plays games at Prodigy Athletics, competing against other AAU players.

[Frierson], Coach O [Omar], and Coach E [Eric Ingram] which are the varsity coaches helped improve my game and further grow my knowledge of the game,” Bell said via Instagram. “Especially Coach Mike, he’s been coaching me ever since I started playing when I was seven.”

In addition to basketball, Bell also plays football and baseball.

However, his main focus is basketball because he has been playing it the longest.

Bell says that he is very grateful for the opportunities presented to him by DBHS basketball.

“I’ve been able to be seen by a couple coaches and have the opportunity to play with Prodigy which is such a good team with amazing coaches,” Bell said via Instagram.

“Playing with them really opened my eyes to all the opportunities that are out there for me.”

Prodigy discovered Bell from the DBHS head basketball coach Henry Frierson. Coach Phillip Brown, from Prodigy, reached out to Henry to watch a few games that Bell was playing in.

At the culmination of his freshman season, Bell was selected for the 1st Team All-League award for varsity, a rare achievement for a freshman.

“I’m so proud of myself for earning that reward but also at the same time, it doesn’t mean much to me because there’s still work to be done, it’s only the beginning,” Bell said via Instagram.

Bell said that he is also grateful for his parents, who he says are his inspiration in the sport.

“Their constant support for me means so much and it just keeps me going,” Bell said via Instagram.

Bell emphasizes the importance of having a good work ethic and consistent morale.

“You always have to be getting better, stronger, just ready to go out there and compete and not just with the other team but your teammates as well,” Bell said. “My goals are to play at a D1 college, hopefully UCLA, but my ultimate goal is to eventually be able to declare for the NBA draft.”

To keep fit during the pandemic, Bell has been privately training at Clue’s club gym in Chino. He has also been practicing and going to tournaments with Prodigy and coach Brown.

Bell says that he continues to work toward his goals each day at practice, one slam dunk at a time.

Dodger fans react to victory DBHS students among those cheering for LA’s World Series win.

Marcus Hsieh asst. News editor

Ending a 32-year drought fraught with disappointingly close runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers captured the 2020 World Series by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games.

In this playoff run, expanded because of the shortened regular season, the Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. It was the seventh World Series title for the Dodger franchise, its sixth since moving to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958.

Though what used to be America’s national pastime has declined in popularity in recent years, some Diamond Bar High School students continue to follow the sport, and many are excited at the Dodgers’ success this season.

“I’m happy that Los Angeles teams are champions of the MLB and NBA,” sophomore Simon Worku said via Discord.

Many students expressed pride regarding the Dodgers’

drought-ending win. One such student, junior Isabel Urzua, praised certain Dodgers players’ outstanding performance in the World Series.

“Corey Seager definitely stood out to me because he was the highlight of the World Series, especially in the last game batting over .400 and being named the World Series MVP,” Urzua said via Instagram.

S ophomore Edward Delano viewed the situation from the standpoint of an overall Los Angeles sports fan, drawing comparisons to the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship win just two weeks prior.

“Other states might start to hate us because we won in basketball and in baseball in the same year, against the same state, which is Florida,” Delano said via Instagram.

Nevertheless, Los Angeles’ recent success came after a contentious back-and-forth throughout the World Series, with the Dodgers and Rays alternating wins for the first four games of the Series before a two-game sweep that granted the Dodgers an early victory.

Dodgers shortstop Seager was unanimously chosen as the MVP of the World Series for leading in scoring with two home runs and five runs. Other notable players in-

clude Dodgers star pitcher Clayton Kershaw and outfielder Mookie Betts.

The World Series was held from Oct. 20 to Oct. 27 at the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. It was the first World Series to be played at a neutral stadium and the first since 1944 to be held at only one stadium.

The COVID-19 pandemic led the MLB to implement precautions during the playoffs, such as keeping facilities within a protective social isolation bubble and limiting in-person attendance to 25% capacity. In addition, the 2020 season was shortened from 162 to 60 games, though it did have an expanded 16-team playoff bracket leading into the World Series.

Furthermore, players who tested positive for COVID-19 were removed, even in the middle of the game, including Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who was removed from the 8th inning of Game 6.

Despite the historic victory, the champions were limited in their celebration options due to COVID-19. The usual celebrations and parties were replaced by an immense show of support on social media by Dodgers fans from all over LA county—including DBHS.

Photo courtesy of CARINA SANCHEZ

Sanchez visited Academy of Art University in San Fransisco prior to commiting.

Softball player will continue career at Academy of Art Carina Sanchez commits to playing softball for

pers for three years, which she said has been an extremely positive experience that has allowed her to improve her skills. Whereas a NCAA Division II Art DBHS hasn’t started practicing for University in San Fransisco. the 2021 season yet, she has already played with the SoCal Choppers.

Sanchez regards the two coach’s Somiah jajieh awards she received in her sophoAsst. feature editor more and junior year as her biggest personal achievements, as she said As a way to pursue her passions that they also reflect one’s charfor both the arts and softball, Diaacter. She not only values being a mond Bar High School senior Cagood, reliable player, but also being rina Sanchez has committed to the someone that both her coaches, Academy of Art University in San Ty Watkins and Kurt Davies, and Francisco, and plans to play for players can look to and rely on their Division II softball team. for leadership. Sanchez said the Sanchez has been on the DBHS most memorable experience she varsity softball team for three had with her team was attending years, last year as a utility infieldthe CIF playoffs in her sophomore er. She had a batting average of year. .292 last season.

“I think personally the sport has

She realized she wanted to atgiven me so much,” Sanchez said. tend the Academy of Art Universi“I’ve faced a lot of adversaries and ty when she first visited the camI’ve overcome obstacles, so I think pus, and said she was especially that’s rewarding.” grateful that she had the oppor To train for the new season, tunity to tour the university in Sanchez has been working out person since it allowed her to get and practicing daily by hitting and acquainted with the environment fielding, as well as focusing on how and her potential future teamto maintain a tough mentality. Sanmates. She officially committed to chez is very excited to get back on the school in September. the field, and hopes that she will “It has always been my softball get to play a softball season next goal to play in NCAA Division II so year. when I found [the “Our coaches Art University], I work so hard for “I think it’s important was really interus so I want to to show the kids, the ested,” Sanchez be able to help younger players, [that] said via Zoom. our team have a there’s always a light at “I’ve always really successful wanted to go to season,” Sanchez the end of the tunnel.” college in the city said.

CARINA SANCHEZ and I’ve always While Sanchez loved San Frandoesn’t plan on cisco, so it was a playing softball great fit for me.” beyond college, she would like to Sanchez wanted to commit to an act as a mentor for future players art school for softball because she on the DBHS team. She said she wants to be able to explore her paswants to give back to the softball sions in photography and advercommunity by helping younger tising while also playing the sport players realize the importance of she loves. She plans on majoring in having patience and a strong work advertising while also taking other ethic. art courses that pique her interest.

“I think it’s important to show “I’ve always been more in tone the kids, the younger players, with my creative side so arts would [that] there’s always a light at the be perfect for me,” Sanchez said. end of the tunnel,” Sanchez said.

“It’s just a really niche school and “There are people that are handed it’s perfect for what I wanted to opportunities, and it’s discouragdo.” ing to see, but I think it’s really re Sanchez has also been playing warding to know that you worked with the club team SoCal Chopfor everything you have.”